Leaning on the parapet, I scanned the surrounding area before I really let myself fall into my thoughts. My Shape-Shifting reacted without conscious thought, my eyes sharpening as they shifted to those of an eagle to scan the trees and field for any signs of raiders lurking out of sight before letting the shift fall away and replacing it with another.
As I’d learned in the past, I didn’t focus on the how it worked—I trusted in the System to ensure that it did things right—instead just on what I wanted done next.
My ears shifted and their location altered slightly as my hearing improved drastically, borrowing the hearing of an owl. What had sounded like a calm afternoon with distant shouts and conversation became a riot of noise and movement as my hearing sharpened abruptly.
Letting the noise wash over me, I carefully sorted through it, putting aside the noises I recognized as not important. The lub-dub of my own heart, the scratch of Rieka’s pen, the steps of the guards on the walkway below, and more. Only once I had pushed away the sounds that I didn’t need did I let my attention wander, passively monitoring my surroundings with vastly improved hearing.
First off, let’s have a look at how things stand, I thought and closed my eyes to study my System interface.
I’d been saving SP for a while now, and I’d gotten a rather large payout from the System for finishing the earlier mission to deal with the human-era ruins and remove a couple of dangerous weapons the System wanted gone. On top of that were the assorted ‘nickle-and-dime’ type missions the girls always made sure to give me whenever I was summoned to ensure that I got something for my work.
It all came together to roughly sixty-four hundred SP, give or take a few points. Which was a decent stock to work with. On top of that, I had seventeen of the pure or ‘unaspected’ mana stones, which I could cash in for 500 SP each, as well as a cluster of the pure mana stones I’d recovered from the same ruins that we’d just cleared. The cluster was half the size of my palm and quite large compared to the individual stones I had, so was probably worth a good amount too. But the other thing I had was far more important.
Tapping into my Dimensional Pocket ability, I withdrew the Power Expansion Token (Lesser) from my inventory. The token itself was simple, a round of polished crystal the size of a quarter with the name engraved on the surface in the familiar language of the daemons.
Might as well take care of this first. I already know what I’m doing with it, I thought with a smirk and clenched my hand on the token. A prompt popped up in my vision a moment later, the words written in a glowing neon-purple script.
Traveler is utilizing a Power Expansion Token.
Available targets for power:
Grant Power (Lesser)
Manipulate Element (Minor) - (Entropy)
*Intervene (Minor)
*Ward Companion (Minor)
*Traveler’s Call (Minor)
* - indicates a power with no Lesser tier. As the token only will carry a skill through the Lesser tier and not to the Moderate, additional power will be lost if these are selected.
While maxing out Grant Power would be nice, it’s ultimately not the best use. Sure, the Manipulate Element for entropy is close to leveling, but it’s been a bitch and a half to get it there, I thought grimly and pushed the option for Manipulate Element (Entropy) in the listing.
I waited a moment before an odd burning sensation welled in my chest and my vision flashed with another message.
Power Expansion Token consumed.
Power Manipulate Element (Minor) - (Entropy) has achieved Mastery 1000/1000.
New Power available in the System interface.
Congratulations, Traveler.
A moment later, the same burning sensation returned before my vision flashed again.
Power Manipulate Element (Lesser) - (Entropy) has achieved Mastery 1000/1000.
New Power available in the System interface.
Congratulations, Traveler.
Now, I already knew what to expect, but I checked the System interface anyway to make sure that it had worked the way I had expected. The entries on my Powers tab had adjusted and two more glowed the golden light of a ‘mastered’ power to indicate that they were complete, while a third one glowed cheerily as available to purchase.
I skimmed over the entry for the Manipulate Element (Lesser) rank under entropy to confirm it was the same as the one for earth before moving on to the Moderate rank:
Manipulate Element (Moderate) - Cost: 1600 SP - User has achieved competency with one of their chosen elements.
Manipulate Element (Minor) can now be used to select opposing elements though they cannot increase more than two levels below highest element (Ex - If fire is Moderate and Earth lesser, caster may select Water for Minor but not Air as Earth is only at Lesser).
