Tsaimath
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Chapter 670
🕑 Added 2022-11-21 17:09:36 +0000 UTC- Basic Overview
- Name Samantha Jade Jacobs
- Race Emerging Firn-Elf
- Level 1
- Health 141
- Astral Power 221 (Magical Hair 74)
- Stamina 141
- Divine Power -
- Strength 10
- Agiility 14
- Dexterity 12
- Intelligence 17
- Intuition 16
- Charisma 9
- Courage 13
- Endurance 11
- Vitality 12
Looking at my character-sheet, as ridiculous as the idea to reduce my entire existence into a few numbers, I could only shake my head. The numbers looked very much like those I had gained at the beginning of the Beta, maybe one or two points off, but it had been a while. My name was there, but what “Emerging Firn-Elf” meant, I had no idea. But the familiar image was yet another indication that whatever happened to reality around me was linked to Road to Purgatory, but whether the “game” had been a link to another world or some sort of divine illusion, I had no idea. Either way, reality around me was no game and I highly doubted there would be a respawn. So, survival was my first priority, with gaining power to ensure my continued survival and freedom as a linked secondary objective. A world quest, so to speak.
Focusing again, I opened up the other notifications I had received, curious about what had come with the “Legacy of Morgana” that I had received.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Legacy of Morgana
- You follow a Path you travelled before. Skill-Gains for skills you learned before are increased and some traits of a prior life linger.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Sun Cursed
- For the deeds of Morgana, you have been struck with the Curse of the Sun. The Light of the Sun greatly weakens you.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Moon Blessed
- For the deeds of Morgana, you have been Blessed by Hecate.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Dragon-Touched
- The Touch of a Dragon lingers on your Soul. Your body will slowly change and you may call on the Flames of your Elder to augment your own.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Raven’s Shadow
- A long bond with the Raven has left a Shadow on you. You can use one of your bond's abilities, though doing so will be exhausting.
For a moment, I could only stare at the long list of blue boxes, not fully taking them in. There were many of them, almost all familiar, though some not. Sun Cursed, Moon Blessed, Dragon Touched, Raven’s Shadow and Emerging Race, those were new. Guessing where most of them came from was quite easy.
Sun Cursed was trivial. As Morgana, I had shattered the Soul Prison and unleashed the Nidhögg, a being that had been sealed by Sunna, the Goddess of the Sun and at the end, Morgana had been burned away by the light of the sun, likely in a clash between the Nidhögg and the Goddess, or some sort of divine agent. Either way, that Sunna might have a bone to pick with me was to be expected and having a Curse as part of Morgana’s legacy was something I would have to bear.
Raven’s Shadow was even more obvious than Sun Cursed. Morgana and Lenore had spent almost two years closely bonded, even merging together as one at times. Even without the trait, I knew the contact had changed me, this only made it more obvious. Though I was curious whether I would be able to use the Universal Understanding or her magic sight, either would be an incredible boon, depending on what was coming for me.
Moon Blessed was a little less straightforward, but what I remembered of Hecate indicated that she was less concerned with the world, but interested in Magic. Giving a Mortal who managed to unleash magic on the level I had managed with the help of the Nexus her blessing wasn’t too surprising. Especially as there had been that title, oh, so long ago, that had indicated that the Goddess of Magic had taken note of me. This might be an outcropping of it, but I wasn’t certain. It might also be simply some sort of investment, trying to claim me, as I was confident that I would be one of the strongest spellcasters, eventually. Or I would be dead, but that was always a risk.
Lastly, Dragon Touched. It undoubtedly came from Nidhögg and I remembered his last words to me, promising his ‘Little Sister’, as he had called me for some reason, that I would receive my reward in the next world. I hadn’t thought much about it and only now, with the good, old hindsight goggles, I was able to make a bit of sense of it. There were still a lot of missing details, for example why the Ancient Dragon had called me sister, but I would take the trait, not that I had a choice about it.
- Special Ability gained
- You gained the Special Ability: Overflow
- For having Intelligence of 15 at your level, you gained the skill Overflow. Overflow allows you to let your Astral Power burst forth, the charge a spell beyond the maximum, increasing its effect. Most spells however can only take a limited extra charge before shattering with unpredictable consequences.
- Special Ability gained
- You gained the Special Ability: Bullet Time
- For having Intuition of 15 at your level, you gained the skill Bullet Time. Bullet Time allows you to boost your mind to the maximum, decreasing your perceived flow of time, giving you more time to plan out your actions. Note that this does not increase your physical speed. The duration depends on your Intuition, your Intelligence and your remaining Stamina and is not known beforehand.
