Maya worried for eight minutes, trying to figure out what could have gone wrong. Had Star respawned somewhere else accidentally and had to trek back on foot?
Speaking of on foot, now she had to make the decision: did she stop by Nirsym for more magic, even though that would add another fifteen minutes to her return time, or did she respawn in the dungeon and keep going as-is?
Clearly Star had chosen the former, and Maya didn''t blame her.
If she stopped at Nirsym for her magic and notes, if she spent the whole trip over thinking over her spell options, there was a chance she could come up with something better. But fifteen minutes was a long time. If the others ended up wiped, the boss may recover from everything they''d done before Maya could get back.
It would be a risk, and out in the limbo of death she didn''t have her luck bonus to help guide her decision making. Out here, it was just her.
Well, any spell she created, she could keep around forever. If they could grind the boss down from 50%, they could grind him down from 60%. And if they couldn''t, she wasn''t going to get her luck bonus today anyway, so she might as well take advantage of the +59 rather than throw it all away chasing the +79.
She could take an hour and craft some new armor too. 60% wasn''t that much better than 100%. Better to go into it fully equipped and prepared.
But if she were going to leave for a long time, she couldn''t leave the rest of the team hanging. She''d already left them for too long when she tested Inferno; honestly she was surprised they''d waited for her.
So when the respawn options finally appeared, she selected the Minotaur''s Master dungeon and hurried in to the boss room.
Andy had disappeared, and Ben and Star either hadn''t returned or had returned and then been killed again. Runescale lay beside the step up from the middle tier, eyes closed as though asleep while the boss''s attacks flew just above him without touching him.
"Did Star and Ben ever come back?" Maya asked.
"Not that I saw."
Maya cursed softly, the world''s filter muting her anyway. "Well, looks like it¡¯s time to go recruiting again. And replace my gear." She thought about hunting Star down to retrieve her other items, then decided against it. None of them were particularly great, and she could probably make better with today¡¯s luck bonus anyway. "I need to do some crafting and¡" she trailed off, remembering that she¡¯d run out of money.
She had some crafting materials, but not enough. "------- it!" She''d gotten too used to having Sevard''s massive fortune at her disposal, now that she was running up against financial considerations again...
But thinking of Sevard made her think of Lucy. She could ask for her to help with the dungeon boss. Xaneta could make easy work of him, she was sure. And she had offered to help whenever.
It felt like cheating, and a bit of a let-down after they''d worked so hard, but everything else was falling apart. Besides, they were tricksters. If they did cheat, it would probably only make The Trickster happier with them.
"I need to go make a call. You can leave if you want, I think this run is a bust." Maya walked out into the antechamber where it was safe, nodding for Hunter and Snappy to follow her again.
"Xaneta, Xaneta."
"Xaneta here, may I ask who''s calling?"
Maya giggled. "Maya. I have another favor to ask."
"Today''s not a great day to be running around," Lucy said, sounding breathless. "I''m in the middle of something big."
"Well, me too. I''ve got to kill a dungeon boss, and my team is struggling."
"Which boss?"
"Minotaur''s Master."
"Why''d you pick that one? He''s stupidly hard, because the game creators wanted everyone to side with him or something."
"Well, I didn''t have any others available."
"Boss monster, that means you''re pretty high today? 50+?"
"Yeah. 59."
"And you''re having trouble with Draconias Crystalstar?"
"My team isn''t the best," Maya said, lowering her voice and glancing around in case anyone was listening. But Runescale hadn''t come out, and the others hadn''t come in.
"You should be able to solo him at your power level."
Maya blinked. "Not even close. He¡¯s killed me twice even with everything I can throw at him, and he¡¯s barely below half. I could probably grind him down, but it¡¯d take hours at this rate."
"Sounds like you glitched him." Lucy growled softly, then sighed. "I¡¯ll be there soon. But I¡¯m going to ask for your help after this."
"Oh, sure, of course."
The connection cut off.
Maya crawled under the blades layer. "Runescale! I have help coming. If you want to wait out here¡ª"
"Nope, I¡¯m good," he called back, giving her a careful thumbs up. He was still lying on the floor.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting experience."
"By lying on the floor?"
"I¡¯m evading attacks from a high level boss. It counts for a lot!"
"And how would you know that?"
"Because I can feel it. Like lightning in my soul."
Maya sighed. "Okay. Have fun. I¡¯m going to wait outside."
She turned to crawl out, only to find that she¡¯d forgotten to unfollow her pets. Hunter was crawling on his stomach after her, while Snappy grabbed the flying knives from the air one by one, carefully crouching, her eye stalks focused as she followed its flight, then leaping into the air with precision and snatching it to the ground with a quiet click.
The knives, being special attacks and not actual weapons, naturally disappeared immediately. Snappy skittered back and forth in annoyance, then tried again.
Maya giggled at the sight, but pulled out a throwing knife from her inventory. "Here, if you want to have a knife, you can borrow this one."
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Snappy considered it for a moment, then took it in one of her foreclaws, swiping it experimentally through the air. Then she raised her other claw. When Maya didn¡¯t react, she clipped it together suggestively, gesturing at the knife she held.
"Another one?" Maya shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She passed a second knife over to her crab, who waved her new blades in appreciation, then skittered toward the boss.
"Be careful!" Maya called after her, resigning herself to the loss of the knives. They¡¯d stick around a few minutes if you retrieved them, but once used in an attack there was always the chance they¡¯d disappear. Sometimes immediately, other times once the game decided you¡¯d neglected them for long enough.
She crawled back out, Hunter close behind her, but he glanced back and forth between her and Snappy, as though wanting to go after the crab.
"If you want to¡ª" Maya started, then paused. "Hang on." She checked the description of Stone Ward and found no mention of it being self-only, so she cast it on Hunter. He was immediately surrounded by a stony shell. He froze, confused, then turned in a slow circle one direction, then the other, peering at his new armor.
"If you want to go with her, you¡¯re allowed. I¡¯ll be waiting outside. Your call."
Hunter yipped once, then belly crawled along the floor toward Snappy, who was skittering around the boss¡¯s feet in a quick sideways scuttle, uneven enough that his light blasts missed her, darting in to slash him with the knives held in her claws.
Maya was astonished. Maybe she shouldn¡¯t have kept her pets outside so long. "I¡¯ll definitely get you some proper knives when I¡¯m crafting," she promised, though Snappy was too far away to hear.
"Can I have some too?" Runescale asked.
"We¡¯ll see."
"I¡¯ll trade you my new spell."
"You mean the one I made for you?"
Runescale grinned, looking very fierce with his giant lizard teeth. "Nope. The new one."
"Which is?"
"Stun Strike."
"Very original."
"I know you did the best you could, but your version wasn¡¯t quite what I wanted, so I fixed it."
"Oh, really?"
"Really. How did you think I stunned the big ugly guy?"
"By putting more power into the attack and being closer to him."
"That¡¯s not how Runestrike works." Runescale laughed. "Its overcharge increases the duration, not the power. Which is what I needed to change."
Maya had never actually used the ability version of Runestrike, since it had never been intended for combat purposes. "Show me."
Runescale spread his arms, at least the one of them not pressed up against the step. "I did, twice."
Maya thought back to his casting when he¡¯d stunned the boss successfully. She¡¯d been paying attention to her own attacks and evades, not watching him closely. "I was busy, you may recall."
"Will you make me an awesome lightning sword?"
"I don¡¯t know how to do that," Maya said, and immediately ideas began flooding in. If she made a specially conductive blade, and a paired spell to go with it¡ "Besides, I can¡¯t afford the materials."
"Then promise you¡¯ll give me the next lightning spell you make, and we¡¯ll call it even."
Maya sighed. Sure, trade a variation on the spell she¡¯d made for a new spell she¡¯d make in the future. But Runescale, for all his irritating qualities, was proving himself to be creative enough that she kinda wanted to recruit him for real.
It was all well and good to say ¡®I¡¯m going to attract attention¡¯ but her inclination was always to hide. She wasn¡¯t one to search for the spotlight, or know what to do with it when she had it. But Runescale? He wanted attention. Chased it tirelessly. And he was young, modern, not an upload from forgotten history. If anyone knew how to get the world¡¯s attention, it would be him.
"Are you permanent?" Maya asked.
"Huh?"
"You¡¯re a player, do you play from a computer or VR rig or something, or are you permanent?"
"Oh, I¡¯m an upload, permanent, yes." But he sounded flustered, the least confident of anything she¡¯d ever heard from him.
"Is there something wrong with being permanent?"
"No, not exactly."
Hunter yelped as his last health disappeared, vanishing as his health bar - a smaller one under Maya¡¯s - went grey.
"If you don¡¯t want to talk about it that¡¯s fine. But I have¡ a request."
"What is it?" Runescale asked.
"Make a new character, and tell me what you get for your random stat bonus."
"I already have an alt. Can¡¯t get another one until I tier up."
"What was its bonus to?"
"Agility."
"And you get new ones after advancing a tier?"
"Yes."
Wait. Maya was technically tier 5. From a glitch, yes, but if a glitch would let her be a Trickster without passing The Trickster¡¯s deity questline, then why wouldn¡¯t it unlock new character slots?
