《The Voice of the World》
Prologue
Prologue
Deep under the earth, the creature known as Karthinos scuttled forwards in the dark. Clutching a battered, ancient tome to its chest with two corpse-white, withered hands, it paused, unsure, as it came to an intersection in the crumbling, ruined passageways it traveled.
¡°Guidance,¡± it muttered to itself. Once again, pale green arrows sprang into existence across its vision, momentarily showing the way.
The creature felt its mana reserves drain further.
¡°Status,¡± it said, glancing for a moment at its mana levels. Too low for comfort, should it run into trouble again. It hoped its destination was near; already it had had to fend off one deep dwelling horror that it had no name for.
Karthinos had no wish to try and rest in a place such as this in order to regain his mana. Not until he had completed his quest. If his tribe¡¯s legends were to be believed, too much hinged upon his success. Other gloomlings might even now be hunting him, jealous of the rewards he would reap for delivering the tome he now carried. They would be eager to take the tome from him if they knew.
He trembled slightly in fear at the thought of being caught, before forcing himself onwards, senses alert. Gloomlings were not a hardy species. Centuries upon centuries of defeat at the hands of humans and the other species that walked in the Light had seen to that. Now their once-proud, near-immortal race were no better than goblins. They had been reduced to sad, hunched wretches squabbling for scraps in the darkness, where once they had stood tall under the stars, leading entire armies of beasts and monsters that served the Dark.
Today, if the legends passed down by his species were to be believed, Karthinos would change all that.
He had found the book in a freak stroke of luck while scavenging aboveground for food. A sudden thunderstorm had driven him to seek shelter in the ruins of an old temple, long forgotten by the humans of the nation known as Ferimond. While looking around out of boredom and in hope of finding a juicy rat, he had come across a sealed chest that had been enchanted to keep out the elements. It had taken him some work to get it open, but inside he had found a treasure that any adventurer of worth would kill over: The original Chronicle of Champions, a history of an ancient war between the Light and the Dark, penned by Grand Archmage Merius himself.
While copies certainly existed, legend among the humans held that the copies were incomplete. Supposedly, the original version was the only place Archmage Merius had ever recorded the ritual that he had used to summon the heroes that had changed the face of the world. The gloomlings had long passed down a similar legend, but with a darker addendum: If the ritual was ever discovered, and brought to a certain place with the proper obeisance performed, the one known as the Dark Lady should return from her exile and grant power unimaginable to her faithful servants.
Karthinos turned, following the arrows that guided him. It would seem that those legends were true after all. While the gloomling lacked the magical knowledge to identify its purpose, the last few pages of the tome detailed an unbelievably complex multi-circle ritual, which he could only assume was the one in question. There was also the fact that as soon as he had picked up the book and recognized it for what it was, he had received a quest: he was to either destroy the book, or to bring it to a place deep within the earth and perform the proper rites. If the Voice of the World demanded he follow through with his tribe¡¯s legends and restore his people, who was he to argue? He even had a special skill that would help him find the way.
At the time, he simply had prayed to the Dark Lady that he¡¯d survive the attempt. Now, days later, Karthinos believed he was almost at his destination. He had cautiously crept through cavern after cavern, traveling the pathways deep beneath the earth, until the green lights of [Guidance] had led him to the crumbling remains of some enormous structure. Whether it was an ancient temple or a dead, long forgotten dungeon, Karthinos did not know. While he suspected the former, the interior was a maze of half-collapsed chambers and halls. If not for his guidance spell, he would have quickly become lost.
Even now, as he turned yet again down another branching hallway, archways of blackened stone passing overhead, he had no real idea where he was.
A sudden stirring in the air caused Karthinos to freeze in his tracks. A soft sound, almost imperceptible, like that of a long breath exhaled, echoed through corridor. Senses on high alert, the gloomling ducked into the corner between the wall and one of the arches. He cowered as a sensation he could only describe as the rustling of scales echoed silently through his mind, as though something pressed against his very soul.
He trembled in fear for several minutes. Then the moment passed, and the sensation faded. The sound did not come again. For several more minutes, he considered turning back, trying to find a different route. Who knew what lurked here in such forgotten places? He¡¯d already nearly been eaten once, in the caves just before the ruin.
But no. The Voice of the World was never wrong. If it told him to proceed down the hall, that was where his goal lay. He steeled himself, clutching the book tighter to himself, preparing to run at the first sign of danger. He stepped out from his corner, and moved to the end of the passageway.
He found himself at the entrance to a grand hall, far grander than any he¡¯d yet seen in this place. Massive pillars of obsidian stretched high above him to an arched roof that stretched into the distance. Embedded in the walls to either side ran a series of crystalline murals, some of them badly damaged. Each crystal ¡®window¡¯ appeared to depict some kind of dark force engulfing beings of light while a battle raged below. Statues of various grostesque figures stood between each mural, depicting some form of monster triumphing over what appeared to be one of the races of overworld. Here and there at the base of the pillars, dormant braziers made of bronze lay cold. Karthinos realized that he was standing in the nave of some long forgotten cathedral.
Karthinos examined the murals curiously, unable to read the script below them. He had never heard of any dark gods other than the one known as the Dark Lady, and he was not aware of any revered among the members of other races either. While the hated races of the overworld nominally worshipped a pantheon of various gods of light, the gloomlings of recent history had only ever known one single patron - one who had long been absent from the world.
The gloomling swallowed nervously. That would change today, he hoped.
Keeping an eye on every corner as much as he could, Karthinos crept forwards through the central segment of the cathedral. At its end, a raised dias held a large stone object which the creature had difficulty putting a name to. At first glance, it seemed like altar. Constructed of a black stone with streaks of red running through it, it formed a wide, chest-high flat stone etched with a variety of runes along the base, with two shallow bowls cut into the surface to either side. Parallel grooves ran from the bowls down the front of the altar, forming a channel around the base. Karthinos recognized them; those were for standard blood magic rituals, used to channel the power of blood into the runes at the base of the altar.
But the similarity to an altar ended there. The ¡®altar¡¯, if it was such, was backed by a high slab of stone that reached up taller than twice the gloomling¡¯s height, and was ornately carved to give the impression of endless connected coils of serpents. A single, hooded serpent head topped the stone on the righthand side, slightly off-center. It looked forwards down the center of the cathedral, and Karthinos suppressed a shudder, for the carving gave him the distinct feeling of being watched.
To either side of the altar, two smaller, lower slabs rose up along the sides. These too were carved. Instead of the coils of a serpent, the tops had been carved into caricatures of the various races of the world, lying in prostration, facing the center of the altar. The ones closest to the foot of the dias appears to have been damaged, with deep gouges running through what Karthinos thought may have once been depictions of humans.
All in all, it looked like someone had turned an altar into a throne.The green lights of Karthinos¡¯ spell led directly to it. It seemed this was his destination; Karthinos thought it fitting.
The gloomling began pulling various items from what passed for pockets in his filthy clothes. A pinch of herbs here, a vial of rat¡¯s blood there. He was no mage, he only knew a few tricks, but he had a quest. The Voice of the World knew what was needed, had told him what to gather before coming here. He placed the objects he had gathered. Some went into the bowls upon the altar-throne. Others were burned in the braziers at the foot of the dias, the light of the flames piercing the back of his eyes. His kind had no need of such to see in the dark, and he had traveled long with no light of any kind, but he grit his teeth and endured it. Last of all, he cut his own palms with a sharp stone, dripping his own blood into the shallow bowls of the altar.
Then he whispered the name the Voice of the World supplied him, one that the world had not heard voicedfor nearly a thousand years, and waited, trembling.
A black mist, so dark that even his racial sight could not pierce it, rose up from between his hands where he held them over the shallow sacrificial bowls. He tried to pull backwards, but found that his hands were stuck fast, suspended in the air. The mist poured upwards, and he felt his mana draining down to nothing as the magic pulled at him, and then started eating away at him when he had no more to give. He felt himself grow weaker and weaker, until with a sudden lurch he fell backwards as it released him. Rolling over, he clutched his precious tome to his chest and looked up to see the roiling mass of black mist form into a sphere above the altar. An eerie red lightning began to arc back and forth within, and Karthinos caught a glimpse of what his mind interpreted as an enormous serpent the size of a mountain that filled the entire chamber, and yet hung suspended before him.
His mind reeled as a sense of vast, unforgiving rage beat down upon him. He cowered on the floor, clutching the book to his chest, as the red glow resolved itself into a pair of eyes peering out from the black mist.
¡°WHO DARES RISK THE WRATH OF THE GODS TO CALL ME FROM MY SLUMBER?¡±
A feminine voice thundered out from the mist, thick with a strange metallic quality, as if speaking from a vast distance. The sound of it shook the entire chamber, causing several of the nearby murals to crack. Pieces of crystal shattered to the floor as the voice shook Karthinos to his very bones. The fiery red eyes gazed about the room, searching, and fell upon the gloomling prostrating himself on the floor.
¡°WHAT MANNER OF WRETCH IS THIS THAT DARES TO COME INTO MY HALL?¡±
A claw formed of mist reached out faster than Karthinos could react, and snatched him up by the throat, lifting him into the air. Terrified out of his mind, he could barely even bring himself to try and struggle free beyond a feeble kicking of his legs. His status screen sprang into existence in front of him, and the eyes seemed to take in everything about him in a single glance. The weight of their gaze almost like a physical blow.
¡°PATHETIC. TO THINK YOUR ONCE GREAT RACE HAS BEEN REDUCED TOTHIS.¡±
Shame washed over Karthinos, but a brief spark of hope flared in him as well, as amidst his terror he thought of the legend that had brought him here. He forced himself to cease struggling. Still clutched by the mist, he tried to bow his head and extended the book towards the dark orb. He gurgled something unintelligible; the mist was choking off his ability to breathe.
¡°YOU BRING ME TRIBUTE? PERHAPS YOU ARE NOT SO UNWISE AS YOU APPEAR. LET US SEE WHETHER IT IS ENOUGH.¡±
Karthinos gasped for breath as he was released, tumbling unceremoniously to the floor. The tome was snatched from his hands. He prostrated himself upon the floor, trembling.
A deep rumble rolled through the room. A profound sense of glee washed over him as the rumble changed to a chuckle. Karthinos risked a glance upward as the chuckled transformed to a delighted laughter.
The tome lay suspended in the mist, opened to the final pages wherein the mysterious ritual was inscribed. Slowly, the mist coiled outwards from its dense sphere, spiraling down, and extruding six tendrils outwards to form the vague outline of a winged humanoid, tome held in one ¡®hand¡¯. With a clap of thunder, the mist resolved itself into solid form.
Before Karthinos stood a creature he could put no name to. She stood tall and proud, her skin formed of bright red scales at her core, fading first to a dark red at her shoulders and hips, and then to a deep black where her limbs ended in clawed hands and toes. A pair of great bat wings stretched behind her, flexing. The same piercing red eyes peered out from what would be an otherwise flawlessly beautiful face. Holding the tome in one hand, she gave an idle flick of her fingers. A slim, elegant black dress appeared from nothing, wrapping her nude form.
¡°Do you know what this is that you have brought me?¡± The creature asked, stepping lightlydown off the dias towards him. Her voice no longer thundered through the room. Now it was silken smooth, melodic and pleased, with a hint of promise instead.
He prostrated himselfin fear upon the floor, unsure if the creature before him truly wished for him to speak in Her presence. For surely this was the Dark Lady, Her chosen form a slap in the face of the gods the humans held dear.
A black, clawed finger pressed itself under his chin, raising his head upwards. The pressure continued as she used one claw to pull him upwards until he was kneeling upright before her, looking into her fiery gaze.
¡°Speak,¡± she commanded.
¡°The-¡± he swallowed, finding his mouth incredibly dry. ¡°The rite of calling, mistress,¡± he whispered. ¡°The ritual that brought the Champions of Light to the world.¡±
She smiled. Karthinos tried to repress a shudder, for her smile seemed to speak to him of a cruel vengeance long denied, but now at hand.
¡°And do you know why I have wished for so long to get my hands on it? What it does?¡±
Karthinos bit his lip momentarily. The woman, if she could be called such, still held him by the chin. He chose his words carefully.
¡°No, mistress,¡± he said, ¡°only that you greatly desired it. Your humble servant does not presume to guess why your dark majesty might wish to summon heroes.¡±
She released him with a smirk in order to run one hand almost lovingly across the pages of the book.
¡°It is because this world is under a misapprehension. The ritual does not summon otherworldly heroes that serve the Light. It summons humans from another world, yes. But it doesnotsummonheroes.Just people.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
¡°Italsoforces the Voice of the World to... change them. Gives them the capacity for greatness. Makes them eligible for powerful titles, unique classes, and unusual skills. But they are just people. Potential heroes, yes, but ones who have yet to take up a cause.¡±
Karthinos trembled once again, but this time, it was the thrill of excitement running through him.
¡°M-Mistress means to makenewChampions? Champions of... the Dark?¡± He whispered.
¡°Indeed,¡± she said, and then smiled. She turned briefly, placing the tome on the altar behind her.
¡°Now, what is your name?¡±
¡°Karthinos, Mistress,¡± he replied.
She lounged against the altar, regarding him thoughtfully for a moment, one claw tapping against her lips.
¡°You have brought me a tribute worthy of the very gods who once thought they were my betters, Karthinos. Such a gift is worth great reward. I can grant a great many things. Even the Voice of the World will bow to my will, should I see fit to exert myself. Tell me, what is it you desire most in the world?¡±
The gloomling licked his lips nervously. ¡°Legends say that if we brought you the ritual, you could restore our people to our rightful place¡±
The woman frowned and flicked her hand dismissively. Karthinos flinched slightly.
¡°Yourpeopleare not who I am asking.¡±
She stepped forward towards him, her clawed toes making faint clicking sounds against the dark stone. Small puffs of smoke wafted upwards as her toes made contact with the floor, leaving scorch marks behind. She trailed a claw along Karthinos¡¯ shoulders as she circled him.
¡°Youbrought me that which I have desired for millennia.Youhave provided me with the means to finally enact my revenge, when all my other servants before you have failed in their duty. They are dust. Unworthy. Butyou...?You willingly kneel before me, playing the part of the loyal servant.¡±
Once again she pressed a claw under Karthinos¡¯ chin, once again lifting his eyes to meet his.
¡°So tell me. What is it thatyoudesire?¡± she emphasized.
A tremor ran through him then, as he gazed into the eyes of a being more powerful than he could ever fathom. Could she truly make demands of the Voice? The prospect both thrilled and terrified him. That would make her stronger than even the gods the humans revered! He thought of his tribe, of the squalor and misery they lived in. How they had treated each other, fighting over scraps. He thought of the humans who hunted them for sport, to train their young. He glanced around, picturing the once grand nature of this ruined hall, and compared it the muddy holes his kind had called home. How they would be jealous, to hear he had been personally touched by the Dark Lady herself.
A spark of ambition bloomed inside Karthinos, and the woman smiled as his eyes returned to her.
¡°There it is,¡± she said, smiling knowingly. Then she gripped him by the chin, and her face turned hard and serious.
¡°Very well. Swear your allegiance to me, Karthinos, and be reborn!¡±
A system message floated before his eyes.
Do you wish to swear fealty to Lady Lethis, Serpent of the Night? Y/N
This choice is irreversible, and will have wide ranging consequences, including permanent status changes to your race and class.
¡°Yes, I swear!¡±
Lethis released him, stepping back and gesturing upwards. ¡°Then rise, my most faithful servant, and receive your reward.¡±
Karthinos stood, and was bombarded by status messages from the Voice of the World, filling his vision. At the woman¡¯s gesture, the black mist from earlier arose and swirled around him. He felt his bones begin to shift as her power reshaped him. His posture changed, turning from small, cringing sycophant to that of a tall, proud warrior. His once-pallid skin twisted into dark, hardened scales. His fingertips sprouted small, sharpened claws which crackled with a deep purple energy as he felt new mana surge throughout his body. A thin tail with a wickedly barbed point sprouted from his backside while a host of new skill notifications scrolled past his vision. He mostly ignored them as he flexed his newfound muscles; time enough to investigate them later. He felt as if he could leap the entire length of the cathedral in a single bound, or reduce the altar before him to rubble with a single swing of his fist.
Not that he would do such a thing, for it would no doubt anger his new mistress.
Lethis was contemplating him as his attention returned to her, tapping her lips thoughtfully again with a single claw. Then she waved her hand, and the mist wrapped around him once more. Suddenly he found himself clad in armor made from some dark metal he was not familiar. It was as light as mithril, unbelievably so, and felt as if he could move freely without encumbrance. Finally, she snapped her fingers, and a long black spear of the same metal materialized in her hands. It was half again as tall as his new form.
She handed it to him as he bowed deeply.
Lethis then slowly circled her new servant, claws ticking against the stone once more as examined both his status and his physical form. Karthinos stood at attention, waiting for his Mistress¡¯ command.
¡°It always fascinates me how the system adapts elements to fit each individual user.¡± She said, falling into a tone that seemed half lecture, half speaking to herself. ¡°Especially when it comes to major titles. Intention, as always, proves important. Thus it is that new elements are constantly added to the system. For those who understand how to manipulate it to their advantage, ever greater power is always within reach.¡±
¡°Mistress?¡± Karthinos asked, confused.
Lethis patted him gently on the shoulder ¡°No matter. Merely musing on the nature of reality. It¡¯s been far too long since I last walked this world.¡±
Turning serious once again, she snapped her fingers and began to stride away from the altar into the ruins, carrying the tome in one hand.
¡°Come! We have a ritual to prepare.¡±
Several days and one tribal subjugation later, preparations were nearly complete.
Karthinos strode through the newly restored halls of Lethis¡¯ lair, claws clicking lightly upon polished stone. He could scarcely believe the changes his Lady had wrought, wielding her command over the natural substances of earth, stone, and fire. While the temple was yet unfurnished, for Lethis had little sway over wood or metal, gone were the dust and debris and collapsed passageways; all had been remade in an instant with a wave of his Mistress¡¯s hand.
Turning a corner, Karthinos entered the room that was to serve as both summoning chamber and dungeon. Behind him followed several gloomlings carrying an assortment of objects. Worthless beings, he felt, but more hands were needed if there were to be prisoners to deal with, so he¡¯d tracked down his former tribe and forcefully ¡®recruited¡¯ them to Lady Lethis¡¯ cause. Idly he wondered if any of them would prove worthy enough to receive her blessing.
He doubted it.
Karthinos gestured for the gloomlings to begin their final tasks, and they set about their work. The circular chamber was vast, with a high ceiling and a large central pit set many feet below the rest of the room. A single set of stairs barred with a heavy steel gate provided access to the center. Several gloomlings descended the stairs, setting steel shackles into the floor along the edges of the depression, near the walls. Others carried lengths of silver chain, stringing them between a series of enchanted pylons that floated above, at the edges of what formed a walkable gallery. Once activated, they would deliver a series of painful, debilitating shocks to anything that attempted to climb or fly out of the pit without first passing through the gate.
A second group of gloomlings carried various objects into the cells that lined the edges of the upper chamber, placing down mats of straw, wooden buckets, and setting additional shackles into the floor. Karthinos strode about the room, testing that the cell doors had been properly reinforced. With his new stat boosts, no mere human should be able to bend or break something he could not.
Their tasks finished, Karthinos dismissed the gloomlings and set to inscribing the floor with the ritual that was to be performed. While he had not yet had the opportunity to do any leveling of his new classes, several of them provided new, powerful magic. He channeled mana into his hand, and with one claw wreathed in arcane fire, began to carve away, leaving a trail of glowing scars behind in the stone.
Hours later, he had finished his task. Circles, diagrams, and runes covered the floor and walls of the central cell, all painstakingly copied from a series of scrolls that Lady Lethis had given him. Much of the floor was taken up with the patterns depicted from the Chronicle of Champions, but his patron had vastly expanded it in ways that Karthinos¡¯ new skills were unable to identify.
Once he was satisfied that everything was exact, Karthinos prepared to return and summon his Mistress, only to find her standing behind him as he turned to exit the room.
He bowed. ¡°Mistress Lethis, your instructions have been completed. The chamber is prepared.¡±
¡°Good. Let¡¯s begin by examining your handwork.¡±
Lethis extended a clawed hand, and a thin streamer of arcane light extended down into the floor. The lines began to alight one after another as she tested for flaws, looking for any possible breaks in the diagram or imperfections in the shaping of the runes.
Karthinos hesitated only a moment before speaking up. His tail lashed a bit in agitation, for he felt he might be being presumptuous, but so far Lethis had seemed amenable to questions, so he spoke up.
¡°Mistress, you have expanded greatly upon the ritual from the book. I would ask what function these additions serve. The skills you have granted me could not identify their purpose.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not surprised,¡± Lethis replied without looking up. Energy still streamed from her hand. ¡°The Voice dislikes it when people interfere with its work. It is not inclined to assist people in such an endeavor.¡±
¡°I do not understand.¡±
¡°I designed this ritual shell myself, long ago, when I had a need to disguise my actions from the Voice of the World. You see Karthinos, the Voice desires to keep thingsinterestingfor everyone involved. It follows certain highly predictable patterns, if you know what to look for. As it did formeso long ago, if I were to summon an untutored child into the heart of my lair with the intent of forcing them to swear allegiance to me, the Voice would no doubt immediately give the child a quest to find a way to escape, plus ensure they had some potential means of doing so. Or perhaps it would lead a band of adventurers to my doorstep, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs that would cause them to discover the child and rescue it. Either way, if it survived, the child would end up receiving some sort of powerful title or class that would later come back to throw a wrench into my plans. Probably with some sort of revenge in mind.¡±
The light streaming from Lethis¡¯s hand abruptly ceased as she closed her fist, and the glow from the diagrams faded. She nodded, satisfied.
¡°This hellishly complex circle I have had you construct is a means to prevent that. It temporarily silences the Voice of the World and prevents it from seeing what occurs within. While it will see the ritual itself, it will be blind to the end results for a few hours, thus giving me the time to do as I please without interference and to set the circumstances under which our new arrivals will receive their boons from the Voice.
¡°Now. Let us begin. Activate the wards.¡±
Karthinos leaped upwards out of the central pit, clearing an area twice again as tall as he was and alighting on the other side of the chains that formed a sort of fence around the area. He moved quickly between each pylon, channeling mana into each of them. Sparks of electricity raced back and forth along each set of chains as he activated each ward. Once complete, he descended the stairs to the gate, where he had inscribed the starting point of the ritual circle. Lethis was already standing in it, hands held outwards to either side. Her clawed toes dug into the stone beneath her.
With a twist of her wrists, a torrent of magic poured forth from Lethis¡¯ claws and into the charging runes beside her. The runes drank greedily from twisting coils of purple and blue energy that poured off Karthinos¡¯ patron in waves, and light raced across the walls of the room as the runes began to glow one after another. Karthinos grit his teeth and stood his ground as a wave of pressure pressed down around them. He heard the sound of grating stone as the walls of the chamber began to move, the activation of the circles causing segments of the walls to twist, bringing new combinations of runes to chain together together in a constantly changing pattern.
A dark energy suddenly surged overhead, and with a thunderous roar the fabric of reality tore open above the chamber. A half dozen swirling rifts sprang into existence as Karthinos barely suppressed the urge to flee, and a wave of nausea swept over him. Through each rift he caught glimpses of different scenes. In one, he saw a strange city all aglow at night, full of towering structures of glass and metal. Another seemed to be a small bedroom, with a young man sitting at a desk, shock written across his face. Others appeared to open into various rooms as well. Through one rift, a large blue metal object resembling a carriage rapidly approached at an incredible speed, with a panicked occupant clearly visible within. A loud screeching sound accompanied by a blaring horn blasted at them, cutting off suddenly as a human male was hurled alone through the rift, which winked out as the blue objectdisrupted its structure. With a sickening crunch, the man slammed into one wall at high speed.
Karthinos didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be getting up again.
As Lethis continued to power the runes, thick tendrils of magic rose up underneath the remaining five rifts, which then darted forwards into them. Karthinos watched asthe young man at the desk was swiftlyseized by a tendril, which then drew him kicking and shouting through the portal. It deposited him onto the floor, whereone of the nearby sets of shackles set into the ground reared up of its own accordand snappped towards him, locking around his neck and wrists.
One by one each of the other tendrils drew forth another struggling victim. All seemed relatively young to Karthinos. Adults, but in the prime of their youth, if he was any judge of human ages. Four were male, if you counted the one who¡¯d probably broken his neck, while the remaining two were female.
With a final clap of thunder, the rifts winked out of existence, plunging the room into darkness once again, and Karthinos breathed a sigh of relief as the pressure weighing him down faded. The humans whimpered in the dark as they lay on the ground, either pulling at the chains around their necks and wrists or feeling blindly around themselves. Belatedly Karthinos recalled that humans needed light to see.
Lethis seemed to have not forgotten, however. With a wave of her hands, pale orbs of orange magelight bloomed into existence at the roof of the chamber. One of the human females shrieked at the sight of his Lady, sobbing something about ¡®demons¡¯ as she rapidly tried to crawl away.
The other humans saw as well, and had varying reactions. One rose to its knees and began to pray, tears streaming down his face. One of the others froze, going pale. Karthinos detected a foul stench coming from him. The other two reacted much as the first woman had. Whatever these ¡®demons¡¯ were, Karthinos supposed that perhaps his Mistress resembled them.
¡°Be silent.¡±Lethis¡¯ voice rang out, with a touch of mana infused into it to force her command upon the terrified humans. Their eyes bulged as their mouths clamped shut against their will. The young man who had been at the desk clearly attempted to speak but found he could not.
Lady Lethis gestured, as if for them to rise, and they were hauled to their feet.
¡°Now,¡± She said, addressing them. ¡°Let me enlighten you as to your situation. You are now my prisoners. Those who swear themselves willingly to me will find that there are great rewards to be had, as my faithful servant Karthinos here can attest to. Those who must be forced to obey will find themselves on the receiving end of my displeasure.¡±
Her gaze lingered on the man who had been praying. ¡°Whatever gods you may have adhered to in your old life will not save you, for they do not exist here.¡± Her eyes moved from person to person, as she paused momentarily to examine each of them.
¡°There are no police to call, no authorities to alert, no one to come to your rescue. To use a phrase that you should understand, you are not in Kansas anymore.¡±
Karthinos actuallydidn¡¯tunderstand a lot of those words, but he held his tongue. Interrupting his Mistress would no doubt displease her.
¡°The only thing that matters here is my will, and you will do as you are told, or your fate will be much like that one there,¡± Lethis said, flicking her fingers idly at the now cooling corpse of the man who been had ejected from the rift at high speed. She allowed the five humans to turn their heads to look. Several of them looked like they were going to be sick.
¡°Now, which one of you-¡°
Suddenly she hissed as the sound of some commotion echoed behind them.She turned, just as two gloomlings staggered to the foot of the stairs, struggling with the thrashing form of an additional human between them.
Karthinos strode to their side and grabbed the woman by the throat, pinning her. Able to finally see her captors thanks to the mage lights dotted about the room, the woman froze, whimpering in fear at the sight of Karthinos¡¯ scaled face.
As soon as Karthinos had a grip on the woman, The two gloomlings released her and threw themselves to the floor, prostrating themselves in front of Lethis.
¡°Mistress, we found this one in the tunnels! She appeared from thin air with a great thundering! We did not know what to do so have brought her to you.¡±
With a snarl that left the gloomlings fleeing for their lives, Lethis turned to the side, made several quick gestures in the air, and then flung one palm outwards towards the wall, where a status screen appeared.
Karthinos saw that the screen was strangely jumbled, mostly filled with strange letters that churned and twisted as if they resisted his attempt at reading them. At the top of the screen however, were words whose meaning was clear as day.
Critical Success! Due to your overwhelming skill with magic, your attempt at a custom ritual has been a critical success! Additional effects have been applied as follows:
Multiplerifts have appeared across the land. Additional subjects have been summoned!
¡°Put that one with the others, then attend me!¡± his Mistress snarled at him, turning to stride out of the room. ¡°Quickly, we must find where the others have ended up before they move and I can no longer trace them.¡±With a shriek of rage, Lethis¡¯ fist crashed through the status screen and into the wall, dispelling the screen and sending stone shards flying. Karthinos flinched as one struck him.
¡°Then we can see to this lot.¡±
Chapter 01
Chapter One
Jason Elric jolted awake with a start, his head pounding as he wrestled with momentary confusion and dizziness. The air was thick with a deep earthy scent that nagged at his memory, but the pitch blackness of his surroundings, as well as the fact that he appeared to be lying on the ground, took most of his attention.
¡°W-Why the hell am I on the ground?¡± he managed to croak out after a moment, the dizziness and confusion slowly receding. His mouth was dry, and his had a raging headache.
At first he thought that maybe he¡¯d been hit over the head and dragged off somewhere, but Jason quickly discarded the idea; he knew that if he had been knocked unconscious long enough to be transported somewhere, he¡¯d probably have permanent brain damage.
Still lying on the ground, he attempted to remember what he¡¯d been doing last, but found that he had difficulty recalling any details. Trying to remember made his head pound even harder, though, so he stoppedand instead focused on his surroundings.
Blindly, Jason slowly slid his hands outwards along the ground, cautiously feeling around him. He came to the realization that he must be outdoors somewhere, as he quickly encountered dirt and tufts of grass matted down with something wet and rough that felt like it might be damp leaves. Or so he hoped.
After a few moments of cautious exploration, Jason¡¯s eyes began to adjust. He confirmed that yes, he was definitely outdoors, quite probably in some sort of very dense forest. Dimly, he could make out the shapes of what he assumed were trees, but he didn¡¯t see any stars overhead, so he guessed that the canopy must be quite thick.
He climbed to his feet slowly, trying to give his eyes a chance to adjust properly. In the meantime, he patted himself down.
Please let me still have it¡ score!
In his back pocket, Jason found he was still carrying his old lighter, and to his surprise, his swiss army knife as well. If he was carrying the his pocketknife, it meant that before ending up wherever he was now, he must have been at work or coming home from it. Jason only ever carried it when he was at work, because he found it more convenient to carry a screw driver on him than fetch one from the back whenever he needed to open one of the computer cases for maintenance.
The lighter was a different story. Jason had originally carried it because he had a bit of a firebug habit, but he¡¯d grown out of that by the time he started college. Only by then, his roomate Jim had taken up smoking, and was always asking him for a light, so he had never stopped carrying one. Jim had even eventually bought him a rather fancy-looking, black, piezoelectric one as a sort of half-joke, half-apology for constantly forgetting his own.
For once, Jason was glad to have it around. If he was going to be stuck out here until he could call for help, being able to build a fire to stay warm would be a real boon.
Jason continued his personal inventory. He had his wallet, keys, phone, a charging cable, and the lighter and pocketknife.
Yep; definitely was at work until recently, he thought. I-
He froze as his confusion lifted and memory finally returned. He had been at work. He¡¯d been walking around, shutting down the PC¡¯s at the internet cafe he worked at in the evenings, getting ready to close the place down for the night. But then there had been that terrible sound, and he¡¯d turned and seen what looked like a gaping hole in the air, and he¡¯d been snatched up off his feet by something and...
And then nothing.
He winced as he touched a hand gingerly to the back of his head.
Yep, that¡¯s a hell of a goose egg, he thought. Must¡¯ve hit my head pretty hard. I hope I¡¯m not concussed.
He dropped his hand to his sides.
Well, first things first. Let¡¯s get a better look at my surroundings.
Jason pulled out his phone. He noted with a vague lack of surprise that it had no signal. After setting it to low power mode and dimming the screen brightness all the way down to conserve what energy he could, he very briefly toggled the flashlight on and had a quick look around.
Yep. Definitely forest.
He stood in the midst of a small not-quite-a-clearing, the widely spaced trees tall and thin, with a large spreading canopy that didn¡¯t leave much in the way of lower branches. There would be no climbing these to wait out the night. It also meant he needed a fire going as soon as possible; there was no way he was going to go blundering about in the dark trying to find shelter. During Jason¡¯s orienteering competition days in high school, people had broken ankles just walking around in the day in light woods, much less dense night-time forests. You never knew when a thick patch of ground clutter was concealing some kind of root-filled hole for you to trip over. Better to take things cautiously.
First step, get some rocks and kindling, Jason thought. That would be the easy part, he knew.
First, Jason used his pocketknife¡¯s largest blade to help snap off some of the drier branches of the low bushes around nearby. It was tough to do in the dark, but he wanted to conserve his phone¡¯s battery power, and the flashlight was a big power hog. So he used it sparingly, flicking the light on only to find new branches to strip. Soon enough he had scavenged a large pile of medium-sized rocks, some small branches, numerous twigs, and a handful of mostly-dry leaves.
His next task was to find some logs to use for the main body of his campfire. This turned out to be actually simple. Only a half dozen meters away from where he had woken up, Jason found a long-dead fallen tree that somehow wasn¡¯t infested with bugs or ants. He pried up several thick branchesto use as logs simply by removing his shirt, wrapping his hands in it, and bracing himself with one foot as he pulled as hard as he could to snap off large pieces.
With his shirt back on and several thick branches bundled in his arms, Jason returned to the mini-clearing where he¡¯d left his pile of kindling. Using one of the wider branches as an improvised shovel, he set about clearing any plant debris he could in a wide area, followed by scraping a small depression into the dirt. Placing the stones he¡¯d gathered in a ring around the depression, he then used the flat end of one of the largest branches to pack down the dirt in the middle, creating an improvised fire bed.
For all that he was kind of a PC junkie, Jason had spent quite a lot of time out in the wilderness throughout the years. He enjoyed camping and hiking, and had spent four entire years as a member of his high school¡¯s orienteering club before the demands of college life had forced him to dial back his vacation activities. While he was no truly rugged outdoorsman, he knew his way around building a campsite very well by now.
Jason quickly assembled a small ¡®cabin style¡¯ campfire, placing his kindling at the bottom and assembling the larger branches above in a series of overlapping squares. While he didn¡¯t like his general proximity to the trees, he also didn¡¯t want to traipse around in the dark to find a better site. Fortunately, the trees near him lacked any kind of low-hanging branches that might catch fire from rising heat, so he thought he was probably safe enough. He would keep a sharp eye out, make sure his fire staying within the circle, would avoid stoking it too much. Beyond that, he¡¯d just have to hope for the best.
Pulling out his lighter, he ignited the kindling. After a short while of feeding it extra twigs, Jason had a merry blaze going. If he had been camping, this would have been a nice change of pace, a fun chance to lean back in a chair and relax. Instead, once he was sure the fire was stable and he had warmed up a little, Jason pulled his phone back out and began investigating his immediate surroundings in more detail. Thanks to the fire, he now had a ready beacon to return to, and it gave off enough light that didn¡¯t wouldn¡¯t need to use his phone too much.
Jason checked the battery. 80%. Apparently it had been mostly full charge before¡ whatever had happened. He was trying not to think too much about the implications. He¡¯d seen far too many movies or games involving strange portals to even want to begin trying to work out what happened.
He didn¡¯t want to think about how likely it was that he was thoroughly, utterly screwed.
Exploring the general vicinity around his campsite, he discovered two very useful things just beyond the area he¡¯d been gathering wood from. The first was an entire dead shrub that had at some point been dug up, presumably by an animal. That was helpful find, as it was a good source of easy, and more importantly dry, wood.
The second find made his chances of survival much, much higher.
While sweeping his phone-light around the area, looking for good footing so he could haul the dead shrub back to the edge of his camp, Jason¡¯s eyes caught sight of a large grouping of very thick, largeorange mushrooms..
Are those¡ bolete mushrooms?
Jason was almost positive they were. The mushrooms were tall, with fat stems and a thinner, flattish cap colored a pale orange, and they resembled an impressive variety he recalled having once seen at the grocery. Jason quickly pulled up one of therather extensive encyclopedia apps he had on his phone, which he¡¯d installed back when he had first started college. One of his first professors had turned out to be the type who was always going on about how unreliable wikipedia was, and so Jason had picked up several textbook and encyclopediaapps in case he needed some kind of reference for a paper, despite the fact that most of theircontents seemed to have been pulled from online in the first place.
He¡¯d never gotten around to uninstalling themafter that class had ended, and was suddenly glad he hadn¡¯t.
Jason pulled up the entry on the ¡®King Bolete¡¯, which he thought was the name of the orangish variety that was often found in his home state of California. Reading carefully, Jason concluded that the mushrooms before him were in fact, king boletes. The article showed how to identify them by their stems, caps, and sponge-like undersides, as well as how to test for the few non-edible varieties of bolete that you might confuse them with.
Also known as penny buns, and a host of other names, Jason knew that edible varieties of boletes were both highly nutritious and had a good taste on their own. These particular ones were massive, many larger than both of Jason¡¯s hands put together. And they seemed properly mature too.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Seeing that the mushrooms were too large to carry more than one by hand, Jason pulled off his shirt for a second time. He snapped off some medium length branches from the dead shrub, and ran them through the sleeves to fashion an improvised basket. Propping up his phone at the base of a tree so he had some light, he pulled up a few of the mushrooms, checked the tops and bottoms of each one for an absence of insects, and gathered them into his ¡®basket¡¯. He figured he could slice them up with his knife, impale them on a stick, and just roast them in the fire.
It took him a few tries to work out the best way to cook himself up a meal. In the end, he used his knife to sharpen a branch into a relatively long, thin skewer, removing all the bark in the process and passing it through the fire a few times to burn off any contaminants. Then he sliced the stem of the largest mushroom into wide discs and roasted several of them at once like you would a set of marshmallows, or a kabob.
His first mouthful of properly cooked mushroom seemed heavenly. After exerting himself heavily getting everything set up for the past two hours, and coming on the tail end of having been at work all day, Jason was famished, and he fully intended to cook all three of the giant mushrooms he¡¯d picked.
He chewed slowly at first, savoring the taste. The mushrooms had a nutty, almost meaty flavor to it, with a pleasant crunch that was surprisingly moist. The encyclopedia entry had said that boletes were largely composed of water, but he hadn¡¯t been sure how that would translate to being cooked over a fire. Of course, there was the slight bitter taste of smoke as well, but that couldn¡¯t be helped under the circumstances, seeing as he had no pans or even flat rocks with edible leaves to wrap things in.
Jason plucked another slice from his skewer, and then froze in place as a deep, resounding bell tolled in his mind, and a floating blue text flashed in front of his face.
Welcome to Verdania, traveler. Due to unforeseen interference by an outside party, your introduction to The Interface was delayed. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused. Compensation has been awarded.
Jason sat very still. Then he eyed his skewer of mushroom doubtfully. Was he hallucinating? Had he suffered some kind of brain damage after all? Was the stress getting to him?
He didn¡¯t think so. He¡¯d experienced hallucinations before once, as a side effect to a medication he¡¯d taken during a hospital visit. Jason didn¡¯t feel any of the disorientation or confusion that usually came with that sort of thing. As for stress, until just now he had been feeling rather confident. He had tools. He had a source of fire, and food. He had a phone to call for help if he could get a signal. Water was a problem, but he¡¯d had a certain level of survival training as part of the orienteering club, so as long as he wasn¡¯t forced to hunt, Jason thought he could probably forage.
The text faded, only to be replaced by more.
Please remain patient as your recent achievements are catalogued. Calculating.
Achievements? What? he wondered as that text too, faded slowly from his sight.
With another deep, tolling sound, more text appeared. A large number of text boxes popped one after another, plastering themselves across his vision and making it difficult to see.
He examined the first one.
Congratulations, your status has been approved. Initial stats have been chosen. Initial skills have been awarded. Special status has been granted.
Due to the circumstances of your arrival, your race has been changed to Human (Outworlder). You have been awarded the free perk [Heroic Potential]
Jason¡¯s mind raced, blazing through the implications he hadn¡¯t wished to address earlier. He didn¡¯t feel off in any way. In fact he hadn¡¯t even noticed, but his headache had vanished at some point. He was a little sore, but it was a good kind of sore, the sort that comes from having had a good workout after a long week of lazing around. Otherwise, he felt pretty good.
He thought back to the... portal, for lack of a better word, and came to the only conclusion he could. He¡¯d either been sucked into some video game one the computers had been running, or he¡¯d suffered a complete mental break and was now lying in a hospital somewhere in coma.
Jason sighed to himself. Who am I kidding? This is way too real to be either of those. It¡¯s more like one of those weird world hopping manga stories my roommate adores. It even says ¡®Outworlder¡¯ right there. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on, but I think I¡¯d better treat this as real, whatever this is.
With one hand he reached up and tried to shoveaway the first message box, while he held the wooden skewer up to his face to take another bite. Might as well not let his food go cold while investigating, after all.
It worked. The box didn¡¯t go away, but he was able to ¡®push¡¯ it out of his field of view so he could read the others. The first few seemed to be simple notifications.
Due to your demonstration of your ability to provide for yourself in a hostile wilderness, you have been granted the skill [Advanced Survivalist: Rank 3].
Due to your demonstration of a detailed knowledge of local flora, you have been granted the skill [Advanced Herbalism: Rank 3].
Due to your ability to fashion an edible meal over an open fire, you have been granted the skill [Basic Cooking: Rank 1].
Wait, how does that work? Jason wondered. I get the survival and the cooking; Ive had lots of practice after all. But I just used my phone to look up all that stuff about mushrooms. I don¡¯t have any extensive knowledge about plants, except maybe a little about things to avoid, like poison oak. Did me just ¡®learning¡¯ it just now count?
He moved on to the next screens.
Congratulations! You have successfully transmuted a purified natural substance from one state to another. You have been awarded the skill [Basic Transmutation].
Congratulations! Through the use of clever science, you have created a source of usable energy other than magic. You have been awarded the achievement [A Modern Prometheus]
Congratulations! Through application of both science and alchemy, you have created a source of fire, one of the prime elements. You have been awarded the achievement [Bottled Flames]
He glanced down at his lighter. His piezoelectric lighter, which contained compressed, liquid butane. Butane, which when uncompressed, became a gas, which was then ignited by the tiny spark of electricity that was generated when the lighter¡¯s button was depressed.
When did I do that? Jason was thunderstruck. Wait, does it mean...?
Jason began to laugh.
So, what? Jason thought, This... system or whatever... doesn¡¯t care how I did something, or that I didn¡¯t invent or make the lighter, only that I was the one performing the action?
Jason grinned to himself. He could have fun with this, maybe. He had a whole host of information on his phone, thanks to his professors. Textbooks, encyclopedias, the lot.
If he could find a way to keep it charged. A sudden thought occurred to him, and he frowned. Wait, one of those messages mentioned magic. If that exists here, and I¡¯d have to guess that it does if transmutation is some kind of skill, I might have serious trouble finding an outlet.
After all, one didn¡¯t generally find too many electric outlets in the same places that one found wizard¡¯s towers. Unless you were the Wizard of Oz, but he was more charlatan than actual wizard, after all.
Sighing, Jason moved on to the next, and final, of the messages.
Congratulations! You have met all the requirements to unlock a new Class, [Alchemist].
Current Class: None. Your first Class unlock is free.
Would you like to unlock and equip the [Alchemist] Class for zero cost? Y/N?
Jason¡¯s eyebrows shot upwards.
So this is, what? Some kind of RPG interface? Jason rubbed his chin thoughtfully with his free hand. Classes, skill ranks, perks... those are all pretty familiar game elements. How is this even possible? It¡¯s too real, it can¡¯t be some kind of VR simulation.
Jason knew he wasn¡¯t going to get any answers just sitting around though. He stared at the text in front of him for a few minutes. The notification screens faded away on their own after a few moments, but the main one remained in front of him.
Would you like to unlock and equip the [Alchemist] Class for zero cost? Y/N?
Ah, what the hell. Why not? he thought.
As classes went, it was an unusual one. It could be interesting, and if he was to be stuck here, interesting was a big plus. He didn¡¯t know if he could change classes, though the use of the word ¡®equip¡¯ there led him to think maybe he could. And if not, it wasn¡¯t a huge deal. Jason knew that some people absolutely loathed support classes, but he wasn¡¯t one of them. Besides, if this was real, standing behind the big brute types seemed like a smarter move than putting yourself in the line of fire all the time. Jason had some experience with crafting classes in tabletop RPGs as well; they were often extremely lucrative, or their presence skewed a group''s overall strength sharply upwards, even if they were weak in combat. He could live with that.
Jason looked for an ¡®accept¡¯ button, but didn¡¯t see one. He reached out and tried poking the ¡®Y¡¯, but that didn¡¯t do anything either. Finally, he focused his mind on the text.
¡°Yes,¡± he declared aloud.
Jason dinged. There wasn¡¯t any other way to describe it, really. Anyone who¡¯d played an RPG the last decade would recognize it. A flash of light, a complex sound, a new series of messages scrolled passed his vision, before fading away.
[Alchemist] Unlocked. Primary Class Equipped. First Class Equipped: User Interface Activated.
You are now a Level 1 [Alchemist]!
Class Skill Gained: [Analyze Ingredient, Rank 1]
Skill Point Gained.
A small, mostly transparent screen popped up in Jason¡¯s peripheral vision. In the dark, even with the fire, it was quite visible. He turned his head to look at it, which of course just caused it to move with him. He stopped, instead looking at it just by moving his eyes. This caused the screen to expand directly into the center of hisfield of vision.
Congratulations On Selecting Your First Class!
This is your user interface. It will allow you to access all information about your status, as well as any information you may have collected through skills about the things you have encountered. Your UI may be customized at a later time.
Speak ''Next'' to continue.
¡®Next¡¯, he said.
Your UI will not be visible when not in use. In order to access your UI, simply look out of the corner of either eye, and speak the word ''Interface'' loudly and clearly. This command may be customized at a later time. For now, in order to interact with your UI, simply use any appropriate appendage. Please select ''Close'' and then repoen your UI to demonstrate your understanding.
[Close]
Jason closed the window, vaguely grumbling to himself about tutorials, and hoping there wasn¡¯t a lengthy one to follow. He hated those. Then again, he considered, a tutorial might get me more information about where I am, or even what had happened to me.
"Interface," he said. The window returned.
Good Job! You have demonstrated your understanding of how to use your user interface. Feel free to browse through it now. If you have any further questions, be sure to ask an adult! Good Luck!
Wait, that¡¯s it?
All that remained was a [Close Window] button. Jason stared at the message for a few seconds. That final message seemed vaguely ominous to him for some reason. Clearly it implied that the ¡®tutorial¡¯, limited as it was, was for a younger audience. But the vocabulary choices there weren¡¯t. Then again, Jason suspected that most twelve year olds, having grown up with technology all around, probably did understand words like ¡®customizable¡¯ and ¡®user interface¡¯. People gave water-proofed, ''net-capable mini-smartphones to their six-year-olds these days, after all.
Jason closed the window, banishing the interface for now. He¡¯d take a look at that in detail in a while. Instead, he spent a few minutes gathering up more mushrooms and dragged the dead shrub over to his campsite, making sure to leave them along the edges, well away from the fire. There were a lot of mushrooms. Way too many to eat right now. He knew if wanted to bring the rest with him, he was going to need to work something out.
But food first. Then he¡¯d take a proper look at his status.
Chapter 02
Chapter Two
Having finished what passed for dinner, Jason was ready to spend some time working out more of the rules of this world.
¡°Interface,¡± he commanded.
Once again the partially transparent blue screen sprang up in front of him. This time, it opened directly to what he assumed passed for his character sheet.
Name: Jason Elric
Race: Human (Outworlder)
Gender: Male
Primary Class: Alchemist 1
SP: 15/100
MP: 100/100
Might: 10
Agility: 14
Intellect: 16
Endurance: 11
Charisma: 10
Spirit: 8
Fortitude: 18
Awareness: 15
Appeal: 10
Magic Resistance: 14
Resolve:14
Luck: 12
Advanced Herbalism, Rank3
Advanced Survivalist, Rank 3
Analyze Ingredient, Rank 1
Basic Cooking, Rank 1
Basic Transmutation
Earned Titles: Expand
Achievements: Expand
Accumulated Points: Expand
While many of the specific terms weren¡¯t the ones Jason was most used to, the first set of values seemed simple enough to understand. Assuming that a 10 was average for humans, his stats reflected that he was passably fit, had moderately good coordination, was an excellent student, and had little interest in religion of any kind.
As for the second group of stats, Jason wasn¡¯t totally sure about them but he could make guesses. Fortitude would likely relate to his physical resistance to poison and disease. Magic Resistance seemed fairly self explanatory, as did Awareness and Luck; all three were pretty standard derived statistics in a lot of games. Resolve was a bit more nebulous. He supposed that it might function as some kind of mental defense, or affected things like focus and concentration. Possibly it even stood in for a mental attack stat if such things were available. Appeal was, well, probably for a lot of things; ¡®Charisma¡¯ was the usual term in games, and was almost alwaysa kind of a catch-all stat relating to both personal magnetism, physical attractiveness, strength of willpower, and other such things. Apparently the system found him painfully average in that department, which stung a bit, but Jason felt he couldn¡¯t really deny it if he was being honest with himself.
Apart from that, Jason was relatively pleased with the stats he¡¯d been assigned. His fortitude especially seemed unusually high. Since it seemed to him like the second group was all composed of derived statistics, and his Endurance was only slightly above average, he suspected that his class had something to do with it. In addition to the Fortitude, he also seemed to have better than average luck and reasonably good Magic Resistance and Resolve, which meant that he might at least havea leg up on surviving things that weren¡¯t gunning for him physically.
Jason briefly examined his list of skills. By focusing on each one, he received a brief explanation. The descriptions were fairly unhelpful unfortunately. [Basic Transmutation] for instance simply said that he had the ability to transmute the most basic elements to and from their complimentary states, but failed to say anything about what that entailed or what its effects would be. [Advanced Survivalist] was, quite literally, ¡®You posses a detailed knowledge of how to survive in the wild for an extended period of time.¡¯ That was it. Only the entry for his class skill seemed to have useful information.
Analyze Ingredient - By carefully studying naturally occurring ingredients obtained from flora and fauna, you can discover the innate alchemical properties of any substance. Rank 1: Able to analyze up to one trait by consuming the item.
Jason groaned inwardly. He¡¯d played games that used Alchemy systems like this. He knew it would be a real pain to get the most out of the skill, because you effectively had to keep eating random things you found in order to find traits that would go together. The greater the variety of similar things you mixed together, the greater the effect. You could, with time investment and a fair bit of luck, usually turn it into either a cash cow or a means of providing high-end buffs and healing. The drawback of course was that you had to start off by just eating random things and hoping it didn¡¯t kill you.
He wondered if maybe [Survivalist] would help with that. Between that and [Herbalism], if he mostly stuck to plants he should at least know ahead of time if something was likely to poison him or not.
Oh well, I guess I¡¯m committed now, Jason thought. A quick tap of his primary class seemed to confirm it, he didn¡¯t have any other options available at the moment
Might as well get started. Mushrooms are a common alchemy ingredient in games, right?
He ate one of the smaller boletes raw while trying to focus mentally on activating his skill. He wasn¡¯t really sure how it was supposed to work.
King Bolete Trait Discovered: Restore
Restore? That¡¯s it? Jason wondered. Not Restore Health, or Magic, or Stamina? Just Restore?
It wasn¡¯t too far off from what he¡¯d expected, seeing as it was a type of food, but the vagueness bothered him a little. With some additional poking around, Jason found that he did, in fact, have a list of discovered traits, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any explanation at all as to what each one individually meant.
Jason shrugged to himself mentally. Well, maybe it¡¯ll become clear later.
He returned to his examination of his character sheet, selecting the option to expand the remaining entries. Unsurprisingly, he lacked any titles, and the only entries under achievements were the two he¡¯d been awarded earlier.
The final section, [Accumulated Point Totals], expanded to show him several new categories.
Character Points Available: 0
Class Points Available: 0
Stat Points Available: 0
Skill Points Available: 6 (+)
XP Accumulated: Alchemist - 0%
Jason noticed immediately that he had more skill points than the single one he¡¯d been granted when he selected Alchemist, so he decided to explore that first. Selecting the entry gave him the option to spend his points on either ranking up existing skills, or to purchase new ones. The purchase option expanded into a truly massive drop down list with a search function and some different filters.
Jason spent several seconds just scrolling through the list. He didn¡¯t even get through a fraction of the A¡¯s before giving up. The list must be miles long; it seemed like any kind of basic civilian job or life skill was in there, as well as quite a number of blantantly supernatural ones. It would probably take him hours and hours to go through it all properly, if he was so inclined.
He decided to conserve his skill points for now. While Jason didn¡¯t know the exact time, he guessed that it was probably well past midnight because he was beginning to have trouble keeping his eyes open. He had already been at the end of his day before ending up here, after all, and then he¡¯d spent hours setting up camp and cooking dinner on top of it.
In short, he was completely exhausted.
So Jason closed down his Interface and prepared for bed. He would have preferred to douse the fire before sleeping, but he was concerned about predators and he had neither a shovel to smother the coals, nor water to douse the logs. He could spend another hour trying to dig up dirt with a shaped branch, but he didn¡¯t have the energy. Thankfully, there was no wind, so he thought he¡¯d be safe as long as he took precautions.
Jason double checked that the area was clear of any ignitable debris, broke up the fire a bit with a remaining small branch so that it would burn itself out more quickly, and finally scraped together a pile of leaves some distance away, to serve was a pillow. Then he lay down, and was fast asleep.
When Jason awoke the next morning, it took him a few moments to get his bearings and remember that he was most likely trapped on some kind of alternate fantasy world. He¡¯d honestly sort of hoped that he¡¯d wake up in his bed and that it had all just been a particularly vivid dream.
No such luck, apparently. He only had a 12 in that stat, after all.
The morning air was crisp, and slightly cool. His fire had mostly gone out during the night, but a slight wisp of smoke still escaped here and there. Jason spent a few moments just inhaling deeply, reveling in the smell of the forest around him, free the normal pollutants of modern cities. He had always loved having a chance to get away from city life.
After reigniting his fire and roasting some more mushrooms, Jason returned to his previous night¡¯s activity of examining his Interface. He figured out how to access some of the customization options, and changed the opening command to ¡®Status¡¯. Then he set the screen to only show him his MP, SP, class level, and skills. Everything else he placed under an expanded character sheet on a separate screen. As for the status screen itself, he turned it nearly completely transparent, and had it float off to his left side, a little bit in front of him, where it wouldn¡¯t block his direct vision much but he could still access it with an outstretched hand. Jason had once died in a game while fighting off a pack of dinosaurs because a screen had popped up in front of him to ¡®helpfully¡¯ inform him about the creature now that he¡¯d slain one, only for the others to quickly finish him while he was struggling with trying to close the window.
He had no desire to have such an experience in real life.
After customizing things to his liking, Jason opened up the skill menu again, this time with a specific purpose in mind. He¡¯d given it some thought, and while going straight for magic had its appeal, right now he knew there were two things he needed, and needed badly.
The first was some sort of weapon. If this world was at all similar to the fantasy RPGs of his games, he would need a weapon, fast. After that, clothing and armor would be a must. He had no money, and the jeans and T-shirt he wore currently wouldn¡¯t last long if he remained out in the wilderness. He would also need a way to carry things around with him, and it was unlikely that whoever lived here accepted American credit cards. That meant he needed to earn money, which to Jason meant crafting skills. In fact, he considered that the right choices might find some amount of synergy with his class; the skill list was massive.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
While poring through the skill selections, Jason noticed something else: few skills cost only 1 Skill Point. Most of the useful sounding basic level ones cost around three points, while a few of the more powerful sounding ones cost as many as 6.
Now that¡¯s interesting, Jason thought, I don¡¯t see any that cost more points than I have available. And yet there are clearly cost differences. I wonder if there are really expensive skills that I can¡¯t see because I can¡¯t afford them, or don¡¯t meet the prerequisites?
After a few more moments of consideration, Jason shrugged, and made his selection.
Congratulations! You have acquired the skill, [Improvised Weapon Crafting]
The skill selection didn¡¯t tell him exactly what the skill did before purchase, unfortunately, but at least this oneonly cost him a single point. It didn¡¯t seem to have a rank, either, much like [Basic Transmutation].
Then again, Jason reflected, there¡¯s only so much you can do without proper tools, I suppose. Maybe it¡¯s upgradable later?
Leaving the rest of his points unspent for now, Jason gave some thought to his immediate needs: water, shelter, and some kind of weapon.
The first would be the hardest, but it was also the most important. Jason had no idea what the terrain here was like, other than, well, forest. Without knowing anything about the region, he might just have to settle for doing his best to move to lower elevations if possible, and just keeping an eye out. Unfortunately, the trees here didn¡¯t seem to have much in the way of lower branches, so there was no way he was going to be able to just climb one and take a look around, like what people always seemed to doin movies.
Jason knew he could rig something up to catch rainwater, if he was lucky enough for rain, but he didn¡¯t have anything to use as a container. He supposed at worst, he could just take his shirt off, let it get soaked, and then twist the water into his mouth, as gross as that sounded. If he could get some clay, he might be able to make some kind of bowl maybe, but he wasn¡¯t sure how well a campfire would work for firing. Usable clay would most likely be found near water anyway though, so it was kind of a moot point.
Berries would help in a pinch, but they weren¡¯t really a substitute. If he got really desperate, it was disgusting but certain kinds of animal blood would work as a liquid source. However, that came with some serious risks of its own, so it was more of an emergency measure. It also meant he¡¯d have to hunt, and he didn¡¯t have any kind of weapon yet.
Thinking about his water needs was making him very aware that he hadn¡¯t had anything to drink in nearly half a day.
At least shelter would be easy, he felt. He was in a seemingly temperate forest, one of the better terrains to be lost in. It provided relative shelter from the elements, with obviously plenty of wood for fire to fight off cold, and it provided plenty of food if you knew where to look. He could, with effort, even simply build himself a wooden lean-to shelter if he couldn¡¯t find a suitable other location, like a cave or a large, hollow oak.
Although he was eager to try out his new skill, Jason would need to scavenge for what he needed first, and water was his top priority. So he decided he would strike camp, and go in search of a river or stream, and just keep an eye out for any kinds of useful stones, particularly straight branches, or other materials that he came across. If something happened, he could always use his knife to defend himself, though it wasn¡¯t really made for combat.
Jason used one of his remaining branches to scrape up a large amountof dirt to thoroughly bury the ashes of his fire. He didn¡¯t want to leave it behind and risk a stray branch falling in and igniting the forest; having left it overnight had been bad enough. The work was hard without a shovel, and further reinforced Jason¡¯s desire to find water first before anything else.
His task finished, Jason set off in search of water. He hoped that his [Survivalist] skill would come into play here, but he wasn¡¯t sure how to activate it, if that was even a thing. In the RPGs he¡¯d played, Survival as a skill was usually just something you used, and then magically came across food and water in some fashion.
Jason highly suspected that wasn¡¯t the case here, but he tried anyway as he traveled along, poking around at his skill list just in case. Unfortunately, tapping away at the screen, he couldn¡¯t seem to figure out how to activate any of his skills, and the Interface was very unhelpful in that regard.
¡°Ask an adult, indeed,¡± Jason muttered.
It took Jason the better part of the day before he actually found something of use, and coincidentally, discovered at least one way his new skills worked.
He came across a game trail.
Before his arrival here, Jason had known vaguely that game trails were paths that animals frequented regularly to get from one place to another, and that was about it. Tracking wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d learned, nor hunting, during his time orienteering. But when he came across the line of packed dirt carved through a stand of tall grasses, only a single glance told him a great deal.
Simply by looking, Jason knew with a strange, jarring certainty that this was a trail frequented by species of large herbivores called a Moschus. It was apparently like a very large goat crossed with a deer, which possessed a massive pair of rather dangerous horns instead of antlers. The trail led southwards, most likely away from the creature¡¯s den and towards a source of food or water. Jason also could tell that this trail was used by more than one of the animals, to judge from the hoof prints he found here and there in the dirt.
All of this information was suddenly just there, granted by his [Advanced Survivalist] Skill. It seemed to just plant the knowledge directly into his mind as he examined the path, as if he¡¯d always been an expert woodsman. Jason found the whole experience extremely surreal. He even knew it was his Skill at work, as if there was some sort of context at the back of his mind, labeling the information.
Idly he wondered what would happen if something suddenly blocked or removed his skill. Would he just forget all that stuff as suddenly as it had came? He didn¡¯t know, and found it vaguely disturbing that his mind was being messed with somehow, even if it was to his apparent benefit.
Shaking himself all over and breaking off his line of thought, Jason decided to follow the trail. It had a high degree of likelyhood to lead him to a source of water eventually, because after all, animals needed thattoo.
Along the way, Jason began collecting small vines and particularly long grasses he passed. Now that he knew at least some of his skills worked like some kind of passive knowledge, he could put his [Improvised Weapon Crafting] to use.
First, he fashioned something that would pass for small lengths of twine by braiding grass and vines together as he walked along. His skill showed him the best kinds of grass and vines for the task once he actually began trying to make some. He¡¯d work until he had something about as long as his arm, then tie it off and the drape it across his shoulders and start again. Soon, he had a good half dozen lengths of twine close to a meter long. Next, Jason used his skill to ferret out what kinds of stones might be useful for crafting tools, namely flint and chert, and put the larger or flatter ones into his pockets for later use.
Eventually, hours of hiking later, he came across an important find: a small stand of river cane. Knowing it was generally found near water, he stopped crunching his way along the trail and stood still, listening. Ever so faintly, he heard the sound of moving water in the distance.
Excited and painfully aware of the dryness of his throat, Jason hurried onward, only to stop short a few minutes later as the game trail crossed a wide, packed dirt road.
This was excellent news. Not only could Jason hear moving water close by, a road meant civilization, and with it, people. He immediately decided that after locating the nearby water source, he would set up camp here alongside the road, on the off chance that passing travelers might come across him while he got himself better equipped.
He found a deep, slow moving stream not too far from the road; the game trail led directly to it. It wasn¡¯t the cleanest, but it was still water, and at least it was relatively clear and wasn¡¯t stagnant. He caught glimpses of the occasional fish darting away from shores as he approached.
Lacking any options to boil or purify the water first, and with [Survivalist] informing him that his Fortitude made it probably fine, Jason simply crouched down, cupped his hands, and drank deeply from the stream. He also took a few moments to wash his face and made an attempt at rinsing the dirt and twigs out of his hair.
As he was finishing up, his [Survivalist] Skill suddenly screamed a warning to him. Jason froze, taking in the sudden quiet that had fallen around him. He scanned the area, searching for signs of any animals. His Skill wasn¡¯t giving him any specific details, but a dozen tiny factors he barely registered seemed to all be screaming at him that there was some kind of predator nearby, possibly in the stream itself.
Visions of his life being swiftly ended by a sudden crocodile attack flashed through his mind, and Jason rapidly backed away from the stream. When he was a good several feet away, he turned and quickly ran back to road, where his feeling of imminent danger quickly faded.
Jason leaned heavily against a tree for a few moments, taking deep breaths to steady his nerves. Once he was sure nothing was coming after him, Jason decided to return to small stand of river cane he¡¯d seen, as the stalks could be fashioned into serviceable spears.
It was definitely high past time he had something to defend himself with.
Jasonfound that the task was surprisingly simple, although it took him a fair amount of time and effort. [Survivalist] and [Improvised Weapons] worked well together, providing the basics: how to use a thick piece of soft wood as a mallet for his knife, so as not to break it while trying to cut the cane, how to split the cane in order to form the best shafts, and how to use the stones he¡¯d found to chip away at each other, forming them into flat spear heads and spikes.
Over the course of the next few hours, Jason worked away at crafting some weapons and tools. First, he fashioned three relatively short [Crude Stone Spears]. While he didn¡¯t have any skills for using them, spears were so basic that he didn¡¯t really think he needed one, at least not for simple self defense.
Next, he relied on his Survivalist skill to try and make some basic stone tools that would make future tasks simpler. Upon completing a [Crude Stone Hammer] and a long, three-pronged [Crude Fishing Spear], he receive a new notification.
Congratulations! You have fulfilled the requirements to learn [Basic Stonecrafting] at a reduced cost. Would you like to purchase it now for 1 Skill Point, Y/N?
Jason put his tools down, and sat back, considering. Apparently it seemed there was some sort of system for earning discounts.
Yet another oddity. It¡¯s strange, Jason mused, how similar and yet how different everything is from the RPGs I¡¯m used to. It¡¯s like everything is designed to be as opaque as possible.
Jason decided that [Survivalist] seemed to be helping him well enough for now.
¡°No,¡± he said, dismissing the notification.
A thought occurred to him. ¡°Status,¡± he said, navigating to his skill selection menu. Typing in [Basic Stonecrafting], he saw that the skill was now listed as ¡®Cost: (1)¡¯ to purchase. He assumed the parentheses indicated the reduced cost. Checking the filters, sure enough there was a flag for ¡®Earned¡¯ which brought up [Basic Stonecrafting] as the only entry.
Excellent, he thought. I don¡¯t have to accept things right away. All the more reason to not spend points unless necessary.
Another thought occurred to Jason. He needed armor, didn¡¯t he? Or at least something to carry his stuff with. Maybe he could try and earn a discount for something deliberately.
So Jason made several additional, longer lengths of twine, and tried rigging himself a sort of harness, a rope belt with an over-the-shoulder loop that he could slide his spears into so he could carry them all with one hand. It took a few attempts to get it right, but with the skill he wanted firmly fixed in he mind, he was eventually rewarded with a [Crude Carry Harness] and another notification.
Congratulations! You have fulfilled the requirements to learn [Basic Tailoring] at a reduced cost. Would you like to purchase for 1 Skill Point, Y/N?
¡°Yes,¡± he declared happily. He hadn¡¯t been sure it would work, but despite the lack of needles or cloth, thinking of his task as making a sort of clothing item seemed to have convinced the system to grant him what he¡¯d aimed for.
Well, that or woven belts counted as cloth and not, say, leatherwork, but it worked out either way.
Jason finally set aside his new tools as his stomach rumbled. Dusk was approaching, and he¡¯d gone nearly an entire day without eating. Thankfully, he¡¯d spotted another cluster of mushrooms while he¡¯d been cutting away at the river cane, so he quickly set to work making a new campsite. At least this time he could just set up his fire alongside the road, away from the trees.
He received another surprise while he did so: he came across a small sprouting of wild onions. While they¡¯d be rather bitter, they¡¯d at least they¡¯d be something else to eat besides just roast mushrooms. His [Herbalism] Skill informed him that it also meant it was early to mid spring, which was good, since it meant he probably wouldn¡¯t have to worry about potential snow.
Between [Advanced Survivalist] and Jason¡¯s new tools, setting up camp went much faster than the previous night. It took him only about an hour to clear an area out and get a campfire assembled. Soon enough, just as the last of the light was beginning to fade, he found himself once again sitting on a log, holding mushroom-and-onion skewers over an open flame.
He didn¡¯t get the chance to eat though, because that¡¯s when all the yelling started.
Chapter 03
Jason scowled, his food only halfway to his mouth. It was almost stereotypical, how he''d just sat down to eat, only for someone to let out a high-pitched shriek in the distance. He hoped that the system wasn''t at fault here, that this wasn''t it somehow orchistrating events for a more authentic game experience, or something along those lines. If you could call a real life RPG a ''game experience''.
Would that make this some sort of way-too-serious LARP? he wondered.
Distantly, he heard the bellow of some creature, followed by a series of unintelligible words that had an air of cursing to them. A second bellow echoed through the trees.
Jason sighed, and put down his skewer. This was where he was supposed to come the rescue and be the hero wasn¡¯t it? For a few precious seconds he considered staying where he was. But no, he needed to find his way to civilization, and he knew that if he just sat there while someone got hurt, he''d feel absolutely terrible after the fact. He wasn''t the type to remain idle when someone actually needed help. It wasn¡¯t that he specifically wanted to playthe hero, he just didn¡¯t want to be the asshole who pretended he saw nothing.
So he got up. Even if he wasn''t sure what he''d be able to accomplish, at least he had a weapon. Jason supposed that heroes had to get their start somewhere, even if he wasn''t really sure he wanted to be one; really, he just wanted to find a way back home, not that he really had much hopes of doing so. Besides, if he wanted to experiment with his class, he needed XP, which probably meant fighting.
Jason grabbed his longer fishing spear and followed the noise. It didn¡¯t take him long to find the source. Down by the stream, close enough that the light from his fire was still vaguely visible in the distance, he came across two figures, one human, the other decidedly not.
He''d half expected a damsel-in-distress situation, and he wasn¡¯t entirely wrong. There was a damsel, though from the look of her, he was fairly sure that calling her that would be prettyinsulting. She was also hardly in what he would call ¡®in distress¡¯, because she was winning. Maybe at the very worst, it was currently a draw, but it looked like winning to him.
What he had found was a tall, young woman with faux-red hair who looked to be Jason''s age. Currently, she was fending off a grossly fat, partially bipedal frog creature the size of a extremely large dog, usingwhat appeared to be a badly rusted longsword held in one hand. The frog-thing didn''t really have arms to speak of, but it did have some wicked-looking teeth, and it kept lashing out at the girl with a long, prehensile tongue. She would either roll to the side and dodge, or try and deflect with her sword, causing the frog thing to abort its strike. Jason could see flecks of greenish goo dripping from the creature¡¯s tongue and scattered across the grass; apparently it had learned the hard way not to follow through when she used the sword.
Jason didn¡¯t intervene right away, though he gripped his spear firmly, raising it in front of him. He wasn¡¯t sure if the woman would appreciate the help or not, and she didn¡¯t seem like she needed it offhand. He insteadstood quietly at the ready, because he didn''t want to distract her.
She noticed him anyway. "Hey, naked dude!" she yelled to him. "I just need an opening. Chuck your spear at it." She mimed a throwing gesture. Then she dodged to the side again as the frog took another swing at her.
Naked dude? he wondered. Oh, right. The shirt. He''d left it near the fire to dry, because he''d been using it to carry mushrooms again, and had rinsed it in the stream afterwards. He hadnt stopped to put it on before investigating.
Jason didn¡¯t feel like it was a terribly good plan to throw his only weapon away, and it probably wouldn¡¯t do much. He assumed the woman had some sort of plan, though, so decided to oblige her. He could always run away back to his camp to get his other spears.
He circled halfway around behind the frog, and the next time it opened its mouth to strike at the girl, Jason threw the fishing spear as hard as he could, striking it in the back. It didn¡¯t penetrate well, falling to the ground, but it did manage to draw blood. With a bellow that frogs should emphatically not be making, it turned to face him.
Jason tensed himself to run, but it turned out to be unnecessary. With a series of swift poking gestures as if one-finger typing on a keyboard, the girl''s hand sparked with light and a small arc of electrical energy spat forward, striking the frog square in the side.
Magic, he thought, Sweet.
The frog spasmed and fell over as the electricity ran through it and into the ground, unable to maintain its balance as its muscles contracted uncontrollably. The girl used that opportunity to dash up to it and stab the creature with her rusty sword, jamming it right through the creature''s eye and into its brain. It died instantly.
Level Gained: Alchemist Level 2. Skill point aquired. Stat point aquired.
"Thanks for the assist, stranger." The girl said, letting go of her sword and leaning forward to place her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. "Still haven¡¯t gotten the hang of this stupid quick cast system," she complained. "Keep having to do it manually through the menu, which takes me a few seconds."
Jason looked at her, surprised. He''d tried figuring out how to activate skills through the interface, but had given up on it. Maybe none of his current skills worked that way?
The girl eyed his pants thoughtfully for a brief moment. "I''m gonna go out on a limb here, and guess you''re from Earth like me. I don''t see blue jeans being a common thing in a fantasy setting."
"Uh, yeah," he said awkwardly. He was suddenly very aware of the state of his clothes. "Um, sorry about the lack of shirt. It''s drying right now." This was not how he liked to make his first impressions.
She waved a hand tiredly. "Eh no worries. It''s just nice to see another human being finally. I''ve been out here in the middle of nowhere for almost a full day now, just blundering around hoping to find some sign of civilization. I was stopping for some water when I saw your fire in the distance and came running, only for that frog thing to come lunging out of the water."
She stood upright and rolled her shoulders, then stuck out a hand. "I''m Lumiriel, by the way."
"Jason," he said, clasping her hand and choosing to ignore the frog guts. "Uh, this is a bit gross, but would you mind if I borrow your sword for a few minutes? I have two skills that will help me tell if any parts of this thing are useful."
"Or edible," he said with a grimace.
Her eyes widened. "Really? What¡¯d you get?"
"I¡¯m an [Alchemist], apparently." Jason explained briefly about how his orienteering and survival training, and finding the mushrooms and using his lighter, had led to his acquisistion of the class.
"Oh, thats pretty cool. I actually ended up with Knight. I was bored, and found this sword half-buried in the dirt bythe road, alongside some kind of busted wagon wheel, and just started swinging it around, pretending like a tree was a giant." She ducked her head sheepishly. "Broke the wheel attempting to do a shield bash, too."
"Knight?" Jason asked. "Wasn''t that a spell you used, though?"
"Sort of." Lumiriel shrugged. "I''m not really sure, but I think actual spells are different somehow. When I first arrived, I was just sitting around in the dark. Whatever that big ghost tentacle thing was that dragged me here, it seemed like it had to be magic, right? So on a whim I just ran around doing silly stuff, just in case I could get it to work.
"What, really?" Jason laughed.
"Yeah," she said with a lopsided grin. "I made a pretty big fool of myself, running around trying to do hadokens and yelling things like ''lightning bolt'' and ''fireball''."
She laughed. "It didn''t work, obviously, but when the system finally came back on, apparently it decided I''d given it the old college try, and it gave me [Elemental Cantrips], since apparently I have a really high spirit stat and a decent Intellect."
She paused. "I guess it wasn¡¯t that silly, in the end.¡¯ She said, glancing over at the frog''s corpse.
"How did you choose which spell to use?" Jason asked curiously.
"I dont, really. Its more of a mindset kind of thing. Unless you mean the navigating the UI. The skill gives me the ability to conjure and manipulate small amounts of classic rpg elements. But I don''t choose what I want it to do with the UI, that''s just for activating the skill, which I''ve been having trouble with."
She tapped her head with a finger. "Once I''ve actually selected it, it''s all about what I want it to do. Though I can''t really do much damage directly with it. But it seems great for basic stuff like starting fires, stunning animals, that sort of thing."
"I¡¯ll say. Speaking of, about that sword?" Jason gestured vaguely in the direction of the dead monster. "I¡¯ve got a fire going, and plenty of quite good mushrooms and some onions. If its edible, I could cook kebabs I guess. You¡¯re welcome to join."Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
"That sounds fantastic," she said, laughing as her stomach grumbled. "I haven''t eaten at all for a whole day; I didnt want to risk poisoning myself. Even the idea of giant frog legs sounds good to me."
"Same. I''ve been living off mushrooms. Some meat would be nice.¡±
Lumiriel passed Jason her sword and they went to work. Jason''s skills informed him that indeed, the flesh of giant frog-things was just as edible as the normal kind. This was excellent news, because the creature had enough meat on it to feed them for multiple days. Even better, it turned out that the frog hide was actually quite tough, flexible, and relatively waterproof.
To Jason, that meant he could finally make some bags. Disgusting, temporary frog-skin bags, but bags nonetheless.
In addition to the fleshy, cookable meat and the hide, his skills also ''helpfully'' informed him that if he was willing to dice up other parts of the creature and snack on them raw, Jason could further his knowledge of alchemy ingredients.
He nearly threw up just thinking about it.
In the end however, he used his Skill anyway, but only after consulting with Lumiriel; She agreed to keep an eye on him if anything happened. Jason was mostly sure it would be fine; as far as he was aware, all of a frog was actually edible, right down to the toes. It was just that a most of it wasn¡¯t very palatable, or especially healthy, like the skin. So Jason just gritted his teeth and sampled some parts they harvested, despite his stomach¡¯s protestations.
[Frogoid Brain] Trait Discovered: Enhance
[Frogoid Webbing] Trait Discovered: Water
[Frogoid Eyeball] Trait Discovered: Night
[Aquatic Sweetbreads] Trait Discovered: Breath
Congratualtions! You have fullfilled the requirements to learn [Basic Harvesting] at a reduced cost! Would you like to purchase it now for 1 Skill Point? Y/N?
Level Gained: Alchemist Level 3. Skill Point Gained. Class Point Gained. You have aquired a new Class Skill, [Brew Potion].
Jason felt extremely encouraged, even if he did actually throw up afterwards. Not only had he successfully leveled up a second time from all his skill use, but he thought he''d gained a bit more insight into what the alchemy traits might actually be for. If it worked like he hoped and he could find a village or town before the remaining ingredients spoiled, he could craft one or two potions he could potentially sell or barter with. That might mean not having to rough it even once theyfound civilization.
Jason said as much to Lumiriel, who agreed with him. She definitely liked the sound of having an actual bed to sleep in; Jason gathered she had never even been camping before.
She also had an extremely useful suggestion: If two of them were to journey together, she could help preserve the meat by using her [Elemental Cantrip] to produce ice.
Rather than haul the corpse back to camp and risk attracting scavengers, Lumiriel stood by with Jason''s phone as a flashlight, while he used his new [Basic Harvesting] skill and her sword to salvage the hide and carve the meat off the bones as best he could.
While she encased the remaining ingredients and most of the meat in ice, he fashioned a [Crude Frogskin Bag], which he wrapped around the hunk of ice. Looping a pair of twine handles around the whole thing, he had an makeshift cooler to transport it in.
The rest of the frog meat Jason and Lumiriel brought back to camp and cooked thoroughly. Most of it Jason turned into kebabs along with mushrooms and onions, while the rest Lumiriel wrapped in more ice and left for later.
Jason also cleaned and set aside some of the bones, fashioning a [Crude Frogskin Backpack] to carry them in. Both his [Survivalist] and [Improvised Weapons] skill told him that bones made for decent spear or arrowheads when sharpened. While they were fragile and wouldn''t last as long as a stone one would, bones were very sharp when split; thats how compound fractures happened, after all. And, well, you can always use one bone blade to get more bones.
Finally, he crafted a second [Crude Frogskin Backpack], this one intended to be filled with mushrooms in the morning, so he could stop using his shirt as a basket.
While Jason worked, and while waiting to regenerate her mana between uses of [Elemental Cantrip], Lumiriel fiddled with her UI. She too had hit level three, and she wanted to see what new options she had, if any.
"Oh hey!" she exclaimed after a moment. "I can unlock a new class!"
"Really? What did you earn?" Jason asked, looking up from his bag-making.
"Not earn, unlock," Lumiriel said. "I hit level three, so I got a Class Point, which is apparently what we use to unlock new classes we''ve met the prerequisites for."
"Sweet," Jason said, putting down the partly finished bag and opening up his interface as well. "I got one too. I hit level three from all the alchemy tasting stuff. Apparently using my class skill counts as Class XP.
"Maybe we get them every three levels?" Lumiriel suggested.
"That would be pretty nice. Lots of options, then. I wonder how many we can equip at once. I''m sure its more than one, since it says ''Primary'', but I couldn''t find any explanation of the rules, so to speak."
"Yeah, this system really doesn''t like telling you things does it?"
"Yeah."
Jason and Lumiriel both browsed through their options, eventually deciding to compare thier available classes. This confirmed one of Jason''s earlier suspicions about skills: If you didn''t meet the requirements, classes and skills simply didn''t appear on the selection menu. This meant thatsince they didn''t even know what was possible, it was very hard to game the system for high-synergy classes and skills. It didn''t mean they couldn''t, but it would take a lot of research, and probably a lot of talking to other people who did know the system. To make matters worse, they discovered the system didn''t specify much about what a class would actually grant you, only its general description.
Jason had a large number of basic civilian classes that reflected his crafting skills, like ¡®Chef¡¯, ¡®Leatherworker¡¯, and ¡®Herbalist¡¯. He also had a few standard woodsy-type combat classes too, no doubt thanks to his [Survivalist] skill, including one called ¡®Wanderer¡¯, which he could only assume was a civilian version of a ranger type.
Lumiriel''s current choices were far more interesting to Jason. She had a number of different spellcasting classes available, nearly all of which seemed to have some kind of nature-based, partly spiritual theme, like [Witch], [Shaman], and [Druid]. They tentatively guessed that her [Elemental Cantrips] were somehow qualifying as nature, or natural, magic. Jason thought it was strange, as he thought of ''Elemental'' magic in terms of fire and ice, which to him meant wizard-y magic, but Lumiriel argued that shamans and druids were well known in fantasy for their strong offensive spells, particularly along the lines of powerful thunderstorms and eruptions of earth, stone, and lava.
Lumiriel also had a number of close combat classes available to her, as in addition to [Elemental Cantrip], she had [Basic Swordsmanship] and [Basic Mobility]. She''d earned both at the same time that she had become a [Knight], purchased both on the assumption that they were both going to be important for her.
One class in particular stood out to her though. It was a melee spellcasting class from the sound of it, and since she''d already experienced how useful her [Cantrips] could be at close range, she decided to go for it, and unlocked [Spellblade].
Lumiriel made a faint humming sound, head bobbing from side to side while she poked at her interface, which she''d made visible to Jason. He meanwhilehad decided to hang on to his Class Point for now and returned to finish his final bag.
"Well, this is kind of annoying." Lumiriel said. "Not the class, the equipping. It looks like the levels in each slot matter. Like, I can set [Spellblade] as my primary class, but then I can''t set [Knight] as my secondary. But I can set both of them if I do it the other way around. [Spellblade] can also be set as a subclass of Knight, whatever that does, but Knight doesn''t appear as a subclass of [Spellblade]. I think it''s because one is level three, and the other is only level one."
"That makes sense," said Jason. "I''ve definitely played games that had a system where it worked that way."
"Well, at least we can use more than one, right? I always hated games that locked you into one single class, and liked the ones that were super free-form where you could just pick several different trees, or could at least swap around as needed.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Jason replied. "I always thought it was weird where in some games, your barbarian couldn''t just up and learn how to play the drums, because that was somehow only available to bards, or your wizard was incapable of learning how to use a sword in case he ran out of spells or something."
Lumiriel smiled. "Well, at least that''s something I don''t have to worry about, it seems."
Jason laughed. "Yeah, thats true. You know what? If we''re going to be working together, I think I''ll pick up [Basic Throwing], I think I saw that in my list somewhere. If you want to be the frontliner, I can be the back row, and use knives or spears or something until I can make something better. It certainly worked earlier. And who knows; I''m still hoping I''ll learn to make bombs or offensive flasks or something, too."
"That would be pretty awesome. And you can maybe make me buff potions too. And healing ones, of course."
"Yeah, that''s high on my list of things to work out. Which reminds me, actually... I got [Brew Potion] earlier. I should see what it says."
He thumbed through his status screen for a moment.
Brew Potion: By combining alchemical ingredients with complementary traits into a liquid solution and infusing mana into the resulting mixture, you can create permanent magical consumables that are capable of a wide variety of effects. Rank One: Capable of combining up to two ingredients for a single effect.
"Well ok, that''s better than I expected," Jason said. "The explanation, I mean. I''m not sure what ''complimentary'' means here exactly, but given the traits I''ve...discovered, I''ve got a working theory, but I need a to find some more ingredients and have something to put it in first before I''m ready to test it."
"Yeah?"
"Im thinking I''m supposed to chain together various traits like a sentence or something. Use three or four different things that make a sort of vague sense together. Like if I tried to mix the Frog, uh, Brains, with the Webbing, I''d get ''Enhance Water'' which might say, make someone''s water magic temporarily stronger, or maybe it boost someone''s resistance against water based spells or something."
"Oh, like some games do runecrafting?" Lumiriel asked. "That makes a sort of sense. Odd to apply that to Alchemy, but then there''s all sorts of odd things in this system. Its kind of all over the place."
"Yeah, I''ve definitely noticed that too. It seems really cobbled together, like it was drawing from a great many different sources for inspiration or something."
"Maybe that''s why we''re here."
"God I hope not," Jason replied. "That would be such a lame reason to be pulled into some kind of fantasy world." He yawned, putting down his tools. "Ugh, I''m exhausted. Its been a long day. You ready to turn in? I think we''ve pretty much done everything we can tonight. We''ve still got a little hide left, but I''d rather save it for later."
Lumiriel yawned as well, stretching. "Yeah, I''m good. Want me to douse the fire and make us some beds?"
"Beds?"
She grinned. "Well duh, no need to sleep on hard, flat ground. I don''t just do lightning and ice, you know. Earth is an element too. And Life or something, apparently; I can do plants also, kinda. Here, watch."
It took her several castings and most of her remaining mana, but in short order she had formed two ''beds'' on opposite sides of the fire: A mound of loose earth with a slight depression in the center, with a large ''pillow'' made from a thick mat of soft grass.
"Thats...damn." Jason said. "You are ridiculously useful to have around."
"Aww, that''s sweet, Mr. I-Know-How-To-Make-Frogs-Into-Bags."
"Pfft."
Chapter 04
¡°So you can take flowers and plants and stuff and make potions out of them, right?¡± Lumiriel asked as she reignited their campfire. The two of them had woken with the dawn, a chorus of birdsong echoing through the woods around them. Lumiriel had awoken easily, delighted by the noise. Jason just scowled and grumbled something about sleeping in before he too hauled himself upright.
Covering his mouth with the back of his hand, he stifled a yawn before responding.
¡°Yeah,¡± he said after a moment. ¡°At least, I¡¯m assuming so. Those mushrooms we¡¯ve been eating have the ''Restore'' trait, so I know ordinary plants can at least be used sometimes.¡±
¡°Cool," she said, feeding some twigs into the fire. She sat on a small mound of earth she''d conjured to use as a chair. "So I was thinking, I walked that road like all day yesterday, and not too long before I met you, I came across a patch of wildflowers at a fork in the road. Maybe we could take the other fork, since you came from the other direction, and while we¡¯re at it you could do your thing and see if any of the plants there are good for something?¡±
¡°Uh, actually I haven¡¯t been taking the road,¡± Jason said. ¡°I er, got droppedintojustdense woods, and was actually just following some game trail over that way.¡±
Jason pointed over his shoulder.
¡°But yeah,¡± he continued, ¡°that sounds good to me. I mean, one direction is as good as any at this point. We might as well take the route that couldnet us something useful.¡±
Once he was fully awake, Jason used his knife to slice up the remaining mushrooms from the previous night, and they had short, meager breakfast. He made a mental note to keep an eye out for more foodstuffs while they traveled, and resolved to come up with a better meal plan than just sliced veggies. Even without a Skill, he knew he was capable of better; it was just that he hadn¡¯t had time to sit and think about it.
While he was busy thinking, Lumiriel let out a sudden ¡°Aha!¡± and a new notification popped up in Jason''s view.
You have been invited to form a party with Lumiriel Dun¡¯val. Do you accept? Y/N?
¡°Yes,¡± Jason declared, grinning. A small, unobtrusive window popped up in his peripheral vision, showing both their current status. ¡°How¡¯d you manage that? I didn¡¯t even hear you open your UI.¡±
¡°Oh yeah, I noticed you were using vocal commands last night. It¡¯s part of the customization stuff. You can just set it to activate through thought or gesture as well as speech. Even a combination of things.¡±
¡°Oh is that what you meant by quickcasting, yesterday?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± she nodded. ¡°I wanted to just be able to use a gesture to activate it, but it¡¯s super picky about getting it just right. I mean, I guess that¡¯s a good thing so you don¡¯t accidentally light someone¡¯s hair on fire, but it¡¯s taking some practice to get used to.¡±
¡°Anyway,¡± she continued, ¡°apparently there¡¯s a third screen apart from the status and customization ones, that shows some different commands. Pretty standard MMO stuff it looks like, though there¡¯s some kind of cost associated with some things, like private messages. I don¡¯t recognize the icon. Some kind of pile of powder or something, it looks like.¡±
¡°If it¡¯s some kind of microtransaction bullshit, I¡¯m having words with the system later.¡±
Lumiriel laughed. ¡°You and me both. But my guess is some kind of spell reagent, yeah? Pretty common in tabletop games to have long-range speech spells, and most MMO¡¯s charge trivial amounts of copper or something to send mail, as a money sink.¡±
¡°Hmm, you¡¯ve got a point there,¡± Jason replied. He pulled one of the mushroom skewers from the fire, and passed it to Lumiriel. The other he kept for himself, blowing on it to cool it down slightly.
¡°What screen are you talking about though? I didn¡¯t see anything like that,¡± he said after taking a moment to have a bite of mushroom.
¡°Just scroll down from your status screen. It¡¯ll take you to another page.¡±
Jason looked confused for a moment. ¡°Status,¡± he said, and reached out to try and scroll with one finger.
¡°Hmm. Doesn¡¯t seem to work with mine,¡± he said with a frown.
¡°That¡¯s weird, let me see?¡±
Jason shared his screen with Lumiriel, then repeated the attempt.
¡°Oh dear,¡± she said. She smothered a grin with her free hand. ¡°I think I know what happened. I did it once myself, back home. You customized your layout, and just mass deleted the stuff you didn¡¯t want, didn¡¯t you?¡±
Jason groaned, facepalming. ¡°Goddamit, you¡¯re right, I did, didn¡¯t I?¡± He laughed, shaking his head, then his face turned thoughtful for a moment.
¡°You said standard MMO command stuff right?¡±
¡°Yeah.¡±
¡°Slash ResetUI¡± he declared. His status screen fuzzed for a moment, turned blank, and then reformed in its default configuration.
He flicked upwards with a finger, and sure enough, the thirdpage popped up, listing numerous additional options and commands he¡¯d completely missed.
¡°I cannot believe,¡± Jason sighed, ¡°that I made such a noob mistake. It¡¯s not like we weren¡¯t living in the age of smartphones or anything.¡±
¡°Swiping different directions to check for other options should be second nature by now,¡± he laughed. ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯ll have to re-do my setup here. Can you show me how to set the command types too while I¡¯m at it?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
A few hours later, they¡¯d finished their breakfast, reconfigured Jason¡¯s UI, cleaned themselves up a bit, and were now walking slowly down the road in the direction of the wildflower patch Lumiriel had come across.
¡°So, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask,¡± Jason inquired. ¡°Sorry if it¡¯s a bit rude, but what¡¯s up with your name? You said you¡¯re from America like me, but that¡¯s a really unusual name. But it¡¯s right there on my UI now that we¡¯re formally a party, so that¡¯s actually your name, right?¡¯
¡®It isn¡¯t, not really.¡± She confessed. ¡°You can change your name up to two times in the UI, actually. Back home I went by Alice, but since I was pretty sure I¡¯ll be stuck here for the foreseeable future, I decided I wanted to be someone else.
¡°Even better,¡± she continued with a laugh, ¡°it seems I can! Boring old Alice was a barista in a coffee shop. Lumiriel though? She gets to be a badass swordfighting wizard!¡±
She struck a deliberately ¡®heroic¡¯ pose for a moment, fist pumping, and then laughed again. ¡°And here we are, on an adventure already instead of starving in the woods.¡±
Jason grinned back at her. ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought of things that way, but you''re right. I wonder why only the two changes though?¡±
¡°My theory is it¡¯s an age thing." Lumiriel shrugged. "You know, how kids or teens go through a phase where they decide they don¡¯t want to be called by whatever their parents called them as a baby anymore, but sometimes they keep a general nickname or use a middle name? And then later on of course, people sometimes either need to actually change their names legally for some reason, like if they take a spouse¡¯s name, or they want to distance themselves from their family.¡¯
¡°Yeah maybe. Why not just leave it open or something though?" Jason replied. Then helaughed. "Or give it a point cost. Everything else seems to have one.¡±
She laughed alongside him. ¡°Who knows, maybe there¡¯s a skill for it! I can¡¯t imagine roguish types wouldn¡¯t want an ability like that.¡±
¡°You may have a point there.¡± Jason paused a moment, considering, while he stopped to pluck a handful of purple blossoms from a vine hanging from a tree on the side of the road. ¡°I wonder if there is any other stuff we can change? Race? Gender? Features? I never even thought to try and interact with that part of the UI.¡±
He then ate one of the petals after confirming with [Advanced Survivalist] that it was safe.
Wisteria Blossom: A bright purple flower taken from an aggressive species of vine. Occasionally used to create floral wines or jams.
[Wisteria Blossom] Trait Discovered: Self
Jason scratched his head, unsure of what that trait might be for. After all, potions usually affected the one drinking them, right?
Lumiriel meanwhile continued on about changing one¡¯s status.
¡°I don¡¯t think we can currently,¡± she said. ¡°I had a pretty extensive look around that first night after I picked up my magic skill, trying to figure out how to use it. I figured out pretty fast that just about any entry is expandable for further explanation, but not everything has options and a lot of them aren¡¯t terribly helpful. Most of them are just single-sentence descriptions.
I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there were ways to permanently change yourself with magic though," she continued. "That¡¯s pretty common in games, yeah? Fleshcrafter NPCs, barber shops, respec potions, cursed belts, polymorph spells, reincarnation scrolls....all sorts of stuff. This system seems incredibly broad, so it might be in there somewhere. I¡¯m hoping there¡¯s something that will change my hair color for good.¡±
¡°Mmm, yes, dyed right?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I thought I recognized that coppery red. Well, if we can¡¯t find you a permanent spell, maybe I can whip up something.¡±
He chuckled to himself a bit with a grin. Here they were, two adults who probably hadn¡¯t held a weapon in their lives, walking through the middle of monster-infested woods on some god-knows-where world, with no idea how or even if they could ever return home, and here he was talking about inventing hair dyes.
He shook his head at himself a bit ruefully. ¡°Alchemist, yeah? I¡¯m sure inks and dyes fall into that. Things like polymorph potions, dusts of illusion, and magical ink should, right? So why not magic hair dye?¡¯
¡°I might just take you up on that," Lumiriel said with a small smile. ¡°I hate my hair. It¡¯s just a boring old light brown. Dress me up in slacks and a blouse, give me glasses, and take away my hair dye, and I look like a librarian."
Jason eyed her dubiously from the side. She certainly didn¡¯t look it now. Then again, the two of them were both pretty filthy from a day and half of wilderness travel. Dirt smudged their faces and hands, and they still had smaller bits of leaves stuck in their hair, despite having assisted one another with a bare minimum of grooming earlier before striking camp. It had been a bit weirdly intimate to do that with someone they barely knew, but when they¡¯d awoken Lumiriel had had several sticks tangled painfully in her hair that she didn¡¯t want to just leave in. Since they had no mirrors, Jason had assisted her in getting them, and the resulting tangles, out. She had returned the favor.
In addition to the dirt, they both had still had a degree of dried frog blood on their hands, arms, and clothes left over from their harvesting and cooking. So they had had a sort of an improvised shower, courtesy of Lumiriel¡¯s [Cantrips]. All she could conjure was one medium sized ball of water at a time though, so it was more like dousing someone with a bucket to get rid of the worst of the stench. They could still have used that to wash more thoroughly, or gone down to the stream, but neither one of them had been willing to strip down in front of a relative stranger and assist them in having a bath, no matter what the situation, and they didn¡¯t want to go down to the stream alone in turns, in case more Frogoids showed up. So instead, Lumiriel just hosed each of them down down with repeat castings, clothes and all, and they just dried out as they walked along.
¡°I have trouble buying that.¡± Jason said teasingly. ¡°You don¡¯t even have glasses. Isn¡¯t that, like, required?¡±
She laughed ruefully and then shook her head. ¡°Ugh, don¡¯t remind me. I begged my parents to get me LASIK when I first started college. You have no idea. People laugh about librarians being a fetish, but I got hit on constantly at work. Being a barista is bad enough. Being a barista who also conforms to a common fetish was a serious creep magnet.¡±
Jason grimaced. ¡°I can¡¯t even imagine what that¡¯s like. Can¡¯t say I blame you for changing things up, though.¡±
In a blatant attempt to move away from memories Lumiriel probably didn¡¯t want to dwell on, he changed the subject. ¡°So, how much longer until that fork in the road you said you found?¡±
They continued down the road, talking about inconsequential things for awhile. With their immediate needs met between Jason¡¯s foraging skills and Lumiriel¡¯s magic, they could each afford to relax some and just enjoy the walk. For a little while, they could almost forget their situation and just think of it as taking a long hike with a friend. Jason guessed that as long as a storm didn¡¯t roll through, they could easily continue on like this for a few more days. He hoped so, anyway. Neither he nor Lumiriel were sure if it was a bad idea to drink conjured water or not, but since the ice they had used for their cooler hadn¡¯t just vanished after awhile, they had agreed that it was probably fine.
After about another hour¡¯s leisurely walk, they finally came to the turnoff. Lumiriel had perhaps slightly understated things in describing it as ¡®a patch of wildflowers¡¯. It was a massive clearing along the side of the road, and it was absolutely filled with a wide variety of different colored flowers, and a number of flowering bushes as well. Jason thought he sawsome edibleberries, too.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
They spent quite some time harvesting, Lumiriel carefully assisting under Jason¡¯s instruction. She also earned [Basic Herbalism] as well, though she did turn it down; there wasn¡¯t much point in both of them having it.
Many of the flowers turned out to be perfectly ordinary, with no alchemical traits. Lumiriel attempted to string them into a wreath and place it on Jason¡¯s head when he wasn''t looking, playfully claiming that a [Knight] was supposed to give gifts to her Lady. Perhaps fortunately to Jason''s mind, the whole thing just fell apart because weaving flowers together is harder than movies make it out to be. Still, they at least got a good laugh out of her antics.
Several other plants did turn out to be useful, though. A pale white flower that grew on a plant with triple-bladed leaves had the trait ¡®Fortitude¡¯, which Jason thought would be very useful, while a purple-stemmed fern with dark leaves had the rather unusual trait of ¡®Volatile¡¯.
[Iparea Petals] Trait Discovered: Fortitude
[Mellax] Trait Discovered: Volatile
Jason picked several of the Iparea, roots and all, and packed them in a small pouch of hide along with some soil. He didn¡¯t know if they¡¯d survive the trauma, but you never knew. As for the Mellax, unfortunately there was only one plant present, and he could only enough harvest enough for one additional dose after having consumed the first. However, when he harvested the last of it, he got a pleasant surprise.
Critical Success: [Rare Seed] Obtained.
[Rare Seed]: A mysterious seed occasionally found when harvesting other plants. Can be planted to grow a random rare-quality plant useful to herbalists.
Jason pocketed the seed along with the other reagents. Maybe it would produce something with a useful trait later.
The pair also spent a bit of time replenishing their food supplies.
Among the plants found here was a species that produced a pale pink berry that [Herbalism] identified as an ¡®Amarca Berry¡¯, which was sour and juicy. Like most of the nearby flowers, it too didn¡¯t have a trait.
They also found some more wild onions, which along with the berries, the two happily added to their stash of food for later. More mushrooms were present as well; the things seemed to be everywhere.
¡°You know,¡± said Lumiriel, ¡°I know it¡¯s a bit cliche in fantasy worlds to have giant mushrooms, but I hadn¡¯t realized that real mushrooms back home could grow so large, too. I mean, I¡¯d heard they were big, but when you think ¡®large mushroom¡¯ you probably think of like, a particularly large toadstool in your yard. I wasn¡¯t expecting massive, head-sized orange mushrooms.¡±
Jason had found one with a stalk as wide as his hand, six inches tall, and a cap almost a foot across. Picking just a percentage of the patch had resulted in several pounds worth of food.
¡°Yeah, I know what you mean,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯d seen them before at the grocery store, but I guess those were just small varieties. These are ridiculous. My phone says that these particular mushrooms really do get this big though. There were pictures.¡±
After a short lunch of raw berries and mushrooms, the two resolved to travel a bit more slowly and look for things to add variety to theirmeals. While they took care to keep the road in sight at all times, they began to veer off the road slightly into the woods to see if theycould find things just off the road. They made sure to keep each other in sight at all times so nobody got lost, and generally avoided areas where the vegetation would slow them down too much, but thisallowed them to search a larger area in hopes of finding extra things to add to their diet, since they had no real idea how far they might have to go to find a town or a village.
It turned out to be a good thing they had, because that was why Jason found the girl.
If Jason hadjust been walking the road, he would have missed her completely. Instead, he¡¯d been investigating a large shrub that sported some large, appealing-looking white berries, which [Survivalist] promptly told him he should emphatically not eat, as nearly all varieties of wild white berries were highly toxic.
So Jasonskirted around to the other side, ignoring them, and squeezed past a patch of brambles only to promptly trip over a tree root. He came crashing down, and with a loud exhalation of air, found himself lying on the ground a short distance from a young woman sitting up against a tree.
¡°Oh! I¡¯m sorry, I-¡± he began, and then froze, falling silent.
She wasn¡¯t sitting against the tree, so much as she was slumped up against it. Her arms dangled by her sides, hands unmoving in the grass. The girl''s head was slumped forwards, hair obscuring her face. Dozens of angry red scratches covered her arms, some of them crusted over with dried blood, as if she¡¯d been repeatedly raked with thorns.
She didn¡¯t react to his presence, and for a moment, Jason thought she might be dead. Then he saw a leg twitch, and a bit of drool dripped down from her concealed face and into her lap.
¡°Miss? Are you Ok?¡± he said cautiously, climbing to his feet.
No response.
¡°Miss?¡± Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lumiriel turn towards him in the distance, clearly wondering why he¡¯d stopped.
Jason cautiously stepped forward and reached for the girls shoulder, ignoring Lumiriel for the moment. He was tense, and held himself ready to jump back at any second, because hey, fantasy world.
The girl''s head lolled to the side as he gently shook her by the shoulder. Dilated, vacant eyes stared up at him as foam bubbled slowly out of her mouth, and she twitched again.
Shit! The berries!
¡°Lumi!¡± Jason yelled, ¡°I need help here! She¡¯s still alive! Barely.¡±
¡°What? Who?¡±
He heard Lumiriel start pushing her way through the foliage to reach him.
Without waiting for a response, Jason shucked off his backpack, just letting it crash into the vegetation around him. He grabbed the girl and carefully tilted over onto her side. Then, grabbing her by the back of the neck, Jason tilted her head backwards and pushed his finger into her mouth and to the back of her throat. It was an emergency measure; Jason knew that inducing vomiting that way could potentially injure someone, but it wasn¡¯t like he could call Poison Control and have her taken to hospital. Better injured than dead, and she would be if he didn¡¯t do something, and fast.
The girl gagged. That her autonomous reflexes were still functioning was a good sign. After a few attempts, being careful not to poke the back of her throat too hard, she vomited, heaving up a disgusting slurry of barely chewed leaves and berries. It looked like she¡¯d swallowed them whole or something.
While holding her sideways so she wouldn¡¯t inhale her own vomit, Jason finally noticed her clothes. They were torn up badly and covered with dirt, but she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt much like himself.
She¡¯s from Earth! he realized. She must have been starving, wandering out here for two days. She probably saw the berries and just shoved by the handful into her mouth.
Once the girl stopped vomiting, Jason checked her throat again to make sure it was clear before righting her.By then, Lumiriel had reached him and seemed to have realized what was going on.
¡°I need her to drink some water so I can make her vomit again,¡± Jason explained. ¡°Need to clear out her stomach as thoroughly as we can. Can you conjure me some? Any container will do.¡±
Lumiriel rummaged through her backpack, pulling out a patch of frog skin theyhadn¡¯t yet done anything with. Cupping it with one hand, she conjured a ball of water and dropped it. Most of it went all over the place, but some when into the ¡®cup¡¯.
Jason snagged a long, thin leaf, from a nearby bush, making sure to grab one from something other than the berry bush. Gesturing to Lumiriel to hold the cup up to the girl¡¯s mouth, he spent a minute slowly spooning water into her mouth a tiny amount at a time. Then, he tilted her over and made her vomit again. Lumiriel made a slight gagging noise of her own, but didn¡¯t say anything.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s move her to the road. We¡¯ll need to set a camp. I¡¯ve got something else that might help, but I need some space. I¡¯ll carry her; see if you can find a large log or something to prop her head up. Otherwise we¡¯ll have to use the pack.¡±
Lumiriel actually did manage to find a short, thick log that had split off from a fallen tree not too far from where they were. It took her a few casts, but she used an Earth [Cantrip] to dislodge it from the ground and roll it up and out into the road. Jason set the girl down next to it, propping her up, but kept her body turned to the side slightly, in case she vomited again. She seemed slightly more aware of stimulus now, but her eyes were still glazed over and her skin was cold. He suspected she was going into shock.
¡°Grab any kindling you can,¡± Jason directed. ¡°We¡¯ll want a fire shortly to keep her warm. I wish we had blankets. I suppose we can just empty the backpacks and drape those over her. Its better than nothing.¡±
While Lumiriel assembled a fire pit, Jason rummaged through his supplies. He pulled out one of the Iparea, and after a moment¡¯s hesitation chose one of the mushrooms over the currently-frozen remains of the Frogoid brain. If his first attempt failed, he figured he could use that as a back up, and he had plenty of flowers and mushrooms.
Jason also pulled out the charcoal powder he¡¯d ground up that morning before they¡¯d buried their fire. It didn''t actually have a trait, but he''d read somewhere that it helped prevent the stomach from absorbing toxins, so couldn''t hurt.
Mashing the flower petals and mushroom stalks between a pair of flat rocks, Jason mixed the paste with some of the charcoal powder. He then asked Lumiriel make another cup of water, and stirred the goop into it with a finger, carefully avoiding spilling the resultant mixture.
He took a deep breath and then [Looked] at the cup she was holding.
Nothing.
Oh, right. The mana part.
Jason hesitated, since his Interface hadn¡¯t ever really explained the next part. But someone¡¯s life was at stake here, so he figured that if making a fool out of herself had worked in Lumiriel¡¯s favor, he could do the same.
He closed his eyes, focused on willing his mana into the cup, and said loudly, ¡°Brew Potion, Infuse!¡±
With a sudden swirl, the mixture turned from a disgusting-looking dark goop into a pale white, uniform solution that glowed faintly.
He [Looked] again.
[Antitoxin, Least] - Consumable. Counter a single minor poison effect currently afflicting the user. Can fail when applied to medium strength poisons. Automatically fails on higher strength poisons.
Jason gaped. That was far better than I¡¯d expected. He hadn¡¯t been completely sure what ¡®Restore¡¯ plus ¡®Fortitude¡¯ would result in. He had just been hoping for something that would boost her Fortitude, and half expected to instead end up with something that just cleansed a Fortitude debuff, and that he would have to try ¡®Enhance Fortitude¡¯ instead so that she could fight off the effect of the berries on her own.
This though sounded like it would actively cure her instead of just making her more resistant. Jason wasn¡¯t sure what constituted a medium or high strength poison, but usually in RPGs it had to do with the difficulty of resisting, rather than deadliness; In the games he''d played, most poison effects were always deadly, except in the few systems where you simply couldn¡¯t die from it as a status effect. He was willing to bet money that simple berries growing on the side of a road weren¡¯t going to count as anything other than minor. Usually the stronger stuff was somehow very rare or magical in nature.
Lumiriel saw his expression. ¡®¡°What? What¡¯s wrong?¡± She was still holding the cup.
Jason took the cup from her with a small, if tense, smile. "Nothing at all. The opposite in fact. I may have just saved this girl¡¯s life. Here, help me feed this to her."
They carefully spooned the antitoxin into her mouth, once again taking things slow, giving her only enough at a time to make her reflexively swallow. Once the girl had drank it all, Lumiriel finished lighting the fire while Jason treated the girl for shock. He rolled her over carefully, propping her feet up on the log and turning her head to the side, just in case.
That turned out to be a good idea, because two minutes later, the antitoxin kicked in, and the girl rolled over and threw up a third time. This time though, it was clear something was different. She twitched violently after throwing up, and then a green glow suffused her body for a moment. She heaved, followed by a fit of coughing. Her skin appeared flushed slightly, instead of the paleness of a person in shock.
Lumiriel¡¯s eyes were wide as she stared at Jason. He moved over to help the girl sit up, and leaned her up against the log.
¡°Easy there. You¡¯ve had a rough time, and you¡¯re probably dehydrated. Take a moment.¡±
Still disoriented, she mumbled something weakly.
Lumiriel conjured another cup of water on her own initiative and brought it over.
Jason took it from her and held it up to the girl. ¡°Here. Use this to spit. Don¡¯t drink it. You¡¯ll want to clean your mouth out first.¡± He had to help her steady her shaking hands, but she did as instructed.
Next, Jason gave her another half cup¡¯s worth. ¡°Ok, you can drink this next one. Slowly,¡± he emphasized. The girl complied, then leaned backwards, exhausted. ¡°Just relax there for a few minutes. You¡¯re safe with us, now.¡±
After a few more light coughs, murmured something indistinct, and then promptly fell asleep.
The girl awoke a short time later to the smell of Jason applying his [Basic Cooking] to some more kebabs. Lumiriel had found some additional wild onions, and even some fresh peppercorn. After expressing surprise that she¡¯d recognized it, Jason was informed that A; the fresh seeds were called ¡®white pepper¡¯, and B; her mother had some growing in her garden.
So Jason had prepared several skewers of kebabs, this time fashioning then into a proper meal. He¡¯dcrushed the pepper seeds into fragments, and along with some mashed amarca berries and bits of mushroom he stuffed it all into portions of the frog meat, and skewered it alongside more mushrooms and the onions. For good measure, he¡¯d then wrapped the whole thing with the onion stalks. It would be a pungent meal, but a good one.
¡°Hey.¡± He said quietly, seeing the girl stir. ¡°Feeling better?¡±
She inhaled deeply, opening her eyes and blinking several times. It took her a moment to get her bearings.
¡°That smells really good¡± she said sleepily after a moment. Then she asked, ¡°How did I get here?¡± Confusion was written all over her face, along with a healthy dose of concern.
¡°Don¡¯t remember?" Jason said, "I¡¯m not surprised. Shock will do that to you.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t.. I¡¯m not sure. I was so hungry. Am hungry. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve eaten properly in days. I-I was.. and then... I don¡¯t know, everything¡¯s kind of foggy. I was somewhere else.¡± She started to get upset. ¡°I got chased by¡ something big. Then I found these berries, and I was just so hungry... and now I¡¯m here?"
¡°That sounds about right,¡± Jason said softly. ¡°You ate some bad berries. Really toxic ones. You almost died.¡±
Her eyes widened.
¡°You¡¯re lucky we came across you,¡± Lumiriel said. Jason had taken the time to fashion an actual cup out of the scrap of hide we¡¯d been using, and Lumiriel held it out to girl, who gave it an odd look of confusion but quickly drank from it.
¡°Careful, you¡¯re probably still dehydrated¡± Jason cautioned her. ¡°You threw up a lot, and you were probably dehydrated to begin with.¡±
Lumiriel held out a hand over the girl¡¯s cup after she finished. Her hand glowed brightly, refilling it. Jason idly noticed that this time she¡¯d managed her make gesture cast correctly.
The girl gasped, looking down. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates. "Wh-? What did you just do?"
Jason andLumiriel looked at each other in concern.
She doesn¡¯t know yet? Jason wondered.Did she somehow miss the system message?
He looked back at the girl, thinking rapidly about everything she¡¯s said far.
"Uh, I¡¯ll explain that later," hehedged. "I¡¯m Jason." He gave a small wave.
Lumiriel stuck out her hand. "And I¡¯m Lumi." Jason noticed she¡¯d chosen to give the shortened version of her name that he¡¯d used in haste earlier.
"Uh, Janet" she replied, shaking the offered hand. Then she looked around. "So um, where are we? I don¡¯t remember how I ended up here. One minute I was with my friends, another I was here in the woods. I must¡¯ve passed out in between."
Jason shifted uncomfortably, as Lumiriel started to open her mouth. He cut her off. ¡°You should probably eat first before we explain. You¡ probably won¡¯t like the answer.¡±
He held up a hand to forestall any protest or concern. ¡°You need to eat proper food, badly, to replace all the energy you¡¯ve lost. Then we can talk about our situation. I assure you, we had nothing to do with it. We¡¯re victims just like you.¡±
Jason pulled a skewer off the fire. They smelled fantastic. He offered it to Janet, who looked like she really wanted to ask questions first, but her hunger seemed to get the better of her. She complained when he made her eat carefully and slowly, butshe listened anyway, after Jason explained that if she ate or drank too much or too fast after malnourishment, she¡¯d end up with terrible, painful cramps, and possibly bringeverything back up.
The three ate in relative silence. They only had the one cup to pass water around, but they managed. Janet kept trying to sneak furtive glances at Lumiriel every time she cast her spell. Not that it wasn¡¯t obvious with just the three of them present.
One benefit of roughing it the way they were was the total lack of dishes to clean up. The skewers could just be snapped and added to the fire, and the ¡®cup¡¯ could just be turned inside out and rinsed. So it wasn¡¯t very long before they¡¯d finished eating and put away their supplies. Lumiriel had finished setting up the rest of thecamp, such as it was, while Jason had cooked, so there wasn¡¯t much else they needed to do. It was still a bit early to turn in though, which meant it was a perfectly good time to give Janet the rundown on what Jason and Lumiriel thought had happened to everyone, and where they planned to go from here.
Janet took it surprisingly well.
Chapter 05
Chapter 5
¡°So this is real? We¡¯re really in some kind of other world?¡±
Janet was biting her lip, but she seemed thoughtful, not concerned. Jason thought she seemed surprisingly calm for someone who¡¯d just been told they were trapped on an unknown world, with unknown inhabitants, for an unspecified period.
¡°Im afraid so. Best we can determine anyway,¡± Lumiriel said.
¡°And that was really magic you were using earlier?¡±
¡°Indeed it was.¡± Lumi conjured a tiny ball of fire and held it in her palm. ¡°Courtesy of whatever strange RPG-like system holds sway over this place.¡± She snuffed the flame out by clenching her fist.
¡°Good,¡± Janet said firmly.
¡°Good?¡± Jason scratched his head. ¡°How is all that good?¡±
Janet looked away, staring into the fire. A bitter note crept into her voice.
¡°My life was shitty anyway. Maybe a new start isn¡¯t such a bad thing.¡±
Jason sat there awkwardly. He wondered what you were supposed to say to something like that. From the look on her face, he didn¡¯t think he wanted to pry. He¡¯d seen that expression before, on people with problematic home lives that left them deeply unhappy.
Who knows, maybe she is better off here, he thought.
From the thoughtful look on her own face, Lumiriel seemed to be thinking something similar to Jason.
After a brief moment, Janet shook herself, and looked back at them. ¡°Anyway, so what stuff can you two do? I mean, obviously you can do that water thing, and I guess fire too, but what else?¡±
¡°Well, we¡¯re both new at all this like you,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°but I¡¯ve got a full range of basic elemental magic that can produce small stuff, like fire, ice, lightning an so on. It¡¯s not strong, but it¡¯s useful if you know a little bit of science. I started off as a Knight, but got some magic too and liked it. Now I¡¯ve changed my class to ¡®Spellblade¡¯ but I dont really know much about it. From the description, it sounds like I¡¯ll get to learn how to channel magic through my sword, maybe be able to enchant myself. I''m still unclear if any of that is actual spells, though. The system doesn¡¯t actually tell you much, sometimes.¡±
¡°And currently, I¡¯m kind of a survival specialist¡± Jason interjected, ¡°because I¡¯ve picked up ranks in a whole bunch of different skills. My actual class is called ¡®Alchemist¡¯ though; It lets me make potions and stuff. That¡¯s how I was able to cure you. We got lucky and had the right stuff on hand, and I managed to make an antitoxin to give you.¡±
¡°Wow. Those are some weird class names." Janet commented. "What kind of skills?¡±
¡°A whole bunch," Jason replied. "I can craft clothing, weapons, and tools, identify and harvest plants and animals, have general survival skills, cooking, and so on. I¡¯ve done a lot of that back home too; I was in orienteering in highschool, so I already knew some survival and navigation stuff, as well as a lot of first aid.¡±
¡°So, what? Your the rogue type? The skillmonkey? And she¡¯s the tank?¡±
Jason laughed. ¡°I guess. It wasn¡¯t my intention, but it¡¯s saved our hides in multiple ways. Between my skills and Lumi¡¯s ability to provide us heat, cold, and water, we¡¯re pretty well set for surviving out here if we need to. And we¡¯ve already seen combat once.¡±
¡°The¡ frog thing we were eating?¡± Janet stuck out her tongue, making a face. She hadn¡¯t been especially pleased to learn that Jason hadgiven her cooked frog-monster meat. Though she had still eaten more of it anyway, since it was actually quite flavorful.
Jason nodded. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s where we met. That was only yesterday.¡±
¡°Oh. So you two aren¡¯t, like, together or anything. I wasn¡¯t sure.¡±
Lumiriel covered her mouth, eyes sparkling. She giggled. ¡°No, no, nothing like that. We just met. We¡¯ve not seen anyone else and decided to stick together. You should come with us too!¡±
¡°I¡¯d like that¡±, Janet said shyly. Then she made a thoughtful noise. ¡°Hmm. What should I be?¡±
¡°Be all that you can be!¡± Jason said over-dramatically in a sing-song voice.
Lumiriel slapped him lightly upside the back of the head.
¡°Ok, I deserved that.¡¯ Jason said, completely unapologetic.
He rubbed his scalp briefly. ¡°Seriously though, choose whatever you want. It¡¯s not like you can¡¯t change. You can even change the name the system registers you as.¡±
¡°Yeah. I did that.¡± Lumiriel raised a hand halfway. ¡°My real first name is actually Alice, but I figured hey, I¡¯m free to be whoever I want while I¡¯m here and nobody can tell me otherwise. So I used one of my old online handles so could have a more fantasy-ish name.¡±
"A new name for a new life, yeah?" Janet replied. "I like the sound of that. I guess ''Janet the Magnificent'' just doesn''t have a very good ring to it, you know?"
"Let¡¯s see¡¡± She trailed off. She cocked her head to one side, thinking. Then she nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll do that one.¡±
She extended a hand towards Lumi. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Kerali. Nice to meet you, Lumiriel.¡± She grinned. ¡°You can call me Kera.¡±
Lumiriel grinned back. ¡°Nice to meet you, Kera.¡±
¡°So uh, how do I change it all official-like?¡±
¡°You do it through the Interface,¡± Jason said. ¡°First though, you¡¯ll need to unlock a class. Then the system should recognize you and you¡¯ll get a message asking you if you want to equip it, and after that you can access your status screen. You can only change your name twice, though, so just be sure.¡±
¡°Wait, system message? Status screen?¡± Kera looked back and forth between the others. ¡°You mean like, a game menu?¡±
Jason looked surprised. ¡°Yeah. Didn¡¯t you get a message shortly after you first showed up?¡±
Kera averted her eyes. ¡°I. Uh. I may have spent the first few hours, um, well, mostly just freaking out in the dark. And then I got chased by that.. whatever... and...¡±
She trailed off, embarrassed.
¡°...I wasn¡¯t very brave."
Lumiriel put a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Hey,¡± She said softly, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Neither of us are going to judge you. It¡¯s pretty freaky waking up in the woods at night without knowing how you got there. Right Jason?¡±
She gave him a look over the top of Kera¡¯s head.
¡°Um, yeah, definitely.¡± He said.
¡°A-Anyway,¡± he continued, ¡°whatever the reason, I guess you just missed it. I did notice my messages didn¡¯t actually stick around until I got my class. They all just faded away after a bit, except the confirmation box.¡±
Kera seemed to find some resolve , and straightened her posture. ¡°So, how do I do that? Unlock a class, I mean,¡± she asked seriously.
¡°I¡¯m not really sure, exactly,¡± said Lumi. ¡°I sort of unlocked my first one completely by accident. a little while after the initial notification.¡±
She explained about finding her sword on side of the road and how she¡¯d earned the achievement, [Tilting Windmills], by pretending the trees were ogres. Jason, for his part, explained how he¡¯d gotten a whole slew of notifications and his class all at once, mostly thanks to his phone and lighter.
¡°Your phone came with you?¡± asked Kera, eyebrows raised.
¡°Yeah, it¡¯s in my bag,¡± Jason gestured. ¡°I¡¯ve kept it off as much as possible, because there¡¯s encyclopedias and science-textbook apps on there. I might want them.¡±
Lumi looked at Jason oddly. ¡°Why would you use those and not just google questions?¡±
¡°It¡¯s kind of a long story.¡± Jason replied. He briefly explained about his luddite-ish teachers.
¡°That¡¯s dumb.¡± said Kera.
¡°I don¡¯t disagree,¡± he laughed, ¡°But its helpful now, so.¡± He shrugged.
¡°Anyhow, I¡¯ve been thinking,¡± he continued, ¡°that it¡¯s a combination of actions mixed with a certain element of intention, or state of mind, when it comes to your first class. I mean, so many of them seem to have skill requirements, but you can¡¯t get new skills until you unlock the UI. And yet Lumi and I were both able to get one without having purchased skills. Well, I guess I¡¯d been awarded some, for some reason.¡±
He paused. ¡°Huh. I wonder if it just auto-paid for my skills or something because I didn¡¯t have a class yet?¡±
Lumiriel shook her head. ¡°No way, can¡¯t be that. Otherwise random kids would be unlocking dangerous skills and accidently summoning a horde of demons or something, just by playing around.¡±
¡°How do we know they don¡¯t? It¡¯s not like we¡¯ve seen anyone,¡± Jason countered.
¡°I don¡¯t know about you,¡± Lumi replied with a grin, ¡°but I¡¯ve noticed a distinct lack of nightmarish hellscape around here. If what you¡¯re suggestingwas the case, I¡¯m sure by now someone would have accidentally conjured up some kind of world-ending catastrophe, just because their mother sent them to bed without dinner.¡±
¡°Maybe they just can¡¯t use their skills until their old enough?¡± suggested Kera.
¡°No, we know kids can get classes,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Or at least, you tend to get your first class while you¡¯re still a minor. You¡¯ll see what we mean later.¡±
¡®¡®At the very least¡± Lumiriel said, ¡°I guess we¡¯re not really sure exactly how to unlock specific initial skills or classes, but they seem to have requirements. Picking an idea and just trying some things might work. Oh, and you have to spend something called ¡®Class Points¡¯ to unlock them, but apparently your first one is free.¡¯
Kera frowned. ¡°What if I try something and get the wrong one?¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°Actually that¡¯s not a problem. I think. I don¡¯t know how it was for Lumi, but it didn¡¯t just give me the class. It kept on asking me if I wanted to accept it as my first, until I gave it a yes or no answer. I think you could just keep on saying no until you got one you wanted.¡±
¡°Oh. That¡¯s not so bad then.¡± Kera said. ¡°Experimenting to see what I can get might be interesting.¡±
¡°What are you interested in?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I can give you some examples, the names at least. It won¡¯t show you anything you don¡¯t have the points or requirements for, but I haven¡¯t spent the one I got last level, so I can look through what¡¯s on my list.¡±
¡°And I remember a bunch of the magic ones I had,¡± said Lumi. ¡°It also sounds like all three of us have a lot of gaming experience. We could aim for something off-the-wall if you wanted.¡±
¡°Hmm I dunno. If she¡¯s the tank,¡± Kera said, gesturing at Lumi, ¡°and youre the rogue, maybe I should try and be a healer? Though that¡¯s not really my thing.¡±
¡°Nah, pick something you think will be interesting,¡± Jason said with a dismissive wave. ¡°Don¡¯t choose something based on party roles. This is your actual life we¡¯re talking about here. Besides, it¡¯s not like we have any idea if that sort of thing would even matter. Maybe adventuring parties and dungeons and stuff aren¡¯t even a thing here.¡±
Both of them just looked at him silently.
¡°Ok, maybe that¡¯s extremely unlikely,¡± Jason conceded, ¡°but we shouldn¡¯t make assumptions.¡±
¡°Besides,¡± he added. ¡°I¡¯ll probably be support in the long run anyhow. I have some ideas where I¡¯d like to take things, but at the very least I¡¯ll be shocked if I can¡¯t figure out basic healing potions pretty fast. I¡¯ll be more like the bard type rogue, you know? Secondary support with lots of skills and weird gadgets and some healing and buffing, if I guess correctly. Not like the stealthy kind.¡±
Jason paused. ¡°Huh. I wonder if different classes get extra skill points?¡±
Lumi shrugged. ¡°Who knows. If we ever find anyone, I suppose we can just ask. Someone had to have made this road.¡±
Kera ran her fingers through her hair again. ¡°Well. I kinda want to maybe learn some magic. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d stick with it, but it¡¯s be kind of cool. Or maybe I could be a monster tamer! I always like pet classes.¡±
¡°What about a summoner?¡± Jasonsuggested. ¡°The sky¡¯s the limit right now, as far as we know. The list of basic classes is huge, and from Lumi¡¯s [Spellblade] class, we know there are hybrid classes. Some kinds of summoners are both magic and pet related.¡±
¡°That might be how we got here in the first place, now that I think about it,¡± commented Lumi. ¡°A summon spell gone wrong? Though who knows how it reached into our world.¡±
Kera rested her chin on her palm. ¡°Hum. I dunno. Summoning demons or whatever sounds like it would get me in trouble.¡±
¡°Why do demons?¡¯ Jason asked. ¡°There¡¯s all sorts of different kinds of summoning. Take Dungeons and Dragons for example. Druids in that game have a spell called ¡®Summon Nature¡¯s Ally¡¯, which can do anything from calling up plain old animals, to summoning swarms of giant insects, and beyond. Depending on the edition, high level druids can even summon dinosaurs, of all things. I never understood why. I mean, I guess they¡¯re ¡®real animals¡¯ so to speak, but still.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
¡°There¡¯s plenty of other examples, too,¡± he finished. ¡°That¡¯s just one.¡±
¡°And how you get them widely various too¡± added Lumi. ¡°Demonic contracts, ritual spells, befriending.¡±
She paused, and then grinned. ¡°Cramming them into small plastic balls.¡±
Jason burst out laughing. ¡°Yeah, I guess Pokemon is kind of like playing a summoner in an RPG, huh?¡±
Kera laughed as well. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the route I¡¯d want to go. How would we even get plastic? Still, a pet class might be fun, if I could have something cute and not all gross like a skeleton zombie or something.¡±
¡°A skeleton zombie?¡± Lumiriel raised an eyebrow.
¡°You know what I mean.¡±
She chuckled. ¡°I do. Still, maybe you should be careful. Many a fiction story starts off with someone calling up dark powers in their basement accidentally, and getting themselves cursed, eaten, or possessed.¡±
¡°Right.¡± Kera said firmly.
¡°You hear that, system?¡± she yelled, shaking a fist at the sky. ¡°No summoning Cthulhu. I want something cute and friendly!¡±
¡°How would we even do that, anyway?¡± asked Lumi. ¡°Spontaneously summon something, I mean. It seems like the sort of thing that you¡¯d need specific instructions for. How do you choose a class if you don¡¯t know what the prerequisites are?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve got an idea about that, actually¡± Jason said. ¡®¡°It¡¯s really just a hunch, but that initial UI tutorial seemed aimed at kids. I mean, it even used the phrase ¡®ask an adult¡¯. But you don¡¯t just hand a 10 year old a sword when he decides he want to be a soldier like his dad. You give him a practice sword and lessons.¡±
¡°But I did that. Sort of, anyway." protested Lumi. "And I didnt end up with like Squire or something.¡±
¡°Right, but you¡¯re leaving out two things," Jason said. "First, you have a real sword, even if it is badly damaged. Second, you¡¯re already an adult, so you might have bypassed any kind of apprentice phase or something.¡±
¡°I guess. It seems a bit of a leap, though.¡±
¡°Right. Thats why it¡¯s just a hunch,¡± Jason said. ¡°Anyhow, I¡¯m thinking maybe Kera should just improvise and try to summon something, kind of like how you went around yelling about hadokens and magic missles.
¡°Maybe take some precautions of course, sure. Like make up a fancy ritual calling on whatever shes hoping for. Make a circle with related ¡®nice¡¯ stuff. And well, try to make it clear you want something very harmless to start with.¡±
Kera thought to herself for a moment. ¡°Ok. That makes sense to me, anyway. I say let¡¯s try. What¡¯s the worst that could happen?¡±
Jason and Lumi bothgroaned.
Despite Jason¡¯s half-hearted grumbling about Kera jinxing herself, the trio decided to go ahead and set up an improvised summoning circle. It was getting late in the day, but they¡¯d already eaten and it wasn¡¯t actually dark yet so they went ahead with it.
Kera decided to just set up her circle in the middle of the road. After all, it wasn¡¯t like any of them had seen anyone around to make a fuss about it. Meanwhile, Lumiriel and Jason stood back and made suggestions but didn¡¯t do any of the actual work. Jason had explained briefly about how he thought the system didn¡¯t care where the ideas or tools or whatever came from, that it was whoever was performing the action that mattered.
This had to be Kera¡¯s show, so to speak.
Lumiriel did stand by with her sword near at hand though. None of them were sure what Kera might end up with, and there was always the chance that control spells were required, spells that they didn¡¯t have. Mostly everyone suspected nothing would happen, but it was better to be safe. As an additional precaution, Kera promised she would forgo any kind of animal blood, dead bodies, or creepy looking runes that tried to crawl out of the floor. Not that they had any of those things, but they really hoped the thought counted.
Jason was fairly impressed by Kera¡¯s efforts. Their summoner-hopeful managed to make her circle look pretty nice in the end. Even just wielding a sharpened stick and some ¡®paint¡¯ Jason cobbled together using conjured dirt, water, and berries for dye, Kera had managed to construct a passable, relatively evenly-drawn ritual space that looked like it was actually meant to do something.
The ritual was composed of a series of concentric circles, with vaguely-runic geometric designs inside them. Kera had also drawn diamond-shaped boxes at the cardinal points to stick improvised ritual objects into, and she had placed a bit of the lastremaining uncooked frog meat onto a ¡®plate¡¯ in the center space. She claimed it would do as an offering.
Jason personally felt that frog meat might count as dead animals, but Lumi pointed out that it was harvested with the idea of being used for food, rather than a sacrifice, and it was just a small bit of minced meat rather than a whole corpse or a big bloody hunk of flesh. So Jason conceded the point. He felt that what Kera thought it meant might actually matter more, anyway. Symbolism was how ritual magic usually worked in games after all, and symbolism was what they were going for here.
So Kera had placed her ¡®offering¡¯ in the middle, and then added her ¡®symbols¡¯: A clump of freshly-picked flowers, to represent ¡®being nice¡¯ (Jason thought this was a stretch, but sure); one of the frog hide pouches, now filled with grass, for ¡®soft¡¯ (definitely questionable); a small chunk of ice that she¡¯d asked Lumiriel to conjure, to represent ¡®magic¡¯ (less questionable, if unusual); and finally, one of Jason¡¯s Iparea plants, still packed roots and all in a dirt filled bag, to represent ¡®alive¡¯ (this one he thought was pretty good).
Jason felt it was pretty solid for a first try overall, and saw Lumi visibly cross her fingers behind her back. Jason just prayed to anyone who happened to be listening that it worked how Kera wanted. If he was being honest, he wasn¡¯t even sure what exactly she was hoping for, or if she was just rollingthe dice with some qualifications tossedin. It was the offering of meat instead of something else that was throwing him off. Maybe she wanted a friendly magic dog?
I guess there are Pok¨¦mon like that, after all, he thought.
After a final touch-up, Kera went over everything three times to make sure it was ¡®just right¡¯, because ¡®we all know how bad it is if something goes wrong.¡¯
Finally, she stood back with a nod.
¡°Right. I think that¡¯s everything. Lumi, can you light the, uh, candles, now¡±
Their ¡®candles¡¯ were twigs stuck into the dirt.
¡°If summoning rituals require actual precise measurements,¡± Jason quipped, ¡°we are so screwed. Why did I suggest this, again?¡±
Shaking her head ruefully, Lumiriel did as instructed, and then moved to stand well back. Jason joined her.
¡°Ok. Here goes, then.¡± Kera moved to stand directly beside the circle, just outside it.
She struck a pose, hands in the air, which Jason thought was supposed to be dramatic but just looked silly. She shouted some hastily improvised lines.
¡°Oh spirits of the great beyond, heed my will.¡± She intoned.
Jason winced. What kind of games does she play? That was a terrible line.
¡°Send me a companion, loyal at heart but fierce in tooth and claw¡±
What.
¡°Oh, and cuddle-able.¡±
Jason sighed inwardly.
Real smooth, there.
Kera bent down, and scooped up some ¡®magic dust¡¯, which was really just dirt Lumiriel had used some kind of light-based cantrip on to temporarily make look like glitter, from the pile at her feet.
She threw it overhanded into the middle circle next to the plate.
With a thunderclap and a flash of light, some kind of small, winged, blue-hued lizardappeared in the middle of the circle. It gave a confused-sounding mewl, spotted the meat, and then immediately started wolfing it down.
Lumi and Jason stared, jaws slack. They turned to look at each other. And then they stared some more.
Before either of them did anything else, Kera squee¡¯d and stepped into the circle, scooping up the creature. Horrified that it might attack her, Jason started to step forward, but it turned out to be unnecessary.
Instead, Kera managed to shove a piece of meat in front of it¡¯s face before it reacted, and it accepted the piece instead of taking off a finger. Kera then sat down right in the middle of the circle, and started feeding the¡ lizard, for lack of a better word, by hand, one piece at a time. She scratched its head gently with one finger and started making cooing noises.
¡°Welp,¡± Jason commented, ¡°Nice, soft, magic, alive, and cuddle-able. Shows what I know.¡±
Lumiriel laughed and lightly punched him on the arm. ¡°Aww, don¡¯t be jealous.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not jealous,¡± he grumbled.
Ok, maybe he was a little jealous.
¡°Let¡¯s leave them to it.¡± Lumi said. ¡°They¡¯ll want to get to know each other a bit I suspect.¡±
The two picked up theirweapons, sat back down at the campfire, and waited to hear what Kera had gotten.
Jason and Lumiriel didn¡¯t actually end up hearing the final results until morning.
Kera ended up taking first watch, saying she wanted to comb through her UI for awhile before making any final decisions. Lumi took thesecond watch, and she wouldn¡¯t tell Jason anything when he awoke for the third one. He thought Kera did look awfully adorable though, sleeping propped up against a nearby tree with her new pet curled up in her lap.
During the early hours of morning, Jason made himself useful. He wanted to try out an idea he¡¯d had thanks to his cooking skill: breakfast sausage. First, he used some of his flat stones to mash up a bunch of frog meat with some mushroom paste, the last of the onions, and more of the pepper fruits, which they still had plenty of. Then he compacted the resulting mix into flat patties as best he could, and stuffed it back into the cooler-bag with the ice. It wasn¡¯t ideal, of course, but the idea was that by working the mushroom, onion, and pepper into the meat and letting it sit for awhile, the meat would absorb some of the flavor, producing something similar to breakfast sausage. His mother had used to do it at home with ground beef and seasonings when he was young, and he hoped it might work here.
The others made appreciative noises a few hours later as they awoke to the smell of breakfast. Jason had to admit his ''ground sausage'' had turned out better than expected, just like the previous afternoon¡¯s stuffed kebabs. Even Kera¡¯s winged lizard, who¡¯d she proudly declared was named ¡®Ceri¡¯, short for ¡®Cerulean¡¯, seemed to like the stuff, onion and all.
Kera¡¯s new friend wasn¡¯t actually cerulean in color, though. Jason supposed that with all things color-related, it depended on who you asked.
Ceri was technically blue, but instead of a bright blue, most of his main body was an extremely dark navy, dark enough that Jason thought most people, himself included, would just call it black. What was really eye catching though was his ¡®highlighting¡¯ pattern. All of the keratin on him - his claws, the small spines that laying flat along his back, and his wing tips - were an almost electric blue. That same coloration also lightly striped his tail and the backs of his wings.
Jason found it fascinating. Ceri was designed to be seen, rather than blend in to the environment like most predators, and Jason wondered why.
He found out pretty fast, when Kera demonstrated one of the skills she¡¯d chosen. As Jason said later, ''In the words of the esteemed Admiral Ackbar, It¡¯s a trap.''
While they ate breakfast, Kera gave Jason and Lumi a rundown on what she¡¯d gotten.
¡°So, apparently I fulfilled a whole mess of stuff doing things that way.¡± She began. ¡°First, I was flat out awarded [Basic Ritual Magic]. I don¡¯t know why, but it looks like I never got awarded any initial stuff like you guys did when the system, uh, came back online or whatever it is you said. I¡¯m wondering if maybe I just didn¡¯t do anything worth awarding til now, so it just waited, but I guess we don¡¯t know.
¡°Anyway, that¡¯s not really a surprise, since we were doing a ritual. Incidentally, Lumi, you might think about picking that up. It opened up a lot of options for long term buffs and things which might interest you. We can talk about that later.
¡°I also got [Basic Ritual Summoning], which is somehow different, even though there¡¯s a bunch of overlap. I¡¯m not sure why I got both if they¡¯re slightly different, but maybe it was because I was just winging it.¡±
Kera munched on a piece of sausage for a moment. ¡°Further, I got [Basic Spellcasting]. My guess is possibly its sort of a prerequisite for doing any kind if magic in the first place. Which isn¡¯t really all that surprising."
She shrugged. "Though I don¡¯t know, Lumi doesn¡¯t have it, so maybe I''m wrong on that.¡±
¡°Three skills at once?¡± Jason asked. ¡°That¡¯s pretty crazy.¡±
Kera grinned. ¡°It gets better,¡± she said, feeding a piece of sausage to Ceri, who had started nudging her hand. ¡°When I summoned Ceri, here, I got several pop up messages at once. The first of course was about me picking a class. Since I think I technically received [Basic Spellcasting] first, it asked me if I wanted to become just a basic [Wizard]. I didn¡¯t take it, of course.¡±
She fed another piece to Ceri. ¡°Thing is, I also had several different pop-ups asking me about different kinds of contracts. Apparently, it turns out ¡®companion¡¯ in the sense I was using it was kind of non-specific.¡± She shrugged. ¡°So the system just asked. One was that kind of ¡®wizardly¡¯ summoning you mentioned. You know, like where they bring in creatures mid-combat on the fly. Then there was one that was referred to as a ¡®Calling¡¯, which somehow involved contracts and stuff. I skipped that, because it sounded too much like summoning angels and demons and stuff, if they exist here.¡±
¡°That¡¯s always a double edged sword,¡± Jason commented. ¡°In one or two games I¡¯ve played, those were always the strongest summons but usually had huge drawbacks or required unpleasant payments in exchange for favors from really scary stuff.¡±
¡°Yeah, I got that impression, so even though Ceri doesn¡¯t look like some super strong monster, I just said ¡®No¡¯ to that one right away. I don¡¯t want to get mixed up in that. Anyhow, I had two others offered as well. One was a ¡®Familiar Contract¡¯, which I guessed was kind of like what witches have, like see through their eyes, possess then, and stuff like that?¡±
¡°Yeah, probably.¡± Jason said.
¡°The last one though I really liked. It was ¡®Soulbound Summon¡¯, which sounds kinda dangerous, but basically it just means that the summoned creature is permanently bonded to you, can stick around as long as you want, and anytime it ¡®dies¡¯ you can just re-summon it after awhile, and it¡¯s automatically inclined to be friendly to you. You don¡¯t actually mind control it or anything though, so you have to treat them nicely or they¡¯ll just act out or run away.¡±
¡°Kind of like a Pokemon.¡± Lumi quipped, giggling.
¡°Exactly. Except right now I can only have one, because apparently that¡¯s the rules.¡± She took a deep breath. ¡°So, after picking that, I went and actually declined the [Wizard] job, and it started offering me others. You were right, Jason, about it just cycling through different ones you¡¯d met requirements for.¡±
She laughed and shook her heard. ¡°There were a whole bunch. I even got offered [Necromancer] and [Cultist].¡±
¡°Cultist?¡± Lumi asked, then grinned. ¡°Let me guess, that one requires ritual summoning.¡±
¡°Yeah, apparently there¡¯s all sorts of crazy stuff ritual magic opens up. Anyway, I found one that I liked that sounded like it was made specially for the contract I picked, and was magic related: [Beast-Bonded Mage]. It comes with a whole bunch of basic skills, apparently. Or maybe they¡¯re technically spells, it¡¯s hard to tell. They¡¯re tied to the class though, it seems like I lose them if I unequip it. Some of them are pretty useful, like I¡¯ve now got a skill that lets me check out a monster¡¯s stats and potential skills from a distance. For instance, if Ceri here wasn¡¯t already part of my character sheet, I could still tell you he¡¯s a ¡®Skydancer Drake¡¯ and he¡¯s got a pretty cool magical special attack. Which actually brings me to the two skills I spent my all skill points on.¡±
She stood up, and placed Ceri on the log she¡¯d been using as a seat.
¡°I¡¯ll demonstrate on you, Jason.¡± She grinned mischievously. ¡°I¡®ll tone it down though.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not going to like this, am I?¡± he grumbled, but without any real protest.
Kera reached out one hand, and said loudly, "Ok, Ceri, go!" Ceri remained draped on the top of the log, but his highlighting suddenly shined an even brighter blue.
Kera then tapped at the air, using her UI. There was a brief shimmer in the air around her, and then she glowed in the exact same manner as Ceri. She reached towards Jason.
Ah, shit. This is going to hurt.
Jason had been tased once before, at a supposedly peaceful protest where it was the cops who had turned ugly. He knew what was coming, and braced himself.
With a loud zap, his mind caught on fire. Jason flopped over like a fish, muscles spasming. Thankfully, it was over in a brief instant, because Kera had merely brushed her fingers briefly against his skin, rather than pumped a steady pulse of electricity into him.
It still hurt like hell though.
Jason groaned on the ground, coughing, but the pain faded rapidly.
¡°Ohmygosh I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Kera said, helping him up. ¡°That was way stronger than I thought it would be, and I even toned it all the way down. If I¡¯d known I would¡¯ve just told you about it instead.¡±
Jason winced, but waved her off. ¡°Its fine, its fine. It¡¯s not like the system give¡¯s us much detail. Just uh, maybe let¡¯s not do that again.¡±
¡°I''m so sorry,¡± she apologized again. ¡°I really should have just tested it on some monster first.¡±
¡°So what did you do, anyway? Borrow a buff from Ceri?¡± Lumiriel asked.
¡°Even better!" she said, bouncing in place slightly. "See¡ I earned a skill last night while I playing with Ceri, trying to think about what skills I wanted. I was just goofing around, copying his behavior to be silly, and I suddenly earned [Basic Mimicry]. I vaguely remembered there was some RPG where that was actually a combat skill, and it was only a single skill point, so I just thought, ''why not'' and purchased it. Turns out I was right; playing around with that led to me copying Ceri¡¯s ability, and that earned me an achievement, which unlocked something I just couldn¡¯t pass up.¡¯
She paused for effect. ¡®[Monster Magic]¡¯ she said.
