Jjhutto_Son of Flame
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B3. Ch. 8 Gaines
🕑 Added 2024-06-03 19:06:50 +0000 UTCTilly settled into his meditative pose facing the mouth of the now huge cavern and pulled up his notification log, trying to make sense of the constant shuddering that seemed to be racking his armor and weapons.
Congratulations! Your Legendary Armor and Hatchets have been imbued with a new form! After absorbing Dragon’s blood and flame, you have gained access to the Draconic Emissary armor set and Dragon’s Fury hatchet Modifier.
Draconic Emissary Armor set: Made from masterwork dragon leather, this set gives the wearer access to the Draconic Authority Skill and Primal Aura Ability.
-Draconic Authority: The wearer’s ability to resist aural pressures against their soul is multiplied proportionally to their willpower and self-perceived authority in a given area.
-Primal Aura: You may exert Will on your surroundings, imbuing your words and actions with the first true power to rise on Nephesh.
Dragon’s Fury weapon modification: Through repeated exposure to flames at Legendary tier or higher and the absorption of dragon’s blood, your hatchet heads have transformed. They now issue out a flat x2 damage modifier to any flame attack channeled through the heads of your weapons. Flame channeled in such a manner takes on the characteristics of Dragon’s fire, including but not limited to the dissipation of weaker magics and the ability to burn in nonstandard environments.
Tilly couldn’t help but release a low whistle at the jump in power his Growth-Type equipment had just made. He un-looped his hatchets as their shuddering grew even more intense, laying them on the ground before him and watching as the once-knapped stone heads melted and reformed. After the process began to cool, what was left was something like a polished obsidian, covered in smoldering read script. The leading edge of each hatchet head had a glittering edge polished into its tapered beard and was balanced by jagged hooked points extending opposite the blade. The antler handles remained but took on a scorched appearance, and Tilly got the impression they had hardened to a significant degree without loosing any of their tensile strength.
He took a few moments to appreciate just how dangerous the weapons now looked, more than hinting at the huge gain in damage output they had just experienced. The x2 modifier alone would be insane against any corrupted opponents, let alone the implications of his flame output taking on the characteristics of Dragon Fire… Who knew what that meant?
A few deep breaths later Tilly sent a gentle flex of his will toward his armor, and felt a shiver of response from the newly empowered set…
‘Ok, I have weighted way too long to do this, but I need to know if you can change on command’ he sent inwardly, now more sensitive than ever to the insubstantial bounds tying him to his equipment. Tilly mentally pushed toward the first transformation his armor had experienced, sending the impression of burning and overwhelming heat. His connection thrummed in response and he felt an almost physical click as his conscious desires connected with the item's innate ability to transition into different forms.
A ripple, starting at his neck, ran down the fur and leathers as they shifted into the deep yellow of the Sun Salamander hide. Tilly felt a cowl slide over his head, and a mask reach up to settle comfortably over his nose.
Then with another thought, he shifted the armor to its Null Spider form, and just like that, he felt the addition of his Mana Overdrive Ability fall into place within his Pathways. A quick scan of his stats did confirm that his original bonus to Endurance from his base armor was not present in these other forms. But the utility was undeniable.
“... If I am careful how I pair these with my broken title-gaining capability-” He muttered lost in thought. When he had first read the description of his Celestial Tier reward, he had been cautiously optimistic. Each shift in stats only lasted ten breaths, and could only be done once per day. But that did nothing to diminish the insane usefulness that flexibility would give him depending on the situation, especially since they made the glaring weakness in his build much harder to pin down for any opponent that would be trying to plan for his power set in the future.
However, when he had reread over the description of his [Resolute] Title, an idea had occurred to him… did an equivalent Title exist for each of the Stats? And if they did exist, would activating one ‘superlative title’ keep him from activating the other on the ‘once a day’ reset? He had planned to test those questions out later today but had sort of been forced into an early attempt by the absolutely ridiculous conflict he had just barely survived bluffing his way through.
That being said, Celestial was the highest Tier he knew of, and in retrospect, it was obvious something as powerful as could be expected. With a more typical Stat spread, this reward would have been amazing. With his skewed Stats… He had just become a walking nuclear bomb of potential damage. The opportunity would only come once per day, but if he planned it right, he had just become a huge force multiplier against the mysterious powers aligning themselves against the Plane.
