Skyclad (Fate's Anvil Book 1) Page 7
Ignoring vitality, as it was the highest attribute by far, she split the twenty points evenly between the other stats. Between each spent point, she took the time to look at available skills in the hopes something would be useful for getting safely down to the ground.
Skill Acquisition Menu:
[Naked Athleticism (Passive)] - [5 Skill Points] Due to earning the Aspect [Naked Affinity], the skill [Athleticism] has been modified and purchase cost reduced by 50%. Movement is often the key to survival! This skill improves your basic ability to do physical things, decreasing the Stamina cost of physical skills. The [Naked] version of this skill shares synergy with [Naked Resilience], further increasing your endurance performing physical tasks and improving your body’s efficiency at storing and using its internal reserves.
[The Naked Eye (Channeled)] - [10 Skill Points] Due to earning the Aspect [Naked Affinity], the skill [Eagle Eye] has been modified and purchase cost reduced by 50%. You can’t hit what you can’t see! While active, this skill enhances your visual acuity, allowing you to see with much greater clarity things both far away and very close. The [Naked] version of this skill shares synergy with the skill [Naked Instinct], passively improving your ability to see in all conditions except total darkness at all times.
[Naked Elementalism (Passive)] - [10 Skill Points] Due to earning the Aspect [Naked Affinity], the skill [Basic Elementalism] has been modified and purchase cost reduced by 50%. Magic is more than simple primal force! This skill allows you to sense and manipulate magic at a deeper level, separating Mana into its fundamental elements and gaining affinities for different magics over time. The [Naked] version of this skill allows you to draw out the elements without the need for assistance from [Items] or [Equipment] to focus your will. Shares synergy with [Naked Magic] to enhance your ability to develop affinities with individual elements.
[Natural Traps (Passive)] - [15 Skill Points] Sometimes the environment can be altered to do the work for you! This skill provides increased dexterity and enhances your ability to assemble basic types of traps such as deadfalls, pits, and snares.
Morgan read through several of the skills at the top of the list. Further down skills were greyed out with [Locked - Conditions not met] in place of a description. None that she could see seemed to have anything to do with climbing. She’d even held a faint hope for something that could help her fly, and was a bit disappointed. The skill that seemed most likely to help her climb down from the tree was [Naked Athleticism]. The last one made her snort. “I don’t need a skill to build a deadfall or dig a hole, what a waste!” Lulu the Loofah trilled a burbling response from her shoulder that Morgan chose to take as agreement. “But [Naked Athleticism] looks useful for climbing out of this tree.”
Stepping back to the middle of the treetop hollow, Morgan braced herself for any unpleasant side effects and spent the five points on the [Naked Athleticism]. She’d been prepared for horrible pain or a full body seizure, but all that happened was a short spasm of shivering that was over almost as quickly as it began. The changes were barely noticeable. Her muscles were slightly more toned, if anything. She’d felt more noticeable changes when she’d spent points on her Agility, and that had been the least intrusive of her changes so far.
“Well that was anticlimactic…” she mused out loud, “but I’m not complaining.” Morgan hopped up and down a few times, provoking disgruntled burbling from Lulu sitting on her shoulder. “I don’t feel any different. It probably affects endurance and other shit like that, and my only Stamina-based ability is the healing one…”
Having the little scrubby to talk to was definitely working as a coping mechanism. Being so vulnerable and alone in this new place, and naked on top of that, would definitely have made short work of her sanity. Of course I could be hallucinating all of this. Might have hit my head on the tub, and this is some sort of coma dream, she thought to herself. But if magic is real here, it can’t be all bad.
“Well, that one wasn’t so horrible,” she said as she plucked Lulu off her shoulder and held it up in front of her face. “My other two choices are a skill for magic and a skill for eyesight, Lulu. I’ve never needed glasses or contacts, and it seems this world has magic. I want it. So magic it is.” She stuck the scrubby against one of the tree branches, and it clung to it like a sticky magnet on a fridge door. The continuous burbling purr emanating from the thing wasn’t even interrupted by the action. “I don’t know what will happen, so just wait there, little buddy.”
