《Those Who Walk With Heroes - a story from HWFWM》 Chapter 1 ‘Rushing headlong can be the plan’ The sun was high and warm, the road was smooth and peaceful. All the trainee adventurers were relaxing watching the puppy Lucky gambol around the back of the open wagon chasing Danyas frog familiar. The wagon rolled to a stop and an adventure society official turned around from the drivers seat, dignified streaks of grey winding their way through his magnificent twisted moustache. All right trainees, everyone off All the trainees laughed as the frog familiar leapt first from the wagon with lucky catching it in mid air and both tumbled into the dust. The trainees, all flush with their iron rank agility and feeling recuperated after their long ride with the puppys Life aura refreshing them jumped, flipped and somersaulted out. They were all out on their Adventure Society assessment, the culmination of their year of training at the Remore Academy, Greenstone Annex. They were all keen to prove themselves worthy of having their own adventure society badges and being able to go and hunt monsters themselves. The contract is for a group of Margols, the report says two, they were last seen working their way along this hedge-row digging out burrows of smaller animals, who wants it? Kyra remembered hearing of another outworlder from Greenstone; Jason Asano and how he secured his Adventure society membership by fighting a pack of margols stepped forward. Ill take this one instructor. She paused and used her power to concentrate on the vibrations in the ground. Its very noisy but I can sense four larger creatures at the end of the field after next, all trying to dig out a smaller creature frantically digging. Good, I warned you all that monster reports can often be misleading, preparation and planning before rushing headlong in are critical As Trenslow was speaking Kyra was rushing headlong towards the field of margols. The other trainees sighed in disappointment as Lucky appeared to jump in mid air after her and transformed into motes of golden light, the refreshing area disappearing with him, the light rushing towards Kyras long plaited hair as she was running, changing it from her long silky ashen to glorious wavy blonde. As she ran Kyra revised in her head martial skills AND powers, martial skills AND powers, martial skills AND powers! She skidded to a stop at the edge of the field of margols. Her lantern familiar appeared and fired a blast at each of the margols, doing no real damage but had their attention from their pursuit of burrowing prey. Hey! Pick on someone your own size! The margols eyesight was famously poor, but between the familiars bolts and Kyras theatrics the margols had zeroed in on her position and were snarling and running at a dead sprint towards her, one margol lagging behind having had to extricate itself from the depths of the burrow. As it stumbled to its feet finding its balance she raised her hand and an earthen wall raised from the ground and the margol smashed headlong into it dazing him. She raised both hands to the sky and just as the three remaining margols reached the middle of the field she intoned; Find me! ten copies of Kyra appeared around them all in the same pose. Ability: [Mirror Maze] (Mirror) Spell: Duplicate, Illusion Cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5min Current rank: Iron 3 (05%) Effect: 10 perfect copies of the caster will appear and be able to be moderately controlled within casters aura. Duration: 3min The margols stopped dead, looking around. As they did Kyra lowered her hands to the floor, the fight becoming a conductors performance from Kyra. As she lowered her hands the ground swirled around the margols feet, they sank into it then it solidified, it gripped them at the mid calf. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Kyra stood, the opening of her fight going as she planned, she composed herself and swiped the air in front of her sideways, dispelling the illusion and the mirror copies of Kyra disappeared, the margols confusion gone, they made to rush at Kyra, all instinct without thinking, forgetting they were stuck in now solid earth. They all started to fall forward. Kyra continued to conduct their demise at a run towards them. One fist swinging down through empty air, the other in a claw rising through the air. Simultaneously a boulder the size of a pony dropped through the air at one crushing the top of its back into the ground pulverising it, the second fell face first onto an earth spike bursting from the ground at a forty five degree angle and through its face and into the back of its head. She kept moving forward at the third, her iron rank speed, faster than anything she managed before her essences, seemingly straight towards the margol. Inches before she ran straight into the falling monster she juked to the left, her right hand held low and out from her body, it glimmered as a beautiful diamond sword materialised growing from her hand rapidly, the envy of any artificer, it was a straight, double edged, triangle tipped sword. Flawless diamond and sharper than any whetstone could produce. She appeared to jump around the margol, her lithe body twisting in mid air, the sword materialised in her hand directly in the path of its neck, she savagely pulled the sword around, opening its neck and it the monster continued falling forward, spilling its life blood on the ground. As both her feet touched the ground the earthen wall she had made appeared to blow into pieces as the fourth margol burst through, a manic, frothing beast bodily charged Kyra to the ground tumbling her backwards across the field. Kyra being much smaller than the margol and weighing significantly less was propelled further than the rushing monster. Kyra rose to a stumbling crouch, a long, deep slash in her quadricep, it was already healing together from the ends, her hand was immediately there, a green pulse of life bolt finished the healing, the speed of it appearing like she stood out of a roll. The margol didnt stand. The diamond sword was no longer in Kyras hand, she mentally dismissed it and it vanished from the fourth margols chest where it now lay dead on he floor. Her hair cascaded in golden light to the floor leaving her with the shade of ash blonde that was still enviable to anyone outside of Celestines. The golden Labrador puppy jumped headfirst at Kyras previously injured leg, the self repair armour closing slower than she had, his tail wagging madly. Kyra laughed at him, yes well done, whos a good boy!, she straightened looking down the hedge row. You can come out now. Teddy materialised from the shadow like stepping out of a curtain. How did you see me? Ability: [Seismic Sense] (Earth) Cost: Nil, passive power Current rank: Iron 5 (80%) Effect: User can feel vibrations through the ground and pick up details to form a detailed picture of their surroundings in their mind. You only passed your adventurer assessment last month youre not godlike, yet, she laughed, I cant see or hear you like that but I can feel your tension through the ground, it was only a scratch! Instructor Trenslow will be pissed if he finds you shadowing his assessment. Vincent and I had a drink last night in the bar when you all went to bed, he knew I followed you from the academy at Greenstone. He knew he couldnt stop me so told me not to interfere and watch for safety. You had this one all by yourself though! She leaned back her head then, still unexpectedly, had to slightly go on tiptoes to give him a peck on the cheek. He had gained a few inches on ranking up to Iron and he was still very happy about it. Vincent would tell you to stop being so clingy and I need to experience danger for myself. Thats still Deputy Director Trenslow to you cadet, Teddy jokingly scolded at Kyra, at least until you get back to the Marshalling yard. You think Ive passed? Not a doubt in my mind. Now get back to it. Then he gave her a kiss on the lips and stepped back into the bush and disappeared into the shadow. Kyra turned around, walking sedately across the field to the other trainees. As she got near she mentally assented and rainbow smoke blossomed behind her. A mirror appeared in her hand, she checked the contents, only visible to her, she could see her reflection and the surrounding lush field, not visible to anyone else she could see four new monster cores, forty iron rank coins and a healing unguent going into her inventory. It appears some times after preparation and planning that rushing headlong can be the plan. Instructor Trenslow said looking down at Kyra as Lucky bounded forward and was running around Danyas feet trying to get to the frog familiar on her shoulder to play. Instructor Trenslow and the trainees had been watching through a far-sight crystal. Kyras brother in-law James snapped out of a daze. He grinned at Kyra. I started watching from the blood ravens in the hedge row, you couldnt see from your side but that fourth margol looked ridiculous when he hit the wall head first. Made him so mad! A good example of facing a physically stronger opponent. Using her essence powers to separate the pack and use their momentum against them, I dont think however, that she meant to get quite as close to the last margols momentum. Vincent looked down at the very thin line of blood marking Kyras armour. I generally prefer to stay at the back of the team. Kyra said sheepishly. Nevertheless a very good showing, well done cadet. They all climbed on the carriage and left the field behind them. Chapter 2 ‘More impressive than one punch’ The next morning found James meditating outside on the still dewy grass. He was a huge bearded man and made an imposing figure even sat cross legged on the grass, he wore a training Gi that fit him loosely but anyone could still see the huge powerlifter muscles underneath. They say that essence abilities dont change the inherent character of the users but James wasnt sure. He slept less now, that was normal for most essence users but he felt on edge every time he closed his eyes, his senses and instincts extended searching for predators. When he talked about it with his team they joked about it being opposite of the nature of his meditation, juxtaposed to his sleep habits his meditation was called hibernation, from his Bear essence, outwardly it looked no different from any other meditation but his team still ribbed him about it. Kyra walked out from the barn they were staying in, she was also up early before the other trainees. Really?! Youre just going to sit out here and meditate whilst I clean up after what your familiar did last night? She stood with her arms folded glaring daggers at him. He sighed and stood, having achieved what he needed for the day ahead but enjoying the stillness of the morning. You know Im fighting first today and were leaving early. Its good for me to meditate beforehand. Yes but not when all the furniture is trashed that people need for their breakfast! Last night the trainees were having a few drinks and they convinced James and Kyra to release their familiars at the same time. Koda was a bear cub, on all fours his shoulders easily came to James waist height. He and Lucky played like pups from the same litter, chasing, biting, and running into each other growling and snapping. Lucky had a strength that belied his small size of a year old puppy, but Koda was a powerhouse, every blow was held back to stop himself batting the puppy through a wall. The ensuing carnage entertained everyone for hours but looked like a tornado had swept through the room. They returned inside to see the owner of the farm already cooking breakfast behind a big bar along one side of the room. Oh its good to see you guys are up to fix all this! He stood wiping his hands on his apron, Kyra elbowing James hard in the ribs. I was thinking Id cook breakfast anyway after you all helped me clear out those rattlings yesterday but not let any of you have any until youd fixed the room back up! The farm was extremely large, with seasonal crops that required part time workers to come and stay for the harvest seasons, making it perfect for the trainees on assessment to stay in the temporary lodgings and long dining hall. Once the room was back in good order the other trainees emerged bleary eyed and began shuffling along the bar picking up cooked breakfast. Instructor Trenslow appeared, his ridiculously big and styled moustache perfect despite the early hour. Once hed had his breakfast he called everyone around his table. Yesterday we cleared the rattlings from this farm, however we have noticed a much higher level of activity in this area, more than is usual. As adventurers we have to sometimes investigate using our own initiative and not just whats posted on the boards. James, you had something in mind for what is going on? James stood, looking at the collected trainee adventurers. What I think we have is a peak Iron rank rat gorger, from the magic society book on monsters we can read that they feed on similar but lower rank monsters in order to grow stronger. In this instance I would estimate the rat gorger has eaten until he is at the peak of his rank and cannot progress further, now the rattlings around him will follow his basic commands, this has eliminated the competition and allowed the rattlings to multiply in the surrounding area. Very good, what else I believe I have found the cave in which its made its lair, the rattlings will now seek to protect the rat gorger but I would like to take this one solo. Very well, but as she is on your team and as she said yesterday she likes to remain at the back, Kyra will follow you, she is not to engage but must be on hand for if it goes wrong. This is a monster at the peak of its rank, you are all starting your adventurer journeys and should not underestimate the threat of higher power monsters. The trainees left on foot, the cave system not far away, James and Kyra leading the way, trying to stay out of earshot of instructor Trenslow who was being hounded by trainees trying to make a connection or trying to see if they were on track to pass. You have a plan right? I trust you but this seems like the jobs we talked about doing as a team not as individuals. I have a plan, mostly. I have to show him that I can do something more impressive than one punch a big monster. This should do the trick. They stood in front of the cave entrance, the regular traffic in ones and twos of rattlings were being merrily chased by the playful bear cub. James looked pensively at the entrance, there were so many scents coming out and he could hear the rumbling of many many feet inside. Are. You. Sure? Kyra deliberately said, eyeing the cave warily although it does look very dirty in there. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. James released his aura, Kyra relaxed, suddenly feeling better about the endeavour. Then she stiffened again. Her senses suddenly enhanced by his aura. Damn theres a lot of monsters in there! James rolled his eyes, gave Trenslow a nod and walked into the cave, Koda the bear cub followed him, catching the lesser rat monsters running out the cave past James. They took a few twists and turns until it opened out, in the middle, surrounded by teeming rattlings, on a pile of bones, sat the rat gorger. Hugely muscled, almost three times the size of a person it gnawed on a long bone in its hand. The bone suddenly splintered in its mouth and it shrieked, blood dribbling out its mouth, suddenly it snatched a rattling from the cave floor and ate it, the bleeding stopped almost immediately. Note to self, eating friends to heal yourself is gross, here we go, see if this works. They had found the awakening stone when they visited the Vitesse safari, they were going through the Liophant enclosure. Huge creatures, half lion but the size of an elephant, they were the jewel of the safari, apex predators, natural animals that could stand toe to toe with bronze rank monsters. They had found an old Liophant that was sick and dying. James had left the enclosed tourist bus and spoken to the creature, soothing it in its passing. As it breathed its last, rainbow light coalesced around it. Magic naturally formed this way either creating an essence, monster, awakening stone or quintessence. In this instance it formed an awakening stone of the Liophant. When he reported the manifestation to the magic society they postulated that the Liophant had lived and hunted enough monsters for so long it had absorbed enough natural magic over its lifetime to condense into an awakening stone on its death. James used that power now, making his entrance to the room he targeted the Rat gorger; Hear me roar! Ability: [Apex Predator] (Animage) Spell: Intimidate Cost: moderate mana (increasing with high level enemies) Cooldown: 1hr Current rank: Iron 1 (10%) Effect (iron): Intimidate targeted enemy. Successfully intimidated enemies will be inflicted with an instance of [vulnerable]. [Vulnerable]: Cause your attacks to be more effective against an enemy. He grunted with the unexpected mana drain, the rat gorger was at the peak of iron rank. he cast another spell to empty out his mana pool on Koda. Great spirits I call on you to protect my family Ability: [Ursa Family] (Bear) Spell: Retributive buff Cost: moderate mana Cooldown: 5min Current rank: Iron 2 (50%) He tapped a tattoo on his chest, another souvenir from Vitesse, a stylised mage bear on his chest in a cartoon style, a brown bear with a blue wizards hat and a goofy expression. He felt his mana pool almost completely refill without effecting his potion cool-down. As he hoped his intimidation had the desired effect, the rat gorger was too strong to completely dominate, but he had challenged it and broken its hold on its rattling horde, they found themselves in front of two incredibly dangerous predators and ran. Straight at the only exit where Koda was ready, he was glorious, primal fury and the animalistic joy in crushing prey. The rattlings tried to attack him, doing little damage, but every attack stacking another buff from Ursa Family. Effect (iron): Attacks against an ally cause and instance of [Fortitude]. [Fortitude]: Ally becomes stronger with each instance. The sheer volume of rats piling on Koda was stacking the buff faster and faster, easily able to keep up with the horde trying to push their way out of the narrow opening. James looked at the rat gorger, now locked onto him, bellowing and throwing its arms out. James blinked out of existence, appearing just above the monster. The ceiling of the cave was too low to get any decent height, the Peregrine Dive power that he used didnt follow the laws of physics, he smashed into the back of the creature as though he had fallen from a thousand feet, already at terminal velocity. He knocked the monster down and forward to the corner of the cave. He had transformed his left foot into an eagles talon in the dive and three bloody rents were on the monsters back. The monster was unnaturally strong for its level though, having fed on lesser rattlings for a long time. It jumped up and barrelled towards James looking to overpower him. James placed his taloned foot behind him and met the charge, dodging the grasping arms and uppercutting the rat in its mid thigh, a crack was heard and the monster screamed in pain, hed fractured the monsters bone. Unable to advance without being in pain the giant monster took a step back and his tail whipped around, meaty and thick, articulating like an elephants truck it shot out and looked as if it was going to take off James head. James activated another power, his own tail appeared; identical but smaller than the monsters shot out and matched it strength for strength in between them. Without missing a beat he pivoted on his right foot and slashed down with his left eagle taloned leg, severing the rat gorgers tail. Having a moment to breathe he checked on Koda. Looking over his shoulder he used his Wing Sweep special attack and the remains of the hordes of rattlings and smashed them into the cave wall. Taking a step back and to the right James took a wide stance, the rat gorger, after screaming at the loss of its tail was so enraged that it fought through the pain and charged at James who had moved and was standing next to the cave wall. Koda had been stopping any rattling escape of the cave, he was covered in the gore of uncountable rats and his fur was matted and dripping. He looked for his next prey after James had used his special attack and only saw one. As the rat gorger was lunging at James Koda hit him as if he had been fired from a cannon, the monsters head crushed against the side of the cave wall like a melon. They exited the cave together and the trainee adventurers backed off at the sight of them, even though they had been watching through a far sight crystal the sunlight on them was making it look much worse. Taking out two bottles of crystal wash he cleaned Koda and then himself. He moved towards the group and mentally assented the loot, the cave mouth suddenly spewing rainbow smoke like a factory chimney from his old world. Instructor Trenslow looked relaxed and pleased about the encounter. I have seen a lot of messy encounters in my time as an adventurer, you looked like you had a bath in blood. Well done, you thoroughly investigated what was causing a monster infestation and solved the problem, isolating the key factor and delegating what you could to your familiar, you thoroughly prepared for the encounter and had a plan. Kyra came up and made a show of double checking his shoulder for any left-over gore before patting his back. Well done, Although I did see you technically only one punched that thing! Chapter 3 ‘Good, we can attack in any direction!’ The wagon rolled into the marshalling yard, Teddy was waiting with his sister-in-law Lucy who had permission to be out of class to meet her husband coming back in from assessment. What are the odds that the two of them didnt fight each other? Knowing my wife I dont think shed start a fight with James in front of all the other trainees, if hes annoyed her therell be hell to pay when they get back, I just wonder how much carnage Koda and Lucky caused together. The trainees all dispersed to meet their friends and relatives or household staff come to pick them up after the long journey. Instructor Trenslow came with James and Kyra to meet Teddy and Lucy. Ah, cadet Mitchell he said looking at Lucy. Hopefully my last Mitchell cadet, finally. James and Kyra looked at each other hopefully then at their assessor. Youll find out at the graduation ceremony like everyone else. He wryly smiled shaking Teddys hand. Nice to see you again, its been a while. Pleasure as always Vincent, hope they didnt give you too much trouble. Teddy winked back. Vincent Trenslow harrumphed jovially and waved a hand, moving away to finish the administration for the trip. To the Schooner? Teddy pulled Kyras arm, leading her down the street. The Schooner was a bar in Greenstone on the island, a short journey from their villa accommodation outside the city. They werent often there together as the Remore Academy Greenstone Annex was based further outside the city in the Delta on the Geller family estate and trainees tended to stay on campus rather than commute. When they were all together they frequently went to the Schooner. It was the closest thing to an Earth style English pub that they had found, with obvious Australian character. The food was second to none on the island but without being widely known and those that did know about it kept it quiet. You should have seen it! He was making an excellent point about taking your time and planning and she just runs off towards them without pausing or saying anything else! James was re-telling the story to one of the locals, having already told Teddy and Lucy about Kyras enthusiastic start to her last fight on the trip. I think its better to be enthusiastic going in rather than the opposite Teddy, looking at you No one should be keen to fight trap weaver spiders, it was scary as shit. Teddy exasperated. Teddy was in the intake above James and Lucy, having cobbled his essences and powers together slightly quicker by luck and the fact that the waiting list for the academy was years long, and the four of them only managed to get in by special circumstances but there wasnt space for them all on one intake together. The academy culminated by being booked onto an assessment, Teddy was on the assessment before this. On the previous trip, a month or so before, at a roadside notice board the deputy director of the Greenstone Adventure Society Instructor Vincent Trenslow was looking at the monster notice board, the trainees were nervously trying to look but not crowd the esteemed adventure society official. We have some Rattling notices building up but the locals should be able to deal with those, I have two notices for us to complete. A Draykul that anyone can volunteer for and a trap weaver nest that I would like to see cadet Mitchell go for. Teddy are you going to refuse? Ooft, what a treat, thanks for that, Ill take it but why me? I thought it might be interesting to see what your skill set will look like against a nest, Ive seen similar style in the past and thought you should try. Vincent replied, obviously not telling the whole truth, a serious look as he searched Teddys face for a reaction. The Draykul was a winged dinosaur-looking creature with no exotic abilities, its only characteristic is that it was aggressively territorial even before the berserk stage. An Elf with a large amount of spells took the job, they burnt through their mana in a shockingly short time, taking mana potions in quick succession and suffering a small amount of potion toxin. They succeeded in paralysing, setting on fire and piercing it with ice spears. The Draykul was dead before it hit the ground, which would have been impressive had it not crashed into a barn half full of hay, the farmer was happy to have a monster killed that was nesting in his barn but nettled that he now had to repair fire damage to the walls and the loss of some stock. The wagon rolled further out of town, where the trees grew thicker and less people travelled, ideal nesting grounds for trap weavers. Teddy was travelling up front with Vincent who kept glancing at Teddy who was uncharacteristically quiet. Do you have any questions about the trap weavers? Do you have an idea how you are going to tackle them? It was unusual for the assessor to ask questions before a notice was attempted. The judgement of the individual was part of what was being assessed. No I dont think I do. They shoot webs, bite is venomous, are fast, hard to see. Whats not to love? I wouldnt normally let a trainee tackle this alone on assessment but I trust you, dont screw it up. They stopped at the deepest set of trees and Teddy jumped off landing onto the marshy ground, he sunk to his ankles and slapped himself on the forehead in frustration. Taking a handful of water quintessence out of his inventory he let a few beads into the top of each of his blue leather boots, when he lifted one foot than the other and when he placed them down they now rested on top of the boggy ground rather than sinking into it, the water walking boots hadnt been cheap but filled a niche gap in his power set. He took a moment and breathed deep, both hands coming up together to grasp an imaginary handle in front of him, with a faint buzz, a blue light blade erupted in front of him, a blade of emptiness surrounded by a corona of blue. Ability: [Dimension Blade] (Dimension) Conjuration (blade, teleport) Cost: extreme low mana, increasing with target being cut Cool-down: none Current rank: Iron 8 (80%) He dismissed the blade and looked at Vincent. Im ready. Good. Vincent said, I dont know what it means but your brother asked me to tell you: may some force be with you? Teddy waved laughing at Vincents quizzical expression, turning and running into the dark trees, his feet making no sound on the wet ground and leaving no trace, he merged with the darkness just before he got to the trees. He kept running, getting deeper into the trees, feeling like he was purposely walking into a trap, and he was, he could see them all around him. Just barely, his powers wouldnt let him pierce the darkness but any movement was slowed down so he could pick out the detail even in the shadows. It started with one, pressed against the trunk in the fork of a tree watching him push deeper, then another on his other side, two ahead on his left and three on the right. He had to slow when he saw two maybe three ahead. He was surrounded. Using an awful American accent he had a short conversation with himself; Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Sir were surrounded! He paused then stopped, good, we can attack in any direction! Either the atrocious false accent or that their prey had stopped was like a starting gun to the spiders all shooting webs simultaneously at Teddy. Teddy thought back to his first weeks in this new world. . Teddy, Kyra, James and Lucy had woken up in a field. Which to clarify was unusual, they liked a drink but always managed to find their way back to their own houses. Bleary eyed and confused Teddy sat up, all he could remember was being sat outside at a small table in the late summer sun trying to relax whilst keeping an eye out for seagulls trying to steal their bag of crisps on the table. Kyra and Teddy were visiting James and Lucy at their house, having a drink in their garden. That was the last he could remember, wondering if he had been drugged he looked around and saw the others, Kyra was closest, curled up on the floor, he rolled her over to see if she was ok and she dropped a cube she had been holding. She opened her eyes, looking just as confused. James and Lucy made movements as well, both going to each other and cubes dropped to the floor from where they had been curled up. Seeing Kyra was getting her bearings Teddy looked back to the dent in the grass where he had been laying. A cube lay there. Looking like a hole in the universe radiating outwards. He shuffled slightly on his knees to pick it up and writing appeared in the air in front of him. Item: [Dimension Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of dimensional forces (consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened dimension essence ability and 4 unawakened dimension essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Dimension Essence] Absorb Y/N? What the hell? Teddy was staring at the cube in his hand when he felt Kyras hand on his shoulder. Teddy, whats going on? I dont remember how we got here and this cube is doing something weird. She passed him the glowing yellow cube in her hand and he reflexively took it. Item: [Life Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Pure Life (consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Life essence ability and 4 unawakened Life essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Life Essence] Absorb Y/N? A deep rumbling voice boomed like an unstoppable force echoing over the grassy hills they found themselves on, This one is not meant for you. Teddy dropped the cube in his surprise. Kyra looked at him in annoyance. Why did you drop it? Did you not hear that? He replied Hear what? Were here alone. She bent down to pick up the cube, It did it again! What does it mean? She span round in a circle. Where is the writing coming from?! Teddy, are you and Kyra ok? Lucy and I woke up with these and something weird happens when we hold them, weirder than waking up here. He said looking around, James had come over holding Lucys hand, both had a cube in their other hand. Yeh Kyra and I have the same Teddy said holding them out we have Dimension and Life, what did you guys get? Eagle and Magic, thats weird right? This is all so weird is it all magic or just Lucys cube? Teddy placed his cube down on the ground and Kyra placed hers with it, James and Lucy followed suit, all surrounding them and looking at them. What should we do with them? Lucy asked. This is not a committee, you have each been given these essences for a reason. The same booming voice sounded out across the hills, this time the others could very obviously hear the authoritative voice and feel the crushing feeling like a great weight on top of them as they cowered and looked around for the source. As they did they all looked across the same side of the field as they heard a boom. A streak in the air was heading right towards them and the object hit the ground in their field, driving a furrow towards them, a robed man wearing armour jogged out of what was now obviously his hasty landing and slowed to walk towards the group. Good morning, my god has sent me at very short notice to attend you all, he has made clear you know nothing about what is going on. Its my privilege to inform you that you have been contacted by the god Hero, now if you could all pick up the essences you were given I have some explaining to do. The mysterious stranger had said his piece and disappeared, they had all accepted their essences. Theodore Mitchell Essence Abilities Dimension -Dimension Blade Ability: [Dimension Blade] (Dimension) Conjuration (blade, teleport) Base cost: extreme low mana, increasing with target being cut Cool-down: none Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Create a Dimensional Rift no longer than 2m, effectively works as a sword, and teleports anything it comes into contact with to another dimension. Higher rank items and targets will require more mana. Kyra Mitchell Essence Abilities Life -Life bolt -Ability: [Life bolt] (Life) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): A bolt will be fired on casting causing a small amount of healing to a single target. Life bolt has an extreme reaction to undead targets. Lucy Mitchell Essence Abilities Magic -Magical Master Ability: [Magical Master] (Magic) Special ability (Perception) Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Significantly increase mana available. Can see magic. James Mitchell Essence Abilities Eagle -Vision of the eagle Ability: [Vision of the eagle] (Eagle) Special ability Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Can zoom vision up to 10x They had been told they needed to head south to a town called Greenstone and head to the temple district. Two weeks into the trip their journey had been arduous and they knew from talking to locals they were only halfway, it was evening and they were in the most peril they had been in so far. James had seen the fire and smoke from a long way off and Lucy had seen a swirling confluence of energies she now understood to be magic. Teddy had been busy, he had the only combat power in the group and he was learning the hard way that this new world was not safe. They had all talked one night and James and Teddy agreed the Ben Parker rule with great power comes great responsibility. Lucy and Kyra agreed, the people they passed had little in the way to protect themselves and they could help. And that is how the group found themselves in a small burning village with two giant spiders. The villagers had called them Trap Weavers and for the last few nights they had gone berserk and rushed out the trees to attack the houses. The first spider was dead, a portion of its head missing like it had been lasered off. The second spider was advancing on Teddy who was on his back on the floor, bleeding from a leg wound and shuffling to get away from the man-sized spider. Suddenly James and Lucy appeared on the low thatch rooftops either side of the street, pelting the spider with rocks, it reared, angered at being surprised. Kyra took her moment, raising her hand and whispering life bolt at Teddy, dropping to her knees in pain holding her head, they were learning about mana and how it turned out they never had enough, the fight had been too long and too messy, Kyras one healing power had been needed more than she could handle. Teddy got to his knees, his leg good enough to take his weight. He snatched a blue potion from his pocket and quaffed it. You have used a mana potion when you have the residual effects from a previous potion. You have been afflicted with [Potion Toxicity] Potion barely takes effect. Suffer minor damage from [Potion Toxicity] It had hurt but it had been enough, he stood, the spider crashing in front of him from rearing at the thrown rocks, it opened its maw to hiss at its prey, Teddy stuck his hand in its mouth and activated his blade chew on this you creepy eyed weirdo, piercing the top of its mouth and the top of its head. They both crashed to the ground, the spider dead. Teddy completely drained. Snapping out of his reverie of the past he was back in the moment. To Teddy the webs werent fast, they were a speeding bullet to anyone without the right abilities but they seemed to move towards Teddy at a sedate pace. He activated a dimension ability while jumping into the air, all the webs hit the rift he had left behind, a wall of notifications appeared in his vision, he read the first one and pushed them aside. This gives me a excellent idea. Vincent had waited a long time debating, all the other trainees had started to mutter, there wasnt a time limit as such to each encounter but to take this long, having shown previous competence in the trip was unusual. He decided to leave the other trainees, telling them firmly to stay with the wagon on the road and headed in. He slowly crept up onto the sounds of the still snarling and screaming monsters, what he found bewildered him. Immobilised either by missing limbs or tied to trees with reinforced ropes and pitons were the remains of the trap weavers, a few had been killed outright but the majority remained. As they noticed him they snarled and shot webs at him, he prepared his defences but a blur appeared in front of him and a slice of unreality appeared shimmering between him and the webs. Do you know how hard I had to work to get them to shoot in the right place? Teddy said. What in the gods name is going on here? Vincent asked. Well, the last time Gilbert brought a stand to the academy grounds he mentioned that trap weaver silk is incredibly valuable and incredibly hard to procure, once it dries its useless, turns out, if they fire it straight into my storage space it perfectly preserves it as a crafting material! Vincent gave him a long look. Yes, very similar in some ways to the person I knew before, clean this up and get back to the road, Im here to assess cadets, not make sure you can line your pockets. He shook his head and made his way back to the road, wondering if all outworlders were this blas in their adventuring or just the ones he had met. A month later in the the present day he now sat with his wife and brother celebrating their Adventure Society assessment Teddy reflected that he never asked Vincent what he really meant back then. He had got a good price for the Trap Weaver silk from Gilbert and had made the tradesmans day when he presented it. Chapter 4 ‘Thousands of innocent lives’ Teddy woke up on a luxury double bed on his own. The solitude was not going to last long, soon Kyra would be staying in the villa with him and James would be occupying the room for Lucy and himself, hell be able to enjoy the luxury of a double bed to himself for a month until Lucy passed her adventurer assessment. The villa was a collection of low shallow sloping roofed houses. Two annexes that had a bedroom and bathroom in each attached to the main building with the kitchens, living rooms and dining room, a large patio with a barbecue and furniture looked out back towards the delta with a small outbuilding that had a few guest rooms in it. The whole villa was walled in and had its own stables, gym, training rooms and workshops. The main gates faced the city of Greenstone, a ten minute ride to the city gates. The villa had previously belonged to the church of Hero and had been given, writ and deed, to the Mitchells. It was still early in the morning but not as early as the cadets woke at the academy, even on their graduation day. James, Lucy and Kyra had left late last night, having to take a late carriage out to the delta to their rooms at the academy on the Geller estate. Teddy washed up and headed downstairs, he had let their villa steward Gerald know that he was out early and that he wouldnt be needing breakfast. Gerald was up and about, seemingly like he never went to sleep. A large well built man, Gerald was, a lifetime ago, from the northern tribes and spoke with a thick accent. They kept trying to pry the story out of him how he made such a cultural change. He was leading a Hidal towards him. Aye Mr Mitchell, I figured youd be off early to meet them for the parade. Hidal is all good to go and Ive packed some vittles in the saddle bags, plus a wee bottle o summit for after theyve got their badges to celebrate. Gerald thats fantastic thankyou, well be back this afternoon and then remember we should be out for the rest of the week so make sure you go out and have some time to yourself while the house is empty. No worries sir, Ill be off tomorrow afternoon to see the family for a spell. Teddy shook his hand and leapt onto the Hidal, hed been travelling a lot and knew the beasts well and what they will take from adventurer behaviour. He left the villa behind, heading out of town on the embankment road towards the Geller estate. As he got near the estate he merged with other traffic. Some of the riders and carriage drivers he recognised, he wasnt the only recent graduate to know people in the intake below and heading back to see them pass the academy. They were let through the gates with no problem, their adventurer badges with a Remore ribbon granting automatic access to the grounds, families in carriages were being stopped to be checked to grant access, Geller bronze rank security swiftly processing everyone through. The grounds of the Geller estate were a work of art, Lucy had been stunned when she had walked through on their first visit. She had tried to explain it but admitted herself that she lacked the understanding in order to try and give the others a good idea of what was going on. The whole expanse was a natural array, the architects had planned when sowing the gardens how each of the magical plants would interact with each other in decades to come when they planted them. Teddy was very familiar with the layout, when the students had downtime they caught up on work, socialised or meditated. Teddy liked to walk the grounds and find shadowy nooks to meditate in away from the bustle of the training grounds, the occasional coming and going of the other occupants of the gardens giving him focus points for observational training with his aura. He made his way swiftly through the grounds, the other guests all meandering towards the large open square where a bandstand had been set up at one end and rows of low benches at the opposite side. He was making his way towards the large building that was the mirage chamber, around the back he saw the series of ledges and jumped for the first one, now he was sure that no one was going to accidentally walk into it he used his dimension rift power to teleport up to the roof. Ability: [Dimension Rift] (Dimension) Spell: Teleport, Short range astral tunnel Cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 4 (15%) Effect: Iron. A rift in reality appears, the caster is able to travel through into another rift opening in short range of the first, anything that comes into contact with either rift will be partially teleported to another dimension, strength of material in contact will effect how much of an effect the rift will have. Alternate use, the caster can open a single rift and use it as dimensional storage. Duration: The amount of mana imbued will depend how long the rift stays open. He had been up here many times, it was an open secret amongst the trainees that this was one of the quietest places to come and meditate, many didnt have that freedom, still needing guidance on meditation that kept them close to the training grounds. Teddy walked to the edge of the roof looking over at the preparations for the graduation. There was security walking the grounds as there were groups out there in the city that didnt want the Remore Greenstone annex to be a success as it unbalanced the power dynamic of the region. Long had it been that those from families that could afford to find essences and awakening stones, then afford the training to become competent would become adventurers. The adventurer class would then dominate the city and set the balance of power. The academy was looking to revolutionise the process. For very affordable rates they offered both essences and awakening stones to those who showed aptitude. Using the wealth of the Remore academy they offered them on a zero interest loan. The graduates were then indentured to pay the academy a percentage back directly from their pay as adventurers, the fees handled by the society itself. The society was in favour, for a small fee they paid to the academy what they got was a yearly quota of adventurers with at least a minimum output standard from the academy, a standard that was lacking in Greenstone, the academy refused to be a pay to pass venture, if you didnt meet the standard you stayed, the cost being added to your indenture, this very rarely happened with the aptitude input test ensuring that the starting standard was high enough and the excellent instruction made the most of each candidate. Teddy hadnt found what hed expected when he got to the top of the building. He gently pushed out his aura, being careful to not spook any of the many essence users present. He soon felt a familiar wrongness approach him. An ethereal presence, looking like the ghost of a warrior monk. He had focussed his aura onto the presence and felt the surge of effort the man made to materialise fully into the world. Priest Teddy greeted him. Outworlder, soon you will all be comfortably on your way, your purpose will soon be fulfilled. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Teddy nodded. Your purpose for us will be, whatever that is. he emphasised. Then we have to find out what our purpose is afterwards. The wraith priest nodded. Ill not keep you here long, I will not be joining you below I find this form uncomfortable and others are uncomfortable around my other form. Be it known to you and yours that my god is well pleased with you all, the graduation today is well earned and he is keen to see you make your battlefields, the sorceress will not be far behind. Teddy thought about Lucy, still in training for another intake, it was a shame but the waiting list had been long and the four of them were lucky to only be spread over three intakes, knowing that her essences and power she unlocked first were the least direct combat related she had taken the last intake. Were grateful for him getting us to where we are, he was clear when he will need us next, well get there as soon as the four of us can. He knows youre motivated and is glad, those that yearn for battle have a special place in his sight. He wanted me to pass on some information. The stone of awakening the sorceress is desiring is in this place. He handed Teddy a scroll. Map has been acquired, add locations to [Minimap] Y/N? Teddy added a copy of the map to his Minimap racial gift and opened it, not visible to anyone else without the same interface he accepted the marked location as a waypoint and saw the distance. Well we were roughly planning on heading out for a few days, this has filled that plan. Thankyou. You are welcome, put the knowledge and the power to good use in his name. He turned and left, blending away into his wraith form, Teddy watched him go and pitied the man, his essence combinations had made him a leper of society. Most powers were accepted by the masses, the fundamental shift he had gone through had given him incredible power but incompatible with a normal life. Teddy jumped off the roof, taking a mid air step just above the ground to cushion his fall, he fell in with the crowd and headed to the bandstand, taking a seat. The stands were full, families and friends all collected together to see their loved ones in their moment of triumph. The penultimate intake were seated on the benches opposite the large open square. Having recently been through the process himself Teddy knew what they were feeling, so close to the end, still so much to do, the pressure was increasing, the assessment fatigue of being tested Every. Single. Day. and being held to the standard Every. Single. Day. was exhausting. Every student felt it. Knowing they were only a few bad days away from picking a new career, a new career with a lot of debt for the essences and awakening stones selected. They all went in knowing the risk, and the due diligence from the academy meant sure there were no hard feelings, the aptitude tests to get in were rigorous. That didnt change the fact that the course was punishing and the standards were set incredibly high. Being sat in those benches gave them a fresh perspective. With their friends and peers in front of them for the last time as cadets, having earned their places as adventurers, ex students in the grandstand to come and show support, and the hope that their friends and families would soon be in the bandstand watching them gave them new strength to drive hard on the course. Teddy could see Lucy on the end of a row chatting to some friends as they waited. The graduating course came out of a nearby building, separating into three rows walking onto the square. Teddy knew the three rows were the thirds for how high the cadets graduated in their course, it meant nothing beyond the academy but was a point of pride for today, the first row nearest the grandstand being the top third. Teddy could see both James and Kyra were in the front row. A tall man with brown hair and an air of authority stepped forward. Teddy smiled fondly at the kind man, it was Rashid Flonds, the Chief of Instructors at the annex. It gives me great pleasure to be here today. It is a privilege for any instructor to see their charges flourish and succeed, some have overcome great struggles, all have had themselves tested and made stronger for it. We believe at this school that there is no greater responsibility than that which you now face, you are the sword that stands between the evil in this world and the innocents. If that means that you must become sharp like the sword and lose your own innocence then that is the burden you bear. The badges that you are about to receive are proof that you have earned that right, to defend the people of this world and to receive their thanks. There is a great deal of trust in that badge, we have deemed you worthy on completion of this school to shoulder that trust and not to abuse it. An elderly elf stood up, Teddy recognised her as the Director of the Greenstone adventure society Genevieve Picot. And we of the Adventure society have taken you from the academy and assessed you and found that the training is exemplary. We are here today to present you with your Adventure Society badges, recognised around the world as a symbol of your status. Here to present them to you is a special guest. A dark skinned man stood up from where he was sat in the VIP position next to the Director and the Annex Chief of Instructors. There was a blank aura where he was standing, as he took position on the podium he let a little leak out, his gold rank aura washing over the crowd ever so slightly. Gabrielle Remore needed no introduction. During his infrequent visits to the annex he always spent more time with the students than with the staff, taking the role more of a tutor than the owner of not only the Annex but the very prestigious school in Vitesse that the sons and daughters of kings vied for a place. My son, who set up this annex, once told me that he was conflicted about leaving his adventurer life to become a teacher. That it was an abandonment of his duty to the people he had sworn to protect. He received some wise advice from a friend of his, every student that you teach will go on to save maybe one person a week, if you can train one person thats an extra life a week you have saved. He looked at every trainee dead in the eye, one after another while he spoke. This graduation means that the safety of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent lives just became that much more secure. I implore you, on leaving these grounds today not to relax. The standards we have set are not the school standard, they are not the test standard, they are the standard for being adventurers, the ribbons you are being given on your badges hold my name, and will open some doors for you. But do not tarnish that name, in this region you will be seen as an elite Iron adventurers, act like it. He smiled, turning to Rashid and Vincent who was standing behind Genevieve. And now, it is time to give you what you all deserve so thoroughly. The four of them made their way down the rows, Vincent pulling the cadets badge out of his storage for Genevieve to hand to the cadet with a handshake, next Gabrielle Remore shook hands with the cadet and muttered a few nice personal words to each, pinning a ribbon into the leather wallet that held their society badge. Lastly came Rashid, the most constant presence in the academy and he shook the hand of each cadet and congratulated them. When they had finished the back row Gabrielle turned to the cadets on the benches behind. Now you have seen your peers achieve the first step in their adventuring career, know that you are not far behind, push, push for greatness in this last term! He moved to the end of the row to speak quietly to one cadet as Rashid cleared the square of the new adventurers to go to their families and friends. Danya, do not be disheartened. You knew yourself you were not ready for the assessment this time around. Anywhere else and you would have passed, but this is not just anywhere else and you know you want to say you stand shoulder to shoulder with your friends here, one more term and you will be ready, I have seen that it is free of charge. Danya sat on the bench with her frog familiar on her shoulder gobsmacked. The sole attention of the gold ranker was overwhelming. The gratitude she felt from his encouragement and the extra training free of charge was beyond generous. S,s,s,s,sir! Thankyou! He smiled and patted her on the shoulder before moving away to the group of prestigious high society waiting for him at the buffet table set out for the graduates. Teddy walked over to meet James and Kyra, Lucy had made her way back to the training grounds as they were not allowed at the after party, she waved before leaving and blew James a kiss. Teddy made a small slash in the air, just large enough for his fist and reached in, pulling out a the bottle Gerald had handed him that morning, the rift closing just after the bottle. Time to celebrate? He said with a grin, gave his brother a manly hug with much back thumping and put an arm around Kyras slender waist. One more to go and then were on our way. Chapter 5 ‘Well that’s just petty’ Kyra woke up next to Teddy. It was still early but she felt content that she neither had the rush to get up to the breakfast bar to jostle with the other trainees or get up to make the most of her weekend before rushing back to the academy on a seventhday evening. Teddy must have felt her wake up because he rolled over to look at her. Morning sunshine. Morning Mr Sleepyhead They had finished the bottle that Gerald had given them the day before, James and Teddy having the lions share. He had fallen asleep hard and slept like a log the whole night. That was a bad idea, I didnt think it would feel this bad to have a hangover as an iron ranker! Come on, get up, a bit of training and meditation will sort you out before we leave. They both got up and dressed, leaving their annex heading towards the main building, before they entered the communal area Kyra paused, looked towards the wing which was James and Lucys quarters, Lucy had left late the night before, the carriage driver not looking best pleased at how drunk she was. Kyra knelt down and spread her hand on the flagstone floor, the stones lifted and rippled away from her like a narrow wave, building in size, shallow at first but gaining as it washed towards the building, it slipped under the wall and there was a muffled thump from the ceiling inside. What the bloody hell?! Came a sleepy hungover voice from inside. Kyra giggled and rushed into the communal area, Teddy shaking his head following her. As they were setting out juice, bread and fruit a disgruntled James appeared. From their previous world James was tall. At six foot four he had towered, after his essences getting him to iron rank he was now easily seven foot tall. His beard had thickened and darkened matching his hair which was now a mane which constantly had to be tied back. He was wearing a Gi, the clothing that most of them chose to wear at home for comfort and training, local tailors were used to catering to oversized clientele and so it fit him well. He had thickened all over, powerful muscles, not sculpted but bursting with power, his build would put him at a mix of Mr Olympia and the worlds strongest man, a mountainous being that hovered at the edge of primal violence. Being woken up by a small earthquake that knocked his head into the ceiling whilst having a headache completed the look. He was every inch the bear roused from hibernation. Kyra, theres nicer ways of waking someone up, next time I need to wake you maybe Ill ask the local rodent population if they fancy a nice warm bed to snuggle in. Steady on bro! I sleep in that bed too! Teddy held his hands up wanting to stay out of it. Well then control your wife. James said grumpily and sat down tearing into a bread roll. No one controls me you big oaf, and put that down. She slapped the bread out of his hand. Training and meditation then breakfast. James glowered at her and put the bread on his plate then stood up leaving it on the bar, he walked over to the training room, the others following. He grabbed two staves and threw one roughly at Kyra. I think we should start with some sparring then. He took a stance and smirked at Kyra. Every time they sparred he thrashed her with his strength, she was no lightweight, her earth essence powers made her stronger than she appeared and the martial training they received made them all some of the best fighters in the area, Kyras finesse was some of the most delicate in the class. But get whipped repeatedly by a stave from James still hurt, a lot. Im going to leave you guys to sort this out. Teddy made his way round the edge of the training space as Kyra set her face in grim determination and squared off against James. Teddy made his way to the training dummy, a fixed pole in the ground with some basic magic that made the multiple arms spin towards the person using it in a random way, speeding up until it was unmanageable. Teddy started slow, casually punching the first limb away and raising his arm to block the attack coming from the other direction, another limb came around from the left towards his belt, a quick snap kick met it. The limb that came over the top of the dummy was much fast than the last, coming over directly towards Teddys head, it was speeding up in relation to Teddys reaction speed. But Teddy was speeding up as well. Ability: [By a Thousand Cuts] (Swift) Cost: Nil Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 7 (05%) Effect: Iron. Successful hits cause an instance of [Rapid]. [Rapid]. Buff. Stacking. Increases attack speed. To Teddy it became a metronome of activity, slipping into a comfortable rhythm he just kept thumping the wooden dummy again and again. From the outside it became a blur, normal or even iron rank eyes couldnt keep up. Teddy could rarely get his power to stack this far, iron rank monsters either not having the health to take it for long enough or evading and breaking the stacking buff. He finally stepped back away from the dummy. Sweating and panting, having got to the limit of his iron rank stamina. He saw on his interface the green bar was completely empty. It sat next to his blue bar of mana which was completely full and his health that was a healthy green coloured manakin. He went back to the breakfast bar and grabbed a large glass, emptying a stamina potion into it and topping it off with juice he headed back to watch Kyra and James spar. The fight looked like David vs Goliath. The slender Kyra looked tiny against James. She whirled and whipped around, her long hair chasing her movement. She baited him, knowing his strengths and, well, not his weakness per se but how not to get trounced by his overmatching strength. She had to make him break his stance and come towards her, his bulwark power made him unfairly powerful to attack and she had to rely on making him come after her and counter attacking him. Ability: [Standing Kodak] (Bear) Cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 4 (95%) Effect: Iron. 2 footed planted attacks 200% damage. Absorb 50% of incoming damage. Must be stationary to be in effect. His additional ridiculous 400% damage buff for unarmed attacks was negated by his use of the training stave but the double damage on defensive attacks was not something that Kyra wanted to deal with. For such a large man he was not as slow as he looked, light on his feet he had iron rank agility and the skills developed over generations of training adventurers drilled into him. The fight was unnervingly even, as long as Kyra kept James moving their strength was roughly matched, an oddity from their size difference. In the end it came down to stamina and who tired quicker and James was just bigger. Kyra, tired, snap kicked James in the shin, then danced forward, chasing James step back, he blocked her stave high then shifted his weight onto his back foot ready to spring forward. Kyra read the movement and started to spin into a high kick aiming for his head. James had feinted, the soles of his feet were flat against the floor, he grunted with the effort as he swung his stave from off-balance at Kyras mid rift, hitting her square and sending her flying. Her back crashed against the wall of the training room, a definitive end to the session. Lucky spilled from her hair, putting his paws on her legs and licking her face in concern. Im ok boy, its fine, just winded. James walked over and helped her up. He scowled as he noticed her familiars healing was not effecting him. Well thats just petty Kyra. He helped her to her feet and showed the number of thin bruises from her stave and her kicks. She gave him a rueful smile and stroked Lucky, James then felt the dogs aura wash over him, slowly healing his aches, the red welts visibly reducing. They headed over to the breakfast bar to join Teddy. Grabbing plates and glasses of juice they tucked in. They had been training for little over an hour. The sun was just coming over the top of the city. They sat and ate breakfast in silence, winding down from their training. After breakfast they all went their own ways, Kyra went to the rear of the complex, a pillar of stone rising from the ground, as it rose she settled cross legged onto it gazing over the wall and the Delta. James walked to the middle of the garden and settled amongst the trees. Teddy jumped to the roof, sat at the peak gazing out over the city, one leg dangling over the eaves. They all meditated for a while until the sun had fully cleared the city skyline. After their meditation, in the main room of the communal area was a large table, made of dark wood it was surrounded by high back chairs. Kyra and James lounged while Teddy set up a white screen. It was made of a thin sheet of white marble, very faint lines running through it. It was impregnated with magic, Teddy stood with a wand in his hand, using it as a pen on the stone like a whiteboard. So everyones favourite acolyte of the Hero found me at your graduation, hes given me the location of something were apparently after. He said that its something Lucy is after. How does he know what Lucy is after? James asked. Because Hero gave it to him to pass on, which means that its definitely something we want to get for her. Now, I dont know what it is exactly, all Ive been given is a location. He brought up his Minimap in large in front of him, the others, having the same interface could see it even though they didnt have their own and couldnt manipulate it. You can see that its out in the wilds, beyond the delta. The ground becomes quite rocky and open out there with some hills. What kind of monsters can we expect to find out there? Kyra asked. I think thats the point actually, I couldnt figure out why he just gave us a location. Turns out there is a particular kind of monster out there that is famous for finding and guarding awakening stones. He pulled up the monster index and placed it against the stone board, the page copying and enlarging onto it. Sicklecrows, they hunt in packs, incredibly territorial. The pack is normally led by a Raptor, which is bronze rank. He paused, this would be the first time they had chosen to go against a bronze rank monster. James picked up the narrative. They hide in the canyons waiting for passing caravans and pounce on them. Highly camouflaged, they are a mix of velociraptor and chameleon. Cute chicken velociraptors or Jurassic Park velociraptors? Kyra asked. Yes. Teddy answered, smiling at Kyra. Eurgh, you know theres only a finite amount of love Teddy, you just keeping chipping away when you do that. Hes not wrong. James interrupted before Kyra threw something at his brother. The Sicklecrows are just over knee height and the Raptor should be able to look me in the eye. They sat for another hour, planning the route and what they would need to get them there and some strategies for how to deal with the pack. Everyone ready to go in half an hour? Teddy asked. Lets do it. James went to push his chair backwards from the table and toppled over backwards, conjured stone wedges had risen from behind the legs of his chair causing it to pivot around them. By the time he got up he could just about see the last whip of golden hair and a giggle disappearing around the door. Chapter 6 ‘Good news and Bad news’ Teddy and Kyra were lying on their fronts on the roof of a mud dwelling, long ago abandoned by the desert people, the arid conditions had been too much and the entire population had shifted to more temperate climes. It was the sort of situation where you would expect them to both be using binoculars, staring down the desert towards the canyon dipping away. They didnt need any binos as James was lying on his back at their feet, well away from the edge, his eyes were closed and body relaxed. He was deftly manipulating his aura power to envelope the rooftop without it going any further. Ability: [Rise] (Eagle) Aura (Spirit) (Boon) Cost: None. Cool-down: None. Current rank: Iron 5 (40%) Effect (iron): Allies within you aura have their perception and perception powers significantly increased. Allies spirit attribute will be temporarily increased. Enemies within the aura will have a sense of dread of a predator above. Kyra and Teddy could concentrate and see much further than they otherwise should be able to. Teddy looked up, he could see a pair of vultures circling high above. I still think its creepy. He said to Kyra. I know, interrupting them when theyre eating roadkill and I assume just asking them to come along for more dead things we leave behind? The vultures had been snacking on some kind of deceased creature on the outskirts of the delta, James had gone forward to them and held a silent conversation, neither Teddy or Kyra had understood the exchange but James explained that the desert was going to be barren of most life and it would be his last chance to convince the wild creatures to come along and help. Thats where James was now, high above his consciousness was piggybacking one of the large birds, his Birds of a Feather power allowed him to see the world through the eyes of nearby birds, the limitation at iron rank was that it took almost all of his concentration and he couldnt use it on the move. Its damn useful though. James said sitting up. What did you find? Teddy asked, rolling on his side to look back at James. Theres three packs of monsters in there, spread down the canyon. I have good news and bad news. Bad news? Kyra asked, not turning around, now the only one watching the canyon. Well the good news is that Ive found the pack of Sicklecrows, no sign of the Raptor but theres lots of twists and turns down the canyon they might be hidden. Kyra turned around just long enough to shoot him a scowl for not giving the bad news first then turned back to the canyon. The bad news is that they are the last pack along the canyon, the magical sandstorms we were warned about are ravaging the tops either side of the canyon so theres no way around, we have to go through. Ok, whatre we dealing with for the first two monsters? Teddy asked, pulling out his monster reference guide. I recognised the first as Sand Dogs. None of them needed to reference the guide, it was an easy enough monster they all had regularly trained against in the mirage trainer in desert environments, low level iron rank, they manifested as a pack of a dozen or so and were subsequently low powered. They were dangerous during the monster surges as they numbered in the hundreds. The second group were a pair of what looked like a lizard crossed with an armadillo, about fifteen foot long, but intersecting plates of armour, looked pretty tough. Here we go Teddy said, finding the most likely culprit. Armoured Lounge-Lizards, high end of Iron rank, normal earth affinity you would expect in this area. Highly defensive and territorial. Deal out large damage singular attacks at moderate speed. If pushed too far they will resort to curling up, dramatically increasing their defence and only strong bronze attacks will pierce the armour. So take it down hard and really fast so it doesnt clam up? Even though Kyra was the team healer she had a penchant for violence. Just so, I saw eleven dogs, the two lizards and around eight Sicklecrows, but theyre small and moved fast, Ill see if my friends can move closer when we do but I didnt want to spook them. Eleven dogs should be easy enough for the three of us, they all move pretty close, we try and bunch them together and make a coordinated attack to take them all without making any noise, then well still have the element of surprise for the lizards, we probably cant afford to take them down quickly and silently but well use that to draw the last group in. Ill take left James, centre and Kyra take right. Coord through the interface. They all nodded at each other and started moving, James casually strolling towards the pack, Kyra took off at a run and Teddy loped slightly slower. The Sand dogs were hairy mis-shaped creatures, the size of large Rottweilers. Longer angled heads ended with mismatched teeth. They were shades of brown, mottled to match in with the rocks around them. Large stiff whiskers looped over their backs from their necks, these they used to whip around and fight each other for dominance in the pack. Looking at the pack they were mostly grouped together with only two loose on the left. He concentrated and a countdown timer appeared in the corner of his vision with five seconds. The others also saw it, Kyra judged the distance and put on a burst of speed timing it so she would hit when the timer reached zero. She smashed into the flank, a rising knee snapping the neck of the small creature. Barely slowing her momentum her conjured sword glittering flashed left then right, cutting so deeply into the necks of the two more dogs they were almost decapitated. Her run finished with a lunging thrust, a perfect fencing move, striking in between the eyes of the last monster on her side. James looked at the middle of the monsters, he blinked out of existence, appearing above the pack, he smashed down into them as the timer reached zero, suddenly accelerated to terminal velocity from only twenty feet high. His fist smashed a dog into the ground, crumpling it like a brown paper bag, his left leg was extended to the side, from the calf down was transfigured into a birds talon, claws rent through a second dogs head. The third dog just in front of him he bodily grabbed and pulled the head and neck apart until they were only held by one stubborn tendon. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Teddy saw the countdown timer reaching two seconds, he slashed the air to his left, a small rift appeared, he dashed through it and popped out of the corresponding rift near one of the outlier dogs and punch the dog before ducking back in. The dog turned, instinctively snapping at the arm that was retreating and closed its mouth around the dimensional rift, suddenly its body just ended at the neck, head completely gone. The second outlier turned to see the commotion with an open mouth, a dark sliver of shadow was thrown with extreme accuracy and curving up to hit the roof of hits mouth, up into its brain killing it instantly, the shard power wasnt powerful but accurate and swift, only the extreme weakness of the monsters allowed it to kill it so easily. In a shadowy blur Teddy was standing next to James and Kyra, the last two monsters had crosses cut deep into their foreheads and a blue blade was casually held out to Teddys side. The loudest sound was the muffled thump of James hitting the sand, all eleven Sand Dogs were dead in seconds without managing to make a sound. James had already taken a knee and had his eyes closed, after a few seconds he stood up and opened his eyes. All good, the lizards havent noticed anything. Are we waiting until weve dealt with all three groups before looting I assume? No harm in being careful and looting them all at the end Teddy replied, thinking ahead to the lizards. Were going in hard and loud, James, can you take one alone? Yes, Ive got enough tricks to tie it up for a while. Have you got enough to do it without Koda? I want him and Kyras diamond golem to take the far end incase were not quick enough and we get visitors. Teddy looked at James nodding, he looked at Kyra who also nodded. Ok then, James you take the far lizard and Kyra and I will take the near one, Kyra, go hard with boulders and smash it back against the canyon wall, Ill commit a big chunk of mana to this one to try and hold it and close in quick. Ready team? Break. Kyra rolled her eyes. Teddy were not an american football team, I dont know what you mean when you say break. You can get it through context! They all strolled calmly on the desert canyon floor, as they rounded the corner they saw the lizards, long and thick they skittered on all fours. Their backs were the height of Teddy standing. James made a Break message appear on the interface as he teleported above the lizard, this time almost to the height of the canyon. He used the fall time to check for any sign of the Sicklecrows, nothing to be seen yet. He plummeted towards the lizard, a thick armoured hammerhead transfigured from his neck but proportionally thicker and with armoured scales like the lizard itself, he smashed headfirst into the back of the neck of the lizard, its legs giving out as it was badly stunned. As James rolled with the blow his head was already back to normal by the time he stood. He used his de-buff on the lizard. Hear me Roar! Essence power [Apex Predator] has lowered [Armoured Lounge-Lizard] defences. [Armoured Lounge-Lizard] is more susceptible to attacks. The sound of it trembled in every direction with the underlying threatening challenge. There was no way the Sicklecrows werent going to know they were there now. He released Koda who lumbered up the canyon and stood facing away from the fight. James whole body shrunk in every direction by a few inches, but he still had size to spare. Between the surprise of the attack and the damage already inflicted by his diving special attack the lizard was starting to curl into a defensive ball. Quicker than the eye can follow James used his prehensile tail, still under the boon of his Scurry power which gave him faster reflexes at the start of a fight. His tail grabbed the lounge lizards tail and his left hand grabbed it by the protruding jaw line of the lizard. He pulled it around until it was sideways in front of him and started pummelling it with his right fist. The first few blows didnt seem to have much effect, the lizard still trying to twist and turn out of his grip. The lizards claws raking at James who deftly moved out of their way, only being clipped by weak flailing attacks. He continued to hammer away, the strength of the blows starting to cave in the lizards chest. The disparity between even his enormous size and the colossal blows was helped by two of his powers from his bear essence. Ability:[Standing Kodak] (Bear) Passive power Current rank: Iron 6 (65%) Effect (iron): 2 foot planted attacks deal 200% more damage. Absorbs 50% of incoming damage. Ability: [Bear (Bare) Arms] (Bear) Passive power Current rank: Iron 5 (15%) Effect (iron): Unarmed attacks do 400% damage The stacking effect of these two powers meant that he was punching eight times harder than he would normally. And for an iron ranker he was at the stronger end of the scale for adventurers. The lizard stopped struggling but James didnt stop, the massive internal damage he was dealing would stop the lizard but it was at the top end of iron rank and would recover. He kept punching the monster feeling the flesh begin to soften. He finally punched through the armoured skin into the monster. You have defeated [Armoured Lounge-Lizard] Kyra had rolled her eyes at the Break message on the interface. A mirror appeared in her hand, one of the useful advantages to her storage power was that items came out in the same manner in which they went in, as she looked at a section of the canyon floor in the mirror a circle of diamond dust appeared in a circle. She willed power into it and her diamond golem rose from the ground, the dust absorbing into the floor like sugar into a latte. The golem rumbled off to the end of the canyon and settled into a squat next to Koda. She and Teddy rushed towards their lizard. She stopped, thrusting both hands out wrists together, a large boulder appeared above her head and hurtled towards the canyon wall just behind the monster just as Teddy muttered. Black hole be quick Behind the lizard a swirling portal of darkness appeared, about the size of a baseball, powerfully dragging the lizard to the wall, it couldnt get sucked in but suffered ongoing damage. As it was struggling with the pull of the black hole Kyras boulder smashed into it, it writhed in pain and confusion and surprise, as just after the boulder hit it the black hole exploded throwing the lizard forward. Kyra had been too close, as the lizard came forward she activated her armour power. Ability: [Encased] (Diamond) Cost: Moderate Mana Cool-down: 2 minutes Current rank: Iron 3 (95%) Effect (iron): Encased in impenetrable armour for 5 seconds, cannot move whilst encased. The lizard bounced backwards off Kyra, bounced from pillar to post. Teddy jumped in and started attacking with his dimension blade, the armoured creature snapped and swiped at him, the blade skittering off the armour. Teddy activated a power he kept in reserve to throw off tricky opponents to create openings, his Dimensional Instability power was something that their group had never felt, Outworlders and Celestines had a natural affinity to dimensional abilities and didnt suffer the same way many others did when teleporting. The lizard in front of him appeared woozy and nauseous, it wretched, its tongue lolling out. Teddy moved to its side and with two hands bodily drove the blade into the side of the creature. The blade flashed brightly, Teddy grunted with the effort of pushing so much mana to overcome the armoured resistance. He kept the blade in, dancing with the creature to stay at the same wound. The blade was sucking the health of the lizard from the inside. But it was at the peak of iron rank. Suddenly Teddy was thrown back, his sword rejected from the flesh of the creature as it rapidly curled into a ball, armoured plated appeared to surround it, covering all vulnerable areas and making a smooth sphere. Just as Teddy was standing up Kyras encased power came to an end. Gods dammit, Im away for literally five seconds and you cant follow your own plan! James had just let go of his own lizard, resting it on the floor when he heard Koda growl. Hurry up you guys theyre coming! Quick, Kyra, nothing we can do is going to crack that shell but we cant leave it to heal up and come back for us while were busy Kyra quickly looked up and down the canyon thinking quickly. Well lets hope this idea doesnt bring down the whole canyon. Knowing that the others trusted her and no time to explain she fell to her knees and slapped her hands on the floor. A shockwave rippled through the ground and the section of canyon wall they had beat the lizard against started moving backward, it created a hollow space, just big enough for the armoured ball to fit in. Teddys eyes opened wide in understanding. The void calls you he muttered pointing at the back of the hollow. Another swirling portal of darkness appeared at the back of the hollow, digging a furrow into the sand as it dragged the lizard under the outcropping in the wall. As it hit the black hole it skittered and sparked off the lizards armour, but Kyra only needed to get the lizard into position. With both hands still on the floor she raised them up and thumped her fists down, the entire column of stone of the wall above the hollow smashed downwards, thousands of tonnes of stone crushing the armoured lizard with more strength than even a bronze ranker could manage. You have defeated [Armoured Lounge-Lizard] Uh guys, this doesnt look good. Teddy and Kyra looked away from the wall to where James was standing with their summons. He was faced by a block of six Sicklecrows in front of him. The others rushed to join him and noticed another two packs of six on either side. They were standing silently facing the adventurers, poised ready to charge, bright coloured feathers raised and snarling. James suddenly looked up and the others heard a violent scream a second later. High against the canyon wall the Raptor had just given up its attempt to sneak at them, it had been making its way along the wall, as nimble as a mountain goat and perfectly camouflaged against the stone. The scream was like a starting pistol, the packs of Sicklecrows shot towards the adventurers. Chapter 7 ‘Welcome to the temple of Hero’ Looking up at the Raptor to James it seemed that the odds were ever stacked against them, around every corner there was always a surprise they were not prepared for even when they had done everything they could. James, Lucy, Theodore and Kyra had been stood in front of the temple of Hero. They were tired, dirty and footsore. Their journey across the delta from the field in which they first appeared had been gruelling. Each of them only had one essence, they had only been in the world for two weeks. The only thing they had been told by the mysterious wraith man who had landed in their field was to head south to a city called Greenstone an go straight to the temple of Hero. Probably shouldve found a shower first. Teddy muttered and looked up at the large face of the temple. The marble temple had large doors which were a rich dark wood. They were flanked either side by a sword behind a shield with a spartan style helmet resting on the hilt. It wasnt the largest temple in the divine square and they were not the dirtiest or most desperate looking people around. The large doors opened inwards, the mysterious wraith man gliding towards them. As he stopped he seemed to concentrate and the wraithlike quality about him disappeared. Welcome Mitchells. Welcome to the temple of Hero. Were glad that you made it, he is very pleased with you. He beckoned them inside, the doors shutting on their own behind them. As they crossed the threshold they felt the same domineering feeling they had felt in the field and knew this place was attached to the same thing who had spoken over the air to them. They all looked to each other with mild concern, they had all felt the power of that voice and were now walking voluntarily into its lair. As far as lairs went it was very nice, comfortably outfitted in dark wood, hunting trophies were here and there, bookshelves with leather bound books, display cases with ornate weapons or even very plain weapons but thrummed with power. Side rooms off the main corridor had fireplaces with high back chairs surrounding them and various warrior looking people were here and there chatting or looking over papers and maps. The most captivating decoration were the murals, paintings and carvings decorated the walls, showing depictions of fights and battles against terrible monsters or innumerable odds. The displays seemed to almost be alive, you could feel what they must have been feeling in the battles, the power, the danger. They were led deep into the temple, to a top floor office. The wraith man still in physical form sat at a circle of chairs, a large statue of what looked like a Greek soldier in kilt and armour was in the corner imposed on the room. Is this Hero? James asked I thought you were taking us to see him. The acolyte smiled and calmly gestured to the other seats in the circle. Please sit, Hero will come to you in time, for now he is content to watch and direct me to assist you. He waited patiently for them all to take a seat. As they did he stood and went to a cabinet, opening it and taking out a tray of drinks and a tray of open sandwiches. He placed each on the table in the middle and sat down. I understand you will have a lot of questions, you were purposely not given much information when we first met. My lord revels in the struggle of adventure and the pursuit of greatness, what you have demonstrated to him is what he needed to make sure you are fit for the purpose he has for you. Hold up. Lucy leaned forward aggressively. Are you telling us there was an easy way to get back here but you thought we should almost die, several times to get here? The wraith man flickered a little, the surprise making him lose some of his concentration. The gods have a unique place in this world, we are not to question what makes them so. One of the absolutes that we hold are that they are so far above us that their power is that of a sun to our candles, but as far as that light may reach there are some things it cannot effect. If the gods gave everything that was needed at all times then what would be the point in being? Lucy looked a little stunned. So there was?! We woke up in the middle of nowhere with no idea what was going on! Then we found out quite suddenly that magic was real, you insisted we shoved some of it in us then you told us to head here then buggered off! Were not asking for a gold plated helicopter ride powered by fairy dust but a ride wouldve been nice when we have no idea whats going on! James put his hand on her knee keeping her from rising. The acolyte spread his hands in an apologetic gesture. What is done is done, I am not forced to do my gods will but I saw his purpose in this. Teddy looked at James and shrugged. Reaching forward almost at the same time they both went for the sandwiches. Ok mystery man. Said Kyra How about we start with some obvious questions, we know this place is called Greenstone and we came through a place called the delta but where are we? You are not on your world. He paused for a moment to let that sink in, a sandwich paused halfway to James mouth. Youve got a magical power and youre shocked by that? When did you see or hear of a magic power on earth? Teddy said, trying to sound relaxed while his face had gone white, the braggadocio hiding his shock. You fell out of your world by means beyond your current comprehension. You were attracted to this world by forces that are also currently beyond your comprehension. My lord has seen fit to cushion your arrival and in so will guide you for a bargain. So were too thick to understand what has happened to us and your god is running a scam to take advantage of us while were down? Kyra said to the acolyte. The room seemed to shake, not in an overly threatening way but rooms were not meant to shake when someone said something they didnt like. Whilst my god is not the most easily brought to rage over blasphemy its a different matter when someone is disrespectful in the centre of your own home. Kyra went white and shuffled deeper into her chair. Ok so were on a different world, whats the deal with the magic? Teddy asked. I am not a magic society member, the acolyte started but Lucy interrupted. Theres a magic society? I have a magic, magic power, does that mean I can join? The acolyte smiled at her. Anyone with essences can join the magic society, you having the magic essence will certainly give you more of a precedence to be attractive to them and the great work they do. Right, essences and abilities, we woke with the cubes and they said five powers per cube? Said Teddy. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Indeed, each person is capable of absorbing four essences, giving a total of twenty powers they can have. Powers are achieved by using awakening stones. You must have a complete set of essences to advance to iron rank and develop all twenty abilities to advance beyond iron. How do we get more of these essences then? We just woke up with ours. James asked. The acolyte got up and walked to the heavy desk in the room taking a key from around his neck. Yes, as I said, my god has seen fit to guide you but he will not give more aid until a bargain has been struck. He pulled four narrow wooden boxes from a draw on the desk. Bringing them over to the table they all saw the engravings on them. The first was carved with dozens of animals, half of which the four Mitchells didnt recognise. The second box was a crossed wand and staff, with complicated diagrams and pentagrams around it. The third box was engraved with constellations and the shapes of galaxies, emphasising the empty swirling space in between. The fourth was polished so smooth it was reflective, with facets cut into the border like gems. He slid the lids open to show them two essences in each box and closed them again. A god can give divine essences to their followers, recognising your vulnerable position. He paused, looking at Lucy pointedly. He is not offering you these, suborned service is not true service. What he offers instead are true essences. He has curated these essences and their use is none negotiable if you choose to accept. We can say no to a god? Teddy asked. The acolyte smiled. It is not the wisest course of action. The gods rarely take such close interest in mortal individuals but free will is a core tenant of every gods involvement in mortal affairs. My god has seen what you may be capable of and now you have shown yourselves what you are capable with very little. There is a danger coming, one that the Hero cannot let be met unprepared and he looks to arm you for the fight. He offers these essences and some guidance, in return he asks a task of you, it will be dangerous and he cannot give you all the answers you wish. The four of them looked at each other. The little that they had learnt on their way was that essences were a big deal, they had often been asked if they were adventurers, apparently an organisation of monster hunters and peacekeepers. I think what we need is more answers than we currently have, answers to questions we dont necessarily know to ask yet. Is this going to get us closer to that? Teddy asked The first thing you need, as Im sure you have seen is power. For the task my god has you will not stand a chance unless you are silver rank. At silver rank other doors will start to open and you will know those questions that need asking. Silver rank? I assume thats a few above iron? James asked Every essence user start their journey as an iron ranker with four essences, then progress to bronze, silver and eventually gold rank few of us mortals will every see the rank of diamond. The four looked at each other again, they knew from their short time how rare this opportunity must be, the villages and settlements they travelled through to get here they had seen only one or two essence users, only ever with one power and not knowing enough to teach them anything valuable about being essence users. We need some time to talk about this, and to shower. Lucy said Of course, we have a villa just outside the walls for you, a carriage is waiting out front to take you, but please, before you go, have a look at these essences to inform you of your decisions. They each leaned forward to the box that had been placed in front of them. Teddys box read: Item: [Swift Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Swiftness(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Swift essence ability and 4 unawakened Swift essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Swift Essence] Absorb Y/N? Item: [Dark Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Darkness(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Dark essence ability and 4 unawakened Dark essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Dark Essence] Absorb Y/N? James box read: Item: [Rat Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Rat(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Rat essence ability and 4 unawakened Rat essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Rat Essence] Absorb Y/N? Item: [Bear Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Bear(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Bear essence ability and 4 unawakened Bear essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Bear Essence] Absorb Y/N? Lucys box read: Item: [Mind Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Mental power(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Mind essence ability and 4 unawakened Mind essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Mind Essence] Absorb Y/N? Item: [Vision Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Vision(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened vision essence ability and 4 unawakened vision essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [vision Essence] Absorb Y/N? And finally when touched Kyras box read Item: [Earth Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Earth(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Earth essence ability and 4 unawakened Earth essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Earth Essence] Absorb Y/N? Item: [Mirror Essence] (unranked, legendary) Manifested essence of Mirror(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Mirror essence ability and 4 unawakened Mirror essence abilities. You have absorbed 0/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are able to absorb [Mirror Essence] Absorb Y/N? Seeing that they had all investigated their essences the acolyte took them back. Essence users that do not use divine essences benefit from only having to source three essences, they will then form what is called the confluence essence, my lord has told me that for you Theodore will have the Void essence, Lucy the Illusion essence, James the Animagus and Kyra the Diamond essence. They left the temple and found the carriage as promised outside, they clambered in and were taken away, all four were fast asleep before they passed the city gates. A long time from then In the canyon Kyra thrust both hands up, wrists together, a boulder hurtling at the raptor blowing chunks of the wall off and the monster flying. She then raised her arms either side of her, an earth wall rising from one side of the canyon funnelling the approaching Sicklecrows to the left. Teddy was quick to throw one of his conjured black hole hand grenades over the conjured wall near the right hand edge of the canyon. The first Sicklecrow was comically yanked back as it rounded the corner of the wall. Kyras summoned golem walked just past the edge of the wall and faced where the monsters had approached from. The grenade finished its black hole effect and exploded, throwing the monsters towards the golem. It brutally smashed them down as they flew towards it. More and more of the monsters appeared though, jumping on the golem with leaping claw attacks, bearing it to the ground. The time it had taken for this to happen was enough for James to cast his Ursa Family on each of them including Koda. Kyra stood at the back, James and Koda forming a line in front of her, Lucky between her and them. Teddy had disappeared into the shadow at the canyons edge. The first Sicklecrows grew bored with the Golem lying on the floor and were stalking towards Koda and James. Kyra snapped her fingers the fallen golem behind them exploded into thousands of tiny diamond fragments. The effect was the same after Teddys grenade exploded, as well as being shredded from behind the monsters were thrown forward at Koda and James who pummelled them out of the air and into the ground. The remaining Sicklecrows rounded the corner. They didnt last long, with a combination of Kyra launching boulders, mirror shards and earth spikes, and James and Koda bodily ripping them apart saw the last of them. When it had all settled Kyra concentrated, she could no longer feel any movement other than her party. James, anything? I cant sense anything, no idea. As they stood still a shimmering ring appeared around them, Teddy had whipped around them and formed a dimension rift in a circle just as they had stopped talking. He had done it just in time, there was a flash of light and the Raptor that none of them had been able to sense rushing at them had crashed into it and bounced back. Teddy started whistling the Jurassic park theme tune as they turned to face their first bronze rank monster. Chapter 8 ‘TMNT’ Shut up Teddy James hissed through gritted teeth. Teddy and Kyra were either side of James, Kyra started humming the tune along with Teddy. [Ok guys, anvil and hammers, well start it off then James you bring it in.] The communication came silently through their joined interface, not wanting to spook the Raptor from where it was standing, silently tilting its head, Teddy imagined it was looking at them each in turn and deciding its next move. Before it could make up its mind Teddy and Kyra erupted from the group dashing outwards and forwards. Kyra threw a conjured slice of mirror at the enemy, the small damage just a distraction but hoping the de-buff would take effect. Ability: [Slice of Mirror] (Mirror) Special attack Cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Iron 8 (90%) Effect (iron): Fire a small piece of mirror at an enemy for low damage. Enemies hit with the mirror are afflicted with [7 Years Bad Luck]. [7 Years Bad Luck] (affliction, unholy, stacking): Wherever the enemy afflicted with this power steps finds mirror shards on the floor that deal minor damage. Enemies effected by this suffer an instance of [vulnerable]. [Vulnerable] (affliction, unholy, stacking): All resistances are reduced. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. The attack was little more than a distraction, not expecting her de-buff to get through bronze rank resistances. Her diamond lantern familiar also appeared next to her firing disruptive force bolts at the Raptor as they moved. Using the same tactics at the same time on the opposite side, Teddy threw out his shard of darkness, again doing little damage to the Raptor but distracting it and separating its focus. Teddys shadow lantern familiar appeared next to him and fired its attack, a beam that had the chance to blind enemies for a short duration, but similar to the slices of mirror, unlikely to push through bronze rank resistances, however, the lantern could fire with impunity as the Raptor couldnt do anything to stop them. After the others made their move James took a deep breath and challenged the bronze rank monster. Hear me roar! The attack normally reduced resistances in an enemy making damage against it more potent. In this instance using it on a monster more powerful than himself James had just enraged it. He was now the sole focus of the Raptor. It ducked its head, lowering its body, its talons tapping the floor in agitation. It gave an animalistic roar back at James and started running towards him. Koda subsumed into James as the dinosaur was sprinting towards him making James slightly bigger. James combat style was very varied. A mix of fighting from a defensive position of power and also making sudden powerful strikes from a distance that put him immediately on top of the enemy, he also had the adaptability of shape shifting to find an edge in enduring battles. Right now they were counting on his standing strength, not normally possible to use against more intelligent monsters amongst which the bronze rank Raptor definitely counted, as a hunter and leader of iron rank monsters it had more intelligence than the average monster. The combination of confusing attacks from Teddy and Kyra and the obvious challenge from James had manipulated it to exactly where they wanted it. What they hadnt counted on was the speed and surprising powers from the Raptor. It leapt from over a dozen feet away, seeming to not cross the space in between, this must have been the same special attack power it had used when it crashed into Teddys dimension rift circle. James caught the monster with arms outstretched, his prehensile tail whipping around from behind him to smash the Raptor in the head with what would have been bone breaking force to anything other than a bronze ranker. Whilst the Raptor was being held off the ground its rear legs slashed savagely at James torso, the only way James had not yet been disembowelled was his damage resistance from standing planted and fighting. Both Kyra and Teddy were still firing into the Raptors back, from an angle so they wouldnt hit James if they missed while he was struggling holding the monster. After what seemed like forever of James holding the giant Raptor off the ground and smashing it with his tail while trying to avoid its back leg talons they all saw a notification from Teddys familiars attack. (Shadow lantern familiar) has afflicted [Raptor] with [Blindness]. [Blindness] will last 5 seconds against enemies. Effects will be diminished against higher rank enemies. They instinctively knew the blindness would only last for a pair of seconds against the bronze rank monster but they had practiced how to make the most of it. James headbutted the Raptor whilst letting go of its arms causing it to fall backwards onto the ground, confused and battered. Kyra shot a life bolt over the top of it at James and followed up with raising a small earth wall between it and James. The blindness quickly dissipated and the Raptor was up in a flash and attacking where James had been only a second before and crashed headlong into Kyras earth wall, shrieking with pain it whirled to where it had last been attacked by Teddy and Kyra, turning its back on the wall. James and Koda came around it from opposite sides acting as a hunting pair, lunging in and making small quick attacks whilst the other covered a quick retreat. Teddy lunged in with his dimension blade, keeping the attacks light but meaningful. Kyra was graceful as a fencer, dashing in with her diamond blade then diving and rolling away. They carried on like this, slowly whittling down the bronze rank monsters prodigious amount of health when the tables turned all of a sudden. The battle changed when the Raptor spun at Koda, a spinning kick that was not anywhere near the bear familiar but the main slicing talon, as big as a dustbin lid came flying off and took the bear deep in his thigh. Koda crashed to the floor, the leg not taking any weight. the Raptor continued its spin, the long muscled tail hitting James square in the ribs as he had taken a step towards his fallen familiar, the bronze rank attack was no longer mitigated by the damage reduction from his standing stance power. They all heard James ribs crack as he was flung away. The Raptor finished its spin facing towards Teddy and used its rapid launch special attack towards him. Luckily for the team it was the one member who could deal with a rapid attack from a bronze rank monster, with his swift essence he was faster than any iron ranker that didnt have speed powers and faster than most low level bronze rank monsters, he used two powers in quick succession, Eyes of the Swift allowed him to see everything in slow motion and he quickly fired off a few messages on the interface to the others, the second power he used was his dimension rift, putting a high amount of mana through it he ripped a slice into existence just in front of the Raptor and dashed through. Teddy had been drilled relentlessly at the academy annex that he had to perfect his timing. His most powerful abilities had an adaptable amount of mana and should not be wasted. The Raptor smashed into the rift, a huge smoking scar and a chunk of flesh missing all down the side of the front of its body. It bounced backwards and, with a flash of light, its back bounced off the second rift, which was Teddys destination portal, this time the back of its shoulders had a smoking scar across them and half of its tail was sliced off. Kyra had leapt into action straight away seeing Teddys message on the interface, Lucky had jumped from her hair to standing in front of Koda to protect him, facing the dinosaur with his legs braced, a low growl coming from his deep chest as his area affect started to heal Koda. Kyra fired a major healing spell at James while running towards him. Teddy stepped through the rift, turned around and took a deep breath calming himself. Kyra was healing James, Lucky was healing Koda, all effectively out of the fight now and he had just mostly drained himself of mana. Looking at the still smoking Raptor he saw the damage, a slash down the length of its entire torso, deep enough fit a fist in, and its shoulders were similarly slashed. The stump of its tail forcing it to stand more upright to remain balanced, which pulled at the wound on its front and causing it to bleed more. Extremely low on mana and the only thing standing between what was left of this bronze rank monster and his team and family Teddy was resolute in his stance. He reached behind him with his right hand and into a rift he made which was his storage power, he pulled a spear and with all his iron rank strength and the boost from his Swift essence power Fly like an Arrow which caused items throw to be twice as fast, he launched it at the injured dinosaur. It was a plain iron rank weapon against a bronze rank monster and clattered away from its tough hide. His second spear stuck into the open wound on the front and the dinosaur howled and launched towards him. Teddy danced behind the fist sized rift to keep it between him on the monster, which the monster now had a healthy respect for the shimmering danger. Teddy danced out around it slicing the wound with his dimension blade, keeping its length short barely longer than a dagger and power low to preserve what mana he had left in the fight. They danced like this for a while, every opportunity he had Teddy backed off and launched spears from his storage at the monster, any time they were close up he used his conjured blade sparingly. He took some damage, but with only one rear claw the other was easy to dodge with all the attacks telegraphed well in advance and only suffered minor wounds from its arm claws. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Suddenly another spear was thrown, not by Teddy and stuck into the Raptors back, James was on his feet, looking strangely bulky under his travelling robes, his damaged armour had been removed and he now just wore his tunic. A badger was running away down the canyon as another was coming from the same direction with a spear in its mouth, James reached down and took it from the creature and stood and launched it at the Raptor. Using the distraction Teddy took a mana potion, he needed it to finish the fight. He used one of the expensive potions, knowing it would be a longer duration before he could take another. As the Raptor was distracted by James launching spears at it Teddy took an almighty swing with his conjured blade. The cut was swift but to Teddys powers it felt slow motion, he could feel the rapid expenditure of the mana he had just topped off, almost completely draining it as he sliced clear through the Raptors leg, high in the thigh on the leg that still held a wicked sickle claw. It fell to the ground, unable to continue fighting, they all took a moment, knowing the fight was over, the monster still snarling and twisting on the bloody sand trying to reach them. James finished it, using his diving special attack, last shadow, he teleported just above the monster, driving through the wound on its back to the canyon floor silencing its snarling. Ability: [Peregrine Dive] (Eagle) Special attack Cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Iron 9 (10%) Effect (iron): Limited teleport to above an enemy. User will be accelerated to terminal velocity to strike enemy. Chance to be used as an execute ability [Last Shadow] [Last Shadow] (execute, holy): As an execute effect, damage scales exponentially with level of injury. You have defeated [Raptor] How the hell are you still standing after that hit you took? James smiled and rapped his knuckles against his chest smiling, it gave an odd hollow echoing knock. Adapt and overcome brother. He pulled his tunic to the side to show the deep green turtle shell that was his chest. You transfigured your chest into a turtle shell to get around the broken ribs? The ninja turtles will be wanting you to join their band, well get you an eye mask, you already love pizza. James gave him a flat look. Kyra came towards them with her shoulder under one side of Koda, the claw removed and the wound was closed. I think if you absorb him youll both heal quicker.She said, passing the weight over to James He immediately re absorbed his familiar. They looked around and all started moving over the carnage of the battlefield to the far end of the canyon, they were well clear of the monsters when they accepted the notification. You have defeated 11 [Sand Dogs] Would you like to loot [Sand Dogs]? You have defeated 2 [Armoured Lounge-Lizards] Would you like to loot [Armoured Lounge-Lizards]? You have defeated 12 [Sicklecrows] Would you like to loot [Sicklecrows]? You have defeated [Raptor] Would you like to loot [Raptor]? Teddy mentally accepted the notifications for all of them. The plume of rainbow smoke that appeared expanded much quicker than any of them had anticipated. James jumped in front as the smoke came towards them, using his special attack Wing Sweep. He beat the air in front of them and the smoke was beaten back and upwards, dissipating without covering the team. As he turned back around his face was pale and he winced grabbing his still broken ribs. I had to give up the shell for that. He said. Kyra sent another weak bolt of healing magic into him. She had spent her mana stabilising both James and Koda and every chance she got she was trying to accelerate James healing. [Amulet of Sand] has been added to (Theodore Mitchells) Inventory. [Vambrace of Menagerie] has been added to (James Mitchells) Inventory. [Ring of mild mana recovery] has been added to (Kyra Mitchells) Inventory. 1 [Monster core (bronze)] has been added to (Theodore Mitchells) Inventory. 25 [Monster core (iron)] have been added to (Theodore Mitchells) Inventory. 10 [Bronze] spirit coins have been added to each of your Inventories. 350 [Iron] spirit coins have been added to each of your Inventories. 110 [Dog] quintessence have been shared between your Inventories. 20 [Lizard] quintessence have been shared between your Inventories. 220 [Dinosaur] quintessence have been shared between your Inventories. Sat on the floor where the Raptor had been dissolving was the remains of its skull, as it dissolved into smoke a dark blue cube dropped out. James walked over and picked it up. Item: [Awakening Stone of the Furious Magus] (unranked, epic) An awakening stone filled with the might of furious magic. (consumable, awakening stone). Requirements: Unawakened essence ability. Effect: Awakens an essence ability. Well this is exactly what we were after, how did the wraith dude know this guy had it? James asked Teddy. Im pretty certain his boss tipped him off, Im not going to complain, felt like we earned it. Speaking of, I got an amulet that filters sand from the air around me, Kyras loot seems pretty self explanatory. Kyra held up the ring, a blend of clear crystal and shining silver metal, light seemed to flow within it, swirling around the inside of the ring. Very pretty, James, what did you get? James held out a piece of iron armour so they could all see it, there was a smooth round section that would cover the lower half of his right bicep, an articulating joint on his elbow then a section that would encase his forearm. It surrounded the arm and had five smooth planes along the length of it that were unadorned, it ended at the wrist with a loop for his thumb and a small plain plate that would cover most of the back of his hand. Well that looks very plain, is it any good? Teddy asked, looking unimpressed. James eyes went wide as he read the description. I should bloody well say so! Check this out. He put the description up for the others to read. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. So I get it engraved with animal motifs and it makes the transformations into those animal parts quicker and stronger. Its a growth item too, so I guess I take it to an armourer and he makes it bigger adding more armour, means more space for engraving. The intrinsic nature of understanding powers meant that James could sense what the item was capable of. I take it back! Thats incredible! Teddy said, now looking on in envy. Looks expensive to upgrade though, youll have to be careful how much work you get done on it before we go up to bronze rank. James took his right Vambrace off and replaced it with the new one. It was loose on his arm but as he turned his arm this way and that it shrunk to fit, he released Koda who gave a mew of greeting. James shrunk as he always did after releasing Koda and the Vambrace shrunk with him, he scratched Koda behind the ears and re absorbed him, as he did, growing and the Vambrace with it. Magically adapting armour, Im so glad, I had to pay a fortune for the rest of my kit to do that. Kyra put on her ring and Teddy his amulet, the sand blowing over the canyon floor separating around him, not able to get closer than an arms distance. They made their way back down the canyon to the building that had started at and James waved at the vultures still circling overhead, they started flying back the way they had come to the edge of the delta. The team mounted their hydals and followed them back, Teddy humming a theme tune under his breath. Heroes in a half shell James punched him off his hydal. Chapter 9 ‘Chasing doubt’ James, Teddy and Kyra felt a guilty rush of pride as they strode back into the academy annex, with new armour and gear, covered in travellers dust fresh from their adventure they remembered looking in envy at others doing the same during their time in training. The annex was not a prison for the students in training, visitors were checked onto campus and searched by security that they were not there for espionage or sabotage. Being former students with Remore ribbons in their adventure society badges they were waved through. They made their way to the training grounds, at this time of the day the students would be working up their appetite practicing hand to hand before lunch. The trainees at the academy all worked hard, they all had a vested interest in being the best they could, the majority of non wealthy students were in debt to the annex and the better they were the more jobs they could take, the quicker they could pay it off. Few had the same drive as Lucy. She had been thrown into this world with no defences and the skills the academy had taught her were everything. She had been exposed to the strangeness and the difference to this world and their own in a more raw way than the others. Her first ability awakened had been a perception power to see magic, the ripples and eddies in the invisible current around everything. As strange and different as this ability was, it was no use to her in a fight. So she had committed herself to every way she could protect herself, she trained relentlessly hand to hand, and she trained with her giant husband James. She was in the middle of taking apart two of her classmates when the others stopped to watch. They attacked in unison, it was meant to be a all vs all fight but they had agreed to team up, knowing Lucy was worth the both of them hand to hand. One went high while the other went low. Lucy turned her leg and accepted the kick to her lower leg, using the turn she gripped the punch coming towards her and tucked her hips under her attackers belt, with a quick twist she threw the larger boy at the other trainee, both going down in a tangle of limbs. They got up grumbling. Its not fair, shes only so good at this because she hasnt got enough powers to work on. The older boy whined. He was embarrassed that the smaller woman had thrown him so easily. Lucy looked annoyed, not for lack of trying she had not awakened any direct combat powers. She had tricky magic powers that were useful and dangerous, but no big damage powers. The young man looked ashamed for his outburst. Well why dont we see about that? James said. Moving forward smiling he hugged his wife. She returned the hug and then she turned and shared a bow with her sparring partners. They all smiled at each other and agreed to a rematch soon. Did you get it then? Lucy said, excitement in her voice. She had been waiting for this gap in her power set to be filled for a long time. James reached down to the floor, no one had noticed the tortoise with an awakening stone on its back. As James took the cube it looked up, yawned and started to slowly shuffle off towards the bushes. What the hell? Where did he come from? Teddy exclaimed. Kyra looked similarly confused at the creatures stealthy appearance. James and Lucy ignored them, James handing the cube to Lucy. It was a deep velvety blue, with veins of dark red and gold shooting through it. This is it, this is going to give me what I need! Lucys face was alight with hope, a few people had started to gather but she paid them no mind. Shall I do it now? Waaaaaait! A lanky man in long baggy robes was running towards them as quickly as he could. A collection of scrolls, papers, books and various magical instruments were following behind him, held in a slow spinning tornado behind his run, the vortex gently spun with the tail seemingly attached to the lanky man. He stopped, hands on knees taking lungfuls of air. You said. The next time. You people. Used an awakening. Stone. I could watch and record. My findings. He gave up standing and sat on what he thought was a stone, the poor tortoise looked back at him in annoyance. Yes, yes. You can do your magical research thing. But you better hurry, I feel like Ive waited long enough for this. He pulled himself together and stood, apologising to the tortoise that continued its slow shuffle to the bushes, Teddy giving it a suspicious eye. The magic society worker started pulling different tools from his vortex behind him, placing some on the ground pointing at Lucy, dropping one in her pocket and sketching out a quick magical diagram on the floor around her. I wouldnt have known anything about this unless that acolyte of Knowledge hadnt shown up at my office today. Damned frustrating, they worship a goddess with all the knowledge of this world but can only hint where to find it. There you go, Im ready when you are. He stepped back, pulling out a handful of different recording crystals and scattering them around Lucy. She looked at her team and smiled. Thank you for getting this. Then the cube in her hand melted. Thick blue lines traced under her skin, snaking up her arm with red and gold smaller lines cross crossing around. Her whole body was covered in the vein-like lines. Her eyes glowed gold then blue then back to her normal brown colour. That was incredible! The magic society researcher said, making notes in his pad. He handed another pad to Lucy. Quick I know you have an interface ability, write down what details you have of your power into here. Ability: [Magic Missile] (Magic) Spell: Magic Missile Cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5 Sec. Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Fires a magic missile that magically tracks a target. As a bonus for the researcher she wrote down the next notification in her interface as well. You have awakened the magic essence ability [Magic Missile]. You have awakened 5 of 5 magic essence abilities. You have awakened all magic essence abilities. Linked attribute [Spirit] will advance in conjunction with lowest-rank magic essence ability. Looking over her shoulder as she wrote the description out he clapped his hands in delight. Congratulations! You have just received what is possibly the most powerful mana to damage ratio attack in the magic essence abilities! It is a very rare ability, as you know most magic abilities are utility based or give conditions based damage. This is a pure form of magic attack giving you a straight forward, high damage, low mana blast. Lucy looked at a row of training dummies at the side of the training square, the trainees that had been watching her that were standing between Lucy and the dummies scrambled out of the way. She raised a hand at one of the dummies and smiled. A balloon of blue light rocketed out of her hand and shot towards it. As large as a beach ball, the centre a royal blue with a light blue corona and a comets tail. It smashed into the dummy reducing it to a small stake in the ground. Just as everyone was getting over the first display of power she shot another up into the sky, the missile curved and came down onto the second dummy in the row. Thats seriously cool. James said Lucy wasnt listening, she had raised both hands and spun a circle of golden glyphs in the air forming a rune circle. Golden light filled the middle and spinning objects were seen deep inside. A notebook appeared and she left it hanging there, she flicked through the pages until she found what she needed and closed everything down with a sweep of her arms. She opened another rune circle. This time the centre stayed empty, the glyphs were all types of triangles and prisms. She used both hands to position the circle towards the dummies. When it was aligned she stepped back and fired another missile into it. The large missile hit the rune circle. The whole design flared in blue light, then with a flash three smaller missiles burst from the rune circle, each tracing out towards another dummy. I have waited so long! I have done so much research into this! And it works!! Lucy said. She jumped for joy and jumped into James arms hugging him tightly with excitement . Cmon, tell us about it then! Teddy asked. I can probably fire it as far as I can see, the cooldown is about five seconds but I cant fire the next one until the first one lands. Ive recovered enough mana about every fifteen seconds for a shot, longer when I dont have my familiar absorbed. The rune circle I used can split the missile but each one is slightly weaker than a third of a missile, the circle itself needs some power. I can probably work out how to feed mana into the circle so it doesnt do that. She frowned, her storage rune circle appearing with a wave of her hand and she plucked out the notebook, already looking at the complicated pages of diagrams and math to see where she could make efficiencies. Oh definitely! The magic society member said, clearing up his equipment. Id be happy to lend you some material from our records on combat rituals, there are a lot of different effects you can have. As a thank you for being so generous. He held out his hand to Lucy and she pulled the instrument from her pocket to give back to him. That would be brilliant thank you! Ill take these findings back to my lab and will return tomorrow with all the records we have on combat rituals. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. He nodded to each of the team an scurried away, almost as fast as he arrived, bouncing off several trainees as he was heads down scrawling notes in his notepad. I think you just made his day! Teddy said. The paper hell write on that will make him the envy of the branch. Theyve been hounding me and Lucy since we all opened up about being outworlders, apparently were more approachable than you boys. Teddy and James looked at each other. Teddy had embraced the vibe of darkness, void and dimension, wearing a robe and strips of light armour that wouldnt look out of place in as James put it every Siths wardrobe ever. James was huge, similar in height and build to most Leonids and made a habit of walking around with a bear familiar the height of a human, on purpose so people would be less likely to approach. I can maybe see why they went for you two. Teddy said. James just grunted. We had fun getting that awakening stone for you, cleared a few notice boards on the way out, then the challenge of a bronze ranker! Teddy levelled up his dimension blade in that fight! Then we cleared a bunch more notice boards on the way back. Plenty of monsters to go round it seems. Lucy looked slightly disgruntled. Well Im glad youre out there lining your pockets. She said. Your my wife, if you tell me you want something I buy it. He said flatly. The bells chimed for lunch and they knew they had to leave Lucy to her day. Next assessment is week after next right? You think youll be ready? James asked. She will be prepared in time. A new voice chipped in. A tall elf approached, thin and long fingered holding a heavy tome of magic. Rashid was one of the magic instructors on campus and spent a lot of time with Lucy who enjoyed digging into the mechanics of magic theory. Rashid and I have been preparing for several different powers that could have come from my last magic essence ability. Now that we have it we just need to apply what weve thought of and test and adjust. I will be working full time with Lucy between now and then, her martial abilities and aura control are easily up to standard for the assessment, now we just need to incorporate her powers. The others said their goodbyes and James went to hold Lucy, they touched foreheads. Im just so happy James, I dont have to feel helpless anymore. Back when they had just had their meeting with the church of Hero. The four outworlders pulled up to the gates of a small villa complex just outside the city for the fist time. The jostling of the carriage stopping was what woke them. The driver came around and opened the door for them and they blearily stepped out. A man was walking down the driveway towards them and as he approached the gates opened of their own accord. How do ye all do? The man asked. The group were a little shocked, if they had to place the accent it would be a thick Scottish accent, his seemingly permanent scowl adding to the stereotype. Word was sent ahead. Ive set up the two main suites for each of yous couples. If youll follow me. They each followed the man to their respective quarters. The wall immediately behind the head of your bed will glow when it is time in the morning to wake up. Ill have some vittles ready not long after, just come tae the main building. Im Gerald, I manage this estate and grounds. Anything you need come and knock on my cottage by the gate. The older man turned and left them to themselves. Each couple went into their own building either side of the main halls. They seemed to realise at the same time that no one was sleeping and left their front doors all at the same time, headed for the communal building in the centre. So whatre you guys thinking about all this? James asked. Teddy was busy rattling through the cupboards looking for something to eat. Kyra was shaking her head at him. We were weighing up the pros and cons, but we thought we should talk to you guys about it. James nodded his head. We were doing the same. Pro. Teddy shouted from inside a cupboard. Insane magical powers given to us. Con. Lucy countered. The have a plan they want us to use those powers for and arent being specific about what it is. Insane magical powers that they cant take back, he was very clear about that, these arent the divine essences he was talking about. And this god probably doesnt have our best interests at heart, but his whole thing seems to be supporting warriors in adventure. James added. Pro. Lucy added we have a church? A cult? Whatever they are that follow this Hero guy/god whatever, they seem fully on board to give us answers to anything we need help with. I guess if he is a god then they might have some influence to help us as well. Con. Teddy said thoughtfully. Leaning back against the cupboard, unsuccessful in his hunt. They are offering us these specific essences. There must be other ones out there we dont know about, they might be better than these. I think we should do it. Kyra said quietly. The other three all turned to see her. She coughed. Like you said, insane magic powers. That they cant take back. We can choose what to do with them. Look at all the good we did on the way here! This guy, god whatever is one of the good guys, if we can help him then we do it, if we think its too dangerous then we dont, it seems to be thats what they were getting at. They talked and debated for a long time through the night and into the morning, the trend seemed to be that they all wanted more powers but were trying to find the pitfalls. At some point Gerald turned up and with only a mildly raised eyebrow took off his backpack and started pulling out breakfast ingredients. Did nae expect you to rest much, they gave me a wee run down of who you all are and how you got here. The acolyte from the church of hero is coming to meet you just after breakfast and hes bringing an independent from the magic society with him. They ran their ideas by Gerald about whether or not to take the offer, he was stoic and listened a lot without giving advice, mainly asked pointed questions to make them rethink some of their conclusions. It turned out the villa was independent from the church but it had been hired long term for their occupation and Gerald was part of the package. They couldnt complain, the man had only a few essences with only half a dozen abilities awakened. Lucy especially appreciated the food he produced, being able to see the magic with her essence power that he had cooked into it using his abilities. There was a knock on the door and James who was closest went to open it. There was a pointed cough from Gerald. Young master Mitchell, the roof may be yours for now but the door is mine tae open. James stood aside as Gerald stepped around him to leave the room for the front door. Hes very nice to us but hes still slightly grumpy right? James whispered to Lucy. Gerald walked back into the room leading two men, the first was the wraith man from the church of Hero and the second was a very average looking man wearing long robes, he carried a satchel over one shoulder. Mitchells, I hope that my god has provided adequate accommodation for you. I have brought with me Mr Valentine. He is from the magic society and not a member of my church. He is here to assure you that what we are doing is above board. The magic society member looked at the wraith man with unease, standing so close to him was obviously uncomfortable. Yes, as unusual as this situation is it is not unprecedented. He opened the satchel to show the boxes they had seen the day before. I have inspected the essences to ensure they are legitimate and they are, there is no touch of divinity to them. I am a little surprised, this is quite a rare collection of essences to be given so freely. I am also here to answer any questions you may have about the process. Teddy glanced uneasily at the wraith man before addressing the magic society man. Mr Valentine, we have a few questions but the most pressing is to ask you, if we accept this, will it put us in debt to the church of hero and what comeback they can have on us. The wraith man looked down with a small smile, Valentine looked at him and then back to the group. Thats what makes this unusual. You can do whatever you want with these gifts, the church has no power and is not allowed to pursue you if you do not do what they have asked, because that is all it is, an ask, there is no contract or binding of you to the church. The four Mitchells looked at each other. They asked Valentine a few more questions but they had come to a decision. Lets do this then. Teddy said. The boxes were given out to each of them and they decided to do them all together. Once they had absorbed their two essences they waited. Light blossomed out of each of them, a cube appearing in front of each of them. Oh my, Valentine said, This is quite the experience. We should have had a specialist in outworlders here! Each of them reached out and took their confluence essence from in front of them, instinctively understanding what to do. Valentine ushered them all outside onto the patio. They didnt understand why but went along, swept up in the incredible feeling they each had. You have absorbed 4/4 essences. All your attributes have reached iron rank. You have reached iron rank. You have gained damage reduction against normal-rank damage sources. You have gained increased damage to normal-rank effects. You have gained the ability to sense auras. You have gained the ability to sustain yourself using sources of concentrated magic. This is incredi-bleagh Teddy started vomiting on the smooth tiles, the others soon following suit. Pus started to seep out of their pores and Jamess hair started to shed. After a while it settled and they were lying in a pool of filth, exhausted. Valentine instructed them to stand up and move to the side, handing each a vial of clear liquid. That is crystal wash, tip it over your heads and you will never have been so clean in your lives. As they did he took out a stick of chalk and stared drawing a ritual around the pile of filth. As he finished the inside glowed and all the filth burned away. He turned to the four who were amazed at how thoroughly clean they felt after such a horrible experience. He handed each an iron rank coin. Congratulations, you are all now iron rank. Thank you. James said and went to pocket his coin frowning at the man. Nonono, you are iron rank now, you can eat like iron rankers, place the coin in your mouth. They all did, slightly wincing at the bitter taste and sensation like licking both terminals on a nine volt battery. Gerald, having seen this before, followed with a round of what tasted like bacon butties but were a green leafy vegetable instead of meat between the bread. Now, head into the yard and see what you got. They wandered out, Lucy lagging behind. Gaining a new power came with an instinctual understanding how to use it, they also had an interface each that gave a detailed description. Teddy went the furthest away walking along the wall, he jumped into the air then, incredibly, jumped again in mid air. Whilst he was in mid air he disappeared into the shadow of the wall, the dawn light hitting its other side. He then reappeared just before the floor slicing down on an imaginary enemy with a blue dimension blade. He then muttered something and rolled his wrist and a small black hole appeared, it seemed not to effect Teddy but he had to catch a small bird that had been plucked out of the nearby tree and was being sucked straight into the void. James looked out over the yard and saw the straw training dummy, he wandered over and started using it as a punch bag, dancing around it, frowning he felt no different. He stopped and threw one last punch, a lazy punch without moving his feet. The dummy exploded from its post, launched over the yard into the wall. He focused and a giant rat tail erupted from underneath the back of his tunic, it snatched the dummy up and pulled it back toward himself. His right hand became a clawed paw and he smashed the dummy into the ground. Kyra stood in the centre. She concentrated muttering a spell and suddenly there was a ring of Kyras in a circle all facing inwards. Next every copy raised their hand and a single spike shot out of the ground in the centre, seven foot tall and the width of a basketball at the bottom. Every copy lunged forward, suddenly with a beautiful diamond sword in hand. The real Kyras sword snicked off the tip of the earth spike in front of her. Lucy looked on all the others with a sad expression. Whats wrong Lu? James asked. None of mine are ones you can see. She looked very disappointed as she shared her interface screen with the other three. Attributes [Power] (Illusion): [Iron 0] [Speed] (Vision): [Iron 0] [Spirit] (Magic): [Iron 0] [Recovery] (Mind): [Iron 0] Lucy Mitchell Essences 4/4 Magic [Spirit] [Magical Master] (special ability): [Iron 1] 20% Mind [Recovery] [Clarity] (aura): [Iron 0] 00% Vision [Speed] [Focussed eyes] (special ability): [Iron 0) 00% Illusion [Power] [Playing Possum] (special ability): [Iron 0] 00% The others all came and gave her a consoling pat on the shoulder, feeling slightly guilty for displaying such awesome powers when Lucy hadnt received any she could outwardly use. In the present day in the training yard. Lucy smiled at the memory. None of the others had such a powerful attack, she had powerful abilities in their own way but she knew this new ability was in a different league. All her doubts were chased away and she knew she was ready to be part of the team. Bring on the assessment. She grinned and the others laughed with her. Chapter 10 ‘The realm of uncertainty’ Lucy was training with Rashid in an underground chamber, it was longer than it was wide, an oval tunnel with targets down one end. It was configurable so that training dummies could come from wherever. The chamber was magically shielded so that potent attacks could be used. They were both standing at the table opposite the dummies looking over loose sheafs of paper with magical diagrams and placing them in order. I think the ice effect is more useful than the fire. And it cost less mana overall. Lucy said, moving one sheaf of paper across another to the left of the table. Dont underestimate how much monsters or people dont like to be set on fire. Theres a significant moral component to burning or watching others burn knowing you may be next. Rashid countered. The idea of setting people on fire gave Lucy a moment of pause before going on. I think we have a good collection of effects here, the only one we need to try is the mana dump. We only found it yesterday. Lucy you need to be careful of that one, it will strain you to draw the ritual let alone expend more mana with the strike. It will not be a mainstay of your combat set. Anyone without essences could conduct ritual magic, the magic that fuelled the ritual coming from spirit coins, quintessence or sometimes even essences. When Lucy drew her combat rituals in the air it consumed a little of her own mana. Depending on which ritual she was attempting it cost less or more mana. Well you had better be here when I first try it then. She turned around to face the dummies at the far end. Runes streamed from her eyes into the air in front of her, forming a rotating ring of glyphs. She raised her left hand towards it and blue light started trickling out, feeding the ring. The glyphs very slowly grew larger. After a long time when she felt she was nearing the last reserve of her mana that she would need for the missile itself. As she raised her right hand to fire a missile, a curtain of shimmering silver light started to envelop them like a bubble. Rashid was chanting behind her creating a silver rank bubble shield around them both, just as the aperture in front of her was closing Lucy fired the missile. It shot into the rune circle and blasted away four times the size it had been when it entered. At least four times as fast and four times as loud. It smashed into the far end with the force of a bomb. Rashids bubble had just closed around them. The force of the blast washed back along the tunnel towards them, the bubble turning from silver to blue, to yellow, to amber. The far end of the tunnel shone with a blue light. To about halfway back the stone tunnel had been annihilated, there was built in blue reinforcing magic that was exposed from vaporised stone that contained any damage in the tunnel. The remainder of the tunnel had cracked and sections had started to fall down. Rashid gave Lucy a serious look who was herself looking a little shocked. She grabbed the recording crystal from above Rashid and gathered the notes on the table just inside the protective bubble that was rapidly getting buried. Rashid teleported them out of there, into the sunshine above. That would have taken a high level bronze attack to do that much damage, not a power you have only just received at iron, I would imagine that every minor threshold advancement would have a multiplicative effect on your Magic Missile attack, not that you will be able to use this variation of it very often. I would surmise from this mornings performance that you have a sufficient grasp of your powers to conduct a field assessment early. He said. A confident smile on his face as he shook her hand. Lucy was almost bouncing as she walked across the training grounds to the sign up sheet for the field assessment. It was tacked onto what looked like a monster notice board you would find anywhere in the world. The irony was not lost on the students as they put their own names on the board to be assessed. She had to put her name and the recommendation of at least one instructor. As she wrote Rashids name after hers she saw a young trainee coming towards the board from the other side. Wanyeng, Im not surprised to see you here! Wanyeng was the youngest trainee by a long way. Most essence users could absorb their essences until they were mid to late teens. Wanyeng was yet to see his tenth birthday. He had wandered into a ritual being set in his house for his older brother, the sword essence looking like a wonderful toy to play with in the centre of the circle. Essence absorption rituals were not dangerous as it was known you had to be of age otherwise the body would not accept them. The incident of a child absorbing an essence so young had caused a major investigation by the magic society looking into the Wanyeng family for any experimentation they had done. None was found and it was decided in the boys interest to attend the academy to get to learn to master his new accidental powers. Lucy, it is good to see you. Wanyeng took a fold out stool from his draw string dimensional bag and placed it on the floor so that he could add his name to the list. I am hoping that a field assessment on my tenth birthday may make them finally see I am mature enough for my badge. Wanyeng had been at the academy since he was six. The normal length of training was one year. He had been there so long that he was almost a member of staff, having had the lessons so many times he could tutor his much older peers. You realise theres a betting pool on you? Some reckon you wont be allowed your badge until your age of maturity, others say you wont be allowed at all, they think it sets a bad precedent and will make people try essences on younger and younger people. Not that itll help, without serious magical manipulation the body still isnt ready. Lucy could be blunt with Wanyeng, he had been a close friend of all four Mitchells during their time at the academy annex. As outsiders themselves they had not judged anyones circumstances and had leant in to the serious young mans instruction in martial technique. James called him the little samurai, the word did not translate to the local language but Wanyeng had liked the sound of it and it had stuck. The boys essences were sword, swift, magic with the master confluence. As a human he had a preponderance of special attacks that manifested in a lot of sword based powers. He was the most skilled martial fighter in the academy annex bar some of the bronze and silver rank instructors. Often during sparring sessions with training swords Teddy had ended the fight battered and broken, bowing deeply to Wanyeng he would mutter Master Yoda, much to learn I have to the general confusion of all looking on, while Wanyeng was from an aristocratic family and deserving of the title Young Master he had no idea who Yoda was. It was unavoidable as the style he used was so reminiscent of the Yoda - Dooku fight scene in attack of the clones, an underrated Star Wars film Teddy thought. I am well aware of the bets on my future. Wanyeng replied with a small smile. I myself have placed a wager on my sixteenth birthday being the year they will pass me. Really? Then why do you go on every field assessment hoping to pass? You go on all three every year. For a few good reasons, the few field trips we do as part of training are not enough, our purpose as adventurers is to kill monsters to protect people. Also, I have hope that they may see something different in me each time and pass me anyway. His eyes glittered in hope at his words, she could feel in his aura at how much he wanted to be accepted as a full adventurer. She bowed to him as he preferred rather than physical contact. Then Ill put a wager on this field assessment in the hope that this time they will see you can do anything the rest of us can and more. He smiled and returned the bow. Both heading off to prepare their gear for the trip the next day. As Lucy got back to her room she opened the rune circle that was her storage power, filled with golden light she could see all the items floating around in the depths. With a thought different items started floating towards her. She had a small selection of wands and staves that she could use thanks to her magic essence ability Magical Artisan, there were also some niche items that were magical in nature that she was glad the power let her use. She also checked the basics, she had a potion belt, enchanted to protect the vials from damage, that she would wear when she was on the road and a range of regular and throwing weapons. An enchanters robe, with the power to increase her mana pool. Over the top she would wear a system of armoured leather straps, the robe would not allow for conventional armour without ruining the enchantment on it. Kyra had insisted that she borrow her ring of mild mana replenishment and she wore this on her right index finger, the only other rings she wore were her wedding rings on her left hand. She laid down on her bed resting, the alarm in her room was the same as at the villa, a soft glow would wake her up in plenty of time to get to the marshalling yard for maybe the last time tomorrow. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Teddy, James and Kyra had headed back to the city. Kyra waved goodbye to the two boys as she had agreed to volunteer at the Broad Street Clinic for the day. The Academy annex had connections all through the city and encouraged their graduated trainees to engage with any civil services, it was also a great way for her to level up her Life essence powers. Lucky would gambol about the waiting room, alleviating stress from waiting patients and slowly healing any ills that anyone had even before they were even seen by an attendant. Kyra would assist a church of the healer priest with any cases they were working on with her Life Aura power, confusingly not an aura power but allowed her to produce a minor healing bolt that gave her feedback on the health and injuries of the target. Her Life Charge power was reserved for emergencies, very high mana it gave significant healing, every now and then a catastrophic accident happened and if no essence user was nearby with healing magic available then everyone in Old City knew where to bring the casualty. The boys had been issued a contract by the adventure society to deal with a monster in the lumber district, with wood at a premium, contracts were not left to have adventurers choose when they fancy them but directed to minimise disruption to production. The reason they had been chosen was James ability to deal with animals, as the contract wasnt clear if it was a bear problem or a Fergax; an aggressive bear-like creature. Teddy was assigned to go with him as it was James first official contract from the adventure society, not including notice boards and even though it was not a two star contract it was being watched by the rich, highly influential people that had interests in lumber production. In the morning Lucy arrived at the annexs marshalling yard to only find Deputy Director Vincent Trenslow and two other people. A slight elf who was craning her head looking to see behind Lucy for anyone else joining them, not seeing anyone she gave Lucy a rudely close look up and down. The other one standing with a cool familiarity to the deputy director was Wanyeng. The haughty elf turned mostly away from Lucy before talking to her. I do hope youre worth waiting for. The deputy director, She shot him a simpering smile. Has said due to the low numbers of sign up that we will be leaving as soon as you deigned to turn up. Vincent rolled his eyes behind the elfs back. Thats not quite how I put it. Good morning Lucy, you are still early. As Miss Sylvyn has pointed out however, now you are here we will move out, a small group, two from the Remore academy annex and one Greenstone local. Kyra and Wanyeng shared a look, although it was not required to attend the annex to be an adventurer, most in the greenstone area, whether from wealthy families or not, normally chose to attend. Those that didnt were normally against the idea of ending the class system inequality that was present in the still majority aristocratic political system of Greenstone. With most of the best trainers choosing to teach at the annex that lead to lesser trainers inflated with personal recommendations from influential family members to tech the scions of wealthy families. This lead to what the four Mitchells had come to realise as the blind leading the blind. Because there was no recommendation required to attend a field assessment outside the annex they had a very varied sampling of quality, mostly starting at poor and getting worse from there. Vincent went on, This should be a relaxed atmosphere between the four of us. It will still be an assessment dont get me wrong, but we will be in only each others company for the next week, we still have the same route and same number of monsters a larger group would deal with. Lucy and Wanyeng looked delighted, they were looking forward to dealing with more monsters and relished the chance to pick up the extras that would be dealt with by other on assessment. Miss Sylvyn did not look impressed. Surely we can come to some sort of arrangement, there is no need to be away from the city for so long, as soon as you see my performance I expected you to return me to civility! Vincents face took a serious look, he had socialised with the Mitchells away from the Annex and Wanyeng had been on every assessment that he had recently run, and he made a point as the deputy director of running as many as he could. He did this because he was a firm believer in the principals of being an adventurer, for the young prissy noble-born elf to have already started complaining before even leaving had drawn out his assessors look. Miss Sylvyn, I am a man who measures my words with care, I have no doubt that what I said is perfectly clear. Whilst I am there to ensure you achieve, or do not achieve the standard of being an adventurer we are testing it by doing what adventurers do, that is, to help people. The monsters are very real, they hurt and kill very real people and so we will complete the assigned route. Is that clear? It was quite clearly a dressing down, before her time at the annex training grounds Lucy would have cowed slightly under the withering words. Sylvyn however didnt seem to take it in at all. Her haughty expression hadnt changed as she looked away from Vincent. Oh very well, lets go shall we. And she simply walked off in the direction of the road. Vincent narrowed her eyes at her back with a slight shake to his head. Lucy and Wanyeng looked at each other and started to follow her to the wagon parked on the road. When Sylvyn got to the cart she looked at it in exaggerated horror. I was told that the transport for the journey was rough but I hadnt expected it to be so abysmal. She reached into a small clutch bag that was hanging off one arm by a small golden chain. Pulling out a rolled up bolt of cloth. It was long enough to lie down on and wide enough when unrolled to fit two people comfortably sitting side by side. She stood on one end and the other end started to fold itself in a stair-like fashion to provide a seat and backrest, it floated a foot or so off the floor. Vincent raised an eyebrow at her when he got to her. Cadet Sylvyn, it is recommended that those on assessment ride in the wagon so that we may discuss upcoming contracts and feedback. Her head had whipped around at the use of the moniker cadet. Mr Trenslow, whilst I respect your position in the society my family have been in greenstone for more generations than years you have been alive! I will be addressed by my family name without a preposterous term. You will address me only as Miss Sylvyn. Something closed off behind Vincents eyes, he took a deep breath and turned away from the floating elf and climbed onto the front of the cart. Lucy and Wanyeng jumped nimbly onto the back, both sitting on one side so they could keep an eye on the elf travelling alongside. Vincent tapping the reigns on the hydals backs and they were off. The first village they came to greeted them warmly, this close to Greenstone they had regular adventurer visitors and the notice board itself was recently serviced, there was only one notice on there. Braxions. Vincent said. He reached down to pull a piece of paper out of the tray next to the notice board to make a copy and was surprised to find he took the last sheet. As an adventure society official he carried supplies with him and refilled the box with a thick wedge of papers. Thats unusual, I was told that someone had recently come out to refill and repair all the notice boards. Anyway, Cadet Lucy, Braxions are a good as any monster for you to start the week on, what do you know? Braxions live in wooded areas only, locals can deal with them themselves if they are willing to sacrifice the forest, the monsters would burn rather than go on open ground. Very stealthy, they blend with the trees and kill travellers on paths that lead through forests as they are incredibly territorial. They appear in numbers from a dozen to twenty outside of a surge, in a monster surge they number from a hundred upwards, large enough swarms have been seen to travel across open ground as effectively a forest in their own right. Very good, the contract is for a group the local who posted the notice could not give more detail, when most people see monsters they tend to run rather than stand and count. They made their way along the road until they saw it disappear into a copse of trees, they stopped short of the overhanging branches. Without needing to be told Wanyeng and Lucy disembarked. Sylvyn was floating along reading a book. Lucy started to prepare herself, she took out a short thick wand after a little deliberation and then took her notebook out and leafed through it. Making a few notes she put it away. She then looked towards the woods and runes streamed from her eyes to form a circle in front of her, it revolved slowly, she took a few moments to look over the circle in the same way someone would check a paragraph for errors then it dissipated to nothing. She nodded at Vincent who nodded back and put a far see crystal above her head and she made her way down the road to the tree copse. The group of trees was only small so she estimated it would be a small group. She missed James for his aura ability, his ability to enhance the vision of others would have helped her spot the monsters. The Braxions were long limbed thin creatures that looked like humanoid stick insects. Their fingers came to wicked points. They were not strong individually but attacked from stealth using camouflage and shadow. She strolled into the woods as this was the most surefire way to find the monsters. Her magic essence power, Magical Master, allowed her to see the eddies and flow of magic, the Braxions were gifted in hiding their auras so she couldnt find them that way, the monsters had driven out all the other creatures in the woods so she couldnt look for dead spots either. Watching the flow of magic she saw a change in the branches up ahead, a very slight vortex of magic centred on one spot. Readying her short wand she kept walking, appearing oblivious. When she was directly underneath the one she had seen, a Braxion dropped down in front of her about ten feet away. They were working together she realised. Her aura power was Clarity, she didnt slow time down like Teddy could but the effect was similar, her thinking time and decision time was much quicker. She immediately shot her wand straight upwards without looking. She had chosen the wand because it fired a forceful blast rather than anything flammable. She heard the crunch of limbs as the monster was shattered in mid air, just above her head and landed in a crumple on the road next to where she had been standing. She had immediately rolled forward catching the monster in front off her off-guard, it had expected her to freeze or run. She caught its legs in a scissor sweep. Using savage technique and her iron rank strength she had hit the fragile legs with enough leverage to snap them sideways. As she untangled her legs from the broken remains she quickly knelt and snapped the monsters neck with a wrench. Standing up she saw that four had landed around her. War is the realm of uncertainty. The monsters shrieked, Lucys own vision didnt change but shed had the effect magically countered onto her in the mirage chamber during training. Her Fog of War ability caused the monsters to see a thick mist all around them, still able to see shapes moving but they would have to be close to see detail. The effect was in a dozen meters or so around Lucy but lasted a brief amount of time. She made the most of it, runes streamed from her eyes, the same as what she had practiced before the woods but much smaller, they formed a ring that was just wide enough for her to stick her arm through. She made a pumping motion through it and it stuck the end of her arm, just in front of the knuckles, a steady blue light rose in a swirl from her wrist to power the circle. As the fog dropped she extended her arms in a right angle, aiming at two of the monsters, her wand blasted, snapping the first one in half at the waist, her right hand fired a magic missile, hitting the small rune circle it blossomed into a continuous stream of green fire. It arced over and splashed onto the first monster. It shrieked in rage, nothing was more deadly to Braxion than fire. Without pause she swept the stream of fire around her, catching the other two in their leap towards her back. The stream of fire lasted as long as the flare of the missile hitting the rune circle, so she repeated it a few times. Everywhere the fire hit that wasnt monster the unnatural green fire disappeared. On the monsters it spread like lamp oil, consuming them rapidly. After the first two ambushes and the display of fire magic she was not attacked again. She walked around the small copse taking her time and found two more that were hiding from her. Thoroughly sure there were no more she made her way to the road in the centre and waved to give the all clear to the others in the wagon as they had to go through anyway. A very good start Cadet Mitchell. You have a natural talent not only for using magic but innovating and adapting existing structures to suit the environment you are working in. Wanyeng gave her a double thumbs up with a huge smile on his face, looking every bit like a nine year old boy who had watched someone blasting monsters apart with fire magic. Sylvyn was still floating along next to the cart, not having even seemed to have looked up from her book. Chapter 11 ‘Daishō’ They travelled from village to village, there was a larger than normal amount of monsters on the board and Lucy and Wanyeng were kept very busy. Vincent even took down a few bronze rank monsters that were too close to the villages to be left to a normal contract. Sylvyn didnt volunteer for any contracts and Vincent didnt issue any contracts to her, content to let her float along and read her book or write notes or even at one point pull out a small manicure kit and pare her nails. Only when Lucy and Wanyeng came back from the bog having fought a Wil-o-the-Wisp spirit monster and they were particularly filthy did Sylvyn look up from her book. They had gone together as the monster trapped its prey by luring them off the path into the sticky bog then attacking when theyre stuck. The way to defeat them was that the monster didnt move when being looked at, the monster concentrated on being a lure. One adventurer would have to watch the small glowing wisp while the other circled around to attack it without looking at it. They had struggled to find their rhythm with being the distraction and attacker, if the monsters focus shifted from one to the other then it was free to move, far too fast for either to catch. They had taken turns to try attack the monster, each attempt dragging them deeper into the sticky bog. Finally Wanyeng had destroyed it with a spirit sword special attack. All that effort for an elemental monster? Ha, I thought the Remores would teach better than that. You all certainly swan around with your ribbons so proudly. All three stared at her in slight disbelief, they had been on the road three days and had been fighting monsters one after another, Vincent was starting to discuss with the other two his concern about the preponderance of monsters in the area. Well if your posh little backside is well rested then perhaps youd like to take the next contract then? Sylvyn turned and looked at Lucy as if she hadnt seen her talk before. Perhaps I might. And then turned back to her book. They got to the next notice board, it was a shared board sitting an equally short walk between three villages on the crossroads. There were four contracts posted. Two were for Rattlings in two different villages which was fairly common, the weak monsters could normally be dealt with by the locals unless the nest went undiscovered for long enough for them to build up to be dangerous to normal people. The third contract was for a nest of stone crows; territorial birds made of stone, one of their difficult to deal with attacks by normals was the stone feathers being dropped from height, the birds not normally seen before the feather struck. The contract was to hunt the nest and then destroy the birds. The last contract gave Vincent pause. It was for Arknays, a cross between a preying mantis and a centipede. Torso the size of a horse but with dozens of short legs rather than the long ungainly legs of a horse. A locals pet cat had been seen being dragged into the cave complex near by, a diamond mine that had long been exhausted and was avoided by locals knowing it would be perfect for monsters nesting. I am content to start with the first three contracts then we will all assess the last together. The mines are known to be troublesome for seasoned adventurers and we normally avoid them on field assessments. With this team. He said talking to Lucy and Wanyeng, absenting Sylvyn floating behind him. I would be confident in taking on two Arknays in the mine. They made their way to the first farm that had reported rattlings, it was a barn that was rarely used and they could see a constant stream of the rattlings coming and going. Lucy and Wanyeng went ahead, now used to not even questioning about doing the contract themselves. Wan, can you clear me a way to the door? I can clear out the barn if I can get all the way round the building. Sure, Ill do a track around the building and you just try to keep up. Ha, you think youre all that do you? Wanyeng smiled at her and she knew she was missing something. He ran off to the corner of the barn, he hit the first rat with his plain katana. He had many sword abilities that conjured blades of different effects but he still had a trusted steel katana imbued with iron rank power. As he hit the first rat he blurred, moving so fast to the next that it was hard to follow with the eye. He moved from rat to rat, neatly cutting them in half lengthwise so there was no way for them to recover, Lucy tried to follow but had no chance at keeping up with the special attack Wanyeng was using, runes streamed from her eyes and laying chalk rituals at the same time, surrounding the building, she got back to the front as Wanyeng was cleaning the blood from his sword, standing in the doorway projecting his aura so no Rattling would dare come out. Perhaps we should have placed a bet if you could keep up. He said, smirking at Lucy. Ha, if you had placed a bet I would have known something was wrong and never had taken it. The last rune left her eyes an completed the circle around the building, shrieking started immediately and Lucy staggered with the mana input. Dual ritual circles. She explained when Wanyeng held out an arm to steady her. Two thin streams of light started trickling out of the barn towards Lucy, one red and one blue. She instantly perked up when the streams hit her. Rattlings were throwing themselves at the line of runes at the door trying to escape, when they did they were annihilated immediately in a burst of blue and red light that joined the stream towards Lucy. After a few minutes the shrieking stopped, a few more and the stream of light stopped. With a wave Lucy dismissed the glowing runes. That chaining special attack, that was bronze rank wasnt it? Wanyeng smiled at her, Yes, well done, most of my powers are bronze rank now, after all, I have been an iron ranker for far longer than normal. Vincent came up to the pair and took Lucys upper arm quite forcefully and marched her just out of earshot of Wanyeng. Cadet Mitchel where did you learn the ritual? I didnt, you know I make most of these up. There were runes of binding and siphoning. I just did a dual circle to make sure I got all of them, why, whats wrong with that? Vincent relaxed and loosened his grip on her arm, letting go. Im sorry, a group of radicals were using an almost identical ritual some time ago to kill entire families in their homes without them being able to run or fight. It caused havoc in the adventure society and was dealt with forcefully, hushed up very quickly so the ritual didnt become common knowledge. Thats awful Im sorry I didnt know. No, I should have realised you wouldnt, excuse my outburst. But please, dont spread the use of that method, however efficient it may be. I understand Vinc Instructor Trenslow. He smiled and clapped her on the shoulder and they made their way over to where Wanyeng had joined Sylvyn who was dutifully ignoring him. Wanyeng gave her a quizzical look as if asking what that had all been about but Lucy gave a little shake of the head and a small smile showing nothing was wrong. I will explain to Cadet Wanyeng so that he knows the gravity of not sharing what he has seen here today. Vincent whispered to Lucy, quiet enough to that only she could hear. For once Sylvyn wasnt looking at her book and watched Lucy and Vincent walking towards them. Now that you are done holding up the deputy director with your gossiping shall we get going? Oh you are ready to participate now? A bit keen? Not scared of a few rats? Lucy was starting to lose her patience with the haughty elf. Hmph, if it will shut you up than I shall show you the power of noble training. They made their way to a farm a few fields along, the infestation had been noticed when checking a crop one morning, huge melons were growing in the field and they could just about see the rattlings, so large their backs were higher than the melons, scurrying about between them. Sylvyn stood, her magic carpet rolling itself and floating to her hand and she stowed it in her clutch as she was walking forward. Before Vincent could intervene she withdrew a bronze spirit coin from the bag as she placed her carpet and placed it in her mouth. May the dam break, the vessel overfill, skiens burst with the pressure of the infinite waterfall. As she chanted she raised off the ground, arms wide, her hair turning white and translucent standing on end. In a ripple moving outwards from her the melons started to explode, moving outwards there were watery explosions of melons followed by the bright red explosions of Rattlings. Lucy could just about see the Rattlings engorging and ballooning before it became too much and bursting. The whole field was a mess of wetness, levelled by the spell. Sylvyn hit the ground hard like a rag doll, the bronze rank power having left her. She got up and used a vial of crystal wash before stepping gingerly back to the road. She pulled out her magic carpet from her bag and sat back down, looking tired but very pleased with herself. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. That, that is not what we do here. Vincent said, looking out at the field of destruction. Or how we do it. You have not only destroyed an entire crop and made the field unusable for the foreseeable future but you have no way of knowing if there are any more rattlings. Sylvyn looked at him patronisingly, The farmer should plan to have costs of raising crops where there may be monsters, and they can deal with however few there are left. She was selecting between two books and put one back in her clutch. Vincent looked like her was going to hit the back of her head before he visibly calmed himself and walked away. Speaking to Lucy and Wanyeng, I will go and find this farmer and apologise of behalf of the adventure society, the branch will have to pay towards this loss of crops as it was an accident on a field assessment. He shook his head, Accident by the gods that we brought her along. You two go and find the stone crows, we will meet in the village square nearest the mine. He walked away and drove the cart down the road, Sylvyn floating along next to it as she had all trip, not asking why the others werent following. They consulted the magic society monster register and found to their pleasure that they were at the time of day that the birds nested. It was a simple job for Lucy to use a vanilla magic missile to destroy the nest with the birds in it once they had found it with a tracking power that Wanyeng had. They met Vincent and Sylvyn at the next village, he was looking frustrated and she looked as she always did, nonplussed. One of the wealthiest families in the city and didnt offer a single coin. He muttered as the others said hello. Ive asked around the village and there has been a quiet spell around the mines recently. No one has gone near however and there was a confirmed sighting of two Arknays fighting over a pet cat whilst returning to the mine. We will have to be cautious, Cadet Lucy, Cadet Wanyeng you will take point, you work well as a team. Cade Miss Sylvyn you will stay with me, better to cover the front pair with spells. She nodded her assent to the plan. Magical diamond varieties were found in veins of iron, bronze and very rarely silver in the area. This mine had long since been exhausted for its minerals and was abandoned. The method left a lot of loose dust and plain un-magical diamond lying around that had little to no value compared to the magical variety. It made for a startlingly beautiful cave system glittering with the smallest amount of light. They moved forward into the mine, tactically caterpillering forward, Lucy and Wanyeng moving the limit of sight then Vincent and Sylvyn catching them up before setting off again. Lucy used powdered moon rock, a magical version of igneous rock, magically imbued when erupted from a volcano at night, the rock dust blended into the floor of the mine but was visible to magical senses meaning they could find their way out without a monster using it to find them. They each had walked through a ritual Lucy had set up which allowed them to see in the dark for a short time, it put a clock on their mineshaft adventure of a few hours without repeating it. Lucy found herself missing the other Mitchells and their ability to all silently communicated through their interface, there was no way to communicate underground other than hand signals as the noise would reverberate and easily give away their position. The ambush happened during one of the longer tunnels, as Lucy and Wanyeng walked underneath a dark opening in the ceiling and a monster dropped down behind them. It wasnt the bright green of an Arknay it was a preying mantis looking monster for sure, but it had hard black chitinous plates that went all the way down its body even to the tip of a wicked looking scorpion tail. Dark Hunters!! Vincent cried. The problem with notice boards that cadets are taught at the academy annex with monster contracts is that the details are being recorded by normal rank individuals that dont stay long enough to get a good look, and dont then look up the monster in the magic society records, they will just write what they think is right and normal for the area. Arknays are an iron rank monster, occasionally appear in pairs and make their nests in hard to get to places, so it was forgivable to think this was them. Dark Hunters on the other hand were bronze rank monsters, that appeared in groups. They were excellent ambushers, capable of hiding their auras well. Sylvyn panicked, she blasted half a dozen spells at the monsters back with no thought to a plan. The monster took the hits and shuddered. It wasnt until the roof collapsed that the monster was in real trouble, it was buried underneath the rocky ceiling. The last thing that Lucy and Wanyeng saw of the other side was a second dark hunter dropping onto Sylvyn from behind, slashing her back. Trapped on the far side of the cave-in Wanyeng walked up to the pile of rock, the Dark Hunter was thrashing its head to and fro weakly, the only part of it that was free of rubble. He drew his sword and in a two handed blow drove it through the top of the monsters head. He tried to move a few of the rocks but they were large sections, they were not going to get through without an earth shaping power. Crap. Lucy said Well that does about sum the situation up. Wanyeng replied, wiping monster blood off his sword. Lucy swept her eyes down the mine shaft away from the blockage. Well to completely sum up the situation, were trapped on the side that doesnt have the convenient path to the exit, in the dark, as two iron rankers that are not even adventurers yet, in a deep mineshaft, thats infested with bronze rank monsters. Our assessor who is meant to step in when things get bad is on the other side with the useless elf witch who is now probably bleeding out and he has to rescue her while fighting bronze rank monsters so is probably not coming for us any time soon. As she finished they heard the sound of many rustling legs coming from different tunnels ahead of them. That, is also succinct in its summation. Wanyeng said. We need to move, this is not a good place to be making a stand. Anywhere more defensible for now. Lucy opened a circle of runes to her storage power, briefly illuminating the tunnel in golden light, twinkling in the diamond dust encrusted walls and pulled out a notebook. You lead the way, your perception power must be almost bronze, you have more chance of spotting an ambush, Ill follow close behind and give cover. She flipped through her notebook. I knew I should have got more mundane rituals, I would exhaust myself before I could burn through that much rock, and we dont know how stable the tunnel is. They made their way down the rest of the long tunnel, Wanyeng didnt draw his sword, he moved with one arm out low and straight behind him, his hand flat as if it was a blade that was ready to strike. After a few hours they came to a junction, four tunnels were in front of them, all dark identical openings. Can you hold here for a while? Lucy asked, I have an idea but I wont be able to be present for a while, Ill need you to defend my body. Wanyeng looked quizzically at her but nodded, as she sat cross legged on the floor he took a protective stance over her, tucking his thumbs into the belt of his robes. Her brow furrowed in concentration and Wanyeng felt a small surge in her aura and felt it separate from where she was sat before it dimmed and shot down one of the tunnels. The world was bright and hazy around Lucy, ghostly in appearance. She was floating down the first tunnel shaft, fast as a sprint she wound her way down the tunnel. She didnt often use this power as it was disorientating but was proving invaluable now. Ability: [Astral Projection] (Mind) Special ability Cost: Low mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 2 (14%) Effect (iron): Project your consciousness outside your body to a range determined by power of the ability. Whilst in this form you cannot affect or be effected by physical matter. You may be detected by aura senses in this form. Your body is left defenceless whilst using this power. Any damage to your body will cause your consciousness to be immediately recalled. After Lucy had pushed her ability to the limit she returned to her body. The left tunnel is clear but no sign of a way out, everything ok here? Wanyeng had a guilty look on his face as he put away a sweet stick he was munching on. Err, all quiet here as well. She frowned at him then smiled and repeated her projection into the second tunnel. It wasnt until she tried the third tunnel she found something interesting, there was a line of ants travelling along the edge of the tunnel, the two way ant traffic would have normally gone unnoticed if she hadnt seen that going one way they were carrying leaves. Excited she followed the line of ants back. Before she reached the end of her range the world flashed staccato. She felt a piercing pain through her whole body and the world rushed by. When she felt herself back in her body a moment later the pain receded to her right foot and she saw a long black spike-like leg piercing it. Wanyeng was a blur of movement, he was a tiny figure against the three shiny Dark Hunters. He jumped and sprang off the walls of the tunnel, using the small confines to his advantage in acrobatic leaps. He was a boy of many swords, he held a silver shining katana in one hand and a golden wakizashi in the other, he spun not striking the armour of the monsters but deflecting their many spiked leg strikes, dodging the lunging mouths. He looked bored, a calm face that was not excited by the raging conflict, every now and then he would strike when the monster overreached, digging the point of either his sword or the shorter blade into a crease, when he did an orb would appear above the monster, either a sun for the golden wakizashi or a glowing moon for the katana. A storm of ghostly miniature blades surrounded him like a small comet tail, intercepting the rapid attacks of the bronze rank monsters, reducing the amount that got through that Wanyeng had to block himself. The Dark Hunter piercing Lucys foot had done it more by accident than an attack, it had been backing away from the whirling dervish that was Wanyeng. Lucy was amazed that Wanyeng was managing to hold them all by himself, she could recognise that whilst he was holding he was not winning, riding a knife edge to protect Lucy and keep all three busy. The Remore academy had been training adventurers for centuries and was full of combat philosophy, all dedicated adventurers at some point hit a wall and had the need to form a team to push themselves harder, the foundation of this teamwork was set from basic training. The strength of a team does not come from its collective strength, but the moments of its individuals efforts to support one another. When Lucy saw her moment she took it. Wanyeng had just delivered a piercing blow to the stinger tail of one of the monsters as it lunged at him, striking just behind the bulbous head of the stinger it nearly severed it but not quite, the tail already healing when it withdrew. As he leapt back to start his next attack sequence on the monster that had stepped on Lucy she used her Psychic scream power. Ability: [Psychic Shriek] (Mind) Special attack Cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Iron 5 (05%) Effect (iron): A non-verbal cry. Causes a brief period of intense disorientation to a single target. Causes minor damage to the target. Even though the scream was in its mind the monster turned its head towards the source of the disturbance. Wanyeng took the opportunity provided, as the neck was extended he lunged forward, stabbing both blades into the crack in the armour that had appeared. He thrust in opposite directions, getting covered in monster blood as he almost decapitated the monster. It fell to the floor next to Lucy, thoroughly dead. Wanyeng turned and used a power he had been setting up for the whole fight. Darkness and light, sun and moon; be mine to awaken and move at my command. Mine is the command. Mine is the realm and the power; bring forth the kingdom of eclipse. Wanyeng had got the same power as Rufous Remore, awakening a Sword essence power using an Eclipse awakening stone. He had private tuition in how to use it by the Principal himself. In the dark tunnel the orbs of sun and moon rose off the monsters. They formed an eclipse over their heads. Wanyeng pointed at one of the remaining monsters and a bright beam with a dark core poured transcendent damage into the monster. A wide hole in the middle of the monster was annihilated and the beam ran out. Lucy hadnt been idle, as soon as she saw Wanyeng focussing on one monster she attacked the other, using a magic missile from the floor she hit it square in its torso, smashing it against the wall, a splatter of bug goo hit the wall around its impact but it wasnt finished there, it lunged towards Lucy where she still lay. Using her martial arts training she tucked her legs above her and kipped up to standing, reaching she drew Wanyengs sword from his side, she somersaulted the monster and dug the sword into the crack in its side formed by the impact with the wall, she hung on riding the monster using the sword handle as an anchor. She held on gamely until she felt her magic missile come off cooldown, she reached down to the other side of the monster from the sword and placed her hand flat against the gap in the armour and fired a missile point plank into it. After a second and a third missile the monster exploded and Lucy found herself sat on the floor in the middle of the goo. They made their way up the tunnel, Lucys ability to project herself outside her body was a safe way to explore the tunnel up ahead and she used it every time they stopped. They found more Dark Hunters on their way, not a challenge to the two strong adventurers as single monsters. On one of the stops Lucy was taking watch while Wanyeng had a rest and a bite to eat, he was sat cross legged on the floor sharpening his sword with a stone when a light started to glow from within him Lucy turned in shock at sensing a bronze rank aura, knowing the ambush monsters aura control was good enough to get past her. But the bronze rank aura behind her was no monster. The young boy stood, no taller than he was a moment earlier but he seemed it, his face slightly more mature and he held his shoulders with more confidence. He looked older than his years but still the size of a small ten year old. He looked incredibly impressive until he hit the floor and started vomiting and excreting the awful pus everyone did on rank up. Lucy was kind and dragged him by one foot out of the gunk whilst he was recovering, she put his dimensional drawstring bag next to him where he could reach it for a bottle of crystal wash. It didnt take him long to recover and change after he had doused himself with the small bottle to get rid of the awful smelly gunk. You must have been so close to ranking up before this! I have been close for a while, danger is hard to come by in the academy, this is why I come on so many field assessments. He smiled ruefully. Congratulations Wan. She said bowing in his fashion to him. Well at least it should be even easier to get out now. They found their way out of the third tunnel. When the sun hit their faces they were relieved, they had both thought to themselves there was a good chance before Wanyeng ranked up that they might die without ever feeling the sun on their faces. What they didnt expect, was the huge monster rampage going on all around them with a small army of adventurers battling them. Chapter 12 ‘Rune Lore’ Lucy and Wanyeng hit the floor in the mouth of the mineshaft. Around them was carnage. They quickly recognised the adventurers powers flying around them were bronze rank and even some silver rank. On the other side they recognised a lot of the monsters were bronze rank, swarming iron ranks but also three or four silver rank monsters. This was unheard of in the greenstone area outside of a monster surge. It felt like something an instructor would set up in a mirage chamber. Thinking of the mirage chamber and the academy Lucy grabbed Wanyeng. Weve got to get behind the friendly line of advance! She had to shout over the sounds of the battle. This many monsters they mustve called out the academy to help. She was thinking about monster surge protocol, every now and then the academy would program a day to go through joint tactics in the event the academy annex was deployed on clear and sweep operations. The days were not remembered fondly, unable to fit the entire school into a mirage chamber they conducted dry drills out in the delta. Lots of stopping and starting as they got different units into position and the instructors were learning to be lieutenants of formations rather than independent adventurers. Wanyeng nodded at her and pointed at an outcropping of rocks towards the adventurer side. Auras out. Even if there is no one here that will recognise them at least they know theres friendlies in the area. Just as Wanyeng said this a tree landed just past them, thrown by some great force from the adventurers side. They shared a look then both flooded their auras out as hard as they could whilst they ran towards the centre of the adventurers side. Doing so might attract monsters but with so many auras all clashing about, especially with the silver rank adventurers they were unlikely to draw much attention. Lucy ran as hard as she could, pouring every bit of speed on, she knew there would be a safe space ahead and seconds mattered. Wanyeng was always just a step ahead, picking the good path and making sure it was clear. The ground burst in front of them and a spinning figure emerged from a new hole in the floor to find the drawn double blades of Wanyeng, a glowing wand and a rune encased arm from Lucy. Well, seems a shame to pull you two away from this little adventure youve got yourselves into. But fancy coming back with me? Shane Druggan was a silver rank instructor at the school, he had worked a lot with Kyra and her earth essence as it was one they shared. As soon as he had burst out the ground an elegant dome of smooth earth surrounded their backs. He waved them on and they all started running, the earth dome travelling with them covering their retreat. Once they got back behind some hastily erected earthen barricades they finally felt relief, as they had drawn near they were set on by monsters. The friendlies on the other side couldnt help as they were worried about fratricide so they had to deal with it themselves, with Shane taking the lions share, Wanyeng taking the next largest slice and Lucy taking everything she could. When they finally sat down Wanyeng was exhausted even through his new bronze rank endurance and Lucy was empty of mana and her arms burned from where she had to draw a sword and take the monsters on manually as James called it. Shane had dashed off as soon as he had seen them safe, he had to get back to the frontline. He had left them with no explanation of what to do or what was going on. Can you smell that? Wanyeng asked Lucy, looking around and sniffing from where they were both sat slumped against some barrels. Wanyengs newly bronze rank senses had picked up the scents just before Lucys. There was a faint smell of barbecued meat. They got up and followed their noses deeper into the adventurer encampment. Neither had eaten in days, relying on spirit coins in the mine. They found a small field of trestle tables with a large pit at one end that half a dozen chefs were grilling monster size steaks. Looking at the size of the steaks and how hungry they felt they agreed to join the short queue for the grill. Wh adya want? We got Igneous Iguana steaks, fried Mud gator tail or giant tremor worm sausages. The chef theyd gone up to was from the academy annex kitchens, he was bronze rank and he was still sweating, working on the giant grill in front of him. I get the steaks and butchering a tail, but how have you done sausages out here? Lucy asked. Got a lootin power aint I? Got it from the Bounty essence, turns them monsters straight into easy to cook portions, now we got a lot of people needin food, whadya want? They took a little bit of everything and found an empty trestle table and sat down. They got nods from people they recognised and smiles from their peers but they chose to sit alone to try and wrap their heads around what was happening. What in the gods names is going on Lu? That was crazy. We were down there for days? I think we both now know we need to buy watches. I dont know, theres something hinky going on with the magic around us at the moment, Ive not felt right since we got separated from Instructor Trenslow. Part of that was due to being stuck in a cave with no light and no idea if we would ever see daylight again. I need to see my husband, hes going to kill me but I want to see him. But the other part of it is the current of magic just looks different, its more active, a different flow to the the normal. Or at least what I know as normal from this area. I wouldnt know, if its not a problem I can cut in half then its someone elses problem. With that clever comment he stuck a chunk of iguana steak in his mouth, looking quite self satisfied with his quip. His face instantly went bright red. He reached for the large water jug and started quaffing it as fast as he could. When the jug was empty he was breathing deeply and reached to a nearby empty table and pulled another jug onto theirs. Igneous, Volcano, hot, spicy. What an ass. How can he be giving that out?! He looked around and saw other people tucking into the large red steaks. Lucy was delicately eating hers, it tasted similar to a vindaloo from back home. Its either your newly bronze rank senses that youre not yet used to or your taste buds need maturing. She smirked good naturedly at him. Wanyeng hated people calling him out on his age so he smiled, and promptly tossed the contents of the water jug he was still holding at her. The water hit her full in the face. She gasped and looked down at her sodden lap. Her eyes glowed briefly golden and runes streamed out to form a circle a few feet above Wanyengs head, he looked up quizzically and suddenly a torrent of rain poured out soaking him, he fell backwards off his chair and the rain followed him, it finished as quick as it had started. They looked at each other and laughed. Wanyeng from his back and Lucy from standing looking over the table where he was on the floor. Vincent Trenslow cut the laughter short by running in and scooping them both into a bone breaking embrace. I led a team of bronze rankers, a silver ranker, a team of digging specialists down to get you, and there was no trace of you. We didnt know if you made it! He then released them and looked down the front of his dusty armour that was now patchy with wetness. Why am I so wet? He looked at the two of them. Why are you so wet? Why are you eating and messing around when everyone thinks youre dead?! His grateful demeanour from seeing them alive and well schooled itself into a scolding one. Then he noticed Wanyengs bronze rank aura and his eyes went wide. Wanyeng! Congratulations! Instead of the crushing hug he held a hand out the boy to shake. Thankyou Instructor Trenslow. Wanyeng said, bowing over the handshake. It has been a long time coming. The amount of bronze rank monsters pushed me over the edge. We had only just arrived at the camp and both exhausted we were pushed to get some food straight away. How can we help? Lucy looked as eager as Wanyeng at Vincent. He shook his head, amazed at the pair. You have both just survived an experience I wouldnt send a bronze ranker in alone, never mind a pair of iron rankers not yet qualified. You both need to meditate and consolidate. However, this has been declared an emergency by the Duke of Greenstone and it is all hands on deck. Lucy, you will be needed with the magic society contingent working at the centre of this camp. Your studies will be more useful than your combat abilities at the moment. Wanyeng, you will be placed in the iron rank block C, you havent consolidated to fight at your new rank and as that is the case I wont use you as such, your extra strength will be a welcome relief to the rest of the block. Wanyeng nodded his approval, wise beyond his years it was easy to expect him to argue about being put back with the iron rankers after achieving what he had and going through what they just had. He bussed his tray and adjusted his sword belt. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Where am I headed to? One of the iron rankers with Vincent lead him away, Wanyeng gave Lucy a smile and a double thumbs up on his way out. Vincent lead Lucy away towards the middle of camp. Did Sylvyn make it ok? Cadet Sylvyn came around when I fed her a potion, she then started to panic and fire at any shadow she thought moved. Another rock collapse must have happened and she was hit rather forcibly in the back of the head with a particularly hefty rock in my haste to evacuate her it slipped my mind to feed her another potion and carried her out using your wonderful breadcrumb trail.He paused for Lucy to stop giggling. Once above ground the adventure society messengers found me and lead me to this camp where I handed her over to the healers. After making a full recovery and being cleared by the med tent she insisted there was still something wrong and needed to be treated by the family healer, she took a detail of the Dukes guards to escort her back to Greenstone. Oh wow, thats not exactly adventurer material. My thoughts precisely, however Cadet Sylvyn is oblivious and has said that she will not be coming to the academy to pick up her badge and would like me to come to her family estate to drop it off, by no later than the end of the week. This time Lucy stopped in mid stride, eyes wide and laughed at the news. How vapid can one person get?! She wouldnt be invited to the academy anyway, however much she desperately needed as much time there as she can get. Sometimes we recommend attending the annex for a module or two to make up shortcomings that some on assessment may have. However I cannot in good faith subject the academy to her presence, a flat fail and a recommendation to not re-assess with a caveat that she can only re-assess in a years time and it must be with me. He looked tired and stroked his moustache, it had obviously been a strenuous few days for him as well, the fact that he was talking so openly about another cadets performance showed his fatigue. Lucy could sympathise, herself and Wanyeng had been able to laugh and see the funny side in such a horrible person, but she had worn even them down and they hadnt been responsible for her. Suddenly she was hit by something blonde and hard, bearing her to the ground and attacking her face. Lucky was licking her with great enthusiasm., his front paws were on her chest not letting her up. Kyra grabbed him by the collar and hauled him off. I swear he has better aura senses than I do at iron rank, he just hared off all of a sudden! Vincent explained what happened with the mine, Im so glad you made it out ok! She helped Lucy up and gave her a hug. Well Im glad to see you too boy. She stroked Luckys head and he raised a dignified paw for her to shake as if he hadnt just been barking and bouncing like the puppy he was. Oooh! Ive got a present for you Kyra. She raised a hand and runes streamed from her eyes, down her arm and out in front of her. Her storage portal appeared and she seemed to manipulate it in mid air that instead of a window in front it was a ring above them. Diamond dust started streaming out of it like grain from a silo. It kept coming, forming a huge mound on the floor between them, Lucy had to raise the storage portal to allow more to come out. When it was done it had formed two piles so that Kyra could split it into her storage. Thats insane, why do you have so much? Thats worth a lot of coins! We were stuck in an abandoned diamond mine for days, this is just what was on the floor from the mining. It kept my mind off the fact it was so dark and miserable down there. I worked out an easy enough ritual that basically separated it from the dirt and hoovered it all into one big pile. Well this is brilliant, it should keep me going for a long time! Kyra took out a pocket mirror from a pocket that definitely wasnt big enough for it. After quickly checking her bangs and tucking one behind her ear she moved until the piles were in the reflection, one pile and then the other disappeared into the mirror. Lucys portal came back down in front of her and she pulled out a handful of felt bags. These are also diamond quintessence, she said handing them over. I know your summon doesnt need them but Ive heard of some rituals we can do to strengthen your summon with them so hold onto them for now. Not that Im not happy to see you but why are you here? Youre out of the academy now so how did you get roped in? I was working at the broad street clinic when they came bursting in saying there was a monster surge, you should have seen the confusion on peoples faces, its not due so there was a little panic. Everyone calmed down and they said they just needed healers as quick as they could. As they talked they were walking to the magic society tents. Vincent got them through some sort of security, it was there more to keep personnel to a minimum so they could get on with their work. I dont care that you think its improbable Arthur, the fact is that it has happened, the magical density is not what it was half an hour ago! Three men in magic society clothes were standing around a bird table with a huge map of the area. On the map they were manipulating magical coloured sand that showed the magical density in the area, like a hologram it moved across the map then started again, showing the swirl. It started in the middle of nowhere and was slowly spiralling outwards getting larger. Mack, weve not seen this before, calm down. The oldest looking man turned to Lucy. Yes miss can I help you? Vincent stepped into the tent with the others. Gentlemen, this is the student I was telling you about, she has an unparalleled depth of study in to rituals and astral magic in the academy. Tell her everything you know. The older man looked over the two women and shrugged. It started roughly a day ago, first thing in the morning, a large pack of bronze rank monsters being lead by a silver rank, almost unheard of for the area. A local decided to run to the city to get help immediately. When the teams arrived to put down the monster another local had gone to the city from a village over to report a wave of monsters, he was sent away thinking we had dealt with the issue he was on about. It turns out we hadnt. More reports came in, getter larger and larger numbers of monsters. What seems to be happening is an expanding surge of magical density, generating monster manifestations at an extreme pace. The face of the surge is expanding, as it crawls over the ground more and more monsters are manifesting. In a days time the front will be larger than Greenstone, which is where it will hit. This camp was placed in its path to deal with the monsters, it swept straight past us, and is continuing. Like a tornado of magic. Lucy said. There was a cough from the front of the tent, a young man was leaning against the pole. My goddess would like to remind you Miss Lucy that your knowledge of how weather works is incomplete and she has already warned you about using knowledge from the other world. He stood straight, bowed slightly and wandered off. Lucy shook her head. Well I assume I can talk about lightning rods. She paused, when he didnt come back she continued. Placing a battle camp in front of the phenomenon is treating the effect not the cause. We need to ground the energy out to stop it from propagating. Runes streamed room her eyes as she placed a blank piece of paper on the table in front of them, the runes settled onto the plain surface. Im more a combat ritualist than an array specialist, you will need to find me one to work with, but this is what I would be suggesting to use. She took a glowstone from the stand in the corner and took it to the gold spinning diagram. She placed it over the top and they all watched as the glowstone dimmed then went out. A ritual to absorb magic, with the size we are talking about it will need to be a semi-permanent array that interconnects. Do you have a specialist in formation interactivity? The men shook their heads. Well its a good job Ive been looking into it for adapting my fighting style when I get to bronze rank then. Lucy had spent a lot of hours studying magic, she had dug out the records of all of their powers to go over with the team and the powers progression through the ranks. Rune type storage powers were common, less common was combat rituals as they were a small niche, having both in the same power was extremely rare. She had found the record of her rune power in the magical records. Ability: [Rune Lore] (Magic) Special ability: Rune projection Cost: Variable mana Cool-down: Nil. Current rank: Iron 5 (90%) Effect (iron): Increased mana regeneration. Project runes that will form a portal window to dimensional storage. Alternate use is to produce a varied range of combat rituals, these rituals are supplied by the casters own mana to be powered. Flexible usage requires a varied mana input. Only one ritual or storage power may be used at a time. Effect (bronze): Two rune circles may be used at the same time for an increased mana output, the effects may be the same or different. She started rapidly sketching under the golden runes before she moved them around the paper and sketched again. Well need to place a semi-circle of arrays in the path of the front. What it wont do is suck in all the magic in the gaps. So magic will seep between the sites. The magic that gets through will be super concentrated but cant last long without being part of the whole phenomenon and fizzle out, think of it as a one last gasp from whatevers going on. Ill need every ritualist and earth mover youve got. The men looked at each other and silently agreed. The benefit to crisis management that the society had learned the hard way that if someone said they were a specialist in a field no matter what they looked like they should be taken seriously. Lucy made copies of the ritual needed, the cost in spirit coins, the orientation, the timing to activate, the most common cause of it going wrong and where to place the adventure society troops for between the arrays. The ritualist teams all got given an adventurer team escort to get ahead of the vortex, although they were going to ground not yet effected by the phenomenon the monsters on the inside of the swirl had started moving outwards as well as following the direction it was moving. Lucy, Kyra, Wanyeng, Vincent and a small team of iron rankers all raced across the delta, they had their copy of the map and were responsible for a full third of the array diagrams due to the shortage of specialists. As they got to the first site, which was to be the far right edge of the array Vincent and Wanyeng went hunting the local area to make sure they werent going to be disturbed. Ready? Lucy asked This will need to be slick. We have a lot to get through and I only have so much mana. Kyra nodded and kicked her boots off, digging her toes into the dirt. Lucy took a deep breath and the largest runes she had ever produced streamed from her eyes, they spread out and settled on the ground, the size of a large stadium hovering just off the ground. Kyra stomped her foot and a spike of earth blasted her off the ground. At the peak of her jump she looked over the runes scattered on the ground. She spread her arms and legs in a star position and the ground rose precisely under the runes. As she was landing Lucy has already used her astral projection to go high above the array and have a look. When they were both returned to the ground Lucy lead Kyra around the array to tweak here and there. They left the ritual materials in the right places and left a pair of iron rankers to guard the site. That was a ridiculous size ritual Lu, how can you do that? Oh there was no way I could have used that ritual, if I tried to power it then it would have fizzled out, but I can lay it as a template for a good amount of time. They moved on to the second site and Lucy was deep in thought. Stop. She said. The group stopped and a smaller set of runes came from Lucy, Kyra instinctively repeated the process from before forming an array the size of a large family car. This wasnt in the plan? Kyra said. No but I think Ive figured out how to link the array in the gaps. If it goes wrong we will have just enough time to have another go before it reaches the city. They dropped half a dozen of the smaller rituals before they started the next. It was a long process but they had completed four of the large arrays and daisy chained in between them and linked up with the nearest of the other ritual teams. The adventurers that had been sent to guard between the arrays had taken a little convincing that they would not be needed and spread out amongst the other side but time was short and they recognised that although a lower rank Lucy knew what she was on about. All the preparation complete they looked to the inside of the semi circle of giant arrays, they were just in time. The magical density phenomenon wasnt a visible force, but marked along its advance was a constant shimmer of rainbow light from here and there where there was a constant manifestation of monsters. The adventurer force was lined up behind the gaps in the arrays watching the advance. WHEN THE MAGIC WAVE HITS. THERE WILL BE A FLASH OF LIGHT. CLOSE YOUR EYES UNTIL I GIVE THE SIGNAL. Lucy shouted over the assembled force. The last rainbow manifestation started on the very edge of an array. NOW! Lucy yelled, the ritualists near each array fed the necessary coins to the diagrams and they activated, all the adventurers covered their eyes. The world turned white, Lucy used her astral projection power to be able to see through the flash. All the magic wave was being turned into harmless light where it touched the arrays, but there was a lot of it. It was clear to see that the arrays were working, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the interconnections working between arrays to her left. What she saw in the gaps between arrays on her right made her blood run cold. Chapter 13 ‘Just before David Attenborough starts narrating.’ The forest was the most vibrant, alive and fresh surroundings that Teddy had ever been in. The sunlight streamed through the leaves onto the path giving a moving, flowing, dappled pattern of shadows. The filtered effect of the light gave the impression that they were being charged with bursts of light. The boys were running. They ran at the speed of Olympians but it cost them little more effort than a casual stroll with their enhanced bodies. They were so at ease with the pace that they couldve easily talked to each other but they didnt, they ran in companionable silence, not wanting to break the nature around them. The forest around them was akin to watching a nature documentary on a 4K VR headset, where everything had been filtered and perfected, the sounds were pure and unspoilt, no far off noise of a motor or an aeroplane overhead from their own world. It was like listening to a documentary with noise cancelling headphones just before David Attenborough starts narrating. The boys had never run together in their old world, not properly. They had a fitness craze in their early teens and tried to run together but it soon stopped. Now the four of them often trained together which included a lot of running. Now they were running to get home, the hydals they had brought with them they sold on the cheap to the estate owner once they had seen the state of his affairs. The contract they had been given was a little more complicated than posted as they often were. The lumber mill owner had shown them the damage all around his property. He specialised in wood from deep in the forest that was very isolated from the rest. For the owner to call in a contract to help him out was rare, a condition of running the mill was to show a level of competence in dealing with regular monsters. The damage was wide spread, not just against the structure of his property but the surrounding bushes and trees, it looked as if two excavator owners had tried to have a fight, ripping everything up in the process. Teddy had felt mostly useless as James had wandered around checking out the tracks. Both Teddy and the mill owner had been surprised to hear that it was both Fergax and real bear tracks. As an iron rank creature a Fergax wouldnt last too long until the magic inside it broke down and it entered the berserk stage. Through all the tracks messing the ground James was confident that there were multiple of the Fergax and even more of the bears, a veritable battle royale of fur and claw. They cross interviewed the mill owner, not trying to scare the man but tagging in and out to interrogate him, drawing out little details the man would have otherwise forgotten. Then they got to the business of hunting monsters. The Fergax monsters were the first priority, the mill owner had put up with the disturbance for a while until it got out of hand and now they were worried that some of the monsters were getting to the end of their sell by date as Teddy put it. At first James hadnt been impressed by the church of the Heros selection of the Rat essence, but he had been very happy with the powers awakened by it. One power in particular was synergistic with his overall aura and his awakened powers from his eagle essence. His Scenting power from his rat essence didnt seem very useful on its own but it added a layer to the picture in front of him. As a passive power it overlaid his sight with the scents around him, showing the direction and concentration. He found it difficult to explain to the others as it was such an instinctual power to him to use. As a passive power it had already got its way up to bronze rank. The side effect from the academy program taking so long to grind in the fundamentals of being adventurers was that it actually slowed down progression from iron to bronze rank in some situations, but over a year of constant training and directed meditation meant that most students on graduating were a good way through iron rank. At bronze rank the overlaid new effect confused him for a long time. He had the ability to sense auras as a function of being iron rank and an aura power of his own so he could manipulate and hide or project his own. What he could now see as well as scents was a visible trace of auras. He could now track people and animals by their lingering auras. Counter intuitively the stronger the aura the harder it was to track. The Fergax monsters aura was only iron rank so they were easy enough to pick up from the site to where they made their lair. James crept forward, no sight of Teddy in the shadows at all. He moved over the ground with all the grace of a leopard on the savannah. They all found that iron rank made them better all round, the academy had pushed them to show them how much better they were, right now James was using every bit of the dexterity training they had been given. His animal essences and the animagus confluence had given him a deep seated instinctual gift. He could see in the loam where a stick may be underneath ready to crack and give away his position, which logs he could step on without leaving a trace and the pools of light coming down from the canopy that may flash off him and give away his position. His awareness of the nature around him showed where the trails of smaller creatures had been. What he saw ahead surprised him, Fergax were normally solitary creatures, manifesting in the forest only as singles unless it was a monster surge. A half dozen of the giant bear-like creatures were in front of him. An uneasy truce seemed to be between them and they all stayed together but kept a short distance away from each other. [Six is quite a lot] came the interface message from Teddy. [Divide and conquer? I can lure them and you take them out from behind?] [I can probably take two out of the picture quickly then tie up the third, between you and Koda you can take on one each right? Then I should be around to help with the third one following you.] The Fergax were spread out in a clearing that was and narrow slice of woodland floor with no trees. At James agreement to the plan he stood up and let out his aura, he then used a tiny trickle of mana into his special ability apex predator, not enough to suppress the clustered Fergax but enough to send them a challenge they wouldnt ignore. He then dashed off into the trees, the clearing nicely lining up the monsters in a six monster chain to chase. Teddy used a series of lethal abilities in quick succession. Dashing forward with his swift ability he dropped a black hole hand grenade behind the rearmost Fergax, then dashing around it he slashed the air just behind the next monster with his hand opening a rift which crackled with the huge amount of mana he had imbued it with, the destination rift was just in front of the monster to which it ran into, mirroring the amount of mana imbued to the first, the result was half of the monster simply disappearing and the monster falling sideways in a bloody mess. As he appeared through the rift still dashing forward Teddy swung his dimension blade as hard as he could at the neck of the third monster pumping mana as he leant into the attack, the blade sliced cleanly through and the headless body crashed forward under the momentum of the monsters run chasing James, it had never seen Teddy. Teddy looked back to see the grenade finish its black hole effect and exploded sending the first monster crashing into the departure rift, taking huge chunks out of the front of its legs, it wouldnt be chasing anyone. Teddy pulled a mana potion from his belt and turned around to see how far James and the other monsters had got. James had released Koda sending him as far out to the side as he could, with a burst of his aura he kept the chase on him instead of his familiar. When he heard the grenade go off behind him he turned and faced the lead Fergax. The monster thundered towards him, larger than any bear had a right to be with bony protrusions all over its body. James dug his feet into the soft ground and squared off. The monster didnt slow down, it was so intent on catching its prey. The prehensile tail whipped out of James back and smashed the monster sideways and it cleared the ground before smashing into a tree, the bony protrusions carving rents in the tree. The second monster was hot on its heels and again didnt slow as it charged forwards. This time the tail seemed to blur, James rat essence power Scurry was one that didnt seem powerful on its own but James had found that it was a brilliant edge at the start of fights. Ability: [Scurry] (Rat) Special ability: Agility boost Cost: Low mana Cool-down: Combat status dependant Current rank: Iron 5 (90%) Effect (iron): At the start of every fight receive a 10 second boost to agility. Agility will be boosted to 200% with a small increase with every minor threshold advancement. The tail wrapped itself around the Fergaxs head and James neatly stepped out of its way. He dug his feet in again and used his extra strength to hold his ground as he used the monsters momentum to wrench its head as it passed, neatly snapping its neck. The third monster was tackled sideways by Koda, the bear familiar was significantly smaller than the monster but undaunted, his strength was incredible for his size and he went claw to claw, tooth to tooth with the bigger bear monster. James trusted his familiar and turned back to the first Fergax that he had smashed into a tree. James leant down and picked up a spear that was being carried across the forest floor by, surprisingly, ants! The large soldier ants formed a column under the entire length of the spear and as he picked it up some were still attached, he shook his head and threw it as hard as he could at the monster, it pierced its thigh pinning it to the tree, he closed in and finished it. When James and Teddy met in the middle a bloody and limping Koda arrived to meet them. An iron rank familiar should be able to take an iron rank monster with the aid of its summoner but James and Koda had been training a lot and Koda was becoming more and more capable of taking on monsters of his own rank independently. James subsumed his familiar in order to speed the healing process after giving him a potion. They walked around and looted the monsters, James getting to train his execute ability; last shadow, on the first Fergax that Teddy had crippled with his grenade and rift combo. 3 [Monster cores (iron)] have been added to each of your Inventories. 30 [Iron] spirit coins have been added to each of your Inventories. 30 [Bear] quintessence have been added to each of your Inventories. Teddy immediately opened an inventory rift and pulled out a furry bag of gems. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Its like someone skinned Chewbacca and turned him into a purse. He said as he passed it to James. James rolled his eyes as he bent down to pass the bag to a fox and it scurried off amongst the trees. Well that bear quintessence should come in handy later on. Lets head back to the mill and pick up the trail for the bears, see if we can sort this without killing them all. They made their way back to the mill, stopping to collect whatever herbs they could identify along the way that were on the list the clinic would pay for. When they got back to the mill James could sense the swirl of aura in the shed by the house, ignoring it he looked back to the scene of the bear fight. The scents of the bears were strong and their auras being normal rank were easy to identify. He led them into the woods to a series of caves. Teddy Ill go in alone for this one, see if I can figure out why theyre attacking the mill. Normal bears shouldnt be interested unless theyre being pushed, Im guessing that with the Fergax gone the problem should be gone as well. Teddy shrugged and pulled out a book before nimbly climbing a tree to read. James turned and entered the cave. Teddy and James had always enjoyed reading and the new world meant new genres of books and wildly different imaginations, the book that Teddy was reading now was more utilitarian than pleasure as he was developing an entrepreneurial idea with Lucy. Shortly James made his way back out and Teddy hopped down. No need to bother them, the last fight killed a few of them so its only a small pack now. There is something interesting we should check out though. They made their way back to the mill and to a collection of large rocks in the grounds. James directed Teddy to widen the gaps between the rocks with his dimension blade, the stone vanishing on contact with the blade, the gap widened until they could fit into a small cave. The same cave system must have been connected to the nearby bear cave. A huge mound of quintessence was lying in a pile. They climbed back out and now that the aura disturbance in the shed was stopped they found the mill owner looking very tired with a cup of tea in a rocking chair. Ok, so. You had six Fergax and ten natural bears scrapping on your estate. The Fergax are taken care of and the bears shouldnt be a problem anymore. The mill owner raised an eyebrow at that and looked dubious. I would like to insist that you leave the bear pack alone, they wont venture near the property after weve cleared up the last issue. There seems to be a natural confluence point for the larger collection of bear and bear monsters in the area. I dont know if the bears caused the concentration or the concentration attracted the bears. Teddy leant in to the owner and whispered conspiratorially. His wife is the smart one in the pair. James scowled at him. The question is do you want to claim the bear quintessence as its on your land? The mill owner finished his tea and stood up, he clapped a hand on James shoulder. Between what Ive got for you in the shed and that pile thats a fair payment for what youve done for me and Ill be sure to keep your name in mind for the future for any other bear-like problems I have! Now come see what Ive got for you. As they walked towards the shed Teddy stopped and folded his arms watching an army of squirrels run in single file down into the hole in the floor, each one ran out holding one gem and ran back to the woods forming two solid lines. He threw his hands up in bewilderment and followed the others to the shed. When they had first got to the wood mill they thought it was already under attack from bears. Huge sculptures of life-like bears were all down the path to the main house, the eyes seemed to follow them and their poses were so life-like that it seemed they would lunge at them any moment. The ones nearer the house were more docile, with mothers and cubs and huge protective alphas looking over the yard. Looking close up they looked so incredible that they almost wondered if they were a wooden monster bear just standing still. The sense that they were real wasnt helped by the fact that they were subtly infused with a kind of magic. They had found the mill owner in the shed next to the main house with a set of magical engraving tools. The owner was nervously excited as he took the boys to the shed. On the bench was James vambrace. The mill owner had spent the day engraving the plate that covered the back of the hand. A stylised bear paw engraving took up the entire plate ending in bear claws. Whichever way James turned it it looked 3D, the sense of magic coming off it was strong as it was freshly done and James could feel the new effect through his connection to the soul bound item. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. James blew out a sigh of relief. He had not been sure that the engraving would work. The item description had specifically mentioned armourers or tattooists but he had a hunch this would work. Its amazing thankyou! He shared the description with Teddy who was instantly very jealous. They left the mill owner with warm handshakes and leaving the hydals with him after the rest had run off during the bear brawl. They were running down the road back towards greenstone at a leisurely pace (that was faster than either of them could have ever sprinted back on earth) when they saw the giant tower of light ahead of them. The magic phenomenon that Lucy and Kyra had been battling alongside the adventure and magic societies was dangerous for a number of reasons. The rank of the monsters that the spiralling magic effect was producing was higher than the Greenstone area norm and the rate they were manifesting was much quicker. The arrays that Lucy had helped design and implement had worked successfully, covering the entire front of the magic phenomenon as it crawled along the ground like an invisible bank of fog it left only small gaps between giant pillars of light. Lucy had managed to figure out how to chain her portion of the array as to block any magic at all from seeping through. The other ritualists had not been able to see the opportunity to plug the gaps but they had planned for this and blocks of adventurers stood ready to tackle the manifestations that got through. The manifestations had been occurring sporadically along the front of its advance, now with the arrays using up much of the magic wave the remaining magical energy tried to squeeze into the small gaps, this caused a much higher concentration. The manifestations during the phenomenon had been unusual because it normally took time to coalesce into either awakening stones, essences, quintessence or monsters. The iron rank manifestations had been occurring almost instantaneously, bronze rank taking half a minute and the silver ranks only taking minutes. When a horde of iron rank monsters poured between the gap followed by dozens of bronze, a handful of silvers everyone knew they were in trouble when three of the manifestations in the gaps continued even longer. Over a hundred adventurer auras were spread over the battle. Essence powers were flying all over and the neat blocks were now only loosely being able to be controlled. Everything on the battlefield fought with a manic ferocity, the monsters freshly manifested threw themselves into the adventurers with instinctive aggression. Every type that was common in the delta and more than a few that were rare. The adventurers fought with a frenetic pace as they looked over the heads of the monsters at the manifestations that were still coalescing, bound to be gold rank. Kyra kept close to Lucy, the four outworlders had all practiced fighting as a team including pairings and working as a three in every combination. She was a whirling dervish with her summoned diamond sword and buckler. Catching an earth elemental on her shield she lunged into the torso of a Deerstrix, the size of a large buck, with antlers that were bladed as well as finishing in vicious points. Lucy was standing in a rune circle she had drawn with coloured powdered chalk before the fight, it powered up spells used within and left her free to use her rune power more flexibly with her magic missile, she was boxing clever, trying not to expend all her mana so she would be useful for what was to come. The issue with being a back-liner magic user in a sprawling battle like this was that in the carnage there often wasnt a back line. She found this when an ogreish creature came barrelling towards her side when she was covering a fellow adventurer to the front. If she stopped her attack the beleaguered adventurer would be overwhelmed and Kyra was busy engaged with the earth elemental. The Ogreish creature was suddenly pummelled in the side by a blur of yellow and orange fur, claws rent its flesh and giant teeth punctured its neck. Standing over its now dead corpse was a giant pre-Neolithic saber-tooth tiger. It shook its mane out and bared its teeth, roaring over the battlefield. Lucy recognised the magic in the roar as James apex predator power and as the roar finished he shrunk back to his human form. He staggered slightly as he leant on Lucy. Teddy ran up using the full speed of his swift essence powers. He nodded at them and ran to his wife. James hugged Lucy and without talking they set about joining the others and dominated their area of the fight. The fight went on longer than any had experienced before of constant combat. They had gotten to the easy sweep-and-clear stage when the grand manifestations completed. Of the three they were lucky that one of the manifestations was an awakening stone, to be gold rank it was surely an epic class stone. They were not so lucky with the other two manifestations. Two giant dragons stood crouched on the ground, the height of the tallest building in the city and from snout to the tip of their tails they could go from wall to wall of the city. One was black and one was green. They waited looking over the scene in front of them while their arrogant, smug, prideful auras crushed those in front of them. Suddenly they spoke as one. Prithee who among thee is the bravest, that we may smite you and be done with all of you. None of the adventurers wanted to volunteer, the instructors were trying the hand signals to try and get the formations back together but they didnt want to draw too much attention. The bulk of the adventurers were iron rank and bronze. With a few silvers amongst them, but not nearly enough to counter the two gold rank monsters. The dragons started to uncurl, their giant maws almost smiling as they raised up unfurling their wings, everyone knew this was going to be a quick end. Suddenly a silver and gold bolt plummeted from the sky between the two monsters, from the dust cloud that accompanied the impact with the earth giant silvery tentacles shot out and curled around the monsters and flipped them over and over, dragging them in as easily as a squid would a fish. There was a cacophony of light and dust in the centre and then stillness. Afterwards a regal looking woman walked out and surveyed the crowd with an imperious look, almost the same as the dragons had. She wore silver robes that matched the silver of her hair and eyes, there was a detachment that didnt seem human as she passed her gaze over them all. Then she looked up and blasted off the ground in a shower of silvery gold sparks, the ground behind her takeoff was scorched with the colours. I think we just got saved by a passing diamond ranker. A shaky Vincent Trenslow said from the front of the adventurer pack. Chapter 14 ‘A shopping trip!’ In the stunned disbelief that followed the diamond rank intervention the academy staff took control. They formed everyone up and marched them back to the city. The academy functionaries with the adventure society staff stayed to clear up the mess. Knowing that there would be an announcement by messenger if they were needed the Mitchells excused themselves and ducked into their villa on the way into the city. They all crashed out on the pillowed sofas in the communal area, all tired from their adventures. Eventually Lucy made a rune circle over James head and a wax paper packet of meat fell out, he got the hint and went outside to fire up the grill. Teddy got up and mixed some drinks from the very well appointed bar and delivered the girls cocktails, Lucy had a grasshopper in a wide triangular cocktail glass and Kyra got a pina colada in a curvy tall glass. Teddy took two local beers out to the grill and joined James in making and cooking some meat skewers. They all sat out on the porch eating, drinking and exchanged stories, James was shocked by Lucys story about her assessment and the mines and hugged her so tight she thought he would never let go. James showed off his Vambrace to the girls and they ood at the quality of the engraving. Kyra congratulated the guys on solving the lumber mill problem without killing everything. They put it off for a while just relaxing in each others company but they knew they had to consolidate the last week. Each went to their favourite place in the yard to meditate, James amongst the orchard, Kyra on an earth pillar, Lucy cross legged on the porch and Teddy on the eave of the roof. They all felt the others making gains of different levels but no one stopped until they had all had enough. All right gang, cards on the table time, we all havent worked together in so long lets see what the baseline is. Teddy started them off by pulling up his stats. Theodore Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank 00% (1/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Dimension): [Iron 0] [Speed] (Swift): [Iron 5] [Spirit] (Void): [Iron 0] [Recovery] (Dark): [Iron 0] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation Minimap Essences (4/4) Dark [Recovery] (3/5) Shadow Self Ability: [Shadow Self] (Dark) Conjugation (darkness) Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 8 (30%) Effect (iron): Can blend self into shadows, much harder to detect with normal senses. Ignore all physical damage when struck however this will cancel the power. Shard of Darkness Ability: [Shard of Darkness] (Dark) Special attack (ranged) Base cost: low mana Cool-down: 3 seconds Current rank: Iron 8 (20%) Effect (iron): A blade made of darkness made physical is hurled at the enemy causing minor damage. Can be negated by magically enhanced light. Shadow lantern Ability: [Shadow lantern] (Dark) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 6 (80%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Shadow lantern] to serve as a familiar. [Shadow familiar] will fire bolts of darkness at enemies for extremely low damage. Attacks against enemies have a chance to inflict [Blindness] against enemies. [Blindness]: enemies affected by the condition will have all senses blinded for 5 seconds. Swift [Speed] (5/5) Winged Feet Ability: [Winged Feet] (Swift) Special ability Base cost: moderate mana Cool-down: 5 seconds Current rank: Iron 7 (70%) Effect (iron): Causes a permanent significant increase in speed. Allows for slow fall and a mid air jump. Mid air jumps are limited to 1 every 5 seconds at iron rank. By a Thousand Cuts Ability: [By a Thousand Cuts] (Swift) Special attack Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 9 (25%) Effect (iron): Successful hits cause an instance of [Rapid]. [Rapid]. Buff. Stacking. Increases attack speed. Eyes of the Swift Ability: [Eyes of the Swift] (Swift) Special ability (perception, time) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 7 (20%) Effect (iron): When activated slows down movement to your perception to make real time appear slower. Fly like an Arrow Ability: [Fly like an Arrow] (Swift) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 8 (50%) Effect (iron): Projectiles thrown or fired by you fly twice as fast as they normally would. Wraiths Dash Ability: [Wraiths Dash] (Swift) Special ability Base cost: moderate mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 5 (35%) Effect (iron): Speed forward on the ground for an ongoing mana cost. Dimension [Power] (4/5) Teleport Ability: [Teleport] (Dimension) Special ability (teleport, dimension) Base cost: High mana Cool-down: Varies with distance travelled. Current rank: Iron 3 (90%) Effect (iron): Teleport self over a moderate distance, increasing with minor threshold advancement. Dimension Rift Ability: [Dimension Rift] (Dimension) Special ability: (Teleport, Short range astral tunnel) Base cost: Mana dependent for length of effect Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): A rift in reality appears, the caster is able to travel through into another rift opening in short range of the first, anything that comes into contact with either rift will be partially teleported to another dimension, strength of material in contact will effect how much of an effect the rift will have. Alternate use, the caster can open a single rift and use it as dimensional storage. Effect (bronze): Damage is more effective against enemies of lower rank. Tunnel distance is increased. Causes an ongoing damaging effect for a short while. Dimensional Instability Ability: [Dimensional instability] (Dimension) Special ability (de-buff, stacking, deleterious) Base cost: low mana Cool-down: 5 minutes Current rank: Iron 5 (15%) Effect (iron): can cause an area of effect to the limit of the casters aura that force enemies to feel the effects of dimensional instability normally felt through effects such as teleporting. Will effect enemies that have immunities to such usual effects such as astral affinity. Dimension Blade Ability: [Dimension Blade] (Dimension) Conjugation (blade, teleport) Base cost: extreme low mana, increasing with target being cut Cool-down: none Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) This ability cannot be increased until the user is bronze rank. Effect (iron): Create a Dimensional Rift no longer than 2m, effectively works as a sword, and teleports anything it comes into contact with to another dimension. Higher rank items and targets will require more mana. Effect (bronze): base cost for effective cutting is significantly reduced. Ongoing damaging effect for a short while. Your aura has greater control over blade properties. Void [Spirit] (4/5) Aura of the Void Ability [Aura of the Void] (Void) Aura (time, dimension, void, physics) Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 8 (80%) Effect (iron): enemies within the aura have a slowing effect. For every enemy that is affected you have a slight speed increase. Black Hole Hand Grenade Ability: [Black Hole Hand Grenade] (Void) Special attack (gravity, explosive) Base cost:Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 minutes Current rank: Iron 9 (10%) Effect (iron): when thrown the grenade will form a black hole that pulls enemies towards it, on contact will cause damage to the enemy. After a short time the grenade will explode, explosion is increased for the amount of damage caused by the gravity effect. Poison of the Void Ability: [Poison of the Void] (void) Special attack (poison, area) Base cost: low with ongoing mana cost Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 3 (40%) Effect (iron): causes a minor health and stamina drain that replenishes the caster. Mana cost will increase for distance spread. Will not affect allies within your aura. Void Pull Ability: [Void Pull] (Void) Special attack (Gravity) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 6 (65%) Effect (iron): Throws a black hole that when stationary will pull objects towards with great force, enemies against the black hole will suffer ongoing resonating and disruptive force damage. Two of Teddys abilities had crossed over the bronze threshold and they gave him big thumps on the back in congratulations, it made sense as they were his big damage dealing abilities and he had trained hardest to use them. Many of his other abilities had crossed multiple minor thresholds after the climactic battle. Go on Ill go next then. Kyra said and put her abilities up. Kyra Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank 00% (3/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Earth): [Iron 2] [Speed] (Mirror): [Iron 4] [Spirit] (Diamond): [Iron 4] [Recovery] (Life): [Iron 0] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation Pocket mirror - storage power Essences (4/4) Earth [Power] (5/5) Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Boulder Throw Ability: [Boulder Throw] (Earth) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Iron 3 (40%) Effect (iron): A boulder will materialise in mid air almost instantaneously. Boulder can then mentally be thrown with great force over a moderate distance Earth Spike Ability: [Earth Spike] (Earth) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Iron 3 (25%) Effect (iron): Within a moderate distance of the caster form an earth spike to project from the earth. Earth Wall Ability: [Earth Wall] (Earth) Special ability Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 4 (40%) Effect (iron): Summons a large earth wall from the ground to absorb a high amount of damage. Terraform Ability: [Terraform] (Earth) Special ability Base cost: Variable mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 2 (25%) Effect (iron): manipulate the ground in a short distance around the caster. Seismic Sense Ability: [Seismic Sense] (Earth) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 5 (80%) Effect (iron): a passive ability that allows the user to sense vibrations through the ground, will form a coherent picture of the area around the user. Life [Recovery] (4/5) Life Bolt Ability: [Life Bolt] (Life) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): A bolt will be fired on casting causing a small amount of healing to a single target. Life bolt has an extreme reaction to undead targets. Effect (bronze): A second bolt of healing is available per casting for the same mana cost. Life Aura Ability: [Life Aura] (Life) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 2 min Current rank: Iron 9 (20%) Effect (iron): This is not an aura power. Life aura can be cast on a single target to interrogate target health status. When cast on allies will cause a very slight ongoing healing effect. Life Charge Ability: [Life Charge] (Life) Special ability Base cost: Extreme high mana Cool-down: 1 hour Current rank: Iron 9 (50%) Effect (iron): Extremely high healing magic. Lucky Ability: [Lucky] (Life) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Familiar must be re-summoned with a bronze rank ritual to advance. Effect (iron): Lucky the puppy is summoned as a familiar. When absorbed effects the look of the summoners hair. Will cause a moderate ongoing healing boost. When deployed from the user will produce a low ongoing healing effect in a small area of effect. Mirror [Speed] (5/5) Self Reflection Ability: [Self Reflection] (Mirror) Special attack (retributive) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 min Current rank: Iron 4 (35%) Effect (iron): Once activated any damage taken can be reflected onto enemy within 5 seconds, must touch enemy. Line of Mirrors Ability: [Line of Mirrors] (Mirror) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 5 (70%) Effect (iron): Can see through allies eyes and vice versa. Paired Mirrors Ability: [Paired Mirrors] (Mirror) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 7 (75%) Effect (iron): Owned mirrors can be paired to form a permanent 2 way communication to be used over large distances. Iron rank only allows one pair to be bonded. Slice of Mirror Ability: [Slice of Mirror] (Mirror) Special attack Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Iron 9 (95%) Effect (iron): Fire a small piece of mirror at an enemy for low damage. Enemies hit with the mirror are afflicted with [7 Years Bad Luck]. [7 Years Bad Luck] (affliction, unholy, stacking): Wherever the enemy afflicted with this power steps finds mirror shards on the floor that deal minor damage. Enemies effected by this suffer an instance of [vulnerable]. [Vulnerable] (affliction, unholy, stacking): All resistances are reduced. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. Mirror Maze Ability: [Mirror Maze] (Mirror) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5min Current rank: Iron 4 (05%) Effect (iron): 10 perfect copies of the caster will appear and be able to be moderately controlled within casters aura. Diamond [Spirit] (5/5) Diamond Golem Ability: [Diamond Golem] (Diamond) Summon (ritual, summon) Cost: High mana. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 5 (80%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Diamond golem] to serve as a temporary summon. The golem is a high hit point low attack defender. When it receives enough damage it will explosively separate into 3 smaller golems with less hit points. When these are destroyed they are also explosive. Diamond Lantern Ability: [Diamond Lantern] (Diamond) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 6 (50%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Diamond lantern] to serve the summoner. [Dimond lantern] will orbit the summoner and fire resonating force bolts. When absorbed will change the appearance of the summoners eyes, when absorbed will provide ongoing mana replenishment. Encased Ability: [Encased] (Diamond) Special ability Base cost: Moderate Mana Cool-down: 2 minutes Current rank: Iron 4 (95%) Effect (iron): Encased in impenetrable armour for 5 seconds, cannot move whilst encased. Diamond Weapons Ability: [Diamond Weapons] (Diamond) Special ability (conjuration) Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 6 (90%) Effect (iron): Summon a sword and shield made entirely of diamond. Resolve of Diamond Ability [Resolve of Diamond] (Diamond) Aura Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 8 (80%) Effect (iron): You have an indomitable aura that is much tougher than normal auras of your rank, provide protection against attacks 2 ranks up from the users rank. Lucky! You made bronze rank! Lucy exclaimed. Lucky bounced around in a circle barking and trying to catch his tail. Lets hope he grows up a little bit. Kyra said, then catching him mid leap scratched his tummy. But not lose all his pupsieness. Its not a surprise you healing abilities have mostly all made bronze rank, youve been spending so much time at the clinic, sometimes feel like I hardly see you. Teddy said giving her a firm one armed hug. Well Ill chuck mine up, Ive made a few breakthroughs as well I think. James said. James Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank 00% (3/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Bear): [Iron 6] [Speed] (Rat): [Iron 3] [Spirit] (Eagle): [Iron 4] [Recovery] (Animagus): [Iron 0] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation - including animals Princess power - storage Essences (4/4) Rat [Speed] (5/5) Empty the Sewer Ability: [Empty the Sewer] (Rat) Summon (Compost circle) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 1 Hour Current rank: Iron 3 (15%) Effect (iron): Summons 5 rats from the circle. Within a small aura surrounding the rats they spread pestilence leaving multiple afflictions. [Typhoid], [Black death], [Rock joint]. Bite from a rat causes summon to die but will break through any resistances. [Typhoid]: Persistent high temperature, piercing headache and high mana drain to cause a premature mana headache. [Black death]: extreme black vomiting and moderate health drain. [Rock joint]: Debilitating effect on agility, enemies affected are slower. Prehensile Tail Ability: [Prehensile Tail] (Rat) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 9 (70%) Effect (iron): Summon an enormous rat tail from the summoner. The appendage will last 60s and will be completely controllable during that time. The tail has a 5 x base strength boost. For the purpose of other special attacks it counts as an unarmed attack. Omnivorscent Ability: [Omnivorscent] (Rat) Special ability (immunity) Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 5 (40%) Effect (iron): User is immune to all poisons and toxins. Scurry Ability: [Scurry] (Rat) Special ability: Agility boost Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Combat status dependant Current rank: Iron 7 (10%) Effect (iron): At the start of every fight receive a 10 second boost to agility. Agility will be boosted to 200% with a small increase with every minor threshold advancement. Scenting Ability: [Scenting] (Rat) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): User can see scents in the environment. Effect (bronze): User can see aura trails. Bear [Power (5/5) Koda Ability: [Koda] (Bear) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Familiar must be re-summoned with a bronze rank ritual to advance. Effect (iron): Koda the junior bear is summoned to serve the summoner. When absorbed will significantly increase the strength of the summoner. Hibernation Ability: [Hibernation] (Bear) Special Agility Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 8 (70%) Effect (iron): Meditation adds instance of [Integrity] buff, stacking. [Integrity]: heal over time, mana over time. Instances drop off over time. Ursa Family Ability: [Ursa Family] (Bear) Special ability (Retributive buff) Base cost: moderate mana Cooldown: 5min Current rank: Iron 6 (50%) Effect (iron): Attacks against an ally cause and instance of [Fortitude]. [Fortitude]: Becomes stronger with each instance. Standing Kodak Ability:[Standing Kodak] (Bear) Special ability Bas cost: Nil, Passive power Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 8 (65%) Effect (iron): 2 foot planted attacks deal 200% more damage. Absorbs 50% of incoming damage. Bear (Bare) arms Ability: [Bear (Bare) Arms] (Bear) Special ability Current rank: Iron 5 (15%) Base cost: Nil (Passive power) Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 8 (60%) Effect (iron): Unarmed attacks do 400% damage Eagle [Spirit] (5/5) Rise Ability: [Rise] (Eagle) Aura (Spirit) (Boon) Base cost: None. Cool-down: None. Current rank: Iron 7 (40%) Effect (iron): Allies within you aura have their perception and perception powers significantly increased. Allies spirit attribute will be temporarily increased. Enemies within the aura will have a sense of dread of a predator above. Vision of the Eagle Ability: [Vision of the Eagle] (Eagle) Special ability Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 9 (95%) Effect (iron): Can zoom vision up to 10x Peregrine Dive Ability: [Peregrine Dive] (Eagle) Special attack Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Iron 9 (90%) Effect (iron): Limited teleport to above an enemy. User will be accelerated to terminal velocity to strike enemy. Chance to be used as an execute ability [Last Shadow] [Last Shadow] (execute, holy): As an execute effect, damage scales exponentially with level of injury. Birds of a Feather Ability: [Birds of a Feather] (Eagle) Special ability Base cost: moderate Mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 4 (90%) Effect (iron): Can communicate with birds and bird like creatures over a large distance. With non intelligent birds can sense and convey feelings. Wing Sweep Ability: [Wing Sweep] (Eagle) Special attack (wind, summon) Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Iron 9 (30%) Effect (iron): Summon an enormous wing to blast back enemies, a torrent of wind accompanies it. Animagus [Recovery] (4/5) Inner Beast Ability: [Inner Beast] (Animagus) Special ability (animagus, shapeshift) Base cost: Very high mana Cool-down: 24 hours Current rank: Iron 6 (30%) Effect (iron): Transform into an animal of your choice for one hour. The animal of your choosing will be the prime example of that animal. Shaman Ability: [Shaman] (Animagus) Summon (Leaf circle) Base cost: Moderate mana to enact then mana dependant effect. Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 5 (45%) Effect (iron): Summon the spirits of the ancients to heal yourself or allies. Occupant of the circle does not have to be the caster. The occupant of the circle can trade mana for health. Animage Ability: [Animage] (Animagus) Special ability (animagus, shapeshift) Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 9 (80%) Effect (iron): Transform one part of your body for a high mana cost to that of an animal for a short duration. Duration beyond a short while will have an exponential mana cost. Base cost will rise to Very High mana cost for a transformation of two body parts. Apex Predator Ability: [Apex Predator] (Animage) Special ability (Spell, Intimidate) Base cost: moderate mana (increasing with high level enemies) Cool-down: 1hr Current rank: Iron 6 (15%) Effect (iron): Intimidate targeted enemy. Successfully intimidated enemies will be inflicted with an instance of [Vulnerable]. [Vulnerable]: Cause your attacks to be more effective against an enemy. So many that are so close! Once the band is back together for good we should have no problem getting those across the line! Teddy said Koda has ranked up as well! What a boy! Kyra crooned over the furry lump in the corner. Koda raised his head from where he was napping and made rolling over look like a huge effort. Best for last guys. Lucy said. Lucy Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank xx% (x/x essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Magic): [Iron 4] [Speed] (Vision): [Iron 0] [Spirit] (Mind): [Iron x] [Recovery] (Illusion): [Iron x] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation Essences (4/4) Magic [Power] (5/5) Magical Artisan Ability: [Magical Artisan] (Magic) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 4 (70%) Effect (iron): Significantly increases mana available. Grants the user the ability to use magical tools and vehicles. Magical Master Ability: [Magical Master] (Magic) Special ability (Perception) Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 9 (90%) Effect (iron): Significantly increase mana available. Can see magic. Magic Missile Ability: [Magic Missile] (Magic) Spell: Magic Missile Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5 Sec. Current rank: Iron 4 (20%) Effect (iron): Fires a magic missile that magically tracks a target. Mana Lantern Ability: [Mana Lantern] (Magic) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 4 (80%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Mana lantern] to serve as a familiar. [Mana lantern] will significantly increase mana recovery when absorbed. When deployed will increase mana recover to user an allies in a small aura. Rune Lore Ability: [Rune Lore] (Magic) Special ability: Rune projection Base cost: Variable mana Cool-down: Nil. Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Increased mana regeneration. Project runes that will form a portal window to dimensional storage. Alternate use is to produce a varied range of combat rituals, these rituals are supplied by the casters own mana to be powered. Flexible usage requires a varied mana input. Only one ritual or storage power may be used at a time. Effect (bronze): Two rune circles may be used at the same time for an increased mana output, the effects may be the same or different. Vision [Speed] (4/5) Fog of War Ability: [Fog of War] (Vision) Special ability Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 2 min Current rank: Iron 6 (80%) Effect (iron): For a short duration enemies in a small area of effect have a thick mist obscure their vision. User and allies can see through the fog and the extent of it. Focussed Eyes Ability: [Focussed Eyes] (Vision) Special ability (perception) Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 8 (90%) Effect (iron): Increased aim with all projectiles. Double Vision Ability: [Double Vision] (Vision) Special ability Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 5 (40%) Effect (iron): Confuses enemies vision to see double in front of them increasing their chance of missing for a short duration. Vertigo Ability: [Vertigo] (Vision) Special ability Cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Varied Current rank: Iron 3 (30%) Effect (iron): Causes enemies to lose balance and an effect similar to standing room a great height looking down for a short duration. Cost is increased to very high to prolong the effect. Mind [Spirit] (4/5) Psychic Shriek Ability: [Psychic Shriek] (Mind) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Iron 5 (95%) Effect (iron): A non-verbal cry. Causes a brief period of intense disorientation to a single target. Causes minor damage to the target. Clarity Ability [Clarity] (Mind) Aura Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 6 (50%) Effect (iron): Improves clarity of thinking speed to self and allies within aura. Amnesia Ability: [Amnesia] (Mind) Special ability (curse) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 4 (25%) Effect (iron): Short term curse causes the enemy to forget the last 30sec for 30sec. Astral Projection Ability: [Astral Projection] (Mind) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 6 (20%) Effect (iron): Project your consciousness outside your body to a range determined by power of the ability. Whilst in this form you cannot affect or be effected by physical matter. You may be detected by aura senses in this form. Your body is left defenceless whilst using this power. Any damage to your body will cause your consciousness to be immediately recalled. Illusion [Recovery] (4/5) Houdini Palace Ability: [Houdini palace] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 15 min Current rank: Iron 2 (10%) Effect (iron): Summon illusionary mirror walls around target for a short duration. Switch Teleport Ability: [Switch Teleport] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 min Current rank: Iron 4 (15%) Effect (iron): Select one person to switch teleport. Base cost increases to high mana to switch teleport with an enemy. Playing Possum Ability: [Playing Possum] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 18 Hour Current rank: Iron 1 (90%) Effect (iron): Negates an enemy attack. Kansas City Shuffle Ability: [Kansas City Shuffle] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 5 (35%) Effect (iron): Conjure a small illusion to distract an enemy. Best for last my ass, Ive got a fair bit of catching up to do, that last week was helpful in pushing rune lore over the edge though. Lucy raised an arm and glyphs streamed from her eyes, twice as concentrated as they had been before and twice as fast. They formed one circle at the end of her arm where her hand was splayed, the runes a couple of centimetres from the tips of her fingers. The glyphs kept streaming down and through the first circle forming another and she pulled her arm back which spread the gap between the two circles so there was about a metre from her hand to the first and a metre to the second. She swung the collection over to empty space and fired a missile. As it left her hand it glowed its usual unaltered royal blue hue. As it hit the first circle of runes it twisted in a torrent of fire out the other side, as it hit the second lightning wrapped around an almost solid looking column of fire as it disappeared and dissipated into the open air. Well, damn. I think the locals swear by gods plural and thats definitely worth swearing by more than one god. Teddy said. Lucy winced and jabbed a finger at her temple. High mana powers at bronze level when youre iron rank isnt as much fun, even with a mana pool as big as mine. Teddy was working on the whiteboard, clearing of some graffiti from the last time the group had a meeting. The way I see it is that were all making some really good progress through our powers, especially for only having just graduated. They all turned to look at Lucy, hopefully, but none of us are on the path to bronze yet. We need to fill the last few powers. The market should be flooded with cheap awakening stones after all those forced manifestations, maybe a third of them in the phenomenon were awakening stones? Also, Teddy and I want to head to somewhere a bit more high magic for a little while to find some niche items then return to Greenstone. Lucy said. Kyra sat up excitedly. Are you telling me that were going on not one but two shopping trips?! Her face lit up with glee. Teddy and James looked at each other and shrugged. What the hell, its only Monopoly money. Chapter 15 ‘That seems like cheating’ Well its not like were short of money. The boys were standing over the main communal table, everyone had emptied their inventories of coins and they were a huge pile stacked neatly on the table. Teddy had been perplexed by the raccoons, squirrels, mice, rabbits and even one small monkey who had been bringing James collection in for the last few minutes. At least they dont make a mess, how do you even know what youve got stored if they take it away? And where are they taking it to?! James shrugged. No idea where it goes, but I just kinda know. I dont know how I know what I have but I just know. Soon as I think of it its here not long after. They looked again at the giant pile of coins. You know were rich right? We dont pay rent because they wont let us pay rent. We have no outgoings and we punch coins out of monsters. Its very tempting, we dont need to save anything, if this was a video game we wouldnt hesitate right? Lets just spend the lot. If we need more money we go out and hunt monsters. James thought about it and nodded, Teddy drew a normal sword from a small rift and separated the pile in half, then each half in half again. It was very early in the morning and the girls were just getting out of bed. Lucy needed to get back to the academy as she hadnt been cleared off campus and was still a student, the events of the day before had just meant she naturally ended up back at the villa. Just as she was rummaging in the cold box while Kyra grabbed a hot drink a messenger appeared with Gerald. Excuse us master Mitchell. Gerald said, pointedly looking at Teddy with his drawn sword used to separate coins on the fine wooden table. A messenger has appeared from the academy. He stepped aside to let the man through. A message on behalf of the deputy principal of the academy. Mrs Mitchel your presence is required back at the academy, the faculty wished me to let you know you should invite your husband and family to attend, you must be back no later than midday. He gave a short bow, nodded at Gerald then made his way out. Ive taken the liberty of preparing a carriage, naturally whenever you attend the academy since your graduations, your nae been fit to be mounted, hopefully one of yae will be in a fit enough state to drive the carriage back while the rest of you convalesce. James opened his mouth and raised a finger in indignation before he thought about it and ceded the point. Gerald gave a short nod and left them as well. Maybe theyre running a lessons learnt session after yesterday? Teddy said. He scooped his money into a rift. Kyra took out a pocket mirror and her pile vanished, Lucy formed a rune circle in the air and brought it down to the top of the table over her money pile. They all stood and looked at James waiting. Well come on, I dont want to do it if youre all watching. Were not going anywhere till we find out whats coming for your money. Lucy said. James shrugged, having the wisdom to know what battles not to fight. He looked around, not even he knew what would be turning up. They all heard the rustling outside and Teddy went and opened a window to see what it was. He was almost knocked off his feet as hundreds of black birds started flying through the small window, they all swooped and picked up a coin each before disappearing out the open back doors. Bloody hell J, are they trying to kill me?! The rest were all having a good laugh at Teddy who was sprawled over a small table in his rush to back off from the birds. They gathered the few things they wanted that werent already in their inventories and headed out to the carriage and took it out on the road. At the academy annex they were greeted by the gatekeeper and directed to attend the main building in the small receiving room. This wasnt exactly what the Mitchells were expecting, thinking that all the participants of yesterdays epic battle would be in the training grounds to report on successes and failures of the formations. When they got to the office they found the director of the adventure society and the annex deputy principal waiting for them. Thankyou for coming so quickly. The Deputy principal started. The Director of the adventure society wanted to have a word with Mrs Mitchel he then saw Kyra standing there next to her sister-in-law and looked at Lucy. To Lucy. He then stepped to the side to let through the elderly elf. Mrs Mitchell, the society executive committee convened last night to talk about the strategic elements of the magical anomaly. We all agreed in the end that your participation in the event was critical in its conclusion. We make a habit that we do not take behaviour before joining the society into consideration. However in your case we must recognise your achievement. She pulled a box from a dimensional space and handed it to Lucy. As this has not entered the society records yet as loot from the event and as such it will not be missed, it was a hot debate but it was agreed that this was the correct level of thanks for your involvement. Lucy slid back the top of the box and saw the awakening stone inside, she touched one finger to it and shared the description with the other Mitchells. Item: [Awakening Stone of the Avatar] (unranked, epic) An awakening stone filled with the character of companionship. (consumable, awakening stone). Requirements: Unawakened essence ability. Effect: Awakens an essence ability. This would be Lucys second awakening stone that was of the highest rarity. Is this the stone from the gold rank manifestation? Lucy asked. The Directors eyes glinted as she smiled. I dont know what youre on about, as I said, no such stone entered the societies records. She nodded to the deputy director and went out of one of the rear doors to the receiving room. Gods damn Lu, thats awesome! Can you save the city more often, wed save a bunch of money in awakening stones. Teddy said. The academy deputy principal frowned at him. Mrs Mitchell; Lucy. We would like to invite you to a bespoke graduation ceremony today, we recognise that you may want to be included in a larger ceremony but a unique situation has occurred and you would be welcome to join. Lucy looked shocked, she hadnt been expecting a graduation today, she hadnt even been told that she had passed the assessment, the events since exiting the cave had pushed the assessment from her mind. She looked at the others and they all nodded in agreement. Well yes, please, that would be very nice. A rune circle appeared next to her the perfect size to push the box with the awakening stone in through and they followed the deputy principal. They werent taken down to the academy annex marshalling yard as they were expecting but through to the large receiving room. In there they found what James would later describe as what looked like the entire cast of The Last Samurai. There were several generations of people in the hall all dressed in formal Gis with all the accoutrements. Suddenly they all felt very under dressed. A blur of black and gold came towards them and stopped before bowing in front of them, Wanyeng was dressed in his best Gi with a set of ornamental swords at his hip and grinning from ear to ear. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Mitchells! I am so glad you are here, I thought they were going to have me graduate alone! The Mitchells looked stunned, no one expected Wanyeng to graduate anytime soon. Congratulations Daisho! James exclaimed. Wanyeng frowned and looked at him quizzically. Mitchell James, your translation power is slipping, I do not know what this Daisho is that you speak of. James bowed to the little boy. There was a race of honourable warriors from our world who fought as your clan does. The matched swords of daito and shoto. He pointed to each on Wanyengs belt. Means long and short swords but also translate into big and little. A bronze rank in such a small body. Truly a Daisho. Wanyeng smiled. Daisho is a good word. Vincent Trenslow came over to join the newcomers. Well, cadet Lucy I never got to tell you officially but congratulations, you passed what happened to be one of the most gruelling field assessments ever conducted in Greenstone that I am aware of. He stuck his arm out and they shook hands. Its good to see the rest of you here to support, youll finally be a fully adventurer family team. Lucy, Wanyeng, if you would be so good to make your way to the stage, well begin. Oh is Sylvyn not joining us? Lucy said, hiding a smile with one hand. Vincent shook his head and walked away to take his place with the officials on the stage. Lucy and Wanyeng took their seats on the stage and the ceremony began. The deputy principal stepped forward first. Thankyou all for coming, an unusual ceremony for us today, those who graduate in smaller numbers will usually stay at the academy until we have enough to form a presenting class. The academy has been in constant contact with the Wanyeng family to talk about such a young adventurer graduating. The prevailing wisdom was a young person should have the time to mature and cement their sense of self before having the responsibilities of a full time adventurer thrust upon them. Young master Wanyeng has been with us for four years and has shown the highest examples of personal fortitude and strength of character. He has never shirked his duties or complained about his position. Many of his tutors have been pushing for his graduation to start providing the world with one more very capable adventurer. With his ascendancy to bronze rank we are happy to say we have taught him everything we can, his character is strong and will hold him in good stead for his trials to come. Vincent stepped forward with the badge and tell-tale Remore academy annex ribbon. An elder man wearing an ancient wooden scabbard sword stepped forward with him. The old man addressed Wanyeng who had risen to bow low in front of him. Little Wanyeng. Every clan member who has joined the society of adventurers does so in the knowledge they bring our name greater by spilling our blood on the ground for innocents. You must understand that you must remain humble, take no reward beyond what is due to you. Your greatest achievement can only be to live a full life in service to the innocent, father more warriors and continue the honour of service. Do you accept these premise? I do. The old man drew the ancient blade and Wanyeng pulled his sleeve back and put his hand out palm up. The blade shimmered with some kind of magic. With this cut, let it be known that you will spill blood in the name of the family of Wanyeng, have you chosen a name for yourself? I have, I will be known as Daish. James went stiff in the crowd and Teddy patted his arm. The old man slowly drew the blade in a shallow cut on Daishs hand, he didnt flinch, leaving his hand relaxed until blood dribbled either side of his hand to the floor. The old man wrapped his hand in a silk bandage. He tied it shut, a ceremonial tradition as Daishs bronze rank healing would have shut such a small wound by now, Vincent stepped forward and presented his society badge and ribbon, Daish accepted it with his bandaged hand and bowed low. Vincent returned the bow and Daish sat down. Vincent remained centre stage. It is my great pleasure to complete the set. Cadet Lucy Mitchell will be joining her husband and family as an incredibly capable adventuring team whom Im sure will go on to have some truly unique adventures. She is one of the most well-read magical theorists I have seen from the academy annex here and is a credit to their teaching. He handed Lucy her badge and shook her hand. They all filed off the stage and started to mingle. To their astonishment there was no alcohol served, in deference to Daish not being able to drink. He was welcome to throw himself in front of monsters but society at large would frown on him drinking. They stayed until the late afternoon then the party broke up, they pestered Daish into agreeing to take them on some bronze rank contracts and said theyd have him over to the villa soon. They were headed back to the villa in the carriage. The day had been pleasant and the food had been excellent, the clan members were a bit stiff and formal but polite enough. They all came to the same idea at the same time on the way home, when they got near the villa they knocked on the carriage front at the same time that Teddy steered onto the path that lead into the city, towards the Schooner for a drink. The next morning they all woke up slightly worse for wear around the communal table where they had all fallen asleep. James rustled slightly as a sandwich wrapper fell off him as he stood. The schooner did amazing sandwiches. Kyra was already up and about and spread a selection of breakfast bites in front of them on the table. Quick quick quick, everyone eat up, no training this morning. Were going shopping! They made their way to the adventure society in Greenstone. The market was only accessible to qualified adventurers. They ignored all the trade stalls as much as they wanted to peruse they knew thats not what they were there for. They went through to the auction at the back for awakening stones. Lucy had been given one for her help in the magic anomaly but they still had plenty to grab. Teddy needed two Dark, one Dimension and one Void power awakened. Kyra needed just the one Life power awakened. James had to get a stone for his confluence essence Animagus and Lucy had Vision, Mind and Illusion gaps so needed two more stones in addition to the one she had been gifted. They spent a long time at the auction weighing up the different stones they might go for before it started. They spoke to a lot of seasoned adventurers that were around gleaning gems of advice. There were a lot of stones on offer after the previous weeks activity. There was not a lot of competition in the crowd either. Teddy walked away with two expensive stones of the Reaper, a unique stone that was a throwback to a competition that happened a while ago, they had gone slightly out of favour after some people had started turning up dead in connection to the reapers competition. Also two common stones of The Call which were known for summoning powers, the fact that they were common opened up the potential selection of powers they could be, Lucys gifted stone was the highest rarity of the Avatar meaning that it was almost dead certain to be a summon. Kyra went for a stone of The Mist, hoping for an area effect healing power. James saw an opportunity to maybe give him a ranged attack, choosing a stone of The Ranger which normally gave archer-type powers, the magic society attendant was very excited by James niche essences and thought it should give him a ranged power that tied in with his existing theme. Lucy got an awakening stone of Midnight and one of The Chamber. They went around collecting the materials needed for re-summoning Lucky and Koda at bronze rank then headed home. The villa was far enough outside the city that the clash of auras from many people wouldnt effect the rituals required for summoning the familiars. Lucy coached them through the bronze rank rituals as her knowledge was comfortably beyond that. James went first, when Koda re-emerged from the ritual circle he was considerably taller and darker. Now the height of most men and wider, he was a young adult bear rather than the large cub he had been. James had, of course, been sharing his interface for the others to see. Ability: [Koda] (Bear) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Koda the junior bear is summoned to serve the summoner. When absorbed will significantly increase the strength of the summoner. Effect (bronze): Koda is larger and stronger with a much higher damage against enemies of a lower rank. When absorbed he will now aid the summoner in deflecting 20% of incoming physical damage. Wow, his strength is going to be insane. And a 20% damage negation? That seems like cheating. Teddy said. James was just recovering and had a hand in the thick fur of Koda to steady himself. He smiled and stroked the bear before absorbing him. James got markedly bigger, surprising even himself, he thickened all over and his hair grew a little darker, thicker and more of it. He released Koda and the bear rolled over for a tummy rub. James didnt quite shrink to the size he was before. Kyra went next, Lucky went to the centre of the summoning circle and laid down, a little whimper as he knew the ritual was going to be taxing for Kyra. After the light show was complete a much bigger golden lab bounded out of the circle at Kyra, before she had a chance to move he smashed into her and absorbed, the ritual had heavily taxed her and now she suddenly felt like someone had stabbed her with a handful of adrenaline needles. She could see in her interface and feel that her health was rapidly climbing back to normal. She released him and he sat and gave his paw. Ability: [Lucky] (Life) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Lucky the puppy is summoned as a familiar. When absorbed effects the look of the summoners hair. Will cause a moderate ongoing healing boost. When deployed from the user will produce a low ongoing healing effect in a small area of effect. Effect (bronze): Lucky is now a young dog, his healing effects are increased as is his area of effect. His healing effects against ranks lower than him are greatly increased. There was no massive change to Lucky but everything about him was slightly bigger and better which was very welcome. James perked up having him around, still recovering from his ritual. Once theyd all settled from giving fuss to both Koda and Lucky and sent them outside to play they sat around the table with a cup each of the local tea. Teddy sipped his tea and nibbled a biscuit then placed them in front of him on the dark wood table. Ok, awakening stones, who wants to go first? Chapter 16 ‘Scary mind witch’ They started lining up the awakening stones to see which they should do first. They all luckily had the Outworlder ability to simply absorb the stones rather than doing a ritual each time. Gerald appeared at the doorway and coughed loudly. Sirs, Maams. A rather flustered magic society official has just appeared at the gate and begged me tae interrupt you immediately. Thankyou Gerald, it must be Rueben, please show him through. Lucy said. Rueben? James asked with a raised eyebrow. The magic society guy who wants to study us a bit. We learn their names now? I thought anyone who wanted to study us got told to rod off. Rueben has leant me a lot of study material in exchange for nothing more than what is really an extensive questionnaire. Hes a nice man, be nice. Teddy and Kyra hid smiles as they saw the big man being scolded by his wife. The gangly scholar made his way into the room. He had a vortex tornado behind him swirling away with scrolls and books an other random items in it, they couldnt feel anything from it and it didnt effect the room, as if it was a hologram. Thankyou Mrs Lucy, after last time the acolyte of knowledge has refined his timing a little, my mother will be disappointed as I was meant to be having lunch with her but this promises to be worth an apology catch up meal. We were just discussing the order in which to do them, only out of what would be easier or more interesting. Kyra started. I think we get mine out the way as I only have one to do. Yes, yes, yes. Im happy to observe whichever order you would like to do them, I dont want to interfere or change what you would do. Reuben answered as he was laying equipment around the room to monitor the ambient magic while they carried on. He threw a recording crystal up and nodded that he was ready. The order that they had decided was Kyra, then James, then Teddy and Lucy going last with her fancy gifted awakening stone. Kyra pulled out her awakening stone. Item: [Awakening Stone of the Mist] (Un-common) An awakening stone filled with eddies of mist. (consumable, awakening stone). Requirements: Unawakened essence ability. Effect: Awakens an essence ability. You are able to absorb [Awakening Stone of the Mist]. Absorb Y/N? She gave her mental assent and the cube seemed to explode into mist from her hand, it then started to absorb into her body through her skin, sneaking under her sleeves and around her collar. She had shared her interface with the others and they saw what she got. Ability: [Clean living] (Life) Special ability (cleanse) Base cost: Varied Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Creates an area of purified air around the caster. Allies within the area of effect have instances of poisons and toxins cured. Mana cost is increased for amount of afflictions being cleansed. You have awakened the life essence ability [Clean living]. You have awakened 5 of 5 Life essence abilities. You have awakened all Life essence abilities. Linked attribute [Recovery] will advance in conjunction with lowest-rank Life essence ability. Well thats certainly useful, a cleanse power was missing from my retinue. Ill be able to clear out most of the clinic waiting room just by walking through! Should help it level nicely. Constantly thinking about the volunteer work! How about you can now make sure your husband stays healthy all the time! Teddy whinged. Lucy passed Reuben a note with the interface information copied out and he bowed so low they thought he might hit his head on the table. James pulled out his awakening stone of The Ranger. I must say I am very excited what an Animage specialist will get from this stone! Reuben interjected and leant forward even more. James gave Lucy an uncertain look, still unsure of being studied then he carried on, giving his mental assent to the stone. It melted in his hand and twisted into several long sinuous ribbons that wrapped up and around his arm. They slithered their way up his arm until they got to the shoulder, then they reared and struck at his neck then absorbing in. James flinched, no one could blame him, having an inanimate object come to life and attack you was mildly distressing to say the least. Ability: [Snake sorcerer] (Animagus) Special attack (poison) Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): The user can summon snakes that will be cast towards an enemy over a moderate distance. The bite of the snake does a mild amount of damage with the possibility to inflict poison. Thank god its not a bow and arrows. James said. He then used his power, a snake appeared around his fist and wrist, a thin snake in orange and blue, different to earth snakes it had a ruffle down its back like a long floppy fin. James looked out into the garden and flung his arm, the snake flew like an arrow from a bow at the tree in the centre. As it struck it vanished in a rainbow puff. As he looked back around the table he saw a lot of white knuckles relaxing. Looks like no one is a fan of snakes then? Teddy gave an involuntary shiver then started laying out his awakening stones, he put the two reaper stones together then the stones of The Call. Rueben, any advice on which order to do these in? Well Mr Mitchell I certainly didnt come to interfere, I feel very privileged that you have allowed me in your home at all. If I were to suggest I would say the two stones of the Reaper first, I am right in thinking you have two slots in the Dark essence? Good, this would be the ideal match for these two stones. Completely unfounded by the way, why these went out of fashion, people started to think there was an implied contract with the order of the Reaper for accepting these stones when thats simply not true. The others looked at each other with a mild wariness. No one said anything about contracts with the cult of mysterious assassins, just that some folk who took them turned up dead. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Oh no I wouldnt be worried, lots more people accepted the stones and nothing bad has happened to them! The powers they unlocked have proven to be some of the most useful and exotic powers there can be. Teddy didnt look completely convinced but picked up the first stone. It absorbed in a rather mundane way, coating his skin and disappearing. Ability: [Slippers of the Shade] (Dark) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): The user makes no sound when making contact with the ground or objects. Can extend this effect to others by touch for an ongoing moderate mana amount. The second was much more attention getting. Tendrils with tiny fingered hands on the end started clawing over one another out of the cube until his whole body was covered. When his whole body was covered it jerked him once or twice towards his shadow on the ground then it too disappeared into his skin. Fascinating. Reuben said. Ability: [Hands of the Reaper] (Dark) Special attack (poison, constriction, execute) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Low Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): The user can summon the hands of the Reaper from nearby shadows, these will attack a single target attempting to pin them in place and drag them down. Targets will suffer [poison] and [constrict] damage when under the effect. For a High mana cost can be used as an execute ability. The Hands of the Reaper will pull the victim out of existence with transcendent damage that escalates with the amount of damage already inflicted on the target. I think I speak for everyone when I say we do not need a demonstration of that second power, that sounds scary as shit. James said. Again, Fascinating! This is right in line with powers previously awakened by the Reaper stones, aggressive and utility. The two stones of The Call absorbed easily enough, straight into Teddys hand and felt unpleasantly hot on the way up. He was pleasantly surprised with both, for such cheap common stones they had given him incredible powers. Ability: [Unleash the void] (Void) Summon (ritual, summon) Base cost: High mana. Cool-down: 1 hour Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Summon a portal to the void which will unleash terrible creatures from outside our reality for a short while to attack the summoners enemies. The void itself will have a gravitational effect on enemies pulling them towards it and damaging them if they resist. Ability: [Dimensional warrior] (Dimension) Summon (ritual, summon) Base cost: High mana. Cool-down: 1 hour Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Summon a warrior to fight for the summoner for a short duration. Type of warrior will differ from summon to summon. The warrior will either use rapid weak attacks on multiple enemies for a very brief duration or one large attack on a single target up to the value of the summoners highest damage attack. The warrior will mirror the summoners strength and defence. Teddy instinctually knew that unleashing void beasts in the house would not be a good idea and that a dimensional warrior would not be best pleased to fight a training dummy. Looks like Ive got a few to try out live next time we see some bad guys. I genuinely cant wait to see what those can do. James said. Summonings and familiars differed in quite obvious ways. A summoned familiar was formed by providing the ingredients for a physical being then inviting an entity from the astral to fill it. Bonded familiars are real creatures of the world that, with the right powers, could be invited to be bonded. Summonings were short term creations, still embodied by spirits of the astral but they were very limited in duration and a different being might be summoned each time. The fact that Teddy had gained his shadow lantern familiar was lucky, the short time that he had been in the world he had picked up a skill book on ritual magic which was a pre-requisite to being able to get an ability to summon a familiar. The bonus two summons he had just gained were invaluable. Although they both cost high mana they were force multipliers in battle and gave an edge. Most summons required a circle of material to be laid out to be enacted, James needed a circle of compost for one or a circle of leaves for the other, Kyra needed powdered diamond dust - the non magical variety being low cost in this world. They both saved time on the Summonings with their storage powers, Kyra could store her diamond dust as circles and James storage power animals would lay the materials for him. For Teddys new powers they came from dimension and void, so either a slash in the air or a thrown ball that formed a void in reality. Lucy was setting her stones on the table, she was rotating the order and skipping them over each other. Almost like she was juggling them on the table. She had the awakening stone of Avatar, the highest rarity and they were all thinking it was guaranteed to get her another summoning power. Her other stones were a stone of The Chamber and a stone of Midnight. They agreed they should do the highest rarity last, giving the most options over three essence abilities; Illusion, mind and vision. She started with the awakening stone of The chamber. Ability: [Telepathy] (Mind) Special ability Base cost: Low mana, increasing to high with distance. Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Can initiate mental communication either with those in immediate eye line or by contacts list. Contacts list? James asked. Lucy realised the others couldnt see what was on her interface and it wasnt a shareable item. Looks like everyone Ive ever spoken to. I can change the sorting, Its defaulted to distance, I guess because of the associated mana cost with contacting people further away. She scrolled to the bottom and could see her parents names at the very bottom, amongst other friends and family from the other world that were listed as unavailable. She suddenly felt a pang of home sickness she hadnt felt in a long time. James saw this on his wifes face and tried to distract her. Awakening stone of The Chamber? How did you get telepathy from that? Water link chamber I guess, shouldve figured it would be a communication power, I only picked it up because I couldnt decide and it was such a good price! Someone said that they were popular stones for the rarity. At least it gives you an ability to silently communicate with people outside our interface. Itd be interesting to see if it works with your astral projection power. At this suggestion from James Reuben perked his head up from where he was writing copious notes. Please inform me if that works! The magic society is constantly on the lookout for how different essence combinations and racial gift evolutions work together. They had to curb his enthusiasm before he insisted that she astral project immediately and find a random person to try it on. As Lucy wanted to get the rest of her stones over with. The next was the awakening stone of midnight. Ability: [Enter Sandman] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: High mana. Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): When activated enables the caster to cause a moment illusion in front of an enemy. This illusion is what is most likely to terrify the target causing them to panic. Huh, thats weird, the spell to activate it is Hush, thats pretty spooky. Teddy was trying to look as in obtrusive as possible so that she didnt try it out on him. Lucy eyed him slyly then shouted Boo! Into his mind with her new telepathy power. Everyone around the table looked in concern when he jumped and almost fell out of his chair backwards. Not funny Lu, dont use your scary mind witch powers on me and I wont have freaky shadow arms pin you down while creatures we cant imagine from another dimension take a nibble at you. I think that calls for a mirage PvP match! James said. Teddy and Lucy kept eye contact and nodded. It would be interesting to see if you can get those spells off before youre impeded by nightmares. Reuben said. They all looked at him and realised what a bad idea it would be. I dont think I want to do that to you, even in a mirage chamber. Lucy said. No me neither, lets just stick to you mentally messing up the bad guys and Ill make sure they get to the Reaper the short way. They all leant in excitedly as Lucy absorbed her last awakening stone, the last one that any of them would ever absorb. Ability: [Lechuza] (Vision) Familiar (ritual, summon) Base cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Summon an Owl Familiar to serve as a familiar. [Lechuza] has the ability to mirror some abilities of the summoner. Summoner can project themselves into the familiar from a moderate distance away to see through the summons eyes, have some control of the body and use some powers through the familiar. The body of the summoner is left unprotected during this time. When the summon is absorbed [Lechuza] can reflect most incoming physical damage. Lechuza? Thats the name it came with? Is that a common name over here? James asked Reuben. No, Its not one that Ive heard of but the world is wide and I have only seen a part of it. Teddy had posed the question to his interface and shared with the others what he had found. So its a legend of a creepy nightmare bird from our world. This interface is amazing! Its better than Google. The various events all centre around a scary mind witch character. They all turned to look at Lucy. Hey Im not just a scary mind witch, I can blow things up too! They made sure that Reuben had copies of all the descriptions, he asked them some more questions about the experience they had just gone through unlocking their powers and bade him farewell. So Shopping? Kyra said. We need new summoning materials for Lucy, we could see if theyre cheaper here or in Vitesse but I vote we get them here so Lu has as much time as she can with her new familiar, even if it is a crazy, creepy witch lady turned into an owl. But we should definitely be on the next boat to Vitesse as soon as we can, thats where the good shopping is, then we come back and start really training as a team using the Greenstone area to grind? Chapter 17 ‘Plain Vanilla’ The team were all standing on one of the top decks of a very large ship. It was so large in fact that they had to transfer onto it from a smaller boat from Greenstone as the magic density was too low to support the boat with all its magical amenities. Teddy was holding onto the railing looking slightly worse for wear, they had drunk heavily on their first night on the boat and being hungover on a in the rough conditions on the high magic ocean was not pleasant for him. You have been afflicted with [sea-sickness]. You will be debilitated with [sea-sickness] until it wears off. Continued exposure to conditions that caused [sea-sickness] will prolong the condition. Teddy was normally fine with the sea and boats and ships, it was the hangover that was causing him grief. Fortunately Kyra had Lucky on deck to make him feel better and was healing the condition as soon as it manifested. She couldnt do anything for the hangover though so as long as it was going to last Teddy was stuck in a cycle of feeling awful and better. They were spending their morning looking our over the lower decks people watching all the types of people that had chosen to make the trip to Vitesse. As soon as they had done the necessary shopping and ritual of summoning they had bought return tickets. Lucys new familiar was flying out before them, swooping and hiding in the sun, it looked the size of one of the gulls but they knew that was an optical illusion due to the high altitude it was at. They had been amazed at the size of the summon when it had appeared, the swirling tornado of feathers that had appeared when all the ritual components were absorbed swirled up to seven feet, when it had got to that height it had suddenly thrown out its wings, easily eighteen to twenty feet in span. They had all been expecting an owl that would perch on Lucys shoulder, the creature in front of them could stare eye to eye with James standing on its own feet. The hooked beak looked savage; owl beaks dont look scary when theyre on regular owls because theyre smaller than an eraser, when theyre the size of a sword and just as sharp and pointed they are terrifying. Her claws were long and exposed, each point ending in a talon four inches long and clacked on the floor. When she beat her wings it buffeted everyone with the force and the edges were thick and solid. She swooped closer, showing off to Lucy, as she did it formed a huge shadow on the deck that looked like a monster. Luckily the crew were wise to the kinds of monsters they could expect on their run and as adventurers that would be expected to defend the ship Lucy had registered her familiar so as not to be shot down by the crew when they were defending the ship in actual attacks. As the voyage went on after a week the crew had given a warning of an approaching monster and everyone had gone below decks to their cabins to wait it out. The ship was technically a gold rank class ship. The approaching monster was a gold rank serpent monster, it was huge, three to four times as long as the ship and swam just below it. It carried on its way without even slowing down and the crew explained that the higher rank monsters didnt always attack and they noted position and direction and reported them to the adventure society, every now and then they would have adventurers that claim free passage to jump off half way to hunt these monsters. Smaller, weaker monsters often appeared. They sometimes came in shoals that were attracted to the power of the ship and attacked. They bounced off the hull of the ship as if they had been zapped by an electric fence, killing most on touch. Lechuza was sometimes swooping and diving to catch small enough monsters and carry them off, savagely ripping into them as she sped back away from the water to avoid any higher rank monsters. Lucy had joined her familiar on some of these dives by looking through her eyes. What the description had not made clear was the rush of information, the feel of the air, the wind through the feathers and the spray of the water. She had talked to James about it after as he had some experience in transfiguration into animals. He gave her some tips on how to deal with the mental change from two legged human to a feathered predator. Lechuza was also able to use some of Lucys powers from a distance and she was getting some decent loot off the exotic monsters. She also scavenged off the dead monsters the ship killed as they were unclaimed bodies. Whereas the others often had their familiars absorbed to save space and make travelling easier Lucy had left Lechuza to stay out and about most of the time, due to the inherent nature of being able to see through her eyes she could sense where she was and use telepathy to talk to and from. The great owl knew it had catching up to do on the team though and worked hard but also came back regularly. She did so now, swooping down blocking the sun to land delicately on the deck and drape her wings back like an enormous cape. [I am returned Miss Lucy] she spoke directly into her mind. She stared intently while she spoke unblinking with huge owl eyes. James jumped slightly at her quick bird-like movements as she looked around, in the past this would have been a flinch but he had been trained hard at the academy annex to turn those flinches into reactions. His feet stepped out and fists came up slightly like a boxer. This startled Lechuza in turn and she ruffled her chest feathers and ducked her head, her wings slightly raised out to the sides. This time James did flinch and he stumbled. [I am sorry my landing startled you, I will make it my aim that I can land soft enough you will not hear me right behind you] James gulped and straightened himself out. No harm done, but please dont make your aim to sneak up on me, something your size shouldnt be capable of that. Thankyou. Lucy said. The crew have warned we are getting close to port that we should keep you close. Lechuza looked up to the sky and over the water then hopped a couple of times towards Lucy and into her. She disintegrated into a cloud of owl feathers that shot into Lucy. The tell-tale sign for Lucy having an absorbed familiar was the feather pattern around her eyes, it looked good, like eyeshadow from a distance. In a world where no one used cosmetics it stood out and made her look striking. The ability she gained when Lechuza was absorbed was some of the incoming projectile reflection, they hadnt had the opportunity to test it out much but it seemed to not give too much protection but was welcome all the same. Their voyage ended at the enormous port in Vitesse, this one large enough for even the huge vessel. The massive ship would have given them a good view over Greenstone but the buildings of Vitesse were much bigger, with obvious magic engineering. There were essence users flying above the streets, having visited the home of the original Remore academy once before they knew that you needed a special licence to fly in the city. They headed to the temple district to see the local church of hero. Last time they were in town they were sent there to see local contacts for lodging so they werent taken advantage of and they were hoping to use the same contacts again. That evening they were sat in what would have been a modestly priced inn that had rooms for both couples and a very nice communal area that served good food. The price would have been modest for the quality, but, as they walked in Kyra was using her cleansing power habitually and discovered the owners toddler had just drunk cheap cleaning materials by accident in the basement that was just within her powers range. After she had seen the affliction cleared she had asked at the bar who might be drinking cleaning solution as she was concerned why anyone would be. After the owner panicked about their missing child and then found them in the basement with the cleaning chemicals she refused to take any payment from the team. Kyra had made sure the child made a full recovery. They were sat in the common room with a bar full of people, they had managed to snag a table in the corner and were going through their plan for the next day. So me and Teddy need to go early in the morning, theres apparently a whole street of book shops! Its going to take us all day to get through them all. What if we find what we need in the first shop? Teddy asked with a note of panic at the idea of all day book shopping. Through. Them. All. Lucy said looking him dead in the eye. Teddy shrew up his hands and went back to his beer. Im not sure where I need to be, James said, the description said a magical engraver or tattooist with the right skills. The owners wife was cleaning a table next to them when she overheard. Sorry my dears but I couldnt help overhear. We had some fancy engraving done recent. Me husband thought itd bring in some fancy clientele if we had a fancy sign out front. I did like that sign as we came in Well that was journeyman work, here Ill give you the address, the master metalsmith said all sorts about magical effects and whatnot, we went cheap because I didnt think it was worth the bother. Do we look like we need more people in here? She was bustled off by a new group taking the table she had just cleaned, she wrote the address out on a slip of paper from her apron she used for taking orders and went about getting drinks for the new patrons. Well seems like youre all busy tomorrow then Kyra said. You can come with us! Teddy said, eager to have the numbers to bully Lucy into not going into every bookshop. Nahuh, I have plans of my own for tomorrow! What plans? Teddy asked suspiciously. Shopping! She answered cryptically. And as hard as they might they couldnt get an answer out of her for the rest of the night. The next morning they had breakfast together early while the streets were still quiet they went their separate ways. Teddy and Lucy to the book street, James to deep in the industrial sector and Kyra to her mystery shopping. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. James was getting slightly worried the further he went, the obvious shopping streets were left behind as were the cafes and restaurants catering to shoppers. The bright door signs were gone, replaced by functional signs for tradespersons to find industry workshops. He followed his directions looking for the metalworker. When he got there he found a drab grey workshop with a sign outside that looked no different from its neighbours that said Master Randolphs metal. There was no bell and there was so much noise coming from inside that no one would hear a knock he opened the door and used his aura as a bell, hoping that the metal workers would be essence users. As he stepped through the door all the work stopped, there were four benches with two workers each on them and a long snaking conveyor belt made of metal rollers which had three people around it. They all locked onto James, seeming far too interested in his presence and all started slowly moving towards him. Getting freaked out James was preparing his aura to release Koda to improve the odds when a strong aura pulsed as the office door at the side of the workshop opened. Everyone back to work. The voice had absolute authority like he was used to being listened to. He was a tall slim elf, pure silvery hair and wore magical spectacles with multiple lens that could be flicked in and out on the top of his head. Well what have we here? Im not expecting new orders today. Dont mind them, I beast them about recognising interesting artefacts and theyre more interested in that vambrace than you. I dont let them work with armour until they have a few solid years playing with the metal. Yeh that was a little weird. The workers were still trying to get a look at the vambrace. James held his hand out to shake the new mans hand, his right hand, which was the arm that had the vambrace. Im James Mitchell, was pointed your way to get some engraving done. Oh Im hoping I know what item youre after having engraving. He said, unabashed looking over the vambrace. While they were shaking hands he had met James eyes then taking a long look at the armour, going as far to turn James arm while he had hold of his hand, he rubbed a thumb on the metal of the hand plate, James didnt think he could have stopped the man if he tried, he had a strength like a ten tonne machine. Some beautiful work youve already got done there. Not a professional but certainly a gifted artist, Id appreciate his details if we do business. Mind if we go in your office to chat? Its a bit noisy out here. The elf looked him up and down judging him. He nodded and beckoned him in. When they had sat down he opened a large drawer in his desk and pulled out a steaming kettle and cups. You know we all recognise thats a soul-bound item, youre perfectly safe. Its no use to us other than being an amazing artefact. Tea? Please. Ive got to admit I was a little worried. I didnt think I was that obvious though. The elf smiled in a friendly way. Youre new here right? And Im not just talking about being an iron ranker. Youre an outworlder right? Its hard to mask when youre two ranks lower. James knew the vibe he was getting was a higher rank and now he had a figure to put against it. Silver rank was too high for him to do anything about if he turned shady and he refocused his efforts on his aura control. The elf must have noticed because he smiled then pulled out a paper pad and a pen. Now Mr Mitchell, you were about to ask about some engraving. He wrote out James name at the top of the page and quote with a blank line next to it. I should probably start with why I would like some engraving. The elf leant back with his notepad and doodled, keeping it to himself. I have a looting power, the magic society guys I let have a look said that the power turns the residual magic left in the monsters into usable items. The likelihood of these items being personalised to me is higher as its an intrinsic power. The item Ive got can be improved to make my other powers and transformations more powerful. What I was hoping was you could help me with a design to put on a plate on the arm piece here. The catch is that as its a growth item the conditions for growth become more expensive with each engraving on it. So I was after a few quality ones before ranking up without going crazy. If all goes well well be coming back this way once weve ranked up and could get more. The elf politely nodded along showing he was listening while doodling on the pad. He put it face down on the table and held out a hand. May I see the item? See what were working with. James put his hand on the forearm part and the whole arm seemed to expand slightly knowing that it was being removed. He slipped it off and set it down gingerly on the table to be examined. He was nervous taking it off in the office after he had seen so many people taking interest in the rare item when he was alone and outranked. The elf sensed his nervousness and gave him a kindly smile before pulling out a tool roll and focussed on the Vambrace. He slid the glasses down on his head and started flicking through various combinations of lenses. He took a scraper out of his tool kit and probed the metal. Various crystals came out around the armour and lit different colours. Fascinating, what you have here I have rarely seen produced by some of the best gold rank armourers around. It is truly priceless. He pushed the armour into the middle of the table so it was directly between them. He then took the notebook he had been working on as James spoke and flipped it placing it next to the armour. He might as well have cut the wing off the greatest eagle, dipped it in silver and put it on the page, the drawing was incredibly life-like and had taken him moments while they were talking. The detail was intense, James felt like it was an optical illusion, as he was focussing on a feather on one side he could swear the feathers were moving as if in a breeze on the other side but when he looked they were a still drawing. Randulph had pulled a new notebook from the desk and was writing down complex equations, referencing the tools he used and the crystal sequence. Are you satisfied with the rough draft? James steadied himself, remembering he was purchasing a service and wanted to make a good impression so as not to get fleeced. We seem to have skipped a step where I tell you what style I want and what powers I want enhanced. The elf barked out a laugh, short and severe like he didnt use it very often. You now know this is the design you want, the magic speaks boy, this is what the armour calls for. You can ask for whatever you want but this is the only piece I will engrave on that item first. He sensed he had pricked a nerve by being so brusque and calling him boy. Mr Mitchell, there is more magic to these things then you may realise. The first engraving you had done seems to be kismet; right place, right time, right person. It was a virtuoso performance. This is a planned piece of work you are having done and there is a rightness to going about it. James seemed mollified by the explanation. The other thing is Mr Mitchell is that I dont need your business. What you need to know is that I would very much like to do is work on this project. The items you see on the workshop floor are the bread and butter of my business but personally work like this is why I still work at silver rank. It would be a privilege not a necessity. James picking up the armour and turned it over, tracing the design on the hand plate with one finger, thinking things over. Lets talk price. The elf smiled again. The price will be my usual rates, it will take two days, the second day I will do for free if you allow me a third day to study the magic. He held up his hands. No harm will come to the item and no invasive testing will be done. The study of this item will develop my understanding of its creation and to possibly make something like this in the future. Well that answers the question of how long it will take. Will you do the work yourself then? I had thought it would be done on the workshop floor. No, this item is too unique to be trusted to anyone else. I will work on it alone. Mr Randulph I think we have a deal. .. Teddy was not as exasperated as he thought he would be. It turned out that magical bookshops were pretty amazing. The variety on display was staggering. Entire bookshops might be devoted to a speciality, one for farming crops, another for livestock. One bookshop had tomes of different cloth patterns. The shops varied what types of books they sold. Most sold a variation of magical and non magical of each book. Some were straight up skill book shops and others were magical in that they spoke to the reader or had a hologram effect that read and demonstrated. This allowed those who did not have a skill book ability to still benefit from the magic. They were just leaving a store that specialised in gardening in the late afternoon when they bumped into James. Hey guys, got to admit you werent my first choice to hang out with but he trailed off when he realised what he said and quickly snatched up his wife. What I mean is book shopping is pretty far down on my list of fun things to do in a massive magical city, but Kyra isnt answering any messages and I have no idea where to run into her and I figured you would be somewhere down this street. How are you getting on? We have a few more to hit but there isnt much gas left in the tank to be honest. Teddy said. You guys are tired from shopping? Youre essence users! No I mean not a lot of steam in the kettle, wind in the sails, lead in the pencil, gold left in the pot. you both spent all of your money on books? Thats not possible. They proceeded to prove it, Teddy jumped up and reached as high as he could and tore a slice to the ground, showing stacks of books inside, Lucys rune portal appeared and he could see in, left and right that there were piles and piles of books. Teddy sealed his rift and Lucy dismissed the portal. We really leant into the hold nothing back mentality to this trip, well need to make some extra cash on our return. Itll take weeks, months to just absorb that much information, why did you get so many? Weve got an idea, we think theres a way to make some money here. Lucy said looking a little nervous. Do you remember the iron dagger loop on Skyrim? Its not like we have crafting essences to level up but we can literally churn stuff out to sell at market. If anything itll give Lu a lot more flexibility to her magic mojo and I can make the groups consumables. Wow, well, Im dubious how much money itll make but youre going to have a lot more knowledge than the rest of us. How about you? Any success finding a shop full of wonderful suits of armour and weapons and a tiny master crafter you have to sell your soul to get him to come out of retirement and complete one last master work of art? James shrugged. A worn out warehouse where they were banging out some new bridge girders magicked up to keep away troll monsters. When he told them the price they were shocked. Dude, thats pretty much what weve each spent together! Well thats also with it at half price. I did a little asking around and it turns out that the silver rank owner Mr Randulph has been turning away lots of business, he does the work he needs to keep the workshop going and people employed and happy but hes been waiting for the right work apparently. Silver rank isnt that going to Teddy started. Make the effect even better than the same work at iron, yes, yes it is. James let out a big grin. They all met back at the Inn that night, theyd had a long day and the boat didnt leave for another three days. They finally caught up with Kyra in the lounge room of hers and Teddys suite. Good day sunshine? Teddy asked. I had a great time! Shopping is a lot more fun when theyre dog friendly and it turns out everyones dog friendly and likes have a little ball of sunshine around that makes you literally feel better. She ruffled Luckys ears. We had a LOT of fun. When she told them how much she had spent they gasped. Thats pretty much how much each of us spent, what did you buy? You werent even shopping for anything! Oh I dont know, this and that She pulled a hand mirror and multiple items appeared on the table between them. Earrings, necklaces, a diamond tennis bracelet, various dresses and outfits on one end, even some hats. What looked like workout gear, a collection of shoes and some bags. Kyra, Im really sorry to say. Lucy said, sweeping the piles with her eyes that could pick out magic. But I think you got ripped off, none of this is overly magical. Oh no this isnt all of it, I have a lot on custom order that wont be ready for a few days. Teddy looked even more shocked, So, you spent all that coin on just stuff, plain vanilla stuff? No, this is shiny, she said, turning over the chunky diamond tennis bracelet, This is colourful, this is silk. None of it is plain vanilla, a few of the tailors will be adding magical enhancement to the wardrobes to keep them nice and self repairing and cleaning. Wardrobes plural?! Chapter 18 ‘Fizz, Pop, Bang’ They woke up the next morning an true to her word the first of Kyras tailors turned up with three rails of clothes. She had given exact measurements for Teddy and some items for the others as well. Some got tried on and it all went away into inventories then they all had a long breakfast. Teddy and Lucy took a while in private, they were going to make a habit of absorbing a few skill books each morning and evening and it was a strenuous process that needed a quiet area to make the absorption of knowledge the most effective. Kyra then took them out to the shopping district and showed them round a few of the magical shops at things they may have found interesting. She then knew a good spot for lunch an they sat and ate and chat and drank for a long time, they were there for so long that it rolled into evening and the proprietor brought them out tapas style plates for dinner without being asked, they had been joined by a few locals and pulled together a few tables and had an impromptu party. The next morning another tailor turned up with heavy chests, inside were warmer winter clothes, they took them out to have a look then they too disappeared into the inventories. This day they set out to just walk the city. They knew from experience from their own world that you only found the hidden gems of a city by walking the lesser trod roads. They found some quirky shops and bought some nick-nacks but mostly they were taking in the different buildings and sights of the city. That night they headed to a restaurant in the docks, it was all made of shifting sand, with pits for diners to sit in and small bonfires between the pits. There were no menus and dishes were place on the outside of the pits, the sand never got into the food but shifted the plates around like a sushi bar so that they made their way around the pit so that everyone had a chance to try them. The third day three tailors arrived with different styles of clothing, there were styles from a few different cultures, so they had options when they were travelling to new places. Kyra had mainly shopped for herself, a few options for Teddy and then the odd few items for the others so they would need to do some clothes shopping in the future. They made their way to the city mirage chamber to spend the day. More than just a training area it was an arena for teams to battle for prizes. It was set up for spectators and they spent most of the day there. They had multiple viewing options for either monster fights, team fights against monsters, PvP or team vs team. They saw some strategies they liked and made a note of them, the flexibility of their shared interface meant that there was a scratchpad they could have multiple ongoing notes they could add to and they made a note of anything they fancied trying. There was a bustling messenger business in the city, the team from earth were definitely missing their phones and the ability to instantly communicate. James had sent a message to Master Randulph that he would be spending the day in a hired box at the arena, with no rush on his study that he bargained for on the third day. They had paid for a return messenger so that he could let them know when it was ready to be picked up. The team sat and talked about the vambrace, James had explained that the shop owner had insisted that there was only one engraving that he would do they werent sure whether or not he would be able to plan out the rest of the engravings or whether he would run into the same issue every time. They found it interesting that the elderly elf had started drawing it out even before James had explained what the item was, he had realised what was needed by just looking at the armour for a few minutes. They all felt the mildly volatile gold rank aura just outside the door just before the knock. They looked at each other and Teddy fired a message up on the interface. [Anyone pissed off a gold ranker?] [No] [Nope] [Negative] The conversation happened at the speed of thought. Having it all on the interface. [Anyone know why there would be a gold ranker here?] [N] [Nah] [Nien] Teddy got up and went to the door, they all moved out of the direct line of the door and into a loose formation, it was more to settle their nerves as they were painfully aware a gold ranker could tear them to pieces before any team move. He opened the door and James recognised who it was. Mr Randulph! This is unexpected. Yes, for me as well. It turns out that taking on your project was exactly what I needed to push me over the edge into gold. In gratitude Id like you to join me in my box. They had no reason to refuse and were curious to see a patrons private box rather than the ones available to the public. As they were walking along increasingly higher corridors Mr Randulph explained. As I am finding today that overnight ascension to gold rank does not go unnoticed even in a large city such as Vitesse. My regular box has been issued to the next silver rank patron on the waiting list and they insisted I now have one of the gold rank suites. It will be the first time I am visiting of course and I apologise if I am not familiar with the layout. This turned out not to be a problem, as they were making their way up word mustve gotten around the staff on the location and number of Mr Randulphs party, there was a member of arena staff for each guest. The suite itself was massive. There was a games room, multiple viewing rooms, a common room, meeting rooms, even accommodation. They found themselves in a large meeting room where the elf placed the Vambrace in a velvet bag on the long wooden table in the centre. The four Mitchells were on one side while he stood on the other, unobtrusive staff stood in the corners. So, gold rank then? James asked. Yes, unfortunately for you it was the culmination of your piece that pushed me over, thats not to undermine what I think may have been some of my best ever work. This will still be a silver rank piece of work but with elements of gold rank touches. And dont worry, my rate stays the same. He said with a smile. Ha, if it pushed you over the edge to gold maybe you should be paying me. The elf threw back his head and laughed, if he hadnt had the Vambrace, soul-bound as it was to James that he would know it conclusively, he would have hardly recognised the elf. The age reversing effects of ranking up had turned him from old to middle aged and he laughed much more freely and pleasantly now. Well that puts paid to the idea of coming back to see you next time, if the work is any good, theres no way Id be able to afford you now. The elf enjoyed the barb. Perhaps for some customers of note I may just work for cost, as for the work, see for yourself. With a flourish he whipped off the velvet bag, without the armour clanking on the table. The forearm was orientated towards them and they could see the new work. It took up an entire panel of the five that went around the forearm but it looked to be well worth it. The wing sketch that the elf had done looked basic in comparison. The wing started at the wrist working back to the elbow. He had worked in filigree of different materials, the most of the work was engraved and accentuated in gunmetal grey. He has worked in 4 other shades of metals that James could see, varying in shine and colour, one was even pearlescent giving a kaleidoscope of colour even sitting still. The edges of the wing and the feathers were lined in a rose gold filigree that was bronzed slightly to not shine and give away position but still add flavour and character to the piece. As James took a step toward the armour the same optical illusion happened as on the sketch; as you looked at the detail on one end the other looked as if the feathers had wind moving through them. James traced the leading edge of the wing with a fingertip. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [100 wing quintessence] 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. If Im reading that right, that sounds like you have a silver rank power at iron rank, and a workaround for using it at your rank. Teddy said. Wow I cant wait to try this out. Its amazing, thankyou! Why wait? Part of the privilege of having this suite as an gold ranker is that it comes with a small mirage setup, am I right? He said glancing at one of the members of staff. Yes sir, there is a six booth chamber that can run most common simulations. The four Mitchells were soon put in a simulation against some basic iron rank monsters. Theyd chosen a scenario that had them in a large barren field, baked hard and stretching almost as far as the eye can see. They had decided to all stretch a little and had the monsters spawn all around them, starting with a few low rankers and then ever increasing numbers and strength. They worked alone in the beginning just warming up. Kyra was throwing out earth walls and terraforming as much as she could every time her powers came off cooldown and she got the chance between monsters, they had all worked this kind of scenario before and knew that the prep in the early stages would dictate how many rounds they could go later on. Lucky was doing a lot of the heavy lifting at this early stage, the bronze rank familiar was a powerhouse against the early stage iron rank monsters, although he was a cute golden Labrador his ancestors-ancestors were the creatures that hunted mankind in the night and they were rightfully terrifying, Lucky was channeling this energy. He was awe-inspiring, ripping into enemies and bearing them down with his powerful jaws and breaking limbs with swats of his paws. Her lantern familiar was out as well, distracting monsters away from her so she could continue constructing her maze. James and Koda were working things out. As a more direct combat centred pair they needed to work out Kodas new power level to work with James level still at iron rank, they toyed with the early stage iron rank monsters batting them to each other to see if the old patterns still worked. James didnt try his new wing power yet, saving it for when the fight got tougher. His new iron rank power; Snake Sorcerer was incredibly useful to team up with Kyras Line of Mirrors power, as the healer it meant she could see what each of her team were about to be up against and could use her judgment to be ready with healing, as members of the team that wanted the healer alive to heal them it meant that they could see what Kyra was walking into and if they needed to intervene. James used this to his advantage by seeing when Kyra was busy building defences and could use his new ranged attack to take on enemies she didnt have time for, because they also had the interface power she could send a message with zero time to designate a target. The power came with an instinctive knowledge of the range he could fire and semi-winged snakes were launched over the battlefield regularly. Lucy had released Lechuza early and she was flying over the battlefield regularly swooping down and eviscerating unsuspecting weak iron rank monsters or wounding them bad enough to send into the path of James, Koda or Teddy. She was experimenting with operating more as a back-liner, hard to do in a 360 battle but she placed herself roughly in the middle of the other three and used a flickering vision between her eyes and Lechuzas to keep an eye on the whole battle to see where her mana was best spent. She had tried this before in the academy annex mirage chamber and learn her lesson early on about divided attention. All around her she had set up warning runes burnt into the ground, they had cost her a lot on mana but they would make up the difference for having only half an eye on her immediate surroundings. Anything that came near her would have its vision severely dampened and she was cycling through her non-lethal powers to debilitate the enemy so that one of the others to take it on so she could save her attack spells on the critical areas of the battlefield. Teddy was fully embracing his new powers from the Reaper. As outworlders they found out early the uncomfortable truth about being a big flesh sack to hold the magic in, a conversation normally held for silver rank and beyond, the family all had the privilege of a head-start on not being entirely human anymore and they had all learnt how they no longer needed to breathe. Teddy was completely silent as he zipped across the battlefield. Mostly just a dark shadowy blur, the only sounds were the sucking of vortexs and the explosions that sometimes followed long after he had moved on. He was saving his mana for later on so he didnt send out many. His lantern familiar was out being a useful distraction to lure enemies while he zipped around them. They had no way of knowing where he was with no sound and blanketing the area with his aura along with the others. His new power Hands of the Reaper was used again and again, it was like a fork in a roasting joint holding it steady while he made the cut, his dimension blade snicking straight through, the bronze rank ability could slice clean through any iron rank monster. The team worked with a relentless thrum, churning through monsters. As the enemy became higher end iron rank monsters and more numerous they fought closer to one another, the interface, Lucys telepathy, Kyras Mirror vision and the relentless training they had done together in their spare time made it seem from the outside that they were four arms of one creature, all working together by the same thought. Mr Randulph stood watching the monitor, double checking that it was recording. Go and fetch Mr Roberts for me please. He said to the room, his eyes not leaving the screen, knowing that one of the members of staff would hurry away. The team had sunk into their long game now, no longer taking the time to try out new variations they were using tried and tested formations and tactics, sometimes with the new powers thrown in, the communication of the interface made this easy, as a monster was about to be struck by Lucy Teddy would warn her that the Hands were going to hold it a certain way and she shifted her momentum from a kick - to a neck wrenching scissor kick, cleanly breaking the neck rather than just ringing its bell. Likewise she would warn James, just as a monster was about to strike down she would stun it with her new Enter Sandman power, the monster stuttering for a second or two, all James needed from preparing to block to knocking its block off. Out the scenario in the private box a hulking leonid made his way into the box, his silver rank aura held politely rigid. Big for his rank and unusually had a few large scars across his torso and giant back, obvious to see through the fur as it seemed he was just wearing a loincloth and strategic straps. Mr Randulph, congratulations on the rank up. What can I do for you? He growled in a deep voice. Mr Roberts, thankyou for coming so quickly, Im pleasantly surprised at what being gold rank gets you even in this city. Id like you to take a look at this team. I have a recording of them from the start of the fight but theyve really just got going. The lion man didnt ask any more and joined the elf in staring intently at the screen. The team were now facing peak iron rank monsters, in droves. Kyra had deployed her diamond golem to bolster the team, James was summoning and re-summoning his rat swarms every time they came off cooldown, coincidently it was normal rats carrying out the compost for the circle and placing it, summoning infectious twisted plague rats from nightmares. They scurried around the feet of the nearest monsters, infecting some of them but attacking the monsters furthest away to give the most amount of time for the afflictions to do their work. After a while the big leonid spoke up. With respect Mr Randulph, I see they are a very competent team; guild quality I would say. But they are nothing special that we dont see regularly competing in the arena. Mr Roberts growled, not taking his eyes off the fight. What if I told you that the most junior member got her badge last week. . One eyebrow of the lion mans furry face raised. And the most senior member of the team got his badge only six months ago. The other eyebrow joined the first. The leonid called over a member of staff and gave some swift direction. .. As the droves came in quicker Teddy warned the team then used his Unleash the Void power. As a high mana power he used it in a clutch moment, the team realising they were coming to the end of the iron rank monsters. The portal appeared seeming deeper than most, they were normally a flat disk, seeming two dimensional, tendrils swirling around the outside. This was more like the mouth of a tunnel or a firehose. Monsters streamed from the end, spraying all over one side of the battlefield. There was a wrongness to them that made them hard to look at, when you did it was hard to make out detail, dark claws, fangs, contorted chests covered in shiny black skin, hard to make out the whole of the creature. They fed on the incoming monsters like locusts in a field, devouring them. The summon finished as quickly as it appeared but had devastated the side of the battle, the other monsters making a wide berth around the beasts of the void, fizzling and cracking as they popped out of existence after a short while. This caused the other side to surge. James saw his moment as they clustered in front of him. He focussed on the centre of the pack and unleashed his Wing Sweep attack. A shockwave appeared first, surprising James, it stunned every enemy in front of it. It was followed by three lines of blades, sweeping through the air like scythes, then came the wing itself, bigger than any he had summoned before. It mowed down the enemies in front of him, the feathers of the bladed wing were also razor sharp and as the monsters and parts of monsters were tumbled under the wing they were cut to ribbons. As the trailing edge of the wing cleared the ground a great wind rushed down afterwards, pummelling the enemies or what was let of them into the ground. James had stood in shock at what he had done, he hadnt known it would be that powerful, he only stayed on his feet for a few moments before he collapsed to the floor. By now the gold rank suite of Mr Randulph had a dozen or so occupants all watching the fight, the atmosphere grew tense as they saw a member of the team go down. Kodas jaw clamped James shoulder and threw him at Lucys feet and he then stood in his place taking the last few iron rankers. Lucky leapt and landed next to James, nosing him over and laying over his chest snarling at the few monsters. Kyra threw out a life charge, her strongest healing at James without looking as she sliced into the knee of a charging troll-like monster with her diamond blade, she was already spinning away as it tumbled into the earth spike that exploded from the ground into its head. [How long before hes back in?] Teddy asked the group. [Heavy damage due to pushing his body too far with a silver rank power, Im surprised the mirage chamber didnt just call it and chuck him out, Ill need a few minutes to get him back up] Kyra replied. They mopped up the last of the iron rank monsters and had a beat to rest. They had got this far before in the same simulation and knew what came next. [Bronze rank waves about to start, were still going to go first formation, two up on the first monster.] Teddy said to the girls. The others didnt question, they knew the two up was Teddy and James, even with James out they followed their part in the plan. A huge bull appeared in front of them, its huge head was more like a dragons than a bulls, it was seven foot at the shoulder and had horns three foot long straight out from its head, it had three tails that whipped about and snorted angrily. As Teddy was the only one out front it charged for him with bronze rank speed. Teddy had the swift essence and his aura power slowed incoming enemies and sped him up. It was the only way that he could deal with the bronze rank speed on his own. He timed his next attack and used his Dimensional Warrior power, suddenly a huge barbarian jumped out of a portal next to the monster chest first, his body bowed backwards, his arms were over his head with a colossal double headed axe that was mid swing over his head double handed. He crashed through the rear of the bull side on, the axe was a dimensional blade like Teddys and it sliced through the spine and meat completely, just before the back legs. As the swing was completed the warrior locked eyes with Teddy before he fizzed and popped out of existence. Teddy was sprinting towards the downed bull, he used his wraiths dash to take advantage of the moment of surprise and bury his own dimensional blade into the bulls eye and into its brain. Teddy got back to formation ready to take on the next monsters and James was coming to. In his groggy state the first thing he did was take a powerful mana potion and enact his Shaman ability, ants were laying leaves around him and the coloured vortex started, turning mana to health. The group in the suite were amazed to see the recovery, the team now back up to full strength, and other than being slightly low on mana they were ready to face the bronze rank waves, the more junior observers were making quiet bets at the back. The team pulled out all the stops, more waves of plague rats helped take down the tougher monsters. Flashes of transcendent damage came from monsters pulled into their own shadows by the Hands of the Reaper. Kyras diamond golem exploded and she lost a few of the smaller golems that came out, causing smaller explosions. The amount of damage Koda took turned him into a frenzied beast, all the retributive buffs from James Ursa Family power had made him incredibly powerful, Lucky was almost exclusively sticking by his side, fighting as a animalistic pair. Lucy was using highly focussed blasts of her magic missiles to target the strongest monsters coming their way and wear them down before they got there. Eventually the team was overwhelmed, quickly one by one they woke up in the chamber. What they saw waiting for them were two dozen people all clustered into groups talking about what they had just seen. Chapter 19 ‘Getting registered’ The team were exhausted, the fight had gone on for hours, into the night. Even though it wasnt their true bodies that they were fighting with in the mirage chamber the mental exhaustion was real. They were surprised to see all the other guests in the suite. Mr Randulph had quickly taken them aside and explained. I apologise for the intrusion into what you thought was a private fight but I felt it would be of benefit of you to get Mr Roberts involved. He runs the development program for the arena. Hes an ex adventurer who now spends every waking moment looking for adventurers that are worth training. Hed like a word if youre amenable? The four new adventurers felt slightly taken aback they were having this much interest, especially as at the start of the day they were just at the arena for some entertainment. They acquiesced and the elf went to collect the Leonid. [Looks like no sleep for us tonight then] James said on the interface. Even whispering the silvers and gold rank people in the suite would be able to hear, their shared interface as far as they were aware was un-hackable. [Has anyone got any gear at the Inn?] Teddy asked. [No] [No] [No but I wanted to pop back in before we head to the boat and leave something nice for the owner, we havent paid a thing and shes been good to us] Kyra said. They all agreed and made sure to get away from whatever this was before they had to head straight to the docks for their return to Greenstone. They were standing like statues, backs to the wall around the mirage chamber beds watching the people in front of them. It would be unnerving to look at, no one knowing they were conversing with each other while they stood. Mr Randolph extricated Mr Roberts from his conversation and brought him over. Who would be the leader of this team? He growled. Unfair to have a leader amongst family, but Id say Ill take your questions. Teddy answered. Family? Mr Rogers, Im Theodore, this is my wife Kyra, my brother James and his wife Lucy. A lot of scope for heartbreak in a team like that. Were aware, but its not like we have a choice and wed rather be there to cover each others backs. The big Leonid raised an eyebrow at that. You dont have a choice? Hero has us snagged on a deal, dont worry we had choice then, him being who he is we just dont exactly want to back out now. Him being a god? Roberts asked with a raised eyebrow. Exactly. Roberts turned to Mr Randolph who shrugged. Theyre new here. Im getting that. Outworlders generally cause problems or fuss one way or another. He said turning back to the team. I assume the that Hero has something in mind for you which answers some of my questions. My name is Liam Roberts, I keep an eye out for promising upcoming talent in the arena and feed that back to the various guilds that support my endeavour to produce the best teams to combat monsters in the world. Youre sponsored by the guilds to tip them off when hot new talent comes by to scoop them before the competition? James piped up. See, this is why I was going to do the talking. Teddy said to James. The groups of people around the room made sense now, they were grouped in twos and threes and keeping to themselves, looking closely he could see they had different badges on the lapels of members of each group. Mr Roberts is a very influential figure for making connections that may get you in the right guild Mr Mitchell. Randulph said to James. A guild can forge new connections that can aid you later in your adventuring career. They looked over the groups, there must be six guilds represented there. Is this a join now or never again scenario? We would need to do some looking into guilds, its not something thats been on our radar? Teddy said. I have no idea what a radar is. But no, they guilds may or may not express interest in you, you will then be free to make your choice on them as you will, some may put a time limit on it but most wont but may retract their offer if you make a name for yourself that they dont want associated with them. I would like to introduce you to the first two groups then I would invite you to mingle and meet the others. Roberts said, looking more dubious at their behaviours. [The highest bidders get a personal introduction then.] James said. [Probably the ones that have the most money so probably worth paying attention. Also, theres a lot of reasons for them to not pay us any attention which is interesting why there are six guilds here just after midnight just to see us. We need to look into this before we make any decisions.] Teddy replied. They followed Mr Roberts to the first two groups, they talked to one then the other, the groups on the periphery all payed keen attention. They were mostly asked about their background and history, there were some questions about their principals and drive. They politely declined questions about their past saying nothing of the other world. They also skirted the topic of their deal with Hero, it wasnt specifically asked as the groups knew better than to meddle in gods business but they asked around the topic. Once they were done they split up to talk to the other groups. They chatted to all the groups until early in the morning. Four of the groups offered them places, it seemed two of the lower groups chose candidates more on lineage than the aspects the others were looking for and said they would need to see more evidence before offering a place to the team. [Time to go guys, we need to get to the boat.] Teddy said. They approached Mr Roberts who was standing next to the two guilds he had introduced them to obviously knowing all the members quite well and chatting. Mr Roberts, its been an unexpected pleasure and thank you for doing this, we are beginning to understand what it means for us and Im sure when we leave and do some research well be blown away by how generous youve been. We have to leave now as the ship back to Greenstone is due to leave in a few short hours. Teddy said shaking the giant hand of the leonid. My dear boy, I think youll find the ship will wait as long as is needed for some people. One of the guildsmen said. Teddy frowned, double checking the pin to keep it in mind. Be that as it may, there are a lot of people expecting, and some maybe counting on, the boat leaving on time and were not the sort that would delay that without good reason. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. That wiped the self satisfied smile off the mans face and he self consciously sipped his drink. Thankyou Mr Randulph for hosting us overnight. James said. I hope to be coming back soon to hold you to your word for more work. Please do, working on something so unique will be a privilege, hopefully next time we will be able to focus on a design of your choosing. It is in my interest to make it the best armour it can be however, I need to keep you alive so you can keep bringing it back! They were guided out of the arena complex by a member of the staff from the suite. Out in the pre-dawn light they found an interesting mix of people out in the city. Tradespersons were bustling to and fro, carrying goods in carts or wagons. Messengers were out in force, spreading all the news that could wait till morning. A good amount of adventurers were out for exercise. The team joined them, donning exercise clothes from storage and running towards the inn. When they got to the inn the landlady was putting the days food menu in the card holder outside the front door. She greeted them warmly, her toddler had been halfway down the street, well within eyesight but she knew she would have to run to chase him, the team had scooped him up without breaking pace, he laughed at the speed of their run. They went inside at the landladys insistence that they have some breakfast, they explained they had to get to the boat and she compromised with a quick smoothie. When they were saying goodbye Kyra pulled out her hand mirror out and looked at the bar, a medium size bronze bell on a little arm appeared, resting on the dark wood. Roughly the size of a basketball it was a feature item. Swirling patterns went around it with a little thrum of magic. Whats this for?! The landlady exclaimed. We havent paid a thing and we know you wont take any money from us so please accept this gift. Where we are from its customary to ring the bell to warn the bar that its almost closing time and to get their last orders in. Maybe the tradition will catch on over here? Oh my dears. This is too much! Its lovely, Ill have to get it put up straight away, next time youre in town youll have to come stay and see it on the wall! She enthusiastically gave each a hug and let them go. On the run to the docks they chatted on interface, being used to it with no one around. [Kyra you do realise that bell was worth more than the stay would have cost us at full price?] Teddy asked. [I know, but good people deserve good things, plus it was a pretty bell!] [What was the magic on it?] Lucy asked. [Just a little aura stimulation, if theyre drunk enough to not hear the bell thatll get their attention.] Lucy pulled a notebook from a rune circle that appeared next to her, keeping speed with their run. She made notes while running, keeping centre of the pack so she didnt have to pay attention, her increased iron rank agility meant she had no trouble keeping up while making note on what magic she had seen on the bell. They arrived at the docks and changed back into travelling clothes. They pulled their tickets and approached the booth at the end of the gangplank to board. Good morn young travellers. The elderly attendant greeted them. Your tickets seem to be in order but Im sorry to say the boats been delayed in its departure. The Mitchells all shared a look. Can we ask why its been delayed? Teddy asked, they all feared it was something to do with them. And the activity at the mirage chamber. Why of course, theres been a report of Harpies on the route, by the citys law we cannot depart until weve taken contract with adventurers to deal with the problem. The team let out their held tension. Have you got a copy of the contract? Of course, youre all adventurers? He handed them a copy of the contract. It was a two star contract, the monsters had a nest on an island that the local ships used as a navigation point, they were fiercely territorial and attacked every ship, while the iron rank monsters were no threat to the gold rank equivalent ship but the city wanted the problem dealt with swiftly and the ship would easily be able to deliver adventurers to the rock. Would we be able to take it? As a team? None of us are two star but can we get dispensation to take it as a team? The attendants face lit up, he had been dealing with grumpy passengers all morning with the news and this was the first solution he had heard. He reached back and tugged a curtain revealing a young boy lounging reading a book, he gave him a quick kick. Samual, get over to the adventure society office in the port and get an official over here, theyve got four stars between them and I want this boat out of my port in the next hour! The boy scarpered off to get to the office. The team hung about, chatting with the attendant who appeared to actually be the harbour master, with large ships he dealt with them personally to ensure the smooth running, having all the boats grounded until the nest is dealt with meant that he definitely needed to be involved. An adventure society functionary arrived to the booth. You are the team that wishes to apply for dispensation for a two star contract? He asked in a nasally voice. Yes. Teddy said. There is a simple form to fill in which will then be processed to determine whether or not you will be eligible to have dispensation. He pulled out a think stack of papers and a lectern seemed to twist and grow from the wooden boardwalk. Team name? Well were not actually a team officially yet, weve not registered. The functionary looked sceptically at the team. He then pulled out a team registration form for them. Team name? The Mitchells Ill need all of you to sign and aura imprint the stone at the bottom. He passed the form to them to pass around. Now back to the dispensation. Length of service of most junior member. Err, one week. Lucy said. The man raised an eyebrow. Length of service of most senior? Teddy looked sheepish after the mans reaction to Lucy. Six months. The man rested his pen on the form and looked over his glasses at the team, scrutinising them. He then went on to ask to see their badges, taking their details to check for records of jobs completed. When he got to the last page he looked up. Now I know that you are young adventurers and new to the the city. The form requires a sponsor, when people dont know anyone they generally put down the adventure society Mr Roberts at the mirage arena. James butted in. Big Leonid bloke, hell sponsor us. The functionary looked very surprised at the name. He called over a messenger that had come with him, after a few words the messenger set off at a sprint. Thankyou, Ill go process this and will let you know the outcome shortly. He nodded to the harbour master and turned on his heel and walked for his office. The lectern twisted and shrank back into the boardwalk. They sat and waited again, having a hot drink with the harbour master. Suddenly they all saw a streak of light appear from the city and land nearby in the port area. Not long after the functionary was running out towards them. A messenger came from the arena, you are vehemently cleared for the contract! Can I see your badges please? He used a stone to press against each one, instead of the usual silver star a black star appeared next to the first. This shows that it is for one contract only, once this contract is cleared the star will fall away. He turned to the harbourmaster. The city is now content to clear this ship and this ship only to leave, it must signal once the nest is dealt with. The harbour master clapped them on the back and they boarded the ship, the harbour master went off to speak to the captain and the team made their way to their cabins to finally have some sleep. They were woken by a knock on each of the couples doors. Ship crew had come to deliver them an invite to dine in the captains quarters that evening. They all changed into formal wear, Teddy and Kyra in new outfits, she was adorned with her new diamond jewellery. James and Lucy had their own formal wear with new accessories bought by Kyra for them. They met just outside the captains quarters. They knocked and a member of crew let them in. They met the captain and the unmistakable feel of a silver ranker. Evening Captain, thankyou for the invite. A pleasure, a pleasure, always a pleasure to welcome adventurers on board for contracts! The jovial man sat them down at the table, he held Kyras chair out for her and a member of crew held out Lucys for her. When they were all sat the starters came out. Its something I always like to do for those who board for contracts. Gives me a chance to live through you a little! Makes me want to ask. Teddy said. Why are we taking an iron rank contract when you are silver rank? You must have some combat powers? HA! Yes of course, water, wind, might for the leviathan confluence. I could rip the rocks they nest on from the water and drag them to the bottom of the ocean. I gave up my adventuring days to captain this boat, we have crew who are employed as essence users as well of course, but we are all under contract to not engage with any monsters that are not attacking the ship. Hands are tied Im afraid. Youll be getting your fee reimbursed of course, those who are on contracts dont pay for passage. I guess they dont want you using the ship as your own monster hunting vessel. The captains eyes glittered. Its something every captain has thought of Ill not lie. They know it and set the rules. Well well try and give you a good show to try resist the urge. They chatted long into the night, the captain of such a large ship lived in luxury, the food and the wine were excellent, a recording crystal played music in the corner whilst they told the captain about the monster hunts in their time. He talked a lot about monster combat at sea, they gleaned a lot of good tips on water fighting from the man who had once made a living of it. They said their goodnights and thanks for the excellent company. They headed back to their cabins for the night. They knew in the morning they were passing the Harpies territory. Chapter 20 ‘An Owl, a Dog and a Bear walk into the jungle…’ The team were all standing on the top deck again, where they had been people watching on the outbound trip. This time they were the only ones on deck other than the crew. They were watching them roll out massive ballistae onto the deck. In the distance they could see faint specks of harpies. Using James aura they could see them quite clearly. The bodies of naked women, covered in scales and scraggly hair, their faces were mostly human but with thick round beaks. Theyre long arms were lean and speckled, ending in razor sharp claws. The wings that held them aloft were leathery, ragged and seemed too small to enable flight, especially for how little they flapped them, they figured there must be magic involved in it. Lucy had the best view, Lechuza was high above the Harpies, too high for them to notice and had a good view of how many and where they were. She had spotted eight of the bird women, some circling in the air, others scrambling around the rough nest on the rock. The captain came out to stand next to them watching the monsters with hunters eyes. Harpies were a nice blend of water, ground and air combat, I used to enjoy these contracts. When they realise you dont want to take to the water then that is where they will go. You wont have much time to take them before they make that choice, none of you have really practiced water fighting from what you said the other night? No, other than the mandatory water modules at the academy annex, supposedly more than most iron rankers at our experience level. The ship was now slowing as it approached. One of the harpies came within range and a crew shot a ballista at it. The giant bolt blasted from the machine, hit the monster and exploded vaporising it. Seven monsters left. The captain pulsed his aura and the harpies backed off. The team looked at him in surprise. Those bolts cost money, and this is good for you. He smiled. They turned back to the rock to look it over. They had discussed the plan last night and they liked the idea of making it a team practice to move with no outward communication. The boys moved. James blinked away, appearing high above the harpies using his peregrine dive power. Teddy ran full speed at the railing and jumped, slashing the air in front of him he jumped through a rift, the arrival rift was just in front of a swooping harpy above the nest, it tried to bank but hit the rift and lost half a wing, spiralling out of control. Kyra ran, sprang off the railing and spread her arms and legs wide, suddenly covered in solid diamond using her Encased power, Lucy aimed and blasted her with a magic missile, Kyra shot through the air, the armour disappearing after a few seconds and she rocketed straight towards the nest like a woman fired from a canon in an old circus act. Lechuza swooped down, using all of her significant height to build speed and Lucy raised a hand to grab a claw. Lechuza wasnt strong enough to to fly her far but strong enough to get her to the nest. James peregrine dive smashed into the topmost airborne harpy, he usually transfigured a foot into a birds claw to make the attack more potent, this time he smashed fist first into it, his bear engraving on his vambrace adding the slashing and bleeding effects. The Harpy monsters were high attack low defence monsters, they relied on striking hard and fast, their bodies were relatively weak, the slashing effect rent the body open. Six monsters left. He then transfigured both his arms into wings, the giant wings were lined in a multitude of different metals. They werent enough to fly with, birds are a lot better to design to fly and simply adding wings to a human body doesnt make up the difference. What it did allow him to do was glide, he had struck out at the highest monster and now could control his way down. Teddy came through the rift at the same speed he had entered the other, the harpy lost more than half a wing and went into an uncontrolled spiralling dive that ended in a sickening crunch on the floor. Five monsters left. He the got his bearings, flattening his body into a free-fall position. He was picking his next target when he heard a screech behind him and flipped to see a harpy diving claws extended towards his face. Before he had time to do anything about it James wing sliced from the monsters hip through the spine in the middle of the wings to the opposite shoulder. Four monsters left. Teddy smiled and flipped downwards again. He saw his next prey and sliced down with his dimensional blade, slicing a monster neatly in half. Three monsters left. Kyra landed in the middle of the nest, her shallow trajectory digging a furrow in the ground towards a harpy in the nest, she stopped her slide by digging her feet into the ground, the earth moulding around them, a spike shot up from the ground at her foot carrying the rest of her momentum in its point into the harpys face. Two monsters left. Lucy was dropped in the nest by Lechuza, making it seem like a mumma bird dropping off their chick. The chick in question started streaming runes down her arm and shot a magic missile, the blue missile flared on hitting the rune circle and burst into green discs that sliced into the other harpy in the nest, cutting great chunks off its torso, slicing its wings to ribbons, even though they obviously used magic to fly the wings seemed to need to be intact for it, she closed in to grapple with the monster. It didnt take long, she had knuckle dusters on that added magical damage to every hit, the monster was dead at her feet in a few blows. One monster left. All four Mitchells turned to see the last monster diving for the water. The contract was to destroy the nest which they had, the lone monster couldnt threaten any ships, but they liked to be thorough. Teddy threw a black hole grenade from his plummet towards the earth which stopped the monster from finishing its dive, the monster was then simultaneously hit by an earth boulder and a vanilla magic missile before the grenade exploded, making a huge explosion just above the water that caused a massive tower of water to shoot up. Zero monsters left. Teddy was still in free fall and was caught just above the ground by James and lowered them both smoothly to the floor, James arms returning to normal. They looked around and smiled, they dealt with the contract in the time it had taken Teddy to free fall from only a moderate height. They looked at the ship and saw the captain clasping his hands together above his head in a victory gesture at their efforts. Lucy got a lift back with Lechuza,Kyra blasted herself off the rock with an earth spike through the air and onto the ship that was now much closer, Teddy teleported onto the ship using his standard teleport. James took out a mana potion and downed it, he then dived off the rock, legs transforming into one giant flipper and he powerfully swam up to the ship and using powerful strokes blasted on board. He stood dripping wet on the deck. Did you enjoy your swim honey? Lucy asked with a a raised eyebrow. Well swimming is banned for guests on board so I figured were contractors now so Im allowed to swim? He replied. Contractors. At sea. Does that make us pirates? Teddy asked. The captain shook his head at the boys discussing the ins and outs of whether or not they classed as pirates now. Well done, that was fast and slick. Im impressed. He turned to James, I had to lower the defences for you to get back on board that way, theyre back up now so I wouldnt recommend trying anymore swimming. He winked and strolled off back to work. They felt the power in the ship spool up and James gulped feeling the gold rank power of the defences come back on. The rest of the journey went smoothly and they enjoyed the cruise lifestyle all the way to the rendezvous with the smaller boat to take them into Greenstone. They were met by two. The team hovered near the captain as he met the captains of the other two boats. He knew the family was were there and allowed it. Hail, Im expecting just the one boat for rendezvous. One of the captains, a short stocky man who was the regular ferry from the large ship into greenstone waters spoke up. No worries Bally, thisn here is just here to see if youve got any adventurers to help with a spot of bother up the coast. Aye, Ill take whatever youve got in a way, weve got mad problems up the way. Were a way a ways from the city way so the fishing is better as they stay away from all that wayward madness! The second captain babbled, like a drunken irish accent he enthusiastically engaged them. The captain had beckoned them into the conversation after the first boat captain had spoken up, while everyone looked baffled at the second captains turn of speech James jumped in. Is there a way we can help you? In a roundabout way we dont need to head straight back to the city way just yet, were a way a ways from home and dont mind coming your way to see if we can weigh in. He said copying the mans accent, turn of speech and enthusiasm. The second boat captains face brightened up at James while everyone else turned a groan towards him. Teddy spoke sense to the captain and got from him that they would be taken a good way down the coast and have to make their way back up to the city on foot which would take at least a week. They agreed and sent messages via the first boat captain to their contacts in Greenstone that they were going to be delayed. They said a warm farewell to the ship captain and he told them that he had to write a second report on their adventuring activities on his ship which would be headed in to the greenstone adventure society branch. They boarded the second boat, little more than a fishing boat with a few extra cabins. James seemed to have made a friend for life, the captain was taken with him and wouldnt leave him alone, Teddy was interested in the fishing and joined in with the crew. The girls sat at the back and Lucy pulled two cocktail glasses full of drink from her rune storage, because of their outworlder bodies and not having to breathe the fishing smell didnt bother them and they made some comfy chairs from piles of nets and carried on with their cruise experience. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. The boat was a slow fishing vessel so it took them a while to get back to the village it was from. Teddy had earned a basket of fish for his help with the crew, all normal rank crew they were amazed by his iron rank strength and his speed with his Swift essence in hauling in the lines and casting out. James on the other hand had cost them fish, when discussing his essences he had mentioned Koda and the captain had insisted on meeting him. He then was overjoyed to see how many fish he could feed the big bear. When they got near the village they could see why they had come actively looking for adventurers rather than wait for the society to post a notice for them. The village was in tatters, too many attacks had come for them to rebuild the defences and they were fighting a retreating battle. There were no monsters there now but they could tell the attacks had been too regular to deal with, the area needed a good cull to cut them back. Wouldnt be long till we needed to cut lines and make a ways up the way to the fortress town like. We got our ways and were stubborn to not give em up, but were not so stuck in our ways to see the ways are changing and we either need help or to move see. The captain said soberly. What kind of monsters have you been seeing? Anything out of the ordinary? Anything above iron rank? Teddy asked. They discussed the monsters, referencing the magic society monster records and double checking with the captain. It seemed there was nothing unusual, it had just been a while since the adventure society had sent anyone this way. No bother, well set up camp just outside the village and spend a few days clearing them out. The captain looked slightly wide eyed at that. We dont have many coins, not many ways to make em see, we sell some fish up the way but mostly we catch enough for us and keep to ourselves. Dont worry, the society will pay, theyll be grateful weve been this way, the fact you stay to yourselves is probably why youve slipped their notice. They were greeted warmly when they disembarked. The village was made of mud huts with leafy roofs, there were plenty of drying racks out for both fishing gear and drying fish. A big community hut was a unifying strong construction in the middle. It was reinforced, there was a solid roof and seemed to be where everything was happening. The captain was taking them towards it, Lucy, Kyra and James subtly let their familiars out and the owl, dog and bear disappeared into the jungle behind the village. Inside the hut was much darker and a little smoky from the big cook pot to one side. They were lead over to the village leader who was a wizened old woman, next to her was a young man who they sensed had at least two essences. She tapped her gnarled stick on the floor and he spoke. Well met adventurers, we are very happy to see you. I am Mallorn and this is Maven, she is the village leader and I am her hand. [And mouth by the looks of it.] James quipped. Even though he had said it on the interface Lucy nudged him in the ribs. It has been a long time since we had outsiders in the village and desperately need your help. Well met Mallorn, Maven. Teddy bowed slightly to the old crone and she smiled slightly and nodded her head. We are new adventurers but are confident in our abilities. The young are often bold. Plenty of young bold adventurers, less of the old and bold. The old crone rasped. They all waited to see if she would speak again but she went back to stirring the dry dirt with her stick. Do you have sick and injured? I have healing abilities Kyra asked. Yes we do. Mallorn answered and beckoned over a woman in a long homemade dress. Margery would you mind taking this lady to see to the infirmary please? Who has been coordinating your defences so far? We would like to get you back to a defensible position before we start clearing the nearby area. Teddy said. Old man Mason has been doing the defences for as long as anyone knows, we havent been able to send anyone out to mend anything due to the jungle being full of monsters. Thats no a problem at the moment, the jungle nearest the village is currently safe. How can you know? They come at all times. We dont have the numbers or experience to deal with them. Lucy had been riding backseat in Lechuzas vision and had seen the nearby area, Lucky and Koda couldnt communicate back to James and Kyra but they had planned it so they would be where Lechuza could see them to see what areas of jungle they had swept and what was safe so that she could relay it to the others. We know. Teddy said with a smile. Can we meet with Mason and anyone who would be willing to help repair the defences? It turns out that the whole village downed tools to help rebuild. It was a fairly high mud wall that ran around the semi circle of the village and met the floating ring of blocks that had a reinforced net that went all the way to the bed of the sea to keep out water monsters. After speaking to Mason James went to check the water side, he picked up a large boulder and strode into the water, easily sinking to check the perimeter. Once Kyra was done with the infirmary she made her way out to the wall. She had used her mana sparingly, only healing the most desperate cases and making the rest comfortable. On reaching the wall she began earth shaping, her instant earth wall power she used to reinforce the main wall, starting at one end and adding a section every time it came off cooldown. Earth spikes were added to the outside to keep monsters from climbing. They got a large section of the wall done before dark and they all met in the middle of the village. James was done with checking the underwater defences. Well youll be shocked to hear but the guys who spend all their time on the water know their stuff about water defences. Good to hear, well need you on some jungle clearing tomorrow dude, theres no point having a wall like that with the brush so close. Thankyou so much! Mallorn said coming over to them with plates of food. Even without killing any monsters youve already done so much for us! Oh I wouldnt say that. Lucy said. Plenty of monsters have been killed today, the work drew them in. Mallorn paled slightly. We didnt hear or see anything. Our familiars did the monster killing work today, speaking of which, my familiar didnt pitch in today, so Ill take the night shift. Teddy got up finishing his food and walked out. On his own?! What if he gets in trouble? Mallorn asked. Oh he wont be seen or heard unless he wants to be, which he wont. Kyra answered. Lucky bounded in, having spent the evening in the infirmary clearing it out as all the patients slowly felt better. He gambolled about getting fuss and tummy rubs off everyone. It was hard not to love the dog as he instantly made you feel better. They stayed and socialised with the villagers until it was time for sleep when they made their way out to a set of tents they had set up in a demolished house on the outskirts. In the morning they went to the main gate of the village in the wall to find Teddy sat on top meditating, spreading his aura senses out as far as he could. Ah good youre up, Mallorn good morning, nice to see everyone so ready to work again! Mr Mitchell Teddy please, it gets confusing with two of us. Teddy, thankyou, the wall seems to have put them off for now, we feel we may have called you in for nothing. Hmm maybe not. He mentally approved the looting notifications and the jungle erupted into rainbow smoke, some of the thickest they had seen as it streamed away. I had a busy night, it was fun. He turned away from Mallorn with his wide eyes and turned to the others. James, have you got anything good for chopping this lot down? He gestured at the thick jungle. Im going to start at the middle and work left, you go right. Lucy youre on burning detail, anything thats felled gets cleared. Kyra back on wall duty. Everyone happy? They set about beating back the thick jungle. Teddy used his dimension blade, running through the the jungle holding it low. The low mana required for cutting wood meant he could keep going for a long time. James changed his arm into a preying mantis style scythe and got into a mechanical rhythm cutting great swathes with each swing. When it timed out he would re-summon and go again. Lucy followed them, a rune circle at the end of her arm and bursts of scorching flame vaporising the fallen flora and fauna in bursts each time a missile hit the circle. They were clearing a space as wide as a football field from the wall. By the end of the day they all had mana headaches, trying not to use potions as they only had so many they were at the end of what they could do that day. Teddy had finished his side before James; having a lower mana cost for his cutting. He joined James on his side and helped until it was getting late. James had been curious and had downed a mana potion and used his newly enhanced wing sweep attack on the last chunk, feeding less mana into it than he did in the mirage chamber, there was no shockwave preceding it but the wing that came out was metalled and cut easily through the trees. He staggered a little in place but recovered quickly enough. They all met back in the village centre again, Kyra had finished reinforcing, spiking and terraforming the wall into a cohesive whole. It was the familiars who took the night shift, patrolling the dead ground they had cleared. The villagers provided an abundance of food for the adventurers, showering them in thanks, they even brought out some moonshine they had brewed in the village which was a little rough going down but just about got through their iron rank resistances. They went to bed in their tents, asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillows. The next morning there was a collection of monster bodies in the clearing, they were drawn to the new clearing so not a true representation of what was a typical night. Lucy drew out a sketch on a broad leaf big enough to cover the breakfast table, they split down the area into sectors, no two sectors got wide enough apart that their interface power would be out of range. Teddy was to take centre as the quickest to provide help if anyone got bogged down and Lucy took the other centre slot so she could coordinate. With the wall and the clearing complete the villagers went back to normal life. The adventurers went hunting, they split into their sectors and stayed out all day and night. They met Mallorn and Maven at the gate the next morning. The elderly lady had insisted and had the villagers bring food for travelling with them. It seems you already know we are done here. Teddy said. The muscle that goes unused will atrophy, you must keep using it to get stronger. She said. We cannot thankyou enough, we were ready to all move. Mallorn added. No thanks needed, its what were meant to do. Teddy pulled out the leaf map Lucy had drawn. We have cleared these areas. He pointed at the rings closest to the village. Were going to leave now using this route. He highlighted the outermost ring that ended at the rough track that made its way out from the village. When we hit the road well do our best to widen it slightly to the next village. You should keep better contacts with them and the outside world. If this was to happen again we wouldnt want your village swallowed by the jungle. Mallorn looked thoughtful. The ways he started. The ways always change, sometimes slowly, sometimes faster. They are only painful in change when we resist. Maven spoke. Mallorn nodded. Very well, do not worry too much about the path, we have the skills to widen and deepen it, the nearby village I think has been waiting for us to do just that. The Mitchells said their goodbyes to all in the village. The infirmary was empty. The wall was three times as strong as it have ever been and reinforced with spikes. The outside of the village was cut back so they could see anything approaching and no large trees to jump the wall. Steps lead up the wall and it was wide enough to walk so that villagers could arrange a watch to keep an eye out. The Mitchells didnt tell them how close they had been to being overrun, the amount of monsters they had dealt with showed a very severe lack of care from the adventure society they were going to have to ask about when they got back. Chapter 21 ‘No explosions.’ James was on the back of a huge monster. It was a real life game of bucking bronco, Teddy had lasted four minutes before being thrown off and trampled slightly, Kyra had healed him up in two shots. They were all cheering James on as he clung on as hard as he could. Teddy had stumbled on it by accident, the monster was a stealth expert, a mix of a chameleon and an armoured dinosaur complete with a boulder-like protrusion from the end of its tail. It had stood up when Teddy was on top of it and naturally seeing no danger the adventurer had made it a game. James was thrown off eventually, having lasted just longer than Teddy. How did you manage that? I have the swift essence! Its agility in a bottle, a cube, whatever. Animal instincts bro, I can sense its movements before it makes it. Wumph. James got sent flying into a tree, transforming his torso into a turtle shell just before he hit and tightening up his arms and legs as tight as he could. The creature had spun, using its tail to smack James flying and was now shambling away. Teddy stepped forward and Kyra put her hand on his arm. Do we have to kill it? That seems a little barbaric. You know we do K, Its docile now but what about in a few weeks when it goes mad and starts attacking the road nearby. The team were taking a meandering path back up the road that went in and out of the thick jungle and the coastal areas. Kyra nodded and Teddy moved towards the slow retreat of the monster that was the fastest it could manage. Kyra went to see that James was ok. Still with us you big oaf? Oww, I have a stick in my arm. He had a very large tree limb puncturing his upper right arm, they all knew if it had been Teddy then he would have been sufficiently dramatic and called it a tree through his arm. As he pulled it out Kyra hit him with a life bolt straight into the wound. The green light obscured the wound from everyone and as it dissipated new skin could be seen where the puncture had been all the way through. Looking back over to the monster they saw what looked like a semicircle of light over it. Like it was walking through a tunnel of light that was slowly ripping chunks of its hide off. Once the monster gave up trying to shamble away as slow as it was and slumped onto the floor Teddy stopped the light show. Walking away from the grievously wounded creature he muttered. The Reaper comes for us all but when you do not hold your hand out for him then he will still reach out with his. The words had the slight reverb that all spells did. Shadow hands burst from underneath the monster and with a flash of light they all recognised as transcendent damage the monster was dragged into its own shadow with nothing left. You have defeated [Bean-tailed Crispsaur] [Bean-tailed Cripsaur] has been wholly annihilated, it has been automatically looted. [Mace of Change] has been added to (Theodore Mitchells) Inventory. 1 [Monster core (iron)] have been added to (Theodore Mitchells) Inventory. 10 [Iron] spirit coins have been added to (Theodore Mitchells). Inventory. What were you doing to that monster? I need to push my less damage dealing abilities but still in a combat environment, I was using Winged Feet, Wraith Dash and my Thousand Cuts to use really low strength attacks to chain them as quick as I could. Followed by the creepy puppet show. James chipped in, walking back over, fully recovered but brushing wood chips out of his hair and beard. Teddy swiped the air and a small rift appeared, reaching in he pulled out a short mace, two foot long with the end looking like the end of the tail of the monster. Want another trip? Teddy joked, waving the short, boulder tipped mace at James. Just as the team were laughing at James putting his fists up in a comical boxing pose at Teddys offer they all sensed the surge of animalistic fear coming towards them. They settled into a formation to counter it. The two boys up front, spread wider with the two girls in the middle and behind. They would get shots off from between and Kyra could manipulate the battle space more with her earth shaping powers. Teddy summoned his dimensional blade and James pulled his vambraced right fist up, ready for whatever was coming. The creature was in full rage.. Just as they were about to attack it as it came out of the trees Kyra shouted. STOP! Dont attack! Just after she did a small child burst out of the trees and barrelled straight at Teddy, it attacked him with all the ferocity of a cat facing a bath, mindless survival. However, it also had the strength of a kitten that had just been bathed. Teddy scooped it up and held it out as Kyra ran forward, she cast her Life Aura spell on the child. Hes exhausted, malnourished, some minor infections. No telling how long hes been out here. Lost child? Teddy was struggling to restrain the child without letting go so James answered. I wouldnt think so, missing children should get found pretty quick, its an essence user world. Surely they wouldnt take long. Lu, any chance you could distract him? Lucy used two of her powers in quick succession. Forget. While the left hand waves the right makes the move. Her Kansas City shuffle power conjured small illusions to distract targets, they had found that when used on allies the effects were not unpleasant but still distracting illusions. Her Amnesia power made the target temporarily forget the last 30 seconds or so for a short duration, long enough for the child to forget the adventurers it had run into and focus on the illusion. Teddy put the child down and Kyra used the opportunity to hit the child with a life bolt, tip a vial of crystal wash over it and start inspecting it for injuries. Lucky was released, Kyras hair going from deep golden blonde to silky ashen blonde. He trotted forward happily and lay down in front of the child belly up. As the illusion finished the child saw a playful but calm dog in front of it and grabbed his head with both arms in a hug. What the hell is going on? James wondered out loud. Lucy was distracted, her eyes glazed as she was when she was sharing Lechuzas sight. She snapped to and looked to the others. Weve found a village east of here, looks pretty run down but there are people there. Theres something not right about them though, theyre moving funny and there are a lot of injuries. Teddy suddenly looked a little wary. Ruined village, crazy abandoned child, lots of injured adults in a slow shuffle I assume? Anyone else getting an I am Legend vibe from this? Zombies? James asked in surprise. That would suck. Lets all move up on the village and see what we can find, What do we do with the child? Teddy asked. They all looked at the child who seemed to have gone slightly catatonic, stroking Lucky in stunned silence. I think hell be ok here with Lucky, if theres lots of injuries in the village I think I should be there to see if I can help. Lucy, could you leave Lechuza here to let us know if anything changes? James if you could leave Koda somewhere nearby incase they need backup? They moved off into the jungle towards the village. They found a slight rise and started crawling up on their fronts so they could peek over. They could see a small mud hut village, it was approaching twilight and they noticed that no lamps had been lit with the creeping darkness. The only light source was the embers of a burnt out hut that must be at least a day old. Around the huts shuffled the unfortunate population. They shambled in an awkward gait, drunkenly stumbling around each other. They made odd snapping movements with their teeth at each other when they bumped into other people, buildings or heard anything in the jungle. The four Mitchells were in a row on the rise looking down. [So definitely zombies then.] Teddy said on the group chat. [Looks like, seems like the whole damn village. Seems to make sense this is what the kid was running from. Kyra, can you get any more out of this?] James was staring down with angry eyes. They knew what he wanted, a way for Kyra to be able to heal everyone in the village. They knew the stories though. These things were put down hard by the adventure society, stopping the infestation and clearing the area before it can go any further. The likelihood of it being reversible was slim to none. [I can try, if we can we get one by itself to see if I can diagnose whats wrong with it.] [Them. Get one of them by themselves to see whats wrong with them.] James corrected. Even though conversation was silent on the group interface Teddy turned to look at where James was lying. He could tell that his brother was desperate to fix the situation but he knew Kyra was almost certain there was nothing she could do, dehumanising the villagers was a coping mechanism for what they had to do next. [I can try teleport one here, it wont be harmed. Bring it down the bottom of the hill, I imagine itll shamble straight though.] James met Teddys eye as he was still looking at him. They knew each other well enough that they both knew, that Teddy knew, what James was struggling with and Teddy was backing his wife, not to be against his brother but they both knew what was happening and James didnt want to admit it. Teddy looked over the village, trying to find a villager who was walking straighter than the others, he tore a rift that was a silent shimmer in the air. Its destination appeared just inside a hut that they knew was empty, the villagers all still having a normal rank aura with a corrupted taint. He had chosen his moment when the villager was most isolated, he silently ghost sprinted up behind it, when they were a hairs breadth away from each other he dug deep into his mana and used his newly bronze ranked teleport. Teleport Ability: [Teleport] (Dimension) Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Special ability (teleport, dimension) Base cost: High mana Cool-down: Varies with distance travelled. Current rank: bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Teleport self over a moderate distance, increasing with minor threshold advancement. Effect (bronze): Teleport over a wider distance. For a significant mana increase can teleport a target over the iron rank distance with the caster. He had been working on the teleport in the jungle as much as he could, using short burst mixed with his rift portal anytime it came off cooldown had pushed it over the edge to bronze rank. The bronze rank power effectively emptied the tank to bring the man. It was sad that it didnt even notice what had happened to it and that it wandered off, shuffling as if nothing had happened. Whilst Lucy kept an eye on the village James and Kyra turned to look at the villager. Teddy by this point had zipped away. The villager was very malnourished. His eyes, nose and mouth had yellow gunk around them and his eyes were cloudy. His clothes were tattered and hanging off him. Kyra used the same spell she had used on the child, the Life Aura spell wasnt to do with her aura but the aura of the target, giving her a detailed run down of the condition of the target, it also imbued a mild healing effect for a short while. They watched in horror after the spell hit as the man started rapidly deteriorating in front of heir eyes. Patches of skin seemed to dissolve into dust that was carried away on the breeze. One ankle seemed to crumble in its boot and it caused the villager to fall over, its arm raising as it fell forward. The hand to the elbow crumbled away and it hit the floor hard. The effect didnt last long and the villager started crawling around, mostly in a circle. Kyra put a hand on James shoulder in commiseration. [Even before we saw what life energy did to him the read back came through as a negative, there is nothing alive in that body.] One of the tell-tale signs of whether or not this type of infection was treatable was its reaction to life energy. Such a strong reaction meant that it was far too late to try anything else other than extermination. Teddy finished it by creating a wide dimensional sword that annihilated every last scrap of the man in three swift strokes. The whole process had been silent and when they rejoined Lucy lying on the rise facing the village nothing had been noticed. [So its extermination rather than saving now. The next question is Max Brooks or 28 days later?] James wasnt letting his feelings get in the way and was ready to do his job. So, we are ready to push on now no? You have made your investigations and have made a conclusion we must cleanse this place to allow the villagers to rest? A strangers voice said. All four Mitchells peered to their right. Lying on the rise next to Teddy was a man looking down into the village with them. He wore dark greens and browns with long tassels and multiple bag pouches on cords. He had painted his skin in natural, mottled colours in perfect camouflage. None of the adventurers had sensed him arrive and he looked perfectly at ease lying next to them as if he had always been with them. Their internal chat exploded with a message from everyone. [Well shit, where did he come from?] [Who the hell is this?] [Anyone sense him?] [Random dude!] It took a moment for Teddy who was closest to remember to talk out loud. Who the hell are you and what are you doing here? He whispered in a low voice, trusting that the man was an essence user he spoke quiet enough that normal ears wouldnt pick it up but iron rank essence users would. I, Im, I am the man stuttered, apparently taken aback by the question. I have a name. I have not used it in so long I do not remember it! He seemed to find his lack of recall very funny and started looking over his arms and hands. Who is a man who cannot remember his own name, what is a man who finds this unimportant to remember? [Crazy alert, be careful guys.] Lucy added to the chat. I suppose you should call me Green, for that is what I am. The man said, looking at his forearms stained green. So much words, I have not used so many in so long, it is exhausting, and repetitive, we are to the village? To send the good people to their final rest? [I did an astral projection sweep of the area, unless theres more that are as good at hiding as he is then he is alone. The kid is fine by the way, Lucky is getting lots of attention. The villagers are all sticking to the main streets of the town, a few outliers but they seem to make their way back to the middle.] [One of our main concerns is the infection itself, we need to make sure that it doesnt spread, especially not on us. My Clean Living power isnt guaranteed to keep us safe, so its easier to avoid it in the first place, no direct contact with the infected. The flesh needs to be completely eradicated, the disease will live on in any tissue remaining. No explosions.] She looked at Teddy to reinforce this point. [Dimension blade worked well, your rift and execute power will be ideal, Lucy itll be flamethrower time for you, James I think youll have to be ranged attacks and running interference, I dont trust transmuted parts to attack them, theres a chance you can still get infected.] [Ok so we need to involve this other guy, how do we coordinate with him?] James asked. [Lucy, youre our main coord for team tactics, can you form a telepathic connection with him and then relay onto this group?] Teddy asked. Lucy took a beat before answering, unusual for the conversations that happened at the speed of thought. [Ive got him, hes incredibly quiet, telepathy isnt mind reading but the few people Ive tried it with have very busy conversations when its in their heads, this guy is extremely concise and focussed. I dont think hes crazy, just not been around people in a long time.] Teddy took a knee looking over them all. [Good, right, lets split this down, Im going to be the biggest damage dealer here as its the most definitive damage, Lucy has the best mop up so if we can corral the targets into the centre and immobilise them then theyll be easier to clear. James can you do some baiting? Something thatll grab their attention, my teleport is off cooldown now, if theyre more 28 Days Later than shufflers when roused and you start to struggle then Ill come get you. Lucy can you ask where our new friends powers lie?] [Ok a conversation with him is like trying to hold a bag of snakes, cant get a decent grip on it. He says he is the jungle? He cant be more specific than that apparently, I guess that puts him more in line with James power set than yours, no big flashy explosions from him.] [Try and coordinate him and James to lure them into the centre, Ill cut off any stragglers, Kyra you do overwatch from up here and overall coord. Keep an eye on the interface to see if anyone has an infection notification. James, you kick us off.] James curled up into the foetal position where he lay and his body shifted. His arms and legs shrunk and slimmed before paws emerged. His clothes looked like they vacuumed onto his body then grew thick black hair. His head extended from the nose forming a long snout with huge teeth. The giant dog gave a sudden twist and was on its feet. The monstrous black dog was something from a nightmare, its shoulders were the height of Teddys chest when standing, pitch black fur that was long and straight, paws the size of dustbin lids with long claws, large ears stood straight up and locked on like radar dishes. Its eyes were somehow even darker than the fur and terrifying in the fact they had human intelligence behind them, they were sat over a long muzzle that was filled with huge white teeth that were a stark contrast to the dark creature. It stood looking, panting at the row of Mitchells. James could completely transform his body once a day into an animal, it was a transport power they were hoping would give them a conjured vehicle but turned out to be a very versatile personal travel power. He gave a small chuffing bark and ran down the hill to the village, as he got past the first few houses he started barking loudly. Most of the zombies in the village all slowly turned, orientating towards the noise. Their pace didnt change and they started shuffling with purpose towards the noise. [Slow shufflers, thank the god of small mercies.] James said, still able to use the interface in his transformed state. Green looked delighted, he shuddered and started to transform, instead of the neat animal form that James took he changed into a lanky almost hairless creature, long arms and legs which he used to run on all fours, his jaws extended and ears grew. He bounded down the hill to join James in the game of being chased, snarling and yapping instead of the deep bark. They worked together like sheep dogs, corralling the zombies. Part of the difficulty was that they had to work out how to move the entire mass of a hundred or so villagers, if they worked one side then it pulled them all, if they wanted to move a single zombie then they had to work out how it affected the rest. As they were doing their part Teddy helped, if a single zombie wasnt playing ball and making life difficult for the baiters then he would make a small rift at head height, he would then dash in and clean up the body with his dimension blade. On one of his attacks in an uncharacteristic mistake he sidestepped at speed into a sharp plough leaning up against a wall to avoid running into a zombie that had popped round a corner, normally he wouldnt bother avoiding targets, the speed doing more damage to an enemy than it would to him but he remembered at the last moment that the infection spread by touch. He suddenly had a gash from shoulder to elbow. Kyra had been keeping an eye on the team status on the interface and instinctively threw out a life bolt at Teddy. Also uncharacteristically, she missed. The life bolt shot past Teddy and hit the zombie in the chest. It appeared to melt a hole straight through, like a cannonball had shot straight through. The life energy was so destructive to it that it met almost no resistance. Comically the life bolt splashed against the hut wall behind and didnt effect it. [Change of plan, Kyra is the big damage dealer! Im right in thinking those life bolts are low mana right? Get down here and join me in the clean up.] Kyra joined Teddy in taking out the outliers. Her life bolts took big chunks out of the zombies then she afflicted them with Life Aura when there was just a small amount left to burn away. After a while there was a stampeding mess of ex-villagers in the centre square of town. James was bounding around, hitting the walls of the surrounding buildings to collapse them inwards. The zombies didnt have the intelligence to climb the rubble so it effectively trapped them. Lucy hadnt been attacking the villagers, shed been busy setting up a ritual circle in the centre of town, using a combination of chalk, Rune Lore, spirit coins and mana lamps she had set a grand ritual taking up most of the village square. When they were completely corralled and couldnt get away she got the final piece and activated it. The lines flared, the coins sunk into the floor like it was lava and the mana lamps glowed. The ritual was a very complicated ritual of grand healing. Expensive and tricky to get right it was seldom used at their level. This was the perfect time to try it as there was no one relying on it to work, getting it wrong when a patient was involved could cause more harm than good. The zombies caught on the ritual circle started to melt into it like the coins had, their flesh was disintegrating and wafting away where the light hit it. The mana lamps dimmed and went out when most of the villagers were little more than chest, head and stumps of arms. With the grand ritual being so expensive Lucy switched to a flamethrower variant of her magic missile. Between Lucy, Teddy and Kyra they magically stomped out the rest of the zombies. Green and James went into the nearby jungle to try and bait out any that might have got away from the village, any breach in containment could cause another outbreak. They all met in the centre and Lucy went to pick up the child and the familiars. I have not had a people in a long time. But there was a woman here who understood me. Green was staring at the empty space where they had herded the villagers. His eyes were distant and he reflexively opened and closed his hands. We were not together but she wanted a child to raise and I was who she wanted. She held me to no obligation but I kept coming back to see them. I did not see her here which gives me hope they may not have been here. If you had been here a few times did you know if there were any adventurers? We found a few with adventurer gear and some local badges. Teddy asked, not knowing what to reply and trying to distract the man from his obvious pain. No. There were no adventurers here, some villagers had essences, most were found when out in the jungle by chance. No one in the village really had any ties to the society. How about you? Are you an adventurer? Kyra asked. I know the society exists but I am not with them. He answered slightly cagily. Before they had the chance to pull that thread Lucy turned up with the kid and the familiars. As soon as the child saw Green he ran towards the man and leapt into his arms. Green looked shocked, overwhelmed by emotion they could all feel on his aura it was so strong. [Whats going on? This kid knows Green? He said he only came in the village to see that woman and] Communicating at the speed of thought Teddy had caught up with his own chain of thinking. The child was evidently the mans son. The waves of emotion and the look on his face was of desperate joy at seeing the child alive and deepest regret at seeing him but not the mother. This all but cemented her fate with the village. There had been too many for him to have checked every shuffling zombie and their method of disposal was so complete there was no trace of the population. The team had been very thorough, every man woman and child was beyond saving and the heartbreak of disposing of any and all in front of them was worth more than letting it happen to another village. What they had done today would stay with them forever. Leaving Green and his child to their reunion in the ruins of the town Lucy waved the others over. [Seems that Lucky might be useful in clearing the rest of the village. I noticed something on the way in.] She waved him on and he trotted around the square and tiny flashes of fires appeared around him. The dead flesh was reacting to the life aura that Lucky produced to heal in an area around him. They didnt know how strong it would have been against a whole intact zombie but it was easily burning the scraps that were left, any scrap may be enough to cause it to spread again if someone came by the village too soon before they could get the magic society to come and do a thorough specialist magical clean. Kyra set him to task sweeping the village street by street as they checked every building for any sign of the infection or what caused it. Kyra was constantly monitoring all of them to ensure they were not affected by the affliction. Once they were content the village and surrounding jungle was as scrubbed as they could make it they headed back to the centre to find Mr Green and child and were surprised to see that they had vanished. Chapter 22 ‘Be your dirty shame’ The team were waiting on the chairs outside the directors office in the Greenstone adventure society. They had been waiting for a few hours, multiple other adventurers had come and sat next to them to them to supposedly wait for an audience with the director before being firmly told that the director was going to be busy for the rest of the day. The same secretary that pushed everyone else away told the Mitchells that it shouldnt be much longer. She had said this five times so far. Everyone who had come in had looked at the team in curiosity, there were card games in this world but they had these cards custom made to play earth games. Currently playing a game of chase the ace they each had a different type of quintessence in front of them they were using as counters. Lucy was winning having not lost any while James was on his one last shot of charity having lost all his. [I swear she must be cheating, were never playing poker, you have too many advantages. You must be using your astral projection to look at my cards.] [Oh cut your whining you big baby, its a card game, its luck based, thats why theres all those sayings about playing the hand youre dealt.] She then placed her last card to show she had won that hand with a smug smile. James was grumpy as he lost and was now completely out the game. As Teddy shuffled the cards for the next hand without him James got up and paced. [So I get why it might take a while but this is getting a little ridiculous. So we did a few things, completed a few contracts we didnt know existed. They have to be careful about newly appointed adventurers wiping out entire villages but we brought back adventurer badges that they sent out there! Whats taking them so long?] When they had returned to the city they had reported straight away to the adventure society campus. The usual drill for adventurers was to go to the jobs hall, select a contract, have it signed by the clerk as in progress, kill whatever monster or deal with whatever situation someone had taken a contract over, then return the contract to the clerk and get paid. When the Mitchells got back to the city they went to the jobs hall and found all the contracts they had inadvertently completed along the way home, including what turned out to be a number of two star contracts and one three star contract. Even though the team got dispensation to carry out a two star contract from the society in Vitesse it was a one-off and they had been warned not to let it go to their heads. They had then found the clerk had a report from the ships captain and a report from Mr Roberts at the mirage stadium in Vitesse. There was also a hefty stack of village notice board contracts that the team had amassed on the road for over a week on their way back from the zombie village. The paperwork almost stacking as high as the clerks head as he sat at his desk. The clerks eyes went wide when he saw they had brought back four adventurer badges and no bodies. As soon as the clerk saw all this paperwork and the complications it involved he had called a functionary to conduct a review. Reviews were fairly commonplace, usually for contracts that turned out to be more than they appeared. It involved Teddy having to write a very comprehensive report which the functionary could hardly believe. It had started first thing in the morning, the functionary was done with them just before lunch and they had been waiting in the conference room they had been working in. After they had refreshed themselves from food in their inventories a magic society researcher had arrived to ask James about his vambrace having read the report already. An hour or so later the rest of the team were asked to also write reports. Starting to worry about all the attention now the team were getting antsy. It didnt help when four functionaries arrived to comb over the reports with the adventurers. It was now nearly evening and the team had been moved to just outside the directors office and settled in for a long wait. They had been treated very politely and professionally, given refreshments and apologies for the wait. Finally the doors opened and Vincent Trenslow was standing there as the deputy director to let them into the office. He had pushed both doors open then crossed his arms and looked at the team. Gods He exclaimed, Outworlders. Come on then, lets start. He beckoned them in and Kyra put the cards into her inventory. The team got up and filed into the office. It was very large as befitted the director. As they entered there was a sofa area on their left big enough for almost a dozen people, a long table on their right was for big meetings in privacy and at the far end in front of them they saw a large wooden desk with green stone embellishments with the director Genevieve Picot sat behind it signing bits of paperwork. Come in, come in. Lets get started. She rose from her desk walking around to meet them halfway, she was walking towards the long table before she changed her mind and made for the sofas. Its been a long day, lets sit in comfort, were going to be here a while. [lets start?! Were going to be here a while?! Does she not know weve been here all day?] Kyra complained on the interface. [At least sofas mean were not in trouble I guess.] James said. Out of all four on the team he was most impatient to be away. They all sat down on the sofas, the four Mitchells, the director and deputy director and three functionaries with stacks of paperwork, notebooks and clipboards. Lets start with the news that we are not going to punish you. Punish us for what?! James exclaimed. The deputy director looked down her nose at his mild outburst. Mr Mitchell, this will go a lot easier if you talk less and listen more. We are not punishing you, for completing contracts above your rank. The dispensation from Vitesse absolves you for your ship-bourne contract, the two star and three star contracts you completed were done in ignorance of the fact they were contracts at all. It has been deemed that your performance over the last few weeks has been exemplary and the complication has been in how to reward you. The notice board contracts are easy enough and you will be compensated in the usual way along with the contracts you picked up from the jobs hall retrospectively. The difficulty is how to reward you for the return of the badges, your performance at the coastal village, the two star and three star contracts and the jungle village. The return of the badges required the clerks to confirm which contracts those adventurers had taken, the first had been the trigger for a series of the adventurers heading out to the jungle one after each other, culminating in the three star contract you inadvertently completed by recovering the badges and solving the mystery of why they had gone missing in the jungle. The original contract was for a two star adventurer due to its isolated nature, another two star contract was to establish contact with the villages beyond that point that no one had heard from in a long while, we now know that it was due to the infection why no one was getting through. You will be happy to know the magic society has deployed en-mass to the contaminated village to conduct a thorough examination and decontamination. Vincent took up the explanation while the director poured herself a drink, adding a small amount of liquor from a cabinet in the corner. We cannot be seen to reward adventurers for completing contracts above their rank, it is a matter of perspective, word will get around that you are a one star team and completed contracts and still got the rewards. It would invite others to try the same. The solution we have found is to coordinate with Vitesse adventure society in making up your rank to what it needs to be. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The Mitchells all looked at each other in surprise, none of them had speculated this outcome. [Does this mean what I think it does?] Teddy said on the group chat [Are we getting retrospectively promoted?] It is going to appear that you were all made two star adventurers in Vitesse, with the exception of you Theodore. Although you made it clear that none of you claim the team leader role as a quirk of your particular team dynamic this does not fit the general trend of team make-up and due to the reports that came back about the team you were labelled team leader, as such it is going to be made to look that you were two stars before you left for Vitesse, the paperwork has already been backdated to show this. As such you were promoted to three stars in Vitesse. The team were shocked. As brand new adventurers they were looking forward to getting promoted at some point but they had known they were going to have to work hard for it. Not only had their newest member barely an adventurer a month was now two stars already but Teddy was the highest star he could get for iron rank. This should solve the problem that we highlighted although it will bring attention to you as a team being promoted so quickly, my advice is that you keep your heads down and be humble about it. Vincent motioned to the functionaries who handed them their badges, freshly minted with additional stars. Genevieve put her cup down and pulled a sheet of numbers from a stack to look over. You will be handsomely paid for all of your contracts completed as usual, as we understand you all have all of your powers awakened and have no need for a reward in the form of stones. Instead we think we have a suitable reward for the admirable work you have done, a favour that is owed to the branch we have been holding onto, a reclusive inventor called the Craftsman owes us a specialist vehicle. We havent used him before and he is deep in the desert almost all the way to the next adventure society. Some of his inventions got carried away and had to be put down before they caused too much damage. But we have been assured his work is mostly reliable. She handed the paper to Teddy to look over. [Isnt it a little bit rubbish? We did a lot of work, not trying to big it up but we saved half a dozen villages and cleared up a huge mess. I think we should get something a bit more.] James complained. Teddy raised an eyebrow at James then handed him the paperwork, he looked it over, it was the list of the loot they were being rewarded with for all the regular contracts they had completed. [I take it back. Wow.] They hadnt realised quite how much they were making from the amount of work they had done. There was a considerable amount of coins and quintessence on the paper, more than theyd all had before they went to Vitesse. You can collect your rewards tomorrow morning along with a letter to take to the craftsman. Im sorry it took so long to sort out but you are now free to go home and relax. It had been a long day to finish on such a short meeting but the team recognised that there must have been a lot of work behind the scenes, they got the feeling that the director was glad to see the back of this. thankyou director Teddy said, standing with the team. Everyone understood that there were consequences for what had happened today. The team needed to go away and talk about what had happened. The pay is very generous and were happy to have helped so much. Kyra added, emphasising the fact that the team had done it out of the desire to do good work rather than for the pay. They filed out the room headed out of the campus. On the way home they stopped in the Schooner for beers and decent food. They got a corner table that faced the entrance and the barman brought them two beers and the girls favourite cocktails without being asked, they made pleasantries but the bar was busy so they couldnt catch up, it was nice to know they had been missed in their weeks away and they had the chef making them a round of the new club sandwiches. [Anyone else confused why that got so complicated? I thought the job was to go out and do good then come back get paid?] James said after a swig. [I think the society is playing a game on the line with the aristocracy again. They also have to save face with other branches. Were not normal adventurers, not a normal team, not doing normal new adventurer/team things. The direct reflection on the academy is very good but for the society branch it looks a little like theyve lost control.] Lucy answered. As usual, normally good at cutting to the heart of the problem with her clarity powers. They chatted about it for a while but they all agreed they wouldnt have done anything any different, the area had been so long without help due to the infestation that they had to help to the extent they did. They realised that for local adventurers the four badges they had picked up none of them had Remore ribbons. The food came and was delightful, the pub always had the best sandwiches and they all had another round of drinks. Some time later they felt two familiar auras approach and enter the bar. They had seen Rashid and Vincent together at the academy and knew they were friends but the purpose of their visit to the bar became apparent as they gazed around the room until they saw the team in the corner and made their way over. Hello you lot. Vincent said. Mind if we join you? He and Rashid grabbed chairs and sat with their backs to the rest of the room. We were hoping to find you at your villa for a private chat, we need to discuss a few things from today. Rashid said. Kyra look at the bar and made eye contact with the barman. She pointed at her ear and made a cutting motion with her hand in front of her neck. The barman nodded and gave a thumbs up. A mirror appeared in Kyras hand and a small button appeared on the middle of the table. She pressed it and a transparent shimmering bubble appeared around all the occupants of the table. Privacy bubble I picked up in Vitesse, apparently theyre popular in high society places. Very fancy Mrs M, different kind of high society to Greenstone and itll work nicely. Howre you all feeling after that today? Rashid said. Tired, confused, its a lot of thinking. James said. Lucy have him an exasperated look. And none of us are happy that Teddy is the leader Me least of all! I dont want responsibility for you lot! Teddy said, Kyra gave him a pouty face and he rolled his eyes at her. Well yes of course Im responsible for you, Im contractually obliged to be. Rashid raised an eyebrow at him. Well I married her. Thats kind of a contract. Vincent was holding his head in both hands. Damn outworlders. But be serious for a minute, we need to make sure you understand what is going on. That whole region has been a blind spot to the society. We noticed. Lucy interjected. Vincent scowled. We werent happy about it. The local politics have got much better to deal with but theyre still there. When the first adventurer went missing it was a member of the Whipparrel family that went to see what happened. Very influential amongst the families and a staunch opposer to the academy. They insisted that only a non-Remore adventurer go and recover the body. The new director isnt in the habit of being told what to do by the families anymore but theres a realistic amount we can get by without keeping everyone happy. The family appointed another family opposed to the annex to recover their son. Unofficially of course. That choice didnt go well. Now the society office is bombarded with accusations that we set them up to fail. We pushed the contract to three stars and they snapped it up with their only three star scion and thats four badges. We were in negotiations what to do about it and a meeting was set for tomorrow but obviously itll be a different kind of meeting now. Thats partly why were here. We wanted to bring you up to speed but the academy annex recognises that you are stuck in the middle of something that is not your problem. I have a portal power and we would like to offer you the chance for a trip to the Craftsman. Rashid said. A trip that would start immediately I guess if this meeting is tomorrow? Teddy asked, obviously slightly annoyed. Rashid and Vincent shuffled awkwardly and looked at each other. We could probably wait and go early tomorrow morning. Rashid said. The Mitchells all agreed on the interface it was for the best. All right, well be your dirty shame and sneak out the window before we get caught. Lucy said. The two men winced. We really wished we didnt have to do this. You should be able to shout about what youve done! It was pure adventuring. No contracts, just getting out there and righting wrongs. Killing monsters. Exactly what we at the academy annex wanted to teach you to do. I mean the money is really nice though James said and Lucy punched him on the arm for being a jerk. Speaking of, we made a tonne of money, lets drink, you guys are staying and drinking. Rashid you can crash at the villa, when youre sober enough to send us to the right place well go. Chapter 23 ‘Servitor’s Provision’ The team sort of woke up around the garden, they didnt wake up so much as sober up. Being adventurers their poison resistance naturally worked off the booze from their casual drinking. They were sleepily playing a version of horseshoes in the garden with a set made of earth so solid it felt like stone that Kyra had made. Lechuza swept down and landed gently in front of Lucy. [Ms Lucy, there are high society carriages coming down the access road.] This early?! Lucy exclaimed, looking at the rising sun. RASHID!! Time to go. Everyone came running into the garden and Rashid flapped his hands in annoyance. Eurgh, Im coming with you, I cant deal with the snobbery right now. He waved a hand at a nearby trellis that had some rose-like flowers climbing it. The top suddenly burst with a waterfall sheeting down, the flowers hidden by the torrent. Everyone through, dont worry you wont get wet. The team shuffled through as quick as they could while they were so sleepy. Teddy was the last one through and just before he dashed in he saw Gerald was up and about as he always was at first light. Gerald! You never saw us and youve no idea where we are! The loyal housekeeper looked around the garden at the remains of their impromptu party and the earth shaping Kyra had done until she got the horseshoes game just right, broken earth chunks and earth spikes all over the place. Aye sir, Im beginning to wish that was the case. He stuck two fingers up at Teddy with a smile. They had taught him what the swear gesture meant from Earth and Teddy smiled and returned it before ducking through the waterfall. Teddy stepped through, as outworlders they had the benefit of not feeling dimension effects, the only reason they knew what it felt like was because Teddy had used his Dimensional Instability power on them in the mirage chamber which made the target feel awful. So when he appeared on the other side he didnt expect to feel anything, much like his own teleport. However when he did arrive he felt incredibly wet. Looking behind him in surprise he saw the waterfall sheeting off the side of a large rock and the water soaking into the sand. Ahead of him the rest of his team were standing with their arms out also investigating why they were so wet. Rashid stood completely dry looking completely unashamed, he waved after Teddy came through and the waterfall cut off, the last of it falling to the rocky floor in a sheet. Ive found that people are more reticent to go through if they know theyre going to need a change of clothes on the other side. A string of runes streamed from Lucys eyes and wrapped around her arm before they swirled to the floor and spread out like a whirlpool. As they settled she beckoned everyone onto the large pattern and she took a deep breath and fed mana into the ritual. Dry desert air started being sucked from the edge to the centre of the circle then spiralling up, heating as it did, the team were dry within a minute of being on the pattern. I knew I married you for a reason. Youre a useful woman to have around! Hopefully you love me for more than my magic powers you big dummy. She knocked James playfully on the shoulder. They looked around the landscape they were in. It felt like they had landed on Tatooine, the dry desert was sand and rock as far as the eye could see except for one settlement a short walk away. Teleportation powers worked by memorising a distinctive location and you couldnt teleport to a random spurious location. My water essence teleportation is based on anchoring my teleport to somewhere, I came across some difficulty last time I was here by using a wall in town but the local children got very excited by the amount of water and started running into it, unfortunately the other side was quite deep underwater and I had some very angry parents whilst we tried to count children back out of the portal and pump some water out of them. Hence finding this outcropping out here and being slightly remote from the town. The others looked at the heat haze between them and town, as their bodies had changed when they became iron rank they could cope with extremes in temperature much better, between the desert climate and their burgeoning hangovers they werent looking forward to the walk into town. and Im not terribly welcome there, or its just awkward so he turned around and looked at the completely empty desert behind him. The Craftsman is actually out this way. The sand was blistering as they walked, whipping at their faces, theyd all taken a stamina potion to top them up after the nights activities and set off. Teddy slipped the pale gold sand quintessence in the back of his boots. The boots changed colour depending what environment he was in, currently they were a mix of dark brown leather with lighter brown panels. As he put the quintessence in the back of the top of the boots he lifted each foot in turn, as he put them back down they rested on the sand without sinking in. They were one of his best investments from Gilbert Bertinelli who brought a trade stall to the academy annex every few weeks to sell modestly priced gear to the new adventurers through a mix of coins and adding to their bill to the annex. The annex themselves monitored how much he was selling to ensure he wasnt taking advantage of the young want-to-be adventurers as he was one of the only retailers allowed on campus. Teddy had to get the chief instructors approval to commission the boots as they were a premium product that attracted a premium cost. Gilbert had not been happy that he had to sub-contract to his brother Filbert for the leather work. James took his boots off, two spaniel sized scorpions nearby shook the sand off themselves where they had been lying hiding in the sand and scuttled over to him, Teddy took several quick steps back from them swearing, they hooked a boot each with their stingers and scuttled off round a nearby rock and out of sight. James then lifted his feet one at a time and transformed them into wide camels feet. Kyra had been working on her Terraform power, the more she did the more powerful and refined it became. As she stepped the sand seemed to contract just before her foot hit the ground and made a firm circle, as she stepped off it relaxed and melted back to normal sand. Lucy opened a rune circle and pulled out what looked like a short pair of skis and tied them onto her boots. With her Magical Artisan power she had the ability to use magical tools, she had picked up the sand skis for a relatively cheap price as they were secondhand and part of the magic had worn off or broken. Instead of skiing through the level sand like downhill skiing she could only comfortably walk. Rashid looked over the group and their eclectic methods of traversing over the sand and shook his head. Im sure we cant take all the credit for your effectiveness but before the Greenstone academy annex Ive seen seasoned teams less prepared for desert travel than you lot. They set off, the silver rank instructor trudging through the sand, the difference in silver rank stamina and fortitude meant that he could trudge almost indefinitely through the loose sand and the blazing sun didnt bother him. After walking for around an hour the iron rank team starting feeling the effects of the sun, all their stamina bars were gradually reducing and they stopped to suck down a stamina potion each. As she was walking Lucy was nose down in a book looking over notes and making notes in a second book. As they stopped she started double checking her figures. You guys happy if I try making this a little more habitable? When everyone had shrugged she took that as a yes to experiment. She started making runes stream from her eyes but instead of heading to the floor they floated up about their heads. The green runes took a cloudy, fluffy quality and real rain started gently falling from them. She started walking in the direction they had been going and the circle followed her, the iron rankers clustered under it and enjoyed the cooling drizzle. It made quite a sight having an alien looking cloud in the middle of the desert. A dark trail of wet sand marked their progress. Theyd been walking for around thirty minutes with the cloud before things started going wrong. Lucy was having to take mana potions and then feeding mana into the circle. After a while the clouds had a dark ripple go through them and a loud crack. A huge green lighting bolt shot down towards the group. It raced towards James right arm where the vambrace was, the largest piece of metal in the group. It floored the big man and he lay twitching and slightly smoking. Kyra was there straight away, hit him with a life bolt reflexively then checking him over. Lucy waved her hands above her and scattering the cloud runes as soon as she stopped pumping mana into them. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Hes fine, just stunned, that was a magic reinforced lightning bolt, a normal bolt would hurt and maybe kill a normal person. This could probably be categorised as a bronze rank attack with how much mana you pumped into it Lu. Hes going to be fine just needs a rest. She hit him with a Life Charge, potent healing spell with a long cool-down. They all watched his flashing red mannequin on the interface become less severe and edge from solid red to solid orange. A symbol appeared next to it showing the ongoing healing buff that was a part of the bronze rank effect of her healing spell. I dont understand what I got wrong there. Lucy was pouring over her notes after checking James was ok, guilt written all over her face. There shouldnt have been a static discharge like that, I double checked the maths! She started writing a column of numbers next to the first, eyes going wide as she absently scribbled out the first column with shock on her face. Teddy put a hand on her shoulder. Its not your fault Lu, it was an accident. Were still new to all this. James sat up with a groan. He took off the vambrace and checked over his arm, it was hanging limp like hed been asleep on it all night. Well damn, that stings. He turned over the vambrace and saw a spiderweb lighting pattern markedon the small section that protected the back of his upper arm above the elbow joint where he had been hit. And left a mark. He muttered. Lu had thrown herself to her knees at the sand in front of him. Now he was sat up she was looking at him in concern. No marks on you though. Kyra said. Thats the important thing. You got hit pretty hard but youll recover shortly. Shortly but not instantly right? Weve got visitors, lots of visitors. Rashid said. His silver rank senses picking up the incoming monsters. The desert monsters were sporadic and in the middle of nowhere like this they normally migrated to nearby settlements for food and prey. The large discharge of magic had attracted all the monsters in a nearby area. [Kyra, everyone, go for stacks, James youre at the top no arguing.] The team were equals, the relationships they had with each other outside of combat relied on it. But they understood their roles, only one person could make the plays. One person to be the coordinator. One person to monitor the team. They all knew their roles and didnt begrudge Teddy making the calls. The arguing that Teddy expected was about James being sat out. Funnily enough he didnt argue as he accepted a hand to get up from Lucy and the static shock that he received from their hands touching put him on his ass again. Kyra rose her hands up and three octagonal columns rose from the ground interlocking with each other, James rose the highest, then Lucy then Kyra, Teddy alone from the team still stood on the floor next to Rashid. Rashid, how much do you want from us? Teddy asked the instructor. With a silver ranker present he was the authority for the engagement as far as Teddy who was the shot caller for the team was concerned. Silver rank in the Greenstone area was what back on earth they would have called Demi-god power. In this new world however they knew better about the gods. I am a control and utility specialist. He said unashamedly. Although at silver my powers afford me more damage than when I was coming up they are not suited to solo work. I will block and funnel, weakening anything that comes through for you to hit. I will take any bronze rank monsters meaning you will have the bulk of the iron. [Kyra kick out some walls, break up the space. Lucy switch to sniping, swap column with James. James rest up, wing sweep in reserve, Koda out front to hold a wall. Keep him in range for immediate extraction. Im going to be where I need to be, Kyra youre last line for the tower, hold boulders in reserve but litter the spikes every time they come off cool-down.] By now they felt the monsters approaching from all angles with their iron rank senses. Rashid was swirling different energies around, placing huge bubble shields in a few locations with as much of the shield underground as over. Kyra used these bubbles to tactically place her walls which narrowed the gaps and start a chicane to slow down the advancing monsters. The walls were surprisingly different to her normal power, they had multiple spikes on it that were firing in a flat trajectory over the desert away from the team. Kyra checked the interface at the list of boons and found what had caused it. You are being affected by an allys aura[Servitors Provision] Effect (iron): Whilst in the aura of [Servitors Provision] your essence powers will receive a random boon per use. Effect (bronze): Any essence power used by an ally within your aura will cause an increase of mana and stamina to regenerate faster for the auras user. Effect (silver): At intervals determined by the strength of the power effected; place a random enemy power on cool-down and grant the equivalent mana, stamina or health to an ally in a random order. Well thatll do nicely! Kyra took out her mirror and a circle of diamond dust appeared in the sand next to her. Her diamond golem rose out and sat at the base of the tower, on the opposite side to Koda, it had a few extra arms than usual by virtue of Rashids aura power. Koda had appeared partly covered in summoned armour which made him look even more formidable. Lechuza was already airborne, rarely not deployed even when not in combat. Lantern Familiars were deployed to help even the odds some more. Teddys shadow lantern familiar while not normally a direct damage dealing attack was setting targets on fire where they hit. Kyras diamond lantern was leaving icy patches where it struck. Being silver rank a lot of Rashids control powers hurt or outright killed the comparatively weak iron rank monsters, chains of lighting strung between the bubbles that zapped, force tether rods were in other gaps, binding monsters to them and causing damage if they tried to move away. The team were on cleanup, they had set up for a huge battle but saw less than ten monsters make it through, Rashid only having to deal with two bronze rank monsters. The desert allowed for a higher concentration of monsters as Lucy had explained there was less for the natural magic to be absorbed by so the net result was more manifestations. The last monster was taken care of by James, a small rodent like monster had snuck between the two familiars guarding the tower of stone columns and James simply rolled off, landing on the rodent with his favourite foot transformation in a large yellow eagle talon. All the containment effects ended. Rashid came back in and Kyra shrunk the stone columns to the sand again. Teddy zipped around touching each of the monsters before meeting everyone in the middle. Rashid are you ok if we Yes you have my permission to loot any and all monsters. A quirk of looting powers that most shared was that you could only loot monsters that you you were responsible for dispatching. Anyone elses kills you had to have permission. Seasoned adventurers were used to giving permission to those that had looting powers, they were always popular on teams as it provided almost a second income alongside adventuring. After the rainbow smoke dissipated Teddy approached Rashid with two bags. Nothing exciting, some iron and bronze rank coins and sand quintessence. Rashid pushed the bags back at him. No need, Im just tagging along, I made enough in my adventuring days that I dont know what I would do with one bag of iron and bronze coins. Keep them, I remember how expensive things are when youre just starting out. Thankyou. Teddy said, pocketing the bag back in his dimensional space. We do seem to spend it as fast as we can make it. You never really talk about your adventuring days that much, youre too busy correcting whatever were doing. What was it like being a control and utility specialist? They were on the move again, Teddy and Rashid walking at the front, Lucy next being poked from behind by James as she kept getting distracted by her notebooks, he was chatting amicably with Kyra. The team had spent a lot of time in the academy with Rashid as the chief instructor but they had a lot to learn and he a lot to teach so they hadnt got to know him very well personally and Teddy was taking this opportunity to get to ask him about his past. I grew up in a high magic area to two non essence user parents, they are still there now, I managed to make enough coin to essence them up and Ill have them for long years to come. I never had the opportunities that you and your peers have been offered in the academy annex project. He paused, thinking back to some memory. My first essence was found in our bathroom when I was a teenager. The local neighbourhood saw the manifestation and I had a half dozen rough youths came by to try and convince my father to give it over. We were lucky a bronze ranker was nearby on his way home from work and was a magic society ritualist. He did the ritual for us for free right there and then, that solved any arguments or stress that we were going to be robbed in the night. That was my water essence, by slowly working and saving I managed to get a popular but inexpensive paper essence and began working for a wealthy family as a personal batsman. Batsman, huh, funny. Teddy mumbled, looking interested. Whys that? I wonder how closely our language translation works on that. Well it was a wealthy family I worked for that sometimes went adventuring, I dealt with the running of the house and the camp when out and about. Something of a highly paid servant. The Feast essence came when we were out on adventure when I was helping in the camp kitchen. My confluence was Service, not very glamorous or sought after but I was brought up to take whatever opportunities are in front of me. Im not part of a church so why would I not accept it? So overall no flashy powers or high damage, after I made iron rank and unlocked all my powers I struck out to try my hand at adventuring. As I said it was a high magic area so an Iron ranker had little opportunity for growth, what I soon found though was that teams often hired auxiliaries to join their teams as support specialists and I found a lot of my time doing that. As they walked they came up to a small clump of rocks. In the middle of nowhere. They could see some small craters beyond and some scorched and blackened rocks, an area of the desert nearby was deeply sunk in. Rashid looked around in surprise and swept up to a door that was half buried at a forty five degree angle. Without knocking he opened it up and it swung on the angle revealing a staircase leading down into the desert. Chapter 24 ‘Prepared, for everything’ Lucy released her mana lantern familiar as they started down the stairs, it served as an actual lantern, letting out a soft blue light. They wound down three staircases and into a rough stone chamber. There were old, well used home comforts, an old rug, a lumpy sofa, basic cooking equipment. At the far end there was a wall of rubble, in the rubble they could just see half a face with a shock of dark hair covered in dried, crusty blood and one arm poking out. They rushed towards the wall. Rashid made to dig him out but Kyra stopped him before he could move more than a few stones. An ominous rumble from the rock at such a small amount being moved. This will have to be done delicately! She hit the trapped man with her Life Aura power, the read back she got from it was that he was silver rank but dangerously starved of magic and extremely injured. It was a shock to see a silver ranker so injured, they had an incredibly high constitution that as a healer was hard to believe. Kyra gently touched the rubble wall and closed her eyes. She slowly had the wall melt away exposing his face. It was rugged and swarthy beneath the damage and the blood. She pulled a mirror from somewhere and looked at her hand, a silver rank coin appeared and she opened the mans mouth and fed it to him without hesitation. The mans shallow breathing shuddered and deepened and she let out a sigh of relief. Hes going to be ok for now. She hit him with a Life Charge, as strong as she could. He is incredibly magic starved. His body has been trying to heal the damage that he sustained from whatever caused this collapse and then continued trying to heal him but couldnt whilst he is trapped. I need to stabilise him which he mostly is now, then slowly peel back the wall to get him out. Lucy can you set up the grand healing ritual with him still trapped in the wall? Lucy opened a rune portal and they saw books whipping past inside the opening. She pulled a few out as they passed and a large sheet of paper. Give me a few minutes, I can alter it. She then started drawing on the large sheet of paper on the floor with a charcoal stick in neat lines, mapping out the runes, referencing her books she had grabbed. Kyra turned back to the wall and shot out earth spikes from either side of her to brace the wall around the man. Teddy, James, can you start excavating the rubble as far away from him as you can? Work from the bottom and try and get as high as you can so theres less chance of it falling on top of him? Im not going to be able to earth shape and heal at the same time, I only have so much mana. Rashid, unless you have a specific power that can help then please help the boys.. Most of my support spells for healing require enemies and combat. Ill get my hands dirty with the guys. He rolled up his sleeves and started shifting rocks, tucked up as close as he could to the wall furthest away from the pinned man. Teddy and James pitched in, using more powers as their base strength was nowhere near the silver rankers. James used his prehensile tail to grab rocks and move them until it went on cooldown and a mix of either snake arms or literal bear arms complete with shaggy hair. Teddy opened a rift portal, the other end he said was up in the desert near where they came in, all the boulders pulled off the wall went in so they could make space in the underground room. He used his dimension blade to make room for the others to dig in and grab rocks. There was limited room and they all had to be careful of not only hurting each other but the possibility of a cave-in, more than once Kyra had to tell them to stop, having felt vibrations through the the ground with her seismic senses. She shored up the areas that needed it with more earth spikes; low mana and low cooldown they worked well to brace the loose rubble. After a little while Lucy was ready with her draft design, as she drew it out on the smooth stone floor she explained to Kyra. So most rituals are drawn in a circle because geometrically the math in a circle is easy, I wont bore you with why it all needs setting out geometrically but what Ive done here should funnel the effect to one end. She had drawn a large tear-drop shape, with the apex right up against the wall with the trapped man. She put stacks of quintessence and coins into the design as she had in the village. For the grand healing ritual it did involve a number of silver rank coins, the team were fortunate they had enough so far to keep the silver ranker alive, Kyra was having to feed him another as soon as she could gauge his body was capable of absorbing it. Before you activate the ritual, this will probably wake him up, I just wanted to warn you all. Also Lucy I had an unpleasant idea. Your illusions and telepathy would be really useful to calm him so he doesnt thrash and cause any more damage to himself or cause the rocks to shift, Ive solidified the rock around him but he is silver rank and we dont know how strong. But hes silver rank, how would my abilities Lucy stopped as she rubbed a thumb over the silver rank coin in her hand she was about to place in the ritual. You want me to artificially boost my powers to effect him. Yes, no lasting harm to you but the backlash will be unpleasant. In his weakened state you should have no problem effecting him. You should have long enough on boost to explain to him whats going on, if you can encourage him to meditate and relax it will make everything much easier for us. As Kyra spoke she was still healing, Lucky was curled up underneath the man, looking asleep but his healing aura doing its work. Ok, no problem, time for scary mind witch on roids. She placed the last coin in the ritual and had another in her hand ready to go. The ritual flared, the materials sinking in as normal, what was different to the one they had seen in the zombie village was the flare was directional, all the light coalesced towards the tip of the teardrop and out towards the man. Lucy let out a sigh, the relief that such an expensive ritual had worked. Unlike with the team that Kyra could keep an eye on with the interface she had to monitor the man with continual hits of Life Aura, the read backs she got showed the now plentiful healing was having effect. Now the body was in slightly better shape she got more status and condition information, along with the multiple stacks of ongoing regenerative buffs from her massive life charge spell and multiple weak ones from Life Aura she could see how broken his body was in the rock. Lucy was waiting for the flicker of the mans eyes before she took the coin, she didnt want to take it too soon and try and use her illusion powers on a sleeping man. She saw the tell-tale signs and his eyes fluttered and opened, staring straight forward at the wall he was facing, his brain catching up to his condition. Before he was too awake she placed the coin in her mouth. The rush of energy was like nothing she had felt before. The academy had them all try bronze coins to know what it felt like if they ever needed to use them in combat but it wouldnt have wasted silver coins. Her whole body was suffused with potential energy waiting to be unleashed, she felt like she could have dug the man out in seconds with her bare hands, or tunnelled to the surface without the stairs or She remembered what she was meant to be doing rather than get carried away with the power. While the left hand waves the right makes the move. The illusion she had chosen was a simple white room with only herself and the man in it, as the illusion was in his mind he appeared as he thought himself. He was short, extremely short. At maybe four and a half feet tall Lucy grimaced at what the boys were going to say about dwarves. He was in metal capped boots and thick trousers, he only wore a black vest under a thick, heavy leather apron that had tools in various pockets. He had a long black beard that mustve been lost in the explosion, wild eyebrows set over equally wild eyes that were deep set and dark. He had wild dark hair that stuck out in thick spikes all over the place. Her illusions normally ran their own course but with her temporary silver rank she was able to use her telepathy whilst inserting herself. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. [Sir, we dont have a lot of time, I need you to listen to me. Youve had an accident in your workshop. Were trying to rescue you but you are badly injured. We need you to remain completely still otherwise you are going to do more damage to yourself. Do you understand?] The man looked around the stark white cube he was in and the woman he had never seen before in front of him. He nodded slowly. [Were getting you out as fast as we can, if you can meditate my team healer can help you more. Good luck.] Her illusions didnt last long and even with the boost she felt it running out. The man sat cross legged on the white floor and put an elbow on one knee and rested his chin on his fist, his other fist going on his hip as he closed his eyes. Lucy tilted her head like an owl as she looked at him, surprised by his pose, looking like a replica of the thinking man sculpture. She caught herself and shook her head, picking up physical habits from her owl familiar was a good way to look like a weirdo. She withdrew her attention from the illusion, looking back at the man in front of her, with half his hair missing, his face battered and bruised and no beard he looked so different to his illusionary self. She watched the moment his illusion ran out and he became aware of himself again, his body shuddered slightly then stilled. Kyra hit him with another Life Aura and saw he was stable. The boys had cleared a lot of the rubble from either side so it now resembled a pyramid with the body stuck in the middle. Kyra had taken the time to inspect the walls and ceiling and declared them safe. They now started the more delicate operation of removing the stone from around the injured man. Kyra could now directly help as the healing was being robustly given by the ritual, the lingering buffs and Lucky. None of it was particularly strong but all together was slowly driving the silver rank health up. The top of the body started to be exposed, the legs cruelly twisted by the accident, his torso was pounded and chest caved in a way that no one other than an essence user could survive, most of the internal organs being replaced by the time they reached silver rank and the need to breathe having gone. Kyra did her best to straighten his legs and make him comfortable, with the last of the stone removed from on top of him she used her earth shaping powers to fashion a crude stone stretcher under him and the team lifted him down. Another silver coin was fed to him and she hit him with another Life Aura spell to see that as he was now removed from the rock his recovery attribute was rapidly healing him much more than it had been before. Kyra took Rashid away to have a quiet word away from the small man. Rashid, even with magical healing Im not sure hes going to fully recover, Ive been studying healing as much as I can and unless you tell me that at silver its different I think its going to be a long time before he can use those legs if at all. Ive seen many injuries, but having a silver rank impeded like this is different, I think you may be right, but we will have to see. The team rested and ate from their storage spaces. The excitement of everything that had just happened made everyone strangely quiet. The small man continued to appear asleep in front of them, the recovery taking everything he had. Once Kyra had rested she got up and walked over to the rubble wall, although they had dug a lot out to free the man they had no idea how far back it went, she put her hand against the fall and focused. She stepped back and raised her arms up and to the left, when she swiped her arms down and to the right a large section of stone melted like concrete and swept down. When Teddy saw what she was doing he stood and started creating rifts for her to pour it into. Being able to focus on earth shaping without having to heal she was working as fast as the three had been together. She slowed down after a while, a mana headache forcing her to stop. You guys can take over, were getting to the back of the room, theres what I think must be the remains of a workbench and then a couple of doors that I think are intact. Its all ceiling from above the workbench, Ive sealed the top so as you clear no more should come down. She flopped down to the ground in a tired heap. The others started moving forward and clearing more rubble. When they were done they were in a huge underground cavern, made even bigger by the chasm above them where the roof used to be. Rashid had come forward and put layered bubble defensive shields around the workbench area as soon as it became exposed, not knowing what had caused the accident he was taking no chances. They all congregated by the stretcher, knowing that it was going to take a while for the man to heal and he would be done only when he was done. They all started taking what could only be described as glamping equipment from their storage space. Rashid shook his head at the team again. So prepared, for everything. They set up a small indoor camp and took out their cards again and taught Rashid how to play. The next morning they woke up and shuffled about having some breakfast. The injured man heard them and opened his eyes. He grunted trying to sit up and Kyra made a motion like a closing clam with her hand and the stone stretcher bent up like a recliner. The man silently took in the adventurers then panned his gaze around the room, lingering on the bubble shields at the far end that Rashid kept topped up. How are you feeling? Kyra asked him gently. There was a long silence as his eyes rested on Lucy as if he was reading her face. He then turned to Kyra. I cant feel my legs. The team were suddenly gripped with a horrible feeling. That feeling when youre on an icy lake and you hear the ominous cracking. Or the danger fart when youre out and about and youre not sure if it was just a fart the team had been riding a high since they had got to this world, with one of the first powers they had as a team being magical healing they had thrown themselves into all challenges, knowing there was a safety net. The amount of healing Kyra had dumped into this man, the expensive ritual and just how ridiculously powerful he was meant that what he said caused a gut punch of reality. The realisation that they were in the middle of a very dangerous world that could have real consequences. Sir, youve just come out of a very bad accident. Your body was taken to the extreme of what damage it could take and then was starved in that state. There is going to be a protracted healing time. Kyra was putting on her best professional healer voice but no one missed the fact she had omitted any detail about his legs. Craftsman, I am Rashid, chief instructor of the Greenstone Remore Academy Annex and am escorting this team here on behalf of the Greenstone adventure society, do you need us to call for aid in helping here? He looked pointedly at the workbench under the bubble shield. The squat man grumbled and his hand went to his chin to play with the now missing beard and they heard him mumble barely audible. Blow up a few empty square miles of desert an a small army of automatons get loose with no safety measures and suddenly you cant be trusted. He looked around the room surveying the damage. Then coughed and said at normal speaking volume. Nae, the workshop should have contained whatever is left, it should have contained it in the first place and Im not sure why it didnt. The people I sell to call me the Craftsman, anyone who saves my life and my workshop can call me by my real name; Efkycharkzshyn. Efky, Efkychar, Eefky. How about Charlie for short? James said, struggling to pronounce it. The man smiled and barked a short laugh, they only knew it was a laugh through context as it sounded unusual and barely used. Aye thatll do, no ones called me that before but Ill allow it. Cmon, take me over to the bench, lanky can lower the shields and I can get some of mah dignity back. All silver rankers had the power to levitate a small amount if they concentrated, at the moment Charlie needed all the mana he could get to circulate around his body and heal him some more. Rashid lifted him up and carried him down the long room to the end to the solitary workbench. Rashid dropped the shields then immediately dropped the man as the magic the shields had been holding back burst towards them. He cooly manifested a wedge shaped water shield in front of him and the blast passed either side. From the floor the man looked up, rubbing his coccyx. I didnae see no hand waving there, did ya have to droop meh? Mr Efkycharkzshyn, youre earning your reputation as dangerous right now. Ill show you my reputation for dangerous if yah droop me again. He grumbled. Rashid picked him up again and took him over to the bench. Opening a shallow drawer the man pulled out a long stool, far taller than the draw was deep. He then sat on the stool so he could reach everything. The others watched in fascination as he pulled magical tools from everywhere and when he pulled out a small crystal land speeder, looking like a direct copy of Star Wars. He pulled on opposite corners of the small model and it expanded to fit the bench. Ah, thats exactly what we came for in the first place. Rashid said. The Adventure society was hoping to collect the favour owed when you said you would give one of these models. The man didnt stop his work or look around. No. And preceded to rip parts of the model off. Chapter 25 ‘Magical Mechanic’ Rashid looked very confused. In hindsight he thought it may be a bit soon to ask the man for things when he was still recovering but watching him rip apart the very thing they had come for was perturbing. Err, please? I said no. But the adventure society promised these adventurers the favour you owe after the work theyve been doing. Aye, I promised a custom speeder. This is a speeder. He ripped another part of the crystal structure off and dug what looked like a cowboy spur on the end of a magic wand in the rest of the contraption. But this is not the speeder theyre going to have. The adventurers all shrugged at one another and settled in to watch. There was a flurry of tools as the man worked with diligent fervour. Every motion was purposeful, he knew where every tool was without looking and applied it with confidence. There was no pause to contemplate or check a schematic, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing ripping apart the old model and building the new. Teddy had more insight to it than the others, a lot of his skill book purchases had been artifice based for a plan that he and Lucy had in mind. The skill books had imparted the knowledge directly into his mind, it felt strange to recognise what the man was doing and recall the information that he wasnt directly responsible for putting there. Even though the man was working at a high silver rank level Teddy could follow most of what he was doing. The fundamentals had been absorbed for as many streams of artifice as he could afford to buy skill books for. As he watched he realised with excitement that he could feel himself consolidating his understanding, he was learning as the man was working and he leant in to watch closer. Lucy was watching with interest also, the skill books purchasing spree had been based around the fundamentals of magic theory and magically imbuing effects. The tools in the mans hands were some of the most complicated and powerful she had ever seen. She wasnt so much interested in the thing he was making, rather in how he was altering its magical properties and the magical properties of the tools themselves. When Teddy moved closer to look at the work she realised she could help. She moved next to him and gently, slowly, she released her aura so that it encompassed him. Clarity Ability [Clarity] (Mind) Aura Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 9 (30%) Effect (iron): Improves clarity of thinking speed to self and allies within aura. Teddy jumped a little and looked at Lucy briefly and gave her a smile in thanks before turning back to the impromptu lesson. The boost to his thinking speed and clarity of thought meant he could gain insights quicker, getting more out of the observation. Even though Teddy was getting the most out of the demonstration everyone was watching. The Craftsman manipulated the crystal this way and that and then put the final tool into his apron pocket and clapped his hands together from either side of the crystal structure, flattening it. He twirled on the chair and the others had to scoot back away from him. He raised an eyebrow at the crowding. They backed off and he threw the small crystal onto the floor. There was a faint tinkling noise as it started to unfold like a glass origami. The blueish metallic glass was unfolding from an impossibly small space to expand into a much larger structure. It started to slow down as it reached around waist height. After it reached the size, smaller panels started folding and unfolding to provide the delicate shape. It was a strong square shaped chair, it had wide short arms that matched the backrest. It looked simple. All the tinkering and fancy tools and the amazing Craftsman had produced something that looked very mediocre. On reaching silver rank, essence users gained the inherent ability to levitate, it took concentration and focus, it couldnt be relied on in battle and was more a cool trick than a useful skill. Charlie could just about make use of it now to levitate his body with his useless dangling legs from the stool at the workbench over to the squat chair. He looked relieved as he sat, shuffling back in the deep flat seat. They all felt his tightly controlled aura pulse slightly and the chair raised slightly into a smooth hover. Charles Xavier! With hair! James exclaimed. The climactic ambience was broken as everyone turned to stare at James. Professor Charles Xavier? From xmen? I mean the films just kept going and going, too many, but I think it was from Days of Future Past he had the levitating chair? No one? He looked at Teddy pleadingly. I mean, I see what youre getting at, but hes a magical mechanic not a mind reading professor? Also, is this really the time? Teddy asked. The others had already started looking back to the chair to investigate. It seemed once he had connected with the chair with his aura he could direct it at will. He experimentally drove it from one side of the room to the other and back to the waiting group. Thankee for your patience. I couldnae see straight until Id fixed the problem of not being able to get around. Now I can move under me own power lets say hello. Meh name is Charlie, Charles, Craftsman, whatever you would like to call meh. Im an inventor of magical crafts n vehicles, Ive been around these parts for a long time an I figure Ive got a handle on it by now, some of meh stuff gets a bit spicy an occasionally goes a bit wrong. He tapped his limp legs at the last bit. He had what the team thought of as a deep West Country accent. Im Theodore Mitchel, this is my wife Kyra, my brother James and his wife Lucy, were a new adventuring team out of the Remore academy annex. Weve only just formed a team but making some good progress and some waves. We kicked the hornets nest a little in Greenstone and found ourselves pointed your way. Charlie looked at him with interest, his wild eyebrows raised comically on his forehead. Rashid picked up the explanation. They did what good adventurers should do, they went out and helped people without thinking of the reward, they happened to complete some contracts above their rank and also got involved in age old politicking. The society deemed that they couldnt be seen to reward them for their performance publicly without exacerbating the situation. Seeing as your favour is technically off the books that means nothing is missing from the coffers when people ask where they got this from. Well then, seems a me that yall got reason to have a goodie offn me anyways for helpin meh, will seem to fit the story of helpful folk that yall found me down here and I did a touch for yah. He led them to the other end away from the workbench and started putting the kettle on in the kitchenette. He gestured at the sofas and they sat around a low table. Yall are brand new green adventurers, betcha yall are hoofin it around on hydals whenever you can get them an hoofin it on foot when you cant? Mayhap we can sort you out a team vehicle, speeder aint gonna cut it after what you done for me. The societys offer plus my gratitude oughta get you somethin pretty special. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. He pulled out a thin notebook, the pages had slices of crystal between each page. He took five of the slices and put them on the long low table in front of the team and Rashid. He tapped each one lightly and they all expanded to the size of a childs expensive electric car that a child could sit in and drive. They were very different designs, ranging from blocky utilitarianism to fantastic swirls and decoration that looked like it belonged more as a float in a parade than a working vehicle. There was one design that captured the teams attention straight away, even without communicating internally the team knew what the others would choose, Charlie saw which one they had all started to look at closer and he slapped the others flat again and pulled on either side of the model they fancied, making it take up the whole table. It looked like a James Bond small squat luxury yacht but with a wide flat bottom. It was a modern design by earths standards, looking like a mix of stealth and luxury in a boat. It had a high prow that curved down like the broad blade of leaf. It tapered down to the back that was open to look inside, the very back had a sharp slope tidying the back off. By its scale it looked around thirty meters long. The upper deck was mostly enclosed with a walk way all the way round, looking through the translucent crystal they could see a driving station that was open plan to a dining area with some cooking facilities at the back that had a round table and chairs around it. Stairs led down into the underneath to four empty rooms each with a small bathroom. Charlie leant forward and pushed the one piece roof forward and it shrunk to make it open top. Thisn aint a vehicle but a model, wed have to start this one from scratch n build it up. Im grateful to yall and need to pay my dues by the society but I aint gonna go bust over this. Thisn here is the peak of what I do, one of the most defensible crafts Ive made, fully customisable, featuring an abundance of dimensional storage and can be upgraded indefinitely as far as Im aware. I dont keep tabs on meh clients unless they wanna get back in touch but one diamond ranker thanked me for the base design after hed fiddled with it an took it up off planet. [What do you guys think? Im going to try get as involved in making this as I can so I might be able to work on it in the future and Im confident this could be an amazing way to get around.] Teddy said. [Whats it made of? The same as his chair? That stuff looks expensive for upgrades.] James chipped in. [I feel like were at a Mercedes garage when we should be buying a second hand car from a beat up garage. But it would be interesting to know more, what fuels it? Does it have self repair? How fast does it go?] Lucy added The interface conversation happened at the speed of thought so there was a surprise as they waited for Kyra to voice her thoughts on it, they all look at her across the table, Rashid and Charlie catching on and looking at her with the others. What colours does it come in? . A while later the group was spread out, Rashid had made his goodbyes and teleported out to the academy annex, his curiosity had kept him longer than he planned, now he had seen it was going to take a while he had chosen to leave before his disappearance back in Greenstone was noticed. Charlie had explained to the group that commissioned projects normally took weeks or months depending on what was in the order. There were a few issues with completing theirs, firstly he normally had a stockpile of materials ready to go, the explosion had consumed a lot of what he had around and he had to de-construct other projects in order to make theirs. Then there was his mobility issue, this would have slowed him down if not for Teddy being on hand as an assistant, Lucy was helping with the magical side of the build as true artifice was done by essence users with specific powers to create the items, as they had learned the skills and were doing them by hand rather than essence it took Teddy to fabricate and Lucy to imbue the magic. Kyra was needed on hand to continue the healing she had started on Charlie as it was going to be a long road. They settled into a routine, they would break fast together after the four adventurers had trained upstairs on the desert sands, they would work solidly through lunch, the three on the construction, Kyra on her medical research and James would try and keep himself busy. On the second or third morning Charlie had spied the vambrace. Aye, wassat yous got there then? Just an item looted from a monster, probably my most prized possession. Oh really? What makes a thing like that so special then? James touched the vambrace with a finger of his left hand, bringing up its description. He started reading it to the silver ranker and swore when he saw something new about the effects. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] *Effect (Lightning): [SEALED]* [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] [100 wing quintessence] [100 lightning quintessence] 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. He pulled off the vambrace and stared accusingly at the spider web lightning pattern on the back. Gods damn it! When will I actually get to choose what goes on here?! Yous needin a bit of fancy artwork done on it I take it then? Charlie held his hand out. James bent his head, there was no point having an upgrade cost to the item without it having some sort of benefit, he thought about it for a moment and reluctantly handed over the item. After a week of sitting around only going on the odd local monster hunt James was bored, they had set a blistering pace since Vitesse and he was restless. Kyra came up to him with a book in hand one night for a chat. [James?] [Yeh?] [I think Ive gone as far as I can healing Charlie, his legs arent getting any better. Im worried about him if he cant get them back, he cant work alone, while the others are here hes fine and Im not sure if hes thought of it, we kind of threw him into a project which kept him busy.] [How can I help?] [I need someone with more experience, I have some theory books like this one but I dont want to make him worse trying to make him better.] [Wheres best to try? Back to Greenstone?] [See if that nearby town, Boko has a temple of the Healer. If it doesnt then you might have to go to Greenstone.] James stood up. [Ill leave now, I just need to see if Charles is done with my vambrace.] The others had seen the conversation in the interface while they were working as they all shared it. They had stopped working and told Charlie they all needed to see James. [Try not to let on that Ive reached the end of what I can do, I dont want to worry him.] Whats goin on then oer here? Im headed out for a bit, Im not really needed here so going to do a bit of adventuring solo. Aye, good for the soul that is, hang a sec, lemme see ifn your jewellery is ready for you. He made his way to one of the doors either side of the workbench, the team had been staying out in the large open space between the front door from the stairs and the workbench at the back. One of the doors was a bathroom and the other was Charlies room, as he opened the door they saw a ritual circle on the floor with the vambrace in the middle. He touched the metal and flinched slightly before putting on a glove and picking it up and bringing it out. I reckon its just finished, still hot from the cooking. Should be fine for yous to touch as its yours. He held it out to James and he tentatively took it. As he did he read the item description in front of him. Oh damn thats cool! Chapter 26 ‘Baking a cake’ The team had headed up the stairs to the desert floor to say goodbye to James for a little while, Teddy and Kyra had to say goodbye over Lucys shoulder as she wouldnt stop hugging him. They hadnt been separated since he had graduated a month before her at the annex. She had worked hard to stand next to him in combat and now he was off to unknown risk without her. After a few words with his brother and sister-in-law James peeled Lucy off himself. Wracked with emotion himself he smiled casually. Ill be back soon, without having to carry Teddy as a dead weight Ill move quicker. I have the swift essence, its me that has to wait for you chunky. James smiled at Teddy and rolled his shoulders. He leant down and kissed his wife one last time and backed up a few steps. Yeh? Try keep up with this. He started to shift, a few rumblings under the skin at first then suddenly all at once he erupted into shape. His whole body, including clothes smoothly grew to a bird the size of a bus standing on end. His wings then unfolded, each as long as he was tall with a thick brown and white plumage, the feathers along the edge of the wing were a rust coloured metal that moved a little stiffer than the rest but looked almost natural. He had the head and beak of a huge eagle, but his power didnt make the creature he was transforming into any bigger so he couldnt be an eagle. Inner beast Ability: [Inner beast] (Animagus) Special ability (animagus, shapeshift) Base cost: Very high mana Cool-down: 24 hours Current rank: Iron 7 (20%) Effect (iron): Transform into an animal of your choice for one hour. The animal of your choosing will be the prime example of that animal. Effect (Eagle wing) [Vambrace of Menagerie]: When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] What the hell is that?! Teddy asked as the now giant bird James looked down at them imperiously, using that one eye side look that eagles do. [[Thunderbird] A magical creature native to Pallimustus and mythical creature on Earth.] The interface that the team shared threw out some interesting quirks every now and then, the fact that it would explain somethings and not others was something they had never figured out, in this case Teddy assumed it was because James was still connected to their interface. [Watch your eyes.] James said over the interface. He then screeched and launched into the air, kicking up a swirl of sand as he did. The huge bird had an extra long two feathers from its tail whipping in its wake. Since coming into the desert Teddy had been wearing the amulet they looted when they fought to get Lucys Furious Magus awakening stone, the amulet filtered sand out of the air nearby to Teddy and the girls kept close to his clean pocket of air. James climbed high in a spiral and circled over their heads for a moment, joined by Lechuza from on high, she spent her time hunting while Lucy was underground. He then peeled off flying fast into the distance. The girls made their way downstairs to get out of the dust and the sand, Teddy only took a moment longer, gazing out at the desert and the moon shadow of his brother disappearing. I could keep up with that. He muttered to himself before heading downstairs. Downstairs he saw the others sat in the common area. They had taken the near end of the cavernous space for themselves, there was only one bedroom and it was Charlies, the workbench was at the far end and there were sofas and a little kitchenette near the door, they figured there was a chance of kaboom at one end, hot drinks at the other. They travelled in comfort as they had a storage power each, they envy of many teams that might only have one or none, having to rely on buying dimensional storage. Each of them had a cot bed and essentially a mattress to go on it with all the creature comforts. The girls had already settled onto each of their cots and Charlie was no where to be seen so he was in his room. Teddy hit his bed and hoped his brother winging his way over the dark desert would be ok. They were woken by a small explosion at the end of the cavern. None of them were particularly alarmed by this, when Charlie was left to himself he was normally blowing something or the other up. They had found that it was a good alarm clock as they settled into routine, Charlie would wake them with whatever he was doing at the workbench and Teddy and Lucy would go join in and help. Kyra found herself cooking most of the meals as she was mostly doing research or what advanced healing she had been reading on Charlie when he could leave Teddy and Lucy to work on the project. As they got to the far end Teddy and Lucy moved to the end of the workbench they had left a series of panels the night before. The crystal material they were working on was called Fourth Stage Crystal, incomprehensibly expensive, a silver rank material bought in gold coins, the only means by which it was affordable was that Charlie was able to make it himself from raw materials, to buy as a construction material would cost a fortune and so only the most rare vehicles and tools were made of it. He had explained that it was fourth stage because it had length, width, depth and imbued with size manipulation magic. Due to the magic of the item it couldnt get bigger but it could become smaller like the models Charlie had them choose from, when it did it lost the magical properties it had at full size. He had shown Lucy the type of magic she had to imbue into it but she couldnt work on the material as she didnt have the necessary skills, thats where Teddy came in. Rolling his neck he grabbed a hammer and studied where they had finished off the night before. They were joining two panels and Lucy had to seal it in with the magic. When Charlie did it he could use his crafting essences with his magic essences to fuse the two together with each hammer blow. Teddy and Lucy were using a combination of her magic essences and Teddys swift, void and dimension, both pulling on their skill book knowledge and what Charlie had taught them. Lucy started streaming runes and trickling mana into it, the timing of the ritual had to be perfect with Teddys hammer blows, luckily he could cheat. Stolen story; please report. Aura of the void Ability [Aura of the void] (Void) Aura (time, dimension, void, physics) Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 9 (50%) Effect (iron): enemies within the aura have a slowing effect. For every enemy that is affected you have a slight speed increase. By actively manipulating his aura power he could slow the time the magic from Lucy actually activated on the panels, this was made easier to see by another power from his swift essence Eyes of the Swift, this slowed real time to his perception for an ongoing mana cost, compounded with this was another power of Teddys; Winged Feet which even though it was a mobility power added a significant increase to his speed attribute meaning his blows were incredibly fast. His swift essence was tied to his speed attribute that was almost bronze rank. All in all he was a blur as he worked as fast as Lucy could produce the runes, having to wait for her setup each time. The way they worked was much like a blind man with no taste or smell mixing the ingredients of a cake while a woman with no arms but had eyes, taste and smell was guiding him. Between the two of them they can have a pretty good go at baking a cake but wouldnt have a chance on their own. They were under no illusions, they were doing the menial work that was mechanical and repetitive. But this freed up Charlie to do the truly artisan work at the other end of the workbench, holding multiple sections in the air as he did some truly incredible magic that not even Lucy could understand on a theory level and Teddy had no idea how it went together. Every now and then the three of them worked together to put some of the superstructure together with what Charlie was overjoyed to call the engine after finding out what they were. Kyra called them over for a basic breakfast of mushrooms, there was a collection that grew in the shade of the rocks nearby, the few weeks they had been there they hadnt seen much other food nearby, Charlie admitted he often forgot to head back into town and they only delivered for a few months before he had to go back and renew his food order, he was happy to make do on spirit coins rather than interrupt his work. Even though he grumbled about pausing the work Charlie was fascinated by the conversations they had while they ate. So yous tellin me that its cyclical? The expansion of the gasses in one piston turns the crank and another pulls in this fuel into another? And how fast yall making this explode? Charlie asked around a mouthful of mushroom that grew into the texture of bread. Eh, depends, if you put your foot down, thats how you control the speed, then it speeds up the engine, petrol maybe cruises at three thousand rpm, diesel at one thousand? Teddy replied. The girls were having their own conversation, neither interested in cars when they were in their own world, let alone now in a world of magic. Lucy had warned Teddy about the goddess Knowledge not being a huge fan of passing on duff information from their own world but so far there had been no indication Teddy was crossing any lines. Nah, you told me the stick thing and the gearin controlled the speed. No that helps, but putting your foot down is what gives you the speed in the first place. Well without magic yall made it work I guess. Millions of them, basically a rite of passage as you became legally old enough you would get a car and learn to drive. Every country did it slightly differently, some countries used the sticks for gears like I told you, some cars were clever enough to do the gears automatically. Oh yeh?! Tell me about these automatics then The girls were only half listening, glad to have each others company so they didnt have to talk about cars and engines and all the stuff that Charlie found interesting from their world. They once found Teddy trying to explain why plugs had three pins in the UK when Charlie had no concept of electricity. They would let them chat for a while before they would give a nudge for them to get back to work. They were sympathetic as Lucy was getting a mana headache from the amount of mana she was pumping into the construction work and they had spoken to Teddy as he looked burnt out at the end of the first week, between all his abilities he was using for precision his perception of the time passing was making his days a lot longer than the rest of them, he too was getting burnt out magically by using so many powers. After theyd all eaten and the girls had let Teddy and Charlie explore the wonderful world of internal combustion locomotion they dragged them back over to the workbench. It was one of the times they were working together, Teddy and Charlie were moving parts into place while Lucy was doing and incredibly complicated dual layer ritual that Charlie had shown her, it was used in repetition over every time different sections met that they were joining, he explained that it was to reinforce every section to overlay all the magical joins to make sure there was no one single point of weakness. He could do the work himself but this freed him up to manipulate the pieces more closely, he then would feed his own magic though the rituals Lucy laid out to add silver rank strength to the construction. After a while, before they got to the end of the sections she had to stop due to feeling more than a little mentally bruised from all the magic. She apologised and went and had a break. Teddy stayed to help Charlie with the rest of it, without Lucy the work slowed down but Charlie used to be able to do it himself, even in his fancy floating wheelchair he didnt have the same way to manipulate the pieces around so Teddy was still very helpful. Lucy went and had some of her dwindling fruit from her dimensional rune space. She checked in on Lechuza who was still out hunting, they had worked out what range they could still communicate out to and they had a hard rule about the familiar not ranging further than this. The giant owl was a demon of the desert, preying on any iron rank monsters that were attracted to the faint trace of magic from the underground workshop, relying on stealth to avoid any higher rank monsters. Lucy sat with Kyra for a while, silently helping her with her studies, they used the interface to communicate and Kyra essentially had a digital whiteboard of ideas from her studies on a scratchpad in the interface. Lucy had a firm grounding in magical theory so even though healing magic wasnt her area of study she could lend an educated opinion to the work. After a while she was feeling refreshed, the mental fatigue from the magical heavy lifting had dissipated and she was ready to go again. When she headed down the other end the boys had finished the parts they had been working on and like all the other parts they had been shrunk and stored. They were cramped around some craft designs on the workbench discussing some changes. Go on, what brilliant idea have you had now? Teddy spun in his stool to look at her. Well it turns out that earth mechanics might help us out, I wont go into the details but did you realise that between this technically being a silver rank equivalent vehicle, us not being silver rank and the low magic of greenstone area that it was going to cost us dozens of bronze rank coins a week just to run this thing? Charlie doesnt normally have this problem as the clients that commission his work are normally higher rank and rich so dont generally have to worry about money, but were new adventurers and very much have to. We came up with a solution, have a look. They both moved apart so she could get closer to have a look. She peered over the thin paper to look at what they had added. She still loved the sleek lines of the stealth luxury yacht they had gone for, not too big to be overly ostentatious but big enough to be comfortable, the high prow gently curving back and blending with the top deck structure. What was new was eight big wheels on either side. They looked like something on a lunar rover. Wheels? Earth mechanics, Teddy are you basically claiming youve just reinvented the wheel?! No hes not claiming anything of the sort, we have wheels here as well. Charlie interposed. The novel idea is teh use them in a way that is much more efficient then a hover and much more cost effective. It means we will only have to feed the beast dozens of iron rank coins a week instead. Well its a good job that all four of us can punch coins out of monsters then! Kyra saw that they were discussing more than building so wondered down. The others let her look at the drawing and waited expectantly to hear her thoughts. How long until we can use it without the wheels? She asked disdainfully. Chapter 27 ‘And you can bugger off’ James winged his way towards Boko. His immense wing span and powerful body meant that he was covering the distance they travelled on foot in no time. He started with only around an hour to make the most of the transformation. It was a big limiting factor on the power but it had increased slightly with every minor threshold advancement and it was now nearer to two hours. He had gained a lot of altitude and could clearly see Boko in the distance and the surrounding desert as far as the eye could see in each direction. Lucy had spoke to him before about the mindset difference when she took a backseat ride with Lechuza and experienced the avian thinking, he saw everything below him as prey, his thinking process was a lot more simple and focussed. His flight to Boko was not a contemplative time to think but it was restful to get away from the everyday worries. James felt the transformation power coming to an end. He used the last moments to push higher and faster. His body shrunk to its normal size, the feathers transforming back to his regular clothes. His perception went through an equally radical shift, his vision blurred and he suddenly couldnt see with the same detail until he activated his Vision of the Eagle power. His mindset shift changed as well, he suddenly realised how high he was. He wasnt necessarily scared, there was an inherent fear but he had spent enough time exploring his powers to control it. He arced his body, pulling his arms down to his sides he used the dive to free fall towards Boko, he would make it to just outside the town with the altitude and speed he was going. He scanned the town and made a mental note of the layout, few people had the opportunity to get a birds eye view of a town like this and he took the advantage. As he got lower he instinctively knew what height he could recover from. With a large burst of mana he transformed both arms into eagle wings, similar to how he had when fighting the harpies on the return from Vitesse. This time he explored how much mana he could use to enhance with his vambrace. When he had used the transformation before he had saved his mana for the fight, now the wings were sheathed in metal, each feather appearing to be a slightly different alloy so they shimmered and rippled with faint rainbow hues. He felt an increased buoyancy to his recovery, more than the physical aspect of having wings, the enhanced wings were magically aiding him, not enough to to fly but he was almost weightless as he descended, better able to control and glide further. He landed a polite distance away from the town walls so as not to disturb the town guards. His landing was smooth as butter, angling his body down in the last fifty feet for a small burst of speed then levelling out to use the momentum to flare with his wings to come to an easy walking pace, his wings transforming back to arms as he took his first step. He strolled over to the road and fell in behind a wagon pulled by hydals. When he got to the gates he was stopped by the guards. Pretty flashy entrance there, didnt think wed notice you just joining the queue? Whats your business here adventurer? James was taken aback, the Greenstone guards had never been this hostile and other than the bridge to the island from old city he had never been stopped like this. He crossed his massive arms, vambrace gleaming gunmetal grey in the sun, the guards took a step back and hands went to weapons. James quickly moved to de-escalate the situation holding his arms out. Alright guys, I dont know whats the deal here, sorry if theres like controlled airspace or something but Im just visiting. Yeh, just visiting who eh? The same guard asked. I Dont mind him. The other guard interrupted. Hes just angry, he got conned in a pyramid scheme and thinks he should be an adventurer by now. The first guard would have started steaming if he was a cartoon character, his head went bright red and he all but started bouncing on the spot holding his spear. Roger thats not funny, dont tell the suspect my personal business! Devon, you got played, no one is offering an investment scheme to get you a full suite of essences, its never been a thing. If anything you should be telling everyone, embarrassing as it is, so that no one else ever gives four months of their wages to a con man. And hes not a suspect, people are allowed to visit. Can I see your badge please? Just for civic reporting of number of adventurers in town of course. James was trying to hide a smile at the indignation on Devons face as he moved on to bully the next person in line to make himself feel bigger. He held out his hand and Roger ducked slightly as a crow delivered his adventure society badge and perched on James shoulder. He handed the badge over and Roger opened it, glanced appreciatively at the ribbon then handed it back. Welcome to Boko Mr Mitchell. Without insisting on knowing your business can I help you by directing you anywhere? James tucked his badge in his loose many folded robes into an inside pocket, he might need it again on his person in the city and it was easier than having to request it from storage each time. I didnt see a temple district on my way down, I was after the church of the healer? The older guard looked him up and down quizzically, obviously looking for some sort of malady before he replied. Towns too small for a temple district. Theres an outpost of the healer near town centre, take Gold street and come off at Main, at the next intersection you should find them. James thanked him and moved into the town, he had the feeling he wasnt going to get what he needed from this town and was already thinking of heading straight to Greenstone but thought it would be worth checking. The town was made up of desert stone buildings, all low and flat roofed, tent shades and awnings made up most of the street and alleyways to protect the shoppers from the sun. There was a vibrant market up Gold street with everything being sold from nicknacks to spices to weapons. He ignored all the shops and strolled purposely down the street, his urgency born out of the knowledge he was going to need to travel elsewhere to achieve what he set out for. He had been trying to expand his senses as the others all practiced, Lucy projected her aura delicately to the rest of the team in strands to share the clarity of thinking, she also back-seated with Lechuza when she had the capacity to spare, Kyra spread her cleansing power to cure afflictions around her, training the power as she went. Teddy was constantly changing his perspective of the space around him to pay attention to aspects of his surroundings. James was always using his perception powers to enhance his vision, his scenting powers to monitor the world around him. What he was trying to get used to currently was passively communicating to the birds around him. There were always more birds around than people realised, after a while you filter them out. James was able to tap into the constant presence, they built up a picture of the surroundings like an aura, sensing danger and opportunity. He was interrupted from his urgency by a disturbance deep in an alley. He felt he had no choice but to investigate. Two men had pinned a small teenage boy against a wall, the boys purse was lying on the ground nearby spilt open with a few lesser spirit coins showing. The men were taking it in turns to hold the boy and hit him. Thisll teach you to make us ask twice. One said as he punched to the gut. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. James walked up behind them. Stop that. The man with his back to James who had been punching the boy turned around to punch James straight away. James Scurry power briefly increased his agility at the start of every fight, James raised his right forearm to block and the mans fist struck the vambrace with a deep gong. James recognised that he had just blocked a special attack but weak, the man obviously didnt even have a full set of essences. James smiled as he grabbed the mans hand that was pulling back from the punch, yanking him in and with his other hand picked him up by the throat. His rat tail appeared behind him, whipping out and picking up the second man by the throat as well, both mens feet kicking in mid air. He held them effortlessly and spoke to the boy. Why are these two men attacking you? Sorry mister, I took a shortcut, I knew I shouldntve but Missy said her parents were out travelling today and I he trailed off Well a shortcut doesnt explain this unless you went through these gentlemens back gardens or the like? No they say they have the rights to the alley and theres a toll. James rolled his eyes, one of the oldest bully tricks in the book. He looked up at the two men, both starting to turn blue in the face. He dropped them both only to re-wrap his tail around the mans chest, grab the front of the others clothing and yank them both back into the air. So you own the alleyway then? How much are you going to charge me then? Well now you see here, err, um, we dont really own it so much as weve been here the longest see? We can let it go if thats what you think is best. The man who tried to punch James stammered out. I didnt try and hit you! You can let me go! I dont even know whats going on here, he threatened me if I didnt help him! Whimpered the second man that was being held by the tail. James shook the second man in mid air to cut the whimpering out as the first man glared daggers at his companion. Well now if I understand it then theres no fee here, you owe this boy a refund, get your coin purse out. He stared the man in the eye until he reached into his dirty trousers for a purse. He took out an iron rank spirit coin and offered it to James, he shook his head and motioned at the boy and the crook gave him the coin. James shook him in mid air and he handed over a second. The boy picked up his bag from the ground and put the coins in, holding it protectively to his chest. Now, while I have your attention I want to make it very clear, unless you are working on behalf of the town, or in your private residences, or have evidence of ownership, the streets are not yours. Nod if you understand. Good. Im going to put you down and you can bugger off yeh? He released the men and they scarpered down the alley, running as if James was chasing them. He turned to the boy. Thank you sir, I dont know how much longer they were going to keep that up for. He tried to hand the purse to James who pushed it back. I dont have any way I can thankyou? Well if you know shortcuts maybe you can take me to the healer outpost? When he arrived with his guide he held out an arm and a crow hopped off a nearby wall onto it and he took an iron rank coin from its beak before sending it on. He paid the boy who was wide eyed in wonder before hurrying off, probably still hoping to meet Missy. James wasnt foolish and carried a bag of spending money, but he realised that even in this world magic was cool and showing off slightly would give the boy something to tell his friends. The outpost of the healer was little more that a one room square building with a curtain for a door. He felt a bronze rank aura inside and let a little of his own out to show his presence as he couldnt exactly knock on the curtain. A moment later a priest in the plain brown robes of the healer pulled back the curtain to greet him. Hello, can I help? Well I hope you can. I was after some help for a friend of mine. The man ushered James inside the empty abode and poured some water. There was an accident and the man has been left disabled. Oh we should be able to help him out if you bring him in, a few healing spells and a potion should sort him out. The man smiled trying to put James at ease. Well thats the problem, my sister-in-law is the team healer, shes tried everything she has and some healing shes researched, the man is silver rank. The easy smile on the mans face disappeared, it was obviously a face he put on to put patients and family at ease. The news that a silver ranker wasnt getting better even after magical healing put him into serious business face. He pulled out a scroll and started taking notes. Tell me everything. For around ten minutes James explained everything he could, he used the interface to read out the list that Kyra had said she had tried on the man and what she was going to continue to try in his absence. The man checked and double checked the circumstance in which they found the man and the assessment of him at the time. I cannot help you from here. I am the only healer for this town and my responsibility is here, I also think you need a specialist for this patient. You said you were willing to travel to Greenstone if you didnt find what you needed here? Good. Take these notes, take them to the temple of the healer in the divine square and Im confident they can help you. They stood and made their way to the entrance, finding outside a small queue of patients waiting for the healer, knowing that he was not to be disturbed when he had a patient. Also waiting outside were two guards for James. Roger and Devon both had business faces on and weapons drawn. Now then Mr Mitchell, come along quietly like and itll be easier for everyone. Come along or well have you! The impetuous Devon gestured with his sword. James had to admire the balls on the two of them, both normal rank, Roger had an essence he could sense but the hapless Devon had none, both willing to stand up to the nearly eight foot, iron rank, partially armoured James. He was confused and held his hands out wrists together. Im not sure whats going on but Ill go along, whats the problem? We dont have to tell you that. Devon exclaimed and reached forward and put a set of plain non-magic handcuffs on James. Roger looked uneasy at Devons aggression but didnt argue against his partner, they lead James down the street and into the town courthouse. Once they were inside they went into the back non-public area. James surprised Devon who was pulling him by the arm when he stopped and pulled his wrists apart with no effort, snapping the cuffs like paper and handing them to Devon before turning to Roger. Right then, I played nice, tell me whats going on. Roger gulped slightly, they were in an empty corridor with no one around. Sorry, that wasnt meant to be like that, the magistrate just wants a word, err, please follow me? He walked down the corridor and into the next, a couple of doors down they entered a big office. The two men from the alley were sat on a wooden bench next to the door with their heads bowed over their handcuffed hands. Roger, thankyou for finding our guest and asking him to join us. The magistrate said, standing and coming round his desk from where he was doing paperwork. Wasnt so much of an ask as a tell. James said. The magistrate frowned at that and looked to the guards. Roger winced and looked to Devon. Sorry Sir, the young one got a bit carried away, misunderstood the bring him in. The magistrate frowned at the younger guard who looked like he wanted to disappear into the floor. He turned to James and held out his hand to shake. Im sorry for any miss-handling Mr Mitchell. We wanted to invite you over to offer your testimony in the case these gentlemen have brought to my attention. Did you in fact accost them in the street, discrediting their reputation and causing bodily harm? James looked bewildered and amused. I would say some of that is true. There was one other person present so not public, I would say the reason it was not public was that they already had a shady reputation which was why they stuck to alleys and I absolutely did cause them some bodily discomfort, to stop them from causing bodily harm to another. As we thought, hence why Im sure you noticed they are both sat there cuffed. Between the pair of them there is not enough brainpower to power a glow lamp. They arrived not long ago to accuse you of assault and have you arrested, forgetting that they are both career criminals and we had intelligence on both of them in a number of cases. James turned to them and shook his head. Boys, I let you off easy, you didnt even get slapped about, why didnt you just let it go. The guards grabbed them by the cuffs and lead them out. Mr Mitchell, thankyou. There is no reward offered for them but is there anything I can do for you and for inconveniencing you in the street? No harm done, I just need to get to Greenstone as fast as I can. Well, lets see what we can do about that, We happen to keep a portal user on staff to facilitate communication with Greenstone. Not long after James found himself meeting a young looking bronze rank elf, he conjured a standard teleport portal to the main square in Greenstone, James said his thanks and stepped through. Standing in the middle of the square James tried to orientate himself to the temple of the healer. Chapter 28 ‘Hunted’ James left the temple of the healer. The meeting had gone well, the church was used to discreet matters and he had requested a private room to meet a priest, the Mitchells were still meant to be keeping a low profile in Greenstone until things cooled down and the seven foot man found it hard to keep a low profile. The church had read the scroll from Boko, asked James a few questions and double checked the location of the desert dwelling and then said they would send the right person as soon as they could. They gave him a few textbooks to take back to Kyra to aid her in the meantime. He had borrowed a travelling robe from the temple, he was picking long ginger hairs off it as it was previously a Leonid priests. He joined a supply cart that was leaving the temple heading out of town, sat on the back curled up in the cart he drew no attention. The cart was actually going in the direction he needed so he took the opportunity to take a ride while waiting for his Inner Beast power to come off cooldown. He spent his time chatting to the acolytes of the church of healing who were also slumming it in the back, the cart was on its way out of town to do the rounds in the local settlements. They were a cheerful bunch that enjoyed their work, they were telling him about the villages they were headed to and the kinds of people they met there. Both adventurers and healers enjoyed being welcomed to wherever they went, a side effect of either killing the monsters bothering people or taking care of the injuries caused by monsters. The healers got invited into the private lives of the the people though, the intimacy of healing them engendered a trust into the community that accepted the priests and acolytes as confidents. They arrived at the first village outside the city. They were warmly greeted by what looked like all the village coming out to see them. James wanted to get back as soon as possible to see the others but he got caught up in the joy of the Healers people turning up to the village. After a while he caught himself unloading crates into the village infirmary and figured why not, the specialist healer was making their own way, they had given tomes for Kyra but they said they would be of limited use until the priest got there, he was actually in no rush. He agreed to stay the night. The village rolled out trestle tables and big cooking spits, the church supplied the food and it was one big cookout. The next morning James agreed to help them out until halfway to the next village. The road curved and at the apex was the closest the cart could take him to his journey back. An hour or so after trundling out of the village he was mid conversation, a group of young pretty female acolytes were teaming up against one of the young men who had been flirted with all night by one of the older village women. I kept telling her shes got the wrong church, if she wants that kind of acolyte she need the church of fertility, or the church of lust the amount she was pushing. Oh come on, dont pretend you didnt enjoy the attention. They all fell about laughing at the young mans indignation. They all noticed however when James sat upright, scanning the brush at the side of the road on the path ahead intently. Shh, shh. Everyone shut up. James what can you see? Its what I cant, theres no wildlife to that area. All the area around that bog has no animals or creatures, but I cant sense anything in the water. They all looked, the wagon was about to roll right past the water ahead. So it stopped. Well its probably a safe bet theres a monster in there. He stood up and looked forward, one of the girls in the back of the wagon let out an involuntary squeal as a snake slithered out the top of James vambrace. It had the fluted ruffle down the top and blue and yellow markings, it tasted the air with its forked tongue and snaked around the armoured arm to pool in his hand. Before the wagon got to the bend with the bog. He flung his arm out and the snake flew through the air, hitting the middle of the pond. As it arced through the air it had spat flickers of electric. The pond erupted in chain lightning. The reeds at the edge blackened and smoked, a frog came to the surface convulsing; unhappily collateral. The main event appeared. Rising hissing from the water a giant eel with a great spiked mane. Its tongue snaked out, its eyes bulging with pain. James was satisfied with the first use of his new vambrace power. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] Effect (Lightning): For a high mana cost imbue attacks with an electric effect. Small chance of paralysis and ongoing muscle spasms. [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] [100 wing quintessence] [100 lightning quintessence] 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. Err Mr Mitchell? The leader of the expedition, a newly ranked up bronze on his first time leading the expedition. I dont think anyones got any real direct combat powers, I assume you have this under control? Yeh sure, I almost recognise what it is. One of the young men in the back piped up. Its a viper eel. Low lying swap dweller. High end iron monster, high stealth very good at aura masking you may have noticed that already. Strengths are stealth and high attack. Weakness are low health and vulnerable to poison. Everyone looked at him. I have an eidetic memory, comes in handy for monster cataloguing. James shrugged and turned back to the monster in the pond. Doesnt like poison eh? He immediately started throwing hand over hand, snakes flying through the air. The eel thrashed, most of the snakes hit and caused damage before puffing into rainbow smoke, others latched on causing the poison damage, he even managed to throw another lightning imbued snake to tie up the monster in muscle spasms.He hopped off the cart which bounced quite a lot on its suspension now his weight was off. He released Koda to play with the big eel. As he walked out he got bombarded by messages. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. You are in the area of an allies [Cleansing wind] aura. Your [Spirit] attribute has been increased. Your base health and health regeneration have been increased. You are in the area of an allies [Verdant growth] aura. Your [Power] attribute has been increased. You are in the area of an allies [Healers breath] aura. Your health and mana regeneration are increased. You are in the area of an allies [Bezoar stone] aura. Your resistance to poison is increased. You are in the area of an allies [Karmic drain] aura. Attacks made on you by the enemy will drain a portion of their health to bestow upon you. You are in the area of an allies [Snow wellspring] aura. Your attacks may be boosted by freezing damage. You receive ongoing mild healing. You are in the area of an allies [Cleansing wind] aura. Your [Spirit] attribute has been increased. Your base health and health regeneration have been increased. He had the overlapping auras of all of the occupants of the cart. Thats a lot of healing based auras. He muttered to himself. By the time he got to the monster it was already not looking well from the poison and the repeated shocks of lightning. He and Koda traded off diving in and distracting the monster while the other took hits at it. Between Kodas huge claws and James bleeding and slashing effect from his vambrace they carved chunks off the monster. As the fight was winding down and the end was inevitable James became curious about the overlapping auras, he let the monster catch him, its huge jaws and long teeth biting into his upper left arm. He kept an eye on his interface and saw that his health barely moved, he could see the jaws in his arm but his health remained completely topped off. He gave the monster one more blow to the head and it was done. As the monster fell away he was hit with four different healing spells from the cart. When he headed back to the cart with the rainbow smoke disappearing behind him the others wanted to know about his lightning powers, they had got to know him over the previous day and knew he had animal based powers. He showed them the design on the back of the vambrace, the section just above the elbow where the lightning had struck him. The lighting web damage had been worked into the image of a severe looking bird, it looked fierce, everything about it was spiky, the wings were un-aerodynamic in the amount they pointed all the way around. Even the birds head was spiky with triangular eyes and a long sharp beak. It was posed in front of the lightning damage and the bird had zig-zag lightning coming from the tip of each wing. The main body of the bird was made up of Charlies signature fourth stage crystal as a silvery-blue inlay. He said goodbye to the healing expedition as they carried on, now slightly worried about them knowing they had no fighters, he consoled himself that with so many healing powers amongst them they could probably poke a monster to death eventually without any of them dying. He had shown off a little as they left, using his Inner Beast power to transform into the huge Thunderbird again to cover the distance back. He rose into the air and climbed as high and as fast as he could. He winged his way over the thick delta, heading away from the roads to cut cross country, his animalistic mind not worrying about the remoteness of his journey. As it turns out, that should have been a concern. After an hour or so he was smashed from the air by something much larger than himself. As he was already a huge bird of prey he couldnt understand what had hit him from above. Although his Thunderbird transformation looked impressive it was still only an iron rank power, so as much as it looked powerful it was like picking up a badass mini gun to find out it shot air rifle pellets. He raced to the ground, injured and barely in control, he felt the aura of the thing that attacked him only as it was upon him and he felt how strong it was, it was definitely bronze rank, maybe even silver. As he understood instinctively the natural order of prey and predator he knew this was something that he did not want to fight, he just needed to run. He was hit twice again on the way down, the second time he had to give up his animal form to shrink out of the grip the deadly talons had on him. For the second time in two days he was in free fall, this time towards the dense delta. He flipped on his back in controlled descent to see what it was coming for him. It looked like a ginormous Pterodactyl with four wings, two on each side, its maw was wide with multiple rows of teeth, it had powerful back legs and short arms sat underneath the wings that looked too small to be useful for anything. He flung a few snakes the monsters way and flipped back over scanning the canopy of the trees to see where he was landing. He hit the gap in the trees he was aiming for, his prehensile tail wrapping around a tree limb to catch him and slow him, turning his fall into forward momentum as he went straight into a run. The tree he had used exploded with the force of the monster hitting it. The behemoth tucked its wings and did its best to follow James. He was running for his life, jumping logs and ducking branches. The powerful monster smashed through it all, so intent on the chase. As the hunted, James didnt want to waste any time trying to fight, he was injured from their clash already, he darent release Koda, he wouldnt even the odds and he wouldnt be able to keep up. He could see the trails the smaller animals used, the most efficient way through the dense vegetation. Every now and then the monster would take to the skies, make up the lost ground between them and strike like a thunderbolt, there were some very narrow misses and James was becoming more hurt than he had time to heal. He used every trick he knew how to keep ahead and evade the creature who showed no sign of giving up, his mana was running low from multiple animagus transformations to take advantage of the environment, his stamina was running low from the constant chase and his health was slowly dropping over the now hours long chase. He didnt know where he was running to as he didnt know where he was or what was near at this point, he was just steadily running in the same direction. A few hours later he was getting desperate, he had started taking potions to try and stay ahead and the monster still kept up, his stamina was bouncing off empty and he had no mana left. He had finally found a small undercrop of rock to hide under for a moment to get his breath back, he knew he couldnt stay as the predator would find him. He had no idea what to do, he looked at his interface wishing that he could communicate with his wife, even just to say goodbye at this point. He knew he needed to go run again but the false security of his little shelter was a fantasy he longed to have. Planning his next run he felt something surge within him, blue-grey light, the shade of iron rank started to light up within him. Shit. That was all he needed, waving aside the interface notification he heard the screech as the monster saw where he was. He dove from his cover, coming neatly out of his roll onto his feet. He almost made it, the bank he had been hiding under exploded as the monster hit it, great clumps of earth and stone clobbered James from behind knocking him back down to the ground. He crawled forward, not having the energy to get up, the interface nagged at him, pushing the message in front of him again. Outworlder racial ability [One with Nature] has evolved to [Staff of the Everglades]. Ability: [Staff of the Everglades] Transfigured from [Outworlder] ability [One with Nature] Place a staff that conjures an everglade around you. Anyone that is not invited to the glade will not be able to perceive either it or you, subtle illusion magic will direct them around the glade. Health and mana regeneration is increased in the glade. The Staff of the Everglades is only available once per day. Racial gift evolution was triggered by dramatic or traumatic events. Being the closest he ever thought he was to dying this definitely counted James thought. He unconsciously knew how to use the power and hearing the monster thrashing in the mud trying to extricate itself he used the power for the first time. A pale green marble staff seemed to grow from within his hand, reaching the height of James standing up it was wrapped in vines and leaves up and down, it was capped either end with dark jade orbs. From his position lying where he fell he pushed one end into the ground. Immediately radiating from the staff a glade formed around him, stretching maybe twenty feet in radius. The nature of the grass and the trees had changed, trees ringed the space that werent there before, the sounds were dulled and it seemed peaceful. He could hear and see out of the glade but it was as if a mist were between the two. He could just sit up and place his back against the staff in the centre. He watched as the monster got itself free of the ground and looked around, seeing the tracks James had made in his attempt to flee. The monster leapt, James knew he was going to die as it came straight towards him, then sailed over the glade, it carried on, crashing through the delta looking for him. The relief and exhaustion caused James to black out. When he came to his back had rolled off the staff in the centre of the glade. He sat up again and breathed. The monster had gone, in the dusky twilight he couldnt hear or see anything outside his little protected zone. He released Koda for company as he was feeling vulnerable in his near death escape. He noticed that he had recovered quite a lot in his time unconscious and felt well enough to take a stroll around the glade. Now that he looked he saw all types of small animals all over the glade, while he was keeping an eye out for all the different creatures he saw his stuff. All of his items that he had in storage were all over the glade, under logs and between rocks, some old armour that didnt resize with him he hadnt sold yet was stacked against a tree. He realised that this racial gift must be linked to his ridiculously named Princess power. Teddy had literally fallen over laughing at the name when he saw it on the interface. The mechanism of having animals bring him his items was reminiscent of Snow White being brought things by woodland creatures, but for an alien operating system to recognise this and name the racial gift after it was hilarious. He restocked his potions that he kept on his person for combat and settled back near the staff. There was a large rock that had two slabs stacked against it covered in a deep, soft springy moss that looked suspiciously like a chair. He sat in it and looked over his interface. His stamina had mostly come back, as had his mana. His health was the slowest to climb back and so he activated his Shaman power, all the animals that had been minding their own business around the glade burst into action, all kinds of creatures suddenly bringing leaves to lay around James in a circle. When he fed blue mana into the bottom of the circle red health came swirling out of the top. He spent his time in the summon circle meditating whilst topping of his health. When he was fully recovered he went to pull the staff and found that with all his prodigious strength it wouldnt budge. Seeing no instructions on what to do he shrugged and left the staff in the ground, he walked to the edge and steeled himself and stepped out. Looking back he could feel the glade was still there but could only see the delta. He reached a hand back and as it crossed the threshold he could see the whole glade again. He checked and double checked around him but the monster had moved on. He climbed a tree and got his bearings. Hitting the floor he used his Inner Beast power to transform into the sabre tooth tiger he has used before to reach the magic anomaly battle. He felt much more secure covering ground on foot until he was sure he was away from the predator. Two days later he was running on foot, the Inner Beast power was on cooldown and he was still making good progress. He was now running on sand having made his way out of the thick delta and felt he was on the home stretch. When his power came off cooldown he transformed into a small neat falcon, keeping unobtrusive and fast he sped along the desert. He came into range of the others on the interface at the same time Lechuza joined him as a wing mate. Chapter 29 ‘Barbaric healing’ Lucy and James hadnt come out of the patch of desert they had disappeared into for over a day. James said something about a glade and he was very happy to see everyone then dragged Lucy into a shimmering haze and disappeared. They had both set their status to Do not disturb on the interface. Kyra, Teddy and Charlie accepted that they were going to be cloistered away a while. Teddy and Charlie did as much as they could on the project but there wasnt as much Teddy could do without Lucy. He was receiving an education in artifice that others in the world would pay a small fortune for, the fourth-stage-crystal was a tricky material to work with, not worth the effort and expense for many crafters. He had started making his own tools to manipulate the material and they had met Charlies satisfaction. There was an immense satisfaction to working on the vehicle and learning the craft. The learning curve since coming to the new world had been intense and they had learnt a lot about magic and fighting, the academy annex had kept that curve going, only now that he was learning something different did Teddy realise they had been solidly learning about how to take monsters and people apart, he was finally learning how to put something together. In the others absence Teddy and Kyra taught Charlie how to play blackjack with their earth cards. He was obsessed with the game and they wondered if this new world had casinos, if it did then Charlie had to stay as far away from them as he could. They were mid game when Teddys errant brother and his wife came down the stairs. They looked surprised to see the massive pile of coins on the table in front of the adventurers and the small stack of fourth stage crystal in front of the craftsman. Hit me. The short man said. Almost bouncing in his seat. Kyra turned over a card, the two of hearts. Hit me! His eyes going wide with excitement. Kyra turned over the next card, the king of spades. Charlie thumped his cards down rocking back in his chair his hand on his face. They saw he had been holding a five of clubs and a six of hearts. Kyra smiled with relief, they all stood up and she pulled out a pocket mirror to take everything on the table. Uh, hi guys. James said after clearing his throat, holding his wifes hand like he was never going to let go. Can we chat? This is a sit down with a cup of tea chat. They sat down around the low table and James talked them through what had happened to him. They were shocked and worried for him at how close to death he had come. Whilst he was talking about it they saw him taking strength from Lucy as she sat and leant against him. And that flash is what made it find me. It was always going to find me, I dont know what my plan was at that point. It was hard trying to decide what to do next. Turns out it was a racial gift transfiguration. Thats the only reason Im here. He pulled it up on the group interface. James Mitchell Racial abilities (Outworlder) Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation - including animals Princess power - storage Staff of the Everglades Ability: [Staff of the Everglades] Transfigured from [Outworlder] ability [One with Nature] Place a staff that conjures an everglade around you. Anyone that is not invited to the glade will not be able to perceive either it or you, subtle illusion magic will direct them around the glade. Health and mana regeneration is increased in the glade. The Staff of the Everglades is only available once per day. And thats where I hid from the monster. You know that instinctive feeling when youre using a power? Well I could feel the monsters attention coming round, I knew it wouldnt work with it looking straight at me. The pressure of trying to use it before it unburied itself was terrifying. The pressure like Crash Bandicoot trying to jump a pile of lava before the dinosaur runs him down. Teddy said wisely nodding. James gave him a small smile, not quite ready to smile completely but grateful his brother was trying to make him feel better. They sat and talked for a while, they got through two pots of tea in the time it took for everything to be said about the nightmare run back. Just as they were washing out the few cups and pot the lights started to flash. They dimmed then strobed red angrily, they flashed once red then silver then back to red. What the?! Teddy exclaimed, confused that this was the first time it had happened in the weeks they had been there. Not to worry, not to worry. I went an got the early warning back up after the big crash, one red flash is essence user, silver is, well, silver obviously. How far out is it? About halfway to Boko in radius, silver ranker travelling normal fast maybe an hour. If they have silver rank transport then any minute. Any chance the early warning also came with any sort of defence? Not to worry, any silver ranker coming out this way is after me, my works good enough I dont attract that may enemies, cool your boots. His hover chair floated up the stairs to the outside, as the others hadnt been invited they stayed downstairs in the workshop. Not long after the chair came back down the stairs accompanied by an older looking elf. They felt the politely restrained silver rank aura and wondered how old she must be to overcome the age defying beauty of silver rank. Mitchells this is Priestess Shaniva, Priestess this is James, Lucy, Kyra and Theodore. Does anyone want to tell me why there is a priestess of the healer here? [Ah, hadnt actually planned this bit out if Im honest.] Kyra put up on the interface, she was hoping that someone would have a good idea. The priestess picked up on the blank faces of the Mitchells and interjected on their behalf. Well hello all. My god has sent me this way because he has seen that there is a rare case that will develop our understanding of advanced healing techniques, while not a part of his church Mrs Kyra Mitchell has a special place under the gaze of my gods watchful eye. He of course told me that they were here. Eh, so you recken yer ere for me? You tell me Mr Efkycharkzshyn, have you ever seen a silver ranker that was in a position such as yours? Cant say I rightly have if Im honest. You reckon you can do more than young Mrs Mitchell over there then? Mrs Mitchell has been doing an admirable job and is having real results. However she has only been in this world a short while and her education is ever expanding. Part of why I am here is to guide her in your healing. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. All right then, save Ive not really got a space for you yah see, gonna be a bit o a squeeze. Well Ive been meaning to ask you about that Charlie. Kyra chipped in, I hesitate to ask as its your home and you said multiple times that simplicity is key to your thinking process but I can easily earth shape a few more rooms off this main hall? Saves us having to share in the middle like this, and get some privacy. Aye, I can acquiesce to that I guess, aint got too much longer on the project but its no skin offn my nose if you and yours want to be more comfy. Lucy shuffled in her seat a little and squeezed James hand. We can make it simpler also, James and I were talking and we were going to spend some time together in the glade, its safe enough from anything our rank and most bronze rank threats, if anything else comes up then the warning system down here will go off and you can warn us? So that was dimensional magic I felt upstairs then, beware, if I actively tried it would not have been hard for me to find and to break into your iron rank magic. Shaniva said. James and Lucy looked at each other, still holding hands. There was a tender moment and they all realised that for how much time they had spent together in this new world; no one having to go to work in different places or obligations of family or old friends, they had been struggling to find time for their significant others. The lack of privacy afforded to them with the interface, sharing lodgings, constant camping when everyone had highly sensitive senses. James and Lucy had found the glade to be a restful break from the rest of the world where they felt truly alone together. James backed up his wife. We understand, well be just upstairs, the glade has a kind of sentience so if you come near it I will know and well be out in moments. Teddy and Lucy were continuing their work. Unassisted they could create the large panels required for the superstructure of the vehicle. It was a mechanical rhythm of Teddy using his super speed and accuracy to beat the magic that Lucy was producing into the crystal. James sat nearby leant up against a sleeping Koda meditating. He blamed himself for not being more disciplined with himself in his meditation. Every good adventurer consolidated their experience by meditating in order to progress through ranks, for James however it was more than that, his Hibernation power allowed him to accrue stacking instances of Integrity when he meditated which increased his healing speed and mana accumulation, when he had run from the monster he had almost none in the bank, it was a mindset shift to now always make sure that he had the maximum available to him, he had got used to being able to choose his time for combat and had realised that this was a lazy mindset and combat could come at any moment. Kyra was in Charlies quarters off the main hall with the priestess Shaniva. They had Charlie undress to his underwear and lie in an incredibly complicated ritual circle that Shaniva had drawn. As he lay there and she fed in a coin to activate it they saw what looked like a hologram raise out of his body and rest around a foot above him. From secondary school biology back in her world Kyra had seen the models of the human body that had been drawn on computer that were stripped down to the veins, arteries, bones and brain. This ritual reminded her of that, the brain mass was somewhere in the middle and the veins and arteries were swirling mist-like branches rather than set smooth lines. The effect was vivid and healthy, the swirls moved from the mass in the centre as if it was a rather large heart and it radiated out. There was a stark contract to when the lines of mist got to Charlies legs. The thick mist branches just stopped, there were some tiny wisps tendrils that looked like they were trying to go where they should but they lacked the robust strength of the rest. What you are seeing is a representation of the magical matrix of the body. How much do you know about the process our bodies go through as we rank up and how they respond to injuries? I looked into it a fair amount, I was interested from a point of view that my family and team here are all outworlders and we jumped the gun slightly in terms of the magical process through the ranks. My understanding is that at each major threshold in advancement our bodies become more magical and less fleshy. Traditional circulation and organs become less important, the framework, which were seeing in front of us, is from the soul. Is that his soul we can see there? No that is merely a representation made by the ritual to deduce whether or not it is damaged and in good health. If the soul has health does that mean you can attack peoples souls?! No She paused, cocking her head as if listening to something Kyra couldnt hear. This is not information we share with the majority of essence users, silver rank may start to get some inclination, not really at bronze rank and certainly not at iron rank. She took a deep breath. But my god has assured me that you are safe to know this information, a case that puts me in a position between my church and the adventure and magic societies. Soul attacks are amongst the most malevolent, abhorrent and heinous things you can do to a person. The soul is inviolable. Fact. It cannot be pierced by another, but they can hold it to siege and make it almost worse than death to force a person to give their very soul to make it stop. Most damage that we know to the soul comes from significant events. Tell me, do you have any scars on you? Yes I have a scar on my leg here where I ran through a glass door as a child. Kyra lifted the leg of her training Gi they all pretty much lived in when not out adventuring, she was surprised to see her leg completely unblemished. How have I not noticed that not being there? Shaniva smiled You are aware of the process for how outworlders re-constitute? Your soul travelled through the astral from your world to here, your body was annihilated in your world and you used magic from your entrance to this world to form a new body, how did it know to form the body the way you knew it? I dont know? Like the way your skin cells know to replace themselves from your DNA? Shaniva looked curious, taken off guard from her lesson by the information that she had never heard of. Never mind! This strays into territory we were warned of by Knowledge not to mess with. You received a personal warning from the goddess Knowledge? We shall leave it then. But it sounds similar, your soul contains the blueprint for your body, in yours and your kins case this meant completely rebuilding a body, in most peoples cases it means that their souls know how to repair their bodies and magic allows it to happen. She motioned to the matrix above Charlie as she pressed hard on his hand, Charlie had been put to sleep by a powerful healing potion and didnt react but the hologram effect did. You see the small swirl of activity? She took a small slim knife from her belt and punched it through the hand she had been prodding, this time Charlies eyes darted around behind his eyelids but he did not wake. Kyra moved to intervene if Shaniva went to stab the sleeping man again. Not to worry, it is a teaching point, look how the matrix is completely unblemished? His silver rank healing will make it as if it never happened, the damage is simply too small. It takes an incredibly significant event, a near death experience to truly mark the soul, which in turn creates a physical manifestation of the damage, a faulty construct from a faulty blueprint. The explosion, cave in and subsequent trapping was enough to leave a scar on Charlies soul then? Yes, the explosion sounds like it would cause significant damage to a silver ranker from my conversation with Mr Efkycharkzshyn, the cave in caused damage to his legs while his body was fighting the damage from the explosion, the amount of time he was trapped, magic starved and unconscious meant that his body went through a kind of triage and sacrifice the magic required to sustain the magical matrix that supported the most damaged part of his body; his legs, in order to save the whole. And the magical matrix is governed by the blueprint from the soul? Yes. The soul that is inviolable. Yes. The inviolable soul that supports the matrix that supports the legs that we are trying to heal? Oh Im so glad you are a quick study. Shaniva now had a small coy smile on her face. Well Im assuming by your slightly smug confidence that there is a way to heal him without trying magical torture to get in his soul? The smile left Shanivas face at the idea of magical torture. Think of it as extensive rehabilitation, you have been going along the right lines to trying to heal him but there is some elements you are missing, we need to re-teach his soul to support his legs. Gently coerce the soul rather than break in then. Almost, but with some force. She took the knife and slashed it halfway through his foot from top to bottom. Charlie didnt even stir. Now heal that Mrs Mitchell if you please. Kyra had already been prepared to launch a life bolt, it took several bolts to heal the foot, the knife was silver rank, being wielded by a silver ranker to do that much damage, her iron rank spells took quite a workout to repair the damage. By continually healing damage to the unsupported parts of Mr Efkycharkzshyn we will be re-teaching his soul that it needs to support those areas, they are still attached, biologically and magically supported, the framework just needs pulling down to cover them again. It will be sped up by conducting this whilst he is awake. Like putting and amputee up against a mirror to treat phantom pain in the arm no longer attached. Kyra stated. Shaniva tilted her head in puzzlement. What barbaric healing did you have in your world? Why wouldnt you just re-attach the arm? Kyra raised an eyebrow, looking from Shaniva, to the knife still in her hand and to Charlies foot and back. Because we dont have magic healing. Shaniva shut down the spell and for decency dressed Charlie. They put him on his bed and left the room to see the others. Some time later a groggy Charlie bumped his chair into the door as he made his way out. He found Shaniva wrestling with James, Teddy and Lucy still at the workbench and Kyra making huge holes in the wall of his underground home. Its like no one respects the fact that I came all the way out to the desert an dug a cave to be by meself. May I remind you Mr Efkycharkzshyn that your isolation is partly to blame for your current condition. Shaniva called out, she had James in a headlock that he was trying to work his way out of, his face had gone bright red under his beard with the effort as she looked perfectly relaxed. Yeh well, all right. But call meh Charlie, Im getting used to it. Chapter 30 ‘Better than a campervan’ Kyra sat with Shaniva as Charlie concentrated on his ankle, he used a long pin to poke deep into his skin. As he kept staring at the same spot, unflinching throughout the whole process Kyra sent a healing bolt into it. The process was a strange blend of meditation, training and self flagellation. They keep the brutality to a minimum, not wanting to cause metal scarring by forcing Charlie to mutilate himself regularly just to be healed by Kyra. Shaniva had brought the pin from her bag for him to use, Kyra neglected to mention that the priestess had almost severed Charlies foot to make a point. The priestess had even thought ahead and provided a pinwheel for when Charlie got feeling back in his legs to continue the rehabilitation further. Kyra still felt an incredible amount of pressure to continue her work but felt a huge relief that she had the silver rank priestess of healing there to guide her. As the healing was a process and not a one stop shop for the silver rank woman she let Kyra continue to do the hands on healing and acted more of a coach. Kyra now understood why the progress had been so slow. Healing the silver rank man had been a tough challenge that she had put down to the incredible depths that silver rankers health reserves reached that she, as an iron ranker felt like a child with a water pistol trying to fill a swimming pool. The revelation that the healing was even slower due to the fact that her magic was having to provide not only the healing magic but the structure that would normally be provided by the bodys own natural magical matrix had both been a relief that there was a reason why it was taking so long and a mild panic that there was so far to go. She thought of it like boulder she was rolling up the hill, it was still just as heavy, but she could now see around it she could see how far she still had to push. After a week of the new treatment they had repeated the ritual to see the magical matrix and had seen some tentative but marked improvement on the legs. The vehicle project was nearly done and James had stopped asking Shaniva to spar with him. Its not right that a priestess of the healer should fight that well. I have almost no offensive combat powers, so I have devoted a lot of my time to the open hand. And, you know, silver rank power. Humph, seems like cheating. No James. Teddy said, coming down the stairs from outside. Cheating is being iron rank with a silver rank item that you can use. Its not silver rank. James said quickly, looking worried at Shaniva, the outsider to the group, he was very protective of his Vambrace. It just appears to be like a small silver rank power thats part of the item, definitely isnt silver rank, its just a regular, soul-bound object. I see. Shaniva said, unconvinced. I believe you, its not like I am two ranks above you and can clearly see the conflict in your aura. She said sarcastically. Teddy had been out hunting. Towards the end of the project he had been needed less and less. Charlie had been working closely with Lucy to teach her the finer points on control nodes and interlinking systems. He had taken to heading out just before dark and coming back sometime mid morning. Staying mostly just within interface range, and if he wasnt then Lucy used Lechuza to the limit of her range to act as a go-between. Well Ive absolutely got enough sand quintessence to power my boots to probably walk across the desert indefinitely. Teddy said. Reaching high he made an unzipping motion in the air making a rift, he reached inside and suddenly sand quintessence fell out in a torrent. It looked like magnified grains of sand falling through the portal. Faster than the eye could follow he sealed the rift leading to his personal storage and opened another at floor level, catching all the falling quintessence. James narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his massive arms over his barrel chest and leant back. And how long did it take you to think of that particular slight of hand trick? Teddy winced slightly. Yeh maybe I practiced a bit in the desert where no one could see me, cool trick though right? Yeh not bad to be honest, how much time did you waste on that? Oh lots, theres not really enough monsters nearby to keep busy. He opened the rift at the top again and caught it at the bottom, moving back to the top he opened it again, the circular motion was almost too fast to track with the eye and it looked like a continuous fall of sand. By this point everyone was watching. You wasted hella lot of time on that then. Well what did I miss here then? Well yer almost missed the whole point in all eh yeh all bein here. Charlie piped up. Its finished?! Teddy ran over to the workbench to look over the scattered crystal. Aye, we jus need to tidy up here and there and put it together. It gets a bit delicate from here. Unfortunately seems Ill need you an Ms Lucy to do the work while we are all outside. Seems like you just dont want to blow up again? Charlie laughed. Its almost guaranteed to blow up if I stay down here, youll need to balance the ambient magic as best you can and my chair causes a wake in the magic. Ill talk you through it and wait upstairs with the others, youn Ms Luce take your time, Its nothing you aint capable of. They filed out leaving Charlie, Teddy and Lucy downstairs. Charlie met them up top and James took them through to the glade to wait for the others to complete their work. The silver rankers had seen such things before and were only mildly impressed. Kyra on the other hand was staggered by the effect, she ran in and out, seeing the bright, rocky, barren desert in one step and suddenly lush green grass and strong wide trees with a small stream trickling through the middle and small animals busying about. The trees at the sides of the small glade were strung with curtains of hanging moss and hammocks of vines between. The moss covered rocks were set in a circle in the middle like a seating area for a camp site, a beetle that looked much like a dung beetle from Earth but knee high and covered in thick grey plates was rolling the last boulder in place to finish the seating area. The group all just stood and stared as it finessed the position then leisurely scuttled away. They all turned to James. Theyre not exactly palace staff but they get the job done. He said and shrugged. They settled in for a long wait, Charlie had warned them that it could take a day or more. Charlie had great delight in teaching Shaniva all the card games the Mitchells had taught him and the four of them spent hours wiling away the time. When the sky above the glade went to a dusky orange glow they took food from storage to eat, James had his delivered in a leaf wrapped bundle by a lama-looking creature with an elephant-like nose with patterns like a giraffe. I guess that makes sense. Kyra said. The nose gives it the reach to be like a giraffe. Whats a giraffe? Shaniva asked and Kyra changed the subject from talking about earth to talking about all the new animals they had seen since arriving. Kyra, Shaniva and Charlie went to one of the larger areas to go through Charlies treatment, he was tired after so he stayed where he was. Shaniva sat with him to chat, she was going to be staying with him for a while to continue the treatment that Kyra had started. Kyra went over to sit with James joining him in meditation. This is pretty amazing what you have here. Out of every amazing thing weve seen and the places weve already been this is right up there with the best, and, its all yours. James was still cross legged with his eyes closed, completely relaxed. A small smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. Ive got to say, when I saw that description of my storage power compared to yours I was disappointed. Princess Power, the interface; whatever its powered by has a weird sense of humour. But this, this is pretty damn nice. He leant back and put his hands behind his head as a large mole, twice the size of a normal one pushed the earth up from underneath, forming a mound behind his back for him to lean on, the mole then dove into the earth again. James opened his eyes, the small smile disappearing and stared into space. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. I do think though, the price I had to almost pay to get this privilege Kyra reached out and put a hand on his vambraced arm. Almost had to pay, you made it. Take the gift and the lessons and move on. You think its that easy? I almost lost my life out there, this amazing place reminds me how close I came to really becoming one with nature. Kyra shocked him by punching the vambrace hard. Come on! You came close, you didnt die. Youre not going to die, look how badass youre becoming! You have everything going for you to not die, just continue not dying. James waited a beat, chewing the words over. You suck at this. I mean, weirdly it helps but didnt you take a module on mental health at the academy? Yeh I never think of those things when I talk to you guys. Dude, are you ok? Do you need to talk to someone seriously? No, I think Im just still in shock. Ill be fine, Lucy and I thrashed it out. Eww. No, not like that, a little like that, no. We talked, a lot. Then sparring and meditation. Im going to be fine, just feeling the mortality, it doesnt have to be a bad thing. A healthy outlook really. Just keep talking, keep moving, the team is doing really well and were here for you if you want me to stab something in the face or talk. She got up and moved over to one of the hammocks to turn in for the night. James sat and watched the birds dance in the twilight before heading to his own hammock, they had all talked about taking a slow long contract to relax on their new toy and he was looking forward to the peace of killing lots of monsters. Teddy and Lucy were having a nightmare. Charlie had given them a speech rather than instructions about how to put it together. Hed talked crap about discovery learning and owning the future of their skills and truly understanding the craft they were going to own and would shelter them in the future. Both of them had agreed it was pure bull. All they wanted was to finish the project with his help, they understood how rare and expensive the materials were that they were working with and manipulating it on their limited experience was stressful. No the internal resonance module gets connected to that coupling, the external resonance module gets put over there by the main section. Lucy said, stopping Teddy in his tracks as he was walking carrying a large section of crystal. But this is the coupling that leads to the external amenities? Yes it is, which is why this accessory section is attached, the external resonance module has to be in the main section then feeds through. Teddy looked at her in exasperation. No instructions, no blueprints, we have to build it in sections as it wont fit all together down here. Fun, fun, fun. He carried the heavy section back over to the main collection of crystal pieces. Between them they put it together and shrunk it down before moving onto the next piece. The next day James felt a presence outside the glade. Lucy knew where it was but could not see it or enter. He roused the others and they made their way out to see the others. They both had a manic intensity, even through their essence user stamina they could see how tired they were. They had obviously spent all night working on it but their auras were sloppy with tiredness and they could feel the excited buzz in them. Finished? James asked. Finished. Teddy smiled back. How does it look? Kyra asked. No idea, we had to put it together in sections, its too big to put together downstairs, well all be seeing it for the first time together. Kyra nudged James and they moved to a suspiciously flat section of the desert. James used his wing sweep special attack and put a lot of power into it, the kaleidoscope of metallic hues that followed the ethereal wing shimmered in the air. The sand blasted away revealing a worked stone floor. A little stage for the exposition. Kyra motioned with one arm. Teddy walked forward and put a hand into a fold of his training gi that they all frequently wore, he pulled out a model of the vehicle that was the length of his forearm. Where the hell did you pull that from? James asked. From my storage power obviously? The dimensional rift storage power, that tears apart the material of this world if it comes into contact? Well I thought I could be less obvious about using it in the future? Just how much time did you spend in the desert coming up with tricks with that power? Teddy ignored him and put the model down in the middle of the flat area, pressed a finger against the top of it and stepped back. The model was suddenly unrecognisable, crystal sheets unfolded from the middle, over and over again like an automatic origami model unfolding. The sections got larger and larger as they unfolded, ridiculously more material coming out than the model could hold. As it got big enough giant wheels started thumping out one after the other. The unfolding started to inflate and the structure took shape, it swelled to tower over the group. Thats, thats huge. Much better than a campervan. James looked shocked, trying to take it in. How long is it? Tip to tail or is it bow to stern? Teddy walked up and tapped the wheels that were taller than he was, James could only just look over them into the lower windows. Do you know how hard it was to make a composite that was like rubber? The whole tyre and gearing concept was kind of a struggle for Charlie to wrap his head around. The tyres werent actually attached to the vehicle, they floated in place as if they were magnetic and as the transformation had finished the vehicle softly bounced on the magic suspension before settling. The land pleasure yacht was two stories high, sleek dark windows completely blocked anyone seeing inside. The top deck had a covered driving area with a large seating area behind. The group walked down the length of the dark crystal to the back where it had a dropped back to allow access. A staircase was in front of double doors. Teddy walked forward, dramatically turned to the group before whipping around and theatrically throwing open both doors. Except they didnt, he was clinging on to the doors when they budged sideways slightly. Err, theyre sliding doors then. Didnt you just build this? James asked sceptically. In pieces, in a cave, be more impressed. They all stepped in to see the bottom deck. There were four spacious bedrooms, they opened one of the rooms up to look in. All the furniture was shades of crystal, they opened different cupboards to discover they were mostly dimensional storage. Each room had en suite storage and bathroom. So the whole boat, craft, vehicle, we need to work it out what were calling this. Anyway, its all based on aura access, so we can access and invite people to the majority of the ship, we have the two front rooms that are aura locked to each couple. Lucy said, giving the finer points of the tour. They made their way up a narrow internal staircase to the next floor into a large living area. Large windows gave a surprisingly clear view out to the desert around them, the tint on the outside had been so dark it looked black, inside the view was unobstructed. The front of the middle deck had seating areas to make best use of the views. There was a large kitchenette with a bar to sit at and eat, at the end of the bar was a well appointed drinks cabinet that was currently empty. The rear of the living area had a large table in the centre and surrounded on the edges of the room with plush leather sofas. Everything was made to an incredibly high finish, they could smell the new leather and the different shades of crystal that made up the walls, floors, table and cabinets made everything look brand new and shiny. They met Charlie at the back as the whole rear section opened and he had floated his chair up, not able to make it up the narrow staircase from the bedrooms. They made their way out over the back and up the two staircases on either side, Charlie simply floating his chair up to the top deck. There was another plush seating area that was at the back with plenty of room, in front of that was the drivers bridge that Teddy walked into, there was an overhanging roof that swept backwards, as he gently stroked the underneath towards the back it started to unfold as it had during the set up and the shade covering expanded to cover the entire back of the boat and made walls. When it was done he did the opposite and it opened up again to give a clear area. There was space around the drivers bridge to walk around and there was cushioned benches out front to sit on. So its locked to our auras, as long as all of us dont go through a radical shift all at the same time then we can adjust whos aura imprint itll recognise. Only we can drive or operate any of the systems unless we grant someone else access. Teddy explained. Operate the systems? What kind of systems does it have? Kyra asked. Oh you know, the usual, adaptive cruise control, air conditioning, media suite, active camouflage Active camouflage? James interrupted. Teddy hit a lever on the console and the top deck was suddenly covered in ripples of tiny squares flipping over to show the colour of the sand beneath the vehicle. One of many tricks. It has its drawbacks, it will dampen the aura of anyone on board but higher ranks are higher ranks, theres no guarantee that it will hide us, and does nothing with the tracks we leave behind from the wheels. About those, how long will we have to use them? Kyra asked. Lucy was the expert on the magical functions of the ship so she answered. We dont have to use them now, the cost just becomes exorbitant if we decide not to, remember that Charlies clients arent the penny pinching type, they come to him knowing that theyre expensive to run and they dont care. The wheels slash our costs by at least four fifths. When we rank up and make more money and go to higher magic density areas the cheaper it will be. I also get a bonus to using the systems on board due to my essence powers for using magical items. Teddy sat in the spinning captains chair and spun it from the controls to face the others standing on the back of the top deck. And its all ours, pretty sweet right? For once no one had any smart quips and decided to go about exploring the vehicle. Charlie shook hands with Lucy and Teddy and congratulated them on their job of putting it together, they talked about the differences that he would have made and how he would have done bits differently but he never put them down and said he could do it better. Well its a fine craft an Ive not an issue with putting my stamp to it. With what yeh both learned here and the crystal youve won offn me you should be able to tinker and adapt this for a long time. Well about that. Teddy put his arm around Charlies shoulders conspiratorially and he and Lucy led him to a quiet section of the top deck away from the others who were exploring the ship. The fact that the vehicle was ready and Shaniva was here to take care of Charlie they all knew it was the right moment to take off. The two silver rankers disembarked after goodbyes and promises to keep in touch and to keep apprised of Charlies recovery from Kyra. Teddy sat back in the captains chair and smiled as they set off for the first time, there was no roar of and engine, there wasnt even much sound from the tyres as they werent truly taking the full weight of the vehicle, what they did feel was the smooth power as it glided away at a rapid acceleration as they waved back at the pair. Chapter 31 ‘Just needs food and booze’ Teddy was tanking it across the desert, hed opened the throttle fully and the vehicle was a blur across the desert, the wide windscreen shielded him from the sandy wind as he raced forward. They had all had a turn at driving but it turned out that Teddy was the best suited with his racial ability of the personal tactical map to navigate from. He had just taken over from Kyra after explaining that she had managed to get completely turned around in the desert dunes and was pretty much headed straight back to the desert workshop. The others were still on the top deck with him. Honey, if you said I was going the wrong way then why are we still headed that way full speed? Well I just wanted to see what would happen when I did this! He turned the steering wheel as fast as he could, the land yacht was fairly large, two decks high and wide with it. The others panicked and grabbed onto whatever was nearest, Teddy was fine in the captains chair that had wide arms and a bucket seat. What the others hadnt thought of was the fact that Teddy had helped build the vehicle and had pioneered the idea of putting wheels on with Mr Efkycharkzshyn, as it was a brand new idea to Charlie Teddy had been heavily involved. As he spun the wheel the vehicle turned rapidly on its huge rugged rubber wheels, each almost the size of James standing and four on each side; the whole vehicle tilted. The wheels werent attached to an axle like a normal wheeled vehicle, if you walked underneath you could put your arm completely between the wheel and the hull, they were held in place like a magnetic magic, giving unparalleled suspension and manoeuvrability as demonstrated now. Even though the others gripped the walls and chairs with a death grip they didnt need to, as the vehicle turned through the desert instead of throwing them all sideways with great force the whole vehicle rolled into the turn like a motorbike, they felt pinned to the floor by centripetal force but they could easily manage that. From the outside looking at the turn the wheels shifted around the vehicle, the inside of the turns wheels were now level with the windows on the top deck and the outside wheels level with what would be the keel on a seagoing ship. If we had champagne, which we really should, it wouldnt have spilled a drop. Teddy said, smiling at the others getting over the manoeuvre. Kyra punched him lightly in the arm. That worked out better than we thought it would. Lucy said. Lets put it through its paces. Teddy was more than happy to oblige, still at full power he put the craft into a series of S-bends causing the vehicle to lean over completely one way and then the other. He aimed at a huge sand dune and boosted straight over the lip, the team all felt themselves go light on their feet as the vehicle went airbourne. As it did, what they couldnt see was all the wheels shifting slightly down and forward, they cushioned the blow onto the floor and like a mother catching a thrown newborn; it smoothed the landing as if it was trying to keep the babe asleep. The vehicle lost almost no speed and carried on straight up the next lip, Teddy couldnt see over the hill but when he did he put a message as quick as thought onto the interface. [Brace, this might hurt.] The gap between the next dune was too small and the vehicle was going to crash straight into the middle of the slope. The team all braced properly having now found loops and poles designed for hard manoeuvring. The bow of the craft smashed into the dune and plowed straight through, the speed it was going and the shape of the front cut through the sand like a wave on the ocean with only minimal speed loss, if they had been standing they may have struggled to stay upright but braced as they were it wasnt even uncomfortable. After this Teddy slowed and turned to cruise on. That was awesome. James said, obviously impressed. Were going to have a lot of fun with this. The only thing missing is how empty it is, we need to get some food in the cupboards and some personal touches. Boko should only be a few hours in this direction at this speed. I noticed you slowed down? Why is that? Im hungry you know. And Im sure you have food in your storage, you just want to play with the new kitchen. True, but why did you slow? Well we made the running of this much cheaper by adding some new ideas that Charlie hadnt had to think of before but its still magic intensive, the operating limit of it is dictated by the ambient magic, in this low magic area we cant keep it at full speed without it being resource heavy, little bursts are fine but if you want to cruise at top speed its going to be expensive. Point taken, onwards at best speed driver! Teddy tried to brake check James to cause him to stumble for being cheeky but the vehicle was too smart for him and the hull shifted upwards between the wheels to cushion the deceleration and achieve nothing. Teddy snarled a little bit at his brother and carried on, accelerating away. A little ways into their drive a large shadow descended on them, they all felt a little uncontrolled aura spike of concern from James but it quickly went away when he realised it was Lechuza. She swept down behind the vehicle that hadnt slowed and she curved her approach to intercept, reaching out with her talons to grip the silvery crystal handrails of the stairs at the back. She quickly tucked her wings in and was standing on the drop deck at the back. [Greetings Ms Lucy, your new conveyance is deceptively hard to see from a distance for such a large and shiny craft. As I was closing in it looks splendid.] Thankyou Lechuza, youll be glad to know we will not be in the desert much longer, this is us returning to Greenstone for a short while. [Very well mistress, I have enjoyed the open terrain for hunting but prey is sparse. I have come to inform you that nearby has a large enough pack of Sand dogs to hunt as a team.] Very nice, thankyou. Lucy turned to her husband. Will your empty stomach manage a small detour? Oh yeh, itll be good to have a go with the whole band again. Teddy turned to speak to Lechuza. Show me the way and well follow. Lechuza blinked her huge eyes at him and reached up with one taloned foot grabbing the top of the handrail of the stairs that flanked either side of the back of the vehicle. She spread her wings that extended past the sides and the wind rushing past lifted her up and she let go, soaring above them. She banked to the right and Teddy followed. They all extended their auras, ready for battle. James let them all increase their visual acuity and zoom their vision, Teddys aura made enemies directly attacking them to slow by a small margin, Kyras aura wasnt too useful when fighting monsters but let them protect their auras against suppression from higher ranks. Lucys aura wasnt directly a combat powering ability but led to a better performance from everyone, it enabled thinking speed and clarity of thought to be improved in allies. The team had sat many evenings making combat plays that they can enact at short notice, with the interface giving instant communication and Lucys aura giving higher quality patterns of thinking along with highly adaptable ready-made team moves meant that the team were well on their way to being four fingers on the same hand. Unfortunately a band of sand dogs was not the best opportunity to show this off as a basic iron rank monster they didnt pose enough of a challenge to stretch the team. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. They saw the pack walking along the side of one of the dunes ahead, James aura let them see much further than their normal iron rank sight, which already was enhanced from normal sight. The pack was travelling in two loose rows, travelling diagonally up the slope. Without having to check with the others Teddy angled his approach to come up behind the dogs. He played with some of the levers and controls on the board in front of him, most of the functions of the vehicle were automatic, adjusting to the speed and the terrain. Teddy had the vehicle almost bottom out by spreading the wheels out and up, the shallow hull was just cutting a line in the sand with the wheels moved out. The vehicle made almost no sound, much less than you would expect of something so large and their prey hadnt noticed them yet. A few lengths between them and the dogs Teddy rammed the power lever full forward and the craft lunged up before ramming down into the three at the back. They manage to run down the back row and two more before the pack noticed, the next dog managed to turn and snarl before it too was run down. The pack split, running to the sides and Teddy chased the monsters that had chosen to try and run up the dune, struggling in the loose shifting sand. The land yacht powered up the slope with ease, only part of its weight being supported by the wheels and in high power setting it was mostly being supported by magic, Teddy managed to take out another monster by running it over and Lucy sent a vanilla unaltered magic missile at another. Teddy had to take it out of the high power setting and slowed it down to wheel around and chase the rest. The highly predatory monsters had already started to give chase and were hunting the vessel. There were only six left surrounding them and Teddy slowed down so as not to lose them. Kyra took one of the straps for holding onto and gave it a twist and it started to extend, she ran towards to front and launched herself off the top deck, the line pulled tight and she swung out, her long blonde hair blowing out behind her, in her right hand her diamond sword materialised from her palm, her left hand gripped the line with casual strength as she gracefully swept into the pack. Her impossibly sharp sword cut one of the monsters completely in half before the swing took her out and back onto the rear of the deck. On the other side James eyed up the two monsters and simply jumped off the side. He landed straight onto the top of the lead monster, digging its head into the sand easily breaking its neck, his legs had transformed into powerful kangaroo-like legs and he bounced back onto the drop deck at the back of the vehicle. The monster from the same side chased him to the back and seemingly coordinated with another from the other side and leapt at him as he landed. James hit him with a vambrace fist in mid leap, the armoured arm had spiralled lightning stemming from the engraving on the back of his upper arm, the monster crackled with lightning giving off a smell of burning hair and charred flesh, it collided with the other monster passing on the lightning and they both fell to the sand twitching. On the side Kyra had done her Jane-of-the-jungle impression Lechuza dived in at the remaining two monsters, one dodged out of the way but unfortunately towards the massive wheels of the vehicle and Teddy twitched the wheel to neatly run it over. Lechuza took off with the other and eviscerated it in mid air, letting go of the almost two halves barely held together by an exposed section of spine. They slowed down and Teddy put it into a crawl in a circle, he set the controls to hold the circle at a constant speed then got up to stand with the others at the back of the top deck. Part of Lechuzas power set was that she could use some of Lucys powers at range, they watched as she went around activating the looting ability on each kill. James watched the rainbow smoke disappear from the kill that Lechuza had made, looking distantly at it. Lucy noticed and came and took his massive hand in hers. He looked down and gave her a small smile, they both knew that he was thinking that was how he mightve looked on the ground had his nightmare run back to the desert gone differently. [Driving gloves] has been added to (Theodore Mitchells) Inventory. 14 [Monster core (iron)] have been added to each of your Inventories. 140 [Iron] spirit coins have been added to each of your Inventories. 140 [Dog] quintessence have been shared between your Inventories. Teddy winced as the others looked to him. Dude, what is that youve just got? James asked. Look the loot is random, dont pin this on me. Aww youre going to look so cool in your new whip with your oh-so-cool driving gloves. Lucy teased. Please tell me theyre leather and have the knuckles cut out, so very clich. Kyra joined it. Teddy cut a long rift horizontally in front of him and reached both hands in, when they came out they were covered in leather gloves, they were short only just covering the palms and made of a soft brown leather, the knuckles were indeed cut out and they had vented holes on the backs of the fingers, a small button clasp was on the back to hold them tight. Teddy took a look, turned his hands over then dropped them to his sides and bowed his head. Eurgh, no one is going to listen to me that these are random generated and nothing to do with me are they? Do they at least give you anything good? Item: [Driving gloves] (iron rank, common) Gloves that increase the performance of the driver Effect: When worn and driving a magical vehicle will give a boost to wearers agility. So they only give you an agility boost when your sat in a vehicle? Yeh, I guess that means I can move the wheel better? The gang all had a laugh at the ridiculous item. Well then driver, how about getting us back to some sort of civilisation then? Teddy popped his knuckles in the leather gloves and got behind the wheel and spun out towards the desert town beyond the horizon. The group sat around a table outside a bar on the outskirts of town, they sat having a drink watching the setting sun with a few locals that had seen them come in and wanted to talk about the new vehicle, theyd placed the miniature model on the table in the middle. So yeh, its pretty nice, just needs food and booze loaded on. Aww well aint that a shame. One of the more drunk locals said, you wont even get to eat a meal in it. He put a hand on the model to take it away, there was an incredulous moment when the other locals realised what he was trying to do. Everyone shared a look and a nervous smile broke out. An explosion of weapons and powers made themselves known. Teddys dimension blade was underneath his wrist, Kyras diamond sword was behind his neck, Lucy had a wand pointing at his face and James right arm had a snake emerge from the top of the vambrace and curl around the wrist to his hand, it flung to the other end of the model and curled around it and reared at the man hissing. Surprisingly the other two locals also reacted favourably, one conjured ropes that went around the mans chair, the last to react was the local who was probably the second most drunk at the table, he picked up his war hammer from behind his chair and almost gently bumped the man on the back of his head, he was knocked out and slumped unconscious straight away. An hour or so later they shook hands with the guys before they carried their still unconscious friend home for the night. The next morning the team left the inn they were staying in and headed to the markets to stock the vehicle. So we must be doing ok on the money side at the moment right? James asked. After all those contracts and the rewards from the adventure society. Weeeelll, fourth stage crystal aint cheap. Lucy replied. Yes, but that was part of the reward from the adventure society and from saving Charlies life?. The vehicle was, the extra raw material and some of the modules we bought off Charlie wasnt cheap. Seeing the look on his face she quickly went on. Well he gave us mates rates for it! Practically sold it for cost. How much did you spend on it? Most. Most what? Well, we have enough to stock it with essentials and enough to run it until we can get some more contracts. James wiped his face with his hand. K, I thought youd have more to say about this. Kyra was already checking out the market stalls. Hmm? No not really, like Lu said, we just go make more money, theres no rush, plus the really luxury stuff we wouldnt get here anyway. Teddy looked at her suspiciously. What sort of luxury are you thinking of babe? Oh I dont know, there was a magical cocktail maker in Mr Randulphs room at the mirage chamber, or someone was telling me about a crystal wash jacuzzi type thing that would be nice. Teddy reflected on the fact that in their old life there would have been so much pressure to scrimp and save. But Kyra was right, in this new world they could take the opportunity to spend freely, they were always sure to get lodging and always sure to get adventurer work and there was a pleasant freedom in that. They bought a lot of food, spices, a selection of booze and the essentials likes plates, glasses, cups and bedding. They headed out the main gates of the town and watched as an armadillo wandered out behind a bush with the model of the vehicle on its back waddling towards them. Ok, I vote James doesnt store the ship anymore, thats just too weird. Chapter 32 ‘See, he can be responsible’ They settled into a slow cruise back to Greenstone, they had picked up as many contracts as they could from the Boko adventure society and would file them with the society in Greenstone. They also picked up a local map which Teddy had added to his mapping ability which could be replicated onto the table next to the driving bridge. The map showed all the desert villages that were next to impossible to find unless you were a local and knew the area. The plan was to take a meandering route back to clear off as many notice board contracts as they could. They all agreed that by the end of the trip they would all be experts on fighting desert monsters. It seems that most of the monsters out here are pretty fragile but deadly. Kyra said, sticking her monster goo covered sword in the sand before dismissing it. And theyre all about that camouflage. James added. They had just taken out a Desert Toad, a large flat reptile that buried itself to wait for prey to come past then snatch them in with its long sticky tongue. The two of them had done it together, really it was an iron rank solo job but as they were all out here together and there was no rush and no harm in having the backup. As James and Kyra mounted the back of the drop deck and through the doors to the bottom deck they heard Teddy and Lucy working in one of the spare rooms. They had converted it into a mobile workshop. Im sure Charlie said the repeater module goes the other way up, you trying to make it more efficient or less? Hey I had the idea for this Im relying on you to make the magic work. Me heavy lift you brainy. Whatever, look I think it goes in this way then thats the section complete. Looks good to me, I think thats the most of the technical side, the engine if you like. Then we just need to agree on the outer design. I think you had the right idea, the beauty of the material is we can experiment with it having multiple stages. Kyra and James realised that the others hadnt even noticed them as they were so intent bent over the workbench studying their project. So whatre you two working on now then? James asked from the doorway. Lucy slapped the partially made model flat on the bench in front of them as they both turned to see James and Kyra. Oh just the beginnings of the next project, not ready to show yet. Can you tell us what its for or is that a surprise as well? Teddy looked at Lucy and shrugged. We didnt want to get your hopes up so soon after getting this beast, but we figured we cant exactly drive this into the woods or in town. We have enough fourth stage crystal to come up with an idea with enough left over for spares and repairs. As they talked they made their way up to the top deck to sit around the rear table, James provided a smoothie for everyone from the built in blender in the kitchen. So a smaller convenient vehicle from this one? Exactly, smaller, lower power usage, like a utility vehicle. Sounds cool, sounds like you were almost done with it? Well building the engine Lucy used bunny fingers in the air at the word. Is easy enough, the magical theory is similar to what we used on this but smaller, and the modules were pre-made by Charlie and myself. The design takes longer because we dont always agree what it should look like. Teddy said. Kyra grabbed a pad and pen, Teddy jumped behind the wheel and kicked the vehicle into motion, spinning the wheel to head back to the next village. James released Koda who liked to sit on the bow and feel the wind on his face and Kyra released Lucky who just liked to be busy, wandering around the deck sniffing. Maybe we write a list of all the things we want it to have then we draw from there? They all started firing ideas in, they realised that it was not going to be an assault craft so armour was negligible. With it being a lightly armoured vehicle speed and agility would be paramount. Between the need for speed and the fact that it had to operate in a low magic density area they had to make it as skeletal as possible. What Kyra ended up with was a dune buggy looking craft, squat and low with rugged wheels. The main form of the vehicle were solid bars of crystal making little more than a roll cage and windshield. It had a storage area on the rear and Lucy and Teddy had interrupted with their expertise in dealing with fourth stage crystal to add that it could either be a two seater car or it could unfold once more to give back seats. After a while of sitting the oval table at the rear of the top deck they realised that Teddy had been sat with them sipping his smoothie. Err bro, whos driving? Dont worry Ive got it in hand, first mate has got this. James transformed his arm into a long tentacle and used it to pull the captains chair slightly to see who Teddy was referring to. Lucky was stood on the chair with his front paws on the steering wheel, Teddy had gone as far to put the driving gloves on his paws and a hat on his head. See, he can be responsible. Really? James asked incredulously. Nah, not really, its essentially on cruise control with the steering locked and Im monitoring it on the minimap. But dont tell Lucky, look how much fun hes having! As he said it Lucky gave out a bark and wagged his tail, a big doggy smile with his tongue hanging out. They relaxed at the table and went over the drawing, when it was as good as they all wanted Teddy took it and put it in his storage for he and Lucy to work on later. After that they all got their collective loot out to look it over and sort it into piles, they had one for keep, one for sell and one for donate. The academy annex was an amazing opportunity for people from all walks of life to go and get a vocation that will support them and their families for the rest of their lives. The funding however was a bit of a kicker, the cost of the tuition was put against the individual in an indenture contract, any consumables, armour or weapons were also put against the contract. By throwing whatever weapons and armour that they didnt want and werent really worth selling meant that it helped those in the academy that werent fortunate enough to be independently wealthy and needed to keep their contract as small as possible. Teddy got up and shood Lucky off the chair who hopped down then sat and put both front paws in Teddys lap for him to take the gloves off, he then trotted off to the table and Kyra had to take his hat off before it got blown off when he went to the front to see Koda. Teddy slowed the vehicle down and brought it to the side of the upcoming village, the benefit of having such a versatile vehicle was that they could straight line over the desert without the need for the roads, when they got near Teddy would join the road leading in so as not to upset anyone. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He parked far enough out to be unobtrusive to the modest dwellings and Kyra and James headed into town, leaving the others to tinker in the workshop again. They split up as they reached the outskirts, Kyra was already searching out for a local hospital or healers hut to try and clear out the patients with Lucky leading the way. The locals werent scared of James but they gave the big man space as he cut an imposing figure. He made his way to the local notice board to see what they had for them. There were two contracts up for grabs. The first was just a local pest that was bothering a farmer going out and picking cactus petals, a small rodent bird that was easy to deal with, the second was a rock wyrm. A solid iron rank monster had taken its home in the cliffs nearby, a slightly rockier patch of desert. He used his adventure society badge to make a copy of both contracts and bent down to pick up his copy of the monster reference guide from a dog sized desert spider that had it webbed to its back, he buried his nose in the magic tablet and went to find Kyra. Arava had been working in the healers hut her whole life, she had been passed down all her mothers and her mothers before hers knowledge of healing. The visiting essence healers were rare to come through as they were semi-nomadic and liked to be left alone most of the time. They never shunned outsiders but were happy to be by themselves. She had a trouble case at the moment, one of the elders had a chill that she couldnt shake. She had tried everything she knew and he just couldnt beat it. She was sat next to his pallet on the ground holding his hand when she heard excited sniffing outside the thick fabric that covered the doorway to the hut. Next thing she knew there was a dog barging its way into the hut, she was gripped with fear at the presence of the unknown animal until she saw it politely sit, cock its head and loll its tongue out. What made her really relax was she saw the shivers of her patient decrease dramatically and the old man breathed easier with him there. She jumped a little when she heard a womans voice calling out. Lucky, Lucky, where are you?! The dog wagged its tail and gave a small non-threatening whumph of a bark. Very shortly there was a knock on the side of the doorway. Err, come in. Arava said nervously. Kyra pulled the sheet aside and let herself in, she had covered her head in the fashion of the desert dwellers which covered all but the front of her ash blonde hair, her eyes were a rare colour in the desert most being dark brown but hers were electric vivid blue. She smiled as she came in and patted her leg for Lucky to come over. Im sorry, I hope he didnt scare you. Arava had seen enough essence users to know that this woman was one, she had no doubt she was a beautiful woman before she took to this life but the beautifying effects of being an essence user had already set this woman apart from normal standards. Her dog was an unusual breed she hadnt seen before and there was no denying that it was having a healing effect in the room, her own weariness from tending the old man seemed to be easier to bear with him around. No, he has been well behaved other than letting himself in. The beautiful woman smiled and rested a hand on the golden dogs head. He is good but he is young and enthusiastic. May I join you? She motioned to the other side of the pallet. If it would please you. Arava replied formally, she was worried that this woman could take whatever she wanted anyway and asking was a formality. The startling beautiful woman sat down opposite her and looked down at the old mans face. I am a travelling adventurer and a healer, can I help you? She asked. Arava nodded and the woman took the old mans hand in hers, she saw her fingers were covered in expensive rings and jewellery on her wrist when the sleeves of her robe fell back as she took the mans pulse. I will use some magic to heal him please dont be alarmed. Arava nodded her consent for her to continue. The woman placed a hand on the old mans chest and light flared beneath her palm into the man, nothing much happened but Arava started to notice the old mans grip slowly get stronger from the limp cold grip hed had. The woman tutted slightly and a green light flared under her hand into the mans chest, this time he gripped her hand strongly and his eyes fluttered. What did you do?! Arava asked. Two spells, the first was to find out what was wrong and the second was to imbue him with life energy. My cleansing power is for poisons and toxins and unfortunately does not include diseases. What have you been giving him, may I see? Arava didnt even think to question her, moving to pick up the mortar and pestle she had been grinding herbs in to pass to the woman. She smiled as she accepted it sniffing it, she then listed most of the ingredients and Arava only had to tell her one that she had missed. The woman nodded and pulled a mirror from inside her robe and suddenly there was a spice rack in the room with them, she pulled herbs from it to add to the mix describing what they were and what they did. She handed the mix back to Arava instead of feeding it to the man. Arava gave it a bit more of a grind and sniffed it with an experienced nose, she sniffed the herbs individually that the woman added and crushed them a little rubbing the textures between experienced fingers. When she was content she added a little water to make it drinkable then the strange essence user helped lift the old mans torso so that he could drink the mix. He settled back onto the pallet and the two women sat in silence, the time stretched slightly without either of them moving or talking. After a while the old mans breathing was noticeably better and his shivering had stopped. Arava smiled at the imposing woman opposite her, wherever she had come from and whatever power she had she had just earned her trust. She drew a blanket over the old man and got up to go out in the sunshine, the essence user rose gracefully and sent the dog out first, wagging its tail. Arava left the building and turned her face to the sky to feel the sun on her face. As she opened her eyes and screamed as she was looking up at a giant bearded man. Kyra was getting the hang of integrating into different cultures she came across. The latest village was quite strict on dress, it seemed to have stemmed from a safety point of view from hiding in the desert. She felt justified in her dozen, or so, wardrobes of all different styles. Loathe to cover her hair that had reached new levels of lustrous in this world she was excited to try her new head scarves. They were a reserved people and she knew that she had to tread lightly to not alienate adventurers to an already reclusive people. Luckily she could keep up an air of patience while messing with James over the interface. Where is she. The giant rumbled down at Arava. She looked like she might pass out. Dont bully her you big oaf. Kyra said as she ducked through the doorway. Kyra squeezed her shoulder and gave her a smile and she quickly headed off. Kyra punched James on the arm and headed out of the village. While you sent me round knocking on almost every hut in the village Koda and Lechuza reported in, they cleared the birds but panicked the farmers into thinking two bigger monsters had turned up, maybe we put a sign around Lechuzas neck with a bell. She still sneaking up on you all the time? I dont know if shes doing it for her own fun or for training but its annoying as hell. As they were on the path on the way out there was a massive rumbling. The earth started heaving and several buildings collapsed. Kyra and James leapt into action, diving into buildings to save the inhabitants. The earth had stopped moving and James and Kyra were helping the villagers, the mud huts collapse had caused very few injuries and Kyra had quickly dealt with them, casualties in the open with obvious injuries were much quicker to deal with as she could be publicly bold with her magic. They both looked up when they noticed the faint sound approaching the village. A low sleek dune buggy was approaching, Teddy was driving with Lucy in the passenger seat. The roll bars were made up of different shades of blue crystal, they were triangular and had sharp edges with only a few round sections to allow for grabbing to get in and out. The wheels were the same design as the land yacht and looked magnetically attached with a small gap to act as suspension. Darker crystal made up the bottom of the vehicle including massive bull bars on the front and rear. Silvery crystal provided a windshield against the sand curving up into a sunroof. Teddy and Lucy were sat in deep bucket seats and strapped in with four point harnesses. They skidded to a stop, hand break turning the dune buggy sideways to park next to them, a cloud of sand erupted from the cart that had been trailing them, as it settled they could see that none of the sand had managed to get into the cart. Get in. Lucy said. Where?! James said, looking at the two seater. Lucy smiled and reached back between the seats to the small shelf area, she slapped it with the flat of her hand and crystal reacted in the fashion the were getting used to; sections were starting to unfold and the area behind the front seats expanded backwards, including two more bucket seats unfolding with the flooring. I said get in bitches. Lucy grinned at them. Chapter 33 ‘Dark tunnels is going to be the place‘ James curled his massive frame into the surprisingly spacious back seat of the dune buggy, it gave a little to accommodate his size with a little ripple of tiny unfolding panels. Kyra did a leaping no-hands cartwheel over the buggy, the outside of the frame made up of so many bladed edges she didnt want to touch it and landed on the far side before grabbing one of the smooth handles to swing in. They both noticed as they got in that is was as if the whole buggy was closed off from the outside, none of the swirling sand was coming inside the open sides. That sand amulet comes in handy! Kyra said to Teddy. They had used it a few times now in desert travel. The effect was a clear area around the wearer that filtered sand out of the air to give clean breathing space. Teddy shot Lucy an annoyed look before accelerating hard. Sore subject. Lucy said. I may have accidentally kind of destroyed the amulet, turns out I had to destructively test a theory to replicate the effect, kind of didnt tell him thats what I was doing. Good news is that I can now apply it to different items! So I can actually replace the amulet but hes still grumpy. Ah, so he doesnt have it when hes off the buggy now then. Not for now. But I PROMISE Ill make you another one as soon as we have the time and materials Teddy. Teddy grumpily steered the buggy around a huge cactus at top speed on the outside of the village making his way around the huts. Fine, Im fine, just brief them on whats going on. Right, so we finished the buggy and we were about to take it out for a test ride to make sure it wasnt going to blow up You were about to? Youre sure this isnt going to blow up right? James interjected. Yes were mostly sure. Anyway, we had a look at the info you posted on the interface about the contracts you were dealing with, I dont suppose you got to the part where you check where the Wrym nest in the cliff is yet did you? Teddy pulled a hard corner and the buggy slide slightly on its knobbly rubber wheels, the outside wheels were half on, half off the edge of the cliff, right near the edge of the village. Oh, thats what Ive been feeling through the ground. Kyra said. With her Earth essence she could feel vibrations through the ground and a power called Seismic Sense gave her an accurate reading of the environment around her. Can you get us an location to where were meant to be going? We realised you guys wouldnt know that the cliff face is the one the village was sat on. Im just heading to the centre of the cliff. Teddy said, unperturbed by the proximity to the edge. Kyra leant out the side of the buggy, in one hand she summoned a diamond shield, it was part of her diamond armour weapon set she could summon but she didnt use the shield very often. She held it out so she could lean out and duck behind it without the sand and rocks hitting her. With her other hand she dug it into the rocky ground as if it was water passing by a boat. Its sort of all over the place, get to the bottom of the cliff and Itll be easier, I can see some large blank sections which I think will be access holes. Kyra pulled herself back into the buggy. Teddy was sat on the side nearest the cliff he leaned his head over the edge and shrugged then turned the wheel, driving the buggy off the cliff. As the front wheels went over the edge he pulled a few levers, the back of the buggy elevated slightly and then as the rear wheels got to the edge of the cliff they almost stopped and dug in hard, pivoting the buggy over the edge so the front wheels slammed into the vertical wall, as they did they stuck like magnets. Teddy slammed the levers back the other way and released the brakes on the rear wheels so they kept their momentum going headfirst down the cliff, the knobbly wheels stuck to the rock wall and the buggy went down the face like a squirrel racing down a tree. Yeehaw! James yelled as they all leant into the front of their harnesses. Teddy was scanning the ground ahead of them to see the best part to hit the ground, to their left there had been a partial collapse and a shallow slop would round them out onto the floor below the cliff, he angled the buggy that way. Suddenly in front of them was a massive hole in the wall. Teddy pulled another lever back and as he did the whole buggy seemed to crouch, Teddy threw the same lever forward and the buggy jumped, clearing the dark hole and managed to hit the wall again just before the slope. He drove a small way out then skidded to a stop facing the cliff. All four Mitchells got out of the buggy to look up at the cliff. They could see the roofs of a few of the nearest mud huts at the top of the cliff, they could make out the tracks of the buggy hitting the wall and seen that they had luckily cut a track through a few of the dark holes before coming across the one that they had to jump. I love this dune buggy! James exclaimed. Dibs on driving it next. Yeh I dont think dark tunnels is going to be the place for the dune buggy. Teddy replied. He reached back and grabbed the bull bar on the front, it started folding up from the rear until he had a miniature model of the buggy in his hand. He made a small horizontal slash in front of him and dropped the model in. J, what does the book say on Wyrms? Teddy asked. Well see this is where I ruin the mood, the book says that its a monster that can appear by itself, but over time attracts other Wyrms, if left for long enough they will attract a Wyrm Matriarch, a bronze rank monster that will spawn more iron rank Wyrms. Id say from the amount of exit holes in the cliff there has to be more than one. And some of those holes are old. You can see the weather marks and how theyve had constant rubbing. Kyra added. So rock Wyrms, how do we kill them nice and easy? Teddy asked. James thought for a moment before speaking. We need to see how many there are. As fun as it would be to just wander into the dark and chew through one Wyrm after the other until we run out of steam its probably better to draw them out. Ok, so I can see almost a half dozen tunnels, we block some to funnel them and concentrate firepower on two tunnels that are separated. Kyra, block two of them. Ill get another one and James and Lucy get ready for the first ones coming out on your side. Everyone happy? They nodded and split up, Kyra got to within range and rose both wrists up together in front of her and a solid wall appeared from the floor of the centre tunnel to completely block it. She used an earth spike under her feet to launch herself into the air towards the cliff, when she was close enough she pulled out a mirror and a circle of diamond powder appeared in the smallest hole, she willed power into it and it suddenly a giant diamond cannonball filled in the aperture, her golem summon completely blocked the tunnel, squeezing into the rock. Teddy blurred forwards, almost too fast to track with normal vision. He was in the mouth of the tunnel just taller than himself before the others had moved very far. He made chopping motions up across the front of his body while moving backwards towards the mouth of the tunnel, he left a diagonal rift all across the middle of the tunnel from bottom to top. When he got to the mouth he backflipped off and ran down the wall towards the others. He unclipped the sleeve of his light armour and looked at his tattoo. He often forgot the tattoo and relied on consumables, it was only as they were nearing the end of iron rank and they had the discussion that they would lose their iron rank magic tattoos that he was making more of an effort to use it. He had it done at the same time as James on a trip to Vitesse when they were at the academy annex, where James had a cartoon bear with a wizards hat Teddys had been a bit more intense. They had got James when they were both drunk, the girls having turned in early, when they sobered up they realised that Teddy also needed one to make it fair. They had gone back and he had got a full sleeve tattoo of swirling galaxies and nebulas, James tattoo recharged over time to give him a burst of mana, Teddy had gone for a slightly different tattoo that also gave mana. It was recharged by movement, the tattoo could be used in its entirety or he could sip at it, the tattoo faded from the wrist as it was used and became more vibrant as it was charged. The benefit was that Teddy could really shift when he wanted to, with the swift essence he moved rapidly across the terrain and there was a chance in a protracted battle he could even recharge it fully again. He drained the whole sleeve now, having burnt all his mana on the rift in the tunnel. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. They had let two of the tunnels at ground level that were the furthest apart stay open. Teddy motioned James and Lucy to take the one on the right while he and Kyra took the left. Kyra concentrated with her palm on the ground. Theres a lot of movement underground, far more than when we first turned up in the village, which explains the earthquake, but none of it is directed this way. How are you going to draw them out? Well theres only one guy I know with enough talent to piss off this many monsters in one go. Teddy said, looking over at James. The big man rolled his eyes before taking a wide stance and cupping his hands around his mouth. Hear me roar! The voice had the timbre of magic in it, they could almost see it rippling away from them towards the cliff face, Lucy could actually see it. They had a list of notifications come back. Essence ability [Apex Predator] has successfully influenced 30 enemies. 21 Rock Wyrms have been afflicted with [Vulnerable] and have their resistances lowered. 8 Rock Wyrms have been enraged by [Apex Predator]. 1 Rock Matriarch has been enraged by [Apex Predator]. There was a beat where no one said anything as they took in the notifications. Holy cow, twenty nine iron rank monsters and a bronze, whos pissed. Teddy said, looking a little shocked. Change of plans? James asked. Teddy looked at the tunnels and at his team. Then the open space behind him they could just run away before turning back to the huts at the top of the cliff. The villagers had noticed the rumbling from below, the monsters had no ability to roar back but they made a terrible noise scraping underground. The whole village stood vulnerably at the top nervously looking down. The plan stays the same, we dont need to change it. The others followed his gaze to the civilians at the top of the cliff. They squared their shoulders and got ready. James released Koda and a snake slithered out from the top of his vambrace ready to throw. Lucy had absorbed Lechuza, the tell-tale eye markings of feathers to show an absorbed familiar, the benefit was that it had the chance to deflect incoming physical damage, they hadnt actually had the chance to test it out in its entirety yet. Kyra summoned her sword and shield, Lucky remained absorbed until they could see where to deploy him. She was monitoring the tremors in the ground, the mass that was coming towards them was terrifying. The monsters all hit the ends of the tunnels at the same time. The sealed tunnels did their job, the earth wall shook and a crack appeared. The diamond golem shuddered in place from the impact and dust came off its back but it held and they could hear the golem fighting hard on the other side even without being able to move. The tunnel that Teddy had blocked off was disgusting, bits of Wyrm tumbled out of the end in a hosepipe of fleshy chunks. The teams were both coordinating individually. James and Lucy had a game plan, as soon as they saw the first Rock Wyrm they were going to lay out a surprise. The head of the monster took up most of the tunnel, its tiny eyes were tiny and heavily shielded, its maw was most of the size of its head. Circular rows of teeth disappeared back into its throat, strong enough to bite through and crush the rock to make the tunnels. As soon as she saw the head Lucy hit it with a spell. While the left hand waves the right makes the move. Her Kansas City Shuffle power created small illusions to distract enemies, the Wyrm froze in place. They were relying on the fact that some of the Wyrms James had been unsuccessful in inflicting with the Vulnerable condition and instead enraged them, the lead Wyrm was the cork in the bottle that had just been shaken. The Wyrm behind took offence to his path to his prey being blocked and in its anger attacked the Wyrm under the illusion, the pair could see the body shuddering under the attack whilst immobilised by the spell. As the Wyrm gave up and was now just a dead block to the tunnel they could see it starting to be pushed out the way by those behind. They had warned the other team of their plan and Lucy looked over to see a Wyrm appear from the tunnel on the left. Exchange your fates. The dead Wyrm was teleported with the live one, the monsters behind were freshly frustrated by the blockage and they heard the grinding again as they attacked the new monster on instinct after they had killed the first. On the left side of the battlefield Kyra and Teddy were just getting started. The dead monster that was teleported over was quickly shoved out the way by the first Wyrm out, Kyra had been quick with a earth spike to hit it from the side before it had even got its full length out of the tunnel, it reared in pain, unnerving that they made no sound in pain, the spike had pierced the body only so far before bodily shoving it sideways. As it rolled off the spike it curled around to head straight-line towards the pair again, she hit it with another spike erupting from the ground on the other side and it had the same effect, punching it sideways after partially piercing it. It flopped off and charged again. Now that it was completely in the open they could see what they were dealing with, it looked like a huge grey maggot, at its thickest it was the height of Teddy. It powered itself along the ground with no visible method of propulsion. Teddy ran forward to attack. The Wyrm belched at the pair and a shower of rocks flew at them, Teddy found them easy to dodge and the few that made their way back to Kyra she blocked one with her shield and contemptuously cut one in half with her sword. [Thats not so bad if thats all theyve got in terms of ranged attacks.] Kyra put on the interface. Three more Wyrms had made their way out of the tunnel and were now negotiating Kyras chicane she had made with the earth spikes, when they felt their brethren belch rocks they decided to fire as well. This time Teddy found it a little harder to dodge. Kyra had to take a knee and duck behind her shield as the rocks smashed into it. After taking the hit she stood and used her boulder throw power to conjure and fire a huge boulder down the gullet of the first Wyrm as Teddy attacked. While the Wyrm was smashed in the teeth with the boulder Teddy danced to the side, he conjured his blade almost directly into the wound that Kyras earth spike had caused in the tough armoured hide. He left the blade there as he used his winged feet power to double jump over the monster to the other side to re-conjure his sword into the other wound, the first blade disappearing as he could only summon one at a time. The creature bled profusely from both wounds and now that it had cleared the boulder from its mouth it turned to try and bite Teddy, unfortunately its body was so big and fat with no neck on the thick creature it just had to turn its whole body, Teddy nimbly jumped over to the first wound, now the creature was bent the other way he summoned his blade deep inside the monster and with both hands leant into the blade to open the cut backwards down the monster through the thick armour. He soon gave up as he was sinking too much mana into the cut and wasnt doing enough damage for the cost. As he flipped away Kyra used another earth spike into the wound that Teddy had been working on, this time it sunk deep poking the inside of the tough armour on the opposite side. It came up at a sharp angle so that the monster was actually partially lifted off the ground and it seemed to give up. Teddy could sense his rift that he had left blocking one of the tunnels. The amount of monsters that had tried to push their way through and then been forced through by their brethren had left a mess of gore spilling down the cliff face. He could feel that the rift was about to be consumed, he could only add so much mana to each one and it was depleted for the damage it caused. [James, I need a launch.] He ran towards his brother, crossing paths with Koda as the big bear swapped out to help Kyra on the left while Teddy was busy. James was stood facing the cliff as Teddy ran behind him, as he did James rat tail materialised from the back of his armour and Teddy grabbed it, a mix of swinging around James and the tail whipping him and he was suddenly airbourne heading straight towards the cliff and the tunnel entrance, he saw that he was going to land just inside, and into the Wyrms open mouth. Chapter 34 ‘A sentiment felt by the whole team‘ Teddy saw it all in slow motion, he was inside Lucys Clarity aura and could see a few options of what to do. It was inevitable on this trajectory that he was going to end up inside the Wyrms mouth and that looked like it would hurt. But it also had opportunity. As he crossed the threshold into the mouth of the tunnel the desert sun was suddenly left behind. Teddy blended with the shadow, becoming insubstantial. Ability: [Shadow self] (Dark) Conjugation (darkness) Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 9 (95%) Effect (iron): Can blend self into shadows, much harder to detect with normal senses. Ignore all physical damage when struck however this will cancel the power. The Wyrms didnt hunt by sight but that wasnt what he was using the power for. As he hit the sharp mouth of the monster he became fully visible again but he took no damage, he was perched on top of one of the many, many teeth. Quicker than the monster could snap his jaws shut he uttered a quick spell before back flipping out of the jaws of death, he had left behind a little present for the monster that was quickly making itself known. The monster jerked a little, all forward momentum stopped as it dealt with what was happening inside itself. The hard armoured outside was almost an exoskeleton on the maggot-like body but still malleable, it rippled and pulled, sections getting ripped inwards while the monster fought against it. Its jaws got slammed shut together and inwards, causing the monster to bite itself and cause more damage. In a short while the rear half of the monster collapsed inwards towards the centre of the monster. After the back half collapsed and the head had been distorted the whole monster exploded. Of all the times Teddy had used his black hole hand grenade this was by far his favourite, he was still on the way through the air from his backflip looking back at the monster and he had a big smile on his face. He kicked off thin air using his winged feet power to take himself back towards the tunnel. As he landed he held his hands out wide, the tunnel had been expanded by the explosion and he could see three Wyrms in front of him covered in gore from their brethren with more behind. The Reaper comes for us all but when you do not hold your hand out for him then he will still reach out with his. Phantom hands launched from the shadows to grab the lead Wyrm, Teddy had managed to rapidly level his Reaper power to make it a signature part of his suite of powers, unfortunately for the Wyrm the hands had nothing to grab on to as they were smooth ugly giant bugs. The hands ripped into the meat of the monster, tearing handfuls before re-attacking to grab another handful. While they were occupied with the hands Teddy used his next spell. From beyond our reality let beasts become made. His Unleash the Void power had also been rapidly levelled. The portal that appeared had rodent like beasts come out in a torrent. The team still could not get used to them, they made everyones hairs stand on end and gave an involuntary shiver down your back if you looked directly at them. Teddy jumped out of the tunnel and ran back to help Kyra. After James had launched Teddy he and Lucy had been very busy, her powers were not well suited to the sightless simple monsters and she fell back into blasting from the back line with wands and her rune altered magic missiles. The front line consisted of just James. He was most powerful when he could let monsters come to him and he could stand and fight. He couldnt afford to do that here though as he needed to keep distance between the monsters and Lucy. Fortunately the academy annex had thought about this and trained their pupils thoroughly to cover their weaknesses. The big man was far more agile than he looked, he ran across the ground, dancing around rock attacks like a dancer on ice, when he got to the lead monster he pivoted around a lunging mouth and drove both arms into the side of the monster up to the elbow. He had transformed his forearms into conical corkscrews, taken from an insect-like creature in this world that preyed on rock monsters. It was perfect for tearing into the creatures but he had to work hard to make it do significant damage. He and Lucy formed a plan together to produce results, he would rapidly penetrate the Wyrm down one side as far as he could then Lucy would hit it with an icy torrent from her magic missile transformed through a rune circle. James would then smash the brittle icy flesh off with either his tail or kick it with his massive boots. The monsters had huge chunks missing and rapidly bled out. Both teams were now engaging multiple Wyrms and chewing their way through them, they were lucky the monsters were slow to exit the tunnels and only a few at a time were out in the open and while they were big and tough they werent fast or smart. They had dispatched over half the monsters that James notification had counted. The tunnel that Teddy was covering had taken a fair share, they had no idea how many Kyras diamond golem had killed but it was still fighting facing inwards to the cliff and her wall had been broken through once before the power came off cooldown and she could reinforce it. There was a horrific screeching from the tunnels all of a sudden. Scraping out of one of the tunnel entrances came a Wyrm that was no bigger than the rest except it was covered in metal plate armour. [Gods damn it! Why the hell is that thing armoured?!] James exclaimed. [I dont think your Beedrill impression is going to work on that dude.] Teddy commented back. [No I mean it, why is it armoured? Thats not a naturally occurring thing, what has possessed someone to try that?!] [Kill first, ask questions later?] Kyra added. [Kyra, weve spoken about this before, try to be less bloodthirsty as the team healer?] James said as he almost casually flung a fluted snaked from the end of one of his bloody drill arms. It sailed through the air and hit the metal covering the Wyrm and the tell-tale flickers of electricity from James vambrace power suddenly erupted from the snake all over the armoured monster, it rolled and rolled, thrashing in helplessness, when the attack finished it was faintly smoking and moved forward with much less power. [Well that was definitely worth the shot.] The screeching they had heard before for the first one intensified, four more of the armoured Wyrms came out of the tunnels before them. James Animage power had levelled to bronze rank, meaning that the individual body transformations cost less mana and lasted longer. However using his Snake Sorcerer power as well as imbuing it with electric power from his vambrace was going to take a heavy toll. When the drill arms timed out he let them go without re-transforming and set about launching snakes to cook the monsters from the outside in. Lucy was also highly versatile and switched tactics on the fly, as James was no longer giving her the opportunities to freeze the monsters from the inside out she switched to helping him barbecue the slugs from the outside in. She dismissed her rune circle an re-summoned another, the variations that she had changed how the magical energy was manipulated. The Magic Missile was a pure form of magic attack, a mage class fighter could have a suite of different spells that used their own mana stores in different ways, what Lucy was doing was no different except the process was external to the body rather than internal. The benefit was that her imagination and intelligence was the limiting factor on how the energy was changed, not the limited amount of essence power spells that could be unlocked. As the bight blue missile hit the rune circle it flared then a bright crack of light flashed and a lightning bolt shot across the battlefield and struck a Wyrm sending it into spasms. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Teddy and Kyra couldnt be as effective as the others in their new attacks, the armour that at first seemed to be a nightmare turned out to make Lucy and James lives easier, opening a way to inflict massive damage even though the monsters naturally tough hide protected them. Teddy moved the team into a two up, one, two back formation with Teddy and Koda stalling the monsters advance, Kyra running interference with her earth shaping powers in the middle and James and Lucy bringing the thunder from the rear. Every time his power came off cool-down Teddy used his Hands of the Reaper power to perform executes on the smoking monsters. They had just fried the last Wyrm when it seemed that the whole cliff face exploded. The diamond golem summon that had been blocking the middle tunnel was consumed by a colossal maw. Four times the size of any of the Wyrms before; the Matriarch had joined the battle by swallowing the familiar as it burst out the rock. The bronze rank monster looked like the Wyrms that it spawned, the mouth took up most of its head, concentric circles of teeth disappearing into its throat still grinding the rocks from the cliff. Its eyes were more prominent than the iron rank monsters and it could clearly use them to hunt. The maggot-like body ended into a double tail side by side, one end was a massive orifice that looked like it was how it birthed the lesser creatures, the other was a wicked scorpion looking tail dripping in venom. Eww Kyra said, a sentiment felt by the whole team. Disturbingly the creature was covered in what looked like magical tech, tubes and pumps that hadnt been damaged by exiting the rock still stuck into the tough armour. There were sections of metal plating as if someone hadnt quite finished dressing the monster. The team reacted automatically, they had drilled in fighting above their rank and knew their starting point. They moved to a two up, two back formation, James coming forward and absorbing Koda for the extra strength to help punch through bronze rank resistances. As they moved the monster spun in place and swiped at the team with its tail before they were set, Teddy managed to jump the tail but Kyra wasnt so lucky. As she saw it coming towards her she activated her Encased power, a solid diamond clad Kyra was smashed flying into the cliff, leaving a cartoonish dent. Teddy jumped through a rift from where he was to where Kyra landed, just as the Encased power finished he teleported them back to within range of the monster and Kyra slapped it in the side of its head. Ability: [Self reflection] (Mirror) Special attack (retributive) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 min Current rank: Iron 9 (10%) Effect (iron): Once activated any damage taken can be reflected onto enemy within 5 seconds, must touch enemy. The slap rocked the monster sideways, most of the force of the bronze rank hit transferred back to it without Kyra being injured, Teddy and Kyra beat a hasty retreat to the others. The counterattack gave the team a chance to take stock. Lucy was in place with James just in front of her. He was holding his right arm out in front of him and staring in shock. The vambrace was smoking. He had been out of range of the tail whip but the venom that had been covering the tail had flung off towards Lucy and himself, he had dodged most but had thrown his arm out to catch some of the venom before it could hit Lucy. It speckled the side of the armour and had released a burning smell, he quickly knelt and scraped it off using the sandy floor, checking to make sure it was all off and wasnt going to drip on him. Whilst James was dealing with his minor wardrobe malfunction Teddy pulled a trump card to hold the line. He used his Dimensional Warrior power. It was pot luck what kind of warrior was summoned and what effect they would have, the power and duration was always conveniently what they needed even though Teddy couldnt control it. Theyd had everything from a massive barbarian swinging a dimensional double headed battle axe who swung once and disappeared to a lithe archer who fired bolts of dimension rifts who stayed for a prolonged amount of time. The warrior who stepped out this time was robed in flowing cloth that stirred without a breeze, his face was hidden in a deep hood but he turned towards Teddy. There was a flash and in his hand a blue edged dimension blade extended. Teddy grinned and a crimson edged dimension blade extended from his own, he had learnt how to manipulate characteristics of the blade using his aura and had found no use for the colour change until now. Join me! Together we can rule the galaxy! Teddy called out to the warrior. Smiling at his own joke. The voice that answered was not out loud, nor was it on the interface, it was an alien, rumbling, vibration form of communication that none of the Mitchells would afterwards be able to accurately describe. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. When you look at the dark side, careful you must be for the dark side looks back. For an incredulous moment no one spoke until Teddy threw his head back in laughter. The blade changed in his hand from red to green and he spun it around himself. May the force be with you. And with you. The summoned warrior replied. Then both robed figures dashed towards the monster with their sabres. The ensuing light show was hard to track, blurs of colour dashing all over the monster, chaining attacks that were getting faster and faster from both attackers. Am I going crazy? Did he just summon a mysterious warrior from another dimension that happens to have a very similar power set to himself, then they quoted Star Wars at each other before they attacked? James asked the girls. Yup. Sure did. This is a crazy day. James said, shaking his head. The attack on the monster culminated with a synchronised attack on the stinger tail, severing it at the base. The stump pumped a string of venom into the empty air and then stopped, bleeding into the sand. The warrior turned and locked blades with Teddy. Surprising him. Remember the Force will be with you, always. Then the summoned warrior faded from existence. [Best fight EVER!] Teddy commented on the interface. They fell into a rhythm of Teddy occupying the monster up close, not able to deal out the damage he could in coordination with the summoned warrior but enough to keep the monster busy, the others all continued firing, targeting the weak spots where machines were bolted on or plates of metal to attack with lighting. After a while Kyra had a revelation. [Teddy, watch out, Ive just thought of something.] Kyra said. She remote detonated her diamond golem. The blast took out a section of the middle of the giant Wyrm. there was the sound of three smaller explosions as she detonated the three smaller golems produced. This was the turning point of the fight and it turned into a mop up after that. James felt the right moment and used his execute power; Peregrine Dive, Last Shadow. He transformed one foot into his signature eagle claw for the attack and he stoved in the top of the monsters head. He had to hop out from where he had buried himself in the Wyrm. The team met up in the middle, Lucy released Lechuza to take off and check the area for any more monsters. James and Teddy used vials of crystal wash as they were the only ones covered in monster gore. After they had they accepted the loot notifications and the wave of rainbow smoke rose from the area, all the metal plates and the machines attached to the Rock Matriarch fell to the floor. Before they had a chance to go over the loot notifications a dirty, injured, emaciated, wild man was climbing out of the wrecked cliff. He looked to be wearing a mixture of medical staff clothing and mechanics apron. You bastards! Months of my work! That was all the man said before he started summoning liquids out of the many vials he had crisis-crossed around his body, they mixed in the air and he started flinging them at the team. His aim was poor and he was obviously not in the best shape from malnutrition and injury. [Lucy, see if you can hit tie him up in illusions, lets not kill him if we dont have to.] Teddy said on the interface. Just after he made the non-lethal suggestion, Kyra used her earth spike power just between his legs, coming up at an angle to pierce him high through the top of his thigh. In a quick one-two motion she had a boulder smash him in the side of the head after he was pinned. [Damn girl, thats savage.] Teddy said. [What? Im the one with healing magic remember?] The man was unconscious, not having been able to take much more abuse. Lucy took a large coil of toughened rope out of her storage and James lifted the stranger off the earth spike before tying him up. [I tried to hit him with a spell but he shrugged it off, hes bronze rank.] [Right, lets get him on the cruiser, the spare room should be able to hold him, its aura locked and if he wakes up hell be contained.] Teddy took the land yacht out of a rift and placed it down and it started to unfold, he also took the buggy out and deployed it. [We need to actually think of a name for the ship, boat, yacht thing at some point.] Kyra pointed out. [One problem at a time. Current problem we need to deal with is what to do with this guy once we have him locked up?] Teddy nudged the man with his foot. [He seemed to be the one doing some sort of experimentation in there, Im pretty sure that is taboo, especially as he was doing it way out here in secret, I suggest we turn him into the adventure society?] Lucy said. Everyone agreed that it would be in their best interest to make best possible speed to Greenstone and turn the man over, they werent powerful enough to question him and they werent sure what they would do with the information if they were. They collected what they needed to from the area before heading out. Teddy drove the buggy onto the drop deck on the back of the cruiser and showed the others how it folded into the side panel for easy storage. They all got on board and they set off home for Greenstone. Chapter 35 ‘Welcome aboard’ The land yacht was making steady progress back to Greenstone, Teddy had driven them straight-line out of the desert and they had intercepted a road through the delta, the roads now being the quickest way back. They had to keep slowing down to pass other vehicles as theirs was so large. They also got quite a lot of attention with such a luxury vehicle. They had stopped when their prisoner had woken up, he had easily broken the bonds that Lucy had put on him and all four Mitchells had gone below decks to soundly beat him up as he tried to escape. At no point had he tried to reason with his captors even when they tried to negotiate, all they could do in the end was overwhelm him four on one. His efforts to escape had only mildly damaged the room he was in, the repairs would be fairly simple once he was out. They had rotated drivers once they hit the road, taking it in turns to trundle down the main supply route to Greenstone. When he was relieved from driving Teddy went to meditate on the front of the cruiser, resting on the padded benches with the wind in his face. He knew he was close to the edge of bronze rank and was rewarded with a few notifications. Ability [Hands of the Reaper] (Dark) has reached Iron 9 (100%). Ability [Hands of the Reaper] (Dark) has reached Bronze 0 (00%). Ability [Hands of the Reaper] (Dark) has gained a new effect. Base cost of ability [Hands of the Reaper] (Dark) has changed from [Low] to [Varies]. Ability: [Hands of the Reaper] (Dark) Special attack (poison, constriction, execute) Base cost: Varies Cool-down: Low Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): The user can summon the hands of the Reaper from nearby shadows, these will attack a single target attempting to pin them in place. Targets will suffer [poison] and [constrict] damage when under the effect. For a High mana cost can be used as an execute ability. The Hands of the Reaper will pull the victim out of existence with transcendent damage that escalates with the amount of damage already inflicted on the target. Effect (bronze): The user can target multiple enemies with the hands of the Reaper for an increased mana cost. Cost varies per enemy targeted becoming increasingly higher. This wasnt the only ability that had ranked up. His Dimensional Warrior had ranked to bronze allowing him to summon multiple iron rank warriors or one bronze rank warrior. His winged feet power had ranked to allow one mid air step every two seconds and water walking for a per-step mana cost. Unleash the Voids description simply said darker beasts which was chilling to read considering how disturbing what creatures already came out, a little scared but also a little excited; Teddy couldnt wait to see what it would look like. His joy at seeing multiple powers cross the final threshold to bronze was short lived as he read the end of the next notification. All [Dark Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Recovery] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Swift Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Speed] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Dimension Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Power] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Void Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Spirit] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. Progress to Bronze rank: 100% (4/4 essences complete). All your attributes have reached bronze rank: ??? ???? ??????? ?????? ????. ??? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ??? ??????. ??? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?????????. ???? ???? ?????? ???? ????????: Progress to silver rank: 00%. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. He staggered a little in his seated position as all four of his attributes crossed the bronze threshold and the sensory input was overwhelming. What the hell? Teddy said out loud from the front. Lucy who had been driving quickly steered the land yacht off the road and came to a stop, hurrying around the front. Whats going on? I saw you put the notification up and was about to kick your ass off the boat so you didnt get foul goo everywhere. Lucy asked, the others quickly joining them. I dont know, I wasnt expecting all my essence powers to level up but they have. They all levelled to bronze but I havent! Teddy put his personal information up on the interface for everyone to see. Theodore Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank 100% (4/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Dimension): [Bronze 0] [Speed] (Swift): [Bronze 0] [Spirit] (Void): [Bronze 0] [Recovery] (Dark): [Bronze 0] They all looked at him, expecting the tell-tale bronze light to start shining out of him and followed by the worst smelling gloop they had ever encountered but it didnt come. So everything about you is bronze rank but you are absolutely still iron rank? James asked. Yeah, I feel amazing! Not quite as good as when we got Iron rank but having all four attributes at bronze is insane. He looked around the delta, he could feel the extra strength in his muscles and could feel how much faster he was instinctually. He turned to Lucy, as did James and Kyra. What?! She exclaimed at the attention. Well, youre our magic expert, whats happening to me? Why arent I bronze rank? I have no idea! Most people dont get an easy system like ours that details how far through their advancement they are, they only have an instinctual understanding. Everything I know says you should be bronze rank now, I dont know what else you would need to do to cross the threshold. Maybe meditate more? Well have to ask the magic society in Greenstone when we get there. Right, well you get behind the wheel and Ill see if I can work this out with meditation. Lucy gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder before heading back to the wheel. Teddy didnt last long meditating before he realised it wasnt going to get him anywhere, he got up and nudged Lucy out of the captains chair, he opened the throttle a little, using his increased reflexes, and his driving gloves to weave around the traffic a little more than was strictly polite. When they got close enough to see the city Teddy started steering off-course, taking a road that lead to the coast and not to the city. Err bro? Where are you going? Well the adventure society has its own docks right? Yeah I think it does. And we have a bronze ranker in custody we need to get to the adventure society campus without causing a big fuss. Yeah, I was wondering how we were going to do that. Well I figured a little like this. Teddy manipulated a few levers and the wheels either side separated, lowering the hull to almost touch the floor, he then snatched the levers back quickly and the wheels contracted in, the whole vessel jumped off the ground, it sailed over the trees at the end of the road and over the short beach. As it was airborne its wheels folded in on themselves, flattening and absorbing into the hull. Teddy stroked the roof of the drivers compartment backwards and the crystal canopy covering them started rapidly unfolding to encapsulate the top of the yacht. The now sleek yacht smashed down into the sea sending a huge crashing wave up, the boat struck with such force that it dived down, completely submerging before popping back out and forwards like a cork. Teddy stroked the canopy forwards and it retracted, opening to the sunny sky above, they were now powering forwards through the water sending up spray on either side from the bow. Wow, that was. This is. Damn this is cool. James stuttered out. The two girls soon climbed the stairs at the back of the boat, they were both wearing large sun hats and wearing sarongs, they removed them to show colourful bikinis and they lounged on the large padded benches, soaking up the sun. I love our life now. James said, moving to sit with his wife. Humph, didnt take them long to get back into the cruise life again. Teddy said, curving their course to enter the city from the sea. The girls managed to convince James to go below decks and make them a round of their favourite cocktails, when he returned with the drinks he had to remind them that they had a dangerous prisoner downstairs when they complained that they tasted alcohol free. Teddy slowed down as they entered the shadow of the city, he guessed his way correctly into the right dock and they saw three men stood at an open berth, all looking out expectantly. Two of the men were huge warrior types, firmly extending bronze rank auras at the boat making it clear Teddy was to head towards them. The poor man in the middle looked decidedly uncomfortable as if he didnt really want to be there. Lo the dock, we arent expected. What can we do for you? Teddy called from a short distance. Even though the two men were bronze rank the team on board were armed to bear, including a bear being present. Koda and Lucky were on the prow of the boat with visible hackles raised and teeth bared in silent snarls. The two girls had got up from their lounging, still only in bikinis but Kyra was armed with diamond shield and sword and Lucy had a double rune ring ready to go. It was almost hard to tell that James was shirtless with all the thick black hair but he was wearing nothing but a pair of passable imitation board-shorts and his vambrace with a throwing snake peeking out the top. As negotiator Teddy remained unarmed. Peace Mitchells, we were sent by our lord Hero. Said one of the big men. And what does the god Hero want with us now? To help, we know of your prisoner and have come to take him to the adventure society holding cells. Oh yeh? And who is the man with you? The big warrior turned to the small man and when he seemed reluctant to speak he stepped back and the man relaxed. Im Gill, Im with the harbourmaster, Im also an adventure society functionary, these gentlemen politely asked me to come along to show their honourable intentions. Hows that then? Well its reasonable to assume you brought the prisoner here for due justice, they are strangers and you are handing them over to them, having an impartial witness here makes sure they will do as they say they will. Ok, well can we see some badges then? All three on the dock showed adventure society badges, the smaller man in the middle had the correct markings for a low level functionary. [Checks out guys, anyone not happy with this?] [Seems a bit too convenient but cant find anything to argue against.] Lucy chipped in. With the other two nodding along Teddy acquiesced. Gentlemen, welcome aboard. Teddy opened a sliding panel that hadnt been visible before and took out a wide roll of flexible blue crystal, he threw it at the dock keeping hold of one end, when it hit the dock it snapped rigid forming a gangplank that angled up to the top deck. The three men came on board, the smaller man stayed on the top deck with the girls who had put away their weapons while the boys took the two men downstairs. They came back up shortly with one of them carrying the still unconscious man over his shoulder. I was just saying to your wives that this vessel is a work of art, even without going below deck I can see that you having something quite unique and special here. But we agreed that it needs a name, I will put it down that the berth is the Mitchells but please let me know when you have a name! He walked off the ship with the other men and the prisoner, the two couples watched them walk away into the marina. Once they were left alone the Mitchells all looked at each other. To the Schooner? Chapter 36 ‘Lotsa things needing killing out there’ After spending months away from the city, most of which they had spent eating various shades of mushroom in Charlies desert dwelling had lead to the Mitchells covering the table in front of them with sandwiches. The staff were overjoyed to see the family, giving them a round of applause as they walked back into the bar, the four of them had stood in the doorway slightly embarrassed but heartfelt gratitude a being welcomed back. The staff had their favourite table ready in no time, a small alcove in the corner with a round table they could all get round with none of them having their back to the main room. Shortly after they were sat talking to one of the waitresses another came over with their drinks without having to order, shortly after that one of the boys waitering brought over the first round of sandwiches and they kept coming after that. The chef came out to sit and talk to them about the new sandwich options they had tried for him and they were horrifying him with tales of endless mushrooms. Vincent Trenslow walked in and panned his gaze around then locked onto the Mitchells he made a bee-line for them, the chef saw the intense look on his face and made himself scarce. Vincent leaned over the table placing both hands on it and spoke so softly that only the Mitchells could hear. Three men brought a very highly sensitive prisoner this afternoon which is complicated at the best of times, then we find out that it is you four that are involved which makes it even more complicated! What am I going to do with you? Seeing that Vincent was winding up to a full tirade James leant out and got the barmans attention. He motioned for one drink for Vincent then went back to listening. And when I got the details out of those two church of Hero thugs and they finally pointed me towards the marina AND I finally found your ridiculous new boat Its not just a boat. Teddy chipped in and Vincent glowered at him. There was a ginormous bronze rank monster sleeping on the gang plank, really James, you shouldnt leave him lying around. Ah so you saw our B.E.A.R.S.S. then. James said, spelling the word. The what?! Vincent asked incredulously. The Basically Everything All Right Security System, Bearss for short. Vincent looked like his head was going to pop off before a very smiley waitress dropped off a tall pint of beer for him before moving quickly away. Kyra took out a hand mirror from somewhere and checked her reflection, she swept a loose strand of hair behind her ear and when her hand was behind the ear a small button appeared in it. She pressed in and subtly put it on the table under the lip of a plate. Vincent, privacy screen is up, take a seat, give us a cheers with your pint, look like youre happy to see us and then you can tell us why youre really so annoyed. She said. He deflated slightly and sat down, he bowed his head slightly and raised his glass, with a roaring cheer, mostly from the two boys, they smashed their glasses into his and no one put theirs down until they had all finished. The two waiting staff that brought over a fresh round of drinks straight after and were a little surprised when they crossed into the privacy screen but didnt make a big deal of it. So come on Vinnie, whatve we done thats so bad now? Lucy asked. Well for starters you called me Vinnie, that better not catch on. In true outworlder fashion you have found yourselves caught up in events that are far larger than you can comprehend. You were set away from here because you were stirring trouble and just found even more! I cant brief you on the detail yet, if at all. The prisoner we brought in was that special? We just thought he was a crazy dude, we thought what he was doing was maybe naughty and he attacked us so we brought him in. I dont think any of us were going to think any more of it once we turned him over. Teddy said. Vincent rubbed his face with his hand, smoothing his moustache. Well someone has made the choice that you are going to think more on it. Hero. Lucy guessed, Vincent looked surprised but no one else did. How did you know? Oh she normally puts things together before the rest of us get halfway there. Kyra added knocking Lucys elbow. Well, yes, Heros representatives have insisted that he is still your prisoner being held at the adventure society and you must be involved, including all questioning and anything else to do with the case. And you have to go along with that? James asked. Mr Mitchell, Its a god, they dont really ask as much as tell. Seeing as more than a few of the adventure society membership worship Hero we find ourselves in an unfortunate position where it is hard to say no. Great, so what does that mean for us? Teddy asked. Well, we cannot question him or go any further than in-processing him into holding. Its put the brakes on a larger operation so I need one of you to come in. Ah, so now I see the frustration of not finding us at the boat. No, I got roared at by a giant bear at the boat and went to your house outside the city. Your housekeeper said that if you were definitely in the city but not home yet then you werent drunk enough, hence finding you here. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Yup. Sounds right. Fair. I miss Gerald. Kyra said. Vincent reached forward and grabbed a sandwich off one of the large trays in front of him and slouched back in his seat, finally relaxing. So whats new? I havent seen you four since we sent you off to the desert with Rashid. Well the boat, obviously, but its not just a boat, so not so obvious. Teddy went on to explain the venture in the desert, how they found Charlie, and the vehicle they made. Oh and I got a new engraving! James said and trusting Vincent he took off his vambrace and gave it to him to inspect. Vincents eyes went wide at the apparent weight of the item, a rank higher than James he shouldnt expect to notice it being heavy but the rules around soul-bound items werent always clear cut. He started with the engravings he knew, tracing the lines of the bear claws on the back of the hand plate and the many metalled stylised wing on one of the large plates, he moved to the back of the upper arm piece and looked over the lightning bird. This is all a fine collection of artwork! You should be very proud of what youve collected already, its a shame about the damage. James paused lifting a large glass to his mouth and some beer sloshed out. What damage?! Here on the bottom plate, sorry if you didnt already know.Vincent said, handing back the armour to James. James took it back hurriedly, turned it over and saw the tell-tale marks. A few of the drip marks from where the Rock Matriarch had tried to splatter them with venom had burnt into the metal. No, no no no no no NO! James said as he was opening the description on the interface then exclaimed when he saw the new line. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] Effect (Lightning): For a high mana cost imbue attacks with an electric effect. Small chance of paralysis and ongoing muscle spasms. Effect (Venom): [SEALED] [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] [100 wing quintessence] [100 lightning quintessence] [100 venom quintessence] 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. Whats wrong? Vincent said, looking concerned. Lucy was patting James consolingly on the shoulder as he gently banged his head against the armour. He hasnt got to choose what goes on there engraving-wise since the first one which was the bear and he stumbled across that opportunity anyway, looks like hell be getting that panel engraved next. Ooh, and what quintessence does he need to upgrade? Venom. Vincent winced. Thats an expensive one. But on the other hand, new power. Power is normally a good thing. Oh yeh. Teddy said, just remembering. Speaking of power, all my essences are up to bronze rank but Im mysteriously not a bronze ranker. He said in an off-hand way without concern. Vincents went tense, all the relaxation hed just achieved vanishing. What do you mean all your essences are but youre not. Well you know we can see it written down, everything is 100% but theres a bunch of question marks where it should say Ive ranked up. Have you told anyone else. All four shook their heads. Good. DO. NOT. TELL. ANYONE. He said very clearly. Leave this with me, keep your aura as tamped down as you can, try not to go out until we have a handle on this. Damn Vinnie youre starting to worry me. Vincent tried to relax again. Outworlders will be the death of me. Look, I just want to make sure you dont get carted off for experimentation, I like you all and dont want someone getting ideas they can take you. Well find someone to trust and go from there. Ok, we can lay low. Vincent arched an eyebrow. Can you? Sure we can, well just quietly sail our little row-boat back out and round the city and hole up in the villa. If you can send us a few small local contracts to keep busy then well stay out the way. Well need someone to be coming in to sort the prisoner. [Any volunteers, Im the one who should be hiding]. Ill come into the city to deal with the prisoner. Lucy said. We can have a pretty normal life, Ill come in to work with the adventure society, Kyra will be coming in to work with the Broadstreet Clinic and James will be trying to find a hidden master to engrave his armour. It wont be unusual to not see Teddy in town, hes been seen to obsessively hunt monsters before. Lotsa things needing killing out there and somehow thats not as twisty in the head as it sounds. Teddy nodded along. Sure, I can get you some contracts, theyll be directed ones but Ill hand deliver them or get someone I trust so theyll be kept on the low-down. Gee Vincent, between sending us out to the desert and now not even wanting me to be seen Im starting to think you dont want us around. Like I said, personally I love you guys and girls, professionally are you sure you didnt like Vitesse more? Chapter 37 ‘Beautiful, but horrible.’ A few weeks after they arrived back in Greenstone Lucy came home early in the morning to the villa. Kyra and James were still in bed and she didnt want to wake her husband as he had been training hard. She made her way to the kitchen and found Teddy reading a local book with his feet up, legs on the corner of the table with his fancy boots dangling in the air. Hey Teddy, youre up early. Up late actually, I only got in a little before you. Night time hunting is really my thing it turns out. Well that is definitely a face that belongs in the shadows. It was only good natured banter, Teddy hadnt been a bad looking guy back on earth but the beautifying properties of ranking to iron had squared his jaw and added an inch or two in height. Say that again in front of my wife and shell withdraw healing privileges for the whole next trip. Aww, big tough Teddy, needs his wife to stick up for him. Lu, dont make me book the book down. He said, turning the page. What have you got for me? She opened a rune circle in the air and reached through to pluck a stack of contract papers as they swirled past inside the portal. She placed them on the desk in front of Teddy who glanced at them before he opened a rift horizontally in the air and jabbed a hand in quickly and a thick stack of completed papers fell out next to the smaller stack Lucy had placed, it was easily three or four times bigger. Lucy shook her head and picked up the stack and placed it in her still open storage before pulling out a plain brown folder. Teddy was just leafing through the corners of the contracts Lucy had put down for him when she slapped the folder on top. This is so frustrating, this is your case update folder, there is no update, the man wont talk. Were still trying to assess if his mind is broken or not. Teddy had put his boots on the floor and was inspecting the contents of the folder intently. Gerald had come in with sacks of fresh food from the early market, he grunted good morning without looking and set about putting away and getting food out for breakfast. So still no background to the case? They say the detail is coming from another branch, Vincent said theres a lot of resistance, mostly Im sat on meetings where they are skirting around it with pointed looks. Sorry Lu, that must be so boring. Oh, its ok, Ive been able to dive across into the magic society a lot and do plenty of research around those meetings and met some new people. You look like youve been busy. That was a lot of notice board contracts to go along with the directed contracts. You realise weve completely lost track of the months? Earth months that is, I reckon it must be around Christmas, I feel like Santa going around in the dead of night but instead of leaving presents I just kill peoples monsters. Any change on ability progression? Nothing, Its as if Ive hit a brick wall, you know what its like using a bronze rank power at iron, all my powers feel like that if I use the bronze rank version. That makes sense insofar as you are pulling more magic through your body than it can technically handle. But no sense that your body should have adapted by now. Vincent has some feelers out still for an expert but hes being careful. Ok, no rush I guess, were not going anywhere anytime soon while youre involved in this investigation. Lucy looked at him sympathetically, it was stressful coming into this world with no idea what was going on, now they felt they understood what was happening to them and the path ahead and suddenly Teddy found that certainty had been taken away from him again. Were there at least some interesting monsters last night? Found one that fights a little like you actually, little monkey type thing, huge ass eyes. Sends out illusionary double and masks itself, very sneaky. Had to use my familiar to pin it down by its real shadow in the end. Ability: [Shadow lantern] (Dark) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Shadow lantern] to serve as a familiar. [Shadow familiar] will fire bolts of darkness at enemies for extremely low damage. Attacks against enemies have a chance to inflict [Blindness] against enemies. Effect (bronze): Two lanterns are now summoned. Damage is increased. Summoned familiars have the ability to penetrate shadows for the user only. [Blindness]: enemies affected by the condition will have all senses blinded for 7.5 seconds. Doesnt seem like a big change to your familiar. Well its a lot more handy to have around now, unless Im walking in the bright open desert he can basically be around me all the time. Lucy looked around. Not here though? Teddy looked over to the corner of the room and waved his hand towards himself. The shadow lantern unpeeled itself from the shadows in the corner. It can blend into almost any depth of shadow, Ive not seen it so I cant prove it but Im fairly sure its shadow jumping between them. Oh, thats fascinating, so you can see in the dark now? Not quite, darkness isnt shadow, but short of sticking me in a box with no holes there are always different depths of darkness to use, as long as there is any light source, even starlight though cloud then there will be a shadow. Night-time hunting really is your thing then! A big shaggy beast walked through the door to the kitchen yawning and scratching its beard. Morning bro, youre becoming more like Koda every day, ooh, even by smell. James went over to his wife and hugged her while flipping Teddy the bird behind her back. Keep it up little brother, we have a mirage chamber booked at the annex later today and Im looking forward to kicking your ass all over the place. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Oh Ill teach you to respect your elders, but we can throw down anytime you like. James made some non-commital grumbling noises and went and sat down at the breakfast bar in front of Gerald. Wheres Kyra? Im hungry. Gerald was a stickler for politeness and wouldnt serve until everyone was present. Shes just sleeping in a little, shell be here soon. Teddy answered. James grunted slightly and shrunk an inch or so in every dimension as Koda appeared behind him and shambled out. Master James, Ive told you before, Ill have nae bears in my kitchen please, they are proficient purloiners of honey and anything fresh baked. Sorry Gerald. There was suddenly a roar and a short high pitched scream. Koda came bounding back in, skidding around the corners on all fours as quick as he could in a panic and ran straight into James who rocked slightly and grew back to the size he was before. He was chased not long after by Kyra, her hair was a mess and she was wearing a silk robe over her bedclothes, she had a diamond sword in her hand. Did you smack my bear with your sword?! Your bear is lucky he still has a nose!! What the hell do you think youre doing?! Sitting for breakfast? Teddy got up to diffuse the situation, he walked over to Kyra and hugged her, taking the sword out of her hand he dropped it to the floor and it dissipated, he straightened her hair out slightly and gave her a hug. He took her over to the breakfast bar at the far end from James. Ladies, Gentlemen and Master James Hey! Ye sent a bear to wake a lady, that, is not gentlemanly behaviour, as I was saying. Breakfast is served, I also have my latest batch of coffee for you to try. Pallimustus had no such thing as coffee, essence users had little use for it as caffeine wouldnt effect them anyway and tea seemed to be all the people needed. It was something the earth couples missed though and one morning after describing the wonders of roasted bean based beverages Gerald had sworn to make a local substitute. He was getting closer, it was now drinkable but it still wasnt the same. Probably the closest youve got so far Gerald, its very nice. Its still just a touch too fruity though. Thank you Ms Lucy, Ill try again for tomorrow. Gerald busied himself tidying away the kitchen, he was drinking his own cup of coffee whilst he did. I need a little nap but apart from that and the mirage chamber later does anyone have any plans? Teddy asked. The clinic was fairly empty yesterday so Im sure they can manage, I was going to do some reading in the garden today. No meetings at the adventure society today but I do have a friend coming over this afternoon. Whilst they were eating and talking Gerald had left the room, he now came back in and coughed for attention. Please excuse me, Master James, there is a caravan of desert travellers for you at the gate. He said it with distaste, the fact that he hadnt allowed them in the grounds showed that he didnt think much of them. Oh thank the gods! James said as he jumped off his stool. I was told they were trustworthy but I did wonder. They all followed him out and Gerald opened the gates to allow the ragged looking group into the courtyard. They were dressed in desert travelling clothes and looked like any other band of desert dwellers, they were different however by virtue that they were all essence users, a mix of iron with a few bronze and one silver who was the leader. Their caravan that stood outside was covered in seasoned engravings of animals and landscapes, it carried all sorts of goods for sale. James had been looking for someone to complete his engraving on his vambrace and had been recommended the travelling salespeople, sceptical at first but after looking into it he found that they had a solid reputation even though they looked shady. Twynius, thankyou for coming. James bowed to the leader. Mr Mitchell, good morning, we are moving on and have completed your work. He revealed a hessian sack covering the armour, a far cry from the plush velvet bag that Mr Randulph had used to cover his wing engraving. When he pulled it back James scepticism and fear that hed made a bad choice vanished. The few droplets of venom damage that were on the armour had been worked into the design. It was a sinister scorpion. The desert dwellers had used their intimate knowledge of the desert creature to bring it to life, it had venom dripping from its barbed tail, instead of the normal scorpion head it had a human skull with evil eyes and long fangs like a vampire that were also dripping venom. It was dark, the engraving had blacking worked into it to give it depth. Wow, sinister much James? Teddy asked. Not all animals are sunshine and rainbows dude, especially not the ones that cause the damage were after. James bowed to the desert people. Twynius this is excellent work thankyou. A large mole-like creature broke the ground at his feet, looked around blearily before diving back down and pushing out a large bag of coins. Mr Mitchell, where can I get a creature like this? One of the younger desert people said staring at the coin producing creature. Try Diagon Alley. Lucy said and the Mitchells had a laugh while the desert people looked confused. Sorry, in-joke. James said as he passed over the large bag of coins. The desert people weighed the bag of coins appreciatively and made polite chat with the adventurers before bowing goodbye and making their way out. As Gerald locked up the gates again the others made their way back inside. Go on then, put up the description! Lucy told James. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] Effect (Lightning): For a high mana cost imbue attacks with an electric effect. Small chance of paralysis and ongoing muscle spasms. Effect (Venom of the Merciless Desert): Inflicts poison damage. Chance to inflict [Milk of the Cacti]. Chance to inflict [Greyscale]. Can only affect living enemies with blood. Must penetrate enemy to inflict poison and [Milk of the Cacti]. Contact with the venom has a smaller chance of causing [Greyscale]. [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. [Milk of the Cacti] (affliction, blood): Causes afflicted enemies to hallucinate and a chance to cause damage to themselves by convulsion. [Greyscale] (affliction, incapacitating): Affliction that spreads across the skin. Causes joints to lock up and impairs mobility. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] [100 wing quintessence] [100 lightning quintessence] [100 venom quintessence] 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. Nasty looking scorpion with some nasty looking powers. Thats horrible. Kyra said. But youve got to admit, It looks pretty badass. Teddy added. Oh dont get me wrong, Its beautiful, but horrible. If that was a tattoo I wouldnt have let you get it. Lucy told him. Hey I had no idea what they were putting on there! James said defensively. I just showed it to him and he got the idea, I only asked that he didnt put the Rock Matriarch on there, dont really fancy having a maggot engraving. Well now youve got your ridiculously good custom armour back shall we head down to the mirage chamber? Its booked for this afternoon but we can see whos about, maybe do some sparring with trainees? Im up for it, plus, kinda wanna roll up in our new whip. Kyra said, having the decency to blush slightly at wanting to show off. All righty then, Gerald! The housekeeper reversed his walk to head back to the gate. Teddy unzipped a rift in the air and pulled the land yacht miniature out, he placed it on the floor and tapped the back and it started to unfold. Back to the academy we go! Lucy said. Chapter 38 ‘I swear by my pretty floral bonnet’ Gerald had seen them turn up in the massive land yacht and had been suitably impressed. Initially he had been worried that they had nowhere to store such an ostentatious craft but was relieved to watch it collapse down. He had, out of character, rather shyly approached the Mitchells and asked if he could join them on the journey to the academy annex, he had never had the opportunity to be on such a vehicle. He was now behind the steering wheel as the others relaxed on the sofas on the upper deck while they smoothly powered down the causeway. You ok up there Gerald? Kyra asked. Oh Im fine thankee Ms Mitchell, living out some boyhood fantasy of sailing but on land. [I know its not an important issue right now but we need to talk about the guild offers at some point.] Teddy said on the interface, keeping it private so as not to bother Gerald. [Im still unclear what they do for us? We get enough contracts as it is.] James said [Its not so much about the contracts, I did a little digging into this and why we would want to join at this stage. Seems to be more like taking out insurance, the guilds cast out a wide net to get as many people that are above their quality line, the deeds of those people add prestige to the organisation and curry political favour. In return the individuals or teams get an organisation that will mentor them, that adds to their prestige when theyre just starting out and a bank of political favour that they can bargain to cash in.] Lucy explained. [So youre saying if we join now then theyll help us out in the hope well do something impressive?] Kyra clarified. [Thats essentially it, theres also a social factor to it, some of these guilds have branches all over the planet and therefore people you can turn to all over. Some of the high magic areas are also more fussy about handing out contracts, were lucky that they build the academy annex here because Greenstone is a very low magic density area that attracts very few adventurers. That means that theyre just happy the contracts get done and are glad to have people do them. If they ever got a silver rank contract then they would send out one of the two or three silvers they have in the city, in a big, high magic city there would be competition for a tasty contract. Being part of a guild makes you more competitive for the good contracts.] They were approaching the Geller estates which the Annex sat on and they could see the gates looming ahead. [All right, everyone has the list of the guilds that offered us slots with the notes we made at the time, have a look and well have another chat about this before the end of the week.] Teddy said, getting up to stand behind Gerald to coach him into parking the massive vehicle. They left Gerald on board, they said they were happy to let him take it back to the villa as during the last few weeks they had been busy and built a second dune buggy that collapsed into the other side of the drop deck on the back so they could all travel back comfortably. Teddy was still grumpy about losing his amulet that kept out the sand, Lucy had been scraping together the materials to build him one and they had all voted to use it on the second buggy. Gerald had been more than happy to stay rather than drive it back on his own and had headed down to the middle deck to play in the on-board kitchen. The team made their way to the gate, the Geller family were prolifically known worldwide, there were rumours about the church of fertility and them but they hadnt heard the detail. They sent their young scions from all over back to Greenstone and had done for generations, here they were taught fundamentals of adventuring, giving them the space to stretch out their legs and prove themselves. As well as being given opportunities to show courage and daring against monsters solo they were also shown the other side of the coin; duty, humility and discipline. The front gate was being manned by two Gellers. They didnt recognise them so the process took a little longer than the usual getting waved through, they had to sign in to state the purpose of their visit, show a record of having bid for the mirage chamber and been allocated a slot, then the boys had to sign the girls in as there was no official reason for them being there. They all had their badges checked and were allowed through into the grounds. [Well damn. They were thorough, I thought we were going to have to fight if they pulled out a probe.] James put on the interface. [Just doing their job, theyre new here so the death and destruction, shame on the house and disownment for disappointment speech they get given is probably is still ringing in their ears.] Lucy replied. [Weve got time before our slot starts, check out the training grounds?] Teddy said. There was a round of agreement and they all started heading over to the main square where there was the most action, it was where trainees could open spar across the intakes and there were always instructors or guest experts to give insight. They were shocked into standstill all of a sudden, forcefully projecting auras and readying power and weapons to use. A wave of fire had erupted into the air in the near distance in front of them, blasting into the air with light and heat. [Lucy, anything from Lechuza?] Teddy checked. [No she says its just the normal from the square, trainees and an instructor, no mass fight.] They all relaxed their auras. [She says there is some sort of demo, theyre all watching one fight.] Teddy looked up and squinted, he could barely see the speck that was Lechuza way up high. They made their way to the square to hopefully see what the demo was, as they came through the last overgrown arch they found everyone in the crowd looking at them. [Well this isnt awkward at all.] James said. Ah, good, I thought it was you lot from that little aura burst. Daish came strolling towards them. He was wearing wide trousers that could have passed for a wide skirt, a wide brimmed belt held a pair of training swords and his boyish chest was bare. He was grinning at his friends. Well we forgot where we were for a moment, having left the academy seeing bursts of flame in the air is cause to suit up. James replied. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Suit up I have missed your turn of phrase Mitchell James. We were demonstrating using indirect attacking of powers to feint an enemy. Looky over here while I slap you from over here? Quite. Or I shoot massive burst of flame over here and stab you in the kidney? Just so. You know Teddy does something similar with his rift power you know Hard to demonstrate without people losing fingers though. Teddy interjected. Oh go on, show them. No. Go on! I said no. Puuuurleeeease! Eurgh. Teddy went to shove James hard in an obvious way and James sidestepped. As he did Teddy blurred and caught the front of James robes to stop him just before he dodge-sidestepped straight into a narrow rift. Teddy had hidden the departure end of the rift behind his back before he shoved his brother causing him to move into the arrival rift. Misdirection, anticipating reaction. Checkmate. The small crowd that was watching Daishs lesson clapped at the demo. Students take note, a wonderful example, Dimension powers are expensive and rare, monsters that use such powers are exotic. Focus your mind on intent as well as action, in a fight it is rarely straight forward and both sides will be playing each other and waiting for advantage, whether it is the subtle. He indicated at Teddy. Or the obvious. He pulled a training sword and turned to James, he whipped the sword from pointing at Jamess nose, sweeping it down past his side and up behind himself, the edge of the blade glowed red hot and the huge scarlet and gold flames erupted out the back and up. James was following the flames and didnt notice the smaller sword in Daishs other hand sneak up under his chin. Daish had to stand on tip-toes and the tip only just reached but the point was made. James staggered back a few steps. [Why me?] The lesson was over and the crowd of trainees either dispersed or grouped to discuss or spar in the square. Daish tucked his swords away and bowed to James. He quickly fetched his tunic, sandals and steel swords from a bench at the side. He replaced the training swords in a cabinet then hurried back over to see his friends. Why have I not seen you all in so long?! He said excitedly. Well because whenever were in town you are either hunting or teaching! Teddy answered as they made their way to a seating area off to one side. Ah it is so. But my activity is shadowed by your own until recently. The amount of contracts you closed on your way back from Vitesse was impressive. The Mitchells all looked at each other before answering. Yes we had quite a busy way home. And were trying to beat that record soon Lucy said trying to change the conversation. There were many rumours that your exploits on the way back from Vitesse were more than what is in the official record. Daish probed. Yes the official record that no one should be looking beyond. Anyway, Daish what have you been up to? You are of course your families latest prodigy, tell us of your adventures. The stern professional face of the little master disappeared as he was now talking to his closest friends from their time in the academy the persona he had now was just a little boy who got to play hero killing monsters and telling his friends. They dont think they could have stopped him if they wanted to. The girls got pulled away by Rashid who spotted them and wanted to catch up about Charlie in the desert. Teddy got politely asked to show more of his dimension essence powers by some of the trainees who saw the demo and he soon had them bent double on the centre of the square suffering from dimension sickness. James and Daish were drinking hot tea from James inventory. It had been delivered by a pair of snakes lowering their tails from the tree above, unseen before the steaming cups lowered. Daish had just told a particularly daring story of a woman he had saved from a rock elemental before the keen light left his eyes and he went quiet. He had been going through chronologically and had obviously come to a story that was hard to tell. Daish, whats wrong? I Nothing, it is not something you need to hear. Its important to open up, my team is lucky because were all family and we have no choice and we have to listen to each other. Being on your own its important you have someone to offload to, doesnt have to be me but Im here to listen if you need. Daish looked at him intently. The body may have been a young boy but circumstance had forced him to grow old beyond his years and the depths of his eyes showed. My first contract that was not against monsters. A test I think. The families in Greenstone requested parameters that aligned for me to chase down thieves. I do no know what their intentions were, maybe to disrepute the annex or the societies decision to allow me to join. When I tracked down the gang I attempted to take them into custody. They were mostly iron rank and without training, some didnt even have a full set of essences. I know now that they saw a little boy in front of them and would not come quietly. What I did not think was that they would rather not come at all. Every one of them forced me to kill them. With all my skill I could not subdue them and the contract was not for live capture. He stared at the bottom of his now empty teacup. Sounds like you didnt have much choice there buddy. Im not a fan of the just following orders defence when it comes to killing people, but Im not against killing people when they need killing. Weve not had to do this yet and luckily the only person weve had to fight so far we were able to capture. But there is something to be said for trying to do all the things right. There was a wise man of honour from my universe, a warrior that simply said If someone ever tries to kill you, you try and kill em right back!. Daish looked up from his cup. I suppose, I did not go there to kill those men, but I could not let them get away and they would not lay down arms. He handed the cup to James and bowed. Thankyou Mitchell James, I have not spoken to anyone about this and it has been weighing against my soul. I hope you do not think less of me for questioning the right path. Its the ones that never question that theyre on the right path you need to watch out for in my opinion. They both got up as Teddy and the girls headed back over. Theyd been free for a while but had the sense to see that the others were having a serious discussion and didnt want to interrupt. Hey, you guys ok? Teddy asked. Yes Mitchell Theodore, I was conflicted but your brother has given me advice from a warrior from your universe that has helped. Oh gods, who did you talk about now? Teddy asked James. Malcolm Reynolds of course. Really? A friend is in need and you quote a space pirate at him? But that does give me an idea Well it seemed to be what he needed to hear, if you have a problem with it I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you. Teddy shook his head and walked away towards the mirage chamber. The girls followed just after with Daish and James following behind. A space pirate Mitchell James? Yeh that probably falls into the category of things were not allowed to really explain. James answered. When they got to the mirage chamber they entered a room with tiered rows of seating that looked at the view screen, beyond saw a group of people in the room with the stone beds that users laid on to enter the mirage chamber. They were noticed by the group and they filed past each other, they shook hands with a few of the instructors in passing with promises to catch up after their slot. The group didnt exit the building but stopped in the seating area to finish their debrief. Lucy was the most comfortable with the system of crystals and started setting up a scenario for the boys. Whilst she went through the lengthy process the others were explaining the land yacht to Daish. And so its pretty amazing, but it really does need a name. Kyra said. I will think on this, but I feel you will want to name it something that is pertinent to yourselves. Funny you should say that, Ive had an idea recently. Teddy said. Me too. James quickly said. I was thinking of the Nebuchadnezzar, you know, a ship thats known in our universe. A ship that sails between the real world and the fantasy, carrying those who hold the fate of the world in their hands. I like the name but not the fate of the world thing. Kyra said. What have you got Teddy? Teddy smiled, imagining the original ship. Serenity Chapter 39 ‘Enter the Matrix’ The boys found themselves in a completely blank white landscape as far as the eye could see. This isnt how the mirage chamber normally loads? Teddy remarked. Lucy was saying the load shes made for us takes a while to set up so she made a mini load to mess around in first. She made a playable loading screen? Sweet! All right boys its almost there, the scheme is similar to what we played in Vitesse as a four, the difference is there is a barely achievable cap if you work together, but Ill remind you this is a last man standing match so only one of you gets to walk out as the victor. Both understand? Aye Yup So in the words of your favourite operator, what do you need? Besides a miracle? James got the reference and smiled. Guns, lots of guns. It started off as dots on the horizon, rapidly approaching the pair in the blank landscape. It was quickly on them and Teddy had to step forward towards James to stop from being swept aside from the rows of weapons that were coming towards them. Before they knew it they were in the middle of racks of weapons that stretched as far as the eye could see. Sorry boys, no guns obviously but try some of these for fun. The boys perused the shelves, they played with different weapons for fun before putting them back, from wide bladed spears with long tassels designed to distract an opponent to seeing if they could throw multiple throwing stars in one hand at the same time. They ended up with Teddy taking a few handfuls of throwing stars and placing them in his inventory, they each took a half dozen throwing spears and stuck them point down into the construct floor. Ok its about to load, youll have training dummies first to loosen you up then the monsters start, starting bottom of the food chain iron and working your way up to just checking the notes oh. Well the other end should be fun. Enjoy! The pristine white landscape with the infinite rows of weapon shelving blurred and darkened, when it came back into focus they were in a woodland setting, the sun was high above them and they were ankle deep in water. Eurgh Teddy said, opening a small rift to take out a couple of water quintessence gems to feed to his boots and stepped on top of the water. Its only a little water bro. James said, standing perfectly at ease in the water. But it shouldnt happen anymore! My Winged Feet Swift power got to bronze, that means water-walking which means I should never have wet socks again. If you have prophet-like water walking powers why are you still using the blue boots? Teddy tapped the toes of his boots together self consciously. Because I like them, and its a mana cost to water-walk without them. They had agreed to make it fair that Teddy would play with an assumed handicap, James had five more powers to get to bronze rank and so for Teddys last five powers to cross the threshold he wasnt allowed to use the bronze rank effect. This also would allay any suspicions of any keen eyed observers who noticed an iron ranker with a full suite of bronze-rank abilities. Looking around they were standing in a small pool of water being fed from a twenty foot waterfall from a small cliff behind them. On top of the rock the forest continued behind. Around the pool was a rocky clear area before being surrounded by trees. Looks a good as place as any to make a stand I guess. James said. They stacked the spears they had brought with them into the middle of the pool. Stuck point down into the silty bottom ready to be grabbed and thrown. They hadnt needed them really as they both had stock in their respective inventories but felt a shame to not take anything from the impressive armouries. Did you hear we missed out on another manifestation in the city while we were away? James said while they were stretching, making conversation. No? Any good? Pretty rare one, fungus that comes off food, its a lesser/iron rank, appeared in a tavern kitchen and rapidly spread, harmless on food but makes you very sick if you eat it and it multiplies rapidly. A whirling training dummy appeared between the trees. Oh yeah? Suppose thats one way for the health inspectorate to come down hard on you. Teddy said keeping an eye on the dummy. Well apparently they only manifest if the place is dirty as a back alley anyway, so doubly so. More training dummies had appeared all around the clearing. They looked like martial arts dummies with crooked limbs on rotating sections around the centre. They rushed and swayed on four legs that looked like spider legs from each corner. Well we tried most places and we now only go to the Schooner, theyre definitely in no danger of being shut down for hygiene. [Lets take this out the water, itll only serve to mask their movement with those short legs.] Teddy said on the interface. [Agreed.] As James left the water a snake glided off his shoulder having slithered out of his neck line of his armour he wore. Looking back Teddy could see that James had subtly been seeding the water with snakes from his Snake Sorcerer power all the time they had been standing there. They spoke on the interface while chatting casually out loud. The team had all agreed that they would use the interface for tactical chat to put people off kilter and not give anything away to observers. Teddy stood on the rock and cracked his neck. The dummies all suddenly flew at the two boys, their unsettling gait made them wobble side to side while their layers of whirling segments spun rapidly. The three that came at Teddy were met by arm and leg blocks from the dark clad man. His armour panels built into the forearms and shins of his light armour clacking against the spinning wood, he blocked some and dodged others, as they kept it up he was blocking more and more, speeding up as he accumulated instances of Rapid from his Swift essence ability By a Thousand Cuts. When he felt he had enough he moved from blocking to striking; using knuckles, knees and elbows he pummelled the wood. It started with small dents that became big dents with enough hits, then chunks of wood started splintering out of them and he dismantled the three of them with ease. James went for a different kind of warm up, the first one that came to him he bodily grabbed, using his enhanced agility from his Scurry power from the Rat essence to duck around the flailing limbs without shifting his feet. He used his massive strength to pick up the dummy and used it to smash apart the second, treating it like a flailing mace. He dropped the parts to the ground and faced the third. He channeled mana into the Scurry power to extend the duration and went through a few forms against the dummy, flowing and bending like a willow to deflect the blows. He had felt the moment that the Scurry power had naturally ran out and he pushed through it, using the bronze rank benefit to the power he was faster and he could push through the natural duration using an ongoing moderate mana cost to keep his agility higher. He cut the flow and took a few blows from the dummy while he got used to blocking at normal speed, he barely felt the hits, his Standing Kodak power negated a large portion of incoming damage and he had Koda absorbed absorbing another small amount of incoming damage, between the two effects he was sitting comfortable. He tried to re-start the Scurry power and found that he couldnt once he had let go, he was happy to find the limitations of his new power. With a quick thrust he splintered one of the dummys arms with a knife hand and grabbed the body, he lifted it up and brought it down with both hands onto his knee breaking it in two. Hulk smash! Teddy called from the other side of the pond, flexing both arms inwards. James flipped him off and looked to see what was coming next, the dummies were the warm up so now the monsters were going to start. Stone Chewer Rats came swarming out of the woods nearest James. He released Koda to the centre of the pack and threw a moderate powered wing sweep at the left side. Teddy was already moving, he double jumped over the water, his two bronze rank shadow lantern familiars appearing and shooting bolts of darkness at the right hand side while Teddy threw shards of darkness. He used the iron rank variant, they both knew that these little monsters were no threat to them but had the chance to soak up a lot of their mana in magical attacks. They settled into a rhythm of killing the rats manually as James put it, they had a sense of urgency as they knew the next monster wave would start on time rather than when they were finished with the first batch. The second batch of monsters started to appear came from the far side of the pool, slightly out of place; a pack of sand dogs skulked out of the trees towards them. [There cant be many rats left, Ill tie these up while you and Koda mop up.] Teddy looked over at James while he put the message on the interface and James nodded without even looking his way, reaping through rats with preying-mantis style arms. Teddy pulled an old trick on the lead alpha dog, just before he jumped over he opened a rift and dipped through and flicked it on the ear. The dog snarled and snapped at the gesture, closing its mouth on the rift and cutting its own head in half. Teddy left the lanterns to rain darkness down on the rats and fell amongst the dogs on his own. Even though they used pack tactics to try and isolate Teddy he was too fast, when they surrounded him and one would try and feint at him to drive him into the other side of the circle and the waiting pack he would dash in and wound the dog to take them out of the fight. Their magical bodies cost him mana to cut through with his dimension blade so he used a blade that he had forged himself. It was in the collection of skill books he had bought from Vitesse, he had selected as many books on armour and weapons and general artifice as he could find. His early experiments were abysmal and not even able to be used as butter knives. He had now worked hard to reliably produce general iron rank weapons, he was going to work with Lucy to imbue them with magical effects but they hadnt got around to it yet. His favourite he had kept for himself, a blade that curved forward, too long to be a dagger but too short to be a sword, it tapered to a wicked point at the tip then had a large bulge, thinning out to form a skinny waist before the handle that was a chunky rectangle that covered the hand, it had a five inch spike out the rear of the grip. He slashed for tendons and muscles, separating the jaw muscles with pinpoint precision strikes and savage twists. When he had isolated and disarmed enough of the dogs he set about finishing them when he wasnt under pressure. James was keeping half an eye out on Teddy on the far side. He didnt begrudge him taking on the more interesting enemy while he was cleaning up rats, he knew they couldnt have them underfoot causing problems while they took on the bigger and badder monsters. The problem was they just wouldnt stop coming. He wanted to get over and help Teddy with the sand dogs which posed a higher danger than the stone chewer rats which were at the worst a nuisance individually and only posed a threat en masse. As fast as he and Koda could dispose of them the faster they came. James predicament became a problem when he smelt the new monster enter the edges of the clearing. Tall and rangy the margols sniffed their way forward. [Teddy, problem. Rats keep coming and now we have margols.] [How many?] [No idea, seems like a few, how many dogs left are there?] [Im pretty sure more keep coming.] [You thinking what Im thinking?] [Yeh shes shafted us with never ending enemies.] James saw as four margols sniffed forward and could hear more approaching through the trees. [Im going to leave Koda here and jump over. You ok with the sand dogs?] [Im fine, they keep coming but theyre not hard, just taking it easy on them, let me know if you need a hand with the margols.] James took two bounding leaps before he smashed a fist down on the lead margol, he caved in the creatures head and it dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Before the pack could react James had smashed another in the neck with his tail that appeared from behind him, a giant thick rats tail that caused the margols neck to bow and snap with the force. The third margol got punched in the throat and it was as if he had a spiked knuckle duster, a disproportionate amount of tearing and blood appeared curtesy of the boost from his bear claw engraving on his vambrace. It was obvious that the margol was out the fight and was going to bleed out. The fourth and fifth monsters jumped at him, long sickle claws coming straight for him. He took one on the vambrace and tucked the others arms under his own arm, he was face to face to the monster. It snarled and he could count the teeth, watched the saliva drip off the fangs. He smiled, showing his teeth from under the big beard and the margol snapped its mouth shut in confusion. James smashed his forehead into the jaw and the teeth rattled to the floor. As he was holding on it couldnt recoil and he smashed it with his forehead twice more. When he let go it dropped to the floor out the fight. The claw of the other margol he had caught on the vambrace had slid and stuck in the gap between the forearm and the back-plate for the hand, James wasnt worried as he knew the armour was tougher than what the monster could throw it it, he kept the monster stuck there while he dealt with the other. When he had his undivided attention he twisted his arm and the monster roared in pain as the claw snapped off. He used a judo-like throw to put the monster on its back and kept hold of the arm, holding it out straight while snapping a kick to the monsters neck, he had dislocated its arm at the shoulder which turned out to be the least of its problems with a broken neck. