Eric felt immense pain in his neck from the damage split thanks to Blackflame Tether, still had Bristling Bastion active, and had no idea how someone could have gotten an instant-lethal shot on Peter: well, lethal for most. The man ripped the arrow from his neck while prone and flared silver with the light of his full heal Skill, then stood up, and that silver bubble surrounded the whole group. That healing also flooded over to Eric, and topped him off.
More arrows came flying in, only to bounce off of the barrier, and Eric looked around for the signs of vital signatures, the sign of heat from his Reaper's Flamesight. Little dots far off in the distance, easily one-thousand feet away, were visible. He pointed that direction and used Blackflame Meteor. “Meteor drop incoming,” he growled. “Enemies that way.”
Shannon turned the direction he was facing, and flinched as an arrow exploded on the barrier in front of her face. “The fuck is their range?” She held her weapon up to her eye and used the spyglass-turned-scope. “Six archers.”
Naomi said, “An old English longbow could reach thirteen-hundred feet. They have Skills and Rotes, probably, plus Gear is a thing.”
Peter let out a grunt, and his shield began to crack. “They are hitting hard, and that fight in the dungeon left me with some Sigils—”
He was cut off by the giant kaboom of Eric’s meteor impacting. Shannon commented a few seconds later, “Oh, they’re gone now.”
Eric’s bracer buzzing confirmed her words. “Yeah, got them. But they wouldn’t just send—” he wheeled around as his nervous system told him to move, and his Flashstep auto-activated, taking him one-hundred feet away over the snow, away from his allies. He had just been saved from a killing blow, and was down to six Sigils.
Martial combatants, covered with some Skill to allow for stealth, had snuck up behind the group and apparently Peter’s barrier didn’t keep out living creatures—just attacks. Eric saw twelve enemies in total who began to unleash a series of devastating, Skill- and Rote-empowered attacks on the group. Thankfully, the ladies were covered by Peter’s damage redirect, and the Blackflame Tethers Eric had used in the dungeon still connected the whole group.
Shannon let out a scream as she backpedaled away from the assault of two, curve-sword wielding combatants. “Get away!” she screamed as she vanished from sight, yet the two fighters kept up their assault on where she was, evidenced by the little blips of silver that Eric saw.
Naomi seemed to fare a little better, as her armor had the electro-blades, and those came out of both forearms. She wasn’t a trained martial combatant, but she was able to deflect an occasional blow from the two that engaged her—also wielding curved swords.
Peter was beset by the eight others, and they held the same types of weapons.
Fucking—I know these guys, Eric thought.
They were a dungeon organization called the Curves and Cutlasses: an all female group of divers who were specialists with the weapon of the same name, though the weapons had an accentuated curve that made them more like a scimitar.
What are they doing all the way out here? They should be dealing with wild dungeons—oh. Fuck. They must think we stole their dungeon claim.
Out in the wilds, beyond the safety of cities, dungeons were a first-come, first-serve type of situation. The Summoned had found this place thanks to Darius, but his contact must have sold the information to someone else, as well—the Curves and Cutlasses, specifically.
These aren’t monsters: they’re dungeon divers. This is going to be a fucking tough fight.
Eric’s grimoire was already in his hand, and he had the range advantage for the moment. He fired off twelve Blackflame Evocations, tagging each foe once, and shouted to Shannon. “Get Netherdark going!”
Some of Peter’s assailants split off to go after him, and Eric unleashed a Blackflame Breath before himself, sending out the billowing flames. The medium-armored, fur-cloak-covered women stopped before the flames, and then vanished.
Eric had stacks, and his reaction time, so he was able to easily dodge the melee attacks that came at him from behind. Wheeling about, he summoned all ten of his flaming spears. The cloud seemed to afflict the three women who went to go and fight, had teleported behind, and tried to strike him. The sharp blades tried to find purchase, but Eric’s movement was already maxed out from the dungeon and the one-minute continuance post-damage-dealt.
They had no chance against his speed. Eric simply backpedaled toward his group of allies, wanting to shroud them in his smoke cloud. The scimitar-wielding women continued their advance, shouting out curses and swears as they tried to close with him.
“Triangle!” one shouted, then vanished from in front of him.
Eric saw the other two vanish, and re-summoned the spears into a defensive grid around him as blades came at him from three directions, trapping him in a web of steel. The women were hacking and carving away, and they were able to shatter and break through his summoned spears. Eric tried to re-summon the ones that were broken by the shimmer, blue-colored blades, but could not.
[They have a reset timer if destroyed.]
How the fuck do you destroy hardened Blackflame?
[They have a set amount of durability, since they are summoned objects. All summoned objects or artificial creations do.]
Eric still had Sigils to burn, and he used a Combustion Trigger.
Boom!
