“Yes,” Rhamiel answered and immediately deviated. “Are you sure you can stop fighting right now? Aren’t there still monsters coming? I can do this myself-”
“Yes, but your powers help us all,” she told him. “It is better that I focus on you when you have this kind of achievement. Why are you trying to get rid of me?” She questioned. “I thought you appreciated my input?”
“I do,” Rhamiel said.
“Then why are you acting cagey? You seem to be going out of your way to avoid asking for any of our input for a few days now.” Joselin stated, furrowing her eyebrows as she thought. “Did I do something?”
“No.”
“No? I didn’t do anything to upset you?” she pushed. “Then why have you been distant and short with us recently?”
“I haven’t been,” he denied.
“And now you’re lying,” Joselin accused him. “And don’t say that you’re not. I’m your System Guide. I can tell you are frustrated.”
“About what?” Rhamiel pushed back. “Nothing is wrong, and even if it were, would it even matter? I’m not one of you gross meat people, and you have already proven that.”
Joselin seemed surprised for a moment before she looked meaningfully at the open air where Rhamiel’s voice was coming from and asked carefully, “How? When?”
“After the Westark battle. Mom and Dad took you away to talk about your choices and celebrate your victory alone, and left me to just go back to work. It’s okay, I like working, it’s only too bad that I am slowed down by my need to work with you people.” Then Rhamiel understood what he had just blurted out and said, “You know, for example.”
“Oh.” Joselin looked away. “I guess I never thought about that. I always talk to my Dad about my upgrades, and I just fought my first Field Boss and won. And it had just happened to be the one who had destroyed our old Hamlet.”
She trailed off before nodding. “Okay, I get it. I would be upset too if I felt like I was being ignored by people I liked and trusted.”
“No,” Rhamiel interrupted. “No, just no, not at all. Let’s just get this over with.”
Joselin cocked her head, confused at the sudden turn. “O-okay. I think we should spend your Attribute points first. Can you remind me of how they are divvied up now?”
Rhamiel pulled it up and willed it to become visible to her.
“Okay, you have… twelve points to spend,” she mused as she looked at his Attributes. “Okay, for now, I think your Core Strength is high enough. We do not need more Drones for the moment, and increasing the power of each individual point of mana is not really useful yet.” She thought about it for an extra second. “But it is probably why your only attack spell hits so hard.”
“Makes sense,” Rhamiel said, having never thought about that.
“From what I am reading, you will want to increase your Core Structure a little. “That is not just your Core Durability. The higher your Level, the higher your Durability will need to be to handle the higher mana outputs you will be able to use, and make you bigger. Also, from what some of my Guides are telling me, it looks like if you increase your Core Structure, it will enhance everything you generate made from your Core Crystal.”
Joselin paused and continued, “Your Core Mana Recovery is also good for a little bit. I would add a few to Core Mana Supply, Core Presence, and Core Structure.”
“Why Presence and Mana Supply?”
“Core Presence because it will enhance your ability to keep things out of your Domain and enhance the construction speed of the few things you can generate. And Core Mana Supply, because it also increases the amount of Divine Mana the Eldritch Cathedral holds. Which means…”
“More Spells,” Rhamiel finished. “Now that sounds appealing.”
So Rhamiel decided to heed her suggestions. He put three points in Core Structure, six in Core Presence, and the last three in Core Mana Supply. He had to hold himself back from putting more in his Mana Supply, but he was held back by one detail. He had yet to maximize what the Cathedral could currently hold. It took quite a while for the worship of his Citizens to increase the Divine Mana he held.
Instead, he increased his Core Presence to increase his Drones work speed and increase what he had on hand. That would be most beneficial for now.
After Rhamiel confirmed the selection, Joselin nodded. “Great! I like these numbers; these can only help you. Now, what else… Oh, before we look into your new Perk, did you want to tell me about your new Skill?”
“Can’t you just look it up?” Rhamiel grumbled as he opened up the Skill.
