He didn’t even consider Natural Attack. Alma’s offensive abilities were rooted in her psychic and magical abilities, anyway. The conversions, on the other hand, were definitely interesting. Convert to Characteristic Points drew his eye. The fact that he could finally see Alma’s stats was awesome. She was the definition of “skewed.” Her Strength was a low “5,” but her Intelligence and Wisdom were higher than his. It wasn’t too surprising as her Psi Bond ability gave both of the later characteristics a 60% bump. It was still startling to look at how her size and species caused such a discrepancy. Alma could pack a serious punch, but with her low health, she was still extremely vulnerable.
Convert to Ability Points was helpful in an obvious way. The dragonling only received one ability point per level she obtained. As higher levels were harder to achieve and as her abilities required more points as they advanced, Alma’s advancement was stalling. These crystals were going to breathe life back into her development, he thought with a smile. He took a look at her status page.
Name: Alma
Level: 37, 27%
Health: 130 Mana: 730 Stamina: 180
(Unused level points: 3)
Abilities:
Psi Bond – Lvl 5, points to next level: 4
Psi Blast – Lvl 3, points to next level: 3
Brain Drain – Lvl 7, points to next level: 7
Psi Channeling – Lvl 2, points to next level: 2
Can use:
Air Magic
Life Magic
Resistances:
Mental: 100%
Air: 50%
Life: 50%
Race: Psi Dragonling
Buying another ability point would cost ten of the thirty-four Psi Points he had to spend. He didn’t know how much buying a second one would cost, but if the cost only doubled, he could swing it. It meant he could upgrade any of her abilities except Brain Drain. As great as the experience was, though, he couldn’t have Alma just be a one trick pony. Also, when Brain Drain had reached level seven, it had gained the powerful new feature of capturing memories. If her other abilities “evolved” when they reached level seven, he was eager to see what else his familiar was capable of doing.
Looking at her status page helped him to confirm a decision he had been leaning towards anyway. His familiar needed to be protected. Richter switched back to Alma’s enhancement page and purchased Natural Armor I.
Total Psi Points Remaining: 24
Alma stopped relaxing on his arm and sat up. Blue-white light started to seep through her scales. Before Richter’s eyes, new scales grew out from the base of each of the old ones. They had a slight bit more sheen and appeared a bit thicker. The old scales fell away, and Alma’s weight increased slightly, causing Richter’s arm to dip.
The entire process only took seven seconds. She looked more or less the same, but as Richter examined her, he noted slight differences. The ridges over her eyes were slightly more pronounced, and her snout seemed slightly longer. Alma stood up on her hind legs and flapped her wings, crying out slightly to announce her more dangerous presence to the world. He could see that the leathery skin of her wings appeared slightly thicker and let less light shine through.
*Fly for me, my love,* he thought to her.
Alma jumped off his arm and soared into the air. She flew in a circle above his head and, at his prompting, flew as quickly as she could from one end of the warband to the other. When she was done, she landed on his arm again.
*Do you feel any slower?*
*I did at first, master. My body feels a bit heavier, but then I found I could flap a bit harder than before. When I got up to speed, I was going as fast as I normally do.*
Richter was slightly relieved. His one hesitation with upgrading her armor was a fear that it would slow her down. As a small aerial creature, speed and evasion would be more important to her survival than the thickness of her scales. It was only because he could offset any velocity loss by purchasing Flight Speed I that he had been comfortable risking it. He was happy to see that her enhancement wasn’t a double-edged sword.
Richter accessed her enhancement table, and saw that it had changed slightly to reflect his purchase.
Natural Armor II
Current Armor: 4
Increase the natural armor of your dragonling by +1
20
Richter made one more decision. It only cost four more points to upgrade her Psi Bond, and as far as he was concerned, they would be points well spent. The other factor that influenced his decision was his newly improved Enhanced Imbue Arrow skill. Increasing her Psi Bond increased the chances that his enemies would be afflicted with Mind Fog, Stun or Psi Crystallization. The chaos seed spent ten Psi points purchasing another attribute point and upgraded Psi Bond.
Total Psi Points Remaining: 14
You have chosen to increase your familiar’s ability: Psi Bond to level 6. Your familiar’s base innate intellect is increased by 125%. Her base Intelligence and Wisdom are also increased by 75%. Your mental resistance from Psi Bond has increased to 60%. Your familiar’s Psi Bond has advanced to being able to form a psychic connection even with those lacking the Psi Bond ability. You will also benefit from this stronger tie to your familiar. Your mental resistance from Psi Bond has increased to 30%. Maximum distance of communication increased from 1250 to 1500 yards. Tasks you once found mentally strenuous now come more easily. You have a greatly reduced risk of spell miscast. Factoring in your familiar’s Psi Bond level 6 and personal level of 37, add 22% to the chances of Mind Fog, Stun or Psi Crystallization occurring when you use Enhanced Imbue Arrow. Psi Bond has now advanced to the point that your mental connections with other creatures will enhance their intellect to a small degree. Other effects of this enhanced bond may be discovered in time.
Richter hadn’t been expecting the last part of the notification! Ever since bonding with Alma, there was a part of his mind that seemed like it had small lights in it. Each light was a psychic bond. The dragonling’s presence was like a bright sun, warm and reassuring. He had discovered, not long ago, that he could form a connection with his tamed pet as well. Casting Tame daily hadn’t leveled his Blood magic much, but the adder was a powerful pet. The bond to the snake was minor, more like a flickering candle, but it still allowed him to give the monster limited mental commands. As time went on, and his mental control had deepened, that candle had flickered less, but Richter still hadn’t seen any practical difference in his control of the shale adder.
Now, the candle was more like a flashlight. It was still nothing compared to his soul forged bond with Alma, but it was a noticeable difference. Richter wondered what “other effects” would develop in time. Looking at the adder, he thought, *Hi.* The snake just kept gliding along beside him. Richter turned his attention back to his familiar.
He wished he had more Psi points to spend, but he was still happy with what the psi crystal had added so far. The last thing he did was buy the badge that should maximize her chances to live through the upcoming battle. He bought Flight Speed I.
Total Psi Points Remaining: 4
A blue-white light suffused her body again. Her wings lengthened slightly, and the angles of her wing bones shifted. Even her face and tail became a bit more streamlined. Alma launched into the air, eager to put her new speed to use. Richter had used up all of her Ability points and most of her new Psi points, but she was also much stronger and better protected than she had been when he had started upgrading her. With the battle looming only hours in the future, he had a feeling she would need it.
CHAPTER 26 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG