Abyssal Road Trip - 365 - Ignition (Patreon)

Amdirlain’s PoV - Foundry.

Much to Gail’s delight, she earned provisional approval from Gilorn after three hours of performing complex melodies and fun folk songs.

Amdirlain had closed up the container with the orrery after Gilorn’s first sound of approval but didn’t secure it until the pair had finished their haggling.

“I’ll let you know when I’m ready to get summoned,” Isa told Gail as Gail and Roher prepared to leave.

When Gail and Roher stepped across the Gate’s threshold with Gilorn floating between them, Isa grinned at Amdirlain. “You’ll be able to crush Balnérith if you keep pushing. She might be old, but I bet she spent aeons plotting and passively existing like so many celestials.”

“I’d rather not assume that,” replied Amdirlain. “Between her pride and trillions of the sisterhood potentially tithing to her, it’s not a bet I’d take.”

“Yeah, we’ve kept all our abilities as we progressed, so she might have kept that Fallen ability if she gained it,” replied Isa.

Amdirlain frowned. “What do you mean “if she’d gained it?” Grand Martinet gets an experience tithe.”

“No,” corrected Isa. “I asked Sarah about Gideon’s wording on that Transformation Site. It was ‘while progressing along the route of Grand Martinet’. Was that what she was aiming for or what she had achieved? I believe that Gideon let you build up the threat in your mind to keep you from going after her too soon.”

“Oh,” breathed Amdirlain.

“Which is fine. Taking her seriously is good, but you’ve got fear glasses fogging your view,” said Isa, and she gave Amdirlain a nervous smile. “You need to get strong enough to use Analysis on her or hear her song clearly before you go toe to toe.”

Amdirlain frowned at the tension still within her friend. “What’s the rest?”

“You met her when you were this young Succubus. Of course, she scared the absolute stuffing out of you—a rookie in a poker game against a big player. Yet she’s more the rich kid who can afford the table’s buy-in without blinking versus someone who’s had to earn that fee and position at the table.” said Isa, and she smiled tightly. “She smashed your hand onto that spike, and it’s justifiable that she’s been this big bad in your brain, but I’d be more afraid of Moloch and certainly Orcus than her. It seems Balnérith’s chief strength is marshalling the abilities of others to do her dirty work for her.”

“I was on the same page with Moloch and Orcus’ threat rankings, but I don’t have the same view of Balnérith. You’d bet on Orcus being the most dangerous?” asked Amdirlain.

Isa nodded energetically. “He’s toppled multiple pantheons. Let the Celestial battle lines hold him in check. I’ve been getting a bad feeling that your plans might attract his attention soon.”

“I’m currently collecting a tank of celestial water that I’ll use to flood a world populated by his demons and undead,” admitted Amdirlain. “It will take a few centuries to fill up at its current rate.”

Isa spluttered. “What!? You’re such a crazy girl! Are you going to give him a rainbow to top it off?”

“No,” grumbled Amdirlain.

“If that’s part of your plans, that’s fine,” said Isa. “Though my advice is not to settle for one tank. I’d stockpile thousands and build up your stack of chips along the table’s side. Then, when you’re ready to go out against him, don’t just flood his world. Flood his Plane.”

“Impossible, and I’d need trillions of world-sized tanks for any flood to seem meaningful,” replied Amdirlain.

Isa grinned and clasped Amdirlain’s face in her hands. “Stop thinking days, weeks, and months. When you get enough, dump all the tanks open on his main stronghold or something. He’s had billions of years to build up his reserves, and you won’t break his bank playing two-up for twenty dollars a pop.”

“Okay, I’ll build some bigger demi-planes to store the water and fill those,” agreed Amdirlain. “The first hasn’t reached the halfway point yet, I’ll need to upgrade the process.”

“Let me know when you’re going to release the floodgates. I want to bring the popcorn and get a good seat high in the grandstand,” said Isa.

“Best to be up high. You wouldn’t want to get your wings wet,” said Amdirlain, gently taking Isa’s hands from her face. “I have missed you.”

