Well, that hadn’t been the evolution option he had expected to see, but the fact that a new option had appeared at all proved that his theory was correct. His transformation options were tied to the things that he had learned or done; each elemental variant of his original Pixie form was available due to his learning of various magical spells, while Hipixie was probably a generic transformation that all Pixie’s could get. The same was probably true of the others in his party, though he hadn’t seen what other options were available to them; Digbie evolved into a magically focused Demiblin because he was learning magic as well, whereas if he had focused on physical development he might have become a Hobgoblin or Orc, while Ash and Torrent had received or perhaps just chosen different evolutions of the Fanged Lizard because of how they had developed up until this point. Torrent would probably gain a transformation based on her breath attacks while Ash evolved into a Winged Kobold because of… whatever it was she was doing.
In the end it didn’t change his mind about what to evolve into, but it was interesting to know nonetheless; he would evolve into a Sprite and gamble on the fact that he would receive at least one variant for his troubles. Digbie was evolving as well, which gave him pause; he didn’t want everyone except Ash to be evolving at once lest she be forced to watch over all of them with no help; Torrent seemed to still be focusing on her experiments however, so it should be safe for him to do so now. “I’m going to evolve as well. See you soon.”
Oberon retreated to the cavern they had dug in order to give himself some form of shelter from danger while he was vulnerable; he trusted the others to look after him, but there was no reason to take chances or make things harder on them. He settled down in more or less the same spot he had slept in last night and lay down on the dirt floor. “System: Select ‘Adult Sprite’ transformation.”
Jangar had lived with the animals in the forest for several years as a small child; they had raised him, taught him, kept him alive, and as a result he learned to speak their language and had grown to appreciate their wisdom and potential. Every animal had something to offer, but of all of the animals Jangar had spoken to it was always his feathered friends that had the most to say; they were flighty and excitable and prone to exaggeration at times, but they were always the first to know when something interesting happened. They saw so much of the world from on high that the creatures who lived on the ground would never see. As such, birds were always the best ones to ask when he needed a scout or if he wanted to quickly learn information about an area.
However, getting useful information out of them was sometimes as difficult as drawing blood from a stone. Intelligent and attentive as they could be they were still animals and the things they considered important were drastically different from humans. Asking a bird if they had seen something interesting recently would net you a very different response than if you’d asked a person.
Even so, a woman riding horseback in this day and age was a rarity, especially given the late hour, and was something that caught even the birds’ attention. Jangar followed the directions of his flying allies to where they had last seen a woman with pine-coloured hair riding a pure white horse to a valley, from there he followed the dark shape of a flying golem directly to the location of an enemy Servant.
“Master, I’ve found the enemy. Though it seems I’m not the first one.” From the way the golem was diving towards the pair on horseback, it must have belonged to one of their allies. That he was not the first to find them was of no concern to him, he was not seeking glory after all, as it only meant that reinforcements would soon be on the way. “It appears to be the enemy Rider, Master, but they are not alone. I believe they have their Master with them. I will approach them.”
Jangar stepped out from the shadows with the Aram spear in hand, though without presence concealment they had surely already noticed him. He regarded the enemy Servant with interest, admiring their fine steed but also paying particular attention to their clothing; it was somewhat familiar, sharing traits with the clothing of his homeland without being exactly the same. Perhaps this Rider hailed from a similar part of the world as him, either a descendant or ascendant of his own people.
Interesting.
“Servant of Red! Before we do battle I want to ask you something. Tell me, do you come from the place known as Mongolia?”
I'm afraid I'm going to have to drop out of this. I've been trying to find the time to make a post but I have too many other projects going on at the moment that I can't.
Class: Lancer True Name: Jangar Title: The Khan of Bomba Gender: Male Alignment: True Neutral
Short Bio/Synopsis: The circumstances on Jangar’s birth are somewhat unusual. His father was Ujung Aldar Khan of Bomba, his mother was a woman from another tribe; the two had tried for a child for two years unsuccessfully, they tried various medicines and cures but nothing worked and eventually sought the advice of a herdsman who had 19 children. They called the herdsman in and he explained his secret: when the horses began to rut, he and his wife would watch them mate, then go mate themselves. Promising to reward the herder if the trick worked, Ujung Aldar Khan agreed to try it.
