Ninetoes woke to the morning’s bright welcome; yawning deeply and wincing from the crick in his neck from sleeping on the hard floor. Magic had healed all of his wounds from the previous day’s trials but his body had still, it appeared, required a good night’s sleep to throw off all of the lingering effects.

Bluzag still stood inert at the door leading into the dining hall and a cursory glance showed him that his familiar yet again filling her belly. Clearly every point of intelligence that the little rodent possessed had gone into cleverly solving the problem of how to gain access to more of the tomac pa, that Ninetoes had left inside the stove, with the dish’s lid still on! Somehow, she’d fashioned a ramp of sorts and slid the entire dish to the floor, then levered off the lid with a knife. She was currently spooning what appeared to be a second helping of the pie into a bowl with a ladle. Well, at least she’s using her own crockery.

Noting, as he watched her, her expanding belly, Ninetoes crossed the intervening space and grabbed up the pie dish and Libby’s own bowl in a single assault maneuver, “One helping is enough, you’re getting fat little one. No more for you until dinner.”

Two helpings. She replied, managing to send her disapproval and ire with the same thought.

I was just getting myself some breakfast, seeing as you had elected to sleep in, yet again… Master She added, almost as an afterthought.

“Well, I am awake now and we have much to do today. I’d like to check over the castle for any more loot and then take our leave of this lifeless city by noon.” He summarised.

His plans were simple enough. His bag of holding was almost totally full with books and food but he wanted to pick over the rest of the castle. He simply didn’t have the means to carry much more and he’d need a solution to that, he planned to leave nothing behind that might come in handy.

As far as he was concerned, the books were worth more than their weight in gold, but if what Bofar had told him was true, then this had once been the home of a king and thus, he hoped to find a king’s hoard of treasures.

He was also, however, conscious of time. While he had plenty of food and water, Foresto had set him this quest more than a week ago, presuming it to be a quick task to simply check in on an old colleague and he didn’t want the gnome thinking he’d shirked in his task. Finally, he was keen to be back amongst the living. He could return to this place anytime, it’s treasures safe from the average grave robbers, due to its seclusion.

While he broke his fast with an apple, he retrieved his Character Sheet, intending to spend his own Ability and Skill points. The parchment told him that he now had ten unspent Ability points and a whopping seventeen Skill points to spend. Considering this, he realised that the numbers were off. He’d previously been earning two ability points and three skill points per level, plus one in both Intelligence and Endurance because of his race. Before the battle he had been a seventh level wizard and had increased by five levels to his current level of twelve. Based upon this, his Ability points were correct, but he seemed to have two too many Skill points. Focusing on his character sheet, the information provided itself and his character sheet changed slightly to provide the answer; after level ten, he received four skill points instead of three.

While he’d prepared the previous evening’s meal, he’d thought long and hard about how to spend his points. After witnessing the benefits that Bluzag had gained from reaching his Intelligence threshold, Ninetoes was keen to experience some of the same gains. His closest two scores were Intelligence and Agility, but both were buffed by items, his own scores printed in red brackets next to the total score. He hypothesised that he would only gain the threshold benefits by crossing his personal scores, but he wanted to test the theory and so, concentrating, he placed a point into Agility. While both pairs of numbers increased, he gained no additional benefits. A shame to be sure, but not unexpected and it proved his hypothesis. Agility was still one of the closest Ability scores he had to a threshold and so, as he’d already decided to do the previous evening, he pumped three more points into the score.

As he’d hoped, as his base score reached twenty, a new skill became available as a benefit.

Dodging: Level 1 - Beginner

+1% chance to completely dodge an attack targeted at you.

He could certainly see the uses of such a skill, although he was surprised he hadn’t learned the skill himself, simply through successfully dodging attacks in the past. Perhaps reaching the Ability score threshold was only one of the prerequisites of attaining certain skills?

His next closest was Wisdom, at eighteen. As Foresto had told him many times, Wisdom and Intelligence were a Wizard’s most important ability scores and, while Ninetoes wasn’t sure that was completely true for him, he’d certainly felt the lack of mana more than once and the recharge simply took too long, he needed to increase the score as much as possible and so he dropped two points into it straight away. He had a mind to put all four of his remaining points in as well, but was curious to see if he gained a threshold benefit first. He was not disappointed.

Trance: Level 1 - Beginner

By concentrating you enter a meditative trance and gain +1% mana regeneration outside of combat situations.

The skill, while still weak at only one per cent, was brilliant and meant that, out of battle he could regain his mana more quickly, he would have to practice the skill as often as possible. It also helped make his decision and the other four points went straight into Wisdom as well.

