Broker

Chapter 019 - Depths of the Forest

Added 2025-04-08 12:00:07 +0000 UTC

Anna took a sip of water and rubbed her chin, squinting thoughtfully at the notification. The first piece of information to take from it all was that she didn’t just get abilities and power-ups from her class but just by leveling up. The second was that it seemed the level-up choice of abilities was based in some way on her own actions or experiences. Crush was obviously from her focus on using her club while Shieldstrike was from tricking opponents into ramming themselves into her barrier spell.

It’d be kind of cool to be able to move the shield around instead of it being stationary, she thought. I don’t want to have to depend on it though.

The third option was another spell which was crazy tempting. The only problem was that the spell would be picked from the original selection she had been given when she took the proficiency. Not ideal since she didn’t really care for the choices given to her. She set that aside as a maybe in case the other three didn’t appeal more than adding to her magical versatility.

The second half of the selection was interesting in more ways than one. Most notably, they weren’t of the common rarity, Or quality. I’m still not sure what the difference is.

Aura Snap was the first uncommon on the list and was clearly in reaction to her practicing the strange gift that her bloodline had given her. Using it almost like a mental attack. Aura Snap would streamline the process, turning it into an ability she could just activate. In this case though it wouldn’t be used to frighten or infuriate a target, it would be a full attack on their mind. What does that even mean? She wondered if since it was an ability it would require a mana expenditure, it would make sense since it was actually doing damage.

Next on the list was Rage and she couldn’t help but glance up at the ceiling of the grassy cavern. “Is the system mocking me?” she grumbled, “Hey asshole! It was one time!”

No response, of course.

She sighed and dismissed Rage entirely, losing control felt counter to her very nature. Repulsive. She moved on from it to Radiant Touch and hummed thoughtfully. It was a touch attack that could actually push the target's mana taint up. Likely suggested because of her Mana Touched trait. Against a caster it would be monstrously strong. There were some definite caveats to it, requiring skin contact was a pain in the ass. There was also the reasonable fact that she would take on a small portion of what she put in. Doesn’t that mean that I’m just pushing mana through my body into a target directly? Attacking the part of the body they channel mana through? It feels like it goes through my veins, is that where it is?

She huffed, I bet I could do that without an ability, given enough practice.

A tingle of warmth rushed through her veins as her bloodline purred at the arrogant thought. She scoffed and took another sip of water. She was sure her blood wasn’t alive or anything and didn’t truly have a mind of its own but it was easier to think of it that way. On the other hand, just picking up Radiant Touch would make figuring out the process easier. Easy route.

Her lips formed a line, that thought alone made the decision for her.

She picked up Aura Snap.

You have acquired a new Ability:

Aura Snap (Mortal-Uncommon-Base)
You may project your aura at a target to deal a small amount of mental damage with a chance of briefly stunning them. Damage done is influenced by your Presence stat.

The knowledge of how to use the ability quickly burned into her brain and she felt her blood boil in anticipation of using it. It felt like a natural step up from her experiments with controlling her presence and gave her a little more insight into what she was doing. Her Presence stat was a part of what made up her ‘aura’ which was somehow both mental and spiritual. It was a very vague understanding but it was sufficient enough.

Satisfied with her choices she pulled up her character sheet and plugged in her attribute points. Five more went into strength and she decided to put five into agility. Mobility and flexibility had helped her quite a bit recently and it wasn’t a bad idea to keep things at least a little balanced between her physical stats. She could only imagine what would happen if she became too lopsided.

I wonder if that goes for mental stats as well, she thought as she put her last point into Presence, confirming her choices. A buzz came immediately and the notification pushed its way forward before she could even react.

New Title Unlocked!

Little Powerhouse of the Integration (Mortal-Epic)
You have managed to reach 250 total stats before your primary class has reached level ten.You are the first individual of your integration to accomplish this feat.
Effect: +5 Attribute Points Per Level. +1% to all stats.

The startled bark of a laugh that immediately ripped its way out of her was somewhere between shock and excitement. “Ho-lee shit!” she laughed, “What the hell? Percentages? That’s a thing?”

