Back in the Broom Closet...
All by itself, the Title vaulted me x20 in power, half of an entire Casting Tier. When stacked with the Heaven Seed modifiers, I was Casting beyond Great Sagedom. My x128 Novice spells, already hitting like Adept spells, were now hitting like Mageries at x2480, base.
It was really good if I wanted to spend no Mana, but routine Mana expenditures largely weren’t a problem for me at this point. My passive Mana regeneration basically took care of Archmagicks ‘for free’ at this point. Only chaining out Sage spells was going to force my Mana reserves to dip.
I literally did not know where to go from here, except continuing to raise my Caster Level.
I looked at my Assay and just shook my head.
=================
Lady Fae
Healer Fae, The Sage of Focus, Legendary Ringlord, Lord of Pyramids, Master of Pyramids, The Archmagos Arcane, The Heavenbound, The Sage of Spellhouses; Worldsinger; Sage of Heaven’s Seeds
Female* Human/24 (Lesser Exemplar) (Mage/16**) – Effectively 36th Caster Level
Powered: Wizard/11 (17); Sorcerer/20** (Arcane Sage/Void Phoenix); Ur-Priest/11 (17); Inquisitor/11 (15); Druid/11 (15); Binder/11 (15); Minstrel/11 (15); Bard/11 (15); Alchemist/11 (15); Artificer/11 (15); Soul Warrior/11 (15); Soulshaper/11 (15)
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; Archmage/4; Hierophant/4
Basic (NPC): Vizard/11; Noble/11; Expert/11; Magewright/11
Standard: Melee/11; Archer/11; Scout/11; Monk/11
Strength (10): 8 - 36
Dexterity (16): - 38
Constitution (16): - 38
Intellect (16): 22 - 54 (58)
Wisdom (12): 16 - 40
Charisma (12): 16 - 40
---
Height: 5'9" Weight: 140 lbs. Hair: White Eyes: Silver (Warlock Sign, Blue) Age: 27
Health: 655
Soak: 646
Movement: 320’ (Base 60, +11/3 Lightfoot, +40 Other)
Talent: Naturally Focused, Mystical (+3 Meditation, Spellcraft, Faith, Waking Meditation)
Acquired Powers: Fire Template; Cold Template; Awakened Bloodline (Void Phoenix); Affinity for Fire and Cold Magic (225%/225%, x2); Sylune’s Grace; Master Archtheurge Incarnation; Paired Greater Spirit Seed (Firefrost Seed) (Fire Luan/Frost Luan); Awakened Talent (Mystical); Commanding Stars
Class Levels: 371
Skill Points: 2063 (+380 Study)
Paid Masteries: 1113/1113 possible
Paid Feats: 371/371 possible
Traits: 6 (Complete)
Favored Class Points: 742 (0 unallocated)
Mark: +4 (5) Sacred bonus to Intellect (Complete)
Wrath: +20d6+11 (18d6 +2d6 Chasuble), x2/rd
Aegis: 100 vs. Acid, Lightning, Eldritch, Radiance, Primal, Necroic, Divine (5 x Wrath Ranking)
Stars: 49 x Tier 8 (56 Mana each), +294 x Tier 7 (49 Mana each), +16,464 x Tier 6 (42 Mana each)
Total Mana Reserve: 708,368
Soul Essence (False Stars): 71 (22 Levels + 29 Wis/Con + 5 Mastery +10 Feats+5 FC)
Burned Valences: Sixth through Ninth Ring (Auto-Raise 4 levels) + The Ring of Legend
Epic Valences: X (6th) through XVIII (14th)
Spell Pool: +767 Levels
Ki: 82 (+5 Monk +22 Int +6 Ki Mastery +20 Crystal/Moon/Shadow/Sun Dragon +25 Way of Shadow/Sun/Moon/Iron/Stone Mastery**, +4 Cap)
=============
It was a horrible world when you could look at a Stat array like that, know exactly how powerful you were compared to a normal person, all the virtually godlike stuff you could do, and only think you were weak because you couldn’t stop what was coming.
It was actually quite depressing. I had to wonder where Aelryinth was now, if he had the same unending Karma grind I’d been subjected to for all these years, and what he’d done with it.
Of course, he had a ton more Classes and Advanced Classes than I did, so a lot more places to put his Karma. I wondered what seven Theurgic Magicks would actually do if they came into this realm, and he came for me as he had promised he would.
Which beggared the question on just what kind of temporal drift there was between this universe and the one he was in, if he hadn’t arrived here yet.
I couldn’t plan on him coming, or having the solution to the problem, even if he actually could bring the Gods of Heaven directly here. I was pretty sure that the ‘natural’ way of us drawing them here as natives would be better than an ‘interloper’ like him coming from the outside and forcing them down upon us... which was still better than what Sin and Axiom had planned, but would be on a shakier foundation.
---
I Teleported to the top of the Pyramid, something Eternal-class Pact Magic allowed me to do with basically a thought now. I only put up Portals to make it easier for others to come with me. Now, I could flit around the world with the ease of an Archon, going wherever I wanted on the planet with just a thought.
