Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2 Read online

  Combat Skills: (Available: 10)

  --Spear: 9 [56%]

  --Shield: 7 [40%]

  --Medium Armor: 7 [45%]

  --Endurance: 5 [53%]

  --Precision Strike: 4 [10%]

  General Skills: (Available: 12)

  --Armorer: 8 [28%]

  --Cooking: 4 [98%]

  --Discerning Eye: 4 [54%]

  --First Aid: 5 [90%]

  --Literacy (Saa):1 [84%]

  --Lore (Saa Religion): 10 [37%]

  --Survival (Desert): 1 [76%]

  --Weaponsmith: 1 [13%]

  --Lore (Necromancy): 3 [15%]

  --Riding: 1 [92%]

  Divine (Available: 4)

  Skills

  --Combat Caster: 8 [15%]

  --Spectral Legion: 2 [N/A]

  --Exorcism: 1 [0%]

  --Spellcrafting: 1 [15%]

  --Aura of the Underworld: 1 [41%]

  Spells

  --Soothing Touch: 3 [42%]

  --Sunstrike: 2 [10%]

  --Jackal’s Tooth: 2 [0%]

  --Beacon of Life: 1 [0%]

  --Purifying Touch: 1 [12%]

  --Flamestrike: 1 [54%]

  --Sever Bonds: 1 [0%]

  --Summon Legionnaire: 1 [0%]

  --Cure Wounds: 9 [17%]

  --Sehkmet's Cleansing: 3 [20%]

  --Purification: 1 [0%]

  --Call the Dead: 1 [0%]

  The first thing on my list was combat skills. I had ten points to work with and while I always wanted to have a few points available to learn new things when they became available, even I had to admit that five levels worth of skill points was a bit much.

  Shit had hit the fan and I needed to be at the top of my game. My desire to avoid the political shenanigans that went along with my race and class combination had caused me to miss out on the ability to train my skills up without using my points, so I was already behind the curve.

  I was still a bit pissed that there was no warning about that in character creation. A nice “Warning, the NPC organization associated with this race and class are grade-A dickbags” would have been nice.

  I sighed and started working on correcting my deficiencies. Watching the progress bars disappear was going to be painful, so I closed my eyes, kissed the fifty-six percent goodbye, and added two points to my spear skill.

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Spear skill to 10! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 10 in the Spear skill. Normal attacks will now ignore a portion of the enemy’s armor. Critical hit damage increased. ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Spear skill to 11! ***

  Next, I added three points to both Shield and Medium Armor, bringing them to ten as well to capitalize on the extra bonuses.

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Shield skill to 8! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Shield skill to 9! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Shield skill to 10! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 10 in the Shield skill. Blocks will now absorb a more damage and the chance of successful blocks to trigger an increased critical chance is now increased. ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Medium Armor skill to 8! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Medium Armor skill to 9! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Medium Armor skill to 10! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 10 in the Medium Armor skill. Medium armor now counts as light armor for any skill checks and will provide additional protection. ***

  I paused for a minute to let the new knowledge flow into my brain, catching myself on my spear as a wave of vertigo passed over me while the new muscle memories settled in.

  Two points left, I thought. What to do, what to do. My inner hoarder wanted to hold on to them, but I had no valid reason. So, before I could second guess myself, I put them both into Precision Strike.

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Precision Strike skill to 5! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 5 in the Precision Strike skill. Targeting time reduced. If this skill results in a critical hit, subsequent attacks to the same creature have an increased critical chance for the next 10 seconds. ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Precision Strike skill to 6! ***

  The new ability upgrades were nice, especially for Precision Strike. If I could get a good chain of abilities going, I could really do a number on my opponents. An increased crit chance after a block combined with the base critical chance from Precision Strike was bound to trigger my Combat Casting ability and get a free spell in addition to the bonus damage my spear could cause, and a good chance to cause a bleeding wound as well.

  That done, it was time to review my general skills. In my mind, the only ones worth increasing were First Aid and Discerning Eye. First Aid had a direct link to the strength of my healing magic and let me direct the healing energy to repair specific things.

  Discerning Eye boosted my perception and I suspected it might have an impact on Precision Strike as well.

  With those things in mind, I dumped eleven of my twelve general skill points into them to bring them both to rank ten and activate whatever boons that rank conveyed.

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your First Aid skill to 6! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your First Aid skill to 7! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your First Aid skill to 8! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your First Aid skill to 9! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your First Aid skill to 10! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 10 in the First Aid skill. With the proper application of a healer’s kit, you may now cure common poisons, diseases, and set broken bones. Additionally, the extra mana and stamina cost when using this skill in conjunction with healing magics is now reduced by 10%. ***

  The influx of knowledge was much more impactful this time, and when the disorientation passed, I found myself on my knees with my head resting against the cool edge of my shield.