¡°That sounds pretty cool,¡± said Lumi, leaning forward. ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡±
¡°It basically lets me copy the magic abilities of monsters I fight, or apparently also bond or summon, onto my character sheet. I can learn monster-only spells, like the one Ceri has, which charges his body with electricity like an eel.¡±
¡°You mean, like Blue Magic?¡± Jason asked, wide eyed. ¡°That¡¯s usually pretty good stuff.¡±
¡°I guess?¡± Kera replied. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean by that.¡±
¡°It¡¯s actually a term from the same game series you were remembering from the mimic thing from, if I''m guessing the right one,¡± Lumi said. ¡°It''s basically what you described. Blue mages learned specialized, often very strong, magic that was unique to monster species, but they had to get hit with it first and survive.¡±
¡°Oh.¡±
¡°It¡¯s actually really awesome.¡± Lumi said. ¡°You basically get free spells, and ones that other people can''t normally use.¡±
¡°Well, at the expense of risking life and limb,¡± Jason countered. ¡°But yeah, usually it was pretty really powerful.¡±
¡°Well, in this case it seems they only have to use them near me,¡± Kera said, ¡°or at least that¡¯s how it was for Cheri¡¯s [Static Shock]. It¡¯s still dangerous, but hopefully I don¡¯t have to stand still and get hit with them. That would suck.¡±
¡°Still,¡± Lumi said, ¡°I¡¯d say our, well your, experiment was a rousing success, yeah? Five major skills plus extras, an unusual and interesting class, and a new friend all in one.¡±
¡°Well then,¡± she said, standing up, ¡°I think that about wraps things up. Let¡¯s get things cleaned up and get to finding ourselves some civilization!¡±
¡°Aye aye, cap¡¯n!¡± Kera saluted.
¡°Wait, why does she get to be captain?¡± asked Jason, amused.
¡°Well duh.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Its because she¡¯s the magical knight. That makes her a paladin, and theyre always the one in charge.¡±
Jason couldn¡¯t really argue with that.
Chapter 06
¡°Guidance...?¡± Jason mumbled to himself, scrolling through his screen with one finger as he walked along. ¡°No, that¡¯s a questing thing. Navigation...? No, that¡¯s probably boats or something. What abou-ack!¡±
Jason stumbled for, tripping over a rock in the road. He caught himself at the last second.
¡°What are you so into over there, anyway?¡± asked Lumiriel. ¡°You¡¯ve been talking to yourself under your breath for like half an hour almost, and that¡¯s the third time you¡¯ve nearly fallen on your face.¡±
The three of them had been traveling the road for about a day and a half, with little to keep them occupied except getting to know one another and coming up with theories and ideas about the System. So far, they had seen no sign of civilization beyond the road they walked, and it was beginning to wear on each of them. Only the occasional antics of Ceri, who alternated between riding on Kera¡¯s shoulder and flying about, served to keep them amused. Currently the drake was off hunting up some lunch somewhere; Kera had assured the other two that he could find his way back to her at any time.
The forest had gradually thinned out as they¡¯d traveled, slowly turning from dense forest to thin woods. The terrain had remained level, with only the occasional hillock that the road they traveled simply curved past while always maintaining a southward direction. The weather had, thankfully, remained cool without being cold, and it hadn¡¯t rained yet either. Lunchtime was fast approaching, but Jason had other things on his mind than food.
¡°I¡¯m looking for, well, radar skills, so to speak,¡± Jason said. He closed his status screen with a sigh of frustration.
¡°I¡¯ve was trying to think of ways we might be able to gather stuff for potions more efficiently than just wandering around,¡± he explained. ¡°The system has so many elements of games we¡¯ve played, and it got me thinking: Minimaps are pretty much ubiquitous in modern RPGs, right?
¡°On top of it, huge numbers of MMOs have gathering skills that grant you the ability to see nearby nodes like herbs on your minimap. So I¡¯ve been poring through the list to see if I can find something that might lead to either a minimap or some kind of sensing ability.¡±
¡°But no luck?¡± asked Lumi.
Jason shook his head. ¡°None. I¡¯ve been looking for skills that sound like they could lead to such a thing, and there¡¯s a few ¡®maybe¡¯s in there, but I really don¡¯t want to spend points just guessing. Especially when we don¡¯t know if there are skills only available toa given class, which seems likely.
¡°I mean, I¡¯ve got access to all these wilderness classes right?¡± Jason continued. ¡°Minimaps could be a Wanderer Skill maybe, while Herb Finder was an Herbalist thing. Or I¡¯m just missing skill requirements, or maybe you get an achievement when someone gives you a real map and the you can take a skill for it to be always visible, or you have to climb a super tall tower, and so on. There¡¯s just too little information.¡±
Lumiriel laughed. ¡°I am not jumping off any tall buildings just to see if I can reveal new map segments, just so you know.¡±
¡°Um,¡± said Kera hesitantly, ¡°You just want to find potion stuff without having to walk around a lot, right? Why don¡¯t we just ask Ceri to fly around and look?¡±
Jason blinked.
¡°I, uh, hadn¡¯t actually thought of that.¡± He responded. ¡°How would he know what to look for?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve got Share Senses and Empathic Link, remember?¡± Kera said. ¡°You just have to tell me, and then I can have him fly around to hunt and get some exercise, like he¡¯s doing right now. Then I can look in on him every few minutes, see through his eyes, and then nudge him to investigate anything interesting or bring back stuff if it¡¯s small. I always know where he is, too, so if he finds something you need to go harvest, I can just lead us right to him.¡±
¡°I guess that could at least help,¡± said Jason, ¡°But it¡¯s not really a replacement. Herbalism doesn¡¯t really tell me stuff unless I¡¯ve already encountered something or am looking at it. But it¡¯s a decent idea. We could have him start bringing stuff back. Like maybe have him try and bring back big beetles or birds he catches or something before eating them, so I can see if there¡¯s anything we can use like feathers or insect wings or whatever. And you could keep an eye out for like flowers and berries and stuff, I guess.¡±
¡°Where is he now, anyway?¡± asked Lumi. ¡°No reason we couldn¡¯t give him some vague instructions, right?¡±
Kera closed her eyes for a moment. Then she reopened them, and pointed off to their right.
¡°He¡¯s over that way, by what looks like a river. I get the feeling he doesn¡¯t like drinking the conjured water because it tastes funny to him. Exact distance is hard. Maybe 500 meters? I can [Share Senses] with him up to a mile away, and even past that we still always know where each other is. I get a vague sense of the distance between us, and it gets worsethe further away we are from each other, but I always have a strong sense of the exact direction he¡¯s in.¡±
She frowned. ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s weird. He¡¯s feeling really uneasy about something. Now he¡¯s actually afraid of something, he wants to hide in one of the trees.¡±
Jason motioned for everyone to stop as a vague sense of dread crept over him.
¡°Hang on everyone, I¡¯m getting it too,¡± he said. ¡°This happened last time, when I was I was down at that stream before Lumi encountered the frogoid. It was like my [Survivalist] Skill was picking up the presence of something without me actually seeing it.¡±
Lumi turned toward the woods on her side of the road, eyes searching. ¡°What, like some kind of danger sense?¡±
¡°I think so.¡± He said.
¡°Ok then, everyone into the middle of the road,¡± ordered Lumi, sliding her backpack to the ground and drawing her sword. ¡°Kera, you call back Ceri. Stay between Jason and I, and keep an eye up and down the road. I¡¯ll watch this side of the woods. Jason, you¡¯ve got the other. If anyone sees anything suspicious, speak up.¡±
Jason didn¡¯t reply, he simply let his pack fall to the ground with the larger fishing spear and hammer, and drew one of his throwing spears from his harness.
¡°You picked up [Basic Throwing] already, like you said, right?¡± Lumi asked, without looking at him.
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± he nodded, as he scanned his side of the road. ¡°I-¡°
A sudden snap of a branch and a low hiss turned everyone¡¯s attention toward¡¯s Jason¡¯s side of the road.
From the underbrush, a figure emerged. The creature was similar to what Jason though of a traditional Lamia, in that it was roughly humanoid, with a serpentine tail from the waist down. However, not only was this creature male, but its sported a thin covering of down across its torso, with decorative feathers scattered across its head, shoulders, and arms. A thin membrane of skin stretched between its arms and side, also feathered.
The creature hissed menacingly, rising upwards on its tail until it towered over then.
¡°Kera?¡± Jason murmured quietly while the creature hissed at them. It seemed to Jason that it was hesitant, or confused, and was posturing while it decided on some action. ¡°Details?¡±
Kera merely trembled, shaking in fear.
¡°T-That¡¯s it,¡± she said with a sob. ¡°That¡¯s the thing that chased me! How...?¡±
Lumi put her free hand on Kera¡¯s shoulder, but didn¡¯t look away from the creature, who was now looking back and forth between them, it¡¯s long tongue flicking in and out, tasting the air.
¡°You aren¡¯t alone this time, Kera,¡± Lumiriel whispered softly. ¡°Breathe. Use your skill. What can you tell us?¡±
Kera swallowed, then whispered a command.
¡°It¡¯s... got a name,¡± she said. ¡°A yellow name. Seraptis. It¡¯s um, my skill isn¡¯t good enough to really see anything. It¡¯s got two classes. [Serpentkin] and [Keeper]. No, wait. [Keeper] is some kind of title? It¡¯s level 7.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
A level 7 monster with a title? Jason wondered. How¡¯d that happen?
¡°Anything else?¡± asked Lumi, as the creature slowly uncurled its hands. Long, glittering black talons were revealed. Lumiriel tensed, raiding her sword into a defensive posture, but didn¡¯t advance.
¡°I-No,¡± Kera stuttered. ¡°My skill is-¡°
The creature crouched downward suddenly, and then sprang forwards towards them, clearly aiming for Kera. One claw slashed sideways at Jason as it drew past him, and he barely got his weapon up in time to block. The impact of its arm snapped his spear straight in half and sent him tumbling to the ground as he narrowly avoided being eviscerated.
Kera let out a shriek, and turned to run as the creature continued its dash, only for it to be intercepted by Lumiriel.
The creature slammed into the young Spellblade. Lumiriel managed to stay on her feet, unlike Kera who fell to the ground as the creature followed up by lashing the end of its tail around to strike at Kera¡¯sfeet. The snake-manthen tried to swipe a claw downards at the fallen girl, only to back off as Lumi shouted and took a swing with her sword. Claws slashing, Seraptis retaliated, but Lumi ducked out of the way, her [Basic Mobility] skill keeping her out of the monster¡¯s reach.
Jason managed to struggle to his feet while Lumiriel and the creature traded feints - the creature slashing out with its claws, Lumiriel testing its reactions with her sword. Kera meanwhile simply curled into a ball on the ground, covering her head as the creature¡¯s tail lashed back and forth beside and around her.
Pulling another throwing spear from his harness, Jason waited for an opening. When Lumiriel suddenly launched a tiny sphere of flames into the creature¡¯s face, causing it to rear backwards to avoid being burned, Jason threw.
The snake-mandidn¡¯t even notice as the spear deflectedright off its hardened scales with barely a scratch.
Lumiriel was having trouble as well, Jason saw. While the creature seemed to be wary of the sword, more than once Lumiriel used her [Basic Mobility] to quickly step forward, only for the creature to deflect her slash, parrying her sword aside by batting at the flat of her sword with a forearm; it¡¯s scales seemed tough enough to withstand at least partial cuts.
Jason decided he needed to be smart. Even if he couldn¡¯t hurt the thing, he could still be a distraction like before.
He watched carefully, and when the creature next drew back its arm to claw at Lumiriel, he pitched his spear as hard as he could into the back of its head, relying on [Basic Throwing] to guide his aim.
It struck Seraptis mid-strike, and like before, ricocheted off without harm. But the impact still got the creature¡¯s attention. It turned its head towards him angrily, and Lumiriel used that opportunity to launch another ball of flames at it.
This time the miniature fireball connected. Shrieking, the creature raised its hands defensively as thefeathers on its head and shoulders caught fire, and it flailed wildly to put them out.
Jason dived to snatch up his hammer from the ground, while Lumiriel used the opportunity to lungeforwards and drive her sword deep into the creature¡¯s armpit, where its scales seemed most flexible. There, they seemed more like proper skin than scale.
Blood sprayed, and the creature screeched. As Lumiriel drew back to strike again, the creature spun, lashing out with its tail again, this time catching the girl by surprise.
Kera, who had finally pulled herself together, stood up in time to see Lumiriel crash to ground, as Seraptis lunged towards the downed girl, its claws raking savagely downwards across the length of her body.
Both girls screamed; Lumiriel in terrible pain, and Kera once again in fear.
With a roar, Jason brought his [Crude Stone Hammer] down on the back of the creature¡¯s head.
With a sickening crunch, the creature rolled off Lumiriel, stunned but not dead.
¡°Now, Kera!¡± Jason yelled, as the creature struggled upright.
Kera pointed at Seraptis, and Ceri, who¡¯d finally arrived, swooped down on the creature, glowing with the lines of [Static Shock]. He collided with the creature, which roared as it went down a second time. A series of loud, rapid pops echoed as electricity courses through it. Kera, too, glowed, and reached out a hand to slap atthe monster¡¯s tail, shocking it as well.
Seraptis flailed wildly, and histhrashing knocked both Kera and Jason offtheir feet, though Jason managed to bring his hammer down on its lower end as he fell.
Having seemingly had enough, bleeding from both its skull and arm, Seraptis slithered rapidly away into the underbrush. Ceri attempted to follow, hissing angrily, but Kera called him back as Jason ran to Lumiriel¡¯s side.
He waived aside some notifications as he knelt down. She was was alive, but bleeding profusely from long shallow gashes that stretched from shoulder to waist, and her clothing was completely shredded.
Lumiriel gave a quiet sob of pain. ¡°Oh god, it hurts.¡±
¡°Stay calm, don¡¯t move,¡± Jason ordered. He pulled off his shirt and balled it up. Gently he lifted one of Lumiriel¡¯s arms up and placed it on to of the wadded up T-shirt.
¡°I need you to conjure a ball of water, Ok?¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯ve got to stop the bleeding, and I¡¯m going to use this to put pressure on your wounds. Just give it a quick rinse, it¡¯s the best we¡¯ve got right now.¡±
¡°O-ok,¡± Lumi said. Her breath hissed through her teeth, but her hand flowed, and water inundated Jason¡¯s shirt.
¡°This is going to hurt,¡± he warned. She nodded once, curtly, and clenched her teeth.
Jason directed Kera in aiding him, both of them pressing the shirt down onto Lumi¡¯s wounds. Kera was crying softly, apologizing to Lumi for just cowering while Lumi protected her, while Lumi tried to reassure Kera, through clenched teeth and sobsof pain, that that was her job as the tank and it was her choice.
Jason was afraid at first that without any bandages or tools for stitches, his efforts wouldn¡¯t be enough, but either by luck or by some element of the system, Lumiriel quickly stabilized, her wounds quickly ceasing to bleed.
The immediate crisis averted, he turned to Kera.
¡°Ok, it¡¯s no longer an academic question. We need healing potions, right now, and I don¡¯t have time to keep pouring through menus to find skills. We can¡¯t risk moving Lumi, we have nothing to stop infection, and we don¡¯t have a way to carry her safely anyway. Let¡¯s use your suggestion from earlier.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll set up camp,¡± Jason continued, ¡°and keep an eye on Lumi. You sit down and make use of Ceri. Do a spiral search. Look for anything that you¡¯d think of as being a potion ingredient, especially flowers, fruit, or anything colored red. Larger flying insects too, if you see them. Wings always seem to be an ingredient for some reason, but don¡¯t try chasing them. Same goes for fish and small birds: ifCeri can catch it and bring it back, do so, but don¡¯t waste time hunting.¡±
Kera simply nodded, wiping away her tears. She took a deep, steadying breath, and then moved over to the grass, where she leaned against a tree and closed her eyes. With a squawk, Ceri hurled himself off the branch of the tree he was in, and flew off into the woods.
Jason got to work.
¡°I¡¯ve found something!¡± Kera shouted a short while later, startling Jason, who was busy helping Lumi have something to eat. With his help, she¡¯d managed to very carefully lift herself into a half-seated position by raising up the ground underneath herself a tiny bit at a time.
¡°Ceri found some kind of old structure or something,¡± Kera continued. ¡°It¡¯s hard to describe. His eyes are different so it¡¯s hard to understand what he¡¯s seeing exactly. Something¡¯s weird about the area too in a way I don¡¯t know how to describe. More importantlythere¡¯s a bunch of fruits or something near it, and Ceri really wants to eat them because they seem special for some reason, so I bet they¡¯re worth checking out.¡±
¡°How far?¡±
¡°Close. Less than half amile,¡± she replied. ¡°You want me to go see?¡±
¡°No,¡± Jason said. ¡°Just point me the right direction. My [Herbalism] skill might be needed to harvest them and I want you to keep having Ceri search for other stuff in case they aren¡¯t what we need.¡±
She turned, pointing. ¡°It¡¯s a little more thana quartermile that way. There¡¯s a sort of a low hillside, and some kind of cave, and there¡¯s there¡¯s stone pillars or something nearby. By the pillars are bunch of big bushes with fruits or something that are bright yellow. Lemons maybe? Though I caught the impression that Ceri thought of them as sweet, so maybe not.¡±
¡°Sweet is good,¡± Lumi said with a slight cough: ¡°Sweet often equates to healing food in games.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± said Kera. ¡°My thoughts exactly.¡±
¡°Alright, I¡¯m headed out,¡± Jason said, picking up his hammer and slinging his backpack over his shoulder. ¡°Keep having Ceri look around while I check things out. If you can, just have him bring stuff back, you never know what might turn out to have what we need.¡±
¡°Ok.¡± Kera replied.
Jason set off through the woods, moving as quickly as he could without endangering himself. Several times he had to skirt wide around a large bush or a fallen tree, but fortunately his [Survivalist] skill kept him on course. In a matter of minutes he¡¯d reached the area Kera had indicated.
It seemed that Kera had found the entrance to a dungeon.
He knew it the moment he arrived in the small clearing. If the stone archway that had been set intothe side of the hillock and carved inlikeness of coiled serpents wasn¡¯t enough indication, the place had a weight to it. Just standing nearby, Jason felt strangely...full. He couldn¡¯t think of any other way to describe the sensation.
The archway rose over a cleft in the side of the hill, where a large, vibrantly green bush sat just outside. The bush itself had a number of golden-hued berries growing on it, and Jason could see another bush, growing in the dirt just inside the mouth of thepassageway, which sloped downwards into darkness.
Come in, said the spider to the fly.Jason thought to himsel with a sudden suspicion.
He glanced around cautiously, and caught sight of something that caused a brief moment of panic: a long streak of blood in the grass. As if a certain very large something had recently slithered through the arches and down into the darkness.
It must have come back here, to lick its wounds. It¡¯s lair, maybe? I¡¯d better be fast.
Jason quickly drew his knife and used it to remove one of the berries.
Golden Strawberry: A rare fruit often found near areas of high mana concentration. Possesses minor healing properties if eaten.
Jason did a mental fist pump and ate one.
[Golden Strawberry] Trait Discovered: Health
Heaving a sigh of relief, Jason swiftly harvested every easily-reachable fruit on the bush outside the entrance. He briefly considered stepping inside, but it was Kera¡¯s description of Ceri¡¯s reaction that stopped him. The bushes were positioned almost like breadcrumbs, with the archway giving off the impression of the mouth of some great beast.
Abruptly, Jason turned and headed back to his friends. He didn¡¯t want to meet Seraptis in the dark if he could help it, and who knew what rules dungeons, if any, had here?
Character Sheets: Update One
The character sheets below reflect the party''s state just prior to the fight with Seraptis. I have not included the events of the end of last chapter here, since none of the party has had a chance to see the results yet.
Jason Elric, Alchemist
Basic Statistics
Inventory
1x Wallet, 1x House Key, 1x iPhone, 1x Ornate Piezoelectric Lighter, 1x Superior Quality Multitool, 3x Crude Stone Spear, 1x Crude Carry Harness, 1x Crude Stone Hammer, 1x Crude Fishing Spear, 1x Crude Frogskin Pack, 1x Crude Frogskin Pouch, 1x Rare Seed, 7x King Bolete, 8x Iparea Petals, 1x Mellax, 6x Wisteria Blossoms, 1x Frogoid Brain, 1x Frogoid Eyeball, 3x Frogoid Webbing, 2x Aquatic Sweetmeats.
Notes
1. Apparently when compiling this, I realized I''d listed Jason''s Endurance incorrectly. It''s supposed to be 11, and I wrote down 12 in Chapter 2; I''ll go back and edit that later. It''s not especially important, just has to do with how I''m calculating derived statistics. There is math there, it''s not just arbitrary. With 3 full sheets to look at, I wouldn''t be at all surprised if some of you can figure it out!
2. If it wasn''t clear from chapter 4, Jason still has the second ''half'' of the frogoid brain; essentially he got 2 item drops, one for each hemi. Flowers work the same way - One flower might grant 2 [Iparea Petals], where 1 [Iparea Petals] means a small handful of individual petals as a single item drop, which all need to be used together as a single ingredient.
3. Jason''s ''Superior Quality Multitool'' is the system''s way of saying ''Unbranded Steel Swiss Army Knife''
Lumiriel Dun''Val, Spellblade
Basic Statistics
Name: Lumiriel Dun''Val
Race: Human (Outworlder)
Gender: Female
Primary Class: Spellblade 1
SP: 160/160
MP: 210/210
Might: 11
Agility: 14
Intellect: 16
Endurance: 15
Charisma: 16
Spirit: 18
Fortitude: 20
Awareness: 17
Appeal: 13
Magic Resistance: 21
Resolve: 16
Luck: 15
Skills and Ranks
Basic Armor Use, Rank 1, Class (Suspended).
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.*Basic Mobility, Rank 1.
Basic Shield Use, Rank 1, Class (Suspended).
*Basic Swordsmanship, Rank 1.
Elemental Cantrips, Unranked.
Shield Bash, Rank 1.
Spellstrike, Rank 1, Class.
Titles, Perks, and Achievements
Titles: None
Achievements: Tilting Windmills
Perks: Heroic Potential
Available Points
Character Points: 0
Class Points: 0
Stat Points: 0
Skill Points: 7
XP: Knight: 12% (Suspended)
XP: Spellblade, 0%
Inventory
Rusty Longsword, Crude Frogskin Pack, Crude Frogskin Pack, Crude Frogskin Cup
Notes
1. Lumiriel''s Spellblade class only gains XP from spells she casts in ways related to her class'' role; namely, combat. Just as Jason doesn''t get Alchemist XP from basic crafting, but does get it from harvesting, brewing, and analyzing, Lumiriel''s class gains XP from buff spells and using magic in combat, but not daily utility use. As of the point in the story this sheet reflects, she hasn''t had a chance to use her [Cantrips] in combat since taking the class, so she''s still at 0%.
2. Lumi spent her stat point on Might, for the curious.
3. It hasn''t been directly mentioned, but Lumi elected to unequip Knight entirely so she could set Spellblade as her primary, instead of making it secondary or a subclass of Knight.
Kerali Vakar, Beast-Bonded
Basic Statistics
Inventory
None
Notes
1. Kera''s Monster Magic skill cost her a whopping 5 points to purchase, after she''d earned it. That means that by default, a regular [Mage] would have had to spend 10 skill points, a massive 10 levels worth of skillups, to purchase only the first rank. Sometimes its worth it to take strangely eccentric skills, like [Mimicry]. You never know!
Onward To Adventure!
Chapter 07
Jason made his way back to the camp. When he arrived, he saw that Ceri was lounging up in the branches of a tree, while Kera was assisting Lumiriel in navigating her status screen. Somehow, Lumi had shared the controls with the other girl, allowing Kera to manipulate the screen at Lumi¡¯s direction so she didn¡¯t have to move and risk reopening her wounds.
Jason resolved to ask her how she¡¯d done it later. It would be useful to know.
¡°Ok,¡± he announced, ¡°I¡¯ve got good news and bad news.¡±
¡°Also some great news,¡± he added, holding up a [Golden Strawberry], ¡°but I¡¯m sure you can guess what that is.¡±
¡°Bad news first, always.¡± said Lumiriel with a grimace, as Kera pointed out something on the screen.
¡°The bad news is pretty bad. I think I found that monster again. He¡¯s right nearby, hiding or lairing underground. Worse, the area around it screamed ¡®Officially-A-Dungeon¡¯ to me, whatever rules there might be for those here.¡±
That got both their attention. Kera hunched her shoulders and made a whimpering sound, and Lumi reached upand gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, even though it surely hurt to move her arms.
¡°The good news is he¡¯s hurt badly. You must have landeda critical hit or something on him, Lumi; there was quite the blood trail leading into the dungeon. While it¡¯s probably a bad idea to stick around, he should be gone for at least awhile, I¡¯m guessing¡±
¡°You think he¡¯d come after us?¡± asked Lumi.
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s actively after Kera for some reason,¡± Jason said. ¡°You mentioned earlier that he was what chased you before, that first night. Right Kera?¡±
Kera nodded. ¡°Y-Yeah. It was definitely him. Seeing him in the light... I-I don¡¯t know how I managed to get away the first time, but it was definitely him.¡±
¡°That hissing sound he makes...¡± She wrapped her arms around herself, trailing off with a shudder.
Jason crossed over to their pile of gear, and rummaged around for his potion making supplies while he talked.
¡°Right. Remember how he seemed confused at first, seeing the three of us? And then he acted like he was trying to catch our scent with all the tongue flicking, before going right for Kera? I don¡¯t think that was a coincidence.¡±
¡°Sorry, Kera,¡± he apologized as he began mashing up one of the strawberries. ¡°I know you probably don¡¯t want to think about this, but it¡¯s important.¡±
Kera took a deep breath, and then straightened.
¡°No,¡± she said firmly. ¡°You¡¯re right. We should kill him while he¡¯s injured.¡±
Jason paused, midway through mashing up a berry. ¡°That¡¯s not where I was going with this. I actually think we should get out of here as fast as possible if you have some kind of monster after you. He¡¯s way higher level than us.¡±
¡°No.¡± Kera said, voice low and hard. ¡°He¡¯s hurt, and there¡¯s three of us and only one of him.¡±
¡°If we can get Lumi patched up,¡± she said with venom, ¡°Let¡¯s put him in the ground. No more running and being helpless for me.¡±
Jason and Lumi exchange glances.
¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Lumi softly to Kera. ¡°Taking a life in revenge? Is that a line you want to cross?¡±
Kera shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not revenge,¡± she stated.
She pointed to Jason. ¡°You said he seemed after me. This isn¡¯t revenge, it¡¯s self defense. It¡¯s putting down a monster who attacked travelers on the road.¡±
Jason gave Kera a long look. ¡°I¡¯m not so sure that¡¯s the case.¡±
He glanced at Lumi. ¡°What do you think?¡±
Lumiriel sighed. Then she looked up at Kera. ¡°I think she needs this, frankly.¡±
¡°I¡¯m right here, you know,¡± Kera complained agrily.
¡°Sorry," Lumi apologized. "Jason just wants to make sure you aren¡¯t going all Anakin on us or something.¡±
¡°No,¡± Kera said with a small smile. She closed her eyes briefly, taking another deep, steadying breath. ¡°No. I just... I have to stop running,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve spent most of my life running from one thing or another. Always scared of something. Always afraid, always hiding.
Kera reopened her eyes and looked down at Lumiriel.
¡°You almost died," she said. "All I needed to do was reach out a hand while he was distracted and use my spell and he would¡¯ve been the one on the ground first. But I didn¡¯t, because I was too scared, and you got hurt. I need to be better. I need this. I want this.¡±
The three fell silent then, thoughtful, with only the soft grating of stone sounding as Jason scraped mashed strawberries and mushrooms into the frogskin cup.
Jason moved to Lumi¡¯s other side, and moved her hand gently on top of it so she could conjure water into it.
He cleared his throat.
¡°Alright then,¡± he said to Kera. ¡°Let¡¯s get Lumi healed up first, and then we¡¯ll devise a plan. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea, but if you feel that strongly about it, let¡¯s be smart about it.¡±
Kera merely nodded.
Holding up the frogskin cup, Jason activated his skill.
¡°Restore Health. Brew Potion, Infuse.¡±
With a glow, the yellow- brown fluid turned a brilliant red. Jason examined it.
[Healing Potion, Least] - The lowest tier of healing potion, this will give the imbiber a weak level of regeneration for five minutes. Least potions are weak enough that several can be consumed in a row without ill effect.
¡°Well I guess that answers my question of whether potions have cooldowns,¡± Jason said. ¡°Sounds like no, but drinking too many makes bad things happen, so they might as well have.¡±
He passed the cup to Kera, who then carefully tilted it forward so Lumi could drink. Immediately a soft glow enveloped her, then faded.
¡°Ow.¡± Lumi winced. ¡°That smarts. I can feel it working.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll make some more,¡± said Jason, ¡°I doubt just one will do it.¡±
In the end, it took three potions in total, but they did their job. In short order, Lumiriel¡¯s wounds miraculously vanished, as if she¡¯d never been injured.
That¡¯s when they ran into a different problem.
¡°Man, that¡¯s kind of a rush at the end there. Kind of light headed. I feel... better than good.¡± Lumi said as she hauled herself to her feet. Jason¡¯s blood soaked shirt-bandage was discarded into the dirt. She stretched her arms over her head, and rolled her shoulders; she¡¯d been lying backwards in a rather awkward position for almost two hours.
Jason turned away suddenly and covered his eyes with a hand.
¡°Um, Lumi...?¡± He said, and cleared his throat.
¡°What?¡± She asked, turning towards him. ¡°Wait, why are you...?¡±
She looked down at herself, turning beet red as realization dawned.
Her clothes had been completely shredded. It hadn¡¯t been obvious while lying down with Jason¡¯s shirt being pressed against her wounds, but her T-shirt might as well be a rag now, for all the good it was doing. Her bra had fared similarly; Seraptis¡¯ claws had gone straight through cloth, metal, elastic, and flesh alike.
Kera snickered, but averted her eyes as well.
Lumi snatched up Jason¡¯s shirt from the ground and tried to use it to cover herself.
She stammered a bit, mortified.
Jason coughed politely with one hand, his other still blocking his view. ¡°Uh, tell you what. I¡¯m going to go... over there for a few minutes,¡± he gestured vaguely, ¡°and check my status. I knew this would come up eventually. After Kera tore her sleeves off her shirt because they were coming apart, I got to thinking about how to deal with.. uh... wardrobe damage.¡±
¡°You two, um, work something out. Have Kera bring me what¡¯s left of your shirt, afterwards. In the meantime, I¡¯ll see what I can do to get some kind of repair skill.¡±
Jason quickly retreated a distance away from the two women before the temptation to peek got the better of him. He found himself a large rock to sit down on, facing away from them. He called up his status screen.
A series of notifications popped up, and he found himself quickly distracted.
Level Gained. Alchemist Level 4. Skill Point Gained. Stat Point Gained.
Level Gained. Alchemist Level 5. Skill Point Gained. You have acquired a new Class Skill, [Discovery, Rank 1].
[Discovery]: As an Alchemist, you diligently work to uncover new ways to manipulate the natural forces that govern the universe. Choose an Alchemist Discovery.
Two levels? He wondered. We didn¡¯t even kill it, and it counted for so much?
Jason selected the [Discovery] notification, and a long list appeared.
He quickly skimmed it, growing more and more alarmed. Many of his options seemed to involve permanently altering himself in some way. Some seemed relatively benign, like [Cognatogen], which would give him a permanent one-time boost to Intellect and Spirit, but many were downright horrifying just by name alone, like [Tumor Familiar], or [Vestigial Arm].
Why would anyone want such a thing? Jason shuddered. A whole mess of these give me a real Jekyl and Hyde vibe.
He continued to browse back and forth through the list.
Or Green Goblin, he noted, as he came across several options relating to what appeared to be explosive potions. Seems like there¡¯s ways to make specialized magical grenades after all.
As fascinating, and disturbing, as his new options were, Jason had other priorities in mind. Seeing as the [Discovery] skill had ranks, he guessed that more ranks meant new selections, possibly of a wider variety. Briefly, he wondered if there were prerequisites in play here like everywhere else.
He filtered the list for ¡®transmutation¡¯ on a whim, and sure enough, it seemed the case. He had an option to upgrade his skill into a more advanced version. Not that he had any idea what it did yet.
Back to the problem at hand.
He tilted his head back, looking up into the trees and thinking. What he needed was a spell like [Mending]. It or something like it was common to most tabletop RPGs, and the games based on them. A sort of minor, magical repair spell for fixing broken objects. There would be one somewhere, he was sure. The problem was, they didn¡¯t know how to actually get spells; so far, only Lumi could do proper magic, and those didn¡¯t seem like proper spells, even. They were more like... raw manipulation.
Jason was an Alchemist. That proved there were magic-based crafting classes, right? Jason knew that there would have to be others, like ¡®Runesmith¡¯, or ¡®Mystic Weaver¡¯, or even simple old ¡®Enchanter¡¯. But they weren¡¯t in his list.
Kera had said something about [Basic Spellcasting] being a prerequisite for [Ritual Casting], hadn¡¯tshe? Jason thought. Lumi¡¯s skill nonwithstanding, she said it seemed like itwas a sort of a baseline requirement for most magic. Maybe I need somethig similar, but aimed at items?
An idea crossed his mind.
Well... just winging it worked for both of them, right?This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
He leaned over, and picked up a small twig. Pulling out his pocketknife, he whittled it down until he had a small [Wooden Toothpick]. He snapped it half.
He held each half in front of him, fitting them back together.
¡°Mending!¡± he declared, focusing.
Nothing happened.
Worth a try. Didn¡¯t really think it¡¯d be that simple.
Jason put the broken toothpick down next to him and reopened his status screen to his awaiting Discovery selection. He filtered for ¡®create¡¯ at first, but realized that was too general. His was a crafting class after all. Instead, he tried ¡®wand¡¯, which surprisingly, did bring a few things up. One stood out to him: a Discovery that allowed him to select one of a number of skills to ¡®charge¡¯ objects with a potion effect as long as he had the materials.
Two different magic item crafting skills might do the trick, he thought. Even if it didn¡¯t, imbuing objects with potion effects seemed like it would be useful. He made his selection after a moment¡¯s consideration.
Discovery Acquired: Alchemical Infusion
[Alchemical Infusion]: By immersing a specially prepared item during the potion creation process, you can charge an object with a single use spell-like effect determined by the traits of the potion infused. An object may be infused multiple times with the same potion, granting additional charges. The exact method of expending the charge depends on the item used. For example, a wand would deliver the potion¡¯s effect to a target by pointing and speaking a command.
That¡¯s an actually useful explanation, Jason thought. Then again, it wouldn¡¯t be much of a ¡®Discovery¡¯ if I didn¡¯t know how to use it.
Jason switched over to his Class unlocks, and changed it to order them by ¡®newest¡¯.
Sure enough, he had some new options. One stood out as exactly what he was looking for.
He paid for the class, and set it as his secondary.
Artificer Unlocked. Skill Point Gained. You have learned a new Class Skill, [Analyze Item, Rank 1]. You have learned a new Class Skill, [Analyze Spell, Rank 1]. You have learned a new Class Skill, [Basic Artifice, Rank 1]. You have learned a new Class Skill, [Engrave, Rank 1].
Four skills?! Jason thought. Sure, two of them are just analysis skills, but I only got one at first level Alchemist. How is that at all fair?
He paused, recalling that Kera had gotten quite a few with her first class; there were definitely some odd balance issues in this system.
Jason shrugged mentally. Oh well. More chances to find a way to break the rules in half later, I guess.
Moving on, Jason briefly checked [Engrave], and sure enough it seemed like a way to take a spell and try and fashion an item out of it, though it seemed it required some kind of special reagent. It wasn¡¯tsomething he could use for now, but would no doubt be valuable down the line. Especially if he could engrave an item and then infuse it afterwards.
[Basic Artifice], though, seemed to be a step in the right direction. It was a little like Lumi¡¯s [Elemental Cantrips], except centered around making temporary magic knickknacks, or conjuring temporary tools.
Remembering what Lumi had said about mental image, he set a command and gave it a try.
¡°Artifice,¡± he said. He felt his mana drain, and a mortar and pestle appeared in his hands. It seemed to be made of some strange, partly translucent blue stone.
Jason grinned. Finally, he could stop literally banging rocks together and have some proper tools.
He released the spell, and both mortar and pestle disappeared.
Clearing his mind before he could get distracted, Jason closed his status screen and picked up the broken toothpick again.
Take two. If this doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll pick up [Basic Spellcasting] and try again.
Once again placing the two halves together, Jason contemplated the feeling he¡¯d had when he¡¯d actively spent mana. He focused his will on the idea of deliberately spending skill points, and his need to repair the toothpick. He had two crafting classes. He could imbue mana directly into liquids. He could use magic to engrave spells into objects. He had a spell, of sorts, related to building things. He knew the effect he wanted. It was even part of a common game framework: he knew how it should work.
Jason concentrated.
¡°Mending!¡± he declared once again.
He felt his mana drain ever- so-slightly, and with a small spark of purple energy, the two halves ran like wax, merged, and become whole.
You have acquired the skill [Mending]. 1 Skill Point has been deducted.
With a shout, Jason stood up and pumped his fist. The toothpick went flying, forgotten.
Kera¡¯s voice came from behind him.
¡°I¡¯m guessing that means you got what you were looking for,¡± she said.
Jason turned. Kera was leaning against a tree just behind him with a slight smirk on her face.
Embarrassed by his sudden outburst, he gave her a wry smile. ¡°Uh, sorry. Got a little over-excited there. But yes. Turns out your method of ¡®Focus on what you want, then wing and hope for the best¡¯ gets results.¡±
¡°Of course it does.¡± Kera pulled away from the tree and approached Jason. ¡°That¡¯s how most people get through life.¡±
¡°I suppose you have a point there.¡±
¡°So, whatcha get?¡± Kera asked, as she passed him the remains of Lumi¡¯s shirt.
¡°A second class and six new skills,¡± Jason said.
¡°Whaaaaat!?¡± Kera exclaimed. ¡°From one spell!?¡±
Jason laughed. ¡°No, no, no,¡± he said with a wave. ¡°One was from leveling, which let me unlock a second magical crafting class, which gave me a bunch of new skills. Then I used your method, focusing on learning something new and the skills I now had, and just.. tried. And that earned me [Mending], which was what I was hoping for.¡±
¡°All that for one skill?¡± Kera asked. ¡°Was that a good idea?¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he replied. ¡°It¡¯s the sort of class I was considering picking up anyway, and I¡¯m hoping it will synergizewell with [Alchemist].¡±
¡°I¡¯ll explain in a bit, to both of you. First, though-¡±
Jason held up the tattered remains of the shirt.
¡°Mending.¡±
Jason felt his mana drain much more this time, but just like the toothpick, energy danced across it. Several ragged strips fell away onto the ground as the garmentran like wax, the damaged edgesthinnningout, merging, and finally solidifying. Lumi¡¯s shirtbecame whole.
¡°Whew.¡± Jason said, wiping a sudden sweat from his forehead. A quick glance at his status showed him he¡¯d used most of his mana. ¡°Apparently an entire ruined shirt is a lot more effort than a simple toothpick. I need to recover some mana before I can do that again.¡±
¡°For what?¡± Kera asked.
He gestured at Kera. ¡°Well I can fix your sleeves, if you want, and I¡¯ll probably need to try using it on my shirt, given that it¡¯s pretty much ruined now with all the blood. Don¡¯t know if it¡¯ll work, but I mean to try. I don¡¯t want to go dungeon diving without a shirt.¡±
¡°Fair.¡± Kera commented. ¡°I¡¯ll take this back to Lumi. Wait here a sec.¡±
Twenty minutes later found them gathered around their gear, sitting on some seats of packed earth. Jason still didn¡¯t have his shirt; he estimated he¡¯d need a little while longer to get all his mana back.
He briefly explained to the girls about his new class and skills.
¡°We need to get you some kind of elemental potion traits,¡± Lumi commented afterwards. Her hair was damp, and she was directing a slightly warm breeze at herself to help it dry faster. Healing potions didn¡¯t clean up blood, and she¡¯d given herself a hosing down while Jason had been occupied with unlocking his new skills.
¡°I bet if you mixed that volatile trait with something like frost or fire,¡± she said, ¡°you could make those bombs. Then imbue that into some kind of wand, and have yourself a grenade launcher wand.¡±
¡°That sounds incredibly dangerous,¡± Jason replied.
¡°Yeah but it¡¯d be cool,¡± Kera said, ¡°And we need some firepower until I can learn something really awesome. Like turning Ceri into a giant lightning breathing dragon!¡± The drake was perched on her shoulder, and she gave him a light scratch on the head.
Jason only imagined it, but he could swear could hear Ceri purr, from the way he nuzzled Kera¡¯s fingers.
Lumi gave a small laugh, hand over her mouth.
¡°I think that might have its own set of problems,¡± she commented, dropping her hand.
Lumi changed the subject ¡°Moving on. I guess next there¡¯s the question of what to do with my class skill. I leveled up to three, and got a skill kind of like yours, Jason, [Magus Arcana]. It lets me pick out some kind of magical ability. Most of them seem to center around combat tricks, though some don¡¯t.¡±
¡°Right, you were having Kera operate your screen for you earlier. How did you do that?¡±
She explained briefly, opening her screen to demonstrate how you could set your status to be viewable to the party by default, and how to grant temporary permissions.
She showed Jason the her list of Arcana choices.
¡°Hmm, there¡¯s some interesting stuff in here. What were you thinking of taking?¡± he asked.
¡°I¡¯ve narrowed it down to three. The first is something called [Twilight Barrier]. It spins a shield around me that drains health from things that attack me, negating some of the damage I might take, but it costs mana to maintain.
¡°The second is [Elemental Wellspring]. Best I can tell, it¡¯s somehow only available because of [Cantrips]. I choose an element, and I can mix that element into any spell I cast. Seems like it could be a springboard into things like Pyromancer, or Frost Mage, or what have you.¡±
¡°How is that different from your cantrips?¡± Jason asked. ¡°You already can cast spells of any element, right?¡±
Lumiriel shook her head. ¡°I think my cantrips aren¡¯t real spells; I¡¯ve tried using it in conjunction with Spellstrike, which should let me channel attack spells through my sword, but it fails anytime I try.
¡°Which reminds me, actually. I also learned an actual spell; I got it from leveling, and it¡¯s listed under [Basic Spellcasting], like Kera has. It¡¯s got a proper name, and has a specific effect, so I¡¯m wondering if that¡¯s the difference.¡±
Kera spoke up. ¡°Oh! I forgot to mention earlier, Lumi, I got a spell when I leveled, too. Like you said, it just does a single thing. My spell is ¡®Tend Wounds¡¯, which unfortunately is limited to using on things I¡¯ve summoned. At least it costs almost nothing to cast. But it¡¯s listed under [Basic Spellcasting], too.
¡°What did you get?¡± Jason asked Lumi curiously.
¡°Sharpen,¡± She said with a sigh. ¡°Useful, given the state of my sword, but it would¡¯ve come in handy earlier.¡±
Jason tried not to laugh; she probably wouldn¡¯t appreciate it.
¡°Anyway,¡± Lumiriel said, continuing, ¡°The last thing I was considering was [Empower]. That one is a little more directly useful. It lets me just burn mana to hit harder.
¡°That about sums it up. Thoughts?¡±
¡°I actually think [Wellspring] is the only good choice between the three,¡± Jason said.
¡°You don¡¯t think [Empower] would be good?¡± asked Kera. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Two reasons,¡± he said. ¡°Well, three, really.¡±
¡°First, the other two actively drain mana. In my experience, those are a kind of trap choice unless you can somehow boost your resource generation, because they usually drain things really fast, and once it¡¯s done with, you can¡¯t do anything else because you¡¯re out of mana. Since Lumi is part spellcaster, that¡¯s a problem.¡±
¡°Second, while I know you won¡¯t be able to use it now, think of it as an investment. It will mean a wider range of spells, basically. If you get one element per rank, you could massively expand your repertoire for the points you spend. If you have several ranks, learning a single spell actually provides you with many variations.
¡°Last of all, it seems like that¡¯s the kind of ability that could lead somewhere. You said it yourself, that it sounds like a direct line to an elemental caster class, but I could see it opening up other things. Casters aren¡¯t the only ones with elemental themes in games.¡±
Lumiriel considered. Her head tilted back and forth as she hummed to herself for a minute.
¡°Alright,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s a pretty solid argument actually, especially that first part. I¡¯ve played classes in action RPGs that had that issue. The devs were always nerfing my resource management combos. Drove me nuts, to the point I eventually stopped playing.
¡°I do need some kind of shield, but the twilight one doesn¡¯t sound like it actually stops me from getting hit, and the empower even says its expensive. So [Wellspring] it is.¡±
Lumiriel made her selection.
The expected notifications appeared, along with something new.
Arcana Acquired: Elemental Wellspring, Rank 1
Elemental Wellspring - You have learned to draw further upon the primal power that runs through your very being, forcing the spells you cast to take on new forms. Choose an elemental type you have access to. Whenever you cast a spell, you can draw upon your wellspring to infuse that element into the spell, with varying effects.
Congratulations! Due to possessing a full set of skills involving the conjuring, shaping, and infusion of innate magic, as well as the possession of a structured magic skill, you have been granted access to a uniqueskill, [Spell Shaper, Rank 1]. Do you wish to purchase it now for 1 Skill Point? Y/N?
The three of them looked at one another, eyes wide. Lumi recovered first.
¡°Obviously!¡± Lumi confirmed with excitement, as the others just stared at her screen.
You have acquired the skill, [Spell Shaper, Rank 1]. Please select one of the following options: Barrier, Bolt, Blade
¡°Yessss!¡± Lumiriel crowed, looking at the tooltip for Barrier. ¡°Talk about luck of the draw!A proper, manipulable, shielding spell!¡±
She selected Barrier without even looking at the other two, which had seemed self explanatory.
Kera spoke up first, because Jason¡¯s mind was too busy racing through the implications of rare classes and synergy skills.
¡°Don¡¯t forget to pick an element too,¡± Kera said.
¡°Oh I¡¯m gonna do more than that,¡± Lumi said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯ve got plans, now.¡±
She brought up the entry for Elemental Wellspring. She quickly selected ¡®light¡¯ as her element. Then she immediately boosted her skill rank to 4, even though each extra rank cost more than the last. It cost her a total of 6 points. Apparently her elemental cantrip skill could produce any elemental effect, so she was able to pick whatever she wanted. She took ice, fire, and shadow as her other three elements.
¡°Light and Dark, Fire and Ice?¡± asked Kera, but Lumiriel wasn¡¯t finished.
¡°Not quite,¡± she replied as spent her remaining skill points on ranking up [Spell Shaper]. Each rank added new choices on top of the previous ones, and this time the cost didn¡¯t seem to increase. She learned both Blade and Bolt, as well as one of the new shapes, Jet.
Then Lumi took a deep breath, and opened her class list. It was filled to the brim with a wealth of new elemental options.
¡°Perfect.¡± She breathed. She grinned and pointed out two of the new options.
[Sunwarden]: An armored elemental warrior who wields the holy strength of light and fire to shield her allies from harm.
[Duskreaver]: A master of fell magics, the Duskreaverstrides the battlefield with a sword wreathed in ice and shadow, laying her enemies low.
"How¡¯s that for fancy multiclassing?¡± said Lumi. Her voice was thick with satisfaction.
Jason was speechless.
¡°Which one will you take first?¡± asked Kera. She bounced a little in her seat, Lumi¡¯s enthusiasm clearly infecting her. ¡°You got another class point since you hit level 3 [Spellblade], right?
¡°[Sunwarden],¡± Lumi nodded. ¡°I want more defensive skills first.¡±
She purchased the class, gaining another skill point. She also gained a rank each in her armor and shield use skills. Apparently, if you got the same skill from different sources, the ranks stacked.
Lumi then equipped [Sunwarden] as a subclass to [Spellblade], and since apparently she could do that now too, set [Knight] as her secondary for the time being. She added her stat point to Might, and used her remaining skill point to rank up [Basic Mobility], as it had already proven its worth.
Jason shook his head, dumbfounded. ¡°That is just... wow.¡±
¡°I feel inadequate now.¡± Kera said with a lopsided grin.
Jason laughed. ¡°You and me both. Don¡¯t worry though. Dungeons mean monsters, which means spells for you, with any luck.¡±
¡°I think Lumi just stole all the luck.¡±
¡°Yours is way higher than both of us, you know. I actually suspect that¡¯s how you got away from the snake guy the first night.¡±
Kera just shrugged.
¡°Gimme ten minutes to set up some spell triggers,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to fumble about with my menu in the middle of a fight.¡±
¡°Sounds good,¡± said Jason. ¡°My mana is recovered, and I need to clean and fix my shirt. Also, I think between Lumi and I, we can now whip up some conjured potion vials.¡±
He stood up. ¡°Afterwards, I¡¯ll make us some health potions to carry. Then we can go kick some snake butt.¡±
¡°Snakes don¡¯t have butts,¡± Kera retorted.
Chapter 08
¡°It really does look like it wants to devour us.¡±
Lumi stood before the arched stone gateway of the dungeon, peering up at the carvings that adorned it. A pair of stone serpents coiled up and around the arch, not quite meeting in the middle. Instead, the triangular heads of the snakes hung downwards to either side of the center point, giving a vague impression of the fangs of some great maw.
Kera stood behind her, nervously scratching Ceri, who was sitting on his usual shoulder-perch.
Jason, who finally had a clean shirt again, was putting the finishing touches on the upgrades to his carry harness: loops of twine along his belt that now held a series of thin stone vials at his waist. He and Lumi had worked together to make make them. The vials were very fragile, because Lumi couldn¡¯t manage much more than a thin sheet of stone or a fist sized rock with her [Cantrips], but it had been enough once Jason used [Artifice] to supply a mold, allowing her to shape them with relative precision. They¡¯d then simply conjured up some kind of spongy wooden vine, sliced off a piece to use as a cork, and voila: they had a simple, if easily broken, stone potion vial.
Jason had filled a half dozen of the things with healing potion, while another three held doses of the antitoxin he had previously given Kera. Seeing as his throwing skill wouldn¡¯t likely be helpful in the narrow confines of a cave or corridor, Jason had chosen to take the role of medic for the time being, and thus had made the modifications to his carry harness.
Not that he was unarmed; he had elected to bring his [Crude Stone Hammer], since it had worked against Seraptis before, and he still had his remaining spear strapped to his back just in case. His third had been damaged during the fight; the wooden haft had cracked badly when he''d thrown it at Seraptis. Instead of wasting time repairing them,he''d dismantled both, and simply packed the chipped-stone blades and twineaway inhis bag, with the intent to make a new set later.
¡°My mana is refilling really fast, by the way,¡± Jason commented,as they clusteredabout the entrance. "I used almost all of it making this stuff, and I¡¯m nearly three quarters full again."
Lumi checked her status briefly.
¡°Huh. You¡¯re right, I¡¯m refilled too,¡± she said. ¡°Is that why this place feels so...off?¡±
Kera shook herself slightly. ¡°Brr. It kind of sends tingles down my spine. Feels good, but also kind of ominous, you know? Like that thrill when you¡¯re watching a scary movie but having a good time.¡±
Jason looked at her with surprise. ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t get that at all. When I was here before, I just felt like I¡¯d eaten a too big meal and couldn¡¯t fit any more. It was more the look of the place that was creeping by me out.¡±
Lumi shook her head. ¡°No, I get what she means, I feel it too. There¡¯s definitely something wrong about this place that gets your adrenaline pumping. Can¡¯t put my finger on it.¡±
¡°Jason can¡¯t cast spells though. Maybe because we¡¯re mages, it affects us differently?¡± Kera suggested.
¡°I could see that being the case,¡± Jason conceded.
¡°Well, we won¡¯t find out standing around here.,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Are we ready to do this?¡±
Jason and Kera nodded.
¡°Ok then, just like we talked about. Let¡¯s keep our heads and do this carefully. Your hammer, Jason?¡±
Jason held up his weapon, and Lumiriel ran her hand along the stone. A soft white glow, bright but easy on the eyes, suffused it. Jason the rested the hammer on one shoulder; he would be in the middle, acting as a portable light source since they had no pitch to make torches. They weren¡¯t sure how long the glow would last, but the rock they¡¯d tested it on while they¡¯d made preparations had lasted nearly twenty minutes; more than enough time for Lumi to regenerate enough mana for another [Cantrip].
Next, Lumi pinched the blade of her sword and ran her fingers down the edge, activating [Sharpen]. Jason saw the rust melt away as her fingers passed over, leaving behind a honed edge of new-looking steel. He wondered what would happen when the buff wore off. Would the rust reappear?
¡°Alright, down we go,¡± Kera said.
Lumiriel went first, stepping beneath the archway, pausing just in case anything happened. When it didn¡¯t, she moved downward until she¡¯d moved just past the second strawberry bush that had been growing along the wall just inside the entrance.
As she passed the bush, she suddenly jerked to a stop and raised her sword, startled by something. Then she relaxed, and lowered her weapon.
¡°Well this is definitely a dungeon,¡± Lumi said with a short, nervous laugh. ¡°The System just gave me a quest. Scared the crap out of me.¡±
She motioned the other two forwards. ¡°Seems safe enough up here. I¡¯ll stand guard, you two grab those berries.¡±
Jason entered, and as he approached the strawberry bush, he realized they were glowing faintly. Before, he thought it was just a trick of their color, but here in partial darkness he could see they gave off a faint golden aura. In fact, peering down the tunnel past Lumiriel, he could see the glimmer of a third bush growing in the distance.
As he and Kera entered, they too received a quest notification.
¡°That¡¯s awfully generic, isn¡¯t it?¡± asked Jason. ¡°Just ¡®Clear the dungeon¡¯ and nothing else? No mention of rewards or objectives or anything?¡±
¡°Uhhhh,¡± said Kera, ¡°that¡¯s not what mine says,¡±
She shared a portion of her screen.
You have received a new personal quest: Slay Keeper Seraptis. Bonus Objective: Master your fear and strike the killing blow. Reward: One additional Boss Chest if the dungeon is defeated. Bonus Reward: +2 Spirit, +1 Resolve
Lumi look at Kera¡¯s screen with interest. ¡°Personal quest? That¡¯s definitely not what mine says. Is that because of what you said earlier, I wonder?¡±
Kera shrugged uncomfortably.
¡°Eyes front, Lumi,¡± Jason reminded her. ¡°Let¡¯s worry about oddities later. Kera, just do you best.¡±
¡°Right, sorry!¡± Lumi said sheepishly, turning back to watch downwards into the darkness.
As he and Kera began carefully pulling [Golden Strawberries] from the bush, Jason took a moment to take a detailed look around.
The tunnel here wasn''t like that of a natural cave. It was a rectangular corridor, formed of hard packed earth, with a plain dirt floor. No wood or metal supports of any kind seemed present, which Jason though was strange, but then again he wasn¡¯t any kind of architectural expert. He knew mine shafts needed supports, but that was about the extent of his knowledge of tunnels.
The passagewayremained relatively level up to the point where the second bush was just barely visible within the entrance, where the groundbegan to slope downwards. Down below, the faint glow of the third bush cast deep shadows into what seemed to be a small chamber. Though Jason¡¯s hammer was currently giving off light, it didn¡¯t provide a great deal of it, and the narrowness of the tunnel meant he couldn¡¯t really see very well.
¡°These bushes really look like some kind of lure, don¡¯t they?" he commented. "I can see another one down there."
¡°Yeah, like an anglerfish,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°I thought so too.¡±
¡°Ceri doesn¡¯t seem too worried,¡± commented Kera.
¡°Yeah but he-¡° Jason started to reply, but Lumi hushed them.
¡°Quiet, listen,¡± she said.
They fell silent. A faint noise echoed up from below.
Chnk.
It came again.
Chnk.
The sound was soft and metallic, almost like that of a shovel or a pick being driven into dirt. It repeated regularly, every few seconds.
¡°Someone¡¯s... digging? Maybe Seraptis?¡± Kera guessed, whispering.
¡°Doubtful,¡± Jason shook his head. ¡°Not the way he was hurt before. Something else probably. Let¡¯s keep moving. We can finish harvesting more berries on our way out; I don¡¯t want to get attacked by something new while we¡¯re busy.¡±
He and Kera formed up behind Lumiriel, and they descended.
A good thirty feet later, the tunnel did indeed end in a small chamber. It was essentially a simple cubic room, perhaps fifteen feet across. Each corner of the room held a small tree, whose trunks seemed to be fused directly with the walls. The branches of the trees stretched up and flared partway across the ceiling, unnaturally growing directly towards the center of room. Despite being underground and in the dark, the trees were lush with bright green leaves. A single large strawberry bush sat in the middle of the room, and a second tunnel leading further in could be seen on the opposite side. The tick-tick of the digging sound seemed quite loud here, but Jason couldn¡¯t see anyone present apart from themselves.
¡°Well that doesn¡¯t at all scream ¡®Trap!¡¯, now does it?¡± Lumi commented sarcastically.
¡°Whoever thou-,¡± she cut off suddenly as with a final metallic noise, a large segment of wall on the left side of the room collapsed into nothingness with puff of dust and dirt. There was no warning, no shaking of the ground they stood on. It just crumbled away with a final clunk and a brief sound of falling stone.
The dust cleared in an instant, leaving behind what appeared to be the beginnings of a new tunnel. It was square, just like the one they stood in, also formed of packed earth, and extended only a handful of feet inwards. No dust, loose earth, or small stones were visible on the floor where moments ago had been a dirt wall. The connection between the new small space was slightly curved, giving the impression of a doorway. There was no sign of any creature who might have been doing the digging.
¡°Is the dungeon... growing?¡± asked Kera hesitantly.
Jason eyed the new space warily. ¡°Maybe...?¡± He said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever played anything like that.¡±
¡°I have,¡± Lumi said grimly. ¡°If it¡¯s anything like what I¡¯m thinking of, we should do everything we can to kill this place before it gets out of control.¡±
Kera looked incredulous. ¡°How do you kill a place?¡±
¡°What¡¯s so bad about it?¡± asked Jason.
¡°I don¡¯t want to make assumptions,¡± Lumi said with a shake of her head. ¡°I¡¯ll explain when we get to the end. Let¡¯s check out the room. Oh, and Kera? From now on you¡¯re rear guard. I don¡¯t want anything getting dropped right on top of our heads. Have Ceri watch our backs.¡±
¡°Gotcha.¡±
Lumi began cautiously crossing the room, sword held cautiously before her.
Jason, suspiciously examined the bush in detail. Obviously there was a trap of some kind involved. He spotted a pair of beady eyes hidden among the strawberries.
¡°Stop!¡± he yelled.
Lumi froze.
¡°Kera,¡± he ordered, ¡°use [Analyze Beast]. Among the berries. About two feet left of center and just off the ground.¡±
¡°I see it now,¡± Kerasaid. ¡°Analyze.¡±
¡°Oh wow,¡± Shesaid after a moment. That¡¯s weird. It¡¯s all highlighted to me now.¡±
¡°Careful, Lumi,¡± she continued. ¡°There¡¯s a Level 2 [Bush Viper] hiding in there. It¡¯s big. And poisonous. Don¡¯t get bit.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll distract it,¡± said Jason to Lumi. ¡°You kill it.¡±
Jason slung his hammer over one shoulder and pulled out his spear. ¡°Just like the frog. I¡¯ll throw, you zap, and then we just cut in it in half. Should be easy.¡±
¡°Ready when you are.¡±
Jason moved around to stand slightly to Lumi¡¯s side, then hefted his spear. With a grunt, he hurled it into the bush. He wasn¡¯t really trying to hit the creature, but he didn¡¯t need to. With its hiding place disturbed, the snakesprang out from underneath the leaves, making a beeline for him.
Jason could see immediately that it was excessively large for a bush viper; nearly six feet long once it had uncoiled. It was practically a python, where normal ones in the wild never really grew more than a third that size. This variety was primarily green with a black patterning, and its scales were shaped somewhat like spines, giving it an almost hedgehog-like appearance.
Kera gave a sort of a half-shout to Ceri behind him, but Jason kept his eyes on the snake as Lumiriel charged her fingers with electrical energy. If it lunged for him, he¡¯d have only a split second to react.
Lumi finished activating her skill, and unleashed a small arc of lighting at the viper, which spasmed and then lashed around violently. Lumi¡¯s sword came down directly on its middle, cleaving it in half.
Jason turned to scan the room in case there were others. It turned out he needn¡¯t have bothered. Kera stood behind them, holding Ceri in her arms and giving the very smug-looking reptile a scratch on the chin. A slightly-smoking second snake lay twitching on the ground at her feet.
¡°One tried to drop on us from the ceiling,¡± Kera said with a shrug.
"Did it just appear from nowhere?" Lumi asked her sharply, with an intenselook on herface.
"No. It dropped from the branches," Kera replied, pointing. "Why?"
Lumi started to reply, but then a slight breeze stirred through the room, and the bodies of the two vipers broke down into motes of light, which faded away into thin air. A pair of long, wicked looking fangs were left behind where each corpse had lain.
¡°Huh. I guess they were made of mana or something?¡± Kera commented. ¡°My [Analyze] said they were a dungeon variant. I guess that¡¯s why?¡±
¡°They were way bigger than normal too,¡± replied Jason, scooping up the fangs and placing them in his pouch.
Cautiously checking for any more snakes first, Jason retrieved his spear from the bush, but no additional vipers presented themselves. He and Kera took a moment to harvest a few more berries before they moved on.
Somewhat ominously, as they left the room the tink-tink sound of an unseen shovel started up behind them once again.
Lumi held up one hand, motioning for them to stop. Behind her, Jason stood, hammer at the ready, with Kera still taking up the rear. Ceri was in her arms, with his head lying on her shoulder so he could peer backwards into the darkness behind them.
¡°Another room,¡± whispered Lumiriel. ¡°This one¡¯s occupied.¡±
They¡¯d passed two other chambers after leaving the room with the [Bush Vipers]. The tunnel itself had turned several corners to conceal the rooms'' contents, but both had turned out to be simple empty chambers, as if the place wasn¡¯t quite finished.
Jason was unsure why; the place seemed very sparse to him, not at all what he was used to in big MMOs or action RPGs. Usually there was at least something, even if it was just a jumping puzzle.
He thought about that for a moment.
God, I hope that¡¯s not a thing here. Imagine missing a jump and falling to your death into an endless abyss or worse, breaking your legs in a deep chasm and slowly bleeding out.
Lumi interrupted his morbid thoughts and grabbed his attention back by quietly pinching his arm. She whispered harshly at him.
¡°Pay attention. I think that¡¯s Seraptis in there.¡±
That brought him back to reality fast.
¡°Are you sure?¡± whispered Kera with a bit of trepidation. She hugged Ceri to herself for reassurance, causing the reptile to squirm a little in her arms.
¡°It¡¯s hard to say without getting closer,¡± Lumi said quietly. ¡°But yeah, I think that¡¯s him. He¡¯s curled up, absorbing something from the air. Healing, I¡¯d have to guess.¡±
¡°If he¡¯s asleep, let¡¯s move in to get a closer look,¡± Jason said. Each of them nodded.
They stepped into the chamber, Jason wrapping his arms about his weapon in an attempt to dim some of the light in case the creature was asleep. Like the pervious two rooms had been, this one was relatively drab, though it was a wide and circular instead of a simple cube. Low mounds of scraped-together earth were dotted about the room, which slopes slightly downwards into a small depression in the floor. There, apparently sleeping on a pile of animal skins, was Seraptis. Occasional blue wisps of dimly visible energy flowed through the air around his ¡®bed¡¯, and every so often one was drawn into him as he breathed.
As the three friends stepped into the main portion of the room, the glow around him abruptly ceased, as if suddenly cut off from whatever source powered it. With a snort, Seraptis began to shift.
Kera whispered something to Ceri, whom she then tossed into the air. As Seraptis awoke groggily, Ceri quickly darted to the opposite side of the room, where he hunkered down in a corner, attempting to conceal his presence.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Lumi took up a defensive stance in front of the other two as Jason fell back to the rear; he knew he wouldn¡¯t be much help here armed with only a hammer. The creature realized there was a light source moving about its lair, and turned to face them with a snarl. Its feathers puffed up menacingly and its claws unfurled.
Jason could see that it had been healing, but had yet to fully recover. While Seraptis was no longer bleeding and the slight burns from Lumi¡¯s fire and Kera¡¯s shocks had disappeared, the wounds on its side and head were still visible; whatever spell or ability that was causing it to recover wasn¡¯t nearly as effective as the potions Jason had made.
Good. One more advantage for us then, he thought.
He noticed the creature favoring one arm over the other thanks to its wound.
Make that two.
Lumi brandished her sword at it. ¡°Time for the next round, jerk. Bring it!¡± She said.
Whether or not the creature understood, her tone was clear. The beast surged forwards toward her, lightning fast. Jason tensed, and from his position in the rear, he could see Kera did as well, but this time she held fast as Lumiriel called up her new skill.
¡°Flame Shield!¡± She yelled, thrusting out a hand. A shimmering wave of fire in the shape tower shield sprang up between her and the serpent creature, forcing it to cut short its charge. It lashed out at the barrier. A flash of fire and smoke erupted where its claws struck the shield, and the creature roared, recoiling away.
Jason and Kera spread out to either side to Lumiriel, but remained close enough that the girl could quickly interpose herself between them and Seraptis if he made a move in their direction, which is exactly what he tried.
This time, perhaps remembering the blow Jason had dealt him previously, Serpatis lunged for Jason. Lumi tried to intercept, but a lash from the creature''s tail sent her rolling away to avoid being tripped. However, the distraction was enough of an opening for Jason to get in an awkward hit, grazing the monster¡¯s wounded side.
It roared at him in a rage, reaching out with both claws. Jason fell backwards, trying to dodge as Lumi let out a shout of ¡°Frostbolt!¡±, and a shard of ice slammed into the creature¡¯s side, bowling it over.
It lashed Jason across the face with the end of its tail as it fell, and Jason cried out in pain as his felt his nose break. He rolled over, trying to stand as his head spun in a daze.
The creature surged upwards, about to pounce on him, only to be forced backwards once again by Lumi.
¡°Not this time! Flame Jet!¡± She yelled, and a sustained roar of fire washed over Jason¡¯s head as he felt Kera¡¯s grab him by the shirt with both hands and drag him backwards from underneath it.
The creature flailed backwards, completely unbalanced by the sudden change of strength and ferocity in its opponents. It slithered backwards as fast as it could, its hands shielding its face as Lumi advanced, sword down, with her lefthand held forward as a five-foot torrent of flames erupted outwards from her palm.
Once Jason was on his feet, Kera released him. Eyes watering in pain, he quickly pulled one of his healing potions from his belt and downed it while Kera ran to the center of the room. As he felt the bones and cartilage of his face shift and begin mending, he saw blue lines erupt along Kera''s skin and arms as she began to charge [Static Shock].
Dropping her hand, Lumi ceased spewing flames at the snakeman. She lunged forwards, making several quick thrusts with her sword that didn¡¯t strike home, but served to keep the creature¡¯s attention.
Lumi¡¯s feints and stabs slowly led Seraptis around the room, until he was facing the corner Ceri hid in, with Lumi directly between the two.
Kera meanwhile, maneuvered herself to stay in the center of the room, occasionally dodging swipes of the beast¡¯s tail as she built her static charge. She could have struck out at the beast''s tail, but instead appeared to be waiting for the most effective time to strike.
Jason, standing well back and out of the way, saw the opportunity first.
Seraptis was rearing back with both claws to strike again at Lumi, but then hesitated ever so slightly, off balance by just a hair thanks to its wounds. Jason called out an order to Lumi. The girl immediately threwing herself to the side, dropping prone.
Ceri, who''d been hiding in the corner and steadily building up his charge the whole time, leaped into the air as Lumi dived to the ground, and slammed directly into Seraptis¡¯ chest.
The room rang with the sound of the thunderbolt that was discharged through the monster¡¯s body. He fell backwards, right in front of Kera, who brought down both hands in an overhead swing on top of his head, striking him with a second discharge.
Seraptis flopped bonelessly into the dirt. Flesh burning, the creature jerked wildly as Kera held him down, pumping several discharges into him one after another.
Finally, drained of mana, she released the creature. It didn¡¯t get up again.
Lumi heaved great breaths, winded, while Kera slumped down onto her hands and knees.
Jason crossed the room to Kera to offer her a hand as the girl retched a time or two, shuddering as if she was going to vomit, though she didn¡¯t.
¡°You alright?¡± He asked, concerned.
She waved him off with one hand and a shake of her head.
¡°Fine.¡± She gasped. ¡°Just-¡°
She flopped over onto the ground, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling as she gulpeddeep breaths.
¡°Just.. need.. to calm.. down,¡± She panted, squeezing her eyes shut. Jason could see faint tears in the corner of her eyes. He realized that despite her outward calm during the fight, she must have been terrified the whole time.
He handed her a raw [Golden Strawberry].
¡°Here. Some sugar might help. They¡¯re pretty good.¡±
She accepted it silently, shoving it into her mouth whole and chewing. She spat out the stem.
Lumi finally straightened, wiping her forehead with one hand.
¡°Holy hell that takes a lot out you,¡± She said, still worn out. ¡°How do people manage more than a few minutes of this?¡±
¡°Usually they don¡¯t,¡± he replied. ¡°My friend Jim back home tried to take up fencing once for exercise. He said the hardest cardio he¡¯s ever done was just standing in one place doing lunges at a target with his epee, trying to memorize the right movements to strike specific points. I¡¯m sure the chain smoking didn¡¯t help, but he said one of the first things they taught you was that even a tiny thin sword felt like it weighed a hell of a lot when you were constantly moving and holding it up in the air.¡±
¡°There¡¯s a reason that competitive martial arts or weapon sports have combatants trade off during competitions; it¡¯s exhausting,¡± he finished.
¡°No kidding.¡± Kera said, still lying on the ground.
¡°You ok yourself?¡± Lumi ask Jason. ¡°You took that slap right in the head, and you¡¯ve got blood on your face.¡±
He touched his nose gingerly, then winced.
¡°I¡¯ll be fine. Broke my nose, but I took a potion already. Doesn¡¯t seem to need setting.¡±
¡°Speaking of injuries...¡± he continued, nudging Seraptis¡¯ body with a foot. ¡°Is it dead, or just unconscious?¡±
¡°Dead,¡± repliedKera, biting her lip. ¡°Bonus got checked off. Not sure how I feel about it.¡±
¡°Why hasn¡¯t it evaporated like the snakes?¡± asked Lumi.
Jason¡¯s scratched his head. ¡°Not sure. Actually for that matter, my [Basic Harvesting] skill is telling me I can¡¯t get anything from actual people with it. Which is disgusting to even think about.¡±
¡°This was a person?!¡± Kera exclaimed shrilly, sitting up suddenly.
¡°A person that was doing its best to kill you,¡± Lumi reminder her.
¡°But we came into its home! With weapons! Of course it-¡°
Lumi put a hand on Kera¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It tried to kill you first, Kera. Without you ever having done anything to it. It was a monster, even if it could think for itself. At least this way, it won¡¯t harm any more passing travelers.¡±
¡°I-I guess,¡± Kera said. She looked ready to cry again, but didn¡¯t.
¡°Besides,¡± Lumi said, voice hardening, ¡°if this place is like I think, we¡¯re definitely doing people a favor.¡±
¡°You said something like that earlier,¡± Jason said. ¡°This related?¡±
She nodded. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s keep moving. I¡¯m willing to guess this guy was the last line of defense, otherwise we would¡¯ve seen creatures in the other room. Have a quick bite while we get some mana back, and then let¡¯s finish this.
Well this doesn¡¯t look at all dangerous, Jason thought to himself as they regarded the final chamber. Guess Lumi was wrong there.
They stood at the entrance to what Jason could only refer to as a hatchery hall. Smooth sand spilled out across the room of the entire wide chamber, with clusters of different-sized eggs in small clumps, warmed by large braziers that provided both mood lighting and heat. Jason couldn¡¯t decide if the eggs were real and fertilized, or merely decorative, because they hadn¡¯t seen anything capable of actually laying them. It sort of reminded Jason of those odd spider dungeons you sometimes found in games, with eggs half as big as you were, that just sat there dormant until a player was careless enough to touch one, at which point it would spawn a bunch of wimpy spider mobs.
The room itself was rather large, easily twice the size of Seraptis¡¯ lair, with clutches of eggs to either side and a slightly raised platform at one end.
There was also ashimmering energy barrier covering some kind of pillar at the back of the platform. The thing pulsed with mana, enough so that Jason couldn¡¯t make out what was inside, but the whole situation put all three would-be adventurers on edge.
Lumi in particular seemed to be dragging her feet, eyeballing the pillar of energy as it were some particularly dangerous specimen. Her sword was held downwards in front of her, ready to come up at a moment¡¯s notice.
They stood in the doorway, debating.
¡°Well, we haven¡¯t finished the quest yet. I don¡¯t see any other exits,¡± Jason said.
¡°Neither do we.¡± Kera said, indicating herself and Ceri.
Lumiriel shifted forwards cautiously, the others close behind. Partway through crossing the room, there was a brief rumble from the pillar, and a bright white energy sparked up and down the pillar. It spun around the pillar and then peeled off, swirling into a ball in front of it.
¡°Down!¡± Lumi yelled, as she dived for cover. The other two threw themselves to the floor behind her.
¡°Wall of Ice!¡± She yelled, throwing out a hand, as a crack of thunder boomed and lighting arced towards them.
A sheet of solid ice sprung up just in time, and the bolt struck the barrier and shattered it instantly, sending ice and snow exploding in all direction. Lumi was flung backwards, but threw out a hand and summoned another wall as a second bolt, just as powerful as the first, flashed out. It shattered the new one as well.
The room rocked with the force of the strikes. Ceri squawked in fear, cowering in Kera¡¯s hair as she and Jason rose to a crouch in time to see another wave of energy swirl around the pillar. This time it was the same pale blue energy they¡¯d seen in the first room, and it speared outwards towards two different clusters of eggs on one side of the room; one large, one small.
With a cacophony of cracking sounds, the eggs hatched in an instant. The cluster of smaller eggs spilled out a trio of large red lizards the size of small dogs. The other cluster of eggs opened to reveal a pair of humanoid serpents, similar in form to Seraptis but much smaller and brown-scaled, as well as lacking the feathers their previous foe had had.
The trio of red lizards turned towards them, and opened their mouths. A deep red glow built in their throats.
¡°Salamanders!¡± yelled Kera, and the three scattered, throwing themselves to the side as each lizard spewed forth a wash of flames towards the spot they¡¯d been standing.
Jason dived to the left, and felt the heat as he was nearly clipped by one of the blasts. He rolled, heard a strange pinging sound from the girls¡¯ direction as he let go of his hammer, and pulled out his spear as he rolled to his feet; he knew trying to approach a salamander, even an infant one, would be like trying to walk into a furnace. Before he could throw, though, Lumi gave a shout, and he was forced to dodge again as another wash of flame passed him.
Not good.
The three lizards began alternating, each one spitting fire while the other two waited, while the two salamander-kin got their bearings, looking around as if seeking a weapon to use; their claws seemed much less useable than Seraptis¡¯ had, if they were even the same species, which Jason doubted.
After a moment of harried diving out of the way of fire blasts, which thankfully were not followed up by lightning bolts, Lumi gave a growl of frustration.
¡°Screw this!¡± She yelled. ¡°Shadow Curtain!¡± she shouted, standing straight and holding both hands to either side. A rippling wave of blackness sheared off half the room, as if someone had dropped a massive sheet of inky black rubber across it. Lumi stood there, visibly straining, as something invisibly slammed into the opposite side, causing ripples to roll across the barrier.
¡°I hope you guys have a plan,¡± she said through gritted teeth, ¡°because this is draining my mana hardcore and I can¡¯t keep it going more than a few seconds.¡±
¡°Drop the barrier and throw a fire attack at one of the Salamanders,¡± Kera ordered, ¡°Then you two focus on the snake dudes. I¡¯ll deal with the lizards.¡± With a toss, she sent Ceri flying out of the room, back down the tunnel.
¡°What? That¡¯s crazy,¡± Lumi said, still holding up her arms as if physically supporting her wall of darkness. She flinched as another impact rippled across the shield.
¡°Just do it!¡± Jason said. "She''s got a plan, we''ll go with it."
¡°Alright, it¡¯s on you then. I''ll take the snake guy on the left. Everyone on three.¡±
Lumi counted, and then dropped the barrier. ¡°Firebolt!¡± she yelled, flinging one in the direction of the Salamanders, striking it. The impact rocked it slightly, but it was unharmed.
¡°See what did I tell you?¡± Lumi said as she dodged another blast of fire.
Jason heard a second soft ping sound, but didn''t have time to wonder about it; the humanoid salamanders had given up on finding something to use as a weapon, and were now advancing. So he gave them one, flinging his spear and scoring one directly across the chest. It fell backwards, injured but not dead, as he dived for his hammer. Lumi ran at the other one with her sword.
With the barrier now gone, Kera was flinging herself towards the Salamanders.
¡°Status!¡± She yelled, as Lumi¡¯s firebolt impacted the middle lizard. Then with a savage grin, ¡°Fireproofing! Static Shock!¡±
He looked over in her direction just in time to see one of the Salamanders spit flames right in her face, only for the girl to come through completely unscathed. She slapped down a hand directly on top of the creature¡¯s head, and sparks flew; the salamander collapsed. The other two, seeing themselves suddenly under close assault, turned towards the Kera, mouths opening, too stupid to realize what had happened.
Jason watched her briefly with a grin.
God I love blue magic, he thought.
And then the fight was on, and he had his own opponent to deal with.
Things went quickly after that. An unarmed opponent was no match for Lumiriel, even with her mana drained to nearly empty, and she and Jason quickly dispatched the second Salamander-kin after she slew hers. Kera simply walked from lizard to lizard, slapping them down with a beefed up [Static Shock]; apparently one¡¯s skin being immune to fire didn¡¯t stop your insides from being fried by electrical current.
After they defeated the monsters and called back Ceri, they realized that the barrier of mana around the back pillar had fallen, or perhaps had been used up, and that they¡¯d all received notifications about having completed their quest. On the platform, two small golden chests appeared. One had Kera¡¯s name inscribed on it.
¡°Ok, that¡¯s kinda creepy, really. Why does the dungeon know my name?¡± She asked.
¡°Maybe it¡¯s system generated?¡± suggested Jason.
¡°I hope so,¡± Lumi said darkly. ¡°I don¡¯t think we want that knowing us.¡± She pointed.
Set halfway up the pillar, a large, dark crystal pulsed with a deep red light. Jason could feel malevolence rolling off it in waves, like a great heartbeat.
¡°W-What is it?¡± Kera asked, her hands to her mouth.
¡°It¡¯s a dungeon core,¡± said Lumi. ¡°And not the fun,satirical, ¡®I hope you had a good time come back tomorrow¡¯ kind. I was afraid of this, especially when I saw the digging.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Jason. ¡°Not that I¡¯m arguing. I can feel that thing looking at us, and I don¡¯t like it.¡±
¡°It¡¯s the dungeon. It¡¯s heart, anyway. The animating force that keeps the whole thing alive. Think of it like the center of a vast, evil fungus, except instead of mold you get new rooms and monsters as it grows. All it cares about is eating, and growing, and the treasure inside it is just a lure for those foolish enough to come unprepared, as well as an enticement to leave it alone and come back later if you beat it.¡±
¡°What? How do you know?¡± asked Kera.
¡°Like I said, I¡¯ve played a game like that once. There¡¯s some differences here, like I don¡¯t see any imps running around, and this core is tiny, and I don¡¯t know what Seraptis¡¯ role was in all this, but that¡¯s definitely a core.¡±
¡°Can we kill it? Should we kill it?¡± questioned Jason.
¡°We absolutelyshould,¡± Lumi said. ¡°It exists to kill. Not just us, but everything. People. Animals. Plants. The landscape itself, possibly, depending on the rules here; thats certainly how the game I played worked. I don¡¯t know or care how it got here, but it¡¯s bad news for the area if we just leave it be. Most likely, it will grow and grow, feeding off whatever wanders in or it¡¯s minions can capture, until it¡¯s strong enough to start taking over portions of the surface, possibly spitting out hordes of monsters periodically.
"I could be wrong of course, since this place has lots of rules that we don¡¯t know or understand, but I¡¯d feel better not taking that risk. If it was safe to leave here and farm it for loot, there¡¯d be guards, or guilds, or a town outside. Something would be here if it was a good source of wealth.¡±
¡°So how do we do that?¡± asked Kera.
¡°Simple. Like this.¡±
She raised a hand in the core¡¯s direction. ¡°Lance of Light.¡±
A jet of brilliant white energy roared forthfrom her palm, striking the pillar. With a sound like the tolling of a great bell, the chamber shook.
Blinking alway his sudden blindness, Jason saw the pillar had been reduced to rubble. The core lay on the floor, cracks splintered across its surface, it¡¯s dark pulsing now silenced.
Jason leaned forward and examined it for a moment, activating [Analyze Item] just in case.
Synergy Detected: [Analyze Ingredient]. [Analyze Item] has been upgraded to include analysis of alchemical traits. Results depend on synergy skill rank.
[Inert Dungeon Core] - May be revived at a later time or used as a rare ingredient for certain items. Trait Discovered: Transmute. Special: If crushed into reagents, provides four times normal quantity.
¡°Oh really, now?¡± He said to himself, picking it up.
¡°Geez, Lumi, warn a girl before you sear her eyeballs out like that,¡± Kera complained, rubbing her eyes.
¡°Sorry.¡±
¡°Anyway, enough of that,¡± Kera said, ¡°it¡¯s time for loot!¡±
Lumi laughed. ¡°Not even level 10 yet and you¡¯ve already turned into a seasoned murder-hobo. ¡®Oh, I defeated some kind of epic evil?''" she said in a falsetto, "''That¡¯s nice, where¡¯s my treasure?¡¯ ¡±
¡°Bah,¡± Kera replied. ¡°Let¡¯s see what¡¯s in here,¡± She said, flinging open the first chest, the one not adorned with her name.
¡°Hmm, let¡¯s see. Well this is obviously for our crafter extraordinaire,¡± she said, holding up what looked like some kind of backpack.
Jason and Lumi stepped up besides her.
¡°It¡¯s called a [Handy Haversack] whatever that is,¡± Kera said. ¡°Pretty sure it¡¯s magic, it¡¯s got runes all over the metal bits.¡±
She handed it over to Jason.
¡°Analyze. Ah. Yeah. It¡¯s a kind of bag of holding,¡± Jason explained. ¡°It¡¯s enchanted for extra space and weights almost nothing when worn. Doesn¡¯t hold as much weight as a high end bag of holding, but it has more volume plusseveral side pockets that are like mini bags of holding with some kind of preservation charm on them. Very nice.¡±
He immediately sat down on the ground and began transferring the contents of their packs over while the girls looked through the chest.
¡°Looks like a pair of armored boots for you, Lumi.¡±
¡°I¡¯m going to look silly with just boots I¡¯m afraid. And I don¡¯t know if I want to go stomping around in the woods for days with them on.¡±
¡°We can just keep them in the sack for when you need them. Oooh, a cloak. Dibs, because you two already have something, and I¡¯m always cold.¡±
Jason could practically hear Lumi''s eyes rolling, but the girl didn¡¯t protest.
¡°Hey, check it out!¡± Kera said, ¡°More upgrades!¡±
¡°Oh thank god,¡± Lumi exclaimed. ¡°A new sword, with a proper belt, too!¡±
Jason saw her pull a longsword from the chest. It came accompanied by scabbard and belt made of a reddish-brown leather, with some kind of ornate decorative design running down the scabbard. The belt itself was plain.
¡°Now I can finally stop being terrified I¡¯m going to trip and lop an arm off while walking down the road,¡± Lumi said, as she attempted to work out how to strap on the belt.
Jason though it looked far too big for her, but as soon as she had it around her, the belt suddenly shrunk down in size.
¡°Whoah, self-adjusting clothes!¡± Kera said, fascinated.
¡°Is it enchanted, or is that a loot thing, I wonder?¡± Lumi asked, twisting around to look at herself.
¡°Analyze,¡± Jason said, examining the scabbard from where he was sitting by the haversack.
¡°Nope. Not enchanted,¡± he said.
¡°Did you just analyze Lumi¡¯s butt?¡± Kera asked.
Lumi turned red. ¡°Kera!¡±
¡°What?¡± She replied with a grin.
¡°No, you can already tell that¡¯s quite magical,¡± Jason commented blithely. He gave Lumi a half-grin to let her know he was just teasing her, before quickly turning back to transferring the contents of their old packs into the [Handy Haversack].
Kera laughed uproariously as Lumi give a highly embarrassed, half-outraged, splutter behind him. Jason tried unsucessfully to suppress his grin, because he knew he really shouldn¡¯t have, but when you get set up for a joke like that, sometimes you just had to take it.
¡°That¡¯s all for this one!¡± Kera declared with flourish. She opened the chest with her name on it. ¡°Now for my bonus. Hmm, a belt?¡±
Kera held up what looked like leather belt formed from snakeskin. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t appear to be made from Seraptis or anything; his scales were a dark green, while this was a dark blue. The silver metal buckle was, of course, shaped a triangular serpent''s head, with the tongue forming the actual tongue of the belt.
¡°Oh, wow. Apparently since it¡¯s from my quest I get to know what it does. Here, check this out,¡± she said, sharing a screen.
[Coil of the Sundered Serpent] - Provides a boost to the wearer¡¯s Might and Agility. Once per day the wearer may activate the belt to take the form of a massive serpent with one of the standard dungeon templates. The form lasts until the wearer wills it to end, or until a full day has passed, at which time the effect ends and the belt becomes unusable until recharged.
¡°That is so cool!¡± Kera shouted, as she buckled the belt around her waist.
¡°You want to be able to be a snake for hours at a time?¡± Lumi asked dubiously, eyeing Kera with a skeptical look on her face.
¡°It¡¯s not about being a snake, silly,¡± Kera replied. ¡°Haven¡¯t you ever wondered what it¡¯s like to be so completely different that we have have no frame of reference for it? What does a snake really see? Their eyes are different from ours. They can sense heat. They taste smells. I heard somewhere that while they don¡¯t have ears, they do have ear bones or whatever, but they¡¯re in their jaw or something.
¡°With magic, there so many things you could experience that would be impossible back home. I could see what it was like to be a boy, or a cat, or I could try out being super tall, or have a tail, or even fly under my own muscle power! With magic involved, we could even change ourselves for good maybe if we liked something. How cool is that?¡±
Lumi laughed. ¡°Ok, I hadn¡¯t thought about it that way. It is kind of cool, though I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d want to change myself permanently somehow.¡±
¡°We kind of already have, haven¡¯t we?¡± Jason commented, causing the others to fall silent. ¡°I mean, we¡¯ve all spent stat points. We can feel the difference each time we get a little bit faster, or stronger.¡±
¡°Or braver,¡± he added with a nod in Kera¡¯s direction.
She tilted her head to the side, thinking.
¡°I do feel more confident,¡± she said after a moment. ¡°I got that reward right away after.. well. I didn¡¯t really notice until now, but you¡¯re right. That¡¯s both creepy that it¡¯s messed with my mind but also kind of awesome at the same time since I can deliberately work to improve myself in obvious ways.
¡°That¡¯s definitely an advantage to this system, I¡¯d have to say,¡± commented Lumi. ¡°I agree it¡¯s a little creepy when you really think about how some mystery force is in our heads, but I guess that¡¯s not really all that different from some religious beliefs, is it? At least you can work towards changing yourself on purpose,and actually see a measure of your progress. People try and change all the time back home, but most fail because they get discouraged. Change is hard there, but here? It¡¯s easy.¡±
¡°Change, huh?¡± Kera said pensively, this time half to herself.
Mini-Interludes 01 and 02 - Karthinos, and Dungeons 101
Mini-Interlude 01 - Karthinos
Lethis gave a growl as another pulsing line of runes winked out.
Another has fallen, then, Karthinos thought from across the room, as an image briefly came into view.He caught a glimpseof a young man and two equally young women standing over a corpse. One of the women¡¯s auras was fading from green to black, while the other two were highlighted in a pale blue.
With a snarl, a chunk of black crystal materialized in Lethis¡¯ clawed hand and she hurled it angrily at the image, where it shattered harmlessly against the large runic array that was tracking the status of her bounty hunters.
Far, far too many names were blackened and dark, while only a mere handful flowed with a yellow light, indicating they were on their way, captives in tow. Two were green, indicating current pursuit, and a few had turned red, indicating the target had been eliminated. Those were better than black, but not as optimal as yellow. The rest were still a pale blue, indicating they had not yet encountered their targets.
Silently Lethis sat on her throne, flexing her wings in irritation as she raged inwardly at the Voice and the incompetent beings she had been forced to hire, as the ever-stoic Karthinos stood at the far end of the room, awaiting his next orders.
¡°Enough of this!¡± She said, standing suddenly. ¡°Clearly we have erred in our judgement of the ones who answered our call. It would seem my minor gifts were not enough. Would that I¡¯d had the time to do more than offer bribes of hastily-prepared cores and dusty relics to the miserable scum who turned up at a moment¡¯s mention of easy power, but we were pressed for time.¡±
Lethis scowled. ¡°Unfortunately, a great many champions have proven far more capable than I¡¯d anticipated.¡±
¡°Furthermore,¡± she continued, stepping down from her throne, ¡°aside from the old priest we were forced to make an example of, not a one of them seem to strongly adhere to any faith, so I can¡¯t use that to easily manipulate them, and somehow they¡¯re all familiar with the Voice. Or something like it, anyway. Enough to know what it means and how to use it. None of this is as I expected. Clearly, something has changed back on dear old Earth.¡°
Lethis beckoned to Karthinos as she strode out of her chapel. He turned to follow.
¡°It is time we take matters into our own hands. Kaleb seems eager enough to prove himself. Let us give him a test, and send him after that young woman who ended up in the midst of that order of [Monks] in the eastern mountains of Derun. If they divine her true nature and she accidentally unlocks [Chosen One], or worse, they teach her the secrets of becoming a [Hero], I will be forced to intervene personally before she becomes too large a threat, and it is far too soon to show my hand. The Shining Legions would be at my doorstep within a fortnight if they got wind of my return, for surely at least they remember me. And we are not ready for that fight. Not yet.¡±
¡°What of the others, Mistress?¡± murmured Karthinos, as they moved through the halls. Occasionally, they passed by a gloomling standing over a handful of humanoid slaves, working away at building furniture or digging new passageways. Karthinos gave them barely a glance, for he had seen to it personally that all semblance of will had been beaten out of them.
¡°Are we to send the other champions out as well?¡± he asked.
¡°Not yet. While three outworlders coming together is cause for great concern, they currently seem to be just barely managing to struggle along with whatever strange classes they¡¯ve ended up with; I¡¯m not even sure what the male is. A larger threat would be that young man hiding in the heart of Teravia. If the Legions discover an outworlder in the midst of their capital, they will start to connect the dots, and they definitely will try to use him against me. But I cannot send one of our new champions after him there, not even Marilith. She has a great deal more training to proceed with before she is ready to take on such a monumental task as infiltrating the heart of the Shining Legions.¡±
¡°At least the champion there has had the good sense to hide himself away from them. I suspect this trend among the outworlders of being suspicious of gods has something to do with it, but it provides a boon to us in that he is actively avoiding our enemies for now. My hunter there has reported that his difficulties in tracking the boy have stemmed from his target taking both [Thief] and [Sorcerer] levels, so perhaps instead he can be turned with the right... enticement, provided he does not get himself caught first.¡±
¡°As for the others,¡± Lethis continued, as the they came into one of the newer chambers, a great underground bowl with seating along all sides, ¡°They are not ready. However, Kaleb¡®s [Hellknight] and [Commander] classes give him the advantage of numbers, and he has the drive and temperament I need in a Champion. He has already surpassed the others greatly.¡±
Lethis gestured down into the arena, where a lone human in full armor fought a towering, goat-like beast alongside several minions.
Kaleb stood, barbed blade in hand, directing several smaller rat monsters to swarm the goat-creature. His armor was pitch black, and streaked with the reddish light of runic script. It was made of a metal that Karthinos was now familiar with: shadowsteel, the same material his own armor was made from. The polar opposite of mithril, which shone with the light of the stars, shadowsteel was born from the depths of the earth, and readily accepted enchantments of ice and illusion, as well as other, darker magics.
The young man demonstrated one such magic now. He activated a rune on his left gauntlet, which seared itself into the back of his hand, causing blood to drip from his fingers. He raised his injured hand and gestured. Blood flowed from his hand and into the air, condensing into the form of a small, winged humanoid covered in scales and possessing a long, barbed tail.
Karthinos knew it was not a true living thing. Colloquially known as ¡®Imps¡¯, the creatures harassing the boy¡¯s foe were merely an extension of his will: mana and blood given temporary physical form. He summoned minions of his own design, powered them with his own lifeforce, and then used his [Commander] skills to turn them into a fearfully competent force that acted in unison.
It was a potent combination, and one of the boy¡¯s own choosing. He had been the first to swear fealty to the Dark Lady, and had needed little encouragement as well. Karthinos often wondered were the boy got the ideas for his creations; typically, creating homunculi out of thin air required a complex, highly detailed mental image of exactly one what one wanted, but the boy seemed to have a never-ending stream of new creations for every purpose. When asked, he¡¯d told Karthinos that he¡¯d been a ¡®Dungeon Master¡¯, which Karthinos assumed meant he had been some kind of Keeper in his own world. No wonder he''d taken to serving Lady Lethis so quickly; Rewarding the boy with new cores should he prove himself worthy of one was a simple matter for such an existence as the Dark Lady.
Karthinos watched the new minion fly up and clamp down onto the beast¡¯s head, using its stinger to pierce the creature¡¯s eye. Briefly he wondered if Kaleb would prove himself greatest of his Mistress¡¯ champions. Marilith had her own talents, but the boy was clearly suited for command, and Lady Lethis had already informed him that with the right classes, he could grant his creations a permanent existence, then awaken them into true sapience; He could theoretically build his own, personally crafted cadre of elite warriors.
It would take a great deal of resources they did not yet possess, but the boy had seemed excited by the prospect.
The goat-beast flailed as its other eye was blinded by the imp. It smashed its head against the ground in a mad attempt to dislodge the creature, but the imp simply scampered up onto its back, where it hung onto its fur and began stinging repeatedly with its tail. Meanwhile, Kaleb¡¯s other minions, shaped like huge red rodents with fiery eyes, tore into the creature¡¯s sides. Several were crushed out of existence by the monster¡¯s thrashing, but it was enough. Kaleb stepped forward, taking an opening to run his sword across the goat-thing¡¯s throat, and blood flowed as it died.
Lethis gave a small, slow clap as she descended into the arena, hips swaying sensuously. Kaleb turned, and bowed low before her. He removed his helm as he did, revealing fair skin and long blond hair that spilled downwards in a ponytail. His blue eyes briefly shone with lust as he eyed Lethis up and down, and Karthinos nearlydrew his spear, but the boy repressed his gaze. Karthinos forced himself to relax, reminding himself that his Lady had chosen her form personally for a reason, and did not consider such things to be disrespectful. She encouraged them, even, regardless of whether or not the person had actually done something to earn her... favors. She thought of it as a way of winnowing out which ones knew their place, and which ones needed to be taught respect.
Kaleb toed the the line rather closely, Karthinos thought. Among his own, prior species, such open disrespect could go one of two ways, and one of those would have ended with Kaleb buried alive inside a box filled with venomous spiders, provided the female in question could overpower him.
Still, the boy seemed loyal enough. He¡¯d never tried to defy Lady Lethis in any way, and had even butchered that old priest in front the others, with little more than a moment¡¯s hesitation when the she had commanded him to do so as a means of unlocking his class.
¡°Kaleb, my dear,¡± Lethis began, ¡°I see your training is progressing well.¡±
¡°Thank you, Mistress,¡± he said with another small bow. ¡°I have almost reached level 15 [Hellknight], now, as well as level 7 [Commander].Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Karthinos saw Lethis lean back slightly, tapping one claw against her lips, as she often did when in thought. ¡°We shall have to see if we can¡¯t get you an evolution of your second class. There are better ones, more specialized.¡±
¡°Classes can evolve into new forms?¡± the boy asked as he straightened, surprise written across his face.
¡°With the right encouragement,¡± Lethis replied simply.
¡°For now, however, I have a task for you....¡±
Mini-Interlude 02 - Dungeons 101
Aurion lounged against the podium as the last of the new recruits trickled in to his classroom. This group was mostly human, as usual, but a smattering of other races were scattered throughout the room. Several of the closer recruits who were paying more attention ducked as he rapped his wand hard against the side of the podium, as if they expected it to go off, but Aurion was too experienced a [Wizard] to allow that to happen.
¡°Listen up!¡± he instructed. ¡°I realize all of you are new and raring at the bit to actually do something interesting, but I would like to remind you that dungeons are not to be underestimated. Those of you who¡¯ve made it this far should understand by now that the other Guilds are not just blowing steam when they go on about how dungeons are a dangerous blight on the world, when they try and get our Guild outlawed. There is a grain of truth, if a shortsighted one, to their concerns.¡±
¡°To that end, every last one of you who wants induction into the guild must pass an academic course on the nature of dungeons. You will be tested on even the most minute of details, because forgetting them can mean your death, which means another chance for a dungeon to grow out of control. Do I make myself clear?¡±
There was some half hearted grumbling at the mention of tests, and Aurion rolled his eyes internally; students were always the same. Even when they were seasoned adventurers.
¡°Now. Who can tell me the purpose of the Black Thorns?¡±
Aurion pointed to a young lady in the back row who seemed more interested in making eyes at the person next to her. ¡°You. Answer.¡±
Caught off guard, she stammered an answer. ¡°Uh, t-that is, we¡¯re a guild that focuses on the growth of, and research into, dungeons, in order to tame them for humanity¡¯s benefit.¡±
¡°Wrong.¡± Aurion said firmly. ¡°On two counts. First, you are not a member yet, kindly do not refer to yourself as such. More importantly, the idea that we research dungeons because we want to tame them is a rumor bandied about by those who would see us outlawed.
¡°The Black Thorns do not wish to tame dungeons,¡± he continued. ¡°That is an impossibility. Dungeons must kill in order to grow, and if they cannot grow they wither and they die as they run out of resources. Simply feeding them livestock at a slow, steady rate to control intake does not work, because then they will grow anyway, and the more they grow the faster they need to consume life before they begin to wither, until we¡¯d all starve to death trying to keep the thing fed, to say nothing of the lives lost to whatever horrors it began spawning once it reached critical size."
Aurion began to pace to either side of his podium.
¡°No, the Black Thorns wish to understand dungeons so that theycan be killed more efficiently, with the least loss of life, and to exploit them under controlled conditions for the world¡¯s benefit. We are not under the illusion that they can be tamed, or made safe in any way.
¡°Why can¡¯t we simply dig down to their cores directly? Why do they consume pure mana at a furious pace and yet the land around them teems with concentrated, unusual aspects of the stuff? What limits or guides their constant growth? What is the exact relationship they have with their non-manaspawn inhabitants?
¡°These are all important questions when it comes to defeating them. You¡¯ll encounter a great many questions we have no answers for in this course, alongside a great many we do.¡±
Aurion paused in his pacing, pointing his wand towards the blackboard, where ¡®Dungeon Myths¡¯ appeared, written in chalk. He smirked inwardly as a many students'' eyes grew wide. There were always one or two who weren¡¯t fooled, but most were impressed with his apparent ¡®skill¡¯ at materializing chalk in a legiblepattern using nothing but a single gesture. In reality, he¡¯d written down everything he needed the night before, in real chalk, and then simply covered individual sections in illusions just before class. Then he could dismiss the concealment spells piece by piece, ¡®writing¡¯ on the board.
Eventually, they¡¯d all learn that a dungeon could pull far craftier tricks than that.
¡°Now, who can tell me oneof thecommon beliefs about dungeons, and why or how itis wrong.¡±
A young man raised his hand. Aurion gestured to him to speak up.
¡°Uh, a lot of people think dungeons can¡¯t make things while people are inside,¡± he said. ¡°I remember reading somewhere that¡¯s not the case, but I don¡¯t remember why.¡±
¡°Correct,¡± Aurion said. ¡°Dungeons are capable of spawning new monsters while adversaries are present. What good would the ability to spawn defenders from nowherebe if you can¡¯t do it when you need them the most?¡±
Aurion clasped his hands behind him. ¡°That said, dungeons rarely do so, hence the myth. A few do learn the trick of simply shifting its denizens instantly from one place to another within themselves, because it is effective and costs them almost nothing, but generally dungeons do not spawn new creations while they¡¯re under attack, unless it is by a vastly superior force. Can anyone tell me why? Yes, you.¡±
A youngwomanin the front row answered, lowering her hand. ¡°They are constantly spending mana on improving their rooms or creatures, or they¡¯re saving it up for big expansions, like additional floors and new chambers. Also, new monsters are expensive, while old ones will just respawn for a pittance of mana some timeafter beingkilled, so it¡¯s better for them to hold off until they¡¯re really in danger.¡±
¡°At least one of you has been reading ahead,¡± Aurion replied with a satisfied nod. ¡°Keep up the good work.¡±
¡°Miss Starshine is correct," he continued. "Generally, dungeons are in a state of either actively spending mana, so they have none to spare, or they are hoarding it for a major growth spurt, meaning they do not wish to do so.¡±
He returned to his podium once more. ¡°Who can tell me why this is important? Yes, you.¡±
A younger half-elven boy, his pale blue skin betraying his snow elf ancestry, spoke up. ¡°Because if a dungeon has been hoarding mana, and you threaten its core, it will spend all of it at once trying to kill you.¡±
Aurion nodded once more. ¡°Excellent answer, Mister Barrings. Indeed, perhaps the most dangerous thing you can do is attempt to harm a core when it has stored up a great deal; Dungeons do not merelygrow new rooms and spawn monsters. [Dig] is cheap spell for a dungeon, one of almost negligible cost beyond that of mere time. But dungeons are also capable of much greater works of spellcraft, as well as the creation of cunning traps. One of the most useful offensive spells in the world for one on one combat is the simple spellknown as [Create Pit]. You do not want a dungeon casting itat you while you are distracted by a mere goblin, and then forced to helplessly watch as it fills the pit, with you in it, with an Acidic Slimebeast, now would you?¡±
That drew a few chuckles.
¡°Are there any other myths that you can think of?¡± he asked.
Another hand was raised.
¡°Go ahead,¡± he said.
¡°All dungeons have bosses.¡± came the reply.
¡°And how is that false?¡± asked Aurion from the podium.
¡°They... don¡¯t always?¡±
Aurion sighed. There was always at least one joker.
¡°Correct, if incomplete,¡± he said. ¡°In point of fact, ¡®Boss¡¯ is a special designation by the Voice to indicate creatures of exceptional size and strength created by the dungeon for the express purpose of killing those who enter it. However, the youngest of dungeons rarely, if ever, have them because they are expensive to create and it is more efficient to defend themselves through othermethods, such as traps, during their early stages. Can someone name the mostsignificant of those methods?¡±
¡°Keepers,¡± a young man with tanned skin said sourly without raising his hand. Dark blue scales covered a portion of the sides of his neck, stretching down his shouldersandunderneath his shirt. Similar scales could be seen on his forearms, and his blue eyes held slight purple pinpoints that glowed.
¡°Indeed.¡± Aurion said. This one bore careful watching, for the very reason he knew the answer to Aurion¡¯s question. Veran¡¯s father had been caught red-handed creating several cores all at one time, after the success he¡¯d had with the first one he¡¯d planted. The young man¡¯s scales weren¡¯t the result of an unusual heritage, but rather... well, the less said about the ways dungeons could twist things that chose to live within them the better. Needless to say, the experience had left some deep seated emotional wounds on the boy. The Guild nearly had rejected his application outright for fear of him making his own Pact with one of their carefully monitored training dungeons, but other minds had prevailed, pointing out that the Guild did not reject people on the basis of class or species, only talent or action, and the boyshould not be held accountablefor his father''s actions.
¡°Would you care to elaborate, Mr Veran?¡± Aurion asked.
¡°Keepers are... typically powerful individuals," he said, "most often the creator of the dungeon, who form a formal contract with dungeon through arcane means. This bond allows the Keeper to siphon off a portion of the dungeon¡¯s mana in the form of XP, physical mutations to their stats, extra skill ranks, and can even sometimes lead to the formation of unique skills and classes. Some Keepers even eventually become Bosses in their own right. In exchange, the dungeon receives a powerful protector that is capable of leaving the dungeon to procure extra... food.. for the dungeon that it would otherwise be too weak to obtain on its own via the lesser minions it has access to, without the need to overinvest.¡±
¡°Anything else?¡±
¡°Um. Keepers can exert a huge amount of influence over a dungeon, but contrary to popular beliefthey don¡¯t actually control them. Dungeons can have both Keepers and Bosses, but can have neither, and Keepers don¡¯t have to be intelligent individuals. Sometimes they¡¯re just monsters who wandered in and found the environment to their liking. Usually that¡¯s what happens with natural dungeons, which is why we know they don¡¯t always have bosses; people just confuse Keepers for Bosses a lot.¡±
¡°Very good,¡± said Aurion. ¡°Since it was brought up, can anyone tell me what the difference between a natural and aman-made dungeon is? Someone else please. Yes, Miss Starshine.¡±
¡°Natural dungeons form on their own from just the right confluence of factors,¡± the girl began, ¡°not the least of which is a high concentration of particularly evil forms of magic.¡±
¡°A bit pedantic,¡± Aurion replied, ¡°because mana is neither inherently good nor evil, but you are ultimately correct. Continue.¡±
¡°A man-made dungeon on the other hand is formed through the use of ritual sacrifice, an evil practice¡± she emphasized with a glare, ¡°by which a spellcaster tears the mana out ofthe victim¡¯s body and siphons most of it off into a receptacle that further rituals are applied to in order to create a [Dungeon Seed], which can then be planted and.. fed.. to create a [Dungeon Core].¡±
¡°And?¡±
¡°Uh, that¡¯s it?¡±
¡°Not quite, Miss Starshine. Correct again, but also incomplete. Not all man-made dungeons are created that way. Even we do not condone those methods here, after all.¡±
¡°Oh. Right. Um. I guess that counts as man-made,¡± she said. ¡°The other means of making a man-made dungeon is to acquire the core of a dungeon that has been slain, and pump massive amounts of mana into it in order to spawn a new one out of the old core. Any kind of mana will do. That¡¯s how the Black Thorns make their living. We, I mean you, buy up dead cores for huge sums, and then regrow them way away from everyone else, where you can study them and there¡¯s no risk of them absorbing entire towns, and then you charge adventurers fees to come and try their luck before you kill off the dungeon again, before it gets big enough to start spawning raiding parties.¡±
¡°An excelent summary, quite correct,¡± Aurion said with a satisfied nod.
¡°Now, can anyone tell me what happens when a dungeon claims a portion of the surface beyond its entrance...?¡±
Chapter 09
¡°Ok, I give up.¡±
Lumi threw up her hands in exasperation after her tenth attempt at trying to silently cast one of her [Spell Shaper] forms.
They¡¯d been traveling the road again for the past few hours. Lumi had told Jason and Kera that despite how well things had gone in the dungeon, she felt that announcing her moves to her opponents was more than sub-optimal, so she had been trying to set her up a series of silent commands similar to what she now used for [Elemental Cantrips]..
The results had not gone well.
Lumi growled under her breath.
¡°I just can¡¯t get these gestures exact enough each time. The System wants something very precise. Words, thoughts, phrases... the trigger has to be performed exactly the same each time or it doesn¡¯t work. I don¡¯t get it. It¡¯s not like my [Mobility] or [Cantrip] skills need that kind of precision, why do spells?¡±
¡°Because magic?¡± Jason suggested. ¡°I kid, but that really could be the reason. I mean, we can infer that [Elemental Cantrips] is a bit unusual, right? And we¡¯ve seen that normal spells do very specific things so they probably have some kind of structure even if we don¡¯t know what it is.¡±
¡°And therefore it stands to reason that casting them needs precision,¡± Lumi finished for him with a sigh. ¡°Yes, I know. I¡¯d hoped it wasn¡¯t the case, but until I can get someone to teach me more I guess I¡¯m going to have to resign myself to shouting all my attacks like some kind of bad anime character.¡±
¡°Is that really such a terrible thing?¡± asked Kera, removing the strawberry she she¡¯d been nibbling from her mouth.
Jason had wanted to just takeall the ones they¡¯d harvested before leaving the dungeon and store them in the [Handy Haversack], but Lumi had overruled him, pointing out that they now had several pounds of them, and everyone, including Jason, was tired of mushrooms day and night.
Not that that had stopped them from adding more mushrooms to their stock as well, given they were good for more health potions.
In the end, Jason had conceded the point, and they¡¯d stored a significant number of both strawberries and mushrooms in one pouch for potions, whileputting the rest in a second compartment to be raided for snacks as they traveled.
¡°I¡¯m just saying,¡± Kera, said, gesturing with her half-eaten strawberry, ¡°at least you can have fun with it right? I mean I don¡¯t disagree with why you want to change it, but you could always do something really silly with the names, or yell ¡®Fireball!¡¯ but actually rain water on their heads.¡±
Lumi shook her head. ¡°You can¡¯t do that second one, actually.¡±
¡°What, really?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Nope. Tried already. The system won¡¯t even let me register a trigger like that. Almost like a chat filter. It has to be a vocalization that¡¯s at least kind of accurate, or a complex gesture or thought. Or a combination. But you can¡¯t misdirect for some reason.¡±
¡°That... kind of sucks actually,¡± Jason said. ¡°From a gaming standpoint I could see someone doing that for balance reasons, like how in MMOs that have the ability to alter your equipment models, you sometimes can¡¯t do it in PVP because otherwise people would make themselves look like other classes, but why would that matter here?¡±
Kera and Lumi both shrugged. Kera went back to sucking on her strawberry.
¡°Who knows,¡± said Lumi. ¡°Just chalk it up to more weirdness I guess. Maybe someone will know the answer.¡±
Ceri suddenly came squawking down from the canopy, landing with a frantic flapping of wings in Kera¡¯s arms.
¡°Ow, Ceri, watch the claws,¡± Kera said with a wince. ¡°What¡¯s got-¡° she paused as Ceri made a series of chirping sounds.
¡°Oh!¡± She said. She stood a little straighter, her voice perking up. ¡°Speaking of someones...¡± she said brightly, ¡°We¡¯ve got company incoming.¡±
¡°What, really?¡± Jason said. He felt a rush of excitement. ¡°The good kind I¡¯m guessing?¡±
Ceri seemed to be alternating between odd hisses and small squawks, all directed at Kera. Jason knew the girl had [Empathic Link], and that Kera had said she could use it communicate with the drake, but this was the first time Jason had seen Ceri try to actively ¡®talk¡¯ to Kera. Usually it was more like Kera talking at him than an actual conversation.
After a few seconds of listening, Kera rewarded her friend with a second, un-nibbled strawberry, which he eagerly seized with his long, thin talons. Ceri then clamberedup Kera¡¯s arm tousual shoulder perch.
The sightof the small lizard greedily chewing on the overly-large berry while sitting onthe girl¡¯s shoulder reminded Jason somewhat of a squirrel or a hamster chowing down on nuts.
¡°Looks like travelers,¡± Kera confirmed to them. ¡°Or maybe a lone merchant. Hard to say, since there¡¯s um, lots lost in translation so to speak, but Ceri says there some kind of horse drawn-vehicle approaching, with a single driver. At least I think he was describing horses. I got the overall impression of something like a wagon or carriage.¡±
¡°Thank god,¡± Lumi said, rolling her head and shoulders. Though Jason was the only one with a loaded backpack currently thanks to his [Handy Haversack]¡¯s weight reduction, all of them were suffering from sore muscles. They were all used to the soft life of the city, not sleeping rough for days at a time. Even Jason, with his camping and hiking experience, was suffering. Hewas still used to a higher level of comfort in the form of modern tents and tools, after all.
¡°Hopefully this means we¡¯re close to civilization finally,¡± Lumi continued.
¡°Maybe we can even get a ride,¡± Kera suggested. ¡°Trade a potion or two for a lift?¡±
¡°Ok, well, let¡¯s do this properly,¡± Lumi said. ¡°How soon will they be here?¡±
¡°Very shortly,¡± Kera replied.
Lumi grumbled. ¡°No time to prepare then. Too bad, I¡¯d¡¯ve liked a wash before we talk to people.¡±
¡°Oh well.¡± she said a shrug.
Turning to Jason, she gestured for him to take the lead. ¡°You do the talking for now. We don¡¯t know anything about these people¡¯s culture around here, so I don¡¯t want to risk insulting someone because women aren¡¯t supposed to be talking to them or some bullshit like that. I¡¯m probably just being overly cautious here but, well, it¡¯s far more likely that if there is an imbalance the people here will be patriarchal. I suspect that with the System in place that adventurers are common, which should translate to more acceptance of females taking charge, but that¡¯s not a guarantee. After all, the vikings had the Valkyries, but their art was still full of men being served by women.¡±
¡°Really?¡¯ Kera asked. ¡°Viking types are usually pretty pro-warrior-women in games.¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid thats a case of ¡®what we like to believe¡¯ rather than ¡®what the historical evidence actually implies¡¯,¡± Lumi replied.
¡°Oh.¡±
¡°So you do the talking til we know otherwise,¡± Lumi said, referring to Jason. ¡°I¡¯ll standa bit behind you, but I¡¯m going to have my sword visible just in case. Kera, you hang back a bit, and keep Ceri quiet, but don¡¯t hide him. We don¡¯t know how people will react to him either, so let¡¯s not call attention to him. That sound good to everyone?¡¯
Jason and Kera both nodded. They moved to the side of the road, out of the way, with Jason slightly in the lead, attempting to look like merely a group of travelers themselves.
In the distance, a covered wagon that bore only a slight resemblance to the thoseof the old American Midwest that Jason had learned about in high school. The wagon itself was made of polished wood, with a high-backed seat for a single driver placed above and to the front, much like a carriage would have. The wagon itself was open to the air on the sides, but ahad low wooden railwith six tall posts, three along each side, that supported a high roof made of cloth that served as a covering for both wagon and driver. The roof was slightly curved, serving to ward off both sun and rain.
In moments, the lone driver was pulling back on the reigns of the two horses responsible for pulling the vehicle. Jason looked up into the friendly, weathered face of a woman much older than he was. She was deeply tanned, with once-black hair now streaked heavily with gray. Dressed in simple leather armor, she had a short sword sheathed at her hip, with a second, longer sword strapped to her back.
¡°Wellanow,¡± the woman said, looking down on them with a chuckle, ¡°here I¡¯d thought at first you lot might be bandits and I¡¯d finally need to actually put my swords to use, but you aren¡¯t much more than a bunch of kids. What on earth has you out in the middle of the Prisal Woods looking like you¡¯ve been roughed up from one end of it to the other? I don¡¯t recognize you, so you aren¡¯t from Arnvale.¡±
¡°No, ma¡¯am,¡± Jason said politely. ¡°We¡¯re um, sort of lost, actually. It¡¯s a little bit of a long story really-¡°
¡°Lost?¡± the woman interrupted. ¡°What do you mean ¡®lost¡¯? This road goes one of three places, and one of those is a real long trip. Not sure how you could get lost walking the only road between Arnvale and the rest of civilization without knowing where you were.¡±
Jason hesitated. The woman spoke with a fair bit of force, and gave off a rather intimidating vibe, for all her age and the friendly look on her face. He looked to Lumi, unsure of what to say.
The woman seemed to pick up on his hesitation. She sighed, and tried to moderate her tone.
¡°Sorry kid, I¡¯m not trying to be hard on you. My patience is just a bit thin after having to deal with those price-gouging money-hoarders back in Feron. I don¡¯t bite, really.¡±
¡°What brings you out here? From the looks of you, something gives me a feeling you aren¡¯t just a bunch of kids playing around at being newbie adventurers.¡±
¡°Playing!?¡± Kera said indignantly. ¡°We¡¯re not kids!¡±
Lumi put a hand on her shoulder and whispered something, and the girl quieted, allowing Jason to reply.
¡°No ma¡¯am, we aren¡¯t,¡± Jason said. ¡°In fact, we were hoping you might be able to assist us. You¡¯re the first person we¡¯ve seen out here for days, actually.¡±
¡°Days?¡± the woman asked, ¡°it¡¯s 30 miles between Arnvale and Feron. That¡¯s only a one day trip on horseback. How long have you been out here?¡±
¡°Ummm...¡± Jason scratched at his head, thinking. ¡°Let¡¯s see...¡±
¡°Four days.¡± Lumi said, speaking up. ¡°But some of that was off-road.¡±
¡°Only four...? But you aren¡¯t from Arnvale or Feron? That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±
A sudden idea occurred to Jason. It was only a half truth, but could be plausible, and might get them some more information. He decided to gamble.
¡°Right. We um, we actually aren¡¯t from anywhere around here,¡± Jason began. He heard Lumi inhale sharply behind him.
¡°We.. well like I said it¡¯s a bit of a story, but uh, there was this... wizard... who was making some kind of big... teleport thing for long range travel-¡°
¡°You mean a Wayfinder¡¯s Gate?¡± the woman asked.
¡°Maybe? Anyway, the three of us were nearby when something went badly wrong, and we all got hit by some kind of spell that picked us up and hurled us around like rag dolls, and we ended up here. I don¡¯t have any idea where we are, but I¡¯ve got some wilderness skills, and half the plants and animals we¡¯ve come across I''ve never even heard of, so... wherever we got teleported, it was really far. Like, maybe even ¡®other side of the world¡¯ far.¡±
The woman gave Jason a long look, and then transferred her gaze to Lumi, and then Kera. She seemed to take in the state of their clothes.
She turned back to Jason. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, you¡¯re lucky to be alive, then. Really lucky. I saw the results of a Gate malfunction, once. It... wasn¡¯t pretty. Half the town died, in probably one of the worst ways possible."
¡°I¡¯m sorry if you¡¯ve... lost anyone,¡± she finished quietly.
Jason cleared his throat and took a big breath, as if putting on a show of being brave. ¡°We¡¯re um, trying not to think about it too much and make do.¡°
¡°Sorry to bring it up. But if you ever make it back, assuming you do go back, you¡¯d better prepare yourselves for the worst. In all my time adventuring, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen a long range teleport go bad that ended in anything but tragedy. You are very lucky to still be standing, much less be in one piece and not stuck half inside a tree. Teleporting farther than you can see requires some serious work and absolute precision.¡±
¡°You¡¯re an adventurer then?¡± asked Kera brightly.
The woman chuckled to herself. ¡°Ex-adventurer. Maybe semi-retired is a better word. I still do odd jobs here and there to keep myself busy, but ever since I nearly lost my leg below the knee to a warlock¡¯s [Black Arrow], I-¡°
Jason was overcome by a sudden coughing fit. Lumi pounded him on the back, glaring at him from behind, where the woman couldn¡¯t see her trying to suppress a laugh of her own.
¡°Sorry, uh,¡± Jason said, covering his mouth with a fist and faking a cough. ¡°Swallowed a bug. Yuck. Carry on.¡±
The woman looked at him suspiciously for a second, but then continued ¡°Anyway, that wised me up that I was getting on in age, and I married my partner and we moved way out here to the frontier to spend our well-earned loot in peace. Set ourselves up a nice little farm, and we do odd jobs to help out the locals when we feel like it, and so on.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
She slappedher palm against the side of the wagon. ¡°Bought this old thing so I could occasionally run goods up to Feron¡¯s market for folks who ain¡¯t willing or able to make the trip, and I live a pretty decent life these days. Not bad for retirement; beats getting turned into dungeon food on some damnfool crusade.¡±
¡°The name¡¯s Raelin, by the way,¡± she said holding out a hand to Jason. ¡°Now, would I be right in assuming you lot got picked up and thrown out here without much if anything to your name? I do see the young lady there has a sword, but you all don¡¯t exactly seem to be carrying much.¡±
¡°Ahh, yes, basically,¡± replied Jason, after introducing himself and the others. ¡°We¡¯ve managed to make do thanks to me having some crafting skills, but we basically started out with just my bag and her sword and nothing else. Everything else we¡¯ve got with us I¡¯ve had to make.¡±
Raelin eyed Jason¡¯s spear and Lumi and Kera¡¯s empty frogskin packs critically.
¡°That frogoid skin those¡¯re made of?¡± She asked. ¡°Not half bad for a bunch of novices.¡±
¡°Yeah, we ran into one our first day,¡± Lumi said.
¡°Well, you lot seem pretty alright, and I¡¯m not one to turn down travelers in need. Couldn¡¯t really call myself a proper adventurer if I did now could I?¡± Raelin gestured towards the back of her wagon. ¡°Hop in. I can give you a lift to Arnvale at the very least. It¡¯s only a few hours from here if I miss my guess. Should be there by evening.¡±
Jason paused while the girls unhitched the door and began climbing into the wagon. He pulled a few of his stone vials from his belt.
¡°Actually, thank you, um, I don¡¯t want to impose, but seeing as we¡¯re totally devoid of money for a place to stay... would you maybe be willing to make a trade? I¡¯ve got some healing potions I made, and you said you were an adventurer...¡±
He trailed off as Raelin gave him an odd look.
¡°Kid,¡± she began, ¡°if you¡¯re capable of making healing potion, you¡¯ve got coin available. Any adventurer around would buy even the weakest of them off you if you didn¡¯t want it. If you can make them fresh, any Guild branch would at least buy them on the cheap if they were out of stock. If it¡¯ll make you feel better to sell one rather than take some charity, I¡¯d be more than happyto take one off your hands. What¡¯s the duration?
¡°Uh, like five minutes,¡± he replied. ¡°They¡¯re only least potions,¡± Jason said with a shrug.
Raelin rolled her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t mean how long they take to work, I mean how long will the enchantment hold?¡±
¡°Enchantment?¡± Jason asked, confused.
¡°You know, how long til they go bad?¡± Raelin replied, impatient.
¡°Uhh, they don¡¯t?¡± Jason looked down at the stone vial in his hand. ¡°I mean my skill said permanent so I don¡¯t think...¡±
He trailed off. The woman was staring at him, a mixture of different emotions flickering rapidly across her face. Coming to some sort of decision, she held out a hand.
¡°Show me,¡± she ordered.
Jason cringed inwardly, for woman¡¯s aura of intimidation was back, her face serious. He passed her a vial.
Raelin pulled a small gemstone out of her pocket, and passed it several times around the vial. She muttered a few different analyze commands under her breath; Jason didn¡¯t catch them all. Finally, put the stone away and handed the vial back to Jason.
Then she just leaned back in her seat, crossed her arms and looked at him for a few moments, considering.
¡°Kid,¡± She said quietly. ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me. This is important. Where did you get these?¡±
Jason considered lying anyway for a moment, and saying they¡¯d gotten them among the dungeon loot, but something about the woman¡¯s seriousness stopped him. She wasn¡¯t hostile, just... concerned. And this seemed like important information. So he gambled again, this time with the truth.
¡°I told you, I made them,¡± he said, looking her straight in the eye.
¡°Impossible,¡± Raelin said. ¡°Liquids can¡¯t hold enchantments beyond a certain point. Without a runic structure to hold the mana in, enchantments dissipate at a rate proportional to the amount of mana used to fashion them. And you can¡¯t very well engraveshapes intoa liquid.¡±
¡°I assure you I made these myself,¡± Jason insisted. ¡°And did it without using enchanting; I don¡¯t know anything about runes. Here, look, I¡¯ve got antitoxin potions as well.¡±
He passed her a second vial. She repeated her examination process.
Once again she passed the vial back to him, and then regarded him carefully.
¡°You don¡¯t have any idea how valuable these are, do you?¡± Raelin shook her head ruefully. ¡°You three must be some of the luckiest people in the world to have stumbled across this and have survived your... mishap.Kid, less scrupulous adventurers would kill you for the secret of how to make those vials, least potions though they may be.¡±
¡°What?!¡± Jason exclaimed, aghast.
¡°Eternal Potions are rare. Nobody remembers how to make them. The very best enchanters today can only manage pale imitations that weaken over time and last maybe a few years by forcing massive quantities of mana into them. Most don¡¯t last more than several weeks. The handful of Eternal Potions people find are usually the result of discovering some hidden cache in an ancient ruin. Every so often they¡¯re received as rewards from a loot chest, but those are few and far between unless you¡¯re a member of the Black Thorns or are willing to pay their exorbitant fees to risk your life in one of their homegrown dungeons.¡±
¡°Every adventurer out there has to live with spoilage. As a result, most enchanters who make them specialize in short-lasting cheap ones, because people don¡¯t want to pay a lot for things they might not use before the magic fades. The smarter adventuring teams will stock up all at once and try to take on several dangerous jobs at a time, to maximize the chance of not wasting money. If they work in a densely populated area, sometimes afterwards they can then sell off the extra potions they didn¡¯t use to other teams if the remaining duration isn¡¯t too bad.¡±
¡°Eternal Potions are different matter. Those are high in demand, because if you have one of those you know it¡¯s always good. You don¡¯t have to worry about kneeling overyour best friend who¡¯s bleeding out on the floor in front of you, only tocrack open your last healing potion and find its magic has weakened to the point of uselessness. You don¡¯t have to worry about walking into a dragon¡¯s lair only to realize at the worst possible moment that you bought a bad batch of fire resist from that shady merchant. And so on.¡±
¡°Those vials you¡¯ve got there?¡± Raelin asked, gesturing. ¡°Even though they¡¯re the lowest of the low, they¡¯re easily worth a full set of good-quality armor to just about any adventurer looking to take on high risk quests from the Guild.¡±
¡°I-I had no idea.¡± Jason stuttered. ¡°I only just got the class and...¡±
Raelin held up a hand to silence him. ¡°No. Don¡¯t tell me. I don''t want to know. I don¡¯t need that kind of trouble, I¡¯m too old for it. Look, whatever you do, be careful who you tell this to. Personally, I¡¯d advise you to just lie and say you got them from an undiscovered loot chest you were lucky enough to stumble across. Because the moment you start advertising you¡¯ve unlocked the secret to Eternal Potions, every guild out there is going to be banging down your door trying to recruit you. And they probably won¡¯t stop trying to buy the knowledge off you even after you¡¯ve signed up, not for something like this.
She sighed heavily, dropping her hand. ¡°Look. I¡¯ll take you to Arnvale. I can put you in touch with the Branch Manager for the Adventurer¡¯s Guild there; she¡¯s an old friend of mine. She¡¯ll be discrete, it comes with job. She can help you quietly offload a few potions, get you set up with some proper gear. Or you can use the money to get to Feron and try and see if you can make it back to wherever you came from. Might be for the best. Either way, she¡¯ll know how best to help you, whatever you want to do. In the meantime, I¡¯ll give you enough coin for a few days and drop you off at the best inn in town. Just... try not to lead trouble to my doorstep? Willum and I have had enough of that for our lifetimes.¡±
¡°I-¡° Jason swallowed, then simply bowed his head.
¡°Thank you,¡± he said.
The rest of their trip was relatively uneventful. Jason, Lumi, and Kera rode in the wagon, occasionally asking Raelin questions about the general area.
As it turned out, the reason they hadn¡¯t seen anyone was primarily because Arnvale was located ¡®in the back-end of nowhere¡¯ as Raelin put it. It was a walled frontier town, one of two that were situated in the Prisal Woods, which lay just at the edge of the Crystal Wastes, a region of dense, unstable mana that made it difficult for crops to grow, and thus remained unclaimed by any city or nation. She explained that if they continued along the road and passed through Arnvale, eventually they would reach the Wastes; the road continued straight on through them, one of the sole paths through to the other side, but that that journey was exceptionally dangerous so the road wasn¡¯t maintained and was rarely taken. Raelin wasn¡¯t even sure who had originally built it.
As for herself, Raelin and her husband Willum were retired adventurers, whom as she¡¯d previously said had come to Arnvale to get away from everything and retire to a simpler life where they could live off the treasure they¡¯d acquired over their career. They had a small farm where they grew textiles, which they¡¯d sell to the handful of local weavers to produce cloth for the village. Their particular crops didn¡¯t need much tending to, so Willum and Raelin kept themselves busy by occasionally doing odd jobs posted at the local Adventurer¡¯s Guildhall, and otherwise kept to themselves and their hobbies.
Jason asked Raelin a question about the nature of the Guild, which earned him another odd look that made him feel like he was dangerously close to revealing his complete and total lack of knowledge about the world, so after learning that it wasn¡¯t really one single guild, but rather a loose consortium of different organizations of adventurers that had agreed on a combined, central system, he decided to hold further questions until they reached town and could speak to the Branch Manager there.
Arnvale really did look like something right out of a video game to Jason. As the travellers cleared the trees, he could see massive farmland surrounding a walled town in the distance. Peaked wood and thatch rooftops rose over a simple stone wall ringing the whole town, with the road passing through a large open gate, seemingly the only entrance from this side.
When Jason remarked on it, Raelin mentioned there was actually another exit out the western side, as Arnvale was basically shaped like a great backwards ¡®L¡¯ with a single main road passing straight through. It was divided into four small districts, thought Raelin commented that calling them such was probably an insult to larger cities, as Arnvale only held about 300 people. Essentially, it was composed of four circular plazas; the one large market area, where the Guildhall was located, took up the inside portion of the ¡®L¡¯, while the other three districts were smaller, and lay along the outside edge. The larger of the outer districts was comprised of some of the more affluent commerce buildings, as well as the mayors house, town hall, and library, while the other two ¡®districts¡¯ were where the bulk of the populace lived, if they didn¡¯t live in the market area. Some, like Raelin herself, lived in smaller satellite housing just outside the walls, nearer the farms, but most people lived within the walls where they would be safer from the chance of wandering monsters, not that they had much issue with that.
They passed through the gates without being challenged; Jason didn¡¯t even see any guards, though he presumed someone open and closed the gates. Soon, Raelin¡¯s wagon was clattering to a stop in front of a rather fancy-looking two story inn. Jason climbed out of the wagon and turned to Raelin.
The woman passed a small pouch of coins over to him that she fished up from somewhere beneath her seat.
¡°Now remember what I told you. Tell no one. Don¡¯t let anybody other than Therissa see them. It¡¯s late, so she¡¯ll be closing up, but someone can give you directions in the morning. She¡¯ll be able to help, I¡¯m sure.¡±
Jason bowed his head slightly to Raelin as the girls climbed out of the wagon.
¡°Thank you for all your help. Really, I mean it.¡±
¡°Just remember me when you strike it big, yeah?¡± She gave him a wink and a smile before flipping the reigns, turning the horses back down the road with a wave.
¡°Well,¡± said Lumi. ¡°That was... informative.¡±
¡°You¡¯re telling me. We¡¯ve got some decisions to make, I guess,¡± replied Jason.
¡°Decisions later!¡± Kera said loudly. ¡°I could kill for a hot meal of something other than mushrooms and frogmeat.¡± She poked Jason towards the door.
¡°And an actual bed,¡± grinned Lumi, as she turned and entered behind the others.
The inn was brightly lit with a chandelier that glowed with what looked like a light spell of some kind, and Jason guessed that the place also served as a local watering hole, as a fair number patrons sat at various polished tables in the common room. A large man stood behind what served as a bar, wiping up some kind of spill on the counter, while a young woman with long dark hair who looked to be the man¡¯s daughter was carrying a tray of steaming bread and meat to one of the tables. Ceri poked his head out from under Kera¡¯s hair, sniffing the air, and she put one hand on him and quietly told him to stay where he was.
Jason thought she hadthe rightidea. While having animals in the party was a pretty common thing in RPGs, that didn¡¯t mean innkeepers neccesarily liked pets running about, plus having a flying lizard zooming around pestering people was no way to endear yourself to the locals.
He moved up to bar and approached the man, whom he guessed was the owner. Raelin had said his name was Arnold, but everyone just called him Arn, though he had no relation in any way to the town¡¯s origins. It was just a coincidence.
Jason cleared his throat, clickingthe pouch Raelin had given him down on the counter so the man could see that despite their appearance, they had coin to spend.
¡°Hi. Um, we¡¯re travelers from way out of town. Raelin recommended you to us. I¡¯d like to get some rooms, and food as well. I¡¯m not sure how long we¡¯ll be staying, but at least a day or two.¡±
The man grunted, taking in Jason¡¯s rather disheveled appearance. Jason was painfully aware of how much he contrasted with the cleanliness of the Inn, but the man didn¡¯t seem to make much of it.
¡°Basic rooms are a silver a night, two if you want to include meals. You all together? We don¡¯t get too many travelers, and the merchant caravan ain¡¯t due for another few weeks, so the suite¡¯s available if¡¯n you want. Comes with two rooms, a lock, enough beds for each of you, plus full service, including a bath.¡±
He gave a sniff in their general direction. ¡°Which, no offense, you seem like you could use.¡±
Jason gave the man a wry grin as Kera elbowed him lightly in the ribs. He looked into the pouch, unsure how much Raelin had given him.
¡°How much?¡± Jason asked. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, there.¡±
¡°For the three of you, and your pet, plus meals? Call it a gold a day.¡±
So much? Jason wondered, looking into the pouch Raelin had given him. Is he ripping us off?
But no, it appeared that he wasnt, and that Raelinhad been familiar with the price: nestled amongst the copper piecesand thefew silver ones she¡¯d given him were two small, golden coins. Jason fished them out and passed them over to Arn, who scooped them into a pocket in his apron with a nod. He produced a small brass key from somewhere and handed it to Jason.
¡°I¡¯ll have Leska show you to your room, then.¡± He said with a smile. He called the young woman who was waiting tables over to them.
¡°I¡¯ll take over down here, Leska. This lot¡¯s paid for two days of the full service suite, so with Bani gone helping her parents til spring planting¡¯s finished, I¡¯m counting on you to take care of ¡®em. I suspect the young ladies here would like to start with a bath, yes?¡±
Kera nodded vigorously. Ceri gave a small squawk and clung to her shirt to avoid falling off.
¡°Ok!¡± Leska said brightly, beckoning the three of them to follow. She took them up a short flight of stairs, where they passed several doors until they came to the end of the hall, which ended in slightly larger, much sturdier oak door. This one had a keyhole and a brass plate, unlike the others.
She pushed open the door, leading them into a rather pleasantly furnished room. Jason was privately of the opinion that this room was even more appealing at first glance than most hotels he¡¯d been in. There were two moderately sized beds, heaped with blankets and several pillows. A low end table sat between them, with a side table with two chairs in another corner of the room. A small metal container lay in an opposite corner, near an actual glass window that could be opened to let in fresh air.
Jason noticed the container was inscribed with some kind of glowing rune,grimacing internally as he realized it was a chamber pot. Hehoped the rune did something to remove the smell.
The room itself was lit by several glass globes placed around the room, which ignited with a pale white light as Leska touched them, and Jason wondered if everyday enchantments were a normal thing, or if this was just a very classy kind of place. He supposed it could be both, given the cost of the room.
After turning the lights on, Leska gestured to a side door in the room, saying that there were another two beds on the other side, which was part of suite.
¡°And, if you need anything, just pull that bell rope there - it won¡¯t make noise, but it¡¯s got a spell on it that will let me know you need me; I¡¯ll pick up the matching token from my dad when I go back downstairs.¡±
¡°Now,¡± She said, beckoning to Kera and Lumi, ¡°if you two ladies would like to follow me, I¡¯ll get you your bath. I¡¯ve got a spell I can use to heat up the large tub, so there¡¯s no need to wait around, you two can just jump right in.¡±
¡°Together?¡± Lumi asked, alarmed.
¡°Well of course, it¡¯s much more efficient that way. Why, is that a problem?¡±
Kera looked beet red, stammering, and Lumi seemed to choose her words carefully. Jason looked on in amusement.
Ah, culture shock. He thought to himself. I''d wondered when that might rear its head. Though I shouldn¡¯t laugh; watch the girl insist on scrubbing my back when its my turn, or something else equally embarassing.
¡°I, um,¡± Lumi hesitated, looking at Kera. ¡°It... wouldn¡¯t be appropriate. For me, at least.¡±
¡°Ohhhh,¡± Leska said, a look of realization dawning. ¡°You¡¯re the type who likes other women, is that it?¡±
¡°Well that¡¯s fine,¡± she continued. ¡°Who wants to go first, then?¡± She didn¡¯t seem all that bothered by the idea.
Jason looked at Kera as she mumbled something he didn¡¯t catch. Her eyes were a little red, and she looked...upset. Or angry. He couldn¡¯t tell. It didn¡¯t seem to be directed at Lumi, or even Leska, though.
Lumi didn¡¯t notice the other girl¡¯s reaction. Instead, she seemed caught by surprise at how casually the girl dismissed her being into other women. ¡°I, um, actually like both,¡± she said, seemingly at a loss, ¡°but um, yeah.¡±
¡°Could I go first?¡± Kera spoke up suddenly, blinking away whatever dark thought had come over her. ¡°I don¡¯t want to get my bed all dirty, and Ceri needs a good scrubbing before I let him sit on any furniture.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± said Lumi with a shrug, ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±
¡°Ok, that¡¯s all settled then. I¡¯ll get you squared away, let me know if you need anything. You can either eat downstairs, or I can bring food up to you if you¡¯d prefer.¡±
¡°Actually,¡± said Jason, ¡°why don¡¯t you bring food up to us once we¡¯ve all had a chance to soak? We¡¯ve got to work out what we¡¯ll be doing next, and a hot meal and some privacy would be a good time to do it. Maybe you could bring up some fresh bread and some stew? Or maybe some of whatever that meat was you were serving people downstairs?¡±
¡°Can do.¡± Leska said with a nod. She motioned to Kera, who followed her out of the room.
Chapter 10
In Jason¡¯s opinion, the meal that Leska had delivered to them after they¡¯d all had a chance to bathe had been heavenly. Lumi seemed to agree as well, based on how she¡¯d devoured her portions of hot bread and stew, and even Kera seemed to be back to her formerly cheerful self.
The three of them currently sat around a wooden dining table in their room, each dressed in a set of loose robes that Jason thought of as a mix between a giant towel and a toga. Leska had taken their clothes away for a proper washing, as they were still stained rather liberally with various blood and dirt, despite Jason¡¯s [Mending] skill. Frankly he was kind of surprised they¡¯d been allowed in the door, looking as they had. Back home, someone would have called the police the moment they stepped foot inside.
Jason gave a small sigh of pleasure as he sagged back in his seat, placing yet another tiny wooden skewer down onto the pile on his plate.
¡°Remind me to get lost in a fantasy world more often,¡± Jason said.
¡°Tell me about it,¡± replied Lumi, who seemed equally stuffed. ¡°That¡¯s got to be one of the best meals I¡¯ve ever had in my life. This has got to be like, five-star, VIP-level quality food, and I don¡¯t even know what half these meats are.¡±
Jason closed his eyes and leaned his head back over the edge of his chair, stretching. ¡°My [Basic Cooking] told me a little, but thats it. Guess our host is just one hell of an innkeeper. He must have some incredible level of cooking skill. I dont even know what¡¯s in half of this.¡±
He sat back forwards, and shrugged.
¡°Aww, who cares?¡± Kera said from the other side of the table. She snagged the last remaining skewer of spicy mystery sausage from the large platter in front of them, and held it out to Ceri.
¡°It¡¯s delicious, and that¡¯s all I care about. Learning about what¡¯s in your food always spoils the fun.¡±
Ceri squeaked happily, seizing the small sausage in both foreclaws.
Jason had been somewhat surprisedthat small drake had been well behaved the whole time; apparently Kera¡¯s bond with him counted for a lot in the way of training. He¡¯d waited relatively patiently on his side of the table, waiting for Kera to give him bits to eat, and never once tried to take food on his own. Jason wondered if that was a normal thing for magical pets, and if that was why the innkeeper hadn¡¯t even asked about Ceri or had any special rules for him.
Speaking of small....
¡°Say Kera, has Ceri gotten bigger?¡± Jason asked, ¡°He seems a little bit larger to me.¡±
Kera nodded, took a final sip of her second bowl of stew, and sat back.
¡°Yeah,¡± She said. ¡°He is. He gets a little bit stronger every time I level up. It¡¯s really noticeable this time because I gained like four levels today.¡±
¡°What, so many? Jason asked. ¡°I mean, I know you were lower than Lumi and I, but I only got one for [Alchemist].¡±
¡°One of them was from my side quest,¡± Kera replied.
¡°Speaking of our quest,¡± commented Lumi, ¡°We never did spend much time looking at what we got other than the loot chests. Sorry for hurrying you guys so much.¡±
¡°Eh,¡± Jason said with a wave, ¡°you made a good point about dungeons collapsing, and we still got to loot the salamanders and the berries before we left. Plus I¡¯d already picked up the snake fangs. All good.¡±
¡°What did everyone get?¡± asked Kera. ¡°I got all sorts of new stuff.¡±
¡°Me too,¡± said Lumi. ¡°I¡¯ve got heaping piles of points now. I¡¯m thinking maybe I¡¯ll ask this Therissa person for some advice on how to distribute my stats. I¡¯m sure someone running an Adventurer¡¯s Guild would know what stats do what.¡±
¡°Hey, that¡¯s not a bad idea,¡± said Kera. ¡°Still, I¡¯d like to hear what people got, too.¡±
¡°Well I guess I¡¯ll go first,¡± said Jason, ¡°since there¡¯s not much to report there. I earned the one level of Alchemist, plus since Artificer was new I got two levels for that. I got a [Disenchant] skill, which works pretty much like you¡¯d expect; it lets me destroy enchanted things in exchange for arcane powder, which is a reagent for all sorts of stuff. It¡¯s essentially powdered mana.¡±
¡±I didn¡¯t get anything new from Alchemist except the normal points,¡± Jason continued, ¡°but I did put some of theminto ranking up [Brew Potion] and [Analyze Ingredient]. NowI don¡¯t have to eat stuff anymore, and I can now use three ingredients instead of two.I can also double up on traits now apparently, for either a stronger effect, orso I can then dilute the stuff into weaker versions in exchange for more potions.¡±
¡°Oh, and we probably have new stuff I could try to make, but I haven¡¯t checked out the traits from the all the stuff we got from the salamanders, yet,¡± he finished.
¡°Kera?¡± inquired Lumi.