Two of my foundational Special Abilities, simply for being who I was. They would serve me well, that, I was confident off.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Natural Mage
- Natural Mages have an inborn connection to certain elements, which allows them to gain an understanding of the true runes of that element. This allows them to read those runes and create new combinations, that become the 'spells' of later generations.
- You gain the Special Abilities: [Rune Meditation], [Rune Comprehension]
- You gain the Traits: [Rune Affinity: Ice], [Rune Affinity: Darkness], [Rune Affinity: Blood]
- Special Ability gained
- You gained the Special Ability: Rune Meditation
- Allows you to meditate on Runes, possibly increasing your Affinity with them or inferring different runes of the same type. The ability to infer runes depends on your Affinity and the specific Rune-Magic Skill
- Special Ability gained
- You gained the Special Ability: Rune Comprehension
- Allows you to gain understanding on the meaning of Runes. You need to either draw, see or meditate on the runes to understand them. The complexity of the runes you can comprehend depends on your Rune Affinity and the specific Rune Magic-Skill.
- Special Ability gained
- You gained a Special Ability: Rune Triangle
- For being a Natural Mage and reaching 10 Intelligence at your level, you gain the ability to link three Runes into a single spell. This is the basic form of rune magic.
- Special Ability gained
- You gained a Special Ability: Rune Pentagon
- For being a Natural Mage and reaching 15 Intelligence at your level, you gain the ability to link five Runes into a single spell, increasing their possible uses.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: [Rune Affinity: Ice]
- This trait grants you an understanding of runes regarding the element Ice. The element Ice stands for freezing, solitude, calculated action and eternity.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: [Rune Affinity: Darkness]
- This trait grants you an understanding of runes regarding the element Darkness. The element Darkness stands for concealment, uncertainty, devouring and change.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: [Rune Affinity: Blood]
- This trait grants you an understanding of runes regarding the element Blood. The element Blood stands for sacrifice, regeneration and the cycle of life.
Seeing the Natural Mage Trait, I began to wonder. Where did it come from? In Road to Purgatory, I had gained it via those odd, floating runes, but in reality? Was it simply an accident of birth, or was there something else going on? Either way, it was an incredibly powerful trait, allowing me to easily step onto the Arcane Path once again, following the footsteps of Morgana.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Ruthless
- You don't hesitate to do what you have to do to reach your goals
Your allies are less likely to trust you to guard their back.
The Ruthless Trait, maybe one of my most defining ones. By now, I had a bit of an idea of what it signified, the stark contrast between the treatment of those I considered “Mine” and the “Others”. For those closest to me, I was willing to destroy the world, while those further from my heart, could be easily sacrificed. Even now, I had no idea what had actually happened to Adra and Rai, after the battle that had cost Sigmir’s life. Their situation had simply ceased to be of interest to me, in the pursuit of my Vengeance for Sigmir’s death.
- Race gained
- You are emerging as a Firn-Elf.
- You are one of the few existing Firn-Elves, a product of the experiments of a mad god on a distant world. Nobody knows how many there are or where you came from, or if there are more like you in this world. Rumours have it that the mad god not only used the blood Jötun in his experiments but also his own blood that has spawned many a monster in the past.
- You gain Attributes: +2 Intelligence, +1 Intuition, -1 Charisma, +1 Agility, -1 Endurance, -1 Strength.
- You gain traits: [Frost-Resistance], [Lowlight Vision], [Denizen of the Dark], [Denizen of the Eternal Ice], [Heat-Sensitive],[Glare Sensitivity]
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Emerging Race
- Your Race is new to this World. Your physical characteristics have changed and will slowly emerge over the next thirty days.
Looking at the Notification that my race had changed, I was a little stunned, my hands automatically going up to my ears. They were still human, for now, but only thanks to the Emerging Race Trait. It was giving me a thirty-day grace period, for which I was grateful. Maybe my ability to speak my language would be gone at the end of it, replaced by the ancient Jotun dialect Firn Elves were speaking. What would that even do to me, changing the very foundation of my mental processes? Would I even notice if my thoughts were no longer in the familiar language, or would I only realise it when speaking to somebody else?
