Ruthless ~ 29!

~ 29 ~

The week had gone by in a blur of training, studying, and practicing. Making rituals had been put to the side in favor of gaining the skills needed to improve rituals to a higher degree than fancy circles would allow for. Since Joe had devoted all his time until now into ritual circles, it was understandable - if frustrating - that the other skills would take as long or longer to reach the same heights. Still, Joe was proud of the results.

Name: Joe ‘Tatum’s Chosen Legend’ Class: Mage (Actual: Rituarchitect)

Profession I: Tenured Scholar (Actual: Arcanologist)

Profession II: Ritualistic Alchemist

Character Level: 16 Exp: 152,143 Exp to next level: 857

Rituarchitect Level: 5 Exp: 14,176 Exp to next level: 824

Hit Points: 622/622

Mana: 1,137/1,755 (491 Reserved)

Mana regen: 36.68/sec 

Stamina: 585/616.5

Stamina regen: 5.88/sec

Characteristic: Raw score (Modifier)

Strength: 61 (2.11)

Dexterity: 70 (2.22)

Constitution: 62 (2.12)

Intelligence: 117 (3.17)

Wisdom: 92 (2.42)

Charisma: 59 (2.09)

Perception: 70 (2.22)

Luck: 45 (1.45)

Karmic Luck: +16

Even his Karmic Luck had reached new heights, though he wasn't sure why, or what that changed for him. Joe was struck by a thought; why not ask Tatum about that characteristic? It would need to wait, as his team was currently on their way to the ‘holy site’ that Tommulus had told Joe about. It just so happened to be the main temple area in Ardania.

“So, this is just right in the center of Ardania?” Alexis sighed as she pushed someone out her way in the road. “It is something that everyone knows about? How is this something rare, then?”

“It’s in the main temple of the city.” Joe distractedly repeated for the third time. “There is an event that happens every once in a while, and the tome we are after is apparently one of the rewards this time around.”

“You’re starting to sound like an NPC, Joe.” Alexis teased him.

Joe was distracted because he was consolidating the gains he had made this week. All of his time in the testing dungeon was devoted to Dexterity, which is why it saw such a large gain compared to the others, but nearly every other waking moment had been devoted to alchemy, enchanting, and finding better ways to use his staff in close combat. He had gained a small amount of experience, less than two thousand in total, but with all the buildings he had repaired or built, Joe was getting close to both a class and character level.

Alchemical Rituals (Novice VII).

Enchanted Ritual Circles (Novice III).

Skill gained: Enchanting (General) (Novice IV) Enchanting is the domain of higher-order beings, and is the process of writing down a portion of the laws of the universe and using them to your advantage. This seems like a good fit for you: lots of chances to blow yourself up or catch the attention of something you really don't want watching you. Effect: +1n% power of created enchantments that you have a role in creating or modifying. +1n% chance to successfully disable enchantments without catastrophic failure, where n = skill level.

Magical Matrices (Apprentice II).

Polearm Mastery (Beginner IX).

Profession experience gained (Ritualistic Alchemist): 1337

Ritualistic Alchemist reaches profession level 2!

He was pleased with most of his progress, most of all Magical Matrices. It seemed that it impacted almost all magical crafting attempts, and that it was considered one of the most difficult skills to raise. Joe’s teachers had showered praise on him for increasing it to this level, and Joe didn't have the heart to tell them that he had basically just officially gained the skill.

His enjoyment was cut short as Alexis sharply jabbed him to regain his attention. “Joe! How dare you just ignore me like that after I specifically-”

“That’s enough of that.” Joe cut her off sharply as he focused his gaze on her. “Intrusive Scan.”

“Excuse me?” Alexis started reaching for her crossbow, only to be stopped by Bard. she fought against him for a moment, but by then Joe had seen everything he needed to see.

Alexis the Miasma.

Highest stat: Perception.

Ongoing effects: Sight Unseen. Blurred confusion. Cursed (item based). Well-hydrated. Well-adjusted.

Cool title aside, Joe recognized two positive effects. One from himself, one from Jaxon. The other three negative effects… Joe focused on them, and a helpful information bar appeared.

Blurred confusion (Perception two tiers above intelligence): Solve the Problem? I can't figure out which part is the problem. I can't compartmentalize, I see it all. Effect: Constant low-grade migrant from sheer sensory overload. +5% chance to take no action that involves movement. Refreshes every .001 seconds.

Sight Unseen (Perception two tiers above luck): Yes. I know that dragon was polymorphed and didn't want to be seen, but I saw it anyway, and that's why we're running. Effect: 1% to notice truth that nobody will believe.

Cursed (Ring of -cursed- courage): This ordinary-looking ring is guaranteed to improve confidence, helping the wearer to overcome whatever their previous fears may have been. Hidden effect: Cursed. This ring will achieve all previously promised goals by making the wearer aggressive and paranoid.

“I have good news, and bad news.” Joe started.

“The bad news is that you are about to die from poison.” Alexis fired a bolt at him that bounced off his Shell. She was slapped to the ground by his shadow in the same instant, and Joe dove away from the small cloud of poison that erupted from the point of impact.

