Choose a skill to siphon: Dark Magic, Deception, Perception, Small Blades, or Stealth.
You have touched Damian Bardak, Siphon activated. Assessing stats and experience...
Choose a stat to siphon: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Magic, Charisma, or Luck.
Choose a skill to siphon: Appraise, Glasscraft, Haggle, Heat Resistance, or Modeling.
He’s a rogue… That was her last thought before she mentally clicked her choices and once more welcomed the now familiar sharp pain before slipping into sweet oblivion.
Chapter Sixteen – Analysis
Day Three
As anticipated, she woke up in the middle of the night. Well, sort of. She was guessing it was probably more like 4-5AM given the lightening of the sky she glimpsed out the window. This time, however, she didn’t wake anyone up. Maybe it was because her walking had almost normalized, maybe it was because she had gained the ability to stealth, even if only a little. Or it could simply be that they were expecting her to get up, and thus didn’t come out to find the robber. She wasn’t quite sure. All she knew was that no one was staring at her scarfing her food down for once, and it was rather nice.
The coolbox Raph had spoken of turned out to be something like a mix between a cooler and a fridge. She could tell there was ice magic, which apparently was just a subcategory of water magic, which was keeping it cold. She figured they’d based the amount on what she’d eaten in front of them before because it seemed just about right.
Smiling happily, she’d tucked the coolbox under the table and snuck back to her room for another nap. The sun would be up in a few hours, and there was still so much to do!
When the sound of people moving around finally woke her up again, she smiled, stretched, and just laid on her bed, enjoying the fact that she could do so without having to worry about pulling any wires or needles out. She could get up and go pee, eat, walk, whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. She didn’t have to call anyone to help her with every little thing. It was liberating, and she still could barely believe it was real.
With a smile, she pulled up her profile, wanting to see what she’d managed to Siphon during the night.
Name: Jade Winward
Age: 18
Strength: 9.27
Dexterity: 10.05
Constitution: 9.23
Intelligence: 16.58
Magic: 12.24
Charisma: 10.39
Luck: 14.21
Special Abilities: Siphon
Skills: Acrobatics, Appraisal, Archery, Athletics, Blood Magic, Bluff, Dark Magic, Deception, Diplomacy, Dodge, Eating, Haggle, Healing Magic, Heat Resistance, Information Gathering, Insight, Intimidate, Light Armor, Light Magic, Mathematics, Mental Fortitude, Metal Magic, Modeling, Navigation, Perception, Perseverance, Persuasion, Running, Sense Motive, Singing, Sleight of Hand, Small Blades, Speed Reading, Stealth, Unarmed Combat, Walking, Water Magic, Wind Magic
Acrobatics
Beginner 4
65%
Appraisal
Beginner 7
67%
Archery
Beginner 4
28%
Athletics
Intermediate 1
85%
Blood Magic
Beginner 3
60%
Bluff
Intermediate 1
23%
Dark Magic
Beginner 3
7%
Deception
Beginner 8
66%
Diplomacy
Beginner 10
74%
Dodge
Beginner 4
10%
Eating
Beginner 8
70%
Haggle
Beginner 10
6%
Healing Magic
Beginner 9
72%
Heat Resistance
Beginner 2
20%
Information Gathering
Intermediate 6
70%
Insight
Beginner 9
37%
Intimidate
Beginner 5
86%
Light Armor
Beginner 2
50%
Light Magic
Intermediate 4
51%
Mathematics
Beginner 5
62%
Mental Fortitude
Intermediate 1
5%
Metal Magic
Beginner 4
65%
Modeling
Beginner 4
63%
Navigation
Beginner 6
77%
Perception
Intermediate 2
70%
Perseverance
Intermediate 1
13%
Persuasion
Beginner 10
52%
Running
Beginner 3
40%
Sense Motive
Beginner 8
96%
Singing
Beginner 3
0%
Sleight of Hand
Beginner 9
30%
Small Blades
Beginner 2
60%
Speed Reading
Intermediate 6
48%
Stealth
Beginner 4
25%
Unarmed Combat
Beginner 3
34%
Walking
Intermediate 4
24%
Water Magic
Beginner 9
24%
Wind Magic
Beginner 5
22%
She stared blankly at the ceiling. This wasn’t right, was it? She hadn’t checked anything since yesterday morning, and granted, she’d siphoned more than yesterday too. But still. She had nine intermediates now, and she’d only siphoned athletics, perception, and perseverance, but only one person each for the last two. Athletics she’d procured from four people, but she didn’t think that would have been enough to bump her up past the beginner levels. She had figured it’d be more like the archery level.
I wonder if me climbing all over the room to light up the ceiling was the cause? She pondered. It was the only logical explanation in her mind. Blood magic had even gone up, and she hadn’t touched it yesterday. It and water really were connected. She wasn’t going to tell anyone that, though. At least not if she could help it. In her reading yesterday, she’d figured out that though it didn’t carry the stigma of being evil, a lot of the blood mages had, in fact, turned evil. She wasn’t about to create a little army of blood mages that someone could subvert for their own nefarious purposes.
Mental fortitude and perseverance… She’d gotten those to intermediate pretty much alone, and she figured it was probably because she was draining her hypothetical mana and stamina bars over and over again yesterday. Or was it just one bar? Maybe those were a hidden stat? It would have been nice to see the numbers, but she had to give up on it. That sick feeling when she overextended herself would have to be enough, as long as she didn’t accidentally kill herself in the process.
She grinned as she hopped up from the bed at last. She’d achieved half of her first goal, at least! 2/4 of her deadweight stats were finally up to basic normal human status! Giggling, she twirled in the sunlight coming through the window, surprised when she didn’t trip and fall on her butt.