  Knowing I still had more skills to learn, I decided to stay on the ground, rolling back to a full sitting position as I read the new rank ten boon.

  The first half wasn’t quite as useful for me, as I had magic to heal, but another ten percent reduction to mana cost when using the guided version of my healing on top of the five percent reduction at level five would really help to make that application efficient enough to use more often.

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Discerning Eye skill to 5! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 5 in the Discerning Eye skill. This skill now includes an active component, “Analyze,” which can obtain additional information on the target. ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Discerning Eye skill to 6! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Discerning Eye skill to 7! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Discerning Eye skill to 8! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Discerning Eye skill to 9! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Discerning Eye skill to 10! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 10 in the Discerning Eye skill. “Analyze” now has an increased chance to reveal weaknesses. Additionally, this skill may reveal weak points upon the enemy which have an increased chance to generate critical hits if struck. ***

  Sitting had been a wise choice. Instead of an ice pick stabbing into my brain, this time it was two ice picks. One for each eye.

  I swayed in place, leaning again on my shield and covering my eyes as they adjusted to whatever changes pumping the skill up so quickly entailed. Rubbing my eyes to clear away the dancing lights, I read through the new boons and got goosebumps for a new reason. More critical hits. I love me some critical hits.

  I had one point
remaining but decided to hold on to it as there was really nothing else that really called to me. Plus, with hundreds of general skills out there that might be useful, I couldn’t stomach the thought of encountering something I needed to learn and being unable to do so.

  I only had four divine skill points since I’d been using those in clutch situations, but at least I knew that learning new spells didn’t require any point expenditure.

  I could use them to level up spells or skills though, and Cure Wounds was quickly becoming my bread and butter healing spell. And it was just one rank away from that sweet level ten boon.

  Combat Caster was close to that sweet spot too, and I couldn’t wait to see whatever boon it might grant.

  I spent three of my four points to bring them both to rank ten as I chanted, “No whammy, no whammy, no whammy…”

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Cure Wounds spell to 10! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 10 in the Cure Wounds spell. Spell range increased. Healing effects increased by 5%. A critical heal will now have a chance to generate an area of effect healing on all allies within five feet of the target. ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Combat Casting skill to 9! ***

  *** You spend 1 skill point and raise your Combat Casting skill to 10! ***

  ***Congratulations! You have reached rank 10 in the Combat Casting skill. Successfully blocking or parrying an incoming attack now has a small chance of triggering a free, instant cast non-area of effect spell. ***

  “Yeah!” I said after a very brief wave of vertigo. “Definitely no whammy!”

  The range and efficacy increases on the healing spell were nice, but the addition to Combat Caster really took the cake. The rank five boon for Combat Caster granted a chance to trigger a free spell when I scored a critical hit. Now it could be triggered from a block or parry too. I was definitely surfing that RNG curve.

  My skill set was quickly turning into something that had a ton of potential if I could get the crit train rolling. Eat your hearts out, rogues!

  I was still grinning at my updated skills when the icon for my respawn timer disappeared, giving me the green light to get back to the land of the living.

  I closed my character sheet, squared my shoulders, and hopped into the Gates of Death.

  …

  2

  *** Your spawn point has been set to Camp Anu’vek ***

  *** Respawning in 3… 2… 1… ***

  The first thing I felt as I rejoined the living was my boot sinking up to my calf in thick, wet mud. Everything was wet, and I thought for sure that the game had plopped me down in the Quetzl lands.

  All around me were ramshackle shelters seemingly built out of whatever someone could get their hands on. Piles of broken wood were stacked to form makeshift walls over which torn canvas and other assorted cloth was draped to shield the people huddled underneath from the fading sunlight overhead.

  Within the structures were several small groups of ragged looking people finishing small bowls of a gruel-like substance. Most of them were Saa, although there was an occasional generic human. From what I could tell from the info being fed to me from the system, almost all of them were on the brink of passing out from lack of endurance.

  I opened up my map and zoomed out, sighing in relief as my mark on the map appeared just to the south and west of Sehkem. I started to zoom back in when something collided with my back, sending me stumbling forward a few steps into one of the makeshift structures, almost causing it to collapse.

  The refugees inside just glanced up at me weakly before closing their eyes and settling back down with a weary groan. As I turned, a voice called out from behind me, “What do you think you’re doing just standing around when there’s work to do? I’ll have you whipped for…”

  The voice cut off with a choking sound as his eyes locked onto the black stole hanging from my shoulders.

  A muscular Saa stood there, mouth agape while his eyes darted back and forth in panic. The muscular man was flanked by a pair of mercenary looking Saa who were even now trying to pretend they had nothing to do with the man. All three wore a simple blue sash over their mismatched armor, likely some sign of office or mercenary company.