¡°A bunch of stuff,¡± the girl replied. ¡°I got a skill that lets me temporarily, um, ¡®upgrade¡¯ any creature that¡¯s part of my character sheet, which costs a lot of mana. I¡¯m not sure what I can do with it yet, but it¡¯s called [Evolution Surge], so I bet it¡¯s like transforming them.You know,tougher skin, or make em bigger, or grow wings or whatever. I also got the option to form a new soulbond, but I think I want to learn more before I decide on with what.¡±
¡°Most of what I got was new spells, though¡± Kera said. She pushed her bowl back into the middle of the table, sitting back like the others. ¡°Some utility stuff, including three temporary summons. Also a spell that I am never ever gonna use that makes a summoned creature blow itself up. That¡¯s just... just ick, and it¡¯s cruel. I don¡¯t want to get helpless animals killed.¡±
¡°They might not actually die,¡± Jason said. ¡°While it¡¯s not something we want to test on ourselves as a means of getting home, obviously, at least in Dungeons and Dragons, summoned creatures justgo back to whatever place they came from when they ¡®die¡¯. I always felt the writers threw that in there to deliberately avoid arguments that summoning was inherently evil or cruel.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not so sure they succeeded in that,¡± Lumi commented. ¡°I mean in that game you still basically mind control stuff, only to throw them into situations where others inflict pain and injury on them, before they have to experience a traumatic end as they¡¯re banished back home.¡±
¡±See, Lumi gets it,¡± Kera said. ¡°It¡¯s just awful."
Jason was confused. ¡°But... you deliberately picked a summoner class. Why would you do that if you don¡¯t want to use their powers?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have to summon stuff only to throw them into the meat grinder, you know,¡± Kera replied, rolling her eyes. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of other things I can do. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m mind controlling Ceri, or needlessly endangering him, either. I sent him away when we fought the salamanders, remember, so he didn¡¯t get hurt.¡±
¡°Besides,¡± Kera said with a shrug, ¡°I¡¯m not saying I won¡¯t use stuff in combat, I¡¯m just saying I don¡¯t want to deliberately put my minions in danger. The spell¡¯s called [Final Sacrifice], for crying out loud! If it looks like they¡¯re gonna get really hurt, I¡¯ll just end the summon spell and send them away, not end their lives for my own benefit.¡±
¡°I guess,¡± Jason said doubtfully. Personally, he thought it was a bit silly, especially after they¡¯d seen creatures that were quite literally temporary existences formed entirely of mana. But it didn¡¯t seem reasonable to argue the point. Kera was her own woman, and she if wanted to stick to her convictions, he obviously didn¡¯t have any right to tell her otherwise.
He changed the subject. ¡°So, what did you get, Lumi?¡±
¡°Well, I didn¡¯t get a whole lot in the way of new spells like I¡¯d hoped, but I did get lots of levels. I hit six in [Spellblade], five in [Knight], and two in [Sunwarden]. I¡¯m not sure why my level gains were so spread out. But I learned two new spells, [Corrosive Touch] and [Stone Call], and I got another Arcana, which I need to still pick. Got what basically sounds like a taunt skill from Knight, too, and learned how to ride horses.
¡°Oh!" she said, "And something pretty neat from Sunwarden. Check this out!¡±
Lumi clasped her hands together and bowed her head. A soft golden glow enveloped her, and then expanded outwards to fill the room. A deep, relaxing heat washed through Jason, and he felt the last of the day¡¯s aches fading away, as if he were back in the tub again.
The glow vanished as Lumi dropped her hands and looked up.
¡°Wow, what was that?¡± asked Kera. ¡°That felt really nice.¡±
Lumi smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a skill called [Warmth], which lets me channel my mana into an aura that heats up an area and creates a very slight regeneration effect. It¡¯s a little expensive mana-wise, but if I put points into it, it costs less over time, and will heal worse injuries.¡±
¡°That sounds pretty useful,¡± Jason said. ¡°Having more healing options than just potions is good."
¡°I thought so too,¡± replied Lumi. Then she suddenly yawned, raising a hand to her mouth.
Kera yawned as well.
¡°Whoops. I guess it¡¯s kind of relaxing too,¡± Lumi said.
Jason gave a small laugh. ¡°Well, it¡¯s probably about time we all got some sleep anyway. I don¡¯t know about you, but I am definitely looking forward to sleeping in a real bed for a change.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve even got nice, soft pajamas, so to speak,¡± he added, plucking at his sleeve. Then he yawned as well.
¡°Agreed,¡± said Lumi. ¡°So um, how do we want to do rooms? Since I um, well...¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine, Lumi,¡± Kera said with a wave. ¡°We can share a room. I¡¯m not bothered, we¡¯re all adults here, right? It¡¯s not like we haven¡¯t been sleeping around the same campfire for two days. Sharing a roomdoesn''t have to be any different.¡±
¡°Three days, for Lumi and I,¡± Jason said. ¡°And I agree. But I¡¯d like to make a different suggestion. It¡¯s not fair to you two to always be the ones sharing a room while I get one to myself, just as I¡¯m sure you¡¯d say the same to me if I was always offering to sleep on the floor whenthere were only two beds.
¡°What I mean to say is, well, if we decide to go with the adventurer thing while we¡¯re here, we are going to run into situations where normal, um, how should I put it... where ¡®modern standards of propriety¡¯ are probably best ignored. I mean, well, sorry to bring it up Lumi, but earlier today is a good example. That stuff¡¯s gonna happen. We just need to be adults about it, like Kera said.¡±
Jason picked up three of the small wooden skewers, and broke ends off two of them so they were different sizes.
¡°Instead of worrying about appearances or getting all embarrassed, why don¡¯t we just agree to trust each other, and when applicable draw lots for who gets to have a room or a bed to themselves for the night?¡± He suggested. ¡°We can take turns based on prior results, that way everybody gets some time to themselves and nobody has to feel like they aren¡¯t getting a turn.¡±
Kera shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m game if Lumi is. I don¡¯t care who I room with, really.¡±
Lumi looked at Jason, then Kera.
¡°You guys are way more accepting of random strangers than I am,¡± she said, though her expression said she wasconsidering Jason¡¯s words.
Jason just shrugged. ¡°I suppose, but neither of you have tried to stab me in my sleep yet, so why start worrying now? We seem to get along pretty well after all, and we¡¯re essentially all in the same boat. Society seems a bit different here, too; more accepting. Besides, if anyone¡¯s in danger here, it¡¯d be me, since you two both have magic to defend yourselves if someone caught you off guard. I don¡¯t.¡±
Kera snickered. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right about that. I¡¯m not accusing anyone of wanting to or anything, but if you snuck up on me in my sleep, you¡¯d get yourself tased right quick.¡±
Lumi shook her head with a mock-resigned sigh. ¡°Alright. I guess we can do it that way. I¡¯m just...¡±
She hesitated a moment, then continued. ¡°It¡¯s really just body-shyness. Never did like getting changed for gym in front of of other girls. I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s related to being bi, or what, but that¡¯s just how I am. But I can deal. Just-¡°
Jason held up hishands and shook his head. ¡°Whoa, whoa, whoa, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m saying. We can always just leave the room or take a walk or whatever while you do what you need. I¡¯m not saying we should all just suddenly get over it and be willing to get naked in front of each other, that would be waytoo extreme.
¡±I¡¯m just saying that, well, accidents will happen, and if we''re out there adventuring we¡¯re going to end up in situations where wemight seesomething or where sleeping arrangements might be considered inappropriate or awkward or whatever by whatever standards we grew up with. All I¡¯m suggesting is we agree do our best to ignore itand act like proper adults when it happens. We give people space whenthey need it, treat each other with respect, and otherwise don¡¯t sweat the small stuff.¡±
Kera gave a sharp nod. "Well said."
¡°I can live with that, I think,¡± replied Lumi.
Jason held out his fist, and they each drew a stick.
Lumi ended up withtheroom to herself after all.
The following morning, after they¡¯d gotten their clothing back washed and pressed, and used the second room as an impromptu changing room, the trio headed down to the common room. Breakfast turned out to be a pretty standard fare of bacon, eggs, and grilled ham, with a side of freshly baked dark bread. Even so, all three fell to it with a big appetite.
Soon after, they were ready to head off to the market area in search of Therissa. Arn gave them a short set of directions to what he referred to as the ¡®Adventurer¡¯s Lodge¡¯, and they were soon out the door and on their way.
The Lodge building itself dominated the market square. Placed at the far end, its three stories towered over the sprawling open-air market that took up the center of the district. Here and there a few free standing tile-roofed buildings contained larger, indoor shops specializing in things like clothing or other goods, but most of the commerce in Arnvale seemed to take place outdoors.
Jason tried not to stare at all the various people standing or walking around hawking wares. He¡¯d never been anywhere like it, except in games of course, which didn''t count. There were even a few non-humans weaving their way through the crowd, but he onlygot to catch brief glimpses ofstrangely-coloredhair or unusual skin tones. Jason wanted to look around, but Lumi and Kera insisted he could get distracted later when everyone hopefully had some money to shop with.
So instead they headed straight for the Adventurer¡¯s Lodge, which turned out to be a kind of combination tavern and temping agency. Once inside, Jason could see a number of tables lining the edges of the room, with privacy dividers set up between them. Several huge casks of what was presumably some kind of beer were propped against a back wall, behind the counter. A prominent notice board with only a handful of job postings pinned to it stood in the center of the room, and a second counter lay just off to once side of the door on their right. A young woman with a sleeveless vest that showed off her tattooed arms sat behind the second counter, idly shuffling some papers back and forth while studiously ignoring the two grizzled men in leather armor who were enjoying a drink in a back corner of the room.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Jason did a double take as he approached the counter with Kera and Lumi in tow.
It wasn¡¯t just a young woman, but an elven one. She had long, delicate ears that stood straight out to either side of her head, and Jason had to suppress a completely irrational desire to reach out and touch them. Not only would it no doubt be highly offensive and inappropriate, but he¡¯d probably get a punch in the face; the woman hardly looked incapable of defending herself. Her muscular, tattooed arms belied a Might score far higher than his.
Other than her unusual tattoos and elfin ears though, she looked more or less like everyone else Jason had seen in Arnvale so far; highly fit, roughly the same height and build as everyone else, with tanned skin. This was no dainty, ethereal beauty here.
She looked up as they approached.
¡°Hi, um,¡± Jason began slowly, staring a little. The woman¡¯s ears were very distracting. ¡°Wow, you¡¯re actually-¡°
He paused again. Then he shook himself as Kera surreptitiously pinched his elbow.
¡°Sorry, I¡¯m being rude,¡± he apologized. ¡°A bit of culture shock, I¡¯ve never met any- ...well, anyway, uh, are you Therissa? My friends and I were told to come see you because you might be able to help us.¡±
¡°Registration or Request?¡± the woman asked. She stacked the papers she¡¯d been going through to one side, and straightened up, all business.
¡°Sorry?¡± Jason asked, confused.
¡°Are you here to register for a license, or to post a job you¡¯d like someone to do? We don¡¯t get a lot of traffic down here. If it¡¯s something urgent you¡¯d be better off posting something in Feron.¡±
¡°Oh, I see. No, we¡¯re here because Raelin sent us to you specifically. She said, um, what was it...?¡± Jason looked behind him to Lumi and Kera.
Lumi spoke up. ¡°I think her words were ¡®ask Therissa about that one time with her and the Darklight Archive¡¯, and to remind you you owed her a favor.¡±
Therissa looked them up and down appraisingly, curiosity written across her face.
¡°So, it¡¯s something like that...? Alright, then. Raelin and I go way back. I¡¯ll hear you out, but I can¡¯t make any promises til I understand the problem.¡±
She stood up, and Jason covered his ears as she bellowed across the room to the men at the corner table.
¡°All right, you two layabouts, clear out! I¡¯ve got Guild business with these three, so I¡¯ve got to close up for a while!¡± She made a shooing motion towards the door.
The two men gave Therissa some half-hearted, cheerful cursing, but they tossed a few coins on the table, downed their drinks, and left without making any real fuss.
¡°Don¡¯t mind those two,¡± Therissa said with a smile.She vaulted over the counter and moved to close the lodge door. ¡°They grumble, but they¡¯re a good sort. They aren¡¯t even adventurers, they just come here for the atmosphere, and because I get shipments of my father¡¯s best ales from up north.¡±
¡°Come on,¡± she said, leading them up the stairs and into a private room on the third floor. ¡°Normally, I¡¯m supposed to make sure you¡¯ve got an AVL and check your affiliation before I render assistance, but let¡¯s just say that Raelin knows I¡¯ve been known to... bend the rules a little. After all, it¡¯s not like much happens out here anyway, so there¡¯s no-one¡¯s toes to get stepped on but my own. A little extra excitement never hurts.¡±
The four of them sat down around the table.
¡°Now, how¡¯d you all manage to piss off the Archive, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re here for?¡± Therissa asked.
¡°Um, I¡¯m sorry,¡± Jason apologized, ¡°but we don¡¯t know what most of any of that actually means. That¡¯s sort of half the problem. What¡¯s the Archive?¡±
¡°How do you not know of the Darklight Archive?¡± Therissa asked, a bit shocked. ¡°They¡¯re only, you know, the foremost scholars on the Voice and the ones who are in charge of cataloguing and sealing away dangerous, world-altering artifacts. Please tell me you didn¡¯t steal one from them byaccident.¡±
Jason held his hands up in front of him. ¡°No, no, nothing like that. That doesn¡¯t sound like anyone we know. We just... well perhaps it¡¯s easier to show you.¡±
He pulled out several of his potion vials, and slid them across the table to Therissa.
She performed a set of examinations similar to the ones Raelin had done; apparently it was something of a standard among adventuring types. Or perhaps with those who dealt with various goods. Jason could see why; his and Kera¡¯s [Analyze] skills had already proven their value. It didn¡¯t surprise him to see they were relatively common.
¡°Interesting,¡± Therissa said after a few minutes. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen a least-tier Eternal Potion before. And the stone vials are certainly unusual. Other than that though, I don¡¯t see a problem with them. Where¡¯d you get them?¡±
¡°I made them,¡± Jason said simply.
¡°What!?¡± the elf woman shouted, nearly dropping the one she was holding.
¡°I made them,¡± Jason replied. After a moment¡¯s hesitation, he continued on. ¡°I¡¯ve got this class skill, [Brew Potion], and as far as I¡¯ve seen, the potions it makes are all ¡®Eternal¡¯ ones as you put it. Though they aren¡¯t labeled that way. Are they supposed to be?¡±
The woman looked down at the stone vial of healing potion she held. She frowned for a moment, then looked back up at Jason.
¡°Please, wait here,¡± she said, handing the vial back to Jason. ¡°I need to fetch something from downstairs. I¡¯ll only be a moment.¡±
She hurried out of the room, and Jason was concerned for a few tense minutes that they¡¯d made a serious mistake. However, Therissa returned quickly, this time with an armful of various objects, which she set down on one side of the table.
First, Therissa placed down a large, silver half-sphere covered in runes, with a small slot in the side. Jason thought it looked vaguely like a really fancy, old-school external disk drive, except round.
Then, she set aside a small set of parchments, also covered with runes, that had a seriesblank lines at the bottom. It looked about what he¡¯d expect a magical contract to look like. He vaguely hoped the small penknife Therissa placed atop the paper wasn¡¯t because they had to sign something in blood.
Finally, she placed a red gemstone set in a brass circle onto the middle of the table.
Then she sat back down.
Therissa gestured to the gem on the table. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid not,¡± said Jason.
¡°I can guess,¡± Kera said, speaking up. ¡°It¡¯s a truth-checker, isn¡¯t it?¡±
Therissa smiled a bit. ¡°That¡¯s right. This is a [Diplomat¡¯s Eye], which when activated, glows blue in the presence of truth, and green in the presence of falsehood. If you don¡¯t mind, I would like to put it to use for our discussion. Understand, I trust that Raelin sent you to me, but items can have their natures disguised by the right class skills, and without scanning your AVL, I don¡¯t have a means to determine whether or not you might have access to them.¡±
¡°Ok. Sure,¡± Jason said, after looking to Lumi for confirmation. He could always just not answer a question if it was too problematic.
¡°Thank you,¡± Therissa said with a smile. Then she placed her hand on the amulet, spoke a word in a language that made Jason¡¯s ears ring, and the gem changed to a soft blue.
She placed a hand over her heart. ¡°I, Therissa, do pledge that anything said in this room between us four will remain only between us unless both parties agree otherwise. Furthermore, I declare that I harbor no ill intentions towards you and yours, and will not reveal your presence to any authorities that may be seeking you without your express permission.¡±
The gem stayed a pale blue.
¡°It¡¯s not binding, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Therissa confessed, ¡°as people¡¯s minds can change, but there you have it. Discretion comes with my job, whether or not I¡¯m following the rules to the letter. I give you my word, I¡¯ll do what I can to assist you, though I¡¯m unclear at this point as to what exactly you need. Would you mind repeating your earlier statement?¡±
Jason did so, explaining that he had, in fact, made the potions himself. He tried putting a bit more eloquent spin on it this time, too: the woman¡¯s manner of speech seemed to have gotten to him.
Afterwards, she sat back, crossing her arms while thinking, much as Raelin had.
¡°Well, obviously you¡¯re telling the truth, here. But I¡¯m still not sure why Raelin sent you to me. It should just be a simple matter of not telling anyone. If you don¡¯t let on you can make them, I don¡¯t see how the Archive would hear about it unless you¡¯re careless enough to go around trying to sell them to just...¡±
She trailed off, looking at the three of them.
¡°Ah,¡± She said.
Jason gave hera ratherchagrined smile. ¡°Um, yeah,¡± he said. ¡°We have a sort of... second problem. We don¡¯t know anything about the way things work around here. I didn¡¯t even know there was anything unusual about my potions until Raelin told me, since I¡¯d only just earned the class.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
Jason chose his words very carefully. ¡°We¡¯re... not from around here. Like, anywhere near at all. We think we ended up in the area thanks to some sort of spell gone wrong, but the end result is... well we barely know anything about uh, well, much of anything around here. Things are... way different where we¡¯re from.¡±
¡°And where¡¯s that?¡± Therissa asked. ¡°I assure you, as a Lodge owner, I¡¯ve seen people from all sorts of crazy places. I haven¡¯t always lived out here on the frontier either. Used to live in one of the big capitals before I got tired of all the noise.¡±
¡°I would be shocked if you¡¯d heard of San Francisco,¡± Jason replied.
¡°Hmm. Can¡¯t say that I have. I guess you¡¯re right. Still, things can¡¯t be all that different, right?¡±
Jason looked over at Lumi and Kera.
¡°How much should we tell her?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m a bit leery of, well, you know. Getting dragged into something we could otherwise avoid.¡±
¡°We¡¯re going to have to tell someone if we want to ever get back home,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°Might as well be someone who¡¯s been vouched for, even if it¡¯s by a magic rock.¡±
¡°Kera?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Oh go ahead,¡± she said dismissively, crossing her arms. ¡°Somebody¡¯s gonna work it out eventually, right? I mean we¡¯ve already seen half a dozen different [Analyze] skills. Eventually, someone¡¯s gonna use the right one on us. I¡¯d rather take a risk now that it¡¯ll be an issue than get caught off guard somewhere down the line where it¡¯s really gonna bite us in the ass.¡±
¡°Alright,¡± Jason said, turning back to a very amused-looking Therissa. ¡°You mentioned an.. AVL? Something that lets you see our status?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she nodded, gesturing to the silver orb sitting at the edge of the table. ¡°Thanks to a worldwide series of treaties, all adventurers must be registered for an Adventurer¡¯s License if they wish to take on official Lodge-issued quests, regardless of source. This device is essentially enchanted with all manner of high grade analysis skills. It provides a fool-proof means of scanning and displaying an individual¡¯s full status, and can record a basic summary onto your Adventurer¡¯s License. Don¡¯t worry though, it won¡¯t list out your entire skill lists or achievements or anything. That information will be available only to branch managers like myself, but we¡¯ve got some very strict rules about accessing it. There¡¯s more than one Guild that prefers their secrets to stay secret.¡±
¡°Alright. Well, how do I join the Guild, then? Wait, you said more than one. Which guild is yours?¡±
Therissa laughed. ¡°My you are from far away. The Lodges don¡¯t belong toany guild. Each Lodge is owned and run independently, though usually we¡¯re sponsored by someone so the manager might actually be a member. But we¡¯re all overseen by a big group of high level members of each of the major Guilds. After some big war waaaaay back when, all the guild heads got together and decided something had to be done about jurisdictions, and they settled on the system used today, and are in charge of making sure all Lodges follow the same set of rules.¡±
¡°Oh I get it. It¡¯s like a franchising agreement,¡± Jason said. ¡°But wait, why does everyone keep referring to you as ¡®The Guild¡¯, then?¡±
Therissa just waved a hand dismissively. ¡°A combination of laziness and a lack of interest in the details, really. Besides, it makes people think of us as all one organization, which we are, sort of, so nobody minds.¡±
¡°So basically a branding thing, then.¡± said Lumi. ¡°That makes sense.¡±
Therissa lifted the silver device, moving around the table until she could place it down in front of Jason. She handed him the penknife.
¡°Registering is pretty simple. Just prick you finger with the knife, and then place a drop of blood on top of the device. It will do the rest.¡±
Jason grimaced, but did as instructed.
The device lit up with a series of runes that flickered back and forth across the surface of the half-sphere. Jason thought it looked a little like something out of a science fiction movie, all strange symbols and writing, whirling around like it was some sort of computer doing calculations.
Who knows, maybe it is, he thought to himself.
After a moment the runes stopped moving, and Jason¡¯s status screen appeared above it for everyone to see.
The woman looked it over. ¡°Hmm, unusual classes. [Artificer] I¡¯ve heard of, that¡¯s like [Enchanter] but a rare adventuring variant, nice work getting that. What¡¯s an [Alchemist]? Your potion-making class, I¡¯m guessing?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Jason replied. ¡°But our biggest problem is actually that,¡± he said, pointing to his race, where [Outworlder] was clearly visible.
¡°Oh my.¡± Therissa said, leaning forward. ¡°Now that¡¯s not something you see every day. I haven¡¯t seen that tag in absolute ages.¡±
Jason felt hope surge inside him, and started to speak, but Lumi beat him to the punch.
¡°You mean, you¡¯ve seen it before? Could you get us home?¡± She blurted out.
Their hopes were dashed though as Therissa shook her head. ¡°Not exactly, I¡¯m afraid. Us adventuring types come across that designation every so often when some marauding wizard has done something he really shouldn¡¯t have. We know there¡¯s other worlds out there, but I¡¯ve never heard of anyone meeting regular people from one. Usually it¡¯s some kind of giant, terrifying monster that¡¯s been summoned by a wizard who was far too weak to control it, and got himself eaten. I mentioned the Darklight Archivists? Yeah. That¡¯s the sort of stuff they work to prevent.¡±
¡°Should we... watch out for them?¡± Kera asked hesitantly.
Therissa hummed as she thought to herself. ¡°I can¡¯t really say,¡± she responded after a moment, ¡°Most of them are pretty cautious and methodical people,so as long as you weren¡¯t showing any signs of causing problems, they¡¯d probably leave you alone. The problem comes from that potion making of yours. That¡¯s big news. Not the bad kind, but the Archive isn¡¯t just about burying things people shouldn¡¯t be messing with. They collect knowledge, particularly knowledge about the inner workings of the Voice. Especially rare classes and skills. While every Guild hoards their own secrets, the Archive actively tries to uncover everybody else¡¯s, and they aren¡¯t subtle about it, because knowledge of the exact details of a class is a powerful thing. Some of their more extreme members might just decide that you being an outworlder is enough of an excuse to lock you away until you give up the goods.¡±
¡°Great,¡± said Jason bitterly.
¡°Well, there¡¯s always the option of just telling them,¡± Therissa pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s a risk, but they might just leave you alone if you agree to just feed them whatever info they want.¡±
¡°Somehow I feel like it would involve more than that,¡± Jason replied. ¡°The means of earning it... well let¡¯s just say that if they want to lock away dangerous knowledge, they just might include what I¡¯d have to teach them in that, just so they could even understand what I did to earn it. There¡¯s a lot more background here you aren¡¯t aware of.¡±
¡°Well then,¡± Therissa replied, ¡°you might try signing up with one of the more powerful Guilds then. Several others wield a great deal of influence, and many of them aren¡¯t particularly friendly to the Archivists, who are always sticking their noses into others¡¯ business. The Black Thorns are always clashing with them, as do the Scarab Sages. I¡¯d stay away from the Shining Legion though, they¡¯re rather...judgmental, and might just try to have you killed simply for being the spawn of some evil wizard¡¯s insane plot.¡±
¡°You¡¯re being awfully frank about my potential death,¡± Jason said sourly.
Therissa just shrugged. ¡°Dying is a fact of life for adventurers. We don¡¯t go into this profession because we want to be safe. You quickly learn to live with the idea that people you know could die at any time, or you quit.¡±
¡°She¡¯s kind of got a point, Jason,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I¡¯m not happy about it either. You might be in more danger, but I¡¯ve still got a unique skill that seems really powerful, which might be enough to get me targeted too. But-¡±
¡°I know, I know. This is stuff we need to be aware of,¡± he said, slumping down into his chair.
¡°I was a just a student five days ago,¡± he lamented. ¡°I need time to adjust. Or a quick way out.¡±
He looked up at Therissa. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s any kind of Guild that specializes in extraplanar travel, or summoning things from other dimensions, or something of that nature?¡±
¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean by ¡®extraplanar¡¯, but there is a guild that specializes in travel, and a sort of summoning magic, yes.¡±
Kera spoke up. ¡°Oh! Raelin mentioned something called a ¡®Wayfinder¡¯s Gate¡¯, didn¡¯t she?¡±
Therissa nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. The Wayfinders are a Guild that specializes in all sorts of trade and travel magics. If you need to hire guards for a caravan, or need something shipped by air or sea or magic, they¡¯re the ones you go to. They also run the Gate system, which is... well kind of a magical network capable of teleporting people across huge distances. Although teleport isn¡¯t quite the right word. It¡¯s sort of mixture between a teleport and a summon spell. I don¡¯t know the details; they¡¯re very secretive about the process, and it¡¯s very expensive for anyone who isn¡¯t a member. Apparently the costs involved are considerable, even moreso than building an airship. But it¡¯s possible they might be able to find a way to get you home, if anyone could.¡±
¡°Couldn¡¯t hurt to ask.¡± Lumi said.
¡°I think this whole conversation has been about how it could.¡± retorted Jason.
¡°But we don¡¯t know for sure,¡± Kera said. ¡°Look, we just have to be careful. There¡¯s no reason we have to just walk up to someone and introduce ourselves as being from Earth. We could just ask questions, act like we¡¯re interested in some line of research, right? Why don¡¯t we at least talk to some of these people, feel things out a bit. We know we need to be careful now, so we can work to not make stupid mistakes.¡±
¡°Besides,¡± Kera said, looking at Therissa, ¡°It might not even be an issue, right?¡±
¡°That¡¯s possible too, yes.¡± The elf nodded. ¡°Also, though I doubt you¡¯d be interested, you could just settle down here in Arnvale and pick up some normal classes. Then nobody would ever be the wiser. Adventurers are a pretty strange lot to begin with. People see something odd, most of them would just shrug it off as just another weird adventurer thing. I once knew a dwarf who spent a whole year wearing a tin pot as a cap, just to see if anyone would ask.¡±
She laughed. ¡°They never did, of course. Everyone just assumed it had some kind of amazing enchantment on it.¡±
Jason grinned. ¡°People failing to notice the unusual? Now that I get. Never underestimate people¡¯s inability to pay attention to things that don¡¯t actually concern them.¡°
Kera blew a raspberry. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be ordinary though.¡±
¡°Me neither,¡± said Lumi.
¡°I didn¡¯t really expect you would,¡± Therissa said, ¡°But the option to just lay low was worth mentioning.¡±
¡°I think Kera has the right of it,¡± Lumi said to Jason. ¡°We should ask around, but carefully. Before that though, we should probably work on getting ourselves geared up, and maybe get stronger before we risk exposing ourselves. That way we both make ourselves more appealing as potential hires, and we¡¯ll be better equipped to defend ourselves if we need to.¡±
She looked back and forth between Kera and Jason. Kera nodded once. Jason sighed first, but then agreed.
¡°Fine,¡± he conceded. ¡°I don¡¯t really see a better option anyway, apart from just ¡®lie down and take it¡¯ which really isn¡¯t my style at all. If it turns out we¡¯re stuck here, I want to earn my place, even if that means fighting for it.¡±
¡°That¡¯s the spirit!¡± Therissa said, clapping him on the back. ¡°Now just let me confirm your registration, here...¡±
She reached over and pressed a hidden panel on the back of the scanning device. It hummed briefly, and then spit out a small pewter rectangle about the size of a credit card. A handful of different runes covered its surface.
Therissa handed it to Jason. ¡°Here you go. That should automatically update itself periodically, anytime you¡¯re present or even nearby any Lodge in the world. As long as you don¡¯t stay out in the wilderness for more than a few months, it should stay up to date.¡±
¡°If you need to-huh?¡±
She stopped. A pair of small, red lights were blinking on the top of the scanner device.
¡°You¡¯ve got mail already?¡± She said, confused. ¡°How...? You weren¡¯t even registered a second ago.¡±
Therissapressedthe plam of herhand to the top of the sphere. A rune appeared on the back ofher hand as she muttered a command, and the screen above the sphere changed.
To: Jason Elric
From: System Management
Subject: Compensation
Chapter 11
Jason stared at the message floating before him. He felt confused, because he had assumed the ¡®compensation¡¯ the system had given each of them was related to their special perk, or maybe the free skills they¡¯d been granted. Apparently, this was not the case.
Therissa meanwhile, was staring at him.
¡°You have mail from The Voice?¡± she asked.
¡°The Voice?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Do you mean the system messages?¡±
She gestured at the screen. ¡°The User Interface. The... force, that sends the messages and gives us our classes and skills. We call it the Voice of the World.¡±
¡°Ah, I¡¯d wondered what term people used,¡± he said. ¡°But uh, I guess so. We actually all got messages about some kind of compensation when we first arrived.¡±
He tilted his head, considering. ¡°Well, Lumi and I did. We¡¯re assuming Kera did too, but she didn¡¯t get a chance to see her initial messages, so we didn¡¯t know for sure.¡±
¡°Why would the Voice... owe you something?¡± Therissa asked.
Jason hesitated. They¡¯d already given the elf woman enough information to cause themselves real trouble. So far she¡¯d been receptive to helping them, but her descriptions of this Darklight Archive made him pause. Simply telling her directly that someone or something had interfered with the... Voice... somehow seemed like the equivalent of telling her that some madman held all the nuclear launch codes and was willing let one rip just to see what would happen. That sounded like exactly the sort of thing the Archive would want to know about, and might be serious enough to make the woman go back on her word.
So he hedged his answer a little.
¡°It¡¯s got something to do with whatever happened to bring us here, but we don¡¯t actually know all the details. We got some notification about it, but we had other things to worry about then.¡±
That was true, if a technicality. The gem on the table flickered slightly, detecting the slight misdirection, but it remained a truthful blue. Fortunately, the woman seemed not to notice, as she was still standing next to Jason, staring down at him and the others instead of watching the gem.
Therissa gave herself a slight shake.
¡°Well, you lot are just full of surprises, are you?¡± She said with a laugh. ¡°I¡¯d be half tempted to think you¡¯re here for some special purpose.¡±
Therissa winked at Jason. ¡°You don¡¯t happen to be orphans with mysterious pasts, do you? No? Alas.¡± She smiled before turning back to the silver device on the table.
Kera barked a short laugh in return.
¡°I wish,¡± she said.
Therissa reached out and pressed a finger to each of the red runes that currently lit the top of the device. A small box with a lid materialized on the table in front of Jason as Therissa returned to her chair.
¡°Normally,¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯d offer you one of these rooms to deal with your correspondence in private, but under the circumstances it might be better if I stick around, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°No, that¡¯s fine.¡±
He pulled off the lid of the box. It was filled with an assortment of small bags and flasks. Jason quickly ran his hands over them, activating his analysis skill.
He began to laugh. He couldn¡¯t help himself. He leaned over it banged his head lightly against the table and grabbed the edge as gales of laughter shook him, tryingnot to fall over.
¡°Wh-what is it?¡± asked Lumi. She stood up and leaned over his shoulder. Then she covered her mouth for a moment, smothering a laugh with a snicker of her own as realization dawned.
¡°It¡¯s...It¡¯s an MMO starter package!¡± he managed after a moment.
Still chuckling to himself and shaking his head, he began withdrawing items, listing off the functions of each one.
¡°Let¡¯s see... one bag of currency, one potion of free skill points, some vials of arcane powder...¡±
He pulled out three flasks of a yellow liquid with flecks of silver floating in it.
¡°This one¡¯s your typical booster, [Potions of Treasure-hunting] that no doubt boost loot drops...¡±
There were a pair of small cloth bundles too, tied with string.
He picked up the purple one. ¡°This looks like...¡±
Then he laughed again, shaking his head. ¡°Yep, it¡¯s a random collection of dyes. Good grief.¡±
Jason tried to peek inside without opening it. As expected, he only saw darkness within; he¡¯d have to actually open the package. That could wait until later.
He turned to the last package, this one wrapped in blue.
¡°And this is...,¡± he began.
The ¡®package¡¯, which was really just a cloth bundle, had its own interface screen pop up when he picked it up.
Please select one of the following options for your personalized [Premium Class Bundle]: Alchemist, Artificer, General. Items received consist of randomized class-relavent materials.
He sighed and plonked his head against the table again.
¡°It¡¯s a loot crate, basically.¡±
Twenty minutes later saw the four of them sitting around the table, which was now covered in various flasks and bundles. Nobody had elected to open the smaller bundles yet. They already had far more than they could carry.
Therissa cleared her throat.
¡°Well, That was certainly an experience. I¡¯ve never heard of these... what did you call them? Starter Packages? But they sure do have a lot of stuff in them. I suppose now is as good a time as any to explain how your Vault works?¡±
¡°Vault? You mean like a bank vault?¡± asked Kera.
Therissa nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s one of the benefits of being a licensed adventurer, and in fact many people register even when they have no intention of taking on jobs, just so they can make use of a vault, as well as the mail system.¡±
¡°Your Vault is your own personal storage space. I see you have a [Handy Haversack]. A Vault is basically the same, except that it holds a greater amount and can only be accessed by you at any Adventurer¡¯s Lodge. Well, your Vault can be accessed by certain other authorized individuals or by someone you¡¯ve willingly given your AVL to, but that¡¯s really only ever done in the case of your death. Suffice to say, under normal circumstances you¡¯re the only person who can access it.¡±
¡°Oh good,¡± said Jason, relieved. ¡°So we don¡¯t have to haul all this stuff back to our room.¡±
¡°Indeed not,¡± Therissa replied. ¡°I can show you how store it away for now, and you can come back later to go through it as you wish.¡±
¡°Is there anything you wish to keep for now?¡± She asked.
Each of them elected to keep their class bundle and their pouch of coins, which they put into Jason¡¯s bag. Since there was no reason to just leave them lying around in the Vault, Jason and Lumi also each drank their skill potion, which immediately granted them an additional five skill points.
Kera had other ideas, however.
¡°Therissa? How much do you think I could get if I sold this?¡±
The elf woman looked at her with surprise. ¡°You don¡¯t want it for yourself?¡±
¡°Well, I do,¡± Kera replied, ¡°But I¡¯d like to see what my options are here. Unlike Jason and Lumi, I don¡¯t think I need huge numbers of skill points for my class. So I¡¯m thinking maybe I could just hang onto it, and maybe sell it if we could get something really good. I can always drink it later if I change my mind.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t really know, to be honest,¡± Therissa said. ¡°Skill points don¡¯t exactly grow on trees, especially once you start hitting higher level totals and you slow down. Older adventurers might very well pay an awful lot for something like that. You¡¯d probably be better off talking to the Vendor¡¯s Association about it.¡±
¡°Vendor¡¯s Association?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Therissa said with a nod. ¡°They¡¯re a loose organization of merchants vaguely tied to the Wayfinders. They specialize in buying up all the weird things people like us pull up out of old ruins or the occasional dungeon, and sell them off to other adventurers who might be looking for specific items. They¡¯re also often responsible for handing off more dangerous objects to the Archive, who pays them very well for such things.
¡°If anyone could tell you how much free skill points were worth, it would be them,¡± she finished.
¡°Speaking of points,¡± Jason said, ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. Is it better to spend stat points on our primary stats like Might or Intellect, or on other stuff like Magic Resistance?¡±
¡°That¡¯s a subject that¡¯s a bit of a debate, really,¡± Therissa said. ¡°Either way, you get a sort of a two-for-one value. See, each of your secondary stats is related to the average of two of your primary, so by putting one point into say, Magic Resistance, you¡¯re getting the effect of having put a point in both Intellect and Spirit. Also, the secondary stats tend to be more directly important.¡±
¡°Thing is,¡± she continued, ¡°each of your primary stats has their own passive effect, as well as contribute to two different secondary stats. Take Spirit for instance. For every two points of Spirit, you¡¯ll gain one in both Magic Resistance and Resolve. But you also get more mana for every five points you have above ten.¡±
¡°That¡¯s why my mana was so high,¡± commented Lumi. ¡°I¡¯d wondered why mine was so much higher than Kera¡¯s at first, even though I was only gaining half as much per level.¡±
Therissa nodded. ¡°Exactly. So, while some people feel like it¡¯s better to specialize in certain secondary statistics, like Magic Resistance, because you can reach truly incredible heights with them that way, others will argue that only spending on your primary stats will have a greater overall impact. Someone who only spends points in Magic Resistance might be able to shrug off most spells, but someone who put all their points in Endurance would be very difficult to kill in general and be quite resistant, although not immune to, most forms of poison or mental assault, because Endurance affects Fortitude and Resolve as well as making you more resistant to injury.¡±
¡°That¡¯s really good to know, then,¡± Jason said. ¡°I think I agree more with the second group.¡±
¡°What about skill points?¡± he then asked. ¡°We¡¯ve sort of been using them on an as-needed basis, but we really don¡¯t know how it all works. Is it better to save and buy new skills, or to rank up the ones you¡¯ve got?¡±
¡°It depends on your needs,¡± Therissa replied, ¡°but since they''re limited, usually most people rank up the skills they use a lot of. Higher crafting skill levels mean better results, higher spellcaster rank means cheaper spells and you can manage the harder ones. As for specialized class skills, they usually end up functioning at a higher efficiencyor provide more options, and so on. Since mostly you get new skills instead of more ranks from your classes, people usually focus on ranking up.¡±
¡°Thanks. Just wanted to get that out of the way,¡± Jason said. ¡°So um, I think that¡¯s most everything, apart from I¡¯d like to maybe try and sell some of these potions so we can outfit ourselves. We should talk to one of these Vendors I¡¯m guessing?¡±
¡°You could. Jerrik owns the item shop next door, he¡¯s a member. Just don¡¯t mention to him that you were the one who made them. Hmm. That poses an issue. There¡¯s no major ruins around here, so I¡¯m not sure what excuse you can give him. But I guess that doesn¡¯t really matter in the short term, because I can buy them from you. The Lodges always have basic supplies available for purchase, and I¡¯ll either sell it to someone else eventually or pass them on to another Lodge. Nobody will ask questions if it comes from me.¡±
¡°Ah, actually,¡± Lumi said, ¡°The subject of source reminds me. Show her the core, Jason.¡±
He pulled out the [Inert Dungeon Core] from his bag, andTherissa flinchedbackwards away from it, alarmed.
¡°Please tell me you didn¡¯t make that, too,¡± she said.
¡°No, I didn¡¯t. We acquired it earlier today, in a dungeon.¡±
¡°You killed a dungeon? By yourselves? How on earth...?¡±
¡°I think it might have been, well, like a baby one,¡± Lumi spoke up. ¡°It only had five rooms, and half of them were empty. The core room didn¡¯t even have monsters living it until we showed up and the dungeon.. made some, I guess.¡±
Therissa glanced briefly down at the [Diplomat¡¯s Eye] sitting on the table, as if she wasn¡¯t sure she believed them. But of course the gem still glowed a pale blue.
¡°You¡¯re... not lying. Wow. That¡¯s...¡± She paused. ¡°Don¡¯t do that again. I don¡¯t mean killing it. That was the right idea. But going in by yourselves...? It takes entirearmies to slay a fully mature dungeon. You were very, very lucky you weren¡¯t all killed. What kind was it?¡±
¡°Kind?¡± asked Jason. ¡°Oh, like the theme? I couldn¡¯t say really. Snakes, maybe; that¡¯s what the entrance implied. But the core room had a whole bunch of salamander monsters in it.
Therissa frowned. ¡°Hmm. That¡¯s concerning. Salamanders aren¡¯t exactly native to these woods. Did it have aBoss?¡±
¡°Yeah, it did. Some guy called Keeper Seraptis. I don¡¯t think the dungeon made him, because he didn¡¯t de-spawn when we killed him, and I couldn¡¯t target him with [Basic Harvesting].¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
¡°An actual Keeper?¡± Therissa said, now even more alarmed. ¡°Plus a non-standard theme for the region? That¡¯s a bad sign. That dungeon might have been manufactured.¡±
She drummed her fingers nervously on the table, thinking for a moment. ¡°I should really contact a member of the Black Thorns to come and investigate the site, if you can tell me where it is. Would you give me permission for that? I¡¯ll leave your names out of it, but it¡¯s important. It¡¯ll probably turn out that this Seraptis was the creator, but I¡¯d like to make sure we don¡¯t have a rogue wizard on our hands.¡±
¡°I think that¡¯s probably ok, if you leave us out of it.¡± Jason looked to the others for confirmation. They nodded.
¡°Between Raelin and I,¡± Jason said ¡°we can probably give you a good idea of where it lies, especially if you have a map you can show me.¡±
¡°I think that probably wraps up everything we need then,¡± he said, ¡°apart from selling the potions. Lumi, Kera? Want to add anything?¡±
They shook their heads.
¡°I guess that¡¯s everything then,¡± Jason finished. ¡°We¡¯ll probably want to come back and ask about available jobs later, but for now, we¡¯ve got some shopping to do.¡±
¡°Shopping?¡± Therissa asked. Then she blinked. ¡°Oh. Yes, I imagine you don¡¯t exactly have a lot of extra clothes, arriving as you have. And you¡¯ll need equipment, too, if you are planning on accepting some Lodge tasks. Am I correct in understanding that is your intention for the moment?¡±
After a brief look at one another, Jason nodded to Lumi, indicating she should take the lead here. After all, she was their de-facto party leader for the time being.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s right,¡± Lumi said. ¡°We don¡¯t really have a clear end goal right now, beyond maybe talking to some Wayfinders, but if I understand correctly that will require us to do some traveling, which means we¡¯ll need equipment, and honestly some experience dealing with local threats wouldn¡¯t hurt either. There¡¯s too much we don¡¯t know yet to go haring off on our own.
¡°I highly doubt traveling to another world is a simple matter,¡± She continued, ¡°otherwise people would do it all the time."
¡°Then there¡¯s the question of how much any of us actually want to go back,¡± Lumi said, giving a significant look in Kera¡¯s direction. ¡°We haven¡¯t really talked about it, but even I¡¯m in no huge hurry to get back. I miss my parents, sure, but I can¡¯t say I¡¯m not having fun. I mean, how often do you get to explore a whole new world?¡±
Jason shrugged. He had to admit, he wasn¡¯t in any particular hurry himself. And he agreed; there was no way getting back would be some simple process.
¡°So, yeah,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I think our next order of business is to get geared up, buy clothes and traveling supplies, and take on some jobs to get us some experience.¡±
¡°Well then,¡± Therissa said, ¡°I think I can help with that. You said you¡¯d like to sell some of your potions, right? Ican take you down to meet with Jerrik and his wife. Together they run Fanciful Finery, but they don¡¯t do just clothes. You should be able to get everything you need for basic equipment from them.
¡°I¡¯ll get you set up with a letter of credit, courtesy of the Lodge, so you all can get yourself squared away. Those potions of yours are worth quite a lot; if you spend more than they¡¯re worth, just make me a few extras, eh?¡± She said.
¡°That should be acceptable,¡± Jason said. ¡°We also got a fairly decent amount of coin from those starter packages, too, in case anyone wants to make personal purchases or something.¡±
After a brief discussion on basic pricing, Therissa led the three friends back downstairs, leaving the cleanup in the room until later. They exited the Lodge, and made their way to another one of the buildings that surrounded the market square. Jason was surprised to see large plate glass windows with shop dummies behind them, not unlike a modern clothing store. A sign hung above the door with the words ¡°Fanciful Finery - Bespoke Outfitters¡± engraved on it underneath a carving of a bolt of cloth.
Therissa pushed open the door, beckoning Jason and the others in.
¡°Hey, Jerrik!¡± Therissa called loudly. Jason winced a little. The woman really did have a voice like a bellows when she wanted.
¡°Got some new customers for you!¡± she yelled.
The interior of the shop was as similarly modern-looking as the exterior: numerous shelves and wooden racks were dotted about the place, with all manner of clothing on display, with a great big three-part mirror set into the central floor space. Jason could see several doors side by side in the back, which he assumed were the equivalent of changing rooms.
Modern tailors didn¡¯t have many swords and knives present though, nor did they usually peddle pieces of armor, all of which were here in abundance alongside the more mundane clothing, which was made from both silk and wool, as well as a few pieces made of materials Jason couldn¡¯t identify. The armor was all primarily made from leather, with only a small handful of display pieces made fully from metal.
Jason supposed that even among adventurers, plate-wearers might not be especially common. After all, if you considered the ¡®standard¡¯ adventuring party of wizard, healer, rogue, and warrior, only one of those would actually be wearing full metal armor. If you took MMOs as your example, then it was even more skewed: most players took up dps classes, which usually wore leather at best, and a full raid might only have one in ten members wearing plate.
People just didnt generally want to play support. He¡¯d inquire later, out of curiosity, as to how things worked when real lives were on the line. It seemed to him that then, the more armor the better.
On the weapon side of things, most of what was found here were thing Jason thought of as pretty standard weapons. Lots of bows, and the occasional crossbow, because no doubt the locals did a lot of hunting in the woods. A fair number of smaller swords, probably sold to the local guardsmen he¡¯d seen patrolling the market. There were a few exceptions, like a battle ax that had been hung up over one wall, and what looked like some kind of staff in a glass case, but mostly it was simpler weapons. Things suitable for average people living in a town, who might feel the need for some extra protection when beyond the walls.
An older gentleman, dressed in a silk tunic with dark pants, appeared from somewhere as Jason was taking everything in. He greeted a Therissa with a smile.
¡°Ah! Therissa, good to see you! I¡¯ve been meaning to stop by the Lodge; Raelin passed on a request from one of my associates over in Feron. They wanted to know if we had any prism scarab chitin available for armor. I don¡¯t, but we¡¯re closer to the Wastes than they are, so I was thinking maybe I¡¯d post a time-sensitive bounty in case anyone¡¯s feeling ambitious.¡±
¡°Well, you are in luck, my friend,¡± Therissa replied with a wave towards Jason and the girls, ¡°because I happen to have here some newly minted adventurers, flush with an unexpected windfall, who are just getting started. They¡¯re in need of a full set of proper gear, and thanks to some circumstances I can¡¯t discuss, I¡¯ve extended a line if credit to them. If you¡¯d be so kind as to see to their needs, you can bill the Lodge afterwards. You know I¡¯m good for it, and you just might be able to talk them into taking on your job afterwards.¡±
Jerrik rubbed his hands together gleefully with a smile. ¡°A full set, you say? For all three?¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°More than just gear. Clothes, armor, spare weapons, traveling supplies... the whole works, if you¡¯ve got what we need.¡±
The older man bowed slightly to Jason, and gestured for them to come further into the shop. ¡°Either I¡¯ve got it, young man, or I can get it, on my word as a member of the Vendor¡¯s Association. Please, do come in and have a seat, all of you.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll leave them in your hands then, Jerrik." Therissa said. "Just bring me the bill when you come to post your notice; I should have somebusiness of my own to discuss with you by then. Got in a shipment today you might be interested in.¡±
¡°I look forward to it,¡± he replied, with another small bow.
Therissa gave Jason and the girls a final wave, and exited.
¡°Please, please, come sit," Jerrik said. "Tell me a little about yourselves. You must be from quite far off, I can¡¯t say I¡¯ve ever seen clothes like yours before.¡±
Jason started to try and steer the conversation away from their origins, but he was interrupted from the need to do so by the arrival of the man¡¯s wife, Nissette.
¡°Ah, Jerrik, have you seen- oh! Customers?¡±
¡°Yes indeed, they are, Nisette¡± the man said cheerfully. ¡°Therissa brought them over. They¡¯re here for a full outfitting, it appears. Clothes, armor, adventuring gear, the whole nine yards.¡±
¡°Pun intended of course,¡± he said with a wink at the girls.
Nissette just rolled her eyes at her husband. ¡°Well then, let¡¯s not waste their time jawing. You were about to ask them all about their recent travels, weren¡¯t you?¡±
Jason couldn¡¯t make out what the man muttered under his breath, but he could guess.
Nissette ignored Jerrik¡¯s grumbling and barreled onwards, asking Jason and the girls about their classes, what sort of materials and colors they preferred, and the kinds of armor and weapons they would be using. At some point the discussion changed to hairstyles and clothing cuts and other such subjects, and Jason realized the woman fully intended to give Lumi and Kera what amounted to a fantasy makeover.
Eventually, Jerrik pulled him aside, leaving Nissette to usher the girls into a pair of changing rooms, presumably to get proper measurements.
¡°Sorry about that, lad. The wife¡¯s both a [Designer] and an [Artisan], and she loves getting the chance to do custom pieces for people who are willing to pay for the good stuff. You strike me as more the utilitarian type, who doesn¡¯t care much about what exactly he¡¯s wearing as long as it gets the job done.¡±
Jason shrugged. ¡°More or less."
The man rubbed his chin a little, thinking. ¡°[Artificer], eh? Haven¡¯t seen one of them before, but of heard of em. Adventuring enchanter types, right? You¡¯ll need something with boatloads of pockets, then. I think I¡¯ve got just the thing, and I think you''ll look pretty good in it, too. It¡¯ll need some quick modifications, but it sounds like Nissette¡¯s going to be awhile with those two, so we¡¯ve got some time. Come along, I¡¯ll show ya what I have in mind.¡±
Jerrik led him over to one of the shelves with an assortment of basic clothing.
¡°Now the first part¡¯s easy. You said you¡¯ll probably be moving around a lot, and will be handling a lot of caustic or volatile stuff, and that means a leather tunic. You¡¯ll need a simple light shirt to go underneath, and some heavy duty leggings.¡±
He pulled a few items off of the shelves and passed them to Jason.
"Now, you get those put on, and I¡¯ll adjust em for you. No need to wait around here. I may not have [Clothier] levels like Nissette, but she taught me how to unlock [Resize], so we don¡¯t have to sit around with needle and thread for hours."
¡°Oh is that like how loot changes to fit the wearer?" Jason asked. "We got a sword out of a chest, and it was too big for Lumi until she tried to put it on.¡±
Jerrik gave him a nod. ¡°Exactly the same. The skill lets me adjust any individual aspect of a piece of clothing, whether that¡¯s shirts, belts, pieces of armor, even weapons, to suit whoever¡¯s trying to use it. It¡¯s damn useful in my line of work, and I¡¯m blessed that my wife both had it and was willing to teach me. Saves an awful lot of time."
¡°I can imagine.¡±
Jason heard Nissette chattering away at one of the girls as he passed by the closed doors to enter one of the unoccupied rooms. The shirt and pants were overly large before adjustment, and Jason wondered if that was on purpose. It was probably easier to adjust something down once someone was wearing it than to squeeze into something too small. He had to hold he pants up with one hand as he exited the room.
Jerrik beckoned him over to the large mirror in the center of the room, where he proceeded to run his hands along Jason¡¯s arms and legs, tugging at this seam or that and muttering ¡®Resize¡¯ every so often. It was a little uncomfortable for Jason, but that was outweighed by his fascination at how each time the man activated his skill, the material twisted and shrank to just the right length, leaving him with a set of perfectly tailored clothes at the end of it all. He resolved that if he ever put more ranks into [Basic Tailoring] and found himself making clothes for the group, to definitely ask about how to get this particular skill.
After fitting Jason to a set of clothes, Jerrik demonstrated a second useful skill, which allowed him to take a different set of clothing and copy the size adjustment over, rather than needing to repeat the process. Shortly, Jason had three sets of wool shirts, leather tunics, and leather leggings, plus undergarments as well.
Next, they moved on to what would be Jason¡¯s outer armor. First, Jerrik had him try on a few different vests, eventually settling for a flexible one that came down to almost mid-thigh, and had a bandolier across the chest that was perfect for smaller items, like vials.
Then had Jason try on a long leather coat on top of everything else.The coat reminded Jason of many a movie featuring witch or vampire hunters;Almost like a cloak, it was worn open and unbeltedand had a large outwards flare around the ankles to avoid tripping yourself. All he needed was the hat, which perhaps thankfully was nowhere to be seen.
Jerrik ended up making some actual adjustments to the coat, sewing numerous additional pockets and attachment points to it, both inside and outside the breast and near the waist.
Finally, he gave Jason a pair of utility belts, meant to both be worn crisscrossed underneath the coat, providing still more storage space for odds and ends.
Jason was tempted to think the whole ensemble excessive, but then again, it wasn¡¯t all that much different than some of the outfits he¡¯d seen rogue types with in games. He couldn¡¯t deny the potential usefulness, either, afterJerrik explained how once Jason had some experience with enchantments, he could turn each of the pockets into a miniature bag of holding, so he could carry any number of assorted objects and magic items for all purposes.
After that, Jason thought that maybe, just maybe,once he actually had an assortment of magical gear to put in them, he''dknow what being Batman felt like, always having the answer to ever problem.
It wasn¡¯t too much longer after Jerrik finished with Jason that Lumi finally exited her changing room. Unlike Jason, who¡¯d been all over the shop following Jerrik around, the girls had firmly remained in their changing rooms while Nissette came and went, pulling out individual pieces and taking them back one at a time, presumably making adjustments in private.
Jason was pretty impressed with Lumi¡¯s result as she came out to examine herself in the giant mirror. The word ¡®dashing¡¯ came to mind, looking at her. She leaned a littlemore towards ¡®badass¡¯ than¡®handsome¡¯, and her clothes were designed for utility over beauty, but at the same time, she possessed a strong sense of style.
Her shoulder length, faux-red hair had been cut short, until it was now nearly a typical men¡¯s tussledcut from back home, giving her a slightly more professional-looking air. She was dressed in a relatively tight-fitting ensemble of red-dyed, heavy wool clothing plus studded-leather vest and thigh-high studded-leather boots, as well as had the sword she¡¯d found in the dungeon belted at her waist. A sort of half-skirt of wool with a side pouch covered her backside down to her knees, and leather bracers protected her wrists and forearms but left her hands open.
Jason eyed her appraisingly, and complimented her on the result.
¡±Looking pretty great, Lumi,¡± he said. ¡°I like the new hair, it suits you.¡±
¡°Thanks,¡± she replied. ¡°You clean up pretty well, yourself. You¡¯ve got a real Van Helsing vibe going on there. We just need to get you a mechanized crossbow and a fancy hat and you¡¯ll be good to go.¡±
Jason laughed. ¡°The thought had occurred to me as well. But I think it¡¯ll be different once I actually fill all these pouches with stuff. I¡¯ll probably look like some mad chemist-turned-inventor-turned-assassin, like I just turned upfor a job faire and applied for everything at once.¡±
¡°Could be a good look for you,¡± Lumi commented with a grin.
¡°We¡¯ll see.¡±
The two joked back and forth a bit while they examined themselves and each other in the mirror, and then proceeded to ask Jerrik questions about picking out various gear for a good twenty minutes.
Then Kera came out of her dressing room, led by Nissette, and Jason and Lumi were both floored.
The girl had undergone a near-complete transformation. Gone was the image of a short, scrawny, punk girl just barely into her college years. Now taking her place was thatof a stunningly elegant sorceress.
Kera¡¯s short black hair had somehow been magically grown out longer, to just past shoulder length, and she was dressed in a long, blue silk robe with silver and gold highlights, with an open-fronted skirt divided into three segments, held together with a sash at the waist. Her blue and silver serpent belt still wrapped her waist, expertly blended in with the sash as if it had always been part of the outfit.
Kera was also wearing a set of knee-high cloth boots that gave her a bit of extra height, and Jason caught flashes of pale skin through the gaps in her dress as she walked shyly towards them. Short, oversized bell sleeves left her arms free, with her forearms covered by handless, elbow-length gloves. Dark, feathery ruffles lined her collar and hem, completing the look.
Jason and Lumi just stared speechlessly at her a bit for a moments while Kera blushed furiously under her friends¡¯ gazes. Nissette beamed upon seeing the impact her work had.
Jason was pretty sure his own face was at least a tiny bit red. Who¡¯d have thought the girl would clean up so gorgeous? Lumi certainly appeared to be feeling the same.
He cleared his throat a bit awkwardly.
¡°I suppose high-fiving Lumi would be a bit crass...?¡± he asked with a wry grin. ¡°You look, um... just, wow.¡±
Kera just blushed harder, if that was even possible.
¡°Well I do believe this counts as a success, then,¡± Nissette said with a grin, motioning Kera to come examine herself in the mirror while her friends attempted to distract themselves.
After a few moments of that, the woman moved to open the glass case that contained the staff Jason had seen earlier. She withdrew a long, thin staff of silver with a crystalline orb at its head.
She had Kera hold it in both hands.
¡°Personalize,¡± Nissette commanded, one finger resting on the staff. The metal at the head of the staff twisted and flowed, and the orb shrank, until it took on the form of a lizard¡¯s head clutching the orb in it¡¯s teeth. A spur of metal that gave the impression of wings flowed back and away from the head.
Jason thoughtthe head was a pretty good likeness of Ceri.
Nissette peered at the results of her skill curiously.
¡°Why a lizard?¡± She asked. "Not what I was expecting, to be honest."
¡°My familiar is a drake,¡± Kera explained. ¡°We left him sleeping in our room rather than take him out shopping. I didn¡¯t know how people would react to him.¡±
¡°Ah, I see. Yes, probably just as well,¡± Nissette replied. ¡°I take it everything is satisfactory?¡±
¡°More than just that,¡± Lumi said enthusiastically. ¡°You¡¯ve done an amazing job for all of us. Thank you so much.¡±
Jerrik looked them over one final time, and he too pronounced them properly accoutered, passing Jason back his backpack, which Jason hadbeen filling with travel items he and Lumi had picked out, among which were included a large number of empty glass vials and bottles.
They thanked both Jerrik and Nissette for their time, and promised to return if they found anything else they needed.
Finally, they made their way back to the Inn, only to be gushed over by an enthusiastic Leska, who brought a rather late lunch up to their rooms. It was a relatively simple meal, just bread, cheese, and sliced meats, but Jason discovered he was quite famished, and relished every bit of it.
Afterwards, it was finally time to discuss their future, the job Jerrik had asked of them, and what Jason was looking forward to most: finally experimenting with new potions.
Chapter 12
¡°Time to see what cool stuff I got in the mail!¡± Kera declared with enthusiasm, as she rifled through Jason¡¯s bag, which was currently lying on his bed. She pulled out one of the cloth bundles.
Jason and Lumi were still seated at the table, having piled all the dishes from their meal to one side.
¡°Uh. Hmm.¡± Kera scratched her head, and pulled out the other bundles. She looked back and forth at each one. They looked to be identical.
She picked up each one, in turn, and examined it. ¡°Oh, I see,¡± she said. ¡°They conform to who¡¯s holding them. Well, I¡¯ll take this one.¡±
¡°Either of you two want to open yours?¡± she asked.
Jason shrugged. ¡°Might as well.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± said Lumi.
Kera picked up all three bundles, and passed them out as she sat back down at the table.
Jason took his in hand, and the screen he¡¯d seen before popped up, requesting he choose one of his classes to assign as the bundle¡¯s type. He settled on [Alchemist] after a moment. It was his primary class, after all. He had yet to really explore any of his [Artificer] skills except for [Analyze Item], so he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d get anything he knew how to use. Plus, alchemy seemed more directly useful to him at the moment.
So he made his choice, and the cloth bundle unwrapped itself in front of him, revealing a hand-sized, rectangular packet of paper. It had a colorful assortment of plants painted on the front.
¡°Uhh, what?¡± he said to himself, turning the packet over in his hand. Belatedly, he activated his skill.
¡°Analyze Item,¡± Jason commanded.
[Packet of Rare Seeds] - Contains 30 [Rare Seeds], perfect for starting a garden filled with unusual species!
¡°How is this at all useful?¡± he wondered aloud. ¡°I¡¯ll have to wait months to find out if any of them are good for alchemy.¡±
¡°Magic Fertilizer.¡± Kera said offhandedly. She was opening her own bundle, which revealed a small pile of books. She picked one up, turning it over in her hands.
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Magic Fertilizer,¡± she repeated. ¡°You know, like... magic bonemeal you sprinkle on a seed, and ¡®Poof!¡¯ you¡¯ve got an entire tree. Something that makes plants grow instantly to adulthood or whatever. I¡¯m sure that¡¯s a thing. Lumi¡¯s cantrip grew us those grass pillows, so I¡¯m sure you could come up with something.¡±
¡°Where would I put them, though?¡± Jason asked her. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯ve been harvesting plants and then ¡®poof, they¡¯re gone¡¯. You harvest them in such a way as they¡¯ll grow back, or you get more seeds, or whatever. And it¡¯s not like I can carry around big chunk of land or grow beds or whatever while we¡¯re out adventuring. Who would water them?¡±
¡°Well I don¡¯t know,¡± Kera replied, rolling her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re the enchanter, right? Couldn¡¯t you, I don¡¯t know, rig up some kind of magic greenhouse you can carry around? Your bag acts like a refrigerator right? Why not heat and light instead of preservation?¡±
Jason scratched his head.¡°I... guess? Actually, now that you mention it, that¡¯s not a terrible idea to look into.¡±
He leaned back into his chair, thinking for a moment. ¡°In fact, I ought to ask Therissa about keeping perishable stuff in the Vault. I mean, in games people are always doing weird stuff like putting all their minipets in there, or storing mounts, or entire stacks of fried fish or cakes or whatever. It¡¯s a little strange when you actually think about it.¡±
¡°Sweet! Rare drop!¡± Lumi interrupted suddenly, pumping her fist. She¡¯d been standing when she opened her bundle, and was now holding some kind of metal and leather bracer. She slipped it onto her right arm, where it covered the forearm and back of her hand. Jason could see a milky white stone set into metal, with runic script encircling it.
Lumi snapped her fingers, and a small flame appeared above one finger. She then held up her arm, and with a puff of breath, blew the flame towards the stone. The gem sucked in the small wisp of fire, and then turned orange.
She poked at her Interface for a moment or two as Jason and Kera looked on with curiosity. After a moment of customizing, she activated the bracer.
¡°Shields Up!¡±
A shimmering barrier shaped like a miniature kite shield sprang into existence in from of Lumi¡¯s arm, projected by the gem on the bracer. Jason could feel the heat emanating from it. Fortunately, despite appearing to be made of solid flame, the shield didn¡¯t set fire to Kera, who reared backwards away from Lumi in alarm as the shield appeared above her books.
¡°Whoops, sorry,¡± Lumi said, deactivating the bracer. ¡°Probably should have stepped away from the wooden table first. But it seems like this version doesn¡¯t ignite stuff, it just scaldsyou if you hit it.¡±
¡°This version?¡± Jason asked, as Kera gave Lumi a glare.
¡°Yeah. It¡¯s called a [Shield of the Elementalist], and I can imbue it with any kind of elemental spell, and the shield will take on some properties of that element. Looks like I might be able to adjust size and shape too. There¡¯s some options here that I¡¯ll have to take a look at.¡±
¡°Why does Lumi always get all the awesome luck?¡± Kera grumbled. ¡°I just got books.¡±
¡°You do realize you¡¯re a Mage right?¡± Jason asked sarcastically. ¡°Books are kind of their thing.¡±
¡°Bah. These aren¡¯t even spellbooks. These are like.. field guides or something.¡±
¡°Here, pass me one,¡± Jason said. ¡°I bet they¡¯re more useful than you think. At least you didn¡¯t get a bunch of random seeds.¡±
Kera handed him a book of the top of the pile. It was small, no larger than a standard paperback really, if fairly thick.
Jason leafed through it briefly, and then activated [Analyze Item].
¡°Kera, these are basically lore books about the monsters that inhabit different regions. That seems like exactly the sort of thing you¡¯d find useful. You could look up different kinds of special abilities you might want to seek out and collect for your Monster Magic skill, or ones to make bonds with.¡±
¡°Oh. But reading, though.¡±
¡°How do you not like reading if you play RPGs?¡± Jason asked. ¡°They¡¯re always filled with weird lore entries and stuff to read.¡±
¡°That¡¯s different,¡± she said, crossing her arms. ¡°I can just ignore those parts.¡±
Jason rolled his eyes and handed the book back to her.
¡°Well, you really should read these,¡± he said. ¡°Never know which one might tell you where to find a new cute monster pet. Or you could unlock new skills.¡±
¡°I suppose.¡±
¡°Speaking of skills...¡± Jason said. He stood up and retrieved his bag from the bed.
Placing the bag onto the table, he began to retrieve the items he¡¯d harvested from the salamanders the previous day. He hadn¡¯t yet taken the time to analyze them for traits; Now was as good a time as any.
First, Jason took out the three salamander tails and the six small scraps of hide he¡¯d obtained. As expected, they both possessed the ¡®Fire¡¯ trait. After Jason had seen the ¡®Water¡¯ trait from the frogoid webbing, he¡¯d naturally assumed other elemental related creatures would have similar traits.
The eyes he¡¯d received from the salamanders were different though. They had the trait ¡°Perceive¡±, which Jason wasn¡¯t sure would be immediately useful.
The last drops gave him a bit of a pause, however.
[Flame Sac] Traits Discovered: Fire, ???.
Traits, plural? Jason thought.
¡°Something wrong?¡± Lumi asked from the other side of the table, where she was fiddling with her status screen and bracer. Kera meanwhile had climbed onto her bed, sitting and playing a bit with Ceri, who kept trying to crawl up into and hide in her sleeves.
¡°Not really,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Just that these have more than one trait, and I can¡¯t see one of them. I should have realized that could happen; my skill description sort of implied it. Guess I know what I¡¯m spending some skill points on.¡±
He opened his interface, and quickly dumped another two skill point into [Analyze Ingredient], one at a time. When it hit rank 5, he was greeted with a new message:
[Analyze Ingredient], Rank 5: Able to identify up to two traits by examining the item. Resistance to adverse effects from consuming raw ingredients increased by 25%.
Perfect. That extra bit is nice as well, not that I really need it.
¡°Bingo,¡± he said out loud to Lumi. ¡°Ranking it up to 5 unlocked some new features.¡±
He looked back to the flame sacs. ¡°Analyze Item¡±
This time he registered a second trait, which turned out to be a second source of the trait ¡®Volatile¡¯, which he¡¯d already had from the Mellax fern that he¡¯d obtained a few days ago.
He¡¯d already put points into [Brew Potion] earlier, so he put two points into [Basic Artifice], to bring it up to the same point, though he didn¡¯t get any obvious increase in ability there, just a reduction in cost. For good measure, he put two points into [Analyze Item] and [Analyze Spell] as well.
[Analyze Item], Rank 3 - Able to determine the basic abilities and effects of common items. Small chance to identify the effects of rare items. Synergy Effect: Due to possessing Analyze Ingredient, also identifies potential alchemical traits. Synergy Effect: Due to possessing Disenchant and Engrave, you have a small chance of learning common runes when analyzing enchanted items.
[Analyze Spell], Rank 3 - Able to determine the effects of common and rare low-rank spells. Synergy effect: Due to possessing Engrave, you have a low chance of successfully learning associated runes.
Well now that¡¯s useful. Interesting too, that I got synergy effects due to skills from the same class. Then again, I suppose merchants might be likely to be able to analyze items, but not have the ability to enchant things, so it sort of makes sense.
Jason leaned back in his chair, thinking for a few minutes while Lumi and Kera opened their own interfaces. All three of them had decided to just share their status screen portions with the party in general, and seeing him spend his points prompted the others to do so as well. Lumi spent her large number of skill points liberally, bringing most of her skills up to rank three, including her as yet unused Shield Use and Shield Bash skills. She also distributed her stat points evenly between Spirit and Might, and selected a new [Spell Shape], Geyser.
Kera meanwhile spent her points on pure magic abilities, raising [Mimicry], [Monster Magic], and [Basic Spellcasting] to Rank 3, and put her stats into Endurance and Intellect.
Belatedly, Jason remembered to spend his own stat points, though he decided to keep his remaining two skill points on standby. He was holding out in case he needed to pick up some additional skill, despite what Therissa had advised. He placed all four of his points into Intellect, hoping it might influence his crafting abilities. Besides, he at least had an interesting project in mind now, thanks to Kera, plus he still wanted to experiment with his item crafting skills.
¡°Hey,¡± he asked. ¡°would either of you object if I ran back down to the marketplace? I had a sudden idea I¡¯d like to test out, something that you mentioned before, Lumi. I want to see if it works in conjunction with my imbuing and dilution abilities. Something in the back of my head is telling me that it should work.¡±
¡°Oh? What do you have in mind?¡± Lumi asked.
Kera meanwhile just gave a wave of affirmation without looking up towards him, distracted by Ceri¡¯s antics as she played a game of fetch with the drake.
¡°It¡¯s a surprise,¡± Jason said with a grin, ¡°But I think you¡¯ll love it.¡±
Lumi rolled her eyes at him.
¡°Go, go.¡± She said with a shooing motion. ¡°I¡¯ll find something occupy myself with.¡±
Jason nodded, and made his exit. The walk wasn¡¯t too far, and as he arrived at the marketplace he decided he might as well stop by the Lodge and ask Therissa about storing perishables or living things in the Vault.
¡°Please don¡¯t.¡± was the response.
¡°It¡¯s not that you can¡¯t,¡± Therissa explained, ¡°it¡¯s more that it¡¯s very frowned on. It¡¯s just an absolute mess when you die and we have to go and empty it out. Guild policy requires us to do that ever since...¡±If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
She paused.
¡°Well, the exact explanation is beyond my understanding, but the Vault is a real place you know? It¡¯s just shifted slightly outside normal space somehow. And while it does have preservation effects, it¡¯s not a true stasis spell.
¡°Anyway, this one time, someone set up a Vault and stored huge amounts of grain in it. I guess it was some scheme to get rich when there was a food shortage, but the guy died before he could sell it, and it just sat there rotting ever so slowly for nearly fifty years. Eventually, the branch that had issued it started to reek of rot, because there¡¯s some kind of connection to the device used to register the card, and the smell started seeping out. They had to call in a whole bunch of specialists just to figure out what had happened, and when they opened it...¡±
¡°Gross,¡± Jason replied.
¡°Yeah, just a bit.¡±
¡°Ok, but what about such spaces in general?¡± He asked. ¡°Could you store something alive in there? Like I dunno, a plant pot with flowers?¡±
¡°It would depend on the space, I think,¡± Therissa replied. ¡°Theoretically yes, if it had all the right enchantments I guess. Air would be an issue, or light, but like I said, it¡¯s still a real space as far as I understand. It¡¯s just... pinched off or something so there¡¯s only one way in. In the case of the Vaults, you can¡¯t even get in physically without a huge amount of effort; magic has to do it. But it¡¯s still a real place.¡±
¡°What about putting stuff like that inside one another? Like what if I tried to put a bag of holding into my haversack, or the haversack into the Vault? Is that bad?¡±
¡°No? Why would you think so? It would be pretty weird if you couldn¡¯t.¡±
¡°No reason,¡± Jason said quickly. ¡°Just seems like the sort of thing that might tear a hole in the fabric of reality. I don¡¯t want to play around with stuff like that without knowing the risks, is all.¡±
Therissa eyed him suspiciously. ¡°Please don¡¯t go doing things like that.¡±
¡°No worries, just making sure. Thanks for the info, it¡¯s a big help.¡±
With his discussion with Therissa finished, he bid her goodbye, and went back out into the market.
It took him awhile to find what he was actually looking for, and his guidance in the matter came from an unexpected source: a group of children dashing around playing with a pair of cup-and-ball toys. After bribing them with a copper piece each to tell him where they¡¯d gotten it, he found himself outside a toymaker¡¯s stall.
Jason introduced himself, and asked the man if he could purchase a dozen and a half of the toys, explaining that what he really wanted was some balls of hardened clay. Something you could throw, and breakable, but not too fragile. The man thought he was crazy, but he still agreed to sell Jason just the clay balls for a pair of silver pieces; the man simply severed the knot on the string with a shrug, saying he could always make new spheres for them.
And for Jason as well, if he decided he wanted more; the toyamker wasn''t above making money, even if he didn''t understand why Jason would want something like that. That suited Jason just fine though, assuming his experiment turned out well, and he told the man he''d come back if he needed more.
After making his purchase, on a whim Jason asked the man if he could direct him to an apothecary or local herbalist, on the offchance he could get some additional ingredients. Surprisingly, the man indicated one of the buildings surrounding the market square; apparently such careers were fairly common in larger towns, and lucrative as well. Jason hadn¡¯t expected this to be case, given the general lack of people having heard of his class, but he supposed that maybe that just made non-magical remedies even more important.
As soon as he stepped inside, he knew his wallet was going to regret this decision. Not that he couldn¡¯t almost literally just make more money.
The place was absolutely festooned with hanging pots, grow beds, and clotheslines thriving with living plants. Numerous shelves, filled with all manner of powdered substances, lined the walls, and the strong scent of herbs was almost like a slap in the face.
Jason stood there in the door staring for a moment at all the greenery. A blue butterfly flew past his face, and he realized there were a several of them flitting about the shop, which was well-lit via a series of glass skylights. In fact, there were quite a number of brightly colored insects zooming about, such as dragonflies and iridescent beetles. Something that looked like a miniature beehive stood on a table as well, surrounded by brightly colored flowers.
He heard a melodious voice call out to him. ¡°Close the door please, they¡¯ll get out.¡±
Brought back to reality, he noticed the similar warning sign placed by the door, mumbled an apology, and pulled the door closed behind him. He looked for the source of the voice, and it took him a moment to locate the front counter amidst all the living clutter.
Jason stared at the proprietress as he caught sight of her. Idly it occurred to him he¡¯d been doing a lot of that lately.
He¡¯d never seen anyone with small pointed ears, green skin, and flowers growing in her hair. His initial thought was she might be a dryad or some kind, but then he remembered they were usually associated with trees, and hated cities, so why would of a dryad submit to working a job inside a wooden building?
Is that racist, to just jump to the conclusion that someone with green skin is a dryad? He wondered. I don¡¯t want to be fantasy racist. Or speciesist. Whatever.
The woman smirked at him staring, and gave him a knowing wink.
¡°Like what you see?" she asked playfully, placing a hand on her hip. "I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve never seen a Mana-Touched before,¡±
She was short, even shorter than Kera, and quite attractive, though not supernaturally so. She didn¡¯t have that ultra-curvy goddess-look dryads were often depicted as having, but instead was of a normal, healthy build and possessed a rounded, lovely face that bordered on cute thanks to her height. Her hair was a plain brown, but appeared to have small interwoven branches with blooming flowers as well. A few green vines trailed across her very green skin, and she had short, lightly pointed ears that peeked out of her hair.
Give her a pair of butterfly wings, and she¡¯d look just like some kind of moderately pretty, overly-large fairy, Jason thought.
¡°Um, yes,¡± Jason said.
The woman grinned wider, and Jason realized his blunder. He stumbled over his own tongue.
¡°I mean, no, that is, yes, you¡¯re...¡±
¡°Do go on.¡±
Jason could feel his face heating up, and clamped his mouth shut.
He took a breath and cleared his throat a little. The woman just looked at him, amused.
He tried again.
¡°Mana-touched?¡± he asked.
¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m one of those rare individuals who have had the dubious honor of being born in a region of extreme mana concentration. In my case, Life-aspected mana. It¡¯s why I look like I do.¡±
She picked up a small plant pot, packed with earth. She nudged a bit of dirt aside with one finger, and then pulled a handful of seeds from the pocket of her dress.
¡°So, what can I do you for? You seem a bit young for the usual pain remedies, and you don¡¯t seem ill, or injured. Looking for a little something to enhance your love life, maybe?¡±
Jason felt his face heat a bit more at her no doubt deliberate phrasing. She was giving him a rather appraising look as she planted the seeds in the pot with one hand.
¡°I, uh, no. No, I don¡¯t need anything like that.¡±
¡°Too bad. What can I help you with, then?¡±
She looked away from him to the plant pot as she asked. She held it up to her face, and blew gently across the surface, a gently green mist puffing away from her lips. Jason could see small sprouts now peeking up out of the soil as she placed the pot back down on the counter.
¡°I uh, was looking to buy an assortment of different things for a project I¡¯m working on. Thing is, I¡¯m not sure what I¡¯ll need. But I have a few ranks in Herbalism, and I¡¯ve got this skill that lets me, uh identify what stuff might be useful for me. I was wondering if you wouldn¡¯t mind maybe giving me a tour around the shop, tell me about various common uses, and let me examine some of your wares with my Analyze skill. After I have an idea of what I could use, I¡¯ll probably buy a little bit of quite a few things.¡±
¡°I¡¯d be willing to pay for your time, of course,¡± he finished.
After a few minutes of haggling over price and an admonishment not to touch things without asking, the woman, whose parents had unimaginatively named her Flora, agreed to guide Jason around her shop. She began by pointing out various common flowers and herbs and explaining their general use in her work.
While she gave him the tour, Jason also asked her about the spell she¡¯d used to make the seeds sprout. He explained about his packet of [Rare Seeds], and Kera¡¯s suggestions about magic fertilizer and that he enchant something to raise the plants in.
Flora seemed somewhat intrigued by the idea. She didn¡¯t have any idea if Magic Fertilizer could be a thing, but she was able to show him some plants that when composted, made some of the best mundane fertilizer you could buy. Seeing as one of them had an appropriate alchemy trait, Jason immediately added them to his rapidly growing list of purchases.
Since Flora appeared to be a magic user as well, Jason asked her a little about using magic to enhance the growth of living things. After another bit of discussion and bargaining, Jason got the woman to agree to try and teach Lumi and Kera some Life-magic related spells in exchange for a hefty fee and some enchanted pots, should he manage to create some. While he still need to learn some appropriate runes, between Flora¡¯s description of what such an enchantment would likely need and Jason¡¯s own Herbalism skill, even low-tier as it was, he was confident that he should be able to come up with something.
With that in mind, he bought several smaller pots and a bag of enriched soil along with several samples of a good dozen different plants and powders. Among these was some additional Mellax, and some kind of powder made from insect shells that provided more of the Restore trait, which was always useful to have. Seeing as he had more than six dozen strawberries left to make healing potions with, and only a handful of mushrooms, Jason bought a great deal of the powder. Several pounds¡¯ worth translated to nearly fifty units of ¡®Restore¡¯.
He¡¯d probably get a lecture from Therissa about how much money he was throwing around, but he was confident he could make it up to her.
Level Gained: Alchemist Level 7. Skill Point Gained. Discovery Rank Increased: You may choose a new discovery.
Level Gained: Artificer 4. Skill Point Gained. Stat Point Gained
Jason partly ignored his notifications while he loaded up his purchases into his bag, which still seemed to have a frightening amount of space available. He¡¯d select his new discovery later.
After thanking Flora for her time and leaving the shop, Jason headed back over to Fanciful Finery, where he planned to buy a few thin iron rods suitable for wands. He¡¯d forgotten to ask about them when the and Lumi picked up various non-clothing supplies. He also wanted to ask Jerrik about something a little more unusual.
¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have any books on runes, or runic language, or enchanting, would you, Jerrik?¡±
The older man rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ¡°I might do, yes. I certainly have a few proper skill books hidden away in my Vault storage back at the Lodge. That¡¯s where Nissette and I keep our more valuable stock, you understand.¡±
¡°That... actually makes a lot of sense, really. No chance of someone breaking in and stealing something that way, yeah?¡±
¡°Exactly. I¡¯m not sure what all I¡¯ve got offhand, but I reckon I could take a look. Sounds to me like you¡¯re interested in earning a skill, yes? Good move. Always cheaper that way.¡±
¡°Why is that, anyway? The cheaper thing, I mean?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Well it¡¯s just plain common sense, there,¡± Jerrik replies. ¡°The Voice rewards us for doing, see? The whole shebang revolves around it. Only seems natural that it would cost less for something you¡¯ve earned, than to ask the Voice to just plonk the knowledge right down into your head, no questions asked.¡±
¡°I see. That does make sense.¡±
¡°Anyhow,¡± Jason continued. ¡°I¡¯m hoping for something that will help me with enchanting. Namely, I need to learn some basic runes, as Artificer hasn¡¯t provided any.¡±
¡°What, you earned an rare enchanting class without learning runes? How¡¯d you manage that?¡±
¡°It¡¯s kind of a long story. Short answer is through my other class, which has some stuff that works like enchantments.¡±
¡°Ah, I see.¡± Jerrik nodded sagely. ¡°That¡¯s not unlike the wife¡¯s [Designer] and [Artisan] classes. A lot of overlap, there. Makes for plenty of synergies. Good choice you made there, then.¡±
Jerrik rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
¡°Basic runes, eh?¡± he asked. ¡°What about something even better along with it? I think I might have something to help you out there. Got some advanced skill books left behind by a mage friend of mine who moved on from adventuring years ago. Might have what you¡¯re looking for. If not, I can put a request in to the Association. Either way, it won¡¯t come cheap.
Tell you what, though. I¡¯ve run out of something for my armor crafting. You and your friends bring me back a good quantity of [Radiant Iron Ore] while you¡¯re out in the Wastes looking for that chitin, and I¡¯ll cut you a good deal. I should be able to get what you¡¯re looking for by the time you get back.¡±
You have received a new personal quest: Fullfill Jerrik¡¯s materials request. Reward: One or more advanced-tier skill books related to enchanting. Bonus Reward: +2 Intellect, +20 Mana.
Jason blinked. A fetch quest? Really?
¡°The ore should be easy enough to find,¡± Jerrik explained. ¡°The beetles do something that cause it to accumulate in their nests. Find those, and you shouldn¡¯t have any issues finding enough ore."
¡°Uh, yeah, sure, absolutely.¡±
¡°Alright then, it¡¯s a deal," Jerrik said. "I¡¯ll see you in a few days then.¡±
Jason thanked him, paid for the rods, and returned to the Inn. Along the way, he gathered a few small cobblestones that had come loose from the street, simply electing to put them in his pockets rather than stop and load them into his bag or pouches.
When he reached the inn, he received a nasty surprise.
Jason opened the door to his room, only to see that coiled up on his bed was a giant, gleaming serpent the size of an anaconda. It was made of some kind of crystal, with the veins and organs of the creature visible as pulsing, brightly colored patterns just beneath its crystallized scales. The snake reared up and hissed at him as he opened the door, revealing long, sharp fangs.
He screamed and flung himself backwards away from the creature, panicked.
Then he heard Lumi laughing up a storm from around the corner, and noticed Ceri sleeping in a heap amidst the giant snake¡¯s coils, completely unconcerned.
¡°Very funny.¡± He said, glaring at the snake.
¡°It was,¡± the snake managed to hiss out in a distorted imitation of Kera¡¯s voice. All of her sibilants were drawn out in a hiss as she attempted to speak, no doubt by some magical means.
¡°You should have seen your face,¡± she said.
¡°I¡¯m so gonna have nightmares tonight. Is this what you and Lumi have been up to?¡±
¡°Yep. Turns out this belt¡¯s pretty useful. I can feel sounds from all around me. It¡¯s...¡±
If a huge snake could look thoughtful, Kera did. Then she swayed back and forth in an attempt to shake her head.
¡°I don¡¯t think I can describe it. We really don¡¯t have a good frame of reference. But I was able to hear you coming all the way from the market, once I figured out how to pick out and identify individual people. It took some work; everything is so loud. It... itches, I guess? Earned me an expensive, unique skill, though, thanks to [Mimicry] and my class. I¡¯m very tempted to go ahead drink my potion so I can learn it.¡±
¡°That¡¯s pretty cool,¡± Jason said, recovering. Lumi was still shaking with laughter. He gave her a half-hearted glare too, just for good measure, as he set his pack down on the table.
¡°What kind of snake are you, anyway? You can¡¯t tell me that¡¯s a normal species. I can see your guts and everything.¡±
¡°It is just your standard giant snake, but with bits added. The belt lets me use a ¡®dungeon template¡¯ remember? They¡¯re like monster themes, basically. Take a typical monster, an add some standardized traits and abilities to it, and bam, you¡¯ve got a variant. This one¡¯s ¡®Crystalline¡¯. I thought it would be appropriate if we¡¯re going somewhere called the Crystal Wastes. Good thing I did too, since now we know that stuff out there will probably hear us coming from miles off.¡±
Jason began pulling out his purchases, littering them all over the table. Leska had apparently come by and cleared away all the dishes.
Lumi scooped up Kera¡¯s books and potion and placed them on the other bed so Jason had some room.
¡°So, what¡¯s all this, then?¡± she asked.
¡°Alchemy supplies,¡± he explained cheerfully. "Met a nice woman named Flora, who¡¯s an apothecary. She¡¯s agreed to try and teach you two some spells that might be useful to me, if you¡¯re willing to and able to learn them. Also Jerrik¡¯s offered to cut me a deal on some enchanting stuff, if we bring him a little bit extra when we go get his prism chitin or whatever it was.¡±
Ceri gave a squawk of protest, waking up as Kera laboriously uncoiled from her position and slithered down onto the floor and over to the table. Her overall length and girth was by far greater than that of a real anaconda; she was so large she had filled most of the bed. It seemed like it was a bit of a struggle for her to move.
Being made of something similar to crystal, she must¡¯ve weighed an absolute ton. Jason was surprised the bed hadn¡¯t collapsed under the weight.
Kera managed to carefully rear upwards, placing her head down on the table so she could see.
¡°I¡¯ve got a whole new array of traits to try combining,¡± Jason said, as he began pulling every alchemy ingredient he had out of the pack, placing them into various groupings. ¡°It¡¯s high time I made myself something to use as a weapon, too.¡±
¡°Now that I¡¯ve got the means of storing things,¡± he said, gesturing to his belts, ¡°I¡¯ve got all sorts of stuff I want to try out. Maybe you can help me with some ideas, too.¡±
Jason shared his list of discovered traits with the girls, and then pulled on the rope that would send Leska a notification that she was needed. ¡°Might want to hide in the other room for a second if you want to stay a snake, Kera. I need to ask for a bucket, for water.¡±
¡°Aww, I want to see what she¡¯d do.¡±
Lumi laughed. ¡°Maybe best not to terrorize the owner¡¯s daughter, Kera.¡±
¡°Bah,¡± she complained.
One bucket filled with water later, Jason was ready to begin.
Chapter 13
¡°Artifice,¡± Jason commanded several times, materializing a pair of shallow basins plus a mortar and pestle on the table in front of him. He¡¯d already laid out his lighter, knife, and the set of small tools he¡¯d bought from Jerrik earlier in the day. He set aside one of the basins on the floor.
Jason began with the things he knew would work. Using up half his remaining mushrooms, he mixed them with the strawberries and the insect powder, for two Restore traits and one Health. This resulted six ordinary, non-least health potion which would heal moderate injuries in a manner of seconds, but had to be drank with a wait time of about a half hour between uses.
He found it interesting that the least-tier potions were almost better, in that you could just keep on drinking them until you managed to heal yourself completely. Even if it took longer and they couldn¡¯t restore lost limbs or other such grievous wounds, it still seemed like a pretty good trade off to him.
With that in mind, he then made a batch of a dozen and a half [Least Healing Potions] by combining the remaining mushrooms in a similar batch, but this time diluted them down. His skill told him instinctively when he¡¯d added enough extra liquid into the basin, which at least for the healing potions was enough to get back three times as many.
That was the last of the mushrooms, which he would have to try and remember to gather more of when they headed out to the Wastes, whenever that ended up happening. He separated out two standard and three minor potions each for Lumi and Kera.
Then he asked Lumi to conjure some extra water so he could rinse out his mixing basin, and poured the runoff into the second one. He then picked up one of the clay balls he¡¯d purchased.
¡°What¡¯s that for?¡± Kera asked. She¡¯d managed to slither her way up onto a chair, and was now draped partially across it, the rest of her body piled on the chair and across the floor. Her head bobbed up and down as she twisted around to watch Jason.
¡°Hang one, one second,¡± Jason said, as he realized he¡¯d had a notification pop up while he was working.
[False Life, Lesser] - By engraving the correct sequence of runes on non-living matter and imbuing it with mana, you can bring a semblance of life to one of your creations, allowing it to move about on its own, subject to your commands. Able to animate a single, relatively simple creation that moves without precision. Abilities and statistics of your creation depend on the crafting skills used to create it.
New Runes have been added to [Engrave]: Capacity, Absorption, Controller, Motive, Continuous, False Life
¡°Uh. Ok, wow. I did not expect something like this so early,¡± Jason said, stunned.
¡°I can make golems now, I think,¡± he said. ¡°Or like, homunculi, I guess.¡±
He shared the notification with the girls so they could see.
¡°Cooooool,¡± Kera said. ¡°You have to make me an army of magic robot minions eventually, ok?¡±
Jason laughed. ¡°That might be a bit out of my league just at the moment, seeing as I can only do one at a time currently. An army would probably require a ridiculous number of skill points.¡±
¡°You... just drank a potion that gave you some,¡± Lumi said slowly. ¡°Potions are a thing you make.¡±
They all looked at one another.
A few minutes passed, while they considered the implications.
¡°That... sounds like the sort of thing that could really get me in trouble with the Archive,¡± Jason said eventually.
¡°I for one welcome our new golem overlords!¡± Kera declared cheerfully, bobbing up and down.
Lumi bonked Kera on her snake-head very lightly with a fist. ¡°Stop memeing, you goof. This is serious.¡±
¡°Sorry.¡±
Jason cleared his throat. ¡°It¡¯s uh... kind of a scary thought, actually. Learning how to make something like that could be exceptionally dangerous. A true system exploit.¡±
He cocked his head to the side. ¡°Not that I wouldn¡¯t consider using it to give myself free skill points. But that seems like the sort of thing we¡¯d absolutely need to keep to ourselves. In fact, I¡¯m thinking maybe we don¡¯t let on about that possibility at all, yeah? Not even to Therissa.¡±
Lumi nodded. ¡°Definitely not til we¡¯re stronger.¡±
¡°Fiiiine, no robot army then.¡±
¡°Golems aren¡¯t robots, you know,¡± Jason said. ¡°They aren¡¯t even magic ones. That¡¯d be more like.. clockwork soldiers or something. Steampunk-ey stuff with a magic flair, maybe. Golems aren¡¯t even usually made out of metal, except maybe iron ones.¡±
Lumi peered at his still-visible screen. ¡°Looking at your skill, I think Undead might fit in here too. It doesn¡¯t specifically say golem. I bet if you used it on like, a bunch of bones you¡¯d just end up animating a skeleton.¡±
¡°Ew.¡± Kera said. She attempted to scrunch up her face, and her disgusted expression looked extremely comical as a snake.¡°Please don¡¯t make undeads. That¡¯s gross.¡±
¡°Undead is both plural and singular, like sheep,¡± Jason replied pedantically.
Ignoring him, Kera raised a rather interesting question. ¡°Hey, you finally learned a rune, right? We already know that enchantments are made by uh, locking mana inside runes to create permanent magical effects. And we know that potions are made differently, because you can¡¯t very well inscribe a rune on a liquid.
¡°But you have that infusion skill thingy right?¡± She continued. ¡°Instead of putting the rune on the potion, could you infuse a rune with a potion instead of putting mana into it?¡±
Jason blinked. ¡°I, uh. I don¡¯t know. That¡¯s actually a really good question.¡±
¡°You¡¯re experimenting today, right?¡± Kera asked. ¡°Let¡¯s find out!¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know any other runes though,¡± Jason replied. ¡°That¡¯s what I went to ask Jerrik about; he¡¯s going to try and get me some books on them.¡±
¡°Unless you want to just sit around and cast spells while I [Analyze] them, that is, and hope I learn something I could use. [False Life] seems like it¡¯d need some better stuff to try it out on.¡±
¡°Why not?¡± said Lumi. ¡°We¡¯ve got a bunch of new spells we haven¡¯t used. We could like go just outside the gates and let some off while you do your thing, and see if you can get anything useful. I mean heck, I¡¯ve got uh....¡±
She trailed off for a moment, thinking.
¡°...twenty different spells just from spell shaping,¡± she said. ¡°And Kera got a bunch of new stuff too. Plus you said that Flora woman might be willing to teach us. Maybe she¡¯d be willing to come do it today?¡±
¡°Well if you two are all for it,¡± Jason said, ¡°that¡¯s good enough for me. Tell you what, why don¡¯t one of you go ask Leska to send a message down to Flora, or maybe go yourself and ask, while I finish up with the handful of things I really want to try out?¡±
¡°Not as a snake,¡± he added with a pointed look in Kera¡¯s direction.
¡°Aww. Fine, Lumi can go. I¡¯ll change back when we go out. It¡¯s fun being so different.¡±
Lumi rolled her eyes at Kera. ¡°I still say enjoying being a snake is weird. But each to their own.¡±
She stood up form the table. ¡°I¡¯ll go speak with Leska, see if she¡¯s willing to go play messenger. I want to see what Jason comes up with.¡±
She exited, and Jason examined one of the clay balls again. Kera stretched upwards as high as she could balance to get a better look.
Having already cleaned out the mixing basin, he put down the clay ball and took some Mellax, a salamander tail, and one of the flame sacs and placed them in front of him. He paused, unsure at first how one actually mashed the oddly preserved body parts of a mythical creature.
His skill presented the answer: you didn¡¯t. First you had to chop it finely, then tenderize it, ending up with something like ground meat. Then you mixed in the other stuff and heated it up in water to leech out the properties, not unlike making soup stock. Fortunately, it seemed like his [Cooking] skill would help speed up the process instead of needing to take all day.
He should have realized this process was going to be kind of involved. Good quality item creation always was in games: either there were a lot of steps, you had to grind for the materials needed, or it was just really time consuming. Sometimes all three.
Well. He was committed, now, might as well get it over with.
He had to wait for Lumi to return to provide a better heat source than his lighter, but after a good ten minutes, he¡¯d successfully mixed two ¡®volatile¡¯ and one ¡®fire¡¯.
He then diluted the mixture with additional water, stopping when he knew that he had enough for an additional potion, were he planning to bottle it.
That was not his intention. Instead, he immersed two of the clay balls in the liquid.
¡°Infusion,¡± he commanded, holding both hands over the basin. The mixture swirled, and then began to drain away along with his remaining mana, absorbed into the clay balls. As it drained, the texture and color of the balls changed, until they looked more like chunks of blackened volcanic rock with orange streaks running through them.
¡°Analyze Item.¡±
[Salamander Stone] - An unstable ball of clay infused with fire mana. Explodes in a small burst of intense flames upon impact when thrown against a hard surface.
He shared the results with the girls.
Lumi clapped her hands excitedly.
¡°Ha! You took my advice and made grenades!¡± She said, doing a little jig.
¡°I¡¯ll test them while we¡¯re out later, and make some more if they¡¯re worthwhile. I don¡¯t doubt they will be, though.¡±
After rinsing out the basin again, watching for any kind of reaction from the leftovers of the two brews, he prepared a second batch of grenades - but this time he mixed ¡®Volatile¡¯, ¡®Restore¡¯, and ¡®Health¡¯.
¡°A healing grenade?¡± Kera asked, peering at the single one he¡¯d made. This one looked like a plain grey stone with glowing green cracks running through it.
¡°Yep,¡± he said. ¡°In case of fireballs.¡±
¡°Or, well... dropped bombs,¡± he said with a wince.
He realized he had another notification. He brought it up.
Level Gained: Artificer 6. Skill Point acquired. Stat Point acquired.
¡°Another level?!¡± Lumi exclaimed. How many is that today?¡±
¡°Three?¡± He said, scratching his head. He brought up his point totals, and did some math.
¡°Weird. It looks like making potions is giving me equal XP for both Artificer and Alchemist.¡±
¡°Wait, but didn¡¯t what we got from the dungeon get split unevenly between primary and secondary?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°Yeah, definitely. I guess that¡¯s only applicable to quest rewards and kills maybe? Not skill use? I leveled pretty fast that night I first met you, for that matter. It looks like I¡¯m getting maybe a hundred XP per potion, if I¡¯ve got my numbers right.¡±
¡°You¡¯re almost higher level than I am now. And you complain I¡¯m OP,¡± she grumbled.
Jason grinned at her. ¡°And I¡¯m only getting started.¡±
He picked up one of the least healing potions he¡¯d made earlier.
¡°Let¡¯s see if this works...Disenchant!¡±
A spark passed through the liquid in the vial, which evaporated, leaving behind a small single-unit pile of arcane powder.
¡°Bro-ken!¡± drawled Lumi slowly. She¡¯d sat back down and was now sprawling backwards in her chair, one arm thrown over the back.
He examined the vial with [Analyze Item], and was somewhat surprised to learn the trait ¡®Enchanted¡¯.
Curious, he mixed the powder with a single unit of ¡®Might¡¯, and was rewarded with a basic [Least Potion of Strength], which temporarily boosted the drinker¡¯s Might by four points, for a short time.
He passed it to Lumi to add to her pile.
¡°Stop complaining, it¡¯s not like this doesn¡¯t benefit you too,¡± he admonished.
Then he began combining other pairs of ingredients, rinsing out the basin each time, sometimes including on object for infusion.
¡®Perceive¡¯ and ¡®Night¡¯ resulted in something that allowed the drinker to see in the dark for an extended period. ¡®Produce Breath¡¯, when infused into one of the stones he picked up, resulted in a small pebble you could hold in your mouth and use to breathe underwater for an hour. He made two of those.
¡®Apply Fire¡¯, made with one of the bits of salamander hide and an particularly oily plant resulted in a substance that could be poured onto a weapon in order to give it a temporary fire effect. Two ¡®Restore¡¯ and a ¡®Calm¡¯, when diluted, created something the system dubbed a [Serenity Tonic].
Kera, who¡¯s finally gotten bored of being a crystalline snake and changed back to her normal self, immediately told him he should mix in some extra herbs for flavor and call it ¡®Sereni-tea.¡¯
Ignoring her terrible joke, he continued to experiment with different combinations, ¡®Inflict Sticky¡¯ produced a small bag of long, gooey filaments that worked like a glue-bomb. He wasn¡¯t sure in the slightest why the clay ball had changed into a bag, but he wasn¡¯t going to argue. He made three of them, figuring they would be useful for catching things or simply fouling the movements of larger monsters.
By that time, Jason was nearly completely out of mana. So his next potion was an obvious one, simply mixing ¡®Restore¡¯ and ¡®Mana¡¯ for a [Least Mana Potion]. It only restored 100 mana over about five minutes, but it was a far cry better than having to wait a few hours for his natural mana regeneration to refill things. He drank it, made a second one after it did its job, drank that one too, and then made a good dozen more of them. He passed the mana potions out equally.
Jason checked his XP level again just as Leska came into the room, bearing a reply from Flora, who agreed to meet them outside the gates in about two hours, after she¡¯d closed up for the day. He glanced out the window, and realized he¡¯d used up the whole afternoon between his trip to the market and making potion after potion. It was nearly time to eat again. He was starving.
No wonder Kera was getting a bit bored. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be willing to just sit there and watch someone work for hours on end.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Checking his XP levels again, Jason did some vague math. He¡¯d been trying to keep track in his head, and thought he might have a vague idea of how much XP per level he needed. It probably wasn¡¯t exact, but he thought he was relatively close to increasing both Alchemist and Artificer both.
Well, he still had two more potions to try, plus he still had a wand to try making. Well, one wand, one potion and one pile of magic dirt.
Jason made the wand first, because not only would it be a useful test, he hoped he might be able to sell it. He¡¯d noticed that Kera¡¯s staff didn¡¯t have any kind of runic enchantment, and yet it was still a [Staff of Focusing], capable of a simple channeling effect that produced a bolt of pure mana. His hope was that not all wands or staves had visible runes, so he might be able to pass off a wand as a dungeon drop with no questions asked. He¡¯d ask Therissa later.
Creating a batch of a dozen more [Least Healing Potion], he infused them into one of iron rods he¡¯d bought. The process was relatively simply, resulting in a [Least Wand of Healing] that could be used twelve times before burning out.
Next, Jason opened the bag of enriched soil he had purchased from Flora. He poured a fairly large handful of dirt into the basin, and began mixing in the traits for ¡®Hasten Growth¡¯, but then on a whim changed his mind slightly. He picked up one of his spare least-heals, [Disenchanted] it for some powder, and then poured the powder in with the rest.
¡°Infusion.¡± As he¡¯d hoped, his skill activated successfully, and the dirt absorbed the liquid, changing to a pale blue color that was flecked here and there with a silver sparkling.
He checked the result.
¡°There we go, Kera,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°There¡¯s your [Magic Fertilizer]. Step one in conquering the world with magic greenhouses, complete!¡±
¡°Yesssss!¡± She exclaimed. ¡°See I told you you could figure it out.¡±
¡°Flora helped,¡± he admitted. ¡°She¡¯s the one who showed me what people sometimes make real fertilizer with.¡±
¡°Give yourself some more credit. I mean, look at all this stuff,¡± she said, gesturing around the table, which was now filled with an assortment of various consumables.
Jason went ahead and made a good half dozen piles of the fertilizer, after making a few more health potions to disenchant. He left the rest of the dirt alone, so he would have something to actually plant his seeds in later. Already he was planning to buy some more supplies from Flora; Therissa was going to have an aneurism when she saw all the stuff he¡¯d made.
He hoped that the wands would work out as something he could sell. He didn¡¯t want to flood the market with overly expensive potions; that might draw attention he didn¡¯t need.
Heck, maybe the fertilizer itself would be sellable. He decided to offer a bag to Flora, to see how she responded. He could always pass it off as some combination of [Artificer] and [Herbalism].
Finally, it was time to address the dungeon core. Jason had absolutely no intention of reviving such a dangerous thing, and he didn¡¯t have any clue as to what he might be able to use it for otherwise, besides grinding it into potion ingredient. He mused on the idea of maybe saving it to build a golem with, perhaps using it to power a really badass one, but he felt that might be veering off a little far into the ¡®mad wizardry¡¯ side of things. He¡¯d have to learn more before he was willing to attempt such a feat.
So instead, Jason decided on combining the core¡¯s trait, ¡®Transmute¡¯, with another of his currently untested ingredients: the Wisteria blossoms, which had the trait, ¡®Self¡¯. With any luck, he¡¯d end up with a polymorphing effect, maybe something that would allow him to make a better version of Kera¡¯s belt.
It took some work to shatter the crystal into fragments small enough he could grind them into powder; he had to get Lumi¡¯s assistance for it. Then, reminded by his skill that the core produced four units instead of one, Jason mixed four sets of blossoms in, for a quadruple batch. He hoped he¡¯d get something useful.
Just as he was about to infuse the mixture, Jason realized his skill was informing him that he needed an additional trait: Enchanted. Something about just the two traits wasn¡¯t good enough, as if a least-tier potion didn¡¯t supply enough mana for whatever the effect was.
Internally shrugging, and prompted by his skill, he disenchanted almost all the remaining [Least Healing Potion] in his personal pile, leaving him with only three remaining.
Jason then poured the eight units of powder into the mix, unclear why his skill was prompting him to use so much, but willing to follow through. He vaguely hoped this wasn¡¯t a terrible mistake that would result in reawakening the core. Then again, he¡¯d crushed it into a fine powder, and his skill probably knew what he was trying to do.
He hoped.
¡°Brew Potion, Infuse!¡±
With a dramatic flash of light that startled both girls, who¡¯d ceased paying much attention to him, a gout of silver flame erupted from the basin. Jason pulled back in a panic, and almost fell out of his chair as a wave of dizziness swept through him. He felt his mana levels drop to almost zero, and he broke out in a cold sweat. The silvery flame died down, and he stared into a basin filled with a deep black, silver-flecked sludge that looked almost like a starry night sky.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his screen begin to fill with a series of notifications.
Pushing them away for the moment, he began to pour the potion into four of the larger bottles, and stoppered them up.
¡°Well, uh, that was unexpected,¡± Lumi said from the edge of the bed, where she¡¯d been idly leafing through one of Kera¡¯s books.
¡°No kidding,¡± Jason replied. He picked up one of the bottles.
¡°Analyze Item.¡±
[Elixir of Rebirth] - A legendary potion that allows the imbiber to completely change every aspect of themselves, down to their basic nature. Refunds partial or all spent points of any kind as the user sees fit, allowing them to choose a different path in life. Permanent.
¡°Holy shit, guys. This is a full character respec potion.¡±
¡°What, really? Lumi stood up and walked over to the table. Kera joined him as well.
¡°Yeah, check it out.¡±
Jason shared just his Analyze results with the others.
¡°Whoa.¡± Lumi said, impressed. ¡°Is that like, actually legendary? Oh wow, it is. It¡¯s got an orange name and everything.¡±
Kera picked up one of the bottles, turning it over in her hands, examining it. The liquid sloshed around inside, causing the silver flecks within to shine a little brighter.
She read over the description, looking down at it with a strange expression.
¡°Rebirth, huh...¡± she murmured to herself.
¡°I¡¯m wondering if it might not be worth it for me to take one right now,¡± Jason said in response to Lumi¡¯s comment. ¡°I don¡¯t exactly need [Improvised Weapon Crafting] anymore. Same for [Basic Throwing] and possibly even [Tailoring]; while they helped us out a lot, I¡¯d rather spend the points on something else now that we¡¯ve made our way to a town. Not so sure I need [Survivalist] either, really. Might be worth seeing what refunding an advanced skill would be worth. I could use more points in harvesting, or put them towards engraving.¡±
¡°I dunno,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I feel like your survival skill is pretty important for when we¡¯re out in the field. But is it worth using a Legendary-tier potion just for what, three skill points?¡±
¡°I mean, I could always make more, right?¡± Jason replied. ¡°I know the recipe now, more or less.¡±
¡°Yeah, but how would we find another dungeon core? That seems like the sort of thing that would be pretty rare,¡± Lumi said.
¡°I mean, Therissa said that it takes whole armies to kill fully grown ones,¡± she said.
¡°I could always buy one, with the money we¡¯ll be able to make with my item crafting skills. It¡¯s not like money will ever be a problem. Unlike most enchanters, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ll ever have to worry about sources of arcane powder.¡±
¡°What do you think, Kera?¡± Jason turned to the other girl.
¡°Shou-¡° he cut off suddenly.
Kera was standing very still, idly turning the potion in her hands over and over. She eyebrows were drawn together in a pensive frown, and she had a far-away look in her eyes as she gazed off into the distance.
¡°Uh, Kera?¡± Jason asked.
¡°A different path...¡± she mumbled to herself. She didn¡¯t even seem to notice Jason¡¯s concern.
She jumped as Lumi gently laid a hand on her shoulder, startled out of her thoughts.
¡°Hey, you ok?¡± the other girl asked quietly.
¡°I-¡°
Tears welled up in Kera¡¯s eyes.
¡°N-No. Nope. I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s nothing,¡± she said, her voice thick. She put the bottle down, hard, onto the table.
Then she turned suddenly and ran into the other room, closing the door behind her. Jason heard thump, followed by a sniffle, from behind the door.
He and Lumi exchanged glances.
¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like nothing,¡± Jason said with concern. ¡°Should we...?¡±
Lumi hesitated.
¡°I¡¯m... not sure,¡± she said quietly. ¡°Maybe give her a moment, just in case that¡¯s all she wants? Then we check on her.¡±
Lumi glanced at the now-closed door. ¡°She... pretty clearly had something bad going on back home. That much was pretty obvious when we met her.
¡°We don¡¯t know how bad it might have been,¡± she continued. ¡°I¡¯ve...definitely been getting the vibe she doesn¡¯t want to go home. Like, at all. I don¡¯t know if this is just she needs to process, or maybe there¡¯s something else at work...¡±
Jason rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He was never any good at this stuff.
He saw Ceri uncurl from his position on the bed. The small drake gave a concerned mewl, and hopped down to the floor, crawling over to the door. He pawed at the door with one claw, making an unhappy sound.
¡°Ok, that decides it,¡± Jason said, looking at Ceri for a moment before turning to Lumi. ¡°She¡¯s definitely upset. Here, help me with something. I need some water, and your shield.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Artifice,¡± Jason commanded. A small teapot made of strange bluish material appeared in his hand. He pulled the lid off and held the pot out to Lumi.
¡°Water and heat, please.¡±
¡°Uhh, ok,¡± she said, confusion written across her face. She obliged anyway, first filling the teapot with water, then activating her flame shield and balancing the pot on top. It began to billow steam in a matter of seconds.
Jason pulled a small handful of herbs from the table.
¡°Believe it or not, Kera¡¯s pun earlier had some merit. A bunch of these are used in tea-making,¡± he explained.
He crumbled some of the dried herbs into the pot. It was very hot, despite having only been in contact with shield for a few moments. He shook one hand with a yelp as he nearly burned himself lifting it away and placing it on the table.
He then poured half of one of the [Serenity Tonics] into the pot, and swished it around for a few moments. The he inhaled the steam deeply.
Definitely the beginnings of tea, with a slight scent of bergamot and lemon. He wasn¡¯t sure where the lemon had come from, but he supposed it didn¡¯t matter. It would still need to steep for a few minutes though.
So he gestured Lumi towards the door. ¡°Might be better if you go first,¡± he said.
Lumi knocked once on the door briefly. Jason could hear Kera sniffling softly. The door wasn¡¯t particularly soundproof.
¡°Kera? I¡¯m coming in, ok?¡± Lumi called. ¡°I¡¯ve got Ceri here for you.¡±
She waited for a moment, then opened the door.
Ceri scrabbled his way across the floor, claws skidding, and then leapt onto the bed where Kera had bundled herself up into a corner.
Tears streaked the girls face, as she dejectedly stared at the wall, hugging a pillow to herself. When Ceri jumped up into her lap and started rubbing his face against hers, she let go of the pillow and hugged him instead.
She didn¡¯t meet Jason or Lumi¡¯s eyes.
Lumi sat down on the edge of the bed next to Kera, and put an arm around her shoulder. Jason quietly pulled one of the table chairs into the room, sitting himself down in the corner out of view. He tried to put the teapot down in his lap, and almost burned himself. Biting his tongue so he didn¡¯t cry out, he then quietly conjured a small platter to rest the teapot on while Lumi talked softly to Kera.
Lumi leaned Kera against her. ¡°Hey, it¡¯s aright. You don¡¯t have to hide. It¡¯s ok to be upset. We get it.¡±
Kera bit her lip, and a shudder ran through her. She sniffled again. Jason conjured a temporary handkerchief and passed it to Lumi, who handed it to Kera.
She blew her nose loudly with one hand, still holding Ceri with the other.
¡°You told us when we met that things had been... bad... in the past,¡± Lumi said carefully. ¡°Do you want to talk about it? It might help.¡±
Kera heaved a shuddering breath. ¡°I¡¯m...not used to having people to talk to.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything if you don¡¯t want,¡± Lumi said, giving the girl a small hug with one arm. ¡°That¡¯s OK too. We just want to make sure you¡¯ll be alright.¡±
¡°N-No,¡± Kera said with another miserable sniffle. ¡°I-I¡¯ll talk. I shouldn¡¯t bottle it up. I mean I''m just...I¡¯m not used to having someone to...¡±
She cut off suddenly, with a sort of half-hiccup.
¡°To.. talk to. N-not.. anymore,¡± she finished, eyes downcast.
¡°Then take your time,¡± Jason said. The tea wasn¡¯t quite ready yet, so he handed an empty cup to Lumi, who filled it with small amount of conjured water. She passed it to Kera.
Kera took a small sip. The she took a deep breath and visibly tried to steady herself.
¡°I... used to have this friend. Aeryn. Spelled with a ¡®y¡¯ and an ¡®a-e¡¯ because her parents thought it was exotic or something. I don¡¯t know. Anyway. I¡¯ve known her most of my life. We were... very close. Closer than we should have been as kids maybe. I don¡¯t know. Did everything together, shared everything, you know how it is.
¡°And I¡¯m sure you can guess where that led,¡± she said with a long, drawn out sigh. ¡°Over time, I fell in love with her. Some time in high school, I guess. I couldn¡¯t really say if I¡¯m into boys, or just girls, or really anything because I¡¯ve always had her, sitting right next to me. Didn¡¯t really ever notice anyone else, not really.
¡°Problem was... my parents were super strict, religious types. I wasn¡¯t allowed to do all sorts of things. So many rules, and... my parents believed in very harsh punishments if I broke them. Me dating Aeryn would never have flown with them. So I tried to hide it. Stayed in my own private emotional bubble, pretending we were going on dates when we¡¯d go out to the movies, always too afraid of my parents or that Aeryn might say no to consider asking her out in secret. Besides, Aeryn talked about boys all the time."
Kera held a hand to her mouth, and held back a sob for a moment.
¡°When it came time for college, I just... I couldn¡¯t leave her behind. I tried. I really tried. But in the end, I couldn¡¯t do it. So... I tried to convince her to come with me instead. I... I may have used the L-word. We fought, because she wasn¡¯t into girls after all. She said all these terrible things, wanted to know if I¡¯d been peeping on her or whatever at sleepovers, or had tried to take advantage, all sorts of horrible things. None of it was true, but she wouldn¡¯t believe me.
It got back to my parents, and they said awful things too. Pulled me out of school, almost disowned me. They hauled me to some religious bullshit thing for so-called ¡®therapy¡¯. They forced me to pick a different college near home where they could ¡®make sure I corrected my aberrant ways¡¯.
¡°And...and it got worse. Aeryn...I don¡¯t know what came over her. She turned...mean. She went out with this one guy, and started taunting me about it. I don¡¯t...it was awful. I didn¡¯t even know she had it in her to be like that. This one night, she snuck out to a bar with him, and started drinking and texting me pictures of the two of them with captions about how she was going to sleep with him like a real woman should, and...
¡°And... then she got hit by another car while they were driving drunk to go back to his place. She...¡±
Kera began to cry. ¡°She... died. My one and only, flawed as she apparently was, died while off on some stupid crusade to make fun of her ex-best friend who just couldn¡¯t bear to live without her and...¡±
She trailed off, unable to continue. Lumi hugged Kera to her, and Jason felt tears come to his own eyes. It sucked that things like this really happened, that people could be so awful to one another.
After a minute, Kera took another shuddering breath, and continued.
¡°I¡¯ve... had to live with that for two years now. My parents watch me like a hawk, and shout about nearly everything. I¡¯m constantly stressed out and my grades have plummeted. I miss my best and only friend. I...haven¡¯t made new friends, either. A few of the boys at college made a half hearted attempt to ask me out on dates my freshman year, and I guess I sort of thought they were ok, so maybe I could be into boys too, but I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to say yes. It hurt too much then. I didn¡¯t want to get involved. I just wanted to hide away from everyone and be left alone. After awhile they try stopped trying. Who wants to be friends with the girl who sits around moping all the time?¡°
Kera quietly down at her hands, tears running down her face.
Lumi just turned puttering her other arm around the girl¡¯s shoulder, and pulled her into a full hug without saying anything. Kera turned into her embrace, and cried quietly.
Jason felt awkward. He¡¯d really never been very good with people, particularly upset people. That didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t feel bad for Kera; he really did. He was just never sure what you should say to things like this. ¡®I¡¯m sorry you had to go through that¡¯ seemed so...insufficient. The idea of just mouthing empty reassurances always left a bad taste in his mouth.
Then of course not everyone responded the same anyhow. Some people didn¡¯t want empathy, others needed it, and some people just wanted to offload to a sympathetic ear who nonetheless would just listen without comment. Jason never could tell the difference.
Lumi seemed a lot better at this than he was. She just held Kera tightly without saying anything, hugging the girl as her quiet crying turned to heaving sobs.
At least there was one thing he could do though. It was a bit of a cheat in the sympathy department, he felt, but he could think of at least one time in his own lie where he would have been grateful for it.
The tea was ready.
Making a hand motion for Lumi to carry on, he took the empty cup from Kera¡¯s hand, banished it, and re-conjured a large mug. He poured a good half of the tea into it, which was still quite hot.
After a few minutes, Kera had ceased crying again, and was sitting up and apologizing to Lumi for getting tears all over her shirt.
Jason passed herthe mug, now filled with tea. ¡°Here,¡± he said softly. ¡°Try this. Should help you clear your head.¡±
Kera inhaled the steam deeply. ¡°This is...wow. Yeah. That smells great. Do I want to know what¡¯s in it?¡±
¡°Probably not,¡± Jason said sheepishly. ¡°It should taste just like tea though.¡±
She took another deep breath, then sipped noisily. She blinked once, hard, then gave a long, satisfied sigh as she suddenly leaned back into Lumi, the tension draining out of her posture.
¡°Uh. Wow. That¡¯s..." She blinked again. She breathed deep, and released a slow, shuddering breath as she relaxed. "It works fast. What is this?¡± She took another sip, and gave a sigh of contentment, her manner completely having done a one-eighty.
Curious, Jason conjured another mug and poured himself a small amount. It did smell good, that was for sure. He took a sip, and a strong, if pleasant, warmth washed through him and banished away a tension he hadn¡¯t even realized he¡¯d been under until it was gone.
¡°Holy crap, that¡¯s strong,¡± he commented, eyeing the teapot. ¡°I could¡¯ve made a fortune with this back home.¡±
"It was your idea, though," he said, smiling at Kera. "I made some ''Sereni-tea''."
Kera gave him a slight smile, and a tired giggle.
Lumi snagged Jason''s cup with her usual causal irreverence and took a sip of her own. Her eyes widened.
¡°Heck, I bet you could make a fortune here. That¡¯s some great stress relief.¡±
Kera tilted her head back, taking several gulps despite the heat. Then she lowered her mug, closing her eyes and leaning back into Lumi with a great sigh of satisfaction. She held the warm mug in her lap with both hands, and just sat there with Ceri sitting in her lap, still rubbing his head against her.
¡°So... you¡¯ve never dated anyone at all?¡± asked Lumi cautiously, trying to fill the silence.
¡°No.¡± Kera replied quietly, still leaning against the other girl. Her voice was steady now, if tired. ¡°Just... I¡¯d always had eyes for Aeryn alone, never really thought about being with anyone else, boys or girls. And then after that, it just hurt too much to think about.¡±
She opened her eyes, sitting up again. ¡°All that... it¡¯s a major reason why I¡¯ve decided that even if we do find a way home, I¡¯m not going to take it. My parents can go to hell for all I care, and I don¡¯t have anyone else left to go back to there."
¡°Did you know?¡± She asked, ¡°Homosexuality isn¡¯t frowned on here at all. I asked. Leska was telling me that it¡¯s rare outside the rather bored nobility, far rarer than at home, but nobody cares. She pointed out that when you have magical, all-female species that reproduce via other races running around, like Kitsune and Lamias, it¡¯s sort of normal to run into from time to time. For that matter, for similar reasons sex between races or outside of marriage isn¡¯t something most people make a big deal about.¡±
Kera gave a short, bitter laugh.
¡°When you first explained the situation we were in, I actually thought about, you know, finding a cursed belt or something that would turn me into a boy, and just living with it. Assuming it turned out I wasn¡¯t into men too, anyway. That way I wouldn¡¯t have to go through.. all that.. again.
Her voice grew stronger.
¡°Turns out I don¡¯t have to. Here, I can literally be whoever I want, and people won¡¯t judge me for it. I don¡¯t want to go back. Why should I? I should just drink one of those potions, and re-write myself into something I want to be, instead of something everyone else constantly expects me to be."
¡°And you know the best thing?" she asked. "It doesn¡¯t even have to be for good. If I decide I don¡¯t like something? Boom, take another potion, change my stats, and everything¡¯s different again, just like my belt. It¡¯s like the perfect world for someone like me.¡±
Kera handed Jason her mug, and climbed off the bed with Ceri still in her arms. Lumi and Jason moving aside to make room. Kera turned to face them. She put both hands on her hips.
¡°So, screw my family. Screw the judgmental jerks at their church, and screw people like Aeryn. No more running. No more hiding. No more expectations.¡±
¡°I¡¯m staying.¡±
Character Sheets - Update 2
Jason Elric, Alchemist
Basic Statistics:
Inventory:
1x Ornate Piezoelectric Lighter, 1x Superior Quality Multitool, 31x Rare Seed, 8x Iparea Petals, 5x Mellax, 6x Wisteria Blossoms, 1x Frogoid Brain, 2x Frogoid Webbing, 2x Aquatic Sweetmeats.
1x Handy Haversack, 80xGolden Strawberry, 2x Salamander Eyes, 2x Flame Sac, 2x Salamander Tail, 5x Salamander Hide Scraps
2x Salamander Stone, 1x Restoration Stone, 3x Serenity Tonic, 2x Healing Potion, 3x Least Healing Potion, 1x Potion of Nightvision, 2x Breath Pebble, 3x Tanglefoot bag, 6x Magic Fertilizer, 2x Least Mana Potion, 1x Least Wand of Healing (12 uses), 4x Elixir of Rebirth
Notes:
1. The salamander parts were gathered offscreen along with all the extra strawberries.
2. Being overly large, magical plants, the strawberry yield was quite high - nearly 2 pounds per plant, or 2700 grams; that''s equivalent to an excellent hydroponics harvest of a fairly large plant. Given your average large strawberry is something like 18 grams, that''s a massive number of strawberries they''re now carrying around. I shaved off a bunch of the number because they ate nearly a quarter of them
Lumiriel Dun''Val, Spellblade
Basic Statistics:
Inventory:
Superior Leather Armor, Superior Wool Clothing, Common Steel Longsword, Superior Quality Leather Sword Belt, Conion Leather Backpack, Common Studded Leather Boots, Shield of the Elementalist
2x Healing Potion, 3x Least Healing Potion, 1x Least Potion of Strength, 1x Oil of Ignition, 4x Least Mana Potion
Notes:
1. Originally, Lumi had Blink added to her lists of Arcanas here. I forgot about it for so long that I¡¯ve actually gone back and edited it out from the story, and gave her something else, if older readers are looking backwards and wondering what happened.
Kerali Vakar, Beast-Bonded
Basic Statistics:
Inventory:
Common Leather Backpack, Superior Silk Robes, Coil of the Sundered Serpent, Common Wool Cloak, Eternal Potion of Skill, Staff of Focusing
2x Healig Potion, 3x Least Healing Potion, 4x Least Mana Potion
Notes:
1. Kera''s Monster Magic skill cost her a whopping 5 points to purchase, after she''d earned it. That means that by default, a regular [Mage] would have had to spend 10 skill points, a massive 10 levels worth of skillups, to purchase only the first rank. Sometimes its worth it to take strangely eccentric skills, like [Mimicry]. You never know!
2. Kera has skills that are listed as ''Mk I, Mk II'', etc, because they have ranks like other skills, but only go up in strength due to class levels; she cannot rank them up by spending skill points.
Combined Vaults (Because the author is lazy):
9x Vial of Arcane Dust, 3x Unopened Dye Bundle, 3x Eternal Potion of Treasurefinding, 3x Crude Frogskin Pack, 1x Crude Frogskin Cup, 1x Wallet, 1x House Key, 1x iPhone, 1x Crude Stone Spear, 1x Crude Carry Harness, 1x Crude Stone Hammer, 1x Crude Fishing Spear, 1x Crude Frogskin Pouch
Onwards To Adventure!
Chapter 14
¡°I¡¯m just saying, Jason, that she shouldn¡¯t be making life-changing decisions while under the influence of mind-altering drugs. You can¡¯t tell me your[Serenity Tonic] doesn¡¯t count.¡±
Lumi was half-complaining about Kera¡¯s sudden mood shift while sprawled once again across one of the chairs of the front room. Jason meanwhile stood over the table, processing some additional potions in preparation for crafting a second wand. He¡¯d already made a pair of [Mana Perception] potions, on the off-chance it would help him or one of the girls learn new spells or runes.
Kera meanwhile had gone off to take a brief soak in the bath. After the girl¡¯s emphatic declaration, she had requested some time alone to process her decision and had summoned Leska, wanting to make herself more presentable for meeting up with Flora in a short while.
¡°It¡¯s her decision, Lumi,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Besides, despite what she said, it¡¯s not like Kera¡¯s going to immediately transform herself into something radically nonhuman and run off on her own or something. She even said it herself: she wants to sit, relax, and process for a bit. That seems like the right way to do things. It¡¯s not like she can¡¯t change her mind if she wants. She was right about that too; as long as she¡¯s with us and I can make more [Rebirth] potions, she can always revert any changes, if she even does go that route.¡±
¡°I really feel like it¡¯s just not that simple.¡±
¡°I think it is, for her," Jason replied. "I can even relate, kind of. My relationship with my family has never been the best. Not actively hostile like hers, but, well, I suspect the only person in my family to truly miss me if I didn¡¯t come back at all would be my sister.¡±
Lumi blew out a long a sigh, leaning her head back and staring up at the ceiling.
¡°It says something about our society, doesn¡¯t it,¡± she said, ¡°that it¡¯s awfully tempting to just stay here, in a place that¡¯s already tried to kill us, what, three times? Instead of going back home to lives of constant stress and drudgery.¡±
Jason gave a slightly bitter-sounding laugh.
¡°It does at that,¡± he said.
Immersing an iron rod into the mixture he¡¯d been preparing, Jason infused his new wand. This time, the process gave off a red glow and a wisp of smoke as the magic was drawn in.
¡°There we go,¡± he said, holding up the wand. It was now reddish, with a half-melted look. ¡°Inflict Fire. Not much of a weapon with only six shots, but it¡¯ll do in a pinch alongside the grenades, if they turn out useful.¡±
¡°Analyze Item,¡± he commanded.
Wand of Flames - Ignites a distant target with magical flames.
Basic Rune Learned - Projection.
Looking at the second notification with pleasant surprise, Jason suddenly remembered he¡¯d gotten a whole slew of additional ones when he¡¯d made the elixir. He¡¯d pushedthem away while he was making the tea for Kera, and then forgotten about it.
¡±Right, I needed to choose a discovery too.¡±
¡°Here," he said to Lumi. "Stop grumbling about Kera¡¯s life choices and help me with some of mine instead. I should have a whole slew of new...¡±
He trailed off as he shared his notifications.
Lumi made a soft exclamation, sitting straight up. She leaned forwards to get a better look as Jason read through what he¡¯d earned.
Levels Gained: Alchemist 8, 9. Artificer 7, 8. Skill Points gained Stat Points gained. You have acquired a new class skill, Improvise, Rank 1.
Improvise: You¡¯ve learned how to use your own mana to swiftly infuse the essence of a simple, short rune sequence into an object in a manner of moments, creating a temporary enchantment that fades quickly over time.
Congratulations! Through your experimentation with rare alchemical substances, you have successfully uncovered a recipe for a potion of legendary power. You have been awarded the achievement, True Alchemy!
Congratulations! For creating a legendary item, you have been granted the title, Legendary Craftsman!
Achievement XP Granted: 5000. Cumulative level penalties applied.
Lumi whistled softly.
¡°Man, I would never have called a crafting class as being where the best XP was at. How many levels is that now today? What, seven across both classes? That¡¯s insane.¡±
¡°Oh I dont know,¡± Jason replied. ¡°There¡¯s plenty of games out there where doing weird stuff like...oh, I don¡¯t know, crafting ten thousand cloth hats or something is an efficient way to level if you¡¯ve got the materials on hand. But it¡¯s bound to taper off off after awhile.¡±
¡°I mean look here,¡± he said, pointing to his XP breakdown on his status screen. ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping track of these numbers, and there¡¯s definitely a curve. It¡¯s getting more and more expensive to gain each new level, but I¡¯ve been getting the same amount of XP for every potion.¡±
¡°And the there¡¯s this here...¡± Jason tapped a particular entry at the bottom of the screen. ¡°Looks like we get a global penalty to XP based on our total class levels.¡±
¡°I noticed that too, last night,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Forgot to mention it. I think it kicked in around level 10. It¡¯s only two percent though.¡±
Jason hummed thoughtfully, looking at his screen. ¡°Looks like the same for me. Might only go up every so many levels. Well, whatever.¡±
¡°So what did you want help with, anyway?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason navigated to his skill choices. ¡°I have to choose a new Discovery ability every odd level it looks like, kind of like with your Arcana skill. Except there¡¯s a lot of dangerous, mad science kind of stuff in there. The kind that in movies usually ends up turning someone into a half-insane villain, oraccidentally creates monsters that get loose.¡±
¡°I don''t want that kind of stuff. I want to pick abilities that have a lot of flexibility or combo potential,¡± Jason explained. He began scrolling slowly through the list. ¡°I¡¯m pretty much sold on the whole magical arsenal idea now. I¡¯m giving some serious consideration to maybe picking up some kind of engineering skill or class to go with it all, too. Imagine modern, or even fictional, weapons, covered with enchantments, and equipped with infused ammunition types. I¡¯m already halfway there, practically.¡±
¡°Won¡¯t that get us in trouble?¡± Lumi asked, concerned.
Jason shrugged. ¡°I doubt it, if we play it right and don''t let people look too closely. It might raise some eyebrows, but I think by the time I get that far I¡¯ll have worked up an excuse. Or, honestly, well..."
¡°We could drink the respec potions and see if we can''t get rid of Outworlder.¡± He suggested with a shrug.
¡°Huh. I hadn¡¯t thought of that,¡± Lumi replied.
¡°There¡¯s also the whole ''joining a guild for protection'' thing. I mean, human greed is a pretty strong motivator; if I show up at some Guild¡¯s doorstep, offering incredible enchantments, I seriously doubt they¡¯re going to turn me away. Especially if I can prove they can¡¯t easilly reproduce the class, and they can¡¯t just threaten me into revealing secrets.¡±
¡°Seems risky,¡± Lumi said.
¡°Well it¡¯s that or take weird magical abilities that risk my sanity, so....¡±
¡°You may have a point there,¡± she replied.
Lumi hummed to herself, watching thoughtfully while Jason scrolled down his list of potential discoveries. Every so often, he selected one to look at its description.
Initially, he looked at differentoptions relating to making variations on different kinds of explosives. But in the end, he decided to hold off there, until he¡¯d had some time to test them out. Bigger explosions, for instance, might actually be detrimental to his allies if the [Salamander Stones] he made turned out to have a large radius to begin with. It wasn¡¯t like you could just stand nearby a grenade when it went off and be fine; there was a lot of friendly fire potential, there.
Some of the other options, like the one-time Spirit and Intellect increase, Jason discarded as being a waste. He was planning on putting most of his points into those stats anyway, so two more in each wasn¡¯t a huge increase. He¡¯d rather have a wider array of unusual skills.
¡°Oh hey!¡± Lumi exclaimed after a few minutes of perusing the list.
¡°This looks promising,¡± she said, pointing to an entry labeled ¡®Refinement¡¯.
Refinement: You have gained a deeper understanding of the alchemical properties found throughout nature. By first refining ingredients through extensive processing, you are able to remove any impurities that would interfere with the absorption of mana, thus fashioning stable, condensed forms of most alchemical traits. Refined ingredients allow for more efficient use of your supplies, and the creation of more potent substances.
After a moment¡¯s consideration, Jason purchased it. Such an ability would, from the sound of it, let him make extra potions with the same number of ingredients, which should be extremely useful, especially if it stacked with his current ability to dilute concentrated potions; if he could refine two units of ¡®volatile¡¯ and one of ¡®fire¡¯, and then could dilute that down into some kind of multi-batch ofextra strong fire grenades....
Lumi poked him in the side, and he jumped.
¡°Going mad scientist already?¡± she teased him. ¡°You were spacing out.¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Jason coughed, embarrassed.
She rolled her eyes at him.
Turning back to the task at hand, Jason scrolled only a bit farther before coming across another useful-sounding skill; one that sounded like something that would work very well with [Artificer].
Synthesize - The world is vast, and full of wonders. Magic inks remain legible for centuries. The hides of beasts grow as hard as steel, and crystals form that contain the raw power of the elements. Exposure to the effects of mana create a nigh infinite variety of unique materials with special properties useful to all walks of life. By formulating appropriate conditions and through the use of alchemical processes, you have learned to synthesize many of these materials, magical or otherwise, for your own use.
¡°Whoa,¡± Lumi said simply.
Jason concurred. This wasexactly the type of thing he was looking for.
Lumi grinned at him. ¡°Please tell me you¡¯re taking this and will make me some magic hair dye.¡±
¡°That¡¯s your reasoning?¡± Jason asked with a raised eyebrow. By now he knew she was just being facetiouson purpose, but he couldn¡¯t resist teasing her anyway. ¡°Not ¡®could you make me some dragonhide armor, pretty please?¡¯¡±
Lumi blew a raspberry at him. ¡°Of course I want that, too. That goes without saying. The best gear should always go to the tank first, right? But a girl¡¯s gotta keep up appearances.¡±
¡°Stereotyping much?¡± he asked teasingly.
¡°Better than letting it all go to shit and turning into a female neckbeard.¡±
¡°Fair,¡± he conceded.
Extending a hand, he selected [Synthesize], confirming his choice. A notification popped up.
Synergy Detected: Basic Transmutation. Additional Synthesize options are now available.
¡°I really need to figure out what that skill does.¡± Jason grumbled.
¡°Isn¡¯t that like, just turning stuff from one thing into another?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°Yeah, but the description is completely unhelpful, unlike the alchemy stuff. I¡¯m beginning to think it¡¯s a little like Kera¡¯s ritual magic - there¡¯s other components, or processes, or tools needed before I can actually make it work. Alchemists traditionally have a lab of some kind, right? With beakers and alembics and all that stuff. I probably need something like that, if it¡¯s got, er, synergies with [Synthesize].¡±
¡°Now there¡¯s a tongue-twister,¡± Lumi commented.
¡°No kidding,¡± he replied.
¡°What¡¯s a tongue-twister?¡± Kera¡¯s voice came as the door opened.
Jason turned, and saw a damp-haired Kera entering the room. Ceri flew in over their heads, to land on the bed, as Kera closed the door behind her.
Jason addressed her. ¡°Just some awkward wording from the system basically. You feeling better?¡±
Kera nodded. ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m not totally decided on what I¡¯m gonna do with myself yet, but your tea really helped.¡±
She stepped forward and gave Jason a slightly awkward hug from behind.
¡°Thanks, by the way¡± she said, lingering for a moment.
¡°Um, anytime,¡± Jasonreplied, giving her arms, which were pressed up against his chest, a lighthug in return.
Pulling back, Keracontinued. ¡°At the very least, I¡¯ve decided I¡¯ll stick with you guys; I''ll still help you find a way back if you want. I like the whole adventuring thing anyway. I might join a guild in the long run, maybe.¡±
¡°Besides, I want to keep playing around with more transformation stuff. It¡¯s fun. You can help me out with that, right Jason?¡±
He gave her a grin. ¡°Sure. Lumi and I were just picking out some new crafting stuff for me, too. Makes me wish I¡¯d held off on using the fire traits, but what can I say?"
He showed Kera his new choices, and explained how he hoped they¡¯d further improve his capabilities.
Shortly after, Leska arrived witha towel and a brush, to assist Kera in drying and combing out her hair, apparently quite happy to play the role of maid, much to Jason¡¯s surprise. Then again, he supposed they were kind of paying for her assistance; it just seemed a little above and beyond to him. But the two did seem to get along well.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Their conversation turned to more mundane things as Leska gossipped a bit about various goings on. Eventually, time came to leave and meet with Flora, and the three friends headed out to the edge of town. Before they left, Jason placed a number of the healing and mana potions into his bandolier, holstered his two wands, and placed the grenades he wanted to test into one of his interior pockets. He also brought along the two mana perception potions, which he attached to his belt, and he pocketed two bags of his enchanted soil. Everything else went into his pack.
They met Flora just outside the western gate. She¡¯d apparently brought along a wheelbarrow full of dirt and some flower pots as well. Despite her relatively small frame, she appeared to have no problem at all pushing the heavy load about.
¡°Thanks for coming out on such short notice, Flora.¡± Jason said to her. ¡°I¡¯ve got a little something extra for you as a way of saying thank you.¡±
He presented her with one of the bags of enchanted dirt.
Flora gasped. ¡°You did it? So soon? How!?¡±
¡°It¡¯s stage one, anyway, and all thanks to your help. This works a bit like a potion for your plants. Just plant a seed in it, and it should accelerate its growth. I¡¯m not sure by how much or how many seeds you could do at once. I brought some extra so we can test and compare it to your magic.¡±
¡°Still, that¡¯s incredible,¡± she said.
¡°Is there a good place for us to practice spells anywhere near here?¡± He asked. ¡°I asked you to meet us outside, because in addition to trying to learn some new spells, we¡¯re trying to see if I can¡¯t learn some runes from applying my skill to Lumi and Kera¡¯s spellcasting. That¡¯s partly why I asked if you¡¯d be willing to teach them; I¡¯m hoping to learn some stuff related to Life magic.¡±
¡°If you can produce results this fast, I¡¯ll be happy to help.¡° Flora replied.
She thought carefully for a moment. ¡°Down the road a little ways there¡¯s a cleared space by the river. It¡¯s where a lot of the farm wives do their laundry, rather than come into town to draw from the well. It should be available by now. We¡¯ll need some light though, it¡¯ll be getting dark soon.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got that covered,¡± Lumi volunteered.
With Flora leading the way, and Lumiriel, being the strongest of them, pushing the wheelbarrow, they arrived at the clearing in short order. Lumi then used her cantrip skill to conjure a few floating mage-lights to illuminate the area while Jason, Kera, and Flora tested out one of his bags of enchanted soil.
Flora had brought along a number of wildflower seeds for them to use. They were able to plant up to three of the seeds in a single pot before Jason¡¯s skill informed him that any more would cause the magic to be too spread out, causing it to fail. The overall effect was one similar to what he¡¯d seen Flora do in her shop: plant the seeds, trigger the effect through your interface, and then watch as your seeds sprout into tiny, immature shoots.
¡°Pretty cool,¡± commented Kera.
¡°Well it¡¯s not quite strong enough, yet,¡± Jason replied, ¡°but it¡¯s a definite start.¡±
Flora ran a hand over the pot, her hand glowing slightly. ¡°There¡¯s some kind of lingering effect here, too. These flowers are practically glowing with Life-mana; they should continue to grow at an accelerated rate, and turn out healthier too. How did you manage this?¡±
Jason shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. ¡°It¡¯s a special skill. Sorry, it¡¯s a bit of a trade secret. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡±
Flora chuckled to herself. ¡°I do indeed. Can¡¯t say I¡¯m not desperately curious though. I can¡¯t wait to see what your final product will turn out like if this is only your first try.¡±
¡°Well that¡¯s what we¡¯re here for, yeah?¡± Jason said, moving over to help Kera, who was unsuccessfully attempting to roll a big log over for everyone to use as a seat.
With a grunt, the two of them managed to get it moving.
¡°How do you even teach someone new spells, anyway?¡± he asked Flora. ¡°We¡¯ve been a little...well, vague on that. Everything we¡¯ve gotten came from our classes, stuff we¡¯ve just picked up along the way. None of us has had any formal training. Kind of a long story that I won¡¯t get into.¡±
¡°You mentioned something along those lines back at the shop,¡± Flora said. She gestured for the three of them to sit.
¡°Very well, I¡¯ll start at the beginning,¡± she said.
The three of them arranged themselves on their log bench, and Flora began to explain to them the basics of how magic worked. Much of it was things Jason had already figured out for himself, such as how mana was produced by living things and natural phenomena, how it could come in ¡®flavors¡¯, so to speak, and that it needed to be shaped into specific structures to produce effects. He knew that runes were the main source of this;by inscribing a rune that acted as a sort of battery,an [Enchanter]could charge an object with mana, and then use additional runes to shape it that mana into a specific effect.
In a similar vein,[Wizards]used spells, that is to say proper spells, to channel mana into specific, pre-determined shapes to produce a specific effect. These shapes could, with a certain level of effort, be imparted to another person with the appropriate skill. It was, supposedly, a fairly difficult, time-consuming process to develop new spells, but it could be done.
As for the mages who didn¡¯t use spells, those were few and far between, and nearly all of them were based on some form of elemental magic. Flora explained that some people, especially mana-touched like herself, found that they had a special talent for seeing and manipulating particular forms of mana, without the need to use pre-set spells. That didn¡¯t mean theynever used spells, just that theyoften had skills that meant they didn¡¯t need them in order toperformmagic.
Lumi demonstrated her cantrip skill for Flora, explaining that she could manage all sorts of different effects, but had been unable to produce stronger ones without first shaping them into an actual spell form.
The Life-touched woman was impressed with Lumi¡¯s versatility.
¡°A unique generalist skill? Very unusual,¡± Flora commented.
¡°I suspect your inability to control greater effects might be due to your lack of mana sensing abilities,¡± she explained. ¡°Your skill sounds like it operates more on instinct, a function of your interface, rather than directly shaping mana yourself. If you could somehow gain the ability to perceive how you are actively manipulating mana, you might be able to make some progress on that front. You might even be able to earn discounts on adding new elements to your repertoire; I¡¯ve heard of great [Shamans] making long pilgrimages to treat with ancient elemental beings that live in remote places in order to seek out new teachers. Perhaps you could do something similar.¡±
Jason pulled out one of his potions.
¡°Would this help?¡± He asked. ¡°It let¡¯s you do exactlywhat you''re talking aboutfor about an hour. Brought it with me just in case it helped us learn new stuff. I¡¯ve got two of them.¡±
¡°My, my, you are just full of surprises today, aren¡¯t you?¡± Flora murmured, raising an eyebrow at him. It seemed that her ¡®flirtatious¡¯ mode was back on, and she was eyeing him speculatively again. Jason thought she looked a bit like a shark looking for a meal, which was a bit off-putting given that it was coming from a green-skinned woman who was only five feet tall, with vines coming out of her hair.
Kera coughed politely, drawing the woman¡¯s attention.
¡°Would that work for Jason¡¯s rune learning thing, too?¡± she asked.
¡°I¡¯d think so,¡± Flora replied, ¡°but I¡¯m not an [Enchanter] so I couldn¡¯t say for sure. But runes and spells are functionally similar at the end of it all, so it might be worth trying. But are you sure you want to use such a valuable thing for this?¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°I do. It¡¯s important to what we¡¯re trying to learn.¡±
¡°If I really need to, I can request more through the vendors,¡± he lied.
¡°Well it¡¯s your money,¡± Flora responded with a shrug. ¡°Very well, let¡¯s begin.¡±
With that, Lumi and Jason both downed a potion each. Jason stood off to one side, near the tree line, whileFlorademonstrated her spellsand Lumi and Kera tried to mimic them. He activated [Analyze Spell] each time one of the women cast a spell, and even tried analyzing Lumi and Flora¡¯s elemental skills, on the off-chance they were sufficiently spell-like to get something out of it.
However, each time he tried to analyze one of their so-called ¡®innate spells¡¯, he received an error. Lumi¡¯s [Spell Shapings] were valid, but skills like [Elemental Cantrips] turned out not to be, even though while under the effects of the potion he could see the ebb and flow of mana take shape every time the girl activated her skill.
He did, however, end up unlocking some additional Discovery choice options,a fact he mentallyfiled away for later in case it became relevant.
Lumi and Kera meanwhile had little trouble learning what Flora had to teach them. Under the effects of the potion, it was a simple matter for Flora to teach Lumi about Life-mana and it¡¯s effects on living things; the girl was able to earn several new potential skills, plus a discount on choosing Life as one of her [Wellspring] elements. Actually selecting them would have to wait, however, until Lumi had some skill points available to spend.
Flora knew a number of useful buff spells related to living creatures, including one that temporarily caused Ceri to double in size and strength, which Flora called Giant Growth. Other spells she managed to teach them included Entangling Roots, Vine Whip, Thorn Wall, and even a new summoning spell for Kera called Guardian Wasps, which made Jason shudder a bit to think about.
Kera then demonstrated her new summon spells for them. First came an evil-looking, red-eyed crow that would fly above the fight, and then dive bomb enemies at an opportune moment, attempting to peck out their eyes.She could also conjure a tiny spider, whichKera could then share senses with and use as a spy; doing so nearly made the girl violently ill though, as the disorientation from seeing through multiple eyes at once turned out to be too much for her. Flora assured her she''d get used to it with practice.
Last of all, after dismissing her other two summons, Keraconjured up a wolf that seemed entirely made of mist, useful for distracting or harassing enemies¡¯ flanks.
As for Lumi, through judicious use of Jason¡¯s mana potions and repeated castings, she built up several large mounds of dirt to use as a sort of practice range, and then proceeded to run through her various [Spell Shaping] combinations so Jason could [Analyze] them. Then she demonstrated her own new spells. The first one caused objects she touched to be eaten away at by some sort of acidic discharge, and the second one, which Jason privately thought of as the ¡®rocks fall, everyone dies¡¯ spell, caused head-sized stones to pop into existence and rain down from above in a small area.
By the time the potions¡¯ duration was up, Jason had learned several new runes from the whole process. It seemed that his ¡®small chance¡¯ was either greatly boosted by the potion he¡¯d taken, or the Voice didn¡¯t believe in grinding: to him, a ¡®small chance¡¯ would have meant maybe one in a hundred, or even a thousand.
He¡¯d expected to come away with one, maybe two new runes. Instead, he learned the basic runes for Barrier, Shadow, Life, Growth, and Bolster. Overall, he counted it as a huge success.
¡°Whew, constant spellcasting takes a lot out of you,¡± Lumi commented, sitting down heavily. Sweat heavily beaded her forehead. Everyone else¡¯s too, including Jason, who had still been using minute amounts of mana for every use of his Analyze skill.
He leaned heavily against one of the trees at the edge of the clearing.
¡°Gonna need to make some more mana potions at this rate. Good thing I brought some. I¡¯m surprised you haven¡¯t needed one, Flora.¡±
She flicked a hand in dismissal, despite looking a bit out of breath herself. ¡°You young people have no stamina. This is nothing to an experienced spellcaster. Keep putting your stats in Spirit and soon enough you¡¯ll have hundreds and hundreds of mana to spare. If you intend to keep on adventuring, you¡¯d best do so. Enchanting takes a fair bit too, I hear.¡±
Jason stepped down to the stream and leaned down towards it to wash his face. They¡¯d ended up scattering loose dirt all over the place once Lumi had started blasting away at her practice targets.
Crouched down at the water''s edge, Jason falied to notice the dark form lurking under the suface. Too late, Jason felt his [Survivalist]¡¯s danger sense go off, anda huge,bestial form suddenlylunged up out of the water towards him, releasing an deep, ear-shatteringblast of soundthat picked Jason up off his feet and threw him like a rag doll.
The next thing Jason knew, he was lying at the base of a tree, disoriented, in his own private world of pain. Around him, he could barely make out strangely muted sounds coming from all around him. It was like listening to something while underwater. Something wet ran down the side of his head from his ear.
He shifted his weight, and was rewarded with a fresh round of searing pain as his apparently broken ribs vociferously protested his attempt to move. He coughed as his body tried to clear his lungs, which hurt even more. The pain brought on a spike of fear, and the resulting burst of adrenaline helped to clear his head: he''d been attacked by something.
Struggling, breath hissing in pain,Jason fumbled at his side for a healing potion. He pulled forth one of the better ones, giving thanks that he¡¯d made them right away instead of holding off. Popping the cork on the bottle, he drained it.
Jason groaned in agony as he felt his bones shift back into place. Lumi hadn¡¯t been kidding when she¡¯d said you could feel it working; he could barely think through the pain.
As his hearing returned slightly, Jason realized there was full-pitched battle commencing around him. Several of the frog monsters he and Lumi had fought before struggled on the ground, pinned in place by giant carpet thorns, while nearby Lumi engaged a number of what appeared to be frog-men armed with spears. An enraged Ceri, bolstered in size, was conducting flanking maneuvers against them as well, alongside Kera¡¯s mistwolf.
The drake sparked with electricityandleapedonto unwary opponent who had been distracted by Lumi, savaging the fishman with teeth and claws.Itlayunmoving on the ground, its corpse smoking slightly as the drake looked for another target.
Kera herself meanwhile stood in front of an exhausted-looking, terrifed Flora, and was sending out silvery bolts of force from her staff, striking down additional fishmen that were advancing from the river, where a huge, crocodilian monster with massive horns stood in the water on two legs, gnashing it¡¯s teeth and grasping at the air with both claws.
Coughing in pain, Jason decided to worry about where they¡¯d all come from later. He struggled to his feet just as one of the fishmen managed to reach him. Yanking at out his fire wand, he pointed it at the fishman, who promptly burst into flames. It shrieked and dove into the water, only to discover that the magically-induced flames weren¡¯t extinguished upon contact with liquid.
Jason staggered his way over to Kera, breath wheezing. He took a risk and downed a mana potion in addition to the healing one he''d taken. Hopefully he wouldn''t regret it later.
Kerashoutedsomething, a relieved look on her face.
¡°What?¡± Jason yelled. His hearing wasn¡¯t back to normal yet; one potion could only do so much. He hopedit wasn¡¯t permanently damaged.
After releasing another bolt of energy from her staff, Kera tried to repeat herself, but he couldn''t understand her. Instead, Jason just gestured to his ears and shook his head.
Fumbling at his vest, Jason pulled out a second mana potion and passed it to Flora, gesturing for her to take it. The woman didn¡¯t even look at it, indead just downing it in one gowith a surprised look on her face.
Jason then directed her to assist Lumi, while he turned his focus to the fish creatures advancing out of the water, igniting another one with his wand.
Between himself and Kera, they drove the fish men back into the water, where the giant crocodile monster still stood, observing the battle.
Then the great beast roared again, and Jason clutched his head as the sound swept through him painfully, and he saw a wave of energy pass over the creature¡¯s piscine allies. They rallied as their wounds partially healed, and Jason¡¯s fire was extinguished.
Now that¡¯s just not fair, He thought to himself.
Well. Two can play at that game.
Pulling a [Salamander Stone] from an inside pocket with one hand, he threw it into the center of the advancing formation. With a roar of flame and a detonation that Jason felt more than he heard, the grenade exploded, igniting half a dozen fishmen and outright killing several of them. The rest went scrambling back into the water, madly trying to extinguish themselves.
Note to self, he thought. Do not use in confined spaces.
With a bellow of rage, the crocodile-thing began to slowly wade out of the water towards Jason and Kera. The girl launched a bolt of light at it, but the huge beast just shrugged it off.
Jason directed his wand towards it as well, but his attack was resisted, or so he thought:he triggered the wand''s final charge, but nothing happened as the wand''s magic last charge fizzled out.
Something else, then.
He decided now was the time to test his newest artificer skill. Quickly [Disenchanting] one of his least healing potions for a unit of arcane powder, he scattered it across the surface of the now-defunct wand, allowing his [Engrave] skill to guide his mind and hand has he used his slowly-regenerating mana to imbue runes for Absorption, Shadow, and Projection, resulting in a hastily-improvised, much smaller version of Kera''s staff.
He pointedthe wand at the creature, timing his bolt of shadow-mana to coincide with Kera''s own blast of light.
Both bolts deflected harmlessly, merely pushing the beast back slightly, and Jason cursed inwardly.
It would take the creature a few seconds to reach them, so Jason instead turned his attention towards the others, prepared to render aid if necessary.
His concern was misplaced,for reinforced byFlora, Lumi, Ceri, and the wolf were finishing off the last of the fishmen who¡¯d made it to shore. Flora drove the creatures into Ceri with occasional Vine Whips, while the wolf ran interference for Lumi, making swift work of the creatures, who seemed rather uncoordinated on land. Jason wondered if Kera was managing to mentally command both Ceri and the wolf while managing her own weapon, or if both creatures were just that smart. Judging from Kera¡¯s only occasional glances over at the other group, it might have been a combination of the two.
Seeing they needed no aid, hedirected his attacks to the trapped frogoid creatures,launching shadowbolts one after another as his mana dropped back down to nothing. Each one died as a single blast of shadow-magic struck them.
Finally the huge crocodilian reached the water¡¯s edge. Jason faced it once again, dropping his wand and reaching into his coat with one hand, waiting for the right moment. He¡¯d only have one chance at this; the beast was massive, easily eight feet tall, and he wasn¡¯t at all confident of Lumi¡¯s ability to fight such a creature. Not with her mana drained as it was; he hadnt seen the girl cast a single spell so far, andthose least potions took a minute to really kick in.
He got his chance as the beast lumbered forwards, stopping in front of them. It reared back and opened its mouth wide, inhaling, no doubt intending to release another body-shattering roar like the one it had struck Jason with previously.
He didn''t give it the chance.
Taking a cue from classic monster movies, he threwhis grenade overhanded like a baseball as hard as he could, right into the monster¡¯s mouth, relying on [Basic Throwing] to guide his aim.
The results weren¡¯t pretty.
Jason would have lost his dinner as the sight, and smell, of charred monster assaulted his nose, except for the fact that he hadn¡¯t eaten one yet.
With their backup, or perhaps leader, slain, the few remaining fishmen dived back into the river, fleeing with panicked, burbling cries.
¡°Everyone ok?¡± Jason started to shout, as the smoke cleared, but then remembered he couldn¡¯t hear straight.
Lumi said something indistinct in reply.
¡°Er, sorry. Can¡¯t hear you,¡± he said, touching a finger to his ear. ¡°Had to take one of the stronger potions. Will be awhile til I can take another.¡±
Jason hoped he was making himself understood; sometimes damaged hearing made you slur your words a bit.
Instead of talking,he held up one of the better healing potions, clearly offering it in case anyone needed it.
No one did; Lumi had a small cut on one arm from one of the frogmen¡¯s spears that she hadn¡¯t managed to deflect with her shield, but she chose to use one ofher [Least Healing] potions instead, as it was just a relatively minor flesh wound.
Jason moved to one of the now-dead frogoids, intending to harvest the creature for ingredients, but stepped back againas the creature melted down into glowing notes of light. The mana faded away, leaving behind some of the creature¡¯s webbing as a reward.
¡°Uhhh, guys?¡± Jason called to the others, but there was no need. All across the clearing, the bodies of slain frog and fish creatures were bursting into light and fading away, leaving only loot rewards behind.
Flora stood stock still, trembling, her face ashen.
Jason didn¡¯t need to be able to hear her to understand the single word she spoke.
¡°Dungeon,¡± she whispered.
Chapter 15
¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you kids to not go bringing trouble to my doorstep?¡±
Jason looked up from the table where he, Kera, and Lumi were seated to see Raelin standing just inside the doorway to the Lodge¡¯s common room, hands on her hips.
She was accompanied by a huge, bearded, bear of a man that Jason could only assume was her husband, Willum. He had a massive greatsword strapped to his back, and was dressed in armor made from a mishmash of leather, metal plates, and fur lining. Jason thought he must have been sweltering under it all; while the temperature was still relatively cool, it wasn¡¯t that cold.
Maybe he had a skill.
Raelin made her way to the set of tables where Jason and the girls were, in order to take a seat alongside the town¡¯s only two other adventurers. Willum followed, his heavy footsteps causing the floorboards to creak beneath him. Jason realized the man must have a touch of some kind of non-human ancestry as they approached: he had small, sharp tusks that jutted out from his lips beneath the beard, and his skin held a very slight, reddish tinge.
They¡¯d been the last to arrive. As soon as Jason and the others had reported the existence of a new dungeon, the town¡¯s [Mayor], Tobias, had called for a general war council consisting of all local adventurers, key members of the city guard, and a few notable individuals whose expertise might be called upon should the town itself come under assault.
Jason recognized a few faces in addition to Raelin, and quite a number he didn¡¯t. Flora was present of course, both because she had been with them for the attack and because as an apothecary, she was more or less the town¡¯s primary physician. She was seated at a different table with Jerrik, who held [Armorer] among his various crafting classes.
Two other civilians were seated with the two shopkeepers: a stocky, soot-smudged dwarf still wearing his stained, leather apron filled with tools, and a tall, neatly dressed, dark-skinned woman wearing a pair of spectacles.
The dwarf had been introduced to Jason as Tersk, a local [Blacksmith] who also crafted many of the weapons the town guard used. The woman¡¯s name was Sevani, and she turned out to be the town¡¯s sole [Engineer], and was responsible for maintaining the city walls, water supply, and irrigation systems.
Jason made a mental note to speak with her later about how she¡¯d gotten the class, and what kind of skills it came with.
¡°Thank you for agreeing to join us, Raelin, Willum,¡± Therissa said with a polite bow. ¡°I know you just want to enjoy your retirement in peace, but excluding the newbies, here, Turi and Rahim are the only experienced adventurers we¡¯ve got besides yourselves.¡±
¡°Now that we¡¯re all here, let¡¯s begin,¡± the elfess said, as she placed her AVL reader on the central table alongside her [Diplomat¡¯s Eye]. ¡°As this is a formal council called by [Mayor] Tobias, I must ask everyone to please come forward one at a time and confirm your identities.¡±
One by one, each person present stepped forward and inserted their license into the reader, causing a small screen to pop up briefly for all to see. Jason was the last to identify himself, and his new title caused a stir to pass through the room.
¡°Bloody hell, lad,¡± Tersk exclaimed, leaning forwards in his seat. ¡°How on earth did a boy your age manage to earn that?¡±
Therissa gave Jason a long look, but said nothing at first. As he turned to return to his seat, she stopped him.
¡°One moment. I hate to single you out here, Jason, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to have to ask-¡°
Jason held up a hand to interrupt her. ¡°I know, I know,¡± he said. ¡°I do avow, not only did we not revive the core I had in my possession, it has in fact already been destroyed for use as a crafting component in the project that earned me my title. To be further clear, neither I, nor my friends, possess any knowledge whatsoever of where this newest dungeon came from, and had no hand in its creation.¡±
¡°Will that suffice?¡± He asked, with a pointed glance down at the [Diplomat¡¯s Eye], which glowed a pale blue.
¡°It shall,¡± Therissa replied.
¡°The boy had a dungeon core in his possession?¡± asked Raelin. ¡°How did that come to pass?¡±
Therissa started to wave her off, but Jason replied of his own accord.
¡°We killed it ourselves, yesterday, only a few hours before we first met,¡± Jason said. ¡°The dungeon was brand new; no more than a handful of defenders. The prime reason Therissa wanted my word with the [Eye] present is because two new dungeons together within such a short time means someone is likely manufacturing them, right Therissa?¡±
His explanation caused another stir to pass trough the room.
¡°You catch on fast,¡± Therissa said. ¡°Yes, that is correct. I believe we have a rogue mage on our hands, and I needed to get that out of the way."
¡°My apologies for the necessary suspicion,¡± she added with a short bow of her head, in Jason¡¯s direction.
¡°No need, we understand.¡± Jason replied, sitting down.
Tobias, the town¡¯s elderly mayor, stepped forward. His huge, white, handlebar mustache quivered as he spoke with a deep, commanding voice that was at odds with his small frame.
¡°Now that¡¯s all out of the way, on to business. Jason, was it? Would you please relate the events of this evening to everyone present so we¡¯re all on the same page?¡±
Jason did so, giving a summarized account of the river monster¡¯s attack, some details about the creatures themselves, and a mention of how they¡¯d alerted the farms nearest the river at Flora¡¯s behest and escorted them into town before contacting the Mayor.
After he finished, Tobias stood up again, addressing the room.
¡°As you can see, matters are quite serious. Two dungeons at once, plus potentially a rogue practitioner of dark magics on our hands. I¡¯m not aware of any disappearances lately, but I¡¯ll need everyone to be on high alert. Keep an eye out for any kind of suspicious activity, everyone. We don¡¯t need a repeat of the events up in Belkarion.¡±
Tobias turned to a middle aged woman dressed in the simplistic, light steel armor of the city guard.
¡°Captain Denaire,¡± he asked, ¡°I trust that you¡¯ve already begun to send word to the other outlying farms and begun preparations to evacuate them within the walls?¡±
The guardswoman nodded. ¡°Yes sir.¡±
¡°Excellent. Then that brings me to our first big problem. Spring planting isn¡¯t done yet. We can¡¯t let that go obviously, not coming on the heels of winter as we are. But with monsters running around out there, that means we¡¯ll need to cut off any foraging, and provide a full time guard patrol during the day for our planters, at least until we know how developed this dungeon has become.¡±
¡°That¡¯s going to be an issue,¡± Denaire said. ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s many of us in a town this size. Even if I pulled everyone from their normal duties, we don¡¯t really have the manpower to cover all the farms.¡±
Tobias shook his head. ¡°We won¡¯t need full coverage, I should think. For one, planting¡¯s halfway finished already, and the deadline isn¡¯t for a few weeks. Tackling individual farms in shifts should do the trick. On top of that, this definitely sounds like an aquatic dungeon of some breed or another. If any more raiding parties approach, it will be from the direction of the river. Farms on the east side should be safe enough.¡±
¡°Yes, sir,¡± Denaire said with a quick salute.
¡°Do we have any idea where exactly the entrance is located?¡± Tobias asked Therissa.
¡°None at this time,¡± she replied. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I don¡¯t have any kind of tools that would help with that.¡±
Kera raised her hand timidly. ¡°I, um, might be able to help.¡±
Tobias nodded in her direction. ¡°Then do so, please. Coordinate with Therissa if you need anything; it¡¯s of utmost importance that we identify the origin point and get an estimate of this dungeon¡¯s maturity level. Does anyone have any information on that front?¡±
Therissa shook her head. ¡°Not me. I¡¯m just a [Receptionist] really. I pick up plenty here and there, and know the standard procedures, but I¡¯m no adventurer.¡±
Willum stood up, his voice a deep, bass rumble. He spoke in quickly in terse, fragmented sentences, before sitting back down again. ¡°Must be big, if raiding. Or has strong Keeper. Look for surface corruption. If present, big problem.¡±
¡°Anyone else have something to add to that?¡± Tobias asked after Willum had finished, looking about the room. ¡°No? Very well. After ensuring the safety of the townsfolk, our first task will be to scout for the exact location of the dungeon, and to determine whether or not it¡¯s already begun to affect the surface. Therissa, I¡¯m placing you and Raelin in charge of that, please coordinate with Captain Denaire when you have more information. You have full authority to draft anyone¡¯s assistance you need, provided it doesn¡¯t take away from preparations elsewhere.¡±
Tobias coughed once, to clear his throat, before continuing.
¡°Lieutenant Ghot, I¡¯m placing you in charge of the investigation as to the ultimate source of these dungeons. You have my permission to draft a handful of the citizenry to assist you with this task.¡±
The man seated at Denaire¡¯s side nodded once. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± he said.
¡°Jerrik, Tersk,¡± Tobias continued. ¡°I¡¯ll need you working full time, checking and repairing everyone¡¯s armor and weapons, including those of any townsfolk who are willing to join the general defense. On a similar note, is there anything either of you can do to give our fighters an edge?¡±
¡°Not currently,¡± the dwarf replied. ¡°All I¡¯ve got is plain old steel. If I had better materials to work with, maybe, but there¡¯s not much general demand for it in a small town like ours. Jerrik¡¯s the only one who really gets the odd request now and again.¡±
Jerrik cut in. ¡°I¡¯m a bit low on stock, actually,¡± he said. ¡°I only just today put in a formal job posting, which was taken up by our new friends, here,¡± he said with a nod in Jason¡¯s direction. ¡°I suppose that will mess to go on hold for now.¡±
¡°What was the job?¡± Tobias asked.
¡°Just some prism scarab chitin, and any extra Radiant Iron he happens to find in the nests.¡±
Tobias turned to Jason, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Would you be willing to take on some additional gathering tasks, if we provided you and your friends with transport? It shouldn¡¯t take more than a few days, and by then we¡¯ll know more. Additional supplies for some specialized gear couldn''t hurt.¡±
Jason looked to Lumi for confirmation. She nodded, but also leaned forwards to tap Jason¡¯s holstered wands, giving him a meaningful look.
He nodded once, and then turned back to the Mayor.
¡°Sure,¡± he said. ¡°Actually, while we¡¯re on the subject of outfitting... do we have people capable of using wands, or staves?¡±
Jason hesitated a moment so he could pick his words carefully. ¡°I¡¯d rather not go into details, but my classes are... a little unusual. If you can provide me access to a proper lab, and materials, I could probably outfit half the town with basic enchantments in about two weeks, including specialized weaponry, given you supply with me everything I need.¡±This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
¡°A... lab?¡± asked Tobias. ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with the word. But I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have the kind of supplies needed for mass production of enchantments.¡±
Jason coughed politely. ¡°Actually, um, you do.¡± He gestured to Flora. ¡°I¡¯m betting Flora can help provide me with everything I¡¯m missing. Get me a private space to work in, some specialized glassware and tools, and I can provide the rest.¡°
¡°You would do that for us?¡± Tobias asked with surprise. ¡°Arcane powder isn¡¯t cheap.¡±
¡°Maybe not,¡± Jason replied with a shrug, ¡°but it¡¯s a fantastic opportunity for me to improve my class levels rapidly. I¡¯m willing to consider that and lab access payment enough for now. Anything else we can work out later.¡±
¡°Then you have our sincere thanks,¡± Tobias said with a slight bow.
¡°Sevani?¡± he asked, turning to the dark-skinned woman.
¡°I¡¯ll meet with him before he leaves, to get the exact specifications,¡± she replied, making a small note on the set of parchment she had laid out in front of her.
¡°Very good,¡± Tobias said. ¡°Then aside from canvassing the town to look for any evidence of foul play, I think the final question before us is this: Do we call for aid from the Guilds now, or do we wait and see how developed the dungeon is and try and handle things ourselves, perhaps with Feron¡¯s aid?¡±
Therissa raised a hand and spoke up. ¡°I realize I¡¯m somewhat biased here, but I¡¯ve actually already been in contact with a member of the Black Thorns today. When Jason first informed me of the core he¡¯d acquired, I sent for someone to come look over the site, just in case. I could just send a new message to upgrade that request to an urgent priority. Their expertise would be helpful to have when we find the entrance, and if the dungeon turns out to be as far along in development as we fear, they could have a strike force down here in a matter of days, if we¡¯re willing to pay the fees to use Feron¡¯s Wayfinder Gate.¡±
Tobias rubbed his chin again thoughtfully. Then he let out a heavy sigh. ¡°It¡¯s liable to cost us a bloody fortune, but what¡¯s money when it comes to the safety of our citizens? Very well, see it done, please.¡±
¡°I think that covers everything, then,¡± he said, looking about the room. ¡°Unless anyone has anything else to address?¡±
Flora spoke up. ¡°I''ll need a central area where you can bring the injured where I can see to them. Usually I just do in-home visits. I don¡¯t have a place to treat large numbers of people if it comes to it.¡±
Tobias nodded. ¡°Sevani?¡± he asked again.
¡°Noted.¡± She relied, making another mark on her parchment.
¡°Then I think we¡¯re done here,¡± Tobias said. ¡°Please see Captain Denaire or Lieutenant Ghot if you have any questions. She¡¯ll direct you to me if there are any issues.¡±
¡°Gods know I¡¯ll be awake all night making my own preparations,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°Dismissed, everyone.¡±
By the time Jason had given Sevani a brief rundown on the various alembics, crucibles, calcinators, and other apparatus he¡¯d need for a proper alchemy lab, and once Kera had finished her own meeting with Therissa, it was quite late in the evening. The three exhausted friends staggered back to the Inn, half-asleep on their feet, only to be met by a fearful Arn, wringing his hands in distress.
¡°Is..? Is it true?¡± he asked. ¡°A wild dungeon has appeared?¡±
Jason suppressed an urge to snicker and make a comment about tall grass.
Instead, he answered the man¡¯s question.
¡°I¡¯m afraid it might be even worse than that,¡± Jason said. ¡°It¡¯s being considered that this dungeon might have been deliberately manufactured. If you hear about anyone going missing, please, inform us immediately so we can alert Lt. Ghot, or speak with him yourself.¡±
The man swore quietly, and Jason clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly.
¡°Don¡¯t worry. Everything¡¯s under control. Mayor Tobias has everything in hand. He¡¯s even got us adventurers on board, and we¡¯ve already killed a dungeon once before.¡±
¡°You?¡± He asked.
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jason said with a nod. ¡°Therissa will be calling in additional help as well, so have no fear. You¡¯ll be safe as long as you stay inside the walls.¡±
After reassuring the man and requesting a simple, cold dinner be sent up to their rooms, Jason and Kera drew lots for who would get the single room to themselves for that night, with Jason winning. Then the three bathed, ate their meal, and went to bed.
The following morning, Kera and Lumi joined Raelin and the other adventurers in scouting out the entrance to the dungeon. Kera¡¯s plan was to have Raelin drive her about in the wagon, up and down the portions of the road that followed the river. Kera herself would use her belt to assume the crystal serpent form again, and essentially ¡®listen¡¯ to the surrounding terrain while Ceri scouted overhead. The other adventurers, Lumi, Willum, Turi, and Rahim, would provide escort on horseback.
As for Jason, he spent much of the morning with Flora, both at her shop and at her home, where she personally grew most of her stock.
Jason was rather blown away by her ¡®house¡¯, if you could call it that. It was more like a conservatory - a large building, covered with glass plates and filled with indoor trees, vines, and plants. Portions of the interior were fenced off by walls of interwoven ropes, often adorned with vines, forming different ¡®rooms¡¯ within.
Clearly her nature as a Life-touched had had a major influence on her taste in living spaces.
¡°How did you afford all this?¡± Jason asked, staring. Like her shop, beetles, butterflies, and other colorful insects buzzed about the place, providing a riot of moving colors against a background of green. ¡°The glass alone must have cost a fortune.¡±
Florasmirked at his question, amused.
¡°You¡¯re half-right,¡± she said. ¡°While it was expensive, glass is fairly cheap here in Arnvale, thanks to our proximity to the Crystal Wastes. Tersk and his family run our local forges and smelters, and they provide the town with relatively cheap glass.¡±
¡°On top of that,¡± Floracontinued, ¡°mymagic means I can supply a large variety of important herbs and powders to nearby towns. Raelin often does deliveries up to Feron and sometimes even farther for me. Everybody gets sick, or suffers injury from time to time, and I make quite a bit as both an apothecary and a physcian. Its a wonder I manage without an assistant.¡±
Jason cleared his throat a bit awkwardly.
¡°Do you mind if I ask you a weird question? I¡¯m sorry if it¡¯s offensive or something. But I find it strange that someone with such an incredible connection to living things would be perfectly fine with, well, cutting them apart and selling them off. How did you come to be both herbalist and apothecary?¡±
She smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not offended. But let me ask you a question in answer. ¡°Farmers who raise livestock develop skills that improve their rapport with animals, do they not? And yet they slaughter the very animals that depend on them, in order to turn them into food for others. Is this so different?¡±
¡°I suppose not,¡± Jason conceded.
She gestured all around her. ¡°You grew up in one of the crowded cities, I can tell. People like you see all this and they think ¡®Wow, nature! It¡¯s so full of life and peace!¡¯¡±
¡°Except that nature is anything but peaceful,¡± she said. ¡°Beautiful? Yes. Peaceful? Hardly. Almost everything that lives preys on something else to survive in one way or another. Insects eat smaller insects. Birds eat the smaller ones, and larger predators eat the birds, and so on. Even plants like the ones I have here must compete with one another for nutrients in the soil; some types of trees even actively poison the land around them to make it unfit for other species.¡±
¡°All creatures participate in a constant struggle to survive,¡± Flora emphasized. ¡°A simple rainstorm might seem pretty to us, but it¡¯s a cataclysmic event for a simple ant mound. Many ants actually evacuate their homes every time it rains, carrying their eggs and young to higher ground, escaping the water that seeps into their mound until it¡¯s dried.
¡°Life itself is a selfish, brutal, destructive thing. What could be more un-natural than to actively interfere in that cycle and try and constantly preserve all life? That is the path that leads to foul practices such as necromancy.¡±
¡°I think I get where you¡¯re coming from,¡± Jason said, chastened. ¡°Thank you for answering.¡±
¡°Think nothing of it,¡± Flora replied. ¡°What exactly are you looking for anyway? I¡¯m still not sure how exactly I can help you with your enchanting. I mean, I know you said I helped a lot with the whole dirt thing, but...?¡±
She cocked her head inquisitively at him.
¡°What do you know about enchanting?¡± Jason asked. ¡°More specifically, how potions are made?¡±
¡°Not much, really,¡± she replied. ¡°Just that some kinds of enchanters make them, and they don¡¯t last very long.¡±
¡°Well, the very basics is that enchanters just sort of... keep forcing mana into them until they absorb enough to be useful. But that process isn¡¯t limited to just potions. Artificers like myself can do something similar with other objects.¡±
Jason pulled out his half-melted iron wand, showing it to her. ¡°You were a bit busy at the time, but I infused this with a bit of runic essense while we were fighting, because it ran out of Fire magic while we were fighting. It was kind of a rush job though, so this thing¡¯s already pretty much useless.¡±
He gave it a flick, and a tiny sputter of darkness flew out, only to dissipate harmlessly in the late morning light.
¡°Oh is that what happened?¡± Flora asked. ¡°I saw you using some kind of fire spell, but then at the end you were using shadowbolts, right?¡±
¡°Exactly. Wands only have so much power they can use before they burn out, and mine did during the fight because the one I''d made hadn''t had much to begin with. With a little effort and a dose of arcane powder, I was able to just shove mana back in and use some improvised runic essence to make it into something that would work for a only little while, kind of like how potions get made.¡±
¡°But where do I come in?¡± Flora asked him.
¡°That¡¯s sort of the trade secret I was mentioning,¡± Jason lied. ¡°Certain plants will... alleviate my need for so much arcane powder. Different plants are useful for different inks for scribing runes, or can be used for other parts of the process, depending on the effect in question I¡¯m trying to enchant. Like all that Mellax I bought from you is good for enchanting things that blow up.¡±
¡°Oh. Like what you did to that Sobek?¡± Flora asked.
¡°Sobek?¡±
¡°The big crocodile monster.¡±
¡°Oh is that what it was called?¡± Jason replied. ¡°Kera never had a chance to analyze it.¡±
¡°They¡¯re one of the more savage beast-kin species, like Lizardfolk. They don¡¯t get along with civilized society much. The ones that aren¡¯t dungeon-born, anyway.¡±
¡°Ah, I see,¡± Jason replied. ¡°But to answer you question, yes, I used the Mellax you sold me to help enchant those [Salamander Stones] I used. I¡¯m very glad I did, as well.¡±
¡°Yes. Me too.¡± Flora replied quietly.
¡°So um, are you looking for anything in particular?¡± She asked after a moment, as she led him on a brief tour around her home. ¡°As I said back at the shop, I do have things here I don¡¯t normally sell because there¡¯s no demand.¡±
¡°Well, I was hoping for two things,¡± Jason said. ¡°Remember that bag of seeds I¡¯ve got? I still really want to see if I can bring that project to fruition; if we can get them grown quickly to full maturity so I can harvest them, they¡¯re very likely to provide a fantastic source of new, um, enchantments.
¡°On top of it, I¡¯m in need of something to help with other elemental enchantments. Unless Jerrik¡¯s books can teach me additional runes, All I can more or less make right now is more shadow-enchantments. Fire would be much, much more useful if we¡¯re fighting fish monsters. Unfortunately, I¡¯m almost completely out of Fire-aspected ingredients for my work.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve got anything like that.¡±
¡°You don¡¯t have to, specifically. It¡¯s...well, it¡¯s that whole trade secrets thing again,¡± Jason said with a sigh. ¡°More and more I¡¯m thinking I may just have to bite the bullet and join one of the Guilds before I have every adventurer in the world breathing down my neck to make them stuff.¡±
Jason¡¯s laugh had a slight bitter edge to it. ¡°I¡¯ve already revealed more than I¡¯m comfortable with, really, and I¡¯ve only been here for two days.¡±
¡°At any rate,¡± he said, ¡°even if you don¡¯t specifically have the right ingredients, I can probably make what I need with the stuff you can provide me. All I really need is to just see what I¡¯ve got to work with.¡±
¡°So, what, you don¡¯t actually know what you¡¯re looking for?¡± Flora asked him crossly.
¡°Nope!¡± Jason replied cheerfully. ¡°But don¡¯t worry about that. I didn¡¯t know what I was looking for when I came to you yesterday either, remember? And yet here I am, having already having completed the first stage in development of my magical fertilizer.¡±
Flora looked at him a little dubiously at first, but then shrugged.
¡°I suppose that¡¯s certainly true,¡± she said. ¡°Your results were certainly quick. Fine, we¡¯ll do it your way. Don¡¯t forget, you owe me some pots!¡±
Despite an exhaustive search, in the end Jason returned to the inn having found only two new sources for traits he already had, and only one new trait, ¡®Poison¡¯, from a species of mushroom Flora had found growing on one of the trees in her house.
However, she did provide him with a small supply of the ingredients he¡¯d mostly used up the day before, so he at least had something to work with while he waited for Lumi and Kera to return. He used those supplies to replenish some of the potions they''d used, and to make himself some additional arcane powder so he''d have some on hand if needed.
First, Jason made four more [Salamander Stones], using the rest of his fire trait sources except for a single remaining hide scrap. He would have greatly preferred to wait, but his lab wouldn¡¯t be ready until he returned from the Crystal Wastes, so he had no immediate way to reliably refine the ingredients first, and after yesterday¡¯s performance, he didn¡¯t want to go without them.
Next, Jason made a new type of grenade with the trait sequence ¡®Volatile Produce Night¡¯, which resulted in a glass sphere filled with an inky black substance that when smashed, would release a cloud of thick, magical darkness that would blind anyone standing in it.
After that, Jason then turned to crafting himself a new wand. This time he used his [Engraving] skill to do so, rather than relying on his Infusion skill, as he didn¡¯t really have any spare ingredients he wanted to try out.
It took him several attempts to get a functioning one that should draw on ambient mana to charge itself, rather than draining his own. Since his Engrave skill was only at the first rank, and the skill required the utmost precision to get right, Jason ended up ruining two of his iron rods before finally managing to complete a full sequence for a [Lesser Wand of Shadowbolt]
Runic Sequence Discovered: Elemental Projectile - Capacity, Absorption, Shadow, Projection. Substitution of Shadow for other elements will result in different effects.
Jason also decided to make some additional [Tanglefoot Bags]. Althoughhe¡¯d not thought to try them out during the fight, the radius of explosion for his [Salamander Stones] had been impressive enough that he thought they might be of use in taking down the prism scarabs that Jerrik wanted. If he could simply pin them in place or bog them down, Lumi and Kera should have no trouble finishing them off.
By the time he was finished, the two girls had returned to the Inn. While they hadn¡¯t pinpointed the dungeon¡¯s exact location, once evening fell Kera had been able to detect an unusually high volume of noise coming from woods in the northwest, noise which to her had seemed like it involved a large degree of churning of water, among other things.
With Kera¡¯s job more or less compete, having at least provided a direction for a search party to take, that meant that the following day, Jason, Lumi, and Kera would finally depart for the Crystal Wastes.
Chapter 16
Just after dawn, Jason, Lumi, and Kera met with Therissa in the Lodge¡¯s common room. It had been decided by the Mayor that the three adventurers would not be sent unaided into the Crystal Wastes, for the three had no firsthand experience navigating the terrain there. While one of Kera¡¯s books did, in fact, deal with the sorts of fantastic creatures that lived in places such as the Waste, simply reading about them was no substitute for actually having been there. A guide would be needed.
Therefore, the Mayor had decided to make a proper expedition of things. The three adventurers would provide escort for the two [Hunters], Aria and Belman, who would serve as the group¡¯s guides, as well as provide an extra set of hands for harvesting any kills. At Tersk¡¯s insistence, with a claim that ¡®adventurers didn¡¯t know good ore if they were staring right at it¡¯, also joining them would be Tersk¡¯s own son, Pelk, who possessed levels both as a [Miner] and as a [Stonecutter]. Last of all, one of the town¡¯s few guardsmen, Serif, would be going with them so that someone could stay behind with the civilians in case the adventurers needed to deal with any monsters.
Privately, Jason assumed that the real reason Serif was sent along was that someone needed to be in charge of the horses while everyone else was working.
The first part of the trip involved a solid day¡¯s journey to the west and south along the road. Jason was surprised that they were able to continue traveling long into the evening, but it had been Aria¡¯s suggestion that in order to cut down ontransit time, they make use of Lumiriel¡¯s [Cantrips] to light the way.
They camped late that evening just at the edge of the woods, where the terrain gradually turned to grasslands dotted with the occasional low hill.
The following morning saw the group continuing along the road, which slowly wove between hills until it came upon a long, low ridge that stretched across the horizon.
¡°There¡¯s our destination for the evening,¡± Belman said. He pointed up the ridge, where a small set of low buildings could be made out just at the crest. ¡°Us locals refer to that as Wasteland Station, a rest house for caravans that are willing to make the crossing. Not many are these days, so the place is a bit run-down.¡±
¡°It¡¯s still morning though,¡± Jason commented. He squinted and shielded his eyes against the sun that was off to his left, looking up at the ridge to the south. ¡°Will it really take us all day to get up there? It doesn¡¯t look that far to me.¡±
¡°No, we¡¯ll be there by late afternoon,¡± Aria said. ¡°The real reason we¡¯re stopping then is you do not want to be out in the open in the Wastes at night if you can help it. That¡¯s when the shard drakes are at their most active, and we do not want to meet one of them.¡±
Belman agreed with Aria. ¡°They¡¯re nothing like your little friend over there,¡± he said with a nod in Ceri¡¯s direction. ¡°Shard drakes are massive beasties, easilly bigger than you and your horse combined. You don¡¯t want to cross one. Like a lot of the things out there on the other side, they¡¯re attracted to noise, so most people crossing the Wastes travel during the day, and at night they stick to the ruins of the old towns and temples that used to be out here before the dungeon took them over.¡±
¡°A dungeon?¡± asked Kera.
Serif spat rudely on he ground from the back of his horse, clearing his throat.
¡°Tha¡¯s right.¡± He said. ¡°Don¡¯t know ¡®bout when, but most folks around here know the story. Long time ago this used t¡¯be the seat of a kingdom. Damnfools tried to raise their own dungeon like some kinda livestock. They wanted to use it to farm gemstones, outfit their soldiers with the best gear around, get em leveled up real high.¡±
¡°¡®Cept they underestimated it,¡± Serif continued. ¡°Crystal dungeons are a kind of earth theme, yeah? Means the monsters in it are good at burrowin¡¯. It spread its roots far and deep before making its move. Once the dungeon was strong enough to start raiding, it made new entrances. Claimed and Tunneled its way right up into some of the nearby towns, and started dragging people away into it before anybody even knew what was happening.¡±
¡°Whole towns disappeared practically overnight, caught unprepared. ¡®S why folks are so scared. It can come sudden-like. The Mayor has the right idea to draw up stocks of water and then seal up the wells and set a watch on ¡®em til the dungeon¡¯s dealt with; they could come right up through them into the middle of town.¡±
Jason shuddered, imagining a horde of raging fishmen dashing through the town, with a huge Sobek standing by to drag hapless villagers back into the well to a watery doom.
¡°I¡¯m assuming the dungeon in the Wastes is long gone?¡± asked Lumi.
¡°Oh aye,¡± Pelk cut in. ¡°The nations to either side killed it in the end, but not before the dungeon swallowed up a good swath of the countryside and two dozen towns and villages along with it. The nation that created it in the first place was destroyed, and the nation that used to exist on our side of the place spent so much in the way of resources trying to destroy that abomination that they fractured into civil war afterwards, leaving us with the free cities we¡¯ve got today.¡±
¡°By then, the natural mana of the region was so screwed up and saturated with out of control earth-aspect that even without the presence of the dungeon, the area keeps on generating its own variant of the dungeon¡¯s natural corruption, so nobody can live in the region.¡±
¡°Corruption?¡± Jason asked, alarmed. ¡°Aren¡¯t we in danger from that?¡±
¡°Nah,¡± Aria said dismissively. ¡°Only if you¡¯re here for an extended period, on the order of months, and just leaving the region would be good enough to set you right again unless you stayed way longer. And don¡¯t worry, in all my life it¡¯s never spread beyond the ridge, and this place has been around a lot longer than I have.¡±
Jason let out a sigh of relief as they began to make their way up to the top of the ridge.
¡°So what are we here for, anyway?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got the quest for some radiant iron and some prism chitin, but what else are we looking for?¡±
Pelk answered first. ¡°Well it¡¯s lots of things, really. Plenty of value to be had here in the Wastes thanks to the over abundance of mana, but in addition to your radiant iron, there¡¯s precious stones, earthheart, luminite, mana crystals, you name it. This place is a goldmine for that sort of stuff.¡±
¡°Probably plenty of other stuff you [Hunters] are after too, yeah?¡± He asked with a questioning glance at Aria and Belman.
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Aria answered. ¡°Prism hide and chitin, and bloodgems to name the main ones. A few other things that are useful for weapons, like the fangs of a crystal serpent, or the blade-feathers of an onyx eagle. Depends on what we run into really.¡±
They began to cross the last of the grasslands, and reached the slopes of the ridge by noon. Travel upwards was slow going, as the wide road wound its way back back and forth up the ridge, finding its way past huge moss-covered boulders that Jason thought looked like the remnants of an ancient battle between giants. But eventually they reached the top, where they were greeted by the site of a set of three, quaint-looking, overly-large log cabins nestled in a rocky outcrop where they were mostly shielded from the weather
Then there was the view.
Jason pulled his horse to a stop and stared down at the scene before him.
The road swept down the other side of the ridge towards a vast, open plain bereft of trees and grasses of any kind. Instead, great, man-sized growths of quartz and limestone jutted up from the soil, dotting the landscape like a bizarre form of cacti. The very ground itself shone with light: the dark, dry dirt reflected a constellation of a thousand different colors in the afternoon light.
Nothing moved in the slightest, except for the roving patterns of refracting sunlight, and a slight breeze that kicked up bits of loose dirt and sand as it swept across the landscape.
¡°It¡¯s... strangely beautiful.¡± Lumi commented, awed.
¡°What causes all the colors?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Tourmaline, lad,¡± Pelk answered, pulling up alongside them. ¡°You¡¯re looking at the greatest source of tourmalines in the entire world. The very soil itself is chock full of ever-so-tiny broken up fragments of the stuff. That¡¯s what causes all the different colors; the soil here has been partially changed into all manner of different forms of crystals. Quartz, tourmaline, calcite, sandstone... you name it. Tales tell of whole caverns turned into gigantic geodes the likes of which you¡¯ve never seen.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°How is it possible that no one¡¯s laid claim to all this?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Surely there¡¯s a fortune to be made here doing it.¡±
Pelk laughed at him. ¡°Aye, and what would you eat, lad? Can¡¯t hunt. Not only would most stuff out there kill an average man without much trouble, you can¡¯t eat rocks. Not unless you¡¯re a troll, anyway.¡±
¡°Couldn¡¯t you use irrigation, or aqueducts to farm the slopes up here? Set up nearby mining?¡±
Pelk shook his head. ¡°Nope. Can¡¯t do that either. Pick up a handful of yon soil and have a taste,¡± he said. ¡°Go on, I promise it won¡¯t hurt ya.¡±
Jason dismounted, and picked up a pinch of thin, browning dirt. He touched his tongue tentatively to it, and immediately spat it back out with a grimace.
It was like sticking his tongue into a vat of table salt.
Pelk laughed uproariously at Jason as he spat repeatedly to clear out the taste. He passed Jason his waterskin so he could wash his mouth out.
Jason did so.
¡°Now you understand,¡± Pelk said. ¡°The answer¡¯s salt, lad. Halite, your common rock salt, is a crystal too. The soil¡¯s full of the stuff. It dries out the land and kills off your crops. Even if you did manage to get water up here, your plants would build up toxic levels of salt, and then after awhile they¡¯d start to mutate too, to boot.¡±
Pelk then passed Jason a small flask. ¡°Here, this¡¯ll clean out the taste. Careful, it¡¯s strong stuff.¡±
Jason took a small swig, and coughed as it burned its way down his throat. The whiskey had a strange berry flavor to it was nevertheless quite pleasant.
He passed the flask back to Pelk.
¡°You¡¯re forgetting the corruption,¡± Pelk said as he tucked his flask back into his bag. ¡°It affect plants too. Sure, you could rotate the people in and out, but not the crops. And theres the monsters too. Mana saturation isn¡¯t just in the ground either, it spreads all throughout the air, down the slopes, everything. That grass we came through can tolerate the higher salt levels on the slopes of the region, but most plants can¡¯t. Arnvale¡¯s really the closest you can conceivably be without needing to worry about all sorts of problems that make it prohibitively expensive to build out here.¡±
¡°So instead you occasionally get people like us to make occasional forays, small trips to gather what they can in safety, and then export it elsewhere,¡± concluded Jason.
¡°Exactly. In fact, my own family¡¯s yourmost common customer, there,¡± the dwarf said.
¡°All right, enough standing around jawing about history,¡± Belman said. ¡°Let¡¯s get ourselves squared away. Our target is only half a day¡¯s ride out from here. If at all possible, I¡¯d like to spend only one full day camped in the ruins before we head back, to minimize risk. Also it means we¡¯ll be back home in our beds before the week is out. So take some time off now for yourselves, relax, do you, et cetera. We¡¯ll head for the ruins with the dawn.¡±
Everyone nodded, and separated into groups to pick out rooms in the cabins. Jason, Lumi, and Kera took one for themselves, while Aria and Belman took another, and Pelk and Serif took the last. The cabins didn¡¯t have any windows, instead relying on a series of pipes for ventilation and a stone fireplace for heating. Kera managed to somehow acquire a large wooden tub from someplace, and even managed to talk Lumi into filling and heating it so the three of them could take baths in shifts in the last unused room.
Once evening came, everyone met outdoors and prepared a simple, campfire-cooked communal stew of roasted meats and vegetables, plus fruits and cheeses, all kept fresh courtesy of the preservation charm on Jason¡¯s pack.
All in all, it was an enjoyable, relaxing evening for everyone involved, and a welcome rest to Jason and Kera, who had never ridden horseback before and didn¡¯t have a skill like Lumi did to rely on to help them avoid sore muscles.
The ride down into the Wastes themselves the next morning was uneventful. Small puffs of dry sand, salt, and dirt were disturbed as the horses made their way along the ¡®road¡¯ that passed through the reason. Jason felt it qualified more as a trail than a road, as it apparently hadn¡¯t been maintained for centuries. But the lack of wet weather and absence vegetation had left it mostly intact in any case.
Belman had passed out sets of tinted glass goggles to everyone that morning, including fitting them to the horses. By the time noon came around, Jason was glad of them, uncomfortable as they were; apparently the constant reflection of sunlight off the crystals permeating the area could cause the equivalent of snow blindness. Even with the goggles, the glare was fairly strong if he happened to catch the light at the wrong angle.
Sometime in the early afternoon they arrived at their destination: an old, walled temple complex dedicated to some deity Jason didn¡¯t inquire about. Most of the towers had collapsed, and the walls long crystallized into a kind of black-and-brown marbled sandstone. Here and there the same gigantic quartz crystals sprouted up amidst the rubble, almost like weeds that were growing up and over the ruin.
Belman led the group into what used to be the central courtyard, surrounded on all sides by walls. A wide, open slope large enough to fit horses in had at some point been dug down into abreached cellar that lay several feetbelow the surface.
Then he called for a halt.
¡°Alright, Lumi,¡± Belman said, waving Jason and the others forwards. ¡°Your lot are up first. Make sure the cellar is clear before we set up camp down there.¡±
¡°Understood,¡± the girl replied, dismounting. She passed her reins to Aria, and drew her sword.
Jason and Kera dismounted likewise, readying their weapons and passing their reins to one of the civilians while Serif drew his own saber and remained on his horse.
Lumi began by ordering Kera to send Ceri to take a brief look into the cellar, followed by sending Jason on a brief circuit around the inner courtyard to make sure nothing was lurking just out of sight.
He didn¡¯t find anything, but Kera did.
¡°Head¡¯s up,¡± she said. ¡°Ceri¡¯s spotted some scarabs already. Quite a few, so I¡¯m betting there¡¯s nests.¡±
Belman grunted in affirmation. ¡°Usually is, anytime people pass through here. The things like to dig down underneath old structures and make burrows to lair in. That¡¯s where we¡¯ll find the iron.¡±
¡°How big are the tunnels?¡± Kera asked as she called Ceri back to her. ¡°These ones don¡¯t look larger than a good sized dog. How big do they get?¡±
¡°Those¡¯re adults,¡± Aria answered her. ¡°And the tunnels are only just big enough for us to crawl through to get into the nests. Don¡¯t worry about that though. Pelk here has fun tool to drivethem all out when we¡¯re ready.¡±
Pelk gave her a gleeful grin. ¡°Aye, that I do.¡±
¡°Jason, Kera, behind me,¡± Lumi ordered as she activated her elemental shield. ¡°I¡¯ll take point. I¡¯ll keep pushing them back with Geyser. Kera, you pin down stragglers with a [Thorn Trap], and the Jason, youand Ceri can pick them off safely. Sound good?¡±
Kera gave her the usual exaggerated, cheerful salute while Jason simply nodded, twirling his shadowbolt wand with one hand.
Lumi switched her shield from its fire form to a more solid frost one that had a single large spike of ice jutting from the front. She began to advance down the slope into the cellar, where she immediately threw out a mage-light so the they could see.
As they stepped past gap in the sandstone walls, Jason caught sightof the scarabs for the first time. Just as Kera had described, the insects were the size of a very large dog. IfJason were to stand next to one it would reach halfway up his thigh, easilly capable of bowling one of them over were it to charge. Four large, elongated spines - or perhaps legs; it was hard to tell - stretched in front of its head, sharpened into hard points. The shells of the scarabs were a riot of color, constantly fluctuating like oil on water, with unrefined chunks of gemstone studding their backs like additional armor.
The reaction to the adventurers¡¯ presence was immediate. Several of the scarabs fled through a door into a carved stone passageway at the back of the cellar, while three of the beetles turned to face the invaders.
The middle one rushed Lumi, who responded by summoning a spire of ice straight out of the ground between them, causing the scarabs to leap to the side to avoid being impaled. This brought the creature right in front of one of the others, and Kera took the opportunity to conjure up a tangle of thorny vines underneath it. A moment later, the scarab¡¯s movements set off the trap, wrapping itself and the scarab behind it a tangle of vines they couldn¡¯t escape.
Jason took his shots. Each beetle took two hits, but they were pinned in place, so he was able to fire off four shots in quick succession. The third and final beetle was not so fortunate as the first, and found itself impaled mid-leap on Lumi¡¯s second spike.
¡°Well that was a rather easy,¡± commented Kera. She checked her character sheet. I got almost nothing from that. Nothing compared to those fish guys.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t say things like that,¡± Jason groaned. ¡°Do you want to get devoured by a swarm of hundreds of dog-sized bugs? Not a good way to go.¡±
¡°Thankfully,¡± Kera replied, ¡°My book says that prism scarabs are too big to come in swarms.¡±
Jason groaned again, facepalming. ¡°Now you¡¯ve really gone and jinxed us.¡±
¡°Oh hush, you,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Go and make sure there¡¯s no other entrances besides that door. We can seal it off and make camp here until we¡¯re ready to go deeper.¡±
Jason made a quick circuit of the room before motioning the others to begin leading the horses into the huge, overly large space. He wondered if it had once stored casks of wine or other such things, for even with the horses, there was still plenty of space to move about and pitch a decent camp.
Both Aria and Belman had both brought some canvas sheets for that very purpose. They set Kera and Serif to putting up some peaked tents right there in the cellar using poles jammed into the floor, while they used other sheets to lay down a wall across the gap in the wall to prevent light from a fire from attracting predators. Meanwhile, together with Pelk¡¯s assistance Lumi managed to get the door leading further into the complex closed and sealed off with ice magic. It wouldn¡¯t hold against a determined assault, but would last long enough for them to tear down the canvas and make a getaway if need be.
Meanwhile, the two [Hunters] got to work harvesting the three scarab carcasses. Fortunately, Lumi and Kera were able to dismiss the effects of their spells, so they didn¡¯t have to wrestle the scarabs out from under the thorns or off the ice. They dragged the bodies out of the cellar up to the surface, where they set about with both small picks and chisels, carving off what passed for chitin for the creatures, as well as setting aside the occasional bloodgem.
When Jason joined them to assist, he was informed that the stones were particularly prized by [Hunters] like themselves, because they possessed a special property that when crafted into weapons, bloodgems granted the weapon a lesser form of the heart-seeking enchantment, and thus made excellent arrowheads.
Upon analyzing them, he learned two new traits.
Bloodgem Traits Discovered: Seeking, Blood.
The chitin of the insects had a new trait as well.
Prism Chitin Trait Discovered: Prismatic.
Jason wasn¡¯t quite sure what that might mean, but he had a theory; in games, ¡®Prismatic¡¯ effects usually meant some kind of randomized component, like different energy attacks, or a grab-bag effect where different colors meant different spells. He¡¯s have to do some experimenting to find out.
Until then however, he¡¯d have to wait. They had a job to do.
Chapter 17
After Jason, Aria, and Belman harvested what they could from the three scarab corpses, Jason was given the task of dragging the remains away so that any scavengers wouldn¡¯t make their way directly into the central courtyard.
They¡¯d used some kind of oiled, leathery tarp to do their messy work, and all Jason needed to do was just drag it away and dump it somewhere, so he elected to take the remains all the way outside the temple walls. He asked Kera if he could borrow Ceri to keep an aerial eye out for him.
It turned out to be a good thing, too. Jason was just unrolling the tarp and dumping the contents when Ceri let out a warning screech from above and dived down to land on Jason¡¯s shoulder.
Searching about, Jason quickly located the source of Ceri¡¯s distress: A crystal serpent not unlike the type Kera had taken the form of a few days prior.
This one was clearly not Kera, though. Ceri puffed up, hissing angrily in Jason¡¯s ear as the huge snake slowly shifted its bulk towards him and, presumably, the meal it wanted.
Backing away carefully, Jason pulled out his wand and drew one of his tanglefoot bombs. When he reached what he felt was a moderate distance away from the scarab corpses, he waited to see what the serpent would do.
The beast snaked forwards, glittering in the early afternoon sunlight. It paused only a moment to investigate the dead scarabs before it turned it¡¯s gaze in Jason¡¯s direction.
Seeing that the beast wasn¡¯t going to leave him alone, Jason bit down on the thin strip of leather that worked as a sort of activator pin for the tanglefoot mixture, and pulled it. He tossed the bag to the ground just behind the serpent¡¯s head.
With a puff of white smoke, the bag¡¯s contents exploded outwards, releasing hundreds of thin filaments coated in a sticky, web-like substance the color of mud. It drenched the serpent¡¯s head and front, which caused it to recoil backward in surprise. This only served to further coat the creature in the quickly-solidifying tanglefoot.
Soon, its front half was completely immobilized. With a push of his now-free hand, he launched Ceri at the trapped serpent, who immediately charged with static and began laying into the creature with his claws. Being made of rock-hard crystal, Ceri¡¯s claws and teeth seemed to dolittle to phase the creature, even as it lashed madly with its tail end, trying to free its head.
The small Drake¡¯s lightning seemed to be doing a real number on the creature, though. Unfortunately, lacking Kera¡¯s class skills, Jason didn¡¯t have a way to tell Ceri to hold back and build up a larger charge, so he called the drake off and began to unload on the serpent with his wand.
The shadowbolts didn¡¯t do as much damage as Jason would have liked, and his mana was quickly drained. Trapped as it was though, eventually the serpent grew still and Jason was rewarded with a levelup notification.
Level Gained: Alchemist 10. Skill Point acquired. Stat Point acquired. +1 Class Point acquired.
Hybrid Class, Level 10 Milestone reached: +100 Maximum Mana awarded. +5 Skill Points awarded.
Skill Specialization acquired: You may now choose a crafting or gathering Skill appropriate to your Class to advance to the next tier.
Level Gained: Artificer 9. Skill point acquired. You have acquired a new Class Skill, [Metamagician]
[Metamagician]: Artificers are masters of bending enchantments to their will. With the proper application of arcane powder and an infusion of mana, you can temporarily alter the normally-rigid base function of a magic item, causingeffectsto last longer, attacks to strike further or wider, and other such enhancements.
Jason set aside his new skill to look into later, instead focusing on the mention of a skill specialty. A quick look into his status told him he needed to choose an existing skill that he could raise from Basic to Advanced, or Advanced to Expert .
Might be worth picking one at random and dumping points into it when we get back and the testing out the respec potions, he thought.
While he was standing there reading his screen, Kera jogged up to him, tailed by Aria and Belman. Kera didn¡¯t seem like she was in any particular hurry; clearly, Ceri had already informed her the fight was over.
¡°Everything clear now?¡± she asked.
¡°All good,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°The thing didn¡¯t even get a chance to strike,¡± he said, gesturing to the snake¡¯s trapped head.
It took a bit of work for Jason and the two [Hunters] to free the creature''s head so its fangs could be extracted. The fangs looked an awful lot like crystal knives to Jason, but they had no alchemical property. The beast¡¯s hide however, provided a second source of the [Prismatic] trait, and they were able to harvest some additional bloodgems from it.
After disposing of that carcass as well, the four returned to the camp, where it was time to unseal the door.
Lumi took up a defensive stance in front of the door. Pelk stood nearby, wielding a large, black steel hammer. The two hunters stood well back, holding the reins of the horses; their arrows would do little against the scarab¡¯s tough shells.
¡°Here goes,¡± Lumi said. With a wave of her sword, she dismissed her ice and shoved open the door.
When a horde of giant scarabs emphatically did not come swarming out, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
¡°Alright. I¡¯m on point,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Jason, Kera, behindme as usual. Pelk, you¡¯re in the back. I¡¯m sure you know your way around that hammer, but our job is to keep you safe. Don¡¯t jump in unless you need to or it¡¯s time to lure them out of their nests.¡±
Lumi thenturned to Kera. ¡°You leveled off those scarabs like I did, right? Got anything that will help us locate these things?¡±
¡°I think so.¡± Kera replied. ¡°Not from leveling, though. Last night I decided to drink my skill potion, and finally picked up that unique I earned from uh, trying to be ¡®one with the snake¡¯ so to speak. Apparently, it¡¯s a synergy skill between my Monster Magic skill and my class skill, Evolution Surge.¡±
¡°It¡¯s called [Morphic Modification], and it lets me add special physical traits fromany monster forms I take into my Monster Magic list, like a spell. So I can cast the whole ¡®feeling sound¡¯ thing from my belt without actually needing to use it. Check it out:¡±
¡°Morphic Modification,¡± Kera commanded.
Jason quickly activated his [Analyze Spell] skill as a blue glow suffused Kera¡¯s body briefly. Surprisingly, Jason received a notification that he¡¯d learned a new rune, Perception, as Kera¡¯s spell took hold. It would seem effects from her [Monster Magic] skill counted.
When the glow faded, Kera¡¯s eyes and hair had changed entirely to crystal, and a thin dusting of tiny particles coated her skin, causing it to glitter when it caught the light.
¡°Whoa,¡± Kera commented, trying to run her fingers through her hair, which to Jason now looked like long, crystalline dreadlocks. The strands of her hair made a chiming sound as theyclinked together.
¡°Less examining yourself, more searching,¡± Lumi ordered. ¡°We are on the job here.¡±
¡°Right,¡± Kera replied, ¡°Sorry.¡± She dropped her hands to her sides, extending them slightly outward, while she closed her eyes and began to slowly turn in a circle, ¡®listening¡¯ to the sounds all around them.
Then she pointed vaguely off in one direction. ¡°That way. They¡¯re easy to pick out. Lots of clicking and tapping with those sharp legs of theirs.¡±
Lumi nodded. ¡°Can you lead us?¡±
¡°Yes, but we¡¯ll have to hurry. This skill drains my stamina something bad.¡±
¡°Stamina? Not mana?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Yeah, I dunno why,¡± Kera replied as Lumi began to advance down the passageway, occasionally depositing new Mage-lights to light their way.
Twice, they passed branching hallways that appeared to lead off into different areas of the complex. Each time, Kera stopped the group and slightly lifted her hands in the direction of the passageway, fingers flexing. Then, after a moment of feeling at the air, she motioned them onwards.
The third time they reached a turnoff, Kera indicated they should take it. This one lead them into another, larger cellar. This room was vast, easilly a good fifty feet to a side, with occasionally spaced pillars for support.
Jason looked around at the small crystal growths that had pushed their way into the room in places . ¡°I think this is under what used to be the main structure. Strange they they¡¯ve got so many underground rooms here.¡±
Lumi simply shrugged. ¡°Does it matter?¡± she asked.
¡°Not really. Just wondering if this was used as a servants¡¯ passage or something.¡±
¡°Probably storage and wine making,¡± commented Pelk from behind.
Kera shushed them. ¡°This is where all the nests connect,¡± she whispered, pointing to several large gaps in the wall masonry. Dirt tunnels could be seen behind each gap.
¡°Those lead down into several individual nests, she said. ¡°Each one has... well several scarabs living in them. I can¡¯t tell if there¡¯s eggs, or exact numbers. Too many legs and too many similar sounds.¡±
¡°It¡¯s like trying to count the number of people marching in a platoon from the sound of their collective feet,¡± she finished with a shrug.
With a wave of a hand, she dismissed her spell. The blue glow of her magic enveloped her a second time, and when it faded she was back to normal.
¡°Alright, my turn then,¡± Pelk spoke up from the rear. ¡°I¡¯ve got sommat that¡¯ll bring em all right out of the burrows, fighting mad. It¡¯d be best if we could get them all at once, so be ready.¡±
¡°All at once is good,¡± Jason said. He drew another one of his Tanglefoot bags.
¡°Kera?¡± he asked. ¡°You want to lay down some thorn traps and I¡¯ll drop these on any that get bunched up trying to avoid them? Then we can all go to work on the stragglers?¡±
¡°Sounds like a plan to me,¡± she replied. She called Ceri to come land on her shoulder, out of any potential danger.
Pelk pulled out an opaque, wax-sealed glass jar, several small pouches, and a few lengths of twine. With a grunt, and popped the seal on the jar, and Jason could see a fine-grained, dark-colored powder.
¡°Is that... gunpowder?¡± Jason asked curiously, craning his neck to look.
Pelk paused, looked at him.
¡°Indeed it is. You know of it?¡±
¡°I know plenty about it,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I even know what goes into it, enough to make my own if I wanted. Not that I have any idea where I could get the sal-¡°
Pelk susdenly leaned intowards Jason and covered his mouth with one hand, dropping the empty pouches to the floor.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
¡°Be silent,¡± He hissed under his breath in Jason¡¯s ear. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare finish that sentence. You and I are going to have a talk later. I don¡¯t know who¡¯s been going about telling you dwarven secrets, and I¡¯m not one to judge a man for accidently stumbling across something, but by the gods if you¡¯ve-¡°
Lumi hauled Pelk backwards away from Jason with her free hand, forcing her frost-covered shield between the two. She then released Pelk and brought her sword up under his chin.
¡°Do we have a problem here?¡± she asked in a sickly-sweet voice, showing her teeth in a false smile.
Pelk froze, but Jason motioned Lumi to put her sword away. She looked at him for a moment longer, as if confirming he was sure, then stepped back.
¡°It¡¯s fine, Lumi,¡± Jason said. ¡°I think I understand what¡¯s going on here.¡±
Jason looked over at Pelk with a frown. ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware it was some big secret, but I swear to you I haven¡¯t stolen the knowledge or coerced it out of someone or anything like that. Gunpowder is common where all three of us are from. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if Lumi and Kera at least know what¡¯s in it, even if they don¡¯t know how much.¡±
Lumi slightly raised her free hand with a nod, indicating she did. Kera merely shrugged.
¡°If it will make you feel better, we¡¯ll pay a visit to Therissa when we get back and borrow her truth-teller, and I¡¯ll answer your questions if you¡¯re willing to answer some of mine, alright?¡±
Pelk searched Jason¡¯s face for a few moments, looking for any sign of deception. Of course, he found none. Grudgingly, he nodded once, and with a gruff, ¡°My apologies,¡± he turned away and picked up he pouches from the floor, and beganfilling them with a small few handfulsof black powder.
Each cloth pouch was threaded with a piece of treated twine across the top to serve as a fuse. Pelk explained that with only a little powder in each bag, lighting and tossing them would release a lot of noise and smoke, which would anger or scare the scarabs and drive them out of their nests, without doing any real damage to the potential iron deposits or the overall structure.
He passed the bags, two each, to Lum, Kera, and Jason along with a simple flint and steeling had them take up positions near a burrow. Pelk then withdrew what looked like a giant tuning fork, saying that with all the smoke and sudden loud noise, the noisevibrations of sound from the forkwould serve as a target for their anger.
Kera laid down a thorn trap in front of each burrow, while Pelk jammed the waist high, pronged rod into the ground like a spear, and tapped it lightly with his hammer, causing it to ring like a bell.
Then the three adventurers lit the fuses on the bags and chucked them as far down into the burrows as they could, then everyone retreated to the doorway.
A series of muffledthumps echoed up from below as the bags ignited, and smoke billowed up out from them, followed by enraged scarabs.
They scrambled madly out of the the nests, only for several of them to be seized in Kera¡¯s thorn traps. Jason likewise threw his tanglefoot bag into a group of three scarabs that had been pushed together by the thorny vines erupting from the ground, while Lumi launched a jet of flames at one who¡¯d managed to escape.
That scarab however was only singed by the girl¡¯s attack. Just as it turned to leap at her, Kera launched a silvery bolt from her staff, slamming the creature to the side.
¡°Don¡¯t use fire or light spells on them,¡± Kera shouted over the noise as she launched Ceri into the fray. ¡°Temperature doesn¡¯t do much to them, and the light will reflect. Use dense stuff.¡±
With a nod, Lumi switched back to using spears of ice as she had in their previous encounter with the creatures.
Jason meanwhile was flinging shadowbolts left and right with his wand, having already downed a [Least Mana Potion] so that he would slowly refill over the course of the fight. On his side of the room, the scarabs¡¯ attempt to escape the nests had been backed up by the combination of thorns and quick-drying tanglefoot, and he was simply able to snipe at them one after another as they struggled to push their downed brethren out of the way.
Kera seemed to be having no trouble either. While Ceri¡¯s claws didn¡¯t do much against their crystalline carapace, the pair¡¯s electrical shocks still conducted quite well, and with the beetles scrambling madly over one another to get at them, the drake was able to hit multiple scarabs at once with a single, charged-up attack. Kera¡¯s staff helped her stay out of reach, as well: it seemed she was fully capable of channeling her [Static Shock] Spell through her weapon or clothes just as well as her skin.
Lumi however, was having some major difficulties. The beetles near her had managed to push their fallen comrades out of the way, allowing nearly a dozen to come surging out of the nest all at once. The girl had placed herself in the way, and gone full-on defense, with multiple barriers spinning around the girl, in an attempt to prevent the scarabs from surrounding her.
Jason hadn¡¯t even realized she could do more than one at a time. He wondered if she¡¯d gained something new from leveling, as he watched her shield slam a scarab in the face with her floating bracer-shield. She¡¯d changed its element to stone, and the result was that what passed for the scarab¡¯s face was crushed inwards by the impact.
Two other barriers surrounded her as well. She¡¯d put up a wall of ice to one side, forcing the scarabs to funnel towards her, while both of her flanks were protected by a second barrier seeming made of solid light and fire.
One scarab managed to somehow climb up on top of her ice wall, and looked about to leap onto Lumi, but Pelk intervened, reaching overhead and smashing the creature into fragments with his steel hammer. Seeing how effective the weapon was against the creatures he moved to aid Lumi, who in turn rotated her shields as soon as she had some free space, protecting the dwarf¡¯s flank as well as her own.
Together the four of them quickly defeated the beetles, as many as there were. Jason was done with his side first, as his shadowbolts made relatively quick work of the scarabs and he hadn¡¯t needed to spend time dodging attacks. He then assisted Kera, who only sustained superficialinjuries in clearing her burrow. After dosing the girl with the healing wand he¡¯d made, the two stood back and sniped away at Lumi and Pelk¡¯s assailants, and the scarabs were soon dead.
After Kera used her magic to determine no more scarabs moved about the nests, the four then took a few minutes to catch their breath and replenish their stamina and mana. Then Kera activated her sound detectiona third time, and she, Lumi, and Ceri entered the burrows to double check the nests for eggs or stragglers.
Theyshortly reported back to Jason and the others that while theyhadn¡¯tfoundany remaining live beetles, theyhadfoundeggs, and weren¡¯tsure what to do with them.
¡°Let me take a look,¡± Jason said. ¡°Never know, might be harvestable for something. In the meantime, someone should go fetch Aria and Belman, and watch the horses. We¡¯ve got some major work to do.¡±
Jason crawled on his hands and knees to get down into the nest area. Fortunately, the tunnel was just barely wide enough for him to enter, and the nest itself opened up a fair bit, at least enough that he could stand.
He caught sight of what must have been the radiant iron immediately: shimmering, orange rock deposites sat in various corners of the room, surrounded by clutches of eggs. He looked at the ore, noticing that it had a somewhat balled-up look. It took him a moment, but he realized he¡¯d effectively accepted a quest to gather what amounted to beetle poop: the scarabs were eating whatever they could, excreting a high iron content dung, and then rolling it up with other substances in their nests for the young to feed off of when they hatched.
He sighed inwardly. First dissecting giant bugs and snakes, and now digging through solidified rock-poop.
I should¡¯ve guessed the whole Alchemist class thing was going to be a bit gross at times, he thought to himself. At least it¡¯s Pelk¡¯s job to dig it up, not mine.
He turned to examine the eggs. There were a great many, with perhaps a half-dozen clustered around each deposit of iron. They looked like perfect opal spheres, not unlike rock-hard fish eggs made of the same shimmering, prismatic substance which made up most of their bodies. These were opaque, however; Jason couldn¡¯t see inside.
¡°Analyze Item,¡± he commanded.
Prism Scarab Egg: The immature egg of a Prism Scarab which will not hatch for years.
Prism Scarab Egg Traits Learned: Prismatic, Swarm
Swarm? Jason thought. I guess Kera¡¯s book was wrong. Well, sort of. There were a lot of them, but I guess not thousands or anything.
Then again... he thought, pausing to look around the nest. There¡¯s a lot of eggs in here and it¡¯s only one of three nests.
Shrugging mentally, Jason began to climb back up the tunnel. Whatever the case, maybe he could leave all the hide and chitin to Jerrik, and use the eggs for his alchemy instead, if they didn¡¯t have a use for crafting other things. He¡¯d have to ask the others.
Crawling his way back into the cellar, Jason stood up to see Aria and Belman entering alongside Pelk. Kera had apparently returned to keep watch on the camp with Serif, while Lumi had remained behind in the cellar.
¡°Good news,¡± Jason announced to them. ¡°Lots of radiant iron down there, a good five major deposits plus eggs in this nest alone, plus some extra that looks like it was used to help form the walls. Don¡¯t know how much is needed to make one sword or anything, but it looks like a lot to me.¡±
¡°Eggs?¡± Aria asked.
Jason nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Lots of em. I wanted to ask if they¡¯ve got any use for you guys; my harvesting skill didn¡¯t really give me much other than how to remove them safely. If you guys don¡¯t need them, I¡¯ll want them. They have a property useful to one of my enchanting skills.¡±
Belman shrugged. ¡°Fine by me. Best ask Tobias though when we get back. But we can take them if you think it¡¯s safe to.¡±
¡°It should be,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I¡¯ll want to check each egg individually, but the one I checked down there wasn¡¯t even close to hatching. If my lab¡¯s set up by the time we get back, that won¡¯t ever be an issue.¡±
With that, Jason and the others got to work. Serif and Kera remained with the horses while Jason, Aria, and Belman set to the messywork of harvesting the chitin and bloodstone. Lumi used her magic to try and clean up the worst of the mess while they worked.
Pelk immediately set to surveying the burrows, pulling out some basic mining equipment from the bag of holding he was carrying. Jason was kind of shocked when the dwarf managed to haul an entire wheelbarrow out of it; apparently the mouth of the bag could stretch to accommodate whatever was inside.
However, Pelk didn¡¯t actually begin the mining process; by the time the scarab carcasses had been harvested, cleaned, and disposed of outside, the nests surveyed, and the eggs checked over and moved, it was quite well into the evening.
Dinner was a rather simple affair, being a cold meal ofjerky, dried fruits, and bread. No one wanted to risk the scent of a cooking fire drawing larger predators when there was already plenty for the scavengers about. Plus, they¡¯d been making enough noise as it was.
Evening turned to night, and the three adventurers drew lots to see who would take what watch shifts. Kera got the first one, and she ended up waking Jason and Lumi an hour in after Ceri alerted her to the presence of a trio of crystal serpents who¡¯d shown up to try and get at the scarab carcasses outside the walls. With the help of Kera¡¯s thorn traps, Jason used the tanglefoot bags he¡¯d brought and the three adventurers made quick work of the beasts.
Jason elected to harvest the three himself rather than wake the others, so they rearranged their watch hours; Jason would take the next few while he worked, followed by Lumi, and then Kera. In order to help the girls fall back asleep quickly, he whipped together a dose of diluted [Serenity Tonic] for them to split.
The rest of the night passed uneventfully, as did breakfast, and by late morning Jason and the others found themselves exploring the ruins while Pelk instructed the two [Hunters] in how to properly extract the radiant iron and discard the waste stone.
¡°How big is this place?!¡± exclaimed Kera as they entered yet another cellar-like chamber. ¡°What did they need all this space for?¡±
¡°Remember what Pelk said?¡± Jason replied. ¡°We found that mill-looking thing in that smaller side room, so I¡¯m guessing wine, and possibly ciders or cordials too. As odd as it sounds, alcohol was a pretty common trade good for monasteries back home. It¡¯s the only reason I can think of that would need so much space, because not only do you need the stuff to make it in, you have to store it for long periods.¡±
¡°Where¡¯s all the glass, or barrels, or what have you, then?¡± Lumi asked curiously.
¡°Dunno. Maybe eaten up by the dungeon when it invaded?¡± Jason suggested. ¡°Alcohol is made with yeasts, which is technically alive right? So it stands to reason the dungeon might have absorbedit all. Barrels could have just rotted away. Or maybe something else happened. I mean the whole place changed, right? And still is.¡±
They rounded another corner, and conversation trailed off as they came face to face with a great hunk of deep red crystal. It was similar to the quartz Jason had seen sprouting up all over the place, except for its color.
Jason stepped forward a laid a hand on it.
¡°Analyze Item.¡±
Earthheart Cluster: A massive growth of quartz heavily laden with dense earth mana. A valuable material in the enchantment of magical arms and armor. Can be broken into many smaller fragments or used as a whole. Synergy Information: Analyze Ingredient: Fragments from the same cluster can have variable earth-element traits depending on exact mana concentrations and should be analyzed separately.
¡°Well Pelk will be happy to see this,¡± Jason said. ¡°The hard part is going to be getting him to let me keep some. Too bad it¡¯s probably too big for us to transport whole.¡±
¡°Whole?¡± Lumi asked.
He shared his results with the girls.
Kera barked a short laugh. ¡°Ha! You should totally use this to power some kind of super-golem. You have that false life skill right? Carve one outta this baby!¡±
Jason grinned. ¡°If only. I mean, I probably could, but for something like this? I¡¯d want a better version. I¡¯ve only got the lesser sequence.¡±
¡°I bet you could come up with something to give it some extra oomph,¡± Lumi said confidently. ¡°I mean hey, get what¡¯s-her-name to teach you some engineering skills. Give it some proper joints, maybe a motor, try and make it upgradable. You could use that respec Potion to reassign some points, yeah? Something like a big-ass golem would be useful to have around in a dungeon, I¡¯m betting.¡±
Jason stood looking at the crystal.
¡°You know....,¡± he said thoughtfully, ¡°I did just get a whole ton of skill points for hitting level ten, because [Alchemist] is a crafting class. And I get to pick some kind of skill upgrade too. If I can hit ten in Artificer and get something similar, maybe I could do something like that. Like you said, respec potion, too, if it turns out infeasible.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± Jason finally said after a moment. ¡°We¡¯ll have to consult with Pelk, see if it¡¯s movable as a whole. I¡¯d need to spend some time examining it and drafting ideas and seeing what feedback I get with my skills.¡±
¡°I get the feeling I¡¯m going to want to pick Pelk¡¯s brain a bit on the subject of vehicles and automata in general later,¡± he said. ¡°If the dwarves of this world have gunpowder, and even call it that, then there¡¯s a pretty good chance that a certain degree of higher technology exists in some rare form. Probably as a very rare class, if his reaction was anything to go by.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s go talk to him. At the very least he can tell us if we can move this whole thing or not.¡±
Chapter 18
¡°Are you daft, lad?¡± Pelk exclaimed, looking over the huge growth of earthheart. They¡¯d gone and fetched the dwarf away from the iron deposits where he¡¯d been overseeing Aria and Belman.
¡°This thing¡¯s as big as you are,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°Do you have any idea how heavy it is? While I respect the ambition here, there¡¯s no way we can shift something like this. We¡¯d need a whole team of laborers, special equipment just to move it up above, some transport, the lot.¡±
Jason held up both hands in a placating gesture.
¡°Ok, ok, I get it,¡± he said, embarrassed. ¡°It was just a thought. It¡¯s got other uses, we¡¯ll just break it down. Anything special we need to do for that, or can we help?¡±
¡°No, I¡¯ll see to this,¡± Pelk replied. ¡°You three just shoo and let me work. Keep exploring and let me know if you make anymore finds like this one.¡±
With a shrug, Jason turned to follow Lumi back to exploring the other underground areas of the ruin. There were only a few additional chambers remaining to be examined. One held a much smaller piece of earthheart, which Pelk was nonetheless pleased with, and the results dead-ended into collapsed tunnels.
Their exploration portion complete, Jason, Kera, and Lumi returned to the camp. Lumi elected to help Pelk and the others, as she was capable of keeping watch for any unpleasant underground surprises and had the strength to assist with the mining as needed.
This meant Jason and Kera went up to the surface to keep a general watch, while Serif remained camped in the cellar with the horses. This suited the relatively taciturn guardsman just fine.
For the first few hours, Jason¡¯s surface watch mostly involved him sitting around reading Kera¡¯s books to her for lack of anything better to do, while Kera lay basking in the sunlight, her crystalline hide glittering, having decided to activate her day¡¯s use of her belt so she could use the crystal serpent form to listen for any hint of surrounding life. She also told Jason that she wanted to practice using the snake¡¯s unusual perceptions to separate out individuals from the general noise around her.
Jason wasn''t even sure why he was reading the books to her if she was trying to listen to other things, but at least it was something to do.
The hours passed, and the sky grew a bit overcast. Kera¡¯s hide stopped glimmering so much, and Ceri took up the job of lazing around in the few remaining patches of full sunlight that dappled their way across the courtyard.
Jason¡¯s stomach began to rumble a bit, so he decided to whip himself up a meal. This once again consisted primarily of bread, meat, and cheese, so he decided to simply make himself a sandwich.
Of course, he ran into a problem as he sat down to eat.
¡°Ahem.¡±
He looked down at Kera from the chunk of sandstone masonry he was sitting on, in the shade of an old ruined tower that had at one time been connected to the courtyard. She¡¯d reared her fore-body upwards and was eyeing his lunch.
¡°Huh?¡± He paused, about to take a bite of his sandwich.
¡°So what am I supposed to eat?¡± Kera asked in her distorted, hissing, snake-voice.
Jason thought she sounded like she was trying to tease him. He could almost hear her hands on her hips. But there was a bit lost in translation there in terms of tone, so he was confused until he had an ¡®aha¡¯ moment.
¡°Oh. Oops,¡± he said. ¡°Yeah I guess snakes aren''t exactly geared for chewing, are they?¡±
¡°They¡¯re not really known for it, no,¡± Kera said drily.
¡°Can you even eat like that?¡± Jason asked, curious. ¡°I mean, what happens when you change back? Snakes sort of¡ eat more of their body weight than people do and then sleep it off for ages. Wouldn''t you choke?¡±
Kera gave several short dry huffs that Jason recognized as her trying to laugh. It seemed she was just teasing him.
¡°I wasn''t going to eat a whole lot; I¡¯m not actually particularly hungry,¡± Kera said. ¡°Maybe just a snack? But I¡¯m sure it''s fine. Seems weird to have magic that transforms you and not have built-in protections for that, right?¡±
¡°I guess. Well, if you¡¯re sure, I suppose I could cut something up for you.¡±
Jason scratched his head with one hand, thinking.
¡°Artifice,¡± he commanded after a moment, and a pair of plates appeared. He put his sandwich down on one, and sliced up a few strips of jerky into thin strips like Kera normally did for Ceri, who was currently lazing about in the sun next to his owner.
¡°Hand-feeding one of my friends seems¡a bit too weird. But you can have this,¡± Jason said to Kera, putting the plate down in front of her.
¡°Aww, you¡¯re no fun.¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m just aware you like to be pampered." he replied with a smile. "Don¡¯t think I haven''t noticed how much longer you take in the bath than the rest of us, getting Leska to help you wash out your new long hair, and all.¡±
¡°Hey!¡± Kera protested. ¡°I¡¯ve got Ceri to clean too, and Leska is nice. She¡¯s fun to talk to.¡±
¡°Him actually needing it and you being gone for an hour and a half are two different things,¡± Jason replied, amused.
Kera tried to just stick her tongue out at him, which looked absolutely comical on a snake, to Jason¡¯s mind. She looked more like a very strange cat with a lazy tongue than a girl his age trying to pretend to be annoyed.
¡°Fine, fine,¡± she conceded. She tilted her head nearly upside down, so she could eye the plate.
¡°Hmm¡.now how do I manage this whole picking up with the tongue thing¡? I can''t even look at it straight.¡±
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not how snakes do things anyway,¡± Jason said. ¡°They just sort of jam their food into their mouths and swallow repeatedly for twenty minutes or something. I don''t know. That¡¯s how it always seemed to me anyway. They don''t use their tongue to pick stuff up.¡±
It took Kera a few tries to even manage to get a small piece of beef into her mouth. Then she choked on it trying to figure out how to swallow; snakes weren''t built the same ways as people, after all.
¡°Ok, this is harder than I¡¯d thought it would be,¡± Eventually she spat out the piece of meat. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll just wait til-¡±
Kera cut off suddenly, swaying her head upwards quickly, twisting her head from side to side with a hiss.
¡°W-what is that? I hear¡ ringing?¡±
¡°What, like a phone?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Or do you mean a bell?¡±
Kera shook, swaying from side to side and rotating her head, almost like a person would try and blink away distracting lights.
¡°No like¡buzzing. Or singing. Oh! I know! It''s like when you''re a teenager, and you can hear that high pitched electronics whine that most adults lose the ability to hear by the time they''re in their late twenties.¡±
¡°Except¡.,¡± Kera continued with a shake of her head again. ¡°This is¡ higher? More ringy? Is that even a word? If I had ears, I bet it would sound a lot like someone running their finger along the edge of a wine glass.¡±
¡°Maybe we should have Ceri fly up and take a look?¡± Jason suggested.
¡°Aww, he¡¯s enjoying his nap over there,¡± Kera said, indicating the small blue drake, who was sitting the one small patch of sunlight that seemed to have been missed by the overhead clouds.
Jason eyeballed the tower above him. It looked stable enough, with plenty of handholds. He could probably manage.
¡°I could, but is whatever you''re hearing close by, or¡?¡±
¡°No, I think it''s really far. But it''s kind of distracting. Like having a mosquito buzz in your-¡±
She cut off again as Ceri woke with a sudden start and a snort.
¡°Ok that¡¯s new,¡± Kera said. ¡°Now I can hear¡ barking? And something else. I¡¯m not sure¡.¡±
She trailed off, her head swaying a little as she tilted back and forth, tasting the air.
¡°It''s hard to tell. Sharp, sudden vibration with an impact. Also some kind of weird rapid tapping, like an insect. Reminds of those scarabs. That''s coming from a different direction.¡±
Kera began to slither around the courtyard, pushing her bulk into a large circle, with her head sticking up from the center like an antenna.
¡°Yes, definitely barking,¡± she said. ¡°There¡¯s tapping, and other stuff. It¡¯s like the whole place has come alive suddenly.¡±
¡°You said ringing, right?¡± Jason said thoughtfully, looking over at Ceri. He felt like he was missing something really important.
¡°Yeah. There¡¯s a kind of¡I don''t know, background white noise to it now. It''s making it hard to pick things out. But it''s pretty far away, like miles and miles and miles.¡±
Jason began mumbling to himself, looking at the ground and the area around Ceri, trying to work out why the lizard was setting off alarm bells in his head.
A gust of wind blew through the courtyard. The patch of sunlight the Drake was in dimmed as another cloud covered the sun once again. Ceri climbed to his feet with a snort, letting out a creel of complaint, looking around for a new patch to move to.
Jason put the pieces together, looking up at the sky.
¡°Electrical sounds¡animals on the move, clouds¡sounds like a storm to me.¡± he murmured to himself out loud.
¡°Jason,¡± Kera called with a bit of a whine to her voice, as her tail started to thrash.
¡°Things are getting really loud now. I¡¯m sending Ceri to alert the others. Something bad is happening. Please go look?¡±
¡°Alright,¡± he replied, and stood up. Jason crossed to the ruined tower, looking for handholds, and found some he could reach with a short hop. It didn''t take him long to reach the top of the slightly off-center tower.
You have earned a new skill, [Basic Climbing]. Would you like to purchase it now for 1 Skill Point?
It had been awhile since Jason had earned a new skill. Frankly, he¡¯d been surprised he hadn''t earned some kind of haggling skill working with Flora, but maybe there were other requirements. However, this skill seemed of little need for him - he could always create a potion for that sort of effect. Probably.
No. He thought firmly to dismiss the notification, as he shielded his eyes and looked out over the Wastes.
Sure enough, in the distance to the south, Jason could see heavy, dark clouds. A quick glance upwards at the slight overcast above confirmed they were probably headed this way. Looking back into the distance, he spotted flickers of dimly-seen light scattering across the horizon, low to the ground, and a plume of something kicking up from the ground as a darker, grey plum descended downwards.
Jason had never had the occasion to actually watch a sudden storm front develop before, so it took him a moment to realize what he was witnessing, and that his survivalist skill had been screaming at him to get under cover.
He was watching a sandstorm kick up. As he stood there, fascinated, wisps of opaque brown reached up from the ground as dirt, sand, and other debris was picked up as the whatever wind was pushing the clouds struck a region of particularly loose sand. For just a moment, it looked almost like there were a thousand upside-down tornadoes springing up across the horizon. Lightning arced once, straight across the dust-filled horizon.
Then there was a solid wall of brown roiling in the distance, with the most incredible light show Jason had ever seen contained within. Multi-hued colors flashed through the dust cloud, mostly obscured but still visible. Thousands of tiny flashes of reds, yellows, and white lit up the interior of the dark cloud, like it had come alive with millions of giant fireflies.
Jason felt the blood drain from his face, and he realized why the animals were all becoming active: they were headed here, to take shelter from a storm that would be far deadlier than anything ever seen at home, thanks to this place¡¯s unusual makeup. He knew what the lights were.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
Quickly scanning the terrain below, sure enough, he spotted several groups of animals in the distance, making a beeline for the temple ruin. Most raced alone across the dirt and salt and sand, but at least one group seemed to be a pack of similar creatures. They were too distant to make out exactly.
Jason hollered down to Kera.
¡°We¡¯ve got incoming!¡± he yelled as he scrambled madly back down from his perch. He judged they had only fifteen or twenty minutes before the fleeing wildlife began to arrive. And who knew how fast the storm would get here.
He jumped the last bit of distance down to the ground.
Kera was beginning to twitch visibly now, like she was very uncomfortable.
¡°What issssss that? She hissed at him, her voice more snake-like than usual. Her voice was overly loud, like she was trying to talk over something. ¡°Sssso much buzzing, sssso much-¡±
Just then the first wave of audible sound arrived, like the sound of a thousand firecrackers going off in series, accompanied by rolling thunder. Kera collapsed with a shriek.
She began to thrash wildly, screaming and hissing. ¡°Aaahh! H-hurts! So loud!¡± She cried.
Jason raised his voice over the noise, but she didn''t seem to be able to hear him. So instead, lunged forward, wrapping his arms around her fore-body to grab her before her thrashing injured her; she was currently made of crystal after all: a good impact to her head might do some serious damage. Jason immediately ended up tangled amidst Kera¡¯s coils, but he was now able to shout directly at her head, over whatever the girl was hearing in order to make himself heard.
¡°Kera, change back! You¡¯re going to injure yourself!¡±
He had to repeat him twice and give the confused girl a light bop on the head once to get her to realize she was being talked to, but he got the message across through gesturing once he had her attention. With a blur of melting flesh and clothes, Kera reverted to human form. She and Jason immediately fell over in a tangle of limbs that took them a moment to extricate themselves from.
¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± Kera apologized loudly, clutching her head. ¡°Urg, that hurts. I''ve got the mother of all hangovers now."
Serif came bolting out of the cellar.
¡°What is all that racket?!¡± he shouted.
¡°The mother of all sandstorms,¡± Jason replied grimly. ¡°One that will make the ones in Dubai look like a mere dust devil. All the local wildlife is making a beeline for us.¡±
¡°A sandstorm?¡± he asked curiously.
Jason looked at him, surprised at the man¡¯s passivity.
¡°Wait, you don''t know? But you, Aria, and Belman seem to know so much about what''s out here.¡±
¡°That¡¯s mostly them. And remember, they don''t spend much time out here either. Nobody does. We¡¯re hardly experts. People don¡¯t live out here for a reason, remember?¡±
Just then, Lumi and the others pushed their way past the canvas coverings and ascended the ramp, coming out into the main courtyard.
¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°Ceri was freaking out about something.¡±
Jason gestured to the sky.
¡°Sandstorm, a really bad one," he said. ¡°Wildlife on its way as well, looking for shelter.¡±
Aria and Belman cursed soundly and ran back down to the cellar saying something about securing the camp. The others, excepting Jason, seemed a bit confused by their abrupt panic.
Jason felt a little panicked too, knowing what was coming.
¡°What''s so bad about a little sand and dirt?¡± asked Pelk. He gestured down at himself, still covered in rock dust from mining. ¡°Don¡¯t do me any harm.¡±
¡°Think you can breathe sand?" Jason asked him. "You¡¯re a [Miner], right? Know how coal can get into your lungs and do you damage in the long run if you don''t take precautions? It¡¯s so much worse than that. You''d suffocate if you were to stand out in it because the sand will force its way into your ears, your throat, your nose. You''d suffocate where you stood.
"And there¡¯s something even more dangerous.¡± Jason stepped over to a broken quartz cluster and picked up two finger-sized lengths. ¡°You said it yourself¡ the ground is full of tiny quartz and tourmaline fragments. What happens when you strike the right kinds of crystals together?¡±
He demonstrated, and sparks of electricity spat.
Lumi gasped, hands to her mouth.
Jason waved them back down to the camp, explaining to the others as he went.
¡°Think that, but on a massively grand scale, as millions of crystal fragments collide with each other. The biggest lightning storm you''ve ever seen. It¡¯s still shaping up out there, but it¡¯ll be right on top of us in no time.
¡°We¡¯re going to have to batten down the hatches and take shelter in the deeper cellar,¡± he continued. ¡°Plus if we don¡¯t want the horses to end up slaughtered, we¡¯re going to have to defend this entrance until the last possible second from all the local wildlife trying to take shelter here.¡±
Jason pushed his way past the canvas ¡®doors¡¯ and into the first cellar, where Aria and Belman were already moving the horses to a back corner of the room, clustering them together.
Lumi looked at Jason.
¡°I don''t know what needs to be done. You give the orders for this,¡± she said.
He nodded. ¡°Ok then.¡±
¡°Listen up, everyone!¡± He called out. ¡°We¡¯ve got an emergency situation here. Time for us to take over. We¡¯ve got a lot of wildlife incoming here, and not a lot of time to prepare ourselves. Aria, Belman, leave the horses for now. Kera and I will keep them calm magically. Just tie their lines down so they''re all at the back. Pelk, you and Lumi pull down the canvas tents. Reinforce the entrance with as much weighted down, waterlogged cloth as you can.¡±
¡°Put holes in it and nail it to the wall and floor if you¡¯ve got any rock nails,¡± Jason nodded to Pelk, who immediately began fishing around in his bag. ¡°Just remember we¡¯ll be outside and need to make a mad dash in just before the storm hits, so don''t nail it fully shut till we¡¯re ready.¡±
¡°Got an idea for that, will do,¡± Pelk replied as Lumi began hauling down the tents.
¡°Serif, I¡¯m putting you in charge of making us some face coverings to go with the goggles,¡± Jason said. ¡°Just use your sword on some spare cloth, make us something we can soak in water and tie around our mouths.¡±
¡°What about us?¡± Aria asked.
¡°I want you up top helping with defense. Keep an eye out until the rest of us join you. I know that¡¯s not your job, but we¡¯re going to need all hands on deck until the last minute, and right now our talents are best used securing the camp quickly.
The two [Hunters] didn''t argue, they simply tied the extended horse lines to a pillar at the back of the cellar and went back up too.
Jason and Kera crossed to the horses. Jason began dosing the horses¡¯ feed bags with [Serenity Tonic] and attaching them, while Kera cast [Calm Animals] to make them settle and eat. Soon the horses were standing blissfully docile. Jason thought some of them were drifting off to sleep.
Their task done, Jason sent Kera up above. Lumi had finished filling Pelk¡¯s wheelbarrow with water, so he sent her up as well.
¡°Serif, Pelk, you two keep working here. Get this barricade as thick and heavy as you can, and be ready for us to come running. If you have time, see if you can''t get that back door moving properly again. We¡¯ll likely have to dig our way out once this is all over.¡±
¡°No worries lad, you worry about the outside, we¡¯ve got this.¡± He pointed to one side of the entrance. ¡°Come back through that side, we¡¯ll have sommat ready to close it off in a few minutes.¡±
Jason nodded. He put on the tinted goggles, tied a moistened cloth around his face and nose, and exited to the surface.
The wind began to pick up quickly as Jason joined the others above, taking up positions about the entrance.
It wasn''t long before the first of the wildlife arrived: a cat-sized, scuttling scorpion with far too many extra legs, no doubt the source of the clicking Kera had heard. It climbed directly over the walls, making a bizarre chittering sound and as it charged forward, desperate to get deeper underground.
Kera launched a silvery bolt of force from her staff as soon as it cleared the wall, bowling it over. Two arrows from Aria and Belman quickly followed, piercing its hide easily; for all the creature had a crystalline shell on its topside, its underbelly turned out to be quite soft.
Four more of the scorpions camescuttling over the walls. Jason launched a shadowbolt at one, bowling it over just as Kera had. A lance of shadow flew forth from Lumi¡¯s outstretched hand, with similar results, while more arrows stabbed into the creature¡¯s soft underbellies.
The creatures that live here must be resistant to magic in general, Jason thought to himself as he fired off another bolt. Light and fire barely hurt them, but even immune and Lumi¡¯s shadow take multiple shots. And yet those hunters are just downing these in one go.
The effects of class, maybe?
¡°Hey Kera!¡± he yelled. It was difficult for him to make himself heard over the noise of the oncoming storm, the cloth covering his mouth, and the shouted commands of his companions. ¡°Analyze one of these things for me! I want to know if they''re magic resistant!¡±
¡°They are!¡± She shouted a reply when she had a moment. ¡°I checked earlier. Low levels of general resistance, high heat resistance, and odd interactions with light magic. Everything here is like that!¡±
Great. And all I''ve got is shadowbolts that will run out when I run out of mana.
He downed a [Least Mana Potion] immediately during a brief pause after the scorpions died, deciding to let the potion start doing its work even though he wasn¡¯t drained yet.
The next wave came moments later - several shining bird-things the size of hawks came screaming down out of the sky, making a beeline for the open gap in the canvas wall, while another crystal serpent slithered up and over the wall.
¡°Silverwings!¡± Aria shouted to Belman, who immediately turned his aim in the birds¡¯ direction.
¡°Rapid Fire!¡± Both hunter¡¯s shouted in unison, and a flurry of arrows stuck out towards them, causing the birds to shy back away from the entrance. One bird wasn¡¯t fast enough and went down with an arrow in its eye, but the others swerved out of the way.
In a rage, they swooped upwards and began flicking their wings downwards in a jerking motion. Aria and Belman covered their heads and cried out in pain as they were peppered with fine, metallic needles that shot from the undersides of the bird¡¯s wings.
¡°You deal with them, I¡¯ve got the snake!¡± Kera yelled to Jason and Lumi. She ordered Ceri into the fray, and with a yell of ¡°Enlarge Beast!¡± the drake grew in size and went on the attack, his scale patterns shining an electric blue. Sparks arced off of him and into the serpent as he lunged, biting and clawing.
Jason turned away as Kera let out of shout of ¡°Guardian Wasps!¡± as well, conjuring a cloud of vicious, thumb-sized insects to harry the snake; they couldn''t hurt it much thanks to its hide, but they could distract it from biting Ceri.
Jason leveled his wand in the direction ofthe birds, but Lumi seemed to have them in hand. She interposed a curved barrier of light and fire between herself, the hunters and the birds, shielding them from the barrage. He let off a few shots and then switched over to his healing wand.
Just so they¡¯d know what he was doing, Jason shouted ¡°Cure Wounds!¡± each time as he triggered the wand, pointing it at Aria and Belman in turn as they brushed the needles from their arms, blood dripping into the dirt.
Each of them winced but gave him a nod of thanks and understanding as their relatively minor wounds began to close over.
Then the baying of hounds filled the air, and Jason saw some kind of distortion rip through the air where the birds were swooping and diving.
The birds went crashing to the ground, stunned, and Jason looked up to see the first of the dogs leap to the top of the ten-foot wall that surrounded the temp grounds.
The dog was a little bit larger than a standard mastiff: waist-tall, with powerfully built muscles and a black, pebble-textured hide. Thick, vertical crystal growths sprouted from its forward shoulders and sloped slightly backward like some sort of ridiculous, RPG-esque shoulder-pads. A long line of spine-like growths began at its forehead and ran down its spine to a long, spiked tail, which reminded Jason of that of a manticore¡¯s.
The dog looked down on the struggling adventurers and downed birds and cocked its head like it was curious. Kera took that opportunity to mutter an Analyze command, while Aria gave a fearfully whispered, ¡°Rockhounds.¡±
One of the birds managed to recover as several more dogs leapt onto the walls, and threw itself up high into the air with a panicked flap of wings.
The lead Rockhound pointed its whole body towards the bird like an arrow, and an arc of electricity ran up from its tail to the crystals at its shoulder.
It opened its jaws, and a sound not unlike the one the Sobek had used on Jason emerged: a wave of solid sound, wielded like a weapon. A beam of visibly distorted air rippled forwards towards the bird, and Jason covered his ears as the noise of it assaulted his ears.
The bird crashed to the ground with a shriek, collapsing down on top of the flailing crystal serpent, who¡¯d also been caught partially in the blast. Cracks appeared all along the snake¡¯s hide, as if the sheer volume was ripping it apart, and it grew still. The bird seemed stunned.
Jason didn''t know how the creature managed to direct a sound wave in a single direction, and he didn''t care. Whatever the case was, he immediately drew one of his [Salamander Stones], and threw it up at the wall in the middle of the three Rockhounds clustered closeted together.
They reacted immediately, and with more intelligence than Jason would have given them credit for: they scattered out of the way, startled by the quick-moving object. Jason had hoped they¡¯d go for it, but these weren¡¯t normal dogs.
The stone detonated in a blast of smoke and flame, and the two dogs that had belatedly jumped up onto the wall were blasted off of it.
With another howl, the other dogs leapt down into the courtyard, charging forwards towards Jason, who began firing shadowbolts, backed up by the hunters¡¯ arrows. Both had trouble piercing the stony hides of the beasts.
Kera then turned and directed her wasps to intercept and distract, while she simultaneously called Ceri back to her side. Lumi called everyone to form a line, and they fell back towards the cellar entrance.
Two of the dogs began to orient their bodies towards the group, preparing to unleash their sonic attack. But Kera stepped around Lumi, and took a deep breath.
The girl leaned forward, hands held backward, shrieking out a noise that sounded for all the world to Jason like a banshee¡¯s howl, no doubt some variant she¡¯d just learned from the Rockhounds, or perhaps the Sobek. The dogs stumbled backward, and Kera followed up by also belching a massive spit of flame across the courtyard in the direction of the two who¡¯d been chasing up, igniting them. With a completely different kind of howl, the two bolted.
The largest of the dogs though flicked its tail up and over its head, launching a volley of crystal spines towards Kera, who was forced to leap to the side to avoid being impaled. A spine stabbed into her leg, and she fell to the ground.
Jason winced in sympathyand ran forwards to drag Kera out of the way as Lumi¡¯s [Sunshield] snapped into place above them. He pulled her back behind the lines, and passed her one of the better healing potions, leaving her to remove the spine herself.
Aria and Belman began firing arrow after arrow through the one-way shield, and as the spines stopped, one of the beasts returned fire with a sonic blast.
Lumi shrieked and fell to the ground as the blast passed right through her barrier. Her [Sunshield] vanished.
Jason pointed his healing wand at Lumi activated it, praying the girl wasn''t permanently injured or dead. But he didn''t have time to check, as he began hurling bolts of shadow magic left and right as the rockhound leaned forward to savage its downed foe
Kera shouted angrily, coughing in the increasingly dusty air. She¡¯d regained her feet, blood still flowing from her slowly closing leg wound, and directed her wasps towards the dog that was attacking Lumi.
¡°Final Sacrifice!¡± She yelled, as the wasps began slamming into the rockhound¡¯s hide with small detonations.
The beast was lifted up off its feet and hurled up and away from Lumi¡¯s prone form, and she ordered Ceri to start dragging the girl back towards the cellar entrance.
Jason didn''t get to see what happened after that, because he was knocked to the ground by another of the beasts, which had charged him now that Lumi''s shield was down. It leaped on top of him, and bit down hard on his arm as he raised it defensively. He struggled and cried out in pain, dropping his healing wand, and saw the creature''s tail raise upwards above its spine. Desperately he jerked sideways under the dog¡¯s bulk, and narrowly avoided the rockhound''s attempt to stab downwards at his head like a scorpion. Bringing up his shadow wand, he jabbed it directly into the creature¡¯s ear and fired off two bolts in rapid succession.
It died, darkness wreathing it''s head with a cold chill that sapped even Jason¡¯s strength at such a close range. Groaning and coughing out dust, he pushed the beast off of himself and staggered to the hunters, who held off the remaining Rockhounds with a flurry of arrows long enough for Jason to drink a [Least Healing Potion]. He was bleeding and would be in a lot of pain, but he didn''t want to use a full potion just yet. The rockhound''s teeth had bit deeply, but he would be fine for now.
The remaining few dogs pulled back, harried by the hunter¡¯s arrows, Kera¡¯s bolts of force, and Jason¡¯s shadow wand. As soon as he had the opportunity, Jason threw yet another Salamander Stone, this time catching two of the four remaining Rockhounds in the blast. Kera then followed up with another sonic wail that knocked the other two off their feet, and Jason threw another grenade at them, finishing them off.
Smoke and flames mixed with the dirt and dust that was slowly filling the air, with the sound of howling winds and thunder in the distance. The dogs were down, the serpent dead, and the birds had flown off who knew where. Maybe they were hiding in the ruined tower; Jason didn''t care as long as they weren''t trying to get in.
Time to ride out the storm.
Chapter 19
Exhausted and in pain, Jason and the others struggled against the ever-increasing winds and dust in order to reach the cellar.
With the help of a still-enlarged Ceri and a distraught Kera, the three managed to drag Lumi inside, under the heavy, waterlogged flap of canvas that Pelk had rigged up as a door. As the hunters ducked in as well and Pelk began nailing the ¡®door¡¯ shut, Jason collapsed to his knees at Lumi¡¯s side.
While their shared party screen didn''t have a standard hit point bar per se, it did have a vague representation of how badly hurt someone in the party was, and it was telling Jason that the girl was in a bad way.
He dug through his coat pockets, bringing out one of his stronger healing potions. Very carefully he fed it to Lumi a little at a time; he knew it was easy to choke someone who was unconscious trying to give them liquids, but also that by giving them small, measured mouthfulls you could get them to swallow reflexively to clear their airway.
After a few moments the glow of the potion kicked in, and Jason saw her party status slowly returning to safe levels. It took Lumi only a few more moments to regain consciousness, with a cough and a splutter of half-drank potion.
She croaked out some unintelligible question, and Jason placed her hands around the vial, motioning for her to drink rest of the potion on her own, to wet her throat with and finish the healing.
¡°Ye gods, what the hell hit me?¡± she finally managed after drinking. ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve been run over by a truck.¡±
¡°You got the full brunt of those Rockhound¡¯s sonic beam,¡± Jason informed her. ¡°Apparently at least some of your barriers don¡¯t block certain kinds of attacks.¡±
Lumi coughed, and attempted to sit up. Jason assisted her, and she swayed for a minute, but managed to remain upright. She held one hand to her head.
¡°Ow. Remind me why I chose to be the front line again?¡± she groused.
Jason chuckled at her.
¡°You tell me,¡± he said. I¡¯m happy to sit in the back and be support.¡±
Jason touched his arm, where the rockhound¡¯s bite was scanned over, not yet fully healed by the slower-acting potion he¡¯d taken. He grimaced; it was still tender, and tingled slightly.
¡°Less pain for me, that way,¡± he finished.
¡°Did everyone make it?¡± Lumi asked.
Kera walked over to the pair, limping a little as she favored her injured leg, which like Jason''s bite wound, hadn¡¯t healed entirely yet. Ceri padded along at her side, still giant-sized. Jason wasn¡¯t sure if she was maintaining the effect somehow, or if it simply hadn¡¯t worn off yet.
Ceri lay down near Lumi and Jason with a huff, and Kera sank down besides him, to lean against his bulk.
¡°Everyone¡¯s good,¡± she declared, answering Lumi¡¯s question before Jason could reply.
¡°Those silverwing needles don¡¯t do much,¡± Kera said. ¡°Aria and Belman will be right as rain shortly, since Jason dosed them already with his wand. Same for me; already on the mend, thanks to Jason.¡±
Kera pulled another one of the least heals Jason had given her from her bag and drank it down noisily. She held up the empty bottle and eyed it.
¡°You know, these don''t actually taste all that bad,¡± Kera commented. She looked around to make sure no one was listening to them, and turned to Jason, keeping her voice low. ¡°Maybe you could stand to spice em up a bit, though. Add some nice flavoring, like you did with the tea. Can you make them with stuff other than water?¡±
Jason scratched his head. ¡°Maybe? Probably, anyway. I mean the whole tea thing you suggested worked fine, so I bet I could.¡±
¡°Why though?" he asked with a shrug. "I think they''re fine as is.¡±
¡°Aww c¡¯mon,¡± Kera replied with grin, ¡°you don''t like, want to have some fun with it? You could market it as ¡®Cordelia¡¯s Cordial of Curing!¡¯, or ¡®Manford¡¯s Mead of Mending!¡¯ or any number of other great ideas I could give you.¡±
¡°Manford?¡± Jason asked drily. ¡°What kind of a name is that? It isn''t even mine.¡±
¡°Bah, you could always change it, right? You¡¯ve got two left.¡±
Lumi giggled them, then coughed. She winced and held her hand to her head again.
¡°Stop making me laugh, it hurts,¡± she grumbled with wry smile. ¡°I think the point is to not advertise Jason¡¯s skills, anyway, right?¡±
Jason rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ¡°Actually¡ once again, she might be on to something there. There¡¯s that whole intention thing going on we''ve seen. What if I could hide what I was doing by claiming some kind of non-existent skill and rename the item? Cooks are always making up new dishes that they personally name. And I¡¯m sure there¡¯s methods to name your own creations. I should ask Jerrik or his wife about that, actually.¡±
He barked a short laugh.
¡°Can you imagine? I could set up the whole magic, portable garden thing, and an attached nano-brewery, and wander from city to city selling potion-beers and maybe nobody would be the wiser, and just think of it as some weird, eccentric, unique class.¡±
¡°Why not try?¡± Kera asked him, mildly serious, but smiling. ¡°You still have that specialty to pick right? Could you pick something like brewing, or is it only magic stuff? I mean we have the respec thing, right?¡±
Jason blinked once, hard.
¡°You know, you¡¯re right. I keep thinking there¡¯s nothing stopping me from just trying things since we can just reset points we didn''t want to spend. But I put the elixirs into my Vault for safekeeping so I have to wait til we get back.¡±
Jason stretched, rolling his shoulders and shifting position until he was seated on the floor, leaning against one of the support pillars that were scatter around the cellar.
¡°Speaking of points, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve gotten some new stuff, Lumi? I saw that shield of yours. What about you, Kera?
As Kera was currently distracted with hand-feeding Ceri a healing potion of his own, Lumi sat up, crossed her legs under her, and pulled up her status screen. She poked at several brand new notifications.
¡°I¡¯ve leveled a huge amount from all this fighting,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve got all sorts of new stuff since our session with Flora. Look at this, almost two levels each just from the fighting here the past two days. I¡¯m up to level 9 [Spellblade], level 8 [Knight], and level 7 [Sunwarden], respectively in each of my classes.
¡°Lets see¡.,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Got [Thundering Charge] from [Knight], which is really a mounted thing, for spears and lances. But it works a bit on foot, too.
¡°For [Sunwarden]¡ I¡¯ve got the new [Sunlight Shield] you saw, which is effectively two different shields that I can use to guard my flanks, or to shield other people. It¡¯s actually a buff spell, too, so I can toss that up while I use my bracer and hold a [Spell Shape] all at the same time.¡±
¡°Oh is that what you were doing?¡± Jason asked.
Lumi nodded.
¡°Right. Let¡¯s see¡ what else?¡± She brightened and pointed to her list. ¡°Oh! A new spell. Earned [Blur] just now, that looks neat. Makes me hard to see properly. Also got something called [Solar Flare] from Sunwarden¡ ah, that¡¯s a lot like my flame Jet spell, but bigger and less controlled.
¡°Hmm¡ oh, and I need to make two choices for Arcanas, it looks like.¡± She browsed her list quickly for new choices while he others looked on.
¡°Perfect!¡± she said, clapping her hands and making a selection. ¡°I''ll take [Spell Disruption], which will let me use some of my own mana to suppress some else¡¯s spell, and [Dimensional Slide], which will let me do a very short-range teleport. Those sound fun and useful.¡±
Lumi stood up and fiddled with her interface for a moment.
Her golden shield sprang up, and then to Jason¡¯s eyes Lumi¡¯s form fuzzed, until he couldnt make out her exact shape or features anymore. Then took a step, and was suddenly across the room. She stepped back, and dropped her spells.
She was holding one arm out to support herself against the pillar. Jason looked up at her.
¡°Whoa. That¡¯s a bit of a rush.¡± she said, reeling a bit.
¡°Please dont throw up while you¡¯re standing over me,¡± Jason said, giving her a stern look.
Lumi waved him off while Kera laughed at him. She sat down.
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s a bit disorienting. I¡¯ll need some practice, I think.¡±
Lumi checked her status again. ¡°Thats all for new stuff, other than spending my points. I¡¯ve decided to not pay for Life Wellspring for now. Though I¡¯ve got another class point ready to pick up [Duskreaver] with. I¡¯ll wait til we get back for that. How about you?¡±
Jason shrugged. ¡°Nothing. I mean, I leveled yesterday, but you already know about the specialty choice thing. Some kind of level 10 milestone. But I havent leveled again. I think I¡¯m close to hitting 10 in Artificer too though. How about you, Kera?¡±
¡°I hit 10 too, actually.¡±
¡°What, really?¡± Jason asked. ¡°You¡¯re ahead of Lumi now?¡±
¡°Yep,¡± Kera replied cheerfully. ¡°Unlike you two, I get all my XP in one big lump sum instead of splitting it between classes, so I¡¯m all caught up.¡±
¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Jason said. ¡°What new stuff have you got?¡±
¡°Well, aside from the two hundred mana milestone bonus, I guess I¡¯ll start with my [Monster Magic],¡± she began, ¡°since you guys saw that scream.¡±
Kera brought up her list of spells for then to see.
¡°So, I don¡¯t think I mentioned it yet, but I actually got two things from that Sobek. The first is [Primal Scream], which you saw, and the other is [Bolstering Roar], which is an area buff I keep forgetting about.¡±
She peered closely at her notifications. ¡°For today, looks like I got [Sonic Thrust] and [Manticore Tail] from those dogs, and I also learned something called [Shardstrike] from the bird¡ and a low-end magic resistance buff from, well, probably any number of stuff we¡¯ve fought around here.¡±
Kera closed those windows, and moved on to her class notifications.
¡°Let¡¯s see¡¡± she murmured. ¡°One earned skill... [Advanced Monster Lore]. I guess that¡¯s from reading the books. Then two new spells on top of what Flora taught us. [Enfeeble]; I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s a Might debuff. And [Obsidian Flow], whatever that does. I¡¯ll have to try it later.¡±
She closed those notifications too, and checked the last.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
¡°Looks like I¡¯ve got a Milestone choice too,¡± Kera said to Jason. ¡°I wonder if that¡¯s an every ten levels thing?¡±
¡°Wouldn¡¯t surprise me,¡± Jason replied with a shrug. ¡°Might not specifically be every ten, but could be a regular pattern, too.¡±
Lumi poked at Kera¡¯s screen, opening up further information. ¡°So what exactly is this specialization thing..? Oh, neat. So you can choose to learn new branches of magic, or advance a skill up a tier, or pick up something related to a specific branch that you practice but don''t actually have.¡±
Jason looked at Kera. ¡°Any idea what you want to pick? I¡¯m still totally waffling over mine, to be honest. I kind of want to wait til we get to town, use the respec potion to explore it. I mean, we may very well have the stuff to make a second batch, soon.¡±
Kera hummed to herself a bit, thinking. Ceri curled around her slightly, so that his tail flicked at her legs and he could put his massive head in her lap, while Kera herself still leaned against the bulk of his body.
She idly scratched his head.
¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure,¡± she said after a minute. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m enjoying the whole blue magic thing. I just¡ well, you know. I like the whole shapeshifting thing, and I adore Ceri, and I really want another bond, too. I actually kind of liked those birds. Learning how to fly is definitely on my bucket list for sure. Along with being a fish at least once.¡±
Jason gave her a grin and a half-hearted eye roll. He got where she was coming from, on an academic level. Itwould be kind of interesting to try out, he just wasn¡¯t quite so¡enthusiastic about it as she was.
¡°Well what about the Monster Lore thing?¡± he asked. ¡°Or new classes. Have you even looked at any? You should have, what, two class points now?¡±
¡°Yeah, two,¡± Kera replied. ¡°Why?¡±
¡°Well, it occurs to me¡ you could see if there was a druid class that has animal shape-changing. I mean, Lumi had stuff like that available, at least [Shaman], anyway. Or maybe you could see if you could specialize in an actual blue magic class, or advance your skill somehow. Then you could take all sorts of shapes, right?¡±
¡°Hmm, not a bad idea,¡± she said. ¡°More respec food for thought, maybe?¡±
Lumi laughed. ¡°Sounds to me like we¡¯ll be having a regular science fair when we get back, huh?¡±
Jason grinned. ¡°Seems like it.¡±
The storm struck twenty minutes later, and lasted for only one brief, harrowing hour. Thunder raged non-stop overhead, shaking the entire structure and causing dust and dirt to drift down from the ceiling. Pelk assured them if the structure was stable enough to stand for centuries, it would hold up. He looked a little stressed, though, and even ran some kind of wire along one side of the room and told everyone not to go anywhere near it, which did emphatically did not help Jason¡¯s peace of mind.
It didn''t help either that more than once, Lumi had to call up her [Shadow Curtain] spell to block off the storm while Pelk and the others scrambled madly to pin the canvas back down when a corner came free, filling the air in the room with dust and sand.
On the other hand, Jason was also incredibly grateful for Kera¡¯s presence. If not for her repeated castings of [Calm Animals] in order to keep the horses together and relax them enough to nibble away at their potion-dosed feedbags, the animals surely would have panicked and injured or killed themselves.
When the storm finally blew itself out, everyone gave a quiet sigh of relief. No masonry had collapsed, nothing had tried to get in, and they¡¯d managed to keep the worst of the dirt, dust, and sand out. Privately, Jason thought they¡¯d also been very lucky that the few times the canvas came loose, no one had been struck by the electrical discharges filling the air outside. He supposed he didn¡¯t really know how likely that would be to happen, but just from the sheer noise of it all, it must have been a frequent occurrence.
It didn¡¯t take them terribly long to dig their way out. While Pelk didn''t have enough shovels for everyone, Jason was able to conjure some up with [Basic Artifice]. By the time they¡¯d dug a hole clear enough to get outside, it was early evening.
Jason took a quick look around once they¡¯d managed to escape back out into the courtyard. Blackened scorch-marks marred the sandstone ruin in a great many places, with tiny cracks radiating out away from small, fused-sand craters. Loose dirt, sand, and crystals were piled up everywhere; they were going to have to do some serious work to clear the entrance to the grounds enough to get the horses out.
How the heck is this place still standing? Jason wondered. If storms like this are a normal occurrence, wouldn¡¯t they have been ground to sand by now?
After a quick look around the general vicinity, Jason jogged over to Aria and Belman, who were looking around in a kind of hushed awe.
He asked them the question on his mind, but Aria shook her head.
¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anything like this,¡± she stated firmly. ¡°I always just sort of assumed it didnt rain here at all, because it was so dry.¡±
Belman simply nodded his agreement.
Jason frowned, concerned, but he had other things that took a higher priority than strange meteorological phenomena. Namely, they needed to finish digging out the entrances. Soon, he had completely forgotten the oddity.
The work of clearing all the sand out of the way was backbreaking to Jason, but at least they had Pelk¡¯s wheelbarrow to help transport the debris out of the way. Jason, Serif, Lumi, and Kera worked diligently to clear space, while Pelk and the two hunters went back below to mine up the last of the iron.
It wasn¡¯t until late evening that they¡¯d managed to clear enough space to be able to leave in the morning. By then, the civilians down below had managed to not only finish the mining, but they''d broken up the earthheart, gathered up a fair amount of quartz and tourmaline, and managed to unearth the few of monster corpses that had been buried by the storm and harvest them for useable hide.
Lumi went ahead and lit up the courtyard with some mage-lights at Jason¡¯s urging, seeing as any local wildlife was either gone to ground, or well, dead by now. He then set up a proper cook-fire with pot in the middle, and set a decent stew on to simmer for a bit so everyone could have a hot meal.
While he waited for it to finish, he toured around the ruins to see just what kind of damage had been done. Kera did the same, taking Ceri with her off in on her own explorations. Most of the others stayed near the fire, because as night fell it began to grow colder.
Jason''s investigations didn''t turn up much of interest to him, so having poked around for a brief while, he returned to his cook-fire only to see Pelk showing off some kind of dirty-looking, multi-hued, short length of what looked like rock from where Jason was standing.
The dwarf held it up to the light, and Jason could see as he approached that it was some kind of crystallized sand fused with other bits. It was only a half a foot long and had a few long, thin branchings.
¡°See that?¡± Pelk was asking the other. ¡°That there¡¯s fulgurite. Also known as lightning-glass, ¡®cause it forms when lightning strikes and fuses sand and other silicates together. The Wastes out there is probably full of the stuff right now. It¡¯s fragile, though. Wears down pretty quick. Look.¡±
He squeezed one of the branches with thumb and forefinger, and it snapped off. The fragment fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces.
¡°Ain''t much use fer the stuff, but that¡¯s what¡¯s in all those craters there,¡± Pelk said, gesturing with one hand to the small craters of fused dirt scattered about. ¡°Probably would break most of it trying to dig it up, its so fragile, but interesting, eh?¡±
Serif looked a bit glassy-eyed at the dwarf¡¯s monologuing about mineral lore, but Jason was curious.
¡°Can I see it?¡± he asked Pelk.
The dwarf hand it to him with an admonishment to be gentle.
Jason simply held it lightly. ¡°Analyze Item,¡± he commanded.
Fulgurite Trait Discovered: Storm, Glass
Jason looked at it, eyebrows raised. ¡°Two traits?¡± he questioned.
¡°Traits?¡± Pelk asked.
¡°Uh, its an enchanting thing.¡± Jason lied quickly. He was starting to do that a lot, lately. ¡°We should absolutely gather a bunch of this if we can. I don''t think it will need to be terribly intact.¡±
Pelk scratched at his beard. ¡°You sure? Stuff¡¯s pretty worthless, just kind of a oddity.¡±
Jason nodded emphatically. ¡°Absolutely sure. We should gather as much as we can, even. I know exactly what I can make to aid the town. Trust me, it¡¯ll be worth the effort.¡±
Pell shrugged. ¡°If you say so. If you dont care what kind of condition it¡¯s in, we can just use my pick to mine the stuff outta the ground around here as we go. I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±
¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯m asking. Thanks.¡± Jason packed away the piece Pelk had handed him.
Jason then checked his stew. It would be ready in just a few more minutes. Some of the others were already snacking on bits of cheese or dried fruit, and were otherwise occupied. He noticed Kera wasn¡¯t around, and went to look for her in order to let her know that dinner was about ready.
He found her crouched in the shadowed, open doorway of one of the more distant building. The only reason he even found her in the first place was that he distantly heard Ceri make some kind of protesting noise. When he arrived, Kera was quietly shushing him. She¡¯d apparently activated her enhanced-senses morph to see, because he could see her crystal dreadlocks reflecting the distant light of the fire. She was holding what looked like a bunch of dried meat from her bag in one hand, and was tossing it into the building.
¡°Uhhh, what are you doing?¡± he asked, approaching,
Kera jumped, startled, and then relaxed when she saw him. Apparently he¡¯d been quieter than he¡¯d thought, or she was overly focused on whatever she was doing.
She held one finger to her lips and made a ¡®come here¡¯ motion with the fist-full of jerky strips.
¡°Just who I need,¡± she whispered to Jason. ¡°Can I borrow your healing wand?¡±
¡°Uhhh, why¡?¡± Jason asked. He started to look into the building, but Kera pulled him back.
¡°Shhh, not so loud,¡± she hissed at him. ¡°You¡¯ll ruin it.¡±
¡°Ruin what?¡±
¡°The rockhound.¡± Kera said. ¡°One of them survived. I want to tame it.¡±
Jason clamped down hard on the urge to shout incredulously.
¡°Are you crazy?¡± he whispered. ¡°You can¡¯t just tame a feral monster by feeding it. You do realize that park wardens tell people not to feed the bears for a reason, right?¡±
¡°So you say,¡± she retorted quietly. ¡°But people back home don¡¯t have magic, or magically enforced contracts, now do they?¡±
¡°I will admit that¡¯s fair, but don¡¯t you think its more than a little dangerous to be doing this by yourself? You saw what one did to Lumi.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not by myself, in case you haven¡¯t noticed." Kera replied. "I¡¯ve got Ceri, and you guys were one screech away. And I¡¯ve already put it under [Calm Animals]. I know what I¡¯m doing. I don''t tell you how to handle alchemy explosives. Monsters are my thing.¡±
Jason sighed. She had a point, but he remained unconvinced. He still reached to his belt anyhow and handed Kera his healing wand.
¡°Just point and say ¡®Cure Wounds¡¯, he instructed, and hung back. Just in case, Jason drew his shadow wand and made sure he knew which pocket his last remaining [Salamander Stone] was in.
Kera murmured something Jason couldn¡¯t quite hear and directed the wand into the darkness of the hall-buried building. He heard a soft whine from rockhound inside as she activated the wand.
Then she sat down, and put some of the dried meat in front of her. She motioned for Jason to seat himself out of view.
He hesitated.
¡°Is this going to take long?¡± he asked quietly. ¡°I¡¯ve got food almost ready.¡±
Kera shrugged. ¡°Depends. If I miss it, I miss it. I¡¯ll be fine. You don''t have to stay. Or you could bring us all some.¡±
Jason considered for a moment. He supposed that meaty stew would probably be more enticing to the beast than dried jerky.
¡°I¡¯ll bring you extra,¡± he said with a shrug.
Jason returned to the gathering about the fire. Aria gave him a wink.
¡°Having a private moment with your girl, finally?¡± she asked with a grin.
Jason rolled his eyes at the woman. ¡°Hardly,¡± he said. ¡°None of us are with each other. Or anyone, currently. No, she found one of those rockhounds still alive, but injured, and is going to see if she can contract it.¡±
The others looked surprised.
¡°What like the drake?¡± Serif asked gruffly. ¡°Is that why he¡¯s so well trained? I thought he was her familiar.¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°No, not a familiar. Kind of similar though. It¡¯s a class thing. She opened up the chance to get a second companion beast, but we hadn''t come across anything and she didn''t know what to summon. Looks like she¡¯s decided to at least try this one.¡±
Jason checked on the stew, which was finally ready. He gave it a stir, and ladled up three full bowls to take to Kera: one for himself, one for her, and one for Ceri or the hound. It was a little difficult for him to carry all at once
He returned to Kera, who seemed to still be trying to coax the rockhound out of wherever it was hiding. He handed her a bowl.
¡°Hey thanks,¡± she said, looking up and giving him a smile. ¡°That smells pretty good.¡±
¡°There¡¯s plenty more,¡± he said, handing her the second bowl and a spoon, and seating himself on a piece of fallen masonry off to one side.
Kera let Ceri have a few mouthfuls of stew before telling him to stay put on her shoulder. Then she leaned as far forward as she could, and placed the bowl down. Then she tossed a few pieces of jerky into the building.
Jason sat around trying to quietly eat his stew while Kera attempted to cajole the rockhound into approaching. It took two more casting of [Calm Animals] and three more wand charges to properly heal the animal, but eventually she got it investigate the food.
Jason sat as still as he could, but kept his wand at his side in case the rockhound shook off Kera¡¯s spell, assuming that was possible for it to do. He needn¡¯t have worried. Before too long, Kera had the enormous dog eating directly from the bowl, held in her hands, and was gently stroking its head and murmuring softly to it.
¡°Chalk and powder please,¡± she said to him quietly after a few minutes of this.
It took Jason a moment to understand what she was after; she wanted something to draw a ritual circle with, plus some arcane powder to power it. He didn¡¯t have chalk, but he did have sticks of charcoal she could use. He retrieved one from his bag, and handed it to her along with two vials of powder from his belt.
Kera quietly scribed a runic circle around herself and the rockhound, always keeping one hand on it. She was constantly petting it, talking quietly to it, and making sure it was calm.
Eventually, she sprinkled the arcane powder onto several runes, and Jason remembered at the last second to active his [Analyze Spell] skill. He received some basic information about the fact that it was some kind of bonding ritual, but it was the second message that got his attention:
Skill Failure: Analyze Spell. Higher Engrave and Analysis rank required before learning more complex rune sequences from Analysis is possible.
Well that¡¯s annoying, Jason thought to himself as Kera¡¯s circle pulsed several times and the mana ran through it.
Kera waited for a moment, and then gave a happy squeal and hugged the beast around it¡¯s neck. The rockhound meanwhile gave a short bark, and shook itself.
¡°I take it that¡¯s a success then,¡± Jason commented from his seat. ¡°How does that bond thing work, anyway? Do they have to accept? How do they even know what it means?¡±
Kera laughed. ¡°What, you haven¡¯t guessed? The system works for everything, of course. The Voice speaks dog just as much as English. To answer your question though, yes, they have to accept the contract. I don''t really know how they know what it means, but they do.¡±
Jason just shook his head. ¡°Well, I guess let¡¯s go introduce the newest member of our little band. I hope you¡¯re ready to keep the horses from freaking out.¡±
¡°They don¡¯t mind Ceri,¡± Kera pointed out, before reaching to give the drake his own scratch on the top of his head. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡±
Chapter 20
Jason and Kera returned to the campfire and Lumi¡¯s mage-lights. Aria and Belman had already cleaned and put their utensils away, while Pelk was finishing off his last bit of stew. Serif meanwhile was helping himself to more.
Ceri was riding in his customary position on Kera¡¯s shoulder, and the rockhound was padding along behind her silently.
¡°Everybody, I¡¯d like you meet Echo,¡± Kera said, giving the rockhound a small nudge forwards into the light. Jason saw her carefully avoided setting her hand down on one of the beast¡¯s spines. Instead, she placed it behind the crystalline shoulder growths, and gave a light push.
¡°She¡¯s a bit skittish still,¡± Kera explained, ¡°but she should be safe if you want to come look. Just take things slowly please. Don¡¯t crowd her.¡±
Pelk watched with interest, remaining seated as he cleaned his bowl. The two [Hunters] approached carefully with eager expressions. Echo shied back, but Kera put a hand behind her head and gave Echo a scratch, leaning down whispering indistinctly. The rockhound relaxed slightly. Aria and Belman then seated themselves nearby, while Kera coaxed the rockhound to approach and accept a bit of extra meat from each of the pair.
¡°How does this whole taming thing work, anyway?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I know I asked earlier, but the behavior change is weirding me out. I mean, how does a monster go from being a ravenous, murderous beast to a calm, well-behaved companion with little more than a single spell? That seems sketchy somehow.¡±
¡°I can answer that,¡± Aria said, raising a hand. ¡°I had a friend when I was a kid who loved animals and wanted to become a [Beast Tamer] when he was older. He explained it to me once.
¡°Apparently,¡± she said, ¡°the Interface applies to basically everything that has a mind of any sort. Or so the Archive has determined.¡±
Kera nodded, confirming, as Aria continued.
¡°When someone wishes to ¡®tame¡¯ an animal,¡± the huntress explained, ¡°whether as a familiar, a companion, a mount, or some other voluntary binding, there¡¯s a process involved whereby the creature in question is then made to understand what kind of bond is being offered, and what changes will result from accepting.
Aria slowly reached out to give Echo a cautious scratch behind the ears. ¡°Of course, the hard part is getting the animal in question to sit still long enough for you to actually attempt the process, be that magic ritual or simply repeated exercise of special skills. Even if you do, many creatures will reject the offer outright due to a high degree of independence, or perhaps they only accept bonds with members of certain races for reasons of their own.¡±
¡°Regardless,¡± Aria explained, ¡°The Voice intercedes with the animal in question so that it knows what¡¯s expected of it, and what it will get out of the deal. Typically, this means guaranteed safety, food, shelter, experience, and other things. Frankly, it¡¯s a pretty good deal for a creature that¡¯s more than likely to die at the hands of adventurers or another animal. Longer life expectancy and guaranteed meeting of basic needs is a pretty powerful motivator.¡±
Kera took over the explanation at that point. ¡°Don¡¯t forget the bond can be broken too. At least in my case. If I treat them badly or for whatever reason they don''t want to stay with me anymore, they can just poof back to wherever I made the bond with them, or where I summoned them from, in the case of Ceri.¡±
¡°So I¡¯ve got my own motivation to treat them nicely and see to their needs,¡± she finished, giving Ceri his own scratch on the head.
Aria cut back in.
¡°Think of it like a man who¡¯s down in his luck,¡± she said, ¡°who¡¯s been offered a position as a manservant for a rich merchant. The man knows that he¡¯ll be expected to act a certain way towards his master, and his towards master¡¯s clients. Accepting the job doesn¡¯t change the man¡¯s basic nature, and he¡¯s free to do has he pleases within certain restraints while on and off the job, with the threat of losing it should he act out too much. Doing so would result in the lost of his income - in this case, the needs and growth that Echo here gets from agreeing to the bond - so he chooses to follow the rules presented to him. At the same time, if the man¡¯s master mistreats him too badly, he can always leave and try his luck elsewhere.¡±
Jason rubbed his chin thoughtfully, shaking his hand and wincing as he pricked himself on his accumulating stubble. Idly he reflected that it had been over a week now since he¡¯d last shaved; he¡¯d have to see to that when he got back. One more thing to add to the list.
¡°I guess that all makes sense,¡± he said to Aria. ¡°Thanks for the explanation. I was curious.¡±
She inclined her head. ¡°Welcome.¡±
After everyone had had their chance to marvel over Echo, except for Serif who had chosen ignore the whole thing, Kera shooed everyone off back to the camp.
¡°I¡¯ll clean up here,¡± she said. ¡°Its late, and we want to be on the way in the morning, right? I¡¯ll keep the watch tonight with Ceri and Echo. I need to spend some time with them both, make sure they can get along, et cetera. You all go on and get some sleep. Someone can come trade me for last watch later.¡±
¡°You sure?¡± asked Lumi.
Kera nodded. ¡°Its fine.¡±
¡°Oh!¡± she exclaimed, turning to Jason. ¡°Can you make me up some kind of ink or paint or something for the morning? Doesnt matter what¡¯s in it, though it¡¯s for a ritual, so use your judgement, there.¡±
Jason considered for a few moments. He didn¡¯t really have a knowledge skill per se for alchemy, but sometimes he got flashes of insight as to what was needed from various skills.
He blinked hard for a moment as nearly half a dozen skills pushed information into his mind; he was getting better accessing it on purpose, it seemed.
[Herbalism] and [Cooking] both supplied him helpful information about various plants and fruits that could stain and made for good pigments. [Engraving] and [Synthesize] provided means to make magical inks, while [Survivalist] and [Cooking] both provided some actual methods of processing simple charcoal into ink.
It took him a moment to process it all.
¡°Well, I¡¯ll need the firepit for maybe half an hour,¡± he told Kera after a moment. ¡°Charcoal, wood ash, soot, and water plus boiling is really all I need for very basic ink. Salt and vinegar would help too, if you wanted it to last, but I¡¯m guessing you dont care¡?¡±
¡°Not really.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯ll show you how it¡¯s done. You can mix in some arcane powder too to help it accept mana better.¡±
The night passed uneventfully, much to everyone¡¯s relief.
Jason had shown Kera how she could make her own charcoal ink and provided her with a few vials of arcane powder, afterwards deciding that the weather was now clear and pleasant enough that he¡¯d join her in sleeping out under the stars. Then he¡¯d hauled his bedroll up from the cellar below, and set up a place to sleep a short distance away from the fire, enough to give Kera room to work and spend time with Ceri and Echo. It didn¡¯t take him long to fall soundly asleep after the day¡¯s exertions.
In the morning, everyone began their preparations for the return to Arnvale. After Jason prepared a hearty breakfast for everyone, Pelk and Lumi went off to scour the ruins for any fulgurite they could find, and Kera began preparing for the ritual she wanted to perform before they left. Meanwhile, the others struck camp.
¡°Jason!¡± Kera called to Jason as he finished putting away and dispelling the last of his cooking gear.
He looked over to see Kera laboriously drawing out an overly large, ornate casting circle with one of the charcoal sticks he¡¯d given her. Echo was laying down in the center, head on her paws, watching the girl. Jason didn''t see Ceri offhand.
¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked.
¡°Can you come please use that ink you gave me to inscribe some of your runes for me?¡±
¡°Uh, sure,¡± Jason replied, moving to join her. ¡°Why though? They¡¯re only for enchanting.¡±
¡°That¡¯s actually not strictly true,¡± Kera said. ¡°Remember what Flora told us? Spells are basically structured magic, with a kind of matrix that bends and holds the mana into place. Runes are, more or less, the same thing in written form, which is why you can learn them from analyzing spells.¡±
¡°Oh, that reminds me,¡± Jason interrupted, holding up a finger. ¡°Hang on, one sec.¡±
He took a moment to dump a few skill points into his [Analyze Spell] skill. If Kera was going to attempt another ritual, this time he hoped to be ready in case he could learn something from it.
¡°Ok, done,¡± he said. ¡°Sorry; I wanted to spend some points before you started. Please, continue.¡±
¡°Well,¡± Kera began anew, ¡°Runes perform the same function for rituals too. I spent a bunch of my skills last night before trying to tame Echo. I picked up Advanced Monster Lore, which I earned for super cheap thanks to my class and skills, plus those books. I also put some points into [Ritual Casting] finally while I was at it, which helped me figure out what I¡¯d been doing wrong.¡±
Idly, Jason caught sight of Lumi and Pelk returning from their own task. Pelk descended into the cellar to find the other civilians while Lumi took a seat nearby.
¡°I¡¯d wondered about that,¡± Jason said. ¡°We, that is you, managed that successful improv ritual, and nothing you¡¯ve tried since then has done anything.¡±
¡°Right. Well, that¡¯s because I¡¯ve been missing an important component as you saw last night: the arcane powder. Seems that¡¯s needed for actual rituals. I guess the Voice decided to throw me a bone or something the first time since I didn''t actually have a class and we used a substitute.¡±
¡°That seems a little far fetched.¡± Lumi said.
Jason shrugged. ¡°As good an explanation as any. Compensation, remember?¡±
¡°Anyway,¡± Kera continued, ¡°There¡¯s a kind of gradated system for rituals. First, there¡¯s all sorts of stuff that goes into what determines success. The intended effect is only a small part of that. Your circle structure, presence of runes, location, time of day, ambient mana, symbolism, and so on. Loads and loads of factors.
¡°Most of them individually have only a minor impact by default, if that much,¡± Kera explained. ¡°But some things, like runes and the circle itself, are really important. The more powerful the effect you¡¯re trying to go for, the more the important things become mandatory.¡±
Kera pointed to several empty spaces in her circle structure after handing Jason the pot of ink he¡¯d made for her. ¡°Here. Runes for Life, Bolster and Growth. Here, here, and here respectively, please.¡±
She continued with her explanation as Jason got to work, Lumi leaned forward, interested, resting her elbows on her knees.
¡°You don¡¯t have to use most of those things for a ritual,¡± Kera said, ¡°except for a little arcane powder, as long as you recognize that it¡¯s likely to fail. For instance, you could do a kind of dowsing ritual with little more than a stick of charcoal, a bucket of water, a sponge, and a twig. At its most basic, [Ritual Casting] is a symbolism thing, just like we originally surmised.¡±
Kera watched Jason¡¯s work carefully as she continued. ¡°But here¡¯s the kicker: adding even some basic, related runes to a simple ritual like that has a vastly stabilizing effect on the whole thing. We¡¯re talking like, twenty-percent chance of success increased to a ninety-percent-plus chance for low-end rituals.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
¡°The more complete and accurate your runes, the stronger the stabilization,¡± she explained. ¡°Which means the more runes you know, the bigger and more powerful rituals you can perform, until you reach a point where you¡¯ve abandoned symbolism entirely and are solely using chanted spells and rune sequences to perform the ritual.¡±
¡°At which point, you''re now basically performing gigantic, temporary enchantments that alter the fabric of reality,¡± Lumi said, realization dawning on her face. ¡°And after casting they create an effect that fades over time because there¡¯s no permanent engraving, or they have already achieved something permanent.¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Kera replied.
Jason pondered for a moment. ¡°I wonder if that makes rituals more, or less, like my infusion and brewing skills, compared to yours and Lumi''s traditional spells.¡±
¡°I think it lies somewhere in between. Because it uses both structure and not,¡± Kera said with a shrug.
Jason completed his last few lines and stood up. He dusted himself off. ¡°Ok, that¡¯s done. Now what?¡±
¡°Now I need you to paint ¡®Continuous¡¯ and ¡®Capacity¡¯ on Echo¡¯s shoulders,¡± Kera said. She coaxed the rockhound to her feet.
¡°Uhhh¡ that doesn¡¯t sound safe,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I have no idea what would happen if I tried to engrave a living creature.¡±
Kera waved a hand. ¡°It¡¯s fine, it won¡¯t hurt her.¡±
¡°Are you sure? What is this even for?¡±
¡°Positive. I¡¯m just casting a ritual to extend the duration of a buff spell. It¡¯s part of the process, and it¡¯s nothing permanent. Those are the runes to make something store mana, right? That¡¯s what I want. I don''t want to tie up my mana all day, I¡¯ll just store a whole bunch at once to power the spell.¡±
¡°Alright,¡± Jason said. He cautiously approached the beast, who huffed at him suspiciously, but remained still as Jason began to paint the runes onto the crystal growths that jutted upwards from her shoulders.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kera begin to place down her symbolic objects: Some quartz crystal fragments in a bowl of liquid, what looked like some spines and teeth from one of the dead hounds, and some long, coarse black hair that Jason though might be from one of the horses.