"I need to go check something. If Andy shows up, tell him to wait outside and not get killed. I need to talk to him."
"Sure."
Maya exited the boss room and logged out. She brought up the character creation menu, and sure enough she had 2/4 character slots available.
She loaded in her merla character preset, gave her the name Myna Seasworn, and clicked play. Just out of curiosity. Myna got Flexibility as her bonus for being permanent. Maya wasn''t really expecting another trickster, but it sure would be nice to have her class advantages without the disadvantage of everyone in the world knowing who and what she was.
Leaving Myna at the start of the tutorial, she went back to the creation menu, threw together an elf with the randomize button until she didn''t hate his looks, named him Bruffon, and checked what his bonus would be. Flexibility again. Ah, well. She could always check back once she leveled some more.
When she logged back in, Runescale was still where she¡¯d left him, though she had to re-summon Snappy and Hunter. She would never regret spending her entire fortune to soulbind them; she couldn¡¯t imagine leaving their survival up to the whims of chance. She did not trust chance very much.
Maya stood for a long moment, considering. Then she took her trickster¡¯s orb and whispered, "Is it alright if I share the trick to getting your class at character creation with the mage academy?"
The invitation didn¡¯t appear, and a spot didn¡¯t vanish from her orb. Instead, she only got a window: YES
A new plan had begun formulating, now that she wasn¡¯t entirely focused on finishing this dungeon. Xaneta could take care of it. Thinking about working with Runescale had brought a bigger question to mind.
Andy respawned just as she was heading into the boss room to talk to Runescale again, so she motioned for him to wait outside. Snappy was already edging toward the boss room, eyes obviously fixed on where her knives had fallen. Maya laughed. "You can go get them, but don¡¯t get killed. We¡¯re going to wait for Xaneta outside."
Snappy skittered off eagerly. Hunter glanced to Maya for permission, then crawled after her, tail thumping the floor.
"Runescale, come on out! I need to talk to you."
Runescale shook his head. "I can¡¯t."
"Why not?"
He waved a hand at the attacks flashing just overhead every half second.
"Oh." He was stuck. Without her or Andy to draw aggro, Runescale would have to keep lying there or risk dying.
"I¡¯ll cover you," Maya said, climbing onto the platform. She crawled into the boss room, fired Heart of Stone, then took off running as the weight of his aggro fell on her.
She used the rest of her energy attacking him, since she might as well, bringing him down to 41%, then slipped out into the antechamber. Snappy and Hunter had escaped unscathed, with Snappy proudly waving her knives around in demonstration of her prowess. Runescale was bragging to Andy, who looked impressed.
"Alright, guys. I have a friend coming to help, she said this boss is probably glitched which is why we¡¯re having so much trouble¡ª"
Rominian ran through, jumped up onto their platform, then slipped through into the boss room.
"Ignore him," Maya said when both her team members stared. "He¡¯s doing his Rominian thing. We need to be ready. But first, Andy, are you permanent? I don¡¯t remember if I asked before."
He nodded.
"Excellent. I want you both to make as many alts as you can. Any time you unlock a new slot, use it. And tell me what stat bonuses you get before you do anything else."
They both stared at her in confusion, but she waved it off. "I have a plan for the future, but it requires specific builds. I promise, it¡¯ll be worth it. Well, assuming you want in."
"I do!" Runescale said. "What are we doing?"
Maya grinned. "Racing Domitius. He¡¯s been unlocking new zones, and we¡¯ve been playing catch up. No more. I¡¯m done chasing him or trying to stop him. Now, I want to beat him. He has the advantage of numbers, obsessed fans, and a head start now that Cydrin has reached tier 6. But as of now, we¡¯re racing him."
"Isn¡¯t that what Shardlord is doing already?"
"Yes it is. But he¡¯s doing it on his own, working with the academy instead of forcing us to help him. But he¡¯s falling behind. It doesn¡¯t matter how much nicer his system is, when in practice it means that we, the academy as a whole, are losing. If he won¡¯t take charge, then¡ª"
"I WILL!" Runescale shouted. "If we¡¯re starting a Mage Army to take over the leaderboard, you can count on me to lead us to victory!"
"I like that enthusiasm, but it won¡¯t be enough. Thankfully, we have a secret weapon."
"Your secret build?"
Maya grinned. "I discovered it independently, but it¡¯s Domitius¡¯s secret build. The advantage that¡¯s letting him pull ahead. An advantage that I have, and more importantly know how to get."
"And this has to do with making lots of alts?" Andy asked.
"Just to get the right bonus. Hey, you¡¯re tier two, you should have a free slot too!"
"I do. What stat is it that I¡¯m looking for?"
Maya considered. "I¡¯m not going to say, just in case. I¡¯d rather wait until we have at least one more person besides me capable of doing it before I risk the information spreading too far. Just let me know what you get, and I¡¯ll tell you what to do next once you get the right one."
Andy nodded. "Okay. My first char has Sturdiness, I¡¯ll let you know about the next one. Oh, and this one has Luck."
Maya¡¯s beak dropped open in astonishment.
"And which class are you?" Maya asked, as casually as she could.
"Ranger. Isn¡¯t it obvious?" Andy winked and raised his bow. "Be right back." He logged out before Maya could stop him.
Runescale¡¯s brow furrowed and he twitched in the telltale signs of checking his own stat sheet. "Luck? There¡¯s no such thing as luck on this world."
Hahaha, right. Maya considered explaining, since she¡¯d want Runescale in her elite team eventually, but decided against it. He didn¡¯t seem the sort to keep a secret. He would probably complain loudly to anyone listening about his inability to become a trickster. No, best to keep him ignorant for the moment.
"So, mind filling me in on your spell while we¡¯re waiting?"
"You promise to make me a lightning sword or a new spell in return?" Runescale pressed.
"Fine. Yes, you get first dibs on any new lightning spells I make."
"Watch closely, my apprentice, and you will see how it¡¯s done." Runescale began moving through the attack motions for Runestrike, but shifted just a tiny bit. Maya resisted the impulse to correct him; he was going to make it more expensive without a proportional increase in power. In fact, with all the mistakes he was making, she''d be surprised if he could cast it more than once without using his entire energy pool.
Then he got to the important part of the modifications, and Maya stared, trying to take it all in. He''d focused the power on the wave rather than the strike, shifting the focus of the spell into a short, close pulse from the caster that would echo back on itself once it reached a set distance. This meant it still stunned the caster, but in a distinctly different way from the original version, and a way that she could correct without more than a half hour¡¯s work.
The adjustment was the same sort of weird intuitive jump that her luck let her do by instinct, but somehow Runescale had figured it out on his own. It was a good reminder that while she may be better at spell creation, she wasn''t the only one capable of it.
The academy had discovered a lot, even if the underlying principles escaped them. And, if she were honest, they often escaped her too.
"How much magic did it take to make that?" Maya asked. "And where did you get it from?"
"I collected it from the base of the stalagmites!" Runescale announced proudly. "We grabbed most of it earlier, but no one was crawling around to get the last of it."
"Very resourceful," Maya said, and he grinned at the praise. "I think I can make some further improvements to your design. Would that suffice for repayment?"
"Show me and we''ll see."
Maya shrugged. "I don''t have the magic for it right now. How long will it be before this dungeon respawns?"
"A week or two probably." Runescale waved it away. "That''s not important. If you''re going to work on Stun Strike, I need you to make it better looking. I didn''t get to look awesome enough."
"How about making it not paralyze you? Would that be awesome enough for you?"
Runescale considered for a lot longer than Maya would have anticipated before replying. "Yes, but it would be better if you could make me glow."
Thankfully, before they could get any further down that particular dead end, Andy reappeared. "Luck again," he said.
"Do you have any plans for later today?" Maya asked.
"No, not particularly."
"Would you mind hanging around a while longer after we finish the dungeon?"
Andy shook his head. "I''m all yours. Honestly, it''s nice having someone familiar around. I don''t think I''ve seen the same person more than once since coming to this world."
"Then I''m happy to help." Maya did feel a little weird, being Andy''s only connection here, but she wasn''t planning to go anywhere and if he had no problem with following her around she wasn''t going to send him away. After all, her plans were likely to make them all a lot more powerful and famous than anything he could do as a solo player. And if he had two trickster characters available? He¡¯d be a very very valuable resource as he grew more powerful.
"Right now we just need to wait for Xaneta to arrive, she''ll help us finish the boss, then we can get back to the academy and do some serious research."
"Yes, new spell time!" Runescale shouted, doing a silly little dance.
"You are welcome to join as well, Andy," Maya said. "If you have any interest in magic."
He glanced at his bow, then shrugged. "Does it have to do with your secret plan?"
"Not exactly. I just love making new spells."
He smiled. "If it''s something you love, then I''m sure it''s worthwhile."
"Are you... an obsessed fan or something?" Maya asked. It was one thing to have a noob tag along, but something in the way he was talking now gave her a different, less normal vibe.
"You have obsessed fans?"
Maya glanced at Runescale, then at Andy, then sighed. "Nevermind. I won''t turn you away, whatever your motivation. We''re going up against the biggest player on the server, and right now we have very few advantages."
"Quality, not quantity!" Runescale declared.
