hotmtlnovel Chapter 9: Grove Warden
Chapter 9: Grove Warden
Chapter 9: Grove Warden- Excerpt from . Journal of Magic, Rizlet, et. al.
Aliandra
Even though she couldn’t understand what they were saying, the excitement each of her companions showed as they took their turn at the shrine was palpable and contagious. Even Malika, who had obviously seen something personally horrifying the first time she used the shrine, was now so clearly happy that Ali’s heart soared just to see her transformation.
This ancient shrine was her only remaining connection to her family, ownership having somehow passed from her father to herself upon his death. It stood as an anchor of stability amid the unfamiliar, warped, and terrifying world she had found herself in upon waking. Even the glowing shards – remnants of her mother’s magic explosively embedded in the stone of the shrine – served only to remind her of how she had been saved.
Offering this shrine to these three who had put their very lives in danger to rescue her felt right, a way for her to give back, and at the same time to grasp a little control of the headlong rush of danger her life had become since that fateful meeting in the library.
After activating the shrine for each of them in turn, she finally turned to her own class choice, curious to see what she might choose to become. The Shrine of the Ancient Grove was running very low on mana, but she had already used the affinity enhancement option, and she was confident there would be enough mana remaining for her to choose her class. If she were honest with herself, she had felt a pang of worry when Malika had needed to activate the shrine twice to get her class choices, but the second activation had used substantially less mana, leaving Ali with just enough to get her own class.
The bewildering array of choices offered by the shrine left her stunned and somewhat confused – she had expected she would be offered only non-combat classes. Having spent so much of her earlier years studying and preparing for her class choice, she already knew all the non-combat class offerings without even needing to look.
However, she had never seen herself even being offered a combat class – Ali had definitely not expected that her clumsy and terrifying battle with the rat, and helping her rescuers against the wolves, would earn her an entirely different set of directions.
She shook off her surprise, resolving to study each option, no matter how unlikely she was to pick it. Arcane Scholar and Librarian were both classes she was quite familiar with – Arcane Scholar in particular would help her with her job hunt.
she reminded herself somberly.
Arcane Analyst, an uncommon class, was one of the typical paths to the scholarly archmage – and one of her favorite backup choices. But that was before she had lost… everyone. Everything was different now.
Her eyes came to rest on the Runic Sage, and her hand pressing against the cool surface of the shrine trembled slightly. Maeria Runeweaver had told her not to expect the rare class of her dreams, and yet she had still offered to train her for it. But even without the trial, Ali had still unlocked it.
Unable to keep hold of her emotions, she opened the class amid the crescendo of her own anticipation, anxiety, and hope.
Runic Sage
Requirements:
Arcane Magic affinity.
Any second magical affinity.
Unlocked a magic general skill.
Extensively studied the theory of magic.
Experienced a rare magic.
Proficient in multiple languages.
Scholar skill.
Reading skill.
Memorize skill.
Able to accurately reproduce ten or more runes.
Attributes: +10 per level.
Traits: Arcane, Knowledge, Runic Magic, Inscription, Analysis, Crafting, Intelligence.
Quality: Rare.
Class – Non-combat
Ali’s heart soared as she read the description – this class was everything she had ever wanted and more. With it, she would become one of the most prominent re
Grasping Roots
Mana: Summon tough roots to hold, impede or crush your target. Range: 25 meters.
Nature, Ranged, Intelligence
Arcane Bolt
Mana: Fire a small arcane bolt that accelerates and curves towards your mentally chosen target. Duration: 120 seconds.
Arcane, Ranged, Channeled, Intelligence
Barrier
Mana: Summon a small arcane barrier shield. The barrier is a freeform arcane magic surface that resists physical and magic damage.
Arcane, Defense, Intelligence
Deconstruction
Mana: Release the mana from an unresisting or inanimate target, learning about its structure, and retaining some in your own mana pool. Requires continuous uninterrupted focus and the target is destroyed. Range: Touch.
