Magus Ascendant (Warlock of the Magus World/The Gamer inspired quest)

A/N: Since the Gamer can make pretty much anything into a skill, I'm gonna need to ask you guys for some help. If the MC ever does anything that should create a skill but it doesn't, let me know right away so I can change it. Also if you make a vote based on a skill that you want to gain, mention it in the vote so I can add it in or let you know why it's not possible. Thanks in advance.

[X][origin] OC.

[X][name] Cat.

[X][backstory] The Talented Orphan.
A degree of 'street smarts'.
A Spiritual Grade of 5.
+10 Magic Crystals.
+2 Spiritual Force.
[Coin Flip: Tails. Failure: you don't start with basic training]
Sworn Enemy: The Little Lord (Deacon Fiss) added to notes.
Minor Debt added to Notes tab.

[X][power] The Gamer.
Hp stat is gained.
Magic Power stat becomes Mp stat.
Sp stat is gained.
Spiritual Force maximum is now decided by your Vitality stat multiplied by 5 (dependent on your rank).
Life Force is increased to a base of 100.


Following the rest of the group, you make your way around to the back of the carriage where two of the black robes are unloading all of the luggage strapped there. Even after months of this, you are still uncomfortable with keeping your stuff in a bag like this. Ever since you woke up one day to see that box of words floating in front of your face and learned about the power you were... blessed with, you'd kept everything of value in your Stash. Your power called it an 'Inventory' but calling it your Stash felt way better. A secret place where all of your things can be safe and no one can take them from you? It was like a dream come true.

You couldn't exactly keep up with that habit during this trip though. Not with other people constantly bothering you and wondering where you keep getting your food and clothes from. No, you had to keep all of your stuff in the bag Lord Klaus got for you and wait for the black robes to unload it at every stop. At least that's finally over an done with. According to Flesha, you get way more privacy to do whatever you want at the academy. Privacy will be nice. You could really use it after months trapped with all of these stuck up nobles.

"Cat!" One of the black robes calls, throwing your big traveling sack to the ground. You push through the people in front of you and quickly snatch it up before anyone else can think to act.

The caravan you arrived with consisted of eight massive carriages, each pulled by a team of six horses and able to comfortably hold twenty kids and two of the black robes. There was a ninth, smaller carriage for the four white robed lords but none of you ever went near that one. The reason you mention this, is that despite being on one of the carriages farthest from your own, that asshole Deacon Fiss still manages to mess with you and your stuff. Sometimes it's just a push or a shove when you're not looking. Other times, your things go missing or get damaged, or a group of the other girls and some of the boys will get together and say insulting things where you can hear them.

Not the worst you've had to deal with, not by a long shot, but it gets… grating. They tried worse things at the start but the black robes quickly put a stop to that. You suspect Klaus had a hand in it but you're not certain and knew better than to ask.

The worst part is that you couldn't really do anything about Deacon and his hanger-ons. This isn't like the streets where you can just punch his nose in and kick him till he pukes blood. There's way too many of them working together for that to work and even then, the black robes would stop anything too blatant on the grounds of it annoying the piss out of them. Never mind the fact that Deacon is loads stronger than you. Like, ridiculously stronger. Flesha said it was something called Knight training but you kind of zoned out when the explanation got all long and boring. You dont even get bored!

Seriously, that girl.

Whatever the case, it's connected to whatever it is that lets the black robes do all those amazing things and slaughter monsters without batting an eye. No way you can beat Deacon in a straight up fight if he's capable of the same and Flesha totally shot down your idea to just shank him in the back. Who the hell is even shank proof? Well, other than yourself but you've come to understand that you're all sorts of bullshit compared to normal people.

You look up at the sound of a loud clap.

"Gather round children." Klaus, you'd recognize that smarmy voice anywhere, calls out.

Shrugging your bag onto one shoulder, you walk over with the rest of your carriage and one other to stand before the white robed figure. You can see the other white robes gathering up the rest of the children from the other carriages. A few seconds pass as Klaus looks you all over. Heads duck or turn aside as his gaze sweeps over the crowd. After seeing the devastation one of the white robes can inflict on a swarm of monsters, the others have started showing proper deference and respect. That's a pretty big deal from a bunch of pampered noble brats. You meet his gaze head on, causing him to smirk. Maybe if it was one of the other lords you'd be properly cowed but not with this joker. Like he'd said, 'you're an investment that will hopefully bear fruit one day'.

