A quick math session confirmed that the absorbed shards and other bonuses also added up to a small, but important increase in his three main stats. The eleven points of increase in his arcana reserves was the most obvious to see, since he’d only have 31 points if he had to rely on the sum of his mind and spirit attributes.

Getting those fortitude and vigour shards were also worth the effort. This strengthened his belief that even if the corpse sacrifice ritual spell was distasteful, it was a necessary evil to get stronger. Of course, he’d still try to limit using it to times when there were no other people around. Gaining a stat increasing shard didn’t quite worth getting stabbed in the gut with a pitchfork by enraged peasants.

With his musings about his gains and his soul-tome done, he walked over to the bookshelf with the charts. There were ten scrolls on it now, but his hand instinctively reached towards the one that was emitting a faint golden glow. It was the incomplete human ancestral constellation that he now finished as he channelled six hundred points of Amaranth into the scroll. Regis felt his soul-space shake a bit and as he looked up onto the dark sky, a distant golden constellation greeted him. Back on the scroll, the text beneath the drawing changed one last time.

{Human Ancestral Constellation}

{Rank: Gold}

{Nodes: 15/15}

Physique: 1,75 Mind: 1,75 Might: 1,75

It was finally complete and it earned him another 0,4 point in his three attributes. With that out of his mind, the young dark elf turned to look at the remaining scrolls while placing the completed chart on the top shelf. He was now at the point where he had to make a big decision. Regis admittedly knew little about the constellations themselves. Back home, there were no books about them, but he understood their principle well enough from Bray’s explanation.

Each of the seven patterns related to a vaguely defined path. Picking one should allow him to thread forward on said path. Picking more was akin to multi-classing in classic table-top RPG terms. As for Regis; he wanted to be a wizard. He wanted to be a wizard since the moment he first read about true magic back home and now he had the chance to become one. It all started with the neophyte constellation. The youth rummaged through the scrolls until he found the one depicting what he believed to be a magic staff.

It was created from twelve nodes instead of fifteen, but that was understandable, since it was the constellation of a Tier one path. He channelled his gathered Amaranth into the scroll and as his soul-space shook, the image of a new bronze coloured constellation appeared on the night sky. Looking back at the parchment, it now had swirling ink blobs on it, rearranging themselves into a description.

{Neophyte Constellation}

{Rank: Bronze}

{Nodes: 12/12}

Mind: 0,2 Spirit: 0,2 Willpower: 0,2

The neophyte star chart focused on the three main attributes related to the path of magic. Some would argue that one’s erudition played just as an important role as the others, but he’d disagree. Everyone could get book-smart if they got the chance to camp out in a library. The thing a true wizard needed was a keen mind to make sense of the intricate connections between theories and implementations.

They would need a strong spirit to channel the raw power of magic and they would need a firm will to bend the world towards their own viewpoint through the utilization of magic. Studying books was a way to gain knowledge and spells, but it could never make up for the lack of the three main requirements.

The bronze rank’s attribute increase was negligible, but the thing that made Regis curious was the lack of anything else happening after the constellation appeared on the dark sky. Not knowing what else to do, he channelled more Amaranth into the scroll, turning the nodes into a silver colour. Looking back at the parchment, the only change he noticed was in the rank and the attribute increase.

{Neophyte Constellation}

{Rank: Silver}

{Nodes: 12/12}

Mind: 0,6 Spirit: 0,6 Willpower: 0,6

There was still no true change besides his mind attribute turning from fifteen to sixteen, adding a point to his arcana reserves. After taking a deep breath, Regis steeled himself and pushed enough Amaranth into the constellation chart to make it burst out with a golden light. His soul-space shook like never before and as he looked up, he saw the neophyte constellation’s stars pulsate with a deep golden hue.

The distant stars dimmed and strengthened in brightness like a beating heart before spiralling motes of light began to trickle downwards from them. It looked as if golden snow was falling from the dark sky, each mote floating towards the edge of the circular stone platform he stood on.

In front of Regis’ curious gaze, the light motes swirled in place, forming into a dinner plate sized crystal disk that floated at the edge of the walkable land of his soul-space. The light in the crystal faded away, leaving a colourless glass-like piece behind. A quick look back at the scroll revealed a new line of text that made some sense of what was happening.

