ALL NOVEL (Vol 5) Chapter 57: Exploits *
Rolling her eyes at Glae’s maudlin blah, Sammy sent, “Well, I’d love to continue brooding with you, but I do have things to-”
“One other thing,” Glae interrupted. “If you like, I will offer you the services of the Agatolis Twins for the duration of the war. Two of my finest Antimages. Despite the name, they must always work entirely separately. Otherwise, you can use them to whatever ends you like for the war effort. I will only reassess the arrangement if Merrington falls to the Dominion, signaling your final failure in the region.”
“Okay. I’m sure they’ll be useful for whatever we get up to with Zadkiel. Why separate?”
“If one of them dies while the other lives, they’ll rise back up at the next touch of the moon’s light. One must be relatively safe when the other works, and vice versa. They prefer being in entirely separate locations.”
“Huh. Cool. Alright, one in Merrington and one in the field.”
“Good, because that is already how it is. Andre is in the town of Drybrack halfway to Twin Wells, and Adonis is in Merrington.”
“Andre Agotolis the Antimage and Adonis Agotolis the Antimage? Hehehe!”
“I’m thrilled they amuse you. They can be referred to Naugite leaders and are also ready for mirror communication if you prefer.”
Sammy winced. Him knowing about [Mirrors] was a dagger of anxiety. “Wonderful. Thanks.”
“Good luck with the war. May our enemies fall like the tears of our ancestors.” With that, Glae disconnected.
Sammy frowned as she drummed her fingers on the chair arm. He just stays involved so he can keep spying however he likes. Whatever. I’ll make the most of these supposed finest agents.
As it turned out, they were both level 14 in [Antimage], which could temporarily nullify or at least nearly cripple entire groups of level 12 or below arcane spellcasters. That was the greater majority of Dominion spellcasting forces, though it was the kind of thing they would have counters and adjustments for, such as their strongest, which were always in the back line and nearly invincible with protection layers.
Would be more helpful to have a whole group, but I guess that ain’t happening.
When Sammy bounced the news to Zadkiel, he was enthusiastic about it all. Ecstatic. Optimistic. One could always count on him for good spirits, it seemed. He was very familiar with the AAA Twins, so Sammy deferred them to his use for the critical battles ahead. He did not want one ‘jerking around’ in Merrington, so plans were made to send him behind enemy lines to other skirmisher groups ready to assail the cumbersome, stretched-out supply lines. An AAA Twin would turn it into a nightmare for the Dominion.
Sammy was primed to help with this thanks to her Pegasi. Zadkiel’s portals would’ve been perfect, as he had many set up already. But they required a ton of FE for even one (non-demon) person, so it was special agents and situations only. The Twin qualified, but the portals needed Zadkiel himself, so her assistance was critical.
Once again, Sammy found her ferrying system of Angel-Pegasi still taxed by demand, so she made five more, recalling her horse tarot deck for the names of some famous mythological equines: Sleipnir, Gullfaxi, Alastor, Llamrei, and Arion.
Eh, no worries. One day they’ll be the speediest of flying cavalry, after all.
Zadkiel was so impressed with her system that once he began seeing its results, he swore he’d make his own load-bearing flyer specialists. His ‘Utroki,’ which were the Chimeric demons based on vulture corpses, were too small, and his Servitor Line of physically-shapeshifting Gloomwarpers, or ‘Gloomies,’ were not specialists. They were his go-to for tough flyers.
Sammy pointed out that he should look out for load-bearing special Servitor traits available from [Might]. Instead of speed, he could go for size and a total higher weight, basically pulling some specialty ‘cargo/transport dragon’ shit or the like. Zadkiel moped that he couldn’t play with it while still restricted in Purgatory.
To this, Sammy teased, “Well, that’s Purgatory, bud. Let that be a lesson for you to be a good boy from now on.”
Zadkiel only sighed and replied, “We both know that’s impossible, Goddess.”
I know a certain boob-tree that could change that real quick. But she said nothing, just smiled silently, as Zadkiel narrowed his eyes and glared at her suspiciously.
Sammy began preliminary preparations on the custom spell that Ash had told her to work on, which would put a false read on an object for psychometry and history analysis spells and abilities, so they could dodge the bullet of the Dominion having her Mirror of Damning Evidence.
New Quest unlocked: “None the Wiser” — Successfully prevent evidence related to the mirror from being discovered, or mitigate damage.
