Fated Antagonist

9. Nope

Except it isn’t there. DAMMIT! I’ll have to check again after I get my mutating done, but holy moly, I’d hoped it would be there… I’d ripped open the magical Skills list the moment I had an opportunity and raced through it, my brain practically screaming for some sweet, sweet gravity. I’m crushed it’s not there. There are new things for me to look at, I was able to recognise that much, but the disappointment after waiting so long and not getting what I was after is genuinely crushing.

Damn you, Gandalf! Just give me what I want already! Haven’t I suffered enough?

GAH!

Well, forget that bearded fogey and let’s have a look at what was unlocked. It better be good! The earliest magic Skills available were, of course, the basic elements, which evolved into the advanced elements and can be fused into other elements. Once I’d raised those high enough, I gained access to Healing, Mind, Light and Shadow Magic. I was never particularly interested in Light and Shadow, but I’ve put a lot of effort into Mind and… some into Healing. Enough to make it useful, at any rate.

What has this earned me in the eyes of the System? A few things, apparently.

For starters, Barrier Magic has appeared, which is the field that Invidia has been pouring the majority of his effort into. A highly useful field of magic, to be sure! I’ll pick that up just on the off chance I need it. Getting it to rank three or four shouldn’t prove to be too much effort, and I have a sneaking suspicion those flying discs the demons use is based off of an advanced or fused version of this.

The second new field of magic to appear in my list is Curse Magic, and right alongside that is Inspiration Magic. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what these two fields do. Curse Magic exists to weaken enemies you cast it on, and Inspiration Magic buffs those that you cast it on.

I’m not entirely sure I want either of them. Sure, both are useful, but I need to be realistic and consider exactly how much time I’ll have to devote to raising these Skills. I can’t just buy every Skill in the shop. The cost of Levelling them in terms of Skill Points will become prohibitive, for one, but mainly I just don’t have the time to Level them to the point of being useful! If I get some clear air and have a month to sit on my backside and grind out spells, then sure, I can come back and buy a few of the branches I skipped over, but for now, I need to focus on the ultimate goal!

And that goal is driving forward through the ranks of magic until I get what I want, which is Gravity! Even the taste of the basic forms of its power have been enough to whet my appetite. Nothing I’ve seen has even come close to the Gravity Bomb in terms of the sheer pants-wetting terror it induces. I have to have the full power of this spell form at my disposal!

The other reason I’m not massively keen on Curse and Inspiration is that I know, through discussions with Torrina, that they are generally fused with Shadow and Light Magic, respectively, to create the respected and feared Horror and Hope fields of magic. The spell forms unlocked by these combinations allow the effects of curses or inspirations to be applied more powerfully and over a wider area, using light or shadow as a means of spreading the buff/debuff.

This is probably a field Crinis could go down if she wished, although the other option she has is to fuse her Mind Magic and Shadow Magic together to form Nightmare. From what I gather, it’s rather unpleasant. Actually, I wonder if you could fuse Mind, Curse, and Shadow together? Torrina didn’t mention anything on that topic, though it would be interesting to find out.

[Hey, Crinis, when you get the chance, see if you can buy Curse Magic and start Levelling it. There may be an interesting fusion you could use with Shadow and Mind if you get far enough down the line. Maybe at rank five?]

[Alright, Master! I will!]

That was probably a bad thing to do. Haven’t the monsters of the Dungeon suffered enough?

Moving on! There are a few new magical fields I want to take a look at which might be good. Wood, Metal, Lightning, and Force Magic. I’ve heard mention of these as ‘advanced’ Elemental Magic, which are a lot more common with higher levelled Delvers and Dungeon dwellers, according to the golgari. Usually, one would skip over the basic stuff as fast as possible and then invest their time more effectively in these more potent elements. At least, that’s what I hear.

Lightning is generally considered very powerful offensively, and I only need to look to Tiny for that to be proven true. Wood and metal are common magics for builders and crafters, though they also have their uses in combat. Throwing a spike of ice at someone is generally dangerous, sure, but throwing a spike of metal? More threatening, to put it mildly. Then there’s Force Magic. Good ol’ kinetic energy. Wanna grab someone by the throat with magic in the most literal sense? This is the method! Care to throw out a claw and have a wall of invisible pressure extend outward, knocking down your well-armoured but comically inept foes? Boom.

Like a kid in a candy shop, I want it all. Or, well, so I hear. I never had money to spend on candy as a kid. But after all this demon-slaying, I’ve got plenty of Skill Points! I have f—four! Seriously? After all of that? I could’ve sworn I was sitting pretty, but I guess I’ve really been running on some pretty thin margins.

Well, shoot.

As much as I’d love to buy up all the cool affinities and anything else that might conceivably help me unlock Gravity Magic, it looks like I’m going to have to be a bit choosier. Just the essentials, then. Like Barrier Magic. There’s no such thing as ‘too much defence,’ especially when it’s something that can also help me protect my friends and family. I think that and Force Magic will have to do. Out of everything, I’d say Force definitely has the best chance of leading to Gravity, seeing as the latter is a ‘fundamental force’ and all. Together, just those two will cost me a third of my points, and I want to keep the rest handy for rank-ups. With the way I’ve been grinding lately, I could easily run out just by focusing on these new affinities, since low-ranked Skills are so easy to raise.

…You know, maybe it’s a good thing we’ve got another big battle coming up. An army of tier six (and seven) demons will surely net me lots of Levels, and thus Skill Points… I select my two new magic specialisations, and after a moment, I nod with begrudging satisfaction. I may not have gotten what I wanted, or even all of the consolation prizes I wanted, but at least I’m moving forward, taking another step on the path that will get me there. With these and my current stable of Elemental Magics to hold me in good stead, hopefully I won’t have to grind nearly as long on this level before I plunge through and into the next.

Running through the list of purchases I have selected, I feel good about my decisions. I think this marks another step forward for me, and having the first of my organs reach +30 is a very pleasant milestone. Let’s do it!

…Oh right.

Here it comes!

MAGGLESTAFFEN! DAMN ITCH!