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Imperious 010 - Starting Kit

Added 2025-03-18 12:00:03 +0000 UTC

The window closed after the confirmation and she felt something swell up inside of her. It was invigorating, soothing, and exhilarating all at the same time. She breathed with it as she felt her body change slightly. It wasn’t painful and she wondered a little if the soothing feeling was intended to distract her from what was really happening. She didn’t mind it, though, she was already sick of hurting all the time. When it ended she had more windows to look at.

Warmage
A hybrid magic and melee class. Warmages lack the output of specialists but gain versatility. They also learn skills and abilities that allow them to take control of battles.
Attributes Per Level: +2 Str, +2 Int, +1 Vit, +1 Wil, +4 Free Points
Starting Proficiencies: Circle Magic (Common-Base) or Weapon Proficiency (Common-Base)
Starting Spells: Basic Spell (Common-Base) chosen based on highest Circle Magic Proficiency
Starting Abilities: Combat Ability (Common-Base) chosen based on highest Weapon Proficiency, Warcaster (Common-Base)
Starting Items: One uncommon-grade weapon upgrade token.

She shifted to the side just as the token popped out of the air above her and caught it rather than let it fall. She ran her thumb over it.

Uncommon Weapon Upgrade Token (Uncommon-Grade)
Crushing this token over a weapon will forcibly upgrade it to an uncommon rarity.

Nice, she thought and set it aside. She’d use it on her crowbar after she finished going over everything else. Looks like I get extra free points for having a class, I need to go through those too. She moved through the list and nodded to herself. So I gotta choose a magic proficiency or a weapon proficiency. That’s an easy choice, of course I’m going to pick magic. She kept reading, I get a spell, a combat ability, and something called Warcaster. Fair enough, that's a good starting kit.

She dismissed the window and the next followed immediately afterwards.

Please Select One: Circle Magic Proficiency or Weapon Proficiency

“No idea what ‘circle magic’ is but I choose that,” she said aloud and the window vanished.

Please choose a Circle Magic Proficiency

Alright, magic! Here we go-

“Woah,” Anna breathed.

The following magical categories are available:

First Circle Magic: Arcane Magic
This category of magic is governed by logic and the application of formulae and script in order to produce a magical effect by manipulating the fabric of reality within its conventional rules.

Second Circle Magic: Divine Magic
This category of magic is governed by the intercession of divine beings, deities provide the inspiration and assist in the processing of mana in order to produce a magical effect.

Third Circle Magic: Natural Magic
This category of magic is governed by the interaction with natural forces, elementals, naturally occuring spiritual beings, and ritualism to aid in the casting of spells.

Fourth Circle Magic: Outsider Magic
This category of magic is governed by the interaction with extra dimensional entities and external forces, either by forming a pact with another being or forcibly channeling mana through them in order to cast spells.

Fifth Circle Magic: Innate Magic [Locked]
This category of magic is governed by gifts innately possessed by the individual, either through a bloodline or racial ability and varies widely.

As you do not possess the innate racial traits required, Fifth Circle Magic: Innate Magic is locked.

Five circles of magic, each of them seemed to be an overarching category. One of them was locked for her for obvious reasons. There were races out there with innate magic powers that they were just born with. Seemed a little unfair but she wasn’t going to get hung up about it.

As for the other four categories. Arcane magic seemed like the kind wizards used and was the most interesting for her, though the word ‘formulae’ gave her a bit of pause. While she wasn’t bad at math by any stretch of the imagination, she just kind of hated it. Her mom had hammered it into her for, well, forever. That made her almost immediately shy away from Arcane magic. She dismissed Divine magic for a variety of reasons, not limited to the fact that if she wanted it she would have picked Cleric.

Natural magic seemed interesting, ‘natural forces’ could mean a lot of things. Fire powers? Cool. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to pray or give offerings to some kind of spirit though. That seemed like Divine Magic with extra steps.

Outsider Magic, though, that was interesting as well. It carefully avoided what kind of entities it was talking about but she had a pretty good idea. Demons and stuff. She rubbed her neck, she wasn’t sure if she was willing to go around summoning demons. What if she had to make a pact with one? Would that make her subservient to it? The very thought made that strange heat in her blood intensify again and she frowned. Yeah, no, not an option. Not unless there was a guarantee that she wouldn’t have to obey some otherworldly being.

