The Power of Ten

Three active Titles.

The Star Mage, the first person on this world to assemble Five Stars of Wizardry. Naturally Sustained by the conjoined powers of multiple branches of magic flowing with such power through my Matrix.

Technically, I had Six Stars, but there was no extra benefit, other than the blanket +6 total base Caster Level bonus. I didn’t know of a Seventh Star, either, as the other branches of magic weren’t full Casting Classes...

The Perfect Halvyr. First Halvyr/3 to actualize with a fundamental 18 Stat line. It was basically setting me as the genetic leader of the Halvyr species.

The Ringlord. The first Ring-maker, and so the Lord of Rings on this world. Primary benefits: being able to use and make any Rings, being able to identify any Rings on sight, and be able to suppress any Ring with a swift action, as if it was Dispelled.

There could not be another being on this planet with those Titles while I was here, and at most they’d get a successor version of the Titles. Being the first set the standard for all who were going to follow.

The High Wizard was a passive Title, no active benefits for me. It meant I was clearing a road for those behind me.

It was all still pretty gratifying, and I’d be getting more... in time.

I thumbed through the Assay to find out the totals of my Caster Level bonuses. They were extensive, and that was totally by design.

Base Eleven, from both Wizard and Sorcerer now.

Six Star Magery, +6.

Snowcaster, +2 to +4. +1 to all Cold Spells by Druid Domain.

Good Spells, +3.

Aligned Theurgy, +4 to all Bloodline and Spell Focused spells, meaning Good, Cold, or Evocation spells.

Mage of the Wild, +2 while under a Shroud or the Haze.

Healing Spells, +1. Hmm. Still had to get the Reserve active. Active on all Vivic Spells.

Force Spells, +3 via Force and War Reserves.

Lightning and Fire spells, both +2, via Reserve and Druid Domains.

+1 to Acid, Earth, Water, and Air spells, by Druid Domain.

Silver Magic spells, +1 base, plus another 4 if a contested Dispel check.

Shards, +2.

Druidic Theurgy, +Druid Level to spells on both Arcane and Druid lists, notably the Cures, Wall of Fire and Dispel Magic. +4 currently.

+1 to Divinations and Darkness spells, by Clerical Domains.

Sing the Sublime Chord, at base +45 to the check. +4 Morale Bonus to Caster Level, Good magic doubled by Words of Creation to +8.

Shard Casting Level, at least 48 to 50. Dispel Casting Level, 43 to 45.

Single-target, non-Area of Effect spells like Shards could have higher damage caps than AoE spells of the same Levels; the main problem was having a Caster Level high enough to take advantage of them. Because Shards were a no-save, no-miss Force Effect, the spell topped out much later than, say, an Orb.

That was fine, Caster Level was not something I had a problem with. For this fight, I would be taking things to the next level.

Improved Shards II was Valence III. Literally a useless spell at any Caster Level below Twenty, as Shards was the best to use at Ten or less, and Improved Shards until Twenty. With Delimit, this got even crazier. You didn’t use IS II unless your Caster Level was above 30, as all it did is raise your Shards cap by another five, to fifteen base, plus another five with Delimit, maxing out at twenty Shards at Caster Level 40.

There were other Shard variants, and they even did more damage. Greater Shards, also a III Valence, created massively powerful Shards at a d8+8 each, forming 1, +1 for every 3 Levels above 5, max of 6 of them. 6d8+48 was considerably higher than the base 10-60 of Shards at Twenty, which meant for a single target spell, it was unquestionably better... except it didn’t scale as well.

Delimit wouldn’t work with Greater Shards, because of its uneven advancement paradigm, so Improved Shards actually got to 15-90... but importantly, that was more Shards with more per-attack Kickers, more targets you could hit and potentially Chain on through, and the like. Heck, with Topped and Consecrated, I also operated near the top of the damage range, instead of the middle, and that basically narrowed the advantage to nil.

I didn’t need the extra base damage of the Greater spell, as I had enough damage going on top to do that. I needed as many Shards as possible, so I could either stack them onto something and totally abuse the per-die Buffs, or I could spread them out and abuse the per-Shard Kickers.

Being able to use Improved Shards II was my goal, but it was running into the reality that I had a Metacap of VI. Getting five more Shards was not as important as fitting in Chain, Burst, Paired, Admixtured, Repeat, and Fastcast.

My targets were all undead, so the full +36 damage from the Holy Metas was going on the stack, along with all the other kickers. A Baneskull, Token, Blessed, Vivic, Noquar-capped Shard was another 6d6 of Kicker damage. Add on the Shard itself, even with its damage divided by Chains, and I could wipe away chaff at a hugely unreasonable rate.

There were millions of dead creatures out there I had to sweep away. Just using Rays wasn’t going to cut it... it was time for some true explosive multipliers to do the job.

-------

My mental preparations were done. I walked over to Sleipner, bowed to him courteously, and gifted him with his own custom Ring.

Yes, a unicorn spirit Possessing a motorcycle was the recipient of the world’s first Ring. I thought it only appropriate.

It slid down over his alicorn, all that remained of his original body, and fused with a gleam of light, down below the golden bands Master Fred had worked into place on the horn to hold charges of Wrath.

Sleipner neighed his thanks, and wondered what I’d just given him.

“It’s a Ring of Sustenance for you, specifically geared for an Artifact Spirit like yourself. It has the normal effect... it satisfies all your energy needs for standard operations.”