The more difficult decision to make by far was how to spend his skill points. While seventeen was a huge boon, he’d likely be getting few more anytime soon and he had so many useful skills, two more now, since he’d considered this problem at length the previous evening.

His apple finished, he decided to try and kill two birds with one stone. Rising from his chair and with a mental command to Libby, he started his exploration of the keep. At the same time he pondered his choices.

His massive boon in necromancy and the information dump his brain was still trying to work through had given him some useful insight into the way that schools of magic levelled. It seemed that as each skill ranked up they gained new facets and benefits, much like he gained from the thresholds of his ability points. Within the spell school of Necromancy he’d gained a number of benefits, which definitely gave him cause for excitement.

It also gave him a moment of pause. While he’d gained two new necromancy spells when he’d levelled up, he hadn’t understood where they’d come from, now he understood. One, he guessed Create Undead, had come from levelling up his skill in necromancy to the Apprentice rank. But the other spell’s origin was still a mystery. That was until, checking through his other necromancy spell, Grim Void, he noticed the level 36 ability he gained that gave him a five per cent chance to absorb knowledge from the target of his spell. He must have inadvertently absorbed the knowledge of how to perform Reaper’s Sorrow from Bofar and that must have been the spell that had meant that the dwarven mage hadn’t died from Bluzag’s earth shattering surprise attack on the rooftop; a spell that had cost his ally his life and nearly his and Libby’s own. He vowed then and there, never to let his arrogance or foolishness cost another friend their life.

With this vow in mind, he stopped deliberating and spent four skill points to increase Abjuration and a further four to increase Evocation to level 10, thus earning them both the rank of Poor. Their rank benefits showed clearly on the character sheet.

Evocation - Level 10 Poor

+10% damage for evocation spells

Damage Arcane I - +10% damage with chosen damage type (cold, fire, lightning, force). *

Abjuration - Level 10 Poor

+10% duration for abjuration spells

Abjurer's Choice - Choose one abjuration spell you already know to increase to skill level 10.*

Both rank benefits apparently came with a choice, something he’d never experienced and made him wonder about whether he’d had a choice of what necromancy spell he’d earned at the Apprentice rank. His choice of which Abjuration spell he’d choose was simple enough; Wizard’s Armour had kept him alive so far. Making his choice, he was emboldened by the added protection it provided.

Wizard Armour - Level 10

Abjuration

Casting time - 1 minute

Mana Cost - 20 points

Duration - 5 hours

Lvl 1. Provides an Armour Class of 10.

Lvl 3. Allows the caster to increase damage reduction by channelling more mana into the armour at a ratio of 20:1 (mana to AC).

Lvl 8. Increases base AC class by +2.

His total armour class was now a whopping 29, almost as high as Bluzag’s, who wore a heavy jacket and carried a massive tower shield, even if it did look like a dinner plate in his giant-sized hands. Moving onto his choice for Evocation, he found the decision more difficult. Currently he had no spells that caused cold damage, so that was out, although he made a mental note to try to find one as soon as possible.

No, the choice was between force, lightning and fire. He’d certainly found Shocking Strike to be incredibly useful, but if he was going to be a true Wizard, then he needed to stop relying on his martial and melee skills and focus on ranged attacks. So Burning Hands or Arcane Bolt?

So far, his Arcane Bolt had been frankly a little lacklustre. Although, he admitted, that was because he’d been more inclined to close the distance and fight his foes head on. No more! He chose force damage and his Evocation skill description changed to accommodate his choice.

This left him with nine skill points left to spend. With all of the other choices he’d made, he’d been focussed on improving his magical prowess and these last nine points would be the same. It was only planning and a whole lot of luck that meant he’d survived his confrontation with the wizard Bofar. He needed to find a party to work with and so he must become a wizard through and through. Concentrating on his area of greatest ability and the spell school that fate seemed to have chosen as his speciality, Ninetoes focussed on placing a couple of skill points into Necromancy, but unlike the other spell schools that he’d needed to place two points into to gain a level, he met no resistance. What’s more, instead of increasing to level 42 as he’d intended, the skill jumped another level in 43.

Checking his Character Sheet, worried that he’d accidentally spent two more points he saw that he’d still only spent the two points that he’d intended. That’s when it dawned on him, of course a Speciality would make it cheaper to level up the skill and, focussing on the word Specialism, Ninetoes mind absorbed a little more information.