He's not going to do anything to ruin his little investment.

Above him floats a familiar label, words you have long grown used to seeing above everyone's head and barely pay attention to anymore.

"Right then. As you can all see, we have arrived at the staging grounds." Klaus begins after fully surveying the crowd. He sweeps his arm out as he talks, as if displaying the vista of cabins, tents and people to you all. "A bit later than scheduled but that is to be expected. In a moment, I want you all to go to one of the big tents there and follow whatever directions you are given."

The tents in question are a trio of building sized structures near the center of the area. You can see a long line of other kids standing outside the entrance of each tent.

"Well, from this point on you are all on your own. I wish you all the best of luck." Klaus finishes, before turning and walking away. You watch him go -that's it?- before turning back to the distant tents. Well, might as well-

Oof!

You hit the ground. Not hard enough to hurt but enough to leave you sprawled there and the contents of your open bag scattered. That was definitely closed when you walked up. You look up with a scowl, not even surprised at the identity of your assailant. A boy in a fine, and probably super expensive, suit. He is just a year older than yourself with short blond hair and aristocratic features.


"Watch where you're going worm." Deacon Fiss sneers, contempt dripping from his voice. His hanger-ons, four other noble boys that like to kiss his ass and three simpering girls, chuckle and giggle as they walk off. You glare at their retreating backs before moving to gather your things.

The young lord, Deacon Fiss. Nephew to Duke Rosenthal, the lord of the city you grew up in, by way of the dukes younger sister. Before all this, you'd only seen Deacon from a distance. He sometimes rode through the town on horseback, surrounded by a group of his uncles knights. A lot of the town girls, yourself included ashamedly, liked to sigh and make eyes at him. He was just that handsome and mysterious. So when you'd spotted him at one of the campfires your first night with the caravan, you'd taken the chance to go say hi to your crush. After all, you were both going to become Magi right? And everyone knows Magi are of a completely different standing when compared to normal nobles.

Suffice to say, things did not go as you planned.

Everything started off well. Deacon didn't show much interest in you, what with the five other girls trying to hang off his arm, but he was at least receptive, if somewhat amused, of your stuttered introduction. Then you must have made some mistake or something because he immediately asked for your name and if you were a commoner. When you answered, his attitude completely changed. What started as amused disinterest immediately turned to passionate hatred in the blink of an eye. Insults were hurled and you were sent fleeing with tears prickling your eyes. From that point on, he went out of his way to bully you and as the highest ranking noble there, the others were quick to follow his lead.

It was only weeks later that you learned the reason of it all from Flesha. Apparently Deacon's parents were Baron and Baroness of a small area in the north of the kingdom. They weren't very good at it though and the people revolted. In the ensuing civil war, ending with victory on the side of the kingdom of course, Deacon's parents were killed, their land was gifted to another noble family and he only made it out alive thanks to the aid of his bodyguard. Well, he was understandably upset with the commoners that orphaned him and this must have eventually turned into a dislike for all commoners.

Regardless of the reasoning, you were still the one to suffer at his hands and that has made you understandably resentful. One day, you will-

[][personality] Make him pay!
You are vengeful and entirely willing to hold a grudge. Anyone that dares slight you will suffer your wrath. Be that through humiliation or more… fatal means is entirely at your discretion.

[][personality] Make him sorry!
You are willing to forgive and forget. If someone slights you, you are willing to let it go so long as they apologize. If they dont... well, that depends doesn't it?

[][personality] Write in.

"Are you alright Cat?" A voice asks as you put the last of your items away and you look up. Once again, you are not surprised at the identity of the person standing above you. A girl roughly your age in a plain looking dress. She has long, straight, black hair that covers a majority of her face, plain, unremarkable features and is wearing a set of large, round eyeglasses that make her eyes look bigger than they are.


"I'm fine Flesha." You grumble in reply, taking her offered hand and letting her pull you from the ground. "Just Deacon being an ass like usual."

She makes a humming sound and nods. Then, with nothing else said, she starts walking towards the large tents with the rest. You watch her go, waiting a few seconds before moving to follow.

