[36]

According to pre-godswar history, the core of our bodies used to contain an ever-developing metaphysical organ called a Dantian. The Gods sealed our souls from direct interaction with it when they rewrote reality, but it continued as a vestigial estuary for consuming our essence.

As instructed, I held the first essence stone to my center, just below my heart, and breathed in until my lungs felt like bursting. Green wispy strands escaped from the stone, flowing into my chest with a warm tingly feeling.

I could tell right away that I had not consumed the entire stone, as it barely dimmed from my efforts. Four tries later, I finally got the hang of it, and absorbed the entire stone. Concentration was paramount to doing it correctly. Having to not focus on what steps were next freed up my awareness, allowing the absorption to happen organically.

The second stone took only two tries, and I absorbed the last five with only a single breath each.

Power flowed through me, spreading the warmth tingles from my center throughout the entirety of my being. A shudder of pleasure rolled through me, then two notifications that I had ranked up tugged at my mind, ending the ecstasy.

Ugz, lying next to me, caught residual gratification from our bond and stretched out shamelessly like a cat.

For the fourth rank, I placed one of my attribute points in Constitution, and the other in Presence. Every single point in Constitution had been worth it and more, allowing me to work harder to bring up my other two physical attributes. Presence was something that I desperately needed at the moment; I was tired of feeling like a walking emotional tornado.

Rank four bonuses were unexpected. I got the spell Identify Disease and access to a new Hex. Why Vascora granted me that spell was not obvious, however, I appreciated it nonetheless. Being able to diagnose diseases was so useful a spell that I could make a living with it alone. Combined with my budding skills in alchemy and herbalism, I could eventually make a formidable healer.

My Hexes were less surprising, but obviously more difficult to choose.

Spoil Vegetation (Rank 1): Cause plants to wither in a five by five-foot square. Usable once a minute.

Alluring Eye (Rank 1): Charm a person to want to tell you, their secrets. Usable once per 12 hours. Lasts for one minute per Hex rank.

Tongues (Rank 1): Curse that causes a person to spout nonsense for fifteen seconds. Usable once an hour.

I seriously considered taking the hex Alluring Eye, reasoning that it might be useful to help me hunt down the demon cultist. However, after thinking about it, I realized that the power would just be too impractical unless I already had a suspect in mind. Which I did not. If a dedicated [Truthseeker] had no lead, then this power was not likely to help where he failed. Besides, it was not as if Reynold or Sibilla would suddenly want to have a conversation with me.

Spoil Vegetation had been on my mind ever since it was first offered. I knew it would have practical usefulness against plant monsters in the Ruinlands. Yet, it did not offer the advantage that Tongues would base on versatility. With Tongues, I could publicly embarrass someone, or interrupt an enemy spell caster or a commander shouting orders. And, unlike spells, I could use it with only a glance. Tongues was simply too useful to pass up.

Once I locked in my choices for Rank four, it gave me access to my bonuses for Rank five. Rank five was a different animal than all my previous rankings. They considered ranks that were multiples of five for ascended our “specialization” ranks. Whereas all the previous ranks were about allowing me to choose who I wanted to be, Rank five was about making me focus on the type of Hexcaller I wanted to be.

First, I received an immediate bonus of 5 to my Perception attribute. Unbeknownst to me, that attribute was vital to being a Hexcaller. Though, after the fact, it made a certain sense, given that most of my spells were about detecting things, and it based my primary ability on my eyes. Noticing things would assuredly help all three of my class skills as well. Herbalism was as much about finding plants as it was understanding them, Alchemy about taking accurate measurements, and Enchanting could be disastrous if you did not use the components properly.

Ranking up provided a new type of spell that I had not encountered before, called a Charm. Unlike the other magic that I had access to, a charm was a semi-permanent spell I could cast on one thing at a time. In this case, the charm spell, named “Hidden Weapon” would convert a weapon of my choice into a wearable decorative item, like a ring, necklace, or bracelet, so that I would no longer have to carry it in the open. Coming from a single physical fitness class with a poleaxe in tow, this spell had to be my favorite class related advantage yet. I could not wait to use it!

Next, the soul ledger offered me an upgrade to one of my three existing abilities!

Fate Shielded → Curse Breaker: You can also break any curse, no matter how strong, once a month.

Evil Eye → Eyes O’ Plenty: Gain a new hex from a previous choice.

Summon Familiar → Never Alone: Extend the range of your connection to your familiar, and summon them to your side, from anywhere, once a day.

It was a tough choice. Curse breaker could theoretic—

“—ow! What the shit was that for!” I yelled at my familiar, whose sharp teeth clamped around my big toe. Ugz refused to let go, hanging on while I uselessly flailed my foot in the air from my back.

“Fine! I’ll consider taking the familiar one!” I screamed, realizing what the bastard wanted. “I was probably going to take it anyway, you cur! How do you even know what choices I have?”

Ugz released me, but continued glaring with his mouth open, flicking his tail back and forth in anticipation. An explicit threat if there ever was one.

Emotionally, I wanted to do what was right by my familiar, but I took a second to think things over first.

