Chương 203: The Human Race Ch. 7-201 – Hallowed Magma

Fireborn had moved back into the first caldera we'd cleared, but not in great numbers. It being Blighted and all was just like living in a yard whose middle was a huge steaming pile of festering, stinky crap. Being Cursed wasn't the same thing as negative energy, which these Elementals could have tolerated. That meant clearing it out was fairly easy, at least compared to the one we'd finished with ten hours before.

The landscape had a lot of stuff, but it was mostly small and weak and died in droves as we cleared the area. Being formerly Qi-dominated, control of the territory was already in flux at best, with no Elementals present to solidify anything, and being Blighted had prevented any expansion, even if some were sent to take back the land. Preventing a re-annexing wasn't really all that hard.

Dusk had delivered unto me Archsorcerer/5 and double V Slots, with its Extra Spell Known V Feat complement, and Charisma Mastery/5 for +1 Charisma to 24, more bonus Slots and Spell Slots for me... and from Blighter, of all things... Before, all the spell Slots would have made me very happy, but once I was in combat, they were almost superfluous.

I could recharge them so fast without penalty it was almost surreal, meaning I could dump a bunch of Buffs fast, and have them all ready to go for the next fight, without a problem. Well, it was a good problem to have, being independent of mana while fighting. Out of combat, of course, more Slots of any kind were a Good Thing, and I was pleased to have them. That done, it was just about setting up a Node Tap.

Not too much different than an Obelisk, and like that, it was fed by Allegiance Karma and a bunch of fresh new mana crystals that even The Mick didn't look at as a waste after learning what a Node Tap could do. The lawyers and negotiators of Heavenbound Hall had already secured rights to the craters and their general areas if we managed to clear them. There only remained for us to clear them all and survey the area properly.

I was looking askew at a Lesser Commune with Nature, its radius exactly one mile, instead of the mile/Caster Level of the V Slot, and I just needed to get Blighter to Four to reach that. It shouldn't be too long. The shape of the Node Tap was columnar, with a flattened working area around it, and three places for the free Fire Karma to imbue the objects laid upon them.

For now, that Karma was going into the Node Tap itself, powering it up towards Summoning powerful Elementals to protect it from things that might want to disturb it. We couldn't possibly start using it right away, after all. The Firelord could send attacking forces right through the submerged lava flows and directly up into the caldera. That would just be stupid to risk... The Hallowing Ritual was completed on the dot of noon, just as Aru's filmy light was highest beyond the Haze.

Despite the obstruction of the gloomy clouds, golden sunlight bathed the whole of the lava lake below, slowly cleansing away the corruption of the Blight I had put upon it... and replacing it with something new and almost equally anathemic to the Firelord's influence here, as I Consecrated the place and tied it to the Node Tap. The double-tap Ritual meant that its control over anything it sent out here would be eroded extremely quickly, and the resulting Elementals either be freed or quickly repelled from the area.

The sheer amount of pyromana being pumped and purified through the place was a thing. Last thing was a Vivic Beacon atop the Node Tap, swirling and sending the thick burning mana higher into the sky, to mix and merge with the Land itself, strengthening it further, and helping all this aggressive, powerful mana get subsumed into the greater manafield of the planet and reality.

It wouldn't harm anything, except maybe an undead creature stupid enough to jump into it, but it would keep constantly strengthening the Land hereabouts, helping a slow but steady return to a balanced state. When the Shroud lifted and the Lands fully awoke, this place would be like a big warm heartbeat giving life to so much else, instead of a burning flame.

There were five more volcanoes I had to clear: four more lessers and the primary one at the heart of the Shroudzone. I had now bracketed the main Shroudzone with captured volcanoes hundreds of miles apart, and it was time to close in.

My Allegiance was watching all of this, because I was letting them, feeling their burgeoning Loyalty and my Duty mixing together for this Allegiance Karma to make all these things, realizing the collective magical power of a bunch of people acting together was really no different than all of them being able to contribute to any other construction project. They were naturally excited to be able to help, with nothing more than willing spirits and hard work towards a common goal.

Seeing tangible results of all this was an immense reward, even if individual results were small. Being able to feel your own strength part of that rush Infusing the Node Tap and the Obelisk meant you were contributing, and your small part was just as valuable as everyone else's. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Allegiance Magic at work!

The days began to fugue together with the sheer amount of repetitious spellcasting I was doing, and Counts were accumulating rapidly on my Visual File, Meta after Meta ticking off as it moved up the scale, slews of Spells hitting 500 counts for that Tier I Efficiency as I moved along the path. I even spent most of a day embedded with a group of Hall fighters whose Melees I encouraged to mix it up some with the lesser Elementals they ran across.

I made enough rep counts for both Cure and Heal Lesser Wounds, Major Wounds, and Severe Wounds across the course of the day, which also incidentally qualified me for Healing Reserve if I chose to take it. Reach Healing Spells flew in every direction, topping off all of them, the Imbued Healing even giving them a bunch of temporary Soak to help protect them.

