While I had been healing others, from the very first time I had cast Minor Heal upon Amara in the Spiral of Ara dungeon to when I had just again cast a heal upon Leif I had marveled at the golden light I channeled from my hands and into the subject I was healing. It was a miracle and a wonder to behold. Even if you are not a religious person, which I would not have considered myself until recently, one cannot help but feel humbled and uplifted when restoring life to another living being. Yet, now I was confronted with a much more mundane, terrestrial problem. Mana conservation.
As an Attribute, Wisdom is very important for spellcasters. When originally researching the Merchant Class, I had been surprised to see that Wisdom was the second most important attribute for the class after Charisma. Wisdom is as it sounds. It is insight into a subject. Concentration of one’s focus. Mana generation naturally speeds up the higher a person’s Wisdom, because there is a greater connection to the world around you and as such, natural ambient mana.
The mana inside my body cultivates and becomes Holy Mana. My domain is Fate and so the Holy Mana combines with the power of Fate in ways I do not yet understand to grant me the power to use special skills and cast divine spells. There is a cost to this and as I had just learned, two separate costs needed to be paid between casting the spells granted by the Gods and the Skills I had gained with the Shards of Ara. I would address the Fate Skills cost eventually, but my immediate concern as I looked over the Fate Web Terminal was mana or rather my lack of it.
Looking over Mir’s Tier II spell choices at first excited me, until I saw the huge jump in spell cost it would require to heal someone with Tier II spells.
Greater Heal
Mana Cost: 45 per second
Description: Channel healing mana by focusing upon or touching the recipient. Restore Health at an increased rate and increase recipient health regeneration by 1% for 5 seconds.
A part of me wanted Mir to appear and justify why the new heal spell cost so much more than Minor Heal. Admittedly, I hadn’t really paid much attention to my overall mana as I had always made things work up until now. The experiences I’d had so far had taught me the importance of managing mana, but I had been spoiled so far by an above average mana regeneration rate due to my high Wisdom. Yet, if I tried spamming Greater Heal no amount of regeneration would be enough. I would run completely dry and render myself useless if I added Greater Heal to my rotation as I was right now.
What is my mana total anyway?
I opened my Status, but both my Health and Mana appeared as a red and blue bar respectively just above my name as they always had. I stared at the bars for a moment frowning, but then before my eyes the bars shifted and changed to indicate with numbers that both were at 100%, then shifted again to show two different sets of numbers.
Health: 300
Mana: 214
Health was a determination of the Constitution attribute, mine was currently sitting at 30, therefore it went Level X multiplied by 30 so my health was 300 points of health. Fairly decent unless one started fighting Elite Murk Worms and Void Infestations on your own. I was hoping that Hul would have more Constitution nodes further along his Web.
Mana was a determination of the Intelligence attribute, mine was currently sitting at 18, therefore it went Level multiplied by 18 making my maximum mana pool 180 points of mana. However, it is important to note that this is 180 points of uncultivated mana my Mana Core generates at a rate determined by Wisdom. My Uncultivated or Raw mana converts to Holy Mana at a 1:1 ratio, but Priest Classes get a small bonus in that they can add 10% of their Wisdom each level to their Intelligence for an additional increase to their Mana total. This is why my Mana sat at 214. Each time I had leveled up, my mana had been slightly increased by what my Wisdom had been at the time of leveling and the bonus was calculated. In other words, there was also no retroactive addition of extra mana no matter how high I might raise my Wisdom in the future. I would simply have to keep increasing both my Wisdom and Intelligence as often as I could if I hoped to afford the spells I need to have.
Unfortunately, the nodes that I had to purchase before I could take Greater Heal didn’t increase my Wisdom this time, but they were still important to take.
Mir Node 4: Increases Healing Done by 1% (up to 5%)
Mir Node 5: Increases Recipient Healing Received by 1% (up to 5%)
As with the other Green Tier II nodes in the web, I needed to spend 3 Green Nodes each to unlock them. It would also cost me an additional 3 Green Nodes each time I wanted to increase either Healing Done or Received. I wasn’t doubting the usefulness of either, but only their usefulness as compared to other possibilities I needed to consider. For example, there were Mir’s other two Tier II spells.
