[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 109 - Aspects

While Heath and Gwen asked their own questions en route to the Starling Tower, Mel looked at some pending notifications.

You earn a higher Authority Level.

[Exile] → [Commoner]

Deed Wall surpassed. You earn a higher Authority Level.

[Commoner] → [Vagrant]

The hell is that? Mel wondered.

She had more than a few notifications for her aspects and decided just to take a look at the actual aspects.

[==Aspect Skills==]

(Divine/Strength)

[Tempest Heart]

(Divine Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Aura)

(Grade 5 [63%])

Cost: Low Mana

Cooldown: Short

Access to the Divinity opens many doors. The pantheon of gods that shape and rule the elements of the Shardrune come in as many shapes and forms as there are cultures, from familiar pantheons of the Olympian and Chthonic gods to the ancient Ehur, the esoteric Halquint, and beyond. Invoke their true names to conjure your own personal storms, surrounding yourself in an aura of celestial might, empowering skills and parameters.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Invoke one of six localized storm auras, enhancing the parameters of yourself and any allies within your aura. Requires concentration.

[Sandstorm]: Enhances Vigor, health, stamina, and earth-based skills while reducing the effects of lightning-based skills.

[Rainstorm]: Enhances Agility, stamina, mana, and water-based skills while reducing the effects of fire-based skills.

[Windstorm]: Enhances Sense, movement speed, and wind-based skills while reducing the effects of earth-based skills.

[Firestorm]: Enhances Strength and fire-based skills while reducing the effects of ice-based skills.

[Hailstorm]: Enhances Arcane, mana, and ice-based skills while reducing the effects of wind-based skills.

[Thunderstorm]: Enhances Agility, Sense, and lightning-based skills while reducing the effects of water-based skills.

(Mist/Agility)

[Hidden Mist]

(Mist Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Spell)

(Grade 11 [79%])

Cost: Modest Mana

Cooldown: Moderate

Blanket an area in mist, obscuring the vision of your enemies and making them easy prey.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Create a layer of obfuscating fog that you and any allies you designate can see through. Area affected by fog is considered difficult terrain. Mana cost increases as the area of fog increases. Additional mana may be expended to illuminate the fog from within.

[Condensate]

(Mist Aspect)

(Copper, Violet/Ability)

(Grade 5 [54%])

Cost: Modest Mana

Cooldown: Long

Condense hardened nails of mana within your environment, using their intrinsic connection to pull or push yourself toward or away from any single nail.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Conjure up to three nails embedded in a surface you can perceive up to 50 feet away. Using your mana, you can pull or push yourself from any nail(s) you choose. The surface each nail is adhered to must be strong enough to support your added inertial weight.

(Blood/Vigor)

[Sanguine Coat]

(Blood Aspect)

(Copper, Violet/Special)

(Grade 8 [57%])

Cost: Considerable Mana, Modest Health

Cooldown: Long

Summon a coat of blood to rest upon your shoulders, increasing healing received, resistance to toxins of the blood, and improving combat parameters. The coat persists so long as it has enough blood to sustain itself. Additional expenditures of mana allow for further customization.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Conjure a coat of blood from any sufficient quantity of blood. Properties of the coat will change based on what type of blood is used. Provides additional physical and magical defense. Grants a secondary health bar. All healing effects are increased. Resistances to afflictions are increased. Grants [In The Blood].

[In the Blood]: While wearing the sanguine coat, all Blood aspect skills are enhanced. Physical attacks inflict bleed damage-over-time. Your sanguine coat can be healed by consuming additional blood or through standard healing.

[Blood Magic]

(Blood Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Trait)

(Grade 4 [20%])

Cost: None

Cooldown: None

Blood fuels all things.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Any skill or spell can be converted to utilize the resource of blood instead of stamina or mana. Skills or spells used in this way have increased effectiveness based upon the rank of your Blood aspect.

(Serpent/Sense)

[Gaze of the Serpent]

(Serpent Aspect)

(Copper, Green/Ability)

(Grade 8 [72%])

Cost: Low Mana

Cooldown: None

Borrow the eyes of a serpent, allowing you to view the world in gradations of colorful heat.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Grants infravision, replacing your normal eyesight with gradations of color based on the heat of surrounding objects. There is a brief delay when switching from one mode of perception to the other.

