Thankfully, it still described ‘general hazards’.
Better yet, it had maintained some general utility. The recovery function added in its tier two functionality seemed an extension of the simple meals and poultices Explorer’s Toolkit had once aided him create. Except now it was spread more broadly — much like a sergeant would look after his men in the field.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Still, there was one thing he found curious. Peril. He wasn’t sure what it did, or how it worked.
He gave his guide a questioning look. The man returned a knowing smile.
“Your evolution, in this case, was influenced not just by your most common use of Explorer’s Toolkit, but by your Aspect and your class. Peril is not something you will have to manage, or even be conscious of. It is more of a siphoning of potential fates.”
Kaius raised a brow. “I was under the impression fate skills were supposed to be vanishingly rare.”
His guide bent back, hands on his belly, and laughed long and loud.
“Oh, my boy, they are for most people. But most do not put in the effort you have.”
Wiping his eyes, he straightened. “It’s not a true Fate skill in the way that comes to mind. Instead, it’s more like this: by using insight to avoid bad luck, the skill redirects some of that towards your enemies.”
Kaius nodded. In his opinion, any fate skill was a good one. He would simply have to wait and see how it worked — he was especially curious about how the ‘visual representation of openings’ which the skill mentioned would present itself.
He moved on, pulling up the next skill.
Spellblade’s Harmonic Control:
General Skill - Tier II
Affinity: Arcane
Type: Glyph-binding, Metamagic, Enhancement, Manipulation
Level 201
Heroic
Where dissonance destroys, harmony binds. Master both, and your magic will be all the more potent for it.
Tier I:
This skill grants substantial control of mana within the body, at the cost of significantly impaired control outside of the body. Through mastery of mana resonance, mana can be actively shifted to be dissonant or harmonious — granting unstable destructiveness or durable solidity to spells at the moment of inscription.
Tier II:
Through continual use and development, sword arts utilising mana can be imbued with resonance.
Each level substantially increases control over internal mana.
Each level reasonably increases the potency of imbued resonance.
Each level minutely increases control over external mana.
Evolved from: Mana Manipulation (Unusual) > Resonance Amplification (Unique)
Originally Merged from: Air Manipulation; Fire Manipulation; Water Manipulation; Earth Manipulation.
Harmonic Control was a flashier change compared to Sergeant’s Insight — and in his opinion, a good one. His control over mana had improved, as had the potency of imbued resonance.
Better still, it seemed he could now apply it to all of his spells, bolstering them with destructive or defensive resonance as needed. The fact that its second tier development allowed him to extend that enhancement to Mystic’s Rend and Runeblade Hymnfocus made it all the sweeter.
Though, from a cursory glance within himself, he could feel it was no longer entirely passive. Conscious control through the skill would now be required to imbue the forces. It would slow his inscribing slightly, but more importantly, it meant he would need practice to wield it fluidly with his sword arts.
Regardless, it was a good skill.
“A good skill indeed,” his guide agreed. “Not every change needs to be radical or divergent to be a powerful fit.”
Greater Regeneration:
General Skill - Tier II
Affinity: Life, Blood
Type: Healing, Body Enhancement
Level 201
Heroic
We live, and we hunger. Ours is the true history, an age of forgotten blood. Bind us in stone and cold iron you might, but you have not bested us. Wounds mean nothing, and all bindings crumble in the face of time and patience. Even if it takes an aeon for the wind to wear away our prison, we will still be waiting; we will still be hungry.
Tier I:
This skill dramatically improves the efficiency and speed of health-related regeneration, with even dire wounds vanishing in seconds. In addition, it makes health dramatically more effective at recovering from various natural afflictions such as bloodloss, shock, and sepsis.
Empowered beyond lesser variants, this skill allows the user to operate normally through severe injury or bodily destruction, though doing so increases the draw on health.
Allows the slow regeneration of missing body parts at increased health cost.
Tier II:
Dramatically improves the baseline regeneration of missing body parts, and allows the user to persist through wounds as long as they have health and their heart and brain remain intact.
Improved scaling for health efficiency and healing speed.
Improved scaling for capacity to persist through wounds.
Each level substantially increases the speed of Health related regeneration.
Each level moderately decreases the impact of natural maladies such as bloodloss, shock, and sepsis.