The last ten levels of the Pyramid were the smallest and thus fastest to accomplish, even if the Runework in them was more complex than in the larger Blocks below them. After all, the top was where all the Focus and Command effects were located.
I had left Thunderbird to His inspection of the coasts and warnings to the Ruler and Emperor Beasts there. I imagined the Great Beasts weren’t too happy with yet more Human idiocy, yet they knew who would be paying the greatest price for this, and so it was just one more repetition of the endless cycle of life in their eyes.
Just because the coasts were going to be literally swamped by the seas soon enough was no reason to stop the other stuff I was doing, and Thunderbird was in His Eye and waiting when I Teleported back the next day.
I wasn’t in a great mood, and that affected the Sublime Chord. You might say it was a little stormy, as what should have been a moment of triumphant achievement instead became a footnote to background events at that scale, brooding and anticipatory.
Thunderbird noted it, but it fit the mood, and so He said nothing, even as clouds gathered and ever more Lightning was reaching up and down, the great Formation in the sky swirled with power, and the one in the Earth below mirrored it and expanded with greater and greater speed as the Pyramid neared completion.
It would have been a great time to attack and stop things from happening, but the Pyramid Power Field wouldn’t actually form until everything was done, so really it was just a particularly energetic month for the Eye, outside Emperors probably reading it as Thunderbird being in a brooding mindset, something that could last for months or even years.
I formed the Capstone with the altar atop it as Lightning of purple and silver danced and writhed over it and up into the sky. Consecration and Hallowing the Pyramid followed, the nonesuch presence of Holy power rippling from it and joining everything into a greater whole... and despite everything, the darkening clouds whitened up, and The Light broke through from a source that was not the Sun as everything finished up.
The Thunderbird looked up as The Light came down, and the Pyramid actualized.
Wholeness. Completion. Transcendent purity. The Pyramid Power Field grew, and grew, and grew, reaching out in a sphere of pure power for eighty miles around, covering the whole of Thunderbird’s Domain and establishing a massive grip and lock on the Manafield in His territory.
All the Beasts in the area set up a hue and a cry, feeling the power of their Emperor pass over them, and the very air sparkled with the power of Lightning humming on fur and skin.
This was truly a Lightning Domain now, something just like a Land of Ice or Fire, and no doubt over the years it was going to breed ever-purer Creatures of Lightning, be they Plant or Animal.
The Thunderbird Pyramid did not rise to take its place. Indeed, it rapidly faded from view entirely, as all but the very tip of it was covered over with arching stone and interwoven tree trunks. Only that sole Altar, gleaming to the side of His Nest, was visible to others as the occasional bolt of Lightning fell from the sky, or ascended to heaven, from it.
As for me, I watched the barrier to Archmage crackle and shatter as the Pyramid combined with His Domain, and magic, pure intense magic that could now even push off a High Emperor’s influence, ran through the earth and sky... and through it was running the profound Light of Holiness.
Yes, this would be a very different Domain indeed, one of Heavenly Wrath and Thunder, of greatness in the hearts of Beasts! Something new and great, a true epic service to Heaven!
Typeless Stars gathered in an immensely expanded inner world of Mana, swirling into six more Nebula for me, the energies around them bending and displaying the full potential might and power of an Archmage’s Galaxy.
A new total of 2401 Stars to refine, treat, fill, Temper with Soul Crystals, refine, treat, and fill again. It was going to be a lot of work.
However, my influence over the local Mana and draw had also increased, not the least because Zeben was also a Greater Mana Renewal Item now.
Reynard popped up beside me from where he and the Mighty Turk had been waiting for this moment. I looked out at the field of Mana in all directions, able to directly feel it with a mage’s Awareness to a scope and level only possible with Cast spells before. Immensity, breadth of mind and scope...
When their Human Contractors advanced, the Beasts Sworn to them advanced, too. So, my advancing to Archmage meant both of them could potentially reach Noble status now. Their excitement and eagerness showed as the new power flowed off me and through them, Warlock and Summoning energies mixing into both Reynard and the Mighty Turk.