“I know that feeling. I’ll be glad when you feel safe enough to take a breath and stop,” said Isa. “I noticed one thing about all three of your enemies.”

“What’s that?” asked Amdirlain.

“All three of them are the kind that use others. Balnérith manipulates people with their pride, Moloch with their greed and desire for goods, while Orcus’ cultists draw to him because they fear the oblivion of death,” observed Isa. “There are plenty of demon lords and ladies out there in their fiefdoms, representing some evil or other, you’ve not bothered with smacking.”

Where did oblivion end up?

“I’ll get to them eventually,” said Amdirlain straightfaced, only to earn a snicker from Isa.

“Anyway, after we last spoke, I remembered more about Balnérith from a previous life. My past self learned from Balnérith’s song that she’d been formed out of Celestial energy directly at the tier she entered this realm possessing. Not sure how my life knew exactly, but there was this mark in her melodies that felt like Gideon’s touch, as if that’s where he’d translated her. So, while she has a lead in age, I remember she would talk and talk. I’m pretty sure Gideon doesn’t give combat specialists experience for how much they flap their mouths,” laughed Isa.

“No, Gideon is restrictive about only giving experience relative to your Class,” laughed Amdirlain. “But Isa, she was old before the Anar were created.”

“Yeah, I know, but you know firsthand how much experience it takes to climb the higher levels,” said Isa. “How many levels do you think a chatterbox will have gained? How far would they have progressed their skills? Not saying she isn’t dangerous, but I believe you might want to finish with Balnérith before digging more at Moloch and, most certainly, Orcus. Your choice whether you take that suggestion or ignore it.”

“I asked someone to provide me with one of her senior sisters so I could interrogate them first,” advised Amdirlain.

“Ebusuku’s grandmother; are you sure you want to go to that source?” asked Isa.

“No, but she has the numbers and ability to hurt Balnérith. My priority between them is to get Balnérith stopped,” replied Amdirlain. “I’ve been using Moloch’s forces as punching bags to train approaches for taking her out.”

Isa clicked her tongue. “Okay, I just had weird ties to the merchant card I’ve seen Moloch get represented by in readings.”

“What sort of weird ties?” asked Amdirlain.

“To the devil card and the chained queen,” replied Isa. “I don’t know if that refers to Sidero’s mother or someone else, but it felt infernal.”

“Then it isn’t Sidero’s mother, but there are plenty of devils and dark powers in Hell that suit that reference,” replied Amdirlain. “Alright, I’ll just gather information on Moloch’s henchmen for now and punch demons in other locations.”

“Thanks,” whispered Isa, and she scratched her ear ruefully. “For listening.”

“You told me how you felt and weren’t trying to force my hand, so I listened. Your readings sent you and Ilya in my direction on Cemna, so I’d be pretty foolish not to give them at least the benefit of the doubt,” said Amdirlain.

Isa grinned again and messaged Roher with a few quick notes.

“Keep in touch, okay,” said Isa. “Don’t make Sarah beat you up too much.”

Isa vanished, and Amdirlain let out a sigh before she mentally changed her plans around. The shift to Balnérith as a higher priority brought the need to deal with Naamah forward.

“Time to level,” said Amdirlain.

“Are you sure you want to rush for those levels?” asked Silpar. “Your resistances still need some work.”

“That might have been what Isa referred to with her last remark.” Amdirlain groaned. “And resistances are harder to increase the more health I have.”

“They are indeed harder,” agreed Silpar.

Chewing her bottom lip a moment, Amdirlain let out a sigh. “I want to get it done, and people keep telling me not to wallow in pain.”

Silpar’s lips twisted into a sour frown. “What other options do you have?”

“Ki State with Primordial Mana will protect me against many environmental effects involving that energy. I didn’t have it running earlier to ensure I’d progress my Primordial Resistance,” replied Amdirlain. “But it will only protect me against one elemental effect at a time, even if I could attune it to every Affinity, which I can’t. The other option is protection spells, which the expedition’s journals at least indicate are viable for the early planes.”

