ushernet Chapter 59: A Chat with Vivian Ross
Chapter 59: A Chat with Vivian Ross
Chapter 59: A Chat with Vivian RossAliandra “Ugh,” Ali said, throwing herself onto the couch in front of the hearth in the guild hall.
“You alright?” Mato asked.
“Just frustrated.”
“I’m going to go see if they have any food left,” Mato said, petting his belly with a weary grin. “Want me to get you something?”
“Maybe some fruit, if they have any?” Ali said.
Mato nodded and walked off to the bar area in
“No, I need one more,” she said, frowning. The last corpse she needed lay down there in the darkness beside a bone-encrusted wall, conveniently protected from the hail of bone spears. But they had been forced to run before she could reach it.
“You can learn a healer minion?” Vivian asked.
“I think so,” Ali answered. “It was right there in the previous fight; I just didn’t get a chance to deconstruct it.”
“I think that should be your top priority,” Vivian said, her gaze suddenly intense. “Not just for this fight. Having extra healers on demand will dramatically improve your group’s overall longevity. Assuming you can learn it, I would bring a couple of those to the fight.”
“Ok,” Ali said, nodding.
“I highly recommend bringing plenty of mana potions, it will be grueling. And get your tank some armor, the less damage he takes, the easier it will be to last through the fight. If your healers run dry, you will die.”
“Armor?” Mato asked, perking up from where he had been lying on the couch.
“Yes, as I recall, one of the blacksmiths used to be able to make shapeshifter armor – but you might struggle to get him to take the job now, I heard he’s no longer crafting.”
“Are you talking about Thuli? The Dwarf?” Ali asked.
“Yes, that’s the one,” Vivian said. “He was always the best smith in town, by far. I’m not sure exactly what happened to him, but if you can get him to make you a set of armor, you guys will stand a much better chance.”
“Ok, we can try talking to him again,” Malika said.
“Wait,” Ali asked, as she connected two pieces in her mind. “Mato is going to tank all the scorpions, right?”
Everyone nodded.
“And I’m going to blow them up with Fireballs?”
Everyone nodded again.
“Won’t I hit him?” she asked, looking at Mato.
“Yes,” Vivian answered with a grin. “You will need to practice so that you know how to control the damage and keep it manageable for the healers. But, done correctly, Fireballing your tank is a sound strategy for taking out groups of monsters.”
“What? Seriously?”
The discussion continued for a long time, with Calen and Malika hashing out details, all of which were carefully recorded in Calen’s notebook, while Mato napped on the couch. Several times, Mieriel stopped by with steaming mugs of coffee, dropping them off without interrupting the conversation. Ali listened carefully, trying to follow the convoluted chains of reasoning, logic, and proposed solutions. Their strategy slowly came together on the table in front of her. It was by no means a complete strategy – there were a ton of unknowns. For instance, they had no idea how long the fight would take so there had to be contingency plans for adjusting the composition of Ali’s minion army if it didn’t work well. She didn’t know if she would be able to learn the healer variant, nor whether they could convince Thuli to make armor for Mato. They definitely needed to go shopping for more potions – mana and recall. And, by far the biggest unknown; they had no idea if they had seen all the abilities the Skeletal Wyvern had at its disposal. But by the time they made their weary way back down to camp, Ali’s mood had improved dramatically.
***
After dinner, Ali sat quietly enjoying the company of her friends. It was not just her – everyone seemed to be more energized, discussing possibilities and details, and plans for tomorrow. Ali’s mind was chock-full of a deluge of information and plans, but one thing stood out to her – Vivian Ross’s persistent concern about healing and mana.
She had cautioned them to expect a long fight, and with so many Piercer Scorpions coming into play, their weakest link was Mato’s life. If the healers couldn’t keep up with the damage or ran out of mana, their entire strategy would unravel – with deadly consequences. So much of their planning revolved around ways to support Mato and ensure that he would be able to survive.
She was no healer, but their plan hinged on her ability to learn a healer minion, and then use it effectively in combat. But Ali had been the healer once before, and it had involved using her Runic Script – a spell she never used in combat because of the long preparation time.
she thought. Perhaps it was time to update her restoration magic runic circle?
“Hey Mato, can I borrow your book for a bit?”
