Dol's Plan

Star's spider thread made an even better bow string than the nylon. After wrapping several strands together and tying knots on either end my bow could fire much farther. I'd tied some tiny pieces of plastic to the string to dampen some of the noise. Afterwards, I began work on a more devastating arrowhead. The knife I'd scavenged from the goblings had helped.

Gwen was still sleeping off her meal and might not wake up for a while. The goblings strung up didn't seem capable of escaping. I made sure to collect the occasional scalpel blade. In the hideout, I had quite a few scalpel blades in a box.

"You are a hard worker. I expected you to laze about digesting for hours." Star said. She rested against a corner. If an attacker stormed their haven, she'd hit them from behind.

I held up an arrow and inspected it ensuring it was straight. They were unbalanced. "If I don't work, I won't eat." I said.

The fangs where her human half met her spider half scraped against each other. For some reason it struck me as a feeling of discomfort. "Why do you bother with a bow?" She asked.

"If I didn't use a bow, I'd have to rely on close range." I said.

"No, why aren't you using magic. Most darklings are natural casters." Star said.

Skills: Dark Matter Arts, Pain Tolerance, Bow Mastery

My skills had no levels, stat increases, or other enhancements. I needed more levels. Maybe that's what I need to focus on when I reach lvl50. To reach that, I'd need to reach the next stage. I wasn't sure about ranking up. Could I rank back down and choose explore multiple ranks? If not, then my path had to be carefully guided.

"I've never used magic; I wasn't taught." I said.

"That is disconcerning. A darkling that is proactive and can't use magic might as well not be a darkling at all." Gwen said. I turned to see the Illithid standing up from her curled position.

"Since neither of you are corpses or at drooling idiots, you managed to find me sustenance. I'm glad, I don't like eating people I know." She burped and fell back on the mattress.

I gaged before waving my hand in an attempt to shoo away the foul smell. "Good to see you're sane. How long will you be good for?" I asked.

"I'd say three days before I need another one." She stared at me with large dark eyes with slight purple irises. "You're development has halted. You don't have any knowledge of cultivation do you." Slowly, I shook my head.

"I assumed you were lab born but they rarely flush a viable subject. They may not have had a chance to program you. Interesting, would you like to learn cultivation."

Star perked up and crept from her corner. "Can I learn this skill as well?" She asked.

"We haven't been introduced, I'm Gwen and you are?" Gwen asked.

"I'm Star and I'm a spiderling." Star said.

"Obviously, sure if you can learn, I'll teach you. Jacob will probably catch on the quickest. I only know enough to reach the second stage of refinery. We will have to seek more knowledge elsewhere." Gwen said.

Something about the names of species didn't make sense to me. "Gwen why are you called an illithid while Star and I are lings?" Her tentacles rubbed against each other in what he was beginning to guess was annoyance.

"Those with the name ling originate in labs. They were created by humans. You are a darkling an amalgamation of fiend, vampire, undead, demon, eldritch, and human. Star is a spiderling an amalgamation of arachnid, lurkers, Fog, demon, and human. While I am of an illithid the mind flayer race. Though I have many stages in my life cycle at my core I am still an illithid." I slowly nodded. That meant that goblings were also created in labs.

I had more questions, when I made to ask another, she raised her hand. "I know you thirst for knowledge. But I have bad news. We are on a time crunch." Gwen said.

"What do you mean?" Star asked.

"Dol, is preparing to ascend to the knight class." I froze. Those three powerful Plebe goblings could have killed me with ease, what would a knight class do.

I made to ask, but she shook her head. "It's worse than a mere ascension to the knight class. He's gathered ten of each of the seven sin shards to facilitate this transformation. Dol is aiming for a rare variant of demon. I think he's trying to become a Sin Lord." I had no idea what that was.

"Ok, so we need to stop him before he reaches that stage." I said.

"You wouldn't last a second against a sorcerer at the peak of Plebe stage. You're a magicless darkling with only a bow." The answer was obvious then.

"Alright, then let's scout out a new territory and put some distance between us and Dol." Star suggested.

"We can beat him. I know what that gobling I ate knew. Dol is going to need weeks of preparation to ascend and then his ascension will leave him vulnerable. I also know of a few secret tunnels and entrances to Dol's keep." Gwen said. A smile spread across my face.

"I'm glad I saved you. I'm guessing the plan is to take advantage of your knowledge, pick off a few more minions, and then invade when Dol is at his weakest." I said.

"No, the first step of my plan is you. There are five gobling's ascending to plebe as we speak. They will guard Dol while he ascends. A Plebe is ten times stronger than the peak of youngling. Darkling's are known for their deadly magic." I had a feeling she wanted me to minmax magic. That wasn't something I was against. I could tool my quests after INT.

"So, you were going to teach me cultivation." I said.

"Yes, I'm not a master but teaching the first stage of refinery is easy. You only need to meditate and feel for the power of heaven and earth. Get comfortable this will take a while." Gwen said.

