Chapter 14-389: War and Peace (1/2)
“I find myself in the unusual position of asking for advice from someone much younger than I am,” Master Tolkien admitted with a sigh. He had signed all three of my books with a flourish.
I held up a hand to stop him, reaching out and grasping his hand to bring it to my lips. His lips rose towards his receding hairline as I kissed his hand, and then the Blessing materialized on it.
He looked at me there in the Markspace, and trembled despite himself.
-Ask away, Master Tolkien,- I /told him respectfully, getting the age difference out of the way by simply overawing him with Stats and Levels in exchange.
He shook his head to stop himself from staring at me. “My Lady Sylune preserve me,” he murmured despite himself. “I-I was going to ask you about Leveling advice, as you have given me some hope of making it to Seven true, even at my years...”
-You cannot do the fastest Double Helix method, as losing your Levels would likely kill you at Renewal when the extra years granted you are lost.- He winced, but nodded, having figured that out. -So, your alternative is to start a completely new Secondary Class, and then advance it to Six using Theurgies. Then take your Four in the Class, advancing it to virtua Nine, and you’ve done a Helix Break and will be able to advance your Wizardry to Nine... which you should do with a Theurgy.
-As a Seven, then a Nine, you will be able to take the advanced Theurgy Levels, and you should certainly do so if at all possible.
-Gaining Seven will allow you to take Human/3, apply the bonus to Intelligence, and pave your road further. Getting Nine lets you take Intellect Mastery/5 for another Stat boost, and simply advancing your Secondary Class will get you to Ten and possibly Eleven. Simply take Wizard instead of Theurgies if all you want to do is reach Ten and gain some additional time.-
I paused significantly, as the schema /floated around him in Markspace. -This information is all available online, and Advance Schema are freely available from any of Sylune’s Churches. I do not believe you have not perused them, so I am merely verifying what you already know. Are you looking for something more... exceptional?-
He paused and blinked. “There... is a shorter way?” he asked, despite himself.
-No.- I studied his somewhat grim face. -You were in the First Great War, were you not?-
“Yes,” he admitted at the last. “I... admit that I loathe the idea of mass combat. The mere idea that it furthers my own strength feels... revolting...”
-Men fighting men in pointless wars of territory and ego is indeed something you should loathe, along with all other men. But fighting undead? Do you think you are some kind of vampire? The Karma you gain from putting down undead is a direct reward from the universe itself for doing something Right. The Glory Award from dropping a whole Shroudzone is a massive thanks from the souls slaved to it that are now free.- I shook my head slightly. -Until the Shrouds are gone, and all those enslaved undead are set free, the whole planet is trapped by the Shroud.
-This is not a fight for glory, land, acclaim, or ego. This fight is one of the holiest causes that mortals can ever embrace, regardless of how some just spin it as Karma accrual and Naming Karma helping their Gear.
-It is extremely unlikely that you will be able to get those Levels unless you start aiding in this effort, Master Tolkien. But if you do... you can indeed gain them very quickly, if you work hard at it.-
He sighed, and clenched his fists. “It is... the thought of getting onto a battlefield again... it fills me with such great fear and dread...”
I studied him there, caught up in old memories of slaughter and hate, the war that basically ended the Great Game of Empires.
He was a Human/2. He had an Obsession...
I flicked a finger, and the details of a Feat popped up before him. He blinked at it in shock.
“Polyglot?” he read the image in his mind aloud. “Required: Knowing ten languages. 25 Intellect...” he half-gasped. “Learn any language with only an hour’s exposure to it...”
A bright light began to glow in his eyes. He had a 19 Intellect right now...
-Human/3, Intellect +2. Sage Sorcerer/4, Intellect +1. Wizard/8, Intellect +1. Virtua/9, Intellect Mastery/5, +1 Intellect.
-Ten, +1 to all Stats.-
I let that drift off, considering him.
-The number of people on this world who have this Feat is exactly four at this time: myself, my sister Azaia, Sama Rantha, Briggs, and now you know of it. None of us are master linguists by training.-
The light in his eyes was getting brighter.
-You will aid the elves in destroying these Henges the Fey were going to use to form a bridge and foothold in our mortal world. When they are done, and I expect you to get done as quickly as possible, you will call me up, and I will take you to China.
-There, hundreds of millions of undead yet wait for their peace... and there, you will see an Evil that feasts on the souls of mortal men, and you will know what it means to fight for a righteous cause.-
Despite himself, he bowed low, his fears falling to his Obsession, and he acknowledged me, “Yes, Great Lady!”
I nodded and swung onto the waiting Sleipner. “I have oceans to map, and the doom of horrors from the deep to arrange. Be about your tasks, Future Master of Tongues, and I shall be about mine.”