Instantly, my body froze. It was a trap. Of course it was a trap. What else could it be?

Congratulations! You have discovered the Throne of King Ulrick. Unfortunately, you cannot claim this throne, as you do not meet the minimum requirements. The following services are available from this location:

View Character Sheet

System Query (5 Remaining)

Yes! Finally, another system interface. If if I couldn't claim it (whatever that meant), I could still use to check my character sheet.

Kyle Porter

Level 3 Human Wanderer

XP: 8/30

HP:23/23

Stamina: 19/19

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 12

Constitution:11

Intelligence: 12

Wisdom: 9

Charisma: 11

Gate of Destiny o (Thaumaturgy)

4 Attribute points unspent

1 Specializations ready for selection

Hell yes. After weeks of struggling to learn things the boring old-fashioned way, I could finally improve myself by spending points in my character interface, just like God always intended (I assume). I had long ago made up my mind about what I was going to upgrade first. I didn't hesitate.

You have increased your Intelligence from 12 to 13!

Cognitive Speed: 115%

Cognitive Capacity: 115%

4 Skill Talents (+2)

1 Major Skill Talent (+4)

Training Cap 3

+1 to Knowledge Abilities

Learning 1/10

You can now acquire skill in Disciplines, such as Occult, Physics, and Engineering.

One of your skill talents has upgraded to a Major Skill Talent. Please select the skill you wish to improve. Your options are: Occult, Stealth, Reflexes, Throwing, and Cursing

That's the stuff. It felt like a fog was lifting. Every part of the world suddenly fit with every other part. I was a little annoyed with myself for choosing such suboptimal skill talents. Stealth had been pretty useful, but throwing was a total waste when all I ever throw are spells. I decided to pick Cursing. It was the skill I was most known for now, and I really wanted to get good enough at it to show that Queen a thing or two. Maybe she would be less intimidating with a pair of donkey ears? I wasn't ready to stop hitting the button yet though.

You have increased your Intelligence from 13 to 14!

Cognitive Speed: 125%

Cognitive Capacity: 125%

4 Skill Talents (+2)

1 Major Skill Talent (+4)

Training Cap 3

+2 to Knowledge and Lore Abilities

Learning 3/12

You have increased your Intelligence from 14 to 15!

Cognitive Speed: 135%

Cognitive Capacity: 135%

5 Skill Talents (+2)

1 Major Skill Talents (+4)

Training Cap 3

+2 to Knowledge and Lore Abilities

Learning 5/14

My brain felt like it was on fire. I was already bright, but now, I could call myself a genius without any trace of exaggeration. My mind was capable of things it could only fumble with before. I was an unstoppable engine of cognitive power!

Now, it was time pick out my prizes.

Now that you have increased one of your attributes to 15, you may choose an Attribute Specialization. Choose carefully, as you may not have the opportunity to change your mind later. You options are:

Archivist: Double your reading speed and gain the ability to identify any book on sight.

Doctor: +2 Medicine, +1 Biology, +1 Insight

Machinist: +2 Engineering, +1 Precision, +1 Craft (Metal Working)

Occultist: +2 Occult, +1 to any Magical Art, +1 Mysticism.

Linguist: Language skills improve at double speed, and gain the ability to use Learning to acquire new languages at half normal cost. Half all Learning used to acquire languages is refunded.

Mastermind: Improved ability to dominate others by demonstrating your intellectual superiority

It was a hard choice. I could definitely see Archivist or Linguist being very useful to me. Still, I started down the path of the wizard to cast awesome spells, not spend all my time doing homework. I chose Occultist.

New prompts rose in my vision, coming thick and fast. I needed to choose another skill specialization. I selected Focus. It was a Wisdom-based skill, so it wasn't upgrading with my Intelligence, but it seemed like something I ought to be good at anyway. The specialization took it from -1 to +1, which still isn't great, but at least its out of the red. Being better able to focus definitely sounds like an advantage. Next, I had two skill specializations to pick.

