Divine Awakening - Chapter 53

[Author's Note: this is a very rough draft. I have not even had the chance to reread it. I may update later once I've had the time to edit.]

Chapter 53

Ash recovered from the sudden endorphin rush almost immediately, but Bruja had disappeared. What had she done to him? He opened his notifications to find out.

He had a lot of them.

Ting!

You have completed the Quest – What’s Your Point (Cultivation Stage 1).

You have received 100 experience.

Cultivation was the term Elder Phoenix had used when teaching Ash the Spirit gathering technique and breathing exercise. The next notification had the same context. Bruja had given him multiple quests in the same chain.

Ting!

You have completed the Quest – Two Points Make a Line (Cultivation Stage 2).

You have received 150 experience.

One after another the notifications continued, each referencing a geometric shape and increasing the by fifty each time. After the ninth quest, which required him to form a circular shape with his Condensed Spirit, the experience changed.

Ting!

You have completed the Quest – Going Around in Circles (Cultivation Stage 9).

You have received 500 experience.

Ting!

You have completed the Quest – Two Dimensions are for Novices

You have received 1000 experience.

The quests continued, this time transitioning through the three-dimensional geometric shapes. The last completed Cultivation quest required him to form a sphere in his center.

Ting!

You have completed the Quest – Sphere of Influence (Cultivation Stage 19).

You have received 1000 experience.

The last quest notification detailed the next Cultivation step.

Ting!

You have received the quest…

Pick One Side

As a Novice, you Cultivated into two dimensions and as an Initiate, three. An Apprentice must embrace the whole, twisting their center to encompass both simultaneously.

Reward: Cultivation Rank of Apprentice (Stage 20)

Reward: 2,000 experience

Ash considered the quest chain and all the experience. He’d never seen experience explicitly stated, but had assumed something like that was how the dungeon decided when to level people. Bruja had done him a great favor by giving him the quests and for marking the previous ones completed. He didn’t understand what the quest Pick One Side meant, but he could talk with Elder Phoenix about it when he next visited.

Two more notifications followed.

Ding!

Congratulations Child of Enlightenment! You have reached level 4!

1 Spell Point Awarded.

1 Attribute Point Awarded.

You have 4 unassigned attribute points!

You have 1 unassigned spell point!

Check appropriate displays for new capabilities.

Ding!

Congratulations Child of Enlightenment! You have reached level 5!

1 Spell Point Awarded.

1 Attribute Point Awarded.

You have 5 unassigned attribute points!

You have 2 unassigned spell points!

Check appropriate displays for new capabilities.

And yet another notification appeared.

A Level 5 Dungeon Boon is now available!

Bruja’s quests had leveled Ash twice, pushing him to level five, and he felt a wave of gratitude toward the small witch. He opened his Profile and found a new tab labeled “Boons” and opened it. Text appeared as the tutorial gave him some additional information.

Boons are periodically offered by dungeons and can be improved by allocating free Spell or Attribute points.

Ash dismissed the popup and read through the lengthy list. It appeared Boons were aimed at convenience. It took him ten minutes to narrow the choices down to a dozen.

Name: Cube of Holding

Description: Summoned dimensional storage.

Cast Time: 10 seconds

Capacity: 2ft x 2ft x 2ft

Restriction: Only useable when not in combat.

Name: Cloak of Elemental Comfort

Description: A cloak that adjusts to environmental conditions, keeping the wearer warm in cold climates and cool in hot ones. It also repels light rain and wind.

Name: Portable Grill

Description: A compact device that unfolds into a small, flameless heat source for cooking and warmth. It doesn't require fuel and leaves no trace, perfect for stealthy campsites.

Name: Sanctuary Stone

Description: When placed on the ground, this stone creates a temporary safe zone—a protective barrier that lasts for two hours. Within this area, monsters cannot enter, allowing adventurers to rest and recover safely.

Area: 10ft x 10ft x 10ft

Cooldown: 24 hours

Name: Treasure Seeker's Compass

Description: A palm-sized compass that gently pulls in the direction of the nearest hidden treasure or valuable item, helping locate secret loot.

Area: 5ft x 5ft x 5ft

Name: Amulet of Traps

Description: An amulet that grows warmer the closer the wearer nears basic mechanical or magical traps, providing an opportunity to avoid danger.

Name: Lucky Dice

Description: When receiving a loot drop, these dice grant a one percent chance the item will upgrade one tier when placed in Inventory.

Restriction: One proc per 24 hours.

Name: Experience Token

Description: The holder of this token has all sources of experience increased by ten percent.

Name: Coin Pouch

Description: A small pouch that increases the holder’s share of currency drops by ten percent.

Name: Restful Bedroll

Description: A bedroll enchanted to provide the benefits of a full night's sleep in four hours.

