Vraxious-Dragon’s Maw VIP Room
Vrax settled into the most decadently comfortable throne of a chair he had ever had the pleasure of experiencing in his life. The cushions might as well have been forged to fit him with how perfectly they cradled his bottom. Torvald was across the room, utterly destroying the complimentary food bar. It was just them for the next hour or two. Vrax’s scheduled fight had gotten pushed back slightly after one fight had run far, far longer than anticipated.
A melee was unfolding below in the arena. They had the perfect dead-center overlook through magical one-way glass that even let them zoom their view to different places on the battlefield if they desired. Vrax wanted to watch the fight; there was an actual druid on one team, and he had animated a fucking tree that was wandering around like a giant, chomping at the bit for violence.
But Vrax needed to level up, and gods knew when he would have the opportunity again. He closed his eyes and slid back into his sanctuary, letting the sounds of Torvald's spirited chewing fade away. Vrax slowly opened his eyes, basking in the sudden change of the sounds around him. Flesh was being gnawed from bone a stride to his left. Far above the gentle burbling coos of devourers was something like a twisted birdsong. Then there was... Wait, goddammit, Duchess, really?
She was on top of the waterfall playing the sounds of a violin as loud as she could and bobbing along to the beat of her own music. Hehhh… Vrax gave up on enjoying a moment of relaxation and walked towards his essence lake; it was stupidly overflowing, practically fighting against itself in a churning roil of glowing waters. The ground all around his lake had been turned to marshland with the sheer overflow. If that isn't enough to get me to level fifty, I'll eat Torvalds' shoe.
First, let’s get Smite its first evolution; it’s only 2 levels away from it right now, and honestly, it’s already damned good. Against anything with piss-poor resistance, it might as well be a disintegration attack. Also, I'm excited as all hell to see what kind of options that would offer. I've used it for everything from assassination to coring out monsters ten times my size.
Vrax placed a hand upon the sculpture of [Decomposing Smite] and tried to gather a small amount of essence. It was a horrific task; the roiling lake of power yearned to be used and crashed against his will like a sledgehammer. Gods..i need to level up more often. Before he lost his tentative grip on the stream of essence, he began pouring it into the sculpture.
Vrax only needed a couple levels in Smite for the evolution, so he kept the change simple. Focusing on it overcoming the resistances of its foes. He was more and more often running into things that could shrug off what should be a deadly smite, and he knew it was only going to get worse. The essence carved its way through the miasma surrounding his sculpture's spear. Thickening the haze and deepening the specks of black strewn throughout the green.
[Skill Evolution Available]
Vrax stymied the flow of essence. HA! Okay, that’s for later; first let’s get some more mana. Duchess needs some upgrades… Well, she really doesn’t, but I’m about to kick off an utter shitstorm to draw the paladins away from Hope’s End. I think I finally have a plan for how to get the border to fuck right off, but I'm going to need some time for it to work.
Vrax walked up to his Core statue and laid a hand on it, willing his enchantment to the forefront.
Improved Attributes
Mental Defenses: 2.2
Reflexes: 1.4
Physical Strength: 1.4
Mana Capacity: 2.0
Mana Regeneration: 1.4
Physical Defense: 1.2
Total Mana: 204/204
The big ones for today are going to be mana and physical defense; my armor isn’t enough right now to stop everything, and I don’t always have plants around to power the shield. Honestly, I’m more than a bit worried about taking an ice spear or divine smite to the face and getting utterly murdered before my critters even have the chance to save me.
Vrax poured essence into his [Core Statue] it eagerly roiled past him, flowing through the mana channels, forcibly widening them with the sheer volume of essence. New channels were carved as the old ones simply couldn’t handle the flood of power eroding away with the surge until dozens of new branches were created. Vrax gasped slightly as he redirected the flow of essence.
