Ruthless (The Completionist Chronicles Book 5) Read online

  Enchanted Circles sounded pretty straightforward: add enchantments to the rituals to create certain effects. It was likely that he would need to use enchantments to create linked rituals like the ones he had found when gaining the blueprints to the Grand Ritual Hall. Until he found that book, Joe just wouldn't know for certain. Since he had only one thick book of formulae and concepts, there was only one thing that he could think to do.

  “I need a teacher.” Joe sighed and flopped down into his seat. He considered where to find a teacher, and came up with only a few options. “I’m sure that I could go to the Mage’s College and take a course… but those are always stuffed with theory and bias. There’s no way I would get any good hands-on experience in a timely manner. I could try to go the self-taught way… but that’s gonna be really slow.”

  He sat up and rubbed his bald head. “Best try to find a tutor. Who would have better practical knowledge than an Alchemist with a shop? Let’s go have a chat with Jake. Sure, he’s creepy… but he seems to know his stuff.”

  Joe crept through the Pathfinder’s Hall, keeping an eye out for Mike. The man had been popping up at inopportune moments and asking Joe to either work, attend meetings, or answer questions if it were at all possible. When he reached the temple without issue, Joe took a deep breath as he looked around the admittedly nifty room. Along with the lighting and heat sources, the river and shrubbery really tied the whole thing together. The shrubbery were actually young Tree Ents that would someday protect the temple if attacked, but right now they were extra pretty thanks to the flowers blooming on them.

  “What’s missing?” Joe spoke quietly, the area giving off a pervading sense of stillness that he didn’t want to break. “Why do I feel like there is something missing?”

  His eyes swept across the room, coming to rest on one of only two altars that was bare, blank stone. That would do it; the pantheon was still incomplete. Joe sighed, running a hand over his bald head in consternation. He didn't exactly want to go god-shopping, but it might be better than waiting around for something to approach him. Joe took a deep breath, and ever so slowly released it.

  “I have time.” He reminded himself. “I am digital now, and I can survive for hundreds or thousands of years. Let’s learn all of this stuff, everything that I want to learn, but seriously… I gotta take the time to enjoy doing it.”

  Soul Forge complete! New skill acquired: Neutrality Aura (Passive).

  “Has it already been two days since I did that?” Joe furrowed his brow, then realized that he hadn’t yet read what the skill did!

  Neutrality Aura (Passive) (Beginner IX): Remove all negative debuffs at double the rate of decomposition. Remove positive debuffs on hostile entities in range at double the rate of decomposition. Heal all non-hostile entities for 1n health per second within five feet, where n = skill level. Reduce incoming magical damage by .5n. Passive. This skill is doubly effective against poisons within a body, and will also pull moisture from the air to hydrate friendly targets over time. Range of aura is .25n feet. Reserves 8% of mana pool for use. Toggleable.

  Instantly, Joe looked at his stained robes and sweaty skin. To his great relief, his ‘filthy’ debuff was starting to expire! He started to lose a headache he hadn't even realized he had… noticing only then that he hadn't drank any water the entire time that Cleanse had been gone. Joe had been fully reliant on the skill to keep him hydrated. Whoops.

  “This skill is amazing.” The best part was that it was passive. He would be able to heal while focusing on other things, and using eight percent of his mana pool to keep it always active was a sacrifice he was willing to make. It wouldn't work on distant targets, nor would it be effective as quickly as the individual skills would have been, but there were a huge amount of new options that had opened up to him. The aura would work on anyone within four-and-three-quarters feet of him, basically the size of his standard party grouping, and that would only grow over time.

  Joe sat down and waited a few long moments, keeping his eye on his active effects tab. He had been at ‘Filthy III’, ‘Dehydrated IV’, and ‘Caffeinated V’. All but the last were slowly vanishing, and he could actually see his shriveled skin starting to become hydrated. “I really need to take better care of myself.”

  Wisdom +1!