Firstly, it seemed, he was correct, that skill points spent in Necromancy didn’t suffer the 2:1 ratio that he needed for the other schools. But more than that, he understood that casting Necromancy spells would be easier to learn and eventually easier and cheaper to cast.

Well, he had seven skill points left and seven levels between him and the Competent rank in Necromancy. Coincidence? I think not. All seven remaining points went into his specialist school and the immediate gain was not to be sneezed at.

Necromancy- Level 50 Competent

+50% potency of necromancy spells

Death’s touch I - Your familiarity for the energy of unlife has given you +10% resistance to necrotic damage.

Knowledge Arcane I - Allows the caster to choose one Apprentice ranked spell.

Necromancy Savant I - Necromancy spells cost you 25% less to cast.

Control Undead - Doubles the number of undead the caster can control.

Knowledge Arcane II - Allows the caster to choose one Competent ranked spell.*

Firstly, his Necromancy spells were now fifty per cent more powerful and cost less to cast, which meant that using Grim Void, he could drain and absorb thirty six hit points of life a second from his enemies, making it by far his most efficient and dangerous spell. Perhaps he needed to find a style of fighting that allowed him to get a little closer.

More exciting however, was Knowledge Arcane II, he could choose a necromancy spell to learn and it would already be at the Competent level. But how do I choose?

At the very thought a rush of information filled his mind, showing him the three choices available.

Curse

Prerequisites - Necromancy Competent.

Casting time - 10 seconds

Mana Cost - 100 points

Duration - 1 minute

Lvl 50. Once cast, the target of this spell cannot regain hit points from magical healing for 1 minute.

Voice of the Void

Prerequisites - Necromancy Competent.

Casting time - 10 seconds

Mana Cost - 50 points

Duration - 1 minute

Lvl 50. Cast on a corpse that has been dead for no more than 1 year and the spirit of the deceased will awaken and speak with the caster for the duration.

Grim Bolt

Prerequisites - Necromancy Competent.

Casting time - 1 second

Mana Cost - 25 points

Duration - Instantaneous

Lvl 50. Shoots a bolt of magical death up to 150ft. dealing 12-72 points of necrotic damage. If the damage kills the target, there is a 1% chance that the creature becomes an unintelligent undead under the caster’s command.

The choices were all incredible and made his decision all the more difficult. Alright, thought Ninetoes, let’s just be logical. Firstly, as useful as it could be to speak with the dead, it didn’t currently apply to anything the hobgoblin wanted to achieve, so Voice of the Void was discounted. Curse sounded brilliant and could clearly come in handy in a fight, but his mind kept coming back to the same issue, he needed more range and Grim Bolt did exactly that. On the surface, it appeared to be the necromancy version of the Arcane Bolt, which gave him another reason to choose it. Instead of gaining another spell that he’d need to level up, he could use Grim Bolt instead of its Arcane brother and so not worry about levelling up the weaker spell. Plus, with his necromancy bonus, it would deal anywhere between eighteen and one hundred and eight damage, it was perfect.

With his final choice made, Ninetoes smiled and focussed on the task of looting the keep.

***

An hour later and Ninetoes’ search had revealed a number of items of jewelry and a bundle of ancient coins. He’d emptied a few pounds of food from his bag to accommodate the treasures, but as far as the hobgoblin was concerned, his search had been mostly fruitless.

Clearly, he realised, his perspective had changed, for the loot he’d collected was more wealth than most people would see in a lifetime. But, as far as he was concerned, it was not a king’s hoard. He also hadn’t found any more magic items.

Well, he admitted, that wasn’t strictly true. The keep was full of other magical devices like the stoves in the kitchens. Magic that worked alongside engineering marvels the likes of which Ninetoes had never heard of, many of them serving simple purposes, like switches to illuminate rooms or moving cupboards that could travel up through the keep’s floors. None of this, of course, held anything more than a passing interest to Ninetoes, as he could hardly take them with him. He assumed that if he spent the time to pick over every inch of the city, he’d be bound to find a great deal more wealth, but that could take years. No, for now at least, he’d have to content himself with the treasures he’d already found. That was, he reminded himself, except the spoils of the battle on the rooftop.

Since he’d left the rooftop the previous day, he’d been reluctant to return there. The device, the Animator, had held Ninetoes in its sway and had it not been for Libby, it might have taken him completely. Thus it was that rather than going himself, he sent Bluzag to collect the bodies of the fallen bugbears and of the wizard, Bofar.