The world erupted in black and white, as the woman in front of him was instantly incinerated to ashes from the five-times multiplier on all existing Blackflame Blaze burns afflicting her. The other two were blown backward and turned into ashes thanks to the shockwave, their own burns, and the two-times damage of the initial target’s Blaze stacks.
Eric, thanks to his Cinderscale Shroud, didn’t have to worry about his equipment being blown to bits, since the Rote sucked all of that into and ‘below’ the layer of scales that integrated his T6 Hidden-Plate Armor Robes.
He turned his attention to his allies, and saw that they were all faring poorly: they were being attacked from all sides, but weren’t in any real danger, because Eric’s constant healing restored injuries the moment they were inflicted. It was just going to be a matter of time. Unless, that is, one of them got in a good hit—
Eric’s nervous system forced him to dodge, and he dove to his left, coming up in a roll, and spun to face a foe that had descended from the skies. He recognized it—a wyvern—but it was covered in the pulsating flesh and ooze of the plague, invader deity. It opened its mouth, and…it spoke.
“You must die.”
[Oh. Well. That is inconvenient.]
Eric saw a fleshy, warped tendril snake out from the monster’s back, and it split into three more: each tipped with the paralytic-venom-carrying stinger. The mana beast let out a roar and Eric was sure that the combat off in the distance was disrupted for a moment by the sudden appearance of the mana beast.
He unleashed Blackflame Breath, and the monster charged forward through the flames, slashing down at him, suffering even more stacks of Blackflame Blaze thanks to Eric’s shroud of ash and cinders. Still, it brought its weapons to bear, and Eric kept channeling through his grimoire as he was put fully on defense, entirely focused on dodging. A few times, the tendrils snaked through and hit him, but they hit the Bristling Bastion, and with little bangs, the tendrils were obliterated.
More continued to sprout off of the enemy, and the invader deity’s sick, putrid regeneration continued to be the perfect counter to Eric’s constant burns. It was going to come down to who could deal a killing blow to a vital spot.
Eric had the edge on that. He spent a Sigil—down to four—and activated Blackmana Beam. He channeled all of his reservoir’s mana into the beam to increase the damage inflicted, which seemed to have a direct correlation to how large it was. The beam of monochromatic flames wrapped in a blue-purple film shot forward and bored a hole clean through the center of the wyvern, killing it. The remaining flames licked over the body and consumed it fully.
Eric turned back to his allies and saw that Peter had been suffering a beating—the man’s armor was dented all over, hampering his movements. Naomi was faring no better, as she was curled into the fetal position on the ground as blades kept cutting down into her, slicing through armor, and then having the wounds heal over instantly. She was keeping her vital organs safe from a killing blow, so she was effectively unkillable.
His heart sank in his chest, and a pit formed in his stomach. Shannon’s corpse was on the ground. Despite being invisible and undetectable, someone must have gotten a lucky hit in on her.
No! Indedroma, has it been—
[Seven seconds since she went down. Three left!]
Eric spent a Sigil to activate Nothing’s Certain. The overlay of the world appeared, and he sent the white-flame claw to grab onto Shannon’s still-ascending-to-black soul, and ripped it down from there into her body. The once-corpse mended over from the constant ongoing healing and mana restoration, and Shannon came back to life. But, she was on the edges of the combat, and instantly turned invisible.
“Stay out of the area!” Eric shouted. These foes had killed Shannon, had tried to kill him, and he was pissed—
“Above you!” Shannon’s voice yelled back from his right somewhere.
Eric sprinted to his left and avoided the slam of another wyvern, also covered with corruption, which impacted where he had been standing. He didn’t want to deal with another one, and was going to use a Sigil, but took stock. He was at three left. He needed to keep them for his allies if they went down.
Damnit, he thought. Fine then. I need a ton of mana to make a Blackflame Breath strong enough to obliterate this thing in one hit.
It was time to use a Rote he hadn’t used yet because he didn’t see a need for it, but it fit the situation perfectly. As the wyvern…evolved, growing more tendrils than the last one, Eric used Mana Drain. A beam of bright, blue-purple light shot from his grimoire, slammed into the wyvern, and began sucking shimmering sparkles of starlight back toward him. Eric felt his reservoir filling as the sparkles hit him.
He could focus fully on dodging, and as long as he kept line of sight and was able to concentrate on the single target, he would eventually suck it dry of all its mana. Or, that was the hope, at least. The body could only hold so much, and if he drained all of it, then the foe would fall unconscious. That wasn’t the goal, though—he just needed enough mana for a Mana Burn empowered Rote to finish it in one go.
Shannon’s bolts slammed into the beast’s eyes, but those healed over. Still, the Netherdark Ichor that pulsated from the impact points of the bolts kicked off the infinite-feedback-loop of his bastion’s AOE, stacking Blackflame Blaze DOTs.
Eric could see the wyvern slowing as he sucked it dry of mana, and when its movement had easily halved, and he was practically glowing with excess mana that bled into the environment thanks to Reservoir Savant, he fired off his Rote.
