4 days later:

“Ding,” Cassie said softly. She’d gotten into the habit of saying that, a habit I shamefully encouraged. Shiana grinned at her as she fished an arrow out of a psuedodrake, using Cassie’s hammer to break the thing’s eye socket. Her new arrowheads were absolutely magnificent at penetrating bone, but, as always, useful arrows were in short supply. Cassie was doing her best at trying to keep the old bronze arrowheads intact, but the things sometimes simply snapped when they hit really hard bone or, say, a pseudodragon’s armor.

She was down to only 5 bronze arrowheads and 6 of the alloy arrowheads she had picked up off the Seeker’s treasure, which meant we were experimenting with turning anything into arrowheads, from drake teeth to knapped flint to seeker barbs. The organic arrowheads plus Shiana’s fletching skill could create extremely dangerous arrows, but the things often had a durability of only one or two and had an even greater chance to shatter when hitting bone than bronze. Right now, I would kill for some classic Damascus steel arrowheads, a lack Cassie and I both planned to address when we got to Boar’s Den.

Cassie’s bronze helmet was in pretty good shape, but after what those two owlbears had done to her armor… Well, I had replaced it with my best efforts. To be fair, blue wyvern scale armor was pretty darned sweet, and I had even managed to get the stuff articulated. I had used the last of the Seeker leather I had snagged from Rik, and while the quintessence loop prevented me from bonding the armor, it still had the self-repair function from the materials, and a heck of a decent elemental and smashing resistance from the blue wyvern scales.

Not to mention that while her armor still counted as heavy, and since I had custom-designed it to be as form-fitting as possible, unlike her old bronze armor, even with the extra padding beneath no one would mistake her for being remotely male. She still snickered about ‘boobie plates’ every time she took it off to clean the padding beneath.

Of course, between the three of us, Cassie and I matched in color, and we all looked, from a distance, pretty darned reptilian. Was it my fault that overlapping scales were one of the best possible armor designs for natural materials? From what I could work out, in this world at least, higher-level armor was made from either animal parts or weird magical alloys that came from dungeons or was ‘converted’ by alchemists and powerful wizards, stuff like admanatine iron, mithril silver, and orichalcum.

Mixing tin and copper and casting the result was pretty much par for the course for ‘normal’ smithing. There was some iron smithing, mostly for tools and cooking implements that needed to survive higher temperatures like my frying pan, but because it required a much higher temperature for casting it was considered far more expensive and only slightly better than bronze.

Cassie and I had several long discussions over our nightly campfire while I racked my brain for the various techniques of steel making I had heard of. I knew how the Japanese and early celts created steel, sort of, and some methods I had read of in books, but the actual process was something I had zero experience with, and could only vaguely hint about charcoal percentages, oxygen retention, and using clay on the edges of some swords. Creating a brickwork forge that could handle Iron temperatures, however, was something I knew quite well and discussed with her at length, and she was frantically eager to get started playing with ‘cheap’ iron ore that was usually only useful if subjected to expensive magical treatments.

It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if some other players, with a better knowledge of alloys and blacksmithing, were already taking advantage of the technological gap. Because this world had an eight-to-one time compression ratio, a lot of players were bound to move into crafting professions even if they didn’t want to go around killing monsters and doing quests. A lot of ‘modern guy goes into a medieval fantasy world’ literature had the protagonist think of all sorts of modern innovations that ‘no other player had ever thought of’, but I was not such a fool to think that applied to me.

Ceramics, smithing, cooking, clothmaking, alchemy, and maybe a bunch of crosses between technological concepts like electricity and magic were likely already getting developed. If there was a profit in it, some player was probably already working it out. Heck, I had already figured out an enormous number of herbal combinations myself that, with just a hint of essence, could create creams, teas, spices, and potions that were amazing restoratives of various types, in only a few days. Due to a racial perk that helped me find all sorts of new potential tools and ingredients, though, I figured I had an edge over other players in the ‘cheap medicines’ department.

Cassie’s hand looked fine as I regarded her. Interesting fact. Healing people using my quintessence loop was slow as heck, compared to Cassie’s two heal spells and her lay on hands paladin ability, but it could regenerate a finger from scratch when applied over a couple of days, and very quickly if you could reattach the severed limb itself, both facts that the Owlbears had brought to light the day before yesterday.

“Congratulations, Cassie, that’s 12 right? Did you open up new classes?” I asked her, smiling, as I started working using a small blade I had added a spatial knot, tied with the alteration verb, to. I had to add a small amount of mana to get it to function, but it created amazingly clean cuts as the spatial mana slightly offset the material, and it could cut through almost anything.

