Teyva looted the bodies of the two elven ascendants, their bodies turning to dust. She ignored the prompts alerting her to whatever obscene amount of experience she’d gained from this wanton act of slaughter. She felt cold, her blood aching in her veins. She’d been holding back ever since she saw Yaga. Rage was her entire world right now and not even this massacre was enough to sate her. She glanced around, watching at the rilks dragged the bodies about, picking them clean of equipment and material before pulling them down into the tunnels below. Her lip twisted morbidly, her children would eat well today.

She turned her attention back to the loot she’d acquired from the bodies.

You have acquired: [Aspect Stone of the Vigil] Aspect Stone, Epic Rarity

Consume this stone to gain access to the Vigil Aspect Tree

You have acquired: [Aspect Stone of the Winter] Aspect Stone, Epic Rarity

Consume this stone to gain access to the Winter Aspect Tree

You have acquired: [Aspect Shard] x 7

A small gemstone containing the raw, unfocused power of the aspects. These stones have a variety of uses in ritual magic and can be used to unlock new aspect abilities.

The aspect stones were of no use to her for now, though perhaps she could find a use for them later. She held on to them just in case. The aspect shards were a genuine prize, though, especially given how much exp she’d probably gained. She moved her attention to the next set of prompts while she walked away from the piles of dust.

“Mother?” Nephral asked, breaking her concentration.

She cleared her throat and reached up to stroke his head, “Yes, love?”

“Are you okay?” He asked pointedly.

Teyva glanced around at the bodies again and let out a breath, “No,” She said, “I can’t process it, if I’m being honest.” Teyva thought back to that moment in the woods when she’d first taken a life intentionally. When Azrael had helped her through it. She shivered and rubbed her arm, forcing her thoughts back to that cold frame of mind. She couldn’t think about their suffering right now, not while the humans were off attacking her home. She ran her hand over Nephral’s back and exhaled again, “I’ll get through it.”

She returned her attention to the prompts;

You have earned an Achievement!

[Massacre at the Silver Plains] - You engineered the slaughter of thousands of human soldiers in battle, you showed no mercy and took no prisoners. Your alignment has shifted.

Disconcerting, but according to her sheet her alignment was still neutral. This was fine, then. She could live with those consequences.

LEVEL UP!

You are now Level 14

You have 15 (3 Base + 12 Racial) attribute points to spend.

You must rest for at least one hour to use your attribute points.

An Aspect Shard has been added to your inventory.

You have gained a Respawn.

You may unlock one ability per aspect at this level.

Your control limit for [Create Mockery] has increased to 140.

Your [Dominion Pool] has increased to 140.

She made a face, did she even have time to rest in order to use attribute points? She was still a good distance from Osan so she supposed it was possible. According to her backlog of prompts, she’d gained enough experience to bump her all the way to level 16. She shuddered a little at the implications of just going around slaughtering ascendants and armies to push her experience points higher and higher. What was the level cap anyway?

A pair of rilks rushed by, carrying loads of materials and food in their powerful arms. Whatever the situation, it was likely that the people of Osan were going to need every bit of resource they could get. She had the rilks collect the supplies in one place and then begin disassembling tents to draw over the pile of resources so they would be protected from the snow. She could move the supplies over after things were secure.

A glorious victory! Viira hissed into her mind.

It isn’t over yet, darling, Teyva said evenly.

My children are flush with strength and vitality, we eagerly await the next battle.

Good. It’ll be soon. Leave some of your children to handle the materials and guard them. We should move on.

Yes, Mother.

Teyva returned to the carriage and climbed inside, urging the mimic back into the air. She leaned back and crossed her legs, “Going to rest and level up, Nephral. Wake me when we arrive.”

“As you wish,” Nephral said with a quiet nod.

Teyva slipped into the place of her soul for the first time since she’d banished Rani. The dark violet clouds were gone, replaced with a storm of white and gray. Flashes of amethyst lightning coiled around the roiling clouds, paired with claps of thunder. Teyva set to work quickly distributing her stat points. She didn’t have a lot of time before she arrived at her final destination and she needed to be ready.

