The Merchant is an odd deity. He is worshiped by both those who earn money and those who waste money. He teaches to always increase one's net value with any action yet at the same time does not only support but encourages reckless hedonism. The more successful members of his congregations and his clergy do not see an issue with the conflict but it does baffle clergy of other gods. The upper echelons of his followers are immensely powerful though he is considered one of the weakest gods.
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Adrian
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I wake up to a headache and only blurred memories of the night before but smile as I find myself holding onto both K and Ria. I can’t recall how I got K to agree to a threesome but hopefully this will lead to more in the foreseeable future.
As neither of my girls are awake yet and the sun is not shining through the window, I close my eyes and begin to meditate for the first time since the last full moon while focusing on speeding up my metabolism to get through the headache faster.
Gains: +500 XP Dragon, +5 XP Endurance Training, +75 XP Mana Control +8400 XP Carving, +4000 XP Drawing, +350 XP Electronics, +3250 XP Leatherwork, +950 XP Mechanics, +950 SP Sewing, +6750 XP Smithing, +9250 XP Stonework, +900 XP Firearms, +1200 XP Pistol, +1200 XP Rifle, +1300 XP Shotgun, +1500 XP Axe, +1200 XP Claw, +583 XP Dagger, +93 XP Glaive, +3650 XP Hammer, +328 XP Spear, +398 XP Sword E, +2115 XP Tumble, +2700 XP Fly, +2965 XP Anatomy, +3098 XP Biology, +1800 XP Chemistry, +6650 XP Geology, +1400 XP Planes, +5090 XP Tactics, +600 XP Technology, +500 XP Empathy, +150 SP Bluff, + 1050 XP Handle Animal, +298 XP Sense Motive, +500 XP Computers,
Dragon 0 -> 2 (+20 SP, ), Carving 7 -> 14 (+84 SP), Drawing 5 -> 10 (+40 SP), Electronics 0 -> 2 (+3 SP), Leatherwork 2 -> 8 (+33 SP), Mechanics 0 -> 4 (+10 SP), Sewing 0 -> 4 (+10 SP), Smithing 0 -> 12 (+68 SP), Stonework 0 -> 14 (+95 SP), Firearms 4 -> 6 (+11 SP), Pistol 3 -> 6 (+15 SP), Rifle 3 -> 6 (+15SP), Shotgun 2 -> 6 (+18 SP), Axe 1 -> 6 (+15 SP), Claw 3 -> 6 (+15 SP), Dagger 1 -> 4 (+7 SP), Glaive 1 -> 2 (+2 SP), Hammer 0 -> 8 (+28 SP), Spear 2 -> 4 (+7 SP), Sword E 2 -> 4 (+7 SP), Tumble 0 -> 6 (+21 SP), Fly 2 -> 8 (+33 SP), Anatomy 6 -> 10 (+34 SP), Biology 2 -> 8 (+33 SP), Chemistry 5 -> 8 (+22 SP), Geology 0 -> 12 (+78 SP), Planes 4 -> 6 (+11 SP), Tactics 6 -> 12 (+57 SP), Technology 1 -> 4 (+9 SP), Empathy 5 -> 6 (+6 SP), Bluff 0 -> 2 (+3 SP), Handle Animal 0 -> 4 (+10 SP), Sense Motive 3 -> 4 (+4 SP), Computers 5 -> 6 (+6 SP),
Spheres: Soul 1 -> 2 (+80 SP), Fate 1 -> 2 (+20 SP), Darkness 1 -> 2 (+10 SP), Time 0 -> 2 (+120 SP)
Adrian Ravnos
Gender: Male
Race: Void Draconian?
Age: 17
Strength 28
Intelligence 23
Mana Potential 12
Skills
SP: 2,664
Dexterity 24
Wisdom 21
Mana Potency 12
Languages
Titles
Agility 24
Cunning 20
Luck 23
Traits
Options
Endurance 26
Willpower 24
Perception 20
Magic
Reality Control
Vitality 26
Alertness 21
Reality Control 5
Classes
Racial Class
Appearance 26
Charisma 17
Health 425/425
Mana 150/150
Once I skim over the changes with half mental smirk as to how I earned some of them, I open up the tab for Ravnos Magic. This and being a dragon are the greatest powers I have. And while I may not use it to its fullest ability, I do know how to take advantage of this power more than I do mana.