The couple secretly stole out to the steppe and hid behind a large rock so that they could watch a stallion and mare mate. Afterwards, they returned to their palace and tried for a child. The trick worked, and several months later it became apparent that Urmaa was pregnant. Ujung Aldar Khan sent the herdsman 100 cows as a reward. Urmaa was pregnant for 10 months, but could not give birth. When she finally did give birth, it was to a strange red mass. Ujung Aldar ordered a servant to throw it out, but then a voice cried from within, "I'm suffocating! Let me out of here!" They tried to cut the red mass open with a sword, but the sword merely chipped. Master Choirom came and recommended that they use Sword given by the Jade Emperor, and with this sword they were able to cut the red mass and free the large baby boy within. The baby's skin had auspicious markings: a red mole and a birthmark on his butt. The child was strong and kicked his leather swaddling cloths to pieces, making Urmaa afraid that her son was ill-fated to cause destruction. She begged Ujung Aldar to let the child die, but he appreciated his son's strength and refused. The tribe celebrated the baby's birth together.
Ujung Aldar became so preoccupied with his new son that he began to neglect the affairs of the tribe, particularly the defenses. A Manggus, or devil, called Goljing had long been an enemy of Bomba. Seeing Ujung Aldar's weakness, he attacked with 10,000 warriors on black horses and easily captured Bomba. Ujung Aldar Khan and his wife and son were besieged in their palace. Seeking to save his son's life, Ujung Aldar put a piece of white jade in his son's mouth, placed him on the horse Aranjagaan, and sent his servant Menhbayar to take the child to safety. He also gave the servant the Aram spear, a weapon that had been passed down for generations. Then Ujang Aldar fought the invaders until he and his wife were cut down.
The servant took the child to Big Black Mountain and hid him in a cave, then walked back to the palace to see what had happened. Discovering everything destroyed and the Khan dead, he decided to take his revenge by attacking some of the invaders as they sat around a fire. He killed one of them, but was soon killed himself. In the mountain cave, the boy sucked the white jade to keep himself from growing hungry or thirsty for a few days. But eventually he began to cry. A man named Mengen Xigxirge was hunting nearby, and he noticed the horse Aranjagaan grazing. Wanting to see what the horse was doing there, he went closer, and heard the baby crying. He followed the noise and discovered the cave. At first Mengen Xigxirge wanted to adopt the boy, so he decided to give him the name "Jangar." The boy immediately agreed that this should be his name and declared that he would become master of the world. This frightened Mengen Xigxirge, who was worried that Jangar might dispossess his own son, Hongor. So he decided to leave Jangar there with some food and water and left.
Jangar went outside and roared, and all the animals living nearby came to see what the noise was. He befriended them and they fed him and taught him their skills. She-wolves suckled him, and deer brought him fruit. He learned to roar from a tiger, to hunt from an eagle, and to run from an antelope. Jangar lived in the wild for two years, soon attaining the age of three.
One day an old man appeared while Jangar was sitting under a tree. The man told him about what had happened to his parents and trained him in martial arts and magic. But no sooner had Jangar learned these things than he woke up—it was morning, and it had all been a dream. Nonetheless, he felt strong, and discovered that he could uproot a tree and smash a camel-sized rock with it. He mounted Aranjagaan and went home to kill Goljing.
Three-year-old Jangar fought his way to Goljing's palace, destroying three strongholds on the way, and thrust his spear into the Manggus' chest, killing him. Then Jangar climbed up on the roof of the palace and called back all the people who had fled after the invasion. He became Khan and Bomba flourished again.
Meanwhile, another ruler named Shar Durdeng began raiding the outskirts of Bomba for livestock, women and children. Jangar was upset, and the three-year-old Khan took up his spear and rode alone to face his new enemy. To reach Shar Durdeng's palace, Jangar had to fight for seven months and 19 days. He overthrew four strongholds, and finally reached the crystal palace by the sea where his enemy dwelt. He snuck inside and found everyone drunk. Taking hold of the intoxicated Shar Durdeng, Jangar threw him off his throne, and proceeded to break ribs and spinal bones until Shar Durdeng agreed to leave Bomba in peace and pay taxes and tribute. By the age of five, Jangar had defeated five Mangguses and quintupled the size of the Bomba's territory.
Parameters: Strength: B+ Endurance:B Agility: B Mana: D Luck: E
Class Skills: Magic Resistance (C): Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals. Despite being versed in shamanism, Jangar does not have much experience fighting against magically inclined opponents and as such has negligible resistance against such attacks.