“Or it might be time to contact Sarah and borrow some of her toys for a prolonged period,” suggested Silpar.

“What do I need to get it rated at?” asked Amdirlain.

Silpar frowned. “That’s hard to say. I’m not immune to the force there, but at least fifty or sixty levels into greater resistance.”

“As high as possible before Sarah cries foul on further attempts,” offered Amdirlain.

“She wants you to survive beyond your goals, so do you think she’d be the one to stop first?” asked Silpar.

Amdirlain nodded reluctantly and sent another Message. The Gate that delivered Sarah to Foundry didn’t open from her demi-plane but from the eternal battleground of Acheron. The Gate’s borders framed a pair of world-sized blocks in the distance, slowly colliding, and an army in the billions was a dark mark on one block that swarmed onto the other. Sarah flew through and closed the Gate before their progress had provided enough information to judge if the transit would be completed in time.

“What have you been up to?” asked Amdirlain.

“My mentor asked me to contribute to her battleground negotiations,” replied Sarah innocently.

Amdirlain narrowed her gaze. “What sort of negotiations?”

Sarah gave a toothy grin. “We carefully negotiated our way through creating a mound of infernal bodies.”

Letting out a low groan, Amdirlain shook her head. “Really?”

“How’s your progress going?” asked Sarah, ignoring Amdirlain's reaction.

“I’ve got the Prestige Class unlocked, but it’s going to provide me a ton of Endurance increases,” advised Amdirlain

Sarah exhaled and transformed into her Human form, and a red silk shirt and pants appeared around her. “You need me to shoot at you for a while?”

“I won’t practise my dodging,” replied Amdirlain.

That comment earned a grim nod, and Sarah set down four human-size crates around the pavilion with a different Affinity humming from each. “Immersion is more efficient.”

The coffin-like form of the devices was more apparent after Sarah’s comment.

“Hop in and wait it out?” asked Amdirlain.

“Yes, hold on until you’re getting towards the point of dying, and teleport out,” confirmed Sarah. “Each will activate a minute after the doors close when the trigger detects anything inside and deactivate when nothing is present.”

“You don’t have to stay around,” said Amdirlain. “And I was only after Primordial and Cold.”

“Chaos merged into Eldritch Resistance, so improving it might help you with Eldritch Resistance,” advised Sarah, pointing to the third coffin. “You’ve got limited Negative Resistance and been set on hurting Orcus, so improve that before it gets too difficult to increase. I figured four is enough of an example for you to figure out the songs for any others you want to push higher.”

“Have fun and don’t get into too much trouble,” said Amdirlain.

Sarah huffed. “I’m not leaving. But they’re easy to make, so I’ll work on other enchanting projects while you play zen games with pain.”

“Might I borrow one?” asked Silpar.

The question got a grunt from Sarah. “Are you turning into a lunatic as well?”

“If the resistances are key to accompanying Am deeper, then I should ensure mine at least match hers,” replied Silpar.

Sarah blinked. “You are serious about being there to guard her back.”

“Yes,” confirmed Silpar.

“At least one Celestial isn’t an idiot,” grumbled Sarah.

“I’m not a Celestial,” corrected Silpar.

“Which makes it even more ironic that you’re doing the right thing by her,” retorted Sarah, the muscles along her jaw bunched.

Amdirlain brushed her cheek. “Painful memories, Sarah?”

“Yes,” admitted Sarah. “Even more so with these pain baths being needed.”

“I’ll wrap them in concealments so you won’t smell anything,” said Amdirlain.

“My imagination will fill me in on all the details,” huffed Sarah, and she placed a set of Artificer tools and some mithril bars onto the pavilion’s table. “Let’s get the unpleasantries over with, shall we?”

Amdirlain retrieved a crystal to store Ki, lay down in the first device, and started cycling. The onset of pain as her flesh began to cook didn’t budge her mental state.

