The Wanderer's Rebirth: Other Paths

‘So, what happened?’ Avi asked once he was alone again.

He looked over to where she sat beside him on the bed. She was leaning slightly towards him, making her hair tumble artfully over one shoulder and partially hide a bit of her face.

‘Ah, well…. I’m not sure. I think that suddenly getting so many attributes at once was… overwhelming,’ he sent, trying to figure out just how to describe the feeling.

‘Makes sense,’ she said, nodding. ‘Having your body change on you can be disorienting.’

‘You can say that again,’ he sent, shaking his head at the memory. ‘I suddenly got the notification that I’d levelled a whole lot, so I just kinda dumped my free stats into Speed and Constitution and that’s when I blacked-out I guess.’

Avi nodded again, this time looking even more knowing than before, if that was possible.

Still shaking his head, he looked at his Status page, glad that he’d cleaned it up a bit.

Name: Joram

Gestalt Path: Mage/Psion

Class: Creationist (Unique)

Level: 17

Free Attribute Points: 0

Race: High Elan

Resource Pools:

HP: 2,210/2,210

ST: 2,194/2,194

PP: 1,814/1,814

MP: 1,244/1,244

Regeneration Rates:

HP: 70/minute

ST: 70/minute

PP: 86/minute

MP: 88/minute

Regen increases by 8x w/ [Clear Mind, Adv.] active.

Attributes:

STR: 14

SPD: 45

CON: 49

INT: 62 (54)

SPR: 62 (58)

CHA: 29

LCK: ??

Mod:

9

40

44

57 (49)

57 (53)

24

??

Attacks: Crit Chance: 25%

Melee: Mindblade (x3 crit)

D: 36 = 4 + 9 + 23

L: 38 = 6 + 9 + 23

M: 40 = 8 + 9 + 23

H: 48 = 12 + 13 + 23

+14 dmg after 1st hit.

Mindblade Throw Range:

18m, 14m, 10m, 6m

Ranged: Mindbolt (x4 crit)

D: 73 = 4 + 40 + 29

L: 92 = 6 + 57 + 29

M: 77 = 8 + 40 + 29

S: 48 = 10 + 9 + 29

+14 dmg after 1st hit.

M: +20 if using 2 hands to aim.

Range per Form:

18m, 70m, 40m, 12m

DEF = Dodge + Deflection + Buffs + Situational

Dodge: 60

Deflection: 24

Buffs:

+22 [Inertial ArmourA] (1/2PP)

+13 [Force ScreenA] (1/4PP)

Situational:

+5 vs ranged (not spells)

Resistances:

Cold: 60

Fire: 55

Adapt Body:

All: 87 = 30 + INT Mod (57).

- All stacks with existing.

DR:

3/- per PP spent, or,

14/- [BiofeedbackA] 1/3PP

Kinesis Skills:

Name: Dmg: Range (m):

Aero: 14-285 80

Cryo: 21-449 121

Elec: 14-256 79

Hyrdo: 21-449 121

Pyro: 21-684(+20%) 137 (685)

Tele: 21-1,026 163

Terra: 14-256 79

Carrying Capacity:

Light: 212 kg

Medium: 424 kg

Heavy: 636 kg

Push/Drag: 1,060 kg

Joram shook his head at those numbers, sure that whatever this System was, it wasn’t like the tabletop games he’d played over the years. His stats were just too high for that. Never mind the ridiculous entries for the various damages that he could dish out.

Like, his short-ranged mindbolt was supposed to be the “heavy hitter”, as it were. And yet, now it was the lightest of the three forms that his mindbolt could take. Which threw him for a loop. Maybe he’d need to reform their shapes to better reflect just how much damage they actually did. Like, his N7-90 was supposed to be all sorts of badass and intimidating and super and all that….

Looking at the numbers, and remembering what the damages should be, he was slightly stumped. Until the entry under his long-range form got floating numbers over it. He blinked, then blinked again.

‘Huh,’ he huh’d, a bit more than a little bit perplexed, but nevertheless pleased. ‘It looks like my INT Mod affects the damage on the long-ranged form,’ he sent to Avi.