Personal Skills: Animal Dialogue (C): While in hiding on Big Black Mountain after the destruction of Bomba at the hands of the Manggus Goljing, Jangar befriended many of the animals living nearby and was taught their skills; She-wolves suckled him, and deer brought him fruit. He learned to roar from a tiger, to hunt from an eagle, and to run from an antelope. Jangar lived in the wild for two years and during this time learned to communicate with animals of all kinds.
Shamanism (D): One day an old man appeared while the young Jangar was sitting under a tree. The man told him about what had happened to his parents and trained him in martial arts and the shamanistic magic of his homeland. Jangar is proficient with common shamanistic skills just as communication with spirits, healing sickness caused by malevolent spirits and the usage of spirits as guides or messengers. He can also perform simple divination rites such as dream interpretation.
Natural Body (A): As a baby Jangar was able to kick apart his leather swaddling clothes and possessed the ability to speak from the moment he was born. By the age of three he had defeated the monster who had killed his father and reclaimed his kingdom. By five he had killed four more similar monsters and quadrupled the size of the Bomba’s territory.
Grants a plus modifier to his STR. Furthermore, even without training, he's still beyond brawny. No matter how many calories he ingests, his body shape will not change.
Noble Phantasm
Title: Aram Spear; The Spear that protects Bomba Rank: B NP Type: Anti-Unit Range: 6-8 Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: A weapon passed down the line of Khan’s for generations; carried by Jangar’s father, his grandfather and those before them, the spear carries the aspirations and desires of Jangar’s ancestors to found and create a place where no suffering or pain exists. The nation of Bomba was that place, founded by Jangar’s grandfather, destroyed by his father’s negligence and resurrected and protected by Jangar throughout his life; it is a place where there are no orphans or widows, where no one grows old and is remembered today both as a golden age and as a land of the future the people of Mongolia continue to aspire towards.
As the Khan and protector of Bomba, Jangar wielded the Aram Spear in its defence many times and against many foes, as did his ancestors before him and his descendants after him. The Aram Spear has been a constant throughout the entirety of the kingdom’s history, no matter who the current Khan is or what befalls them; it is the symbol of the Khan and the defender of Bomba. Bomba will continue to exist as long as this spear and its defender exist to protect it. This long history has given rise to the Aram Spear as a conceptual weapon which sublimates its myth into an ability that protects the wielder from death; Bomba will exist as long as the wielder of this spear lives, and the wielder of this spear will live as long as he holds this spear. This effect fortifies the user against death itself making even great wounds a negligible factor. Healing abilities will also have their efficiency drastically raised. It is particularly useful against status effects, and grants resistance alongside advantageous checks to resist or clear them each turn.
By activating the true name of this spear Jangar is able to establish a territory that will be designated as the new Bomba wherever he is standing in a radius around him. This removes the Aram Spears protections as a conceptual weapon and instead brings that protection across a wider area; any citizen of Bomba, which in this case includes the Khan and anyone the Khan considers a citizen, will be protected while standing within the borders of Bomba established by this effect. This protection acts as the passive ability of the Noble Phantasm albeit at reduced power.
Even without taking its powers into account it is a monstrous weapon; twelve feet in length, as wide around the haft as a small tree and with a weight to match, the Aram Spear requires superhuman strength to even lift, let alone wield effectively, and crushes those it is used against as much as it pierces them.
Title: White Jade; Stone of Purification and Healing Rank: C NP Type: Anti-Unit (Self) Range: N/A Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: When the Manggus Goljing attacked Bomba, Jangar’s father Ujung Aldar Khan sought to save his son’s life by sending him away. He placed a piece of white jade in his son’s mouth, placed him on the red steed Aranjagaan and sent him away with his servant Menhbayar to take the child to safety. He also gave the servant the Aram spear, a weapon that had been passed down for generations. Then Ujang Aldar fought the invaders until he and his wife were cut down.
The servant took Jangar to Big Black Mountain and hid him in a cave before returning to Bomba to find out what had happened. The jade sustained Jangar for several days, keeping him from feeling hunger or thirst. Years later, when Jangar was fighting the archer Altan Gheej and was struck by his arrow, Jangar placed the same piece of white jade in his mouth to stave off the poison it carried.