“No, I can’t,” Joselin grumbled back. “It might be part of a future upgrade, but I cannot look up your skills.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Really? Huh, I just assumed you could.”
This is a Devotion skill, granting you several benefits.
One, the ability to convert normal mana into Divine Mana of a specific type of your choosing at a 99:1 ratio.
Two, increase the amount of Divine Mana earned through your citizens’ prayers at prepared Altars by 1%.
Three, you may discover the secrets of the Outer Gods through the use of their power and contemplation. Including, but not limited to spells, enchantments, alchemy, and perhaps even greater or more reality-changing secrets.>
Rhamiel decided to pretend that he hadn’t forgotten to read his new Skill. “It didn’t tell me. Can you tell what a Devotion Skill is?”
“There are only a few skills that can go up to level 100; most have a set limit of five, ten, or twenty. Devotion skills are one of the types that can reach Level 100, maybe even higher. But they also require actual work to level up. Contemplation, experimentation, knowledge, and even application are how you increase Devotion Skills,” Joselin answered, speaking as if she were reading something. “I have heard of a few people getting Devotion Skills, but they are scarce.”
She shrugged. “Well, it’s good to know something that you can do, right? Just let me or Mom know if you discover something interesting. I would say Dad, but I think this would go over his head.” She laughed, and Rhamiel couldn’t disagree.
Shaking her head, Joselin started walking back to the main part of the settlement. “Okay, next. Can you tell me what your options for a new perk are?"
With a thought, Rhamiel opened up the options for his Level twenty Perk.
- The Few - You have survived using a few highly trained individuals instead of a militia or an army of lesser combatants. This Perk solidifies that choice in Grants’ one special enhancement perk to the ones you choose to become your Elite citizens. Choosing this Perk blocks you from being able to pick either “The One” or “The Many” Perks.
- Necro-Occultism - Not everything dead is lost forever. The gods of this world may have died before the Age of Decline, but the sparks of their divinity never die; they only disappear from the view of mortals. With your choice to begin to walk the path of Outer Divine worship, other avenues of divine power become open for more casual use, if you can learn of them.
- LoreHeart - The world is shaped by Physical Laws, controlled with Magic, influenced by gods and Outer Gods, and lived through by people and beasts. But it is through the infinite narratives arising from these factors that the world reached its current state. The ruins and the dead litter the land like scars on a body, and each contains the stories that brought them to that point. This Perk unlocks the Civilization Core’s ability to see these interwoven stories and see how they got to this point. This can unlock a multitude of paths for you and your civilization.>
“Wow,” Joselin smiled. “Talk about a hard choice.”
“Alright, what are you thinking?” Rhamiel sighed. “I can tell you’re thinking about something, I don’t know what, but you are.”
“Can you? Huh, well, you’re right, I am.” Joselin nodded. “All three of these have incredible potential for the settlement. ‘The Few’ is one of the Perks that I was looking out for, it’s a great choice for our main fighters, giving ones the warriors you choose powers. But after seeing these…” she trailed off.
“But?” Rhamiel asked.
“But that was before those other two choices appeared. The System Guide notes told me a lot about the generic stuff, but they did not mention the options for special actions. I mean, Necro-Occultism? You probably got that because of those Sickles from the Scarecrow. The Sisterhood Hag,” she shuddered. “What a terrible thing.”
“And LoreHeart?”
She shrugged, “Who knows. I mean, you have been hearing about a lot of things that I barely knew about. Maybe it has to do with that?”
“Like what?”
“Like, uh…” Joselin paused and thought about it for several long seconds. “Like the city of Anachron and its Malady, you’ve heard about the City of Udarov from the Hero, and you keep hearing about random bosses like the one that had enslaved Lamar, uh, the Vicountess…”
“Vicountess Emola,” Rhamiel completed. “Yeah, maybe. It makes sense given the number of stories I am hearing. Most of which I did not ask for, but hey, here we are.”
“I will stick with my idea of ‘The Many’ being an optimal choice for now, given that we are fighting a lot right now AND that it will give us an edge in battle against bosses and Cores. But either of the others would be good too. It’s not like there is a bad choice here,” Joselin shrugged.