  “Bratty system!” Joe tried to relax, remembering that he needed to get his other stats up and over the next threshold. Yet another project that he needed to throw himself at. “Actually… what does my stat page look like right now?”

  Name: Joe ‘Tatum’s Chosen Legend’ Class: Jumplomancer (Actual: Rituarchitect)

  Profession: Tenured Scholar (Actual: Arcanologist)

  Character Level: 15 Exp: 134,813 Exp to next level: 1,187

  Rituarchitect Level: 3 Exp: 5,940 Exp to next level: 60

  Hit Points: 330/330

  Mana: 1462/1,590 (127 Reserved)

  Mana regen: 30.7/sec (Base 27.91/sec increased by gear)

  Stamina: 295/295

  Stamina regen: 5.67/sec

  Characteristic: Raw score (Modifier)

  Strength: 31 (1.31)

  Dexterity: 40 (1.40)

  Constitution: 38 (1.38)

  Intelligence: 106 (3.06)

  Wisdom: 78 (2.28)

  Charisma: 31 (1.31)

  Perception: 60 (2.10)

  Luck: 31 (1.31)

  Karmic Luck: -4

  That looked good, except… there were two things to fix right now. Joe activated his Exquisite Shell, dumping his mana pool into it. That reserved an additional one hundred and forty-six mana. The other thing… how had his Karmic luck dropped into the negatives? That was a tough stat that no one really understood, but research showed that it was fairly straightforward to either increase or decrease it.

  Do actions that were considered ‘good’, and it increased. The opposite held true, and the only thing that he could think that he had done recently was going through the dungeon. Oh… self-harm? That would at least make sense, but it was frustrating to lose Karmic Luck simply by playing the game according to the rules. Perhaps there was another way to complete that dungeon…? He was sure someone would find out. Until then, there was no way he was returning to the area.

  “Took five whole minutes,” Joe stated as he watched his dehydrated debuff vanish. “Well… at least I don't have to worry about it again after this. Hooray for passives!”

  He stood and walked over to the teleportation point, casting a glance at the empty altars just before moving to Ardania. He took a breath, nearly gagging as the scent of the city hit him. It had never been this bad before! The press of bodies had thinned over the last few days as people ventured out to find something to do with their lives, but there were still refugees from Earth appearing regularly.

  Unwashed bodies, cheap food rotting, and even the clear fact that some people either didn’t know where to find bathrooms - or didn't care to find them - hit Joe right in the olfactory organ. To his great delight, the smells reaching him dulled and eventually even vanished as his aura took care of the filth in the near vicinity. Apparently, his new aura even affected the air!

  That settled it for him. He needed to do something to help here, no matter how small. Most of these people simply didn't understand what was happening; they weren't bad people. Joe made his way slowly between various groups, trying to get close to the thickest groupings of people. He stood in each place for a short while before moving on, leaving cleaner and healthier people behind. It wasn't much, but he knew that if he were in that position, he would be hoping for someone to do the same for him.

  His slow pace caused him to arrive at the alchemy shop just after midday. He walked in and moved to the counter, pleased that his aura was taking care of the astringents in the air that had made breathing a pain in the past. “Jake? You here?”

  A voice behind him made Joe whirl around. “Sure am. What are you doing to my shop? The air smells strange.”

  “Clean, maybe? *Ahem*. Oh… did I walk past you someho
w?” Jake didn’t answer Joe’s question, so Joe simply moved on. “I was hoping to ask for a favor.”

  “No favors. Coin up front, always.” Jake was feeling the edge of Joe’s robes, glaring at something that apparently only he could see. “Coffee…”

  “Not that kind of favor.” Joe steeled himself. This would be as difficult as learning from an alchemist version of Jaxon. “I was hoping that you could teach me the Alchemist profession.”

  Jake’s eyes shot up to lock with Joe’s. “Trying to steal away my customers, are we? Hmm… tsk, tsk, Joe. That’s not very nice at all.”

