Chương 13: Building a Genius, Bit by Bit

"That definitely sounds useful," Tiya agreed after a moment of thought.

"Does it work on alcohol?" she asked cunningly. He laughed again at the question. -There's a penalty if you keep upping the dosage… but yes, you'll be able to drink most people under the table without effort. There's a companion ability that is good for avoiding explosive effects, spells, and area of effect attacks you have to dodge, called Evasion. We are going to gain that by going up a Mastery Tree to get it.

- Having seen dozens of people burned to ash by flaming breath weapons from dragons, fantastic chimeras of a dozen kinds, and worse creatures, that also sounded like a wise thing to acquire! Tiya nodded quickly. -Let me display a full Assay of you, and show you what we are going to fill in. - This sounded like it was going to be very interesting, herself as numbers? Tiya waited as her son sat down next to her in his brownie form and waved his hand. Light gathered into numbers and letters in the air.

They were different from what she had learned when younger, but she still understood them clearly. Something about a 'genetic language', whatever that was. ===================== Tiya Niksadottir Female Human/2, Northerner, Chaotic Good Fighter (Melee Focus, Stalwart)/5, Karma Positive Strength: 16 +3 Dexterity: 15 +2 Constitution: 18 +4 Intellect: 10 +0 Wisdom: 12 +1 Charisma: 12 +1 Health: 23 Soak: 61 Languages Known: Norskiir, Imperial Common. Literate.

Weapon Proficiency: All martial and simple melee and missile weapons. Armor Proficiency: Light and Medium Armor; basic Shields.

Chosen Primary Weapon Style Group: Battle Axe, Shield, Short Bow Favored Class Benefits (Fighter): +5 Skill Points, +5 Health Melee Attack Bonus: +5 Ranged Attack Bonus: +3 Feats: Combat Feats: Double Weapon Specialization/Battle Axe; Dodge; Cleave; Power Attack Training Feats: Toughness; Great Fortitude; Improved Initiative; Lightning Reflexes; Wave Skating Step Bonus Melee First Level Feat: Improved Grapple Human Feats: Power Attack, Extra Traits: Enterprising, Fast Learner; Dash Level Feats: Shield Focus, Endurance Current Inspired Feat: Mounted Combat Resolve: Bravery +1; Discipline +1 Skill (Military Lore); Vigor (9 pts) 1/day; Inspire 1/day; Armor Training: +1 Dodge bonus to AC wearing Armor or a Shield; treats medium armor as light armor when worn.

Weapon Training: +1 TH/Dmg (Axe Weapons) School Defense: Mettle Skills: Skill Points: Base 4, +1 Human, +1 Favored Class per Fighter Level; +1 Resolve; +8 Ranks from Human/2. Skill Ranks: 5 in Survival, Athletics, Intimidation, Perception, Stealth, Military Lore, Handle Horses; 4 ranks each in Riding and Sense Motive. Special: Mark of Constitution +4 (unfilled); Bonded Axe (Bull) === It took Tiya a moment before she swallowed and realized that this really did sum up most of what she knew.

Of course, it glossed over things like knowing decent manners, how to cook basic food, the history of her clan, and how to do rough medical care, and so forth and so on, most of which were probably folded on under Survival, which was all-around ability to survive and hunt. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Heavens," she managed to murmur, looking at all of that.

"That feels very invasive, somehow. This spell can reveal all of that?" She was rather appalled about how much information about her it could discern. The format of the information changed, and suddenly she could see five Levels of Fighter and two Levels of Human laid out individually, and see the Feats she had taken broken out and allocated among them as to when she had taken them. Then a whole bunch of extra Slots winked up and settled into place, sitting there glaring empty, as if waiting to be filled.

So did the Health and Soak numbers, which gained two extra numbers: (29) and (75). -The Spell is easy to resist if you don't want people to know, or you can allow them merely to confirm your name, species, and class. This is far more in-depth than most hostile Assays can reach easily, - Deuce /assured her. -I would not even attempt something like this in normal circumstances, because it is so likely to fail. But you can see what I was saying about you being able to take extra Feats and Masteries.

- There were over a dozen empty Feat Slots, and fifteen empty Mastery Slots! Tiya didn't know whether to feel stupid or just untaught as she stared at what was before her, mocking her for not getting the extra training and depth that she should have! -You advanced in Fighter like most people do, Mother. You did absolutely nothing wrong. You are still a step up from the many Warriors you served alongside, and you know this, for you love to fight, and they merely had to because they were conscripted to do so.

- The whole display mostly went dark, except for a few Feats that didn't come from Class Levels at all. -If you were not a Fighter, you'd be this bad, instead. - That reassured her, and she exhaled a sigh of relief.

"I can see where you say I need to go Deeper now, and fill in all these missing spots." She eyed the more than two dozen places that needed to be filled in.

"Do Amazons get all of this?" she asked in some irritation. -Amazons do not gain Human Primos Bonus Feats. - The fourteen such Feats winking at her vanished, leaving the display most empty behind them. -Amazons, however, start with a perfect Stat array, and gain +1 Strength per Primary Class Level, and a point in Dexterity and Constitution every other Level.