Healing Spark
Mana Cost: 75
Description: Infuse a target with a Healing Spark. For each second the target takes no damage the spark grows. After 10 seconds, the spark ignites a flame of healing mana that heals the target of half their maximum health. However, if the target takes damage before the 10 seconds are complete, the spark ignites a burst of Holy Mana that damages all nearby hostile targets.
Damage: 11-31 Damage in a 10 yard radius
Cool Down: 1 hour.
So this is both a heal and an attack spell? Risky depending on the situation. It also costs a lot to cast too, not to mention the cool down. This is nothing I could frivolously cast, but amazing in its potential uses, nonetheless.
Harvest Moon
Mana Cost:
Description: Creates a small, faux moon above the caster. All bathed in its light experience the serenity of Mir. 50% Resistance to Mental attacks: fear, charm and domination.
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Cool Down: 1 hour.
Not a heal, but a protection ability against Mental attacks? That could be extremely useful against Fel Shards.
I needed Greater Heal. Had I not been experiencing tremendous anxiety while jumping into ‘Healer Mode’ after defeating Sneed, I would have taken the time to advance my healing ability right away. Still, it may have been for the best, as using Greater Heal before considering how to best utilize my other options may have led to burning through my mana to the point where I wouldn’t have been much help to anyone. Looking over the Web, a solution was right in front of me.
My need was for more mana and so I needed more Intelligence. Where to find it? With Cel, the Great Book. Keeper of Mana. My current Faction with Cel was a dismal 35. Impressing Cel was clearly more of a challenge than I had anticipated. Nothing I did seemed to please them. Thinking back to the first time I had received Faction from Cel, was when I had employed Minor Mana Tap spell against the Blight Ogre. How was I to gain Faction using Cel’s spells if I didn’t already have the Faction necessary to get the spell in the first place?
“Cel cares about the purity of Aramyr’s Mana and its continued growth and experimentation in its use.” I muttered. He was popular with Mages for obvious reasons, but also amongst Merchants and Sages as well. If gold makes the world go round, mana keeps it spinning in a uniform, predictable direction. Books were Cel’s Gospels. Catalogues and Calendars. Maps and Charts. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge and libraries always had his symbology displayed within their walls.
Cel’s clergy were more Librarians and Archivists than Priests, just as Tek’s clergy were closer to Mathematicians and Astrologers. They were more at home in their libraries doing research on some obscure subject rather sitting in a Church. I wasn’t sure if my idea for gaining Faction with Cel would work, but I couldn’t leave Goodlabor just yet and I wanted to see if Cel would take note of my efforts or not.
I opened my Inventory and removed the four books I had taken from my great-grandfather’s hidden library. Purgatorium: The Gateway to Heaven and Hell would grant me a +2 to my Intelligence. Skills of the Purgatorium Mystics-An Observation would give me +2 to Wisdom. Strategic Domination: How the Elves took Nephilim would permanently reveal my hidden Luck attribute and raise it by 1. Finally, the Dungeon Delver’s Compendium would grant me a +1 to my Perception and update my personal map with the locations of all the Dungeons written about in the book.
Looking over Strategic Domination, I sighed. It was a fairly hefty book, but I decided it was the best place to start and I was curious to see what my Luck attribute score was.
Might as well get started. I have a few hours before I need to check up on everyone.
I opened the book, prepared to spend the next several hours learning about how much better the Elves had been at war than Humans during the Second Crusade when something strange began to happen. The pages began to blur. I thought it was my eyes and first, but when I tried to rub them I couldn’t move. Then images began to fill my mind. I saw Nephilim itself, an ancient city of religious significance to Man and Elf. I saw Templars, Priests and Soldiers upon its high walls firing spell and arrow at circling wyverns controlled by Elven Beast Tamers. Shadowstalkers infiltrated the inner city, prowling the alleyways and assassinating the city’s leadership. I gasped as I saw Saint Ioven bravely facing down the Demon Prince, his squire barely a speck on the walls crying out when he saw his master struck down. Then, the vision ended and I was holding a closed book, its knowledge fully imparted to me.
“What in Ord’s name was that?” I gasped. A notification blinked and I opened it immediately.
