Spire's Spite

“I am a wizard,” Bert said projecting honesty, but Fritz could see the telltale creases in the corners of his eyes that warned him to disregard everything he said as lies. Sid gasped, not being able to read Bert’s trickery.

“You got access to an Arcane Path? Aren’t they impossibly rare unless you climb the Tower Arcane and are very lucky, or meet a whole lot of hidden prerequisites?” Sid asked awed. Fritz stared at her in bafflement, she couldn’t be falling for this obvious lie.

“So you’ve heard of that have you?” Bert asked rhetorically, before giving a sly grin. “Yes the very same, the much sought after Arcane Path had been opened to me, its renowned Power instills me with a great destiny.”

“He’s not a wizard, don’t fall for this truly stupid performance,” Fritz said in exasperation.

“I am a Wizard,” Bert said unwilling to give up his ruse just yet.

“You’re not,” Fritz countered.

“I am,” Bert stated.

“Prove it,” Fritz demanded.

“Can’t. A Wizard’s secrets are not for the likes of sneak-thieves like you, Fritz,” Bert asserted aggravatingly.

“Very well then oh wise wizard, I suppose I should choose all these Defender Abilities I’ve been offered, to protect your weak wizard body,” Fritz responded pretending to prepare to dive into his sanctum. “That way you can stay safe behind me, your gallant guardian. You can sling your spells from the back and never have to be put in any danger. You’ll never even see an enemy up close if I can help it,” He added smirking as the grin started to fall from Bert’s face and turn to a scowl.

“Oh, and you’ll have to wear robes too. Really heavy ones, and a pointed hat of course,” Sid joined in belatedly, Fritz had almost forgotten she was there in his bickering with Bert. She seemed to have caught on the Bert’s dumb joke though, better late than never he supposed.

“Wizards can dress how they please,” Bert proclaimed, though there wasn’t much vigour left in his acting. “Oh fine, I’m not a Wizard. Now that I think about it it would be boring.”

“Well, now that your joke is over, what did you get then?” Fritz prodded Bert who seemed lost In a thought.

“Oh,” Bert’s face lit up again and that infectious grin spread across his rugged features. “I am a Brute.”

“We know that. What Path did you get?” Fritz teased.

Bert contorted his features into a mask of mock offense for a moment but then his grin slipped through, “Brute! It gave me Strength, Endurance and two Advanced Attributes.”

“Seems normal for a front-line fighter,” Fritz commented. “But only four Attributes seems weird, mine were more spread out. You probably got more points aligned to them, I get six per attribute.”

“Yeah I got nine to each, seems to work out equally, a quick question. What exactly are Advanced Attributes? And what does it mean if they’re ‘Activated’?” Bert asked without shame as if Fritz hadn't tried to drill this stuff into his brain for years.

Fritz sighed, not letting Bert get on his nerves. “Advanced Attributes are strange. They interact with our Abilities and bodies in more specialised and some would say more powerful ways than the Basic Attributes,” Fritz recited calling upon memorised pages of the guidebooks he had read.

“When they are activated you can then align free Attributes to them as you could your Basic Attributes. You can activate them through Paths and rarely Traits. I’ve heard of Techniques and Strains also Activating Advanced Attributes but that’s mostly rumour as the exact workings of the Spire’s magics aren’t well understood or widespread. Such knowledge is worth a fortune and hidden away and hoarded,” He continued his lecture.

“Some are rarer than others, such as the Arcane Attribute which is said to be able to power all magical Abilities regardless of alignment and is thus greatly prized for its versatility. But that doesn’t mean you should discount the potency of the more common Advanced Attributes, each of them can be powerful and effective with the right synergies.”

“Huh. Well, I got Momentum and Vitality, are they good ones?” Bert said curiously.

Sid spat out some water she had been sipping from her water skin and Fritz stared at Bert dumbfounded.

“Are you pulling our legs again Bert?” Fritz said smiling ruefully.

“No, they’re not bad are they?” Bert asked worry creeping into his tone.

Realising he wasn’t lying Fritz nearly jumped at the man in joy, he only held himself back so he wouldn't aggravate Bert’s injuries.