Stepping back to the center of the tree-top hollow, she spent the points to acquire [Naked Elementalism]. She’d been mentally preparing herself for some sort of agony, but it was more like a mental click. She didn’t feel any different at all. “It must be something I’ll figure out as I cast more spells, then,” Morgan said out loud. “I’m just happy not to be seizing up again, or worse.” She shuddered involuntarily as memories of burning from the inside threatened to smash their way out of the little mental box she’d been keeping them in. She knew she’d have to deal with it sooner or later, but for now, her focus was on getting out of the tree and finding water.
Morgan took a few minutes to look out from her vantage point. The foliage of the canopy had been burned away directly above her, but already new shoots and leaves were beginning to fill in the gap. The early morning sun provided a view that was breathtaking, even with her somewhat dire situation. In the far distance to the east she could just barely make out a gap in the trees that shimmered in the glaring sunlight. Hoping that would be water, she picked that direction.
“Now to get myself out of this tree.” A trilling protest emanated from Lulu, and Morgan held out her hand to let the scrubby make its way back to her shoulder. “Don’t you purble at me! That means you, too!” Instead of puffling its way up her arm like she’d expected, it let go of the tree limb and tumbled down past her feet, then slowly worked its way down the outside of the main trunk. Morgan simply stared as it made its way down toward the ground, leaving a trail of clean and moisturized tree bark in its wake.
“You cheeky little puffball!” she shouted after it. The scrubby was faster than she thought it would be based on its appearance. Morgan stared down the trunk of the tree as the scrubby repeatedly dropped several feet at a time before catching itself. She intended a much slower and more careful descent. The tree trunk was far too large for her to try to hug it with her arms. The main trunk seemed to be as big around as a small house near its base. The outer bark had plenty of cracks and craggy formations that looked like they’d provide hand and footholds for grip, but she knew it would not be pleasant without gloves or shoes. On the other hand, she had absolutely no intention of waiting around ‘til thirst drove her to try to eat another churple. “Once in a lifetime was enough…” she muttered.
Turning around, she tentatively began lowering herself, one handhold at a time, much more slowly than the precocious Lulu had traversed the distance. The going was much easier than she expected, and the benefits of her increased Agility and Strength attributes were readily apparent. The annoying part of it was how the bark dug into her hands and feet, and that was more bearable than the scraping against her breasts, belly, and thighs as she hugged herself close to the trunk. Her idea of exercise had always been yoga or Pilates in comfy sweats and a top, not running around the woods naked like some sort of heathen.
“At least it’s not cold here,” she stated as the morning sun warmed her legs and backside. I’m so glad I never had too much trouble with heights, she thought to herself. Without proper tools, she could only guess, but she figured it was at least four hundred feet from where she’d spent the night and the ground below. The outer bark she was climbing down felt strong and had a rubbery kind of give to it. While the surface was dry and rough, less than an inch would crumble away under her fingers and toes before she found solid purchase.
As Morgan neared the halfway point, the climb became quite a bit easier. The gaps in the bark became larger, and the twists in the tree’s g
rowth provided large bulges and outcroppings she could stand on without having her feet assaulted by pokey twigs and broken pieces of wood. She already had dozens of splinters she was going to have to dig out somehow. Her hair was almost a lost cause, as it had draped across or been pulled through what Morgan thought had to be every single patch of sap or crumbling bark shards she’d passed near.
Less than a hundred feet from the ground, she stopped on a bulging outcropping that was large enough she could have laid down on it. She felt slightly tired from the exertion, but when she looked back up toward the canopy, she realized just how far she’d come. “I guess naked athleticism and spending points on stats is already paying off,” she mused. She wasn’t even winded at this point. “But I need to find water, and then I need a bath. Speaking of baths…”
Looking around for her pet scrubby, she spotted Lulu and jumped back up in alarm. The puffball was making its way back up one of the larger roots, seemingly creeping for its life as it fled from wiggling root tendrils that were inching their way along after it. Without thinking, Morgan held out her hand and sent a [Mana Pulse] at the roots chasing her only friend. Or tried to, at least. The actual result was a baseball sized sphere of purple lightning that shot from her hand with a sizzling sound, and impacted a dozen feet behind the scrubby an instant later with a WHUMP as nearly a third of her Mana left her in an instant.