It crashed against the statue's flesh, hardening it and then piercing deeper, fortifying the body against harm. Muscles grew denser and tougher; his bones gained imperceptible reinforcements to aid in their structure. Vrax cut the flow off, finally looking back at the half-empty lake behind himself and at the statue still dripping green mist. Whoah...okay, I used a bit more than I meant to there…
Improved Attributes
Mental Defenses: 2.2
Reflexes: 1.4
Physical Strength: 1.4
Mana Capacity: 3.0
Mana Regeneration: 1.4
Physical Defense: 2.0
Total Mana: 306/306
Wow, that’s a lot more mana, nearly half again as much. I bet I have a lot of wiggle room with some of my critters now. Goddammit! I still never adapted that chicken! Well, I guess whenever I get around to it now, it’ll be one hell of a nightmare fowl. What if I grafted a chicken with… Never mind, reel it in, Vrax; you have half your essence left, and you want to go force another evolution.
Vrax wandered through the waterfall and up into the cave that mirrored the shrine to Vurune in the grove. He froze in surprise for a moment. For once it wasn’t empty; the spriggan was tottering around happily, playing with the water lilies surrounding the altar.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
Vrax shrugged and made his way up to his stigmata armor. He hesitated for a moment, not really looking forward to the battle of will this always ended up being. But honestly, next to [Adapt Life] this was his most important skill. He had shaped much of the way he fought around using it to spring his menagerie of bullshit on enemies mid-fight.
Vrax took a deep breath and looked vaguely up towards where the malevolent eyes of Vurune always looked down at him. “Don’t. Be A DICK.” He said with a bit more oomph than he meant to; essence began trailing towards him from behind, snaking its way through the waterfall at his call.
Vrax pictured the way the armor worked, its constant give and take of life, and the way it sucked the vitality from his surroundings to shield him from mortal blows. As the essence poured in, he imagined a simple effect, one where as it took, it also gave. Spreading seeds from the forsaken lands that now lived within his menagerie, priming everywhere to be reborn with his cistern. It was a bit of a stretch on how his armor's skill worked, but it was simple, so Vrax hoped for the best.
He felt the essence almost curiously probing, looking for the best way to integrate his will when suddenly a weight drew down on him as Vurune’s full focus entered his sanctuary. It wasn’t just eyes this time; a flickering storm of green and black claws and fangs was suddenly in the room with him, all around him. Oh fuck! Bugger off!
Vrax wrestled against Vurune's influence, trying to shut off the flow of essence. He failed; the spiritual storm surrounding him grabbed the essence in long clawed talons and hungrily wrenched it from Vrax’s control. There was a moment of pause as Vrax tried to comprehend the unfathomable thing before him, and it stared back contemplatively.
Vrax staggered to the floor as all of his remaining essence rushed through the room, inundating them as Vurune wrought changes upon the stigmata. By the time Vrax had staggered to his feet, the god was gone, and his armor pulsed with energy, practically crackling in green flame at every slight breeze.
Ohhh fuck…what now… That...that was a lot of levels of essence…
[Skill Evolution Available]
[Second Trial Available]
Well, yeah! I mean, yay, but what the fuck did the angry-ass ancient god just do to my skill? Vrax opened the stigmata information. Oh…oh shit…why did the fucking name change? Vrax knew that could happen when you tried to meld skills at a tier increase, but normally it shouldn’t when you leveled them.
[Stigmata Wrath Of The Cycle] (lvl 23)
Woe befall those that would cause harm to those under the sacred canopy of our protection. Life is a struggle. Life is pain. Life is hunger. Life is fear. Let those who threaten our beloved feel naught but the wrath of the grove until they are returned to the cycle.
[Menagerie Of Predation, sixteen slots available]
Entities and seeds in the Menagerie will make copies of themselves. The drain of the menagerie now seeds the sparks of life.
Your Stigmata will drain the life from your surroundings to shield itself. The Stigmata will burn in the presence of enemies of Vurune, granting increased aid in slaying them.
When clad in your stigmata armor, nothing shy of the mightiest of divining magics will reveal anything other than that you are [The Paladin Of The Forsaken Lands](Chosen Of Vurune).
How the fuck did he just rewrite a skill like that? Okay...okay, I didn’t lose anything, I don’t think. I’m sure it still has the increased area and such... but holy shit, what does "will burn" mean? I guess I'll find out soon…
“Thanks for wasting some levels, you asshat! I was going to evolve Adapt Life too! Now I can’t until I beat my damn trial!” Vrax shouted pointlessly into the cave; the spriggan turned towards him quizzically, a struggling frog hanging from its mouth. “No, not you; you’re fine. Go back to being awful.” The Spiggan nodded and slurped down the frog, tottering deeper into the water looking for more. Alright, I guess we see where I'm at overall now and then skill evolutions!