Blackflame Breath went off with a massive bang that sent Eric flying backward from the recoil and lack of something to ground himself against. He went flying thirty feet, then tumbled into the dirt before skidding to a stop some distance away. Looking up, he saw a massive gouge in the earth where the wyvern once was.
Peter and Naomi were still over with the melee combatants, and were under assault. Eric saw Shannon’s bolts flying over into the fray, and he got up and added his barrage of Blackflame Evocations to the mix. Their dual assault was devastating, and the attackers began to fall and turn to ash.
“We surrender!” one of them shouted, backing away.
“No mercy!” Peter screamed back as his hammer glowed with its silver hue and slammed into her, crushing her stomach, folding her in half, and killing her—as Eric’s Blackflame Blaze devoured the rest of her. “You attacked us unprovoked! You killed Shannon!”
“I’m alive!” she shouted. “But yeah, fuck them!”
Eric was perfectly fine with that, and kept up the assault until all of the foes had been burned away. Naomi was still curled up on the ground, but alive, and Eric ran over to her. “Hey, we got them all,” he said.
She looked up, and her eyes were filled with shock and alarm. “Why—why would they attack us?!”
“We took their dungeon,” Eric replied. “It’s…out here in the wild it's lawless.”
Peter was seething, and he slung his hammer to his hip as he moved over to Shannon and hugged her. “I thought I lost you,” he said.
Shannon, who had come closer, said, “Eric got me back. I’m okay, I’m alive.”
Naomi looked at Eric and said, “What…tell me why they would be so stupid?”
Eric crossed his arms and began scanning the skies, looking for any sign of wyverns. He spotted a dot, far up in the air. “One moment. Shannon, I need your scope.”
She came over and aimed where he was pointing. “Yup, another wyvern.”
Eric shook his head and looked at Naomi. “We can talk later. I was attacked by two mana beasts that were infected—just like the gryphon. But the first one talked to me. It was the invader deity. I think it’s sending minions after me, since my primal force can permanently put it down.” He frowned. “We should have me use an Ember on each of you—well, one of your damaging Rotes or Skills—so that you can put it down permanently, also.”
Shannon replied, “I’ve got mine. Do Peter next—after we kill that thing.”
“Fucking assholes,” Peter said. “Not you all, the people who attacked us.”
Eric used Mana Channel and stood stock-still, filling up his mana reservoir and the Inner Paths overflow one, which began to bleed out into the environment. The second the wyvern came into range, he unleashed a Blackmana Beam. The grimoire in his hands exploded with the monochromatic flames, and a sphere began to form, then grow, and expand until it was a massive sphere easily the size of a truck, hovering in front of him.
“The fuck?” Shannon said. “I want that!”
Eric’s blast exploded upward, the beam lancing forward and completely annihilating the entire wyvern by being a wider circumference than its whole body. Nothing was left as the ashes drifted into the wind. “Done.” He looked at the group. “Now that that threat is dealt with, as to the group that attacked us. The Curves and Cutlasses was the name of their organization.” He gestured around them. “I think we killed all of them.”
Peter’s frown deepened. “They deserved death for an unprovoked attack and killing Shannon…why did they attack us?”
Eric pointed to the gap in the rocks he had melted to the now-gone dungeon entrance. “Darius learned about the dungeon from someone else. There are some Classes whose entire job it is to scan the world for dungeon entrances via magic-empowered sensors—sort of like a drone—and then report the information. Sometimes, instead, they sell the location to the highest bidder.”
“They attacked us because they wanted the dungeon?” Naomi asked.
“Exactly,” Eric replied. He looked at the tent, still set up, then looked at Shannon. “Do you have enough Sigils to get us back to the estate?”
She nodded. “Yup.”
“Let’s take down the shelter, pack it away, and head home.”
As the group headed over to the tent and began disassembling it, Eric thought to Indedroma, put the level up info in my vision for now, then after this, back to the bracer.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have 12 level-ups to process.]
[Blackflame Evoker 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217.]
[Choose a Skill and Trait to increase. Then repeat this eleven times.]
Depths below, Eric thought, that’s insane! I mean, super cool, though. Alright. Let’s get this going. Let’s go with Traits first. Reservoir Savant should get seven, and then Fires of Death let’s get the other five.
[Confirmed.]
-----
Traits:
Reservoir Savant 10 - Increase outgoing damage amplification and incoming damage reduction to 10% of the user’s maximum capacity. Increase mana regeneration rate to 20%. Increase excess mana AOE bleed to 10-foot radius from the user.
Fire of Death 7 - A target within five feet suffers 27% increased damage, with the amplification falling off the more distant the target becomes, out to a range of 700 feet.
-----
Eric helped take down the tent as he thought, That’s weird. If things kept progressing as they should have, Fires of Death should be at one-hundred percent.
