Eden took the first shift, simply because he was the only one in prime condition, and he could feel that he was close to mastering the two 6th Level spells he had gotten from Raphael. His stats had also decently improved recently.
[Name: Ozymandias]
[Title: Monster Hunter II, Omen of Death]
[Talent: Soul Overlord]
[Perks: Tier I, Silver Flame I, Will of Steel I, STD Free, Immense Cursed Energy III, Shrine]
[HP: 350/350]
[MP: 756/756]
[CE: 1699/1699]
[Strength: 30 (33)]
[Agility: 30 (39)]
[Physique: 32 (35)]
[Intelligence: 37 (42)]
[Wisdom: 38 (44)]
[Sorcery: 49]
[Skills: Expand]
[Currency: 27522 Dream Points]
As expected, his attributes had improved, and that was without all of his weapons. There was also the invisible boosts from his perks. Overall, he was confident in fighting against a low Tier II being, although with the way attributes worked for people in this world, facing an actual Tier II was bound to be difficult.
Eden's spell-list was also increasing, and he had managed to learn all the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Circle Spells he could use in the Necromancy of Thay.
That was not as impressive as it sounded though, as most of the spells were geared towards bringing back the dead. The full list was as follow: Toll the Dead and Inflict Wounds for 1st Circle, not a single 2nd Circle Spell, Vampiric Touch, Spirit Shroud, Speak with Dead and Blight for 3rd Circle. In total, only six spells.
Well, that was already quite good, and Eden had managed to learn them this quickly thanks to his increased attributes, and strong foundation in necromancy already. Also, while he may not have learned that many spells, some of them were good enough to be of use to him already. He had even improved on two of them, using them to create a higher-level spell.
Speak with Dead was pretty self explanatory, and allowed Eden to ask a corpse five questions, and did not even require the corpse to have a free soul, so Eden could actually use it, although they tended to be unwilling to discuss with the one who had killed them.
Vampiric Touch, Spirit Shroud and Blight were quite good as well, especially the first one.
[Vampiric Touch (3rd Circle): Shadows wreathe the user's hands, dealing an additional 15 (60) necrotic damage with unarmed attacks for 1 (5) minute, and heals the user for half of the necrotic damage dealt. Cost: 350 (90) MP.]
[Blight (3rd Circle): Fire a green ray of death at an enemy, dealing 115 (175) necrotic damage. Ineffective against constructs and undeads, but deals double damage to plant-based life. Cost: 350 (90) MP.]
[Spirit Shroud (3rd Circle): Summon the spirits of the dead, drawing on their power to deal an extra 20 (80) necrotic, radiant or cold damage to targets hit within 3 (5) meters of the user for 1 (5) minute. Damage type must be selected when casting the spell. Anyone hit with this additional damage also receives double the healing deficit for 6 seconds, and is slowed by 10%. Cost: 350 (90) MP.]
Blight was fine, but it only dealt as much damage as Superior Fireball did, and that to a single target. Its true value was against plant-based enemies, which were scarce.
Vampiric Touch, on the other hand, was probably the spell that suited Eden the most since Mists of the Underworld. To the average mage, it was a subpar spell at best because it dealt very little damage, and they would have to get up close and personal with their enemy, which might as well be suicide for the average mage.
Even for the average warrior, they used weapons to fight, and discarding them to fight with their fists would result in a large power drop.
Eden happened to be built for fighting bare-handed, however. Not only could his fists be reinforced with Cursed Energy, every hit could also allow him to activate Cleave on his target. Casting Vampiric Touch would thus allow Eden to deal increased damage, and heal himself with every hit.
Finally, there was Spirit Shroud, which also somewhat suited Eden, as it had a rather similar function to Vampiric Touch. As for the healing deficit, it was a way of stopping the enemy from healing. There, 'double the healing deficit' meant that if he dealt 80 necrotic damage, 160 HP worth of healing would be blocked.
In other words, once struck, the target would either have to recover more than 160 HP to start recovering HP, or wait 6 seconds for the effect to disappear.
The similarity was so striking, in fact, that Eden got the idea to merge the two spells together.
Actually, the first idea Eden got when getting the spell was to improve it by replacing the summoned spirits of the dead by the souls he always had attached to him. Then, as he worked on doing that, Eden decided to use his insight on Vampiric Touch as well.
The endeavor was more complex than expected, and Eden realized that handling souls and weaving them into spells was a bit beyond his level, especially as he started mixing in his current understanding of Tasha's Otherworldly Guise, a spell he had not yet learned, less mastered. For now, he had managed to make a first, incomplete version, which he called Wrath of the Dead.
[Wrath of the Dead (4th Circle): Wreathes the user's hands with the spirits of the dead, dealing an additional 100 (175) necrotic or radiant damage with unarmed attacks, and heals the user for 30% of the necrotic damage dealt, or deals 150% the radiant damage in healing deficit and slows them down by 5% for 5 seconds. Damage type must be chosen when the spell is cast. The effects last for 30 (120) seconds. Cost: 480 (120) MP.]
Eden had two ways of modifying spells. One was through Binding Vows, as he had done with Simulacrum and Evil Possession, and the other was through actual spell modification. Eden preferred the later as it was far more efficient, and did not require a sacrifice, only knowledge.
Wrath of the Dead was an unfinished product, one that still only used spirits instead of souls, and while the effects of the two spells had been added in, they were somewhat weakened, and the spell was not perfect. The finished version would thus probably be a 5th Circle Spell.
