Infinitium

(Day 106) Februarius 12th,12th year of the Dragon, Age of Enlightenment

The trip down the mountain had been beautiful, but uneventful. This had given Adam plenty of time to think. Specifically, about how magic worked and how spells worked. In the RPG games in his Universe, there had always been this idea that as spells became more complex, they were of a higher level or they were harder to cast, which made them a higher level. Here, though it looked as if the spells could be any level between 1 and, well there really wasn’t an upper level but every spell he’d run across had been level 100 or less. He decided to try something. He increased his Cast Fire Magic skill to level 500 by spending 1,147,500,000 experience points. Then aiming at the air off to the side he cast the fireball 500 feet away and read the prompt.

Adam casts Fireball for 40 mana. No target selected. Fireball explodes for 3,927 points of damage (Base 36 x attribute bonus 18.18 x Skill Modifier 6)

Adam reviewed his math and realized that his damage had increased by 500%

His base damage of 36, which could have been any number between 10 and 100 was being modified by his attribute bonus which would give 654. Then that was multiplied by 6, for 600%, which gave the result of 3,927. He guessed that made sense because if a skill level 1 caster cast a fireball and did 1% bonus damage of 36 damage they’d only do .36 damage. If they’d done a base damage of 100 they’d still only do 1 point of damage. So, the formula was more like 100% + 1% per skill level, which made sense.

Skill Level 500 had stepped his category of casting by 6 times. which had increased the power of his fire spells by 6 times. So, his simple fire bolt spell that could do 1 - 4 damage was now doing 6 - 24 damage. If he cast his fire bolt spell, the minimum damage he could do was 654 points of damage. If he achieved a critical strike against the target and did absolute maximum damage he would do 5,236 points of damage.

Granted, creatures with resistances, such as himself might not be damaged by certain magic types but he did have the ability to cast in all eight basic spheres of magic so one of his bolts should be able to affect whatever he was targeting. He’d just have to raise his other seven primary casting skills to 500 then, which he did for another 8,032,500,000 experience.

He’d have to make sure to judge what he was casting at. Also, it seemed that the opposite type of magic did do increased damage so using water versus fire, air versus earth, life versus death, light versus dark, and vice versa was definitely something he’d have to keep in mind while casting.

Lost in his own thoughts, Adam failed to notice that the forest had become eerily quiet. If he’d been paying attention his insanely high perception and investigation skills would have noticed the webs strung throughout the tree canopy above him. Instead, he was surprised by the thick web that suddenly covered and immobilized him and the six spiders, each the size of an adult German Shepherd, that dropped from above to land on and bite him as they injected poison that was meant to immobilize him.

Adam was so absolutely surprised by this turn of events that he froze inside the web. He realized that he could use the nanites to break free if he wished but he paused for a moment. The six bite attacks had hurt, and he could tell that a poison had been injected into him but the nanites had automatically blocked the poison and were already repairing the damage to his skin. With his normal healing rate, he’d be back to full health in two seconds. As he was thinking these thoughts he heard voices in the distance.

“He’s over there. I saw them get him with their web!” a gruff male voice called in common.

“Landril, scare them away” another voice barked.

A muffled word and then a bright flash came through the web covering his face and he heard the spiders near him scurry off. Listening carefully, he heard five individuals make their way to where he was webbed.

“Yeah, that’s him, Landril, can you do something about that web?” the gruff voice asked.

“Sure thing Raz, one sec,” Landril said. There were more muttered words and the webs covering Adam fell away. He blinked his eyes and noticed five humanoids looking at him with interest.

The gruff one, who looked like what Adam would classically call a Dwarf, looked at Adam and then noted that his eyes were being followed by Adam. “He looks alright. Must have scared off the little buggers before they could inject him with their poison, or else he’d be out for days.” Turning to Adam Raz asked, “You okay fella?”

“I am now, Thank you,” Adam said.

Raz slapped Adam on the back lightly and smiled “No worries, we were in the area. Though I don’t remember there being such an infestation. We’ll need to head back towards Landril’s people to let them know what we found. Which way are you headed?” Raz asked.

Adam took in the five people looking at him. Raz looked to be a Dwarf. Landril was some sort of Elf and the other three, either humans, half-humans, and something or more elves. He couldn’t really tell. Then he remembered he had Analyze which he used.

Analyze: Success. Raz, Level 25 Male Dwarf Fighter, HP 161

Analyze: Success: Landril, Level 20 Male Wood Elf Sorcerer, HP 41

Analyze: Success: Percephany. Level 9 Female Wood Elf Fighter, HP 54

Analyze: Success: Belinder. Level 8 Male Half Wood Elf Fighter, HP 46

Analyze: Success: Tor. Level 7 Male Human Fighter, HP 47

“I was trying to head towards the city to the southwest. Supposed to be something like a 25-day walk from here?” Adam asked.

Raz nodded thoughtfully. You’re probably talking about the City of Venoran. It’s about 25 days south of here, though through the forest it’ll be more like 40 days of travel if you go in a straight line from here. We’re not going that far but the place we are going is sort of on the way and will lead to a road that will cut down on your total travel time. Care to join us?” Raz asked.