While the change to his damage output was astounding. He also needed to get a better understanding of Draconic Authority. From his initial reading, it looked like it had great potential to help shore up one of Tilly’s biggest weaknesses, his mental defense. That flaw in his build had been especially painful in the face of Igor the Vampiric Mesmur, who had completely disappeared after the battle, and the Prime Dirge. No one had any intel on where the local commander of the Horde’s forces had gone and Tilly did not relish having to face him again. The idea of having something to shore up that area of his defense was a huge relief.
With a thought, he used his newly discovered mental connection to push his armor toward its Draconic Emissary state. A ripple of scales emerged from the material layered over his body to create a completely unexpected look. He shot up from his meditative pose gawking down at his newest armor form.
The material itself was not too unexpected, a sort of metallic snakeskin, but that was not what had his eyes almost bugging out of their sockets in shock….
No, that award went to the fact that the whole set had formed something akin to a three-piece dragon skin suit, complete with a white silk dress shirt, a blood-red tie, and scaled dress shoes… Tilly was so caught up in the moment that he even checked to see if the armor had generated a solution to his ongoing underwear problem.
Nope.
Despite that disappointment, looking down, Tilly couldn’t help but notice that at some point in recent history, he had become the owner of a six-pack. The dad-bod paunch had departed over the course of weeks of intense physical training paired with the modest diet provided by the Alliance. His new trim figure was emphasized in every way by the slim-cut suit unlike his typical bulkier leather and fur armor. He buttoned his shirt and jacket back up with an uncomfortable frown, feeling like some strange combination of a fantasy Gucci model and snakeskin enthusiast.
“Really?” He growled down at the unbelievably ostentatious-looking ‘armor’, “What am I supposed to do with you, hit a fashion show?” He demanded of the equipment, which now exuded a smug feeling of superiority. Its crisp lines and perfect fit screamed ‘Pretentious A-hole’. Tilly was about to command it to revert back to the base form when he remembered the new skill and Ability that came with the set.
He pulled up his Skill list to take a look at how the system was registering it, filtering out any Skills that hadn’t changed in the last couple of hours.
Skills:
-Beginner Hatchett level 30 > 32
-Ax Throwing Level 31 > 38
-Draconic Authority Level N/A
‘Nice! Got a couple of Level gains from that insane attack! Of course, ‘N/A’ tells me nothing…’ He thought ruefully, before attempting to somehow activate the Skill despite its lackluster description:
-Draconic Authority: The wearer’s ability to resist aural pressures against their soul is multiplied proportionally to their willpower and self-perceived authority in a given area.
Nothing happened, and Tilly could find no internal sense of how to apply the skill. But that probably had something to do with needing an aura to ‘resist’ in order for its effects to be felt. Also what the hell did that last part of the description mean? “Self-perceived authority” That one had to win the award for vague and unhelpful language…
Only slightly discouraged by his almost immediate failure, he pulled up his new Ability,
-Primal Aura: You may exert Will on your surroundings, imbuing your words and actions with the first true power to rise on Nephesh.
Unlike the Skill, he could feel this one hovering like a veil around his core. Almost hesitantly, he tried to ‘flex’ it, and nothing happened, in fact, the veil became more solid, further dampening the ‘heat’ being released from his fiery core. To a degree, he was now constantly feeling the heat of his mana radiating along his Pathways, and even exuding from his skin to a certain degree. Primal Aura seemed to make him aware of this barrier and even able to affect it in some way.
Tilly studied metaphysical structure for another couple of minutes before realizing something. He could feel different emotions woven into the fabric of the structure, things like Hesitance, Doubt, and even Anxiousness. Each of these emotions was pulling minute amounts of mana from his core into the structure to empower it, limiting the effect of his soul on his surroundings.
He was the one unconsciously keeping the barrier in place…
The lines around his eyes deepened as he studied this newly discovered structure, following his Ability granted intuition and cutting off the mana flowing to the structure, relaxing his hold on his own power.
Hazy streamers of heat started to dance all around him as the power contained in his soul billowed out into his surroundings. The sensation felt amazing like stretching a long restrained muscle and almost instinctively, he pushed into the sensation further, straining against his outer limits as his new aura flooded the quarry.
A sudden and unrestrained smile pulled at his lips, revealing most of his teeth in a fierce grin. He felt… Dangerous.
