Vigil's Valor: 47 – Preparations

I left Pascow to his work, knowing I would only slow him down.

He was a Sage-Class builder with more experience crafting weapons then I could amass in a lifetime. Besides, he didn’t want my help. When I turned over the machine gun blueprints it was like I’d given a prophetic glimpse of the Sistine Chapel to a young Michelangelo. It was a revelation. A work of art that only a master artist could truly appreciate. He was practically in tears as he reviewed the Essence focusing lens, the intricate springs, the Arcana apparatus, and a thousand other little pieces that fit together like the most elegant puzzle.

When I pressed my remaining Sage-Class Seraphic Scale into his palm so he could finish the build, I thought he was going to die in pure bliss.

While Pascow was locked away in his own Soul Vault, busy turning Mortka forged steel into a magical weapon of mass destruction, I headed into my own Vault to handle business. The clock was ticking and I still needed to re-spec my build and adjust my equipment before it was go time. I took a deep breath as I surveyed my avatar slowly rotating above the placid pool of water below. My two Koi—one silver, one gold—lazily circled each other in a figure eight, completely oblivious to the dangers awaiting me.

I pulled my gaze away from the fish and looked over my character sheet with a hyper-critical eye.

Telent, Amherst, Kol, and Rori had fought with me. They knew what sort of skills I favored, and I had every reason to believe they’d been keeping an eye on me from the moment they’d picked me up at the Twisted Pig in Grimwerp. And not just during my waking hours, either. If my nightmares were any indication, Telent had probably been staking out my mind, via Dream Thief. Mind Vault had firmly put the kibosh on that shit for the time being, which meant they didn’t know what I was planning, but they still knew me.

At least, they thought they did.

That was the thing about the Threads of Fate boon…

I could be anything at any time. My skills were a wildcard. Those evil dickweeds wouldn’t know what kind of abilities I had tucked away in my hand until I laid them down on the table. I needed to lean into that. Needed to keep them off guard and second guessing themselves every step of the way. If my team of misfits and outcasts came through and did their jobs, I also wouldn’t be fighting this battle alone, I reminded myself. I’d have Kerra acting as our tank, Bramin and Berk as melee damage dealers, and Marina and Stefana as spellcasting support.

I had no doubt that Telent and the others were expecting me to come out swinging with my axe, fighting up close while utilizing a varied combination of offensive spells like Electro Arc and Unbound Blaze. And thanks to my exploits being sung by minstrels in every tavern in Wildespell, I was pretty sure they knew at least some of the details of my other battles. These guys were far more powerful than me, so if I wanted to beat them, I’d need to do it with the element of surprise.

I needed to defy their expectations.

With Pascow firmly on board, I knew exactly how I could accomplish that.

I was punching well outside of my weight class, so I couldn’t afford any of my typical utility skills. Things like Fae Tether, Armor Evocation, and Totem Transformation were all out. I even decided to axe Blunt Weapon Mastery, pun intended. As I surveyed my list of current skills and abilities, the only ones I’d be keeping were Sidhe Pact, Combat Sense, Master Mentalist, and Festering Wounds.

That last spell, especially, was going to play a crucial role in the build I had in mind.

I selected those four exceptions, then reclaimed the remainder of my 77 Ward Points. I stoically endured a fresh round of hellish agony by curling up into a ball and openly weeping for several minutes. Once that was done, and the pain had receded to a dull throb, I added the rest of the carefully selected assortment of skills and spells I had in mind.

Instead of Blunt Weapon Mastery, I opted for Ranged Weapon Mastery. It would give me a passive ten percent boost to ranged projectile damage, a five percent bonus to piercing damage, and would additionally reduce the Arcana cost requirements for ranged weapons by ten percent. The single greatest benefit, however, was the “Fire Discipline” passive. If my shot successfully landed on target, Fire Discipline allowed me to instantly recover an additional ten percent of the Arcana I’d spent conjuring the round.

That last benefit would be essential for this new build, the Machine Gunner. I was going to be laying down an insane amount of firepower and it would chew threw my Arcana reserves in seconds if I wasn’t careful.

There were also three other skills from the Ward of Justice that I needed to round out my shiny new build. First was Crippling Strike, which had a chance to slow targeted enemies and prevent spell casting for a short while. For fifteen points, I also added in Guided Shot—an active ability that allowed me to set a “Death Mark” on a given target and send every round toward that target like a homing missile. That, paired with Festering Wounds and Crippling Strike, was the perfect recipe for a really shitty day for some unlucky son of a bitch.

The last, and most expensive skill I needed from the Ward of Justice was the keystone ability, Automated Sentinel.

Automated Sentinel

Some say the greatest weapon is the one you need only fire once. Better is the one you don’t need to fire at all… because it fires for you. Use a burst of Arcana to deploy any ranged, Soul Bound weapon as an Automated Sentinel that will target identified enemies on the field and fire on your behalf.

When summoned, the Automated Sentinel is deployed to a fixed location but can pivot and fire in a 360° field. It can be recalled and deployed at any distance within line of sight. The deployed weapon will act without direct instruction, naturally fixing on enemies within its effective range, but it can also be given rudimentary directions through a direct mental link with the Vigil.