I took a deep breath, and looked at my Assay after I clicked a few mental levers. I watched the open Sixth Valence, wobbling unstably in all my reflected Matrices, break apart, its energy infused into the other Five, which brightened and expanded outward in harmony.
======================
The Lady Fae
Healer Fae, The Sage of Focus, Legendary Ringlord, Lord of Pyramids, Master of Pyramids, The Archmage Arcane, The Heavenbound, The Sage of the Spellhouses
Female Human/16 (Mage/10**) – Effectively 21st Caster Level
Powered: Wizard/6 (11); Sorcerer/11** (Arcane Sage/Void Phoenix); Ur-Priest/6 (11); Inquisitor/6 (10); Druid/6 (10); Binder/6 (10); Minstrel/6 (10); Bard/6 (10); Alchemist/6 (10); Artificer/6 (10); Soul Warrior/6 (10); Soulshaper/6 (10)
Theurge: Eldritch/5 (Sorc/Binder); Arcane/5 (Wiz/Sorc); Mystic/5 (Ur/Wizard); Divine/5 (Ur/Inquis); Elemental/5 (Druid/Wiz); Lorelord Magnae/5 (Minstrel/Bard); Lore/5 (Bard/Wizard); Wondermaker/5 (Artificer/Alchemist); Creation/5 (Alchemist/Wizard); Anima/5 (Soulshaper/Wizard); Soulmaster/5 (Soulshaper/Soul Warrior)
Advanced: Archbinder/5; Archshaman/5; Archcleric/5; Archwizard/5; Archsorcerer/5; Grenadier/5; Battlemad/5; Arcane Archer/5; Exemplar/5; Maestro/5; Warshaper/5
Basic (NPC): Vizard/6; Noble/6; Expert/6; Magewright/6
Standard: Melee/6; Archer/6; Scout/6; Monk/6
Strength (10): 8 - 28
Dexterity (16): - 28
Constitution (16): - 33
Intellect (16): 22 - 44 (48)
Wisdom (12): 16 - 33
Charisma (12): 16 - 32
---
Height: 5'9" Weight: 140 lbs. Hair: White (Sylune’s Grace) Eyes: Silver (Warlock Sign, Blue) Age: 19
Health: 370
Soak: 298
Movement: 145’ (Base 45, +6/3 Lightfoot, +10 Travel)
Talent: Naturally Focused, Mystical (+3 Meditation, Spellcraft, Faith)
Acquired Powers: Fire Template; Cold Template; Awakened Bloodline (Void Phoenix); Affinity for Fire and Cold Magic (175%/175%); Sylune’s Grace; Master Archtheurge Incarnation; Paired Greater Spirit Seed (Firefrost Seed) (Fire Luan/Frost Luan x 2.5); Awakened Talent (Mystical)
Class Levels: 229
Skill Points: 1001 (+62 Study)
Paid Masteries: 682/687 possible
Paid Feats: 228/229 possible
Traits: 6 (Complete)
Favored Class Points: 458 (0 unallocated)
Mark: +4 (5) Sacred bonus to Intellect (Complete)
Wrath: +13d6+11 (11d6 +2d6 Chasuble)
Aegis: 65 vs. Acid, Lightning, Eldritch, Radiance, Primal, Necroic, Divine (5 x Wrath Ranking)
Stars: 56 x Tier 7 (49 Mana each), +287 x Tier 6 (42 Mana each), +2058 x 0 Mana
Soul Essence: 47 (10 Levels+22 Wis/Con + 5 Mastery +10 Feats)
Burned Valences: Sixth Ring
Spell Pool: +48 Levels
=============
Another 2058 Stars to refine. As if I didn’t have enough to do already. It might be fewer than a normal Archmage would aspire to, but they didn’t have to treat theirs as many times as I did.
On the other hand, I had a massively better inflow of Mana than even an Archmage, but it was still a big time-suck. Happily, multiple thoughtstreams and very hefty Meditation modifier! I got one of them to work on this little problem right away.
The Mystical Talent was new. I was aware mages got ‘special powers’ when they hit Archmage, developing some sort of unique intrinsic ability that couldn’t be duplicated. I didn’t know if Typeless Mages did, but the Arcane Archmage Title seemed to indicate something was going to apply.