“Sure, I’m new to the area and am sort of lost so any help would be much appreciated,” Adam said.

“Understandable. Well, I’m sure you heard me say Landril’s name. The other three are Percephany, Belinder, and Tor. We were out scouting because we’d heard that a dragon had been sighted over this way flying up in the mountains. Reports said it wasn’t attacking anything that left it alone and these young’uns thought it would be cool to see one. Of course, then we came across you getting overrun by a nest of spiders, and here we are.”

Adam nodded. “And again, thank you for your help. Question, should we be on our way? Will the spiders be back soon?

Landril said, ”I cast a spider repulsion spell. It’s not very powerful but for the next hour, unless we attack them, spiders of all types will find other prey to go after. We’re just not worth the effort. To answer your question though, yes, we should be on our way.”

Raz pipped in. “You heard the man. Belinder and Percephany you have point. Tor you have our backs. Landril and I will keep our new friend company while we make our way back to the village. Let’s Move!”

The party set off at a good pace that Adam easily kept up with. For the next three hours, they made their way southeast until the forest started to thin out and Adam could hear running water in the distance. Soon after they came to a stream and followed it south until they came to the outskirts of a village

There were wood elves with bows drawn as they came into view but once they realized who was coming into the village bows were stowed and a good-natured conversation started to ring out.

“Raz, you guys find anything today?”

“Heard you were looking for dragons. You’re back, guess you didn’t find one.”

Raz laughed and steered the party towards the central open area.

As they moved into the clearing Raz guided Adam before three Elves who had stepped out of one of the small huts close by.

The first turned to Raz and spoke in a soft voice that was easily heard by all, “Raz, who have you brought before us?”

Raz turned to Adam, thought for a moment, and then shrugged sheepishly. “Honestly Elder, I do not know. In the excitement, I forgot to ask for his name.”

The Elder turned to Adam and spoke “I am one of the three Elders of the Village by the River, as our little village is called. Might I ask your name?”

Adam turned to the Elder “Our course. I am Adam, a traveler who had the good fortune to be rescued by your scout party from a clutch of spiders that attacked me while I was traveling through the forest.”

“Spiders, you say?” The elder asked as she turned to Raz questioningly.

“Yes, Elder. The trees north of here are infested with them right now. If not for Landril’s magic, we might have had some problems.”

The Elder contemplated things for a moment then turned to Adam. “Please feel free to refresh yourself by the stream. There’s a pitcher of water and some cheese and bread. While you refresh yourself I will speak with Raz after which we will call for you.”

Adam bowed his head slightly and said “I thank you for the hospitality. I will await your summons by the stream. With that, Adam walked over to a table and picked up the pitcher of water and a small glass. He poured himself a drink and drank deeply. Setting the pitcher and glass down when he was done, Adam settled into a classic meditation pose near the bank of the river and waited.

Adam didn’t have to wait too long, only about an hour or so before Raz came up to him. “Adam? The elders are ready to speak with you now.” Raz asked.

Standing in one smooth motion, Adam smiled at Raz and in a gentle voice said, “Please lead the way.”

Raz led Adam to a small hut with a single-flap door. As they were walking up Adam noticed that some of the hunters he’d seen earlier were heading north in parties of at least ten. It looked like they were heading out to deal with the spiders. Pulling the flap to the hut aside, Raz ushered Adam in.

The only elder that has spoken thus far sat in a chair facing the door. Another elder to her left and her right. “Enter and be welcome, Traveler Adam.”

Adam entered and stepped to the middle of the room in front of the chairs. Moving into the military position of attention, he brought both of his hands together and relaxed as he sat down on the ground in front of the elders to lower himself before them. A simple psychological ploy, but one that should help in this situation.

The Elder smiled and began. “For the purposes of this conversation the three of us,” she said motioning to her two fellow elders are the leaders and elders of this village. If you speak to one of us, you speak to all of us. First, we would like to know who, or what, you are before we begin our conversation. To know this, I will require you to lower your defenses so that we might evaluate and consider how best to proceed. If this is not acceptable, we would ask that you continue to share the tradition of Hospitality and depart. If this is acceptable, we would request that you lower your defenses so that I might divine your true nature which will require me to place my hand on your forehead, would that be acceptable?” she asked.

And there’s the rub, Adam thought. “Honored Elder. I have nothing to hide but must give this warning. I do not know what will happen if I lower my defenses and allow you to fully divine my nature. I do not fear that you will be physically harmed. I am concerned, however, that the amount of information you will discover may overwhelm you. With that warning, I have nothing to hide and would freely offer myself to any divination by you.”

The Elder cocked her head. Adam could almost see the smugness in her gaze as he realized that the stuffy old elf stereotype might be accurate, and he might be looking at one. Thinking to himself “Laugh it up fuzzball” he made sure to set his nanites to passive and let Abi know to recede away from his consciousness so that she couldn’t be detected.

“Thank you for the concern, Adam, I think I will be fine,” the elder said as she stood and walked toward Adam placing her hand on his forehead. She offered a prayer in Elvish “Through Serena’s will may knowledge be known”

The Level High Elf Cleric Jasilla is attempting to cast the spell Divine Insight on you. Resist, Yes or No?

