B01DCAV4W2 (S) (41 page)

The sun was down well before they reached the mists, but Richter was able to light the way with his magic.  Despite the fact that everyone was exhausted, no one wanted to stop before reaching the safety of the village.  Their pace was seriously slowed by his villager with the broken leg, but he didn’t complain once, so they just slowly trudged onwards.

They walked well into the night until they finally reached the mists.  Once they did, Richter summoned two mist workers, one to carry Barden’s body and the other to carry the hobbled villager.  The man complained slightly at being picked up, but quieted when he saw the look on Richter’s face.  The chaos seed was just ready to be home!  To further that end, he gave immunity to Kenzo and five other sprites.  The captain sent the rest of his people back to the Hearth Tree to share a detailed report of the intelligence he had gained from the Ranger.  The rest of the party continued onward. 

Before they had gone two miles Futen came along in response to a mental call Richter had sent out as soon as they had reached the mists.  With the remnant’s light boosted to maximum, traveling became much easier.  The party increased their speed somewhat as they did their best to cross the remaining miles.  As Richter walked, he dealt with his notifications.

You have been award 6,614 (base 105,824 x 0.05 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 14 Bugbear Raider.

You have been award 3,265 (base 52,243 x 0.05 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 10 Bugbear.

You have been award 2,745 (base 43,916 x 0.05 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 9 Bugbear.

You have been award 4,649 (base 74,387 x 0.05 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 12 Bugbear.

You have been award 2,876 (base 46,009 x 0.05 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 10 Bugbear.

You have been award 1,848 (base 29,562 x 0.05 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 8 Bugbear.

You have been award 32,774 (base 524,381 x 0.05 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 26 Bugbear Ranger.

Your familiar has reached level 20!

You familiar has reached level 21!

TRING!

You have reached level 24! Through hard work you have moved forward along your path. As a Chaos Seed, you gain 6 points to distribute to characteristics instead of the usual 4. You also get 25% advancement to the skill of your choice! Crush your enemies, honor your allies, LIVE!

TRING!

You have reached level 25! Through hard work you have moved forward along your path. As a Chaos Seed, you gain 6 points to distribute to characteristics instead of the usual 4. You also get 25% advancement to the skill of your choice! Crush your enemies, honor your allies, LIVE!

You have either characteristic points or skill percentage points to allocate from the previous level. Now that you have progressed again, you must allocate your points within the next week or they will randomly be assigned for you.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 9 in Analyze. 

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 15 in Tracking.  +1% attack bonus vs individual prey.  You can follow older tracks.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 11 in Archery. +2% bonus to aim. +2% bonus to damage.

Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 7 in Imbue Arrow. +5% damage. +5% speed of mana flow.

Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 4 in Focus. Zoom increased by 0.1x.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 6 in Small Blades.  +2% attack speed.  +2% bonus to damage.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 6 in Dual Casting.  The spell power of a dual casting is doubled at skill level one.  Advancing in this skill will increase this bonus by 2% per skill level.  At this level, total spell power increased by 224%.  Mana cost of each individual spell increased by 300% (Cost decreased by 4x skill level).  At this level, mana drain increased by 276%.  Chance of spell miscast decreased by increasing this skill.  This number is affected directly by spell level and caster’s proficiency in that branch of magic.   

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 12 in Air Magic.  New spells are now available.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 7 in Life Magic.  New spells are now available.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 8 in Dark Magic.  New spells are now available.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 7 in Light Magic.  New spells are now available.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 6 in Fire Magic.  New spells are now available.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 2 in War Leader.  +1% effective distance.  +1% attack and defense for all allies.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 3 in War Leader.  +1% effective distance.  +1% attack and defense for all allies.

Know this!  You have saved some of your villagers from certain death.  Loyalty of those villagers increased by +300 each.  Relationship with those villagers increased to Loyal.

Dismissing all of his prompts, Richter decided to hold off on allocating the points for his levels.  He did do something he had been putting off though, and invested one point into Alma’s Psi Blast.

You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability: Psi Blast to level 2.  The mental disruption caused will now also cause direct health damage.  The 2-4 second stun effect is increased to 5-7 seconds.  The initial AoE of 10 feet can be increased to 15 feet with a corresponding drop in the blast’s effectiveness or narrowed to five feet with an increase in the blast’s effectiveness.  Cooldown decreased to four minutes.

Alma did a loop in the air and blasted her improved
Psi Blast
straight up into the air.  She didn’t hurt anything, but it was clear that his familiar enjoyed the fact that she was now carrying a bigger stick!  Alma seemed to be the only member of the group that wasn’t completely exhausted.  Richter smiled at his familiar, and her exuberance helped to ease his mood.  With everything that had happened, he decided to take a look at his status page.