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. So far they were fighting on three sides of the pool, Koda was roaring and covered in gore as he was still ripping rats apart. Teddy was on the opposite side looking calm as he danced around the sand dogs. James was going toe to toe and claw to claw with the margols. The boys were a little confused as they thought they were going to be fighting waves of monsters, as in sequential, not cumulative. A slight edge of panic settled in when they heard a massive splash behind them. They heard Koda roar in pain and James turned, a margol in a headlock as he did. Both James and Teddy saw the notification that they had an instance of Family blessing with a count of one in the interface. Ability: [Ursa Family] (Bear) Special ability (Retributive buff) Base cost: moderate mana Cooldown: 5min Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Attacks against an ally cause an instance of [Fortitude]. Effect (bronze): Attacks against an ally cause an instance of [Family Blessing] [Fortitude]: Becomes stronger with each instance. [Family blessing]: Everyone under the influence of [Ursa Family] receives an instance of [Family blessing] when one individual is successfully attacked. Instances of [Family blessing] are consumed to absorb damage from any source. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. For each instance consumed, gain an instance of [Family bounty]. [Family bounty] (heal-over-time, holy, stacking): Heal over time. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. They saw what caused him to roar in pain. A large seal-like creature was half in, half out the water. It was a seal with an elongated neck that reached out. It had a whipping tail with a wicked barbed spike on the end. It had latched on to one of Kodas feet but was regretting it as the big bear was smashing both paws down repeatedly on its head and neck. Two more splashed over the edge of the waterfall into the pool. Both boys looked at each other and laughed at how ridiculous the situation was, James still had the margol in a headlock and Teddy literally had a sand dog by the tail. They were both largely unconcerned. Koda had dispatched the big seal by breaking its neck and was hunting rats again. The two monsters that had splashed down had found an unwelcome surprise waiting for them in the water. As the monsters screeched in pain they could see little patches of rainbow oiliness on the water as the snakes hiding in the water bit the monsters and evaporated, here and there they could see snakes that had latched on. James had learnt through experience of using the snakes that if they went up in a puff of smoke they had hurt the target but if they latched on they were pumping poison in. The monsters were already starting to look woozy from the amount of snakes latched on. [I dont think we need to be too worried about them, try and keep the pool topped off with your little slithery friends if you can spare the time and mana.] Again James nodded without having to turn to Teddy. He could handle the margols and Koda could easily handle the rats with capacity to beat down any of the seal-like creatures that tried to escape the snake pool. Teddy kept an eye out as he disemboweled a sand dog, the next wave would be coming and he wasnt sure where from, they were being thoroughly attacked from all sides now so he was expecting the unexpected. They heard the next enemy before they saw it. A low buzzing that grew in volume from the side of the rats. As it got closer they could see the huge insects coming towards them in a swarm. They had triangular heads and triangular segments to their bodies, they had four stick legs that all pointed forwards as they flew and seemed to be one body segment too short for a normal insect, four large see-through wings beat faster than the eye could follow. Oh buzz off! James said out loud at the same time as writing on the interface. [I cant remember what theyre called but they sting like a bitch, it hurts but the worst thing is they cause a mild hallucination and can induce an uncontrollable rage for a short while.] [Got it, going to try an area poison to counter them.] Teddy kicked a sand dog off his blade and gave himself some space to cast a spell on the area the bugs were coming from. Sickness from beyond the tall gates, plague from the dark dimensions, come forth on the winds of the cosmos and smite my enemies. Dude that sounds dark. Yeah I know, I dont get to choose it, someone would have to be a little silly to think that Dark and Dimension essences were going to have a fun mix though. Teddy felt the spell take effect on the bug swarm and was buoyed by the trickle of health, stamina and mana now that his Poison of the Void power was at bronze rank. With his mana being topped off he quickly threw out a second area affect spell on the swarm. Feel the edges of your own reality. He had to be careful as this was one of the powers they had agreed would be capped to iron rank, a keen observer may be suspicious because he couldnt help that it was incredibly potent and had excellent range without even using the full bronze effect, the bugs all started zooming into each other, the ground or splatting into trees. When used on humans they felt as though they had just gone through a particularly rough portal. Dimensional Instability made the target nauseas and lose balance, it didnt directly do harm but pretty much rendered most targets combat ineffective. The bronze rank power that Teddy wasnt allowed to use in this instance also caused trace transcendent damage. [Can you imagine the glow of transcendent damage if that many bugs wandered into that at bronze rank?] Teddy said. [I really wish we could see it but you need a limit, for me and for that crowd we saw on the way in. Theres no way they arent watching right now.] [Yeh I know, just would be good to see, well just have to find an opportunity to see it for reals.] They were interrupted from their silent chat by the sound of screeching from above. Three large monsters were diving at each of the defenders. Teddy dodged his with ease, getting a good look at it as it swung past in the bottom of its arc. It had a large flat head shaped mostly like an arrowhead, it had a long neck that was attached to a thickly muscled body. Four large wings sprouted from its body, the two at the front were larger and also had claw tipped arms in the middle, the two at the rear trailed strands that glistened with something wet and sticky. Bizarrely the creature had another set of eyes on its body that were just under its shoulders facing downwards. Its only pair of legs were thickly muscled and had long sharp claws on them, the long tail whipped past him narrowly. The entire creature had a mottled red and brown pattern on its leathery skin and its yellow eyes on both head and body were thinly slitted and mean looking. When James looked up and saw what was coming for him he froze for a moment, it was the creature that had attacked him on his way back from summoning the healer in Greenstone to the desert. He had a flashback to the hopelessness and despair that he felt before he noticed that although it was rapidly filling his vision the creature was much smaller. He got over his moment of panic that threatened to consume him and activated his Peregrine Dive power, he appeared above the monster diving for him and crashed into its back, he had transformed both his feet into eagles talons and the talons savagely ripped into the thin membranes of the monsters wings. He rode the monster into the ground, through the margol that had been about to attack him. The speed of the monsters dive, compounded by the strike and weight of James crumpled the margol into the ground and the flying monster was crumpled in the process, James didnt let up and ripped it over and over with his talons. While they had been falling James used a loophole to protect Koda from the monster aiming at him, he recalled his familiar which caused him to go insubstantial and travel towards James before he cancelled the recall and Koda was clear of the dive, the monster swooping off. Nice. Teddy said when he saw one of the flying monsters on the floor. Pass me a spear for them. He was talking about one of the spears they had left stacked in the middle of the pool. By now they had mostly fallen over and floated to the edges, Teddy could just as easily gone forward and picked one up but James had a trick. He stepped towards the pool and picked up a spear with his right hand, he casually tossed it to Teddy who caught it and tracked the two flying monsters until they were near each other, as he prepared to throw he could just about see the tell-tale crackle of electricity around the head of the spear. When they were at the closest point of their circling he let the spear fly. His Fly Like an Arrow power from the Swift essence allowed him to throw items twice as fast and twice as far as any other essence user his rank should be able to. The monsters had no chance to dodge and the nearest was hit square in the chest with the spear killing it outright, the force of the throw went through the chest and out the far side through one of the chest eye sockets. The spear was imbued with power from James vambrace giving it the lightning damage and it burned it from the inside out and chained to the other monster, causing it to spasm and the muscles to contract and fall out of the air. The height that it fell caused it significant injury but wasnt enough to kill the tough monster. It landed nearest Teddy. The boys reckoned that the monster crossed the threshold and was a weak bronze rank monster and they didnt die just from a fall. It stood tall on its back legs propping itself up with its short claws on its front wings, it could look eye to eye with Teddy on the ground. One wing was bent up and it wouldnt be flying anytime soon. Teddy stowed his short sword in a dimension rift at his waist and seemed to draw his Dimension Blade even though it naturally simply appeared in his hand. Is there any need for the flourish? No, none at all. Teddy replied with a grin. He quickly dispatched a few of the sand dogs with extreme ease to give himself the time to turn to the grounded monster. It was ungainly on the ground but that didnt mean it was helpless. It hissed at Teddy and a long tongue shot out to strike at him. He stepped to the side and struck through the tongue in an overhead two handed strike. Three foot of tongue hit the floor and the monster screeched. Well youre not getting that back. How wude! James called, seeing the fight from his side of the pool. Really? Jar Jar references? The monster lunged forward snapping at Teddys face, he stepped back through a rift and the monsters face bounced off it smoking from the damage. Teddy dropped from the destination rift above the monster and struck blade down into the monsters back. He had used the attack many times on different monsters but this was the first time he had been so unpleasantly surprised. The back of the monster erupted in spikes which dug into the inside of Teddys thighs as he fell in a straddle position on the monster. James winced as he saw what happened to Teddy. [Shit, I guess thats to protect itself from other airbourne predators, Ill have to remember that one. Did it you know get your?] [No dude, I did not get stabbed in the balls, mind on your own fight.] The monster was pretty much done for after that attack and Teddy just swiped at its head increasing the damage already there to cut most of its head off. He looked back to see that Koda had the rats sorted and James was keeping the margols at bay, he drew his steel sword to jump back in on the sand dogs when he heard the keening from above again. [Eyes up at all times I guess, theres going to be more of those things.] Although less in number than all the other creatures the airbourne monsters added a layer of complexity to the fight. Teddy had to sheathe his sword and switch to dimension blade in order to keep up with the sand dogs pressing and the monsters above. They were waiting for their next monster to appear and saw the margols bunch up to avoid what was coming. Two giant man-like beasts strode out of the forest on pairs of thick muscled legs with cloven hooves. One was black and the other dark brown. They wore rough homespun canvas trousers over shaggy haired legs that had backwards knees. They had belts of braided hair and bare torsos that were thick with muscle and hair. They carried thick ugly swords in their massive hands that appeared to be made of bone. A wide flat blade that split into a T shape at the end of the five foot long blade. What made them so shocking was their heads, they were bulls that appeared too big for their bodies and had massive pointed horns. The visage was made complete with a gold ring through one of their noses and the other had a gold ring through its ear. [Are those gods damned minotaurs?!] Teddy asked. [Hang on a sec, Ill go ask.] James strode over and ducked the first massive swing from the lead Minotaur, for such a large beast it wasnt slow but neither was James. He carried on to the second who had his sword raised above his head in a double handed blow, James gave him a solid uppercut underneath his massive chin. The monster stumbled backwards and tripped over a root, rolling onto the ground. He turned just in time to catch the next swing from the first Minotaur on his vambrace, executing a perfect Uchi Uke karate block, a basic block from opposite hip across the body that he had learnt from when he was a kid doing karate in sports halls. The same block was taught in martial skill at the academy and it had become muscle memory for him. He immediately followed through with a punch to the monsters hip, twisting his own hips into it without moving his feet to give it maximum strength. His Standing Kodak at bronze massively increased his strength and the rest of his Bear essence powers all at bronze were tied to his Power attribute meaning that he was stronger than he had ever been in his life. There was a satisfying crunch from the bone in the monsters hip and it bellowed loudly, spit and snot flying from its snout. Seeing that James had the fight well in hand with equally matched opponents Teddy ramped up his destruction of the lesser monsters, he dashed between the sand dogs and the margols, his blade easily sliced through both creatures, leaving mortal wounds in a flicker of movement past them on the way to the next. Speeding up cost him mana but it was a trickle and he could easily manage. James had dispatched one of the minotaurs by crushing its ribs with repeated blows, a third Minotaur carrying a huge bone hammer was walking out the forest towards the fight as well. [Looks like these are going to keep coming as well.] James put on the interface. [I think weve almost reached saturation to be honest, this is manageable but its now just a waiting game until we get tired.] Well when you need a break let me know, Im sure they feel the same, I have some scones in my inventory with a layer of jam then cream. If we ask nicely Im sure theyll let us have a little poolside picnic. Teddy took the time to zoom in front of James as a Minotaur was bellowing and running towards them, bone hammer raised over its shoulder. He stood with his back to the monster and faced James with his arms folded. Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit dude. He then stepped forward into a rift as the Minotaur swung its hammer, cutting its own weapon in half on the rift left in the air. Teddy stepped out amongst the sand dogs. And its cream THEN jam, harder to spread thick cream on jam.He then got back to work. The boys settled into a macabre rhythm, Koda was pasted in gore and it flung from his fur as he whirled along the entire edge of the pool. James was hand to sword with the minotaurs, sometimes transforming his left arm into a preying mantis style blade to go blade to blade with them, he kept topping up the pool with snakes to occupy the seal-like monsters. Teddy blurred between sand dogs and the margols, occasionally topping up his spells to occupy the flying insects on Kodas side, his lantern familiars constantly firing at the nuisance monsters. He used his short range teleport rifts to get up high and take on the flying monsters whilst damaging anything that came into contact with them. They were now both burning through their mana at a steady rate, comfortable but waiting for the next surprise. They werent disappointed. The pool between all of them exploded. Chapter 40 ‘Nightmare Siren’ Lucy was leaning with her back on the console chatting to the group of students with Kyra that had been in the mirage chamber complex. The amount of attention they were getting was flattering, both boys and girls were trying to get their attention and to hear more stories of adventures beyond the academy annex. Lucky was being insufferably cute and had a whole group of students just giving him non-stop belly rubs. And so by re-constructing the way the energy diffuses through the concentrations I was able to re-shape the ritual into a focussed healing spell with him still trapped in the wall. Lucy was telling a particularly geeky boy and girl in front of her. Well this collection was from Vitesse. Kyra said, showing her diamond ring set. When you get there go down The Lanes and theres a teeny little shop called Kullerwood. They do the most beautiful pieces. She had a group of common-born local girls enamoured with her more expensive pieces. Oh shit!! One of the instructors exclaimed from where he was standing viewing the fight on the screen behind them all. The girls whirled, taking in the scene, most of the screen was covered in the explosion of water from the pool. A giant mermaid-type creature burst from the centre of the water, taking up most of the pool. It was beautiful but alien, with sunken cheeks and sharp pointed teeth. Its hair was matted and ribboned like seaweed. It had three arms on either side of its body which was twice the size of a normal person. At the waist the grey greenish skin gave way to scales which formed the long sinuous tail that curled and looped over itself, it disappeared into the water, not showing its full length. The monster towered over the scene hissing and dripping with water. It screeched and all fighting stopped, a psychic attack; the rats cowered, the dogs pressed their heads against the floor as if they were trying to scrub off the pain, the margols could only stand and quiver and the Minotaurs dropped their weapons and covered their huge ears with meaty hands. The boys took a moment to adjust themselves to the noise but it was a moment too long. The mermaid swept its long tail out of the water, somehow having enough of it below water to stay upright and scooped everyone around the edge of the water and dragged them in and dived. The boys were trying to make sense of it all, the bubbles around them were disorientating, they were all pressed together in the loop of its tail with the two boys and Koda with a few margols, a sand dog and even a Minotaur. The pool had only been shallow when they first got to the mirage chamber scenario and now they were being dragged deeper and deeper, the water starting to lose light and colour. [James we need to get free!] [Hang on, Ill absorb Koda, use that moment to wiggle free. Ready? GO!] The moment he absorbed the big bear the mermaid started to tighten the tail, in that fleeting moment when they had the space they ducked the coils and were free. The monster realised that it had lost some of its prey and turned about. They could still just about see it clearly through the slight gloom of the deep water. The body was around twice the size of a regular person but in proportion, the tail of the mermaid was enormous, even with the coil that was still holding the other monsters it was close to twenty feet long. The boys hung in the water, having enough air in their lungs to stay neutrally buoyant. Having outworlder bodies they no longer had the need to breathe and they had been taught in the academy annex how to get over the drowning reflex as it was such a useful skill not needing to breathe in battle. The mermaid turned and released the other monsters which were slowly drowning. It sinuously twisted and swam back to them, it crushed the sand dog between three of its arms while pulling in the margol to savagely bite through its neck with barely any resistance.Blood and bubbles leaked from the monster as the mermaid released it to float back through the water lifelessly. The Minotaur tried to fight when it came near but it wasnt intelligent enough to know how to swim and its swings were useless. The grace of the mermaid underwater was terrifying and it grew ten inch long nails to punch into the monsters chest with all six hands. [Wow, just wow] [Well this is a mess. Any thoughts?] [Anything I can transform into this thing is going to be better in the water than me. What consumables have you got for underwater fighting?] [Ive got those fancy scrolls that give you a few seconds of air, just enough space and time to get out an incantation but Im not sure how to use it in here just yet.] [What about your dimension blade? Is that going to work underwater?] Teddy made the blade appear in his hand, the distortion of the water made it appear like a wavy blade. [It works but at a cost, its sending all the water through to another dimension that it comes in contact with.] [Well thats got to suck for anyone on the other side I guess.] [You know what? I hadnt really thought of that, are people in another dimension getting showered with random chunks of monster? And theres all that rock I cut through in the deser Watch out!] Both boys managed to backpedal in the water quick enough to make the mermaid blast through the middle of them, not picking either as a target. The main body missed them but as the were focussed on the rush the tail clipped James and sent him spinning. Teddy got a new notification on his interface. Theodore Mitchell Family Blessings: 3 (+1) James hadnt taken much damage from the hit, automatically using one of his own blessings from the Ursa Family power to absorb the damage. They both had two instances from everyone being grabbed and pulled underwater, James had an extra one from when Teddy had tried to jump on the back of the flying monster and been hurt from the surprise spikes. The Family Bounty was already giving a small amount of healing on James from the hit. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. [Dude, thats fast. Its going to have to be a moment of opportunity, theres no way were chasing that thing down.] [Just as well its happy to keep trying to come and kill us then!] As he put it on the interface the mermaid went for James. It barrelled into him and tried to grab him. James knew that being grabbed would probably be his end, trying to fight of six arms while trying to concentrate fighting underwater wasnt going to happen. He activated his tail power to power him sideways, just out of reach of the mermaid who manage to grab the tail on the way past, James dismissed it while firing snakes into the path of the monster. They had mixed results of either bouncing off, striking and disappearing into oily rainbow sludge or in very few instances latched on to poison the monster. Black hole be quick. Teddy threw a pair of black hole hand grenades which pretty effectively ignored the physics of water until it bounced off the mermaids tail. There was a cartoonish comical moment of panic as the monsters eyes went wide before it was dragged backwards towards them, its tail wrapping around and around the black holes in the water and the body being bent around the gravitational fields. It screamed, the cry damaging James and Teddy through the water, they clamped their hands to their ears but the sonic power seemed to reverberate through the water and their bodies. The mermaid was firmly pinned between the gravitational pull of the two black holes when they exploded. The concussive effect of being underwater near an explosion was terrifying, the boys were far enough away but the monster was trapped between the bombs. The explosion rushed outwards in a giant bubble, battering the big monster. The weight of the water surrounding the bubble when it reached its max crushed the explosions back inwards, hitting the monster again, when the bubbles were shrunk all the way back down they exploded outwards again. Teddy remembered reading sometime about underwater explosions destroying submarines and had a detached academic interest in the bubble explosion. The mermaid looked stunned after the explosion, its back had an unnaturally large kink in it that wasnt there before. [I think you broke its back.] James said looking on from opposite the opposite side of the monster from Teddy. The mermaid could still move around, but wasnt nearly as fast or agile. As a bronze rank monster it would take more than a broken back to finish it. [If this was on land this fight would be over already.] Teddy said. [I think It pretty much is over you know. Im going to get in close, weve got what, five minutes? Until your grenades power comes off cooldown, when it does the fight is properly over. Until then] James twisted in the water, bubbles swishing around him masking what he was doing. The swirling sped up until there was a cavitation and a corkscrew of force smashed into the recovering mermaid. The force of the blow knocked it to the side and it screamed its strange underwater attack again, all rage but no force to it. When James stopped in the water he had a segmented tail from the waist down, it wasnt fish-like as the mermaids was or how Teddy would expect it to be. It was a wide flat tail made up of black segments, it was around six feet long and ended in a scorpion barb. it looked like a mix of a lobster tail and a scorpions. He could flex it up and down and the wide flat nature would be excellent for propelling him through the water and he could curl it side to side to cut it quickly through the water. Teddy experimented with his hurling bolts of darkness and found to his delight that they also ignored the fact they were travelling through the watery medium and hit with their normal strength. His two lanterns had made their way down through the water and were now barraging the monster. James boosted himself forward on the long tail and took advantage of a moment when the monster was temporarily blinded by Teddys familiar powers. He rushed at its head, punching it on the way past to further disorientate it and whipped the black tail sideways as hard as he could. The bulbous stinger buried itself in the mermaids neck as far as it would go. You have inflicted [Nightmare Siren of the Deep] with [Venom of the Merciless Desert] Poison damage will exponentially increase until healed. Targets inflicted with poison remain toxic after death. [Venom of the Merciless Desert] has affected [Nightmare Siren of the Deep] with [Milk of the Cacti] Contact with [Venom of the Merciless Desert] has inflicted [Greyscale] on [Nightmare Siren of the Deep] [Milk of the Cacti] will cause hallucinations and a chance for the target to damage themselves. Effect is temporary but resistant to healing powers and items. [Greyscale] causes an affliction which impairs agility and mobility. Disease spreads over skin and penetrates to joints causes them to seize. Will continue until target is completely covered. Disease is spread by contact to other enemies with skin. As he swam powerfully away the mermaid monster clapped a hand to its neck where the stinger had gone in, Teddy noted the savage puncture wound and the greyish tinge around the site before the hand clamped on. James spun in the water and saw another shape coming towards him out of the gloom, a dolphin-like creature with extra dorsal fins carrying a large spear in its mouth. [Why would a dolphin have a spear?! Also, we need to get some tridents in your inventory incase this happens again, that would be badass!] Teddy exclaimed while dodging the tail attack from the monster. James didnt reply but took the spear from the creature and it sped off. He rushed in to attack the monster, slashing with the long blade of the spear along lengths of its tail. When he had the opportunity he thrust the spear through the tail when it was curling and managed to puncture through two parts, pinning them together. The Mitchells had noticed with monsters that they operated in a system not unlike hit points in a game sometimes. When at full health and full strength they were more protected from attacks, as they lost hit points they were easier to attack. The shimmering scales on the mermaid tail had been tough at the start of the fight, it had taken all of James prodigious strength to punch through but he had managed. The monster was suffering badly now. The broken back was giving it a lot of trouble, it could barely move to attack and when it did it caused itself pain. The spear through its tail caused it pain to move, only able to motor itself around with the last section and even that pulled at the wound. The puncture mark on its neck was tinged with yellow and green, thick veins of darkness radiated under the skin away from the wound. The skin on top had gone thick and grey, it spread from the neck to the shoulder and up the chin of the monster, it no longer turned its head and had to turn its whole body to track both the boys, one on either side of it. The Greyscale effect had spread to the hand that clamped onto the wound and that arm hung useless in the water, a stone sculpture compared to the other five arms that were in constant motion to keep the monster stable in the water. Teddys black hole hand grenade power had come off cooldown and he judged that now was a good time to use it, he wanted it to be the definitive killing blow to the monster as neither of their execute powers would work underwater. The monster screamed in recognition at the sight of the grenades and in its haste to get away tore its tail where the spear was puncturing it. The grenades bounced off the monsters back as it tried to swim away and separated either side. The force of the gravitational pull was devastating. The tail ripped in two at the damaged section. The stone arm was ripped off at the shoulder into one black hole while the upper body fought against the other. Both boys started swimming upwards as the explosion annihilated the monster and they rode the force upwards. On dry land they rested on their backs on the beach next to each other, the area around them clear of the monsters that had been there before they got pulled into the water. If they had still needed to breathe then this would be the moment they would be catching their breath. A few moments after they started resting Teddy summoned his dimension blade and swung it down on James resting body. Chapter 41 ‘Ahead of the market rush.’ James wasnt fast enough to move out the way of the blow. He managed to raise the arm closest to Teddy to shield his body. The dimension blade sparked and skittered off James vambrace leaving no damage. Both the boys looked at it in surprise before rapidly rolling away from each other and coming to their feet. Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! James shouted at Teddy, shaking a fist at him in mock anger. He saw a new notification in his interface. You have designated [Theodore Mitchell] as an enemy. Shared interface has been removed until designation has changed. All instances of [Family Bounty] have been lost for [Theodore Mitchell]. Due to no one in your party all instances of [Family Bounty] have been lost. James grimaced a little at having lost his protection from his power, he should have deployed Koda and he would have kept the buffs but it was a lesson for future. They both smiled and Teddy twirled his sword around himself. James reached inside his top and touched his tattoo on his chest. He had acknowledged that he was going to miss the silly bear tattoo but was looking forward to what he might get at bronze rank. The underwater fight had drained him drastically of his mana with the transformations and he had just spent the last of his mana on a summoning circle. Teddy saw James topping up his mana and took the moment to dismiss his sword and roll the edge of his cuff up to touch the end of his sleeve tattoo to replenish his mana after using his big magical attacks and constant shards of darkness. The moments distraction caused him to not see the plague of rats coming out of the tree line until they were almost on top of him. He jumped into the air away from them, then jumped again midair in a backflip. Both lanterns appeared around him and shards and bolts of darkness rained down on the swarm of plague rats. When they died they puffed out a little cloud of grey dust, contaminating the ground with a persistent sludge of disease. James tried to take advantage of Teddy clearing out the rats by conjuring and flinging a snake at him while he was in mid air. Teddy saw the attack and responded by falling through a rift, the snake hitting the edge and being half disintegrated down the middle before puffing into rainbow smoke. Teddys destination rift was behind James and before the big man could react Teddy sliced through the big mans extended left arm from where he had thrown the snake. He had cut high, through the upper bicep and the arm flopped to the ground. Teddy wasnt ready for the feedback he felt from the attack, cutting through the iron rank armour and the magical flesh of his brother had been surprisingly taxing. It had drained almost all of his mana and his sword fizzled out. The heavy arm fell to the floor with a wet thud. He also wasnt ready for how it would make him feel; he hadnt even thought about it, they sparred constantly and he had taken on other students in his intake in the mirage chamber, seeing what he had done to his own brother mildly horrified him. Teddys pause gave James the opportunity to donkey kick him away, the boot made solid contact and all of James buffs were in effect. He heard the crumpling of Teddys chest plate and that piece of armour was probably all that saved his life as his foot threatened to cave in his torso. Even with that protection Teddy skidded across the side of the pool like a rag doll. James had been injured before in the mirage chamber but never like this, he had died in the mirage chamber his fair share, dying at the hands of essence users or monsters was never pleasant but the traumatic amputation of his arm was hard to deal with. He held both arms out in front of him to look at his hands and only the right came up, but he felt like he could still feel his left hand, curl the fingers, they just werent there, he looked down at the arm on the floor in confusion. Teddy looked up from where he was on the floor at his brother. He felt the knife of guilt twist deeper in his gut at having hurt the man who now stood there looking confused at his remaining arm. He then realised that feeling wasnt the knife of guilt, that was his chest plate trying to rearrange his internal organs into concave shapes. With a wrench he released the plate so when he stood up it fell to the ground, he held a large rock in his hand and hurled it at his brother. It flew from his hand like it had a jet engine attached, struck the man on his head which tumbled him to the floor. James felt like he had been hit in the head with a sledgehammer, he tried to get up and struggled, having to recalibrate getting up with one arm, he saw his Teddy on his feet and instincts caught up. He had an idea and transformed his left stump into a long purply blob, the mana drain was far more than he expected, from the stump grew an evil looking tentacle with suckers on the bottom and long hairs on top that each had spikes coming off them. He lunged at Teddy, trying not to give the faster man any advantage in setting up clever attacks. Even though none of the Mitchells needed to breathe anymore with their outworlder bodies Teddy felt winded from the kick. He fended off James attacks, the vambrace on his right arm made him as dangerous with his punches as if he was holding a fistful of knives thanks to his bear claw engraving. The purple octopus looking arm was trouble even for the speed that Teddy moved, it articulated in strange ways and was as fast or faster than James was normally. When he managed to narrowly dodge the tentacle the long hair-like appendages would also move to attack him from where they were attached to the tentacle and he was covered in minor lacerations from them, sacrificing minor injuries to not get hit by James big punch. Their fight looked like it had been professionally choreographed, the attacks were supernaturally fantastic and the misses were so marginal it looked staged, the scene would not have been out of place in the Matrix with elements of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon as Teddy leapt about to keep out of reach of the extending and retracting tentacle. Teddy fought for space as he was almost completely out of mana and was finally successful in getting James to back off by releasing one of his shadow lanterns that managed to land a successful hit in temporarily blinding James. Instead of pressing his advantage he flipped to the far side of the pond and landed silently, even though he was blind James had an uncanny knack to fight, something to do with his animal instincts, but blinded he couldnt aim so Teddy was safe from flinging snakes. He took the moment to sip the rest of his accumulated mana in his sleeve tattoo. James knew Teddy had backed off and he released Koda, thinking of his options he decided to conserve mana and released his Animage skill that let him transform his body. His vision came back slowly, un-blurring, he saw Teddy on the far side unsurprisingly recovering from his tattoo to give him more options. James was content that he had enough mana to continue the fight. He had a habit of checking himself over during a fight for hidden injuries and mechanically went through his body check, his legs were muddy but uninjured, his clothes were slightly ripped from near misses of Teddys dimension blade that he had sparingly used during their fight due to low mana, his right arm was fine with his vambrace unblemished from deflecting the blade multiple times and his left arm was fully operational. He had to pause and give his head a wobble. His vision was now almost fully restored with only a light haze but his left arm was definitely there, he clapped his hands in front of himself to make sure it wasnt an illusion but it was real. Well damn, thats handy. Thats a really bad joke dude. HA! I didnt even mean that, but youre wrong, thats an excellent joke! He flexed the fingers and they felt as good as they ever had, his clothes hadnt magically reappeared and it lacked the armour but he had two arms again. He blocked the bolts from the lantern familiar with his vambrace, the heavily magic item he was confident would stop the blindness effect from affecting him if it hit the armour. It was now alien to them not being able to plan together on the interface, being able to communicate at the speed of thought was not far off being able to think as if it was a collective mind. They didnt waste any time, not giving the other the advantage to think and come up with a plan, the three of them sprinted together on the same edge of the pool, not trusting even the shallow edges of the water after their plummet down. As they were closing together James swept an arm out, an ethereal wing materialising, glittering and multi-hued swooping towards Teddy who had to alter his course to duck, Koda leapt into the air towards Teddy, claws leading and Teddy went into a slide to duck the big monster. James blinked out of existence, suddenly plummeting through the air at the speed of a diving falcon and smashed Teddy into the ground as he was busy dodging Koda. James quickly had to back off as Teddy twisted underneath him and came up swinging and slashing. He was bleeding and holding himself half crouched in pain. Koda managed to turn on a pin where he had missed Teddy and came at him. The slight build of Teddy belied his strength, he now had his power attribute at bronze rank, he ducked a massive hairy arm and grabbed it at the wrist, turning the bears momentum and threw him across the pond in a perfect judo throw.Its turns out that Teddys Fly Like an Arrow power recognised Koda as a projectile at this point, he flashed across the pond, not even touching the surface of the water as he smashed into the short cliff on the far side of the pool where the little waterfall was. The stone cracked all the way up the face of the cliff and stones fell to bury Koda. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it James snarled at Teddy and spun, whipping out with his rat tail that appeared from his back, Teddy mostly managed to dodge in his weakened state and got clipped, tumbling away. James turned to where Koda was and absorbed the familiar from across the pond where he lay unmoving under the rock. He turned back to face Teddy. Teddy got up, hed made too many mistakes in this fight, his heart wasnt in it, he understood if he didnt get his act together he would die, and he would never hear the end of that. He rose and faced James who had just turned to him, the man was huge, and quick with it. Teddy took a breath he didnt need and straightened up, palms together in a standing prayer stance, he moved one arm backwards and drew one foot back and slightly crouched, one arm backwards, the other forwards, palm down facing James. He made a fist and a double ended red blade appeared from each side of his fist. He lunged forward, spinning the blade over his head with both hands. Teddy had really ramped up his attacks now, he had got over whatever mental block he had been struggling with and was coming at James all out and he felt the pressure. It was a strange sword fight, only one person in the fight had a sword and it had two ends, James alternated punching and blocking with his vambrace. He was constantly pressed back, the attacks fast and hard and he took step after step. He swung a massive right hook at the back of Teddys neck after he had lunged with the sword and overextended, Teddy simply swung the blade over the top of his head, parallel with his spine to block the hit, he then used the block to drag the fist over his head and kicked James in the knee. The big man grunted and his knee hit the floor. Teddy whirled away, spinning the blade all the time, he spun back in and James prepared to block. From amongst the whirling red blade Teddy threw out a shard of darkness towards James face and he instinctively moved to block it with his left hand behind his right moving to protect his face. Teddy whirled it, with both hands around the middle of the blade he punched James arms even higher above his head, stepping in he spun and with his back facing James he plunged his blade behind him into James chest. Teddy felt the huge drain in mana on his sword. He dismissed it and stepped forward away from his brother. Turning he saw the man on one knee still looking down at the hole in his chest in shock. Teddy knew it was over. THIS. IS. SPARTA!! He shouted. And kicked James just next to the wound in his chest. James fell backwards into the pool and the last thing he saw as he sunk down backwards into the depths was the light closing above him. NOOOOOO!!!!! Shouted Lucy as she saw the red blade go into the chest of James, followed by the kick into the water. Aaaand scene. She hit the stop button on the console. She made her way over to where James was lying and put a hand on his head and a hand on his chest as he woke up, stroking his hair gently to calm him through the rough transition. When he woke he jumped and his hands went to his chest. He looked wildly around until he saw Lucy smiling at him. He rested his head back on the table he was lying on. Bloody hell that was horrible. Never is nice dying in there. Yeh but that was intense, makes me feel a little sympathetic for everything hes stabbed with that sword. He swung his legs off the table and wobbled his head a little to clear it, he walked over to Teddys table and clasped forearms with him helping him up as he was waking as well. Fair play dude, that was a horrible fight. Teddy cracked his neck each way. Yup. You got some damn good hits in there. I dont know what hit harder, you or the fact that Im not so fast Im untouchable. They made their way over to the girls, the only other people in the room with the tables and the console. We finished just ahead of time for our slot. You were a little quicker dealing with the Nightmare Siren than I thought youd be, didnt exactly expect it to drag you down when I planned this scenario, I thought it would fight you on the surface and youd have to deal with everything else at the same time. Lucy said. Yeh thanks for that, real nice surprise having never ending hoards of monsters. Teddy retorted. Well you gave quite a good viewing, no real screw ups, the fight at the end was a little amateur in places. Teddy winced slightly. Yeh I wasnt fighting my best. I wasnt complaining. James said. Youre just too damn fast. I couldnt do anything clever because I was just trying not to die. The door to the room opened and a familiar face walked in. Thats the problem with fighting someone who essentially could be an assassin class. You dont go one vs one with them. Rashid said, smiling walking forward and shaking hands with them all. Fantastic fight really interesting scenario with a lot to unpack there in the debrief. They all started walking towards the door he had just come through. You watched the fight? James asked. We all were watching. All? They walked through the door to the sound of applause, the viewing area seats were packed with around fifty students and staff, all watching the Mitchells come out the door. Rashid waved down the applause and gestured to the front row that had four empty seats and the team sat down, moving on autopilot as if they were still students at the annex. Rashid took his place behind a lectern at the front. He proceeded to rip apart the fight, using a series of still images and short clips from the recordings of the fight. The boys sunk down in their seats at the amount of criticism they hadnt expected. When they were students it was part and parcel of the course to be critiqued by the staff, but now they were full adventurers they felt as if they should be better than this. Rashid got to the end of the fight and pulled the recording from the crystal projector. So in summary, this fight was an outstanding example of the standard we expect from graduates of this program after leaving. I have no doubt that no cadet in this audience would have been able to survive the Nightmare Siren. They have taken what they learnt from here, adapted and moulded it to their own team dynamics in order to achieve best effect. The fight at the end was an impressive example of a highly versatile adventurer almost fending off an almost assassin class essence user. Should this happen you should know what to do for real he looked around the faces in the seating and pointed his small presenting stick at a small man in plate armour. Joshua. The man stood up and held his hands behind his back. Run sir, run as fast as I can towards allies and advantage. Good, we train adventurers to kill monsters and protect people, some of that involves protecting those people from dangerous essence users and we cover that, a trained and dedicated assassin class will beat a generalist any day. Now, does anyone have any questions for Theodore and James? The Mitchells were surprised that they were getting such a grilling, they thought they were just coming to rent the chamber for their own use, they turned in their chairs to see almost every hand was raised in the audience. Theodore, James, please join me at the front here. The boys looked at each other and got up and stood next to Rashid. Joshua as I called on you before you may go first. Thankyou sir. My question is for Mr James Mitchell. Sir, in your role as a team defender Hold on, firstly its just James, secondly, Im not strictly a defender. Oh, sorry sir. Just James. James, what class would you describe yourself as then? Teddy piped up, Maybe a monk class? Err, Sir, Mr Theodore Mitchell, whats a monk? Nevermind. James tried to get them back on track by raising his hand up to stop any further discussion. The team dynamic we have recognises the versatility we have, I would say that both me and my sister-in-law exhibit trends towards defender class without committing to the role. Does that satisfy your question? It does sir, thankyou. Rashid scanned the room of raised hands for the next one. Ms Hernaz. A sever looking young woman stood up wearing shades of black and sharp spiked armour. She had jagged knives strapped to her belt and covered in strips of cloth to mask movement. [No guesses who her question is for.] Lucy said, turning back to the front after seeing who was asking the question. My question is to Mr Theodore Mitchell. Sir, as an assassin class what made you decide to join a team of generalists rather than a team to support your specific skill set? My answer is going to be similar to my brothers, I dont see myself as an assassin class adventurer, my path is to kill monsters not people, unless people become monsters, by a very clear definition. Anyway, the team is built this way for the people not the power set, we recognise that is not the most efficient way to go about building a team but it works, each individual has to be independently competent but as a team we reinforce each other more. They fielded a few more questions, when it was pertinent the girls also joined the boys at the front to help them answer specifics of team dynamics, especially how they would have tackled that scenario differently as a team. The questions came to an end when Rashid called on one of the female students. Mrs Kyra Mitchell, Maam, where did you get that necklace? Its beautiful. And I think thats quite enough questions for today, we have kept the Mitchells for quite long enough. Dismissed. Rashid kept the Mitchells behind, letting the bank of students filter out. They watched all the students chatting to each other on the way out, putting notebooks away and trying to find their friends for food. Each member of the family felt the nostalgia, even as adults the pleasure of being in school and feeling that camaraderie with peers and not having to worry about the outside world. Once all the students had gone Rashid led them out. There are a few people who would like to have a word with you in the main facility in a private room. If youd like to follow me. Rashid was less casual in his setting as the chief of instructors, he led them to the main facility the shortest way, cutting behind the lunch hall and the rear doors for staff, it was currently cluttered with dozens of crates of pottery, the head chef and a man they recognised. Sir with all due respect I just dont know what to do with all this pottery! Look, I explained it all in the pamphlet. Pamphlet? The card I sent, like paper but thicker, folded in three. It explained the amphora and how its the up-and-coming trend on the pottery scene, youll thank me that were getting ahead of the market rush now. Sir, I dont really know what youre on about but we have no need for any more pottery. I dont have a use for all these amphora. You will, youll find a use and you will thank me for it, theres plenty more where this came from. He settled the argument and left the head chef flustered with a little leak of his gold rank aura. Gabriel Remore, the Principal of the Vitesse academy turned to Rashid and the Mitchells. Rashid, youve got them, excellent. I believe the director and her deputy are waiting in my office for us. The Mitchells all looked at each other in worry. Gold rank principal, silver rank director of the adventure society, Vincent and the chief instructor wanted a private word with them, they all wondered what they were in for now. Chapter 42 ‘Back to school’ The Mitchells sat in awkward silence, there was a little bit of tea-politics going on. The serving staff of the academy were trying to figure out who to serve first in the nicest meeting room on campus. Gabrielle Remore as the head of the academy even in Vitesse was the obvious choice but he had insisted his guests be served first, as they were the object of the meeting the Mitchells had been served first until the staff had a moment of indecision and started serving the Director and Deputy Director, so Kyra and James sat with gently steaming tea not drinking while waiting for Teddy and Lucy to be served after the officials. I think we can manage from here thank you. Gabrielle said, gently soothing his words with his gold rank aura to dismiss the staff. They left in a hurry, awkwardly bowing to the gold ranker and the director before backing out and closing the doors. As the doors closed the privacy magic snapped in place, Lucy could see the swirling bands of magic around the room and got up to inspect them to the raised eyebrows of most of the non-family in the room. While the annex staff looked abashed at first the fiasco with the tea and now a previous students behaviour staring at seemingly blank walls, Gabrielle was non-plussed. He got up and helped himself to tea, pouring for Teddy and Lucys cup where it was on the table. Ms Picot, Mr Trenslow, you have called us all here to discuss, the floor is yours. Thankyou Mr Remore, it is an honour for you to have joined us, I had not anticipated your presence when I asked for academy senior staff to be present. I was in the neighbourhood; with an exciting investment opportunity we can talk about after this. Genevieve look curious and nodded, Gabrielle handed a pamphlet to Vincent who glanced at it and gave a polite grimace to the gold ranker before putting the pamphlet on the coffee table and giving Genevieve a knowing look. A complex situation has arisen that overlaps many moving parts, I wont trouble you with the politics of a small provincial city Mr Remore but for us there is a delicate balancing act and your annex is embroiled in the mix. She turned to Teddy. Mr Mitchell, your situation has been briefed to me and you have my sympathies, please be assured we are dealing with it with the utmost discretion, we have a specialist coming to meet us here shortly to be read into the situation. She took a deep breath that everyone knew she didnt physiologically need as a silver ranker but mentally did. The politics with the families of Greenstone are still ongoing, it will not escape their notice that myself and Mr Trenslow are here today so I hope you understand how valuable this time is. We would rather you not be in the public eye right now but we are receiving pressure from very very high up to use you. Use us? From where? The adventure society can give us directed contracts but there is still the freedom to turn them down unless under strict monster surge protocol. Lucy said from where she was studying the doorframe. Genevieve made a face like sucking a bitter sweet. The church of hero has asked for the four of you specifically to be given a contract that is coming up, it is one that we normally struggle to fill from the local pool of adventurers and you would actually be almost perfect for. Why does this sound a lot more complicated than a directed contract? Teddy asked. Vincent picked up the explanation while the Director sipped her tea. Because of the timing, the families were due to take on the contract with a pair of their bronze rank prodigies, the problem is there is now only one after the remote village incident, the contract is bronze rank and two stars. Its elevated due to being incredibly remote, mildly dangerous and delivery to a different adventure society branch. It is strictly a non-solo contract that we need trusted people on. Ok so a few problems. James started, Firstly there is a lack of bronzeness, we currently have an issue with one of us unable to make bronze rank, secondly we dont want to make things worse for ourselves in Greenstone and thirdly were not in the church of hero. Genevieve looked mildly surprised. Why should it matter if you are in the church of hero? A god has taken personal interest in your family and you would deny him? Vincent made a side to side twitching motion with his hand, not sure if it was directed at them or the Director, Kyra answered anyway. Sure we would, he doesnt own us, we made this bargain with him that we would remain secular and control our own destiny as much as we could. Genevieve looked mildly astonished and opened her mouth to speak but Vincent jumped in. Before you decide if you are or are not going to take the contract you should hear it out including the conditions that must be met for you to go. He paused and they all paid him attention, Lucy had sat down and sat with one leg crossed over the other sipping her tea. The contract requires multiple bronze rank adventurers, not necessarily a team but certainly not solo, the families at the moment cannot field two bronze rank adventurers for various reasons. The remoteness should not be a problem for any job as we hold a reserve of well travelled portal users these days but the area and subject of the contract is highly resistant to portals. This perked up Lucys interest. So the travel must be conducted overland, the distance required and the cargo to carry is perfectly suited to teams with large transport. [Well isnt that convenient.] James put on the interface. Genevieve had finished her tea and took up the explanation again. You may be thinking that its convenient that we ensured you would have such a vehicle but please be assured we did not want you involved in this. [Sure, sure.] The cargo defies dimensional storage and will need to be transported, it is both too big and too heavy for any essence user below gold to carry cross country and we do not use gold rankers to shuttle cargo. The terrain is unyielding and has areas of higher magical density and therefore not suitable for iron rankers. The academy annex senior staff had been sitting politely listening to the adventure society staff explain the situation. Rashid sat forward to pick up the narrative. The Academy has been recognised as something of a handbrake for iron to bronze rank development, while we lay unquestionably valuable foundations for future development through bronze and silver it has been shown that adventurers would have made bronze in the time that they spend in the academy, we have had a number of graduates make the step to bronze and are on their way to silver, we are happy that the delay to bronze is offset by the speed in which graduates make the jump after leaving us and are well set up for silver. You would however be the first team that has all graduated solely from the academy to make bronze. This is something of an opportunity to spin this in a good way for the academy. He held up a hand to forestall any comments from the Mitchells. We understand you should not be pushed around for the academys interests but we are willing to negotiate a substantial decrease in your indenture contract for your terms here. Furthermore we have been asked by the adventure society to address your lack of bronzeness we are offering an accelerated training program to push you all over the line in short order, I must assume you are all almost there? Notwithstanding the current issue Theodore. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. A few powers each now at this point you are correct. Lucy answered him. The time frame for this is quite short. Vincent said. The contract is from here to a remote fortress town to a much larger fortress city in the north. They require delivery month after next, the journey will take around a month even with your impressive vehicle. So we have realistically less than one month to all make bronze. Teddy said. What would this training program entail? A little pressure. Rashid said. We have seen that you are a very capable team, able to take on higher rank threats with some ease. We would continue to do so, not only give you first pick at the bronze rank contracts but reserve them for you through myself in order to increase the danger. Danger, exertion and meditation, the key aspects for essence power development. Lucy said. [This doesnt sound like a bad deal, its not what we were planning to do but nothing in it is against our favour except pissing off the local aristocracy and do we really care about that?] James said on the interface. [Theyre not telling us something, they havent addressed why hero wants us on this contract.] Kyra replied. [But hero wants us for something bigger later on, is he going to throw away a talent he is developing?] While James and Kyra were discussing internally on the interface Lucy kept up the outward conversation. So who would be leading this training? I would. Rashid said. As chief instructor and a silver rank adventurer I can support your team and step in as required, with my particular power set it will be more in the form of support than taking over, enabling you to still take the experience. Between the four of them they had decided on the interface that a trip to the temple district to visit the acolytes of hero was in order, whatever they were telling the adventure society about the prisoner and this job they wanted it from the heidels mouth. The team had come to a decision and Teddy acted as spokesperson. We recognise the situation. We are willing to take the opportunity you are providing under the understanding that we cannot yet take the contract as we are not bronze rank and therefore cannot receive any punitive action for not taking it if we chose not to. The accelerated training is seen as an academy action in their interest and will be duly compensated in a reduction of indenture terms regardless of contract completion at the end as the training will need to be completed to even make it a viable opportunity. We will review our position before we take the contract and will communicate our intent to the adventure society in good time in order to make other arrangements. The formal attorney-style answer stunned everyone present for a moment before Gabrielle unexpectedly, let out a booming laugh, rocking back in his chair. The gold rank aura seemed to warm the laugh, feeling it deep inside everyone present as well as audibly. I am always fond of dealing with outworlders, such a unique perspective. Well said Mr Mitchell, well said. Vincent and Genevieve shared a series of looks, silently communicating through having worked with each other for so long. The Director addressed the Mitchells. While we would prefer unbounded enthusiasm to serve the adventure society we cannot disagree with your terms. Ha! Gabrielle chortled. Fantastic, if that is settled let us depart Director, we can leave the chief instructor to plan a program of training with the young adventurers. He stood and gestured to the door, escorting the two adventure society functionaries out. As he was turning through the door and down the corridor they heard him talking to the pair. Now, has the Greenstone adventure society investment portfolio broken into the exciting world of pottery? Before the door closed on its own a robed arm held the door, a familiar face and familiar swirling vortex containing books and scrolls came through the door. Rueben! I thought I was seeing you at the villa later. Lucy said. Mrs Lucy, hello all, I received a note that I was needed as an outworlder specialist here first, I did assume that it involved your family and did not need to inform you of the change. James leant back in his chair, turning to face the door and stretched out his left arm, it continued to stretch, turning purple and tentacle-y, it was the same one that he had used against Teddy in the mirage chamber and the brother gave a little shudder. The appendage swung the door shut, engaging the privacy magic to engage. Rueben looked a little perturbed by the tentacle with its toothed hair-like additions waving about and moved further in to sit in a chair, the vortex abruptly stopped and all the contents drifted to the floor around him. The goddess knowledge, the deity I now offer my patronage to, would like me to reassure you that I will offer confidentiality bound by the terms of my duty as an acolyte. So how can I help? Teddy self consciously checked the room, everyone save family and Rashid had filed out the room and he nodded to Lucy. She opened a storage rune portal and took out a notebook, she flipped to the page she was after and put it in front of Rueben, he looked and saw it was an extract of the interface notification she had written word for word. All [Dark Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Recovery] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Swift Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Speed] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Dimension Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Power] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Void Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Spirit] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. Progress to Bronze rank: 100% (4/4 essences complete). All your attributes have reached bronze rank: ??? ???? ??????? ?????? ????. ??? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ??? ??????. ??? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?????????. ???? ???? ?????? ???? ????????: Progress to silver rank: 00%. Theodore Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank 100% (4/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Dimension): [Bronze 0] [Speed] (Swift): [Bronze 0] [Spirit] (Void): [Bronze 0] [Recovery] (Dark): [Bronze 0] Fascinating! And when did this happen? A few weeks ago now. Lucy replied. Weve conducted a few trials, every power that is in the magic society register has been checked at its bronze rank power level, ingesting a bronze rank spirit coin still gives the requisite power bump but has the same withdrawal as an iron ranker. As the description shows he is definitely still iron rank. And I assume you have been training and reflecting since this happened and there has been no change to your condition? I would think in this case we should continue with the training, Im sure the more experienced adventurer Mr Flonds will agree that more consolidation with your new abilities even if you cannot use them to their full strength can only be a good thing. If we can get the another of your family to the threshold that might shed some light on the situation. Well youre in luck, we were about to discuss how we are all about to conduct a concentrated program to advance as quickly as possible. Oh really? Well if you dont mind I will tag along and observe your progress. Mr Mitchell, Teddy please, using the family gets confusing with two of us. Teddy, if you would be amenable I would like to conduct some non-invasive tests on you, more getting a baseline of your current magical state to compare as we go. Sure, why not. [Sure, thats how it starts, oh would you mind some non-invasive tests next thing you know youre suspended by your wrists and ankles while they see how much value they can get from probing you.] James said. Rashid and Reuben looked quizzically at Teddy, Kyra and Lucy as they all gave James a flat look at the same time. He threw his hands in the air. Im just saying! Just saying what? Reuben asked, very confused. Dont worry Reuben, hes being an idiot. Lucy said. Anyway, Its time to go back to school. Rashid, whats the plan? Chapter 43 ‘Podophilic loot’ The team rushed forward to James who was lying on the floor, Rashid walking a sedate pace behind them. James! Oh my god, oh babe! Lucy said, rushing forward, skidding the last few meters on her knees through the loose rocks on the floor to grab James head and hold him. Dude that looks like it hurts. Teddy said. James was lying surrounded by loose rock, he had been fighting an earth elemental that was bronze rank, his power set was almost completely unsuitable for the monster and the fight had been a struggle. He had won and the remains of the monster were now spread around him waiting to be looted. He hadnt got away from the fight without incident though, his left leg was almost flattened by the rock monster and was a mess on the floor. Kyra was busy studying the leg on as Lucy was holding James head. James, I think this is time for what we talked about you know. Eurgh, really? This really hurts you know. Well I think its going to hurt a whole lot more in a minute if youre willing to try? James let out a sound that definitely wasnt a whimper, big men do not whimper. He nodded at Kyra and reached up to grab Lucys wrists. Do it, Lucy let her do what shes going to do Let her what? Kyra stood up from where she was inspecting the remains of the leg and conjured her diamond sword, with all her strength she swung down with a two handed blow and cut through his injured leg just above the damage. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! Lucy screamed at her. Struggling against James grip. After grimacing and controlling himself James looked down. Damn Kyra, shit. Any higher and you would have chopped off something very dear to me. He let go of Lucy with one hand as she stopped, stunned. He reached into his clothing and touched the bear tattoo on his chest and his mana was refilled. He then transformed his leg stump into a purple blob which immediately stopped bleeding, the tentacle then grew from the stump, the thin dexterous end wrapped around the discarded leg and moved it out of the way to allow the tentacle to grow, it let go and kept growing to the length of the other leg. When he was satisfied he released the magic that enabled the transformation and his leg was whole and fresh, bright pink in the midday sun. Kyra handed him his bloody boot she had unlaced from his other left foot. Reuben was just behind the team and was wiping his mouth from where he had just vomited to the side. Fascinating. He choked out as he tried to pull out a notebook while trying not to gag. Youve not seen injuries like this before then? Teddy asked him while James, Kyra and Lucy were having an argument about chopping limbs off without knowing if they would grow back. No, Im not an active adventurer, I did my assessment so that I would have more options for research and my work is generally with the magic society so I am excused contracts. The others were still arguing and Kyra turned to the others with Rashid. Tell her its fine Rashid, even if it hadnt worked which we were fairly confident it would then we could have magically re-attached the leg anyway. Mrs Lucy, traumatic amputation is a fairly common injury for adventurers at least once in their career. I have seen many limbs re-attached and the church of the healer can re-grow limbs as required with a specialist. See? We knew what we were doing. I am still not happy with you chopping up my husband. Lu, its fine, well tell you about it next time, if there is a next time. Its actually easier to manage during combat than the long complicated process of healing a damaged limb if I have the mana as it means Im not out the fight. James consoled his wife. Im still not happy. Lucy pouted. Its actually rather fascinating, I will have to do some research on this to see if others with the Animagus power have done the same, it may be due to the fact your outworlder bodies are made entirely of magic that this is such an easy transition for you. Made of magic? Go over that again for me? James said. Oh come on, Ive explained it enough times for you. Kyra said in exasperation. Well when you left your own world it is common knowledge that your bodies are annihilated, your soul should then transverse the astral and on entering this universe your souls make a new body from the magic around them, much like a monster or an essence. Bodies like monsters James said as he looked at the discarded leg, he reached forward and touched it with the tip of one finger, there was a moment of static on the interface before he saw the notification and shared it with the others. Would you like to loot [James Mitchell - discarded leg]? Oh dude Teddy said, looking uneasy at James. What?! Reuben asked, unable to see the interface. He can loot the leg. Lucy said. Reuben dived to the side to throw up again. Are you going to? Kyra asked him. Well Im not really emotionally attached to it now so James shrugged and accepted the notification. A surprisingly thick and disgusting rainbow smoke came from the leg that vanished. You have looted [James Mitchell - discarded leg] [Toe ring of agility] has been added to (James Mitchells) inventory Oh what in the god of mischiefs name is this What? What?! Reuben asked, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. As he turned in excitement towards the group he got a face full of the noxious rainbow smoke and turned back to vomit again. Ha, he got a toe ring! Teddy exclaimed, looking at the notification. Item: [Toe ring of agility] (iron rank, common) A toe ring designed to protect the wearer from stubbing their toes. Effect: When worn the toe ring will generate a small field of agility around the users feet. This will allow the user to have a very mild boost to agility when approaching an obstacle to the feet. Oh cute. Kyra said from where she was standing next to Reuben rubbing his back while he was retching. Well if you think its cute then you have it! A small sparrow-like bird flittered to his shoulder and deposited the ring in James hand before he tossed it to Kyra. She caught the ring and with her iron rank agility caught it on her thumb, the large toe ring slipped easily over it. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. There is no way this is going to fit on my toes you troll! How damn big are your toes?! What size is this? The interface helpfully supplied the answer by updating its description. Item: [Toe ring of agility] (iron rank, common) (Size = XXL) She laughed and tossed the ring back to James who hung his head dejectedly. Oh come on, you won the loot lottery with that vambrace, all sorts of people get completely random loot. Teddy said supportively. No Teddy, its not that random, youre not getting away with the driving gloves, you like them secretly. Lucy teased. Are you saying that your big burly husband secretly likes his new sexy toe ring? Teddy retaliated. I retract my previous comment. If we can get back on track. Rashid said. Ruthless. Slave driver The man just lost a leg! And thats a good place to start with the feedback then I guess. I placed you against this monster because it was a bad match up, fighting one rank up is acceptable when the match up is good or you have adequate backup. He looked around the team. Even simulating this as a solo mission losing the capability of one leg is not a deal breaker, I assume you carry a high rank healing potion as you were taught? What else would you do? If I hadnt used my transport power I could do a full body transformation to something like a bird or multi legged animal so one limb isnt a big factor. If theres more monsters after this then I can always do this. James reached up and a pale green jade capped staff materialised and he spun it in his hands. Youre going to use that now?! Teddy said. The staff disappeared. Nah, it only counts if I plant it. I wonder Mr James, could I please see that again? Reuben asked. James shrugged and the staff appeared again with him spinning it over his head. Do you have to spin it like that every time? Teddy asked. Do you have to pull your dimension blade out like a lightsaber every time? I retract my previous comment. James smirked at him and held the staff out horizontally for Reuben to have a look. He pulled out a collection of measuring crystals and tools and moved them over and around the staff, he then stepped away to compare them to empty air then moved to James back to take readings from him away from the staff. Fascinating. Well come on then, whatre you thinking? James said, always uncomfortable to be tested on. Well it seems from preliminary results that my hypothesis is correct He trailed off, concentrating on his notebook. Which is?! Oh, the staff you hold in you hands is a part of you, unlike Mr Theodores sword which is more a conjuration of a portal that is moveable or Mrs Kyras weapons which are the more traditional conjuration. This staff is from your racial gift making it more a part of your body, a part of you soul we could say. Im leaving chunks of my soul lying around when I plant these? No nothing quite so dramatic, more that they come from the soul, an intrinsic part of you, they are made manifest from normal natural magic and resonate with your souls on an identical frequency. All right doc, what does that mean? Doc? Nevermind. It means that there may be some subtle differences how they interact with your other powers, am I correct in thinking that you receive an advantage for unarmed combat? You are. Well in the manner that these things go I could very well think that this would not count as being armed, it is using a part of yourself that is much more part of who you are than any other conjured weapon might be. James looked down at the staff. He was still holding it horizontally where Reuben had been examining it. It was a pale green marble, around seven feet long and capped on either end with jade orbs the size of grapefruits. There was an intricate pattern of leaves and vines winding up and down the staff. Well how about it, are you feeling up for it? Kyra asked, summoning her sword and shield. I feel fresh. James said, stamping his new leg and twirling the staff in front of him. Kyra lunged, a perfect fencing thrust and James parried, the sword scraped over the patterned shaft causing little sparks. She moved into an attack pattern, pushing James on the back foot to warm him up into the staff fighting. He was rusty, they all had training in the annex but it was a skill that had to be maintained. Eventually he saw an opening and made an awkward thrust at Kyra. She caught it on her round shield and her eyes went wide in surprise as she was knocked back a good twenty feet by the blow. Wow. James said. That was definitely boosted. Ability: [Bear (Bare) Arms] (Bear) Special ability / Special attack Base cost: Varies Cool-down: Varies Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Unarmed attacks do 400% damage Effect (Bronze): For a high mana cost the user can throw out a combination attack that is boosted to 800%. Very high long cooldown. Youre telling me. Kyra said, dismissing her weapons. How about you Darth Dimension, fancy a spar? Darth, really? Thats not going to be a thing. Teddy said as a red blade materialised. James grinned as he lunged in at Teddy, at first his brother toyed with him, his speed and reflexes from training with the sword every day made James look amateurish with his staff fighting. After a while of just dodging the attacks he moved to block an overhead blow. He grunted with the effort at catching the strike, his bronze rank level strength attribute pushed to the limit. When James tried to pull the staff back it stuck a little to the red blade and he received a notification. [Staff of the Everglades] has been damaged in combat. Summoning a glade is no longer possible until this ability comes off cooldown. He saw next to the ability in the interface a twenty four hour timer had started. He stepped back and Teddy let him, seeing him concentrating. James attempted to plant the staff which did nothing. As he did he saw the chunk that was missing in the shaft. He dismissed the staff and re-summoned it, on inspection the chunk was still there. Reuben, tell me I havent just broken my toy, or a part of my soul. The magic society researcher rushed in, a different set of examination tools were pulled from his swirling vortex and he checked over the staff. Not to worry, not to worry. It is repairing, is your wonderful interface telling you anything? Yes, it says I cant use it until it comes off its usual once a day cool-down after I plant it. Yes, yes, that makes sense. It will need time to repair itself, I imagine you could continue to fight and the conditions would remain the same no matter how much damage it takes or even if it was destroyed. Well thats handy. James said dismissing the staff again. Rashid stepped up. Very good. This has been a good day for discovery, well set up camp here for the night and move on in the morning if you are all in agreement? James, I would suggest trying to meditate straight away as we discussed, consolidate the experience while it is still fresh. James nodded and released Koda, the big bear gave him a friendly headbutt before giving a terrifyingly tooth-full yawn and settling down for a nap. James leant against him and started to meditate. Teddy pulled out the model of their Serenity and placed it down to deploy so they could camp for the night. The couples had their own rooms and there were two spare rooms at the rear, one was taken up by the workshop that Lucy and Teddy frequented but the other spare room had twin beds in it for Reuben and Rashid. Teddy was dicing a local vegetable, it looked like a sweet potato but had a fruity citrus taste that paired well with a fish they had caught in the river earlier. He slipped when he saw a wall of notifications and would have cut his finger if it hadnt been a normal rank and he at the top of iron. He made his way outside with Kyra, Rashid and Lucy who was busy writing out the notifications for Reuben who was looking over her shoulder. All [Animagus Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Recovery] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Rat Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Speed] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Bear Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Power] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. All [Eagle Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Spirit] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. Progress to Bronze rank: 100% (4/4 essences complete). All your attributes have reached bronze rank: ??? ???? ??????? ?????? ????. ??? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ??? ??????. ??? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?????????. ???? ???? ?????? ???? ????????: Progress to silver rank: 00%. James Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank 100% (4/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Bear): [Bronze 0] [Speed] (Rat): [Bronze 0] [Spirit] (Eagle): [Bronze 0] [Recovery] (Animagus): [Bronze 0] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation - including animals Princess power - storage Staff of the Everglades They all got to James who was still as they left him, tucked up against the side of Koda on the rocky floor. Reuben and Rashid stopped short as the others kept running forward. They stopped, in a semi-circle in front of the big man and waited for him to acknowledge them. James slowly opened his eyes. He felt incredible, not quite the rush he felt when he first got his essences but still a buzz. And then he felt it stop, nothing else happened and he checked his notifications, he was disappointed but not surprised after what happened to Teddy. He looked up at his family around him, the others stopped short incase there was the foul goop that came with a rank up. He shook his head at the others to confirm it wasnt going to happen. Chapter 44 ‘A six legged gorilla themed centaur’ Kyra had an arm under Lucys armpit as she half dragged, half carried her. Cmon Lu! She shouted as she pulsed another Life Bolt into her. Lucys eyes went wide at the rush of life force and she turned her head where she was being carried by Kyra and feebly raised an arm to fire a missile at the monster that was chasing them to the edge of the trees. The monster was a huge gorilla, it had extra limbs but not how you would traditionally image a mythical primate, it had four extra legs, making it look like a six legged gorilla themed centaur. The magic missile hit it in the face and it crashed into the next tree it was leaping to. It roared and Kyra hiked Lucy again and glanced back, the monster was reeling from the hit but it wasnt done. Kyra cast Life Aura on Lucy and received a run-down of Lucys condition on her interface. She was relieved to see nothing was broken, and she had simply had her bell rung. The girls had gone up against the brutish bronze rank monster that was much more the boys style together, they had a fantastic plan that was well thought out and well executed, unfortunately the enemy also get a vote on how the plan went. The primate monster had jumped layers of defence and fall-back positions and slammed Lucy hard. It had barrelled through a last minute earth wall from Kyra which had taken a lot of the force out of it. They were now heading back to one last position. Kyra dropped Lucy into the pre-dug trench and turned to watch the monster shake off the hit and come at them again. Find me. Ten copies of Kyra materialised, all spread out in a line facing the monster, as it turned to chase it paused, trying to choose which one to attack. Kyra chose to press advantage rather than wait for the monster to realise there was only one trench that currently hid Lucy. The ten Kyras ran towards the monster, all leapt and launched a boulder down an angle at the monster, it roared and dodged but couldnt dodge all of the boulders and some hit and vanished on contact. The real boulder smashed down next to it and it roared in surprise. As the Kyras hit the floor running she swiped down across her body and an earth spike shot sideways and down out of the crashed boulder through a back foot of the monster pinning it in place. She made use of thepinned monster to launch an attack straight towards it from ten directions. Lucy landed badly in the trench and took a moment to get herself together. When she looked over the lip of the trench she saw Kyra launching at the pinned monster. Slightly abashed at being rocked by the monster she rallied to help. The plan had always been to pin the monster and tag team it and this was their last chance to do the plan. As Kyra slashed the one of the gorillas forearms open Lucy gave the go-ahead to Lechuza to strike, a feathery lightning bolt dived straight at the monster and peeled out the bottom of the dive in a bloody flash at its face. The monster roared and flailed about, ripping its back foot to shreds in its pain and anger. Its face held dark orbital sockets and deep lacerations either side but no eyes, Lucy felt a tad queasy as she saw Lechuza snacking on the ragged scraps between her talons. Now that it had ripped its foot out of the spike that held it in place Lucy hit it with a series of mind powers, the monster was one rank up on Lucy so they only had limited success if at all. Kyra dived in and took full advantage, she constantly flung mirror shards, she also sunk its feet into the floor then re-formed the earth around them and used the earth spike again. She threw her diamond sword which stuck into one of the primates legs and exploded. She reached up high and a diamond spear appeared, she struck it clear through one of the monsters free thighs and it buried a good way into the ground, pinning another leg. She flipped away, sending a life bolt mid flip Lucys way. Ability: [Diamond weapons] (Diamond) Special ability (conjuration) Base cost: Varies Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze (00%) Effect (iron): Summon a sword and shield made entirely of diamond. Effect (bronze): The user can now summon a diamond spear, the time before dismissal will be increased after leaving the users hand in order to allow it to be thrown. Iron rank summoned weapons will now be summoned at bronze rank strength. Option to explode weapons on dismissal sending bronze rank diamond shards flying. The monster was pinned and angry and confused, it was blinded and disorientated by Lucys powers and Kyra was hitting it with mirror shards, her summons blasts and throwing spears for good measure. The spears sucked a good amount of mana and now she had the monsters attention she needed to take a moment to top up her mana. [Tag] Kyra put on the interface. She then trusted Lucy completely. With the monster straining to get at her she pulled out a mirror and pulled a mana potion from her storage. In the moment before the monster hit her Lucy uttered a spell. Exchange our fates. Lucy and Kyra switched places. Kyra was still mid chug of the potion as she appeared where Lucy had been and Lucy was transported to just underneath the monsters double fisted strike and she was pounded into the floor. Lucy struggled to train some of her powers as she used cleverness and team tactics to kill monsters. The iron rank monsters werent complicated enough or tough enough to last against any of her family or her magic missiles for her to fully use all of her power set. Because of this she had to create opportunities to use her Possum Power. The monster leant over her and roared in victory at what it thought was its kill. The huge canines were almost either of Lucys head it was so close and she opened one eye and fired a magic missile point blank into the monsters mouth. Kyra had been keeping a close eye on Lucys condition when she was attacked. Her Possum Power was only at iron rank so it couldnt block all of the attack from the big gorilla but it was at the top end of iron rank so it blocked most. The monster was choking on the missile, blue smoke trailing out of its mouth and was flailing around when it turned away from Lucy, Kyra hit it with a large earth spike from the floor straight into its chest. Lucy used a rune circle and when her next magic missile hit the circle of runes long spears of ice shot out with the same force as the missile and pierced the monsters chest. Kyra summoned and threw a fresh spear hitting it in the chest. The huge primate was now a sorry sight. It was pinned in multiple places and now its chest looked like a pincushion. All the fight left it and it slumped. The girls met up in front of it. Sad really, it feels mean. Kyra said. But it is still a monster. Were not torturing it and it is only going to go crazy and attack more people. I know, but look, it looks so sad. But I understand, its not like we can capture it and put it in a reserve. Its not an animal. Ooh, quick turn away. Lucy said grabbing Kyras arm. The blonde adventurer reflexively summoned an earth wall as they turned. Lechuza plummeted at the monster and smashed through it into the floor, the amount of gore caused a wide splatter that hit the new earth wall. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. They walked around the edge of the wall to see Lechuza in the ruins of the monsters body, she was standing primly, cleaning gore from between her talons and feathers even though she was still standing in the body of the monster. The boys came over the hill at that exact moment. Both dune buggies racing each other over the grassy hill. James was driving one and Teddy the other, James had Rashid riding shotgun in his and Teddy had Reuben. They skidded to a stop in front of the horrific bloodbath with the giant owl in the middle. And we thought we were having fun. James said. Speak for yourself. Reuben said, staggering out of Teddys buggy. Im an essence user, how do I feel so what did you call it? Car-sick? We told you, dont read while we were racing. Teddy said. I dont understand what that has to do with feeling ill. Its something to do with the visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems, the fluid in your ear canals swishes over the otolith hairs to tell your brain theres movement in three axis and you brain confirms that with vision and the feel of gravity on your body. If you read while youre in a moving car then your brain gets confused and hence nausea. Reuben looked up at Teddy sharply, suddenly locked on with academic interest. He opened his mouth to ask a question and stopped. He cocked his head and closed his eyes as if he was listening. Mr Mitchell, my goddess is impressed with your knowledge on the subject of equilibrium maintenance but she warns that you are not a doctor. Introducing these unexplored fields of study to the world in such a cavalier manner gives a pathway to chaos. There is a right way to introduce these things and guide them and that is not your path. He slumped and looked disappointed, the reprimand from the goddess to Teddy had quelled his follow up questions that he wanted to ask. Teddy patted him on the shoulder with a smile, Its ok Reuben, Ill let you know when shes not listening. There as a faint tinkling laughter through the air and they all looked around. There was a faint aura of divinity that felt like a cool breeze passing by. Ok, thats not a little terrifying. Rashid shuddered and shook himself and turned to the girls. So how did it go? Well I got my bell rung pretty hard but we managed. Lucy said. It didnt go to plan then? It didnt, then it did I guess. We achieved everything we wanted to on it. Well good, well get you to meditation as quickly as we can, theres a nice spot a few fields over that we found that will have a wonderful view of the sunset. They extended the buggies and the girls each jumped in one, they looted the monster and spun away back the way he boys had come. They moved at a more sedate pace, Lucy and Kyra catching up on the adventures the boys had been having racing around. It turns out that they had been scoping out some running routes which had turned into a rally-style race, they were meant to be on notice to come to the rescue but had got sidetracked. So if we had got in trouble? Lucy shouted over the wind between the two buggies. Then you would have told us on the interface and I would have teleported over to you. Teddy replied. I would have shape-shifted and been there not long after. James said. We hadnt quite forgotten you. We just figured you didnt want us hovering. And you put four boys in some racing cars and tell them they can drive anywhere and what do you think will happen? Kyra shouted to Lucy. They pulled up to the top of a green hill. They could see the Delta all around them, the river wound its way through the lush green landscape and they could just see the city of Greenstone in the far distance as a hazy blur, even with James boosting their vision with his aura. Teddy took the Serenity out of storage and set it side-on to the setting sun. The boys then parked the buggies on the drop deck at the back and they six of them went up the stair cases at the back to the top deck to look out at the setting sun. Yep. Beautiful. This will do nicely. Go on girls, get to meditating, well sort dinner. The two girls didnt need much encouragement to get out of cooking dinner and jumped off the top deck. Within minutes they had started their meditation rituals. Kyra earth-shaped an octagonal column of earth around fifteen feet tall and was sat cross legged on top, facing the vista. Lucy had a semicircle of notebooks and reference material around her she was making notes in two of them with pens in each hand. She would pause, sit with her eyes closed and meditate then scribble again. On the top deck Rashid and Reuben sat around the large table at the back on the cushioned seats as guests. Teddy opened a cupboard at the side that was seamlessly integrated that they couldnt even see it until opened. He pulled a large grill from the side along with a bag of charcoal. James came up the stairs from the kitchen holding five bowls of meat in different marinades, he had two in each hand, two balanced on his forearms and the other bowls then the fifth was carried by his rat tail he had summoned just for the purpose. Teddy opened another cupboard on the top deck and a faint fog of cold air escaped while he pulled out four bottles of beer. The guys all stood around the grill chatting away while grilling the meat. There was a steady stream of notifications from both girls, they were both so close to the edge of bronze. Ability [Mirror Maze] (Mirror) has reached Iron 9 (100%). Ability [Mirror Maze] (Mirror) has reached Bronze 0 (00%). Ability [Mirror Maze] (Mirror) has gained a new effect. Ability: [Mirror Maze] (Mirror) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5min Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): 10 perfect copies of the caster will appear and be able to be moderately controlled within casters aura. Effect (bronze): An adjustable amount of copies of the caster will appear up to 15 copies. Copies will have slight tangibility and have a higher level of independent control. All [Mirror Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Speed] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. Kyra barely stirred from her meditation, chasing her next advancement. Lucy had moved from her erratic meditation phase to her concentrated phase. She sat cross legged, still with books scattered around her with runes and diagrams and explanations written out. Reuben was having a little stroll to stretch his legs and wandered over to look over her shoulder at the notes. Even though she was deep in meditation she raised a hand and a football size rune portal appeared and she swiped it left to right and the portal zoomed across the floor scooping up all the books. Reuben turned on his heel getting the message and went back up to the top deck. Not long after Lucy had a breakthrough. Ability [Playing possum] (Illusion) has reached Iron 9 (100%). Ability [Playing possum] (Illusion) has reached Bronze 0 (00%). Ability [Playing possum] (Illusion) has gained a new effect. Ability: [Playing possum] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 18 Hour Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Negates an iron rank enemy attack. Effect (bronze): Negates most bronze rank enemy attacks. Teleports the user just out of harms reach. All [Illusion Essence] abilities have reached [Bronze 0]. Linked attribute [Recovery] has increased from [Iron 9] to [Bronze 0]. Like with Kyra she didnt change her meditation pose. The boys reasoned that she too must be close to another breakthrough. Rashid and Reuben were having a great time, Reuben was an outworlder specialist and had a willing set of subjects to ask all the questions he wanted and Lucy absorbed all his prodigious magical theory as fast as he could describe it to her and was a pleasure to teach. Rashid loved teaching and this concentrated schedule had been really good fun with the two couples, they had a unique sense of humour due to their foreign nature and were one of the most hard working students he had ever had. It came as a shock when the boys suddenly collapsed without warning in front of Rashid and Reuben, they paused looking at each other before rushing forward to help. After seeing that they were passed out they looked out at the girls and saw that they were similarly passed out, Kyra had even fallen off the column. The boys slowly levitated off the top deck, pulled from the centre of their chests as if a rope was tied around them, they hovered off the side through the air towards the girls who were similarly hovering towards them, they all met feet first like the cardinal points of a compass and revolved in the air. A bright light shone out of them the faint sheen of bronze. After a moment of the bright light they all fell to the ground like rag dolls, putrid ooze seeping out of them. Chapter 45 ‘Just an expression.’ Are you sure theyre going to be ok with you doing that? Reuben asked Rashid. Rashid was standing there blasting the Mitchells with a firehose of water coming from one hand, mildly brutalising the unconscious bodies. The other was eating a kebab he had rescued from the grill before it burnt. Well we could wash them with a vial of crystal wash when they wake up and walk out of that puddle but personally Im not walking in to pull them out. You are more than welcome to though. Secondly I like this camping spot so I dont mind washing this filth away from here so we dont have to move the Serenity. Well when you put it that way Reuben put both hands out and a miniature tornado came out of his hands, blowing the puddle of filth down the hill away from them. The effect was all the adventurers hair and clothes blowing to make them even more of a mess. You have some excellent powers there, you never came through the academy? No, I was trained by my father, I took my adventure society assessment in Greenstone alongside some of your students which were very impressive, I tend towards the magical theory aspect more than application though. Some of my powers are not well suited to traditional adventuring. Reuben said as he gestured over his shoulder at his permanent tornado at his back holding all his personal items. It gave off no wind and bent around doorways and objects to not make a nuisance other than the view. It was fortunate that the outworlder bodies of the Mitchells didnt have the physiological need to breathe anymore as they were getting blasted with wind and water. That didnt stop them from coming to and spluttering and coughing in surprise. The two men cut off the streams of power. The four Mitchells rolled around and groaned, Kyra eventually had the presence of mind to release Lucky and he instantly made everyone feel better. I feel battered, I thought you were meant to feel good after a rank-up! Teddy complained. So you did rank up! Reuben exclaimed, whipping out a notebook. James groaned and his Staff of Everglades appeared, he planted it and everyone was included, the glade spreading out from the centre around them, it was much larger than before with a pool in the centre of the ring of tall trees. There was a marked health, stamina and mana regeneration for the team. They found themselves all in an inclined position on springy moss and all used crystal wash to clear the filth from them that disappeared into the loam. Well that was rough. Lucy said from where she was laying. That didnt feel anything like becoming iron rank or how anyone else has described bronze rank ascension. Reuben was scribbling away in his notebook and went to where Lucy was laying. I dont want to rush you, in your own time, if its not too much trouble. What is your marvellous interface telling you about this experience? All four Mitchells realised at the same time that something was very wrong with the interface as they reflexively looked at it. The sections that they were used to of everyones health, stamina and mana stats, the notepad, the chat function they used so much were all fuzzed and scattered around. Lucy stated to panic slightly which surprised everyone else. Frantically trying everything she could think of to make the interface work. As there was nothing to physically interact with and it looked from the outside that she went a little red, panic on her face and lots of swearing. James leant over and put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. Ooh! They both said at the same time. Ooh what?! Teddy said. James grunted as he got up, already feeling better but still tender. He made his way over to the gap between Teddy and Kyras mossy recliners and reached out either side and touched them on the shoulder. They all saw the notification and the notification history. Theodore Mitchell has been added to the [Mitchell Family Interface] Kyra Mitchell has been added to the [Mitchell Family Interface] All Mitchells in Pallimustus have been added to [Mitchell Family Interface], all features have been unlocked Well thats different, it never named itself before. Teddy said. The interface they were used to popped back up with a slight change. It still had the options for chat, notepad and stats. But that major change was there was now a tab function at the top. They could see that the first tab was utility and it was customisable for what information was needed to be displayed. The other tabs on display started with full pages for what they already had. Opening the chat tab showed a whole family chat, options for individual chats and spare slots, on first viewing they couldnt figure out what those were for. The next tab was for the notepad, offering a group pad and individual pads that could be configured to single people or groups. There was a battle log page that showed activity to each member of the interface in a different colour, looking at it they could all see why they were so sore. YOU ATTACKED US WHILE WE WERE UNCONSCIOUS?! Kyra turned on Rashid. Err, well, it isnt really considered an attack, it was more to clean you off. Well it definitely registered as a silver rank attack. You. Attacked. Us. Im sorry? Oh Im so glad your interface is up and working again. He said rolling his eyes. Further inspection of the interface showed the next page was for individual members stats. Everyone was around the same place as they got to these pages and they discovered one notification at the same time. Teddy and James tenderly jumped up at the same time. Nononono dude, not here. Teddy said to James. Oh yeh, right here right now. A green dimension blade sprang from his hand and his face lit up with delight. Woah. Teddy said, damn that looks as cool as I always thought it did. Cmon, lightsaber dual lets go! Sorry guys, I dont think thats going to work Lucy said as Teddy summoned a dimension blade of red and James blade disappeared. What? Why did it do that? James said. Because you didnt read the damn instructions dummy. Lucy said. She highlighted the section on the interface notifications for them to read. [Mitchell Family Interface] The [Mitchel Family Interface] has evolved as the family has progressed to (Bronze rank). New design features are now available. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. [Utility Page]: Customisable home page for different widgets. [Chat function]: Updated and new customisations added. [Notepad]: Updated and new customisations added. [Member pages]: Normal (Health) (Stamina) (Mana) (Status) notifications for each member are available. Also available: Equipped items. Ability cooldown menus. Ability availability icons. The boys read that far and then looked at each other, Teddy summoned the dimension blade and they both saw the green circle next to the ability on his tab of the interface turn red. What the hell does this mean? Teddy asked Lucy. Well have you read it? Most of it. Well if you finish reading then maybe youll get the idea. [Member pages]: Normal (Health) (Stamina) (Mana) (Status) notifications for each member are available. Also available: Ability cooldown menus. Ability availability icons. Member direction and distance. [Inventory]: Shows the users Inventory of items. Also available: Last known direction and distance of items that have been in the users interface unless dismissed. Members inventory: WARNING. Other members may designate items to be hidden within their inventory. WARNING. Other members may designate items to not be shared. [Mitchell Family Interface] User notes: Ability sharing. Ability sharing is for most powers. Shared powers will be used at a lower power than that of their originator. Originator must be within range of the interface and must not be using the power themselves. If the originator chooses to use the power then it will be taken from the member that selected it and placed on cooldown if appropriate. This does not effect the function of regular shared powers such as aura benefits. Some abilities/powers may not be shared. Only family members may share abilities. Inventory sharing. Inventory sharing is available between members. Consumable items will be shared with no lag between members. Items over a certain value will require a request to be sent to the originator to approve sharing. Guest members. Guest members may be temporarily added to the [Mitchel Family Interface]. Members must be put forward as a bid to the group and accepted by a majority. Any member may then designate how much of their own information is shared with the guest member and how much rights the guest member has to their inventory. So I can use it but not while hes using it? James asked Lucy. She sighed in exasperation, they had all had exactly the same time as each other with the interface but still they turned to her for answers, she was about to confirm what he was saying but Reuben exploded next to her. WHAT IS GOING ON?! He almost shouted, a desperate note in his voice. JAMES JUST USED TEDDYS POWER?! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! He looked wildly around, his brain obviously whirring at the implications. Ha. Lucy laughed. [Oh how I missed this for the few moments we didnt have it, guys do you mind if I experiment a little?] [No problems from me.] Kyra replied instantly. [Go for it.] James said. Teddy surprised them all with a new feature by putting a thumbs up emoji on the chat page. Lucy walked over to Reuben and hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder. Nothing happened. Sorry Reuben, but youre obviously not a Mitchell. She said when nothing happened. Well thats fairly obvious. He said confused. The others all saw a notification counter pop up in their interfaces, when it was mentally clicked on it showed a request window. Lucy Michell would like to add a temporary guest member. Accept Reuben Hafstofsten (GUEST) Y/N (Pre-loaded custom permissions will be added) What are the Pre-loaded custom permissions? James asked. What is that? Reuben asked just before Teddy and Kyra accepted the request and as the two of them formed the majority with Lucy, he was added to the interface. Reuben was almost knocked over in surprise. He looked around wild-eyed at the system interface before sinking to his knees and a small tear appeared in his eye. Its beautiful, more than I ever imagined. Rashid looked on in polite interest, baffled by Reubens reaction. The pre-loaded custom permissions turned out to be solely a chat page with everyone on, the direction and distance to each member and their basic stats such as health, stamina, mana and condition. They could also see his stats and location on a new tab with his name on. They played with the options once he recovered. Lucy opened a rune portal and pulled a scroll out, it disappeared from the swirling vortex behind Reuben. He frowned and reached behind him to an empty space in his vortex and pulled a book from thin air that Lucy recognised as hers. They looked at each other and passed the items back to each other. Reuben then realised that he could look through his own inventory and they lost him to frantic scribbles as he pulled various items to look at their descriptions, when he got to the various crystals he used for delicate magical readings they saw the tear of delight in his eye again. I think hes going to be a while. Lucy said to the others. Guys, girls, congratulations! Rashid said. I know you have your own but, he handed each of them a bronze rank coin. Time to eat like bronze rankers. They all smiled as they took the coins off him then winced at the battery-terminal taste. That grill must be still out there right? Teddy said to the others and they nodded. Teddy and James had to put their hands under the armpits of Reuben on either side and carried him out of the glade as he was scribbling away like mad in a notebook back to the Serenity. In the end they had to kick Reuben out of the interface in order for him to sit down and eat with them. Its incredible! It holds a history of my crystal interactions, the readings are normally so unreliable to interpret whereas your wonderful interface lays it all out nice and simple. Some of my earlier findings in my research werent quite right and my deductions would set me back months! Speaking of, has this happened before where teams rank up together? Lucy asked. Reuben suddenly put his work face on rather than the excited boy face. No. Well not that Im aware of. I will definitely do the research on this when I get back but the potential factors affecting this are so specific, a blood family team of outworlders that arrived at the exact same time, that got the exact number of essences as each other at the exact same times and made iron rank at the same time. All just lined up nicely then? James asked. Works for us I guess, the interface was a secret team advantage. Now we pretty much have eighty powers instead of just twenty. That will be such an advantage in combat! Rashid said. I have seen a similar effect before but they are normally one power, on a long cool-down and not normally as conveniently selectable. They had given him a brief tour of the interface by inviting him in as a guest member. The ability to instantly share consumables and team items will streamline many combat scenarios and the versatility of using each others abilities in a combat scenario will need careful managing and planning before adopting as a signature style. Talking of style Teddy said. Theodore Mitchell has requested [Vambrace of Menagerie] from James Mitchell. [Theodore Mitchell] has requested to equip the item from inventory. [Vambrace of Menagerie] is currently equipped. Would you like to accept request from [Theodore Mitchell].Y/N ERROR [Vambrace of Menagerie] is a soul-bound item and cannot be used by anyone else. Equip from inventory has automatically been denied. Would you still like to send [Vambrace of Menagerie] to [Theodore Mitchell].Y/N Aww man. Teddy said, cancelling the request himself. That wouldve been so cool. You people are torturing me, you cant let me sip the font of knowledge and then take it away from me then talk about it in front of me! Reuben exclaimed with a slight whine. Teddy just tried to see if he could use James soul bound item through the interface, the answer was a resounding no. Oh wow. Reuben was added back into the interface as a guest and read through the notification history that Lucy mentally copied and pasted across for him. But this dramatic change to your team dynamic and fighting styles and tactics is not the only grand change. We will have to push you to make a decision on your path ahead, the adventure society hired us to accelerate you to bronze for a specific contract and will need an answer. Oh we will give them an answer, but first we need to head back to Greenstone temple district to talk to the big man upstairs. Rashid looked confused. What business do you have with the god of sky? No its just an expression Nevermind. Chapter 46 ‘Glad we’ve still got the regular scary going on’ The team checked in at the villa before heading in to Greenstone. They had dropped off Rashid at the academy annex gates on the way back to the city, he had other duties that he had been away from in their three weeks of chasing every bronze rank monster they could find. Reuben had stayed with them and was enjoying a luxury bath in the guest wing. The Mitchells were catching up with Gerald at the breakfast bar over a cup of his imitation coffee. Gerald you sweet heart! This is the best brew weve ha so far! And were now bronze rank so we can really appreciate it. Aye thankee Mrs Kyra, It may be the bronze rank stamina potion I put in there plus some new berries Ive tried. Ill save the recipe and make a batch for you to take with you. Would you like it to become the house staple for offering to guests? Absolutely, shows a bit of our character then. Very well, I will have a range produced for each rank that may frequent the house. If you dont mind me saying Ill not be offering any to those highborn families that keep dropping in on their way past to see if youre in. Youre all lucky you just missed them this morning. How often have they been dropping in Gerald? Teddy asked. Oh Id say almost daily Sir, theyre getting quite persistent, a few have tried getting past the gate to check for themselves but theyve been firmly rebuffed. Not come to violence I hope? Theres certain rules from our world concerning trespassers on our property Im happy to invoke if required. Oh I wouldnt worry about that Sir, youre in a world of magic now with a judicial system thats very relaxed, especially out here in a provincial back water abused by an ancient aristocratic system. As he spoke he held up his fists and red-yellow fire rolled around the knuckles. Point taken, good work Gerald. The older man bowed his head slightly and went back to clearing up the breakfast bits. Shortly after Reuben joined them at the table. Fresh from his bath he was looking sleepy and relaxed. I dont know how you guys do those trips so often, civilisation is not over rated. Oh you get used to it, its far nicer to do adventuring in this world with magic compared to staying in the wild in ours. James replied. Like when were you ever in the the wild? James scoffed. The wildest it ever got was a day in the woods still within phone signal or a weekend camping in some farmers field where you still had a gas stove and a Moka pot for espresso in the morning. Just because you tried and failed the UK three peaks challenge doesnt mean you know wild! James shot back. The girls looked at each other and even Gerald turned round with a raised eyebrow to look at the boys bickering. Teddy swirled his coffee while James looked in the bottom of his mug. Awkward Kyra said. Anyway, no that Reuben is here shall we do the summoning? Reuben looked like someone had explained to him what Christmas was, then told him it was today. Ohh! Summoning, whatre we summoning?! A few hours later they met outside, Lucy wanted to go through the ritual with Lechuza a few times to talk it over, the owl familiar couldnt grasp ritual magic but it had the intelligence to be aware and Lucy felt it was fair to explain. The ritual was laid out and Lechuza stood in the middle, they had the required materials for the bronze rank ritual for a while now just incase they were away from the markets when Lucy ranked to bronze. The others had gathered around the ritual to observe, it was less interesting in terms of magical measuring to Reuben as ritual magic drew its energy from the circle and the stacks of coins, anyone could do ritual magic regardless of having essences and many professionals did, some making money to eventually buy essences to prolong use life and many just as tradesmen. Lechuza flung her huge wings wide one last time and looked at Lucy, she tucked her wings and ruffled her neck feathers and Lucy began. Amongst the tall dark pines the hunter waits, Amongst the weeds and logs the hunter waits, The wisest hunter knows that patience catches the vulnerable, From the darkest places the powerful watch, Ready to reap the rewards coming to them. The familiar in the ritual exploded into feathers, swirling in a tornado that was contained within the circle. As it thickened they could barely see any light through the black feathers and the light around them seemed to fade in the twighlight of the afternoon. A chill was suddenly felt through all the onlookers except Lucy. There was a phantom hoot and a screech that couldnt be pinpointed. The feathers spiralled around until they started to drop down but the darkness didnt abate. As the feathers swirled to the floor they could make out a crouching figure, not half the size of Lechuza, more the size of an albeit small, but normal person. It was a skinny dirty woman, with a mix of ragged long black hair and dreadlocks that fell from her head to the floor as she was crouching on all fours. She wore a black leather loincloth and a similar leather vest top, both engraved in dark red runes that couldve been blood. A circlet on her head had a motif of the moon that was the cleanest thing on her. Her wrists and ankles had a thick collection of bangles and charms, her hands and feet scarred and nails ragged. She looked up at Lucy and then at the others and they saw the thick black lines that were drawn from above her eyebrows to halfway down her cheeks in vertical slashes, they could all see her eyes were magically wild and terrifying, holding all those she observed in contempt, when she looked at Lucy they softened to the look of an equal. Lechuza? Lucy whispered. [Miss Lucy.] came the familiar voice in her head. It is you, wow, you still cant talk out loud in this form? Lechuza touched a hand to her throat, just above the many necklaces and charms around her neck. [It is still denied me Miss Lucy, but this form offers many advantages alongside my other.] Alongside? The nightmare in front of them stood tall straightening up, a slight build woman she tucked her arms into her chest and seemed to grow, rotating and shooting up into the eight foot tall owl they were familiar with. Oh Im glad weve still got the regular scary going on. James muttered. Lucy checked out the new description for Lechuza. Ability: [Lechuza] (Vision) Familiar (ritual, summon) Base cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Summon an Owl Familiar to serve as a familiar. [Lechuza] has the ability to mirror some abilities of the summoner. Summoner can project themselves into the familiar from a moderate distance away to see through the summons eyes, have some control of the body and use some powers through the familiar. The body of the summoner is left unprotected during this time. When the summon is absorbed [Lechuza] can reflect most incoming physical damage. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Effect (bronze): [Lechuza] has gained a new form, [Bush Witch] can be used to cast various spells and will cast previously unused summoners spells from the familiar. When absorbed mind altering powers are enhanced to the summoner and mana pool and recovery is enhanced. Absorbed boosts will only apply when absorbed from the [Bush Witch] form. When [Owl] form is absorbed then legacy effects from iron rank will be applied at bronze rank. And you are the same mind between the two forms? [Yes Miss.] Between the yes and the miss the Owl rotated on the spot shrinking down to the Bush Witch who promptly crouched low, her head looking around in quick jerky movements. Lucy held out her hand and the familiar went ghostly and stretched through the air towards Lucys hand, absorbing into her. The light around them seemed to get brighter and they realised they all were a little more relaxed. Kyra who was standing opposite Lucy over the ritual circle cocked her head as she looked at her. Its a bold choice but Ive got to admit its working for me. Kyra said to Lucy. Whats that? Kyra walked over the remains of the circle with a hand mirror suddenly appearing. She held it up for Lucy to see her face. Previously when Lucy had absorbed Lechuza she had delicate feather tattoo-like markings around her eyes. In Pallimustus where no one used cosmetics the effect was striking and looked like eyeshadow. Looking in the mirror she could see there was a difference now, her eyes still looked like they had make-up but now it looked more like the war paint that Bush Witch Lechuza was wearing. Wide black lines three centimetres wide went from above her eyebrows to the tops of her cheeks. They were faint and smoky rather than the stark black that had been on the familiar. On closer inspection they were the runes and sigils that Lechuza had on her clothing and charms. As she watched they got fainter until they disappeared. Fascinating. Reuben said, scribbling away. As a member of the magic society this is fantastic to see through your interface. The group had added him as a guest before the ritual. To see in real time the effects that absorbing a familiar can have. Go on, what have you seen specifically? Well, Keep a hold of that wonderful mirror. You can see now that your mana reserve is at one hundred percent on the interface. Try throw a magic missile into the air. Lucy shot straight up, they had no neighbours and a small magical display like that wasnt going to worry anyone. She saw on the interface the small mana dip from firing one missile. The visible effect on her face was the lines became slightly darker. My hypothesis is that as you use the Bush Witch specialities the markings will become more prominent. Perhaps try something in her wheelhouse. James stepped forward into the middle of the remains of the circle, he knew she needed a volunteer and it was fairest if he went first. She gave him a kind smile before focussing and casting her spells, small lip movements whispering. His wife raised her left hand, motes of dust and black ash seemed to drift off her arm and a general area of darkness clung to the limb. The markings around her eyes sunk to the darkest black and her eyes became pits with no end. Next all he could see was many copies of himself as mirror walls slammed into place in front of him. He suddenly couldnt feel his weight on his feet and panicked almost falling over before he looked down and saw his feet still on the floor, he then felt as if hed been shoved and had to stare at a point on the floor to prove to himself he wasnt moving. He looked around and saw nothing but wall after wall of glass or mirror, unable to tell which was which as all his doubles looked around as well. It unnerved him to see a few of his reflections turning when he wasnt, one was shouting wordlessly and another was beating his fists against a glass wall until they went bloody. He felt a heat behind him and saw a wall of fire coming towards him, his reflections that were in the way were blistering and burning on the floor between melted panes of glass and cracked mirrors. James started to run, he bounced off invisible walls and had to feel his way to the edges, he battered his head and his knees on unexpected angled walls. He could feel his heart rate quicken, panic rising, the heat was getting more intense. He found himself in a dead end with nowhere to go, the fire right behind him, he pounded on the walls with all his might but he was impotent to get through while the fire closed on him. He came back to his own body in the middle of the circle lying face down on the floor, his mouth was full of mud where he had been screaming and he had been pounding the floor, the ground all churned up around him. Lucy ran to him and started wiping the mud off him. (Lucy Mitchell) has cast [Houdini Palace] on (James Mitchell). [Houdini Palace] is enhanced. (Lucy Mitchell) has cast [Vertigo] on (James Mitchell). [Vertigo] is enhanced. (Lucy Mitchell) has cast [Enter Sandman] on (James Mitchell). [Enter Sandman] is enhanced. James spat a little bit of blood where he had bit the inside of his mouth, he looked up at his wife who was holding him. The markings around her eyes were slowly fading back to the faint smokiness. Did you know it would be that strong? I didnt! I just get a broad idea of whats happening, but I could tell that was a lot stronger than I ever had done before. Im sorry babe. James hugged her close, all was forgiven. Something to be aware of as you cast your mind and illusion powers is that your eye markings become bold as your familiar boosts your powers. Reuben noted, writing it all down to add to the magic society records. Noted, I will have to see if I can cast without the enhancement if I dont want anyone to know Im doing it. They got up and James finished brushing the mud off himself as they made their way back in. Further to my hypothesis I would say that your original eye markings remain prominent as the power is passive for damage reflection. As that is a passive power and not an active one like using enhanced mind powers that is why the eye markings remain when the owl form is absorbed. As Reuben reminded her she released Lechuza behind her, the Bush Witch naturally falling back to a shadowy corner and a darkness she emitted seemed to hide her even more. The giant owl stepped out of the shadow and lifted into the darkness to hunt. The others all went inside. Genevieve Picot felt Vincents aura coming down the corridor, using a subtle technique she reached out with hers to acknowledge his presence and he walked into her office without having to knock. She winced as she saw the amber envelope in his hand, only one family used the high quality stationary in that colour and it was the family she really didnt want to hear from right now. The Whipparrel family were amongst the oldest and most troublesome of the aristocracy that were resistant to the changes in the political landscape of Greenstone. They could chase their lineage back to just after the founding of the city and had their paws all over the various elements of the city. They couldnt outwardly cause problems for the society as that would rankle the Duke into action and punish the family, after all the society was there to protect his citizens and it was a world spanning organisation, the amount of political clout they could bring to bare if pushed was incredible. But the Director kept finding things malfunctioning in her headquarters. Pipes would burst and professionals were hard to find, construction crews on various repair jobs would turn up and be the wrong trade or not have the correct tools, basics like lighting in the offices would randomly work or not. There was a mostly harmless but persistently annoying bug somewhere at any given time, all in the scope of the Whipparrel family trades and all around the times the Director did something that might annoy them. Director, I have a fresh petition from the Whipparrels, it is addressed directly to your desk but I took the liberty of fielding it myself. Thankyou Mr Trenslow, they have become quite a burden on my time, they have put something in the letter that you felt I had to see? Yes maam, they are now suggesting that they could field a single bronze with half a dozen iron adventurers. They insist that this is agreeable and that they will accept non-replies as confirmation of contract and will be along to collect the day after tomorrow. Also, if they are denied the contract after offering this solution, he coughed, with such generous terms, they feel they will have to involve the intercontinental council. A bold move, one that may not hold them in good favour. Just because we have not been reprimanding them to their face does not mean we havent been keeping records. It does force the issue further than I would like to deal with at this moment in time however. We may have to throw them a bone to keep them quiet. There has been no reaction from our recent visit to the annex? Still nothing more than a demand to see our reports and expenditure from the trip, the claim is that we spent city resources to support infrastructure for a venture from Vitesse. There was a boom from outside the building and the lights went out. The Director had some glow stones on her desks from the recent power blackouts. Well this would be a new step for the Whipparrels. She said. A receptionist ran in to the office in a panic and breathlessly caught the directors desk. Maam the building is under attack! Genevieve and Vincent looked at each other with a flat look as if to say duh. Thankyou Ms Shirkle. Please take cover in your assigned fall back area. She teleported herself and Vincent to the roof. Looking down they could see the watery hole in the middle of the adventure society campus where monsters had tunnelled out. They had obviously been transported to the docks then tunnelled through the harbour walls. Climbing out of the hole after the dozens monsters was a tall thin man with a long white coat on holding a collection of artefacts with antennae on them. The usual concentration of adventurers were already mounting a response, the enemy, whoever they were, had decided to attack right in the centre of the most likely area to find some of the most dangerous residents of Greenstone. Well isnt this something. The Director said before rattling off her quick battle orders to Vincent. The Mitchells had been shopping in the Adventure Society district, they had a few new bronze rank items to purchase, Teddy had just placed an order with Gilbert Bertinelli for a new pair of boots, the older mans expertise second to none. They had heard the boom as they were crossing outside. All immediately on edge for battle. Lucy, whatve we got? Teddy asked. Using the new interface features Lucy opened a window in the group chat and presented the live feed she was getting from Lechuza high above. Ok, Teddy said after a moment of watching the scene unfold, this is what were going to do. Chapter 47 ‘Star Command’ There was a narrow choke point to get the civilians out of harms way of the district, the adventure society representatives were busy fighting the strange augmented monsters so the Mitchells took to crowd clearance. Teddy marked a section of the map for Lucy and James to head to and teleported himself and Kyra to a building top next to a short curved bridge which was one of the exits from the main area. They were lucky that most buildings had shelters and the non-essence user workers knew to take refuge there, the bulk of the people they were dealing with were those who were outside their buildings or visitors. As soon as Kyras feet touched the floor on top of the building next to the bridge Teddy shot off, still almost a blur to her bronze rank eyes. Kyra immediately used her earth shaping powers to cause another bridge to flow over the gap for people to cross. One of the monsters had been sent to the commotion of so many people trying to get over the narrow bridge, Kyra earth spiked it and threw a wall in its way while she helped people over. Lucy held her hands up high for Lechuza to grab, just before the huge familiar grabbed her hands her husband transformed himself into a snake a few feet long, he twisted up one of her legs just as she was swept up by the massive owl. When they were at their peak above the fray James as a snake let go. James was doing a lot of research into different animals in Pallimustus, many of them were magical and had benefits that werent immediately obvious. The snake he was imitating now had a very clever camouflage and a very nice defence. He instinctively knew how it worked and he felt like he was sucking in air, the snake rapidly got bigger, soon it was over ten feet long, huge bat like wings uncurled from its sides and arrested the rate of fall, it couldnt fly and he wouldnt have been able to get this high on his own without Lechuzas help but now he was here he could try his other idea for his attack. The Cloud Snakes lived high up in the mountains unlike what their names suggested, they needed this high vantage to fling themselves from the rock to glide down when attacked, they would then shrink to normal size to not attract attention to slither back up. Whilst they were airborne they had an excellent defence against would-be predators which James now sought to use as offence. Looking below he chose an augmented monster with obvious metalwork bolted into the top of its back, right in the middle of the pack. Moisture had started collecting around the snake as soon as he had unfurled his wings, now he had a small dark storm-cloud around him. Imbuing the strike with his vambrace power he released the collected energy from the cloud and a lightning bolt crashed down into the monster. The metalwork on top exploded, sending shrapnel flying into the monsters around it, flammable liquids from tanks attached to the contraption splashed onto its neighbours setting them alight and into a frenzy. Genevieve stood on the top of the society administration building watching the fight evolve. As a one time adventurer and a silver ranker she knew her contribution to the fight would be significant down below, her contribution as the Director of the society was critical however, large teams of adventurers needed guiding as they tended to be solo operators, her frustration at the moment was that getting messages out was so slow. She felt the intrusion of a mind power and prepared her defences until she recognised the aura behind it. Following the tendril of aura she saw one of the Mitchell women high above the fight dangling from a giant bird that had been spotted numerous times above the city, she had received the report of this monster across her desk a few times and had to check the records to ensure it was a familiar and shouldnt be shot down. She allowed the power recognising it as a telepathy communication. [Director, thankyou for letting me in, its Lucy Mitchell.] [Mrs Mitchell, what can I do for you Im a little busy.] The Director sent an icy blast of wind out to catch some thrown masonry headed towards a building, send it crashing to the open ground. [Its more what I can do for you Director, Ive set up a Tactical network page for you to damn it, the map wont work but you can better organise and communicate with your people, hang on. There, you should recieve it] Genevieve Picot (Director) (Guest) has been added to the tab [Tactical Net]. Genevieve Picot has administrative rights over [Tactical Net]. The Director look appreciatively at the screen in front of her. And started mentally writing onto the page cutting the telepathic connection. [And what does this allow me to do Mrs Mitchell?] Lucy gave her a brief tour of the functions that were available to her including the freedom to create groups and add members to that page only without having to ask permissions. She got busy adding adventurers, organising her people and making a more cohesive plan to beat back the monsters. [ATTENTION ADVENTURERS. Anyone already embroiled in the fight make the monster controlling enemy essence users your priority before falling back to your assigned positions.] she wrote. Lucy took this as her cue to drop down from the sky. She angled her descent and shot Kyra a message. As she was about to hit the ground she borrowed a power and they saw the interaction on the battle log tab. (Lucy Mitchell) has used the [Encased] power from (Kyra Mitchell) [Diamond Essence]. [Encased] has been used at a lower power than is available to (Kyra Mitchell). [Encased] will surround (Lucy Mitchell) with impenetrable diamond for 3 seconds. They saw through Kyras tab on the interface that the power availability had gone on a two minute countdown. Lucy smashed into one of the monsters like a diamond bullet. When the diamond dissipated she was whole and clean in the midst of the gore of a monster that looked like it had exploded from the inside. All the monsters were large hulking beasts, mostly iron rank with a handful of bronze. There were two silver rank monsters that had a handler each and were keeping Vincent very busy as the only silver ranker present. Lucy looked about and tried and found to her dismay that her mind powers wouldnt work on the monsters, they were being controlled from somewhere else. She shrugged, in too close to use her runes and missile combination she pulled a sword from her inventory that definitely hadnt been put in there by her and started cutting her way back out the pack. Teddy had been zipping about as fast as he could, not trying to have the most impact on the fighting but trying to make the start of the fight as clean as possible. The chaos meant that exits for civilians werent clear and they were hounded by the ever expanding source of monsters. He made escapes possible and tied up monsters or corralled them back to the main fight, when he saw Lucy fighting manually as James put it he made his way to her. Nice frog sticker youve got there Lu, looks familiar. Yeh yeh, thankyou for the loan. It works ok against the iron rank monsters but its struggling against the bronze. She said as she cut a tendon on a big rhino looking monster. The biomechanical attachments seem to all be one rank lower, the machines that is. Normal rank on the iron rank monsters and iron rank on the bronze monsters, thats the weak point, go for those. Between the two of them they cut their way out to where Kyra had made her way forward. The adventurers that had made their way to the commotion showed all the signs of being organised well by the Director and Vincent. They met up and turned to look at the situation, they were faced with a semicircle of adventurers enveloping the block of monsters that had their back to the breach they had made to get into the courtyard. They could see within the roiling mass there were two white coated men holding the apparatus that seemed to be controlling the monsters. [ATTENTION ADVENTURERS. We are about to make our counterattack. By now individual adventurers should have been divided into Section A and Section B. Team Razor you are to form a wedge in the centre to divide the enemy. Team Amber Mist, you are to strike the essence user on the left while Section A holds the line. Team Mitchell you are to strike the essence user on the right while Section B holds the line. Capture is desired but not essential. On my mark.] Genevieve was still on top of the campus administration building, content that she was not needed to intervene yet. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. James came swooping down to his team, flaring his giant bat-like wings and as soon as the bottom of his tail touched the floor he morphed back into himself, stepped smoothly out of the dive. As soon as he was with them Teddy opened their private team chat. [OK team, as weve been given the strike lets see if we can go for the capture. Kyra and James, youre going to be on monster wrangling, watch our backs. Lucy youre with me, were on strike, you tie him up in his worst nightmare and Ill make sure he cant get away.] [Howre we kicking it off?] James asked. [Going to try something a little different, Im going to be tapped out for mana so will need you to be ready to go Lu.] [I got you.] Lucy replied, Lechuza hit the ground in front of them in a burst of feathers, before any of the adventurers could see the scary bush witch in the middle of the feathers Lucy absorbed her familiar to boost her mental mojo. [James, Ill take the girls, you be ready to follow a beat after with my rift power, thatll save me a bit of mana to use the other end.] [Oh damn, you gonna try and teleport all three of you? Also, sweet, been wanting to see what you rift power is like.] Teddy suddenly looked uneasy about him using the power. [When you enter, just keep moving as fast as you can, whatever happens, you set the destination before you entered so follow it through on the path, dont leave the path.] [err, ok dude, thats no worrying at all.] It was slightly disconcerting that Teddy felt the need to add the to the interface conversation. [Dont think about it, itll be fine.] They were saved from future discussion of the consequences of dimensional rift travel from a notification on the tactical net. [ATTENTION ADVENTURERS. All teams, GO.] Teddy looked at Kyra and Lucy in front of him and they both nodded, he stepped between the two of them looking at the man with the coat in middle of the monsters, with a slight strain he managed to teleport all three of them to the other side. Where he was left James saw the others appear, Kyra slammed up a wall to help separate the sides of the two essence user enemies and Lucy blasted a monster with a missile from her right hand while her left was wreathed in shadow with ash motes rising off while pointing in a claw at the man. Teddy took a knee for a second to deal with the largest amount of mana he had ever spent in one go. James knew he needed to get in there as soon as possible. Well, whats the worst that can happen He said to himself. He opened Teddys tab on the interface and saw the Dimension Rift was available. He selected it nervously and saw a notification. WARNING. Unstable dimensional travel. Use with caution. (James Mitchell) has used the [Dimension Rift] power from (Teddy Mitchell) [Dimension] essence. [Dimension Rift] will be used at a lower power than is available to (Teddy Mitchell). [Dimension Rift] will form a dimensional tunnel for (James Mitchell) to travel to over a short distance. Selection destination of [Dimensional Rift] now or /Cancel. James was not thrilled to see that the power came with a caution before using it for the first time, especially during a battle. He looked over the area where the others were battling and noticed his gaze felt like a curser. He saw the edge of the clearing around the essence user and where a monster kept being rocked backwards by an attack from the adventurers on the outside. He knew he could place the destination rift just behind the monster and he would be able to step out and away from the hulking beast. He mentally clicked to select where he wanted it and it formed, before he could re-think if he wanted to do it he stepped through. Teddy recovered from his teleport, he had a spike of a headache at the big burst of mana used, he saw the girls had jumped into action straight away and he stood up throwing shards of darkness. Kyras golem was out and hitting the rear of the surprised monsters and she was a blur of golden hair as she stabbed out with her diamond spear. James stepped out of the rift, he had placed it well and a monster stepped back into it causing it to shear off half of its leg and the rift to collapse. James was shaking and his eyes were wide and white. He released Koda and had the big bear stand over him for a moment while he tugged his beard and slapped his cheeks to get his act together. When hed had his moment he dived into the fray. Lucy was standing almost motionless staring malevolently at the man in front of her. He was obviously fighting whatever she was doing to him and his control over the monsters was suffering, the silent coordinated beasts were becoming slightly incoherent in their synchronised attacks that were testing the adventurers on the outside of the semicircle. Teddy saw Lucy smile and, quiet as a whisper but loud enough to be heard over the raging monsters he heard a bone chilling sing-song chant. Hush, little baby, dont say a word. And never mind that noise you heard. Its just the beasts under your bed, in your closet, in your head. The spell causing the black motes of dust to peel off her arm towards the man. The mans back went rigid, his mouth open in a silent scream, his head and hands started to shake, the instruments he was holding clattered to the floor and the monsters on his side went wild. They attacked each other and the adventurers on both sides. Teddy wondered what the man was seeing, Lucy claimed not to know what each victim of her spell saw and he didnt envy the man. Ability: [Enter Sandman] (Illusion) [ENHANCED by (Lechuza (Bush Witch))] Special ability Base cost: High mana. Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 0 (00%) Effect (iron): When activated enables the caster to cause a moment illusion in front of an enemy. This illusion is what is most likely to terrify the target causing them to panic. Effect (bronze): Bronze rank lengthened incantation produces an extended duration illusion. Illusion strength is much higher. Multiple uses of short incantation may be used instead with no cool-down. [Ive got him, lock him down.] She said. Teddy didnt need telling twice, he rushed in, pulling a length of chain from his storage rift and racing around the man. [Youve only got a moment, we need to get him to the society, theyll have a collar.] [Roger that, Kyra, James, its cannonball time, straight at the administration building.] [Happy with that.] Kyra answered. [On my way.] James said. They had come up with a series of quick action plays they could enact without a detailed chat. Cannonball was a move that took all three of them, Kyra got her diamond golem to move to where it needed to be, Koda taking up its place. James then came in, using his standing strength bonus and his prehensile tail to boost and still he barely managed to pick up the massive golem, he wrenched his body in a spin and threw it. Teddy was standing in the path of the throw and using every scrap of his bronze rank strength and speed he deflected the golem mid-air. The Fly like an Arrow power from his swift essence boosted his throwing of projectiles. At iron rank it had been twice as fast, at bronze it was a staggering five times as fast. The golem was for some illogical reason recognised as a projectile and accelerated like a rocket on a booster. It hit the back row of the now wild monsters, Kyra snapped her fingers before it lost momentum and the golem exploded. Three smaller golems rocketed out at the same speed plus the speed of the explosion carving a corridor through the monsters. Teddy picked up the chained man and ran with him. Lucy and Kyra got behind James who absorbed Koda for the extra size and they all ran through the gap. Teddy was out in a flash and with James barrelling any monsters out the way the others werent far behind. The man started to recover from his nightmare and started to squirm, Teddy dumped him on the floor behind the friendly lines. Without waiting James walked up to the prisoner and gripped the end of the chain with his vambraced arm and sent a pulse of lightning through the metal. The man spasmed where he lay and any time it ended and he struggled James hit him again. [Star Command this is team Mitchell. Right hand meteor is caught in orbit, I say again, the right hand meteor is caught in orbit.] James wrote on the tactical net. [Mr Mitchell, as wonderful as this network is it needs clear concise communication. I regret that you cannot see the look I am giving you right now, what in the gods are you talking about.] the Director wrote back after a pause. [Director, the target that team Mitchell was sent in for has been captured and is restrained at the base of your building, requesting a collar be sent.] Teddy jumped in before James could put more nonsense up on the busy tactical net. Vincent was with them not long after and pulled a collar from a dimensional satchel he had with him and snapped it around the chained mans neck. I thought you were tied up with the silver rank monsters? Teddy asked him on handing over the prisoner. A few of the resident silver rankers of Greenstone were rallied, the silver rank threat is dealt with and this should be cleared up shortly. The fight was indeed mostly over, the deterioration of the monsters control had lead them to their base instincts and they went berserk, attacking each other as much as the adventurers. The second man in a white coat that was directing from the left looked like a melted waxwork, there was a sickly orange mist knee-high over the entire area, when they asked Vincent they discovered that team Amber Mist was a traditional team built around an affliction specialist, a heavy front line and specialists in buffs plus the dedicated area affliction specialist at the back. They had contained their half and had gone straight for the kill, wiping out the monsters and the man controlling equally. Off to the side was a misty hazy area, the Mitchells had been no where near that area, thats where the two silver rank monsters had been, one was already dead on the floor and two older men stood watching the mist close-up. They realised with a shock the two old men were some of the silver rankers that had been rallied to the defence, the beautifying effects of silver rank meant that they must have either got there late in life or they had been silver rankers for a very long time. Judging by their clothing and posture they were wealthy aristocrats and so it was a safe assumption they had achieved silver rank for the prestige then retired a long time ago. The mist abruptly disappeared. The carcasses of multiple monsters hit the floor with wet thumps and the two watching silver rankers had to use their enhanced speed so as not to get splashed. In the middle of numerous monster bodies including the silver and a few bronze stood the handler of the silver rank monster abominations with a haze around his head, his whole body was slack as if he was being held up by the haze. Next to him was the wraith man the Mitchells knew from the church who was returning from solid to his usual ethereal form. He spotted the team standing next to Vincent and walked over to them, stopping briefly to share a few words with the other silver rankers before they left the scene. His prisoner floated along behind him, towed by the mist around his head. Well met Deputy Director, well met Mitchells. He handed over his prisoner to Vincent who clamped another collar around his neck and the mist disappeared, the mans head looked far older than his body, the skin was sallow and drooped, a thin line of drool came from one corner and his eyes were milky white. Wraith dude. James nodded to the scary adventurer. My god would like to congratulate you on your ascension to bronze, you are well on your way to being ready for his purpose and he urges you to not let up in your progress. Well speaking of what your god wants, I think its time we came to his house for a little chat. Chapter 48 ‘For Odins sons are we!’ There had been a bit of processing to do before they left the society campus. Clean up was generally left to specific essence users who were suited or employed for the task. Genevieve reluctantly exited the tactical net of the interface, the Mitchells severing the connection before they left rather than rudely cutting it as they went out of range. This was the excuse they gave, the interface would actually cover the city easily for communication but they didnt want to be used for such things all the time. The two bronze rank church of hero acolytes that had met them what seemed like a long time ago with their prisoner from the desert arrived to help escort the new prisoners. They showed deference to the wraith priest but otherwise avoided him. The priest said he would meet the Mitchells at the temple district and ghosted away, the team was now rolling in one of the dune buggies at a sedate pace amongst the city traffic. The outlandish vehicle got a lot of attention but it wasnt the first unique magical vehicle the city had seen. The slow pace allowed James and Teddy to have a private conversation in the front while the girls went over their recent loot. So every time you step through a rift you see that.. that Yes, every time, would you believe it the first few times I rift jumped I didnt notice the jumps were so short and I sped through at top speed I was so nervous. I dont think Ill ever forget that. What would happen if you stepped off the path? Dont like to think to be honest, it feels wrong, like my rift is a safe tunnel through a vat of acid, I dont think whatever were made of is compatible with the environment in there outside my tunnel. Lucky for you to be able to not think of it, I cant stop thinking of it, there were things in the distance you realise? Yeh theve never taken much interest, can never see what they are. Its different every time I go though, the landscape is never the same, but like I said, Im normally focussed on getting through to attack something. James just shuddered in the passenger seat, the rift use had left him unnerved. Teddy looked over at the big man. Do me a favour, dont tell anyone about this, I think it has wider implications and its another thing that they can investigate on us, Ill warn off the girls incase they ever need to use the power but no one outside the family can use it anyway so we can keep it between us. Sure thing dude, Ill keep a lid on it. The dune buggy trundled along, kicking up little dust as it followed the flow of traffic towards the temple district. When they pulled up just outside the square they didnt get out immediately. In the square everyone was on their knees and holding out their arms in supplication. In the centre of the divine square was a god. It wasnt one they recognised, the aura was staggering but restricted to the square, on the outskirts they could feel it like a force of nature washing out. Damn I hope we never have to fight one of those. Kyra said unexpectedly. Why would you even think about fighting one of those?! James looked at her in astonishment. Kyra, youre the team healer! Stop wanting to fight everything, especially things that wont even give you the opportunity to practice even your very skilful healing. Aww youre a sweetie. Kyra said patting him on the arm. As they all disembarked the buggy the god disappeared. Teddy held onto the bull bar at the front while the buggy folded up on itself from the back. When it was done he drop kicked the model buggy, not full strength but it got a good arc, it bounced off a wall and a rift appeared next to Teddy and it disappeared in. Ten points, nice. They made their way into the square, the people had already got up and were going about their business. Walking past multiple temples they surveyed the vendors that made good business selling to the visitors to the square. They each munched a savoury dish they had tried on a previous visit, a mix between a pasta bake and a frittata, they had no idea what animal the eggs came from as they hadnt seen anything like chickens since they got here. The vendor was happily shutting down his stall after being cleared out by the team, they had taken five large trays of the savoury dish into their inventories they enjoyed it so much. They stood in front of the familiar building. The marble edifice looming over them. There was a young acolyte buffing one of the giant shields that flanked the doors with a grumpy look on his face and Teddy wondered what he had done to be given such a punishment. The doors burst open and a giant bearded man stepped out with an outrageous wild bushy moustache over a wild bushy beard with plaits and beads running through it. He was dressed in fine but worn travellers armour and had many rings on his thick fingers. He grabbed the acolyte and threw them inside then threw his arms wide at the team and beamed in the sort of smile you might expect from Santa Claus. Well met Mitchells, well met! Welcome back to the temple of hero. Come in! Come in! Be rested and merry. He marched out amongst the team and scooped up Teddy and Kyra around their waists and carried them in jovially. James, who was bigger than the man, looked as if he was going to interject then looked at Lucy and shrugged then followed them in. When they crossed the threshold they suddenly heard the music, smelt the beer and the food. People around the doorway were politely drinking and chatting but further in there were revels. The big man walked them through, having put Teddy and Kyra down as soon as they entered he was guiding them through a mix of pulling them from person to person introducing them and getting them to dry different foods and drinks. Whats going on? Lucy called. The battle was met and the villainous foe was brought down! Many deeds to be sung of and bravery to be toasted, long has it been since such a battle was fought so close to our home and the god is overjoyed at the bravery of our people. Youre all celebrating because you had a fight? Is not any victorious battle worth libation after? And a battle is not a fight! The guileful enemy brought his force to bare and found himself lacking, AGAINST THE HEROES OF GREENSTONE! He bellowed the last sentence and raised a tankard from a passing shelf and met roars of approval and raised cups all round. [This guy just needs a horned helm and a longboat and hes ready to go full Viking I think.] James put on the interface. [I think hed be very excited if we told him about Valhalla.] Teddy replied. [Well I think weve pretty much found it, we died and have come to the halls of hero to drink and hunt forever. We even brought our own Valkyrie.] James said, looking at the blonde armoured woman with her arm round Teddys waist. [I am not a Valkyrie.] Kyra answered. [They take the honoured dead on to Valhalla, I try and stop people getting there by healing them first.] The two boys shrugged, looked at each other and each found a tankard and smashed them together before raising them up in the air. VALHALLA! The room around them erupted in cups being raised and shouts of VALHALLA!, no one else knew what it meant but that was the vibe of the day. The big man boomed a laugh after joining in and grabbed both James and Teddy incrushing hug lifting Teddy and bringing James to his tip toes. Well met indeed! You honour us with your revels, come come, to the business at hand. He led them deeper into the temple, they passed an alcove where two younger members of the church were finding a private moment. He laughed and scruffed them before tossing them back towards the party. Find the church of lust for that you licentious youth. He eventually took them to a similar room they found themselves in when they first visited when they first got to Greenstone. When they had first been offered essences in return for a task for the god. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. From the corner of the room the wraith man misted into sight, becoming more substantial until he was mostly person-strength with a slightly wavy quality. Their host straightened at the sight of him and schooled the grin on his face to an amicable smile. In a tempered tone he greeted the wraith man. Well met Vastreed, the Mitchells have resisted the urge of celebration and have come to fulfil their purpose here today. He turned to the team. I will leave you in Vastreeds capable hands, if ever you have need of my axe then call for Ragnar and I will come bounding with joy! He hugged each of them in a great bear hug and made his way out, closing the door behind him. [Ragnar?! Axe? We really need to teach him about vikings.] James said. Teddy turned to the wraith man. So we have a name for you now. You do, Ragnar is fond of giving me names, I have discarded such things but he insists that names are needed for songs to be sung and tales to be told. If this name works for you then feel free to use it, he has taken it from a near-forgotten hero of legend and it is an honour. So still not your name then? No, my talents tend to drive me away from others and so I tend not to carry a name. But my god values the unseen hero, the unsung do their deeds not to be remembered but because they need doing. The value of doing the right thing even when no-one is looking? Everyone save the god, he is always watching. Strange to come to a world where that is really the case. The wraith man looked inquisitive for the first time, out of character for the ever-sure man. Then why do people do good things where you are from if there are no gods? Well we have religion, no proof of a god but people still believe, its becoming less than it was historically, then we have people dont believe in anything but do it just to be good people. The man looked thoughtful. I believe I have gained some understanding into your actions, how you can deny my god out of hand but yet go and do the good work a god would have you do. Do you judge us for doing it for a gods will? No, I dont think any of us do. Its not our place to, you have your own way of doing things over here. The man nodded and motioned to the row of chairs for the team to sit down. Before he took his seat he motioned his hand over the low coffee table between them and a trail of mist followed his hand settling like a blanket over the table. My god understands that you dont take action to gain his favour, nevertheless it is within his purview to reward actions that please him. He pulled the blanket aside and four items lay on the table, the mist blanket disappearing when pulled aside. The items had obviously been placed in front of each recipient. For Lucy there was an engraved armoured drop-leg leather wand holster, it was designed to sit below the hip and arrayed multiple wand slots so they would fan out but be secure for ease of grabbing the correct one. James had a belt with a small pouch on the front decorated with a bears head motif. Kyra had a box with a set of a dozen-or-so metal and jewelled beads for her hair that were engraved with runes and Teddy was given a pair of magical bracers for his forearms. The team inspected them without touching them, looking at them suspiciously. They are gifts, freely given, without expectation, rewards for valour. The team picked them up and thanked the man. They all passed them down to Lucy to inspect while they chatted to the wraith. So you know why weve come I imagine. Teddy opened. You are here to discuss the upcoming contract and why my god was so insistent that you conduct it. We are, we want to know what your gods stake in this contract is, why us and why has your church been so insistent we are so involved with the frankenmonster scientists? Lucy was more than capable of splitting her attention, while she listened she inspected each item. Item: [Magisters Sheath] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: Magically reinforced storage for magical artefacts. Will protect any artefacts from impact or attack, unless pulled by the wearer the items will be secure in the sheath. Increases the wearers mana pool by a moderate amount. Your interactions with the agents of these foul abominations have been fortuitous. They will open the way for the gods purpose ahead. So it has to do with what he wants at silver rank then? Teddy spoke for all of them. It does, but I cannot talk more on that until more has developed and you are more ready. Lucy picked up the next item, James belt. Item: [Belt of the Animagus] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: A belt with dimensional storage, designed to adapt to an essence user with transformation powers. The wearer will have access to any item placed within the pouch when transformed. Transformation powers will cost the user 10% less. [James this is a really good little boost, useful and stylish.] she passed him the belt back and he put it on straight away. Teddy was still questioning the man. And this trip? It will give us more answers to the task ahead? Not answers, but lay a foundation of understanding. The wraith man cocked his head as if listening for a moment. It also presents adventure and opportunity for you as a team, it is a prestigious contract that will present unique experiences. Lucy slid open the box that was reminiscent of the boxes they had received their essences in to look at the hair beads that Kyra had been gifted. Item: [Seers Beads] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: A collection of beads personally hand engraved by a god. Each beads effects vary from small increase to mana pool, small increase to mana regeneration and a small decrease in mana cost to healing magic. Lucy tilted the box this way and that, the metal beads were beautifully engraved and as they caught the light they sparkled with the hint of divinity and she knew Kyra would love them for that if nothing else. She was impressed with the amount, even with such a small boost to each effect there were enough beads to make it noticeable. Teddys armour was the last thing she had to inspect. Item: [Bracers of Defiance] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: The wearer may bring the bracers to bare against physical and magical attacks. When brought together the bracers form a shield of force in front of the wearer to block incoming attacks, when struck together enemies will feel the force of defiance. Lesser magical attacks may be absorbed through one bracer and returned from the other. [Teddy, these check out, theres going to be a lot of Wonder Woman jokes though. Even with that theyre worth adding to your load-out.] She passed the bracers to Teddy. They were gunmetal grey and carved with Celtic-looking patterns with the engraved portions blackened, they were small and only covered the majority of the wrist of his forearms. He rolled his eyes when he saw the description and put them on, pulling the leather straps tight. Ok, we just wanted to check in and see if we could get any answers before we jump in on this. I dont think we really got anymore by coming here. Teddy said with a note of finality. But gifts! Kyra said, running her fingers through the beads in the box. Please say thankyou to the big man for the gifts, theyre beautiful. She untied her thick golden blonde hair from its usual braid down her back and with bronze rank speed and agility she tied the beads into individual braids before braiding the whole lot into one long thick tail that almost reached her waist. Her hair was enhanced by Lucky being absorbed and the beads made it resplendent, it was definitely going to turn some heads. [Anyone any more questions? I dont think this is a deal breaker, theres some serious adventuring to be had and Im up for it.] No one disagreed with Teddy so he stood up. Please thank you god for the gifts for us, I guess we had better make our way to the adventure society to let them know we will accept. They all got up and the wraith man opened the door for them, as his hand touched the door it became fully corporeal to grasp the handle. As they made their way out they realised how soundproof the room had been, the party had made its way into the depths of the temple. Ragnar saw them coming out from where he stood, a mead barrel stuck under one arm with the top cracked off, he was grabbing peoples flagons and dunking them in to refill them before shoving them back at their owners, sloshing a little beer in the process. MITCHELLS! He boomed, much more drunk. A joy to behold! Drink and be merry! Ha, Ragnar thankyou, we were just on our way out. James said. WHATS THIS?! The man said, dropping his barrel, luckily it landed square on its bottom so the beer shot straight up and landing back within the barrel. He grabbed Teddys arm, looking at the armour You have received blessings from our god?! Hail and rejoice! We must drink to celebrate! The party crowd around them all cheered and toasted, coming forward to see their gifts. Lucy had strapped her holster onto her left leg, going onto her belt and another lower strap around her upper thigh, she had even put a few wands into the slots. The team looked at each other. Well the society can always wait until tomorrow? Kyra said. Lucy surprised them all by grabbing a huge flagon of beer and jumping on a table which silenced everyone, she started reciting a poem from memory with gusto. Drink to the Allfather''s Eye for Odin''s sons are we. Drink to the World-Tree where he hung and the Runes of Mystery. Drink to the truth of steel and blood that falls like rain. Drink to Valhalla''s golden walls and to our kinsmen, slain. Drink to the Glory-field where a man embraces death, and thank the gods that we live at all with our joyous dying breath! Drink for the wind blows cold and Drink for the Wolf runs free Drink to the ships with the sails like wings for Odin''s sons are we! Even thought the assembled party had no idea who Odin was, what Valhalla was or who this small woman on the table was, but they went berserk, the volume pitched and beer flew everywhere, Lucy was lifted off the table and carried around while they all drunk and ate all night long. Chapter 49 ‘What’s the worst that can happen if we’re together’ The Mitchells woke up in the common area of the church of hero. There were a group of young acolytes moving around cleaning between the sleeping bodies of warriors. Between the chairs and tables. [Oh my freaking head.] James said on the interface. [That was some party.] Kyra put. [Lucy how did you know so much Norse mythology? We need to track down those two young dudes who were quizzing you on the Bifrost, Im pretty sure they vowed to spend their lives searching for it and we need to tell them its a story.] Teddy said. [I dont know, its just all in my head, I must of heard it in passing back on earth and my recall now is so much better. Dont worry about those two, they swore to follow one of the other worshipers of hero for the rest of their lives in the same night because of her beauty.] They made their way out, passing a sleeping Ragnar on the way, still clutching possessively to his barrel even in sleep. [Fun guy to have around, I wonder if his axe talent matches his drinking talent.] James said. In the sunny light of day they all felt better, they decided to walk across town to the adventure society. They realised after a while this was a hangover from their time on earth, they realised they had never been told if there were laws like drink driving in Greenstone but decided not to test it. Hey, you guys mind if we head to the adventure society campus via the magic society campus? Its right next to it and theres a thing I want to see if they have to buy yet. Lucy asked the others. Nice and vague there Lu, how expensive is this thing? James asked. Well, Id need to borrow some money as its going go completely clear me out and then some. Its for the group benefit if that helps? Not a problem, we trust you, just take it out of inventory. Kyra said. They made small talk heading through the town, realising they had missed the hubbub of the people in the streets. James was the first one to pick up that they were being followed. [Two essence users, been following us for three streets. When we stopped to look at the book vendor they pretended to look at clothes.] [Can you identify them? How did you realise?] Teddy answered. [err, a little birdy told me?] [You literally mean a bird dont you?] James just responded with a facepalm emoji. [Can you point them out? I have an idea.] When James casually gestured to the two by adjusting his vambrace Teddy got a good look at them. He was the only one in the family that had the tactical map as a racial gift, he could share a limited amount of information with the others but he had greater versatility. The function he wanted to test was borrowing a power from Lucy. Ability: [Telepathy] (Mind) Special ability Base cost: Low mana, increasing to high with distance. Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 0 (05%) Effect (iron): Can initiate mental communication either with those in immediate eye line or by contacts list. Effect (bronze): Can initiate telepathic communication with anyone within aura effect regardless of line of sight. Can designate targets, allies and points of interest to allies within users aura. When Lucy used the power to designate targets they saw a red haze over enemies, blue haze over allies and a flashing star-like light on points of interest. The effect followed the designated target, she could even number them if required, no one outside the party could see the effect so the target had no idea. Teddy selected it from Lucys essence availability on her tab on the interface. (Theodore Mitchell) has used the [Telepathy] power from (Lucy Mitchell) [Mind] essence. [Telepathy] has been used at a lower power than is available to (Lucy Mitchell). [Telepathy] will Designate targets selected by (Theodore Mitchell) within (Lucy Mitchell)s aura. [Telepathy] has combined with (Theodore Mitchell)s racial gift [MiniMap]. Targets designated will appear on MiniMap and may be shared with allies. [Oh hell yeh!] James said as the two essence users fuzzed red to his eyes as it coloured in with red highlighter that glowed and then he checked the shared map on the interface to see the two red dots. [Too easy, this is going to be so useful.] Teddy said. They made no action on the two essence users, content to track them on the interface. They stopped at a few more vendors and even went into a store, they managed to weed out one more person following them but no more. [Theyre not very good at this are they?] James said. [I dont think were in any danger, its broad daylight and theres only three of them, if you were planning a surprise attack you would use overwhelming odds, two of them are iron rank.] Lucy explained. [Someone just trying to keep tabs on us then. Bug out plan if we need to shake them will be me and the girls teleporting out, James youve had a reset? Good then up to you on either furred or feathered to get away.] [Nothing were doing is secretive, shouldnt be a problem, just mildly annoying.] Lucy said. When they got to the magic society campus their tails stopped short, Lucy knew the area well and took them straight to where she needed to go. Oh yes Mrs Mitchell, we had two delivered yesterday, one is reserved for the research facilities but youre welcome to the other. The portly scholar at the gatehouse told Lucy. They haggled a bit on price but they both seemed satisfied at the end. The man sent a worker to pull a cart out of a nearby storage room and on it was a bench with multiple apparatus bolted on. When it stopped rolling Lucy looked it over and nodded, she summoned a rune portal and swept it over, swallowing the bench then dissipating. Mrs Mitchell, the price was just for the bench Lucy shrugged then summoned a rune portal again, this time at an angle so the cart came out rolling and sent itself into the storage room. Very good, a pleasure doing business with you. The team made their way out of the courtyard, headed towards the adventure society. They had to pass one of their tails and Kyra stumbled on a loose flagstone and unfortunately fell into the man, the man in turn unfortunately hit his head pretty hard into a high windowsill. Unfortunately the man was only iron rank and Kyra was bronze, and her bronze rank body was a lot denser than her iron rank one so the man was knocked unconscious. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Oh dear! She casually walked on with the others, leaving the man subtly slumped behind a decorative pot. The loose flagstone mysteriously flat in the ground again. The dot on the MiniMap turned pink instead of the bright red. The team swiftly and innocently moved away without anyone noticing anything. They were making their way towards a canal that ran under a bridge on the street and motes of darkness left Lucys left arm, no one noticed the shadow on all fours, the skinny dirty witch making her way into the darkness. As the second man following the team went to follow over the bridge his foot sank straight through the stones that formed the roadway, his illusion of the bridge shattering as he fell headfirst into the water. As the foot traffic crowded round the canal to see the commotion no one noticed the witch move out of the shadow in a cloud of darkness back up into Lucys arm as the team kept moving, not paying attention to the man in the water, the second target turned pink. They made their way through the streets then quickly ducked down an alleyway all of a sudden, they ran quickly before the turn. Just as the bronze ranker who was tailing them ran in after he was confronted by a huge monstrous bear. He back-pedalled in shock almost slipping over on the smooth stone. He turned to flee and was confronted by what looked like an unstable portal, a tear in the fabric of the world taking up the entire end of the alleyway and a sinister robed man walking out of it, a black blade lined in fizzing white energy erupted from his hand ending at the edge of the mans throat as he scrambled to a stop, if the man even swallowed he risked cutting his Adams apple against the blade tip. I sometimes lack the subtlety the ladies do. Tell us why you are following us, there are dark realms outside this reality to hide your body no one will ever find. By the gods! I havent done anything wrong, let me go I promise Ill leave you alone! There was a shadow moving by the edge of the alley, a pair of eyes, then the moon shape circlet on her head became visible, barely audible she muttered incomprehensible but evil nasty muttering in a language no one knew. Snakes slithered from behind him, moving to encircle him. Rearing and coiling, hissing and spitting. Please, please! My mother my mother will hear of this! A deep bass growl came from the bear that when he glanced over his shoulder, he caught a glimpse off a large dog in the darkest shadow, hackles raised, lips pulled back in a vicious snarl slinking low to the ground on the hunt. The robed man in front of him raised his left hand, an orb of darkness appeared, the dust in the alley swirled towards it. The light around it seemed to bend and the mans cloak was gently pulled towards it from where he stood terrified. Who sent you, then we dont have to have mummy worried why her son didnt come home. Teddy asked in a sinister voice. Aah! House Whipparrel has put pressure on my family to keep an eye on you, I am of house Stanfish. Just let me go, I dont have to tell anyone. Abruptly the whole alley changed character. The daylight seemed to snap back on and with it the witch disappeared as if it was a shadow. The bear and the dog had vanished and the snakes had simple puffed into tiny rainbow smoke clouds. The man in front of him suddenly had his hood back and his hands were empty, his three family members had moved to stand at his back at the exit of the alley. Tell anyone what? Nothing happened. Teddy said jovially and they turned and left the alley. The recovering man could just hear the girls laugh as James said. Damn, I didnt think you could still piss yourself at bronze rank! They felt better as they made their way into the adventure society campus, they hadnt observed anyone else following them and felt freer. The campus was still a mess from the day before, the burst stonework and the damage wrought by both monsters and essence powers being thrown about. They went into the administration building and told the new clerk they hadnt met before that they would like to book an appointment to see the deputy director when he was available. When they gave their name the clerk looked at them in realisation. If you would care to follow me maams, sirs. She placed a Be right back sign on her desk and walked quickly down the corridor to the main offices. She walked them straight into Vincent Trenslows office that had a Do not disturb sign hung on the outside. The door was closed immediately behind them. Come in quick, quick. Theres people watching all over the place. You think your office is being watched? James asked. Not my office no but theres a good chance youre being followed, theres rumours that the families are making more positive moves about their situation. He waved them to the seats arrayed around his desk. The Mitchells all looked at each other slightly guiltily. What? What did you do now?! Well we were followed you see Kyra tailed off. Oh by the gods. Where are the bodies? Damn Vinnie! Lucy exclaimed. How bad do you think we are?! We didnt attack them, there was just that clumsy moment from Kyra where the man tried to catch her, he mustve been such a gent, will have to thank him when he wakes up. Then there was that silly man by the canal, must not have been looking where he was going, straight into the water like that. Then we saw that poor man having a mental breakdown in the alley, must be so stressful being part of such a prestigious family like the Stanfish family the Stanfish family eh? Its a terrible shame you had to see him as he was having a moment like that. Completely coincidental Im sure. Lucy said as Vincent wrote something down and a moment later an assistant came in and took the slip of paper. I truly hope you lot will find a home somewhere where you can walk across town without being embroiled in some sort of calamity. The team all looked at each other in mock incredulity pointing fingers back and forth until Vincent put his head in his hands. Have you come for any other reason other than to try and give me a headache? We think its time to talk about the contract. Teddy said. Vincents eyes went wide before scrawling another hurried note, the assistant somehow knew that he had and was rushing into the room to pick it up again. He smiled with sincerity and a looked a little happier and more relaxed. Youve decided youll take the contract? Weve decided to take the contract once weve read the detail and youve explained it a little more. At that moment there was a knock on the door and the assistant came through, holding the door for the Director. The Mitchells all stood with respect as Vincent move away from his desk to give her the seat. She immediately started going through some paperwork she had brought with her on his desk, he waved for them to sit down again and he spoke from where he was standing behind and to the side of the directors chair. The contract at face value is a simple transportation mission. The cargo cannot be placed in dimensional storage and is incredibly specialised and valuable hence the two star contract. Theodore, as a three star adventurer at iron rank, you lose one star on ranking up to bronze but luckily that is still the requirement. The cargo is to be taken to a very remote town which defies teleportation, which the cargo could not travel through anyway. You will need to remain in the area while the cargo is processed and then take it on again further to a larger city to the north. The director tutted while reading a page and Vincent coughed. What has not been explained is the nature of the cargo. It is a material that is due in the docks from a higher magic area, a material that cannot be sourced locally and is used in making incredibly potent and incredibly powerful weapons. Im talking about magical defences for a city to fend off gold rank entities. Lucy was already ahead of the curve as usual, while the others were processing this information she had uncrossed her legs and leant forward, her elbows on her knees and her fingers steepled under her chin as she looked at Vincent. By any chance was this delivery perhaps scheduled to arrive at the docks yesterday? She asked. Yes originally but it was delayed due to weather in the last day or so. Too late for a small cell to know to change their plans perhaps. Sorry Im interrupting, please go on. She leant back in her chair in a thoughtful pose. The Director gave her an assessing look from over the papers she was reading before coughing. Vincent carried on. The town that you will be going to is remote and hostile to outsiders, it specialises in magical defences and their results are supposedly second to none hence the contract. The people there are different, but you will discover that for yourselves. It is in a higher magical density area hence the need for bronze rank, and capable bronze rank at that. You will then need to travel quite far north in order to deliver it to the city of Honshuraskil in the mountains, I will provide a book which will be a guide to the area. This will be no jolly in the delta, this is a continent spanning contract that needs an incredibly trusted team to accomplish. He finished talking and gave the team a moment to process. [Its linked the the monster abominations.] Lucy put on the interface. [Even I could have told you that Lu.] Teddy said. [No but more than we think, they were trying to steal the cargo from the docks, thats what that attack was about. It wasnt an attack on the city, it was a smash and grab, makes much more sense.] [It makes sense that this thing Hero wants us to do is connected to the monster abominations and their creators. Hes forced the society to keep us in the loop and hes nudged them into giving us this contract.] Kyra said. [Exactly, it remains to be seen if the aristocrat families are in on it or ignorant because theyre so wrapped up in their own politicking. It may even be one bad apple in the group of families thats spoiling the barrel for the rest without them seeing. Theres obviously contention with the Remore annex here in the city area which is why theyre having to keep us at arms length being graduates. Theyre worried, as much as Vincent likes us were outworlders and he has to trust us with this big mission, were not long established and weve thrown them some trouble more than once.] [Wait a minute guys, let me think.] Teddy put on the interface, the others looked at him, which caused the Director to put down the work she was pretending to do and look along with Vincent. Teddy got up and went to study the wall. [Right, is everyone in?] [In. I want to see where this goes.] Lucy said. [New town, more monsters, big mountain city for lots more shopping!] Kyra said. [Meh, whats the worst that can happen if were together.] James said. Madame Director, Mr Trenslow, lets discuss how were going to go about this. Teddy said, holding his badge out to take the contract. Chapter 50 ‘Just casually changing peoples lives’ It turned out that Teddys grand gesture of offering up his badge was just just that, a gesture. They hadnt had time since they got back to have their badges renewed and it was still his iron rank badge. Vincent had grabbed a piece of paper and scrawled on it and the same assistant came in to take away their old badges and to bring back a functionary who would take a new aura imprint for the bronze rank badges. While they waited Lucy questioned how Vincent was summoning the assistant each time and he revealed that she had the Paper and highly sought after Time essence. She had a precognition ability to see written information within her aura which made her very valuable, they had her carefully vetted and anything sensitive was written well outside her aura. Once the badges were complete they had their new stars put on. One each for Lucy, Kyra and James and two stars put on for Teddy. They asked for their old badge wallets and carefully took the Remore annex ribbons out and placed them into their new wallets. Vincent reminded them that they would mean almost nothing once they travelled far enough away from Greenstone but the team thought they werent complete without them. Teddy then explained his plan that he had thought of, making sure the door was well closed and they used their privacy bubble as an extra precaution. None of the team had failed to notice that there was something much larger at play here and they were being used as pawns, they were going to take as much control as they could in keeping the team safe. Once they left the society campus they headed home to the villa, they had three days until the shipment arrived and had picked up some contracts to keep them busy. The water contracts were never well valued by the locals as they were often more trouble than they were worth for the low powered monsters that were hard to spot out in the massive deeps beyond the marina. Three days later Genevieve Picot was standing at the adventure society docks overseeing the unloading of the ship that pulled in that morning. She had looked over the manifest in detail. The teams below loaded the various exotic stores onto different carts to be taken all over the city and some onto more robust carts to go further inland. She was satisfied with the progress the team was making. She was content in general until she felt a familiar presence approach. She turned to see the woman approach, a perpetual pursed mouth like she was sucking on a sour sweet. Although an essence user the beautifying effects hadnt taken away her haughty look. Trinette Whipparrel, a pleasure to see you here, a lucky happenstance this morning? I didnt see your name on any of the goods in the manifest. Genevieve, the haughty woman started before the Director interrupted her. Thats Madam Director Mrs Whipparrel, I am here in an official capacity and while I am open to pleasantries one must be careful not to be distracted. Trinettes lips somehow managed to get even more pursed. Madam Director, Ill cut the pleasantries then to keep you at your business. You know the package I am here for, our friends over the sea have kept me apprised of the delays. Genevieve tried not to prickle at the constant intrusions of the families into adventure society business, the movement of the goods was an infrequent but routine shipment. It had been going on for so many years that the families had sunk their hooks in. What concern is it of yours where the package is? You are not currently under contract. No we are not. Trinette used the collective term to imply the collective aristocratic families. And I cannot see those who are contracted here either which is worrying considering the value of the goods. The contract is between the Society administration and the contracted adventurer, you should not even know who is contracted. Yes yes the society is a bedrock of integrity and efficiency. So where are the Mitchells then? Youve kept them away from me for some time now. The Mitchells are their own agents, they are free to come and go and as long as they take any directed contracts as issued from this office then they may live their own lives and take or not take whatever contracts they wish. So you have not directed them to this contract then? I am not discussing their contract status at the moment, you may book an appointment to see the clerk for any open records of their activity or you may petition if you have valid reason to suggest that they are not conduction a contract in progress adequately to be removed from said contract by my office. Trinette sensed that she was not going to get anywhere with the director and turned to face the unloading of the ship. So where are the wonderful Mitchells I wonder. She muttered to herself. Three days earlier, when the Mitchells got home to the villa after confirming that they were indeed going to take the contract they sat around the dining table discussing the way ahead. Teds, why did you pick up so many water contracts? Theyre trash contracts for adventurers that specialise in water to get paid. Shouldnt we be spending more time getting ready for the big trip? James opined. Hes explained this, Kyra helped as Teddy had just taken a big bite. We need it to not seem suspicious that were heading out each day to the ocean. Weve taken enough contracts out to make it feasible for three days worth of hunting. Teddy swallowed his mouthful. Exactly, except were rockstars and going to bust out three days worth of hunting in one day, then hand the completed contracts in at the end of day one, they file them one day at a time to make it look like were coming and going. James picked up a large hunk of meat by the bone protruding from one end and took a huge bite, speaking around his mouthful while chewing he argued his point. Still seems we could have taken less. The next morning they were up at the first hint of daylight, Teddy, Lucy and Kyra all carried a barrel from the house and James carried one under each arm. Kyra had the Serenity model appear in front of them into the courtyard and they loaded the stores. Gerald came out behind them with a box of food. Thatn there is the first lot, Ill be makin another batch while your oot hunting an that should be enough coffee to see you for the interim, seein as youre going to be going away for so long I may even see what the locals think of your special brew. Thankyou Gerald, well try and ration it but there truly is nothing like a morning cup of coffee. Kyra said patting him on the arm. With the Serenity loaded up they took it out of the villa and headed for the coast. Not long after they were speeding through the waves looking for their first target. Teddy was at the wheel and the others stood in the wheelhouse with him to chat. Once weve taken this first closest one together well split up. Im going to take lefty, Kyra take righty, Lucy you get the Serenity and James you get wet. Maybe we need names for the two buggies as well? Kyra suggested. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Thats a discussion we can have on our very long trip away. At the moment lefty and righty work. Coming up to the first area. Teddy could see on his map which was always more detailed that they were in a shaded red area that had populated on his map when he took the contract. He had a series of them out in the open water, some with arrows down for depth, the intent was to guide the others into these areas. The bigger excitement he had to explain to the others was when they had accepted the large contract and had been given a map, it had copied across before they had unfurled it and he had seen the distance. Pallimustus was roughly the same size and shape of continents as Earth with a few differences. Greenstone was in the south west region of Africa. They saw that they had to take the cargo to the equivalent of Egypt and then Bulgaria. Lucy went out the back of the wheelhouse on the top deck then around to the front of the boat. She raised her right hand and a stream of runes flowed down her arm to form a circle at the end, the runes didnt stop and a second circle formed. She aimed high into the air and fired a magic missile. The royal blue magic surged out of her hand, looking like it would have come from a large artillery piece. It hit the first circle and changed from the missile to a ball of force, it then hit the second circle and was wreathed in fire. It arced over the sky and hit the surface of the water, disappearing still flaming and sizzling under the water. Teddy slowed the boat so as not to get too near, shortly there was an explosion and a plume of water shot straight up. Magical depth charges, nice. James said. The force wave doesnt react well to water, its cocooned by the magical flames until they are eroded by the water at which point, boom. And who doesnt like boom? when its not directed at them. I can adjust the depth of the charge with how much strength I put into the second rune circle. Nice. Teddy said. This should flush it out in no time. After they had repeated the process a few times they saw the long dorsal fin headed for the boat. Game on. Teddy said, spinning the wheel and accelerating at it. From nowhere a dark bolt plunged out of the sky and snatched the twenty foot long serpent out of the water and carried it up. Lechuza shredded the body with her talons and beak. Well I suppose she is the best hunter. Teddy said. He marked the targets and he and Kyra went and got their dune buggies out. As with the main vehicle they didnt produce wheels when on water. They sat low in the water and behaved like jet skis with no visible propulsion. They zipped around the Serenity to get used to the movement. James was still on the top deck with Lucy, he gave her a hug and moved to the prow and dived off headfirst. Before he hit the water he transformed into a dinosaur looking creature, his jaws were huge and double hinged to extend further, the neck was five foot long and slender and muscled. The body was a smooth oval shape with large fins, the tail was a mirror of the neck but split into five individual tails, three were different in that they were tentacle-like with razored suckers down their entire length and the other two were smooth muscle tails with barbs on the end. [Ok team, time to split, then when youre done go help whoever youre nearest then well all meet up, keep a water breathing potion on you at all times; thats in place of a life jacket. Dont go out of range, Lechuza is going to be airborne for extended range but dont test it as shes going to be hunting as and when she sees things.] They split up, Teddy raced James for a little until the monster looking creature that was his brother dived to find something his enhanced animal senses picked something up and Teddy zoomed off to his own hunt. The end of the day had Lucy, Kyra and Teddy were back on board. Kyra was treating Teddy for a magical healing resistant chemical burn on his neck where an octopus-type monster had sprayed him. They saw the dark shadow approach them under the water towards the boat and had a moments fear until they checked the map and saw the familiar blue dot come towards them. The monster launched out of the water as if it was jumping clear over the Serenity bobbing in the water. It shrunk in mid air and James appeared, the arc changed and he landed dripping wet on the back deck. Teddy checked the map, as they had been hunting they had been checking in with him and he had marked each area as complete. With a clean sweep he took the wheel and spun the Serenity towards Greenstone and chased the setting sun back home. They werent shy as they parked up in the marina. The Serenity could produce a powerful light from within the crystal, shining a cool blue light to see the dock so they could pull alongside. They left a few running lights on and Koda asleep on the gangplank whilst they walked past the renovations after the battle to turn in their contracts. They met the sleepy clerk who was surprised to see anyone turning in contracts so late, even though the desk was manned at all times, there was a general acceptance after completing a contract and returning home that turning it in could wait until the next day. The clerk was even more flustered to realise there were special instructions for if the Mitchells were to come in. The team waited patiently while the clerk read and understood what they were meant to do before they bid them a goodnight and headed back out. They headed back to the dock to find Koda on all fours watching a group of men nervously standing around a bunch of crates and a few barrels. Err, got some deliveries for yer? The oldest man said. We woulda loaded em for yer but the big guy didnt like that idea. Koda sat and ruffled his neck fur by twisting his head back and forth, his way of saying no. Probably for the best. James said. He held out his arm and Koda absorbed into him, swelling him in every proportion. Neat trick Mr! The youngest and smallest and kind of weedy member of the delivery team said. Yeh you need something to get you to grow. One of the others teased him. Yeh stop you being quite so useless. Maybe youd be able to get a girl if you could grow. The team didnt join in with the laughter that the group of men started. It wasnt the good natured banter of a group of comrades but actual bullying. Whats going on? Who are you all to him? Teddy asked. Beggin yer pardon Mr, hes me youngest. Theyre all me boys see? He just needs a bit of toughening up. The older man who had spoken before said. Kyra turned to the boy. He was a young man, skinny, obviously a different build to his brothers and as much as his father wanted to toughen him up he was never going to be as burly as his brothers. Pardon me, Whats your name? She asked. Sheldon Miss. One of the older boys clapped him on the back of the head. Its Maam you dolt. Kyra stared daggers at the older boy and he backed off going pale. (Kyra Mitchell) has requested [Octopus essence] from (Theodore Mitchell). Accept Y/N? Teddy saw the notification pop up on his interface. [What are you about to do?] he asked her as he approved the item transfer. Trusting her. He had looted the essence from the monster that had got him with the acid which was the only reason he wasnt so annoyed about getting hit. Item: [Octopus Essence] (unranked, common) Manifested essence of an Octopus(consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened Octopus essence ability and 4 unawakened Octopus essence abilities. Kyra held her hand out and a mirror appeared, she looked at her other hand with the mirror and the essence appeared and she held it out to the boy in front of her. Well Sheldon, maybe this will help you get one over on your brothers and get them off your back. The young man looked at her in confusion, not really understanding what was going on. The other boys looked amazed and jealous, a few had mean expressions. The father looked like he was going to pass out. None of the family had any essences. That, thats for me? What did you want me to do? The boy asked in confusion. I would like you to take it, then help your brothers load our boat, then you can head home. She tossed him a bronze rank coin. That should more than enough pay for a ritual to absorb the essence at the magic society. She looked around the brothers and flexed her aura, her Resolve of Diamond aura was domineering and even though they werent essence users they felt the power. If on my return to the city I find that you have been stopped from taking this essence I will not be pleased. And for effect she had the earth tremble slightly under their feet. She smiled and place the essence in his hand, patting his shoulder as she walked past him and up the gangplank. Lucy, Teddy and James all looked at each other and shrugged. Lucy followed her up the gangplank and the boys helped load the stores. When they were back on board they had gently dimmed the lights so no one would notice then silently slipped the boat out of the docks in the night, the black water absorbing the dark blue boat. When they were far enough away Teddy opened up the throttle, speeding them out into the empty ocean. We just casually changing peoples lives now then K? Teddy asked her. Dont we change peoples lives every day? Every time we save a village or kill a wild monster. I just cant stand bullies. He was destined to live in their shadow and take their abuse forever, now he can stand up to them. Teddy gave her a one armed hug from where he was standing at the wheel. Youre a hell of a woman Kyra. With Koda up front on the prow Teddy locked off the steering on the boat while it powered on. He and Kyra went belowdecks to the middle deck with the large dining room, the kitchen and the lounge at the front. Lucy and James had just finished putting away all the supplies in the cupboards and left out a plate of cold cuts for dinner. I reckon well meet the ship about this time tomorrow. Teddy said. Good, time for a couple of hands. Lucy said as she shuffled a pack of cards. They sat down and had a game of cards at the table. Just them, with their family, with their boat. In the middle of the ocean with the lights of Greenstone shrinking in the distance. Chapter 51 ‘We wouldn’t want life to get boring now would we?’ It was the middle of the night when they met up with the towering ship. It was colossal in the dark and the Serenity had put all its lights on full so as not to surprise its crew. It was a very different ship to the one that they had taken to Vitesse, this was not designed for passengers and reminded them of the cargo ships of Earth. Teddy was extremely careful to be as obvious as he could, as non-threatening as he could and to stay away from the ship. The anti-piracy and anti monster protection on the hull would be no joke. They saw a man come out of the bridge of the ship and look at them with a short telescope. That one Lu. Teddy said. Lucy immediately initiated a telepathic link to the man. [Good evening sir, please dont be alarmed. Were a team of adventurers sent from Greenstone.] [Good evening Miss, what can we do for you?] [With your permission my brother-in-law would like to teleport aboard in order to speak with you?] [Permission granted, foredeck in front of the bridge is acceptable.] She gave Teddy the nod and explained where to go. They couldnt see all the way up to the deck which was much higher then the Serenity so he formed a rift above the deck in front of the bridge. When he stepped through he fell to the deck, before he hit the planks he took a few steps in mid air to arrest his descent and landed lightly. He was suddenly surrounded by weapons, at the edge of the deck all around him the crew members were pointing bows and spears, a few essence users readied powers. The captain dropped from the bridge to the deck. Obviously a full essence user as the height of the drop didnt bother him. Teddy could sense a well trained silver rank aura being restrained. Good evening Mr..? Good evening, my name is Theodore Mitchell, I assume you are the captain? I am, Captain Graves, and you better have some compelling evidence to show why you should be on my ship tonight. Yes sir I understand, Im just going to open a small portal to pull out some documents. Keep it small, keep it slow youll keep your hand. Teddy was already halfway to opening his rift storage when the man spoke, at the threat he looked up at the captain who had casually tucked his thumbs in his belt and knew the man meant it. He pulled out his badge, the contract and a covering letter from the Director herself. The captain took them all without looking away from Teddys eyes. Chief Mate, keep an eye on our guest. A short burly man came forward, stood right in Teddys personal space and crossed his arms. Aye capn. Then up to Teddy. Move, I dare ya. Teddy blinked in surprise but didnt move. Thats it boys, hes cleared. The captain said after looking over the three documents, he held them out to Teddy to give back but was a few steps away. Teddy blurred around the Chief Mate and was folding the papers before the Chief Mate had reacted. The Chief mate clumsily grabbed a sword from his waist and turned around in panic looking for Teddy. Dont mind him. The captain said. The owner of this vessel wanted his son to get some experience at sea, so thought to make him Chief Mate for this trip. A bit too much bluster and not enough balls really. I coulda taken him, hes right there. The little man said. No you could not, you are a rich bully and he is a killer, look at how he stands, feel that aura, you wouldnt stand a chance if he was standing still with one hand behind his back. Of course I would! Hes just a lowly adventurer from Greenstone, no big town name. The captain looked at Teddy, Sounds to me like a challenge! Teddy looked the captain in the eyes. He borrowed Lucys telepathy power. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. [Sir Im not sure what your angle is here, you want me to humiliate him, roll over to make him look good or was it just a boring trip? Im not an assassin if thats what youre after.] [Interesting, you have the same power as your sister-in-law, what a coincidence. Just put the boy down a notch but for the sake of the gods and my job dont hurt him. Make it quick we dont have all night.] Right then little man, what was it? Dont move? And one hand behind my back? Teddy said, standing square to the man nod placing a hand on the small of his back. Why you the man looked at the captain and got a shrug and a nod. He came in sword flashing in a wide arc over his head. Teddy swayed out of the way, making it look slow and casual with his feet not moving. The man lunged again and halfway through Teddy swung his arm from overhead, dimension blade appearing. The little aggressor managed to shift his sword up to block, confident the expensive magical blade would block the essence power. Teddys blade of light flickered as it met the sword, as if it had been turned off then on again from the hilt and the man found the tip of it against his throat. Luckily his lunge had been completely arrested by the pull of a black hole behind him. Teddy had formed a rift tunnel behind his back and thrown the low powered grenade through, before it could explode Teddy cancelled it out, letting the man flop to the floor. The fight had lasted seconds. Not an assassin, Im sure. The Captain said low enough for only Teddy to hear. Teddy helped the man up, passing him his sword from where it had tumbled from his hands. The little man stomped off inside the bridge with a red face. Right now whatre you looking at?! The captain called to the crew. Boatswain, the crew. The crew started moving even before the next man started shouting, hopping to not be caught out. XO, to my office, Mr Mitchell. Please join us. They made their way in to the captains quarters. Mr Mitchell this is my XO, thats an Executive Officer, your second in command. Teddy interjected. Just so. Youve spent time on board a ship then? Oh no mostly from films, they always tend to use the same titles from tar and canvas to nuclear subs up to the starship enterprise. The two men didnt know what to make of that so the captain ignored it. The letter explains the cargo youre after, why is it that youve come all the way out here in such a little boat to collect it before we get to port? Captain, do you know what the cargo is? Or at least what its for? Ive been told not to tamper with it if I like my ship, and the immediate area around it. I know its from a producer of dangerous materials bound for somewhere that will turn it into weapons. Well sir, that would make it very attractive to an insidious disreputable sort. Theres already been an ill guided attempt on this cargo already and we had the idea to get ahead of them this time, seize the initiative first. A crafty mind you have there, well I can see it to work, we cant deviate from the schedule but will be an easy enough task. XO, where did we place the crate we picked up from the Storm Kingdom? Aft and port side Captain, behind the bridge. I believe its on the middle deck. And Mr Mitchell, whats the loading situation for your boat? Ideally a side load, weve been told the cargo is a pretty big item, I saw you had a side unloading bay and a crane Less than an hour later the crew had moved the necessary bits out the way and got the correct cargo into the side unloading bay. Designed to have a wide gangplank drop down into a port then roll the cargo out. The cargo was a large rectangle, a wooden box banded with metal. It was around six foot tall, eight foot wide and around ten foot long. The crane had been pulled to above the unloading bay and the hook on the end dropped down to the sea far below. The Serenity had been pulled up from the water and was being held next to the cargo bay. Teddy had gone down and with Lucy figured out how to peel back just the one panel that covered the guest suite in the lower decks. The Captain had been suitably impressed with the exotic vehicle which pleased the Mitchells that for even such a well travelled man thought that they had something so rare. A ridiculously proportioned man was carrying the large crate, he had a power which enabled him to be a one-man, all-natural (depending on your definition in a world of magic) forklift. His legs were short and squat but his torso was enormous, three time taller than his legs and almost as wide, his arms reached all the way round one side of the crate and then some to spare. A very useful crew member to have on a cargo ship. He was taking baby steps and being guided on either side by other crew members, they all seemed very worried. They take their jobs very seriously. Teddy commented to the Captain. They take the safety of everyone on board seriously, that thing drops the wrong way and everyone on board vanishes, they will never find any evidence of us or this ship. Err, say what now? [TEDDY, WHAT THE HELL DID HE JUST SAY TO YOU?!] James said on the interface, just about able to overhear from where he was holding a line to keep the Serenity straight. [Hang on bro Im talking a sec.] No seriously sir youre going to have to say that again. You didnt know? Its an extremely volatile substance, its been given all the possibleprotective measures it can but still. He shrugged. Teddy blew out air that he didnt need in the first place. Well damn, still no going back now though. They gently loaded the crate into the Serenity and they were recommended to lash it down. Teddy stroked the floor on each side towards the crate and it bunched up like rug folds against the crate then stiffened, he pulled down the ceiling of the room down and it pinned the crate in place with a stalactite of crystal. So where will you go now with it? Well turn up to the docks without it in a few days and no one will be any the wiser. I think thats for the best Sir, with all due respect, nothing gained from sharing that secret. True enough. Mr Mitchell good luck, theres more than just this shady group youve mentioned that will want these goods, if any bandits have any sort of intelligence on it or senses powerful enough to pick it up they will make a concerted effort to get it, having not made the journey myself I cannot comment from experience but Ive been told the way is perilous. Teddy shook hands with the Captain. Well sir, we wouldnt want life to get boring now would we? He nodded then stepped backwards off the ship, the Serenity having already been lowered gently into the water. He ran a few steps in mid air and into the wheel house, they flashed all the lights once as bright as they could go to signal goodbye then shot away. Chapter 52 ‘At least a satisfied’ Lucy spun the wheel right, the speed that they were going meant the wave that hit them caused water to slosh over the top deck. She had warned James, Teddy and Kyra through the interface and they all grabbed the nearby handles while fighting. It was the second morning after leaving the cargo ship, the previous day had been blissful, shooting across the bright sunny water, rotating drivers to ensure they never had to stop or slow down, putting as much distance as they could between them and Greenstone, gaining whatever lead they could before the ship got in to dock and any would-be pursuers learnt of their craftiness. This second morning they had been chased since almost as soon as the sun came up. A huge silver rank monster the size of a blue whale had breached the water just behind the Serenity and only cranking the boat to full speed had Lucy got away from the huge maw. The monster had only tried to attack the boat that one time and twice more, coming short each time. Since then it had changed tactic. It could keep up with the Serenity but it couldnt catch it, so it chased close enough to the surface that its back was exposed. Rows of barnacle-like protrusions along its back started erupting, firing like mortars towards the boat, the projectiles that managed to hit the boat turned out to be bronze rank monsters. They were very basic. They were round squishy blobs just bigger than a beach all that had four tentacles underneath them. On the deck they were at an obvious disadvantage, they looked like they needed at least three of the legs to stay upright, if they fell over they needed all four legs to get back up. Their only other attack was to produce spikes on their bodies but seemed unable to fire them. The wash of water over the top deck had washed some of the monsters over board and knocked over the others. James used his Everglades staff to lever them off the edge. Nice driving babe, oops, left again. The silver rank monster let loose another salvo, a dozen monsters arced through the sky towards the Serenity. Lucy spun the other way, only the first few monsters managing to grab on to the rear rails and climb up. Kyra was at the rear of the top deck and met them. Her summoned spear had taken on an interesting quality while they were at sea. The summoned weapon was still technically a spear but had appeared as a huge diamond trident. She used it to impale the monsters or push them off the boat. [Lucy! Area of reefs just populated on the map, come half right and keep the speed on.] Teddy said. Lucy spun to face the shallower water. They knew they could probably outlast the monster but Lucy was having to feed the Serenity bronze rank coins and use her Magical Artisan power to eke out every knot of speed to keep them ahead. The monster must have seen the reef coming and tried one last time to lunge out of the water to swallow the Serenity. It didnt even come near, the lunge costing it more distance and it fell back roaring. For good measure Teddy launched a pair of grenades into the open maw, Kyra lobbed her spear and James kicked a bronze rank spawn into its gullet. It wasnt enough to hurt it but the chase was over anyway. They laughed and kicked some of the errant limbs of the monsters overboard where Teddy had chopped their legs off. The three of them that werent driving relaxed over the edge of the railing, all leaning on it and looking over into the reef below. They saw schools of tropical fish swirling below in tight packs. Teddy was standing between his brother and wife and only had a seconds notice as a red dot appeared underneath them and he pulled back both of them away from the railing. The spike of rust coloured coral hit the underside of the Serenity and scraped up the outside and off the railing where they were just standing. Teddy took the opportunity to slice it in half as it was exposed. You have defeated Calcareous Stick James! What the hell is a Calcareous Stick?! Watch out! Dont touch it! Teddy had just been about to loot the half that had fell onto the top deck by nudging it with his boot and at James warning he stopped. Theyre a fairly common iron rank reef monster, but I wouldnt expect them here but theyre what we would call an invasive species. Luckily they actually support the habitat they move into as they are a mostly dormant monster that doesnt move. Err, dude, that one definitely moved. Where the body was on the deck a spread of what looked like rust expanded about a foot in each direction before stopping and drying hard. And its still moving! Whats that? Thats why you dont want to touch it, on contact with air anything that touches it causes a mycosis which permeates the skin and temporarily paralyses their target. It causes a predator of coral rock to grow on the target. Out here anything that gets paralysed and heavy is going to drown or be attacked by more. They swarm when one launches from the sea floor. They swarm Teddy said. He checked his map for any more red dots, but hadnt seen any before the first attack. Damn, any good news? Not really, if were lucky well get to see the very rare Calcareous Reef Guardian. The bronze rank variant but like I said theyre rare. Oh yeh, so lucky. Teddy moved to where Lucy was driving. Any damage showing? He asked, looking over the rows of dials. No but I wouldnt want a hit much bigger than that considering what we have on board. Good point. As they were talking the Serenity was rocked by two more hits. The first monster hit the hull and shot out angled back out to sea and the second was stopped from coming down on the deck by Kyras trident she had re-summoned. The monster was easy to see impaled on her trident, a blotchy rust colour, it looked like a stick man with jagged coral rock fingers, it waved around sleepily, its main attack was obviously its explosive launch off the coral bed up to unsuspecting targets. Rather than risk being contaminated she flung the monster overboard with the trident still impaled and summoned another. Teddy summoned a rift portal in the path of one that deflected off the hull. You have defeated Calcareous Stick. Calcareous Stick has been wholly annihilated, it has been automatically looted. 10 [Rock Darts] (iron rank) have been added to (Theodore Mitchells) inventory. 1 [Monster core (iron)] have been added to (Theodore Mitchells) Inventory. 10 [Iron] spirit coins have been added to (Theodore Mitchells). Inventory. Out of the fire into the frying pan Teddy was thinking trying to see how they could get warning of the monsters before they went over the top of them. He marked the map for the shortest way out of the far side of the reef for Lucy to follow. Lucy, let me take the wheel. Your Astral Projection can use some other powers through it right? Can you use your Psychic scream? Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Yes Ive used it before, you want me to go ahead of the boat and bang away like a sonar to make the monsters appear so you can avoid them. She was already moving while she was talking, heading toward the prow. I love not having to explain things all the way. Teddy said to himself as he settled into the captains bucket chair. The plan mostly worked, with a few exceptions when the power wasnt used soon enough and they were only glancing hits. The rust coloured patch on the deck had started to flake in the wind and blew away and James assured them as the monster expert that it wasnt infectious anymore. Back out in the deep water they all relaxed. The silver rank monster was on the far side of the reef, the coral monsters were gone and the contagion they spread had blown away. Shame we didnt see the big daddy. James said, looking back at the reef. Yeh it is really. Teddy said surprising him. Check these out Lucy. Item: [Rock darts] (Iron rank, common) Darts of rock looted from a Calcareous Stick, almost like fingers. They contain the same contagion as the monster. Effect: When thrown they have a paralytic effect in the immediate area around impact. They cause a small growth of rock to form at the site of impact. Interesting, not something that we can easily replicate with what we have on board, we need some more alchemy supplies but it would be useful to outfit you with a range of darts given your Swift as an Arrow power. Just what I was thinking. Also, anyone mind if we cut back towards the coast sooner than planned? This getting caught out on the water is giving me the willies. Id much rather be on land for a bit more tactical mobility. Seconded, theres not a lot I can contribute out here, Im not jumping in the water with this crowd. James grumbled. Teddy changed course to head on an intercept with the coast, they wanted to head as far as they could up the coast on the water but the threat was turning out to be too high. At least on land even if they were going to run into monsters it was somewhere they were more comfortable. Teddy had to zoom his map out quite far to see the coastline, he didnt head straight for it, wanting to keep making progress north. The others were used to letting Teddy drive now. They took turns but Teddy took the lions share, his knowledge of how the Serenity was put together, what it was capable of and his added agility from his swift essence made for the best driving experience. They were scrubbing down the top deck with a few stiff brushes to get the last of the monster goo and rock dust off when Lucy popped up a feed on the interface. [Guys, Lechuza has spotted a heist in progress.] Teddy set the Serenity on cruise hold on track the course it was on while he watched the feed. They saw a large container ship like the one they had received their cargo from, there were two beat up old boats hastily lashed on a the bow and stern. They could make out a row of prisoners with their hands on their heads being driven below deck by a bunch of men with swords, bows and spears. Pirates. James said, no hint of joy in his voice at the thought of confronting them. Teddy came back to the others Then we have a choice, we have a mission, and a very valuable and delicate cargo, that ultimately people will rely on to protect them from monsters. We can risk that cargo in order to help these people from These monsters. Kyra interjected. There is no choice, we cant stand by and let this happen. James and Lucy took a moment then both nodded in agreement. Ok then, lets think this through. Teddy said, marking the container ship on his map. They planned what they were going to do. Between Teddy and Lucy they were able to mark the pirates on the map and number them, luckily when the marked pirate went inside the ship and off the live feed from Lechuza and then came back out their number stayed the same. The pirates were fairly spread out over the ship, they had the enemy vessels at the front and the rear to contend with and James brought up a good point. Err guys, are we on kill or capture? Theres twenty eight of them marked so far and only four of us. I think we need to be realistic, we dont want to kill anyone but we cant risk success by not killing. I think we need to come up with a subterfuge to get in close then take as many as quick as we can. The ship is further away than you think and its getting dark, well slow up and attack in the morning so we have plenty of time to think of a few ideas. The next morning Teddy was in one of the buggies that behaved like a jet-ski headed towards the ship, there was no buzz of protective magic from the hull and he was certain the pirates had disabled it to give themselves access. He thought back over the last few days at how quick everything had been, large plans put into action every few days with not long to plan each. The realisation dawned on him then that it had been happening for longer than that. Since they had left the academy they had been bouncing from adventure to adventure. That was a bad thing, he contemplated to himself, they had these wonderful new powers that needed using and training to make the most of them. They had helped a lot of people that would be in a lot of trouble if they hadnt been there and they had made so much money. The amount they made off this trip would mean that they didnt need to work for a whole year or more each. That wasnt including whatever money they made from their adventure along the months long journey. While he was reminiscing Teddy realised he couldnt remember when he last slept properly. Since being at sea they had slept in mini shifts but they had been fairly busy since leaving the cargo ship, before that he had slept at the church of hero but a drunken stupor hardly counted as restful sleep. He gave his head a wobble and tightened his grip on the wheel, he needed to be alert for this next bit, it was amazing that he wasnt terrified. The changes that they had all gone through over their time on Pallimustus were significant; none of them bat an eye at the act they had decided to go four vs thirty career pirates. All he felt was the focus to follow the plan. Once they had done this they were going to get of the water, find somewhere safe on land and have a proper nights rest. The ship had been stopped from moving when the pirates boarded. Teddy could see the giant harpoons stuck into the boat now that he was closer coming from the prow of each pirate boat. He ran some circles around the ship, shockingly the pirates hadnt posted a lookout. After a few laps enough of the pirates had seen him and traced his progress in, keeping a close eye incase any decided to attack him he prepared to enact the plan. He affixed a fairly goofy smile on his face and waved genially up at the boat. The pirates acquiesced and let down a rope ladder for him to come aboard. He climbed up and let the buggy drift away powered down. In the second time in this week Teddy found himself surrounded by a semicircle of armed men on the deck of a cargo ship. Well hello there. There was a beat of indecision why the pirates tried to work out who this obviously simple and stupid to climb on a ship full of two boats worth of pirates. Im Mr Destraci?n of the Understone cargo transport union, Im here to check that you fine gentlemen are receiving the benefits that you rightly fought for and received in your union terms. Tell me, are you receiving adequate breaks? Is there a selection of healthy alternative snacks in the break room? What entertainment channels are you getting? Err one of the nearest pirates confusedly gestured at Teddy. Turn out yeh pockets, lets see what youve got. Quite right! Quite right, let me show you. Teddy reached into both his robe pockets and all the hands around him stiffened on weapons, he pulled out stacks of pamphlets and gave one stack to the pirate who addressed him. Please read through the information carefully as the union has been very busy since youve been at sea, we have been working on the provision of service animals as a right for every person with anxiety, to either be sourced personally for a bursary or indeed sourced by the company employing the individual. We all know that parking at the docks can be a nightmare at the best of times and when a few ships all embark at the same time it can be next to impossible. The Understone Cargo Transport Union advises all its members to carpool as much as possible to save the planet, he nudged the next nearest pirate with his elbow, you know, to save us from that beastly global warming, but the Union has managed to secure designated parking at all major ports and docks up and down this coastline. Teddy started walking amongst the pirates handing out the leaflets from his other hand. As he spoke more and more pirates came from around the ship to see what was going on, and who the man speaking such nonsense was. If you take a look at the card Im handing out, dont worry there should be enough for everyone, its a simple sign up card, for you who are already members of the U.C.T.U. this allows us to update our records. For anyone who is not a member then why not join today! The union boasts an excellent record of achieving at least a satisfied from almost all of its members, our Christmas hampers are an absolute riot for the four lucky winners on this continent. Teddy continued to chat absolute rubbish for a few more minutes until the baffled pirates parted. A scarred pirate with a wild bronze rank aura stepped forward. Ahh the company man! I assume you are the Captain of this ship and here to stop me from encouraging these good men to band together in the union? What do you think yous doin? Why havent you killed him or tied him up? For fucks sake why are you just standing around? Capn, he says he can get us guaranteed vacation time! A witless pirate said. Teddys stance changed, he was no longer the friendly union member trying to con them into joining, he was all business. So you are the pirate Captain. I am Theodore Mitchell, this is your one and only chance, surrender. We dont want to hurt anyone. There was a stunned silence and then the Captain started laughing, he gestured around and all the other pirates took their cue and started laughing, he motioned for them to ready their weapons and they started to walk on to Teddy. Amongst the fifteen or so pirates the Captain stopped. We? Then for him and his men the deck of the ship exploded into fog. Chapter 53 ‘Too much’ James was taking a risk with his part of the plan. They were all taking a risk obviously but there was an extra, calculated risk that he was taking. His transformation power had reduced in cool-down time and upped in duration as it levelled up. He could always transform into whatever animals he wanted but more powerful animals would be handicapped to bronze rank power. His mental catalogue of animals from this new world was growing all the time and he had the freedom to choose Earth animals as well. By using it on the attack it meant that he wouldnt be able to transform into a sea creature to defend them from the water. He was in the second buggy with Lucy and Kyra. After much discussion about what to do about the Serenity and making sure it was going to be safe they set it in motion in a large orbit around the cargo ship with the B.E.A.R.S.S. in place. James would miss Koda but it was a compromise of having all four of them on deck to reduce risk to the team while keeping the cargo secure. He was in the passenger seat and ready to go, knowing what animal he was going to use for his part of the plan on board. Kyra wasnt mentally in the buggy, she was in the backseat on the way to the raid but she had her eyes pinned to the interface screen that showed Teddy. Kyra had a power in her Mirror essence; Line of Mirrors, which allowed her to see through the eyes of her allies and vice versa, since getting to bronze rank it also added audio. Also since achieving bronze rank their interface was combining their different powers. Like what Lucy could do with her vision power that allowed her to livestream Lechuzas view, Kyra could add a livestream in the corner of her interface to allow her to see what Teddy was seeing and hear what he was saying. She groaned when he started handing out pamphlets, realising thats what he had been doing when he took himself off alone while they were all doing prep the night before. Lucy had been manically busy the night before for the prep. None of them had slept very well recently and she was feeling a little burnt out. She had sequestered herself in the crafting room, which was in fact one of the two spare bedrooms, the other of which was taken up by the cargo crate. She had been using the new table she had received from the magic society. She had wanted to break into the field of study that it accessed a lot more gently but time was against her. What the table allowed her to do was to reverse engineer and add magical enchantments to items more easily and with greater precision. She had worked long hours to discover how to place the enchantment on the second buggy they now drove. At the wheel Lucy was amazed at how serene the underwater landscape was. Only a few meters underwater and they could see the light graduations as it went deeper. The open sides of the buggy were unnerving as it seemed there was nothing between them and the outside. They were all very careful to keep their limbs inside the frame. She had been working on the idea for a while to imitate the sand blocking properties on the buggies she had got from Teddys amulet. Originally the thought was to keep out the rain but with a little more study she could adapt it so they effectively had a mini sub that could go to a shallow depth. When they had time she would have to add the same enchantment to the other and see about making it more powerful so the subs could go deeper. The sub approached the ship through the gloom. Kyra could see around the edges of her screen that she was using to keep an eye on Teddy acting a fool. She minimised the window to only take up a small amount of space in her view but she could still keep an eye on her errant husband. As the hull of the first pirate boat came into view she grasped Lucys shoulder in front of her then stood on her seat in a crouch. When they were abeam it she kicked off the seat hard and dived out the side of the buggy, she dolphin kicked through the water, swimming more gracefully than she ever had back on Earth. She couldnt find an anchor or ladder from the water to the deck of the boat. She flung a shard of mirror from point blank range. It dug into the hull with a dull thud. She winced and listened hard to see if she had been discovered. When she was sure she was in the clear she tested it. The shards werent sharp to Kyra and were solid enough for her to use them as handholds, she would have to wait until the distraction started before she would risk thumping more in and climbing up and over. She crossed her arms underwater, her long blonde braid floating like a Disney mermaids behind her and she thought about how grateful she was she didnt need to breathe anymore while she waited. Lucy and James travelled the length of the ship to the other pirate boat, once they got there they came to a stop under the surface, they both got out underwater and Lucy collapsed the buggy and before she could store it in a rune portal a shape loomed out of the gloom. Lucy thought to herself that this would be really bad timing to meet another monster from the deep and braced herself. It was a friendly looking manatee that came up and flipped a fin at them. It then swallowed the buggy model in one gulp. As Lucy panicked she saw the grin on James face and realised it was his storage power as the manatee swum back down and out off view. They swum up to the hull and James changed his forearms into the purple tentacles that were becoming a combat favourite, he attached the suckers to the hull and Lucy clung onto his back. He stealthily climbed the side and they dropped onto the deck. Just as they were getting ready to put their plan into action a pirate walked around the corner of the central structure and saw them. Before he had the chance to shout Lucy lashed out a pair of spells. Forget. While the left hand waves the right makes the move. The pirate stood dumbfounded for a moment, confused why he was standing still. He forgot what he was doing and shrugged and turned around going back the way he had come. [What was the illusion?] James asked Lucy. [Just an empty bulkhead, Im very glad I confused you as much as I did him, if you had moved then it would have shattered the illusion.] [Hey I know better than to interfere with your mojo.] Lucy switched to the main team chat. [Everyone in position?] She received three thumbs up emojis and cast her Fog of War spell. As soon as she cast her spell James could see the fog, it was completely see through to him as an ally but he could see the extent of it. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and transformed. He chose an earth creature to see how it would do in this environment. He hit all fours as his body morphed into the sleek black panther. The difference was there had never been a panther on Earth like this. It was still sleek and stealthy, looking like liquid power but huge. Its head was level with Lucys and even though she wasnt the tallest lady that was still big, his head was slightly ducked and the shoulders were even higher. It had bulging muscles rippling all the way down its body and its paws were huge. The tail swished and was the thickness of one of Lucys legs. He extended and retracted the claws which easily slid into the deck, they were each the size of chefs knives. James looked into Lucys eyes and she could see above the huge fangs the bright green eyes of a predator. He bopped his head forward and gave her another peck on the cheek and she itched her face after. I prefer the kiss without the whiskers, now go, help Teddy. He bounded away. The body moved like a deadly slinky. The speed that he could manage was terrifying. He overtook the pirate that Lucy had confused once with her Kansas City Shuffle and then again with her Fog of War. He barely slowed, batting the man in the legs breaking both his knees and throwing him sideways into a pile of ropes. He didnt waste time hunting on the pirate boat, he knew that was Lucys job, he knew he had to get to Teddy who had sucked in as many of the crew as possible to create the diversion. He hit the main ship and dived amongst the containers that formed a maze on the deck of the ship. The captain on the previous cargo ship explained it was to create fall back positions for incase they had an airbourne monster attack but to James it meant a game, and cats loved hunting games. Kyra climbed up the outside of the boat with her mirror shards, once she was on the top deck she found two pirates blundering around in the fog calling for each other. She sensed one was iron rank and the other maybe had one essence. She summoned her sword and shield then called down an earth boulder from nowhere to hit the iron ranker in the chest as he was the one who had a the best chance of survival. She then hit the normal ranker in the head with her shield knocking him out. Using her terraform power she moulded the earth from the boulder over the two men, locking them back to back and solidifying it. She cast Life Aura on the iron ranker and found that he was going to be ok. She hit him also in the head for good measure to ensure he would stay there and moved on. She moved forward silently but like a spartan warrior, shield up with sword arm elbow up and sword resting on the shield. They had an idea of numbers and could track them around the ship but not the strength of each combatant. Now she was in the flow she had two screens up on the interface. She had got rid of the view from Teddy, focussing on her own fight, the screens she had up were the minimap that, curtesy of Teddy, showed the enemy combatants in red and her family in blue. The other screen was the live view from Lechuza circling high above, she didnt pay much attention to it unless the bird circled near her. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Her objective for the mission was to get to the crew of the ship and secure them against being used as hostages. She didnt search the pirate ship but as she hopped across onto the main ship she cut the tether from the giant harpoon with her diamond sword. As the only thing holding the boat and ship together they now slowly drifted away. Teddy blurred into action as soon as the fog dropped.He ran up to the first pirate who had a cudgel in his hand, he used his Wraiths Dash to get in close and used a judo throw to smash the man into his partner standing next to him, his Fly like an Arrow power recognised the unfortunate man as a projectile and sent them smashing through the assembled crowd. He had hold of the cudgel and set about him, the first man he went up to he only had to strike twice, he received two instances of the buff Rapid and a phantom cudgel appeared to strike at the man while Teddy moved on, the phantom weapon would strike five times before disappearing giving Teddy enough time to be on not just the next target but two targets along, leaving more phantom cudgels in his wake. Teddy was a menace to the disorganised rabble, he blurred anytime his Wraiths Dash came off cooldown and he rift portalled high to drop down on victims. He used air step to come from unexpected angels or to add more thrust to a blow. He danced around avoiding the bronze rank Captain as the obvious threat. He had his Shadow Lanterns focus solely on the Captain, providing annoying stinging damage and he was blinded twice. Just as Teddy turned to face the Captain he finally summoned his dimension blade and clashed swords with the big man who had a honest-to-gods pirate cutlass. The big man smiled, pressing his advantage, obviously stronger than Teddy and pushing the deadly dimension blade onto the smaller man. He looked confused for a moment when Teddy smiled and a huge panther mouth clamped onto the captains free shoulder and chest from behind and flung him into a nearby container. James had launched himself like a cruise missile across the ship, he could have travelled in a near enough straight line over the top of the containers but his animal form was begging to hunt. He zig-zagged through the maze, clear to him as walking along a pavement with the mini-map and the live feed from Lechuza. He played join the dots with the red tagged enemies on the map. Not stopping but crashing into them with a shoulder or hamstringing one with his claws. He got one container away from the fight with Teddy and jumped up and held his position. He saw the incapacitated men all around. He used one that wasnt out the fight to drop down on, landing silently but crumpling the pirate underneath him. His shoulder bladesstood out high as the great cat stalked belly to the ground towards where the Captain was about to strike at Teddy. Once they locked he saw his chance, he took a leap and clamped onto the shoulder of the man, the first time in this form he had sunk his teeth in and they easily penetrated the bronze rank skin. He twisted his head savagely, feeling the bones and tendons in the shoulder straining as he threw the surprised man against the container. Lucy used her magic knuckledusters on the pirates on their boat. They were only iron rank but it was a little boost and most of the pirates were iron rank or lower anyway. She met one bronze rank pirate who had given her a moments pause, she locked him down with nightmares and illusions and beat him senseless. She moved to the front of the ship and checked out the harpoon, marvelling at the design, magically launched it would track the intended target. She very carefully detached the harpoon from the main ship and went to the wheelhouse, she backed the boat off the ship and drove it down the length of it to the other pirate ship. She used the opposite side that Teddy had arrived which the pirates had been on, still trying to recover the Forth Stage Crystal dune buggy that Teddy had left floating as a distraction. She met up with the other pirate boat that had floated slightly away from the main ship to find more incapacitated pirates left strewn around. She did a quick sweep then attached the two boats together and got around to tidying up all the pirates. Kyra slid on her knees down the corridor, her sword held above her as the pirate came round the corner. He was holding his small round shield high and didnt even see the woman below him until she had gone past him and savagely turned and cut behind both his knees, while he was falling backwards she used the flat of her blade to smash him on the forehead which also caused him to hit the back of his head on the deck knocking him out cold. With the extra interface screens it was almost too easy, she had seen him coming and started her slide to meet him on the corner before she had even seen him. She had been surprised twice so far by pirates that must have been below deck the entire time they had eyes on and they hadnt been red tagged. She thought herself lucky she was alone as at one point she had made a similar attack on an empty corridor, the red tag must have been above or below her and the map didnt show three dimensions. She could feel the heartbeats of the assembled crew through the decking using her Seismic Sense and knew she was close, she had figured out she was nearing the galley and that made sense that was where they were being held. She crept up to the next corner and held her mirror out around it. Two pirates were standing in a line guarding the doorway. She dismissed her sword and shield and summoned a long diamond spear, she whipped round the corner and flung the spear, it went clear through the two men through their hips. She gave a slight wince at the injury as that must have hurt. She rushed down the corridor after the spear and knocked both men out as they were incapacitated. She felt through the door and felt the rapid heartbeats of the crew and no other auras, she broke the lock on the outside and opened the door. Inside, in front of the assembled crew was a pirate with a sword held up against a member of the crews throat in front of him. Dont move! Or Ill paint the deck with her neck blood! The pirate said with quick panicky movements. He was in danger of killing her by accident as much as on purpose. Kyra raised her hands. Easy there cowboy, no one in this room needs to get hurt. She desperately wished it was Teddy who was standing in her place now with his speed and she darent pull any of his powers now while he was fighting above, or Lucy with her illusions and nightmares. Why dont you calm down and lower the sword a little bit. Calm down?! Calm down?! How many did you have to kill to get here you crazy bitch and you tell me to calm down?! No ones died yet, we can still sort this out, just lower the blade, your going to hurt her. Well maybe I mean to hurt her! Eh, how about that eh?! His hand jerked a little and that was too much for Kyra, she flashed her right hand and a slice of mirror flew from her hand. Time seemed to slow in front of her, she saw the blade of his sword bite into the girls neck as the pirate tried to duck. He moved almost directly into the slice of mirror that was going to hit him in the shoulder and it got him square in the eye. Kyra launched forward, catching the girl before she hit the floor and hitting her with a Life Bolt to heal her neck, she was still covered with her own blood but at least now she was screaming with an intact voice while scrabbling at a perfectly healed neck. An older woman grabbed her and pulled her back holding her. Kyra turned as fast as she could once the girl was ok and out of danger, she hit the pirate with a life bolt to the chest and another to the eye when she pulled the mirror shard out. There was no noticeable effect from either. She hit him with a Life Charge, releasing Lucky to assist with the healing. The pirate flopped in her arms. Lucky nudge her with his nose. Forcing her arms away from the dead body and around his neck to lead her away. NO! Teddy yelled unexpectedly after the pirate Captain had been flung. He had been watching Kyras feed and saw the moment she had pinned the pirate in the eye and knew it was fatal. He turned to the pirate captain and raised an arm. From beyond our reality let beasts become Before he could finish the spell the body of the panther smashed into him sideways and he found himself on the floor with the creatures chest on top of him sideways. James then transformed back to himself. No Teddy, that would be too much. Go to her, Ive got this. As he spoke his face was the last thing to come back to normal and there was still an element of the cats face and fangs. Without hesitation Teddy sprinting off to find his wife. James turned to the pirate captain who was getting to his feet and flinched when he saw the giant man with a cats face in front of him. James put his hands together and twirled his Staff of the Everglades as it materialised in front of him. The pirate Captain sneered and launched at James. James was also heartbroken by the fact Kyra had killed the man. Of all of them she appeared the most bloodthirsty and violent sometimes but it came from an understanding that with her powers she could fix the most mortal injuries. But she couldnt fix death and that would weigh on her soul. The Captain came straight at James, looking to get in close and take his measure in a duel. James smashed downwards, his Scurry power hadnt activated until he changed back to his human form and he had increased speed and agility, he had his Standing Kodak bonus to his strength and his unarmed attack bonus; his Staff of the Everglades counted as an extension of himself. His staff smashed into the raised sword of the man and drove it back, the back of the blade although it was blunt penetrated into the mans clavicle, crushing it and driving into him. He dug deep into his mana and used the bronze rank effect of his Bare Arms power, his strength was boosted eight times, if he hadnt pulled his blows he would easily have killed the pirate, as it was he left him a bloody mess on the ground after a combination attack. He pulled a healing potion from his belt pouch and dismissively poured it over the crumpled, broken man. It was much less effective than drinking but would stop the man dying of his wounds. The four Mitchells stood with the Captain of the cargo ship. Her name was Lembrush and she was the woman who had grabbed the bloody girl in the galley. They were supervising the loading of the pirates into a container that was designed to ship dangerous animals, it would be more than sufficient to hold them, even the bronze rankers until they got to the next port authorities. Three bodies lay inside another container covered by sheets, one separate to the others which were the cargo ship crewmembers that had tried to fight back when they were attacked. So it was all for naught, were running empty which Ill admit is rare, theres normally always some kind of cargo on board but there was nothing from the last port to our next destination. The ship itself is invaluable of course but there was nothing for a quick grab for the pirates. She said to Teddy. That makes sense. They were obviously incompetent, the highest rank was bronze and only one per boat probably to keep the others in line. Lucy replied. Even if they were incompetent what you did here was impressive. We cant thank you enough! I have nothing to give you but rest assured from both myself and the company we will get a suitable reward to your holdings in Greenstone. Please theres no need. James said. There was no way we could have sailed past and not done anything. Oh please, the months of mistreatment you saved us before they payed at least a kings ransom for the ship alone and then worked out what each of us were worth for ransom is not worth thinking about. When I file a report for this it will go straight to the top, from there I have no doubt it will go to the top of the adventure society then across and come back down to your branch. Theres no avoiding a reward. Well thankyou. Are you sure you no longer need protection. Teddy asked with concern. No no no, were changing course, were going to head directly to the next port which is much closer than the next nearest pirates could be, we wont leave until we have a contingent of adventurers on contract. Very well, we need to depart then, we are also in a hurry and delayed more than we shouldve. They made their way to the rear of the ship. They had recovered the Serenity and it was being towed behind the large cargo ship. Also being towed were the two pirate boats, carefully picked over by Lucy with the permission of Lembrush for anything that took her fancy; the two harpoon guns on the front conspicuous in their absence. The Mitchells shook hands with the Captain and jumped down to the Serenity one after another, all showing off a little as they each borrowed an air step in turn from Teddy. Chapter 54 ‘Freedom!’ The team had Lechuza find a suitable landing spot for the Serenity on the beach. They chose to be far away from any settlements so that their location couldnt be given away. They were certain that someone from Greenstone would be passing on the information that the cargo never arrived and someone would eventually put the pieces together. The Serenity plowed out of the water, raising the bow out of the water and reforming into the flat bottom over the sandy beach. It surprised Teddy who was driving by not needing to deploy the wheels and hovering at the usual height without adding coins. Magic density must be higher here. Lucy said when he pointed it out. They weighed up their options, the maps that had been given to them werent extensive of the entire continent and only covered the route from the adventure society in Greenstone to the drop-off. They had gone far outside this route by heading up the coast for a few days and the mapping was less reliable. They decided to head straight-line to the objective and stop off in the first settlement they saw inland to try find a map. They agreed to shifts in couples, it would be fairer to have two people on and two people resting in the unfamiliar landscape so they could get more of a lead from Greenstone, although they didnt know when they would come to a settlement they agreed that would be a natural stopping point that was fairly random and unexpected from pursuers. As Teddy was already driving he and Kyra took the first shift. Lucy and James headed below to their cabin to finally get some sleep. The terrain they were now driving through was semi-tropical, spotted with trees that looked like palms near the beach but with rounder leaves than they were used to and more larger ferns appearing as they drove as the crow flies. Kyra was standing with both hands on the console while Teddy sat and drove. Lucky was out front perched right on the bow like he was watching for icebergs. Teddy could sense her unease and took hold of Kyras hand that was nearest him. Im fine Teds, its part of the job. Its not just part of the job K. Teddy pulled her wrist and she let him pull her onto his lap on the captains chair and she curled up into him. They sat for a while, watching the new countryside in this new world pass them by as they drove. Kyra lost in thought about what she could have done differently, Teddy trying to find the right words to bring her peace. I dont think its part of the job, or it shouldnt be. Teddy started. I think it sometimes is an accidental part of the job due to lack of resources, but in a perfect world with enough people of power there shouldnt be a need to kill anyone. If we can get enough power we can protect people without having to kill. I wasnt trying to kill him, it just sort of happened, he moved and I know, I know. We all know you didnt mean to. I think this is where the Peter Parker-isms come in. With great power comes great responsibility. Unfortunately we chose the responsibility and that comes with sometimes being responsible for killing other people, for the right reasons. He chose to get on that boat for greed, he chose to grab that girl and put a knife to her neck and you said he even chose to kill her which you stopped. There was a natural pause as they rolled through the light brush. Kyra formed one of the shards of mirror that she used for throwing in her hand and looked at herself in it. The Academy Annex modules on mental health were pretty extensive in the Healer classes. They warn of a thin line for essence users finding it easy to justify killing and to watch out for those who take contracts were it is likely or even possible to kill fellow humans. Theres a risk that people who find themselves superhuman start to distance themselves from the rest and to them it is no different from killing an animal or a monster. Youve always been the voice of reason when it comes to killing. We all know that even killing monsters which is truly unavoidable still bothers you. Im here the keep you in check, were all on the same team to keep each other in check. She ducked her head to rest it on his shoulder in the chair. Stuck with you am I? Id be more worried about being stuck with James, he sometimes smells as bad as Koda. When it started turning dark James and Lucy made their way upstairs, they carried steaming plates of food and set places at the table and Teddy pulled over on the side of a steep hill, the Serenity adjusting so the deck remained level giving them a comfy place to stop and have dinner while affording them an excellent view of the sunset. They had steak and jacket potato for dinner, Teddy and Kyra having a well earned beer with theirs while James and Lucy had juice with theirs and a cup of Geralds coffee as they were coming on shift. The familiars cast out on the ground beneath the Serenity, stretching their legs after being cooped up while at sea and then while they were driving hard, Teddys lantern familiars were barely visible in the dusk as they rotated around the Serenity at opposite sides giving Teddy a clear as day view into the bush around them. They said their good-nights and Kyra collected up the plates and took them below-decks. Lucy was riding shotgun in Lechuzas vision, sat in her chair with ghostly blank eyes. James got up and went to the wheelhouse and settled his big frame into the large captains chair, the chair still needed to adjust and give a little to accommodate him. Teddy absorbed his familiars then had a thought. Err, dude, maybe we did this the wrong way round, how are you going to drive in the dark? He was staring at the back of James head and was suitably freaked out when his brothers head rotated one-eighty without moving his shoulders, a few feathers sprouted from his face and his eyes were huge, he had a yellow bird of prey beak in the middle of his face. Oh, Ill adapt Im sure. James said. Damn youre getting good at that. Owl? Yeh, Lucys idea, shell stay with Lechuza more than normal so she can see in the dark better and check the area, I can see better up close like this, between us were probably better suited to night than you two. Alright bro, If youre happy then Im hitting the hay. They bumped fists and Teddy headed below. Kyra had put the dishes away already and made her way to bed. When Teddy got in their double bed he marvelled at the comfort, the sheets they had bought for it were the highest quality Kyra could find, she had outfitted the whole vehicle with linens and cushions. The mattress was just fourth stage crystal, it articulated like a space age bed to accommodate the shape of the body. He wrapped himself around his wife and was asleep in short order. The night passed uneventfully and they stopped again in the morning in a ravine to have breakfast together. Now that both couples had the opportunity for a proper rest, the first since they sailed from Greenstone, they felt much better. They feasted on fruit. They had an apple-tasting fruit that was the size of a beach ball in the centre of the table, it was made up of golf ball sized lumps held together by white pith, it was one of the exotic fruits they had really taken to since coming into this new world and they had a few in their storages. So we saw a few animals in the night scurrying about but nothing else, Lechuza saw some faint lights in the distance but no detail, a few in the direction were going. James finished and nodded to Teddy who tossed sections of fruit across the table into his mouth. Thats good, a week or so of travel before getting to a town will suit us fine, incase anyone following us has contacts there it gives us more of a lead when we could have gone any direction. You really think someones following us? Kyra asked over her mug of coffee. I dont know, its pretty ballsy to attack Greenstone the way they did. They were, according to Genevieve, after this shipment. Thats a big move to not follow it up when its arguably more vulnerable now. I think we need to be careful, if we are being followed then I would assume they would send a force that ought to be able to deal with us so Id rather not be caught. We need to make a plan that involves laying some false trails and some dog legs, anything that could throw a potential pursuer off our track. The others looked at him seriously. He had managed to succinctly sober the trip from an exciting adventure to highlight the real danger they were in. Well dont look so glum! They dont know everything about us, we have tricks, no one knows what the Serenity is capable of or us for that matter. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. James pointed a finger at Teddy. You know if you hadnt pointed out how batshit crazy they were to attack the adventure society campus first then I would think your paranoid, been sipping the crazy juice, a few palm fronds short of a mat, few too any visits to that alchemist in Old City. But annoyingly I have to agree, getting caught might not work out for us too well. They talked through some strategies on how they would mislead any trackers, they used the map that was given to them plus Teddys mapping ability which the Serenity could project, in this case onto the large table on the top deck, it was partially discovered like a video game, showing the areas supplied by the given map and where they had travelled and what Lechuza had shared. As a team they decided to enact one of the plans straight away, the Serenity moved off with Lucy and Kyra on board, both girls waved at the boys as they sat in both of the dune buggies. I hope this works, I dont like the idea of being separated from them, even for a day. James told Teddy. Itll work, we just need to be careful, make the track through the brush look exactly the same as the Serenity, well follow it a ways to check out how it looks then we break off. Lead them off on an angle towards the nearest set of lights you saw yesterday. They set off, the big ship didnt leave much ground sign behind it as it was currently hovering almost a meter off the ground. James was with Teddy not only because while Teddy could teleport back to the Serenity James could transform to a suitably stealthy animal to not draw attention to get back, but because James was an expert tracker. He saw sign that no one else could unless it was their lifes ambition to track. Following the Serenity he could see how the hull bent the young trees and brush, they were trying to be as delicate as they could with it to leave the wild countryside as they found it. They were travelling through a hot terrain with a mix of sand and earthy ground. As essence users they were significantly more dense than they had been before and they saw this especially in how far they sank into the ground when they walked. The bushes were the height of a full grown adult and wiry and dry. The trees around them were either small nursery trees or the wide thick trunks that reminded them of the baobab trees from pictures of Africa they had seen. The grass was tall, thick and appeared in clumps rather than a thick blanket. There was enough coverage that they were hard to spot from the air but certainly not impossible, they were travelling slower so they could mask their presence and not leave such an obvious trail that they would if the Serenity was to punch through as it easily could. After following the Serenity for a little while James and Teddy peeled off, Teddy had used a section of fourth stage crystal not unlike what they used for the gangplank when they moored in Greenstone marina to connect the two buggies. At the correct width and height it would show almost the exact same track as the larger ship with the boys manually making up the difference. Were going to feel very silly if we ever find out this was for nothing. James said a little sullenly. Really? I thought youd be really into this, little bit of counter espionage, bit of groundsign and tracking, seeing the countryside. Whats not to love? Yeh, I guess its just from laziness, I dont mind going off and fighting monsters, or investigations or mirage chamber fights. This is sneaking around avoiding fights. Not what I thought adventuring was going to be. Im also surprised you have an idea of what adventuring should be. We so far have investigated animal pests, killed random monsters, been involved in stopping a natural magical disaster wiping out a city, going around healing the sick and any other job the city decided its easier to post a contract rather than have a dedicated law enforcement branch in a system of government backed by the vote of the public. Im pretty sure if you had a nuclear, gun and a marines essence you would be a few steps away of being classed an invader and bringing democracy to this universe while fist pumping to Metallica with an M4 and alternately shouting U.S.A! And Freedom! I do miss decent music, I want my phone back, this world is entertaining enough in a lot of ways but having any tunes you want right at your fingertip is underrated. And Im not about to start trying to overthrow their system of running things here, they dont have oil anyway. As a silver rank essence user Genevieve Picot had a level of multitasking that was superhuman. As an administrator of any organisation this was invaluable for the day to day running. It was useful to her now as she looked engaged with the person over the other side of her desk while she contemplated all her choices that led her to becoming Director of the society branch and how much longer she would continue the role. The person on the other side of the desk was Trinette Whipparrel, she had been petitioning daily to see the Director to chase the shipment contract, believing that her family was still in a better position to carry out the contract. Genevieve had not got to her position by political manoeuvring alone, she in truth was happy being the deputy director before the old director moved on chasing adventure society positions in bigger more influential cities. She had no such ambitions herself, content to serve the city she was in until her tenure ran out and someone else wanted the job that was suitable. With the obstreperous woman opposite her she often wondered about early retirement and living as just another vaunted ex adventurer silver ranker in the city. She held up a hand to cut off the ceaseless tirade coming from the other womans mouth, she wondered if the other woman truly believe that she could just wear down the director with words until she gave in. Mrs Whipparrel please stop. When you first came in this office I already informed you the contract is in progress, it is intractable and as such I have no mechanism of bringing them back even if I wanted to. The nature of the contract is always left to the individual to pursue how they feel best, in this instance the team felt best to practice subtlety, a grace with which more people could benefit from in my opinion. She looked pointedly at the other woman. Well what team was it, I may know people who may get in touch with them. She huffed, clutching at straws. It is not within my purview to have to tell you what adventurers have taken contracts, we have been over this, the contract is between the society, the individual and the subject who posted the contract. None of which are house Whipparell or its allies. The woman curled her top lip and recrossed her legs angrily. Well its not hard to work out, I know you dont think much of those who dont attend your beloved Academy Annex but we can still work out a little riddle like this. A substantive, team, including a two star, all bronze rank. That Mitchell team is the only ones that havent been seen for days. The director hung her head, her first sign of fatigue at the barrage. Trinette, what are you after, Im not going to make you any concessions here today, if you are truly after the contract you should know I cant stop them. It takes a significant reason to withdraw a contract in progress and I dont feel you have the justification. Well I feel I do, the families are far more established than that team and we can pool our bronze rankers. Do you even have enough bronze rankers in the city at the moment? We have spoken to some of our close families that are in the towns surrounding and we have the quality that you are after. The director very much doubted that the bronze rankers they were scraping from the bottom of the barrel of backwaters towns in a low magic area were really going to be the quality for this contract but she didnt say anything. I insist that you contact the team to hold them at a point on the route and our team can take the contract off their hands so they do not have to struggle with it any further. The director placed her hands down on the desk in front of her to emphasise the end of her tolerance for the conversation. How many times must I say this? They. Are. Not. Contactable. At that moment there was a knock on the door and a timid girl let herself in, a new secretary that just started working there. Madam Director? Theres a call on your private waterlink chamber, you asked to be told when the Mitchells made contact. The director stood and stared daggers at the girl, her aura turned frosty and the girl flinched as if stung. In the back of her mind the Director remembered that she was a heavily insisted hire from the house Stanfish, one of the families in the bloc opposed to the annex and held under house Whipparrels influence. Thank you. The Director clipped at the girl and she fled the room. Turning to Trinette who was smiling like a cat who had the cream. If youll excuse me I need to take this call, I think we are done here for today. Oh Genevieve I really should come with you, my family has been doing the maintenance on the system this week due to all the blackouts and errors, I can see firsthand incase it stops working. The thinly veiled threat of sabotaging the call if she wasnt involved was an obvious play. In the game of politics they batted back and forth it was a bold step, an overreach that gave the Director room to riposte in the future. But as it stood she was backed in a corner without option. The families were responsible for most of the labourers in the city and the Adventure Society campus relied on them, when things hadnt been going the families way they started finding a shortage of workers and lots of repairs needing doing or facilities failing. The fact that Trinette hadnt been in a waterlink chamber other than for making or receivinga call and had no idea how to maintain one was irrelevant. This way then. She contained her roiling emotion, her aura was almost painful to be around but she limited it to just her and Trinette, making the core-using, mostly untrained woman to sway slightly with wooziness. They made their way out the back of the office, the Director had a small room barely big enough for the two of them completely made up of the green marble the region was famous for. The adventure society deemed the cost to be necessary for the Director to have direct communications with nearby branches incase of emergency and to the continental council. They went in and waited a moment for the chamber to connect. Two mounds of water rose from the pool on the floor. They knew the opposite was happening far away in the linked chamber. The mounds took on a human shape and then became defined as people. The water looked to solidify and took on colour, the facsimile of the two Mitchell women was perfect, as if they were really in the room. Strange how this is the best connection Ive had in weeks Genevieve muttered under her breath. Oh Im so glad we were able to help. Trinette whispered back in a false concerned voice. Genevieve addressed the adventurers in front of her. Good day Mitchells. With me here is Mrs Trinette Whipparrel, I dont think youve had the pleasure of meeting her yet, albeit she has insisted heavily that should happen. She let that sink in for a beat. Her family is one of the largest in Greenstone and are specialists in waterlink chamber upkeep and repair and as we have been having connectivity issues she kindly insisted on being here today to assure the quality of the call. She was impressed that the Mitchells nonplussed faces, she knew that they must be communicating on their handy interface and was confident that they understood the situation. Good day Madam Director. Lucy said. We are just checking in that the contract is going well with no delays, we are aware that these connections are expensive and we have reversed the charges to the adventure society branch so will be brief. Very well, if there is nothing to report then please be on your way. The Mitchells nodded and Lucy raised a hand in farewell, the water splashed back into the pool as Trinette tried to speak. Wait! She realised the connection had terminated and turned to the director. We didnt find out where they were communicating from. No. We didnt, now my thanks for your expertise in making sure the chamber is functional but I do have a lot of other work and appointments. The director marched her to the door and firmly shut it behind her. Trinette was met in a back alley in the adventure society campus by the Stanfish girl and a magic maintenance man from another of the families. Lucinda, you did well, that was an excellent opportunity you took advantage of and I will inform your mother. Now, what did we discover? They are in Yorsh, I cannot tell you more than that. The man said quickly, eyes dancing around, spying on the call would definitely get him fired and worse. Unseen to the trio in the alley a dark shape peeled off the roof nearby and fled with the information Chapter 55 ‘Crebain’ The town of Yorsh was minuscule in comparison to Greenstone, which was in turn, small compared to Vitesse, the towers of flowers that dominated the skyline in Vitesse were truly impressive. The green-stone bridge that connected old city and the island at Greenstone was also truly impressive. Yorshs best attraction was the fountain in the town square, surrounded by squat buildings. The girls had gone around the market stalls that surrounded it and more than a few of the vendors once they realised the Mitchells were visitors had proudly pointed out the green stone fountain, they obviously didnt realise how much of the special stone was used in the city as they were now a few weeks normal travel away from the port city named after the stone. At the market stalls the girls had replenished their food, clearing out a few of the vendors making their day, they had the ability to store any food at the exact condition it was when it entered their storage. This meant that they cleared out ingredients for cooking and cooked food alike. They had cleared out most of their money on buying fourth stage crystal from Charlie before heading back to the city. In the weeks since they had managed to earn themselves quite a lot of money already. Four active adventurers earning adventurer money and they all looted from their kills meant that they were always flush. Kyra went around the non-essential stalls, turning over trinkets and feeling cloth. The stall owners were nervous in front of such a beautiful and powerful bronze rank woman, confused why she would be interested in their non-magical wares. She bought a good selection, adding it to storage and moving on. Lucy found a local bookstore and had a good peruse at what was on offer, a large selection of maps were present and she bought them all, knowing they could add them to Teddys mapping power, even if they were multiple maps of the same area with different interest points he could select and unselect layers on the interface to show relevant information. After the book store Lucy visited the local smith. In such a small town he was a jack-of-all trades, beating metal and fixing enchantments. Wile Kyra looked over silks and rugs Lucy had a long chat with the man to see how he did things differently out here in the remote town, Greenstone still being their nearest city at a few weeks walk. They exchanged some tips and he gave her a book on survival enchantments. She insisted on paying him, and paying more than it was worth, along with that she bought some of his wares that he had put interesting enchantments on that she could reverse engineer using the table she had picked up from the magic society on their last trip to the city. Lucy went out to the main square again to find at least three vendors following Kyra at a short distance wares in hand, they had realised she was pretty free with the cash and not that bothered what she bought. Lucy rolled her eyes and went and grabbed her by the elbow and steered her towards the town centre building. When they took out the contract the Director and Deputy mentioned it would be good to hear from them as they were getting on to ensure it was going to plan. Such an expensive, dangerous and high target cargo had them worried. The girls found that the mayor of the town had a beat up old water link that was used for official business. They had negotiated some time on it to get word back and were fleeced for the time, a little bit ruthless but the girls werent too bothered, keen on not making a big splash they just accepted the charge and put it to the adventure society. When they had got into the chamber they saw the water rise and two barely distinguishable people stood in front of them with bits of water dashing out of them then being replaced. They now understood what a poorly maintained water link chamber was like. They managed to recognise the Director but had no idea who the other woman was, and after the Director had explained they tried to remember the details of her face for the future but the connection made it difficult. After their conversation they rushed back to the Serenity and relayed it back to the boys and they told them to get back straight away. Then soon after they were racing away from the town as fast as they could, at almost a right angle to where they needed to be going. All four Mitchells were in the wheelhouse. I just had a bad feeling about it you know? We made a lot of effort to make sure we were not being followed and being stealthy and now theres some random woman on the call. Teddy said. We didnt mention what town we were in, all those water chambers look the same right? Kyra said hope in her voice. Does anyone know anything about those water link chambers? Can they be traced? Teddy asked the others, when he looked around there was a row of shaking heads of uncertainty. Itll be fine. James said, clapping him on the shoulder. We now realise the error, in the future we wont make the same mistake again, we can leave notes in the towns to be delivered days after we leave, notes that go from one town to the next before they get to Greenstone, messengers to travel from non-water link towns to ones that are. Well manage Lucy looked at James with a raised eyebrow. Since when have you been so sneaky. Well you never found where I hid the Christmas presents every year. I managed to get your ring size and propose with you none the wiser. He said smugly. Sure you did Lucy replied, giving Kyra a knowing smile and nudging her elbow. Teddy and Kyra got married first a few years before the others and Kyra and Lucy had been good friends and confidants for years before James got around to proposing. There was a good chance they had found evidence of ring choice or present ordering and gossiped about it. Either way if he managed to keep secrets before or if its something new hes right. Interrupting before James could take offence and argue back. We need to put as much distance between us and the town as quickly as possible, we go back to shifts, you two get you heads down, Ill get us as far as we can go through daylight then you guys can take it overnight again if youre happy. James and Lucy bumped fists and headed to the back to go down the staircase to the lower decks, just before they got there Lucy remembered Kyra had something for her. K, did you have that rug you said you didnt mind us having? Sure, Its in our room, its, She paused for a moment. Its now unlocked, help yourself. Lucy held onto the rail on the steep staircase out of habit, her balance was better than it ever had been, superhuman compared to earth, the vehicle barely swayed as the magical suspension without the wheels took the force out of the ground and the turns. The rail was smooth and cold under her touch, the staircase elegantly curled around to the middle deck then a second staircase went down from the centre to the lower deck. The stairs were made of the same fourth stage crystal, they looked like blue steeled glass but gripped like they were covered in sandpaper. Turning left at the bottom deck she was on the drop deck at the back, a foot above the bottom of the vehicle which was only hovering three or four feet above the ground which was racing past at what must have been over a hundred miles an hour she guessed. The drop deck had storage on the wallsthat the buggies folded flat into, with room for them to deploy and be driven off the back. She made her way inside, popped her head into one of the spare rooms to see the lashed down cargo, still solidly secured and not going anywhere. She went forward to the two cabins at the front, she went into Teddy and Kyras and was shocked. The whole room was covered in silks, rugs, tapestries and paintings. Art work and decorations from everywhere they had been. There was a tapestry of Greenstone, the scene captured from the air that must have been expensive to be made by an essence user with a flight power in that area. She had a tapestry of a desert landscape she must have found of Boko, the town that James had visited near Charlies workshop in the desert. There was a painting depicting the giant towers of Vitesse, covered in flowers with colours so vibrant it was hard to look away. There was a small vase with a painting of the town Yorsh they had just left on her bedside table. She found the rug that she was promised rolled up stacked against the bed. As she grabbed it she felt the silk sheets with the back of her knuckles. Her bronze rank sense made everything feel more, the wind held more scents and her skin could feel the threads of her clothes. The bedsheets felt amazing and she made a note to ask Kyra where she got them from. She took the rug and headed into hers and James room. The cabin was spartan by comparison, they had a few things out that werent in storage but they definitely couldnt say they had decorated. The crystal room was made of shades of blue, the huge window that took up almost the entire of one wall was mirrored from the outside so it couldnt be seen through and they could dim it from the outside to sleep through the day. To top it off there was a huge, hairy, beardy naked man lying on the bed in what he thought mustve been a seductive pose. She shook her head in disappointment thinking of next door and thought she really needed to make the room prettier. On the top deck Kyra and Teddy watched the Do Not Disturb signs go up over Jame and Lucys communication icons and rolled their eyes. They pushed the Serenity as fast as it would go, feeding it a bronze rank coin every few hours. They managed to kill a pair of monsters on the way just by smashing through them. The defences of the ship at the moment mostly consisted of physical damage to anything which touched it. Teddy had to jump off and teleport back on board to loot both of the monsters. When night rolled around they felt the others auras coming out of their bedroom, the privacy on the room blocked outside spying in. They sat on the front deck. The terrain had opened up to a stretch of salt flat. Teddy had throttled it back slightly but was unwilling to stop to eat so compromised, Lucky was back in the drivers seat driving the Serenity, truth was Teddy had locked the controls in place and was keeping a close eye out front and knew he was fast enough to get to the controls if something came in front of them. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They unwrapped sandwiches in paper, takeaways from the Schooner and had a bottle of ale each from the gastro pub in the heart of the city. They chatted and Teddy explained to James the sort of ground they had been covering during the day so he knew what to expect overnight. He had turned them back on track for the mission and they were making fantastic progress even with the lack of road, there was a main highway they were due to meet up with in a day or so when they deemed it safe enough to use. Interestingly the maps they had been given by Vincent for the trip almost exclusively used roads. They figured that was because the threat was normally so much lower. Kyra and Teddy headed belowdeck with the setting sun, they peeked in on the potential bomb they were transporting, making sure it was all tucked in for the night then headed to bed. Teddy and Kyra were woken up by a frantic message on the interface that even gave them a haptic buzz with the urgency. Well thats new. Teddy muttered, suddenly fully alert from being deeply asleep. [GET UP NOW!! GET UP HERE!!] James exclaimed on the group chat. [TEDDY!! Jack-in-the-Box protocol. NOW!] Lucy wrote. [I thought we were calling it missile silo protocol?!] Teddy complained, but he was already moving. He was still in his battle robes and he flung the covers back and jumped up onto the bed, he crouched in a superhero pose and exploded upwards. The decking of the Serenity irised apart to allow him through both decks above him. He exploded into the air and took stock around him. Between Lucys aura of enhancing thinking and decision speed, his aura of slowing enemies directly attacking him, Eyes of the Swift his perception power which could slow down time to his perception he saw what was happening. All around him in the air were bats, grotesquely muscled bats the size of Shetland ponies. Roughly two dozen all swarming and diving at the top deck. Lucy and James had closed the roof which was impenetrable to the bats but they hadnt tested how long that would last, two bats were lying dead on the deck from the Serenitys defensive resistance. Lucy was opening sections to fire missiles and James was flinging snakes into the dark to try and hit them while steering towards a shallow group of trees to make it harder for the bats. Teddy could see what looked like a little battery pack crudely attached to the outside of the bats with thick cables connecting to them. He saw Lechuza, almost paused mid dive, wings pinned back and talons leading but high enough to not be effected by what he was planning. His Eyes of the Swift power had a new trick now that it was bronze rank. Ability: [Eyes of the swift] (Swift) Special ability (perception, time) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (20%) Effect (iron): When activated slows down movement to your perception to make real time appear slower. Effect (bronze): Perception of movement around the user is even slower, almost stationary. Bronze rank effect now shows the ghost of future movement based on the current speed and trajectory of the surroundings of the user. This is not a precognitive ability and is only based on current perception of surroundings. User can use this effect to produce their own ghost movement, plotting their next move to the limit of their perception. Effect increased with minor threshold advancement. He saw that the move he planned had Lechuza outside the blast radius then used his new armour for the first time. He hadnt known what to think of the bracers from Hero, everyone else had something very personalised to themselves, Lucys wand holster, James storage pouch to not have to rely on animals in inconvenient places (Teddy had seen a mouse in the pouch and could swear his brothers princess power worked from inside the pocket) and Kyra got magical divine jewellery, nothing suited her more. The bracers were just good armour to Teddy but he realised that with his speed they were incredibly versatile. Which the strength of the armour made by a god he would rely on them to block almost any attack from bronze rank and a lot from silver. He had thought of this move from the first time he had read the description, if he had time he would have winced at what his brother would say, he hadnt told him about the move and he hadnt asked to see the description of the item yet. Item: [Bracers of Defiance] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: The wearer may bring the bracers to bare against physical and magical attacks. When brought together the bracers form a shield of force in front of the wearer to block incoming attacks, when struck together enemies will feel the force of defiance. Lesser magical attacks may be absorbed through one bracer and returned from the other. James had glanced and read the description enough to comment it was ironic a god was giving him a gift of defiance and moved on. Teddy was in a still world, frozen in mid air, his superhero crouch had turned into a superhero jump. He had one leg straight and the other slightly bent, both feet had toes pointed down, his robes billowed around him and the apex of his jump and arms akimbo. He planned his next move and the march of time resumed. Quicker than the eye could follow he smashed his forearms in front of him in an X shape. A blast wave of energy originating from Teddy exploded outwards, searing the skin of any enemy it touched, leaving it raw like it had been burnt with jet fuel. The force of the blast scattered the bat-like monsters away from the Serenity, several of the packs strapped to the monsters broke and the monsters screamed in pain and spiralled down dead. The monsters that didnt die outright were limping along, barely staying airbourne moments after Teddy appeared. Lechuza plummeted into them, snatching one in each talon and viciously ripping into them, Lucy coordinated her attack with Teddy and Lechuza and snapped the roof of the Serenity back to bring a pair of rune circles to bear, one in front of the other, the magic missile from her hand hit the first and fragmented into dozens of whirling blue razor-blade discs, they hit the second circle and crackled with electricity. They homed in on the bats, cutting into wings and muscle, further reducing their ability to fly. Lightning arced between them. James was conspicuous in his absence in the fight, concentrating on driving, Kyra joined them from the back of the vehicle, throwing conjured diamond spears but struggling in the dark. Suddenly the lights built into the crystal glowed in the wheelhouse. Shit. Kyra said as she got to James. Teddy took a moment from throwing his shards of darkness to look at the interface, James head health indicator was red. Looking in the wheelhouse there was also a lot of red. James blood was pooling on the floor underneath him, a lot of blood, more than one body should be able to hold. Kyra hit him with a Life Charge and grabbed the steering wheel with him, holding the Serenity straight so it wouldnt crash. James groggily let her, just about holding on. [What happened?] Kyra asked. [We were attacked from behind, I was scouting out to the front, about to circle back when they hit. They kamikazed the wheelhouse, theres two dead in the blood at his feet but they both hit the back of his head.] Lucy replied. Kyra watched his stats on the interface take a significant uptick from the healing and the ongoing healing effect from her power. She summoned a spear and put her back to he chair, trusting him to be with it enough to drive while she defended him from further attack. They took out the last few monsters and Lechuza chased the last one which had the sense to try and flee. The Serenity came to a stop as soon as they were safe and Kyra took James out of the chair, carried him clear of his own blood on the floor then put him down on the top deck. It looked comical the short slender woman carrying the seven foot bodybuilder shaped man like a baby but her earth essence made her far stronger than she looked. Lucy, did you kill any before I came up? No, other than those two in the wheelhouse I hadnt started yet. Kyra, leave him, hes going to be fine, get behind the wheel, spin it round, we need to get back to where they began attacking us. Hurry! Lucy show us where you were. Teds, whats going on?! Kyra said, moving to the wheelhouse while she asked him. Those are someones Crebain! We need to get the fuck out of here before someone realises theyre not coming back. Teddy slow down, you need to explain what youre so worked up about. Lucy said. Crebain, Sarumans crows, just before Saruman tried to bring down the damn mountain. There was a pause in is explanation while they all saw a notification appear. Congratulations. You have named a new monster. Nomenclature chosen: [Crebain]. Will apply to this genus at this rank. Well damn, thats how that works. Anyway, theyre someones scout-class monster, I dont think they will know what has happened for a while. I need to see what those things are attached to them. He stopped and started ripping the devices off the monster at his feet. Lucy directed Kyra while she drove, the dead monsters forming an X on the minimap that Teddy displayed on the blank space next to the controls. Teddy turned the mechanical unit this way and that then rushed downstairs to the second spare room where they had set up a workshop. By the time the girls had collected up the dead monsters Teddy came back up. Did you collect a unit for each monster? Teddy said as soon as he saw the pile. Yes we did, theres nothing left behind. Lucy said. Hows the big dude? Teddy said to Kyra as she hovered over him. Im fine, sorry I wasnt much help, got sucker punched. No worries, we can ditch those monsters overboard and loot them as long as we keep hold of the mechanical units. They were all stung a little by the stink of rainbow smoke. Did someone get a little excited and jump the gun? James asked. No dude, its just you should shower more, thats eau-de-James. Teddy said, pointing towards the wheelhouse and the faint drift of rainbow smoke coming from where there was previously a pool of James blood. Essence users when they reached far enough in rank became intrinsically more magical. The Mitchells got a jump on the game by being outworlders, along with perks like not having to breathe and an absence of their internal organs making them less vulnerable to certain attacks. Their flesh was made entirely of magic, once the blood had been separated from the body for long enough it turned to rainbow smoke like a monster did. Laugh it up, I know I was hit in the head but I distinctively remember a bald Wonder Woman jump up from the deck and bang her magical bracers together. Teddy groaned, knowing that he was never going to hear the end of this. Content they were leaving a clean scene behind them Teddy put Lucy behind the wheel, fed the beast a bronze rank coin and got her to push it as hard as she dared. Chapter 56 ‘But the dude can’t fly…’ The Mitchells were in full flight. They were regretting their check-in with the adventure society and wouldnt be making the same mistake again. No one was resting, fully expecting another attack now that they had been caught by the first. Teddy had inspected the mechanical parts attached to the monsters. He had surprised James when he went below decks to check on him to find three or four variants of the machines and parts of others. He had deduced that the origin was all the same and either they had to be adapted per monster or there were design variations based on the makers, he now had enough variants from different areas. Firstly the attack on the cliff face in the desert on the way back from Charlies, then the attack on the adventure society dock in Greenstone and now from the terrifying bat monsters that were chasing them. He had small sample vials of the chemicals from each but lacked the alchemical knowledge to interrogate their properties. The interface unhelpfully labelled them very basically. Blue reagent. Used in the manipulation of Monster behaviour. Red reagent. Used in the manipulation of Monster behaviour. He had tested the machines every which way he could think of to make sure they werent transmitting so that they hadnt made an error in picking them up. The room was very secure, the inbuilt protective properties of the fourth stage crystal blocking all but the most powerful senses from going through it and they contained anything originating from inside at a simple control input from Teddy. James was leaning on the edge of the bench while Teddy worked on gently dismantling one of the boxes. He was idly turning over a tool inspecting it, it was a small ball-peen hammer which looked tiny in his massive hands. It was made of what looked like pressed chain mail, each link was a different metal and he could l sense the different magics in it. That there youre holding is two months rent in the most expensive apartment in Greenstone. Teddy said without looking up from his work. James very gently put the hammer back on the shadowboard on the wall that had the outline of the hammer. It magically adhered so it wouldnt be thrown off during hard driving manoeuvres. James could see Teddy was struggling to get inside the box and up into a small latch that would release the panel, he tried a few tools but none had the right knack. James leant over and extended a finger towards the box, as he got near his nail elongated into a bird talon, the end slender and curved almost all the way round, he slipped it into the box and there was a click as he undid the latch. Handy. Teddy said in thanks and pulled the piece off exposing a system of pumps and valves. So missile silo protocol? James asked Teddy. Teddy looked slightly abashed. Yeah, we were thinking of different ways the Serenity would be adaptable while we were making it. We knew we would be taking it some dangerous places and thought about being caught with our pants down. The bedroom windows can fully retract at command and if youre standing on the floor you can eject out the bottom, the exit out the top only works if there is no one above you. Meeting each other halfway would be undesirable. What other tricks has the Serenity got that Kyra and I dont know about? Not many, the camouflage and the defences youve seen. It seems to be almost infinitely modular so we can add more defences to it as we go. Lucy and I havent been working on upgrades as much recently due to other interests. James looked at the pieces on the bench. Are you getting anywhere with this stuff? I dont know, its definitely not my speciality but the amount of skill books Ive eaten by now mean that I have a ridiculous breadth of knowledge of artifice. Its strange looking at an item you know nothing about then knowledge that you didnt know you had comes to the front of your mind. It appears to be like an insulin pump from Earth, there is a monitoring unit which assesses the level of chemical input, I assume this is what they use to control the monsters, if the level drops too low it adjusts the level. Its far too complicated than I can figure out on a alchemical level. He gestured at the dozen sample vials hung above the bench all different colours and consistency. It works by pulling the blood from the monster into it to asses and I assume that the inherent magic of the monster powers the device. [Teddy, James, weve found that road.] Lucy said from the top deck. The boys packed everything away so it wouldnt roll with the vehicle movement then headed up. Taking the internal stairs so they went through the middle deck and the lounge area then the kitchen, picking up some fruit each so when they appeared on the top deck they were both munching away. They met the girls in the wheelhouse and passed them some fruit. Looking out to the front they saw a wide highway. Completely empty it stretched in a dead straight line. They had discussed this as an option. On the one hand it was a fantastic opportunity for the enemy to ambush them but on the other it was ideal for putting speed on. It was on the original maps that Vincent had supplied for the contract. In the end they had agreed to give it a go. They were joining the road at a random point over halfway through its length. After a week of travel they were over a third of the way through the first objective. A day or two on this road would comfortably push them over halfway. Teddy opened the map on the blank console next to the driving station so the others could see. Greenstone was based on the south west coast of the continent that was roughly the same as Africa from Earth. Their first objective was on the north east tip on the continent roughly where the Suez Canal went through Egypt. They had come north along the west coast quite far then cut across almost to the east coast, trying to set a random pattern so as not to be tracked. They were now just south of what they would recognise as Kenya. The road was marked on the map and they saw it came to a giant lake before splitting off either side. The suggested route was marked on in see through colour like a highlighter. The lake that was marked was the size of a small country. So I suggest we head up this road, dont stop anywhere along the length then head straight over the lake instead of around it. That will throw off any pursuers that dont have an amphibious capability. Teddy drew a different coloured line on the map with his finger. The difficulty was that they didnt know the capabilities of their pursuers and it was easy to dismiss achievable countermeasures by believing the enemy to be the boogy-man. They were now almost on the road, it was a dark reddy-brown colour made of interlocking stones. It had no road markings on it that they could see and they had no idea if it had specific rules for use. Lucy handed over the controls to Teddy and he took the Serenity over the low wall that bordered the road and turned to follow the highway. He pulled a few control levers and they felt the wheels smoothly unfold below them and they felt a small rise as they took the weight of the vehicle. There was a noticeable acceleration. Run this by me again, why are we now using wheels if we are in a higher magic density area? Kyra said. The gearing and wheel system that Teddy and Charlie designed was due to the cost of using a highly magical vehicle in a low density area. It allows the vehicle to eke the most of its performance without being expensive. The same applies now, the wheels take a lot of the magical power out of the propulsion that was good when we didnt want to leave groundsign, now on a hard road we can take that power used for hovering and turn it into even more speed. Lucy explained. Teddy locked the controls in, the steering would adapt within reason to keep them on the highway, not knowing which side of the road to take Teddy chose the right hand side. He had the normal throttle all the way forward, they had all taken turns at driving the Serenity and the controls were numerous but now second nature. There were levers for manipulating the bearing of the craft in relation to the floor, they could raise or lower the nose or tilt the craft this way and that while driving straight. There was a control panel for onboard accessories, basic things like opening the windows on the middle deck or tinting them. There were the active camouflage features, the canopy, basic autopilot and a few other tricks. Next to the normal throttle for speed was a second shorter lever, it was spring loaded but had gates that could be locked into place. This second lever was for burst speed, complete with a button on the side to direct damage causing energy to the bow of the vessel, turning it into a magically dangerous battering ram. All the controls were made of the same fourth stage crystal material as the rest of the ship but had wood or leather embellishments. With the controls set Teddy spun the chair to face the team. Ok guys, this is probably the most dangerous route we could be on, anyone we come across whether they mean to or not could give away who we are and where we are. We need a scout out at all times, James if you and Lechuza can switch out as airbourne scouts, well have one person at the bow of the Serenity and one at the stern, last person is on rest. If were clever then we can keep going night and day, its too dangerous to stop on the road or find time to pull off at night. Not a problem, Ive got my shape change power ready to go and Ive been trying to think creatively how I could do some more scouting from above. Hows Lechuza doing? Shes been airbourne for a while now? James said, turning to Lucy. Shes ok, shes been upset since we got hit by the Crebain. She hasnt been herself, blames herself for not seeing them coming. Well tell her to come in, no sense in burning out. There was a pause where there was obviously a mental back and forth between Lucy and Lechuza, Lucys eyebrows furrowed and then relaxed. She was resistant but shes comi Lucy was hit in the back by a missile of feathers, her eyes developed the tell-tale tattoos around them as she staggered forward slightly with the impact. Yeh, shes not happy about it. She said recovering. Shes not really someone Id want to piss off. James said. Were going to need you up dude, call me paranoid but Im sure theres people out to get us. James nodded at Teddy then got up and walked to the front of the Serenity. Lucy if you want to take a break first well take first watch then rotate in a few hours? K, do you want heads or tails? Lucy high fived Kyra on her way to the back of the deck. Ill take the rear deck, no point throwing boulders or raising walls the way were headed. Really Ted, if youre going to be team leader then you should know your teams strengths. She teased him. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. James was laughing at the exchange at the edge of the deck. Laugh it up fuzz ball. Get away and do your pigeon impression. Still chortling James transformed his legs, they looked like a scaled version of kangaroo legs that Teddy had never seen on an animal before but James did a lot more research into Pallimustus animals than the rest of them. He shot off the blue crystal deck forwards and upwards like a rocket. Far up in the sky ahead of the Serenity he transformed into the Thunder Bird again, the giant brown and white bird was even bigger than the time he had transformed into it at Charlies workshop. The air crackled with static and even from the distance that he was the fine hair that wasnt tied back in a long braid on Kyras head stood on end, Teddy could feel his arm hair inside his sleeves react. The Thunder Bird had half a dozen tail feathers that were far longer than the bulk of the tail, five times as long they curled and waved in the air behind him as he soared in the air, the crackle of electricity hummed between them. They could see the tell-tale glint of the metal on the leading edge of the wing, reinforced by his vambrace power. While he had the materials to upgrade it his Vambrace was still only iron rank and so where the bulk of his powers for it, fortunately his eagle wing engraving was done by a silver-almost-gold rank artist and the power it could take was as much as James could pump into it. James flapped, gaining an incredible amount of momentum from just one flap. He quickly rocketed up into the air becoming hard to spot and sped in front of the vehicle. Teddy and Kyra found that they were both staring up at James instead of being on lookout and gave each other an affectionate kiss before heading off. Teddy walked past the comfy chairs to sit right on the tip of the Serenity, dangling his legs either side of the bow and looking out ahead. Kyra went down the stairs to the drop deck, she pulled out one of the buggies from flat storage, making sure it was orientated facing backwards and pulling it out onto the short back drop deck she sat in the comfy passenger chair and looked out over the top of a heavy academic book on advanced healing techniques. The Mitchells were lucky that they werent isolated while they were like this, multiple conversations were happening at all times. They were able to discuss tactics and group ideas on various scratch pads, there was a forum for tactics, one for upgrade ideas for Serenity, places to visit and even a good old fashioned shopping list. Teddy and Lucy were talking about side projects in the crafting room downstairs where Lucy was right now even though she was resting. Kyra and James were talking about trying to do some sparring on the top deck later, knowing that the rear lounge area flat-packed into the deck. Teddy and James were chatting about a book series they were both into, hoping the author was wide spread enough to find other than Greenstone, the lack of mass media and internet meant that it relied on a decent publisher to spread the novels wide. A few hours later James Inner Beast went on cooldown, he smoothly shifted into his normal human shape then transformed both arms into eagle wings, again his vambrace boost helped him out, the magic of the boost magically enhanced the gliding effect, enabling him to stay airbourne for longer even though he wasnt physically suited to it. It took another hour for James to glide down to meet the Serenity. The height that he had achieved meant that he could work out a glide angle that allowed him enough forward speed to not be left behind. He alighted on the deck behind Teddy who watched him in the last twenty feet. You know, at some point Id like to have a go with that Inner Beast power, none of us have yet because of the long cooldown but Id love to see the world from the view of a bird, see the freedom. Its pretty special, but an odd mind-set. When were not on the run then go for it. They stayed on the front deck chatting for a while and James noticed Teddy kept glancing up into the sky above. Go on, whatre you thinking? James asked after a while. I have an idea but it might not work, you can see much more from up there cant you? Yeah, you can see for miles, Im pretty sure I couldve gone higher and seen more but would have lost any chance of seeing detail. Im going to give my thing a go, do me a favour, hang around in the wheelhouse for a minute incase you need to turn to catch me? James smiled broadly at the idea of Teddy falling out of the sky and lounged in the big captains chair. Teddy had walked back with him, he now took a run towards the front, using every burst of speed and his Wraiths Dash to speed off the front of the Serenity. He opened a rift in front of him and shot through, the destination rift was high in the air, as high and as far forward as he could make it. James wondered what the plan was here. But the dude cant fly he muttered to himself, wondering what his brothers next step would be. Teddy shot into the air, slightly disoriented from the rapid change in perspective from altitude, luckily the road was an excellent marker to anchor his view. He used his Winged Feet power for everything it was worth, it allowed him slow fall which didnt effect his forward speed only his downward rate. The power allowed him to step on mid-air which he used in conjunction with his Wraiths Dash again, he had effectively kept running from the deck even though he had changed altitude so his incredible speed from the Swift essence had allowed him to just about keep up with the Serenity. James noticed that his brother was chaining together his mobility powers in an enviably successful way. But he still should have been falling faster than that. He looked closer, using his perception powers and noticed in the blur that was Teddys feet that his boots were a sky blue colour, the soles a slightly darker grey colour. The only time that he had seen his brothers boots turn blue was when he fed them water quintessence, enabling him to walk on water, he knew that the boots he had commissioned at the academy only allowed him to walk on water or sand so made a note to ask Teddy about these. There came a point where Teddy couldnt stay high enough, he was also losing speed. When the advantage of observation was lost he teleported back to the Serenity, it had taken a good half an hour. Instead of stopping he sprinted the length of the deck and started it all over again. He managed to last almost an hour this time, having finessed the technique a little. When he was low enough he had to rift jump onto the Serenity as his teleport was on cool-down. This time he jogged to a stop as he came out of the rift. He had pre-warned Lucy that she was up for scouting duties and she met them on the top deck. The boots dude? James asked. Oh, well I maybe commissioned a new pair almost exactly the same. Teddy replied a little embarrassed. I was quite attached to the first pair and asked for the same at bronze rank, except these have extra quintessence abilities. Like air quintessence? Exactly, but its pretty expensive, compared to some other quintessence I mean. They rotated like this for the rest of the day, into the night and most of the next day. In the afternoon Lucy was just coming back on shift when they noticed what she had been working on. Her gift from Hero was a leather holster. It secured around her waist on a decorative leather belt but could be switched out for any other belt, it strapped around her upper thigh for security to stop it flapping about when she was fighting. The holster had slots for wands that enabled them to fan out, they had practiced sparring while she was wearing it and she had accidentally taken a hit directly to the holster, not only did the holster absorb the hit but none of the wands were dislodged, it took a deliberate move from Lucy to pull a wand. Standing proudly in a slot was a wand they didnt recognise. Lu, I definitely would have seen you use that wand before, why do you have the elder wand, stroke death stick, stroke wand of destiny?! Teddy said excitedly. Lucy moved to finger the wand nervously, smiling. Well I was trying to make it look good and that was the only wand that I could think of. So what does it do? Kyra asked, having heard the conversation and coming up to the top deck to chat while keeping an eye out behind. Well I took a bit of inspiration from here and there if Im honest, physical construction and a lot of the materials that went into it are from the dimension branch of magic, dimensional space theory and what Teddys wanna-be lightsaber does. Then I took a bit of construction magic. Construction magic?! James interrupted. Well we wanted to pick up skill book of every flavour so we werent picky. So theres some demolition magic in there as well. So what does it do? Kyra asked again. Lucy shared the description: Item: [Death Stick] (bronze rank, legendary) A wand crafted with enthusiasm, the destructive properties imbued within cannot be contained by the construct materials and may not be used without impunity to both the user and the item. (Magical item, Weapon, Wand). This item may not be used without the correct essence abilities to use magic items. [WARNING] This item may cause damage to the user. Effect: With the wand only exposed at the tip it causes a blast of percussive energy with disruptive force. (1/3 uses per blast) Effect: With the first two modules exposed in addition to the first effect will cause a blast of magical damage with resonating force. (2/3 uses per blast) Effect: With all three modules exposed; in addition to the first two effects will cause a blast of dimensional damage, with resistances weakened by both disruptive and resonating force damage the target will be susceptible to localised intense portal effects. (3/3 uses per blast) (200/200 uses left) It kinda blows bloody great holes in things. Unfortunately it was my first attempt so I didnt get it quite right and its a limited use item I dont know whatll happen to it when it gets to zero charges, itll either be refillable or itll explode in my hand. Is it safe for you to use this? Thats a fairly obvious warning. James said with concern. I should be safe to use it, my Magical Artisan ability allows me to push items beyond their ability, in this case it means I can use it without having any backlash but I wouldnt recommend it to anyone else without my specific power-set. Ill have to figure out where in the process I went wrong before I make my next wand. Her brow furrowed in thought, already trying to figure it out. And what was that about localised intense portals? I thought there was a drama that you cant force people through portals if they dont want to go? Teddy asked. Well how do you think your dimension blade works? Well it Ive never really thought about it to be honest. Youre not trying to send the soul through, this strays into soul theory which I think Kyra has been dabbling in for her advanced healing theory study. Kyra nodded along. Correct me if Im wrong but the soul being inviolable means that it cannot be forced through a portal without acquiescence, the dimension effects produced by your dimension blade, rift powers and my new wand after studying your powers create a discongruity between body and soul. The resulting catastrophic deviation of physical material from the soul matrix model of the body causes a greater than usual impairment to the target. By no means irreversible but more devastating than the wound appears. Err. James said, looking puzzled. Same stab wound but more hit points dude. Gotcha. Whilst they were talking Teddy moved over to the blank section next to the drivers station, as soon as he put the 3D map up they saw the lake much closer than they had thought. They all looked up and saw in the near distance the lake at the end of the wide road. The road split in a T junction at the water, with the road going around the lake. The plan was from here they would blast straight across the lake to the far side. Teddy took the wheel, he manipulated the relevant levers and the Serenity slowed slightly and the wheels folded inwards, hovering under its own power. They got to the end of the road and he pulled another lever, the bow angled up and the Serenity gracefully launched over the water. They were all thrown forward as the Serenity was suddenly caught in the air. It went from well over a hundred miles an hour to stationary in a instant. The reflexes of the bronze rankers saved them from serious injury, everyone except Teddy who had the magical seatbelt effect on the drivers chair were thrown forward. They had the time to look back and saw a rod that looked like gnarled wood rising out of the bank just outside the water, from there was a tether of vines that looked like they had suctioned to the back of the Serenity. Almost immediately after they had turned around there was a surge of power in front of them. They all spun readying weapons, James had a snake wrapped round his right arm, Staff of the Everglades appearing in his left parallel to the ground. Kyra had a diamond spear ready to throw and a small diamond buckler on her left arm. Teddy released his lanterns and had a dimension blade whipped out. Lucy had gone a step further, while her rune portal ability was flowing a stream of runes from her eyes down her arm to form the circles that she would fire her magic missile through she had already drawn and fired her new wand with her other hand. Only Teddy could appreciate the look of the blast, it was like a kinetic round from a tank. The blast looked like a clear bullet, causing shockwaves to smoothly ripple in front of it. It ripped through the air so fast only his Eyes of the Swift power could keep up. He was also the only one fast enough to see the expression change on the man hovering in the air in front of them. He went from non-plussed arrogance watching the blast with gold-rank speed to annoyed and angry as the blast took him in the shoulder. The benefit of Teddys speed and Lucys aura meant that he was first to realise Lucy had just shot a gold ranker. Oww, that actually stung. The gold ranker said, blossoming his aura over them. Chapter 57 ‘The surprises kept coming’ Firenze had been sat playing a Pallimustus equivalent game of chess with his gold rank peer, they had met on the border of their respective zones of responsibility so their auras would still cover the area. He was a dark skinned man of average height. He had old clan tattoos on his face which was rare for essence users in the world. He wore bright coloured silks that ballooned at the wrists and ankles, tied tight to his waist with a large sash. He had an oversized turban on his head with a jewel in the centre and a long coloured feather swooping back. On his fingers were many rings, his wrists had numerous bangles as did his ankles and his feet were embraced in silk slippers that curled at the toes. The duty they had was a directed task from the adventure society, all gold rankers in the area took turns on duty at the lake and they had to suck it up, the last rank that the society could really direct their activities if they wanted to retain membership it was a minor hardship for the privilege they enjoyed. The duty was dreadfully dull however, all the locals knew the drill and the countries either side of the lake knew better than to meddle. It came as a surprise then that Firenze felt the bronze rank cluster not slow down or stop when it met the lake, he was even more surprised when he felt one of his plant tethers stop the craft. His gaming opponent noticed his attention. Lucky you, Ive not had a bite in weeks. His deep bass rumble came out as he raised a hand in farewell. Firenze blurred away with gold rank speed, round the outside of the lake. He came to a stop a few hundred meters away from the ship. It was impressive for a bronze rank team, he could see it eating away at his tether where it attached and that it would, very eventually, break itself free. He turned his attention to the four bronze rankers on board. He saw them prepare to fight and was impressed at the reflex, even more impressed he saw one of them react to an obvious threat with aggression. He saw the attack coming and knew it was only a bronze rank weapon so let it strike him. He was shocked at the power of the blow, it was nothing compared to the vast depths of health he enjoyed as a gold ranker but nevertheless stung, and stung for longer than it should have. Oww, that actually stung. He didnt understand the word the bald bronze rank adventurer said next as he moved to suppress them with his aura then his powers. Bollocks. Was all Teddy managed to say before his aura was near crushed under the gold ranker. They all had aura suppression training at the academy annex, they had even been fortunate enough to learn firsthand from when Gabrielle Remore had visited and treated them to a demonstration of gold rank aura suppression. Long brown vines twisted onto the deck from the rear. They were the thickness of a mans arm and lightning quick, they snaked around the individuals in the team, lifting them off the deck. He struggled as the vines tightened, thinning out to wrap around his arms and legs coming up to wrap around his neck. He felt a bump as the Serenity was brought back to the shore well away from the water and then the gold ranker started to talk. . Firenze was surprised again, the Plant Master essence ability he had gave him control over natural plants in a spectacular way, it also gave him the ability to plant seeds that acted as the tether that snatched the vehicle. It was, obviously, a gold rank power. He was shocked to see then the rate at which the vines were withering and smoking as they burnt slightly in contact with the crystal deck. The surprises kept coming. Suppressing all four bronze rankers should be as easy as breathing, easier, as he no longer needed to breathe. It came as a shock then as his hold became slippery, harder to suppress but not impossible, like suppressing silver rankers not bronze; an exponential leap from bronze. Then he realised he was only suppressing three of them not four. Casting around his gaze between them he noticed it was the adventurer at the back. He thought her astoundingly beautiful, only bronze rank without the extra beautifying effects of silver and then gold. Her golden blonde hair tied in a large wide braid that reached her waist.She was staring daggers at him as he floated in mid air, the look made her fierce which only made her more appealing. His interest in her took a back seat in shock as he realised that not only had she thrown off his suppression and was completely free but she was also mildly resisting the vines entangling her. She was never going to get free but she was managing to make enough room to be comfy. That should not be possible, his power disparity to hers should make the vines an immovable object to her. He recognised the power as Terraform, a power base similar to that of his Plant Master. She lifted her chin to the gold ranker. So, we have you exactly where we want you, what next? He opened his mouth and closed it, he repeated it a few times unable to fathom what was going on. Teddy felt the pressure lessen, Kyra was as stubborn in aura as she was in person, her Diamond Resolve enabled her to shield others from one rank up while she enjoyed a two rank buffer. She was clear of suppression against all but diamond rankers which were blissfully rare. He was still firmly held under the more powerful mans power and physically held by the vines that were not enjoying the boat as much as everyone else that had ever been on board. Faint smoke wafting where the vines touched the deck. He noticed a look that he didnt appreciate on the gold rankers face as he looked up and down his wife but was happy to see that change as his feet touched the deck and he bounced back up into a hover. Gods! Firenze was starting to get very unsettled. His had done this duty multiple times and they were always uneventful. As soon as his feet touched the deck he felt them burning. Again, this should not be possible. He decided to regain control of the situation, the contact with the deck may hurt but he was in as much danger from it as much as a toddler was of dying of a splinter. He sunk back onto the deck and compartmentalised the pain. You are all apprehended under the authority of the Adventure Society. He said with every ounce of authority he had. Again, he instantly felt unsettled again as the blonde in front of him just raised an eyebrow. Back off the mojo genie man, were adventurers. What is this genie you speak on? You are with your curly toed shoes, which by the way are smoking. Gods! He lifted just off the deck again. He didnt release the adventurers from the vines but he stopped completely suppressing the three bronze rankers. He kept up an impressive display of gold rank aura to terrify them into a cower. Surprises were the order of the day when all four bronze rankers started disrespecting a gold ranker that held them at his mercy. Stolen story; please report. Hey, Robin Williams, back off, and dont touch the Serenity again, shes made it clear youre not welcome. Lucy said. Ooh thats the best genie! And thats not all shes got right, get off our boat. James chipped in. No longer suppressed Teddy teleported next to his wife and attempted to chop through the vines with a summoned dimension blade. He was resoundingly unsuccessful. The blade fizzled out on contact with the gold rank power and he shrugged and stood next to his wife facing the man. Firenze was astounded. It had been years since he had been treated this way and he wondered what to do with it. No longer suppressed the team had their interface back. [What the hell can we do, theres no fighting this guy.] Teddy said. [Who said we have to fight him? He hasnt hurt us yet, hes just held us, and got more and more confused.] Lucy pointed out. [I like that, humanises him, even if he is about to rip our heads off.] James chipped in. [Hang on, this should get him some more.] He concentrated and a flock of long necked birds appeared in the sky. Firenze noted the odd pattern and followed their flight. One swooped down right into his face and he grabbed its long neck with gold rank reflexes, making it look lazy. Bizarrely a square shape started travelling upwards from the birds torso, getting stuck behind the blockage which was the mans fist. He had to grab with his other hand below the obstruction as the square continued to travel up then catch as the bird ejected the wallet before it started beating its wings. The man let go and the bird disappeared along the road. He flipped open the wallet to see it was James adventure society badge. The mans eyebrows could not get any higher, the shock of the bird, the badge and the boat was baffling. [He is officially very confused.] Teddy said on the interface before commenting out loud. I dont know Lu, the beard makes him look a little more Jafar than genie. Stop. The man said. Let us start anew. You are detained here until I can figure out what is going on, the more you do, the more you open your mouths the further away we are from that point. Let us begin, I am Firenze of the Fire and Water. Current guardian of the southern shore. Theodore Mitchell, this is my wife Kyra, my brother James and his wife Lucy. Were trying to find a nice picnic spot. Teddy, weve finished messing around for now. Kyra scolded him. Ok. Sir, please release us, we have to check our cargo after that sudden stop, were on contract and carrying dangerous goods. The man looked assessingly at Teddy. Very well, who is most qualified to inspect it and I will release them. Teddy turned to Lucy. She is. Ah, the shoot first ask questions later lady, I like that, spirited. He released the vines holding her and she walked backwards to the drop deck keeping her eyes on the group until she disappeared. [Teddy, I dont think even a gold rank coin will help, the duration is too short, I wont be able to release the others.] [Its ok, we genuinely need to check the cargo, release Lechuza bush witch incase we get the opportunity but I think we need to talk our way out of this.] So what can we do for you Mr Firenze? Not to be rude but were in a hurry. The situation was comical, all three on deck were still bound. By a man who could crush them like ants and they were treating him like he was a nuisance. Its just Firenze. I can tell you were in a hurry, if you were not, perhaps you may have seen one of many signs along the road about the lake which you see in front of you and how bad an idea it is to cross it. Sorry mucka, didnt see a single sign on the way in. The mans eyebrows had descended from where they had spent most of their interaction and now furrowed at Teddys words. There are clear signs warning of the danger ahead not only to travellers but to everyone in the area. Guardian of the southern shores? Maybe want to check that out. No signs at all. Might be worth seeing who would remove them. Firenze looked troubled and waved his hand and the vines retracted. In ignorance not malice do we find your error. Be forewarned now at the cusp of the danger; to tarry too long or attempt to enter or cross the water places yourself and everyone for hundreds of miles in mortal peril. For a Bahamut dwells within. A Bahamut? James asked. A diamond rank monster, powerful beyond thought. Took residence in the bottom of this lake nigh fifty years ago. It was deemed prudent to not wake the sleeping dragon and a guard was posted to warn of its movement. Fifty years?! How has it not reached the berserk stage yet? Teddy asked. Diamond rank entities much like the diamond ranks of our own peoples orbit in a different level to the rest of us. One day Bahamut may awaken and I will call the response but maybe it will outlive my own long life. Lucy made her way back up from below deck. Package is secured. All tucked in still. Tell me, what of your current contract. Why are you in such a hurry? The gold ranker sat cross legged in the air and leaned on his hand, elbow resting on one knee. The Mitchells hesitated. They had been avoiding all urbanisations, anyone they saw they immediately turned away from. They were now confronted by a gold rank member of the adventurer society. He was obviously trusted as he was guarding a diamond rank monster. [What do we think?] Teddy asked. [Ostensibly he should be trustworthy. The value of the item is on par with what he can get by his own means, the power to make a gold rank equivalent weapon is how it was described. He shouldnt covet it too much.] Lucy reasoned. [If he is shifty then he might just kill us for the sake of it if we dont tell him anyway.] James added helpfully. [Tell him, he might be able to help us.] Kyra said, surprising them. [We cant learn to not trust anyone, were too isolated in this world already just by being outworlders.] Teddy walked over to the drivers station, he pulled a few levers and the wheels unfolded and descended to the road. He nudged a lever forward and back and the small burst of power broke the serenity free of the tether. It wouldnt have stood a chance but Firenze had relinquished control. Firenze please come aboard, would you like a drink downstairs? They took the gold ranker below, this time when he touched the deck it no longer burnt him now he was invited. They poured him a hot cup of coffee and he was delighted at the taste, they hadnt been able to try it as it was the gold rank variant Gerald had made incase they had the opportunity to host higher ranks. He looked around admiringly at the inside of the Serenity. The leather seating was a comfortably worn but not damaged warm brown colour. Coasters and table settings were made of sliced of wood with interesting grain patterns. Kyra had found a nice rug that was the perfect size and length of the rear dining area. There were a few nick-nacks delicately placed that Kyra had found in her many, many, many many shopping trips. There were crystals that free floated in front of the window gently rotating to show rainbows over the interior when the light hit it, there was a large flat circular decoration that had different coloured sands mixing with water, falling upwards and downwards past each other. He settled backwards into the flat crystal bench surrounding the large dining table and was delighted to find the seemingly solid crystal faceted and shifted to cushion his behind. When the team told him of the contract he recognised it immediately. Ah the Stonewall Town contract, I have seen a team come through from Greenstone a long time ago come through this route on their way. Where are you taking the finished product to? A mountain city called Honshuraskil. Teddy provided. Ah, I know it well, ask for Masamba when you get there, that is, if you tell me where I can get more of this coffee. Say that you have my backing and he will take care of you, he is easily the most useful man in the city. They went on to tell of the political situation that they knew of and the troubles with the mysterious biomechanical monsters and their handlers that they had come across. He was not shocked to hear of it but he wouldnt pass comment on it and they got nothing from his stony face. Well, I must say. Quite an adventure you have for yourselves there, and you say youve only been a team for a few months thats fascinating. The Remore academy is widely known but I had not heard they had an annex in a remote provincial city. Along with your coffee producer this is another reason I must visit to see. As for your current predicament you are quite safe, myself and my peers will ensure that your presence here will remain hidden. There are few who venture this close to the Bahamut and their presence is tolerated by us under the strictest of rules and they will not push those boundaries. There are people that choose to live nearby? Isnt that like living on the lip of the crater edge of a live volcano thats due an eruption? Lucy asked. It is. The man smiled. But seekers of fortune will forever push to make easy money. The lake itself was high magical density before the Bahamut settled here, some parse that is why it did. Since the monster has dwelled in the lake it has been producing more and more rare and valuable materials that eventually make their way to the edge of the lake. Seekers of fortune with the bravery for the task or lack of self preservation. I will direct you to a nearby small settlement, travel through there on your way around an they will demonstrate the lifestyle they have adopted, you will also be bombarded with the goods from the source rather than paying market rates. He winked at the team. I will leave you to attend to the road signage, no one else must make the same mistake. Then I will inform my peers of your plight to ensure you and your cargo are safe while under our purview. Thankyou Firenze thats very kind. Oh its nothing, nothing. Anything I can do for you. He said farewell on the top deck, shaking the boys hands, kissing Lucy on both cheeks then spent a long moment bowed over Kyras hand, not breaking eye contact with her he gently kissed the back of her hand. Teddy eventually coughed, then coughed again until Firenze snapped out of it. He shot off away into the distance. The three of them turned towards Kyra who did not look impressed with the gold rankers infatuation. Being so beautiful can be a curse sometimes. Was all she said then made her way to the drivers station to head to the village on the edge of the lake. Chapter 58 ‘For when you wake up and choose violence’ The two boys had jumped off the front of the Serenity and were investigating the weather station. It consisted of a singular scale of some monster, they guessed the diamond rank Bahamut. It was triangular, taller than James was and wider than his outstretched arms at the base. Next to it was a sign: Lake Shawnahakswee Diving Town 212 weather station. Scale is wet: Raining Scale is dry: Cloudy Scale makes a shadow: Sunny Scale is white: Snowy Scale is Jumping: Earthquake (or monster attack) More than one scale: Run! Bahamut has risen. Have a good day. This makes me miss my phone. James said. This is hilarious, this needs to go on instagram. Wait a second. Teddy said. Grabbed James by the elbow and spun him round so his back was to the weather station. He threw up a recording crystal and stepped to the side so the sign and scale was between them then they both gave a cheesy grin and thumbs up towards the crystal. What on Pallimustus are you two doing? Kyra asked, standing on the top deck with Lucy looking on. Taking a selfie, what does it look like? Teddy replied. Yeah, thats exactly what it looks like. Have you two got those bracelets on? Lucy said. When Firenze left he explained that essence users werent allowed in the villages near the water. They especially would not be allowed to touch the water. The people that made a living at the edges were all normal rank, having the lowest detectable magical signature. Just to be allowed near the lake they were required to wear magical aura suppression bracelets no matter how fine their control of their auras. Cmon down, he said the Serenity should be safe, theres no way a normal person can break in and essence users arent allowed around here. James called. The girls hesitated, they wanted to stay with the dangerous cargo, it felt unwise to leave it parked in the open but even a powerful silver ranker would struggle a little to get in through the highly defensible fourth stage crystal. After a glance at each other they acquiesced and jumped down. The team walked into the small village past the weather station. There were small huts made out of bricks of lake clay and hay mixed together then baked hard. They saw lots of drying racks outside every hut covered in diving swimwear. The centre of the village had a large circle that had market stalls. They subtly waited at the edge, taking a shadow of a hut each to watch and see what was going on. They saw an interesting dynamic. The residents of the village were going from stall to stall taking items they wanted, food and materials, but none offered or demanded payment. The next thing they noticed was all the residents were men. [Oh bloody hell.] Kyra said then pulled a hood up, tucking in her braid. There were no women and no children, all the men were friendly with each other and everyone knew everyone. They watched as a group of six came up from the waters edge, they each had a small net bag but they were clapping the youngest of them, a teenager, on the back as they made their way to the village centre. The lead man walked up to a post that had a bell hung on it. He gave the bell two rings, the clapper was muffled so it wasnt too loud but got everyones attention. Young Dexter has found his first essence!! The man called out loudly. There was a resounding cheer and everyone came near, they clapped the young man on the back or shook his hand. An older man stayed with him throughout, his hand on the teenagers shoulder in a fatherly gesture, a very proud look on his face. Had to dive down to the red line to get it didnt he! Four minute breath hold! The older man boasted. The younger man looking embarrassed. What is it? What did you get? Someone called. We dont know, we havent seen this one here before. The older man called back. Teddy moved forward into the crowd. Hello there. My names Theodore, Im an adventurer passing through with my family, I have an ability that can tell you which essence that is? Youve been through the gold rankers? Teddy held up his arm, the tell-tale bracelet obvious to all. Then yes please! The older man nudged the teenage boy and he shyly held out the cube. It was smooth eggshell white, completely uniform in colour and matte. Teddy placed a finger against it, not taking it out the other mans hand. Item: [Laical Essence] (unranked, rare) Manifested essence of non-Holy forces (consumable, essence). Requirements: Less than 4 absorbed essences Effect: Imbues 1 awakened non-Holy essence ability and 4 unawakened non-Holy essence abilities. You have absorbed 4/4 essences. Once absorbed, an essence cannot be relinquished or replaced. You are unable to absorb [Laical Essence] What you have there is an interesting essence. Teddy said, pulling out the magic society record tablet. The men hissed at him using an essence power and he froze gripped with fear. Firenze had explained they received extensive training in using their essence powers so close to the lake without giving off magical waves of energy. The short rift power usage wouldnt be enough to disturb the Bahamut but it wasnt worth the risk. They all paused and looked towards the lake but there wasnt even a ripple on the water. Sorry. Teddy said through gritted teeth. The essence is Laical. Seeing confused faces he continued. I had to look it up myself, it means non-Holy. Throw it back! A few men cried. Do not condemn us all with un-holy folly! Do not anger the gods. Teddy raised one and asking for silence, the other still holding the magic society tablet. Wait please, I said non-holy. The essence is known for giving powers that directly combat both Holy and Unholy. Its a secular power set. What does that mean? The older man still holding the teenagers shoulder said. Surely any work that is against the gods is unholy and should be destroyed. No, it doesnt work against them, just neutralises them. Unholy magic is the opposite of Holy and has some restricted combinations, this essence is rare but produces powers which enable resistance to holy and unholy effects, its seen as a fair balance against those who would use holy powers for nefarious reasons. He had calmed the men down, the teenager looked less thrilled about his find but was not about to throw it back in the lake. I can help you with a ritual for that? Teddy said trying to make the man feel better. The men laughed. Come. The older man said and took Teddy over to a storeroom, bigger than the rest of the huts. The teenager ducked inside followed by the man who must be his father and Teddy. When Teddy stood up his jaw almost dropped in surprise. The room was full of expensive magical items. Quintessence was stored by the literal pile, slightly spilling into each other as the ceiling high piles met. The teenage boy had gone to the back of the room, winding between piles and stacked the cube on a pyramid of essences. They reached the ceiling a while ago and were being spread back towards the front door. Wow, this is incredible. This is a fortune! He exclaimed. The old man chuckled then motioned Teddy outside. The men had already dispersed, the centre of the village almost back to normal except for a few men watching Teddy and the newly discovered other members of his team with arms crossed and scowls. Teddy motioned them over and they joined them. Mr? Call me Bill. Bill, Im Theodore, call me Teddy, this is my brother James and mine and his wives respectively Kyra and Lucy. The old man looked around quickly to see who was within earshot and quickly motioned them into a nearby large hut. Now see here, dont get the wrong idea, were by and large a big fan of women, and while theyre not necessarily banned from the village... But this here is dangerous work, and women make boys, and men, do stupid things. Most of the men have wives back home and travel here for the work. Were at the end of six months here and theyre desperate to get home, the youngns have less brains then most in some cases choosing to come and do this job, that amount of thinking power decreases dramatically with ladies around and theyre liable to make a mistake which might cost the surrounding area for hundreds of miles. You think one of them would try to impress a lady by waking a diamond rank monster? Lucy asked sceptically. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. No, hes saying that one of them might be silly enough to try and absorb some of these magical items this close to a diamond rank monster to impress someone and unthinkingly awake the beast. Kyra cut in. Just so miss. Its not a problem but Ill have to introduce the fact that there are two married couples of adventurers visiting on their way through like. Make it plain and obvious like that theres bronze rank adventurers and theyre married you see. Very reasonable, we really dont want any trouble, if anything wed like to negotiate for some magic materials youve got there. The gold ranker Firenze mentioned we might be able to buy them off you for pre-merchant prices? Teddy said. Aye we can put coin to palm not a problem. He pulled out a list from his pocket and added Laical essence to it before passing it over. This is a list of everything in that storeroom, you have a little look over and Ill just tell the men whats going on. He got up and left the room. The Mitchells all crowded round the list, Lucy had a notebook out and was scribbling down what took her fancy, Teddy was calling items out that he wanted as well. There was quintessence in every flavour going, mirage, potent, water and dragon being the most plentiful. There was a good variety of essences, they were used in some high end rituals and crafting, the more powerful items needed both essences and quintessence long with the drawn ritual and spirit coins. Even though Lucy could power her own rituals with her vast mana store she still required spirit coins when doing grand rituals or crafting. Teddy was interested in the dragon scales which had washed up, when he had touched the one by the weather station it had listed itself. Bahamut scale]. (diamond rank, legendary) The shed scale of Bahamut, finding one of these is rumoured to bring great fortune unless it falls on your head as it flies over. Crafting material. He was interested in what he could make of the scale, apparently they had plenty of them and they were listed for very cheap as the merchants that bought from the village were only interested in the magical quintessence and essences. They were interrupted from their perusal by a commotion outside. They rolled up the list and Lucy kept it with her notebook. They stepped through the reed door to see that they werent the only visitors to the town. A man and woman had arrived with a cart the man had obviously been pulling it by hand and he was exhausted, the woman was clutching a baby to her bosom protectively. The reason she was being so protective was evident, two men were hassling the couple. One man was leering at the woman while the other was pushing on the mans chest keeping him away. The team were uncertain whether or not they should intervene or let the village elder deal with it until it escalated. The bully pushing on the mans chest suddenly grabbed him, wrapping an arm around his neck. The team moved to stop it. Lucy and Kyra moved behind the woman, Lucy had a pair of knuckle dusters on her belt and she slipped them on, Kyra rolled her silk travelers robe up to her elbows showing armoured arms and the leering man backed off. He backed straight into Teddy who held a leg out and he tripped. James went on the side to help the man being held, he towered over everyone present, almost eight foot tall with Koda subsumed. He made his way to the woman who had relaxed now there was the obvious backup. She lowered the baby and seeing that James wanted to see she nervously moved the cloth off the babies head. James leant over and so very gently held out a finger, the finger was as large as one of the babys pudgy legs then he booped it on the nose. Boop. He whispered. Oh come on, we got here first, if you wanna try make a move on her get in line. The bully said who was holding the father. Quick as a snake James whirled, his huge fist crashing into the mans nose knocking him out. He looked down contemplatively Boop, shithead. The father rushed to his wife, wrapping an arm around her and placing a hand on the child. The village elder had just arrived to see what was going on. He saw one man on the floor from being tripped and the other out cold. Kyra had taken a healing potion from her belt and was casually pouring it on his face from shoulder height, the potion splashing and washing away the blood. James could have easily killed the man with a simple punch and even thought it looked dramatic he had really pulled the punch. He slumped his shoulders slightly looking at the scene. This is what we try to avoid. Im sorry. He motioned to a group of the men to pull away the two guys from the scene. Well sort these good folk out and be right back. Kyra said. James grabbed the cart and headed towards the Serenity, the mother had Kyra and Lucy cooing over the baby while Teddy got the mans story. Were travelling south see? We lost everything up north and thought we would try somewhere new. We met them gold rankers, thought I was gonna wet meself. But they check us over and said we could get food and the like from these villages, didnt say nothing about them not being friendly like. Oh I think they are, you happened to run into two bad apples there. No excusing it though. We can sort you out with what you need from our stores. Teddy said. They led them on board and they let them into Kyra and Teddys cabin to shower and change. James had the baby in one massive hand in the seating area on the middle deck while they got cleaned up, he was gently soothing it with his aura while its tiny hand in his beard. They had a box in the kitchen that was effectively a washer-dryer. A clever device that cleaned clothes in minutes with added crystal wash for freshness. They had offered to do all the clothes the couple had with them. Lucy was busy putting together a large box of food from the pantry. They had vast amounts of food as the built in dimensional storage kept it all fresh. She even added a flask of normal rank coffee for them, Gerald had made them a whole range. Teddy came upstairs from the workshop, holding a tough canvas bag of weapons he had personally made. Its not much but you can see they dont have anything, he can even sell a few when he gets wherever their going. He shrugged. Kyra smiled and put a hand on his arm and a peck on his cheek. Lucy added a few extra items to the stores, magic tents they no longer used that had aura suppression to hide from wild monsters, glow stones for the night, warmer sleeping bags and cots as the travelling couple had been sleeping in extra clothes on the back of their little wagon. Kyra added a comprehensive medical kit to the stores so the couple could take care of anything from a blister to being gored by a monster. When the couple came back upstairs they didnt know what to say, they were blown away by the grandeur of the magical vehicle and the normalcy and generosity of the bronze rank couples. The team refused to take any coin from the couples and Lucy failed to mention she left a sizeable stack of lesser and iron coins in the bottom of the box. The couple didnt want to hang around after what happened in the village and so they said their goodbyes, they waved them off. They said they would be forever in their debt, the Mitchells had changed a dangerous journey into only an arduous one. Having seen them safely away the team decided they should head back into the village and clear things up with Bill the village elder. They met him on the outskirts of town, flanked by the two trouble makers looking thoroughly chastised. Whats the word Bill? Teddy greeted him. Well Mr Theodore, I do believe the word is sorry. Bill said looking either side of him. Yeah, sorry. Whab a mithtake the second man said thickly around the bruising on his face. We were hoping to see the young couple again? Bill said. These two have realised that maybe fifty per cent of their takings for this trip is fair recompense to learn a valuable lesson. To be fair to the men they had the decency to look ashamed rather than spiteful at the loss of their earnings. Well not to worry, theyve been sent on their way well provisioned and stand a much better chance of getting where ever it is theyre going now. Lucy said. Thankee kindly, that was a duty that should of been ours, were not brigands and theres no reason not to be friendly and help out travellers. Ick was shtuupid. The beaten man said quietly. Oh come on. Kyra said and grabbed the mans arm. Lucy grabbed a bag of salt from her waist she had grabbed from the Serenity. She quickly made a ritual circle around Kyra and the man. Whab you doin to be?! The man asked slightly panicked but didnt try and fight the bronze rank strength. Yes Bill said hesitantly. It looks like youre about to do something magical which is ill advised. This is a circle of containment, meant for dangerous workings that could hurt others or damage sensitive equipment, it also completely masks auras within. It burns out quick but itll last long enough. Long enub bor what? The circle gave a faint pop and Kyra knew it was working, she raised an arm and the man flinched. She grabbed his nose and there was a flash of green as she pulled and shot a life bolt at the same time. She lowered her hand and the man felt his face. The bruising was near enough gone and his mushed nose had been reset. Oh thankyou! I dont deserve this! They stepped out of the circle. This is your second chance, dont waste it. She said clapping him on the back, maybe slightly harder than she needed to. They made their way into the village centre, they pulled out Lucys notebook and the list they still had and started negotiating. They struggled at first, not knowing the value for the items at non-merchant rates. They saw nods and winces around the men watching on and got a handle for the value. They did very well and got a selection of quintessence at different ranks and half a dozen essences. The value of the scales was something else. It was a gamble for the men as to whether or not theyd be able to shift them quickly once they left the lake and they were incredibly bulky to transport. In the end the Mitchells cleared out all of their coins once more, it was becoming a habit to go all in without regret and so it was becoming less scary. They had even bartered with a unique item or two of their own. Teddy had drawn out plans for a pump system he had read about back on earth, with his new knowledge on artifice it was a workable and more importantly it was a safe system. It would stop the divers having to rely on breath holds and with the few parts he had knocked up on the Serenity they could manufacture the rest. The second item they bartered with was a dimensional flask. Expensive in its own right it was he contents that made it even more valuable. Over a hundred cups of Geralds normal rank coffee was stored within. They shook hands and made their way back to the Serenity. The men had promised to deliver the goods by nightfall. They had cleared up what had happened earlier and there was some true remorse in the men but there was still a bad taste around the village, figuratively speaking. The men came out with five hand pulled carts. The first held a wooden crate, with the essence cubes resting on top, when they lifted the lid they saw it was full to the brim of quintessence, the colours all spilling into one another. The men had been apologetic and said they didnt hold smaller boxes for each type but the team allayed their fears by explaining that their storage system will sort the gems anyway.The other four carts each held four of the massive scales each. The team led them to the side of the Serenity, they swiped a panel on the outside and a long empty panel opened. They fed the crate in its entirety into the gap then James and Kyra impressed the men by lifting a scale each and one after the other fed them into the gap. Once they were done the bulk of the men took the carts back to the village leaving just Bill and the two men from the altercation again. Tally and Simmo would like a word if youre amenable? Bill asked. The team looked at the men waiting for them to talk. Well err you see this is a community. An well, we let it down today and so there should be consequences like. We all pitch in together and we share the rewards. Makes it fair see? And we all pull our weight because we help each other. The other man picked up from the rambling explanation. Were all allowed to keep one item from our dives for ourselves. A treat if we find something unique. We were willing to give half our share to the family but theyve already gone. But we need to be punished, especially if front of everyone else. Wed like to give you our unique items in apology? [What do we think? The family needed it more than us but they make sense.] Teddy asked. Well accept. Kyra said before they discussed it further. The two men reached into their satchels at their waists. They orientated towards Kyra as she was the one who said they would take it. The first man, the one who hadnt been tripped pulled out a crystal claw with three fingers. Item: [Claw of Containment] (bronze rank, epic) The manifestation of Bahamuts grip. Effect: When used on another person it will subdue their souls. Essence abilities and racial gifts will be contained and the will of the person limited. May be removed and used again. Thankyou, this is very valuable, its a big gesture. Kyra said kindly. The second man, the one that Kyra had healed held out his item. Item: [Amulet of the Sleeping Dragon] (unranked, epic) An amulet to wear on the day for when you wake up and choose violence. Effect: When used this amulet drives the power of an essence user to their next major threshold. Essence abilities will not have the unique abilities provided by the next major advancement but will imbue the strength. The duration varies depending on the amount of power channelled. Uses remaining: 1/1 And this is equally as big a gesture. Thankyou. No thankyou, well both feel better holdin our heads up around the other men if weve met justice. The team held their tongues about what the men were doing versus whether or not they had justice but it had not come to any unfortunate end, the two men had a scare and the items were priceless. The team said goodbye to the three of them and boarded the Serenity. They set off with the setting sun, eager to be on their way again. Just after morning found all four Mitchells on the top deck having breakfast while Teddy drove. They had finished and were relaxing on the front seating with empty plates on their laps when Teddy rolled to a stop as a familiar figure stood in the middle of the road. Chapter 59 ‘Open architecture’ Firenze spread his arms wide and bowed in a mocking fashion as Teddy slowed and stopped in front of him. Permission to come aboard young adventurers?! He called up, not making the same mistake again. Come up Firenze, nice to see you again. The gold ranker leapt onto the top deck, it appeared in slow motion and they guessed it was a combination of golf rank strength and the ability all essence users got at silver to be able to levitate. His clothes artfully flapped in the wind and he smiled as he alighted onto the decking right in front of Kyra, he grasped her hand and bent to kiss it. In the totality of my long vigil I find that in the briefest of moments of you being here I have missed you Mitchells. Its astounding in the short time since I have met you and the shorter time that we have been away. He said without looking away from Kyras face. Teddy coughed and walked up to Kyras side. James walked up beside Firenze and slapped him on the back as hard as he could which was substantial. but he might as well have slapped a stone building as the man was gold rank. And we missed you too genie, what wishes have you come to grant this time? Firenze looked surprised at both the back pat and the mention of wishes. He let go of Kyras hand which she placed around Teddys waist. Firenze snapped out of his little daze and looked up at James. I still have little idea of this genie you speak of but I do come with something approximating a gift! I have spoken of you to my peers and we understand your need to move swiftly, my peer to the north is due his replacement any day and has offered to spirit you away further north. Furthermore to that he knows of a friend of his to the wasteland who will take you through some truly inhospitable terrain that will shake any but the most committed pursuer. Firenze, thats excellent, thankyou! Lucy said, coming forward. Not at all, not at all. You have all been a breathe of fresh air, a welcome distraction to the monotony of duty. He was back to staring at Kyra. You will have to continue north into Yaraballahs territory, he receives far more wandering monsters to the north and cannot come and get you himself. Does he know of the restriction of the cargo? It cannot be placed in dimensional storage of any rank and therefore neither can the Serenity. Lucy enquired. He is aware and having worked with him over the years on many occasions I have seen his long distance travel ability and can confirm that this will not be an issue. Hopefully you will not have seen its like before. The team had been frustrated at the delay at the lake, they had carefully thought about their route and how they had lost time and ground by hitting the trans-continental road north to the lake in the knowledge they were going to shake most pursuers by going directly over the water. Of the team members James was probably the least concerned, he knew there was fighting to be had and went with the flow, he rarely thought much further than the next meal ahead, not out of laziness or stupidity but the group he was in made good decisions and he trusted them and it led to a stress free life. On the other end of the spectrum the delay and the failed plan irritated Teddy the most. He took more of a team leader role than the rest of them which was admittedly by everyones rational necessary, even in a team of equals. The attention Firenze was paying to Kyra was also playing a part in his irritation, he was very secure that he held no competition to his wife but it was understandably annoying. Kyra was mostly happy to go along with whatever plan was afoot but liked to subtly influence it in ways that would benefit the group or not so subtly when she wanted to try new places for shopping. Her healing talents were welcome wherever they went and she loved meeting new people from different cultures and sampling what they had to offer either culinary, culturally or decorative. She and James spent a lot of time together as their fighting styles were so similar, she sparred with swords with Teddy who was undoubtably the best even at normal speed but his actual fighting style was so rapid and dynamic she found it better to practice with James. Lucy was probably who spent the most amount of time with Teddy cracking plans. She spent a lot of time with him either in the wheelhouse working on the map table thinking of routes or dummy routes and different ideas. If they werent together in the workshop on the bottom deck then they were always leaving ideas for each other on the whiteboard in there, a lot of their own crafts ideas were not possible without both of them conducting the work. The Deathstick she had made for example was made of different layers of materials that all heated or cooled down at different rates meaning that they had to be combined in an incredibly precise way at exactly the right moment, not so much a challenge for bronze rank reflexes and a lot of practice to do one combination but there were half a dozen different materials that had to be combined near instantly. Teddy was needed with his limited experience, agility and speed to put them together correctly, he had been part of the planning process from the beginning, she knew the magical effects she wanted and how to put them together while his knowledge of the materials and the process was essential. The fact that they had been offered an alternative transport that took them through a gold rank power excited Teddy and Lucy. It was the edge that they were after by going over the lake in the first place. The wasteland was a black circle on their map that Vincent had given them back in Greenstone. It had notes on it that detailed the threat, it was a silver rank area, heavily infested with monsters and the desert itself was magically harmful, sapping the strength of bronze rank and below. Firenze thats perfect, thankyou. Teddy said, holding on to Kyra. Firenze looked between them and frowned. They could see he was working something out. I have missed something here, something cultural. When you introduced yourselves you said that this wonderful woman was your wife? Am I to understand that you come from a monogamous culture? There was a short moment of disbelief as the Mitchells looked at each other. Well yes? You assumed we werent? Teddy asked in surprise. Eurgh. Firenze moaned, rubbing a hand down his face. My apologies young adventurers, a mistake I have come across in the past. My homeland believes that there is an infinite amount of affection that we may show for one another. It is ill-becoming to not show that attraction and affection for one another. Having a wife or a husband is something more of a relationship of convenience on top of that and by no means permanent or binding. So your whole culture shows affection for whoever they want whenever they want? Then goes back to their husbands and wives in the evenings? James asked. Just so, as long as the affection is reciprocated then it is acceptable. And what if there was a group of women a man was feeling affectionate towards at one time and they all felt affectionate back Lucy elbowed James in the hip, hard. I dont think you need to be so interested in the details honey. Firenze turned back to Teddy and Kyra and bowed deeply. My apologies again if I have caused offence, my position and power over you cannot have made that an easy interest to bare. A weregild is customary to honour against any bad feelings you may have against me. He dramatically swept his cloak aside and pulled a pouch of coins from is waist and tossed it to the floor between them, he then took an ornate jewelled dagger from his waist. It was curved like a talon and thrummed with power. He took the end of his beard in his left hand an cut straight through, close to the chin with his other hand. The dagger and the severed beard complete with the ribbons and beads tied in got thrown down with the pouch of coins. He then prostrated himself on the deck in front of the couple. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Please accept these tokens of my regret. He then stayed that way. Teddy looked at Kyra then moved forward to pick up the items. The pouch was full of what looked like two dozen gold rank coins, enough to make them rich in a place like Greenstone, even for adventurers. The dagger popped up with a description as soon as he touched it. Item: Ceremonial Dagger. (Gold rank, Rare) An ornate dagger used in certain cultures to perform significant actions. Typically gifted at the end of adolescence to mark a shift to adulthood. The symbology acting as a reminder for the individual to take account for their behaviours. Firenze please stand up, this is a fortune youve put in front of us, this could buy almost any house we could want in Greenstone and thats without selling this dagger. Youre going to need to explain why a gold ranker cares so much, especially the beard. Firenze got back up to his feet, his voluminous trousers and cape mercifully clean as the Serenity deck was self-cleaning with little ripples of crystal taking dirt and dust overboard at regular intervals. Rank has no part of this, a persons affection is as strong with no essences as it is with a diamond ranker. The price we pay is what changes with the responsibility that rank holds to be careful with our actions. The weregild is an immediate gift to the offended, the beard is a show of humility to any that would look upon me to show my contrition. The dagger once used is to be given to the offended, I may not be without one and must send for another from home, I cannot do this without an explanation to my family as to why I need one, thereby letting my actions be known that I may be held to account. Sounds like you have strict parents back home. Lucy commented. Firenze gave a grin, startlingly white teeth showing. We follow a thought that it takes a village to raise a child, affection is not necessarily sexual and we take great pride in our community that everyone feels great affection towards every child, I would say that I had dozens of parents, some of which are diamond rank. Well damn. Kyra? She nodded at Teddy. Theres no way we cant forgive you after youve already chopped your beard off. Any offence is forgiven Firenze. Kyra took the dagger from Teddy and turned it over looking at it. You say this is to remember your responsibility? I think this would make a handsome addition to the inside of the Serenity, mounted above the dining table on the middle deck, a good reminder of the responsibilities we all have. Firenzes smile got even wider and he bowed at Kyra. A sentiment well appreciated, I will add this news back to my people as I request another and they will be well pleased. Now, you have my repentance and I your forgiveness, I will not intrude a moment longer. Please lets part as friends and when we see each other again this will all be long behind us. From the quality I see of you all I imagine it will be as peers at gold rank without too much time passing. Continue following the lake road to the north and you will eventually meet my friend, he will recognise you entering his influence and he will come to you when he is free. They all shook hands with the diamond ranker, his shake with Kyra holding none of the lingering flirtatiousness that it once did, a firm grip of respect and done. He patted the wall of the Serenity fondly and jumped high off the back headed south. [What the hell are we going to do with the beard?] James said on the interface. Lucy looked at Teddy holding the long black beard, walked over and opened a random storage compartment. [The joys of near infinite storage capability.] she said as Teddy dropped it in. He then strode over and flumped into the captains chair and started the Serenity moving again, he set the controls so it was trundling along at a good pace, using the wheels again to lower the magical signature. He pulled his over-robe to one side revealing a leather strap full of knives, they were the size of crocodile Dundee bowie knives but flat, with a simple leather strap wrap handle for ease of throwing. He had made them himself and practiced non-stop with them, the fourth stage crystal forming a cork-board style section on command where the knives were caught by flat planes of crystal. He started flipping one in his hand while he thought. James sauntered over to chill with his brother for a bit and saw him playing with the wide blade. If you conjure and throw literal blades of shadow, why do you need a belt full of knives? And didnt you work out how to pull throwables from your inventory so fast you dont need to carry them on you? Teddy stopped flipping the knife and passed it hilt first to James. Well the answer to your first question is that the shadow blades dont do a huge amount of damage, especially to certain types of enemies resistant to magical damage or if we ever came across a light-based enemy whatever that might be. I can fabricate these myself and I keep making them better, the more I improve my skill the amount of damage they do rises dramatically. Your second answer is intimidation. He stood and opened his over robe, he had a cross belt over his shoulder to his hip full of the bowie-esc throwing knives, there has a traditional belt across his waist, in the middle he could see the handles of two punch daggers tucked in, his right hip held two long thin black scabbards, the blades inside must have been toothpick in shape but still a two inches wide and almost as long as Teddys forearm. On his left hip was a small fanny pack that looked stuffed full of throwing stars, the tops just covered by a flap of leather that would stop Teddy accidentally performing acupuncture on his stomach if he bent to the left too far. Next to the pack was a short sword, curved like a kukri but longer, not long enough to be a sword but offered significant advantage over a dagger. Jeesh dude, thats some hobby youve picked up. Oh these are just my favourites. Theres lots more in storage and some that Lucy and I are working on to give them some tricks. Kyra came in as they were talking and saw Teddy with his over robe open showing the small arsenal. She crossed her arms, cocked a hip and raised an eyebrow looking at the large throwing knives held across his chest. That looks so practical and comfortable to wear Teds. Whats to stop you cutting your belly? Teddy closed his robe a little bashfully at the criticism from his wife. Lucy made the cross belt, she said she copied her holster from Hero. Said something about open design architecture that looked like the creator had left unlocked purposefully Just then Lucy joined them as well. Her head buried in a book that had one of her signature notebooks resting on the other page to the one she was reading. Uh huh? I said what now? You said something about open architecture on the gift you were given by Hero? Oh that, well most magical items are somewhat difficult to replicate the effects, the holster though almost comes with instructions, I wanted to take a look at everyone elses at some point if thats ok. Seeing the look on Teddys face she quickly clarified. Strictly non-destructive testing only of course. So the belt kind of holds the knives in a stasis field, same way that Lucys wands dont fall out of her holster my knives cant fall out of the belt. Teddy explained. Uh huh. Kyra said, still looking unimpressed. We need to talk about your fashion Teddy, thats a brown leather belt with black armour, silver vambraces and a blue and black cloak. The boots we cant do anything about as you like them so much but we have the money, lets get you some matching armour. She walked off arm in arm with Lucy, talking fast and low conspiratorially about armour ideas for the boys. The boys looked at each other in mild worry. Well there goes all those gold coins we just got given I suppose. James said. And in terms of intimidation, He transformed his right hand into a huge bear paw, the magical soul-bound Vambrace of Menagerie blending smoothly into the claw, giving it a metallic sheen and a faint crackle of electricity. The paw was probably about the size of Teddys chest and he had no doubt it could probably stove in his ribs. I find I dont need to carry much to be effective. And he dismissed the paw. Ah but remember back home, you used to have two kinds of bouncers, you had the big trolls who you arent going to mess with because theyll flatten you, then you had the small guys or girls, they all wore smart clothes so you didnt know what was underneath but they were all lean wiry muscle. They were the ones to watch for because people werent as intimidated of them at first but theyre the vicious ones that knew how to bend you arm until your shoulders about to pop. Youre saying you need to be a clever fighter because people arent as naturally inclined to be intimidated of you? Yeh I guess, but the advantage of being an essence user is that you arent just a big lug, you can also shift so you can be big and vicious! Well maybe youll have to make me some ridiculous bastard sword or something to go with my size, any fight you can stop before it starts because they dont want to fight you is worth the effort. Looking for a Conan the barbarian look over the warrior monk thing you have going on at the moment with the staff? The staff is great dont get me wrong, and the advantage that it lets me use my unarmed strength bonus which I would obviously lose with anything else, but theres something satisfying about hitting things with a sword. I get you, I even feel that way about the dimension blade, it feels amazing and is so OP, but its a lightsaber rather than a sword, less tactile when you hit things. The boys continued to chat about toys while the Serenity trundled over the road, Teddy explaining the construction of what he had made while showing the methods in the books they had bought. The lake was off to one side stretching into the distance without being able to see the far side and the countryside as far as the eye could see to the other, apart from the odd junction off the ring road out to the distance and one or two more diving villages they didnt stop at they didnt see anyone else on their peaceful journey through the sunshine. Chapter 60 ‘Bread sauce and Yorkshire puddings’ The team were driving along the ring road of the lake. All the locals in the region knew better than to come near the lake for hundreds of miles. The Bahamut was a diamond rank monster that was sleeping at the bottom of the lake hadnt stirred in over fifty years, through multiple monster surges and they were keen to keep it that way. The Adventure Society tasked no less than three gold rank adventurers to patrol their sections of the lake perimeter to not only keep away any who would disturb the monster but to keep an eye on the lake for any sign it was waking to summon multiple diamond rank adventurers to deal with it, the longer it slept the more the Magic Society began to question its power even for a diamond rank monster. The diving villages that spotted the coastline were heavily regulated to make sure they were sanitised of any unwanted magical stimulus, the value of the material coming out of the lake was too much to not be harvested. This lead to the team having an incredibly peaceful journey free of any complications. The gold rankers took care of any monsters of any rank around the lake to make sure they didnt go near. It was a rarity then that the team found themselves facing a small herd of lesser monsters in front of them. They werent hard to deal with, they were small bipedal dinosaurs, being lesser monsters they were more like large lean chickens without the feathers and sharp spiky teeth in their beaks. They used the Serenity to chase them off the road and into the brush away from the lake, using spears from storage on the top deck to take them out without using magic so close to the lake. Teddy was showing the value of all of his practice with his knives as he pinned the monsters to the floor again and again. They all had multiple weapons training from the academy annex and even though it may not be their specialities they trained relentlessly in all disciplines and they all used this as good practice with moving targets. They had finished with the monsters and Teddy had rounded them all up into a pile, retrieving all of their weapons into a separate pile covered in monster blood. Well is it safe to loot them? James asked. I dont really want to take those weapons back on board for the blood to evaporate into monster smoke in a few hours. Im not sure, I dont think it counts as a magic power, its a racial gift, the magic is in the monsters themselves thats breaking down, but as a quantity of magic added to the area its already here so I would say it should be safe? Lucy said. Is it a risk we want to take for loot from lesser monsters? Teddy asked. The question is does it make a difference? Lucy added. Theyll break down in a few hours anyway and this conversation was for naught Just so. A deep voice came from above them. They all looked up in surprise. Seeing a colourful rectangular carpet flapping in the mild breeze with a man sat cross legged on it. The carpet was just big enough for the man and tilted at a severe angle so that he could look down over them, looking impossible that he could sit without slipping off. The carpet descended to the ground next to them and he stepped off. He was dressed in the same colourful blooming silks that Firenze had worn. His dark skin along with his clothes suggested they were from a similar area. Well met Mitchells, my name is Yaraballah, Firenze has told you to expect me? [Oh lets not have any drama again.] Teddy put on the interface. Good to meet you sir, my name is Theodore, this is my monogamous wife Kyra and this is my brother James and his monogamous wife Lucy. Finistrey looked at him quizzically at the odd introduction and cracked a smile, then startled a low rumbling chortle. I take it my brother from our homeland is walking around beardless these days again? Yes sir. Kyra said. Not the first time and I doubt it will be the last! He is a good man, and a lot of love in his heart that he is all too keen to share. Please accept my apologies from my people on his behalf again, I take it if he is beardless and not with you that you were satisfied with his weregild? We were, but why would he be with us if we werent? Teddy said. Because if you found the weregild to not be the equal of the grievance than he would have sworn himself to you, such is the depth of the gesture. He would have served until the remorse was forgiven. The team chewed on that for a moment realising they almost had a gold rank asset attached to the team. There was no need, the weregild was unasked for and incredibly generous, his apology, especially from a gold ranker, would have been more than enough. Kyra said diplomatically. Well, let me see if I can improve your opinion of my people further by aiding you in your quest. My replacement is here and she is working the far side of this section at the moment but is content to relieve me. Firenze explained your quest and where you need to get to, I have an acquaintance who is travelling the wastelands to the north, I can take you to him and he can take you almost all the way to the town you seek. But I must warn you, he is an independent gold ranker, one of few who is not bound to the adventure society, he is a friend of mine from old and will aid me as a favour. Teddy spoke for the team, they had already spent a lot of time talking about the opportunity. Its worth it, if you trust him then well do it. Were being pursued by a foe we dont understand and traversing the wasteland sounds like a good way to lose them. Trust him is maybe a stretch but he has his own sense of honour and he will not steal from you or kill you out of hand. [What a glowing recommendation.] Kyra said on the team chat. [Still better than getting ambushed on the long way round.] Teddy said. There is no time like the present if we are to rendezvous with him where I think he may be, he is a two day flight from where we are. Yaraballah said. Flight? Sir we cannot collapse our vehicle stores the cargo which is resistant to dimensional storage. Lucy explained. Oh, that is not a problem. The gold ranker said, then gestured at the magic carpet on the sandy soil next to him. It rapidly grew, flattening the brush around it and even pushing over a tree and expanding over it without showing a ripple in the fabric. Within moments it was big enough that the Serenity could easily sit atop it. Please, if you wouldnt mind driving your vehicle on top? Firenze has boasted of the comfort inside your craft and I would be honoured to experience it for myself. Instead of going up to the top deck, which would have been a simple jump with his bronze rank attributes and powers, Teddy moved to the bow of the Serenity, he went to an inconspicuous part of the crystal outer and opened a seamless panel. Inside were a few controls which he used to remotely move the vehicle forward onto the extended magic carpet. He closed the panel after walking all the way round to make sure he was on with every wheel and made his way to the back to meet the others. Do we need to strap it down or anything? He asked the gold ranker who had been talking to Lucy about the construction. No no no, nothing that I dont want to will fall off this unless I desire it. Well then, would you like the tour? Lucy asked. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. They took him up the back. They showed him the two buggies that folded up like origami and stored seamlessly into the walls either side of the drop deck. They didnt go up the central stairs to the middle deck but took him into the quarters, they showed him the workshop that had been a spare cabin and the other spare cabin that was currently being used to store the cargo that he then inspected and approved of. They moved to the bow and went up the internal stairs to the middle deck, coming out into the front seating area. It had wide plush seating that encouraged the occupants to sit and watch the scenery roll by from the wide windows that the crystal formed, they could be set to any amount of transparency from the inside but perfectly opaque from the outside giving privacy. He was impressed by the kitchen and the amount of amenities packed into the space, it wasnt small as the vehicle was luxurious in size and it would be welcome in any home. As they got to the rear of the middle deck and the dining area he complimented the team on their decor, he took special interest in the ornate dagger. Teddy had used his knowledge of woodworking to mount it to a slice of wood, it still had the bark on the edges and he had sliced it at an angle to show plenty of it, he had used a dark shiny varnish to finish it to better highlight the dagger that Lucy had magically mounted to it. Kyra had given it pride of place on the wall. Yaraballah touched the hilt of his own dagger at his waist and nodded his head to the decoration before they took him out back and up the twin flanking staircases to the top deck. Once they had shown him the wheelhouse they all stood on the front of the top deck looking out. Thankyou, the longevity and privilege of gold rank has allowed me to see some truly marvellous things, your vessel is definitely among them. On that note I hope to show you at the start of your adventuring journey some marvels of my own. He raised both of his arms and the carpet, with the Serenity on board, rose off the floor and started climbing into the air and moving forwards. They soon left the ground far below with the Mitchells leant on the edge of the ship looking down. They were taken by surprise as they were misted with water from the clouds around them. Might I suggest we adjourn to below-deck? Yaraballah said. Having made my vessel as large to take yours it is unwise to travel so low and we will encounter much more cloud. They descended the stairs at the rear to the middle deck and closed the doors behind them. They sat on the front benches and looked at the world pass by beneath them in comfort. James brought over a tray of drinks and Kyra a plate of snacks from the kitchen. Sir, how long do you suppose it will take to reach the wastelands? Teddy asked. Oh a day or two to pass the rainforests, then we must find him wherever he may be then negotiate passage with Baboa. Negotiate? Yes, as he is not in the society it means we cannot simply ask him to take you across the wasteland. But it also means that he cannot access certain facilities invaluable to a gold ranker that he must trade for, and that gives us the leverage to ask him for what we want. Teddy and Kyra movies into the kitchen, they were approaching evening and it was their turn to make dinner. So what is your flavour Mr Yaraballah? Lucy asked. Its just Ballah, please. We are on your vessel and I am your guest. I assume by your colloquialism that you are asking what sort of powers I have. I am a familiar and summons specialist. Oh really? I havent seen any. Over my long career I have long lamented the failed opportunity to have a familiar, I however am fortunate enough to have three bonded familiars and a plethora of summons I can call up, I made it my lifes work to better understand these powers and have developed a powerful stratagem with them. As a solo adventurer or as part of a team? Lucy probed. Ah a good question to ask someone in my position I think! Yes being a summons specialist does lend itself rather to teamwork. Summons are not the equals of essence user team mates. I started off travelling the world with any team that would take me somewhere new, I was always welcome as a unique specialist and found it easy to work in different teams rhythms. I have enough skill to pull my own weight just about without the use of my friends from the astral. How is it that you managed to work solo then? If you spent your formative years as a team adventurer then surely that moulded you a certain way? Over the years I found many techniques that worked for me. I imagine myself quite the inventor at times and I highly specialised in altering summon circles. I have devised multiple ways for each of my summons to be altered on entering this world to be more adaptive. Or simply stronger. Lucy looked gobsmacked, she placed her drink on the chair next to her, not realising when it tipped over, the crystal rippling, carrying away the liquid out of sight. She leant forward, pulling a notebook from her pocket as she did. We have some summons on our team James has been watching this conversation for a while from another chair and suddenly slapped his knees and standing up. Well I can see this is about to devolve into some magical geekery so please excuse me. He left them to it and went and joined Teddy and Kyra in the kitchen. A few hours later they had to drag Lucy and Ballah to the dining room table for dinner. They had cooked a traditional British roast dinner, an impressive feat considering none of the ingredients were traditional. They had cooked the looted meat from the lesser monster attack they had been in just before Ballah picked them up. They had trialed a selection of tubers to find the nearest to potatoes and parsnips, they had a selection of other vegetables on the plate and they had found a worthwhile substitute for flour to make some gravy. They had added some of their favourite touches like bread sauce and Yorkshire puddings that they filled with the gravy.They served the meal with a fantastic red wine they had picked up in Vitesse, the city of flowers had excellent vineyards nearby. This is incredible! Yaraballah said when he had his first few bites. The giant magic carpet seemed to not need direct control from the diamond ranker. What is this were eating? Sharp-toothed pheasants. Kyra said. Those baby velociraptor type lessor monsters? The feather-less scrawny dinosaur type things? James said looking down at his plate. Yes those, all that was looted was the breast, we pounded it flat, put some kind of Parma ham on the outside and pate on the inside then rolled it before roasting it. Excellent, Ive not had a meal quite like this before, and I have travelled quite extensively. Well Im glad you like it, this kitchen oven does the veg just right, fluffy on the inside with crispy outsides. They munched in silence for a while, enjoying the food. When Lucy took the almost licked clean plates to the kitchen she came back with sponge cake and custard. Kyra, I was talking to Ballah while you were cooking, as a summons expert he has a lot of experience with summons manipulation. We still have that diamond dust that I found in the mines? Im going to try a few of his ideas with Ballah tomorrow morning to see about what we can do for your diamond golem. Oh? What kind of changes does it make? Ballah licked his spoon clean and put it in his bowl, he rested his hands on his belly and slouched back contentedly. Well Ms Kyra thankyou for dinner, as for the changes that can be made are dependent on the investment you are willing to put in. The manipulation is capped by rank as each threshold of advancement restricts the magic imbued within each summon. The basics are additions of naturally occurring armour, increasing lethality etc. After that it gets more complicated if you want to affect the intrinsic nature of a summon. My fire based summons will never produce water but maybe instead of flames they produce magma or a whip of fire you see? These changes come with prohibitive costs in terms of materials and are not lightly to be used. They are adaptive or finding the right advantage in the right fight that would otherwise be un-winable, the type of scenario maybe facing a summons specialist attempting to operate solo. So we can make my golem extra thick or extra spiky? Those would be the cheap options yes. Lucy said. And we have to test and adjust for your summon specifically. But we have some materials to get started with, enough for me to test the results and extrapolate. The team and first adjourned to the front seating, they turned the transparencies all the way down and watched the terrain pass by below them. They had hit the time of day where the soft sparse clouds around them were reflecting the setting sun in shades of amber and pink. Long shadows stretched below them, a privilege to see from such a height. They saw a roaming herd of animals, vast and vague from the height they were they couldnt see with detail what the animal was but they were amazed at the quantity. It was like a scene imagined from before humans on earth had over expanded, before global warming ruined ecosystems and before greed took the natural grazing land for farming. They saw they were crossing a threshold of biomes, they had travelled far already with the gold rank transport, the semi-desert landscape was fast approaching a thick rainforest ahead. The trees were monolithic, the canopy looked impenetrable like a mosaic of stones of green rather than leaves. They noticed the subtle climb of the magic carpet below the Serenity to maintain distance above the terrain. Damn thats some big jungle. James said. Summing up the horizon to horizon flora. And it contains some damn big threats. Ballah said. The jungles of Washeigh are the province of gold rank monsters. They are a hunting grounds for those looking for the challenge of isolating themselves against monsters to drive their way to diamond. Teddy thought to pull out the map they had received from the adventure society when they took the contract and check it over. Sure enough the jungle region came with a large red warning not to venture near and to route around to the east. Well this is sure to lose a tail I guess. We would have a serious problem if theres anything following us that would risk following through or over this. We are safe enough from this vantage, the benefit of the jungle being so thick is the occupants rarely take notice to what is above. Any that decide to not maintain this line of thought I have the strength to deter without incident. They had brought the wine from the table and were finishing it on the comfy seating. When the sun had set they said their goodnights, the two couples going below to their respective cabins and Yaraballah went out onto the top deck to stand watch while they traversed the dangerous territory. Chapter 61 ‘Sing a song, be stabbed by the chef’ Kyra woke up and luxuriated, stretching out in the fine silk sheets she spread out to take up as much of the bed as she could. Curling the bed spread around her she smiled and enjoyed the space for a little longer to herself. The joys of being an essence user seemed to be nearly endless. She was enjoying in particular right now the fact that she had never slept better. The room was the perfect ambient conditions for sleeping, it blocked both sound and auras from outside with the right settings, the room was also kept the perfect temperature by a fourth-stage crystal environmental module that was installed as standard. Physically she was in perfect health, she didnt have to worry about a niggle in her shoulder to stop her lying on her side or a twinge in her back meaning that she couldnt sleep on her back. Bizarrely she had also got used to sleeping on her front with her face buried into the pillow as there was no longer any need to breathe. After long enough she got up, choosing a simple outfit for the day she got up and went through a series of stretching holds, designed to strengthen the body and connect the mind to movement. When she was done she left the room, sensing that Ballah and Lucy were in the crafting room and the boys were on the top deck. She chose to head to the back of the Serenity and up the rear staircases to the top. When she opened the sliding door at the back she was mesmerised by the clouds all around them, scattered here and there were perfect fluffy white clouds with startlingly blue sky between. On the top deck she saw that Teddy and James had collapsed down the rear table and benches and were sparring. The size difference was ridiculous, James height and reach was so much further than Teddys, factor in the seven foot staff that he was wielding and it seemed there was no way Teddy stood a chance. The reality was that he needed every inch of that advantage to stop the smaller man, he dove and weaved around James, who was by no means slow but Teddy was yet to put on all his speed and was just feeling James out. Kyra had seen them fight so many times she had no need to watch again. She made her way forward, snatching some fruit from a basket next to the drivers station and sat on the prow. The view underneath was stunning, green as far as the eye could see. There was no way to tell how big the trees were underneath as the canopy was impenetrable, they could be a few feet or hundreds of feet. The latter was the case, Yarraballah had told them over dinner that this jungle was incredibly large, so that it could house incredibly large gold rank monsters and animals that could keep up with gold rank monsters. She sat and watched it all go by, enjoying the peace, only broken by the rushing wind and the clacking of the weapons behind her every now and then. The magic carpet the Serenity was sat on seemed to not need any direct guidance as Yarraballah was nowhere to be seen, the speed was deceptively quick however, the lack of defining features beneath them and theyre altitude made it hard to judge just how fast they were going. Kyra made herself busy reading some advanced healing textbooks whilst munching her fruit. After a while Lucy and Yarraballah made their way up to the top deck also. By this time James and Teddy had finished their sparring and had reset the top deck back to normal, they were sat having a coffee and chatting over the fight, giving each other tips, mostly coming from Teddy to James as he had been training with the sword since that got to Pallimustus and staff fighting was relatively new to James as part of his repertoire. The team plus their gold rank guest all sat around the rear table and shared the morning with coffee, Yarraballah was as taken with it as everyone else has been so far. Lucy caught them up on what they had been working on in the workshop for the summons on the team and Kyra and James were impressed and keen to try them out. Yarraballah looked up at the prow all of a sudden. Im glad were all up here together, you may want to see this. He took his mug of coffee with him and walked to the front. The others followed him, looking at each other curiously. They stood either side of the gold ranker looking down. They saw the tops of the trees starting to thin out and towards the horizon the edge of the jungle. As they got nearer the edge they swore the trees were moving in one area. James spread his aura over them and they benefited from the enhanced perception power. There were flashes of light and blooms of fire from that area. Now that they had a reference point they saw how fast they were travelling. They rapidly approached the point of interest and saw what was happening. Giant tree monsters were slowly lumbering out of the jungle towards a band of entrenched adventures. Whats happening here? You dont seem surprised? Kyra asked. The jungle produces an abundance of high power monsters, those who live on the periphery must be prepared to beat it back every now and then. These particular monsters will wait until there are enough of them then they will march. These adventures are specialists and many of them are silver rankers working in concert with a few golds to beat back the monsters. James looked down at the amount of trees that were walking out of the jungle. And all those monsters are gold rank? Indeed. They were almost on top of the conflict now and Yarraballah slowed down the magic carpet. Lucy, your familiar can share some of your racial abilities correct? Does this include a looting power? It does, She has used it quite a lot in areas we cannot reach in the past. If you would be amenable to the risk I would have her escort me, the opportunity is in your favour but I would understand if you think the risk is too great. Youre going down there? Amongst the gold rank monsters? I have often assisted in the cull, I have a tried and tested relatively risk free approach to tackle them, any kills of mine I will give permission for your familiar to loot. Lucy thought about it and shrugged. She released Lechuza and explained to her to follow Yarraballahs orders. Yarraballah smiled, he placed his mug on the side of the Serenity and rolled backwards off the deck. He plunged towards the ground, punching through small patches of cloud. As they were watching him drop a blur dropped through the air in front of them, startling all four of the Mitchells. As it dove further away from them they could see it was a translucent bird, it caught up with Yarraballah and enveloped him, arresting his fall and carrying him out and over the conflict. Lechuza then swept out behind them, keeping a safe distance away until called in. What ensued was hard to keep up with even with the teams perception advantages. What they assumed was another bonded familiar burst out the ground underneath one of the ponderous tree monsters almost swallowing an entire leg. It was a lamprey looking worm monster that would have been roughly the height of the top deck of the Serenity. Its full length hadnt yet come out the ground. Just so we all realise, that ridiculous monster, even though its a bonded familiar, mustve been following us since the lake. Underground. At the same speed weve been flying. James commented. The thought was sobering at the power of the gold rank familiar. Yarraballah tag-teamed his familiars on the first monster, as he got down to ground level he used more traditional summoning circles and called forth multiple summons. He called Lechuza in once he had taken the first monster literally apart. His team of familiars killed another which he allowed Lechuza to loot again. After that he sent her back as he went in to help the entrenched adventurers. Thats a nice little boost to the family coffers! Lucy said, reading through the loot notification. This monster kill was not yours. You are unable to loot this monster. The Mighty Yarraballah has approved looting for this monster. [Jungle Warden] has been looted. [Monster core (Gold rank)] has been added to your inventory. 1000 [Plant Quintessence] have been added to your inventory. 10 [Gold Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory. She had the same message for the next monster. This monster kill was not yours. You are unable to loot this monster. The Mighty Yarraballah has approved looting for this monster. [Jungle Warden] has been looted. [Monster core (Gold rank)] has been added to your inventory. 1000 [Plant Quintessence] have been added to your inventory. 10 [Gold Spirit Coins] have been added to your inventory. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Damn I wish we had all these gold spirit coins when we were back at the lakeside village. Teddy said. Oh Im sure well find a way to spend them either way. Kyra replied. They all looked at her and she shrugged innocently. Doesnt all have to be on decorations but some would be nice. The flying carpet hadnt stopped, only slowed and they were now looking back at the confrontation, having taken two and assisted with some of the others Yarraballah was headed back towards them, being carried by the translucent bird again. He alighted on the deck and smiled at the four adventurers. How was your first experience of gold rank combat? Profitable. James answered before anyone else had a chance. More than we could follow really. Teddy admitted. Well Im glad we were successful in our endeavours worth looting. He beamed. How much would you like to split? Lucy asked. Oh no, I have my own looting abilities, I want to offer you the chance to earn some extra cash. I can only just remember the pressures of first starting out and any leg-up was welcome, coming from a community family including some very high rank members meant I was afforded some excellent opportunities. Thank you this is very generous! Kyra said. They all looked out in the direction they were travelling. The jungle was rapidly giving way to a bleak featureless desert. There were giant cracks running through it and a shimmering multi-hued haze rose off. The wastelands, Yarraballah said gravely. Were almost at our departure. He turned the carpet and started a descent towards a settlement. They wondered at the type of people who would choose to live sandwiched between the wasteland and the gold rank jungle. This is the village of the people we have just seen, they are a small core of people that like the villages around the lake make the most out of the remote but high magic area for natural resources. There is a high turnover of powerful adventurers that come through to try their mettle against the jungle monsters. We need must descend and see if they have any word ofBaboa. They circled down but there was no clearing for them to alight. The accommodation looked like a mix of treehouses and bunkers to survive a zombie apocalypse. You are by no means confined to the vessel but I would suggest staying aboard. These settlements are the premise of silver and gold rankers. Yarraballah said with an apologetic expression. Kyras aura spread out, it was like a hole in Yarraballahs world, first her aura disappeared to his senses then her companions auras became fuzzy, impenetrable to the point where they felt much tougher than the bronze rank he knew they were. Well that should about handle that! They made their way down, Yarraballah employing gold rank abilities, Teddy teleporting the girls and James gliding down on transformed arms into wings of metal. They made their way into the town and Yarraballah explained he would make enquiries while they had a little look around. There was less a bustling market place like what they found in lower rank areas and more of a professional atmosphere. Kyra still managed to find some shops. Gold rankers by virtue of the fact it could take so long to reach that rank developed other interests, many of these were intellectual and artistic. As such she managed to find some artwork of the jungle that she could happily add to her collection. Yarraballah made his way back to them and hastened them to board. Not much news of my friend but they think he may be to the north. They took off and made their way north, circumnavigating the edge of the jungle. They stopped off at two more small settlements to see if they could pin him down. The third settlement they stopped at they got a positive location for the mysterious gold ranker that traveled the wasteland. They flew out, right to the edge of the wasteland and Yarraballah stopped the Serenity in mid air. Mitchells, I would suggest that this next part may get uncomfortable. Baboa has already departed into the wasteland and we cannot call him back. Unfortunately this means committing to this as a course of action with all caveats, the very air will degrade you and your vehicle and the only means of traversing the terrain will be as Baboas guests. Are you happy with this? All these caveats sure are confidence boosting I must say. Teddy said. We are sure, we will have to see what the price is for travel when we get there, we have enough gold spirit coins now! He will not take any coins away we go, get yourselves below deck and turn on any and all defences that will still allow the Serenity to be carried by my carpet. I will make this as quick as possible. The team set up in the front lounge looking out over the wasteland. They felt the strain as they crossed the threshold. The Serenity vibrated, the walls and floor shuddered in reaction. The Mitchells felt as if they had been poisoned all of a sudden, the deleterious effects of the wasteland were no joke and they were being shielded by Yarraballahs aura and the Serenity itself was shielding them significantly. Near the edge of the wasteland they saw very few carcasses then the skeletons of animals, very shortly they saw nothing but the cracked and canyoning desert. No vegetation grew and no birds flew. The further they went in the worse they felt. Kyra didnt want to let Lucky out as she didnt want to hurt him, she sporadically sent out healing bolts as they travelled but her mana wasnt restoring as they travelled as a side effect of the wasteland debilitation. They saw a block on the horizon in the featureless vista. It rapidly grew in the window. All four of the team were now heavily reclined on the sofas, struggling to stay conscious. It grew until it towered above them. A monolithic rusty rectangle, it travelled on giant tracks, over a dozen wheels on each side drove the track, the length of the Serenity could have easily been the diameter of each wheel. The front of the massive vehicle was over a hundred feet tall and slanted forward. Yarraballahs carpet flew around the vehicle and into a massive landing bay halfway up. As they landed the Mitchells barely noticed but the carpet beneath them retracted to a normal size and Yarraballah rolled it up before coming up the back deck of the Serenity. As the huge hanger-like doors closed behind them the Mitchells felt like they had suddenly been cured. The Serenity relaxed and Teddy went to a panel built into the wall to check for damage indications. Lucy went downstairs to check the cargo to make sure the desert hadnt adversely effected it. Kyra and James moved to the rear to open the door for Yarraballah. We have been allowed on board, I hope the journey was not too stressful for you. Kyra looked back at the others, she had been monitoring the interface closely to see how everyone was getting on and was content they were fine. Teddy gave a thumbs up for the ship and Lucy came back upstairs and nodded that the cargo was fine. She turned back to Yarraballah and nodded that everything was ok. We must make haste, the longer that we leave Baboa the more trickery his fiendish mind can think of. We cant just leave the cargo. Teddy said. My dear boy, no one, or nothing is leaving Baboas territory without his say so, he will not tolerate anyone interfering with a guests property on his ship. We are quite at his mercy now. They left the ship and locked it up behind them. They made their way through the corridors away from the hanger. The vessel was vast, there was no perceivable motion as they knew it was rumbling along. The corridors were wide, you could fit a dozen people across and they were long with many branches. The walls were clean but industrial, the floors the same rust metal as the outside. After ten minutes of walking following Yarraballah they came to a large wooden door. Ms Lucy, we spoke about your interface before now. Lucy Michell would like to add a temporary guest member. Accept The Mighty Yarraballah (GUEST) Y/N (Pre-loaded custom permissions will be added) I meant to ask you about this, James said. The Mighty? Yarraballah was accepted by the others into the interface. [My village does not have surnames, as an extra given name we are given an additional name, my birth parents chose this for me, they were rather aspirational. My this system is very intuitive. What I wanted to say in private is not so much a warning as advice that Baboa might not find flattering. He is a bored man, he is old, content in his gold rank with no aspiration of diamond but he had amassed great wealth over his life and seeks perpetual entertainment entertainment in his own ways, nothing sordid but not the norm. He is not adventure society and has no master above him, he chooses the wasteland as his main home as there is no government here and so is a law unto himself. Do not anger him, do not simper to him, be your usual selves but with a little more survival instinct, he has thrown the bodies of those who have disrespected him before out onto the wasteland. Be aware that this interface may be the only privacy that you have whilst on board.] There as a beat or two while the four of them looked at each other, they didnt look scared only determined, they knew that they were committed now and they had to see it through. [Lead the way Ballah, lets see what weve got ourselves in for.] Teddy said. Yarraballah nodded and turned, he knocked once, a booming echo, and the doors opened inwards. They opened onto a vast banquet hall. It was a stark difference to the hallway outside. There were plush banners and warm lights all around, the walls were a warm red with a sky blue ceiling and the floors had furs and rugs all over. The main space was taken up by long banquet tables covered in food and tankards of booze and jugs to fills them. The tables were packed with people, men and women, humans, Elves, Leonids, Smoulders even the Draconid were scattered throughout. There didnt seem to be any uniform on the serving staff, regular looking people were carrying refills and food in from side doors. The room all orientated towards a raised dais, the banquet tables were in a horseshoe around so that the head of the centre raised table can look over them all. In the centre of the top table was what could only be referred to as a throne. A huge man sat atop it, casually leaking his gold rank aura out, not enough to be harmful but a slightly arrogant amount to be showing. What surprised them the most was that the man was large, but not in an athletic or strong way, the man was big but he was also fat. It was shocking to think that an essence user could get fat. He looked down at them with a friendly smile but a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Baboa! You old, retired, failed pirate. How has the limit of gold rank longevity not caught up with you yet and cast your soul to the astral. Yarraballah called up to him. [And he said to us about not insulting him.] James said on the interface just to the team. The mighty Yarra. Still babysitting on the mighty societys behalf, I see you have brought some of your babies to me this time. Are they the price for your charter this time or have they come to me to see what the adventure will cost them? You havent changed, I have warned them of your traditions, they come knowing they will barter for passage. My poor visitors! We old timers are nattering on like senile old men. I call you visitors yet, it has been explained to you then that this is not an adventure society enterprise, you are not guests here yet. The tables had gone deathly silent. Everyone had turned their attention to the exchange, it seemed to be a common occurrence and the mood wasnt hostile but jovial and good natured. Teddy spoke for the group as usual, not the leader of the team but they recognised it was easier for one person to front. Mr Baboa, it has been explained, were under contract with the adventure society at the moment and would greatly value passage across the wasteland to the north. We understand that we must barter with you for passage. It was such the way, Yarra you need to keep up with the times! You accuse me of not changing but youve yet to see my new toy! At Baboas exclamation a huge wheel of fortune was rolled into the room from a door of the dais. [Are you for real?!] James exclaimed. [Well what do you know, the wheel of fortune is a universe spanning tradition.] Kyra said. [More importantly what options are on the wheel?] Lucy pointed out. The wheel had the traditional sections on it. There were slots for mystery potion, take a hit, blank, basket of fruit, tell a joke, sing a song, be stabbed by the chef, invent a cocktail, six months on board, one months service and clean the halls amongst others. So tell me, who is going to spin first? Baboa said smiling, leaning forwards. Chapter 62 ‘He’s that good’ The team didnt hesitate, Teddy strode forward wanting to get it over with. Baboa clapped his hands and hoisted himself out of his huge chair. He wasnt grotesquely fat but had a belly, the gut of a powerful man gone to pasture. He clapped his hands soundly together which stated a round of applause around the room, he then clapped Teddy on the shoulder in a friendly way and steered him towards the wheel. Spin yourself or would you have me spin for you? Ill spin if it all the same to you sir, might as well have my fate in my own hands. Ha! Good man, good luck. He backed off, giving Teddy some space and started encouraging the crowd by raising his hands. The audience stamped their feet and banged their tankards, they cheered and sung boisterously. Teddy stepped forward and gave the huge wheel a big shove, it was well balanced and spun easily. It spun rapidly and Teddy stepped back to stand with his team, watching it spin so fast they couldnt read the options. As it started slowing down they started keeping their eyes on the worst options. [Lucy, can you pick up anything hinky coming off that thing?] Teddy asked, he knew he had to spin it anyway but for peace of mind he wanted to know if it was rigged. [Nothing, its clean, some residual magic from the manufacturing but nothing that would affect the spin, the fact that I can see that residual magic should mean that its not shielded and hiding anything else. Its true random chance other than the size of the slots.] Getting even slower now they could see it only had a full rotation or two left in it, they could see roughly where it was going to land. The room went silent, everyone seemed to be holding their breath. The highly bouncy pointer at the top was going to stop in a very sketchy area. It barely ticked from get stabbed by the chef onto spin again. The team, if any of them still needed to, would have breathed a sigh of relief. The room erupted in noise, cheers and laughter around the room. Teddy looked over at Yarraballah to see what the man thought and he raised his hands apologetically. Teddy looked to Baboa and the big man waved towards the wheel again. The chef had poked his head out of the side door at all the noise and Teddy saw how big the man was, he was a huge Leonid, easily twice the size of a human and carrying the most ridiculous chefs knife, a samurai sword that was at least four times wider than traditional. Teddy couldnt help but gulp at the thought of almost being stabbed by that knife. He stepped forward and gave it another confident spin. The rooms noise wound up again, getting excited. This time when the room went silent the pointer rested on Run the Room. The banquet hall erupted in cheers. Our first visitor will run the room!!! As a rare bronze rank visitor he has cheated you all of your entertainment! He will only be required to run the room twice! Baboa went back to his throne and lifted a panel. They heard clanking and grinding for a long time, the wall split behind the dais and they saw a long blank room beyond. The seated guests got up and crowded around pushing the Mitchells, Yarraballah and Baboa forward. At the front of the crowd the team inspected the room. It was a long rectangle, about fifty feet long, the room was completely blank white. Both James and Lucy had perception abilities that could see magic and they looked at each other worriedly. [The room is one giant trap Teddy. I cant even describe a safe route through, I dont know what to say.] Lucy said. The rules! For what game can there be without rules! Our visitor must earn his passage by running the length of the room four times! On his success or by his effort being deemed worthy then he may pass. To Teddy it didnt seem too bad, more like a surprise assault course, then Baboa spoke again and shattered that thought. Bring forth the collar! A man came forward producing a well padded suppression collar, a simple clasp instead of locking mechanism for Teddy to wear whilst he ran. [Aww nuts.] Teddy said. [You may not have your essence powers but you will still have the attributes, you still have hundreds of hours of mobility training at an exceptionally accelerated speed. The collar will probably shut off your interface powers so we wont be able to communicate with you. Youll be fine.] Lucy was trying to boost Teddys confidence. Kyra went on tiptoes and gave Teddy a peck on the cheek and slapped him on the rump to move him forward, they got a lot of cat-calls for that. Whenever you are ready visitor. Baboa told him. Teddy reached up and snapped the collar on. The interface disappeared instantly. He immediately felt incredibly isolated and vulnerable in a way that he hadnt really since getting to Pallimustus. He tried to look for any hint of help in the flooring in front of him and there wasnt even so much as a crack. With no better option immediately available to him he launched himself forward down the centre of the room. He was three steps in when he felt the first trap spring, he jumped forwards like an olympic hurdler, his forward leg straight while his back leg tucked up, his head and torso naturally bent down which was handy as twin spinning blades appeared from the floor and ceiling in front of him. Back in the crowd Kyra turned towards Baboa standing next to them, he blinked in confusion as he lost her aura even as she stood right next to him. She was all business as she looked him dead in the eye. Her face was stony and she curled her hands into fists as though she wanted to hit him. Mr Baboa, I understand this is all a game to you but if my husband dies or is permanently damaged from this. I will. Kill you. The old gold ranker looked at the young woman in front of him and didnt dismiss her out of hand, he had lived long enough to see such things become possible and she was currently demonstrating powers that made such things more likely. He nodded at her to show he understood and turned back to the task. Teddy landed on one foot. He had somehow sensed the blades just before they erupted from the floor and ceiling and reacted before he could think about it. Before he had a chance to get his other foot on the floor he pushed off and twisted, throwing his arms around his body and flinging his leg over. He went horizontal, pulling his arms in close and crossing his legs straight. A third blade came out of the wall sideways and he gracefully twirled over it and touching down on the far side without losing momentum. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. [Annoying that hes that good even collared.] James said. [I think were actually all grateful that hes that good at the moment to be honest.] Lucy slapped him on the arm. The next moment for Teddy saw him diving over spikes shooting out of the ground and rolling out into a slide under a spiked barrel that swung from the ceiling. A few traps later saw him touch the back wall and he reversed the route, coming back through much the same, the traps had reset seamlessly into the wall and he couldnt see where they were coming from again. He got back to the crowd and rushed up to Kyra standing at the front and gave her a smile, a wink and a peck on the lips before backflipping and heading back into the playground of death. He showed off a bit more this time, using one-handed springs and narrowing the gaps. When he hit the back wall this time something changed. There was a grinding noise and a deep rumbling. Teddy had hit the middle of the back wall in a jump and kicked off with both feet. His powers may be lost to him temporarily but he was using his bronze rank strength and agility for everything it was worth. When he sprang off he was shocked when the floor suddenly separated into squares held in place by some magic and they all started moving apart. Most dropped away forming huge holes in the floor. The rest all turned various angles and scattered. Ladies and gentlemen! All our young visitor has to now do is get back to us and he has passed! Baboa said to the assembled crowd. He had to roar his words as they were cheering so loudly. Teddys spring off the wall had him diving towards the empty space. He managed to grasp the edge of a metal square literally by the fingernails. He flipped underneath it coming all the way round to land in a crouch and looked at the route through. After a seconds hesitation he set off again, this time leaping from square to square. Some of the squares were moving, some even flipped as they moved. He was making good progress on his third square when it went slightly wrong. His next leap saw a metal spike shoot from the wall and pierced him in the hip. His trajectory was altered and he was fortunate to land on another square. He was over halfway but was now in trouble. He changed tack and used his good leg to jump off over a square that was much closer onto one just behind, as he did he scooped up the near square and carried it with him. His next jump didnt look like hed make it and even more so when another spike came out from underneath towards him. He tucked and placed the square between him and the spike and braced his feet against it. As it hit it catapulted him all the way to the end with the assembled crowd. He stood, bloody and defiant in front of Baboa, the blood dripping down his leg to pool on the floor. A ripple went through the crowd, a tankard was being passed forward all the way to Baboa. He held up a hand for silence and turned to Teddy unsnapping his collar and throwing it aside. Welcome traveler, state your name and be a guest amongst us. Theodore Mitchell. Baboa passed him the tankard and clapped him on the shoulder leading him back into the banquet hall and when everyone else was through the walls slid closed behind them. Welcome Theodore. You are under my protection as long as you are under guest rights and should seek assistance from me as needed. A worthy guest indeed! At the last comment there was a resounding cheers and Teddy saluted them with the tankard before taking a drink. They ended up arrayed as they were before. The team and Yarraballah stood in front of the big wheel of fortune. And now for our next visitor to spin! Baboa said excitedly. The men and women went wild cheering and banging the tables again. Wait wait wait! I thought we were under guest rights?! Teddy said through the noise. You are, however everyone who steps on board my vessel must spin my wheel! Yarraballah raised an eyebrow and Baboa held up his hands. Legacy rights of course for you old friend. [Ill go next.] James said as he stepped forward. The important factor why he did was because the wheel of fortune had magically readjusted to take out the dangerous Run the Room slot and James wanted less dangerous slots for the girls. Welcome visitor! You are prepared to spin the wheel? Baboa said looking up at James as he came forward. James only nodded as he reached up and spun the wheel. The Mitchells emotionally held their breath as they watched it spin, they had a much better idea about the level these tasks were now. The occupants of the tables thumped the tops in rhythm howling their approval. The team were all shocked with what the wheel landed on, even after the first result. It stopped on the one of the tiniest slivers and all the Mitchells looked at each other. For his part Baboa looked just as delighted as he had on the first result. Ladies and Gentlemen, our second visitor has spun a fine spin! This has not oft been landed upon and I am delighted to say I have looked forward to this! The tiny slither that James had landed on simply said Gift. The team were worried about what they might have that could be princely enough for a gift to the gold ranker, more than one of hem was worried for the security of the Serenity. I have lived a long life as many of you know, I have amassed a tremendous wealth and am delighted to be able to share some of that! The team had a small double-take. It sounded as if Visitor, what is your name so I may all you guest and bestow upon you a gift worthy of your bravery for spinning my wheel of fortune. Err, Im James Mitchell. James! Well met, you are Theodores brother I take it? I am. We are. Then welcome on board! You are also under my protection on board and should seek my assistance for any matters that arise. [That seems far too easy.] James said on the interface. [Take it, dont knock it, the chefs stabbing is still on that wheel.] Teddy said glancing over at the side door that the chef had poke his head out to see the result again. Now, James, what gift is befitting for you? A weapon maybe? I have a fine armoury. [Now lets not be hasty.] Lucy put on the interface. [There may be value in the gold rank items that he has but if he is as old and as well-travelled as he claims then he may have some truly unique items.] James was amazed as usual at Lucys mind, while the rest of them were subtly overwhelmed by what was going on around them in the mild chaos she was thinking tactically on the late notice opportunity in front of them. Thankyou but no, I conjure my weapons or use none. He replied to Baboa. Maybe armour then? I see you are using a mixed set, maybe a full suit of armour for yourself. Again I thankyou but no, I have a soul-bound growth item for armour and I have to plan around that. Baboa took a piercing interest in James vambrace after taking a longer look all over him. His performers joviality was subdued slightly in thought. Maybe a better question is what brings you here, where are you going and what do you intend to do when you get there? Baboa asked, no longer talking for the crowd but for James and the team. The audience didnt seem to take notice and went back to drinking and revels. Were on an adventure society contract. James said, looking to Yarraballah who nodded along as if to say it was fine to say the whole tale. We are heading to the town of Stonewall, from there on to the mountain city of Honshuraskil. I see, a shame you conjure your weapons and have such a unique item of armour, they are the best weapon and armour smiths on this continent. I have bartered for their services many times. They are unrivalled geniuses in crafting and altering. Well my armour needs upgrading to bronze rank? And it is highly upgradeable with a skilled smith? Aha! Baboa exclaimed, his theatre voice capturing the attention of the audience again. A gift has ever been a throwaway item long collected and near forgotten from my horde. A better gift, a more princely gift, can be one that was hard fought for off the back of name and deed. A gift in the form of a favour! I am owed a great task by the master armourer of the town of Stonewall, their forges the hottest, their minds the sharpest and fingers the nimblest over filigree and mail. You will carry my name and favour and have a great works done by the master armourer as your gift for spinning my wheel. Does this meet your satisfaction as a gift? [Yes.] Lucy put up quickly on the interface. [That is the most important item you own, yes if we can have the best people working on it then why not!] Yes, yes please, that would be very acceptable. Chapter 63 ‘What the ladies have in store.’ James had ben handed a tankard of beer, much the same as Teddy had, he raised it high, saluting Baboa and turning to the crowd in salute. He quaffed it in one and a refill was brought to him. They looked up at the wheel again, this time there was a barely perceptible change as the tiny sliver that was the Gift slot was removed and the rest readjusted. Baboa was watching them with sparkling eyes, the man was enervated, they could feel the energy coming off hi, he seemed to feed on the entertainment but was sharing it back out at the same time. And now we have to see what the ladies have in store, please step up and see what you might get! Lucy happened to be closer to the dais than Kyra and we didnt look back as she stepped up. The wheel still had plenty of options on it, some good and a lot that were questionable. She reached up and gave the wheel a hard spin, the options blurring in front of her. She stepped back and resisted the urge to hold James hand, although the crowd seemed friendly they felt as if they were vulnerable in front of the masses and did not want to look weak. The rapid clacking of the pointer at the top of the wheel of fortune penetrated through the cheers of the audience. It almost vibrated off each stud until the wheel started to slow. The rhythmic clacking got slower, pointing at each of the options, they did in fact see Give a Gift on one of the options and were glad to see the wheel keep spinning. It finally came to rest on Win a riddle. None of the Mitchells could say that they had ever been into riddles or riddle competitions before. Fortunately as she had experienced in the temple of Hero last time she was there her recall of strange random facts and information from her previous life was now much easier. Another advantage was the essence abilities she possessed which boosted her thinking prowess along with the inherent boost from being bronze rank, this was tempered by the fact that the challenge was Win a riddle, and Baboa, who was gold rank with a gold rank mind, was smiling like a cat who got the cream. Well, well, well. We have an opportunity for someone to win their place through a battle of wills! The rules, the rules, you must win by either one clear riddle or by an effort worthy of earning the title of guest, I will be both judge and competitor. He clapped his hands together then athletically leapt back to his chair, moving with superhuman ability which looked incongruous with his portly belly. He gestured to the space in front of him for Lucy to join him on the other side of the table. Now, as the visitor you have the right to start the competition of course! The noise from the onlookers dropped, there were muttered whispers and a few people unhappy that there was nothing really to watch but most seemed very interested in the interchange. Ok, Mr Baboa, hardly my area of speciality but let us see where it goes. Let me think Many have heard me, yet nobody has seen me. I won''t speak back unless spoken to. What am I? Ah, a good opening, let me think. I can see from you brother brother-in-law? Yes my apologies, I can guess from his performance he is of the assassin class. Teddy coughed and slightly shook his head. Ah spoilers! No spoilers I implore! I would say that there is the repertoire of darkness and shadow there, invisibility, no but he would not be heard. That is not it no I would say an Echo! The room erupted in cheers and table thumps as Lucy smiled and nodded at the big man. He had to hold up his hands to forestall the crowd. Now visitor it is my turn. My dear answer me this. What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon and three legs in the evening? There was a sussurance through the crowd as others discussed the answer, the sound was unnervingly blocked from Lucy so as not to give anything away. It felt like an eternity to think of the answer, she was sure she had taken far longer than Baboa but it often did feel the passing of time more when put on the spot. She suddenly had it. Baboa you crafty man, your afternoon has been going on now for many many years and I wish you many more before your evening. The answer is Man, when he is born he crawls on four limbs, when he is grown he walks on two and when he is in his elder years he walks with a cane. The crowd went wild again and Baboa thumped the arm of his chair. Well done! Indeed may it be many more years before I am invalid! The floor is yours for your next riposte. Lucy thought for a moment looking at her hands. Two men are given poisoned tea. One man drinks fast and lives, the other man drinks his slow and dies. How is this possible? Ah intriguing, the easy answer, the lazy answer is to say an essence power but no that would be a riddle not worth telling His habit of thinking out loud was a nod to the crowd, a way to spread the entertainment further, Lucy had cottoned on to this by not just blurting the answer out to her riddle but embellishing it for the crowd. As identified there are different types of men, essence users and normal, so are there different types of tea I would say the answer to your riddle is the poison is in the ice in the tea, not the tea itself! Again, the crowd erupted at Lucys nod. She felt a small thrill at the power such a small gesture had in front of so many people, she had never been on stage before and this performance was new, the look on Baboas face said that this was what he lived for. Baboa leapt upon the table arms wide with gusto. Men seize it from its home, tear apart its flesh, drink the sweet blood, then cast its skin aside! The crowd responded to his dramatics with fresh revelry. Baboa you mean to lead me astray! Talk of violence and riling your crowd, you speak of a fruit of course! The crowd laughed along with Lucy as Baboa chortled holding his shaking belly as he hopped back down to his chair. Keen to dial up the dramatics Lucy had an idea. She swept her arm across the air in front of her and runes streamed from her eyes to leave a straight line. Names, give power. She bent the runes into a circle and a rune portal appeared. Magic to control. She closed her fist and it disappeared. But what is broken by naming it? The crowd had gone quiet, the performance enthralling them. Baboa thought in his head, eyes darting side to side a he went over the possibilities. All of a sudden his eyes went wide and he smiled. SILENCE! He bellowed. The spell was broken as everyone understood. Ha, by naming silence we break it, very good, very good. Tell me the answer to this riddle young traveller, Tear me off and scratch my head, what once was red is black instead. Lucy forgot herself for a moment and answered straight away. A match! That was a good one, from the good batman back in the day Baboa just looked at her in slight confusion and it gave her an idea. Baboa, for you. The less of them you have, the more one is worth? Ah short but precarious. I would remember back to my early days, even with gold rank memory, the days when I barely had two coins to rub together, and rub them I would! It would take a lot to make me spend my coin and so now I can make them flow like water. I would say to you young adventurer coin is the answer to your question. Some of the crowd started to preemptively cheer but Lucy held up her hand. Honoured host, I am sorry to say, though while your answer has merit it is not correct. There was a ooh from the crowd. The answer to my riddle is a friend. A man may be thrilled to have a hundred friends but when you find yourself with only the one true friend do you see the value. Very well! A good riddle, point to you. For the win then it seems. I can start a war or end one. I can give you the strength of heroes or leave you powerless. I might be snared with a glance, but no force can compel me to stay. What am I? Unfortunately for Baboa he didnt understand the history of earth, the multitude of wars throughout history that had been started for this very reason, the songs that were spread an available at the touch of a button or the films they all sat eating popcorn through. The answer was far more simple to Lucy without thinking of anything from the new world that might have confused it. Mr Baboa, what you speak of is a powerful force, the most powerful I have ever come to discover during my studies of magical theory. The answer, she moved to hold James hand, Is love. At Baboas smile the crowd went wild. He stood and grabbed a flagon and passed it to her. Welcome guest, speak your name and be welcome. Lucy Mitchell, wife of James Mitchell. Welcome! You are under my protection all the time you are under guest rights and you are free to come and see me for any matters that arise during your stay. Lucy took the flagon and raised it to Baboa before taking a sip, she turned to the crowd and raised the flagon again, they all saluted back and she took another drink. She went back over to stand with her family and looked back up at Baboa. And now, one final visitor, please come up and take your spin! Kyra squeezed Teddys hand and let go, making her any up to the wheel. She gave it a form spin and stepped back, crossing her arms. The wheel noise was familiar now and she watched where it might land. The options either side were not very interesting but the section it landed on gave each of the Mitchells a horrible feeling at the bottom of their guts. Kyra turned towards Baboa, assessing the gold ranker as he still stood by his chair. The lady has spun Dual! [If he makes a move, if he twitches Im teleporting you back to the Serenity.] Teddy said. [Kodas ready to go.] [Ill deploy the Lechuza, she can do her best to tie him up and Ill then re absorb her as the witch to boost my powers.] Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Baboa looked over the team who had all stiffened and subtly moved to combat ready stances. Of course it would be unfair to dual with myself, so she will dual my bronze rank champion! The team relaxed slightly, Kyra not having to fight the gold ranker. The crowd parted from the rear and a huge man walked forward, he was built along similar proportions to James but not quite as big. He had a bushy moustache and his beard was sectioned and braided and came down to his mid chest. He wore huge plate armour with the gaps covered in heavy chain mail. A huge double headed axe was slung over his back, the heads poking out behind his massive shoulders. Another single headed but huge axe was slung at his belt, the handle was ornately carved and wrapped in leather at the top that also wrapped part of the head. The head was carved in sigils and wards and the engraved parts were blackened in stark contrast to the shiny metal. He had a pair of huge gauntlets tucked into his belt that thrummed with magic to anyone with the senses to see. He strode right up to where the Mitchells were standing close together. He flung his arms wide and caught them all up in a hug as Kyra moved back to the others. Well met Mitchells! Well met! It is joy to mine eyes to see you here before me! Oof, hi Ragnar. Kyra said weakly. They had met the huge man in the temple of hero. He had boisterously picked up Teddy and Kyra then and carried them into the party, once they had met with Vastreed the wraith priest he had the cajoled them into staying for the party where they eventually woke up the next morning on the floor of the library. You have already met my champion? Baboa asked with some confusion. Indeed my liege, I have met the honoured Mitchells in the divine halls of Hero, a few of their minor deeds have already been sung in those walls. He put them down and held them at arms length. Lucy shook herself out a little. What are you doing here Ragnar? She asked. My god bade me go hence and adventure in his name! Your god told you to get off your ass, stop getting drunk on his fancy furniture and earn your place in the church! Ha just so. I attempted to cross the wasteland. A poor decision and an un-heroic death, Baboa found me clinging on, once revitalised he bade me spin his wheel. I fought his champion and bested him, throwing him down. I was invited to stay on as champion and have been making my god proud claiming victory in his name! Baboa interrupted. And now my last visitor, you must fight him. My champion has Might, Earth, Forge and the Titan confluence, what might your essences be so we can set the arena? Kyra realised that she really was going to have to fight Ragnar and started sizing him up. I have the Earth, Life, Mirror and Diamond confluence. Ah an essence shared, this will make it much more interesting! Baboa clapped his hands and the wall behind him separated again to the room where Teddy had run the killer obstacle course. It was much bigger and featured an ice-hockey style arena in the middle, the floor was rocky and undulating, a ruined building on either side and scrubby plants dotted about. There was a huge scraping of chairs and benches as the crowd stood up to traipse through to stand around the glass partition around the arena. Kyra strode onto the middle with Ragnar, she gave him a shove playfully as he stopped when she carried on to the far end. The rules! Baboa spoke, it sounded as if it came from the middle of the arena so everyone could hear. The fight will be no-holds barred. We want to see a real fight not a spar, to that end for the purpose of this competition I will guarantee the safety of all in this room. I have gold rank level assets to ensure the survival of the competitors. Our visitor must win by right of arm or make a good enough how that she earns the right of guest within these walls. Ragnar, are you ready? The big man untucked his gauntlets and put them on then unshouldered his double headed axe and nodded. Visitor are you ready? Kyra bounced up and down a couple of times an rolled her head like she was cracking her neck, she summoned her diamond sword and buckler and nodded. Then fight! The noise of the crowd was lost on Kyra as she dashed forward. Kyra had the advantage of sparring with James all the time, she knew that his size bellied his speed and what to expect. She wasnt intimidated by the power of the man, the Might essence was known for its power and gods know what powerful tricks the Titan confluence would kick out but James essences also gave him strength beyond what his rank normally did. The starts of fights opened many different ways. Teddy complained about being assassin class but he preferred his stealth attacks. Lucy like to bait enemies into a clever setup, James liked to lock strength for strength straight away. Kyra liked combination attacks. She ran in and juked to go around Ragnar. When the big man turned to defend from the position she was going she had an earth spike erupt from the ground in that direction. To her annoyance the spike flowed like muddy water around the man and formed earthen armour. He somehow managed to use the formation of that armour to spin and catch her in the shoulder with his axe. It sparked and slid off her armour before digging deep into her shoulder and her arm went limp, she bit off a scream as blood sprayed his face. She rested her arm against his chest in the still moment after the impact. Oh Ragnar. She said, looking apologetically at his face close up. At the same time she used her Self Reflection power and detonated the sword in her hand that was resting on his chest. His chest plate where her hand had been caved in and split in the shape of his axe blade, then the shards of diamond exploded away from Kyra at him and hit him in his exposed face and wound. After using her power her shoulder was completely healed as if it had never happened, the only sign that it had was the tear in her armour. He staggered backwards and she pressed her advantage. She summoned a diamond spear and chased him down. He backed up, catching the tip of her spear on the flat of his axe. He struck out at her legs with the haft even though she was pressing hard. He managed to start sliding the razor sharp blade of the axe down the haft and she wondered (is that shit vibrating?!) She knew there were weapon effects that did extra damage like that. What Ragnar hadnt noticed was the extra part of the combination attack. Lucky clamped onto the back of his leg. It wasnt a normal dog bite, Lucky was a bronze rank familiar with bronze rank strength, left to it he could rip Ragnars leg off. He didnt give the dog a chance, he spun and swung the axe. Kyra recalled Lucky before it could hit and struck at his back. His second axe flew from his side, it clashed hard with the spear, taking chunks off it. He came up swinging, the double headed axe weighing nothing in his hands. The single axe was dancing of its own accord. She was suddenly fighting two enemies. The chunks kept flying off the spear. After a fierce flurry the spear snapped, she switched styles on the fly, a defensive style that was used with short swords against multiple enemies. She managed to kick the floating axe away, it mustve fallen outside the sphere of his influence and fell to the floor. Ragnar bulled into her, grappling her. Forsooth shield maiden, have you run out of tricks now?! He said, crushing her against his chest that seemed strangely solid. Not yet she whipped her head round, the divine beads in her hair gave an amount of thickness to the plait with extra braids, they gave her mana regeneration and lowered the cost of healing magic. But they were also a divine artefact, whilst they weighed nothing more than metal beads to her they struck Ragnar in the face like hammers. His grip faltered and she used another earth ability on him, an earth wall rose between his legs, hitting him square in the beans. He let go of her as he recovered. Songs do not get sung about such underhand play! He moaned at her. Yeh well youll be singing soprano now for whatever you do sing. Her voice seemed to come all around him and he looked up. There were a dozen copies of Kyra all around him, some with sword and shield, some with the spear and some with neither. Kyra knew her high-damage attack options were limited, most were earth based which he could obviously easily negate. She wondered if he was better than her at hand to hand and didnt want to find out. He had taken her attacks well so far and she studied him to see how, the leg that Lucky had bitten was now a solid metal, she guessed that his chest was too from where she had hit it and then he had tried to crush her against it. She couldnt afford to get caught again, she was running out of tricks to get away from him. Before he has fully recover she had all her doubles run around him and start firing, there were phantom earth spikes and boulders and mirror shards flying from everywhere, he would have blocked most if they were real but a few of her mirror shards got through until he realised that none of the earth effects were real and he focused solely on blocking the mirror shards. It came as a shock then when he was hit by a double boulder and then couldnt move his feet to dodge a pair of earth spikes coming at right angles at his torso, they both punctured his chest shallowly. When he looked down he saw the debris from where he had been hit by the boulders had been moulded around his ankles to the floor, pinning him in place. He felt the cool touch of a diamond sword on his neck. Yield Ragnar. Kyra said from behind him. Well fought trickster, impressive, I had not managed to get many of my powers out at all! But I did manage to get one, drop your sword or mine axe may may falleth. She looked over her shoulder and saw the single bladed axe was hovering over her. No. She said and leaned into the sword, putting increasing pressure against his neck. The axe fell, it skittered off her diamond armour, she had used her Encased power for a moments invulnerability and the axe buried itself into the ground. Baboa was standing in front of the Ragnar, one fingertip on the tip of Kyras sword stopping it from going any deeper. Ladies and gentlemen, I declare a winner! While the noise of the crowd came back to her Kyra got straight to work, she melted away the earth powers she had used on Ragnar, hit him with a Life Bolt and a Life Aura to assess the damage, holding him up. He gave her a bloody tooth grin from his chest wounds. A good fight Ms Mitchell. But yielding is not in me unless there are innocents at stake. He stood under his own power, Kyras healing having patched up the relatively minor damage, the fight was called not because of the puncture wounds, which most bronze rankers could cope with but more because Kyra would have been able to cut his head off which was unlikely a bronze ranker could deal with, not even James. Baboa took Kyras hand now she wasnt supporting the big man and thrust it into the air. Our winner, and new champion! What is your name guest? Kyra Mitchell, wife to Teddy Mitchell. Kyra said, copying Lucys parlance. Then you are welcome Kyra Mitchell and your are under my protection all the time you are under guest rights. Come and seek me out for any assistance you may require whilst you are on board. He was handed a tankard of beer and he passed it on to her, she saluted him with it then took a large gulp. All of our visitors have earned their places as guests! Let us show them a good time. Congratulations Mitchells. Yarraballah said standing close to them. You are in! That is the hardest part done. Baboa joined the team and the gold ranker. Ragnar Im sorry to see you fall, you gave a good stint and were ever a good show. Mitchells welcome aboard, I will not apologise for the theatrics and you all gave a good showing, eat drink, enjoy yourselves. On the morrow we will talk about your desires for coming aboard. Kyra, Ragnar, as my current champion and my recent defeated you will come and drink with me at the top table, the others may join as they will but be free to mingle, we have a lot of interesting people on board. Yara I will speak to you in private later. The rest of the Mitchells let the gold ranker pull Kyra and Ragnar away. What does he want to speak to you about in private if you dont mind my asking? Lucy said. My friendship with Baboa is old, part of his keenness to have me on board is to share the resources and knowledge of the adventure society that he does not have access to for progression through gold rank, not that he is overly bothered. He has a long time to ponder it and as you can see is in no rush. I see, he kind of has it all then. Yes, including your sister-in-law for now. Teddy looked at him sharply. Dont worry, he will let her go, but she is technically his champion for now and he will try hard to convince her to stay. They all looked up to the top table to see Kyra sat at Baboas right hand while they toasted her again. She caught their gaze and lifted her tankard and drained it, enjoying herself. Well let her have this one, well remind her tomorrow that we actually have a job. Chapter 64 ‘Firefly class’ The next morning the team and Ragnar were all present in Baboas office. Everyone except Baboa, Yarraballah and James had headaches. After the party last night they had headed back to the hanger where the Serenity was housed and slept on board. Their host had laid out a breakfast spread in the office complete with pastries and tea. The Mitchells pulled out a flask of coffee and poured everyone a cup, Baboa looked interested but dubious until Yarraballah urged him on enthusiastically. They all sat around a low table right at the front and top of the huge vehicle, a large plate of glass separated them from the desert wasteland and they could see the incredibly potent magic on it to protect them from the dangerous atmosphere outside. Now Mitchells, Yarra has told me you are headed to Stonewall in quite a hurry, he said no more than that but you are in luck! We had no destination in mind when you came aboard and it is no trouble to me at all to swing near the town before we ramble again. But I would be keen to know how it is you came to this point, you are a unique team from what I understand. James was in the best condition, since his Omnivorscent power got to bronze rank it allowed him to turn all poisons and toxins into health, mana and stamina. As he didnt drink above his rank he had metabolised the alcohol almost as soon as it hit his system and he was actually better off for it. Well weve been in this universe now for just over a year Baboa interrupted almost straight away. Sorry James, clarify what you mean by this universe? Oh, did you not know? Were outworlders, we kind of got snatched by a magical accident and brought here. A year ago? All bronze rankers of substantial skill? And Theodore you are two stars already? Yarraballah said. Urgh, yeh, I was a three star at iron rank, only had a few months out of the academy to get it. And please call me Teddy. What academy? I am not aware of an academy down in the Greenstone area? Baboa asked. James picked up the narrative again seeing how much Teddy was struggling just following the conversation and grasping his coffee mug. The Remore academy Greenstone Annex, its really there for the fancy students to come down from Vitesse and the like to come and cut their teeth on some low rankmonsters but they run a program for Greenstone adventurers to teach them. We got roped in by Hero to have spaces almost as soon as we turned up on this planet. Wait, what? Hero is involved? Does this have something to do with you Ragnar? No no no, well maybe. My god prompted me to go forth in his name and adventure this way so maybe his intent was that we meet, but really fate may have guided my feet and axe wherever there were foe and food! So Hero got us the spaces, the annex program is around a year, we all graduated and started adventuring. Weve been busy and were quite successful in doing a lot of contracts and got promoted, then they needed a team to do this job and we were a good fit. The trouble is the local aristocracy from Greenstone also wanted it so we had to hide it from them. Oh, and theres some continent spanning organisation of bio-mechanical monster meddlers that are chasing us for our cargo as well which meant crossing the wasteland was a perfect opportunity to throw them off. James sat back and sipped his coffee, quite happy with his succinct summation. Baboa looked a little bit stunned, Yarraballah winced slightly as Baboa turned to him. A continent-spanning bio-mechanical-monster-meddling organisation? The Confederacy are back? Baboa, we dont share this detail down You are still blinkering the younger adventurers? This is why I never threw in with your people Yarra, they have every right to know! There are a multitude of threats in the world that sharing their knowledge would do more harm than good, the society is only looking to stop a panic. They have been chased into one of the most inhospitable locations on this continent! And you dont think they deserve to know?! They felt the anger coming off Baboa now. Yarra my old friend I will not ask for your forgiveness for what comes next, you are a guest aboard and remain as such but you know my position on the society. They saw Yarraballah chewing his cheek as he stewed on Baboas words, he waved a had in submission and got up to go look out the window. All thought of hangover had disappeared in the adventurers as they watched the gold rankers argue. [Why does it feel like mummy and daddy are arguing about something were too young to know?] Teddy said on the interface. [Yeh and I think daddy just won and mummy isnt happy.] James replied. [And why is Ballah the mummy?] Lucy asked. [Well typically the daddy is the reckless one and you get a bit of a DGAF attitude off Baboa?] Teddy explained. [Plus thats definitely more of a dad-bod hes got going on there.] Kyra chipped in. I feel you should know what is going on, what do you know so far? Lucy, now alert and engaged to on the explanation. We first ran into an isolated incident in the desert outside Greenstone. A solitary scientist looking man who was obviously running biomechanical experiments on some Rock Wryms, including a Matriarch. He was exhausted and maybe slightly crazy. Not knowing what to think of it we took him into custody and turned him into the adventure society in Greenstone. She turned to Ragnar. Where the church of Hero took a keen interest in making sure we were kept in the loop during his interrogation. The next we saw of these people were wen they attacked the adventure society docks when our cargo was due to land and the attack was repelled, the cargo was a few days delayed so they missed it. We then scooped it up offshore and headed out towards here, after we made contact to give a situation report at a village called Yorsh we were ambushed by a swarm of these mechanically enhanced monsters, proving that they were still chasing us. We ran hard and havent been caught since, we planned to run straight across lake Shawnahakswee as we didnt see any warning signs on the approach. She broke off as Baboa looked over to Yarraballah. Someone messing with your duty Yarra? The gold ranker didnt turn round from where he was looking out the window with his arms crossed behind his back. Before I picked up our young friends Firenze came to see me to tell me about them, he said that he found evidence that someone had been interfering with he road signs in order to do them harm. That would be some harm I dont know if we would even be safe here in the wasteland if the Bahamut were to anyway, please continue. Well that about sums it up, Firenze passed us on to Yarraballah and here we are. From memory the Stonewall contract is transporting overcharged resonance energy. That would be highly useful to the Confederacy. Baboa glanced over to Yarraballah who was unmoving. The Confederacy are an organisation unhappy with the status quo. A dissatisfied people who are not happy that essence users of the world have an advantage over non-essence users. But the crazy man in the desert was bronze rank? We struggled to subdue him as we were only iron rank. Baboa threw up his hands. Well of course theyre hypocrites, theyre the bad guys. They are trying to fashion a way to make monsters do their bidding to overthrow the current system. But, but thats ridiculous?! James said. A world war? Using monster slaves? The artifice to control the monsters is a tricky science. They have been working underground for years. Your adventure society digs them out root and stem whenever they find them. But the movement hasnt disappeared and they have been getting more successful over the years. If they got their hands on a material as powerful as you are carrying then they might be able to attempt to control something as powerful as high gold possibly diamond. Well thats a little terrifying. Kyra said. Indeed. So I wish you the best of luck! Uh, wouldnt you want to help stop that? The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Been there, done that, helped people. I now have the wisdom to know the best people to tackle this are the society, but I have no interest in being one of them and they wont have me without being one of them which I will not do. Oh, so I guess not your problem then? You are not the first to think of me as selfish, I have done my part, made sacrifices, lived a dangerous life in protection of others. It is my choosing to sit here and enjoy my spoils and you cannot make me feel bad for that. Baboa said, completely at ease reclined in his seat. But I will help you because I like you and I find you entertaining. He smiled. And that is what Im after in this world. We will be at the nearest side of the wasteland to Stonewall by tomorrow morning, your time with us shall be short but it was memorable. I have some magical engineers on board that keep my rolling city moving, I have an idea for them to help you with your wonderful craft in the hanger. They took a good look at it. He held his hands up defensively when Teddy bristled. From a distance and non-invasive, they recognised the magic signature of fourth stage crystal and got very excited. You should speak to them as early as possible to rest and work with them while you are here, they are quite gifted. The Mitchells stewed on his words for a moment. It didnt seem right that someone with so much power and so much knowledge should just sit there and do nothing, did that make him the bad guy? Did it make him neutral? [We cant judge him. I mean we definitely can and we all are, but were judging him with the wrong mindset. Were thinking in earth terms with our thirty-ish-odd minds. How old is he? Hes insinuated that hes pretty damn old, we dont know the life hes led except hes amassed all this. What has he had to do in the past? He might have given a few lifetimes away to protect others, longevity of life could be a trap and torture for someone who believes they have to be the hero in every story.] It may be because she had done the extra mental health modules at the annex aimed at healers, or her more caring nature than the others. But Kyra had broken all of their chains of thought at how Baboa was talking his way out of this. Thank you Baboa. Lucy said. Teddy and I would be very appreciative to learn anything more we can about upgrading the Serenity. Never turn away someone elses experience. The team and Ragnar made their way to the door and started to go through it and turned back to see Yarraballah hadnt moved. You lot go on ahead, Im going to catch up with Baboa some more. The team left them to it, making their way through the huge vehicle back to the Serenity to find these engineers. Yarraballah turned to see Baboa looking at him expectantly. Well? Youre going to scold me for telling them that which they should know? Yarraballah smiled and opened his arms wide. You did wonderfully old friend. Baboa was taken off guard and looked confused. Firenze and I spoke, we have our hands tied and dont want to kick that particular nest, but they need to know what theyre fighting. Now they know that does is open to them and the society will have to tell them the rest. It was a dangerous ploy bringing them to you but I hope youll forgive me friend. Forgive you? I could kiss you! This has been an excellent visit. I must admit I feel slightly used, but its a feeling Ive not felt in a long time and is welcome all the same! This is most entertaining, even to watch from the outside. Whats your next step? I will leave them to go on to Stonewall by themselves, they should have enough lead to be safe. I need to check in with the society to say I have been successfully relieved at the lake anyway and I will tell them all that has happened. You can probably expect a representative to come and remind you of your position and privilege and what can you can and cant say to lower ranks of you want to remain on good terms with the adventure society yah-da yah-da yah. He rolled his wrist in an ongoing fashion. You cannot tell them that you already told me off? Baboa grumbled. Oh no, I was worried the safety of the bronze rankers around the unpredictable Baboa! I was powerless to stop you out here in the middle of the wasteland. Never took you for a coward Yarra. Oh it keeps me on everyones good side, I neither want to or even can, scold you. But the adventure society would want me to at least try. Well congratulations, you and Firenze managed to get everything you want, now, lets talk about some more of what I want from you Yarra. .. The team and Ragnar made the long way through the city-vehicle. There were people everywhere, multiple dining halls, training rooms, music rooms, a spa and even what sounded like a casino as they went past. For someone who is independent of any country or organisation Baboa pretty much has his own nation state here. Teddy said. I wonder if it works like that, you get powerful enough, have a desire for something like this in a bit of land no one else wants then claim your own sovereignty. Lucy replied. They came to the end of a wide corridor. Doors closed behind them and the wall in front of them disappeared upwards as the platform they were on descended. The Serenity has been moved to a larger hanger with other guests vehicles. There was a plethora of means of conveyance. Some of the guests were milling about, checking their vehicles over during the long journey. The Serenity had drawn quite a crowd. There were adventurers checking it out with envy and engineers talking excitedly to each other. Everyone was keeping a respectful distance and they found out why as the platform reached the floor and they stepped forward. Are yous the Mitchells aye? An engineer with an array of goggles on his head asked. Thats us. Teddy answered, Ragnar gave a little cough. And friend. Good, Ive been sat here for a while. The boss put some extra protection around your wagon. You wanting me to take it down? Err yes please. Lucy said stepping forward until he put a hand up. What kind of protection? He took the pencil from behind his ear and threw it backwards, it hit an invisible wall and disintegrated. Id like to upgrade that to a definitely yes. They moved forward with the engineer and he disabled the protections, this somehow summoned more of the engineers who were all talking excitedly. Kyra hadnt done any work on the Serenity and didnt have a perception power that allowed her to see magic so she saw the vehicle differently to the rest of the team, she has spent long enough aboard to truly appreciate how amazing it was, how versatile and how powerful it is. She didnt really understand however, why they were so excited as they crowded the vehicle. Uhuh, excuse me please. Who made this vehicle? The lead engineer with all the goggles asked. We did. Teddy said indicating himself and Lucy. Err really? We thought this resembled some of the Craftsmans work down south but we werent sure. Well we made it with him so thats probably why you think its his work. But the Craftsman doesnt take apprentices! Many have tried over the years, including more than a few who work on board here. They would sacrifice a lot to work with fourth stage crystal. Dunno what to tell you. He taught us how to build this and maintain and adapt it. Oh really? Would you be willing to entertain some ideas from some of the team? The conversation devolved into top level geekery of engineering, Teddy explained to them the differences between theirs and a normal off the shelf model from Charlie. James, Kyra and Ragnar soon got bored of listening to Teddy and Lucy excitedly talk through magical interchange theory and efficiencies in thrust compared to similar types of vehicles. Teddy and Lucy didnt even notice as the others slinked away. They found their way back to the sound of the casino. They had a few varieties of cards around the tables. One table has a group of humans and elves that seemed to be placing bets on what colour a crystal on the table would turn next. There was a member of staff on the door who stopped them. Hold up a second if yeh dont mind and want to come in. What if I do mind and still want to come in? James asked in a friendly tone. The mans back suddenly bristled with spines. Then weve got a problem. James raised his hand placating the man. No problems here, just curious. Right then, if theres no problems, a few questions. Three humans? One nod two shakes. One human two outworlders then. All adventurers? Three nods. Hands up for perception powers. James and Ragnar held up hands. Anyone got precognition or time based powers? Three shakes. All right, you two get these. He handed James and Ragnar a blue coloured flower with a clasp. And the two boys get a flower but none for the only lady? Kyra teased. Its to tell the tables theyve got perception powers. Your new here, theyll not be able to play at certain tables, yous all here as guests of Baboa, so we dont want to collar no one so they can have some fun. If the tables reckon yous cheatin then theyll ask your essences, if theres any doubt theyll give you another flower and you cant play that game no more. Any problems with that they call me over and you dont get to play no more at all. Any questions? I think thats pretty clear. James said looking at the others. Still upset I dont get a flower. Kyra pouted. Sorry miss, did I just overheard that its your birthday? The door man smoothly whipped out a yellow and pink flower. Hear, thisll let em know its your special day. Oh! Thankyou, its beautiful. She said pinning it on. Ok youre free to go in. Dont think I havent noticed you two boys are huge, like Leonid huge, dont cause no trouble, dont let anyone else cause trouble on you. Go have fun. They made their way in and walked the floor, they lost a few coins here and there on tables that caught their fancy but didnt get sucked in to anything. James ended up with a second flower after passing a long table with a walled track running the length with six tiny birds at one end, they looked like featherless eagle chicks, James had made sure they were being looked after well, which they were, before the croupier noticed and handed him a flower straight away. They ended up playing cards at one of the tables. They had no idea how long they played for, the coins spent seemed to be fairly balanced against what they won, food and drink was brought to them with James keeping a clear head while the others dug in with gusto to both. They attracted a crowd who came and played and it wasnt until they got a tap on the shoulder that snapped them out of their fun. Scuse me see, youre brother, wife, sister-in-law. Would like you to head back to the hanger, youre ready to depart. A member of staff said. Huh? A drunk Kyra said back to him. I dont have a brother. Im your brother Kyra, well brother-in-law. She looked at him blearily in confusion. But youre here, why do you want me in the hanger? What time is it? I dont think the time is the problem K, weve been in here over a day. James said gently helping her up. He put a shoulder under a drunk Ragnar as he only needed a hand under Kyras arm to keep her steady, she was too busy clinging onto the dozens of flowers she had managed to talk people out of during their stay to be much help to James in walking. They made their way back to the hanger on the descending platform again. When the Serenity came into view Kyra staggered forwards against the rail to better see the changes. Wow, it really is a firefly class now. James said. Chapter 65 ‘Fuck about and find out club’ Teddy and Lucy met them off the descending platform, grinning from ear to ear. She can fly! Lucy blurted out before anyone had a chance to speak. Really?! James asked, then looked at Teddy who nodded while grinning. They clasped hands in a manly fashion, hugged and beating each others backs. Burn the land and boil the sea, you cant take the sky from me. Theres no place, I cant be since Ive found Serenity. Teddy replied. All right boys calm down, it was a silly show. Kyra said from where she was hanging on to Ragnar. Ragnar on the other hand looked like he was just being propped up by Kyra. The boys looked at her with socked, hurt expressions. She saw their faces and deflated a little and gave them a small silent sorry. Hey, dummy, help me inside. She poked Ragnar in the ribs and they shuffled forward. Lucy and Teddy took James around the Serenity for a tour. What James had got so excited about was the new addition either side. It became apparent that they had taken the buggies, with their extra motors and mechanics and added them either side like outriggers. They blended in smoothly, with crystal panels all around the buggies and smooth crystal stanchions coming from the main body to hold them off the floor paralleled with the ship and in the middle. They explained that it was only good in very high magic areas, like that of the wasteland and the surrounding area, all the way to Stonewall. Coming up on your stop! Everyone evacuate the hanger! One of the engineers called. Baboa and Yarraballah floated down from where the platform was ascending with the remaining people in the hanger. Teddy, Lucy and James made their way up the back stairs, seeing a shock of blonde hair on the sofa in the middle deck as they passed. Shes going to be bitter she missed the first flight. Teddy mumbled as they climbed the stairs. The two gold rankers alighted on the top deck. Meeting the team that had made it. Mitchells, please pass on my gratitude to your wife Teddy, she, as you all have, have been fantastic company in your short stay. You are welcome back anytime. Thankyou Baboa, this has been eye opening and you have been quite the host. Well be telling this story for a long time. Teddy replied, shaking his hand. That is why I do what I do here. Baboa said smiling. Yarraballah also held out his hand to shake the teams. I will part ways with you here, the nearest adventure society headquarters is a long way from Stonewall and you do not need me for this last leg. Its been a pleasure to meet you Ballah, and Firenze when you see him next. We spoke about it and would genuinely like to visit your culture to see for ourselves. His smile became beaming. You would be most welcome. They will of course know all about you by the time you get there. No pressure or anything then. Baboa stated levitating off the deck and Yarraballah joined him. Farewell adventurers, luck be with you. They moved off the Serenity. A light started to blink all around the hanger. Teddy stroked the roof of the Serenity and it sealed them in. Part of the refinements we made was using the engineers knowledge of the protections against the wasteland, were still underpowered but well be fine for a short trip through. The hanger doors started rumbling open and Teddy slung himself into the seat. Sooo, no pressure, but how the hell are you going to know how to fly this thing? James asked. Teddy gave him a maniacal look and turned back to the controls. He gently tweaked a lever and the Serenity lifted off the wheels. He flipped a switch and the wheels softly folded into the bottom of the vessel. He spun the wheel and they turned to face the hanger doors. No seriously what do you know about flying? Teddy slammed a lever forward and the Serenity rocketed out of the hanger, it arced into the air, pulled a corkscrew and they rapidly climbed. They could see out of the back window the huge sandcrawler-looking vehicle growing smaller and smaller. Teddy levelled out the ship and turned to circle in the air. The blank table top next to the drivers controls could show the map from Teddys racial gift. He had it on now and it displayed the Serenity with a pillar underneath it to show its height.Teddy dropped the nose putting on some speed and pulled into a wide barrel roll. Damn thats good. Teddy said. Levelling out and moving onto heading. Well dont get used to it, we wont be able to use it like this often. Lucy reminded him. Teddy flew them straight for a while, they saw a huge black slope in front of them but they were high enough above it to not need to adjust course. They saw dozens of animal carcasses at the bottom of the slope where they had fallen down towards them, long slides down what looked like black ash on the slope. As they crossed the top of the slope the Serenity bucked a little, they all realised they suddenly felt a little better, an insidious malaise had seeped in on them without them noticing while they had been in the wasteland. Now they were out and flying in the clear air they felt themselves rapidly recovering. James reached up and swept the roof forward, there was a brief rush of wind before the magic Lucy had copied took effect and the rushing wind was blocked out. So how do you know how to fly? James asked him. Skillbook, we bought so many, when one was about flying I couldnt resist. Covers most small and large vehicles, its aimed more at people like Lu who have an ability to use magical items and vehicles. We didnt have the Serenity when you emptied your bank balance buying skill books though? Yeh but like I said, I just couldnt resist. A groggy voice came from the rear of the deck. Did someone do a friggen barrel roll?! Blame Teddy, hes the only one who knows how to fly. James said, pointing at the captains chair. What are you on about? Kyra said grabbing the rear of the drivers compartment. Why would Teddy know how to fly? Skill book. And youre trusting him to do barrel rolls on his first trip because he had one book on flying? Yall crazy. Anyway, we have a problem. Whats the problem? Lucy asked. Its a snoring Viking shaped problem thats on one of our sofas downstairs. Ragnar? Why is he here? Well he helped me on board, then we both kind off crashed out and I guess he didnt get off. Are we going to get done for kidnapping? Viking-napping James asked. Jeesh, he still out? Teddy asked. Like a log, I left Lucky with him to hopefully wake him up quicker. This is pretty amazing. She said looking around. In a different way to flying with Ballah, this is ours. Kyras eyes cleared as she looked around and stood straighter, she moved over and stood behind Teddy in the chair an draped her arms over to rest on his chest. So how far have we got to go? We should be there by tonight I think. All going well. Lucy, did you want to let Lechuza out, shes been cooped up for a while! Ohh! She has, thankyou. The feather markings around her eyes faded as the giant owl appeared behind her. She hopped excitedly from foot to foot, nudging Lucy with a beak that couldve eviscerated her and took off. Her huge wing span taking her up and away. Lucy was riding backseat in Lechuzas vision as she did, feeling the elation from her familiar. Bank left now!! She shouted, snapping out of it. Teddy didnt question it and banked hard to the left. A pair of huge talons rushed past the Serenity, attacked from underneath. The body of a huge bird rushed past, it looked like a huge eagle with two heads, one out front and one underneath. It spun around and banked to attack them from underneath. As it came at them Teddy kept a close eye, just before it struck he spun a lever then rammed it back, the right buggy rotated on the stanchion and applied all its power backwards, the Serenity spun and Teddy spun the lever back and applied full power, the bird missed by meters and the Serenity came back around onto its tail. FOR HEROOOOOO! Came a massive shout. From the rear of the deck Ragnar sprinted the length of the deck and jumped off the prow, body bent backwards holding his massive two headed axe over his head. He collided with the giant birds back and bit his axe in deep, securing his landing. Shit. Crap. Bugger. Lucy didnt bother exclaiming, she ran to the prow and pulled open a seamless compartment. From inside she pulled out one of the harpoon guns from the pirates that attacked the ship they liberated. It was on a swing arm and she used two hands on it to swing it into position. Youre going to use that on Ragnar?! James called. No, the bird! She sighted over the top and fired. The harpoon flew true and sunk deep into the bird behind Ragnar. Ragnar you mentalist. Grab the rope! He somehow heard her and grabbed on with one hand. Teddy, get lower than the bird. He sunk the Serenity so they were looking up and the second head of the big bird which screeched at them. Whatre you waiting for! Ride it down! He pulled his axe out of the bird, gave it another whack for good measure then swung it over the top of the rope and used it to slide down with both hands on the haft. James you got this? Teddy asked. Oh hell yeh, lets do some pilot stuff. Just straight and level dude. Teddy handed the controls to James and rushed forward, he helped Lucy grab the big adventurer as he slid down onto the deck. Teddy then grabbed their end of the line and disconnected it. He opened his rift power and reached in attaching the rope to something inside. He then widened the rift and a ridiculously huge slab of rock dropped out and to the floor far below, dragging the huge bird down. He ran back and took the controls off James, spiralling the Serenity down after the bird being dragged down. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Why did you have such a big rock in your storage? James said as they dived. From Charlies cave, when we were clearing out the cave-in. It was just a quick way to get rid of it, came in handy! They spiralled down, the bird has already hit the floor and wasnt moving. As they got closer they saw the broken bones exposed and it had landed on its face. Jeesh, ok, Lucy send Lechuza in, she likes that kinda thing. Teddy pulled up out of the dive. They got some decent bronze rank loot off the monster including some of the feathers that were listed as crafting materials. They accelerated away again. Leaving the rising rainbow smoke behind. Harpoon worked good Lu. Yeh Im glad, this idiot. She kicked Ragnars boot where he was sitting on the floor. Is sure as heck glad it worked. What was that about?! Eurgh, my god bade me travel, he must know what is out there for me. Now when opportunity rises to strike in his name I must take it! Wait, You thought that little stunt was heroic? Ragnar has the decency to look a little ashamed. It was wild, but not heroic. Ragnar cracked a little smile. But what a tale! They laughed as they flew, Lucky coming on the top deck looking like he had yet to get his sea legs, obviously not happy in the air on the manoeuvring Serenity. They kept a good watch out after that, enjoying the breeze on the open part of the deck. They watched the sparse scenery pass by. The desolation of the wasteland was broken up by scrub and a few trees. The ground in front of them started splitting up, small canyons started forming. Teddy kept going in the rough direction but picked a canyon to follow. It started shallow and widened, they saw creatures below in the twists and turns, they couldnt tell if they were animals or monsters but they left that to Lechuza to find out. The canyon was now at least a hundred meters deep and a few hundred meters wide. The canyon kept widening and deepening. Teddy checked the map, they would follow this canyon all the way to the town. Without wanting to jinx anything, were almost there guys. Check yourselves over, this is known point, theres a chance something might happen. Teddy said. Im going to take us down on to the high ground, I think the town is going to be on the left side of this canyon, James you take the left buggy, Kyra the right, Lucy youre on sniping at the front, Ragnar close in protection ok? Lu set him up on a team chat. While Lucy invited and explained the team chat to Ragnar the other two walked out over the wings to the buggies, Teddy kept the manoeuvring gentle so as not to throw them off, when they got to the end they stroked the crystal and it started ripple folding back to expose the cockpits. When they were in Teddy pulled up and banked over to the left and popped up over the lip of the canyon. [Wheels.] Teddy put on the team chat as he pulled a lever and the Serenitys wheels folded out. When he had confirmation the other two had done the same he pulled a lever and the stanchions started folding in, dropping the two buggies. Shortly after the Serenity dropped to the ground also. The two buggies pulled up in formation before driving up into the drop deck at the back and parking. James and Kyra made their way back up top with their heads on a swivel. Teddy kept checking the map, there was no report yet from Lechuza who was scouting from high, they all had their auras out and so he benefited from Jamess enhanced perception power but nothing could be seen. They drove the last hour in silence, everyone was on edge, all weapons were drawn, Lucy stood in a double chalk ritual circle on the front deck with a double Rune Lore affixed to her right arm while her left she held her Deathstick. Kyra was ready with spear in hand, James had a throwing snake ready to go and had summoned his staff. Ragnar has been shown the weapon stockpiles and helped himself to a sheathe of throwing hatchets. Finally, at a bend in the canyon that stuck a section out into empty space they saw a few things on the horizon. The first was an archway of stone, created long ago as it was well weathered. Second was a carriage, fine wood and magically propelled so expensive to run as well as buy. There were two groups of people, one by the archway and one by the carriages just between them and the arch. Getting closer the groups were interesting. The group near the archway werent human, they werent a race that the Mitchells recognised. [Ragnar, youre a local to this planet. What race is that?] Lucy asked. [To my small but ferocious warrior Lucy. It is I, Ragnar. On this day I hope you are well. May our god grace you with the opportunity to show valour in battle today. To your question of race, I have never seen the like before. I am shamed by my lack of knowledge and hope to meet them and find if they be honourable! Mine axe is yours, Ragnar of Hero.] [Ragnar you dont have to write messages like a letter, this is conversational chat, for gods sake dont write a full letter when were in battle.] The second group around the carriages looked like what Vincent described as outer territory nobility, they wouldnt make it in the cities with the real nobility but out in the sticks they had the same privileges. [Kyra, theres a silver down there. Well stay aboard you go for negotiations and see what they want? Ive got a funny feeing I know what its about.] Teddy said. He stopped the Serenity short of the entourage. They all moved to the front to watch what was going on. James released Koda who dropped to the floor off the side and started sniffing and snuffling through the ground. Lechuza threw a shadow every now and then as she circled. Kyra squeezed Teddys hand and gently stepped off the prow. A pillar of earth rose to meet her foot and she stepped forward another pillar met the next, forming an impromptu set of stairs. She strolled forward, Lucky at her side and with her aura firmly in place, a hard rigid force that was impenetrable. The silver rank woman at the front of the group frowned at her approach. She was a hawkish woman, the beautifying effects of ranking to silver had obviously softened some of the sharp edges. She wore a high neck dress that reached the floor, her hands were tucked into her wide levees and she stood as if there was a stick strapped to her back. Who are you? She asked imperiously. Holding her nose high and looking down at Kyra. Whats it to you? Whos asking? The womans arms twitched in her sleeves but she controlled herself. Back on the Serenity Teddy was suddenly holding a shard of darkness, Jamess throwing snake was alert, the ruffles down its back fluttering ready, Lucy had half raised her wand hand. Koda had stopped snuffling around and had locked on to where Kyra stood, all the hackles along Luckys back had risen. You are not Kyra Mitchell. Well someones gotta break the news to her that Im wearing her underwear and sleeping with her husband then. If you know who I am then who are you? There was an audible snort of laughter from the Serenity. [Steady Kyra, youre meant to be the sensible and calm one to negotiate.] [Teddy, shes a natural douchebag, theres only so much of that I can take.] The woman took a deep breath, controlling herself. I am Lady Beatrix of house Whipash. I am here to take the contract from the Mitchell team and deliver it. You mean deliver it to the people waiting just behind you? Talk about the eleventh hour. But weve got this thanks. Humph, they are not people. She said dismissively. I say again, you are not Kyra Mitchell, she is recently bronze rank as is her team. Well they certainly didnt bring the most flexible thinker out today. She relaxed her aura to allow the nature of it to be visible. The silver ranker immediately moved to clamp down on her aura and Kyra swiftly put her defences back up. Rude. Now we have established that I am who I say I am will you answer why you think you are taking the contract off us? The families have been directed to take over the contract. Directed by who? Show me the contract if the Adventure Society has given it to you. I dont have to show you anything you upstart. House Whipash? Is that some branch family of Whipparrel? The Whip family or something? Of course it is you silly girl, now give us the cargo and I wont have any more to do with you. No, I think were done here. She motioned for Teddy to drive round the group to the archway. We dont want anything to do with you anyway. The silver rankers face was suddenly furious. She was angry enough to actually stamp her foot and she raised an arm high and slapped Kyra. The slap was with silver rank strength, but there was a big difference from a well trained strong silver and a coddled spoilt monster-core using silver. Kyra also had the Earth essence which made her much stronger than she looked and with a combination of seeing the blow coming and rolling her face with it and adhering her feet to the floor with her earth essence powers she remained standing after the blow. [Aww shit, its on!] James said excitedly. From where she had been slapped to the side Kyra uncoiled like a striking snake. She slapped the silver ranker back and sent her flying. She had used her Self Reflection power, taking the full strength of the silver rankers slap and adding her own considerable bronze rank strength, her martial technique was much better than the spoilt woman and she twisted her hips into it to use her full strength. The woman skidded in the dirt, muddying her dress and ripping it in places. The Serenity had moved forward with Teddy at the wheel and Kyra used an Earth Spike under her feet to boost herself onto the top deck. James was leaning over the side of the rail looking down at the Lady Beatrix lying in the dirt in shock. Welcome to the Fuck about and find out club! He shouted as they rolled past. You Mitchells certainly are an interesting team. Ragnar commented. She is really your best negotiator? Well Lucy ends up bamboozling people, I tend to open with aggressive negotiations, and James has even less patience than me mostly. What is aggressive negotiations? The big man asked confused and Teddy smiled. He means negotiations with a lightsaber. James said rolling his eyes. Ragnar looked just as confused after Jamess explanation but didnt have a chance to clarify as they came up to the second group, the first were loudly arguing about what to do. The second group were very tall, all wearing very long brown robes that reached the floor and had deep hoods that completely covered their faces. Teddy pulled up close and jumped down, leaving the rest to keep an eye on the other party. Hello, are you representatives of Stonewall? We are. Well nice to meet you. The strange figures shuffled slightly, two at the back looking at each other and the one at the front tilting his head slightly. It is nice to meet you too? The figure said almost as a question. We have your cargo delivery from the port of Greenstone. You are late. We had some complications, very sorry about that, wed be happy to explain over a drink at some point. There was more disconcerted rustling amongst the figures. Very well, you are hereby accepted under contract, we will accept. Just you wait! Came a shrill voice, Lady Beatrix was stomping across the rocky floor towards them. A strange swelling power rose from the four figures behind the leader. They stepped out around him and past, their gait was strange, their knees seemed to hit the cloth of the robe a foot or so above where Teddy would have expected them to be. The power felt strong like silver but it felt different, not like an essence power. A huge wall of earth erupted behind the Serenity, it split into a lattice-like structure with spikes facing outwards. Lady Beatrix pulled up short. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS? She almost screamed shrilly. These adventurers are under contract to us and are in our influence. You are interfering. The leader said calmly. A similar surge of power left him and the reply from Beatrix was cut off, she was obviously ranting but no sound made it through the lattice. We must take the cargo. He said turning his attention to Teddy. Err sure. Teddy said, a little unsettled by the power he had just seen. We can unload it from the side, how do you want to do this? Open the side of you vehicle and we will do the rest. Teddy did as he was bid. Going up to he Serenity and opening a panel, he used the controls to make the wheels fold up into the hull and the Serenity lowered slightly onto its own magic, it bucked slightly out of character but Teddy used the controls to get it to settled on the floor. He then stroked the panel on the outside of the compartment they used for storage and the crate was exposed, he went in and wound back all the measures they had put in place to hold it steady. Two of the strange people came forward and used tools from within their robes to open the side of the crate, their hands never leaving the folds of cloth. They exposed a gunmetal grey box which took up the whole crate. They opened that as well showing multiple containment fields. Lucy looked on with interest as they disabled them all to show another grey box inside, this one much smaller, the size of a briefcase which they took and stowed under their robes. The Mitchells were a little shocked to see how small the package was inside the huge crate. The leader was having a whispered conversation with the other two. When they had the cargo they turned back to Teddy. You do not feel like a human. He said matter of factly. Good spot chief, me and mine are outworlders, minus Ragnar here. Yes, he feels human. That is problematic. Problematic? Whys that? They grumbled a little and one of them was obviously uncomfortable about the decision they had come to in their whispered conversation. We are not often greeted as you have, we are often feared and shunned and thought of as lessers. He motioned to the still fuming Lady Beatrix on the other side oof the lattice. I have no idea why we would not be polite to you! Teddy said. We see that, and we would invite you below. This is problematic for your friend. You will be safe but he will grow ill. We have a team healer with us if that helps? Lucy said. No it will not. You have obviously not been told bout Stonewall town. We sit amongst a natural array. Oohhh! Lucy said excitedly. Care to fill us in Lu? James said. Its like any other magic array, materials around the edge form a magical effect in the centre, but these form naturally over the years, sometimes centuries. Manifestations spontaneously creating the circle. The people of this town must have been slowly mutated, over the years living here. We should be fine being outworlders as our bodies are sufficiently magical but Ragnar cant stay, at least not for long, else he will get ill. Teddy looked back over his shoulder at the fuming silver ranker. How long can he go down for? We can keep an eye on him, well know long before any permanent damage and he can take a break, once he has he should be able to come back, I can try fashion something for him to protect him somewhat. What do you think Ragnar? I am keen to see the dens of these people! Long have we heard of the valour of the Stonewall people from afar and the weapons they make to put in the hands of the ordinary people to turn them into heroes! Well that settles it then. We would love to accept you invite below mr? Orcnig, then please, come below. He turned and moved to the archway. With everyone off Teddy collapsed the Serenity, for the first time in a very long time and put it in storage. They followed the strange gait of the Stonewallers to the arch, when they got there they were on the edge of the curve that stuck out into the canyon and they could see down into it. What they could see wouldve taken their breath away if they still had it. Chapter 66 ‘Black mark’ You have disappointed me, this is unacceptable! Trinette shouted at the water facsimile in front of her. Although her cousin in the far north was the same rank as her and she was the head of her own family branch Beatrix was subservient in the hierarchy. Your incompetence has made our position much more untenable in calling their incompetence. Beatrix bit her tongue. The story she had been told about an incompetent bunch of buffoons forcing their way onto the contract and undercutting the families was obviously a lie, she had underestimated just the one blonde adventurer who was only bronze rank and was put on her ass. It made more sense how they got away from Greenstone and away from Trinette in the first instance. Cousin, we underestimated their resolve. We couldnt track them coming from any obvious approach path and so fell back to wait for them at the destination. Well by then it was obviously too late! I will be hard pressed to have the contract handed over to you for the onwards leg now. Where are the team? Do you have them? Beatrix winced. No. They went below. What do you mean they went below? Trinette huffed. They went below with the Stonewallers, the team and an extra, they took their vehicle with them. Theres nothing and no one to grab. Beatrix watched as the water facsimile of Trinette started thrashing and breaking things until the water plopped back into the pool, the connection cut off. She sighed and headed out into the sunshine. Their town was less than a days journey from the Stonewallers and looked like it belonged in a western, complete with swinging saloon doors she pushed through into the sunshine. Thems city cousins aint happy then? A voice said from next to her. She looked down and saw one of her families most trusted servants sitting on the floor caving a block of wood with a little knife. Sebastian, how much did you hear? Oh not much of any interest, I dont know why you put up with some far flung family branch that dont have a lot to do with yall. Because they have more influence than we do, they can make things uncomfortable for us, so we play their game. Sebastian, Im going to need your help. Aye Im on it miss. He drawled, getting up and grabbing his saddle bags that he was sat on. He walked over to a large lizard, like a bearded dragon but big enough to ride, with a coloured frill around its head that shone red as he approached until he swatted it on the nose and it went green again. Ill go keep an eye and see what I can find out. Thankyou Sebastian, I will wait on your word. Bring something or someone back quickly, she has access to other waterlink chambers than the one she broke. .. The canyon was several hundred meters deep. They had started at the edge by the arch, a large natural bend in the canyon and they were standing on the inside edge. Looking down they had seen the floor down below had been carved even deeper, as far as the eye could see the walls were carved. Fantastic towers of the same colour stone of the wall had been hewn. Bridges of the same stone spanned the gap, crisscrossing here and there and they could see streets disappearing back into the wall. Everyone on the bridges either wore the long brown robes of carried large umbrellas so the team couldnt make out any details. The towers and buildings carved into the stone were immense, literal castles bristled the side of the canyon. Please follow us. Orcnig had said before he and his fellows had dropped off the edge. Should he be jumping around with that case now weve taken all the protective measures off? James asked. Maybe we wait a few Mississippis before following Ragnar, are you going to be able to follow? I have no power to stop my fall if we descend this way. Seems like a big gap in a power set! You know you can get items to help with that? Stay close to either me or James and well make sure you dont turn into a pancake. Speaking of items, Lucy said. Maybe we take off anything magical and put it in storage, were about to descend into a natural array, we dont know what fluctuations there are down there, Ragnar have you got magical storage? I have a dimensional satchel I keep my wares in. hmm, if you trust us maybe its best for us to hold on to that, our storage is racial power based and less likely to be influenced. Ha, my god trusts you with his divine purpose, who am I to not trust him. He said while handing over a plain looking draw string bag. They took off all their magical armour and weapons, placing them into storage. The vambraces, satchel, hair beads and wand holster from Hero. Teddys magical boots, the iron rank mana ring that Lucy still wore and Jamess vambrace which Lucy argued would probably be fine as it was soul-bound. They all looked over the edge, as there was no explosion coming back at them so they all stepped off. They had time as they fell to marvel at the design of the cliffs, a lot of work had gone into them to make them a work of art as well as a functional city. As they descended maybe a third of the the way down their interface snapped off. TEDDY! Kyra shouted in a mild panic. THERES NO POWER SHARING! Teddy kicked off thin air to catch his wife. They were approaching the floor of the canyon and he started taking steps to slow their fall. James reached out and grabbed Ragnar and tucked the mans head between his legs so it looked like he was riding the vikings shoulders, he then transformed his arms into huge wings and slowed their fall. Lucy pointed her arm down and a stream of runes came out, she had used this ritual before and it caught whatever entered in it at whatever speed for a moment before dropping it on the floor, however this time the ritual failed. Crap. Was all she managed to say before Lechuza swept down out of nowhere and caught her, talons digging into the shoulders of her jacket. Everyone was safely down on the floor and the five Stonewallers that had been on the surface looked at them quizzically. Sorry, that was a bit more exciting than it had to be. Teddy apologised. This way please. Orcnig said, they only knew it was him because he was the only one who had spoken to them. They followed the robed figures down one of the streets into the rock wall. It looked like any other city with shops and stalls and traffic but it got significantly busier the deeper they went, at a point where the natural light couldnt reach their hosts pulled back their hoods. Their heads were completely round, hairless and pale. When they turned to the team they had huge eyes and almost no nose in keeping with the round heads. The team showed no outwards shock and Ragnar kept his mouth shut. They carried on to a large building carved into the rock with huge ornate pillars marking it as a grandiose location, the pillars were intricate and at least a hundred meters tall. You must meet our town council here, we do not have many visitors. They went through the large opening, huge steel doors thrown wide. On the doors facing inwards were huge engraved rhino heads, each head had two horns in a row, the long horns curved back with the front horn longer than the inside horn. The faces of the rhinos had what looked like armour plates all over them, covering the cheeks, chin, lips, eyebrows and ears. They saw many of the Stonewallers around the large entrance hall chatting and comparing notes, many wore the long brown robes that they wore outside on the street but they saw some who werent, wearing basic roughspun clothes they got a much better idea of the Stonewallers, they were on average seven to eight feet tall, and most of it was leg, their bodies were shockingly short and pill shaped. Their arms were incredibly long and reached down past their knees. They kept going until they were told to wait for a short while outside some more steel doors. When they were let in they saw a panel of five Stonewallers sat behind a high, long table. They wore caps and stole to mark them as the council members. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Honoured council. Orcnig rumbled, the only one of their escort left with them. I have brought outsiders. They have delivered the material for the Honshuraskil weapon. And why have you brought them below. We do not normally play host. This environment is not compatible with outsiders. A female sounding member of the council asked. Your honour, there is only one who is incompatible down below and he is brave. The council member that had spoken looked over the team until her eyes rested on Ragnar who was looking a little peaky. Essence user, remember your aura training if you have had it, pull it in tight and it will shield you for a time. Ragnar redoubled his efforts and looked strained but slightly relieved. Kyra had an idea and extended her aura to encompass him as the outworlders were not suffering in the same way. As soon as she extended her aura to him he relaxed even more, looking at her gratefully. As she extended it over the others as well the interface snapped back on. [Well this would have been handy five minutes ago.] she wrote on the team chat. Council. Teddy started. I am Theodore Mitchell, this is my family and our friend Ragnar. It is an honour to be welcomed down below, we understand that not many receive invitation but we are ignorant to why, no one has explained much of anything about your town along the way which we can now see is a gross oversight. It is something that many people find uncomfortable to talk about. A different council member spoke. We were once an independent city-state and had been for generations. As such we were isolationist and hostile by nature, we have always been weapons masters and no one has ever been successful in combat against us. The change came upon us slowly, over generations into what you see before you. We were once human but now something else, the natural magic of this place enhanced what we were and what we do but has damned us to remain in this place. Another of he council picked up the explanation. Where once we chose not to leave for pride of where we came from now we are unable to survive outside this city. The same way that outsiders get sick on entering we get sick on leaving. The few magic society members who came to study the phenomenon in person concluded that the change is irreversible. We are who we are. We can no longer absorb essences but every one of us is inherently magical. Their explanation didnt seem rehearsed but they seemed keen to explain. They wanted to be understood. Because of the hostile environment, our inability to leave, our history of being isolationist and aggressive has caused people to shun and fear us even now. Our appearance is also alien to many even in a world with many different races. Good old fashioned racism, fear the people who look different to you. James muttered. Well we harbour no resentment and have no need to fear you until you give us cause. Teddy said smiling up at the table. We would like to stay and explore your city some if you will have us, our friend will need to leave every now and then to make sure he will not get ill but we will manage that. The reputation that came through the most of any information we were told about you was your expertise with weapons and armour, I have taken an interest in smithing and would be keen to apprentice during my time here if you would have me. There was an excited mumbling amongst them and Orcnig shuffled slightly where he was. We shall see, it would be interesting to see what an outsider could do in our forges. Council. James said stepping forward. We travelled with Baboa to get to you and he gave me a gift, a favour from your people to him that he has passed on. I have a unique item that requires an upgrade. He said the master armourer owes him a favour and has told me to ask for it in this case. The council had all been looking intently at James as he spoke but now all turned to Orcnig. Well, master armourer, what say you? The team all turned to Orcnig, he had removed his hood outside but it was only now they saw his face in the closeness of the council chamber, it was pitted and scarred and had burn marks up one side. Show me the item if it is worthy. Kyra? James asked, not wanting to draw it from his own storage as they were deep in a building and it would be mildly inconvenient and unsettling for anyone that the random creature passed on its delivery. Kyra pulled out a hand mirror and looked at James outstretched hand with it. His vambrace appeared in his hand and he grabbed it with his other before it unbalanced. He walked it over to Orcnig. The big Stonewaller looked it over, he didnt yet touch it but held his hands over it, his hands were human-ish, they had the same number of fingers but the first two were twice as long and bulbous at the end, the smaller two fingers were slightly spaced apart from the first two and looked more normal. This is soul-bound to you. He stated matter of factly. It is iron rank and you are beyond, it needs to be bronze, it must be. He grabbed the item and looked at the council. It is decided, my debt to the gold ranker will be repaid, I will remake this. He turned to Teddy. Come with me outsider and let us see what you can learn. [Oh dang, looks like this is happening, stay in touch! Dont do anything stupid.] Teddy said as the big Stonewaller almost marched him out. For the rest of you we shall provide an escort, there are accommodations further up the wall that we have long since abandoned as they are outside the effect. They were used not long ago by an expedition and should be habitable. We will send someone up to sort them. Please dont make anyone ill on our account. Kyra said. We are able to make the space liveable for now. How long will we be here for? The item Orcnig has taken will take a few days, he will work on nothing else until it is complete from the look on his face. He is the only one who can oversee the Honshuraskil weapon construction so it will be weeks after that. The Stonewaller council member on the end rang a bell and a clerk-looking Stonewaller came in. Please take these guests to Auster, she will look after them. Thankyou. Said Lucy and started heading out, she had to shove James who was halfway making some kind of bow at the council to herd him out. Outside they took a longer look at the street around them. The sun had set across the canyon, and while there may still be light at the very top, down where they were at the bottom the day had set early. The Stonewallers that had been wearing the robes with hoods pulled up had taken them off and folded them away showing the true nature of the Stonewallers. The shops seemed to be closing up for the night but there was a preponderance of carts selling food and drink along with nick-nacks. I cannot wait. Kyra said, going on her tiptoes and clapping her hands together. Champion Kyra, what are you in anticipation of? Ragnar asked. Shopping Ragnar, she wants to go shopping. Lucy said rolling her eyes. A harried looking Stonewaller was hurrying towards them on its long legs. You are the outsiders! She said when she stopped, they could only tell gender by the sound of her voice. It sure looks like we are. Kyra said smiling. Im Kyra, this is Lucy, James and Ragnar. Im Auster, I was sent for to come and guide you through the city. The messenger said you are staying in the expedition lodgings? They have not been made ready for you and a team will not be able to until tomorrow at the earliest. Not a problem, we will take it as it comes tonight and you may not need to send anyone anywhere uncomfortable for our account. Kyra replied. We were hoping that you may have a water-link chamber? We should update the society to say we got here. Ooh, we have, Its rarely used but always maintained. When would you like to use it? Now works if that work for you? They made their way through the city. They happened to be in the right district as this was the civic affairs area. They still had to go into several identical buildings which happened to be the stair wells that lead up and down, the team found it strange that the steps were human sized but the Stonewallers took them three or four steps at a time. A short while later they had explained to a nervous stonewaller that they wanted to connect to the directors private office in Greenstone and assured them that it was ok. The setup was fairly unique for what they had seen from similar facilities, they had obviously had to generate a work-around to get out of the natural array. It took the director a while but she eventually came to the all. The connection was just about as bad as it had been in Yorsh, they could recognise it was the director but not much more detail than that. What they could tell was she was very dressed up. Evening Director, hope we havent pulled you away from a nice night. The people were nice, the venue was nice, the performance was lacking. I was not sorry to be called away and told them by all means to carry on in my absence. Im much happier to hear that you have all made it to Stonewall. We have, we had some help from some interesting people we met along the way. Lucy said. Oh really, Im glad, when we didnt hear from you after Yorsh we were worried you had been attacked. We were attacked, a scouting party found us not long after we fled the town when we realised that we may be compromised. You were? We have been finding these strange monster hybrids flying around the City, the magic society has identified them as Crebain but no ones ever heard of them. I wouldnt worry about not hearing of them before, Teddy named them. And thats surprising, the Confederacy moving out in the open more it seems. There was a pair of beats and they wondered about the connection for a second before the Director reacted. Teddy did what? How in the sweet gods did you hear of that name? A friend of ours Baboa told us all about it. That silly fat man is still causing trouble Ill need to get back to you in due course but get ready to receive a lot of information now that youve been read in, by an outsider no less. Do not speak to anyone of this, not even people you think you can trust until we can read you in properly to the Adventure Society stance on the Confederacy. Sure thing director. Itll be nice to understand some of what was going on. Have they said how long youll be there this time before moving on? They said weeks so Id anticipate two to three weeks. We can try and get them to be more specific? Nono, dont worry, what they do is often more of an art than anything and can vary in length. Are you going to have enough to entertain you in the area? Plenty, weve all god projects to work on and the Stonewallers have been very friendly. Again there was a pause on the other end. Thats, surprising. But Im glad to hear. There are a few calls for you that need to be organised. There are some people back here who are very keen to get hold of you as soon as possible. Oh? Kyra asked, inquisitively. The head of the merchants guild for instance is about ready to ask me black mark you, the families have been backing him in this endeavour. What?! I didnt even know we had anything to do with the merchants guild? It can wait for tomorrow, now we know we can get hold of you here for a while well arrange some times to talk. Well I guess well look forward to that all night then! James said. They made some more pleasantries and the Director cut the connection. They stepped out of the room to be met by Auster who shyly lead them up through the city. They stopped in an empty building. It was built like a Manor House but completely empty save for a few empty wrappers in one corner. They finished their day without Teddy gathered at the front of the house, looking out over the drop into the Canyon and the very last of the light over the top. Chapter 67 ‘The Empire’ Teddy was taken further and further down, unnervingly deep. His escort said nothing, just kept turning the item over and over while he walked, his long legs setting a long stride Teddy had to take a skip step every so often to keep up. His bronze rank body was more comfortable in different environments Teddy found, through the wet heat of the delta, the scorching heat of the desert, the cold of the depths when they were fighting monsters at sea and the nights in the open on the top deck of the Serenity. He could sense the atmosphere was getting hotter though. The final level they got to was sweltering, Teddy even started to sweat and thought to himself that he was sure Kyra said that they didnt need to sweat anymore. More than that it seemed that the atmosphere around him was oppressive the deeper they went and he felt strained. They were passing doorways that lead to halls, the pace was fast and he wouldnt have been able to get much detail without his essence powers which allowed him to slow time to his perception. He saw inside each circular hall there was a round forge in the centre, the outside of each room was full of the same tools and magical machines for working. A crowd of young Stonewallers was in each room, they were even-proportioned, looking more similar to human than their adult counterparts. With each group was an adult who was demonstrating, lecturing or observing them work. They finally got to the end room, larger than the rest with more equipment, there were slightly older youths in here, their scowling expressions and looks of scorn towards Teddy made him peg them as adolescents. Orcnig ignored them all, going to a bench he laid Jamess vambrace on it and stepped back and folded his arms. The youths kept a respectful silence and distance, looking curiously around the master armourer and at the item. After ten minutes or so the Stonewaller turned to Teddy. Outsider, what can you tell me of this item? Teddy coughed nervously, all the Stonewallers had turned to stare at him, interrogating him with their eyes. Instead of answering he opened a rift, or tried to. The power felt slippery and elusive. He frowned, remembered the advice the council had given Ragnar and focussed hard on his aura. He tried again and opened his storage power rift, he reached in and took out a notebook, one of Lucys and flipped to the right page and turned it to Orcnig. Item: [Vambrace of Menagerie] (iron rank [growth], legendary) Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] Effect (Lightning): For a high mana cost imbue attacks with an electric effect. Small chance of paralysis and ongoing muscle spasms. Effect (Venom of the Merciless Desert): Inflicts poison damage. Chance to inflict [Milk of the Cacti]. Chance to inflict [Greyscale]. Can only affect living enemies with blood. Must penetrate enemy to inflict poison and [Milk of the Cacti]. Contact with the venom has a smaller chance of causing [Greyscale]. [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. [Milk of the Cacti] (affliction, blood): Causes afflicted enemies to hallucinate and a chance to cause damage to themselves by convulsion. [Greyscale] (affliction, incapacitating): Affliction that spreads across the skin. Causes joints to lock up and impairs mobility. Growth Conditions (bronze): Bound user must be at least bronze rank. 4 kilograms of low grade (bronze rank) star-fall silver 100 bronze-rank iron quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank magic quintessence gems 100 bronze-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] [100 wing quintessence] [100 lightning quintessence] [100 venom quintessence] 1000 bronze rank spirit coins Silver rank Artificer Ritual of bronze ascension. Yes, this makes sense, we can work with this. You have the necessary materials? Teddy looked around and found a stack of leather-looking buckets that looked big enough and tough enough. He pulled them out and lined them up. He stood in front of each in turn and opened his rift above them, out fell the star-fall silver, the quintessence of each type required and the spirit coins taking up three buckets at the end. Orcnig inspected each bucket, pulling a handful of each material and inspecting it closely before letting them spill between his fingers back into the buckets. The students took themselves off to stand by the door, they crouched and their long legs meant their knees were near their ears, they were patient and silent, watching Orcnig work. He went to cupboards built back into the walls and started pulling other materials that Teddy didnt recognise. What was all Teddy managed to ask before he was hissed at and one of the students leapt forward and grabbed him, pulling him back to the line and pushing on his shoulder until he adopted the squat to watch the work. Back in the water-link chamber the rest of the team were waiting for the call to connect. Ragnar had been taken by the ever-shy Auster, her almost-normal to human proportions marked her as a teenager which explained her meek behaviour. They had to show Ragnar the way out so that if he needed to he could go and get some fresh air incase he started feeling the side effects of being down in the array for too long. The youth of the Stonewallers seemed not to be as affected by the condition and could climb higher than the adults, possibly why Auster had been assigned to them as a guide while they lived higher out the array, but she had told them that she still couldnt leave and the sunlight still burnt. The three Mitchells were milling about, waiting for the pool on the far side to transform into whoever it was that was calling. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. So why does the Merchants guild want us? James asked. Im not sure, we own property but not a business so I dont know. Definitely not sure why they want to black list us. Lucy replied. The water started rippling and forming a bulge that transformed into a person. Looks like were about to find out. Two mounds formed, they recognised the form of Vincent, the sub-standard waterlink chamber on their end struggled with the grandiosity of his moustache and it dripped comically. The second form was an older man with long sensible robes on. Mitchells, its good to see you. But where is Teddy? Good to see you too Vincent, hes making friends already, he got snatched and taken below to study making armour and weapons! No! You have to understand, if you go into Stonewall you will become sick and die! Vinnie dont worry. Kyra said. The director didnt tell you? As outworlders were not as effected by the array as other races, hell be fine. A look of relief crossed Vincents face and then annoyance at the nickname. This is Grand Master Chase. He is the head of the Merchants Guild and has asked to speak with you as soon as possible. We are keen to facilitate this as by the laws of the City he has a real grievance that could get you blacklisted. Do you understand? You could be unable to take contracts and any contract you are on could be withdrawn. The implication was clear and the Mitchells nodded. Pleasure to meet you Master Chase, we wish it was under different circumstances but what can we do for you? Kyra said in her most diplomatic voice. Mitchells, a pleasure to meet you as well, we have been needing to speak to you or a while. There is a considerable balance of money to be discussed. A balance of money? What would this be for? You are not aware of the loan that was taken out in your name against your property outside the city? Vincent subtly changed his body language, trying to tell them to be careful. The loan against our property. Kyra said leadingly, not making it a question, more of a statement. Yes, quite substantial. He leafed through a piece of paper, again the quality of the chamber meant the thin paper construct dripped as he spoke. To include the building of a manufacturing facility and renovation of the courtyard for something called Coffee and a Cafe. It dawned on them what was going on. Gerald had said that he was going to develop the coffee he was making. They had given him their full blessing and told him to make the most of it that he could, he had obviously done well enough that he had taken big steps. Yes the renovation of our property required funds whilst we were away, Im sure you understand as adventurers we are required to travel some times. Kyra said with a charming smile. The man may have been on a stickler on the other end and while their connection was not great it would be crystal clear on the other end and Kyra was stunning, her smile could charm most vendors into giving her considerable discount. Well, the issue is not the loan, with your reputation backed by the Adventure Society we obviously cleared the funds for the project, the problem is the missed repayments. Now they were slightly worried, they were comfortable with Gerald making investments but they were worried that he had overstepped and failed. Our housekeeper Gerald is not making repayments? He has not made a single repayment. At the mans words Vincent coughed. He is not permitted to make repayments I should say. A long passed by-law quirk that has been dug up by certain parties. Vincent clarified. Yes well. The man said, looking uncomfortable. The rules are clear and we are beholden to uphold them. [No guesses for who is pushing them to uphold some crappy old law.] Lucy wrote on the interface. Well lets rectify this immediately! Kyra said brightly. Im afraid it is not that simple Mrs Mitchell, there are considerable charges for missing the first repayment as Im sure you will understand this is to encourage people to not take out loans that they cannot afford. The weekly repayments after this have also incurred charges. What kind of shady racket is this? Ive seen better deals from loan sharks. James muttered, forgetting himself considering they normally made comments like that on the interface. What my brother in-law means is that we of course will pay they charges and any interest. Certainly, when can we expect you back to pay the charges? Back? Were weeks of travel away and halfway through a contract which will take us even further away. Oh dear, this is unwelcome news, the implications We can pay. Lucy interrupted. There must be a way, money is money, as long as you have it from us it should work. The money is to be paid in person Mrs Mitchell the rules The rules state it must be from us, if that goes through a reputable intermediary then surely that works. A reputable intermediary who would that be? Vincent, this contract we are on, its a contract from the intercontinental council to deliver weapons for a city? Yes it is. Then you have an account with Stonewall to produce said weapons regularly? Yes we do. A small smile appearing on his face. Then I propose this, we will pay the loan in full to the coffers of the Stonewallers, this will be in lieu of however many payments are required by the intercontinental council to produce weapons required, they in turn will back pay the Greenstone Adventure Society who can hands the money to yourselves. The loan in full plus interest It is considerable. Kyra pulled out a hand mirror and looked at her other hand, a stack of at least a dozen gold rank coins appeared. Will this be able to cover it? The man was flabbergasted, that amount of money was unseen of in Greenstone, even for the master of the merchants guild it was rare to be dealing in gold coins. He started stammering but Vincent jumped in. The Greenstone Adventure society accepts this proposal, as the deputy director and continental representative for the area I am also authorised to preliminarily accept the proposal on their behalf. That is enough authority for you to go forward and transfer funds to the Stonewallers, as a third party they should not be messed around unduly I would recommend. There was a moment where the two on the other side looked at each other, unable to feel it from where they were they guessed there was a little aura square off. The Master of the merchants guild didnt seem like a bad guy, he didnt seem that he was in league with the families that were causing trouble, quite the opposite, he seemed that he was caught in a hard place and uncomfortable in the whole situation. I would suggest that you do not deny collaborations with the adventure society on this matter else future deals become more complicated. Vincent finished and it seemed to be the final nail in the coffin as the other man turned back towards the Mitchells. This is acceptable, make the funds transfer before the end of the week and you will incur no more charges. I hope to meet you on your return under better circumstances. Good day to you all. He nodded to Vincent and walked out, the water facsimile splashing on the tiles as it got to the edge. Vincent waited a moment, looking off-stage. Well played Mitchells, impressive, I thought that was going to take a lot more negotiating. I think it gave him an exit he actually really wanted. This gets him out from under the families, pays him off and if Gerald is doing well probably makes him more in taxes etc. Lucy said. Gerald is here if you would speak to him? Vincent asked. Absolutely! Kyra said happily. Vincent also walked off the plinth and the water crashed to the floor again, shortly two mounds of water rose out of the edge coming towards the middle forming the two men. Gerald was fidgeting nervously with a cap in his hands. Aye, ere I just wanted to say sorry. Gerald started straight away. Gerald, how is business. Lucy interrupted the apology. Err, see I just had to hire two more staff, so that brings it up to six serving staff and four out back, we aboot doubled our catering contract with the Schooner as we kept running out. Our opening hours are extended when word caught on about the sunset from the villa which means Ive had tae stagger the shifts, if thisn keeps up then Ill need hire more as thats nae a sustainable solution. So good is what youre saying? James said. I couldnae believe it! Its spread faster than a Warped Chameleons fire. Weve got a contract on the table offered by the Davone family who grow some of the finest tea in the delta. Theres a cake shop that want tae have a display in the courtyard. Thats amazing! Were very proud of you and happy its all working! What a nice surprise. Can you handle it? Kyra asked. Handle it? If anything I was looking tae grow it somehow. Well Vincent, how much do we owe the merchants guild? The conversation developed into a boring lot of numbers that Lucy swiftly took over and worked out. So not even one of the dozen of gold coins we flashed then. How about this, if its ok with the others. We send half a dozen gold rank coins, if the society can manage that, then you invest that in the business, purchase a premise in the city, and copy the business model, youll have the clients that want to get out the city for a trip and the opportunistic that want a quick bite and drink. And get a cart, people love buying coffee from a cart in cities. Geralds eyes went wide. Six gold coins was a small fortune, he should be able to start building a small coffee empire with that. All due respect, I think were getting ahead of ourselves here, we have nae spoken aboot how much yer all making out of this, its your business after all, Im just running it. Partner. Kyra said and the others nodded. Lets start with a six way split for now, a share each, then a share to re-invest to growth. She looked at Lucy who shrugged her shoulders and nodded. When we get back well convene a board meeting and have a look at where the business is. Gerald was generally a very stoic man, he looked slightly emotionally overwhelmed at the news that not only were they not angry at him but they were encouraging him so firmly. Thank you! Ill do meh best, rest assured. We know you will, dont burn yourself out, if you need to then employ people you trust to help, youll need a manager for one of the premises anyhow. James said. Gerald said his goodbyes and they wished him luck and he left. Vincent was left with them in the room. Another surprise result, I thought you might have at least admonished him for gambling with your home. No, Im more concerned putting himself at risk. Our home is our family and wherever they are, the Serenity is our home more than ever now. Kyra said. They made small talk and Vincent assured them they were missed, he wished them good luck and left. When they left the waterlink chamber they bumped into Auster who was waiting for them. I hope your meeting was to your satisfaction. What would you like to do next? Kyra put a hand on James and Lucys shoulders to forstall their answers. Her eyes were bright and gleaming. Now Auster, take us shopping! Chapter 68 ‘Mud Rhino’ Teddy was tired. Not a feeling he was accustomed to having in a long time. Neither was he used to be being dirty and slightly smelly. They had worked nonstop on Jamess armour for almost two whole days. He was climbing the stairs after Orcnig and Auster having met her for the first time she was leading him to join the others who might just be waking up about now. She told him the rest of the team had kept busy with talking to Greenstone and then almost a day and a half of shopping. He carried on his back a simple sack, in which James armour clanked and rattled, he could have put it in his storage power but as the family shared the storage now he didnt want James to know that it was complete and to see it without Teddy being there. He finally made it to the top of the stairs, he felt exhausted but not as much as he had been in the oppressive underground. He stepped between the two Stonewallers who had politely waited for him outside the door and he pushed it open. He was greeted by the smell of breakfast cooking over a magic hot rock they were using in place of a camp fire. The others saw him and all got up from where they were relaxing, including Ragnar. Unknown to Teddy when they had taken the room it was barren with only the discarded wrappers of food from a research team that had inhabited it before them. The room now showed the results of Kyras extended shopping trip. There was homely cloth on stone furniture with cushions to make it comfy, a painting that had taken her fancy and a few coloured glow stones. Ohh babe! Kyra said sympathetically on seeing him. Eww babe. She said, less sympathetically when she hugged him and felt the grime and smelt him. She then checked the interface. Oh babe! Back to sympathetic when she realised his stamina was almost at rock bottom and his mana not far behind. What happened? She said as she poured him a coffee which the bronze rank variety was infused with a stamina potion effect. I think being down there, is tougher on us than we realised. My aura control has taken a pounding. We are impressed with Mr Mitchell, he displayed a worthy knowledge of craft and a keenness to work which we value. He was relentless in pursuing detail and accepted nothing less than perfection. Orcnig replied, also sounding weary but not as beat up as Teddy did. Teddy passed him his cup of coffee that Kyra had just poured and waved for another. Is it done then? James asked excitedly. Kyra had just finished pouring Teddy another mug of coffee, touching her hand to his arm lovingly as she gave it. Teddy bumped foreheads with her and took a large gulp, he smiled at James. It is, want to see? Kyra can I have a table please? The floor was made out of stone, as were the walls and ceilings, everything in the underground carved city was stone. The residents made it homely by adding tapestries, rugs and paintings. Coloured lamps added variety as well as the only sources of light deeper down. Kyra raised a hand and a solid rectangle of stone raised out of the floor, when it was at waist height she flipped her hand and pushed it down and the majority of the inside of the rectangular block dropped back down, leaving a tabletop and four legs, she swished her hand to the side like she was wiping dust away and the top smoothed. Impressive. Orcnig rumbled then raised a long arm at the table and made a fist. Suddenly the table popped with engravings all up and down the legs, the top was carved in a wide banner around the edge with anvils, hammers and tongs, animals were carved between in different perceptions of depth within. The centre of the table was suddenly polished mirror smooth. A table fit for the unveiling. He nodded to Kyra. Rather than taking it as an insult to her work Kyra was fascinated by the changes he made. She recognised it was a power not unlike her earth shaping but not an essence power and she wanted to learn more. Teddy unslung the bag from his shoulder and placed it on the table, he undid the knot and pulled out the armour. He pulled it out by the hand guard and James was relieved to see the bear claw engraving, he had an irrational feeling the engravings would have disappeared with the rank up. The vambrace forearm section came next and he saw the wing and scorpion with the fanged human skull on it. The smooth ball that went around is elbow was next followed by the section that covered his upper arm, this is where it started to change, the lightning bird was still in place but a new section of armour overlapped the top, not impeding the design. That middle section was overlapped by the shoulder piece, a large round section that had a wide flange at the top near the neck, a lip to catch any weapons sliding towards the head. As he continued to pull it was followed by two huge plates of metal and James realised with joy it was an armoured panel that would cover the top right section of his torso. Thats amazing! This is incredible, it looks fantastic and so much space for more engraving! Heh, funny you should say that. Teddy said with a tired smile. He still had hold of the arm piece and he twisted it over so the front of the armour showed then he stepped back taking the bag with him so the armour laid on the beautiful table for James to inspect. The front section of armour was similar to the rear, a heavy, wide leather strap came over the shoulder holding the front and back pieces together but allowing flexibility for James to raise his shoulder. The front plate covered from collarbone to the bottom of his rib cage and across to his sternum. There was another thick, heavy wide leather strap with a large metal buckle that went around the rest of his rib cage. All the armour was beautifully made, with a bordered edge all the way round and a high finish. The front and back panels were shaped to fit his body perfectly. There was one detail that gave James pause. In the middle of the front panel, taking up all the room on the plate, was an engraving. Teddy saw his brothers eyebrows furrow and he winced slightly. Now before you say anything, you might recognise this from the front doors of the council chambers, this is deemed a great honour, not just anyone gets to wear the sigil of the Stonewallers. This is a Mud Rhino, its one of the only creatures that can come and go from the array and so one of their only companions other than each other. The rarity of your item and that I could withstand to be down there and so you could too technically, meant they honoured you with the engraving. The Mud Rhino signet wasnt just an engraving. Made of the same metal as the armour it stood proud, the thickness of it was around the width of a finger. It was the naked skull of a rhino looking inwards towards the sternum, the jawline near the bottom of the plate. The massive horns on its head curved right back, following the curve of the armour with the second horn smaller but paralleling it on the inside. James said nothing for a moment, standing there with his arms folded and an unreadableexpression on his face. Why are they able to come and go when no one else can? He finally asked. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. See for yourself. Teddy responded, motioning for James to touch the armour. He did, tracing the long horn of the rhino. Item: [Pauldron of Menagerie] (bronze rank [growth], legendary) Armour that has been re-forged by the hands of a master armourer, the care and detail put into the reforging by a family member has deepened the connection to the user enhancing its protection. Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw [improved]): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] Effect (Lightning [improved]): For a high mana cost imbue attacks with an electric effect. Small chance of paralysis and ongoing muscle spasms. Effect (Venom of the Merciless Desert [improved]): Inflicts poison damage. Chance to inflict [Milk of the Cacti]. Chance to inflict [Greyscale]. Can only affect living enemies with blood. Must penetrate enemy to inflict poison and [Milk of the Cacti]. Contact with the venom has a smaller chance of causing [Greyscale]. Effect (Armour of the Mud Rhino): When activated it covers the user with the armour of the Mud Rhino. Legendary for its protective properties the armour is near impenetrable by regular weapons of its rank, highly resistant to disruptive damage and resonating force damage. Spell damage is mostly reflected from this armour except in the case of some silver and higher rank powers. This effect allows the mana cost of the use to be negligible and remains only a partial body transformation even though it covers the entire body. Power cooldown is also reset immediately after dissipating the armour. [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. [Milk of the Cacti] (affliction, blood): Causes afflicted enemies to hallucinate and a chance to cause damage to themselves by convulsion. [Greyscale] (affliction, incapacitating): Affliction that spreads across the skin. Causes joints to lock up and impairs mobility. Growth Conditions (silver): Bound user must be at least silver rank. 8 kilograms of mid grade (silver rank) star-fall silver 200 silver-rank iron quintessence gems 200 silver-rank magic quintessence gems 100 silver-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] [100 wing quintessence] [100 lightning quintessence] [100 venom quintessence] [100 rhino quintessence] 2000 silver rank spirit coins Gold rank Artificer Ritual of Silver ascension. So they can come and go because their hide are so magically resistant? James said and Orcnig nodded. Oh weve got to see this! Kyra exclaimed, reading the interface along with James. James picked up the armour and unbuckled it, he slipped his arm in and twisted his back sharply to fling the strap round which he caught. He did the buckle up in the front then while he was looking down traced over the Rhino signet with his finger. Damn that looks good. Teddy said, walking around him. Orcnig was nodding appreciatively. Well lets see what the magic armour looks like then. Kyra prompted. James concentrated for a moment and suddenly he transformed, they were used to parts of his body transforming into various parts of other animals. This was similar but more on a line with his full body transformation, it seemed to expand from his chest plate, his whole body produced formed plates to cover each segment of his body, similar to how any other armour would. The joints were incredibly flexible as he moved, even punching the air in front of him to show it didnt slow him down at all. It was a dull grey colour with darker edges, it was rough and textured like the skin of a rhino. The only parts of his body that werent covered in the armour were the pauldron down his right arm and his head. Yup, that looks badass. Teddy said. Agreed, a good looking set of armour. Kyra said. The signet. Lucy said. Look its changed. The mud rhino when James had put on the armour was the skull and horns of a Mud Rhino, now that he had used the power it was a fully armoured Mud Rhino head, like the ones on the doors of the council chamber, with armour plates on the cheeks, chin, lips and eyebrows. Well thats not all its got. James said. A moment later his head was wrapped from behind by the same armour, flexible plates all around the neck kept it mobile. It came over the top of his head and stopped, keeping his face open. The top looked like the structure of a rhino skull, two small token horns a few inches long where the rhinos would be. Kyra pulled out her hand mirror and pulled the edges until it formed a floor length mirror. James did some turns to see how it looked, dropped the helmet and spun again. Mhhmhhm damn I look good. James said Well weve established you look good. Kyra said striding to an empty space. She held her hands low and a sword and buckler shield appeared. Shall we see if it works? James smiled and stepped forward. Kyra didnt know what to think as he didnt pull a weapon but she figured he had a trick up his sleeve. She swung overhead at him and he caught it on his vambrace. It slid down and she swung back and over again and he didnt even raise his arm, letting it hit his shoulder as he sidestepped and it skidded and sparked all down the pauldron. She repeated the swing and this time he raised his left hand, covered in the armour like a glove and simply caught the blade. Kyra raised her eyebrows. She snatched the blade back and swiped hard left and right. He raised his arms like a boxer and the blade skittered off each time, once off his Pauldron and once off the rhino armour not leaving so much as a scratch. She dropped back and threw a mirror shard, since getting to bronze it was now a fistful of shards, they didnt catch anywhere and simply bounced off. Hey James Teddy said. James turned and found Teddys Dimension blade coming down on him. He raised his pauldron and deflected the blade. Teddy put a burst of speed in and swiped past James torso. It left what looked like a heat scar but it didnt penetrate. Everyone backed off. Yeh I think that will do really well. James said. He dropped the armour. He transformed his left hand into a bear paw instantly and then back, just to check the no cooldown effect of the armour. He turned to Orcnig. Thankyou, its an honour to wear. He turned back to Teddy. Lacks the tactical flexibility of being able to make multiple transformations, cant learn to rely on it or Ill miss other chances. He used his left hand to feel the chest plate and the shoulder armour. But I love it, thankyou, both of you. It remains my most prized possession. Auster went to Orcnig and whispered in his ear but she didnt account for their enhanced hearing. Might we suggest the pit in the under city? Hey sorry but we can hear like really well. Kyra said. Whats the pit? Auster speaks out of turn. The Pit is where we send our delinquent youths to work out their issues. It is not right to suggest it to you. Whats in the pit then? What do you put in there if you send your youths to work out issues? Lucy asked. The two Stonewallers looked at each other. Chapter 69 ‘Hallmarks of a Hero’ Staccato flashes of light were accompanied by bursts of force that the team could feel reverberate in their chests. The magical force of the blasts percussion could be felt on their auras. The constructions on either side of the corridor took it in turns, the one on the right firing a split second after the left, creating an arc of inescapable fire. As soon as it fired the front rotated, aligning the next blast like a rotary cannon. The rock elemental caught in the crossfire was pummelled to pieces in short order and the constructions disappeared into their slots in the floor. Sweet mother of god. James muttered under his breath. The mother of which god? Auster asked. But no one answered. They had gone deep into the city, into the chasm at the bottom of the canyon, down so deep that no sunlight would ever reach. The Mitchells were finding it uncomfortable, they had an extremely tight leash on their auras except Kyra who was doing her best to shield everyone, especially Ragnar whos aura control wasnt as tidy having not come through the annex program and as a human the array was affecting him a lot more than the outworlder bodies of the Mitchells, he was sweating profusely and starting to shake. Guys excuse us, Im going to take Ragnar up top. Kyra said, pulling on his arm. She moved her aura away from the others and they swayed taking up the strain. Kyra and Ragnar sprinted away, getting him away from the deleterious effects. So you get lots of elementals come through here? Teddy asked just as a bunch of three came around the corner and the construct guns popped back up and laid into them. Two rock and one magma elementals. They were blasted to pieces in short order. Almost continually. Orcnig rumbled. An effect of the array we found when we tried to expand deeper. We turn off the constructs when we have a youth who needs to learn a lesson in discipline and duty. Wait wait wait, hold up. James said excitedly. He furrowed his brows and used a narrators voice. Delved too greedily and too deep, we know what they awoke in the darkness of the array, shadow and flame. Teddy rolled his eyes at James. Orcnig looked confused and was about to say something when Lucy buried her head in her hand. Just then another scraping sound came from the other end of the tunnel, this time four elementals were there, a rock, a magma, a smoke and an iron. May I? James asked excitedly. Orcnig shrugged and nodded yes. Teddy can I borrow a sword? Teddy struggled against the arrays effect but conjured a sword from his storage and James strode forward towards the slow elementals. Teddy whispered to Orcnig while James moved forward. How many do you normally get? Ones and twos, having more of us down here calls them quicker. James was now standing in the middle of the corridor. With a huge surge of effort he managed to conjure is Staff of the Everglades although the effort made him weary. You cannot pass! He shouted at the elementals. Oh jeez Lucy said to the others. I am the servant of the Adventure Society, wielding of the Staff of the Everglades! The dark fire will not avail you, elementals of the array! At that moment the magma elemental shot a glob of lava at him and he batted it away with the staff. Go back to the shadows! He shouted theatrically. Lucy turned to see how Teddy was taking the performance and saw that he had got out a heavily specialised rugged recording crystal and was grinning. James was really winding up the performance now, looking wild eyed at the monsters. YOU! SHALL NOT! PASS! He said as he thumped his staff into the ground. The team and the two Stonewallers suddenly saw blossoming roots around them, the stones of the glade were darker than normal but it still looked like a bright glade all around them. Err James, didnt you need that staff to fight the monsters? Oh, yeh. And you just brought us all in here. Yeh. And the monsters are out there. Yeh. With the magic Gatling guns turned off? Oh bugger! James closed out the glade, it didnt mean it had disappeared, more that he had booted everyone out. The elementals had got slightly closer and so James was right on top of them. He punched the smoke monster in the face with his right fist and it zoomed backwards, looking like it was bleeding smoke as parts dripped off like gore. That must be the improvement to his bear claw engraving, it seems to be able to effect non-corporeal enemies. Lucy noted. He picked up the iron elemental and used it as a club to smash the magma, lava splattering off and hitting the walls like blood. What followed was entertaining to watch, the big man manually took apart the four elementals by punching them to pieces. He walked back to the others when he had the notification they were all defeated. As he crossed the threshold of the guns they popped back up and started firing at an earth elemental that rounded the corner. Impressive! Orcnig rumbled. But I thought that essence users had more powers than what you showed. We do, Its a bit of a struggle to use them down here though. Lucy admitted. What was that power with the roots? That was maybe the single most painful thing I have encountered in my life. Auster nodded along its Orcnigs words, she looked a little shaken at the experience and watching James take apart the elementals. Its a special power I have, a racial gift, its a redoubt we can retreat to if it all gets too much. Come to think of it, it did help me feel better while I was in there Me too. Answered both the others. Orcnig, if you will allow, I would like to stay down here and train a while. Can we control the constructs? I can have someone come down and construct a mechanism you can affect. And youre sure you dont mind me down here alone? I dont want to fall and then allow elementals into the city to kill your people. Orcnig shrugged casually. There are four more sets of weapons between here and the city, this set has not failed in the decades since we installed them. The team gave each other a look, they had unknowingly walked past four sets of weapons that ripped the monsters apart in seconds, four sets of weapons that were between them and the sunlight when they had only limited access to their powers. It was a good job the Stonewallers had been on the level all this time. Are you going to be all right down here on your own? Lucy asked. Yeh I should be fine, I have the glade to retreat to and to rest, if I can turn the guns back on then I can do this indefinitely. Itll be really good training, get me used to my new armour. Ok, well Teddy is going back with Orcnig and I wanted to see what the forges looked like so Ill check back on you later? He smiled and gave her a hug then sat on the floor, facing the monsters getting taken apart by the guns to meditate until someone came and showed him how to turn them off himself. The others left him there, flashes of light from the guns silhouetting the big man, his new armour with the upper arm and shoulder flange standing out. They made their way up the levels, not too many as the forges were deep within the effect of the array. Lucy plagued Orcnig with questions. She managed to find out more about the Stonewallers, they had been magically affected over the generations into what they now were. They could no longer take essences, around the age of maturity that, at the same time around the planet others could take essence abilities, the Stonewallers found themselves developing powers. They were fire, earth and forge powers. They had enough powers to defend themselves from the natural monsters that they saw which were almost exclusively the elementals the Mitchells had seen at the bottom most levels and where James was now. They had made it back to the forges and once she had been shown around by Orcnig Teddy pulled Lucy by the arm to adopt a squat by the door. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Why are we sitting here like this? She whispered so low only his enhanced hearing would pick it up. And congrats by the way, you never had this much mobility before essences. They were both in a deep squat, something neither of them had been able to do since the flexibility of youth, some cultures on earth had adults that regularly relaxed in such a squatting position but they definitely had not been one of them. Now we sit and watch Orcnig work. So far only I have been asked up to get up to work the forge on the vambrace. Oh, how long are we going to be here for? She continued whispering, concerned she was going to be stuck here for some time. I dont know, shh, hes starting. Orcnig walked towards the group of students. In his hands he held two lumps of ore. The one in his left held veins of silver while the one in his right held veins of red that seemed to be flowing. Today I am going to impart the knowledge of imbuing offensive and defensive magic into materials best suited to them. He rumbled in his slow metronome of a voice. What followed was an extensive lecture on the fundamentals of magical preparation of materials. Lucy found she was far from bored and listened intently, the lesson gave insight into why some of hers and Teddys experiments had not gone well. The difference of using materials that naturally held magic as a reservoir, held magic in a defensive way or offensively were subtly different. In the example of the Deathstick she had covered the lack of using the correct materials with her essence abilities, and, brute force and ignorance to force it to work. After a long time, they couldnt be sure how long as the interface was intermittent down here and they were deep underground Orcnig stopped. The students started speaking to each other cutting out Teddy and Lucy. Orcnig came over to them. I hope the subject matter was interesting to you. Now we are moving onto the making of things. I have agreed to teach this one but I will not teach more. He said, holding his hand out with the bulbous ends of his fingers pointing at Teddy. Lucy nodded to the others and made her way out, she was content to not have a guide as she wanted to take her time and explore some more than she had been ale to when shepherded with a guide each time. She took a stick of chalk from a pocket on her belt. She stopped at a quiet corner, there wasnt much traffic from Stonewallers as they were all busy in the multiple forges along the corridors. She drew out a very basic magic diagram on the wall with the chalk, it left the thin dusty lines that could be easily be wiped away after she was done. What she was drawing was a simple ritual to measure the ambient magic, she frowned as she drew, pausing. There was something wrong with the diagram, one that she had drawn countless times and through her essence abilities had perfect recall of. Her essence ability Magical Master meant that she could sense if a ritual was going to be successful without having to test it. She tapped the chalk on her chin while she thought then adapted the diagram. This time she felt the rightness of it and shortly after she had the result she wanted. The natural array effect on the ambient magic meant that she had to adapt the drawing. She made a note in one of her many notebooks and moved on, wiping away the chalk. Sometime later she was only slowly making her way up the floors, face, forearms and knees covered in chalk from where she had been drawing on the walls and floors and one case the ceiling. Her hair was messed up from her fervent scrambling to get results. The Stonewallers at large had no idea the outworlders were staying with them and gave her a wide berth as they shielded their children from the crazy lady stuck in her research. FOR HEROOOO! Ragnar screamed as he swung his double headed axe sideways two handed into the frog-like creature that was pouncing at Kyra. They had found the pack of bronze rank monsters not far from the array, they had tracked the footprints through the ground and were surprised for a few reasons. The first was the tracks were in a perfect arc, they seemed to be tracing the outside of the array. The second was the amount of monsters. Kyra had been hesitant to engage until Ragnar had told her it would be fine, he had dealt with the monsters before. When they caught up and watched from a high rock the pair observed the slow awkward gait of the monsters. They were frog-like but had long reptilian tails, their teeth were wild and large and didnt fit in their mouths. The long legs with the high knee joints made for awkward walking meaning they were dragging their lower halves and tail on the floor. The fact that the trail was so messy and they were all almost single file along the invisible edge of the array meant they had been surprised by the numbers. Kyra had done a fine job of splitting up the battlefield, using her walls, terraforming and golem to good effect to split up the numbers and make them more manageable. She had been taken unawares halfway through the fight by one of the monsters leaping at her back from on top of her golem that had been overwhelmed as it pummelled the monsters in front of it. Ragnar had her back though, using a leaping power he smashed through the monster cleaving it in half. Kyra turned to see the golem was completely covered and being bourne to the floor under the weight even with all its prodigious strength. She snapped her fingers and it exploded, bits of diamond and monster flesh going everywhere, she managed to get a wall up in time for her and Ragnar to be protected from the gore before it got to them. They had started with around fifty monsters in front of them. Each of the adventurers had taken out half a dozen each and the golem had killed at least a dozen between beating them and exploding. They were roughly halfway through the horde but that wasnt a problem. They were warming up. Ragnars essences were Might, Earth, Forge and the Titan confluence. He took the role of a frontline attacker. He shared some powers in common with Kyra with the boulder throw and earth spikes. His earth essence also gave him a land-mine type power that he could place under the feet of the enemy and the ground beneath them would explode. His most simple powers however were the synergism of Might and Titan. He had the common powers of Unstoppable Force, Mighty Strike and some power that added explosive damage to every hit. But the combat style he used meant that he made small early sacrifices to gain power. He allowed himself to take damage early and his limbs where they had been attacked started taking a metal sheen, transparent at first then becoming more and more solid until he seemed to grow metal armour. This came from an essence power he used as a mainstay of enduring fights. Ability: [Titans Redoubt] (Titan) Special ability (conjuration, holy) Cost: High mana. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 8 (80%) Effect (iron): When the user has received enough damage the limb will become encased in summoned Titan armour. The armour will last until the user has meditated to consolidate the effect into themselves. Effect (bronze): Summoned armour now causes trace transcendent damage when under attack. The limbs encased in Titan armour will be imbued with some strength of the Titan. Although the power had a high mana cost he spent the mana freely, the return being worth the cost. By tactically taking damage he became stronger and tougher. After the fight he then meditated and not only saw the traditional benefits of essence power advancement but he became tougher over time, keeping some of the benefits long term. Kyra had the presence of mind during her own fight to check out his essence powers on the interface now that they were outside the arrays influence and they had full access again with Ragnar as a guest. She realised that she had got very lucky with their fight in Baboas travelling castle and if the fight had gone on for too long she would have really struggled to overcome his power-ups. They fought together, using each others strengths to their advantage, now there were less monsters on the field Kyra deployed Lucky to help the three smaller diamond golems that had erupted from the first. They managed to sweep and clear the rest of the monsters until they were surrounded by dismembered corpses. Ragnar rested the hilt of his huge axe on the floor and draped his forearms on the top, looking over their work. His arms, legs and a section of his back were covered in the oddly shimmering metal as he stood in the bright sunlight. A fine offering of combat I say. It is good to let loose I guess. Well have to let the others know that there are such big packs out here though. The pack was not enough against such warriors though! Hail, we could take more than what the foe could offer. Kyra smiled at Ragnars enthusiasm. Indeed, shall we move away a bit and see what they have offered us in their death? They started hiking away, out of range of the rainbow cloud, then looted the monsters. They got a stash of bronze rank coins and some uninteresting loot. As he was in the party Ragnar got his fair share, Kyras went straight into her storage space but Ragnar had left his dimensional sack that he carried over one shoulder on the Serenity buggy when they had started tracking the monsters, a shower of bronze rank coins and a pair of gloves bounced off his head. Forsooth! The gods rain pleasures upon me for my bravery and I should not complain but that was rather unexpected. Kyra laughed as he stared around him not knowing where to start picking it all up and she pulled a mirror and absorbed it all before leading him back to the buggy. They spent the rest of the day driving around the local area trying to find more monsters, there were a few more fights, Ragnar was completely encased in armour by the end of the day and they found a good tactical rhythm to their fights, when he fought solo he had to compromise health and mana for Titan armour, fighting with a healer on the other hand meant that he could rapidly and recklessly throw himself into combat with no thought to taking the kind of hits required to gain his armour. His further limitation was mana, but once he had the armour of the Titan it came with enhanced strength, as did his earth essence, as did his might essence. All together he was an absolute powerhouse against the much larger than normal groups of monsters even without the mana for special attacks. That night they formed an extremely comfortable cave in a large rock formation, with two bedrooms and a living room, two earth essence users made it little to no trouble. We had a good day Ragnar, youre a lot of fun to be around. Kyra said as they shared dinner. Ragnar had meditated after they set up their hovel for the night and the metal armour was gone, he had changed into what looked like a smoking jacket and quilted trousers that looked very comfy. A fine day of adventure, as it is meant to be! They stayed up and chatted. Kyra learnt about Ragnars home town and how they all had to go and find adventure, with almost every child raised worshipping Hero or an adjacent god and leaving home to find glory before returning. She found she really enjoyed his company and even though she missed her family she was happy to be with the giant man for a day or two. Ragnar seemed to be a caricature when he was in battle but the friendly intimacy of the two of them in the cave living room made Kyra open up. She told him about the pirate on the boat and contrary to what she might have thought he was pensive and thoughtful rather than launching into congratulations of victory. There is a misconception. That many who follow hero fall into. And I was one of them, the virtue of a hero is not in killing. Is not the father who carries his sick son a day and a night to find a healer a hero? The mother who works two jobs to raise her family after her husband died in a monster attack? If you have managed to stop this man from his nefarious deed without bloodshed then you would have undoubtably been a hero. If you had gone in the room and ended his life without remorse that would not have made you a hero, your actions, attempted and actual, your remorse and contrition even though you were justified show the hallmarks of a hero. Kyra looked at the big man who was absentmindedly checking the grip on his axe. He was showing a depth of character she had not expected. The followers of hero seemed to be a reckless, enthusiastic bunch of warriors who lived for battle. She hadnt guessed there would be a deeper philosophy about what makes a hero behind it all. Chapter 70 ‘A healer most days’ Kyra and Ragnar made their way back to Stonewall after what they realised had been a five day monster hunt. They pickings were good around the canyon and they had found their fair share of monsters. Kyra collapsed the buggy and stored it in her mirror on the cliff top, while she had her inventory to hand she pulled out one of Lucys notebooks she had mentioned to use. Flipping to the right page she found what she was looking for and earth-shaped a flat area of ground to draw a ritual. After the third or fourth attempt of testing and re-adjusting she had got it right. The air inside the ritual faintly shimmered like a heat haze. Shield maiden, while your prowess in battle has been proven many times over since I met thee this is not your forte. Are you sure the ritual will function as thou intends? Ragnar said, warily eyeing the ritual. Kyra rolled her eyes. Youre welcome to take the long way down we used to get out. Then she walked through the ritual, careful not to disturb any of the lines or materials and straight out the other side and off the edge. She drifted down, like a great fan was underneath her trying to push her back up but she continued to fall at a walking pace. Kyra didnt have a slow fall power, she didnt want to rely on her essence powers to fall down the wall using the stone as a brake and didnt want to rely on borrowing an air step from Teddy with the natural array messing up the ambient magic and their interface connectivity. In any case Ragnar was in the same position and the slow fall ritual was as much for him as for her. She looked up when she saw a shadow above, watching for flying monsters, instead she saw the huge man had taken the plunge, struggling to contain his beard of many braids flapping up in his face as he fell. They both alighted on the canyon floor just inside the long drop into the depths of Stonewall but inside the city main. argh. Ragnar said, untangling his beard braids. This flying is not for me, plant mine feet, swing the axe. A happier place you cannot find. To quote a wise adventurer from my planet; thats not flying, its falling, with style! Ragnar looked at her quizzically. You told me you world was barren of magic? Err, he was more of an intergalactic adventurer? Ragnars bushy eyebrows shot up. A Diamond rank astral traveller?! You met one? Err it was more a legend or myth. A most powerful individual he must be to have travelled so far to a world with no magic. Ragnar nodded sagely. Well he did defeat the evil lord Zorg which none thought he would. A group of Stonewallers had started to approach, wearing the robes of the council they had met before. Kyra and Ragnar had been stalling, bracing their auras against the natural array before they went deeper. You will have to tell more of this adventurer in quiet lull of battle. Ragnar muttered to Kyra. Sure, Ill try and remember as much as I can about Buzz Lightyear. Kyra said, making a mental note to warn off the others about not explaining that the hero was a fictional toy from a movie. The Stonewallers faces were not entirely human. On perfectly round faces they were slightly different but Kyra could still pick out the looks of annoyance on their faces. Mrs Mitchell, we must summon you to the sentencing chamber with much haste. Sentencing chamber? On what charges? Kyra said in surprise. After a week of fighting alongside him Kyra felt the subtle change in Ragnars stance as he readied himself for a fight. She gently held a hand out palm down to calm him. Delinquency and reckless endangerment, we have suspended the hearing enough times for you to be present to defend. Kyra wondered what was going on, she had felt the power of the Stonewallers and knew there was no running or fighting them here in the array, especially as the rest of her family was here. The escort didnt look like they would add anymore detail so she nodded and they lead the way to the council chambers. Kyra nodded her head sideways after them while looking at Ragnar to signal they should follow. The escort took them back into the impressive council building with the huge pillars cut into the stone walls. They were escorted into a side chamber. There were a row of officials sat on a mezzanine looking down on a solitary chair that was there to obviously hold the accused with two distinct halves of the room that would be set out for prosecution and defence. Kyra was surprised to see the chair in the front was already occupied. A frazzled Lucy sat in the seat, secured by elaborate manacles of links of earth of different shades. As an occupational interest Kyra studied the links as she rushed forward to her sister in law, noticing that they were imbued with magic, consisting of different ores and strains of rock. Lucy! Whats going on?! Oh hey K, erm, bit embarrassing really. Turns out Ive been a little naughty. That is for this council to decide. An imperious voice said from above. Kyra glanced up at the shadowy characters before turning back to Lucy. What did you do? Well everyone was busy doing their own thing so I started playing with some rituals, you know, trying to get them to work down here, just some basic stuff like ambient magic reading, air purification, nothing specific really, just trying to baseline an adjustment criteria to the rituals. Turns out I didnt wipe one away and one of the locals reacted quite badly to it. She nodded her head to one side of the chamber. Under the circumstances Kyra realised that must be the prosecution if the victim was on that side. She saw the Stonewaller in question straight away, it was holding an arm awkwardly with the other and it looked as if it had been burnt. Have they hurt you? Kyra asked, a note of menace in her normally kind voice. Nonono, theyve been very good to me. They explained what was happening, I went along peacefully. They explained they have a very strict justice system as its a self contained society. They have to follow their rules, as visitors so do we. Im being held for charges of delinquency- leaving my ritual unattended and reckless endangerment - because it was dangerous. What was the ritual? A cleansing ritual. Designed to null the effect of the array within it to allow other rituals. Basically what we do to balance the ambient magic up top but with a key to the array. And whats the punishment for those charges? The room went quiet as the officials on the floor above rose and stepped forward to the low stone wall in front of them to look down. Mrs Kyra Mitchell. Do you stand here in defence of your kin? The middle official intoned. I do. Kyra replied, putting a hand on Lucys shoulder. The manacles that held her attached her wrists to the arms of the solid earthen chair, the chains became thin and snaked around her arms to attach to a yoke that went across her shoulders. Kyra gained an insight into the wondrous materials by touching them and struggled to maintain her stern face against the court. Your kin stands accused. The punishment has been decided. Wait. Theres no trial? No evidence? No jury to sway? Kyra asked in surprise. The punishment, shall be three days in the deeps. The official continued as if they had not heard her. With that short statement they all started to file out of a door behind them. Kyra looked at Lucy in surprise, the chains started to crumble and powder away from her and she stood. They hugged in relief. The deep wasnt so bad, they had all intended to spend some time down there fighting the elementals, an exercise they had already been told that was used to punish the youths of Stonewall. The injured Stonewaller walked over to them as they stood in the middle. Mrs Mitchell. The female sounding Stonewaller said. Thankyou for going along with this, it was not my intention to punish you when I reported the magic circle I found. Its all ok. Its nothing I cant handle. Hows your arm? Im sorry our potions are no good to you and I dont trust using a ritual of healing on you after seeing the after effect of you with the last one. I will heal. We are a hardy people, lacking in healing magic but hardy nonetheless. Lacking in healing magic Kyra said. Sorry, what is your name? I am Orshni Orshni, can I try something? Im not going to do anything other than touch your arm If thats ok? Im a healer most days. Most days? The other days she spends her time doing the other thing. Lucy chipped in. The other thing? The innocent Stonewaller said. Putting things in need of healing. Lucy replied as the gangly young local held out her arm for Kyra. She placed a hand underneath and one on top and closed her eyes concentrating. After a few seconds the corner of her mouth twitched in a slight smile. Orshni, may I try something? We were told that your ancestors were human, the slow subtle effect of the array changed you over time to how you are now but I can still feel the fundamental life energy inside you. Your intrinsic makeup is built on the same fundamentals while the outside of you has dramatically changed. What are you saying? The young Stonewallers parents had come closer and were now standing either side of her. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Im saying that my healing magic will still work on you. It is different to the magic Lucy was using which was antithetical to the nature of the array and to your body. Life energy is life energy though and that is still part of you. The young woman looked at her parents then nodded to Kyra. She smiled to reassure the girl then her hands pulsed as a green light flared under her palms. You have cast [Life Aura] on [Stonewaller] Natural Array discorporment has changed the affect of [Life Aura] [Life aura] healing has caused ?????????????? And ?????????? The ongoing mana and stamina regeneration has caused ?????? You have not been able to gain insight to [Stonewaller] health status Oh Kyra said. Oh?! Lucy asked in alarm, wary of doing more harm than good with this interaction with the already injured Stonewaller. Kyra had let go of the young womans arm in alarm, she had snatched it back and crossed her arms across her chest, already crouched to talk to the much shorter sisters in law she now went into a full squat. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she looked up, she didnt look in pain but peaceful, a small smile on her face as her body was gently vibrating in a very unnatural way. What? Lucy started to ask but stopped as she saw the wound on the womans arm heal. From the ground up the Stonewaller started to become encased in vibrant hued rock, like a kaleidoscope of gems buried in rock growing over her skin. Her parents hugged each other, a messy looking gaggle of gangly arms, the Mitchells misunderstood at first thinking that they were consoling each other but soon saw the smiles on their faces. As the rock and crystal took over their daughter they turned to the Mitchells. Thankyou outsiders, our daughter was a late bloomer and it has been troubling her of late. She will be most welcome amongst the Shapers. With no more explanation they picked up their daughter like she was a stretcher, now completely encased in the short time like a rocky sparkly cocoon and carried her out. One of the shadowy officials from up on the mezzanine saw what had happened and was quickly conferring with two of the others that were yet to leave. Even with their bronze rank hearing the effect of the array this deep affected their perception so they couldnt hear the discussion. Two days only in the deeps. He called down when they had come to a decision. This is bizarre. Kyra said. I am glad I fell in with you fine adventurers! Ragnar said enthusiastically, coming forward to join the girls. The tales we will be able to tell after this will capture the wonder of many! The same Stonewallers that had escorted Kyra and Ragnar in approached the three of them. If you would come with us we will take you to your punishment. They said with no nonsense brusqueness and turned and walked away, leaving the trio to shrug and follow on. They wound their way back down through the depths, Kyra shielding Ragnar with her aura as much as she could while he put as much effort as he could into his aura control. They passed many Stonewallers and the outsiders were still a source of shock and surprise for many, with lots of whispers and pointing as they walked. They reached the bottom levels and the strain was obvious on Ragnars face but he didnt complain. They rounded a corner onto a long corridor to hear carnage ahead. They couldnt see it as it was around another corner but they heard the fighting and when the fighting suddenly stopped. Footfalls came toward them, heavy with a clack on the stone floors. A huge bear rounded the corner, fur painted in blood and running heavily from his bared teeth. The sight of the huge creature made them instantly put their guard up, unable to sense with their auras pulled in so tight they realised it was Koda, made to look sinister in the dark in the alien tunnel. He reared at the sight of them, the top of his head meeting the roof of the tunnel and he had to hunch to stand as tall as he could. He dropped down and walked towards them. Behind Koda was another huge shadow. When they could see around the fearsome familiar and saw what was behind they didnt know how to react. A colossal creature shambled towards them. The monster of a bear made Koda look like a chihuahua next to a Rhodesian Ridgeback. The head was almost as wide as Lucy was tall. The right arm was the size of Ragnar and sheathed in a swirling sheen of metal with accents of different colour. The metal acted like skin, rolling and twisting like the fur on the other massive front leg, the metal encompassed the entire paw, leg, shoulder and then blended in naturally with the fur of the chest and spine. The monsters back was over halfway up the height of the tunnel, there was no way that this bear could raise up the same way Koda had. It looked slightly focussed like a laser guided missile at each of them before settling on Lucy and the two guards either side of her. The timbre of the tunnel changed, the air seemed alien and unwelcome before but now it was downright menacing. A primal energy like the nature of the dark tunnel was against them but emanating from the beast in front. His presence was already down the tunnel towards them and it was made worse as he moved forward, steady heavy footfalls that made the ground rumble and each of them want to flee and find their burrows if they had them. The Stonewallers were locked in place, terrified. They had never felt anything like this, their own perceptions of auras were so different and so little uniqueness came into Stonewall. Through it all Lucy looked unaffected, his rage was centred on her but she was the focus of his protective instinct. When he got close enough, still locked on the guards escorting his wife she reached up and grabbed the hair on the bottom of his jaw and pulled it down to look into one brown, almost black, eye. This is a self-surrender, dummy. Theyre notional escorts, not prison guards. James in his monstrous bear form rolled his eyes from one to the other then back to Lucy. He yawned, the first time they had seen his maw, letting his aura do the snarling for him. Now they could see his teeth they were glad, they were the size of swords and thick as tree branches. He transformed back into the James they knew. He stood in his normal casual training Gi looking like the man they knew and loved with Lucy now holding his beard, but there was something different about him. What have you done to yourself? Lucy asked. Looking him over. You cant tell? I suppose youre not using your aura senses because you have them retracted, Kyra too, hers are suppressed. Ive been training down here almost non-stop. Koda shambled back down the corridor and they heard the sound of fighting round the corner. The elementals are basic and unchanging. But with my aura so repressed it was hard to use my powers, until I got used to it down here in critical moments. Then I adapted and my aura was easier to use, then I could use some of my powers, but they seemed to react to that and more came, so I fought harder, used more powers. I dont think Ive ever had aura control as fine as this, never thought it was possible. But now, down here, I feel like I can breathe as we do on the surface. Lucy looked at her husband and saw he wasnt bluffing, he was comfortable while the rest of them were strained. Poor Ragnar was leaning against the wall with the pressure. Jeesh, we need to get him out of here, but first. Whats going on, why are you self surrendering?! Oh Ive been a little bit naughty and they sent me here to punish me, if supreme aura powers are what I can expect out of it then Im looking forward to getting my just deserves! She grabbed him on his upper arms and used them to lift herself onto her tiptoes and kiss him. Take Ragnar, go see the sun. Ill be fine down here, come and see me in a few days and check on me. He picked her up and hugged her tight. When you are ready for me to come visit, you will be able to tell me. I have full interface again. He smiled at her, then went and put an arm under Ragnars shoulder and started jogging with him. Koda came running after them, looking like he was lumbering but moving with bronze rank speed and supported Ragnar from the other side. I should go with them, help out Ragnar until hes out you know? Kyra said and gave Lucy a quick hug before dashing off to catch up. That left Lucy with the Stonewallers escort that were just getting over their interaction with James. So I suppose youre just going to leave me here and trust I dont get killed? As a reply they pointed over her shoulder. She saw an earth elemental shamble around the corner, looking like an uncoordinated pile of rocks. By the time she looked around it was to see the backs of the Stonewallers walking away up the corridor. Well I guess that answers that question then. She muttered to herself. She turned and drew a wand and fired it at the monster. WARNING: [Wand of Blasting] has failed. [Wand of Blasting] has failed to function as intended. This is due to the effect of destabilised magic in the environment. Mana cycling through this weapon will have to be adjusted before weapon can be used in this environment. Bugger. Thought Lucy as she pulled on her magically reinforced knuckle dusters and cracked her neck each way. Kyra and James were almost carrying Ragnar by the time they got to the top levels. They had stopped in their issued accommodation to allow the big man to rest outside of the natural arrays effect and he was quickly picking himself back together. That aura control really is tight! Kyra complimented James as she could now fully explore it with her own. James looked a little bit smug as he mock-bowed to her. Its probably something to do with the fact that I havent slept in five days, training non-stop and its all thats holding me together right now. Just then the door banged open and a bedraggled Teddy half flopped half bounced off the door into the room in exhaustion. Sensed. James. Followed you. Here. Finished it. For Ragnar. Here. He opened a rift, the effort causing him to stagger a little and fall to one knee. He reached up and pulled out a shield. The shield crashed to the floor, a large kite, almost as tall as Teddy, the tip of the bottom hit the floor and it pivoted to lean up against a table. Kyra rushed forward to scoop up Teddy into her lap and inspect him for injury. A shield for mine own hands? Ragnar asked, his weariness forgotten from his ordeal below on firstly seeing someone else in such worse condition and secondly on the artefact in front of him. The shield was about five foot tall, it was a traditional heavy armour kite shield with a thick lip designed to catch blows from an edge without breaking it. The front was subtly protruding triangularly to deflect high powered attacks from the front without taking the full force. It was a plain, dark steel colour but the design was captivating. Teddy had obviously taken inspiration from Ragnars Titan essence to personalise it. On the front was a huge man taking up most of the shield. He was portrayed in a Greek sculpture style standing atop a pinnacle of rock. He wore a loose toga across his immensely powerful frame and his beard reached almost to the rope belt. Around his feet were tiny people, obviously taking shelter beneath him. His defined muscles bulged as he crouched and held the weight of enormous storm clouds above him on his shoulders, his right hand held them up while his left was stretched out palm up, stopping a lightning bolt before it could hit the people beneath. Looking closer they could see more details. The Titan wore manacles around his wrists and ankles, with the bits of broken chains still attached, his toga had the symbols for the followers of the church of Hero around the edges and there was a stylised light emitting from around the Titan. Ragnar stepped forward and gently turned the shield around. They were all surprised with what they saw. The inside of the shield was not the same metal as the outside. It wasnt even metal. It looked like an extremely dark tight-grained wood that had the front wrapped in metal. It had the usual straps for carrying and using and Ragnar picked it up and slipped his arm through. He was delighted to find the shield was incredibly light, so much to almost be weightless in his bronze rank hands, which was not a given for bronze rank items which he could definitely feel this was. James stepped forward and traced the lightning bolt running to the Titans hand, pulling up the description on the interface. Item: [Shield of the Defenceless] (bronze rank, legendary) A bespoke item, crafted with care and thought from exotic materials. Effect: A heavy shield that can deflect the strongest blows of its rank. The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to negate magic based attacks. Effect: When held in protection of others it has a strengthening effect. (-15% damage by all physical means) (-15% damage by all magical means) Effect: When wielded by a member of the church of Hero who is pure to the teachings of Hero gain a strengthening effect. (+10% strength to user) (+10% to all protective characteristics). There is a small chance that the god Hero will take special note of this shield being employed in his name. Exotic materials? James asked. Ragnar stroked his finger on the inside of the shield showing James. I have never before seen the like in and shield, the weight it nothing but it is strong as the doors of temple itself! From a cot bed to the side they saw Kyra putting Teddy to bed. He mumbled half asleep as he went. Shields. Have to make shields first. Test. Worthy to forge. Made shield. Ragnar doesnt have. Used. Bahamut scale. Stonewallers never seen and he was asleep as soon as Kyra pulled the blanket over him. Chapter 71 ‘Time to do some gangsta shit.’ Lucys first blows were ineffectual. She punched the monster in the side of the head as her first attack and although the knuckle duster was magically strengthened there was no magically enhanced attack that she was expecting. WARNING: [Ring of Pugilism] has failed. [Ring of Pugilism] has failed to function as intended. This is due to the effect of destabilised magic in the environment. Mana cycling through this weapon will have to be adjusted before weapon can be used in this environment. Oh sweet baby god of suffering. Lucy muttered as she kicked off the hard rock on the chest of the elemental. She looked at the bronze knuckle dusters for any damage, although the description was for a ring they were the traditional look of a thugs tool you would see a dodgy bouncer in a bad part of town use. They were un-damaged but so was the monster. She had to duck the monsters swing back at her and started to think of options. All her ways to damage this monster were magical. She had started to work on dispelling rituals for the arrays effect but this far down the deep tunnels they would need to be adapted and the monster wasnt going to give her the time to draw them out in chalk as she couldn''t use Rune Lore yet. Her only option she decided was to try and manually take this monster apart with bronze rank strength and work on her aura control like James had. He not only managed to release his familiar but effect a full body transformation. She focussed on the monster as she concentrated on her aura. She had it used in tight to protect her from the natural array and she explored relaxing it slightly to expand and see how it reacted. She was bombarded by the sensation of the array that made her wince and recoil. The monster chose that moment to rush Lucy. She had stars in her eyes and felt her body being pressed by all directions. The monster lunged with both its stubby arms she took a glancing blow as she tried to dodge while reacting to the backlash of aura. She flailed and managed to strike the monster in the torso. There was a familiar flash of magic and chunks of rock came off as she hit. So thats what its going to take. She said to the monster as they backed away from each other for a moment. Kyra woke up on the cot bed and was missing her husband. She sat up and looked around to only find Ragnar and James sat having breakfast. He was gone before we got up.James said around a mouthful of food. It is worth adventuring with your family just for this. Ragnar chipped in as a greeting, holding up a mug of coffee. He left? Kyra asked sleepily confused. He left a note. James said, focussing on his food. She put her hand on the edge of the cot and a metal bangle dropped down her arm. She looked at it and saw it was a crude design, a metal bangle battered from a wider band of metal with a heart on one end and the other end looped round and hooked through. It made her smile as she got up having not felt him put it on her in the night. She walked over to James and stole a slice of toast off his plate and snatched the letter off the table. My Kyra, My absence in the forge will be missed, the other students are able to sustain themselves somehow and are not fighting the effects of the array and are hard to keep up with as it is. The array struggle is getting easier with every day down there, the lack of rest and meditation makes it hard to keep going but they have not offered rest and I do not want to appear weak to them. Orcnig is a strict teacher, no student is allowed to make anything until they have made a suitable shield first. He explains that this means the student has grasped the fundamentals of armoury, to make a shield you have to understand all the materials available, the weapons it will go up against and how theyre made so you know how to defend against them and lastly the magic and how it interacts with the materials. Now that I have made a shield (he was very impressed with the Bahumut scale as a material) I can make some other things I have planned with his help. I miss working with Lucy but Im learning how I can incorporate her into my work. The Stonewallers are naturals at this work, natural for them I guess. They seem to have affinities for earth, fire, forge and combining the magic with materials. Orcnig has not yet started work on the weapon for the contract, he says the class is part of the process and he will know when to start. I miss you fiercely and you will not be able to peel me off you when all this is done but I cannot pass up such an opportunity whilst we are here. I would encourage you to see the locals about their earth affinity to see if theres anything you could learn from their way of using it. I hope your adventure went well with Ragnar and if you leave with him again the shield will protect you both. All my love to you and the others. Teddy. X Kyra had already thought of asking the Stonewallers for an insight into their earth shaping but with Teddys encouragement she made a plan to spend some time in the town. She sat down at the table and pulled a plate and some food towards her. So whatre your guys plans now then? She asked. The guys looked at each other. Wanna go kill some monsters? James asked. Rangar took out his hand axe from his belt and thumped it down with the back of the blade. To adventure and glory! He roared and smiled at the pair. James turned to Kyra. Think thats a yes. Well go out and see what we can find the same way you two did. Whatre you planning? Want to come? No, I wouldnt want to ruin the boys trip, would look rather odd, two huge guys and their tiny blonde mascot. Im going to see more of Stonewall, be around for the other two while they go through their trials. Fair enough. Ragnar explained what happened at the trial with Lucy. Im happy shes not in any danger, those guns down there will come back on if she needs them to and theres nothing coming for her that she cant handle. If we plan on being out a few days then come back to see how she got on it should be ok? Sounds good to me. As stressful as this stop is proving to be I think well all be better off after it! Ragnar had stood up and sorted his adventuring gear. He easily hefted his new shield and slung it over his back over his double headed axe. This adventure has already paid out more than a humble adventurer deserves! It is time to pay some back. Come James Mitchell, it is time to put monsters to the axe! James raised an eyebrow then shovelled the last of his breakfast into his mouth, wiping his beard with his sleeve and stood up. He transformed his right arm into an arm of a creature from Pallimustus. It was something between the head of a hammerhead shark and a preying mantis arm, the end result was something like a natural double headed axe. The vambrace caused it to be sheathed in metal and he raised it aloft. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Lets put some monsters to the axe! Sebastian watched them unfold a buggy and tear off into the distance from the other side of the canyon. He had been watching them for over a week now. First he had been sent out by his mistress Beatrix to spy out any opportunities on the adventurers. Sebastian was bronze rank himself, he leaned towards an assassin class and was suitably stealthy. He had followed the blonde adventurer with the bearded axe man the previous week and had watched them work. There was nothing to be gained by trying to snatch two of them even if he had the power. If Beatrix as a silver ranker had underestimated just the blonde then he wondered what the others would do to get one of their family back. Now that he saw the two biggest men depart together he collected his things from the small camp he had set up. He was in no rush as tracking was a speciality of his with several essence powers in that vein. He wondered if this was a pattern, that most of them would stay below with some of them venturing out to train. He wrote it all down for Miss Beatrix, she wasnt a bad boss to have. Some of her dealings werent exactly above-board but he was ok with that and had his own shady past. He knew she wanted results fast but would listen and understand why he hadnt made any moves yet. He noted the direction the two men were taking and made a decision. He would have to test them out to see how capable they were. He mounted his lizard and shot off with surprising speed to meet a group of local bandits that owed him a favour. Lucy was exhausted. She squat down and hung her head. She hadnt been this tired since she got to this world. The elementals kept coming. James was right that as she adapted it summoned more and more of them. The first two monsters were rock elementals and the third was an earth. She had struggled with the fourth which was a fire elemental and while she could now reliably channel her mana through the knuckle duster which had the ability to effect non-corporeal enemies which the gaseous fire elementals counted as, it meant getting up close and personal and she now sported a few burns to her clothing. That fight had forced her to focus and she now had a few wands she had figured out how to use. She heard a hissing sound coming towards her from round the corner. She stood up and centred herself, taking a mental deep breath. A smoke elemental came round the corner like a dirty ghost. It hurtled towards her. She raised her right arm, knuckle duster still in place, wand in her left hand. She tried again for the hundredth time and weak faint runes streamed down her arm. She smiled and pointed the wand through them. The resulting fire blast going through was noticeably enhanced but the rune circle fizzled and disappeared. The smoke monster burst into flames from the inside. The surrounding area of the canyon was loose scrub with a few small groups of woods spread out between the yellow sandy rocky floor. There were lots of small canyons and crevasses and piles of loose rocks and boulders that sometimes formed caves and a few times they came across cave complexes that went down into the canyons. By the second day of fighting together James and Ragnar had each others measure. James enjoyed meeting other peoples energy, assimilating himself to match. He did this in the coastal village on their last trip back from Vitesse with their unique parlance. Bringing out his inner Viking was not a chore to him. They had worked on a few strategies. They had the raw power between the two of them to both blitz attack most groups of monsters and powerful single targets. For complex fights James had the ability to become adaptive and support Ragnar who was the stronger blitzer. They had found a tiny village, barely more than a dozen houses and a one stop shop for everything. They were talking to some of the locals, as it was such a small settlement there was no adventure society notice board and they were asking if they had seen anything nearby that they could take care of. They had been offered tea and accepted, while they were chatting they saw a dust cloud in the distance fast approaching the town. James kept an eye on it as they talked and nudged Ragnars elbow to let him know he was off to take a look. He made his aura as inconspicuous as he could, his control of it so much better after his time below. He snuck out the back and climbed a house slightly taller than the others then looked out towards the dust cloud. He used his eagle vision power and zoomed in on the lead cloud. He saw about a dozen riders, mounted on giant lizards with saddlebags across their hind quarters. They shimmied like their smaller brethren but with incredible speed, the riders sat behind their necks on saddles were stationary while the body undulated side to side behind them. He focussed on the riders and saw they all wore rough leathers, carrying an assortment of large weaponry, looking more for intimidating than being a useful combination for a group. They were mostly younger men with a few older thrown in, they looked mean and knew exactly where they were going. [Heads up. Large group of riders, Id suspect theyre a gang, ask the locals then tell them to keep me a secret, youre visiting on your own then I can be a surprise if we need it.] James said to Ragnar over the group he had set up between the two of them after inviting him as a guest to the interface. [I understand you warrior.] James stayed on the rooftop and watched the riders come in, they circled the town, riding round and round kicking up dust which unfortunately came in and settled on the carefully kept clean town. A half dozen of the men got off their mounts and made their way into the village, from where he was hiding on the rooftop James noted that they also grabbed their collection of long axes, pole arms, spears and in one case a spike ball on the end of a six foot metal pole. Ragnar held his ground, most of the villagers scurried away into their houses, wanting no part of the gang. The man who stood with him was the current appointed spokesman of the town, he had no wife or family to take in his child and so held his daughters shoulders as she stood in front of him. Ragnar looked down and smiled at her through his big beaded beard and passed her a sweet with a leaf wrapper. He then unslung his new shield and rested the bottom of it on the ground and leant on it casually as if it had been heavy and he had taken it off to rest, it subtly covered the little girl from view from the approaching men. The men fanned out in front of them, creating a front line rather than staying as a group. The sand was still in the air as the others kept circling the village causing a light dusting. Ere, we saw the village an thoughts we oughta check in and see if yous all right, seein as yous under our protection see? The leader said. He wore a long leather riding coat with a high split at the back to facilitate it draping either side of his mount. He wore huge knives at his belt that reminded James of Teddys reasoning for wearing a bandolier of throwing Bowie knives across his chest. Im sorry sir, I, I, I dont quite know what you mean? The villager stuttered out. Whassa matter wif you? You seems scared. This nobody threatening you? Thinking hes so big with his big shield? Maybe we outta show him he aint so big and he wont bother you no more. [Careful Ragnar, this is obviously what theyre here for, the other men havent taken their eyes off you and the two near me have been talking about the other one.] [Peaceful resolutions do no dishonour to Hero, we shall see the outcome yet no come to blows.] Ragnar replied diplomatically. Lo, well met traveller. A find band of warriors you seem to have. We have no quarrel here and peace is with us all. What you fink yous tellin me eh? Maybe Ive telling you we have a problem, dont tell me different. I dont mean to counter your proposal good sir. If I have caused grievance than forgive me. I will make my departure so that you have no reason to bare ill-will. No. Youve done it now. The twelve of us can take on both of you. Both of us?! The villager said, his voice going high pitched in distress. Not yous, the other one of him. No one has said anything of another warrior with me Ragnar pointed out. The gang leader looked slightly embarrassed at being caught out of his shallow performance of trying to look like they hadnt been sent looking for the two adventurers. It passed quickly as it turned to anger. Get him, find the other one! He shouted, spittle flying from his mouth. Ragnar hefted his shield, his kinetic power raised his double headed axe from his back and he grabbed it with his free hand, idly swinging it with the one hand as if it wasnt a two handed axe. He backed up, keeping the man and his daughter at his back and pushed them into a house which opened up to accept them then bolted the door, leaving Ragnar out front. The gang all levelled their weapons at him and spread out to surround him in a semicircle facing the house. Boss I thought there was meant to be two of them? One of them said. Shut up skinny, theres one here then well find the other. Easier to take one at a time than two of them. How about three? James asked as he strode in from the back left of the group. A snarl from the rear right announced Koda approaching from that direction. James was already suited up in his mud rhino armour and carrying his Staff of the Everglades. The gang leader looked nervous, he had six men and that meant he still had two to one odds but he didnt become gang leader by fighting with fair odds. Ive got more you know! And he shot off a fire power into the sky, an obvious signal for reinforcements. I dont think theyll be that keen to join us. James said. Since he saw the gangs dust cloud he had been lacing the village with snakes. They instinctively knew friend from foe so they were no danger to the villagers and they acted roughly within the boundaries that James meant them for. They had hidden to allow half the gang entry then arrayed themselves in a large ring around the village. The quirk of his summoning power meant that a climate appropriate version of the summon appeared, fearsome rattlesnakes with hooded heads looking intimidating with the much larger constrictor variant also had the hooded heads and some had two of the large tails. James had also spread the word and a large multi species flock of birds descended in a cyclone., forming an unnerving ring of feathers between the rest of the gang and the village. There was a long lull as the gang leader waited expecting his reinforcements to come. James leant on his staff watching him, Koda sat on his ass like a human toddler and Ragnar hooked his axe onto the top of his shield while they waited for the man to make a decision. The decision was made for him however. An aura spike of panic so powerful they could feel it through the village. The birds scattered and flew away and they saw what was causing the panic. A huge monster was approaching the large dust cloud being thrown up. It was of Kaiju proportions with a huge rectangular head its body was thin and long with small arms like a T-Rex. Its legs looked unsuited to working in coordination, two rearwards bent legs on each side with another forwards bent leg on each side. It roared as it approached and the sound and the silver rank aura preceded its short arrival. The gang around the outside fled, charging their mounts in the opposite direction. The gang leader didnt give any direction, they all fled immediately, all thought of fighting the two adventurers forgotten in their haste. The first man through the circle of snakes was bitten for his trouble and the second was bitten and took poison damage, the third was tripped and taken down by a constrictor snake and James had to wave his hand to make it vanish in a puff of rainbow smoke to let the man run away. James, Ragnar and Koda walked to the side of the village facing the silver ranker. Here was no conversation needed as they prepared themselves, they couldnt leave the village defenceless. James looked at the retreating gang fleeing as fast as they could. James sighed. Everyone wants to be a gangsta, until its time to do some gangsta shit. Chapter 72 ‘Holy mother of war’ Lucy had worked out a new approach after two days. The struggle of fighting against the arrays effects had lessened. She could now use her full suite of powers having trained non-stop since arriving. Lechuza in her Bush Witch form hugged the shadows. Incapacitating the monsters with illusions that affected even the monsters without eyes. Now that she had all her powers and leverage all her mana at her disposal Lucy had a lot more options. But there was still a pressure acting against her. The research that she had been doing was how to adapt rituals in the arrays effect. Normal rituals wouldnt work copying them from a book and they had to be painstakingly adjusted to function correctly. Her Rune Lore power still required her to know the ritual layout in order to work effectively. To work around this she used one ritual to best effect. She had cast a buffing ritual for magic items and spells cast within, she had put her own personal flair on it by casting it in a manner which meant as she stepped the glowing runes stayed centred around her feet moving with her. She blasted at a Rock elemental with her Death Stick, vaporising a hole in its torso as she shot high pressure water from a wand in the other hand at a fire elemental that was slicing sections off like a jet machine in a stone quarry. As the two elementals in front of her succumbed to her attacks the emplaced magical guns on the walls and floor erupted in fire at the remaining monsters. Lucy turned around to see the council member that had dropped her sentence to two days with the two escort Stonewallers. Kyra, James and a peaky looking Ragnar had joined them. Mrs Mitchel, you are relieved. Your sentence has been met and you are absolved of your crimes. The council member said. Are you repentant? I am, my own desire to advance my understanding of magic and this wonderful town should not have recklessly endangered its inhabitants. She said humbly. Then you may leave, though your sentence is complete and you are absolved any further infractions will be met with the previous in mind. With that the Stonewallers made their exit. Its good to see you Lu. James said striding forward and hugging her. He looked behind to the shadow. And you too I guess Lechuza. She hissed at him and rumbled in an ancient language that their language adaptation racial gift didnt pick up. She then re absorbed into Lucys back forming the long stripes down her face over her eyes and down her cheeks. Well that was a serious workout! They all hugged and caught up with each other. While they were just starting to chat a rift opened in the air next to them. An even more bedraggled and wired Teddy stepped out. He was worse than they had last seen him, bags under his eyes that darted around like he was on his tenth coffee that day. Really?! A portal power down here?! Lucy exclaimed. Thats seriously impressive. He glanced about and threw himself at Kyra hugging her, he buried his face into her neck and whispered so low only she could hear. He pulled his head back and kissed her. Then turned to the others looking at each in turn, hardly able to form the words. He finished looking at Lucy. He passed her a large canvas bag. Here. Then he kissed Kyra again and stepped back through the rift without saying anything more. Truly a powerful man, portalling while I, the meanest of assembled warriors stand here with weak knees. Ragnar said, leaning against the wall again in strain. Oh Ragnar! Lets go up top. Kyra said, dazed at the whirlwind appearance of Teddy. They made their way back up top, exchanging pleasantries with some of the Stonewallers that had heard of the strangers being able to survive in their town but they couldnt stop for long until they had Ragnar out of the effect. When they got back upstairs Ragnars stamina was starting to return but James still had to half carry him up the last flight of stairs an drop him on the sofa. Getting used to carrying you Ragnar. Pray we leave this poison temple then I shall show you my prowess again, you will not believe you survived this long without my shield at your back and my axe at your foes. So you two really fought a silver rank monster together? Lucy asked. They had started telling the story when Teddy tuned up. A great battle, two mortal warriors against the silver spawn. The innocent village held in the balance of our skill versus its ferociousness! Ragnar started, with the gusto of a bard telling a great tale. By the time he was done Lucy had filled a few pages, writing it the way he was telling it as it sounded so impressive in his words. Everyone was hanging on his every word, even James who had been in the fight. Well damn brother, that was awesome! James said. Truly and honour to fight alongside you James Mitchell, a brother indeed. And you think the gang of lizard riders were sent after you specifically? Who would have done that? Kyra asked. Well the families tried something on us as we arrived here, they may still be after us but cant get to us down here. Lucy posed. She got up off her cot where she had sat to listen to Ragnar and in her tiredness of fighting for two days straight she clumsily knocked the bag Teddy had given her onto the floor where it landed with a clank. Whats that? James asked. I dont know, lets see. Lucy answered as she picked it up and took it to the table that they had revealed James vambrace. She pulled the cord to open the neck of the bag and two pieces of armour fell onto the table. She turned them over and saw what looked like a matched pair of vambraces except one was slightly chunkier than the other. She left them tops facing up. The right one which was skinnier had a motif of a kite shield much like Teddy had made for Ragnar, inside the shield was taken up by two owl wings taking up the entire space of the shield. Around the central shield were falling feathers and autumnal leaves. She still had her hand on it and decided to pick it up to look closer. She was surprised at the weight of the dark steel armour and looked inside, it had padding to make it comfortable but she could see that it had all been bonded to the same tight grain dark wood looking material as Ragnar had and realised it was made of the same Bahamut scale material. She waved away the interface notification and turned to the left vambrace. The engraving on top was similar to that of the wooden box her essences has been given to her by Hero in the temple. Stars and crescent moons surrounded crossed wand and staff, with complicated diagrams and pentagrams filling in the rest of the space. There was a clasp on the inside and she felt the small amount of magic that would keep it shut against anything but purposeful opening. She opened it up, flipping the top section back and saw three racks inside, perfect for the slender combat wands she used. She pushed it closed again and looked in the end and saw the narrow opening like a muzzle above the hand plate. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Now she had a good look at the items she checked out the interface description. Item: [Armour of the Combat Witch] (bronze rank, legendary) A bespoke item, crafted with care and thought from exotic materials. Effect Right Arm: Armour that can deflect the strongest blows of its rank. The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to negate magic based attacks. Effect Left Arm: Armour that can deflect the strongest blows of its rank. Selectable stowage of combat wands. Three wands may be placed in the racks and the user may select which they use to fire, wand selection is instinctive allowing for rapid fire and rapid changing of selected wand. The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to Power the wand rather than the users inherent mana supply allowing for multiple castings not including this piece of armour (only one wand may be fired at a time). Effect Matched Set: With both pieces of [Armour of the Combat Witch] equipped gives the user a 10% decrease to mana consumption for all spells and magical tools. Holy mother of War Teddy. Youve turned her into Iron Man. James said reading the description as well. This is incredible! Lucy said in a low voice. She was awed at the work in front of her. She could see the intricate interplay of the magic rubbing through it. As complicated and alien magic as it was she could see that the person who had invited the magic into Teddys design had left the architecture open much like the gifts from hero, people kept gifting her twofold, not only were the wand sheath and this new armour priceless they also gave her the magical insight into their construction. She wouldnt tamper with the Stonewallers magic yet. But she had depths of insight into it that she couldnt have through casual observance she had been practicing over the last few weeks. Lucy had taken to wearing a jacket she had found while shopping in Vitesse, a dark forest green with fitted forearms, loose upper arms to a fitted torso. The jacket was a wraparound securing on her left side but looked a little like a leather biker jacket with the lapels. The bottom of the jacket flared out like a skirt and complimented the fact that she normally wore tough leggings with optional armour padding. She had painstakingly added reinforcement magic to the cloth, after practicing and ruining various garments she didnt care for and was now happy to wear it in combat. She slipped the vambraces on and was happy that they would be able to sit nicely on the outside of the sleeves. Very nice, Kyra said, checking out the addition to the outfit. Can you explain the bit about the left bracer a bit more? Well it seems that I can put three wands in, and use one at a time like I normally would if I were holding it. Part of the limitation of grabbing a handful of wands and firing them all at once is the need to push my mana through them meaning that I can only use one at a time. The benefit of this is that it charges over time so it allows me to use the magic stored within and I can still hold a wand or staff to fire magic. She was absently scrolling through her rune portal dimensional storage, swiping as if scrolling on a phone as wands rotated past the aperture. She seemed to find a suitable selection and placed them in and snapping it shut, she added a few more to the holster that she had been gifted by Hero. It seems advantageous to have the flexibility to change your tack while embroiled in the chaos of battle. Ragnar noted from where he lounged. Flexibility has always been a factor for me, but its cumbersome to switch from tool to tool, much easier to have the essence abilities to cast spells at need. This way I can have some mainstays loaded ready to go that I can switch between, if we find out what were fighting ahead of time I could even tailor it. Seems like we should go test it to be honest James said. Kyra held a hand up to stop Ragnar from rising, he had already reached for his axe to help himself stand up. No, I think we need to rest a while. A few days to reset at least. Ragnar, youve been pounded every time you come back here and I dont think you even get the same long term benefit from it that we do and when youre not here youre hunting monsters which is hardly restful. James you took a week below, we can all see how much that affected you, for the better mostly but you need rest and meditation. Lu youve only just finished your stint and you should rest. Ive been moving hundreds of tonnes of rock the last few days and I know I need to consolidate. Trust the healer to recommend not jumping from one dangerous thing to another. James grumbled. Yes its not the most exciting but we all need to rest. A few days is all Im asking. It looked like Teddy needed to rest to be honest. Lucy pointed out. Hes getting worse each time we see him. Dont mind Teddy, he can take it. Im keeping an eye on him on the interface. His struggle is beyond our help at the moment. What do you mean? Asked Lucy, she wasnt used to not knowing what was going on. As far as he can tell this has never before happened. The secrets of armour and weapons smithing from the Stonewallers has never been shared due to their isolated nature and general hostility towards outsiders. Teddy is committed to taking it as far as he can, the advantages he will get out of the education will give him an edge when we move on. I wont let him hurt himself though, hes just going through the wringer. They have a thems that falls behind, stays behind attitude to the novices in the forge. The longer they last the more secrets of forging theyre trusted with. Thats Thats how theyre a cross continent weapons and armour manufacturing institution. They only send out perfection. The trainees take decades before anything they make leaves Stonewall, Teddy is incredibly lucky to be allowed to do what hes doing. Lucy was mollified by the answer and trusted Kyras judgement. They all listened to her, she had become an authority on their own bodies, knowing their limits more than them. They had to, her role was to manage the battlefield as best she could. They all had interlocking responsibilities when it came to team fights, Teddy fought team tactics, Kyra fought team weaknesses, Lucy fought enemy weaknesses and James was the strength that held the team. They also trusted Kyra on their advancement, she was right that they needed to stop and so they hung up their weapons, slept, ate and mediated. What do you mean they ran away?! Beatrix asked, her it had been rising over the conversation. What I says, they had em in the village, like I told them to, with a reserve of guys on the outside ready to come in. And they managed to scare them off? No maam, the big ol silver rank monster did that. And these two took it on by themselves? Two bronze rankers? Why didnt the gang take them out after such a big effort? Well it didnt seem like such a big effort you see, werent no walk in the park from what I could see but they couldve gone on for another few rounds when the big beasty gave up. Beatrix shook her head, she hadnt been overly pleased to hear of Sebastians plan but she gave him autonomy and he rarely disappointed, if she came down on him too hard he might lose what made him valuable to her. The news that two more of the party seemed to be incredibly competent adventurers was not good news, trying to find an angle to take the contact of this family seemed impossible. And you think theyve gone to ground for a while? Theyve been down there a few days now, got a few boots keepin an eye while I came back to tell yous what I seen. Youve done well, not necessarily how I would have played it but there are limited options. It would have needed to be a much more competent group to pull off a kidnapping on a member of this family and trying to get that sort of job together in short notice is bound to get back to us. Thats the only way I could think sending a gang against them would pull them off the job, if they had to chase down their captured family members therefore pulling them away from the contract. We could either step in and claim negligence or absence. Woe betide the gang when they catch them though. Sorry maam, you aint got the quality round ere for that right now anyhows, wrong season for most of the gangs you see. I thought it had been quiet recently. Good work, get back out to it, I can trust you, take opportunities if they are worth it but do not risk too much. Yea maam. Sebastian left the richly appointed drawing room, exiting the grand house by the double doors and walked through the small front lawn and flower gardens to the gate, as he got there there was a stark change as the expensive magic that sustained the biome of the ground ended and he was back in the dusty little township. He saw his saddlebags were full on his lizard with a large tin of the chewing leaf he preferred sticking out. Miss Beatrix really could be a good boss sometime. Back in the house the silver rank leader of their remote house Miss Beatrix was contemplating. She had to entertain the wishes of her big town cousins as they had influence over her even out here but the situation seemed untenable, she wasnt above disreputable practices but this wasnt her fight and she saw no way to win it for someone else. Chapter 73 ‘Gatling laser’ The adventurers took the better part of a week off. They rested, ate, meditated individually and went through group sessions. It was during one of these that Auster found them all sitting in a circle on pillars of earth and juggling smooth orbs of dirt to each other across the circle. Seemingly at random but it looked choreographed with no one dropping a single ball. They transitioned from sitting to standing, then to one leg, then to tiptoes. Eventually Ragnar dropped a ball and it burst into powdered dust as soon as it hit the floor and he had to return to the sitting position but carried on. After a while it seemed that they hadnt noticed her and she cleared her throat. Err excuse me. There was a flurry of dropped balls as they all reacted. Well what does this mean? Who wins? James asked as they all looked round in confusion. Win? Auster asked in confusion. A weeks worth of cooking when we get back on the road. Kyra replied as she moved her hands in a circle at waist height and the earth dust from the balls collected up and sank into the floor. What can we do for you Auster? I have been sent to invite you to a festival in two days hence. A feast held annually for our people to celebrate our culture. It is customary to present a gift of what our culture means to you as an individual but as outsiders you will not be expected to contribute in this way. Thats very kind of you! We will accept, thank you for thinking of us. Auster still looked uncomfortable around the outsiders and made her farewells and left. They started setting up for dinner, their game of skill has gone on far longer than they thought it would, everyone being too stubborn to give in. Just as they were about to sit down and eat there was another knock on the door to their accommodation. Kyra recognised the Stonewallers strange aura signature on the other side of the door and used her terraform power to open the door to admit their next visitor. Before he had time to speak she enquired with concern. Orcnig, whats wrong? Why are you here? Is Teddy ok? Master Theodore is still below, his stamina and focus remain. The older Stonewaller looked uncomfortable, their accommodation was on the boundary of the comfort for Ragnar being outside the effect of the array and the Stonewallers being able to visit and Orcnig spent most of his time down in the deepest parts in the forges where the effect was strongest. He is at a critical stage of his development and cannot be interrupted. He is working on what will be his last piece while you remain here. The delivery of your weapon will soon be at hand to continue your journey. He looked around with his too-large eyes and found Lucy, wearing the vambraces Teddy had made. Mrs Mitchell, wear those with pride, they were an achievement from your kin, they would not have left the workshop otherwise. He has surpassed all expectations and created an equal to accompany them. He pulled from his pack a thin package. Wrapped in what they now recognised as a fabric made from the tightly grown together roots of mushrooms and washed and dried to form a fabric. He placed it on the table they had used to unwrap the Vambrace of Menagerie and the Armour of the Combat Witch. For me again? Surely it should be someone elses turn? He has made this bespoke for you to compliment what he has already made. He said he has held the design for many cycles in his mind and now it may be made reality in our forge. You must know, we only allow our best students to forge weapons, after proving themselves on armour and then after many cycles of hard work only the best works may be permitted to leave our deeps into the world. Lucy moved to the table top and almost reverently started to unwrap the parcel. She looked at the item in her hand. It was obvious to see it was a item of two halves, a sword hilt sheathed into a plain wooden peg, the same size as the hilt and rounded at the bottom. Lucy worked out that the peg half was some sort of dimensional storage. Paying attention to the hilt they recognised the dark, tight-grain wood looking material as the Bahumut scale, it has been carved with a grip and she felt it almost stick to her hand as she grasped it. The sword handle was curved and James mind immediately went to Count Dookus lightsaber, especially with the sword in the dimensional scabbard. The hilt was a simple guard, a thin crosspiece that had a narrow strip that protected the fingers in a gentle curve but didnt connect at the bottom. She grasped the peg in one hand and the sword hilt in the other. When she slowly pulled it out it was not a normal sword. It had a narrow single edged blade, with patterns engraved on it in blackened swirls. There was a pair of hooks spaced out a hands width apart on the spine of the blade, just above the hilt that lead into a barrel that; as she pulled it out finished with the muzzle around halfway. The sword gently curved away at this point and slightly thickened, it swept back into a double edged point with a shark fin looking spike on the rear that didnt impede the barrel. It wasnt a very long sword and quite slender, giving it a robust rapier-like look. It played to her strengths at not being an unwieldy size or weight, a very utilitarian blade but also looked a little sinister. The dimensional scabbard would fit perfectly into her wand holster taking up two or three wand spaces but she was ok with the trade. Item: [Athame of the Combat Witch] (bronze rank, legendary) Stolen novel; please report. *Part of: Arsenal of the Combat Witch* A bespoke weapon, crafted with care and thought from exotic materials. The creators deep bond to the recipient has shaped the design on an intrinsic level. The nature of the weapon calls out to its familial creations, strengthening each in turn. Effect: The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to enhance the blade with a special attack, when activated the blade will conjure dimensional rift energy along the edge of the blade causing catastrophic damage to the target. Effect: The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to Power the wand rather than the users inherent mana supply, allowing for multiple castings at the same time. Stored wand may be instinctively selected and fired. Effect: When the Athame penetrates an enemy it will drain targets mana to refill its reservoir. That is a bad ass sword. James said in awe. Makes me wish I could use swords. So that you can fight your wife? Kyra asked with a raised eyebrow. No! So Teddy can make me one with a Gatling laser or something. The dude is cracking out some awesome kit. If you are commenting on the quality of the items he has so far produced I agree. We understand that there may only be one or two per generation that may be truly gifted and it is strange to see an outsider produce such items. He is a natural. Orcnig said. What was that comment about being part of an arsenal? Kyra asked. Lucy had to concentrate on the part of the description which forced open another descriptor box on the interface. Arsenal of the Combat Witch Items in arsenal: Armour of the Combat Witch Athame of the Combat witch Effect: When multiple items from the arsenal are equipped they bolster each other, effect is multiplicative for the amount of items added. Magical reservoir can be shared between the items to power attached magical weapons. Well thats a nice bonus. Lucy said, still marvelling over the blade. She swung it in a few circles and held it up to check the engraving on the blade. The dark steel marked by darker lines of engraving in the same style as the box Hero had presented her essences in. Either side of the blade above the hilt were two sigils. On one side was the crossed sword and staff that had been on her essence box, on the other side was a swirling constellation like what was on Teddys essence box. I think Teddy has decided on his brand! Pointing it out to the others. Kyra bent over to look and was offered the sword. She took it and spun it through a complicated sword form. As she had a conjured sword she was an extremely proficient swordswoman and would probably take the bulk of training Lucy. Teddy was extremely gifted at sword fighting but his style was impossible to replicate. A combination of his speed from the swift essence, burst speed powers, his unsettling Dimensional Instability which was off-putting to even the most experienced swordsman and that his Dimensional Blade cut through most enemies and weapons in front of him meant that he was not best suited to teach. Kyra summoned her diamond blade in her other hand and put them together for comparison. The flawless diamond was slightly longer than Lucys new blade and straight where hers was slightly curved. The diamond blade was double edged with a small hilt, a traditional ancient Chinese-style design. There would be a host of differences in how they fought but they had both been trained in multiple weapon types at a base level in the academy annex and Lucy could find skill books to augment her training. She handed back the sword. Seems like Teddy isnt done yet. That description says items in arsenal as if you can keep adding. Do you reckon he has more in the works? Creating sets of armour that work in harmony is a special category of the work of an armourer. It is possible with magical items, weapons and armour so long as the originators design, intent and nature is followed. Orcnig stated matter of fact, as if he was teaching. So youre saying that if I work with Teddy I can keep adding to the set? Adding items after a period of time can become difficult. Sets are, as far as we are aware down here, commissioned in one order so that they are guaranteed to compliment each other. Such orders may take years to fulfil such is the nature of balancing the items. What youre saying is adding items is difficult because it affects the nature of the balance already in existence between the items? Orcnigs head rotated left then right, a bizarre gesture that had him stare intently at Lucy with one over-large eye then the other. She felt like he was judging her, weighing her with his eyes. You would have made a fine student in the finer points of magical artisan. He looked around the others. I must go. Then unnervingly he turned and left them in their accommodation. Sebastian felt his way forward over the loose rock. His stealth powers made it easy going as he crept into the gangs camp. They sat about restlessly, all eyes flickering to the middle where their leader sat brooding staring into the fire. The failed antagonism of the two adventures and subsequent cowardly retreat from the silver rank monster had left a bad taste on the mouth of every one in the gang. The leader had resorted to a few beatings to get the crew in line but he knew that wasnt a long term solution. Most gangs had a higher rank leader, silver rank normally leading a pack of bronze and iron. This gang had formed from a shared sense of dissatisfaction with the constant tyranny of rank. They thought having their own rank in charge would create a more level structure. The current leader was the toughest of the bronze rankers but he wasnt stronger than all of them. He eventually noticed Sebastian sat next to him when the man leant forward to grab a spit of meat off the fire. He controlled himself and kept a poker face, showing none of the distress he felt. Sebastian was a scary man. He had been fooled into taking cores early in his career and unlike most core users he was a dedicated combat user. This meant that whoever had the cores had control of him and his particularly nasty set of powers. He had been bronze rank for a long time and had a meticulous grasp of his powers and had developed quite the reputation. He didnt want to show how much he was bothered by the man who had crept up on him with no warning and could have done anything to him. It also wouldnt do for his gang to see even more weakness from him by wetting himself and falling off his log. I take it you aint here from Miss B. I wouldnta seen yous ifn you were. I think as she hasnt been mentioned we can leave her name outta it yeh? The gang leader swallowed on a dry throat, that was another mistake. So what can I do for you Seb? Or you just here for company? An opportunity for you, to do a bit of a regain after those big bastards got away. You still got that smash, snatch and grab guy? Chapter 74 ‘An ass out of this world’ Two days after Auster and Orcnig visited them the three Mitchells said farewell to Ragnar for a short while, he wouldnt be able to enjoy the festival while under the effect of the array while the Mitchells had all been able to shrug off the deleterious effects now. They promised to bring him back some tasty treats and trinkets if they found some. They made their way down through the tunnels and joined a building stream of Stonewallers all heading in the same direction. On the middle layer, at the natural depth of the canyon without going below was the centre of the civilisation. Here were the most of the shops and amenities for the population, the council offices where Lucy had been charged and the grand indoor market that Kyra had spent a lot of time in. The indoor market was where everyone was headed now. It was a giant catacombs with what looked like giant bubbles carved out of the rock with pillars left between, the size of a half dozen football stadiums. They stopped with the huge crowd before the large doors to the catacombs. The doors were barred by Stonewallers wearing multi-hued chain mail. The street was packed as far as the eye could see with a friendly, playful atmosphere as everyone was excited to go in. An ancient looking Stonewaller came out of the massive doors. Supported by Orcnig. The older Stonewaller was walking laboured, the physicality of the Stonewallers had been affected over the years by the array. All stonewallers had almost perfectly spherical heads and a pill shaped body. Their arms and legs were incredibly long and thin, belying the strength they had. The ageing process on the unique people seemed to make walking difficult. The old Stonewaller had his legs bent so far that his knees were almost level with his shoulders. Orcnig was having to hold him under both arms to help him shuffle walk forward. It might have been easier for him to walk if he was not wearing a ceremonial stone mail robe. Around his neck and shoulders the teardrops of stone began in the light colour of the surface stone on top of the canyon, down his body it changed through the spectrum of hues of rock round down into the depths of Stonewall, at the bottom was the dark almost black rock where they met the constant tide of elemental monsters. People of Stonewall! He began in a loud but shaky voice. Another mark in our calendar and another note in our history. We join together to celebrate each others successes and company. We are fortunate to have built a society that comes together rather than fracture in our isolation. Tonight is a chance to see the best of what we do here, eat, dance and see wonders. This is an opportunity to deepen our community. Enter and be joyful. Everyone was silent listening in respect to the old Stonewaller. James leant in to Kyra who has spent more time amongst the population than the rest of them had. Any idea who that was? He whispered quietly to her while politely clapping as the doors opened, trying to hide the question under the noise. He is the elder. A small Stonewaller child said excitedly. He has been paying close attention to the outsiders, finding them fascinating. He is the oldest of us, outliving everyones grandparents! My grandnan said he outlived her grandnan! James smiled down at the excited child and pulled a sweet out of his waist pouch. Getting the nod from the boys parents he handed it over and waved as they moved off on the crowd inside the catacomb. There you go. Kyra replied. The elder, couple hundred years old by the sound of it. Doesnt look a day over two hundred. Lucy joked. They let themselves be swept forward with the crowd inside. The halls inside had been specially decorated. Normally lit up with the ever present glow lamps tonight they had been lit with tiny glowing stars on the ceiling, twinkling after one another with shifting patterns like starlings flying in formation blocking the hundreds of tiny lights. They stopped to admire the lights having not seen them in all their time in the city and a stonewaller stepped over a rope that kept the crowd from the very edge and approached them. Well met outsiders. Welcome. This is mine and my families contribution tonight, we have been growing light worms for many cycles and have successfully bred them with the rock fungus to make the ceiling you see before you. Its beautiful. Kyra said to him and the poor stonewallers perfectly round, bald head turned red. James looked around then seeing no one was too close whispered to Lucy. How do you breed a worm with a fungus?! Are you new here? Magic! She replied wiggling her fingers at him in a very witchy way. They made their way out of the first hall sphere in the catacombs. Their construction made it an organised space with dozens of spheres, most of the spheres seemed to be hosting another presentation of artistry or effort from the stonewallers. Each presentation proudly has the creator standing with it. Kyra had to be dragged away from a series of crystals that had been grown to change shape and colour to form the different naturally occurring gems such as sapphire, emerald, Ruby and diamond all from one crystal. James was especially taken with the food, they hadnt seen how or where it was grown down here in the caves but they knew that it was a special trade for the stonewallers and they had a wide selection of treats on display, all free to come and try. Lucy was fascinated by the control of elemental magic in some of the displays. A master earth mover had formed a liquid earth that did a few things, there was a floating column of it in the air both boiling on the outside but in its rolling she saw the rime on the core as its was exposed here and there. It dripped from the tip at the bottom onto the floor and shoot out to form a ring which then jumped like fire, the tips of the flickering flame jumping up to rejoin the sculpture. As they did the rounds Lucy pulled a recording Crystal from a pocket, it had engravings on it where she had altered it to work in the material array with her enhanced understanding. There was music in a collection of five or six exhibits then a smooth changeover to music coming from a different direction from another source with no confliction. They eventually came across the core of the room, working their way inwards from the edges, they had been there hours already enjoying what was around. The centre was reserved for what Stonewall did best, weapons and armour. The first pieces they came across were the most recent trainees, still amazing works, with function and style they had seen worse works in the master armourers in Vitesse. There was a spiral pattern to the exhibits now, so every piece could be seen and judged by the masses, as they went forward the crowd got thicker and thicker. There were thousands of people here but the grand space let them naturally ebb and flew, this congregation was new. They finally made their way forward, in no hurry, to see why there was such a crowd. The penultimate exhibit was by the Master Orcnig, it proudly showed the finished weapon they had traveled here to have made for the contract. It was a huge machine, two four-barrelled anti-aircraft looking guns were mounted on a rotating platform. Each had their own rotating platform for independent movement and the left gun had a mounted seat on the left side, the right gun on the right. It was massive like it belonged on the deck of an American World War Two battleship and it filled the space in the sphere blocking the view to the one behind. The flow of foot traffic has slowed to a crawl, they werent so much moving forward but bunching up with the crowd. When they could see around the gun their curious mood changed. James was the first to see as the Stonewallers were much taller than the girls in the crowd. He slapped his hands together loudly, sending out a wedge of directed aura at the same time startling the Stonewallers who had never felt anything like it. He pushed into the gap pulling the girls with him. As they got to the front Kyra could see why he had been so rude. Teddy was at the centre on this sphere, draped across a table with a covered mannequin on it. He looked half dead, sunken eyes and cheeks, he looked like he was trying to maintain some dignity by propping himself up on one elbow but didnt have the strength. His eyes were distant until he saw Kyra then they saw the blaze behind them. She rushed to him pulling him into an embrace. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. She had been keeping an eye on him on the interface and saw that he still had full health, now that she grabbed him a new info box popped up. Theodore Mitchell is suffering from [Dimensional Discorporation] The ongoing effect of subjecting the user to intense Dimension effects has caused damage to the body. [Dimensional Discorporation] resists healing and will heal in time. How did you do this to yourself?! She whispered as she held him. His powers. Lucy said. Theyre not dangerous in short bursts, we spoke about this before when we were working together. I warned him about going too far down here on his own. We all felt the effects of the array. But to him, while weve been down here for weeks thats more like months for him how he sees the passage of time when actively using his powers. He has been committed to the craft since he arrived. Orcnig rumbled, the others hadnt seen him in their haste to get to Teddy. We thought to stop him from his work when we saw how he was weakening, he became insistent. He showed the welt of a healing wound, the width of Teddys dimension blade. But he was right to persevere, his last work, for we will certainly not allow him to start anew, is his greatest yet. Teddy was slumped between Orcnig and the mannequin with the cover on. The master armourer leant over Teddy to pull the sheet but Teddys arm blurred and got there first. He paused for a moment as if pulling the sheet was more effort than he had and then he looked Kyra in the eye while he pulled it down. The crowd ood at the reveal and Kyra broke his gaze to look up. The mannequin was wearing a set of armour, it was clearly female, figure hugging in the way that Marvell portrayed female comic book superheroes with the slim waist that hour-glass figure. The base colour was the dark steel he had used in his armour so far. But there was so much detail it didnt look plain. The now familiar Bahumut scale was evident in patches of black on the inside of its arms and thighs. White enamel highlighted curves of the thighs and waist, the armoured boots and gloves were the same glacial white with the upper section of the torso in a line above the breast. The most striking feature on the armour however was the abundance of diamond. Two straps of diamond covered the top of the boots, six V shapes of diamonds tracked up the outside of each of the calves and thighs with equal spacing between them. The kneecaps had a large rounded diamond on each with a V either side. The abs of the armour were covered in interlocking plates of diamond sheets with tactical plates of diamond on the sternum and upper chest. Shoulder caps of diamond lead down to two Vs of diamond on each upper arm and the forearms were white enamel but had been mostly covered by two diamond plates from either side. The overall look was a cross between a marvel hero and a sexy space marine that had spared no expense on materials. Teddy was still looking at Kyra when she met his eyes again. He made a sound like he was trying to clear his voice and managed to croak out. To keep you safe. Then he fell asleep in her arms. Kyra stroked his head. She looked back at the armour, curious to see what made it so special that it has cost Teddy so much, other than the fact it looked incredible. She reached out with a finger and touched it. Item: [The Diamond Maiden] (bronze rank [growth], legendary) A bespoke set of armour, crafted with care and thought from exotic materials. The creators deep bond to the recipient has shaped the design on an intrinsic level. The need of the creator to protect the recipient cost him deeply in the making. The end result is armour that will actively protect the wearer to the best of the makers current ability. Effect: Heavy armour that can deflect the strongest blows of its rank. The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to negate magic based attacks. Effect: Diamond of the Void. Diamond panels integrated into the armour are subject to a mild gravitational effect, incoming attacks both physical and magical are either mildly repelled or attracted to the Mystic Diamond. The Mystic Diamond being a magical variant of natural occurring diamond absorbs far more damage negating the force of the blow. When enough damage has been received the ruined Mystic Diamond can be rejected from the armour and a new panel will form from dimensional storage built into the armour specifically for this purpose. Mystic Diamond reservoir will periodically need to be replaced in the built in storage. (Alternate panel rejection is to forcefully explode, the damage caused is reflective of the damage sustained by the panel). Effect: The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to provide a burst of speed. The mana cost of this speed burst is high. Orcnig looked concerned as she touched the armour. Mrs Mitchell, while this armour is undoubtedly yours, we would be grateful if the exhibit could stand until the end of the festival. It stands as a potential marking point, a change in our culture. We have shunned the outside world for too long but this may be a sign to welcome others back in. Sure, if it means theres a chance to help your people to expand their culture again then I cant say no, well wait nearby. James? James summoned his Staff of the Everglades. He had used it already down below and was confident it would work here. He got a lot of attention, this centre section was crammed full of those whos life was about weapons and armour. He planted it in the smooth rock floor and to all outsiders the Mitchells simply disappeared. Inside the glade Kyra laid Teddy down in a mossy bed. He looked more restful just from being in the glade. She looked around, normally the glade had tall trees and sunshine. In here however it was luminescence covered rock with giant mushrooms and moss everywhere. There were the roots of the trees winding around the rocks on the outside of the glade. Kyra wanted to stay with Teddy but said to the others they could leave, she gave Lucy a list of what exhibits she found interesting incase there were any of the items or art for sale. When James and Lucy emerged they found themselves surrounded by goggling onlookers. James ignored them and looked at Orcnig. Well be back for the armour at the end of the festival. They then made their way out of the crowd that was still inspecting the armour. The headline exhibit of the entire festival that their master armourer deemed good enough and it was forged by an outsider. They wandered around for a few hours, stocking up on food that went into storage and items and art from the talent on display. They made their way back to the armour in the centre and the glade just next to it. There was still a healthy crowd and Orcnig stood like he was guarding the armour. On their arrival he took down the mannequin of the display and passed it to James. If Mrs Mitchell would do us the honour of wearing the armour? He asked. James nodded and took the mannequin and he and Lucy headed into the glade. Teddy was sat up, looking better already for having a few hours sleep. Kyra has made him a cup of tea from the supplies scattered about in the glade. Orcnig has asked you to model this on your way out. James said to Kyra as her eyes went to the armour. You feeling better bro? Getting there, pretty beat up to be honest. Gonna take me a few days, some sunshine would help. He smiled weakly. Sure thing, well get you out of here and up top. James pointed to a curtain of Ivy that conveniently blocked off a small cave to the side that no one has noticed yet and Kyra went over to get changed. Teddy youve made some incredible things down here! Lucy said. Showing that she was wearing the bracers and the sword hilt tucked into its dimensional scabbard placed in the wand holster. Teddy again smiled weakly. Thankyou, Im spent for now but theres a few more surprises coming from the other students. Ive had to lend the Serenity to them for the time being. Itll be ready in a day or so. Kyra came out of the curtain and took away Teddys breath. She looked like a comic book hero. The armour fit her perfectly, sculpted to her lean athletic body. She turned around showing off the glinting diamond, her long golden blond hair was in a thick plait which curved and reached her waist, the divine beads given by hero hadnt been affected by the array and stayed in her hair and also glinted in the light reflecting it from somewhere and adding the faint haze of divinity. James frowned. Its impressive, but not exactly subtle. James. You just described my wife even without the armour. Oh, in that case good job! Its form fitting enough she can just put travellers robes over the top if she needs to blend in. Fat chance. Kyra interjected. This armour is glorious. It even makes my ass look good, what armour does that?! Its to protect you, not make you more of a target K. Orcnig wasnt sure of the design layout, he said they dont really make armour like that on this world. All I just heard after my comment is out of this world so Im going to assume youre talking about my ass. Teddy sighed. Yes K thats about what I said. Shall we? He held a hand up to be helped up by James and he leant on Jamess elbow as they exited the glade. Immediately outside they saw they were met by a row of council members. Mitchells, the time has come for you to follow us. Chapter 75 ‘Are we winning?’ For the second time in recent memory Sebastian wasnt happy with the gang. He had spoken with the gang leader about the idea of a snatch and run when one of the team was vulnerable and then explicitly said why it was a bad idea and they had decided not to do it. He had regretted voicing the idea at all, wishing he could just take it back. He even considered killing the gang leader at the fireside but he figured he could get some more use out of the semi competent gang of idiots. He was currently making his way back to the small town that Miss Beatrix ruled. The gang had come to him like a puppy with a chewed up toy to show proudly. They had lost four members of the gang just grabbing the big acolyte of Hero, and he wasnt even one of the four family members! He resisted the urge to smack them on the nose and put as much distance as he could between himself and them. Rushing to report what had happened. Magnus was the leader of the gang. For now. He was clinging on by his fingertips. Every decision he made around these outworlders seemed to bring him more bad luck. One of his most useful members, known for his talents by the name Breaker was dead. Magnus had figured that Sebastian hadnt taken his gangs skills into account when he said it was a bad idea. For a smash and grab Breaker was ideal. He had a power that allowed him to move so fast, building so much power it was like he sucked a part of the world and hit another part of the world with it. His Juggernaut powers had never failed them before. He had launched from the far side of the canyon, sprinting at the edge forming a blistering shockwave in front of him. The other six members of the gang were waiting at the edge and he drove through the middle of them. He burst into a human comet, the edge of the canyons rocks and the other gang members were picked up and were his tail. He smashed into the wall of the Mitchell team accommodation obliterating it and planning to smash the lone adventurer they had been spying on against the wall. When they all got to their feet they saw the giant bearded man standing on his feet behind a huge kite shield with its tip jammed in the floor, as he came around the shield his double headed axe smashed into Breaker in his moment of weakness after using the power and he decidedly went from breaker to broken. It had taken the rest of them to subdue the big man losing two more in the process. The fourth gang member had been lost trying to transport the big man. They had tied him up then got out of the canyon back to the far side by magical rope powers another gang member had. As soon as they stood him up on the far side he demonstrated he wasnt done resisting even after being soundly beaten. With wrists tied behind his back and knees and ankles bound he had surprised them with a jumping two footed kick to one of the members chest, sending her off the edge of the cliff to plummet to her death with no essence ability or item to prevent it. Magnus had demonstrated a lack of patience with one of the surviving snatch team when he joked she shouldnt have kicked him in the balls so much when they were beating him by smacking the joker, further alienating himself as the leader. The gang member with the rope powers had an ability that could suppress powers of another person. He had to know what the powers were and use it each time to suppress an individual power. It lasted a few hours and had around a twenty minute cool-down which meant he could use it in rotation locking down the most important powers. Magnus was surprised and disappointed at Sebastians reaction when he showed him the trussed up adventurer and had been shouted at and told to run. He had tried to convince the rest the he had a plan and they were currently racing across the rocky ground at a breakneck pace, heading to somewhere. Magnus had no idea what he was going to do when the gang realised he had no idea where he was taking them. He knew he couldnt just dump the adventurer alive or dead he needed to salvage something from this or he would lose the gang, what remained and they would not be kind to him when they did. Ragnar has been deep in prayer just before being attacked. He kept no idol or shrine to Hero when he prayed but he was becoming fast attached to the shield Theodore Mitchell had made for him. The fact that it reverberated with him personally with a tenuous link to his god meant Ragnar was kneeling behind it praying to his god at the moment of the attack. The impressive shield had attenuated most of the force, still ringing his bell but Ragnar lived for battle. He never enjoyed killing people but didnt shy away from it, he had traveled extensively doing his gods work and people were often evil against other people and needed to be stopped. He felt the casual cruelty in these people, the evil lying in their hearts and it strengthened his resolve and his swing. Even if they took him he would be doing his gods work by taking as many of them as he could with him. The Mitchells stood around the body amongst the rubble in the street. With them was Orcnig, the council and Stonewaller guards. They looked up seeing where she had come from and all thought that must be a horrible way to go, a few weeks earlier they had all felt some of the panic when they jumped off and their powers had stalled. Do you outsiders recognise this deceased woman? One of the council members asked solemnly. They all shook their heads. It is rare for us to get outsiders in Stonewall. We did not want to disturb the festival and so left it until now. We believe that as you are present in our town this will be your responsibility. We will leave this mystery to you to uncover. Then the council member stepped back to talk in hushed tones to his fellows. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Aww jeez, thanks. Kyra said. Teddy any chance this new armour came with a smoking pipe and magnifying glass if we need to play detective? Its a near unbreakable set of diamond armour that fixes itself, it self regulates temperature and is even self cleaning. All that and youre complaining its no gogo gadget?! James get in there. James was their obvious choice for looking for clues, his animalistic tendencies could spot things none of the rest of them would. He looked for clues, Kyra looked at her condition and Lucy tried to piece it all together. Other than directing the others Teddy was just trying not to fall asleep on his feet. When they had gotten all they could they all decided they needed to loot the body to get the most amount of clues. They werent cavalier, whether she deserved it or not she had once been a person. The stonewallers had supplied a sheet to cover the body from the rest of its population. They covered the body and James looted. There was a slight sink as all the equipped items disappeared into their storage. Kyra held up a hand mirror, they didnt know where from, she had a potion belt and a leather belt of small pouches around her waist but none of them were big enough for the old fashioned hand mirror. She looked at her other hand held high and the long leather riding jacket the woman had been wearing appeared. As soon as it did James sucked his teeth audibly. He was facing the back of the jacket and recognised the patch sewn there immediately that they hadnt seen as she had landed on it. Bandit gang, ran into them before the silver rank monster. Me and Ragnar had them at stalemate until they were saved by a much bigger threat. Ragnar Lucy said looking at the sheeted body then the loose rocks and boulders fallen onto the street from high above then looking up to where they must have come from. She walked over to the assembled council urgently. What else happened? Where did all this rock come from? There was an explosion high above. The upper levels have received some damage the council member trailed off as Auster ran up to them, her long stick legs covering the ground quickly. Mitchells! Your accommodation! Lucy turned back to her family with wide eyes. Ragnar! They all burst into movement, James transformed into a Thunderbird, still growing into shape as he burst upwards into the canyon. Kyra launched herself up on a pillar of stone, explosively thrusting her upwards at an angle, when she ran out of momentum an angled pillar would thrust out from the nearest wall to send her upwards again, pinballing upwards. Lucy released Lechuza who shuddered under the array but launched herself upwards following James. Teddy drew his dimension blade and Lucy drew her sword and they both blinked out of existence, Teddy teleporting them both. Kyra was the last to arrive by seconds. Teddy was standing like a vengeful shadow of death, his black cloak billowing around him as he stood in the broken remains of the wall to the canyon. FIND THEM! He shouted out to James who keened loudly, making the rubble vibrate, if they still had the biology of ears they were sure their ears would be bleeding. There was no sign of his weariness now. He looked ready to kill. Kyra pushed past him touching his arm lightly. She saw three bodies on the floor, a huge man whos head had been cloven in two from the top to the neck and two nondescript bodies also with axe wounds. Lucy was already investigating. No excessive blood. No body parts, good news our boy might be alright. Kyra nodded and looked around. There was no saving the three bodies, they had been there for most of a day now. She flipped the bodies unceremoniously, seeing the same gang patches on their clothing. Teddy walked back in. The chase is on, were behind so they have the advantage. For now. [Very light aura trace, almost completely dissipated on the far side of the canyon, get on it, its faint. Ive left Lechuza to guide you.] James put on the interface, they had full functionality now they were this high out of the array. [Do not engage, keep your distance, if they grabbed Ragnar they may have help we dont know of yet since you last saw them.] Teddy said matter of fact. Teddy launched off the edge of the room, his weight reduction and high speed meant he flew supernaturally fast across the span, most of the way across he split the air in front of him and went into his rift portal. Kyra launched the slab she and Lucy were standing on. The trajectory had them most of the way over, she grabbed her sister in law and pulled her close as she shielded her with her body, she activated her diamond armour power and exploded the rock they were soaring on, the small pieces of dust would be no danger to the inhabitants below and the force carried them up and to the far side of the canyon. They landed and immediately saw the rift portal hanging in the air. They didnt pause and pulled out one of the buggies from inventory, expanding it to its full size. Then they looked about. There was no sign of Teddy and they realised his portals closed after he used them. After a few puzzled moments he stumbled out, he frantically closed the rift behind him. His aura was in turmoil and Kyra saw his mana and health were severely depleted. Shit. Was all she managed before she grabbed him as he fell unconscious. Lucy pulled the second buggy from storage. She flattened the seats on the left hand side so they could lay Teddy down and Kyra could keep an eye on him and heal as she drove. They both drove hard, spreading out slightly to cover more ground for tracks. After a few hours Teddy came to. He looked up and saw Kyras hair on his face. He scrabbled it off and she looked down seeing him move. Are we winning? He rasped. I think so, we havent found any trails, James keeps us on track but hes had to correct us a few times and he doesnt have long left on his transformation. Hes pushed Lechuza ahead and shes searching but theyre wily. What about you? Are you winning? Yeh Im fine. Teddy said, pushing himself up with a wince. He felt like an army of tiny hand size people had beaten him up with scale sledgehammers. Sure you are. Do we need to talk to someone about this power? We talked about this, not yet, not till we have the power to tell someone no if they decide to lock me away and study me. That was before you got hurt. I was hurt going in. I made a mistake, it wont happen again. She looked at him seriously. Kyra, it wont happen again. I stumbled off the path. [Hey guys, youre way off. Come about thirty degrees to the right.] James interrupted. Gods damn it. Kyra spun the wheel to adjust. Were losing loads of ground like this. Teddy reached behind his back and pulled the crystal into a seat. Wheres Lucky? Kyra looked at him confused and whipped her hair at him. Where do you think? Weeeeell. Wouldnt he be a good tracker for this? Aww crap. Why didnt we think of that. She released Lucky. As a familiar attenuated to life force he scanned around, doing his best impression of a bloodhound. He took off, on the angle they had already adjusted to. He was slower than the full speed of the buggies but they would make time not going off track. A few hours later they caught up with James running, his transformation power had timed out. He slipped into Lucys buggy and relaxed back into the seat. Thats so annoying. I can push longer but diminishing returns you know. Get Lucky back here and crank these up. With James on board after his transformation power went on cool-down they could track close up and go faster but Lechuza was struggling to pick out anything ahead. They caught a break when Lechuza found a body. Chapter 76 ‘Pray to any god that might listen’ Magnus spat blood. He had been taken down by three of the gang and he honestly couldnt blame them. He has made his final poor reaction to the insubordination in the group and it had undone him. He had used too much power in a rock fist special attack and killed one of his own men that had insisted they stop. It had taken half a day after leaving his body in the dust for the others to effect a mutiny. They came for him softly at first, calling him out to see his reaction then telling him he was done. He hadnt wanted to give up without a fight so he made a speech about everything he has done for them, every sacrifice he has made, when they partied he planned, when they counted spoils he looked for the next job. When it was clear they werent going to listen to that he spoke more forcefully, commanding them to listen and back off and keep running. Then they had come for him. He was proud of them in a way. Their skills and coordination has come a long way since they first came together. He thought it over while he was too beaten to move, having been thrown against a large rock. The rest of the gang keeping an eye on him while they bunched up whispering conspiratorially in hushed tones he couldnt hear. He wasnt thinking his best when he saw a flickering shadow in the twilight. His head was pounding from the beating and he wasnt sure he hasnt just imagined it. Thats when the smoke started rolling out of the shadows of the group. Thick mist billowed out. The group noticed it fast and called out in alarm. They went back to back and drew weapons and readied powers looking around for the source. Magnus had been left against a pile of rocks, he could just about see the rest of the gang covering each others backs from where he lay. The thick mist permeating the air blocked any natural sound and dimmed the light, placing them into a dulled sense of isolation. Like a heavy blanket it filled their senses. It was even more eerie then to hear the wild animalistic cackling sporadically coming from around them. Low coughs, whoops and groans came from here and there. Every now and then they saw they shadow of a beast, slinking low to the ground prowling and this one was growling, never close enough to make out more than a shadow in the mist. Even more concerning than that was another shadow that was almost twice the height of a man, lumbering with a terrifying rumbling low growl. Some of the gang launched ranged attacks against them but they couldnt tell if any of them hit and no one had the courage to step into the mist. Magnus was terrified, he felt sick, really sick and discombobulated like he couldnt tell which way was really up, he could see some of the gang sway on their feet just from the effect. Members of the gang were starting to panic. Crap, whats going on? Lucille what shall we do?! I think theres dozens of them! It was a mistake to do in Magnus hed know what to do! A murder of crows softly swooped in from the gloom, the gang flinched but they did nothing more than watch as the birds flew down and perched on the shoulders of half the gang, one girl held her hand out to the bird and it weightlessly alighted on her arm. The chaos happened suddenly the moment before any of the gang made a decision about what to do about the birds, every persons throat the birds settled on erupted in a fountain of blood. Spraying all over those who hadnt. Those producing the blood panicked and grasped their necks but it did nothing to stop the flow, the blood coming straight through their hands. Those who werent bleeding were covered in blood and frantically wiping at it but they couldnt shift it. One of the quicker gang members worked it out and had stopped panicking, they barely opened their mouth to get a word out about it being an illusion before they hit the ground with their knees, a silent scream couldnt escape their open mouth as they clutched their head with both hands. [You should run!] an unwelcome voice sounded in Magnuss head and he looked around for where it came from from and saw a few others doing the same. Before they could work out that it was all an illusion a blazing sun appeared in the middle, everyone reacted by shading their eyes against it. The moment that it snapped off the blood and crow illusion stopped. From being blinded to suddenly back to the muted mist around them they were struggling to see. From one side a swirling portal of void energy appeared, a twisting winding terrifying tunnel disappearing into it. It gave off an unnatural energy that unsettled them more than the animalistic noises they had heard stalking them from the mist. A dark shrouded man appeared in front of the void as if from nowhere, it was as if their senses had missed registering someone standing there and had just caught up. He had a hood over his head and his long mottled black robe covered any combat clothing underneath. The narrow opening at the front showed a double row of belts going from one shoulder to the opposite hip with huge glinting daggers with stripes of matte black on the swirling patina steel blades. He held a literal blade of nothing, it hurt the eyes to look at it as he casually had it extend from his hand towards the ground,. As he moved he seemed to flicker as if he was under a strobe light, being hard to distinguish in the darkness. Twin black lanterns orbited around the man, flickering in and out of his shadow and doing unnatural things with the shadows. The stranger appeared to be more than a man. He was a force of darkness, an absolute force of physics that had a habit of annihilating what ever it came in contact with. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The voice that came out was chilling. A language none of the gang recognised, they had no idea what it said by the tone was mean and resolute. Then the figure took a deep breath and spoke again in their language. I have not come to take prisoners. I have come to finish you and your stain on this land. I see you are the people that cannot be redeemed, I will murder every single one of you where you stand. The figure rolled its shoulders and the portal energy behind him leaked some more evil potent. You are not worth my time. You try and take what is precious to me and you will be punished. Whilst the gang was pinned by the spectre of the grim reaper in front of them suddenly there flashed a pure gold light behind them. They turned in time to see a beautiful figure in dark steel, stunning white ceramic and blue diamond armour step on thin air on her way to the ground, as she did the ground formed up into a solid platform so her armoured boots werent sullied by the dust and dirt. Plants and flowers rapidly sprouted around her feet. She waved a hand, as she did her beautiful blonde hair stirred and they all saw the touch of divinity in it. As she motioned the sickness that gripped them disappeared and they felt more grounded. Peace. There is a way out of this without the wanton slaughter of these who stand here. Lay down your arms and surrender and you can yet walk away. Magnus wasnt sure what to think. They were both terrifying. The man looked like he was on the edge of exploding into a murderous rampage that could kill an army. The woman, beautiful even by adventurer standards, was offering mercy on the other side but looked armoured and as resolute as the man. The power radiating off both was overbearing to the cowardly gang ethos. He saw Lucille in the middle, she had taken the lead in ousting him just before this started, they hadnt listened to when he said they needed to keep running. She was nervously looking from one to the other but was still conjuring her weapon. He had seen her use it countless times, he had tactically deployed her himself on numerous occasions. The bladed whip was extremely powerful but took a long time to power, time they now had while they were contemplating the power of darkness on one side and light on the other. One of the gang bottled it. They dropped their conjured green spear and ran. Lucilles whip lashed out and opened his throat for real this time. It broke the spell of being frozen in place. Its all just been illusions! Theyre just bronze rankers! GET THEM! She screamed shrilly. The direction was all the gang needed, simple individuals that needed ordering about which for the most part was how they ended up in various gangs. Magnus heard the strange language from the dark clad man again, but this time it sounded sad. The portal behind him spewed forth unimaginable creatures, so twisted and unnatural Magnus couldnt even describe them. They flowed past the man at the gang. The woman on the other side formed a diamond sword and buckler shield that matched her armour. Both her and the man walked slowly, purposefully towards the gang. The gang werent fresh grass. Theyd had plenty of fights, normally ones they choose themselves when theres no real danger and they had overwhelming numbers. But they had a flow to fights. Magnus kept an eye on an elf on the outside of the middle between the two mystery adventurers. He was their designated spell caster and he was working on his big damage spell. He wasnt the only one watching the elf rapidly casting his long spell. A huge man the size of a big Leonid came in fast, he was grey from head to foot except for a metal arm and chest and the huge marble staff with green capped ends that smashed through the elf. It didnt cut him in half as much as blow him in half. Some high end bronze and most silver rankers could reattach limbs and heal big wounds that lower rankers couldnt. There was a rumour at high end silver you could survive decapitation. There was no healing the catastrophic damage suffered by the lightly armoured elf. The combat devolved so fast that Magnus couldnt keep his eyes on any one part. The shadowy man was a blur as he clinically dissected one gang member than another. The blonde woman took a man behind the knee then smashed his face with the edge of her shield with shocking force enough to kill. A second woman with stark black lines down her face had appeared and stabbed a woman in the chest, finding the seam of where the chest plate met the abdomen and she fired something from her sword which blew a hole out the back of the skewered gang member. A dog arrived and savaged the outliers and a huge bear joined the fray. It came down to Lucille, she had been whipping from the centre whilst all her gang around her fell. She flicked out at the big man and he caught the whip on his staff and almost casually; with his metalled hand clamping it in place and held her firm. Magnus knew she could dismiss the conjured weapon but there was a considerable charging time to summon it again. She activated a power which caused the whip to burst into flames and that kept the big man occupied and she drew a sword with her other hand, she ran sideways on the circumference of the whip length to attack the blonde. She was casually blocked by the blonde as she turned the inexpert, panicked swing with a shield and pointed the tip of her sword under Lucilles chin. She rapidly backed off, reorienting onto the brunette adventurer with what Magnus could only describe as the boom sword. There was an exchange of blows which actually resulted in Lucille getting the upper hand and the other woman backing off looking frustrated, she took her moment and looked around in a panic before looking Magnuss way. Her eyes lit up and she lunged towards him. She flew through the air in a special attack, the section of her whip that had been trapped by the big man exploded but she still had a reduced length of it in her hand, Magnus noted that she must have withheld this feature of the power from him all the time he had known her. He cowered, in his state he had no defence against what was his most competent attacker in the gang and he knew this was his end. He turned from her final lunge just as two earth spikes shot from the ground through Lucille pinning her from both sides. This may have been quickly healed if it hadnt been for the black hole hand grenade that ripped her in half from the wounds and the magic missile that landed like a mortar on her. The man stepped forward and checked that the attack had killed Lucille. He walked away and Magnus could just see the sad look of disgust on his face. The blonde woman was now walking towards Magnus, he only thought of fighting for a moment then running but realised he was in no condition for either. He couldnt take them all, maybe not even any of them even at his best. He was surprised when the blonde just stuck a boot under his ass and tipped him out the way. She went to the boulder behind him which turned out to be the adventurer they had snatched, Magnus was too dazed to realise. He was impressed that the iddy-biddy woman helped the big man to his feet and carried the beaten giant to a vehicle that the other lady had just pulled out of storage. The two men silently stood over him and he started to pray to any god he thought might listen. Chapter 77 ‘Good cop, bad cop’ The four Mitchells were saton the bonnets of the dune buggies watching the live feed from Lechuza. The gang had turned on one of their own and thrown him against the limp form of Ragnar. Potential sympathiser, could maybe be an asset, probably too far beaten to be of any real use though. James noted. Handy theyre both together though, the rest of the field is targets. Kyra said, not looking up from the feed as Teddy gave her a worried look. Looks like a leadership challenge, last few days has been all run, theyve stopped and seem to be split into little groups conspiring but no one has gone far Lucy pointed out, as ever doing the depth analysis on what she saw. Teddy frowned and crossed his arms, one hand pinching his lips in concentration. As the notional team leader it was his role to make the play. They all had a vote but when it came down to the decision of what they were doing it was his plan. He saw a few options but they were limited, they had heard about the gangs in the area and what behaviour they could expect from them. They were confident in their own abilities and could take two to one or three to one odds, especially with the element of surprise. But that meant to committing to a course of action that would leave none of the targets alive. He needed another advantage over the other team. His eyes fell on Lucy and he started to think of his horror movie magic show. The roles were fairly simple, they wanted to take prisoners if they could, none of them had spoken about the fact they might have to kill some of the gang. They were going for a good cop, bad cop routine. Teddy would show them the darkness then Kyra would show them a way out. James was to add to the theatrics while Lucy was the ringmaster, she would set up a series of illusions to make the gang more open to taking the option of not fighting. They masked themselves as best they could, all of their aura control was incredibly tight after spending so long in Stonewall and they had no problem hiding from the gang who were barely trained. Teddy was hiding in the shadows, imperceptible to the gang who hadnt even posted a lookout whilst they debated. He watched the panic start as Lucys Fog of War rolled out from the centre, to him as an ally it was permeable but he could see the edges of its effect. With her kicking it off in her ritual magic circles to boost her powers Teddy watched the interface notifications for the right time for his appearance. [Gang] has had [Fog of War] used against them by [Lucy Mitchell] He saw the markers on his mini map of Lucky and Koda prowling on the edges, James joined them in making what Teddy was pretty sure were real hyena noises. [Gang] has had [Dimensional Instability] used against them by [Theodore Mitchell] [Gang] has been influenced by aura; [Clarity] by [Lucy Mitchell], cognitive ability of members of [Gang] have been decreased. [Gang] has had [Vertigo] used against them by [Lucy Mitchell] [Gang] has had [Double Vision] used against them by [Lucy Mitchell] This last power was critical in the start of the encounter. Lucy had reabsorbed Lechuza and was using her Bush Witch form to boost her powers. She had the largest mana pool of any bronze ranker they had ever heard of and she was burning it in chunks to affect the entire gang per power, this was only going to become exponentially more draining as the effects became more complicated. The sporadic attacks against the illusionary doubles of James, Lucky and Koda caused a mana drain on the individuals making the attacks to top her up slightly. [Gang] has had [Houdini Palace] used against them by [Lucy Mitchell] She had used the bronze rank variant, the walls surrounding the gang looked identical to their real surroundings but were gradually dimming in light, almost unrecognisably. The biggest burn of mana came next. Hush little baby, dont say a word. And never mind that noise you heard. [Gang] has had [Enter Sandman] used against them by [Lucy Mitchell] The Lechuza enhanced, mana boosted spell was terrifyingly real, the Mitchells could all see it but there was a tell-tale haze around the illusion to them to show it was just an illusion. When the first gang member figured it out and was about to blurt out the truth Lucy paralysed them with a psychic scream, Teddy winced at the thought of how powerful that scream must be right now. He looked over at Lucy, who was outside the illusions that kept the gang from seeing her. The swirling effect of the ritual she stood in was eerie, her arms extended, fingers dancing. The tell-tale black streaks over her eyes, that normally fell from her forehead to her cheeks were darker and more foreboding than he had ever seen, there looked to be a mix of dust flaking and floating off and black ichor dripping from the end of the marks before disappearing. The tips of her fingers were slightly stained in the same way the witch Lechuzas were. He filed it away in the back of his mind to make sure Lucy was happy with the ways her powers were turning out, if she ever fell down a bad path she could be a terror but he was confident the family would never allow that. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He focussed an looked at the gang. Lucy hit them with the blazing sun illusion and that was his cue. Teddy released his portal that would summon the beasts from beyond reality but held them back within it. He teleported in front, using space distortion to mask the arrival slightly. He released his familiars and sharpened his aura to give as much impact as he could. He surveyed the scared group in front of him and found himself quoting in English: Is it better to have mercy and save the wicked and seek reformation or cruel to inflict their presence on the world for a moment longer than otherwise could have been? He shook his head and remembered he was the bad cop. .. Jamess job was simple, he needed to unnerve the gang to make them more susceptible to coercion to giving up. He had Koda prowl the opposite way to him and he stalked the gang from the periphery. He watched as Teddy and Kyra made their appearances and thought they put on a good show. He was very hopeful it was going to work right up until he saw the woman in the middle take charge. She had been conjuring a whip silently as soon as they had been released from the illusions. As she killed one of the gang members that tried to run and suddenly screamed orders James looked at Teddy, his eyes were sad and he heard him talk to himself in English. Oh for Fs Before unleashing the beasts within the portal. James conjured his mud rhino armour, he wanted to take prisoners by brute force not kill. He was looking over the group when he got a message from Lucy. [James, theres a confluence of magic surrounding the elf on your side, looks like a big spell and its almost complete. I have no shot on him from here. Get there now and dont hold back, that spell will kill.] Sent at the speed of thought and read not much slower he saw the elf. Teddy had marked him on the interface which caused a red glow around the individual. Teddy himself was working towards the elf but had to cut through the gang in front of him. They werent incompetent, they had enough skill that they were struggling to disable them without killing them and a few had already fallen. [Taking Wraiths Dash.] James warned Teddy and he immediately had a response in the form of the comment being ticked by Teddy. He could use the iron rank variant of the power through the interface and aimed accordingly. His own powers were strongest from a redoubt position, a standing stance he could bring his extra strength to bare. Before he used the power he summoned his staff. He landed just short of the elf inside staff range. He dug deep and swung hard, hoping to knock the elf far from the battle. He was surprised when the elf was blown into two pieces by the force of his swing. His Scurry power at the start of fights made him faster and five times stronger for a brief moment, his Standing Kodak power made two footed planted attacks twice as strong an his unarmed bonus from Bear Arms made the attacks four times stronger. Looking at the clump of once-apon-a-time elf he realised that he had no armour on, he must have sacrificed summoning or conjuring the armour to get this spell off first. Kyra was devastated, firstly that the whip woman had killed one of her own so cavalierly in front of them and then in encouraging them to fight. The first man that came at her she had caught off guard and caught him in the throat. As bronze rankers their physiology hadnt departed too far from the norm and a wound like that would be fatal. She blocked and weaved the next gang members attack, intending to fire a healing bolt at the wounded man to save his life but his partner was ferociously attacking her with what looked like a poisonous blade. She had to fight hard to fend him off and was saddened when she felt the aura of the man she wounded snuff out. Redoubling her efforts on the fight she put the man on the back foot. Moving into a sequence attack she sliced up the back of the leg and struck the man in the head, expecting him to go down with the power she was surprised when he used an accelerating power which unfortunately for him didnt work out as he moved into the path of her shield coming down into his face and killed him outright. She didnt have time to be shocked at the two deaths in quick succession and moved onto the next attacker. Lucy had a splitting headache. The amount of mana she had just used had drained her huge mana store considerably and she wasnt used to emptying it out like that. She paused for a moment gathering herself before diving in. She grasped the handle of the Athame and pulled it out in one fluid motion, the Deathstick was firmly held in the weapon rail on top and ready to go. She hoped the volatile nature of the Deathstick would still be fine attached to the weapon. She had on her vambraces, the Armour of the Combat Witch, the left of which was loaded with a further three wands. She had chosen fire, ice and a funny wand she had picked up on their travels through the jungle with Yarraballah. It was a solid green wand that extended into a long vine that could shoot out to wrap the target and then be pulled in. Armed and armoured she released Lechuza in Bush Witch form to distract and immobilise and walked into the fray. Having arrived late the maelstrom of powers and weapons was intimidating. Without the power to give ranged attacks she knew she needed to get in close. She managed to fire a gout of flame from her left vambrace using the magic stored within before she saw a woman about to hit James in the back of the head. She quick-stepped up and before the woman saw her she punched the narrow tip of the Athame into a gap in her armour. In her drive to protect James she didnt think about it as she activated the Deathstick on the spine. With all three runes uncovered the blast blew a hole straight through the woman as she had already penetrated the armour. Teddy was shocked to see they had killed every gang member so far, they had forced them into the position even offered surrender they were too scared of the whip woman in their centre. She had so far not committed to a fight but harassed from afar. [Lets see if we can at least take the last one alive.] Teddy said. [Put pressure on her but try and get her to give up rather than do something desperate. James, see if you can tie up that whip next time it comes your way.] Sure enough, the next time she tried to hit James he clamped the whip to his staff with his armoured hand. He wasnt worried when the woman drew what mustve been her backup weapon and attacked Kyra who was beginning to be an expert swordswoman. He started to get concerned when the woman was rebuffed from Kyra and onto Lucy. She knew the fundamentals of swords fighting from the academy but had not had her new sword long and had a long way to go before she could rely on it to survive. She knew enough to safely disengage though she didnt look happy about it, the woman was still mostly boxed in surrounded by the family. He noticed her glancing his way and saw no desire to approach him. He was standing casually with his dimension blade at his side and a lantern over each shoulder. He was just about to try intervene without killing her when she made her desperate move. She exploded her whip, it started from about halfway and chained towards James. He had time to complete his armour with the Mud Rhino stylised helm covering his head and face. She then used a special attack to rapidly move towards where Ragnar was lying with the beaten gang member propped up against him. Teddy didnt have time to think, he just acted. He threw a black hole hand grenade and inexpertly used an earth spike of Kyras from the interface. He had been trying to hold her back and block her rather than kill her but the result was quite gruesome. He missed with the spike at the same time Kyra launched one, they both penetrated the lunging attacker from either side. This would have taken a few moments to work her way out of but the gravity bomb behind her pulled at the wounds ripping her apart. As the wet lump of torso hit the floor a full strength magic missile that mustve been in the air the moment she lunged smashed down on her. They all stared for a moment at the remains, a little sickened at the abrupt finish to the fight. Chapter 78 ‘Burn the Witch’ They drove back in near silence. They had a direct line back as Teddy set a waypoint on his minimap and they just had to follow it. One buggy held Lucy and James with the prisoner in the back, still trussed and gagged from when they picked him off Ragnar. The second buggy had Teddy, Kyra and Ragnar. Teddy was driving and they had collapsed the right hand seats to form a stretcher for Ragnar to lay down while Kyra administrated him from the back seat behind Teddy. There was a heavy contemplative mood in the tiny convoy. It they had used the buggies before like this but there were normally multiple conversations going on, messages back and forth on the interface between the group and individuals as well as general chit chat in the buggies. All of the occupants were silent, wrapped in their own heads. The countryside rolled past as they went, large open flatland with sporadic rock formations. They saw few of the fissures that mimicked the huge canyon that Stonewall sat in, the buggies either having to make a short hop over or paralleling until there was a crossing. They saw lesser monsters scurrying out the way or small animals scuttling to burrows away from the approaching vehicles. Lechuza swooped down, dividing her time between scouting for trouble and hunting the small prey. James watched as she swooped down on a small creature that was a mix between a large rat and a vulture, a tiny brontosaurus shape but a disgusting naked neck of a vulture that Lechuza snatched in her beak and carried it off. After a few dozen miles Ragnar woke up. Part of why he had been mistaken for a boulder was he had gained multiple instances of his Titan armour encasing him and protecting him from the beatings from the gang. The gang member who specialised in rope conjurations that acted as limited suppression collars had met an unpleasant end. He had tried to tie down Koda and the bear had gone berserk, ripping the conjured pitons from the ground and throwing his head around and whipping the man with the ends. He had then jumped on the man while Lucky stood behind him, tripping him backwards. Being mauled by a magically enhanced bear you tried to trap is not a pleasant way to go. As soon as they had beaten up Magnus the man had started to becomes lazy with restraining the prisoner, choosing to beat him into submission than lock down his powers. Kyra had been steadily healing him as Teddy drove, gently guiding his recovery and watching the titan armour disappearing as he regained health out of combat. When he woke up he tried to rise, Kyra put a hand on the back of the crystal stretcher and it rose up like a lounger letting him sit reclined. Well met fair travellers. I told my god there was no need to fear and I was right. Hey Ragnar, howre you feeling? Kyra asked with a sad smile, it was all she could manage even as she was happy to see him awake. He raised a hand and held her under the chin, concern on his face plain through the mass of bruising. Shield maiden, what troubles you? That battle was met and won, the righteous were victorious and the wicked struck down. Good won here today and we move on to do more good works! Kyra gave him another sad smile. Grateful there was no keeping the big character down. I wish it was that simple Ragnar. He looked from Kyra to Teddy, then at the other buggy and read the mood. Stop. Stop the vehicles now. Whats going on? Teddy asked. Stop now! He almost shouted with force. Teddy stamped on the brakes, the wheels although magically magnetically attached digging furrows into the shallow sandy ground. [Whats going on?] James asked as he turned his buggy around to wheel in an obit around the stopped buggy incase there was trouble. Ragnar pretty much flopped out of the buggy and stumbled to his feet. Taking a few stumbling steps before looking up and standing with a straight back. He gazed around for a while to centre himself. When he was ready he turned back to the buggy and pulled his shield from the back. He strode away from Teddy and Kyra calling over his shoulder. Make camp here, we will rest tonight, I will be back momentarily. Teddy and Kyra looked at each other in confusion but he had given them no real option, he hadnt even turned around to command them before wandering off. They set up a small campsite, having to dig through their storages to find all the creature comforts they had collected to travel with before they got the Serenity and no longer had to slum it under canvas. They were sat silently around a fire just after the sun had set when Ragnar came back, all staring into the flames without speaking. Ragnar looked around them and smiled. A visitor apon this visage might think you were too late to save a friend rather than liberate him! Before they could respond he raised a hand at them. Sit be still, I have communed with my god and sought guidance for this moment, I would like to help. He took his double headed axe off his back and rested it on the ground on its head, it unnervingly stood straight upright even when he leant the big kit shield up against it and he sat on the floor with his back propped up against it. You are all showing the signs of mourning. A privilege normally reserved for friends and family that have lost someone close to them. You have been in this world for some time now but this is the first time you have had an experience like this, I have spoken to Ms Kyra about the pirate on the boat. Contrition in the face of killing is a natural reaction, a good reaction from those pure of heart. But hark! Hear me, those people, that gang, were killers. They were a blight upon the land and thrived in the misery of others. James, we saw their reaction against that silver rank monster, a dozen warriors that would not engage when two brave men would stand tall. He took from his dimensional sack a rolled up scroll, he handed it to Lucy on his right who was closest and she opened it and had a look before passing it around the fire. My village was in a part of this world where conquest through feats of bravery marked you as an adult in the eyes of your people. This meant raiding the local villages. The dichotomy of this approach is what caused me to seek out Hero as my patron. Whilst some would plan to raid to further themselves in their communities it would often be those that made sacrifices in the defence of the village that were lauded and made full members. There were those who he paused, plagued by a dark memory. Those who took it too far, there is no honour in torture of another. When I spoke to my father upon becoming a full member of mine own village on this matter he gave me sage advice. My father was a mountain in my eyes, an almighty power standing up to the skies with an unshakeable base and unfathomable power. He never raised a weapon until an enemy was at the gate. He told me something that I took to the temple of hero and added to the annuls within. Cowards are cruel, but the brave love mercy and delight to save.. Teddy frowned, sure he had heard that before. Ragnar continued. The people you went against were cowards, I was tortured and treated with cruelty. You saw my condition and still gave them the option to surrender. That was mercy. You chased for days to save me and I thank you. I have a great love for you people before this day of capture and rescue and Im sure you do for me also, but truth under my god is that you would do the same for any stranger. You are all heroes. Everyone was quiet for a while, processing what Ragnar had said. The man himself seemed content to wait for someone else to pick up the group therapy session. After a while James spoke up. I spoke to Daish a while back, when we last went back to the academy actually. He told me of a contract that he went on that was basically a mission to execute a rogue gang of iron rankers and below on his own. In his na?vet he didnt realise this and ended up with a dead gang in front of him even when offering mercy much like we have. The advice I gave him Was from Malcom Reynolds, a space pirate who was on the losing side of an intergalactic war. Teddy chipped in. Some of it was, but the piece of advice I gave from me was; Its the ones that never question that theyre on the right path you need to watch out for. I think were all trying to think of another way to do what we did, and while there might have been I dont think we can regret what we did. They went back to pensive silence, James topping up the campfire a little bit. There was a small smile on Ragnars face at the success of getting the family to start opening up. Teddy took a deep breath that he didnt need and squared his shoulders. Regrets are for people who have another choice. They knew what they were doing in taking one of ours and they knew the consequences. He looked over at Magnus still bound. At least he knew, if they had listened they might still be alive and running. Magnus had tried to panic explain himself and his actions when they took off his gag momentarily to feed him a spirit coin, they had got the gist and gagged him again. We were provoked, we went to them with a measured approach and tried. There is no risking family. He looked at Ragnar, making it clear how close they were to the big man. The bearded giant put his hand to his heart in salute. Guys this isnt going to be the first time we go through this. The killing part, the kidnapping is hopefully going to be more rare. As long as we all keep each other sane we can do this. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Lucy looked concerned as she sat still. Im going to need your help guys, James and I have spoken about it and I felt it when you realised it during the fight Teddy. I could go properly wicked witch of the west with these powers of mine, they scare even me, which is why they work so well on the bad guys I guess. Using evil looking powers doesnt make you a bad guy Lucy. Teddy said comforting her. As long as youre using them on the people that deserve it and you take no delight in it youll be fine. If you find yourself torturing people for fun then let us know and well pull you back. I have been tempted to keep giving you illusions of hair whenever I see you looking in a mirror Teddy raised his hand. All in favour of burning the witch before she ensnares us all as her minions to take over this planet? The mood lightened after that, they all needed to unburden what they had just done and Ragnar had forced the conversation. It was the kind of thing they knew would eat away at them until they worked it out but no one wanted to start it. They got back to the canyon that held Stonewall a few days later, they had pushed hard to chase the gang and although this time they were travelling in a straight line they werent straining the buggies performance. They camped each night and laughed and joked, healing from the trauma of what they had been forced to do. When they rolled up to the top of the canyon like they had done months previously they encountered a familiar sight. A small caravan of vehicles was parked at the top and a small crowd waiting for them. [You would have thought theyd bring more people this time?] Lucy said on the interface. [Mistress, there are hidden forces in the rocks to the west and a small band on the far side of the canyon.] Lechuza informed them, so high above the ground she was a mere speck in the sky. [Ok guys, No Serenity this time so we go on foot for some tactical flexibility. Lu, did you work out how to put the buggy into follow mode?] [I did, you want me to leave the prisoner in here and jump out?] [Affirm rubber ducky. Game faces on everyone, lets put on a show of strength, familiars out. Lanterns as well. Make as big a frontage as we can.] The family moved forward on foot. One of the buggies trundled behind them maybe a hundred meters behind. Kyra released Lucky who understood the assignment straight away and instead of his normal happy self he lowered his head, teeth bared as he stalked forward. His hackles were impressively large raised along his back giving no doubt he was ready to fight. Kyra then took out a mirror and looked at a nearby patch of rocky ground and a diamond dust circle appeared. She then looked at her hand with the mirror and a large spiked crystal appeared in her hand, the tips of each spike coming out from the middle were different hues blending into the crystal clear of diamond in the centre. She looked at Lucy then they both nodded and she tossed it into the centre of the circle. When she activated her summoning power her usual golem appeared but the intersecting hexagonal plates that made up the ball-like body took on the hues of the spike tips on some of them. As they walked forward the plates that were affected became darker in colour and Kyra felt a little excited to see what the new temporary modification would do. James released Koda, the bear had been getting larger as he grew stronger in bronze rank, his fur was darker and his eyes showed more intelligence. He too stalked towards the crowd with hackles raised, the teeth in his snarl were terrifying, wide as a beer can and bigger than most daggers. James himself conjured his Mud Rhino armour, leaving his head uncovered and summoned his staff. Snakes uncoiled from invisible gaps in his armour that werent really there, the magic allowing them to appear, they coiled around his arms and staff. Lucy didnt have much to show off, she drew her sword and her mana lantern familiars came out. They would be recognised as mana lanterns by anyone competent but Teddy was right in wanting a show of numbers. Her illusions and powers couldnt effect so many people in one go without a large boost and she wanted to keep Lechuza as a tactical reserve high above. What she did do was set up a dual layer combat ritual in front of her left arm, the runes streaming from her eyes and down her arm to form the first circle. She pumped her arm through it and it seemed to attach to the end, the runes continued to form the second circle which she also pumped her arm through and spread them out a metre or so apart. With her wand sword in her right hand, dual layer rituals attached in front of her left and a lantern familiar over each shoulder she did actually look quite impressive. Teddy decided to go full Sith. With his hood up on his dark robes with only his divine bracers showing he conjured his dimension blade in a flickering red double ended sword. His aura control over it made it oscillate up and down through a dark blood red to bright crimson and back. His twin shadow lanterns swirled around him like a constellation, blurring his form and making him harder to look at. He had played with his portal abilities for summoning and as he had shown when they interacted with the gang he could hold his Unleash the Void power open and empty until he needed it, he did so now and had it follow behind ominously as they slowly marched towards the group. They each released their auras, overlapping and somehow strengthening each other. Kyras aura masked and protected them from the higher ranks against them, it meant they could focus their own aura strengths without having to fend off aura suppression. James aura sharpened their vision and senses while Lucys sharpened the mind like taking four shots of espresso. Teddys aura slowed enemies under the influence, for every enemy affected there was a marginal speed increase to allies within. Between the four auras overlapping there was a considerable benefit. Ragnar was a little stunned as he strode forward with the Mitchells, he was now fully recovered after a few days on the road with Kyras administrations and was ready to fight. He had released a hand axe with a long handle that tumbled and floated along around him. He had his giant double headed axe in his right hand and his large kite shield in his left. The shock was due to the strength of the auras he felt. Individually he knew the Mitchells were competent adventurers, even highly competent. They had told him about the guild offers they had received and asked his advice. What he felt now from their auras was incongruous from what he should be feeling from bronze rankers. The effect of each aura was multiplicative and he realised it was from the bond they shared. He was still getting used to the interface as a temporary team member and investigated to see if there was an explanation. You are receiving benefits from the entire Mitchell team. Effects are enhanced by all four members being present. They still had a way to go, a tense stillness between the two groups was thick. As he marched forward Teddy was impressed at the effect on their group. He focussed on the woman they knew to be a silver ranker, her hair was tied in a braid similar to how Kyra wore hers but couldnt match the lushness that his wifes had. He could see the individual hairs that had escaped the braid wafting in the wind and they were still a couple hundred metres out. On the other side Sebastian stood nervously with Miss Beatrix, he was aware that she would sense his unease but he had always had an openness with her. This was not how he wanted this to go down. He had rushed back to the settlement to let her know what that idiot Magnus had done. Miss Beatrix had then laid out their options. She recognised that chasing her city families intent was a potentially lethal option, however, it was not one that she could ignore. The opportunities that came from having a family network were further reaching than just those in Greenstone and they could not afford to be ostracised as remote as they were. They had come in moderate force, prepared to fight incase the Mitchells decided that was the only option. Miss Beatrix had prepared a weregild, a death payment for a family member. There was no doubt seeing Magnus hogtied in the back of their vehicle that this had been a good idea now. By now he would have told of Sebastians involvement and who he worked for. They had still come for the contract. There had been a slim chance that the gang got the upper hand and taken out the family. A slightly higher chance that they may have killed the big warrior friend or one of the family members and they no longer had the desire to fulfil the contract. The reality was that that they had all survived, taken a prisoner and were unsettlingly more powerful than she had last seen them. Last time it had only been the blonde that had alighted from the large vehicle, this time they were all on foot and she saw new weapons and armour that she hadnt seen before. Knowing that they had spent all that time in Stonewall she guessed that was their origin and had no desire to test the efficacy of weapons made by the masters of weaponry. The aura hit them like a wave. Almost a physical force it was unlike anything she had felt before, she knew there were powers that could use aura physically but she could sense what these auras were doing but only just, she was shocked to feel her own silver rank aura no only couldnt penetrate theirs but she was feeling the effects from the bronze rank group. The Mitchells got within spitting distance and stopped, waiting for the stationary group to make a move. Miss Beatrix came to a decision. She saw the small force against her and recognised the difference between an elite unit with exotic powers that she didnt recognise and her own forces which were opportune and rag-tag. They had reached the point of concession, her careful balancing act had come to the point that she needed to save face and salvage what was left of the situation she had been forced into to keep the most amount of power. She turned to Sebastian and drew a long dagger from his belt, having no weapons carried herself. She took two careful steps forward and threw the dagger point down into the ground. Teddy pondered for a moment then dismissed his sword, portal and lanterns, stepping forward and dropping his hood back of his bald head. [Arr a parlay they say? Aye, remember boy, the code is more like guidelines than an actual set of rules.] Even though it was typed on the interface by James everyone, except Ragnar who had no context, obviously read it in their own heads in a pirate accent. [Not helpful James, I think we can get away without fighting here.] Teddy scolded. Hello, would you care to explain what is happening here? Teddy asked in a neutral tone. Just before Miss Beatrix could answer the ground next to the canyon exploded and a small tunnel appeared with a shallow slope. The prow of the Serenity emerged. There was a new addition which made a striking appearance on the already surprise entrance, the gold rank cannon that had been built for Honshuraskil was mounted to the front deck. The huge double quad barrelled gun was being run by a peaky-looking young Stonewaller, a further two Stonewallers were at the rails holding what looked like a magicked-up M40 machine gun in either hand that were mounted to the rails. On the prow was another young Stonewaller who was pointing the huge speargun that Lucy had purloined from the pirate ships attacking the cargo ship what seemed a very long time ago, as the Serenity drove out they could see the other spear gun attached to the rear but unmanned. The serenity stopped in a cloud of dust, broadside to the two groups in the middle with the prow facing between Teddy and Miss Beatrix. There was a silent beat before the Mitchell team moved, they could see the Stonewallers werent doing so well being out of the array so they took a gamble that they wouldnt set off the opposing force they ran and jumped onto the deck. They relieved the Stonewallers who gave mumbled thanks and took long legged strides and loped off the back deck into the tunnel and out of sight. Teddy had remained out front, not looking away from Miss Beatrix as he ran through the conversation on the interface with the others what they were doing and watching the feed from Lechuza to make sure no one else was moving. Miss Beatrix couldnt help but look surprised and concerned, suddenly very grateful she hadnt hesitated to begin negotiations before the warship turned up. Sorry for the interruption, you were about to explain what was going on here? Teddy asked again. Chapter 79 ‘To many more adventures’ Miss Beatrix fought the urge to run away. She had made the decision that they needed to save face against a team she did not want to fight on the terms that were in front of her. She had recognised that although she had the numbers that they were a superior force even with no silver rankers she did not trust her own limited combat experience against them, she had ever been a political tool rather than an adventurer. Now that the Mitchells already impressive vehicle had turned up and it had been armed by the famously skilled Stonewallers she was actually afraid. Swallowing her fear and putting on a brave face and toning down her natural arrogance she engaged with the intimidating and man in front of her. Mr Mitchell, I am glad to see you all are here and unharmed. Unharmed is an interesting observation. Yes well, my subordinate has informed me of a sequence of events which led to the incorrect assumption by the man you now have in custody. The buggy had been left on the open ground with Magnus inside. As the team had jumped onto the Serenity they had left Koda, Lucky and the lanterns surrounding it to show it had not been abandoned. We have come here today to ensure the health of Mr His name is Acolyte Ragnar Acolyte Ragnar. She made a split second decision and beckoned one of her servants forward with a chest. We were prepared to pay a weregild if he had not made it through the experience and we now offer it as compensation for our part in these circumstances coming about. She unlatched the large chest and opened the top, they saw stacks of spirit coins, quintessence and rare materials from the local area. Teddy nodded at her and she closed the lid again. [James? Your storage please.] [Sure thing.] They waited for a moment and there was a squeak of fear from the young female member of the household staff who was nearest the canyon, trying to peer over the edge. A large taloned claw had crested the edge, the paw looked like a sloths claws but on the scale of a tiger paw. The head that followed was a lean tiger shape with huge fangs that couldnt fit in its mouth and extended either side of its mouth. A long black and orange striped body followed over the edge with two tails flicking. It ignored the crowds and locked onto the servant holding the chest, they dropped it in panic and backpedaled into the crowd. Teddy held up a hand to forestall any attacks on the creature and it came forward to pick up the chest through one of the handles with its long fangs and turned around and slunk off the edge of the cliff where it had came from head first. [Damn James, thats a real animal not a monster?] Kyra asked on the interface. [Apparently so, no idea what its doing in this climate though, its basically a mix of a sloth, panther and tiger. Lives in the jungle.] We appreciate your humility and accept your apology. In our culture this implies you are done with interfering in our business. Teddy said in a stern voice to Miss Beatrix. She inwardly fumed at being manipulated like this, an upstart bronze ranker telling her to back off. She pushed the feeling down having committed to this course of action now. Of course, we regret the actions taken by the gang in question mistaking our intentions. If you hand over the prisoner now we will meet justice on him. [Who are they to give out justice? Im not comfortable with this.] Kyra said. [Agreed, we should take him to the nearest adventure society branch to see if there are any outstanding contracts involving him and then decide what to do.] Lucy replied. [Is it a point worth coming to blows over though? Ive already pushed her pretty far.] Teddy said. [Then give them fire and brimstone!! Axe and claw will teach them they cannot deliver their own brand of justice. These type of people always think they are above the rest. We are all adventurers and should hold a higher standard. Forsake this woman and her demands, we will show her!] Ragnar posted. Sensitive to the fact that Ragnar was the one who was kidnapped beaten and mildly tortured Teddy was inclined to follow his advice. With the Serenity back in play they had a much stronger position than when they walked in. No. We will take him with us. Teddy said. I must insist Mr Mitchell, he has done wrong in our name. Teddy subtly changed his stance, his feet moving to shoulder width apart, his hands coming out to the side ever so slightly like a cowboy about to quickdraw. We said no. Were adventurers and we will take him to the adventure society to be dealt with. Sebastian had surreptitiously moved forward until he was at Miss Beatrix shoulder, he drew his sword and pinching the edge between finger and thumb left a smear of sticky dripping poison with an essence power. Seeing this Teddy blurred slightly and was left standing exactly how he was but his outer robe was slightly open and he had a large but flat bowie knife in each hand. Overpowering the tension was the sudden whine of power coming from the Serenity. James was grinning like a loon as he rotated the gun and pointed all four barrels at the two standing in front of Teddy. Keep playing with that knife big guy and youll find out what happened to the french flagship Bucentaure when they met HMS Victory at Trafalgar. James threatened. Miss Beatrix put up a hand in front of Sebastian and he acquiesced. He waved a hand over the length of the blade and the poison disappeared. He sheathed it and took half a step back. [What happened to the Bucentaure?] Kyra asked. [Got a bloody great hole blown though it almost straight away.] Lucy answered for James. [I find this conversation most entertaining!] Ragnar chipped in and they could see him chortling whilst holding the guns mounted to the rails. [I think it would be more of a smear on the floor than a hole with the size of those guns, can you even fire them? Its a gold rank gun?] Teddy asked. [Sure, theres a power lever next to the trigger mechanism, Ive turned it right down, these Stonewallers know what theyre doing when they make a gun.] It seems these proceedings have gone as far as they should go. We will withdraw, I can speak for the family when I say there will be no more intervention from us Mitchells. We leave you in peace. Miss Beatrix said. She raised her hand and moved it in a circle in front of her head and the crowd began mounting the wagons to leave. Lechuza made a point of circling lower to show they had seen the other two locations of troops and Miss Beatrix looked furious at their failure to remain hidden and gestured them in angrily. They all left in a dusty convoy and the Mitchells watched them from the top deck, Teddy having stowed the buggy with Magnus tied up on the drop deck and joining the others. They stayed on the top deck watching them disappear over the horizon. After a while Kyra pulled out her pocket mirror and a tray appeared on the side bench with a large bottle and five glasses, she poured the sweet sparkling cider they had found they all liked and the five of them smiled and clinked glasses. There was no way I thought we were getting away with that. James said gesturing at the path the caravan had taken. I am a little surprised. Kyra replied, topping everyones glasses back up. I dont think the main families influence out here is as strong as they thought it might be. The outliers obviously have to toe the line and there will be repercussions after what happened here but I dont think they really wanted to go through with this. Poaching a contract is one thing but killing the team on it, getting the adventure society sniffing around, damaging their already tenuous relationship with stonewall would all be too much. Lucy surmised. They all felt familiar presences from the tunnel mouth just behind the serenity and went to lean on the rails at the stern. From the tunnel mouth they saw Orcnig and Auster shrouded in heavy robes to protect from the sunlight they barely saw down below and another figure wearing a heavy robe with what they recognised as the councils markings. Orcnig. Its good to see you, you neednt come up here we would have come down to see you. Teddy said to his mentor. It is good to see you too outsider. You were not well when we last saw one another. No, luckily I have a wonderful wife who always knows how to make me feel better. Auster, you were barely comfortable coming to the accommodation below, why are you here? Duty Mr Michell, this is where we say goodbye. The council, she gestured at the council robed figure next to her. Have decided that your families business has been concluded down below. With the completion of the weapon and the mounting to you vehicle for transport you have no more requirement to be within Stonewall. [Well that feels a little rude.] Kyra commented. [Well Im a vandal and we did all bring a lot of trouble from the outside.] Lucy said. You may be thinking that this is abrupt. Orcnig commented. But the memories of our people are vast and to influence change takes a long time. Holding a piece of armour in high honour at our festival made by an outsider will influence many minds but slowly. Maybe the next time you come through our way you will see evidence of change. Teddy nodded, understanding that this was goodbye. Auster was there as she had been involved from the beginning and the council member to make sure they were really gone. Orcnig handed a leather bound book, it had an image of the weapon on the front and was the manual to hand on to the city with the weapon. He also handed Teddy a large drawstring bag, when he opened it he found a collection of the masters prize tools. They must have been worth a fortune, crafted over generations of experience and expertise to make the very best tools for creating weapons and armour. After a few kind words between the girls and Auster who handed over some of their purchases from the festival they boarded the Serenity again. The Stonewallers werent sentimental enough to stand and wave them off but strode quickly down the tunnel away from the light and back into the comfort of the array. Left alone on the top deck the Mitchells and Ragnar felt a little bit at a loss, they had been so busy during their stay at Stonewall they had barely thought about the onwards journey. With the drama of the kidnapping and subsequent rescue they hadnt thought what happens next. I pose the most decisive course of action must be followed with all possible haste. Ragnar stated suddenly before anyone had a chance to suggest anything. Oh yeh? James asked. Ragnar had been with the team a long time now and was incredibly comfortable with them. He proceeded to show this comfort by gently stamping the deck and a rectangular block of crystal started to rise. It stopped around waist height and it opened three ways, the large middle section flipped back and the two sides levered out to expose the grill. Amongst the laughter and sounds of agreement Kyra pulled out her hand mirror and a set of steaks and overly large chicken legs appeared on the already sizzling grill. Lucy opened a discreet cupboard next to her and pulled out five bottles. As the girls provided sustenance Teddy moved to the drivers station and lazily kicked it into gear and set it off trundling. Lucy handed round the bottles and Teddy got up to clink glasses with the rest of them. To many more adventures! End book 1 Those Who Walk With Heroes Notable items in the Mitchell family Theodore Mitchell: Heros gift: Item: [Bracers of Defiance] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: The wearer may bring the bracers to bare against physical and magical attacks. When brought together the bracers form a shield of force in front of the wearer to block incoming attacks, when struck together enemies will feel the force of defiance. Lesser magical attacks may be absorbed through one bracer and returned from the other. Armour: Item: [Mystic boots of Myriad] (bronze rank, epic) The collaboration of brothers to produce a greater sum than their parts. Effect: By imbuing the boots with a range of quintessence produces an effect within that range. Quantity and quality of quintessence will determine endurance and strength of effect. Kyra Mitchell: Heros gift: Item: [Seers Beads] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: A collection of beads personally hand engraved by a god. Each beads effects vary from small increase to mana pool, small increase to mana regeneration and a small decrease in mana cost to healing magic. Armour: Item: [The Diamond Maiden] (bronze rank [growth], legendary) A bespoke set of armour, crafted with care and thought from exotic materials. The creators deep bond to the recipient has shaped the design on an intrinsic level. The need of the creator to protect the recipient cost him deeply in the making. The end result is armour that will actively protect the wearer to the best of the makers current ability. Effect: Heavy armour that can deflect the strongest blows of its rank. The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to negate magic based attacks. Effect: Diamond of the Void. Diamond panels integrated into the armour are subject to a mild gravitational effect, incoming attacks both physical and magical are either mildly repelled or attracted to the Mystic Diamond. The Mystic Diamond being a magical variant of natural occurring diamond absorbs far more damage negating the force of the blow. When enough damage has been received the ruined Mystic Diamond can be rejected from the armour and a new panel will form from dimensional storage built into the armour specifically for this purpose. Mystic Diamond reservoir will periodically need to be replaced in the built in storage. (Alternate panel rejection is to forcefully explode, the damage caused is reflective of the damage sustained by the panel). Effect: The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to provide a burst of speed. The mana cost of this speed burst is high. James Mitchell: Heros gift: Item: [Belt of the Animagus] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: A belt with dimensional storage, designed to adapt to an essence user with transformation powers. The wearer will have access to any item placed within the pouch when transformed. Transformation powers will cost the user 10% less. Armour: Item: [Pauldron of Menagerie] (bronze rank [growth], legendary) Armour that has been re-forged by the hands of a master armourer, the care and detail put into the reforging by a family member has deepened the connection to the user enhancing its protection. Armour that when developed will increase the effect of transformation powers. This item is bound to you and cannot be used by anyone else. Effect: When engraved by a magical armourer (or mystical tattooists with the necessary skills) will grant the wearer benefits to transformation powers. Benefits will be limited to size and skill of engraving. Once an engraving is in place it cannot be removed. Engravers must be at least equal rank to the item, higher rank engravers will produce a stronger effect. Effect (Bear Claw [improved]): When making physical attacks with this item it will create a slashing effect that will cause the [Bleeding] condition to occur. Against targets that do not bleed extra damage of the resonating force type will be added. Effect (Eagle wing): When making attacks that involve a wing it will sheathe the wing in metalled blades. The attack will be much stronger than without this item. Attacks will have resonating force, disruptive force and trace transcendent damage. Any transformation to wings will include these effects. Ranged effects will be augmented by this accessory. [This effect cannot be improve until silver-gold ascension but will still need upgrade materials per ritual of ascension] Effect (Lightning [improved]): For a high mana cost imbue attacks with an electric effect. Small chance of paralysis and ongoing muscle spasms. Effect (Venom of the Merciless Desert [improved]): Inflicts poison damage. Chance to inflict [Milk of the Cacti]. Chance to inflict [Greyscale]. Can only affect living enemies with blood. Must penetrate enemy to inflict poison and [Milk of the Cacti]. Contact with the venom has a smaller chance of causing [Greyscale]. Effect (Armour of the Mud Rhino): When activated it covers the user with the armour of the Mud Rhino. Legendary for its protective properties the armour is near impenetrable by regular weapons of its rank, highly resistant to disruptive damage and resonating force damage. Spell damage is mostly reflected from this armour except in the case of some silver and higher rank powers. This effect allows the mana cost of the use to be negligible and remains only a partial body transformation even though it covers the entire body. Power cooldown is also reset immediately after dissipating the armour. [Bleeding] (affliction, wounding, blood): Deals ongoing damage by causing or increasing blood loss. As a wounding effect, this condition absorbs or negates an amount of incoming healing, after which this affliction immediately ends. [Milk of the Cacti] (affliction, blood): Causes afflicted enemies to hallucinate and a chance to cause damage to themselves by convulsion. [Greyscale] (affliction, incapacitating): Affliction that spreads across the skin. Causes joints to lock up and impairs mobility. Growth Conditions (silver): Bound user must be at least silver rank. 8 kilograms of mid grade (silver rank) star-fall silver 200 silver-rank iron quintessence gems 200 silver-rank magic quintessence gems 100 silver-rank animal based quintessence gems (per engraving) [100 bear quintessence] [100 wing quintessence] [100 lightning quintessence] [100 venom quintessence] [100 rhino quintessence] 2000 silver rank spirit coins Gold rank Artificer Ritual of Silver ascension. Lucy Mitchell: Heros gift: Item: [Magisters Sheath] (bronze rank, legendary) [TOUCHED BY DIVINITY] A personal gift from a deity. Hand crafted to be personalised to the wearer. Effect: Magically reinforced storage for magical artefacts. Will protect any artefacts from impact or attack, unless pulled by the wearer the items will be secure in the sheath. Increases the wearers mana pool by a moderate amount. Arsenal of the Combat Witch: #1 Item: [Armour of the Combat Witch] (bronze rank, legendary) A bespoke item, crafted with care and thought from exotic materials. Effect Right Arm: Armour that can deflect the strongest blows of its rank. The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to negate magic based attacks. Effect Left Arm: Armour that can deflect the strongest blows of its rank. Selectable stowage of combat wands. Three wands may be placed in the racks and the user may select which they use to fire, wand selection is instinctive allowing for rapid fire and rapid changing of selected wand. The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to Power the wand rather than the users inherent mana supply allowing for multiple castings not including this piece of armour (only one wand may be fired at a time). Effect Matched Set: With both pieces of [Armour of the Combat Witch] equipped gives the user a 10% decrease to mana consumption for all spells and magical tools. #2 Item: [Athame of the Combat Witch] (bronze rank, legendary) *Part of: Arsenal of the Combat Witch* A bespoke weapon, crafted with care and thought from exotic materials. The creators deep bond to the recipient has shaped the design on an intrinsic level. The nature of the weapon calls out to its familial creations, strengthening each in turn. Effect: The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to enhance the blade with a special attack, when activated the blade will conjure dimensional rift energy along the edge of the blade causing catastrophic damage to the target. Effect: The magic imbued within the exotic material is recharged by ambient magic to provide a reservoir of power to Power the wand rather than the users inherent mana supply, allowing for multiple castings at the same time. Stored wand may be instinctively selected and fired. Effect: When the Athame penetrates an enemy it will drain targets mana to refill its reservoir. Overview of the Arsenal: Arsenal of the Combat Witch Items in arsenal: Armour of the Combat Witch Athame of the Combat witch Effect: When multiple items from the arsenal are equipped they bolster each other, effect is multiplicative for the amount of items added. Magical reservoir can be shared between the items to power attached magical weapons. Weapons: Item: [Death Stick] (bronze rank, legendary) A wand crafted with enthusiasm, the destructive properties imbued within cannot be contained by the construct materials and may not be used without impunity to both the user and the item. (Magical item, Weapon, Wand). This item may not be used without the correct essence abilities to use magic items. [WARNING] This item may cause damage to the user. Effect: With the wand only exposed at the tip it causes a blast of percussive energy with disruptive force. (1/3 uses per blast) Effect: With the first two modules exposed in addition to the first effect will cause a blast of magical damage with resonating force. (2/3 uses per blast) Effect: With all three modules exposed; in addition to the first two effects will cause a blast of dimensional damage, with resistances weakened by both disruptive and resonating force damage the target will be susceptible to localised intense portal effects. (3/3 uses per blast) (100/200 uses left) Character sheets; end of book 1 Theodore Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Bronze Progression to silver rank 2.5% (0/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Dimension): [Bronze 1] [Speed] (Swift): [Bronze 1] [Spirit] (Void): [Bronze 1] [Recovery] (Dark): [Bronze 1] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Mitchell Family Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation Minimap Essences (4/4) Dark [Recovery] (5/5) Shadow self Ability: [Shadow self] (Dark) Conjugation (darkness) Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 1 (10%) Effect (iron): Can blend self into shadows, much harder to detect with normal senses. Ignore all physical damage when struck however this will cancel the power. Effect (bronze): Can teleport extremely short distances between shadows. Shard of darkness Ability: [Shard of Darkness] (Dark) Special attack (ranged) Base cost: low mana Cool-down: 3 seconds Current rank: Bronze 1 (02%) Effect (iron): A blade made of darkness made physical is hurled at the enemy causing minor damage. Can be negated by magically enhanced light. Effect (bronze): Two blades of darkness can be thrown in rapid succession. Damage is increased from iron rank variant. New form [Slice of Darkness] can be used. [Slice of Darkness]: High mana cost, chaining variant of a single blade of darkness. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Shadow lantern Ability: [Shadow lantern] (Dark) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 1 (20%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Shadow lantern] to serve as a familiar. [Shadow familiar] will fire bolts of darkness at enemies for extremely low damage. Attacks against enemies have a chance to inflict [Blindness] against enemies. Effect (bronze): Two lanterns are now summoned. Summoned familiars have the ability to penetrate shadows for the user only. [Blindness]: enemies affected by the condition will have all senses blinded for 7.5 seconds. Slippers of the Shade Ability: [Slippers of the shade] (Dark) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Varies Current rank: Bronze 1 (15%) Effect (iron): The user makes no sound when making contact with the ground or objects. Can extend this effect to others by touch for an ongoing moderate mana amount. Effect (bronze): The user can adhere to walls for an ongoing moderate mana cost. Hands of the Reaper Ability: [Hands of the Reaper] (Dark) Special attack (poison, constriction, execute) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Low Current rank: Bronze 1 (01%) Effect (iron): The user can summon the hands of the Reaper from nearby shadows, these will attack a single target attempting to pin them in place. Targets will suffer [poison] and [constrict] damage when under the effect. For a High mana cost can be used as an execute ability. The Hands of the Reaper will pull the victim out of existence with transcendent damage that escalates with the amount of damage already inflicted on the target. Effect (bronze): Multiple enemies can be targeted for a multiplicative cost to mana. Swift [Speed] (5/5) Winged feet Ability: [Winged feet] (Swift) Special ability Base cost: moderate mana Cool-down: 5 seconds Current rank: Bronze 1 (10%) Effect (iron): Causes a permanent significant increase in speed. Allows for slow fall and a mid air jump. Mid air jumps are limited to 1 every 5 seconds at iron rank. Effect (bronze): Mid air jumps 1 every 2 seconds. By a Thousand Cuts Ability: [By a Thousand Cuts] (Swift) Special attack Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (16%) Effect (iron): Successful hits cause an instance of [Rapid]. Effect (bronze): A build up of successful hits will cause an instance of [Phantom Cut] [Rapid]. Buff. Stacking. Increases attack speed. [Phantom Cut]. After enough successful strike of [By a thousand cuts] five phantom blades are left on the target to continue striking for up to five seconds. Eyes of the swift Ability: [Eyes of the swift] (Swift) Special ability (perception, time) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (20%) Effect (iron): When activated slows down movement to your perception to make real time appear slower. Effect (bronze): Perception of movement around the user is even slower, almost stationary. Bronze rank effect now shows the ghost of future movement based on the current speed and trajectory of the surroundings of the user. This is not a precognitive ability and is only based on current perception of surroundings. User can use this effect to produce their own ghost movement, plotting their next move to the limit of their perception. Effect increased with minor threshold advancement. Fly Like an Arrow Ability: [Fly like an arrow] (Swift) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): Projectiles thrown or fired by you fly twice as fast as they normally would. Effect (bronze): Projectiles thrown or fired by you fly five times as fast as they normally would. Wraiths Dash Ability: [Wraiths dash] (Swift) Special ability Base cost: moderate mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): Speed forward on the ground for an ongoing mana cost. Effect (bronze): Speed forward over the ground for an ongoing mana cost. Dimension [Power] (5/5) Dimensional Warrior Ability: [Dimensional warrior] (Dimension) Summon (ritual, summon) Base cost: High mana. Cool-down: 1 hour Current rank: Bronze 1 (01%) Effect (iron): Summon a warrior to fight for the summoner for a short duration. Type of warrior will differ from summon to summon. The warrior will either use rapid weak attacks on multiple enemies or one large attack on a single target up to the value of the summoners highest damage attack. The warrior will mirror the summoners strength and defence. Effect (bronze): Summon multiple iron rank warriors for a short duration, the number of summons and strength will effect duration. Alternate use is to summon a singular bronze rank warrior. Teleport Ability: [Teleport] (Dimension) Special ability (teleport, dimension) Base cost: High mana Cool-down: Varies with distance travelled. Current rank: Bronze 1 (90%) Effect (iron): Teleport self over a moderate distance, increasing with minor threshold advancement. Effect (bronze): Teleport over a wider distance. For a significant mana increase can teleport others over the iron rank distance. Dimension rift Ability: [Dimension Rift] (Dimension) Special ability: (Teleport, Short range astral tunnel) Base cost: Mana dependent for length of effect Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (80%) Effect (iron): A rift in reality appears, the caster is able to travel through into another rift opening in short range of the first, anything that comes into contact with either rift will be partially teleported to another dimension, strength of material in contact will effect how much of an effect the rift will have. Alternate use, the caster can open a single rift and use it as dimensional storage. Effect (bronze): Damage is more effective against enemies of lower rank. Tunnel distance is increased. Causes an ongoing damaging effect for a short while. Dimensional Instability Ability: [Dimensional instability] (Dimension) Special ability (de-buff, stacking, deleterious) Base cost: low mana Cool-down: 5 minutes Current rank: Bronze 1 (02%) Effect (iron): can cause an area of effect to the limit of the casters aura that force enemies to feel the effects of dimensional instability normally felt through effects such as teleporting. Will effect enemies that have immunities to such usual effects such as astral affinity. Effect (bronze): Enemies in the area of effect will suffer [Dimensional bleed] [Dimensional bleed]: enemies suffer a mild amount of transcendent damage. Dimension Blade Ability: [Dimension Blade] (Dimension) Conjuration (blade, teleport) Base cost: extreme low mana, increasing with target being cut Cool-down: none Current rank: Bronze 1 (90%) Effect (iron): Create a Dimensional Rift no longer than 2m, effectively works as a sword, and teleports anything it comes into contact with to another dimension. Higher rank items and targets will require more mana. Effect (bronze): base cost for effective cutting is significantly reduced. Ongoing damaging effect for a short while. Your aura has greater control over blade properties. Void [Spirit] (5/5) Aura of the void Ability [Aura of the void] (Void) Aura (time, dimension, void, physics) Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (10%) Effect (iron): Enemies within the aura have a slowing effect. For every enemy that is affected you have a slight speed increase. Effect (bronze): Enemies affected by aura power are subject to a mild gravitational effect, either push or pull will be chosen by the user. Black Hole Hand Grenade Ability: [Black hole hand grenade] (Void) Special attack (gravity, explosive) Base cost:Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 minutes Current rank: Bronze 1 (07%) Effect (iron): When thrown the grenade will form a black hole that pulls enemies towards it, on contact will cause damage to the enemy. After a short time the grenade will explode, explosion is increased for the amount of damage caused by the gravity effect. Effect (bronze): Up to two grenades can be thrown, cooldown is per grenade. Poison of the Void Ability: [Poison of the void] (void) Special attack (poison, area) Base cost: low with ongoing mana cost Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (04%) Effect (iron): Causes a minor health and stamina drain that replenishes the caster. Mana cost will increase for distance spread. Will not affect allies within your aura. Effect (bronze): Increase the distance and duration of the spell. Enemies mana will be drained to replenish the caster. Void Pull Ability: [Void pull] (Void) Special attack (Gravity) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (15%) Effect (iron): Throws a black hole that when stationary will pull objects towards with great force, enemies against the black hole will suffer ongoing resonating and disruptive force damage. Effect (bronze): Larger effect that can pull stronger enemies, user can designate targets to not be effected at will. Unleash the void. From beyond our reality let beasts become made. Ability: [Unleash the void] (Void) Summon (ritual, summon) Base cost: High mana. Cool-down: 1 hour Current rank: Bronze 1 (01%) Effect (iron): Summon a portal to the void which will unleash terrible creatures from outside our reality for a short while to attack the summoners enemies. The void itself will have a gravitational effect on enemies pulling them towards it and damaging them if they resist. Effect (bronze): Darker beasts. Kyra Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Bronze Progression to silver rank 2.5% (0/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Earth): [Bronze 1] [Speed] (Mirror): [Bronze 1] [Spirit] (Diamond): [Bronze 1] [Recovery] (Life): [Bronze 1] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Mitchell Family Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation Pocket mirror - storage power Essences (4/4) Earth [Power] (5/5) Boulder Throw Ability: [Boulder throw] (Earth) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Bronze 1 (01%) Effect (iron): A boulder will materialise in mid air almost instantaneously. Boulder can then be thrown with great force over a moderate distance. Effect (bronze): Two boulders may be summoned at will each with a 30 second cooldown. Earth Spike Ability: [Earth spike] (Earth) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Bronze 1 (25%) Effect (iron): Within a moderate distance of the caster form an earth spike to project from the earth. Effect (bronze): 5 spikes may be summoned, each with a 30 second cooldown. Earth Wall Ability: [Earth wall] (Earth) Special ability Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): Summons a large earth wall from the ground to absorb a high amount of damage. Effect (bronze): Rolling Earth Wall. The earth wall is stronger and replaces damage sections by drawing more earth from the ground. Terraform Ability: [Terraform] (Earth) Special ability Base cost: Variable mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (25%) Effect (iron): Manipulate the ground in a short distance around the user. Effect (bronze): Enhanced control over the ground around the user. Can move seeds and water through the ground and accelerate growth Seismic Sense Ability: [Seismic sense] (Earth) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (60%) Effect (iron): A passive ability that allows the user to sense vibrations through the ground, will form a coherent picture of the area around the user. Effect (bronze): Further range and sensitivity. Life [Recovery] (5/5) Life Bolt Ability: [Life bolt] (Life) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Bronze 1 (80%) Effect (iron): A bolt will be fired on casting causing a small amount of healing to a single target. Life bolt has an extreme reaction to undead targets. Effect (bronze): A second bolt of healing is available per casting for the same mana cost. Life Aura Ability: [Life aura] (Life) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 2 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (70%) Effect (iron): This is not an aura power. Life aura can be cast on a single target to interrogate target health status. When cast on allies will cause a very slight ongoing healing effect. Effect (bronze): When cast on allies will now also cause a very slight ongoing mana and stamina regeneration. Life Charge Ability: [Life charge] (Life) Special ability Base cost: Extreme high mana Cool-down: 1 hour Current rank: Bronze 1 (50%) Effect (iron): Extremely high healing magic. Effect (bronze): High ongoing healing effect for a short duration. Lucky Ability: [Lucky] (Life) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 2 (40%) Effect (iron): Lucky the puppy is summoned as a familiar. When absorbed effects the look of the summoners hair. Will cause a moderate ongoing healing boost. When deployed from the user will produce a low ongoing healing effect in a small area of effect. Effect (bronze): Lucky is now a young dog, his healing effects are increased as is his area of effect. His healing effects against ranks lower than him are greatly increased. Clean Living Ability: [Clean living] (Life) Special ability (cleanse) Base cost: Varied Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (20%) Effect (iron): Creates an area of purified air around the caster. Allies within the area of effect have instances of poisons and toxins cured. Mana cost is increased for amount of afflictions being cleansed. Effect (bronze): Clean Living now cleanses Holy and Un-Holy. Mirror [Speed] (5/5) Self Reflection Ability: [Self reflection] (Mirror) Special attack (retributive) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): Once activated any damage taken can be reflected onto enemy within 5 seconds, must touch enemy. Effect (bronze): Damage reflect within 10 seconds. Line of Mirrors Ability: [Line of mirrors] (Mirror) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (20%) Effect (iron): Can see through allies eyes and vice versa. Effect (bronze): Range is now increased and audio is now available. Paired Mirrors Ability: [Paired mirrors] (Mirror) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): Owned mirrors can be paired to form a permanent 2 way communication to be used over large distances. Iron rank only allows one pair to be bonded. Effect (bronze): 3 pairs of mirrors can be bonded. Slice of Mirror Ability: [Slice of Mirror] (Mirror) Special attack Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Bronze 1 (15%) Effect (iron): Fire a small piece of mirror at an enemy for low damage. Enemies hit with the mirror are afflicted with [7 Years Bad Luck]. Effect (bronze): A fistful of mirror shards are now thrown. [7 Years Bad Luck] (affliction, unholy, stacking): Wherever the enemy afflicted with this power steps finds mirror shards on the floor that deal minor damage. Enemies effected by this suffer an instance of [vulnerable]. [Vulnerable] (affliction, unholy, stacking): All resistances are reduced. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. Mirror Maze Ability: [Mirror Maze] (Mirror) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5min Current rank: Bronze 1 (10%) Effect (iron): 10 perfect copies of the caster will appear and be able to be moderately controlled within casters aura. Effect (bronze): An adjustable amount of copies of the caster will appear up to 15 copies. Copies will have slight tangibility and have a higher level of independent control. Diamond [Spirit] (5/5) Diamond Golem Ability: [Diamond golem] (Diamond) Summon (ritual, summon) Cost: High mana. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 1 (10%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Diamond golem] to serve as a temporary summon. The golem is a high hit point low attack defender. When it receives enough damage it will explosively separate into 3 smaller golems with less hit points. When these are destroyed they are also explosive. Effect (bronze): Golem is now much larger and can fire diamond chunks. When destroyed will explosively split into 6 smaller golems. When these are destroyed they are also explosive. Diamond Lantern Ability: [Diamond lantern] (Diamond) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 1 (50%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Diamond lantern] to serve the summoner. [Diamond lantern] will orbit the summoner and fire resonating force bolts. When absorbed will change the appearance of the summoners eyes, when absorbed will provide ongoing mana replenishment. Effect (bronze): 2 lanterns are now summoned. One lantern will fire disruptive force bolts while the other fires resonating force. Encased Ability: [Encased] (Diamond) Special ability Base cost: Moderate Mana Cool-down: 2 minutes Current rank: Bronze 1 (25%) Effect (iron): Encased in impenetrable armour for 5 seconds, cannot move whilst encased. Effect (bronze): Encased for 10 seconds, armour is now malleable. Diamond Weapons Ability: [Diamond weapons] (Diamond) Special ability (conjuration) Base cost: Varies Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (40%) Effect (iron): Summon a sword and shield made entirely of diamond. Effect (bronze): The user can now summon a diamond spear, the time before dismissal will be increased after leaving the users hand in order to allow it to be thrown. Iron rank summoned weapons will now be summoned at bronze rank strength. Resolve of Diamond Ability [Resolve of diamond] (Diamond) Aura Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (80%) Effect (iron): You have an indomitable aura that is much tougher than normal auras of your rank, provide protection against attacks 2 ranks up from the users rank. Effect (bronze): Protection for self is still 2 ranks up but can now shield allies from 1 rank up of self. James Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Bronze Progression to silver rank 2.5% (0/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Bear): [Bronze 1] [Speed] (Rat): [Bronze 1] [Spirit] (Eagle): [Bronze 1] [Recovery] (Animagus): [Bronze 1] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Mitchell Family Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation - including animals Princess power - storage Staff of the Everglades Ability: [Staff of the Everglades] Transfigured from [Outworlder] ability [One with Nature] Place a staff that conjures an everglade around you. Anyone that is not invited to the glade will not be able to perceive either it or you, subtle illusion magic will direct them around the glade. Health and mana regeneration is increased in the glade. The Staff of the Everglades is only available once per day. Essences (4/4) Rat [Speed] (5/5) Empty the Sewer Ability: [Empty the sewer] (Rat) Summon (Compost circle) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 1 Hour Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): Summons 5 rats from the circle. Within a small aura surrounding the rats they spread pestilence leaving multiple afflictions. [Typhoid], [Black death], [Rock joint]. Bite from a rat causes summon to die but will break through any resistances. Effect (bronze): Summons 50 rats. [Typhoid]: Persistent high temperature, piercing headache and high mana drain to cause a premature mana headache. [Black death]: extreme black vomiting and moderate health drain. [Rock joint]: Debilitating effect on agility, enemies affected are slower. Prehensile Tail Ability: [Prehensile tail] (Rat) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (20%) Effect (iron): Summon an enormous rat tail from the summoner. The appendage will last 60s and will be completely controllable during that time. The tail has a 5 x base strength boost. For the purpose of other special attacks it counts as an unarmed attack. Effect (bronze): Summon tail for 5 minutes. Tail has a 10 x base strength boost. Omnivorscent Ability: [Omnivorscent] (Rat) Special ability (immunity) Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (01%) Effect (iron): User is immune to all poisons and toxins. Effect (bronze): User regains health, mana and stamina from all poisons and toxins. Scurry Ability: [Scurry] (Rat) Special ability: Agility boost Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Combat status dependant Current rank: Bronze 1 (40%) Effect (iron): At the start of every fight receive a 10 second boost to agility. Agility will be boosted to 200% with a small increase with every minor threshold advancement. Effect (bronze): 20 second boost to agility. Agility will be boosted to 300%. For an ongoing moderate mana cost can extend the duration of the boost. Scenting Ability: [Scenting] (Rat) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (90%) Effect (iron): User can see scents in the environment. Effect (bronze): User can see aura trails. Bear [Power (5/5) Koda Ability: [Koda] (Bear) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 1 (50%) Effect (iron): Koda the junior bear is summoned to serve the summoner. When absorbed will significantly increase the strength of the summoner. Effect (bronze): Koda is larger and stronger with a much higher damage against enemies of a lower rank. When absorbed he will now aid the summoner in deflecting 20% of incoming physical damage. Hibernation Ability: [Hibernation] (Bear) Special Agility Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (10%) Effect (iron): Meditation adds instance of [Integrity] buff, stacking. Effect (bronze): Instances accrue faster. [Integrity]: heal over time, mana over time. Instances drop off over time. Ursa Family Ability: [Ursa Family] (Bear) Special ability (Retributive buff) Base cost: moderate mana Cooldown: 5min Current rank: Bronze 1 (10%) Effect (iron): Attacks against an ally cause an instance of [Fortitude]. Effect (bronze): Attacks against an ally cause an instance of [Family Blessing] [Fortitude]: Becomes stronger with each instance. [Family blessing]: Everyone under the influence of [Ursa Family] receives an instance of [Family blessing] when one individual is successfully attacked. Instances of [Family blessing] are consumed to absorb damage from any source. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. For each instance consumed, gain an instance of [Family bounty]. [Family bounty] (heal-over-time, holy, stacking): Heal over time. Additional instances have a cumulative effect. Standing Kodak Ability:[Standing Kodak] (Bear) Special ability Bas cost: Nil, Passive power Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (40%) Effect (iron): 2 foot planted attacks deal 200% more damage. Absorbs 50% of incoming damage. Effect (bronze): 2 foot planted attacks now deal 250% more damage. Absorbs 60% of incoming damage. Bear (Bare) arms Ability: [Bear (Bare) Arms] (Bear) Special ability / Special attack Base cost: Varies Cool-down: Varies Current rank: Bronze 1 (40%) Effect (iron): Unarmed attacks do 400% damage Effect (bronze): For a high mana cost the user can throw out a combination attack that is boosted to 800%. Very high long cooldown. Eagle [Spirit] (5/5) Rise Ability: [Rise] (Eagle) Aura (Spirit) (Boon) Base cost: None. Cool-down: None. Current rank: Bronze 2 (40%) Effect (iron): Allies within you aura have their perception and perception powers significantly increased. Allies spirit attribute will be temporarily increased. Enemies within the aura will have a sense of dread of a predator above. Effect (bronze): Weaker willed enemies will be afflicted with [Vulnerable]. [Vulnerable]: Cause your attacks to be more effective against an enemy. Vision of the Eagle Ability: [Vision of the eagle] (Eagle) Special ability Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (10%) Effect (iron): Can zoom vision up to 10x Effect (bronze): Can see magic Peregrine dive Ability: [Peregrine Dive] (Eagle) Special attack Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Bronze 1 (60%) Effect (iron): Limited teleport to above an enemy. User will be accelerated to terminal velocity to strike enemy. Chance to be used as an execute ability [Last Shadow] Effect (bronze): Distance is doubled. [Last Shadow] (execute, holy): As an execute effect, damage scales exponentially with level of injury. Birds of a Feather Ability: [Birds of a feather] (Eagle) Special ability Base cost: moderate Mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (90%) Effect (iron): Can communicate with birds and bird like creatures over a large distance. With non intelligent birds can sense and convey feelings. Effect (bronze): Distance over which ability can be used is significantly increased. Multiple birds in different locations may be communicated with at the same time. Wing sweep Ability: [Wing sweep] (Eagle) Special attack (wind, summon) Base cost: Low Mana Cool-down: low. Current rank: Bronze 1 (30%) Effect (iron): Summon an enormous wing to blast back enemies, a torrent of wind accompanies it. Effect (bronze): Greater range and knockdown. Enemies are buffeted by a strong wind for a short period affecting their agility. Animagus [Recovery] (5/5) Inner Beast Ability: [Inner beast] (Animagus) Special ability (animagus, shapeshift) Base cost: Very high mana Cool-down:18 hours Current rank: Bronze 1 (35%) Effect (iron): Transform into an animal of your choice for one hour. The animal of your choosing will be the prime example of that animal. Effect (bronze): Transformation now lasts two hours minimum unless the user cancels the power, duration will increase with progress through rank. Animals transformed into will have bronze rank equivalent strength. Cool-down reduced to eighteen hours. Shaman Ability: [Shaman] (Animagus) Summon (Leaf circle) Base cost: Moderate mana to enact then mana dependant effect. Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (15%) Effect (iron): Summon the spirits of the ancients to heal yourself or allies. Occupant of the circle does not have to be the caster. The occupant of the circle can trade mana for health. Effect (bronze): Multiple circles may be placed. Animage Ability: [Animage] (Animagus) Special ability (animagus, shapeshift) Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 2 (20%) Effect (iron): Transform one part of your body for a high mana cost to that of an animal for a short duration. Duration beyond a short while will have an exponential mana cost. Base cost will rise to Very High mana cost for a transformation of two body parts. Effect (bronze): Duration of transformation is significantly increased. The same transformation may be used in quick succession for a reduced mana cost. Snake Sorcerer Ability: [Snake sorcerer] (Animagus) Special attack (poison) Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (28%) Effect (iron): The user can summon snakes that will be cast towards an enemy over a moderate distance. The bite of the snake does a mild amount of damage with the possibility to inflict poison. Effect (bronze): The user can summon an alternate snake, this breed is much larger and thicker, can be thrown for a slightly limited range and causes constriction damage rather than poison. Apex Predator Ability: [Apex Predator] (Animage) Special ability (Spell, Intimidate) Base cost: moderate mana (increasing with high level enemies) Cool-down: 1hr Current rank: Bronze 1 (15%) Effect (iron): Intimidate targeted enemy. Successfully intimidated enemies will be inflicted with an instance of [Vulnerable]. Effect (bronze): Spell can now be used silently to any enemies within users aura. [Vulnerable]: Cause your attacks to be more effective against an enemy. Lucy Mitchell Race: Outworlder Current rank: Bronze Progression to silver rank 2.5% (0/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Magic): [Bronze 1] [Speed] (Vision): [Bronze 1] [Spirit] (Mind): [Bronze 1] [Recovery] (Illusion): [Bronze 1] Racial abilities (Outworlder) Mitchell Family Interface system Looting ability Language adaptation Essences (4/4) Magic [Power] (5/5) Magical Artisan Ability: [Magical artisan] (Magic) Special ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (10%) Effect (iron): Significantly increases mana available. Grants the user the ability to use magical tools and vehicles. Effect (bronze): Mana threshold is increased. User can push magical items beyond their limit, user can alter and repair magical items. Magical Master Ability: [Magical Master] (Magic) Special ability (Perception) Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (90%) Effect (iron): Significantly increase mana available. Can see magic. Effect (bronze): Mana threshold is significantly increased. Distance magic is perceived is significantly increased. The user can see if ritual magic rituals will be successful without testing. Magic Missile Ability: [Magic Missile] (Magic) Spell: Magic Missile Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Varies. Current rank: Bronze 1 (90%) Effect (iron): Fires a magic missile that magically tracks a target. Effect (bronze): Cooldown between missiles is removed. More mana can be sunk into each missile which will attract a cool-down. Mana Lantern Ability: [Mana lantern] (Magic) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 1 (80%) Effect (iron): Summon a [Mana lantern] to serve as a familiar. [Mana lantern] will significantly increase mana recovery when absorbed. When deployed will increase mana recover to user an allies in a small aura. Effect (bronze): An extra lantern is summoned. Rune Lore Ability: [Rune Lore] (Magic) Special ability: Rune projection Base cost: Variable mana Cool-down: Nil. Current rank: Bronze 1 (80%) Effect (iron): Increased mana regeneration. Project runes that will form a portal window to dimensional storage. Alternate use is to produce a varied range of combat rituals, these rituals are supplied by the casters own mana to be powered. Flexible usage requires a varied mana input. Only one ritual or storage power may be used at a time. Effect (bronze): Two rune circles may be used at the same time for an increased mana output, the effects may be the same or different. Vision [Speed] 5/5) Fog of War Ability: [Fog of war] (Vision) Special ability Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 2 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (60%) Effect (iron): For a short duration enemies in a small area of effect have a thick mist obscure their vision. User and allies can see through the fog and the extent of it. Effect (bronze): Duration of effect is increase. For an increased mana amount the density of the fog can be increased. Focussed Eyes Ability: [Focussed eyes] (Vision) Special ability (perception) Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (30%) Effect (iron): Increased aim with all projectiles. Effect (bronze): Preternatural aim with all projectiles for a low ongoing mana cost. Double Vision Ability: [Double vision] (Vision) Special ability Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (10%) Effect (iron): Confuses enemies vision to see double in front of them increasing their chance of missing for a short duration. Effect (bronze): Attacks on illusionary double cause a mana drain on enemy to replenish the user. Vertigo Ability: [Vertigo] (Vision) Special ability Cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: Varied Current rank: Bronze 1 (20%) Effect (iron): Causes enemies to loose balance and an effect similar to standing room a great height looking down for a short duration. Cost is increased to very high to prolong the effect. Effect (bronze): Passive effect is added, when enemies look at the user they will suffer from mild vertigo irrespective of height to target. Lechuza Ability: [Lechuza] (Vision) Familiar (ritual, summon) Base cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 2 (20%) Effect (iron): Summon an Owl Familiar to serve as a familiar. [Lechuza] has the ability to mirror some abilities of the summoner. Summoner can project themselves into the familiar from a moderate distance away to see through the summons eyes, have some control of the body and use some powers through the familiar. The body of the summoner is left unprotected during this time. When the summon is absorbed [Lechuza] can reflect most incoming physical damage. Effect (bronze): [Lechuza] has gained a new form, [Bush Witch] can be used to cast various spells and will cast previously unused summoners spells from the familiar. When absorbed mind altering powers are enhanced to the summoner and mana pool and recovery is enhanced. Absorbed boosts will only apply when absorbed from the [Bush Witch] form. When [Owl] form is absorbed then legacy effects from iron rank will be applied at bronze rank. Mind [Spirit] (5/5) Psychic Shriek Ability: [Psychic Shriek] (Mind) Special attack Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 secs Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): A non-verbal cry. Causes a brief period of intense disorientation to a single target. Causes minor damage to the target. Effect (bronze): Damage is increased to the target. Alternate attack [White Noise] is now available, Low level harmless noise is used to distract targets. Clarity Ability [Clarity] (Mind) Aura Base cost: None Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 2 (50%) Effect (iron): Improves clarity of thinking speed to self and allies within aura. Effect (bronze): Negatively effects the thinking capabilities of enemies in the aura. Amnesia. (Forget, let your earthly concerns begone for a while) Ability: [Amnesia] (Mind) Special ability (curse) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (15%) Effect (iron): Short term curse causes the enemy to forget the last 30sec for 30sec. Effect (bronze): For extremely high mana cost make 10 seconds amnesia permanent. Temporary amnesia is now 60 seconds.Cooldown for temporary amnesia is 30 second Astral Projection Ability: [Astral Projection] (Mind) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Bronze 1 (20%) Effect (iron): Project your consciousness outside your body to a range determined by power of the ability. Whilst in this form you cannot affect or be effected by physical matter. You may be detected by aura senses in this form. Your body is left defenceless whilst using this power. Any damage to your body will cause your consciousness to be immediately recalled. Effect (bronze):Two projections may be used at the same time. Distance is increased. Telepathy Ability: [Telepathy] (Mind) Special ability Base cost: Low mana, increasing to high with distance. Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Bronze 1 (05%) Effect (iron): Can initiate mental communication either with those in immediate eye line or by contacts list. Effect (bronze): Can initiate telepathic communication with anyone within aura effect regardless of line of sight. Can designate targets, allies and points of interest to allies within users aura. Illusion [Recovery] (5/5) Houdini Palace Ability: [Houdini palace] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 15 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (10%) Effect (iron): Summon illusionary mirror walls around target for a short duration. Effect (bronze): Walls can now take the appearance of the surroundings of the target. Broken walls cost the target mana. Switch Teleport Ability: [Switch teleport] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: 30 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (02%) Effect (iron): Select one person to switch teleport. Base cost increases to high mana to switch teleport with an enemy. Effect (bronze): Can switch two targets (no longer has to be the caster). Playing Possum Ability: [Playing possum] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: High mana Cool-down: 18 Hour Current rank: Bronze 1 (01%) Effect (iron): Negates an enemy attack. Effect (bronze): Causes an instant teleport a short distance away with an illusionary double left in place. Enter Sandman Ability: [Enter Sandman] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: High mana. Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (90%) Effect (iron): When activated enables the caster to cause a moment illusion in from of an enemy. This illusion is what is most likely to terrify the target causing them to panic. Effect (bronze): Bronze rank lengthened incantation produces an extended duration illusion. Illusion strength is much higher. Multiple uses of short incantation may be used instead with no cool-down. Kansas City Shuffle Ability: [Kansas City Shuffle] (Illusion) Special ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: 5 min Current rank: Bronze 1 (75%) Effect (iron): Conjure a small illusion to distract an enemy. Effect (bronze): Whilst the target is distracted gain access to their inventory including dimensional storage, equipped items and pockets. User has a 65% chance to successfully steal an item unnoticed. Chances decrease dramatically if the item is equipped. End book 1 Those Who Walk With Heroes Chapter 80 (Start of book 2) ‘Burn the trolls’ Five blades sunk into the troll-giant, each characterised by their wielder. The delicate-looking Diamond sword contradicted its beautiful facade by brutally slicing tissue and tendon behind the knee. Biting deep through into the bone. A blade made of darkness, lined with a silver corona was dug tip first into the back of the other knee. It had an effect that looked similar to melting through it but all tissue simply vanished on contact. A huge leap enabled the huge face of an axe to be buried all the way to the shaft into the ropey thigh muscle twelve feet off the floor. As it made contact with the flesh it shimmied, vibrating on a level so fast it drilled the axe further in. On the other side a similar leap concluded with a huge man digging both his forearm blades into the other thigh. They had both been transformed into preying mantis style blade arms from the elbow down. Native to some creature in Pallimustus they were a feature of a rather aggressive bug bird, as such they were boosted by an equipped item and they were sheathed in multi-hued metal. The result of four strong attacks on its legs brought the troll-giant being to its knees, pitching forward it struck the ground with its mighty hands to break its fall. The fifth blade took this opportunity. The wielder ran in from a shrouded hiding spot and didnt hesitate striking at the exposed head. The length of the giants arms holding it up meant that she still had to leap to reach the scraggly haired dome. Using a special attack which drained most of its stored mana it burned a hole into the top of the monsters skull much like the blade of darkness in its knee. When it was buried almost to the hilt another feature of the sword was used. The wand held along the spine rapid-fired three fire-balls directly into its skull. The giant had been around thirty feet tall. A squat frame that supported a body almost as wide at the shoulders as it was tall. It was obviously humanoid with subtle differences, its hands had eight fingers on each with the digits splayed like a fan, a third eye was in the middle of its forehead and a nest of sharp needle teeth that didnt quite fit in its mouth. It wore the skins of various animals and the villagers of the local area as clothing, crudely put together in the short few weeks it had existed. Monsters like this were frequent in the world and plagued the helpless, driving them into reinforced towns in response to their presence. This was why the Adventure Society was formed. A group of magically enhanced individuals who pledged to aid any that were under threat from monsters around the world. In a world without the convenience of globe spanning transport at the touch of a debit card the Adventurers normally stayed within their local area, specialising in their local types of monster and strength. Different varieties of monsters spawned at different strengths around the continents. The Mitchells and their significant companion Ragnar were adventurers. They had been given the privilege of accepting a contract from the Adventure Society to deliver a supreme monster killing weapon to a mountain city on a different continent. This was not the first great distance travelling the Mitchells had undertaken but at least this time it was voluntary. They were not native to the magical world of Pallimustus but came from Earth, where magic was someone pulling a coin from your ear or getting a lucky double drop from a vending machine. They had been pulled from that world quite suddenly with no warning and brought to Pallimustus for reasons they still didnt understand. Once in a world filled with magic and monsters they soon found out that this world had gods, real gods who turned up when people prayed and actively influenced the world around them. Ragnar was a member of one of these churches, he was an adventuring acolyte of the church of Hero, a god that had taken an interest in the Mitchells. Four of the group stood back as the slight woman who struck the killing blow strode around the prostrate giant twitching on the ground. Golden runes were streaming from her eyes as she walked, flowing down her arm to rest on the floor. As she walked away from the monster towards the group she activated the ritual circle she had laid out and the contents burst into flame. Burn the trolls. James said as they all stood in a line watching the body burn. They watched with grim satisfaction as the body withered down to the size of a normal man. They had been fighting the Corpsetaker Giant for the last two days. A silver rank monster that was not to be trifled with unless you knew what you were doing. With limited intelligence the monster started out infiltrating small villages and taking one or two people it fed on them and grew. Using the life energy to grow bigger and stronger after only a few victims it was a power to be reckoned with. Silver rank endurance, cunning intelligence and a malevolence on the higher end of the monster encyclopaedia they were hunted down with extreme prejudice. The team had found the monster listing on an Adventure Society notice board in front of one of the village town halls, after seeing the destruction it had been causing in the area they chose to act swiftly before it could do anymore damage. The team and Ragnar were bronze rank. Normal people on absorbing four essences evolved to iron rank. On unlocking all twenty powers with the use of awakening stones they then had to train hard with repetitive exposure to danger to progress all those skills to rank up to bronze. The subsequent power jump of the individual was incredible. They knew from speaking to those higher rank then themselves that the next leap in power to silver was even greater. They had managed the fight with the silver rank monster by superior training, teamwork and equipment. In their time in the world the Mitchells had worked incredibly hard to form a potent team. Tactics, coordination and trust meant that they worked well together. In his time with them Ragnar had worked with each team member individually; they had all learnt their strengths and weaknesses and he was a welcome member (if not officially) to the team. The Serenity was one of the Mitchells prize possessions. It was a mid size luxury yacht, made of shimmering blue crystal with huge dark smoky windows. The prow was high with a broad curve down to the keel. It was flat bottomed which you could just see between the four huge almost ten foot tall rugged rubberised tyres on either side. The wheels were magically magnetised to the hull with a gap wide enough to fit your arm. The stern had a drop deck which reached almost all the way to the ground with a wide platform holding a central staircase in the centre leading to the middle deck. Behind the staircase on the bottom deck were the sliding doors to the four cabins, one for each of the couples in the team, a spare cabin taken by Ragnar and a workshop. The middle deck had the living space, with a richly appointed dining area, comprehensive kitchen and a living space at the bow. The middle deck stern had flanking staircases up to the top deck that had a large seating area at the back with a square table surrounded by benches. There was a large drivers station with a wide captains chair in front on a complex series of controls, a large crystal canopy covered the drivers station open at the back but could be extended to cover the rear two thirds of the top deck. In front of the drivers station was a large open foredeck with benches around the edge to allow passengers to relax and watch the scenery go by. The Serenity was made of highly customisable Fourth-Stage Crystal, obscenely expensive and normally an incredible luxury. The team had earned the vehicle by doing work for the Adventure Society and then saving the life of Efkycharkzshyn, or Charlie as they started calling him who was a master creator of the Fourth-Stage Crystal vehicles. The vehicle had been upgraded further when they stopped at Stonewall on their way to complete the contract, isolated by their biology the Stonewallers had fostered a society that strived for perfection in everything they made, luckily for the Mitchells what the Stonewallers made mostly was weapons and armour. Now fitted to the Serenity were four guns on the rails. They could be moved up and down the railing, stored back into the crystal and popped up on the other side of the vehicle, they could be moved anywhere on the ship. They looked like old swivel guns from a wooden battleship of earth, smooth plain metal with simple banding around the barrel. Instead of firing a cannonball with explosives and flintlock they shot disruptive force energy and were extremely good at it. They had engaged the Corpsetaker Giant with them from the limit of their range and had fought a retreating battle away from the silver rank monster to attrit it as much as they could. After most of a day of expensive use of the guns the impressively hardy monster had started to flag. They switched tactic to running circles around it, barraging it with the guns and their own powers. The monster had then tried to flee, luckily even for silver rank, Corpsetaker Giants are not known to be speedy. Another upgrade to the Serenity was employed, this time taken from a pirate ship when they had liberated the crew from a hijacking on the ocean. A huge harpoon gun was mounted from storage on the prow and sent a magically reinforced bolt deep into the giants back, towing the Serenity whilst they continued to pound its health down. By the time they jumped off the top deck of the Serenity to close in and kill the monster it had next to no fight left in it. They had not underestimated its power and fought it the smartest way they could for their rank. The only reason they closed in hand-to-hand was to get the most experience they could for their powers. They stood in a line watching the impromptu bonfire. The big bearded Ragnar stood with his axe slung across his back, leaning his thick forearms on his huge decorated kite shield that was resting on the ground. He wore thick quilted robes with magical chain mail reinforcement. He had a huge bushy moustache that stuck out either side of his face and a bushy beard that fell down to his chest. Next to him making him look like a normal size man was an even bigger bearded man, he wore tough travelling clothes with his entire right arm and one side of his chest was covered in armour. James had his arm draped around his wifes shoulders, his eyes were blank as he used a power to watch the scene from the birds circling high above. He had a thick beard that was neatly kept short, his wife wouldnt allow him to look like a scruff. His hair on the other hand was borderline untameable, thick and black it swept back off his head and almost fell to his shoulders. He had made a recent attempt at controlling it slightly and shaved the sides, after he was done being told off by his wife she had to acknowledge how much more manageable it was. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Lucy had her arm around James waist as he was so much taller than her. She wore a biker-jacket style coat, it was a dark forest green with fitted sleeves that had dark steel bracers that covered her forearms. The left arm that wasnt wrapped around her husband was slightly chunkier with a tell-tale oval muzzle above the wrist. She wore tough fabric leggings underneath interspersed with removable armour panels she had added to fight the silver rank monster. She had tied her brown hair back in a no-nonsense ponytail for the fight, keeping it out her eyes while she drew combat rituals. On her left her sister-in-law stood reflecting the firelight in her armour. Covered in large diamond panels and white ceramic with black detailing. It fit her athletic figure like a glove, conforming to every curve. Her long blonde hair was in a thick braid that reached to her waist with a gentle curve. The hair was full of miniature barrel charms, all intricately carved and they glimmered even without the light hitting them. Kyras diamond sword was no where to be seen and she stood with her arm around her husbands waist who stood next to her. Kyra had pulled Theodores cloak aside to snake her arm around his waist. He stood in what looked like a black martial arts outfit, loose flowing fabric around his legs tucked into a dark pair of high boots. Around his waist was a belt around a hands span wide, it had armoured panels and rows of pouches and bottles. One of the pouches was a rectangular box with with the tips of shurikens poking out, there were various knives and swords on both hips. He had a chest strap going from one hip to the other shoulder with throwing knives the size and shape of bowie knives but flat handled, magically magnetised on. He was completely bald, not through choice. When they ranked up they all improved physically and aesthetically, apparently whatever cosmic force governed how this worked had decided that Teddy should be forever bald. He stood companionably arm in arm with his wife watching the fire. Whilst the others were all chatting on the interface about what they were doing next and what was for dinner, where they might go next and complimenting each others performance Teddy was busy. As the pseudo-team leader he was going through the battle log to assess the fight for a post-fight evaluation. Battle log: Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant Lucy Mitchell: Used spell Rune Lore [Fire Enhancement] Lucy Mitchell: Used spell [Fire Enhanced] Magic Missile at Corpsetaker Giant Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant Serenity Swivel gun: Fired disruptive bolt at Corpsetaker Giant Kyra Mitchell: Summoned Diamond Weapon Kyra Mitchell: Used Earth Spike Kyra Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with Diamond Weapon Theodore Mitchell: Summoned Dimensional Blade Theodore Mitchell: Used Wraith Dash Theodore Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with Dimension Blade Ragnar: Used [Special attack] Mighty Strike on Corpsetaker Giant James Michell: Used Animage on himself. (Mana cost increased for multiple transformations) James Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with [Transformed] arms. Bare Arms bonus still applies Lucy Mitchell: Attacked Corpsetaker Giant with Athame of the Combat Witch [Special ability] Dimension Edge applied Athame of the Combat Witchs mana reservoir is being refilled by Corpsetaker Giant Lucy Mitchell: Used Dragons Hair wand on Corpsetaker Giant Lucy Mitchell: Used Dragons Hair wand on Corpsetaker Giant Lucy Mitchell: Used Dragons Hair wand on Corpsetaker Giant Corpsetaker Giant has been immobilised Lucy Mitchell: Used Rune Lore [Pit of fire] Corpsetaker Giant has been defeated Teddy looked across at another tab on the interface, this was his custom Home Screen where he chose what items went where, in the centre was the notifications section where there was a new item. You have defeated Corpsetaker Giant. Corpsetaker Giant has been wholly annihilated, it has been automatically looted. 10 Bags [Giant Powder] (silver rank) have been added to (Mitchells) inventory. 1 [Giant Toe] (silver rank) have been added to (Mitchells) inventory. 1 [Monster core (silver)] have been added to (Mitchells) Inventory. 40 [Silver] spirit coins have been added to (Mitchells). Inventory. 10 [Silver] spirit coins have been awarded to (Ragnar). Thats an alright haul. Teddy said, turning away from the giant pulling Kyra with him. Lets go over the fight on the way back to the village. They had passed a few villages before committing to the monster hunt. A silver rank monster that fed off its victims to become stronger was incredibly dangerous if not dealt with properly. Feeding off an essence user would make it far stronger. Part of being an adventurer was having the wisdom to know what fights you should go for and which you shouldnt. They had surmised that multiple urgent messages had been sent to the local society branch which were competent and would send a suitable silver rank adventurer to deal with it. When they saw the state of the last village they passed they couldnt stand by. Half the village was destroyed and half its people eaten by the monster. If they did nothing then the monster could reach the next village by the time help came. Worst case the Serenity was capable of engaging then running away. Lucy and Ragnar exchanged a coin, Ragnar giving up one of his silver ones to her. He was always a chancer and had made a bet to Lucy that the lootables would involve weapons. By my axe! Such a formidable opponent should produce such little spoils! You big cry baby, youre getting paid in silver coins for a job you spent most of the time eating. Those marvellous weapons on the good ship Serenity were fortuitous, more so that feasting may endure with their one handed use! Maybe we should add some rules about responsible use of cannons on board? Maybe not one handed while eating a sandwich. James chipped in. They all made their way up to the top deck, Teddy turned the Serenity around an set it off at a moderate pace and put it on cruise control before meeting the others at the back around the table. On the way he was almost knocked over as Kyra and James released their familiars onto the top deck. James familiar was a huge bear. Taller than James by a head or two and looked dark and sinister, he appeared on all fours on the deck and was instantly set upon. Kyras familiar was a golden Labrador retriever, a breed not native to Pallimustus so was novel to the locals. He was a lean athletic dog with a short coat and wide head perfect for patting. As soon as he was released he went for Kodas neck, bowling him over onto his back, the big bear let him, playing along with all four of his mighty paws in the air and Teddy just had to step around them. Onto the front deck, both of you. Go play around the big gun. Go! Lucky leapt off and dashed at Teddy with a quick nip before running off and Koda gave a lazy swipe that was terrifyingly fast before lumbering after the dog. Neither would ever be quick enough to catch Teddy whilst he was looking their way. The big gun on the front deck was part of their continent spanning contract. They had to take weapons-grade materials on the level of the atomic bomb across the continent to a town named Stonewall who were designers on the level of Oppenheimer to convert it not into a bomb but a huge quad barrelled gold rank weapon. It was currently under a giant tarp and tied off tight, the use of the gun on the Serenitys deck would break the ship as it had to be mounted and loaded properly if not they could have taken out the silver rank monster with ease. The contract that they were on was still active, they were still wending their way towards the final destination of Honshuraskil but at a much more sedate pace. They had contacted the Adventure Society in Greenstone when they dropped in some adventure board notices they had picked off little villages on their way through to a local branch, doing what they could to help on their way past. They found that there was a message for them to contact the deputy director as soon as they could. Ahh Mitchells! A good sight to see. If you have our message than I assume you have the cargo and are on your onward journey? Heeey Vinnie! We had a little excitement but yes were all now finished at Stonewall, sad to leave some of the friends we made there behind but we have some nice keepsakes to remember them by. Kyra cheerily replied. I hope you know, no one has ever managed to be as successful with that contract as you all have. Also, dont call me Vinnie please. The deputy director was a well dressed man, with an outrageously proportioned moustache that the boys had been convinced was due to an essence power until Kyra caught him waxing it in place one day. The Families back here have noticeably diverted their attention off your contract. I dont know what you finally did to be the last straw but you found it. Thats not to say theyre any less persistent in other matters, but at least your name doesnt come across my desk everyday. Damn V, its almost like you want to forget us! James said. The next thing I want to see about you people is a contract complete notice. Thats why I asked you to get in touch. Due to the delays in you getting in and out of Stonewall youve missed the weather window for getting into Honshuraskil, there are savage magical winds that stop any movement in or out for the next six months. Six months?! Teddy exclaimed. Well that mustve been a tight deadline to get it in beforehand. Im sure you noticed the urgency of the contract. The winds contain the gold rank threats the city needs defending using the weapon in your possession, luckily they are suitably reinforced that it will not break them to not have it this time. All I am saying is take your time, take care of yourselves and the weapon but there is no rush to get to Honshuraskil. They had left Stonewall three months ago, taking every contract they could find from every noticeboard. They had visited over a dozen villages and towns and were living the adventurer life. Chapter 81 ‘Madam Mayor’ The team and Ragnar were all sat around the large square table at the back of the top deck. They had been going over the fight with the silver rank monster trying to find efficiencies and talk about how they would do it differently. There wasnt much they could do about it as they had been rank jumping and they needed a stand-off. The Serenity was coasting along the countryside. They were in a country so vast it had little in the way of road. Open landscape with rolling hills so wide they stayed on the horizon for most of the day at top speed. The Serenity was an incredibly capable vehicle, Fourth-Stage crystal vehicles were a luxury sought out from the discerningly wealthy all over the world. It had been outfitted with large rugged all-terrain wheels which Charlie had never done before, they had been added as a cost saving measure, the exorbitant cost of the vehicle was not normally a factor for the wealthy patrons that frequented Charlies workshop. An adventurer working at silver or above could afford to run a vehicle, luckily they had thought ahead and they didnt have a problem affording the vehicle with the modifications Teddy and Lucy had helped build into the Serenity. So you reckon harpoon guns on the buggies then shoot for the legs and run rings around them? Lucy asked in exasperation. Where do you get these ideas?! Teddy and James gave each other a knowing wink. Well it would work better on something with four very long legs. James said, agreeing with his brother. Kyras face lit up in realisation as she figured it out. Maybe we mount the harpoon guns to the rear so the driver just has to scoot by and gunner shoots? Teddy was sat with his arm around her slender waist and gave her an affectionate squeeze. James leant over the table to offer her a high five which she begrudgingly shuffled forwards to return. Eurgh Lucy grunted at her own realisation. It shames me to admit friend Lucy but I do not understand your hesitation. This sounds like a wonderful hunt. To daringly test ones nerve against an opponent, riding the edge of folly to bring low a powerful beast. A happy day this would make! As he often did Ragnar got carried away when he was talking. He had a rich, deep melodious voice that was made for telling tales. As he said hunt he slammed his ever-present tankard down for emphasis and by the end of his oration he was half standing off the bench as if he were about to find the next silver rank giant to try it on. Both boys cheered and raised their cups to salute him with Kyra shaking her head regretting having joined in. Lucy placed her tiny looking hand on Ragnars huge bicep as he was making a fist in the air in his excitement, making hm sit down again. Theyre talking about Star Wars Ragnar. Star Wars? Forsooth an adventure I would deny all but the strongest of encouragement. My battleground is this good earth and the caves beneath. Water, sky and stars are an arena for some other bold hero. No Ragnar, do you remember me telling you about the story? Thats what theyre talking about. A plan to enact a tactic taken from story and legend then! It must be so. Lucy buried her head in her hands as all three boys cheersd their drinks and she frowned as Kyra joined in a beat later. Kyra shrugged. Theres no beating them, might as well join them. Quaffing her drink. Teddy stood up and went to the drivers compartment. Taking it out of cruise control he slowed it down. The ground was smooth enough beneath them that the top of the deck was completely level at all times, you could balance a spirit coin on the table and it wouldnt shiver although they were doing well over a hundred miles an hour on unprepared countryside. Even when the deep blue vehicle went up and down slopes the wheels magicanetically (James had decided to coin the term) adjusted so the occupants felt no difference. In front of him Teddy cold see a sleeping bear stretched out on the deck with its nose on the prow. To Teddy it looked a very uncomfortable angle for his body to be sleeping, compounded by Lucky sleeping full body across Kodas neck. Teddy had the first hand experience of that dog sleeping on him as Kyra sometimes let him sleep on the bed and he knew he was far heavier than he looked as he was a bronze rank summon. Beyond the lazy summons he could just pick out the settlement they were after. It was the last village they had seen before making their decision to hunt the silver rank monster, it was in tatters. The locals depended on clever camouflage magic to hide from everyday monsters up to bronze rank but the very active adventure society branch normally took out any silver rank threats before they became a problem. Teddy normally parked the Serenity on the outskirts of town as was polite for such a large vehicle then walk in. They had talked about this on the way in and he took the vehicle down the largest central street to the town centre. There was little to no traffic on the streets as the population had been decimated. Literally. There was definitely over ten percent of the population missing, the devastation of the giants visit would stay with the village for a generation or two, there would be gaps in every family. Teddy killed the power in the empty market square. He started flicking long levers this way and that then grabbed a large horizontal handle on a double lever and slid it up. The wheels underneath moved up, settling the now flat hull on the hard packed dirt. The wheels started rippling with thousands of tiny scales, they then started to fold over and over, growing larger until the folding sections got bigger and bigger until there was a single flat sheet for each wheel that folded into the hull. The others had made their way to the back drop deck that was now only a short step up from the ground it rested on. They tapped the floor and the reverse started happening of the wheels. A tiny group of square blue scales started rippling outwards, unfolding over and over then growing upwards and shaping into a pair of grills. James and Ragnar were both carrying two trestle tables under each arm and setting them up just outside the back. They opened cupboards that fitted seamlessly with the walls and started pulling food and drink out, making the tables groan under the weight. The locals came out slowly at first, curious about the huge vehicle parked in their grieving town. Then as word spread they saw the entire population come out. The attack had destroyed farms first on the outskirts, whole herds, crops ruined, many of the workers with it. The village would be in desperate need of supplies from nearby and everyone would pitch in. Since they had acquired the Serenity they had bought supplies from every settlement they had travelled through, whether they needed to or not, taking advantage of the ample dimensional storage built in. They were emptying those stores now to offer the village, supplying them in their moment of need. Hundreds of people formed a line and the team served them food and drink. The heavily normal rank population was harder to feed than a magical one where the essence users could get by on spirit coins. Once everyone had been through for food including taking a few days of supplies bagged up they hosted the newly appointed town mayor on the top deck. She looked uncomfortable, new to the role as the old town mayor had gone out to face the monster as was his responsibility. The new mayor was freshly bronze rank, as a core user in the small farming town in a low magic area she had no need to push for bronze. As part of her election to Mayor they had thrust cores upon her, normally a privilege but in light of the recent attack it was clear that position also came with danger. Madam mayor? Kyra said, making the young woman jump where she had spaced out staring at the deck around her. She accepted the mug being offered to her, she had forgone food as she said it should go to those that cant make do on spirit coins and the Mitchells had offered her something much more palatable than a coin. As she sipped the gently steaming bitter smelling black liquid she could feel the energy within, like sipping an equal rank coin but much better. You were saying where you worked before? Kyra continued to prompt. The young woman was clearly intimidated. A young woman of mid twenties. Standing on the outlandishly fantastic vessel, surrounded by the expensively outfitted adventurers that had just killed the silver rank monster that half destroyed her town. She had a waifish figure, before her rank up they reasoned she must have downright weedy. She had thick brown hair that fell to her mid back, she was constantly fidgeting with it as if she was unused to it. She wore simple clothing but well made with care, nothing she wore marked her as the mayor. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Err thankyou for this. She said, gripping the coffee mug like a lifeline. Please call me Amelia. I was the deputy manager for the regional distribution hub, I worked in the harvest warehouses making sure our crop got to where it was meant to go. Well hopefully that managerial experience will come in handy for running the town. Lucy said encouragingly. Wouldnt the actual manager be more suitable to be mayor? James asked without thinking about the girls feelings and Lucy nudged his elbow reprimanding him. No hes right. But the manager doesnt have a full set of essences, hes also quite old and she paused for a moment finding the right words. And he also doesnt have the appetite for fighting monsters to protect the town. And you do? Teddy asked, he had been quiet throughout and was now searching her with a piercing gaze. Ye-yes she said shakily meeting his gaze. Teddys eyes were black, not completely, there was still white around the outside but the centres were black holes, dark wells that seemed bottomless if you looked too far. She took a breath, remembered that she was now the mayor and tried again. Yes, I will protect these people. Teddy nodded and walked away to the stairs at the back and out of view. [Keep her talking, try to find out her essences. BRB.] Teddy put on the interface that the team shared. So. Deputy manager of a warehouse? Bet you dont have much monster fighting powers or experience. James asked bluntly. [Dont worry, James is on it.] Lucy put on the interface with a facepalm emoji. The conversation went on and they discovered she did indeed have very few combat powers with most being utility to help with her previous job, they fed it all through to Teddy on the interface and it actually populated an attribute sheet much like each of them had and anyone who joined the party. After the conversation moved on for a while they began to wonder where Teddy had gone. An hour or two of chatting to the girl on the top deck she had relaxed and they were talking about their time in Greenstone and their training. Teddy eventually came back onto the top deck and motioned everyone to the rear table from where they were clustered on the front deck. He opened a large cupboard from where it was seamlessly integrated in the crystal. He pulled out a long trunk. It was reminiscent to Lucy of the trunk that held the quidditch balls in Harry Potter. Four foot long and two foot in width and depth. The banding around it was reinforced magically with bronze rank strength to protect the insides. He took a key from a tiny rift in the air and unlocked it from the middle keyhole. Amelia had been pushed to stand next to Teddy and she looked surprised as she saw the contents. Inside was a set of armour and weapons. Teddy pulled out the armour and she saw it was a rippling scale armour, the individual scales shimmered as he moved it like a snakes skin. It was a brilliant white with black embellishments, quite smart and more show off than practical. It had hard panels on the shoulders and chest plate, the hips and knees but was all one piece. It came with a cape that attached on the shoulders with little rings to clip onto. Underneath the armour were weapons, a sword in its scabbard was lifted and laid on the table. Next was a metal pole almost as long as the sword with a small spear head that had a crosspiece of spear heads underneath it at right angles. A crossbow was at the very bottom with three pouches of bolts on a belt. This looks incredible. She said in awe, not sure what was happening. The last mayor died defending this town, an honourable interpretation of responsibility of leadership but its only as good an idea if it helps. If you are going to fight monsters then we need you to stay alive. The townspeople said he walked bravely towards the monster in his finest suit. I would leave here much happier knowing that this is your finest suit. This is for me? Yes now listen up. This is self repairing armour. It adapts the fit to the wearer so it should fit you fine. He didnt mention that if she was no longer the mayor it would then still fit the next one. It has adaptive camouflage properties so when in combat it will suit the environment you are fighting in, whilst not in combat it is a good symbol of status for official functions I feel. Youre young Amelia and you now have a position of responsibility, when you come off this ship you are going to look the part and the people are going to see you differently, these are hopefully the tools to back that up. She was running the fine material of the cape through her fingers whilst he spoke and was pensive so he carried on. This sword is nothing fancy, it has some minor speed enhancement and will bite enemies more than a regular bronze rank sword. But you are not a swordswoman yet. So a utility sword will suit you best. He picked up the steel rod and shook it, it extended to almost seven foot long and the spear heads all grew to a forearms length. The crosspiece at the end was almost a metre wide. This is what they call a boar hunting spear from where we are from. The intention is to keep the animal, or in this case, the monster away from you whilst still doing damage. He put it down on the table and it shrunk to the size it was before. Lastly he pulled out the crossbow. This is a crossbow, like a small ballistae if youve seen one before on a fortress town. It would take three or four normal rank villagers to crank this but you should be able to pull it back by hand with regular bronze rank strength. Theres a selection of regular, poison and explosive bolts to use accordingly based on the strength of your target. He stepped back to let her look at each item in turn by herself. [Good work bro, looks good.] [You had this lying around?] Kyra asked. [Yes! I was telling you about this night before last.] Teddy replied. [Well you go on about your little hobby a bit too much sometimes. So you made it before we knew about this place?] [Yeh, I was just playing around, but this makes sense, we cant leave them unable to defend themselves.] Kyra walked up and gave her husband a little squeeze. Amelia put down the armour, a small tear in her eye which she scrubbed away before turning to Teddy. I am very grateful for you showing me this but Im afraid we will have to decline. We cannot afford to purchase anything so fine before we have rebuilt and regrown our crops. She said in a dignified manner. Teddy kept a smile of his face at her pride. We havent spoken about price yet, the negotiations for how much feeding your town right at this moment still need to be had. She paled slightly as she looked at the smaller stream of people still taking food from the trestle tables at the back of the ship. What would you ask for the food? She asked. Hmm, let us discuss. He grouped the others heads in for a huddle, arms comically around each others shoulders. They made a low buzz of nonsensical noise as they actually chatted on the interface before breaking to go back to the nervous woman. The cost for the food is for one locally produced recipe book. Teddy said seriously. A recipe book?! Amelia asked incredulously. The cost for the weapons and armour will be a piece of art for each. Teddy continued. For each weapon and the armour? For each set. Teddy said, pulling two more of the trunks from the cupboard, these were iron rank equivalents of the first. Call them the sheriff and a deputy, no sense doing all the fighting yourself. Amelia looked stunned. You want a recipe book with local food and artwork? For everything youve done for us?! Locally produced art if you could please. Kyra interjected. Scenery, local attractions, that sort of thing. After her incredulity calmed down Teddy went over care and maintenance of the items in detail. James and Ragnar went downstairs to fire up the grills again to cook dinner for the town. Teddy introduced a book to Amelia which would teach her the basics of combat. What looked like a hologram of a serious looking Runic man appeared above the book who could interact and give basic lessons. A while later the rest of the team came downstairs to help serve the masses that had arrived seeing the grills start up again. They were shortly followed by the Mayor dressed in her new armour, she came down the first staircase and stopped at the middle deck resting her hands on the rear railing. Everyone stopped to stare at the exquisite armour. The cape flowing regally in the air moving around the back of the ship. Jones, Smiles, come join me if you will. She said loudly and confidently. She was a different woman, gone was the young weedy girl. Replaced in the finest armour the town had ever seen, with her hair pinned up by Kyra in rows of braids with gifted jewellery to hold it in place. She had taken the two men onto the top deck for a conversation. When they came down they were wearing matched sets of armour, the same style as her own but plain steel grey with black details on the panels. They rushed away on the tasks she had set them. She then came down herself and mixed with the townspeople, a mix of socialising and low level organising while people all ate in the same place. The next morning a caravan of goods came into the village lead by a silver rank representative of the local adventure society. I hear I am too late? The lithe leonid asked the team. We took care of it. No problem. Teddy replied shaking his hand. A Corpsetaker Giant is no mean feat. Well done. But the society wont be happy with you trying to claim the contract for it, it was a two star silver contract which is why it took a while to find someone. Were not interested in claiming the contract if its going to be a problem, we just wanted to do the right thing. Well, good on you, but be prepared for an uncomfortable conversation the next time you go in. With the town replenished and a new painting in the living space on the middle deck and one in each of the couples bedrooms the team were happy to move on. They said farewell to the town and had an official send off from what Amelia could put together in the rubble. Awarding them honourable status in the town of Stonefield in perpetuity. Teddy spun the Serenity out to face the open terrain and kicked it into gear to find their next adventure to kill time on their way to Honshuraskil. Chapter 82 ‘By city Authority’ Ragnar was working his huge double headed axe like a farmer digging a field with a spade. He stopped for a moment resting the head on the floor wile he wiped either sweat or blood from his brow. He had to kick one of the badger-type lesser monsters away as it came at him in a rage, killing it instantly. As he glanced up at the setting sun his hovering hand axe was dashing around behind him, tumbling over itself in the air as it smacked into the small monsters again and again. The Mitchells had all been out. The boys had chosen to do a desert run the village they stopped at was famous for, the vistas were breathtaking going from open desert to the lake, around and back, traditionally done wearing suppression collars. The girls were in the town, Kyra in the healing hut treating patients and doing some teaching to the staff and Lucy was in the markets stocking up and exploring. Ragnar had stayed with the Serenity. And had been the only one on board when the red flash weakly came through inside the ship, warning of monster activity nearby. He had gone out on the top deck and seen he was surrounded by tiny holes in the ground like an insect hive. He had jumped down to glory and combat to only find berserk lesser monsters that must have spawned underground. These kinds of monsters were able to be dealt with by normal rank people with guts and crude weapons. Ragnar was mostly bored as he dispatched them. When he was done he trudged back up the stairs into the Serenity. He trusted the minuscule ripples of tiny facets of crystal would shift the blood and filth he was walking in back overboard. He made his way to his cabin and unlocked it with his aura before going in. He had taken some persuading by Kyra but he had finally decorated it how he liked it and it made him happy every time he opened the door. Thick furs on the floor and bed that his feet sunk into, scenes of battle captured in paint and canvas on every wall. He had a few trinkets and art from each place they visited, picking up the habit from Kyra. He made his way to the shower and got in with his armour still on. It was mildly crystal wash infused, part of the luxury design of the Fourth-Stage crystal vehicle. When his armour was clean he took it off and hung it outside the shower to dry whilst he luxuriated in the hot water. When he was done he towel dried and put on a soft silk set of training clothes with a quilted jacket that had a wide lapel before heading up to the top deck to watch the sun set and wait for the others. Lucy and Kyra headed back together. Lucy had a few new books that she was reading while Kyra drove the buggy, easily able to hold a conversation whilst reading complicated material and they had all got used to it now and it wasnt considered rude. So she told me that she couldnt understand why the guy kept coming in with the infection. Every few weeks hed come back in with the same foot fungus and she would treat him again, when she offers him the ointment to take with him he turns it down saying he would just lose it. Then two weeks later hes back in her hut. Huh Lucy said without looking up. She attractive this healer? She was very pretty, the right age and single. I had the same thought. Its not often when I come through healing somewhere that a guy wants to see the regular healer. Lucy did look up at that, looking over Kyra. She wore her ever present diamond armour, not entirely made of diamond but large chunks of it were covered in solid diamond panels. It was figure hugging like a wetsuit or a costume design from a marvel comic. For modestly she had some loose flowing clothes over the top, a neck ring with strips of cloth attached that billowed with large gaps until they reached her waist where they cinched in before flowing to the floor like a loose skirt. She was stunningly beautiful even by essence user standards, her long braided hair reached past her waist, tied in multiple miniature braids with carved barrel charms that glinted with divine light even when not in the direct sunlight. So hes in love then. Lucy stated flatly going back to her book. Not wanting to sound big headed but yes. Once hed had his treatment and sent on his way I poured her a cup of tea and explained this too her. She honestly had no idea. Lucy snorted to show her amusement and packed away her book. As they got near the Serenity she grabbed the dashboard in front of them and it started folding up. The timing was perfect so that as they got a few steps away from the ship the bottom folded out from underneath them and they stepped out no onto the drop deck. Kyra had held onto a plate of the crystal that it all folded into and she slapped it into the side where they stored the buggies. Making their way to the top deck they found Ragnar lounging on a recliner. A large tankard in easy reach as he played on an instrument like a ukulele but with a longer thin neck and only three strings. It gave a surprisingly rich and deep sound for such a small instrument more like a double bass. Ah shieldmaidens! At last! Do we find drink or do we find fight? Lucy made his day by pulling two contracts from her pocket she had copied from the local noticeboard. His face lit up and he nearly exploded from his lounger, his hand axe leapt from the railing it was resting against into his hand. Onwards! Fell the foul foe in their fetid festering fortresses of futile fosterment. Ragnar Im sorry theyre more pest control than epic battle. Kyra said kindly. Lucy was still holding up the contracts like a pair of tickets in shock. Wow, we really need to get you out, have you spent all this time thinking up that line or do they just come to you like that? Ragnar blushed a little through his beard. Mine axe has had fruitless conquest in the days of recent and yearns for a worthy opponent. But we fought those huge round blob things two days ago? Lucy said. Indeed so And the huge bird lizard that almost ate you a day before that. Kyra interrupted. Truly you speak truly but What about that big hairy one last week that you almost lost your hand axe inside except you had it cut its way out from inside? Lucy interrupted. A thorough battle can only And it was only two weeks ago we put down that silver rank monster all together. Kyra pointed out before he could finish what he was saying. He sat down with a thump. Little shockwaves of crystal accommodating his large frame. Ah fine adventures we have I admit. More is ever the plague upon us. We must ever seek more, do more, help more. For only then will we find the deeds that are sung about us in the halls of heroes. They were interrupted from consoling Ragnar in his pouty toddler phase of having nothing worthwhile killing by the boys getting back. Teddy teleported straight to the top deck with no sound at all and zipped over to hug his wife. He gave Lucy a quick high five and thumped Ragnar on the shoulder as he zipped past to the Captains chair, it had taken him a second or two. He started the Serenity moving then came back to the others. So whats going on happy shiny people? Well were trying to cheer up Ragnar, hes upset that hes not killed anything today. Lucy said, sitting down. Nae, prithy I have not spoken fully. I have slain many creatures today. Err, what or who have you been killing today? Teddy asked, slightly worried. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Lesser monsters, a small swarm of Bother-Badgers. They fell to my axe in the lee of the village. Well, lets move on, theres plenty monsters around Im sure, well find you something worth killing. Teddy got up to head back to the driving station. We did pick up these two contracts Lucy said, looking to the table where she had put them down, there was only one left. Yeh, did you get those from the village? About those He was interrupted by a large monster the shape and size of a horse dropping in the dirt next to them, it had heads at either end and knees that bent to allow it to travel in either direction. Undignified in death its four foot long spiked tongues lolled out. A griffin landed ahead of them and shifted into James who jumped up on board. The second contract dissolved in front of their eyes. We also picked up those contracts and decided to take them out before we headed off. Teddy held his hands out in supplication. Sorry? James released Koda on the front deck where he had landed from his jump and was making his way round. Teddy quickly in hushed tones spoke to the others. Look, dont mention the run to James, he didnt enjoy it and is very grumpy about it. Four. Fecking. Hours. James said, clearly overhearing Teddy. Of course Im grumpy. Why was it so bad? You fought underground at Stonewall basically power suppressed by the natural array? Lucy asked putting a hand on his forearm to calm him. Because that wasnt running. He said grumpily, but placed a huge hand over her tiny one. You remember I was pretty spritely in the tasks on Baboas ship? Teddy asked. Turns out my body has got good at that sort of thing. Our personal human bear that walks on its back legs and sometimes showers well you can imagine how comfortable a bear running on its back legs for four hours in the desert is. And he cheated, he was still wearing those damn boots. James grumbled. What did you want me to do?! Run barefoot? You didnt have to top them up with sand quintessence when they ran out! Kyra tutted at both boys and got up to go to the front of the deck to see Koda in front of the tarpaulined gun, both of them out of sight. Shes been spending a lot of time with Koda recently Teddy wondered for a moment before brushing off the thought. Anyway, we should hit the coast soon, were meeting the edge of a river that parallels what we would call the Red Sea, the locals call it the Gulf of Arngote. We follow the water north until we hit the next coastline which is the coast of what we would know as the Mediterranean Sea. They call it the Arngotian sea, you can see the naming convention for the area. Lucy pointed out. Theres a major city that controls the output for the trade routes well stop and re supply then we need to make a decision about travelling overland or over sea. Ragnar looked sulky at the mention of this and twiddled his thick bushy moustache, having already been told off for acting like a toddler he kept his mouth shut about his opinions of travelling over water. They travelled the rest of the day in peace, the road network was well built in this part of the world and they saw other traffic going both ways, very few vehicles were as big as theirs and they were almost exclusively cargo trucks as James called them. Mostly it was wagons pulled by heidel or other beasts of burden, a few of which the Mitchells hadnt seen before. The team were confident in their abilities, between them they had fought silver rank monsters, been ambushed, taken much higher odds and gone toe-to-toe with other bronze rank essence users. Many travellers on the road sought shelter for night time but the Serenity kept going. With less traffic on the road with the approaching twilight they could actually speed up. They reached the waterfront at full dark. Out on the water they saw lots of rowboats lit up by different coloured lights. They were all at anchor with no one on board, all facing upriver as they were held by anchor with the eddy lines flowing around them reflecting the lights. The lights were also attached to lines that lead to the shore to small fishing villages. Instead of one large town there seemed to be a continuous sprawl along the shore. They turned north and kept to the road. There was a continual crowd of locals blindly walking across the road, either casually heading home for the night and then later more drunks winding their way across the road away from the water. Teddy was driving as he was able to dodge the huge vessel out the way easier when drunks randomly stepped onto the road. Screw this Teddy said. He found a big enough gap and checked a small ball of normally clear crystal on the dashboard, it was covered by a clam shell piece of crystal he had to roll back and it showed an almost solid bronze colour swirling like oil within. It showed the current ambient magical density surrounding the ship. With a clear power margin in mind he found a roughly big enough gap to aim for between dwellings. With a practiced manoeuvre he jumped the vessel out over the water, cushioning the landing so there wasnt even a splash. THEODORE!! Came a deep below from within the ship and the rest of the occupants came up to join Teddy on the top deck. What foul plan is this?! How can one achieve fair footing without earth beneath ones feet?! Ragnar exclaimed, holding onto James with one white knuckled fist and a railing with the other as they came up the rear stairs. His body language firmly turned away from looking overboard. Teddy connected the dots pretty quickly. Ragnar, can you not swim?! It is not a skill I have mastered no. It He was cut off by four rapid boats coming at the Serenity from different angles. [Stations, standard boarder repel layout, hold fire incase they want to talk.] Teddy snapped off rapidly. Everyones home page on the interface was suddenly populated with a diagram of the Serenity with positions labelled for each of them with arcs of fire that were their responsibility. Teddy relinquished the controls, having four versus four incoming was better right now than trying to run. Ragnar and James lifted thin panels on the top of the railings and took the swivel guns out, a corona of light visible in the dark on the muzzles. Kyra leant over the bow, pulling two seamless doors apart and pulling the huge harpoon gun over the railing to aim at one of the boats. Lucy was set with a rune circle under her feet and one attached to her left wrist, her Athame in her right hand balancing the edge of the blade over her left Vambrace ready to fire. The four ships shone bright spotlights onto the Serenity, painting the hull in magnesium bright light. Teddy was still standing at the drivers station when they did this and he matched them and more. The crystal hull of the Serenity was incredibly magical, it stored sunlight throughout the day to be used in different ways, a common trait in high end magical materials. In this instance he manipulated the controls so that he not only flooded the incoming vessels with a much brighter light than they were producing but also set it to a rapid strobing effect whilst keeping the water around them pitch black. This had the effect of blinding those on board but making them easy targets for those onboard the Serenity. Two of the rapid attack craft almost gently crashed into each other with the swearing of five or six men on board, it was hard not to find it funny as one of the boats was obviously sinking. STOP! Came a magically enhanced voice from one of the non-crashed boats. You are being detained by the authority of Arngo waterway authority! [Does it feel like were being detained to anyone?] James asked on the interface. [Shh James, let Teddy do the talking.] Lucy admonished. Lo there, we were a little surprised to be set upon like that. Stop your craft, preferably all together you can save that other one from sinking. Teddy shouted back. [Pack it all up guys, if this is the authorities then lets not antagonise them.] and he shut off the strobing light. The three serviceable attack craft surrounded the damaged one and lashed themselves to it so it wouldnt sink further. [Im going to go out as a measure of good faith, James slip off the back side and give me some underwater backup but stay out of detectable range, Im sure youve got something up your sleeve. Everyone else stay fresh incase its a red herring.] [Theodore, whilst I am still not happy with you I must ask, what does this irksome situation have to do with a fish?] Ragnar asked. Teddy smiled and slapped him on the shoulder as he jumped overboard, as he slowly fell using his Winged Feet ability to give him time to slip some blue quintessence into the top of each of his boots, they bled a dark blue colour like they were being soaked from the top down and when he reached the water he stepped onto it like solid ground. He made his way over to the boats where a man stood on the prow with a bow and arrow pointing at him. Teddy had got used to holding his hands out to either side to show he was unarmed rather than hands up as more powers required the latter to attack. I think we got off on the wrong foot, we must have missed something. We are team Mitchell and associate Ragnar who is an acolyte of the church of Hero, were currently under contract with the Adventure Society. Caleb, Captain Caleb. Im tonights night Guard Captain. Your boat is not registered with us, well need to escort you off the water and charge you. Therell be no proceedings against you as youre on Adventurer business, that is, if you can prove you are. Happy to, if you can prove who you say you are, were not local and you could be pirates for all we know. The man un-nocked his arrow and it vanished. He pulled out a badge and held it out for Teddy to see. He had to walk closer over the surface of the water to get to see the markings. By city Authority Arngo His Royal Majesty King Arn divulges responsibility of policing his waterways to the bearer of this token. Any action against this agent will be taken as against the crown and will have the full might of the crown against the perpetrator. There was a subtle magic to the badge which made Teddy believe it was genuine. [Guys I think we were very nearly in real trouble here.] Chapter 83 ‘Coffee’ Gerald was on a cart headed into the centre of the island. Gerald loved his job. He had enjoyed being a housekeeper for most of his adult life. His tribe was one of many that was subordinate to another in the mountains and his people had always taken subservient roles so there was no shame in it. He had excelled in his service and had struck out to use it elsewhere around the world. But no family he has worked for had brought him the joy he felt managing the new business. The idea had been slowly developed after the Mitchells left town. As the keeper of the house it was incumbent on him to keep the estate in good order whilst the owners are away. The pleasant locale outside the city with the scenic views and pleasant gardens gave him the idea of hosting a series of meetings and conferences at the estate. The income supported the property and the regular turnover kept the atmosphere of the estate in an occupied state rather than sad and empty which Gerald had experienced before. He had been surprised when some of the higher class clientele came back to the estate when they had no meeting scheduled, they were greeted and shown inside as was proper, when asked if they would like refreshment they all requested the coffee Gerald made and enjoyed it out in gardens under the overhanging boughs of the trees. With no measurable sign of output from their meeting they thanked Gerald and departed. This happened again and again, with guests often bringing their friends. Gerald had adapted and got extra furniture for outside. He had the idea when speaking to a friend of his who was serving a family in town. They had been astonished that Gerald had such freedom to make decisions and he realised that he really did have freedom and knew the Mitchells would want him to. He decided there and then what he was going to do. He took a loan from the Merchants Guild, he wasnt allowed to take the loan out in his own name as he owned no property so it had to be taken out in the Mitchells name but he knew the rate at which they made money and he knew even if he failed that they would be safe. He hired enough workmen to overnight enact his plan. The villa had been gifted to the Mitchells by the church of Hero. He had replaced the ironwork above the large gates that lead to the property with simple ironworks that read Mitchells. The courtyard inside was gently sloping upwards from the gate. Large enough for half a dozen large carriages he had added level platforms for round tables and six chairs around each, the tables were decorated with fresh flowers and fine cloth shades above. The courtyard had a series of stables and workshops off either side, he left most of these as they were as they were a functional part of the estate but knocked two of the workshops on one side through to form one large room and added a large conference suite with meeting facilities. The house was left mostly the same with the walkway from the large wooden front door to the back made straight through with signs that read staff only. Out in the garden was the vip area, more secluded and discrete, the tables were set up around the underneath of the trees boughs and were far enough apart to give the feel of privacy. Other than beef up the kitchen and his side room where he produced his coffee Gerald hadnt made any other changes in the beginning. Using his network of friends serving other families in the city he had made it known the day it was complete. The staff in each notable household had subtly influenced their employers. A large meeting of the churches was quietly rearranged to be held in the new conference room. Friendly catch ups were arranged between high ranking acquaintances and a persistent rumour about the estate just outside the city gates was spread to encourage curious people. The result was the day after Gerald had made changes the estate was packed with people. He had four of the main churches in his meeting room. He had been up all night cooking his finest to cater the event and he himself was running on a lot of coffee. He was just keeping up, each of the dozen tables out front was full and he had multiple silver rankers out back in he garden enjoying the tranquility and peace. By the end of the day he was burnt out. He had kept his pride and no one had been left waiting for his service which remained an exemplary level of professionalism. He realised needed help. The network of city staff was invaluable. By the next morning he had three teenagers smartly dressed in black and white in the kitchen. Listen here. This establishments reputation is unsullied and will remain that way do ye ken? Ill nae have any of yous ruin what has been started here. We are at the start of something that can be great. I will be taking the clientele in the gardens and running the kitchen. Clarissa you will be my second, I want you to be seen out front as much as yeh can, youll be in charge o the conference room. Ben and Tom, take responsibility for half of the courtyard each, they will be your appointed tables yeh help each other out yeh hear? He had three nodding heads and they all separated. It was a good job he had got the new staff as the word had gotten around and the second day was even busier, going late into the night. A few weeks went past and Gerald felt it was a blur. They were so busy running their little business he had no time to stop and think. One morning he was sat in the courtyard having breakfast with the staff, he made a habit of sitting down and having a friendly meal and coffee with them before the shift, the estate had a familial feel to it that he was keen to encourage and genuinely believed it would be nicer to run it that way. As they were sat having breakfast they heard a polite knocking at the gate, it was far too early for customers hence why the gates were shut. Gerald got up to deal with it himself. At the gate was an elf servant he recognised. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. David, youve come all the way down here from house Davone, pleasure to see ye! He said, opening the gate and clasping forearms with the well dressed elf butler. A pleasure to see you again too dear friend. Come in, come in, theres plenty of breakfast left, join us for a coffee. The elf accepted the invitation, sitting at the nice table with the others and relaxing amongst peers. They swapped gossip about the comings and goings of nobility for a while and David gave the three teenagers some insight and wisdom of his years of service with top tips. As nice as it is youve come to break fast with us this morn but what can we do for yeh? Gerald asked. David primly dabbed one of the fine napkins at the corners of his mouth and took his final sip of coffee before he sat up straight to answer. My employer has asked me to come down as a preliminary opener to see if you would be amenable to negotiation. He said, much more businesslike now. Aye? And what would they think Im in a position to negotiate on? They know the Mitchells are engaged elsewhere for the now. They are aware, they have sent me to initiate dialogue with yourself as a household staff to household staff interaction. So its nae a takeover then. Gerald said, voicing his biggest concern that someone would want to take all this away from him. Gods no Gerald, if anything this should help secure your position. David picked up his mug and held it up to show it. This coffee that you have is delightful, it is making quite the buzz around the city, literally and figuratively. My house would like to offer contract to this wonderful Cafe, the Mitchells used the term before they left Im sure it fits. Cafe, while the coffee is delightful we wanted to offer variety. You are well aware Im sure that the Davone family are some of the finest growers of tea in the Mistrun Valley. We export our tea wholesale around the world but would like to take the opportunity to offer contract to your cafe. And that was the start of the contractors coming on board to the Mitchell cafe. There was a bakery in the Cavendish district that Gerald frequented, he had a similar visit from them early one morning and had a contract with them to provide food to the cafe freshly baked every morning. One evening one of the patrons asked for something a little stiffer than tea and coffee and Gerald luckily had enough in the house liqueur cabinet but the next day set out to secure a contract for booze, he was delighted to find the Norwich brewery had a fine selection and were happy to set up a bar in the courtyard that would stay closed during the day then they would staff in the evenings, paying overheads to the cafe of course. Norwich himself came down the first night to serve and showed Gerald hat he had brought from straight spirits to beers and a partnership he had with a local vineyard for wines. It was all going incredibly well, the business model was very successful and they were producing quality food and beverages, for reasonable rates, paying the staff well and also turning a large profit. Gerald had got to the point he could trust the three staff he had and took the first day of the week off to himself. He managed to get the organisation done mostly during the working week but he was a little behind one week. He had a leisurely start, getting up after a wonderful lie in until six in the morning and went to the breakfast bar inside to read through a build up of mail. When he read the letter from the merchants guild he almost spit his coffee all over it. He rushed into town carrying all his documents. He was made to wait for over an hour before he could see an associate to go over his case. The letter had outlined the outstanding loan. Gerald was under the understanding that the loan was being paid off as per the terms and conditions. He was mortified to discover that was not the case. The word somehow hadnt been passed to him that payment was not able to be taken as there was a long dismissed clause that had been overlooked as far as anyone could remember that the owner of the loan had to be the one to pay it off and as such Gerald was unable to make payments. The interest of the missed payments was accruing and the guild was soon to make a seizure to pay it off. He was in the Merchants Guild for the better part of the day trying to sort it out but ended trudging home frustrated. Gerald kept visiting the Adventure Society to attempt to find out where the Mitchells were and eventually found himself in front of the deputy director himself. The man looked like he was going to rip his fantastic moustache off at the news which slightly scared the generally stoic Gerald. He sent him away still frustrated but assured him that he will send a carriage for him as soon as the team made contact. He had an unpleasant meeting that evening. To get ahead of the problem he had all the businesses contracted to the cafe in the meeting room for dinner and explained the situation. He presented the facts and figures, easily proving they were making enough to pay the loan if they were allowed to make repayments. They were all incredibly supportive, they had all been operating in high society to know there was something shady going on driven from the nobility. They discussed long into the night but found no solution, they promised to stay with the cafe until the Merchants Guild literally came to seal the gates. They were days away from seizure when relief came. It was a strange situation as the week before representatives had come to deliver the notice in person, seen the cafe and decided to come back every day as customers. The Deputy Director himself turned up at the gates during service and ran in to get Gerald; pulling him into the carriage. It sped through the streets to the waterlink chamber in the adventure society directors office. After the call to the Mitchells in Stonewall he was a little shaken, he was back in the kitchen at the villa having a stiff drink at the breakfast bar when Clarissa came in. Everything all right boss? She asked, worried at his unusual behaviour. Aye, just theres a lot tae think aboot. Oh yeh? Hit me. She said, pouring herself a measure and sitting opposite him. Gerald gave her a serious consideration. She had been invaluable since the inception of the cafe proper. She ran it as well as he did when he wasnt around and had a fantastic work ethic. He finished his own drink as a shot. How would yeh feel aboot having yeh own shop? A month later and Gerald was on a cart headed to the centre of the Island. He had the days coffee on board, he was the only one with the recipe as no one else was trusted. He had supplies for the inner city cafe that was just as busy as the villa but with slightly less prestigious clientele and the two coffee carts that did the rounds selling as much coffee each as the two cafes combined. He thought about how grateful he was for the trust the Mitchells had placed in him. Chapter 84 ‘Worth in the eye of the beholder’ Teddy and Ragnar were drunkenly singing on the dock. They were being taught local drinking songs by an equally drunk Caleb. He had escorted them to the docks to process the infraction. Happily it tur;ned out that they were real Guard for the waterways leading off the Arngotian sea. It was a familiar story of the activity around the water, the sea was silver verging on gold rank magical density, the waters leading to and from the sea were treasure troves of magical manifestations. That lead to the busy fishing and gathering communities the gathered around the banks. Because of the importance of the trade route which mirrored that of earth the local government of Arngo controlled access to the water. Boats had to have license to operate on the water and ships had to pay a toll at either end or at specified launching points along the water. The fine that was due for the launch had been waived, it had mostly been replaced by two bottles of hooch from one of the villages they had passed through. James hadnt surfaced from when he went overboard but he had acknowledged their messages about where they had been going when they posted them on the group. Lucy had shut herself in the workshop when she saw the hooch emerge from the ship and Kyra had withdrawn the gangplank telling them she would put it back down in the morning before she disappeared back from the railing with Koda who had been left on board. It was a hollow gesture as they could jump back on, depending how drunk they eventually got. In the early morning James walked along the dock dripping wet to find five figures draped across the crates and ropes. Teddy had fallen asleep or unconscious across Ragnars lap as if the big man had been holding him. Well isnt this cute? He said as he kicked one of Teddys feet. Everyone lying on the floor sleepily roused. The guard officials stood first straightening their uniform and looking around. Dont worry, no one is around, the girls said no one has been snooping round the dock at any point in the night. I, I, I dont know what you mean, our shift was over. The younger guard said. Yeh but doesnt look too professional does it now? James replied. Dont worry about it, its good to blow off steam every now and then and youre safe with us. Four drunken elves and theyre putting up shelves Teddy slur sang as he got up and twisted his back to stretch. It was strangely similar to the hundred green bottles song tune. All right guys promise is a promise, breakfast. He took a three step run up and made it to the drop deck of the Serenity, he almost overshot in is wooziness and ended up in the water on the far side but he caught a railing. Kyra appeared at the middle deck, shaking her head at her boozy husband. Its a shame you didnt get the song essence, I could live with you being drunk and tuneful rather than drunk and fast at running. And she let the gangplank down for the others. They sat on the top deck with the three guards watching the sun come up over the horizon whilst they ate a simile of bacon and eggs with steaming mugs of coffee. The team watched with interest as dozens of men and women made their way out to their boats on the water, some walking across the lines like a tight-rope, some simply walking across the water with obvious essence powers. Others got together into a larger boat, these were generally an older bunch with a young man rowing them around dropping them off at various boats. Kyra, out of character, picked a notebook out of a pouch and made a note in it. It was generally Lucys habit and it pricked Teddys curiosity. Whatre you writing down babe? He asked, not leaning in to pry, giving her privacy. Oh, she said putting the notebook away. Just thinking of commissioning some art if it doesnt already exist. I was thinking a portrait of the river, painted from the bank. With a divide down the middle with the night on one side and the beautiful lights and the other side this beautiful sunset. Well you arent the first to think of that Mrs Mitchell. One of the guards said while he nudged the youngest. Teddy was sure thats not what she had written down but he trusted his wife and had no reason to dive further into it. Well you see Mrs, I um, I do a little painting. Oh really! And you have a piece like I described? Well maybe, but you see Im not very good. I do it for fun. I dont have no fancy powers like, some of the Bankside painting club have essences that make their paintings really pop. I have the frog essence. He finished lamely. Kyras face brightened up. Well I bet the frog essence makes you a very effective waterways guard, an amphibious power must come in handy. My sister-in-law isnt like that, she likes the story behind art, if its been drawn by a man who''s job it is to look over the water day and night and keep it safe that will interest her. Youll see the water from a unique perspective. Lucy said. Go on. Go get it. Caleb nudged the young man. He looked embarrassed but his Captain had now told him in no uncertain terms to go and fetch it so he made his way off the Serenity to their own boat where they kept their belongings. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Thank you for the party last night and thank you for your hospitality this morning. Caleb said. I explained it last night but how much do you remember? Err, something about a prince gets a special ticket and he razzes up and down with no regard? Teddy said. Caleb blushed slightly. Just keep that part to yourself. Theres a system of tolls up and down the river, we police it to make sure no one is abusing the traffic system, if everyone did what they wanted then the big cargo ships might not get through you see, and the king gets a tax off goods moving through the city even if theyre not bound for there. And he charges for the tolls, and for the licence for these boats to operate? Teddy asked. You make it sound unreasonable, but he charges a fair amount, not more than people can afford, if people want to fish for fun there are other places to go. And adventurers? Well most stick to the road, theres passenger craft for others who dont fancy it. We can do something special for you and yours though. Whilst they had been talking the young man had made his way back up. He carried a hard tube under one arm that looked like the tall broad leaves of the bank-side reeds woven and dried with resin end caps to seal it. Now Mrs, its not exactly like you said see, Im sure theres others who have done better and closer to what you fancy and much better quality. Pah, stand straight young warrior, make thine back a rod of iron and your will shall follow. This is but one more battleground to become proficient, the shieldmaiden a foe to overcome. See her there as a target, your skill with brush your weapon. If thinketh you your weapon is not sharp enough then you must convince the enemy it is, then the battle may be won more easily. And the spoils ever richer! All the Mitchells turned to look at Ragnar and Kyra spoke up. I didnt realise you liked bartering so much Ragnar, youre coming shopping with me next time! The young man heeded the words and stopped being so hesitant. The big warrior was naturally awe inspiring for the young man and he wanted to impress him. He confidently pulled out a rolled up set of paintings, shuffled them so the right one was on top then walked round the table and reached over Kyra to put them on the table in front of her. The painting wasnt magical, its brush strokes skilled but still human made. But the style was captivating. It was indeed a sunrise over the water. Captured in watercolour he had skilfully caught a breath of wind stirring the surface of the water, leaves blowing, insects flying into wind and the leaves bending. The perspective on it was excellent, with a very good eye for depth. The nearest reeds were rather large but as they were bent by the wind across the canvas he had added another style. The wide reeds in the foreground were not filled with green but afforded a window to a different scene. The wide leaves in front of the day scene showed the night scene within them. Where they crossed a boat on the river the back half was in the day and the front was night; at anchor with the coloured lights on the prow and anchor line. The higher reeds showed the stars and moon above, on the opposite side of the painting as the sun was rising. Kyra took a long time looking over the painting appraising it. The others had a good look then started making conversation again. The young man stood nervously over her shoulder as she looked at it, he twitched slightly when she started to leaf through the other sheafs in the stack, seeing half finished works and doodles of ideas. Kyra pushed back her chair and stood facing the young man. I think I may be interested if the price is right. The young man suddenly looked flustered. Err Ive never sold any of my art before, how much do you want to give me for it? Kyra rolled her eyes then looked at Ragnar, nodding her head sideways for him to get up and help the hapless young man. He got to his feet and came round, standing at the mans shoulder and cupped his hand to whisper in his ear. Err five bronze coins. He said, trying to sound confident. Bronze coins! Measuring your worth in bronze coins already! A non-magic painting from a man not even an iron ranker, bronze ranks coins indeed, very well Ill give you one for it. The man blushed, embarrassed and was about to accept the offer and make it over with when Ragnar clamped his hands on his shoulders and whispered in his ear again. Well you see the worth of the painting is in the eye of the beholder, this is a unique perspective of the river and a custom work sought for by yourself. Ill come down to four bronze coins. Kyras eyes twinkled with amusement almost as much as her diamond armour, she was enjoying this. Four?! I suppose it is exactly what I was after plus the perspective of a local but its not mounted, Ill have to find someone to produce fittings for it Oh I can do that for you. Teddy chipped in and she shot him a glare. Very well, call it three bronze coins and Ill shake. The young man looked completely blown away, there was no way it was worth that much and it was only Ragnars advice and insistence that he push for such a high price. Normal rank goods and services normally passed coin at lesser rank or iron, bronze rank coins normally paid for magical goods. Before he could speak Ragnar gave him a squeeze on the shoulders and he coughed clearing his throat. Done, the painting is all yours Mrs Mitchell. I hope you enjoy it. She took out thee coins from her pouch and they shook hands, Kyra smiling and the young man managed a nervous smile. Now that the transaction was complete Caleb stood up. Well now youve paid my man several months his salary Im hoping he can get back to work? Err, yes Sir. He said scrambling to put the other paintings in the tube and stand ready. Mr Mitchell. Caleb said addressing Teddy. We understand that you are on important adventure business and require assistance from the waterways guard. Teddy looked mildly confused but interested where it was going. Please allow us to escort you downriver to within city boundaries where we can pass you over to the care of the city guard. Well damn, sure thing Caleb. Well take an escort. Teddy said smiling and shaking his hand. Soon the guards had got off the Serenity and into their own little rapid attack craft. They had three left with one under repairs from the crash. They had one in front and one behind the Serenity, the third pushed out ahead as fast as it could to clear the way. Now the sun was full up the Mitchells and Ragnar saw there was a lot more traffic then they could have seen from the road, there was a steady stream of barges and transport boats, the small fishing style boats weaving in and out of traffic lines going to and from. As the guard boat went between it sounded a siren, the traffic shifted to the sides allowing plenty of room for the Serenity to follow at a fast pace. The boys grinned as Teddy followed the patrol boats loving the escort. The girls shook their heads at the boys immaturity and sat at the rear table enjoying the scenery. It took them less than a day to reach the city outskirts and they were impressed at what they saw. Chapter 85 Ole! The city rose in front of them. A huge central spire that looked thin like an antennae but they realised how big it was as they got closer. Caleb was true to his word and as they got close they met a set of uniformed guards. Well met Caleb, hows the country treating you? Taylor, Im sure its a lot quieter than city rotations. How did you manage water duty? Told my supervisor Id open up the next wrymwood user with my sword the next time they assaulted either me or one of my men when we stop them. He agreed I needed a break from the streets so I get to deal with angry barge captains instead. Wrymwood? James asked Caleb as he was standing next to him. Drug produced by a creature that lives nearby the mud flats, leaves this stuff like a slime that makes the user hallucinate but then incredibly violent. Outlawed in the city for obvious reasons, pretty obvious to find it though, the mud stinks. That and the idiot is normally swinging for the nearest innocent bystander. Taylor added. And whos this youre escorting then Caleb? New friends, an Adventuring team bound for Honshuraskil on the weapon contract. Had a bit of a misunderstanding about the water laws but all got sorted out and then we decided to expedite their journey for them. Ah got it, well well take you into the city, hope you enjoyed speeding along but theres a bit of a snaffu up ahead and the traffic is backed up. Whats happened? Teddy asked. Maybe we can help. Weve got a team on it at the moment, two earth essence users trying to dig it out from either side but its dug itself in sideways and got rammed in place by a barge going either way. I have the earth essence, maybe I can help speed it up? Kyra added. Aye thatll be good to help, well then Caleb, Ill take them from here. You guys reckon you can keep up in that pleasure yacht? He spun his attack craft round, pointing back downriver and shot off. The team waved to Caleb who smiled and waved them off. Teddy smiled as he punched a lever forward. The Serenity shot forward faster than any boat had a right to, the hull slipping through the water with no resistance rather than pushing it. When he rapidly caught up with the attack craft that was going full speed he eased a lever down with the palm of his hand and the bow dipped forming a wave in front of the Serenity, it picked up the stern of the attack craft and they saw Taylor captaining the little boat look around in mild panic. He waved them off and slowed down, Teddy altered the controls back to normal. They soon came between stacked up parked traffic, the various captains all shouting to one another and Taylor to find out what was going on. When they got closer Taylor was nudging smaller boats out the way and reprimanding essence users or people with special items standing on the water to gawk. They saw what was causing the delay in getting the boat unstuck. Well that wasnt there when I left! Taylor exclaimed. Around twenty people were fighting an enormous monster. They had studied it in the academy annex as a bit of a case study. It was a Twelve Headed Hydra, more like what the Mitchells knew from Disneys Hercules. It had a purple body that stood on two short fat legs, its belly rested on the floor. It had a long tail that had fluting all the way down but seemed to be there just for balance. The heads had multiple rows of sharp shark-like teeth that seemed too big for its mouth. It started off as a low power bronze rank monster with one head. When an ill informed adventurer was unwise enough to cut off one of the highly mobile heads which seemed like the obvious threat then two more appeared and it became more powerful. It was called a Twelve Headed Hydra because Teddy was quickly counting. Nonono please dont he said under his breath. An adventurer with a long two handed sword dodged a lunging neck and struck a fatal blow behind the frill on the back of the head, it fell to the floor with a wet thud. Bugger. Teddy and James said together. A bright silver light shone from the monster, driving the surrounding fighters back. The monster grew in size, each head became longer, with more teeth. The neck that held the head that had been cut off now split in half lengthwise, a gunk falling off from the slimy film between the halves. The necks became armoured and had spikes along them. Where the body was fat and squat on two legs before it now stood on four legs, grotesquely muscled with huge talons. Two tails came out the rear, long and whip-like with barbs on the end. Thirteen Headed Hydra. Taylor whispered in awe. The nomenclature for the Thirteen-Headed Hydra was misleading, it could have as many heads as it wanted, they used it to show the distinction between the bronze rank variant and the silver. It had just got a lot more powerful. Kyra, Ragnar get on the swivel guns on the bow. Lucy, start banging away at that thing. James were going to need whatever poison you can get into that thing however you can, Im going in to get some of those guys out of there. Teddy ordered. Speaking out loud for Taylors benefit. Teddy smashed his hand into the big button in the centre of the console and the Serenity went into high power mode. She vibrated subtly as armoured panels slid out of thin slits that formed in the crystal. The Fourth-stage crystal was an incredibly magical and strong material but they had received an upgrade curtesy of the Stonewallers for letting them play with the ship. The armour panels clunked into placed and hummed with power. Teddy grabbed a magic crystal from a drawer and held it to his throat. MOVE! He boomed, augmented by the magical item. Ragnar and Kyra got to the front of the ship and pulled out the swivel guns, two each, having one in each hand. They started pummelling the monster as people scrambled out the way. Lucy started drawing rune circles where she was standing at the back of the ship, one at her feet and one above her head. The one at her feet was a swirling vortex that drew mana from the air into her body, the one above her head she fed the mana to before launching a magic missile into it. It shot off like a NASA space rocket, blowing everyones hair as it arced away towards the monster. Teddy looked over the assembled fighters. He saw a range of gear, most were obviously part-timers, maybe picking up a job with a barge as protection to bump their pay. There were one or two competent adventurers who were trying to coordinate but werent having much luck. With shots in the air and the monster fighting again Teddy activated his Eyes of the Swift power and time slowed to a crawl. He suddenly saw the ghostly images surrounding the fight, where the blasts from the swivel guns and the rocket from Lucy would land, he saw the lunges of the Hydras heads and so who would get hit. He saw his own ghostly image, planning out his future moves. When he snapped off the power he dived through a rift portal, the destination portal shaved off the bottom jaw of a hydra head that was about to chomp a prone adventurer in half, luckily it didnt kill the head just mutilated it to be less dangerous but the snout did go over the top of the rift to punch the adventurer in the head. He kept moving as he came out of the rift and knocked another fighter flying, meaning he was narrowly missed by the neck spikes of another head. He threw a Bowie knife at another head, neatly pinning it in the eye and it then got the top of its head caved in by a mighty hammer blow which made it slump to the floor. He skidded to a stop in front of a distracted fighter who was struggling with a clasp on his armour who looked shocked when Teddy smiled and wrapped both arms around him and teleported them out of range just as Lucys rocket missile hit the monster. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. James had a few options of how to try and poison the monster. He started spawning his poisonous snakes from his Snake Sorcerer power, draining a considerable amount of his mana in doing so. The variant he started with at iron rank were skinny vibrant snakes with a fin running the length on top which were uncannily good for throwing, he held onto them this time, watching the Hyrdra snatch spears and arrows out of the air with its multiple heads before they could get near its body. His Pauldron of Menagerie engravings held a potent poison power that he was hoping could help the battle. [Going for an ol] James wrote on the interface. As a planned move they had gone through before it brought the plan up on the battle screen as a little card for everyones awareness. He blinked out of existing, teleporting a short distance above the monster. He smashed down at terminal velocity crashing into the monsters back. But the hydras silver rank strength meant that it had little effect, the bleeding and slashing effects that his armour normally produced did little more than scratch the tough hide. He had hit it high on the back where all the heads joined and got a dozen quick punches in with his metal fist thanks to his Scurry power. He had a dozen or so snakes wrapped around him that he let slither off and attack the monster. He slid down the backbone while three of the heads struck where he had been, he transformed his arm into the preying mantis style wing which was sheathed in the multi hued metal and he slashed at the tails. He managed to dig into one quite well before he activated another power. (James Mitchell) has used the [Wraiths Dash] power from (Theodore Mitchell) [Swift Essence]. [Wraiths Dash] has been used at a lower power than is available to (Theodore Mitchell). [Wraiths Dash] will allow (James Mitchell) to Speed forward on the ground for an ongoing mana cost. He dashed away from the monster just as it orientated away from the others to attack him. The swivel gun blasts and the enhanced magic missile smashed into its now more vulnerable back. [Ol!] Ragnar put on the interface. [Guys hes actually doing the pose!] Kyra wrote on the interface. When they were making the plan Ragnar had asked what ol meant and they had explained about the warriors from their world that faced charging bulls with nothing but a red flag. (They left the part about the cruel maiming of the bull for sport out of the story). They had claimed that the matador pose with one arm over the head and one at the waist while standing on one foot with the other against the calf was absolutely necessary. So much so they had put it on the end of the battle card. The battle cards were a useful feature of the interface, by pulling up the short plans it informed each of the family members of an intent and if it would borrow any powers. [I hope you have a recording crystal out!] Teddy said. The welcome break for the fighters meant that they could regroup. James and Teddy were barking orders at the fighters, forming groups. They had the benefit of turning up late and arriving with a bang so it was easy for the beleaguered fighters to accept they were help arriving and acquiesced to their demands. They grouped the fighters as best they could, there was a deficit of spell casters which meant the few powers that inflicted poison needed to get in close, they needed the affliction damage to take it down, without the ability to ignore rank disparity it was the easiest way to whittle down its health. Teddy collated those with movement powers, they did their best to stick them on a quick tactical net but there wasnt a lot of time for the in depth features or multiple groups so there were a lot of overlapping messages and confusion. The strategy developed quickly, if it hadnt they would all die against the silver rank monster. It was a slog of a battle but they eventually got enough of their bronze rank poisons to get through its resistances and start draining health. All hydra variants had extremely good health regeneration and it took the concerted effort of the big, less mobile damage dealers to add enough bleeding afflictions to shut down the healing. They had an adventurer who conjured vines which he threw in nets to bundle up the heads, it barely slowed them as the heads were silver and strong but each head was on the lower level of strength than a single silver rank monster, the danger was all of them together. There were the two earth users doing their best to tie up the monsters feet. An adventurer in the less mobile group had water powers which he had used to form three big spheres which he engulfed three of the heads. It was pretty horrible to watch, the heads looked like they were drowning but they shared a body with other heads that werent submerged in swirling water so it wouldnt drown. Jamess big opener had boosted moral and done a moderate amount of damage to the vast silver rank reserves of health. As the monster thrashed around you could just see maybe half a dozen snakes still attached. His snakes had two forms; the bronze rank variant he gained was a large boa constrictor type that would be no good in this fight. The iron rank variant that was now bronze strength either puffed into rainbow smoke after contact like a summoned arrow or clung on, pumping poison in all the time they had a good bite. His pauldron had multiple bonuses to it, one of the more sinister effects was from the evil looking scorpion with a fanged human head engraved on one of the forearm plates. Effect (Venom of the Merciless Desert [improved]): Inflicts poison damage. Chance to inflict [Milk of the Cacti]. Chance to inflict [Greyscale]. Can only affect living enemies with blood. Must penetrate enemy to inflict poison and [Milk of the Cacti]. Contact with the venom has a smaller chance of causing [Greyscale]. [Milk of the Cacti] (affliction, blood): Causes afflicted enemies to hallucinate and a chance to cause damage to themselves by convulsion. [Greyscale] (affliction, incapacitating): Affliction that spreads across the skin. Causes joints to lock up and impairs mobility. When he had used his Peregrine Dive James had transformed his right hand into the bulbous end of a scorpion stinger. He had barely managed to break the skin of the tough monster but as time went on there was the tell tale spread of grey from the wound. He wasnt sure what [improved] meant on the effect description but the battle log showed it once he used it. James Mitchell: used Snake Sorcerer x 20 James Mitchell: used Animage on himself James Mitchell: used Peregrine Dive James Mitchell: has attacked [Thirteen-Headed Hydra] James Mitchell: has afflicted [Thirteen-Headed Hydra] with Venom of the Merciless Desert [improved] James Mitchell: has afflicted [Thirteen-Headed Hydra] with Greyscale [Thirteen-Headed Hydra]: has resisted Venom of the Merciless Desert and Greyscale due to inherent rank disparity [Venom of the Merciless Desert] and [Greyscale]: are [improved] and ignore rank disparity [Thirteen-Headed Hydra]: has been afflicted with [Venom of the Merciless Desert] and [Greyscale] The greyscale infection in the tail wound had kept it open rather than healing. The greyscale infection at the base of the neck had caused two of the necks to lock up from the bottom, the raw strength of the monster had caused it to split its own skin at the site and the infection had kept that wound open as well. The poison had been making slow progress through the body and the monster had sunk to its knees, not fighting the effects of the two earth essence users now as it concentrated on fighting the nuisance mobile forces Teddy was coordinating. They lost two adventurers by the end. One from the highly mobile group who were constantly riding a knifes edge trying to keep the monster distracted so the heavy hitters could do damage. The other was lost after the monster snapped the mobile bronze ranker in half, no one had the time to distract that head again before it turned to the hammer wielding damage dealer. Teddy re-adjusted the plan to cover the gap, in his plan of attrition there was always going to be risk but he took the deaths personally, taking more risk on himself to be everywhere at once and a menace to the silver rank monster. He was trying to think of anything new or a different way they could kill the monster when he felt the gold rank aura booming from the city. He wasnt the only one, several of the adventurers almost stopped fighting with the relief incoming and almost paid the price. The monster also felt the aura and had enough intelligence to realise what was coming for it. It had enough left in it to stumble to its feet and start to flee. The monster had stayed fairly static on one side of the river using its highly mobile necks to combat the forces arrayed against it. It now saw the fighters and the felt the gold rank aura on its side of the river and the barge wedged sideways across and fled that way. Kyra was on the Serenity which had moved closer to the fighting. She knew the worth of the magical cannons on board and had stayed on to bombard the monster rather than use her powers which were not fast enough or hard hitting enough to be in the melee. What she saw in front of her was the monster making a break for the stuck barge as a bridge. It would never get away from the gold ranker which was approaching fast but it would get to the far side where the previous occupants of the barge and a large crowd had gathered to watch the monumental fight. She knew that unless something happened they would be killed by the monster before it could be dealt with. She acted on instinct, she knew earth shaping to free the barge had taken too long and they had been interrupted, she couldnt freeze the monster or stop it so she had to do something about the barge. She pulled out her small hand mirror and looked at the barge reflection that was far enough away to fit in the frame. She strained, both hands going to the mirror, she hit her knees, straining more. Just before the monster got to the barge light shone from Kyra and the barge disappeared. Chapter 86 ‘Mirror Kingdom’ James, Lucy and Ragnar were on the top deck of the Serenity, they had parked it off the river now the water traffic was moving and were hosting the gold ranker that had arrived with some of the other fighters. James was beginning to think they were making a bit of a habit of engaging with gold rank adventurers. The gold ranker had flown superman-style to the river and had blasted the Hydra with beams from both of their hands. The monster had been pounded into the earth unable to withstand the force. Their saviour was a priest of the lesser church of hope. A fitting individual to come and save the beleaguered fighters in their battle but James was cynical that it was the perfect recruitment drive. They had introduced themselves as Aishe and they had an androgynous appearance with short, spiky blonde hair and plain robes and polished armour which lead the team to be unsure how to gender them. It turned out not to be a problem, the gold ranker merely wanted to say well done for holding out as they had and to check on the bronze ranker that had passed out. When the light had shone out of Kyra and she passed out hitting the deck, Lucy had run round to the front of the ship. She saw her sister-in-law on the floor and immediately tried to use one of her life essence abilities from the interface to be told that they were temporarily unavailable. She had used a few rituals from books to determine what was going on with Kyra and seen that she wasnt in any danger. Her tab on the family interface had greyed out while she was passed out and Teddy had taken her downstairs to their room until she woke up. This is a wonderful vessel you have here, did you inherent it? Aishe asked in a friendly voice. No we got very lucky, right place at the right time and managed to get it ourselves. We were even involved in the building process.Lucy said. Well done to you then, I know some of my peers would be jealous of this vessel, the design is intriguing. Ive seen very few Fourth-Stage Crystal vehicles as they are rare but none like this, the layout is almost understated but with a smooth elegance. Thankyou, we understood what we had but also our station. As bronze rankers we stand out for having it but didnt want to flaunt it too much. Flaunt away, if youve earnt it as you say. You can obviously handle yourselves, the damage I saw you deal from afar and the boys handled it up close plenty well enough. It was very impressive they managed to get everyone organised so quickly, Id like to talk to the young man who was coordinating to see how his mind works. Just then the interface tab that Lucy had open to keep an eye on came un-grayed. There were a flood of messages and Aishe recognised the distracted look of an essence user being busy and didnt prod Lucy. Kyra Mitchell has used racial ability: Pocket Mirror Error: Pocket Mirror power is insufficient to store [Barge] Racial ability: Pocket mirror has been xxx xxxx xxx xxxxxx Error. Outworlder racial ability [Pocket Mirror] has evolved to [Mirror Kingdom]. Momentary boost on evolution has allowed [Kyra Mitchel] to store [Barge] Ability: [Mirror Kingdom] Transfigured from [Outworlder] ability [Pocket Mirror] Reflective surfaces provide a gateway to a personal dimension. Items stored in [Mirror Kingdom] may be extracted from any mirrored surface. [Outworlder] may enter the [Mirror Kingdom] and exit from different mirrored surfaces. Racial gift evolution Lucy said under her breath as she read the notifications. Aishe nodded knowingly. I was sure I felt something nearby when I arrived. Is she ok? Lucy looked over Kyras page, communication was shut off due to them being sequestered in their room. She seems to be perfectly healthy, a little exhausted but shell be right as rain. Aishe looked inquisitive at Lucys assertions without talking to her sister-in-law. They made small talk for a while, Aishe was a local to Arngo and Lucy was asking her about the city as they expected to spend a few days to a week staying there. All around the top deck there were groups of people chatting. James and Ragnar were chatting to a group of the fighters who were talking about the fight, they were jealous of Jamess pauldron and one of the members just wasnt getting the fact it was soul-bound and was offering ever more increasing amounts for it. They had made eye contact with Lucy when they too saw the notifications and they all felt relieved. Another group was the highly mobile group that Teddy had been directly commanding whilst overseeing the battle, they were hanging around to talk to him when he came back above decks. Teddy and Kyra made their way out. Coming onto the top deck she was greeted by a big hug by Lucy with Aishe standing behind her. Im glad youre not broken K. That was very impressive. Howre you feeling? Oh nothing a coffee and a cruise wont fix. She said with a tired smile. James and Ragnar extracted themselves from their conversation and made their way over to come check on Kyra. James swiped a mug off the table en-route and pressed it gently into Kyras hands that she had held out like a toddler for ice cream. Hmm, what this coffee then? Aishe asked James quietly as he stepped back. Ill go grab one for you from downstairs. James whispered back and went to go and get a gold rank strength coffee from downstairs. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Shieldmaiden! It is good to see you upon your feet. Such power moving through your body has caused you a mischief! Ragnar said, also coming forward after Lucy and lifting Kyra off the floor in a huge hug. Its. Good. To. See you too. She choked out as he picked her up and put her down. Concentrating on not spilling her coffee. Shes just woken up, she knew you guys would be worried and insisted on coming straight up. Any problems up here? Got a couple of guys up here wanting to talk to you, think they either want to thank you or see if youre someone special, either way they want to keep in touch to work together again some time. James said motioning to the loose groups of fighters. Teddy nodded and pecked his wife on the cheek before heading off to speak to the groups. Mrs Mitchell. Aishe said stepping forward. I am glad to see you well. Kyra, this is Aishe, they are the one who killed the monster. Lucy introduced and Aishe gave a head nod bow. Kyra returned the gesture. How do you do? Thankyou for coming in time before we lost a lot of people. Not soon enough it seems, you had to take rather drastic action. There is a very concerned barge captain and his crew waiting for you to give them back their vessel. Aishe motioned to a much poorer looking group to one side looking out of place on the crystal decking. Oh, yeh I suppose thats a problem. Kyra said, suddenly remembering that she had stored an entire boat. Couldnt you guys take it back out of my storage? No, it just comes up with an error, its not even a permission issue, its like the interface doesnt recognise the boat as an item because its too ridiculous to have in personal storage. Lucy explained. Kyra looked a little embarrassed and made a little wave to the woman who stood out as the captain by the body language of the group. She awkwardly waved back with a mixed expression. The blonde adventurer had obviously saved her barge from damage by the silver rank monster and she and her crew had been in the group of people standing on the far bank that was in the path of the monsters retreat. But she had also taken her barge with all the goods on board which made her uneasy. I suppose we had better see what we can do about that then? Kyra said, motioning for the woman to follow her and the barge crew followed her off the back of the Serenity. She made her way towards the river and checked out the item description. Item: [Transport Barge] (bronze rank, common) A cargo vessel designed to travel long distances inexpensively. Effect: lesser and iron rank monsters are repelled by the hull. Weak bronze rank monsters are damaged on contact with the hull. Would you like to see a listing of cargo on board? Y/N Kyra declined to see the list of cargo as it was none of her business. The item icon in the inventory slot looked like a toy boat. She looked around and saw there was almost a lay-by in the river that would be a good place to put the barge back without disturbing the traffic. She pulled out her hand mirror and turned it to show the lay-by and concentrated on releasing the barge from storage. She frowned when there was a problem. Error [Transport Barge] cannot be released by these means. Err, is there a problem maam? The barge captain walked over and asked. She was looking slightly worried. No, no problem. Just got to figure this out. She replied, biting her lip and thinking what she could do. As she turned to the captain to answer she saw the shining crystal of the Serenity. In its reflection she could see the river flowing past and the lay-by behind her. Something clicked in her mind and it just felt right. She pushed on the item in her interface again and felt a huge relief like being released from a tight wetsuit as the barge appeared behind her. There was a cheer from behind her as the crew dashed over the water as it rocked in the disturbance of the newly appeared barge. She knew that she wouldnt be able to store anything nearly that size again, the way it had reappeared had left her drained. She swayed, giving her head a wobble to clear it. Thankyou maam! The captain said slightly in awe. I aint never seen nothing like that! Youve saved me a fair spot of bother. No problem. You just take care and stay away from anymore silver rank monsters. Ill be sure to do that! I err, should probably be going now, were going to be late as it is and I need to explain how we got stuck in the first place. How can I thank you? No need, just take care of yourself and the crew. Well say hi next time were this way. The captain came over and shook Kyras hand then she jumped into the water then dissolved into mist, a slightly darker cloud of water that made its way to the barge then up the side before transforming back into the captain. Kyra waved them off as they headed downriver towards the city and she turned around to eat back to the Serenity. The entire rail was taken up by people watching. Even in a magical world the instant appearance of a barge from storage was a very rare sight. Back on the top deck she crossed paths with the exodus of the fighters at the top stairs, they all gave her a respectful nod, acknowledging the power they had seen on display. Around the rear table was her team and Aishe, who was keenly chatting to Ragnar about the temple district in Arngo and where each temple was. So, Mirror Kingdom eh? James asked. Kyra didnt miss Aishes taking an interest. Yeah, that was a surprise. Glad it worked though, but it was a one off. So what is your interest in the Mirror Kingdom? AIshe asked. Not the Mirror Kingdom, my own mirror kingdom. Its a racial gift evolution of my storage power where I used a hand mirror to store items. Oh? How does this one work then? The gold ranker asked, obviously not familiar with it. Kyra looked at the smooth polished breastplate over the cream robes and saw her own reflection, she bent her arm up and cupped her hand like she was holding a drink and a bottle of ale appeared in her hand from her storage. Well it seems that any reflective surface is now a doorway to my storage power. Aishe could see that Kyra was wary of giving any more detail and didnt press further. They had been around long enough and recognised the Mitchells were outworlders and would be careful with any racial gift information. It is amazing to see a new power I am not familiar with, I wish you all the best with it and hope it serves you well. I am glad you are well, the barge is back and the river is back to normal I will bid you farewell but I would look forward to seeing you in the city during your stay there. They thanked the Mitchells for the coffee as well, asking for the recipe and was gently surprised when the family refused, stating that they didnt even know the recipe and it was a secret in any case. Aishe then jumped off the deck, at the top of the arc of the jump they kicked off the air into the superman pose and shot off back towards the city. Well, that was all very exciting. Bet you dont regret the water journey now Ragnar? James joked. Later that night they were trundling down the road, James Lucy and Ragnar were up top while Kyra and Teddy had gone below as she said she was still tired. Teddy was lounging on the bed watching as Kyra was brushing her hair in the floor length mirror in front of her. She was still getting used to her eyes, the iris was the same vibrant blue it had been since she came to this world, an improvement she felt from her common brown she had grown up with. The pupils of her eyes were new, perfectly mirrored silver, glinting in the lights of the room. You ok blondie? Teddy asked, knowing that she felt that she had been through a lot. I am, just trying to work it all out. You held something back from the gold ranker? Something youve already figured out? I think so, I havent tried it yet, but you know how the racial gifts, essence powers. Theyre all so instinctual? Yeh sure? She paused in her brushing, looking at Teddy in the mirror, she blew him a kiss then looked at herself. Then Kyra vanished. Chapter 87 ‘Magnificent Ursine Specimen’ Teddy had been getting used to seeing this world in different ways since he got here. He had seen many wonderful and impossible things. He had seen in slow motion how magical fire blossomed from Daishs sword, how Jamess limbs transformed into animal parts and the diamond formed around Kyra like snowflakes growing on a bubble. When Kyra disappeared it was instant. One moment his wife was standing in front of him looking in the mirror and the next she was gone, the was no phasing, or gradual misting like other abilities. It was a straight snap out of existence. He was off the bed quicker than the eye could follow and looking all around. Looking for any sign she had disappeared into a crystal compartment which was ridiculous because he would have seen it. He looked all around before he looked into the mirror and he saw her watching him. She was surprised but also amused, watching the confusion on his face, he watched her blur and disappear as she walked out of sight, sideways in the room in the mirror. Kyra blew Teddy a kiss then accepted the feeling within her. The world rotated around her and she was suddenly looking through the mirror but had no reflection. The image was blurry and shifting like smoke through fog. She could see everything but in a washed out colour so everything was slightly grey. She saw Teddy disappear off the bed and stand in front of the mirror looking for her she waved when he realised she was in the mirror and then set about exploring. As she looked around the room was exactly as it was on the other side of the mirror, all the colours were washed out but it didnt have the smoky feature that the real room did outside the mirror when she looked out. She sat on the bed and found it was rock solid and cool to the touch like glass. She tried to touch a tapestry on the wall, it was a favourite of hers from the church of hero acolyte in the divine square. It depicted a woman on a horse-like creature but the head was an eagles with a feathered neck and wings striking down with a spear while a man was leaping with a sword. They were attacking a shapeless monster on the ground between them. The reason she had picked it up was that she fancied it could be her and Teddy, fighting together to take out monsters. It too was smooth and cool like glass like she had found the bed. She tried something different; she felt the instinctual pull of the power and thought of a dress of hers from storage, it appeared on the bed in front of her in vibrant detail. It was a dark blue with strings of diamond from hip to hip in front and under the bust, it was a simple cut with flowing fabric, a high slit up one leg and showed enough cleavage to be fun without Teddy feeling like he had to knock anyone out for looking her way for too long. She smoothed it out on the bed and felt the luxurious silk on her finger tips. It seemed the Mirror Kingdom still worked as a storage space, she could call up any item she wanted in this place and they would appear. As she had moved around she was now nearer the bathroom. She put the dress on over her armour just to see how it would look. Her armour was incredibly fitted like a body suit so she wouldnt stretch the fine fabric. She went into the bathroom to check herself in the mirror and was delighted to see the subtle magic in the fabric by the tailor adjusted the fit slightly to accommodate, it still didnt look right with her armoured shins, arms and chest but the dress was still lovely. She felt the instinctual buzz as she looked in the mirror and followed it. She appeared back in the real world and looked around in surprise. She had entered the Mirror Kingdom in the bedroom and exited from the mirror in the bathroom. Realising the potential for this she started brushing her hair again and walked out the bathroom. She thought Teddys eyes might pop out of his head when he saw her. He had been standing in front of the other mirror with his arms folded waiting for her. Later they were on the top deck having coffee all together. Ragnar was driving carefully down the road but listening to the conversation on the rear deck. So it really is a Mirror Kingdom? Lucy asked as she made notes. She was associated with the magic society but had not yet decided to join as a full member, she would write a report about this racial gift then decide whether or not to hand it in. Its a pocket dimension power, a place where just you can go? I suppose so, Ive not tried taking anyone else, maybe well have to try. And you can enter and exit through different mirrors? Or mirrored surfaces, anything thats large enough. But I couldnt have opened the bedroom door, or the bathroom door if it hadnt been open. Thats incredible though, can you imagine the application of this?! In combat I mean. Teddy, have you thought about it? I had a little think. Theres not much as an individual other that a bit of flexibility, but as a team it could be very powerful. If you can summon mirror illusions I wonder if that could work Lucy, create a maze of mirrors around an enemy and until they smash them all down it would give you crazy manoeuvrability, youd be smoke in the wind, impossible to catch. Well have to come up with some game plans that incorporate it and practice. Kyra said, looking as keen to play with a new power for the team. Maybe you need to play with it some more, test its boundaries a little to figure out everything it can do? Whatever mysterious force that powers the interface might not be able to see everything. We know it doesnt see everything about Teddys powers. James said, everyone looked at him in surprise at his insightfulness before turning to Teddy who shrugged and nodded. Teddy was glad that before Lucy could open up the subject of his rift portal power again Ragnar called out from the drivers station. Attend me fellows! The moment of undertaking is upon us! They had arrived at the city gates. They dwarfed what they were used to in Greenstone. They had been approaching on the road along the river and so had been down at the same level for a long time. Luckily they had Lechuza high above as usual and so got a literal Birds Eye view. The city was set out like a giant spiderweb. The centre was right on the waterline, the single largest spire impossibly half on half off the water. Radiating out were huge spokes that stretched out for kilometres, they had been paralleling one in along the river for a long way. Thick walls stretched between the spokes making the spiderweb pattern and divided the city into blocks, buildings getting taller as they got closer to the centre. The same pattern was mirrored over the water, the long spokes reaching out and holding water gates to allow ships through, some for cargo and shipping with a few for luxury craft. The gate they arrived at had multiple entrances. There was a steady stream of foot traffic going in and out of the pedestrian gates, people who had either walked to the city or had magical transport they dismissed to make it quicker and easier to get in, this was by far the easiest gate to get in and if they didnt have the weapon bound for Honshuraskil bolted to the front deck that defied dimensional storage then the team would have done this. There was a merchants gate, with huge land vehicles of all designs from basic carts pulled by heidel to a boxy craft the size of a semi that moved on dozens of tiny legs mechanically. This gate was also moving pretty steadily, with the crew of each vehicle having the correct paperwork in hand. The slowest queue was the luxury vehicle line which the Serenity was marshalled into. They waited patiently looking at the other vehicles around them and making a game of guessing their business. When they got to the front they were met by stony face professional guards. They asked a set amount of questions brooking no nonsense. When they found out they were adventurers on contract they told them they could have used the merchants entrance. When they found out what contract they were on and what they had onboard they touched a panel on the wall that was on easy reach for both of them. Highly drilled squares of guards rushed out from a hidden door on either side of the huge gate. They quickly escorted the Serenity to a huge stone room where they were met by a huge draconian, bigger than Leonids the huge scaled man smiled at them with a reptilian face. Team Mitchell, welcome to Arngo. Please, dont be alarmed. I am Captain Shashi, I have the pleasure of being the watch captain today. We have brought you aside to explain why you will not be permitted in the city. He explained there were certain restrictions on bringing weapons into the city and focussed on James when the big man looked confused. Mr Mitchell? Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Well, we cant bring this weapon in, but you let gold rankers in? Each of them is basically a weapon of mass destruction. The Captains smile got wider. It is a good point Mr Mitchell, but we expect our gold rank visitors to be discriminatory with their destructive powers, if your weapon was stolen then anyone could be responsible for great destruction regardless of personal power. Thats a fair point. No weapons in the city then! He directed them to go back out the city and due to their Fourth-stage crystal vehicle go onto the waterways and they would be directed around to a water berth in the adventure society district, they would be placed into secure storage with every protection to the society could offer for the duration of their stay. It took the better part of the day to go through all the traffic and gates, first on land then on water. There was a process at each gate, the guards had to check the paperwork they were given against the magically updating tablets they had, they had to go into their booth each time through a locking and unlocking process to ensure that the guards inside of the booths were never in danger. Very impressive, if a little laborious. James noted as he chewed on a comically large T-bone steak that he had decided to grill on the drop deck at their most recent gate, it was getting to late evening and they were beginning to think they werent going to be docked by nighttime and werent sure how that would leave them. I think the idea is that normal rank or iron rank guards can work in an area of high magic. Lucy proposed. The additional security on those booths mean that only one member of the guard force is at risk at a time. If a high ranking essence user decided they were going to kick off it would take a concerted effort and a long time to get through the defences Im seeing. If a monster made it this far through the rings of defences it would massively slow them down, with either threat it would be enough time for a gold ranker to turn up and deal with it while the guards are safe. When they got waved through James handed them a box of steaming steaks, he had seen their jealous faces at smelling the wafts of cooking steam coming off the drop deck where James had set up. After that they found the gates went a little quicker, mysteriously the guards expedited their passage through with a smile and a wave. Dont need to check security so much the further in we go?James asked the team. Dont think thats it, were headed round in an arc anyway. Teddy replied. James you gave them grilled meat, I think theyre just replying kindness with kindness. Kyra said waving at the dock worker who was signalling them in to berth. This time the checks were much simpler, they had to show their adventure society badges and a copy of the contract, the protection they were now under was everything the large city adventure society could bring to bear and they all felt relieved from a stress they hadnt realised they were burdened with. Teddy got all of them onto the top deck. Right guys, this is probably the most secure were going to be for the entire trip. What do you want to do? My vote would be to rest here for up to a week just to re-set. Or, we crack on after tomorrow, do some more adventuring slow time before the pass to Honshuraskil is open. Id like to see a new city. See what is has to offer. Lucy said. Im with my wife, its fun to find new places, this place looks like nothing weve seen before. James said. There will be days to lift the axe ahead of us, let us not be too hasty to weary the arm. I could do with seeing my church fellows in this place. Ragnar surprised them all. He was always the first to be ready to find new adventure. They all turned to look at Kyra who hadnt yet cast her vote, even though they were four in favour. What? Im obviously in. Shopping! The next morning they had breakfast together then promised to stay in touch via voice chat but keep it to a minimum on the main chat. Ragnar went to find his church, a city this size was bound to have a divine square much more impressive than Greenstone and he was keen to see it. The two couples went their own ways, a welcome opportunity to spend some time with their significant others. Even though Lucy dragged James round book shops and Kyra dragged Teddy round jewellery shops they enjoyed the simple role of just being a bag-carrying husbands again. It wasnt the same as back on earth, here they were incredibly well paid, punching coins out of monsters. The goods here were much more interesting as well. That night they decided they would all eat separately, the two couples getting a date night each then finding luxury accommodation to spend the night. The Serenity was up there with the pinnacle of luxury transportation but there was something about staying in a four star hotel that was luxuriously self-indulgent. The next morning they met on one of the spokes of the city that went out over the water for a grilled fish breakfast. Kyra brought four plates over to where the others were sitting, Ragnar was absent and had gone quiet since the night before, they had a good suspicion why. While they were sat at the table they were watching the sun come up over the city walls, the towers on the end of each spoke like the numbers on a clock measuring the arcs progress. So why did you pick here? Lucy asked. Its lovely but you were quite insistent. Well, we found something wed like to give to you. Specifically you James. Kyra said turning to the big man who was already wolfing down his food. Feh meh? He said round a mouthful of food. Just to be clear, this was Kyras idea, I agree with her but she was forceful it was happening whether or not I did. Teddy said. Go on, Im intrigued. James said, wiping his hands on a napkin. Kyra leaned forward and placed an item in the middle of the table. It looked like a metal raindrop the size of a watermelon, made up of a dozen or so faces, narrow at the base then widening before tapering to a fine point at the top. It was a dark grey colour with multicolour hues all over. Nothing about its appearance gave away its purpose. Lucy had leant in, fascinated by the magic of the item but she couldnt tell what it did having seen nothing like it before. Err, wow. Cheers Ky, thisll look really good on my nightstand. Yeh, she cleared out her funds to buy you a nightstand decoration. Dolt. Check it out. Teddy scolded. James leant forward a tapped a fingertip on the very point of the item to pull up its description on the interface. Item: [Familiar Binding Stone] (bronze rank, rare) An item that binds a Summoned Familiar to a specific item in dimensional storage. The dimensional storage must be co-located with the summoner of the Familiar. Effect: When the familiar is summoned the bound item will be drawn from dimensional storage. If the item is equip-able for that Familiar then it will be auto-equipped. We were lucky to find this apparently, they sell out almost straight away and they dont take reservations. We found it in a familiar specialist shop wed like to show you, but I thought this would be perfect for you. So Koda could appear with an item whenever I summon him? Not just any item. Kyra said grinning, her mirror eyes sparkling with excitement. They took the others to the familiar specialist shop they found, heading inside. It was vast, with many people openly walking around with their summons on display checking out the wares. Both Kyra and James released theirs, Lucky turning everyones head with the positive effect he had everywhere he went and Koda doing the same because he was massive. Kyra walked James to a section of the shop to show him what she had in mind. The proprietor recognised her from the day before where she had dropped a small fortune on the binding stone. Ah Mrs Mitchell, a pleasure to see you again, I take it from this rather magnificent ursine specimen escorting him that this is your brother-in-law you were speaking of? The exotically dressed man asked enthusiastically shaking James hand. He was a very young man and looked like he was a ring master of a traditional circus, with a tailed jacket and top hat. Yes it is, James this is Mr Edland the shop owner. Please, call me Edmund, pleasure to meet you, your sister-in-law spoke very highly of you! Edmund Edland? Pleasure to meet you too, thats uncharacteristically nice of her to speak highly of me. Mr Mitchell! Im sure you jest. Now, by you presence here am I to assume you Yes Ive given him the binding stone. He knows what it does but not what we thought of. Ah well let us reveal the mystery then! I hope this is close to the measurements Mrs Mitchell gave, of course a final fitting will be required and we will make any adjustments as necessary. Adjustments? James asked still unsure what was going on. Edmund walked up to a large wooden cabinet and threw open the doors revealing the contents. There was a huge set of armour. Far too large for a person and an odd assortment of panels. It took James a moment but he realised it was a set of armour for a bear. It was a deep bronze colour with shining golden panels. The legs had large plates with gaps to allow freedom of movement to fight either on all fours or rear up and strike. It had plates covering the tops of his back paws to protect him wile standing on his back legs. The entire back was made of segments, allowing full flexibility while sliding over one another to give continuous protection. The hips and shoulder areas were covered with larger thicker plates to protect the joints and were decorated with dark brown gems in the centres. A gorget would protect his neck with a row of the same brown gems lining the edge. There was a metal cap for his head which would bend around his ears and curve around his eyes without blinkering him. It was all artfully carved with swirling patterns that made it as artful as it was protective. Yeeees, absolutely yes. Koda? James called over his shoulder to his familiar who was sniffing interested at a snail familiar almost his size who was sliming through the shop. The big bear stopped what he was doing and turned to the group around the cabinet. He lumbered over, every step of his massive paws made his fur ruffle this way and that over his shoulders. As he drew near he reared up, walking gracefully on his two rear legs and actually put his arms between and pushed James and Teddy aside to get a closer look at the cabinet he gripped the cabinet doors staring at the armour and roared. Chapter 88 ‘Kung Foo’ The team were spending some much needed down time in the City of Arngo. It was one of the largest cities on the continent as it was a central trading hub due to its location. Whether on Earth or Pallimustus the location near where what would be the Suez Canal afforded the locals opportunity. In Pallimustus this was especially pertinent as it marked a dividing line for magical density. Approaching from the south they had a mix of high level bronze and low level silver with patches of gold. The sea to the north was the domain of gold rank monsters, heavily farmed by adventurers to provide shipping lanes necessary for global trade. They had only been in the city for two days and Kyra and James had already spent everything they had. Kyra had been incredibly generous and bought James an item which meant that he could bind an item to his familiar Koda. James had then used that item to bind a set of bespoke armour designed for the large bear. Edmund the young shop owner had postulated that due to the fact his dimensional storage was a racial gift that there would be a more flexible measure of control on the bond. The adjustments had taken the better part of the day, the shop owner taking the task personally to ensure the best fit for the most protection. They had then taken the armour to the magic society straight away to hire a ritual room. James had to re-enact the ritual that he used to summon Koda at bronze rank, placing the items in the middle with Koda. The ritual was slightly different to how they remembered because as well as chanting the summoning James also started speaking bear. The end result was a flash of light none of them could look at and the ritual was complete with Koda stood in the middle and the artefact and armour simply gone. Everyone stared, waiting to see if there was any difference. Oddly self conscious Koda dropped to all fours under the attention. James had an idea and reabsorbed the familiar then immediately re-deployed him. When he materialised he was magnificent in the glorious golden armour. It made the giant bear even more formidable. The sharp edges and large decorated panels were imposing, when he moved it made no noise but the light played over the engravings. Once everyone had taken a good look he re-absorbed him again and redeployed him a second time, this time he appeared without the armour. After a moment of walking around in circles in what looked like distress he shook himself like a wet dog and his armour seemed to seep out of his fur, forming into place. Looking very happy with himself he bounded around once or twice before rolling over in his armour. He rolled to his feet and set his feet wide and shook himself again, the armour seemed to shrink into him and he was once again without, his glossy brown fur ruffling as he moved. Lucy was writing in her notebook, making keen observations that she might pass onto the magic society. That must be what Mr Edland was on about, the racial gift bond. I would assume that because its a gift produced by your soul as an outworlder and he is your familiar similarly connected to you by an essence power which is as much part of you that there is enough of a connection bridged by the binding stone that he can share space for this item. This is incredible. Kyra, thank you! Thank you for finding this for us. James said turning to Kyra. Youre welcome. She said with a genuine glowing smile. We get on well and theres a vested interest in keeping him alive to help keep you alive. Yeh, you have been spending a lot of time with him Whos hungry? Kyra said interrupting him. Weve not heard from Ragnar in a while and its nearly dinnerish time. [Ragnar! Where are you? Whats up? Have you found anywhere good to eat?] [Mitchels!!! Revels, food, wine and good company! Come hither! Come come! Now is the time for telling our deeds. Giant slayers and quick tongues, the delvers of Stonewalls deeps. The master crafter with the Diamond love. Mine own heroes! Come!] Well I guess we arent saying no to that! Kyra said and immediately headed for the door. Did she just dodge the question? James asked the others. Im sure she has her reasons. Teddy said shrugging and heading after her. Shes not going to steal him anyhow? Im sure its not going to be a bad surprise. Lucy said patting him on the arm and headed out, keen for another church of Hero party. James turned to his familiar who was nonchalantly cleaning his back with his tongue. Are you going to give me any hint? The big bear yawned showing his massive teeth then rushed towards James in a cloud of motes, absorbing into him. Damnit. They made their way through the city. They used a rickshaw in the design of a giant millipede. They sat sideways on it taking in the city, the benefit to using city transport was that every time they went through a different section through the spokes and circles of walls they werent subject to the same security protocols that the foot traffic was. They made good time and were faced with the familiar sight of the sculpture of the Spartan helmet on a Spartan sword with a Spartan shield resting against it next to the huge wooden double doors. The doors burst open revealing five huge drunken warriors. Ragnar was in the centre with a tankard in each hand and that didnt stop him wrapping his arms around Kyra and picking her up, carrying her over his shoulder while she squealed and beat the back on his shoulder demanding to be put down. Teddy and Lucy were similarly picked up while it took two warriors to joyfully wrap their arms around James back and an arm under each of his knees to carry him inside like he was sat in a throne. Inside they were in a far grander temple then in Greenstone. The size of the city meant the temples were proportionally bigger. The entranceway was vast with vaulted ceilings. There was no mistaking the same decor as the last temple, tapestries of glorious battles and cases with magical weapons. Lucy could even spy a Diamond rank Roman-type sword next to her in a case. Just off to the side of the hallway was a grand feasting hall with a long table stuffed with food, casks of ale, wine and other spirits lining the walls all the way around. The crowd of warriors was more diverse than Greenstone, with more of each of the races present. They were all assembled as if someone had told them they were coming The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Entering a temple you knew you had entered a gods domain. You could feel their presence in the background all throughout the building. That presence surged up all of a sudden and the warriors unceremoniously dumped the Mitchells on their feet while they all took a knee. The four of them stood while they heard an almighty voice. Welcome Mitchells. There was a pregnant pause as the presence dulled down to the level it was before. The warriors all looked to a huge woman, built on a similar scale to Eddie Hall she had even earned the nickname the Beast in a parallel universe. She nodded and the temple erupted in celebration again. The Mitchells got picked up again and carried through to the banquet hall, food and booze was vigorously supplied and they fell into it with gusto. It turned out The Beast was the high priestess, a senior gold rank adventurer who came down to sit with them and hear their tales. Or rather, Ragnar orating like a barbarian bard their magnificent journey through peril and luck. Some time later everyone was starting to get pretty merry. Several scuffles had broken out and they were generally left to peter out, the high priestess would not tolerate any powers or weapons to be drawn in her presence in the temple. If any looked like they were going to go too far she used a telekinesis power to knock them both flying without having to get up. Some time later Ragnar and James were sat together still eating when the others had gone to join in a game of what they were delighted to see was a pallimustus game equivalent of kubb. James was still rather happy over a year after arriving that as essence users they could eat as much as they wanted to and not get fat. Mine brother-from-another-mother. Ragnar started, slurring slightly using the phrase James had unwisely taught him. What is new since I left you at the dock? I have been drinking since I arrived and without your marvellous interface I would not know how much time has passed. Oh nothing much, a day with the wife yesterday where we tried to set up a nice surprise for Teddy and Kyra but she beat us to it! Koda has a rather smart new suit! A bear in clothes! A smart jest indeed! Ragnar laughed merrily. Let us see this fearsome beast wearing his finest! James didnt think too hard about it, he was tentatively sipping on silver rank booze, enough liquor to get past his Omnivorscent power but too much would do him actual damage. He released Koda behind him where there was enough space where the open double door to the entranceway was. Koda somehow always knew what was going on before he deployed, through his bond with James he came out knowing what to do and this time as with all others he played his part. He rose to his hind feet and clashed its front legs against his belly armour and opened his jaws wide making a low noise that wasnt quite a growl. He wasnt looking to frighten anyone. Unfortunately fear wasnt an emotion that was common amongst the congregation of Hero. James heard at least three cries of For Hero!! Before they decided to launch themselves at Koda, he could only assume they thought he was some kind of monster. James had to give his head a little wobble to make sense of what happened next, he was too drunk and too confused to just simply reabsorb Koda. The first warrior to reach Koda was a Leonid built like a bear himself, strangely he decided to try and punch the big bear in the face. Koda twisted into the man, hooking a claw behind the mans gauntleted fist and bent his hips low, he threw the man into the nearest table. The big bear then gracefully spread his stance wide and pirouetted, pivoting on a rear foot into a low stable centre of gravity. The spin was unexpected and he hooked a boot of the next attacker to trip him into a slide that ended at the feet of the first. He used his momentum and significant weight to use a sweeping cross body block of the third with one arm and immediately followed it up with a palm/paw strike to the warriors chest using the momentum, the man went flying into the dog-pile of drunk warriors. Now stable in a low stance he met the fourth and they traded blows like sparring in a dojo until Koda reminded the man he was a bear and dropped to all fours and head butted him with an armoured head at least three times larger than the humans. The fifth person to approach Koda was Kyra, she was jumping up and down on tip toes smiling in delight and clapping her hands rapidly running towards him. She jumped and hugged him round the neck. You did so well! Im so proud of you! She said and he made a happy noise. What is going on? James asked disbelievingly. Lucy was next to him now and looked at him and nudged him in the ribs. She motioned at Kyra then Koda then back again. Jamess face lit up with understanding. This?! This is what youve been doing with Koda all this time alone? Youve been teaching him Kung Foo?! You know its not Kung Foo, Ive taught him a few different styles. I thought it might be handy to teach him martial arts. Plus it was fun. I love Lucky but theres no way I can teach a dog martial arts. There was now a good amount of laughter round the room at Jamess expense. Good naturedly. Koda had gone to sniff the first guy hed thrown, pawing him to roll him over and lick his face. The Leonid looked like he might have passed out from drink as much as being thrown. The night continued as it had before with drinking and party, the new addition being wrestle the bear who was sparring all comers in the banquet hall and was putting in a good performance, partly because fighting a bear like a person is difficult and unsettling and because as a bear he wasnt drinking and was probably the most sober warrior in the room. The Mitchells woke up much like they had in the Greenstone temple so many months before, strewn over furniture in the common room clasping various tankards and cups. Young acolytes were bustling about cleaning around the drunkards. The smell of breakfast was coming through from the banquet hall and they all tramped through. Before they got to the self serve buffet James took a cask from his inventory and put it by the juices and tea, he poured the first cup of coffee for the high priestess and apologised it was just the bronze rank variant. She loved it and everyone else was keen to try it. They all sat down one end nursing mild hangovers. Its a good job we dont have any plans today. Teddy said, idly stirring something like porridge. We do, or at least, I do. Lucy said. I promised a Hero warrior called Edgar I would run an essence ritual for his brother, poor guy is twenty and only just able to take essences they reckon. Why you? James asked, then quickly clarified at the look on his wifes face. I mean youre beautiful and talented and gorgeous and hot and wonderful. Lucy cut him off, thoroughly mollified. But theres other ritual specialists that can do it? Because we were talking about the interface. How incredibly helpful it is to know how exactly a power works from the moment you get it rather than working it out over time. Hes already behind all his brothers who got theirs early in their teens. Well if youve got to go then as none of the rest of us have anything on then we should probably join you! Kyra said to the groans of both the boys. Lucy had no cajoling power over Teddy other than when they were working on a project together in the workshop but she shot her husband a flat look. Okay okay okay, the more the merrier, whats the worst that can happen? Chapter 89 ‘Brutal’ When they turned up at the appointed hired ritual room it seemed Jamess feeling of the more the merrier had been going around. They expected the young man who was receiving essences to be joined by family but they actually found what must have been almost his entire extended family. There were so many people jammed in shoulder to shoulder that Lucy didnt have the space to lay out the ritual. There was a short delay as she went out and negotiated for one of the bigger rooms. [Do these people all look a little similar to you guys?] James asked, looking around. [I think there may be at least three sets of twins in here.] Teddy replied. [Huh, must be some weird family genetics going on.] There was every stage of family present. Four little boys were running around dodging between legs, some early teen twins were present eagerly ready to watch the essence ritual as they would be next when they came of age. Proud parents were catching up with brothers and sisters and there were even grandparents in the room. Lucy returned and beckoned everyone out, they walked down the corridor to a much bigger room. It was a stone amphitheatre set into the floor. The Mitchells all stopped at the top layer as they walked through the door with the exception of Lucy who made her way down to the bottom. A year of adventuring in this world had changed her. Gone was the nervous shy girl she had been in her previous life, she now stood there confidently in the centre of the amphitheatre while the huge family filed in, taking up all the seats. She had a hip cocked and arms crossed. While they were in the city she had put wraps around her vambraces, unwilling to take them off but wanting to soften the look. Her wand holster was ever present but looked fairly innocent, there were only a few wands poking out and the sword hilt which could easily be looked over as there was no sword blade present. A older man and his son made their way down to the bottom and she shook hands with them. The hubbub of the room died down slightly as everyone was keen to see it start. Well now Ive met two of your brothers I can definitely see you must be the young man were here for. Lucy said, looking at the man in front of her, glancing up at his identical brothers Edgar at the top who was standing next to Edmund the familiar magic shop owner. Yes maam, Im Eddie. He said nervously, he was doing fairly well considering the crowd that was here just to see him. Its just Lucy, calling me maam makes me feel old. Youre triplets? Quintuplets actually. The father said. Wow. And youre the last one to get essences? Yes maam. I mean Ms Lucy. Dont worry about it, youll soon catch up. So one of your brothers is a magical artisan specialised in artefacts for familiars. Another is a member of the church of Hero and adventurer, what essences are you going for? Edgar is unusual, weve never had an Edland whos not been a merchant, its strange that he''s an administrator for the church. Ive always wanted to take over the family tailors business! Hes a good boy who has been working the shop since he could walk. Were proud to say weve had four generations working the shop and hell be the fifth. Weve got a tried and tested set of essences and a few awakening stones that should cover everything he needs. His father said. Perfect, so I know what to expect have you got any ritual magic experience? Any martial experience? No Ms Lucy, Ive only ever been rough housing with my brothers, not easy growing up in a family of five, theres a few bumps here and there. But I can do ritual magic! I learnt it from dad for a few things in the shop. Well then, theres a chance you may get a familiar power then, its always a good idea to try and learn ritual magic first if you can to improve the odds. Edgar asked me to come and do these rituals for you because we have a power that allows you to see what you receive. These are your powers and no one else has a right to them, I can just add you, you and your father or everyone in the room to see. Its up to you. Wow, well, I think everyone should see? He said looking at his father. Its for the family after all, they all pitched in to buy the essences and stones, I want to celebrate it with them. Lucy nodded and went over to the table set up permanently in the room. It was shielded to prevent anything placed on it interfering with the rituals within. The large room was set up that demonstrations could take place for members of the magic society. Lucy panned her gaze over the waiting family. Good morning. Welcome. The magic society kindly let us use this room for the day so please make yourselves comfortable. My name is Lucy Mitchell. I am not a member of the magic society but I am what you might call a specialist in ritual magic. Specifically we have been asked to join you here today to facilitate the awakening of Eddies powers as we have a fairly unique gift that will allow him and you all to see the specific details of what he receives. My family members are now going to walk among you. She looked pointedly at the others until they moved. Theyre going to just say hello to each of you in order to add you to the power temporarily so you can see firsthand Eddies gifts. She turned back to Eddie and his father. So do you have the goods? The older man nodded and handed a satchel to Lucy. She smiled and turned to lay them out on the table. Item: Needle Essence Item: Thread Essence Item: Cloth Essence Hmm, a very specific set of essences for a tailor then, do you know the confluence essence for these? The Master essence, it typically gives a good set of abilities to compliment and improve on the others. She continued emptying the bag. Item: Awakening stone of Scissors Item: Awakening stone of Wind Item: Awakening stone of Frost Item: Awakening stone of Connections Item: Awakening stone of Fabricate Item: Awakening stone of Vision Item: Awakening stone of Cognition Item: Awakening stone of Precision This is a good collection of stones to get you well on your way! She commented. Well as you said, I have a lot of catching up to do! Temporary group: [Edland Family] has been established. Custom permissions and settings have been created. Ok were ready to rock and roll. She turned to the room again. Were about to start, you can see the interface in front of you, If you think about moving it around then it will shift. Eddie, you ready? He nodded, hugged his father then moved to the middle of the room. Lucy took the first essence and handed it to him. Kyra was standing next to the door and used the controls to dim the light slightly for ambiance. Lucy raised her arms to the ceiling. The others recognised that this wasnt necessary but she was doing it for showmanship, making a memory the family would remember forever. Dual rituals spilled from her eyes in glyphs of gold. Swirling in helix down each arm to form Rune circles in the air, when the last glyph spilled off the end of her finger and joined the slowly rotating circles she dropped her arms and the circles fell to the floor around Eddie. [Eddie Edland] (human, normal rank) has absorbed [Needle Essence] [Eddie Edland] speed attribute has progressed to: iron 0% [Eddie Edland] has unlocked [Needle] essence ability [Fire Needle] [Eddie Edland] has awakened the racial gift: [Slim Penetration] Ability: [Fire Needle] (Needle) Special attack Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Conjure needles of fire that can be thrown to embed themselves into a target. Chance to cause the [Burning] condition. Burning effect: enemies suffering from this condition will suffer ongoing damage unless healed or water based powers used. Resistant to healing magic. Chance for the [Burnt] condition. Burnt effect: enemies suffering from this condition will no longer be able to generate health or stamina until healed. Racial gift Ability [Slim Penetration]: Any attacks made against an enemy will penetrate further than normal for baseline strength. Wow, a very good power to start off with! All those conditions associated with it. Lucy remarked to Eddie. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. He didnt look at her, he was looking at his father, mortified. A sussurance was going through the crowd as they read through it slower. Dad he said worried, scared almost. Dont worry son, nothing to worry about, everyone gets some combat utility with their powers, itll be fine. He said to comfort his son but there was no hiding hed gone paler. Eddie nodded and looked at Lucy. Im ready for my next. Keen to make amends. Lucy handed him the next one and stepped out of the circle, this time she had the glyphs flow around her body, stirring her arms around her like she was in a giant cauldron. She swept her arm out and the glyphs shot out to form a stream that curved around Eddie until the circle was complete. [Eddie Edland] (human, normal rank) has absorbed [Cloth Essence] [Eddie Edland] Recovery attribute has progressed to: iron 0% [Eddie Edland] has unlocked [Cloth] essence ability [Cloth Spectre] [Eddie Edland] has awakened the racial gift: [Radiant Raiment] Ability: [Cloth Spectre] (Cloth) Summon Base cost: very high mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Conjure a cloth familiar to serve the user. Racial gift Ability [Radiant Raiment]: gain extra boons from making or wearing magical items. There we are son! Eddies mother said from the front bench. Thats more what we were expecting! Hopefully a familiar to help in the shop and a very suitable racial gift. Lucy couldnt help think to herself that she hadnt seen many familiars that were suited to shop work but she kept that to herself. She brought the next essence over to Eddie. After this well have a look at the summoning requirements, I may have them on me and we can get that going for you. This would be the last essence ritual Lucy would do, having three essences generated the confluence essence on its own and Lucy had a finale. She started throwing the glyphs into air from in front of her eyes, they hung in mid air as she built the circle. When it was done she stopped, raising both hands high to grab the circle she brought it down on Eddies head like she was trying to break a large, round, golden stain glass window. The next ability caused more outrage than the first. [Eddie Edland] (human, normal rank) has absorbed [Thread Essence] [Eddie Edland] power attribute has progressed to: iron 0% [Eddie Edland] has unlocked [Thread] essence ability [Headsmans Bootlace] [Eddie Edland] has awakened the racial gift: [Gray man] Ability: [Headsmans Bootlace] (Thread) Special attack Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Conjure a garrotte made of undetectable wire. As well as dealing considerable damage the Headsmans Bootlace rapidly absorbs health, stamina and mana into the user from the victim. If the user is undetected damage is doubled. Racial gift Ability [Gray man]: while the baseline strength of your aura may be detected no other information is discernible within. Highly resistant to tracking magic. Dear gods! The most well-dressed elderly man in the room said from the front row. Imagine if the customers find out about this! Eddie was looking shocked and horrified, swaying slightly and staring into space after reading the description. He almost missed what came next. Eddie. Lucy whispered gently, careful as he was so unsettled. Take it, take the confluence essence. He seemed to come to his senses more and saw the essence cube in front of him and reached out to take it. [Eddie Edland] (human, normal rank) has absorbed [Master Essence] (confluence) [Eddie Edland] spirit attribute has progressed to: iron 0% [Eddie Edland] has unlocked [Master] essence ability [Brutalise] [Eddie Edland] has awakened the racial gift: [Combat focus] Ability: [Brutalise] (Master) Special effect Base cost: Nil Cool-down: Nil Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Especially brutal attacks made will cause ongoing damage. Successive attacks above the threshold will be multiplicative. Racial gift Ability [Combat focus]: Racial ability that allows the user to spend mana to boost special attacks. Amount of mana divestment increases with strength of the user. Oh dear! Oh dear! The woman sat next to the elderly gent said and got up holding a handkerchief to her face and swept the room. Edland matriarch has left the group. Please everyone! Eddies father said to settle the rest of family. Please. Its not what we planned, not what weve seen before. But there must be a way to come back from this! He paused as Lucy stepped forward and raised a small tent up around Eddie who was swaying looking queasy, the tent had rituals stitched into the fabric to block sound and smell. She handed in some crystal wash before closing the tent, the ritual room would absorb the filth. Please stay, at least for the familiar summoning, an extra pair of hands in the shop would be welcome indeed! He turned to Lucy with pleasing eyes. Do you have what you need? She opened a small Rune circle and her inventory contents zoomed by and she pulled out what she needed. There was a slight break in the show as Lucy helped Eddie draw the circle himself once he had recovered, she felt it was important considering it was going to be his familiar for the rest of his life that he was the one to work the ritual. She purposely took her time with it, the young man was obviously shaken and she wanted to give him the time to wind down. You see how this line is not completely straight? I find its easier to re-draw the section completely rather than rub it out in one place. Sorry! Im sorry! So sorry. Relax, its ok, we have all the time you need, we have the room all day. Ive never done a ritual this complicated before, Its normally to help with very basic ones. Lucy took a moment to look at the ritual with fresh eyes, she was very used to banging out complicated rituals in seconds using her rune lore power. With her Rune Lore and Clarity powers she could hold multiple complicated rituals in her mind. With objectivity she assessed the ritual, she had seen a few variations and she confirmed that this was indeed a rather complicated example. She held her breath for what that meant for the young man, she was fairly sure this wasnt going to just be a helpful pair of hands for the shop. The ritual was ready and everyone was seated again, Lucy had a quiet word with Eddie about the incantation, it hadnt appeared on the interface and she wanted to be sure he was happy with it. After speaking to him she was confident she knew how it was going to go and she knew she had to talk to the assembled crowd. What you are about to see is a privilege. The rituals of summoning are unique to their powers and invite entities from the astral to join us in our tribulations. Keep in your mind that the words of the summoning are set, they cannot be changed but they do not determine the character of the entity summoned and you should trust in your family member that he is good and will have a partner that matches him. [How bad is it?] James asked. [Bad. Like it makes Lechuzas summoning chant seem downright friendly.] Eddie was standing by the summoning circle now and the room went quiet. Lucy have him a nod. He looked nervous and self conscious but he couldnt back out now. I call to the darkness, The deepest hood and the darkest cloak, The darkness that cannot be shifted, Where the secret things dwell that do not see the light, Secrets that bring down dynastys and change the fates of millions, Bring me the power to strike down monoliths that have stood for generations, The fabric that holds society mine to change, Dominion holds no power over the force in the darkness, unseen it strikes. [How is that a cloth familiar?!] James exclaimed on the interface in the moment of stillness as the last syllable hung heavy in the air. From halfway through the chant the young mans voice had gone incredibly deep and reverberating, sounding like a menacing dirge by the end. The lights in the room dimmed, Lucys eyes whipped to the lights that were magically protected from interference. There was a thin gauze creeping over the lights from behind. The magic was held in the summoning circle, it didnt dissipate like it normally did into the ground. The force exploded out like a wind, blowing everyone back in their seats, a moment of stillness with a vacuum of emptiness in the centre before all the force rushed back to the centre. Everyones clothes and robes were whipping, being pulled by the wind. The wind rushing towards the centre lasted longer than the rush outwards, the sustained force seemed to rip and tear the clothes, strips of cloth ripped off but left no damage, flowing towards Eddie. He was wrapped in all the strips, no matter what colour cloth they came from they appeared mottled black around him. It formed what looked like cloth armour, a weave that hugged his figure. The wind stopped and everyone looked down at the boy. Ability: [Cloth Spectre] (Cloth) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Cloth Spectre serves the user. When absorbed grants the user the ability to change clothes to suite the environment. When deployed can be used to form highly versatile cloth armour. Armour is highly resistant to slashing attacks, less resistant to stabbing and blunt force attacks. Highly resistant to magical attacks. Armour allows the user to blend into their environment. Any cloth within the users aura may be replicated by the familiar. An enemy within the users aura may be targeted by the familiar. A special attack may be used that deals strangulation damage and forces cloth down the targets throat to suffocate them. He was head to foot in mottled black cloth armour, his boots were covered, he had wrapped legs covered by a slightly stiffer fabric partial kilt that would protect the outside of his legs. His torso was wrapped tight but had ragged straps that flowed as he swayed with exhaustion. Thick stiff cloth panels covered his chest and shoulders. He had a mask which completely covered his face, thin gauze obscuring his eyes but allowing him to see and a deep hood that hid it making it sinister. A short cape completed the ensemble, flowing in a wind that had died away. This time there was no pregnant pause, family members fought each other in the rush to evacuate the room. After a surprisingly quick exit the only people left in the room were the Mitchells and Ragnar around the top, Lucy in the centre with Eddie who hadnt moved and his father looking shocked. No one moved and Lucy looked from Eddie to his father and back, the father looked horrified staring into space. Eddie was guiltily looking at his father like he had ruined his life. Lets get these awakening stones done and we can talk about this. Lucy prompted. The father didnt move, catatonic. Eddie nodded at Lucy, grateful for the distraction. They got through them quickly and quietly, not pausing between. Awakening stone of Scissors [Combat Shears] (Cloth) Effect (iron): conjure a pair of combat shears to be used as a weapon. Can be separated to allow dual wielding. Execute ability: decapitation, bonus damage to attacks that are aimed to decapitate the enemy. When he pulled out the shears they were more like two foot long garden shears with serrated edges, they could indeed be opened up then pulled apart to have one in each hand. Eddie had dropped them in shock when he conjured the sinister weapon. Awakening stone of Wind [Blowpipe] (Needle) Effect (iron): conjure a blowpipe to fire summoned needles. Awakening stone of Frost [Frost Needle] (Needle) Effect (iron): Conjure needles of frost that can be thrown to embed themselves into a target. Chance to cause the [Frozen] condition. Frozen effect: reduces mobility and speed in effected area. Chance for the [Frostbitten] condition. Frostbitten effect: causes ongoing damage to the target area, are affected will continuously peel of in frozen flakes. Awakening stone of Connections [Assassins Stitch] (Thread) Effect (iron): summon a thread with a dart on each end, when thrown at two targets it will connect them. Mana from one target will be used to cause damage to the other. Effect will be swapped at intervals. Awakening stone of Fabricate [Tailors choice] (Cloth) Aura power Effect (iron): Allies within the aura receive a random boon to their armour. Enemies within the aura receive random damage to their armour or their armour gives them a random affliction. The naming convention of the aura power had caused the father to come out of his catatonia before he read the effect and he fell into a squat to his heels, holding his head in his hands. Awakening stone of Vision [Focussed Eyes] (Master) Effect (iron): Increased aim with all projectiles. Awakening stone of Cognition [Frog Dart] (Needle) Effect (iron): Conjures needles coated in a poison that causes hallucinations. Awakening stone of Precision [Killer instinct] (Master) Effect (iron): All attacks from user find weak points on the enemy to cause extra damage. Just stop. Croaked the father. He was still staring at the floor. Stop. You have done enough. He stood up and walked over to his son. He hugged him and the fabric armour melted into his regular clothes he had been standing in when they started. Just leave. His life he wanted is over. Go, we never want to see you again. The Mitchells were so shocked at what had happened here they couldnt say anything, they quietly left the room leaving the father and son in the bottom of the amphitheatre holding each other now their lives had been forever changed. Chapter 90 ‘Shareholders’ The Mitchells left Arngo three days later. They looked back on their time with mixed feelings. They had been truly safe which was something they had not felt since they had left Greenstone, doubly so since they found out the Confederacy was after the weapon for whatever reason. But the blemishes on their time had been what occurred at the ritual room and the inevitable visible corruption in the big city. But negative points aside they had enjoyed their time. Frequenting the temple of Hero and the clergy within, making firm friends and good connections. The surprise that James and Lucy had arranged was for a romantic meal for two for Kyra and Teddy in the central spire, on a floor that slowly revolved giving a three hundred and sixty degree view of the city from near the peak. They had taken advice from the local adventure society and borrowed three high rank mana condensers. They were built on a much bigger scale than what Lucy had seen used for ritual magic. They fitted the buggies on the sides of the Serenity as outriggers again and a mana condenser sat in each with the third in the main ship. They had sailed north from the city under escort of three silver rank adventurers to the edge of reasonable radius from the city where they bid them goodbye. The continued sailing until they reached the last recently known patrolled area when they opened the taps on all the mana condensers. Teddy lifted the Serenity out of the water and they soared through the air. There was a palpable tension, the team were solid but they knew they were back in the wilds again and had to be on their game. From personal experience James was all over watching the skies, he had been attacked by an over-ranked predator before and had only just made it out alive. Ragnar was staring over the bow down at the water, they were high enough that no gold rank monster would burst from the water below and drag them down to the depths but there was no consoling the big man. Lucy was down below working on a project in the workshop and Kyra sat next to Teddy. They were discussing something that had happened in Arngo and discovering the anxiety that came with being shareholders. Kyra had set everything up. It was the day before they were due to leave Arngo and she got everyone around the table for breakfast to make her proposal. Thanks everyone I just wanted to put an idea past you. Am I finally going to find out what youve been writing in that little notebook? You are! Top points for observation! Ive been making a note of everywhere good to expand our business. The business of killing things? Thats mostly what we do. James asked confused Everyone else turned to look at him. He had put a confused look on all their faces. No The multi gold-coin coffee business we started in Greenstone with Gerald? Lucy kindly prompted. Oooohh, that. Sure. I hadnt completely forgotten about that. Ha! What fortuitous company that rains gold coins with scant regard and pays no mind to the fruits born off their investment! Some of us, Ragnar, you can be rest assured that others are paying attention. I have a call booked with Gerald this afternoon and I have some thoughts. From when we last spoke to Gerald the business was doing well, incredibly well. I have a plan to massively increase our footprint. Greenstone sits on the southern side of this continent, Arngo is arguably the northernmost before we cross the sea. If we can establish a foothold in both then we have the start of a plan. If we can connect the two then filling the gaps will make us a lot of money. She paused for a moment, letting the magnitude of the plan sink in. Im not talking cheap convenience like a motorway services. Actual cafes and the consistent quality Gerald is already producing, weve seen the produce that can be sourced locally along the way and we can make it work. How much are you thinking of investing in this Ky? James asked. Thats up to you guys. Theres a few options, well certainly need manufacturing in the area. I was checking the zoning laws and buying property in the city for business isnt an easy prospect, not nearly as easy as it was in Greenstone where its just a matter of money. There needs to either be precedent or reputation for a shop to be opened. Greenstone is backwater as hell compared to Arngo, I doubt our reputation from there will count? Teddy said. No it probably wont, but I made an observation on the way up here, I spoke to Caleb about it quickly but the rental for a few of those fishing boats wouldnt be too much. Youre thinking of running coffee carts like in Greenstone city centre? Lucy worked out. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Exactly! They go up and down the river selling coffee at first. Then the traffic going into the city carries good word of this wonderful new product. I cant imagine it will take long for word to get around from barge captains to guard captains to city guards to city officials. that wouldnt be too much initial investment either just to test the water, excuse the pun. James smirked. See, it all comes together. A warehouse with manufacturing downriver where its not so expensive, start with a few good boats going up and down, see where it leads. Not wanting to poke problems babe but its only Gerald that makes the coffee and hes pretty defensive about the recipe. Teddy pointed out. Thats a sticking point. I was thinking we ask Gerald what he thinks about asking Clarissa to come and run it. Shes young but he already puts a lot of trust in her. I think theres a lot of risk there, we know Gerald. If I may make a suggestion? Lucy asked. Kyra happily nodded at her. Why dont we make her a shareholder? We cant always be the bank, if the buck stops with us then were the only ones liable, Gerald takes a share for running it and it has been mostly his idea. But if we have equal investment in this new venture then its incumbent on her to make it work? Thats brilliant! Kyra said. I was a little uncomfortable its all coming from us. Ragnar, fancy some portfolio diversity? The big man put his dimensional bag on the counter and started pulling out fistfuls of silver coins. Considering the size of his hands there was a considerable amount of coin coming out. Woah big guy! Hold you horses, heidels, whatever. Weve not spoken it over with the others yet. Kyra said, trying to stop him. Mine action is truth no matter what their answer. I am confident that people so competent and driven but honest will always be worth my time, money and affections. Kyra put her hands on his to stop home pulling more money out, hed already shown enough that most people would be happy to think of retiring on for a fair few years. Ragnar thats so sweet. Youre family now, we just want your company not your coin but youre welcome to invest if you would like. Later that day they were in a speaking chamber. They were expecting just Gerald and were surprised to find he had brought two others with him. Clarissa was stood next to him, she was a very serious young lady who looked like she was doing her best to impress the Mitchells. Gerald also introduced David, a house servant of the noble house Davone. With the three of them on one side and five on the other the meeting got started. Gerald didnt disappoint, as soon as he was told the meeting was being arranged he hadnt waited around to see what it was about but put together a briefing pack. He started with the revenue for the last few months, transparent in all dealings. He then went through projection with them including dropping some very favourable news. Aye an Im glad tae mention tae yeh, I wen an got in touch with the Schooner. We got a contract for sandwiches and our lunchtime demand has doubled. Were thinking of buying oot the shop next tae us in the city and getting another two carts. Thats wonderful Gerald, really wonderful. And leads us onto our next topic of discussion At that moment a young girl ran into the room and wrapped herself around the leg of Clarissa, the young woman looked mortified. Annabelle! I told you to wait outside! But mum! You took so long. Im huungry! The Mitchells laughed, the cute scene was a breath of fresh air after all the grown up adventures theyd had. Clarissa ushered her out and apologised profusely. Not to worry, it makes my next question more interesting. Gerald, we can talk about this privately if you prefer but what do you think about They outlined the plan, talking about the journey they had been on and the set up they imagined. Gerald looked uncomfortable about sharing the secret recipe for the coffee but at the mention of investment from Clarissa he started to bend. We dont want to seem like the bad guys, and Im sure one day it will get out and well have a competitor, we just cant have that being you. We need to make it in your interest to stay loyal to us and not branch out. Teddy explained to Clarissa. We recognise it would mean asking you to move your family which might be a dealbreaker. Oh its just me and my daughter, I think she would love the idea of going on an adventure like this! The meeting went on, both ends of the call had to disappear briefly to arrange extra time. They agreed to one final call the next day before the Mitchells moved out of the city to going over a legal framework that had been drafted then the Greenstone end could go all out on developing the plan. It took them the better part of a day and a night to cross the ocean. Air travel wasnt uncommon in these higher magical density areas and Teddy had picked up an air chart that showed where to find the favourable winds, he also fully opened the taps on the mana condensers draining them for speed. They were almost out when they saw land ahead with the rising sun coming over the horizon on one side. As the shore came into view they saw on the far horizon behind it that start of the peaks which was their final destination. They had crossed a continent and an ocean and they were tantalisingly close. Teddy decided to stay airborne for a while longer once they reached the shore, draining the last drop out of the three mana condensers they had been given. They were a loan from the adventure society that they had to pass on to the branch in Honshuraskil. Eventually they did run out and Teddy brought the Serenity gliding down. He checked the ambient magic levels and engaged as much of the active camouflage and aura hiding tricks the Serenity had as he could. This was silver country. The majority of manifestations would be mid silver with packs of lower and rare but frequent enough gold manifestations. This was the part of the contract that Vincent had warned them of so long ago that they would need to be especially careful, previous contracts at this point would normally be escorted from Arngo onwards but the Adventure society had been strapped for manpower due to other concerns. After looking at the Mitchells team file records of job completion, their offers from various notable guilds and the presence of Ragnar from the church they decided they would be able to complete. It would only take two days to reach the base of the mountain, the magical storm that stopped anyone from getting to the city would be over by then and they would be able to almost go straight up without stopping. The Serenity travelled on in silence, all on board at high alert, so close to the end now. Chapter 91 ‘Walking the world’ Ragnar woke in his luxury bed. He was used to sleeping wherever he could lay his head, happy for the wayfarer stations for adventurers or a bunk in a fortress town set aside or adventurers. The beds onboard the Serenity looked uncomfortable, the shining crystal surface didnt entice one to lie on it. As he shifted his massive weight the tiny facets of crystal that made up the surface shifted and crinkled conforming to his body. It was honestly the most comfortable he had been in his life, brought up on the Great Plains he had never learnt how to swim so the idea of lying suspended in water was an unpleasant thought, this was the closest He would get to having his whole body supported in one go. He had taken Kyras insistence and decorated his room, the crystal bed needed no covers, any sweat or dirt would be cleaned off by the crystal, flipping over and over until it was carried overboard. He did have a massive throw however, more for a reminder of home rather than comfort, the private room had customisable climate control that meant he could sleep naked starfished on the bed if he wanted to but he liked the heavy covers. Still lying in the bed he looked around the room. He had put a few pieces of art up, scenes of battle that had taken his fancy. Tapestries and furs were also dotted around the room and floor. What he was actually looking at was the other items. His shield was hooked next to the door. A massive thing, almost as tall as the top of his chest. It was a kite shield that Theodore had made for him in Stonewall to test he was worthy to move on to make weapons with the masters. It was pointed on the front to allow hits to deflect off rather than hit a flat shield, the decoration on it was stunning. There was a giant man standing, he was engraved in a Greek style, not that Ragnar had heard of Greece, with a toga and sandals, muscles stood out all over as he strained to hold storm clouds above with one hand whilst the other hand was held out to catch a lightning bolt that was going to strike the tiny people beneath him. He loved the shield, never having used one before but he was enamoured by the symbolism. He had spoken to Kyra before about his feelings on the true nature of heroes, a shield that protected the innocent was a far better tool than an axe to vanquish foes. Next to the shield was his huge double headed axe. It had been passed down in the church of hero from new recruit to new recruit, a fantastic weapon for its rank and had many many stories which Ragnar delighted in telling. Ragnar, almost reluctantly, got out of bed. He stretch languidly rubbing his face and scratching his beard. He thumped across the room to the en suite and looked at himself in the mirror. His thick dark hair was cut short and neat on top, his eyes were deep and dark but he had the constant crinkles at the corners like he was always smiling. He had inherited his fathers nose, big and bulbous but it brought him joy looking in the mirror to see a part of the man he missed so much. Underneath the nose was a huge bushy moustache, disheveled after a night of sleep and a wild tangle of beard that reached his chest that needed taming. As he started combing his moustache and beard he thought back to a recent fight they had on their journey. He was never a fan of fighting fire monsters, their nature meant his usual favoured tactic of putting things down with his axe presented a problem of getting close without getting burnt. They were a flock of fire starlings, individually hard to hit but fairly harmless, only able to make diving attacks that left raking hot scratches if they hit. Together though they were a menace, they would flock together and fly towards a target in a tight concentric cone which superheated and blasted out fire. Ragnar had found himself the subject of this attack, standing his ground as they came towards him. He had ducked behind his shield and let the fire splash either side of it. Whilst he had the focus of the birds Kyra had peppered their side with multiple earth boulders which she detonated before they hit, shredding the flock. He hadnt been quick enough to duck behind the shield and he ruefully had to sit still on the top deck whilst Kyra trimmed his burnt beard and the end of one moustache. To add insult to injury he had to have the other unburnt end trimmed as well to match. When he was groomed he came out of the bathroom and went to a wardrobe. Kyra had admonished him for continuing to live out of his dimensional bag and insisted he made this place his home. He opened the crystal doors and pulled out a thick pair of trousers and shirt. Putting them on he turned to the end of the bed where he had an armour stand. His armour was fairly basic, a chest plate of leather with thick metal plates engraved with symbols of the church of hero. A long pair of chaps fell to cover the front and sides of his legs with a skirt of chain mail at the rear, chunky boots with metal plates sat underneath. He decided not to don his armour this morning just yet. Moving over to his shield he unhooked it from the wall and took it to the centre of the room. He propped it against the end of the bed and took a knee in front of it to pray. Prayer wasnt a necessary part of his religion but he found it focussed his mind for the day and kept his mind on making sure he did his gods good work. Mine god. Hear me, help me keep the faith. There are good works to be done and I will be the instrument. Keep watch over my father and give him strength to watch over my family. I will continue to adventure with these Mitchells who do your work whether they know it or not. They are good people who do what they do because it is the right thing to do and nothing more. Although they do not pay you homage I ask you look over them and give them your favour. He donned his armour then picked up the shield, they were in a high density magic area and he didnt want to be caught without, his Titan armour was a very effective power but against a silver rank monster he might be killed before he was protected enough by the retributive armour. He came out of his room and the door clicked shut behind him. He felt privileged that the room was keyed to his aura, the Mitchells could get in but only with all four of them. He poked his head into the workshop an found the parts of one of Lucys projects on the bench. He had no powers to use magical items and therefore had little interest in the making of the instruments. He had the forge essence and could make metal structures and some weapon work, hed been helping Teddy refine his technique slightly but the man had a passion that drove his work for making things that Ragnar had never had. Turning to the front of the ship he walked up the corridor, past the two couples rooms and up the staircase. He came out on the middle deck surrounded by the sofas up against the glass. The staircase came out of the middle table that horseshoed around it and he saw every chair was vacant. He turned around and took a moment to look out of the transparent crystal window in the direction they were travelling, they were in a temperate environment now, evergreen trees and thick lush grass. There werent roads so much but someone had cleared the ground of large vegetation and the big wheels of the Serenity were making easy progress. He marvelled that he had never been on a vehicle like this, in his youth hed been on an airship but that was on a commercial scale not a private vehicle and not nearly so luxurious. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Going through the kitchen he stopped and opened the fridge which was a clear sheet of crystal with magic behind it to keep items cool and the the same condition they went in. Pulling out some fruit he turned and carried on to the rear, passing the large dining table. Kyra had been influential in the decorating and it was very tasteful, showing a flavour of everywhere they had been. His eyes went to the dagger mounted on the wall, he had approved of the story of the gold rankers contrition and it was a good keepsake. Sliding open the back doors he took a deep breath to sample the air, it was fresh and moist, the dew evaporating off the grass in the full sunshine. There were twin curved staircases leading to the top deck and he wondered at the versatility of the crystal material, the stairs looked smooth but gripped like sandpaper, the bars of the handrail looked polished but had a grip like soft leather. Up top the wind blew through his beard for a moment before he was under the magical effect that covered the top deck making it comfortable for passengers. The entire vessel ran on an enormous amount of magic, something Teddy had explained why this vehicle was rare by incorporating a system of gearing inside and the wheels which reduced the amount of ambient magic required. Behind the drivers station was a large table and benches that took up the back deck, the drivers compartment itself had a few extra seats in there for people to relax and spend time with the driver, thats where Ragnar found Teddy and Lucy. Ragnar had brothers back home, or wherever they were now and they had wives. He couldnt imagine getting on so well with them as much as the Mitchells did, Teddy and Lucy were constantly working on different projects, holding for or five designs in their minds and doing their parts to make the items, occasionally having to work together at the same time. He could see around the gun that Lucky was napping on one of the benches surrounding the inside of the bow while Kyra, James and Koda were going through what looked like a kata together. On the front deck was the large tarpaulin. It covered the huge quad barrelled gun that they were to deliver. Immensely powerful, designed to destroy gold rank monsters, plural. He could barely fathom seeing waves of gold rank monsters thinking back to squashing the bother badgers. At bronze rank, and a good one at that, he could take on almost any bronze rank monsters and multiple of most, he could take a crowd of iron and a swarm of lesser. He needed to work as a group to take on a silver rank monster, having not found one that he was specifically suited to go up against. Fighting a gold rank anything, just one of them, was incomprehensible. He looked forward to visiting the city that required such a weapon. The frequent magical storms which blocked access to the city were full of gold rank monsters which pummelled the city all the while the storms did. He walked up to the drivers compartment and joined in with the conversation. Look at it, it says silver. We need to not draw attention. Teddy said, pointing at the crystal ball in the dashboard which was indeed swirling silver. Yes, but its density vs saturation. Were definitely in a silver rank density area but look at the saturation, its barely registering. Slapping his hand out the way and pointing at it herself following how slow the swirls were. Ragnar looked around, all over the scenery there were the tell-tale signs of monster activity, a slashed tree trunk, crushed undergrowth but the harder he looked the more he noticed it was all older. The vegetation was scarred not broken and the leaves were rebounding. He looked up and saw the swirling vortex storm was far above them, the bright sunlight still beating down at an angle from behind them but it wouldnt reach soon when they got directly underneath at the foot of the mountain. Mayhap I can suggest a reason? He interrupted. I am not as well versed in magical theory, mine own experience of walking the world might help here. Please go on. Lucy said, fiercely intelligent but always willing to learn and humble that she didnt know everything. If the hunting is silver rank down here but the game is sparse then mayhap that. He pointed up. Is why. If the beasts above are as formidable as the tales tell then they have either gone forth to join or fled. The other two both thought about this for a while. I can see that. Teddy said. James! He shouted, interrupting the kata. The big man lumbered back to the others, leaving Kyra and Koda balanced on one leg, arms outstretched, one leg straight out back, waiting for him to rejoin. What? Can you have a quick look around, time to earn your money as a scout, see if theres a long term habit of waves of silver rank monsters in the area, Ragnar thinks there may be a natural absence at the moment because of the storm on the mountain. Sure, Ill be back in a flash. James said, then went to the back and slid down the bannister to the middle deck then went down the stairs to the drop deck. He jumped in a buggy they had made up incase they needed them in a hurry he drove off the back to go have a look around. Lucy turned to Ragnar. So youve seen this before then? Not quite, but similar. The more powerful you get as a hunter you must remember, there is always a greater hunter than you. The unintelligent lower rank monsters dont parse this fact but the silvers and certainly the gold have the canny to know. The more powerful they are the more intelligent, this is known. It becomes harder to fight them not just for their combat strength but their mind. We saw that, just the jump from iron to bronze they were using more stealth, using the environment more. Teddy agreed. James rejoined them, coming at them from the side and jumping the buggy off a hillock onto the back drop-deck. Yeh Id say Ragnars right, successive waves of migration. All seems to be quiet at the moment, probably safe enough for Lechuza to scout ahead but keep her low, no where near that storm. Treetop height ideally. He pecked his wife on the top of her head, punched Ragnar lightly on the shoulder and went to join Kyra and Koda who were starting to shake, having held the position the whole time he had been away. Ragnar was smiling at having worked it out, he had travelled extensively on his own, trusting his god to put him where he needed to be. That was how he had ended up on Baboas vessel. His god has prompted him if was time to wander and what path. Ragnar had thought his destiny was with Baboa and something to do there but now realised it was with the Mitchells. The three at the front had settled in to meditate now, sitting in a row facing the direction of travel. Ragnar stayed with Teddy and Lucy, they were conversing about various projects and they wanted his opinion on various elements of the design. He had either seen most of the iterations of what they were trying or could point out why they wouldnt work. They drove on carefully, Teddy had sped up a little and they had reached the foot of the mountain. He was following directions from the map Vincent had given them so long ago and he was aiming for a valley that contained the pass up the mountain. They were driving up a hill and they could see the sides of the valley on either side over the crest. As they went over the top and started downhill Teddy slammed on the brakes. Something they hadnt expected, couldnt have dreamed of, could barely fathom. In front of them was an army. Chapter 92 ‘It has begun’ James and Teddy grew up playing computer games together. When they reached their teenage years there was a definitive lack of multiplayer games. That was unless you liked playing first person shooters on the internet; with eight year olds shouting about how they did your mum the night before on the mike. Some of their favourite games had been Lord of the Rings games. They felt like they had just walked into a Helms Deep scenario, in front of them was arrayed the small army. Monsters behaved one of two ways generally. They either wandered around minding their own business acting in whatever nature they had spawned. The second was a blind rage that wanted to kill anything in front of them. Neither of these behaviours meant standing in neat rows and files facing the top of the valley. The team were facing the back of the army, Teddy recognised the monsters at the back that shot spiky protrusions from their shoulders and realised whoever the commander was had put his archers at the back. The other thing he noticed looking at the backs of the monsters was the mechanical boxes and tubes that fed into the monsters. The rest of the monsters were harder to see, even with their vantage at the top of the hill and the bonus from James aura power to their perception they struggled to see in the mist lying in the valley. What they could see were big muscly rhino type creatures making up the bulk, they had thick legs meeting heavy torsos. There heads had horizontal horns rather than a typical vertical horn for a rhino the creature. There were humanoid monsters intermingled, heads that were two or three times taller than they needed to be with long pointed teeth protruding, their limbs were long and thin with sharp claws on the tips of their three fingers. They saw some humans shuffling amongst the ranks and figured these must be the handlers. They caught a glimpse of one monster they recognised, a silver rank monster but a weak one, normally found in packs, it shifted from standing on two legs to four legs and back. It had naturally occurring armour and was fast, its danger was the nest of vine-like whips on its back that it could shoot out and ensnare prey, when in a herd as it normally was they were almost impossible for bronze rank and below to escape. They hadnt been seen yet as the monsters didnt turn around. They stood there stunned trying to make sense of it. The raw material for the weapon Lucy said thinking hard. They were after the weapon. Why? It wouldnt have done them any good. It needs to be fixed in place. Its why we cant use it. Teddy said. But thats it, we have it. Honshuraskil has one less gun to defend with. Maybe thats why. If you were planning to siege a city you would undermine trade supplies, water, power, introduce sickness. Neutralise defences. Is that what the fell beasts are doing? Ragnar asked, slowly spinning his axe in his hand, looking with calm hunger. No a siege makes no sense, no communication can get in or out while the storm is here, but they cant get in either. When the storm drops theyll attack but the city will be able to send for help, gold rank help would be here sooner than later. So an invasion then, James! Teddy called for the big man to come back to the drivers station. What do you think? Around fifty of them? Must be some commanders in there, last time they were essence users. Doesnt seem enough though. Oh? Look at them, its all bronze rank monsters. Theres a few silvers in there but theyre not enough. Honshuraskil has gold rank defences this is nothing more than a beachhead. A beachhead? Kyra asked, joining them and leaving Koda on the bow with his hackles raised watching the monsters below. Remember their tactics at Greenstone? They snuck in underground somehow through the docks, this will be the same. This is a landing force for whatever is coming next. Well reasoned Mr Mitchell. A deep baritone voice spoke from above and behind them. They turned to see a figure floating in the air behind them, they hadnt felt his presence at all but now they were looking at him and concentrating they could feel the gold rank power coming off him. He looked like a knight, dressed in cream robes with plain smooth armour strapped over the top. His helmet was like a medieval knights; round at the top and completely covered his face with two smooth planes that met in the middle without holes for eyes or mouth. Teddy recognised that it was the sort of expensive armour that didnt need fancy decorations because those who recognised it for what it was would be impressed anyway. He floated by virtue of the translucent dragonfly wings behind him, extending ten feet either side, they barely moved, their gentle wafting implying it was more magic than physics that worked. He held a huge staff, easily ten feet long, if he were standing on the ground it would look ridiculous. Theyd never actually seen him stand on the floor though. Lord Alihan, what an unexpected surprise. Lord Alihan was a gold rank instructor that had come from the venerated Vitesse academy to the Greenstone annex with some of their students. The Remore Academy Greenstone Annex was founded not for the local population but as a location to allow the Academy students to come and cut their teeth on the lower rank monsters than could be found in the Vitesse area. The students were the children of kings and rulers, the top of aristocracy from influential families. So of course they received a high ranking escort at least relatively nearby to ensure they didnt die when thrown to the wilds. The Greenstone syllabus was a happy by-product of the annexs purpose and some local need for formal teaching. You are correct, this is a surprise meeting. This is a surprise. He motioned at the arrayed monsters. And they are not the only surprises you are going to have today. There is a powerful enemy fast approaching. They cannot be allowed to make it past us to the city. The weapons that protect it during the storms are recharged by condensers that collect the magical storm energy, if these are depleted then the city is at the mercy of the next storm which can come at anytime. Lord Alihan, this enemy approaching, its gold rank? Lucy asked. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. They are. They, plural? Teddy confirmed and the faceless man nodded. Ok, well need you to counter the gold rank threat, well dig in the Serenity here and go for a two up, one, one back with a stinger to funnel. When two up gets overwhelming well go three up and four up respectively with the one back being the last player. Understood? Teddy rattled through the orders, when he finished he could feel the aura leak out of Lord Alihan, almost to remind him who and what he was. Sorry Lord Alihan, of course I mean, what would you like us to do? The faceless gold ranker looked from left to right across the valley, then over his shoulder. The threat is unknown but a gold rank anything is not to be underestimated. I will have to use my sole attention on the gold rankers. The fight will be dire for you young adventurers. I see four silver rank abominations amongst them and their essence users are powerful. Do what you can to destroy the forces here, the citys survival may depend on you ensuring my fight is not disturbed. With his ominous warning he turned and floated a few feet higher, keeping watch on the way he had appeared from. Teddy made sure the team didnt waste any time, they still had an element of surprise and time to move into position. The mouth of the valley they were in was narrow, only slightly wider than the Serenity was bow to stern, Teddy parked it across the mouth and settled it onto the ground, folding the wheels away. The armoured panels appeared double thickness on the side facing down the valley as they didnt need to armour the other side. He rushed to the rear, collapsing down the large table they had spent many happy nights eating around so Lucy had space. He saw his job as facilitating everyone elses right now. He was confident everyone knew their jobs but having him go over it meant that firstly nothing got missed and secondly people werent thinking about what was to come. When Teddy and James had moved in to fight the Hydra before Arngo he had done his best to coordinate the teams, James had been a team leader for the heavy hitters but Teddy was still overall coordinating it. He hadnt had the same pressure then, apart from him and James up front he knew his family was safe, they could run away. Here they were now, pinned between a literal army albeit a small one and a gold rank threat. Kyra watched Teddy drive the Serenity into position then leapt off the back, she conjured a reinforced wall of earth from her Earth essence that would funnel any approaching enemies into the side of the ship rather than behind them. As the wall power was on cool-down she used her Terraform power now the Serenity had bottomed out on the ground. She ramped the earth up against the hull to better protect it from any attacks and closing her eyes and sought out any nearby plants or seeds. To her delight she found some aggressive magic thorny vines and dragged their seeds through the earth and laced the soil, anything trying to climb it would get a nasty surprise. She looked up at her husband giving orders to the others, all business. He had never been like this in their old life and she was proud of him, the pressure of keeping the family alive had brought out the best in him. Ragnar knew his role in the preparation of the battle. With the Earth and Forge essences he was well suited to setting fortifications. He moulded metal over one of Kyras earth walls and then another when her power came off cooldown. Lacking a wall power of his own he hastily strode forward and started laying trenches out, digging them hastily to slow anything coming uphill. He knew this battle was not going to be the usual fare. This was not a monster battle or killing bandits. This was a well organised enemy that had planning and agenda, the fact that they were here was a spanner in their works but that only meant that all the enemies planning an preparation was coming towards them instead of the city. James didnt have a lot he could do. He saw Kyra and Ragnar busily shoring up the Serenity as a redoubt incase they needed to retreat and was slightly jealous. He wouldnt trade his powers as he had grown to love each one of them but he felt useless sitting on the bow of the Serenity. He had settled into meditate, the most useful thing he could do right now. For him it wasnt solely about essence power advancement but an active bonus from his Hibernation power; whilst meditating he accrued instances of Integrity, the more he stacked the better. Each instance would give him a heal-over-time and a mana-over-time effect. He also made sure that each member of the team and Lord Alihan were covered by his Ursa Family power. The power at iron rank made each member of the group stronger anytime they were attacked, at bronze rank it added a measure of protection. If someone in the group got hit then an instance of Family Blessing was applied to every other member, when someone who had this boon was hit it negated a portion of the damage. The only other thing James could do to help was with his aura; Rise. Everything had happened very quickly but they suddenly realised they were standing between a very powerful and organised enemy and the fate of the city. His aura raised the spirit attribute of anyone within it and they were going to need every bit of encouragement they could get. Lucy was busy working out mana consumption strategies for the upcoming battle. She quietly thought to herself sometimes that she had never met a bronze ranker with quite the same mana pool as her. She had multiple powers that boosted it and then several notable items on top, one of which was even a divine relic gifted by Hero. The problem was she could also empty it so fast it made her head spin. The one attack spell she had was capable of being boosting to peak bronze and even low level silver rank levels if she really went all out, the challenge was enduring battles. For her rank her martial skills were solid, bronze rank strength and speed put her above any natural human capabilities but that would not be good enough in the fight to come. She scribbled on hands and knees on the solid crystal aft deck, the table folded away giving her a large space to work. The chalk was precise despite her rush and she had mana accumulation rituals in place. Teddy had set the swivel guns on the railing in front of her and she placed rituals underneath them, they were simple force rituals that would effectively be remote firing switches while she stayed where she was to fire from the deck, Teddy had aimed the cannons so that a pair fired left and a pair fired right meaning that the safest option was to travel up the middle. When all the preparation was made they stilled themselves. They had been silent in their work and careful with aura control. With no time like the present they took a long hard look at each other, hugged and clasped hands then moved out. Teddy had called a two up, one, one back and a stinger. This put Ragnar and James (with Koda) up front as the heavy hitters, Kyra behind them to catch stragglers and take opportunities as they came without being decisively engaged and Lucy on the deck of Serenity as their back line to hold the redoubt and fire artillery over their heads. Teddy would be the stinger, being everywhere at once buzzing about like a wasp, forcing the enemy into killing zones. Before they moved into position they had added Lord Alihan to the interface group. Temporary group: [Epic Battle] has been established. Lord Alihan has been added to the group. Custom permissions and settings have been created. Error. Lord Alihan permissions and settings have been restricted by his inherent nature. Views on this member are limited. Well thats odd. Teddy muttered to himself. [The secrets of gold rank are not yours to hold yet young Mr Mitchell.] Lord Alihan put on the group, Teddy had thought him out of earshot. [All righty then, were ready to start. Taking the fight to them Lord.] [I will do what I can until the challenge arrives.] [Ill clap em round the ears to wake them up then were game on guys.] Teddy said. [Best of luck.] [Pick risks wisely.] Kyra put. [Lord Hero, watch over us in this endeavour, giveth strength to our arms and foul footing to the enemy. Wrath and ruin be with us today and see us through to many battles to come.] Ragnar prayed on the interface for the others benefit. [ a day may come where the courage of men fails, when we forsake our family and all bonds of fellowship but it is not this day! This day we fight!] James put up on the interface. Ragnar who was standing next to him was delighted and clapped and arm round his shoulders and punched him in the chest than they ran down the hill together, Koda materialising in his bronze and gold armour running with them. [Oh what the hell, Im never going to live this down; may the force be with you guys.] Then Lucy started concentrating, swirling mana towards her. Teddy was stood next to her watching it all unfold, he felt Lord Alihans gaze and he turned to face him. The gold ranker just nodded and Teddy ripped open a rift and disappeared in. The destination rift was right in the back row of the monsters. He was completely undetected by the monsters who he knew had their senses dulled by the alchemical drugs to keep them complacent he didnt waste any time and crashed his forearms together, the divine relics he had been gifted by Hero sending out a shockwave which ripped the mechanical tubing from the nearest five or six monsters on the back row. Throwing a black hole hand grenade to either side of him he jumped back through the portal. Orientating himself on the top deck to witness the reaction he saw the grenades detonate, sending bits of monster flying and shrapnel from the contraptions. The whole mass of monsters shifted towards them. He saw the humans walking among the monsters turning them about and beating them into position. Lord Alihan drifted down net to Teddy but not actually touching the deck. He raised both his arms and golden silver flames burst along the ridges of the valley, further funnelling the monsters. It has begun. He said and shot off to the rear to a huge clash of power. Chapter 93 ‘Glory’ The monsters teemed. They lacked their usual dexterity they would have under their own power, it was as if they were fighting the commands being put into them by the alchemical contraptions bolted into their flesh. There was a reek coming up the hill even before the grenades detonated, a persistent stench of rainbow cloud odour like the monsters were trying to break down but something was stopping them. The nearest two to Teddys surprise attack had their units blown to unrecognisable scrap, the monsters shrieked with pain and confusion as they came to their senses seeing what was around them and immediately going berserk. They fired into their own ranks, one of them dissolved into rainbow smoke as it did, its life force spent. The other was quickly put down by the rest. The monsters that had only partial separations of their mechanisms seemed to be fighting themselves, trying to go one way until something stopped them and bringing them back under control. As the humans walked among them they either dispatched the monsters themselves without hesitation or punched new machines into them where they could reach. Teddy had been studying the compounds used in the machines cruelly bolted onto the monsters. He was no closer to figuring out how they did what they did and was surprised that they had backups for the complicated machines. It didnt change their plan however, they knew the monsters obvious weak point was going to be the contraptions or the slap-dash bolt on ones. The monsters replied to the opening of combat with a salvo of shot spikes from the remaining archers that had been at the back of their formation, now the front as they had been attacked from the rear. They spikes lacked mass now their numbers had been thinned out and they were easy to dodge, a number of the three foot long spikes embedding themselves into the earth bank in front of the Serenity. The team replied in kind. James and Ragnar were closest to the front line, James had fought these mechanically enhanced abominations before and went straight for what he had known worked before, throwing snakes hand over hand imbued with the lighting energy of his pauldron. Where they struck the monsters they caused the muscles to spasm and wrench, causing injury and disability to the monsters. Normally a monster would heal from such minor injury quite quickly and be back in the fight but it seemed whatever process they used to control them inhibited their ability to heal. It was not as efficient as he remembered however and he had to assume the mechanics were now shielded from lighting damage either as a virtue of bronze rank variant or an upgrade. Ragnar lacked ranged attacks, it had always been a gap in his power set that he had to cover, this usually meant closing in to engage his enemy as soon as he could to bring the fight into his pace but in a stepped battle like this he needed to stick with the plan. He had not had the opportunity to attend anything like the Greenstone annex, he had been a self-made adventurer picking things up as he went. He had however always been a follower of the church of Hero which naturally picked up some of the best warriors on the planet. He had trained with bows and spears but found them cumbersome to carry, he loved his axes, his huge double headed axe had been passed down from bronze rank warrior to bronze rank warrior in his church and had a legacy to live up to, his hand axe was a memento from his home village, perfect for his weapon telekinetic power. A normal person throwing axes is very inefficient, they tumble end over end and the handle may hit as much as the head on a moving target, they lack the power behind a bow and arrow or the aerodynamics of a spear and their range is far less. Ragnar was not a normal person however, with the Might and Earth essences he had superhuman strength, on the peak end of bronze rank he had strength that equalled low silver, hed spent years perfecting his throwing of axes with the perception and agility that bronze rank allowed. Carrying throwing axes into the middle of close battle would do him little good so as he walked down the hill he launched them from both hands one after another thudding Teddys best crafted throwing axes into the enemy. Kyra was a step back from the boys out front, she had strength from her Earth essence and the martial skills to back it up but she also had enough ranged attacks to be more useful a step back. She was also the team healer and general tactical soundness dictated you dont put those on the front line. She sent earth boulder after earth boulder into the pack, the monsters unable to follow instinct and get out the way. She varied using earth spikes on the enemy and using them out to the sides to funnel the enemy towards the centre. She could summon and throw her diamond spear, snapping her fingers to explode it at will, she refrained from doing this often though as it was a mana sink and they had a long way to go. Lucy knew all about not spending too much mana too quickly. With her static adaptable rune circles she could literally empty her prodigious mana pool completely if she wanted to. She had sunk a good amount into for her opening show however, using two golden circles of runes stacked above her she fired her first magic missile. As the royal blue comet of raw magic hit the first circle it transformed, multiplying its size several times into a rippling pale blue orb, as it hit the second circle it crackled with energy. She hadnt yet seen James attacks with his lightning snakes and didnt know that they were less effective. She too was going after the same effect the had in the desert against the Rock Wyrms. The magic splashed down in the centre of the pack, it was like a giant water balloon had been dropped from the top of a building, the magic splashed out like water coating several of the monsters, the electric effect she had imbued into it with the second ritual circle cause mass spasms, the army that was now charging trampling its own. The battle was met when four lithe bipedal monsters dashed out of the ranks. They wore backpack style mechanics that were more secure on the faster monsters. They had feline heads with vacant eyes, fur covered the body but looked like parts had been burnt or melted in the process of controlling them. They were larger than a human but had backwards facing knees like a cat and their arms ended in large paws with extended claws, they leapt at Ragnar and James two to one. Koda evened those odds slightly, smashing in sideways to occupy one of the monsters, as his jaws clamped down on the neck and shoulder of the monster it hissed and all three of its free limbs came up to scratch at the bear. His new armour deflected a lot of the blows, causing sparks as the bronze rank claws scraped down the beautiful engraving but no damage to the metal was evident. The cat monster didnt have the same advantage of wearing armour and Koda brought his front paws up between the strikes, one claw viscously dug into the cats belly and as its free hand instinctively tried to slash at his paw he ripped its throat out with the other. Bronze rank monsters deviated away from what would normally kill a creature, much like bronze rank essence users had surpassed natural human capabilities. The boys had described it before as working on a more hit point based system. Once Koda had crushed its shoulder and ripped out its neck it was stunned and he let it drop to the floor, he then pounded it into the ground with both his front paws, jumping up and down on its chest savagely mincing it to pulp. He reared to his back legs, roaring defiance at the army while rivulets of blood swirled around his engraving on his armour, dripping from his fur. The time it took James, Koda and Ragnar to kill the cat monsters the rest of the monsters had arrived. These were much larger but slower monsters. But they were five if not six to one. An adventurer should be able to take almost any monster of their own rank, a good adventurer should be able to take on more than one maybe a small group. Meeting the challenge of repeatedly reinforced monsters with the tall odds was a tall order. They gave ground, step by step, bleeding the enemy fighting an attritting retreat. Kyra joined them in the melee, adding to the front line to help the odds but they were still pushed back. Teddy seemed to be everywhere, hamstringing a monster to take the sting out of its lunge, cutting the claws from another, gravity wells, black hold grenades and his familiars blinding the strangely mind controlled monsters. Fighting in heavy armour is all about trading taking hits you know will be deflected by your armour for opportunities to strike the enemy. With the overwhelming press of monsters against them the team were making best use of the Ursa Family boon. When any of them were attacked the iron rank variant gave them an instance of Fortitude, giving them a minor increase to their strength. The bronze rank variant gave everyone else an instance of Family Blessing. This boon was used as armour, they would allow a carefully calculated blow to make it through and multiple instances of Family Blessing would be consumed to negate the blow. Once this boon was consumed it would be replaced by Family Bounty which provided a very mild ongoing healing effect which stacked, this allowed them to scale with the overwhelming force against them. The team were not doing too badly, they were retreating but they were almost to their barricades and they always had the Serenity to fight from. Lucy had been doing her part firing into the masses, using the swivel guns to funnel the enemy to the centre then a mix of high ordinance mass effects in the deep then changing her rune circles for precision sniping. She saw the team balancing mana, health and boons well. She saw that Lord Alihan and herself were both accruing many instances of Family Bounty as neither had taken damage yet and knew hers would drop off before the end of a long engagement unless she engaged the enemy up close. The fight changed all of a sudden. Pushing out of the pack were the human controllers and the silver rank monsters under their control. A huge man attacked Ragnar with terrifying energy, striking him on the shield and driving him back ploughing furrows in the ground with Ragnars braced legs. The man was wearing head to toe dark heavy armour, a simple set that looked well made. All his joints were covered but allowed good mobility, his face was covered by a heavy helm with fluting from the sides standing straight up like sharp pointed ears. He attacked with a huge broadsword, one hand on the hilt and the other armoured hand on a handle cut into the blade adding force to the strike on Ragnars shield. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. James and Koda were set upon by a pair of twin dinosaur looking monsters that would have been a balanced fight pair against pair if not for the tyranny of rank. They were light and lithe, dancing in and out with quick, jerky movements. They leapt and sprang with terrifying speed at the pair who barely fended them off. They were similar to velociraptors but with a ghostly mist where their tails should be which moved to give them extra momentum and balance, sometimes curling over their backs and sometimes straight out. They circled James and Koda, pressing them together. Another silver rank monster burst forward with serpentine grace. It looked like it had a snakes head for six feet then on the body of a raptor, long arms ended in wicked claws and there were inefficient wings that were ragged and torn. It snarled and snapped at Kyra hissing a long serpentine tongue through curved teeth, it dripped what unnervingly looked like venom. It immediately blasted her with fire from its maw. Teddy moved to engage the two men standing behind and was surprised by an item one of them took out and plunged into the ground, it shot tethers out to all three of them and Teddys dimension blade winked out. The two men attacked with blades in concert, Teddy managed to dodge enough blows and deflect with his bracers until he managed to draw a sword at his hip and fight back. He had been cut a few times but was just holding them off. They were all taken by surprise at the strength of the attacks. They werent fighting so much as fighting them off, trying not to succumb in the first few seconds of the fight. A massive explosion happened behind the Serenity that they all felt even in their own desperate fights and if they had the capacity they would have seen every instance of Family Blessing on Lord Alihan and Lucy be consumed. Lucy blearily got to her feet, the Family Bounty already working. She had been hit by a shockwave from behind but she could still feel rather than see the gold rankers were still fighting. She looked over the battlefield and saw a desperate scene. All the team were fighting for their lives, the army was no longer being fought and it had broken into individual efforts. Where she had been holding her mana reserves back she no longer had the choice and went all out. Vortices of magic swirled around her as she pumped out attack after attack using Magic Missiles, wands and the swivel guns. She didnt know what was going to happen when she ran out of mana. Ragnar dug deep and swung his huge double axe from underneath, moving his shield out the way to allow it through. Before it had the time to connect a heavy boot came through and smashed him in the face, making him backflip onto the ground dropping his shield. He rolled out of the way of a huge double handed swing of the sword coming straight down and kicked out at the knee of the armoured man, he might as well have been kicking a mountain as the leg didnt shift. By now Ragnar was covered in his Titan Armour so it should have been a fair fight but he couldnt match the speed and strength of his opponent. They played a game of cat and mouse for a while, Ragnar consistently backing away and taking hits without being able to give anything meaningful back. Give up abomination. You cannot win. The armoured man spoke. We will take the city above. His opponents sword swung from the side and Ragnar caught it on the blade of his axe, unable to deflect the blow and the sword carved deep into the metal. It almost dragged him sideways as his opponent dragged it out. Thou art mistaken, you shall die in the shadow of this mountain. Ragnar replied, jumping the next swing and rolling out to grab his shield to deflect the next blow. He swung the huge shield and caught the man in the chin, the helmet shifted slightly but didnt come off. He was rewarded for his effort by taking a huge hit again directly to the shield. He was sent spinning horizontally through the air and landed on the front of the shield. In all is time he had never fought an opponent like this, it was startlingly devoid of aura. Not the inherent strength of a high ranker but something else. He lay there for a moment resting on the shield, his fingertips resting on the embossed Titans hand as it caught the lightning embossed on the shield. My god, give me strength. He muttered to the ground, dirt on his lips and body exhausted. When he looked up he saw his nemesis coming towards him but he was frozen in time. Between Ragnar and his opponent was another man, blurry as if shrouded by distance he was slowly coming to focus. There was a stillness around him as if the world had stopped. Ragnar put his hands down and got to one knee, spitting blood to one side and standing. As he stood he looked forward again to see who it was. He was shocked to see his father standing in front of him. No. Not his father. He recognised the man for who and what he was and hit his knees to the ground, he didnt know whether to laugh or weep. He bowed his head and held his shield sideways with both hands to his god. Peace son Ragnar, you have done me proud. Hero said with a sad smile. Nothing have I wanted more Lord Hero. Ragnar replied, having the bravery to look his god in the eye. He knew he appeared in different guises to different people. He had appeared in the furs and armour of his people, looking very much like his father. He took a deep breath. A fine day to meet you ere pon this field. Tis a fine day indeed, a red day. The days we live and die for. Hero said coming forward, placing a hand on Ragnars shoulder pulling him up with a strength that was a law of nature. To die in protection of innocents is a glorious death. Ragnar said, holding his head a little higher. There is no glory in death Ragnar Ohanson. There are broken and bloodied bodies, the stench of death and indignity. Ragnar frowned, looking confused at his gods words but the older man went on. Glory is in the memory of those who remain, our time pon this realm shall be measured by how long the songs are sang of us when we are gone. You have lived a glorious life and that is what shall be remembered. I know what the penance of meeting you here this day is Lord. You know I am willing to pay it if it means winning this day. I for sooth cannot give the day, I can but give you the opportunity in a fleeting moment. I know what you can give me Lord what it shall do. Will it be enough? It may be. Ragnar thought about what was happening, he cast his mind and took something from the interface from the Mitchells storage, bizarrely it didnt ask the owner for permission considering the value of the item. Item: [Amulet of the Sleeping Dragon] (unranked, epic) An amulet to wear on the day for when you wake up and choose violence. Effect: When used this amulet drives the power of an essence user to their next major threshold. Essence abilities will not have the unique abilities provided by the next major advancement but will imbue the strength. The duration varies depending on the amount of power channelled. Uses remaining: 1/1 Hero watched him finger the amulet and place it around his neck, watched as Ragnars eyes went wide at the rush. Now it will be enough. Hero nodded to the man ready to give his all. I am ready Lord, bring me victory, give me the strength to turn this battle. Bring the Mitchells to victory even if I may not be with them. I am proud of you Ragnar, you have ever been one of my most faithful. Take my gift and do with it what you can in the moment. The god was wreathed in a corona of divine light, this dimmed slightly and an orb of light appeared in his chest and hovered towards Ragnar. The warrior took a chance to look over the battlefield. The bearded James with his faithful familiar, the closest he had to a brother. Brave and serious Teddy, swirling cloak of darkness that hid the light within him. Beautiful Kyra, her hair swirling as she stood in a vortex of fire, she was everything to Ragnar, she had made him family and given him a home and family with nothing asked in return. The Serenity which had become his home and he loved it and the people on board. The witch standing on board wordlessly screaming as she imbued the magic of war, he loved her fierce intelligence and her kindness when she had such propensity for darkness. He looked back towards his god and saw the softness in his eyes, like regret. He understood then Heros sacrifice at being a god, what he had to see every time he appeared to do his purpose. Ragnar reached out and put a hand on the gods shoulder, feeling the raw power flowing through the being. He gave him a comforting smile. I take this gift freely, be not saddened by it for I am not. Tell them. This is mine choice. He reached out and took the orb between them and was suffused by its power. Teddy felt an odd aura come and go in the blink of an eye which gave him access to his powers then saw the flood of messages on the interface. You are in the area of divine power [Hero] Party member: Ragnar. Has used [Amulet of the Sleeping Dragon]. All essence abilities have temporarily reached bronze 9 (100%). Party member: Ragnar. Has accepted divine power into his soul Party member: Ragnar. Is an insufficient vessel to sustain the current spiritual strength of his soul. Party member: Ragnar. Has had all essence powers increased to diamond rank. Ragnar has reached diamond rank. Certain abilities have been altered: [Titan Armour] has been replaced with [Divine Titan] [Magical Armourer] has been replaced with [Divine Armourer] [Spirit Wielder] has been replaced with [Divine Spirit] Aura power [Heros Voice] has been replaced with [Heros Aura] Teddy took the moment to use his Eyes of the Swift power, not to attack his opponents but look to where Ragnar stood. The power showed the ghostly images of what was to come next. He saw the man shine with glorious light. Silver and gold pouring off him then something brighter. He grew, like a titan of legend, becoming a giant on the battlefield, his huge scarred double headed axe in his hand little more than a cleaver. It shone briefly before Ragnar struck down the armoured menace in front of him, cutting him neatly in half like a knife through butter. He then threw it sideways through the air and it arced, destroying whatever it touched through the bronze rank army before returning back to his hand. Teddy saw another interface notification pop up but he couldnt take his eyes off Ragnar. He threw the axe one more time this time over the Serenity and it flew into the distance. Ragnars eyes met Teddys and he saw the familiar easy smile behind them, the eyes of a storyteller. The giant man threw his head back in joy and laughed, his beard shaking as he did. He raised a hand to Teddy and disappeared in a cloud of rainbow smoke. Lucy felt an explosion of power behind her and was rocked forward again but took less damage. She felt there was something that changed and saw what it was on the interface. You are in the area of aura [Heros Aura] by party member: Ragnar All attributes are enhanced All cooldowns are reduced You have gained damage reduction You have ongoing mana replenishment effect You have ongoing stamina replenishment effect You have gained the power [A Burden Shared] [A Burden Shared] Effect: ability to share damage taken between party members in the area of aura (Temporary effect) [Heros sacrifice] share the lingering power of a hero Lucy looked around and couldnt find Ragnar, she saw the opponent he was fighting slump to the floor in two halves but couldnt find the big beardy man. She was confused as she knew this wasnt his aura power; his simply provided a boost to the spirit attribute. She didnt waste any time and fired a message to Teddy. [Now Teddy! This is our moment!] Chapter 94 ‘Diamonds on the soles of her shoes.’ Kyra felt the heat of the fire on her face and her hands, everywhere else her armour protected her from the raging inferno coming from the basilisk. The monster had a physics-defying ability to direct the fire and she was having a hard time dodging it and some of her diamond panels that absorbed the damage were having a hard time. She read the notifications around the flashes of flame and saw Lucys message when it hit the interface. She knew a change was coming and got ready to make her own opportunity. The basilisk seemed to breathe in for a second before releasing its next torrent of flame and she stood right in front of it. The flames are rushing towards her in a rotating tunnel of fire, she threw her arms akimbo and took the splash of flame straight to her chest. The huge diamond panels there seemed to suck in the fire. The monster stopped, unable to see its target around the flame and sure it had killed the agile two legged thing in front of it. As soon as it stopped Kyra leapt high into the air into a lazy backflip. As she did the diamond panels rearranged, fresh ones coming from the built in storage and the damaged ones moving to the seldom seen diamonds on the soles of her shoes. She chose then to detonate the panels, sending damage-soaked Mystic Diamond shards into the monsters face, the damage the diamond had absorbed used against the monster; shredding its eyes. It wasnt known by the same name in this world but Newtons third law took effect, she was blasted away from the monster, effectively breaking contact with the enemy. Whilst she was airbourne she pulled out a hand mirror. Lucy watched as Kyra sent out a circle of diamond dust with an artefact they had created together in the middle. Her golem was normally a huge round boulder of pure diamond with two short stubby legs and two short stubby arms with a little round head. This time with the artefact in the centre the golem appeared as a huge crystalline bear covered in sharp edges. Trying not to be distracted by this appearance as it lumbered off to join James and Koda Lucy picked her moment and cast a spell. [Heads up Teddy!] Exchange our fates. She immediately switch teleported with Teddy. As he had been attached to the tether power she took the bond herself. She had drawn the Athame of the Combat Witch. She was nowhere near the swordsman that Teddy was and immediately was overwhelmed. One of the human confederates ended up pounding her in huge overhead swings. Eventually she missed a swing and it chopped into her body, burying itself halfway. Lucy watched the sword bury itself into her illusionary double, her Playing Possum power at bronze teleported her just out of range. She had recognised that Teddy had not been able to use any powers so she had activated the Playing Possum power before she launched, trusting it would still work. She found herself next to Kyra who was taking a moment. She squeezed her round the waist quickly in a hug as she stood up then watched the two human confederates. The illusionary double started to fade away now it had been struck. The tether that had been attached to Teddy, then Lucy and then to Lucys double now had nothing to connect to and the general rule of tether powers or items was that a forcible disconnect caused a backlash. As the other two humans were still attached to the tether it caused it to attack them, they were hit with pulses of magical power that had them writhing on the floor. The assumption was that they must have had another item to negate the power but hadnt had the chance to use it. The one who had made the killing blow started to rise first, he grabbed something off the floor where Lucy had been and Kyra recognised what it was. Oh no you dont! She said, conjuring a diamond spear and throwing it as the confederate picked up Lucys Deathstick where it had fallen from the back of the Athame. Kyra had a good throw but what Teddy and Lucy had learnt the hard way was that these extremists that joined the Confederacy were hypocritical, they were essence users that hated a world of people ruling with essences but they eschewed their own, refusing to use their powers in combat so they trained to be the best martial warriors they could. The Confederate rolled and the spear dug into the ground next to him. He stood and smiled malevolently at the girls, reversing his grip of his sword he dug it into the ground and pulled the spear free. Even though they had sworn off magic he was obviously pissed from being blown up and he had seen the damage the wand had done in Lucys hand. He mustve had an essence power to allow him to use magical weapons because he raised his arm at the girls and fired. The wand blew up his hand, he looked in shock at the bloody stump that ended just beyond the elbow. [It was at 001/200 uses, I didnt know what would happen when it run out so I left it there out of curiosity.] Lucy explained. The girls stood watching and flinching slightly. Kyra shrugged again. Oh well. She said dismissively and snapped her fingers. The spear in his other hand exploded and blew his other hand off. He stood there stupidly not knowing what had just happened. A dark blur went past him and his head toppled to the floor and Teddy held his pose with his blue dimension blade held out behind him, staring at the last Confederate with terrifying dark eyes. The man was scared. They had all felt the divine intervention and the other two of his team were now dead, they had given their all and the other team had rallied. Teddy hadnt been idle in the time Lucy had provided and they saw the Basilisk Kyra had been fighting was now fighting off a swarm of tiger-sized beasts from the void. At iron rank the beasts had been up to dog-sized, dark and shiny with extra limbs or mouths but the detail was hard to see as it hurt the eyes to look at them. This effect on the vision was made all the worse by creatures as big as a jungle cat, jumping on the monsters back and leaping for its throat. The monsters fiery breath slid straight off the shiny skin even with it being a silver power punching a rank down. He had also used his Dimensional Warrior power and a huge shaggy barbarian character was sprinting towards Jamess fight, wielding wolverine-style claws that were three feet long from each hand and hooked at the ends it barrelled into the fight. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. With the silver rank monsters tied up for the moment it was three on one, the two girls and Teddy stood against him. Athame, diamond and dimension blades held ready. Surrender, tell your monsters to stop and we will take you prisoner. Kyra called out to him. There is no surrender. Teddy snarled, completely out of character. Teddy! Kyra called in surprise, holding out a hand to stop him. She turned back to the man. All hope is lost, surrender is your only hope. Something broke in the mans eyes as he searched for a way to win and he closed his eyes as if searching within himself. Suddenly a magic bubble shield appeared around him and he summoned a sword of fire. Coward, hypocrite. Teddy snarled. [Triple slam.] He put on the interface and designated the man as a target. The card popped up next to it as it was a named moved they had used before. Kyra sighed audibly, she had tried. First Teddy threw his Void Pull out to the side of the Confederate. The large gravitational void also had the effect of pulling his bubble shield to the side, as it was free floating in the air it was pulled almost entirely free of the man exposing his top and side. Like a feathered thunderbolt Lechuza smashed down with incredible force into the man who thought he was safe behind his shield. After he had started the move Teddy looked up, he teleported as high as he could then free-fell down, he used Winged Feet to kick upwards, pushing himself to the ground even faster, accelerating all the time. When he was close enough, just after Lucy absorbed Lechuza the split second after she hit, Teddy used his Wraiths Dash on an air step to accelerate his body to ridiculous speeds. He smashed past the man with his dimension blade out sideways, causing incredible damage before zipping through a rift portal on the ground so he himself wasnt pulped when he hit the floor. The split second after that in a feat of timing only possible due to the interface and the incredible amount of training the team went through James teleported above the man with his execute ability Last Shadow. The amount of damage the man had just taken made the execute incredibly potent and Jamess transformed taloned foot tore through his chest and face into the ground, leaving an unrecognisable mound of flesh. The silver rank monsters went still, they were like robots awaiting command. The Void Beasts proceeded to rip chunks of flesh off as they bore the Basilisk to the floor. Koda, the Diamond bear golem and the Dimensional Warrior laid into the two dinosaur twins. The team joined in, they had no idea if the formidable monsters would come to their senses and start fighting back so they went all out putting them down with every power they had. There were few bronze monsters left after the Titan Ragnar had attacked the bulk and they were soon in a smelly, bloody, very still valley. The Mitchells stood silently in shock. They were ragged. Teddy had been cut so many times his dark combat robes were shredded, hanging around him like tendrils, the self repair magic completely ruined. James was cradling his left arm with his right, chunks of flesh had been torn out and would need extensive healing from Kyra that their boons werent covering. Kyras armour had stood up to its test of silver rank combat but was blackened by residue, her neck and one side of her face was badly burnt and her accelerated healing was struggling to make ground against it. Her hair miraculously had not been burnt and was a stark contrast in its beauty, the barrel charms from Hero had protected it. Lucy was badly beaten in the duel before she could use her Playing Possum power effectively but what she was suffering with more was the headache of having used so much mana over the battle, she was completely wrung out. The smells and the dead filtered away, a thick smoke billowed out covering the ground and they felt like they could see the sunbeams again. As they looked around for the source they felt a recently familiar aura. Looking down the hill again they saw a short, thickset man wearing a feathered cape over ancient armour, his beard was pure white and long to match his hair. He wore an eye patch over one eye, the other seemed to pierce through the four adventurers. Along with a long sword on his hip he was leaning against a gnarly wooden staff that thrummed with violent magic. None of the Mitchells felt like making an Odin joke, not out of reverence for the god, out of a feeling of emptiness. There was a hole in their chests, a space that they hadnt realised had grown so large and used to be filled with Ragnar. Hero seemed to realise this, he stamped his staff on the ground once and the swirling fog next to him spiralled up into a facsimile of Ragnar. It didnt fill with colour, looking very much like the ghost they supposed he now was. The ghost spoke to them. I take this gift freely, be not saddened by it for I am not. Tell them. This is mine choice. Hero gave them a moment. Then he stamped his staff again and the ghost puffed away, Kyras hand twitched like she was going to try and catch the smoke drifting away. There is never a moment I am more proud, and more saddened then when I meet one of my clergy face to face. Ragnar has been in my service since he was a boy, we have shared every moment together and I have never seen him as happy as when he was with you Mitchells. What do you want?! Why are you here? Why are we here? How dare you stand there and show us what we lost! Teddy raged at the god. I want you all to be all you can be. You are good people no doubt about it and the world could do with more like you. You come from a world where doing the right thing is a choice, a choice which does not involve the wrath of a god. He asked you why you are here, you got what you wanted, why dont you just leave us alone. Kyra said, staring defiantly at the god. I cannot leave you be Mitchells, for reasons I cannot tell you but one day you will know. Thats a fat lot of good to us now, just leave us out of whatever you have planned. James said angrily. You are sad and angry, you have every right to be. I have seen heroes all over this world sacrifice themselves with or without my being there to offer them the power, be comforted this is precisely how Ragnar Ohanson wanted to be remembered. All over this world in every one of my temples artists are already composing art dedicated to the Titan under the Mountain. He will be remembered for longer than the newest born babe destined to make gold rank will live. Hero paused to look over their shoulders and they turned to see Lord Alihan float towards them, he was unsteady like being buffeted by strong winds and they saw why. He only had one of his four dragonfly wings, half of his face was just gone, leaving a red edge. He was missing one leg to the waist and the other to the knee. One arm was mangled beyond recognition as an arm and the other The team all felt a tear in their eye as they saw he was carrying the remains of Ragnars axe, one half of the double headed axe had completely snapped off and the other had a twelve inch gash in the middle of the blade. He handed the remains to Teddy. Chapter 95 ‘How lucky you are’ It had been four months since the Mitchells had turned up at Honshuraskil. All that time Teddy had gone rogue, he had not taken the death of Ragnar well. He was hidden in the shadow in the top corner of the noblemans room. He thought to himself that he was getting quite good at breaking in unseen by now. His power Shadow Self let him blend into the shadows completely and it would take a talented higher rank essence user than him to detect him there. He had a shadow lantern in two of the corners of the room opposite him which made the whole room clear as day. If he could be seen then it would be an unnerving sight. He wore his black combat robes he had worn in the battle of the valley under the mountain, shredded beyond recognition they were little more than tassels and impossible to repair but he wore them over replacement armour underneath. His face was covered by a dark grey shroud, the covering was mottled with only one discernible pattern on it; a diagonal line that crossed the eye with what looked like an eye patch painted on. He had been waiting in the room for hours, the better part of the afternoon into the evening. He had the discipline to cling to the beam with his toes, knees and fingertips, guaranteed a shadow in place no matter were they moved the light in the room. Guards came and went, thoroughly searching the room, they had good reason to be cautious, many many people had been going simply missing recently. The target came into the room, did his own search then settled for bed. It was the same routine Teddy had seen for the past three days. When everything was quiet in the house Teddy dropped to the ground, his Slippers of the Shade power making it soundless. He activated the privacy screen in his hand, he had tested it the day before and there was no countermeasure in place for it. He brought his lantern familiars down, they swirled around his torso rapidly giving him a fluttery appearance. He stepped lightly onto the post of the bed, silent and almost weightless using his Winged Feet ability. He looked down at the target, he knew he chose to sleep alone not to protect his family but himself, hed grown paranoid in the last few weeks, harder to find. He moved from safe house to safe house never staying more than a few days trying to avoid whatever was hunting his people down. He was surprised the man could sleep at all, even with the dozen guards outside, in a building shielded from magical entry and after the huge sleeping potion he had taken right before he closed his eyes. Teddy waited a moment to see if the man would stir with him standing so close and got nothing, changing his plan slightly he started to tie the man to his bed as he was so out of it from the potion. The target was bronze rank so he was thorough. When he was done he pulled the last rope firmly which tightened every rope taut. The target still slept on. Teddy jumped on his chest, straddling him and punched him in the face hard. He murmured groggily, so Teddy punch him again, and again, and again. He finally roused, looking up at Teddy and his eyes went wide with panic and pain, he sleeping potion completely gone now. The first thing he did was try and shout for his guards, Teddy punched him in the jaw, getting punched in the jaw when its open hurts a whole lot more. Calling for protection from your bronze rank guards. Isnt that ironic. Teddy rasped, he wasnt using any voice change magic, he rarely spoke so much these days his best batman voice needed little effort. You, you, you. The target stammered. Me, me, me. No. Its not about me, its about you of course! You were a hard man to find. Unfortunately for you that means theres no chance youre not the man Im looking for. I dont know what youre on about! Im just a careful man, I have enemies, business rivals, I just want my family to be safe! Of course you have enemies, youve made the whole world your enemy but you hide it. I was in the room when you told your wife that she was a liability and you would be better on your own. She thinks youre a horrible man but shes got no idea of the truth. The man continued to panic, looking around with no options. He looked to the door, surprised no guards had come to the rescue yet. Where are you going to take me? Where have you taken the others? Take you? Im taking you nowhere. Im here to kill you. The man gulped. Kill me? He seemed to find some resolve. Then why havent you done it yet? The thing with you secret confederate types is you think youre so damn clever, think youre so committed to the cause. Im going to kill you but I want to see if youll break, if youll use your powers you swore to never use again. He punched the target so quick, a dozen hits in under a second it activated his By a Thousand Cuts power and the phantom fists thudded into the man when Teddy stopped. Youd be surprised how many of you do break. When he was done Teddy used his execute power, dark hands reached from under the bed to pull the man into it with a brief flash of light leaving nothing behind. The guards outside noticed and called out, when they got no answer they started scrambling to unlock the door. Teddy turned off his privacy screen and forcibly dragged open a rift in the air before stepping through. When the guards entered the room they found the bed mussed but empty, another mysterious disappearance in the city. Two months later in the upper council room the Steward of Honshuraskil threw a goblet down the table at his assembled experts. By Justices left tit! What are you all doing?! This is meant to be a safe city, we have never had anything like this before. Weve had two micro storms in the last six months with complete city lockdown and you still havent found whats going on! We have the new adventure society director coming today to join us, she needs briefing on whats going on, Rogers, I want you to give her a complete summary. The doors were opened when the adventure society contingent arrived. Three elves that looked identical were admitted, the only reason they assumed one of them was the Director was that she walked at the front of the small wedge. They were sat in the centre of the table for the brief. Madam Director, Rogers started. Welcome to the mountain city. Ive been asked to brief you on the current disappearances problem. It started roughly six months ago after the last super storm. When the passes opened it must have changed something. So far we have had over fifty people disappear without a trace. We have yet to find a connection between them either the abductor is random or were missing a piece. The Steward coughed, almost a growl as he scowled at Rogers. Weve tried finding a connection between the victims but ostensibly theyre all strangers, their paths should never have crossed. They live in different parts of the city and from all stations of society. Naturally it was only brought to our attention at the loss of several wealthy individuals but weve found over a dozen iron rank victims from our less wealthy population. So far the victims have either been iron or bronze rank, contracts have gone out to the society up to three stars but so far it has not been allowed to elevate above bronze as the previous director saw it as a lower rank problem. Thats as much as we know maam. He looked uncomfortable, knowing he had basically nothing useful to say on the topic. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The elves looked at each other and the others recognised they must have been using telepathic communication. When they were finished the director spoke. Thankyou for the brief, if I could kindly ask for everyone except the Steward to please adjourn we need to speak to him in privately about the matter, the meeting shall continue afterwards. While the director held no direct power over the city council she was a very respected figure who held a lot of influence. Either out of respect or expectation she was going to reprimand the Steward for such a shoddy job they left. When the privacy magic activated as the door clicked shut the table occupants all got up to go and embrace each other. Rupert its so good to see you! The Director said. Maggie, Margo, Melissa. Its such a pleasure to have you in the city, its been so long. Well have you round for dinner as soon as we can, its been manic recently, people are up in arms about these disappearances at the moment, no one feels safe. Im beginning to worry about civil disobedience next time we close the gates. The stewardship of Honshuraskil was a difficult position to maintain. The city frequently went through lockdowns depending on the severity of the storms. The high magic of the storms pounded the city defences with waves of gold rank threats, elemental monsters, dragons, behemoths and the raw power of the storm itself. The city had an impressive array of shielding and weaponry to keep it safe along with a cadre of astronomically expensive gold rankers specialised in the citys defence. The only reason it was worth all of this was the magical ore that was mined from the mountain below. Only a small portion of the city was above ground with a huge operation below to extract the material. The founder of the city was a diamond ranker who had given the position of running it to the council who elected a Steward, they had gotten used to the power over the years and had only been interrupted in their rule during periods of civil unrest when, somehow, the founding diamond ranker had heard about it during their travel of the wider cosmos and come back to warn the council they would take back the rule if they could not manage it. Oh Rupert, you have no idea how lucky you are, you read the report from Lord Alihan when he visited? Yes, he got in quietly, something about him being severely injured? There was some kind of fight in the valley on the mountain approach. We thanked him and sent him on his way. So you skimmed it. Rupert waved his hand back and forth. It was below the mountain, for a city that doesnt produce paper Im drowning in it, I have to trust my team to read the things I dont have time for. That paper went from your desk via special courier straight back to the Directors office where it came from. Rupert frowned in confusion. Why would it not be filed here? Because that fight was more than it appeared, the society worked hard to play it down but that was an invasion. She let it sink in. You understand that this city is nigh unassailable, there was a staged attack, waves of troops from below and a threat from within. A threat from within? They must have been infiltrating the city for years, decades even. To get their insidious roots all the way through the city. So this is you? Why wouldnt you tell me? Youre hunting down these saboteurs, who are they? Rupert looked almost angry, he was the Steward after all, he held the most power in the city and should know everything that was going on. Now Rupert, you know there are society protocols Im not allowed to share. This situation however isnt us, we only realised what was going on after whoever was doing started leaving us some breadcrumbs. We have no idea how theyre finding them and whilst on a personal level I applaud them on a professional level they need to be stopped. So you know more than youre telling me, but youre telling me my city is in danger. Was, your city was in danger if not for a very small group of exceptional people. Weve been friends for a long time Rupert, trust me. You do not want to know the full truth. So how do we stop this vigilante then? Were working on it, we should have them soon. Three months later Teddy was deep underground. His most recent target had eschewed the trend of surrounding themselves with guards and layers of security, realising the futility in it and had kept on the move constantly. It had taken weeks of work but Teddy had found them. He was taking a risk, his life had become a hunt and he had grown tired of the usual prey. He had worked hard and hunted down one of the rare elusive silver rank members of the confederacy, as far as he could tell in all his work there were only one or two of them. This one was a coward, it kind of spoiled his method of operation that she took herself out of her work routine, suddenly cutting all ties and running. Hed had it before of course with lower ranks but people paid less attention to them. He padded silently down huge rectangular corridors worked smooth. There were coloured crystals through much of the upper levels and the active tunnels that led down to the working areas, these abandoned tunnels held stark little torches. The magical material never ran out of flame but it left them flickering in the air that was pumped through the tunnels from a system high above. Teddy wore his ragged armour and mask already, although he walked the centre of the corridor he could speed to a shadow in the top corners in less than a second to be unseen as innocent passers by came and went. He hadnt seen anyone in hours though as he wound deeper and deeper. Eventually his search was fruitful and he came to a door. He knew from exploring down here that it was the only door in and out of these types of rooms and it would be a plain cube inside, placed there for storage one upon a time but very few ever got used. He let himself in. Closing the door behind him he didnt look away from the human woman in front of him. She was trying to hide her fear and he wondered to himself about the character of the people that were attracted to the confederacy. Were they all cowards? Scared of life and grasping at anything they could do to take control no matter how horrific. Having a silver ranker scared was strange. As scared as she was she knew she had to fight. She drew a curved silver sword. All members Teddy had come across of the confederacy when they vowed to never use their essence powers again as essence users committed to becoming living weapons as close to non-magic as they could. There was no banter, no explanations. They both knew exactly what was happening here. For Teddy it was just another target, another reason Ragnar was gone, someone who did not deserve to live. For the silver rank confederate it meant stopping the threat, she didnt want to, she had run away after all but it meant she could go back to her life of lies, explain away her brief disappearance and slip back into obscurity. Teddy drew his dimension blade. Hed hadnt gone for a red blade, he wasnt in the headspace for realising he was fairly villainous at the moment. The blade was empty, with the faintest corona of light around it. It made it hard to see the blade and gave him a slight advantage in these fights against expert swordsmen. This would be the nearest to a fair fight he had been in. Still only bronze rank Teddys swift essence and all the powers in his repertoire would barely be enough to combat the silver rankers natural speed. They met in a clash that lasted barely longer than a second for the dozens of strikes that took place, they broke apart with Teddy standing still and the silver ranker jumping back off his blade, her back hitting the wall. Teddys dimension blade had gone thin, like it had been whittled thin by sticking it in the silver ranker. She looked down at the hole in her torso under her ribs then up at the man with the unyielding black eyes beneath the mask. He made no move but she felt the surge of aura and the blade swelled to its original size again and he walked slowly towards her. Sometime later she was getting desperate. She taught at various martial schools around the world in her time but she wasnt in a fair fight. He flowed between forms, using the unsettling blade as a sword, then two swords, then a double ended sword and back. He jumped from shadow to shadow, she would strike at where he disappeared and he either wouldnt be there or the strike would land but either be caught by some kind of armour or ability without doing him harm. He had lantern familiars that were punching up a rank but she still had her vision go more than once in a fight that every moment was critical. She recognised his focus and drive, she had seen the anger in his eyes when he first saw her but now there was a cool detachment, he was deep in a combat trance. He used every power in concert, if he used one of his unsettling gravity wells to one side then he would use speed bursts while she was fighting it, she was sure he was manipulating the area around him to cause her strikes to miss or hit less critical areas. She had managed to hit him a few times but had not done critical damage, she couldnt even be sure what damage she had done as his flapping tassels distracted as they danced and he was quick. Teddy was in an unthinking state. He was lost in a stream of consciously unconscious movement. Not thinking about where he needed to be but letting his body go there before he knew he needed to be there. He had done a lot of damage to the silver rank woman, whittled her down from the ridiculous reserves of health until she was now much more mortal. There wasnt far to go until she would have nothing left, she knew it, she was making more mistakes and it was costing her. They had passed the point of no return for her and she was delaying the inevitable. He was closing on the kill when her aura rose out like a leviathan from the deep, two leviathans, three and four. He had found it extremely hard to find any information about his targets essence powers in his preparation and trusted that if they were going to snap and use them then he would get away if he needed to. With the raw power of a fourfold silver ranker there was no chance. His aura was completely crushed and she started pounding him with aura-based essence attacks. She was a human with the preponderance of special attacks that they normally gained. Hers were all based on her aura powers first suppressing whatever she was fighting and she had finally snapped out of an instinct to survive. Get off my husband. She heard. The door opened and a beautiful blonde woman in striking white and black armour with huge diamonds walked through. Suddenly none of her aura based powers would work on the dark man. She reached out now she was using her powers and found an unassailable wall where the two were. She couldnt believe it, the man had beaten her into breaking her oath and when she had she was beaten again. Her sword clattered to the floor in defeat and the man finished it. Outside the room Kyra and Teddy stood opposite each other in front of the closed door. Its time to come home Teddy. Come home to your family, we miss you. He paused for a moment before slowly taking off the mask and dropping it to the floor and falling into his wifes arms that he hadnt been in in over half a year. Chapter 96 ‘Until we see you again’ It was Jamess turn to do dinner. He carried the wide shallow bowl over to the table in their little hut and placed it in front of Lucy. Hed done a tomato-fruit based stew. Big chunks of meat and lots of local spice. It was one of those meals packed with loads of flavour and smelled delicious but wasnt much to look at. He smiled at his wife as she started poking lumps in it with her fork to see what was in it. Oh come on! I mostly followed the recipe this time. Only mostly? Well I added a few bits extra you see. Uhuh, and what did you add? Mostly more meat. Im a growing boy you know! No youre not, your a lazy layabout whos not left the city in months, if you want to end up like Baboa youre going the right way! End up as a gold ranker with his own personal kingdom on a vehicle in a magical desert no one can travel over? Ok! No I meant fat James, hes fat. I dont know how, hes an essence user but somehow hes fat and it seems like youre trying to find out how he got that way by trial and error. She was abusing him good naturedly but he could tell she was stressed, more than the usual stressed she had from working long days in the magic society. James stopped for a moment to consider. Wheres Kyra? She had to step out, she didnt say if shed be back for dinner Well I didnt know what to expect with James cooking you see, didnt know if it was worth being here. Kyra said stepping into the room. Lucy and James turned to see their sister-in-law coming in and hanging up a cloak she wore over her ever-present armour. What shocked them into silence was Teddy standing behind her. He had taken off the tasseled armour he hadnt relinquished in months and had worn a simple dark outfit of the nearest they had found to jeans and a T-shirt. It was the first time they had seen him since just after they had entered the city almost ten months ago. Hey. He said quietly from the doorway. A lot of emotions were running through the room just then. He had simply disappeared, on his own in the new city and basically turned off his interface, the system that connected them all so deeply. They had looked for him at first but it was clear he didnt want to be found. They agreed if he needed time to give it to him. After six months Kyra had started getting more and more worried, theyd all heard of the disappearances and wondered if he was connected. Kyra had confided in Lucy as she fretted and eventually told her she was going to find him. They looked at him now standing just behind Kyra in the doorway holding her hand interlinking their fingers with a nervous apologetic look on his face. Hey yourself. Hungry? James said, getting up to grab him an extra plate for a finally full family dinner. .. James, Lucy and Kyra had settled into the city while Teddy was absent. They had effectively found jobs with the exception of James who maybe sometimes worked part time as a trainer for rich families with young adventurers. Kyra had found work as a healer in the temple, a rare instance of non-clergy doing the healing. When there were no patients she took the time to learn more from the higher ranked and much more experienced healers. Lucy had been working for the magic society conducting research, her interface and ability to quickly and reliably produce ritual circles calculated for the ambient magic was invaluable. Teddy and Kyra walked arm in arm down the street. Teddy was taking it all in in a different light. He had seen the low stone huts as potential hiding spots for targets he had to hunt out. Now in the light of day they looked very different. The wide streets had hut doorways along both sides packed wall to wall with a narrow alley every five huts and a roadway every ten, children ran freely between the huts, chasing each other and laughing. Teddy looked up and saw the cavern roof high above, amazed they were three layers deep in the mountain. The air was fresh regardless and the ceiling high enough they didnt feel claustrophobic. The shops and houses were built like regular buildings which added to the feeling of being outside. They stopped outside a hut and knocked on the door. The door opened and James ducked through, coming out into the street Shell be out in a minute, she worked late and slept late. James said. Teddy wondered away lost in thought. Hows he doing today? He asked Kyra quietly. He gets a little more himself everyday, he was away what, ten months? Its only been three weeks. He sleeps at night now, not for long but he sleeps. Is he going to be ready for this today? Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. He says he is, he knows he needs to get over this to get back to himself. This is a major step that could be a turning point. When they arrived at the city they had delivered the weapon thereby closing the contract. After that for the first time since they had left Greenstone they had been able to put the Serenity into storage. They bought cheap accommodation in a modest neighbourhood trying to blend in with the locals while they waited for Teddy. It was a nice change of pace from being constantly on the move. They received an invitation from the church of Hero to visit for a memorial service. They werent sure how Teddy would take it, he had been so traumatised by Ragnars death he had gone on a murdering spree and wiped out the majority of the confederate presence in the city. They had found out from him that the confederacy had been targeting the city for a long time. Their global plan was to wipe out the corrupt system of essence users running the world by starting a world war using alchemically controlled monsters, an army that naturally replenished as monsters spawned. They used disenfranchised essence users and twisted their minds to their cause. The mechanical units they used to control the monsters used some very specific materials, in an uncharacteristically big move they had sought to take the city on the mountain, the chief supplier of the raw material required. Due to the high defensive nature of Honshuraskil they had needed to seed the population with as many of their moles as they could. Teddy had systematically found and eliminated as many as he could in revenge for Ragnar. Lucy came out and immediately started berating Teddy even though he was wandering down the street in a semi-daze. And another thing, if I add resonating rituals in there is no way we can scale that with your dimension idea, it wont work. They were trying to re-create her Deathstick but on a more stable level. The first iteration she had got away with using herself as she had an essence power that not only let her use magical item like staves and wands but get more out of them. This meant she could use the dysfunctional wand without hurting herself. The wand description on the interface had helpfully shown the limited amount of uses left on the wand as a countdown out of two hundred. She hadnt known what was going to happen when it ran out of charge, either she would need to recharge it or it would blow up. Happily she left the choice to an enemy to find out and the residual magic in the wand blew most of his arm off. Teddy turned back around with a slightly glazed look. Maybe if you add them in stacks, then as the rings come down you stretch the one into the other. That That might work. But the math is ridiculous. Then brute force it. He was starting to perk up now, she was engaging him in a subject to bring him out of his reverie. Take a spirit coin. Boost yourself to silver. Thatll work but its not exactly economical to keep choking down silver coins. You only need to do it for the first one, after that you should be able to remember the math? Gods damn you Ive actually missed your help. You just see things differently. And I appreciate you adding the magic to what I do so it all works out. Teddy hadnt actually touched a weapon in the last few weeks, actively avoiding them. After a week of talking things through with Kyra he had gone to the adventure society, asking to speak to someone in administration about something sensitive. As a three star bronze rank adventurer he had been put through to a meeting room pretty swiftly. The senior administrator had been unfamiliar with the context of the Confederacy and had to go higher. He outlined that he had intelligence on the organisation in the city and found himself in a dark room being interrogated. He gave nothing away about his activities over the last ten months but gave them enough intel to make them want more. He headed his own task force after that of handpicked city based adventurers to weed out whatever was left. They were making their way to one of the giant elevators at the end of the street, as they got closer the normal flow of traffic around them was all headed the same way. Most people were carrying thick heavy coats as it went to the surface which is where the temple district was. As the elevator came into view the magic shield dropped which kept everyone on when it was moving. Expecting to move forward James was surprised when Teddy blurred out the way, a young iron ranker bounced off James who had been standing behind Teddy while they were waiting, her eyes were red and teary, she obviously wasnt looking where she was going as she had been rushing to get away from the elevator. Err sorry miss. James said, picking her up with one hand under her arm. She didnt even look at him as she ran off into the streets. James looked bemused watching her run. They mounted the elevator that continued up. The temple district was on the surface hence the normal rank civilians putting on heavy reinforced jackets. They came out of the elevator with a burst of steam, the magically heated humid air from underground condensing in the freezing dry air. The streets were kept clear by magically heated pavements that were pleasant to walk along. It was much less crowded up here with most businesses choosing to set up beneath ground, only the headquarters of various high level organisations, the adventure society and the temple district chose to see the sky. They stopped in front of the temple of hero, the familiar sight of the sculpture of the Spartan helmet on a Spartan sword with a Spartan shield resting against it next to the huge wooden double doors. The difference here was the black band tied around the shield. The doors opened and they were greeted by a familiar face. The Beast of Arngo greeted them. The gold rank high priestess had travelled to Honshuraskil for the memorial service, having spent time with them when they travelled through. Welcome Mitchells, as always. Please come in. As they crossed the threshold they all felt Teddy tense. The unmistakable aura of Hero permeated his domain and it was triggering him. Kyra extended her aura, no chance against a gods influence but Teddy felt it like a warm blanket and squeezed her hand. They were led to a large room that was decorated with busts of heroes local to the city. At the front was Ragnars shield with a black ribbon tied around it. They stood at the threshold stunned. They hadnt seen the shield in the valley at the end of the fight and thought it had gone with Ragnar himself. His shield was recovered whilst going over the battleground. It was trodden into the earth quite thoroughly its no wonder you missed it. Teddy stepped forward and put his hand against the shield, intimately familiar withit as he had crafted it himself. He traced the lines of the engraving on the front, the irony not lost on him of the scene depicted. He opened his storage rift, reached in and pulled out the two halves of Ragnars huge double headed axe, the shaft and one blade then the blade that snapped off with the rent cut into it. He propped them up against the shield then went and sat with his family. The service started, first tankards were passed around but no one drank yet. One by one clergy from the church of hero stood and read from what looked like a giant bible. It turned out every priest of hero had an entry in the churches book that was magically shared around the world. The priests took it tale at a time, telling the story of Ragnar. After each tale there was a bang as everyone clashed their tankard on the back of the pew in front and took a drink. The last tale was the epic ballad of the battle of the valley under the mountain. Heros aura intensified at the telling, making his presence felt as he had been at that battle, every temple of Hero this tale was told forevermore this would happen, the same with each epic rendition of any battle where Hero gave his choice. After the service the drinking started in earnest. The team knew Teddy wasnt up for that yet and started to make their exit, the Beast caught them at the door, she was holding the shield face down in both hands, Ragnars axe on top and a small mystery box. Mitchells. Again I am sorry for your loss, please take these. The shield means a lot to you and you should have it. Ragnar told us the axe was a church weapon, it was passed down from newly bronze to newly bronze each time. James said. It was, it has been all round the world. But it is now broken and no longer ours, Ragnar has changed it in his moment of power, he infused it with some of the power and it has some greater fate to come. It belongs with you. And the box? Lucy asked. A gift, from the church. I dont want anything from him. Teddy snarled. Peace Mr Mitchell, its not from him, from sympathetic clergy who heard how close he was too you, its a princely gift try and be grateful through your anger when you open it. Kyra looked at a hallway mirror and the items disappeared. Thankyou High Priestess. Until we see you again. Chapter 97 ‘Investment in our future’ When they left the temple of Hero Teddy had been very unsettled. They had decided to get him home to rest. The next morning they planned to get up and meet up to open the mystery gift from the clergy. As lazy as James appeared to be he slept pretty light and woke pretty early. He made breakfast for Lucy and himself and they meditated for the day. He started to get antsy, he completely understood the need for Teddy to recover and be given space but he was impatient and wanted to see his brother and make sure he was ok. Im just going to step outside and get some fresh air. He said to Lucy. Yeh right, you want to see if you can hear if theyre awake yet or not. He ducked his head out without giving her the benefit of telling her she was right and took in the street. They had chosen it because it was out the way and cheap, the modest huts were packed together in the condensed city, all terraced together. The only two that they could find near each other had been on either side of one of the narrow alleyways and he moved into it to get some fresh air. He stopped, looking at a person sleeping on the floor of the alley. It was rare to see vagrancy in the city. Especially with essence users. The young girl in front of him was iron rank and obviously new to sleeping rough. He could tell this wasnt a drunken stumble and sleeping it off, she had a new-ish set of blankets to sleep on and a plain bag of supplies. Her clothes looked fairly new and looked after so she hadnt been at this for long. [Hey guys, theres a homeless girl in the alleyway. Im going to see if shes ok.] He put on the group chat before bending over to wake her up and see if she wanted some breakfast. Before he could touch the skin of her arm he saw a streamlined black creature swim through her arm to the point he was about to touch and spread its tentacles wide in warning, the tips reaching from her fingertips to underneath her T-shirt sleeve probably to her armpit. Underneath its intelligent eyes it had a monster mouth instead of a usual octopus beak and it had a pointed head like a squids. The tentacles themselves had spikes all the way along with the suckers and the ends had hooks. James jerked his hand back but leant in for a closer look. He recognised it as a Kraken but swirling in jet black ink through the skin like a living tattoo. He looked up and saw the girl fearfully watching him looking at the tattoo floating on her arm. He recognised her as the young woman who had bounced off him the day before. When he met her gaze she stiffened then gathered her resolve. Yeh, what?! You never seen a tattoo before? She rudely burst at him. Scrabbling to sit herself up. And pulling her blanket around herself. The kraken swam up and parked itself just off to the side of the hollow of her neck, wrapping its tentacles round her throat like it was hanging there. No, definitely never seen one like that before! Thats awesome. James said, not taking offence and backing off to lean against the far side of the narrow alley. I had a tattoo at iron rank but it was just a cartoon bear wearing a wizards hat with a staff, gave a burst of mana. How about yours? Its my familiar, you cant have him! She started collecting her things. At that point all three of the others came round the corners of the huts. They saw her her scrambling to pack up her things. Kyra and Lucy went to her. What did you do you oaf? Kyra admonished as she held her hands out to show no harm before kneeling down next to the girl and put a hand on her arm to calm her. Nothing! We were just talking about tattoos! He insisted. James shes terrified. Lucy said poking him in the ribs. Dont worry about him, hes a dolt but hes a softy. [What did I do wrong?!] James asked on the interface. [Where do I start?! Youre bronze rank shes barely iron, youre huge shes tiny, youre a man in an alley and shes a vulnerable homeless girl, youre wearing youre silly armour and shes not got much more than the clothes shes in and her blankets.] Kyra ranted, the interface conversation quick as a thought. [I was just trying to be nice] Do you want to come with us? Lets get you cleaned up and some food in you? Kyra asked the girl. I thought he was after my familiar she said, protectively putting a hand to her throat, the tentacles of the kraken appeared on her hand as it made skin on skin contact, holding hands with her. Oh its a familiar! Thats pretty special. I have one too if youd like to see? Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The girl nodded and Kyra released Lucky who wagged his tail so hard his butt waggled and opened his mouth in a doggy grin with his tongue hanging out. The girl laughed and held out a hand to stroke him and the kraken swam down her arm to take position on her hand, tentacles crowding the fingers. Lucky sniffed the hand carefully a little unsure as his tail stopped wagging but he deemed she passed the sniff test and he enthusiastically allowed scratches to his head. They got her up and into Kyra and Teddys hut, as he hadnt been around to stop her she had gone all out making it as homey as she could, her stress and worry over her husbands absence was channelled into a heavy amount of retail therapy. The girl was given access to the bathroom and a vial of crystal wash as a luxury, new clothes waited for her curtesy of Kyra and all her clothes and blankets chucked into a wash. When she came out they got a good look at her clean and fresh instead of dirty in an alley. She was a pretty girl, late teens or early twenties. Slightly tall for a girl with long straight brown hair. She looked a little unsure about everything and was nervously playing with her kraken on her wrist with her other hand. She lasted a few more seconds standing there awkwardly until she saw the cooked breakfast on the table, she got the nod from Kyra and pounced on it, bumping a chair over in her haste and almost toppling a vase. The others let her eat in peace, they sat down and grabbed plates and joined her, they talked amongst themselves about nothing topics until the girl had her fill. Right then. Cleaned, clothed and fed. How about a name? Kyra asked kindly. Err, Dorianna, my friends call me Anna. Hi Anna, Im Kyra, this is my husband Teddy, the dolt is his brother James and his wife Lucy. Were all adventurers just stopping through. Hi. Sorry, thank you for this. Ill go away, Ill get you some money. We dont want money Anna we just wanted to help. Lucy said kindly, giving an obvious side eye at Kyra who was sat there in diamond encrusted armour to make it obvious they didnt need money. Can you tell us why you were in the alley? Maybe we can help? Its a long story Anna said uncomfortably. We havent got any plans, if its a really long story then you might be lucky enough to still be here for lunch. Kyra said with a wink. Anna giggled. Ok. Anna was cleaning the house while her parents were out. They both worked long hours. Her dad was a miner, working the famous mines of Honshuraskil. Her mum was an administrator, doing the paperwork to keep the mines running. She was very proud of both of them. They lived on the bottom layer of the city, the air was less fresh and the houses smaller and more clustered together. There were many more people living on the cramped streets down here, drawn to the city to work in the mines but without the money to buy accommodation. Her family worked hard to earn their house and they kept it nice. Anna was working part time in a food procurement plant. Growing edible fungus for the cheapest food available to the population here to work. She had a small group of friends that she felt close to and most importantly her boyfriend. She felt so lucky to have Claus as he was too good for her but he allowed her to dote on him, bringing him extra food and she paid for them to go out on the upper levels sometimes. She was meeting him for a date later that day and she wanted her parents to have no reason for not letting her to go out. Her parents came home together, their shift patterns aligned. She wasnt very close to her mum but she adored her dad. He was a very hard man but he cared for her. When they came in her dad looked quietly happy while her mum gave her a complicated look before disappearing to get changed. Hey dad, how was work? Excellent, we struck a new vein of ore today and the overseer was so happy he gave me a bonus! Her mum came out. Yes a good bonus that could get us moving up a level maybe. Sharon, we talked about this. Its an investment in our future. And I said youve already made the investment. Whatever, I said you could do it you might as well give them to her. She started clearing the living space, moving chairs and tables to the side of the room. Anna looked at her father in confusion. Dad? Your mother and I made a decision yesterday. We have enough coin to cover it and we bought you your first essence! Daddy! She ran and hugged him. Oh thank you, oh thank you! And thats not all, the overseers bonus today was another essence which, he looked at his wife. We have decided to give to you also. Wow. Mum, Dad, thank you! Ha, are you going to ask what they are? Oh! Yes. Oh thank you, what are they? The first one we got you was the Might essence, its common but popular, the second is a rare one but perfect for you to join me. Its the Deep essence! Anna took a beat to get over the fact her dad was planning on her being a miner with him and was still overjoyed she was getting not one but two essences. Oh daddy this is amazing! I have some money saved, I can pay for the ritual room and a magic society person to do the ritual! She said trying to be helpful. Nonono, your grandpa Joe taught me how to do the rituals for myself and Ill teach you to do it too. He smiled, pointing at the large space on the floor her mum had just cleared for her. Thank you mum. Anna said, painfully aware her mum would have rather sold the essence from today. Her mum came over, softening slightly and kissed her cheeks. Just make us proud. Her dad sat her down and taught her the basics of ritual magic, he had a very basic understanding himself so passing it on to a beginner was easy. He showed her the ritual before rubbing it out and guiding her through drawing it herself. She was disgusted by the powdered monster cores. She finally got it right and absorbed the Might essence. It felt amazing, she walked over to the sofa and picked it up with one hand, she walked over to her father and hugged him, picking him up easily. All right, all right, youve still got the other one to go. She drew the ritual out faster this time and got it right her second try. She absorbed the Deep essence and stood trying to figure out what it did. I was always told your meant to just be able to feel what your powers were. He said and she concentrated. I think, the Might essence gave me an attack, I could hit something really hard. Depends if its something or someone. Theres some that have to be against a person or monster and some that can be used against anything, hitting the rock really hard is kind of the idea! He said impressed with his own humour. She smiled nervously at him, still unsure about working in the mines. And the Deep essence I I think I can go really deep without it hurting? Her father looked confused, even deep in the mine they still werent at sea level the mountain was so big, the city stood at the peak of the mountain then mined down into the centre. Not to worry, you cant help it, its a lottery what powers we get from essences. She only got one useful power? Thats brilliant, that was the expensive one as well! Her mum commented. The atmosphere was a little chilly after that and Anna quietly helped her parents put the room straight. I err, I made dinner for you two? She said with a slight question in her voice. Oh? Her father said picking up on it. I was just hoping, I made plans to see my friends. Has that boy got a job yet? Her mother pounced straight away. Hes looking for one. What do you mean looking, theres always work. Hes lazy and stupid and youre silly for seeing anything more in him. Anna bit her tongue to stop her retorting and ruining the chance of going out at all. She looked at her dad with hopeful eyes. Go, but be back before middle bell. He was tall enough to kiss the top of her head. She dashed off to grab her jacket from her bedroom. She eyed her dresser then in a spur of the moment decision grabbed all her savings, she felt like celebrating. Chapter 98 ‘Due diligence’ Anna rushed off to find her friends, they normally met one level up as that where they all wanted to live. They were already waiting for her as she was late from doing the rituals. Hey Anna! One of he girls called. We were just about to head off without you. Ha, I bet Claus was holding you all back! Oh Anna, hi. Didnt know you were coming. The tall handsome boy hugged her briefly half-heartedly with one arm. I thought you might be working or something. No silly, we made these plans last week. I said I wanted to get you something nice if the travelling merchant was in! He only now turned to her, smiling. Im glad you made it before we headed off. And kissed the top of her head, being one of the few boys tall enough who could. She positively glowed. They started moving off straight away while she was trying to find a way to tell them her news and the fell into the conversation they were having before she arrived about which mining company was having the most luck. They moved up another level, there was no way a travelling merchant would go so many levels deep with anything worth having. Anna went along quietly just happy to be holding Clauss hand. When they got a level up they stepped off and headed to the market. They walked past all the normal stalls until they got to the centre where they did indeed find the travelling merchant. Everyone was bustling about ignoring the fact he was struggling to lift heavy boxes out of his cart. Anna stepped forward, keen to explore the new strength she felt from her Might essence. She lifted the heavy boxes with ease that he was struggling to shift let alone lift. He thanked her afterwards and gave her a bottle of sweet juice she had never seen before. She turned back to her friends and they were looking at her like they had never seen her before. Anna have you been working out or something? One of the boys said. Watch out Claus, shes stronger than you, shell be the one throwing you around the bedroom soon! One of the other boys joked cruelly joshing Claus. Claus looked pissed and Anna blushed with embarrassment. No! My dad got me essences! The girls crowded in to hear the details and Anna bathed in the attention. She didnt see Claus hang back with the boys looking unsure, the boys all jibed at Claus quietly so the girls wouldnt hear. Ha, if shes got two essences shes got one more than you Claus! Claus had the common Shovel essence, an outrageous waste of magic considering he was too lazy to get a job in a mining city. One of the other boys had a rare look of concentration on his face. So shes got two, she gets one more and shes iron rank. Yeh dummy we know how it works. Another boy said. No, think about it. Claus, no idea why youre with her Because shes desperate and shell buy him anything he wants! One of the other cruel boys laughed. But. The boy continued. If she gets to iron rank shell be way hotter It was like a lightbulb went off in Clauss head. He sauntered over with a huge smile and put an arm around her. Congrats babe. When he called her babe Anna felt a little flutter in her chest. Two essences. Yeh he got me the You know what you should do? Celebrate, lets do something for you. Youre always so generous. Lets see what the travelling merchant has got! He wheeled her around to the stall with her head in a whirl. She was accepted as one of the girls in the group but they were either prettier or smarter than she was, her height and her poor upbringing put her at the bottom of the pack. Their attention on her felt amazing, or did, until Claus paid her attention then everything else felt unimportant. She nestled into his arm and chest as he moved her to the goods she had helped move and away from the girls. Ah! My best helper! A special discount for you I think! Such a sweet girl. The merchant said with a lilting accent shed never heard before. Claus was rapidly scanning the items, not being subtle at all he grabbed a cube off the table. How about this?! One more essence and youve got the set! We could even all chip in and get the ritual room for you. You must have the money for this right? Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He hadnt even checked what the essence was. The stall keeper looked bemused. Anna was nervously looking between the essence, Claus and the merchant. How much? My dear sweet girl would you like to know what it is first? These things are forever, not a fleeting decision to be made. Err yeh sure, what is it? For you today my dear! The man went into sales personality, grabbing he essence back. We have for you a special essence, from lands afar, from the magical deeps where tropical sunshine does not reach; the popular Octopus essence! Rare in these parts this is maybe the first ever to reach this far down the wonderful city in the mountain. A versatile essence that benefits the keen eyed would-be adventurer in many ways. Her heart jumped at the thought of being an adventurer. Not many made it out of the high magic city to strike out on their own. I would tell you young lady the many wonders this could bring to your life but a smart girl like you surely already can imagine the wonder! He had drawn a crowd by holding the essence aloft. Sure. Ill take it. She said, passing him her purse. The man looked at her then, aware something was going on and had a flash of kindness. Come inside young lady, come. Well negotiate the price. He held a hand on Clauss chest as he tried to come with her into the tent he had set up. He had a privacy screen he used when he wanted to negotiate in private. Young lady, as much as I would like to sell you this I implore you to think of what you are doing. No one should be coerced into such a thing. Im not, I want this. You said yourself its a good essence. My dear please do not be naive, I am a salesman, I would sell you snow telling you it is a rare purity when you have it by the caravan above. This is a common essence were I am from and only rare here in the mountains where it has limited use. But it will make me an iron ranker, Ill be more interesting, Claus will like me more and you said I could be adventurer. Please! Let me buy it. He looked at her, he was a salesman not a priest of generosity. He felt he had done more than his due diligence and gave her a very generous price and wished her luck. The group left the marketplace immediately, heading down multiple levels to one of the now abandoned mine shafts that had proved fruitless. The rest of the group had been very grateful when Anna said she knew how to do the rituals herself as none of them wanted to use any of their own money. The ritual went well. She only needed to adjust it a little from her first one and she loved the praise she got as no one else knew how to do them. She barely had time to register the finality of what shed done once shed absorbed the Octopus essence before her confluence essence appeared. None of the group had any idea what they were looking at. Claus was the cool guy because he had one essence and it was only the Shovel essence. None of them had the magical knowledge background to recognise what the floating cube might be. She mistook Clauss look of greed and jealousy for one of adoration and smiled at him. Shed heard enough to know what to do, to not waste this incredible opportunity. She reached out and took her confluence. She remained conscious afterwards through the purging but it was the worst thing she had ever been through. She used the wall to help herself to her feet and stood up. She found herself on her own, everyone had abandoned her when she started oozing foulness. Claus was waiting at the end of the corridor, ready to make his exit as far away from her as he could get. Hey, well done Anna, once youve cleaned yourself up come and see me yeah? Alright bye. Then he ran of away from the smell. Anna was dazed and confused, she felt weak but so much potential at the same time. She stumbled down the corridor away from the puddle of filth, trying to scrape the worst of it off herself. She felt inside her for the new power there. She put a hand on the wall and as she did it changed colour to match the wall, blending almost perfectly so she could only just see the outline of her hand and she could feel it there. Pleased with the power she felt for the other one. She felt an emptiness and was flooded with knowledge she had not put there, she was suddenly aware of a ritual, a chant and what resources were needed. Shed heard of familiar powers but never seen them. She was suddenly overwhelmed and alone and scared. Down in the abandoned mines she realised what shed done. Shed taken her fathers gift and made light of it. Taking another essence without consulting him, without even telling him what she was doing. The money shed spent was selfish and she had little left. She realised she was going to go home with nothing more than the ability to change her hand to the colour of rock. Her father only had two essences himself and would think so little of her. Her mother would be bitterly disappointed. She made a decision then. A bad decision she would later regret but she couldnt go home as she was. She needed to go home with a useful familiar. She had attended the city tour when she was a child. She had attended it multipletimes, it was free and it got her out of the lower levels. If she had been in a more sensible thinking state she might reminisce that even as a child she had a yearning to get away from the under-city that the merchant had reawakened in her. The tour had taken them through the magic society and she knew where the storerooms were. She got incredibly lucky, she managed to dip herself in a pool of old water someone had used for washing clothes to get rid of most of the smell then she used her new camouflage power to follow a magic society worker into the vault. She looked around amazed at all the wealth in the room. She reasoned that no one would miss what she took as long as it was the bare minimum. She snuck out, going slower now she was carrying a lot of ritual materials. She thought she was going to have a heart attack when someone stopped her on the street. She had put all the material in a scrap sack she found in the bin behind a shop and held it behind her back. Hi! Dont be embarrassed I forget to take bags wherever I go! I wish I had one of those nifty personal space powers sometimes. No judgement on grabbing the sack, very thrifty. I couldnt help but notice what you put in there, Im Tony, I work it the ritual rooms, are you doing a familiar summoning? He looked keenly at her, all the innocence of enthusiastic youth. Err yeh, spent all my money in this though, I was going to find some room down below to do the ritual. You mean the summoning of course! Those were some rare materials, must have cost you a few spirit coins! Mind if I tag along? I love these rituals. With Tonys help she managed the much more difficult summoning ritual. Afterwards she was completely exhausted lying on the floor to recover. Tony was looking all around. Did it work? It must have done right? She also looked around, raising her hand to move some of the disgusting matted hair out of her face. On her forearm she saw it and instantly fell in love with the little Ink Kraken looking back out at her as it bobbed as if in a current in her skin. Tony and Anna were making there way through one of the lower levels back towards her home and he back to the magic society. He had no powers to find out what it was any more than she did as he was very new. They were stopped by the city guard. Anna was in tears in front of her father. She had never wanted this to happen, couldnt imagine that this would ever happen. The city guard had explained they had tracked her down from her aura for the theft of the extremely expensive ritual materials. It was the first her father had known about her now being iron rank and having an iron rank aura with which to track. The guards explained they had options. They could take her to the unaffiliated mines for indenture or he pay the cost of the materials. The unaffiliated mines could be a life, or a death sentence. The mining was dangerous work and with only indentures working in them the unaffiliated mines were unregulated to save cost, with the cost of the materials she stole it would be the rest of her natural life to pay it off. The guards had left with the promise of payment. He would have to sell everything and take a loan. He had been furious when she told him the truth about what had happened and where her savings had gone. He stood in front of him, offending him in every way. It felt like she had deliberately scorned his gift. She stank, covered in filth still, he barely recognised the miserable creature and to make it worse the sight of the black tentacle tattoo sent him into a rage. His wife had already slammed the door on their bedroom refusing to come out while Anna was there. Get out. He said quietly. Dad I said get out! He shouted. He was a hard man but he never shouted. Get out of this house and never come back. You. Are. Not. Welcome here. He moved then, to physically push her out of the house and she flinched. There was a moments hesitation before he walked around her and opened the door and wouldnt look at her. She fled to Clauss house and called up to his window. He saw she was still filthy and turned up his nose. She explained everything that had happened up to the window and he looked up and down the street to see if anyone was watching. Err, look Anna I dont think its going to work out between you and I, youre iron rank now and Im not youre too good for me now! So, see you around? Then he shut the window on her. Chapter 99 ‘Insurance’ What a douchebag! Kyra and Lucy said together. And that was four weeks ago. I went down to see my dad every day the first week then every other day the next week. I saw him last week once and I dont think Im going back anymore. Well damn thats a rough start to adventuring. James said. Anna gave a sad smile. Im never going to be an adventurer. You cant just be an adventurer from nothing here. You need money to go to a school or apprentice. You have to pay to apprentice? James asked, happy she would talk to him now. Yes normally, unless your parents are adventurers of course. Well you cant sleep in our alley anymore. Lucy said and Anna looked at her in hurt confusion. She had just been fed lunch as well, her story had taken so long. Youll have to stay with one of us, theres no way were putting you back out on the street until weve figured out how were going to fix this. Why would you do that for me? Teddy spoke for the first time, he had been distracted. Staring into space while she was speaking, he was the one that unnerved her the most with his absent detachment. Because thats what adventurers do. Two figures made their way down deeper layers than they ever had need to before. The grimy conditions didnt bother them as they had seen worse, albeit long long ago. They were both robed and hooded, striding purposefully without the need to look around, they were hard to notice, although they strode down the centre of the street, ones aura gently pushed away attention and the other blurred slightly, making the eyes not want to look. They moved into a poor neighbourhood, this was the bottom rung for the property market and a desperate place to be, tenants here paid by the week or day as the landlords couldnt be sure of regular payment from the type of tenant it attracted. They found the hut they were after, an older man with only two essences and a woman with none. They knocked on the flimsy door and the man answered. Mind if we come in? The lead robed figure asked before pushing past him inside. The man looked for a moment like he might resist. Then when he reached inside himself for the resolve to do something he found nothing but broken spirit and gave in. The second robed figure also came in and shut the door. Who are you? The woman asked, fearful but also resigned. The two robed figures took their hoods off, the most beautiful woman with striking blonde hair and mirrors in her eyes and a bald man whos eyes were like the blackest mineshaft the old man had ever seen, they did not look happy. They cast off their robes and threw them over the only chair in the room that was a small sofa, she wore brilliant armour, ceramic white with black embellishments and covered in huge diamond panels. It was figure hugging showing every curve but looked formidable. The man wore plain dark armour, cloth robes but fairly fitted, held in place to his torso by a waist and cross chest belt. He was covered in different types of blades. Weve just come for a little chat about youre daughter. The woman said. The old man spat, even as intimidated as he was. Shes gone good riddance, cant help you. Well thats not a good start. She said in a warning tone. She raised a hand by her side, palm up. It started to glow and although Teddy recognised it as the warm glow of her Life Aura power the others didnt know and they found it downright menacing. Dont spit in front of me again. She is truly gone. The woman picked up. We threw her out weeks ago, she keeps coming back for handouts but we wont allow it. Shes not welcome here now or ever. Thats disappointing to hear. Whilst not a lie detector they were both searching the couples auras and saw the absolute feelings there. They saw the disgust for their daughter at what she had done and that there was no way they were going to forgive her. Thats not what they were here for, they had only come to talk to the mother and father an see if it was possible, not convince them to take her back, that would be an unhealthy mend to the relationship. Kyra had thought about this in advance and had a plan. She bent down and scooped her hand through the hard packed dirt of the floor like it was water. She formed the earth in her hand into a two section box with an open lid held in place by her power. She reached into a pouch at her waist and pulled out two bronze coins and placed them inside before sealing the box. She traced her finger around the box in quick movements, digger her fingertip in. The earth shaping abilities and bronze rank agility quickly completing the ritual she had practiced with Lucy a few times to make sure she could get it right and fast. It was a very simple ritual that would hide the contents of the box from casual magical observation, to stop any thieves sweeping their senses through a building looking for treasures.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The couple were very confused, and looking at the box with disbelieving eyes. They were incredibly intimidated by the couple and had no idea what was going on. Dorianna is a good girl. A girl who made a costly mistake but so do we all from time to time. She deserves to have parents in the future but it is evident you dont deserve her right now. The contents of this box are an insurance policy. You obviously have pride so listen well. You cast out your daughter for fate guiding her hand, she is capable of incredible things and you are shortsighted. I will not have her grieve in decades to come when she hears of your deaths. But you do not deserve a handout. If you ever reach the desperation that you need to use these coins then you may open one half, if you get more desperate then the other. The runes of power I have placed around it will mean that I will know, if I come back here to find you still in the same mind about fate then there will be consequences. The man accepted the box like he expected it to burn him. Two bronze rank coins wouldnt set them for life but it would have them move up a level or two. He had no idea she had lied about knowing if the box was opened and as terrified of the idea. The two strangers in their hut put their robes back on and put their hoods up, thus far the bald man with the unsettling eyes had been silent. As the woman took two steps towards the door he stepped forward. A dark portal of swirling unsettling energy appeared behind him, a twisting tunnel of kaleidoscopic darkness twisting the way and that. I took up the entire wall and he was sure he could see things climbing the walls of the tunnel towards them. Do not disappoint, youve made one error of judgement you cannot take back. You do not want to see my judgement the next time we come to this city. The couple barely noticed the two figures leave they were pinned to the opposite wall in horror at the portal in their living room, just as a terrible claw gripped the edge of the tunnel of darkness from inside it shrank away to nothing, leaving a terrified sweaty couple clinging onto each other. They fell into a routine for a while, they would get up and train all together, Anna had no foundation at all and they found it refreshing to go back to basics, weight training and agility. They ran around and around the lower levels, sometimes down the old mine shafts to explore while they ran Anna ragged. The others left for their jobs at different times of the day, Lucy to the magic society, Kyra to the temple of Healer and Teddy to the adventure society to continue the investigation into the Confederacy in the city. Kyra taught her martial skills, Lucy deepened her understanding of ritual magics from just the basics. Teddy wasnt ready to engage with the training just yet, he was obsessed with is job at the adventure society, Kyra made a point of dropping him off and picking him up, the oversight keeping him on track. It was left to James then to train Anna the most. For him his powers were difficult to make relevant to a standard adventurer, he was fairly unique in his style. What he did very well though and was happy to teach was meditation. Anna had always been a shy nervous girl. She worried what people thought constantly and had a million thoughts racing through her head. As she sat in a magical glade in and underground moss covered cave pocket dimension she found peace. James had guided her into settling her thoughts and self reflection. She saw the mistakes of her life and who she had been before and saw where she wanted to go, she wasnt there yet and had a long way to go but she now had hope. It was a few weeks into this training that they invited her to see the interface. Not wanting to bombard her when she had just received all this new power they had waited. Now she was comfortable in a training routine and had accepted the life they gave her the option. Its how we see the world. Lucy explained. But it also gives you a very clear understanding of yourself. Youll see a detailed description of all of your powers and what they do, I know youre unsure at the moment and Ive resisted the urge in looking them up to see if youll discover on your own. Anna had barely taken a moment. In the last few months she had gone from no essences to having all four, she had been thrown out of her childhood home and fell in with a group of impressive adventurers, she spent part of everyday in a pocket dimension with the biggest man she had ever seen sat cross legged on moss covered rocks while different strange animals waited on them. She was ready for a little clarity. Dorianna Antoine Race: Human Current rank: Iron Progression to bronze rank 00% (0/4 essences complete) Attributes [Power] (Dimension): [Iron 0] [Speed] (Swift): [Iron 0] [Spirit] (Void): [Iron 0] [Recovery] (Dark): [Iron 0] Racial abilities (Human) Mighty ambition -All essence abilities progress faster than the normal human advantage. Depth of character -Significant boost to the [Spirit] attribute Ocean dweller -Receive combat bonus when fighting in water Owner of the ocean -Command nearby water (strength of effect in correlation with [Spirit] attribute). Navigation in bodies of water is instinctual. Essences (4/4) Might [Power] (1/5) Mighty Strike Ability: [Mighty Strike] (Might) Special Attack (might) Base cost: Moderate mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 0 (01%) Effect (iron): User can inflict 5x damage with a single strike. Deep [Spirit] (1/5) Unfathomable Ability: [Unfathomable] (Deep) Special Ability Base cost: Nil Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 0 (02%) Effect (iron): User is immune to pressure differential. Allows the essence user to dive to great depths without taking damage. Octopus [Recovery] (1/5) Chromatophore Ability: [Chromatophore] (Octopus) Special Ability Base cost: Low mana Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 0 (01%) Effect (iron): Allows the user to blend into their surroundings. Kraken [Speed] (1/5) Ink Kraken Ability: [Ink Kraken] (Kraken) Familiar (ritual, summon) Cost: Extreme mana, extreme stamina, extreme health. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 0 (03%) Effect (iron): Summon an [Ink Kraken] to serve as a familiar. [Ink Kraken] takes the form of a living tattoo in the summoners skin. Whilst absorbed the familiar provides some protection against physical attacks. [Ink Kraken] can be deployed only in salt water pools, when deployed can exit the pool and specialises in constriction attacks. Well Anna, youd have made a crap miner with those powers! James joked. He turned around to see her looking contemplatively at her Kraken tattoo that was currently on her wrist. Lucy opened a storage rune and pulled out an honest-to-gods cauldron and a large bag of salt. Emptying a good amount in she then went to the kitchen and came back with a couple of jugs full of water. They mixed it all together and Anna smiled, she could feel the connection to the water straight away, the pull to her familiar. She let him go. In an instant long shiny tentacles were gripping the edge of the cauldron pulling themselves out. The pointed head pulled itself out and they saw the intelligent eyes looking around the room. It sat on the rim and they could see it clearly now, the body was the size of a grapefruit. The long, sinister, spiked tentacles would reach the width of a beach ball but they curled and undulated. It launched itself with no warning, terrifyingly quickly and latched itself around Annas throat, a mirror of what it did as a tattoo. Anna had tears in her eyes, she pulled the little sea monster off her neck and cupped it in both hands so she could see it in front of her and it wrapped its tentacles up her forearms leaving little sucker indents. Chapter 100 ‘Time to get out of here’ Down below in the mountain the residents had no idea when the magic infused storms raged above, the first they would know of a breach would be the topmost layer getting hit and hopefully driven back from the layers of defences there. The Mitchells always knew the weather as they worked on the surface in the temples and headquarters of the different organisations. One day, two months after Anna had joined them Kyra and Teddy came home together. Teddy had made a huge recovery and was pretty much himself again, other than meditation and fitness he hadnt gone back into training yet but even Anna enjoyed being around him now. They walked in the hut as Anna was putting dinner on the table. Thats it, the passes are open. Kyra said. Oh? Anna replied as Lucy and James came to the table. Why were you watching the storm? Because we were talking about it and we think its time to get out of here. James said, sitting at the table. Anna looked crestfallen. You guys are leaving? Its inevitable really. Lucy explained. Weve spent the better part of a year here and barely progressed. Too long really. We need to get out and get adventuring again. We want to get back to Greenstone really. Oh well I uh What are you blathering for? Youre coming with us obviously. Youve not left our company in months, youve not wanted to see any of these friends you had and no ones come looking for you. You tried your parents but no joy. Come with us, try somewhere else. Youve never left the city right? Try adventuring and if its not for you then well bring you straight back. Kyra insisted. Annas only response was to well up with tears of happiness. There was one last thing the Mitchells had to do in the city, they all stood around the table in James and Lucys hut. In the middle was the box from the clergy of Hero. Kyra was the one to open it, pulling at the ribbon until it opened the box like a flower. Inside was a small sheet of fourth stage crystal the size of a playing card, on it was the likeness of Ragnar. They all felt the roiling emotion in Teddys aura. Kyra squeezed his hand while James picked up the card. A good likeness. And he passed it to Lucy. With her knowledge of the material she got a sense of what it was. Once she had the nod from Teddy she tapped the centre of the card and it started unfolding again and again until it stood on the floor. It was a full-size fourth stage crystal door, with the likeness of Ragnar standing full height on it. The Mitchells all stared for a moment then unanimously agreed it was a fitting tribute and they knew they needed to thank the clergy for it. The Mitchells were going to sell their two huts for cheap, the price meaning nothing to them. Anna convinced them to lease them on a long term plan, she contacted two of the girls who hadnt been completely awful to her in the past and gave them the option of moving up in levels. They made their way to the elevator, all Annas worldly possessions were in a small dimensional bag at her waist and she felt like shed forgotten something. Leaving the city shed grown up in empty handed felt a little hollow. She felt better when she saw the familiar on her hand looking out to see what he could see, felt him rush up one arm under her sleeve and down the other to keep looking at something they were passing. She felt a surge of love and was happy she was leaving with more than enough. At the top she looked around her, mildly alarmed she had forgotten she wasnt wearing one of the thick coats almost everyone else was wearing, the high magic atmosphere made the icy wind dangerously cold, normal rank people could freeze to death in minutes. She was relieved that she was only mildly uncomfortable and guessed it was due to her new rank. The Mitchells seemed completely unfazed, walking off the elevator as if it was nothing more than a cool breeze. The upper city was incredibly open, there werent many buildings that wanted to be in the inhospitable conditions. They found what mustve been a large square under the snow, a track had been worn for people to get to the few vehicles in a marshalling area to take people out of the city. Anna managed to slip and slide a few times, she felt embarrassed watching the Mitchells make it look easy. Lucy took out a model of a ship, sleek and luxury she held it in one hand while she took out the card with Ragnars likeness she slotted it into the top then used a few tools to manipulate it in place. When she was done she put the model down and tapped it. Anna had never seen something so wildly magical. The huge ship unfolded from the tiny model, panels expanding and unfolding again and again. It pushed the snow out the way as it grew, piling it up against the edges of the square. The four Mitchells looked at the ship with fondness, it had been almost a year they had her in storage and it was like coming home after a long trip. When theyd had a good look they climbed the back drop deck and went through the lower doors. The door on the right was open showing a complicated workshop that still had projects on the bench like someone had just walked away. The closed door opposite was the likeness of Ragnar. It took all the Mitchells aback, they looked in shock at having Ragnar there in front of them. They filed past, touching the door on the way with Anna at the rear. They explained that was one of the bedrooms, the room opposite was a workshop and warned it was dangerous inside, they didnt say out loud but it was especially considering how much of a clumsy calamity Anna naturally was. The bedroom front left was Teddy and Kyras which they showed her inside and likewise for James and Lucy opposite. Upstairs was the lounge area with the huge panoramic views, she saw a small crowd of people staring at the giant luxury vehicle through the windows but they wouldn''t be able to see her through the tinted crystal. They led her through the well appointed kitchen to the dining area that was richly decorated. Out the back there were twin staircases curving and leading up to the top deck, there was a bite of wind as they went up the stairs but they were back in comfortable conditions on the top deck even with the top exposed, some environmental magic at work.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. It was Teddy who got behind the controls and started moving the Serenity out. Anna took the time to watch behind as the city she lived in her whole life and barely recognised disappeared. Dorianna screamed with a girly shrillness as the monsters fetid breath washed over her as it was about to consume her, it was huge and could have swallowed her whole. She was saved by a blue shaft of energy penetrating through the roof of the mouth from the top. Teddys dimension blade piercing clear through its head. James was only a step away but it would have been a close thing. Teddys face was cold and unreadable as he stepped off the back of the crocodile-like monster letting it flop to the floor dead. Well thats a good example of why youre not getting to fight anything round here, that was the easiest bronze rank monster we could find and theres nothing lower than that around here. Lucy said. Kyra had gone to Teddy and put an arm around his shoulders, whispering to him as they walked off. It was the first time Dorianna had seen him use combat powers and she had seen nothing but the faintest blur until the blade was in the monsters head. You forgot everything we said to do or not do, screamed, tripped over a log, you even dropped your sword! We should call you Dory not Anna! James said to the amusement of all the Mitchells. But my name is Anna? No, thinking about it you are always pretty forgetful and clumsy its Dory now. Lucy said with a grin. The bamboozlement was good natured but it served another purpose. Dory had been watching them from the safety of the deck of the Serenity with Teddy as the other three killed monster after monster on their journey south. They were headed towards a city port where they could get passage on an airship across the Arngotian sea. Their journey over had been boosted by mana condensers they had been leant by the adventure society as they needed to go to Honshuraskil anyway, they wouldnt be able to fly back in the Serenity. Dory had been so nervous about fighting a monster that she just wanted to get the first one over with. Shed never seen one close up and shed panicked. The others were playing around was distracting her from the fact that she almost just got seriously hurt. Is Teddy ok? Dory asked in concern looking over at the couple talking. Hes been through something recently. Its going to take him a while to get back to fighting. Lucy said kindly. Is he good? Is he good at fighting? Yes, Id say we all are. Especially together. Is he good at killing? Absolutely, hes the best. And thats the problem, killing is just too easy. James said looking over at his brother in concern. Hush. Lucy said softly. Putting a hand on his arm. Sorry. Dory sorry, were not trying to keep things from you, we just dont want to worry you needlessly. Hell be fine youll see. The team hadnt picked up contracts in almost a year and now got back to it with a fervour. Teddy driving them from town to town and village to village doing noticeboards. He stayed on the top deck watching each fight, directing each fight with the interface. Every night they stopped somewhere new in the wilds and set the privacy enhancements, the armour and camouflage on the Serenity. They were talking one night about essences and racial gifts. Ive never heard of some of the things in your powers. Whats a Houdini and why would it have a palace? Dory asked. Ha, hes an entertainer back from our world. Uses tricks and misdirection to fool people into thinking its magic. Uhuh, and Kansas City is a place in your world? Kind of, I think its more referring to a con artist move. Theres probably the same con over here called something different. Mid way through dinner and the conversations the Serenity was rattled. An animalistic yelp of pain from outside. [Kyra on the swivels, Lucy on flares and circles, James on backup. Whatever that is is pissed off rather than hurt, top bronze if not silver.] To Dory who wasnt on the tactical interface group the Mitchells just calmly got up without a word and filed out the back door, she decided to follow, feeling pretty safe after seeing the family fight so much over the last few weeks. When they all looked over the edge of the railings they saw a solitary monster raging nearby. They had parked in the shallows on a small lake in the middle of no-where, before the sun went down it had been picturesque. They could just about see the monster, standing knee deep in water and raging at finding the vessel. The darkness only let them see that it was tall humanoid, a skinny man shaped monster. Teddy could see more however, with his lantern familiars out straight away he could see though the shadows of the trees crossing the lake and the clouds in front of one of the moons. He saw the monster pick up a thick floating log about twelve feet long and it turned metallic as it did. Aww hell no. Teddy muttered as he jumped overboard. Wheres he going? Whats happening? Dory asked. Well thats a Jacklack if Im not mistaken James? Lucy asked as he was the best authority on monsters and James nodded. Bottom end of silver, low health, high speed, compared to bronze rank. Likes to hang around caves near lakes like this from what I remember from the magic society records. Keeps to itself if no one bothers it then all of a sudden you have a berserk silver trying to cut its way through the nearest village. Picks up inanimate objects and turns them into weapons. So why arent you blasting it from up here? Its too fast, we wouldnt be able to hit it. Why is no one helping Teddy? Hes too fast, wed just be in the way. Dory was struggling to see the detail in the dark, she saw two human shapes approach each other in the dark, relatively the same size. There were two bubbles of force appear and disappear and the metallic log went flying. The monster grabbed a four foot long reed from next to it and snapped it off, turning it metallic as it did. Teddy was half illuminated from one side by a blue dimension blade before he sprang into an attack. It was a confusing battle to watch from Dory, the bright blue blade ruined her night vision and she only saw flashes, the movement so fast. For Teddy it was a good fight. His speed rivalled that of the silver rank monster but his skill had taken a qualitative leap recently. The martial prowess of the Confederates had been a good training opportunity and he had treated as many as he could as a dual. Silver rank was a marked difference in intelligence level of monsters, with a significant increase to health and mana. It posed a far larger jump from bronze to silver than iron to bronze. Due to the diminutive nature of the monster it stood to reason that it was faster than it was tough. Teddy was using every scrap of skill and speed at his disposal, as well as every essence trick he had. Looking on, the three bronze rankers were on the tips of their toes to jump in. Every clash of dimension blade on the now silver metal reed sent off sparks and the satisfying sound of sizzling. They hadnt been entirely truthful to Dory, they could have course have tackled the monster as a team but they knew Teddy needed this to get back on the proverbial hydal. As he danced over the surface of the water Teddy was entering the state of mind hed had with the last confederate in Honshuraskil, unconsciously being where he needed to be. When pressed into an un-winnable position hed find the right shadow to become insubstantial to negate the damage and riposte. He fouled the monsters footing with Hands of the Reaper, reaching up through the water to grab its legs or rip out flesh which needed healing, costing the monster energy. This time fighting a silver rank opponent it didnt have the advantage the confederate had of using an aura attack. The team relaxed as Teddy found the right rhythms and took it apart over the next hour or so. By the time he was done he was exhausted. He had a mana headache from attacking the silver ranker so much with a bronze rank conjured blade that cost him continual mana to attack with. He paused for a moment and used a power she hadnt seen him use before, he ripped a portal in the air vertically in front of him and ran through, appearing above head height and dropping down to the deck. He nodded to Kyra and she smiled. So youre ready now? She asked. Teddy nodded and looked at Dory. Err ready for what? She asked nervously. Oohoo, now youre really going to learn how to fight. James said excitedly as Teddy offered her a sword. Chapter 101 ‘Get used to it’ Dory lay on the beach with her eyes closed. The sun and the sand would be absolutely divine if not for how her body felt. She was completely exhausted, battered and bruised. The training she had gone through with Lucy, James and Kyra had been an easy warm up for Teddy. He pushed her relentlessly. Fighting with her before she ran laps with Kyra, hed surprise her while she was meditating with James and she would have to defend herself or he would jump out of a shadow when she was having a lesson with Lucy. She had never felt sand before, it seemed to cup her entire sore body like the crystal on the Serenity. She had seen how the others all looked at the door with the huge barbarians likeness, she had no desire to sleep in that room and chose instead to sleep on the sofas in the prow of the middle deck, the plush sofas more than comfortable enough and although the others gave her guilty looks she felt they were glad the room was left untouched. She heard the others animatedly talking and reluctantly opened her eyes, she felt that the heat which was so alien to her occurring naturally having lived in the cold mountain, it had a naturally rejuvenating effect on her body. I just think its a huge strategic oversight, how could we let this happen? James was complaining. I feel we can meet the same ends by other means. Lucy prompted. Im totally with James on this, its a disaster. Kyra shockingly said. Guys the lack of ice cream on the Serenity is not a strategic oversight, like Lucy says, we have ice, we have flavours, we can make sorbet. Teddy said, exasperated. James stopped so suddenly they thought something was actually wrong with him as he put a hand to his chest in mock heart attack. My own brother! One does not eat a cone of sorbet at the beach! They were interrupted from their argument by a shadow making its way over the beach. They looked up in time to see the massive blimp cross overhead. It would have dwarfed the Serenity if it hadnt already been put back in storage. Massive magical panels on the rear pushed it forwards with similar panels underneath blasting blue energy downwards to keep it aloft. The team reminisced about their time travelling back from Vitesse to Greenstone by boat, the Magical density would have made an airship uneconomical so they were glad that the Arngotian sea was more accommodating to magical travel. They boarded the massive ship, with no gear to stow and no need to book cabins they made their way to the foredeck to watch as it rose back off the sand. They had a mix of passengers to share the journey with, travellers like themselves that were easy to chat to and the teamsters who promptly found benches and chairs to sleep on for the short journey over. They soared across the ocean in less than a day. The ship had amenities for all ranks and classes of people and Dory was amazed at being introduced to it all by the Mitchells. As an active bronze rank team they enjoyed the luxuries of the bronze bar, inviting Dory in as their companion. They met other bronze rankers, the type that frequented the airship rather than the slower boat were either from rich families or very active adventurers. The Mitchells were busy meeting people but they never excluded Dory, swapping stories about monster hunts and close calls, exchanging information about Arngo that each other might find useful. The city was vast and catered to much higher rank than the bronze rankers, they would struggle to plumb all of its depths by themselves. When they were most of the way over they made their way out to the balcony. They had made arrangements to depart the airship early as soon as they were in controlled water that was regularly patrolled by the citys adventure society for high rank monsters. The fare was paid in full so the captain wasnt bothered. Teddy launched himself off first, shooting off the balcony like an arrow from a bow. The girls dropped next leaving James standing next to a very nervous Dory. First time jumping off a perfectly serviceable airship? He said, grinning at her. She looked at him in panic. You bloody well know it is! James, If I mess this up I could die! Oh this is nothing, we regularly do this straight into monster nests. You get used to it. I dont know if I can do this Think about it, the sooner you jump, the sooner its over, plus, thats saltwater down there. You can get squiddy out. Dont call him that! Then think of a name for him! Come on. And with that James stepped casually onto the rail and held out a hand for her. She took a deep breath and took his hand. He fell backwards, dragging her with him. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Yeehaw! He shouted as she screamed. They dove down towards the water, they were very high, if James had to guess it would be somewhere between seven and ten thousand feet high to stay away from the gold rank monsters in the middle of the ocean transit. Jamess Vision of the Eagle power let him zoom up to ten times and he picked out the rest of his family ahead. They had set this up to test a theory for working with people without slow fall. Teddy had gone first and had the rapidly unfolding Serenity in front of him which should hopefully be ready before it hit the water and he would use his powers to simply step on board. There was a thrill to falling through the air, Dory copied James and bent her whole body like a bow, chest and hips pointing to the ground. When she was stable with her hands and feet buffeting in the air outstretched behind her she had time to marvel in the experience. She glanced at James who was still grinning. He winked at her and went into a series of backflips and cartwheels in the air, she realised he wasnt using magic at all, just moving his body in the air. She experimented and found that she could spin this way and that, she managed a little bit of steering before she flipped out of control. James collided with her and sorted her out into a stable position again. The girls each had a buggy unfolding, taking far less time than the bigger Serenity, the simple craft hadn''t bothered with wheels but had small winglets either side forming. James still had hold of Dorys hand and slingshot her to Kyra who caught her and stuffed her inside before getting in herself. She pulled a series of levers and grabbed the wheel before looking at Dory who was wide eyed and pale. Aww Dory, you shouldnt be scared of this, this is the fun side to being adventurers!. She patted the girls leg. Youll either learn to love this sort of thing or youll know adventuring isnt for you. Kyra turned forward to judge the distance between them and the surface. Not long now, she controlled the buggy a little, gliding through the air. Dory thought to herself that this was fun once you got over the near-death part. The people that she was with wouldnt let that happen so she felt a lot better. She was almost convinced that she was having fun when the sea was rapidly getting closer and closer and she scrambled back in her chair, she scrunched her eyes tight while holding onto the bucket seat and her familiar swam to the middle of her face. His presence there made her open her eyes just as the small buggy smashed into the surface of the water. The world became light blue, she stared in wonder out the window as Kyra pulled them out of the steep dive and shallowed out. Dory felt suddenly at peace, comfortable in this environment. It was the first time she had been in anything deeper than a bath and she loved it. How far down can we go? She asked in awe. Not much further than this really. Kyra replied, looking around for the Serenitys hull on the surface above. The magic on the open sides isnt strong enough to keep out the pressure, theyre not designed to go much further. Im sure in time Lucy will change that. Dory raised a hand like she was going to touch the open sides but thought better of it, she didnt know if it would interrupt the magic. Her familiar swam to the end of her arm and excitedly moved up and down her arm like it was trying to ram its way out the end. Dory instinctually felt how to release him and did so. He appeared outside the buggy and she suddenly wondered how fast they were going. The kraken was a streamlined bullet with trailing tentacles, he twisted and twirled loving the freedom in the depths. She watched him enjoy himself and she felt so much love already for him. She was proud of him when he dived off to one side to snag a small fish and stuff it in his mouth without losing pace. They moved through the water soundlessly, joined after a while by Lucy in her buggy, James was noticeably absent from the other vehicle. The kraken familiar moved to get closer to the other buggy. A monster rose up from underneath and snapped the small cephalopod in one. It was all over before Dory could register the panic. In a heartbeat the small kraken burst out the bottom of the mouth in a burst of blood. [Ouch, not as funny as I thought it was going to be.] James said. The monster was the long-necked dinosaur-looking animal form he had taken when they were hunting monsters at sea before they left Greenstone. It had a long large body smooth like a seal with four large flippers. Its whip like tails were able to be employed as weapons. The important part the team didnt address just yet was how a level-zero iron rank familiar managed to break through the bronze rank skin on the bottom of Jamess mouth before what looked like flipping him off and swimming back over to the buggy with Dory in. Kyra started to ascend and the familiar splatted itself on the windscreen to one side in front of Dory, tentacles spread wide. They popped out the water like a cork out of a bottle. Kyra had aimed it at the back of the ship and it landed perfectly on the drop deck. James also leapt out the water and transformed mid air into himself. They made their way up the back to the top deck to find Teddy underneath the console in the drivers station with a magical equivalent of a screwdriver. Whats up with the Serenity? Lucy asked. She was the only other person who had worked on the Fourth-stage Crystal and could possibly help. Oh just a little flooding in the kitchen. Im amending the properties of deployment, would be useful if it was watertight sooner. We hit the water and went under for a bit before we came back out, the pumping action was pretty intense. Otherwise that worked out pretty well for our first HALO deployment? Kyra said. That was the first time youd done that?! Dory asked in shock. Well, the first time weve done it like that. Kyra admitted. Moving with Dory, Lucy and James to the prow of the ship. Teddy got up and sat in the captains chair, he pushed the right lever forward and the Serenity blew up spray from the bow wave as it leapt forward. Dory was white-knuckled gripping the railing in front of her, gripping on for dear life, her familiar had still been present, following her out the water and wrapped itself around her hands gripping her onto the railing with her. The poor girl had never been on a magical cart, let along magical vehicle. First the airship and now luxury pleasure yacht stroke speed boat. She looked right and saw Lucy tucked up in James arms, her back to his front as they cuddled watching the sea go by. Kyra put a hand on Dorys on the railing and she looked left to see the blonde woman smiling at her kindly. It must be a lot to take it. But enjoy this, its what adventuring gives you. The freedom to really get out there and see new places. Youve seen the other side, the danger that comes. Well this is the reward. She took a deep breath through her nose. Smell the salt in the air, listen for the cry of sea birds. Its all new to you, enjoy it! Dorys hand relaxed a little and she tentatively smiled back. She could feel the power beneath her feet through the deck. Saw the almost infinite-looking expanse of water cresting in waves on the wind around them, the white caps breaking with a little spray. The Serenity cut through it all easily, gliding smoothly with no bumping from one wave to the next. As she relaxed so did her familiar, it loosened its grip and went from staring at Dory to staring out. It casually stroked her arms in an affectionate gesture absently as it looked out. The Ink Kraken looked at her, intelligent eyes boring into hers. It loosened a bit more, then some more. Then it leapt off the prow of the ship straight out. Dorys grip became white-knuckled again. It smoothly entered the water with barely a ripple, they lost sight of it for just a moment before it popped up. All his tentacles were streamlined behind and powering himself through the water, using the bow wave of the Serenity to keep ahead. Teddy joined them at the front, wrapping his arms around Kyra from behind. Thats a pretty damn special familiar youve got yourself there Dory. He commented, watching the kraken with everyone else. Is he? I think he is, but Ive not really seen many. Yours all seem wonderful as well! I think itll be really interesting to see how your powers are going to interact with him when we get you some more awakening stones and trained up a bit! Dorianna thought to herself, the realisation that she had this wonderful companionbut she also had to learn to fight with him. She looked left and right, seeing the two couples either side of her that had accepted her so readily and had already done so much for her and really relaxed. The scene was beautiful, she had a happy familiar playing in the surf, new friends, on an amazing ship. Chasing the sun down as the huge city came into view in front of her. She could get used to it. Chapter 102 ‘A cartoon bear with a wizard hat’ They reached the city in the last of the light. Dorianna absorbed her familiar again, he had literally melted into ink on her arm and absorbed into the skin and formed his regular tattoo form, swimming around in her skin. They paid the docking fee for the regular pleasure yacht marina and settled the Serenity in place. It looked at home amongst the other luxury vehicles, its deep blue crystal emitting a light all around it to illuminate the dock and the water surrounding. Teddy had extended the top cover to give them a measure of privacy on the top deck from the tall ships all around them but the front deck would still be open. They had dinner together on the middle deck, surrounded by the decor Kyra had picked out all around them. Pride of place was an item from Firenze, the gold ranker who they had met at Shawnahakswee lake. He had disgraced himself by hitting on Kyra in front of Teddy and had cut off his own beard (which they had in storage somewhere for some reason), after this he had explained the tradition of giving his ceremonial dagger to them in penance. Which meant that he needed another, which he could only get from his people, which meant that he had to explain what he had done, which meant that he was held to account for his behaviour. The team had thought that this was a good reminder of accountability so had the dagger mounted and placed on the wall in the dining area. Dory had never left Honshuraskil and was trepidatious about the next morning. The girls promised to break her in easy, clothes shopping first, then creature comforts then magical gear and items the next day. Its awkward to say, youve given me so much. I havent paid for any of the food or board since I joined you. Dont be silly. Kyra admonished her gently. Youve been our guest. As for paying for anything in the city well front you the money. Then its in our interest to train you up so you can pay it back! Dory started to well up. She wasnt normally much of a cryer but the sheer amount of changes was still overwhelming. Lucy was sitting opposite her at the table and flicked a pea with unerring accuracy and it bounced off her nose. None of that. You havent even seen how hard were going to work you yet. When we get you your awakening stones, some gear and a weapon that suits your powers then well really start the training. Dory thought about the exhaustion and the bruises shed already felt. She gulped at the idea of even harder training. The next morning Dory woke up on the sofas at the front of the middle deck. She looked back to see Teddy and Lucy at the breakfast bar sipping coffee, she wandered over and sat with them and grabbed a mug from the fridge that kept any fresh goods in the condition they entered, including coffee kept hot perpetually. Morning, where are the others? They stole out early, Kyra needed to go find Clarissa. Shes a business partner whos in town. You have a business? That coffee in your hand, its our special secret recipe we sort of, maybe, kind of brought from our world. Its our black liquid gold. Were trying to break into Arngo. We thought you might like to come with us to the adventure society, were going to cash in all the contracts we took between Honshuraskil and here. Show you how it all works. That would be amazing! Teddy and Lucy smiled. It was easy to be a little bit jealous of Dory in the position she was in. Dory had lived on this planet her whole life and was just discovering it all for the first time. They had been in this world a little over two years and were still amazed by it, they knew what that was like to find new things every day. They had a quick breakfast and headed out. When they went on the top deck to take the gangplank off onto the dock they saw Koda lounging asleep in the morning sun. James didnt take him with them? Dory asked. No, hes a good guard, James calls it the B.E.A.R.S.S. When he leaves him here, hes very proud of it. Lucy answered spelling the acronym. Hes a bear? No its an acronym. The Basically Everythings All Right Security System. Whos going to mess with the Serenity with a giant bronze rank bear on it? How about it Koda, any difficulty using your armour without James around? Lucy asked him, scratching behind his ear that she could only reach because he was lying down. The top of his head now came to her waist. He yawned and shook his fur out and the armour seemed to seep out between the hairs until he was covered. He paused for Lucy to see then gave a little chuff and the armour re-absorbed. They each gave him a scratch behind the ears as they moved off. They had a buggy in their storage but they chose to walk. This was the luxury yacht marina. A more expensive berth for the Serenity when they could have taken another marina on another spoke of the spider-web designed city that was for working adventurers or cheaper visitors. The market stalls around here were much higher class, with finer goods being displayed. Dory had only ever seen the regular shops in the mountain city and the odd wandering merchant like the one that had brought her octopus essence. She felt bad dragging the other two from stall to stall. She didnt buy anything, not wanting to test them at the offer to front her money just yet but she wanted to see everything. It was all so different. One seller was selling just scarves and she had no idea how he stayed in business with just one product until she saw the price on a little ticket. Another was selling handbags, enchanted to protect against pickpocketing with dimensional storage upgrades. It took them the whole morning to get out of the marina. Which would normally be a short walk but Dory had been stopping every few meters to explore the goods. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. [Hey guys, where are you all at? I met up with Clarissa. Shes going to come round for dinner tonight as she was busy which is good to see. I lost James as soon as I started looking at the market stalls, he said he had better shops to go look at.] Kyra wrote on the group interface which included Dory now as a guest. [No, I said any shop would be better than looking at magical hair ties, you literally got gifted hair bobbles by a god, why would you need one that makes it curly?] James replied. [Theyre not bobbles! A girl has to have variety in her life you oaf.] [Were almost at the adventure society, we also got waylaid by the stalls. Fancy lunch in the society grounds? There was that nice caf.] Teddy offered. [Sure.] [See you there.] They met under the shade of the two small umbrellas of the tables theyd pulled together. Lucy, Teddy and Dory were sat waiting and had already ordered for everyone, the first to turn up was Kyra. Hey, hey! Hey yourself. Teddy said, standing up to give her a kiss then held her chair out for her. So how much of our coin have you spent on trinkets this morning then? Oh not much, quite reserved really. I got you this though Dory. Kyra passed a small shopping bag over the table. For me? You really shouldnt have. Dory said awkwardly as she took the bag. Open it, have a look, its not much but theyre useful. Dory opened the bag and looked inside. She turned it over and a steel necklace dropped into her other hand. Kyra had recognised it as a Singapore chain, delicate links all twisting around in a simple pattern. Hung from it looked like a Celtic knot, the circles all move around each other and could be twisted with your fingers. In the centre was a smooth polished black rock. Its beautiful thank you, but how is it useful? Well, weve seen these before but they just give you a privacy bubble. This one does that, but if you twist it this way She leant over the small table and twisted the links on the charm. You have a very small and relatively weak shield, dont underestimate having tricks up your sleeve though. The third turn will give you the ability to not have to breathe underwater for a relatively short amount of time. Again, dont underestimate it in a clinch moment but also dont overestimate it, dont want to be caught out too deep when it runs out. Oh wow! This is incredible! Dory said, stammering. She was really at a loss for words with the generosity. Its not fair being able to read her aura this clearly all the time. James said walking up to the table. We need to get her an aura power asap. And if you thought that gift was good then here. With that he tossed a jet black stone to her. She read it with the interface, now familiar with how it worked. Item: [Awakening Stone of Ink] (unranked, rare) An awakening stone filled with the all the potential of brush and canvas. (consumable, awakening stone). Requirements: Unawakened essence ability. Effect: Awakens an essence ability. Made sense to me. He said, sitting next to Lucy and taking her hand. You really are full of potential, you faced a bronze rank monster voluntarily as your first, didnt go so well but never mind. Then you jumped off an airship having lived inside a mountain all your life. Consider this a gift, a well done for everything so far. I, I, I Now Dory truly was speechless Lucy intervened in the conversation to save her. Where did you get an awakening stone of ink then? Well magical density is higher here right? I popped down to see Edmund Edland in his familiar equipment Emporium. Its just a fun shop so I thought it would be better than looking at new purses. He shot Kyra a stink eye. Turned out to be an interesting trip. He has a visiting tattooist that comes through every now and then. Specialises in tattoos that give a special effect to familiars. He stopped looking at the shock on the others faces. Nononono! He doesnt tattoo familiars, that would be weird. Tattoos the summoners, same rules as any normal magical tattoo, you get one and one only but the effect goes to a bonded or summoned familiar. Did you Lucy started to ask, part warning part curiosity. No I did not, I would never get a tattoo without consulting my wife again. Im booked in this afternoon and wanted to take you with me. Damn straight. Anyway, he was setting up his equipment yesterday or the day before and there was a manifestation in the back room he was working in. He had got it valued and was wondering if he should auction it or not. We were chatting it and he mentioned it, I gave him slightly above market rates for it. Youve already got an Ink Kraken, lets see what this does! Dory had gone sheet white when he said above market rates for a rare awakening stone, that was more wealth than her family had ever seen since she had been born. Ooh, after lunch we can go grab a ritual room if you want this stone, there''s a few for hire in the adventure society campus! Kyra said excitedly. Just then a waitress came over to see if the newcomers wanted drinks. Ooh yes! Ive heard of a wonderful new drink. Do you have any coffee? She asked, a picture of innocence. Im sorry Madame, we do not, rest assured we will be serving it soon, a new supplier is coming to town and we are already becoming friends. Well that is good to hear! I look toward to it. When she was gone Dory continued. Err, I cant, Im banned from Magic society facilities because of... because of what I did. Dory said ashamedly. Kyra waved the thought away with a hand. Pish tosh, its adventure society grounds and facilities, Id like to see them take away a three star bronze rank adventurers booking because you were with us. She said patting Teddys arm as the teams three star holder. There was no trouble with them getting a room, with a city this big there were so many facilities there were plenty to go around. The only check they asked was for banned combinations but didnt even ask her name, only a request to follow up with the magic society if she got a rare or unknown power from the stone. Lucy guided Dory through the ritual, she was impressed at the fundamentals her father had managed to teach her in an afternoon and there was little adjustment to be made to absorb an awakening stone. Ability: [Unroll the Canvas] (Deep) Special ability Cost: Extreme mana. Cool-down: None Current rank: Iron 0 (00%) Effect (iron): Essence user has the ability to have multiple Magical tattoos limited by the strength of their Spirit attribute. Well damn, they say getting inked is addictive, youre going to have to be careful! Err, Im not allowed tattoos. Dory said. Everyone at the table looked at her hand. The Ink Kraken was looking at the basket of bread rolls hungrily from inside the skin on the back of her hand. I think that airship has sailed. Kyra said with a smile. Pretty sure if you flit off to another continent with a bunch of bronze rank adventurers your dads rules dont count anymore anyway. James said helpfully. They showed Dory around the adventure society campus and went to check in with one of the many clerks, a city this size with active adventurers of all ranks meant they went to a specific desk for visiting adventures of bronze rank. Teddy generously split the contract for the alligator monster that involved Dory, insisting that she was in the fight so she gets a share, it was more than several months of her previous wages and she felt nervous about having so much money of her own to hold. They decided to all attend Jamess tattoo appointment. All right, but no one. NO ONE, is to mention a cartoon bear with a wizard hat.