Still, even in its current form, Wrath of the Dead was an absolutely beast, especially in Eden's hands. He could use it either to last longer in a fight, or stop an opponent from regenerating. But whichever he chose, it would turn him into a menace in hand to hand combat.
This was the kind of spell only a warrior mage like Eden could take advantage of.
Of course, Eden did not intend to stop there with the spell, and wanted to bring it to the 5th Circle, or even higher, but he still needed to strengthen his foundations before that, by learning more 4th Circle spells to start with.
Unfortunately, the Necromancy of Thay was also reaching its limits in terms of usability for Eden. The higher it went in spell levels, the more it specified into solely rising the dead. The only other spell he could learn from it was actually Circle of Death, a 6th Level Spell, or 4th Circle for Eden.
Of course, the book's utility did not stop to merely the spells he could use, as the concepts of even those he could not cast were interesting, but it limited his potential pool of spells.
Speaking of which, Eden's creation allowed him to verify some of the theories he had about Tasha's Otherworldly Guise, and he could feel he was ready to learn the spell.
However, before Eden could get onto that, he was unfortunately interrupted.
He first smelled sulfur, before a black pool of tar appeared in the middle of their camp. It had the immediate effect of awakening everyone despite their tiredness. Wyll looked especially alert, and as a figure rose from the tar, he muttered, "No…"
The figure, barely humanoid at first, turned distinctly feminine, though it quickly became obvious this was no human. Her light bluish skin, the four horns jutting in between her short red hair, and the two bat wings spread out behind her seductive figure made it all too obvious that this was a devil. A Cambion.
[Name: Mizora]
[Title: Envoy of Zariel, Patron of Wyll Ravengard]
[Perks: Tier II, Zariel's Protection, Magical Resistance, Resilience I, Spirit Flame II]
[HP: 468/468]
[MP: 950/950]
[Strength: 25]
[Agility: 26]
[Physique: 39]
[Intelligence: 50]
[Wisdom: 21]
[Resistances: Bludgeoning II, Piercing II, Slashing II, Cold II, Fire II, Poison II, Lightning II]
[Weaknesses: None]
Mizora was not very impressive for a Tier II, or maybe Qudenos had pushed his expectations beyond the reasonable?
She did have a lot of resistances, and her attributes, and Eden's meta-knowledge, told him she was a spell-caster, whose power mainly came from their spells rather than their attributes.
As she appeared, she took a deep breath, moaning, "Ah, there is no place like the Prime Material Plane."
A sultry smile spreading her lips, she looked at Wyll, softly clicking her tongue, "Wyll, you've been a naughty boy."
Wyll gritted his teeth, his right hand crackling with faint arcane energy, while Karlach cursed, "Fuck, anyone but her!"
Mizora blew her a kiss, before turning to Eden, crooning, "Ah, there you are, the famous Omen of Death. You do not disappoint."
Eden looked at her with a dark gaze, annoyed his studies had been interrupted, and warned, "Don't fuck with me, because Zariel cannot protect you from me. Annoy me enough, and I'll wipe out Avernus."
Mizora placed a hand at her chest, exclaiming, "Oh my, you-"
She abruptly stopped as Eden extended a hand, the fragments of Bhaal's power and soul floating up. Normal people might not be able to see it, but Mizora definitely could, and she could recognize their true nature as well.
Retrieving them, Eden repeated, "Don't fuck with me."
Mizora did not look offended, but rather interested. He saw lust in her gaze, though he was not sure for what exactly. Or if it was even real, or a well performed act.
Still, she bowed slightly to him, before turning to Wyll, and saying, "We had a deal, Wyll. Yet, not only is Karlach still breathing, you are playing merry hell with her."
Karlach interjected, "I've taken more pleasant shits than you, Mizora."
Mizora grinned slyly, spitting back, "That's no way for a lady to talk, Karlach. By the way, Zariel sends her hearty regards."
Karlach did not appear offended or bothered by the provocation. Meanwhile, Wyll was bent over, clutching at his chest painfully as he gasped, "You told me devils only. She is a Tiefling, not a monster!"
Mizora shook her head, chiding lightly, "Please, get your clauses straight. I never betray a contract. Clause G, Section 9: Targets shall be limited to the infernal, the demonic, the heartless and the soulless. That engine could hardly be considered a heart."
She turned back to Eden, questioning, "Surely upholding my contract cannot be considering fucking with you?"
Eden looked at Wyll, who was still hunched over in pain. Their eyes met, and Eden saw no begging from the human Warlock. Anger, for sure. And determination. Maybe some despair. But no hints of him asking for help. The Sword of Frontiers had his pride as well.
Not that it would have changed anything.
"He willingly signed that contract, the consequences are his to bear. Don't try to kill him or take him to another plane though, or I'll have to follow."
Mizora licked her lips, "I'm almost tempted to take him home now."
Eden looked at her blankly, which caused her to chuckle, before snapping her fingers. Suddenly, a similar pool of tar from the one she had appeared surrounded Wyll, with hellfire burning at the edges.
Wyll released a cry as he was covered by the tar, but he did not disappear. However, his form began visibly morphing, with horns sprouting from his head.
The transformation only took a few seconds, before his new form was revealed. He was no longer human, nor was he some mere Tiefling. Instead, he had been turned into a devil, a fiend.
"That's better. Better get used to the new form, pet. There's some magic even I cannot reverse. Until next time." She turned to Eden, and added with a wink, "You are welcome to visit me in Avernus any time, I'll make sure to show you the welcomes of Baator."
And like that, she disappeared.