The Land: Catacombs (Chaos Seeds Book 4) (27 page)

TRING!

You have reached level 28! 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.

You familiar has reached level 22!

You familiar has reached level 23!

You familiar has reached level 24!

Richter held off on opening the next prompt.  He was delighted that both he and Alma had leveled thanks to the battle, but it also reminded him that he had been putting off allocating the points from his earlier levels.  This was his last night before his stats would be randomly allocated.  He promised himself that it would happen before he slept.  He wanted to know what he could do with Alma’s points right now though.  Richter accessed her status page.

Richter saw that with the points he had, he could increase either her
Psi Bond
or
Psi Blast
once.  If he waited another two levels he would be able to level her
Brain Drain
again, but that just didn’t appeal to him.  The power of her
Psi Blast
was amazing and advancing it to level two had let her deal direct health damage with the ability.  Level three might unlock another effect.  More than anything, though, he loved how much… MORE she was since the
Psi Bond
had been increased.  She had been little more than a pet at first, but now she was like a cherished friend.  Richter shook his head and realized it was actually more than that.  She was family.  That thought helped him decide what to do.

*
Come here, my love.  I would like to see you,
* he sent.

She immediately flew down towards him.  Richter raised his arm and sent a mental image of her alighting upon it like a hawk.  She beat her wings to slow when she reached him and then gracefully landed.  Her tail wrapped around his wrist for stability and then her little face stared into his own, her draconian eyes full of love and affection.

*
You have gotten stronger, my love.  In the past, I have always made this decision for you, but you are so much more than you used to be.  I think you should help to decide how you develop.  So I am asking, what would you like me to do?
*

The dragonling continued to stare at him without moving for several minutes.  Everyone else knew there was something going on with their liege and his familiar, but since Richter didn’t call out and his steps didn’t falter, they just let him be.  Finally though, Alma did speak inside of his mind. *
I trust my master.
*

Her tone was full of love, but Richter thought he also detected a bit of hesitance.  He prompted her to continue.  After another minute she sent, *
I like eating minds.  It feels good.  It makes us strong.  I like help too.  I hurt master’s enemies.  I keep master safe.
*  She stopped transmitting, but he felt she had more to say.  He kept walking, holding her up, and looked into her small face. 

When she spoke again, there was more strength to her thoughts. *
I like these things.  I love knowing myself.  I love knowing master.  I
love
my master.
*  She extended her neck forward and licked his cheek.  Richter smiled at his familiar, love blossoming in his heart.  The answer was clear.  He allocated her points and confirmed his decision.

You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability:
Psi Bond
to level 4.  Your familiar’s base innate intellect is increased by 75%.  She can now communicate in eight-word sentences.  Her base Intelligence and Wisdom are also increased by 45%.  Your familiar’s Psi Bond has advanced to being able to form a psychic connection even with those lacking the Psi Bond ability.  You will also benefit from this stronger tie to your familiar.  Your mental resistance from Psi Bond has increased to 30%.  Maximum distance of communication increased from 750 yards to 1000 yards.  Finally, the improved Psi Bond stabilizes your own mental fortitude.  Tasks which require strength of mind will now come easier.

Richter continued to stare into Alma’s eyes and what he saw took his breath away.  He stopped walking without realizing it, the rest of the party halting as well.  As the dragonling continued to look at him, her gaze deepened.  Gone was the unquestioning devotion he had seen a moment before.  In its place was love tempered with increased self-awareness.  Richter felt like he had watched her grow from a child to a young adult in the blink of an eye.  Even her tone was more measured in his mind and also distinctly more feminine.

*
Thank you, Master.  Few dragonlings ever reach this level of thought.  My world is violent.  The only law is eat or be eaten.  You have set my mind free.  My consciousness is exploding with new ideas.  I understand so much more now than I did before…* 
She stopped for a second as she seemed to reflect on the mysteries that her mind was now unraveling.  She stretched her wings, then hopped from his arm up to his shoulders.  *
I love you, Master.  I will be with you to death.  Then I will follow through to the beyond.*

Richter was moved by the depth of her sentiment.  As she settled her body onto his shoulders, he felt her chest rise and fall against the back of his neck.  *
I love you too, Alma.
*  The expansion of her mental capabilities had clearly worn the dragonling out because she fell asleep on his shoulders without another word.  Richter started walking again and addressed the rest of his prompts. 

You have trapped the soul of a
River Skath
!  Soul level: Common.

You have trapped the soul of a
River Skath
!  Soul level: Common.