The White Jade is an item given to Jangar by his father as a child to keep him safe. It is abundant in healing and purifying energy and was used by Jangar several times during his life to keep himself alive or to fight off harmful effects, whether that is poison or even starvation. When this Noble Phantasm in held it boosts the natural healing abilities of the holder, allowing them to recover from wounds faster than they would otherwise, and grants extra resistance against the effects of poison or other harmful substances.
Class: Lancer True Name: Jangar Title: The Khan of Bomba Gender: Male Alignment: True Neutral
Short Bio/Synopsis: The circumstances on Jangar’s birth are somewhat unusual. His father was Ujung Aldar Khan of Bomba, his mother was a woman from another tribe; the two had tried for a child for two years unsuccessfully, they tried various medicines and cures but nothing worked and eventually sought the advice of a herdsman who had 19 children. They called the herdsman in and he explained his secret: when the horses began to rut, he and his wife would watch them mate, then go mate themselves. Promising to reward the herder if the trick worked, Ujung Aldar Khan agreed to try it.
The couple secretly stole out to the steppe and hid behind a large rock so that they could watch a stallion and mare mate. Afterwards, they returned to their palace and tried for a child. The trick worked, and several months later it became apparent that Urmaa was pregnant. Ujung Aldar Khan sent the herdsman 100 cows as a reward. Urmaa was pregnant for 10 months, but could not give birth. When she finally did give birth, it was to a strange red mass. Ujung Aldar ordered a servant to throw it out, but then a voice cried from within, "I'm suffocating! Let me out of here!" They tried to cut the red mass open with a sword, but the sword merely chipped. Master Choirom came and recommended that they use Sword given by the Jade Emperor, and with this sword they were able to cut the red mass and free the large baby boy within. The baby's skin had auspicious markings: a red mole and a birthmark on his butt. The child was strong and kicked his leather swaddling cloths to pieces, making Urmaa afraid that her son was ill-fated to cause destruction. She begged Ujung Aldar to let the child die, but he appreciated his son's strength and refused. The tribe celebrated the baby's birth together.
Ujung Aldar became so preoccupied with his new son that he began to neglect the affairs of the tribe, particularly the defenses. A Manggus, or devil, called Goljing had long been an enemy of Bomba. Seeing Ujung Aldar's weakness, he attacked with 10,000 warriors on black horses and easily captured Bomba. Ujung Aldar Khan and his wife and son were besieged in their palace. Seeking to save his son's life, Ujung Aldar put a piece of white jade in his son's mouth, placed him on the horse Aranjagaan, and sent his servant Menhbayar to take the child to safety. He also gave the servant the Aram spear, a weapon that had been passed down for generations. Then Ujang Aldar fought the invaders until he and his wife were cut down.
The servant took the child to Big Black Mountain and hid him in a cave, then walked back to the palace to see what had happened. Discovering everything destroyed and the Khan dead, he decided to take his revenge by attacking some of the invaders as they sat around a fire. He killed one of them, but was soon killed himself. In the mountain cave, the boy sucked the white jade to keep himself from growing hungry or thirsty for a few days. But eventually he began to cry. A man named Mengen Xigxirge was hunting nearby, and he noticed the horse Aranjagaan grazing. Wanting to see what the horse was doing there, he went closer, and heard the baby crying. He followed the noise and discovered the cave. At first Mengen Xigxirge wanted to adopt the boy, so he decided to give him the name "Jangar." The boy immediately agreed that this should be his name and declared that he would become master of the world. This frightened Mengen Xigxirge, who was worried that Jangar might dispossess his own son, Hongor. So he decided to leave Jangar there with some food and water and left.
Jangar went outside and roared, and all the animals living nearby came to see what the noise was. He befriended them and they fed him and taught him their skills. She-wolves suckled him, and deer brought him fruit. He learned to roar from a tiger, to hunt from an eagle, and to run from an antelope. Jangar lived in the wild for two years, soon attaining the age of three.
One day an old man appeared while Jangar was sitting under a tree. The man told him about what had happened to his parents and trained him in martial arts and magic. But no sooner had Jangar learned these things than he woke up—it was morning, and it had all been a dream. Nonetheless, he felt strong, and discovered that he could uproot a tree and smash a camel-sized rock with it. He mounted Aranjagaan and went home to kill Goljing.
Three-year-old Jangar fought his way to Goljing's palace, destroying three strongholds on the way, and thrust his spear into the Manggus' chest, killing him. Then Jangar climbed up on the roof of the palace and called back all the people who had fled after the invasion. He became Khan and Bomba flourished again.