[Avatar of Askara]

(Serpent Aspect)

(Copper, Violet/Special)

(Grade 5 [12%])

Cost: Considerable Mana, Stamina, and Health

Cooldown: Very Long

Summon an Ashfang serpent familiar to heed your commands and grow in power alongside you. Ashfangs were once the loyal subjects of the first serpent queen, Askara. Their tales and fabled power now lost to time. Each additional summoning will reduce both cost and cooldown. First summoning must be performed as a ritual.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Impart a portion of your mana, stamina, and health to give form to an Ashfang familiar that will obey your verbal commands. Recalling your familiar will restore unused mana, stamina, and health. If your familiar’s health is depleted, it will immediately vanish and must be re-summoned. All infused mana, stamina, and health will be lost if your familiar falls.

[Ashfang Familiar (Hush)](Copper Rank): A mythical snake with scales of ash, the ashfang deals dual damage types of Fire and Poison. Possesses the following skills: [Ashwall] and [Binds of Fire].

[Ashwall]: The ashfang creates an obfuscating wall of ash that resists perception abilities up to Iron Rank.

[Binds of Fire]: Coiling around their target, the ashfang crushes and burns, simultaneously binding them in place and applying a damage-over-time burn affliction.

(Omen/Arcane)

[Omen Mark]

(Omen Aspect)

(Copper, Yellow/Spell)

(Grade 7 [32%])

Cost: Modest Mana & Stamina

Cooldown: Short

Single out a target for death, marking it with an ominous and debilitating sign.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Mark a target, enabling you to sense where they are within a 100-foot radius and triggering the [Marked for Death] affliction. Only one target can be marked at a time. Upon the death of a target, the mark can be moved at no additional cost.

[Marked for Death]: Creates a glowing sigil above the target’s head that only you and those you choose can see. Reduces the target’s physical and magical defenses proportional to your own. Afflictions placed upon this target will stack regardless of their original properties. Physical contact applies stacks of [Decay].

[Decay]: Withers the physical vessel of a target, dealing stacking damage-over-time and depleting stamina. Stacks accrue at a greater rate the longer you remain in physical contact.

[Bane of Tartarus]

(Omen Aspect)

(Copper, Yellow/Ability)

(Grade 6 [90%])

Cost: Modest Mana

Cooldown: Moderate

Weave together omen curses from the pits of Tartarus into an abyssal swirling sphere of compressed malice. Let the song of the damned ring out for all.

Imprint(Copper Rank): Call upon the power of Tartarus itself, launching a swirling mass of malice like a meteor from your hand. Deals heavy Omen area damage, reduces maximum health, and lowers movement speed.

Mel moved closer to a window. One that wasn’t open. That would be a good way to get Hush quickly dead. She could easily see him flying into the rushing wind and getting smeared into a paste on one of those colorful buildings.

She summoned Hush out of the snake tattoo on the inside of her arm. The little snake hissed happily, his forked tail rattling a greeting to her.

Mel petted the smooth scales on his head while he enjoyed the awesome view of the Seabrim Crater.

Huh, there’s more than I remember. Does my status track my equipment now? When was that a thing?

[==Racial Abilities==]

[Shardscript System]

[Shardrune Quests]

[Wayward Traveler]

[Adaptability]

[==Relics & Embers==]

Relics: [Soul Kiln], [Fanged Flask], [Cinder Ampoule], [Champion’s Crown]

Pearls: [Leaden Pearl], [Blitz Pearl]

Embers: [Blood Ember], [Wind Ember], [Star Ember], [Poison Ember], [Stone Ember]

[==Equipment==]

Weapons: [Frostbite Stinger Twinblade (Blood) (Epic)], [Exile Twinblade (Fire) (Rare)]

Armor: [Elphaba’s Witch Hat (Legendary)], [Heathen’s Cuirass (Epic)], [Pair of Scalebane Gloves (Epic)], [Belt of the Indomitable (Legendary)], [Frostbite Scorpion Carapace Bracers (Epic)], [Pair of Scalebane Trousers (Epic)], [Greaves of the Lion (Legendary)], [Smoke Dash Anklets (Epic)]

Accessories: [Exile Storage Ring (Rare)], [Ring of Greater Water Breathing (Rare)], [Shielding Ring (Uncommon)], [Ring of Blades (Rare)]

I don’t remember getting a [Champion’s Crown] relic. I thought it was a buff.

