Chapter 53

Bored Lucifer was trapped in the Stone's unresponsive mind… he waited… and waited… almost like a stone… he sat like a rock resting in an empty pond.. So he remained, bored… in the silence. Ughhh!

He awakened from his stupor. This was not the first time that this had happened. Maybe their connection was closer than he thought and some of the Stone's personality rubbed off on him.

Eager to remain awake and unable to train, being in the knapsack and all, he finally remembered to read his explanations.

As the explanations were getting longer, more complex, and annoying, he decided to change his perception of the descriptions.

[Talent: Hex Master

Hex the man, hex the female, but be prepared for the punishment!

Hexes and curses are a dangerous matter in the universe filled with mana, where the casting can go awry very quickly. As a Hex Master, you are able to predict the possible outcome, including detrimental effects and feedback.

This increases the chance of a successful cast to 95% under normal circumstances.

Perks:

- you gain natural resistance to curses and hexes

- T1 and T2 do not require magic circles - increases with gained knowledge and tiers

- harder to dispel, requiring at least 3rd-tier expertise - increases alongside your evolution

- harder to resist, requiring at least 2nd-tier resistance for 50% chance to resist - increases alongside your evolution

- research time of a new hex is 3 times faster

- resource cost lowered by 25% - can be increased by gaining more knowledge and deepening of the understanding of hexes

Spell: Life-for-Life Hex

School of Necromancy

Favourite hex of hex masters, curse masters, necromancers, Undead… and any other unsavoury beings. It is a hex that binds two beings by lifefOrce. Every time you get damaged/healed, the target is damaged/healed by the same amount and vice-versa.

Can be deactivated by will or dispelled.

Requires 50 (-25%) Flux to activate (7.5 sec), upkeep 3 (-25%) Flux / min.

Materials:

- 75 (-25%) grams of mana-ashwood ash

- ⅓ (-25%) of fresh 2nd-tier Monster heart

- sample of blood (or equivalent) of the intended targets

- Due to the Talent: Stone {wielder} the spell parameters are evolving

Upkeep has been furthermore halved to 1.5 Flux / min. Resource requirement has been removed. You can keep the being named Stone alive for a prolonged time by transferring diluted Flux into his existential matrix to keep it stable.

This works uniquely for your host! Due to talent Subordinate, this process is automatic!

Warning: The automatic process is merely life support and will not fully recover Lifeforce. Too much Flux will result in permanent damage of the matrix array.

On level up:

- resource requirements will increase {+1% / lvl}

- able to connect more beings in the same net {+1 being / 15 lvls}

- casting speed reduction {+5% / lvl} ]

After an hour of coaxing the Universum, the knowledge was read to him by an oddly familiar voice.

He would definitely force Stone to change his tablets to this, even though it would be hard to persuade him as the idiot really loved his stone tablets.

[Resistances

An ability to resist all of the creation that is in the universe.

Wanna swim in the sun? Take a dive in the blackhole? Not to freeze in space? Or not to be poisoned by your spouse? Resistances are for you! Currency is pain and time! No warranties! No returns!

All resistances can evolve due to mana and.. well, even the gods need entertainment.

For every tier, there are 20 levels. Once you reach the maximum level, you are impervious to that tier.

First and second tiers are considered non-magical versions. That means simple poisons, acids, steel-melting fire, coldness to -50°C, etc…

There could be some perks or detriments... Nobody knows how many resistances there are and there has never been a being with all of them… Only time will tell it will be a bane or boon. Sounds Fun Right?

Curse T1L5

Most beings gain this resistance as it's relatively normal to be cursed. Still, only very few of them level the skill to higher tiers, allowing you to experiment with curses without fear of feedback.

- You can allow/disallow curses to be successfully cast on you if they fail from the 10th level of the tier.

- 1st-tier 25% resistance {+5% per level}

- acquired due to talent {50% faster levelling}

Hex T1L5

Relatively rare resistance, which allows you to experiment with hexes without fear of feedback.

- You can allow/disallow hexes to be successfully cast on you if they fail from the 10th level of the tier.

- 1st-tier 25% resistance - {+5% per level}

- acquired due to talent - {50% faster levelling}

- synergy with talent Hex Master; you can store one precast 1st-tier hex in your soul and cast it as a curse]

With the explanations done, Lucifer could only wait in the Jarka's knapsack. He was glad for it. It was… calm. Lucifer began to understand why Stone did not like 'loud'.

After resting for a bit, the remaining druegars packed their belongings. With Jarka at the front, they left with another shaft in the village's direction. She handed the bag with Stone to Scout-Durza, saying she needed to be fully prepared for possible ambushes. Not like it mattered.

Lucifer learned [Flux Shield] to protect Stone as even the slightest chip or scratch would kill them both.

Thankfully, Lucifer's hundreds of years of watching others use the spell allowed him to learn it outside of the scope of Monsters' instinct and after another hour of hard pondering and failed attempts, Stone's body was enveloped by a purplish film of [Flux].

They had to take a long detour to avoid the more and more active goblins. Still, they had to fight several times.

The last fight went badly. They met a scout party in a narrow shaft and due to his tiredness, one of the warriors made a mistake. An arrow pierced his head directly through the eye. The attacker was quickly disposed of, however another druegar was dead.

Now, the remaining were Guard-Jarka, Scout-Durza, Eriv, Dori, and Scout-Korag. And of course, Lucifer, who could not do jackshit. Except watching their backs. The perception sphere was superior to eyes in every possible way.

He conjured a weak bubble near Jarka's ear and a quiet 'plop' notified her that the mysterious saviour wanted to talk to her.

"Car' to help? We won't mak' it to villag' this way…"

"Can't. Too hurt, but don't you worry, I am closely following you."

"Hmm…" she thought about something and asked, "so, what do ya wanna?"

"We are being followed. Well, you are being followed by an Orc. He is about fifty meters behind you," Lucifer wrote with the goblins' blood.

"ORC?!" She exclaimed and everyone tensed.

"Yea, so I recommend you to prepare."

"Can't we outrun him?"

"No! Too late!"

The hurried heavy steps echoed closely behind them.

They lined into a formation with the hope they would be able to defeat the enemy. Still, despair was apparent in their eyes.