Dirt, splintered shards of wooden root, singed leaves, and one rather angrily trilling scrubby didn’t quite make it as high as Morgan’s current perch. Lulu hit the side of the tree less than a dozen yards below her, and began working its way back toward Morgan with bubbly sounds that certainly sounded like they’d taken on a scolding tone. As the scrubby made its way up her leg and back to her shoulder with a whuffling burble, Morgan gave it an apologetic pat and dismissed the silver message that had popped up:
You have learned the Spell [Lightning Bolt]! Condense Mana energy into a charged plasma and fire it at your enemies! Practice and experience will help you focus and control the bolt for increased power and efficiency!
Morgan stood there for a few moments trying to remember exactly how she’d formed the new spell. She’d acted on instinct, and the magic had simply worked. Her arm still tingled and her fingertips were numb, although that was slowly fading. Her Mana was replenishing at what seemed to be several points per minute. She had no idea if that was normal, but she got the impression it wasn’t, and that her aspected skills and bonuses had a lot to do with it. “I’m sorry I almost hit you Lulu, but you gotta admit, that was cool wasn’t it?” Morgan was petting the very irritated loofah and pointing at the crater with her other hand. “I have a spell that hits like a truck!” She giggled.
As her Mana inched closer to full, she held her hand up and sent two more bolts out into the air. Shunting that much Mana through her hand that quickly left her feeling like she’d been sitting on it for hours, and she shook her arm about as the pins and needles feeling almost approached pain. The bolts of purple lightning had zipped out without arcing back toward the ground, and fizzled out just over a hundred yards away. “So gravity doesn’t affect it, but I’m no long-range sniper-girl,” she said, petting Lulu again. “Now let’s see if the tree’s blessing really does keep those roots away from me.”
With her lacy friend securely perched on her shoulder, Morgan resumed her descent. She covered the remaining distance to the ground well before the sun reached its noonday zenith. At the bottom, she stood on one of the larger main roots before slowly stepping down to the loamy dirt. “No creepy root tentacles after me, that’s good.” Off to her right she saw her bathtub sitting upon a pile of white bones. The roots had completely cleaned the giant birds of all their flesh, leaving gleaming, pale white skeletons partially crushed under the old clawfoot tub. As Morgan padded her way over carefully, the roots withdrew ahead of her. “We can’t exactly carry it with us, I guess,” she said to Lulu, “but I hate just leaving it here. The porcelain finish isn’t even cracked!” Stepping around a gleaming wing-bone, she reached out and gave the tub a push. She’d barely been able to nudge the thing when it was still in her apartment. Her increased STR attribute proved its effectiveness as she was now able to move it, if only just barely. With some very unladylike grunts and a lot of effort, she managed to lift the end of the tub closest to her and sort of crab walk it backward away from the bones. She walked it back up toward the trunk of the tree and then switched ends to push it to a vertical position and lean it back into a crook in one of the big roots. As it thudded over, she fell back. That actually made me tired, she thought as she panted for breath. It had consumed some of her Stamina, as well. Barely a tenth, but she still felt it.
Lulu had moved from her shoulder to the top of her head as she worked, and while Morgan sat on the larger of the exposed roots for a short break, the scrubby began happily making purbling sounds while it worked its way through her hair. It only took a few minutes, and all the debris and sticky sap was consumed, leaving her hair shiny and lustrous. The purr-like vibrations across her scalp hadn’t felt bad, either. After the scrubby worked its way down her arm to her hand, it somehow scrubbed the splinters out of her palm.
