The Land: Predators Read online

  Summon Weak Luminous Butterflies

  1

  Summons a small number of glowing butterflies. Any creature of positive alignment who catches one of these butterflies will have a boost to their stamina for one day. Total boost equal to 1% per number of alignment. Only one butterfly may affect each individual.

  Virol’s Blessing

  1

  Increases the yield and potency of a 20x20-yard area of plants by 5%. Successive casts of this spell create a cumulative effect for a max of 100%.

  DEATH MAGIC

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Summon Weak Bile Rats

  1

  Summons a small nest of bile rats. The bites of these creatures can cause nausea.

  LIGHT MAGIC

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Create Soul Stone (Luminous)

  15

  Creates soul stones up to Luminous level

  Weak Mirror Image

  7

  Summons a duplicate image of yourself to a nearby location. Image will duplicate your actions with small variations to take terrain into account. Number of images is determined by (1+ Light Magic/5). Maximum 5 images.

  Create Soul Stone (Common)

  5

  Creates soul stones up to Common level

  Weak Magic Missiles

  5

  Produces colorful balls of magical force that fly unerringly towards the enemy. Damage: 4-5 point of Magical Force per ball. Each sphere can be directed towards different enemies. Number of missiles is determined by (1 + Light Magic/5). Maximum 7 missiles.

  Far Light

  1

  Creates a ball of white light that can be fixed to a distant surface

  Simple Light

  1

  Creates a ball of white light that will hover above your head and move with you

  Mirror

  1

  Creates a 6x3-foot insubstantial reflective surface

  DARK MAGIC

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Weak Dark Bolts

  4

  Fires a bolt of concentrated Dark energy at your target. Damage: 7-9. For every three skill levels the caster has in Dark magic, the spell will fire another bolt. Maximum 10 bolts.

  Troubled Sleep

  3

  Places your target in a restless sleep in which he will be plagued by nightmares until awakening. Any attack or hostile action taken against target will awaken them. AoE five feet.

  Flood of Darkness

  3

  Blankets an area 25 yards around you in darkness. Effect banished by direct sunlight. Blocks all light-based sight.

  Darkvision

  2

  Provides Darkvision for 25 yards

  Weak Cloying Darkness

  2

  Casts a cone of thickened darkness from your hand. Movement and Attack speed of targets decreased by 20%. All in AoE will suffer from spell. Will not work in direct sunlight.

  Night Vision

  1

  Illuminates low-light areas

  BLOOD MAGIC

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Blood Mana

  10

  Allows caster to replenish and increase their mana pool from fresh blood. Can absorb 1 mana/Blood Magic skill level from each blood source. Maximum mana from each blood source is determined by total health of target/10

  Weak Vitality Puppet

  10

  Allows you to take complete control over one other creature that has blood

  Tame

  1

  Bends the will of a creature to your own. Creature level must be less than or equal to your rank in the skill: Beast Bonding. At the rank of Novice, you may attempt to tame ‘weak’ level souls and may use the spell once per day. If you tame the same creature for a required number of days in a row, then it will be loyal to you till death. As a novice in Beast Bonding, the required time is six days for every level of the creature you have tamed. Betray the sacred trust with your bonded beast to your peril!

  SPIRIT MAGIC

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Weak Aura Lance

  1

  Fires a blast of spiritual energy at your target. Does no physical damage, but causes disruption of the target’s aura. Reduces resistance to all spell types.

  CHAOS MAGIC

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Akaton Evolution

  1

  Triggers the evolution of a summoned creature or pet. In the case of summoned creatures, it will also lengthen the spell duration of your summoning by 50%. This spell will not work on sapient beings.

  UNALIGNED MAGIC

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Manifest Mana

  1

  This spell has no specific affinity for any type of magic. Instead, the power and effects of this spell are determined by the skill level of Mana Manipulation. Successful casting of this spell makes your mana tangible in the physical world. At skill level one the cost is 100 mana. If thrown at an attacker, will cause 1 point of magical force damage.

  SETTLEMENT MAGIC

  (Must be cast within the domain of the Mist Village)

  Name

  Level

  Effect

  Summon Mist Worker

  1

  Summons a level 1 Mist Worker. This creature is able to perform simple tasks of menial labor. The mist-like properties of your constructs halve all physical damage.

  Summon Mist Light

  1

  Summons a ball of glowing grey energy that can adhere to any surface or hang in midair

  Dungeon Transport

  1

  Instantly transports yourself and any creatures within five yards to any accessed Node in the Dungeon of Bloody Chaos. Must be cast within the domain of the village.

  Richter did a final tally of his spells, overwhelmed by the number despite himself, “Seventy-two.”

  “Seventy-two!” Ran’dolphinius exclaimed. The reserve he normally wore with unthinking grace disappeared, and all that remained was astonishment. “Even if they were all low-level spells of the Basic Elements, that is unheard of for one of your skill level!”