{Neophyte Constellation}

{Rank: Gold}

{Nodes: 12/12}

Mind: 1,4 Spirit: 1,4 Willpower: 1,4

Neophyte constellation pathway is now available.

Regis placed the golden scroll on the top shelf and walked towards the strange crystal, stopping at the very edge. He reached out towards the plate that had the same magic staff shaped constellation carved into it as the one above him. As his fingers touched the cool surface of the crystal plate, he could feel his arcana flow through his body, entering the strange glass-like sigil. It took on a deep blue hue, floating down to floor level in order to become a stepping stone.

The moment the crystal plate reached floor level; new stone plates appeared one after the other, leading into the dark void. Each step he took made him more and more weary as he felt his arcana flow out of his body and into the stepping stones, turning them blue. After stepping on the fourth stone plate, he found himself in front of another colourless crystal sigil that silently floated in the void. He reached out to touch it and golden words appeared above the crystal.

{Deep reserves 1}

{No spell weaver can fare well on their journey with limited resources. The deep reserves feat increases the ‘Spirit’ attribute multiplier of the highest possible arcana reserve to four instead of three.}

{Cost: 1000 Amaranth}

{Do you wish to gain this feat?}

‘Well, shit.’ Regis thought to himself as he re-read the strange notification. It was well known that the lack of arcana was any spell weaver’s greatest weakness. He himself could only push his reserves up to 51 at most with his current three times multiplier. Getting this feat would allow him to push the boundaries of his reserves for another seventeen points, making it almost seventy. That would mean four runic arcana bolts or quartz shots in a row during a fight. It was a no-brainer.

Regis accepted the offer and the colourless crystal sigil turned into the same deep blue hue as the ones before it. Once it lowered itself to become another stepping stone, the young dark elf could continue on. When Regis reached the ninth stone, he felt an invisible hand stopping him from stepping on it, preventing him from falling off into the void. Golden words burned through in front of his eyes as he felt dizzy for a moment.

{Insufficient arcana reserves.}

“Insufficient reserves?” He asked from the nothingness, earning no further answer.

He looked back at the blue crystal plates he used to walk on, counting them. It was an easy mystery to solve with a bit of math. He had a bit over forty points of arcana and he managed to walk forward eight steps. That meant one stepping stone for every five points of arcana he had. If he wanted to go further, he would have to become stronger as a spell weaver and increase his magic reserves.

The young dark elf walked back to the large stone platform with the statue and took some time to contemplate his current situation. He spent 600 Amaranth on completing his ancestral chart and a whopping 2100 to complete the neophyte constellation. Adding the 1000 he spent on his deep reserves feat, he splurged away 3700 out of his 6713 Amaranth. If he wanted to complete another pathway constellation, it would burn through most of his current reserves, so he had to make an important choice once again.

Did he want to invest in his battle capabilities or should he try to see what the path of crafts would bring to the table? It was a hard decision to make and Regis was pacing back and forth for a few minutes before finally making up his mind. Both his infusion enchanting and transmutation alchemy were at their early levels and could bring little to the table besides a few basic enchantments and recycling damaged equipment. He could increase their levels slowly as he hoarded more loot, but to do so, he would first have to survive the battles ahead of him.

That left him with the choice of picking from the more combat focused paths for now. This however proved to be another hurdle as he had to choose between the conscript and the fighter paths. Not knowing which of them focused on what, Regis found it better to ask someone wiser than himself. He sat down in front of the statue and began to meditate, returning to the real world in mere moments. Looking around, he noticed Bray cleaning up the crates’ contents not far from him.

“Bray,” the young man called out to the elderly fellow. “Sorry to bother you again, but I need an advice.”

“Oh,” the grey haired vagrant turned around.” Took you long enough to come back to your senses. So, what do you want to know? Is it about the constellations again?”

“Yes,” Regis stretched his numb limbs. “I’ve successfully formed the neophyte star alignment, but now I’m stuck between the two warrior constellations. I need to gain some more fighting prowess, but I don’t know which one would be a better pick.”