“Oh, you are just NIFTY!!!” she exclaimed excitedly. She propped one foot on her knee and waggled her toes as she held the scrubby to it. Lulu happily glomped onto her foot for a few minutes and took care of the ones stuck in the creases between her toes. “It’s like having a bath and a nurse all in one poofy ball of cute!” Morgan said as she gave the loofah a quick hug before plopping it back onto her shoulder. The trilling burble it gave off seemed to express its willingness to be her lacy bath ball. “One day we’ll come back for this tub. It was the whole reason I kept that apartment instead of finding one closer to school,” she told the scrubby. “But first we need to figure this place out, and get stronger. Maybe I’ll figure out a way to fly with magic someday!”
With her mood vastly improved now that she was on the ground, Morgan set out toward the east. She made her way into the Wildlands with a spring in her step and a friend on her shoulder, and stubbornly refused to look at what her [Naked Recovery] skill kept trying to show her about the churple-flavored Mana that had been crystallized inside her bones.
Chapter 6: Enchantment
Morgan Mackenzie was having a fairly pleasant day, all things considered. She was still stuck in some magical world that was very not-Earth, and she was still naked, but she’d learned magic, her bath loofah had come alive and was her friend-pet, and nothing had tried to eat her yet on this second day of her new life. She’d left the giant tree and headed east toward a body of water that was proving now to be much farther away than she’d originally thought. Even that wasn’t too much of a problem, as she’d crossed several small streams while she wandered east, generally keeping the sun to her back as best she could orient herself in this shadowed forest land. She’d kept going in the direction the streams had been flowing, hoping they would lead her to a larger body of water, and hopefully a settlement or people of some sort. It had been about midday when she’d left the tree, and as the heat of the day began to wane, the shadows deepened, and the forest gained a more eerie vibe.
Morgan wasn’t looking forward to sleeping in the middle of the forest for another night, not with all the various sounds and animal cries she could occasionally hear in the distance in all directions. She’d been thinking ahead though, and had been trying various ways of using magic as she walked. Using [Lightning Bolt] with [Spell Channeling] had drained her Mana almost completely in a mere handful of seconds, but the result had been a rapid stream of smaller, but impressive, purple bolts that reminded her of a Gatling gun.
That particular effort had ended with her screaming again, as she ran from a falling tree she’d cut off at the base. Her screaming had been punctuated by Lulu’s warbling sounds of approval at the destruction. It had also given her second degree burns on her hand that had taken almost half an hour of constantly channeling [Naked Recovery] to heal.
“I really need to learn how to do that without hurting myself,” she told the little scrubby. “My first spell didn’t hurt me at all, so it must mean the heat of the bolts is something I have to figure out.” The pain had only been bearable thanks to [Pain Resistance], and a newly gained [Lightning Resistance] skill had likely kept her from losing the hand entirely.
She’d also tried, with some success, to sort out other elements within the magic. Her attempts to pull just the fire element out had led to her learning the [Flame Bolt] spell. Along with scorching her hand and bumping up another level in [Heat Resistance], that one had briefly splattered flames into the brush, and she’d had a moment of panic before they sputtered out. Thankfully it seemed it had rained while she’d slept, and the forest was too damp and humid for her to accidentally cause an ecological disaster. She thought. She wasn’t too sure she couldn’t cause something like that if she wasn’t careful, but learning more magic was simply too tempting to not do.
The air element had been frustrating. She could sort of make the air around her hand swirl, or form an almost solid ball in her hand, but she couldn’t actually do anything with it yet. Trying to push it like [Mana Pulse] or her bolt spells simply made it heavy and hard to move her hand through it. She didn’t understand the air itself like she did the meaning of fire and lightning. Those were energy, and she could picture how they worked and acted. To move air around required adding energy to it or taking it away, and she didn’t yet have her head around that concept. Water had been only slightly easier, when she’d stopped near a stream. Morgan had managed to draw a tendril of water up from the creek that was about as wide as her wrist. It had flowed upward toward her outstretched palm, but holding it in place took momentous effort that drained her Mana and caused her to break out in sweat from the strain. None of her efforts with water or air had yet yielded a newly learned skill, or any form of magical understanding.