“Vitality... is... rare,” Sid spluttered while coughing out the water that she was choking on.

“And powerful,” Fritz added nodding, then worriedly looking at Sid until her coughing fit eventually died out.

“Why?” Bert asked curiously, “When I focused on the Attribute it just told me; Health abound, Restore the Body, Cleanse the blood. Why doesn't it have a more direct explanation like the Basic Attributes?”

“That’s just how they are. Right, Fritz?” Sid said huskily, tilting her head inquisitively and letting out last cough.

Fritz shrugged, “Yeah, I’ve heard that the more advanced Abilities and stuff tends to be more… esoteric.”

“Esoteric?” Bert asked.

“Strange,” Fritz corrected.

“So it’s a mystery as to what it does then?” Bert said exhaling in frustration.

“Specifically yes, generally no. If I’m interpreting the phrases right it has something to do with healing and health.” Fritz supplied. “You're probably going to recover quicker from your injuries. It looks like it's already working.” Fritz pointed out Bert’s stab wound scars, they had been getting considerably less angry and raw over the past few minutes. His bruises were fading to yellow and those from his beating outside of the spire had all but disappeared.

Bert and Sid peered at where Fritz pointed, Sid gave a low whistle and Bert’s eyes danced.

“How about Momentum? What does that have to say for itself?” Sid asked, changing the subject as Bert winked at her for staring at his torso for too long.

“Unmovable Object, Unstoppable Force,” Bert intoned.

“Something to do with not getting pushed around by monsters?” Fritz suggested, not entirely sure, his focus had never been on the martial Paths.

“Sounds about right,” Bert said shrugging, his golden hair bouncing off his shoulder.

“We’ll have to do some research when we’re out of here,” Fritz decided. “Abilities?”

“Somethin’ called Die Hard makes me harder to kill apparently, I feel it has a link to endurance and vitality. Don’t ask me how I know that. Oh, and I have a bunch of new traits,” Bert replied easily.

“Really? The Spire should only give one, you’re not a secret noble now are you?” Fritz mocked, but noting that being able to feel connections between Attributes, Abilities, Techniques and Traits was what he also had discovered from his experience with Trap sense, ‘The Observations’ and Perception.

“Of all the people to accuse me of that, Fritz, that’s rich,” Bert said. “But yeah, I have the Traits; Imbued Bones: Mend, Touch of Twilight and Blighted Blood.”

Fritz immediately recognised the Touch of Twilight to be something akin to the Twilight Kissed Trait he saw influencing his choices. Interesting. A lingering Trait from talking with the Faeries perhaps? Its not unheard of for Latent Traits to appear in strange or prepared circumstances, though for them to do anything they need power from a Spire. I wonder what kind of Abilities the Twilight Trait will offer Bert, and me for that matter.

Fritz sighed he’d like to read the descriptions himself but without a Sanctum Projection Orb, like the one the Guide’s Guild had, they’d just have to explain their Abilities to each other by talking.

“Apparently my bones cast the spell Mend passively, which I think is a healing spell because it’s aligned to Life. But I’m not sure how the spell is triggered. Is it when I’m injured or when my bones break?” Bert pondered out loud.

“Probably the latter, but that's pretty amazing to have quickly fixed bones,” Fritz said, quickly figuring out the synergies and implications of such an ability. “It’ll work wonders with your Vitality and Die Hard.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have the Life Magic Attribute to pull from so will it still work?” Bert asked anxiously.

“Yes, just as Jagged Nic said it’ll use your stamina instead of Lifewell. So your stamina is going to be your bottleneck. Especially in longer fights,” Fritz theorised.

“Well if he avoids having his bones broken I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Sid said giving Bert a smile that revealed her confidence in him.

“True, thus far he hasn’t been hurt too much,” Fritz agreed. “The other two Traits?”

“Well Blighted Blood just says; A lingering corruption, A corrosive sign. Which isn't helpful, and Twilight Touched says: Faerie Favoured, protector sworn. Embrace the coming of the dawn.”

