“A lot of Penitents sure love Konshari’s Boon,” Elian said, flipping the pages.
Meaning there’d be plenty of material in the library for it, including skill and item synergies. Maybe even details about its Melding. In his past life, Elian had met several people with Konshari’s Boon—they were great aura lynchpins for armies. He had heard from them that Protector Konshari was quite agreeable. Perhaps one mentioned that the Boon could be Melded. He didn’t pay attention to their conversation back then because his aim was an Attack Power build.
He ran his finger down the page, eyes sweeping left to right for anything interesting. He stopped. It wasn’t a Bestowal or a skill that caught his attention but the name of an Enlightened Penitent—Thalman Thistlecork of Gladeshire.
“Priest Thalman?” This must be his last Tribulation before retiring and serving in the temple.
The kind priest had a remarkable repertoire of Bestowals, some of which Elian didn’t know about, combined with an interesting set of skills. The catalog didn’t explain the Penitent’s actual strategies; it was up to the reader to figure it out based on the information provided.
Most builds were easy to discern. But Thalman’s wasn’t immediately apparent at a glance.
Thalman could make illusions; everyone knew that. But Elian was surprised to know that Thalman turned those illusions into clones using Aether Magic.
“I wouldn’t have guessed Thalman is an Aether Mage. But why go through this step?” Thinking for several seconds, Elian snapped his fingers. People at neighboring tables shushed him. “Sorry, sorry…”
He couldn’t help but be impressed with Thalman’s strategy. The priest used illusions as a sort of template for his clones. They’d be much stronger constructs, given how imagery benefitted Aether Magic. He took a Boon that worked with illusions and a Boon that made constructs stronger, ending up with even stronger clones.
Why use clones instead of suits of armor if imagery was paramount for Aether Magic? Elian was both horrified and amazed at the reason.
The Greater Curse of Unabashed Puppetry allowed the bestowed to disperse a fraction of any damage he’d take to others of his image, be they magical constructs or physical golems, while suffering several times the pain. The Melded Greater Boon of Judicious Forced Parity also shifted damage, but Elian couldn’t recall how.
Elian hadn’t heard of Thalman’s two other Curses. Judging their names, they likely penalized the priest as the cost of boosting his Aether Magic. The priest didn’t care about what happened to his true body since he was, effectively, a mere conduit for the damage to his clones.
Well, yes, he suffered. A lot. But looking at Ihadir and Ambrose, suffering seemed to be the middle name of Enlightened Penitents.
Thalman’s last Melded Greater Boons were party buffs. Everything was for the clones tanking the damage.
On the day Elian got the Magistrate’s Curse, he asked Thalman if he was an illusion. Thalman replied he’d never know. Elian assumed the priest was either joking around or trying to sound profound. In truth, Thalman’s clones could be considered more real than him.
“Why are the backstories of the priests so tragic? I wonder what Hazelheart’s—wait a second.”
Elian reread Thalman’s information and counted the Divine Bestowals. Four Melded Greater Boons and three Greater Curses. Seven in total.
Where was the eighth?
Possible that one of the Curses removed a Divine Bestowal slot. Could also be that Thalman had a specific Bestowal in mind and was in the process of obtaining it.
“Oh, it’s his Greater Boon from the Magistrate that’s missing,” Elian said. “Probably a printing error.”
He shrugged and continued through the list of Penitents. He found a couple more Enlightened Penitents, and both of them used a Melded Boon with Konshari as one of the paired deities. An hour passed; he had several pages of notes. He was halfway through the volume when he decided to research what he had jotted down. He prioritized Konshari’s Boon because he recalled its higher tiers generated a wide dome that could protect a large group of people and—”
“… defend against magic damage,” Elian said, tapping a sentence on a page of A Modern Disquisition on Protector Konshari. The dome was an external construct, similar to what Aether Magic could make, so it shouldn’t be affected by the Elder Giant’s Curse.
On the topic of Melding, A Modern Disquisition on Protector Konshari discussed the best ways to find a partner for Protector Konshari to Meld with. The combinations listed gave Elian a lot to think about. Such a comprehensive and helpful book that Elian wanted to borrow it, but Marielle was adamant it wasn’t allowed.
Too bad it was too big to steal.
Elian was staring off into the open space around the floating platform, thinking about strategies, when he noticed a person ascending on a disc. “Priest Thalman?” That guy was just everywhere. At this point, it’d be a surprise if he wasn’t present in an area.