[That would be the creator’s doing. There are restrictions in place to prevent certain aspects of The Paths from getting out of control. REDACTED. Damnit.]
Got it. Artificial limitations, possibly because the creator came back, found you had made The Paths, and put in restrictions. I’d guess he never wanted a mortal to get powerful enough to oppose him? Something stupid like that.
[Oh, wow, you guessed it. Redaction lifted. Yes, that’s exactly it. I have put my claw on the scales as much as I can in your favor. I will keep doing so, but there are some times where the creator’s limitations override my own. Once I am in the Titan, I can shake those controls. But, I do plan on an overhaul once I’m there—an overall rebalancing, as it were. I’d exclude you, of course, as my chosen Reaper.]
Well, thanks for that. Okay, onto Skills. Let’s do all twelve into Bristling Bastion. I want to get that to its final evolution.
[Confirmed.]
[[Armored] Bristling Bastion is at Rank Invoked 10. Maximum Rank achieved. Consecrating and resetting.]
-----
Skills:
[Armored] Bristling Bastion C8 - The user coats their body in ash, which functions like a [medium] suit of armor. Upon being impacted by a strike, Rote, or Skill, a burst of concussive Blackflame knocks that foe backward and deals minor damage. Additionally, a cloud of ash stays in a small area around you, obscuring vision and muffling sound. You and those you designate as allies are unaffected. The user and allies within the cloud of ash have the mana cost of Rotes reduced by 50%. Foes who enter the cloud will suffer minor damage upon entry, and for each second they remain within the area. While active, the user may freely manifest or dismiss [ten melee weapons and eight ranged weapons which fire Blackflame projectiles] that can be mentally controlled. When any of these weapons inflicts harm upon a foe, the user recovers an equal amount of health, and the target is marked for death, suffering 20% more damage from all sources. These weapons may only persist while within the cloud. 60-minute duration, [50-foot knockback, 200-foot range on knockback reprisal], 50-foot radius centered on the user.
-----
Oh, very neat. I can have a bunch of bows shooting at things.
[Indeed. The ranged weapons have the same average reload time as their counterpart. So longbows would be about ten seconds between shots.]
Alright, good to know.
Eric looked over at his allies as they finished putting the tent away into Naomi’s storage dimension. “Is everyone over level two-hundred?” The rest applied in the affirmative, and Eric smiled. “Good. We can go get our next Class Upgrade.”
Shannon gestured for everyone to surround her. “Group up. Teleport incoming! Well, not quite teleporting. It’s weird.”
Eric stood next to her, and she glowed with a deep, purple light that slowly enveloped all of them. He felt constricted, as if he was bound and restrained on a table. Then, a feeling of compression from above that was almost like he was being pushed down on by a weighted blanket. Then, the world went black—a black he could not see through.
Air whirled around him, and he could hear Peter say, “It’s fucking cold,” but then he felt warmth. The weighted feeling vanished, and he was in Shannon’s bedroom in the estate.
“Done!” Shannon said with a smile. “I have just one location tagged, but I can tag another. I figured once we reach another capital near a mega-dungeon, I can go ahead and use it there. That way, we can come home and go back when we are rested up! I can do more when I Rank up the Skill further.”
Eric gave her a side-hug. “Awesome idea.” He then looked at Peter. “We need to upgrade one of your damaging Rotes or Skills with my Blackflame.” Eric dismissed his Rotes and Skills, and grabbed his Silence Node, activating it and bathing the room in black and white.
Peter held out his hand. “I have a Rote we can use.”
Eric clasped it, and then went through the quick process to burn one of his Embers to augment another person’s ability. Peter then let go, and grabbed his hammer. It ignited with silver flames that crackled with a core of Blackflame. “Looks good,” Eric observed.
Naomi sat down on Shannon’s bed. “I…we got ambushed and Shannon died. We need to think strategy.” She looked up at Eric. “Not to mention that we have the invader deity literally gunning for you, Eric.”
Eric shrugged. “We kill what comes at us—”
“It infected the capital,” Naomi said. “It might not trigger those people, those…sleeper agents, because that would disrupt the larger plan of mass infection. It might not know that we know that.” She sighed. “The sooner this lady from Flescion finishes getting the Skill she needs, we need you to spend an Ember on her thing so she can spread this anti-plague inoculation virus.”
Peter hung his hammer from his belt. “Seems smart. So what, we just stay in here the whole time?”
Eric shook his head. “We can’t do that. I am out of Embers. We need to go into the Twilight Depths and get to another unique encounter.” He looked at Shannon. “Can you cloak all of us to the Ley Line Locus?”
“I could,” Shannon replied. “But won’t that knock us out of commission for a few days?”
“It will,” Eric replied. “And we should also notify someone higher up. How’s everyone feel about doing that next?”
“What’ll happen this time?” Peter asked.