3000 Reality Control 5
160 Planar 0
320 Space 2
320 Soul 2
80 Fate 2
640 Life/Death 3
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
160 Primal 1
40 Mind 1
320 Time 2
20 Transmutation 1
10 Telekinesis 0
80 Fire 3
80 Lightning 3
40 Light 2
40 Darkness 2
20 Gravity 0
I quickly pick up several of the Spheres that I can partially remember and purchase them with the surplus of points that I currently have. Primal, Time, and most importantly Life. Thousands of symbols flash through my mind, both teaching and reminding me of how my perceived world is a reflection of the fabric of reality. How to twist and nudge at it to get what I want though not the knowledge of how to use those changes. That is something I have to work on my own.
But what else should I get? I could get more Spheres, but no. What I just I got will keep me busy incorporating it to how I fight. Space and Planes would likely be extremely useful but I feel like something is whispering in the back of my mind I don’t need those Spheres. That I can already do what they would let me. What I need is more raw ability. Something to offset the negatives of me going further into my Ravnos powers.
So, I turn to the only thing that might tell me about the other great power I have. I pull up the description for what kind of dragon I am and find myself pleasantly surprised and disappointed in the offered information.
Dragon - Void
A rare mutation that sometimes occurs when a dragon survives being touched by the cosmic radiation in the void during gestation. The void dragon does not generate enough of several compounds and energies to grow on its own and thus is driven to acquire this ‘draconic essence' from their food.
They are however the longest living type of dragon with no known member ever dying of age and have many abilities to manipulate and control the void and the energies within both it and the vacuum of space.
Interesting and it did have some information I did not know but not immediately useful. Only letting me know that there should be a lot more to being a void dragon than what I’ve messed with so far.
How did I get exposed to the cosmic radiation of the void while in my mother’s womb though? No, that doesn’t matter right now.
I stare at the screen for a few moments longer before dumping everything else I have into it. Unlike with my prior purchase of Spheres, I do not get an explosion of knowledge being pushed into my mind. Instead, I feel the tiny tingle that sometimes accompanies my consumption of draconic flesh but stronger.
A thousand times stronger and it spreads forth from my core infinitely faster than it would normally. I open my eyes in suprise and find I cannot move. I feel and can visibly see my muscles shifting and twitching under my skin. It feels pleasant though I should probably be considered about my current paralysis.
It lasts for nearly a minute during which I can do nothing but let my mind wander and watch my two still sleeping lovers. As the muscle spasms die down I feel tired and glancing out the window to see that the sun is likely still a few hours away I quite happily drift back to sleep as I rest my head on Ria's bosom.
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I once more find myself in the strange dream coliseum, looking around at the empty stone stands. The sky overhead, dark but lit with the lights of trillions of stars while the ground and stone around me seems so plain regardless of the decretive engravings that form a near mirror to the sky overhead.
I do not know why but I jump up as high as I can into the air and begin to shift, letting my clothes tear as I take on not the hybrid form of a draconian but the form of a dragon. My wings spread and I immediately begin to ascend into the night sky. The night air cool against my scaled hide and the dark of the night made clearer as my eyes become slitted.
I leave the ground behind, flying for several minutes before a voice draws me away from my simple pleasure. “finally ate enough to feel the call?” the deep voice chuckles from behind me and I turn around to see my own dragon form lounging in the thin air of the upper atmosphere.
But he is not the same as me, he is dozens if not hundreds of times larger than me. Still, I do not feel afraid. I do not even answer him as I feel my hunger for all things dragon well up within me. I am about to charge, to try and feast as before but find that I cannot move.
“Good but there is more to being what we are than just hunger. The void is far more than what we’ve stumbled upon already.”
I know I should stop, that I should think about what was just said to me but the call of my hunger is too much. As soon as whatever force was restraining me ends, I rush towards the dragon many times my size and take a bite.