"Yes." Maya wondered if she could recruit some of the independent tricksters. Sevard had been open to working for anyone, including Domitius, but only until it became too boring for him. Xaneta seemed friendly enough, though they didn''t know each other nearly as well. Both of them were high tier and could bring a lot to an alliance.
But Maya had little to offer. Sevard had always been generous to her, letting her keep the majority of their shared loot from adventuring together. Even at her richest, it was only pocket change to Sevard, and she had hardly any of it left now.
"I think I need to talk to Shardlord," Maya decided. He was high tier, so he should have several alt slots available. If she could get the academy''s leader in on their little rebellion, they could race Domitius to the top in style.
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Then Xaneta rushed in, looking for a moment like a differently-coloured Rominian until she came to a halt beside Maya. "Ready?"
"Sure. We''ve built a--"
Xaneta nodded and sprinted up onto the platform, sliding into the boss room without waiting for an explanation.
Apparently she was in a hurry today. Maya hurried after her, Runescale opting to remain in his downstairs crawlspace, and Andy following Maya.
"Wow, you glitched him good. I think he could give me a run for my money," Lucy said between attacks. She was dancing between flashes of light, moving with such speed and grace that Maya could only stare in astonishment. It was as though she were attacking and evading in almost the same instant, flowing away from danger perfectly setting up her own attacks, and doing it so elegantly and beautifully Maya couldn''t look away.
Was this what she looked like when she was dodging with high luck earlier? If so, no wonder she had obsessed fans!
Andy was firing his arrows again, and Maya realized that for once she didn''t have to worry about drawing aggro. Xaneta was holding it effortlessly.
She grinned and started firing off Heart of Stone. It didn''t take long to spend all her energy, but that still made a noticeable dent in the boss''s health. Xaneta''s attacks brought it inching down in slow, steady ticks. From what Maya could see, she hadn''t been hit once.
Once her energy ran out, she switched to throwing her soulbound daggers. They were clumsy weapons for throwing, but the more she practiced the better she''d get at using them, and they dealt significantly more damage than her standard throwing knives. She should look into getting some higher end blades meant for throwing at some point, but for the moment this was the best she was going to get.
She hadn''t mastered the ability by the time the boss''s final health ticked down. Xaneta still hadn''t taken a single hit; the entire party sat at full health.
Maya desperately hoped that bringing in a tier 5 for a tier 2 dungeon wouldn''t break her quest. But a moment later her fears were allayed.
Mission complete: Trickster Day 20. Reputation with The Trickster has increased.
Item gained: Belt of Intelligence (Rare; lv16, +16 Int)
New Mission: Recruiting. (Repeatable; ongoing)
Convince one person to change class to Trickster. Rewards: increased reputation with The Trickster, random item, +5 luck for 10 days.
Maya blinked. Usually finishing a quest for the day resulted in her bonus and nothing else. Today she got a new follow-up quest? Nice! And it even offered her a bonus for something she was planning to do anyway. This really was a lucky day.
"Need anything else?" Lucy asked, with obvious impatience.
"No, I guess not¡ª"
Before Maya had even finished speaking, Xaneta threw a handful of glittering Dust of Recall into the air, stepping forward to teleport back to the leypillar.
"Wow, she''s definitely busy today."
But there was no time to waste wondering what had Lucy so distracted. Maya had her +79 luck and time was ticking. She sprinted for the exit. As they departed the dungeon, a cascade of notifications filled her mind and she came to a startled halt. Maya remembered being impressed by the rewards for the Crimson Flame dungeon, but this was something else altogether.
You have completed the Minotaur¡¯s Master dungeon!
Your level has increased!
You have 4 attribute points to allocate.
Items gained:
Crystalstar Armor (Legendary; lv45, +13 Int, +12 Agi, +25 Mom)
Runner¡¯s Leggings (Uncommon; lv45, +20 Mom, +15 Agi)
Minotaur¡¯s Might Stud (Rare; lv45, +23 Mom, +22 Str)
Earring of Focus (Exceptional; lv45, +47 Foc)
Minotaur¡¯s Might Breastplate (Rare; lv45, +23 Mom, +22 Str)
Ring of Agility (Uncommon; lv45, +35 Agi)
Minotaur Horn x5
Crystal Fragment x11
Powerstone x2
140 gold
"What is the point of this?" Runescale asked, annoyed. "I can''t use level 45 gear!"
Maya frowned at her own rewards. High level crafting materials, high level equipment, and an absolutely ridiculous amount of gold and silver. She remembered how they''d gotten gear from the Crimson Flame dungeon that was leveled for the highest level players in their party, even though the dungeon wasn''t supposed to scale.
It seemed high luck could rewrite encounters even when nothing else could. Between Maya herself, officially tier five, and Xaneta, who was legitimately tier five, both tricksters with high luck today, that explained the loot. The game thought it was rewarding them better, giving them on-level equipment, but in reality it would remain practically useless for a long time. The number of tier 5 players was small enough that they probably all had whatever armor they wanted already, so it wouldn''t even be in high demand if they tried to sell it.
"I''ll buy it," Maya decided. Worst case scenario, she could melt it down and reforge it into something new. "If you don''t want it, that is."
"Sure," Andy said, handing over two equipment items. "I need on-level stuff. How much are they worth?"
"I have no idea. Ten gold?"
Andy shrugged. "Fifteen for both sound fair to you?"
Maya nodded and paid him, receiving an (Uncommon) Runner¡¯s Leggings which matched the one she¡¯d already received, and a (Rare) Minotaur¡¯s Mind Ring which increased intelligence by 25 and attunement by 20. She wished she could equip it, but the level 45 requirement meant it would be a long, long time before it was of use.
She glanced at Runescale, but he scoffed and shook his head. "This stuff is awesome! I¡¯m definitely saving it until I¡¯m able to use it myself." He held up a black crystal tiara with pale blue gemstones to admire, obviously enamored. Maya personally thought it would look ridiculous on him, but refrained from commenting. It matched the Crystalstar Armor, so it probably had Legendary stats as well.
That left her with 125 gold, an entirely insane quantity to get from zone 2. She¡¯d never seen so much gold drop in one place, even in zone 5. No wonder Domitius had his minions farming lower level dungeons, if they gave this much more loot than the overland encounters.
But delving the depths of Domitius¡¯s dastardly designs would have to wait. With almost 80 luck right now, she didn''t want to waste a second of it. Running back to the leypillar would take almost twenty minutes. She checked her inventory and silently cursed herself for being unprepared.
"Anyone have a spare Dust of Recall I can buy?" she asked, resolving to buy more the moment she arrived back in Nirsym.
"I do," answered both Andy and Runescale at the same time.
"I''ll take them both," Maya said, initiating trade windows with both players. She added a few gold, probably overpaying by a lot, but in too much of a hurry to care. The dungeon had given them ridiculous amounts of gold, she could afford to splurge. "Now, to turn in this quest and get back to the academy."
The return trip was simple enough. Once they''d teleported back to the leypillar, they talked to Bredge and received their official quest rewards - though Maya thought the loot from the dungeon so far overshadowed the official reward that it felt like a bit of a letdown. 45 silver might have seemed like a lot to an ordinary tier 2 player, but compared to over a hundred gold it was barely worth the effort of picking it up.
"I need to pick up some things in Nirsym, and then I¡¯ll be researching the rest of the day. Maybe a little crafting." Her mind raced with potential, mentally pathing out the routes through the day. She needed to fulfill her promises to Runescale and... did she need to do anything for Ben and Star? They''d ditched on her with no warning. Did that nullify their promised reward, or did they deserve it anyway for helping with the first sections of the dungeon?
"If you have a spell you want me to look at, bring it to the academy after classes end. I¡¯ll stop by for a few minutes to check it out."
"And you¡¯ll give me the new one you promised?" Runescale prompted.
"If it¡¯s done. I can¡¯t promise it¡¯ll be today."
"And you¡¯ll tell Quan that I was useful?"
"Yes." He¡¯d earned that much, at least. He may be pushy and arrogant, but useless was taking it too far. Besides, he had modified her prank spell on the fly to paralyze a boss. If that wasn¡¯t worth inclusion in Storm, she didn¡¯t know what was.
"Yes! I told you I¡¯d prove myself!" He did an undignified little jig, bouncing in step as they walked toward the leypillar.
"You going to join the academy?" Maya asked Andy.
"Maybe. Can I tag along with you a bit longer, or would that be a distraction?"
Maya hesitated, then nodded. "Alright. As long as you¡¯re quiet."
"You won¡¯t even notice I¡¯m there," he promised.
Runescale touched the leypillar and disappeared, heading to Kalyx most likely to prepare for class. Maya tapped it herself, selected Nirsym while mentally including Andy in her invitation, and a moment later they shifted to the desert city.
128: Season Finale
Maya started toward her workshop, mind already jumping ahead to spellcrafting. If she had remembered Runescale''s adjusted spell correctly, which she had, focusing brought the images back with perfect clarity... she could make a safe version that didn''t harm the user so long as they remained in place, or a half-duration version that retained the flash. Runescale would probably want the latter.