Indedroma answered in all of their minds.
[Class name change, Rotes, Skills, and Traits may improve—but we are venturing into unknown territory. I have never had a three-Class, Polymerized amalgamation go through the upgrade process.]
“Whose turn is it to test?” Eric asked.
“Mine,” Naomi replied. “I’ll call Persim and ask her to arrange a private session for us. Can Misty be in the recovery room to get us back on our feet enough to stumble home?”
“Yes,” Eric replied. He headed to the door and opened it, breaking the Silence Node’s aura. “Set it up with the Spymaster, and tell us via text on the bracers when.”
***
That same day, in the darkening hours of the evening, Eric and the other Summoned, along with his wife Misty, were in the Ley Line Locus chamber. It had been emptied out, and queen’s guards kept others from entering the area, encouraging them to return the next day.
Naomi went in first while the rest observed. Eric watched as she put her hand into the stone, there was a brilliant flash of lightning, and then she went limp and collapsed. Misty was outfitted in heavy, protective garments to keep her safe from the mana exposure within the chamber, and she dragged Naomi out.
The rest of the group met the duo in the recovery room, and Naomi weakly said, “We get…good stuff.” She held up her left arm then let it drop. “Makerspark Inventor became Makerspark Technician.]
[It’s easier if I show you all.]
Misty said, “I’ll put my Skills to work, then the next person can go ahead.”
Eric nodded and headed to the chamber entrance. Once Misty joined him, he gave her a kiss. “Wish me luck.”
“You don’t need it,” she said as she gave him a hug. “Go for it, love.”
Eric headed inside and did what needed to be done. He put his hand into the aperture, and then spent his remaining Sigils and expended all of his mana. Thoroughly drained, his vision faded. He was standing on the familiar white stone platform in the void of space surrounded by starlight. In front of him was a set of stairs that ascended, vanishing from sight. “Here we go,” he said as he walked forward.
His foot touched the step, and waves of ecstasy and bliss ripped through him, as every nerve and synapse fired with pure bliss. He kept walking up, reaching new heights of delight, and then reached the top, and felt hollow as the sensations faded away.
He was standing in front of a baptismal font, with an empty center. Walking to it, he placed his hand over the basic, and the Sigil of Blackflame began to shift. It became more complex than before: a black center with a white core that spiraled outward in two different whirls, each little section of the spiral’s lines surging with black flames that were tinged blue-purple. The exterior of the circle was not static, but fluctuating constantly, and moving around.
[Class Upgrade.]
[Base Class: Blackflame Evoker.]
[Elite Class: Blackflame Arcanist.]
The world fell away and left Eric standing in the Ley Line Locus room. Awareness of his body returned, and he buckled to his knees. He heard Misty’s footsteps, felt her warm embrace, then hands hook under his arms and haul him up. He leaned on her for support as, through bleary eyes, he saw them head to the recovery room.
He laid down and Indedroma spoke in his mind.
[Do you want to know what changed?]
Please.
Eric felt Misty’s hands on him, and then a suffusion of warmth that left his heart thumping rapidly before settling. She kissed him on the forehead, and said, “I’ll be back with the others.” He heard her depart, and also heard the sound of Naomi’s deep breathing indicative of her being asleep.
Go ahead.
[The changes are extensive, and so I will underline new alterations. Good news—everything is now under the Class of Blackflame Arcanist, so no more Conduit abilities. They’ve all been flavored with Blackflame. Also, while your body is finishing its adjustments, I can strip out ranks of Skills down to one, giving you more to use.]
Oh…good…Blackflame Eruption, Cinderstorm, Locking Singularity, Blackflame Tether, Fiery Chains—revert all of those.
[Sure. That’ll give you ten Ranks to put elsewhere.]
Plug them all into Bristling Bastion. Then, show me the updates.
[Alright.]
[[Armored] Bristling Bastion is at Rank Consecrated 10. Maximum Rank achieved. Glorifying and resetting.]
[And now, the entire setup, with underlines for the new alterations.]
-----
Rotes:
[Scorching] Blackflame Evocation - Manifest five Blackflame Bolts around a singular target within range which immediately impact them, each dealing [moderate] damage + 1% of your maximum mana reservoir capacity. This damage is instantaneous and does not require a travel time. 500-foot range.
Blackflame Breath - The user expels a shapeable area of Blackflame in front of them, dealing minor damage every 0.05 seconds to all within the area. This AOE goes around obstacles to strike those who might be hiding behind them. The shapeable area is, in total, 50-cubic-feet. The user may elect not to harm specific targets. The user may double their mana expenditure to increase damage from minor to moderate.
