Soul Weaver, page 17
part #1 of The Seeded Realms Series
He focused on it and runes flashed before expanding into an even larger string; they appeared to be a list of skills arranged under three categories: Ascended, Martial, and Utility. Each had a few faded-out skills under them, while others were clear and bright. It was easy to work out that these were the skills he already had in his log.
He focused on the first category, Ascended, and was disappointed to find there were only two listed here—including Soul Link, which he already had. He quickly went over the other.
* * *
Ascended’s Haven
Skill Set: Ascended
A permanent bond is created between an Ascended and a single place of power, restoring a portion of its Vessel’s passive regeneration when within it.
25% passive mana regeneration restored when in a bonded place of power.
Warning: Losing bonded place of power may lead to dire consequences.
Requirement: 10 skill points
* * *
Aziel could only stare at the skill description in wonder. Was this the answer to his troubles? At present, his place of power only stopped the drain. But with this he could actually regenerate.
He didn’t know what to make of the warning, but even if he ignored it, there was another glaring issue: the cost. Ten skill points were half of all he had, and he didn’t know if he could get more. Instead of rushing into a decision, he decided to save them for now and seek Vhal’s advice.
With that settled, he quickly went over the other two skill categories. Martial skills comprised of an assortment of specialized abilities which required a weapon proficiency such as Long Blades to be at a certain level to unlock. They generally strengthened certain actions and enhanced his capability in using them.
A person didn’t need to be a weaver to use these skills, he realized, as they all appeared to use the soul mana everyone already had coursing through their bodies. Power Strike, a skill he had encountered when he’d fought off the pair of humans after he first awakened, used soul mana to empower Elsie’s arm muscles enough to almost break through his shield.
Utility, on the other hand, contained skills such as Soul Rejuvenation and All-Seeing Eye. What was intriguing, however, were the numerous skills under this category which were simply listed as locked.
Having nothing else to cover, Aziel finally moved onto the last section of his log: traits. These seemed to provide passive bonuses, access to additional skill categories, and other more specialized effects. The Soul Weaving trait simply stated he had an affinity for soul mana, and could now absorb, manifest, and manipulate it. The others, however, were more interesting.
* * *
Soul Infused
Class: General
Every fiber of your being is infused by highly concentrated soul mana.
Attacks and skills using soul mana will cause additional soul damage.
* * *
Aziel didn’t know what to make of this “soul damage,” as he had no point of reference for what that actually meant. So, he moved onto the next trait, which was thought-provoking to say the least.
* * *
Ancient Being
Class: General
Through time and experience, your vessel has succeeded in becoming more efficient in its storage of mana.
Maximum mana is doubled.
* * *
Did this trait literally refer to his age? He didn’t know how to feel about being referred to as ancient. Vhal had mentioned that age usually meant power, and perhaps this was one of the reasons why. Doubling the total mana his vessel was able to store was an advantage even someone as ignorant as he could appreciate.
The next two traits had far more reach when it came to his personal daily life, however.
* * *
Mark of the Succubi
Class: General
You have been marked by a powerful member of the Succubi race, and she has bestowed upon you her gift.
Enhances others’ existing attraction to you
* * *
This trait was obviously due to his relationship with Celia; there was no other explanation. He wondered how and when she had “marked” him. Had he gained this trait immediately after the link was forged, or when Celia became an Elder? He supposed it didn’t matter at this point—what did, was its effect.
While the description made it clear that the trait did not create an attraction but rather enhanced an existing one, Aziel was still somewhat uncomfortable. How much of Celia’s attraction to him was due to this trait? Or was she immune to it due to the fact she was a succubus herself?
The trait made no mention of its strength, or whether he could turn it off. Would this literally affect anyone who had any slight attraction to him? Would a short glance be enough? Aziel considered the possible adverse effects if this were the case, then shook his head, before moving on to the last—and probably most important—trait.
It was the ball and chain that kept the Ascended from simply taking over with their overwhelming power, instead making them join or form groups and communities around them to support their needs.
* * *
Ascended’s Domain
Class: Rank specific
An Ascended’s high concentration of mana causes a disequilibrium within themselves, resulting in an unstable Vessel.
Total loss of ability to passively regenerate and absorb mana.
Mana is drained over time.
Mana drain is intensified with distance from a high source of mana of a relevant type.
Sworn followers provide a portion of their excess mana regeneration to the Ascended.
Faction Leader Affix: Mana drain is reduced by 80% when in faction-controlled locations.
* * *
It seemed being a Faction Leader had reduced the drain, at least when he was within so-called faction-controlled locations.