Meanwhile, another ruler named Shar Durdeng began raiding the outskirts of Bomba for livestock, women and children. Jangar was upset, and the three-year-old Khan took up his spear and rode alone to face his new enemy. To reach Shar Durdeng's palace, Jangar had to fight for seven months and 19 days. He overthrew four strongholds, and finally reached the crystal palace by the sea where his enemy dwelt. He snuck inside and found everyone drunk. Taking hold of the intoxicated Shar Durdeng, Jangar threw him off his throne, and proceeded to break ribs and spinal bones until Shar Durdeng agreed to leave Bomba in peace and pay taxes and tribute. By the age of five, Jangar had defeated five Mangguses and quintupled the size of the Bomba's territory.
Parameters: Strength: B+ Endurance:B Agility: B Mana: D Luck: E
Class Skills: Magic Resistance (C): Cancel spells with a chant below two verses. Cannot defend against magecraft on the level of High-Thaumaturgy and Greater Rituals. Despite being versed in shamanism, Jangar does not have much experience fighting against magically inclined opponents and as such has negligible resistance against such attacks.
Personal Skills: Animal Dialogue (C): While in hiding on Big Black Mountain after the destruction of Bomba at the hands of the Manggus Goljing, Jangar befriended many of the animals living nearby and was taught their skills; She-wolves suckled him, and deer brought him fruit. He learned to roar from a tiger, to hunt from an eagle, and to run from an antelope. Jangar lived in the wild for two years and during this time learned to communicate with animals of all kinds.
Shamanism (D): One day an old man appeared while the young Jangar was sitting under a tree. The man told him about what had happened to his parents and trained him in martial arts and the shamanistic magic of his homeland. Jangar is proficient with common shamanistic skills just as communication with spirits, healing sickness caused by malevolent spirits and the usage of spirits as guides or messengers. He can also perform simple divination rites such as dream interpretation.
Natural Body (A): As a baby Jangar was able to kick apart his leather swaddling clothes and possessed the ability to speak from the moment he was born. By the age of three he had defeated the monster who had killed his father and reclaimed his kingdom. By five he had killed four more similar monsters and quadrupled the size of the Bomba’s territory.
Grants a plus modifier to his STR. Furthermore, even without training, he's still beyond brawny. No matter how many calories he ingests, his body shape will not change.
Noble Phantasm
Title: Aram Spear; The Spear that protects Bomba Rank: B NP Type: Anti-Unit Range: 6-8 Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: A weapon passed down the line of Khan’s for generations; carried by Jangar’s father, his grandfather and those before them, the spear carries the aspirations and desires of Jangar’s ancestors to found and create a place where no suffering or pain exists. The nation of Bomba was that place, founded by Jangar’s grandfather, destroyed by his father’s negligence and resurrected and protected by Jangar throughout his life; it is a place where there are no orphans or widows, where no one grows old and is remembered today both as a golden age and as a land of the future the people of Mongolia continue to aspire towards.
As the Khan and protector of Bomba, Jangar wielded the Aram Spear in its defence many times and against many foes, as did his ancestors before him and his descendants after him. The Aram Spear has been a constant throughout the entirety of the kingdom’s history, no matter who the current Khan is or what befalls them; it is the symbol of the Khan and the defender of Bomba. Bomba will continue to exist as long as this spear and its defender exist to protect it. This long history has given rise to the Aram Spear as a conceptual weapon which sublimates its myth into an ability that protects the wielder from death; Bomba will exist as long as the wielder of this spear lives, and the wielder of this spear will live as long as he holds this spear. This effect fortifies the user against death itself making even great wounds a negligible factor. Healing abilities will also have their efficiency drastically raised. It is particularly useful against status effects, and grants resistance alongside advantageous checks to resist or clear them each turn.
By activating the true name of this spear Jangar is able to establish a territory that will be designated as the new Bomba wherever he is standing in a radius around him. This removes the Aram Spears protections as a conceptual weapon and instead brings that protection across a wider area; any citizen of Bomba, which in this case includes the Khan and anyone the Khan considers a citizen, will be protected while standing within the borders of Bomba established by this effect. This protection acts as the passive ability of the Noble Phantasm albeit at reduced power.