That dragon does nothing to defend itself other than disappear after the first bite, as I feel something resonate within me. A power different from the others that I’ve felt racing through my veins. My thoughts ceasing, my emotions going silent, leaving nothing within me but a hollow emptiness and the hunger. . .
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I bolt upright, waking my lovers by the sudden movement. I can still feel it, the rush of strange energy through my veins as it slowly recedes from me. My emotions and thoughts roaring back to life as the endless hunger dims down to a desire to eat more dragon.
“What? Are we under attack? What’s going on?” K asks as she rolls to her discarded clothing.
“No, just a dream that is probably more than just a dream” I answer before K asks, “why are you taller? The small amount of dragon's blood in that alcohol should not have been enough to change you.”
“I may have spent several hundred, maybe a thousand points of the Architect's system on my racial class. . .” I answer while staring at her still nude body.
The desire to push her down and claim her as mine again and again rolls through the front of my mind. I want to do it. I want to take both her and my kitsune, to drown their minds in my seed. . .
“Adrian, that’s not a good idea. You can lose yourself to instincts that. . .” I don’t hear the rest of K's sentence.
Instinct, instincts going out of control. That’s what this is. I shouldn’t let them go wild, accept yes but not like this. But K and Ria wouldn’t really mind if I . . .
No, not like this. Love, affection, not lust alone. I shut my eyes and focus inwards. Pushing the outside world away as I try to get myself under control. To stop thinking of Ria's nice soft breasts, K's slightly smaller but perfectly firm twin peaks or their. . . No, I growl to myself.
I am my master. I rule my body, it does not rule me. I indulge in the carnal pleasures of my lovers when we want to; not when my body demands it.
Somehow, I feel the bestial part in the back of my mind, how it’s far stronger than before. How it’s almost clawing at my conscious mind, demanding to feast and fuck and fight and feast some more. But that is not all there is to it. No there is far more to it. It is just those base needs are screaming to be acted upon.
I can feel K and Ria's hands run over my body as I keep focusing on getting myself back under control. But no matter what I try my mind keeps going back to the idea of just indulging in it. Giving in for just a bit and then taking control.
“Its okay to use us” I hear Ria whisper in my ear and my resolve shatters as she kisses me.
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It is well past dawn when I finally calm down and the three of us have cleaned up. I close my eyes and seek for my instincts again but can’t find them, either they’ve gone silent or working through them was really the best thing for me.
I feel tired but when I open my eyes I stand up and finish getting dressed. I even feel a bit of guilty pride in how even after what healing I can do for my K and Ria they’re still limping ever so slightly as the three of us collect the things Cyrus gathered for me and leave without a word. I also make it a point to ignore the looks of jealousy that we’re getting from many of the other patrons.
Our way out of the city is however far more eventful as our actions must have been noticed by someone of note. We are stopped halfway to the north gate by a half dozen soldiers being lead by a young man just over six feet in height wearing a set of gold embroidered robes.
I only start paying attention to what he was saying after we are cut off so I only hear, “. . . one of your or your companions' description among the nobles of the area. You are to come with me and explain yourself.”
“Hmm, no. Now get out of my way” I say which cause him to grin and say, “take them” to the soldiers.
I dodge the first soldier to lunge at me and break the a of the second in a counter attack. Abusing my draconic strength and the reflexes that I have through Battlemind. K likely does something similar to the two that went after her but Ria does not have the melee skill to deal with this.
I turn to help her to find that she just released a torrent of foxfire on the two. Which works well against the unprotected though moderately trained warriors. They scream and die in the green flames as Ria moves to stand behind me in relation to the young robed man.
“You aren’t supposed to be able to resist. Only nobles and those backed by us can be this strong. Who do you serve?” the youth asks in a sneer as if he was ever in charge of the situation.
For a moment I think about declaring myself a noble but instead I go with something that will infuriate him far more. “You aren’t important enough to know who we are” I say with my own sneer that turns to a smirk as I feel Ria's approval through our bond.
The youth himself does not seem to even be able to process it as the three of us walk away, ignoring the shouts that follow a moment later.
The guards at the northern gate don’t stop us having seen what we can do to six of them let alone just the three that man the gate.