Adam chose “No”. Immediately, Jasilla’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, she moaned, then dropped to a knee muttering “So Much?” questionably. Adam sat unmoving allowing the Elder to compose herself, which took a few minutes. She stood slowly, Jasilla made her way back to her seat and sat down heavily as the other two elders looked on with trepidation.

“Be at ease, my friends. This man is not an enemy.” The elder said as she touched each of the other elders with the brush of a finger from each hand. “Though I would venture to say that my Goddess has found extreme delight in reminding me what it is to be humble on this day.”

Adam watched and waited as he saw various questions enter the Elder's eyes, then fade, then new questions would alight in her gaze, then fade. Finally, she spoke. “Adam. First, I would like to welcome you. It seems that you have come a very long way to visit us. Additionally, I would like to congratulate you on your recent success. As you did not resist my spell I was able to discern everything you know and the abilities and skills you possess. Which brings me to an observation. Did you know that the skills you possess are not quite right?”

Adam looked up. “Not quite, right?” he asked.

“Some skills you possess, look like you have recently learned them. For instance, the language we are speaking now. This skill feels correct and is comparable to my own skill in the language. During my divination, I noticed the skills you have and while they share the same name as skills I’m familiar with, they are not the same. As an example, your skill tracking. Your tracking skill does not work exactly as it should here. In the simplest terms, I can explain the will of the gods and the elements is in everything here. That will is an expression of the forces that bind this world and its creatures together. We are all connected in this. Thus, Skills and abilities are connected to this network of thought and power at all levels. Many of your skills are not.

“I think I understand,” he said hesitantly. “Why is this important?”

The Elder nodded thoughtfully for a moment trying to think of the best way to explain. “While I do not understand everything I saw on your personal interface when I just reviewed it I did see your attribute levels and your skill levels. One thing I noticed though was that you have no class listed. As I’m sure you have noticed, my class is that of a cleric, Raz is a fighter, as are three of the other members of his scout party and Landril is a Sorcerer. You, Adam, do not have a class. After looking over your information the reason is quite simple. You do not meet the prerequisite skills for any class. Your weapon masteries and unarmed combat skills are impressive, but they do not take advantage of the will of the gods or any of the benefits that having a truly legendary skill here provides. “

Adam thought for a moment then asked “So, the skills I have from my origin point, they allow me to act in a way that is familiar to this world, but not in a way that is part of this world?”

The elder nodded. “Yes, that’s it exactly. You will not need to relearn everything from scratch, you will need to dedicate yourself to learning new skills that will feel a lot like your old skills but will definitely have differences.”

“I think I understand,” Adam stated. “Is this something that members of your village would be willing to help me with and if so, at what cost?” he asked.

“As is true in this, and every Universe, nothing is free.” The elder responded. “In this case, however, I believe helping you will help us. Power calls to power and it would seem that your success up in the mountains has started to draw the attention of powers that might wish to strip or destroy such power. Powerful creatures and monsters will be drawn to you and your Place of Power naturally. As we are but a stone’s throw, literally from you I would guess, away from your Place of Power, helping you learn the ways of this world so you can better defend yourself, and us, serve us both. For this help, we would ask that you defend this village to the utmost of your ability, help where you can, and learn as much as we can teach you. Would this be acceptable?”

Adam thought it over for a moment then responded. “I have been trying to learn as much as possible since I arrived just over 3 months ago. I had hit a point where I didn’t seem to be making as much progress as I thought I should have and everything you have just told me provides an understandable reason for why I would have such issues. I am hesitant to make agreements when I am unsure of the motive of the other party so I will say this. So long as you are honest and true with me, I will be honest and true with you. I will defend your village to the utmost of my ability and will help as I can around the village as you help me learn the actual ways of this world. I make no commitment to how long I will stay but will at least inform you if I must leave for any reason. Is such a commitment acceptable?” he asked.

“More than acceptable Adam.” The elder stated. “I need to share the information I learned from you with my fellow elders but know that no other in this village will be willingly privy to that information unless you share it.” Calling out, the elder said “Raz!” The flap was pulled aside and Raz entered. “Please find accommodations for our new friend Adam here. He will be staying with us for a while and training.”

“As you wish, Elder,” Raz said.

Adam stood smoothly “Thank you for your generosity,” Adam said to the Elder and then followed Raz out of the hut. Raz led him to another building where Adam was shown a small cozy area that while not a truly personal space, was private enough.

“Abi, thoughts?” he queried.

“What she said does make a kind of sense. Remember, I told you I have felt more normal since we arrived. The skills you learned in a Universe devoid of magic might not get all the same benefits that someone from here would have with a comparable skill. My suggestion would be to start with something simple that you know and go from there. You know how to use bows. Try to learn their techniques from here and see if you notice any changes. If you truly need to relearn the skill here, you should still be able to direct the skill points you banked at it. As for the class question. You have a character level, though class levels here give inherent benefits. If you could gain a class the special perks may become available to you. Won’t know until it happens though.”