115, 1/2

Erick stood before his bed, under the protections of his [Prismatic Ward], while he had strung ample [Alarm Ward]s throughout the space and also outside, while Ophiels provided the bulk of the early-warning system. The Ophiels inside were quiet, but the ones outside brought a bit of birdsong to an otherwise silent land. He gazed down at the bed and hoped he would actually be able to sleep. Though he had taken another bath to calm down, and that had been rather successful, he was still rather high-strung at the moment, what with everything that had happened, and that promised to happen.

Erick breathed deep, and sat on the bed. The covers went up and over, and Erick’s head hit the pillow. Three half-thoughts later, he was asleep and snoring.

He woke to the actions of nothing in particular. He jolted upward. For a moment, he panicked, activating [Greater Lightwalk] on the bottom of his bare feet, under the covers. There was nothing in his room except for him. The dense air was still there, too.

And now that he was not running on fumes and desperation, and everything seemed a mite calmer, his new Perception seemed to help him see the density in the air a lot clearer than before. He was almost tempted to try some meditative techniques to see if he could gain a Mana Sense, like how Teressa had gained while they were at Oceanside.

Erick’s mind started whirring as he fully woke, and old memories came to him like sudden waves of nostalgia. Things he had forgotten from his childhood. Events he had cherished, then abandoned somewhere along the way, for reasons he could not recall. His mother’s smile. His dad’s hugs. Remembering those was like opening a forgotten gift left under the Christmas Tree.

For a long moment, Erick sat in bed, and remembered his parents. He had a small cry, which turned to laughter when he remembered the better times. Like Sunday dinners at grandma’s, or when mom used to cook. He remembered watching Saturday cartoons with his father and laughing with him. That thought invariably led to remembering trying to watch Saturday cartoons with his own daughter, but the tradition of Saturday cartoons was gone, off the airwaves, by the time Jane was interested in such things. They did have a small tradition of fantasy movies every Saturday when she was small. That lasted two wonderful years, until Jane had gotten old enough that she wanted to spend her weekends with her friends and not with her father.

He smiled at that. Jane certainly grew up fast. It seemed like one moment he was feeding her formula, and the next she was slaying imaginary bad guys, and then she was fighting real bad guys on Veird, and actually slaying them. Erick had mixed feelings about all that, but he left those to the side. It was daddy’s turn to kill the bad guys now, or at least ensure that they burned to their own evil. It was time to make the world a better place for Jane, like he had always tried to do, but only ever succeeded some of the time.

Erick got up, and turned on [Lodestar]. Keeping his sunform to his back, and ready to deploy at any moment, he went and got ready for the day. Or was it night? Hard to tell. Rainbow auroras hung in the sky outside the windows and there were no clocks in this roo—

There was a clock in the living room.

Erick sent an Ophiel to check on the time. There were two clocks out there. Erick had missed the second one. Apparently, it was 8:10 PM, outside-time, but inside Ar’Kendrithyst’s wonky Feast Time, it was a few hours into the third day. Erick had slept more than ten hours. He must have been more tired than he had thought.

Presentations of Power was supposed to begin today. Each Shade was supposed to prepare something that proved their worth to the Clergy and to Melemizargo. Erick was supposed to present something, too, but these people had been spying on him for a long time. He’d likely be ‘asked’ (forced) to give some sort of presentation on what everyone already knew.

Well fuck that!

For one bright, shining moment, Erick considered blowing off the rest of Shadow’s Feast. Of stepping off into some other part of Ar’Kendrithyst and telling them all to go fuck themselves. But then he discarded that notion. He had well and goodly decided not to kill any more Shades unless the perfect opportunity presented itself, but Tania was going to kill more. If Erick wasn’t here to see that happen, to see the winds of change coming, he would be caught unaware by the coming storm, and that was unacceptable.

Sometime soon, the news of the Clergy’s demise would run through Ar’Kendrithyst and everything would start happening, very, very fast.

So, again, Erick considered running and hiding. But where would he even hide, though?

