Congratulations!

You gained a Title: “Artifact of the Age”

Your existence itself is the rarest of rarities.

Effect: When this title is equipped, +20% experience gained and +20% chance of successful social interactions. Warning: People will inherently know your worth.

‘Well that seems slightly ominous’ Aster thought to himself as he equipped it anyways, he couldn’t turn down that sweet xp. Saelak and Donoma instantly had a change in expression as the winter elf looked slightly confused and the summer elf looked at him a little more reverently. “Is something wrong?”

Saelak shook his head and asked, “Did you just change something? It felt… odd, like this strange energy coming off you… like some sort of pressure.”

“Isn't it more like a presence? Or an aura?” Donoma piped up, looking at him with confusion now too, “like, deep down I know that ye’re important and that I should show ya deference. It be hard ta explain it, it be like when ya see a noble walkin’ down da street even without anyone tellin’ ya they’re noble, they just sorta ‘ave that air ‘bout them.”

Aster looked slightly annoyed at that, “I got a new title when I selected my class, ‘Artifact of the Age’ . It gives me great bonuses but apparently it also causes that… aura, as you put it.”

He contemplated if it might be better to unequip the title when Saelak interrupted his train of thought as though he had accidentally used the Message party ability, “Keep it. We’ll get used to it in a bit. It just caught us off guard. If it’s as good as you say then I’m sure the effects can’t be relinquished easily. What does your class give you?”

Aster quickly navigated back to his class screen where the options were replaced with more information on Soul Tamer.

Class

Soul Tamer [ Artifact ] [ Unique ]

You are a Deviant Spirit Blessed. Your unique Soul Bond ability allows you to tame an endless amount of souls and add them to your own. Collect souls and grow your powers. Make new friends to destroy your enemies.

There is only ever one binder of spirits, only one master of minds, only one tamer of souls! You are unique in the world, an Artifact of the Age, a power unto yourself. The only thing unbound in your life is your potential.

Requires: Soul Bond Ability

Effects:

The effects of your Spirit Spells and Abilities are increased by 10% while costs are decreased by 10%. Items Bonded to you can be used by your Soul Bonds. You gain a percentage of your Soul Bonds attributes and resources. (Current percentage: 10%) The lifespan of your Soul Bonds compound with your own. (Current estimated lifespan: 189 years)

Special Abilities:

Manifest Soul Space

Effect: Your Soul Bonds will reside in your Soul Space which you can mentally access while meditating or unconscious. Manipulate your Soul Space to conform to your desires. The space grows with each additional soul bonded.

Duration: ∞

Cooldown: None

Cost: None

Summon Soul Bond

Effect: Summon one of your Soul Bonds into the physical plane.

Duration: ∞

Cooldown: None

Cost: 5 mana per minute

Soul Bond Fusion

Effect: Fuse with one of your Soul Bonds into a hybrid form.

Duration: ∞

Cooldown: 1 hour

Cost: 100 mana per minute

Soul Bond Possession

Effect: Have one of your Soul Bonds possess the body of another living creature.

Duration: 10 minutes

Cooldown: 10 hours

Cost: 200 mana

Soul Sight

Effect: Sense the souls of others and gain information from it such as affinities, resources and abilities.

Duration: ∞

Cooldown: None

Cost: 5 mana per minute

Aster’s eyes went wide at the new information. He had gained so much in such little time that he was starting to feel overwhelmed by it all. This new class was incredible for him but the implications of some of the effects and abilities seemed a bit daunting. As far as he could tell there was no maximum number of soul bonds and, as each one made him more powerful and lifespan longer, his potential was… limitless.

What would happen if someone with an ambition for power learned of what he could do? Would he become strong enough in time to keep his will his own? As an Unblessed, people had seen him as lesser, a tool for menial labor, to be easily discarded, now though… they would see him as a tool to covet and manipulate something to fight over so they could fight with it. While the mark on his forehead was something that drove people away before now it would become a beacon for envy. He wondered briefly if that was how Saelak had always felt. His power was always on clear display, maybe that was why he kept striving to be better even though he was already ahead of most. Aster looked at his friend in a slightly new light now, perhaps Saelak was actually wiser than he gave him credit for most of the time.