Even as a shudder went through me at the idea, I realised, it could be much worse. How would someone who had picked a Centaur feel? Maybe happy because they would grow a horse… Well, unless they were female. But what about a female who had decided to play a male character, just to see how it felt? Or the other way around? Luckily, Morgana had been physically almost identical to me, with only minor alterations that wouldn’t throw me off too much.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Frost-Resistance
- You are used to a cold and chilly climate. Arctic cold is no danger to you and magical cold deals reduced damage.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Lowlight Vision
- Your Ancestors lived underground and did not need light to live. That trait is weaker in you but your vision is strong enough to make you able to see normally in dim or gloomy light. The total absence of light or magical darkness robs you of your sight like everyone else.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Denizen of the Dark
- Your people lived in the Darkness for a long time, they became accustomed to it, melding with it, taking it into their very souls. All magic with of the Darkness-Element costs less.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Denizen of the Eternal Ice
- Your people lived in the eternal Ice of the North for a long time, they became accustomed to it, melding with it, taking it into their very souls. All magic of the Ice-Element costs less.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Heat-Sensitive
- You are not used to hot climate. In hot climates, you suffer from increased Stamina consumption and magical heat deals more damage.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Glare Sensitivity
- Your eyes are used to low light conditions, sudden, strong glares will disorient you and cause intense pain. Your eyes are unable to adapt to extremely strong light sources.
These were all the Traits of a Firn Elf. I wasn’t sure if they would instantly activate or if they would slowly come into effect, over those thirty days. Given that my night-vision wasn’t at the level it had been on Mundus, I was guessing it would take some time. But I couldn’t know for sure.
- Class gained: Sorcerer
- Sorcerers don't have class skills. They are however able to define their own skills by trial and error, formalizing them and gaining class bonuses on such self-created abilities.
- You gained a Special Ability: [Spell Crafting]
- Special Ability gained
- You gained the Special Ability: Spell Crafting
- This ability allows you to create and formalize your own spells. Formal spells can be cast easier, trained and simplified, increasing their potential and making it easier to teach them to others. A spell can be based on runes, gestures, chants or for very advanced Sorcerer even thought itself.
The notification that I had gained my class brought a grin to my face. It was the most barebones class for Spellcasters, giving me little outright, just the tools to explore my own magic. It might just be perfect for this changed world, given that I doubted there would be any convenient, magical library just popping up. Maybe the Gods could help, but I had a feeling their help would be focused on the various Clerics and similar folks out there.
- You gained the trait: Magical Hair
- Your hair is able to store up to 33% of your total Astral Power, in effect increasing your pool by that amount. You need to have at least twenty inches of hair to store the maximum amount and if your hair is cut, you lose the stored power.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Astral Power III
- You can store extra Astral Power within your body. This increases the maximum stored amount of Astral power by 33%
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Astral Regeneration III
- Your connection to the Astral Rivers flowing through the world is especially close. You regenerate Astral Power 75% faster. That regeneration is always active.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: The Road is my Teacher
- You are able to learn skills 25% faster without a teacher
You are able to learn Special Abilities easier by discovering them yourself.
When learning from a teacher, skills train 25% slower.
You are unable to learn Special Abilities from a teacher.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Unbound
- You belong to no Country or Creed.
- Maximum starting reputation with any large faction is Neutral.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Outsider
- You don't belong. Even among your own people, you are the one who doesn't fit. People are more suspicious of you, making you the prime suspect if something bad happens.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Child of the Wild
- You were quite literally raised by wolves. You don't belong to any family, tribe or community.
- You have no starting faction.
- Trait gained
- You gained the trait: Lone Traveller
- You walk the world alone, or with only your closest companions by your side.
- When in a group with unmarked people, you gain 10% less experience.
- When alone or in a group with those you have marked, you gain 10% more experience.
- The number of people you can mark depends on your level. Current number of marks: 0
- After using a mark, you regain it during the full moon.
And that left me with the various traits I had taken when creating Morgana. Back then, I had been trying to get as much power as possible, taking a lot of negative social traits to buy off the positive ones. It had felt like a good idea, I hadn’t been in a good place back then, angry about having been forced to leave the team I had founded and not wanting to have anything to do with other players. Seeing a trait like Lone Traveller had only strengthened that idea, to work with the Natives as opposed to other Travellers. And it had worked, too, giving me some incredibly strong traits without too many problems, some of them mitigated by luck, like my starting location, others by virtue of class choice, the Sorcerer not really needing someone to teach them.
