Slash. Lunge. Swing. [Defend.]
Soleil seized the initiative and [pierced] through Brigid's raised [defenses.]
Last came punishing a bypassed guard with another flurry of slashes.
An hour’s swordplay ended up being more than enough for her to get the hang of a couple new skills, make them eligible for rank 1, and reach Soul Level 5.
Soleil was getting a feel for how magic allowed her to engage in swordplay and melee combat. She only had so much stamina to play with, necessitating each exchange end with a break to go over how she could improve. Or, and this result was growing in frequency, swig restorative potions for her Endurance and Vitality before another bout. Small potions sized for someone with her Soul Level were thankfully both cheap and abundant. Veilura often dedicated upwards of half her cart space to curatives.
Figuring out how to weave spells into combat was going to be an ongoing puzzle. Two or more seconds to [shape] a noteworthy spell might as well be an eternity for how viable it was in her current state.
Veilura would likely be her best tutor for becoming a Spell Shaper. But she would get to hog that particular mother all to herself for the foreseeable future. There would be plenty of time for magic lessons, among other things.
For now, Nadir had something more practical in mind for xer daughter.
A shadowy hand deposited a gift into Soleil’s hands in the form of a blue crystalline lens. Its silver rim apparently hid mana conductive wires. The most common Magitek Rune marked the rim’s side. Placing her finger against it would allow her to channel a single attribute into the tiny mana engine at a time.
There were more intense runes for those with higher Soul Levels allowing them to more rapidly refuel Mana Engines. But a more passive absorption in line with any living entity’s natural ability to regain 86 points of each attribute a day was the most common.
This particular lens was meant to facilitate the usage of the skill [analyze] without having to suffer the world’s pained feedback.For the purposes of leveling up, this would be incredibly valuable.
It was as tiny as mana engines got, however. For all intents and purposes, the crystal lens was Soul Level 2.
Soleil fastened held the mono-lens up to her eye and approached her bedroom mirror. With a tap of her finger, she fed a point of Focus and Sensitivity through the rune and activated the [Analyze] skill.
The lens itself glowed a brighter blue as it consumed the offered attributes in order to channel the inscribed skill effect. Suddenly, Soleil could see herself again. Or at least how mana supposedly saw her.
Name: Soleil
Presentation: Ash Demon
Soul Level 5
Skill Points available: 4
~Soul Attributes~
Vitality: 8/10
Endurance: 7/10
Focus: 13/15
Intensity: 4/15
Sensitivity: 14/15
Adaptability: 10/10
~Soul Skills~
Fire Affinity - Rank 1
A second point of Focus revealed the list of skills that mana had considered she had learned. Useful, but Soleil was happy a single point did not reveal such things. That could get overwhelming quickly.
~Learned Skills~
Analyze - Rank 0: Rank up available
Mana Manipulation - Rank 0: Rank up available
Mana Shaping - Rank 0: Rank up available
Pierce - Rank 0: Rank up available
Defense - Rank 0: Rank up available
Cooking - Rank 0
First Aid - Rank 0
Herblore - Rank 0
Craft Magitech - Rank 0
Fire Making - Rank 0
Lightning Mastery - Rank 0
Sword Proficiency - Rank 0: Rank up available
Knife Proficiency - Rank 0
Soleil still had to actively focus in order to maintain the activated skills of handheld magitech. But she had Focus and Sensitivity to spare. She offered Nadir a hug and an energetic expression of thanks. “I love it.”
Nadir’s smiles encircled xer daughter as xe returned the hug with one of xer own. “Take care, this lens will likely crack if turned upon something over level 100 or so. This is just to get you started and help you make more informed decisions.”
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“I’ll be careful.” Soleil said.
“Okay.” Nadir withdrew from her daughter, giving Soleil much needed space. “Walk me through your thoughts.”
“Learning magic is going to leave me vulnerable. So I want to split about half my skill points between things that will help keep me alive and investing in magic.”