In anticipation of leaving the best for last, Ninetoes checked over the bodies of the four bugbears first. There were two more, smashed on the cobblestones of the courtyard, but Ninetoes had already checked them over and found nothing of interest. Unsurprisingly, the bugbears had no weapons or armour that he could use, but between them they had enough pieces of armour to better equip Bluzag.

Plate Iron Greaves - Normal, Common

Skill type: Heavy Armour

Armour Class: 3

Full Oaken Shield - Normal, Common

Skill type: Blocking

Armour Class: 25

Plate Iron Helm - Normal, Common

Skill type: Heavy Armour

Armour Class: 5

Sadly, Bofar’s fatal attack on the half-ogre had also burned a hole clear through Bluzag’s Iron Scale Jacket, cutting its armour rating in half, but none of the bugbear’s chest armour was even half the size it needed to be to fit Ninetoes’ monstrous ally, so it would have to do for now. What was more concerning, however, was that there was still a small, yet clear, wound on the half-ogre’s chest. He couldn’t walk into Raveslan with his ally without scaring the townsfolk out of their wits. So, using a tabard, taken from one of the bugbears, Ninetoes covered the ghastly sight. Stepping back, he admired his handiwork, a smile stretching across his face. No one would ever notice.

With that done, Ninetoes stepped up to the corpse of his enemy. In life, the dwarven evoker had seemed like an insurmountable foe and indeed, Ninetoes had nearly fallen to the mage. But now, laying there, he looked rather small. He’d been overweight and now that Ninetoes thought about it, he’d realised that the dwarf had been puffing when they’d fought on the rooftop.

Leaning down, he cast his gaze over the body. The wizard’s robes were still sodden and sticky with blood and, rather than dirty his own hands, Ninetoes instructed Bluzag to do it. Once removed, the dwarf seemed even smaller still, his arms thin and weak looking. Screwing the robes into a ball, he thrust them into his bag, deciding to deal with them later. Apart from this, the body had only two items left on it. A ring and a bracer. Strange that someone so powerful should have so few items. No weapons, not even a bag. Then Ninetoes remembered the pavilion tent still outside and reasoned that the dwarf must have travelled light in preparation for combat.

Casting Identify, Ninetoes inspected the two items. The ring was evidently mundane, simply more loot to add to his bag but the bracer shone with magical light.

Bracer of Fire Resistance - Fine, Uncommon

Properties: Provides wearer with +30% resistance to fire damage.

Wow! This item was great. But he already had a pair of magical bracers. Slipping one off his wrist, he replaced it with the new bracer, hoping that he could gain the benefits of both items. But, while his character sheet now showed the fire resistance, it also showed that he’d lost the benefits of the Guardman’s Bracers.

Ninetoes was loathe to lose the added Strength and Agility provided by the bracers, not to mention the slight bonus to his AC, but he had to start thinking and acting like a Wizard, so he called over Bluzag, pulling a length of cord from his satchel, hoping to affix his old bracers to the wight’s arms. But, as he lifted them towards the half-ogre’s wrists, something… well, magical, happened. The bracers enlarged, to fit perfectly around Bluzag’s forearms. Ninetoes was ecstatic. Bluzag was definitely becoming a bastion of defence for the hobgoblin.

Undead name: Bluzag

Race: Half-ogre Wight (+1 Str, +1 End)

Bond Level: 12th

Bonded Wizard: Ninetoes

Hit points: 627/627

Mana points: None

Stamina points: 430/430

Class: Warrior

Specialism:

Base stats:

Strength - 52 (50)

Agility - 19 (16)

Endurance - 43

Intelligence - 10

Wisdom - 8

Charisma - 7

Languages:

Common - Basic Understanding

Goblinoid - Basic Understanding

Giant - Basic Understanding

Armour Class: Armour 15 + Shield 25

Total: 40

Racial Abilities

Tough:

The half-ogre is tougher and hardier than most creatures. +10% more hit points.

Learned Abilities

Charging Bull - Level 4

Cool down - 25 seconds

Stamina Cost - 50 points

Lvl 1. After travelling at least 15 feet in a straight line, user adds 50% damage to the next attack and has a 10% chance to knock over the target.

Whirlwind strike - Level 3

Cool down - 30 seconds

Stamina Cost - 50 points

Lvl 1. Creates an attack that spins 360 degrees that hits all enemies within 5 feet for 50% damage.

Lvl 3. Increases damage to 60%.

Power strike - Level 5

Cool down - 10 seconds

Stamina Cost - 25 points

Lvl 1. Adds 25% damage to the next attack.

Spell Casting Affinities - None