You have trapped the soul of a
Bull River Skath
!  Soul level: Higher.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 16 in
Tracking
.  +1% attack bonus vs individual prey.  You can follow older tracks.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 9 in
Small Blades
.  +2% attack speed.  +2% bonus to damage.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 12 in
Light Armor
. +2% to defense of all light armor.

Congratulations! You have reached subskill level 9 in
Grace in Combat
.  Dodge increased by 15%.

Congratulations! You have reached skill level 8 in
Dual Casting
…  total spell power increased by 232%… mana drain decreased to 268%…

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 9 in
Fire Magic
.  New spells are now available.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 13 in
Air Magic
.  New spells are now available.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 4 in
War Leader
.  +1% effective distance.  +1% attack and defense for all allies.

Congratulations!  You have reached skill level 5 in
War Leader
.  +1% effective distance.  +1% attack and defense for all allies.

Congratulations!  Your war party survived a surprise attack from a superior force without taking any casualties.  Your party has been awarded the Promotion:
Vigilant I
.  +5% to perception of future hidden enemies.  +5% to response time to future surprise attacks. 

You have unlocked your first Challenge:
Leave No Man Behind I
!  Survive a total of five battles with common soul enemies or higher without losing a single party member.  Fail Condition(s): Adding new party member.  Death of a party member.  Reward: Thirty War Points.

Know This!  War Points are awarded based upon the soul level of slain enemies. 

For slaying seventeen River Skath and one Bull River Skath you have been awarded seventy-three War Points!  Total War Points: 77.

Congratulations!  You can purchase your first Badge!  At the rank of Novice in your War Leader skill you have access to the following promotions.

Richter smiled.  The War Leader skill just got better and better!  The question now was which Badge to buy.  If it followed the same logic as everything else in The Land, then successive levels would require more points.  It looked like he would earn more war points for each enemy that was slain by any member of his war party, though, so technically there were an unlimited number of points that he could collect.  That meant he had some leeway with his investing.  He had already collected over seventy points on his first trip out, after all.  On the other hand, there didn’t seem to be any time limit imposed on when he had to spend the points, so there really wasn’t any rush.  Richter shrugged and decided to spend ten points just to see what would happen.

He selected “Magical Attack I.”  As soon as he had, another prompt came up asking which magical school he would like to choose.  The options were Life, Air, Water, Fire, Earth, and Death.  He wondered at the lack of Light and Dark magic, but then he reexamined the fine print under the description and saw that only spell schools that had been used during battle were eligible.  Plenty of healing spells had been used, which covered Life. 
Haste I
had been cast continually and Richter had summoned the saproling, which accounted for Air and Earth.  He had also cast
Slow I
and
Ice Dagger I
so he understood Water being available. 

The fact that he could choose Death just confirmed what he had already suspected.  Beyan was a Death mage.  The skull attack spell didn’t seem like it could come from any other school, and the skaths that had attacked the bull had received grievous wounds without any reaction.  The only question now was why Beyan had tried to hide his magical ability.  Richter resolved to get to the bottom of it, but right now the prompt was still hovering in his vision. 

Richter decided to choose Life attack.  It was true that there weren’t many offensive spells in the spell class, but
Charm I
remained an amazing spell when fighting sentients.  Of course it was only useful if it worked, and his Life magi would be lacking his 50% bonus to spell power.  The extra 5% could make the difference between victory and death.  And hey, it was only ten points. 

You have chosen Magical Attack I (Life).  Life attack spells will be 5% stronger.  This badge will not take effect until you dissolve your current War Party and form another. 

Well there it is, Richter thought sourly.  There always seemed to be some form of check and balance in The Land.  True, he could wait as long as he wanted to spend his war points, but they would only be effective when he made a new war party.  Since he could only do that once every twenty-four hours, it basically put a day-long cooldown on his ability to use new badges.  Still, if he thought ahead, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, he realized.  Richter kept going through his prompts. 

You have unlocked:
Magical Attack II (Life)
.

Richter brought up the table of badge promotions with a bit of mental flexing and saw that it had changed slightly.  Magical Attack II (Life) was present now and it would provide an additional 5% to spell strength.  Like he had suspected, though, buying this next badge would cost him 20 points as opposed to the original 10.  Magical Attack I was still present for the same 10 points, presumably for the other spell school badges he hadn’t bought yet. 

Satisfied with the results of his experiment, he dismissed the remaining notifications and just enjoyed walking through the forest with his people.  Apparently, Sion checked his prompts a short while later because he excitedly asked about the Vigilant I promotion.  The other members of the war party checked afterwards and asked what it meant, which prompted Terrod to explain what he knew about badges and promotions for the second time.  Richter smiled as he walked.  He felt peace replacing tension and he simply enjoyed his people, the cadence of their simple conversation, and the gentle sounds of the forest.