Interesting fact, my flexibility with absorbing different types of mana and adding it to my arsenal was incredibly useful, as a utility. For fighting, though, it was strictly second rate. I couldn’t ‘project’ mana like a magic-user could, all of my aspects were considered personal. That meant that most living creatures had a natural defense against it. Mages projected their magic using patterns, which I couldn’t use, as they were tied to working bands, and once it filled the patterns it was no longer considered personal, allowing them to bring the full force of their magical works against enemies.

My mana worked great against dead things, or recently dead things, like this Psuedodrake. It also, surprisingly, worked well against dungeon-created monsters, since I assume that they were not truly alive, and players, because… their projection into this world was created by a band, and like dungeon creatures, they were organic constructs and not real, living people, or ‘locals’.

Shiana had been a projection as well until she hit level 5, and according to her, gained a soul. Before that, she was a scripted NPC, but now, looking at her with my [Observe] skill revealed a real, extremely attractive, and totally alive wood elf. Her body shape was not exactly what I considered ‘elven’, but because she had originally been crafted as a sort of introductory doll for a harem-based class, it was understandable. She had left Rik, her master, and was now apparently bound to me. I had zero interest in using her for her original purposes, but there were a lot of reasons for that, and she didn’t seem to mind.

Shiana Lightbow (Partied)

Wood Elf Woodland Ranger(12)

Bound to (A Frost Kobold)

Shiana is a Wood Elf, a race of elves that chose to merge with nature and become locals rather than retain their outworld magic like Sky elves. They are predominantly residents of their island nation of Fey-Gallinian, but can often be found on the mainland as adventurers or mercenaries, since not all wood elves appreciate the rule of Fey-Gallinian’s council of druids.

Once Rik was not in the party, the whole ‘realsex plus notifications’ and blurb had disappeared. I assumed that ‘locals’ did not require that sort of a reminder, since, without adult interaction, there would never be any new locals. That bound to message still irked me, though. I wore a broken band since I couldn’t wear a real one, and Mnemosyne and my illusion spells, spatial mana, and Quintessence links were more than enough to fool the band’s ‘inspect’ skill and allow me to join a party or be subject to pet bonds, secondary links to my identity still displayed ‘A Frost Kobold’ since, according to the system, I was just a monster.

My own [observe] skill, based on the draconic language’s understanding of the concept of observation, provided decent information and had allowed Mnemosyne, my spirit sprite, to use essence to ‘hack in’ to the network of bands that all creatures wore.

Cassie was glaring in concentration, a finger resting on one of the 3 gems that decorated every copper band that was used to interface the artificial system. “This is really weird.”

“What’s that?” I asked her curiously, wondering what she was looking at.

“Well,” she stated, “the level 12 Brogan paladin path is pretty well documented. We usually get 3 new paths to choose from. Crafter saints specialize in equipment and party enhancements, and can temporarily assign holy damage to their own and others’ weapons. Hospitaliers gain better group and personal healing spells, and Holy warriors are much better at banishing the unnatural, resisting dark and infernal damage and curses, and enhancing themselves. Crafter saints are Brogan only, and both saints and hospitaliers are common classes, while holy Warriors are an uncommon class. Generally, class rarity makes you a little bit stronger, but holy warriors are very specialized so not many people take it. I have two new class options though that I have not seen before, one uncommon and one rare.”

She continued, “The Uncommon one is called a Holy cavalier. It has a bunch of stuff about a mount, teamwork mount buffs, cavalry charges, and the like. I mean, most dwarves HATE horses. Who heard of dwarven cavalry? I guess… I got it because we are outside so much, and have been traveling a lot. The thing is, I have no idea what the level 24 class options will be if I take it.”

“The rare class is even weirder. It’s called monster redeemer. I mean, it is a rare class, so I suppose taking it would be best, but it looks like a cross between the cavalier and the holy warrior, plus it allows me to convert my lay on hands to something called ‘redemption’. I have never even heard of it before or anything like it. How did I even get it?”

Cassie was probably the best, if not the only, true friend I have ever had, but sometimes she was a little thick. “Cassie, what am I?” I asked.

“A kobold.” She answered, looking slightly confused.

“And what is a kobold generally classified as?”

“A monster?” she answered.

“How many monsters are good guys, who have teamed with you, and whom you have personally saved from the brink of death multiple times?”

Cassie’s eyes opened wide, “Oh! Right. I mean, kobolds can become adventurers, but they are monster adventurers and team with other kobolds. You were on the team as both a combat pet and eventually as a party member, and yeah, you are my friend and a good guy. Ooh. I have never heard of a local getting an accolade, and I don’t have any way to check, but I bet I got one and that gave me the class! Rik talked about getting a Harem lord class if he got enough pets, and I bet it’s just like that!”

Cassie grinned, “So do you think I should get the class? Maybe turn you into my tent pet?”

