The Tears of Kas̆dael

There wasn't a clear and obvious winner as Jasper read over the list, although there were a couple of clear losers.

If he had still been trapped on the other side of the portal, Last Light would have been the only choice he'd even consider. The cost to cast the spell was so cheap it was practically free, and he couldn't help but wonder if it would have given them a way to survive the strange black storm without the sun god's help. But now that they were back in Corsythia, the spell seemed a wasted pick; he'd never seen or heard of the mimmûl over here, and he fervently hoped he never would.

The other spell that he promptly wrote off was Corrupted Flame. He didn't want to use anything connected to the mimmûl, not even against his enemies. Killing them was one thing, but turning them into the twisted abominations he'd seen in the fallen city was too cruel for his tastes.

But the remaining three options all had their merits. At first glance, Final Vigil seemed the most interesting. He didn't recognize the name Us̆umūtu, but as they were identified as the temple's shrine maidens, he could only assume it was the proper name for the dino-centaurs they had fought in the temple. The maidens had been a serious foe, combining their massive bulk with a speed that should not be possible, and he could easily imagine the damage they could do in a fight.

The only thing that prevented him from placing it at the top of the list was that the spell said it would summon a specter of the Us̆umūtu. I probably have my father's heritage to thank for that, he thought grimly, wondering how a specter would stack up against the real deal. Would it still be able to use its bulk and speed to its advantage? Would its spiked tail still do damage? Or would its abilities diverge from the shrine maidens they'd fought? He was confident the spell wouldn't be useless, but the uncertainty of what he'd be receiving prevented it from being an immediate choice.

But that uncertainty also extended to the other two choices he was considering, albeit for different reasons. The disclaimers on Child of Fire and Flames of Rebirth claimed the new spells would be merged with one of his current spells, both of which he used on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it didn't give him a description of what the merged spell would exactly do.

On paper, Flames of Rebirth seemed like an upgrade to Circle of Forgiveness. It kept the same cost as his current spell, while adding the ability to treat poisons. If it had only included the ability to regrow limbs, it would have been an automatic pick, uncertainty be damned, but he supposed he was being a bit too greedy to wish for that. For a class that didn't specialize in healing, it was already a pretty good spell.

There were two reasons he was hesitant to pick Flames, however. For one, he wasn't certain that merely adding the ability to heal poisons was enough of an upgrade to justify missing out on a wholly unique spell like Final Vigil. Granted, a number of his friends now had poison spells - Nissilât, S̆ams̆ādur, and himself - so there was a chance they would need to heal a case of accidental poisoning at some point, but he had yet to encounter many enemies that used poison.

But the second reason was his primary stumbling block. What if the 'flames of rebirth' weren't purely metaphorical? Sure, Jasper was immune to fire, but his friends weren't, so a better healing spell would be pointless if he couldn't use it on them.

"Do you know anything about Flames of Rebirth?" he asked Kas̆dael. "It seems like an upgrade on my current healing spell, but only if I can cast it on my friends."

The goddess read the description and shook her head. "The flames should heal whatever damage they inflict, but they will likely inflict severe pain in the process for anyone without immunity."

"Well, we can scratch that off the list then," Jasper frowned as he took a second look at the last option, Child of Fire. The spell's description immediately leapt off the page to him, all thanks to one little phrase: 'friends and party members will not be harmed.' He had a decent spell list for the most part, but his biggest handicap was that almost all of his strongest offensive spells could do just as much damage to his friends as his enemies, if they got caught in the crossfire.

Soul Sear and Flame Charge were both the worst offenders and some of the best spells in his arsenal, so the opportunity to potentially transform Flame Charge into a spell he could use with impunity was deeply tempting. The only sticking point, though, was that there was nothing about the description for Child of Fire that suggested the flames were in any way unique. What made Flame Charge so valuable was that its flames ignored fire immunity, and the loss of that advantage would be sorely missed.

Torn between Final Vigil and Child of Fire, he asked Kas̆dael's opinion. "Is it worth the risk of losing what's special with Flame Charge, or should I just stick with Vigil?"

"The new spell should combine the best of both its predecessors, so I think you'd probably be safe picking Child of Fire, but the choice is yours."

Praying he wasn't making a bad decision, he picked Child of Fire. A new box popped up as he did, and he promptly skipped to its description.