Mystical: You have Awakened another Talent. You gain a +3 to Meditation, Spellcraft, and Faith, and your harmony with all forms of Mana reaches its peak. You are not penalized for engaging in Waking Meditation. You may once again manifest Wrath externally as part of the Manafield.
Legendary Warlock was my bloody first Legendary Mastery for a reason. I closed my eyes and reached up the link to Heaven, feeling it thrumming strongly there, ready to come out if needed.
Most of it was being diverted to Reynard. I looked over at him, and noted he was already beginning to manifest a Sixth Tail, and likely would reach Seven before too long and break into the Ruler-Class. Mighty Turk was already in the Commander-Class, a remarkable achievement for a Marmoset, and had grown a foot taller since joining up with me.
But I was an Archmage now, and I could have a Ruler-Class Contracted to me. The Mighty Turk had a lot of growing to do, and he was getting almost all my Summoning power tossed at him to improve. His hair was already growing more silvery, and as it turned golden, his path towards becoming a Monkey Noble was on the way.
Waking Meditation was staying ‘awake’ and Meditating. It didn’t allow strenuous activity or any spellcasting, but light reading or walking was totally possible. It just took a -20 to the Meditation check to pull off. I had five of my eight thoughtstreams basically busy all the time. It meant I’d need to pull in three Mana every six seconds to keep them busy, which was totally possible with a Grand Mana Gathering Amulet. Without such a thing, I’d need to be in Deep Meditation, even as an Archmage, to keep them supplied... and even an Amulet wouldn’t be good enough if all my thoughtstreams focused on the task.
The Archmage Arcane seemed to be an Achievement Title for being the first of my Typeless kind. I’d have to ask the Mick if he got an Archmage Title out of being the first wizard to make Archmage here. I assumed it generated the Mystical Talent for me.
Lord and Master of Pyramids. I stared at the titles, then smiled slowly. I had also gained the Title in the Beast Realm, but it hadn’t had the power, possibly because I wasn’t a Ten, or I’d received help gathering stone or something.
More importantly, a Lord Title meant being the first to make a True Pyramid, while Master meant I’d satisfied multiple requirements in the aspects of construction and design of them... much faster than Aelryinth had, although he had gone much wider in his build. He’d earned the Master after making dozens of them and demonstrating his aptitude, but my Master Archtheurge Incarnation was satisfying that...
My Luan Seed was at 2.5 damage mono-Element now, x 5.25 combined. That was actually not that impressive. I usually gained the combined effect, which was decent for a Soul Seed. If I couldn’t use them both at once... well, there were many Spirit Seeds that did more mono-Element damage.
I hadn’t been exposed to strong enough Fire and Ice effects to Awaken my Seed further. I was pretty sure it could reach Heaven-grade on both sides, since it actually was two Seeds in one, but I had to feed it properly.
A trip to the Fire Phoenix should satisfy the one... and then I was going to have to go across the waters and meet the Ice Phoenix, hopefully on friendly terms, and that was after what those idiot Ice Sages had done, starting a kerfluffle with one of the strongest beings on the planet.
Finding Heaven-grade Earth and Air Seeds might be hard for others, but for someone who could Commune with Nature, not so much. I’d just have to pick a viable area and be ready to fight for one.
The best places for Air Seeds were tall mountain ranges. Both the Andes and the Himalayas would be ideal, but the latter was part of the K’un-Lun territory, supposedly the strongest Imperial Land Beasts in the world lived there, and even the High Emperors weren’t going to bug them. Even searching there was waaaaay too big a risk for someone like me.
The Andes it would be, and lo, I needed to go south anyway.
Stars to Temper, refine, and fill. The first round would take three minutes. The second and third rounds would only take thirty seconds each. However, the rounds after that would take a full minute each, as I needed to draw down my Soul Crystals to do them. I had enough Warrior Crystals for all the Stars, and enough Commanders to do a bunch, too, if not all of them.
,300 minutes to get through all the Warrior-grade stuff, or over two hundred hours of Meditation. So, even if I did no Meditating on my own, I could be done with complete upgrades and be sitting on the door to Sagedom in... two weeks!
No, no, my completely passive non-combat Talent was useless, I agree...