She frowned, she hadn’t known what she was expecting but to be quite honest, this wasn’t it. She glanced up at Arcane Magic again and let out a sigh. At least mom prepared me for this, she said and made her selection.

New Proficiency Acquired!

Arcane Magic (Mortal-Common-Base)

You are proficient in the use of arcane magic, working within the fabric of reality you use the fundamental language of the multiverse to convert mana into a wide array of effects. Arcane magic belongs to the First Circle of magic.

You have selected Arcane Magic. Generating starting spells list.

The window appeared and she immediately frowned. She should have expected this, she really should have. There was no reason not to expect this. It was the very first spell she had to pick, baseline, the beginning, her initial options. Of course it would be simple and fairly straightforward. She understood that. She got it, she really did. But…

“What the hell?” She grumbled at the list.

Please choose your first Spell.

Mana Barrier (Mortal-Common-Base)
You create an inefficient barrier of mana to protect yourself for a brief period. Mana consumption cost is based on Will, Durability of the barrier is based on Intellect.

Mana Bolt (Mortal-Common-Base)
You create a small and inefficient mass of combustible mana that can be fired at a target. Mana consumption cost is based on Will, Damage caused is based on Intellect.

Pathetic Illusion (Mortal-Common-Base)
You create a small, singular, stationary, and soundless visual illusion that lasts for a brief period. Mana consumption cost is based on Will, Quality of the illusion is based on Intellect.

Create Bludgeon (Mortal-Common-Base)
You create a simple bludgeoning implement that lasts for a brief period of time. Mana consumption cost is based on Will, Durability and strength of the weapon is based on Intellect.

Repair Object (Mortal-Common-Base)
You repair a non-magical mundane object back to its original condition. Mana consumption cost is based on Will, Speed and quality of the repair is based on Intellect.

Heal Minor Wound (Mortal-Common-Base)
You use magic to heal a small amount of tissue at a rapid pace. Doing so incurs a small amount of mana taint on the target. Mana consumption cost is based on Will, Speed and effectiveness of healing is based on Intellect.

This was a little underwhelming. She had to admit that any of the spells would be nice to have, for sure, but she was hoping for something a little more exciting than quite literally being able to conjure up a temporary magic stick. She also noted that the spells with the word ‘mana’ in their name were considered inefficient based on their flavor text. She decided to just go down the list and make her considerations.

Mana Barrier sounded like it would increase her survivability by some degree by preventing attacks from hitting her, but she didn’t like the word ‘inefficient’ being in there. Mana Bolt had the similar issue but the idea of firing off blasts of raw magic power was pretty cool. Pathetic Illusion was a straight up no, it made it very clear just how limited the illusion would be and while she was sure she could come up with some uses for it, it seemed like the wrong choice for going solo.

Create Bludgeon was frankly embarrassing and it felt like it had almost been tailored to the fact that she had chosen her specific weapon proficiency. Magically create a stick? While creating something out of nothing was arguably a whole can of worms on its own, it wasn’t worth it if she could only choose one. Repair object was in the same category, she just couldn’t think of a time when she would need to use it that wasn’t extremely situational.

Heal Minor Wound gave her pause, she didn’t mind taking on a little extra mana taint but the description seemed to imply that even if she cast it, the amount of healing done wouldn’t be great. Her choices boiled down to recovering from a wound or preventing that wound all together. She sighed, “Damn it,” She grumbled and scratched her head. “Fine!” She sighed and picked Mana Barrier. It was the best option for staying alive in the long term.

A sudden flood of information rushed into her head and she felt her brain itch and tingle. It was weird, she didn’t exactly understand how the spell worked or what went into it but she knew that if she concentrated on casting it, everything would fall into place. Guidance System or something? The window vanished but she still felt more buzzing at the back of her head. More notifications to go through.

Titles Unlocked!

Youth of the Integration (Mortal-Common)
You are a member of the generation of Humans not quite old enough to enter the true tutorial after the integration of Earth began.
Effect: +1 Attribute Point Per Level.

Precursor of Earth (Mortal-Common)
You are a part of the first generation of Humans after the integration.
Effect: +1 Attribute Point Per Level.