He wasn’t sure how much information he wanted to give Donoma though at the moment. He liked her and wanted to trust her but they had really only met a week ago. He didn’t know enough about her or her intentions to spill everything out in the open so he simply said, “It’s customized to the Soul Bond ability. Gives me a bunch of bonuses for them and abilities that utilize them. One of the abilities is to summon them…” He checked his mana pool again: 480/480. He activated his new technique, Number Crunch, and did some mental math. Currently, he could summon his new soul bond for 96 minutes not including his regen which would stretch it to 4 hours and 11 minutes if he only spent mana on keeping the summon active. He could up the total amount if he dumped some points into Intellect or he could try to raise his Wisdom enough to regenerate more but he wasn’t sure if either of those was the right move at the moment.

For now though, he just wanted to try it and also to make sure he wasn’t actually hallucinating all of this, “Summon Soul Bond: Hitsuki!” he cried out dramatically then noticed light below him. When he looked downwards he realized it was coming from his chest a moment before a flame encased rabbit burst from his sternum and he yelled in surprise and stumbled backwards, falling on his arse with a small fire rabbit staring at him and telepathically flooding the area with chatter.

“Hiya, Master! I’m so glad you summoned me! It is, like, such an honor and stuff to be your very first!” the bunny hopped toward him excitedly with every word.

The others however were staring at Aster and the little ball of flames with open mouths. “By da Divine, it’z really real!” Donoma said as she bent down almost sitting on the heels of her boots to get a better look at the little creature.

Aster stared at Hitsuki who was now propping her weight against him as her paws rested on his raised knee, “Uh, hello Hitsuki” he said out loud for his companion’s benefit.

Saelak moved closer as well and asked the rabbit aloud, a slight tinge of disbelief in his voice, “You're speaking to us telepathically but you're just a Fire rabbit aren't you? How is this possible?”

Hitsuki turned her little head towards the Winter Elf as she replied, “Because Master shared his blessing with me, silly elf! The talk of a Deviant Spirit Blessed has been, like, travelling through the forest for a few days now, so I wanted to come see for myself.” She leaned even closer to Aster and raised a paw to her mouth as though whispering a secret, “We can feel your ability, it draws us all to you.”

Aster couldn't help himself as he gently patted her head as he asked, “But why didn't any other animals.. You know.. Do the spirit-thingy with me?”

Hitsuki rubbed her head into his palm, enjoying the contact as she explained proudly, “Cause most don't know how to. My mama told me about it, the story is often told secretly in my family.” Then she said in a sing-song tone, “When the deviant walks upon the land, give yourself to their command. With two as one and one as all, combined your powers will never fall. Kiss the Spirit to share your Fire, if ne’er alone is all you desire.” She hopped into his lap then, finished with her recital, and nuzzled against his chest, “Family is everything to us Fire Rabbits, so the idea of being part of the huge family a Soul Tamer could create was always, like, totally a dream of ours!”

Donoma shuffled closer to Aster and Hitsuki as she asked, “What did ya mean by ‘Kiss da Spirit ta share yer Fire’?”

Hitsuki looked towards her for a moment, blinking as though it was obvious, “I had to kiss Master to trigger his ability.”

Donoma stared back at the bunny before smiling and giving a sidelong glance towards Saelak, “And by kiss you mean…?” she drew out the word making it into a question and Hitsuki just turned back to Aster and booped her nose against his.

Saelak blushed crimson and grabbed the rabbit around the middle lifting her off and away from Aster, “That's enough of that!”

Donoma started clutching her sides trying to hold back her snickering as Hitsuki whined at Saelak to let her down. Aster couldn’t help but chuckle at the scene, “Haha, I see… so basically we just need to be touching.”