Oh. Now there’s an idea. If Ar’Kendrithyst was truly sealed… Was it sealed against Shades looking to escape, too? If everything came tumbling down and all the Shades started murdering each other in one great, grand blood bath of magic, would it be contained to Ar’Kendrithyst, for the duration of the Feast?

Erick was glad that he had managed to sleep when he could. He was going to need those ten hours.

And yet, despite all the danger, there was something entertaining about experiencing history first hand, and having a part to play in that history. Erick briefly imagined himself in the fall of Rome; wearing a toga, and drinking wine, while the city burned, civil war raged, and all his enemies fell to the swords of his other enemies… Or however it was that the fall of Rome went down. Erick was never a history buff.

He was certainly remembering all of his studies of physics that he had ever looked upon, though. He was remembering a lot. That thought led to another:

Intelligence was not going to stay like this. None of these new Stats were going to remain. Erick felt too strong. He felt too secure. Even discarding the mental changes, which was enough to get Intelligence nerfed to oblivion, there were the simple numerical changes to mana costs.

Erick began a small test, there in his temporary bedroom. He had to rearrange the [Prismatic Ward], and create an empty space for himself to cast, but that was easy enough for an Ophiel to do. The two spells he chose were [Ward], because it provided solid results in a confined space, and [Hermetic Shredder], for much the same reasons.

Ophiel cast the [Hermetic Shredder] for 1200 mana, stringing the spell into five separated lines, and then another 195 lines pushed to the side. Erick did it this way for Ophiel had no spell cost reductions, and what Ophiel cast was what Ophiel got. According to the blue box, those 200 lines each had 200 points of ‘damage capability’ before they broke.

Erick cast the [Ward], spending only 10 mana for a small defensive [Ward].

He dismissed his own [Personal Ward], and reached out to touch the first molecular wire. It broke against his skin; the [Defensive Ward] taking a major hit to its stability. Erick had no way to check the viability of the remaining [Ward], but it certainly looked thinner. Checking his Health, he saw no change.

He touched the second wire, popping the [Ward], and popping the wire. There was not a single blemish upon his finger. He checked his Health, anyway. He was down 2 points. Those two missing points replenished themselves in a regenerating second.

Ah. He recognized a problem. He recognized several problems. Mainly, though, his Constitution was preventing damage, too.

He could probably still figure out something from all of this, though. He just needed more samples, more casts, and more tests.

Half an hour later, he had come up with some rough estimations of the power of Intelligence, and Constitution. Like he had initially theorized, both were wildly overpowered.

That 10 mana he spent on a small defensive [Ward] produced over 300 points of damage soaking. Erick’s [Ward]s only cost 3% of the original costs, meaning that 1 of those initial ten mana was used to create the [Ward] in the first place, but the remaining 9 of those mana went through a (roughly) 33.3 multiplier.

But that much wasn’t too surprising.

Clarity dropped the initial cost of each [Ward] down to 50% costs, and with Favoring [Ward] that cost dropped another 25% off, but then there was also the Class Ability for a 10% Spell Cost Reduction. Force Savant also dropped the cost of [Ward] another few percentage points, for a final cost, before Intelligence, of 12% of the initial costs. So while 81 Intelligence dropping [Ward] down to 3% of the initial costs seemed rather screwy, and piss-poor of what 81 Intelligence should get you…

Practically all of Erick’s spells were down to 3% or 5% of their initial costs. [Hermetic Shredder] very easily demonstrated the raw power of Intelligence, because Erick could just count the wires and calculate his bonus that way.

Erick spent 100 mana on that spell, and got 1500 wires, each worth that many points of damage, before they broke. With a small mental calculation, Erick worked out that [Hermetic Shredder] was working off of a 4% mana cost multiplier.

So.

Intelligence was way too powerful. This was getting changed, for sure. Erick saw that coming down the line. But that was fine. Shades shouldn’t get nice things. Erick could even forgo this bonus, and quite frankly, he kinda wanted to be rid of it right now. His mind strained with desires to go out there and rewrite the world in his own image, and that was not a nice thought. Still…

Still, he was going to abuse this as much as he possibly could, while he could. He was going to LEARN ALL THE THINGS and MAKE ALL THE MAGIC. Erick practically trembled at the thought of entering a library! A real library. With real magic books!