Arcane, Knowledge, Intelligence
Runic Script
You are proficient with runic magic.
Languages: Ancient Dal’mohran, Elvish, Dwarven.
Mana: Inscribe a runic circle with your mana. Reserve: by level.
Arcane, Knowledge, Intelligence
Sage of Learning
Your ability to learn languages, history, and similar academic knowledge is significantly enhanced. You have enhanced memory for the content you have studied.
Arcane, Knowledge, Perception, Intelligence
She considered the long list of complicated skills she had just been subjected to. she realized on a quick scan. She decided to split her points between wisdom and intelligence.
Ali had read many books and papers and sat through both boring and fascinating lectures on the theories of how class skills were assigned as part of her research work at the library. It was, in fact, one of the most actively researched subjects in magic. Most of the scholarly arguments disagreed – sometimes violently – over whether the factors influencing skills were experience, actions, need, or even genetics, or some combination thereof.
Her own research led her to the conclusion that all of these were contributing factors, which was why so many of the experiments were not reproducible, even though there were tantalizing correlations. True or not, it seemed way too much of a coincidence that her first three skills represented significant improvements over the ways she had used her magic in combat prior to unlocking her class. Grasping Roots appeared to be a powerful way to crush enemies with roots using plant magic. Her memory helpfully supplied the gruesome image of the rat she had crushed by expending her entire mana pool. Arcane Bolt seemed to be the answer to her throwing arcane magic at enemies. Only now, it would actually do damage. And Barrier definitely matched her powerful desire to block enemies with her arcane magic.
With her first three spells, she was satisfied that she was on her way to becoming a real combat mage – albeit a level one mage. However, she would no longer be powerless in combat and these skills would only grow with experience. On a whim, Ali spent some of her mana on her new Barrier skill, and a small thirty-centimeter disk of transparent golden energy snapped into existence in front of her. All at once nostalgia, pride, and grief slammed into her heart. Her magical abilities were tiny by comparison, but this construct was clearly identical to her mother’s powerful arcane barrier magic.
She let the barrier dissipate, overcome with emotions and exhaustion. The enormity of the day finally crashed down on her. She had woken up in a world completely unfamiliar to her, unable to communicate with anyone, learning that everyone she had ever loved was gone. She had been in two fights with actual monsters, almost dying a couple of times and now she had nothing left to give. She dragged herself over to where the others sat and, curling up next to Malika, she simply passed out from sheer exhaustion.
Malika
Malika sat on the dirty ground near the now dark and depleted shrine, listening to Calen and Mato excitedly exchanging details of their new classes.
Curious, she examined the shrine one more time, using her Appraise skill to check on the mana reserves – a detail she deduced was normally only visible to the owner.
Shrine of the Ancient Grove
Owner: Aliandra Amariel
Mana Siphon (Active)
Mana: Unlock class experience
Mana: Unlock or enhance latent magical affinities.
Mana: Unlock alternate classes.
Owner’s Mana: Recharge the shrine’s mana reserve. 8,550/1,250,000
Quality: Unique
Value: Soulbound
Shrine – Artifact
she thought, wondering if Aliandra had anticipated how close it would be when she had allowed all of them to go first. Feeling a small twinge of guilt at the depleted state of the shrine, she tried to feed some of her mana into the reserve, but it wouldn’t accept her offering.
Malika had been careful to not share too much about her new class with the others, admitting only that she had earned an unarmed combat class – which they could easily deduce now that she must appear as a Monk to their Identify skill. She also admitted to having a Soul Magic mana affinity – Calen had been sharp enough to guess it from the display at the shrine. It was already more detail than she felt comfortable sharing.