With a slight chuckle, Vrax pulled up his full status sheet.
[Vraxious Tier-1] (lvl 50) (Unique) [Paladin Of The Cycle]
You will safeguard the cycle of life and death. Wield the powers of growth, of change, and of decay to set the world free from those who would hold it stagnant. Stand tall with weapon held high and strike down those who would fetter you. You will adapt the life of the world around you to serve your will; life leads to change, change leads to death, death leads to rot, rot leads to life, and thus the cycle continues.
[Skills]
[Decomposing Smite](lvl10)
Instantly Infuse your blows with entropy, corroding your foes and using their essence to heal your wounds. You may shape the path of the entropic energy with your will and cast it beyond your weapons. The entropic power decreases rapidly with range. [moderately more effective vs resistances]
[Cistern Of Bloom And Decay](lvl6)
Manipulate the cycle of decay and regrowth around you. Life changed to decay in this way is stored within the cistern, stored life leaks away over time. Targeted decay will be reborn as what it once could have been. Improved control over what is reborn. Stored life may be used to heal the wounds of nearby Entities.
[Mana Cost Moderate]
[Adapt Life] (lvl 16)
Change living beings to better suit your needs. Entities changed with this skill will be less hostile towards the paladin, and towards those who wear an adapted mark of the cycle upon themselves.You may view and adapt the [Talents] and [Skills] of adapted entities. Faster changes or changes farther from the base functions of an entity will use exponentially more mana. The more powerful an entity, the more mana required. All adapted entities can be called back to you the willingness of them to return hinges on distance and if they are occupied. Adapted Entities may be Grafted together, this process destroys the lesser creature and is subject to all normal mana requirements.
[Mana Cost Massively Variable] [Increased Efficiency]
[Duration Permanent]
[Apex Guardian]
[1/2 Guardians Chosen]
You may designate an adapted creature as your Apex Guardian, This will strengthen the bond you share with it as well as vastly decreasing the mana costs required to adapt it.
[Stigmata Wrath Of The Cycle](lvl 23)
Woe befall those that would cause harm to those under the sacred canopy of our protection. Life is a struggle. Life is pain. Life is hunger. Life is fear. Let those who threaten our beloved feel naught but the wrath of the grove until they are returned to the cycle.
[Menagerie Of Predation, sixteen slots available]
Entities and seeds in the Menagerie will make copies of themselves. The drain of the menagerie now seeds the sparks of life.
Your Stigmata will drain the life from your surroundings to shield itself. The Stigmata will burn in the presence of Enemies of Vurune, granting increased aid in slaying them.
When clad in your stigmata armor, nothing shy of the mightiest of divining magics will reveal anything other than that you are [The Paladin Of The Forsaken Lands](Chosen Of Vurune).
[Talents]
[Forest Strider]
The forest around you will subtly aid your movement based on intent, be that speed or stealth.
[Passive]
[The Herald Of The Hunt]
Shrines to Vurune in places where the cycle reigns supreme allow the Champion of Vurune to stake a Kings Claim. Maintain supremacy to maintain your claim. Claw and Fang Sword and Staff will answer those who question the resurgence of the god of life, the god of death, and the ever-changing progress he brings. Craft places of savagery and growth that revel in the challenges of the constant struggle between life and death, my champion.
[Passive]
[Predator’s Gaze]
Reveal a living being’s name, tier and level if it is an essence infused entity. Entities will have a threat rating relative to their level shown.
[Passive Slight Mana Drain]
[Hunter's Ear]
Your hearing is as sharp as the predators of the deep wood, more easily discern slight sounds.
[Passive]
Improved Attributes
Mental Defenses: 2.2
Reflexes: 1.4
Physical Strength: 1.4
Mana Capacity: 3.0
Mana Regeneration: 1.4
Physical Defense: 2.0
Total Mana: 306/306
Alright, let's check out what kind of evolution options I have for a smite that melts people! I really am a bad paladin; this probably should have been my first evolution.