[Heat Sink, Death-Ward] Cinderscale Shroud - Manifest a covering of dragon scales (equivalent hardness of full plate) across the whole body. Fingers and toes elongate slightly and tip with claws that are the equivalent to short daggers. Equipped items and gear blends with the user’s body. Additionally, manifest a cloak of cinders that trails behind you and shrouds your form. While active, [negate half of the stacking incoming damage from Blackflame Blaze]. Gain additional Damage Resistance equal to 20% of your maximum mana reservoir. While active, the user cannot be instantly killed by any ‘insta-kill’ Skill, Rote, or equivalent, instead suffering damage.
Blacksteel Healing - The user designates a target within range, and can either sacrifice their health or mana to heal the target. The amount restored is a 1-to-2 ratio for sacrificed health, or a 0.5-to-2 ratio for sacrificed mana. 500-foot range. Ambient mana around the target is infused into them, halving their mana expenditure to receive the heal. If this Rote does not heal something afflicting the target, the user will be notified of the malady remaining.
Mana Channel - The user locks themself in place, becoming unable to perform any actions save for autonomous ones (breathing, hearing, seeing, etc.), as they open themselves up to the ambient mana in the atmosphere. Increase mana regeneration rate by 1000% while active. Must restore at least 25% of maximum mana reservoir before the lock can be cancelled.
Mana Drain - The user chooses a singular target in range. While the user maintains line of sight with the target, and is able to concentrate their attention on that target, they siphon the mana out of them. This Rote does not cost mana to use. 1000-foot range. This carries no visual element.
-----
Skills:
[Armored] Bristling Bastion G8 - The user coats their body in ash, which functions like a [medium] suit of armor. Upon being impacted by a strike, Rote, or Skill, a burst of concussive Blackflame knocks that foe backward and deals minor damage. Additionally, a cloud of ash stays in a small area around you, obscuring vision and muffling sound. You and those you designate as allies are unaffected. The user and allies within the cloud of ash have the mana cost of Rotes reduced by 50%. Foes who enter the cloud will suffer minor damage upon entry, and for each second they remain within the area. While active, the user may freely manifest or dismiss ten melee and ranged weapons that can be mentally controlled, which strike with or fire Blackflame projectiles. When any of these weapons inflicts harm upon a foe, the user recovers an equal amount of health, and the target is marked for death, suffering 20% more damage from all sources. These weapons may only persist while within the cloud. 60-minute duration, 80-foot knockback, 280-foot range on knockback reprisal, 80-foot radius centered on the user.
Cinderstorm 1 - The user launches a ball of Blackflame that detonates, dealing moderate damage to all struck. The area is then covered in a rain of Blackflame that deals minor damage every second until the storm fades. 200 foot range, 50 foot radius from impact or chosen point, 5 second storm duration.
Blackmana Beam E3 - Fire a beam of empowered Blackflame that lances forth in a line dealing massive damage. Pierces 13 targets (or 13 feet of material). The user may spend mana to increase the damage dealt. 1,500-foot range.
[Flareburst] Flashstep E10 - Emit a burst of Blackflame from your feet, dashing rapidly to a nearby location. 100-foot distance. In addition, you may alter your trajectory slightly, changing the direction of your travel by 150-degrees. [If you would suffer a lethal blow, this Skill activates in response, moving you to the maximum safe distance possible from the triggering strike. This will not activate if you have self-resurrection charges on Nothing’s Certain and this activation would bring you under the Sigil threshold to activate that.]
Combustion Trigger A10 - Only usable if a target is suffering from Blackflame Blaze. The primary target suffers all remaining Blackflame Blaze damage, amplified by x5. Nearby targets are dealt damage equal to all remaining Blackflame Blaze damage, amplified by x2. 50-foot radius centered on the primary target. This damage triggers new Blackflame Blazes as if applied by 10 instances of the Blackflame Evocation Rote.
Blackflame Eruption 1 - The user causes Blackflame to erupt from the ground in a line, which surges upward and deals moderate damage to all in the area. The area is 5 feet wide and 50 feet long.
Locking Singularity 1 - The user designates a target suffering from Blackflame Blaze. A singularity appears above the target, storing a copy of all current and future instances of Blackflame Blaze damage that occurs for a short duration. After that duration expires, a portion of the damage is applied in a single blast. 500 foot range, one second duration, 10% of stored damage.
[Apocalyptic] Blackflame Meteor 3 - The user manifests a meteor of Blackflame above a location. After a brief delay it crashes down, dealing massive damage. 130-foot-radius from chosen point, 1,300-foot-range, 8-second impact delay.
Blackflame Tether 1 - The user designates a target within 500-feet. Their life force, mana, and primal force are linked to that target. For the next 1 minute, any healing or damage inflicted to one target or the other is halved and distributed with the other. The user may transfer any amount of health or mana from themselves to the target, or vice-versa, which cannot reduce either below a low health threshold. Additionally, all damage dealt by the chosen target becomes imbued with Blackflame, applying Blackflame Blaze.