Maya started testing out the hand movements as she walked, trying to smooth them into each other correctly without too much wasted effort. The more spells she dissected, the clearer the underlying principles were becoming. They shifted with variables, was the big problem. By splitting the school up by element the academy was actually hurting its progress, because element changed relatively little in the spell''s formulation.
She wasn''t sure yet which pieces of the spell were the biggest cause of failure. Most of her spells were variations on existing spells - and so were those of the others from what she''d seen - which made it hard to isolate any individual piece of the overall puzzle.
But she was getting there. If she could get a solid month or two of good luck, she could probably unravel the system completely.
Each spell had a shape, an effect, and an element. The shape was defined by where you physically placed the magic, except when it didn''t. She couldn''t figure out how to replicate Magestrike''s designated location ability, and endlessly wished she''d paid more attention when learning it. To cast it more slowly would require magic to test with, and she''d need to do it slowly to figure out what parts of the complex somatics related to which parts of the spellcasting.
But alas, she didn¡¯t have a solid month. Unless she figured out a way to destroy Bloodline, and decided it was ethical to do so, she had only today.
It was a surprise when she opened her door and noticed Andy enter behind her. She¡¯d forgotten he was along.
"Well, since I have you here alone, would you care to switch classes?" she asked, figuring she might as well maximize her luck.
"To what?"
"Trickster."
"I saw that one, but I¡¯m not much of a rogue."
"Trickster isn¡¯t about being a rogue. It¡¯s about luck and chance." She started pulling out her pages while she talked, absently beginning to sort her research notes and reminding herself of their contents. "Basically, it gives you your own personalized questline with good and bad quests each day depending on the number you roll. It¡¯s got its drawbacks, but it¡¯s an incredibly powerful class that augments anything you choose to do."
Andy considered a moment before answering. "How do I change my class?"
Maya passed him her Trickster¡¯s Orb. "Just ask."
"Uh, can I change my class to Trickster?"
He blinked, then disappeared, her orb reappearing in her inventory as it fell from his suddenly absent hands and faded from sight.
Mission complete: Recruiting. Reputation with The Trickster has increased.
Item gained: Plate Greaves of the Banisher (Exceptional; +9 Int, +9 Con)
Maya smiled as her luck increased another 5. Above 80 now, she could feel the difference in her clarity, the flickering intuition, the rushing flow that made connections that would otherwise take weeks or months to work out. The extra quest had been entirely worth the minor digression.
By the time Andy reappeared, she¡¯d already scrawled out a hasty correction sheet for Runescale¡¯s Stun Strike, as well as making a copy of it for herself. This one bounced the stun off the outer boundary, then again off an inner one around the caster, creating a stunning echo chamber. Anyone in close proximity to the caster would be stunned and held so long as the channel was maintained, and then it would last a further few seconds. The downside was the same as any of the other most powerful spells, the caster had to remain in place. If he tried to leave the center of the spell, he¡¯d step into its area and become stunned himself. It didn¡¯t effect allies, but the caster remained uniquely vulnerable to it. She felt sure she could remove that particular piece of it if she spent enough time on it, but the workaround sufficed for now and she had far more important things to do.
Her stores of magic were steadily dwindling, leaving her enough for perhaps one or two more spell dissections. But since she¡¯d already gotten started on lightning-related spells, she may as well go all in while the concepts were fresh in her mind.
Storm Grasp and Magestrike it would be. Runescale had demonstrated very dramatically how powerful a proper stun could be. As much as she wanted to delve into shielding and debuffing spells, stun was simply too good to pass up.
She started by dissecting Runestrike, Stun Strike, and Stun Strike 2.0, which were all inefficiently slow and clumsy. She cringed at how obviously kludged together they were, Runescale¡¯s more than her own, but it was still bad. She could streamline them so much better with a few tweaks.
By the time Andy reappeared from his entrance interview with The Trickster, Maya was fully engrossed in her research. She emerged long enough to have him help test a few things, practicing the motions she was calculating to be sure they were possible to perform physically, then returned to her messy scribbling.
True to his word, Andy faded into the background and didn¡¯t distract her with so much as a cough, silently observing, but she felt the pressure of his presence whenever she stepped too close to him, a dulling of everything.
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"Did you roll a negative number today?" she asked after a half hour of getting used to his presence did nothing to dim his distracting influence.
"Yes, -32. How did you know?"
She frowned. "Not sure. Can you wait outside?"
He complied, and the pressure immediately lifted.
She poked her head out. "Sorry, I don¡¯t think you can stay. Your luck is interfering with mine. I¡¯ll meet you at the academy later?"
He shrugged. "If that¡¯s what you want." He sounded a little abandoned, but Maya couldn''t worry about that now. Too much to do.
When the notification of it being time to attend classes appeared, she¡¯d nearly finished with Storm Grasp. She¡¯d set aside the derivatives for now, until she better understood the principles. The more she tweaked them the more she felt she was missing something. And Storm Grasp was the closest analogue.
This one was trickier than any spell she¡¯d worked with to date. While she¡¯d appropriated parts of it for Runestrike, the translation was inefficient. Duration was heavily nerfed and the energy transfer was ridiculously high.
She should be able to make a stable version, but it continued to evade her. Either it leaked energy like a sieve or its range was nerfed to directly around the caster. Magestrike could fill that gap, but it would take absolutely all of her stored magic, and she intensely disliked the idea of not having any around for emergencies.
Still, a targeted stunning AoE? Probably worth the sacrifice. She hesitated three whole minutes, running over the possibilities, but no better option presented itself. So Maya pushed aside the nagging feeling that she was forgetting something, and dove back into her research.
Her notes grew as she skipped between testing and analysis, her store of magic dwindling and dwindling despite her best attempts to use it as sparingly as possible. She glanced at her virtual clock as a vague sense of being late began to nag at her. Her 6-hour rolling penalty had long since vanished, bringing her up to +89 for the rest of the day. She hated to waste any of it, but she had made promises.
"Guess I need to deal with the mages," she conceded, setting aside her pages and stretching. She grimaced at the mess of sketches and hasty scrawls around her. It would take several days to complete her current project even at the best of times, and probably a week to organize everything.
But she¡¯d made progress. Significant progress, which she could probably trade to Storm.
Speaking of¡
Maya gathered up her most dramatic discoveries, useless side trails that would help build toward her total understanding of magic but unecessary for her current project, and made quick copies of them.
To her surprise, Andy was still lurking around the entrance to her workshop when she exited. He waved at her, keeping his distance as he followed, and she felt only mildly disconcerted by the aura of misfortune that clung to him.
She wondered how Sevard had stood being around her on low luck days. Even if she was helping to attract more dangerous enemies, the itching feeling of impending doom would drive her crazy.
"How come you stuck around? Don¡¯t you have a quest to do today?"
"I was hoping you could come with me. We haven¡¯t had a chance to talk much today, you¡¯ve been very busy."
"Well, high luck, can¡¯t waste it." She led the way to the leypillar, pulling ahead of Andy enough that he had to run to keep up.
It was still early afternoon, though it felt so much later. The morning had been so long and her focus so intense she was surprised to see it was still bright daytime. Somehow, darkness felt like it would have been more appropriate.
"Why is it so important that you do this today?" Andy asked.
"Because I have to!"
"But why?"
"Didn¡¯t The Trickster explain to you that we have to rely on random chance for our lucky days?"
"Yes."
"Well, this is something I can only do well when luck is high. Today, luck is very high, so I must do it. Plus, I want to, and I enjoy the challenge."
"Can you tell me about it? Since I didn¡¯t get a chance to watch for very long."
Maya felt a twinge of guilt. "Sure."
For the next thirteen minutes, while they trekked out to the Nirsym leypillar, then back to the Academy from the Kalyx leypillar, she expounded excitedly upon the discoveries she¡¯d made, while Andy pretended he had any clue about what she was saying and nodded and smiled politely. But every time she tried to stop, he¡¯d encourage her to keep going, and she couldn¡¯t help herself. It was all so exciting, and thinking about it as she spoke aloud helped her to solidify some of the nebulous thoughts that she¡¯d yet to commit to paper.
She scrawnled out a few more pages of notes wihle they walked, taking down the handful of important concepts that came to mind, but all too soon they arrived at their destination.
Andy grew a bit uncomfortable as they entered the Academy grounds, but Maya insisted the guards let him in and they reluctantly did so.
They found Runescale in the Earth classroom, where he sat in the corner doodling sketches of himself with a lightning sword.
"Did you finish?" he asked loudly as Maya entered, causing everyone in the room to stare at him, then at Maya. She didn¡¯t know most of the Earth team students, though one or two looked vaguely familiar.
"No, I¡¯m looking for Star and Ben. They weren¡¯t in the Fire room."
"Haven¡¯t seen them. Here, these are my ideas for the new spell." He jumped up and handed her a thick folder full of rough sketches forming a sort of storyboard of him summoning a massive thunderstorm by raising his lightning sword.
"This isn¡¯t something I can correct, Runescale. This is a concept sketch. The motions aren¡¯t even remotely correct."
"Then you know what would be?"
"No, I just know this would do nothing. If you don¡¯t have something more detailed, then I can¡¯t do much."
"You¡¯ll figure it out. It¡¯s not that hard."
Maya clicked her beak softly in irritation, then shrugged. "I¡¯ll see what I can do. Does anyone know where Starstar or Ben have gotten to?"