Inheritor of the Integration (Mortal-Epic)
You are the first individual of your integration to awaken or otherwise acquire a heritage. Your blood is infused with a power beyond that of mere magic. Heritage related skills, abilities, and spells are slightly more effective.
Effect: +5 to your heritage’s primary stat per level.

Titles, passive effects for doing a thing. She liked that. The first two were pretty self explanatory as to why she had them. The integration had started before she turned eighteen but she’d technically become an adult between the time everything began and her character creation. So she’d managed to get both titles. She wasn’t sure if that was a unique situation or not but she didn’t complain, that extra point was helpful she was sure.

The third title gave her pause. The system was rewarding her for being born, basically. It was a huge reward too she was guessing based on the rarity of the title. Epic. Plus five per level to her Presence! What a windfall! Sure she didn’t know what all Presence did but it was still great. It also improved her heritage bloodline, which she also needed to figure out. She grinned ear to ear as she finally moved on to her last few prompts.

You have acquired new Abilities:

Power Strike (Mortal-Common-Base)
You may now expend extra stamina and a small amount of mana to deliver devastating strikes against a target, dealing enhanced damage.

Warcaster (Mortal-Common-Base) [Locked]
Spells and abilities used in combat have a slightly reduced mana cost.

Another flood of information passed into her brain before she had a chance to properly react. Comprehension of how to deliver more intense blows with her weapons seeping into her mind and left her momentarily stunned. She shook it off and frowned at the part of the prompt listing Warcaster. Why is it-

Class Quest Alert!

Warcaster

Cast 100 spells in combat. (0/100)

Reward: Warcaster Unlocked, Next Class Skill Quest

“Ah.”

It wasn’t great news but it also meant that she had to practice in order to earn her ability. That wasn’t a bad thing all told and it wasn’t like she didn’t already have a slight mana reduction in the form of her Mana Touched trait. Speaking of practicing, I should probably work on my weapon proficiency and learn how to actually use it if I want to live through this madhouse of a dungeon, she thought and got to her feet, brushing herself off. She felt invigorated and refreshed in more ways than one. I need to distribute my attribute points too. I’ll start there.

Resources:
HP: 35/35 | SP: 30/30 | MT: 0/55

Hm… All my resources went up a little but not by a whole leap. I probably don’t get additional resources each level, it’s entirely based on my attributes, she mused, Seems like pretty simple math which works for me. I’m not exactly sure what each attribute does, Intellect is…

[ACCESS DENIED]

Tch, figures, she grumbled and rubbed her chin. Warcaster gives me Strength and Intellect as the main attributes it bumps. It also bumps my Vitality and Willpower a little. I need to be able to take hits and dish them out the most right now so I should probably just stick to Strength and Vitality, she reasoned, I’ll put five into each of those and put my free point into… she hesitated and glanced at her Presence attribute. It was her highest attributeand had something to do with her bloodline she was certain. One into Presence, why not?

Confirm Attribute Point Distribution? Yes/No

“Yeah, I’m done,” she said and felt another rush through her body like the one that had come after her class selection. She swayed a little, her grin getting wider, “Woah, that could get addictive, I wonder if that’s the point.”

Finally satisfied, she opened her sheet and looked over her new and improved self.

Name: Anastasia Flitt
Race: Human - Terran
Class: Warmage - 1 (77/700) 10.3%
Profession: None
Tier: Mortal - First
Heritage: Born in the Gray (Unknown)

Resources:
HP: 60/60 | SP: 30/30 | MT: 0/60

Titles:
Inheritor of the Integration (Mortal-Epic), Youth of the Integration (Mortal-Common), Precursor of Earth (Mortal-Common)

Racial Traits:
Mana Touched (Mortal-Rare), 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), Identify (Mortal-Common-Base), Power Strike (Mortal-Common-Base)

It was immensely satisfying. Hell, I already have made some progress to the next level. She had twice the health she’d started with and some of her attributes had doubled. She wasn’t sure what that meant in the grand scheme of things, whether or not it literally scaled or if it was more of a gradual increase. It didn’t matter. She felt stronger. She glanced towards the door to the forest. “I think it’s almost time for a little payback,” she said thoughtfully before reaching for her crowbar, “Just need to- huh?”

She spun around, “Where’s my crowbar? I had it with me when I…” she trailed off and turned to look at the door to the maze, “Shit.”