Similar to her weapon, the moment Mel thought about the crown, it appeared in her hand. The five points of golden light that formed the crown were as light as a feather, but as hard as steel.

[Champion’s Crown]

(Copper Rank, Relic)

(Common)

What makes a Champion? Some say it is decided by blood and sweat, others call it destiny. In the end, what makes a Champion is less important than what a Champion does with the power they attain. Five points of light in the shape of a golden crown grace the brow of the wearer. Though this item is immaterial, it can still be broken. Wearing it produces no additional effects, for a Champion is anointed by their deeds, not shiny baubles.

Imprint(Common): Grants access to the Emporium’s [Champion Shop]. Increases Quest rewards. Grants access to [Champion Points].

[Champion Points]

While in possession of a [Champion’s Crown] you will gain Champion Points proportional to the Battle Points you acquire. Champion Points are exclusively used in the [Champion Shop] for advanced materials.

Okay, Mel thought, I can live with that!

A quick glance at her Battle Points showed she had zero Champion Points.

Must only work from here on out. At least I don’t have to wear it. Mel dismissed the crown. She didn’t need another target painted on her back.

Her inventory was still full of more than just the singular embers that were listed there.

Alright, she thought, so it only lists what I have available, but not the rarity or quantity of the embers. Useful, since I know for damn sure I’ll forget. At least this way I can take a quick look at my status instead of rooting around for the embers by hand.

As much as she would have loved it, Mel didn’t have anything that sorted her inventory. Her expanded pocket of subspace was just as messy as her dorm chest had been at Brookmoors.

Probably worse, Mel admitted. She didn’t want to open it here, just on the very off chance that something tumbled out of her inventory and through an open window.

Sounds about right. I’d ferry Sabrina’s soul throughout an entire damn Convocation trial, then drop it at three thousand feet.

Mel was fairly pleased that the majority of her equipment was Epic, with some pieces being as high as Legendary. That was thanks to her [Armament Scrap Ritual], something most people hadn’t come across during the trial.

I’m going to need to figure out some way to bump my gear up to Iron when I advance, or else swap all this stuff out. And I’d rather not. My twinblade’s imprints are just too good. Momma needs her haste!

Then again, the next new shiny thing could be even better.

She wouldn’t have minded a higher rarity storage ring. That was one of the things on her shopping list. More inventory space was always good.

Especially when you don’t organize anything.

Mel noticed that the rarity of the [Shielding Ring] had dropped. It must have protected me from severe damage during that last battle. Apparently broken bones don’t count, or else it has a cooldown. Thanks, I guess?

Her status had a lot more data on her. Enough that Mel felt confident she could reference it at any point in time to get a refresher on how some of her abilities worked.

The basic ones from her race were easy enough to understand, though [Adaptability] always stuck out to her.

[Adaptability]

(All/Human Trait)

Slightly enhances all chroma and skill accumulation. Enhances survival in extreme situations or when under duress. All chroma colors are slightly enhanced.

Unlike her other abilities, it didn’t list a chroma color. Every other ability or skill listed a color unless it was from her class.

[Mana Hardening] from Mystic didn’t list a chroma color, but [Wayward Traveler] from her racial abilities and [Blood Magic] from her Blood aspect both did.

Still don’t have much of an idea what the hell chroma does though, Mel thought sourly. She scrolled down through her class skills, down past her combat arts, and finally to her titles and blessings.

She didn’t know about other people, but from talking to Thomas, Gwen, and Heath, it was rare to have more than one title.

Mel could only really claim half of her titles as her own.

Granted, having a title that enhanced an attribute like Gwen’s [Defiant Juggernaut] would be nice. Maybe for agility, arcane or even sense instead. How much better would [Gaze of the Serpent] be then?

Gwen hadn’t mentioned anything yet about her progress on starring strength, so it seemed fairly difficult to acquire.

Maybe I’ll get one if I keep working toward starred agility, Mel thought to herself as they slowly descended toward the Starling Tower perched on the very edge of the green-blue waters of the crater lake.