She clapped the side of her head and slid her hand down her face, her rueful smile turning into amusement. Another world first, so the System rewards the strong to make them even stronger. I get it. Works for me. Now this side of the System I can get behind.

She glanced at her character sheet again and saw that she had five more points to spend that she split between her Agility and Insight in order to get all of her stats over twenty. It was free points after all. She savored the feeling of power rushing through her veins as the stat points settled in. Finally done, she took a moment to appreciate how far she’d come from her first day.

Name: Anastasia Flitt
Race: Human - Terran
Class: Warmage - 5 (15/3800) 0.0%
Profession: None
Tier: Mortal - First
Heritage: Born in the Gray (Unknown)

Resources:
HP: 132/132 | SP: 143/143 | MT: 0/118

Titles:
Inheritor of the Integration (Mortal-Epic), Little Powerhouse (Mortal-Epic), Stygian Apex (Mortal-Uncommon), Youth of the Integration (Mortal-Common), Precursor of Earth (Mortal-Common)

Racial Traits:
Mana Touched (Mortal-Rare), Stygian Bones (Mortal-Rare-Base), The Human Spirit (Mortal-Uncommon)

Proficiencies:
One-Handed Bludgeoning Weapons (Mortal-Common-Base), Arcane Magic (Mortal-Common-Base)

Skills:
Stealth (Mortal-Common-Base), First Aid (Mortal-Common-Base)

Abilities:
Wraithsight (Mortal-Uncommon-Base), Stygian Endurance (Mortal-Uncommon-Base), Aura Snap (Mortal-Uncommon-Base), Identify (Mortal-Common-Base), Power Strike (Mortal-Common-Base), Warcaster (Mortal-Common-Base)

Spells
Mana Barrier (Mortal-Common-Base)

Currency:
Iron: 1429

Inventory Size:
10 Slots

It looked really good, way better than where she’d started. The only thing she was really disappointed about was that she hadn’t managed to push any of her skills, proficiencies, or abilities up to a higher level. She assumed ‘base’ meant that it was the most basic version and that there was room for improvement. She considered spending a little time working on her bludgeoning weapons proficiency but if she was being honest with herself, she had no idea how long it would take. It wouldn’t do to just sit around and swing her mace while she could be doing other things.

She ultimately decided that she’d rested long enough and improved as much as she could at this point. If she was going to push forward and finally be done with this forest she needed to get a move on. It was time to see what was in the darkest reaches in the forest.

She refilled her canteen and made her way out, slipping into the outer forest briefly to scout around and see if she could find a target to test Aura Snap on. A few hours passed with no luck and she gave up, too eager to dawdle. She wanted to really test herself against something strong. She turned back and stepped into the growing gloom, marching past the trees and let the darkness take her.

The bonus task description hadn’t lied. She walked for three hours through the inky dark with only a glowstone to guide her path, towering trees looming on either side of her like ghosts. Despite being a beacon in the gloom, nothing came her way. She saw no clouds of life force floating in the shadows, nothing, this place was devoid of life. The air started to become colder at some point and the trees around her turned grayer and grayer, the foliage gone, soon even the stubborn grass faded away into packed earth.

This isn’t creepy at all, she thought. You’re just going to look and see if its worth even trying, she reminded herself.

It was an hour after that when she saw the greatest change yet in her surroundings. The massive, titanic trees that had been a staple of her surroundings began to fade away. Occasionally there would be open spots where the staggered rows of trees would have had yet another column of wood. Soon the open spaces grew wider and wider and the surfaces that could reflect the glow of the stone in her hand disappeared. There was nothing around her but black and the faintly illuminated dirt beneath her feet.

It was like walking through the void. The silence didn’t help intensify the sense of existential dread that slowly began to creep up her spine. Even so, she stubbornly pushed forward against the oppressive gloom. She wasn’t about to let a little darkness scare her off. Every time fear began to work its way into her mind her blood turned hot and her irritation rose. She was seething by the time she finally saw a change on the horizon. A single flickering orange-red light in the distance.