I let out a sigh, of course this wouldn't be easy. The promise of magic was interesting.

Ping!

Quest: Cultivate

Reward: +1 INT + 1 PER

I couldn't give too big of a reward. Anything larger than one point at a time invited disaster. There were battle hungry maniacs in the world and I didn't want to deal with one without magic or anything.

Ping!

Quest Feel Heaven and Earth

Reward: +1 INT +1 PER

Over the course of four hours, I couldn't feel anything. That wasn't for a lack of trying. I couldn't relax. The food was yelling constantly to distract me. No amount of gagging worked and beating them was even more distracting. There had to be some trick to it. More quest seemed to be the answer.

Ping!

Quest: Ignore Food

Reward +1 INT +1 PER

Eventually, the sounds of yelling goblings were ignored. My attention shifted to the world around us and extended outward. The goblings soon became white noise among the chittering roaches and packs of rats all along the hills. My mind felt like it had expanded, and it had nothing to do with my AI status. I felt something intangible. There was some force created between reality and something beyond. It was ethereal and solid. With my mind I caressed the thing that I found existed all around us. Where there was life it existed in greater quantities.

Ping!

Quest Completed: Ignore Food

Rewarded +1INT +1 PER

Intelligence 16

Perception 17

Ping!

Quest completed: Feel Heaven and Earth

Rewarded +1 INT + 1 PER

Intelligence 17

Perception 18

It helped to have a little more perception. That seemed to be the key to feeling the power of heaven and earth. Just touching this power sent my mind into a spiral of exhilaration. I was so close to a new avenue of power. So, I pulled at the power and it slowly came to me. It flowed with all the patience of a fog creeping over a beach front.

When it touched me, the power was intoxicating? It had been a long-time sense I felt pleasure that wasn't from a level up. The old high came back, and it felt good. It flowed through my skin, muscles, and bones. This was it the power that I needed. With this I could survive and finally, become the system I was meant to be.

"Stop," The words were powerful. I halted my sudden infatuation with the power. Instructions on a breathing technique filled my mind. "This is the Dark Seeker's breath. Each breath pulls you deeper into the dark use it to refine the power of heaven and earth into qi." Gwen said.

With those words, I followed the instructions. It felt like a heavy gravitational weight was piled upon me. Each breath was like breathing through a coffee straw from an old gas station. Every breath was more difficult than the last. My body stalled until finally I felt a sudden change.

Ping!

Refinery Stage 1 reached

10,000 Breaths to stage 2

+10% to all stats

Tier 1 Magic unlocked

Level cap increased by 10

Aura Unlocked

AP lv x 10 x (.1% x INT)

Aura Points 287/287

Ping!

Tier 1 Spell acquired

Black Static – An electrical spell that inflicts 20 Dark/Shock damage + 1 DMG x INT. 1% chance to stun. Can be used to buff weapons.

AP Cost 20/second

Ping!

Tier 1 Spell Acquired

Black Aura – Increase damage from black spells by 50% + 1% x INT

AP Cost 50/s

In an instant my ability to kill had drastically increased. I could taste the spells on my tongue. All I had to do was say the names black static or black aura. The question was how quickly I could regenerate Aura.

"That was fast, you really are a darkling. We aren't done and you aren't ready by a long shot. Did you get any spells when you broke through?" Gwen asked.

"Yea, I have two black spells." Gwen nodded.

"The black series is the stable of most darklings. Unfortunately, sorcerers have defenses against dark type skills. At least we aren't dealing with a diabolist or a true demon. I have a spell that might help you further. Hold tight this will hurt."

Ping!

Downloading Spells

Magic Up – Boost magic by 25% + 1% x INT

Cost 50AP/s

Black Parade – Stack black spells. +1 Stack +50% MP Cost per stack

Cost 100AP/s

Purple Thoughts – Increase INT +10% + 1% x INT

Cost 200AP/s

Black Lightning Javelin – A tier 1,2,3 black spell. Tier 1 100 Dark/Shock Damage +1 DMG x INT

Cost 100AP/s

Ping!

System Message: -50HP

I fell to my knees and gripped my head. So much knowledge. My brain felt like it was boiling. Any more knowledge and I might explode. Every cell in my body burned from the strain. Those spells maxed the hell out of what magic I could do. The cost of those spells was outrageous. If I could use them then I might have a chance.

They all seemed to boost each other. Even my black aura spell would boost both the black spark and black thunder javelin. By buffing black thunder javelin with black spark, it would be increased even more.

I needed a lot more INT if I was going to make use of those skills. Then there was Gwen, could I trust her. She was giving me spells what would happen after she had her prize. Would I be just another meal or was she legit?

Ping!

Quest: Find Gwen's motivations

Reward: +2INT +2 PER, knowledge

I needed to hunt and level up more. If I kept the level I had, then I would be able to beat a pleb even with my new spells.