But now, all those choices were coming back to haunt me. I had no idea how some of the traits would manifest in this world, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to find out. Child of the Wild, for example, might just not do anything, as my parents had left this world years ago, so did a trait that said I had no family matter? There were a few distant relatives who I hadn’t talked to in years who might no longer recognise me as family, as opposed to not recognising me at all, due to not knowing me, but other than that? I just didn’t know.
Similarly, what did it mean to belong to a creed or country, given that it didn’t look like countries would be able to endure the situation I had been seeing all around me? So far, I had not lost my ability to speak English, but maybe in the future? That was not a cheery thought. Or maybe I was jumping ahead too far, assuming too much from limited information?
Lone Traveller? I didn't even know how the marking would work, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be something I could do casually. There was something about marking other people that felt... wrong to me. Though, I did wonder what the system meant with "people". Would someone like Lenore count? I had no idea and no way to find out.
I just didn’t know and finding out would be difficult. This was suddenly a dangerous world and for me, the danger didn’t just come from the monsters, my fellow humans might be just as dangerous to me. As I considered that thought, I had to stifle a sobbing laugh, they were no longer fellow humans, I was now a Firn Elf and within a month, I wouldn’t even look human any longer.
- Skill gained
- You gained a skill: Unarmed Combat[1/100]
- Even without weapons or magic, you can still cause harm to your foes.
- Skill gained
- You gained a skill: Ice Rune Mastery[1/100][/td][/tr]
- [tr][td]Runes are mental representations of a distinct concept within the greater whole of an Element. In this case, the Runes you are mastering represent concepts within the Element of Ice, allowing you to focus your magic into efficient forms. You currently understand the Runes [Ice], [Hail] and [Chill].
- Skill gained
- You gained a skill: Darkness Magic[1/100]
- This skill allows you to manipulate Darkness and bend it to your will. What you can do with it only depends on your imagination, your will and your power.
- Shattered died. You have gained some EXP.
- Skill gained
- You gained a skill: Short Sword Mastery [1/100]
- You are trained in wielding Short Swords to harm your enemies. When attacking with a Short Sword, you deal increased damage and your Short Swords are less likely to break in combat.
- Skill increased
- You increased your skill: Darkness Magic [2/100]
Notifications for the skills I had used, nothing special about them. It made me wonder how fast they would grow, given that I could remember using them, in a world far, far away. If that had even been a world, and not some sort of illusion, dream or some other divine construct. Could I even know for sure, without some sort of outside confirmation? Could I ever know that what was around me was real? Could I even know if I was real, or if Morgana and Mundus had been the reality, a reality I had destroyed? Or she had destroyed?
Shaking off these weird thoughts, I focused on the present and on things that might be important. The description of Firn-Elf, now that I looked at it again, was one such thing. It declared me a member of a race created on a different world. Not within a divine Illusion, or something like that, indicating that Mundus had been real. As real as the system, so for now, I would work under the assumption that it was real. Just as real as I was, as the world around me was.
And if Mundus was real, Sigmir hadn’t been some sort of artificial intelligence or one process within countless in one. She had been a real, organic being, with a Soul, memories and everything that made a person into one.
I had to bite my hand again, to stifle the shout of glee. If Sigmir had been a real person, I would be able to meet her again!
There were countless myths that spoke of people being revived if someone was willing to pay the price. Even Kallista, the dryad in Neyto who had considered Adra her partner reborn, waiting for her to regain her memories, came to mind. But she had been a fool, letting the love of her life continue travelling in an attempt to let her come back on her own. To love someone is to set her free, was it? I most certainly wouldn’t just wait for Sigmir, I would be more proactive.
But that meant I needed Power. With a capital P and a whole lot of ower behind it, enough power to pierce the veil between worlds, enough power to find and take hold of her soul. And enough power to make a body for her, here, in this world of mine.
Surviving and gaining power. It came all down to that.
Comments
Vangelis Theodoratos
Because in some novels after tye soul mate dies the mc finds a new one and it becomes a harem. Which I don't like. That's why I asked
Vangelis Theodoratos
By candidate I mean love intrest
Tsaimath
Depends on your definition on "Candidate" - Decided to remove spoilers, just in case people don't want them. There's sadly no "spoiler" tag on Patreon.
Tsaimath
That happens if one copy&pastes from old chapters, before I fully made up the stats, it should be Endurance
Quendolayne
A purpose and the tools to achieve it. Let her get Sigmir back, there can be only one soul mate for her. :-) thx for the chapter
fosfor
-1 Constitution from Emerging Firn-Elf, is there a stat for it?
Vangelis Theodoratos
Just to confirm there won’t be another love candidate?