“Protector sworn, what does that mean?” Sid inquired. Fritz looked away embarrassed.

“Nothing much. Probably means nothing. Right, Bert?” Fritz insisted.

“Right. No promises between blood-brothers here,” Bert winked, ruining any attempts at denial.

“Well, looks like you’re the defender then,” Fritz said rapidly before Sid could ask any more questions on the subject. “You don’t have the Durability Attribute or a ‘Provoke’, ‘Taunt’ or ‘Challenge’ Ability, but you do have Tough skin right?”

“Right,” Bert agreed.

“Gotta be on the lookout for those things then,” Fritz said. “Still you're gonna be hard to put down and if you do fall we won't have to rush to your side.”

Bert nodded amiably.

Sid snorted, “As if anything would stop you from rushing to his side, Fritz.”

“True,” Fritz said affably, “But it’s a load off my mind knowing Bert is harder to hurt.”

“Now on to Sid, what choices did you get?” Fritz asked, tuning to the young woman.

“I want to be a striker, but I don’t know if I want to go for Air Elementalist or Archer,” Sid explained.

“Caster is rarer and you’ll Activate the Magic attribute for Air-aligned spells. I don’t see how there’s really a debate,” Fritz said trying to be tactful, to him it felt like an easy choice.

“That's the thing I also got a Trait choice of Heart of Air, which Activates Essence of Air if I take it,” Sid said, then she went on to explain her other choices.

“The way I see it is a choice between an Air Elementalist with Cutting Wind or Heart of Air, or An Archer with Heart of Air. Shanker is right out, don’t want to do anything like that anymore, and Scapegoat, while useful, feels wrong and honestly it feels like the Spire is mocking me with it. If Spire’s do such things.”

“If a Spire could, this one would,” Fritz confirmed.

Sid seemed to shrink into herself in contemplation, then Fritz saw the bow lying by her side, he picked it up and handed it to her. She smiled as she took it. With that reaction he knew which she should take.

“Gotta be Heart of Air and Archer,” Fritz said smiling back gently.

“Huh, why? When Air Elementalist and Cutting Wind seem stronger?” Sid asked bewildered.

“Because it’s what you dreamed of, and if anyone can make it work, our swift, sly Sid can,” Fritz complimented.

“Our?” Bert asked curiously.

“Yes. Our. We’re a team, remember. Or does your healing not work on your brain?” Fritz responded acidly.

“No comment,” Bert grinned infuriatingly.

Fritz nodded at Sid and she nodded back, making her decision. She dove into her Sanctum and within a minute she was back satisfied look on her face.

“Now I just have to pick a Path Ability,” She said relief obvious on her features. “I have a choice of; Eagle Eye, Conjure Arrow and Guide Projectile.”

“Eagle eye improves my vision and precision with ranger attacks and Abilities. Conjure Arrow gives me the ability to create arrows out of mana, they last for about an hour. Guide Projectile imbues my attack with magics that increases the accuracy of the attack,” Sid summarised.

Fritz thought it over, looked at Sid’s almost empty quiver and back to her face. While you could use aligned mana for all Abilities it wasn’t efficient to do so. Fritz reminded them of this fact, getting an “I know that,” from Sid and a nod of acknowledgement from Bert.

Fritz discounted the use of Guide Projectile, something like that could be gained with practice, it seemed like a waste of an ability to him. Eagle Eye had some use, something he wouldn’t mind taking himself if it were offered. The stand out to Fritz’s mind was Conjure Arrow, even if it seemed weak, the fact was that Sid was running out of ammunition. You couldn’t buy arrows in a Spire and you couldn’t count on them in a Treasure Chest.

“Any opinions?” Sid asked unsure, running her hand through her short blond locks and worrying at her scarf. “I was leaning towards Eagle Eye.”

“Hmm, I think, Conjure Arrow is the better choice. You have, what? Three or four arrows left?” Fritz said offering his opinion in an unusually serious manner. “Eagle eye is great and all, but for right now, this Spire, if we’re going to have a chance at a Golden Climb you’re gonna need more than three arrows.”