I facepalmed. It was easy to do with my smooth kobold face, and with my tough skin and scales, the loud smack didn’t hurt at all. Did Cassie really just make sexual innuendo? I was rubbing off on her in a bad way, I think. “I don’t believe making me a pet again is really necessary, I mean, I am in your party now, right? Besides, If you really wanted me as a bedwarmer, asking me would probably work way better than giving me flowers, nuggets of ore, and rations and then bonding me when my back was turned.”

Both Cassie and Shiana were blushing now. Cassie with a smile and Shiana with a hint of a frown. I knew that Cassie was teasing me, but Shiana actually mumbled something about ‘kobold heads’ under her breath, and she seldom showed any sort of emotion. A faint frown, for her, was a lot like throwing furniture for anyone else.

“I am sorry, Shiana. I didn’t mean to call attention to what happened to you.” I muttered, rather embarrassed at my enormous social faux pas and lack of tact. It happened to me a lot, but it’s not really something you get used to.

“It’s not that, it just reminded me that I have something I need to deal with. I don’t want to talk about it,” she replied.

“Totally understood,” I stated, and then watched as Cassie touched the gem on her wrist again, and smiled, closing her eyes. A small sparkle seemed to envelop her, and then she looked back at me, grinning, “Oh wow. Paladin was cool, but this is so much better. I get way better stats and a new ability called mount. Not sure if I like that, though, since horses still totally creep me out.”

She leaned forward and put her hand on my chest, and then stated, “Redeem”. I was bathed in some sort of column of light, bright enough to almost hurt my eyes even with Mnamosyne’s illusionary shades on them. Nothing seemed to happen though, and I asked Cassie, “What was that?”

She tilted her head, “It’s called redemption. It’s a combination exorcism and status adjuster, with a hint of healing. It’s also supposed to improve my reputation with you, but I didn’t figure it would have any real effect.”

Due to Cassie’s redemption ability overflow, both Celestial and Light Essence has collected around your core and should be dealt with soon.

I chuckled, “Well, Mnemosyne just told me I got both Celestial and light magic from what you just did. Wait, did you just blow off a hands ability to use it on me, even though it wouldn’t have any effect?”

Cassie shrugged, “We are going to be in the town by mid-afternoon, and I still have three left,” she pointed out, waving at a wooden tower with a banner hanging from it, barely visible over the trees. I couldn’t actually see any figures on the tower, but with the danger of this forest, I am sure that they were there, and with class feats, we might have already been spotted. Blue skin and scales in the middle of a green and brown path were not exactly low profile.

Light, Bran. We have access to light mana now.

Hold on, Hold on. I thought, sending the message to Mnemosyne. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but she seemed unusually excited about a new type of minor mana. We already had illusion, and I was not sure how much better actual light mana would be. Maybe she had an idea for a better sort of filter for my light-sensitive eyes?

Ever since I had given her an internal habitat, she had been sort of excited. To be fair, I was a bit excited too at being able to use my soul space to store actual items. The downside was that my residual self-image had changed. I still wanted to return to human form, but in my soul space, I was a kobold too.

Several exciting opportunities for using mana had made themselves known when I had set up my soul space for actual storage. We had killed and butchered a LOT of creatures, and a temporal knot allowed the meat to remain fresh indefinitely. I also had a frost knot and plans to try to make ice cream, but so far fire mana eluded me. Yes, I could [alter] frost mana to create heat, but it wasn’t strong enough for anything but lighting a fire or warming a hot cup of tea. I missed coffee. Probably not as much as I would have if I were here in my real body, but the warmth, the flavor, the pick-me-up… The Navy ran on coffee, not diesel or nukes. I’d probably sell my left hand for a burnt cup of Navy spoon-melting tar.

“Please excuse me, Mnemosyne is very excited about our new mana types. I am not sure why, but she’s bouncing off the walls.” I would probably enjoy seeing that even if I am not exactly actively pursuing girls right now, since I had accidentally created her appearance to exactly mimic my perfect woman. Since she had gotten her new habitat, she was no longer dressed exclusively like a naughty teacher, but the interest remained.

I collected the pelt and dropped it into my space. The thing is, my new space was BIG, as big as the small park I used as the idea for it, plus a stream and a treehouse. I had discovered that I could dress a carcass inside my space, but I lost out on loot if I did, so I left it for now and sat on a tripod with my legs slightly bent and bracing against my tail, sort of like a modified horse stance from martial arts, and entered my soul space.

I saw the coils of colored mana orbiting my soul core. I had a scroll that was supposed to teach me a technique for improving my mana, but I had no idea how to interpret it yet. Then again, I had just finished running quintessence, or chi, through the last of my Meridians this morning, and I intended to give it a fresh glance when we were someplace safe.