Lore Deep Sight has activated a Tome of Lore!
Lore: Tomes of Lore are rare books written upon vellum crafted from Tier IV or greater beasts. While the words within can be read, only those with Tier V or greater Insight skills and blessed by Cel can gain access to the True Visions they impart.
Advanced Lore: The ink used in Tomes of Lore is created from an extract of mind flayer brain fluid, tar flower seeds and the ground fangs of a vampire pig.
I knew there was a reason I didn’t like Alchemy. Now then, how did that prayer to Cel go…?
“Cel, Great Book, Source of all Mana, this knowledge I have gained is an extension of you and I, um…really appreciate that I had your blessing to experience it.”
You have gained +25 Faction with Cel!
“Yes!” My hypothesis had paid off. Books and learning were the gateway to impressing Cel. The prayer had been lackluster, but I was sincere in my meaning. It was enough. That and having Lore Sight at Tier V. I hoped I would never have to toggle it off again, it was far too handy. I was also rewarded with some new information.
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 15
Constitution: 30
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 43
Perception: 31
Charisma: 16
Luck: 12+1
I shouldn’t have felt surprised to see my Luck attribute was so low, even with the additional point I had just gained. I also recalled that while in the Dungeon with Amara, I had received a permanent increase of 10 to my Luck stat. That meant my original Luck had been a 2! Despite the gains, I did feel disappointed.
Who is to say a 13 in Luck isn’t good? I haven’t been so unfortunate. Gods, what am I thinking…?
Shaking my head, I pulled out the next book, Skills of the Purgatorium Mystics and cracked it open. Like before, things began to blur until I found myself surrounded by darkness. I stood there in a void until I started to feel nervous and uncomfortable.
What in the name of Cel is this book about? Standing in a closet?
ERROR! ERROR! CENTRAL CONTROL IS OFFLINE! ADMINISTRATOR UNAVAILABLE! MAINFRAME ACCESS DENIED! COUNTERMEASURES ENACTED!
I couldn’t think, couldn’t scream, every muscle in my body went rigid and my brain felt like it was being stirred with a rusted spoon. I was on my knees gasping for air. It was like I was being squeezed by invisible hands. Through blurry eyes, I saw a something was coming, a shape was running towards me from out in the void, a being of light. I was being dissected. Piece by piece, I was being taken apart so that something could examine every fiber of my being.
“What are you? Where did you come from? Why do you have archival access to redundant systems? Speak. Speak. SPEAK!”
A voice kept giving commands, but I couldn’t respond. The being of Light stood above me. So familiar. A youthful face, long gray hair, dressed in a blue cloak trimmed in gold runes. Weakly, I looked up at him through narrowed eyes. He looked back at me, face impassive.
I’ve seen you before…where?
You are not ready for this truth. Go back. Your mind will break. Go back, Kenric Ordheim. GO BACK! His lips didn’t move, but I could hear his voice in my mind. I felt the pressure on my body relax and I exhaled in relief.
I awoke on the ground, drenched in sweat. Night had fallen. I shivered and not just from the chill in the air. I was afraid.
What was that? What happened to me? Who was that man?
I rolled myself over and sat with my knees drawn up to my chest and took some deep breaths. I looked over at the copy of Skills of the Purgatorium Mystics, afraid to touch it where it lay.
I never want to touch that book again.
The man had said I wasn’t ready for it, but I didn’t think I would ever be ready to try reading something like that again. Cel forgive me, but I was off books for the moment.
You have been granted the Quest: Gather Tomes of Lore!
Quest: Gather the Tomes of Lore I
Description: Gather [5] Tomes of Lore and donate them to any Library in Aramyr.
Reward: +100 Faction Cel for each book donated.
Failure: Nil
Duration: There is no time limit for this quest.
“Oh! Well…in that case…I suppose I could handle a few more books.” I examined each of the books in greater detail with Lore Sight and neither of the books relating to the Purgatorium Mystics were Tomes of Lore nor was Dungeon Delvers so I only had the single Tome so far, but that was fine. I held in my hand the means to bump my Faction with Cel up all the way to Tier II and all I needed to do was find out if Goodlabor had a local library and what decent town didn’t?
