Richter was proud of the fact that not one of his people suggested going back to the village. All of the guards were committed to protecting their new home. He spent about half an hour walking through the warband, clapping his men and women on the back and telling them how proud he was to fight beside them. The chaos seed wasn’t sure how much good it did, but he thought he saw a bit of tension ease on many of their faces.
After they had been walking for a few miles, Richter reached into his bag and mentally summoned the item he wanted. A smooth blue-white gem appeared in his hand. He withdrew his hand and opened it. From inside the jewel, a soft, blue-and-white light shone forth. It was weak, barely brighter than a night light, but easily seen in the dark. The light refracted off of the edges of the gem. While he looked at it, the glow shifted somewhat as if the light source was rotating slowly inside of the jewel. Richter held it cupped slightly towards his chest so the light wouldn’t give away their position. Fascinated by the light show, he reached his mind towards it, and a prompt appeared.
You have found: Psi Crystal. Durability: 10/10. Item Cl…
Before he could even finish reading, he was attacked from above.
*What is that, master? What is it? It’s so pretty! Can I have it? I love it! What is it? Why aren’t you answering?*
“Because you’re not even giving me a chance to think,” Richter said in irritation. Why was it all women liked shiny things? Alma sounded positively manic! The dragonling was firing questions at him so fast he didn’t even have time to think, and then getting mad at him for not answering. Yet another feminine trait he was not happy to find applied universally, independent of species.
Alma had swooped down from where she was flying above him as soon as she saw the white-blue light. That would not have bothered Richter so much, except for the fact that she had landed on his head! Alma was so eager to see what he had, that she hadn’t even been completely careful with her claws. Quick as a flash, she had climbed down his front and down onto his arm.
In fear of dropping the psi-crystal, he had closed his fist, which was the only reason that she hadn’t already taken it. Even now, though, she was prying at his fingers with her arms to get to the gem. He shook his arm trying to dislodge her, but she wrapped her tail around his forearm and held on, tight as a tick. When Richter started shaking more vigorously, she quickly turned and shot a blast of air into his eye. With a startled ‘Ehh!’ he reeled back and, in his surprise, opened his hand. The dragonling wasted no time grabbing the crystal and launching off of his arm with a squeal of delight. She hung in midair, her wings flapping to keep her aloft.
*I LOVE it, master. Is it for me? Is it? IS IT?*
Richter was half bemused, half annoyed. He had never seen her act like this before, barring a spat they had had when she had first been summoned. Alma was much more evolved than she had been then, though, and he had never seen her so enamored with something before. It was definitely a curiosity, but he decided it was still a good practice to nip bad behaviors in the bud.
With a steely tone, he thought to her, *Alma. As your master, I command you to give me that crystal. Now!*
She looked up from the blue-white gem and started to object, *But-*
*I said now, my familiar. Do not snatch things from me. Am I understood?*
Somehow putting a petulant look on her draconian face, she flew closer and dropped the gem into his hand.
*I was only curious,* she thought to him. Her tone was a particular blend of apology and rebuke.
Sighing to himself, he held out his arms. *I know, love. Why don’t you rest with me while we look at it together?* Immediately mollified, she flew to him and found a comfortable perch on his right forearm, while he held the jewel in his left hand. Richter turned his attention back to the crystal.
You have found:
Psi Crystal
Durability: 10/10
Item Class: Scarce
Level: 34
Weight: 0.9 kg.
Traits: This crystal is the captured psychic energy of a level 34 Winged Koolari. This energy can be utilized by Mental creatures to boost their growth and stats. The energy may also be used by anyone with access to Mental magic to greatly augment their spells. It can also be used by Mental creatures to augment their capabilities for a short time. Any usage will consume the energy all at once. Further uses of this energy may be possible and will have to be discovered.
Mental magic, Richter thought to himself. So far, he hadn’t come across any spells like that. Then again, he realized, that meant absolutely nothing. He’d been in The Land for less than a year. There were probably countless things that he hadn’t heard about yet. As he thought more on it, he realized that he wasn’t exactly na?ve to Mental magic. He had a Mental resistance that increased every time Alma leveled her Psi Bond ability. Richter had always assumed that the resistance was just to overall psychic-type attacks, but maybe it was specifically geared towards this Mental magic.
Curious, he asked her. Then he asked her again. Finally, he had to close his fist to get the enraptured dragonling to pay attention to him. She was initially annoyed that he had taken her new favorite bauble away, but then she focused and decided to engage in her favorite past time, teasing him.
*Oh, master. How do you not already know this? You should never be ashamed to ask me for help when you cannot understand basic concepts.* Her mental tone was one of complete self-satisfaction.
Unamused, he sent her a mental image of him telling the village hunters not to feed her anymore.
Her eyes widened slightly, and she continued on in a less mocking tone, *My Mental resistance works in two ways: direct and indirect attacks. For direct attacks, I can almost never be harmed by a Mental assault. Any damage I receive will be reduced by 100%. If the mental energy directed at me is massive, I still might succumb, but I have not detected any beings with that level of psychic ability since we have been together, master.
The second method is to resist indirect attacks. If I were to fly through a field charged with dangerous psychic energy, for instance, my tolerance would be determined by my base ability to resist such energy. That base resistance is determined by multiple factors. Two examples are race and Willpower. My 100% mental resistance would increase my base tolerance by a factor of ten. At 65%, your base resistance to indirect mental attacks would be increased by more than a factor of six.*
*I thought that you were completely immune to mental attacks,* Richter thought to her.
*No master. Mental elementals are immune to psychic attacks, and, in fact, such attacks only make them stronger. I am nearly immune.*