Ok, definitely stumped, here, he thought.
He finished applying the runes to both sides of Echo.
¡°That good?¡± he asked Kera.
¡°Yep, thanks!¡± she said. ¡°Can you bottle the rest of the ink for me? I¡¯ll have to re-do this every day til we get back. Maybe you could write down the runes for me somewhere so you don¡¯t need to help.¡±
¡°I guess I should pay for some kind of rune knowledge skill,¡± Kera said thoughtfully a moment later. ¡°Maybe you can teach me later.¡±
With an idle shrug, she gestured for Jason to move aside. She began muttering some sort of incantation under her breath that Jason couldn¡¯t make out, and he wondered if it actually meant anything. From her explanation, it sounded like it wasn''t actually necessary, just something she felt like should be done.
¡°Analyze Spell,¡± Jason commanded.
Basic Rune Learned: Extend
Well at least I got something out of it, Jason thought, pleased. Kind of surprised I can learn new runes from a ritual I put some into, though. Seems a bit of a cheat. Then again, it¡¯s kind of random, and not guaranteed.
He¡¯d remember that, for the future at least. Maybe he and Kera could work something up.
Kera pulled out two vials of powder and walked her way around the circle, sprinkling some here and there. Then, suddenly, she gave a command, and activated the circle.
¡°Evolution Surge!¡± she cried.
The circle flashed blue, and Echo suddenly tripled in size, her form rippling in a way that made Jason slightly nauseous to watch. But it was over quickly, and the rockhound¡¯s form had changed dramatically.
Echo was now the size of a horse, nearly as tall as Lumi was at the shoulder. Her body and tail had elongated somewhat as well, giving her a sleek, streamlined look; with that tail, Jason thought she resembled a manticore more than ever. All she lacked was the wings.
Her spines had shifted slightly as well. They¡¯d grown longer and thicker, but now a left clear, flattened ridge in the center where a rider might sit.
Lumi clapped and gave a small cheer.
¡°You¡ turned your dog into a horse¡?¡± Jason asked, dumbfounded.
¡°Please,¡± Kera said dryly, giving an exaggerated eye-roll. ¡°Echo is more than just a mere dog,¡± she continued with a grin. ¡°You¡¯ll hurt her feelings.¡±
Jason rolled his eyes back at her. ¡°Sorry, Echo,¡± he drawled, trying to give his best chastened-child impression.
Lumi stood up and came over to get a better look.
¡°That is so awesome! What else can you do with that spell?¡± she asked.
Echo began twisting and flexing as Lumi examined her, as if the rockhound were happy with examining her newfound size, and as well as pleased by the attention she was getting. Kera reached up and gave her a vigorous rub on the muzzle with one hand.
¡°All sorts of things, as it turns out. Mostly the spell ties up a lot of my mana to give a short duration, major change. It¡¯s kind of like my [Morphic Modification], except only usable on pet-types. But I got to thinking right after Echo agreed to accept the contract that I didn''t really have a good way for her to keep up with us on the way back. I didn''t want her to have to run all the way, that¡¯s just mean.¡±
Jason laughed.
¡°So your solution was this¡?¡± he asked. ¡°Well, it¡¯s very Dungeons and Dragons, I have to say. I approve.¡±
¡°Lumi,¡± Kera asked, turning to the other girl. ¡°I don''t actually have a proper saddle, of course, but you¡¯ve got Advanced Horsemanship, right? Can you and Jason help me maybe rig like a pad or a blanket or something? I don''t want to chafe her all day.¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Piece of cake with [Basic Tailoring]. I¡¯ve got that spare stuff we picked up from Jerrik in the case of needing clothing repairs, so I¡¯ve got cloth, leather, and padding.¡±
¡°Lumi?¡± he asked.
¡°Hah! Never thought I¡¯d really be using that skill. Lets do this. By then, the others will be ready to leave.¡±
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª
An hour later saw Kera up and riding about on Echo, grasping the thick crystal spines along her back as a pommel; the rockhound didn¡¯t seem to mind. Fortunately, she didn''t need reigns since she could communicate her wishes directly.
She was fairly unsteady at first, but with some extra coaching from Lumi, Kera seemed to get the hang of things by the time everyone was ready to leave. She even managed to cast [Calm Animals] on the horses while mounted, to give them the chance to grow used to the sight and scent of the rockhound while they traveled.
In short order, they were leaving the ruins. To Jason it felt like they¡¯d been there for a whole week, even though they¡¯d been gone from Arnvale for only four days, and had been at the ruins a mere day and a half. And yet they¡¯d gained a great deal; Jason had acquired a great many new ingredient sources, and both the girls had gained multiple levels during their foray. Jason was regretting his decision to hold off on perhaps acquiring an [Engineer] class; if he had taken it before leaving, he¡¯d probably be several levels in by now.
They took their time leaving the Crystal Wastes at first. Every hour or so, Pelk called a halt, and they¡¯d dismount and spread out, canvasing the surrounding area for more fulgurite for Jason.
The dwarf was honestly shocked at how plentiful it was.
¡°I don¡¯t understand it,¡± he said to Jason after their fourth stop. By then, it was late morning, almost noon, and everyone had put their sun-goggles back on.
¡°Normally,¡± he explained, ¡°you wouldn¡¯t find many at all from any given storm with the best of conditions, even high up on the mountainsides where you can get a kind made from certain kinds of rock. The temperature and conditions have to be just right.¡±
¡°But here¡?¡± Pelk said with a gesture all around. ¡°It¡¯s incredible. We¡¯ve found several pieces every couple of miles.¡±
¡°That¡¯s normal storms, though, right?¡± Jason asked. ¡°This was hardly normal. The sheer volume of lightning was incredible. The only time I¡¯ve ever heard even similar was when my parents back home foolishly decided to sit out a hurricane in our home instead of evacuating.
¡°What¡¯s more,¡± he continued, ¡°I highly doubt that storm formed naturally. That ruin would¡¯ve been ground down to dust years ago if it were a regular thing.¡±
¡°Aye, you mentioned that before,¡± Pelk replied.
¡°And I agree with him,¡± Aria said, shaking her head. ¡°I¡¯m no expert by any means, but I¡¯ve met people who¡¯ve passed through. Never heard mention of the like before.¡±
¡°Why would a storm like that just come up out of nowhere though?¡± Pelk asked.
¡°Um,¡± Kera said hesitantly, holding up a hand for attention. ¡°Aren¡¯t we supposed to be on the lookout for some kind of evil wizard? You know, because of the dungeon?¡±
Everyone looked at one another. They looked out at the flat, crystal wasteland all around them, with no shelter in sight.
¡°We¡¯ve got plenty, now. Maybe we should just forget the rest of the fulgurite and hurry back¡?¡± Jason suggested.
¡°Let¡¯s,¡± Lumi said hastily as everyone made bee-line for their mounts.
They reached Wasteland Station in record time.
Kera slid from Echo¡¯s back with a groan as soon as they reached the top of the winding path that led up the ridge to the waystation.
¡°Ok, definitely need a proper saddle,¡± she complained. ¡°Echo says she¡¯s fine, but I¡¯m sure as hell not. My legs are killing me.¡±
¡°Usually that¡¯s because your riding posture is bad,¡± Lumi said as she dismounted as well. Most of the others followed suit.
¡°Well excuse me if I¡¯ve never ridden a big, spiked, dog-monster before,¡± Kera grumbled in reply.
¡°I thought you said she wasn¡¯t a dog?¡± Jason asked facetiously, trying to keep his face completely blank.
Kera blew a raspberry at Jason.
One by one, everyone led their horses to the central space outside the cabins.
Lumi raised her voice. ¡°Ok, everyone, time for a break,¡± she said. ¡°Let¡¯s tend to the horses and give them a rest, and have something to eat. But we aren¡¯t stopping here for the night. I¡¯d rather we get back as soon as possible, so that means we¡¯ll be camping at the forest¡¯s edge again.¡±
¡°That sounds great an¡¯ all,¡± an unknown voice drawled loudly, ¡°but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m going to have to ensure that you aren¡¯t with ¡®em, girly.¡±
A heavily tanned man Jason had never seen before stepped out from the cabin to Jason¡¯s left. He was wearing a tunic and breeches that were dyed scarlet, over which he wore a bronze, rune-etched breastplate. His arms and legs were likewise clad with bronze boots and vambraces, and he wore a gold-lined, scarlet cloak with the hood up, covering his hair. He carried a long, blackened staff, and a rapier hung at his side.
Lumi dropped her reins and drew her sword, turning to face the stranger.
¡°Excuse me?¡± she said.
Serif, who hadn¡¯t yet dismounted, narrowed his eyes and leaned forward in his saddle.
¡°Hang up. I know you, don¡¯t I?¡±
The man leaned against his staff and spat idly into the dirt.¡°Possible, I s''pose. Lotsa people know me.¡±
¡°Most to their misfortune,¡± he said with a grin.
¡°Red cloak, bronze armor, staff...you¡¯re that slaver from Baradell. What was the name...?" Serif snapped his fingers. "That''s right, Vittorio Salazar.¡±
Salazar held one hand over his heart, a exaggerated, pained look on his face. ¡°Slaver? Me? I¡¯m hurt. I¡¯m merely an agent of the law, bane to criminals everywhere, willin t¡¯ hire myself out to any who¡¯ll pay my modest fee to bring swift justice for those who have been wronged.¡±
Serif spat angrily on the ground. ¡°Bullshit,¡± he swore. ¡°You might call your countrymen''s system of spell-binding criminals to life service justice, but the rest of us with brains just call it slavery.¡±
¡°Potato-potahto¡± the man replied, waggling his fingers. Then he shrugged. ¡°It''s still their choice. Could always just accept the axe.¡±
Lumi scoffed. "Hardly a choice at all."
¡°What¡¯s scum like you doing out here, anyway?¡± Serif asked, eyes narrowed. ¡°Captain heard you were in the region. You do know that we¡¯ve got standing orders to keep you away from the town, right?¡±
Salazar lounged casually against the doorframe, completely unconcerned by the fact he was facing sevenarmed adventurers and civilians. As he launched into an explanation, Aria whispered something to Belman that Jason didn¡¯t catch. Belman began gathering up the horses.
¡°I wouldn''t normally wander so far out this way,¡± Salazar began, ¡°but I happened to¡ ahem, apprehend, someone carrying an heirloom that was rather badly missed by a wealthy merchant in Feron. I arranged a discrete meeting with the owner, and returned it for a modest fee-¡±
¡°You mean you snuck in and threatened to destroy it unless they paid up,¡± Serif accused.
Salazar continued on, ignoring him. ¡°After which, I happened to receive an offer I simply couldn¡¯t refuse, to track down yon girlie here.¡±
He gestured in Lumi¡¯s direction.
¡°From who?¡± Jason interrupted suddenly, his heart sinking.
¡°Now now,¡± the man said with a tsk, ¡°A lawman should never reveal his clients. All you need know is she¡¯s a wanted woman. Don¡¯t ask me why. Don¡¯t matter none to me.¡±
¡°Lawman?!¡± Serif exclaimed, outraged. ¡°Half the freeholds would hang you as a slaver if you set foot anywhere near their borders with your friends in tow. If it weren¡¯t for the fact you aren¡¯t stupid enough to bring them anywhere near¡¡±
He trailed off with a splutter, looking around hurriedly.
¡°I¡¯m gettin¡¯ real tired o¡¯ you,¡± Salazar said with a stern look in Serif¡¯s direction. ¡°You¡¯d best shut yer trap before I stop playing nice.¡±
He stood up straight, moving away from the door, holding his staff loosely. ¡°Now you¡¯re ruining my mood. I was running pretty high from watchin¡¯ that big ¡®ol storm I kicked up. Amazing stuff, huh? Ne¡¯er thought a simple lesser storm-calling could turn out that crazy. S¡¯prised you lot lived through it, really. Gave me a bit of a shock when my locator said this morning that you were still kicking, an¡¯ even better, headed my way finally.¡±
¡°Locator?¡± Jason asked.
He didn''t actually expect an answer, but Salazar seemed to enjoy monologuing, and Jason wanted to keep him going long enough for Belman to get the horses clear of what was inevitably going to end in a fight.
¡°Never heard of an [Enforcer], boy?¡± he replied, one hand on his hip. ¡°Why don¡¯t you have old angry-pants here fill you in. Go on, I¡¯ll wait.¡±
Jason turned to Serif, who muttered some kind of foul imprecation under his breath before answering Jason¡¯s question.
¡°Vittorio Salazar, here, is an [Enforcer] and a [Bounty Hunter], among other, more unsavory things. He¡¯s well known as a essentially a magic-wielding, thief-catching, thug-for-hire in actual law enforcement circles. Anyhow, both classes possess skills that assist in tracking down a target. They¡¯re supposed to be used for seeking out lawbreakers, but they work just as well for other things.¡±
¡°Anyhow, a common one for individuals who use magic as part of their repertoire,¡± Serif said with a nod toward¡¯s the man¡¯s staff, ¡°is a spell that uses a personal belonging as a sort of compass, to determine distance and vague direction.¡±
Jason was both confused and worried. He looked at Lumi.
¡°How is that even possible?¡± He asked. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we haven¡¯t-¡±
Salazar interrupted. ¡°Everybody leaves traces boy.¡±
He withdrew a small bundle from a coat pocket, and tossed it into the dirt in between them. Jason could see it clearly in the afternoon sun:
Several strips of ragged t-shirt, soaked in dried blood, tied together in a knot.
¡°Even,¡± the man said with a meaningful look, ¡°in the middle of the woods.¡±
Jason¡¯s mouth ran dry. If Salazar had been following them since before Seraptis, then that implied¡
His thoughts were cut off as the man continued.
¡°Now, I¡¯m still in a pretty good mood,¡± Salazar said, stepping forward. ¡°So I¡¯ll cut you lot some slack, seein¡¯ as you¡¯ve somehow lucked into surviving the gods¡¯ own wrath out there yesterday.¡±
¡°All I¡¯m after is the girl. You leave her to me and carry on your merry little way, and tell whoever that she died in the storm or what have you, and I¡¯ll let you leave in peace, no hard feelings. You don¡¯t want me to have to get rough.¡±
¡°You do realize there¡¯s sevenof us and one of you, right?¡± Kera asked.
¡°Well¡.¡± the man trailed off. Then he brightened, holding up a finger. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s right, I forgot to mention. When I say I¡¯ll get rough... what I really mean is them.¡±
He whistled once, a sharp, piercing sound that hurt Jason¡¯s ears. The doors to the other two cabins opened, and several figures emerged.
Chapter 21
Jason felt a thrill of fear run through him as the doors of the cabins to either side swing open. Two massive, bear-faced humanoids covered in fur stepped out, followed by several human men. The bear-creatures towered over their compatriots, easily past six feet tall, and sported bronze armor similar in style to that worn by Vittorio Salazar, if of a lesser quality.
The numerous human men who followed were a much scruffier-looking lot. Their armor was primarily made of leather, badly mismatched and in poor repair, and unlike the bear-men, all of them were armed. Several of then sneered openly at Jason and the others, sizing then up.
Jason thought they looked much like typical story-time bandits: sloppy, ill-dressed, and violent. If Serif was correct and these were bound criminals, they certainly weren¡¯t the repentant kind.
¡°Ursar,¡± Kera whispered quietly to Jason and Lumi, nodding at the bear-creatures. ¡°Very durable, immensely strong. They don¡¯t need weapons with those claws and teeth.¡±
The group all drew weapons as their assailants exited the cabins and spread out to either side, with one Ursar and four others on each flank. Then two more figures exited the cabin behind Salazar.
Both were women, and were dressed in loose-fitted, flowing robes that screamed ¡®spellcaster¡¯ to Jason¡¯s increasingly panicked mind. He forced his fear down, and took a better look.
The first woman was clearly a member of the Kitsune race that Leska had once mentioned to Kera. To Jason¡¯s eye, she was an ordinary, highly-attractive human woman with a few slight differences: namely, she possessed upright, pointed fox ears that peeked up through her silvery, red-streaked hair, and had a trio of long, poofy tails that swished behind her as she stepped up to Salazar¡¯s side.
The man tried to casually put his free arm around the Kitsune¡¯s shoulder, but she shoved his hand away with an angry glare which didn¡¯t seem to phase him in the slightest, though he didn¡¯t try again.
The second figure to emerge from the doorway was a smallish human woman, and she walked up to Salazar¡¯s other side, hands clasped quietly together in front of her. Contrary to the defiant-looking Kitsune, she had a sad, resigned look on her face as she looked over Jason¡¯s party. A flicker of distaste appeared, and then suddenly all expression was quickly smoothed away. Jason surmised that unlike the men, this woman had no desire to be involved in the coming conflict, but had little choice in the matter, and knew it.
Jason¡¯s eyes were drawn to the not-quite matching tattoos on each woman¡¯s face, and with a quick flick of his eyes to either side, realized many of the men possessed similar.
With a sickening lurch of his stomach, Jason recognized the Controller rune amongst the script on the Kitsune woman¡¯s tattoo, which unlike those of the others, was an angry red, as if it had either been recently applied, or perhaps recently modified.
He quickly flicked his eyes back over Salazar''s allies, his mind racing as he examined them in further detail. The Ursar seemed to lack tattoos entirely, though Jason surmised that what with all the fur, he might not be able to see them if they didn''t scar. The men however did have visible tattoos, though Jason could see no sign of a controller rune amongst them.
He turned his eyes back to the women, examining them carefully as Serif began an angry tirade against Salazar that Jason largely ignored.
Watching them both carefully, Jason determined that yes, only the angry-looking looking Kitsune woman possessed a control rune, which seemed active even now. Both seemed defiant towards their presumed master in their own way, but the smaller human woman was much, much better at hiding it.
Jason surmised that perhaps, being a spellcaster, the Kitsune had attempted to break her bond or escape, and had earned further attention that the other woman hadn¡¯t. Perhaps Salazar had even needed to force her compliance for this confrontation. He¡¯d mentioned recently apprehending someone, after all.
Jason sincerely hoped that¡¯s what it meant, anyway.
While Jason observed the women, Serif¡¯s tirade grew more and more heated, while Salazar simply looked bored, occasionally making replies to Serif that only served to further incense the man. After a minute of letting the guardsman work himself up, in mid-sentence [Enforcer] abruptly turned and extended a hand in the guardsman¡¯s direction.
¡°Scorching Ray.¡±
A orange beam of condensed fire erupted from his hand. A bluish shield flashed into existence as Lumi tried to block it, but the beam punched straight through her shield, shattering it in a spray of snow. The ray struck Serif right in the chest, hurling him backwards from the back of his horse as his clothes ignited.
Jason nearly retched as his nose was assaulted by the smell of searing flesh, and he heard several cries of alarm but had no time to react, as Lumi roared a challenged and blurred forwards, activating [Dimensional Slide].
Salazar merely shifted slightly, and as Lumi reappeared, her sword was deflected by the man¡¯s staff with enough force that she pulled back slightly in surprise
The [Enforcer] took advantage of her hesitation and pivoted, extending a hand.
¡°Thunderwave,¡± he commanded, and the girl was blasted several feet backwards with a clap of sound. She fell to the ground, stunned, but still moving.
With Lumi now out of the way, Jason offered up a silent apology to the two women standing next to Salazar as he reached into his coat.
I¡¯m sorry. I know you¡¯re probably relatively innocent in all this, but it¡¯s us or you right now.
He pulled out his last remaining [Salamander Stone] and threw it hard at Salazar.
Unfortunately, not everyone¡¯s attention had been drawn to the swiftly escalating clash: just as Jason had been observing the women, the Kitsune had been observing him. As Jason¡¯s hand released the grenade, the rune on the woman¡¯s cheek flared as some command kicked in, and he saw a flicker of pain on her face. She rapidly extended a hand of her own, and a wisp of violet foxfire flew towards Jason¡¯s [Salamander Stone] as it sailed through the air toward Salazar. Just before the bomb struck the ground in front it the man, it was enveloped in a dome of energy, where it detonated with a muffled thump. Unfortunately, the barrier held and the man was unharmed.
The woman dropped her hand, and the bubble dissipated, leaving behind a small crater and wisps of smoke.
¡°Oh ho?¡± Salazar laughed, turning towards Jason. ¡°It seems you lot have some teeth after all. First a teleporter, and now dwarven munitions? A surprise indeed. It won¡¯t help, you know.¡±
Jason quickly pulled the two glass globes from his pocket. One he openly hurled to Salazar''s left, where the smaller woman stood. He spun with a distracting flourish of his coat to concleal his drawing of the second, as the Kitsune woman repeated her prior performance, flinging out a tiny orb of violet flame from her fingertips, which enclosed the globe in a shield. As it struck the ground, the shield turned into a dome, where the globe shattered.
Salazar began to look down at the small dome of force, which rapidly filled with an ink-black color as the globe¡¯s contents were released.
Gotcha. Jason thought as he completed his spin, throwing the other globe. He¡¯d seen enough of Lumi, Kera, and Flora in action to guess that the woman wasn''t likely able to hold multiple, actively channeled spells in place at once.
Sure enough, she released the first orb, mistaking it for a similar explosive to the salamander one, and rapidly shielded the second. The shadow-gas from the first globe was released, billowing outwards.
¡°Fall back to the stable!¡± Jason yelled to everyone as the other globe shattered, while a rapidly expanding cloud of pitch blackness quickly enveloped Salazar and the two women. If he guessed right, the stables behind them, which had been built opposite the cabins from the central gathering area, should be easily out of range of the globes¡¯ effects.
¡°Kera! Covering fire!¡± Jason heard Lumi yell as the expanding cloud of darkness washed over them.
He did a one-eighty on his heels and sprinted to the edge of the cloud as he heard angry roars burst from the throats of the Ursar, as well as cries of confusion from Salazar''s other allies, as Kera shouted ¡®Obsidian Flow!¡¯ from somewhere off to his right. He felt a wave of heat wash past.
Jason burst out from the cloud of darkness to see the two [Hunters] scattering the horses away from the fight instead of mounting up, with a terrified-looking Pelk dragging Serif¡¯s prone form into the now-empty stable behind them. He suddenly realized his mistake, and the wisdom of their actions: with ranged spellcasters present and a steep path to either side of the ridge, there was no way to flee on horseback and no cover: you¡¯d simply be gunned down by another scorching ray. Better to scatter the horses and defend themselves, and recover the animals later.
Jason turned to see Kera, and Lumi burst out of the cloud with Ceri and Echo, now both enlarged, running behind them. Kera appeared to have lost her staff; Jason hadn¡¯t seen how.
An angry Salazar was shouting at the top of his lungs from within the cloud. ¡°Bring me their heads, and whoever brings me that girl alive gets their freedom!¡±
Jason hauled his two wands from his belt, one shadow and one healing, as Kera and Lumi turned to face the imminent threat. Lumi reached to her own belt, downing a potion; Jason thought it was the Lesser Strength one he¡¯d given her. Then she pulled a out a second vial and dumped the contents over her blade, which ignited in flames.
Kera meanwhile ordered Ceri and Echo to form up alongside Lumi, and then joined them while Jason stood alone in the second rank, in front of the civilians. Shaking one hand as if it hurt, the girl muttered a curse under her breath.
Jason saw her take a deep breath, as if steadying herself, and she gave several commands in rapid sequence.
¡°Morphic Modification. Manticore Tail. Fireproofing. Resist Magic.¡±
With a tearing sound, a long, spiked tail covered in spines ripped its way through the back of her dress as her hair turned to crystal strands and her skin took on a strange cast. She flexed her tail experimentally, and then turned, whipping it to the side. A spray of thin spines lanced out into the darkness, where there was a scream. She nodded once to herself, satisfied, and downed a potion.
Jason risked a quick look over his shoulder back at the civilians, to see Aria and Belman clambering swiftly up onto the roof of the stable for a better vantage point.
Then Salazar''s men came boiling out of the cloud, centering in on the girl¡¯s voices. They were met by a hail of arrows, spines, and shadowbolts as Jason and the others launched a flurry of projectiles. Three men went down instantly as the others scattered, one to Jason¡¯s own shadowbolt.
A violet shield flashed into existence in front of one of Salazar''s men, deflecting an arrow as the Kitsune woman strode confidently out of the darkness. Jason turned to loose a shadowbolt in her direction, which itself was instantly deflected; the woman''s reaction time was incredible.
She raised both hands and began flinging shields left and right, flickering orbs of violet flame dancing along her fingertips before spinning outwards at a furious pace, creating momentary, instant barriers that blocked Jason and his allies¡¯ barrage.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
The two Ursar emerged from the cloud, bits of shattered, blackened stone stuck to their still-smoldering fur. Whatever Kera¡¯s spell had done to them, Jason could tell they were angry as they roared and charged towards her and her pets.
Kera gave a deep, bellowing roar of her own, and Jason felt a surge of adrenaline and confidence wash over him. Ceri and Echo both bolted forwards and engaged the massive bear-men, claws, teeth, and sparks flying.
Jason switched hands briefly, leveling his healing wand in Kera¡¯s direction. He tossed out lesser heals to the girl and her pets while he kept an eye on Lumi, who began systematically warping around the battlefield, striking away at Salazar''s scattered allies to keep them from rallying, much to the displeasure of the Kitsune woman, who had difficulty keeping track of her movements.
Vittorio Salazar himself then emerged the cloud, unceremoniously hauling the short human woman along with him by one elbow. He glanced around the battlefield, and moved to stand near the Kitsune woman.
Jason watched as Salazar surveyed his scattered forces as Lumi harried them and they were peppered with a barrage of barely deflected arrows from above.
¡°Enough!¡± He yelled angrily in Lumi¡¯s direction hurling some kind of sculpted figurine to the ground.
The next time the girl warped, she suddenly found herself standing in front of him, facing the wrong direction. Salazar physically struck her in the back with his staff, knocking her to the ground.
She blurred again, suddenly standing again, surprise washing over her features. She blurred a third time, but remained in place.
¡°You¡¯ll face me!¡± Salazar roared at her, spinning his staff towards Lumi, who raised her sword to block.
Jason raised his shadow wand again, preparing to launch a shadowbolt, but hesitated as Lumi and Salazar danced about with a series of rapidly exchanged blows.
Briefly cursing, Jason turned his attention back to the Kitsune woman, opening up on her with a wild series of bolts rather than risk striking Lumi; at least he could perhaps draw the woman¡¯s attention away from her allies while Aria and Belman continued to harry them with arrows; a few lucky shots had gotten through, and more than half of them were now down.
Jason fired off bolt after bolt in rapid succession, dropping his mostly depleted healing wand in order to down a mana potion with one hand as he felt his mana reserves dip dangerously low. At last, the woman missed a shield, or ran out of her own mana, and one of Jason¡¯s bolts clipped her in the shoulder, sending her spinning to the ground.
The smaller woman ran to her side, and Jason saw the telltale glow of healing wash over the Kitsune.
Swearing internally, Jason leveled the his wand at the second woman. He¡¯d wondered why she hadn¡¯t engaged until now: he knew a pocket healer when he saw one.
Jason sent a bolt her way, trying his best not to kill her outright. She¡¯d not been aggressive, so unless she forced his hand, he¡¯d give her the benefit of the doubt and aim to disable.
The blast struck the healer in the leg, and she screamed and fell back away from the other woman. Salazar glanced briefly over his shoulder and saw both on the ground, and rage washed over his features.
With a mighty heave, he pushed Lumi bodily backwards away from him as they clashed again. He extended a hand in her direction.
¡°Perdition Chain!¡± he bellowed.
The air between him and Lumi twisted and warped, and a long, silver light snapped towards her out of thin air. The girl tried to deflect it with her shield, but Jason saw it dip down under her shield and strike towards her legs. She fell to the ground and began to scream as the chain wrapped about her legs and then flashed red-hot.
Salazar turned towards Jason and leveled his staff in Jason¡¯s direction, just as Jason leveled his own wand at the man.
Lightning thundered, and Jason was holding a metal wand.
Jason¡¯s world turned white. His mind filled with thought-numbing, fiery pain as he felt himself flung backwards. Someone screamed, and he wasn¡¯t sure if it was him or not.
He couldn¡¯t breathe.
He heaved like a fish for what felt like ages, struggling for breath while his hand and arm screamed fire into his brain. He¡¯d thought getting struck by the Sobek had been bad; having your nerves set aflame was far worse.
In reality, his struggle lasted only two or three seconds. Dimly, as Jason tried to heave in air, he heard Lumi shriek out a command, activating her [Spell Disruption] skill to free herself.
He lungs started working again.
As air flooded back into him, Jason tried to get up. A scream of pure pain tore its way out of him as he pushed against the ground and his whole right side exploded in further agony. He collapsed back onto the ground as he desperately struggled to remain conscious.
His vision swam, and his arm and hand felt like it was on fire.
Don¡¯t look. Don¡¯t freak out. Don¡¯t look.
Jason began chanting to himself under his breath as he rolled himself over in the other direction.
¡°Now is not the time. Healing is a thing here. I¡¯ll be fine. Don¡¯t look. Focus on a solution.¡±
He struggled to shove himself upward with one knee, clutching his likely-ruined arm to his chest. All around him, the battle was raging. Kera and her pets continued to go toe to toe with the Ursar, blood now flowing from all involved. Most of Salazar''s men were down, but the Kitsune woman was back on her feet, once again shielding her allies from the Hunter¡¯s arrows.
Lumi had managed to free herself and was on guard against further spells, but the fight there seemed to not be going well.
Jason felt arms pass under his shoulders and lift him upwards, and he looked up to see Pelk. The sturdy dwarf hauled him backwards into the flimsy shelter of stable.
Now out of the line of fire, Jason was able properly force his mounting panic downwards.
He spat something metallic out of his mouth.
¡°Pelk. Thank god. Help me,¡± he gasped. ¡°Arm¡¯s all fucked up. Need my pack.¡±
Jason unashamedly screamed again as the dwarf helped him pull his haversack from his shoulders. Jason reached into his coat with his one good hand and hauled out one of his spare [Least Healing] potions; he had no remaining better ones; all he had left were the weaker ones he¡¯d made for disenchanting.
He downed it. Maybe it would help dull the pain at least.
Jason fell back against the ground, his thoughts racing as he felt the potion begin to kick in.
What can I make? No crafted wands left. No more fire element for bombs. [Improvise]? Maybe.
¡°Pelk, help. Sit me up please.¡±
The dwarf dragged him over to one of the stable doors and propped him up.
¡°Bag now,¡± Jason said, suppressing a wince of pain.
Pelk pulled unfastened the pouch flaps, setting the bag in Jason¡¯s lap. Outside, a brilliant light flashed, followed by a roar of fire as Lumi and Salazar traded spells.
Jason thrust a hand into the bag, rifling around inside while looking around the stable for inspiration.
I don¡¯t even know if I can aim or throw well enough while I¡¯m this badly hurt. I need something easily delivered. Or hard to avoid.
His hand closed around the piece of fulgurite at the same time his eyes fell on upon an arrow lying on the ground, no doubt one of the ones deflected by the Kitsune woman¡¯s shields.
Wait. I dont have to be the one to do it.
An idea formed.
¡°Pelk,¡± Jason began, then coughed, sending another spasm of pain through his arm. "Think you could wield that hammer of yours for me and smash up some of those bloodgems for me? Also, I need your black powder.¡±
¡°What, why?¡±
Jason waved away the question with a shake of his head.
¡°No time,¡± he wheezed. ¡°Can you do it?¡±
¡°Of course.¡±
¡°Do so. Just grab a handful and smash as hard as you can. No time for finesse. As much of it powdered as you can get.¡±
The dwarf began digging through the bags, hauling out his heavy steel hammer and jar of gunpowder, while Jason pushed his haversack off his lap with one hand. Moving was mind-numbingly painful and he was begenning to itch, but he struggled through, refusing to look down at his arm lest he start to panic again.
Pelk handed him the gunpowder, which Jason quickly activated analyze on.
Please be right.
Gunpowder Trait Learned: Volatile
Not quite scientifically accurate, he thought, but I¡¯ll take it. Its good for bombs, that¡¯s what matters.
Jason dumped a whopping five points into [Brew Potion], in too much pain to be specific. It wasn¡¯t like he didn''t have them to spare. He checked his rank, and sure enough could now use four ingredients, with a slight effectiveness boost.
¡°Artifice,¡± Jason commanded, materializing a shallow basin and pouring in several handful¡¯s worth of gunpowder. He put the jar down carefully to one side.
Jason then thrust his good hand back into the bag, and grasped one of the eggs they¡¯d stolen from the prism scarab nests. He held it over the basin and crushed it with one hand, filling his nose with a disgusting, acrid scent he couldn''t quite place.
He pulled two more eggs from bag, each time unceremoniously crushing them with one hand and letting their contents run into the basin. Pelk looked at him with a puzzled look on his face, but began laying about with his hammer, cracking apart several bloodgems.
Without bothering to explain, Jason pulled out several pieces of fulgurite. These he crushed with the aid of basin, bracing the basin with one leg so he could press the brittle material as hard as he could against it with one hand.
It worked well enough.
¡°Pelk,¡± he called to the dwarf. He coughed again, as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He wondered if he was losing blood faster than his potion could help. It certainly wasn''t doing enough for the pain.
¡°Arrow please. Then gems,¡± Jason requested.
One of the Ursar bellowed as a furious buzzing filled the air. The roar cut off suddenly with a gurgle as an small explosion shook dust from the roof of the stable. Jason cheered a bit internally for Kera.
Pelk tossed the arrow to Jason, who only just managed to catch it. The dwarf then began scraping up the gemstone fragments.
Jason closed his eyes and held the arrow up in front of him, picturing it in his mind.
I hope this works, or we¡¯re all screwed.
Mentally, formed the runes for Bolster, Absorption, and Capacity, holding them in his mind.
¡°Improvise,¡± he commanded, then tossed the arrow into the basin as Pelk dumped two handfuls of crushed bloodstone fragments into the basin.
Last of all, Jason had Pelk dig out his water skin and dump the contents into the basin.
It would do.
¡°Brew Potion, Infuse¡± Jason commanded. ¡°Seeking, Volatile Prismatic Storm¡±
It worked. With a swirl of red and violet light, nearly all of his remaining mana drained away and the arrow absorbed three potions worth of liquid. He broke out in a cold sweat; apparently infusing four ingredients at once cost a hefty amount.
Pelk¡¯s eyes grew wide with shock as Jason carefully picked up the arrow and handed it to the dwarf. It glowed with dark, shifting colors.
¡°Give this to Aria. Do not drop it,¡± he emphasized as he pushed himself to his feet with one arm.
¡°Tell her to fire it up and over when the barrier goes up.¡±
Pelk nodded once.
Jason paused for breath after standing, leaning for a moment against the wall. Then he reached down with his good hand to withdraw a plain metal rod from his bag.
Gotta stop that Kitsune. Only gonna get one shot at this, can¡¯t have her deflecting.
Once again he closed his eyes and activated [Improvise], draining his mana. Jason then staggered out of the stables after Pelk.
The scene was an absolute mess.
Kera was down on one knee next to the corpse of one of the Ursar, breathing heavilly, looking like she was about to pass out. Her clothes were torn and ragged, with blood dripping from multiple wounds, and neither Ceri nor Echo were anywhere to be seen. Lumi still dueled frantically with Salazar, trading blows and spells and shields in a wild lightshow, but she was clearly flagging. Salazar on the other hand seemed to simply be toying with her now, having healer woman stand by to toss out a boost to him whenever Lumi managed to land a hit.
Salazar''s three surviving men had gathered to one side nearby, watching the show while the Kitsune woman continued to shield them from the hunters¡¯ occasional arrows.
Jason ran to Kera, and hooked one arm around her elbow and hauled her upwards.
¡°Jason! Wh-¡±
He cut her off quickly.
¡°Can you summon your crow?¡±
¡°What?¡±
¡°Your crow spell, do you have enough left?¡± he asked her urgently, hauling her backwards towards the stable.
¡°Wha-yes, but-¡±
¡°Cast it now.¡±
¡°But Lumi-¡±
¡°Do it.¡± he ordered.
Wearily the girl did as he asked, and with a small puff of air a black crow with red appeared.
Jason pointed off to the object Salazar had dropped on the ground earlier.
¡°Fetch that figurine,¡± he said.
Kera looked at him quizzically, but the crow launched itself on her command, darting across the battlefield and snatching up the small object. It raced back and dropped it into the dirt besides Kera.
The bird¡¯s sudden flight drew the attention of Salazar''s remaining men, who turned towards Kera and Jason.
Jason bellowed as loud as he possibly could.
¡°LUMI! TELEPORT NOW!¡±
She heard, and with a blur she was suddenly beside him, staggering with surprise as the figurine diverted her spell once again.
Salazar pivoted and began to race towards them alongside his men. He held out one hand, flames gathering before him as he charged forwards.
Jason raised his wand unsteadily, aiming it a bit behind the two women, who were also beginning to turn.
¡°Lumi, Shadow Curtain, if you please. Big as you¡¯ve got,¡± he ordered. ¡°Kera, if Ceri or Echo are out there, unsummon them right now.¡±
I love it when a good plan comes together, Jason quoted savagely in his mind.
He activated his wand, which he¡¯d infused with runes of Barrier Projection. The last of his mana drained away, and a wave of dizziness and nausea swept over him.
A benign bubble of force sprang up around the Kitsune and the healer woman, blocking their view.
Lumi spread both arms, and with a shout of ''Shadow Curtain'', an inky-black wall stretched itself into a half-circle around the stable.
Aria launched the arrow into the sky, and then dove from the top of the stable into Belman¡¯s outstretched arms, heedless of her own safety; it seemed Pelk had given her and Belman some forewarning.
The arrow¡¯s seeking property ignited with a multihued flash, and it streaked downwards out of the sky towards Salazar, who was blasting away at Lumi¡¯s barrier in a fury.
It struck.
With a thunderous crack of sound that struck Jason in the chest like a jackhammer and knocked everyone to the ground, the arrow detonated in a triple explosion on the other side of Lumi¡¯s barrier. A storm of noise erupted as multi-colored lights flashed wildly, nearly blinding Jason for several seconds. Several stone shards, icy needles, and spears of light pierced the shadow curtain directly, miraculously missing everyone as Lumi dumped every last bit of mana she had into maintaining the shield.
The elemental storm ceased abruptly with a rush of wind just as Lumi¡¯s barrier failed. With a groan, the right hand cabin sheared over to one side and collapsed, and dust flew.
Silence fell, except for the pitter-patter of falling debris.
Jason lay on his back, just staring up into the sky.
Might''ve overdone it a little, he thought idly.
¡°What the shit was that?!¡± he heard someone yell as a wave of calm weariness swept over him. ¡°Are you out of your gods-damned mind?!¡±
Jason tried to roll himself over so he could pick himself up, but he couldn¡¯t muster the strength. The ground was so nice. Better to just rest.
His eyes closed, and blackness took him.
Chapter 22
Jason became aware of the voices first.
They were distorted and deep, as if he was listening to them from underwater. Which was strange, because he was busy having a pleasant dream about lying on the beach with the sun high overhead, beating down on him.
With his awareness of dreaming came the slow return to consciousness. First came the slow realization that the heat he felt was actually there, followed by the recognition that real people were arguing nearby. Memory and lucidity returned, and he awoke with a slight start that sent a spike of agony through him.
That woke him up the rest of the way.
Someone was arguing nearby, and a heavy, golden light was pressing down on Jason from all sides.
¡°Look, we dragged you out of there, you owe us.¡±
Jason cracked an eye open, and then shut it when a bright light assaulted his senses.
¡°I understand. But I am sorry. I cannot cast without using my hands, and as I said, if you free me I will be forced to attempt to flee again.¡±
Forcing himself to open both eyes, Jason looked about. Lumi and Kera stood nearby, both exuding an aura of golden light, the source of the warmth he felt. No doubt Kera was somehow applying her [Mimicry] skill to copy Lumi.
Next to the two girls stood Vittorio¡¯s pocket healer woman, bound both hand and foot to a post that had been driven into the ground. Nearby, the kitsune woman lay unconscious and similarly bound. Jason had no idea how they¡¯d managed to survive; his hastly-made barrier shouldn¡¯t have stood up to what they¡¯d gone through.
Jason realized the argument was still going on. It sounded to him like Lumi was trying to convince the woman to help, and the woman kept replying that she would be forced to try and escape.
Something clicked, and Jason coughed to get their attention from where he lay on the ground.
¡°Jason!¡± Kera exclaimed, running his side. She knelt down next to him.
He wheezed a bit as became aware of the incredible amount of pain he was in. Better than earlier for some reason, but still quite extreme.
¡°She literally can¡¯t not,¡± he managed.
¡°What?¡± Kera asked, confused.
Jason tried to clear his throat, but just coughed again, causing another spike of pain.
¡°Sit me up, please,¡± he requested. Easier to explain when he could see people. Plus he was tired of the ground.
Kera lifted him up while Lumi ceased her [Warmth] spell in order to form a cushion of earth behind Jason so he had something to lean against.
It took him a moment to catch his breath. ¡°It¡¯s simple,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re criminals, with life-sentences right? You wouldn¡¯t just bond them and send them on their merry old way. You¡¯ve got to apply some kind of safeguards, so they don¡¯t just off whoever their¡ guard is and make a run for it. I¡¯m also willing to bet there¡¯s some contingencies in there too, about what happens if their guard is killed.¡±
He nodded towards the unconscious Kitsune. ¡°That one has an outright Control rune on her face. I¡¯m guessing she didn¡¯t take well to the whole bonding thing, and earned herself some extra-strength enforcement, but would I be correct in guessing you are forced to return in the most expedient manner the soonest you can?¡±
¡°That is accurate,¡± the woman said with a weary note to her voice. ¡°I am currently too weak to free myself physically, and thus am spared need to struggle. But should you free me, I will be forced to try and run as that is within my capabilities.¡±
¡°The solution is simple then,¡± Jason explained. ¡°Flight will result in recapture, injury, or death, which will greatly delay your return. It sounds to me like this has been proven already.¡±
He shifted his weight with a wince and then continued.
¡°I propose the following: Lumi here will release your hands and feet so they you may freely move. You will begin healing us. Once we are all healed, then we will assist you in getting back even faster by giving you a horse. No healing, no horse. Oh, and if you do try to escape again, we¡¯ll break your legs and tie your hands again, so it will take even longer.¡±
¡°Jason, you can¡¯t just-¡± Lumi began to protest, but he cut her off.
¡°I know, I know, Lumi. Just trust me. There¡¯s a plan here.¡±
The woman closed her eyes, and seemed to struggle a bit internally. Then she opened her eyes and nodded.
¡°This is agreeable, I believe. But take care to hold up your end.¡±
¡°Jason¡.¡± Kera murmured, looking down at him in concern.
He gave Kera a reassuring pat on the leg. He couldn''t blame either girl; He¡¯d just blackmailed the woman into using her spells with the threat of breaking her legs. While he had no intention of actually doing that, nor of sending her back to her captors, he couldn¡¯t voice that just yet.
¡°Just do it,¡± Jason ordered.
Muttering darkly under her breath, Lumi did as he asked. She cut the woman¡¯s bonds, and seeing that she didn¡¯t try and escape, called off into the distance for Aria to fetch one of the horses. Apparently, the two hunters were off trying to round them up from wherever they¡¯d run off to.
The woman, for her part, stepped towards Jason. She made several complex gestures, and then leaned down to place her hands on his chest.
¡°Greater Lay On Hands,¡± she commanded.
Jason felt the most indescribable itch wash through him as he was enveloped in a sheathe of silvery light. He felt a rib he hadn''t even realized he¡¯d broken shift back into place. He felt his injured hand spasm with pain as sensation suddenly returned to it, then his skin pulling as his burns began to heal and close over.
The glow ceased, and Jason fell back, suddenly overcome with incredible weariness. He realized he was starving.
¡°That is the best I can do for him,¡± the woman said to Lumi. ¡°He was near death. More healing now would eat away at him in ways that could not be cured.¡±
¡°What of later?¡± Jason asked her directly. ¡°How long should I wait for more healing, and will it help?¡±
¡°You should avoid it for a full day. Afterwards, it should work as normal should you avoid further injury.¡±
Jason nodded and gestured for the woman to see to Kera. He then hauled himself wearily to his feet. Doing so was still painful, but it was the ¡®mere¡¯ pain of strained muscles, stiff joints, and severe bruising rather than the agony of broken bones and third degree burns.
He flexed his fingers and gave a sigh of relief; his hand still worked. He¡¯d honestly been worried he might have lost it entirely. It hurt and was very stiff, but it was functional.
Holding it out in front of him, Jason could see a pattern of angry, red, branched-lightning welts and blisters running all the way up his arm. He¡¯d heard that could happen to victims of lightning strikes. Lichten-something burns; he couldn¡¯t remember the name. They¡¯d heal in time.
Jason stepped up to Lumi while the woman was distracted with healing Kera. The girl was still glaring at him.
¡°Chill,¡± he murmured quietly to her. ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing. Just trust me, ok? It¡¯ll turn out fine. Keep her distracted for a bit, I need to go grab my pack.¡±
¡°Have Pelk help get Serif out here so she can see to him, too.¡±
¡°He survived?¡± Jason asked, surprised.
¡°I think so. Pelk wanted one of my potions so I gave him one, but he didn¡¯t seem hurt, so I just assumed. I haven''t had a chance to check.¡±
Jason nodded once, and made his way to the stables. Sure enough, Pelk was there, assisting a now-conscious Serif with downing one of the lesser healing potions Jason had given to the girls out of the first batch.
¡°Good to see you made it, Serif. In all the chaos I never saw what happened after Salazar nailed you good. How are you holding up?¡±
The man growled under his breath. ¡°Well enough. My Endurance saved me from the worst. I should have seen it coming. You did put an end to his filth, right?¡±
¡°Uh, I¡¯m assuming so,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I haven¡¯t looked, but we¡¯ve got at least two of his friends in custody. The healer, I didn¡¯t catch her name, is doing the rounds for us now.¡±
¡°Make sure she doesn¡¯t run. If Salazar¡¯s dead, she¡¯ll-¡±
¡°We know, I already told Lumi.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°Pelk, can you help Serif outside while I retrieve my bag? There¡¯s something I need to make, and right away.¡±
¡°Aye,¡± the dwarf replied, standing.
Jason scanned around, locating the spot he¡¯d left his haversack earlier. He picked it up and followed behind Serif and Pelk.
Jason stepped out from the stable.
¡°I¡¯m pleased to announce to everyone, we will not be going back to town sans-Serif,¡± he declared loudly with a grin.
Kera snorted, and Lumi just rolled her eyes at him. The others just looked a little confused, because they¡¯d already known he was alive.
¡°Nobody appreciates good puns anymore,¡± he grumbled.
¡°It was kind of crap,¡± commented Lumi. ¡°Would''ve worked better if he was a scribe or something.¡±
¡°Hmph,¡± Jason said as he carried his pack to one of the remaining cabins. He wanted some privacy if he was going to make some potions.
Jason set his pack down on the table, dug through his supplies, and got to work. This time, it wasn¡¯t so much alchemy he needed, but a combination of [Herbalism], and he hoped, [Synthesis]. Some of the plants he¡¯d gotten from Flora had actual medicinal properties, and were used for things like the numbing of pain. With a little bit of luck and experimentation, he hoped he could make some kind of anesthetic.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
It took him a few tries, but he worked it out: A mixture of Strengthen Fortitude and Calm Blood infused into a paste made from charcoal and the restorative insect-shell powder Flora had sold him. Why it worked with those specific ingredients, he wasn¡¯t entirely sure, but he ended up with what amounted to a swift-acting, temporary numbing agent you could apply to the skin.
Jason made a second dose, scooped both of them into a conjured bowl. He almost tried his hand at making a pair of [Greater Healing] potions using two ¡®Restore¡¯ and two ¡®Health¡¯, but he was very low on mana, and didn¡¯t want to raise eyebrows. It was bad enough he¡¯d triggered his skill in front of Pelk, but at least the dwarf hadn¡¯t seen him make any actual potions. Nor did Jason want to risk trying to take another mana potion after his healing, so he put away his supplies.
Stepping outside, he saw that the healer woman was nearly finished with her task; she was finally seeing to Lumi herself, and Aria was standing near holding the reigns of one of the horses, looking a little confused.
He sidled up to Kera unobtrusively and lowered his pack to ground. He kept the bowl of paste.
¡°Can you cast a Vine Trap?¡± Jason murmured to her in a bare whisper. He pointed over near the horse. ¡°Right there, please. Quietly, if you can.¡±
Kera did so, doing her best to keep her voice down.
The woman heard, and tensed as if she was about to run, but when nothing overt happened to her, she completed her spell and light enveloped Lumi.
Jason handed his bowl to Kera and motioned for her to follow him as the light faded. He gave a slight bow to the healer.
¡°Thank you for your assistance,¡± he said. ¡°As per our agreement, you are free to take a horse to go wherever you need.¡±
Jason carefully led her over to the horse, and then with a lunge, hooked one leg around her foot and shoulder-checked her right into the thorn trap. She fell, and the vines sprang into existence, pinning her in place.
She struggled wildly for a moment, then suddenly relaxed completely as she realized she was fully trapped, her arms pinned to her sides and her legs firmly tied to the ground.
¡°You¡¯re pretty good at this whole geas manipulation thing,¡± she said to him seriously. ¡°Now what?¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Jason replied as he beckoned Kera closer. ¡°I probably shouldn¡¯t really tell you in case there¡¯s a contingency I don¡¯t know about. I don¡¯t suppose you could tell me how to cancel the bond?¡±
¡°No.¡±
¡°Well then, we¡¯ll have to do it the hard way. Sorry. Close your eyes, please.¡±
She did as requested.
Jason knelt down next to the woman, and turned her face towards him so he get a good look at her tattoo. A quick analysis showed him that yes, most of it was inactive, but there were still some functional elements.
He prodded at it with one finger, and watched how the mana flowed over the active runes. His [Engrave] skill told him that yes, the runes were physically part of the tattoo. Remove it, and the runes would no longer function. He heard the girls suck in horrified breaths behind him as they realized where all this was headed.
¡°Lumi,¡± he asked. ¡°Do you have any of our better heal potions left? Or are we out? I¡¯m dry.¡±
¡°I-I¡¯ve got one,¡± Kera said hesitantly. ¡°I¡¯d have given it to you but I remembered what you said from before and didn¡¯t want to choke you trying.¡±
She pulled it from her belt with one hand and held it up.
¡°Good. Pass me the bowl.¡±
She did so. Jason conjured a thin, flat spatula and dipped it into the black paste, which he then spread all over the woman¡¯s face and forehead, giving it a moment to do its work.
¡°Thaff fls wrd,¡± the woman mumbled sleepily. ¡°Wuf-?¡±
¡°Sounds like it¡¯s working,¡± Jason said. ¡°Anyone have a really sharp knife?¡±
¡°I cannot believe I just watched you do that,¡± Lumi said, still looking rather ill.
Jason shrugged uncomfortably. To tell the truth, he was feeling rather queasy himself.
¡°I can¡¯t believe I watched while you did that to me, and it didn¡¯t hurt¡± the Kitsune woman interjected, rubbing her now-healed cheek. ¡°I have so many questions.¡±
The three of them were sitting outdoors, in actual chairs, thanks to Pelk deciding he¡¯d rather not watch Jason¡¯s gruesome task. Instead, the sturdy dwarf had elected to drag some useable furniture out from the remaining two cabins so that a returning Aria and Belman could have somewhere to sit when they returned with the horses.
As a consequence, they now had two separate clusters of table and chairs. Serif, Jason, Lumi, and the Kitsune woman, whose name Jason had finally learned was Reis, sat at one table. Kera had taken a seat at the other table some distance away, along with Pelk, the two hunters, and the human healer Jason now knew as Daldra.
¡°I¡¯ve got questions too,¡± Lumi said somewhat severely with a glare at Jason. ¡°What were you thinking?¡±
Jason sighed. ¡°Look, I know it was a bit disturbing, but I knew what I was doing. The compulsion was tied to the bond, which was tied to the runes, which were part of the tattoo. Remove that, no more compulsion.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not what I was referring to. You almost got us all killed!¡±
¡°I¡¯d like to point out that we were already busy getting killed,¡± Jason stated flatly. ¡°In case you hadn¡¯t noticed at the time, Serif was dead or out cold, Kera was about to collapse, I¡¯d practically lost an arm, and Ceri and Echo had been banished. Kera still doesn''t have enough mana back to resummon them. Of our actual combatants, we were down to you, and excluding our technically-civilian hunters, you were on your own in a one-versus-six¡±
¡°That¡¯s not the point!¡± Lumi exclaimed.
¡°It is the point,¡± Jason said. ¡°Yes, I over-did it, but we can chalk that up as a learning experience. I used what I had available and took a risk, because we had already lost. Instead of us dead and you carried off, I ended the fight, I did it in a way such that none of us received further injury, and I¡¯ve learned to pull my punches in the future because those volatiles are just nuts. That sounds like a win in my book.¡±
¡°Just¡promise me you¡¯ll work on the whole recklessness thing,¡± Lumi said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
¡°You do realize you¡¯ve thrown your lot in with an [Alchemist], right?¡± Jason asked, giving her a wry smile. ¡°You¡¯ve seen my discovery list. Half the stuff in there explodes and the rest is a bio-hazard waiting to happen.¡±
¡°If you blow me up, I will convince a Necromancer to help me haunt you forever,¡± she replied, smiling back a little.
¡°Speaking of blowing people up¡¡± Jason turned to Reis, ¡°how did you two even survive? Also, um... sorry about your companions¡¡±
He trailed off. He didn¡¯t know how she felt about that. Neither she nor Daldra seemed to be bothered, but it certainly bothered him.
Reis laughed, her voice high and musical. ¡°Ha! Companions? Please. I barely knew any of them. Other than Daldra over there, what with her clerical vows as a Knight of Teravia, not a single one of that lot was worth sparing. Those two Ursar? They weren''t even bonded. They liked their job, just like the rest of that scum. Salazar didn¡¯t even tell us about half the jobs he took; it wasn¡¯t like he gave us a share. But they all enjoyed themselves anyway. Save your remorse, you made the right call.¡±
¡°I suppose you¡¯d like us to think you¡¯re completely innocent, of course,¡± Jason said, amused
Reis grinned cheekily at him. ¡°Completely innocent? You¡¯ve never met a Kitsune before have you?¡± She winked at him, and then blew him a kiss while her tails twirled about behind her. ¡°Never that,¡± she said with a smile.
¡°But no,¡± she continued more seriously, ¡°the truth is far more mundane. I¡¯m a Guild-Licensed [Spell-Thief]. My job is to, how shall we say it, liberate things. I¡¯d picked up a contract with the Archive, who¡¯d gotten wind of some dusty old relic rotting away in Feron, and they wanted it. The owner wouldn¡¯t sell, claiming it had been in the family for generations and was worth a fortune, and that the Archive was trying to cheat him or something. So they sent me in.¡±
¡°So¡?¡± Jason prompted.
¡°Not much to say beyond that, really,¡± Reis continued with a shrug. ¡°Ol¡¯ Sal caught me red-handed crossing the border into his country, which I needed to pass through for the delivery. I knew it was a risk not to take a gate, but I didn¡¯t want to pay the fee. Instead I ended up paying a different price.¡±
Lumi looked sick.
¡°Not that price.¡± Reis informed her firmly. ¡°Even scum like Vittorio Salazar would think twice before stooping that low. His country¡¯s laws forbid that just like everyone else¡¯s, slave-bond or not, thank the heavens.¡±
Jason cleared his throat, changing the subject. ¡°So how did you survive when Salazar didn¡¯t anyway?¡±
¡°Oh that? That¡¯s thanks to you, actually.¡±
¡°What? How?¡± he asked. ¡°There¡¯s now way my improv barrier could have survived an assault like that.¡±
¡°No,¡± she grinned at him, ¡°but mine could. Your little stunt cut me off from being able to shield Ol¡¯ Sal just like you planned, because my barriers start as projectiles. That meant that when I saw your firestorm coming down, I wasn¡¯t required to save him, because I knew I couldn¡¯t.¡±
Realization dawned on Jason.
¡°So you shielded yourself while still inside my barrier,¡± he said, ¡°and then when the outer shell failed, you couldn¡¯t drop your own shield in order to shield Vittorio, because it would mean you and Daldra would die and thus it wouldn¡¯t actually save him. So you were free to keep your barrier up and put everything you had into it.¡±
¡°Exactly.¡± Reis said. She gave Jason a brilliant smile that made his heart race a little.
The kitsune''s demeanor changed and she suddenly bowed her head. ¡°Thank you for saving me,¡± Reis said in a quiet, serious tone of voice. ¡°Daldra and I really do owe you our lives, and now our freedom as well.¡±
Jason felt his face heat. What did you even say in response to someone thanking you for saving their lives? Especially gorgeous, triple-tailed fox-women with ears he just wanted to reach out and¡
No! Bad Jason! Stop it.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably, flushing a bit. ¡°Uh¡Y-You¡¯re welcome? Anytime.¡±
Lumi seemed to sense he was at a loss. She looked slightly amused, along with hint of something else he couldn¡¯t identify. She came to his rescue.
¡°So¡I gotta ask,¡± Lumi said, ¡°It seems kind strange to me that you¡¯d sit here and just admit in front of a guardsman,¡± she nodded at Serif, ¡°that you¡¯re a thief¡ why?¡±
Serif scowled with a sigh. Reis smiled winsomely at him, leaving him to explain.
¡°It¡¯s a legalese thing among the freeholds,¡± he said with resignation, ¡°and apparently she knows it. I, or any other guard among the freeholds, am only allowed to arrest her for crimes she is known to have carried out, for which no punishment has been levied or has one currently outstanding. The¡ slave-bond, as it¡¯s generally referred to in these parts, basically supersedes whatever the original punishment was. Since that¡¯s over and done with, and I¡¯m not aware of any other specific crimes committed by her, she¡¯s off the shit-list, even in Feron where she stole whatever-it-was.¡±
Serif glared at Reis. ¡°Don¡¯t think that means I won¡¯t have my eye on you.¡±
She winked at him. ¡°You can keep both on me, if you want.¡± She wiggled her tails in her seat again.
Serif just heaved another aggrieved sigh and stood up. ¡°Enough goofing around," he said gruffly, Reis making a moue at him as he ignored her flirting. "We need to get a move on if we want to make the forest edge tonight.¡±
He glanced skeptically at the two remaining cabins. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯m not real thrilled about the chances those stay up much longer, so we should keep moving.¡±
¡°Eh-heh,¡± Jason laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. ¡°Oops.¡±
¡°Yeah, oops.¡± Lumi said.
Jason surged to his feet. ¡°Well then! Time to go loot the bodies, amirite?¡±
¡°After all that, I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anything to loot,¡± Lumi replied.
Ignoring her, Jason quick-stepped in the direction of the cabins. The blast had thrown most of the bodies around, away from the stables, thanks the heavy winds caused by the elemental storm. It took him a few moments of searching to find them.
While he was searching around, he decided to check up on his notifications, which he¡¯d ignored until now.
Hmm, looks like I¡¯ve leveled in both. Artificer gets those extra skill points and a speciality after all, too!
He paused a moment to check his Alchemist notification, but Lumi called out to him before he had a chance to look.
¡°Jason! Come here a moment would you?¡±
He pushed his notifications out of the way. They could always wait.
Jason jogged over to Lumi, whom he found crouching over the corpse of Salazar himself. She had turned, standing so she had her back towards everyone else.
¡°Stand over there, please,¡± she pointed with one hand. Her other was concealed under her armor.
Jason shifted so he was blocking the view of the others. She withdrew her hand, and opened her fist, revealing what she¡¯d taken from Salazar¡¯s body.
It was an inactive dungeon core.
Jason quickly called a side conference with Lumi and Kera in one of the cabins, stability of the building intact or not. He wanted to have a hasty discussion out of sight, and hopefully out of earshot.
¡°Lumi.¡± Jason nodded to the girl as Kera joined them.
Lumi craned her neck, first checking to make sure no one was nearby. Then she showed the core to the other girl.
Kera sucked her breath in through her teeth.
¡°Well that¡¯s bad,¡± she commented. ¡°Or is it good? Does this mean he was the one making them?¡±
¡°It¡¯s really bad,¡± Jason said. ¡°Like, ¡®we¡¯re in really deep shit¡¯ kind of bad.¡±
¡°How do you figure?¡± Kera asked.
¡°Salazar,¡± Lumi said. ¡°He said he got an offer to hunt down me, specifically. An offer he might have received before we¡¯d even reached Arnvale. Before we actually could have met anyone to who might want to.¡±
¡°Then there was Seraptis,¡± Jason continued for her, ¡°who seemed to be after you. Plus we were at that riverbank for hours, until I stepped up to the water. Only then did the dungeon make itself known.¡±
Kera¡¯s eyes grew wide and she gasped.
¡°One for each of us? The summoner?!¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°I think¡maybe something went wrong. Maybe the summoner messed up somehow, and we didn¡¯t end up where we were supposed to be. Maybe he hired some people, bribed them with cores, and sent them after us. We know they''re valuable to the right people. We know they¡¯re made by evil wizards.¡±
¡°Sort of,¡± interjected Lumi.
¡°Sort of,¡± he conceded. ¡°And¡ we also know that someone was chasing at least two of us, one of which we know was a bounty request with some fantastic payment involved. Why not dungeon cores?¡±
¡°He even wanted me alive,¡± Lumi said quietly.
¡°I think we have to assume something or someone capable of interfering with the Voice of the World is actively after us,¡± Jason said with all seriousness. ¡°The Archive needs to be brought in on this, and probably will be with or without our consent if it gets out, which it probably will thanks to Therissa. Once they get involved, it¡¯s entirely possible they¡¯ll be after us, too.¡±
¡°So what do we do?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°We use what our opponents have helpfully given us," Jason said. "A convenient supply of cores, a powerful rival guild that happens to collect them, and a skill to turn them into something of indescribable value to anyone in the world.¡±
Jason looked back and forth between both girls. Kera was trembling slightly, Lumi looked vaguely defiant.
He took a deep breath.
¡°It¡¯s time we gave the Black Thorns a call.¡±
Character Sheets - Update 3
This is current up through the latest chapter, MINUS the actual skill gains from Jason & Co''s latest fight. Their listed levels here are up-to-date though, so that''s a little bit of a sneak-peak there for next week''s chapter, as to how much everyone actually earned in the last fight
Oh, and as a note - I''m using a period instead of a comma for the numerical separators for XP as a stylistic choice - those are thousands of XP, not decimal places. It just looked wierd with commas, the way I''ve written the tables.
Jason Elric, Alchemist
Basic Statistics:
Achiements: A Modern Prometheus, Bottled Flames, True Alchemy
Perks: Heroic Potential
Available Points:
Character Points: 0
Class Points: 3
Stat Points: 5
Skill Points: 18
XP: Alchemist, 62.373
XP: Artificer, 43.936
Penalty: 4%
Inventory:
1x Ornate Piezoelectric Lighter, 1x Superior Quality Multitool, 31x Rare Seed, 7x Iparea Petals, 14x Mellax, 2x Wisteria Blossoms, 1x Frogoid Brain, 2x Frogoid Webbing
1x Handy Haversack, 70x Golden Strawberry, 1x Salamander Hide Scraps
1x Salamander Stone, 2x Gloom Globe, 1x Restoration Stone, 1x Potion of Nightvision, 2x Breath Pebble, 2x Mana Potion
Notes:
1. Both of Jason''s wands got destroyed in the last fight, if that wasn''t clear. His Shadowbolt wand was blasted apart by Salazar''s lightning, and what was left of his healing wand (which was only 3 charges) got destroyed by the Prismatic Arrow.
Lumiriel Dun''Val, Spellblade
Basic Statistics:
Inventory:
Superior Leather Armor, Superior Wool Clothing, Common Steel Longsword, Superior Quality Leather Sword Belt, Conion Leather Backpack, Common Studded Leather Boots, Shield of the Elementalist
1x Least Healing Potion
Notes:
1. Made a big continuity error with Lumi, here, a few chapters back. She actually earned Blink back in Ch 10, which I''d totally forgotten I¡¯d given her early, along with messing up her levels in Sunwarden then. Then I gave her the same effect as an Arcana in Ch 17 or so. This is why I need to organize all my notes!
So there¡¯s been a minor retcons there - the skill is now selected and demonstrated while they¡¯re in the ruins. It''s been corrected in the chapter.
Kerali Vakar, Beast-Bonded
Basic Statistics:
Inventory:
Common Leather Backpack, Superior Silk Robes, Coil of the Sundered Serpent, Common Wool Cloak, Staff of Focusing
1x Healing Potion, 1x Least Healing Potion
Notes:
None Currently.
Combined Vaults (Because the author is lazy):
3x Unopened Dye Bundle, 3x Eternal Potion of Treasurefinding, 3x Crude Frogskin Pack, 1x Crude Frogskin Cup, 1x Wallet, 1x House Key, 1x iPhone, 1x Crude Stone Spear, 1x Crude Carry Harness, 1x Crude Stone Hammer, 1x Crude Fishing Spear, 1x Crude Frogskin Pouch, 4x Elixir of Rebirth, 4x Magic Fertilizer
Mini-Interlude 03 - Dungeons 101
¡°Mister Aldin! Pay attention please!¡±
Aurion¡¯s voice startled Aldin out of his reverie as the man rapped his wand loudly against the podium.
Aldin flinched and jerked himself up out of the slump he¡¯d slowly been sliding into over the past half-hour of Aurion¡¯s lecture. That wand wasn¡¯t just for wielding like a gavel, or for writing on the board: more than one student had been on the receiving end of an Itching Powder spell for falling asleep in class, and Aldin had no desire to experience it.
¡°Sorry sir,¡± Aldin said.
In the seat next to his, Aldin¡¯s friend Ravindra snickered.
¡°Serves you right, daydreaming like that,¡± the elf girl murmured in a whisper that Aldin knew was meant only for his enhanced hearing. ¡°You know how he is.¡±
¡°Do you have something to add, Miss Fenthal?,¡± Aurion asked, turning his gaze on Ravs. ¡°Perhaps you would like to answer my question?¡±
¡°Sure thing,¡± the girl replied easily. She pushed a lock of her silver-white hair behind a tilted ear.
Aldin wracked his brain trying to recall what Aurion had asked the class just as his attention had started to wander.
That¡¯s right, something about the differences between kinds of mana.
Beside him, Ravs sat up and launched into her explanation.
¡°Not all mana is the same,¡± she said ¡°Broadly speaking, we divide mana into two major categories: pure mana, and aspected mana. Pure mana is, as the word implies, untainted by outside influences, elemental or otherwise. It is what usually fuels our spells and enchantments, is produced by the presence of living things, and is what permeates most of the wider world.¡±
She took a breath and continued.
¡°While it too is produced by living things, aspected mana tends to only be good for specific things related to it¡¯s nature. It has both an impeding and an enhancing effect on spells and the surrounding environment, and even living things. You could not, for instance, cast a fireball using water mana; your spell would fail no matter how good you were.¡±
¡°Likewise, a fireball spell cast from pure mana would be weakened in the a water-dense region, and fire-element monsters would be as well. At the same time, Ice spells would function with increased efficiency.¡±
¡°Very good,¡± Aurion said with a nod. ¡°Now, can anyone tell me why this is actually important for us? How does it relate to the growth of a Dungeon?¡±
Aldin raised his hand. This question, at least, he knew the answer to. He was the son of a mana-touched, after all, and had inherited some of his mother¡¯s traits.
Aurion rolled his eyes. ¡°Ready to join us after all, Mister Aldin? Very well, go ahead.¡±
¡°Creatures with a strong tie to aspected mana generally have a varying degree of difficulty using mana not of their aspect,¡± Aldin said with confidence. ¡°In some rare cases, like for a Dungeon Core or an elemental, it is an outright impossibility. I¡¯m not sure how it relates to a Dungeon¡¯s growth, but I do know that they always have an aspect, thanks to how they are formed.¡±
¡°That is correct,¡± Aurion confirmed. ¡°A core always inherits an aspect, either because its creator supplies it one, or because it absorbs whatever aspected mana happens to be nearby when it awakens. Whatever aspect that turns out to be, that aspect then begins to saturate the area around the Core. Now, it is common knowledge amongst adventurers, and even ordinary folk, that any given Dungeon begins to exude it¡¯s own aspected form of mana,¡± he said. ¡°What is not common knowledge is why. Does anyone know the answer?¡±
Aurion paused for a moment, waiting.
¡°No one? Very well. The answer is rather complex, and lies in the fact that Dungeons, while they use aspected mana, they absorb all other forms that are not of their aspect. A Dungeon Core functions like a the heart of a vast, malevolent mana conversion device. It draws in all forms of mana that isn¡¯t its own, feeds off part of it, and then converts the rest into its own aspect."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°Most of that aspected mana is then stored within the core itself,¡± Aurion explained, ¡°but the process isn¡¯t perfect. A fair bit gets ejected back out into the surrounding space, where it simply accumulates because the Core is unable to absorb it. It is a debate among scholars as to whether this is deliberate on the part of the Dungeon or not, as a means to slowly terraform the surrounding area. Others disagree, pointing out that Dungeons already carve out rooms and create entire ecosystems within themselves. Whatever the case, it is a fact that non-dungeon aspect mana goes in, and aspected mana comes out.¡±
Aldin saw the kid with blue scale-patches raise a hand. Aldin never could remember his name.
¡°Yes, Mister Veran?¡± Aurion stopped pacing and gestured to him.
¡°I¡¯m confused,¡± the younger boy said. ¡°Dungeon monsters are made out of mana the Core spends, right? If the Core can¡¯t absorb its own type of mana, what happens when they die? My dad always said remaking old monsters was cheaper then making new ones.¡±
¡°An excellent question, Mister Veran,¡± Aurion said. ¡°I¡¯m actually quite surprised you don¡¯t know the answer, given your heritage, but it is a good question nonetheless."
¡°What Mister Veran here is referring to is the phenomena which adventurers like us term ¡®despawning¡¯, and scholars prefer to call ¡®Mana Dispersement¡¯. Regardless of term, the process is actually the same whether it is applied to slain adventurers or creatures born of the dungeon. The difference is that dungeon-born are made of mana so they disintegrate, whereas the process takes much longer to break down flesh and blood creatures.¡±
Aurion began to pace again. ¡°The answer to your question, Mister Veran, lies in the fact that while a dungeon¡¯s minions are made of its aspected mana, like other living things they have mana pools formed of purified mana just like everyone else. This means that their bodies are always involved in the process of actively purifying the mana inside them. The bigger and stronger the monster, the greater the mana pool, and thus the greater amount of purified mana within its makeup."
¡°This leads to several results. Would anyone care to take a guess what?¡±
Aldin raised his hand again.
Might as well make up for earlier and guess, he thought.
Aurion nodded for him to proceed.
¡°Well first, it answers... Velan¡¯s... question,¡± Aldin said. ¡°If the creature breaks down within range of the Dungeon¡¯s absorption, it can still reclaim a lot of, if not most of, the mana it originally made the creature from, because it''s mana wouldn''t quite be the right aspect. But I would also bet a good amount of money that it¡¯s also why respawns take time, right? The Dungeon has to re-process the mana, and the bigger the creature, the more mana it needs to process.¡±
¡°Exactly!¡± Aurion exclaimed. ¡°See Mister Aldin, if you¡¯d just apply yourself better, you¡¯d be at the top of the class like Miss Starshine, here.¡±
He gestured to one of the girls in the front row.
¡°You are correct, and in fact-¡±
Aurion cut off and looked over to one side of the room as someone coughed politely. Aldin turned his to see someone waiting patiently at the door to the left of the podium. No, not just someone, it was-
Ravs suddenly leaned over and whispered into Aldin¡¯s ear.
¡°Is that¡ Grandmaster Evander?¡± she asked.
Aldin examined the man who¡¯d entered the room. He was of average build, if a little in the tall side, with plain brown, should-length hair and a well trimmed beard. Even though he was dressed in simple black pants and tunic and lacking his armor, the man simply radiated authority. It was definitely the Black Thorn¡¯s Guildmaster, one of the foremost tactical minds in the world.
¡°I think so,¡± Aldin replied quietly with a grin. ¡°There¡¯s no mistaking a nose that big.¡±
Ravs shushed him, but rolled her eyes and grinned back at him.
As his professor moved to speak with the head of his Guild, Aldin perked his ears up to listen. Sometimes his Mana-touched heritage came in handy, and Aldin could feel his eyes changing as he focused on the Beast-Aspect mana that flowed in his veins stirred, as weak as it was.
¡°You¡¯re doing that thing again, aren¡¯t you?¡± Ravs whispered to him. She flicked one of the dog-like ears that poked up out of his hair. ¡°Your eyes are glowing.¡±
¡°Shh, let me listen,¡± he whispered back.
He couldn¡¯t make out the Guildmaster¡¯s words, but he could hist barely make out some of Aurion¡¯s quiet whisper.
¡°Really? In Arnvale you say¡? And its brand new? I don¡¯t see-¡±
There was a pause as Evander said something.
¡°Are you sure? I suppose it is a good opportunity, but none of them have any real¡¡±
Evander said something else in reply.
Aurion bowed his head, as if in apology. ¡°Well if that¡¯s the decision, I¡¯ll go along.¡±
Evander turned and exited the room.
Aurion walked back to the podium, deep in thought. After a moment, he shook hiself all over once, and turned to address the class.
¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°this is unexpected! It seems that you all get a bit of a break from all the monotony of lectures, and get to have some early hands-on experience. A brand new dungeon, not even a month old, has been uncovered in the general vicinity of Arnvale, out in Prisal.¡±
A stir passed through the room, and Aldin heard Ravs draw in an excited breath next to him.
¡°It seems Grandmaster Evander wants you have your practical exam early while the opportunity presents itself,¡± Aurion said. ¡°Get ready to pack your things, because it¡¯s time for a field trip."
Chapter 23
Two days later, Jason and the others rode their way up to Arnvale¡¯s western gate. Serif had pushed for the group to try and make the same single-day trip through the trailing edge of the Prisal that they¡¯d made before, but the others had disagreed. Thanks to being unable to recover two of the horses after their skirmish with Vittorio, some people had needed to ride double.
Kera had re-summoned both Ceri and Echo, and thus was able to ride the massive Rockhound after re-casting her ritual each morning, but they still only had six mounts for a group that had grown to nine riders. Since the civilians needed to ride double with someone, this meant that they simply couldn¡¯t maintain their previous, hard pace.
Serif pulled his horse to a halt as two young men dressed in armor that was a mix of leather and light plate stepped into the road in front of the open gate and approached.
Jason saw Serif give them a curious look.
¡°Now who might you lot be?¡± Serif asked. ¡°Y¡¯all aren¡¯t the normal pair that ought t¡¯be out here at this hour of the afternoon.¡±
¡°No sir,¡± one of them replied, with a courteous bow of the head. ¡°We¡¯re just Guild trainees here on loan, so to speak. What¡¯s her name, that Captain, asked for some of us to take up some of the mundane duties so¡¯s the guard could focus on other places. You¡¯d be Serif, right? We were told to expect you sometime soon.¡±
¡°That¡¯s me,¡± Serif said with a nod.
¡°Miss Therissa left instructions for us to send all of you her way when you arrived,¡± the other young man said.
¡°Will do, then,¡± Serif replied tersely. ¡°Anything else?¡±
¡°No sir.¡±
Without another word, Serif booted his horse back into motion while waving the others to follow suit.
Jason gave a shrug and a wry smile to the ¡®guards¡¯ as he passed. Serif was just like that. He didn¡¯t think they noticed though, because they were too busy staring at Echo as Kera passed by as well.
The group reached the market square in short order, and as they skirted around the edges to reach the Lodge, Jason marveled at how busy the place had become. While the market was as noisy and colorful as ever, a steady stream if individuals were now coming in and out of the Lodge¡¯s doors, where previously, outside of the town council meeting the place had been nearly empty.
As they rode up to the doors, two teenagers that Jason would have guessed were perhaps fifteen or sixteen years old wordlessly stepped forward to take their mounts in hand. He could have been wrong though, as they were either not human, or on partly-so: The first had pale blue skin and slightly-pointed ears, while the second sported some highly unusual patches of dark blue scales on his neck and arms.
Their eyes grew wide at the sight of Kera riding along on Echo¡¯s back.
¡°Cor, Velan, will ya look at that?¡± Jason heard the blue-skinned boy whisper excitedly to the other. ¡°She¡¯s a proper beastmaster! She¡¯s even got a drake!¡±
Jason saw Kera blush slightly, but didn¡¯t catch what she mumbled in response as he dismounted. The boy with the scales stepped up and collected the reins from him, and then was immediately distracted by Kera clambering off Echo¡¯s back.
She released the buckles they¡¯d used to keep Echo¡¯s makeshift saddle in place, which fell to the ground, and then muttered a command that dispelled the effect that had enlarged the Rockhound.
¡°Is it fine if she comes inside with us?¡± Kera asked the boy who¡¯d spoken.
Distracted by Echo¡¯s sudden change from horse-sized to waist-high, the boy jumped as Kera spoke to him and stammered a bit.
¡°U-Uh, of course. I mean, I-I think so, if she¡¯s tamed.¡±
The boys took the horses away, and Jason entered the lodge on Lumi and Serif¡¯s heels.
The place was bustling inside as much as out; many of the tables were occupied by a startling assortment of young men and women, all dressed in a variety of styles, sporting numerous different types of weapons and armor. Most were human, but a good many weren¡¯t. Apparently, Therissa had either drafted or hired some help, because Jason saw more than one person carrying some sort of serving tray laden with mugs, cheeses, and bread.
Now this is what an Adventurer¡¯s Guild tavern should be like! Jason couldn¡¯t help thinking. Is that an actual minotaur over there?!
A number of eyes turned towards the group, coming in all at once together as they were, with several pairs being directed at Kera and her pets.
Jason ignored them headed to the right, to what he thought of as the front desk. Therissa was standing there, looking rather harried, but she immediately paused in he paperwork she was examining when Jason approached.
¡°Good, you¡¯re back,¡± Therissa said to him. ¡°No major problems encountered, I hope? ¡Wait, who''s this?¡± she then asked, looking at Reis and Daldra.
¡°We did have a little trouble on the way, I¡¯m afraid¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯ll need to fill you in on a few things. But everyone¡¯s in one piece, at least.¡±
Therissa hmmed to herself a moment.
¡°Well, I guess you¡¯d better come upstairs then,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s too noisy out here to go over your haul, anyway.¡±
¡°Actually, can I be excused from all this?¡± Reis asked. ¡°I¡¯d rather not get involved. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all decent people, but I¡¯ve got a life to get back to.¡±
Therissa looked quizzically at the Kitsune woman, but Serif was the one to answer her question.
¡°I s¡¯pose my part in all this is done, now,¡± he said. ¡°If you want to go on your way, I can¡¯t stop you. But I¡¯ll have to ask you to see th¡¯ Captain, first. She¡¯ll have my hide if I let you off the hook and there¡¯s something I¡¯ve missed.¡±
Reis sighed. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s get this over with. You coming, Daldra¡?¡±
The woman simply nodded.
¡°Alright then,¡± Serif said. He turned to Lumi. ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you to give the report, then,¡± he said, before exiting. Reis and Daldra followed.
With a shrug, Lumi gestured for Therissa to lead on.
Jason followed, and along with everyone else they were soon seated around one of the conference tables upstairs.
¡°So, what¡¯s this trouble you encountered along the way?¡± Therissa asked. ¡°I assume it had something to do with those two?¡±
¡°Sort of,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I¡¯ll let Jason do the talking. He¡¯s better at this than I am.¡±
Jason gave a brief summary of events, skimming over their fights with local wildlife, but going into detail about the storm and their subsequent encounter with Vittorio Salazar. However, he left out any mention of the core they¡¯d found on his body afterwards, nor the conclusions he¡¯d reached thanks to it. Lumi gave him a curious look at the omission, but didn¡¯t interrupt, for which he was grateful. He wanted to save that particular conversational bomb for when they were in private.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Afterwards, Jason, with Pelk, Aria, and Belman¡¯s assistance, gave a brief summary of what the expedition had brought back. Pelk then passed Therissa the bag of holding they¡¯d been using to transport the materials, and Therissa pronounced Jason¡¯s Lodge Request fulfilled.
Personal Quest Complete! Bonus Objective Complete: +2 Intellect, +20 Mana.
Jason closed the notification as Therissa handed him two cloth-tied packages plus what appeared to be a letter.
¡°Here¡¯s Jerrik¡¯s payment for your successful Request completion,¡± She said to him. ¡°I¡¯ve included the original gold reward in that bundle, there; I¡¯ll leave you to distribute it among your friends as you see fit. The letter is from Jerrik, some kind of explanation, I believe.¡±
¡°The second bundle is actually your loot from the encounter you had with the Murklings. It was retrieved when the town guard was sent out to help evacuate the outer farms.¡±
¡°Murklings?¡± Jason asked, confused for a moment.
¡°Those fish guys,¡± Kera said.
¡°Oh, right,¡± Jason replied. ¡°We never did take the time to pick all that stuff up. We went straight to the closest farm to warn them and the hightailed it back with a bunch of people in tow to bring word.¡±
¡°Thanks,¡± he said to Therissa.
She nodded her head in acceptance.
¡°I¡¯ve also got some further good news for you,¡± she said. ¡°Sevani managed to locate a building to use for your¡ lab. One of the townswomen, a widow, recently married and moved in with her husband, and the house has been vacant. She was gracious enough to allow us to purchase it for your use.¡±
Jason¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°Purchase?¡±
Therissa shrugged and gave him a bit of a smirk. ¡°Well you did offer your services to the town in exchange for supplies and work space. While Tobias doesn¡¯t know what an incredible gift that is, I certainly do. I can guess what it¡¯ll be worth. I even had Sevani arrange for modifications to be made to the building, and I was actually in the middle of making sure all the equipment you¡¯d requested got delivered when you all showed up.¡±
¡°It should be more than adequate for your groups¡¯ needs, so you don¡¯t have to keep staying at Arn¡¯s place,¡± she finished.
¡°Oh wow,¡± Jason said. ¡°I honestly hadn¡¯t expected you guys to deliver on that so fast. That changes things a bit.¡±
He thought to himself for a moment, considering how best to proceed.
¡°Could I have you deliver some of the earthheart and bloodstones we brought back to the lab, then?¡± he asked. ¡°I know Jerrik and Tersk want it for making whatever, but I actually might be able to do more with it in some ways. A few samples is all I need for just the moment, but maybe ask them to hold off on using it up before I have a chance to take a look at the books Jerrik gave me?¡±
¡°Certainly,¡± Therissa replied. ¡°I¡¯m not aware of any specific plans they have for things you bring back, just that they were planning on making what they could. You should meet with them, though, and go over any potential plans to see what the most efficient use of the materials is.¡±
¡°I plan to,¡± Jason said with a nod.
¡°Well I think that wraps everything up, then,¡± Therissa said. ¡°Unless anyone else has something to add?¡±
The others shook their heads, and Aria and Belman started to stand.
¡°Ah¡actually, I sort of do,¡± Jason said. ¡°But I¡¯d like to speak with you about that in private, Therissa. Oh, and I¡¯d like to borrow your truth-teller; I owe Pelk an explanation about something that came up.¡±
Aria and Belman looked at Jason curiously.
¡°It¡¯s fine, nothing that concerns you guys,¡± Jason said with a wave.
Aria looked at Belman, and shrugged. Then they made their farewells and left.
Therissa withdrew her [Diplomat¡¯s Eye] from her pocket and placed it on the table.
¡°Could you step outside for a moment?¡± Jason asked her, once she¡¯d activated the gem.
¡°Certainly.¡±
Once she¡¯d closed the door, Jason turned to Pelk. He pulled the gemstone in front of him, and chose his words carefully for a moment before speaking.
¡°I promise you, the knowledge I possess concerning gunpowder and all of its various uses comes from my homeland, where it is common, and it was obtained through no foul play of any kind.¡±
The stone remained a pure blue.
Pelk frowned. ¡°Where would this be, your homeland, that such knowledge is so readily available?¡±
¡°Well it¡¯s called San Francisco, which I doubt you¡¯ve ever heard of,¡± Jason replied, ¡°And I¡¯m quite sure I couldn¡¯t tell you how to find it on a map. It¡¯s a long story, which I¡¯m really not at liberty to tell you.¡±
Pelk looked highly confused as the stone remained blue.
¡°How can you not know where-¡±
Jason held up a hand to interrupt him. ¡°Really please, don¡¯t ask. Suffice to say, if you¡¯re worried about the knowledge spilling out into the wider world from there, it¡¯s not likely at all to happen.¡±
¡°Along those lines, I have a few questions I¡¯d actually like to ask you, about your people¡¯s wider technology, because I¡¯d like to avoid doing too much toe-stepping. But,¡± Jason emphasized, ¡°that should be left til later where we can make sure that Therissa can set up some proper security for us. Is that good enough for now?¡±
Pelk grunted. ¡°It¡¯ll have to, I suppose.¡±
He stood up and made his exit, and Therissa returned.
¡°That was quick,¡± she commented.
¡°Just clearing up a misunderstanding,¡± Jason replied.
¡°Some misunderstanding,¡± Lumi muttered.
¡°So, what did you want to discuss with me in private?¡± Therissa asked him.
Jason took a deep breath, steadying his nerves.
Time to take the plunge, here.
He pulled his bag up onto the table. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to mention with the others here¡ but we recovered something from Vittorio¡¯s body you need to see.¡±
Jason withdrew the inert core and placed it on the table.
¡°Another one?¡± Therissa asked, aghast.
¡°Not just that,¡± Jason said. ¡°This isn¡¯t a dead core. It¡¯s one that¡¯s yet to be activated. It¡¯s¡ new, for lack of a better term.¡±
¡°Wait, so he was the one making them?¡± Therissa looked confused. ¡°Why did you need-¡±
¡°No,¡± Jason said firmly. ¡°He wasn¡¯t. This was made for him. And if I have my guess...there are plenty more where this came from.¡±
¡°What!?¡± Therissa exclaimed, sitting bolt upright.
Jason gave her a bit of a sheepish look.
¡°We¡. weren¡¯t totally truthful when we first came to you,¡± he said. ¡°Well, more like we left out a small detail that I¡¯d hoped wasn¡¯t actually a thing.¡±
Jason sighed and looked down at his hands.
¡°A small detail that has turned out to be a really big one,¡± he said finally. ¡°You¡¯ve seen our character sheets, yes?¡± he asked.
Therissa looked confused. ¡°Huh?¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Jason replied, realizing his mistake. ¡°Jargon from back home. I mean our full status screens.¡±
¡°Oh. Yes, of course.¡±
¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if you noticed,¡± he explained, ¡°but in addition to ¡®Outworlder¡¯, we also allreceived a special perk¡ [Heroic Potential]. I don¡¯t know what it actually does, but it¡¯s come up once already as a synergy-related bonus for both Kera and Lumi now.¡±
¡°The thing is¡ where we come from, stories abound of people being summoned away, or falling into, other worlds and becoming great heroes and things like that. They¡¯re fiction of course, but, well¡.¡±
Jason gestured all around himself, and shrugged.
¡°So that¡ plus we¡¯ve got this perk, plus the circumstances of our arrival?¡± he asked, ¡°I think we have very strong reason to believe that someone summoned us, and possibly others, to this world, for whatever reason. And that something may have gone wrong with the attempt. I don¡¯t really know if that¡¯s actually the case, but it makes sense given that we didn¡¯t all show up inside a ritual circle or the like. Then whoever summoned us sent¡ minions, I guess, to track us down, and they must have done so within hours of our arrival.¡±
Jason grimaced. ¡°Vittorio¡ he told us was actively after Lumi because someone had placed some incredible bounty on her capture. On top of that, we originally believed that Seraptis had been after Kera for some unknown reason since he had attacked her twice, and then I was the one who was first attacked down by the river¡.¡±
He trailed off.
¡°¡. And if Vittorio was carrying a core as some kind of up-front payment, then it''s likely that¡¯s where the other dungeons came from.¡± Therissa finished for him, her voice and posture laden with dread.
¡°Yes. Yes I see what you mean,¡± she said with a heavy sigh. ¡°This is¡ I can¡¯t even begin to guess what¡¯s best to do with this information, if I¡¯m to be honest.¡±
¡°Well¡ I have an idea about that, really.¡± Jason replied. ¡°Look. We may not be from this world¡ but for near future at minimum, we¡¯re stuck here. None of us are going to sit back and hold potentially world-shaking secrets back when someone could be doing something about it. And The Archive will find out sooner or later that something big is either going on, whether or not we¡¯re the ones who tell them.¡±
¡°You said it before¡ it¡¯s very likely they¡¯ll be after us. I wouldn¡¯t be shocked if, given a combination of factors, they¡¯d be more than willing to try and use us to bait out who- or what-ever is after us. If on the other hand we sign up with someone who¡¯s at odds with them, someone who just so happens to be great at combating dungeons and would be ecstatic to gain access to a ready supply of eternal potions¡.¡±
Therissa gave a loud guffaw and then covered her mouth for a moment.
¡°You cheeky¡ª. You mean to bribe the Black Thorns into protecting you?¡± she asked.
Jason shrugged. ¡°Bribe, pay¡ it¡¯s essentially the same thing, here. Besides, we¡¯ve got something you haven¡¯t seen yet that I¡¯m willing to bet will make them absolutely salivate over getting us on board.¡±
Therissa though for a moment.
¡°This wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with your sudden acquisition of a certain title, would it?¡± she asked him.
Jason just grinned at her.
¡°So¡ think you could arrange us a meeting with someone important?¡± he asked instead.
¡°I most definitely could,¡± she replied. ¡°In fact, one of their top members happens to be here in Arnvale right now. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve noticed the sudden upsurge in adventurers. Well that¡¯s because the Black Thorns sent an entire raid group¡¯s worth down. Most of them are here to earn their memberships, I gather; they aren¡¯t actual members yet. But their¡ teacher, lack of a better word, Aurion? He¡¯s a top member, and he¡¯s got a few others with him who are full members as well.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll do what I can to set up a meeting later. For now, why don¡¯t you all head out and take some well-earned rest? I¡¯ll get someone to show you to your new home.¡±
Chapter 24
¡°Ok, I admit, I was expecting the house of some poor peasant widow,¡± Jason stated, ¡°not some kind of miniature, middle-class pseudo-mansion.¡±
Kera and Lumi stood behind him, staring up at the half-timbered, two-story building that they¡¯d been told would be their new home for the near future. It had a large, central portion flanked by two, smaller single-story wings, each one large enough to contain more than one room.
¡°If I had to venture a guess,¡± Lumi said, ¡°she probably married one of the more successful shopkeepers over in the market district and then he died before they had kids or something. Because yeah¡totally agree. This is way more than I expected.¡±
¡°Who cares?¡± Kera said with a grin. ¡°It¡¯s ours now! I¡¯ve never been a homeowner before. Let¡¯s go check it out!¡±
She gave Jason a gentle push forwards, so he opened the door and entered.
He found himself in a small antechamber which then opened up into a main living space. The entry hall itself was fairly sparse, if relatively well lit by windows. A coat rack stood in on corner by the door.
Jason walked slowly into the central room, which was dominated by a single large table in the center, with several bookcases and cabinets lining the back wall. A set of steps in one corner led up to the second floor, and there were four sets of doors, two on each side of the room.
Jason could see what looked to be a kitchen hearth through an open archway at the back of the room.
¡°Wow, we even get free furniture too?¡± Kera commented as she walked into the main room. ¡°Sweet.¡± She opened one of the side doors and poked her head inside.
¡°We are paying for this, technically.¡± Lumi said in Kera¡¯s direction as the girl entered whatever room she was examining.
Lumi looked thoughtful for a moment, then said followed up with, ¡°Well, Jason is the one doing the paying.¡±
Lumi turned to Jason with a relatively serious expression on her face. ¡°Thank you, by the way,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve really expressed how grateful I am that you¡¯ve just been financing all three of us, no questions asked. I know you see it as a ¡®we¡¯re in this together¡¯ kind of thing, but a great many people wouldn¡¯t be so generous, or they¡¯d be doing it with¡ certain expectations.¡±
Jason shrugged uncomfortably. ¡°You¡¯re welcome, I guess? I dunno, I guess the kind of funds we have access to with the potions just¡ makes money seem like a non issue right now?¡±
¡°I know,¡± Lumi replied, ¡°I just wanted you to know I am grateful. I know Kera feels the same. Our situation would be a lot less comfortable if it wasn''t for you. So¡thanks.¡±
Jason was saved from trying to come up with a better response by Kera sticking her head out from a room she¡¯d entered.
¡°Come check it out!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°Bedrooms for each of us! They¡¯ve even got some of those cool magic lamp things!¡±
Lumi rolled her eyes at the other girl but moved to join her.
Jason followed.
The bedrooms turned out to be quite cozy. Each one had a moderately-sized bed with a wool-stuffed mattress, with two chests for storage, a wardrobe for clothing, and a side table and chair. Each room also had one of the small, metal and glass enchanted lamps that had been present at the inn.
Jason made a mental note to find out if the lamps needed any kind of maintenance, and to maybe see if he couldn¡¯t take one apart later to examine the enchantment in detail. Maybe he could learn something from them.
The four side rooms all turned out to be bedrooms, which meant each of them could finally have one to themselves. The back room was indeed a kitchen, with a large stone hearth complete with oven and smoke chimney, and storage space for food.
The second floor turned out to be entirely devoted to Jason¡¯s alchemy lab: a single, large room with several long tables that had been piled high with the various apparatus he¡¯d requested: Metal crucibles and calcinators, glass beakers and retorts, basins for water, and other similar things. All for the express purpose of his [Refine] and [Synthesize] skills, and the processing and storage of alchemical ingredients. Numerous shelves lined the walls of the room as well, split into different cubbyholes by vertical dividers.
¡°Whoa.¡± Kera said as she entered the room behind him. ¡°How the heck did they manage this in one week?¡±
¡°Skills, I¡¯m sure,¡± Jason replied. ¡°And it doesnt hurt that Pelk¡¯s family are all crafters of one kind or another.¡±
¡°What¡¯s all this stuff for, anyway?¡± Kera asked. ¡°I mean I know its for your alchemy and stuff, but I don¡¯t even know what half these things are.
¡°Most of it is just for heating and cooling things in various ways,¡± he explained. ¡°Like either burning something until it turns to ash with certain qualities, or heating a liquid so it evaporates and then capturing the gas and then cooling it back down so you can separate stuff out, that sort of thing.¡±
¡°Your skill tells you all that stuff?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°Basically,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Sometimes I have to actually try and do something before it tells me, but yeah.¡±
¡°So what are you planning on making first?¡± Kera asked him. ¡°More bombs?¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°Nothing right away. First I want to try the refinement process, and see how effective or time consuming it is. Ultimately, what I¡¯d like to do is see if I can¡¯t refine alchemy traits down into powders I can store in vials. If I can manage that, I¡¯ll be able to do alchemy really quickly on the fly: just add two vials of something to a flask of water and infuse it, yeah?¡±
¡°But¡.¡± he emphasized, ¡°even before that, I want to check out the books Jerrik gave me and pick my specializations, maybe spend some skill points, and pick a third or even fourth class, if I can find something unique to combine everything.¡±
¡°Yeah, we need to look over our own gains,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I¡¯ve got more than a dozen skill points I haven¡¯t spent yet. It feels like a criminal waste. I¡¯ve got class points to spend, too. And there¡¯s the whole ¡®experimenting with respec¡¯ thing we talked about back in the ruins.¡±
Kera turned to Jason. ¡°Oh, um¡ that reminds me,¡± she said hesitantly. ¡°You¡¯re gonna offer an Elixir of Rebirth to the Guild people, right?¡±
¡°Probably, yeah,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I¡¯m still a bit hesitant about it, but it seems like the best way to get the point across that we¡¯re worth the trouble of declaring us under their protection.¡±
¡°Can I do the demonstration?¡± she asked him,
Jason cocked his head at her. ¡°Demonstration?¡±
¡°Well they won¡¯t really know what a respec is, right?¡± Kera said. ¡°I¡¯ve got class points I¡¯m not using right now, and I¡¡±
She trailed off for a second, and a morose expression flickered across her face for a moment, but she shook herself.
¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°Still not totally¡ over things.¡±
She took a deep breath. ¡°Anyway,¡± she continued, ¡°You¡¯ll want something dramatic to prove to them these elixirs are worth it all, right? What better than to show what they can do? I¡¯m willing to do dramatic.¡±
Lumi looked a little concerned. ¡°Kera¡¡±
Kera just waved her off. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Lumi. I¡¯ve given this a lot of thought. I want this.¡±
Jason shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with it, if that¡¯s what you want to do. Its a good suggestion.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± she said quietly. Then she cleared her throat slightly.
¡°I, um, need to go let Ceri and Echo in,¡± Kera said, ¡°now that we¡¯ve checked the place out. I think I might set up that last room as place for my bonded, if you guys don¡¯t mind.¡±
Jason looked over to Lumi.
¡°Fine by me,¡± she said, ¡°but realistically, it¡¯s your house.¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°Our house,¡± he emphasized. ¡°We all live here, we all get a say. Even if I¡¯m the one who¡¯s paying for the building.¡±
¡±Besides,¡± he said with a laugh, ¡°it¡¯s not like you guys didn¡¯t help kill all the stuff I¡¯ll be turning into money.¡±
Lumi grinned. ¡°True enough.¡±
¡°It¡¯s settled then,¡± Jason said to Kera. ¡°Go right ahead.¡±
¡°Thanks,¡± Kera replied, and headed back down the stairs.
¡°I¡¯m going to pick out a room and get to work, I think,¡± Jason told Lumi. ¡°I want to get in what work I can before meeting with this Aurion person.¡±
¡°Good idea,¡± she replied. ¡°Meet up in a few hours for dinner then, unless we hear from Therissa before then?¡±
¡°Sounds good to me,¡± he said, ¡°though I think we¡¯ll be eating at the tavern. I¡¯ll need time to get the hearth fire lit, unless you want to give it a try.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±
Jason closed the door to the room he¡¯d chose, placed his pack on the side table, and then sank into his new bed with a sigh. It seemed like months since he¡¯d last had any real privacy, even though it reality it had only been a week and a half.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
He closed his eyes for a few minutes, but reopened them when he felt himself drifting off to sleep. It had been a long day already, what with having traveled half the day on horseback before having an extended meeting with Therissa, but he still had work to do. He had no idea how fast dungeons became a threat to nearby towns, but given that there had already been one attempt on his life by marauding Murklings, he didn¡¯t feel like he had the luxury of time to rest.
So instead, he groaned and sat up, and began calling up the status windows he¡¯d pinned just out of his field of view.
Level Gained: Alchemist Level 11. Skill Point acquired.
Hmm, that¡¯s odd, Jason thought, First time I¡¯ve not gotten a skill at an odd level.
Level Gained: Artificer Level 10. Skill Point acquired. Stat Point acquired. Class Point acquired.
Hybrid Class, Level 10 Milestone reached: +100 Maximum Mana awarded. +5 Skill Points awarded.
Skill Specialization acquired: You may now choose a crafting skill or sphere of study to advance to the next tier.
Wait. Sphere of study? That¡¯s different from the Alchemist specialization, right?
Jason checked his class information. Yes, Alchemist¡¯s specialization allowed him to choose between a crafting skill or a gathering skill.
So they¡¯re different, depending on what class you¡¯ve reached the milestone in. I wish I knew if I could refund a specialization with the Elixir¡
He pulled up the selection window for his Artificer specialization. It was surprisingly short, containing entries only for improved standard potion-crafting, improved wand-making, and increasing the tier of his various crafting skills.
I bet it¡¯s like the discovery list, Jason thought. It¡¯s only showing me things that I meet perquisites for. Hmm. That poses an issue, then. If I want to come up with something that leverages all my classes into a whole, I¡¯m going to need to really think carefully here.
Jason put aside his specialization choice for now. Instead, he opened up his pack and pulled out the package Jerrik gave him.
He opened the note first, which turned out to be a handwritten letter explaining that Jerrik had taken the liberty of speaking to a few people about the sorts of specific enchanting knowledge Jason might find most useful. Apparently Flora had been a great help in that respect.
Jason opened the package as he read through Jerrik¡¯s note. The first book was small and thin, and was titled ''Inscription vs. Engraving: A Primer.'' and was partly about alternative enchanting skills, but primarily dealt with making spell-scrolls and producing magically-charged inks to draw runes onto a surface rather than carve them physically into the object.
The second volume was more like a large, excessively dry textbook, filled to the brim with complex rune sequences. Jason could barely get his head around the brief look he took at the descriptions of what they did, much less the rune diagrams themselves. He suspected his engrave skill was simply too low currently to work any of them out.
Fortunately, he had plenty of skill points to burn. But that could come later.
The final two books in the bundle made Jason grin with glee. The first was a relatively simple primer on basic enchanting. While this would be unlikely to gain Jason any skill ranks, it did have several examples of common enchantments, including the one for creating a bag of holding.
The second book was equally as useful: a book on Life-Element enchantments and their effects on living creatures.
Now these, I can make use of, Jason thought. It¡¯ll take me a few days to get through all this, but I¡¯ll be damned if I can¡¯t work out some kind of extra-dimensional greenhouse with this.
Jason stretched, then placed the package¡¯s contents on the side table.
Speaking of¡
Jason rummaged through his pack a second time, withdrawing the small anchor-shaped figurine he¡¯d taken from Vittorio. He¡¯d forgotten to examine it at the time.
¡°Analyze Item.¡±
[Spatial Anchor]: Upon activation, redirects all nearby teleportation destinations to itself.
Huh. Literally an anchor, OK then. I can see why that might be a useful tool for a bounty hunter to carry around.
He put the figuring back in his pack, slightly disappointed he hadn¡¯t learned anything from it.
Next on the list¡ opening up [Engineer].
After his prior talk with Sevani, he¡¯d had a fairly good idea how he could unlock the class; it was as simple as earning a related knowledge skill, and once you had the class you then became eligible to take a great number of inter-related skills dealing with construction and physics.
While Jason didn¡¯t really think it would be a class he¡¯d level much, it was a good candidate for testing out his respec potion: He was willing to spend some points to pick up a few ranks in some construction-related skills, unlock the class, and then see what he could or couldn¡¯t do with the respec potion. If it turned out he could change things too much, it wouldn¡¯t be a huge loss, and he really did want to test things out before Kera accidentally altered herself in some way she couldn¡¯t undo.
This way, he had a legitimate excuse to test things out first. Besides, it wouldn¡¯t do to offer up some [Elixir of Rebirth] to the Black Thorns without actually knowing exactly what it did; right now they were largely making assumptions.
So Jason stood, gathered his pack, and headed out to the market briefly after informing Lumi that he was headed out briefly.
First he visited Jerrik¡¯s shop, in order to thank the older man for the books. He also picked up several short, thin rods of wood. They were supposed to be used as tent stakes, but he had Jerrik cut them short for him, and bought a bit of thick twine and some hide scraps to go with them.
Jason also stopped by the Lodge briefly, in order to withdraw several items from his Vault: his phone, the Elixirs, the dye bundles, and the remaining pouches of enchanted dirt.
While he was at it, he asked Therissa about how much he owed the Lodge currently in terms of potions, so he could whip up a batch of greater healing potions for her.
The reply he got surprised him a little.
¡°I¡¯d rather you make me more of those least potions, actually,¡± she told him when they had a private moment away from all the bustle.
¡°Really? I mean, sure, I can do that, but why when I can make better?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Two reasons,¡± she explained. ¡°The first one is that, well, they¡¯ll be a lot easier to find buyers for. In fact, I¡¯ve already sold the ones you gave me before to people here. Remember, eternal potions are quite valuable, and the more potent they are, the more expensive they get. A greater heal is far outside the average citizen¡¯s price range, and even the more successful adventurers would hesitate to spend that kind of money. It¡¯s much cheaper to buy normal ones before a job, even if it means they might go to waste.¡±
¡°The second one is, well, the rarity issue,¡± Therissa continued. ¡°I don¡¯t want to suddenly be offering a whole mess of high-end eternal potions; people will ask questions. It¡¯s bad enough I¡¯ll be trying to sell a fair number of least ones.¡±
¡°I see,¡± Jason replied. ¡°In that case, least potions it is. Want some non-healing ones too? I can spread it out across different kinds, if you¡¯d like.¡±
¡°Please.¡±
¡°Any word on the meeting with Auric?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Not yet,¡± Therissa replied. ¡°He¡¯s apparently out on some scouting errand. Something about wanting to checking things out personally. So it won¡¯t be til tomorrow the earliest. Drop by in the morning and I¡¯ll let you know when he¡¯ll see you.¡±
¡°Thanks,¡± he replied.
Jason returned to the house, where he found that Lumi had managed to ignite the hearth fire in the kitchen, which also served to help heat the house.
Lumi gave him a wave as he entered.
¡°Hey,¡± she said. ¡°Got deliveries of various stuff from people while you were out. Apparently the neighbors are the type who like housewarming gifts.¡±
¡°Oh?¡±
She laughed. ¡°Yeah. And apparently they hadn¡¯t been informed who was moving in either. Some poor lady practically had her socks scared off of her when Kera came to the door with Echo in tow.¡±
¡°Oh dear,¡± Jason replied.
¡°She was fine, at least,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Anyway, we¡¯ve got some foodstuffs I¡¯ve put away in the cabinets, and logs to keep the fire going.¡±
She wrinkled her nose. ¡°It does get awfully smoky though.¡±
Jason shrugged. ¡°Comes with the technology level, really. Maybe I can rig up some kind of air flow or heating charm or something later.¡±
He bid Lumi goodbye, and headed up to the lab, where he sat down at one of the tables, and pulled out the twine and wooden dowels.
With a little bit of help from his phone, the scraps of hide, and some conjured tools, Jason soon had a working, miniature torsion catapult. It was a simple thing, just a wooden frame and a tightly-wound but of twine, but it did the job:
You have earned a new skill: Basic Carpentry.
You have earned a new skill: Basic Engineering.
You have earned a new skill: Basic Physics.
Jason gave a little fist-pump, and then opened his status screen to pay for all three skills. While he didn¡¯t really think he¡¯d ever make much use of [Carpentry], he figured that since you never knew what might be a prerequisite, he might as well grab it and respec it out if it didn''t lead to anything.
After purchasing the skills, [Engineer] showed up in his class unlocks. He held off on paying for it just yet, though: he had one other task first, courtesy of Pelk¡¯s father, Tersk.
Jason spent a minute trying to locate what he wanted amidst all the clutter on the other table; the delivery of equipment from Sevani had been deposited rather haphazardly, and it took a few moments to locate the small cloth bag filled with various sized springs and gears he¡¯d requested..
It took Jason the better part of two hours, but soon he had assembled a simple clockwork timer. Simply wind the key as tight as you could, and approximately two minutes later, a small hammer would strike an equally small bell. The whole contraption the size of a toaster, and it wasn¡¯t pretty in the slightest, but it did the job, and he was rewarded with three more skills:
You have earned a new skill: Basic Clockwork.
You have earned a new skill: Basic Metalworking.
You have earned a new skill: Basic Construction.
The second skill came as something of a surprise to Jason, though he¡¯d had to actually file down a few of the parts, as they hadn¡¯t come out quite the right shape in places.
Then again, I guess we¡¯ve seen that the system is pretty lenient with things sometimes, he thought to himself. I am trying to learn about building things, here. Interesting I had to do more than one project before it offered me construction though. I¡¯d have thought the mangonel would have gotten me that on its own.
Regardless of the whys, Jason paid for the skills, then checked his class unlocks again.
More new classes had appeared, and Jason was surprised to see one called [Golemancer] in the list. He supposed that Clockwork Golems were a thing in games, and maybe Metalworking applied there too along with [False Life].
Jason chuckled slightly. Sounds interesting, but I think I¡¯ll pass on that route. Sorry Kera.
Next, Jason brought up his skill specialization options again. Sure enough, more options had appeared. Now, under Artificer, he had an option to convert [Basic Carpentry] into [Advanced Woodworking], presumably for the crafting of wands and staves. Metalworking and Clockwork were upgradable as well.
He also had a new area of study for Artificer, the previously seen Golemancy. Which was interesting, because it meant is sounded like he could technically learn about the subject without actually taking a specific class.
Jason thought carefully for a few minutes. He didn¡¯t yet know if a re-spec would let him change non-point related choices. He suspect it would, but he didn¡¯t want to just pick any old thing and then see what happened. Plus, he really wanted to at least see what new skills and runes Jerrik¡¯s books might offer him before he made a final choice.
However¡ that was for Artificer. Jason didn¡¯t think much would change for Alchemist, just as it hadn''t here. Besides¡ he''d heard from Aria that a high harvesting skill would lead to extra drops from kills, and that was a prime source of alchemy traits. The same went for [Basic Herbalism]; a higher tier would mean more rare seeds and extra drops, and his whole project revolved around making sure he never ran out of supply.
After a few further minutes of debate, Jason pulled up his Alchemist Specialization list. He was about to select [Basic Herbalism] when he suddenly noticed that [Basic Cooking] was also on the list, but not as a simple tier upgrade like he¡¯d previously thought.
There was a dividing line there on the screen, like there had been for Artificer¡¯s fields of study.
Don¡¯t tell me that Kera was right again, he thought.
He selected the skill.
Well, its as good a test as any for a respec, he thought. He supposed he''d go ahead and nab [Engineer] and [Golemist] afterwards, drop a few points into things, check out his selection lists...and then try out the respec potion to see what happened.
¡°Yes,¡± he commanded.
Chapter 25
Jason decided to test out his skill evolution before he did anything further. He figured that even if he did decide to respec it out, he might as well have some fun with it first, right?
Since it was now late afternoon and he was already quite worn out, Jason settled on applying his new skill to whipping up a batch of his [Serenity Tonic] -based tea, perhaps in bottled form. The last few times he¡¯d made it, it had come out too strong for his tastes, and Jason wanted to see if he couldn¡¯t make a system-labeled drink out of it like Kera had once suggested.
Of course, this mean he needed to run down to Flora¡¯s shop first, because he was out of both Produce and Calm supplies. He also owed Therissa a batch of healing potion anyway, so he might as well do both.
So he headed down to the shop, and purchased a few pounds worth of various supplies from Flora. He also paid a brief visit to a local farmer¡¯s stall in the market, before heading home and ensconcing himself in the kitchen.
Fortunately for Jason, his skill helped him navigate the specifics of a medieval kitchen, and he soon was pulling a tray of now-dried, sliced lemon rind from the brick oven beside the hearth. He set that aside to cool, and conjured a very large pot, which he filled with water and placed over the hearth fire to boil.
Next, Jason ground up several dried herbs he¡¯d purchased, chiefly lavender and lemongrass alongside a few others, which he mixed into a bowl with a carefully measured portion of black tea leaves. Once that was done, he diced up the now-cooling lemon rind as finely as he could, and dumped everything into the pot just as it came to a boil.
He pulled the pot off the fire and set it down carefully on a tall stone slab that served as a sort of preparation table, in order to let the water cool slightly while the tea steeped.
Next, Jason prepared to make some actual Serenity Tonic, but before he he could, [Prepare Legendary Fare] intervened by means of informing him that he should add the traits directly to the tea in specific quantities before infusing mana into it.
So Jason ground down his sources of Produce and Calm, estimated the amount of actual tea he was making here, and added them to the pot.
He paused for a moment, trying to decide which skill to activate, but then realized his cooking skill was more of a knowledge thing than something he activated. So he focused on the mental image of exactly what he wanted: a proper tea with magical properties and its own specific name.
¡°Brew Potion, Infuse,¡± he commanded.
The pot glowed briefly, and Jason felt his mana levels drain a fair bit.
A heavenly smell began to fill the room, and Jason hurriedly conjured up what amounted to a giant tea-strainer, which he used to filter out the tea leaves from the water after pressing what flavor he could from them.
The all that remained was to bottle the still-hot tea, and Jason soon had a good two dozen pint-sized flasks of tea.
As Jason was bottling up the last of it, Kera came to investigate.
¡°What on earth is that fantastic smell?¡± She asked Jason.
He grinned at her. ¡°So you know how you were suggesting I hide my potion making as something else to further conceal what I¡¯m doing?¡±
He held up one of the filled flasks. ¡°I present to you, actual [Sereni-tea], brought to you by my newly evolved, unique cooking skill.¡±
¡°Analyze Item,¡± he commanded, and then shared the screen with Kera.
Sereni-Tea: A wondrous, some even say magical, tea blend that soothes the heart and soul and relaxes sore muscles
Kera laughed and gave a small jump, clapping her hands together. ¡°You did it! You made an actual named item!¡±
He grinned back at her. ¡°Want to try the first one?¡± he asked. ¡°It was your idea first, after all.¡±
¡°Gimme,¡± she said with an excited grin, holding both hands out.
Jason passed her a flask. ¡°Careful, it¡¯s still really hot. But it should be good iced too, if you prefer that. I¡¯m sure we could get Lumi to chill one.¡±
¡°Nope, the hotter the better for me,¡± Kera said, prying the cork out. She took a cautious sip, followed by several long gulps.
Jason winced a bit. That had to burn.
Then again¡ she does have that fireproofing spell, he thought.
Kera let out a long, satisfied sigh of relaxation as she looked up at the ceiling. She looked back down her flask, both hands held around it. She breathed in the aroma for a moment, then looked at Jason, blinking slowly a few times.
¡°I.. wow. Jason, this is.. fantastic stuff. I can¡¯t even¡I need to sit down to enjoy this properly I think, before I fall over.¡±
Jason laughed a bit ruefully, and picked up two more flasks.
¡°Go sit in the den, then. I¡¯ll go find Lumi and we can all have a bit of tea. Its close to dinnertime anyway, we can haul out the food the neighbors brought by while we¡¯re at it.
¡°Mmmmm,¡± Kera mere hummed in agreement as she inhaled the steam from her tea again. She took another sip and exited the kitchen, taking a seat at the table.
Jason went in search of Lumi.
Lumi took a final sip of her tea, and gave a contented sigh as she pushed her plate away from her.
¡°Well. That really hit the spot,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m lost for words, Jason.¡±
¡°Hey, I just made the tea and made sandwiches,¡± he replied. ¡°You can thank our neighbors for the spiced meats and vegetables that went into it.¡±
¡°I¡¯m with Lumi,¡± Kera said sleepily. She stifled a slight yawn. ¡°This was like¡ exactly what I needed to come home to after our trip. You¡¯re hired.¡±
Jason gave a worn-out laugh. Truth be told, he was pretty exhausted himself, and the girls were right. This had been a good idea.
¡°Well, I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll keep the skill, but I¡¯ll keep that under advisement,¡± he said. ¡°Speaking of, though, did either of you pick out any of your new stuff?¡±
¡°I haven¡¯t, yet.¡± Kera said. ¡°I figure I¡¯ll wait til just before the meeting with the Guild rep, then see what it opens up before I do the actual respec. I can alway re-spend the points, I¡¯m assuming.¡±
¡°Oh, that reminds me of something else,¡± Jason said. ¡°But we can talk about that later. What about you, Lumi?¡±
¡°I¡¯ve got a few things to report,¡± she replied with a nod.
Lumi pulled up her status screen, showing it to the others.
Name: Lumiriel Dun''Val
Race: Human (Outworlder)
Gender: Female
Primary Class:
Spellblade 10
Subclass: Knight 9
Subclass: Sunwarden 9
Secondary Class:
Duskreaver 1
Subclass: None
Subclass: None
¡°As you can see, I¡¯ve rearranged my class structure more than a little bit,¡± she said. ¡°I finally picked up Duskreaver, which actually granted me a new specialization choice called ¡®Twilight Valkyrie¡¯. In addition to sounding totally badass, picking it seems to have also opened up some further classes that all seem similar to both Sunwarden and Duskreaver in theme, so at this point I¡¯m giving serious consideration to just dropping Knight, picking up armor and weapon skills manually, and seeing if I can¡¯t just focus wholly on this magic warrior business.¡±
¡°I may very well see what effect respeccing Knight out entirely would have, depending on whatever results Kera ends up seeing for the demonstration,¡± Lumi said.
¡°Ah actually,¡± Jason interrupted, ¡°I may drink one myself tomorrow beforehand. No offense Kera, I¡¯m on board with you doing the demonstration still, but I was thinking it might be a good idea to know what to expect. And well¡ I don¡¯t want you to risk getting trapped in some form you don¡¯t like. I don¡¯t really expect us to not be able to respec more than once, but¡.¡±
¡°I get it,¡± Kera said with a dismissive wave. ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±
¡°Sorry, Lumi,¡± Jason said. ¡°Please, continue.¡±
Lumi nodded. ¡°Well, as I said, I might respec Knight out and pay for any skills I need to keep Spellblade and stuff unlocked. Assuming that¡¯s something I can do, and I¡¯m not totally decided yet. But I keep thinking how Knight keeps giving me these skills I¡¯m just not using in comparison to the others, except the basic stuff, so¡¡±
She shrugged.
¡°I mean, I got Thundering Charge, and Challenge, and Horsemanship¡ none of which have really been important, though I guess Horsemanship did come in handy a bit. I also got ¡®Oath of Valor¡¯ this level, which is some kind of ritual thing that, well, its a bit like a paladin¡¯s alignment restrictions, which I don¡¯t want to touch with a ten foot pole.¡±
¡°So¡.¡± Lumi continued, ¡°If I was to just earn and pay for my Armor and Shield skills, which I could probably get Denaire to help me with, I could just drop the class. I¡¯d lose Horsemanship, Charge, and Challenge, but¡ eh.¡±
¡°Wouldn¡¯t you lose your swordmanship too?¡± Jason asked.
¡°No,¡± Lumi replied with a shake of her head. ¡°I actually paid for that before accepting Knight. Same for Mobility.¡±
Jason shrugged. ¡°Seems like it might be worthwhile then, if there¡¯s any benefit to dropping a class after you¡¯ve invested XP in it. We don¡¯t really know how that¡¯ll work, I guess.¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Lumi said, ¡°that¡¯s why I¡¯ll wait til Kera, and I guess you, give it a try first.¡±
Kera started to say something, then stifled another yawn.
¡°Yikes, sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I think sitting here after a nice meal is starting to get to me. I was trying ask, are you going to replace it with other classes?¡±
¡°Maybe several, actually,¡± Lumi replied.
¡°Is that a good idea?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I mean, I know ts worked well for you so far, but there¡¯s that XP cap thing.¡±
¡°Actually, that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been doing with some of my time while you were out,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I asked some carefully-worded questions about preferences for multi-classing over single-classing, and¡ got some rather surprising answers.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Yeah. So apparently, it¡¯s on surprisingly equal footing here, at least for the average adventurer,¡± Lumi said.
¡°See, it turns out that most classes are very front-loaded for new skills. We heard a little about that from Therissa, in how you normally get new skills from leveling rather than straight up ranks. Well, that sort of changes as you get into higher levels. The higher level you get, the more you stop getting new skills and skill points, and the more you get pure stat boosts at certain intervals. Sure, you do get really good new skills at rare intervals, but you start hitting a lot of ¡®dead levels¡¯ where you get very little.¡±
Jason nodded as he realized the implications. ¡°I get it,¡± he said. ¡°Because of the difference in progression, it becomes a question of having a lot of very high ranked skills, versus having a spare few but epically strong ones because they¡¯re backed up by raw stats. The classic versatility versus specialization choice.¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Lumi said. ¡°A level 500 Archmage, if someone ever actually managed to hit the cap, might have spells capable of leveling entire cities, while an adventurer with 80 Levels in 6 difference classes would have an unimaginable level of skill in whatever they chose to do. In fact, it can even be just a different means of specialization. Imagine leveling say, your basic throwing skill, Jason, and putting three or four hundred ranks worth of skill points into just that skill.¡±
Kera laughed. ¡°I wonder if you could literally shoot the moon here.¡±
Jason grinned. ¡°Maybe. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me, to be honest, if there were people out there capable of things that would just be completely insane back home.¡±
He turned to Lumi. ¡°Did you happen to ask anything about common level caps? I mean, I assume that max-levels don¡¯t walk around all over the place.¡±
¡°I did,¡± Lumi answered, ¡°and you¡¯re right. Average ¡®top¡¯ adventurers generally cap out around two-fifty or three hundred before retiring, and that¡¯s the best of the best, really. It just gets too expensive between levels past that point, and by then you¡¯re losing more than half your XP to accumulated levels, so you start seeing almost no growth.¡±
¡°In fact,¡± she confirmed, ¡°that¡¯s one reason most people do multiclass a lot, and what kind of was the nail in the coffin as to why I will: The XP curve is based on class level, while the penalty is based on total. A fifty percent penalty when you¡¯re trying to go from level twenty to level twenty one isn¡¯t nearly as bad as when you¡¯re trying to gain your two hundred and fifty-first level. So if you want to hit higher level totals earlier, multiclass is the way to go.¡±
Jason leaned back in his seat, and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
¡°That¡¯s some pretty major info, there,¡± he said.
¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± Kera said. ¡°Though it does leave out that you¡¯re splitting XP between classes.¡±
¡°Only kind of,¡± Jason pointed out. ¡°Your subclasses effectively get ¡®free¡¯ XP after all. I mean, look at Lumi¡¯s total skill ranks compared to ours, right? She¡¯s way ahead in total levels, even if your actual highest level is highest of all of us. Plus there¡¯s the whole synergy potential thing.¡±
Kera sighed. ¡°I know, I know. Actually I¡¯ve been thinking about maybe picking up at least a secondary now that I¡¯m all caught up to you guys.¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
¡°Really? Like what?¡± asked Jason.
¡°I¡¯m not sure yet,¡± she replied, ¡±but I was thinking something along the lines of nature- or monster-based spellcasting. Like Shaman or Druid. I¡¯ve actually got both of those in my list now, ever since I learned Thorn Trap from Flora.¡±
¡°Ask around,¡± Lumi suggested. ¡°That way you can pick something with potential synergy before you try the respec. Maybe ask Aria about that Beastmaster class?¡±
¡°That¡¯s the plan,¡± Kera confirmed.
¡°Any other news?¡± Jason asked Lumi.
¡°Oh, right!¡± Lumi exclaimed. ¡°Sorry, got a little sidetracked there. Yes. This actually has bearing on the whole ¡®put lots of skill points into specific skills¡¯ thing. I actually got three tier increases, so now I have Advanced Swordsmanship, Advanced Shield Use, and Advanced Armor Use instead of Basic. That all came with Twilight Valkyrie as some sort of synergy bonus for having multiple tanking classes. And while I didn¡¯t get any new skills right off the bat for Duskreaver, I did get two new spells, Icicle and Frost Armor. Icicle is surprisingly decent; even though its basically the same as my Frost Bolt shape, it¡¯s really cheap to cast. I suspect with higher ranks of Spellcasting it will be practically free. Frost Armor meanwhile is your pretty standard armor buff.¡±
¡°Care to demonstrate?¡± Jason asked.
Lumi gave a brief yawn of her own.
¡°Bleh. Actually, can that wait til tomorrow?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got several other things I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve had a chance to scan either, like Solar Flare, plus I got new stuff from Sunwarden too that we don¡¯t wanna use in the house, and I¡¯m totally beat.¡±
Kera yawned again, too. ¡°Yikes. Double for me. I¡¯m all for bed, you two. I can barely keep my eyes open even though its only early evening.¡±
While system theory was definitely high on his list of interesting subjects, the girl¡¯s yawns were reminding Jason of just how exhausted he was, too.
¡°Alright,¡± he said. ¡°We can reconvene in the morning. Let¡¯s get things cleaned up.¡±
After climbing into bed, before he drifted off to sleep, Jason began with the simplest of the books Jerrik had given him, the basic primer on common enchantments. It was fairly heavy reading, but Jason managed to learn several basic starter runes before sleep overtook him.
Runes Learned: Enhance, Resist
The following morning saw Jason rising early, and he headed down to the market to get some further food supplies. First he visited the butcher¡¯s shop for some cuts of bacon, then purchased some flour, eggs, spices, and even a pail of milk from some of the farmers¡¯ market stalls, which were open early on account of the influx of extra people staying in town.
Jason wondered if they went out to their farms with an escort in the morning or not. Supposedly everyone had evacuated to behind the walls, but he supposed that wherever there was money to be made in a crisis, you¡¯d find someone trying to.
Regardless of the reason, it meant Jason could treat himself, and consequently the girls as well, to a proper American breakfast of bacon, fried eggs, and pancakes. He briefly lamented the fact that he didn¡¯t have a ¡®Wakefulness¡¯ trait to make some kind of magic-based coffee.
The smell of breakfast woke the girls, and Jason got a bit of a shock when Lumi staggered into the den seeking the scent of breakfast.
He turned quickly to studiously face his cooking, for Lumi had wandered out of her room clad only in her underthings. Given that she¡¯d had to get local ones made, meant she was clad in little more than braes and a romanesque breast-band.
Jason¡¯s face heated a little as he stared up at the wall. Lumi seemed¡a bit different than previously. More¡ shapely, than before. That might have been his imagination. Which he was now having a bit of trouble keeping under control.
¡°Um, Lumi?¡± he coughed politely.
¡°Mmph?¡± he heard her mumble as she presumably dragged herself over to the table.
¡°You might want to put some proper clothes on first.¡±
He heard a gasp, followed by a hurried door closing.
Jason was standing there, chuckling to himself and trying to think about ice cubes when Kera opened her door to join him. She at least had taken the time to properly clothe herself, with Ceri riding on her shoulder as usual.
¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± Kera asked Jason as he shooed Echo, who¡¯d slunk into the kitchen behind his mistress, away from the spare ingredients from the market.
Jason chuckled again and shook his head.
¡°You just missed Lumi. She woke up a bit¡ slowly, let¡¯s say. After having removed most of her armor and clothes to sleep.¡±
¡°Oh dear. Did she¡?¡±
¡°I daresay she¡¯s awake now.¡± he laughed. ¡°This is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about back when.¡±
¡°I shouldn¡¯t tease, though, I suppose,¡± he conceded after a moment. ¡°Its an easy enough mistake to make if you¡¯re used to certain things, We¡¯ve all had to deal with sharing space so much lately, that when you finally have a chance for some real privacy, its easy to slip up.¡±
¡°I am so sorry,¡± Lumi said to him from the den as she exited her room again. She didn¡¯t have her armor on, but had put on her tunic and pants. Her face was flaming red with embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m just so used to having my own place, and I usually¡ and we have private rooms now, and¡¡±
Jason waved off her explanation. ¡°Don¡¯t apologize to me. I¡¯m the one getting an eyeful, and you¡¯re hardly unattractive with that, what¡? Fourteen..? Fifteen..? Appeal of yours,¡± he laughed. ¡°I should be the one apologizing to you, because I can¡¯t deny my own amusement. Anyway, it¡¯s fine.¡±
Lumi flushed again in further embarrassment. She mumbled something Jason didn¡¯t catch, but Kera did.
¡°What, eighteen now? Really?¡± the other girl replied, surprised.
¡°I-I finally spent my points,¡± Lumi stammered more clearly, looking down at her feet. ¡°Appeal is tied to Might, and mine''s...twenty now.¡±
Jason suppressed an innapropriate urge to comment about Dungeons and Dragons characters. Instead he pulled the eggs off the griddle he¡¯d conjured up and added them to three plates piled with bacon. He slide a plate in front of Lumi and pushed her into the chair.
¡°Eat,¡± he commanded. ¡°That¡¯ll get your mind off things. It¡¯s fine, really.¡±
He passed Kera a plate of bacon and eggs as well, placed his own down at the table, and then brought out a platter of pancakes.
¡°Here we go,¡± he said. ¡°Sorry we don¡¯t have syrup, but we do have butter at least. Though I daresay homemade butter is a far cry different thing than what you find in a grocery back home.¡±
By the time he¡¯d finished speaking, Kera had already snatched a pancake from the stack, rolled up some of her bacon inside, slathered a bit of butter onto it, and then crammed a big bite into her mouth.
She closed her eyes and chewed for a moment.
¡°Don¡¯t care, its great.¡± she said after swallowing.
Jason rolled his eyes at her. It was a strange way to eat a pancake, he thought, but each to their own.
Breakfast was finished swiftly after that exchange, with Jason and the others tucking in without much talk. Kera ate like she was half-starved, and Jason wasn¡¯t the sort to talk much until after a meal, while Lumi¡ well, she was slowly getting over her earlier embarrassment.
Afterwards, Lumi volunteered to do the cleanup while Kera saw to Echo and Ceri. Since Jason had done the cooking, he was left to his own devices, so he decided to go upstairs and prepare that batch of health potion for Therissa.
As he sat down at his lab table, though, a thought occurred to him:
Namely, that if he was going to test the Elixir of Rebirth, he should probably try leveling a class at least a level or two, just to see what happened when he unlearned it.
He¡¯d skipped over doing it last night in favor of his attempted tea-potion, but there wasn¡¯t any reason not to unlock the classes now.
Golemist Unlocked. Skill Point acquired. You have learned a new class skill, [Animate Object], Rank 1. You have learned a new class skill, [Command Creation], Rank 1.
Engineer Unlocked. Skill Point acquired. You have learned a new class skill, [Advanced Mathematics], Rank 1. You have learned a new class skill, [Reinforce Structure], Rank 1.
He quickly skimmed through his new class skill entries.
Animate Object: By inscribing a simplified variant of the False Life sequence on an everyday object, you can grant it the gift of independent motion, to carry out your commands.
Command Creation: Through an inexpensive application of mana, you can enforce your will upon any of your creations. Higher ranks result in greater range and comprehension on the part of the creation.
Reinforce Structure: You are an expert when it comes to detecting flaws in the design of a building and can compensate through a better understanding of physics when completing repairs or performing maintenance.
Nothing unexpected there, he thought.
He checked his artificer specialization options.
Nothing had changed.
Hmm. That¡¯s still kind of a surprise, to be honest. I¡¯d have expected some kind of magical construction options, especially whenLumi had her own kind of synergy option. Maybe I¡¯m missing something? I¡¯ll have to talk with Sevani when I go see Therissa.
Shrugging mentally, Jason moved on the the next stage of his task: potion-making.
By now, he had the process down pat: Grind up the flowers, adding a tiny bit of water to help. Then scrape it into the bowl along with a scoop of the insect-shell powder, add water, and¡
¡°Brew Potion.¡±
Jason¡¯s mana drained heavily as two dozen potions¡¯ worth of least healing potion was created at once. He filled the vials, packed them into a small wooden crate, with straw for insulation, and headed to the Lodge.
Despite the relatively early morning hour, there were already quite a few people coming in and out.
Jason stopped at the door and addressed the light blue-skinned boy.
¡°Excuse me, is Therissa around yet?¡± he asked, ¡°I¡¯ve got a delivery that needs to go to her, personally, and I have some business with her as well.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± the boy said. ¡°She should be at desk as usual.¡±
¡°Thanks.¡±
Jason pushed his way through the door, crate held under one arm. Sure enough, Therissa was behind the usual counter. Jason wasn¡¯t really sure why the boy would call it her desk, but then again, she was always sitting at it doing paperwork, so maybe that was an accurate term.
Therissa looked up as he approached.
¡°Ah, welcome back Jason. Is that¡?¡±
¡°It is,¡± he confirmed. ¡°Two dozen, which is a little more than you asked for, I know, but I figure I¡¯ll be making a lot use of both Jerrik and Flora in the near future, and if it¡¯s alright, I¡¯d like to ask for a bit of an advance in coin, so to speak.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°Well,¡± he said, ¡°I mean, we¡¯ve got a house now, which means I need to stock various things like food and water, or have coin to buy meals somewhere else, and there¡¯ll be odds and ends supplies for making a few things, and so on.¡±
¡°Ah, yes of course,¡± Therissa nodded. ¡°One moment.¡±
She took the crate from Jason and hauled it away upstairs. A few minutes later she came back down, his time carrying a small leather coinpurse.
¡°Here you are,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s about two hundred gold worth of various coinage. Will that suffice?¡±
¡°Most certainly,¡± Jason replied. ¡°We¡¯ve got some of our own left over from the starter package thing, but I¡¯ve already had to make more than one trip down this way to pick up things I was missing, so I wanted to be sure I had appropriate payment on hand and didn¡¯t have to keep asking farmfolk to accept Guild credit.¡±
¡°I understand. Oh, and before you ask,¡± she said, ¡°I did speak to Aurion, and he will be available to speak with you later this evening. If you¡¯ll be in, I can send a runner to your home when he¡¯s ready.¡±
¡°That works,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Thanks.¡±
He bid her a goodbye, and returned to the house.
It was a bit of a surprise, but he found Kera and Lumi sitting in the den, playing a card game. The cards were overly large and made from thin wood rather than paper, but Jason recognized a card deck when he saw one.
¡°Wait, where did you get playing cards?¡± he asked, confused.
¡°Down at the market yesterday, when I was wandering around asking questions,¡± Lumi said cheerfully. ¡°The deck isn¡¯t quite the same, it¡¯s got five suits instead of four, and it¡¯s got jester, bard, princess, king, and wizard, instead of the normal face cards, but otherwise, I think most stuff will work just fine with only slight rules changes.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ what, then?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Two to sixteen? Or¡?¡±
¡°Jester is the one, so it¡¯s actually one to fourteen, so it¡¯s pretty close, number-wise,¡± Kera replied. ¡°Only one extra card.¡±
¡°Huh. Interesting. Well, I¡¯ll leave you to it,¡± He said. Jason started to move towards the stairs, but then suddenly stopped and turned.
¡°Actually, here,¡± he said, dropping the money pouch on the table. ¡°Later, why dont you two divide this up for us all. I got Therissa to front us some extra spending money for supplies and stuff. This way we all have some as needed.¡±
¡°Uh, sure, but what will you be doing?¡± Kera asked him.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll be playing mad scientist in my lab,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Time to get a bunch of stuff going before we meet with Aurion later tonight.¡±
¡°Have fun,¡± Lumi told him drily, her eyes more focused on her hand that on what Jason was actually saying.
Jason turned, headed upstairs, and stood at his lab table for the second time that morning.
Alright, I want to at least set up refinement of something, he thought.
He sighed, eyeballing the cluttered table surface. Therissa¡¯s couriers had just kind of heaped everything together, which meant before he could do even that much, he¡¯d need to actually clean he place up.
So he spent the first hour pottering about his lab, shifting various apparatus from table to table until it was relatively organized: one table for heating and agitating, one for cooling and settling, one for open space to let longer-term processes sit as needed, and one smaller table to actually sit down at, for grinding and other processing. He also filed away several of his non-perishable ingredients, such as the fulgurite, placing them onto the shelves so he didn¡¯t need to dig through his bag to find them.
Jason was about to pull out one of the scarab eggs and use that as his first refinement subject, when Lumi came up the steps carrying a small package.
¡°Wow, you really cleaned the place up,¡± Lumi commented, looking around. ¡°A guy who can cook, clean, and tries to be a gentleman. A girl might just feel a bit impressed.¡±
Jason just rolled his eyes at her. He was pretty sure she was just teasing him.
¡°This is for you,¡± she said, handing him the package.
He took it and looked at the label. ¡°Ah, this would be the earthheart samples from Tersk. Thanks.¡±
¡°No prob.¡± She turned and went back downstairs.
Well¡ might as well start with these instead of the eggs like I¡¯d planned, he thought.
He set the package down on the smaller table and opened it. Inside was a good half-dozen different chunks of crystal, and several of the much smaller bloodgems.
Jason picked up each earthheart fragment and analyzed it separately.
Earthheart Fragment Traits Learned: Crystallize, Earth, Defense, Density, Steel.
Two shards had both Steel and Density, which Jason set aside for now; those seemed potentially very useful, and he didn''t want to waste them on experimenting. There others had a mix of the remaining traits, some with only one trait, others with two.
He selected the fragment that only had a single Earth trait as being the best candidate for a first try.
He set the others aside, then set about crushing the crystal into tiny fragments within a reinforced basic, using a weighted hammer. Once he¡¯d reduced it to tiny shards, and then used his mortar and pestle to grind it into a fine powder.
Next, his refinement skill provided the next step: Mixing the powder with precise, if small, amounts of water, common dirt, and table salt to produce a grainy sludge, then heating in one of the crucibles. This would result in a fine, brownish-colored ash, just enough for two units of Earth.
The whole process took Jason the better part of two hours, largely because the grinding process was labor-intensive, and it took him awhile to get the crucible hot enough. He considered that he might want to invest in some kind of rock-crusher, even if it was only some kind of crank-powered clockwork one. It definitely might save time in the future, so he added it to his mental to-do list for future projects.
Once he had the two units of earth, it was time for the next step: seeing if he could use one unit of Earth to make two more.
This idea was predicated on the existence Jason had heard Pelk mention offhand during the trip: Mana crystals. Apparently, under the right conditions, mana could crystalize around a kind of solid core, which was the primary source of arcane powder beyond disenchanting existing objects.
But Jason also knew that mana came in ¡®flavors¡¯ from Flora¡¯s lessons on the subject of elemental magic, so it stood to reason that there could be different kinds of mana crystals. What better way to get new units of an elemental trait than to manufacture aspected mana crystals with synthesis, and then refine them for additional traits?
Jason¡¯s intuition, or perhaps his skills thinking for him again, told him it should be a relatively simple process. So he prepared a solution that used one unit of Earth and two units of arcane powder. Then he engraved an absorption rune onto one of the many pieces of quartz he¡¯d retrieved from the Wastes, and buried it in a pot of dirt. Then he poured the prepared solution onto the buried crystal.
¡°Alchemical Synthesis, Infuse!¡± he commanded.
His felt his mana drain quite severely, almost half of his already large pool, and the pot took on a pale shimmer that was barely visible. Jason immediately knew hat he¡¯d succeeded in making something, but that it would be roughly an hour until the process was complete.
In the meantime, he set about beginning the refinement of a large number of health, mana, and restore traits. Those went by considerably faster, since some required very little processing, like the insect shell powder, while others were simply easier to grind down than the earthheart had been, and could be set to precipitate out of a solution on their own over time.
After the hour was up, Jason checked on the pot of earth. He first checked the exterior, and seeing the shimmer was no longer present, he brushed aside the top layer of dirt to reveal a long, thin, sliver of opaque yellow crystal.
He pulled it free of the dirt.
¡°Analyze Item.¡±
Elemental Shard (Earth): A simple mana crystal that formed under the aegis of earth-aspected mana. Has a wide range of applications in enchanting.
Jason let out a shout of victory and pumped his fist.
Now if I could only use his process to make other traits out of less complex ones, or vice versa. Imagine making Wind or Lightning from the fulgurite¡¯s Storm trait. Or taking a water trait, boiling it into a gas, and making steam. Or¡
Jasons mind began to careen wildly from application to application, and he soon found himself feverishly scribbling down notes to himself on a sheet of parchment.
Storm becomes Water and Wind¡Wind becomes Air¡Air feeds Fire¡
Somehow along the way, in a flurry of half-formed, barely-understood thoughts as his mind raced faster and faster, scribbling on parchment transitioned to scribbling on the table, which turned into carving a circle which turned into¡.
Jason blinked, and a fog seemed to drop away from his mind. He looked down, and gaped. He was holding the fang of the crystal serpent he¡¯d kept, and he¡¯d apparently carved some sort of ritual circle into the table.
He couldn¡¯t even remember doing it, but he knew what it was for.
Jason¡¯s Earth Shard was sitting in the center of the circle, with one unit of arcane powder piled at each cardinal direction, and one pile of kindling sitting in a stone bowl at each of the diagonals. He pulled a wooden dowel from the pile left over from making his mangonel, and used it to light the piles of kindling.
He placed both hands flat against the two hand-shaped spaces at the ¡®front¡¯ of the circle.
He took a deep breath.
Here goes¡
¡°Basic Transmutation, Infuse.¡±
Chapter 26
¡°Jason, why is the table on fi ¡ª Oh my god! Jason, what the hell!¡±
Jason was lying on the floor, confusedly staring up at the ceiling while someone stood over him, shaking him by the shoulder. He thought it was Lumi, because said person was shining like a beacon, but his mind felt like it was mired in mud and his vision was blurred.
He wasn¡¯t sure how he¡¯d ended up on the floor.
He tried to speak, but was short of breath and his throat was as parched as the Crystal Wastes, so all that came out was a dry, unintelligible croak.
His head swam as¡ yes, it was Lumi¡helped him up into a sitting position after running her hands over him, presumably checking for any visible injuries.
Jason tried to speak again, but couldn''t get more than a single word out.
Once he was upright, Lumi wrapped his fingers around a cup, and helped him lift it to his mouth. He drank.
After a moment he gasped for air, which caused his head to spin more. He realized his head was pounding, and every inch of his body felt weak and fatigued. He could feel Lumi¡¯s [Warmth] skill beating against his cold, clammy skin, ever so slowly restoring him.
¡°Status,¡± he croaked out.
MP 0 / 510
SP 0/100
Ongoing Status Effect: Mana Withdrawal
Even in his brain-addled state, Jason could guess what had happened. He had activated Basic Transmutation at an already low level of mana, and his skill had drained even more, emptying his pool, converting his stamina, and then even his vitality into what was needed to power his skill.
¡°Whoa, take it easy,¡± Lumi admonished, not being able to currently see his screen. ¡°One thing at a time.¡±
¡°Mana,¡± he managed to say after taking another sip. He tried to vaguely wave one hand in the direction of his bag on the table. Belatedly, he shared his screen with Lumi with a mental command.
Lumi immediately understood what he wanted, and retrieved a [Mana Potion] from Jason¡¯s bag. She opened it, took the cup from his hand, and carefully helped him drink the potion.
Jason felt a rush of warmth pass through him as the potion suddenly restored a good five hundred mana. His headache faded to a tolerable level, and though he still felt fatigued and weak, his mind cleared and he didn¡¯t feel like he was on death¡¯s door anymore.
His status still said he was mana fatigued, though.
Jason gave a weak groan of complaint and just laid back onto the floor for a moment to rest.
¡°Ow.¡± he said.
Lumi kneeled down beside him.