- The changes rippled across the Assay, notably giving her another four skills, which Deuce amusingly filled with Basket Weaving, Carpentry, Cooking, and Lore of Imperial History. So, they didn't gain that much more than she did, but the Strength score of 24 was very eye-catching! Something in the Assay told her that was almost twice as a strong as a very strong man, with a natural Strength of 20 being the highest possible to start with. Yes, Amazons got very strong, very quickly... She pointed.

"So, I can add one of these Bonus Feats a day… if I have the Positive Karma to do so. And I can increase my Health and Soak one more point towards the maximums possible per day." -And gain one Class Level a day, which means you still get to choose both your Fighter Combat and Training Feats, - Deuce /confirmed calmly. -You also get the extra Feat for hitting Five. So, you can choose four Feats total, in the appropriate Slots, and one Mastery. -"What are you recommending, then?" she asked narrowly.

-We need to generate more attacks for you in combat if we can. That requires Combat Reflexes, which has considerably more benefits for a Fighter than for others, and synergizes with Lightning Reflexes, which you already have. - That slotted into her Combat Feat Slot at Five.

- Combat Reflexes are about seizing openings when opponents have made themselves vulnerable, like someone who doesn't know how to disengage from a fight, tries to shoot a bow next to you, or drink a Potion, or Cast a spell, or move past you instead of fighting… all these things are moments of opportunity you can attack into, and which exploiting helps you kill enemies faster. - She could picture herself having taken advantage of those things in the past, and nodded understanding of his point.

- Endurance formalizes your toughness and stamina. As Fighters get stronger, this becomes increasingly good at staving off stamina as you invest more Karma into yourself, until it gets to the point exhaustion simply has no hold on you. - She had been in battles where it had been impossible for her to raise her arms by the time everything was done with, and even staying on her feet had been an effort. That sounded like something eminently practical to have.

-For your Deep Feat, you're going to delve into the non-Raging side of mental discipline, and learn the Combat Focus trance. It's a state of heightened mental focus that drives many other extremely useful abilities for warriors. -We are totally going to abuse this moment to also add Combat Stability for your General Level Feat, and Combat Vigor for your Mastery Feat there. There are synergies for having three of the Combat Focus Feats in place. -Go on and take them. You should still be at positive Karma when done.

- Tiya turned around, and in her head, there was now an entire field of levers, which looked forcibly like this array of slots empty and full in front of her. So many Levers waiting to be pushed over… But the ones nearest her were begging for attention, and she knew only a few of them could be pushed over right now. Still, that was what she did.

"Why does this pushing levers even work?" she had to ask Deuce. He leaned against her with a sigh. -Humans and most mortal creatures have what is known as an Akasha, a link between all humans, living and dead. It's like calling on your ancestors for knowledge. -The best way to think of it is as warrior's magic. You're learning the tricks and skills of those warriors who have come before you. As long as you have the foundation, there is a great deal you can learn from them.

-Not all such skills can be learned from the Akasha, and newly invented skills are not established there and so cannot be stolen so readily. -As for why you can gain all those extra Feats where Powered like I cannot, that's very simple: we can access magic that you cannot. I can learn and wield a hundred or a thousand different spells that can all do different things, and all I need is the ability to wield magic to use them.

There are some limits, but nothing that Primos can use to compare to the advantages being able to wield magic gives. -The extra Feats can be considered a bias for Warrior's Magic for Warriors, not magic wielders. Perhaps it's the gods, instead. Perhaps it's the Akasha. Maybe it's even the Land favoring the core of its children. -The Fighter Class is the class that masters Feats. Thieves master Skills. Monks master Ki. Fighters get more out of Feats and Masteries than other Classes because of it…

if you invest in your foundation appropriately. -You will get more out of a Feat that you take than I would if I were to take the same Feat. The bonuses of your Class are designed to work with Feats and become things that can transcend magic in many ways. -With me around, Mother, you will be able to afford the Karmic costs of gaining all these additional Feats. I also know of a great number of them you can use to improve, if not all of them.

By the time we are done, you will likely have among the most solid combat foundation in the world, and it's only going to get better over time. - Tiya smiled fiercely at that, getting ready to push her mental levers.

"That sounds really good to me, Deuce!" she admitted cheerfully.

"Okay, here I go on those Feats and that Mastery!" she laughed, and ran through her mental park, throwing those extra Levers. She could immediately tell the difference between the free levers and the paid one, feeling a tug at her soul and the Karma there as some of it was drained away.

Then things arose in her mind, and she almost fell over as something came hammering out of the Akasha and drove into the side of her head, rippling across her mind like crystal water as the mindsets of a thousand masters, disciplined warriors, accomplished duelists, ready gladiators, focused champions, and intense hunters showed her the way.

Energy settled into her bones, an endurance that went right to her core and gave her an impression that all those years of smiting pelts and posts, running, working, lifting, and marching, were all just challenges and steps taken towards this goal. She was only going to get tougher the more she pushed her limits of stamina now!