Sid nodded, sorting through the reasoning, “I think you’re right, Fritz, this is an attrition game and we’re already running out of supplies. I hate to give up Eagle Eye but right now I’d rather be stocked with arrows.”

Sid’s expression changed to the one Fritz associated with people diving into their Sanctums. Then a minute later she was back and smiling.

She held out a hand palm upward and in a swirling of the wind an arrow appeared. It was made of a solid but translucent substance that reminded Fritz of flawed glass. Sid grimaced, stood up, took up her bow and nocked the rippled arrow. Fritz noticed the changes to her Attributes immediately, she moved more precisely, more fluidly with a subtle grace she hadn’t previously displayed. Must be an Advanced Attribute at play, probably Grace. Makes me want to take the Sneak Path.

She drew back the string aimed then loosed it at the statue of Naomi. The missile struck true, shattering against the stone torso in a shower of glittering glass that dissipated quickly in the air.

Sid trudged to the statue to assess the impact, running a finger in a newly made notch where the arrow hit. “Brittle. But effective,” Sid concluded.

“How many can you make?” Fritz asked.

“Good question,” Sid replied, then started Conjuring Arrows. After two she said “That’s my air mana gone. It says it costs one mana but the Ability isn’t aligned to air so it’s inefficient.”

“I read somewhere that using inefficient mana types multiplies the cost by three,” Fritz added helpfully.

“Does that mean every point of Essence of Air gives me one air mana?” Sid theorised as she placed the conjured arrows into her quiver.

“Seems like it, I never got around the whole mana quantification bit in my education. So your guess is as good as mine,” Fritz said.

“Hmm, does that mean using stamina is an inefficient mana source?” Bert questioned.

“Yeah I think Nic said something to that effect too,” Sid said, thinking through the implications.

“That means if we can cast our Abilities like three to four times before being too exhausted that we should have, what, twelve-ish stamina? How does Endurance affect that?”

“As I said, I didn’t really get to that part in my education, we’ll have to seek out a climbing tutor or something when we get out of here,” Fritz reminded her.

“Okay, Fritz, enough stalling, let’s get to your choices,” Bert said slapping him on the back.

“I’m not stalling,” Fritz lied.

The truth was that now he had the choices he didn’t want to choose, he wanted to put it off. Why? It's what you’ve been waiting for this whole time? He reproached himself. He sought an answer and surprisingly found one, fear. Fear of change, of an irrevocable first step, a mistake he’d have to live with his entire life.

He shook a little under the guise of being cold then smiled, at his best friend and new climbing companion, saying, “Let me just review my choices. I’ll be out in a moment.”

After seeing their nods he dived into his Sanctum riding that pulling sensation down and down. HE stood under his willow tree and felt at his choices again, this time trying to see them one by one instead of a rush. His Sanctum complied.

Scout

See the sights, count the threads, listen closely, threats ahead.

Lead your team safely through hazards both natural and monstrous, warn them of dangers and spot vulnerabilities.

Aligns six points to the following Attributes:

Agility, Endurance, Perception, Memory.

Activates and aligns six points to the following Advanced Attributes:

Awareness, Reflex.

Gain one Path Ability Choice.

---

You discovered and disarmed many traps.

You discovered a Treasure Chest.

You have discovered foes before they discovered you.

You have led your team through difficult terrain.

Influenced by Technique ‘The Observations’.

---

The scout class was what Fritz had been aiming for his entire time in the Spire, he knew it was one of the Paths that had the chance to evolve into a Guide. The guide Path was rare, and kept so by the Guide’s Guild, their methods for attaining the Path carefully hidden and suppressed. The Guild went even so far as to kill and persecute those they suspected of having stumbled upon the Path accidentally if they didn’t join up and swear an oath of secrecy.

It was a risk many were willing to take, Fritz foremost among them. The wealth one could earn without paying guild dues was mind-boggling, that and the freedom of course.

The Attributes the Scout Path offered were very appealing, he attempted to focus on the Advanced Attributes that the Path Activated but received no new information. Worth a try I guess. Awareness seems pretty self-explanatory and seemingly it overlapped with Perception. Which in the case of Advanced attributes was good as he had been taught that Advanced Attributes reinforce Basic Attributes and vice-versa. They worked even greater together than just having one or the other separately.