  “No, it's not that at all.” Joe insisted, pulling out the manual that he had recently acquired. The cat was out of the bag on his rituals already, so he was choosing to be as up front as possible. “I recently found that my class is capable of far more than I’ve been using it for, and I want to fix that. There is a subsection of my class that focuses on Alchemically Enhanced Components, and I can't make heads or tails of the information.”

  “Book.” Jake held out a hand, and opened and scanned through a few pages, nodding at certain areas and raising a brow at others. “Interesting. Very interesting… a ritualist, here in my shop. I do wonder if the old bounty is still active?”

  “It’s not!”

  Joe froze, making Jake snort in response. “Only playing. Now… I will do one thing for you for free. Information. You don't want the ‘Alchemist’ profession for… this. It would work, but it would be like using a fireball to light a candle. The end result is similar, but one is incredibly wasteful. You need the ‘Ritualistic Alchemist’ profession.”

  “That exists?”

  “There are few things in this world that you can't find a specific, more focused, or specialized form of.” Jake handed back the book. “If you are only planning on making components for rituals, and not trying to brew cauldrons’ worth of healing potions to save your guild a few silver coins, I can teach you. That is where I am going to need something from you, though.”

  “If I can do it, I will.” Joe told the man carefully. It wouldn't be good to make a promise before he knew details.

  “I’d like to align myself with your guild, as I am getting bored here. When you move to the next zone and make an outpost, you will build me a new workshop.” Jake held out a hand. “Do we have a deal?”

  Joe shook on it, “As long as my guild agrees, I’m in.”

  “No. You take the deal, or you don’t. No negotiating.”

  “Then I take it.” Joe stated firmly. He wasn't going to pass up a chance like this.

  Quest received: Homebrew. Jake the Alchemist is looking to upgrade. Get your guild to agree to align with him, and make him a new workshop in your outpost on the next zone. Reward: Profession (Instant), Variable. Failure: hostility with Jake and other organizations. You have accepted this quest!

  Chapter Nine

  Joe was in the horse stance, grunting as flaming coals were dropped on top of the metal shield he was holding above his head. He found that strength and endurance training allowed him to free his mind to think of other issues in the background. In this case, he was going over what had happened with the Alchemist last night.

  The ‘instant’ in the reward line meant that he gained that portion of his reward right away, which meant that they needed to train. Jake had brought Joe to the back of the shop and directed him to start reading through various primers. He had used the book Joe brought, found a section detailing recipes for ritual-only usage, and worked with Joe to help create one of the brews. The entire process had taken until well past sundown, even with Joe’s enhanced learning speed. It was frustrating for him to find an area of expertise that he just wasn’t instantly good at.

  Joe focused on his brand-new second profession and grunted; partly from a coal that slipped and singed his skin.

  Ritualistic Alchemist (Level 0): An Alchemist creates potions and elixirs that can amaze and astound the world. A Ritualistic Alchemist takes that in a different direction, focusing on creating components that enhance and alter rituals. By sacrificing the ability to make most things that an Alchemist can easily produce, the Ritualistic Alchemist is able to become a master at his craft in a fraction of the time. +25% chance to create ritual-specific alchemical items. +25% speed of production to ritual-specific alchemical items. -50% to all attempts to make non ritual-specific alchemical items.

  On a very positive note, the hours of practice and lecturing had also allowed Joe to gain the ‘Alchemical Lore’ skill. That was going to be really helpful when testing new combinations or troubleshooting his failed projects.

  Ritualistic Alchemy (Novice VIII). You have gained an understanding of how to create alchemical items! 10+n% chance to create ‘Common’ ranked alchemic items such as potions, where n = skill level! Each rank higher than ‘Common’ lowers chances of creation by a factor of ten! Example: chance to create uncommon alchemical items: ((10+n)/10)%. Rare: ((10+n)/100)%

  Alchemical Lore (Novice VI). Many are satisfied with the end result of their potions, and simply follow the recipes to the letter time and again. You have started to dive deeply into the why of alchemy. +1n% to creation of alchemical items, where n = skill level.