* * * * *

Harmony had been the key to acquiring and sharing so many affinities with others. Using it to aid her meditation while immersed in the various forces revealed another use. Over three months, the Power guided her to understand how her flesh resisted the energy that sought to obliterate it. Amdirlain repeatedly sought and failed to gain a measure of control to hasten the process. Improvements came in fits and starts until a rush of progress in the Power and the Resistance signalled her first deliberate success.

[Primordial [GR] (90->95)

Harmony [G] (10->16)

Note: One step closer.]

Closer to what, Gideon?

Despite the success, her health had dipped below a hundred thousand, and Amdirlain teleported above the pavilion’s roof. On a nearby pathway, she heard the device she’d exited shut itself off, though the copy she’d made for Silpar continued to thrum. Phoenix’s Rapture lit up the surrounding air in white flames, and the activation caused Amdirlain’s health to soar as her flesh knit itself back together over ravaged muscles and shattered bones.

“Starting to hit diminishing returns on the time spent roasting,” noted Sarah from where she lay sprawled on her treasure bed.

“Harmony made the last improvement jump,” corrected Amdirlain. “Took me from ninety to ninety-five in one go.”

Sarah craned her neck and looked at Amdirlain; the motion made her eyes a whirl of red-tinted rainbows. “Really?”

“It let me feel how my body was resisting and smoothed my flesh along the path,” explained Amdirlain.

“It’ll be interesting to see if the improvements it offers taper off or if you can force through to be immune to more powers,” said Sarah.

Amdirlain waited until Phoenix’s Rapture fully restored her health before she shut off her aura and landed on the rim of Sarah’s bed. “Was Ori immune to any energies?”

“She could protect herself with a few notes, and I’m not sure she ever felt the need,” replied Sarah. “Then she came down with terminal stupid fighting Levi instead of leaving the others to the fate they’d earned.”

“Even Mori?”

Sarah ruffled her wings. “She had been a dummy in previous lives otherwise she’d not have been reborn as Mori. Will you sit and play something?”

“Gilorn was most unhappy that I couldn’t play anything but a lap harp,” said Amdirlain. “Even Gail only got a provisional acceptance, and I’m sure she’s pushing towards Grandmaster in harp.”

“A truly shocking disappointment you are,” laughed Sarah. “At least Gail was an acceptable substitute.”

“I need to set myself a time limit. Otherwise, I won’t be satisfied with whatever resistances I can push up,” said Amdirlain.

Sarah’s nostrils flared. “Your flesh smells strange, almost like you’ve become a bizarre Efreeti composed of Primordial Mana.”

Amdirlain smiled. “Harmony is to become one with the world around you.”

“Most people don’t look to achieve that literally,” countered Sarah.

“I didn’t expect Silpar to take his protective duties so seriously,” said Amdirlain, clearly changing the subject. “Figured he’d have sat out once he learnt how far ahead he was compared to my resistances.”

Sarah’s eye ridges lifted incredulously. “He got picked by a Primordial being who can create worlds at will, and you think he’d do a half-arsed job of it?”

“Going through this to ensure he can match my resistances is likely above and beyond merely meeting expectations,” argued Amdirlain, and she nodded to the device he occupied. “I might balance out some of my lesser resistances. The terrain in the deeper planes isn’t consistent, so who knows what I might find useful.”

“When you are done with this stuff, I’ll need to toss a few thousand fastballs at you for mundane materials,” reminded Sarah. “This isn’t anyone’s usual day at the sauna; you know that, right?”

With a laugh, Amdirlain rose and headed for the next device in the line. The Negative energy she encountered within it challenged the insights she’d found embracing Primordial Mana. One device after another, she endured the destruction of her flesh and learnt more about the realm’s energy.

What awaited her at the end were devices that looked like mechanical pitchers; the round stones they threw broke the sound barrier. A few billion fastballs turned out to be what Sarah came up with to harden Amdirlain’s flesh against normal materials. With Ki State completely disabled, Amdirlain stood firm as their strikes ruptured flesh and broke bones. Phoenix’s Rapture churned away in passive mode, restoring her body through one notification after another.

