These are the numbers you should know, for they are the numbers you will know as a Pathbearer. They are the standard level thresholds for achieving Adept, Master, Heroic, and Legendary status for your skills.
For those of you who reach these numbers for your skills, they will evolve to become something greater at the next tier, provided that they are not already of a higher tier quality (see the Skills Tiers chapter for more details).
Upon exceeding these thresholds, your skill will transform based on your experiences. For example, at level 50 an Initiate Marksmanship Skill might become the Adept-Tier Quickshooter—or, in extremely rare cases and should one routinely achieve incredible feats of accuracy from afar—the Master-Tier Horizon Sniper Skill, such as what was achieved by Master Roland Arrow of Blackedge.
Gaining a Skill Evolution multiple tiers in advance of your level threshold is a sign that you have driven yourself hard and have gone beyond your limits time and time again. In extreme cases, there are even those who have gone from an Initiate Skill to Legendary—but the effort behind this progression is usually equally legendary, and not something that can be easily replicated.
Should you achieve a higher tier skill far in advance of its designated leveling threshold, know that you might not be able to evolve it again when it reaches its expected threshold without pushing it substantially further. Still, the benefits to an early spike in power remain.
Should you gain or evolve an existing skill into a Heroic Skill when your average skill level is only fifty or lower, you will find yourself capable of standing against someone who should be, at least skill to skill, your better.
Do whatever you can to gain an edge. The world will not be merciful. So you must be greater to survive the cruelty.
-The Paths of Ascension, Essential Reading at Phoenix Academy of The Yellowstone Republic
Shiv turned himself into a walking mass of tumors. He did it over and over again until he dropped dead. He did it well over twenty times while he “rested.” The agony was exquisite, the suffering novel, the experience fun.
He started with trying to heal small cuts. He sliced himself with his kitchen knife over and over, then tried to close the cut. He discovered that the damage of a cut was more complex than he imagined. It was just skin and some meat, but all the vessels beneath… Even the skin had so many layers. The meat was muscle and tendon, and all that architecture worked in tandem as well. Now, the good part about healing was that it was simple. Shiv used enough Potions of Lesser Regeneration to know they basically supercharged the body’s natural healing to handle wounds. The bad part of these potions—and not knowing what he was doing with Biomancy—was that when you supercharged your biology, it had a tendency to mutate.
Mutations usually meant cancers.
And thus, that was how Shiv started his repeated cancer spiral—by trying to heal a small cut on his arm. He tried several different variations: trying to accelerate his regeneration as much as he could, healing slow and steady, transplanting flesh from a healthy section of his body to the damaged part as a patch. Only the last part did something other than cause a bunch of cancers, but it still hurt, and it left the area less than functional. The bleeding got plugged up fine, but random fatty tissue and tendons didn’t mix well, and Shiv found himself trying to rebuild connections between bones, nerves, and sinews.
This resulted in—as expected—even more cancers.
It made Shiv remember something a Biomancer said to him once after one of his trips down into the ruins. “The question isn’t ‘why cancer,’ but actually ‘why not always cancer.’ The body is a strange thing, and though it's complex, it’s almost not exactly smart. If you want a perfect, immortal, self-healing organism, that’s going to take a Legendary level of Biomancy at the least along with decades of deep research. That, or you can become a vampire. They don’t really get cancers—their blood works in strange ways that keep their body in a perpetual, stable state.”
Suddenly, Shiv found himself envying the damned high vampire. If that was true, the felling bastard had an unfair advantage. Being able to warp your flesh whatever way you want without all the little bits inside just breaking apart or turning into tumors was ridiculously unfair. As Shiv resurrected again, he crawled back ashore and brought in his new haul of shrimps as well. He was slowly emptying out this section of the lake and would likely need to move a bit further up.
