[Advancement has upgraded this person from a commoner to a Prince. He has fully embraced the latent abilities of his mother"s bloodline.][This advancement opens the perks and abilities that he, as a commoner, would never have access to.]
[Statistics have changed from a beginning pool of 20 to 40, with an upper limit for this rank changing to 80 for the prince rank.]
[As a prince, you will have the ability to recruit va.s.sals, enter into bonds with companions, and claiming or creating a kingdom. Kingdoms and land ownership are their own kind of bond. The claim works both ways and by claiming, you are also being claimed by the land.]
I admit I was stunned by the difference.
The character was so much more powerful based on stats alone, but when you factored in the aura, spells, and skills that had been added it was not only a qualitative upgrade it was quant.i.tative. It would change my "playstyle", I doubt a Prince would be allowed to be una.s.suming or invisible.
But it would open so many opportunities.
I"d be a fool not to take advantage of the upgrade. It also made me realize that I may need to stop thinking of this as a game. This wasn"t going to affect my "playstyle", this was my life.
"What is meant by magic strength? Is that the mana pool?"
[Magic doesn"t work exactly like the games you are used to playing.]
[You do cast known spells using energy. Energy, will, and intent are required for spells to work and results to happen. But unlike those games you are familiar with, mana and mana pools do not exist.]
[Magic Strength is exactly what it sounds like, the amount of energy and power you can apply to the spells you cast.]
[You cannot run out of mana.]
[Spells have a casting times, but that is the only limitation to their use.]
[Damage and the effects of spells cast are checked against the target"s resistance and armor to determine how successful you were in combat. The higher you spell strength the higher the chance you have, to do increased damage or for effects to extend over time.]
"Do I level with experience?
"And if I do, do stats increase?
"Are there limits?" I asked.
[Experience can be acc.u.mulated in various manners. Fighting, crafting, studying, questing, leading, and discovery to name a few. As you gain experience you do level]
[Statistics increase based on the method you used to gain experience. If you were fighting strength and agility would increase much faster than intelligence, unless you"re using a fighting style that employed spellcraft, then the increase may be more uniform.]
[Because your race is so long-lived a method to advance ranks exist to keep levels in check.]
[Ranks include peon, commoner, squire, knight, lord, duke, prince, king, demi-G.o.d, and G.o.d.]
[Each rank has 10 levels, and the level experience required to advance between ranks increases by a factor of 10. Peon to commoner requires 1,000 experience points. Commoner to squire requires 10,000. Squire to Knight, 100,000.]
[Because levels are reset to one each time advancement occurs, levels can be deceiving. A level one lord is exponentially more powerful than a level one knight. But when you consider the billions and trillions of experience points required to advance to the G.o.d tier, that only makes sense.]
[A final restriction has been implemented. Individuals that reach level ten in any rank can only be promoted to the next higher rank by right of challenge, battling and proving their right to ascend a rank, or by elevation, if they are rewarded with the advancement in rank by a higher-ranked liege lord.]
[Additionally, the experience is held in abeyance, potential until actualized. The energy gains from experience, the potential, is stored in the body until the individual makes a conscious choice to process and integrate those gains. This is done through a method of meditation. The individual must learn to harness the stored energy from claimed experience and make it part of their foundation.]
"If I choose the advanced cla.s.s will I have enough karmic creation points left to get the resp.a.w.n perk?
"Will I be able to choose my name?
"And you said I would be able to make changes to appearance?"
[The cost to select Sidhe with an upgrade to an advanced rank of Prince, with a resp.a.w.n limited to once annually, will cost 52,000 points, leaving a balance of 500 points]
[You will be able to modify the name of the character, you are a.s.suming the life of an individual that has failed ascension, but because you are awakening a forgotten lineage, a new name can be chosen to reflect this lineage.]
[Small changes in appearance are acceptable. The hair, eye color, and skin tone can be altered. Height and musculature changes are permissible]
[But you may not add appendages, change s.e.x, or try to adopt other species anatomy to this form.]
I guess that meant I couldn"t add wings, tails, or horns? I wondered if I could alter the individual"s biology enough to secrete poisons or pheromones that altered emotions?
No matter. I knew what I was going to do.
"I choose the Sidhe Prince, with the resp.a.w.n option, and the best equipment and bags of holding, if they exist, that I can purchase with the remaining 500 creation points."
[Initiating...]
For a moment I wondered if anything was happening.
Unfortunately, that question was soon answered when my "soul" began to experience a drastic time and s.p.a.ce distortion.
The me that existed in that moment and place began to spin faster and faster. Twisting and creating a strange Mobius strip of energy as my consciousness and soul were compacted smaller and smaller until a singularity of pure energy. An event horizon was formed that encapsulated my essence.
The white light that I had failed to experience at my death was made manifest at my birth and I felt movement. The sensation like pouring water. As I traveled the pathways of creation, my soul took form. Muscle, nerves, and blood coalesced and as they were formed, I filled the s.p.a.ces that made up my new body.