When firing projectiles, the Sentinel will draw power directly from the Vigil’s Arcana Pool and will automatically stop firing when it no longer has an active energy supply. The Sentinel comes equipped with a rudimentary Arcana Shield, protecting it from direct damage; once the shield is depleted, the conjured weapon will disappear, return to the Vigil, and can be redeployed after a ten-minute cooldown.

Recommended Attribute Minimums: Finesse, 22; Verve, 20; Arcana, 28

Recommended Skill Selections: Weapon Mastery: Range

I’d wanted this ability for ages, but the Recommended Attributes had been too steep at the time. But not anymore. I’d need to beef up my Finesse and Arcana, but thankfully I had all the Attribute Points I’d been saving up after each ascension.

The last two skills I wanted in my arsenal both came from the Ward of Wrath. Life Siphon was an innocuous, low-level spell that only cost four points to unlock but packed a lot of punch under the right conditions. It passively leeched away a small portion of Essence with every hit and funneled it into a friendly target, temporarily increasing their Arcana and Health Regeneration Rate. I could use it on myself or on any of my teammates within line of sight.

That left me with twenty-eight points left, exactly enough to unlock my last spell, which came from the Path of Death.

Soul Storm

The soul is the true measure of a man or monster, which is what makes it such a truly horrific weapon. Temporarily harness the Essence of Mortka Remnants, forcing their untethered souls into an Etheric Whirlwind that scours the souls of enemies, while simultaneously refreshing the souls of allies within the area of effect. The more Mortka Remnants present, the stronger the Soul Storm and the longer its duration will be. Soul Storm deals Necrotic Damage, ignores armored defenses, and deals additional damage to enemies afflicted by disease, plague, or necrotic rot.

Recommended Attribute Minimums: Insight 20; Arcana, 30

Recommended Skill Selections: Life Siphon; Soul Jar, Ritual Reanimate

Best I could figure, Soul Storm was a keystone spell designed for Necromancer-style class that relied on reanimating the dead and capturing the souls of departing Mortka to later reuse as summoned minions. Soul Storm was extremely powerful and required a tremendous amount of Arcana to cast, but it also required an external component to be effective. The Vigil needed minions, which is why Soul Jar and Ritual Reanimate were recommended skills. I had neither.

But that was okay, I had something even better. The Nexus Simulator. With that at my disposal, I could use Soul Storm to give Telent and his buddies the surprise of their lives.

Hopefully, the last surprise of their lives.

Abilities and Spells selected, I spent the next few minutes divvying up my available Attribute Points. I’d accumulated just enough Essence over the past few days to bump Finesse up to 21 without having to dip into my free points. I was still one point short in Finesse to meet the Recommended Requirements for Automated Sentinel, but my cobalt Basilisk Brigandine Armor came with a passive called Harpy’s Grace that boosted Finesse and gave me a six percent bonus to Guided Shot.

I had five undistributed Attribute Points to burn and as much as it pained me to see them go, I dumped one into Brawn, pushing it up to 27, and the last four into Arcana, propelling it all the way to 30. The second that I did, I earned a new notice.

Arcana Suprema

Through a combination of intense training and unflinching discipline, you have raised your Arcana Characteristic Stat to 30, surpassing a Major Cornerstone Threshold. Your Meridian channels have expanded, allowing you to cast spells more efficiently and recover from Arcana loss more quickly. +1% Arcana Efficiency and +2% Arcana Regeneration for each additional Characteristic point added until crossing the next Cornerstone Threshold.

I grunted as I read over the description. That sure was a nice little perk that no one had thought to mention. I wondered if the other attributes had a similar bonus for crossing the line into thirty. I also couldn’t help but wonder what happen if you hit forty. If I survived the next couple of hours, it was possible I’d rack up enough Essence to find out.

<<<>>>

Boyd Knight

Race: Vigil Bound

Level: Adept, Silver Rank

Current Essence: 435

Next Ascended Rank: 50,000

Attribute Points: 0

Ward Points: 0

Characteristics

Brawn: 27

Verve: 22

Finesse: 21

Arcana: 30

Insight: 20

Vigil Wards

Ward of Justice: Soul Bound Weapons (Boon)†, Weapon Mastery: Ranged, Guided Shot, Automated Sentinel, Crippling Strike, Festering Wounds

Ward of Valor:Diamond Body (Boon), Combat Sense

Ward of Wrath:Arcane Insight (Boon), Life Siphon, Soul Storm

Ward of Balance:Language of the Heavens (Boon), Sidhe Pact

Ward of Truth:Threads of Fate (Boon), Master Mentalist

Expand Ward List

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As I looked over my character sheet, I had to admit that my Ward List looked a little on the thin side.

No Unbound Blaze. No Rend. No Electro Arc or Matchless Endurance. None of the skills I typically relied on. That was exactly the point, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me a little nervous. Wading into a deadly battle with a bunch of skills I’d never used before was both dangerous and stupid. On the other hand, I knew I wouldn’t be able to win this fight by playing it safe. This was an all or nothing situation. Either my build would work, and justice would be served, or I’d find myself dead. Again.

Only time would tell whether I’d made the right call or not.

I dismissed the screen with a flick of my wrist, turned on a heel, and beelined for my statuary room. I had my skills selected, but now it was time to pick my equipment. Without Armor Evocation to fall back on, I wouldn’t be able to swap out gearsets all willy-nilly like, which meant I needed to be extra thoughtful about which items I’d be taking with me. My mind was already swirling with all the possibilities…