All fifteen points went immediately into Influence. Her damage output soaring. She woke and pulled her aspect shards from her inventory and set to work making choices. She hadn’t even seen the tier-two abilities for the Siren yet. So that would be four shards to use. In total she would have 10 to work with. She opened up Titan first to get it out of the way.

Titan Blooded IV

[Titan]

No Rank

Passive Enhancement

Your base Physique and Endurance have been increased by an additional 15 points.

She felt the familiar strain as her muscles grew tighter and denser, she felt the skin on her face tighten and the strange gem-like scales spread further across her collar and forehead. She took a breath and pushed herself to continue. She quickly chose from Pale Dawn, Facsimile, and Labyrinthian.

Haunting Wind

[Pale Dawn]

Pathetic

Improves Afflictions

When a creature dies while under the effects of one of your afflictions, that affliction has a chance of spreading to nearby enemies.

Dancing Weapons

[Facsimile]

Pathetic

Active Utility | 35MP

You may give life to a number of non-magical weapons equal to your mana manipulation level. These weapons will float in the air and fight on your behalf until destroyed.

Create Chimera

[Labyrinthian]

Active Utility | 500MP

You consume up to three nearby summons, combining them into a single creature with a selection of their abilities. This creature lasts for 1 hour before dissolving.

“Now for Siren,” Teyva muttered and pulled up the list of tier-two abilities.

Delight

[Siren]

Passive

Creatures that come under the effects of your Siren abilities now have a chance of being afflicted with [Delight]

Affliction: Delight (Mental)

The infected target deals reduced damage to you.

Mirage, Lesser

[Siren]

Active Utility | 120MP

You conjure up an illusion that can fill a maximum of a 10 x 10 foot area. The illusion may possess either sound or visual qualities.

Aria of Health

[Siren]

Active Utility | MP Cost Varies

Allied creatures that hear your voice gain health regeneration.

Talisman

[Siren]

Passive

You create an enchanted talisman that is empowered by one of your words of power. It grants an effect to you based on that word. You may change the word associated with the talisman with an hour long ritual.

It was a tough choice but she picked [Aria of Health] first, she would need it when they arrived at Osan. With her choices made she closed her eyes and quickly slipped back into the void to distribute more points. She had to work fast. Another fifteen points into Influence shot it up to 110 and further boosted her attack power. She’d snatch up the next stage of [Titan Blooded] to make up for not spending more on endurance.

LEVEL UP!

You are now Level 15

You have 15 (3 Base + 12 Racial) attribute points to spend.

You must rest for at least one hour to use your attribute points.

An Aspect Shard has been added to your inventory.

You have gained a Respawn.

You may unlock one ability per aspect at this level.

You have become [Potent]! Your abilities can now reach the [Potent] Rank!

You have unlocked Tier 4 abilities for your Aspects.

Your control limit for [Create Mockery] has increased to 150.

Your [Dominion Pool] has increased to 150.

She woke up and snatched up her next set of shards.

Titan Blooded V

[Titan]

No Rank

Passive Enhancement

Your base Physique and Endurance have been increased by an additional 15 points.

Summon Giant

[Titan]

Pathetic

Summoning | 420MP

Choose one magical element. You summon a giant who’s aspect matches your chosen element. The creature obeys your commands and will fight relentlessly until it dies or is dismissed. The Giant possesses its own suite of combat abilities and possess well rounded attributes. The Giant has a weakness to its opposing magical element.

[Titan Blooded V] was of course her first choice, bumping her health even higher. More changes took place, her bones becoming heavier for a moment before her body adapted to the feeling. A little woozy from the sensation she had to lean back and rub her face.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard, mother,” Nephral warned.

“I can’t hold back,” Teyva grumbled, “I can’t leave anything to chance.”

She grabbed her next shard and snatched up [Improved Mind Trap], Completing Tier 3 of Labyrinthian.

Improved Mind Trap

[Labyrinthian]

Pathetic

Improves Mind Trap

Your mind trap now effects up to five targets within a 10m area.

Next was Facsimile with only one ability left to pick for Tier 3.

Predators Reach

[Facsimile]

Improves Grasp of the Mimic

You may now extend your transformed limb up to 5m.