¡°Feeling better?¡± she asked him with a bit of a smirk. ¡°Didn¡¯t we talk a few days ago about the whole ¡®don¡¯t be reckless¡¯ thing? What on earth did you do?¡±
¡°I figured out what Basic Transmutation does,¡± he replied after a moment, still trying to catch his breath. ¡°I don¡¯t know why it never occurred to me before¡ but it¡¯s for converting one element into another, using a mix of chemistry and ritual magic.¡±
¡°And¡,¡± he said with a slight cough and a grimace. He had to pause a moment to breath between sentences, though between the potion and Lumi¡¯s [Warmth], he was slowly recovering. ¡°It apparently uses a hell of a lot of mana¡ I was low on it to begin with when I activated it¡. Note to self: drink a least mana potion or two first next time.¡±
Lumi looked at him with concern. ¡°Are you going to be ok? Flora warned us about mana saturation. It can do some bad things to you, and if you passed out, I cant imagine being too low is good for you either. I get light headed when I¡¯m out.¡±
Jason took another long breath. ¡°I uh, yeah. Maybe we should ask her to pay a visit. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to walk there though.¡±
¡°Should I¡?¡±
¡°No, Warmth feels like it¡¯s helping,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe ask Kera? I bet she could send Ceri with a note.¡±
Then Jason coughed lightly again, this time with a bit of a wheeze. ¡°Help me up, please,¡± he asked, extending a hand. ¡°I think I¡¯d better have a lie-down for a bit.¡±
Lumi hauled him to his feet, and threw his arm around her shoulders to given him some support when it turned out he was a bit unsteady on his feet.
It was a little blinding, standing so close to her with [Warmth] activated, but being so close actually made him feel even better, so he didn¡¯t complain.
Jason realized the table was still on fire, with a large red crystal shard sitting in the center of the diagram.
¡°Uh, I suppose we should put out the fire,¡± he said belatedly. ¡°I think its done now. At least it worked.¡±
Lumi extended her free hand and just conjured a small ball of water, which she summarily dropped onto the surface of the table. The water hissed and spat, flashing to steam as it touched the [Fire Shard]. The flames around it were extinguished, leaving behind a sodden mass of kindling and ashes.
¡°Why did you set our table on fire?¡± Lumi asked him as she helped him navigate his was to the stairs.
¡°Sorry. I¡¯ll explain later. At least the table¡¯s made of stone,¡± Jason replied.
¡°Yes, but our house isn¡¯t.¡±
¡°Fair,¡± Jason conceded as they carefully navigated the stairs, ¡°But that¡¯s why I asked for some bags of sand and dirt along with everything else, for smothering fires.¡±
Lumi helped Jason into his room, where he gratefully sank onto his bed with a sigh.
¡°Ugh,¡± he said. ¡°Definitely need to watch my mana levels in the future. I feel like crap.¡±
¡°Serves you right,¡± Lumi said, though her tone was light. ¡°What were you trying to do anyway?¡±
¡°I managed to turn a piece of earthheart into what I think will be two units of fire trait, and maybe mana trait too, though I¡¯ll need to check.¡±
Jason explained how he¡¯d refined the earthheart, mixed some of the resulting Earth trait with arcane powder and created an Earth-aspect mana crystal, then transmuted it.
He began to get a little excited as he explained, since he hadn¡¯t really thought about all the ramifications yet. ¡°It seems like it costs a fair bit of mana, but thanks to refinement, it means I can effectively convert any traits I¡¯ve got into any elemental ones I need as long as I have at least one elemental trait of some kind around.¡±
¡°How do you figure?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°That sounds pretty badass though.¡±
¡°It¡¯s like this¡¡± he explained, ¡°I can take any two alchemy materials, right? Let¡¯s say, the mushrooms and the Iparea. Normally, that would be two units - one Restore and one Fortitude. I refine them down until I have two of each, which allows me to make two antitoxin potions.¡±
¡°I then disenchant the antitoxins for arcane powder. I then take a piece of fulgurite, refine it down into two units of Storm, and mix that with the powder to make a pair of Storm Shards. Then I can convert that into some other element by powering a transmutation circle with my own mana, and get two Wind shards¡ which can then presumably be refined down into four units of Wind trait.¡±
¡°I¡¯m making some assumptions here,¡± Jason said, ¡°to make an example, but the basic principle is that I can essentially take three different alchemy items and turn them into two of something I actually want, as long as that something is an elemental trait. There might be some other stuff I can do this with too¡¡±
Jason trailed off suddenly as a thought occurred to him. he pulled up his notification history, and checked his analysis results from earlier.
Elemental Shard (Earth) Trait Discovered: Earth, Mana
He blew out a sigh of relief.
¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason gave a short laugh and shook his head. ¡°Nothing. In my excitement and whatever my skill did when it sort of set me in autopilot, I totally forgot to actually read whether or now I¡¯d gotten a trait from the Earth Shard. I did.¡±
Lumi rolled her eyes at him.
¡°You¡¯re too reckless. Seriously, be more careful, Jason. Slow down a bit. Its a good thing I came to check on you, or you¡¯d be passed out under a table that was, you know, on fire.¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Jason said a bit sheepishly. ¡°I did get rather carried away. I plead system influence.¡±
Lumi rolled her eyes at him again, and pushed him backwards into the bed with a wry grin. She stood up.
¡°Get some rest, you,¡± she ordered. ¡°I¡¯ll go find Kera and have her send a message to Flora and ask if there¡¯s anything we should watch for.¡±
Jason didn¡¯t protest, and soon found himself drifting off into an exhausted sleep.
Jason awoke a only few hours later, feeling quite a bit better. It was still only early afternoon, if the sun beating down on his face through window was any judge.
He stretched, and noticed a glass flask of some kind of liquid sitting on the side table. It had a note attached to it.
Someone had written ¡°Drink Me¡± on it, with nothing else.
I would bet all the gold I have at the moment that that¡¯s Kera¡¯s handwriting¡seems like something she¡¯d do, Jason thought to himself with a chuckle. Probably a restorative of some kind from Flora. Well... doctors orders, right?
He popped the clasp and drank it down. It tasted a lot like a particularly bitter tea. Not terrible, but not pleasant either.
Placing the empty flask back on the end table, Jason climbed out of bed. He checked his status, saw that his mana fatigue status had vanished, and decided that maybe he¡¯d be fine to get back to work.
He stood still for a few moments, considering whether he wanted to take it easy and read up on enchanting, or whether he should head back up to the lab. Then his stomach growled at him, and he was reminded that he¡¯d missed lunch.
Hmm¡ maybe I could try to make a restoration food? he considered. Better see if Flora left any instructions though.
So Jason left his room and went in search of the girls. He followed the sound of laughter to Kera¡¯s ¡®stable¡¯, where the two girls were apparently giving Echo a much-needed bath.
Lumi was holding both hands in the air above Echo, conjuring balls of water and then splashing them down on top of Echo, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself. Lumi kept having to dance away from the rockhound¡¯s head, and more than once Kera nearly got a face-full of tail-spikes as the beast wriggled happily while Kera tried to scrub at her hide with a rag.
Jason wondered about the water getting everywhere, as they were indoors and the floor was made of stone, but he needn¡¯t have worried. When he asked, Lumi laughed and shook her head.
¡°Nope. Check it out.¡± She pointed to the floor in one corner.
Jason looked, and saw they had laid down some sort of flattened, woven mat, maybe about six feet long and three feet wide, lined with faintly-glowing runes. He thought it vaguely resembled a tatami mat, except that it was made of cloth and leather, rather than straw or rushes. Whenever water touched the mat, it vanished into thin air instead of being absorbed.
¡°What is this¡?¡± he asked, crouching down.
¡°I bought it from Jerrik for fifty gold,¡± Kera said. ¡°It occurred to me, we¡¯re always flinging water around all over, and we don''t have a mop or anything like that, and it isn¡¯t like we¡¯re near the sea to get actual sponges, so¡ I asked Jerrik if he had anything magic to clean up spilled liquid.¡±
¡°It still needs to be emptied out later,¡± Lumi said, ¡°but it¡¯s like a sort of bag of holding for liquids. Anything liquid that touches it gets sucked into the ¡®container¡¯ part, and you can use a command word to empty it out at your convenience when it gets full.¡±
Jason considered the mat for a moment.
¡°Analyze Item.¡±
Mat of Absorption - A soft floor mat capable of absorbing liquids it comes in contact with, storing them in an extra-dimensional space until the command word is given to release them.
Critical Success! Thanks to your extensive knowledge of, and exposure to, the runes used in creating a Mat of Absorption, you have been able to decipher the full sequence!
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An idea formed swiftly in Jason¡¯s head, a way to gain some practice with Enchanting, and possibly, one to gain a level or two for Engineer. He must have had an odd look on his face, because Lumi looked over at Kera with concern.
¡°Uhhh, did we break him?¡±
Kera leaned over towards him and poked him in the side.
¡°I¡¯m still here, you know,¡± he said drily. ¡°Just thinking. I learned how to make more of these, and probably bags of holding at the same time.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Lumi said, pausing in the act of conjuring another ball of water.
Echo nudged her lightly in the stomach.
¡°Ow. Dammit, Echo, your head¡¯s too sharp,¡± she grumbled, pushing the rockhound¡¯s face away with one hand. ¡°It¡¯s like playing with a kitten, all sharp claws and not enough care, except she¡¯s half as large as you are.¡±
Jason chuckled at her. ¡°Better keep going then?¡±
¡°To answer your question, though,¡± he continued, ¡°Yes really. The book Jerrik gave me has instructions on bags of holding to begin with, and I just got a crit and learned how to make this thing, which is similar. And¡¡±
He paused dramatically.
¡°¡How would you girls like it if I installed a hot water shower¡?¡±
It didn¡¯t take Jason long to get what he needed together. He gave orders to an excited Lumi and Kera to find away to convert half the ¡®stables¡¯ room into a walled-off shower stall while he made a short trip out to the marketplace. As he left, the were discussing maybe just commissioning a multi-panel wall divider from a local carpenter like you occasionally saw in movies. It wasn¡¯t like they didn¡¯t already have a door to the room, so he left them to it.
Jason walked down to the market after retrieving the fire shard from his lab. It was warm to the touch, but not uncomfortably so. His first stop was Jerrik¡¯s shop, simply because he didn¡¯t know where to find Pelk¡¯s family¡¯s place.
He pushed open the door to find both Jerrik and Nissette already helping other customers, some of the new adventurers. Or rather, Jason corrected himself, some of the trainees.
He waited his turn politely until Nissette was available to speak with him.
¡°Ah, Jason was it? How can I help you today?¡±
¡°Actually,¡± Jason began, ¡°I had just wanted to ask for some directions, but it occurs to me now that after you modified Kera¡¯s staff for her, maybe I should ask you first¡¡±
He held up the fire shard. ¡°Would you maybe have any advice on how to go about mounting this as part of an enchantment? I¡¯ve not tried incorporating items with special properties into things yet. But I wanted to get this set into a metal sphere or placed in some sort of housing.¡±
She took the shard from Jason, examining it critically. ¡°Hmm, this is a pretty good sized mana crystal. Fire aspect, yes?¡±
Nissette handed he shard back to him. ¡°Unfortunately, I can¡¯t really help you. Setting something like this would fall under jewelcrafting or metalworking, and that¡¯s not something I or my husband specialize in. Though if you came back after it¡¯s been set, I could see about using [Personalize] to get it just right for you.¡±
¡°Could you maybe give me directions to where I can talk to someone who could do it?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Tersk¡¯s family does all sorts of metalwork and glassblowing..?¡±
¡°That they do,¡± Nissette replied. ¡°They¡¯d definitely be the ones to talk to.¡±
After getting detailed directions to Tersk¡¯s forge, on a whim Jason asked about soap. After all, they¡¯d had it available for the baths at the inn. As it turned out, Nissette¡¯s shop had a fair stock of lavender-scented tallow soap; apparently it was cheap to make, and was popular enough with the townsfolk that the town had a dedicated soaper who sold his wares through more than one of the local shopkeepers, Flora included.
Jason bought a few bars at the shockingly cheap price of a handful of copper pieces each, recalling that back on Earth, soap had been heavily taxed as a luxury by monarchs of the medieval period.
He supposed that might be a benefit of living in a region where politics and nations operated in a different fashion thanks to the Voice: Anger your citizenry too much by passing oppressive levels of taxes on comforts, and you¡¯d be liable to have a band of adventurers come knocking on your door to have a stern word with you.
For that matter¡ I wonder if King is a class or what? Jason wondered as he exited Fanciful Finery. I¡¯d think that nations would come and go all the time here, thanks to human ambition mixed with magic turning people into one man nuclear arsenals. I should ask sometime.
Nissette¡¯s directions were easy to follow, and Jason soon found himself in one of the other districts, standing outside a wide, high-roofed stone building with an open front. Several smeltery ovens at the edges gave off an intense heat that caused Jason to break out in a sweat just from standing nearby. The clanging of metal hammers upon anvils could be heard further within the structure.
¡°Can I help you?¡±
A fair-haired dwarven woman dressed in thick, heavy clothes and a leather apron much like the one Tersk had worn approached him with a businesslike manner.
¡°Um, yes, I think so. I¡¯m looking for someone who might be able to craft me a hollow metal sphere and affix a mana crystal to it for enchanting. And if Tersk has some time to see me, I¡¯d like to discuss something with him regarding the earthheart we brought back.¡±
¡°Hm, better come inside then. I¡¯m Bereth by the way.¡± She held out a soot-coated hand to Jason, oblivious to being covered in the stuff.
He shook her hand anyway.
¡°Jason.¡±
Bereth lead the way into the forge building, where Jason nearly covered his ears at all the noise. She took him to a low stone table at the back of the structure, where Tersk was sitting and looking over a set of tools, holding a jeweler¡¯s loupe in one hand as he inspected a piece of glassware for flaws. He place both objects down on the table as they approached.
¡°Ah, you¡¯re the Enchanter lad. Here so soon? I¡¯d¡¯ve thought you be at least a few days before you figured what you could do with those stones.¡±
¡°Ah¡ well actually, you¡¯re at least half-right,¡± Jason said. ¡°This only indirectly about then. I managed to, well, use the special properties of one of the pieces you sent me to make this,¡± he held up the fire shard, ¡°and I was hoping you might be able to set it into something for me so I can try making use of it.¡±
Tersk¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°You managed to make a mana crystal? And an aspected one at that?¡±
¡°Almost got myself killed doing it, too¡± Jason said with a wry grin, ¡°though at least now I know how much mana it takes, I¡¯ll be prepared next time. But yes.¡±
Tersk accepted the shard as Jason passed it to him. The dwarf picked his loupe up with the other hand, and leaned in to examine the shard closely.
¡°Hmm, exceptionally pure, too,¡± Tersk commented as he rotated the shard this way and that. ¡°A result of being crafted, I wonder?¡±
After a moment, Tersk set his loupe back down and scratched at his beard. ¡°Well, I can certainly do what ya need. How long it¡¯ll take depends on how fancy yer lookin for, or how big a piece you want.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t need anything major,¡± Jason replied. ¡°This is just a prototype really. A simple hollow, wrought iron sphere or cube the size of a fist would do the job, with the shard mounted facing downward, and some kind of chain on the top to hang it overhead. It doesn¡¯t need to be pretty, though if it¡¯s fast I wouldn¡¯t say no to something nicer.¡±
¡°Well that¡¯s an odd request, though it¡¯s simple enough to do. You want the shard pointing at the ground?¡± Tersk asked.
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jason answered.
¡°Aright then.¡± Tersk turned to the dwarven woman who was still waiting nearby. ¡°Bereth?¡±
She shrugged. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t be more than thirty minutes. We¡¯ve got several blooms about ready for shaping right now. I could have the whole thing done in an hour.¡±
¡°Any specifics on the mounting itself or the sphere?¡± Bereth asked Jason.
He thought for a moment.
¡°A flat, raised ring around the mounting would make the engraving easier,¡± Jason replied, ¡°and maybe a flat band around the cardinal sides of the sphere would help similarly. I¡¯m still a bit new at this, so a bigger space to work with is better.¡±
¡°Any kind of requirements for the attachment point? Does the rest need to be smooth or polished?¡±
¡°No, I don¡¯t think so,¡± he told her. ¡°Oh, and I¡¯m pretty sure I don¡¯t need the whole shard. Feel free to cut down to size if you need.¡±
Bereth nodded. She took the shard from Tersk, who passed it her, and then walked back out into the forge proper.
Jason turned back to Tersk.
¡°Um¡¡± he hesitated. ¡°There was something else I wanted to ask you about, but it¡¯s¡ a sensitive matter. I¡¯m not sure if your son may have mentioned our¡ disagreement or not?¡±
Tersk glowered a bit, and then sighed.
¡°He did, and I can¡¯t say I¡¯m too happy about it. What do you want to ask about?¡±
Jason hesitated again, picking his words carefully.
¡°Where I¡¯m from,¡± he said slowly, ¡°there¡¯s a¡we¡¯ll call it an adventuring class, an engineer variant, really, that I¡¯m interested in maybe picking up, or at least looking into, that might make use of black powder, and which I suspect just might get me access to a rare, or even unique, class thanks to some of my rather¡ unusual skills.¡±
¡°Like what?¡± Tersk asked him bluntly.
¡°Well¡ like what I used to make that fire shard, and the bombs that Pelk saw me use. I¡¯ve opened up engineer, I¡¯ve got a pretty good basic understanding of clockwork, and how steam engines work, and how to make gunpowder, and¡¡±
¡°You want to know how to become a Machinist.¡± Tersk said.
¡°I don¡¯t know what it would be called,¡± Jason said with a shrug. ¡°But that sounds about right¡ I want to combine that stuff with all of these things I¡¯m learning about crafting with runes thanks to having two very different enchanting classes. I know I can come up with ways to make all this stuff fit together if I can just work out how to unlock a suitable class. But the catch is sort of, well¡. I¡¯d need your cooperation to do it, because I have no way of sourcing the ingredients, like sulphur and coal and steel, to actually use a class like¡ Machinist, was it?¡±
Tersk stroked his beard thoughtfully for a few minutes, deep in thought. Jason merely stood by patiently, letting him think, rather than trying to do his best to be persuasive; if dwarves here were anything like the ones from fiction back home, pushing would just lead to heels being dug in.
The dwarf muttered a few times to himself under his breath, but eventually scowled and spoke again.
¡°You understand, you¡¯re asking quite a bit, here. Ordinarily I¡¯d just say no outright to helping someone with this in any way, but it sounds to me like you¡¯re three quarters of the way already, and what you¡¯re talking about will be¡ expensive.¡±
Jason tried not to grin a little. ¡°I assure you, I do have the money. If not direct coinage, I can absolutely find something you¡¯d be willing to barter.¡±
Jason paused for a moment. ¡°Actually¡ I wonder...? If it isn¡¯t too presumptuous an offer¡ perhaps I could offer a bit of knowledge from my own people in return¡? I¡¯ve noticed that glass is fairly popular here, but it¡¯s all¡relatively cloudy. Blown, or made in a mold mostly from wood ash and sand taken from the Wastes, right?¡±
¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Tersk replied cautiously.
Jason gave him a huge grin ¡°What if I was willing to trade you¡ in exchange for mere raw materials¡ a technique known among my people to make some of the clearest, purest glass you¡¯ve ever seen in your life, and brand new ways to shape it?¡±
¡°Would that, perhaps, be worthwhile offer¡?¡± he asked.
Tersk coughed lightly into his fist as a gleam came into his eye. ¡°Ahem. That might¡ be enough, yes. It¡ wouldn¡¯t be like I was teaching you anything, right? Nobody could fault me for¡ just selling you some odds an ends and maybe doing a little work here and there.¡±
¡°If you¡¯d maybe be so kind as to perhaps show me about your forge¡?¡± Jason asked him. ¡°Oh, and if you could spare some parchment?¡±
Two hours later, Jason strode back into the house with a huge grin plastered over his face It had taken a fair bit of work to periodically distract Tersk so Jason could reference his phone to fill in the gaps in his knowledge, but he¡¯d managed to draw out both plans for building a muscle-powered machine press made purposely for glass molding and rough sketches of the methods common to 19th century glass cutting, plus explained how they could extract zincite from the Wastes (as it was crystalline in nature) and use it to produce a lead-free form of crystal glass that would be perfect for both pressed and cut glass.
Jason wasn¡¯t always able to provide exact specifics in many cases, due to things like not know local means of establishing temperatures or precise measurements, but Tersk assured Jason that his people were good enough to work it out now that they had the general idea. Skills counted for a great deal once you were pointed in the right direction, after all.
In exchange, Tersk had promised Jason access to any unusual ores or minerals he might need, though Tersk warned Jason that much of what he was asking for would need to be specially ordered.
He was fine with that, and was willing to pay the costs involved with shipping via Wayfinder Gate if necessary.
Though he probably needed to start making some enchanted stuff that he could sell. He couldn¡¯t rely on potions forever.
He had plans for that, but first he wanted to finish up the shower head. Bereth had finished his sphere, and he¡¯d also gotten her to make him a tall steel tripod with a hooked end on the top, perfect to use as a ¡®stem¡¯ for the shower head.
¡°Jeez, where did you go, the moon?¡± Kera asked him teasingly as he entered the den. ¡°You¡¯ve been gone for ages.¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Jason said in an unapologetic tone, giving the girls a grin. ¡°Only got caught up cutting a major deal with Tersk for access to all sorts of stuff, like gunpowder.¡±
¡°What? Are we making guns now?¡± Lumi asked, shocked.
¡°Well, maybe,¡± Jason said. ¡°We¡¯ll see what I end up ultimately doing class-wise, but it¡¯s possible. I¡¯m not sure I want to make heavy use of something that will be difficult to make ammunition for, but there¡¯s all sorts of options there. Tersk mentioned some kind of Machinist class that¡¯s like an adventuring engineer type like you sometimes see in videogames. I¡¯m definitely interested to see how that might work alongside artificer and alchemist.¡±
¡°That seems like a dangerous can of worms to open.¡± Lumi said.
Jason shrugged. ¡°Maybe, but I think we¡¯re in need of some serious firepower, so I¡¯ll take whatever I can get at this point.¡±
¡°Anyhow¡¡± Jason held up the metal sphere, which was made of polished steel rather than plain iron, and had the fire shard embedded in it. ¡°Time for some enchanting.¡±
¡°Ooh, I can¡¯t wait!¡± Kera exclaimed. ¡°I call dibs first.¡±
Jason rolled his eyes at her. ¡°This will probably take me long enough that by the time I¡¯m done, it¡¯ll be almost time to go see Aurion.¡±
¡°Boo. Can I watch though?¡±
¡°You could, but I need to actually spend a bit of time reading about the food and drink purification runes first.¡±
¡°Fiiiine,¡± Kera drawled in an exaggerated huff as she sat down on one of the chairs.
Jason made his exit, first retrieving his book on common enchantments. He returned to the lab, sat down, and began to read.
Runes Learned: Preserve, Purify, Food, Drink.
An hour later, he was ready to begin.
First, Jason dumped a whopping nine points into his Engraving skill, raising it to Rank 10. His hope was that doing so would help prevent his previous issues with ruined work due to simple mistakes.
Then, recalling how he¡¯d run out of mana performing the Transmutation, he dumped all of his available stat points into Spirit, raising it to 16. This bought him an additional 100 mana, and it was increasingly seeming like he was going to need it.
Jason began the [Engraving] process by first starting with an overly large wooden bucket, one big enough to hold a few gallon¡¯s worth of water. He painstakingly etched, or perhaps carved was a better word for wood, a rune sequence that would turn the bucket into something like a cistern with a constant water purification enchantment on it: pour fouled water into the bucket, and it would vanish into a much larger space where it could be stored long term and the purification charm would cleanse it over the course of a few hours. All you needed go do was roll up the Mat of Absorption over the bucket, speak the command word, and voila¡ recycled water.
Next up was the ¡®shower head¡¯. This was essentially exactly the same enchantment as the one on the Mat, except with slight changes to the sequences: The absorption and storage sequences were applied to the sphere, and linked to a separated projection and motive rune sequence with the fire shard used as a focus, to give the water a bit of a ¡®spray¡¯ and heat it as it was ejected forcefully from the storage space.
The work was difficult, and Jason¡¯s fingers were cramped and sore by the end. He even had to pause midway through to whip up some basic least potions so he could disenchant them for the arcane powder, because as it turned out, he needed nearly a dozen units to activate the runes. In the end though, he successfully completed the [Engraving] on the first try.
He flexed his fingers and blew out a sigh of relief when the last rune alighted, signifying successful completion.
Jason wasn¡¯t finished just yet, though.
He took the second piece he¡¯d gotten from Bereth, the metal tripod, and engraved yet another modified sequence along it¡¯s length. The absorption runes began at the base of the tripod, on a small spur of metal that didn¡¯t quite extend to the floor, and ran the runes all the way up to the tip of the hook, where he inscribed a modified version of the projection sequence.
Now he was finished.
Jason then hauled the three pieces downstairs, one at a time, taking the into the spare room. He placed the mat down flat in one corner as Kera and Lumi watched on in curiosity. He placed the large bucket to one side of the mat, and the tripod IN the bucket, and finally hung the shower head from the tripod, wrapping it¡¯s chain tightly to the frame.
Then he stood back, and surveyed his work. It was a bit¡ simple looking, being little more than a bucket, a steel pole, and a steel orb, but it would do for a first go.
¡°It looks¡ a bit underwhelming,¡± Kera said.
¡°Sure, but it¡¯s efficient. Lumi, can I get some water in the bucket?¡±
She obliged, conjuring several balls of water for him.
Jason spoke a series of command words. First the runes on the tripod flared as water was drawn up from the bucket and into the sphere, which was followed by a short, fine spray of water. Jason stuck his hand in it, and then pulled it back with a yelp.
¡°Yikes! Definitely hot!¡± he exclaimed as he noticed a notification window pop up in his peripheral vision. ¡°Maybe a little too much for my tastes. I¡¯ll need to work out temperature control for future version.¡±
Jason took a moment to explain the whole system to the two girls.
¡°It¡¯s not 100% automatic,¡± he finished, ¡°so you¡¯ll need to dump the water in the mat back into the bucket for purifying, but otherwise the enchantments all the work for us, and we won¡¯t need to keep asking Lumi to conjure water because it will keep getting cleansed and recycled. Water Waste Awareness Programs, eat your heart out.¡±
Kera abruptly leaned forwards and threw both arms around Jason¡¯s neck, giving him a big hug. ¡°I¡¯m so happy I could kiss you right now,¡± she mumbled into his shoulder. ¡°Thank you.¡±
She stepped away from him with contented sigh, ¡°Plumbing, I have missed you so.¡±
¡°I hate to burst your bubble, but we¡¯re still lacking a toilet,¡± he said drily.
¡°Bah, if you can do this, you can manage that,¡± she responded with grin. ¡°I believe in you!¡±
Jason laughed. ¡°Well, that¡¯s going to have to wait for awhile, I¡¯m afraid. It¡¯s nearly time for our meeting with Aurion, and I just got some level-up notifications, so that means it¡¯s time for me to test the Elixir before we go.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s head back up to the lab. The Elixirs are in my bag.¡±
Chapter 27
Jason and the girls gathered around the stone table he¡¯d used to transmute the earth shard into a fire one. Kera leaned down and scratched at the circle with one fingernail.
¡°Whoa, this thing is complicated,¡± she commented. ¡°Even I cant tell what it does, and I¡¯m the one with all points in ritual magic. How did you manage it?¡±
Jason shrugged. ¡°I couldn¡¯t really say. I had just finished making the earth shard, and got thinking about whether there might be ways to use [Synthesize] to use one type of shard to make other types so I could have whatever elemental traits I need. My skill just sort of¡ took over. I don¡¯t really remember what I was doing; its all a bit hazy.¡±
Lumi frowned. ¡°Took over? What do you mean?¡±
¡°It was like¡I don¡¯t know, like a spurt of mania or something, Jason replied. ¡°I just sort of went on autopilot. I don¡¯t mean like I felt like I was being mind controlled or anything, it was more like¡ I just knew, instinctually, what needed be done and I wanted to do it, so I did.¡±
He frowned. ¡°It does sound a bit concerning when I put it like that, doesn¡¯t it?¡±
¡°More than a bit,¡± Lumi replied.
Jason considered for a moment. Then he gave a short, wry laugh. ¡°Heh. Well, I suppose things like that are exactly why I wanted to try and stay away from the all the mad science discoveries.¡±
¡°Sounds a bit like Tinker Syndrome,¡± Kera commented.
¡°Tinker Syndrome?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°You know¡¡± Jason replied with a thoughtful look on his face, ¡°You might not be too far off there.¡±
He turned to Lumi.
¡°Tinker Syndrome is superhero trope that comes up from time to time, but it applies in fantasy too,¡± he explained. ¡°It appears fairly often in characters with¡ I guess you¡¯d call them builder powers. They go by various names¡ Tinkers, Gadgeteers, Techies¡ all sorts of names. Sometimes the way their power works is that they go into a sort of hyper-tunnel-vision-slash-mania, at the end of which they discover they¡¯ve invented something nobody understands, often even themselves, but it works and does something incredible.¡±
Lumi hmm¡¯d to herself a moment in consideration. ¡°I¡¯ve never thought about it that way before, but that sort of thing happens all the time in fantasy, doesn¡¯t it? Someone picks up a creepy old schematic covered in runes, starts reading, goes into a trance, and suddenly they find they¡¯ve spent the last two days unconsciously building some kind of eldritch artifact of unknown purpose.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ not exactly what I was getting at,¡± Jason replied, ¡°but essentially, yes. I¡¯ve actually had this... impulse more than once now. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s just a side-effect of having a lot of skills that require me to do certain things in certain orders. I felt it when I made the Elixirs of Rebirth, actually. I just knew partway through the process that extra stuff was needed if I wanted it to work, so I just did it.¡±
Kera nodded in agreement. ¡°My first ritual for enlarging Echo was the same. Once I actually had the components, all I needed to do was just sort of¡ prompt my brain as to what I wanted and start drawing the circle, and my skill just took over. I don¡¯t actually know any runes, but I can sort of glimpse what ones I need, so I was able to ask Jason.¡±
She poked at the circle on the tabletop again. ¡°How did you even manage to do this, anyway? It¡¯s carved into the stone.¡±
Jason scanned about on the floor, looking for wherever the serpent fang had ended up. He spotted it under a nearby chair, and stooped to pick it up.
¡°I used this, actually,¡± he said, holding up the razor-sharp crystal fang. ¡°It¡¯s practically as hard as diamond, and well, made for piercing. If you remember, Aria kept several for her and Belman. I think they wanted to make harvesting knives out of them. I took this one for the same reason.¡±
¡°Oooh, yeah,¡± Kera said, nodding. ¡°That would definitely do the trick. My monster lore book mentioned that those fangs can pierce just about anything, even steel plates.¡±
¡°So¡ how are we doing this?¡± Lumi asked as a lull in the conversation descended. ¡°The respec, I mean. Also, what if¡ I dunno, you fall asleep for a day while it works?¡±
Jason scratched his head. ¡°Uh¡ I guess I hadn¡¯t thought about it. We¡¯d have to reschedule the meeting, I guess. Maybe we just wing it?¡±
¡°What did I say about recklessness?¡± Lumi asked with a raised eyebrow.
Kera snickered at him.
¡°Well I don¡¯t know!¡± Jason protested. ¡°It¡¯s not like it comes with instructions, and I can¡¯t very well just go about asking people about it. That¡¯s kind of the point of experimenting on myself here. It¡¯s kind of how the class works.¡±
Lumi sighed, while Kera giggled and patted Jason on the shoulder.
¡°Lighten up Lumi, you know he¡¯s right,¡± the other girl said. ¡°If we have to reschedule, we have to reschedule. We¡¯re here in case anything goes wrong, anyway.¡±
¡°Fine, fine,¡± Lumi grumbled. ¡°Do we at least have some healing potions around? Or mana for that matter?¡±
Jason paused. ¡°Uh¡ no. I suppose that¡¯s a good idea. I had been planning on refining before I replenished our stock, but¡ yeah let¡¯s make some now. Actually.. that does remind me of a sort of side experiment. Why don¡¯t you two help me, and let¡¯s see if you earn anything?¡±
Jason conjured three sets of mortar and pestles, and they got to work grinding up ingredients for both mana and health potions. On a whim, Jason decided to combine them for the first potion, taking advantage of the fact that he could now use four different traits in a single batch. He combined two units of restore with both mana and health, then, when his skill prompted him with the information that he could do so, diluted the mixture into two weaker potions to see what he¡¯d get.
¡°Analyze Item,¡± he commanded, examining the vial of faintly glowing, dark purple fluid that resulted.
Rejuvenation Potion, Least: Provides a weak level of health and mana regeneration that lasts five minutes.
¡°Not bad,¡± Kera commented after Jason shared the results. ¡°I could definitely use something like that.¡±
¡°This should do for now,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s make a few more with the remaining ingredients we¡¯ve processed, and I¡¯ll see about making the stronger ones later.¡±
Jason brewed an additional four potions, drinking one of them while he worked so that his mana would be topped up still after the work was finished. He wanted to go into the respec while his reserves were full, just in case.
Once they were done, he he took a quick look at his levelup notification he¡¯d gotten earlier from constructing the shower, sharing it with the girls:
Level Gained: Engineer Level 2. Skill Point acquired. Stat Point acquired.
Level Gained: Engineer Level 3. Skill Point acquired. Class Point acquired. You have acquired a new Class Skill, [Dismantle].
Alternate Skill Available: Learn [Arcane Deconstruction] in place of Dismantle? Y/N
New Synergy Skill Available: Would you like to purchase the skill [Arcane Reconstruction] for three skill points?
¡°Yes and Yes,¡± Jason said immediately.
¡°What, you¡¯re not even going to look first?¡± Kera asked with amusement.
¡°Don¡¯t need to in this case,¡± Jason said with a grin. ¡°I¡¯d bet money I know what they do, and besides¡ it¡¯s magic-engineering related skills, which is exactly what I¡¯ve been looking for. Watch this.¡±
Jason fetched the miniature mangonel he¡¯s put together, placed it on the table, and fiddled with his UI a moment to personalize the skill.
He then held out a palm towards the mangonel. ¡°Deconstruction,¡± he commanded.
With a swirling of light, the mangonel lifted up into the air and began to spin slowly. The nails he¡¯d hammered in popped free, the twine unwound from the axles, and the whole model was pulled apartinto it¡¯s component pieces, which fell to the table in neat, organized piles.
Jason reached out and snapped a few of the dowels into pieces. Picking up the serpent fang, he used it to slice one of the lengths of twine in half.
He held his palm out again.
¡°Reconstruction.¡±
In a similar flurry of motion, the mangonel re-formed, but this time the broken pieces shifted, melted, and flowed back together first, as if he had also activated [Mending] at the same time. In a way, he had.
Lumi whistled softly.
¡°Ok, that¡¯s pretty cool to watch, I gotta admit, but how¡¯s something like that help us?¡±
Jason gave her a grin. ¡°Imagine me applying something like this to say¡. a bag full of clockwork turret parts and potion-bomb infused ammo, while we¡¯re in the middle of a fight.¡±
Lumi¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You mean¡?¡±
Kera grinned hugely at Jason as he nodded.
¡°Yep. That¡¯s been my plan all along,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to open up some kind of adventuring Arcane Engineer-type class, because it will go fantastically in combination with Alchemist and Artificer. Tersk filled me in about what I was missing. There¡¯s one or two things I still need to do before the right Artificer specialization will pop up, but once it does, I can actually evolve Engineer into a rare class, and Tersk confirmed there are such things as magic-based Machinists, even if they¡¯re only ever seen among dwarves, and rarely at that thanks to the requirements.¡±
¡°That¡¯s just¡ wow,¡± Lumi said, stunned. ¡°I mean, I know we talked about it before, but I was mostly just kidding around.¡±
¡°It¡¯s badass, is what it is,¡± Kera declared with a grin. ¡°We¡¯ll be a three-person army. Me and my summons as the shock troops, you with your contraptions as the back-line artillery, and Lumi as our battlefield commander and mobile defense!¡±
Jason grinned back at her. ¡°Exactly.¡±
¡°And on that note¡. time to respec!¡± he declared.
Having cleared away the potion-making supplies from earlier, the three friends stood around a single [Elixir of Rebirth] now sitting in the center of the tabletop.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Jason took a deep breath, and picked up the flask of dark, swirling, starry liquid.
¡°Welp, here goes.¡±
He popped the clasp, lifted it to his mouth, and downed it quickly.
¡°Tastes a bit like¡champagne?¡± he commented as he waited for the effect to kick in. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have called that.¡±
¡°Well it does sparkle,¡± Kera grinned. ¡°I wonder if¡ª¡±
She cut off suddenly, and Jason looked down as a deep, a black mist appeared from nowhere and began to swirl up from the floor, curling around him.
¡°Uhh, is that normal?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°It looks kinda creepy.¡±
¡°You¡¯re telling me,¡± Jason said, a slight amount of alarm creeping into his voice. ¡°I feel OK, though.¡±
The mist grew thicker and thicker, and began to obscure Jason¡¯s sight of the others at is wrapped around him. It was cold, and clung to his skin.
¡°Now there¡¯s an epitaph.¡± Kera quipped. She was leaning back away from Jason, but didn¡¯t appear to be too concerned. ¡°Why would you say something like that when downing a strange potion?¡±
Faster and faster, the black mist swirled around Jason until he could no longer see, and the voices of his companions faded away. He found himself floating weightlessly in an endless void of grey and black mists, suspended in nothingness.
Jason tried to call out, but discovered he had no body with which to do so, and for a moment panic set in.
Then reason prevailed, and he forced himself to relax: if he was able to feel fear, he was probably fine. Panic was a biological response; one could not experience an adrenaline surge if one were dead.
So he waited. Sure enough, he was soon presented with a system message.
Initializing Creation Interface. Loading Personal Saved Data. Please wait.
He wasn¡¯t sure how much time passed, but it didn¡¯t feel terribly long before he heard a faint chime, and his perspective shifted. Suddenly, he was looking at himself, eyes open and body standing suspended, with an array of status screens floating besides his body.
The interface was slightly different here, though. Various mathematic symbols indicated the ability for Jason to add or subtract elements, on what looked like just about everything. Skills, unlocked Classes, his core ability stats¡ even his species and gender; it looked like he could change anything he liked.
Alright¡ stage one. Lets see if I changes are made automatically or if there¡¯s some kind confirmation¡
Jason selected [Improvised Weapon Crafting] and mentally tapped at the minus symbol.
He blew a sigh of relief as it responded. The skill disappeared from his list of known skills, his count of available skill points ticked up one point, to a total of eight, and an overly large [Confirm Changes] ¡®button¡¯ appeared at the top of¡ well, he supposed he¡¯d just think of it as the character creation screen. Next to it appeared a second command, [Revert All].
Good.
He added [Improvised Weapon Crafting] back in via the skill purchase menu, and saw the confirmation box vanish again.
Huh. Interesting. So I have to change something before I can leave, and it does remember my default states. Good to know.
He went ahead and removed it again. That, at least, was a skill he no longer needed.
Out of curiosity, Jason looked to see if he could remove a class skill, and discovered he couldn¡¯t. Hecould however, remove an earned skill, such as [Basic Tailoring], and the system remembered that he¡¯d earned it, allowing him to re-purchase it at the discount.
You know¡ Jason mused. You could probably get a few refunded points out of skills you outright purchased by writing down some things that might earn it for you, refunding it and confirming, then earning and repurchasing your ranks.
That wasn''t an issue Jason had though, so he filed the thought away and continued.
Next, a quick check determined that he could, in fact, remove Outworlder if he wanted, or change his species entirely, which apparently cost those mysterious ¡®Character Points¡¯ they hadn¡¯t yet seen, but were listed in the point expenditure section. Different species cost different amounts of points, and you could even use them make something new, which Jason found quite strange. Character Points turned out to be tied to traits as well - Heroic Potential had a cost listed beside it.
Kera is gonna go nuts with this, I just know it, he mused. But I¡¯ll leave playing with that to her. I¡¯d rather not risk locking myself out of ever going home by removing Outworlder, and Heroic Potential has been useful.
Jason brushed away that line of thinking, and moved on.
Enough of that¡ the big question here is, what exactly happens when I remove a class?
Jason navigated to the class screen, and tried removing [Golemist] first. This way, if there was any unforeseen issues, he wasn¡¯t losing anything that mattered greatly to him.
As soon as he selected [Golemist], he saw [Animate Object] disappear from his skill list. His maximum mana dropped by ten as well, and he lost an available skill point.
He re-unlocked the class, and everything returned to their previous values.
Well thats a good sign, Jason thought.
Next, he assigned two skill points to [Animate Object]. Strangely, he saw that he wasn¡¯t refunded the extra spent skill point when he removed the class a second time, but rather that when Jason added [Golemist] back again, [Animate Object] was still at rank three.
Well thats odd, he thought. It remembers what I¡¯ve spent on locked classes but takes away what I¡¯ve earned from leveling the class? I suppose that would be rather broken, otherwise.
Jason paused. I wonder what happens with synergy skills, then? he wondered. Mending was part of the Reconstruction synergy, right?
He tried removing the skill, and found he couldn¡¯t. So he navigated to [Arcane Deconstruction]¡¯s entry instead, and discovered that he could remove the synergy effect if he wanted.
So Jason did so, first confirming that yes he could re-select it afterwards. Then he removed [Arcane Reconstruction] as well, and only then did [Mending] become removable.
Jason was disappointed that he couldn¡¯t get around synergy requirements by retraining the prerequisites, but maybe he could simply play around with purchasing skills to see if he could open up new ones: While he hadno way of knowing what class skills he might get out of a given class, he could perhaps try and find more combinations with existing ones, assuming the system offered them while in character creation, and it wasn¡¯t tied to something other than simply possessing the right skills.
So Jason de-ranked [Animate Object] again, and at the same time removed all the points he¡¯d spent on [Engrave] and [Analyze] skills. This left him with a whopping 22 skill points to mess around with.
Since he already had 3 analyze skills, plus synergistic effects in both Item and Spell, he decided to start with that.
He opened up the list of purchasable skills, and began cherry-picking skills that had to do with examination of various targets: Appraise, Analyze Beast, Analyze Monster, Read Magic, Arcane Sight, and other similar skills.
Each one cost him three or more points, with by far the most expensive being [Analyze Weakness], which seemed to be some kind of ultra-wide skill that worked on most things, even buildings, but didn¡¯t give you back any information about offensive or defensive capabilities.
Jason ended up adding and subtracting various skills in different combinations, as he could only afford to purchase four or five at a time, and checking his skill list filter for ¡®newest¡¯ periodically.
When Jason combined his two existing skills, [Analyze Spell] and [Analyze Item], along with [Analyze Ritual] and a skill called [Sense Aspect], he got what he was looking for: [Arcane Sight].
Arcane Sight: You have extensively studied the ebb and flow of mana and gained a deeper understanding of how its various shapes and aspect influence the world around you. By properly focusing your will and spending some of your own mana, you can view this process directly, allowing you to directly perceive magical effects of all kinds and gain insight into their function and creation.
Jason danced an internal, mental jig.
Now that¡¯s what I¡¯ve been hoping to see, Jason thought with glee. This is huge. A way to explore new options without needing to consult people.
It was too bad he didn¡¯t have the time simply sit here and spend hours playing around with options, he reflected. Lumi and Kera might be getting a bit concerned by now, so Jason moved onto his next test: seeing if he could change specialties.
He could, and in fact he had a new one available for [Alchemist] when he looked: [Promethean Disciple], which apparently was some kind of specific focus on Frankenstein¡¯s Monster -like creations through the combined use of [Golemist] and [Alchemist].
Not something he wanted to get into. Besides, he knew he could remove his cooking evolution now if he changed his mind. He¡¯d check again later, alongside specialties for [Artificer], once he¡¯d actually evolved [Engineer] to [Machinist], and that required an achievement he didn¡¯t yet have, so he couldn¡¯t do it here.
Jason had two other things to check before he was done, and both of them were fairly simple. The first was to see what happened when he removed a class he had levels in, so he removed [Engineer] entirely, and then didn¡¯t replace it. Since he couldn¡¯t be sure that the respec wouldn¡¯t have additional effects after confirmation, Jason would re-unlock it with class points afterward.
The last thing Jason checked was XP penalty on removed classes, which required him to first remove several other things before he could actually remove [Artificer] to check. But sure enough, his XP penalty dropped to 2% once he did so.
Jason grinned madly to himself.
You could use this to avoid multi-class soft cap! he thought. Just level a class to 150, remove it, switch classes, level another one, and then re-equip them all later for a total greater than 500!
Now that might get the Archive off my back, he considered. A dozen respecs with specific instructions to help them train up somone to fight the good fight against whatever the next world-shaking monstrosity they end up facing just might be enough to prove our good will¡.
He filed the thought away for later.
Anyway¡ time to finish this.
Jason spent all of his various points, replacing the one¡¯s he¡¯d removed from Engrave, and shifting a few ranks around so he could focus on [Arcane Sight] rather than spreading his ranks around various analysis skills. Then Jason reviewed his current status, sans [Engineer], which he¡¯d re-unlock immediately afterwards.
He double-checked everything, and then mentally selected [Confirm Changes].
Warning: All changes made are permanent. Reverting or making new changes will require the consumption of a new Elixir.
Confirm Changes and Return? Y/N?
Jason let out another relieved, mental sigh. At least he knew for sure, now.
¡°Yes,¡± he thought.
The black mist enveloped him once again, and then fell away, revealing him standing exactly where he¡¯d been. Lumi and Kera hadn¡¯t moved, either.
¡°Well, that was enlightening.¡± Jason said. ¡°Sorry I took so long, there was a lot to look at.
Lumi looked confused. ¡°Huh?¡±
Kera cocked her head at him.
¡°It¡¯s only been a few seconds,¡± she said. ¡°That black mist just wrapped you up in a cocoon and then just¡ vanished, after about five seconds.¡±
¡°Was it different on your end?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°Uhhh, yeah.¡± Jason said. ¡°I didn¡¯t really have anything to use as a reference, but it felt like.. maybe half an hour?¡±
He ran a hand through hair in frustration. ¡°Dammit, if I¡¯d known time didn¡¯t matter there I would have spent more. I didn¡¯t want you to worry, and I took quite a while trying to work out if I could unlock synergy skills in that state.¡±
¡°Which you can, incidentally,¡± he added after a moment. ¡°Here, check out my status now.¡±
Jason re-unlocked Engineer, confirmed that he was still level 3 in it, and then shared his full status with the girls:
Spoilered Because Not Everyone Cares About Char Sheets: Spoiler
Basic Statistics:
Achiements: A Modern Prometheus, Bottled Flames, True Alchemy
Perks: Heroic Potential
He gave a brief summary of what he¡¯d examined, and of the conclusions he¡¯d come to.
¡°So¡ I guess you¡¯re on, Kera,¡± Jason finished with a grin. ¡°Looks like you can always change back later, provided we can get more cores.¡±
¡°Yessssss!¡± she crowed happily
¡°Just keep in mind we have a limited supply,¡± he said. ¡°I plan on giving two to the Aurion if he gets us in, one for him and I guess probably one for whoever the main guild head is. With the four more I can make, that leaves us with only four left after your demo, and I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll be allowed to keep the third core if we take down this latest dungeon.¡±
¡°Eh, we could probably buy some if it came to it,¡± Lumi shrugged. ¡°Important thing is, we can totally use them to find more synergies.¡±
Jason nodded.
¡°Well, experiment successful then, yeah?¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s grab something quick to eat, and then head down to the Lodge.¡±
Chapter 28
Upon their arrival at the Adventurer¡¯s Lodge, Therissa led Jason and the others to one of the upstairs private rooms. She stopped outside the door and pressed her hand to a small panel next to he door, which was inscribed with a small rune sequence.
The elfess muttered a command under her breath, and the circle lit up.
¡°There,¡± Therissa said. ¡°Aurion¡¯s already inside, and I¡¯ve activated the wards against eavesdropping, so you¡¯re free to discuss whatever you need without worrying about someone listening in. I¡¯ll leave you to it. Just activate that runestone I gave you when you want me to come and do my part.¡±
¡°Thanks, Therissa. You¡¯ve been a huge help,¡± Jason said sincerely. ¡°Just uh¡ be prepared for a bit of a shock when it comes time for our, uh, demonstration. It¡¯s definitely gonna raise some questions.¡±
Therissa raised an eyebrow at Jason. ¡°Nothing dangerous, I hope. I do live here, you know.¡±
¡°No, nothing like that,¡± Jason replied. ¡°But I¡¯ll be demonstrating that legendary potion I made.¡±
Therissa shook her head ruefully. ¡°I hope you know what you¡¯re getting yourself into, then. It¡¯s a big risk to take.¡±
¡°I hope so too,¡± Jason sighed. ¡°But this is the best option for us, I think.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll leave you it then.¡± Therissa turned and headed back down the stairs.
Jason turned to the girls. ¡°Well¡ here goes. Moment of truth I guess. You ready, Kera?¡±
¡°Yep,¡± Kera replied. She looked more excited than worried.
Jason pushed open then door and entered the room.
A long, rectangular conference table dominated the center of the room. On the far side stood a middle-aged man, perhaps in his late thirties, with a short-cropped, neat brown hair. He was dressed neatly in dark slacks of rough cloth and wore a double-breasted, black leather vest with reddish-brown lining and a white tunic underneath. He also wore knee-high, sturdy leather boots, colored similarly to the vest, and had a kind of tool-pouch strapped to his side, in which Jason could see the man had holstered an assortment of wands.
The man, whom Jason could only assume was Aurion, placed the sheaf of parchment he was examining onto the table and turned as Jason and the girls entered the room.
¡°Ah, right on time, I see,¡± Aurion commented. ¡°Good.¡±
He gestured to the table. ¡°Please, have a seat.¡±
So he values punctuality, Jason thought. Good thing I decided to approach this a bit like a job interview.
Jason took a seat across from Aurion, and Lumi and Kera did the same.
¡°Jason, right..?¡± Aurion inquired. ¡°And¡¡±
He glanced down at the parchment in front of him. ¡°Lumiriel and Kerali?¡± He looked at each of the girls in turn.
Done his homework, too, it seems, Jason thought with amusement, though he kept his face carefully neutral. Definitely a job interview.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s correct,¡± Jason replied.
¡°Therissa tells me you wish to request sanctuary with the Black Thorns,¡± Aurion began, ¡°and wish us to shield you from the Darklight Archive. I must say, that¡¯s a rather unusual request. While I¡¯ll admit that our relationship with the Archivists could be described as chilly at best, that¡¯s mostly just politics. Their goals aren¡¯t so different from our own, just much broader in scope.¡±
¡°So you understand when I¡¯m a bit¡ concerned,¡± he emphasized, ¡°by the implication that the Archive is after you. Usually, there¡¯s a good reason for that. Either its because they¡¯ve committed some crime against them, or you¡¯re mixed up in something you really shouldn¡¯t be. While the Archivist¡¯s methods are often overzealous and aren¡¯t always... strictly ethical, let¡¯s say, they do what they do for good reason.¡±
¡°I understand your concern,¡± Jason said with a slight, deferential nod of his head. ¡°I assure you, we aren¡¯t personally involved this situation, at least not in terms of being.. perpetrators, so to speak. We are merely victims of circumstance, and those circumstances just so happen to paint a massive target on our backs, thanks to having several rare and unusual classes that would draw the Archive¡¯s eye to begin with. I will admit that we have decided to approach your guild precisely because you are no strangers to conflict with the Archive, but I¡¯d like to make something clear: This isn¡¯t just us begging for protection.¡±
¡°Rather,¡± Jason continued, ¡°We want to join up. My friends and I aren¡¯t the kind to sit around and twiddle our thumbs while we¡¯re being pursued, and thanks to the Black Thorn¡¯s general area of expertise, I believe we have more than a few things to offer your Guild that will make it more than worth your while to bring us on, and shoulder the, shall we say, political burden of doing so.¡±
Aurion gave Jason a considering look.
¡°You are aware, then, of what exactly you¡¯re asking of us?¡±
¡°I believe so,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Therissa filled us in some, and I can guess the rest. You ¡®raise¡¯ dungeons kind of like livestock, but with utmost caution thanks to mistakes like the Crystal Wastes, which no doubt has the Archivists breathing down your necks all the time, I¡¯d hazard to guess. I¡¯m not going to beat around the bush: Once it gets out what my class really does, they¡¯re going to want to know very badly how to recreate it, and to be frank I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll take an ¡®I don¡¯t know¡¯ as a valid answer. They will put pressure on you to turn at least me over, if not my friends, so I want to make it clear up front: I¡¯m here to make you an offer I don¡¯t think you¡¯d refuse in a million years.¡±
Aurion leaned back in his seat and rubbed his stubble-lined chin thoughtfully.
¡°Well, I can see why Therissa recommended I at least hear you out instead of sending you off to the Wayfinders, as bodyguard work is more their thing. Why don¡¯t you explain what your actual problem is, and then I¡¯ll hear your offer.¡±
Jason nodded, and then launched into a brief summary of the situation. He didn¡¯t go into detail about his or the girls¡¯ classes, as he wasn¡¯t sure if they were unique or just rare, but he explained how all three of then had been summoned from another realm by an unknown force, how they¡¯d acquired classes with unusual, powerful abilities, and how they¡¯d come to realize that someone had set some sort of bounty hunter after each of them.
He emphasized that they weren¡¯t involved in any kind of plots that they were aware of, but held a grave concern that the Archive would look poorly on the combination of rare classes, otherworldly knowledge, and their means of arrival as an excuse to ¡®quarantine¡¯ them and try to mine them for information ¡ª A situation which obviously didn¡¯t sit well with the three.
Aurion gave a rueful laugh at that.
¡°You aren¡¯t wrong there,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s been known to happen. Have you met Velan yet? Short kid, blue scales on his arms and neck?¡± He held a palm out over the ground, about five feet up.
¡°Ah, yes, we have,¡± Jason replied. ¡°He was there to take our horses in hand when we returned to the wastes.¡±
¡°Well, Velan¡¯s human,¡± Aurion said. ¡°His scales are a mutation brought on by living in a dungeon for a significant amount of time, not unlike how the Wastes will twist things living it. His father was caught red-handed sacrificing people in the creation of new cores as some kind of magical experiment taken too far. His condition used to be much worse, and the Archive tried to get us to hand him over, on the assumption that he was a potential threat, that his affliction made him more likely to follow in his father¡¯s footsteps. I don¡¯t know how he convinced them otherwise, but they wanted to do exactly what you¡¯re describing.¡±
¡°They didn¡¯t try too hard in his case, though,¡± Aurion added.
¡°You know¡,¡± Jason said thoughtfully, ¡°I might be able to cure him, if that¡¯s a thing he wants.¡±
Aurion shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s been tried. The mutation runs deep enough it affected his racial status. He¡¯s got the augmented tag, which mean¡¯s it¡¯s not just a status effect anymore. Its a bit like being mana-touched; once it reaches that level of infection, there¡¯s no going back.¡±
Jason gave Aurion a knowing grin. ¡°Don¡¯t be so sure. You haven¡¯t seen what my offer, yet.¡±
Aurion leaned back in his chair again, giving Jason a long look. Then he sat forward again.
¡°Alright, color me intrigued. You seem awfully confident I¡¯ll accept, and I can¡¯t think of anything that could possibly work on Velan after all we tried. What¡¯s this offer of yours.¡±
Lumi dug through Jason¡¯s bag, which she had sitting in her lap, and passed Jason a healing potion.
Jason pushed it across the table to Aurion, who pulled out one of his wands and gave the potion a tap.
¡°Identify,¡± he commanded.
¡°A fairly standard eternal potion?¡± he asked Jason after a moment. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I see¡?¡±
Jason held up a hand to interrupt. ¡°Wait.¡±
¡°Artifice,¡± he commanded, materializing a shallow bowl.
Lumi passed Jason four vials, each one containing a bit of processed plant matter in water: the ingredients for a greater healing potion: two Restore and two Health. Jason hadn¡¯t had the time to refine them into powder, but it had only been a few minute¡¯s work to prep the ingredients normally.
He poured the vials into the bowl, to which Lumi added a measure of conjured water.
¡°Brew Potion,¡± Jason commanded clearly, and Aurion¡¯s eyebrows rose as the mixture swirled with mana and turned a bright red. Jason quickly poured it into one of the now-empty vials, stoppered it, and handed it to Aurion.
Aurion didn¡¯t even bother to identify it. Instead, he pulled a dagger off his belt, wrapped his hand in a piece of cloth, and slashed open his palm. Then he quickly downed the vial.
The telltale glow of a healing potion enveloped him, and he flexed his hand as it healed in a matter of seconds.
Aurion regarded Jason carefully for a few moment after putting away his dagger and handkerchief.
¡°Well. This is¡ I can see why you¡¯re so confident, if you¡¯ve rediscovered the secret to crafting eternal potions. I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯d tell me what wasis in those vials?¡±
Jason shrugged. ¡°I could, but it wouldn''t do you any good. We¡¯ve tried seeing if Lumi or Kera could earn the skill by helping with the creation, and it doesn¡¯t work. It seems to be a class-specific skill, and no, I couldn¡¯t explain how I unlocked the class. Not unless words like ¡®piezoelectric¡¯ or ¡®debutanizer distillation¡¯ mean anything to you. Which would highly surprise me, no offense intended.¡±
¡°No, I¡¯m afraid they don¡¯t,¡± Aurion admitted.
¡°What I will say is that the materials for my potions are generally easy to come by,¡± Jason declared. ¡°Plants, animals, monsters.. they¡¯re all sources of potion ingredients for me. You are aware of the expedition we made to the Crystal Wastes?¡±
¡°I am.¡±
¡°Well, that¡¯s in large part what it was for,¡± Jason said. ¡°I was looking for a wide assortment of things I might be able to use to craft potions with to aid in the town¡¯s defense. I¡¯m not just limited to healing potions, either. I can produce a wide array of different potions, and can even imbue offensive ones into objects. Adding to that, I¡¯ve got access to the Artificer class, and I¡¯ll be unlocking the technological equivalent the dwarves are known for, Machinist, within a matter of days.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
¡°Really¡? I¡¯m curious to know how you pried the secret out of them.¡± Aurion said.
Jason shrugged. ¡°Nothing ¡®pried¡¯ about it, really. I¡¯ve got the basic background skills to begin with, and a good understanding of¡ dwarven technology, we¡¯ll say, from back home where such things are common. Since I was three quarters of the way there already, it wasn¡¯t too hard to broker a deal, knowledge for knowledge, with Tersk to get the rest.¡±
¡°And no,¡± Jason added, ¡°That knowledge is not on the table. I¡¯ll respect my contract with Tersk on that matter.¡±
¡°Wise,¡± Aurion commented. ¡°Making an enemy of one of the main dwarf clans on top of the Archive would be¡ less than a good idea.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve got a few other things I¡¯ve got to offer as well,¡± Jason said. ¡°The first goes hand-in-hand with the potions, really.¡±
He reached over and picked up the first healing vial, which was still sitting in front of Aurion.
¡°Disenchant.¡±
The contents flashed into arcane powder.
¡°As you can see¡ with the ability to manufacture potions through only an expenditure of my own mana, I can offer a supply of arcane powder alongside my potions.¡±
¡°A useful skill indeed, for an Artificer,¡± Aurion said.
¡°Last of all,¡± Jason said, ¡°I have something which¡ I would not be surprised to learn is the sort of thing people would kill over, if the eternal potions weren¡¯t already enough. Kera?¡±
Kera stood up, and withdrew the three remaining [Elixirs of Rebirth] from a pocket in her robes. She kept one, and passed the other two to Jason, and then stood to one side, waiting.
Jason passed the two large flasks to Aurion, who proceeded to identify one. While he did, Jason activated the token to summon Therissa.
Aurion¡¯s eye¡¯s grew wide, and he stared off to one side at a screen that Jason couldn¡¯t see, but knew well the contents of.
¡°T-This is¡?¡±
He took a deep breath, and calmed itself. ¡°It¡¯s¡ impossible, is what it is. If I hadn¡¯t just watched you do something that hasn¡¯t been done in only the gods know how long, I wouldn¡¯t believe even my own eyes. And you made these!?¡±
¡°Jason nodded. ¡°I did. And I assure you, they work. In fact¡.¡±
Therissa entered the room, carrying the AVL reader, which she placed on the table, looking at Jason expectantly.
Perfect timing, Jason thought.
¡°In fact,¡± he continued after a pause, ¡°Kera has given Therissa full permission to show you her full status screen, with all hidden information revealed, and wishes to give you a live demonstration, so that you know we are absolutely serious about our talents and desire to sign on with the Guild. Therissa?¡±
Therissa turned to Kera. ¡°Just to confirm, do you consent to my accessing your full Adventurer¡¯s License status, including potentially sensitive hidden information, and consent to allowing me to share this information with Aurion?¡±
¡°I do,¡± Kera said with a firm nod.
¡°Very well, please insert your license into the reader,¡± Therissa said.
Kera pulled her card from a pocket and pushed it into the slot on the side of the half-sphere. Therissa activated the device¡¯s display feature, alongside several additional runes, and Kera¡¯s full status screen appeared.
¡°As you can see,¡± Kera said, ¡°I¡¯m currently single-classed, and my race designation is Human Outworlder. Today, I will be changing both of those. First, I will be unlocking two classes for demonstration purposes, [Druid] and [Shaman].¡±
She turned to Therissa. ¡°Will the card read live changes?¡±
Therissa nodded. ¡°It will.¡±
¡°Status,¡± Kera commanded, and then made several motions as she selected the new classes, [Shaman] appeared in her secondary slot, with [Druid] as a sub-class for [Beast-Bonded]. Twonew skills appeared on her sheet: Wild Empathy and Woodland Stride, and Basic Spellcasting went up a rank. New spells appeared on her spell list as well; Jolt and Flame Shock. For good measure, she then spent her now four free skill points on ranking up Basic Spellcasting.
Kera then gave Aurion a minute to examine her status in detail before gesturing for Therissa to remove her AVL card from the reader.
¡°I don¡¯t want to risk breaking your device,¡± Kera said to Therissa, ¡°so it might be best to not have it running while I do this. We know there¡¯s some kind of time dilation effect involved. From you guys¡¯ perspectives only a few moments will pass, but for me, I can take as long as I want to make decisions, and I plan to.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Therissa said, confused, but she deactivated the card reader. Jason hadn¡¯t told her specifically what was going happen.
Aurion leaned forwards and held up some sort of monocle-looking thing as Kera downed her elixir. Jason guessed it provided him something similar to his own [Arcane Sight] skill, and belatedly he activated it.
His vision became awash with disorienting colors as he did so. Everything became more vibrant, more colorful, and everything glowed with a pale shimmer. Aurion¡¯s wands, monocle and the AVL stood out like beacons, as did Jason¡¯s pack sitting on Lumi¡¯s lap.
He stared as a spiraling aura of deep purple spun up from the floor at Kera¡¯s feet, the mana bent and twisted, spinning itself into the most hellishly complex sequence of runes he¡¯d ever seen. Each rune formed, linked with nearby others, then twisted and broke apart, only to form into yet a new sequence as the purple-tinged, black mist spun around and around Kera until she was completely cloaked from sight.
Watching the runes swirl and pulse was giving Jason a headache, and he wasn¡¯t getting any feedback from the system, so he closed his eyes a moment and dispelled the effect.
He opened his eyes to see the black mist condense about Kera¡¯s body, wrapping her in a kind of misty cocoon, before it suddenly dropped away, revealing Kera once more.
She¡¯d changed drastically, which didn¡¯t surprise Jason in least.
¡°Whoa¡ trippy,¡± Kera said, holding her arms out in front over her, examining herself.
Kera¡¯s skin had become a dark, almost slate-grey or steel color, and her eyes were now a pure, pale white, without visible pupils. Her hair had changed too, now cut short once again, and colored shimmering silver-white. Her ears were long and pointed, but swept back from her head, as opposed to Therissa, who¡¯s elfin ears stood out horizontally.
Jason¡¯s first assumption was that she¡¯d chosen to become a rather stereotypical dark elf, but he was soon corrected.
¡°Hang on,¡± Kera said. ¡°Let me see¡.¡±
She closed her eyes and scrunched her face up in concentration, an expression Jason had seen before, which looked somewhat comical on her new form.
Then she began to visibly change in front of them. She grew slightly shorter, and her skin first lightened, then took on the shade of a well-tanned caucasian human. Her hair changed until it was long and black, and her ears shrank, folded, and then morphed into a pair of fox-ears stuck up out of her hair. The back of her dress bulged, and Jason saw flashes of furred tails drooping down onto the floor through the gaps at the front of her dress.
¡°Ok, that¡¯s crazy uncomfortable,¡± Kera said, squirming a bit. ¡°Tails inside long dresses does not work. Gonna need some new clothes. Lets try that again, something simpler¡¡±
She scrunched up face again, and the tail and ears melted away, but she kept the dark tan. Kera¡¯s height increased and her elf-ears reappeared again, this time pointing outwards like Therissa¡¯s, while her hair became a sandy brown. Her chest shrank, and her shoulders broadened. Suddenly, she seemed obviously male as the bones in her face shifted subtly.
She looked everything like a male variant of Therissa, with Kera¡¯s face, only slightly more angular and broad.
¡°Whoa. That¡¯s¡ª¡± Kera cut off as she coughed once, clearing her throat. Her voice had deepened drastically ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll mess with that later. Wow. Too different.¡±
Her frame shrank again as she reverted back to female, but remained looking for all the world like an average plains elf.
Then she sagged a bit.
¡°Whew, that really takes a lot of you. Spends my stamina like crazy, just like ¡®Morphic does.¡± Kera said, winded.
She staggered back over to her chair, and then sat down heavily.
Lumi reached over to poke at Kera¡¯s ears with one finger, curiosity written all over her face.
¡°Ack, that tickles,¡± Kera giggled tiredly, jerking her head away from Lumi, but giving the other girl a grin.
¡°Oh, uh, go ahead and scan my card again, Therissa,¡± she added.
Therissa gave a slight start; she¡¯d simply been staring wordlessly at Kera the whole time, seemingly in shock. She reinserted Kera¡¯s card.
Name: Kerali Vakar
Race: Changling (Plains Elf)
Gender: Female
Primary Class: Beast-Bonded Mage 12
Subclass: None
MP: 550 / 550
Secondary Class: Scion of the Wild 1
Subclass: None
SP: 15 / 110
Might: 14
Agility: 14
Intellect: 14
Endurance: 12
Charisma: 10
Spirit: 13+2
Fortitude: 13
Awareness: 18
Appeal: 12
Magic Resistance: 16
Resolve: 13+1
Luck: 20
Jason gave Kera a big grin. ¡°Why am I not surprised in the slightest to see you pick something like Changeling?¡±
He looked back at her status again. ¡°And what¡¯s¡ [Scion of the Wild]? That¡¯s an usual name for a class.¡±
Kera waved a hand tiredly at him. ¡°Later. Specialization unlock, kinda like Lumi¡¯s new options. Too tired.¡±
She sank down into her seat with a satified, if weary, sigh. Jason noted her stamina was nearly depleted and decided now wasn''t the time to ask; Kera¡¯s Druid and Shaman classes were gone, and she¡¯d rearranged some of her skill points as well. Good enough for demonstration purposes.
Aurion was examining Kera¡¯s status critically, and Jason cleared his throat to get everyone''s attention again.
¡°As you can see¡,¡± he said, ¡°Kera was able to not only remove her Outworlder designation, but she was able to change her race entirely, refund skill points, change her rank expenditures, and re-lock classes entirely, allowing her to choose new ones.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think I need to tell you just how valuable a service that is,¡± Jason finished.
Aurion blew out a long breath and sat back in his chair. Meanwhile, Therissa, still partly in shock, sank slowly into a chair of her own, staring at Kera¡¯s status.
¡°No,¡± Aurion said slowly. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think you do. He picked up one of the elixirs in one hand, holding it up to the light.
¡°Legendary indeed¡.¡± he murmured.
¡°Um, that will be all for now, Therissa, thanks,¡± Jason said. ¡°Sorry to rush you out after a show like that, and I promise you and explanation later if you want it, but¡¡±
Therissa shook herself thoroughly, and her professional demeanor returned as she took refuge in it. ¡°I understand," she said with a slight nod. "You clearly have business to arrange. Please, let me know if you need anything. Rest assured, everything that happens here is confidential.¡±
She stood, perhaps a bit unsteadily, and made her exit, closing the door softly behind her.
Aurion put the elixir back down on the table.
¡°So. This offer of yours¡?¡± he prompted.
Jason cleared his throat again, and leaned over to snag his bag off Lumi¡¯s lap, for the other girl was still preoccupied with examining Kera¡¯s skin and hair. He rummaged in the main section until he withdrew a sheet of parchment, which he passed to Aurion.
¡°In exchange for membership in the Black Thorns,¡± Jason began, ¡°and for protection from any persecution from the Darklight Archive on account of our special status and means of arrival, for myself, Lumi, and Kera, I am prepared to offer the Black Thorns a yearly tithe of eternal healing and mana potions, subject to negotiation as to exact volume, alongside with a flexible quota of additional potions or infusions upon request, subject to availability of ingredients. Included of course is our agreement to participation traditional guild duties and whatever that entails, including any normal tithes that may pertain to membership. Furthermore, while these Elixirs are made with¡ difficult to come by ingredients, namely dungeon cores, I am prepared to offer two of them right now: one for yourself as the contract negotiator and one for the Guildmaster or whoever he deems fit. I can also provide at least a small shipment of potions and limited-offensive wands, up front, as a gesture of good will.¡±
Aurion briefly looked over the agreement Jason passed to him. He made a few noises of consideration.
¡°Well, you¡¯re certainly generous here, it looks like. Not much in the way of downsides for us.¡±
Jason chuckled. ¡°Well it wouldn¡¯t very well do to try and pull a fast one on the organization I want to be a part of, now would it?¡±
¡°You wouldn¡¯t be the first,¡± Aurion chuckled in reply.
He leaned back in his chair again, thinking.
¡°On the surface,¡± Aurion said, ¡°I think I can tentatively agree to this. However, I¡¯ll absolutely have to clear this with Grandmaster Evander. I doubt he¡¯ll say no, but there¡¯s a political element here that I¡¯m not authorized to be involved in, and there is one small snag. Namely, we don¡¯t just ¡®sign up¡¯ people. While some Guilds do, for us there¡¯s a process involved. Dungeon-running is dangerous work, and we need to know our comrades-in-arms are both well informed and capable.¡±
¡°Now, I gather you two have actually entered, and slain, a dungeon, albeit a newborn one. Would that be correct?¡± Aurion asked.
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jason confirmed with nod. ¡°Only a few days after our first arrival. We weren¡¯t much more than third level then, I think.¡±
¡°Hmm, reckless perhaps,¡± Aurion replied. ¡°but then you¡¯d have no reason to know the danger you were walking into. That¡¯s something that we¡¯ll need to address. Are you aware of the status of the students with me?¡±
¡°Students?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Oh. Sort of. I mean, I know you brought¡ I think the word used was ¡®trainees¡¯, but other than that, no.¡±
¡°Ah,¡± Aurion said. He steepled his fingers, leaning forwards onto the table and putting his weight on his elbows. ¡°Well, a good portion of the force I¡¯ve brought with me aren¡¯t officially Black Thorns. While most of them are properly licensed adventurers, right now they¡¯re only students, ones who¡¯ve already passed a certain level of competency tests in their respective classes. Normally, all potential recruits are required to pass an academic course regarding the nature of dungeons and the methods of combating them.¡±
¡°There¡¯s practical elements involved as well,¡± Aurion continued. ¡°Usually it involved a supervised dungeon run to defeat a core that¡¯s been specially revived for that purpose. However, the Guild has had an awful lot on its plate in recent years, so when we got word that Arnvale had not one, but two brand new dungeons crop up, with one likely only a week old, the Grandmaster decided we¡¯d send the recruits out on their practical a bit early rather than try and round up whoever was currently available. It¡¯s my job to manage things here, get kids like you some experience in the field, and make sure that if the dungeon does get out of hand, someone¡¯s here to deal with it.¡±
¡°So here¡¯s what I¡¯ll do,¡± Aurion said. ¡°Tentatively, pending Evander¡¯s approval, I¡¯ll agree to your terms, but with an addendum. I¡¯ll make sure you get some tutoring in our general curriculum to help get you up to speed, you¡¯ll assist in any town defense as necessary, and you¡¯ll accompany us on the full raid in about a week, once scouting is complete. Assuming you survive and do well, I¡¯ll sign off on waiving the prior competency exams and you can be inducted alongside the others in a few week¡¯s time.¡±
Jason considered the offer for a moment. He looked to Lumi and Kera.
¡°Sounds good to me,¡± Lumi said.
¡°Same,¡± Kera confirmed with a nod.
¡°Then I guess we have deal,¡± Jason said, extending one hand to Aurion, who shook it. ¡°I¡¯ll leave the two elixirs with you now, so you can provide proof of our offer to¡ Grandmaster Evander, was it?¡±
Aurion nodded and picked up the parchment Jason had passed him. ¡°I¡¯ll get this modified and signed by Evander, if he agrees, and then we can have Therissa notarize it properly afterward once you sign it as well.¡±
He rolled up the parchment and then placed it into his pouch alongside the two elixirs.
Aurion paused. ¡°Who to assign to you¡¡± he said, trailing off. ¡°Hum. Now that I think about it, perhaps it would be best to assign you to your squad at the same time. Yes. I will need to rearrange the raid group accordingly anyway, since we¡¯ve had a few non-guild turn up too, and I know just the right two miscreants who could use a little extra work after that prank they pulled yesterday.¡±
Aurion shook his head in exasperation, then gave Jason a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they¡¯re quite competent, it¡¯s just¡ well¡ students will be students.¡±
¡°Drop by the Lodge tomorrow around noon,¡± he said, ¡°and I¡¯ll have them waiting to meet you.¡±
¡°We look forward to it,¡± Jason said. ¡°Good doing business with you¡ sir.¡±
Chapter 29
Night had fallen by the time Jason and the girls left the Lodge, and despite the light snack they¡¯d had before heading to the meeting, Jason was famished. He¡¯d missed lunch, after all. Since Kera also felt the need to eat after having expending nearly all her stamina, the three friends decided to make their way down to Arn¡¯s inn for a meal rather than wait on Jason to whip something up himself.
They were greeted at the door by a surprised Leska.
¡°Oh! Jason!¡± she exclaimed as they entered. ¡°Back again? I thought you¡ª¡±
Then she paused. ¡°Wait, who¡¯s this? Where¡¯s Kera?¡±
Leska paused again, doing a confused double take, as Kera¡¯s face had remained relatively unchanged.
¡°Whaaaaaa¡.?¡±
While Jason watched with amusement, Leska stepped up close to Kera, and then leaned in to examine her face, tilting her headfrom side toside so she could view from different angles.
¡°Ok, that is so weird,¡± she said, stepping back. ¡°How did you¡?¡±
Jason wasn¡¯t sure if he should say, but fortunately it appeared that Kera had already come up with an excuse, if a weak one.
Kera looked down at her feet, looking for all like she was trying to act shy, despite the fact Jason had never seen her do so.
¡°Oh! Um, did I not mention before?¡± she said quietly with feigned sheepishness in her voice. ¡°I¡¯m a changeling, not human.¡±
Kera looked back up at Leska.
¡°I get bored looking the same all the time,¡± she explained as if it was the most normal thing in the world, ¡°and I wanted a new look, so I¡¯m trying out some things.¡±
She bit her lip. ¡°Do you like this one?¡±
Leska¡¯s eyes were wide.
¡°A changeling? Really?¡± she asked incredulously. ¡°Your kind are so rare! I¡¯ve never met one before.¡±
Leska walked twice around Kera, looking her over. ¡°You look just like a plains elf! I never would have guessed you weren¡¯t. I mean, I didn¡¯t before either, but¡¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Kera said sheepishly again. ¡°I try to make sure to tell people usually. I don¡¯t like the misunderstandings that can come from it.¡±
Leska waved one hand idly. ¡°Its fine. I know you¡¯re not some kinda shady criminal type, you¡¯re too nice. Arnvale¡¯s a pretty¡ª what¡¯s the word? I can¡¯t remember¡. But we have all sorts here, being out on the frontier and all.¡±
She shrugged. ¡°It might bother people in the big, nearly all-human cities in places like Baradell, but out here people aren¡¯t gonna fall for stupid myths about changelings being out to steal people¡¯s identities and stuff, or that dwarves are out to swindle you out of all your gold, or elves are all a bunch of¡ well, I shouldn¡¯t say words like that, but I¡¯m sure you get the idea. When you live out on the frontier cities, you learn to live and let live, you know?.¡±
Kera gave a possibly sincere sigh of relief.
¡°Thanks, Leska.¡±
¡°So what are you guys back for, anyway?¡± Leska asked. ¡°Don¡¯t you have your own place now?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Jason cut in. ¡°But we¡¯ve had a busy day, and were hoping to get a hot meal without the need to make it ourselves. What¡¯s on the menu this evening?¡±
¡°Oh! And here I am keeping you standing around,¡± Leska replied. ¡°Please, come have a seat. You¡¯re in for a treat, Dad made his specialty today.¡±
She lead them over to the table, where Jason and the others were served Arn¡¯s own specialty dish, which turned out to be something similar to stromboli or calzone - A thick helping of sausage, potato, asparagus, onions, peppers, and cheese, wrapped in soft dough and then baked and sliced into thick segments.
Jason thought it was rather heavy as a meal, but it was delicious all the same.
While they ate, Jason asked Kera a bit about her changes. He kept his voice low, in an attempt to avoid being overheard. Fortunately, they¡¯d been seated away from the other few patrons who were currently present, so that was unlikely to happen.
¡°So how does this whole shape-changing thing work, anyway?¡± He asked, once Kera had had a chance to get some food in her. ¡°I mean like, how do you know what you can do with it?¡±
Kera snagged a piece of cheesy potato that had fallen out of one of her slices of stromboli and ate it before replying.
¡°It¡¯s hard to explain, I guess,¡± she replied, considering for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s like¡ exercising a muscle, a sort of flexing, but there¡¯s some thought involved as well. I can¡¯t just change into anything I want. It needs to be a real species I¡¯ve encountered before, apparently. Don¡¯t ask me how I know that, but I do. Yet another example of the system just messing with our heads, I guess. And Leska¡¯s right. I can¡¯t just suddenly duplicate other people on purpose, it doesn¡¯t work that way. I¡¯m mean, I could copy how they look with a lot of effort, but that¡¯s only because I¡¯ve got Basic Mimicry, and I¡¯d need to sit around and observe someone a whole lot,because it doesn¡¯t teach me how to act like them. Maybe if I ranked it up a whole lot and spentdays studying how someone talked and behaved and their mannerisms and all that, but even then I''m not sure I could do it properly without acting skills, you know?¡±
¡°Maybe just keep quiet about the potential to do it, just in case?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°No kidding,¡± Kera said with a sigh and a slight shake of her head.
¡°What about your new class?¡± Jason asked with interest. ¡°You said it was a specialization thing?¡±
¡°Uh, well I sort of misspoke, there,¡± Kera said. ¡°I mean, it is from picking my specialization, but it¡¯s actually an evolved form of [Druid].¡±
Kera gave them a sheepish look. ¡°So I, uh, didn¡¯t actually remove my classes right away. Instead¡ I may have spent like close to two hours in there just playing around with race and features options...¡±
Jason grinned at Kera. ¡°Let me guess, you¡¯re the type who basically treats character creation as a sort of glorified form of playing dress-up with dolls?Loads of people do that. I¡¯ve definitely been known to take absolutely forever to get a character just right.¡±
¡°Definitely would be the pot calling the kettle black, with our group, I¡¯d think,¡± Lumi joked.
¡°Absolutely,¡± Jason said with a nod.
¡°Ah, well,¡± Kera continued, still slightly embarrassed, ¡°after awhile, I stumbled across changeling. And, well¡ I just didn¡¯t want to pass that up, you know? I¡¯ve had so much fun with that stuff already that I just couldn¡¯t say no. And then Igot to thinking about how druids in fantasy games usually can change into animals, so I stopped there and looked at my skill and specialization picks, and, well¡.¡±
¡°You found one that focused specifically on shapeshifting.¡± Jason finished.
¡°Not just that,¡± Kera replied. ¡°My blue magic and mimic skills were involved too somehow. In fact, it was¡ an awful lot of skills all together that opened it up. Kinda like how Lumi¡¯s stuff is all tied together. I¡¯ve got a racial skill for changing how I look, a skill for mimicking the behavior and skills of others, a skill for mimicking physical traits of monster¡¯s I''ve got experience with, a skill for learning their spells¡¡±
Kera paused a moment to take another bite of her stromboli, then washed it down with some of the light mead they¡¯d been served.
Then she continued.
¡°So¡ it just seems natural that the system would offer me a specialization along those lines,¡± Kera said. ¡°Even though none of them actually come from my class, it¡¯s still related, and probably has spells I can learn along the same lines.¡±
¡°So the specialization I got was simply called ¡®Monster Mimic¡¯, which evolved Druid into Scion of the Wild. I¡¯m not actually sure what that word means, but I lost some skills and gained some new ones.¡±
¡°A scion is like¡ a descendant of a noble house,¡± Jason explained. ¡°It¡¯s kind of an incorrect usage, but in games and fiction it can be synonymous with ¡®inheritor¡¯, meaning you¡¯ve inherited some kind of mystic link with something, whether related by blood or fate or whatever. In this case, no doubt because you ¡®inherit¡¯ the shapes and powers of various creatures you encounter.¡±
¡°Oh. I guess that makes sense,¡± Kera said. She had another bite to eat. ¡°Anyway, so my new skills are now ¡®Wild Empathy¡¯, ¡®Beastmorph¡¯, ¡®Sculpt Self¡¯, and an unranked skill called ¡®Nature¡¯s Call¡¯¡. which despite the unfortunate phrasing, is potentially really useful - it lets me call up a swarm of whatever small critters might be in the area to harry someone for a few moments and then disperse. Good for distracting spellcasters and stuff, you know?¡±
¡°What, like you could conjure up a horde of weasels to bite someone¡¯s ankles and then run off?¡± Lumi asked with a slight snicker.
¡°Hey, don¡¯t knock it,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I know you play mostly the same stuff as me. Never underestimate the power of a well-timed, half-second stun effect to drop a big ¡®nope¡¯ on top of some kind of channeled mega-spell.¡±
Kera grinned. ¡°Exactly. And the fact that it could be something infuriatingly silly just makes it better, because then they¡¯ll be all tilted and stuff.¡±
¡°Not that it would necessarily be squirrels,¡± she added. ¡°It¡¯s whatever is around and appropriate to the terrain.¡±
¡°Any other interesting new stuff?¡± Jason inquired.
Kera thought for a moment, taking another swig of her drink. ¡°Mmm¡ not really. Oh! There is a limitation on Beastmorph though. I can¡¯t just shape myself into any old thing, I have to actually learn new forms, just like with Monster Magic and Sculpt Self. Though it does come with two free picks, which I haven¡¯t chosen yet. But they¡¯re just basic animals and stuff.¡±
¡°So no suddenly getting to become a spellcasting Tyrannosaurus?¡± Lumi quipped.
¡°No, sadly,¡± Kera replied.
¡°But for the record,¡± she continued with an evil grin, ¡°if we meet one, I am totally willing to risk getting eaten to learn that.¡±
Jason looked thoughtful. ¡°Can you cast spells while you¡¯re changed into something else? Or talk or use other skills?¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
¡°I don¡¯t see why you couldn¡¯t,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°I always thought it was weird that you couldn¡¯t in some games. I mean sure, I can see the argument that you can¡¯t ¡®speak the mystic words¡¯ or whatever, but that¡¯s not an issue here if you change your skill triggers, and besides, how would you change back if you couldn¡¯t?¡±
¡°Hmm, good question. Kera?¡±
Kera cocked her head and closed her eyes for a few moments. Jason could see her sort of tensing and relaxing her shoulders repeatedly, like she was flexing a new muscle she wasn¡¯t quite familiar with.
She opened her eyes, and then poked a bit at her interface.
¡°Hmm¡ I¡¯m not sure,¡± Kera said finally. ¡°I think I can use stuff just fine, but the system doesn¡¯t really say. I can definitely tell that I can use the morphic modification stuff while I¡¯m making use of Sculpt Self. Oh, and let¡¯s not forget that I can still talk when using my belt. So¡ maybe?¡±
¡°Sounds like something worth exploring, then.¡± Lumi suggested.
¡°I know just how, too,¡± Kera replied with a grin. ¡°Let¡¯s finish up here, and then head home.¡±
After their late dinner, the three friends made their way back home, passing through Arnvale¡¯s streets with Lumi¡¯s mage-lights bobbing along behind them to light the way. They were greeted at the door by an enthusiastic Echo. Jason still couldn¡¯t get over how domesticated-dog-like the rockhound had become. Even with Kera¡¯s explanation of how her skill worked, he still felt the whole thing was a trifle surreal and vaguely concerning.
Lumi seemed to have no such reservations though, leaning over and giving the rockhound a vigorous back rub ¡ª carefully avoiding her spines and crystal shoulder-growths, of course.
Ceri meanwhile, appeared to have been curled up asleep on the ¡®dining room table¡¯, as Jason thought of it, but awoke and launched himself into the air, flying over to take up his usual perch on Kera¡¯s shoulder.
Kera gave him a few head scratches before taking a seat and shifting the drake to her lap.
¡°Ok¡ so first off, need to select my first two ¡®normal¡¯ choices,¡± she said. ¡°Any suggestions?¡±
Jason considered for a moment. ¡°Well, wolf, panther, tiger, and bear are all pretty stock choices for druids, depending on what you want to do. Ditto for hawks or eagles.¡±
Lumi gave a short laugh. ¡°Jason, this is Kera we¡¯re talking about.¡± She gave Kera a wink. ¡°What makes you think she wants to be shoehorned into ¡®normal¡¯ choices?¡±
Jason gave her a wry grin. ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t expect her to choose one of those, but they¡¯re still solid picks usually.¡±
Her turned to Kera. ¡°Anything in there you don¡¯t recognize? Or something that might be considered a basic animal here, but not back home? Like what about Ceri? Are skydancers in there?¡±
¡°Oh, I¡¯ve already learned his,¡± Kera said. ¡°I¡¯ve spent enough time with Ceri and Echo that I got both their species immediately. This is more like¡ pick whatever a really basic Druid might have a spell for. My class is only level 1 currently, after all. So simple stuff only.¡±
¡°Can I see the list?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Sure.¡±
Kera¡¯s status sprang into view, and Jason scrolled down the list. To him it looked like more or less your standard list of starter animal companions or familiars - various birds, cats, canines, and the like. But there were more unusual options in there, too.
¡°Well¡,¡± Jason said, ¡°I see stuff in here like giant spiders or scorpions, if you don¡¯t mind that sort of thing. The cooshee is one I¡¯m surprised to see in here, though I guess it isa ¡®basic¡¯ animal.¡±
¡°Cooshee?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t that like¡ some kind of fantasy dog?¡±
¡°Yeah,¡± Jason said. ¡°Think like a forest-version of Echo here. Green and brown fur, like camo, long, thin, elf-like dog ears for some reason. They¡¯re basically domesticated dogs for elves. And¡. hah, yeah, gobdogs are in here too. They¡¯re the same, but for goblins.¡±
¡°I wonder¡.¡± Jason scrolled rapidly through the list, searching for a particular entry. ¡°Hah! It ishere. Now that¡¯d be an unusual choice. How do you feel about a weird cross between a rhino, a lion, and a bison?¡±
¡°That sounds equal parts badass and horrifying, I think,¡± Lumi said.
¡°Well, that¡¯s about accurate for a gorthek. They¡¯re one of those ¡®bad guy mounts¡¯ you see a lot of, kind of like how Tolkien gave his Orcs the Wargs as mounts, which themselves were based on the wolf-god Fenrir and his sons. Gortheks are like huge, tanky, rhino-lions. Humans get gryphon-knights, elves get pegasi-archers, and orcs get, well, gorthek-riding barbarians capable of smashing down walls.
¡°Sounds fun to me!¡± Kera declared cheerfully. She poked once at her interface. ¡°Done!¡±
¡°Don¡¯t try it in the house,¡± Jason said hurriedly. ¡°Gortheks are like the size of a small car.¡±
Kera blew a raspberry at him. ¡°I know better than that.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve got a question,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Why would gorthek be in there and not like, some of those other things you mentioned? Pegasus, warg, gryphon, and so on?¡±
Jason thought for a moment. ¡°Well¡. I mean I can¡¯t be sure, since there¡¯s always the chance there¡¯s differences, and we¡¯ve definitely seen that be the case, but in fiction back home gortheks are.. basically dumb beasts, while those other ones very often aren¡¯t. Sometimes, like in the case of a pegasus, they can understand speech but not speak themselves, while others, like Tolkien¡¯s wargs, actually have language and culture of their own. Gryphons can fall into that group, but also like say, unicorns, are also often highly magical, while a gorthek is just a big, brutish animal.¡±
¡°I guess that makes sense,¡± Kera said. ¡°Too bad. I would totally pick a gryphon. Then I would get to be the best house.¡±
¡°House?¡± Jason asked.
Kera grinned at him. ¡°Because then I¡¯d be a spellcaster, and a gryphon, so my room would be the one with the gryphon-door.¡±
Jason just hung his head and sighed.
¡°I totally walked into that one, didn¡¯t I?¡± he asked.
¡°You really did,¡± Lumi said, covering her mouth with a hand and smothering her laughter.
Jason shook his head ruefully, but couldn''t manage to suppress his smile.
¡°Well then, Miss Wizard, what other animal would you be interested in?¡± he asked. ¡°You do have one pick left.¡±
¡°Actually, I¡¯m gonna take crocodile, I think.¡± Kera replied. ¡°I¡¯ve got a tank form with.. Gorthek? And with skydancer I could fly, and with rockhound I can be relatively fast. But we¡¯re going into the water dungeon, so I might need someone who can swim or fight underwater for a long time, yeah?
¡°Sounds solid to me,¡± Lumi said.
¡°It¡¯s not like we probably couldn¡¯t get you more forms if we tried, anyway,¡± Jason said. ¡°Just need to find a ¡ª¡±
He cut off suddenly as he realized what he was suggesting. They didn¡¯t need to find a summoner, Kera was one.
¡°A what?¡± Kera asked.
¡°I¡¯m just being stupid, it seems,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Why don¡¯tyou try summoning your mistwolf?¡±
Kera grinned at him. ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of that?¡±
She stood up, and held both her hands outwards as she cast her spell. Jason, out of curiosity, activated his [Arcane Sight] as he did so. He didn¡¯t learn anything new - not that he was surprised, since he¡¯d analyzed the spell the past, but he found it fascinating to watch how Kera¡¯s mana flowed out from her hands, twisting into some kind of invisible rune circle. The center of circle then transformed into some kind of gateway, through which aspected mana poured, forming itself into Kera¡¯s mistwolf.
Echo had yet to meet one of Kera¡¯s summon spells, and immediately growled at the interloper and raised herspines threateningly, but Kera hushed herwith a word in a language Jason didn¡¯t know.
Her [Wild Empathy] skill at work, perhaps?
She bid the mistwolf approach her in her chair, running her hands over him. She made a few gestures in the air with one hand as well, and Jason realized she¡¯s activated her own form of Analyze.
The Kera checked her status screen, and broke out into a huge grin. She shared her latest notification.
Skill Failure: Cannot learn new form ''Mistwolf''. Reason: Skill Rank too low.
Jason caught on immediately. ¡°So you can learn from your own summons! You just need to rank up some. That¡¯s pretty great.¡±
¡°Hell yes it¡¯s great!¡± Kera exclaimed. ¡°I¡¯m gonna go pay Jerrik a visit tomorrow, see if he can¡¯t order me a spell-book of summon spells or rituals from somewhere. Don¡¯t care what it costs; if I can learn new forms and spells from creatures I summon, it¡¯ll be worth it. Here, let me drop some points into it right now.¡±
She poked at her UI briefly, then nodded with satisfaction. "There, learned."
¡°Told you blue magic pays off in the long run,¡± Lumi replied, still grinning.
¡°So, uh, awkward question,¡± Jason interjected, ¡°but an important one¡ does it merge your clothes, or is this gonna be one of those things where¡?¡±
Kera laughed. ¡°Thankfully, it does,¡± she replied.
Then she paused, considering. ¡°Well, Beastmorph does. My changeling power doesn''t. Gonna need to talk to Nissette about that tomorrow too, I guess; if I want clothes that can fit tails or wings or me being taller or shorter or whatever, I¡¯ll need some variety.¡±
¡°Or lots of buttoned flaps,¡± Lumi commented.
¡°Might not need that, actually,¡± Jason said. ¡°Remember how that loot we got from the dungeon resized itself to fit you, Lumi? I asked Jerrik about it, because he had a skill that did the same thing for people¡¯s clothes. He told me that was a pretty rare skill, but that that happening was pretty normal for loot drops. I bet you it¡¯s normal for magical gear in general. If she doesn''t need to worry about clothes when taking non-human shapes, maybe just a magic wizard robe or something would do the job?¡±
Kera nodded. ¡°Gotcha. I¡¯ll ask about enchanted clothes, too, then.¡±
She placed Ceri onto Echo¡¯s back and dismissed her mist-wolf before jumping to her feet.
¡°Enough talking, time to try these forms out,¡± she declared. ¡°I wonder if¡ yes, I¡¯ll try that. Hang on¡¡±
Kera opened up her UI, and navigated to her command set-up screen. Jason tried to follow what she did, and he could tell she somehow linked the use of some of her other skills to her beastmorph triggers, but for some reason he couldn¡¯t actually see what. It was like his mind just couldn¡¯t parse the entry, and it gave him a headache trying to look at it.
Lumi seemed to experience the same. She squeezed her eyes closed.
¡°Ack, close that off, would you Kera?¡± she requested. ¡°You¡¯re linking some changeling thing to it, right? It¡¯s looks all weird to me and hurts my brain.¡±
¡°Oh, sorry,¡± Kera said. She hid her screen with a flick of her fingers. ¡°Didn¡¯t know it would do that. It just occurred to me, if I¡¯m gonna change around a bunch, I should use stuff I can do in any form with changeling or with using wild empathy¡ which also happens to provide some sort of weird, supernatural animal language.¡±
¡°Why is it called empathy then?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡±
Kera shrugged. ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t make the rules. But here, watch.¡±
Kera¡¯s eyes turned a piercing gold, reflecting the light of Lumi¡¯s mage-lights like a cat¡¯s did in the dark, and she gave a sudden, growling snarl, and jumped forwards about three feet, swinging her hands up in front of her as she did so. Her shape blurred burst into a cloud of pale mist as she leaped forwards, which then coalesced into the shape of a wolf before landing on all fours. Small wisps of fog drifted off her body.
¡°Whaaaa¡ that¡¯s trippy.¡± Kera said. Much like as when she used her belt to shift into snake form, her voice came out distorted and deep, though it was still recognizably hers.
¡°I can see like¡ air currents or something?¡± she said. She padded up to the front door, and inhaled deeply.
¡°Gack.¡± Kera sat down on her hind legs abruptly and pawed at her nose.
Lumi laughed at her. ¡°Sensory overload, right? Like the snake?¡±
¡°Just like the snake,¡± Kera confirmed.
Jason chuckled. ¡°Yeah, we humans are pretty garbage when it comes to our senses compared to a lot of animals, huh? Most animals hear and smell more acutely, and while we see better than most, the best predators are still better than we are at it, and plenty of species see stuff we can¡¯t, like infrared or ultraviolet spectrum.¡±
¡°Definitely gonna take getting used to.¡± Kera said. ¡°But hey, at least I can do this!¡±
Her form faded into a dispersed cloud, which then pressed up against the door, squeezing through the smallest of gaps until Kera had passed through.
Jason heard a Kera try giving a light bark from the other side. Lumi rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh and opened the door for her.
¡°Really?¡± she asked Kera dryly, looking down at her as the other girl padded back in.
¡°Had to do it at least once,¡± Kera replied, completely unashamed.
Jason eyed Ceri and Echo. Oddly enough, they¡¯d more or less ignored the whole exchange, other than some faint curiosity on Echo¡¯s part, who was now lying on the floor with one eye closed, but her ears were perked up and swiveled in Kera¡¯s direction. Jason supposed that after all, Ceri had seen this sort of thing before, and maybe their bond was involved somehow, too.
He turned back to Kera, who was in the process of reforming herself.
¡°Hey, now that you¡¯ve done it yourself, can you do some kind of mistform spell now?¡± he asked her.
¡°Hmm, good question,¡± Kera replied. She took a moment to straighten her dress out; thanks to her change in height as a plains elf, it was a little loose on her frame as she shifted back into a humanoid shape.
She checked her status. ¡°Yep! Looks like I can. I¡¯ll mess about with that later. It¡¯s late, and I want some sleep now that my immediate curiosity has been satisfied.¡±
She scrunched her face up, and she reverted to her un-altered changeling form.
¡°That really is aseriously creepy look,¡± Lumi commented. ¡°It¡¯s the eyes, I think. It makes you look like you¡¯re some kind of dead zombie-thing. If they were just normal eyes, you¡¯d just look like some kind of sun-bleached, grey-skinned elf, and probably not an unattractive one at that.¡±
Kera shrugged. ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t really disagree. But I just picked plains elf since Therissa was right there and the Kitsune tails thing was super uncomfortable in this dress. I¡¯ll probably bounce around the next few days. Maybe spend some time at the market or the lodge and see what I can pick up? In the meantime, I should probably get used to the new me.¡±
She held up on hand, turning it this way and that, and examining her skin closely. She pinched the back of her palm once.
¡°We do have homework, of sorts,¡± Jason reminded her. ¡°And we still need to go over me analyzing your new spells to see if I can¡¯t get any new runes.¡±
¡°Oh, right,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I totally forgot about that. Hey, why don¡¯t we ask our ¡tutors? ¡squad-mates? to come with us just outside the gates for that? Maybe they¡¯ll have stuff they''d be willing to show off too? It would be a good idea to get to know each other¡¯s skill sets for a dungeon raid anyway, right?¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Good idea. Sound good to you, Kera? You could show off your gorthek form too.¡±
¡°Ok, works for me,¡± Kera said. ¡°Maybe we can do it all at once. We can just stop by Nissette¡¯s shop on the way so I can at least get the ball rolling. Getting some lunch at the lodge might be a good way to pick up some new forms, and the we¡¯ll be there to meet our new squad-mates?¡±
¡°Sounds like a plan, then,¡± Lumi said. ¡°In that case, I¡¯m off to bed. I suggest you all do likewise. Sounds like we may have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.¡±
Chapter 30
Jason awoke with the dawn, refreshed and ready to face the day. It still weirded him out a little how fast he¡¯d managed to adapt to waking up as the sun was just peeking over the horizon and going to bed shortly after it got dark, but a general lack of modern electrical lighting had mandated some general changes to routine. Sure, Lumi could throw light spells around, but it was unfair to ask her to constantly spend effort for his convenience just because he preferred to sleep in and stay up late.
The same didn¡¯t seem to hold true for the girls though. Going to bed early or not, like the previous day neither were up yet, so Jason got to be the first to experience his kludge-effort hot shower, which turned out to have been absolutely worth the effort, even if he did have to deal with it being poorly lit through a single small window.
A curious Ceri also creeped out from the ¡®stable¡¯ side of the room to clamber up the pole to stick his head into the spray. Apparently the drake found the heat to his liking, and jumped down to the floor, splashing about Jason¡¯s feet in the spray as Jason scrubbed away with some soap and a few loose rags.
Jason resolved to mention to Kera that she should probably not check in on her pets with [Share Senses] in the morning until she was sure nobody was in the shower. Not that he particularly cared if she did peek on him. He was rather cavalier about that sort of thing after all; if someone wanted to use him for eye candy, that was kind of a compliment as far as he was concerned. Lumi, however, would emphatically not share his views on that, so it would be best if he made sure there weren¡¯t any¡ accidents.
After his shower, Jason rolled up the [Mat of Absorption] and emptied it out into the bucket, where the water would be purified and then drained back into the shower head. Then he dressed and headed to the kitchen, where he prepared another pancake breakfast for himself and the girls.
While he worked, he spent a bit of time reading his lorebook on common enchantments, which he placed off to one side, clear of any potential mess. He¡¯d given some more thought to what to focus on during his shower, and seeing as he was probably doing the provisioning for the near future, he figured he might as well continue where he¡¯d left off with the food and drink purification stuff.
Rune Learned: Temperature
In addition to a new rune, he also learned a fair bit about common sequences and how runes for storage, preservation, purification, and resistance worked and could be combined in various ways. Since he had some time to kill in the morning and they¡¯d be down at the marketplace anyway, Jason decided to make what amounted to some refrigerated grocery bags, and to carve some enchantments into his storage cabinets.
Not only would it be good practice for the eventual greenhouse construction, it meant he wouldn¡¯t need to go down to the market every morning when he wanted things like fresh milk, eggs, meat, or other similar perishables. He could just have them delivered in bulk and store them until needed.
Eventually, the smell of cooking drew Kera and Lumi from their beds, just as it had the previous morning. After Jason had passed on his warning to Kera, the two girls took their own turns showering, after which Kera went to look after Ceri and Echo, and Lumi elected to get some early morning sword practice in.
¡°Does that even help?¡± Jason asked Lumi when she announced her intention.
¡°Sort of,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°Remember how I spoke with Therissa before we left the Lodge last night? Skills and stats do apparently decay if they go unused or whatnot for too long, and if you work hard enough you can get some stat boosts from training. Like if I was to just laze around all day and stuff my face with your pancakes, pretty soon I¡¯d find my Might dropping rapidly, but if I work out a lot, it¡¯ll go up, yeah?¡±
¡°Makes sense. I¡¯d sort of wondered. Where are you headed, though?¡± Jason asked.
¡°I¡¯ll be joining Sevani down at the guardhouse in the mornings,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°Therissa told me they''ve got a training yard there, and Sevani uses it as a kind of work-out gym, I guess. Therissa suggested I see if she¡¯d be open to some company.¡±
¡°Alright. See you at noon then?¡±
¡°Probably sooner,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I¡¯m going to wanttoshower before I meet our new guild-mates.¡± She gave Jason a wave, and after strapping on her sword belt, made her exit.
That left Jason to his own devices, so he got to work enchanting.
The first step was to make some more arcane powder, and some more magical ink to assist him in engraving. He had that book on inscription processes, after all, and though it might be worth seeing if he couldn¡¯t unlock something along those lines. Besides, he had another motivation involved as well.
So Jason began by setting up some longer-term refinement of his alchemy ingredients. As he had dozens of prism scarab eggs from their run, he began with those. Breaking them open was easy work, and while it was an unpleasant process, rendering down the contents and crushing the shells into powders wasn¡¯t a difficult task. Then it was only a matter of leaving the leftovers to process over time, through heating and condensation with the glassware he¡¯d acquired, to filter out any impurities. He could safely leave that to happen over the course of the next few hours, and could check back before it was time to leave.
Next up, Jason mixed a few batches of multiple least potions out of the common, cheaper plants, and converted them into arcane powder, leaving him with roughly three dozen vials of powder. He was going to need to pay another visit to Flora soon; he was beginning to run low on the cheap stuff and he hadn¡¯t even gotten started on making good on his promise to assist with beefing up the town¡¯s defenses.
Since he was already in his lab, and had his crucibles fired up, Jason decided to get one more thing out of the way: making Lumi her oft-requested hair dye.
It was only a few minutes work to examine the bundles of armor dyes, briefly consult his phone, and skim the book he had on inscription for any notes about magical inks. Jason had even already picked up the right ingredients during his previous market trip, but time constraints and his own mishap with the transmutation had meant he hadn¡¯t had the time to actually put his plan in motion. Now however, he had both some time to spare and already had his crucible fired up, so now was the perfect time; it shouldn¡¯t take much more than a few minutes.
First he pulled out a small jar filled with rendered animal fat that he¡¯d acquired from the butcher, and began the process of melting it back down from its congealed state. While that happened, he ground up two different types of red flowers that he¡¯d gotten from Flora, as well as pulled out the remainder of the lavender oils left over from making his batch of Sereni-tea.
All four ingredients went into the same bowl, which he then mixed together thoroughly along with a single unit of arcane powder and a small amount of water. After an infusion of mana via synthesis, he had what he wanted: A thick, dark red, pasty goop that would thoroughly stain any organic matter it came in contact with, and thanks to the trace amounts of mana imbuing it, you wouldn¡¯t have to worry too much about getting it on the wrong things or needing to bleach first.
Jason thought it looked a bit gross, and it certainly didn¡¯t smell great, but it would do. If Lumi liked the results, he¡¯d see about adding some cornstarch or similar to convert it into a water-soluble, powdered form, but that could wait.
For now, he scooped the dye into a jar, labeled it clearly and stuck a brief note to it, and placed it in the shower room for Lumi whenever she returned.
After double checking that his refinement processes for the prismatic and swarm traits were proceeding as they should, Jason grabbed his pack, scooped up his batch of arcane powder, and returned to the kitchen.
He set the pack down on one of the counters, and pulled out a pair of the plain, leather satchels that he¡¯d picked up as part of their general supplies. They¡¯d do for now.
It took Jason a few minutes to figure out the best way to do it, but he was soon engraving away at the metal buckles and snaps, working in runes where he could. The process wasn¡¯t anywhere near as complex as his attempt at the shower, since for this all he needed was some basic preservation effects, but it brought home to him the idea that he really should invest in inscription just as much as engrave, since leather and cloth were just too soft to carve into - he¡¯s just end up ruining the item if he tried.
Regardless, a half-hour¡¯s work later Jason had himself a pair of what amounted to extra-spacious grocery bags with preservation charms. They weren¡¯t anything special, but it meant he wouldn''t need to keep using his haversack for everything.
Next up was enchanting the cabinets. This turned out to be simultaneously simpler, and more work intensive than Jason expected. Simpler, because all he had to do to get at the insides was to just activate his [Arcane Deconstruction] skill to tear apart the cabinets, and more work because they were big, and he needed to enchant multiple segments with complex runes.
He couldn¡¯t just enchant them with a simple preservation rune on the door, for instance. Sure, that would work, but it wouldn¡¯t last particularly long - he more he wanted to store in there and the longer the duration, the bigger and more complex the sequence he needed. It was actually less complex as well to simply lay multiple, different charms over the space than it was to try and work them all into the same, massive enchantment, which meant putting different circles on different segments of the cabinets.
All told, it took him a good three hours¡¯ work and two mana potions, which he had to make, but he placed enchantments for preservation, purification, and temperature control on all the cabinets and storage barrels, using [Arcane Reconstruction] to reassemble them when he was done.
For good measure, he enchanted a mug with temperature control, too, because he¡¯s be damned if he wouldn¡¯t give himself the ability to have cold ale or hot, spiced mead whenever he wanted. Of course, he¡¯d have to buy some somewhere first, but¡ details. Maybe Therissa could supply him some, or he could set up a nano-brewery or something.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.
Afterwards, Jason sat in the dining room, just relaxing for a bit and massaging his hands; engraving was tough, tiring work. While he rested, Kera came to check up on him.
¡°Done crashing around?¡± she asked. ¡°What have you been doing, anyway?¡±
¡°Made us a magic fridge, freezer, and pantry,¡± Jason replied. ¡°While you talk to Nissette in a bit, I¡¯m going to be placing some orders for foodstuffs now that I don¡¯t need to worry about perishables going bad. In fact, I¡¯m debating if I might negotiate with some of the local farmers - barter some preservation enchantments for regular deliveries, you know?
¡°What, really?¡±
¡°Yep. Go check it out. I even stuck one of out waterskins in the freezer; I''m thinking I can make some crushed ice once it solidifies.¡±
¡°Uhh, wont you have to rip it open to get the ice out?¡± Kera asked.
Jason grinned at her. ¡°Mending, right? I can just smash it up with a hammer, tear it open, dump out the ice, and then fix it up.¡±
She laughed. ¡°That¡¯s cheating.¡±
¡°But the good kind,¡± he replied. ¡°So, any progress on the shapeshifting stuff?¡±
¡°Yep,¡± Kera said. ¡°It¡¯s tiring, but I¡¯ve just been sitting in my room practicing switching back and forth. I¡¯m getting faster, little by little. Its definitely like training a muscle, you know? Right nowI gotta think about it, but it¡¯s getting easier with practice. Which reminds me¡ do you think you could make me some stamina potions?¡±
¡°Probably,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I¡¯ll have to find a Stamina trait first, though. I actually bet cooking will help with that; its common for foodstuff to restore health and things in games, you know?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll start keeping an eye out, and I¡¯ll check around in the market,¡± he finished.
¡°Thanks.¡±
Kera then wandered off in search of her pets, and Jason stood, stretched, and returned to his lab, where he spent the next hour and a half continuing to refine ingredients, mixing his refined traits into powdered form, and placing them into labeled, stoppered vials. He made a note to ask around about getting some kind of wood or leather case made to help sort and store them, but for now he simply wrapped them in folds of cloth and sorted them out onto his shelving.
Jason also set a simple experiment in motion by setting up some more elemental shard synthesis, this time using several doses of Prismatic, placing his projects under different conditions. Two were immersed into a bowl of water, two buried in a pot filled with dirt and loose stones, and two more placed into another into one of his sealed, heated crucibles. All three skill activations seemed to work, though Jason knew he¡¯d have to wait until later to see the results.
Then Jason took a break, sitting down in the kitchen to read his tomes a bit, where Kera joined him in order to study her own books, the ones on various monster species that she¡¯d earned her Monster Lore skill from.
Not too much later, just before noon, Lumi returned to take her much-needed shower, after which Jason got a huge, damp-haired hug for having provided her some new hair dye. She hadn¡¯t used it yet, explaining that the process would take time and repeated applications to make sure it set in properly, but Jason couldn¡¯t help but smile at the girl¡¯s enthusiasm at the prospect of not having to go back to her natural color.
Lumi disappeared into her room to change into her armor and get her gear together, and then it was time for the three friends to head out.
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª
Their first stop was, of course, the marketplace. Kera headed off to Fanciful Finery, with Lumi in tow, while Jason made a few brief stops around the main market, speaking with various the owners of various stalls regarding getting food supplies sent to the house. He was surprised to learn that Arnvale had a relatively thriving bee population, and thus he was able to purchase a fair supply of honey, and along with the ready availability of beet crops, meant that he could buy sugar as well, albeit it was on the expensive side. Still, it meant his cooking options were much wider than he¡¯d expected; if he had ready access to sugars, and he knew more or less the chemistry principles for producing powdered yeast and baking soda, he could probably figure out baking powder, since it mostly involved stuff like spoiled milk, corn starch, and processed animal bone. And baking powder and sugar meant¡ all sorts of things.
So Jason ended up throwing around a bit more money than he¡¯d planned, and left several highly confused but moderately richer townsfolk in his wake, requesting anything from basic foodstuffs to waste products to scraps of cloth, leather, and hammered metal, and paying extra to get much of it delivered directly. The rest went into his new grocery bags, which he simply then buckled onto his belt after filling.
Some of what he requested wouldn¡¯t be available for a few days, but it would be worth the wait; if he was going to stick with the whole [Legendary Fare] thing, he might as well go the full mile.
Afterwards, Jason met back up with Kera and Lumi, and together they headed to the Lodge.
It was just as busy as it had been the last few times he¡¯d been there, and Kera immediately made a bee-line towards the handful of non-humans present, ostensibly so she could get a good look at them and add their species to her list of potential shapes. She was still in her baseline changeling form, and it drew more than a few stares.
Jason left her to fend for herself, and approached Therissa at the front desk. He gave her a slight wave.
¡°Hey. Reporting for duty, or something along those lines,¡± he said. ¡°Aurion said we¡¯d be meeting someone?¡±
¡°Ah yes. Ravs and Aldin. Third table, right side,¡± Therissa said. She gestured with one hand without even looking up from her endless stacks of paperwork that seemed to always be present on her desk.
¡°Thanks.¡±
Jason and Lumi collared Kera, and made their way over to the indicated table, where two people roughly of similar age to himself sat, clearly waiting.
The first was a young man of average build, with shoulder-length, plain brown hair and lightly-tanned skin. If it weren¡¯t for the short, pointed dog ears and yellow-brown eyes, Jason would have assumed he was human.
The girl one the other hand was decidedly not human, but what he thought of as a ¡®typical¡¯ elf you¡¯d see in fantasy games back home: Skin that leaned on the pale side without being unnaturally so, long silver-blue hair, and pointed ears that slanted back along the sides of her head. She was also clearly one of those spellcasters who dressed the part: while her companion was dressed in a relatively simple affair of cloth tunic and leather vest and breeches, looking for all the world like an ordinary peasant, she was dressed in a silk dress of pale purple, with blue and gold embroidery down the center. A black cloak wrapped up and over the tops of both her shoulders, pinned in place at the breast by an ornate, gold clasp inscribed with runes.
Jason gave a small wave of greeting as he and the girls approached.
¡°Ravs and Aldin?¡±
¡°That¡¯s us,¡± The girl said. ¡°You Jason?¡±
¡°Yep.¡± Jason replied. ¡°This is Lumi and Kera. I guess we¡¯re your new squad mates for the raid?¡±
The dog-eared young man looked Kera and Lumi over appraisingly, though he wasn¡¯t especially rude about it. Without even looking at him, the elf girl reached over and twisted his ear lightly. He yelped and clapped a hand to his head as she released him.
¡°So, a changeling, huh?¡± the girl asked, dropping her hand and ignoring her companion¡¯s half-hearted grumble. ¡°Surprised to see you walking about in what I¡¯m guessing is your real skin.¡±
Kera shrugged. ¡°I like to mix things up. Still deciding what I¡¯ll play at being next. In the meantime, I¡¯m fine just being me.¡±
¡°Good philosophy. I¡¯m Ravs, by the way. Short for Ravindra.¡± She held out a hand towards Kera.
Kera shook hands with her, and Ravs offered her hand to Lumi, and then Jason. Her hands were slim and delicate, and Jason had a sudden urge to take her hand and bow over it when she extended it to him. He didn¡¯t though, since he¡¯d yet to see any kind of overtures of deference amongst the townsfolk, and Kera and Lumi hadn¡¯t either, so he simply shook her hand lightly.
¡°Good to meet you.¡± He said.
¡°Man, I don¡¯t know what you did to impress the ol¡¯ prof,¡± Aldin said, ¡°But it must have been something big for him to reshuffle the plan and let you into the class mid-session to boot. He¡¯s a real stickler for the rules.¡±
Jason chuckled lightly. ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll hear about it eventually, but I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to keep a lid on it for now, until I hear back from Aurion.¡±
Aldin grinned at him. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s fine, I¡¯m used to secrets. Ravs here is a Feypact Warlock. She¡¯s got so many secrets that she even puts up wards against scrying when she goes to the bathroom.¡±
¡°I do not!¡±
¡°I think I begin to see how you got assigned tutoring duty,¡± Lumi commented dryly.
Aldin coughed lightly into his fist. ¡°Yes, well. Things may have gotten a bit out of hand. But you¡¯ve saved us the drudgery of being assigned to help do paperwork, so I¡¯m gonna call that win.¡±
Ravs eyed him dubiously from the side for a moment, then turned to Lumi.
¡°You three look like you¡¯ve got at least some experience, anyway,¡± she said. ¡°Might as well get to know each other before we hit the books. As Aldin already spilled the beans, I¡¯m Feypact, with some levels of Sorceress on top of it. I specialize in crowd control, illusions, and mobility. Aldin here is a straight up Shaman, with a little bit of everything going for him. And before you ask, his ears are a mixed-heritage thing. His mother was a mana-touched, and some of it passed on to him.¡±
¡°Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what¡¯s Feypact mean?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Where I come from the, uh, term ¡®warlock¡¯ can have a few different meanings, not just class.¡±
She just looked back at Jason with a small smile. So of course, Aldin was the one who answered.
¡°Warlocks are spellcasters who get their spells in a different fashion from your standard wizard,¡± he said. ¡°They learn specialized skills and spells by performing difficult tasks for a powerful patron of some kind. Hers is some kind of powerful, ancient forest spirit from her homeland, hence the name. She won¡¯t tell me what it is or why she made a pact with it, because patrons seem to like their privacy and only grant their gifts for their own mysterious reasons. Most patrons aren¡¯t particularly¡ nice¡ but some are better than others. Greater Fey are one of those patrons that tend to learn on our side instead of, you know, wanting to tear down cities and turn them into their own personal larder.¡°
¡°Like I said¡ secrets,¡± he finished with a wink.
¡°And the Archive doesn¡¯t actively hunt down warlocks?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Sounds iffy to me.¡±
¡°Meh.¡± Ravs blew a wisp of hair out of her face, flicking a dark-gloved finger dismissively. ¡°Only if you¡¯re stupid, and make a pact with something you shouldn¡¯t.¡±
¡°I assume there''s some kind of vows involved, there,¡± Jason said. ¡°What happens if you break them, or want to try and break things off?¡±
¡°Bad things,¡± Ravs replied simply.
¡°Fair enough,¡± Lumi said.
¡°Now that I¡¯ve aired my dirty laundry, how bout you spill yours?¡± Ravs said with a smirk.
¡°Actually, I¡¯ve maybe got a better suggestion,¡± Lumi said. ¡°If I¡¯m guessing right, you two have been amply tired of running guard shifts or whatever while me and my friends were out doing the real work on an expedition to the Wastes, yeah?¡±
¡°You bet,¡± Aldin replied.
¡°Well, Jason here¡¯s an Artificer,¡± Lumi said, jerking a thumb in his direction. ¡°He learns new runes basically by just watching us show off our spells, and Kera and I just earned a whole mess of new stuff on our trip. We were actually hoping you might be willing to join us and show off some of your own talents if you had ones he can learn from, and that way you can also see some of our own in action. Make an early start to maybe training together in preparation for the raid, do some sparring if anyone feels up to it?¡±
¡°That sounds way better than sitting around doing tutoring work,¡± Aldin said.
¡°Great,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I actually already reserved a section of the expanded training grounds over at the guardhouse, so how about we grab an early lunch here and then head over?¡±
Ravs tapped a finger against her lips twice, then nodded. ¡°Sounds good to me. But what about the tutoring? Aurion will ask.¡±
¡°I actually bet we know most of that stuff already,¡± Jason said. ¡°He sort of assumed we were clueless, but we¡¯ve got¡ tangential experience, let¡¯s say. I don¡¯t suppose you have any kind of textbooks or something we could borrow? Skimming to see what¡¯s different might be faster than outright sitting through lessons, and less work for everyone.¡±
¡°Different?¡± Ravs asked with a raised eyebrow.
¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± Jason said.
¡°Hmm.¡±
Aldin snorted. ¡°Stop trying to play all cold and mysterious, Ravs. They¡¯ll learn soon enough you¡¯re really a big softie.¡±
She stuck her tongue out at him.
He turned to Jason. ¡°I can lend you my books if you want. Not like Aurion¡¯s holding classes anyway while we¡¯re here.¡±
¡°Training ground it is, then,¡± Jason said.
Chapter 31
After a light lunch of fruit, cheese, and some sort of spicy sausage that Jason thought didn''t quite taste like pork, the five adventurers headed down to the guardhouse.
The building itself was relatively small, as befitted what amounted to no more than a small barracks for a handful of guardsmen, a smaller jail, and a single pair of office rooms.
The training yard outside had clearly seen recent renovation. Originally an outdoor, fifty-foot square of hard packed dirt, the yard had been expanded to three times that size with a series of sturdy-looking stone barricades. While the expanded yard had been cleared of grass and other vegetation, the packed dirt of the original grounds left a clear line between old and new such that he would have been able to discern the difference even if it weren¡¯t for the fancy new equipment: namely, training dummies designed for higher-strength adventurers and spellcasters.
Jason wasn¡¯t aware of any spellcasters among the town guard. In fact, to the best of his knowledge, Flora was one of the few actual spell-users in the town. He supposed that many people probably knew a handful of spells good for everyday use, but nothing on par with your typical adventuring wizard, so it was a surprise to him to see that the guard had such sophisticated equipment on hand.
But here they were: training equipment made not of leather and straw and rusted armor, as Jason had expected, but rather made of oak and stone and steel, many engraved with runes of warding or reflection. Targets, pells, mock dummies¡ in one corner of the yard, there was even a trio of guild applicants aiming bolts of force at tiny floating metal spheres that swirled about in the air, seemingly engaged in some kind of competitive training exercise.
Jason wondered if the guild had brought them for the students. Certainly he knew that Arnvale didn¡¯t have a local enchanter, other than himself anyway, so they hadn¡¯t been made here.
Either way, the equipment was here now. Most of it was in use one way or another, but Lumi quickly lead him and the others to an unoccupied section that contained several of what Jason thought of as ¡®standard¡¯ mock dummies.
Sevani was there waiting for them, standing in the sunlight in her usual formal-looking attire. She adjusted her spectacles at they approached.
¡°Right on time, Lumi,¡± Sevani commented. ¡°The previous group just left.¡±
¡°What¡¯s with the scheduling thing, anyway?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t everyone out escorting the farmer hands or something, or is that done with?¡±
¡°The planting is nearly complete, yes,¡± Sevani replied, ¡°but the guild brought close to thirty members, and we¡¯ve been training up a few townsfolk who¡¯ve volunteered to join in on the defense should the town come under assault.¡±
She continued. ¡°As such, the facility has been under constant use, sometimes even at night.¡±
¡°It¡¯s also a good way for us adventuring types to blow off steam,¡± Aldin commented.
Sevani gave him a glare over the top of her glasses. ¡°This time, do try not to break anything?¡±
Aldin gave her a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck.
¡°You¡¯ve got two hours scheduled,¡± Sevani said. ¡°Use them well. Will you be joining me again in the morning, Lumi?¡±
¡°Sure thing.¡±
¡°Very well then.¡± Sevani adjusted her spectacles again, made a note on her ever-present notebook, and then turned to leave. She paused and turned back to Jason.
¡°I hope my advice to you has been of use?¡± she asked him. ¡°I haven¡¯t had a chance to ask.¡±
He nodded. ¡°Absolutely. Already have it unlocked and hit level three, even.¡±
¡°Congratulations, then,¡± she told Jason with a small smile and a polite nod. Then she left, heading back into the guardhouse.
¡°Why is she the one managing the schedule?¡± Jason asked Lumi.
¡°I think it''s really because she also sort of stands in for the Mayor¡¯s personal assistant,¡± Lumi said. Then she cocked her head, considering. ¡°Well, that¡¯s not quite right. She mentioned something about how her job covers so much of the city infrastructure and depends on her that she¡¯s kind of like¡ I don¡¯t know¡ something like the town¡¯s general manager. Basically though the short answer is that she¡¯s super organized and the Mayor asked her to give Denaire a hand on making sure everything runs smoothly.¡±
¡°I think I understood that.¡± Jason said. ¡°Anyway, lets get to work.¡±
Over the next hour, the others took turns demonstrating their skills to each other and asking questions, while Jason activated his [Arcane Sight] as often as he could. Each time he learned a new rune, he used a mental command to simply pin it to a combined list on the side; he¡¯d check them all out at once afterwards.
Kera showed off her new spells, followed by Lumi demonstrating Icicle and Frost Armor, as well as some of her older Sunwarden spells Jason hadn¡¯t yet seen, such as Solar Flare. The resulting arc of near-uncontrollable flames set fire to several of the wooden dummies at once, causing Kera to activate one of her own new spells: one that conjured up a giant, white beetle taller than Jason was, which doused the flames with a torrent of sleet, ice, and snow from its abdomen much like a bombardier beetle would spray heated, noxious chemicals.
¡°Please tell me you aren¡¯t going to be doing things¡ like that,¡± Lumi said with a gesture to the beetle¡¯s rear end.
Kera¡¯s face flamed red while Aldin laughed uproariously at the implication.
¡°I, uh¡ no. I think I¡¯m gonna pass on that one.¡± Kera said. ¡°I don¡¯t think my clothes would survive me growing a giant beetle-butt.¡±
¡°That reminds me¡,¡± Jason started to say.
Ravs snorted at him, and Jason corrected the course of his statement.
¡°The clothes I mean,¡± he said hastily. ¡°What did Nissette have to say?¡±
¡°Oh, right, that,¡± Kera replied as she dismissed the beetle. ¡°She said that enchanted gear doesn¡¯t change to fit the wearer by default, unfortunately. I¡¯m going to need something with a specific kind of extra enchantment on it. I¡¯m really hoping you can maybe learn those runes from watching me shapeshift. You¡¯ve got something from my monster magic before, right?¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°While I¡¯ve not had time to scan most of your blue magic when you¡¯ve put it to use, I did learn a Perception rune from that thing you do where you turn your hair all crystalline, using only Analyze Spell. Let¡¯s give it a try?¡±
¡°Hang on, one second,¡± Lumi said. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡±
Lumi quickly jogged over to the other side of the training yard, where she tapped an aging guardsman on the shoulder, interrupting whatever lecture he was giving to a handful of heavy-set, warrior-looking types. After what looked like a brief apology for the interruption and a short exchange, the man shrugged and nodded. Lumi reached into her pocket and handed over a fistful of coins, and returned with a pair of two vials filled with green liquid.
She held them up and addressed Kera. ¡°Stamina potions, yeah?¡±
Jason looked at her with surprise.
¡°What, you think a training grounds wouldn¡¯t have some minor potions on hand for accidents and demos and stuff?¡± Lumi said. ¡°You aren¡¯t the only one who makes them, you know.¡±
Ravs eyed Jason a bit speculatively. ¡°He does potions too? Thats good news for us.¡±
¡°Potions, wands, armor, weapons¡ pretty much everything.¡± Kera commented.
Jason staggered slightly as she threw an arm around him; apparently changelings were more solid than they looked.
¡°He¡¯s our walking armory,¡± Kera said, giving him a hug.
¡°Armory in training, maybe.¡± Jason replied.
¡°Ah, give yourself more credit,¡± Kera said. ¡°You¡¯ve already started enchanting our house with modern conveniences, for which I am very thankful, and you¡¯ll have Machinist soon enough.¡±
She gave him a smile and another hug, then dropped her arm. ¡°Now lets see if I can¡¯t get you some more runes. Gotta keep up my end of things. I already feel kinda bad that we ask so much of you.¡±
Kera rolled her shoulders and cracked her neck. ¡°Anyhow¡ ready when you are.¡±
Jason reactivated his [Arcane Sight] and Kera began with activating her changeling powers. It turned out she¡¯d perhaps undersold the value of her morning¡¯s practice session, because she managed to get through four forms before needing one of the stamina potions.
She ran through several different species. In addition to her previous kitsune and plains elf forms, she took the shape of an exceptionally tall dwarf (making her robe sag everywhere), a very petite minotaur (which stretched it to its limits), whatever elf species Ravs was, and then even made herself look like a Life-touched similar to Flora. On a whim, she even tried, and succeeded,in making herself into a life-touched version of a minotaur.
Jason learned more than one rune from her performance, so Kera took a break from her shapeshifting to demonstrate her [Monster Magic] spells. Afterwards, she drank the remaining stamina potion, and switched to activating Beastmorph.
First she attempted to copy Ceri. That resulted in the abrupt discovery that working out how to fly was a far different thing than slithering around on the floor or how to walk on four legs.
¡°I think I¡¯m gonna need to invest some skill points before I can fly,¡± Kera complained, sprawled in a heap, tangled up by her own tail and lying on one wing at an awkward angle.
¡°You¡¯re lucky you didn¡¯t break anything,¡± Lumi admonished.
¡°Bah.¡±
Kera righted herself. Then she ran through mistwolf and rockhound, and finally, gorthek.
¡°Holy shit!¡± Aldin exclaimed, backpedaling, as Kera¡¯s form exploded upwards in size. Across the grounds, heads turned as Kera grew first to the size of a horse, then the size of a small car as she took on her new form.
¡°You weren¡¯t kidding when you said it was like a bizarre cross of lion, rhino, and buffalo,¡± Lumi commented to Jason as they both looked on.
Kera¡¯s gorthek form was massive, with four thick, powerful legs and brown, leathery skin. A pair of massive horns grew down and forward from her bony forehead, then swept upwards, perfect for goring opponents and ramming fortifications. Long, razor-sharp fangs like that of a lion filled her mouth.
¡°This feels amazing,¡± Kera rumbled in a deep voice. She flexed her forelimbs, which much like a lion¡¯s seemed to functions as part leg, part hand, though they lacked the lion¡¯s claws. Then she turned, and with a roar she ducked low, then rammed her head forwards, slamming into one of the enchanted training dummies with the full weight of her bulk. As she did, she swung her forehead upwards straight into what served as the torso.
There was a flash of light as the dummy¡¯s shield sprang into existence as she struck, but it didn¡¯t hold. Fragments of light splintered away, and with a loud crack the dummy¡¯s stone post shattered and it went flying backwards into the wall where it shattered, and that segment of barricade toppled.
¡°Woops.¡± Kera said sheepishly.
Jason caught sight of Sevani bursting out the door with an angry look on her face.
¡°Uh oh,¡± Aldin said, spotting her as well.
¡°Hang on, I got this,¡± Jason said.
He quickly strode up to to the broken post and faced towards the fallen barricade.
¡°Arcane Reconstruction,¡± he commanded.
The fragments of the dummy lifted into the air and drifted back towards the shattered stump, where they snapped back into place and merged. A second application of his skill repaired the barricade.
Jason realized the target dummy¡¯s enchantment hadn¡¯t reactivated. Quickly triggering his arcane sight, he saw that when the rune sequence was broken apart, it released all the stored mana into the surrounding area, where it was quickly dispersing.
With a sigh, and withdrew one of his vials of arcane powder, and reactivated the enchantment.
Sevani was standing a distance away, apparently having stopped in her tracks as soon as Jason activated his skill.
¡°All good!¡± he shouted cheerfully to her with a wave.
She frowned at him, but then turned and went back inside.
¡°Maybe a little less enthusiasm?¡± Jason asked a rather sheepish looking Kera.
¡°Yeah,¡± she rumbled.
¡°That was awesome,¡± Aldin said. You smashed apart that barrier spell like it wasn¡¯t even there. What are you? It remind me of some of my mother¡¯s pets, but way bigger.¡±
¡°A Gorthek,¡± Jason explained. ¡°They¡¯re a kind of siege beast used as mounts by¡¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Jason almost said ¡®by orcs¡¯, but then recalled that he didn¡¯t know anything about what orcs were actually like here. For all he knew, they could just be regular people instead of stereotyped, marauding savages.
¡°¡ some monster types back home,¡± he finished instead.
¡°Where¡¯s home?¡± Ravs asked. She was leaning back against one of the pells, arms crossed.
¡°Really far away,¡± Lumi said sadly.
Ravs raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but didn¡¯t push.
Kera changed the subject, to Jason¡¯s relief. ¡°Well that¡¯s it for me right now. I could do the beetle too, but you¡¯ve already seen that. I¡¯ll change back.¡±
¡°Wait!¡± Aldin interrupted. ¡°Could¡ could I maybe¡ get a ride? Just once?¡±
Ravs burst out laughing at him, and Aldin¡¯s face turned beet red.
¡°It¡¯s just, I always used to ride around with Mom¡¯s, uh, friends, as a kid and I haven¡¯t seen her in ages, so I haven¡¯t been riding in so long and uh¡ I mean you don¡¯t have to or anything and¡and¡¡±
He trailed off, stammering.
Ravs straightened, still laughing, and walked over to him. She poked him in the side with an amused look on her face.
¡°Where did this come from? Aldin the Unflappable realizing he¡¯s really put his foot in his mouth? That¡¯s new.¡±
His face was beet red, and he mumbled something.
¡°Ok,¡± Kera said in her current, deep base.
Jason looked over to Kera, surprised. She shrugged, rolling her massive fore-shoulders.
¡°I can¡¯t promise you won¡¯t fall off,¡± Kera continued. ¡°I¡¯m new at this, but I¡¯m all for trying.¡±
¡°What?¡± she said, looking at the others. ¡°Did you expect me to be all ¡®oh no, he¡¯s treating me like a beast of burden¡¯ or something? He asked nicely. And you can¡¯t tell me it might not come in handy someday for me to be able to fly Jason up into the sky to drop salamander stones on people or something. I might as well at least see what it''s like.¡±
Lumi laughed. ¡°I guess she does have a point.¡±
After that, their training session devolved largely into everyone taking turns riding atop Kera¡¯s back l as she lumbered up and down the yard. Even Ravs had a go. Kera pronounced it both fun and worth the trouble; the workout she was getting felt great, and between her morning shifting practice, her earlier demonstration, and running laps around the yard carrying people, she had actually been rewarded with a minor stamina increase and a single point of endurance.
Jason was a bit surprised she got something after only one day of practice, but Ravs knew the answer as to why: it was because Kera was primarily a spellcaster, which generally translated into much lower strength and stamina than your average warrior. Essentially, she was working herself to the bone and had expended her entire stamina pool multiple times, which she had never done before. Much like exercising a long-disused muscle, she¡¯d feel it in the morning, but would be the stronger for it.
The Voice rewarded effort, after all.
Their fun was interrupted though, just as Aldin was climbing up onto Kera¡¯s back for a second go around. A shrill, distant whine sounded, and then a second, followed by a third. Ravs, Aldin, and several of the others present seemed to be familiar with sound ¡ª they immediately swiveled and looked up into the sky, where Jason could see three streamers of light shoot up into the sky in a cluster. They burst in a shower of sparks, two red, one white. The streamer that had burst into white sparks went off two more times, and then bloomed red.
The guardhouse turned into a kicked anthill almost instantaneously, as all the guild applicants began shouting, shucking off training gear, and taking up arms. It didn¡¯t take Jason any time to guess what the lights meant: prearranged signal flares of some kind.
¡°Situation critical. Western banks, section two,¡± Aldin said, looking down from Kera¡¯s back. ¡°Ravs?¡±
¡°On it already,¡± she replied, She thrust out her hands to either side, and a white mist started pouring off her in waves as she began a long, complex chant.
Aldin grasped one of Kera¡¯s horns in one hand, and leaned down towards her head. He started speaking to her, but Jason couldn¡¯t hear over all the noise.
Kera seemed to hear just fine though, and she gave a deafening roar that silenced the yard.
¡°Anyone who¡¯s ready, form up now!¡± Kera bellowed as Aldin gave her instruction. ¡°Standard teleport formation! Link hands! You have thirty seconds!¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know what that means.¡± Kera muttered to Aldin as the adventurers began to form up in a circle two-deep around Ravs. Aldin nudged Kera forwards, as close to Ravs as she could without touching the warlock, who continued to exude wave after wave of mist that was now pooling around their feet.
¡°Uh, I realize I¡¯m the novice here,¡± Jason asked abruptly, ¡°but shouldn¡¯t Kera change back? And I thought normally you couldn¡¯t teleport farther than you can see without huge effort.¡±
¡°Warlocks don¡¯t do ¡®normally¡¯, really,¡± Aldin told Jason. Then he leaned to Kera again. ¡°Do you want me to get down, Kera? Or I can buff you from up here if you want to stay shifted.¡±
¡°Stay,¡± She rumbled firmly. ¡°Let¡¯s see how it works. I won¡¯t have the stamina to shift again if I change now, and I don¡¯t have my staff with me anyway. But will you be able to hang on?¡±
Jason left them to work out whatever they needed. He didn¡¯t have any kind of weapon on him, but he wouldn¡¯t let that stop him. He seized a pair of small metal batons and thrust them into what were normally his wand holsters, and snatched up a quarterstaff as well before sprinting back to the circle, where he was quickly pulled in. He passed a pair of potions to Lumi.
A good dozen adventurers, plus Jason and the others, stood in two circles around Ravs by the time she raised her hands. He barely had enough time to activate [Arcane Sight] as her spell completed. The mist spun up from the ground, enveloping everyone in the two rings, joined hand to hand. Kera provided the link between the two circles, with Lumi grabbing her by the horn on one side, with Aldin grabbing the other while an unknown adventurer had a grip around his ankle.
The world turned white.
The mists dropped abruptly, and Jason found himself in the middle of a small cluster of farmhouses. The other adventurers immediately burst into action, some casting spells on themselves, others sprinting towards the riverbank where several other farmhouses now sat. Smoke was just beginning to rise from their rooftops, and Jason could see dark figures pouring out of the water nearby.
Kera quickly lumbered forwards under Aldin¡¯s direction, and everyone quickly followed.
¡°Buffs out!¡± Lumi yelled. ¡°Frost Armor. Dawnbreaker. Wrathful Mantle.¡± She was suddenly sheathed in glowing, gold-tinted ice, the cold rolling off her in waves. In contrast, her longsword lit up with light, half-visible flames flickering along the edges.
Ravs and Aldin began their own spells.
¡°Frightful Presence. Spiteful Glamour. Invisibility.¡± Ravs commanded as mist wrapped about her and she faded from view.
Aldin, for his part, pressed his hands flat onto Kera¡¯s back. ¡°Flametongue. Rockbiter. Lightning Shield.¡±
Sparks and swirls of elemental power began to run up an down Kera¡¯s body.
Jason raised an eyebrow at the young shaman. Apparently riding Kera meant she counted as ¡®his weapon¡¯ as far as The Voice was concerned.
He saw more notifications springing up; [Arcane Sight] was still active, and spells were flying left and right. He¡¯d check later. He had his own skills to put to use.
As the others began to move towards the shoreline, Jason lagged behind, tucking the quarterstaff under one shoulder and pulling out his crystal fang and several doses of arcane powder. Swiftly he began carving into one of the batons he¡¯d grabbed, using a mixture of actual [Engraving] and [Improvise].
It didn¡¯t take him long to do the work, since he stuck to carving the simple parts while he focused his mind on [Improvising] the more complex runes. The work wouldn¡¯t hold long, but it would do for now.
He muttered under his breath as he worked furiously, relying in Improvise to speed him along.
¡°Absorption¡ Control¡ Fire¡ False Life¡ Barrier... Motive¡Barrier¡.¡±
It took several doses of powder, but it worked. With a flare of mana, the runes on the baton lit up; he could see the mana flowing along ghostly, invisible runes where he¡¯d used improvise instead of carving physical channels. He¡¯d managed a more than a dozen different runes; his largest enchantment yet, even if it was probably going to fall apart after a few minutes¡¯ use.
But he be damned if it wouldn¡¯t be effective against a bunch of murklings.
He joined several of the guild applicant students, mages, who were standing at the back line. The rest of his group formed up in front as the murklings continued to pile out of the river, milling about on the banks. There had to be at least several dozen, an equal number of frogoids, and he could see three Sobeks standing in the water.
At some unseen signal Jason didn¡¯t see, all the murklings roared a united battlecry, and surged forwards.
Spells began to fly, streaks of light launching outwards to strike the monsters as they rushed the adventurers. A dozen were cut down in an instant, and then the frogoid vanguard struck the front lines where Lumi, Kera, and Aldin awaited with a trio of heavily armored warriors with greatswords.
Kera bowled into the group, bellowing, her horns goring and crushing the frogoids while Aldin tossed miniature lighting bolts with one hand from her back, holding on for dear life with the other.
Jason released the baton, holding it down and forwards with one hand. It floated in the air, and a shimmering sphere of fire began to take shape around. It appeared first as a swirl of ordinary fire, but then rapidly began to condense into the sort of solid-looking, magical flames that Lumi¡¯s bracer and sun shield were formed of. In fact, that¡¯s what he had taken the idea from. Except in this case, it was a sphere formed of multiple, interlocking barriers.
The sphere split apart, opening at the bottom and folding an outer layer downwards, revealing multiple shield-like shapes that split once more, first forming four lower, flattened legs, then a pair of arms, and Jason¡¯s mana drained swiftly down to levels low enough to make him a little light headed.
It will be enough, Jason thought.
¡°Animate Object.¡±
His creation jerked upright: a fiery, four-legged, sphere about which four addition barriers spun madly.
¡°Designated Foe: Murklings.¡± Jason commanded, and his creation turned, and began scuttling madly in the direction of the fish-creatures.
Jason downed one of his rejuvenation potions to restore a portion of his mana.
His creation rampaged its way through the murklings, who scattered in all directions, fleeing from its fiery, spinning form. Jason began carving the sequence for something that would draw on his own mana to throw projectiles of fire; ones hopefully stronger than the smaller shadowbolts his previous wand had produced.
Thank god for learning that fire rune from Lumi¡¯s Flare, Jason thought to himself. Lets see those sobek shrug off these.
He downed a least mana potion, hoping it wouldn¡¯t react badly with the other one. So far he hadn¡¯t had any issues with the least ones, but there was always a first time. Maybe he would ask Aldin about it; the young shaman had mentioned he had some healing spells, so he would know doubt know how it all worked.
Banishing his distracting thoughts, Jason took aim at the sobeks in the back row, waiting for them to advance into range.
In front of him, he saw Lumi call out an order, and the front-liners formed up around Kera¡¯s flanks as Aldin released some sort of area pulse of healing energy; Jason recognized the telltale glow of green that enveloped everyone around him. Then, with Jason¡¯s construct still rampaging through the murklings¡¯ formation, Lumi and Kera led the others on a charge directly into the ranks of the frogoids, laying about with swords and spells and bellowing roars.
The frogoids didn¡¯t stand a chance. Then again, they weren¡¯t really meant to; instead, they were clearly supposed to buy time for the murklings to advance in formation, where their spears would be put to good use.
Unfortunately, spears weren¡¯t much use against a non-living thing composed entirely of fiery, spinning shields that would catch your spear, pull it out of your hands, and then incinerate you as it just kept on going.
Needless to say, the sobeks were forced to act. They lumbered up out of the water, aiming their sonic blasts at Jason¡¯s creation while he and the mages began to open fire on the huge reptiles. Multiple fire spells converged on the leftmost sobek, who fell to its knees before being struck in the face by a single, massive stone that fell from the sky. Jason glanced quickly in Lumi¡¯s direction, and sure enough, she had one arm outstretched; she¡¯d had a brief window of opportunity in her own fight, and she¡¯s taken it. He saw her down a potion; probably the rejuvenation one he¡¯d given her.
The other two sobeks finally managed to land their sonic blasts Jason¡¯s rapidly-moving construct, just giving up on trying to hit it directly, and instead aiming towards it¡¯s legs, bringing down several of their own troops in the process.
The damage was done, though; Jason had bought enough time for Lumi, Kera, and Aldin to devastate the frogoid forces alongside the other warriors. Meanwhile, a handful of archers and rogue-types were harrying the murklings who¡¯d fled too far away, picking them off one at a time.
Jason pulled his staff up abruptly, redirecting the firebolt he was launching as a thick swirl of pale mist launched itself away from a nearby tree towards the sobek he¡¯d be aiming at.