“Well,” the elderly man sat beside the fire to gather his thoughts. “Most folks would say that it doesn’t really matter, since both constellations focus on your deftness, might and physique, but it is important to make the right call for your future path. From what I know, the fighter constellation is mostly for those that want to be free standing warriors. Mostly mercenaries and adventurers pick that path as it allows them more freedom and feats that strengthens them without being forced to rely on large groups. If you don’t plan to swear your allegiance to a nobleman or to join the army, then the path of the fighter is for you.”

“What about the conscript constellation?” Regis warmed his hands by the small fire.

“Those that follow the conscript’s path usually become soldiers under someone’s banner, focusing on large battles. I’ve met a few such soldiers and from what they’ve told me, their pathway was riddled with group and heavy equipment related feats. Knights and paladins also follow the path of the conscript, but they end up as leaders instead of lackeys.”

“I guess that makes the fighter’s path the obvious choice then. Thanks for clearing thing up a bit.” Regis thanked the old man before heading back into his soul-space through meditation.

Once he was back in the void of his soul, the dark elf walked over to the bookshelf and searched through the small stack of scrolls for the one depicting a sword. As soon as he channelled enough Amaranth into it, his soul-space shook for a few moments as a new constellation formed on the night sky. Looking back at the scroll revealed a familiar styled short explanation.

{Fighter Constellation}

{Rank: Bronze}

{Nodes: 12/12}

Deftness: 0,2 Might: 0,2 Physique: 0,2

It did indeed focus on the body’s physical attributes, just as Bray said. The young dark elf didn’t stop until he managed to push his new constellation towards its completed golden form. Soon his soul-space began to shake and the golden motes of lights once again began to fall, turning into a crystal plate at the edge of the stone platform. He took a quick look at the scroll confirming the expected changes.

{Fighter Constellation}

{Rank: Gold}

{Nodes: 12/12}

Deftness: 1,4 Might: 1,4 Physique: 1,4

Fighter constellation pathway is now available.

After he put the parchment onto the top shelf, Regis walked over to the new crystal plate that was just a few steps to the neophyte path, laying his right hand on it. This time, the young dark elf felt as if a fire was lit in his chest as his heartbeat quickened. His soul-space echoed from the drum like beating sound as the crystal plate slowly turned bicolour split between a blood red and a dark green hue before it lowered itself to become a stepping stone. He headed out with firm steps, but after four stepping stones, he had to stop. Regis found himself staring at not one, but two floating crystals. As he reached out to touch them, golden words appeared above them.

{Vigorous 1}

{No fighter can fare well on their journey with a frail body. The vigorous feat increases the ‘Physique’ attribute multiplier of the highest possible health reserve to four instead of three.}

{Cost: 1000 Amaranth}

{Do you want to gain this feat?}

{Tireless 1}

{No fighter can fare well on their journey with a frail body. The tireless feat increases the ‘Physique’ attribute multiplier of the highest possible stamina reserve to four instead of three.}

{Cost: 1000 Amaranth}

{Do you want to gain this feat?}

The descriptions spoke for themselves. Seeing how he didn’t have enough Amaranth to buy both, and he was still far from getting close to the max HP he could have, Regis turned around and headed back to check his soul-tome. Its character sheet page showed some changes, but nothing too excessive.

{Name: Regis ???}

{Title: Beginner bladestaff wielder}

{Race: Dark elf/Sun elf/ Human}

{Age: 19}

{Amaranth: 1613}

{Caste: vagrant}

{Path}

Neophyte spell weaver Trainee fighter

{Craft: Locked}

{Attributes}

Allure: 15 Deftness: 17 Erudition: 18 Faith: 8 Luck: 12 Might: 15 Mind: 16 Physique: 17 Spirit: 17 Willpower: 20

Health/Arcana/Stamina

{36/36}{44/44}{37/37}

{Status effects}

None

Seeing his attribute scores, Regis was well on his way towards the boundary of what an ordinary shardwaker could achieve. Having fifteen points of might already made him strong enough to be on equal footing with well-trained soldiers and Olympic contestants, not to mention his seventeen points of deftness that would put him into the top league of world champion track runners. Becoming a super human however still had to wait. Pushing one’s self over the twenty point mark in physical attributes was a challenge that all shardwakers had to face on their path towards greatness and he wasn’t any different.