She turned her attention to Pale Dawn and grabbed [Pale Ray]

Pale Ray

[Pale Dawn]

Pathetic

Ranged Attack | 38MP

Release a ray of cold and necrotic damage at long range, dealing significant damage on hit and inflicting [Chilling Weakness] on the target. This ability has a 30-second cooldown.

Last she rechecked the list of Siren abilities and snagged [Talisman]. Immediately there was a faint flash of light and what looked like a cylinder of pure crystal appeared in the air and landed in her hand. She grabbed it and turned it over in her palm, its smooth surface pulsing with mana. It felt like a heartbeat.

Please choose an Elemental Affinity for this Talisman

“Death Magic,” Teyva said quickly.

An instant later portions of the crystal began to crumble until she was left holding what appeared to be a carved crystal skeleton in her hand.

You have acquired: [Teyva Akura’s Talisman of Death] Trinket, Unique Rarity

Keeping this totem on your person will amplify the damage of your death-magic abilities and spells. You also gain a one stage increase in your death magic resistance

“Superb,” Teyva said, slipping the talisman into her pocket. With her abilities chosen she checked her prompts before resting again.

You have acquired a new Sovereign Aspect Ability!

Tithe and Tincture [Monsters]

Tier 4

No Rank

Passive

When a creature is destroyed or slain by a creature that is considered one of your summons you gain 5% of that creatures maximum health in the form of Mana and the summon in question gains 5% of that creatures maximum mana in the form of Health.

“Oh right! I almost forgot!” Teyva blurted, “This is awesome!” She mused on how it would be effective against a large number of enemies like the army she was about to face up against. It was kind of a relief, she didn’t like how it felt when her summons were defeated, even if they were just unsummoned like when Azrael used her anti-magic abilities. This would give her even more options as well, as her mana regeneration was the only thing that limited what she could do.

She checked her last prompt, notifying her that her three growth items had grown again.

[Grasp of the Tomb Guardian] has acquired a new attribute.

Potent Attribute: While wielding Grasp of the Tomb Guardian you gain Telekinetic abilities.

[Razorchain of the Bound One] has acquired a new attribute.

Potent Attribute: Touch abilities used through this weapon have increased effects.

[Masque of the Newborn Queen] has acquired a new attribute.

Potent Attribute: Abilities and spells you cast that possess an elemental type may be augmented with a secondary element at the cost of additional mana.

Absolutely brilliant, she was already thinking of ways she could use these. Especially the new attribute for the Masque. With only one shard left to use she leaned back and closed her eyes, spending the last of her points on willpower to bump her Mana up a bit. That put her mana over two thousand!

LEVEL UP!

You are now Level 16

You have 15 (3 Base + 12 Racial) attribute points to spend.

You must rest for at least one hour to use your attribute points.

An Aspect Shard has been added to your inventory.

You have gained a Respawn.

You may unlock one ability per aspect at this level.

Your [Explorer’s Notebook] has been improved to the [Potent] [Adventurer’s Codex], you may now get additional information about creatures and objects you encounter.

Your control limit for [Create Mockery] has increased to 160.

Your [Dominion Pool] has increased to 160.

Teyva woke to the sound of Nephral’s voice. “Mother! Mother wake up please! We’ve arrived at the battlefield!” The sphinx shouted, pushing against her leg with his tiny paws. Teyva shook her head and snapped out of the momentary grogginess, snatching up her last Aspect Shard and pulling up Titan.

“How bad is it?” Teyva asked, selecting [Summon Giant].

“Bad, mother, very bad, I do not see any of the Four on the battlefield, nor do I see their patron beings. The Azar are being pushed back into the city as well. Though it does look like they gave as good as they got,” Nephral said, sitting on his haunches.

“Has anyone noticed us yet?” She asked.

“Not that I can tell, no.”

Teyva straightened herself up and leaned forward, peering out the window and grimacing at the carnage below. Her gut twisted at the thoughts running through her head. Were the other members of the Four okay? Where was Thrake? Didn’t the humans send ascendants too? Where were they? She ran her fingers through her hair and took a deep breath. “Okay, time to make an entrance.”