Every battle he had won, every time he had beat the odds and come out alive. They had all left a mark on his soul. Even more notably, his intense hatred for Corruption and the seemingly endless wrath he had already poured out on its chosen vessels had purified his aura into something incredibly intense.
His core flame now bathed the surrounding area in a heat that was more than just physical, it was spiritual. Small tongues of white and blue flame began to spontaneously ignite all over the quarry as Tilly explored this new sensation.
The possible Plane-wide influence of his enemy, the countless legions that they would likely bring to bear, even the untold horrors waiting to be unleashed… none of that phased Tilly’s Flame. The very thought of these things stoked the fire within him hotter, and to Tilly’s dismay, it felt…
Hungry.
No that wasn’t quite right, the flame was not separate from him, it was him. And as he continued to flex his aura, an absolutely insane thought occurred to him. One that he couldn’t shake, no matter how arrogant or foolhardy it seemed…
He was Ready.
Suddenly, the feeling of superiority that exuded from the suit made sense. It was the armor embodiment of the greatest apex predator men had ever dreamed of. The suit offered him no stat bonuses or outward power, but he could already feel the way it was pulling out a part of his personality that he had hardly ever given free rein.
He had never been an adrenaline junkie, and even now, he did not relish the thought of more battle. But he could not deny that he felt prepared to do what he had to, no matter what came against them. Perhaps challenging the Dragon had been the final straw to his perfectly human sense of self-preservation, or maybe he had lost yesterday in the face of Kindle's incredible sacrifice.
He still didn’t love how ridiculous he looked in the suit… but as he drenched the quarry in the heat of his Aura, refined through the repeated pressures of facing foes far beyond his strength, he understood it.
Whatever the next few months held… there would be no more room for doubt or hesitation. He would have to leverage everything he had to make sure as many people made it through the other side as possible. The rest was above his pay grade and no longer his concern.
Almost reluctantly, he sent the command to return his armor to its normal stat-enhancing state.
The ten percent increase to Endurance would remain the most helpful addition to his build, plus Tilly felt eminently more comfortable wearing the snug moccasins and looser fitting primitive kit than any of the other forms.
Seven days.
Brokenridge said he would reemerge in seven days, giving Tilly just enough time to activate the Celestial Bracelets four more times, discover the other ‘superlative titles’, and gain a basic understanding of his new potential. He would let the others worry about buildings and politics. When this unhinged dragon reemerged from his cave, Tilly would be ready.
It was time to go to war.
Tilly settled back down and brought up the rest of his Character Sheet as he began to meditate, attempting to internalize all the changes he had experienced and get a handle on what he was becoming.
Jonathan Luke Tillman
Level: 37 (12% EXP until next level)
Display Name: Tilly
Race: Human
Class: Son of Flame
Health: 100%(2.9% per min.)
Mana: 100%(3.4% per min.)
Status Effects: None
Titles: [Harbinger], [Resolute], [Origin’s Champion], [Trusted Gaijin],[Hostile Environment],
[Scarred Heart],[Divine Wind], [All or Nothing]
Stats:
Constitution: 29
Endurance: 169 (185.9)
Dexterity: 54 (59.4)
Strength: 28
Wisdom: 34
Intelligence: 30
Abilities:
-[Blue] Flame Strike
-[Blue] Flame Expulsion+
-[Blue] Flame’s Renewal+
-*Mana Overdrive
-Wrath’s Shroud
-*Primal Aura
Skills:
-Forestcraft level 19
-Identify level 23
-Cooking level 12
-Beginner Hatchett level 30 > 32
-Animal Processing level 9
-Stealth level 18
-Herb Lore Level 8
-Ax Throwing Level 31 > 38
-Dual-Wielding (Hatchets) Level 26
-Spirit Walk Level 20
-Meditation Level 16
-First Aid Level 38
-Draconic Authority Level N/A
Equipment:
Origin’s Primitive Stone Hatchets: +10% to Dexterity. (Legendary, Growth-Type)
+Imbued Ability: Recall.
+Imbued Buff: Dragon’s Fury
Origin’s Primitive Leather Armor: +10% to Endurance. (Legendary, Growth-Type)
+Imbued Form: Sun Salamander
+Imbued Form: Nullspider/Mana Engine Enchantment.
+Imbued Form: Blood Mound Shambler.
+Imbued Form: Draconic Emissary
Comments
Wyatt Hilbert
Thanks for the chapter