This can be selected multiple times for alternate elements.
Additional Note - Effect to select opposing elements only work for the basic elements, not for the Primal elements.
Hmm, the additional note is new, but I guess it matters now that I have entropy high enough, I thought calmly. Now to see what the crystal mass does.
I dipped into my Dimensional Pocket again and produced the cluster of pure mana crystals. Holding them in my hand, I focused on them just like I had with the token earlier. Within seconds, a message blazed across my vision once more.
The Traveler has encountered a source of pure, unrefined mana.
This pure mana can either be exchanged directly for SP, or used to boost the mastery of powers that have not reached one-hundred percent mastery.
Do you wish to absorb this source?
Yes/No
Of course you aren’t going to tell me how much it’s worth, I thought grimly. I don’t know for a fact that the crystals turned to mastery don’t lose if they hit maximum mastery, but since it’s acting just like the smaller pure mana crystals, I’m going to just absorb this one to make sure I get the most out of it.
Focusing on the ‘Yes’ option, I selected it mentally and then pressed the crystal to my tongue like I had with the smaller ones.
The fizzing sensation was far stronger this time, like I’d filled my mouth with Pop-Rocks and then followed it up with a swig of soda. But like before, it faded away within three seconds and a new message blazed into place.
Does the Traveler wish to redeem for System points, or allocate power directly to improving Mastery rating?
SP / Mastery?
Without hesitating, I selected the ‘SP’ option and waited for the next message.
Traveler has been awarded 5000 SP.
“Holy shit!”
“Liam, is everything okay?” Rieka asked, her voice concerned and I blinked my eyes open again, glancing over my shoulder at her.
“Nothing! I mean… everything is fine. I just… something unexpected happened,” I explained rapidly. When Rieka continued to stare at me piercingly, I continued to explain. “Just got a bit more out of one of the crystals I had than expected. Good things only, I promise. I’ll fill you in on everything when I’m done.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Okay…” Rieka said warily before turning back to her paperwork. Despite her warning tone, I could see her tail wagging behind her, clearly happy that I had taken her advice to push for upgrades seriously.
Shit, I thought, turning back to stare down at the weather-stained stone in front of me. Another five-thousand SP puts me well into the ‘stupid to hold onto’ range of keeping SP on hand. The only question now is do I drop the SP to grab the moderate range of Manipulate Element for entropy or earth before I start crunching the other ones up for Mastery? It’d give the random chance more targets that are valuable, but also diminish the targets I want it to hit. Namely my Shape-Shifting (Major), that one is taking forever to train…
I ran my thumbnail over the stone in front of me, Shape-Shifting kicking in automatically and reinforcing the nail to a talon and leaving behind a thin white line in the dark stone.
No, I decided a long time ago that Shape-Shifting was my focus. I have seventeen stones on hand, and if I use ten of them, then that’ll leave seven in the ‘rainy day’ fund. Which is another three thousand and five hundred SP to tap into if I need it, I decided at last.
Another gesture brought the familiar spelled jar out of my storage, the small mound of glittering mana crystals piled in the bottom. I’d stored them in this jar since we found the first ones in the Shadow Mountain Research Facility, since it was specially designed to keep the mana concentrated inside the stones.
Popping the seals on the jar, I carefully tapped ten of the crystals out onto the parapet in front of me, not touching them with my bare skin. Once the ten were out, I banished the jar back into my Dimensional Pocket and picked up the first stone.
The Traveler has encountered a source of pure, unrefined mana.
This pure mana can either be exchanged directly for SP, or used to boost the mastery of powers that have not reached one-hundred percent mastery.
Do you wish to absorb this source?
Yes/No
Again I selected ‘Yes’ from the options, and pressed the stone to my tongue. When the familiar message asking where I wanted to allocate it, I selected ‘Mastery’ this time.
Allocating improved mastery, please stand by.