And that was the problem with this choice: none of them were bad, and he could use them all now.
Like she said with Necro-Occultism, I got those Sickles, and who knows what that would do. Enable someone to use them or unlock a building or a series of buildings, like the Eldritch Cathedral, where their power could be utilized. Or he could even do something with the Divine Power itself in the blades; the possibilities felt endless.
And with LoreHeart, it was much vaguer; that was probably the biggest reason he was going to remove it from this choice. How could he justify using it without any idea of what he could be getting? This Perk unlocks the Civilization Core’s ability to see these interwoven stories. How? A building? Through System Prompts? Visions? And a multitude of paths, no. He wanted it; something about this still tugged at him as a good choice, though not the best.
Then again, a thought occurred to Rhamiel.
“Hey, do you know if my Architect’s Library can unlock the blueprints for the buildings attached to these Perks? Or any others?” Rhamiel asked leadingly.
Joselin furrowed her brow; the Core could almost see the thoughts running through her head as she searched through her System Guide Menus. A minute passed, then a few more, and Rhamiel was genuinely wondering if she found anything or if she was scouring everything before answering. Or at least, that was what he was envisioning. Rhamiel had no idea what her System Guide stuff looked like.
Rhamiel was deciding on some details of a new type of Farm blueprint when Joselin finally spoke again.
“Ha! Hahahahaha, Aha!” she cheered. “Looks like your thought may have been right. You really got lucky with the Blueprint Generation Perk; it can grant you the buildings in these Perks. It does give a warning that you can not get any other skills or powers that you would have gotten if you chose the Perk, but you will get the ability.”
That made this choice really easy then.
You cannot control what power The Few gain, but it will be something that resonates with the wielder. A Special Attack, Spell, or even unique powers that will assist them in defending your settlement even as it grows. Giving you a unique advantage against all foes who threaten your settlement, from within or without.
You can only select One Citizen to become an Elite Citizen per ten points of Core Presence. The gained power has two power levels, stronger within your Domain and weaker outside.
The only person exempt from the power is the System Guide: Joselin Setalla.>
Looking up the description of the new Blueprint, Rhamiel sighed. He didn’t breathe, but the action still helped him relieve some small annoyance.
“Well, what does the Blueprint need?” Joselin asked.
“Just enough worked stone to form the pedestal itself and a blessing from a Priest that can complete a level 1 rite ,” Rhamiel listed. “I can work on the Pedestal now, not a problem, it does not list a type of stone. But the blessing…”
“Maybe Graham can do it?” Joselin suggested. “He used Outer Divine Magic.”
“No, I mean, maybe, but I doubt it. The Rite needs to be completed by a Priest, and Graham is a Holy Fist,” Rhamiel growled. “If I knew this, I would have chosen Necro-Occultism.”
A moment passed as Rhamiel cursed at himself with self-pity. An upgrade that would help him push his boundaries and gain ground to focus on building, yet again, he was held back by something he could not readily work to complete. He could not carve a priest from a tree or conjure a priest Drone to complete a rite, nor could he do it himself. This was one of the reasons Civilization Cores were rare; they bound themselves to work with the Enlightened Races, and now it was holding him back.
He could not make himself regret this choice, but he still cursed his luck.
And in his spiral, a feeling broke through his sorrows. Five people, including one of his citizens, were walking into his Domain. Leading the group was Dad, Bow held low but ready to rise. Rhamiel recognized the others as the Hero’s party, and he used Aspected Analysis to look at them.
“A Priest and a Blacksmith…” Rhamiel said, his voice echoing around his Core Generator. “I have a Priest and a Blacksmith. I finally have a Priest and a Blacksmith!” he cheered, moving his Drones around and getting some to work on the Pedestal of the Few. He needed to get several things going at once; it was almost dizzying.
“Rhamiel,” Dad called as they got closer to the Wall. “Rhamiel! Hey, would you come here, please? The Hero’s party would like a word.”