Name: Lantern of Revealing

Description: This lantern does not illuminate darkness but reveals hidden doors, passages, and sometimes even invisible creatures or objects within its light radius.

Area: 10ft x 10ft x 10ft

Name: Everglow Stone

Description: A stone that emits a steady, soft light without the need for fuel or maintenance. It never flickers or goes out, providing constant illumination in dark environments.

All the Boons were level one and if focused on would display the benefits of leveling the Boon with an Attribute or Spell point.

The choices all had value, but Ash could discard a few of them. The Boons related to traps, light, rest, and comfort he discarded. He already had other abilities for those things.

Since the dungeon pylons hadn’t appeared yet, Ash didn’t know what the dungeon had for sale. This made the value of money hard to determine. Likely, if this dungeon worked like any other place in the world, money would certainly become a precious asset. His Chosen Title already gave him a ten percent bonus to currency so it lessened his desire for the money Boon.

Ash kept coming back to three Boons: dimensional storage, experience booster, and sanctuary.

The extra storage appealed to Ash. He hadn’t played a lot of games, but the ones he had always had a frustrating Inventory mechanic. Specifically, there was never enough. The Belt of Swans the god Lir had given him far surpassed the Boon. Each of his three current slots could contain twenty-seven cubic feet, far more than the eight cubic feet of the Boon.

The experience Boon also made sense. The tutorial had told Ash Classes would become available at level ten. Power and strength corelated to level so the faster he leveled the better. The only thing that gave him pause was his Power Leveling Title that already awarded him thirty percent more experience.

The last Boon in consideration, Sanctuary Stone, was Ash acknowledging that his skills and abilities might not be sufficient to stay safe here. If things went wrong, or he got hurt enough to need a break, this Boon might save his life.

Ash hated all this thinking. Thinking got you killed. It made sense of course to consider the options, but painfully examining every hypothetical situation so one could build support for the perfect decision sounded like hell to him.

One more time, Ash reflected briefly on each Boon, letting his gut and instincts guide him.

The Sanctuary Stone had the most value if Ash failed in some fashion. Either he’d gotten hurt or ventured into a place where the monsters were too strong, or he’d exhausted himself. Instead of safeguarding against a failure, he needed to trust himself that he wouldn’t need it. The reality was a failure that overwhelmed all his skills would likely result in his immediate death anyway.

If Ash didn’t have the Belt of Swans, then the Cube of Holding Boon would likely win. As it was though, it didn’t compare to what he already possessed.

That left the Experience Token. It would allow Ash to get stronger faster and his gut confirmed this was the right choice.

Ash picked the Boon and energy swirled around him.

A fourth bar appeared under the existing Health, Mental, and Physical ones. When he concentrated on it more information appeared.

Spirit: 201,000

Once again, Ash marveled at the satisfaction he experienced when seeing his efforts displayed like this. It motivated him to sit and start Cultivating again, but he pushed the thought away. He still had things to do before he returned to the main cavern.

Ash glanced at his main Profile and found he could toggle between percents and numbers for his Pool values. He studied the actual numbers that quantified him, along with the source of the calculations.

Ash’s pools depended directly on his Attributes: Constitution providing his Health, Intelligence his Mental Energy, and a combination of Strength, Constitution, and Nimbleness his Physical Energy. His Spirit pool didn’t rely on any Attributes, however.

Physical Attributes
Constitution: 26
Strength: 24
Nimbleness: 33
Charisma: 14

Mental Attributes
Intelligence: 17
Wisdom: 22
Awareness: 28
Willpower: 19

Available Attribute Points: 5

Spell Points: 2

Armor Class
Physical: 185
Spiritual: 10

Pools
Health: 277
Health Regeneration: 2% per second

Mental Energy: 176
Mental Energy Regeneration: 0.3% per second

Physical Energy: 580
Physical Energy Regeneration: 0.5% per second

Spirit: 201,000

Resistances
Physical: 35%
Mental: 10%
Spiritual: 13%

Boon
Experience Token – Level 1

Spells
Grave Diggers - Conjures Intelligence/4 ghostly skeletal hands to drain the life from nearby targets.

Frost Touch - Unarmed attacks cause +1 cold damage with every touch.

Chakra Abilities
Third Eye: Lesser Ripple - Extend your Third Eye to view the Universe more clearly.

Seeing Grave Diggers and Frost Touch reminded Ash he needed to spend those two Spell Points. Hoarding his Attribute points until he had a better idea what to expect made sense to him, although he would quickly dump them all in Constitution if he took a massive amount of damage that his chakras couldn’t handle. Spells though, provided too much benefit, and not spending them put him at a real disadvantage.

Ash opened the Spell’s tab and studied the spells that had become available to him now that he’d leveled two more times.