On the other hand, she had learned quite a lot about their classes – information freely flowing between the two friends – seemingly not minding that she could overhear their discussion. Calen had unlocked an archer class with a light magic affinity, and he demonstrated one of his skills by summoning a bright floating light that he could move about simply by focusing his mind. For such a small mote, it gave off an unreasonable amount of light, but it was certainly nice to be able to see clearly for a change. He also claimed it had the ability to dispel some stealth effects, which seemed quite useful.
Mato had unlocked a druidic class with access to shapeshifting nature magic, which he excitedly demonstrated by turning himself into a bear – a form that amused Malika no end. Once she had seen his shapeshift, she couldn’t unsee the resemblance to the bear even in his normal form. He really was just broad and furry, regardless of which shape he was using. The affinity for shapeshifting certainly seemed a natural extension to his Beastkin nature, and he was obviously excited about the possibilities.
His class seemed quite broad, and Druids were widely known for efficient nature affinity healing spells.
Suddenly, she felt movement within her space and saw Aliandra right next to her. Her heart raced as she snapped her guard up, but in that instant, she heard Aliandra’s soft regular breathing.
Aliandra had literally just curled up against her leg and fallen asleep on the spot.
That kind of inattention could have been fatal on the streets. And not just for Aliandra, for herself too – how had she let herself get so tired that she had missed the Fae approaching?
She struggled briefly within herself, the discomfort of allowing someone to be so close warring with the unfamiliar sense of being so trusted that the little Fae would let down her guard and sleep beside her.
she thought, finally deciding to allow the girl to sleep undisturbed. The warmth of her back pressed up against Malika’s leg and the soft rise and fall of her breathing were strangely comforting. Besides, failing to show kindness to Aliandra after the priceless gift she had just given would place her among the dregs of the Town Watch thugs, and she would rather die.
she thought, frowning as she slowly returned her attention to the conversation.
“We should test our skills on something,” Mato said.
“We’ve been down here for quite a while,” Calen said, shaking his head. “My mother is going to be worried when everyone but us has returned. We’re almost out of food and we also used the last of the potions in that battle.”
“You’re probably right,” Mato grumbled. “We should return to town; my parents will be worried too. Perhaps we can come back and fight stuff in a day or two? Get some levels? But what are we going to do with her? Bring her to town with us?” He gestured toward Aliandra, peacefully curled up against Malika’s side.
Malika’s eyes drifted down to her sleeping companion as she considered her options. “I’m going to stay here,” she said, gaining glances of surprise from the two boys. “I don’t have family in town, nobody will miss me.”
In truth, she was afraid of running into the Town Watch and their army of thugs. She had a class now and she wouldn’t be able to conceal the fact that she had chosen differently than they would have insisted upon. While choosing a class did mean she was significantly stronger, she was still level one and as far as the rumors went, Adrik and Edrik had both passed level twenty. They would easily kill her once they discovered she had abandoned her life as a thief. She was in more danger now than before she had unlocked her class – at least whenever she was in town.
“Is that safe?” Mato asked her.
“The rats and wolves are safer than the people waiting for me up there,” she said, deliberately vague about her associations. Surprisingly, Mato did not pry, simply taking her statement at face value. Calen glanced at her curiously but didn’t seem particularly surprised, and he let it go without comment.
“Ok,” Mato said. “And you’ll look after our little sleeping friend here?”
Malika nodded. “I can move her to the cave, it will be a little safer there.”
“Alright,” Calen said, pulling out a couple of apples – all that remained of the food from his pack. Handing it to her, he said, “We’ll see you at the cave in a day or two.”
“Don’t get too far ahead,” Mato said with a wave as the two of them headed out into the darkness, the Half-elf with a hovering mote of light following him, and the Beastkin shifting into the form of a large, reddish-brown wolf.
Malika got to her feet, and carefully picked up Aliandra, trying not to disturb her slumber as she walked slowly back to the cave. She hadn’t asked them to come back, and she still didn’t entirely trust them, but it would be helpful to have proven allies – at least, until she gained a few levels and learned how to use her own class. Once she was stronger, she could decide.