‘As much as I’d like to say that that surprises me, it oddly doesn’t given the fact that it’s basically following what you imagine it to follow,’ Avi sent, sounding slightly bored, though he could tell that she was pleased with this turn of events.

Again, so was he. Given just how much trouble he’d had taking down the higher levelled hobs, trolls, and even the ogre mages, any boost to his damage would help considerably. But.

If he could get so OP, did that mean that he’d eventually run into creatures that could also pump out the damage like he could? Given his new HP, he was at least confident that he’d now last more than a sneeze against something truly powerful.

Though, given his stats, he wasn’t sure if he was truly OP, or just average. That he’d gotten so many stats for just seventeen levels, he was leaning towards this world being more video game than tabletop game. That he’d have over two thousand health points was mind boggling. Then there were his power and mana pools, both ridiculous unless he was in a video game type setting.

‘Welp, let’s just hope that it’s enough to take care of any problems in the future,’ he sent, putting off the thoughts on his Status for the time being and turning to this weird Class Skills and Abilities.

Given that his [Creationist] Class- something that an Earthling would probably laugh at if they were scientifically-minded- was [Unique], he wondered if it was just an odd class, or if it was also considered OP in this world….

- Class abilities:

- At level 1:

- [Stability of Creation] – 155%

- Any “Creation” or “Manipulation” type ability, power, or spell that has a duration has that duration extended by (INT x 2.5%).

- Additionally, if the time is measured in seconds, it will then be measured in minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days, days to instantaneous.

- [Ease of Creation] – 100%

- Any “Creation” or “Manipulation” type ability, power, or spell that has a “cost” (beyond the mana or power required to activate the spell or power), has that cost reduced by 30%. This reduction occurs before any other considerations when using an ability, power, or spell.

- The reduction increases by 10% every 2 levels thereafter, to a maximum of 100% at Creationist level 15.

At level 3:

- [Desire of Creation] – 750%

- Any “Creation” or “Manipulation” type ability, power, or spell that you use that has a volume or mass created or specified in its use has that volume increased by 100%.

- Every level thereafter, the bonus increases by 50%.

- I.e.: a level 5 Creationist would have a total of 200% increase due to Desire of Creation.

- At level 5:

- [Speed of Creation]

- Any “Creation” or “Manipulation” type ability, power, or spell that you use has the time needed to activate, cast, or manifest that power or spell reduced by 50%

- At level 7:

- [Power of Creation] – 55%

- Any “Creation” or “Manipulation” type ability, power, or spell that you use has the damage it deals increased by 30%.

- The damage increase will rise by 5% for every 2 levels thereafter.

- At level 10:

- [Will of Creation]

- Any “Creation” or “Manipulation” type ability, power, or spell that you use cannot be stopped by outside means.

- This means that so long as you have the ability to use a “Creation” or “Manipulation” type ability, power, or spell, it cannot be countered, negated, or prevented in any way, including anti-magic or null-psionic areas or zones.

- [Legacy of Creation]

- You can create a Skill Book for any Skill that you have access to.

- The cost to do so reflects the rarity of the Skill you wish to put into book form.

- Common: 10 Grade E purified cores.

- Uncommon: 10 Grade D purified cores.

- Rare: 10 Grade C purified cores.

- Epic: 10 Grade B purified cores.

- Legendary: 10 Grade A purified cores.

- Mythic: 10 Grade S purified cores.

- Transcendent: 10 Grade SS purified cores.

- ???: 100 Grade SSS purified cores.

- [Ease of Creation] has only a 50% effect on the cost of [Legacy of Creation].

- You can copy a Skill Book that you’ve read through, but haven’t yet used. The same costs apply as creating a Skill Book from your existing list of Skills.

- At level 11:

- [Summon: All] – [Creation]

- You gain the Class Ability to use [Summon: All].

- This ability is a Creation ability.

- At level 15:

- [Master Summoner] Skill

- You gain the ability to summon additional being/objects each time you use [Summon: All]. For every ten ranks in [Master Summoner], you gain 1 additional summon when you use [Summon: All] at no additional cost.

- If you choose to forgo an additional summoned being/object, your summon gains +10 levels, or additional functionality if it is an object.

