NOVPUB[Why don't you use that Avatar skill and see if you can activate the stones? At least then we will know if there is more magic on them.] Remi suggested.
[Did you forget what the Avatar looks like? A Totem Ranked World Dragon will not fit in the basement of the temple.] Karl reminded her.
[Oh, good point. Without the skill, then.]
"Do you mind if I cast a spell to examine the stones? I would like to make a full record of the magic on them, if possible." Karl requested.
Half a continent was searching for these in his time. It was really only the Orcs and the Dragons who weren't trying to find them to either use or destroy them.
But, come to think of it, it was quite possible that the Dragons had them in their possession the whole time, and simply refused to tell anyone.
Mira shrugged and gestured at the floor. "If you think that you can actually examine those, you're welcome to it. The magic on them is under a divine seal. Many over the years have come here and tried to inspect them, but none have managed to learn anything about their usage.
I won't allow you to pull them up, but anything you can do with them in place and undamaged is fine."
Karl looked over his notes, and rearranged the activation prayer a little so that it flowed better. It wasn't written in Common, but some ancient language that used the Runecrafting Runes.
However, Ancient Dwarven also used most of the same runes, so Karl decided to go for the prayer in the Dwarven Runic language, instead of the original language.
{Mighty World Dragon, Creator of Worlds, Overseer of Might, Patron of Righteousness, grant us insight into the wisdom of the ages.} Karl began, following the inscription.
An amused voice echoed in his mind. {A wise Dragon once said, "You should use all your skill points before begging for more power."}
Karl burst out laughing, and stopped the prayer as the stones pulsed with golden power.
"Something happened." Mira gasped.
"Well, explain." Tessa agreed.
"I started what I thought was the invocation prayer, and got chastised for not using all my skill points before praying for more power." Karl explained as he tried to control his amusement.
Mira smirked, while Tessa and the Orcish Chieftain facepalmed.
"Well, do that, and start over. I think that it was working. Whatever invocation you used was enough to activate some of the power of the stones." Mira insisted.
She had lived here for years, and knew all about the temple. So, she was just as invested in seeing a new feature as the others were.
"Give me a few minutes and I will use my skill points, then try again. I think I understand how they work now." Karl agreed.
Karl opened the Skill Tree and stared in awe at the options presented.
{Destructive Beast Master} 0 Points Invested. Increases Bonded Beast Skill Power by 1 Percent per point invested.
{Invulnerable Beast Master} 0 Points Invested. Increases Bonded Beast Damage Reduction by 1 Percent per point invested, up to 20 Percent.
{Blessing of Skill} Creates one Random Skill. Cost varies based on Rarity. 1 Point for Common Skills, 5 for Rare, 25 for Epic Skills, 50 for Artifact Grade Skills, 500 for Legendary Skills.
{Blessing of Family} 50 points. Creates one additional Beast Space.
{Planeswalker} World Dragon Patron Exclusive Skill. 100 Points. Allows portals to open between adjacent Realms the user is familiar with.
Compared to many classes, it was a very short list. But what it could do was incredible. Choosing random skills with very limited Skill Points was a dangerous pastime, but depending on what it gave, it could be incredibly valuable.
He didn't have five hundred skill points, but another Legendary Skill like [Thousand Year Flood] would be insane. The spell scaled to an incredible level. While Remi could create seven million litres a minute at Overlord Rank, Karl would be able to create eight million cubic metres a minute, more than a thousand times what she could. At Mythic Rank, it would be nine Billion cubic metres of water a minute, and after that, things would just get insane.
But what if it was a Legendary Defensive or Attack skill? What sort of insane scaling would a skill like that have? Even [Apocalypse] was only considered Epic.
Though, Karl did have enough points to get a single Artifact Grade Skill...
Twenty Percent more damage reduction would be the logical place to start, as it would spread to the whole group and make them even more invulnerable. Two Epic Skills was also tempting. Or Damage Reduction to the cap and one Epic Skill.
The others could wait, this decision needed a minute.
Now that he thought about it, fifty percent more damage, using all the points that he had saved up, wasn't bad either. Well, fifty percent more for the beasts, which would likely transfer a portion back to himself.
A fifty percent buff to Rae's damage would be insane, and even Thor's mostly defensive skill set would be a good match for the bonus.
There just wasn't a bad option, even if he didn't currently have a use for Planeswalker, as he didn't know any "Adjacent Realms" to his world. Unless Tiny World and similar spells counted? He would have to find out once he got the skill, but that wouldn't be today.
[You know, you could just get 50 common grade skills, and then we could do everything.] Cara suggested.
That alone was an insane idea. But somehow it was suitable to the Chaos Badger.
Just learn to do absolutely everything, teach it to the beasts, teach everything that others could use, and you would have the best rounded group in the world.
But Common Skills weren't all that great, and might not be a game changer, even if they did learn nine new ways to attack with fire. Ten Rare Skills might be a better way to spend fifty points.
Greater Golem was a Rare skill, as were Offensive Adaptation and Disintegrate. All of them were staple skills of an adventurer, so there was little chance that they would go wrong by getting ten more of them.
In short, he was stuck. There were too many suitable options, and people were waiting.