The experience was both painful and frightening but being born often is.
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I blinked my eyes. Eyes that were capable of vision.
I took a breath, acutely aware of the byplay of muscles, smells, and lungs as my senses began wakening.
Sight, smell, sound, touch, and something I couldn"t identify. A kind of awareness that seemed to extend beyond my body, a mental muscle I"d never flexed before that was able to interpret my surroundings.
"Am I alive?" I asked in wonder.
[Yes and No.]
[You have merged with your new body. But we are outside of time. You have not yet entered the warp and weave of reality. You can act, but don"t yet exist as you fine-tune and complete the creation process.]
[Say or think character status to open a screen that allows you to see yourself as if you were looking in a mirror.]
[Choose a name.]
[Once that has been accomplished you may experiment with adjusting your physical appearance until satisfied.]
[When you have completed this process, simply say "Save character" and we will continue to the final step.]
"I don"t suppose there"s a browser or interface I can make use of that allows me to research Belenos and select an appropriate name for his pantheon?"
[Google search does not exist in this place. But I will allow you to interact with your bodies former host. He should be able to guide your choice.]
That feeling I"d just experienced as I entered this host body began again.
The field of energy that I could identify, that surrounded my body, began to compact and twist until it coalesced into another Mobius strip of light and energy, exploding in a pyrotechnic display of colors.
A small glowing ball of blue, red, and green light was left hovering two feet in front of me, flickering instances of light and color emanating from the ball of energy tethering the energy construct and me together. I realized after watching for a few moments that the pattern matched my heartbeat.
"h.e.l.lo?" I said in confusion.
[Greetings.]
"Who are you?" I asked.
[SYSTEM has explained to me that I failed in my attempt to ascend and have died, this form is an astral energy form that will allow my soul and yours to communicate. I should have been recycled and reincarnated, but your request has given me the opportunity to choose to help you. I thought the offer interesting, so agreed.]
[SYSTEM has tasked me with guiding you, both here and when you return to the mortal realm, to explain the world, offer advice, and help you to acclimate to your surroundings and the people you will encounter.]
[IT has enhanced my memories expanded my knowledge of the world and the Powers that influence the Universe at large.]
"My very own spirit guide?" I asked, the humor probably lost on my new guide.
"SYSTEM has allowed me to choose a name that would be appropriate for my newly advanced ranking, something that befits the bloodline of a descendant of Belenos. But I have no idea what name would be appropriate. I thought you might be able to help?" I said getting to the point.
[Belenos was one of the original G.o.ds of Talahm, the world you will live on. His dominion included those abilities that allowed for healing. Additionally, He contained and controlled the energy of the sun.]
[Often worshiped as The Shining G.o.d or Fair Shining One, his aura of flame and light could be used for either healing or as a weapon depending on his intentions.]
[He is still celebrated by the Sidhe during the Beltane festival, the first day of summer, to honor the return of the sun after winter and to pray for good crops and healthy livestock.]
[Married to the G.o.ddess Grian, the G.o.ddess most often considered the sun herself, they were able to procreate five children, most notably the G.o.ddess Brighid.]
[Brighid, considered the G.o.ddess of fire and light married Dagda, a G.o.d of agriculture and fertility and the couple bore five children; Cermait, Aengus, Midir, Ruadan, and Bodb Derg. This couple is considered the ultimate progenitors and the wellspring for the Tuatha De Danann, the Talahm pantheon of G.o.ds.]
[Sidhe are the offspring of these G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses, although most people today try to forget that all Sidhe have celestial parents and not just the Seelie and Unseelie.]
[Of Belenos" male offspring, Alaunus, Gronw Pebr, Grannus, and Sulis inherited his abilities to affect the Sun, healing, or both. Perhaps one of those personages would be acceptable to use as a t.i.tle?]
[Or a derivative?]
"What about your name, or your parents?"
[I don"t know my parents" name.]
[Being a hybrid, half Seelie – half Unseelie comes with a great stigma.]
[My mother abandoned me soon after my birth. I guess I should be grateful that she didn"t murder me instead. For a time, I was raised by lesser Sidhe, the Brownies, Fetches, and Redcaps of my liege Lord Kel in his castle.]
[My name was Odharc, translated roughly it means "the hated one, or despised".]
[I suggest you change your name as well as a.s.sume a t.i.tle to Mac De Belenos.]
[It translated to Son of Belenos, and it should offer a bit of protection when you step out of the Ascension chamber. Because it establishes a clear relationship between you and Belenos, and it will appear to those that meet you that he has marked you with his favor.]
[Not much protection, granted, but it should help, at least in the beginning. Until you make enemies brave enough or stupid enough to ignore your heritage.]
"What is the word for friend?" I wondered.
[Caraid.]
"Then I shall call you Caraid," I decided. "We will be together for a long time and I refuse to think of you as hated or despised."
"I"m sorry you died, but maybe together we can put right some of the wrongs you experienced? And I hope we will become friends, not just a symbiotic partnership, but a real friendship."