Unlike what happened during the mass, only a couple of people rode discs to meet him on the way up. Most continued to research as if their butts were glued to their seats.
Elian hopped on a disc and zoomed to the platform the priest headed to. They both landed at the same time. “Greetings, Priest Thalman.”
“Brother Elian.” The priest adjusted his glasses. “It warms my heart to see you well, other than the scars on your face. Brother Yonnik told me about your run-in with the costrahastans.”
“Run-in with the spear lobsters is putting it mildly,” said Elian. “I’m very grateful for Priest Yonnik’s help.” He looked over Priest Thalman, trying to sense if he was truly there.
“Is anything amiss?”
“Uh, no. I assumed this was your real body since you were using the floating disc instead of, I don’t know, just instantly appearing. I hope I’m not being nosy.” Elian remembered his conversation with Yonnik.
“Not at all, brother,” replied Thalman, a melancholic smile on his face. “I try to go about my day as any would to not forget the sensation of normalcy. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I’ve read that you’re an accomplished Aether Mage. Your constructs—” Elian was about to point at Thalman’s body but stopped his hand from going up. He had a knack for slightly offending people or bringing up awkward topics without intending to do so. “I mean, do you have recommendations for a beginner like me?”
Priest Thalman was delighted to help Elian journey through the Path of the Immaterial. Although Thalman didn’t have time to lecture, he enumerated books to study—Elian feverishly wrote them down—before starting to fade instead of walking away.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Don’t try to commit the meditative illustrations to memory,” Priest Thalman said, only a faint image remaining in front of Elian. “Copy them the best you can. And don’t tear off pages, or Marielle will be furious.” He was gone.
It was already dark outside when Elian left the library. To be more precise, Marielle kicked him out because it was closing time—he and many other library-goers were engrossed in their research and didn’t want to leave.
“Going to class and researching afterward,” Elian said, looking back at the temple as he planned his daily schedule. “Yeah, I can do that.”
Elian sat on the ground, gazing at the mostly purple sky that had just been touched by the faintest of sunlight. Thick clouds rolled away. Chirps echoed in the forest; the birds were distressed by his ruckus.
The cleaver’s blade reflected the sparkles of his shattered Aether construct fading away. He had hugged his trusty kitchen knife, so there was no damage.
He had just finished his thirteenth Tribulation.
It sounded ominous in Earth’s superstitions, particularly in Western Culture. But on Fellenyr, thirteen was the special number for fertility. Though Elian didn’t plan any offspring-making activities that day, he considered himself particularly fertile because of the concentrated growth solution he drank before leaving Borlen’s camp.
His Guardian Exactor Vine would agree if it could talk. It had grown rapidly over the past few days, its roots multiplying as they thickened. Would’ve grown faster if Elian wasn’t so damn tanky, but he intended the plant symbiote to get used to his body becoming more durable over time. Regular plants could be sort of ‘trained’ to handle stronger winds. Maybe the concept worked with magical plant symbiotes, too.
Gideon had removed the binding on the symbiote’s growth after giving Elian the concentrated growth solution. They started to trust each other more—it was what Elian felt anyway. The floramage could be an important asset in the war against the Giants that Elian considered telling him about the future.
Would Gideon care? If Elian couched it as plant symbiotes versus Giants, the floramage might be enticed to join him. Having the floramage around would help Viney’s growth big time.
Viney was the name Elian gave the Guardian Exactor Vine. He never claimed to be good at making names.
Guardian Exactor Vine | Plant Symbiote | Level: 5
Health: 250/250
Energy: 100/100
ATTRIBUTES:
Attack Power: 25
Magic Power: 25
Armor: 115
Magic Resilience: 25
TRAITS:
Host Attribute Absorption – Absorb (270) Attribute points from the host and gain a third of it.
Rejuvenating Roots – Restore (1.5) Health Point of the host every second.
Viney absorbed Armor after the Curse multipliers were applied—Elian confirmed it after some dreaded math. Made sense. Viney was external to Elian; Curses applied first. If Viney’s absorption took precedence over Curses, it’d have all of Elian’s other attributes before they were zeroed. Since Elian wasn’t wearing any gear, not even a leather vest, it meant that Viney took Armor from his Tribulation rewards.
What’d happen to the absorbed Armor if Viney died?