It was… a lot. He’d been experimenting, and it seemed as though each of those percentages listed were additive, not consecutively calculated. Also, the reduction to activation time seemed to be reduced to a mere thought on his part, given [Speed of Creation] and his [Creationist] Achievement that also reduced activation time by 50%. Which, if he looked at the numbers, meant that he could use any “Creation” or “Manipulation” ability, power, Skill, or spell that he had at the speed of thought.

Which was scary. Very scary in its implications and execution.

Then [Ease of Creation] basically removed any supplemental cost to anything he made using a creation or manipulation ability, power, or spell. Like, would he be able to use [True Creation] without worrying about the Ability Burn now? Was it that powerful?

He felt… godly. Which was both awesome and horrifying. Was he really responsible enough to have that kind of power? Would he use his abilities for good, or would they eventually corrupt him? “Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” and all that. Would that mean that he’d work towards that absolute power? Or did he already have it?

[Power of Creation] was a nice boost to his damaging abilities, though it didn’t seem to be calculated into his damage tables on his Status sheet. Which was weird, but it was what it was. It would probably apply afterwards or something.

But that also meant that [Will of Creation] would allow him to do… anything. Even if he were to be imprisoned or something, he’d just be able to get out any time he wanted to. Which was scary. What if he truly deserved incarceration one day after having fallen to the temptation of absolute power? They wouldn’t be able to hold him, but would instead have to execute him immediately.

He shuddered at that thought.

‘Nope, gonna be a good boy,’ he muttered through his link to Avi, getting him a weird look in return.

Then he looked at [Legacy of Creation] and couldn’t help but get a little bit giddy. He hadn’t tried to use it yet, but with what it did, he wanted to try it out in the next few weeks or so. He already had too much to work on given how many [Kinesis] Skills he’d been trying to practice with since he’d finished the dungeon, so adding a few more Skills just wasn’t something he wanted to right then.

But. He could use the [Cure: Panacea], [Heal 3], [Trapmaking], and [Invisibility] Skill Books and not worry that he was being selfish, as he could just make a new one for whoever needed one. Like Myra, or Kal. Or maybe Melois, as she was one of the few dedicated [Healer]s in Kirkwall. Maybe Celys could use them too, as she could also heal people a bit. And, she had also been an adventurer, so the [Cure] and [Heal] Skills would be well-used and executed by her in an emergency.

‘You’re thinking too hard,’ Avi said, going through the motions of poking him, which threw him for a loop when he actually felt something. ‘Yeah, [Telekinesis] is great,’ she said with a smirk.

‘Wait, I thought you couldn’t use Powers unless it was an emergency,’ he sent, frowning at the bombshell.

‘Hmm, seems as though the restrictions have been lifted somewhat,’ she said, tilting her head to the side a bit while holding one finger up to her lips… and nearly killing him with the cuteness factor.

‘Well, that’s good,’ he sent back a moment later after having recovered a bit.

Then the [Summon: All] – [Creation] threw him for a loop. He didn’t know why that would be considered a [Creation] ability, but he suspected that it might have something to do with having to create a body or object or something when something or someone was summoned. He really didn’t know, nor had he experimented with that one yet, especially given the [Mater Summoner] Skill that he’d gotten at Level 15. He didn’t know how things would turn out if he tried summoning something and a few things popped out at the same time.

Would it be like D&D where if you summoned an “evil” creature, you’d need to set up a magic circle of protection versus evil so that it wouldn’t immediately just attack him for having the audacity of summoning said creature in the first place?

He really didn’t want to have to deal with something like that. Nope. Not until he was able to get some precautions set up first.

But what was one of the better perks of his Class was that his “Class Skills” all went up by one rank each level, which was awesome. Because [Clear Mind], [Create Dungeon], [Craft: Any] (already known), all [Kinesis] Skills known, [Mana Manipulation], [Mana Well], [Master Summoner], [Quick Casting], [Quick Manifesting], [Source of Power] all went up by 17 ranks each.

Which was especially awesome for his Crafting Skills, because that meant that any time he learned a new Crafting Skill, it would automatically level up with his Class. Awesome. Just awesome. Which meant that he was pretty damn good at a lot of things already given just how many Crafting Skills he’d opened before taking his Path.