Red hair, green eyes, a perfect body, and oddly, a victorian dress greeted me today as Mnemosyne waved. She hopped down from her treehouse habitat, showing off some rather prosaic-looking boots, and then smiled brightly while I started winding the loose coils of typed essence from around my plasma-globe-looking core. This place was dictated primarily by my perceptions of how I thought it should look, so the touches of home, like the park and the stream, were no surprise.

Frankly, even garbed as conservatively as she was, I was very glad that she could not read my mind, although she probably had a good idea of my thoughts on the matter. If I were only human… and in a sexually mature body. Being a kobold often sucked, and not just because I was only slightly more powerful than the stuff that low-level characters killed in the newbie zone.

I finished coiling the strands of Celestial and light mana that were circling my core and then wound them together into little coils that I set orbiting the huge structure floating in the middle of my soul space. I could see lots more tiny strands, but most of them were far too thin and whispy, currently, to coil up and create their own orbiting rings. In a way, it was kind of like a cotton candy machine, but I needed a cone full before I could utilize it.

“Bran, we have LIGHT mana!” she said as she stepped closer, I nodded to her, putting the finishing touches on the rings and setting them spinning to preserve their integrity and encourage them to collect more strands of their own type. “Yes, we do. And that’s cool, I guess?” I answered.

“This is an extradimensional space. You have earth, water, nature, and LIGHT mana. You know what means, right?”

I shook my head, not really. “I am still a little unsure?”

“It means you can use this space for a garden! Cultivating in truth! A perfectly climate controlled, high-mana, well-lit, magical space, where you can grow any herb for any purpose.”

I nodded slowly, thinking about it. What exactly would I need. I could see where she was going, as it would not only improve my poultices and what little alchemy I had going on, but it would also improve my FOOD. Local vegetables were ‘comfortable’, and had a narrow range of selections, but the idea of actually being able to grow my own seasonings, trade for seeds, or find them myself, was extremely appealing.

Ever since I had enhanced the ‘physical fitness’ skill, my internal mental image had matched my outer image. On the plus side, however, if I worked out inside my soul space, I gained the same amount of physical fitness outside, even though to all appearances it just looked like I was sitting there meditating. If I ate inside, I was full outside, and obviously, if I spent too long inside I would get tired, although that had not happened yet.

“So, to do this, we are going to need real dirt, real water, and the like?” I asked her.

At her nod, I smiled broadly, “this is going to be fun!”

Bran’s Character Sheet

Brantley Gallagher Winterborne

Ice Kobold

Body size: Small

Evolution: 117%

Health: 100%

Body: Good

Mana: 100%

Mind: Great

Fatigue: 100%

Reflexes: Extreme

Player level equivalent: 12

Speed: Superb

Unenhanced Skill Groups

Logic: journeyman poor

Mathematics: apprentice good

Acrobatics: apprentice good

Piloting: apprentice fair

Spellcrafting: apprentice good

Security: apprentice fair

Socializing: apprentice mediocre

Magical Lore: apprentice mediocre

Enhanced Skill Groups

Survival: expert superb

Martial arts: adept fair

Ranged combat: adept superb

Improvised Fabrication: expert mediocre

Essence Manipulation: adept good

Stealth: adept fair

Foundation: journeyman fair

Willpower: journeyman great

Physical Fitness: journeyman mediocre

Innate

Ice Kobold

Unique soul

Kobolds innately gain trapmaking and scrounging at apprentice level, minor natural weapons, can swim at a trotting speed, darkvision, and minor regeneration.

Ice Kobolds in particular gain 75% cold resistance and 150% cold affinity.

Evolved Kobolds are considered small creatures, difficult to target for larger creatures, but are weaker and less resistant to damage.

Your unusual origins give you a unique soul for your species.

You gain combat meditation which includes mental time dilation, fear resistance, pain resistance, and the ability to access your soul space for mana manipulation and improvised spell creation.

Unfortunately, your special soul also gives you a minor penalty to social skills.

Evolutions

Silver Cord

Sprite Information Link

Sprite Materialization

Sprite Habitat

Gifts and Traits

Draconic Language

Rhydian Language

Enhanced Quintessence Body

Aura Domain

Beginning Foundation

Enhanced Verbs

[Observe] great

[Push] fair

[Alter] fair

[channel] poor

Aspects

Quintessence

Temporal

Frost

Animation

Illusion

Spatial

Water

Nature

Earth

Light

Celestial

Meridians/systems

Skin poor

Heart poor

Vigor poor

Muscles poor

Head poor

Bone poor

Nerve poor

Tail poor

Left arm poor

Right arm poor

Left leg poor

Right leg poor