The Power of Ten

Chapter 1-18: It’s not True!

“<It’s lying. Something’s wrong with the spell!>” he immediately denied, staring at it, then at me. “<You’re trying to trick me!>”

I ignored the accusation, and pointed to the bottom. “You’ve enough Karma for Six, and you’d be well on your way to Seven. Even having bought your Human/2, you should already be a Six.”

He stared at the display, at his Level, at his Stats. “<How-how am I a Five, then?>” he demanded.

“You’re not.” His Human/2 Level unfolded.

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Human/2

Health: +d8+Con (8)

Skills: 6 (Dancing, Flying, Language (Cirrus), Spellcraft, Concentration, Meditation)

+ Bonus Feat: Skill Focus (Concentration)

+1 Caster Level: Sorcerer

Fortitude/Reflex Save: +3

Will Save: +0

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“You’re a Four, with a boost from your Human Level letting you Cast as a Five, kinda like screwing a longer barrel onto a pistol, instead of making it into a rifle. It’s why you don’t have two spells, and ‘picked’ your Bloodline spell. You wanted to fly pretty badly, and once you got it, you ignored the implications.”

I didn’t look at him, just the information, while he was looking back and forth between the Holo and me, hoping I was just joking.

“Did... someone tell you that you didn’t need to use your Stat boost from hitting Four on your Charisma?” I asked softly.

He stiffened instantly. It took a minute for him to force the word out of his mouth, “Yes.”

I noted he said it in Human. “He probably said taking the Human Level would take care of it for you, right?”

He started to breathe heavy. “Yes...”

“The Stat Raise from Mastery you’re trying for is Charisma Mastery/3. You can only take it if you’re a Five.” Or a bound Soul who qualifies as a Six... “I imagine you put the point into Intelligence.” That 9 was out of place. “You hang around smart people, and probably don’t like feeling dumb.”

His face sort of collapsed. “<I-I did...>”

“Under normal circumstances, this is something that would take you until you’re 40 to correct, and time and experience did their thing. Fortunately, you are at the one place where you can correct this, although you aren’t going to like it.”

He was silent for a moment, contemplating waiting until he was 40 before he could improve his magic... and what he was going to do to the wanker who gave him such misleading advice. “<What do I have to do?>” he almost croaked.

“You’ve got to burn the Level, and all that Karma, let it go, and earn it back again. The easiest way to do that is have a Wraith hit you, and then let the Level go when the sun rises.”

“<What?>” he protested. “<That’s... that’s crazy! I won’t do that!>”

“You can fly for the next fifteen years exactly as you are now, or you can fly again within a month, and be on your way to Six... and higher. You’re never going to reach Eight at this rate.”

“Eight?” he repeated, his jaw dropping. “<How... how am I supposed to reach Eight?>” His misery had turned to being flabbergasted.

I hadn’t seen a single person on this Wall above Six. That was unreal... and pretty much impossible, given the number of Powered here. Everything seemed to stop at Six.

That meant Six was a truly Hard Limit here. You couldn’t just advance past it with Karma and pluck. You had to find a way.

“First you have to reach Six... but you have to be a Deep Six, a powerful and Deep spellcaster with reserves, tricks, and power. If you are willing to do that, you can make Eight, eezy-peezy.”josei

He had been tricked into being stuck at Four, he was a gullible schmuck. He had stars in his eyes now.

Despite that, he swallowed, and looked back at the sun nearing the horizon. “”

“Yes. And when your Renewal comes, you have to let it go. That’ll be the hard part. Otherwise, you’ll just have to do it again.”

He made that horrible grimace again. “<I’ve seen people get soul-sucked, seen them die from it... seen the shadow rise out of their corpse...>”

“Yep. So, don’t die from the one hit.” This time I hissed up my full array of Shards. His eyes nearly popped at the power seething in them, and how hard and devastating they looked. “I can and have one-hit a wraith with these. It won’t get a second shot at you.” I actually smiled. “You have Energized Shocking Grasp, right?” He blinked and nodded at me. “Then I suggest you get your Level drained by plunging your fist into it and blowing it apart.” I lowered my voice and leaned in. “You’ll lose the Level, but you’ll get the kill Karma... as a Three.”