The trait mentioned that his followers would provide him with a portion of their excess mana regeneration, meaning the larger the vessel, the more mana he would get from a particular follower.
After her evolution, Aziel had felt Celia’s contribution add to Vhal’s. Both of them together provided him with enough mana regeneration to counteract the drain when he was within the mountain. But from his short experience on the outside, he knew they would not be able to offset that drain.
Aziel glanced down at the circular mark on his wrist and was just about to activate it, when he heard the familiar sound of Vhal’s staff striking the floor of the corridor outside. He turned to see the lich re-enter the study and grin.
“Well, my lord, are you ready for your lesson in weaving?” he asked happily.
Aziel quickly dropped his hand. “Of course.” Getting a look at his faction log would have to wait for now.
Chapter 12
Celia exhaled heavily. It had been some days since she left the Facility, and the trek had been uneventful. It seemed that the creatures of the Wilds could sense her new power and bolted at the sight of her… even while she was asleep, no less. At least the journey had given her the time to review her new—and much improved—log.
Her notifications should have prepared her for the absolutely ridiculous power up she had just experienced. But even with the thirty-five level up notifications, trait gains, and attribute increases, Celia could only stare in shock at what she found.
* * *
Name: Celia
Race: Demon, Succubus
Rank: Elder Enlightened
Mana: 600/600
Level: 48
Attributes:
Strength: 9
Reflex: 13
Mind: 10
Vessel: 12
Skills:
Charm (Level 6)
Demon Claws (Level 6)
Small Blades (Level 3)
Inspection (Level 3)
Mana Siphon
Dark Vision
20 Skill points available
Traits:
Fire Weaving
Air Weaving
Succubus Allure
Soul Linked
* * *
Her previous level, 7, had been higher than average for someone her age. If she had been an adventurer or a very active soldier, she might conceivably have attained level 8 or perhaps 9.
But she was now at level 48, an absolute powerhouse. She wasn’t sure there was a single human, elf, or any member of the civilized races who surpassed level 40, and even those people were probably very old and had worked exceptionally hard to reach that level. She, on the other hand, had simply agreed to her master’s proposal and woken up like this.
Her expedited leveling came with other benefits. All of her skills had leveled up—some more than others, for reasons unclear to her, but that wasn’t really something she was going to complain about.
Then there were the new traits. She had actually acquired a new affinity for air mana, in the form of the Air Weaving trait. This opened up a whole new world of magic for her to explore; it also made her a dual mana weaver—quite a rarity.
But as impressive as that was on its own, there were still two traits which proved more eye-catching. The first was a racial trait.
* * *
Succubus Allure
Class: Racial
Effects:
Enhances others’ existing attraction to the Succubus.
Effects may be enhanced further by marking a specific being.
Marking is permanent, and only one being can be marked at any given time.
Current mark: Aziel
* * *
It was an interesting read indeed. She didn’t know if this was an ability she had acquired as a Greater or Elder succubus, but it made luring prey for Siphoning that much easier. She had hardly met a single person who had absolutely no attraction to her, and this made her job even easier.
But it was the marking that left her puzzled. How did it work? Was it a mental trigger, or did she actively have to do something to point out a target? Was the fact that her attentions had been trained solely on Aziel the reason he was marked? Celia let out a small chuckle at the thought before moving on.
The second trait was arguably even more remarkable and had major implications for her life. It also shed some light on her drastic behavior changes since her master had ranked her up.
* * *
Soul Linked
Class: Magical
A permanent mana link has been forged between your vessel and an Ascended, enabling the Ascended to channel mana through it regardless of distance.
Effects:
+1 All attributes.
Racial Affix: The powerful connection binds you. You are bound by contract.
* * *
Her link with her master had increased all her attributes by one, which made her physically and mentally stronger. Gaining attributes usually required a long time and hard work. But it was the affix that had her emotions in turmoil.
Following her transformation, Celia had spent a considerable time reading and learning all she could about herself and demons in general. It was then she had learned of a ritual called Demonic Binding.
Demons were considered dangerous by everyone in Kadora due to their ability to create demonic mana, and that mana’s ability to infect and transform others into demons themselves. But some people did make use of them through Demonic Binding. These warlocks, as they were known, used the powerful ritual to bind a demon to them and place terms on their service. Those terms constituted an unbreakable magical contract that the demon was compelled to obey.
As expected, these contracts were always one-sided. As demons never actually wanted to be bound to another being, they essentially became slaves.
