A toxin-based, Tumult-level Challenge has officially been overcome by the allies and inhabitants of Atlantis. Both the source of the Tumult, as well as the Dark Icon sponsoring it, have been removed from the world. Power will be gained by all parties, including the planet itself, restoring many resources lost to the ice, and unfreezing secrets long hidden by the cold. Plant and animal life have become further resistant to the cold. Dormant species of every organism will slowly awaken and reintroduce themselves to the environment, and new technologies and magic will become available as the current inhabitants explore previously frozen territory. Furthermore, dormant aspects of all living beings will also awaken, making them more aware and responsive, as well as granting +5 to Dexterity, Wisdom, and Intelligence, 5 free skill points, as well as an increased ability to learn skills previously deemed too difficult.
Creatures that directly participated in overcoming the Tumult will additionally receive +10 to Dexterity, Wisdom, and Intelligence, 10 free skill points, as well as an even greater resistance to cold.
As the Challenger of Avalon and the primary combatant responsible for defeating the Tumult, all benefits are doubled. ERROR: multiple Earthborn Challengers detected in the vicinity. Applying the award of power to both Challengers.
A nascent Planetary Lord has participated in the ending of a Tumult. Right to Rule has been gained. The Lord will receive the same benefits as the inhabitants who participated in defeating the Trial, +10 to Dexterity, Wisdom, and Intelligence, as well as increased ability to learn new skills. The Lord further gains 10 additional skill points to apply to any skills of his choice for lending assistance on an allied planet.
ERROR: detecting allegiance from at least one Icon of the Woadlands. Right to Rule has further been increased. Further detecting that the nascent Lord has played a direct role in ending the Tumult, including the use of his personal retinue. The Lord will further gain an increase in leadership, combat, and craftsmanship skills related to the highest increase granted to any member of the Lord’s warband. As a Challenger has been detected among the Lord’s warband, said increase is +30 skill points to each category.
ERROR: the Challenger’s recent gains have exceeded hidden parameters. Hostile protocols activating to terminate the Challenger and restrict his growth. Starsown and Avalonian countermeasures are activating to counter hostile protocols. RESOLUTION: termination unsuccessful. Restrictions partially successful. The Challenger is still unable to advance any skill 5 ranks beyond his Risen level. The Challenger’s ability to Rise has also been restricted, limiting his current gain to a total of 5 levels.
COUNTER-RESOLUTION: Detecting that the Lord of Avalon’s new regalia is funneling excess power into itself, unlocking hidden functions. Regalia now appears to be channeling a small amount of power into lifeforms and the environment surrounding the Challenger. The Challenger’s retinue will now retroactively receive a larger degree of benefits upon overcoming Trials and Tumults, closer to what the Challenger receives himself.
I wondered how the team would take their new increase in power, just before I realized I could have warned them all through the mindlink about it. Then I realized that some members of my retinue weren’t even on the same planet, and that nothing in the message specified that they had to be in order to receive my benefit—quite the opposite, in fact, since the message declared that my subjects on Avalon and the Woadlands would be receiving part of the benefits as well.
So one woman and one skeleton were suddenly going to get an explosive increase in power, while the people on all three worlds, children and elderly included, had just received 5 points’ worth in every aspect of their body and mind. That seemed like a small amount, until I realized that the average rating in most traits was 10.
So I had just skewed the global average on three worlds by about a 50% increase, and that wasn’t even getting into the skill points they all received.
I reminded myself that Challenges, Tumults, and Trials were a known thing, though, so they would probably all just take it as a sign that their Planetary Lord had done something awesome again, and go right back to working on that new college degree they had all suddenly half-qualified for.
And if not, well, then I was about to get yelled at by Breena again.
Speaking of which...
“Wes!” Breena’s shrill voice called out. “What did you do?”
I sighed, closed my eyes, and waited, not willing to leave the nice warm bath yet. I did have my own, but it wasn’t nearly as comfortable, and I was starting to suspect that Via was planning to steal it from me. Then I realized that Stell would find out about the bath as well, and either have another one of her weird panic attacks or point out that I had ‘given’ the bath to Via instead of directly to her.
That last one may have not been fair, though, because Stell never really asked me for anything. She asked me to do things, granted, but those things were always about keeping someone else from dying horribly or suffering in eternal slavery. She hadn’t really asked me for anything herself, except to ignore the advances of her other bodies, which was the cause for our current tension.
But how is she actually doing? I asked myself. As far as I could tell, she had been constantly teleporting, trying to evade capture from Cavus and other powerful enemies, delivering supplies to several different worlds in distress, and coordinating with all of the different Icons and rulers of each realm. It hadn’t been very long since I’d retaken Avalon, but it had been at least a month by Avalon’s new time, and I had only seen her three times.
Where was she sleeping? Was she even sleeping? Or eating? She had actually cooked that one time, but I couldn’t remember seeing her eat. And the few times she had visited me, she had never stayed for very long.
For all I knew, she wasn’t resting at all.
Which meant that maybe I ought to be just a little more understanding of her issues with me.
Right on that thought, a tiny, angry pink ball of light blazed into the room, apparently flying through the keyhole on the door or something.
“There you are!” the pink-haired fairy shouted at me. She was currently no bigger than the size of my thumb, which surprised me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen her that small, and it was a disturbing contrast to the lithe, attractive woman I had woken up next to. One more thing to work out between me and Stell, I thought as Breena continued to scold me.
“I thought we had an understanding! I thought I was supposed to have time to check on you before you did something really, really big!”
“Good morning, Breena,” I said in a neutral tone, not so sure how to handle her flying into the room while I was bathing. “I see you are smaller and winged again. Can you explain what I just did, and why it was bad?”
I felt the tiny pink light glare at me for a moment, and then she bobbed upward as I heard her inhale.
“It was bad because I’m supposed to be checking on you whenever you grow. It’s not just my job, it’s because your Rises always turn out differently than what is normal, even for Challengers. I don’t need to intensely monitor every single Rise, but I knit-and-darn sure need to monitor the tricky ones. This one counts as a tricky one. Because I suddenly have magical power for days, I’ve mastered both aerial and wand combat, and I almost learned French by accident! French, Wes! Even if I wasn’t a fairy that could magically understand everyone when they talk, can you imagine what kind of person would bother learning a language for a country they can never visit, one that automatically gets translated anywhere outside their world?”