Even without taking its powers into account it is a monstrous weapon; twelve feet in length, as wide around the haft as a small tree and with a weight to match, the Aram Spear requires superhuman strength to even lift, let alone wield effectively, and crushes those it is used against as much as it pierces them.
Title: White Jade; Stone of Purification and Healing Rank: C NP Type: Anti-Unit (Self) Range: N/A Maximum Number of Targets: 1 Description: When the Manggus Goljing attacked Bomba, Jangar’s father Ujung Aldar Khan sought to save his son’s life by sending him away. He placed a piece of white jade in his son’s mouth, placed him on the red steed Aranjagaan and sent him away with his servant Menhbayar to take the child to safety. He also gave the servant the Aram spear, a weapon that had been passed down for generations. Then Ujang Aldar fought the invaders until he and his wife were cut down.
The servant took Jangar to Big Black Mountain and hid him in a cave before returning to Bomba to find out what had happened. The jade sustained Jangar for several days, keeping him from feeling hunger or thirst. Years later, when Jangar was fighting the archer Altan Gheej and was struck by his arrow, Jangar placed the same piece of white jade in his mouth to stave off the poison it carried.
The White Jade is an item given to Jangar by his father as a child to keep him safe. It is abundant in healing and purifying energy and was used by Jangar several times during his life to keep himself alive or to fight off harmful effects, whether that is poison or even starvation. When this Noble Phantasm in held it boosts the natural healing abilities of the holder, allowing them to recover from wounds faster than they would otherwise, and grants extra resistance against the effects of poison or other harmful substances.
I'm interested in this. I have an idea for a Caster I'd like to use; they are American, but fairly modern and also obscure enough that any staging ground bonus they might get would be minimal, so hopefully it's okay.
From one test to the next, with barely any space in between to rest or reflect on their performance, thrown from place to place without care or concern for their safety or sanity; Evankhell’s Hell sure was living up to its name, wasn’t it?
Candice smirked as she leaned back in her seat, arms above her and she linked her fingers together behind her head. It was amazing anybody managed to pass through here in order to challenge the Tower proper; taken from wherever they were without warning and flung onto the first floor to be given a test by Headon himself, then tossed carelessly into a fight for their lives as they whittled themselves down from 400 to 200, then given the task of making allies with those they had just tried to murder before being brought here and given a meagre half an hour to recover before being thrown into the jaws of the next test.
It was cruel, the way they drew people in with the promise of fulfilling their wildest dreams only to chew them up and spit them out. The Tower was cruel, with a cruel king and even crueller gods.
If was just her then she wouldn’t have to worry about being chewed up, but unfortunately the test administrators had seen fit to saddle her with two liabilities in the form of teammates. She turned her head to look at them now; besides the idiot who tried to fight her there was also some guy with a white coat and sharp eyes that had shown up in front of them. It was luck rather than anything else that led to him joining them, the short time limit didn’t give any of them the luxury of being discerning, so hopefully he would prove to be useful.
Her eyes slid over to the one who had fought her earlier. He was hurt, which was a problem; he might have been worth something if he wasn’t, but as he was now he was likely to just drag them down. “You better not slow me down in the next test; injured or not, I expect you to pull your weight.” Her eyes then moved to the other one with the interesting eyes. “That goes for you too. What can you do?”
Mana Sense, as it turned out, was very useful for this sort of experimentation. He could clearly see the natural golden tint of the pebble in his hand as he held it, signifying its earth-aligned Mana. He could see the bluish-white vapour of his own, unaligned Mana flow out and gather around the stone as he suffused it with energy. He could see the stone be filled with this Mana, before the bluish-white began to turn gold as well as the unaligned Mana was converted to Earth Mana within the stone.
There was a flash as he threw the stone and the system helpfully informed him of his rapid skill progression, but it seemed that one or two attempts alone weren’t enough. He used Lesser Force to the pull the pebble back to his hand and began to send his Mana into the stone again, observing it with his Mana Sense until he saw the uncoloured energy turn gold. From his two previous attempts he could say with near certainty that physically throwing it was more effective than trying to propel it with Lesser Force; the flash of light as he released it seemed to be indication of that.
With a fully charged pebble in hand, Oberon reared back and once again hurled the stone at the ground. This time, however, at the moment of release he tried sending another burst of Mana into the stone to send it on its way, overcharging the pebble with Mana at the last second.