[It would be nice to not have to answer to Odharc again. Thank you. Caraid is a suitable name, I will try to become your true friend.]
"SYSTEM, I would like to be known as Mac De Belenos."
[Accepted.]
[Do you wish to make any changes to your appearance?]
Glancing at my character sheet and the paper doll, I rotated the image, so I could view the 3D representative of my current body.
Male.
Lean.
An average-looking young man, really just a boy, but wounded somehow. I"m not sure how SYSTEM was able to duplicate that impression in a caricature model, but you could tell this young man had lived a life of pain.
"Caraid, can you give me some help? If you could change your appearance. Be someone strong, charismatic, someone, the Seelie or Unseelie would notice and respect what would you do?"
[The eyes and hair need to be changed. They should take on the aspect of your element. Eyes the color of the shining sun with flecks of oranges, reds, yellows, and blues. Hair neatly trimmed, but layered in the colors of a roaring fire, so as the hair moves, it gives the appearance of fire dancing.]
[Add a foot to height, Seelie and Unseelie are all exceptionally tall.]
[Some muscle definition to the arms, chest, and back.]
[Square the jawline.]
[Finally, emphasize the contours of the ears, the more purebred a Sidhe is the higher the chance they have that their ears will curve into graceful and noticeable peaks.]
SYSTEM had been sculpting, highlighting, and adding the physical characteristics Caraid described almost before he finished speaking. As Caraid finished his description, I again began rotating the 3D image. I had to admit the new model was stunning.
The young man was beautiful as well as intimidating. His aura seemed to have changed from one of a wounded victim to that of a benevolent prince. This man cared about you and had the abilities and resilience to protect those he cared for.
I was about to notify SYSTEM that the current selection was acceptable, but again it antic.i.p.ated my decision.
[For the final step, familiarize yourself with the way your skills, aura"s and spells work.]
"Can you teach me how spells and skills work?" I ask Caraid.
[Spells and skills can be displayed separately from your Status screen.]
[Simple think or say Status: Spells or Status: Skills and the System will show you what abilities you have.]
[I only had the light spell before I was forced to attempt Ascension, so I can talk you through how that spell was cast. That should be enough for you to identify the components of spellcraft, the principles are the same no matter what spell you cast.]
"Status: Spell," I said, watching to see what happens.
Caraid was right, an abbreviated status window pops up listing only my spells.
Nature"s Blessing: Allows the individual to commune with and claim lands and bind with the land"s spirit: warning the binding process works both ways. The individual is claimed by the land as much as the land is claimed by the individual.
Fire: Fire Blast
Fire: Absorb Shield
Nature: Heal Self
Nature: Heal Other
Air: Wind Blast
Air: Gale Force
Air + Fire: Light Globe
Portal: Summerland (Personal Lands)
[To start, gather your awareness and attempt to isolate and embrace that field of energy that surrounds you.]
[Casting a spell requires three components. You need to collect that energy. Shape it and force it to condense. And say a trigger word to release the spell. You can set the trigger word to whatever you"d like. You can instead use a gesture if that is easier. It"s the intent that matters. The act simply works as a focus and as a release for the intent.]
[Will, focus, intent. The components for effective magic. Learn this and any spell is possible.]
Closing my eyes and concentrating, I released and expanded my mental perceptions, easily embracing the energy field Caraid had mentioned. Once found, I began the next step and tried to focus on that energy. Trying to remember the feelings that I experienced when SYSTEM manipulated that field to summon Caraid, I extended that mental "muscle" and discovered that there was an ease and versatility involved in trying to manipulate and control it.
How to condense it had me stumped for a moment until I remembered the Mobius strips of energy Caraid and I had both experienced when entering our current bodies. Manipulating the energies, those esoteric particles that I had collected, I began spinning and twisting those forces until the energy was in the pattern and shape, I wanted.
The only way I could think of to condense those energies was to spin the fields faster and faster. I spent a moment or two increasing the speed fighting fluctuations and shaping and compressing form until I was happy with what I had created.
Opening my eyes, I looked at Caraid and said, "Light."
A brilliant eruption of form as a firework of spinning colors and energy coalesced into a ball of light.
s.h.i.t!
It worked!
I just created a ball of light!
I have magic!
[Good! You do the exact same thing for any spell you want to cast. Just remember intent limits purpose. If you want to cast Focus Fire, gather the energy and trigger the spell Fire, the intent you want to accomplish, with a release word or gesture.]
[Skills and aura"s work on the same principle but are really more instinctive. If you"ve learned a skill, you just know how to use it. It"s like muscle memory, once learned the body remembers, and it is always there. The exceptions are aura"s and triggered skills. Those take intent to activate. But you don"t have to gather energy or use a trigger word, just the desire to activate those effects are all that is needed to activate.]
[Reincarnation protocols complete.]
[Releasing Stasis.]
[Enjoy your new life.]
WHAT! WAIT!