Flesha is the only one here you'd consider a friend and even that's a bit of a stretch. The only other person from your town, other than Deacon, you know of her as the daughter of Klein and Marin, a pair of skilled bakers that own a small shop in the marketplace. Sometimes they would give you a loaf of bread or some cookies if you looked suitably hungry and sad. They weren't bad people. Flesha is their oddball daughter. The only other person in the whole town to spend as much time in the small library as Old Jorin and he actually lived there. She always had her head in one book or another, preferring to read rather than learn to bake or help at her parents store. When she wasn't reading, she was either deep in though or just staring blankly at anyone that passed by.

How she managed to join the caravan, you don't know. Klaus told you how expensive something like this is. There's no way Flesha's parents could afford it. Not even if her family started saving from the time of her great-great-great-great-great grandparents. You asked her about it but she'd just hum and stare. Still, she was one of the only ones that didn't join in on the bullying. She was also able and willing to answer any questions you had. The two of you could have probably been better friends but Flesha preferred to spend her time reading and you didn't want to cause her any trouble. She was commoner born like you but Deacon and the others always seemed to overlook her. You didn't want to be the one to bring his attention to her.

Sighing, you follow the throng of people until you arrive at the tents. The line has gotten shorter but there are still a lot of kids waiting their turn. A few of the black robes are walking around, handing out papers. One passes by you and you take the paper as it's held out. It's a form that you need to fill out. You sigh in relief and quickly fish out one of the pencils Klaus bought you. The fact you can actually read and write would be a pretty big deal back home if anyone knew about it. You never had much use for the skills, like the rest of the street kids, but you quickly saw the need when the boxes started showing up and words started floating over everyone's heads. At that point, you had no choice but to learn.

Finishing the form up, you get in line and wait your turn. The line moves quickly but it still takes close to half an hour for your turn to come up. Taking a calming breath, unneeded as it may be, you enter the white tent. The inside of the tent is more sparse than you were expecting despite the spaciousness. There is only a simple, black table with a red cushion on top of it. Resting on the cushion is a clear glass orb the size of your head. Seated behind the desk is one of the white robed lords, an old man with a completely bald head and a long white beard.


"Well, come on then. I dont have all day you know." The man, Advacus, grumbles with a frown. He is holding a hand out and making grabbing motions in your direction. "Give me the form and put your hands on the crystal ball."

You hurry forward to do as you're told. This time, your head is bowed low as the memory of dozens of dog sized insects dying in a blaze of light and fire flashes through your mind. You hand him the form and place both hands on the clear ball. A shudder passes through you. The ball is cold as ice and feels like it's... shaking? You look at it but no, the ball isn't moving at all despite feeling like it. Wait! You can see a white light inside the ball that wasn't there a moment ago.

As you stare into the ball, the light seems to grow brighter and brighter. In accordance to this, you feel a pain in your head, one that grows in strength as the light grows brighter.

"Good, good. Dont let go child." Advacus says, staring intently at the ball.

You can barely hear him over the feeling in your head, the sound of blood gushing through your veins. The light grows even brighter.

"...hurts." Your voice is strained and weak.

Your head is throbbing in pain, you feel like you're going to lose consciousness at any moment. You haven't felt like this in a very long time. Pain is something that is fast for you, lasting for a split second before fading. This feeling. This constant, growing pain. It feels wrong. Something must be going wrong!

"Keep going child." Advacus mutters, leaning forward. "As long as you can."

The light grows brighter again and your feel something -pop- in your head.

"I can't! No more!" You wail, it's too much.

Your hands twitch, fingers trying to pull away from the orb as you reach your limit. For a moment, you fear that you're stuck to it. That you're unable to let go and will be forced to suffer this pain until you die. Panic rises for the first time in many months. Then your hands release the orb and you go stumbling back, gasping and panting. The pain vanishes in an instant, like you are used to, and a blue box pops into existence. You absently wave it away.

Your attention is locked on the ball, the thing that hurt you so much. It look so innocent, just a clear glass orb. You want to destroy it. To pick it up and dash it against the ground. At the same time, you don't want to touch it. Not even for a moment. It's not fear you feel, never fear, just a wariness of something that has proven capable of hurting you despite your power. You tear your eyes away from it and look up at the white robed man. He's busy scribbling away at the form, your few seconds of weakness completely missed.