Regardless of whether it worked or not, Oberon would take a moment after this attempt to restore his Mana with Gather Light. As he let his reserve of magic power refill he watched Torrent’s own practise, watching in surprise as she began to fire bullets of light from her mouth like a machine gun. He activated Magic Analysis and Mana Sense and observed the spell in action; it looked like another breath-based skill and if he had to guess it was a Light-based ability like his Light Ring. While spells of that type weren’t much use for him, that didn’t mean he might not learn something interesting by analysing it.
Use "Lesser Force I" to return pebble to hand Attempt "Stone Shot" again using "Mana Sense I" Use "Magic Analysis IV" and "Mana Sense I" on "Breath Beam"
The pebble slapped into the palm of Oberon’s waiting hand, followed almost immediately by multiple system messages for both the completion of the Lesser Force skill and levelling up. Combined, it made for a rather satisfying feeling, especially when the level up was accompanied by a list of evolution options for him to pick from; even if the options available to him were admittedly a little lacklustre. Sprite, Hipixie and Imp remained option from his last evolution, but this time were joined by a variety of elementally aligned pixie-variants, none of which seemed particularly interesting.
Continuing down the Sprite path, further developing his Light Affinity and increasing his ‘potential’, whatever that meant, seemed like the best option at the moment; the system even marked it as the choice that he had the most suitability with, unsurprisingly. Hipixie was also a tempting choice, what with the size increase and the related ability to wield light equipment, but the size increase also came with reduced flight capabilities and also made him a larger target; the ability to use equipment would be useful, but it did come with downsides. Imp was something he had already decided against in the past and nothing had changed there, while the elemental species were interesting but also easily dismissed; the extra affinity for certain types of magic would be nice, but he felt like it would lock him into a single element at the expense of all others. Technically he had already done that by picking Sprite the first time and would be doing it again if he chose Sprite again now… that was an argument he didn’t have a good answer for.
At the end of the day, it was the chance for variance that solidified the choice in his mind. So far he had seen three creatures with variances, two of which were currently in his party, and every one of them seemed to come with an affinity for that element alongside other benefits; Digbie and Ash both had the Mystic variance and both had Mana Affinity, Digbie also had the Earth variance an Earth Affinity as a result. Finally, although it had been a few days since he had last analysed him, the flame-throwing Goblin Crispy from back in the cave was almost certainly a Goblin with a Fire variance. While picking something like Lampad or Nephos might give Oberon an affinity for one element, picking Sprite seemed like it would give him the chance of earning multiple variances and multiple affinities as well; it was a case of taking a gamble in order to potentially have his cake and eat it too. Even if it didn’t work, he didn’t think Sprite was a choice he’d regret.
The Sprite was curious about something however. He had spent the last couple of days learning as much magic as he could, covering as many elements as he could, which apparently played a role in the evolution options he was given; he had learned Fire, Water and Wind based spells and earned the ability to evolve into Lampad, Nixie and Nephos as a result. The fact that he was most suited for the Lampad was probably due to the fact that he had learned more than one Fire spell overall, but did this then mean that if he learned more spells of different elements that he would unlock more evolution options? Would that also mean a greater chance for gaining a variance in those elements?
Oberon tossed the pebble in his hand up and down a few times, catching it and throwing it again each time as he pondered this. At the moment his only Earth spell was Sacred Ground, which was also a Nature spell. If he learned a true Earth spell like Earth Wall or Stone Shot would that affect his evolution options? What about Ice Spike? Oberon caught the pebble again, but this time held onto it as he felt its weight settle in his palm. He began to channel Mana into the stone, much like he had with the water and surrounding air earlier, as he activated Mana Sense and looked at the pebble in his hand.
If he could see the Mana entering the stone and also see the moment it changed colour from non-elemental Mana to Earth Mana, he should be able to create the Stone Shot spell and spells of the same type more easily. He waited until the Mana he was sending into the stone changed colour in his enhanced vision, until he could feel the Mana change within his hand, and then threw the pebble into the ground a foot or so in front of him in his first attempt at a Stone Shot. If that wasn’t enough to complete the spell then he would use Lesser Force to pull the pebble back to him and attempt it again, using more Mana and focusing more on propelling the stone with the magic inside of it.
Used "Mana Sense I" on Mana-charged pebble Attempted "Stone Shot" using Mana-charged pebble Used "Lesser Force I" to return pebble to hand Attempted "Stone Shot" again using Mana-charged pebble
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