"Thank heavens," he sighed in relief, as he reached the part about the 'special flames.' It wasn't clear if the fire would be identical to his old ones, or something new, but it sounded roughly equivalent. Satisfied with his choice, he moved on to the last notification.

Once again, the answer was not immediately obvious. Of the three choices, he was least inclined to pick a new spell. More options was never a bad thing, but the truth was he leaned on a handful of spells the majority of the time and used the rest infrequently at best. While it was possible the new spell would become a mainstay, it was just as equally to turn out to be something niche, like Purge or Scales of Justice.

Instead, the idea of upgrading two of his current spells was more appealing. 'More power,' as Tim the Tool-Man Taylor would say, was always a good thing. Well, nearly always. The main question, though, was which spells to prioritize. He could only use the upgrade points on the spells provided by her class, so half his spell-list was excluded immediately, and another half of what remained could be discarded just as quickly.

Scales of Justice and Speaker of Aldāru were mere utility spells, useful for interrogations but of no use in battle. Purge was simply too unreliable to waste an upgrade on; as powerful as the spell could be, he had no way of detecting whether his enemies had negative karma until he cast the spell, which often made it a waste of essence. But that still left four spells to choose from: Hand of Judgement, Scourge of Despair, Equalizer, and Circle of Forgiveness.

As the most powerful spell in his arsenal, Hand of Judgment had saved his ass more than once; it only seemed natural to upgrade it - and, maybe, with a little luck, it would downgrade the amount of time he was forced to wait between casts. Once a month is just too rare.

Of the remaining three spells, he was torn most between picking Scourge of Despair or Circle of Forgiveness. He'd already upgraded the Scourge once and he knew an argument could be made that it was better to focus on improving just one or two spells, rather than spreading out the upgrades more equally. It was the min-max way and yet…Circle of Forgiveness is probably the only reason I'm still alive. Perhaps it was less efficient to spread his points out, but he didn't think he could justify ignoring the healing spell.

With his choices nearly made, he still hesitated to lock it in as he looked at the final option. A promise of resurrection. He'd nearly allowed himself to forget his own brush with the afterlife, to bury the fragmented memories he had of wandering along the shores of the Sea of Oblivion, a mere mindless beast. He'd nearly banished the image of the undead queen decapitating him, of waking up and seeing the thick scar that ran around his neck - but Ihra's death had brought it all rushing back.

There was security in that choice, a security that was more important than power, he decided. What good would it do him to be stronger if he lost his head again? But as he reached out to make his choice, Kas̆dael slapped his hand away.

"What are you doing?" she scolded him.

"I'm trying not to die?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't save you?"

He frowned uncertainly, finger still frozen above the pick. "Well…"

"You know what most of my followers are like, Jasper. Obsessed with the end of all things. Plotting to supplant the Progenitor and put me in his place. Deranged to the point of violence. I do not have so many sane devotees that I can afford to let them die pointlessly. If you pass again, I will do my utmost to find you before your soul passes into the Sea."

"Well….maybe you'll resurrect me," he agreed slowly. "But not for free, right? I'll still have to pay for my resurrection?" he asked, remembering what she had told him the last time.

"Yes, if you die again, you will have to fulfill a quest as payment for being brought back, but it would be a waste to use a one-time reward simply to avoid a quest."

He knew she had a point. He trusted that Kas̆dael would not try to screw him over and, if anything, a quest for her would simply give him more opportunities to earn rewards. His decision, he realized, was based in fear, as Ihra's death had shaken him more than he cared to admit. With a grunt of assent, he selected the upgrade points instead.

Unfortunately, he did not get the upgrade he'd been hoping for. The spell could still only be cast once a month, and, indeed, it was unclear what had changed at all. The only difference from the previous description was the name of the creature itself, which was now called an Ophanim instead of an Ophan. He hoped that meant it was stronger.

A bit dissatisfied, he pressed on to the second upgrade.

"Now this is more like it," he muttered as he read through the descriptions. It wasn't an easy choice. Circle of Forgiveness II was simply better across the board from the original spell, as it healed a larger percentage of health in a faster time, while maintaining a similar essence cost. Mantle of Forgiveness, on the other hand, retained the same amount of healing as the original spell and was only marginally faster, but the area of effect could be a valuable essence saver - but only if his friends were fighting beside him.

And as he mulled it over, he realized how rarely that was the case, especially now that he had Spectral Wings. Simple upgrade it is, he decided, selecting Circle of Forgiveness II.