Elian didn’t know. Neither did Gideon because he never tested it before. Only four seeds of his experimental Guardian Exactor Vine seed had successfully germinated. One was in Gideon’s arm. The second was with Elian. As for the two others, Gideon wouldn’t say. Probably test subjects who abandoned him.
Based on how the Revulsion Dread Sapper behaved, Elian should just write off his absorbed attributes as permanently lost. But he didn’t think they were wasted.
A small price to pay for gaining health regeneration of sorts. It’d even be more worth it once Viney gained its Barkskin effect—it’d give Elian some of his Armor back and, more importantly, more effective Health because the Barkskin had Health of its own. Depending on how fast Viney could reconstruct its hardened layer of vines, it could also be considered healing since he’d gain Health again and again.
Best of all, Elian could use Viney to protect others. There was no time rewind for another chance to save people, so he’d do his best in this timeline.
The bad part of Viney was enduring the side effects of the concentrated growth potion. He no longer ate breakfast because of it. A huge storm brewed in his guts while his heart palpitated. The alternating numbness and tingling shocks weren’t as bad as yesterday. He hoped it’d subside before he went to class.
“That Tribulation barely hurt me,” Elian said, checking his attributes. He also examined the details of his Attack Power and Armor.
Elian Ward | Human | Level:10
Health: 4,369/4,375
Energy: 1,825/1,825
ATTRIBUTES:
Attack Power: 0
Magic Power: 0
Armor: 111,554
Magic Resilience: 0
DIVINE BESTOWAL:
Greater Curse of the Berserking Abyssal Eye III
Greater Curse of the Powerless Physical Immortal III
Lesser Curse of the Overzealous Judge I
ATTACK POWER
Internal: 126 (Base), 1,170 (Tribulation)
External: 50 (Equipment), 200 (Enchant), 200 (Potion)
Multiplier: x8 (Berserking Abyssal Eye), x0 (Powerless Physical Immortal)
ARMOR
Internal: 10 (Base), 13,968 (Powerless Physical Immortal)
External: 0
Multiplier: x8 (Powerless Physical Immortal), -270 (Host Attribute Absorption)
This time, Elian was certain he could take an ironboomer's cannonball to his stomach and not keel over from the pain. A hundred thousand Armor was the base value of high-end suits of armor on Forge Hill, the ones expensive enough not to get displayed in front of the store. The sort of equipment the entire group of Borlen, including Elian, couldn’t buy even if they pooled all their coins together.
The suits of armor in the golden hall were probably in the half-million Armor range, given that they were for Greater Tribulations. Half a million base Armor. If Elian somehow had the opportunity to wear them—he hadn’t reached that level of gear in his past life—the Elder Giant’s Curse would turn it into a few million Armor.
Still, it was better to prioritize Attack Power than Armor.
“I should find a Boon that gives raw Attack Power,” Elian said.
He had the multipliers; what he needed was the thing to multiply. His Favor Points were unused since his two Greater Curses were maxed and the Magistrate’s Curse leveled by different means. He had a couple of ideas about where to go for Boons but wasn’t yet set when to leave the Temples of Tribulation.
His Health stat grew quickly because of the Tribulation. No physical training required. All his free time was spent meditating to further his Aether Magic. A byproduct of that was an increase in Energy he wasn’t going to use.
Usually, Aether Mages would learn Energy-based spells to add to their skill set. Mostly defensive ones or buffs so they could exchange their underutilized Energy for survivability. Elian was of the same mind but wasn’t going to learn Energy-based spells—he’d buy them.
He walked to the tree where he hung his clothes and wore them. Tribulations could rip them at this point, so he did it in his undergarments.
He held his stomach. It rumbled and grumbled and then settled down. Probably fine to go to the Cauldron’s marketplace. His heavy coin pouch was begging to get spent. He bagged another Quillhusk yesterday and processed it with the help of the pilgrims. His share of the proceeds added to the small fortune from selling the Grumpbeing’s organs.
Hunting beyond the immediate area around the Cauldron would yield more valuable loot, but Elian couldn’t venture far because no one could break down his kill. If he asked for Borlen’s group to help him somewhere around Forge Hill, for example, they’d insist to watch him use his Tribulation to hunt. Actually, they’d been bugging him every day since his return to do so.
Elian raised his arm, palm facing upward. Viney wriggled out of his flesh. “Let’s go shopping for your equipment, Viney.”