● Rewards: 30-80 FE, 3-7 exp in [Goddess], 4-8 exp in [Wizard], 2-4 exp in [Rogue], full success gives +1 to Detection Ward, False Auras, and the caster level of the utilized custom spell.
Might take a while to see the reward, but cool.
She consulted with Zephyr about it primarily, who did not have such a spell but well understood the spellcraft principles. With his aid, she contoured the beginnings of the spell out of one of her waiting amorphous spell constructs, to both of their satisfaction, then viewed a few closely related cloaking spells that advanced her further along. She attained just over two-thirds completion by the end of the preliminary setup, guaranteeing it a simple matter to complete before Ash finished her more complicated spell design.
Another issue she began to tackle was the organization of a ‘ritual team,’ both a ‘high priority’ one such as for Ash’s project, and a ‘low priority’ one for common assistance with item creation and such. People like Zephyr would not be commonly available however desirable they were, so the distinction was necessary.
Facilitating item creation was going to require some time investment, one way or another. The biggest issue was converting an area into a High Mana zone, but doing this to the hideout would draw attention to it, being so… effectively hidden in plain sight. It was off the beaten path, and the Geirkosi populace had no reason to go there, but it was still close to the city and numerous population centers.
Though it was tempting because she had the ability to create such a zone, she passed on it, deciding the true research facility would have to wait for the construction of her tower. Rituals involving numbers of her ilk would just have to use the Great Oak area temporarily, as both a High Mana zone and a place well-hidden and secret.
While she was gathering together Followers and organizing things, she decided to utilize them for some other stuff in testing. First, she got a little over twenty gathered priests and a few other Followers with items available to blast her with low-level, weak energy attacks. All to exploit her [Light Absorption: Be Converted] power.
She got lit up in a cascade of blasts (to the great amusement of her Followers) and… it worked!
You have absorbed energy damage from multiple sources and gained 26 FE (Pneuma).
Hahaha, exploit away! Suck an egg, System! The Ring of the Cheater was also super pleased by the effort.
Not only that, but she felt a powerful resonance echo from a distant, inner space, something like her soul being used to make a ‘chime’ alert. Intuitively, she knew what it meant.
Ozra’s realm. Door 2 is open. Oh, shit. Ohhh, shit. More on the itinerary. What was that saying of farmers? Get one thing done, two more crop up?
Sammy decided to make the energy blast cascade a daily thing. By the looks of it, she didn’t need a memo, as word was going to get out about ‘Shoot The Goddess Hour.’ While she could turn it into some sacred, serious thing one way or another, she decided she was going to keep a sense of humor about it and just make it a little gathering in the yard.
Goddess-assisted target practice! You get a blast, you get a blast — everybody has a blast!
The next thing… was a little more difficult for her. She wanted to test the [Missile Blocker] spell. Firstly, there was no way she was going to let people shoot arrows or crossbow bolts of any kind at her. So instead, she went with some slingshots.
Sadly, the quest she wanted to complete didn’t trigger despite their furious pelts, and she suspected it was because they were just not strong and/or sadistic enough to injure her super-hard body. Stop tickling me, guys!
So she created a Hard Light giant, and ballpark guestimated what it would take to deal a Major or Critical Wound to her, to set up a scenario where the spell saves her from injury. Hopefully, it would satisfy the ‘situation of relevance,’ even if by relative self-inflicted ‘stupidity,’ so to speak.
Before a crowd of spellbound clerics and believers in the coming dusk, a giant six meters tall lobbed a small boulder up and at her. She moved at the last moment so that the hit was somewhat oblique. Nonetheless, the weight hit her, dropped her to the ground, and crushed her into the dirt before rolling away. But the spell flashed, reducing a nastier wound to Minor.
The quest “Protection Personified” is complete. 9 exp gained in [Magineer]. 50% completion available for a Protection spell of level 4 or below.
New quest unlocked: “Protection Mastery” — Learn a new level 7 Protection spell, a new level 5 or 6 Protection spell, and use both in a situation of relevance (such as combat).
● Rewards: 8 exp in [Wizard], 80% completion of another Protection spell of level 7 or below.
Sammy rolled back up and jumped immediately with her hands upthrust, grinning with a bust, bleeding lip. “It worked, boys!”
The crowd cheered and hollered for her. The giant roared.
It was a great cap for the day. Reset was shortly after.