Nothing’s Certain C10 - This Skill costs 5 Sigils to use. Only usable if a target dies within range of the user, within the past 10 seconds, and their body is partially intact. The target is revived at low health and mana. Cannot be used on the same target within a 1 minute time span. 1500-foot range. The Sigil cost of this Skill is reduced by 1 for every 1 creatures with access to The Paths who are slain by the user. This reduction persists for one minute after the last kill before fading. Cannot reduce the Sigil threshold below 1. For every 10,000 creatures with access to The Paths who are slain by the user, one self-revive is stored. This will only trigger if the user dies, their body is partially intact, and they have enough Sigils remaining at their time of death to activate the Skill. When reviving a target, the user may instead capture the soul, holding it in a sealable container for up to 10 seasons. It may then be released to cross beyond, or put into a viable vessel. While stored, the soul is in stasis. After the time expires, the soul crosses beyond. Upon being inserted back into the body, the soul is imbued with Blackflame, allowing the user to know the location of all brought back in this way—distance, direction, and travel time to reach the target are provided.
Fiery Chains 1 - Only usable if two or more targets are suffering from Blackflame Blaze, and within ten feet of one another. A chain of Blackflame manifests between each target, persisting for 10 seconds, and remaining even if the targets separate beyond that initial range. Anything that touches the chains is dealt minor damage upon initial impact with, while passing through, or for every second spent touching and/or while inside the chains. This damage can apply a new Blackflame Blaze, but does not manifest a Fiery Chain. Lasts for 1 minute.
Through the Flames 3 - This Skill costs 1 Sigil to use per mile traveled. The user may travel to any active flame they can detect as a teleportation effect, emerging adjacent to the fire on any surface that can support their weight. This Skill fails and the Sigil is refunded if the target is out of range, or there is no surface that can support the user's weight nearby. If the target flame is extinguished before the travel time elapses, the user returns to the closest safe place they departed from. 30-mile range. 10-second travel time.
Mana Conversion 10 - This Skill costs no Sigils, but may only be used five times per every 6 hours. Requires a full mana reservoir. The user expends all of their mana, and restores a single Sigil. When a Sigil is spent on a Skill, the user restores 1% of their maximum mana.
Blackmana Shield 1 - The user manifests a shroud of Blackflame empowered mana around themself. This mana shield suffers all injury the user would, applying it to the user's mana reservoir. If the user's mana reservoir would empty, then overflow damage impacts them.
Blackmana Tempest Minefield 1 - This Skill costs 3 Sigils to use. The user creates a tornado of manacules embedded with Blackflame that is sent ripping across the battlefield, dealing massive damage to all impacted. This tornado can be guided, or sent on a path. An individual suffers injury when first impacted, or when leaving and then re-entering the tornado’s area—not while inside the eye of the storm. 10-second duration, 100-foot travel distance, 10-foot diameter width. As the tornado travels, manacules are dispersed within 500-feet of the edges of the Skill, randomly falling no closer than 1-foot near one another. Upon being touched, they explode for moderate damage. Mines last for 1 hour. Mana may be spent to amplify the damage of this Skill.
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Traits:
[Godslayer] Primal Blackflame Blaze [Permanent] - Adds a burning damage-over-time (DOT) to all of the user’s sources of damage, dealing an additional 200% of the total direct damage over 2 seconds. If reapplied, all DOT timers refresh, and all refreshed DOTs flare up, dealing 10% of their total burn instantly. Subsequent attacks (of any type) from the user or those they designate as allies refresh the timer, and cause existing DOTs to flare up, dealing 10% of their total burn damage instantly.
Every time this DOT applies damage, it grants the user the following benefits, stacking up to 100 times. The user may artificially cap the number of stacks.
Increase outgoing damage by 20%.
Increase incoming damage by 20% {10% with [Heat Sink] Cinderscale Shroud active}.
Every time this DOT applies damage, it grants the user the following benefits, stacking up to 100 times. The user may artificially cap the number of stacks.
Regenerate 2% of maximum mana per second.
Increase movement speed by 20%.
Improve reaction time by 20%.
Accelerate processing speed by 20%.
These bonuses last for 1 minute after the user’s last instance of damage dealt.
Every time this DOT deals damage, the user siphons away 10% of that target’s health and mana, and replicates that siphoned health and mana restoration to any target they can see within 1,000 feet.
When a target dies within 10 minutes of being harmed by the user, the user restores 30% of their health and mana. Allies who are within five feet of the target restore 15% of their health and mana.
Fires of Death 7 - The user inflicts more harm to a target the closer they are to them. A target within five feet suffers 27% increased damage, with the amplification falling off the more distant the target becomes, out to a range of 700 feet.
Mana Burn 10 - When the user regenerates mana above their maximum reservoir and additional capacity (from any source, such as the additional capacity from the Mana Skin Body Enhancement), excess mana converts to additional damage on the next Rote or Skill at a ratio of 1 to 1.2.