Shaking heads, murmured ¡®no¡¯s all around.
"Hm, thanks. I¡¯ll keep looking."
She didn¡¯t like wasting time, but she had to fulfill her promise. Or at least make overtures toward doing so, even if she ended up coming to a different arrangement due to their flaking on her.
But though they asked in every classroom, no one had seen them since the previous night. She did approach each of the group heads about their spell lists, which she was promised but not provided with. Apparently no one kept a complete copy of their successful research on hand in an easily-stolen format and it would be several days before she could get copies. Which was a setback, but not a major one. She had enough to do with finishing her analysis of Magestrike and Storm Grasp, adding more spells to the mix today wouldn¡¯t be terribly productive.
At last, she was forced to admit defeat. Wherever they¡¯d gone to, she couldn¡¯t find them, and she wasn¡¯t going to waste the whole rest of the day looking.
She briefly considered pausing to do some replacement crafting, but the spell tugged at her. She was getting so close. She¡¯d barely have enough time as it was.
But¡ Xaneta had dropped everything to help her. Sevard before her, her trickster mentor. And now Andy was waiting so patiently.
"What¡¯s the quest you need to do?" she asked, forcing aside thoughts of how much time would be lost. Sometimes, it was more important to help others than to charge after a goal without letting anything stand in the way. "I bet we can do it together, if you still want help."
Andy smiled. "That would be perfect."
And together, the two tricksters set out to begin a new adventure.
129: The Great Debate
¡°So, what¡¯s your quest for today?¡± Maya asked, as she locked her workshop door behind them. Snappy and Hunter followed close behind her.
¡°Trickster Day One. I¡¯m supposed to¡¡± Andy shook his head. ¡°Spend at least an hour arguing with an NPC.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a long time.¡±
¡°Yeah, I can go do it on my own, I know you seemed really into your project. I wish I could help, or watch, but¡¡±
¡°Nope.¡± She¡¯d said she wanted to help people, and that started with¡ actually helping people. ¡°If I¡¯m to be your trickster mentor, then we¡¯re going to have fun with this. I can finish the spell another day.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡±
¡°Does the quest mention what kind of NPC? Friendly, hostile, merchant, quest-giver?¡±
¡°Nope. Just¡ argue for an hour.¡±
Maya thought back over her time so far in World 9352. She¡¯d encountered a wide variety of NPCs, but none she had a particular grudge against. ¡°Any target in particular, or should we leave it to chance?¡±
¡°No preference.¡±
¡°Then, Snappy, would you do the honors?¡±
Snappy waved her claw uncertainly.
¡°Point in a random direction,¡± Maya clarified.
Snappy skittered back and forth, then spun in a quick circle and pointed back towards the market.
¡°Good enough!¡±
Andy laughed. ¡°You do have a unique way of looking at things.¡±
¡°Everyone does. I¡¯m just a little less inhibited about it than most.¡± Which was very untrue, except when she was in the right sort of mood around a certain sort of person. She wasn¡¯t sure exactly when Andy had slipped into her ¡®trusted¡¯ circle, but he certainly had proved himself today. Usually she only really relaxed around Sevard.
They headed toward the marketplace, a bustling hub for players both higher and lower leveled than Nirsym''s zone. Its crafting facilities were unrivaled, attracting a great many visitors from all across the continent.
"Hunter? Care to choose our victim?"
Hunter barked at a woman in blue robes sitting behind an awning, reading a book. She didn''t seem to belong to any particular shop, but to be an ordinary filler citizen making the place look more lived in.
"Interesting choice." Maya strode towards her, Andy trailing in her wake.
"What''re you reading?" Maya asked.
"A beginner''s guide to plant care," answered the woman without looking up.
"Sounds like as good a topic of argument as any." She turned to Andy, beak curved in a grin. "You''re up."
"Really? Just... out of nowhere?"
"Yup. Trickster quests often end up being awkward, but it''s good practice for all the random things. Who knows, maybe you''ll learn something worth the time." Maya sat down nearby, wishing she had a cold drink she could sip while she watched the show.
Andy cleared his throat. "I think plant care is stupid?"
"Do you?" The woman didn''t look up from her book. "That''s a shame. I suppose I''ll have to forego the opportunity of a fascinating conversation."
"Uh... no, no you won''t. I''m going to be fascinating whether you want me to or not."
"Is that what you''re going for? You''re very bad at it. Maybe you should go back to talking about how much you hate gardening."
Andy slumped. "I don''t actually hate gardening. I think it''s a stupid use of wood though."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me!" Andy blustered. "You''re reading a book, which means wood was used to make it, and it could have been used for something else!"
"So it''s not the gardening you take issue with, but the book?" She finally looked up, her eyes dark. "How uncultured of you."
"Books are a waste of time and resources. That would be better spent elsewhere. Like in fires. Or decorative carvings. Or tables." He looked at Maya pleadingly. "Has it been an hour yet?"
"Less than one minute. But you''re doing great."
The woman looked back and forth between them, eyes narrowing. "You''re timing him? What is this, see how long it takes to trigger aggression? Because if that''s what you want, I''m perfectly capable."
"No. I want a debate. I wish to debate the merits of everything. You have one hour to defend everything. Or... else," Andy finished without conviction.
"Everything."
"Yes. You are the chosen one to defend, everything. Otherwise, I will tear it down with my arguments and leave you in helpless despair."
"Alright. You''re on. But if I convince you that everything deserves to exist, you owe me a favor."
"Yes, agreed, whatever you want."
"Then allow me to propose a counter-argument: you are here. Therefore, you already believe that everything deserves to exist, else you would have opted out a long time ago."
"That sounds like you''re saying everything deserves to exist only in service to me, though. Is that really a stance you want to defend?"
"My aim isn''t to convince you of anything, but to win the bet. Obviously, playing into your ego is the clearest path to that end."
"My ego? I don''t have much of an ego at all. And what little I had got squashed pretty fast when I nearly got eaten by a bush!"
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Maya''s head snapped over to him. That was an oddly specific detail. "Darrow? Is that you?"
Andy froze.
"Did you... switch to another character just so you could approach me without making it awkward?"
"Ye-es, I did. I''m sorry. I shouldn''t have lied about who I am."
Maya sighed. She''d almost managed to forget her so-called husband''s existence, but... she had to admit that he''d made a solid effort to keep from pressuring her. "I have to say, the power dynamic here just keeps getting weirder."
"How so?"
Maya shook her head. "You''re on the clock. Keep arguing. I''m going to walk around for a bit."
Andy - Darrow - looked momentarily crestfallen, then smiled sadly. "Have a good day better than yesterday."
"I''m not about to ditch you and run off, I just need some space."
He nodded,not seeming to believe her, then turned back to the NPC. "So, on the topic of everything''s existence, I think you''ll have to pin your hopes on something more stable than my ego..."
Maya walked a bit away from the plaza, her head spinning with sudden conflict. She was flattered that Andy, or Darrow, thought so highly of her as to go this far out of his way. But it also felt weird. Like... how could anyone really miss her that badly? That they''d make multiple characters, and spend days or months waiting around for her to show up? Did he have no life of his own? Was she the center of his universe? That just didn''t sit right.
She still wasn''t convinced he was really her husband. Trickster after her secrets, Domitian spy, obsessed fan, someone who wanted something from her... any of those made more sense than someone from her past really caring this much about her.
But while the usual arguments chased themselves around her head, they didn''t carry as much weight as usual. She could see the tenor of her thoughts, the spiral of them, how they were subtly tainted by the self-deprecation that had been her sole constant throughout her entire life and afterlife.
She was willing to go to the ends of the database to find Drew. Why was it so surprising that someone else could feel the same? Just because it was her who was the object of... what, affection? Love?
Why did she see herself as so absolutely unlovable? Lucy and Sevard both seemed to think it was something she could - and should - change.
"Xaneta, Xaneta."
"Yes?" She sounded a bit strained.
"Maya, again, sorry. Am I interrupting?"
"Only a little. What do you need?"
"Just... someone to talk to."
Lucy sighed. "I''ll be right over. Where are you?"
"No, you don''t need to come, just... stay on the line a bit."
"Okay, I can do that. What''s up? I thought you had a whole checklist to get through today."
"I do. But I''m trying to confront my self-loathing at the moment and I''m not sure how to."
"Self-loathing? I thought your luck was positive."
"It is. This is unrelated."
"Wow, it''s worse than I''d thought."
"Yup, much worse. I''m a complete mess, I''m sure I''ve mentioned this before."
"Yeah, you should really stop reinforcing your negative self-image. It''ll only make things harder in the end."
"It''s not like I want to," Maya protested. "I don''t enjoy being miserable."
"So why are you moping instead of having fun with your overpowered special magic luck powers?"
"Someone who claims to have known me in the past showed up and really wants to hang out with me constantly, and I don''t know why."
"A friend?"
"I don''t know, that''s the problem. I can''t remember him at all. If he is someone I know, then I don''t know him now, and he doesn''t know me, and I feel... even more inadequate than usual. Like, he''s put me on this pedestal of The Maya I Might Have Once Been, or something, and I don''t know if he has any real interest in the Maya I am now, or if I''m going to be leading him on and wasting his time, and if I even want to have anything to do with him--"
"Slow down a bit, take a deep breath."