Curse Breaker was way too limited in scope to consider seriously. Curse spells were of a rare variety of magic that specifically targeted the fate of the intended recipient. I knew this because of my Enchantment Curses skill, which gave me a basic understanding of how the magic affected fate. For instance, my Haunt hex tormented my victim with small glimpses of their own past and future as minor auditory and visual hallucinations.

Creatures that cursed were very rare, and the most common way to get cursed was to pick up an item that had been cursed or enter a restricted area deep within the Ruinlands. Neither of which would happen to me or anyone I knew anytime soon. Though there was some limited usefulness to be said for helping others break oaths with gods, I would never do it. Gods may have been incapable of directly harming me for breaking a vow, or assisting another in doing it, but it would not be very difficult to have them send one of their more powerful agents to end my life. And that is saying nothing of my faith in the gods.

Eyes o’ Plenty was interesting too. If I had access to a hex with more versatility, I would have surely taken it. Never alone was just too useful. I could see through the eyes and senses of Ugz and use him to curse others on my behalf. Our current range was about a mile, and with this upgrade I could theoretically curse someone from a distance large enough to place myself above suspicion! Then, I could pull Ugz right out of harm's way. Spoiling plants, or charming someone to like me more just did not compare to having a perfect spy.

I chose to expand on the power of Summon Familiar, mentally selecting it and finishing the ranking process.

Grubs. More Grubs. Ugz sent mere seconds after the power upgraded.

“Is that why you wanted me to pick it? You could have told me that already!” I said, feeling let down and irritated.

Grubs. He replied.

If the damned monster had not saved my life, I would have probably stuffed it into a lit furnace.

Thankful that I upgraded my Presence, I turned my attention over my updated soul ledger.

Name: Harald Horste

Ascended Class: Hexcaller

Rank: 5

Essence: 1,000/1500

Attributes

Strength: 3

Agility: 2

Constitution: 7

Intelligence: 2

Perception: 7

Willpower: 4

Presence: 4

Boons

Flawless Face: Your face is unforgettably perfect. Your looks will draw the opposite sex in, however you can never wear a disguise or hide in a crowd.

Know thy Enemy: Those that hold spite toward you cannot hide it from you with deceit.

Abilities

Fate Shielded: You are immune to curses.

Evil Eye: You can inflict Hexes with your eyes and can see in perfect darkness.

Summon Familiar: Call a beast to permanently aid you. Never Alone: Extend the range of your connection to your familiar, and summon them to your side, from anywhere, once a day.

Hexes

Haunt (Rank 1): Curse a person with minor auditory and visual hallucinations for 24 hours. This will make it difficult for the person to get restful sleep. Usable on one person at a time.

Hypnotize (Rank 2): Cause someone who is looking you in the eye to enter a trance. May not work on someone with a higher will than you. Will break three seconds after losing eye contact.

Tongues (Rank 1): Curse that causes a person to spout nonsense for fifteen seconds. Usable one an hour.

Spells

Detect Magic (Rank 1)

Detect Poison (Rank 1)

Darkness (Rank 1)

Identify Disease (Rank 1)

Charms

Hidden Weapon

Skills (1)

(Class) Herbalism: F

(Class) Alchemy: F

(Class) Enchantment Curses: F

Reading and Writing: A

Contracts: D

Math: C

Knife Fighting: E

Cooking: E

Skinning: E

Tracking: E

Poleaxe: F

Wilderness Traversal: F

Raxx came from spell-casting class a short time after I finished reading through the updated soul ledger. The Harak was dripping wet from the downpour and holding his head.

“How was class? Did she teach yet?” I asked.

Raxx shook his head, “Just had us lix snib dook roof kul borship! WAG DOE!” The Sea Dog yelped in outrage, and his eyes were wide with fear from the effects of my Tongues hex.

“Wow, that class scrambled your brain,” Izzy said from her spot on a big, padded chair, drinking a hot cup of something.

“Nah, he’s just practicing his spells,” I joked. “The instructor probably taught him something really neat and he just wants to show us.”

Ugz let out a chirping sound that I had not heard before, as the panicking pirate continued to spout nonsense, holding both of his paws in the air, urging us to help with pleading eyes. He’s laughing at Raxx, I realized. My mean-spirited familiar only liked food and pranks.

Fifteen seconds later, Raxx looked ready to hyperventilate, hands planted on his knees, hunched over. I only planned on messing with him a little, but it seemed to have really shaken the gnoll.

“Hey, you okay, Raxx? I was just messing with you, testing out a new trick, didn’t think it would upset you so much. I’m sorry...” I said sincerely.

“That was you?” Raxx asked, his every word testing, afraid to lose his ability to speak again.

“Yeah, a new ability I picked up.” I said.

“Interesting. It will be very useful, especially against other ascended. Please, never do it to me again.” Raxx said, usual careless cheer gone from his face.

“Deal.” I said, a little worried about him.

Raxx stood, nodded at me, then went to bed without another word.

I felt guilty and thought of going to him to apologize again.

Ugz was still chirping.