Absolutely delighted to have that level of healing available, the men and women hacked to it with a will and a way, getting in more real time combat practice against supernatural foes than they ever expected they would, and I kept fixing them back up. Even those killed by lucky hits could be saved if I got to them within a minute, and with a default healing range of over two hundred feet, it just meant they didn't get all that far from me as I was dumping the healing over them.

Yeah, I could have killed a lot more of the stuff myself, but The Mick and Master Fred were also there to show them how it was done, and reinforce any real big fights. Iron being pounded against Fire into Steel. My eyes glittered despite myself, and the days went on...

Warshaper/1. I didn't know why it fed me an Advanced Class... oh, +25% fortification, immune to Daze and Stunning attacks. Qualified for by the undead wildshape of the Blighter Class, which I literally never used... Came with Guardian of the Wild, another of those Elven Feats applicable under the Shroud, granting +2 to Dodge AC, as I was warned and abetted by the powers of the Shroud to avoid danger; and also with Strength Mastery/4.

The next day was Witch/4, which gave me +1 Int and Dex, along with Elemental Admixture, Paired Spell's +4 Elemental and stacking peer Meta of double damage goodness; and Intellect Mastery/5, advancing to Intellect 39 and Dexterity 27 for the day.

The next day we liberated our third volcano, and I went back to Hallow and Consecrate the second, setting up a Node Tap and Obelisk as intended. The Class was Ur-Priest/4 (6), giving me +1 Wisdom and Constitution (to 25 and 26 respectively), and Spell Resistance to Divine Magic 15 all the time, non-stacking with Cast Spell Resistance, and so very minor.

The Purchased Mastery was Silver Fire/1, which allowed me to expend a Turn attempt, ignite it with vivus since it was negative energy, and do a massive blast of energy in a thirty-foot radius, d6 equal to my Turning level + Arcane Casting Level. Alas, it didn't stack with Theurgic Levels, so it was not a spell... but it made for a nice fallback blast, at the least. 17d6 of pure killing anti-undead silver fire was pretty nice.

Purchased Feat: Ur-Thief: Use the Steal Spell-like ability of an Ur-Priest an additional time a day. Stacks with the Class Ability....... My eyes got pretty small looking at that. I hadn't been very impressed by Ur-Priest, other than the fact that it could grab spells from all Domains willy-nilly and thumb its nose at traditional Clerical limitations on such things. Mechanically, it was just a way to play a Cleric without any obligations to Divinities...

nothing revolutionary from a 'power' standpoint, but from the point of stealing faith and abusing Divine magic... yeah, it earned its stripe as an Evil art, and even the Dark Gods didn't like Ur-Priests stealing Faith from them. But this ability... I Cast what Divine Spells I had at Eleven, of course. From a Caster Level perspective, I had qualified for this Feat, even though I didn't actually have the Class Ability it was building on... but I'd had no way of knowing that, so the Shroud had shoved it upon me.

You may steal the use of a spell-like ability from a target once a day. This theft does not affect their ability to use the spell. My lips quirked. Okay, so this was more mimicry than theft, but sure. You may use the stolen ability as often as the source, or three times per Renewal, whatever is less. Three..., I murmured to myself. Caster Level of the effect is your own Caster Level or the Level the source of the Ability uses it at, whichever is higher. Three uses per day...

I lifted my eyes to gaze at the volcano to the west of me, one of four spread out fairly equally around the Shroudzone. Scouts said there were a lot of ifrit and brassmen roving those lands. Those were the Fireborn races preferred by the Efreet. It was time to make a phone call.

"Lady Traveler, how may I be of service to you?" Windgraf Mochtal asked me cordially.

"Elder Windgraf, I believe I need to request a Wish."

"Ah? Of course. It seems my rival has ceased his recent efforts, I no longer have to Counter them. What is your intention?"

"I believe I might be going to see your counterpart, and that he is enslaved by the local Firelord. I am thinking of capturing him and using him."

"Interesting." His voice was wary.

"That is a dangerous proposition. The Efreet are dangerous and treacherous at the best of times, and the Bey is no exception!"

"I'm not going to be using him the way he thinks I am. As a matter of fact, for the most part, he should not realize that I am using him at all."

"Indeed?" The Windgraf sounded very interested.

"How then, may I be of help?"

"I would Wish that any Wishes granted to me by Bey Garar'Azzar of the Efreet be excluded from Countering by the Wishes of Windgraf Mochtal, upon the Windgraf's approval." There was a significant and thoughtful pause on the other end, and I could almost hear his slow nod.

"That means I must be made aware of each Wish automatically and choose whether or not it is to be excluded. Clever. I grant this Wish, Lady Traveler!" The tingle was immaterial and ethereal. It was a lot of power being spent on something that was totally elective and might not ever get used.

"Thank you for your help. I will see if this works out to our benefit."