35 - Avatar (Patreon)

Author's Note: Chapter 25 - I'm Not Your Father in Book 2 was updated (middle section scene between Paul and Dazien). During my break I realized I missed including some information relevant in the future but not exactly plot-changing so I'm making this note for those interested in reading the update without force-pinging everyone about it.

As Phoenix led her friends to the ritual room on the lower floor, her mind raced with concerns. Despite what she had told Uriel, she was slightly panicking that she may have made a huge mistake by using that gem after Paul expressly warned her before she unlocked her Familiar ability about cataclysm specifically being dangerous to use.

Even though she hadn’t confirmed the details about them in her book, which she purposefully kept from Uriel since it would have completely derailed the conversation and the point she had been trying to make, she could inherently sense it within her. It was a freshly caught wild animal pleading to be released; begging to destroy everything around her.

She briefly thought about keeping the ability a secret but there was no way she could keep it from her party and still be able to level it up. Once the party knew, they would eventually say something to her mentor and then he would be even more upset that she had tried to hide it. No, she would need to tell them all… eventually.

Once they reached their destination, Phoenix quickly went to work on the ritual to unlock an Aspect. She had never actually needed to perform one of these but the knowledge had been seared into her mind by the tome of rituals the Scholar had given her.

“Why did you bring us here, Phoenix?” Dazien asked curiously, looking over her shoulder to see which ritual she was beginning, “Is that an Aspect Bonding Ritual?”

“I thought you said you didn’t need to use those?” Rayna asked as the bard and Healer wandered over to look as well.

“It’s not for me,” she said and conjured one of the spirit gems from her collection into her palm and handed it to Dazien.

“What do you mean?” the gemite questioned as he studied the gem, “Which one is this?”

“It’s an [Avatar Spirit Gem],” she answered, making the clone appear in her now empty palm then quickly returning it to her collection, as she explained, “I got duplicates and only have one more ability to unlock. You’re the only other one in the party who also still needs to unlock some class abilities so that one is for you.”

Amethyst eyes stared at her then at the stone in his hand before he said breathlessly, “These are incredibly expensive, Phoenix. I can’t just accept something like this.”

“Don’t be silly,” she chided, “If my Defender can offer greater protection, that’s all the better for me. If you don’t like the Avatar type, we can exchange it for something different but I don’t think there’s many Epic Crystal Caste Spirit Gems for sale at the market here in the middle of this frozen tundra.”

Their Striker gently punched their leader’s bicep and said, “Shut up and take the loot. We never get to use your [Tribute] ability, so think of this as a consolation prize.”

Phoenix nodded in agreement–not looking up from her work–but glanced at the brand still on the back of her hand. It looked like a tattoo of a shimmering golden crown, the same crown that adorned the Warrior King’s banner. She recalled the wording of the passive and wondered if there were any hidden differences between the two methods.

Passive Ability: Tribute

Type: Utility (magical, covenant)

Current Caste: Crystal 8

Crystal Effect: Allies with [Subject] gain a brand that allows them to loot slain enemies with a touch. You gain additional loot from enemies looted by allies with [Subject]. Loot goes directly into your dimensional storage.

The metallic symbol briefly reminded her that she still hadn’t tried out the new magical tattoo kit she bought from Madam Malik to try out her embedded knowledge and she made a mental note to ask the others if they were interested once the ritual was done.

When the circle was ready, the gemite was practically bouncing in his excitement as he waited for Phoenix to activate it but Rayna halted her with a question, “Why don’t you both unlock them at the same time?”

“Why should we do that?” the Wayfarer asked with a raised eyebrow.

The bard gave a fang-filled grin, “For luck? Come on, you both have the same gem; it’ll be fun to compare.”

Phoenix rolled her eyes but decided to indulge her friend and pulled out her own Avatar Spirit Gem. As she triggered Dazien’s ritual she also triggered her own ability to unlock a new power.

The Wayfarer’s process of unlocking was apparently much more painful than the normal method. She dropped to a knee as the gem seemed to warp and wrap around her like a snake coiling up her arm before melding into her flesh, while Dazien seemed to experience that same thing but without the nausea-inducing pain.

