Arcane knowledge, formulas, and subtle nuances flooded into me as the System taught me everything there was to know about Devouring Umbral Plague. Shutting my eyes against the influx of information, I didn’t resist as what felt like years of intimate familiarity with the spell’s structure and pattern was written directly into my mind. With that knowledge came an awareness of a gateway that would be created upon casting, linking me and whatever poor sod found himself afflicted with the infectious disease. Through this connection, a portion of the health stripped away by the plague’s ravaging effects would be sapped across the bridge to be greedily absorbed by my mana core. Lesser Soul Leech had a similar effect, but where its portal seemed no better than a running water hose, this new spell would be akin to four or six hoses packed around one another.

  After what seemed like hours to me, yet in reality was only a few seconds to everyone else, my eyes snapped open the moment the torrent shut off. Immediately, a System window flashed into view showing the details of the spell I was now well acquainted with. Stella leaned forward as we read the detailed description of Devouring Umbral Plague.

  [Devouring Umbral Plague]. A shadowy emanation of umbrage energy strikes at the body of a target within 100 feet, causing 800 (up from 400) plus 3n damage immediately and then every 6 seconds until the spell expires, where ‘n’ equals Intelligence.

  The target is afflicted with the debuff, “Gloom Torment,” which siphons life essence to restore the caster’s mana pool by 30% of the damage dealt. While under the effects of this debuff, if another hostile target comes in close proximity, there is a moderately high chance that the debuff will spread. Note that this effect will trigger at most five times at first level and does not require physical contact to be passed on.

  Cost: 600 mana. Cast Time: 1 second. Cool down: N/A. Duration: 168 seconds (base 120). Plus 10 feet maximum range, plus 80 (up from 40) base damage per spell level, and plus 1% additional mana restored per spell level. Plus 1 maximum contagion triggered per three spell levels.

  Note – Only a single instance of this spell can be cast at any time. The cool down automatically resets to zero once the initial spell’s duration elapses. Additional instances of this spell yielded via the contagion effect are unaffected by this limitation.

  “Nice!” I exclaimed with a fist pump in the air. “Thirty percent leeching back to me is higher than I was expecting based on what its original description looked to have. We’re talking thousands of mana points over the course of the spell, far beyond the measly six hundred needed to cast it ordinarily. It’s too bad I only a single cast, not counting if it spreads on its own.”

  “Indeed. Average-tiered spells are certainly leaps and bounds above lesser-tier spells,” Stella congratulated me.

  Stella was about to say something more after we exchanged a quick high-five, but I cut her off with a raised finger, already knowing where she was about to go. “Wait, don’t tell me,” I pleaded. “Let me first invest my fourteen attribute points into Intelligence to pump the damage higher. Okay, okay, don’t give me that look. I’ll drop a few points into Constitution.”

  Stella shot me raised eyebrows at my interruption before lazily waving a paw for me to get on with it. Swiftly pulling up my character sheet with a thought, I allocated five points to my Constitution and elicited an appeased head bob from my petite friend before shifting the rest into Intelligence. Confirming my choice, my health jumped to over four thousand, and my mana rose to twenty-three thousand and some change. With both protecting my life and limbs, I felt reassured. Stella was right, of course, with her suggestion not to simply throw everything into my Intelligence. The extra health provided by my rising Constitution helped increase my survivability if my Aegis ever cracked. Increasing my odds of survival was always a good thing. With the modification, I was now only ten points away from reaching four hundred and fifty points in my primary stat. Hurriedly closing the window, I turned excitedly to Stella and prompted her to lay out the fine details of my newest incantation.

  Throughout all this, Stella never once dropped her exasperated look of surprise. Her stony face was unmoving until our eyes finally locked, and she gestured with her paws, which seemed to ask, ‘Really? Was that necessary?’ Letting out a defeated sigh, I apologized profusely before she finally relented.

  Shifting in her airborne seat, she flicked a toe in the air, likely bringing up one of her AI screens. “So, at level one, it will do two thousand one hundred and twenty damage per tick. This means it’s just a touch over six hundred and thirty-five mana points are returned to you every six seconds. That’s before any magical resistance the target may have protecting him, mind you. Over the life of the spell, you’ll receive more than eighteen thousand mana points. That’s over a hundred mana per second, and if the spell lasts its full duration, you’ll restore three-quarters of your current total mana. Honestly, this is a pretty big deal. Plus, that’s also not taking into account the contagion spreading to upwards of another five mobs. This beast is going to make a real difference.”

  “Hell yeah,” I replied evenly. With this latest spell backing me up, I just became that much harder to kill as every drop of mana regenerated would, in turn, empower my primary defense mechanism. A few other notifications blinked away agitatedly in the corner of my vision and attempted to grab my attention to list out the other gains earned from our stunning victory. Heeding its incessant call, I mentally clicked on the icon, which prompted a literal wall of text to explode in front of me. Flinching back from the unexpected magnitude of the message, within it, nearly every spell and skill available to me had rocketed at least three levels higher, with the notable exceptions of Stinging Swarm and Vivisection increasing nine whole levels on their own. It was no surprise, really, as I had used everything at my disposal in our mad rush to drop the bullet train of an Ogre named Gilgamesh. And, oh boy, was I going to ensure every last magnified spell and skill would soon be put to good use as we systematically rose Cicero’s spire, level by level.