Saelak unceremoniously dropped the rabbit into Donoma’s outstretched arms as he added, “Intent probably plays into it as well, when learning to control our Blessings as kids, focusing intent is highly stressed as important. It’s what the Bending Abilities are driven on.”

Aster shrugged, “Well I was asleep, so if intent does play a part it doesn't care about my opinion apparently,” his hand wandered to his necklace to spin his ring around the chain while he thought. “So now that we’re bonded and I’ve summoned you, what can you do? Can you fight or anything?”

Donoma looked at him like he was some sort of monster as she looked down at the bunny in her arms and said, “She’s just a wee lil bunny!” then proceeded to almost crush the creature against her in a huggle.

Hitsuki used a paw to push herself out of suffocating between breasts as she said, “I can fight! I have Fire Bending and am, like, super fast. You should be able to use my Fire now too, ya?”

Donoma rubbed her cheeks against the soft fur among the flames that didn’t burn as she said excitedly, “Ooooo! Try it, Aster!”

Saelak put a hand on Aster’s arm as the half-elf started standing, “Wait a second, have you already forgotten the last time you channeled Fire?”

Aster finished standing and patted his friend on the arm as he said with a reassuring grin, “No worries! I have you there to soak me again, right?”

Saelak crossed his arms scowling at him, “That didn't prevent the pain or fever it caused.”

Aster shook his head, “My body was acclimating, I have Fire Bending now so it should just come naturally, right?” He glanced at Hitsuki who nodded her head emphatically. “Alright then, do I just imagine what I want?” He held up a hand in front of him but nothing seemed to happen right away.

Saelak spoke up, “Picture what you want then focus your mana into being an extension of your body in the form of your will.”

“That seems really existential when you explain it like that.” Aster said, a bit exasperated but he tried his best to picture a small ball of fire in his palm. He closed his eyes trying to feel his mana that had been laying dormant all these years. He calmed his breathing, using the same techniques that he did when meditating and was able to find it, in the center of his being with a sense of draining and he remembered that he was currently still channeling the summoning spell for Hitsuki which was constantly using mana. The spell seemed so easy though compared to this ability. Perhaps because it had set parameters and once he spoke casting it it didn’t need his will to direct it… a thought occurred to him and he asked aloud, “Will channeling my summon spell interfere with using my bending ability?”

Donoma gave a shrug and Saelak spoke up, drawing from his own memories, “It can. When I first was learning to bend, which came easier to me, I tried using a spell while making snow swirl around to obscure my presence. It was extremely difficult but, once I managed it, I got the Multicasting skill. There is a tax on the cost when using it but leveling that skill up lowers the tax and makes it easier to do.” He glanced over at Hitsuki and added, “Why don’t you release your spell and try Fire Bending again? Then, once you get the hang of that, you can try unlocking Multicasting.”

Aster nodded and looked over at the flaming bunny, “So… how do I…” he gestured at her then back at his chest. She chuckled over their mental connect then leapt from Donoma’s arms, a few more hops across the short space, then jumped into him. He shivered slightly, weirded out by the sensation and felt his mana stop draining. He looked at his mana pool really quick, 435/460, then refocused on his palm which he stretched out in front of him once more. ‘Alright, what is fire? The friction of molecules generating energy and heat, feeding off air and other materials, do I need that initial spark? Do I need something for it to burn? No, Rilien never needed that. How did he pull it off before? Oh, maybe it’s just mana that feeds it. Maybe if I cast Fireball it’ll help me get a feel for magic fire? But then the whole will thing doesn’t come into play…’

“Quit thinking so hard and just do it!” Hitsuki shouted in his mind, tired of his mental babbling. He shook himself and tried to clear his mind and reduced his thoughts down to ‘ignite’ as a small flame flickered into existence in his palm. He looked up at Saelak as though verifying that he saw what he was seeing, only to find the elves both grinning back at him.

He gave out a breathless chuckle as he said, “Heh, I did it. I made fire!”