“OH!” Erick smiled. “The Librarian already gave me a book. Where was it…”

Erick searched for his book. He found it. ‘Defined Barriers’. It was a small, white book, supposedly penned 1200 years ago. He opened it.

Twenty minutes later, it was read. The book was helpful in many ways to understand the nature of the ‘Domain’ class of spells. Cast Domains, divorced from their caster and set out in the world, like Erick’s [Domain of Light], were weaker than those Domains constantly maintained by the caster. Those kinds were effectively dead wills imposed upon the mana. They were called ‘Domains’, and they were; technically. But active Domains, like Erick’s [Lodestar], were the pinnacle of the art. Active, well-honed Domains could be used against other active Domains in a battle of Willpower and Mana reserves. Smaller, harder, and heavily surveilled and secured Domains were better than larger, less-secure Domains.

The book even outlined how to use Domains and Elemental Body spells together to affect a greater working than the two could separately. Erick already knew this from his own experiments with his ‘sunform’, but it was nice to see it all spelled out on paper, and to see a few ideas on that paper that he had yet to discover in his own workings.

After Erick read the whole thing, he suspected that he could tear through any ‘dead Domain’ with his own sunform. ‘Defined Barriers’ was a great, little source of knowledge. The only problems with this knowledge, were that the Librarian had given Erick this book, which meant that she knew what she had given him, which meant she knew all the tricks and tips and magics outlined therein.

Still some useful ideas, though! All the tips outlined also had counters, though. Erick briefly contemplated a scenario where he had to fight the Librarian. He got into a mental chess game of ‘if she does this then I’ll do that but then she’ll do this’, and so on and so on. He didn’t get far in that chess game. He knew all of his own pieces, but whatever the Librarian was fielding would be new to him. Hopefully they wouldn’t need to fight. The possibility was still something to keep in mind, though.

Ah. But! One good thing that was not a trap in this book, Erick tried right now.

Normally, it was impossible to cast tier two magic with an Elemental Body; you could, at most, remake the Basic Tier spells out there, and gain those extra points from those Spell Remake Quests. But with a Domain supplementing your Elemental Body, you can cast pseudo-‘tier two’ spells. You wouldn’t get any blue boxes out of this technique, but you would get the use of those spells, and they would be outside of the global cooldown of the Script.

Erick had already suspected most of that, but it was nice to see it spelled out on paper.

With a flex of his sunform, and a burst of intent, Erick manually cast a [Force Wall] attached to his [Lodestar]. A radiant shield of light burst into the air in front of him, onto the edge of his sunform. Normally, [Force Wall]s were stationary objects. But it was a wall cast in his Domain, and that made all the difference. With a flex of his Domain and his lightform, the shield moved at his command. It bounced around, stable when he wanted it to be, mobile when he wanted it to move.

Erick calculated throwing a 200 point [Blood Bolt] at his side of the shield, which, by his calculations, should cause over 4,000 points of damage. The Bolt wasn’t ethereal, which meant that it would be blocked, but even if it wasn’t, Erick could take the damage.

He had already spent 17,000 Mana on his [Personal Ward], and with all his bonuses, the white sheen that slipped over his skin and clothes was a damage barrier worth over a quarter of a million points, if his calculations were correct.

Erick aimed—

Ah. No. He should be doing this outside, in case he was throwing around too much power and he accidentally broke something. But there was no need to actually go outside, was there? Erick looked to the south, to the window that showed the waterfalls behind the Palace District. With a push of light and the shaping of his auras, Erick remade his shield on the other side of the window. He also had a shooting angle on that shield, from that very same air outside the window.

And since this experimental area was outside…

Erick aimed a 2000 point [Blood Bolt] at the shield, this time. With that much power behind the Bolt, it should translate into something like 40,000 damage, with all the various reductions he had to mana costs.

He let the Bolt fly.

The white Bolt detonated against the shield like a tube of TNT, exploding outward into great, ripping white sparks. But for all that damage, the house was already protected by Erick’s [Prismatic Ward]. The house was fine. The shield was fine. Some of the plants out there were… not exactly fine, but they were okay. Looking over them again, Erick would need to replace some of the ones directly against the house. Those were… Not fine. That area was more crater than wild grasses.