“It is good to see Brigid did not get carried away in your first sparring lesson together.”
Soleil nodded, bitting her lip. “I was actually expecting to spend time practicing stances or drills. But mana just gave all that to me with the [Sword Proficiency] skill.”
“Mana really is lovely for that.”
“Cooking, First Aid, and Herblore are all perfectly usable as they are. Not that I can rank most of them up yet. For now I imagine I will pick up two magic, and two physical skills. I am not sure I want to rely on as many potions as I did with Brigid. But First Aid requires me to heal the wounds of someone else and it feels wrong to just ask you to get wounded for that.”
Nadir seemed to approve of her selections so far. “I agree. Something as simple as more endurance, vitality, or focus will pay dividends in how much you can achieve in your early levels. Although if I might make a recommendation, focus [Analyze] onto each skill and it will tell you what you will gain from the next rank.”
Soleil’s eyes widened as she turned to do just that. She fed the magitech lens more of her Focus attribute and looked over her planned choices.
Mana Manipulation - Rank 1: +5 Intensity. Manipulations limited to 1 second per skill use and targeting 1 mote at a time.
Mana Shaping - Rank 1: +5 Focus. Can shape a single mote of mana for 1 second per activation. Focus investment affects the speed of the skill’s effect.
Defense - Rank +5 Vitality. Activation time reduced to half a second. Cooldown 7 seconds.
Sword Proficiency - Rank 1: +5 Endurance. Can substitute endurance costs with 1 adaptability per swing of a sword that does not exceed attribute requirements to wield.
A 50% increase in her Vitality and Endurance attributes.
A 25% increase in her Focus and Intensity attributes.
A fun rider effect of being able to supplement the endurance costs of swinging a sword with adaptability.
Soleil could work with this.
“Right, so, how do I actually assign the skill points?” With the [Analyze] still active, the answer almost came instinctively. The skill points themselves tugged at her skill.
“You just need to link them. Most find it best to work with skills as if they were a language.”
“Oh! It really is like Magitech.” Soleil strung the skills that she wanted to raise the rank of along with her skill points as if she were feeding a skill some of her soul’s stored attributes.
Just to be sure, she tapped her crystal lens and fed it what it needed to confirm the increased ranks and attributes.
Name: Soleil
Presentation: Ash Demon
Soul Level 5
Skill Points available: 0
~Soul Attributes~
Vitality: 8/15
Endurance: 7/15
Focus: 12/20
Intensity: 4/20
Sensitivity: 14/15
Adaptability: 10/10
~Soul Skills~
Fire Affinity - Rank 1
Mana Manipulation - Rank 1
Mana Shaping - Rank 1
Defense - Rank 1
Sword Proficiency - Rank 1
She put down the lens and turned to find her mother’s eyes alight, but down-turned.
“Ah. Sword proficiency.” Nadir said rather flatly.
“Oh. Um, yeah. I asked Brigid if she could teach me.”
“I see. Already discarding my wisdom in particular.” Nadir said with an affronted tone that felt forced.
Distressingly, Soleil’s response was still to flush bright red. She pushed her voice into a whisper in order to give as little away as possible. “That’s… not why I asked her to teach me.”
Nadir let the words hang in the air before gathering her shadow self into something more tangible. “I am sorry for taking even an exaggerated affront to your choices Soleil. I will not press you on anything you’re not comfortable speaking about.”
“It’s alright.” Soleil squeaked, before trying to get a better handle on her voice. “Really. I was going to explain, but now I’m suddenly feeling self conscious about it. I actually feel rather worn out and am not sure I am up for verbal teasing right now.”
“Very well. Would you like to steer the discussion away from this? Or shall I provide an alternative topic?”
Soleil thought for a few moments. How much had choosing [Sword Proficiency] been out of a desire to impress Irellia? A half dozen comparisons between daggers and swords sprung to mind. Even at rank zero, the sword felt more comfortable in her hand.