Which brought him to the fact that the System had reserved a portion of the “XP” he’d gained by killing hundreds of monsters. So many, in fact, that his [Pathless Slaughterer] hand turned into [Pathless Slaughterer III], giving him the following:

Pathless Slaughterer - III

- You’ve done what few have ever accomplished. By slaughtering over one hundred foes without taking a Path, you’ve proved both your determination and lethality.

- Benefit:

- Increase all damage by 30%.

- Increase all experience gained by slaughtering your foes by 30%.

- Greatly increased learning speed to learn new Combat Skills and the speed in which they level.

Yeah, now having a flat 30% bonus to all damage he dealt was just crazy. He wouldn’t argue, though, as it would probably save his life one day. The extra XP for “slaughtering” his foes was also nice, but not quite as nice as his Combat Skills levelling faster, though. Or just plain getting them easier, for that matter.

Again, he wondered where he landed on the power scale of things. He could just ask one of his housemates, but he wasn’t sure how they’d react. Like, would they just pat his shoulders consolingly? Or would they be floored by his Status?

He… wasn’t quite ready to find that out just yet. Given just how strange his Class was even to him, he was feeling more than a little bit self-conscious. Which wasn’t too unusual given his issues with self-esteem and all that. Sure, he’d gotten a bit of a boost from everyone in Kirkwall, as well as from Asami and Myra…. But decades of self-esteem issues weren’t easy to get rid of, even if he was a different person now. Both figuratively and literally.

‘Time to make those training dummies for the girls, then to try getting past that bottleneck in my workouts’ he sent, getting up and stretching as he did.

- - -

*1 Month Later*

“At least the girls have made progress,” Joram panted, laying on the patio outside his house.

‘True, they’ve both earned [Martial Arts], making them much more effective in their fighting abilities,’ Avi said from where she sat beside him.

“Yeah, I wonder if I can use [Metaconcert] or something to make a Skill Book from their [Martial Arts] Skills?” he mused, thinking of just how handy it would be to be able to do that.

‘Feel free to try,’ Avi said, actually sounding encouraging. ‘But you’ll need more purified cores to do so.’

Probably due to the fact that if he learned more Skills, he would become less likely to die at any given time. Which, really, was a bonus. He didn’t wanna die. Nope.

That was also why he’d been working extra hard this month to finish “learning” all of the Powers sitting in the database that Altaea had left him, which included [Astral Seed]. The very same [Astral Seed] that he’d started manifesting every day and leaving the crystal in a fortified and reinforced “room” under the 2nd sublevel of his house that could only be accessed by [Teleportation].

Yeah, he wasn’t paranoid or anything….

Anyways, those purified cores were… annoying to figure out. Well, they were at first. It had taken him a good week to figure out to just use [Cleanse] on a monster core to get one. That he had to do each individually was a serious pain in the ass, but at least it would let him use [Legacy of Creation]… when he eventually got around to making Skill Books that was….

Which reminded him of his avoidance of messing around with one of the Skills he’d gotten when he’d somehow absorbed the Dungeon Core, [Create Dungeon]. Just like he’d been avoiding [Summon: All] because he wasn’t sure what would happen, he’d also been avoiding [Create Dungeon] for the same reason.

Given just how ridiculous the bonuses he had to anything that he created with a [Creation] ability of one flavour or another, he was apprehensive to say the least. Like, would he wind up creating a Dungeon that was too powerful for him to manage on his own, and thus cause another Dungeon Overflow to happen?

‘You really shouldn’t put that off too much longer,’ Avi said, frowning. ‘It’s better to get a handle on it right away than to let it just sit there. Especially given that any “Creation” type ability that you have can be used with just a thought.’

Joram nodded at the logic of that. Given just how dangerous it could be, he really should get an idea of what he could do. He was just… scared.

‘Don’t worry,’ Avi said, giving him one of her amazing smiles. ‘I’ll be there to help you kill anything that need killing.’

What can I say to that? He wondered, once more amazed at just how awesome a helper that Avi was.