ALL NOVEL Chapter 4: Chapter 4: Page
After the drive-by accident, Luci silently clings more to his father due to the shock of his father's physical prowess.
His father slowly stops and turns to him, easily making Luci release his grip on him. He then proceeds to silently clean Luci of the aftermath. The blood and meat parts of the murdered Constrictor.
He feels pity for his son, thinking that he has traumatized him for his display of brutal proclivity. Meanwhile, Luci is admiring his father's capabilities.
As his father finished cleaning both of them, he told Luci to put more grip on his back before continuing, Luci nodded and did as he was commanded. They silently proceed on their journey.
They arrived before it was dark. Luci still smelled bad and even his father noticed it and so his father double checked on him before ending on a pat on Luci's back to signal that they could proceed towards their house.
However, Luci noticed that with his father's hands something else came with it. It made him try to think of something else to replicate the feeling. He feels that it was magic coursing through him by his father's guidance and control.
His father shows him all these feats and now, he wants to know if his father wants to normalise these actions as he grows up. His father controls the Lake but he wants to know if he knows magic other than that, something similar to a Wizard.
Luci stops walking and focuses on his father's back while no one is around. His father immediately notices that he isn't following, he faces him and asks what's wrong?
Luci asks his father, do you know magic other than the one on the lake? His father shrugs and roots from trees grow larger and silently cover Luci's feet before he gives a verbal answer, probably.
Luci recognises this spell or magic. Entanglement. Luci tries uses his strength to break free but it only stretches the roots before it pulls his feet to the ground again.
Luci turns to his father, finding a teasing grin on his face before he composes himself and frees Luci. His father tells him that he will teach Luci later on but he has to be patient.
Luci responds by using one of his 1st Level spell slots for Goodberry, creating 10 blue colored berries before raising it to his father's face. His father takes one berry and tastes the fruit. He nods in approval and tells him from now on he needs to create 10 berries and eat them everyday.
Luci disagrees with his father and tells him that 1 is enough to feed a grown man. His father retorts, asking him if he had tried eating 10 pieces of them. Of course, Luci shakes his head. He just did his first Spell Casting.
Taking his father's advice he tries to eat the remaining 9 berries. As he tries one of them, he is met with an appetising taste of sweetness. Without hesitation he eats the rest, not holding himself back.
As he finishes the berries he is surprised that there was no side effect. He wasn't magically bloating nor was he knocked out from overeating. He feels full, ready and now has temporary hit points, 9 of them for 24 hours.
His father suddenly puts him on his shoulder again and proceeds to walk towards their house. Luci asks him what's the matter and his father tells him that a fight broke out.
Luci doesn't question his father's hearing and goes with his father's desires and behaves on his shoulders.
As they arrive at their house, his father drops him and goes inside first. Luci hears his father telling his mother that he has to go towards the inn for a while to mitigate a fight. His mother tells him to be careful and come home early then he hears their footsteps coming closer.
His parents walk out with his father first, now wearing a decorated crocodile hide for his upper body, mail chausses for the lower body with greaves and sabaton. His mother looks at him with smiles, too many smiles in fact that he wanders what made her act like that.
He then remembers the shit that he just pulled, more specifically about the lake. He thought to himself that he wouldn't have been caught if his father didn't catch him back then but is it really through if his mother can beat the shit out of his father with no sweat? What if she was the first one who noticed him and told his father to take extra care of him…
Luci gives his father a pleading look. His father understands him and proceeds to give him the same smile, sealing his way of escape. His father kisses his mother before going out of their residence leaving him alone with his mother.
Luci never broke his site on his mother. Waiting for her to act.
His mother starts the conversation first by saying to him that he has been a naughty boy. A sentence that made him look to the side with shame.
She then made him take a seat near the kitchen table before telling him that she knows that he has grown exponentially and that is because of their psychology. Luci is curious what she means and his mother giggles before teasingly telling that they'll tell him once he is older.
She then flicts her finger and a book comes from behind and floats to her front. She then takes a seat beside Luci and starts telling him about being a page. She tells him being a page is a step closer towards knighthood compared to being this current era's peasants. One must know that this is a test of survival and servitude. She then goes about the history of the current Lords of Harrenhal, the Strongs. Their main branch of the bloodline, 1 Patriarch, 1 heir, a spare and two daughters.
She then asks him what should happen when a father and mother dies, what should happen to the properties of the father. Luci realizes that the question is similar to what will happen in the future with the house of Targs.
Luci answers that if permitted, in a peaceful time all of the children should get an equal share, bastard or not. His mother's eyes widened and she then looked at him before looking into his mind.
Luci feels it. He was being probed and he is uncomfortable of being caught with a memory that only exists due to his birth. He silently waits for her to finish, planning to not resist if she'll want to kill him.
As his mother finishes for 10 minutes, Luci breathes hard, the feeling he went through was awful. He felt like he was held down forcefully by his mother after that. He sees his mother come closer to her and pat his shoulders to calm him down.