Maya did so. It didn''t help much, but Lucy kept talking.
"Now I want you to repeat after me: I am a wonderful person."
Maya laughed aloud. "I''m not saying that. There are people around."
"Say it, or I''ll come and force you."
"Fine, I''m a wonderful person," Maya said, lowering her voice. "Happy?"
"Not yet. We''ve got more to get through. Now, say: I am worth the time and effort the people around me offer."
Maya groaned. "This isn''t what I called you for."
"Yes it is. Stop whining and say it."
"I''m worth the time and effort the people around me offer."
"Now, again, all together, with conviction."
"I''m a wonderful person, worth the time and effort of the people around me." Maya shook her head. "It doesn''t feel any less silly."
"Dignity is for those who''ve earned it. Have you?"
"No, I guess not."
"See? This is why you don''t get to make excuses. Until you change the way you perceive yourself, you''re going to keep avoiding anything that might require an emotional connection, because you''re not actually trying to destroy yourself, but to protect yourself from being abandoned."
"Have you been reading articles online?"
"Yes."
Her flat affirmation stopped Maya, the casual way she admitted to wasting who knew how much of her time in the futile attempt to--
But... it didn''t have to be futile. She could see that now. Each time her thoughts started down their well-worn grooves, she saw how they could be redirected.
"I am a wonderful person," Maya repeated, without prompting this time, contemplating the words rather than rejecting them. "It seems a bit arrogant, don''t you think?"
"No."
"Wonderful, though?"
"What would you prefer?"
"I don''t know. Admirable, skilled, capable."
"Are you one of those who pins your self image on your accomplishments?"
"Maybe. I don''t know."
"So, what are you going to do about your friend?"
"I don''t know. I was just starting to like him and trust him when I found out he''s the same guy. Now I don''t know what to think."
Lucy was silent a moment, then, "I think you should go for it."
"Go for what?"
"Trust him. Risk it. Put your heart on the line and see what happens. Having someone around who actually knows you better than a few hours of conversation and monster slaying and questing could be good for you."
"I don''t want to rely on someone else, I don''t want to force them to waste their life--"
"Eh eh, no. What did you say?"
"I... don''t want to waste people''s time."
"What did we just say about your value?"
"Yes, I''m worth some time and effort, but not all of it. Not so much that you put your whole life on hold to chase me around."
"And why not? If that''s what makes him happy, who are you to deny him his joy?"
"That''s a stretch."
"Look, Maya." Lucy sighed deeply. "From what I know about you, you really are a good person. I''m not surprised people keep being drawn to you. But if you keep pushing them away, you''ll only turn your deepest fears into a self-fulfilling prophecy. And do you really think so little of the people around you?"
"Huh?"
"You act as if you''re imposing yourself on them, taking their time as though you have any power over how they choose to spend their lives."
Maya blinked. "Oh, I... hadn''t thought of it like that."
"So which is it? Are you the center of the universe, or are you a worthless waste of time?"
"Maybe I''m both. I could be the black hole around which all things orbit, and into which they are consumed by the endless void of my soul."
"I know you don''t believe that."
"But it''s fun to say."
"Then here''s your assignment for today. Act confident, even if you''re not. Pretend you''re someone worth the time, and that you don''t let your fear of rejection prevent you from building relationships."
"But once I accept him, I can''t change my mind and send him away, and what if he gets too attached to my fake confidence?"
"Girl, you have got to get out of your head. You spend so much time worrying, how do you live this way?"
"Pretty miserably, I think we''ve established that."
"Well, it has to stop. Don''t make me follow you around complimenting you loudly in front of everyone. I will do it."
Thank you. Maya felt tears gathering in her eyes as she laughed weakly. ¡°No, please, anything but that,¡± she joked, but almost against her will she felt herself responding to the challenge. And¡ today, it didn¡¯t seem hopeless. Sure, the revelation of Andy and Darrow being the same person threw her off balance for a few minutes, but she already felt more settled and optimistic.
¡°Oh, I¡¯m merciless,¡± Lucy said. ¡°I will hunt you down relentlessly and make you admit you¡¯re a worthwhile human being.¡±
¡°You win. I¡¯ll pretend to be confident in myself.¡± The fact that she was gradually accumulating people who believed in her more than she believed in herself really did help.
¡°Good. Now stop making excuses and get back to living. You¡¯re burning luck with all your flimbling. Act.¡±
¡°I will. I promise.¡±
¡°Good. Now, unless there¡¯s a pressing need to chase you to the ends of the world, I have a quest to finish.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡±
¡°Any time.¡±
Maya closed the connection and exhaled, mentally preparing herself.
She¡¯d avoided the minefield long enough.
Time to really, properly, get to know her alleged husband.
130: Certain Uncertanties
Maya returned to where Andy stood opposite the NPC woman, who¡¯d risen to her feet and her volume had escalated, her face red as the argument went on. Maya¡¯s presence soon served to ease the tension, as her high luck offset Andy¡¯s negative, and the discussion returned to heated but not aggressive.
They¡¯d moved on from their original topic and were now arguing the merits of fishing. She wasn¡¯t exactly sure who was taking what position, or what there was to argue about fishing, but they were certainly going at it.
Three more topic shifts later, and Andy exhaled with relief and leaned back, putting one hand dramatically across his forehead. ¡°Done! Finally.¡± He hastily apologized to the NPC woman, who shrugged and returned to her book, then strode over to Maya. ¡°Back up to -2. What now?¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have any suggestions?¡±
¡°I¡¯m all yours. Not like I have anything else to occupy me.¡±
¡°Then¡¡± Maya considered her options. She could try to continue her spellcrafting, but that would of necessity shut Andy out, and she¡¯d decided she was going to make an effort to include people. But she didn¡¯t want to waste her high luck. ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to do some crafting, and while I do that, we can talk.¡±
She led the way to the plaza where Nirsym¡¯s elite crafting stations were in constant use by a stream of crafters coming in and going out. ¡°The crafting system wasn¡¯t built with the Trickster class in mind,¡± she explained. ¡°As best I can figure, Luck provides a flat percentile boost to crafting chances. Which means that on a high luck day, you can absolutely dominate the player crafting market with rare and legendary items. I¡¯m running quite low on funds these days,¡± she gestured to Snappy and Hunter, who followed at a respectful distance, ¡°and this seems a good time to rectify that problem. I also have some friends who need materials for a construction project, so I¡¯ll be working on some things for them as well.¡±
She paused to grin. ¡°Any requests? I could make you some equipment too, while I¡¯m at it.¡±
¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±
¡°Fine, yes. Good? Exceptional? Mmmmm¡¡± She tilted her head one way, then the other, and Andy stifled a laugh. ¡°What?¡±
¡°Your bird mannerisms are showing.¡±
¡°Oh, are they?¡± Maya tilted her head again, trying to imagine how she looked. Then she frowned and looked down at herself. ¡°Who am I wearing today, anyway? Mage Stader. Good. So, where to start?"
She had a few materials left after the last time, but not enough to make much of a dent in her crafting wishlist. And her current financial situation left her without sufficient resources to buy enough vendor materials from the NPCs wandering the area.
¡°Guess we¡¯ll have to do this the slow way.¡± Craft a few things, sell them, buy more materials, and repeat. She started with the simplest recipe she had, the basic belt, and set about creating several low level copies using materials she¡¯d collected from driles and goblins.
¡°So, what exactly is it that you want out of this whole affair?"
"Is it sad that I haven''t thought that far ahead?" Andy lounged against the worktable next to her, watching as her hands moved in careful patterns. "All the things we were so worried about... the house, having kids, work... it''s all irrelevant now. All that really matters to me now is you."
"No pressure." Maya laughed uneasily. "So, if you were to succeed in your quest to reignite whatever lays between us, would you be staying here, or going somewhere else? You''ve mentioned woodworking a few times, is that something you plan to pursue further?"
He shrugged, his head fins stretching and flaring in sync with the motion. It was actually quite cute. "I don''t know. Everything''s different here. I don''t know if it would feel the same."
"So you wouldn''t mind staying here?"
"It''s not a place I''d choose to stay forever, but for a while? If that''s what you want."
She only got one Rare out of that batch, but it was enough to break even. She sold them to the vendor, bought more materials, and started on some gloves.
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"Are you interested in conquering the world?" she asked, playfully.
Andy didn''t answer immediately. "Is that your plan?"
"Basically. Domitius is famous and stuff, so if I take him down and beat him to the top, that should mean I''ll be famous. At least a little. And once I''m well known, I''ll go to another world and do something equally dramatic there."
"I wouldn''t mind taking a few years to chase down your brother, but... if it turns out we can''t find him, would you consider trying to move on without him?"
Maya worked in silence for several minutes without answering. "Ask me at the time," she said finally. "I probably should, but... it''s only been a few months for me. I''m not ready to give up on him yet."
The gloves turned out much better, two Rare, an Uncommon, and a Legendary.