With a burst of air, Ravs reappeared, clinging to the back of the sobek¡¯s head with her feet wrapped its neck. With a roar he tried to scrape Ravs off, but her body turned wispy and insubstantial as the creature¡¯s claws passed right throughher. She grabbed the sobek¡¯s head in both hands, and it shrieked with unearthly sound that Jason was sure he never wanted to hear again, but probably would.
It began to flail wildly, laying about with wild abandon as if fighting unseen foes, smashing hapless murklings left and right as they got in the way.
Jason turned, and alongside the other casters began to focus his fire upon the remaining sobek, while the front-liners engaged the remaining murklings, making sure to keep well away from the madly screaming sobek with the elven girl attached to his head.
The battle ended swiftly after that; with their leaders downed, their formation disrupted, and two thirds of their forces wiped out, the remaining murklings fled into the water, harried all the way as the archers put arrows into the backs of those who weren''t fast enough.
Jason discarded his staff, pulled out his two remaining rejuvenation potions, and went in search of anyone in need of healing.
A few hours later found Jason and the others sitting at one of the tables in the Lodge, relaxing with mugs of ale, mead, and tea, depending on individual preference.
¡°You¡¯re telling me that was only a minor skirmish?¡± Lumi was asking Aldin.
¡°Yeah that was nothing. I mean, the dungeon¡¯s new and all, right?¡± he replied. ¡°Probably a good four times that in monsters if they¡¯re raiding. Worse, that might have just been a probing force.¡±
Lumi looked at him aghast. ¡°After only three weeks!?¡±
¡°Depends.¡± Ravs said with a shrug. Surprisingly, she¡¯d gone for the spiced mead, which she was oddly enough drinking out of a teacup. Jason wasn¡¯t sure why.
She took a small sip. ¡°If the dungeon has something enabling it to get lots of food really quickly,¡± she explained, ¡°they can grow at a truly frightening rate. That¡¯s why the Guild has to be so careful all the time. Aquatic dungeons are some of the worst. I¡¯m willing to bet this town has¡ or well, had, a thriving fish population. I wouldn¡¯t be shocked to hear if the murklings have been cutting down trees and hunting in the woods on top of herding any local water fauna into the dungeon entrance directly.¡±
¡°How bad is this raid likely to go?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how many people we¡¯ve got.¡±
¡°A little over thirty, give or take,¡± Aldin said. ¡°Probably more like forty, and we¡¯ll be divided into ten-man teams, further split into five-man squads. Hence us being together.¡±
¡°But I wouldn¡¯t worry too much,¡± Aldin said. ¡°Aurion and the other Thorns know what they¡¯re doing. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they move the timetable up, though. Just after a raid is a good time to go in, before the dungeon can respawn what it¡¯s lost and is still struggling to re-process the mana.¡±
¡°I guess I¡¯d better get to work fast, then.¡± Jason said. ¡°Still need to open up Machinist, and I need to get cracking on forging all sorts of magical gear for everyone.¡±
¡°Speaking of¡..¡±
He pulled up his status screen.
He whistled. ¡°I gained a level in every class from that fight.¡±
¡°Me too,¡± Lumi said.
¡°More than one in Scion for me,¡± Kera confirmed.
¡°Wow, how low are you guys?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°That was like a drop in the bucket for me and Ravs.¡±
¡°Uh¡ pretty low. Its a long story.¡± Jason said uncomfortably. ¡°Short answer, we¡¯ve got a wide range of class levels right now.¡±
¡°Yeah, and I¡¯m kicking myself right now for not taking my other classes yet,¡± Lumi griped. ¡°In fact¡¡±
She started poking at the air. She paused. ¡°Huh. Well I guess I won¡¯t need¡¡±
Lumi shook herself, then made a few selections. Her form actively wavered for a moment as she made her selections. Jason wondered if she¡¯d received some sort of passive ability.
¡°There. Lightbringer, Gloomguard, Nightscourge¡. and a Knight specialization for evolving into Pyre Knight. All unlocked¡±
Aldin coughed, spluttering his drink across the table. ¡°What?!¡±
Ravs managed to maintain her composure much better than her companion, but Jason thought he saw the slightest of eye twitches.
¡°Who are you people?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of any of those classes. How can you just so casually pick up four new classes from nowhere?¡±
¡°Yes Aldin,¡± Ravs drawled. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re a font of knowledge about all classes, everywhere. You didn¡¯t even know the difference between Sorceress and Wizard when we first met.¡±
¡°Obviously, she¡¯s been working on an elemental theme build,¡± Ravs continued. ¡°Though I¡¯m greatly curious as to where she got the access to so many different ones.¡±
¡°It¡¯s complicated, and we¡¯ll fill you in assuming Aurion gives us an OK,¡± Jason said firmly. ¡°Now, lets see what I got for new runes, besides fire¡.¡±
Jason grinned. ¡°Welp, looks like this was worth our time. I think I got what we wanted for your clothes, Kera, and I should have enough for basic weapon and armor too. Learned new elements, even.¡±
¡°Yessss¡¡± Kera crowed.
Jason gave Ravs and Aldin a considering glance.
¡°Look,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s go find Aurion. I don''t want to have to keep tiptoeing around you two, and eventually it''s going to bite me if I do. If Aurion gives the OK, I¡¯ll let you in on a bit of what I actually do. I¡¯ve got a lot of work ahead of me, and it might kill two birds with one stone while I get to it while you two teach the three of us dungeon lore. I can get a lot done on the alchemy side of things while I listen in.¡±
¡°Alchemy?¡± Aldin asked.
¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± Jason replied.
Character Sheets - Update 4
I noticed when I was compiling this that I had actually missed Jason''s quest rewards back from completing his task for Jerrik, namely his +2 Int and +20 mana. This meant that Jason hadn''t needed to spend 2 points on Int earlier to hit the extra damage boost from 20, so he would have put his points into Spirit during his big spending spree several chapters ago. So thats where all the extra mana capacity came from.
Doesn''t really affect the story or anything, so I''ve gone ahead and fixed that. Just know that that''s why his mana pool suddenly jumped up 100 points.
Also, I realized while double checking a few things that I hadn''t made it clear that Kera had spent a handful of points immediately ranking up Beastmorph so she could learn mistwolf. (That''s why she showed the fail screen, then shortly thereafter fiddled with her screen, set up commands, and then took the form anyway.) I''ve added a few extra sentences there to clear that up, in case anyone was confused, there.
So......this (should be, I keep finding slight errors) current up through the latest chapter, minus the current inventory, because that''s about to change so much that it isn''t worth me keeping track of just at the moment. Most inventory from the previous update still hold true, minus some of the consumables and adding in a few extra things, but many more additions are to come in the near future as Jason begins his crafting spree to start outfitting people in preperation for the dungeon raid.
Jason Elric, Alchemist
Basic Statistics:
Blur
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.Corrosive Touch
Dawnbreaker
Drain Vitality
Entangling Roots
Frost Armor
Frostbite
Icicle
Shadow Cloak
Sharpen
Solar Flare
Stone Call
Sunlight Shield
Thorn Whip
Vine Wall
Inventory:
Superior Leather Armor, Superior Wool Clothing, Common Steel Longsword, Superior Quality Leather Sword Belt, Common Leather Backpack, Common Studded Leather Boots, Shield of the Elementalist
Notes:
1. No, it isn''t a mistake that Lumi doesn''t have Nightscourge listed. She didn''t realize that there''s a limit of 6 class at a time - A Primary, a Secondary, and two subclasses for each. She''ll complain about that next chapter. She''ll have to decide if she wants to drop Spellblade to stay on-theme or not - though she can''t respec it away, since so many of her abilities rely on having Wellspring.
2. Hilariously, while I had to re-do all of Lumi''s Mana and Stamina thanks to her new classes, it''s easier now despite her having six, because ALL of them are now hybrid melee/caster classes, which means she just gets 10 mana and 10 stamina per class level, plus the usual Might/Spirit bonuses (which she distributes evenly) and 100 per milestone. All I need to do now us check her total level, total milestones, and then add a small bit and I''m done... no more painstakingly working out individual amounts!
Kerali Vakar, Beast-Bonded
Basic Statistics:
Notes:
None Currently.
Chapter 32
It didn''t take Jason and the others long at all to track down Aurion. As it happened, he came down the stairs into the Lodge¡¯s main hall to speak with Therissa right as Jason approached the desk.
¡°Ah, Jason,¡± Aurion said. ¡°Just who I was looking for. I see the rest of you are here as well.¡±
¡°You were looking for me?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Indeed.¡± Aurion replied. ¡°On the subject of our arrangement, the Grandmaster has agreed to the terms as you set out, and has made what I feel is a reasonable suggestion as to the specific rates you wished to settle with him. I have the contract here with his signature if you¡¯d like to look it over. Or we could return upstairs if you¡¯d like to negotiate further.¡±
Aurion held out a sheet of parchment. Jason accepted it, and scanned it carefully, paying particular attention to the amended section relating to exactly how much in the way of potions and request fulfillment the would ask of him. The rates seemed quite reasonable, given the work involved, and even had an additional clause that required the guild to provide any rare ingredients required for requests, or to at least provide a set level of monetary compensation for them, proportional to the potion¡¯s market value.
¡°No, this seems quite acceptable to me. Not intrusive at all.¡± Jason held out a spare hand to Therissa, who was holding a quill for him.
He signed the contract. Therissa took it from him. She carefully looked it over herself, and even passed her analysis tool over it.
¡°Looks all aboveboard,¡± Therissa then said with a nod. ¡°As this is Guild business, I¡¯ll register this with the Lodge, with myself as witness, in case of any disputes.¡±
¡°Thank you,¡± Aurion said with a slight bow towards Therissa. The he turned back towards Jason.
¡°Have you spoken to your new comrades of your abilities?¡± he asked.
¡°Not yet,¡± Jason replied. ¡°In fact, we were looking for you to ask your thoughts on that very matter.¡±
Aurion nodded once, firmly. ¡°Do so. When you are putting your lives in each other¡¯s hands, trust is invaluable, and trust is hard to come by when the other party possesses too many overt secrets.¡±
¡°Speaking of lives at risk,¡± he continued, ¡°good work out there today. I¡¯ve been reading the preliminary reports, and by all accounts you five accounted yourselves more than admirably. That goes double for you Ravs. Your initiative in setting up anchors for a mass teleport in the case of raids turned what might have been a bad situation into little more than minor property damage. Thanks to the speed at which you got a large fighting force into position, most of the houses in the area will be salvageable once the crisis is past.¡±
Aurion gave her a stern look. ¡°In the future, however, I would appreciate knowing ahead of time if my students possess tactical capabilities on such a scale,¡±
¡°Yessir,¡± Ravs replied meekly.
¡°Alright, that¡¯s it for now, then,¡± Aurion said. ¡°Off with you lot. Plenty of catch up you should be doing, and I¡¯ve got work to do.¡±
One visit to Flora¡¯s shop followed by a ten minute walk later, Jason and the others had arrived back at the house.
¡°Holy¡ you weren¡¯t kidding!¡± Aldin exclaimed. ¡°They gave you a whole building for whatever this deal with Black Thorns is?¡±
¡°Actually the house has nothing to do with that,¡± Kera replied. ¡°The Mayor gave us the building, because Jason is going to be supplying the town with armaments. We needed a place to stay in the meantime, because the inn doesn¡¯t have the kind of space he needs.¡±
¡°Now I¡¯m even more confused.¡± Aldin said.
Jason pushed open the door, and the others followed him into the house, where Kera was greeted by an enthusiastic Ceri and Echo. After a brief period of showing of her pets, Kera begged off some time go see to their needs, seeing as they¡¯d been cooped up on their own for several hours.
After she made her exit, Jason led Ravs and Aldon upstairs, where he had them take a seat at the side table. Lumi meanwhile disappeared into her room saying she wanted a quick shower, but she promised Jason she¡¯d answer Ravs and Aldin¡¯s questions after she was finished, so that Jason could focus on getting to work.
Ravs and Aldin both eyed the ritual circle carved into the surface of the stone table with curiosity.
Jason¡¯s first order of business was to check on the elemental shards he¡¯d attempted to synthesize earlier. Each one had completed its transformation. He brought them to the table.
Ravs leaned forwards with interest as Jason set the shards onto the table.
¡°Are those mana crystals?¡± she asked.
¡°Aspected ones, yes.¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°And, interestingly, not the pure elements I was expecting. I wonder if it¡¯s because of the trait I used in their creation?¡±
He looked down at the three shards. The one he¡¯d placed in the crucible wasn¡¯t the same cheerful, bright red of the fire shard he¡¯d transmuted the previous day. Instead, it was ash-black, and gave off faint wisps of smoke.
¡°Wait, you made a mana crystal?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°Don¡¯t those require really specific circumstances to form?¡±
¡°Normally yes.¡± Jason replied. ¡°But my skills allow me to prepare a solution of appropriate mana and infuse it into a sort of¡ seed, I guess, more or less exactly like seeding a crystal. This essentially skips several steps, infusing mana directly and then letting the crystal sit for awhile to absorb appropriate aspects.¡±
He triggered his [Arcane Sight], and his vision became a wash of color. He studied the shard for a moment.
Elemental Shard (Smoke) Traits Discovered: Smoke, Mana
¡°Huh.¡± Jason sat back, considering the shard. Then he turned his gaze onto the other two shards, the ones he¡¯d immersed in water. The first one was a relatively ordinary blue, but streaked with gray and white in places, and it rocked every so slightly in place where it sat on the table. The second shard was a deep turquoise, and smelled faintly of salt water.
Elemental Shard (Ocean) Traits Discovered: Ocean, Mana
Elemental Shard (Wave) Traits Discovered: Wave, Mana
¡°Is that a good ¡®huh¡¯ or a bad one?¡± Ravs asked. ¡°We¡¯re not exactly informed, here.¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Jason replied, sitting up and pulling out of his introspection. ¡°This is why Lumi was going to explain things. I tend to get¡ absorbed¡ in things when I work. Here.¡±
Jason shared the notifications with the other two. ¡°The traits you see mentioned here are much like the runes an enchanter would use, except instead of shaping mana into a specific form, they are mana; aspected mana. By mixing the correct types together in the proper amounts, adding liquid, and using the right skill, I can produce what you would refer to as eternal potions.¡±
Ravs and Aldin stared at Jason, mouths slack.
Jason tried his best to ignore their shock; he was finally beginning to get used to that sort of thing.
¡°That¡¯s the basics of Alchemy,¡± he explained. ¡°By determining the magical properties of naturally occurring substances, I can duplicate most spell effects in potion form, and even create a wide array of non-potion consumables, provided I have the ingredients. Thanks to my discovery of how to create these shards, alongside one of my other talents, I can make many of the ingredients I might need. That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to be doing today, and then tomorrow I¡¯ll be headed down to speak with Tersk and Jerrik for some gear I prototype with using a mix a alchemy and standard enchanting.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Rather than sit around answer questions, Jason decided to put the two to work; they could learn by helping until Lumi was back. He conjured some tools.
¡°Here. Ravs, I want you to take that smoke shard and crush it down into tiny pieces,¡± he ordered. ¡°That one seems to be the most useful at the moment. Aldin, you take the wave shard, as it might turn out to be a close contender. Just smash them into powder as fine as you can manage.¡±
¡°But¡ these things are valuable!¡± Aldin protested. ¡°And you want to¡?¡±
¡°Eternal potions are more valuable,¡± Jason said with a wink.
Aldin raised onefinger in the air. ¡°You may have a point there.¡±
The two got to work while Jason began the process of preparing additional shards. This time he opted for using some of the fulgurite he¡¯d processed earlier in the morning, because he was fairly sure that making lightning shards would be a simple matter, and that element would no doubt be an excellent choice against aquatic opponents.
While Ravs and Aldin ground up the two shards he¡¯s given them, Jason explained how he¡¯d previously extracted the essential trait of ¡®Storm¡¯ from the fulgurite they¡¯d acquired in the Crystal Wastes, and then went on to demonstrate a relatively basic process for creating electricity: a half-dozen different series of lemon batteries, made by wiring up three lemons each with different bits of conductive scrap metal he¡¯d gotten delivered. The lemon batteries Jason then wired up to small bowls containing his storm-mana solution and engraved pieces of tourmaline.
¡°There we go.¡± Jason said. ¡°We¡¯ll let that lot sit for about an hour. With any luck, I¡¯ll have six lightning shards, which I can then turn into twice as many with some additional arcane powder.¡±
¡°This is nuts, man.¡± Aldin stated. ¡°The kind of money involved in this¡¡±
¡°I still can¡¯t believe he can make lightning out of lemons,¡± Ravs said, ¡°even if it is unbelievably weak lightning.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ not really the right term,¡± Jason explained. ¡°Lightning is just a manifestation of certain other things, and it¡¯s actually those other things I¡¯m making here. It¡¯s kind of like¡¡±
Jason paused. ¡°You know, it occurs to me that magical lightning might not be specifically electromagnetic when it¡¯s in an elemental form.¡±
He gave that some thought for a moment before shrugging. ¡°Well, nevermind. It¡¯s unimportant. The interaction of science and elemental magic is besides the point.¡±
He continued ¡°Point is, there¡¯s lots of ways to get¡ lightning from various things. Here, watch.¡±
Jason showed them what he¡¯d show Pelk, striking two pieces of quartz together to create small sparks.
¡°See? Easy. The lemon thing works quite a bit differently, of course, and keeps a constant stream going, but ¡®lightning¡¯ as you put it is easy to generate. Ever gotten a shock because you scuffed your socks too much on the floor and then touched something metal? Same thing as lightning, more or less. The lemons are just passing it along the metal in a constant wave, pushing it into the crystal so it will alter the absorbed mana¡¯s aspect, so you don¡¯t see it.¡±
¡°What¡¯s this about lemons?¡± Lumi asked as she ascended the stairs.
¡°I¡¯m using basic science faire tricks to make lightning-trait mana crystals.¡± Jason informed her, gesturing towards the array of lemon-batteries.
Lumi snickered. ¡°Oh man, I remember those things. Seemed like every faire had at least one.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve given Ravs and Aldin a very basic rundown of what I do, but haven''t gone into detail, really. Care to field questions while I set up the next batch? I really need to resupply our restoratives.¡±
¡°Sure,¡± she replied.
Lumi took a seat and began speaking with the other two while Jason set up the refining of the additional ingredients he¡¯d acquired from Flora, primarily ones for Restore, Health, and Mana, but also a small portion of many others, so he could begin building his supply. As each batch of refined traits was readied, he used some of each to craft new health, mana, and rejuvenation potions. He also created a few antitoxin potions for good measure. Everyone got some, and he set aside more to crate up later.
Partway through Jason¡¯s work Kera returned as well, Ceri and Echo in tow, and eventually Lumi wrapped up her summarization of their situation. By the time be first hour had passed and Jason¡¯s new shards were ready, Ravs and Aldin had started on their own rundown of standard procedures and things to expect when it came to undertaking a Guild-led dungeon raid.
Adventuring groups could vary in size, but within the Black Thorns, five was the norm. While there wasn¡¯t anything like officially assigned parties, most Guild members operated in small, stable squads and the leadership always showed a preference for assigning the same groups of people to work together when it came to official Guild business on a larger scale. As for the current situation, since many of the guild applicants didn¡¯t have pre-formed groups of their own, Aurion had assigned people together based on observed friendships and pairings amongst the class, on the assumption that those people would be the most likely to end up choosing to work together anyway.
¡°How will the raid itself be structured?¡± Jason asked at one point. ¡°Surely Aurion won¡¯t form the raid out of just students, will he?¡±
¡°No,¡± Ravs replied. ¡°As Aldin said back at the lodge, he¡¯ll probably divide everyone into groups of ten, two five person squads each. Each group of ten will be overseen by an experienced Guild member, and will probably include one or two more experienced adventurers. Since this is also a test of sorts, I¡¯m sure the actual Guild members will be as hands off as they can because they want to see what we can do, but they¡¯ll step in if things get messy, and not everyone involved will be guild applicant like us. This is a formal job, after all.¡±
Ravs and Aldin then spent a bit of time explaining various roles that different classes and combinations of classes were categorized under, and how that might determine a given group¡¯s placement. Most of the information was, as Jason had expected, full of concepts he was familiar with, but it was good to receive confirmation that the tactics he¡¯d be expected to understand were relatable to experiences he¡¯d had playing online games.
Kera and Lumi asked questions here and there, and Jason listened in. Meanwhile, he continued to prepare and refine ingredients. His lightning shards turned out just as he¡¯d hoped, and he used the smoke and wave shards to produce more of their own kind by placing their solutions under the same conditions, substituting appropriate traits for his original prismatic solution.
¡°What are you planning to use all this stuff for?¡± Aldin finally asked after a few hours of work had passed and late afternoon was beginning to turn to early evening.
Jason demonstrated. After all, he was currently without any proper weapons. While he was half tempted to make a more permanent fire-construct, given it¡¯s effectiveness, It would be highly expensive to activate and maintain control over, and Jason would rather have a proper weapon in his hands first. Constructs could come later. So instead Jason made his first order of business the creation of a wand he¡¯d been looking forwards to for some time now: A lightning thrower.
First, he prepared the iron rod he that would form the base by affixing the lightning shard to one end after softening the metal in the crucible, simply inserting it into the tip and adding some surrounding solder to keep it in place. Then he wrapped the other end tightly in a leather binding, and relied on his tailoring skills to sew the wrap in place.
He didn¡¯t try to be fancy; Jason had already seen more than once that something about the infusion process altered the physical structure of the item, and he figured it would still occur here.
Using one unit of his new lightning trait, two units of volatile, and one unit of storm, Jason then mixed a series of diluted potions that he infused into the wand. Sure enough, the process warped his creation into a slightly new form: It transformed into a jagged, yellow-tinted rod with a zig-zag shape, with the elemental shard firmly set into the end as a focusing agent.
Jason wasn¡¯t done though. Switching gears from alchemy to engraving, he added the normal rune sequence for elemental projection, and on a whim also included some runes for controlling the motion of the projectile.
The end result was a wand that would draw on Jason¡¯s mana to fling small orbs of electrical energy, whose motion he could then direct with a degree of precision. If desired, he could then trigger the alchemical effect with a mental command, causing the bolt to erupt into a lingering storm cloud that would deliver multiple strikes of lightning to anything nearby. The field effect only had a dozen charges, but he could always add more, and since the wand itself was enchanted properly, it wouldn¡¯t simply burn out once he had used up the charges.
Ravs examined his creation critically.
¡°Not bad. This is probably on par with some of the better rewards you might get from a mature dungeon,¡± she said. ¡°And you plan on making more?¡±
Jason had refined two dozen units of lightning trait with two batches of six elemental shards, and he¡¯d only used six units to craft his wand. He had plenty of storm and volatile left as well.
¡°Sort of,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I¡¯ll need to test this out somewhere first, probably outside the walls given how¡ dramatic¡ some of my other volatiles have ended up being, but I¡¯m hoping with [Metamagician] I can exert some control on the actual size and shape of the storm cloud.¡±
¡°Once I¡¯ve established its effectiveness, I¡¯ll probably imbue this specific effect into single-use arrows. Other¡ spells I guess, like status infliction and damage boosting, will get made into spears and swords. The alchemical effects don¡¯t use mana, and Arnvale doesn¡¯t have many mana-wielders here, so I think its better to infuse standard weapons instead of wands or staves.¡±
¡°Are you going to make more stones?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°Those were pretty effective.¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Absolutely, though I¡¯m thinking that will be a good use of a bunch of those scarab eggs.¡±
¡°Eggs?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°What eggs?¡±
Jason explained about the prism scarab eggs he¡¯d brought back from the expedition.
¡°We brought back dozens,¡± he said, ¡°so I¡¯m thinking I use maybe half of the remaining ones to make a large batch of random-element variants of [Salamander Stones]. Since Volatile is an easy trait to get more of, and I¡¯ve got loads of eggs, making large diluted batches should provide plenty to distribute among the defenders.¡°
¡°I¡¯ll probably then use a quarter of the remaining eggs to explore new elemental shard traits,¡± Jason continued, ¡°since apparently ¡®prismatic¡¯ does some weird things to the process, so I can continue to experiment with new effects. I¡¯m wondering what ¡®Prismatic Wave¡¯ might do, for instance. ¡®Prismatic Storm¡¯ was a little too effective, since it threw out a lot of potential friendly fire, but a wave effect that pushes out away from us¡¡±
Lumi nodded. ¡°That could be useful. A barrier wand might be good too.¡±
Jason waggled his hand in the air. ¡°Eh, not sold on that, though it has some value in opponents not being able to counter an elemental shield accurately. But if it¡¯s random, it also runs the risk of putting up a shield that might be weak to a really strong attack at the worst possible moment.¡±
¡°Can you control what element you get out of it?¡± Kera asked suddenly. ¡°You¡¯ve got that multipurpose control rune I¡¯ve seen you use. Could you maybe craft something that would just use a tiny bit of your own mana first allowing you to.. you know, nudge things in the right way?¡±
Jason drummed his fingers on the table in front of him, thinking.
¡°I doubt it,¡± he said, ¡°That particular rune doesn¡¯t really work that way. Its more like¡ª¡±
He cut off, looking down at his hands, where he¡¯d been idly tapping his fingers against the transmutation circle he¡¯d carved into the table.
¡°Like what?¡± Kera asked.
Jason grinned. ¡°Hang on, I¡¯ve got an idea¡.Lumi, can I see your bracer for a minutes?¡±
Chapter 33
Lumi had already changed out of her armor in order to take her shower, so she had to run back down to her room in order to retrieve her shield bracer. While Jason waited he continued to process various ingredients via refinement, and listened in on the discussion between Kera, Ravs, and Aldin, who began to speak a little about their own backgrounds.
Aldin had a series of questions for Kera, for he found her wide array of monster magic fascinating. Jason learned that as Ravs had said, the boy¡¯s mother had been mana-touched, and a [Beastmaster] on top of it. He¡¯d managed to inherit at least a portion of her talents, and thus had a natural interest in druidic and shamanic magic, which often dealt with beasts and elemental power.
¡°You really enjoy the whole monstrous thing, don¡¯t you?¡± Aldin asked once Kera had briefly demonstrated her Crystal Serpent form, after having realized she had yet to add it to her list of learned creatures.
¡°Yep!¡± Kera replied with a grin. ¡°I mean come on, how many people get to go through life experiencing the infinite variety of shapes that nature has on display? And it¡¯s fun, and a bit of a rush, too.¡±
¡°Have you considered maybe picking up any monster classes?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°I¡¯d bet a hundred gold you can, with those skills of yours.¡±
¡°Huh?¡±
Aldin explained.
¡°My family is¡ something of an expert on that sort of thing,¡± Aldin said, gesturing to his ears with one hand. ¡°See, monsters, even ordinary beasts, can gain classes of their own that tend to progress differently than standard ones. But under the right circumstances, people can be eligible for those classes too. Druids and Beast-kin races most commonly, but that¡¯s just the easier routes.¡±
¡°Really?¡± Kera asked with curiosity in her voice.
¡°Sure can,¡± Aldin confirmed. ¡°I¡¯ll show you. Mind sharing control of your screen with me for a minute?¡±
Kera considered. ¡°Ok, but if you change anything without asking, I¡¯ll mash you into paste.¡±
Ravs snickered. ¡°She could, too. That gorthek thing looked heavy.¡±
Aldin held up both hands placatingly. ¡°I promise I won¡¯t change anything, it¡¯s just easier to show you.¡±
Kera shared her screen so everyone could see, then shared her controls with Aldin, who quickly navigated through several different screens, examining her current skills, traits, and stats.
¡°Hmm, yeah, you should be eligible. Here, look.¡± He pulled up Kera¡¯s list of potential class unlocks.
¡°I don¡¯t see anything unusual.¡± Kera said, examining her screen.
¡°Ah, but I''d bet you always are in human¡ well changeling or whatever, form when you¡¯re spending your points, yeah?¡± Aldin asked with a grin. ¡°Try your crocodile form.¡±
Kera stood up and moved a distance away from the table, shooing Echo away from her side so she had a clear space to shapeshift.
Aldin leaned in to look at Kera¡¯s screen, which had updated with several new entries. ¡°Lets see¡ [Flamespawn]? Didn¡¯t expect to see that. [Silverblood]¡¯s not unexpected, given changeling¡several aspected versions¡ where did those come from?¡±
¡°Aha!¡± Aldin exclaimed pointing to one options. ¡°Here we go, [Dire Beast]! That one is perfect for someone with your skill set!¡±
¡°What, you mean like Dire Bear is an actual class for bears?¡± Jason asked from where he was working.
¡°Pretty much,¡± Aldin said. ¡°There¡¯s a whole system of¡ let¡¯s call them evolutions, that are picked up like classes, that monsters can get. Usually they¡¯re themed around aspected mana, though sometimes ¡ª¡±
¡°Oh! Like the snake belt!¡± Kera interrupted. ¡°It actually lets me do all sorts of dungeon variants for snake monsters. I keep thinking I should take some time to try out a bunch of different ones and see what I can learn.¡±
¡°It does others?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°You should definitely explore that then. Never hurts to have more spells. Even if you don¡¯t use them often, you never know when something will come in handy.¡±
¡°What¡¯s so good about [Dire Beast]?¡± Kera asked.
¡°Some classes don¡¯t actually give out a whole lot in the way of new skills,¡± Aldin explained. ¡°Instead, you get additional skill points and an early start into the bonus stats that come along with reaching higher milestones. You already have some great skills worth ranking up, and thanks to the way they work, you don¡¯t especially need new ones, right? Well, [Dire Beast] will get you a sort of flexible pool of stat increases for when you¡¯re shapeshifted, plus extra skill points every few levels which you can put towards your magic.¡±
¡°That sounds¡ really useful,¡± Jason commented as he began placing prepared prismatic shards into their respective receptacles. ¡°Is there a downside?¡±
¡°Well, probably not for her,¡± Aldin said. ¡°The main drawback, as it were, is the classes¡¯ lack of new skills and inherent specialized nature. If you¡¯re the type to multi-class a lot for versatility or synergy, that¡¯s an issue. But since Kera¡¯s skills let her learn new stuff just from encountering it, and her strength is more based in her raw stats anyway¡.¡±
¡°It becomes a non-issue if she wants to continue to focus more on the monster magic and beast shape sides of things,¡± Jason finished. ¡°Great for specialization, not so much for versatility, except that she already has versatility by virtue of her skills. Gotcha.¡±
Kera shifted back into human form, and took a seat. Echo pushed her head into Kera¡¯s lap, where the girl began idly scratching Echo¡¯s chin.
¡°Hmm¡ I do kind of want to take a third class,¡± Kera said. ¡°One of my biggest issues right now has been a general lack of points to spend compared to Lumi.¡±
¡°You are a bit MAD¡,¡± Jason commented. Seeing the scowl on Kera¡¯s face, Jason hastily explained. ¡°It¡¯s an optimization term. ¡®Multiple Ability Dependent¡¯. Meaning that your effectiveness, unlike ¡®simpler¡¯ builds like a straight wizard or a fighter, is governed by many different stats. Like back home, a straight wizard really only cares about Intelligence, and maybe Dexterity, and a fighter cares only about Strength or Dexterity along with maybe a little Constitution. You though care about Spirit, Intellect, Might, Agility, and Endurance all in various proportions, as well as need high skill ranks to make the fullest use of your monster magic. Hence, ¡®MAD¡¯.¡±
¡°¡®Multi-classers are MAD for trying to do too much at once, while single-classers are SAD and boring¡¯,¡± Lumi quoted as she came back up the stairs.
¡°Sorry, just something one of my friends back home used to say.¡± A flicker of regret passed over Lumi¡¯s face, but it was quickly banished as she approached the table and set her [Shield of the Elementalist] down on the tabletop.
¡°Why the discussion on it?¡± she asked.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Kera gave her a brief summary.
¡°I say go for it, honestly,¡± was Lumi¡¯s response. ¡°It¡¯s not like you can¡¯t undo it.¡±
¡°I still can¡¯t believe you have a way to remove a class entirely.¡± Ravs said, shaking her head.
¡°Please keep that to yourselves, by the way,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Just to reiterate, while we¡¯re willing to tell the people we work with, it¡¯s not something we want to bandy about.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t really see the big deal, honestly,¡± Aldin said.
¡°That¡¯s because you would have to start over at level one,¡± Ravs said. ¡°People just starting out though? They¡¯d love to get their hands on a way to let them experiment a bit before making decisions that will determine the course of their lives.¡±
¡°Moving on,¡± Lumi said firmly, ¡°Here¡¯s the bracer, Jason. What¡¯s the plan here? I don¡¯t want you messing around with it.¡±
¡°No no, nothing like that,¡± Jason replied, returning to his seat at the table. ¡°It occurred to me, I¡¯ve never actually taken the time to analyze your bracer with any of my skills.¡±
He tapped the tabletop. ¡°It seems to me that it might be like this transmutation circle, and maybe even Kera¡¯s belt. All three deal with modulating elemental stuff right? Yours manipulates the nature of your shield based on the provided element, Kera¡¯s belt twists her form and applies a given aspect temporarily, and my skill, among other things, allowed me to permanently change the nature of infused mana crystals.¡±
He pulled the bracer to him. ¡°Maybe by taking a detailed look at all three, I can come up with something that would let me shape the results of random elemental magic.¡±
Jason activated his Arcane sight, turning the bracer over and over in his hands. ¡°Hmm¡ yes it does have control runes. Maybe it¡ yes.¡±
He glanced up at Lumi. ¡°Put it on and run through a few different shields while I watch closely?¡±
Lumi slowly demonstrated, conjuring several different, unusual elements using her [Elemental Cantrip] skill to power the bracer. Jason examined both the bracer and the shield each time.
After the fifth one, Jason had her stop. ¡°Could I see your belt for a minute, Kera?¡±
¡°Uhhh¡ it¡¯s sort of partly woven into my dress now, as you can see, I¡¯m not sure if¡¡±
Lumi leaned over and whispered something in her ear.
Kera blushed. ¡°Oh! Right. Duh. Hang on.¡±
Her figure began to flow, and then shrink. Her robes collapsed into a heap, and Kera, now a light blue-and-silver skydancer drake, crawled out from her pile of clothes.
¡°There we go. I can just be like this for awhile,¡± Kera said. She bunched up her body, and then jumpedupwards. Her wings flapped wildly, still poorly uncontrolled, but this time she managed to reach the edge of the table, which she latched onto with her foreclaws. She pulled herself up.
¡°At least I can manage that much.¡± She grumbled.
Lumi retrieved Kera¡¯s robe, threading Kera¡¯s enchanted belt out from the body wrap portion. She handed it to Jason. Echo came over to sniff at Kera¡¯s new shape, while Ceri took a more direct approach and jumped up onto the table as well, curling up against Kera¡¯s side, for all the world looking like one cat taking a nap besides another.
Jason examined Kera¡¯s belt in detail with his [Arcane Sight]. Unfortunately, since she¡¯d already used it, he couldn¡¯t have her try it out while he watched, but then again he¡¯d already spent plenty of time watching her change shapes.
He passed the belt back to Lumi, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. There were similarities between the belt¡¯s runes and the ones on Lumi¡¯s bracer.
Lumi took the belt from him, and then stood for a moment, looking down at Kera. Then she gave a lopsided grin and scooped up Kera¡¯s robes from the floor. Then she sat down in a chair and arranged them in her lap.
¡°Come on,¡± Lumi said, beckoning Kera over. ¡°I know you well enough by now to know you like being pampered, and you¡¯re too cute right now for me to pass this up.¡±
¡°Scratchies! Yesss!¡± Kera did a little dance where she wiggled her tail around, and then hopped into Lumi¡¯s lap, where Lumi began giving her some head scratches. Kera made a pleased, sort of half-purr, half-hiss sound. Jason rolled his eyes at the pair before turning his attention to the runic circle carved into the table.
He tapped the table thoughtfully for a few minutes, and then decided he might as well Analyze the process itself. This time he used the Ocean shard; he didn¡¯t see an immediate use for it, and he could use something like an Ice shard, which was a small side step and thus shouldn¡¯t cost him too much mana. Just in case thought, he drank one of his new least mana potions first.
The ritual was simple, now that he understood its basics: the circle did most of the work for him. All he needed to do was provide the catalysts, in this case being several chunks of ice, courtesy of his frozen waterskin downstairs, and several doses of arcane powder.
He watched intently as the mana drained out of him and swirled away into the runes of the circle. He tried to focus specifically on the catalysts, the point where the raw mana pushed into the circle interacted with the placed ice in order to determine the final form the transmutation circle was aimed at.
Jason blinked, surprised.
Is it really that simple¡.?
¡°Lumi can I see your bracer once more?¡± he asked.
She pulled it off and passed it to him.
Jason turned it over in his hands, examining the top of the bracer, where the engraving was the most complex, centered around the gemstone. He laughed.
¡°It is that simple!¡± Jason exclaimed.
He began pointing to different runes inscribed on the surface.¡°Look here. Your bracer is actually made ofthree enchantments, Lumi, rather than just one. In fact, almost all full enchantments are made of more than one. I should have realized that was significant.¡±
¡°See this here?¡± he said, pointing to the ¡®start¡¯ of the runic script. ¡°This is basically present on anything that doesn''t use its wearer¡¯s mana. It lets the item passively draw mana from the environment and store it, to be released when the item is activated. Different items will have different complexities of this enchantment, which leads to different storage capacity and recharge times and strengths.¡±
He slowly rotated the bracer, running his finger along the script that curled around the edge of the bracer until it reached the gemstone. ¡°This is the main enchantment. It¡¯s pretty bog standard; little different from the elemental projection one I put onmy wands. It¡¯s a simple sequence that says ¡®hey, shape the mana that comes out into a barrier¡¯ and then¡¡±
Jason trailed his finger up towards the gemstone, where a separate script circled the setting. ¡°...Defines the barrier type,¡± he finished.
¡°Thing is¡¡±Jason continued with a tap of the gemstone, ¡°your bracer doesn¡¯t just do one barrier type like a normal shield spell would. The ¡®type¡¯ section is linked to its own, separate enchantment that simply stores a tiny bit of elemental magic and holds onto it until you store something else. The whole thing stands in place of where the defining element should be, allowing the wearer to choose the properties of the shield like you would defining a variable in a math problem.¡±
¡°And that¡¯s good?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°¡®Course it¡¯s good,¡± Kera said, lifting her head, but remaining curled in Lumi¡¯s lap. ¡°Variables means nested functions, which means all sorts of crazy stuff, right Jason?¡±
Jason grinned at her. ¡°Exactly. With this, I can totally make something that will give me a degree of control over things like prismatic spells. It¡¯ll be complicated and probably cost a lot more mana than normal, but¡ I''m thinking it might be worth it for the versatility, and if I can work it so I can choose to just let it be random when I want to conserve energy¡.¡±
¡°How would you do that?¡± Aldin asked.
¡°I¡¯m thinking that¡¯s were the engineering comes in,¡± Jason said.¡±I could try and design a piece of armor, or a complex staff or gauntlet with moving parts. Something I could slot different runes into in order to achieve the results I want at any given time.¡±
¡°Doesn''t the sequence need to be kept whole, though?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°When Kera smashed that dummy it¡¯s enchantment broke, right?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think that will be an issue here,¡± Jason replied. ¡°The dummy¡¯s runes were fully active with mana flowing through them when Kera struck it. As long as the enchantment is ¡®off¡¯ while I¡¯m switching parts out, it should be ok. After all, technically your bracer forms an ¡®incomplete¡¯ sequence when it doesn¡¯t have anything stored, and it works fine.¡±
¡°Why not just make something like my bracer directly, then? Like a wand that casts whatever element type you stick into it?¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°Because I think I can make something simple that works on all sorts of things. Like a ring or a gauntlet maybe with a transmutation circle that would interact with wands, a staff, bombs, you name it. Anything that produced an elemental effect that I can hold in my hand and then just shape into whatever element I want at the time.¡±
¡°Why not go further?¡± Ravs asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have a grasp on limits here, but couldn¡¯t you just do this for many aspects of an enchantment?¡±
¡°Quite possibly,¡± Jason said, ¡°But I don¡¯t know what the effect on mana costs would be. It might leak mana like crazy or have unforeseen side effects, like how an item¡¯s capacity runes affect the overall strength of the effect. Runes take up space too, so I''m not sure how much room I''d need, nor whether or not I could use [Metamagician] or [Improvise] to influence the exact element. I''ll want to start simple and work my way up.¡±
Ravs snorted. ¡°This already sounds far from simple.¡±
Jason shrugged.
¡°Never know until you try,¡± he said. ¡°But enough of that. I¡¯ll need to speak with Tersk tomorrow on getting some specially made stuff if I want to try anything like that. I need to get together with him and Jerrik tomorrow anyway.¡±
Jason looked at each of the others. ¡°In the mean time¡ how does dinner sound? I don¡¯t know about you, but I¡¯m starving.¡±
Chapter 34
Jason decided he¡¯d put his alchemical cooking skill to use. After all, he now had a wealth of new food options thanks to the deliveries he¡¯d had made directly to the house, and enchanted food was a major staple of videogames. His thinking was, why not have some fun with it?
So Jason prepared what he considered to be something of an MMO staple: Surf and Turf. Usually, this was a platter made from beef steak served alongside greens and some sort of shellfish. Jason didn¡¯t have shellfish, but he did have plenty of beef since since many of the farmers had been forced to slaughter their livestock, and as for seafood in general, he had what might be the next best thing: frogoid steaks to grill right alongside the beef.
So Jason grilled up several beef and frogoid steaks and worked his alchemy into the seasonings and sauces, and set it to broil slowly at a low temperature for a while while he briefly prepared what would end up being desert. Then, removing the steaks from the oven, switching in the desserts, and arranging the steaks alongside various greens, he served the meal to everyone in the den on individual plates. He labeled it ¡°Arnvale Surf and Turf¡±, which in addition to turning out to be quite the successful meal, also happened to provide a small increase to might and fortitude that would last for a few hours.
¡°So, let me get this straight¡¡± Aldin said. ¡°Of all the specializations you could choose from, you chose the ability to turn food into the equivalent of eternal potions? Why?¡±
Jason grinned at him. ¡°I¡¯ll show you why. It should be done now.¡±
He got up and returned to the kitchen briefly, returning with another large serving platter. He set it down in the middle of the table.
Lumi let out a short laugh. ¡°You didn¡¯t¡¡±
¡°I totally did.¡± Jason replied. On the platter sat numerous cubes of partially transparent, solidified gelatin, some colored red and some yellow, and all covered in a light coat of sugar and honey.
Lumi laughed delightedly, clapping her hands together. ¡°You made Apple and Lemon Gels!¡± She snatched a red one up from the pile and shoved it into her mouth, chewing rapidly and making noises of appreciation. Shortly, she was enveloped in the telltale glow of a healing potion kicking in.
Curious, Ravs picked a red one up from the pile and after examining it critically for a moment, stuck it in her mouth. Her eyes grew wide, and she quickly followed Lumi in making a squeal of happiness of her own. She too was enveloped briefly in a green glow.
¡°I made both flavors with least healing potions,¡± Jason said, ¡°so it¡¯s safe to eat multiples, and it seems like the cooking process dilutes them even further, so go nuts.¡±
Kera quickly snagged several lemon gels for herself, and Aldin decided to try one of each. Everyone had a few. Kera even gave one each of the apple gels to Echo and Ceri after confirming with her analysis and lore skills that they¡¯d be safe for them.
¡°These are lovely.¡± Ravs said at one point. ¡°What even are they?¡±
¡°What I want to know is where you got the sugar,¡± Lumi added. ¡°Or the gelatin for that matter.¡±
¡°Well to answer Lumi¡¯s question,¡± Jason began, snagging a candy of his own,"I made it. Sugar¡¯s pretty easy to make if you know the basics, and Arnvale had plenty of honey and beets and fruit available. It¡¯s just your basic crystallization process. It also turns out that I can use a mix of synthesis and my cooking skill to speed the process along rapidly rather than wait days for it to happen. Same for the gelatin, which you might be aware comes from livestock bone, more or less.¡±
¡°This was made from bones?¡± Ravs asked. She didn¡¯t seem disgusted, just merely surprised as she picked up another candy and examined it closely.
¡°Not exactly,¡± Jason said. ¡°It¡¯s not like ground up bone or anything. It¡¯s more like how you make chicken stock by boiling the carcass when you¡¯re making fortified soups. The bones themselves aren¡¯t used, just stuff you leech out of them with water. In fact the normal process isn¡¯t too dissimilar, but I get to cheat.¡±
¡°Anyway, since I¡¯m guessing candy must be pretty rare around here, think of it as being like a tiny bit of beeswax mixed in with lemon and apple juice and honey, heated until it congeals into a solid mass, and then coated in more honey and fruit juice. There¡¯s some other stuff in there, like the sugar is actually a mix from beets and crystallized honey, but it¡¯s all ¡®food¡¯ stuff.¡±
Ravs stuffed the candy she was examining into her mouth, rolling it around in her mouth with her tongue instead of chewing. She closed her eyes and sighed happily.
¡°Now there¡¯s a rare expression.¡± Aldin snickered.
Ravs managed to stick her tongue out at him without spitting out her candy first. She didn¡¯t even open her eyes.
¡°And these work like least healing potions?¡± Kera asked.
¡°Should do, yeah,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I suspect they¡¯ll restore a little bit less, but they sure as hell taste a lot better, yeah?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll say,¡± Aldin said. ¡°Hell, you should market these. Are they even labeled as potions or anything?¡±
¡°Nope!¡± Jason said cheerfully. ¡°Part of the plan to conceal what I¡¯m really making, even. I figure I can make packages of these and sell em for a decent chunk of cash as being some kind of unusual charged consumable. People will just assume the ¡®duration¡¯ probably extends to how long it takes for the food to go bad, which might even be true. Not that gelatin candies are going to go bad anytime soon.¡±
¡°What, you think people will actually fall for that?¡± Aldin asked skeptically.
¡°Of course they will,¡± Ravs said with a snort.
¡°Even Aurion said he wouldn¡¯t have believed Jason¡¯s claim to making eternal potions if he hadn¡¯t just seen him do it.¡± Kera commented.
Aldin held up both hands defensively. ¡°Ok ok, people are gullible idiots who¡¯d rather believe a lie than an ¡®impossible¡¯ truth.¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not so much lying to them as it is giving them a story they¡¯ll believe enough of that they won¡¯t think to ask if there¡¯s more to it.¡±
¡°Anyway,¡± he continued, ¡°I¡¯m guessing everyone¡¯s taken a liking to these? I¡¯ll see about making some different flavors for different things, yeah?¡±
¡°Ooh, dibs on pineapple for Stamina!¡± Kera said.
Jason laughed. ¡°I¡¯m not sure where I¡¯d manage to get pineapples in a temperate northern woodland, I¡¯m afraid.¡±
¡°Bah.¡± Kera huffed, but with a smile.
¡°So now what?¡± Lumi asked, sprawling back in her chair.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Jason considered. ¡°Honestly, I was thinking I ought to hit the books for the rest of the evening. I¡¯ve already gotten a lot of work done with the refining, but I still need one last thing before I¡¯m really ready to start enchanting heavily, and that¡¯s earning [Inscription]. One of the books Jerrik gave me teaches that skill, and I¡¯ve got several points to spend.¡±
¡°Inscription? Don¡¯t you already have Engrave?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°Sure, but it¡¯s not good for everything,¡± Jason explained. ¡°I mean, take those rune tattoos Reis had. That''d bea less savory example of something Engrave can''t do. If you tried to physically carve runes into someone, the healing process would ruin it. Likewise, it¡¯s difficult to carve runes into say, a piece of cloth or a sheet of paper; you¡¯d just be destroying the object.¡±
He gestured to Kera. ¡°For instance, I¡¯m pretty sure I can now make a clothing enchant for Kera so that her clothes alter shape to fit each of her changeling forms, but I don¡¯t currently have a way to apply it. Nor can I make scrolls, which are a pretty big staple consumable, though I suppose with the way [Infusion] works I don¡¯t really need them.¡±
¡°I get the idea, though,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°If I¡¯m including you two,¡± she said with a gesture to Ravs and Aldin, ¡°we¡¯ve got four unarmored casters and being able to enchant people¡¯s clothes and robes is a pretty big deal.¡±
¡°Mine already are,¡± Ravs commented.
Aldin grumbled under his breath.
¡°Don¡¯t be jealous you lost the flip,¡± she said.
Jason eyed Ravs'' rather elaborate dress, the looked at Aldin with a raised eyebrow, who shrugged.
¡°Hey, enchanted is enchanted,¡± was all he said in reply. ¡°Can always get an alteration done.¡±
¡°Well let me know if there¡¯s something either of you would like done once I get started in on what I owe the Mayor. I¡¯ll be doing a few side pieces for us as time permits, depending on how much each of us need it. Kera¡¯s clothes are at the top of the list, followed by some armor for Lumi and my greenhouse pots so I can hopefully get new traits. After that¡..¡±
¡°Wait, greenhouse?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve mentioned that before.¡±
¡°Oh. I uh, got this big package of [Rare Seeds] as a reward awhile back,¡± Jason explained. ¡°I¡¯m hoping they¡¯ll sprout into stuff that I can use for Alchemy since it was a class reward. But I doubt we¡¯ll be staying here long term, you know? So I want to make a sort of¡ greenhouse in a bag of holding with enchanted pots and dirt and stuff that make the plants grow either instantly or really fast.¡±
¡°That sounds¡. ambitious,¡± commented Ravs.
¡°It is,¡± Jason confirmed, ¡°which is why I¡¯m taking it one step at a time, like the modular enchanting thing. That¡¯s on the list too.¡±
Jason ran a hand through his hair. ¡°Ugh, so many things I want to try or do but I¡¯ve only got so much time¡¡±
Ravs snorted. ¡°Prioritize.¡±
¡°I know¡ I know.¡±
¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-
Jason did end up spending the rest of the evening reading his books. Unlocking inscription turned out to be a relatively simply affair, seeing as he already knew numerous runes. It was merely a matter of applying a basic spell absorption sequence onto a sheet of parchment so that it could accept a single spell¡¯s mana that could then later be used to cast the specific spell absorbed. A spell scroll, in other words. Jason didn¡¯t even need to waste time learning new runes; for a basic low-end scroll he already knew everything he needed, so he used some of his magical ink to paint the runes onto a sheet and then had Lumi imbue it with her Sharpen spell.
Then Jason dumped four skill points into the skill, bringing it to a total of five ranks. He felt that should be plenty for his needs, for now at least.
Afterwards, Jason switched over to reading more of his enchanting primer. While he didn¡¯t learn any new runes this time, he did learn more about how you could draw the same runes in different ways, linking them to other, similar runes or doubling up on multiple complex versions of the same rune to compound a rune¡¯s effects. Doing so would result in drastic increases to required materials, space, and mana consumption, but it was what differentiated a simple bag of holding or handy haversack from something like say, the Adventurer Lodge Vaults. The Vaults were basically the same enchantment, but on a grand scale.
The following morning Jason prepared breakfast for himself and the girls and then headed down to speak with first Jerrik, and then Tersk. Both had shipments of basic equipment ready to be delivered to the house so Jason could begin the process of of churning out minor enchantments. While he was there, he requested some odds and ends that neither of the two understood, but were able to manufacture easily enough, and had Tersk do take armor measurements for his right arm and hand.
Tersk also informed Jason that he should have the special ores and powders Jason had ordered ready for pickup in a few days time.
With his business for the day taken care of, Jason headed back to his home and got to work. First, Jason saw to Kera¡¯s robes. At first he was afraid that he¡¯d have to enchant each individual piece of clothing for her,including Kera¡¯s underthings, but despite Kera¡¯s willingness to allow him to do so, it turned out to be unnecessary: simply having the enchantment on a major part of the outfit seemed to cause the enchantment to cover the whole of your person.
¡°That makes plenty of sense to me,¡± was Kera¡¯s response to the discovery, once she¡¯d changed clothes and shapeshifted into a strange amalgam of life-touched and kitsune. She swished her tails around behind her, a gap having opened in the back of her dress to accommodate them as she transformed.
¡°I mean, a suit of plate armor isn¡¯t all one solid piece, right?¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s lots of little bits all strapped together with belts and buckles and joints. It would be pretty impractical to need to enchant every tiny piece separately. Why shouldn¡¯t clothes be the same?¡±
¡°You may be onto something there,¡± Jason said, considering. ¡°In fact, I wonder if for something like the mana conversion stuff we talked about yesterday, would it need to be something that I wore on my hand¡? I wonder if a suit of armor or a full-sized set of arm plating might work as long as it was somehow connected?¡±
¡°Worth a try, right?¡± Kera replied, shifting into a tall, bulky minotaur, then glancing down at herself and pulling at her clothes in various places . ¡°Hmm¡ blue and silver doesn¡¯t go very well with brown fur, does it?¡±
¡°I¡¯m afraid not,¡± Jason said after a moment¡¯s examination. ¡°In fact, I don¡¯t think it will go particularly well with some of your other forms, either. You might consider using one of our armor dyes, the ones we got from the compensation package.¡±
¡°Nah, I like blue and silver and black,¡± Kera replied. ¡°It¡¯s grown on me. Besides, those are sort of Ceri¡¯s colors, you know?¡±
She closed her eyes, appearing to concentrate, and her fur rippled and turned black, with small swirls of a silvery white running along her arms and legs. Then she touched the gemstone activator Jason had sown into the neck of her dress to be the mana storage for her clothes¡¯ enchantment. It also served as a manual activation, and the lower portion of her dress flowed together into a single, solid robe with a slit leg, something more akin to a classic sorceress¡¯ dress than the three part split she¡¯d had before.
¡°How about now?¡± she asked.
Jason eyed her up and down. If she wanted his honest opinion, he¡¯d oblige. ¡°Hmmm¡. not bad. More elegant that way, and suits the taller build, I think. Yeah that¡¯ll do.¡±
¡°You going to be a minotaur for awhile?¡± he asked.
¡°Just today, I think,¡± Kera said. She flexed her legs and took a few steps, tapping her overlarge hooves against the floor. She looked down at them. ¡°That feels weird. Walking with hooves, I mean. I feel like I¡¯m wearing the world¡¯s largest plats but I can feel through them, kinda like when you tap a nail against a table.¡±
¡°I thought new experiences were the point.¡±
¡°They are,¡± Kera insisted. ¡°I wasn¡¯t complaining, just commenting.¡± She reached out and pulled Jason into a big hug. ¡°Thank you, by the way.¡±
Jason returned her hug, and then shooed her out of his lab, for he still had plenty of work remaining.
This largely consisted of repeatedly enchanting an array of various swords and spears with minor elemental enchantments. Since these weapons were meant for the town¡¯s defense, this meant primarily fire, since the weapons wouldn¡¯t be taken into the dungeon¡¯s water-mana heavy environs.
After having enchanted roughly a dozen assorted weapons, he switched to working on a handful of breastplates and shields. Jason tried a few different enchantments on those, from barriers of churning water that should turn aside arrows, to shields that could project a flash of blinding light into enemies¡¯ eyes, to simple enhancements that would bolster the defensive properties of the armor.
When Jason finished his eighth defensive piece, he gained a level in [Artificer]. Along with the normal message about gaining new points, he received an unwelcome, if not entirely unexpected, extra notification.
Warning: Secondary class level may not exceed primary class level. Re-arrange equipped classes or XP loss may occur.
Jason sighed. Ever since Lumi had seen that she couldn¡¯t equip [Spellblade] as her primary until she¡¯d gained a few levels in it over [Knight], he¡¯d expected this might happen at some point. It was too bad, really, since he much preferred the idea of the class that provided him more flexible skills, namely discoveries, as being his highest level class, but it seemed like at least for the time being he¡¯d have to switch. Grumbling internally a bit, he switched [Artificer] to his primary, and went ahead and assigned [Golemist] and [Engineer] as its subclasses.
Then he placed [Alchemist] as secondary, and got back to work.
Chapter 35
Over the next few days Jason settled into something of a routine. First he¡¯d wake early and make breakfast for Kera, Lumi, and himself. That was followed by spending the morning setting up the refinement of more and more alchemy ingredients, slowly building up a stockpile of vials filled with an array of alchemical properties he planned to use on a regular basis. As noon rolled around, Jason would head down to the guardhouse for some physical training alongside the other members of his group, after which they¡¯d all stop at either Arn¡¯s inn or the Lodge for a late lunch.
The rest of his day would then be filled with either actively applying enchantments to a variety of gear for the townsfolk, or spending time poring over his books. Between the training sessions, his own alchemical work, and the books he was learning from, Jason acquired a number of new runes, particularly in the realm of additional elemental aspects.
These new runes went into the creation of new weapons for both Lumi and Ravs. Jason fashioned an enchanted longsword for Lumi that would slowly freeze her opponent¡¯s weapons and armor with every hit, making them brittle and prone to breaking, while a direct strike on flesh had a small chance to encase the opponent in ice, disabling them entirely or killing them outright. For Ravs, he crafted a set of daggers with an enchantment not unlike the one on his new wand; a mix of enchanting and alchemical infusion had produced a pair of weapons that would deliver a series of painful shocks to the victim, and could be thrown at a distant target to release a burst of dense, electrified mist that swirled and clung, disabling anyone caught within much in the same way a taser might.
As for armor, Kera received a few further minor additions to her robes in the form of lightning and shadow resistance enchantments, which would compliment her fire immunity and render her heavily resistant to the most common offensive spells. Jason discovered that any items Kera was wearing when she used Beastmorph still functioned in her transformed state, and as a result Kera ended up opting to take [Dire Beast] as her third class just as Aldin had suggested. As far as she was concerned, if she could still cast spells and benefit from enchantments while shapeshifted, there was little reason for her to hold back on that front.
Unfortunately, Jason also learned that there were limits to the number of separate enchantments he could place on a single object, based on his rank and skill, which put a serious crimp in his immediate plans for modular enchanting. His first attempt an an arm-piece similar to Lumi¡¯s [Shield of the Elementalist] was an abject failure in that regard: while he was able to slot three separate enchantments into a combined vambrace-and-gauntlet that would interact with items he held, slotting in the fourth and final piece caused the whole thing to overload as the mana involved overran the runic structure¡¯s ability to hold it.
The end result was a heap of molten metal that Jason was extremely glad he hadn¡¯t been wearing at the time. He ended up having to request Tersk send over an expert to help pry the resultant mess off the surface of his transmutation circle.
Lessons were learned though, mainly that what was holding Jason back on that front was skill ranks. Now that he had a good array of runes, Jason decided he didn¡¯t specifically need so many ranks in Arcane Sight anymore, at least not for the near future with the raid in only a few days, and he was likely to need more than just three enchantments for his eventual greenhouse space anyhow.
So he consulted with Lumi and Kera, neither of whom had any objection to Jason taking another Elixir. Kera claimed she was highly satisfied with her race change and was even happier with her new classes, and thus didn¡¯t see a need for any more Elixirs in the near future. Lumi meanwhile requested he simply reserve one for her use at a later date; after realizing that she was limited to only six equipped classes and that she needed [Spellblade], she had decided to skip out on equipping [Nightscourge] for the time being since it was the least defense-oriented of her classes. However, it wasn¡¯t a priority for her to remove, so she wanted to wait until her next set of specialization choices to try taking one.
Thus Jason prepared a new batch of [Elixir of Rebirth] using the inert core they¡¯d gotten from Vittorio, and reallocated some of his skill points, pushing [Engrave] up to rank fifteen, which would allow him to add the one additional enchantment to so that he could complete his work. The following day, Jason spent most of his morning engraving a new attempt at a multipurpose armor piece.
Kera and Ravs were present when he finished inscribing the final runes into the armor. Kera was mostly idling about, practicing her shapeshifting, currently taking the form of some sort of thin, blue-skinned humanoid with small horns that she¡¯d met down at the market the other day. Ravs meanwhile was present because she had expressed an interest in the work Jason was doing, so lately she had been the one helping him catch up academically.
¡°So, explain to me what this will do again?¡± Ravs asked as Jason prepared the arcane powder that would, hopefully, activate the enchantment. ¡°It seems overly complex.¡±
Jason picked up the now-engraved housing for an elemental shard. He carefully fitted it into the portion of the armor piece that would be the back of the hand, before activating [Arcane Reconstruction] to reassemble the armor piece, joining both vambrace and gauntlet into a single whole that would cover his arm up to the elbow: the first piece of what he planned to be a fully enchanted suit.
¡°It probably is, if I''m being honest¡± Jason said finally. He picked up one of the many [Lightning Shards] he¡¯d created, carved a rune into it, and slotted it into the housing. ¡°But that¡¯s sort of the point.¡±
¡°The basic premise is that there¡¯s several enchantments here,¡± he explained. ¡°You¡¯ve got your standard mana absorption so the device draws on my own mana, which is kind of a freebie. Then you¡¯ve got the shard, which acts as a variable that determines the elemental type for three different enchantments. The housing itself rotates, causing the different enchantments to lock into place with the mana storage via a linking rune, allowing me to either project a weak barrier, fire off a simple elemental bolt, or activate the transmutation circle on my palm, which should let me alter the alchemical effect of stuff I¡¯m holding.¡±
¡°Should?¡± Ravs asked, raising an eyebrow.
¡°Umm¡ yes.¡± Jason said. ¡°Well, that¡¯s the hope. All I need to do is activate each of these and¡.¡±
He sprinkled the last of the arcane powder over the central lightning shard and infused the whole thing with mana. The runes glowed, and sparks of arcane power began to run up and down the vambrace and gauntlet as Jason¡¯s mana levels took a hefty hit. Jason winced, expecting that he¡¯d miscalculated somehow, or perhaps made a mistake again. He braced himself for another meltdown.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
It didn¡¯t come. Instead, after a good ten seconds the lightning shard shorted out suddenly at it¡¯s mana was consumed, but instead of resulting in failure, Jason was presented with a series of system popups.
Congratulations! Through the use of a clever combination of modular mechanical design and complex enchanting , you have successfully created your first mage-tech set item. You have been awarded the achievement [Magitechnician]!
Achievement XP Granted: 19200. Cumulative level penalties applied.
Jason choked as a large number of Engineer level-up notices began swarming his field of view.
¡°What?¡± Kera asked, seeing his expression.
It took him a moment to recover. He shared his screen with her and Ravs.
Kera whistled. ¡°Four levels in one class all in one go?¡±
Ravs nodded. ¡°Achievements will do that. I¡¯ve heard they award you an amount related to the highest level of any involved class, which is applied equally to all of them for some reason.¡±
¡°Damn, that¡¯s actually annoying,¡± Jason grumbled. ¡°I actually lost some.¡± He pulled up his point totals. ¡°See? Alchemist capped out at 104,999 because it can¡¯t be higher level than my primary. I switched around because it was warning me I was going to lose out on Artificer XP.¡±
¡°Woops,¡± Kera said to him with a chagrined smile.
¡°Oh well,¡± Jason said, peering at his status screen. ¡°At least both classes are almost equal now. I should tick up into Artificer 13 pretty soon. Look, only ten thousand to go.¡±
Ravs was examining the gauntlet portion of Jason¡¯s creation while he looked at his screen. She called attention to the lightning shard, which was now cracked and had lost it¡¯s subtle glow.
¡°You succeeded, but what happened to your mana crystal? It looks broken.¡±
Jason took the arm piece from her and examined it with [Arcane Sight]. The enchantment was holding strong.
¡°I think the enchanting process just happened to eat through it, is all,¡± Jason said after a moment¡¯s consideration. ¡°It¡¯s designed to pull on the aspected mana in the crystal after all.¡±
He removed the old shard and retrieved a new one, carving a single rune into its surface and infusing it before slotting it in. A quick examination under [Arcane Sight] showed it was functional.
¡°Well¡ moment of truth I guess,¡± Jason said, standing up and sliding his arm into the piece. He flexed his hand a few times; it fit perfectly, as expected. Tersk¡¯s work was, as usual, excellent.
Jason had prepared a single-use prismatic wand for exactly this test. He grasped it, using his other hand to snap the shard setting into ¡®conversion¡¯ mode before activating it. The metal hummed slightly as mana surged through it, and he pointed the wand at a straw target dummy he¡¯d set up in one corner.
With a loud crack, a bolt of lightning leaped from the wand to the target, which burst into fragments. Jason then deactivated the gauntlet, rotated the shard housing over to the bolt projector, dropped the wand, and took careful aim. He then reactivated the gauntlet. A small ball of electrified mana shot out from his palm, striking the dummy and toppling over what remained of it.
Kera gave a small cheer, and Ravs grinned.
Jason tested the barrier briefly as well, which manifested itself as a small, buckler-sized shield of pure energy.
¡°Well that¡¯s a hell of a success,¡± Jason said with a grin as he lowered his arm. ¡°Doesn¡¯t even use as much mana as I¡¯d feared for the conversion effect, either. It¡¯s not cheap, but no more than a decent-strength spell if what you¡¯ve told me.¡±
¡°That blast didn¡¯t seem too impressive,¡± Kera commented.
¡°Wasn¡¯t supposed to,¡± Jason replied as he started to unbuckle the strap that looped around his elbow. ¡°This is a just a prototype. After my first one melted, I went with the most basic of barrier and attack enchantments. I¡¯ll make better ones in the future once I¡¯ve got more ranks, now I¡¯ve confirmed it works.¡±
Jason removed his creation and was setting it back down on the table when Lumi came up the stairs carrying a large crate in one arm.
She grunted as she set it down on the table. ¡°Hey Jason, got a delivery for you from Tersk. Whatever the hell it is, it¡¯s heavy. There¡¯s more downstairs, too. He asked me to wish you luck for him?¡±
Jason immediately jumped out of his chair, smiling hugely and unable to contain his excitement. He quickly conjured a crowbar with [Basic Artifice] and cracked open the crate.
Inside was several different smaller packages, all labeled, and all containing different kinds of rare, hard-to-find ores and powders.
¡°What is all that stuff?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°All sorts of things,¡± Jason reached into the crate. ¡°But this¡ would be saltpeter and sulfur.¡± He pulled two specific packages out from the crate.
¡°Time finally earn that specialization!¡± Kera said cheerfully.
Jason glanced at Ravs. ¡°Uh, Ravs this is kinda awkward, but um, I¡¯m actually going to need to ask you to leave for this. I¡¯d rather not, but understand that this is something that the dwarven clans really don¡¯t want people spreading about, since it¡¯s basically their invention.¡±
She cocked her head at him. ¡°But its OK for them¡?¡± she asked, indicating Kera and Lumi.
¡°I¡¯m afraid so,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Like me, they happen to already know, from back home. I promised Tersk though that I wouldn¡¯t go spreading that knowledge about, so¡.?¡±
Ravs pushed an errant bit of hair out of her face before standing. ¡°No, I understand. It would be the same were you to ask me for details of my patron, who likes her privacy. I¡¯ll see you at practice?¡±
Jason grinned. ¡°Hopefully with a few all-new tricks. Though those might take a while to build. Depends on what I get. Thanks for understanding.¡±
She waved airily at him and took her leave, stopping at the top of the stairs to give Echo, who¡¯d come up to see what the noise had been about, a short head rub.
Jason took a moment to show Lumi his newly created armor piece, began conjuring some new tools, and got to work.
You have earned the skill [Basic Chemistry]. Would you like to learn it for 1 skill point?
¡°Yes,¡± Jason confirmed. He opened up his status screen and immediately dumped two points each into metalworking, clockwork, chemistry, and engineering. Thankfully, he¡¯d gotten a real boon from his sudden increase in [Engineer] levels; it seemed that purely skill-based, non-adventuring classes got a hefty helping of extra skill points every five levels, and Jason put these to good use, knowing he¡¯d be relying on them to some degree in the future.
Jason had spent the last half hour grinding, mixing, and then setting to dry a supply of primitive black powder, taking every precaution he knew of to make sure he didn¡¯t expose the paste to any kind of heat or spark.
Now that Jason had fulfilled the explosive crafting portion of the unlock requirements, he had to produce some kind of complex, mechanical weapon. Fortunately, his prior discussion with Tersk had given him a distinct leg up on just how to do that: he could provide some kind of motive force with an enchantment. As long as the enchantment was simply used as a power source for mechanical energy, the system still counted it, unlike how it had excluded his [Salamander Stones] from consideration, since they were effectively magical.
Coming up with a simple, alchemy-powered motor was child¡¯s play. A few small mana crystals provided a power source, a basic motion enchantment provided an application of torque to a bit of clockwork, and physics did the rest, allowing Jason to rig together a magic-powered, fully-automatic crossbow that threw roughly ten crossbow bolts per second from a small magazine drum mounted on the top.
The weapon¡¯s aim was absolutely terrible and it was definitely unwieldy, but Jason had needed only a brief application of Engraving, Carpentry, and Clockwork to get it up and running enough to count. He didn¡¯t need the weapon itself for battle, either: he had magic after all. He did, however, make a mental note to revisit the idea later, as it might make for a good, relatively low-mana deployable turret if he could manage to compress a small enough space to store the ammo.
He checked his specializations.
¡°Well?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason grinned, and made his selection.
Chapter 36
Specialization Selected: Arcane Engineering
Congratulations! You have fulfilled all requirements for an evolution of the [Engineer] class. Would you like to evolve [Engineer] into [Machinist]?
¡°Absolutely,¡± Jason confirmed.
Class Evolution Initiated. Calculating. Synergies Detected. Applying changes.
With a faint chime in his ear, Jason felt something inside him shift. It was strangely disorienting, but the feeling lasted for only a fleeting moment.
Class Evolution Successful! Some class skills have changed.
Jason quickly brought up his list, looking over the changes. He immediately noticed that Advanced Mathematics, which he¡¯d gotten from Engineer, had been downgraded to Basic Mathematics but kept its rank. He wondered briefly if that was what had caused the disorientation.
As for new class skills, he had three.
The first was a skill called [Contraption]. Jason had to read the description more than once before he understood what it was actually supposed to do, and it was only because of its videogame-like nature that he understood how it should function. Effectively, it was what allowed a just-starting out Machinist to create their first weapon by cobbling together a mishmash of several objects that would function as a distinct whole. Jason guessed it would probably violate physics in some way in the process and be unusable for anyone but him.
He¡¯d played a few games that had skills like that. Jason¡¯s mind was already jumping to a few different ideas in that regard, but he had to meet with the others soon, so he forced himself to focus.
Jason¡¯s second skill got an immediate laugh out of him. It was called [Some Assembly Required], and it was a synergy skill related to [Mending], [Deconstruction], and [Reconstruction]. While the skills it was related to required him to first have a completed creation before they could be applied, [Some Assembly Required] allowed him to take a bag of miscellaneous spare parts and twist chance such that he might have everything he needed to build something, and build it at a magically enhanced speed.
Jason¡¯s third skill was also a synergy skill of some sort, though it appeared to be more of a combination of Artificer and Machinist and his mage-tech achievement, rather than being related to specific skills he¡¯d earned. It was called [Overcharge], and it would allow Jason to force mana into an item in order to throw it into overdrive for a brief period, at the risk of causing catastrophic malfunctions. It appeared to be a fairly open-ended skill as well, applicable to both machines and enchanted objects.
Jason belatedly remembered Kera was still there.
¡°Sorry, sorry, got distracted,¡± he apologized.
Kera snorted. ¡°I could tell by all the finger sweeping. I take it you got the class?¡±
¡°Indeed I did!¡± Jason exclaimed, sharing his new skill screens with her.
Kera flipped through them, considering. ¡°Contraption sounds¡ weird. I don¡¯t think I understand what it does.¡±
¡°Basically lets me mash several weapons or items together into something that probably shouldn¡¯t be physically possible,¡± Jason said. ¡°Stuff like transforming melee weapons, or small spheres that turn into one of several turrets. Or like gluing a gas tank, a lawn mower blade, and a handbrake together to make a flamethrower sword. That sort of thing. Looks like I can only make one for now, though who knows how the system would enforce that.¡±
¡°Given you have a second skill that mentions ¡®catastrophic failure¡¯,¡± Kera replied, ¡°I think we can guess.¡±
Jason conceded the point. ¡°Probably.¡±
He scratched at his chin, thinking for a moment. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been thinking for awhile about what to dowith the gunpowder once I¡¯d made it, because making complex guns requires so many tools. This second skill though¡ it gives me some ideas. I need to bring Tersk the final shipment of weapons anyway¡ maybe I¡¯ll see if he has time for a quick commission¡ just ask him and his crew to whip up any old thing they can, maybe a few barrels and¡.¡±
He trailed off, thinking, until Kera poked him in the side with a clawed finger, causing him to jump.
¡°You were zoning out again,¡± she said.
¡°Sorry,¡± he said, straightening. ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯ll haul the shipment down to Tersk.¡±
¡°How do you even manage to lift those crates?¡± Kera asked. ¡°Your strength isn¡¯t even close to Lumi¡¯s.¡±
¡°Strength potion, of course,¡± Jason replied, matching words to action and pulling a vial out of his pocket. ¡°See you in a little bit?¡±
Kera gave Jason a wave as he hefted a massive crate in both arms and backed his way down he stairs.
¡°Hey Pelk, is your father in?¡± Jason called out to the young dwarf as he approached the smithy.
Pelk was sitting at one of the tables that lay on the outskirts of the open-fronted building, chipping away at some sort of stone. Jason couldn¡¯t tell what he was trying to make.
Pelk stood up and greeted Jason. ¡°Ah Jason, welcome. That¡¯d be the last shipment?¡±
¡°Yep, all here,¡± Jason said, setting the crate down on the edge of the table. ¡°This has the last of the shockspears and firebrands, and I¡¯ve included a big batch of storm arrows and heartseeker bolts, too.¡±
Pelk shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re practically a golem, you know that? How do you find the time?¡±
¡°Trade secret, which you well know,¡± Jason said with a grin.
Pelk rolled his eyes. ¡°Speaking of, how¡¯s your ¡®secret¡¯ project coming?¡±
¡°Actually that¡¯s why I¡¯m delivering in person,¡± Jason said. ¡°Got your father¡¯s shipment only an hour ago and already got results. I¡¯m here to ask if he¡¯s be willing to spend an hour or two forging me some small miscellaneous parts. I¡¯d come pick them up in awhile.¡±
¡°Depends on what you¡¯re looking for,¡± Pelk replied.
¡°An assortment of stuff with no specific measurements, and an extra arm plate or two. Nails, lots of different gears, wire, springs, screws, that sort of thing. Scrap metal plates, solder, a few other things.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ an odd request fer sure,¡± Pelk commented.
¡°No kidding,¡± Jason said. ¡°But it¡¯s to a good purpose. In fact, given your father¡¯s interest in the matter, later this evening I could go run a weapons test if you or your father want to come along. I¡¯d need him to do a rush order for me though. I¡¯ll pay extra if he¡¯s willing, of course.¡±
Pelk grinned. ¡°See, you understand how things go around here. It¡¯s refreshing. Come on, let¡¯s go ask. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll make time. We¡¯ve just about wrapped up with our side of things, anyway, and are ready to get back to ordinary business.¡±
Jason was led into the back of the smithy, where once again he covered his ears to block out some of the noise of metal on metal. He gave friendly nods to several of Pelk¡¯s family members in passing, people he¡¯d met briefly on his last extended visit but couldn¡¯t recall the names of.
Tersk was seated at the same table he had been before, but this time he stood when Jason was escorted in, rising to give him a firm handshake.
Jason explained briefly how he¡¯d managed to successfully evolve his class, and the assortment of metal tools, parts, bits and bobs, and outright junk that would be useful for him to have around. For Tersk¡¯s part, he found Jason¡¯s assembly skill to be vastly amusing, and agreed to get his people working immediately in exchange for a hefty sum of gold. Jason commissioned several specific items as well, among them a kind of solid iron tripod with heavy stone weights for feet. If he was going to start working with anything that might explode, he wanted to test it, thoroughly, before strapping anything of the sort to himself. He had a thought that he could mitigate any dangers with the right enchantments, and magical healing was always a thing, but that didn¡¯t mean he shouldn¡¯t carefully test ideas first.
After his errand at Tersk¡¯s smithy, Jason¡¯s meetup with the others of his group went as normal. They¡¯d graduated to the point were they were now actively sparring against one another with live weapons (or spells, or claws). Jason had opted to not bring his mage-tech vambrace just yet, for he wanted to first strengthen the enchantments for barriers and projectiles on it before he deemed it combat-ready.
After the training session and a short lunch, Jason returned to Tersk¡¯s smithy, where he was presented with a crate¡¯s worth of various spare parts, the tripod he¡¯d asked for, and a few specific armor and weapon segments. After arranging to meet Tersk just outside the town walls just before dinnertime, Jason downed another strength potion and hauled his supplies home.
The next two hours Jason spent in a flurry of enchanting and infusing. He upgraded the enchantments on his armor slightly, first [Disassembling] the gauntlet into its component parts and replacing just the segments with the barrier and projection runes before [Reassembling] it and reactivating the enchantment.
Then Jason moved on to what he thought of as an experimental shotgun, though perhaps ¡®arm cannon¡¯ was a more accurate term. He first enchanted a slotted, hollow steel tube with enhanced runes for knockback resistance, hoping it would function as a major recoil reducer so he wouldn¡¯t break his shoulder or arm firing the thing. Putting his [Some Assembly Required] skill and his crate of spare parts to use, Jason then reworked the top of the tube to include a small, spring-loaded magazine, which he enchanted like he would any other spatial storage object, in order to hold additional rounds.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!
Since modern bullets were beyond his means to manufacture, Jason had also chosen to settle on older powder-charge firing mechanisms. He added a separate, relatively simple flintlock system to ignite the gunpowder, though he substituted a tiny sliver of fire shard for the flint, it being a far more consistent means of igniting something.
For the gunpowder pan, Jason attempted something a little more ambitious. Like the magazine, he applied a spacial storage enchantment there, but also applied a triggered delivery enchantment as well, not unlike the one he¡¯d placed on the shower-head to to toggle the flow of water on and off. The runes for the delivery system were not only linked to the gunpowder storage, but also to the magazine slot and a separate enchantment that produced a simple compressed burst of elemental air that would clean out the pan and barrel of any embers or blockage before both releasing a new charge¡¯s worth of powder into the pan and new chamber a new round. This meant Jason would need to spend almost no time at all reloading, and would suffer very little chance of the misfires that plagued early firearms.
As for rounds, Jason took some time deciding on what, exactly, he wanted to use. Eventually, he settled on a kind of improvised, magical shotgun slug, carved from an elemental shard and imbued with enhanced density using alchemy. He had plans to also make use of some of the bloodgems that he had brought back from the Wastes to perhaps add blood-seeking to at least one magazine¡¯s worth of shots, but he held off on that for now. Jason knew that if he was going to be testing the weapon on trees first, he didn¡¯t want to be firing rounds that would try and correct course to hit certain kinds of living targets. For all he knew, he might end up shooting himself if he tried.
Finally, Jason assembled everything together. Thanks to the magazine enchantment being separate from the weapon itself, as a storage device, the enchantments held, and Jason bolted the weapon down onto a plate of metal that could simply be strapped down on top of the forearm armor he already had. Then he grabbed all his gear, including his automatic crossbow and the tripod, and went to meet Tersk.
The test firings went more smoothly than Jason had expected. His enchantments had held up just fine under the force of the gunpowder ignition, and by Tersk¡¯s estimation, the recoil resistance enhancement may have actually increased the velocity at which the round was fired while simultaneously protecting the would-be wearer.
Neither did Jason have any issues with misfires over the course of the tests he performed: as Jason had hoped, both the automated cleaning process and the exchanging of flint for a fire shard seemed to have drastically reduced the chance of malfunctions. Tersk was quite enamored of the air-blast enchantment. While the old dwarf knew that some Machinists used magic as a part of their weapons, he¡¯d never seen it in action, and approved of Jason¡¯s ingenuity in solving a common problem.
As for the ammunition, thelarge,ice-coated crater that was left in the trunk of a tree at three hundred feetspoke for its effectiveness. The elementalshards he''d formed the slugs fromhadsomehow imparted various elemental effects to the shots, which he hadn¡¯t really expected. Jason had simply chosen them because they were easily manufactured and cutting them down into the proper shapes was relatively simple.
His only complaint, perhaps, was that the size of the powder pan seriously limited the enchantment, and thus the number of shots he would be able to make before needing to stop and refill the storage. Still, the weapon was essentially semi-automatic and required little more effort on his part than to simply stabilize with his other hand, point, and shoot. Not a bad result at allfor a ''primitive'' firearm, in his estimation.
Jason spent a fair bit of time with Tersk, and Pelk as well, making small adjustments to the weapon and conducting several different tests before Tersk had pronounced the weapon fit for use, even if it was a bit slap-dash in how it had been put together. However, the normally reticent dwarf also offered to forge Jason a series of proper parts for the weapon if he were willing to trade him the prototype. He reasoned that now that Jason had proven that he was, in fact, already quite knowledgeable regarding firearms, he felt better about outright providing him with specifically made parts.
Jason of course knew this was a complete fabrication and Tersk probably wanted to take the gun apart and see if Jason had done anything he didn¡¯t know about, but Jason didn¡¯t especially care about that. He did care about getting more custom-made parts though, so after some bargaining to also allow for future purchases of specialized parts for both armor and weapons, Jason agreed.
Thus it was that Jason ended up returning to Tersk¡¯s business for a second time, and then working his way through dinnertime in order to complete a new model, with attachment points added onto his vambrace.
Jason put down his tools and leaned back in his chair, flexing his right hand. The work he¡¯d been doing was starting to give him a serious cramp, and he wondered if it might not be worth taking a least healing potion for the pain.
He glanced up at the window, realizing it was now fully dark out. Then someone behind him poked him in the side, and he jumped, startled, turning around.
¡°Boo!¡± Lumi said. She held up a cloth-wrapped package. ¡°I brought you a sandwich from Arn¡¯s. Figured you¡¯d still be up here working, you seemed pretty into it. Looks like I wasn¡¯t wrong.¡±
Jason massaged his hand slightly. ¡°Thanks. Definitely time I had a break, but at least everything¡¯s done now.¡±
¡°The whole thing?¡± Lumi asked, eyebrows raised.
¡°Well I mean, the right arm portion,¡± Jason clarified. ¡°Shoulder, upper and lower segments, gauntlet, weapon. Probably as good as I¡¯ll be able to make until I gain some more levels.¡±
¡°That¡¯s still way faster than I¡¯d expected,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t it take like, days to make all the parts?¡±
¡°Maybe back home,¡± Jason replied with a one-shouldered shrug, ¡°but here skills make a pretty big difference, and Tersk is pretty high level. And I¡¯ve got assembly and repair skills of my own after all.¡±
¡°True. Reconstruction is pretty great to watch in action, I have to say. You made a turret yet?¡± she asked.
¡°Not yet, still haven''t designed one I like. I need to take a break first, I think.¡±
Lumi passed Jason the sandwich. ¡°Well here¡¯s your excuse, yeah? Want me to get you something to drink?¡±
Jason grinned at her. ¡°No need, I¡¯ve got some leftover tea, which I could really go for right now. Mind giving it a warm for me though?¡±
¡°Sure.¡±
Jason pulled out his two remaining flasks of Sereni-tea, offering one to Lumi, who accepted. She cupped a hand around each one, using a cantrip. Steam began rising from the flasks.
Lumi took a seat opposite Jason while he ate, each of them occasionally pausing for a sip of tea, and began giving him a rundown of her own activities of the day. At one point, she mentioned that Sevani had met up with her and Kera, and that apparently Sevani had a real pub-crawler side to her.
¡°What, seriously?¡± Jason asked in disbelief.
Lumi laughed at his expression. ¡°Really! She¡¯s actually pretty fun to hang out with.¡±
¡°Are we talking a out the same woman? Because the Sevani I met seemed like the constant, severe, no-nonsense type. She even yelled at you for breaking stuff at the training yard.¡±
¡°Believe or not, she¡¯s also the type who likes to let her hair down from time to¡ª¡±
Lumi stopped suddenly as the shrill whine of signal flares going off cut through the conversation like a knife.
Jason hastily pushed his chair away from the table and darted to the window. There were six flares, and all of them were light blue.
¡°Ok, uh¡ I don¡¯t know what that means,¡± Jason said.
¡°I do, and it isn¡¯t good,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Gear up. I¡¯ll go get Kera.¡± She turned and ran downstairs.
Jason took a deep breath, and downed the rest of his tea. It looked like it was going to be a long night, and he wanted to be as relaxed as he could.
Then he began gathering his things. Jason pulled out his heavy coat and double checked the pockets to make sure he had his bombs. He belted on the potion bandolier and the wand holders, and made sure to grab some additional rejuvenation potions, which went into the pockets of his coat. Jason then donned the armor, pectoral plates and all, before sliding his coat on over the armor and tying back one sleeve so as to not interfere with his aim.
Just as he came down the stairs, someone started pounding on the front door.
He opened it, finding Aldin standing before him, breathing heavily.
¡°Seer alert,¡± Aldin gasped. ¡°One hour.¡±
¡°Breathe, man,¡± Jason said. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means.¡±
Lumi, now wearing her own armor and strapping her sword to her waist, walked up behind Jason. Kera was with her, Echo and Ceri in tow.
¡°All blues mean the one Seer that Aurion brought with him had a vision,¡± Lumi said. ¡°The number of flares means ten minute increments til the predicted event. Everyone is to gather on the location in such an event.¡±
¡°We have a seer?¡± Jason asked, turning to Aldin.
¡°Some woman Aurion brought,¡± Aldin managed to say after taking a few deep breaths. ¡°I don¡¯t know her. He set her up on the well in the main square, just in case.¡±
¡°Why would he¡?¡±
Kera shooed Jason forward, out of the house. ¡°Where do you think the water in the well comes from, dummy?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s ultimately connected to the river. The same river crazy fish monsters are coming from? Why did you think they capped it?¡±
Jason advanced out of the doorway. ¡°I¡ guess I hadn''t really thought about it.¡± Jason stopped and looked around. ¡°Where¡¯s Ravs?¡±
¡°Right here,¡± a voice breathed into his ear. Jason barely suppressed the urge to scream, but succeed on keeping a straight face.
An invisible finger poked him in the side, and Ravs faded into view.
¡°Damn, he¡¯s pretty good,¡± Ravs said. ¡°Gets Aldin every time.¡±
¡°You should take lessons,¡± she said to Aldin.
¡°Enough jawing,¡± Lumi ordered. ¡°Ravs, do we need to take your teleport or do we walk?¡±
¡°Better to save my mana,¡± she responded. ¡°The teleport is expensive, even at this short distance.¡±
¡°Jogging it is, then.¡±
¡°Wait, you just said walking,¡± Aldin protested, still slightly out of breath.
Jason just rolled his eyes and passed him a stamina potion.
Then they were off at a light jog towards the upper district, where the main square, and thus the town well, was located. It was only a matter of minutes before they arrived, and other adventurers were already streaming into the square alongside them. Several mages were throwing up light spells, either casting them onto the surrounding buildings, or simply conjuring ones that latched onto the closest passing adventurer and followed them.
Aurion and two other older adventurers were positioned right in front of the well alongside Captain Denaire. One looked to be a standard warrior type, all armor and bulging muscles. The second was a slim woman in grey robes, with a band of grey cloth wrapped all the way around her head, covering her eyes. Both the warrior and Denaire were giving out orders to a steady stream of individuals.
Aurion spotted Ravs and let out a piercing whistle to claim their attention, waving the group over.
¡°Ravs, just the person I need,¡± Aurion said. ¡°How many people can you shift at once, if you were to burn your whole pool?¡±
¡°I¡What?¡± Ravs looked a bit taken aback.
Aurion growled impatiently. ¡°Your teleport. How many at once?¡±
¡°Depends,¡± she said after a moment¡¯s hesitation. ¡°Maybe thirty as I am now?¡±
¡°What if you released all your beacons but one and it was only a short jump? Say, from here to the north wall? And you left nothing for afterwards? Transport only.¡±
¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me what you want, and I¡¯ll tell you what I can manage?¡± Ravs replied.
¡°The scouts returned with a report of major activity northwards, the sort that¡¯s always a prelude to a major assault. At the same time, Kaerlin had a vision of a major breakthrough right here at the well.¡±
¡°Something big,¡± Kaerlin emphasized.
Jason eyed the massive, glimmering iron plate, more than a foot thick, which was currently clamped over the top of well in addition to being bolted directly into the ground by huge spikes weighed down by heavy stone. It looked like it must weigh at least as much as a small car.
He¡¯d wondered what the radiant iron had gotten used for. Now he knew.
¡°Denaire and I discussed it,¡± Aurion was saying, ¡°and she and I both think they¡¯re planning a two front assault. A general, massed attack straight at the main gate as a distraction, while the real threat attempts to come up from below. We don¡¯t have the manpower to guard two fronts at once at peak effectiveness, but we do potentially have mobility and forewarning.¡±
¡°I¡¯m hoping to leave the north gate to the townsfolk and the guard while we take on whatever threat appears here first. Once that¡¯s dealt with, you warp all of us straight outside the gates, where we crush the remainder against our own walls.¡±
Ravs thought for a minute, frowning. ¡°Maybe¡ I think yes, if I had some time to prepare I could get everyone. I¡¯ll be useless afterwards though.¡±
¡°Pick a spot nearby, but out of the line of fire then,¡± Aurion ordered. ¡°If you need to commandeer anything, let me¡ª.¡±
¡°Just a horse,¡± Ravs said. ¡°I¡¯ll have to release my beacons all at once and then go personally place a new one, and I don¡¯t want to wear myself out running back and forth across town.¡±
¡°You¡¯ll have it,¡± Aurion said, making a motion to a nearby guardsman, whom Ravs split off and joined up with.
The wizard turned back to Jason and Lumi, who were standing in front. ¡°Sorry to steal your companion there, but needs must. Time to see how well you¡¯ve absorbed your lessons.¡±
Aurion began his signature back-and-forth pacing. ¡°We¡¯ll be executing a standard full raid formation on the assumption that whatever¡¯s coming might be Boss-tier, even though they rarely ever appear outside a dungeon. Lumiriel, you¡¯ll be with the tank line of course. Kerali, you¡¯ll be with the tank line as well for now, but as you¡¯ve brought your beasts, if there¡¯s any sign of smaller enemy groups I want you to split off and join the skirmishers. Aldin, we expect this one to be pretty touch and go, so you¡¯re on support only; stay with the healers.¡±
¡°Jason¡¡± Aurion paused in his pacing. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure what you do at the moment. Your skills clearly lend you towards support, but your last fight you¡¯d torn though the murkling back ranks with some sort of fire construct, and I¡¯ve also had reports you use some kind of explosive?¡±
Jason gestured to his new armor and wands. ¡°Mid-range weapon and spell combat for now, sir.¡±
Aurion eyed the heavily enchanted armor with curiosity but didn¡¯t ask. ¡°Very well, join one of the mage lines then.¡±
¡°Dismissed, and good luck.¡±
Chapter 37
Chapter 37
After their dismissal by Aurion, Jason and the others moved away to make room for others who were seeking the man¡¯s attention.
Kera peered at the massive, twenty-foot diameter well cap as they passed by, running her hand idly along Echo¡¯s back as she did so. ¡°Why is this well so big, anyway?¡± she asked. ¡°Aren''t they, you know, usually person-sized?"
"No, not always," Jason replied as they made way for a quickly-moving woman dressed in loose robes. "There''s one in Kansas that''s probably half again wider than this, some kind of tourist thing, and there''s other ones in the world that are even bigger. The biggest is somewhere in Italy, I think?"
"Still, it seems excessive," Kera commented. She paused. "Also, why do you even know things like that?"
"Because I am a font of useless trivia, thanks to videogames and the internet," Jason replied blithely. A man dressed in full armor passed them, and Jason glanced around the square, looking for his destination. Jason spotted a group of heavily-armored men and women standing a handful of feet away from the well, opposite from where they were.
"I think that''s the front-line group over there," he said, pointing.
¡°And mine as well,¡± Aldin said, with a nod to the cluster of additional people standing just behind them. ¡°See you after, I guess,¡± he said with a wave, splitting off and heading for the group of healers.
Kera threw her arms around Jason in a brief hug, startling him. ¡°Be careful,¡± she said into his shoulder before turning away. She called Ceri to her and began walking towards her assigned group.
Jason blinked. ¡°What brought that on?¡± he asked Lumi, turning to her slightly.
¡°Just stress, I think,¡± Lumi replied, watching as the other girl strode away. ¡°She doesn¡¯t let on much, but it leaks through when she doesn¡¯t think anyone¡¯s looking. I think she¡¯s grown a bit concerned about how¡comfortableshe is with just¡ rewriting herself, you know? She isn¡¯t used to being able to be whoever she wants, on her own terms. She¡¯s thrown her entire life out the window, and I think it scares her that shelikesthat.¡±
Lumi blew out a sigh. ¡°I can¡¯t say I blame her. Doesn¡¯t it bother you how we¡¯ve just, well, slipped into outright acceptance of a life where violence is the norm? We''vekilled people, and I don¡¯t even feel bad about it. That scares me, more than a little.¡±
Jason echoed Lumi¡¯s sigh with one of his own.
¡°Does it bother me?¡± he asked rhetorically after a moment, followed by a shrug. ¡°Sure. Is there anything I can do about it? Doubtful.¡±
He shook his head lightly. ¡°I¡¯m trying not to think about it, honestly. This world¡ it plays by a different set of rules, you know? Maybe it¡¯s the influence of The Voice, maybe its just how everyone here accepts violence as a given¡ I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m sure philosophers and psychologists both could have a field day with it all. I just know that the people here don¡¯t think twice about putting down ¡®monsters¡¯, because whether those monsters are people or not is immaterial to the fact that it¡¯s usually a ¡®you or them¡¯ situation. When it¡¯s that black and white¡ not a hard choice to make, really.¡±
They both fell silent for a few moments. Then Lumi shook herself all over. ¡°Ugh. Maybe you have the right of it, trying to not think about it. It just makes me upset.¡±
She gave him a quick hug of her own. ¡°Kera¡¯s right. Take care of yourself. See you afterwards.¡±
¡°Same to you.¡±
As Lumi moved to join Kera with the rest of the frontliners, Jason glanced around the square again, searching for his own group.
It was more difficult than he¡¯d expected, as it seemed that quite a number of spellcasters were involved in setting up fortifications. The town square had numerous buildings encircling it, which left plenty of gaps and alleyways that Aurion was ordering plugged. Whatever creature or creatures arrived, the man wanted them to have only one way out: through the ranks of the adventurers.
To that end there were numerous workers and spellcasters moving about, boarding up doors and windows, setting up barricades, and the like. Jason caught sight a green-skinned woman who could only be Flora conjuring up a massive wall of thorny growths, weaving an impassible barrier between the walls of two buildings. In another alleyway, a robed man held some sort of tome out before him, from which manifested a series of wooden planks and carved stones from nowhere that flew through the air and snapped into position, forming a wooden wall in a manner similar to Jason¡¯s own [Arcane Reconstruction] ability.
Near to where Aurion stood, a steady stream of townsfolk approached a set of heavily-laden carts, from which various weapons and armor were being handed out.After receiving their gear, said individuals were given orders and then took off for their own positions, no doubt at the front gates. Jason also spotted what looked to be the occasional vial being handed over as well; after all, his own work was among the militia supplies.
Circling around to the opposite side of the town well, back near where the road entered the square, Jason located the cluster of ranged combatants who weren¡¯t currently involved in the fortifications. A slight thrill of fear and anticipation of the battle to come ran through him as he joined the dozen other men and women Aurion had referred to as ¡®the mage line¡¯.
It was a loose designation of course. Most of the group were clearly wizards of some stripe or another, judging by their attire, but there were a few clear outliers like Jason himself. Off to the right, a man with arms like steel cables tested the draw of a massive, rune-covered greatbow that was taller than Jason. From the look of the thing, Jason suspected he¡¯d break an arm if he tried to draw it without some kind of magical assistance.
Nearby, a tall, thin woman with large rabbit ears that poked up from her wide-brim feathered hat stood fidgeting impatiently. She was dressed in an ornate, musketeer-like red outfit with white trim, sporting an open coat, knee-high boots, and a silver rapier. She watched as one of the wizards, this one dressed in simple brown robes, walked in a long half circle in front of the group, scraping the bottom of his staff along the ground and leaving a trail of glowing runes behind him in his wake.
Jason couldn¡¯t make out the runes from where he was standing, so he activated his [Arcane Sight] and stepped forward to get a better look. Before he could analyze the runes properly, the bunny-woman crossed to his side and took him by the arm.
¡°Hold up, there,¡± she said in a surprisingly deep voice. ¡°Might want to keep back.¡± The woman pulled him across the runes and over to the group of casters.
¡°You¡¯re the new guy, yeah?¡± she asked as she released his arm. ¡°Ravs¡¯ new party member?¡±
¡°Uh, I guess so,¡± Jason said. ¡°One of them, anyway. I wasn¡¯t aware Aurion had told anyone yet.¡±
¡°Thought so,¡± She confirmed, then nodded towards the line of runes. ¡°Don¡¯t stand too close. Watch.¡±
Jason did so.
The man completed his half-circle, and with a final gesture there was a loudcrackand the pavement shattered upwards in a spray of dirt. A waist-high wall of mixed dirt and stone burst upwards, forming a rough barricade. Moments later, stone spikes thrust outwards from the side facing the well.
¡°Well that¡¯s handy,¡± Jason commented.
¡°Hebran¡¯s a [Stonecaller],¡± The woman told him. ¡°An earth-magic specialist. His spells are powerful but they tend to throw around a lot of shrapnel. It¡¯s useful against critters that come in large numbers, like Murklings, but you don¡¯t want to stand too close.¡±
¡°Thanks for the warning. I¡¯m Jason, by the way. And you are¡.?¡±
The woman grinned and doffed her hat, tossing her hat into the air. In quick succession she drew her rapier, performed a quick flourish, bowed with her hand and blade to either side, and then straightened and caught her hat with one hand as it came down, placing it on her head and sliding her rapier back into place smoothly.
Somehow, she¡¯d even managed to get her ears back through the holes in the hat. Jason felt that that in itself was more impressive than the whole.
¡°Sylvia Arrowgale, [Arcane Duelist], at your service,¡± the woman said with a dazzling smile. ¡°Today, I¡¯m in charge of making sure those pesky Murklings keep their grubby claws off you flimsy mage types.¡±
She eyed Jason¡¯s partially-completed armor, which was covering a portion of his torso and his right arm. ¡°Well¡ perhaps some of you are less flimsy than others.¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t that the tanks¡¯ job?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Tanks?¡± Sylvia asked. ¡°Ah. You mean the front line. No, their job is keeping whatever big guy comes busting out from turning his attention on you ranged types, so that you can doyourjob, namely killit. Rarely though do such¡" She paused. "Hmm... what¡¯s a good word to call something that¡¯slikea dungeon boss but isn¡¯t actually?¡±
¡°Where I come from, we sometimes call them ¡®mid-bosses¡¯,¡± Jason replied.
Sylvia laughed. ¡°Ha! I like it. Well, such¡ mid-bosses rarely come unaccompanied. Whether or not they will come as part of a full raiding party or not remains to be seen. If it¡¯s only a handful, my job is to keep the attention of any little guys while you lot deal with the¡ mid-boss. If there¡¯s more than just a handful and it¡¯s a full raiding group, part of the front line will break off to engage whatever they can, and some ofuswill switch our focus to thinning out the numbers while the rest pound away at the big one.¡±
¡°Ah, so that¡¯s what Aurion meant about sending Kera with the skirmishers¡¡±
¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sylvia nodded.
Jason thought for a moment. ¡°I¡¯m probably best suited for mid range and crowd control with what I¡¯ve got on me currently, so I guess I should be one of the ones to switch if needed? Is there anyone I should inform¡.?¡±
Sylvia shook her head. ¡°No need. Just pitch in wherever you can be the most effective, barring being given specific orders.¡±
¡°I heard about what you did with that fire construct a few days ago, by the way,¡± she commented, giving Jason a sideways glance as she turned to look back out at the square. ¡°Good work there, by the way. Will we be seeing a repeat of that performance?¡±
¡°Afraid not,¡± Jason replied. ¡°It¡¯s, uh, not a particularly efficient use of my mana as it turns out. That one stunt drained more than a good three-quarters of my mana. Only reason I tried it was because I didn¡¯t have so much as a single wand on me when the call came in.¡±
¡°Conjuring it drained that much?¡± she asked with surprised.
Jason shook his head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t conjured, it was crafted. I¡¯m an [Artificer], among other things. I can temporarily enchant things on the go without needing to engrave them, but unless it¡¯s a simple enchantment it takes a lot out of me.¡±
¡°Hmm.¡± Sylvia tapped her lips with a finger, thinking. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s useful sounding or not.¡±
¡°Well for one thing,¡± Jason replied, ¡°even when suddenly teleported into an imminent confrontation with dungeon monsters, you¡¯re never unarmed.¡±
¡°Point,¡± she conceded with a slight nod.
Jason paused for a moment, considering. ¡°Though that does give me a thought¡ think uh¡ what was his name? ¡Hebran? Think he could make me a small ledge of stone to prop up a weapon? We should have enough time.¡±
¡°Couldn¡¯t hurt to ask.¡±
Curious, Sylvia flagged the other mage down, and in short order Hebran had extended a section of the barricade in Jason¡¯s direction and flattened out the top.
Jason began fishing around in his bag, and whether through some application of his new Machinist skills or simply force of habit when it came to dumping everything he could into the [Handy Haversack], Jason found what he needed. Several bits of scrap metal metal and wire allowed him to attach the auto-crossbow to the tripod, and some judicious application of his crafting skills let him whip together a second magazine for when the crossbow ran out. After that, it was a few minutes work for Jason to scribe the runes that would turn the thing into an automatic turret.
He hoped the machine¡¯s own aim would be better than his had been when he¡¯d tried firing the thing, though Jason doubted it. Still, the automatic weapon principle applied there: you didn¡¯t care much about accuracy if you were going to be firing into a horde of oncoming monsters, after all. You cared about firing rate and penetration power.
¡°Designated Foe: Murklings,¡± Jason commanded. ¡°Designated Range: Five Yards.¡±
A bit short on the range, he felt, but Jason didn¡¯t want the thing accidentally firing into his allies, after all.
With a twitch and a shudder, the crossbow rotated about on it swivel, then snapped up into a forward-facing position, away from the barricade and towards the central well.
¡°Fancy,¡± commented Sylvia. ¡°You¡¯re just full of surprises.¡±
¡°Just you watch,¡± he said with a grin, just before downing one of his least mana potions to replenish what he¡¯d used.
Then all there was to do was wait.
A deep, resoundingboomshook the ground beneath Jason¡¯s feet, bringing everyone to instant alertness. All across the square, eyes snapped towards the iron well cap as itbentoutwards under some tremendous impact.
Aurion¡¯s voice thundered as if he was standing right next to Jason, shouting in his ear. ¡°All remaining civilians withdraw immediately! Combatants, brace for immediate contact! Buffs out!¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Despite having been forewarned about raid-wide [Message] spells, Jason still jumped as Aurion¡¯s voice boomed behind his ear. All around him, commands rang out as mages and healers alike began layering defensive spells on themselves and their allies.
Jason was no exception, quickly downing a potion that enhanced both fortitude and calm. He found himself energized, his mind sharpening as the day¡¯s fatigue washed away and the potion¡¯s effect spread through him. Nearby, one of the mages cast something across the entire group, and a quick check of Jason¡¯s status showed he¡¯d received a beneficial effect labeled ¡®Clarity¡¯, which provided a small amount of mana regeneration.
A second thunderous impact struct the well cap as Jason drew his storm wand, checked that his crossbow turret was still active, and readied himself. This was followed by a third, and then a fourth, with each strike deforming the metal further and further and sending cracks through the stone spikes anchoring it into the ground.
On the fifth impact, the well cap gave out, coming free in a shower of stone and earth as the entire structure shattered and the iron frame was flung thirty feet into the air. Jason flinched as a bellowing roar filled the air and a great, sinuous form rose up from the shattered remains.
Slithering up and out of the ruined well and shrieking its rage to the sky, the monstrous creature dwarfed anything Jason had seen yet: a twenty-foot tall, muscular humanoid figure, lacking legs but with a coiling, finned tail twice its own height in length. Claws as long as Jason¡¯s arm clutched at an enormous harpoon, and squid-like tentacles writhed below a fang-filled, carnivorous maw.
Just for a moment, as the creature heaved its bulk out of the well in a spray of stone, water, and mud, Jason stood there in fear, both terrified and awed by the creature¡¯s size. Nothing he¡¯d ever seen on Earth could compare to the mixture of pure physical might and feeling of sheer hatethat the creature gave off as it leveled its gaze across the assembled adventurers.
Soon the cries of his allies galvanized him. Around him he could hear cries of ¡°Merrow!¡± and the commands of spells being activated. The ruined iron cap of the well came crashing down towards the group of frontliners, who had been positioned slightly to one side. Jason saw a sloped, rippling curtain of darkness flicker into existence, and it was deflected to one side.
As the spells began to fly, watersurgedupwards out the well, pouring out into the square. A veritable horde of murklings spewed forth, as the water carried them rapidly upwards from the reservoir below. These were not the semi-organized spearmen Jason had seen before, however: they were mad-eyed, scampering on all fours, swarming almost like locusts.
¡°Defenders, split ranks!¡± Aurion called. ¡°Casters, suppressing fire on the horde only until the merrow can be drawn aside!¡±
Jason obliged.
As the first wave of murklings began to charge, Jason triggered the alchemical effect of his wand and hurled a ball of lightning from his wand into the oncoming fishmen. With a clap of thunder Jason barely heard over the noise of everyone else¡¯s spells and shouts, the orb expanded into a swirling, spinning cloud of energy, catching several murklings inside and striking them repeatedly with electrical discharges. They fell, only for others to push their way in behind them and meet a similar fate.
One orb after another, Jason began scattering his miniature lightning storms into the fray, always aiming as far back as he could, trying to catch the fishmen as they boiled up from below. He and the other mages had killed dozens of the creatures by the time he¡¯d gone through only six of his wand¡¯s alchemical charges, but the creatures must have numbered at least a hundred, because dozens more quickly reached the second line of defense, where Kera had moved into position with the other skirmishers.
She¡¯d elected to go with the gorthek form again, Jason saw, this time with a greatly enlarged Ceri and Echo fighting at her side. All three of them tore into the oncoming murklings, biting and clawing and rending with a frenzy that made Jason somewhat ill to see. Kera herself bellowed a command and her massive frost beetle materialized besides her, releasing a blast of freezing cold into the ranks of the murklings, briefly trapping many of them in place.
A quick glance in the direction of the tank line sent a spike of alarm through Jason. He had no trouble picking out Lumi from the crowd, shining like a beacon from all the defensive spells emplaced upon her. As Jason turned his eyes in her direction, the merrow stabbed downwards with a mighty blow that struck her layered shields and sent sparks flying in all directions. The impact itself drove her to one knee and cracked the pavement all around her, but her defenses held, and she surged back to her feat, seemingly unharmed. With her free hand, she hurled a blast of dark energy up into merrow¡¯s face, causing it to rear back, scraping at its face with one claw. The warriors with her surged forwards, hacking away at beast¡¯s flanks, taking advantage of its momentary blindness.
Jason snapped his attention back to his own side as a pack of murklings broke free of what was now a general melee happening only a dozen feet from his location. His crossbow turret began unloading into them as they closed the distance, and Jason added his own electric bolts to the mix, killing several before they came anywhere close to the barrier.
Four more died to spells hurled by Sylvia, who simplypointedwith her rapier, causing the murklings to burst into flames. Just as had happened with his first encounter, the fish-creatures attempted to put out the fire by rolling in the steadily-rising water, but to no avail.
Others simply hurled themselves mindlessly onto the spikes of the barricade, heedless of their own safety. One managed to climb atop its dead brethren and leapt to the top of the barricade besides Jason. He extended his right arm, hand curled downwards, and shotgunned it in the chest, which flung the creature¡¯s corpse away from him in a burst of icy shards.
It wasn¡¯t enough; Kera, her pets, and the others beyond the barricade were getting overwhelmed through sheer weight of numbers, and the adventurers nearby seemed to know it.
The man with the massive bow began firing arrow after arrow into a group of murklings that were besieging a pair of leather-wearing rogue types, while Sylvia blew out a dramatic sigh, ceased throwing spells, and bounded up and over the barrier to come to their aid, spearing a murkling with her rapier on the way down.
Kera herself had a half-dozen of the fish-creatures clinging to her hide, slashing away at her with their claws while Ceri and Echo tried to pull them off.ThatJason could do something about, but he¡¯d have to get close enough to make himself heard - not an easy feat surrounded by the sound of battle.
And here I keeptryingto cut back on the recklessness, but nooooo....
With an inward sigh, Jason snapped a new magazine into his turret, cranked his gauntlet into barrier mode, and then vaulted over the barricade.He twisted his body to avoid coming into contact with the spikes on the opposite side, and as his feet touched the ground, he reflected that his crossbow had proven to be a far,farmore accurate shot once animated. Just as he¡¯d hoped. After all, many a game featured characters who could lay down turrets that would fire into the midst of a grand melee and yet miraculously avoided friendly fire of any kind.
A murkling a few feet away slipped past Sylvia, who was rushing to the assistance of the two leather-armored fighters, and came at Jason just as he was drawing a wand with his free hand. He quickly brought up his right arm and clenched his fist, activating the barrier enchantment. His arm sprouted a shimmering shield of cracking electricity, and he slammed it directly into the oncoming murkling¡¯s face. The shield''s energy arced into the creature with an almost musical buzz, like the discharge of a tesla coil, and the monster flopped bonelessly onto the ground. Jason immediately followed up with a bolt of shadow from the wand in his left hand.
Jason then belted out a series of new commands to his autocrossbow, ordering it to provide covering fire around him, before he charged into the group of creatures swarming around Kera. All further thoughts were forced out of Jason¡¯s head as his world became a whirlwind of sheer violence. The savage, red-eyed murklings might have only been waist-high, but they were agile, and possessed a flagrant disregard for their own safety. Claws and teeth came at him from all sides.
Jason spun, firing off a shotgun blast into a pair of the monsters before pulling his arm in tight and ramming his barrier into a third, electrocuting it. To his left, another murkling went down with a crossbow bolt through its leg. Jason fired off his wand at the prone creature, finishing it with a shadowbolt just as one of the creatures leapt at him.
He got his shield up just in time, and sparks flew as the fish-man¡¯s claws and teeth impacted the shimmering barrier. Jason was nearly knocked from his feet and the shield flickered and spat sparks as the murkling was flung away from him, but both he and his shield held. Fortunately for Jason, the murklings seemed to possess little in the way of weight or physical strength: As a shield, Jason¡¯s current enchantment was a paltry, weak thing; nothing compared to the high-end bracer that Lumi possessed. Any kind of serious impact, be it from a creature with enhanced strength or anything worse than a low-end spell, would probably shatter the barrier and maybe even burn out the shard powering it.
Not that Jason had any time to consider that fact. Immediately after repelling the leaper, Jason fired off two addition shotgun blasts into oncoming fish-men, leaving a ruined mess of icy shards behind. Past him to either side flew a series of crossbow bolts from his turret, clearing his flanks, and Jason used the opportunity to sprint forwards to Kera¡¯s side, splashing his way through the now inch-deep water that was slowly rising all across the square.
Echo and Ceri stood beside their mistress, tearing and biting at the swarm as it piled on. A roar from the gorthek-girl washed over him as she bellowed a command, and a green light flowed out from her, bathing herself and her pets in a healing glow. She opened her mouth and a jet of flame incinerated a nearby murkling that was about to leap onto Echo¡¯s back.
Jason jammed his shadow wand back into its holster and drew forth a glass sphere that glowed an eerie orange. Small bits of crushed fire shard floated inside: an experimental firebomb. He blasted another murkling away from him, and then waved the sphere over his head furiously as the noise drew Kera¡¯s attention.
Kera saw him waving, and immediately understood. As if responding to some silent command, Ceri and Echo tore themselves from her side. Echo bolted past Jason while Ceri took to the air,both headed for the barricade.
¡°Fireproofing!¡±Kera bellowed as Jason threw the sphere directly at Kera.
Flames erupted all around her, clinging to Kera¡¯s sides and even flowing along the surface of the water that was slowly rising all around. Screams came from the surrounding murklings, who fell in droves, writhing around desperately in the water but only succeeding in spreading the flames further.
Jason himself beat a hasty retreat as Kera began savaging the remaining murklings, electing to simply plow bodily into them. Some were tampled underfoot, others were gored by her horns and crushed in her jaws, while yet morewere caught up in whatever fiery substance Jason¡¯s alchemy had created, spreading havoc among their ranks.
I hope she rememberswearen¡¯t fireproof and doesn¡¯t spread that aroundtoomuch, Jason thought. While a short experiment had proven thatelementalwater would put out the magical flames, and he had some countermeasures prepared, he didn''t have an endless supply of what amounted to magic water balloons, and Lumi could only produce so much at once.
Hopefully some of the other mages have water spells¡
Now that much of the horde surrounding his friend had been slain, and Kera was dealing with the rest, Jason turned his attention to surveying he remaining combatants as he sprinted his way back to the barricade.
The other mages, seeing the vast majority of the swarm dealt with, had mostly turned their spells on the heaving bulk of the merrow on the far side of the square, where the tanks were still fighting. A few here and there were still taking down isolated murklings, and Sylvia was plowing into the group of murklings that still surrounded the two rogue-types.
Jason reached the barricade, where Echo and Ceri paced back and forth anxiously. Jason decided to give them something to do: aid Sylvia. Kera had, more or less, trained them to understand basic commands, and their nature as pseudo-familiars mostly handled the rest.
Jason drew one of his alchemical healing wands, and then drew Echo and Ceri''s attention with a piercing whistle. They turned and followed.
Flanked by Kera''s pets, Jason joined Sylvia in plowing into the remaining murklings. He leveled the healing wand, tagging both of the beleaguered rogues with a burst of healing for good measure. Then he re-holstered it, switched his gauntlet into projectile mode, and began unleashing a series of electrified bolts while Kera¡¯s pets entered the fray.
Ceri simply elected to bowl his way into the group fish-men, his [Static Charge] ability sparking wildly and sending many of them to the ground. In contrast, Echo hung back slightly, both howling her sonic beam at any stragglers and finishing off any fishmen downed by Ceri with a volley of tail spikes. Jason wasn¡¯t sure if this maneuver was something Kera had taught them or not during training sessions, though he recalled that the Rockhounds had definitely shown an natural inclination towards group tactics.
Meanwhile, Sylvia forged her way to the side of their allies. Jason covered her advance with a combination of projectiles both magical and alchemical, while the bunny woman¡¯s pinpoint strikes with her rapier and small blasts of fire from her free hand cleared the way.
Pinned between the adventurers on one side, and Jason, Ceri and Echo on the other, the murklings didn¡¯t stand a chance. Their assault broke apart, and Jason and the others pelted their way back to the barricade while a few of the mages behind the barricade began striking down the fleeing murklings.
Apparently Hebron was watching as well, because a gap in the barrier opened up to allow them passage through, before closing up again behind them. Once everyone was back behind it, the shorter of the two rogues simply collapsed to his knees, heaving deep breaths.
Alarmed, Jason stepped towards him, but he waved Jason off. Instead, he pulled a green vial from his belt while unfastening his helmet and letting it drop to the ground, revealing the snow-white hair and light blue skin of the elf boy Jason had encountered a week ago. The boy downed the vial swiftly.
Before Jason could think to say or do anything else, Aurion¡¯s voice thundered across the field.
¡°The horde is dispersed. All ranged combatants, bring down that merrow, now!¡±
Jason¡¯s mana was beginning to run low, so he quickly consumed another least potion, and turned his attention to the fight going on in the distance.
The monstrosity¡¯s scales were covered with dozens of shallow cuts that were bleeding a foul, black substance that smoked when it mixed with the water pooling about the square. The defenders had seen their fair share of heavy damage as well: more than half their number were missing. A spike of panic ran through Jason as he realized that Lumi wasn¡¯t among those few still fighting.
Scanning the battlefield, he spotted her slumped against a doorway some distance away, her armor battered and rent down one side, with Aldin kneeling over her. He couldn¡¯t tell how badly hurt she might be, but her aura, [Warmth] was still visibly active and Aldin was channeling streamers of green energy into her.
As much as Jason wanted to rush to his friend¡¯s side, she was alive and being seen to. Jason knew that Aldin was better equipped as a healer than he himself was, so he tried to force his fear and worry aside.
He was only marginally successful.
Reminding himself that he¡¯d nearly lost his hand not too long ago and had come out fine, Jason shook his head, pulled a piece of candy out of one pocket and popped it in his mouth, earning an odd look from Sylvia. A feeling of peace and calm washed over him as the alchemy did its work.
¡°Alright, let¡¯s finish this bastard,¡± he muttered to himself.
With the murkling horde defeated, the whole raid turned their attention on the merrow. Despite it¡¯s awesome size and strength, on its own it was no match for a band of forty adventurers of mixed experience. As someone put it later to Jason, as terrifying as it was, the merrow was just a massive brute, not even a boss-tier creature.
Dozens of spells assaulted it from all sides as the spellcasters spread out across the square. Most of those who could only attack in melee withdrew out of the creatures reach as the creature was bombarded. Flying fists of stone beat away at the creature¡¯s head while ice froze over its coiling body, trapping it in place. Others, like Jason, pelted the beast with a dizzying array of elemental projectiles.
At last, with a great crash, it fell. Aloud cheer arose, which promptedAurion to call out to everyone again. ¡°We¡¯re not done yet. Take a moment to top up if you need, then fall back to Ravs¡¯ position.¡±
Jason downed a least mana potion and then ran to Lumi¡¯s side. Kera arrived roughly at the same time he did, shifting back down into her changeling form. Ceri and Echo ran to her side, immediately pushing against her for reassurance.
Lumi though, had released her aura, and Aldin was still kneeling beside her, breathing heavily and showing the telltale sweat and strain of low mana levels.
¡°How is she?¡± Jason asked Aldin with concern.
¡°Not dead yet.¡± Lumi managed to croak out weakly. She tried to sit up, whimpered, then slumped back and clutched at her side. ¡°Holy shit that hurts.¡±
Aldin gently pulled her hands away from her side, placing them in her lap. ¡°Don¡¯t move just yet, the spell¡¯s still in effect. Your ribs are probably broken, and maybe other things too. It took everything I had just to clear out the internal bleeding and fix the worst of the damage.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve got more¡ª¡± Jason began.
Aldin shook his head. ¡°Any more and she¡¯ll end up with mana poisoning. Same goes for me too. I already drank all three of the ones you gave me, and that was pushing it.¡±
¡°What happened?¡± Jason asked quietly.
¡°Fucker stabbed me is what happened.¡± Lumi croaked out. ¡°Double-handed piledriver with that damned harpoon, right through my shields and¡.¡±
She trailed off, out of breath, and coughed weakly. Then she muttered something about itching, and Jason recalled how uncomfortable his own healing had been.
Kera reached out and placed a hand on Lumi¡¯s shoulder, lightly. ¡°Just take it easy, we can get the story later. We need to get going.¡±
¡°She¡¯ll be OK though, right?¡± Kera asked, turning to Aldin.
He nodded wearily. ¡°Just needs a day, maybe two. She was hurt pretty bad but as I gather you¡¯ve seen firsthand, if you get to it right away and they haven¡¯t lost limbs or something, most stuff is fixable by a good healer.¡±
Lumi waved weakly with one hand. ¡°Go, go¡¡±
Jason turned away, heading for the building Ravs had been setting up her circle in. After a moment, Kera caught up to him.
He turned to her slightly. ¡°What about you, you need anything?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I¡¯ve still got some candies left, and more normal potions.¡±
¡°Mouthwash?¡± Kera suggested. ¡°Those things tastedisgusting.¡±
Jason eyed Kera warily from the side. ¡°I¡¯m kinda surprised you¡¯re so¡ I don¡¯t know¡ ¡®OK¡¯ with the whole beast fighting thing. It¡¯s stressful enough slugging it out with a wand. I would have thought you¡¯d go for something¡ a little cleaner?¡±
Kera wrapped her arms around herself and heaved a large, heavy breath.
¡°Me too, to be honest.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m not going feral or anything like that. It¡¯s just¡ any shape I take, it comes with it¡¯s own instincts, you know? These are wild beasts that live in a constant struggle for survival, and some of that¡ bleeds over, I guess. It makes me not mind certain things as much when I¡¯m in that form.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s concerning to hear, or if it means the Voice is making sure we don¡¯t all end up with PTSD,¡± Jason said.
Kera dropped her hands to her sides. ¡°Tell me about it,¡± she commented with a laugh.
Chapter 38 - Full Version
Jason and Kera were among the last to arrive at the doors of the meeting hall, through which Jason could see that Ravs had clearly been busy. Geometric patterns drawn in some silvery substance decorated the floor in an excessively large ritual circle. Ravs herself stood in the center, mist rolling off of her shoulders. It pooled within the circle without leaving it, coating the floor and creating an effect otherworldly effect that Jason found quietly disturbing.
Aurion and Kaerlin waited to one side just outside the door, making sure no one entered just yet. A few moments after a handful of others arrived on Jason¡¯s heels, Aurion turned to the seer and nodded.
¡°Clairvoyance,¡± Kaerlin commanded. A shimmering image of the battle at the gates appeared, causing Jason to draw in a sudden breath. The dungeon had sent hundreds of monsters to assault the walls of the town, and these were not the simple, mad-eyed creatures that had assaulted the square.
He saw ranks upon ranks of the spear-wielders, easily three hundred or more, in loose formations led by the massive, crocodilian sobeks. Huge numbers of frogoid corpses littered the battlefield and even the walls themselves. Jason even spotted something new scattered here and there: a strange breed of larger, crab-like creatures with dense shells.
Jason could scarcely believe they hadn¡¯t been overrun already. But as the seer¡¯s spell swept quickly over the battlefield, Jason quickly realized why: apparently, newly birthed dungeons were bad at tactics, and had apparently never heard of siege weapons.
Instead, the dungeon''s ¡®strategy¡¯ appeared to rely solely on distraction: trying to use the frogoids to distract the defenders on the walls while the Sobeks bashed down the gate to let the murklings inside. That, and the merrow coming up in the middle of the city to attack the defenders from behind.
Arnvale, on the other hand, had had the services of a seer to warn them, a band of adventurers to train up a militia and reinforce the walls and gate, and Jason¡¯s own ability to churn out magical weaponry. Thanks to those factors, a good quarter of the town stood upon the walls, armed to to teeth with enchanted arrows, flaming swords, and a scattering of wands.
As Jason and Kera watched, a volley of the storm-infused arrows Jason had created were loosed from the walls, blossoming in a riot of thunder and lighting, killing dozens of fishmen. Simultaneously, a flight of crossbow bolts was launched, flaring red in the sky as they suddenly turned impossibly and flew towards a pair of sobeks that had just reached the front gates. Every single one found a mark; Jason knew those would be the bloodstone-tipped heartseekers.
Aurion heaved a great sigh of relief. ¡°Thank the heavens. Looks like the merrow was their only siege-class, and the only other thing we haven''t before are thosebrakyura warriors.¡± he said.
¡°I see no shamans, either,¡± Kaerlin confirmed.
Aurion turned to the assembled adventurers.
¡°Most of you have never had any real experience facing a dungeon before,¡± he began. "Well, take a good look. Imagine for a moment what this dungeon¡¯s forces would look like in another two or three month¡¯s time, after having devoured this entire town. Hundreds and hundreds of murklings roaming the landscape. A dozen merrow patrolling the rivers. Brakyura shell-shamans inundating the land with rain and conjuring swarms of insects capable of blotting out the sun.¡±
A steady disquiet fell over the group.
Aurion raised his voice, pointing at the floating image. ¡°This is what the Black Thorns stand for. This is why we work to study dungeons: to prevent this very situation from growing out of control, to stop dungeons before they become unstoppable.¡±
He lowered his voice back to normal levels. ¡°I know it looks like there¡¯s a lot of them out there. But I¡¯ll remind you that they¡¯re mostly only murklings, we¡¯ve got range and surprise on our side, and we¡¯ll be striking from the rear. Raelin and Denaire are commanding the townsfolk, and they know to watch for us. They¡¯ll pile on the hurt the second we arrive. We can do this. Stick together, stay in formation, and keep your head about you and you¡¯ll be fine.¡±
¡°Now let¡¯s get out there, and show these bastards what the Black Thorns are made of!¡±
Aurion¡¯s confidence in the trainees was well placed. Rav¡¯s mass teleport dropped the adventurers behind enemy lines, where they immediately began to open fire on the rear ranks.
Murklings died by the score as fireballs lit up the battlefield. Lightning was called down from the heavens, spheres of darkness roiled their way across the surface, and chunks of stone tore their way from the earth only to fall back down again, crushing the enemy. From the walls came a new volley of storm arrows, further decimating the enemy numbers.
The fishmen''s sobek leaders bellowed out commands even as they were struck down, causing the horde to turn and face the adventurers, but it was too late. In the time that it took the murkling ranks to reorient their forces to face the new threat, they lost more than half their number, and by the time they actually reached the adventurers'' ranks, half again.
Jason joined Kera, Sylvia, and others among the front ranks as the last remnants of the dungeon¡¯s assault crashed against the defenders. With healers and mages supporting them from behind, Jason fired his shotgun indiscriminately into the murkling ranks, leaving behind a trail of shattered, frozen corpses. His barrier failed once during an attempt to bash aside a murkling who¡¯d gotten too close, but a quick reaction from Kera as she lashed out with a suddenly-appearing tail freed him long enough to jam a new shard into the bracer¡¯s housing.
Jason then dropped back into the back ranks, switching his gauntlet into projection mode, but it proved unnecessary: suddenly the dungeon denizens were breaking away en-mass and fleeing as the mages cut them down from behind. Jason heard a ragged cheer rise from the wall of the town, and Aurion ordered the adventurers to strike down as many of the fleeing monsters as they could.
He complied, firing bolt after bolt of energy from his gauntlet into the fleeing army. Soon, no more than a handful remained, slipping away into the woods on their way to the river. Jason heaved a sigh of relief.
As the adrenaline left him, he flopped over onto his back in the dirt with a sigh, exhausted and drained of his mana. Many of the other adventurers around him were doing the same, either leaning over, hands on their knees, or simply falling back onto the dirt and grass like him. In the half-light of various mage-glows lighting the area, he caught sight of Kera stumbling towards him, concern written across her face.
¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he called out in a half mumble, waving a hand weakly. ¡°Just tired. Might¡¯ve overdone it a bit on that last push.¡±
Kera managed to wobbily seat herself down next to him, blowing out her own sigh of exhaustion. Her hair was plastered all over her face with sweat, and she made a half-hearted attempt at pushing it out of her eyes.
¡°Ugh. I am so going to be sore in the morning,¡± she complained.
¡°No kidding. My arms feel like jelly,¡± Jason replied.
¡°You need to invent aspirin.¡±
¡°Tell me about it,¡± he grumbled in response. ¡°Too bad that numbing agent I made didn¡¯t pan out as a way to make pain resistance potions. I think I need some kind of actual ¡®Pain¡¯ trait for it.¡±
Jason then groaned as he attempted to haul himself upright into a sitting position. He swayed a bit, struck with a sudden spell of dizziness. He realized he had a bit of a headache, checked his status, and saw that he was suffering from mana fatigue again.
He pulled out a least mana potion and started to open it, then hesitated. He¡¯d already drank several potions. Supposedly the least potions didn¡¯t have a limit to drinking them, but it suddenly occurred to him to question if that was only when you were using least potions.
¡°Something wrong?¡± Kera asked, seeing his sudden hesitation.
¡°Ah, maybe?¡± Jason scratched the back of his head with his spare hand. ¡°It just suddenly occurred to me: If least potions can be drunk as much as needed without problems, why don¡¯t healers use their big heals to bring people up to the point that they¡¯re stable, and then just give them least healing potions until they¡¯re fine?¡±
¡°Maybe the potions are too valuable?¡± Kera asked.
¡°Nah, that can¡¯t be right.¡± Jason shook his head, and then held a hand to his head and winced as that sent an extra spike of headache through him.
¡°Ow,¡± he grumbled. ¡°What I mean is, I know they¡¯re not cheap, but we¡¯ve been warned before about not doing any more healing past a certain point. Seems to me that if it was safe, the healers would have been keeping a small stash so they could make sure the tanks could be up for as long as possible.¡±
¡°Well, the leasts do take five minutes to do their work.¡±
¡°Eh, I think I¡¯d rather ask Flora or Aldin first before I drink this,¡± Jason said. He replaced the vial back onto his belt before hauling himself to his feet with another groan. His head swam and he had to steady himself before continuing. ¡°Better to be safe; I¡¯ve got a case of mana fatigue according to my status, but I¡¯ve drank several potions in the last half hour, so I want to get the all clear first.¡±Stolen novel; please report.
¡°Are we allowed to leave yet¡?¡± Kera started to ask, looking around.
Jason didn¡¯t need reply, because several groups were already breaking away from the formation, heading for the gates. Some of the healers were moving among the people who were sitting or laying on the ground, asking if anyone needed assistance, while others were helping haul their friends to the feet.
¡°Guess that answers my question,¡± Kera replied. She stood and then brushed at her skirt. ¡°Let¡¯s go then. I can check on Lumi while you ask someone.¡±
¡°Yes, let¡¯s.¡± Jason started to turn, but he was beset by another minor wave of dizziness.
Kera grabbed him before he could fall over.
¡°I, uh, may need some help getting there though,¡± he said.
What with being busy spending all his time either crafting or training, Jason hadn¡¯t actually seen what the town had set up at Flora¡¯s request. The result was apparently something not unlike the old wartime hospitals Jason had heard about in school.
What clearly had once been a warehouse had been cleared out, and rows and rows of benches and beds had been installed. Every few beds there was a kind of curtain, little more than a wooden beam with a thin cloth sheet. Jason wondered who donated all the cloth, and was frankly surprised at the ¡®luxury¡¯ of a privacy barrier. Sure, modern hospitals had them in emergency rooms if they didn¡¯t have outright separate rooms, but it wasn¡¯t the sort of thing he expected to see in what amounted to a fantasy world. Even on Earth such things were relatively rare as late as a hundred years ago.
Somebody had apparently set up some kind of color-tag system as well; Jason could see that each ¡®door¡¯ had a swatch of colored cloth, essentially a dyed rag, pinned to it. He assumed that it related to severity of injury, and also perhaps whether or not the person had been seen to already, because there were a lot more colors than he could think of meanings for.
It occurred to him they might be status effects; Full-on mana exhaustion like he¡¯d managed to inflict on himself with his first transmutation attmept wasn¡¯t something you treated with a healing spell, after all.
Whatever the case, Kera helped Jason take a seat on a bench just inside the entrance, and then went in search of Lumi. As he simply looked tired rather than injured, it was a minute or two before someone spotted him.
¡°Injury, or looking for someone?¡± asked the short, mouse-brown haired girl who approached him.
¡°Uh, sort of both? I really just had a question for any of the healers, and my friend who came with me already went to look for our partner.¡±
¡°Question?¡±
¡°Ah, yeah, just a basic one, I think,¡± he explained tiredly. ¡°I¡¯m pretty new to adventuring. I¡¯m mana fatigued, and I¡¯ve got some least mana potions but I¡¯ve already drank a bunch of other least-tier stuff during the fight on top of getting buffs and some minor heals from others. I don¡¯t know how much is safe. For that matter, how do you all know how much healing is too much? That wasn¡¯t clear to me.¡±
¡°Oh that¡¯s easy,¡± the girl said. She put a hand on top of Jason¡¯s head. ¡°Analyze Injury.¡± she commanded firmly.
She dropped her hand, then smiled at him. ¡°Ah, you''re fine. Other than too much mana use, that is. You¡¯re not even close to saturation. If they were mostly least potions, that¡¯s to be expected. They don¡¯t have zero impact, but it¡¯s pretty negligible.¡±
¡°So all I need is just one least mana potion and some rest, right?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Yep.¡±
Jason thanked her, and she left. As he unstopped his vial, Kera returned with a weary-looking Lumi in tow. Kera was carrying Lumi¡¯s gear in her arms, with the other girl leaning heavily on her.
¡°Jason, I hope¡ª ah, they OK¡¯d it?¡± Kera asked.
He downed the vial and put it away. ¡°They did. Didn¡¯t really get an direct answer to my real question, though maybe an indirect one. Apparently the potions do have a non-zero effect on mana saturation. Give me a moment and I should be good.¡±
He felt the potion''s effect kick in, and his headache faded quickly. After a few moments, he stood up.
The dizziness didn¡¯t return, though he was still bone-tired. He decided to go ahead and take a stamina potion as well.
Afterwards, he was relatively clear-headed, if only somewhat refreshed. He took Lumi¡¯s gear from Kera and put it away in his pack. Just as they were about to leave, he heard a familiar voice.
¡°Ah, you¡¯re here already!¡±
Jason turned, only to see Ravs and Aldin entering the hospital.
Ravs looked exhausted, and more pale than usual. Even her ears drooped a little. Aldin meanwhile had apparently not had time to clean himself up; while he didn¡¯t have the same exhausted look that Ravs did, his clothes, and skin were stained with dirt and a large quantity of blood. Jason realized that a lot of the blood was probably Lumi¡¯s.
¡°Need anything?¡± He asked Ravs, gesturing to the small few remaining vials on his belt.
She shook her head. ¡°Not something a potion can cure. Only food and rest. My magic has¡ a price if I have to ask for extra help.¡±
Jason looked at her with concern, but she gave him a defiant look which communicated that this wasn¡¯t something to inquire about further.
¡°What about you all?¡± Ravs asked after a moment. ¡°You ok? You look worse than I do.¡±
Lumi gave a weak wheeze, and then nodded. ¡°Well as I can be. Still feel really weak. Flora told me I needed to eat to help replace all the energy healing burns off.¡±
Jason looked at Ravs and Aldin, and realized he was fairly hungry himself, despite only having eaten a short two hours ago.
¡°You two want to come with us? It¡¯s pretty late, but I¡¯m willing to bet we could all use a hot meal.¡± he turned to Lumi and Kera. ¡°Sound good to you as well?¡±
A chorus of affirmation was the reply.
Jason and the others made their way back slowly through Arnvale¡¯s darkened streets. As Lumi wasn¡¯t in any state to be exerting herself, even a little, Jason lit their way with one of the alchemical rods he¡¯d put together for ¡®just in case¡¯ purposes. It was a thin bar of metal, perhaps a foot long, imbued with a simple potion that produced a fair amount light for an hour when shaken violently. Jason thought of it as essentially a glowstick.
He had refused Kera¡¯s joking request to make different colored ones.
Upon arriving home, Jason set to work preparing a late, second dinner for everyone while Kera and Aldin assisted Lumi and Ravs. This time, Jason opted to get a little creative, as he still had plenty of frogoid meat remaining and he now had a bit of experience with cooking it. He also had a bit of a craving for pasta, as it was the sort of thing he¡¯d yet to see in Arnvale. Recalling that he¡¯d heard somewhere that frog legs actually went very well as part of a noodle bowl thanks to their chicken-and-fish flavor, Jason decided to his hand at it.
Frogoid meat had a flavor that lay more on the chicken side of things, and he actually had some frozen soup stock left over from his gelatin-making experiment, so it wasn¡¯t long before he had a hearty soup of homemade noodles, cubed frog meat, wild onion, and some kind of springtime greens that seemed local to the region but worked as a decent alternative to bok choy.
The soup was served in large bowls alongside some fresh-baked bread, with chopsticks and soup spoons for utensils.
¡°Ok, I have to ask,¡± inquired Lumi as Jason slide her food in front of her, ¡°How the hell did you manage to make these noodles? I know you didn¡¯t buy them. And where on earth did you get the chopsticks?¡±
He grinned at her. ¡°Noodles are actually trivial to make. They¡¯re literally just dough, after all. Milk, eggs, flour¡ a little salt. What makes them noodles is just either squeezing them through a press, or rolling the dough out and slicing it into thin, flat strips. In this case, I cheated and conjured up a press with [Artifice], which is also where the chopsticks came from. In fact, all of the dishes are. Less cleanup that way afterwards.¡±
Lumi examined her bowl, which looked like it was plain, white ceramic. ¡°What happened to the weird blue metal?¡±
¡°Apparently that¡¯s just the default,¡± Jason said. ¡°With more ranks in it, I¡¯ve can do a few different materials, apparently.¡± Jason held up one of the chopsticks. He flicked it with a finger. ¡°See? Looks and feels like wood. It isn¡¯t really, but it¡¯s a pretty good imitation.¡±
Ravs cleared her throat, and Jason turned to look at her. She was looking between her bowl and her chopsticks, holding one in each fist with a confused look on her face. Kera let out a soft snrk and covered her mouth, trying not to laugh.
Jason just barely managed not to grin. ¡°Ah¡ right. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve never used chopsticks before. It¡¯s pretty easy. Here, like this.¡±
He took a seat between both Ravs and Aldin, and set about demonstrating proper eating technique. Both of them picked up on it quite easily, and it wasn¡¯t long before everyone was enjoying themselves, slurping up their noodles and greens with the chopsticks and using the soup spoons to ladle up broth.
Jason judged the meal to have come out quite well, and an hour later saw him disposing of the remains. Which didn¡¯t amount to much as they¡¯d all quite eaten their fill, though he reflected again on the need to craft himself some kind of magical garbage disposal. Maybe some kind of incinerator? Regardless, it seemed barbaric to him to just be dumping waste into an open bucket and leaving it for later collection; it seemed to him to be a good way to attract rats and other problems.
It was as Jason was reflecting on this subject in the kitchen that suddenly Echo began howling from the other room. This was followed by the as-yet deconjured dishes rattling and skittering across the counters as the whole house suddenly began to shake heavily with a deafening noise.
Jason had lived in San Fransisco for years. Instinct and years of earthquake drills took over, and he immediately dived for the kitchen doorway and braced himself. Lumi meanwhile let out a yell of ¡°Quake!¡± and dived beneath the kitchen table and held onto the table leg for dear life, hauling Kera down alongside her.
Ravs and Aldin didn¡¯t react nearly as well, and Jason shouted at them from the doorframe to get under the table and hold on. Ravs managed to get under cover, but Aldin lost his balance and fell. Ravs shoved a chair out the way with one foot, and grabbed him by the shirt, dragging him under the table with the others.
The house continued to shake for several seconds. Jason didn¡¯t even try to make it to the table, either: there simply wasn¡¯t room for everyone. Dishes rattled their way to the floor, and a series of loud crashes echoed down from upstairs, but seemingly the house held.
As always, it felt like minutes to Jason, but in reality the earthquake only lasted seconds.
Lumi raised her voice. ¡°Everyone OK?¡±
Jason however, swore loudly, and ran for the stairs. After a very cursory inspection of its stability, Jason dashed up to his lab.
It was a mess. Pots of mana crystals had fallen to the floor, one of his shelves had collapsed, spilling processed powders everywhere, and one of the crucibles had toppled over and spilled hot coals and ash all over the floor. Flames were beginning to catch at the wood, and Jason feared a true house fire would break out it moments.
Thankfully, he¡¯d acquired a fair number of new runes over the past few days, and he hadn¡¯t had anything strange cooking away in it. He snatched up a metal rod up that had rolled across the floor, and hastily imbued it with runes for water and ice projection.
Lumi and Kera made their way up the stairs just as he released a spray of slushy, freezing water across the crucible and its contents. It¡¯s metal shell deformed under the sudden temperature change as steam flashed everywhere, but Jason was far enough back in the room to not be burned, though it was uncomfortably hot.
A quick wind cantrip from Lumi cleared the air. She sagged slightly afterwards.
Kera offered her some support, putting an arm around her. ¡°OK, tomorrow you are going to enchant yourself a proper solid-substance fire extinguisher,¡± she declared firmly.
Jason grimaced. He should have done so when he first got the crucibles, but he¡¯d been too excited to get started. It was a very good thing they hadn''t had anything worse than leftover coals in it. Just using water could be dangerous, depending on the fire. He nodded tiredly to Kera in agreement.
Everyone took a quick inventory of the house, checking for further damage. Ravs asked about the ¡®trained response¡¯ Jason and Lumi had to the beginning of the quake, and Jason explained about having attended mandatory emergency drills throughout much of his life, and why you did various things during and after a quake. He in turn learned that Arnvale shouldn¡¯t be the kind of place to experience them.
Just as Jason and the others were finishing up their damage-assessment, each of them pulled up short as they simultaneously received a system-delivered private message. Jason winced to think about how much arcane powder must have just been spent. He opened the message.
Earthquake source determined to be surface level acquisition and rearrangement by dungeon. Emergency meeting of all guild candidates and associated adventurers to be convened at noon tomorrow at the town hall. Rest up. We attack in two days. ¡ª Aurion
Chapter 39
Lumi broke the silence that followed Aurion¡¯s message with a round of colorful cursing. Aldin meanwhile looked rather pale, and Kera just looked confused by the others¡¯ reactions.
Ravs on the other hand, looked quite pleased, and Jason raised a questioning eyebrow in her direction.
¡°Stop making a fool of yourself, Aldin,¡± she said to the beast-touched, flicking one of his dog-ears with a finger. ¡°This is a good thing.¡±
¡°How on earth is the dungeon taking over the surface a good thing?¡± Lumi demanded.
Jason grinned. ¡°I think I get it. You two should pay more attention to our lessons.¡±
He turned to Ravs. ¡°It¡¯s because the dungeon just spent a huge amount of its stored mana, right? Probably partially fueled by the mana of all the slain monsters, which now won¡¯t be respawning anytime soon?¡±
Ravs gave him a nod and a slight smile. ¡°Got it in one. Probably the meeting is at noon because Aurion wants to confirm with scouts first, and then we¡¯ll be getting our marching orders.¡±
Aldin¡¯s ears perked up and he brightened. ¡°Wait, so the dungeon will be weaker?¡±
Ravs rolled her eyes at him. ¡°You do realize that this is why Aurion picks on you in class, right? Yes. The dungeon can process absorbed mana only so fast. It no doubt has reabsorbed massive quantities of mana from the slain murklings by now, but it has to process a good portion of that before it can use it.¡±
She continued. ¡°Land claiming is expensive. It probably just used its whole current stockpile, and a hefty chunk of the already processed mana that still existed inside its minions. That means any new respawns will have to wait for the processing to finish, and at this stage that will take a fair bit of time. The dungeon will also probably be busy spending what mana it does process on building up the surface for at least a few days. It¡¯s the perfect time to strike: low minion count, and no stored mana when we attack the core itself. It even already spent a trump card too early in the form of the merrow.¡±
Lumi breathed out a sigh of relief, and then clutched her side with a grimace.
