Once you pass the border separating it from the Gold District, gravity itself shifts by the sheer amount of den in the air.This place is home to the Guild of Infinite Thought, a group of sorcerers and wizards dedicated to trying new, experimental magic.Their leader, Franklin Fent, was a half-orc sorcerer who was revolutionary in the modern applications of den transference and was a black-ranked adventurer.In Everwatch, black was the highest rank an adventurer could achieve, followed by brown, red, blue, purple, green, gold, and white.
Fent had conducted an experiment 10 years before that had caused a massive shift in the gravitational field of the entire district. was caught in the explosion the experiment caused and hasn’t been seen since.The citizens of the district were evacuated, and once it was discovered they could no longer freely walk through the streets, most ordinary citizens left.The Adventurers Boon Skill was required to control den, so people who weren’t adventurers were unable to stop themselves from floating along with the buildings.Once the normal people cleared out, the Infinite Thought had complete control over the area.
Very few people approached the area since it was unknown what kind of unthinkable projects they were working on.However, that didn’t stop Georgina’s from opening a location.The Zepthal staple, a Georgina’s diner could be found in every district, usually with multiple locations.They were also a very common pest control quest, so Jordan was not a frequent client.It did impress him, however, that they were determined enough to build a location in the floating district.
Behind it, Jordan could see the street floating about 5 feet above.stepped forward, opened the gate, and began his ascent.As he floated further in the air, he closed his eyes to focus.Telling the den in your body what to do was a learning process.Jordan knew as he got used to it, the process would become easier.That being said, this was his 3rd time ever trying this, so there was much to be learned still.
When he attempted to move it, however, it felt as if a hot liquid was moving through his body.Not burning hot, but too hot to be comfortable, especially when it reached the legs.Once he felt the den in his feet, he focused on matching it to the amount in the air.It took several minutes of him floating in place, but eventually he landed on the street, looking at the Gold District below.
Looking at the light foot traffic around him was all Jordan needed to paint a clear picture of the type of people who chose to live in this district.Every person he saw had either a staff, wand, or magic hat and they all were muttering to themselves.Whether it was about the results of a failed experiment or a chant to an ancient spell, he could never be sure.
Burgers, chicken wings, and now slick rats were on the menu.Even if the deals were hard to beat, everyone who does low level jobs for Everguard knows to stay away from Georgina’s.He pulled the mask on his cloak to his face and threw the front doors open, flooding light into the darkened restaurant.
However, the most intense smell was the oil from the rats themselves. The moment the door opened, Jordan was met with a chorus of squeaks and the squelching sound of the vermin attempting to skitter away through a thick layer of film on the floor.Slick rats were one of the random experiments of the Infinite Thought.Rumors were they attempted to experiment with implanting permanent spells into animal, and a rat and grease spell were the first and only result.The fact that the experiment caused the normal size rats to grow to the size of large dogs most likely played a role in the lack of any further experimentation.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
The difficult part about slick rats is their unpredictable movement patterns, but the reason they’re unpredictable is because the rats are just unable to stabilize themselves and lose their footing every time they try to move. Jordan drew his bow and aimed it at the closest rat to him.As he drew the arrow back, he felt his untrained hand begin to shake.
Relaxed Hand is one of the first 2 skills Rangers receive upon joining Everwatch.It steadies the users hand automatically through the use of den.Jordan took his shot, hitting the first rat directly in the head, killing it instantly.
He managed to hit a second rat, piercing it to the floor by the leg.He looked around him, holding his breath as he examined the horrendous battlefield.3 rats bolted into the kitchen, and the other 2 slammed into each other while trying to regain their footing.Jordan knew he had to be decisive, the more time he gave them to find places to hide, the longer he would have to be in this stink pit.He jumped in the air to avoid the grease pool around him and aimed at one of the remaining 2 in the lobby, exploding the left eye of his unfortunate target.
As he landed, the remaining rat charged at him, and he knew he didn’t have time to draw his arrow and fire off a full shot.
The kitchen knife he had taped to the bow stabbed into the rats skull, falling in a gurgle of blood and grease.As effective as that was, he really wanted better weapons.He was going to have to wash that knife thoroughly.
After retrieving the arrows from the previously killed rats, he opened the kitchen door, funneling his remaining prey toward him.These were essentially practice shots, and the final rat was dead shortly after.The job was not quite done, but Jordan knew he had to step outside and purge the odor of the tainted Georgina’s from his nostrils, even if it was only temporary.
Using one of his arrowheads, he removed the ears of each rat, placing them in the jar with Tulie’s beautiful smile shining back at him.Once his grizzly work was done, he walked briskly outside.Being out in the open air was something the average person took for granted.You don’t know what you have until you’re in a diner with garbage can size piles of rat greasy rat waste.
Most of them were dressed in standard wizard robes, the most common being the Grey robes of the Infinite Thought. Considering slick rats were their invention, Jordan wasn’t the biggest fan of them at the moment.He did have to admit though, some of their inventions were very useful.
own thoughts to notice him.
More than one person in the half mile walk had a mini cauldron that was boiling floating beside them.Not a single person looked like they had slept more than 2 hours, with their eyes bloodshot and faces gaunt.Every one of them was more dedicated to their craft than Jordan could imagine.Of course he had goals and ambitions but he was also going to allow himself a full nights sleep when his roommates kept their antics to a minimum.
Looking up at the magical marvel of technology, he thought of where he might go when he was settled and had free time.
It would be a long road to make that kind of money though, Jordan thought smiling to himself.Ranger abilities are more useful in the nature environments outside the cities obviously, and the jobs are compensated
The only ones with the skills to guide them are Rangers, which is why they are compensated so well.However, these dangerous missions will usually require a base level of 15, which most adventurers spend the first 20 years of their careers attempting to achieve.Most people that try to be rangers give up and switch classes, starting from scratch with a skillset more suited to traditional dungeon crawling and missions within cities.
That wasn''t the path Jordan wanted though. He wanted his adventuring career to be full of travel and exploration. He didn''t care about getting rich quick, though he wanted to be not poor quick.
He was on his way back to Everguard to turn in a jar of ears for a quest he was not getting paid for.He was broke, no party, and smelly.
Call it instincts, intuition, maybe even the den contained in his body.Something was telling him that today was different.Was it good, bad, both? He didn’t know, but he recognized this feeling.He felt the same way on his 14th birthday, a day he wasn’t allowed to forget.