So far, he had a bit more of a practical understanding of his body. He kind of knew what connected to where in certain places and what some organs generally did. What he couldn’t do was rapidly regenerate wounds or actively adapt his body in the middle of combat. Still. All the practice and dying paid off. With the focus he applied and his willingness to butcher himself using Biomancy over and over again, his mana field expanded further, with its power and radius extending by increasing amounts each time.
The level gains really dropped off after the fifteenth death. Didn’t get anything over the last few attempts. Only one more level with this last one. I think I’ve either squeezed all I could get from dying to cancer or need to wait. Still, the growth he experienced was inhuman, considering he just got the skill a little while ago. Even if it was slowing down because he was used to dying of cancer, he could spike the skill with other deaths. If he figured out something about how to make diseases, maybe he could infect himself over and over and die that way. Maybe that would advance multiple skills. I need to get an education. Or a book.
Another issue with leveling this way was how narrow it was. It didn’t help with his Toughness because he wasn’t dying due to a lack of it. No other skills were being pressed either. He resolved to keep testing his Biomancy in the meantime—using himself as a training dummy in the process. A bigger, stronger mana field would be helpful regardless. Soon, he might even be able to pop someone like the high vampire did. That’ll be fun.
He looked at the stone dagger he left in the alcove after telling Valor he intended to take a nap. Valor bid him farewell, but Shiv suspected the person inside the dagger knew he was up to something. Frankly, Valor knew a lot. If they were a Legendary Pathbearer before they got sealed in the dagger, they might know a great deal about Biomancy, too.
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Shiv always intended to pick their mind, but he wanted to do some of his own learning first. Shiv always learned better by doing. It was how he was. Most people didn’t want to teach him anyway, and Georges wasn’t someone that liked to explain overmuch between finding new and creative ways to insult you first. That made Shiv pause. Maybe he was apprehensive about asking because he’d been punished for trying to do that his entire life.
Well. You gotta break a bad habit at some point.
He exerted his improved Biomancy field and directed it at his many bodies before entering the alcove. Shiv made a downward pressing motion with his hand to direct his intent, and the field danced around him, shaping a spell-pattern. He felt the bodies turn to paste, hearing the bones crunch apart before dissolving into powder. Shiv smirked. Magic was bullshit—but now some of that bullshit was his to use in combat.
“Shiv?What was that sound?”
“I crushed some shrimp outside with my Biomancy. I was experimenting.”
“That didn’t sound like shrimp, that sounded like around two dozen bodies being ground to paste.”
Shiv just stared at the dagger. Sometimes, he wondered if Valor could see his surroundings after all. “Uh, no. Definitely just shrimp, Valor. I’m pretty sure you'd hear fighting if there were twenty bodies I could turn to paste. If I could turn twenty bodies to paste. I just got Biomancy. Not nearly that strong yet.”
A sigh came from the dagger. “Forgive me, my paranoia has taken hold. The sounds of bodies breaking are very distinct, though. Biomancy is a very neat and focused ability, and so the noises it makes when it warps the flesh are hard to forget.”
The Deathless opened and closed his mouth. “Valor, you seem to know a lot of noises relating to bodily harm.”
“It comes with experience and age.”
“Are you a Biomancer?”
“Hm. I would not consider myself as such, for I know of people who devoted themselves to the art. Their commitment and understanding dwarfs mine by far. But I do have the skill, though even now it languishes at the summit of Master Tier.”
And now Shiv was glaring at the dagger. “Languishes. At Master Tier. Valor, your words could give a Slayer an aneurysm. I know people who would weep if they made it to Adept.”
“Ah. Forgive me. I suppose it sounded boastful. But we all live from our own perspectives, our own rates of growth and struggles.”
“Yeah. Tell me about it. Anyway, I was wondering… if you would be willing to explain some things about biology to me. I was experimenting on a shrimp to see if I could heal it so I could use the technique on myself, but I just kept giving it cancers.”
“Oh. You’ve encountered the hard problem of lesser regeneration.”
“There’s a name for this?”
