I opened the interface. Eighteen free attribute points accumulated over the last month were glowing in the corner of the character profile, inviting me to spend them. I could invest them into my main stats: Constitution, Strength, Dexterity, and others, significantly empowering my avatar, or expend them on developing my archetype abilities, improving them, and unlocking new ones. That was a dilemma.
I had been saving up character points, dreaming of using them to unlock the Trade Master epic archetype. The requirements were basically known: a Charisma and Intelligence build laid out by Olaf himself. It seemed, however, that I would have to put those plans on the back burner. The proxy’s legendary abilities seemed much more enticing.
I put ten points into Shadow Sight and Shadow Eyes, maxing them out. According to the description, that allowed me to see in the Shadow Plane just as well as in the material one. I could also find caches and hidden passages and use the sight and the hearing of any shadow within a thousand-step range. That was a godsend for a spy! A pleasant chiming sound notified me of reaching the second rank of the proxy archetype: Shadow Listener.
Well, let’s see what we have here... But as I looked at the new skills, I winced in disappointment.
Shadow Travel (0/5): you can enter and move through the Shadow Plane for up to 30 seconds / 1 hour.
Shadow Talk (0/5): you can hear the mumbling of shadows and understand individual words. You can read basic writing in Shadowspeak.
The first ability was a weaker copy of my cloak’s property. From the looks of it, it could evolve into Shadow Run, too. The second skill was curious but completely useless in my circumstances. Definitely not what I needed. I had expected to unlock powerful attacking or defensive abilities. Well, it’s not like I could turn back time. I allocated one point to each ability. That left me with six free points, which I saved for a rainy day.
It was time for my next move. I pulled out the scarlet prism of the Transformation Gem. The legendary magic stone was glowing from the inside, making my fingers warm. It was a nifty thing, truly exclusive. None were for sale at the auction, and purchase bids started from eighty thousand. It had only one useful ability: allowing the user to transform into any creature of comparable size. The transformation wasn’t an illusion; the Gem changed your true form. There was no seeing through it, either; even Aelmaris’ Wrath couldn’t spot the difference. That’s how Daine had played our raid back in Helt Akor. There was one restriction: you couldn’t make direct copies of other players. This and one more thing made the Gem all but useless to me.
However, it was leverage against the Succubate. I put the Transformation Gem back into the chest, locked it, and stopped to think. It was time to figure things out with the Mistress once and for all, or the annoying demoness would never leave me in peace, especially since she had the ability to summon me into the Abyss once in three days. I needed to teach her a lesson in fear so it would never even occur to her—and prepare a gift for Pandorum while I was at it.
I touched the Tiara of Prince Consort, summoning Mara into my world.
She answered the call.
I felt her iron grip on my throat, scratching it with her purple nails, and Mara pulled me up in the air.
“You’re just in time, darling! I was thinking about you!” she hissed, giving me a fiery look. “Where is the Transformation Gem? Tell me, wretch!”
The pupils of her eyes turned into pentagrams, radiating blue light that bound us together.
You reflected Demon Sight with Ascetic!
I wasn’t in the mood for tricks, and winged ladies who started a conversation by grabbing me by the throat only made it worse. So you want to play? All right!
I slipped into the Shadow and immediately landed right behind the Queen of the Succubate, throwing her toward the bed with a sharp blow and pinning her down. Aelmaris flashed with blue light.
“See that? Lie down and don’t move!” I pressed the fiery sword right into the face of the startled demoness. “One move, and the Succubate will need a new queen!”
“Take it away, One of the Seven!” Mara shrieked, afraid to stir. “Take it away! This is an Eater! It’s burning me! Who’s inside of it? WHO?!”
“You’ll find out if you misbehave!” I promised her, drawing back a little and loosening my grip.
“Well, if we’re already lying down, why not?” Her lips stretched in a vicious grin, demonstrating sharp fangs. Mara was rapidly transforming: her claws retracted, her horns, wings, and tail disappeared, and in a second, a slender girl with long black hair huddled up in the corner of the bed.
“Do you like me more now?” she asked. “You won’t threaten me with your sword anymore, will you? I prefer a weapon of another kind...”
As if by accident, her blue, golden-hemmed dress slipped from her shoulder, exposing a little more of her than it was supposed to. Gazing at me with her innocent gray-blue eyes, Mara offered, “I think my corset is unbuckled... I can’t reach it. Maybe you can help?”
You reflect Seduction with Ascetic!
“Stop this travesty!” I barked, putting the sword back to her face.
“You’re immune to my charms and possess a Soul Eater,” Mara said, glancing at Aelmaris and then back at me. “Why have you summoned me?”
“You want the Transformation Gem, don’t you? I can give it back, but it won’t be free...”
* * *
“Are you ready to swear a