Mastery allocated to Traveler’s Call ability, current mastery 200/1000
Hmm, okay, so it will call them out as I work through them if it doesn’t max it out. Got it, I thought before stepping through each stone one by one, keeping a mental track of what happened to which one.
It only took a minute and I mentally reviewed my new ability rankings:
Shape-Shifting (Major) [Mastery 924/1000]
Ward Companion (Minor) [Mastery 720/1000]
Dimensional Pocket (Moderate) [Mastery 612/1000]
Tunnel to Contracted (Unranked) [Mastery 823/1000]
Traveler’s Call (Minor) [Mastery 400/1000]
Not bad, I thought with a grim smile. Do I roll the dice again to see if I can max out Shape-Shifting (Major) though? I only need one more to land on it…
Deciding to not just trust in my own luck, I straightened and walked back over to where Rieka was working. My wolfish princess was focusing on her notes, trusting in me to keep watch while she did this, but her pointed ears wiggled when I got closer and she looked up at me.
“Liam?” Rieka asked curiously, but I didn’t say anything.
Bending down, I stole a kiss from her lips without hesitating. Rieka stiffened suddenly and moaned quietly into my mouth, her pen clattering to the table and her fingers tangling in my shirt to pull me close.
Our lips danced for several long moments, savoring the feel and taste of each other until I had to release Rieka so she could breathe.
Panting, Rieka stared up at me with flushed cheeks and a pout on her lips.
“What was that for?” Rieka asked, petulantly. One hand fanned at her blushing face to try and cool down her flaming cheeks.
“Just wanted a bit of luck, since I’m gambling with power at the moment,” I said with a wink. “How far should I push my luck?”
“I’m the lucky one here,” Rieka mumbled, her pout melting into a smile. “We all lucked out when you showed up in that summoning circle the first night.”
I couldn’t really argue with Rieka at that, so I just smiled down at her and drew the jar out of my Dimensional Pocket once more.
Opening the container, I shook a single pure mana stone into my pocket and popped it into my mouth while Rieka watched, her smile turning bemused now.
Navigating through the windows as they popped up, I felt the ripple of energy flow through me, then the message popped into my vision:
Allocating improved mastery, please stand by.
Mastery allocated between the two powers the Traveler possesses that have not been fully mastered.
Power Shape-Shifting (Major) has achieved Mastery 1000/1000.
New Powers available in the System interface.
Congratulations, Traveler.
“Brilliant,” I murmured. Rieka gave a quiet hmph and scowled up at me playfully, crossing her arms under her full bust while she pouted in my direction.
“Going to explain yet?” she asked pointedly, but I could see the smile tugging on the edges of her mouth while her tail whipped back and forth happily behind her.
“In a bit. Just finishing everything off, that way I can tell you the whole news all at once,” I promised.
Before I went back to my watchpost, I bent to give her another kiss and had to dance out of the way of a smack to my ass when I turned away.
Back at my post, I focused on my interface once more and navigated to the Powers menu once more. The gamble had paid off, and I still had six more of the pure mana stones left for now.
Lets see what’s next for Shape-Shifting! I thought with gusto and skimmed for the new entry that was waiting.
Shape-Shifting (Master) - Cost: 25600 SP - Magical creature’s features are now available, including humanoids. Supernatural powers are available. Increased base mass limited to double the casters base mass (before modifiers).
Oh hell yeah, I thought with a grin. Double my base mass, with my modifiers would put me at six times my base mass, which puts me solidly over a thousand pounds to work with. I can already hit a grizzly bear in weight, but over a thousand pounds puts me into the range of those four-legged tanks, the moose and the polar bear. And what does it mean by ‘supernatural powers are available’ as well?
Supernatural powers would allow the Traveler to perform such acts as breathing fire when assuming the form of a dragon, or kindling fur to flames when taking the shape of a hell-hound. This is in addition to your abilities channeled through the Shape-Shifting (Elemental-Alignment) power that allows you to imbue your spells into your form.
The Master tier of any ability is considered the pinnacle of that talent, and reaching it will mark a milestone in your journey as a Traveler.
Congratulations in advance, Traveler.
The System’s response to my mental question flared and vanished once more, leaving me behind to think it over.
I already have a lot of power in Shape-Shifting with just the major level set. I fucked up a bit with this, since I’ve got less than half the points needed to buy the Master tier, I thought to myself. Then again, if I’d absorbed all seventeen stones earlier I would have only gotten an additional eight thousand and five hundred SP. Not enough to put me over the line to be able to afford it, but that would have put me around… twenty thousand?
I stared down at the parapet in thought for several moments before closing my eyes and studying the abilities available. I’d let my Elemental Alignment powers stagnate for quite a while, but with the distant goal of the Master tier of Shape-Shifting to reach for, it was time to start growing my other powers.
I made several selections, purchasing a total of three new powers. Two that I’d been eyeballing but holding off on, and one that I’d forgotten completely.
I got the Moderate rank for Manipulate Element for both earth and entropy, both abilities I intended to continue refining. Earth because it was such a great utility power and entropy because it was a great ace-in-the-hole to have.
Also because I really wanted to explore things with Cariad, and if my control over entropic energy increased then my ability to channel it protectively into my skin—and thus touch my daemon friend safely—would also increase.
Lastly, I bought a utility power that I’d totally forgotten about, but had been sitting there calmly next to the Major rank of Shape-Shifting since it had unlocked. The cost was expensive, but it would also allow me to start wearing armor again.
Shape-Shifting (Integration) - Cost: 500 SP - When assuming a non-native form that would damage clothing or worn items, the System will temporarily store said items until the user returns to their natural form. Items stored in this fashion do not count towards totals for dimensional storage powers, as the only way the item can be recovered is to return to your native form.
There, that’ll prevent any more ‘costume failures’ and I can look at getting armor again. Just have to maintain the situational awareness to track when the armor vanishes, I thought with a grin. More tricks in the toolkit to work with. So I spent three thousand and seven hundred SP, leaving me with…
I paused to check the readout and get the exact numbers.
Seven thousand, six hundred and ninety-six SP. So I’ve got about eighteen-thousand SP to save up for it. The only other option is stat-boosting, which I could also make some good headway with, but my stats are already ridiculous. Something to ask Cerebaton and Cariad about, I thought.
Wanting to test something out, I focused inwards and gave the mana in my Mana Reservoir a tug, channeling it outwards and into a familiar entropy spell.
A quiet rushing and humming noise twigged on the edge of my advanced hearing as the scintillating ball of neon purple energy formed in the air above my hand. The little knot of consuming energy would have previously devoured my Mana Reservoir’s contents with abandon, but now the tugging, rushing sensation was manageable. It still wasn’t cheap, but it wasn’t as bad as it had been.
That bodes well then, I thought with a grin, letting the spell vanish without damaging anything. Maybe I’ll get a chance to hold her hand! Ooh, how risqué!
Smothering a laugh, I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. The fresh air of the mountains filled my lungs and I felt like a weight had come off my shoulders that I hadn’t really realized was there. The fact that I had a plan and purpose for the remaining seven-odd thousand SP on hand was relieving, and I could also focus clearly knowing what waited for me at the Master tier for Shape-Shifting.
Turning back to Rieka, I found my princess watching me with a mysterious smile, her tail flicking slowly back and forth as she watched me, this time not hiding the fact she’d been staring.
“Finally done enough to tell me what’s up?” Rieka asked, arching one slender eyebrow delicately as she waited.
I opened my mouth to speak, but another flash of light around the edges of my vision accompanied by the gentle hum of one of my bond-tattoos warned me of a message coming in. I blinked my eyes closed to check it, and had to smother another laugh.
Rieka made a questioning noise and I opened my eyes again, hurrying over to where my lover sat waiting expectantly.
“I just got a message from your mother. Apparently, your summary earlier is correct. She’s dispatching troops to escort the students home, and we should expect to see official orders coming down from Valda’s mother in their capital soon!”
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