“Yes. Everyone who dabbles in Biomancy learns of this. Some even think that cancer is the default state of life, and that evolution is mostly a chain of aberrations continuing on to the very present.” Shiv didn’t know nearly enough about biology to disagree, so he just grunted. “Anyhow, this is a difficult issue to overcome most times. Biomancers dedicate years of study to their craft, testing their techniques on cadavers and elderly animals, most times. If they are ethical. The Vampire Elders from the Court of the First Blood used to test on living slaves but eventually outlawed it as well.”
“They did?” Shiv was surprised. He didn’t expect vampires to care.
“Yes. It was an act of pointless cruelty, and though vampires are often cruel, most of the time they do things for purpose. Tormenting a perfectly good slave to death for practice achievable through dead bodies or other means is wasteful. And if there is anything that the elders there abhor, it is waste.”
“That… makes sense.” And it made the vampires seem more like an actual organization rather than a loose collective of monsters. This was a terrifying thought to Shiv, as he had assumed them to be just really powerful but brutal beasts. Now, it seemed they could be that, but also thinking people who decided things based on policy and preference.
“If you do wish to learn the finer details around Biomancy and even medicine, I can give you advice. But you will have to explain what you are doing in detail. More importantly, you will need to purchase several books in Weave—several rather costly books at that. The Basics of Biology and Anatomy cannot be overlooked. Then you’ll need the Core Medicae. Probably the Odes of Blood and Flesh if you have a strong stomach. That last one is an especially vile book. I would describe it more as a tool for suffering but… it will teach you more about the body and pain than anything else.” Original content can be found at NoveI[F]ire.net
“That sounds intriguing. But how does a book do that to someone? Is it just very hard to read?”
“No. All copies are enchanted with an investiture of Psychomancy that transports the reader into the role of a number of torture victims in the book.”
That sounded… horrific. But Shiv was intrigued. “Mind magic really is something. Wait, is there a way I can quickly attune to mind magic? Or defend against it? Like with a Magical Resistance.”
“The former might be easier than the latter for you. As you are already attuned to one magical skill, it shows that you are interested and curious about concepts. You delve into the nature of the world and study. Facing more mind mages is one option. Exposure to mind mages over a period of time and learning about the skill through them increases your chances of getting it. You can also delve deep into psychology and trauma. That one takes much longer though.”
“Why is getting a Magical Resistance Skill harder, though?
“Because it requires you to hate magic to some extent. Or fear it immensely. Just as most magic requires you to have an open mind, Magical Resistance requires you to truly and desperately wish for it to not affect you. And that is quite hard when one is already a mage to some extent.”
Shiv thought of the fire weaver he faced earlier. The spider managed it—so could he. “Alright. Well. Looks like I have a lot to look forward to in Weave. Money is going to be a bit of a problem though. I—” Shiv almost started talking about how he didn’t have much mithril, but thought that the people down here might run on another economic system. “I’m pretty poor.”
“I might be able to help you there. The Composer should be willing to offer you a bit of a stipend for your services if you manage to deliver me successfully.”
“How much?” Shiv asked, curious to learn this place's currency and how much he might be able to make.
“The Weaveresses usually handle money matters for her, and they’re notoriously stingy, but ultimately, you might be able to expect something north of ten thousand shards.”
Shards. Ten thousand. Shiv remembered the former and thought the latter sounded impressive. Ten thousand mithril would be a ridiculous sum of money for him. His annual wage as a chef was barely a thousand. “Alright. I’ll try to remember those books. I’m going to pack up now and break camp.”
“Already? It’s barely been a few hours. You hardly rested.”
Shiv actually hadn’t slept at all. He still felt fine, though. His mental exhaustion from earlier was almost entirely gone, and his body—thanks to his increased Physicality—was even stronger than it was before. Even as a Pathless, Shiv took care to keep his body in peak condition. He needed to if he was going to face threats far stronger and faster than himself; a single mistake was fatal. And now he learned just how right he was—without preparation and ambushes, he died over and over in so many different ways.
The world was a lethal place.