You have increased your Occult skill to +8! At skill level 5, you may choose you skill specialization. Choose carefully, as you may not have the opportunity to change your mind later. Your options are:

Vampire Lore- Grants encyclopedic knowledge of all vampiric creatures, their powers, weaknesses, and true nature. Grants ability to prepare spells in imitation of vampiric powers.

Outsider Lore- Grants encyclopedic knowledge of demons, angels, and other extra-dimensional beings, as well as the powers, weaknesses, and true nature thereof. Grants ability to prepare spells of summoning and banishing.

Fairy Lore- Grants encyclopedic knowledge of Fae beings, as well as their powers, weaknesses, and true nature. Grants ability to prepare spells in imitation of fae powers.

Counter Mage- Grants ability to identify any spell that is cast within your perception. Also grants ability to prepare spells that counter other spells.

Arcanism- Grants ability to identify magical and para-magical items in detail, complete with powers, limitations, and origins. Can also prepare spells to remove curses and sidestep limitations.

Now this was really a tough one. I didn't see anything here I didn't want. Of course fairy lore might help me escape from the fairies, but I had already learned a ton about them, and it hadn't really made it easier to deal with them. There was no guarantee that taking that option wouldn't just load me down with a bunch of trivia. Being able to counter spells might also be helpful, but the fae rarely seemed to actually cast spells. I hadn't actually encountered any magic items either. Really, with my “dark wizard” vibe going, my two real choices were Vampire Lore (I hadn't run into those yet, but being able to imitate their powers sounded awesome) or Outsider Lore. Reluctantly, I settled on Outsider Lore. Somewhere out there, there had to be something so hideous and evil that even the Queen would be scared of it, and I wanted to know how to conjure it up and make it swing to my beat.

You have increased your Cursing skill to +6! At skill level 5, you may choose you skill specialization. Choose carefully, as you may not have the opportunity to change your mind later. Your options are:

Curse of the Blood- Learn the “Boiling Blood” curse if you do not already know it. All damage dealt by curses that use blood as a primary ingredient increases 5% per skill level.

Accursed Shadow- Learn the “Twisted Shadow” curse if you not already know it. Curses that play off a targets dark impulses are 5% harder to resist per skill level.

Accursed Fate- Learn the “Beckon Doom” curse if you do not already know it. Curses that affect the laws of probability are 5% more effective per skill level.

Walking Curses- Learn the “Restless Pursuer” curse if you do not already know it. Creatures created or summoned by curses have additional hitpoints and stamina.

Karmic Curses- Learn the “Karmic Backlash” curse if you do not already know it. Curses that play off a crime or sin committed by the target are 5% more effective per skill level.

None of these options really gave me a solid idea of which spells would be most useful to me. That meant my decision had to be more based on the flavor I was going for than the practical usefulness. Blood had been a major element in most of the spells I had cast so far, if only because it was usually the most potent substance on hand at the time. Of course, I had also put some research into the idea of making golems, and the idea of synergizing by making my creations into walking curses had a certain appeal. I selected “Walking Curses”.

Now that my head was sufficiently stuffed with the blasphemous secrets of the cosmos, including the knowledge of how to manifest hatred and misery in physical form, I could consider what to do with my remaining attribute point. When I tried plowing it into more intelligence, a notice popped up that I didn't have enough. Apparently, the cost of everything goes up after 15. That was a nuisance, but I suppose I could look at it as an opportunity to add some balance to my build.

I started looking through the skills and attributes, trying to build a more complete picture of how the system worked. I quickly worked out that there were no attributes that I could push past a critical threshold for one lousy point. Maybe the best use of the point would be to plug one of my major weaknesses. Strength was right out. Sure, my strength isn't anything amazing, but its fine for guy my age. If I was going to get my squad of hench-golems, the extra strength would be total dead weight. That left wisdom. The concept of wisdom as a measurable quantity seemed ludicrous on its face, but it was a mental stat, and if I let it fall too far behind my intelligence, there was a chance I would leave some critical vulnerability open. The things it affected seemed useful enough: better defenses against certain spell and effects, more stamina, better senses. I thought “screw it” and threw the point down.