Her new Moon power appeared in the [Guide Book] first since she didn’t need to touch it.

Class Ability: Avatar of Bakunawa

Type: Transfiguration (recoil, magical, dark, dimension, light)

Cost: High mana.

Cooldown: 1 hour.

Current Caste: Crystal 1 (0%)

Crystal Effect: Take on the characteristics and abilities of the moon-eating dragon Bakunawa, increasing all attributes by a significant amount and unlocking the abilities [Eclipse Breath], [Cosmic Talons], and [Soul of the Celestial]. When this effect ends, you are temporarily debilitated, suffering a reduction in all attributes.

- Eclipse Breath (channel, magical, dark, light): Breath a stream of Magical flames inflicting Dark and Light damage.

- Cosmic Talons (magical, dimension): Grow metallic claws that inflict Dimension damage.

- Soul of the Celestial (passive, aura): Increases Strength, Mind, and Magic attributes of allies within your aura.

“Wait, does that grant a fifth aura?” Rayna asked incredulously as she read, “I didn’t think an ability that grants a temporary aura was even possible.”

Saiya shrugged at her sister and said simply, “It’s magic. Anything is possible.”

Then Dazien walked over and touched the book with a slight frown and a bit of trepidation.

Class Ability: Avatar of Sovereignty

Type: Familiar (ritual, summon, magical, covenant)

Cost: Severe mana and stamina.

Cooldown: None.

Current Caste: Crystal 1 (0%)

Crystal Effect: Summon an [Avatar of Sovereignty] to serve as a Familiar.

“Why do you look disappointed?” Phoenix asked as she read over the ability, “A Familiar is awesome.”

“Cheep cheep!” Tala exclaimed from atop her usual perch in the summoner’s hair.

The young warrior grimaced, “I don’t have the materials to summon it. It will be… expensive. Even with an Adventurer’s income.”

Phoenix frowned and offered, “I don’t mind helping out. I did just get all those [Ruby Mana Bits], after all, and a Familiar will be extremely useful. What do you need?”

“A lot of [Covenant Shards] with a little bit of Blood, Song, Wind, Fire, Water and Earth on top of that. The minor amount of Elemental ones won’t be too hard but Blood ones are usually in high demand. As for the Covenant ones… they’re such a niche item that I believe are usually only needed for contractual rituals. I’m not sure I can get it all,” he admitted regretfully.

“I bet if we leave now we can do this summoning today,” Phoenix said with a grin. Then added with a hint of a plea, “Please, Dazien? We need some more happy moments after yesterday.”

The Defender seemed to debate with himself for a moment before giving in and tilting his head in agreement but stipulating, “Fine but first we get some sleep. Let’s try to get at least the five hours most Crystal Casters need, then we can grab a meal and stop by Mother’s Cupboard afterward.”

Dazien hadn’t been wrong about the Shards being expensive but Phoenix didn’t hesitate to help him; reiterating the same argument she had used to convince him to accept the Spirit Gem by pointing out that a stronger party meant better monster killing, which meant more loot, so really it was just an investment.

The orphaned gemite was still having a difficult time wrapping his mind around the strange economics of being an Adventurer with a looting power. He had struggled for so long to gather funds and even when he had initially unlocked the passive ability, there were only so many people willing to hire him and not try and screw him over.

In the Processing District, he had tried to get a job as a Looter but many of the employers there either paid a pittance for his time or claimed that he was holding out on them; since his version of looting would automatically put the items in his [Armory] so they couldn’t know that he hadn’t gotten more than he told them.

Meeting Phoenix, who had the backing of one of the most influential noble houses in the city along with her own looting power and realizing that the woman had absolutely no concept about the cost of things in this strange new world, was a test of his own patience to not balk every time she gave things away and never asked them for anything in return.

He loved that she seemed to be a generous soul but sometimes it was hard to put his feelings into words when he compared her experience to his and Uriel’s, when sometimes they couldn’t turn on the hearth because they hadn’t made enough Bits that month.

