Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6), Dakota Krout [free novels to read TXT] 📗

and determine what all was needed in terms of aspects. The ritual itself would be embedded within metal, the best that he could replicate at his current rank, but for that… “Time to go see McPoundy.”

He stopped himself before he could rush out the door. “No… need to make sure everything works correctly first. I can use this. Step one: make a low-powered mana battery. Step two: convince McPoundy to help me, at least if I can get in contact with him. Make a battery, use it and my position as a Candidate to make him help me, mass produce new, non-damaging power sources for the Legion. Step three? No idea, but step four is profit.”

Joe reached into himself and began pulling mana out and shaping it into the strings that represented the Field Array. The size increased until it covered the entire area he would need for the ritual, settling into place after he strained for a few long minutes. Then his inscription tool was in his hand, a light blue which calmed his nerves. Journeyman aspects weren’t a thing, which was just lovely. That position was used for ‘Special’ aspects, meaning he was able to use Rare aspects for the outer ring… he hoped. He wasn’t entirely certain. It might mean he needed to use Expert aspects, and that would suck. “That’s what tests are for!”

He started drawing out the outermost ring, holding his breath as he completed it with Rare aspects. There was no reaction, which was unsurprising, as he hadn’t applied mana yet. Even so, if it had been done wrong… it might have exploded. Joe had died a lot during his time in this Zone, and he wasn’t eager to replicate the experience. The next ring went faster, the two rings costing a total of sixty-two Rare aspects. “Not terrible… please don’t explode?”

He swapped out his inscription tool, and the next three rings went fast. The moment of truth was upon him. Joe placed a Core in the center of the ritual, another to the side to activate it, and let his mana flow into the rings. “I have a fifty-eight percent bonus to spell stability, and I can easily make Expert ranked circles and below. Gotta believe in myself!”

The circle started up, and Joe relaxed as the familiar feeling of losing all his mana progressed. The ghostly circles lifted and started to swirl around the Core, an Uncommon one that should only take a short while to turn into a battery. The mana drain halted as the ritual became fully powered, actually giving Joe pause. “That was… I shouldn’t have been able to do that so easily.”

He opened his status, checking on his mana level. What he saw made him scream in excitement.

Current Mana: 402/6,347

“Tatum! Tatum’s free!” Joe practically slapped the menu over to his unread notifications. There was a quest complete! It had to be!

Quest complete: Paying a Great Debt. Your rights to casual interactions and bonuses from and with Ocultatum have been restored. Stop breaking things. Consider this a warning. Rewards: Ocultatum has been returned to his proper position in the pantheon. Exp gained: 10.

“Ten… ten experience gained?” Joe stared at the notification uncomprehendingly. “That’s it? I-”

The system would like to remind you that the main reward was the reason for the penalty. King Henry is currently alive on Midgard.

“Oh look, something I will never question again.” Joe nervously turned off the notifications and waited for the ritual to finish. He recalled that he now had a ton of mana to play with, so he let go of his protections and re-activated them. “That puts me at… over ten thousand effective health.”

Health: 1,642/1,642

Exquisite Shell: 8,822/8,822

“I forgot how much I like having absolutely unfair gobs of mana to toss at things.” He sighed happily. Just then, the ritual process completed, and Joe reached out to catch the newly-made mana battery. As he stored it away, motion caught his eye. He turned to stare at CleoCatra, who was perched imperiously on his nightstand; her paw nudged a large chipped mug of cold coffee that had been sitting there for… who knew how long.

“Cat… what are you doing?” Joe watched as the cat slid the cup closer to the edge. “Why are you doing that?”

He knew cats liked to knock things over, but this was an intelligent race. “I haven’t even seen you in days; leave the coffee alone. Oh, abyss. I haven’t seen you in days… I was supposed to feed you.”

The cat hissed at him, slapping the mug to the floor. Joe groaned and stood up to clean the mess as the cat flashed away and out of the room. “Hey! You can’t just-”

Joe’s gaze landed on the spreading coffee, fixating on a singular point just as the liquid coated the outermost ring of the ritual circles. He couldn’t even remember what happened after that, simply blinking blurrily as dust rained down on his blood-soaked face.

Health: 736/1,642

Exquisite Shell: 0/8,822

You are severely concussed! -42 intelligence until effect is healed!

Charisma has reached a new threshold! Current Charisma is: 100.

Skill gained: Message (Novice I). You are now able to talk to anyone on your friend list, anywhere within line of sight! Cost: 1 mana per word. Cooldown: none.

“Stupid. Cat. Stupid system, probably telling me that I look better injured than I do normally.” Joe slapped himself with a Lay on Hands, healing himself up and removing the debuff. He looked to the side, finding himself in a house where a Dwarven couple were frozen in the act of eating their dinner. “Hi there. I’m a… Candidate. Send the bill to the Legion.”

They nodded, and Joe stepped out of the hole he had created… only to fall two stories to the ground. Though he landed on his feet, it hurt. “Maybe I'm still concussed?”

“Is that message skill actually useful? Maybe in a party…? At higher levels, what then?” A thought crossed Joe’s mind. “Wait a moment… the cat told me that she was going to help me