  It was extremely telling that, even with learning from someone that Joe suspected was at or above the Master rank in alchemy, Joe was only able to reach Novice eight in the skill. He pushed upward, frustrated at the slow progression. If any alchemist would have known his thoughts on that matter, they would have happily tossed a ‘Flask of Bottled Explosions’ at him. There was a reason alchemy was rare. It required high intelligence, dexterity, and extreme perception to get anything correct. It also had one of the highest reclass rates of all Eternium base classes, even higher than enchanter.

  “I have no idea why you’re coming back here and doing this almost every day,” the trainer stated while shoveling coal onto Joe. “You do realize that without staying the entire time, you are only torturing yourself, right?”

  “What if I’m just trying to get used to uncomfortable situations? Or I’m planning to dive into a volcano?” Joe shot back, his frustration leaking through and onto the trainer. Everyone seemed to want to tell him how he should be progressing, and it was getting tedious. “This is helping me do what I want to do, that's all. Okay?”

  “Chill, man. Just trying to help.” The next coal that was tossed on was a lot hotter than the ones before it. “Oops.”

  Joe knew without checking that Hammerwords had activated again and he had lost reputation with this guy. Great. At least his training was just ending, and he gained a strength and constitution point. “Not cool, man. Not cool.”

  Joe tossed the shield to the side and walked away, pulling a glowing battery out of his codpiece. “Knowledge. Alchemical Lore.”

  Skill increase: Alchemical Lore (Novice VII).

  Skill increase: Knowledge (Novice II).

  He basked in the feeling of everything he had learned the previous day becoming just that much clearer. It wasn't a huge amount, but it helped him connect the dots on a few subjects. One thing was still just a touch out of focus, and Joe had a vague feeling that he needed to hold his hands in certain positions to maximize the potential of the ingredients… it was gone. Drat.

  Alchemy seemed to be illogical. It was supposed to be a cross between cooking and chemistry, but that was thinking about it from a mundane perspective. Even though the magic of the process was coming from the ingredients that were added, it was still magic. Joe decided that he was going to go work on some simple, logical, geometric rituals to take his mind off the ‘art’ of Alchemy. He rubbed his face and felt some soot, frowning at how much slower his aura ability cleaned him compared to Cleanse.

  “Pardon me… Mr. Joe, I believe?” The sweet voice calling his name made Joe frown and look around for the source. An unbelievably beautiful woman was walking toward him. She was wearing a professional outfit, and had her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She reached out and shook his hand, “
I’ve been looking for you. I am here representing the Architect’s Union, which is what the previous Guild has restructured into after the change of ownership and management. I have a proposition for you.”

  “You’re here to proposition me?” Joe spoke without thinking. “That is… I didn’t mean-”

  “Please don’t worry about it.” She blinked a few times and got back on track. “My name is Daniella, and I have an offer from you from the Union. We would like to offer you the chance to study any buildings in the city that we own, or those we can pull in favors from. Otherwise, we can offer you a few blueprints that you may use at your leisure.”

  “I see… and what’s the catch?” Joe narrowed his eyes and tried to gauge how high her charisma must be to impact him so significantly even despite his huge wisdom score. It had to be at least third tier, probably in the early one hundreds.

  “I’ll be frank.” Daniella lowered her chin and locked eyes with him. “We’ve been watching what you are capable of, and management is concerned that you are going to put us out of business if you go out on the open market. By giving you free access, you will need to agree that you will only make buildings for yourself or your Guild.”

  Joe really liked her direct attitude, even though it seemed slightly artificial. That meant either that her ‘Union’ had really been studying him, that her charisma was filling in the gaps for her, or a little of both. “Hmm… I can get behind that. Slight change. Myself, my Guild, and my family. Also, that limitation applies only in this Zone. I plan to leave Midgard, and I don't want to be bound by the rules of an organization that is here when I am fighting to survive somewhere else.”