45 FE gained due to user belief/acknowledgment. Note: Followers of a different deity.
6 Followers have been converted to Pantheon daily contribution and will not provide automatic Daily FE. Pantheon Followers can still provide prayer-based FE.
-62 for various operational costs.
446 FE gained from assorted Follower/Pantheon Follower prayers. 30 converted to Fate FE. 50 converted to Illusion FE. 30 converted to Mirrors FE. 30 converted to Light FE.
109 FE gained due to user belief/acknowledgment. Follower conversions successful. 109 FE gained. 109 Daily FE gained; 16 Followers have obtained quality grade Devout; 5 Followers have been authorized as Crusaders; 10 Followers have been ordained as level 0 priests (Daily FE total: 952).
1037 Daily FE gained.
Day 30 has been completed. Congratulations — you survived! Your promotional bonus has ended.
313 FE gained from assorted Follower prayers.
Samantha, Goddess of Fate & Illusion
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Goddess, level 7 [35/70]; Standard Deity
Domains (5/5): Mirrors, Illusion, Fate, Light, Pneuma
Faith Energy: 7362/16000
FE (Mirrors): 150 ; (Illusion): 150 ; (Fate): 150 ; (Light): 150 ; (Pneuma): 143
Followers: 703 (Daily FE Gain: 952 - 10)
Devout: 124+12
Priests: 77+17+19s
Brute: 0 [1/10]
Saboteur: 2 [26/30]
Magineer (Abjurer): 7 [36/80]
Bard: 2 [16/30]
MP: 211/211
Special Skills: First Aid, Tarot Reading, Meditation, Sympathetic Targeting, Swimming (Expert), Diplomacy, Favored Wpn: Staff, {W} Comprehension (Grandmaster), {R} Rogue's Luck, Priestly Ordination, Holy Relic Investiture, Create Servitor, Consecration, Magical Invention (Grandmaster), Detect Magic+2, Ritual Cast*, Draw Mana* (0/1), Tweak Spell, Inspire Ally (2/2), Musical Talent, Jack of All Trades 2, Exploit Weakness, Avoidance, Sabotage
Special Traits: Token User, Immortal, Demiplane Domain, Conceptual Body, Fueled By Faith, Spirit Sight, Soul Companion (Azure), Detection Ward, Split Prediction, Perfect Vision, Light Absorption, Spirit Armor
Avatars: Av 1 (Core): Samantha (Mental Res 3, Magic Res 2, Quick 3, PFE: 150/150; Faces: Core (Pain Res 2), Stillwater (Charisma 1, Vital Strike +1)), Av 2: Green (Mental Res 3, Magic Res 1, Quick 3, PFE: 150/150; Faces: Greenleaf, Samantha)
Spells (MP): Allspell Zero (1), Allspell Core (3), Hard Light Layer (4), Three Small Fortunes (6 MP+), Telekinetic Thrust (6), Seeking (8), Web (10), Delicate Touch (9), Mirror Array (12 MP+), False Mind (22+), Personal Levitation (12), Pillar of Force (16+), Missile Blocker (20 MP+), Minor Contingency* (18), Justified Dispel (18), Breath of Spell Stasis (40)
Powers: FE Utilization, Grant Prayer (Illusion, Fate, Light, Pneuma, Pantheon), Mirror+1: (Sense, Communication, Maze, Walk, Other, Control), Intuition, Alter Fate, Create Phantasms, Grant Invisibility, Dazzling Spectrum, False Auras, Mirroring Duplicates+1*, Reflect Force+1, Light Manipulation, The Dawn Will Rise*, Removal, Channel Domain, The Unseen Animus, Purify, Phantasmal Haunt, Sheath of Light, Deific Pneumamancy, Fated Knot
Items: Foolmaker (+1 EL, +1 Arm Pen, Knockout, Spell Absorption 0/9, Echostrike), Suit of Mirrors (Relic; +2 M. Armor), Ring of Shield Projection, Ring of the Cheater, Amulet of All Defense, Dimension Closet Sack (portal DIA: 32 cm), Horn of the Wild’s Vengeance, Temp Mana Earring (26 MP), Potion of Seal Major Wound (1)
Status: Days Lived (30), Ascendant, Big Boss, Savior of the Fae, Sponge of Knowledge, Spirit Terror, Spells of Deja Vu (7/999), Free Minor Divine Enchantment (1/use), Free Consecration (1/use)