You sigh and straighten up just as he looks up.

"An excellent result young miss!" Advacus announces, now all smiles and cheer. "A spiritual grade of five. A high-ranked grade! You will go quite far."

You just nod and take the form when he holds it out. Still smiling, he holds a hand out towards a slit in the tent wall behind him. You completely missed it.

"Go through here for the next test." He informs you, head tilting so he can see the doorway behind you. "Next!"

Hearing someone enter the tent behind you, you rush through to the next section. This room has another of the black tables in it, this with a basin full of a silvery liquid on top of it. There are two of the black chairs placed on either side of the table. One is empty, while the other is being used by another of the white robes. This one is a woman, young, pretty and buxom with curly blond hair and glimmering green eyes. Her beauty is marred by the snooty sneer on her face. She looks you over with a piercing gaze and scoffs.


"Well? Sit down and give me your form." She instructs, her tone cold and nasally.

You do as she says, careful to avoid touching the basin on the table at all cost. Aliana takes the paper and begins glancing it over while you wait. You notice her sneer deepen at a few parts before completely vanishing in exchange for a wide eyed gaze as she gets near the bottom. She quickly conceals it and the sneer is back in place when she looks up at you.

"Humph, a grade of five. I suppose it makes sense. No other reason someone of your.... background would be here." She says, tone still cold. "Well, let's test your elemental affinity now."

She gestures at the basin and you look down at it. The basin is oddly shaped and bumpy, seemingly made of stone and filled with liquid metal. The liquid is completely still as you look into it but you can't see a reflection. You keep your hands at your side, completely unwilling to touch it.

"Look into the water." Aliana commands, leaning back in her chair. You find yourself doing so, unable to tear your eyes away now that the command has been given. You startle when the water begins to swirl. Thankfully, there is no feeling of pain this time. Instead, the silver color of the liquid seems to fade away, slowly becoming replaced with a mix of other colors. As you watch, one color grows to dominate the entirety of the basin, spreading from the center to the edges until it fills the whole bowl in perfection. A second color courses through the first, lines of it appearing to mar the solidity of the first color. More colors pop up after this, appearing as small dots on the canvas painted by the first two colors.

"What do you see?" Aliana asks. Her voice is deep and distant, as if she is talking to you from somewhere far away.

You answer her, your own voice slow and monotone as if you are in a trance. A moment passes after you speak, then you hear her shifting and suddenly the basin flashes. The liquid returns to it's silvery hue and you find yourself able to look away. You shake off the trance and sit up, that was really strange. What was that? Not an illusion or a mental attack, you're supposed to be immune to those. Maybe some type of self hypnosis? You make a note to ask Flesha about it before returning your focus to Aliana.

"Well, how interesting." She says, making some marks on your paper. "Your affinities appear to be..."

What are your elemental affinities?
[][primary] Write in: provide a one word answer for the affinity of your choice. It can be anything you want it to be, within reason. This will be your main affinity and the one you will need to master in order to progress in the future. Any affinities that are too 'sciency' will be dumbed down to their fantasy equivalent.
(As a Gamer, you can learn to use any affinities you wish to an unprecedented degree but only your primary can be fully mastered in order to Rank up)

[][secondary] Write in: another one word answer. This is your secondary affinity. It cannot be something that is in opposition to your primary (ex: a primary of fire cant have a secondary of water or ice). Your secondary affinity can be used to bolster your primary in certain ways.

A pair of boxes appear one after the other at her words. You skim over them with practiced ease before dismissing them to focus on Aliana. She is giving you another once over. A moment passes. Then she snorts and gestures towards the exit with her head.

"Out you get, I still have more of you little sprogs to deal with."

You stand and leave the tent without another word.

"Are you Cat?" A voice asks as you exit the tent, blinded by the sudden increase in light. You blink a few times to clear your sight before looking to the source. It's a black robe with a gruff appearance and a deep frown.

"Yeah, that's me." You reply, giving him a questioning but still respectful look. The black robes, as you understand it, are mainly slaves of the various Magi here. That doesn't stop them from being terrifying beings with the power to snap you like a twig.

"Finally." He sighs, turning away. "Follow me, Lord Klaus requests your presence."

Dang it.


Voting is Closed.