No other Sage on the whole planet had anything approaching this level of mobility, nor were they allowed to. I was probably the most powerful Sage on the whole planet, even if I had less true Mana than any of them. My superior Mana Regen and unprecedented Commanding Stars, with a full Sage-set of Tier-Six Stars, something no Sage had ever done (heck, none had ever done Tier-5’s before), easily evened the Mana situation with them, however.
My Archmagicks would be stronger than their Sage Magicks, after all.
And it wasn’t enough to defeat a Realm Lord. Oh, I could easily match or beat their Caster Level. The raw power of my spells could probably rival them.
They had to have at least ten thousand times the amount of Mana I did, if High Emperors were any indication.
I sat down next to the Sanctified Altar there, gleaming with true Holy energies, a gathering point of Faith and belief in Heaven, being broadcast into Heaven even as the Pyramid drew in all sorts of mana from the Void beyond to aid in its empowerment. Vivic fires Burning over a hundred goldweight a day were in effect, one goldweight per tier of the Pyramid as the steps marched down below ground, and new Blocks were being slowly made by Earth and Typeless Archmages eager to contribute here, Sama and Briggs spending casual downtime contributing to the process.
I could see the whole thing going on, of course. A Markspace Visual File existed in a devoted Markroom there, detailing the entire Pyramid from Altar on the top to the forty thousand Blocks two hundred levels below.
Each Block that had been made and fit into the higher structure, each Block that needed to be made in the lower structure, and each Block currently being made was detailed and obvious. All of them were open to everyone’s perusal there, coordinating each one, knowing where it was meant to go so there was no overlap in effort. Blocks were completed, elevated into place, linked up in the long lines to form the rectangle and eventual square of the level being made, then rose and sealed themselves to the bottom of the Pyramid proper.
When they sealed to the greater Pyramid, the Broom Closet expanded one more time, and the unending flow of stone incoming from the Asteroid Portal was diverted once again to making the tiles lining the lower and middle edges of the Sphere that was this demiplane, reinforcing the magic once again, while the railroad tracks that ran around the perimeter and into the inner areas now settled by tens of thousands of people were extended once again with patient thoroughness and speed.
The work for the Sea Dragons? That was a minor use of time, and generally taken care of by Mages. I could spin up hundreds of Column designs for them in seconds, which they would refer to in the Markspace and allocate among themselves. Some of them could add their own designs in by now, which was totally fine and completely appropriate.
Sea Dragon Art Columns were money-makers, but this was the stuff only the best of the best could make, and which might be needed to save Humanity and the other Beasts. It was where the truly elite Earth-shapers worked, a task that was still years away from completion.
It was my sole remaining major time suck at this point.
I breathed deeply and just looked around the Allegiance, stopping to just regard what I’d done, and if there was anything else I could do now.
I was still teaching lessons to Marked and Allegiance members. With levels, intellect, and Skill Ranks in Teaching, I could actually teach thousands of people deeply individual lessons all at the same time, in any topic I had Skill Ranks in, which at this point was any branch of science or magical field that Sama and Briggs felt I should know about for training up people faster. After all, being administered a Blessing Mark for +4 Intellect instantly granted someone the appropriate number of Ranks in any Skill I possessed, and Briggs and Sama were the only people in the whole Allegiance who might have more in the science-side stuff, since I didn’t focus on those areas.
My Control Element Skills were basically unrivaled among Humans on the planet. Some of the True Emperors had more Ranks than I did, but even they couldn’t match my modifiers and control of scale. They could throw forty times more Mana than I could at a problem, of course, but that didn’t help on the smallest scale.
My Will Save was an unbelievable +66. Even the Emperor of K’un-Lun didn’t want to test my Will, and Flowing Silver High Emperor only did so if He was prepared to cheat. The fact I could spike it to +130 with a Moment of Perfect Mind Sun Save ensured that He could never keep me locked down for more than a few seconds, and I could break through any of His defenses inexorably.
Grappling with my Will was an incredible test for any mage, and also a flag waving in front of them as to what they might be able to achieve if they applied themselves. It could be done literally anywhere and anytime, meaning I had a thoughtstream devoted to doing just that almost constantly.
Coralost’s Archmages had grimmer Will sets than most Sages. It was not by accident. Strength of Mind and Breadth of Mind, the two qualifiers for Sagedom, were things our people had in spades. Tiered Stars nailed home the power without requiring Soul Seeds or greater multipliers to do so, because none of our people were allowed to break through to Sage without the chosen Element being at Tier-5.
The real fanatics, like the KIA boys, had them at Tier-6, and were only waiting for Tier-5 to finish up on all their other Elements before attempting the breakthrough.
Which reminded me that Cameron Dow was going to make his breakthrough to Sage in a few days. Not attempt it; he was going to make it, there wasn’t even a question of him failing. His Chaos Element was already chosen, in honor of Princess Karognondi, and the Pike of the Great Lakes would be with him as he broke through.
The Dow Family had no idea that he was a half-Sage now, even his parents and siblings. His wife did, but since she had finally stepped into Archmage of Air after stalling out at Mage for years, that wasn’t an issue, either.