  Richter wasn’t sure how he should feel about that. He kept watching Ran’dolphinius, who was now muttering to himself. One phrase the chaos seed heard clearly was, “… would not even need a grimoire. … could his ability truly…”

  This went on for a full three minutes. He finally looked back at Richter, who was staring at him bemusedly at this point. “I apologize, my lord, but I do not think you understand how shocking this is. It is easy to forget there is much you do not know when faced with the power you wield. I will attempt to explain. One of the primary reasons magi invest heavily into Intelligence and Wisdom is to increase the number of spells they can learn. Other factors affect spell limit as well, such as skill affinity, skill level in various schools of magic, race and several others. Increasing Intelligence and Wisdom, however, is the easiest way to ensure a higher spell limit.”

  “How many spells did you think I would be able to know?”

  Ran’dolphinius shrugged, “As I said, my lord, there are many factors that influence that. My mixed parentage gave me an extremely high spell limit for Water magic, even before I became a master in the skill. The fact that you know multiple types of magic would increase your spell limit as well. For a normal novice in a Basic Element, however, I would expect them to know no more than five to ten spells. That is why almost every battle mage must rely upon wands, staves or grimoires.”

  The chamberlain paused for a moment before continuing, “The spell limit is one of the reasons magi are vulnerable. It is not just a lack of mana that can spell death for a caster, it is knowing a finite number of spells. It is also why magi typically specialize not only in a certain b
ranch of magic, but also in specific spell schools. Battlemages do not learn domestic or agricultural magic, for instance.”

  “Why haven’t I ever heard about this before?” Richter asked. “Why don’t I ever have a problem learning spells?”

  Ran’dolphinius shook his head slowly, “I do not know for certain, but I would guess it is your Limitless ability.”

  Richter stared at him. When he had been transported to The Land, the creature he had first met, Xuetrix, had told him to be wary of telling other people about his Limitless ability. Specifically, the imp had said there were those that would neutralize him now out of fear of what he would become. Ran’dolphinius was no fool though, and they were Companions now so the man already had access to his status page. He just nodded slowly.

  The Spy whistled softly, before saying, “You could very well become the most powerful being in The Land. I advise you to tell no one else about your ability, my lord. Many will consider you a threat and might destroy you before you reach your potential.”

  Déjà vu much, Richter thought to himself. He just nodded again though and thought about the new info. If the man was right that a spell limit was partially based on magical affinity, and his affinity was infinite, then it made sense. It also meant he might have a real edge over other casters. That sounded more than alright to him! Richter asked another question. “If you didn’t think I would be able to learn all the spells, then why did you teach them to me?”

  “That is just a common technique to test new magical students,” Ran’dolphinius replied absently. “It gives a good indication of how far a student might one day progress.” He was still lost in thought, considering the implications of his liege’s ability and magical powers.

  “It’s a very common practice?” Richter asked, something clicking in his mind. The chamberlain nodded, and the chaos seed cursed softly. It now made more sense why Hisako had given him so many Life spells all at once. She had been helping him, yes, but she had been testing him as well. If she didn’t know about his Limitless ability, then she had at least suspected and now had a bit of proof. He started speaking under his breath, “That wily old b-”

  “It is especially amazing that you were able to absorb all the spells seeing as how one of them is rare,” Ran’dolphinius began, “and the others are-”

  “You know,” Richter interrupted, “you mentioned something about my Analyze skill being rare earlier. Now you’re talking about a rare spell.” He put the same slight extra emphasis on the word that he had heard Randy use, “What do you mean exactly?”

  The chamberlain gave him yet another of those “Oh honey…” looks.

  Richter’s lips thinned and he quietly murmured, “Goddammit,” before speaking up again, “Okay. Hit me with it. What the fuck else don’t I know?”

  Shrewdly, sensing his liege’s fragile emotional state, Ran’dolphinius simply explained that spells had a class system not unlike weapons and items. The rankings were common, uncommon, unusual, scarce, rare, epic, mythic, legendary, and God-tier. Spells with greater rarity were apparently much sought after and cost a great deal more even if they were low level. Some were even considered priceless and could not be bought. The more rare the spell, the more rare the effect they produced. Sometimes it was just a random and seemingly pointless manifestation, but other times the effects could change the very face of The Land.

  Richter nodded while he reached up and rubbed the necklace he always wore. The Necklace of Scry Defense was one of the first items he had found upon coming to The Land. He had come across other magical necklaces, but for some reason he had always felt the need to stay with this first one. It was supposed to “block all but God level scrying spells.” Richter knew he might be completely paranoid, but then again, he caught enemies like crabs in Saigon. And like his Uncle Ko always said, you were only paranoid if they weren’t out to get ya.

  “Well, how do I know how rare my spells are?” Richter asked.