That done, and with Barden’s body no longer physically weighing on him, he felt free to discuss certain matters with his villagers.  They told him that several groups like their own had been created by Terrod.  Each group was comprised of two melee fighters, two ranged fighters, and one of the Air mages Richter had created.  He nodded at the wisdom in that, though he still intended to have words with his Companion regarding discipline.  While his people needed to get tougher, they just weren’t ready to venture past the mists yet. 

After several more hours, dawn broke, and not long after, Richter came over a last rise and saw his village for the first time in a week.  The farms lay to the south and the pastures lay to the southwest, just as he remembered them.  He watched both being worked by his villagers.  Men and women weeded the fields, watered the plants and tended the livestock.  Mist workers toiled silently to dig the trench surrounding the farms.  Beyond the farms, the earthwork walls were slowly being converted into walls of marbled quartz.  Even now, Richter could see a mist worker carrying a rectangular block the size of an ice chest toward an empty section.  

Five ships were anchored in the river to the west, but his escort did not seem surprised or upset about seeing them.  He assumed the trade delegation had come back, but why it was still here or why there were extra ships was beyond him, so Richter let it go for now.  Besides, he was overcome with gazing upon the beauty before him.  Beyond the village proper, he looked up at the hill that rose to the north with a backdrop of mountains.  Green trees lined the edge of the hill, but Richter could see a flash of silver and white as well.  He smiled.  It was good to be home. 

He said goodbye to Kenzo and the other sprites who were anxious to be home.  Kenzo was eager to personally speak to the elders about what he had learned.  Richter thanked him one last time, and then they parted company.  As he walked through the fields, his people shouted out.  They came over and welcomed him back with smiles and happy greetings.  Richter stopped for a second to connect with his villagers, but he didn’t wait long.  He had to find out what had been happening while he was gone. 

He was surprised to see two villagers, a human and gnome, standing guard at the gates.  Each was wearing a conical helmet, shining new chain mail, and had a round high steel shield.  Both also held a spear with a high steel head.  The gnome’s weapon was sized slightly smaller to fit his shorter stature.  The guards slapped their fists to their chests and nodded their heads slightly.  A firm “Milord” issued from both of their mouths.  Somewhat taken aback by their formal tone, he nonetheless gave a nod in return before walking into the village.  

Richter turned to Futen.  “Go as quickly as you can to the Great Seal.  Randolphus will almost definitely be there this time of day.  Tell him to wait for me.  Then go and find Sumiko and tell her we have an injured man who needs help.  The mist workers will carry him to the base of the catacombs.  Then find Quasea, Zarr, Ulinde, Terrod, Sion, Krom, Roswan, Shivona and Basil and have then meet me at the Great Seal.  Lady Hisako isn’t in the village is she?” 

“No, my Lord.”

“Then gather the rest and join me in the room off of the Great Seal when you are done.”

“Yes, my Lord,” came the deadpan reply.  The remnant moved quickly away. 

Richter kept walking towards the slope that led to the Great Seal.  More villagers cheered his return, and he also came across more guards equipped the same as the ones at the gate.  Each saluted him by clapping a first over their hearts.  Clearly some things had changed while he was gone.

Two guards had been placed at the entrance to the catacombs.  Richter nodded to each as he walked by.  He walked down the tunnel and made his way into the room of the Great Seal.  Seeing the physical representation of his power again, he stopped and took a moment to gaze at it.  Two of the four spirals showed signs of power and life, just as they had since he had awakened his second power.  They pulsed and flashed with rich and powerful magic.  It made the contrast of the other two even more striking.  The spirals of Dark and Water magic remained only cold inert tile. 

Awakening his other powers had to be a priority, but there was just so much else to do!  Richter suddenly felt the heavy weight of his responsibilities.  He had to conquer levels of the catacombs, he had to persuade the dwarves to fight against the bugbears, he had to deal with the scourge, he had to rescue more of the nonhumans from Yves, protect his people from Count Stonuk, deal with Ronin and the Night Blades and now maybe even the Ouroboros assassin guild.  It seemed like there was always more and More and MORE! 

Richter closed his eyes and breathed a deep breath.  He struggled to find his center.  He couldn’t allow himself to be crushed under the worries of tomorrow.  Richter had been taught at an early age that every insurmountable large problem was just a series of smaller problems that could be conquered.  What was important, was that he not give up.  He took another deep breath and the moment of self-doubt and pity passed.  When he opened his eyes, he saw that Randolphus was looking at him.