¡°Want some Legendary gloves? They¡¯ll increase your flexibility and control a decent amount even at tier 2.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t need to sell them?¡±
She held up the rares. ¡°These will cover the cost of the materials and then some. The higher rarities would be best sold on the player market than to NPCs, but I don¡¯t have time to wrangle the economy at the moment.¡±
Who controlled what economic factions and how to sell things to people was a whole ball of snakes she did not want to poke just now. Domitius and Shardlord grappled for economic control of the city as much as for physical or magical control, and getting caught between player factions was hard enough just on a tangible level, without bringing money into it. She¡¯d rather just do her thing and quietly conquer the world without getting tangled in any more faction conflict.
¡°Alright, if you¡¯re sure.¡± Andy swapped out his gloves for the new ones, which looked much sleeker and more rugged at the same time. Higher quality tiers had a visible advancement over their base forms. It was a good look. She was tempted to try for a full Legendary set just to see how he¡¯d look in it.
She haggled with the NPC vendor for a few minutes to get the best possible price for the Rare gloves - almost trivial with her insanely high luck - and purchased a larger batch of materials this time.
¡°Tell me about us.¡± Maya started work on a set of armbands. ¡°What are some memorable events from our lives together? Maybe some details will help jog my memory.¡±
Andy¡¯s eyes lit up and he spent the next hour regaling her with stories of a life she still couldn¡¯t recall. Of gardening, and a full social circle; of mishaps and misunderstandings, chaos and fun, failures and triumphs.
None of it sounded familiar. Some, she could imagine herself doing, but never quite remember. Others sounded blatantly made up, perhaps retold so many times they¡¯d passed the fiction event horizon without any of the participants noticing, and only someone outside it all would be able to tell.
Still, they were enough to start to get a feeling for the person she might have been once, and¡ Maya found she envied her. The Maya of Darrow¡¯s stories was self-assured and kind, stubborn at times, yielding at others, but had a sort of integrity, a cohesiveness to her that Maya could never see in herself.
Maya often felt like a transient, a passenger in her own life, tossed from whim to whim, without any through-line to guide her. Darrow¡¯s version of Maya was grounded in a way she¡¯d never imagined possible. Life flowed around her and dragged her along with it, leaving no real impact but the constant passage of time.
The more Darrow talked, the more she learned about her alternate version self, the more she wished she could have still been that version of herself. The one who¡¯d figured her life out. The one who¡¯d gotten over her fears and made a choice, and stuck with it.
It would be so easy to accept the authority of that other self, to drop herself back into Darrow¡¯s life and try to pick up where they left off.
But as much as she wanted that settled surety, she also didn¡¯t want to tie herself down. She had so many things to do first. So many plans and ambitions and dreams she didn¡¯t want to throw aside.
She finished the armbands, only one coming out Uncommon, the rest ordinary, and moved on to larger pieces. These came out much better, netting her two Rare and an Exceptional. Enough to finance another set of struts for the Diviner¡¯s temple.
The one part of Darrow¡¯s stories that never felt right to her was his stories of her brother. He insisted he¡¯d died before Maya herself, and that he wasn¡¯t involved in computer programming at all. And called him ¡®Lewis¡¯, but by now Maya wasn¡¯t at all confident in her own memories.
One of them had to be mistaken in their assumptions.
Had it not been Drew who created Otherworlds? Or, rather, had it not been her Drew? Was Andrew Stader a stranger, and her Drew someone else, either with the same name, or one similar enough that Maya in her early confused state latched onto it without bothering to consider the fact that it might not have been her brother who created the entire virtual universe? Had he instead lived and died without ever making a mark on the world?
She didn¡¯t want to believe it, but she had to admit to herself that from what she remembered of him it seemed infinitely more likely than the fact that he¡¯d created the biggest advancement in virtual technology basically ever.
Was this whole thing a fool¡¯s journey? Was there any point in seeking out Andrew Stader, if it turned out she was a nobody instead?
No. She¡¯d set her course, and she would not be so easily dissuaded. Darrow was wrong. He was either misremembering the details, or he was an imposter trying to ingratiate himself with the future empress before she came into her own.
So she continued to craft, and continued to listen, and continued to plan her ascension.
131: Adventurousness, perhaps?
While Maya worked, she and Andy had continued to talk, and the awkwardness of knowing he was also Darrow had gradually faded, returning the casual camaraderie she''d enjoyed with Andy in the past. The temporary bump in their relationship smoothed out quickly, as Maya put the knowledge and her worries out of her mind and focused on the moment.
She made some quality goods, flipped a lot of them into money, and completed a good chunk of the necessary ingredients for the next step of the Diviner temple by the time midnight rolled around and her luck reset to -95.
Maya tossed her Trickster''s Dice. -10. She went to roll a second time, but remembered Lucy''s rule. Anything over -20 is good enough to keep. And... she was right. Maya could handle minor misfortune, but if she rolled even worse next time, things could go very badly.
"What''s your quest for today?" Maya asked.
"I rolled 15, so..." Andy checked. "I need to buy something costing at least 10 silver from an NPC shop?"
"Typical trickster quest," Maya laughed. "Just send you somewhere random to do something you''d never expect. Guess it''s time to go shopping."
They spent a good while perusing the Kalyx City offerings, Maya hanging back to let Andy''s positive luck have a higher influence on their interactions than her negative. Between them it would balance out in the end, but the boost was still worth protecting.
He finally settled on a spellbook.
"I''m surprised," Maya admitted. "I didn''t think you were into magic."
"But you are. If I''m going to keep up with your research, I should at least get the basics down."
Maya smiled faintly. "It''s kind of nice having someone who''ll follow me around unconditionally, with nothing better to do than support me in whatever I want to do."
"Mmmmm, don''t get too used to it. I''ll need a commitment one way or another from you eventually." His expression looked fleetingly pained, but he covered it quickly and resumed his usual smile.
"Well. I''m not good with commitment."
"I know. That''s why we set deadlines for decision-making. But... I''m not sure I''m ready to put a deadline on this one yet, and I feel like you aren''t either."
Maya looked away. "You''re not wrong."
Andy cleared his throat, then changed the subject. "We should go out into the wild, level a bit. I want to increase in strength as quickly as possible. If we''re going to take over this world, then there''s no point in waiting. How many years will it take to take this place over at this rate? Too long."
"That''s true. Look at Cydrin, he''s come out of nowhere. That''s what we need to do."
"Can we risk a higher level zone, do you think?"
Maya looked at the hazy barrier separating the Kalyx zone from the Forsaken Forest. Zone Three was well out of their usual level range, but... what was there to lose? "Why not? I wouldn''t try this alone, but we might as well try."
"Over that way?"
"Yeah. We can clear out some driles on the way."
"I don''t like those things," Andy confided. "They kind of creep me out."
"Well, they are weird creatures."
"Can I ask you something?"
"Of course. We''ve been asking things all night."
"This is very important."
Maya clicked her beak, mentally preparing herself. "Okay?"
"Is your favourite color still purple?"
She couldn''t help it, she burst out laughing. "Really? That''s your important question?"
"Yep, that''s it. And you haven''t answered."
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It took her a minute to get her giggling under control. "Alright. Yeah, I still love purple."
"And blue?"
"Sure, blue''s alright."
"Not blue? What, then, has taken its place?"
Maya shrugged. "Silver? I don''t know, it''s not something I''ve put a whole lot of thought into."
Andy narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "Are you a cunning imposter?" he demanded playfully.
"Oh, no, I''ve been discovered, whatever shall I do?" Maya nearly stumbled over a drile nest, then they were surrounded by angry squeaking as the driles poured out to surround them. Eight or so, since it was a zone meant for new players, but still a decent little swarm.
Maya grinned. "I just happen to have the perfect counter for this situation."
She cast Inferno.
Fire flowed out from her in a wave, forming a perfect cylinder around her, and flash frying the driles as they ran through the suddenly flaming woods. As soon as the last one was dead, she began laughing maniacally as flames raged around her for the spell''s remaining duration. It still felt so good to just incinerate her foes. She knew eventually Inferno would probably become irrelevant, as other abilities outleveled it and its general focus didn''t retain its edge, but for the moment it was by far her best spell for dealing area damage.
And, of course, it just looked awesome.
Andy was staring, and Maya self-consciously stifled her evil laughter. "Just practicing," she said. "You know, for when we rule the world. Got to have a good overlord cackle."
"I didn''t realize that was part of the job description," Andy said easily, regaining his playful composure. "Maybe I should try too." He cleared his throat, then laughed uneasily.
"Not like that, you need to embrace the inner chaos. You sound ashamed of it. Be bold! Muahahahaa!" she demonstrated, with a deeper voice and arms spread wide. "Laugh like no one is watching."
"Heh heh, ahh, hahaha," Andy tried feebly, but none of his laughter even came close to managing ''evil'' and mostly sounded uncertain.
"We''ll keep practicing," Maya decided. "Don''t worry. I''ll make an evil overlord of you yet."
They spent some time on Andy''s laugh, wiped out another few drile nests, and finally crossed the border into Zone Three. Maya immediately felt tense, the will-sapping presence of higher level enemies making itself known.
She''d grown better at picking out the various types of mental interference the game provided, the longer she stayed here. At first, she''d assumed everything was her own, internalizing every reaction as her own, but especially with switching between characters she''d started to notice them more. The will-suppressing effect of enemies was a subtler thing. Except when she went into someplace far, far beyond her, it was usually hard to notice. Especially with luck pushing her around one way or another on a daily basis.