Finally being able to get AOA missions and the income from those, along with being able to loot the monsters they killed without an employer trying to take more than their cut, made it easier for them to live but his frugality had already taken a firm hold on his habits.

His party was all getting excited again as they returned and he began drawing out the ritual circle instead of Phoenix, placing the insane amount of costly items carefully around the diagram. Then, when everything seemed perfect after triple-checking it, he began to chant, “From the realm above all realms, where your dominion reigns supreme. Let your sovereignty be the pillar of my kingdom. Let your majesty make all kneel before us. King of Kings, I invoke thee!”

An oppressive aura filled the room as a golden rift appeared in the air above the center of the ritual circle and out stepped one of the oddest creatures any of them had ever seen. Like some kind of chimera that amalgamated the beasts known as the king of the jungle, sky, forest, and myths.

It had the solid golden-furred body, head, and mane of a majestic lion, though its tail seemed more like a golden dragon’s from the storybooks he had read as a child when visiting the temple of Scholar. From the top of its head sprouted a magnificent set of stag antlers that seemed wrought of metallic gold. The sharp tines looked like they could impale any monster that dared to anger it. The last defining feature was the giant eagle wings that sprouted from its back and were also a shiny gold color that glimmered in the light of the glowstones set into the ceiling.

The creature was as tall as Dazien was and they all stood staring at the regal beast in awe. It stepped forward purposefully until it was face to face with its summoner and he reached a hand out carefully and placed it between his new Familiar’s eyes, patting it gently and eliciting a low rumbling purr from its chest.

“Does it have a name?” Uriel asked.

The [Avatar of Sovereignty] turned a golden eye towards the cinderen and shook its head, causing the large mane to shimmer as gold dust fell from it.

“I would suggest calling it ‘King’ but that might get confusing,” Rayna said, “What are you gonna call him, King?”

The warrior raised an eyebrow at her use of his nickname but didn’t correct the voxen as his eyes went back to the grand Familiar, “I’m not sure. Any suggestions?” Then he glanced towards Phoenix, “Any myths from your world about kings?”

“Tons,” the Wayfarer replied automatically and began listing, “Mufasa, Arthur Pendragon, Agamemnon, Beowulf, Kaleva. There are a couple kings of gods; Zeus, Jupiter, Odin, The Jade Emperor, Ra and Amun, Yahweh, Allah, Bathala, Amenominakanushi.” She paused for a moment then added, “There were also other words that mean ‘King’ in languages other than my own; Caesar, Czar, or Sultan. There was an ancient language that was considered to be dead called ‘Latin’ and we used it to describe what was the king of the dinosaurs back when they existed. Aside from humans, it was the ‘Rex’ that was the apex predator of the world until a cataclysm destroyed them.”

Dazien grinned and noted, “I’ve actually read a story about a king named Kaleva here too. Maybe I’ll tell you about it later,” then he looked back to his Familiar, contemplating which to pick, “Those all sounded interesting but some of those I can't even pronounce.”

He thought about what Phoenix had said about it taking a cataclysm for the downfall of this king of beasts and glanced at Uriel. If any man would be his downfall, it would be the Cataclysm Mage that had claimed a piece of his heart. He refocused on the magnificence before him and asked, “What do you say, sir? Do you like ‘Rex’?”

The lion-stag-eagle-dragon beast tilted its head slightly and pushed forward again until it seemed to dissolve into golden glitter and pour itself directly into Dazien’s throat. He coughed slightly at the sensation, also feeling an odd shiver run down his spine, then said with a slightly altered voice that seemed to have been infused with power and spoke straight into them, “Well I guess he liked it. Are you all ready to get some training done before Lord Wayland returns from the AOA raid? I know it started last night while we were at Souja but I haven’t heard news yet.”

Everyone automatically nodded in agreement then Phoenix shook her head after a moment, as if suddenly remembering something, and said, “Actually, I have some new tools to try out if you all don’t mind helping.”

PREV         NEXT