117 Chapter 117 System Iou (2/2)
'What?'
(WELL, ENACRA GAVE YOU A BLESSING, SO IT BECAME COMPLICATED.)
'What did he give me?'
(NATURAL MAGE. ITS EFFECT IS NORMALLY TO PREVENT LASTING DAMAGE IN THOSE MAGES THAT USE ALL OF THEIR FATIGUE. YOU WILL RECOVER WITH NO ILL EFFECTS, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES YOU DO SO, THOUGH RECOVERY CAN TAKE A WHILE DEPENDING ON THE SEVERITY OF YOUR CONDITION. HOWEVER, WHEN COMBINED WITH MANA CONTROL'S SACRIFICE, THE SYNERGY IS…EXCEPTIONAL.)
(YOU WILL BASICALLY NEVER BE ABLE TO BE HARMED BY SPELL BACKLASH AGAIN EXCEPT FOR TRIGGERING A SPELL THAT DELIBERATELY ATTACKS YOU.)
'Is that what happened when I broke the twins free of the barrier?'
(YES. IT IS GOOD THAT YOU DID THAT LAST. THE BARRIER AND THE MANA ABSORBTION RUNE UNDER THE CASTLE WERE BOTH b.o.o.bY-TRAPPED. ANYONE WHO TRIED TO INTERFER WITH THEM WAs. .h.i.t WITH A DEADLY CURSE THAT CAUSED THEIR BRAIN TO BLEED. HAD YOU NOT BEEN GIVEN NATURAL MAGE, THEN YOU WOULD HAVE DIED. ENACRA STEPPED IN TO SAVE YOU AS WELL AS REWARD YOU.)
'Shavist. I didn't realize that.'
(THE BARB SPELL WAS MEANT TO BE UNDETECTABLE TO THE ELVEN MASTER MAGES THAT EXISTED IN THE PAST. IT IS MORE SURPRISING THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO BREAK THE CHILDREN FREE OF ITS CONTROL, THAN THAT YOU DIDN'T NOTICE IT.)
(ALSO, THE G.o.dS HAVE NEVER INTERFERED WITH ONE OF MY HOSTS BEFORE. THEY FIGURED THAT THEY DON'T NEED TO ESPECIALLY BLESS SOMEONE GIVEN POWERS BY ME. HOWEVER, NOW I NEED TO REWARD YOU FOR THE FEAT YOU PERFORMED AS WELL. IF IT IS A SMALL GIFT, ENACRA MAY BE ANGERED THAT I RATE YOUR FEAT SO LOWLY. HE GAVE YOU AN EXTREMELY POWERFUL GIFT THAT WOULD TAKE AN EXCESSIVE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES FOR ME TO MATCH.)
(THIS HAS PUT ME IN A DIFFICULT SITUATION FOR WHICH I HAVE NO PROTOCOL TO PROCEDE. I NEED TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION THAT WILL WORK IN FUTURE CASES AS WELL, BECAUSE SEVERAL OTHER G.o.dS ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO YOU NOW AS WELL, SUCH AS THE ELVEN AND GNOMISH G.o.dS WHO HAD BEEN SLEEPING.)
'Um, that sounds kind of tough actually. You could just award it to me when I do the next thing I suppose.'
(THAT WOULD BE AGAINST MY POLICY. I SHOULD HAVE ALREADY AWARDED YOU HAD I NOT BEEN CAUGHT IN THIS QUANDRY. EACH ACCOMPLISHMENT DESERVES ITS OWN REWARD. I MAY HAVE TO ISSUE YOU AN IOU. IT WOULD BE A FIRST FOR ME. MANY OF THE THINGS I THINK ARE SUITABLE DO NOT FIT A BASIC HUMAN TEMPLATE.)
'Why were the G.o.ds sleeping?'
(THEY WERE INJURED AND RECOVERING WHEN MOST OF THEIR FOLLOWERS DIED. TO SAVE MORE OF THEIR FOLLOWERS, THEY OVERSPENT THEIR POWERS. WITH THE SUBSEQUENT LOSS OF MUCH OF THE MANA, THEIR RECOVERY HAS BEEN EXTREMELY SLOW. YOUR ACTIONS HAVE ESSENTIALLY AWOKEN THEM DESPITE STILL BEING VERY SLEEPY.)
'How many points do I have now, and what's available for purchase?'
(A LOT. I'VE ALSO NEVER HAD ANYONE ACc.u.mULATE SO MANY POINTS SO QUICKLY OR AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE.)
(TABULATING…92.)
”Ok, Stella, I'm ready to go back. Let me test it out to see if I'm recovered properly.”
Joseph shot a one-point FIREBALL.
Stella jumped. ”What Are You Doing?”
”Uh, starting off with a little spell before I try and use TELEPORT? It's expensive and I don't want to have issues with it.”
”You could have given me warning first,” she grumbled
”Okay, I'm going to do a three-point and then a five-point.”
He cast FIREBALL again. No issues. He cast a FIREBALL using a rune with-in a rune. No issues.
”Well, the elves have started making a fuss, but we don't have to care about them.”
He took Stella's hand.
TELEPORT.
They were standing where the gate had been when he brought everyone from the barbarian lands. The barbarians patrolling noticed them and the gate was opened as they approached. It wasn't until people started to come out to greet them that he let go of Stella's hand.
She went back to being a proper guard. He wasn't sure how a girl her age could project such an image, but she did a fantastic job of it.
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