  The three men seemed to be in a lot better shape than any of the other people in the area, and the whips hanging from their belts offered a good explanation as to why.

  “I am sorry, my lord. Please have mercy,” the mercenary said as he fell to his knees and bowed his head.

  “Oh, just get up and go help out with whatever work you were trying to get me to do,” I said, leaving the man behind in the dirt as I headed away from the ramshackle encampment and the mud.

  “Thank you, my lord. Of course, my lord,” he whispered as he regained his feet and rushed off in the opposite direction. The other two mercenaries grinned at their comrade’s misfortune and moved to stand at the edge of the small clearing.

  I thought I saw some small smiles creep onto the faces of some of the exhausted refugees as well at the exchange, but when I turned my attention their way I was met with only weary resignation.

  With a small chime, a message from Kjara popped into my display.

  >>>Kjara: Kheph!? Finally! I’ve been trying to message you for ages! Where are you?

  >>>Me: I just spawned at a place called Camp Anu’vek. So far, I’m not impressed. You?

  >>>Kjara: I’m at Anu’vek too. Come get me out of here!

  >>>Me: What? Out of where?

  >>>Kjara: They locked me in a cage! In. A. Cage. Pretty much every non-human that showed up or spawned here got waylaid and locked up. They took my weapons too. Your people are definitely assholes.

  >>>Me: Damn it! I’ll be right there.

  Grumbling under my breath, I used my minimap to guide me towards Kjara’s location. Most of the camp was in the same condition as where I had first appeared, although a bit dryer. Makeshift tents, rough living people.

  The devs must have done some sort of time warp mojo because it had been at most an hour or two since the tsunami hit. When did they have time to create a refugee camp, let alone get to the point where the refugees looked like they hadn’t had a decent bite to eat in weeks?

  Chalking the entire thing up under the banner of “suspension of disbelief,” I continued on. A few minutes later I had to stop and stare as I came to a wall of thick cloth stretched between posts at the base of a small hillock.

  There was a single path through the cloth wall, with guards stationed to either side of the opening. The sentries lazily scanned the tents and people, seemingly bored with their current lot.

  Putting on my best impression of resting bitch face, I continued on a path that would take me past them and onwards towards my incarcerated friend. The guards inspected me as I approached and, upon seeing my stole and asshole expression, stepped back and allowed me to pass without issue.

  Within the cloth walls was a completely different world. The ground was dry, and the area was full of fancy looking tents, all bearing the banners of the noble houses of Sehkem. Almost every tent had its own pair of guards; although what they were guarding against I had no clue.

  I glanced into several tents and saw those within lounging on plush furniture and eating from tables overflowing with rich food, their wine cups being continuously filled by hordes of servants who moved around the area tending to their every need. More than once I spotted a white stole decorating the shoulders of someone partaking of a noble’s largesse.

  I did my best to avoid them all as I moved past, keeping my telltale golden eyes from the gaze of the other priests so as not to start any additional trouble.

  Of course, the nobles and priests were living it up while the rest of the camp was getting by on scraps. Barely keeping my temper in check, I finished my trek across Camp Inequality and exited on the northern end.

  It was pretty much the same as the rest of the outer camp. People erecting whatever shelter they could with the materials
at hand and scavenging for any food they could get their hands on, but at least it was dry.

  At the northern edge of the camp, I found a large wooden cage, crowded with at least a hundred people, all of non-Saa heritage. There was even a small group of Karillians huddled against one of the cage walls, keeping their distance from the other races.

  >>>Me: I’m here.

  A minute later, a visibly shaken Kjara pushed her way through the crowd and approached the gate. She gave me a weak smile and gestured towards the guards.

  One of the guards, a tall muscular Saa wearing a full set of bronze plated armor saluted me as I approached. “Greetings Adept. How can I assist you today?”

  I pointed past the guard at Kjara and answered the guard, “I would like you to release her.”

  He seemed confused for a second. “The moon elf?” he asked, “She’s not yet been cleared. We need to make sure that she is not in league with the invaders before she can be freed. The hearings are set to begin tomorrow morning.”

  “I can assure you she is not working with the enemy. She fought bravely against them on the walls of Sehkem. Now release her,” I responded impatiently, gesturing towards the door.

  “Of course, Adept. Your word is enough for me,” the guard responded and gestured to the guard stationed near the gate.

  He took out a large iron key and removed the lock from the gate.

  Before it was completely open Kjara rushed past and wrapped her arms around me in a warm hug. The guards seemed uncomfortable at the display of interspecies affection, but did their best to avoid showing any reaction that might attract more of my attention.

  Once the gate was secured again, I turned to the first guard and said, “Her weapons?”