[Mundane [GR] (119->120)]

With her target achieved, Amdirlain teleported out of the barrage of stones.

“Are you done, or need a break?” asked Sarah.

“Done,” agreed Amdirlain. “Thanks for keeping us company so much.”

“What’s a year’s worth of torturing Fallen between friends? I know some folks who’d be jealous of the opportunity,” replied Sarah. “Oddly enough, on both sides of the fence. Stay away from Lil, alright?”

Yeah, I’m so not going anywhere near Lilith. I don’t even want to go near Naamah again.

“I didn’t say I would contact Nam at all,” countered Amdirlain.

Sarah’s snort caused a cascade of coins from a nearby mound to pool along her bed’s rim. “Don’t bullshit me, it’s not a matter of if but when.”

“My monitoring devices are still in place, but haven’t spotted Balnérith or another Succubus heading into the depths, so I’ve got time,” said Amdirlain.

“Through the one entry we know about, but it doesn’t mean it’s the only one,” argued Sarah. “No offence to Silpar, but Ijmti is an infinite Plane. Eventually, I know you’ll get impatient and look for confirmation. Just be extremely careful about whatever agreement you reach with Nam because her price tag might stretch further than you think.”

“That’s always the case with demons. Even if she’s a Primordial, she has the form of a Succubus most of the time for a reason,” replied Amdirlain.

Amdirlain stroked a hand along the scales protecting Sarah’s muzzle and gently bumped her head against her jawline.

“You take care,” instructed Sarah. “I assume you’ll go back to blowing up demons when you’ve got your new Class.”

“That was the plan,” sighed Amdirlain. “We’ll see if it's still the case once I get it.”

Sitting beside Sarah’s neck, Amdirlain leaned against her scales. “Admantine scales were more comfortable.”

“Critic, rest until Silpar appears.”

“Fine,” grumbled Amdirlain, but she closed her eyes in meditation. With each cycle, she stored more Ki in the latest crystal.

When Silpar teleported free of his device, his ashen scales were fragmented, and his flesh was stripped to the bone in large patches over his frame.

“You’ll be pleased to know Amdirlain plans to move things along,” announced Sarah.

Silpar grunted an acknowledgement, and the trio waited silently for his recovery.

“What’s the next step?” asked Silpar.

“Time to pour some experience into my True Song classes,” replied Amdirlain.

Amdirlain rose and opened a Gate to a barren demi-plane. Waving Silpar ahead of her, Amdirlain followed and closed it behind them, plunging them into darkness.

Amdirlain stretched her arms above her head and took in the demi-plane’s music. “Well, that was a nice break, but it’s time to return to work.”

“A year of isolation and testing your body’s limits was a break for you?” asked Silpar.

“I guess sarcasm doesn’t translate,” muttered Amdirlain. “Though I wasn’t in isolation, I was meditating and mentally chatting with Sarah when she was present in Foundry.”

Silpar grunted. “You could hold a mental conversation when enduring such pain?”

“Phoenix’s Rapture includes Pain Eater. Despite the extent of the damage I endured, the injuries’ regularity made it easy for the Power to handle filtering it,” advised Amdirlain.

“And now you’ve thousands of demi-plane creations to make. Do you think that might challenge your Power?” asked Silpar.

Three thousand gates appeared around them, and their glowing outlines illuminated the rocky ground. Amdirlain sang and danced, a golden light washed through them at once as creation’s glow raced off into the distance beneath each demi-plane’s suddenly blazing skies. After an hour, Amdirlain fell silent, and all the gates closed simultaneously.

“How?” asked Silpar softly. “You took hours to create hundreds previously.”

“Upgrades,” quipped Amdirlain, and she gave him a wide grin before she opened another set of gates.

[Crafting Summary (Category: Biome fundamentals)

Self-sustaining continent-sized biome (small) x3,000

Total Experience gained: 2,422,500,000,000

Ostimë: + 1,211,250,000,000

Ostimë Levelled Up! x9

Ontãlin: + 1,211,250,000,000

Ostimë Levelled Up! x9

True Song Genesis [G] (5->6)]

“Will you tell me more than simply upgrades?” asked Silpar. “Preferably, in a way that the explanation makes sense to me.”