Reflex was likely to be useful, being able to react to danger quickly was a key component to staying alive, which Fritz enjoyed no matter how much he complained about the fact. He would have taken Scout straight away if it weren’t for how intriguing the next choice was.

Spy

A face of masks, cool and calm, speak in whispers, wound with charm.

Both stealthy and observant the spy waits and watches for weakness.

Aligns six points to the following Attributes:

Agility, Perception, Focus, Memory.

Activates and aligns six points to the following Advanced Attributes:

Awareness, Control.

Gain one Path Ability Choice.

---

You have discovered and disarmed many traps.

You have discovered foes before they discovered you.

You have attempted to be stealthy and have succeeded more often than not.

You have sprung an ambush while hidden.

You have used your considerable charm to get your way.

You have treated with Faeries.

Influenced by Technique ‘The Observations’.

Influenced by Trait Twilight Kissed.

---

This Path, Fritz reflected, had more mental Attributes than physical but he didn’t know what effect Control had. But it also had Awareness, like the Scout did. He liked the idea of more mental Attributes and was intrigued by how it was influenced by his interactions with Faeries and this strange Twilight Kissed Trait. What were the benefits? Was it worth steering away from the Scout Path? He didn’t know, so he turned his attention to the next Path.

Sneak

Scamper silent, to and fro, elusive action, a shadow.

A specialist in stealth and remaining hidden.

Aligns six points to the following Attributes:

Strength, Agility, Endurance, Perception.

Activates and aligns six points to the following Advanced Attributes:

Grace, Reflex.

Gain one Path Ability Choice.

---

You attempted to be stealthy and were successful more often than not.

You have sprung an ambush while hidden.

Influenced by Technique ‘The Observations’.

Influenced by Trait Twilight Kissed.

---

While Fritz valued stealth he didn’t value it enough to focus solely on it. What Sneak offered really didn’t interest him compared to Spy or Scout, even if it was also influenced by his mysterious Trait. Though the combination of Grace and Reflex seemed interesting.

Having reassessed his Path choices he left the heavy drizzle of his Sanctum and returned to the real world.

Bert was standing and admiring his likeness in the stone of the statue before him, while Sid had laid out her oilskin and was lying on her side watching Fritz.

“Well?” She asked, stifling a yawn.

“Well, I’m torn between two choices Scout and Spy,”

Sid perked up at the mention of Spy “I’ve never heard of Spy, what does it activate?”

“Awareness and Control,” Fritz replied, scratching at an itch on his head.

“I had Control on the Air mage Path, I think it's sorta like a mental version of Grace,” Sid shrugged. “Scout’s the safe bet here, Fritz, but there is something about Spy that sorta suits you,” She added.

“That’s what my Sanctum thinks too, like eight influence clauses,” Fritz admitted ruefully.

“Clauses?” Bert asked while checking his jawline against his statues.

“Those lines that say why you’re getting the Ability,” Sid explained.

“Oh, those. You punched a blight hound. You got injured a lot. That sort of thing?” Bert asked.

“Yeah and Influences for other Abilities or Powers,” Fritz said to the now nodding Bert.

“Eight seems like a lot,” Bert added. “Does that mean anything?”

Fritz and Sid shrugged.

“What do you guys think? Which should I take?” Fritz asked one last time.

“They’re both good, go either way, Fritz,” Sid said.

“Spy,” Bert declared.

“Why?” Fritz asked.

“Good feeling about it,” Bert responded casually.

Fritz nodded. Sorting through his own feelings he realised he felt the same way. While Scout had been his goal for the whole Spire he found that Spy had really caught his interest, the fact it was rare also helped. While rarity wasn’t everything, as some of the best Abilities were simple and not particularly rare like Water Blast or Tough Skin. If its description was to be believed it was also a hybrid of stealth and scouting, which very much appealed to Fritz.

He sank into his Sanctum placing his hand upon his willow’s bark and chose his Path.

Spy.