Alburet blinked, slightly stunned at the idea of the NPCs being able to use Mindstones. He still pulled his out, touching it to the Sergeant’s. He accepted the pop-up asking if he wanted to add Sergeant John Jasper to his contacts. “Something else learned. Can you also use the Homestones?”
“Of course. Did you think them limited only to the two-souled?”
“I wasn’t sure,” Alburet replied. “Well, I should be going. I look forward to hearing from you in the future, sir. If I’m in the area I’ll stop by and say hello.”
Jasper relieved the on duty Sergeant, taking the seat at the desk. “Please do. In the meantime keep your head down and your nose clean.”
Alburet waved goodbye and activated his Homestone, which instantly teleported him to the graveyard outside the Dead Man Inn. “Nice, no bright lights or disorientation when using the Homestone,” Alburet said to himself as he walked towards the inn.
Inside the door he found the same maid on duty behind the bar. He approached with a smile in place, “Morning to you. Any idea if Stewart is about?”
“Mornin’ sir, iffin ya want to have a seat I will let him know ya here,” she replied. She pulled out a Mindstone and concentrated on it for a moment before returning it to a pocket.
Alburet nodded, dropping a silver onto the bar top, “Can I get a pot of tea and two cups as well, please?”
“Right ya are sir,” she scooped up the coin before turning to the kitchen door and yelling his order into the room. She turned back with a handful of copper as his change, “He will be with ya in a moment, sir.”
“Keep the change,” Alburet said with a pleasant smile. “I wasn’t able to leave a tip I was happy with a few days ago. This gesture will make me feel better on that count.”
The small smile she’d had in place since he walked in bloomed into a vibrant smile. “Much obliged sir, will ya be staying with us this eve?”
“Probably, but I won’t know until later,” Alburet replied as he turned towards the hallway which Stewart was coming from. Stewart nodded to him and motioned to a table that he walked towards.
“Looks like business,” Alburet said, getting to his feet. “Just bring the tea over when it’s ready, please.”
“Right, sir,” she replied, her full smile still in place as her eyes trailed after him.
Alburet took a seat across from Stewart, “Morning, Stewart. How have you been?”
Stewart yawned, “I’ve been worse. What can I do for you, Alburet?”
Alburet waited to reply as the maid arrived with a steaming teapot and two cups on a tray, setting it between them on the table. As she turned to walk away, her hip gently brushed Alburet. He glanced back to watch her walk away even as he felt his pulse quicken slightly, before shaking his head and turning back to Stewart. “Oh, yes. I wanted to see what I can learn from you now. Have some tea. I made sure there would be enough for both of us.”
Stewart nodded, pouring himself a cup before Alburet served himself. “If that little interaction with Stacia was enough to cause you to lose concentration, you are going to have some issues soon. That is another matter entirely, though. Yes, I can train you in a further ability.” Stewart sipped the apple spice tea when he finished speaking.
Taking a sip of his own tea, Alburet decided to rise to the bait. “Why would I have troubles later?”
“Your third minion is a succubus,” Stewart replied levelly.
“Yeah, I kind of knew that, but why will that give me issues?”
“They are demons of lust and mind magic. Even the most loyal of them push at their masters for ‘attention’.” Stewart said the last word with a stress to it.
Alburet drained the last of his first cup and poured another as he considered the implications. “So she’ll try to seduce me is what you’re saying?”
Stewart poured himself the last of the pot before replying, “Possibly, but most of them are much more direct than that. You will understand when you get to summon one.”
Alburet considered the information he was being given and shook his head. Life was going to get interesting real quick if that was the case. No reason to worry about it until it later, though. Still shaking his head, he pushed the thoughts aside while sipping his tea.
Once they’d finished the tea, the duo walked through the passage that led down to the training room. Stewart took his seat and nudged a book over to Alburet. “You can choose the ability you passed up last time or either of the two new ones available to you now. Just press your hand to the page you want.”
Alburet nodded, glancing at the options. The first was Infernal Fire, which increased fire damage by 10%. He skipped that for now to look at the two new ones. The first was Flame Weapon, which cost a flat 5% of his mana, much as the demons did, to keep active. It added 25% weapon damage as fire damage, so a sword that did base 100 damage would do 100 damage plus 25 fire damage counted as a single strike when being mitigated by armor. The other ability choice was a lot more complicated; Heavenly Summoner, which would completely change most of his spells and abilities.
Heavenly Summoner: All demon minions are replaced by angels. All spells changed to reflect your new affinity. If you choose this ability you will need to go to a different trainer to continue with your class choices. All spells of demonic nature will be changed to reflect your new angelic affinity. Fire Blast becomes Holy Bolt, Demon Skin becomes Angel’s Blessing, Demonic Retribution becomes Angelic Radiance. You will lose access to your current summoned minions and have to select new minions with the new trainer.
Alburet paused, taking in this twist he never saw coming. “I can get angels instead?”
Stewart grimaced in distaste, “Yes, you can join the other side. A lot of two-souled have taken that option, saying that their demons were not helping them. What they don’t take into account is how the angels demand you behave to keep them happy. Like to carouse or ask for payment to help others? If you do, then your angels will become very unhappy indeed.”
“Well, that pretty much makes my choice then. While Bob might be an annoying little shit at times, I like him. Guess that means I won’t be taking Heavenly Summoner anytime soon.” He touched the ability Flame Weapon and confirmed it, “There we go, choice made.”
“Unless you’ve raised your strength you won’t be able to get the raw damage at this level to really make use of that ability,” Stewart said with a shrug,
Alburet chuckled, “I’m going shopping next to pick up the best weapon I can afford, something like a heavy maul perhaps.”
Stewart looked puzzled, his brow furrowing, “Did you put points into strength?”
“Nope, just found a nifty set of gloves is all,” Alburet said, holding out a hand. “I can use any weapon regardless of strength now.”
Stewart, who had been leaning back in his chair, went over backwards before scrambling to his feet. “You have found the gloves and the boots? Where are you finding these pieces?”
“First set I got from Vladimir at the royal auction house for an old, old book. The gloves I got from a mystery box that was at the Stormguard fort as a bonus for rescuing some farmers who had been captured.”
“Wait, what do you mean you got them from a mystery box?” Stewart began but Alburet waved him off.
“What I said, the quartermaster had a box in his stores that he didn't know the contents of. Instead of taking the risk of opening the box himself he offered it up as an option for a reward. I took the box and found these beauties.”
“Interesting. You are indeed not following the same path of most other two-souled Summoners. So what are your plans exactly?”