Sleipner snorted, and promptly burst into motion, tooling around quickly and testing this out. The stored Wrath in his alicorn, which was enough to power basic movement for probably a hundred miles or so, wasn’t touched at all.

Delighted by his newfound independence, the motorcycle reared up, presenting his chainsaw-toothed wheel, and spun around in glee, beheading phantom enemies. Master Fred just crossed his arms and smiled slightly, unperturbed.

It meant that Sleipner didn’t need him to charge his shell, or rely on fuel for backup, meaning his stored Wrath charges were fully available for offense.

“It has a second function, but you will have to charge that up with Karma.” The motorcycle set down quietly and zipped up in front of me, listening intently. “Animate Object. You can Animate any Object you are set against, once it is completed, in effect being able to make a crude body out of anything, not just a prepped motorcycle.”

The long point of the alicorn gleamed in excitement, turning to Master Fred, who made an approving face.

“Just remember that the motorcycle you’re in is a combat machine, and most things you Animate are going to just be normal objects, nowhere near as suitable for combat and travel. Still, it should add a remarkable amount of versatility to you.”

The unicorn nickered, and words played across the Vaccine display on his dash.

“Moving your alicorn around on your own?” I tapped my finger thoughtfully. “Do you want to be able to just move, or to fight?”

There was only a moment before he replied, FIGHT!!!!!

I nodded slowly. “There’s three different ways of approaching this. Flying lets you zip about on your own, but doesn’t give you any mass behind you, so your combat ability will be lackluster, to say the least.

“Dancing is the classic Melee Weapon Enchantment that allows you to fight on your own as if you were being wielded... by yourself. Its limitation is that it must be anchored to something, such as staying within a certain range of a person, a fighting target, or a location, i.e., a Dancing Weapon needs a partner. It also doesn’t allow for extremely rapid movement, and if you think about it, your alicorn is just made to be shot at something, i.e., to Charge them.

“That effect is basically a Ballistic Missile effect, completely separate from the first two.

“In any event, it would be wise for you first to be able to move around on your own, then to be able to fight on your own, and then be able to shoot yourself at things.”

Sleipner considered that, and whuffed agreement. With Flying, it could simply change locations between Dancing partners as needed.

I took the time to go over Naming Karma and how such things could work. His alicorn was no longer alive, itself; it was his Anchor, and he was effectively a Weapon Spirit because of it. If he fought, he could harness some Naming Karma for himself and effectively start improving himself like a magic Weapon.

“Master Fred, if you would like to use Sleipner’s Alicorn as a Warlock Scepter, that would probably be an excellent way to feed him some Naming Karma.”

Master Fred lifted half an eyebrow. IF I DON’T NEED TO USE WRATH TO POWER HIM AROUND, HIM USING IT TO SHOOT THINGS IS FINE. I DON’T HAVE A WAY TO STORE AWAY THE BIKE, UNLESS YOU HAVE ALTERNATE TRANSPORTATION THAT IS VIABLE?

“I can Itemize the bike at any time, and tote you around on Disk while I ride The Old Steed. He’s not as fast as Sleipner’s bike, but he’s not slow,” I assured them.

IS THIS A GOOD TIME TO TEST IT OUT?, he asked.

I smiled. “I don’t see why not!” Time and Karma waited for no unicorns, after all...

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I announced our presence with a standard salvo of Chained Bursting Paired Admixtured Shards as the main attack, and Fastcast Paired Split Ray Chained Bursting Shardrays to match it.

I wasn’t using the Full Attack variant, so merely 18 Shards as a base. Four sets of the one became 72 different target-seeking sources of Chains, while the other became merely four.

They could still Chain twenty-five times each.

Eighteen hundred additional targets for the first spell combo, a mere hundred for the second. The Shards went after the rank and file, anything a Six or less; the Shardrays cleared out anything bigger.

Fire magic supercharged by the frozen atmosphere hit like starfire for double damage, and literally a section of the hillside in front of me became one massive explosion of flames.

The undead were lined up in almost military order, fairly tight-packed, which made them susceptible to the Bursts that followed the impact of each Chained Ray and Shard. Anywhere from two to six other undead could be caught in the blast area, whose Kicker effects were carried through at full power.

They weren’t going to make the save, unless they were really powerful, and even then, they only had a moderate chance... and I could just shoot them again.

Ki swirled and returned to me, restoring what I had just expended, and Repeated Spell and Residual Metamagic revved up, while Admixture doubled the number of Rays on the Fastcast spell, and Repeat Spell got added into the mix on my first one.

Fred’s Grit had Morphed into Rifle form; Sleipner had his alicorn mounted under it like a Bayonet. Master Fred was smoothly acquiring any survivors in the areas I had just blanketed in explosions, and with every shot, the image of a unicorn horn flashed out with the bullet, carrying a bunch of golden Wrath edged in black and white banefire and vivus with it.

Staggering undead blew apart with every impact. He had no end of targets to shoot at, naturally enough, the leyser from his Grit reaching out and touching his targets as he calmly acquired, shot, acquired, shot, and Alicorn Lances reached out to show how much unicorns loved the undead.

Somewhere in the neighborhood of seven-plus thousand undead died almost instantly amid the explosions, even the toughest ones not exempt from the starfire-hot Rays pushing through, dumping their loads into frozen bodies, and immediately proceeding on.