She raises his head slowly towards her larger stature then looks into his eyes in search of some kind of confirmation. Her eyes then shine in a dim flash of white light. She then let him go and casted a level 9th spell, Power Word: Healer.
Luc recognised the spell and was stunned. He is even more curious about what she did to him that it needed a 9th level spell of healing. Though he is even more worried about her being a Level 9th spell Caster because that means that she can beat someone like his father and she is also a spell caster.
Luci grew even more uneasy but again he is still on his courage and follows his mother's desires even if he'll die if it must happen.
His mother then talks to him, breaking his line of thoughts, not stopping for him to gather his thoughts. It was about his alignments. Right now, he is on the "Good" part.
Luci is shocked about his alignment and how he actually managed to get all of that information. He expected that some parts would be left unheard and not properly taken in but everything was gathered.
Luci then hears her talk briefly about other alignments but didn't add about their description. His mother sighs before embracing him before she tells him that it will be a long road for him.
Luci returns the embrace for the sake of her mothers growing sadness. Waiting for her to let him go and asks some questions about her And his father.
He was embraced for about 4 hours. He saw his mother light some candles without shifting in position and close the doors and windows once the sky became dimmer. He doesn't know if it is just a joke from his mother or not but as he became tired she casted sleep on him making him sleep in her arms.
? New (Level up! +450 +900 +1800 exp = 300/6500 Level 4)
? 2 Unpicked Feats
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Luci is tired of the secrets that his parents are keeping but he knows that with these kinds of situations and their behaviour, he knows that they are protecting him against something. He didn't even need his previous and lesser intelligence to realise this. That is why as soon as he woke up he greets his mother and just asks her about what she just did. She answered him with a smile before proceeding to hug him.
She then tells him that it was a magic to identify a being's alignment towards his own kind. As usual, this surprises him as there is no spell that does this effect. He presumes that it needs some personal control instead of the usual spell Casting limitations like using a spell slot.
Even though he was given an answer by his mother, he still ended up being mostly clueless. However, instead of pestering his mother more, he instead wants to use time to his advantage as he is still young, he can wait.
He then asks his mother what they're going to do today. She smiles and tells him that he is going with his father in Harrenhal to become an official Page.
Luci nods and asks what a Page actually is again, hoping to get another defined answer. She tells him that a child is sent to a Lord to serve as a Page to help on chores, errands, and serving meals and more likely clean after animals and by the end of it you will learn Discipline and Obedience. You will need to learn reading, writing, Fighting and Languages like the Andals and Targs. All of this before you become a squire.
Luci looks at his mother in awe as she is really sending him away. He then asks him if she will miss him. His mother embraces him again and tells him that she can see him from here.
LucI hair then straightens again because of how she delivers the line. He asks her if she can teleport him back home whenever she wants to. Her mother is surprised that he knows of this spell but only giggles praising him as a genius before teasing him that she might.
Embarrassed by his mother's tendency. He shifts the topic and asks his mother when his father is coming home. She laughs and tells him that he has arrived at Harrenhal already.
Now he is annoyed. His father would definitely leave him while he is asleep but since he wants to play it that way he asks his mother to teleport him near the Castle. His mother replied with a childish Nuh-Uh.
Luci in disbelief pushes her and asks if she wants him to walk himself until Harrenhal? His mother nodded.
Luci asks about if he can take a caravan. His mother shakes her head and tells him that there is no caravan around this time.
Luci then impulsively goes to his room and gets his wooden sword and a bag his size and some silver coins that his mother and father gives him from time to time before aiming his way out.
His mother stops him and forces him to put his bags away and to think of his departure properly. She then drags him to the kitchen and opens some food containers on the table for him to eat.
Luci tries to deny the food and tells his mother that he has the 1st level spell : Woodberries for sustenance. His mother disapproves and tells him that if he is in this house he will eat at least a meal or two, leaving no grounds for negotiation.
Luci eats and as usual is delighted by his mother's cooking skills. While he was eating, his mother properly readied his bag.
As Lucy finishes his meal, he puts the plates to the sink and goes to his bags where his mother is at.
Seeing her work on his supplies, he is happy with her kindness. As he waits for her to finish, he then sees her enchant the wooden sword to +3. He is amazed by the outcome of the sword. He then sees the defense, durability of the sword increased and damage is now equal to a normal short sword.
She gives it to Luci who becomes excited to try it. He asks his mother first just in case she puts something hidden on it and she allows him to try. He gives it a couple of swings and it works just like a normal sword except that it is lighter.
Luci then looks at his bag and he sees a more organised arrangement of his belongings. He hugs his mother because of her being always there to support him.
He then felt that something was missing and then he realised that he has levelled up past 2 and now he is level 4.
He then excuses himself from his mother and tells her that he has something missing inside his room. His mother let him go, which he is glad.