Setting aside the urge to tease him further, Amdirlain considered the effect matter-of-factly. “The jump in True Song Genesis rank to Grandmaster allows me to apply the effects more precisely. When I get Resonance’s evolution, I expect I’ll be able to utilise that even more accurately and avoid wasting energy,” explained Amdirlain with a shrug. “I’m also able to support more melodies at a time.”

As Phoenix’s Rapture healed the injuries the stress had caused, Amdirlain created a memory crystal and added the details of the set she’d created. With the administration side done, she made a fresh set of gates.

An unpleasant surprise appeared when Amdirlain dismissed the notification for the third demi-plane group.

[Your achievement ‘Breaker of Bonds’ now effectively possesses a tier 6 capacity for you.

Insufficient capacity to absorb relevant classes into Tier 7 Prestige Class: Olindë]

The notification froze Amdirlain, and she considered the current state of Ostimë and Ontãlin sitting at level two hundred and thirty-nine each.

I’m lucky I didn’t blow both my Tier 7 achievements. I’m getting too impatient to see things done.

“Level two hundred forty-two. Do I risk another level or two and chance having to get a new Tier 7? With the stat gains offered from the new Prestige Class, it might be worthwhile to take it now and drive it through whatever extra levels I’ll need,” murmured Amdirlain.

“How many levels did you need?” asked Silpar curiously. “For whatever it is you are doing.”

I might as well share it with him. He’s got enough other secrets he’s holding.

“Empress Malfex is the Fallen transition gained from combining twenty-one hundred levels between classes and species,” replied Amdirlain. “However, I came into Fallen with a Prestige Class at level 1, so I missed the opportunity to include its levels in the equation. Gideon’s notification made it clear it was levels accumulated since becoming Fallen.”

“I have never heard of anyone gaining such a species. And Gideon, I take it, told you that this applies to you even though you gained the Fallen species from an evolution,” said Silpar. “So what will you do?”

Acquire Prestige Class Olindë.

[Class selection:

Olindë

Note: Tier 7 Achievement (Planar Class Warfare) is no longer available for further use.

Ostimë and Ontãlin combined into Prestige Class: Olindë

Resonance [G] (42) -> Resonance-Lord [G] (1)

Achievement Tier 7: Planar Class Warfare consumed

Achievement Tier 6: Breaker of Bonds insufficient for future classes.

Initial level attribute modifications applied.]

“One Prestige Class acquired,” reported Amdirlain. She felt a surge of vitality as the Endurance boost from the first level caused her health to jump. It was almost enough to distract her from the spike in the details now audible from the demi-plane’s foundations. She held back a sigh of relief and frustration by concentrating on the additional details.

I’ve come so far, yet I feel like I’ve barely begun to get strong enough.

“What will you do with your last base Class?”

“That is an excellent question,” replied Amdirlain. “I’ll speak to Master Cyrus about advanced Monk classes, as I don’t want to ignore that aspect of my abilities. My question is, do I risk slamming hundreds of levels into my new Prestige Class? I’m worried about what the combined amount of Charisma might do to my control.”

I should stop being afraid of it. Cla’nes would be disappointed after all the lessons with her if I reverted to having such a fearful attitude towards my Charisma.

“Since you can control your experience allocation, perhaps level your species to increase your magical strength,” proposed Silpar. “You said you needed thousands of these demi-planes, and your species’ strength isn’t dependent on any powers or skills advancing.”

“I like the way you think. That still gives me a large degree of Charisma but not as bad as Olindë, so that would make it a decent test,” replied Amdirlain. “Then I can work on my Mana Finesse and other skills.”

“So you can teach them to others as Gail intends?” asked Silpar.

Amdirlain nodded. “I can teach affinities easily. Magic is a power equaliser that lets sentient species survive against the monsters that inhabit some worlds.”

