An hour later, I descended the stairs leading to the ground floor of Stone Lock, my body clean and my mind clear once again. Warden Ivory was draped gracelessly across one of the couches, reading her smutty novel. She snapped it shut and sat up as I approached. Her solid black eyes turned to me and her mouth curled into a knowing smile. “What took you so long?” “I had some frustration I needed to vent…” I parked myself on the cushion beside hers and leaned back with a satisfied grown as I let my relaxed body slide down. “It’s been forever since I had a chance to sit my ass down on something not made of wood.” “I’m glad it’s to your liking,” she snickered. I rolled my head to the side to look at her and offer a grin. “So, what now?” “Now we talk about magic.” “Finally!” Giddy eagerness filled me in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a kid and found out where my parents hid the Christmas presents. I sat up and repositioned myself to face her more directly. A warm smile formed on
“Relax,” she giggled. Her snow-white fingers closed around the worn leather wrapped handle as she pulled the knife free. The blade was about eight inches in length and made from a dull silvery metal that didn’t reflect the light of the crystals illuminating the room. Its razor sharp edges were symmetrical, elegantly curving towards one another to form a lethal point. “This is a ‘breacher’,” she said as she casually flipped it in her hand to catch the flat of the blade before offering me the hilt. The grip felt as it looked against my fingers: Thoroughly used. The relatively small weapon was also heavier than I expected. “Why’s it so heavy?” “It’s crafted from a dense metal known as anmian; a favorite among alchemists due to its durability and suitability for enchanting.” The strange metal pulled my gaze as though they were oppositely charged magnets. Not a hint of texture stained its smooth surface and no matter how I shifted it, not a drop of light was caught in the flat silvery
The warden's palms came up in the universal pantomime for ‘slow down, buddy’. “One at a time, Bryan,” she laughed. “No, it's not possible for someone to gain more fate aspects. There are seven fate aspects and nine divine aspects. I’ve got books for you to look at later outlining the different classes. As for getting divine aspects… that’s a bit more complicated.” “What do you mean?” “The way most of them get one is by being granted one by a god. This usually happens when a god takes an interest in someone’s birth for one reason or another and blesses them with the divine aspect associated with their domain when they’re born. For instance, the goddess of fire would give the flame divine aspect. However, gods have also been known to grant a divine aspect when someone impresses them somehow.” “How so?” “Oh, it depends on the god. The god of light might grant his divine aspect to someone who makes a great discovery, the god of earth might bestow one to a person who tends to a forest…
The glowing crystal embedded in the ceiling was dead, and impenetrable darkness reigned in my cell… But I knew what stood at the foot of my bed. It was a monolith of hate and fury. Its oppressive displeasure weighed heavily in the air and I dared not move for fear of provoking its wrath. “You have been foolish, Bryan…” It communicated not in words, but in booming thoughts which invaded my mind. “I-I know…” I said, “but I promise it will all be worth it–” “Silence!” My mouth clamped shut at its command. It’s will was inevitable and the idea of resisting felt as foolish as trying to melt an oncoming iceberg with a space heater. “You have wronged yourself! You have wronged the beautiful warden! But worst of all…” Lightning illuminated the windowless cell, followed by the crack of thunder. The cold light revealed my dick looming over me like a dark, primal god. “You have wronged me!” My cock then murdered me. I’m not clear on how, but I know with absolute certainty that it did
She led me into the open space between the lounge and the metal door leading outside before turning to face me. “According to your file, your divine aspect is spirit and your fate aspect is smith, making you a Spiritsmith.” “Very creative naming convention…” I muttered. “I find it refreshing how the smith classes are named. ‘Lifesmith’, ‘Flamesmith’, ‘Shadowsmith’…” she said, counting off the examples on her fingers. “It’s far more practical than some of the other classes.” “Like what?” “Well, using the knight fate aspect, a couple are ‘Glass Warrior’, 'Ghast', ‘Depth Warrior’...” “Those sound better than ‘Spiritsmith’...” I grumbled. “They’re also needlessly harder to remember,” she added. “But that’s unrelated to the matter at hand… I’ve never met one before, but I did some reading last night about Spiritsmiths and I believe I now have a reasonable understanding of their capabilities.” “You’ve got books that aren’t smut?” I teased. “There’s a whole library upstairs.” “Can
“Right after we go over one last thing…” Her dark eyes glistened with feigned benevolence as a shiteating grin curved her lips, betraying her impish hunger for outworlder suffering. “No!” Indignation resonated in my voice. “I can handle some teasing, hell, I was able to recover from yesterday, but c’mon, this is sadistic! Educational edging has no payoff!” “Oh?” she asked if feigned innocence. “What happened yesterday?” “You know what happened.” “Can’t say that I do,” she said with false bemusement, her dark eyes brimming with lewd amusement. “The thing in the showers yesterday…” “What thing?” she pressed. Gears turned in my head as I contemplated the sexual calculus of how to go about this. Wait… Why am I not wanting to directly talk about it? Getting direct about it isn’t ‘losing control’ or whatever… It’s a gamble, but being direct and turning things up might be the play… I let my expression transform into a confident smirk. “The thing where I got all worked up and excit
The warden let out a groan of disappointment. “Fine… So, the last thing we need to discuss is regarding the unique effects each divine aspect has on one’s physical body. The spirit divine aspect you possess reinforces your defenses against assaults made directly on your spirit.” “That’s pretty ambiguous,” I said, “feel like elaborating?” “Certain classes are granted magic which lets them attack the spirit of another in an attempt to control their mind. An example of such a class is the combination between the ‘ruler’ fate aspect and the spirit divine aspect, known as a ‘Despot’. A Despot is able to use their magic to forcibly control another through dominating their spirit. Controlling another in this way is known as a ‘forced compulsion’.” “That sounds pretty fucked up.” “It is indeed. However, because you have the spirit divine aspect, your natural defenses are bolstered against such attacks. You’re also a human, which means the passive effects any divine aspect are further incre
“Let us begin with a mundane item.” The warden’s hand went to her hip, pulling back her coat and revealing the breacher affixed to her belt. The blade rasped against its sheath as she pulled it free. Blade and hilt rested atop her palms as she presented it to me with both hands. “Make a wooden replica.” “How?” “As we spoke of before, visualize the components, imagine how they would come together, and will your spirit to make it so.” A symmetrically shaped blade at about eight inches and made from a heavy wood to imitate the breacher’s weight… Oak should work… Its hilt and guard will be part of the same piece of wood, making it a single object. It’s sanded and smooth… A strip of soft leather wraps around the handle. A wooden copy of the breacher appeared in my mind’s eye and I knew it would require only two percent of my spirit to conjure and less than one percent of my total spirit to imbue into it. I willed it into existence and my spirit flared as pinpricks of white-blue energy