  “The easiest way is simply to have someone tell you their rarity.” Ran’dolphinius then went on to explain that the spell which let Richter breathe underwater was rare. The one that summoned the magic fish was unusual and the others were common. “By reading the correct books, you can increase your Lore skill as well. That may allow you to identify the rarity of certain spells. With a Lore of one, you should be able to identify any of your spells that are common or uncommon. Anything higher will most likely show up as ‘unknown,’ until you know a sufficient amount of Lore. Do you know any, my lord?”

  Richter did as the Spy suggested and accessed the spell list on his interface. To his surprise, Randy was right. Most of his spells did have a classification of common. A few had the word uncommon appear next them as well. A few others had unknown written next to them, including his Settlement, Deeper Magic, and Chaos spells. He’d mostly started reading his Lore books so that he could identify magic items.

  “I’m level one in Lore,” Richter admitted. “I have a book that is supposed to get me to level two, but-”

  Ran’dolphinius chuckled slightly, “I understand, my lord. Lore books can be extremely dry. I recommend that you continue your studies, however. Lore can affect many skills and can open up possibilities that otherwise would be closed to you.”

  “I just thought it seemed pointless in light of my Analyze skill and my Identify Enchantments Talent.”

  “It is true that your Analyze is impressive, but that only gives information. Increasing your Lore skill can help you with a greater understanding of The Land, yourself, and the many creatures and magics of this world. It can even unlock mysteries and offer quests that would otherwise forever stay beyond your grasp.”

  Richter nodded and promised himself that he’d start taking his education seriously again. The chamberlain went on to explain that skills also had class ranks. The system was the same until it reached legendary, which was where it ended. Ran’dolphinius said he had heard stories of skills stronger than that, but did not know of any from personal experience.

  The chaos seed hadn’t ever tried to qualify his skills by rarity, but he supposed it made perfect sense. Skills arose from affinities, after all. It was only natural that some affinities were more common than others. He already knew that magical affinity was not overly common for instance, which in turn made magical skill equally rare to find. When he looked at spellbooks, they also had rarities listed. Richter had always assumed it referred just to the item itself, but now that he was thinking about it, the spell the book contained would probably also be a determining factor.

  Ran’dolphinius started giving examples. Cooking was an example of a common skill. Martial skills like Swordsmanship, Shields, and Archery were uncommon. Magical affinity in one of the basic elements was unusual or scarce, depending on one’s race and other qualifiers. Dwarves were more likely to learn Earth magic, for instance, and less likely to learn Life magic, Krom to the contrary. High elves were more likely than other races to develop magical talent, so Light magic might be only uncommon for their people.

  They also spoke about abilities. As they were so varied and many times unique, there was no scaling system for them. Many people in The Land were not even born with an ability. Ran’dolphinius guessed that Richter’s abilities were the equivalent of a rare skill, however, if not epic.

  The next thing they began speaking about were Richter’s new spells, “I know many of these are of no value in combat, but I assure you that they are essential to survival in the Labyrinth. You will find every conceivable terrain and situation in that place. There may come a time that the first spell I have taught you, how to find water, will be the most useful magic you have.”

  “I can see why finding water would be important,” Richter acceded. “What about the rest?”

  “Summon Weak Aether Carp is just as it sounds. It summons a magical fish. The creature has some offensive capability, but it is best used for support. It is at least five feet long and can eat smaller creatures. Its true usefulness is that it is
an aquatic creature. If you summon it on land it will die quickly, but if you are in the water it can be a strong ally. By holding the fish, it can propel you quickly through the water. In addition, using Water magic while it is present reduces the casting cost by 2%. It may not seem like much, but it might be the difference between life and death.”

  Richter nodded thoughtfully. This was the first summoning spell he had learned that couldn’t successfully be used on land, but he saw the wisdom of having a diverse spell bank. A spell like this might have helped him in his fight against the skaths, or when he was going after the shiverleaf fronds. That made him think about the baby skaths and how he needed to spend some time with them soon. That, in turn, made him think about how he needed to find a new pet. He felt a surprisingly strong pang of loss as he thought about the shale adder. He supposed it wasn’t truly dead, as it was now the Harbinger of the Dungeon of Bloody Chaos, but he still felt like he had lost something precious. It had been a staunch ally through many battles. The chaos seed motioned for Ran’dolphinius to continue.

  “Perhaps the most versatile spell I taught you is Teatro’s Weak Water Casting. Its rank is rare. The verbal component of spells obviously becomes impossible if your mouth is underwater. This spell allows you to speak clearly despite being underwater. Do not forget, however, that it offers no protection against drowning. If you run out of air, you will die even if this spell has not elapsed.”

  “Good safety tip,” Richter said wryly. He may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer all the time, but he knew that he needed air to live. The chaos seed wasn’t complaining about Randy’s explanation of the spell though. He had just become dangerous and deadly underwater.