Silpar jabbed a finger off to one side. “Is that why you found those celestials so offensive?”

“Not just that, they were ready to judge on appearances, and that attitude I find offensive,” replied Amdirlain. “We should regard a person for what’s inside them and how they treat others, not for their skin, race, or species.”

“I had thought you favoured elves, so how you regarded their behaviour was interesting. Might I ask another question?” enquired Silpar.

Giving him a grin, Amdirlain casually motioned for him to spill.

Silpar’s lips twitched momentarily. “Did you have something to do with the progression of my resistances? I felt the effectiveness of Sarah’s devices diminish far more rapidly than I expected.”

Amdirlain lifted an eyebrow and hummed thoughtfully before she replied. “Are you aware that celestials, actually all outsiders, progress slower than mortals?”

“I’m aware,” admitted Silpar. “Not that it matters since we exist far longer than any Mortal species. Why is that important?”

“Celestials I’ve teamed with seem to progress at Mortal rates afterwards,” explained Amdirlain. “I hadn’t expected it to impact the improvement to your resistances, only your level progression.”

“Te’s sudden jump in strength,” murmured Silpar thoughtfully. “A progression that has continued to surge faster than she expected.”

“Yeah, that was caused by teaming up with me against the occupants of the ghost caverns,” agreed Amdirlain.

“In that case, regretfully, there are some with whom you ‌should not team,” stated Silpar firmly.

Changing her experience weighting to favour her Fallen species alone, Amdirlain opened another set of gates. As she hammered out one set after another, the feathery veins of Phoenix’s Rapture intensified beneath her skin, white primordial flames shining through her flesh and clothes. After nearly a full day of demi-plane construction, she finally stilled, and Silpar regarded her with concern.

“Your feathers of flame are still visible through your skin,” warned Silpar. “I think you’ve pushed well beyond safe limits.”

Amdirlain shivered as the surge of life experience pulsed through her body. Taking in the mass of attribute points she had available, Amdirlain poured them wholesale into Endurance and took in the changes triggered. “Maybe.”

“What level did you gain?” asked Silpar.

Do I tell him I smashed Fallen to two-hundred and ninety-two? Does the feeling of weakness ever disappear?

“My advancement for Fallen is well and truly slowing now,” laughed Amdirlain. “I’d best concentrate on pushing up my powers and skills so I get some decent classes offered.”

“That mostly matters when taking new ones that utilise them,” offered Silpar. “Do you intend to take additional Wizard-type classes?”

“You make an excellent point,” admitted Amdirlain. “I’ll likely only develop my skills in that area, not invest in new classes. Most of my classes will probably be True Song-related. Monk is the exception, so I’ll level my other classes while I think things over.”

With that said, Amdirlain changed the experience allocation to share between Pure Scion of the Sun and Ascetic Triumvirate

“Is it time to talk to Master Cyrus?”

Amdirlain grinned. “That’s one thing I’ll need to do. Overall, I need to get to a point where I can safely deal with a certain Goddess. I was going to push my levels up with demi-planes, but feeling the jump in Resonance after its evolution, I need to see about getting other powers to evolve rather than slam in more levels. That won’t happen if I dump painlessly gained experience into classes. I don’t feel strong enough.”

I need to keep reminding myself that Naamah is far more dangerous than a mere Succubus.

Silpar motioned to where the ring of gates had repeatedly formed. “Painlessly? I think Pain Eater is fooling you. I saw wounds open in your flesh while you sang. As for strength, you are already well beyond the threshold of what any sane being would consider to be godly power.”

Creating another memory crystal with the latest creations listed, Amdirlain dispatched it to Sarah along with her intention to visit Cyrus. “True in some respects, but I need to be stronger, and that performance with the demi-planes didn’t even overly strain my new capabilities. I’ve sent Sarah a list of the demi-planes so she can take them to Gail and the others. Wonder if she’ll charge me for playing delivery girl. You ready to go?”

The rush of words earned a frown from Silpar, but he nodded. Before he could say anything, Amdirlain shifted them to the Outlands.