She knew that both weapons were probably weighted and easy to handle. But Brigid effortlessly closed the gap and threatened her in melee. Did she want to be trained how to lethally wield a dagger in the ways that only Nadir could? Or would she prefer to best her opponent in combat, perhaps even going for a disarm?
“I think,” Soleil started before she was ready to voice her thoughts in full. She wanted to keep her statement simple and honest. “Irellia and Brigid are both an inspiration. But when I get down to it, I want to be able to confidently interpose myself between anything that intends to threaten another. Wielding a sword just felt better for that purpose.”
“We are already proud of you Soleil. But now I absolutely cannot wait to see what state your soul is in upon your return.” The edges of Nadir’s form vibrated with visible interest.
Soleil paused at that. “You already know that I intend to travel with Veilura?”
Nadir relaxed as xe began to pace around the room, guiding hands along the wooden surface of hand crafted furniture. “Veilura first caught my attention by holding a mirror up to the world and all who lived in it, daring them to be better. Brigid and I had long resigned ourselves to settling for trying to hold back what felt like an inevitably encroaching end. She put the people first and included seeing us demons as people. Never-mind needs. Veilura saw to everyone's comforts and rekindled dreams. I see all of your mothers in you of course. But like Veilura, a lot of it is aimed at directly caring for those around you.”
Soleil blinked a few times. “Please don’t call me motherly.”
A chorus of laughter erupted from Nadir. “Oh dear mana no. You care about the world around you Soleil. But if others call you motherly, you can be sure that there is always a mother available to dote on you or treat you like the independent soul you are."
“I think…” Soleil scrambled for a pivot away from this particular topic. “We have strayed away from fundamental advice.”
“Ah. I suppose you are right. I don’t imagine Brigid gave you much of a chance [shaping] a single spell.”
Soleil shook her head. “I think Brigid wanted me to understand that the first move dictates the initiative and tempo of a conflict.”
“And spells put up no resistance. Yes yes, I’ve heard her arguments a thousand times.”
“Well what am I supposed to do about them? I’m level 5.”
“Never fight fairly, for starters. Fair fights are for the foolish.”
This felt like a time to reach for something diplomatic. “Doesn’t Brigid always try to give her opponents as fair a fight as possible?”
“She is a very endearing fool. But she can back up her foolishness with the capacity to withstand a monumental amount of punishment, a trait you unfortunately do not yet share.”
“I know to keep an open mind, but isn’t spreading myself thin going to cause me to struggle against something that will overpower me?”
“No amount of levels has changed that we all remain mortal and finite creatures. With an entire world of corrupted threats arrayed against us, I think you will find more success by investing in a wide arrangement of options.”
Soleil deflated a little. She wasn’t sure if she should find this encouraging or discouraging. “I’m still scared of something as big or bigger than Brigid turning me into pulp with a single swing.”
“Oh! I can answer this. Did you remember running into resistance when sparring with Brigid using mana?”
“Yeah. Sometimes it felt like striking her meant burying my sword in jelly. Other moments her [Defense] skill caused me to completely lose my momentum, putting me at her mercy.”
“Even if Brigid put all her weight into swinging her hammer, you would survive if you had a single point of vitality left.”
“How does that work?”
“Channeling mana invests it into you. If Mana had instincts, the foremost among them would be a resistance to the idea of harm coming to living beings that interact with it. To that end it will always strive to act as a shield. The more capacity you gain for holding mana within your soul, the more mana you can call upon to keep you alive.”
“That sounds convenient, but I am going to reserve judgment until I get a chance to really see larger numbers in action.”
“Just know that there is nothing wrong with splitting your focus. The skills you wield are a language that mana understands. Stick with it and you will find countless ways to make something work for you.”
Soleil just kind of looked up at the ceiling. “Thank you, mana.” She felt so warm in that moment, uncertain if she was just blushing again or if mana had responded to her words in some way.