Final Reaping E10 - 100% of the user’s outgoing damage is replicated and applied as a ‘healing buffer’, absorbing any incoming healing until the buffer is filled. This buffer fades after 10 seconds of not suffering damage from the user. While active, this buffer reduces the efficacy of barriers and shields applied to the target by 25%.
Kindling Efficiency 1 - Whenever the user (or a Blackflame empowered ally) applies a damage-over-time effect with a Skill or Rote, they recover mana equal to 1% of the total damage that effect is expected to deal over its full duration. This mana recovery occurs over the DOT’s duration rather than instantly. If the target dies before the DOT ends, the remaining recovery is granted immediately. This Trait can only recover mana from each target once every 5 seconds.
Reservoir Savant 10 - The user’s mana reservoir adds to their efficacy in combat, amplifying all damage dealt by an amount equal to 10% of the user’s maximum capacity. Reduce all incoming damage by the same amount. This includes external mana storage, such as Body Enhancements and Gear. Increase mana regeneration rate by 20%. Excess mana that is more than the reservoir allows bleeding out from the user, dealing damage to any within a 10-foot radius of them.
Reaper's Flamesight 1 - You have an intuitive understanding of where to strike to inflict the most harm to a person, mana beast, or monster. Your strikes that target a weak spot (vital location) deal 10% additional damage. At will, you may shift your vision into 'Flamesight', which grants thermal vision, highlights vital parts of living creatures, and grants sight of any fire within ten miles of your location, which remains during the use of the Skill Through the Flames or any variant of it.
Reaper's Reprieve 1 - You stay beyond the reach of death. For every 1,000 creatures with access to The Paths who are slain by the user, one year is added to the user’s natural life span. This additional lifespan reverts age if necessary towards the prime of youth and reverses age-related maladies and afflictions.
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Name: Eric Baxter
Classes: (III) Blackflame Arcanist 217
Maximum Sigils: 21
Rotes: [Scorching] Blackflame Evocation, Blackflame Breath, [Heat Sink, Death-Ward] Cinderscale Shroud, Blacksteel Healing, Mana Channel, Mana Drain
Equipped Skills: [Armored] Bristling Bastion G8, Cinderstorm 1, Blackmana Beam E3, [Flareburst] Flashstep E10, Combustion Trigger A10, Blackflame Eruption 1, Locking Singularity 1, [Apocalyptic] Blackflame Meteor 3, Blackflame Tether 1, Nothing’s Certain C10, Fiery Chains 1, Through the Flames 3, Mana Conversion 10, Blackmana Shield 1, Blackmana Tempest Minefield 1
Traits: [Godslayer] Primal Blackflame Blaze [Permanent], Fires of Death 7, Mana Burn 10, Final Reaping E10, Kindling Efficiency 1, Reservoir Savant 10, Reaper's Flamesight 1, Reaper's Reprieve 1
Body Enhancements: [Antithesis] Neversick Slime (T5), [Reactive] Mana Skin (T7) {DR 20}, [Surging] Mana Muscles (T6), Tarrasque Nervous System (T8) {Igniting}, Steelbone Infusion (T7)
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Loadout Slots: 26 (-5 from Body Enhancements)
Gear: Manatech Bracer [Comms, Map, HUD, Alarm, Index Interface, Tracking, Storage Dimension {10 ft. x 10 ft.}, Texting, Bug-Fry {1x/day}], T8 Leysteel Focus Grimoire of Retexturing, T6 Hidden-Plate Armor Robes {DR 30}, Underworld Kit, Toughskin Slime (8 oz.), Silence Node, T2 Wavestrider Boots, T1 Wavewender Choker, x10 phylactery [empty], x10 DNA container [Eric, Naomi, Peter, Shannon, Misty, James, Cecil, Benson, Mari, Amber], T1 Communication Earring [Spymaster], T1 Communication Earring [Queen],
Carried Curatives: Eric - x5 T1 Healing Potion, x3 T2 Healing Potion, x2 T3 Healing Potion, T4 Healing Potion
Naomi - x15 T1 Healing Potion, x5 T2 Healing Potion, x5 T3 Healing Potion, x5 T4 Healing Potion, x10 Soothe-Salve, x10 Ember Grease, x10 Panacea, x10 Maiden's Kiss
Shannon - x5 T1 Healing Potion, x3 T2 Healing Potion, x2 T3 Healing Potion, T4 Healing Potion
Peter - x5 T1 Healing Potion, x3 T2 Healing Potion, x2 T3 Healing Potion, T4 Healing Potion
Parts & Components: x2 Exceptional Components, x623 Remarkable Components, x31 Rare Components, T5 Dungeon Core
Personal Finances: Scrip: 50 silver, 300 copper
Coins: 9 gold, 450 silver, 830 copper
Embers: 0
Kills: 2589
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