He handed it to her without question, and she paged through it to find the chapter on Restoration magic once again. When she had first studied this magic, she had reasonably restricted herself to the simplest and easiest formation, needing only the most basic healing spells to survive and heal Mato. But now that she had reached a far higher level, some of the intricacies of higher-level magic should be accessible to her.
she thought, turning the page to the discussion on the theory and connections required to advance the magic, and how to enhance the power and efficiency. She settled down into her Study Trance and began to read, letting everything else fade out of her awareness as her concentration deepened. Her mind became unnaturally clear and focused, and time passed unnoticed in the background. Even the notification chime barely impinged on her awareness.
Awareness of the campsite slowly returned, and she noticed the fire had died down. Only Malika remained, sitting cross-legged across from her in a pose of meditative alertness. How she had admired Malika’s Meditation skill, and now she had her own. Her mana pool was empty, but her mind was clear with the advanced layout of her new magic clearly understood, floating there, simply waiting for her to use it.
She got up and stretched her arms and legs quietly, careful not to disturb Malika. She had been sitting for long enough that her muscles prickled uncomfortably as the sensation returned. As soon as she had recovered enough mana, she began to create the runes.
It took only three tries to get it, after all, it was a more advanced version of a spell she had already mastered.
The bright-green, glowing runes of the circle contained a noticeable hazy green slowly shifting aura within it. Tiny indistinct leaves appeared now and then before dissolving back into the aura, and the soft scent of pine caressed her nostrils. Ali used her Identify on the circle to make sure.
Restoration – level 15 (Nature)
Creates a Restoration aura within the circle.
Runic Circle
she thought, noticing that the runic circle had reserved just as much mana as she needed for a level fifteen summoned creature. Hopefully, this magic might act as a limited, but dedicated healer – one which wouldn’t run out of mana.
As she sat and observed the results of her study, another idea occurred to her. Storing Mato’s book, she traded it for the Arcane Magic book she had purchased from Ryn at The Reading Corner – Fundamentals of Arcane Magic: Theory and Practice. She browsed through the contents looking for anything related to mana and regeneration, eventually finding something that looked promising near the back in a section on foundational utility spells.
Ali didn’t hold out too much hope, but when she opened the chapter, what she found seemed to be perfect. It was a set of magic spells that seemed to accelerate mana regeneration in various ways.
She didn’t have much to lose, and she wasn’t particularly ready for bed yet, so she picked one of the spells and settled into her Study Trance for the second time. She didn’t feel like she was in much danger here at their camp, but as her awareness of her surroundings faded away, she was glad Malika was sitting nearby.
She had no idea how long she studied for, but she was certain it was longer than for the Restoration spell – this new magic was unfamiliar to her, and she had needed to learn it from scratch. But as she came out of her trance, she could tell it was ready. She deconstructed a few left-over pieces of armor and then set to the task of inscribing the arcane runes she had just learned.
It took several tries before she realized she needed to go back and review some sections she thought she had understood but persistently came out wrong when she replicated them. Then she had to try several more times to get the hang of the underlying connections. She was beginning to grow frustrated when suddenly the runic circle closed, and with a surge, her mana rushed in to fill the golden circle.
While the runes around the perimeter glowed with her golden arcane mana, the area within was filled with a softly shimmering aura of pretty blue ethereal swirls. It was gorgeous magic, and Ali’s smile grew larger as she studied it with her mana sight.
Inspiration – level 12 (Arcane)
Creates an Inspiration aura within the circle.
Runic Circle
Again, the runic circle reserved the same amount as if she had summoned a level twelve creature. Without any hesitation, she stepped into the circle, testing the regeneration against her depleted mana pool. she thought, examining her mana regeneration rate. It was rapidly becoming clear how useful this spell would be as part of her repertoire.
Suddenly, her notification chimed again, and her mana pool emptied.
Inspiration – level 1
Focus: Your mana regeneration is increased by +55% .
Arcane, Wisdom
It had taken hours of study to understand the magic, and many attempts to write it with her Runic Script, but she had fully understood it. And somehow Sage of Learning had connected it to something that had led to a skill breakthrough. Ali was elated, with this she had learned a second way to regenerate mana, one that didn’t require her to deconstruct corpses in the middle of a fight.