  “Well, that’s a hell of a jump,” I commented before waving away the notification. “Some really nice gains there.”

  With our attention fixed in front of us, we pressed forward with the last of my waiting messages. “Just two more to go,” Stella added helpfully as the next appeared. “Oh! You got a new spell for when you channeled Lightning Bolt into the boss’s brain there at the end. You know, when you went all murder hobo. Damn, I bet you still have bits of brain matter clinging somewhere on your robes. It was disgusting.”

  Her voice changed then to one a bit more serious. She made a motion as if she were taking a look at a non-existent watch. “I know the last one is your reputation gains, which we haven’t seen in a while. But we should hurry. It’s about time to get moving.”

  I was beginning to feel the same urgency and restlessness to move on. While, in truth, we had been outside for a few minutes, Cicero most likely knew we were there. We didn’t want to give him even more time to strengthen whatever defenses he had in store for us. Nodding at Stella’s words, I pulled up our second-to-last notification, which was pleasantly surprising.

  Congratulations! New Spell Unlocked: Lightning Cascade

  A concentrated beam of directed electricity discharges in a straight line away from the caster’s outstretched hands and travels a maximum of 25 feet. Any target caught within the continuous two-foot wide column of energy is dealt 500 plus 7n damage every six seconds, where ‘n’ equals Intelligence. Additionally, struck targets have a high chance of being momentarily paralyzed, the length of which is dependent on the target’s Constitution. This effect can stack up to a maximum of ten times with any single casting. Note that any targets incapable of being stunned and/or paralyzed are unaffected by this ancillary effect.

  Cost: 750 initial mana (fixed cost) and an additional 300 mana per second thereafter (modified by the Channeled skill). Cast Time: 2.0 seconds. Cool down: N/A. Plus 1 foot maximum range, 100 base damage, and 1% additional chance to paralyze per spell level.

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  Note – The caster can separate this spell into two beams channeled through each of the caster’s hands to strike different targets. Damage sustained is reduced by half.

  “Unlimited power,” I breathed out as a small smile played across my lips. Images of blasting someone standing over me in presumed victory raced through my head. My inner musing came to an abrupt halt when I noticed Stella giving me a truly incredulous look. Her head was tilted back in surprise as if she was suddenly staring at an evil comic book villain.

  “Ah, umm. Never mind,” I sputtered awkwardly after clearing my throat in embarrassment. I didn’t think trying to explain to her about an evil emperor throwing someone off a building would make sense to her now or really at any point. So, instead, I waved the spell’s description away.

  “Alright,” I continued without pause, purposefully striding us to my last notifications. I pointedly ignored the shocked poodle inspecting me from the corner of my vision. Even from this angle, the look on her face was as if I had become a particularly confounding bug. “Reputation rewards, here we come.”

  Congratulations! Reputation Achievement: You have reached the 10,000,000 viewer achievement tier.

  System reward is based on the contributing factors that increased your viewership. (Epic tier reward.)

  Congratulations! You have received a new spell, [Lich].

  [Lich]. Transforms the caster into the visage of an undead Lich which gradually transforms healthy vitality into arcane mana over time. 4% of the caster’s maximum health is drained every six seconds, restoring 2% of the caster’s maximum mana. Additionally, all disease-based damage over time spells receive a 10% (up from 5%) damage boost, which siphons health from afflicted targets and replenishes the caster’s health pool by the same amount.

  Cost: 500 mana. Cast Time: Instant. Cool down: N/A. Duration: Indefinite/until canceled. Plus 0.1% health drain and mana restored per spell level.

  Note – The health drain from the caster cannot be mitigated nor affected by other spells, skills, or abilities (such as damage mitigation).

  Note - The Lich appearance can be terminated at any time, allowing the caster to appear in their usual form while still receiving the practical benefits of this spell.

  I stood in stunned silence as I reread the spell’s description another time. “And I thought the mana drain from my new plague was going to take care of my mana issue. This, though, takes it to a whole new level,” I shared appreciatively.

  With another influx of arcane knowledge layered into my mind, I was keenly aware the lich form could be turned on and off with a mere thought. It would be as easy as flicking on a light switch. “I need to be careful to not leave this up all the time as a four percent health drain can add up quickly and, for the most part, shouldn’t be used outside of combat. This is going to boost my mana regeneration considerably. Better, with the extra effect of all of my disease DoTs providing me extra healing, I bet we won’t even notice the health loss.”

  “I wonder how this lich form actually looks…” I started to say but paused after catching Stella giving me a curious stare.

  Stella’s expression hardened as she shook her head from side to side, dimming the enthusiasm beating in my chest. “You’re not going to find out, not right now. I refuse to see you turn into a skeleton, at least while I’m around. No offense, Ripley, but I will not stand, err, float idly by as you cackle around as some bare-bones… dreadful thing. You will need to wait to use that portion of the spell later. When you’re alone. Preferably.”