Anna drew her club out of her inventory as well as one of the bone-siezing arrows, clutching it in her off-hand. With something to guide her besides the glowstone, there was no reason to bother with it. The terrain never changed so there was no worry about tripping over her own feet. All she had to do was march forward to face whatever was ahead. It didn’t take long to finally lay eyes on it as the tiny light swelled into a bonfire that illuminated the center of an eerie ring of standing stones. The ambient light cast a brutal orange glow over the dried up dirt before fading into the void-like darkness.

Sitting in front of the fire was a figure, it looked human in shape but thats where it ended. It looked like it was made of some kind of wood or bone. Its face was very familiar, looking much like the helmet she was wearing now with slitted eyes and horns that curled up. It had long lanky limbs that ended in wicked claw-like appendages. It didn’t so much as budge when she approached, stopping at the edge of the standing stones.

Stygian Blightweaver Dryad - Level 8 Boss

A Boss, she let out a low breath. Level 8, same level as the Prowler Alpha but no doubt way stronger. Anna licked her lips and took stock. I’m guessing since it’s a dryad it's made out of wood rather than bones. Will the seizing arrow work? It didn’t do much to smart guy so I can’t imagine it would be much help here. Then again it doesn’t have any muscle to act against the poison either.

The dryad shifted in its seat and its head tilted up, a pair of glowing orange eyes meeting hers. It was only then that she noticed it didn’t have a cloud of life force around it. She wasn’t sure what that meant but it did manage to confirm that wraithsight wasn’t perfect. There were some creatures it couldn’t perceive. Her club slid a bit down in her grip and she tightened her hand around the end as the dryad got to its feet.

It was at least six or seven feet tall.

Anna swallowed as sweat trickled down her neck. It didn’t move, but the look in its eyes was enough to make her feel pressured. Which only managed to set off her bloodline anymore. She clenched her teeth and squeezed the handle of her club. It was looking down on her. Waiting for her to approach it rather than moving to defend itself. After all I’ve been through you have the gall to look down on me, she thought, How dare you. This is my forest.

It was as if the Dryad read her mind, raising one of its long arms to crook a gnarled and thin finger in a beckoning gesture.

She rolled her jaw and turned the dial up on her presence, blasting it out towards the creature. It merely shuddered and closed its eyes for a moment before opening them and tilting its chin up even more. Disdain. It’s taunting me. Then how about this? She switched from just broadcasting her presence to trying out Aura Snap. Activating the ability was easy, a flex of concentration and she felt mana enter her body, flooding through before blasting out alongside her presence.

The reaction was everything she could have hoped for.

There was a snap, like a pop of static electricity and her presence faded a little bit from the surroundings. She felt the dial turn back down on its own as the dryad’s head snapped back and it stumbled once. It stood there for a heartbeat, head turned away before slowly turning back. Its expressionless face now had a long crack down one side. Its eyes glowed even brighter and it threw its arms out, an unholy howl rising up from inside of it.

GROOUUUKKAKAKAAAAKKKK!

It charged.

If I can hurt you, I can kill you, Anna snarled. Let’s go! Bring it on!

She ran forward as well as the dryad leaped off the ground, a glimmer of sickening black-orange light weaving its way around its claws. She brought her club up and blocked, planting her palm against the head and catching the initial strike. She felt her arms buckle once beneath the force but managed to hold on, sliding back only a pace before snarling and pushing forward. It hissed in kind, whipping its free hand up to gore her in the side. She deflected it with a short-lived barrier spell that shattered immediately beneath the attack. Even so, it was more than long enough to give her an opening to drive her shoulder forward and push it off balance.

The dryad stumbled back for the second time and she snapped out a kick, pushing it back into the ring of stones. She followed it in, mace already coming down with a power strike as it righted itself and pulled back, skipping backwards towards the bonfire. It raised a hand as she pushed the attack only to stop with her first step, she glanced down at her leg where her right foot had become embedded in the dried out dirt below her.

She looked up.

The flames of the bonfire began to scatter, each taking the form of what looked like bats before filling the air, their flapping wings sending sparks out around them.

Anna frowned, Right, it's a boss. Of course this wouldn’t be easy.