“You have a curse on you!” Joe shouted at Alexis as she was rolling to get into a better firing position. This made her pause a moment, and Joe took the time to explain about her ring.

“So what?” Alexis decided after a long moment of thinking. “It’s better this way! I can have full conversations without panicking, and everyone likes me better now that I make them know what I want!”

Bard had a huge smile on his face as he walked toward her. He put his arms out and swept her into a giant hug. “Ah told ya ah liked ya jus’ how ya were. Ah was wondering where we went wrong that ya stopped likin’ me. Ya do still like me, yeah?”

“I… of course I do!” Alexis demanded impatiently. “That’s why I got this ring of courage in the first place! I needed to be able to show affection and speak in public!”

“Nah.” Bard shook his head. “That’s not sommat that ya can just skip inta. That’s long months or years of work, ‘Lexis. Public speaking is hard, and scary. Beyond tha’, why would you think that I want you to do somethin’ ya don't wanna do? If ya don't wanna be touchy-feely in public, ah respect that! If its somethin’ ya do want, we can work on it at ah comfortable pace.”

“I…” Alexis flushed angrily. “It doesn't matter, the ring doesn't come off.”

“That’d be the curse.” Joe muttered quietly. She was still pointing her crossbow at him, after all. “Alexis, I think that you’ve also been having a low-level migraine for a while? That’s a debuff from having your perception two thresholds above intelligence, just like Jaxon has a charisma debuff.”

“Hello!” Jaxon called cheerfully. “What’s happening now? Joe was practicing acrobatics? But can he tumble?”

Joe looked at Poppy as well, but the man jumped and rolled behind Bard. “Keep your eyes to yourself! Some of us don’t want to share all our flaws and secrets!”

“Fair enough. I’m just trying to help.” Joe shrugged and started walking after dusting himself off. “We’ll figure out a way to get rid of that curse, Alexis. If that’s what you want.”

Alexis looked at Bard, who was smiling happily at her for the first time in almost a week. “I think that would be for the best. I should work on myself if I want to be a better person, not rely on something ‘giving’ me what I want.”

“So mature!” Jaxon’s voice rang out. “Joe, how do we get around the blockade? Do we just let them know that we have a quest, or what?”

“Blockade?” Joe noticed what Jaxon was talking about right away. There was a wall of city guardsmen that were redirecting people down other roads. Joe walked up to the first of them and offered a salute. “Good morning, Gentlemen! Might I ask why this road is closed?”

“Joe? Joe! So good to see you!” The guard shook Joe’s hand enthusiastically. “I never got a chance to thank you in person for bringing me back from the brink, and on your first day in this world at that! Meant a lot to me, and my wife has been poking at me to go looking for you for weeks!”

“Then… you must be Bobby?” Joe thanked his huge intelligence score profusely, it allowed him to remember things that he should have forgotten long ago.

“You…! Yes! I am, and I can’t… I can't thank you enough.” Bobby the city guard was gripping Joe’s hand far too hard, and his eyes were getting rimmed with red. “If you ever need anything from me that’s inside my power…”

“Well, I’m trying to get to the temple to complete a quest…” Joe stated leadingly.

“Ah…” Bobby smiled ruefully. “By order of the Royal High Cleric, the routes to the temple are to be fully inaccessible unless someone has a writ of passage.”

“I see.” Joe looked up and around. “But is it illegal to get past you, or to go to the temple?”

Bobby raised an eyebrow, then looked at the glowing golden eye on Joe’s forehead. “Interesting thought… let me tell you our exact orders. We are to make a barricade and stop anyone we see from passing us. Now, we are all facing this way, none of us are looking behind us. There are archers on top of the buildings, and if we see someone trying to get past us we are to stop them. But let’s say that we see someone already  in the area. Why, we would just have to assume that they are supposed to be there, as we collect the writs of passage as people come through.”

“Got it. Well, that’s too bad, I guess we will just have to give up on this! I hope you are doing well, Bobby.” Joe nodded and winked at the guard.

“Better than I ever had hoped for. By the way, legally speaking, no one can deny another access to the main temple, only the path there may be closed; never the temple itself.” The guard nodded deeply. “Good luck in your future endeavors, and I look forward to our next meeting.”

“Same, so long as it isn't like our first.” Joe turned as they were both chuckling, walking to his team with a serious face. “It seems that someone pretty high up is trying to make sure that they are able to claim all the prizes within the upcoming event. We need to find a way past all these people.”

“I have a plan for that.” Jaxon called. The rest of the team looked over to see him squeezing a small wooden barrel.

Alexis slapped at her hip, then looked at the barrel with more concern than Joe was hoping for. “Jaxon! No! That’s-”

“-a smokescreen, you already told me! It blocks vision!” Smoke started to leak out between Jaxon’s fingers, and he threw the barrel to the ground where it detonated into a huge cloud with a *whump*.

“It’s a concentrated poison of blindness, not a smokescreen!”