  A bright smile flashed across my face at Stella’s stubborn insistence I wait to use the transformational aspect. Waving away her concern, I assured her I wouldn’t go turning into a skeleton any time soon. “Unless it becomes absolutely necessary,” I whispered out the side of my face. Stella squinted up at me, obviously not quite catching what I said.

  With a thought, I ‘set’ the spell so that whenever it was used I would retain my normal figure. “Can do. No worries,” I quickly assured Stella in a loud voice and a friendly nod of assurance before moving close to Ripley’s side. “Maybe later tonight, when she’s not around,” I whispered with a tilt of my head towards the floating poodle. “We can walk around like twins.”

  Stella’s eyes somehow narrowed even further. She looked as if she was contemplating how best to murder me the next time I fell asleep. “Don’t you dare, not anywhere near me. Or else,” she threatened and I couldn’t tell for certain if she was serious or making a joke.

  “Alright, one more to go,” I declared as I mentally probed the final System notification to appear.

  Congratulations! Reputation Achievement: You have reached the 2,500,000 follower achievement tier.

  System reward is based on the contributing factors that increased your follower count.

  Congratulations! You have received: Voting has been enabled for all of your current followers to present you with a new skill, spell, ability, or item. Good luck!

  There was a wide array of options for my followers to choose from this time around. In the past, it was either two, at most three, options, though I wasn’t too pleased to see an item might be awarded. I couldn’t image it stacking up to the likes of a new spell or ability, but maybe I would be pleasantly surprised. Like last time, several horizontal bars popped up in my vision demarking the four choices. Each bar varied in color and began filling from left to right in sporadic spurts as votes were placed by the viewers, most closely following my progression.

  The orange bar marked a new skill, the green signified a spell, the purple represented a new ability, and, last, the red one would grant an item. The counter for spell and ability shot higher than the others, initially, but then slowed as the votes were more spread out this time around. For some inexplicable reason I couldn’t fathom, the bar for an item jumped higher by a large margin, seemingly all at once. It remained stationary for long enough for the other three to catch up and then surpass it. I let go of a sigh I didn’t know I was holding as my least desired option fell behind the rest. Immediately, the item counter spiked which sent my heart racing. I knew for sure it was because some of my followers wanted to twist the knife, so to speak, and give me the one I liked the least. Thankfully, it didn’t last and the red bar fell far behind its peers.

  Towards the end, as the progression slowed, I couldn’t help but grit my teeth as the green and purple bar went neck and neck before the entire window vanished. I whirled on Stella for the results as it was too close to call which had won. Before either of us could speak, a new message flashed before me.

  Congratulations! You have received a new Ability, Soul Synergy. This ability was selected randomly based on the conditions that precipitated your significant increase in followers.

  Soul Synergy – 10% of all damage taken, regardless of type, is instead taken by your minion. If your health drops below 20%, this beneficial effect is increased to 15%. Additionally, any damage dealt by you or your minion has a moderate chance to grant the other a 10% increase in damage for 60 seconds. This damage increase does not stack. Instead, any additional triggers will reset the 60 second duration.

  “That’s not too bad at all,” I trilled before a sensation stole my attention from the hovering screen. Something was settling inside my chest, something odd yet familiar at the same time. It could be best described as if a protective blanket or a cocoon was wrapping itself around my inner core which harbored my mana pool. It wasn’t painful in the slightest. Closing my eyes, I turned inward to see if I could detect any changes to that swirling sphere of blackness and twisting hurricanes. Frosted bursts of lightning continuously sparked across its glossy surface, but nothing with my mind’s eye detected anything out of the ordinary. Then, a flash of white for the briefest moments coalesced along the equator and reminded me of a wormhole. It disappeared as swiftly as it appeared.

  Intuitively, I understood the bridge just created was the link formed by my new Soul Synergy. From this point onward, whenever something struck me, even if it were my protective Aegis, a portion of the damage would automatically be transferred to Ripley’s body. Like never before, I was accurately aware of her exact position in relation to my own. I sensed precisely where she stood and knew this feeling would stay firmly rooted in my mind as long as she was alive, no matter the distance between us. Pulling on that tether, my eyes locked onto her own. Those flaming orbs gleamed vibrantly deep in hollow eye sockets. Coming closer to my bond, I pressed a closed fist over her breastplate.

  “We’re stronger together, Ripley,” I affirmed my skeletal friend, holding my hand over where her heart would have been had she had one. She returned the gesture with a gauntleted fist.

  “Let’s go kick some ass,” I crowed. Looking at the rest of my friends, only determination and unwavering resolve shone back at me.

  “Cicero has no idea of the disaster that’s about to unfold. We’ll tear this whole goddamn spire down around him,” Stella affirmed with the same degree of confidence churning within me. Without another word to each other, we hefted our weapons before striding in unison toward the entrance of the no-longer imposing emerald Cabochon Spire.