But now she felt it, the subtle pressure as they stepped from zone one to three, and recognized it as external and not her own.
"A bit creepy," Andy said, looking around uneasily. "Evil forest of doom?"
"Nah. It''s full of monkeys and snakes and stuff like that. Nothing we can''t handle." Hopefully. "Keep an eye out for monkeys who''ll steal your hat."
"I don''t have a hat."
Maya shrugged. "They''ll try anyway."
Their first encounter with a monkey went... about as well as Maya could have expected. She spotted it just before it leapt on them with an unholy screech, fired an Ice Bolt into its chest, and jumped aside. Andy got his sword up in time to block the monkey, but it promptly grabbed hold of the sword in both hands and refused to let go. Maya started throwing sparks at it, just to get its attention, but it was fully fixated on the sword.
Still, with their adversary more intent on thieving than on slaughtering them all where they stood, it was almost easy to finish it off. It took longer than Maya would have preferred, especially since she could hear other squawks and hoots from the trees that meant they may well have more monkeys to deal with soon. But too slow or not, they still won. She counted that as a victory.
The next fight didn''t go nearly as smoothly.
A snake sprang out and wrapped itself around Maya''s throat before she even saw it coming, and that position allowed it almost full immunity from her spells.
Unfortunately for the poor snake¡¯s long term survival, Maya didn''t rely solely on spells. She wouldn¡¯t have had enough energy to bring it down anyway, her spells didn¡¯t deal enough damage to take down the level 25 Crimson Coil serpent, especially after switching her specialization.
Her twin unique daggers appeared in her hands as she drew them out of her inventory, slamming both into the snake draped across her shoulder. It was constricting, dealing damage and choking the air out of her, but snakes and choking weren¡¯t on her list of fears and it hardly bothered her. After a while, you got used to ¡®damage¡¯ of most sorts. She may have a few specific mental hangups, but apart from those, she¡¯d spent months adapting to how World 9352 worked.
She stabbed the snake again and again, as it sank its fangs into the side of her face and she felt the burn of its venom spreading through her body.
Andy wasn¡¯t sitting idle. He ran forward, a knife in hand, and joined her snake-stabbing.
The snake kept stacking more and more venom, and was still dropping her health steadily as it continued to constrict, but it was looking severely battered by now. She glanced at the venom debuff and grimaced. -2hp every 3 seconds for 19 minutes. That would be enough to kill her with time to spare.
It took nearly five minutes to finish the snake, by which time Maya¡¯s hundreds of health were dropping steadily through the 40s and toward single digits.
¡°Looks like this is a bit too high level for us after all,¡± she said with a scowl.
Andy collected the loot from the dead snake, as the one with higher luck. ¡°So you want to go back?¡±
¡°Not much choice, I¡¯m going to die in a minute or two. Better to do it in the Kalyx zone.¡±
They turned toward the barrier dividing the two zones, only to find their way blocked by a half dozen monkeys, looking quite pleased with themselves.
¡°Looks like they don¡¯t want to let us by so easy,¡± Andy commented. ¡°Think we can take them?¡±
¡°No. I¡¯m quite confident we can¡¯t.¡± Maya sighed heavily. ¡°I¡¯ll distract them, I¡¯m dying anyway. Make a run for it and we¡¯ll meet up back in the city. Maybe it¡¯s for the best we stick to Zone Two for a bit longer.¡±
132: The Unexpected
¡°I hate this.¡± Maya fired another Wind Whisper into the giant mushroom monster.
¡°What do you hate about it?¡± Andy slashed at a giant spore that drifted in his direction, knocking it out of the air with a single blow, then following up with a flurry to kill the others.
¡°I don¡¯t know. Something about mushrooms just creeps me out.¡± Maya fired another Wind Whisper into the thing¡¯s wide-cap of a head. ¡°They should be in caves or on trees, not walking around the middle of the city.¡±
They¡¯d respawned in the middle of a battlefield. Kalyx City was under attack by this giant¡ mushroom thing, and it was definitely not going peacefully.
¡°Is this your first random event?¡± asked a player she¡¯d never met before, the one with a black and orange striped cloak who was throwing ninja stars at the giant shroom-man.
¡°It¡¯s definitely a first for me,¡± Andy said, continuing his ongoing attack on the spore cloud.
More players ran in as the battle continued, the shroom monster stomping on market stalls and smashing his arm through houses that splintered to dust and exploded in spectacular fashion, scattering NPCs who ran around screaming for help.
The cloud of dust, spores, and screams attracted more and more players as word of the limited boss event spread.
¡°I didn¡¯t even know monsters could spawn inside towns,¡± Maya said after firing off a Wind Word. ¡°Though maybe I should have.¡± She¡¯d stumbled upon a lizardine cult under Kalyx that one time. Perhaps they¡¯d periodically summon a giant mushroom monster every now and then.
As more and more players surrounded the massive shroom creature, its attacks sped up in tempo. It smashed its arms out and sent players flying, but the outcome was inevitable. It was surrounded and doomed, it just didn¡¯t realize it yet.
She had to stifle a chuckle that would have thrown off her attack as one of the giant mushroom¡¯s feet crushed a familiar-looking gazebo into the ground. She could guess what quest would be showing up in the next few hours.
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When a contingent from the mage academy joined the fight, the battle drew to its end quite rapidly. Then the players dispersed, leaving Maya and Andy standing amid smashed market stalls and the worried or disgruntled mutters of NPC shopkeepers.
¡°I thought hiring travelers was supposed to stop the random monster attacks,¡± muttered one older man as he set about wearily repairing his archery equipment stall with a stack of wood stashed beside a nearby house. More NPCs helped themselves to the stack, which she realized was there for just such a purpose.
¡°Come on, let¡¯s help,¡± Maya called, hurrying over to pick up some lumber herself. She saw a familiar duo, Shary and Elaph working together to rebuild the produce stall, and took her armload of boards over to them.
¡°Ah, our hero returns!¡± Shary said, patting Maya¡¯s arm with a friendly laugh as Maya helped Elaph hold a board in place. ¡°Thank you.¡±
¡°And you fought the giant monster!¡± Elaph was starry-eyed, paying more attention to Maya than to the repairs. ¡°You¡¯re amazing.¡±
¡°A lot of people fought the giant monster,¡± Maya pointed out. ¡°It wasn¡¯t just me.¡±
¡°And how many of them do you see helping out?¡± Shary asked. ¡°I only see you and that young man there.¡±
¡°That¡¯s Andy. He¡¯s a friend of mine.¡±
¡°I like him,¡± Elaph declared firmly.
¡°I think I do too,¡± Maya said, watching as Andy set about helping with the repairs, bantering casually with the nearby NPCs as though this were entirely ordinary. ¡°He¡¯s a good one.¡±
Within a half hour they had the market back in order, and players began filing through to purchase items, or visit the Travelers¡¯ Hall.
¡°So, where to next?¡± Maya asked, dusting off her hands in time honored ¡®job done¡¯ tradition. ¡°Is there any more repair we should help with?¡±
¡°I think everything¡¯s back together,¡± Andy said, and Maya saw that he was right. Even the buildings that had been smashed were back in place, looking as weathered as ever.
¡°Hm. Alright. Onward to the wilds?¡±
Andy agreed readily, and they proceeded to spend the rest of the day grinding through the wilds. They fought bandits, they fought vasps, and they even saved a small NPC child from being drowned in a rare oasis by an angry water spirit.
By the end of the day, Maya, Andy, and her two pets had all increased in level, and obtained a nice pile of basic loot that could be sold, turned in for quests when they came up, or used for crafting.
¡°Did you ever do your trickster quest?¡± Andy asked, as they trekked back toward the outpost.
¡°I think so.¡± She checked her log.
Trickster Day 21: Spend at least thirty minutes in a dungeon without any equipment over Normal quality.
¡°No, looks like I didn¡¯t.¡± She¡¯d not even looked at the quest at the time. ¡°I guess we need to find a local dungeon.¡±
SCHEDULE CHANGE
TC is going back on hiatus for a while. Contracted book gets priority right now and I can''t mentally switch tracks every week to keep up with chapters on both.
UPDATE: June 2022
I still haven''t close to finished my contracted book for the publisher, so I''ll be continuing to write that for the foreseeable future. May not get back to this this year. :(
UPDATE: September 2022
I''m going to do the ridiculous thing and put TL book 1 into Kindle Unlimited. If it does well, that''ll be the justification I need to make it a priority again. If not... well, it was always a personal project anyway, and I''ll get around to it eventually.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
UPDATE: December 2022:
Book 1 is live on Amazon and KU! I had a great time rereading and revising it, and I''m really hoping it does well enough to justify prioritizing this story again. I truly love World 9352 and all my awesome epic schemes remain waiting for their time to shine.
But... I also have committed to leaving my job next spring and if I''m going to make ''be a writer'' a viable route I have to focus on whatever is going to be most likely to turn a profit. TL has historically not been profitable, so... it has a high bar to clear. :(
Thank you so much for your patience! I have not forgotten nor forsaken, though the months seem to slip by so quickly.