Ever since learning of the ritual’s existence, being caught and bound had been a constant fear of Celia’s. It was the main reason why she had never traveled farther west to the Princedoms of Odana, where slavery was a major trade. She would be chained, sold, then ritually bound to serve whoever bought her. A succubus such as herself was a valuable commodity, and succubi were only used for one type of service…
Terms such as to never harm herself or her master and to never disobey would be included in the contract, and she would be magically compelled to never be able to break them. She would be used, and the contract would stop her from Siphoning whoever bound her… she honestly did not know if she was strong enough mentally to survive something like that. She hated the fact it even existed.
Now her Soul Link with Aziel stated she had been bound by him—the link was so powerful it had taken on the effects of a fully completed Demonic Binding ritual. Celia did not understand why the affix had suddenly come into effect, but it coincided with the moment she had regained access to her log… or more specifically, when those unexplained overseer notifications had stopped appearing.
Her being bound explained why she had begun to call him master. That was one of the aspects of the ritual even warlocks could not change.
But what were the actual terms of this contract? What had her master included in it? Celia let out a sigh of defeat… but then she remembered her first encounter with Aziel after her evolution. While still in his place of power, she had essentially attacked and Siphoned him. A term such as “do not harm your master,” always the first term in a contract, would have stopped her immediately, even if her master could heal himself afterward. So then… was it possible her master had not placed any terms at all on her?
The edges of Celia’s mouth slowly inched upward. She was becoming more and more indebted to Aziel, and she was not sure he even realized what he was doing. If he had not placed any terms in her contract, then he had effectively freed her from her fear of being bound. A demon could not be bound twice, after all.
There was an unnatural element in their relationship, but Celia had never felt this way about another being before. Her father had been strict when it came to boys, even though her mother had tried her best to give her as much room as she could. After her enrollment in the mage guild’s classes, Celia had found herself even more isolated from other children and had never had any real relationships. The thought of her parents brought about a pang of sadness to her heart, which she tried her best to ignore.
After her transformation into a demon, any chances of an actual relationship with someone were dashed. The act of love was a death sentence for whomever she laid with. She simply couldn’t control her Siphon at that level.
But this did not seem to be true when it came to Aziel.
She had Siphoned him multiple times since they had met, and he was still alive. He might literally be the only person in the world who she could possibly have a genuine relationship with.
Her mind wandered to how he had kissed her… it had been completely unexpected, and just the memory of that moment had her heart fluttering.
She had always viewed the people she had Siphoned before as food; it was the only way she could cope with what she was. Aziel, however, was different.
To begin with, there was no doubt in her mind that she was attracted to him. She loved it when his gaze drifted across her, and her body heated up instantly at the sight of his obvious desire for her. But her insecurity had kept her away… at least until after her evolution. A tinge of red colored her cheeks as she thought about how she had kept on propositioning him. She really couldn’t help herself around him anymore.
Celia let out a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to control her arousal. Thinking about her master while alone and deep in the forests of the Central Wilds was not a clever move. Instead, she tried to focus on her skills. Leveling up and becoming an Elder must have opened up many new ones to explore, including some in her succubus racial skill set.
The first skill was Create Illusion, a skill open to her previously, but she hadn’t had the skill points to spend on it. It essentially allowed her to attach illusions to herself and others, tricking people into seeing something that was not there—a powerful ability for someone who would like to stay hidden. Celia would have immediately assigned all her points to it, if not for the other options now open to her.
The first newly unlocked skill that caught her eye was not actually a skill but an affix to her existing Charm. It required her to spend a single skill point to acquire it, which seemed a fair exchange given that it would allow her to apply her Charm on multiple targets at once.
This was a no-brainer really—she selected it and received a notification shortly after, confirming that it had been added.
Her focus then shifted to the last skill in the succubus skill tree.
* * *
Shapeshift
Type: Magical, Activated
Skill Set: Succubus
Level: 1
Allows the succubus to morph her shape into any biological she has come in contact with. Shapeshifting also generates a fake log which protects the shifter from Inspection.
Requirements:
Elder Enlightened
1 skill point per level
* * *
It was an amazing skill, there was no doubt. With a skill like this, she could simply take on the identity of someone else and walk around Whiteridge, or anywhere else, without worry. It would be invaluable for a mission which required her to abduct weavers from settlements.
Comfortable and confident in her decision, she immediately assigned the required skill points, leveling the skill up to 10. Celia closed her eyes as the mark on her wrist grew hotter while an uncomfortable tingling began to spread throughout her body. It was the same sensations she always went through when spending skill points, but this one was more intense and lasted a while longer than usual, no doubt due to the number of skill points she was spending in such a short time. Now at its maximum level, Shapeshift could even be applied to articles of clothing her target wore, making the already powerful skill that much more valuable.