A sigh sounded at the doorway to his room. Erick had seen the man already, but at his sigh, Erick turned to face the music. Quilatalap stood there, on the other side of the doorway, beyond the dense air of the room, frowning at Erick.

Erick smiled at the man, saying, “Hello!”

“At least you did it outside.” Quilatalap looked to the window, adding, “For a certain definition of ‘outside’.”

“Yup!” Erick asked, “Are people giving their presentations yet?”

“You’ve still got a few hours. I was setting mine up when your butler and my people alerted me to an explosion here.”

“Got any places to practice some spells? Or I could just step out of the Brightwater District?” Erick thought for half a second, and decided, “It would be stupid to step too far away, but it could also be smart.”

Quilatalap eyed Erick. “You just gained all that Intelligence, and you’re going to fight, right now? Really?”

“Sometimes fighting is the smart thing to do.”

“You should take some time and learn some things from all the sources on display, today.” Quilatalap said, “Or, I could teach you some necessary skills before you go out and get yourself ambushed.”

“Oh! Sure!” Erick touched the belt around his waist, saying, “Let me remake this— Oh? Do you want one of these rings?” He held up his hand. “Have you unlocked all the Stats, yet?”

“… You would do this for me?”

“So you haven’t unlocked them all? That’s weird. Oh. Is it because you don’t want to accidentally become a shadeling? That has to be it. Or is it the danger of altering your Intelligence?” Erick looked away, saying, “This 81 Int is doing a number on my psyche, for sure.” He added, “Oh! But I didn’t turn shadeling, did I? I just got a question mark on my Status. No Shadeling Curse with unlocking them this way! Well isn’t that interesting.” He looked to Quilatalap, and knew he hit the mark with that last one. “It’s that last one, isn’t it?”

Quilatalap grinned. “Maybe.” He lost most of his grin, saying, “Maybe you shouldn’t remake the belt. This Intelligence is doing odd things to you.”

Erick waved that concern away, saying, “I’m remaking the belt, and then I’ll pick up everything you’re putting down. I’m eager for a lesson, teach!”

Quilatalap gave a small, nervous laugh. “Sure. Let’s talk. Come out when you’re ready.”

Quilatalap walked away from the doorway, while Erick sat down on his bed and took out some supplies from his bag.

Ten minutes later, Erick had crafted a second, 3-sphere, Deep Sky Silver belt, just like the first, but this one was a true All-Stat magical item. He also made a ring for Quilatalap. The orcol would probably have to wear it like an earring, or something, but that would likely still work.

Erick strapped the belt around his waist. The world shifted just a little bit more into focus. It was not the shift that had occurred yesterday, when Erick gained Perception, and he could count the threads on his bedsheets from three feet away, if he wished. It wasn’t like when he gained his Boon of Recovery, and his body shifted younger, and he could count his individual eyelashes in the mirror. It was something lesser, and yet greater at the same time. Like finding a new setting on a television set, or a computer screen, that made the picture just a little bit better.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Diminishing returns, for sure.

Erick felt at home in his body, like he could move however he wished and all would be easy. He felt his mind expand, and all the failed math lessons he had ever had percolated underneath everything else he already knew. He felt safe, as his skin and bones and flesh felt stronger, somehow, in some magical, Constitution way.

And yet, he recognized the diminishing returns of these untested, False Stats, which were surely going to get nerfed sooner or later. But for now, he was going to use them to get what he wanted, and what he wanted was knowledge.

Erick found Quilatalap in the living room, sitting on one of the couches. He enthusiastically said, “Ready! And: here!” He tossed the man a ring.

Quilatalap caught the ring with magic, holding it suspended in the air. “It’s not a smart thing to throw items around when you’re around people of power.”

“Phhhbtt!” Erick said, “You got a recommendation from a source I trust.”

Did Erick truly trust Rozeta? Ehhhh. The jury was still out on that one. But he trusted her enough, and that meant he trusted Quilatalap enough. For now.