ABSORB SPIRIT: Few powerful wizards know that there is energy in most things. Even recently slain creatures still harbor residual spirit power. By casting Absorb Spirit, you give yourself the ability to drain the lingering spirit energies from corpses and channel the energy into healing power. As you increase your skill in the Protective Branch, you increase the amount of healing you can draw from a corpse.


SHROUD OF DARKNESS: This spell calls forth a cape of supernatural darkness that surrounds the caster in shadow. When the spell is invoked, the sneak skill and the armor class of the caster improve. As you place more skill points into the Protective Branch, the effectiveness and duration of the spell increase.


ARMOR OF BONES: Once encased in the Armor of Bones, the caster enjoys powerful protection against physical and some magical attacks. When struck by a physical or magical attack, a portion of the damage is absorbed by the magic armor. The duration and effectiveness of the spell increase as you add skill points to the Protective Branch.


ANIMAL GRACE: This spell grants catlike reflexes to the caster. Animal Grace heightens the dexterity and movement speed of the caster to extraordinary levels, increasing his Agility. At higher levels the lockpick ability is also enhanced; at the highest level of skill, the caster benefits from improved luck. The duration of the spell increases as you place spells into the Protective Branch.


MANA SHIELD: The Mana Shield spell allows you to use your inner reserve of magic energy as a protective buffer to preserve your hit point totals. This shield splits all damage dealt the caster from any source between the Mana pool and the caster's hit point total. At low skill levels, more hit points will be lost than Mana. As you increase your skill, you will gradually improve this ratio so that any damage inflicted upon you will detract from Mana and hit points more equally.