He proceeds to sit down on his bed then looks into himself and searches for something new of his level ups.
He can now choose a subclass for his Ranger. The choices are Beastmaster which controls 3 Beasts, Fey Wanderer which is a Ranger that has adapted from the Fey wilds, Gloom Stalker, similar to the Fey Wanderer, is tied to the Shadowfell. And lastly the basic but solid Hunter.
Luci picks the Hunter because of its straightforwardness of its overall combat capability.
He gained the following features from Level 3 to 4.
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Level 3 :
Primeval Awareness
Advantages : You are aware of all of your Favored Enemies in 1km (Level) and Twice the benefits of your Natural Explorer.
Primal Awareness
Advantages : You unlock spells as your Natural Abilities starting from;
Level 3: Speak with Beast
Level 5: Beast Sense
Level 9: Speak with Plants
Level 13: Locate Creature
Level 17: Commune with Nature.
Usages: Equal to your Proficiency until you take a long rest (minimum of 8 hours).
Level 4
Martial Versatility
Usage: Replace your Fighting Style/s with the once that are available to your class. You can't do so again until you take a short rest (1 hour minimum)
Choices: Archery, Blind Fighting,Closer Quarter Shooter, Defense, Druidic Warrior, Dueling, Interception, Mariner, Thrown Weapon, Tunnel Fighting, Two Weapon Fighting, Unarmed Fighting.
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Subclass Feature
Level 3
Hunter's Lore
Advantages: Once a Creature is Marked by your Hunter's Mark you will immediately know what their Immunities, Resistances and Vulnerability if it has one.
Hunter's Prey
Colossal Slayer: You can increase your damage towards enemies that do not have full health by 80% more.
Giant Breaker: You can immediately attack anything Large or Larger than you after they attack you, as a reaction.
Usage: Equal to your Proficiency per 6 seconds.
Horde Breaker: When you attack, you can make another attack to another target within the 1 meter radius (Equal to Proficiency) of your previous target.
Defensive Tactics
Level 7
Escape the Horde: Opportunity attacks against you are more likely to miss.
Multiattack Defense: When a creature hits you with an attack, you gain (half of your Proficiency) to AC against all subsequent attacks made by that creature for the rest of the 6 seconds.
Steel Will: You are more likely to succeed on saving throws against being frightened.
Multiattack
Level 11
Volley: You can use your action to make a ranged attack against any number of creatures within (2×Proficiency) meters of a point you can see within your weapon's range.
Limitation: You must have ammunition for each target, as normal, and you make a separate attack roll for each target
Whirlwind Attack: You can use your action to make melee attacks against any number of creatures within (Proficiency) meters.
Superior Hunter's Defense
Level 15
Evasion: When you are subjected to an effect, such as a red dragon's fiery breath or a lightning bolt spell, that allows you to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, you instead take no damage if you succeed on a saving throw, and only half damage if you fail
Stand Against the Tide: When a hostile creature misses you with a melee attack, you can use your reaction to force that creature to repeat the same attack against another creature (other than itself) of your choice.
Uncanny Dodge: When an attacker that you can see hits you with an attack, you can use your reaction to halve the attack's damage against you.
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Luci is satisfied with his choice, even though he has a desire to see more of what the others can offer. However, he wants to pick a safer opinion.
From the past Levels, he has noticed some of the changes compared to the original. With the choices that he had made, he is now prospering. He even has 2 Unpicked Feats. Instead of picking it now, he instead leaves it for later.
Luci sits up and goes towards his mother, he gives her a hug before he takes his backpack that covers half length and shadows him twice in width. Luci then puts on his boots before taking the enchanted sword from his mother.
Luci then gives his farewell to his mother and goes onto the road, following his father's footsteps.
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The moment Luci manages to get away from the town's view, he starts to dash his way towards his destination, Harrenhal. The moment he starts his move he is reminded about the disparity between his speed and his father.
It wasn't because his father's speed made him feel like he was moving like a snail. He is faster than most athletes. 9 meters per second compared to his 5 meters per second when he had just started.
He couldn't just use Dash all the way to Harrenhal as it would be too taxing for his current body. He has already tested that there are limits for his body. His breathing for example, when he tested it from holding his breath for 15 minutes in the Magical Lake.
Luci is now into the assumption that the best way he can travel for now is going full speed on his normal Land Speed.
Luci then remembers that he has 2 unpicked Feats. He smiles before picking Mobile and leaving the last Feat for later.
Luci then sees an immediate result from his chosen Feat. He is now moving lighter and faster than before. He then eyeballs his speed and finds himself moving two times faster than before.
Luci is glad of his now superhuman speed. With the Speed that he is going, he would be at Harrenhal 2 and a half hours.
He is amazed about what he has at this point. He has 2 legendary parents and he is also growing so fast that he would be approaching their status by the time he will be 18 years old.
And so Luci continues his run.