¡°And we¡¯re waiting an extra day because all of us front-liners got fucked up,¡± she grumbled. ¡°I see.¡±
¡°Speaking of which,¡± Jason said with a glance at Lumi, ¡°we need to get this place cleaned up, and I want you resting up and not helping.¡±
Lumi tried to protest, but she was overridden by the others, who all agreed she needed to be healing. Kera assisted her into bed while Jason, Aldin, and Ravs began the process of cleaning up the aftermath of the earthquake.
Afterwards, neither Ravs nor Aldin felt up to walking back to the Lodge, so instead Jason delved into his haversack, withdrew some of the camping supplies he¡¯d purchased from Jerrik, and set up some bedrolls right in the dining room.
The following morning everyone woke fairly late. Jason normally liked to have breakfast cooking by the time the girls started to get up, but as everyone had been up well into the early morning hours and they had guests, he instead remained in his room, reading his enchanting tomes until everyone began to stir.
Eventually, once everyone had roused, Jason put together a simple pancake breakfast with sausage and eggs while Ravs and Aldin repacked the bedrolls. Then, while everyone ate, they each discussed a little about what each of them had gained from the battle.
Lumi, perhaps unsurprisingly due to her recent acquisition of multiple new classes, had reaped the greatest benefits. She¡¯d rocketed upwards in total levels, thanks to gaining multiple levels each in [Duskreaver], [Lightbearer], and [Gloom Guard], which now ranged between levels 6 and 7.
¡°I¡¯m a little annoyed I only got one level of Spellblade, and nothing for both Sunwarden and Pyre Knight,¡± she complained, ¡°and now I¡¯ve got a rather hefty 10% XP penalty from passing the 50 levels mark, but on the other hand, I now have 14 more skill points, 8 more stat points on top of what I had before, and a collection of new skills and spells I¡¯ll need to go through.¡±
¡°Anything good in there?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Definitely,¡± Lumi confirmed. ¡°A light-based status-removal spell, for one. Also something called ¡®Inner Fire¡¯ which I¡¯m hoping is a buff, and a few things that sound like crowd control. Hopefully you can get some useful runes out of some of them.¡±
¡°What are you planning on spending your points on?¡± Aldin asked Lumi.
She gave it some thought for a moment while she devoured another pancake.
¡°Well, I was planning on continuing to split things relatively evenly, but last night was a good reason to maybe focus on defense for awhile, yeah? I¡¯d been wanting to keep increasing my Might to hit harder, but that merrow was¡ way faster than something that large has any right to be, and while I¡¯ve got the ability to use heavier armor, I much prefer my currently mobility. Besides, armor gets unpleasant to wear all day.¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re more of an evasion tank than a mitigation one yeah?¡±
Rav¡¯s eyebrows drew together in confusion, so he explained.
¡°Its a term from home for different styles of front-line fighting,¡± Jason said. ¡°Evasion tanks focus on avoiding and deflecting blows so that they don¡¯t ever take the full brunt of an attack, while mitigation tanks tend to focus on skills that make them ultra-durable, able to simply shrug off blows or be outright immune to them.¡±
¡°Ah.¡± Ravs nodded in understanding.
¡°Right,¡± Lumi confirmed. ¡°What with all the different buffs and barriers and such I have access to, it seems better to go with higher evasion. My resistances are already in the twenty-pluses anyway, so I¡¯m thinking evasion might be better for me. So agility, might, and points into my knightly skills this time, I guess.¡±
Kera spoke up after hastily swallowing a bite of bacon. ¡°I think endurance will be more my thing, what with the monster forms and all. If we need a big meatshield, my Gorthek form should suffice.¡±
Lumi put down her utensils and opened her status screen and began poking at it.
¡°Ok¡ let¡¯s see. Topping off Mobility, Armor, Shields, and Swordsmanship¡now all at rank 10.¡±
Aldin gave a whistle. ¡°Nice. That¡¯s some high ranks there for all you¡¯ve no classes past level 15 yet.¡±
Lumi then navigated to her stats, and dumped several points into Might, and several into agility, and then closed her screen with a nod.
Jason hadn¡¯t actually been looking for it last time Lumi had put a lot of points into Might, recalling that Lumi¡¯s appearance had shifted slightly, as appeal wasn¡¯t tied to just Charisma, but Might as well. This time he couldn¡¯t fail to miss it as Lumi¡¯s arms abruptly became more toned, and her face became slightly leaner and more refined. Even her hair changed in some nebulous way he couldn¡¯t quite put a finger on.
Then Lumi twitched slightly. Her face grew a bit red. She squirmed, cleared her throat, and then looked away from everyone. She surreptitiously tried to adjust her shirt and bra for a moment in a completely failed attempt at being nonchalant.
Ravs snickered. ¡°Oho! Looks like someone reached a twenty. Hit a sudden growth spurt did we?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Lumi muttered, clearly embarrassed. She adjusted her shirt again.
¡°Better go let ¡®em out til you can get a new band fitted,¡± Ravs commented with an amused grin. She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. ¡°Which you should probably do before our meeting with all our coworkers.¡±
Kera covered her mouth with a hand, trying not to laugh at how Lumi¡¯s face suddenly turned an even brighter shade of red.
Jason and Aldin, meanwhile, wisely chose to remain silent while Lumi squirmed with embarrassment. She hastily excused herself and returned to her room for a few moments while everyone focused on their meals.
When Lumi returned, she crossed both arms over her chest and glared at Jason, as if daring him to say something.
Why¡¯s she glaring at me? I wasn¡¯t the one who called attention to it, Jason thought to himself.
Instead of voicing the thought, Jason changed the subject. ¡°A-anyway¡.¡± he began out loud. ¡°I guess that¡¯s all of Lumi¡¯s cha¡ª er, I mean updates.¡±
¡°What about you two?¡± he asked, with a look at Aldin and Ravs.
¡°Nothing for me,¡± Ravs said with a shrug. ¡°Technically I wasn¡¯t involved in the fight.¡±
¡°Wait, you didn¡¯t get anything at all?¡± Jason asked. ¡°As in, no XP credit for helping?¡±
Ravs shook her head, and then pushed a lock of white hair out of her face. ¡°Sadly no. Just teleporting the raid wasn¡¯t enough to count as being involved.¡±
¡°That¡¯s totally unfair!¡± exclaimed Kera. ¡°You were present and still listed in the party status, you should at least get a share. Healers and support classes still get XP for doing thier thing, why didn¡¯t you?.¡±
Ravs shrugged again. ¡°That¡¯s how the Voice works. I wasn¡¯t directly involved, so no combat experience.¡±
¡°That¡¯s dumb,¡± Kera insisted.
¡°I dunno,¡± Jason said. ¡°I mean, it would be a little silly if say, an enchanter got credit for random kills by hiding in a building and handing out temporary buffs to passing adventurers.¡±
¡°But I get XP for casting buffs.¡± Lumi said.
¡°Yes, for casting them, and in a combat situation only,¡± Jason emphasized. ¡°Plus you get a tiny amount for the actual casting, in addition to what you get for killing the monster. Those are two separate things. The buff was already rewarded. I suspect that Ravs got some XP, for the actual casting, just no credit for the battle, right?¡±
He looked over at the elf girl, who confirmed his question with a slight incline of her head.
¡°Bah.¡± Kera said. ¡°I still say its unfair, because she still helped us get into position, but whatever.¡±
Ravs just shrugged, unbothered.
Jason looked at Aldin expectantly.
¡°I gained one level,¡± Aldin replied, ¡°but it was a dud level. Just a skill point, which I dropped into my restoration skill as usual. You?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t get nearly as much as Lumi did,¡± Jason replied, ¡°but I still got like 6 levels. Mostly from Golemist, but one each in my mains. Oh, and I¡¯m only about 100 XP away from hitting a new level of Machinist, which I expect to earn later today.¡±
¡°I got quite a few stat points too,¡± Jason continued, ¡°because a lot of those levels were even ones. I was actually thinking of dumping them all into spirit, because quite simply I¡¯m constantly running out of mana.¡±
¡°As for skills¡well, see for yourself.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
He shared his notifications.
Expert Craftsman: As a Golemist, you work with many an obscure material, both magical and mundane. Choose a material type and a crafting skill. When using either your chosenskill oryour chosen material, your skill ranks are boosted by 5. This bonus does not stack with itself.
Repair Construct: With little more than a touch, you can restore your golems to an undamaged state. Mana expenditure based on the complexity and size of damage to be repaired.
Synergy Detected: Artificer, Machinist. [Repair Construct] has been upgraded to include use on all object personally crafted by you.
Skill Upgrade: Basic Artifice has been upgraded to Expert Artifice, allowing for a wider range of materials, properties, and complexity.
Discovery Available.
He opened up his discoveries and sorted it for new entries. Immediately something caught his eye: Mana Catalysis. While the description was as opaque as usual, Jason could guess what the term meant. He quickly selected it.
Mana Catalysis: By injecting additional mana or arcane powder into alchemical and magical processes, you can greatly reduce the required time for the creation of new substances. In some cases, fewer or different materials may be utilized in creation processes.
Synergy Detected: Chemistry, Prepare Legendary Fare. Mana Catalysis may also be applied to Cooking and Chemistry.
Kera nearly spat out the water she was taking a sip of just as Jason¡¯s final notification popped up.
¡°Cooking?!¡± she giggled.
Jason grinned. ¡°Well, I was really just expecting it to help with speeding up Synthesis, but I¡¯ll take it. Food prep is mostly chemistry in action anyway, right?¡±
Aldin shook his head with a chagrined smile. ¡°What the heck, man? You get the weirdest, and yet somehow incredibly useful, skills.¡±
¡°I wonder how fast I can make baking powder now?¡± Jason wondered aloud.
¡°You mean flour?¡± Ravs asked, confused.
¡°Uhh¡ no. Baking powder is¡¡±
Jason trailed off, unsure how to explain. How did you make stuff like cakes without baking powder? He knew what it was for, but so far he¡¯d seen very little in terms of baked goods so far in Arnvale. He wasn¡¯t sure that referencing foods from Earth would make sense.
¡°I¡¯m not sure if I could explain it without getting off-topic. Short explanation: It helps bread rise, among other things. It lets you do a lot of fun things with cooking.¡±
Ravs looked thoughtful. ¡°Well, if it¡¯s anything like those.. jellies.. you made, I¡¯ll look forward to tasting what you come up with.¡±
Jason pulled his thoughts back to the the subject at hand. ¡°Uh, anyway, that¡¯s my stuff. Kera? Anything worth mentioning?¡±
¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t gain many levels, but I got a fair number of new nature-themed spells, and four new skills, all of which are pretty nice.¡±
Kera began ticking off her fingers one at a time. ¡°First, I got that Dire Beast skill Aldin was talking about last week. Apex Predator. It gives me a bunch of stat points I can move around, essentially assigning different profiles to different forms. Like I can beef up my gorthek¡¯s strength¡ª¡±
Ravs snickered at her unintentional joke.
¡°¡ªand,¡± Kera continued with a half-hearted glare, ¡°I can boost my agility as a crocodile for faster swimming, and so on.¡±
¡°Then there¡¯s Feral Bond, which I got from Beast-Bonded, obviously. That grants all my summons a percentage of my own stats as a buff.¡±
¡°Pretty sweet given you just got access to bonus stats,¡± Lumi commented.
¡°I know, right?¡± Kera grinned back at her. ¡°It¡¯s even better than that, too. I actually got five stat points just for hitting level five. Plus the normal three points for other levels.¡±
¡°Wow, how many total just from Dire Beast?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Um¡.¡±
She thought for a moment.
¡°Fourteen, I think. Some of them are pre-chosen, though.¡±
Aldin held out a fist to Kera. ¡°See? I told you it would totally be worth it. Dire Beast is a great monster class.¡±
Kera returned his fist bump with a grin. Then she continued.
¡°Then I got two skills from Scion that are both support-types. Primal Huntress, which is¡ I guess I¡¯d call it a kind of ultimate tracking skill. Costs mana to use, but sharpens my vision, lets me see in the dark, smell and hear way better than a normal human, and so on. And I¡¯m counted as having the Expert Tracking skill while I do it. I think my effective ranks are related to my level, though. It¡¯s an unranked skill so I can¡¯t put points into it.
¡°Very useful for us adventurers,¡± commented Lumi.
¡°Last of all is Wildstrider,¡± Kera finished. ¡°It basically means that I¡¯m really good at navigating natural hazards and it¡¯s very hard to track me in return.¡±
¡°Seems like a pretty good set of skills to me, if perhaps a little redundant since you have that shared senses thing for scouting,¡± Jason said.
A comfortable silence fell as Kera had nothing more to add. Jason glanced around the room, seeing that everyone appeared to have finished with their meals.
¡°Well, it looks like we¡¯re all done here,¡± he said. ¡°The next question is¡ who¡¯s for showering first?¡±
In the end, Lumi ended up going first, because as Ravs pointed out, she had some ¡®rather pressing business¡¯ to attend to. Kera went second, after having somehow managed to drop Jason¡¯s mostly-empty bowl of remaining pancake batter on the floor, thus splashing it all over her feet.
By the time breakfast had been cleared and everyone had cleaned themselves up, Lumi had left to see Nissette, the kitchen had been cleaned, and both Aldin and Ravs had headed back to their own separate quarters at the Lodge. Though they had both stuck around long enough to each try out Jason¡¯s enchanted shower, which they were both quite impressed by.
Personally, Jason thought it was awfully slap-dash looking, even if it had turned out to work quite well. Nonetheless, he couldn¡¯t wait til when he had some time to do a proper job of things.
That seems to be a common trend lately, he reflected as he sat in the dining room, idly flipping through the advanced enchanting tome he¡¯d gotten from Jerrik. With his all the ranks he¡¯d dumped into Engraving, he had finally been able to begin deciphering parts of the textbook. A breakthrough felt imminent, and Jason hoped that he¡¯d find a good way to increase the number or complexity of his enchantments when it happened.
Kera¡¯s voice pulled his attention away from the book. ¡°Ok, how about this?¡±
Jason looked up from the book, and his thoughts froze for a moment as he looked into the eyes of an intensely attractive, dark-eyed beast-kin woman. It took him a moment to register that it was Kera, asking him for his opinion on her new look.
She¡¯d taken a mostly-human form, a little over five and half feet tall, with smooth, pale skin. A pair of silver-tipped fox-ears poked up out from her now shoulder-length black hair. A long, fluffy tail, black with streaks of silver, swished back and forth behind her dress, which was now alarmingly low-cut and showing a fair bit of well-developed cleavage. Jason could see quite a bit of leg, as well, since she was in her split skirt again.
He could feel his face heating up. Kera spun in place once to give him a good look at her, and his eyes were drawn to her swishing tail as she spun around. He felt his heart began to race as she completed her spin, looking at him expectantly with a face that was undeniably hers, but now almost supernaturally perfect.
He stammered a little, not at all sure what he should be saying in this situation. Fortunately for him, Kera wasn¡¯t really the insecure type, not since her decision to stay on Verdania, so she didn¡¯t take his sudden inability to form a coherent sentence the wrong way.
Instead, she blushed a little herself, looking away and pushing a stray bit of hair away from her face.
¡°I-I¡¯ll take that as a positive result. I guess I overdid it. Sorry. Um. I was feeling a little, um, competitive, I guess, after Lumi¡¡±
She trailed off for a moment, then looked back at Jason. ¡°I-I don¡¯t mean I was jealous!¡± she said hastily. ¡°I just¡ wanted to see if I could use my flexible points with Sculpt Self, which it turns out I can, and then I wondered what would happen if I put it all into Charisma, and then I remembered I wanted to spend some of my points in Might for real because I want more stamina so I did that, and it turns out that certain species morphs can get a passive boost to some stats, and¡ and¡¡±
She ran out of breath, heaving a large intake of air afterwards, which didn¡¯t help his state of mind at all.Then she bit her lip, shyly, clearly worried about what he was thinking, and Jason¡¯s brain almost shut down again.
Jason cleared his throat and forced himself to look away from Kera before his eyes started to wander too much. How was it possible that she could both look cute and gorgeous at the same time? He wanted to both lose himself staring into her eyes and to investigate¡other things¡ at the same time.
¡°Yes, uh, well, you certainly look¡ um¡fantastic,¡± he finally managed say. ¡°Do I even want to ask what Appeal you ended up with¡.?¡±
¡°Thirty-one,¡± she said quietly.
Jason opened his mouth to reply, without looking back towards her, but she continued on.
¡°¡. and a 21 Charisma, too.¡±
He choked mid-breath.
No wonder I can barely look at her without¡
¡°I don¡¯t mind if you look.¡± Kera suddenly declared. Her voice was oddly hesitant. ¡°...Please look? I-I don¡¯t mean anything by it, and I know it¡¯s a bit selfish and maybe kind of shallow, but back home I was never very pretty, a-and here I can¡I just wanted to see what it''d be like to...¡±
Kera trailed off again as Jason took a deep breath to steady himself and calm his racing heart. He turned back to her. ¡°No, I get it. Us guys also sometimes want to feel attractive and be uh¡ appreciated.¡±
He caught his gaze wandering southward almost immediately, and jerked his eyes back up to Kera¡¯s face. That didn¡¯t help either, because looking into her eyes made his heart start to race again. He coughed politely into his hand, then took a deep breath of his own.
Then, after making an effort to try and calm himself, he decided to take Kera at her word. After all, he knew she¡¯d had some serious¡ well, body issues wasn¡¯t the right term. Reinvention issues? Life issues...? He didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d call it, but he had a vague idea that she wasn¡¯t trying to seduce him or deliberately make him uncomfortable, she just¡ craved validation a bit now that she had an opportunity to literally be who she wanted, and had gone a little overboard. Not unlike how often times people from ultra-controlling family situations tended to go a little haywire when presented with the true freedom of college life.
So he got out of his chair and circled around her, taking a good look at her. She waggled her hips a little, swaying her tail back and forth, and Jason¡¯s face flushed again.
¡°Um, yeah. Just¡ wow.¡± His voiced hitched again and he broke out in a slight sweat as he circled around back to her front. She had chosen a form that was... very well developed.
He pulled his eyes back to hers with an effort. ¡°Words fail to describe," he said. "I¡¯m tempted to ask what, exactly, you meant by certain species having a racial bonus.¡±
She bit her lip again, and suddenly Jason found he didn¡¯t want look anywhere else. She was very cute when she did that. How had he not noticed before?
Kera looked down shyly a bit under Jason¡¯s intense gaze.
¡°Um. Um. This form is technically a beast-touched kitsune,¡± she said. ¡°Redundant, I know. A-Anyway, kitsune can, uh, trade some of their magical aptitude away for other things. Only one tail, you know? And uh¡ I picked a trait that boosted both Charisma and Appeal.¡±
¡°Well it¡¯s damn effective,¡± Jason said firmly.
Her tail started wagging happily, and Jason saw a slight blush begin.
Ok, maybe not quite so innocent in intention as she claims, he mused. Does she¡? Nah, can¡¯t be. ...Right?
He cleared his throat yet again. This was too much for him to handle just at the moment. They had a meeting in a half an hour. He forced himself to look away again.
¡°Um. Ok, I¡¯m not sure if this is like¡ my own lack of¡ recent prospects, or some kind of weird borderline victim blaming, or even an honest to god supernatural effect at work due to your trait, but uh¡maybe tone it down a little next time? You are¡ uh¡ very, very distracting, to say the least. Like, ¡®causes car accidents¡¯ distracting. I¡¯m going to need a cold shower, now, I think.¡±
Kera¡¯s blush deepened to a very bright red. Almost comically so, due to her pale skin. Her tail was still swishing back and forth and a happy wag, though.
¡°S-sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to blue-ball you¡¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°No need to apologize. You look great.¡± He eyed Kera from the side, giving in again for moment and simply admiring her new look. After a moment, he turned and gave her a smile. ¡°We¡¯ll look back on this and laugh later, I¡¯m sure.¡±
¡°I¡¯d uh, better go take that shower though before we leave,¡± he continued. ¡°Don¡¯t change though. Keep it for today at least."
He gave her a grin.
"I totally want to see Lumi¡¯s reaction.¡±
It was worth the struggle to keep his eyes, and thoughts, to himself, Jason reflected, as he and Kera met up with Lumi a short while later. The other girl simply stopped in her tracks as she came out of Fanciful Finery and stared, a slight blush slowly creeping over her, growing in intensity until her face was flaming red and she was gaping like a fish.
She made some kind of happy, strangled sound, which made Jason laugh.
¡°Yep, that was about my reaction too,¡± he said.
Lumi managed to recover her voice shortly.
¡°What did you do?!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°You are just¡ just¡ smoking hot.¡±
Jason watched Lumi''s interest war with her usual sense of propriety and embarrasment. Propriety lost, and she stepped up to Kera, looking her up and down, fanning her own face with one hand as she did so. She even boldly peeked down Kera¡¯s shirt a little, given that Kera had apparently deliberately morphed her dress to show off.
Kera, for her part, simply blushed some more and repeated the spin she¡¯d given Jason, hastily explaining how she¡¯d felt a sudden desire to see how far she could push things.
¡°S-sorry, by the way," she said. "I wasn¡¯t trying to like¡ show you up or something. Well¡ not like, in a mean way. I-I mean¡I just was feeling drab with that twelve of mine, and¡and¡¡±
Lumi gave Kera a hug around the shoulder with one arm, followed by a wink. ¡°It¡¯s totally cool, I forgive you. I get it, believe me. I won¡¯t be mad if you don¡¯t mind me looking.¡±
¡°I-I don¡¯t. I mean, it¡¯s ok if you do. I want people to look.¡±
Jason¡¯s thoughts froze up again a little bit as his imagination went into overdrive. He shook himself. Am I that hard up I¡¯m now fantasizing about my friends? he considered. That''s rather unlike me. Maybe Kera''s trait is having an effect.
Lumi saw his strained look, and a mischievous grin stole over her face. She leaned over and whispered in Kera¡¯s ear. The other girl flushed slightly, and nodded with a grin of her own.
Uh oh. That is not a good look.
Then Lumi took Kera by the shoulders, and rotated herself and Kera so they were facing Jason. Grinning at Jason, she casually and deliberately put an arm around Kera¡¯s shoulders, while Kera gave him a brilliant smile. Lumi leaned over very slowly and deliberately to give Kera a playful kiss on the cheek, while watching Jason the whole time. Kera leaned into her with a giggle.
Both of them looked expectantly at him. Lumi grinned.
¡°Really?¡± he asked. ¡°And I just took that cold shower, too.¡±
Dropping her arm from Kera¡¯s shoulder, Lumi just laughed at him as she turned towards the Lodge.
Character Sheets - Update 5
Completely current as of the last chapter, minus Lumi''s newest skills, which I haven''t actually fleshed out just yet. Her and Kera''s new spells are added here to the list, though. Note that some stats have changed in a major way, as people swapped around some class slots, and those affect secondary stats in some cases.
Also, now that I''ve got a spreadsheet set up to keep track of such things for me, I''ve removed the displayed quest bonuses (and didn''t include the slight stat bumps they got from their training sessions, either). Instead, I''ve just put down the total value.
Jason Elric, Alchemist
Basic Statistics:
Achiements: A Modern Prometheus, Bottled Flames, True Alchemy, Magitechnician
Perks: Heroic Potential
Available Points:
Character Points: 0
Class Points: 3
Stat Points: 8
Skill Points: 6
XP: Alchemist, 116.279
XP: Artificer, 119.640
XP: Engineer, 35.416
XP: Golemist, 9.420
Penalty: 8%
Inventory:
Combat Gear: 1x Wand of Prismatic Projection, 1x Wand of Lesser Healing, 1x Infused Wand of Lightning Projection, 1x Superior Elemental Shardcannon, 1x Untitled Mage-Tech Set Piece.
Consumables: 9x Glowrods, 3x Salamander Stone, 3x Gloom Globe, 2x Oil of Ignition, 3x Aquasphere, 1x Restoration Stone, 1x Potion of Nightvision, 2x Breath Pebble, 1x Potion of Least Rejuvenation, 6xCandy of Calming, 4x Lemon Gels (Least Health), 2x Apple Gels (Least Health).
Miscellaneous: 1x Smartphone (dead), 1x Ornate Piezoelectric Lighter, 1x Superior Quality Multitool, 1x Handy Haversack, 1x Spatial Anchor
Tomes:
Inscription vs Engraving: A Primer
Advanced Sequences For The Serious Enchanter
Bigger and Better: An Enchanter''s Guide To Unnatural Enhancement
Enchanting For Dummies
Notes:
Jason hasn''t actually realized that as a crafted item, he can manually name his gauntlet.
Lumiriel Dun''Val, Spellblade
Basic Statistics:
Blind
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.Blur
Cleansing Light
Corrosive Touch
Cone of Cold
Cripple
Dawnbreaker
Entangling Roots
Frost Armor
Frostbite
Icicle
Inner Fire
Providence
Scourge
Shadow Cloak
Shadowbolt
Sharpen
Solar Flare
Stone Call
Sunlight Shield
Thorn Whip
Venomstrike
Vine Wall
Inventory:
Combat Gear: Shield of the Elementalist, Frostburn Longsword, Superior Leather Armor, Superior Quality Leather Sword Belt
Consumables: None Currently.
Miscellaneous: Common Leather Backpack, Common Studded Leather Boots, Superior Wool Clothing.
Notes:
None currently.
Kerali Vakar, Beast-Bonded
Basic Statistics:
Inventory:
Combat Gear: Staff of Focusing, Coil of the Sundered Serpent, Superior Flowing Robes of Resistance (Shadow, Lightning)
Consumables: 2x Least Healing Potion, 1x Lesser Mana Potion, 1x Lesser Stamina Potion.
Miscellaneous: Common Leather Backpack, Common Wool Cloak
Notes:
None Currently.
Combined Vaults (Because the author is lazy):
3x Eternal Potion of Treasurefinding, 3x Crude Frogskin Pack, 1x Crude Frogskin Cup, 1x Wallet, 1x House Key, 1x iPhone, 1x Crude Stone Spear, 1x Crude Carry Harness, 1x Crude Stone Hammer, 1x Crude Fishing Spear, 1x Crude Frogskin Pouch, 3x Elixir of Rebirth, 4x Magic Fertilizer
Chapter 40
¡°Man, you really do have all the luck, don¡¯t you? Is there a potion for that?¡±
Jason tore his gaze away from the retreating forms of Kera and Lumi to see Aldin pushing his way through the noontime market crowd. Ravs was with him, trailing slightly behind and unashamedly licking the last of some marketplace treat from her fingers; apparently they¡¯d left the Lodge again at some point.
¡°Huh?¡± Jason asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°That¡¯s Kera, right?¡± Aldin asked, gesturing in her direction with a nod of his head. ¡°New form?¡± Aldin asked.
¡°Uh, yeah.¡±
Aldin gave a Jason a wide grin. ¡°Nice. Like I said, lucky.¡±
After wiping her fingers on a scrap of cloth she¡¯d pulled from somewhere, Ravs reached out idly with one hand and flicked one of Aldin¡¯s ears. He clapped a hand to his head, turning towards her.
¡°I¡¯m right here, you know,¡± she said with a raised eyebrow, giving him a dry look.
¡°Ow.¡± he complained.
Ravs gave a snort and a shake of her head, rolling her eyes with a wry smile. Then she turned to regard Kera and Lumi in distance as the pair passed into the Lodge. She glanced at Jason briefly, resting her elbow lightly on her left hand while she tapped her lips with the fingers of her right. A thoughtful expression crossed her face as she tilted her head to one side and turned her gaze back towards the Lodge again.
Jason meanwhile turned to Aldin, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean,¡± he said. ¡°Lumi just likes to tease people, sometimes.¡±
¡°You¡¯re kidding me, right?¡± Aldin replied, astonished. ¡°They totally ¡ª¡±
Ravs suddenly turned and stepped closer to Aldin and shushed him with a finger pressed to his lips. ¡°Hush,¡± she said softly to him. ¡°They¡¯ve got enough to deal with right now. Let them work it out on their own time.¡±
¡°Wha-?¡± He tried to ask, but she just pushed her finger firmly against his lips again.
¡°Hush.¡±
Ravs she wrapped her arms around Aldin¡¯s right arm, and gently pulled him towards the Lodge while he looked at down at her with confusion.
¡°Don¡¯t just stand there,¡± Ravs called out to Jason. ¡°If you want an actual seat, better claim it now. There won¡¯t be enough for everyone.¡±
Jason scratched his head again, unsure about whatever had just happened. Shrugging mentally to himself, he followed after a moment.
True to Ravs¡¯ word, the Lodge was already filling rapidly. There was still a good ten minutes until the meeting was supposed to start, but already most of the seating was taken. Here and there a few of the younger students were serving tables with food and drink, trying to take orders over the din of multiple adventuring parties all chatting with one another and having a good time. Everyone seemed to be in high spirits.
As he stepped in through the door, Jason saw Ravs release Aldin¡¯s arm and give him a gentle shove towards one of the other tables, where a handful of students were seated. Jason wasn¡¯t sure of their names, but he recognized them in a vague sort of way from interactions at the training grounds. Some of Aldin¡¯s acquaintances from class, he thought.
As for Ravs herself, she joined Kera and Lumi at a small corner table, where she asked the other two some question with a grin. Jason didn¡¯t catch what it was over all the noise as he made his way towards them.
Lumi laughed, and Kera started blushing furiously, and then the three of them fell to whispering to each other about something, leaning towards each other, heads held close over the table.
Jason shook his head with a smile. He recognized ¡®girl talk¡¯ when he saw it even if he didn''t know what it was about. So he took a seat at the next table over in order to give them some privacy. Close enough to be waved over if they wanted him to join them, but far away enough he wouldn¡¯t overhear.
Just sitting by himself and just taking in the room, Jason idly reflected that unlike Kera and Lumi, he hadn¡¯t really gotten to know anyone in town. Not like Lumi, who regularly spent time hanging out with Sevani, or even Kera, who still occasionally paid a visit to Arn¡¯s inn just so she could talk with Leska. Despite having spent a fair bit of time with the pair the past week, Jason didn¡¯t even know a whole lot about Ravs and Aldin¡¯s personal lives, for that matter. He supposed that he¡¯d developed a sort of rapport with Tersk, but that wasn¡¯t really a friendship sort of thing, so much as more like a mutual interest in the engineering business, like two coworkers might have.
He¡¯d gotten to know a few people on a casual basis, but apart from the girls, Jason hadn¡¯t really made any other friends. Sitting by himself, watching the bustle of the guild-hopefuls and townsfolk around him¡ perhaps for the first time in his life, Jason realized that that bothered him.
For Jason, his college classmates had never really been friends. Apart from Jim, who¡¯d been his roommate for a few years, they¡¯d all been more like temporary acquaintances. People he got to know briefly, maybe went to a party or two with, and then didn¡¯t talk to much, if at all, once the school year was over.
But this? He felt vaguely like he was watching something special.
All around him, adventurers sat in small groups, eating and drinking, chatting or laughing, and just generally enjoying a festive atmosphere. Many moved from table to table, giving nods of greeting to others and just generally mingling.
For all that this meeting was essentially to be a sort of war council, everyone seemed awfully carefree. Jason would¡¯ve expected an air of tension, a sort of undercurrent of fear and worry that ran through everyone because they were soon to go into a situation where people might die. It had been like that, last night.
Right now, though? Now Jason saw nothing but excitement, good cheer, and a certain degree of anticipation. No sign of real concern for the future. The cynic in him wondered if it that was something of a defense mechanism. That people had learned to stop worrying about the constant threat of death and instead take what comfort you could in the people around you whenever you could. He didn¡¯t really believe that, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder for a moment.
Whatever the real reason was though, these were people who all knew one another, who had fought together at one another¡¯s side, trusted each other on a level that Jason had never really experienced before. People from all walks of life, many of them not even the same species, much less gender or race, who had all come together to push back against a terrible evil which tried to devour everything it could.
It was strangely hopeful, and it made Jason feel the lack of something to truly belong to in his own life. He had always just sort of coasted along, trusting his own ability to make his way without needing to be beholden to anything or anyone. He didn¡¯t see that as a bad thing, but watching the Lodge around him, he realized that maybe he¡¯d been missing out on a part of life, and he really only had himself to blame.
The people here¡ they stood for something, and by doing so were a part of something greater. Or hoped to be anyhow, seeing as most of them weren¡¯t officially Black Thorns yet. Maybe a few wouldn¡¯t make the cut, but Jason suspected that most of them would.
He contemplated the question of what he stood for. Jason kept telling himself that there was probably no going back, that he should approach things from the perspective of being trapped here for good, but¡ he hadn¡¯t really acted like it, had he?
Instead he¡¯d mostly been¡ detached. Coasting along as usual without really involving himself. Friendly enough to the people living here, but without any real entanglements, no real thought to the future apart from keeping his options open. Even his offer to outfit the town militia hadn¡¯t really been born out of a real desire to help people; that was just an excuse. It had been a business arrangement to get himself ingredients and a proper lab to experiment with, an arrangement that just so happened to save lives in the process.
Oh, he knew he would have offered anyway. He was no sociopath, to just stand aside and let hundreds die when he had something to contribute. But saving lives hadn¡¯t been his main, driving force. Instead he¡¯d been more interested in exploring the system, seeing what possibilities his skills held, treating everything much like a game.
He tried to think about what he really cared about, that was here, in this world. In his musing, he found his gaze slowly drawn to the table where the girls sat together, chatting away with Ravs.
He cared about them, he realized. What they thought, how they felt. What could potentially happen in a few days. He saw Lumi mildly wince and clasp one hand to her side as Kera said something that made her laugh; her injury was still bothering her slightly. In his mind¡¯s eye, Jason recalled her lying against the doorframe, covered in her own blood, with Aldin kneeling over her. That brief moment of panic he¡¯d felt.
He definitely cared about preventing that from happening again. And about making sure it didn¡¯t happen to Kera, either. That went for Ravs, and Aldin as well, when he thought about it.
He may not care specifically about the world around him much, but he cared about his friends, he realized. And they were his friends. Ravs and Aldin were included in that, despite what little he really knew about them. He knew, deep down, that he could trust all four of them with his life, just as they trusted him with theirs. He wanted to continue spending time with them, to fight alongside them, to be involved in their lives.
He wasn¡¯t sure when that had happened. Somewhere along the line he¡¯d just started to think of Kera and Lumi as fixtures in his new life, as ¡®part of the group¡¯, and when Ravs and Aldin had come along, they¡¯d just been sort of rolled into that. He had trouble imagining himself walking away from that. Trying to imagine Kera or Lumi doing the walking away upset him more than a little.
Jason wondered if that his easy acceptance of the two newcomers was somehow due to the game-like nature of this world. Not in terms of the Voice having some kind of unconscious effect on social dynamics, though that was always possible, but rather his own experiences as an avid gamer putting a spin on things. He, Kera, and Lumi had been, almost from the get-go, essentially a classic RPG party. The tank, the caster, and the support, forced together by circumstance, fighting for their own survival from day one.
All of them had just accepted it, because it felt right, here, thanks to the Voice. Then, being adventurers themselves, Ravs and Aldin had joined the party literally as well as figuratively, and he¡¯d just unconsciously accepted it because that¡¯s how things were supposed to go in games. How had that happened?
Jason chuckled to himself, shaking his head. Here he was, having some kind of emotional epiphany on the presence of friendship in his life, and he was already segueing off into wondering about the specific details.
Alchemist really does suit me, doesn¡¯t it? Jason though with some amusement. Always drifting off to contemplate the whys of it all.
He leaned back into his chair, tilting his head upwards and closing eyes. For a moment, he let himself just relax and let the sounds of general bustle and laughter wash over him.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Would it be so bad? He mused. To take Kera¡¯s path and stay? Sure, it¡¯s a dangerous world here, but compared to this, what do I have going for me back home? I was probably replaced at my job two weeks ago. Probably got dropped from my classes for non-attendance, too. I wouldn¡¯t even be surprised if my parents weren¡¯t even aware I¡¯ve vanished yet, it¡¯s not like they¡¯ve ever cared to catch up with me. Even if that wasn¡¯t the case, what do I have to look forward to after graduating? Probably all I¡¯d be looking at is bouncing from dead-end tech job to dead-end tech job for years, searching for something to make a career out of.
Here, I get to be someone. I can do something that nobody else in the world can do. I¡¯ve got friends and comrades at my side and a whole world to explore with them. What isn¡¯t there to like about that?
Jason felt an arm snake through his as someone soft hugged him by the arm. He opened his eyes.
¡°Hey. You ok?¡± Lumi asked him, her arm looped across his, sliding her seat up to his side. ¡°You looked like you were having a bit of a moment, there.¡±
Jason gave her a small smile. ¡°I was. I¡¯m fine though. I think.¡±
¡°Nothing serious I hope? You can always talk to me.¡±
Jason tilted his head in acknowledgement. ¡°I know. Just¡ feeling a little overwhelmed, I think.¡± He tilted his head back again for a moment, giving a faint sigh before sitting back up straight and looking out across the room as he talked.
¡°I was just thinking¡ this whole ¡®other world¡¯ thing may actually be the best thing to ever happen to me, and it¡¯s kind of hitting me all at once. I¡¯ve got friends, good friends, for the first time in a long while. I¡¯ve got skills that are very valuable to powerful people. I¡¯ve even lined myself up a top-paying job, one with long term prospects that is highly unlikely to ever lay me off.¡±
Jason gave a short laugh. ¡°Sure, it comes with a fair degree of personal risk. But that almost just makes it more worth it, you know? I don¡¯t even have to worry about health care benefits or dental or whatever either, because¡ well, magic."
He shook his head ruefully, with another small sigh. ¡°I begin to wonder if maybe I shouldn¡¯t just stay here,¡± he said quietly.
Lumi gave him an small smile, and just let him sit for a few moments of quiet contemplation. She didn¡¯t let go of his arm, either, instead keeping it in a sort of loose, friendly hug. He didn''t object; it was comforting.
After a moment, he turned slightly to face her better.
¡°What about you?¡± he asked. ¡°Have you given more thought about staying or not? You seemed to be the one with the most to lose. That much had was apparent from the start.¡±
Lumi hesitated. She hugged his arm a little tighter, then released him.
¡°A little,¡± she said. ¡°I¡ well, it¡¯s like you said, right? Prospects. I was a coffee barista. At most I was looking at lower management, or maybe trying to open my own place if I was really feeling ambitious. Here¡ well¡¡±
She paused, but then laughed and shook herself, giving him a lopsided grin. ¡°The choice between ¡®Twilight Valkyrie Lumi¡¯ or ¡®Alice the Coffee Pourer¡¯¡. Well, it sort of speaks for itself, yeah?¡±
Jason laughed. ¡°That makes you sound like some kind of magical girl straight out of an anime¡¡±
¡°Hey! Whats wrong with that?¡± Lumi tried to act offended, but couldn¡¯t maintain a straight face. Instead, she started giggling. ¡°Ok, Ok, I see you what you mean. It is a bit silly sounding. But it is my current title.¡±
¡°So pretentious.¡± Jason deadpanned.
Lumi began a retort, a spark of mischievousness in her eye, but Jason didn¡¯t get to hear it because at that moment a hush fell over the room that caused her to pause. Aurion had arrived, with four others in tow. Two were faces Jason recognized: Aria and Belman, the hunters who¡¯d accompanied him to the wastes. The entire group was decked out in full combat gear, and from the looks of them, they¡¯d been out and about all night.
The scouting party removed themselves and headed up the stairs without a word, while Aurion moved to take a spot behind the bar, where he could be seen by everyone. Suddenly, as if someone had signaled an impromptu game of musical chairs, everyone began to move, with each set of adventurers regrouping with their assigned squads wherever there was space. Some were forced to stand on the sidelines, and Jason found himself being pulled one table over by Lumi in order to make space. Aldin joined him and the others in short order.
After the shifting ceased, Aurion surveyed the assembled crowd, then began to speak.
¡°Good. It looks like everyone¡¯s here already. If only I could get you all to be so punctual about showing up to class.¡±
A sound of amusement rippled through the room.
¡°Last night¡¯s minor earthquake was the result of our resident dungeon seizing and rapidly terraforming a sizable piece of land," Aurion began. "First off, I¡¯m happy to report that the townsfolk suffered no casualties, though there is some widespread, if minor, property damage, and in one case someone¡¯s house collapsed. Thankfully, no-one was inside at the time as the individuals in question were assisting the cleanup crews.
¡°As for the dungeon itself, it has claimed an area on the order of perhaps a square mile, transforming it into a river-fed, forested swampland. A number of structures have appeared as well; no doubt a prelude to a self-sustaining population of minions.¡±
Aurion began pacing behind the bar, arms held behind his back.
¡°Solid footing is sparse, and in many places the water is quite deep. Transportation to the entrance itself is now an issue, as it is now, perhaps unsurprisingly, located underwater.¡±
There was some subdued grumbling at that announcement.
¡°That particular issue is well in hand, however. What¡¯s important is that these changes came at a great cost to the dungeon. During our brief survey, very few denizens were encountered. As we¡¯d hoped, the dungeon has fueled its rapid expansion with the mana it collected from its slain horde. No doubt our lack of action over the past two weeks has emboldened it into lowering its defenses so that it may begin the process of accelerated growth that unmolested aquatic dungeons are so infamous for.¡±
Aurion paused for dramatic effect.
¡°This provides us with¡ an opportunity. Originally, the plan was to enter the dungeon as a full raid in expectation of facing a much larger force. That is no longer an issue, and with the dungeon entering a construction cycle where it must spend mana on new structures before respawning its troops, we also do not need to worry too much when it comes to assaulting the core itself.¡±
¡°Most of you are here because the Grandmaster felt this might be a good opportunity to get your feet wet, pun intended, while at the same time allowing me to evaluate how well you¡¯ve absorbed your lessons. The hope being that should you account yourselves well enough, this expedition take the place of your final exam. That hasn¡¯t changed, but how we¡¯ll be going about doing it has.¡±
¡°Instead of assaulting the dungeon as a cohesive raid, I will be breaking each squad off into its own party, to be evaluated separately by a member of the Guild. Depending on your group¡¯s particular talents, you¡¯ll be assigned different tasks. Some of you will be assigned as scouting parties, some will take on the various structures that are springing up, others will search for usable resources, and yet others will assault the dungeon itself.¡±
¡°Do not get complacent,¡± Aurion emphasized sternly. ¡°While the dungeon is currently at its weakest, a lot can change in two days. We¡¯ll be taking a fairly big risk here by splitting you up, but we stand to reap greater rewards by doing so, as we will be able to do a full clear instead of needing to push our way straight into the core. Remember to keep your heads: if you come up against something that you aren¡¯t sure you can handle yourselves, don¡¯t try. Withdraw to the base camp we¡¯ll be setting up and get help. At worst, your escort can pull your asses out of the fire, but if your own decisions lead to that, it will be a mark against you for the evaluation.¡±
The meeting went on in that vein for perhaps a half an hour, with Aurion emphasizing the need for caution whole reminding everyone of various strategic approaches to clearing structures and rooms. Specific orders were given out, and an escort assigned to each group.
Jason¡¯s group was one of those that would be assaulting the dungeon proper. Not only did they have a classic party setup with tank, healer, melee and ranged attackers, and a support, they had aquatic capability as well: Kera had her alligator form, and Jason could provide them with not only the ability to breath underwater, but enhanced swim speed as well. For that matter, Echo and Ceri could be granted those abilities on the fly courtesy of Kera¡¯s [Evolution Surge] skill.
Aurion ended the meeting with a reminder to spend the time resting and healing, and that if anyone had any last minute equipment needs to seek out Therissa and let her know. They¡¯d be leaving at dawn the day after tomorrow.
That only gave Jason a day and a half to complete as much of his armor as he could. Plus he needed to improve Lumi''s as well, and make sure they were all as well outfitted as they could be with spare potions.
It looked like he had a lot of work ahead of him.
As many of the adventurers began leaving the Lodge, thinning out the crowd, Jason caught sight of Tersk sitting at one of the tables idly sipping from a large tankard. Apparently the old dwarf had been present at the meeting, ostensibly to see if anything more would be required of him.
Seeing him reminded Jason that he needed to choose a material for his new Golemist skill, and it occurred to him that Tersk might be just the person to ask about what his best options might be.
There was no time like the present, so he excused himself from his companions and approached.
¡°Hey Tersk, got a question for you.¡± Jason said. ¡°Mind if I join you?¡±
Tersk drained the last of whatever he was drinking, gesturing to the side of the table as he did so.
Jason took a seat.
Placing his tankard down at the edge of the table, Tersk looked at Jason with interest.
¡°What¡¯s on your mind this time?¡± he asked. ¡°Got yet another invention you¡¯d like parts for?¡±
¡°Not this time,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Well, not exactly. I do need some stuff, lots of things actually, and I''ll need it quickly if I want to be ready for the raid, but that¡¯s not what I wanted to ask you about.¡±
¡°Oh¡?¡±
Jason explained briefly about his new Golemist skill, and how he was fairly certain that it would apply to all crafting skills, not just the golem-making process.
¡°What I''d really like to do,¡± Jason said, ¡°is pick something that takes enchantments really well. Like metals with unusual properties, or stuff like the Earthheart you were using to reinforce the gates. I was hoping you might have some suggestions about what to pick.
¡°I¡¯m open to suggestions for other things, but I¡¯d really like to know what the best metal for enchanted gear would be,¡± he finished.
Tersk stroked his beard thoughtfully. ¡°Well, that¡¯s a bit of a complex answer, really. Y¡¯see, different metals are best for different things. There¡¯s quite a few out there that hold elemental affinities. Azurite, for instance, is very dense and heavy, perfect for the strongest of shields, and readily accepts enchantments with a water theme. Wouldn¡¯t be shocked if somebody comes across some in the dungeon, now that I think on it. There¡¯s mithril, of course. It¡¯s great for storing mana and is far lighter than steel, making it fantastic for armor.¡±
He paused. ¡°Would these be just for you, or for your friends too? From what I hear of your group¡¯s talents, abysium, or maybe seratite might be up your alley.¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Yes. I¡¯m looking to outfit our party, not just myself.¡±
¡°Well,¡± Tersk said, ¡°Abysium, which most folks just call shadowsteel, has several uses. As the name implies, it enhances enchantments using aspects related to darkness. But it also accepts aspects like ice and illusion as well. Seratite, meanwhile, is a kind of polar opposite to shadowsteel. It¡¯s good for fire and light and several other things. It¡¯s hard to come by unfortunately.¡±
¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±
¡°As far as I¡¯m aware,¡± Tersk replied, ¡°there¡¯s only a handful of places in the world that it¡¯s found, all of them inhospitable wastelands. Badlands, deserts, and so forth. The closest source that comes to mind is the Pelean Expanse, a large desert whose central feature is a constantly active, volcanic lake.¡±
Jason hummed thoughtfully. ¡°I¡¯d guess that it only appears in places with a high level of fire and light aspects, if it¡¯s the opposite of shadowsteel?¡±
¡°Aye, that¡¯s correct.¡±
A stray thought occurred to Jason. what would happen if you tried to make something out of both?
¡°This might sound like an odd question,¡± he asked, ¡°but can any of these metals be made into useful alloys with each other?¡±
¡°Not that I¡¯ve ever heard of,¡± Tersk replied with a frown.
¡°Do you think they could be?¡± Jason asked. ¡°If someone were to try?¡±
Tersk scratched at his beard for a moment. Then he shrugged. ¡°Well¡ probably. Most metals have something they alloy with. Don''t see why they''d be any different on account of being magical. Usually the question though is more ¡®what don¡¯t they mix with¡¯, and more crucially, ¡®is the result something actually useful?¡¯. And then there¡¯s the all-important question of ¡®how much would it cost me to try?¡¯¡±
He mused for a moment or two, then shook his head.
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter though. Metals like seratite form only when more common ores are exposed to decades of different types of aspected mana, which slowly transform the ore over time, and many aspects don''t play nice with each other. You¡¯d need a special means indeed to merge two or more aspect-tainted materials into a single cohesive metal.¡±
Jason remained silent for a moment, thinking. Tersk had been quite straight with him so far, and if Jason was being honest about it, he was already aware that dwarves were somewhat legendary for their ability to keep secrets. Furthermore, he was well aware of Tersk¡¯s past thanks to conversations he had with various people over the past week. For instance, Tersk possessed the same [Legendary Craftsman] title that Jason did, but had of course obtained it through far more typical means.
Jason glanced around, checking to see if anyone might be listening in. It didn¡¯t seem like it. Everyone was either involved with their own groups, talking over their planned tasks, or already on their way out the door. He leaned over the table, lowering his voice to a whisper.
¡°Look,¡± he murmured in a frank tone. ¡°You know I¡¯ve got secrets of my own. I can¡¯t teach you the process, because it¡¯s a unique skill, but with some effort and the right starting point, I could probably manufacture just about any kind of aspect-infused metal you¡¯d care to name. From your description, with a little bit of work I¡¯m positive I could whip up a batch of stuff we could use to experiment with, provided I knew what to start with.¡±
Tersk looked at him with surprise.
¡°Don¡¯t go mentioning that to anyone, please,¡± Jason emphasized. ¡°As a master weapon-smith hiding away in some frontier town, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re well aware of the kind of attention top-tier crafting skills can bring. I¡¯d rather avoid that as long as possible, thank you very much.¡±
¡°Why tell me, then?¡±
¡°Because now I¡¯m thinking I¡¯d like to recruit your help in going one step further,¡± Jason declared. ¡°My skills allow me to do some incredible things, but you¡¯re the one with all the knowledge of metallurgy. Let¡¯s see if we can¡¯t work together to make something truly special. What do you say?¡±
Chapter 41
After agreeing to meet Tersk back at his forge in the next hour or two, the first thing Jason did was check his Status. Sure enough, his mana fatigue had completely recovered during the night, and he was full up on both mana and stamina.
Knowing he was about to embark on something that could very well fatigue him a second time, he made a snap decision to dump his remaining stat points entirely into Spirit, raising it to 24. He watched with satisfaction as his maximum mana shot up another 100 points.
Jason didn''t feel that that was enough to justify a least potion to top off, however, so he left his mana to regenerate on its own and left the Lodge.
Apparently, the girls had waited for him.
¡°What was that all about?,¡± asked Kera.
¡°Sorry. I had a question for Tersk, which has now sort of ballooned into a whole thing,¡± Jason said. ¡°It looks like I¡¯ll be spending a good chunk of the day with him, working towards getting us some high-end magical alloys, and with any luck we¡¯ll be forging gear with it for everyone.¡±
Lumi looked interested. ¡°Stuff like mithril exists here?¡±
¡°All sorts of stuff, apparently,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°I¡¯m actually pretty confident Tersk and I can come up with some kind of alloy of a few different things. I¡¯ll need some supplies from the house first. I¡¯m pretty sure the shards I need are among the stuff that survived. It¡¯s too bad I don¡¯t really have the time to refine them.¡±
¡°We could always help speed that along,¡± Lumi said.
¡°You are going to see Flora before you do anything else,¡± Kera ordered firmly. ¡°Your ribs are still hurting; don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t see you trying to hide it. You heard Aurion. It¡¯s a doctor¡¯s visit and lots of rest for you today.¡±
Lumi muttered something under her breath. ¡°I hate being idle,¡± she complained. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡±
Kera gently poked Lumi in the side provoking a yelp of pain as the other girl danced away from her, clapping a hand to her side with a look of outrage. Kera leveled a stare in her direction, arching one eyebrow in a passable imitation of Ravs.
Lumi looked at Kera¡¯s stern expression and gave a defeated sigh. ¡°Fine, fine¡¡± she grumbled. ¡°You made your point.¡±
¡°Good,¡± Kera said firmly. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then. See you sometime later then, Jason? Are we on our own for dinner?¡±
Jason gave a start at being addressed, pulling his eyes back to Kera¡¯s face. Lumi¡¯s slight jig there had nicely revealed the fact that apparently she hadn¡¯t actually yet put on her¡
Focus, man, he thought firmly at himself. What¡¯s with me today and all the wandering eyes? A single invitation is not a license.
He cleared his throat, face burning a little. ¡°Uhh, I guess maybe?¡± he said aloud. ¡°It sort of depends on how much of a difference Mana Catalysis ends up making, and how much I need to spend. Its possible I¡¯ll run dry early on and come home early. Or not.¡±
¡°Up in the air, huh?¡± Kera replied, not noticing his embarrassment. ¡°Ok then. I guess if we get hungry we¡¯ll stop by Arn¡¯s, and then bring you something afterwards?¡±
¡°Sure. I¡¯d appreciate that.¡±
They parted ways, and Jason hurried his way home. He had a few things he wanted to prepare before heading to the forge, namely the production of additional arcane powder. Unfortunately, his supply had been one of the the things that had crashed to the floor during the earthquake, breaking apart a number of vials.
It might be a good idea to start reinforcing the glass with alchemy, he considered. I have that density trait I was using on my shotgun shards. Might have one or two other options as well.
There was also the fact that Jason didn¡¯t really want to also reveal he could make eternal potions to anyone if it wasn¡¯t strictly necessary. He trusted Tersk, at least mostly, but he wasn¡¯t sure he trusted him that much. The metal-forging was bad enough. Fortunately, Jason was pretty sure he could outright bribe Tersk with a small tithe of whatever they ended up with. It would shock Jason right down to his boots if the old dwarf wouldn¡¯t give just about anything for a supply of high-tier metals.
Jason opened the door of the house, where he was greeted by enthusiastic Echo. After giving the rockhound some very careful back rubs, he went upstairs to his lab.
First he assessed his supply of Arcane Powder, sorting through the vials, seeing what was salvageable and what wasn¡¯t. Thankfully, it appeared that while many of the vials had cracked or broken, none if it had managed to become contaminated with other ingredients.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said for his supplies of elemental fire, which he assumed was a component he¡¯d need for seratite. That had fallen to the floor along with vials of several other traits, no doubt ruining the contents. Worse, the crucible that had fallen over was now broken as well, and that was a key component in synthesizing new fire shards; it wasn¡¯t like he could just light a pot on fire.
Or could I¡? He wondered. It would be risky, but why couldn¡¯t I use an artifice-made container full of, say, lamp oil? As long as I didn¡¯t wander off, and used mana catalysis to speed things up¡
Jason frowned in thought.
I did promise Kera I¡¯d make a proper fire extinguisher, too. Hell, older models back home were basically pressurized tubes of baking soda, right? Which I need to make baking powder, which I want to do anyway. Why not just kill three or four birds with one stone¡?
Jason nodded to himself. Yes; first he¡¯d get the things he needed to take with him together, then he¡¯d see what he could whip together. It would be a good test of the cost of mana catalysis, as well as its effectiveness in how it functioned alongside his various skills.
That meant his first order of business was to make some new mana potions; he was nearly out of them after last night''s battle. Jason cleared a space on one of the tables, and got down to work, frowning with annoyance when he realized that he was getting quite low on any sources of Restore; he was going to need to pay another visit to Flora. He again lamented that he simply hadn''t had the time to play around with finding efficient means of speed-growing plants. There was always something else that was taking priority for him.
A few quick batches of mana potion later, Jason had assembled a few high-strength potions, a dozen lesser, and an array of least tier ones. These were added to a small wooden crate lined with straw.
Next Jason pulled together what elemental shards he currently had on hand. Since he didn''t know what exactly he''d end up trying to synthesize, he simply took all of them. Those were added to the crate alongside a supply of various refined trait powders, which was followed in turn by most of Jason''s remaining arcane powder supply.
Satisfied he had just about everything he thought he might need, Jason turned his thoughts to making some additional fire shards.
Forty-five minutes later, Jason found himself sliding a batch of snickerdoodles out of the oven. It had shocked him how efficient [Mana Catalysis] was at assisting him with chemical processes. Sources of ammonia and carbon dioxide were trivial to obtain, mainly from compost, and he had the equipment already to filter gases. The rest was basically salt and water and heat, plus time. Time which became functionally nonexistent because of his skill.
An expenditure of roughly fifty mana, and Jason had ended up with more sodium bicarbonate than he¡¯d need for weeks.
Since he had far more than he now needed, Jason swiftly assembled an improvised fire extinguisher using a hollow steel tube, some spare parts, and a wind-element shard to power a storage projecting enchantment. Then he went ahead and whipped together some baking powder as well, thanks to having previously aquired the cream of tarter from Arn. A few days ago during a break in his constant crafting, on a whim Jason had paid a quick visit to the inn in order to ask the man if he could have the leftover ¡®useless scrapings¡¯ from the inside of one of his wine barrels. Arn had no idea what Jason wanted it for, but since Jason was offering him a bit of money for the priviledge, he readily agreed. At the time Jason had just been thinking ahead; he hadn''t really expected to be making baking powder anytime soon.
Once he had the baking powder finished and had triggered the synthesis of a pair of new fire shards, Jason realized he now had everything on hand to actually bake some proper cookies. And then it occurred to him, why not reward himself for managing to successfully build a real fire extinguisher out of nothing but scrap metal and some simple enchantments?
He could always bring Tersk some to apologize for being slightly late. Everybody liked apology cookies.
Jason slid the cookie-laden baking sheet onto the counter beside him. With a long-practiced flick of a spatula, he popped the snickerdoodles off the sheet and onto a cooling rack so their undersides didn''t scorch, and then turned to check the two lit pots of oil beside him. They were still burning merrily away, and the large shard of crystal growing within had taken on a decidedly reddish hue.
He heard Echo bark once, followed by the door opening.
¡°Oh my god that smells heavenly,¡± came Lumi¡¯s voice from the den. ¡°You wonderful man, are you seriously bak ¡ª why the fuck are the dishes on fire?!¡±
Jason laughed, turning to look at the girls from the doorway to the kitchen. ¡°Its not dishes,¡± he said hurriedly. ¡°Just multitasking. I¡¯m making a pair of fire shards before I leave.¡±
He picked up the plain, black-metal canister from the tabletop. ¡°Took precautions too. Here¡¯s your fire extinguisher, Kera.¡± He gestured to the small inverted cone on the front. ¡°Point this end at a fire, press down on the Wind Shard on the back, and voila. You¡¯ve got a bog-standard kitchen extinguisher for B and C class fires.¡±
Lumi approached and peered into the ¡®pots¡¯ Jason was using as containers.
¡°Well, OK, I guess you get points for not being reckless this time,¡± she said. Then she grinned at him. ¡°But I¡¯m still taking a cookie tax for you scaring me!¡±
Jason rolled his eyes at her. ¡°Help yourself, but don¡¯t eat em all. Also be careful, they''re hot and just ¡ª¡±
She was already shoving one into her mouth and blowing steam out of her mouth while she tried to chew without burning her tongue.
¡°¡ came out of the oven.¡±
Lumi made a sound of pure happiness. ¡°Dun care,¡± she mumbled with her mouth full. ¡°Hot cookie is best cookie.¡±
After taking a moment to actually chew properly and swallow, she gave him a grin. ¡°Besides, high fortitude right? I don¡¯t burn that easily.¡±
Ignoring her lack of manners, Jason considered that tidbit for a moment.
Shrugging, he turned to offer Kera a cookie as well, but when he turned to do so, he stopped when he saw the thoughtful look on her face as she studied the cookies sitting on the tray.
Suddenly, she burst into a cloud of mist, collapsing downwards into her mistwolf form. She reached her head up to the counter and then inhaled deeply through her nose. Wispy tears sprang to her eyes she suddenly sat down hard.
¡°So good¡.¡± she whispered.
Lumi and Jason just looked at Kera, slightly dumbfounded, but before either of them responded to Kera deciding she needed to smell fresh-baked cookies as a dog, Lumi gave a small start as she was enveloped in a slight blue glow..
¡°Are these mana cookies?!¡± Lumi exclaimed.
Jason grinned at her. ¡°What else would they be?¡±
¡°Boo, that means I can¡¯t eat too many,¡± Lumi grumbled. ¡°I had to get more healing.¡±
¡°There¡¯s non-mana infused batter in that bowl over there,¡± Jason said, pointing.
Lumi threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder in a spontaneous hug. Amused, Jason returned her hug before disengaging himself.
Kera put her paws up onto the counter, stretching upwards.
Jason gave her a light, playful thwack on the head. ¡°Don¡¯t teach Echo bad habits,¡± he admonished. ¡°No being a dog while filching food off the counter.¡±
¡°Aww, but I¡¯ve never eaten cookies as something else before¡¡±
¡°Then have Lumi get them for you,¡± Jason replied firmly. ¡°And be careful giving any to Echo, for that matter.¡±
Kera scrunched up her face, a expression that Jason found extremely comical on a wolf¡¯s face, and then she collapsed back into a puddle of mist. She quickly reformed back into her kitsune shape.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
¡°I¡¯ll do that some other time,¡± she said, snatching up a cookie and blowing on it to cool.
¡°Well, you two can feel free to enjoy yourselves,¡± Jason said. ¡°I''ll be taking most of this batch here, but everything is already set up to make more: cinnamon and sugar are in that bowl there, batter there, and the oven is at the right heat. Just needs baking for 10 minutes for each batch. Or if you''d rather not do that, it''s fine to just put it in the freezer.¡±
He check his two pots. They looked finished. ¡°I need to get down to the forge," he said. "I¡¯ll see you two later?¡±
Tersk was suitably impressed with Jason¡¯s baking, though Jason hid the true nature of the mana restoration effect, instead claiming it was just a simple variation on the ¡®normal¡¯ potion process used by Enchanters. Tersk seemed slightly skeptical of that idea, but didn¡¯t press.
After handing out a handful of cookies to everyone present, Tersk sent everyone else home for the day, claiming it was a ¡®matter of chakan¡¯, whatever that meant. Jason guessed it was a cultural thing, because not a single dwarf argued, and they all got serious looks on their faces and bowed gravely before leaving.
After that, Tersk had Jason change into some more forge-appropriate clothes, which apparently he¡¯d had Jerrik whip up, as Jason¡¯s thick, flowing coat and heavy leathers were highly inappropriate for the heat of a forge.
While Jason changed into lighter clothes, Tersk gave him a bit of a rundown on the basic formation of magically-significant metals.
¡°So you already know a bit about seratite,¡± Tersk explained, ¡°And how it¡¯s found it hot regions. Gold is fairly common in volcanic systems, which just so happens to be the base material, so that¡¯s why you find a fair bit out in Pelean.¡±
¡°Mithril now,¡± Tersk continued, ¡°that only forms when platinum is exposed to the light of the moon and stars in a high mana environment. Needless to say, that¡¯s why the stuff is so bloody rare.¡±
Jason pulled the apron on, tying it around behind him. ¡°How good is mithril for armor and weapons, compared to other materials?¡± he asked.
¡°Well, that¡¯s a matter of debate,¡± Tersk replied. ¡°It¡¯s extremely light, far better than steel for sturdiness, and holds an edge fantastically well, but when it comes to magic it depends on what you¡¯re looking for. See, unlike most of the other special metals out there, mithril doesn¡¯t boost the power of the enchantments in it.¡±
¡°Really?¡±
¡°Nope. Instead, it acts as¡ a kind of channeling aid. Magic flows through it quite well, meaning it makes enchantments cheaper and easier to use, rather than making them stronger.¡±
¡°Increased mana conductivity¡?¡± Jason asked. ¡°That¡¯s got potential, then. One of the things that¡¯s slowing me down is I can¡¯t actually fit enough separate enchantments into things.¡±
He laughed. ¡°My first attempt at my gauntlet literally melted thanks to that.¡±
Tersk shook his head. ¡°You were lucky. I hope you learned from that.¡±
¡°Oh I did,¡± Jason said ruefully. ¡°It taught me the very valuable lesson to not even attempt to [Improvise] an enchantment on something I¡¯m wearing, in addition to some standard safety practices.¡±
¡°Good.¡±
¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have any example pieces of any of these metals, would you?¡± Jason asked as he pulled on a pair of thick leather gloves that covered his forearms.
¡°I do indeed,¡± Tersk replied. ¡°Figured you¡¯d ask, so I pulled out a few bits and bobs I never had the heart to sell.¡±
First Tersk passed Jason a small wooden box which was inlaid with something that looked like it was halfway between brass an bronze. And ornate clasp made of the substance sealed the box midway on one side.
¡°Now, that inlay there goes by a few different names, but us dwarves know it as orichalcum. It¡¯s not so rare as other metals, as it forms from ordinary copper under the right pressure as long as certain other metals are found nearby, and the mana saturation of the area is high enough. It doesn¡¯t care too much about the specific aspects either, so it¡¯s left behind in the wake of slain dungeons with a fair degree of regularity.¡±
¡°Properties?¡± Jason asked.
¡°It varies a bit. Usually boosts some sort of protective magics, though. Takes a bit of experimenting to find out, usually.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a bit inconvenient,¡± Jason replied.
Tersk shrugged. ¡°Eh, not really. A good enchanter can work it out just by taking a look.¡±
Jason examined the runes inscribed into the metal.
Rune Learned: Impact
¡°Sweet, learned a new rune!¡± Jason exclaimed. ¡°So this thing is enchanted to resist heavy blows, huh? Something fragile inside?¡±
Jason popped the clasp and opened the lid. He was delighted to discover that the box was in reality a clockwork music box, which began playing an airy tune. In the center a figure of a dancing kitsune woman spun gently in a circle.
The figurine was crafted of painted wood, except for the woman¡¯s hair and tail, which had been finely wrought from a red-gold metal, partially transparent, which shined with an inner light like that of a captured flame. The work was so fine and delicate that Jason feared to touch it, lest he accidentally damage it.
¡°That there¡¯s Seratite, of course,¡± Tersk said, Jason thought he sounded a bit embarrassed. ¡°A noblewoman commissioned that piece some many years ago, but¡ well¡ once I¡¯d finished it, the wife liked it so much I gave it to her, so I refunded the noble¡¯s money to her because it was the only piece of the stuff I¡¯ve ever gotten my hands on.¡±
¡°Its beautiful,¡± Jason said softly, watching as the woman spun slowly, hair and tail trailing out behind her, as if leaving behind cometary trail. The motion was slightly hypnotic: a perfect, never-ending half-circle of fire.
He activated his [Arcane Sight], and studied the figure for a few moments, before deactivating his skill and carefully handing the box back to Tersk.
Clearing his throat, Tersk closed the box and set it aside. ¡°Yes well. Let¡¯s see. Ah, here it is!¡±
He handed Jason a lump of white-silver ore. Jason accepted it, and saw that it wasn¡¯t just one color, but rather the silver was a result of just how reflective it was, while the color came from a miniature rainbow of tiny grains, all different colors. He tilted it back and forth under the light, and marveled at it, watching it glitter. He suspected if he looked at it under a magnifying glass, it would be formed of tiny crystals of many different shades, reminiscent of an LCD screen.
¡°Mithril, I assume?¡± he asked.
¡°Correct. I¡¯ve got a few pieces lying about.¡±
After a short examination under [Arcane Sight], he handed it back to Tersk. In return, Tersk handed Jason a bare-bladed dagger that looked to be made of the darkest metal Jason had ever seen. It positively drank the light around it.
This time, Jason got a system description when he examined it, even without his skills.
[Fang of the Urdral] - This unique abyssium dagger holds an edge so sharp, it is fabled to possess the ability to carve a man¡¯s shadow from his very body, leaving him a pale imitation of his former self.
Jason held the dagger very carefully away from himself, looking askance at Tersk, who saw his expression and laughed.
¡°Have no fear, lad, it doesn¡¯t really do that. Yon dagger is nothing but a showpiece with a darkness enchantment. And a tracking spell. It¡¯s my little joke to guard against thieves, see? No stealth-and-shadows type worth their salt would pass that kind of weapon up, and if they¡¯re trying to steal from me, well that means they¡¯ll conveniently have a nice little tracker on them while they try and figure out how it¡¯s supposed to work.¡±
Jason laughed. ¡°It¡¯s just a massive troll then?¡± He corrected himself at Tersk¡¯s confused look. ¡°Trick, I mean to say.¡±
Tersk grinned at him. ¡°Aye.¡±
¡°So what¡¯s abyssium formed from?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Silver.¡±
¡°Huh. So silver for the darkness metal, and gold for the sunlight metal? Appropriate.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve always thought so,¡± Tersk concurred.
A thought occurred to Jason.
¡°Hang on a second¡¡±
He wracked his memory, trying to work out what it was about silver and gold that triggered a fleeting feeling like he¡¯d forgotten an important detail.
¡°Got an idea?¡± Tersk asked?
¡°Maybe,¡± Jason said. ¡°I¡¯m trying to remember¡ hang on.¡±
He brought up his status screen. He¡¯d been planning on spending his skill points anyway. He had six remaining, and several skills at Rank 3. He knew he was forgetting something about alloys, so he quickly put two points each into Chemistry and Engineering. For good measure he put the last two into Clockwork.
¡°What were we just talking about again?¡± He asked the dwarf as he closed his status.
¡°You were commenting about the how it was appropriate¡ª¡±
¡°Yes! That¡¯s it! Now I remember. I need some parchment. Or something to write with, anyway.¡±
Tersk beckoned Jason further into the building, where he produced a quill and a piece of scrap hide.
Jason leaned down and started jotting down a few different proportions of several metals. He showed it to Tersk afterwards.
¡°Recognize this?¡± Jason asked.
The dwarf scanned Jason¡¯s hasty scrawl. His brow furrowed for a moment. ¡°This looks like a blend that¡¯s meant to produce electrum, but why¡?
¡°It is electrum.¡± Jason said with excitement. ¡°If you mix copper and platinum into it in small proportions, it improves the properties of the alloy.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t see¡¡±
¡°Yes you do! You literally just showed me all the ingredients!¡±
Tersk¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You mean¡ mix all four as if we were trying to make electrum out of their base components?¡±
¡°Exactly! And with the mithril in there as our platinum substitute, it will be extra susceptible to mana infusion, and I brought loads of arcane powder.¡±
Tersk began to laugh uproariously. ¡°That.. that just might work! But where¡?¡±
¡°We¡¯ll just make it! You¡¯ve got the mithril right here, so the platinum¡¯s taken care of, right?¡± Jason gestured over towards the small wooden crate he¡¯d brought with him. ¡°I¡¯ve got everything else needed for seratite and shadowsteel, I¡¯m pretty sure, and it sounds to me like orichalcum should take just about anything. We can totally do this.¡±
Tersk gave Jason perhaps the widest grin he¡¯d ever seen, and they both set to work.
With the exception of the mithril, which was already prepared and seemed to be a pure ore ¡ª that is, relatively free of anything that wasn¡¯t actually mithril ¡ª Tersk had a ready supply of the materials needed. Jason remarked that he was surprised Tersk even had gold bouillon lying around in a place like Arnvale, to which the master smith had just grunted without replying.
Jason followed Tersk''s instructions in order to help him bring each smelter to the proper heat, and then watched in fascination as Tersk simultaneously managed the melting point temperature of each separate metal through a complex mechanical setup of overhead levers and chains that opened and closed various valves. As he did so, the dwarf cautioned Jason that when mixing alloys, it was imperative to begin with metals which were the coolest and least mixable and working your way up. This was news to Jason, who¡¯d just figured they¡¯d do one metal at a time, transforming it from its base state to it¡¯s magical variant, and then adding it to some kind of pot as they went.
Tersk told him that that was a great way to lose his eyebrows, and probably a lot more.
Instead, he made Jason attempt each metal synthesis one a time while he maintained a steady melting temperature and worked to keep the resulting metal free of impurities.
Jason started with the copper first. If anything, it would be the simplest from the sound of things, so he sank himself deep within his mind while he began to pull out ingredients, trusting to his crafting trance to guide his hands.
He found himself pulling a considerable quantity of the mixed alchemical powders he¡¯d swept up from the floor of his lab; on a last minute whim he¡¯d boxed it up and added it to the pile to take with him instead of disposing of it, since he wasn¡¯t to keen on simply dumping it somewhere. Who knew what effect that might have?
Now he was glad he kept it, as it seemed that the synthesis of orichalcum simply required aspected mana without, as Tersk theorized, being particularly picky about the kind.
Jason considered that it was entirely possible that it required multiple kinds of aspects.
Somehow, Jason managed not to set himself on fire while adding his mixture of alchemical and arcane powders into the molten copper. Frankly, he was relieved the powder didn¡¯t catch fire and explode in his face, and by some miracle it didn''t cause the copper to boil and splatter, either.
Instead, as Jason muttered a quiet command over the mixture while Tersk poured it into a new basin, there was a purple-white flash of magic that sparked through the air from Jason into the smelter, and Jason felt a significant amount of mana drain from of him.
He sagged slightly, suddenly tired, and checked his mana levels.
It had cost him almost a third of his mana. But he straightened and gave Tersk a thumbs up.
¡°That cost me quite a bit, but it looks like it worked!¡±
¡°You sure?¡± Tersk grunted. ¡°Hard to tell while its still hot. Metals all tend to look somewhat similar at this stage. Can¡¯t pour it to ingots yet, we¡¯d have to reheat it if we did.¡±
¡°Just keep it hot. I¡¯ve got this.¡±
Jason ate a cookie to regain some mana, but immediately got to work readying the next set of ingredients: grinding up Shadow and Ice shards, two of each.
This work repeated in a fairly steady fashion for more than two hours. Jason ground up shards, or mixed powders, or both, while Tersk continually managed the temperatures of the smelters and crucibles. Periodically, Jason would down another mana-cookie or two, and once he was more than two-thirds back to full, he¡¯d activate his synergy skill.
Soon, it was time to attempt the alloying process. This time, Jason asked Tersk to wait until he¡¯d topped off his mana reserves. Something told him he was going to need it.
It was a good thing too, because the moment Tersk began pouring the first two metals together, Jason knew he was in for one hell of a ride. He stepped forward and held out his right hand, activating [Mana Catalysis]. Much as before, an arc of pure mana crackled from his fingertips, but this time it didn¡¯t end with a single spurt. It pulled and pulled, and Jason felt his mana tanking rapidly. In a panic, he snatched up another mana cookie and then washed it down with an actual mana potion. His head swam as mana flooded back into him, only to continue its plummet back towards zero.
He felt himself start to panic further as his vision began to darken, but with an effort of will, forced his fear down. He knew he could do this. Keeping his skill active, with one hand Jason began yanking out potion after potion, barely pausing between downing one and using his teeth to yank out the cork of the next.
Tersk looked at Jason with grave concern, and looked like he might stop the process, but Jason shook his head and yelled at him to keep going.
After what felt like ages to Jason but was in reality only two or three minutes, Jason¡¯s legs gave out right as his skill shut itself off in a sudden, final surge. He fought a wave of dizziness and nearly blacked out, but managed to climb back to his feet and stagger his way to a bench, where he sat down heavily. He downed another least mana potion, which made him feel slightly ill, and Jason knew that that one had better be his last.
¡°It¡¯s ready,¡± Jason told Tersk. ¡°Pour it.¡±
Tersk yanked a chain above his head, which opened a channel on one side of the crucible, causing the molten metal to flow down a channel and into a series of casts of various shapes and sizes. Jason was more than a little surprised at the sheer volume they¡¯d ended up with. Admittedly, Tersk had suggested they make enough of this electrum alloy to use up his supply of mithril, which hadn¡¯t been negligible, and which wasn¡¯t more than single percent of the total mixture.
No wonder it had required so much mana. Jason resolved that next time, if there was a next time, it would be very small batches only. A handful of ingots at time, tops, and he didn¡¯t care if Tersk complained about needing to clean out his smeltery for such small amounts. Assuming that was a thing that even happened; Jason wasn¡¯t too clear on that.
The smaller ingots took only two minutes to cool enough that Tersk could remove it from the cast and dunk them into water to be cooled. Jason simple waited on the bench during this process, trying to catch his breath. It wasn¡¯t easy in the heat of the forge.
Another minute or two of cooling later, and Tersk pulled one of the ingots from the water, and set it down where he and Jason could both take a look. It looked nothing like electrum, which ranged somewhere between pale gold and off-color silver, depending on the proportions used. They¡¯d gone roughly even between the two.
Whatever they¡¯d made, it wasn¡¯t any shade of gold. On the contrary, it was lustrous, metallic blue, not unlike someone had added a small amount of blue dye to the vat in the middle of smelting a bar of pure platinum. Not that that would actually work, but it was what Jason thought it might look like.
¡°Eye For Detail: Analyze Metal,¡± Tersk commanded, sharing the results with Jason.
[Arcanite Ingot] - This mystical alloy of several rare metals almost hums with vast quantities of infused mana.
Special Properties:
Enhanced Tensile Strength - Mk IV
Enhanced Impact Strength - Mk IV
50% Weight Reduction
15% Mana Cost Reduction
+2 Enchantment Threshold
Elemental Attunement: Special. Material takes on unique properties when exposed to a variety of elemental-aspected runes.
This information was followed by a series of technical data points that Jason didn''t really understand, though he guessed it was a readout of things like the amount of stress the metal could withstand, its weight by volume, and other metrics that would be useful to a master blacksmith.
Tersk grinned hugely clapped Jason solidly on the back. ¡°Looks like you did the impossible, lad! Congratulations, you¡¯ve just helped forge a material that looks to have all the best properties of all four metals, and then some! What say we forge you a suit of armor fit for a king?¡±
Jason gave the old dwarf a sly smile. ¡°For the right price, of course?¡±
¡°You¡¯re definitely learning. Take a breather, make sure you aren¡¯t suffering from any ill effects. I¡¯ll call the family back in now that your part is over.¡±
Chapter 42
Jason leaned his back against the wall and rested for a few moments while he waited for Tersk to return. To his surprise, the dizziness quickly passed, and his vague nausea from the least potion vanished with it.
He cracked one eye open and checked his status, and was surprised to see that he was suffering from neither mana fatigue nor mana withdrawal. His stamina was still nearly full as well; he saw nothing more than ordinary expenditure due to normal physical exertion.
Strange, he thought. Perhaps there¡¯s more to mana usage status effects than I thought.
At least he didn¡¯t have some kind of saturation status effect screaming warnings at him. That didn¡¯t mean he was in he clear, but Jason felt it was a good sign.
He¡¯d still have Aldin check him over as soon as possible, though.
Jason closed his status and sat back up, examining the arcanite ingot that Tersk had removed from the cast. He hefted it in one hand, and was surprised by how light it was. It felt to him more like aluminum than steel. Not that he was any expert.
Jason placed the ingot back down onto the table and checked his notifications.
Congratulations! Through experimentation with rare metals and alchemical substances, you have successfully uncovered the recipe for the transmutation of the legendary metal known as Arcanite! You have been granted the achievement, [Alchemical Metallurgist].
Achievement XP Granted: 25,600. Cumulative level penalties applied.
You have earned a new skill: Advanced Metallurgy. Would you like to purchase it for 3 skill points? Y/N?
As before, Jason saw that he¡¯d gained a slew of new levels thanks to the way achievement experience was awarded. He condensed the multiple notifications into a summary:
Levels Gained: Artificer 14, Alchemist 14, Machinist 10-12. Hybrid Class Milestone reached. 9 Skill Points acquired. 3 Stat Points Acquired. 1 Class Point Acquired. +100 Maximum Mana. Skill Specialization choice available.
Jason blinked. Strangely enough, his foray into metallurgy had applied to [Machinist], which was an unexpected, if pleasant surprise.
I suppose metallurgy is considered a branch of the engineering sciences back home, he reflected. Still, would have thought that would fall under blacksmithing here. For that matter, why Artificer? I didn¡¯t enchant anything. Though I suppose technically making Arcanite could constitute crafting a magic item.
He hummed thoughtfully to himself for a moment in consideration. Then he shrugged.
Well whatever. Time to spend points. Let¡¯s see¡ at least one more into Spirit, that will net me another hundred mana. Maybe the other two into Might? If I¡¯m going to be wearing armor now, I should at least have better than I do now.
Jason pushed his Spirit up to 25, and his Might to 13. He noted with pleasure that his Magic Resistance was an even 30, now.
Then Jason opened his skill list, focused on [Expert Craftsman], and selected arcanite for his material of choice. His skill choice gave him some pause though. The skill wouldn¡¯t stack with itself, so choosing [Engrave] along with arcanite seemed relatively pointless. He was fairly certain he didn¡¯t really need to choose [Inscription] either: actual gold could be found in all sorts of medieval art forms, from the embroidery thread in the clothing of the nobility to the inlay in their furniture. Gold dust was even sometimes found in the ink for religious manuscripts.
In short, Jason felt that finding ways to include arcanite in most of his projects was bound to be a trivial matter, especially as an [Alchemist], so it wasn¡¯t like he needed to pick [Engrave] or [Inscription]. He¡¯d be better off choosing a broad-application skill that was unlikely to make use of arcanite. Unfortunately, Brew Potion wasn¡¯t one of his options; Jason assumed this was probably because alchemical golems were only available through that [Discovery] choice he¡¯d seen pop up.
Too bad. An ooze-monster-in-a-bottle might be pretty hilarious, Jason thought.
Cooking likewise wasn¡¯t available, which Jason found vaguely disappointing. No concocting giant , candy-cane marshmallow golems, apparently. Not that he wanted to; rather it would have been nice to simply get an additional five free skill points for a skill he used every day. He enjoyed cooking for the girls after all, and wouldn¡¯t mind being even better at it than he already was.
After some additional deliberation, Jason settled on [Engineering]. It was technically a crafting skill under the system in addition to being a knowledge skill, much like [Chemistry] seemed to be, and while Jason didn¡¯t really expect to be doing much in the way of say, electrical wiring, [Engineering] was a broad subject where he wasn¡¯t guaranteed to necessarily want to be working with Arcanite. He could always swap it out if he found he was using something else with greater frequency.
Jason¡¯s [Machinist] milestone choice was a far easier decision. Just as with [Artificer], he found he had an option to choose a sphere of study instead of specifically advancing a skill, so naturally, he chose Mage-Tech.
Unlike his previous specialization choices, upon confirming his choice, Jason didn¡¯t receive any new skills, skill evolutions, or synergies. Instead, he was granted 10 bonus skill points, which he was only allowed to spend on a limited selection of skills. Along with his other 9 new points, this meant Jason had quite a few points to throw around, but he wasn¡¯t sure what he wanted to prioritize. He could invest most of them straight into [Engraving] or [Brewing]. After all, the higher his skill there, the stronger the potions he made or the more enchantments he could pack into something.
On the other hand¡ he was already going to be getting five bonus ranks in [Engrave] whenever he worked with the arcanite. That already put him at a whopping twenty ranks for [Engrave]. On top of that, combined with arcanite¡¯s inherent abilities, he didn¡¯t actuallyneed more ranks in order to fit a lot more enchantments into a given piece. He was already getting three or four extras.
He could put some into potion brewing, but franky he felt he was currently bottlenecked until he actually had the opportunity to go searching for rare ingredients, or at least get back to his currently-benched greenhouse project. Flora¡¯s supplies of the things he needed were already nearly spent; he didn¡¯t want to keep pestering her for more.
What Jason really wanted to do currently was design more mage-tech. The prospect of making actual set items excited him to no end. For that, he¡¯d definitely need more than just [Engraving]. Physics, math, metalworking, clockwork¡ Anything and everything related to science and engineering might turn out to be applicable.
Of course, there was also the issue that Jason wasn¡¯tsure he''dhave the time to actually engrave dozens of enchantments into a full suit. Not until after the raid, anyway. He¡¯d be better off designing a suit of armor that he could use now, with an emphasis on being able to upgrade it further later on. Planning ahead meant needing to understand any potential problems he might be faced with, and that meant improving all sorts of things.
Nodding to himself, Jason decided to spread his points around. He dumped five full points into [Engineering], bringing it up to a ten. Two points went into [Metalworking], to bring it up to five alongside [Chemistry] and [Clockwork]. Then, to even things out a little, he dumped varying amounts of points into [Construction], [Physics], and [Mathematics], bringing them up to five as well.
He brought up his revised skill list and examined it. Yes, with his golemist bonus involved, he¡¯d now have anywhere from ten to fifteen ranks in more than half a dozen different applicable skills, as well as six ranks in both [Tailoring] and [Carpentry], provided he could figure out a way to get it to apply, which he was fairly confident in.
With his notifications now cleared and his points spent, Jason found himself at something of a loss as to what to do next. Fortunately, he was saved from his indecision by the sound of voices from outside the forge. He made his way to the open front, and saw that Tersk had returned.
As Tersk¡¯s family filed into the smithy behind him, Tersk gave each of them orders in his native language, and within minutes the furnaces were roaring and the sound of hammers upon metal rang like bells. Tersk moved from station to station as the arcanite was removed from the molds, spending a brief moment observing before moving on the next. Some ingots he ordered cleaned and polished, while others he had thrown into the forges to be reheated, to begin the laborious process of tempering and remolding them into the sheets and rods that were the foundation of creating armor.
Once Tersk was satisfied that everyone knew their task and was properly carrying it out, he pulled Jason aside into an office, where a heavy stone door closed out most of the noise.
¡°Phew. Impossible to be heard in there once we get going,¡± Terks said. He tossed an arcanite ingot that he¡¯d grabbed onto the desk, then wiped the sweat from his forehead and face with a rag he pulled from his apron pocket.
Then he leveled a serious look at Jason. ¡°Now. This next part will take a few hours. Basic shaping and tempering is something that lot can do on their own without supervision. You and I, meanwhile, need to have a frank discussion that¡¯s best not overheard.¡±
Jason frowned. That sounds ominous.
¡°Hold on there now,¡± Tersk said, holding up one hand in a placating gesture. ¡°Don¡¯t go making assumptions. I¡¯m not blackmailing you here. But we do need to talk business. That¡¯s my metal stocks you¡¯ve been using here after all.¡±
Jason rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s true. If I wanted to keep all the arcanite, that would be¡ expensive, I¡¯m guessing?¡±
Tersk snorted as he motioned Jason to take a seat. ¡°Expensive doesn¡¯t even begin to cover it, lad.¡±
Tersk swept a space clear of clutter, then pulled a strange, hemispherical piece of crystal from a drawer and set it on the desk in front of him, next to the arcanite, It vaguely reminded Jason of the AVL reader Therissa had, but was one solid piece and had no slot. It was enchanted though.
He rested a hand on top of the device and spoke a command word. The crystal pulsed once, bathing the room in a sudden glow.
¡°There. That¡¯ll give us some privacy,¡± Tersk said with a satisfied nod. He leaned back into his seat, and regarded Jason carefully, mulling things over and idly scratching at his beard.
After a moment, he leaned forwards again.
¡°I don¡¯t know how things are wherever it is you¡¯re from, but it¡¯s pretty clear to me that you either have no real idea of what things are worth here, or you come from a place that is so fantastically wealthy it might as well mean the same thing. At this point, it wouldn¡¯t shock me to learn you were some kind of royalty with the kind of wealth you sling around. Nobody with good business sense would have provided half a town with enchantments, even basic ones, for as little as you have.¡±
¡°I did receive an entire furnished home,¡± Jason pointed out, ¡°and an open license to take what I needed for the job, no question asked.¡±
¡°See, that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about,¡± Tersk said with a grunt. ¡°No idea at all.¡±
Tersk sat forward slightly. ¡°Let me put this in perspective for you,¡± he explained. ¡°You stayed at Arn¡¯s place for your first days here, correct?¡±
¡°That¡¯s right.¡±
¡°And how much did that cost you per day?¡±
¡°Uh, well we actually had the full service suite that I guess visiting merchants usually use? I think it was a gold coin a day?¡±
Tersk tilted his hand from side to side in a gesture of approximation. ¡°Eh, sounds like he gave you a bit of a discount there due to the season, but that¡¯ll do.¡± he said. ¡°Now, I¡¯m not trying to malign Arnold, but his inn is fairly middle of the road, you understand me? It¡¯s no back alley watering hole, but it doesn¡¯t hold a candle to the high-class places you might find in some of the bigger cities, understand?¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
¡°Sure.¡±
Tersk rapped a knuckle on the arcanite ingot. ¡°If this stuff you¡¯ve made was only mithral, ¡ªand mark me, what you have here is far more valuable¡ª and I was forging you a full suit of plate out of it? I could afford to live at Arn¡¯s for ten years off of what you would have to pay me for that one suit.¡±
Jason blanched. ¡°So much?¡±
¡°And,¡± Tersk continued on, ¡°we¡¯ve made enough of this ¡®arcanite¡¯ that I could forge¡ oh, let¡¯s call it a dozen sets of armor, and still have some left over for several good swords.¡±
Jason reeled. When he¡¯d talked with Lumi earlier, he¡¯d made light of the kind of money adventurers tended to make in comparison to the average person. He knew his potions were worth a lot as well, but this seemed off the scale. He had, in the space of a few hours, gone from what probably qualified as ¡®independently wealthy¡¯ to effectively being a member of the one-percent club.
He paled as what he and Tersk actually accomplished really began to sink in. The potions had been bad enough. This was firmly within turning-straw-into-gold territory. He¡¯d found the proverbial philosopher¡¯s stone, and now every kingdom, every organization in the world would be after forcibly recruiting him whether he wanted it or not. If the secret got out. And he¡¯d just casually invited Tersk in on it because he thought the dwarf was probably trustworthy.
His thoughts were interrupted by Tersk continuing onward.
¡°Good,¡± the dwarf said with a significant look. ¡°You seem to have at least some idea of what you¡¯ve just gotten yourself into, then.¡±
Jason nodded slowly. Then a sudden though shot a thrill of fear through him. He started to panic, turning in his seat to look towards the door, but a word from Tersk caused him to subside.
¡°Don¡¯t worry about them. They know nothing more than you¡¯ve asked me to forge a strange alloy into something useful. Neither how it was made, where it came from, nor it¡¯s properties, and they won¡¯t ask either. They¡¯ll hold their tongues.
¡°That¡ chakan¡ thing?¡±
Tersk gave a curt nod. ¡°Correct.¡±
Jason wasn¡¯t sure he was comfortable trusting Tersk¡¯s word that they¡¯d keep quiet, but he knew that at least in fiction, questioning a dwarf¡¯s word was usually a surefire way to get on their bad side, so he let it drop. For now.
¡°Which brings me to some sage advice that you damn well better listen to, because it¡¯ll be on my head as much as yours if the wrong ears overhear,¡± Tersk said sternly. ¡°This new metal of yours will be worth a king¡¯s ransom once people figure out what it¡¯s good for. That kind of money can turn the heads of even the most scrupulous of men. So, stop talking about what you can do. If someone asks, lie. If they don¡¯t, let them misunderstand. And above all, don¡¯t mention these things where other people can overhear. That you approached me without so much as a privacy ward¡¡±
Tersk shook his head ruefully, blowing out a heavy breath in exasperation.
Jason cleared his throat awkwardly. He had screwed up there. He¡¯d just been too excited to think about the fact that he could have just asked Therissa for a meeting room.
¡°Buck up, there,¡± Tersk said cheerfully at Jason¡¯s sour expression. ¡°It¡¯s not all bad. At least you¡®re aware of your problem, unlike my younger self. Fortunately, with something like this arcanite, fostering a misunderstanding to shield yourself from prying questions is easy. There¡¯s so many unusual materials out there that even I can¡¯t keep track of them all, and new ones are discovered all the time, most of them local to very specific areas. Even better, while your fellow adventurers will be more knowledgeable than most when it comes to strange materials, and may have the skills to identify them, you also tend to lead lives that foster the tendency to leave each other¡¯s secrets well alone.¡±
¡°That you¡¯ve solely got adventuring classes helps,¡± Tersk said, steepling his fingers and leaning backwards. ¡°You lot are always uncovering strange artifacts and bizarre weapons in ancient ruins, and even the lowliest of dungeons has the potential at least to spit out something truly unique. Any lie you care to tell about having come into possession a cache of strange metal and hiring somebody to work it for you is liable to be believed by default, because that¡¯s normal. And depending on your phrasing, it might even not be a lie.¡±
¡°What about the Archive?¡± Jason asked, perturbed.
Tersk shrugged. ¡°What about them? Nothing world-shaking about a lump of metal that happens to enchant particularly well, now is there? And money isn¡¯t exactly something that interests them. Sure, if you were selling, someone might mail them a piece to see if anybody could properly identify it, and they might try and track down where it came from, but this isn¡¯t the kind if thing they¡¯d care about out of anything other than idle curiosity. Now if you were to let slip that you can make it, that¡¯s another story¡¡±
Tersk trailed off with a meaningful look.
Jason blew out a sigh. ¡°Yeah, no, I get it.¡± He made a sour face and a lip-buttoning motion. ¡°I¡¯ve got enough problems with secrets already. I¡¯ll just add this one to the pile. I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s some kind of magic I could learn that would stop me from being forced or even accidentally talking about it where people could hear?¡±
¡°Yes, but not the kind that you¡¯d want to use,¡± Tersk replied gravely. ¡°Not unless you fancy scribing one of those Baradellan control runes into your skin and submitting yourself to someone else.¡±
¡°Uh, no. Definitely not.¡±
Tersk pulled some parchment from a drawer and placed it on the desk. ¡°Now that you understand the situation you¡¯re in¡ª¡±
Not that that¡¯s a new thing, Jason thought sourly to himself as the dwarf stood briefly to retrieve a pot of ink.
Tersk reseated himself. ¡°¡ªlet¡¯s talk actual business, and decide how you¡¯re going to pay for all this.¡±
Jason did end up signing over a significant portion of the arcanite to Tersk, roughly twenty percent. The dwarf was providing the lion¡¯s share of the material costs, labor, and expertise after all. It helped that they¡¯d started with copper and gold and silver, rather than their magical counterparts. Even still, the cost of the raw materials alone had boggled Jason¡¯s mind.
Fortunately, it seemed the old dwarf was either exceedingly generous, didn¡¯t need the money, or wanted to ensure he had Jason¡¯s continued business, because he didn¡¯t actually charge Jason according to the value of the final product. Instead he opted to keep in consideration the fact that Jason had provided perhaps the most important facet of the operation, namely a unique skill, without which the whole thing would never have been possible. Jason considered this something similar to how in tabletop games, there was an incredible markup on enchanted items over the base cost of their raw materials, even if the game took crafting time into consideration.
Not for the first time, Jason reflected that it was a very good thing that Tersk had been nothing but straight with him. In fact, the old dwarf seemed to be much more concerned with the ability to improve his craft, rather than specifically the ability to earn money with it. Not that he didn''t have that shopkeeper''s gleam in his eye when it came to the prospect of new business, but it wasn''t his main priority.
Which was why half an hour later, surrounded by the cacophony of steel upon metal, Jason found himself seated at a desk alongside a highly animated Tersk, in full view of the forge, pouring over a series of rough diagrams and sketches that they had been drafting.
Initially, Jason had been giving strong consideration to the idea of building fully enclosed exosuit, which seemed like a natural endpoint for mixing all of his classes. Once he had begun, however, Tersk had pointed out some major flaws in Jason¡¯s thinking when Jason sketched some rough ideas and explained the basic premise.
First off, it was unlikely that Jason was ever going to end up in outer space and thus need some kind of vacuum seal. Not that Tersk used those words, or that they even discussed those particular subjects, but he did point out that there was little need to build a fully enclosed system, because if you needed something to help you breathe, all he needed was something as simple as a [Breath Pebble], which Jason could simply make on his own.
Nor did Jason need some kind of sealed enviro-suit, because again, the right enchantments could do anything from helping you survive the crushing depths of the ocean to providing the ability to swim through lava.
Jason idly reflected that superheroes didn¡¯t have anything on overpowered wizards. Except for maybe Superman, whose real superpower always seemed to be the ability to manifest whatever effect the writers felt he needed at the time, for the most spurious of hastily-made reasons.
Maybe that was unfair. Jason was never much of a comic-book person, but that was the impression he¡¯d gotten from movies.
At least abandoning the enclosed suit idea solved several problems from him. For one, it meant he didn¡¯t have to work out some kind of injection system for potions, because it was hard to drink a potion through a sealed faceplate. Not only did he not want to have to rely on actual physical injections, as if he were some kind of Bane Jr., but rigging up some kind of system where he could slot in a potion in order to drink it through a straw like an astronaut would have been a pain. Doable, but a pain.
Tersk also had a suggestion for pieces that Jason hadn¡¯t even considered: rings and amulets. They were classic magic items; Jason didn¡¯t know why it had never occurred to him to invest in some. In point of fact, the very enchantments used to survive harsh environments were most commonly affixed to such things, because when you didn¡¯t need them you could simply store them away for later.
¡°Is there a limit to the number of rings you can wear?¡± Jason asked. ¡°For that matter, what about other kind of accessories? Bracelets? Hairbands? Earrings? Ribbons tied into your hair?¡±
Tersk looked amused. ¡°Not specifically for rings. But in general? A person can usually wear no more than twenty different system-distinct pieces at a time. After that, you tend to start getting strange interaction problems with your gear. It¡¯s quite the subject for debate amongst the Archive as to why things work that way, because nobody has ever been able to actually observe what causes the exact problems. Enchantment threshold doesn¡¯t affect that number, nor does the actual quantity, strength, or complexity of enchantments on the pieces.¡±
¡°Quite a few people,¡± Tersk continued, ¡°myself included, believe it¡¯s nothing more than an arbitrary limit placed upon us by The Voice. We¡¯re allowed the flexibility of choice in what we wish to use, but as with every part of the system, some limits are put in place in order to foster creativity.¡±
Jason drummed his fingers on the table thoughtfully. ¡°Hmm. You might very well be right about that.¡±
He sat up more fully. ¡°Well, that means that just means if I want more swappable gear like my shardcannon, I¡¯ll want a hardpoint system.¡±
¡°A¡ hardpoint?¡±
Jason explained the concept of reinforcing specific portions of a structure in order to provide standardized attachment points, so that customized gear could be added or removed as needed. They could then be used for additional storage, weaponry, extra armor, defenses, utility modules, and more, all depending on need. Not unlike swapping out a set of enchanted rings.
¡°An interesting idea,¡± Tersk mused. ¡°But the stress on the connections could cause metal fatigue depending on bulk, and you¡¯d be showing obvious weak points if you didn¡¯t slot something in.¡±
¡°Actually that one¡¯s pretty easy,¡± Jason said confidently. ¡°What you need is a high-strength, lightweight alloy, which we¡¯ve got, and maybe some kind of weight reduction enchantment to take some of the load off. As for the visible weak points, well¡ pass me my bag?¡±
Tersk leaned over to the nearby table and grabbed the Haversack, sliding it over to Jason.
He dug into the main section for the sack of scrap parts that Tersk had made for him. Then, activating [Some Assembly Required], Jason quickly selected a few spare plates, an handful of springs, screws, and hinges. Conjuring up a few tools, he quickly got to work while Tersk watched in fascination.
It was only a few minutes work for Jason to assemble a relatively simply-looking device that resembled something a little bit like a bear trap: essentially a steel plate with a pair of flaps connected to each end by hinges. The free ends folded over the hinges to interlock with each other, snapping into place and lying on top of the main plate. Jason demonstrated how the interlocked plates could be pressed down upon in order to release a hidden catch, once again freeing the flaps from one another.
One use of [Improvise] later to temporarily imbue the device with a quick and dirty variant of Kera¡¯s clothing morph enchantment, and Jason once against demonstrated snapping the flaps into place. This time, they seamlessly merged into one another, taking on the appearance of a single, solid plane of steel that shielded the one beneath.
¡°Well now that¡¯s something,¡± Tersk said, intrigued. He picked up the device and turned it over in his hands a few times, giving it a detailed examination. He unsealed and resealed the catch a few times, examining it critically as the parts seamlessly separated and merged.
¡°Yes, I do think I can work with this,¡± he said finally. ¡°I¡¯ll need to run through some designs of my own and you¡¯ll need to give me some idea of the.. what was the word you used? Hardware? That you¡¯d be looking to attach, and where, but I do think this is feasible. Likely I¡¯ll need to include some other materials in the construction process though.¡±
¡°I assumed as much,¡± Jason said with shrug. ¡°I mean, where I¡¯m from it¡¯s rare to build¡ well, anything really, out of all just one metal. I mean even ordinary armor uses different kinds when you factor in things like padding and buckles and rivets and all, right?¡±
Tersk chuckled. ¡°Indeed it does.¡±
The two continued their back and forth in that vein for some time. Jason would talk about potential uses, weapons, or capabilities he¡¯d be interested in maybe attempting at some point, and often times Tersk would have a counter-suggestion or offer some insight that would prompt another round of discussion. All the while, Tersk¡¯s family toiled away around them. Every so often Tersk would get up and move about the smithy, checking everyone¡¯s work, assigning new tasks occasionally putting the finishing touches on something himself. Jason had never really thought about the sheer amount of work it could take to make something like a suit of armor. Not to mention all the various sundry mechanical parts he wanted, both arcanite and ordinary steel; after all, he wasn¡¯t just making armor. He still needed to fill out his [Contraption] weapon, and design some portable turrets. Lumi needed some new armor, and Aldin still hadn¡¯t gotten anything from him yet either.
Eventually, as late afternoon turned into evening, Jason¡¯s companions made an appearance, having decided to come together to check up on his progress and to make sure he didn¡¯t go into some kind of crafting trance again and forget to eat. Kera had gotten Arn to wrap up some kind of boxed-lunch equivalent in a cloth for him, for which he was quite grateful. While he ate, he solicited enchantment or weapon ideas from everyone in the hopes of getting some additional perspectives. He also got Aldin to check his mana saturation status while he was there.
It turned out that while he hadn¡¯t done himself any permanent harm, his saturation level had definitely risen higher than was healthy. It was safe enough for him to spend mana, but Aldin told him to stay away from any additional potions; if he wanted to do any more enchanting that evening, he was to rely on passive regeneration only. That suited Jason just fine, because the majority of the work Tersk was doing for him wouldn¡¯t be completed for another few more hours, and by that point, it would be too late to start engraving.
In the end, after finalizing Jason''s plans and taking some measurements, Tersk sent Jason off home with instructions to return first thing in morning for pickup, and so he could decide on what to do with any the remainder of the arcanite. As much as Jason wanted to stay up and keep working, he acceded. He needed to have a clear head when he started actually engraving the parts Tersk was forging; ruining a scrap of steel due to a mistake was one thing, but ruining a piece of arcanite plating because he was tired would be like throwing a wad of thousand-dollar bills into a toilet and flushing it.
Everyone had had a late night last night, and Jason was no exception. So he bid Tersk a good night, and headed home alongside Kera and Lumi.
Not A Chapter: Author鈥檚 Note And A Quick Sneak Peek
Not A Chapter: Author¡¯s Note And A Quick Sneak Peek
First off, like it says on the tin: This isn''t Chapter 43. That should, with luck, be out in a few more hours.Out now! I¡¯ll leave this section up for a bit though. If you want to skip ahead, do a search for ¡®Onward to adventure!¡¯, which will skip you down to the bottom.
Now, normally, I wouldn''t actually post a bit on conversation with you in the body of a ''chapter'', so to speak, but I really wanted to give a big heaping ''thank you'' to all the people who subbed to my Patreon over the weekend, especially with my general inability to meet a specific schedule. You guys, especially, are what keeps me going beyond the fact that I love writing, and you''ve basically doubled my pateron income. Not that it was a lot to begiun with, but that''s still several more coffees a month to keep me awake and writing! And well, as you''re donating money to me, I feel that at bare minimum you absolutely deserve some kind of explanation when chapters are late.
Especially in cases like this, where there''s a very good reason for it, and it''s not just me making excuses that I''m busy or something, because I''ve been working nearly nonstop for since Sunday. Plus, my phone needs recharging, and it''s what I write with, so I''m taking a brief break.
The TLDR for you all is: This next chapter is huge. It¡¯s over 8000 words as of the moment I''m writing this note. That¡¯s basically two chapter¡¯s worth, and it''s involved huge amounts of decision-making and real-world resaerch. That¡¯s why it¡¯s late.
It¡¯s that large because of all the various questions about the system and the world that I¡¯ve bumped up against, requiring various kinds of research and major decisions on how the Voice and the System would treat things, and these things needed to be established before the final reveal of Jason¡¯s armor.
Very important things, in some cases. Questions like ¡°We established you could theoretically wear sixteen rings and nothing else. Would they stack if they all boost the same stat?¡±, followed by, ¡°If they do or don¡¯t, what does that mean for the enchantments Jason is putting on their gear? What impact does that have on our world and how adventurers gear themselves?¡±
For example, if they do stack, that means that most gear will be focused around raw stats, because having a variety of different buffs and special abilities isn¡¯t likely to matter if your opponent is a boring old fighter with 300 Might, and your best stats are sitting around 40. He¡¯ll cut through you like you aren¡¯t even there. It¡¯s the standard MMO trope that makes even 10 levels difference means you''re a killing machine or a walking bag of XP for someone else.
If they don¡¯t stack, that means I then need to come up with a zillion new enchantment ideas for Jason, because he¡¯s going to want to put something on his gear. And I need to decide on whether certain things stack while others don¡¯t. As a counter example to MMO¡¯s, in most tabletop games you¡¯ll have things like basic enchantment bonuses to stats which don¡¯t stack, but skill or luck or circumstance ones that do. Jason would definitely know how to abuse that if he could, as well as how to Synthesize things for a given effect - for example, boosting agility, might, mobility, and swordsmanship alongside granting a special power or two would have an overall compounding effect on one¡¯s sword-fighting prowess.
Then, of course, Jason is forging armor. For certain definitions of forge, of course. This means I need to research all sorts of terminology, and decide if I even want to use it. Fantasy literature and games especially are filled with all sorts of incorrect terminology. A pet peeve of mine is a hilariously skimpy pants item from... I think it was World of Warcraft... that were refferred to as ¡®greaves¡¯, but when equipped were basically a set of hose and the bottom half of a leotard. Talk about bikini armor. I forget the specific name, but I bet someone could dig it up if they tried. It wasn''t Pants of the Naaru, which were cloth and had a similar effect on Draenei, but it was something similar.
Cheesecake aside, this was wholly incorrect because ¡®greaves¡¯ historically only refers to the piece of plate armor (and nothing else) that covers the shins, front and back. Leg armor terms do not, to my awareness, have any kind of over-arching term for something that covers the butt and the legs and feet entirely. There¡¯s chausses, which are mail and cover the feet and ankles and shin, a bit like big ¡®chainmail¡¯ socks, but those don¡¯t even go up to the knee. Other parts of leg armor include poleyne (knee caps), solaret/sabaton (just the foot), greaves (shins, front and back), schynbald (same, but front-only), and cuisse/tasse (different pieces of upper leg/thigh). And that¡¯s just the leg! Doesn¡¯t even include your bum.
Of course, most of your eyes provably glazed over reading all that. Mine did just writing it, so I don¡¯t blame you. It¡¯s the same issue I had back when writing the descriptions of Jason¡¯s house¡ excessive technicality isn¡¯t fun to read, but at least a passing familiarity with the subject is necessary because otherwise you¡¯re repeating the same vocabulary and phraseology over and over again, which looks and reads poorly.
Much of my time has been taken up with things of that nature: writing a paragraph or two, maybe a partial scene, and then going ¡°aww crap, how should this work?¡±, researching it, and then finding a way to work the answer into the chapter because it¡¯s important to establish why Jason did something.
Another thing that jumped out at me partway through was that Jason could finish his whole armor. My original plan had been that he¡¯d do things in stages. That is, he¡¯d get the basic suit forged, and leave most of the hardpoints open, and enchant bits and pieces as he went and as he learned new stuff.
But then I went back through his learned runes listing, and the books he¡¯d gotten from Jerrik (which I forgot to put down in his inventory listing), and saw that I¡¯d established a pretty solid trend on how long it takes him to engrave things. And I realized¡ he easily had the time to do dozens of enchantments. And that apparently, with skills and Jerrik and Nissette involved, he could outfit not only himself, but Lumi and Kera as well, along with bits and pieces for Ravs/Aldin too, depending on how complete he was with each person.
That meant prioritizing Lumi, because she¡¯s the tank. Kera was relatively low-priority, but also Jason didn¡¯t have to do most of the work himself there (see the sneak peak below). Doing some math, if he started with Lumi, there was also a period where he had a chance to work on rings, and then¡ well, you get the idea by now.
And so¡ it¡¯s taken me far longer to get through this single day of Jason¡¯s than expected, because of tons of research and decision making for numerois element and choices on Jason¡¯s part. And I didn¡¯t even montage the armor creation part¡I actually time skipped from about 10:30am to 8:00pm after I set the scene and Jason got down to the nitty-gritty, instead opting for a kind of end-point ¡®lets show off the final activations and looks of each character¡¯, because true montaging doesn¡¯t work very well at all in pure text.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Finally... to keep those of you who are impatient tided over for a bit, and to prove I AM working hard here... here''s a sneak peak at ~1000 words of the final scene, where Kera receives her new robes. It comes at the end of the chapter, and I¡¯m currently writing the immediate portions afterwards, and trying to decide on specific enchantments. If anyone has ideas they want to toss out in that respect, especially if related to things Jason has done in the past, feel free to comment. I¡¯ll be checking back occasionally during coffee breaks
In fact... I''ll throw in Jason''s full Runic Knowledge set here, too, which I don''t think I''ve ever fully shown. You''ve seen him get most of them, but several were rolled into mass-learning sessions where you didn''t see specifcs, and some of them are new as of the upcoming chapter, too.
Jason''s Learned Runes: Spoiler
Just as a note, this isn''t a 100% complete list. But it''s close. If you want to provide a suggestion that might have come from Jason''s tome that happens to be about enhancing living things, beast/plants in particular, feel free to suggest it. You''ll be seeing the actual title finally in the chapter propter.
Runes generally get linked into phrases, just like Alchemy, as they''re really two aspectsof the same system. Some of the below have very specific meanings, like ''Capacity'' which really is more like ''Capacitor'' than a reference to container area. But I don''t have time to do a full edit of that mess, so here''s just the names of them all. Tweaks to exact spelling for any given rune per se are allowed... like ''Abosorb'' vs ''Absorption''. Again.. exceptions, but don''t have the time to get into it.
Absorption
Agility
Aspect
Barrier
Berserk
Bolster
Capacity
Continuous
Controller
Defense
Density
Dexterity
Drink
Endurance
Enhance / Enhanced
Extend
False Life
Ferocity
Fire (element)
Food
Fortitude
Fox
Growth
Ice (Element)
Impact
Induce
Intellect
Knockback
Life (element)
Light (element)
Lightning (element)
Magnify / Magnification
Mana
Might
Mist (element)
Motive
Perception
Preserve
Projection
Purify (different from Cleanse)
Purity (noun, different from verb)
Reshape
Resilience
Resist
Serpent
Shadow (element)
Skill Boost
Spatial
Stamina
Storage
Strengthen
Temperature
Vitality
Water (element)
Weapon
Sneak Peak: Chapter 43
Jason brought a large supply of arcane powder and several mana potions with him, while Lumi and Kera bundled up and carried the armor. They probably could have fit everything into his Haversack, but currently it was still filled with all their camping supplies, and Jason wasn¡¯t totally clear on the bag¡¯s maximum capacity. So they decided to play it safe.
Lumi lit their way with a bobbing mage-light, and soon they were pushing their way in through the front door of Fanciful Finery. Tersk, Nissette, and Jerrik were all present, seated or standing around the front counter.
¡°Looks like we¡¯re all here,¡± Nissette said lightly. ¡°Everyone ready to get started?¡±
¡°Definitely,¡± Jason said with a grin.
¡°Wonderful,¡± Nissete said. ¡°First things first¡ Kera, I have something for you.¡±
Nissette unfurled a long, blue and black robe similar in cut and style to the one that Kera normally wore. The silver trim, however, now shined with a distinct shade of pale blue, and distinctly runic patterns ran along the hem.
She held up a spool of silver-blue thread. ¡°Young Jason here asked me to do some goldwork with this arcanite of his, even going so far as to bring me very specific diagrams of what he wanted. Runes, by the look of them, so I tried to be as exact as possible. Since I know you like the silver, I mixed some of that in along with other metal. I do think it came out quite nicely.¡±
Jason inspected the runes critically. They looked perfectly fine to him, but there was only one way to make sure, and that was to activate them.
He withdrew four vials of arcane powder, and gestured for Nissette to place the dress on a nearby table. ¡°Uhh¡. sorry if this like, catches fire or something. I don¡¯t actually know for sure if you doing the embroidery and me activating the runes will even work, or if the arcanite thread will impart the enchanting threshold bonus or not. I¡¯m really hoping it does. I guess uh¡ Lumi, stand by in case we need a dousing?¡±
Nissette frowned in concern, but didn¡¯t stop Jason from performing the final activation. With a swirl of light, the arcanite absorbed the powder and began siphoning off Jason¡¯s mana.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when instead of catching fire or melting down, a portion of the hem twisted and reshaped, and runes took on a distinctly drake-like embroidery pattern.
Jason blinked and looked at the new design in consternation. ¡°Does¡ does it tap into your mindstate or something? There¡¯s no way what I had you put on there was in any way reflective of Ceri. I didn¡¯t even include the bit of lightning resistance her originals have.¡±
Nissette clapped her hands together and laughed. ¡°Oh wonderful! I¡¯m so glad it worked. It would have been a shame if it had been damaged.¡±
¡°To answer your question,¡± Nissette said, turning to Jason, ¡°More than likely. That is how most shape changing works. Resize and Personalize certainly work that way, and I gather from speaking to Kera here that her changeling powers work the same. The Voice often intercedes in such cases.¡±
¡°Ah, well that explains a lot,¡± Jason said. Then he turned to Kera, gesturing to the robes as Nissette passed them over to her.
¡°These are a little different than your current set,¡± he explained. ¡°Which, incidentally, I could add a bit more to now of you¡¯d like. Especially if Nissette is willing to do some more embroidery work for us. Anyway, these new ones still have your Sculpt Self compatibility, but I¡¯ve dropped the resistance boosts.¡±
¡°Huh? Why?¡± Kera asked.
Jason dug one of the defensive rings out of his pocket and handed it to her. ¡°This is better.¡±
She examined it briefly before putting it on.
¡°I¡¯ll be improving the rings as we go along, but they¡¯ll be your source for resistances. These new clothes will instead give a fairly sharp boost to all of your physical stats, will provide more rapid recovery, make you more resistant to things like disease and poison, and a few other things, which may very well be important for you.¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t that just Fortitude?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason shook his head. ¡°Not exactly. I mean, it is, but they¡¯re different runes. Vitality and Resilience do¡ vaguely different things from our normal secondary stats, and they aren¡¯t stats themselves. The sequences do boost Endurance, Fortitude, and Resolve, but to a lesser degree and they have more nebulous effects as well, like you¡¯ll heal on you own slightly faster, are less likely to get sick, you¡¯ll respond to healing magic more efficiently, generally feel all around better, et cetera.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± said Lumi. ¡°So it would be like¡ maybe a ¡®Ferocity¡¯ rune which boosted Might and Agility, but at the same time made you a little more aggressive and prone to injury. Vague, unquantifiable stuff?¡±
¡°Basically,¡± Jason replied. ¡°In fact there was something just like that in my book, but the drawbacks were.. unpleasant. These two didn¡¯t have anything like though, which was great.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t suppose they¡¯d stack, would they?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason shook his head. ¡°Unfortunately not.¡± Then he tilted his head, and tilted a hand from side to side. ¡°Well¡ that¡¯s not totally true. Different runes stack, so like you can have Strengthen effects for Endurance, Vitality, and Resilience all providing benefits to Endurance, but you couldn¡¯t put Might runes on every piece of gear and become Superman.¡±
¡°That¡ doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡± Lumi said.
Jason shrugged. ¡°No, but that¡¯s how it is.¡±
Tersk spoke up. ¡°Like I said before, lad, limits to encourage creativity.¡±
Jerrik nodded in agreement. Apparently he shared Tersk¡¯s sentiment on that matter.
Kera hugged the dress to herself, looking to Nissette. ¡°Can we¡?¡±
¡°By all means, let¡¯s go get you squared away,¡± the older woman replied.
Onward to adventure!
Chapter 43 (And 44, really)
When Jason awoke early the following morning, he immediately set to work studying his enchanting guides. Learning new runes was a relatively quick process, if he could understand them, thanks to system assistance, so he dived right after his morning shower.
He went so far as to read all the way through breakfast, which ended up being a simple affair of sausage and vegetable omelettes, as that was something he could easily whip together while distracted. In particular, he decided to focus on his fourth and final tome he¡¯d gotten from Jerrik, a humorously-titled volume called ¡®Bigger And Better: An Enchanter¡¯s Guide To Unnatural Enhancement¡¯.
Despite what the title might have implied to someone back on Earth, Jason found the subject matter was quite mundane: it was an in-depth look on the use of enchantments, Life-aspected ones in particular, in the rearing of plants and animals to provide increases to various attributes as they grew to maturity. In short, it was a book about creating magical GMOs.
Jason quickly discovered that with rank 15 of Engrave, the guide was now a veritable gold mine of runic knowledge. While the subject matter itself was unimportant to him, the book was filled to the brim with easy-to-learn sequences which contained runes such as Might, Agility, Stamina, and other such qualities a [Beastmaster] or a [Druid] might wish to impart to personally-raised companions. Jason even learned a rune for ¡®Vitality,¡¯ which confused him at first because to all appearances, the Voice did not impart any kind of hit point system to the world¡¯s denizens. It turned out it was rune related to general health and a wellbeing, rather than any kind of specific stat.
All in all, Jason was practically ecstatic by time he was ready to head back to the smithy: he¡¯d learned a dozen new runes in just under two hours. Most of them would be exceptionally useful in engraving his and his companion¡¯s gear, and upon his arrival, Tersk presented him with just the thing he needed to get started.
¡°We¡¯re still getting the forges heated up,¡± Tersk told him after waving him inside, ¡°and Jerrik won¡¯t arrive for the leatherworking portions for another hour, so it¡¯ll be a bit longer yet before we¡¯re finished and you can get to the real work, but I¡¯ve got something here so you can jump right in.¡±
He led Jason to a mid-sized workroom different from the ones Jason had been in before. This one contained a few small worktables filled with various tools suitable for detailed metalwork, and Jason realized with a bit of embarrassment that he¡¯d left his crate of supplies behind last night. Tersk had moved it in here onto one of the tables.
Tersk beckoned Jason over to the crate, from which he removed a small cloth bundle. He unwrapped it, revealing a dozen simple arcanite rings. Half of them were formed of fancifully twisted wire, with empty mountings ready for a gem, or in Jason¡¯s case, some sort of mana crystal. The other half were plain, uniform bands, without any sort of ornamentation.
¡°Your basic ring is pretty quick to make once you¡¯ve got the metal stock,¡± Tersk explained, ¡°so after you left I had Bereth put together a bunch. Figured you¡¯d want to try your luck with something small and simple before you got to the big stuff. Plus, an enchanted ring of unusual material is easy to sell if you need some quick cash, no questions asked. Besides, even if you want to be fancy with those hardpoints of yours, your friends could use ¡®em.¡±
¡°Good for finding out what exactly ¡®takes on additional properties¡¯ means as well,¡± Jason commented.
¡°Indeed,¡± Tersk replied. He placed the cloth bundle down onto the table, and then retrieved his ward against eavesdropping.
After activating it, he gave Jason a frank look. ¡°Now, I trust you¡¯ve come up with a suitable story to give Jerrik when he arrives?¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Lumi pointed out we have an easy excuse, at least for him. When we first arrived, Therissa informed him that we¡¯d received an unexpected windfall, but due to various undisclosed circumstances, we¡¯d found ourselves with no remaining actual gear. She then told him she opened a line of essentially unlimited credit for us.¡±
Tersk nodded in understanding. ¡°Ah, and your provisioning of the town with enchanted arms supports the idea that you were hardly destitute, rather quite the opposite, and you simply found yourself without specific coin at that moment in time.¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Jason said. ¡°All I have to do is tell him that the arcanite itself, in the form of the raw metal, was the windfall Therissa mentioned, sent to us by system mail. So she knew that at the time, we were in possession of something of great value, but it needed processing into an end product first and that I would need some time to level up my enchanting first.¡±
Jason affected the half song-song tone of the chronically delayed, gesturing back and forth with one hand. ¡°Then there was the whole dungeon thing, and then the mayor wanted us to go gather supplies for the town, and then I was busy with all the enchanting, and the we were fighting¡ so on and so forth. Only now do we have a bit of a breather to turn it into something useful, and so here we are.¡±
Tersk rubbed his beard thoughtfully. ¡°Aye, that could work. It¡¯s certainly a plausible enough story.¡±
¡°Speaking of plausible stories,¡± Jason interjected, ¡°While we were talking it over, Kera asked a question about adventuring that I don¡¯t actually know the answer to. I was wondering if you did. I mean, I know you aren¡¯t an adventurer yourself or anything, but you¡¯ve worked with them a lot.¡±
¡°True. But I really only pick up the bare bones.¡±
¡°Well, this is a pretty general thing,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Namely¡ can low-tier monsters drop really rare loot? When we first cleared Seraptis¡¯ dungeon, we received some loot chests with randomized ¡®rewards¡¯ in them. We¡¯ve also seen dungeon-spawn leave behind loot when they die. Do they always leave behind the same things, or can you occasionally get something really rare? Like, would it be possible to get lucky and receive a random item chest from killing a murkling?¡±
Tersk snorted in derision. ¡°Possible? Yes. Likely? Not on your life. Maybe if you killed¡ oh, say ten thousand of the little buggers, you might have a one-in-ten chance of having found something unusual.¡±
He shook his head. ¡°No, if your intent was you wanted to claim something of that nature as your source, you¡¯d be better off claiming you got it off a Boss or a Keeper, or even as a reward for a full clear. Claiming you got a cache of some rare crafting material off such a low tier creature¡ well, people are more likely to assume you¡¯re just lying and maybe even outright stole it from someone, and let me tell you, you do not want adventurers thinking you are the kind of person who¡¯ll steal from his fellows.¡±
Jason agreed. ¡°Everyone hates a loot ninja,¡± he said.
¡°Loot Ninja?¡±
¡°Nevermind,¡± Jason said, waving away the question. ¡°Anyway, it just came up in conversation and none of us knew the answer. Good to know.¡±
Jason picked up one of the rings and examined it carefully. ¡°Hmm. I¡¯m not even sure I can fit seven enchantments on something so small,¡± he mused. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t happen to have a jeweler¡¯s loupe, would you? Maybe goes by the name of a jeweler¡¯s magnifier or an appraisal glass?¡±
Tersk moved over to one of the workstations and rummaged around for a moment before returning with what to Jason looked like a set of steampunk-esque goggles attached to an adjustable leather strap. The left eye covering appeared to made of several layers of thin glass lenses, while the other looked more like a loupe for magnification. Minuscule runes decorated the device on all sides.
¡°Use this,¡± Tersk said, handing it over to Jason. ¡°Picked this up off one of the Vendor¡¯s Guild folks a long while back, when I was still doing pieces like that music box. It¡¯ll do you better for detail work. It comes with an enchantment that¡¯ll help steady your hands, and some minor skill boosts.¡±
Tersk depressed a tiny lever near that would sit near the wearer¡¯s left temple, and one lens rotated upwards. ¡°The left eye lenses can be flipped in an out. Each one has some kind of analysis enchantment on it, though I suspect you won¡¯t need those.¡±
He flipped the lens back into place. ¡°The right eye meanwhile can be twisted in order to increase or decrease the magnification.¡±
Jason whistled. ¡°Skill boosts? Now that is a useful piece. May I¡.?¡±
Tersk laughed. ¡°Go ahead. I¡¯d love to see what you could make of an arcanite version.¡±
Jason grinned in reply, and then activated his [Arcane Sight] with a command.
The headpiece shone brightly to his vision, and he realized it must have been made by a seriously dedicated enchanter, because it had ten different enchantments on it. Each of the three left-side lenses were enchanted separately, line with runes along the rim of the lens. They assisted in the detection of mana, specific aspects, and relative purity level of whatever material was being examined. The runes along the border of the protruding right-side lens had three sequences: one for magnifying the user¡¯s vision, and two control runes that acted together as a kind of valve to adjust the amount of mana that could flow through the first enchantment. Then, as Tersk mentioned, the device as a whole boosted one¡¯s manual dexterity, allowing for steadier hands when working fine detail, and provided what looked to be a single-rank increase to Engraving, Appraisal, and Jewelry Crafting.
Jeweler¡¯s Goggles of Minute Vision: This exceptionally complex variation on a jeweler¡¯s loup provides the wearer with several analysis lenses useful to appraising magical jewelry, as well as bolsters the wearer¡¯s ability to perform fine detail.
Critical Success! Thanks to your extensive knowledge of, and exposure to, the runes used in creating this item, you have been able to decipher all of the involved sequences!
Jason stood there for a moment in confusion.His notification said that he had learned all the sequences, and he hadn¡¯t received any kind of runes relating to the actual skills that were getting boosted. When he tried forming the rune in his mind, as if preparing to use [Improvise], he received the answer to his unspoken question.
¡°Well, that¡¯s disappointing,¡± he said out loud.
¡°Didn¡¯t get anything?¡± Tersk asked. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s unlucky.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Jason asked. ¡°Oh. No. I actually learned the whole thing; thanks for that by the way.¡± He turned the device over in one hand, gesturing at the runes. ¡°This thing¡¯s a real masterpiece. I don¡¯t have the ranks to fully duplicate it even with the arcanite, but I knew enough of the component parts that I¡¯ve picked up all the runes. There were several good ones in there. I¡¯m just disappointed that I can¡¯t enchant skill boosts for skills I don¡¯t have.¡±
Tersk looked vaguely amused. ¡°Didn¡¯t know that, but makes sense, I suppose.¡±
Jason gave a short laugh. ¡°That it does. Hard to impart knowledge of something to someone else if you yourself are unfamiliar with the subject.¡±
He pulled the magnification device onto his head and tightened the straps. Then he sat down, and began conjuring up his tools.
¡°Welp, time to get to work. Let me know when Jerrik arrives.¡±
Jason¡¯s first order of business was to test out a basic, if comprehensive, defensive enchantment on the first of the simpler bands. Even with the enchanted goggles, he wasn¡¯t yet confident enough in himself to want to immediately dive into trying to scribe runes onto a surface only a few millimeters across, and curved at that. He wanted to practice a bit first, and he figured he¡¯d have better success on the wider surfaces first.
The first sequence Jason settled on was one that would make the wearer highly resistant to minor injury in combat, such that only strong blows stood a chance of cutting or piercing the skin. The sequence he engraved was literally that of ¡®Armored Skin¡¯, though the original application had been intended for improving the natural toughness of a beast¡¯s hide rather than a person¡¯s skin.
Jason didn¡¯t bother to question why something that made your skin - or hide - deflect strikes as if it were weak steel would also still feel perfectly normal and allow you to move freely. It was magic, after all. As far as he was concerned, trying to answer such questions was a good way to give himself a headache.
Instead, Jason focused on pair of resistance enchantments for Fire and Electricity, the most common of offensive spells. Those sequences were fairly basic, so he added an Enhancement rune to each one in order to add extra resistance. This took him perhaps another ten minutes, with each sequence taking less time since he was already familiar with similar ones thanks to enchanting Kera¡¯s clothes.
After he finished engraving the third set of runes, Jason activated all three enchantments with several doses of arcane powder, put down his tools, and paused to examine his handiwork.
The runes had come out flawlessly, and thanks to the goggles he¡¯d had little trouble compressing his ¡®handwriting¡¯, so to speak, down into such a minuscule space. He¡¯d even apparently earned skills for calligraphy and jewelry design, though he didn¡¯t have the skill points to spend on them, and wouldn¡¯t have done so even if he did.
Jason almost dropped the ring when, in the midst of his examination, it rippled and changed form, just as his alchemical infusions often did. No longer a simple, pale blue band, the ring¡¯s color had changed to a sort of dull, orange-tinted gold. The ring itself split into two separate, flame-motif bands which were joined together at the bottom, rose up at angle, and met at a flat disk where a pair of stylized lightning bolts sat inscribed, almost like a signet ring. Each resistance enchantment had shifted to one of the split sides, while the defense enchantment now lined the inner band.
¡°Huh....¡± Jason put the ring on the desk, examining it critically.
This¡ might change things, he considered. I¡¯ve been concerned about surface area, but if the system actually changes the structure of the arcanite based on its enchantments, that could either mean I can¡¯t count on structural stability or a specific enchantment threshold, or it means I don¡¯t even have to worry about it because the piece will just reshape itself to something appropriate.
Damn. There¡¯s no way to know without trying, ether, is there? Welp, nothing for it then but to enchant the hell out of this thing and hope it doesn¡¯t melt my hand off. Assuming it¡¯s even still enchantable after I¡¯ve added the powder and it changed form.
Jason picked up the ring and gave it a quick once-over with [Arcane Sight] first, but it wasn''t immediately apparent what, if any, additional properties the arcanite had imparted.
With a shrug, he picked up his tools again, and over the next thirty minutes, managed to actually fill out his quota of all seven enchantments. Each time he added a new one, he went ahead and re-activated the ring, watching in fascination as it twisted and flowed into some new shape.
He also finally worked out how to use his UI to add a name and description to his own creations. As tempted as he was to name it something silly, he figured this piece might as well be the one he sold to Jerrik, so he tried to label it in a similar fashion to other item¡¯s he¡¯d seen.
Adept¡¯s Ring of Battle Prowess: This arcanite ring grants the wearer the ability to weather most common forms of attack, as well as provides an increase to their physical strength and the weight of their strikes. As a bonus, it also doubles as a lesser spatial storage, allowing the wearer to store one additional weapon in the case of being disarmed.
Benefits Provided: Continuous Armorskin. Enhanced Resistance to Fire, Lightning, and Knockback. Increases Might and Weapon Impact. Lesser Spatial Storage.
Jason realized he probably didn¡¯t actually need to add a specific explanation of what enchantments the ring actually provided, as any adventurer who could actually afford such a ring probably had the means of performing in-depth analysis, but he was generally sick of the system¡¯s tendency to be opaque and decided he wanted to have a bit of mercy on whoever ended up with any of the piece he was intending to sell.
As for the ring¡¯s final form, it had changed dramatically. It retained it¡¯s color, but had lost the double-band look, instead becoming a single thin band to which were attached seven different miniature dagger-like ornaments, one for each rune sequence. When worn, four daggers would rest at the top, and three on the bottom.
Frankly Jason thought it looked rather garish and more than a little uncomfortable to wear, but upon trying it on, he found it didn¡¯t poke him at all when he flexed his fingers. A benefit of the armorskin, maybe?
He removed the ring and placed it on the table, taking a moment to stretch his wrists and fingers. Forty-five minutes of minuscule movements had done a real number on his hands.
While he sat there rubbing his joints, Tersk knocked on the door briefly and then entered the room. Jerrik was with him, and the clamor of ringing hammers assaulted Jason¡¯s ears until Tersk firmly shut the heavy stone door behind them.
Tersk sat himself down at the table. ¡°Ah, done, are you?¡±
¡°Just finished,¡± Jason confirmed. He passed the ring to Tersk, who examined it critically.
¡°Fascinating,¡± he commented. ¡°This no longer looks anything like the simple band Bereth wrought.¡±
Jason glanced at Jerrik and chose his words carefully. ¡°It changed for every single enchantment as well,¡± he said. ¡°The arcanite also imparted some kind of hidden ability, but I don¡¯t have the analysis skills to figure out what.¡±
¡°This is the same material that came as a part of your inheritance, yes?¡± Jerrik asked. ¡°May I see?¡±
Jason glanced at Tersk as the dwarf passed over the ring. Apparently he¡¯d taken the liberty of passing on at least some of Jason¡¯s cover story.
¡°Yes, that¡¯s right. Though I¡¯d appreciate if you didn¡¯t mention that fact to anyone who might come asking. I¡¯d like to stay out of the crosshairs of any [Thieves] or [Burglars], thank you very much.¡±
Jerrik gave a deep chuckle. ¡°I quite understand,¡± he said with a polite bow. ¡°Us members of the Vendor¡¯s Guild are more than a little prone to being targeted by those looking for information they don¡¯t have a right to. As a result, unless legitimate law enforcement interests are involved, our members will not typically give up information as to where their wares were acquired. For that matter, given the rate at which stock gets passed around between Vendors through the System, it¡¯s often difficult to find out where something came from in the first place.¡±
¡°Good to know,¡± Jason replied, ¡°since I need to pay off my debt to the Therissa and the Lodge for helping me and my friends out after our mishap, and I was hoping to ask you for a price quote on this first piece.¡±
Jerrik examined the ring critically. He muttered a few analysis commands, though he didn¡¯t produce the typical appraisal glass that Jason had seen him and other¡¯s use in the past. Probably, he hadn¡¯t seen a need to bring it with him to do so some leatherwork.
¡°Hmm¡ well, this is a very nice piece of work,¡± he muttered half to himself in between commands. ¡°Quite possibly Masterwork-tier. Seven enchantments plus some of hidden bonus? Let¡¯s see if we can¡¯t¡.Aha!¡±
He slipped the ring onto the his hand, pointed his fist at the heavy stone door, and squeezed his knuckles together. With a rush of air, a wide wave of white energy burst forth from Jerrik¡¯s fist, impacting the door with a loud wumpf that shook the room slightly.
¡°Not bad,¡± he commented. ¡°A basic, activated kinetic blast, suitable for pushing foes away from you. Quite strong as well.¡±
¡°How did you do that?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m the one who made it and I couldn¡¯t get the Voice to tell me what the hidden ability was.¡±
¡°That¡¯s not terribly surprising,¡± Jerrik said as he removed the ring. ¡°My Vendor class gives me a number of highly specialized analysis skills to detect hidden features on items. And people, for that matter. Wouldn¡¯t do to accidentally go selling a stolen, cursed ring to some adventuring Princess in disguise, now would it?¡±
He passed the ring back to Jason. ¡°Hang on to that for now. I¡¯ll need to do some checking and further analysis before I can give you a real quote, and Icertainly don¡¯t keep that kind of money in the shop, so we¡¯ll need to make a trip to the Lodge as well. For that matter, I might need to draw on Guild Funds to pay you something like that.¡±
¡°If you want a rough estimate, I¡¯d venture it¡¯s value is worth, oh¡ call it about fifteen hundred platinum.¡±
It took Jason a monumental act of will not to stare, gasp, or drool over that kind of money and instead feign nonchalance. He was supposed to be playing the part of a wealthy inheritor after all.
Congratulations! You have fulfilled the requirements to learn [Basic Acting] at a reduced cost. Would you like to purchase for 1 Skill Point, Y/N?
Jason hastily cleared the notification with a mental command. No, he did not want any more new skills. He had too many already. At least the pop-up had distracted him from his surprise.
Tersk clapped Jason on the back. ¡°See lad? Told ya it¡¯s be worth the investment. Now why don¡¯t you retrieve that girl of yours while Jerrik and I get set up here, and get started on fitting the both of you for your new armor, yes?¡±
¡°She¡¯s not my girl,¡± Jason protested, embarrassed.
¡°Other way around then, is it?¡± Tersk chuckled. ¡°Pah, you young people make me feel my age. Get on with you. Jerrik and I will have the leather cut in no time at all, and you¡¯ve got a deadline if you want to be ready for tomorrow.¡±
Jason returned to the house and let Lumi know that Jerrik was ready to see them at the smithy shortly. Then he went up to his lab to grab additional elemental shards and whip up a new batch of arcane powder. Fortunately, he still had various miscellaneous ingredients in refined form, even if he was beginning to run low the basics. It pained him to waste the refined elemental traits, but he could always make more as long as he was careful not to spend his last dose of anything particular.
He wrapped his new supply of arcane powder into a bundle, and on a whim tried to place it inside the ring instead of his pack. The ring accepted the package easily, which he took it downstairs to show Lumi.
¡°You made a spatial ring?¡± She asked. ¡°Nice. Fancy looking too.¡±
¡°Oh, it¡¯s a more than just fancy,¡± Jason told her with a grin. ¡°Here, take a look.¡± He passed it her.
She examined it and put it on. Jason noted it was slightly large for her fingers; he¡¯d want to ask Jerrik, or perhaps Nissette, to put their [Resize] skill to work when he had the final products.
Lumi clearing her throat. ¡°Uh. Ahem. Wow,¡± she said, staring at the ring on her hand. ¡°So, ah¡ did you have me in mind when you made this, or¡?¡±
¡°A bit,¡± Jason confessed. ¡°That one¡¯s actually going to Jerrik to provide us with¡ more than a little cash, but I had already planned on making another one for you, maybe with alterations to one or two of the enchantments.¡±
¡°How much are we talking about here?¡±
Jason rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. ¡°Well¡ to put it the way Tersk did, enough that we could live here in relative luxury for years if we wanted.¡±
Lumi stared at him with wide eyes.
¡°Would it be like, really shallow of me to finally, properly decide I really want to stay here now?¡± she asked.
Jason snorted and gave her a wry grin. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know if I figure it out, because it¡¯s pretty hard to not have your head turned by that kind of money.¡±
He shook his head with a laugh. ¡°I¡¯m joking of course. But no¡ in all honestly I can¡¯t say it¡¯s shallow, yeah? I mean¡it goes back to what I said yesterday. It all boils down to securing our own future. That¡¯s what we were all studying away at college for, after all. Now that we have even better options, why wouldn''t we take them?¡±If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
¡°I mean¡ imagine your stereotypical, illiterate peasant from earthly medieval times, right?¡± Jason posited. ¡°Imagine he time traveled and was handed the money to acquire a top-end, modern college education and pointed towards a well-paying career that actually improved people''s lives. He¡¯d be crazy to go back on that really, unless he had some really compelling reason to go back.¡±
Lumi snorted. ¡°And we sure as hell don¡¯t, really.¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Jason said. ¡°Actively planning for your future, recognizing that your prospects for the rest of your life are so much better in one direction¡ it¡¯s like the opposite of shallow unless you¡¯re only focusing on how much luxury you get to laze around in. It¡¯s OK if the money is just the tipping point, yeah?¡±
¡°I guess,¡± Lumi said with a frown. ¡°It feels a bit weird to look at it that way, though. But I supposed that''s... learned. We spend a lot of our lives being told that money is the root of all evil and all that crap, and then once you get to college and are faced with the idea that you¡¯re probably going to spend the next twenty years in debt, and aren¡¯t even guaranteed to find a job afterwards due to the economy¡¡±
She shook her head with a certain degree of resignation.
¡°Tell me about it,¡± Jason said with a laugh. ¡°Anyhow, enough about that. I¡¯m raring to go to see what we end up with. Which, uh, incidentally, whatever Jerrik has for you won¡¯t end up being the final product. Apparently the arcanite likes to pull the same transformation trick my Infusion skill does. That ring was just a plain band of light blue metal.¡±
¡°You¡¯re kidding.¡±
¡°Nope.¡±
Jason elected to enchant Lumi¡¯s armor first. She was, after all, the party tank, thus had the greatest need for better gear. If they somehow ended up facing a merrow on their own, Jason wanted to be very sure they were as prepared as they could be.
While Jason waited on the last minute fittings for the final cuts of leather Jerrik would use to assemble the non-metallic parts of Lumi¡¯s gear, Jason began applying basic defensive enchantments to the rings. On a whim, he decided to see if he couldn¡¯t trick the arcanite into forming new settings for elemental shards, and to his pleasure found that he could. By filing down a trio of different fragments left over from Jason¡¯s ammo crafting and wedging all three into the mounting, he was able to cause whatever force guided the reshaping process to form three new, smaller mountings that were properly set. The shards even came out moderately well-cut, and polished as well.
When Tersk saw what Jason was doing, he muttered something under his breath that to Jason sounded a lot like, ¡°Now that¡¯s just cheating.¡±
Simply soldering a shard fragment to one of the rings without a mounting had a similar effect, and by the time Jerrik and Tersk had assembled the various parts of Lumi¡¯s armor, sewed, welded, and riveted them together, and then made the final adjustments, Jason had created four separate rings that conferred both an enhanced version of Armorskin and a variety of elemental resistances. He planned to add to them further if he had time.
Lumi took up a seat beside Jason, blowing a strand of sweaty hair out of her face, and slid the folded pile of armor over to Jason for inspection.
¡°Doesn¡¯t look anything special, yet,¡± she commended offhandedly. ¡°Not much different than standard fantasy leather mixed with half plate, yeah?¡±
¡°Yet,¡± Jason emphasized with a grin. ¡°Lets see how you look with all your elemental enchantments in place, yeah? Got any preference for location? Because I guarantee you that will have an effect.¡±
Lumi sprawled across her chair, leaning her head back and humming thoughtfully.
¡°Hmm¡ I¡¯m thinking the dark-themed stuff at my core, with the solar themed stuff at the extremities,¡± she said.
¡°As long as you promise me that¡¯s not some kind of edgy metaphor for how even in the brightest of places you can find darkness,¡± Jason said.
She laughed. ¡°No, no, no. Oh god no. I¡¯m just hoping maybe it¡¯ll impart something of a decent color scheme. I mean, think about it. Pyro Knight and Gloom Guard go pretty great together right? Fire coming up from the depths. I love armors with a kind of lava motif.¡±
Jason snorted and grinned back at her. ¡±Oh, so it¡¯s that your cold, violent exterior is belied by a warm and passionate center that can¡¯t help but break free? Are you tsundere now?¡±
Lumi punched him playfully on the shoulder.
¡°No! Baka!¡± she yelled.
Jason desolved into laughter. ¡°Oh god, please don¡¯t start that. I hate characters like that. Give me a reasonably-balanced kuudere any day. Ninety-percent of tsuns just make me want to punch some self-confidence into them.¡±
¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s not how that works,¡± Lumi replied.
¡°I can only wish,¡± he grumbled. ¡°Too many shows ruined by awful characters.¡±
¡°Anyway¡ moving on,¡± Jason said in a clear change of subject. ¡°Now, what kinds of enchantments are you looking for¡?¡±
To Jason¡¯s incredible surprise, some time in the early evening he was finally able to put down his tools, massage his hands, and contemplate the final touches he¡¯d just added to his own armor.
Lumi¡¯s armor had only taken Jason about three hours to engrave. In fact, he¡¯d managed to finish completely engraving the armor, shoulders, gloves, boots, and a new ring for her before Tersk and his family had even finished forging, molding, and hammering out all the spare parts that Jason wanted to use for assembling turrets and the mechanical components of his armor. That had left him an hour to start in on the modules that would take up two of the small hardpoints that would lay on Jason¡¯s belt.
It turned out to be simplicity itself to do things in stages, which had saved him huge amounts of time. He didn¡¯t need, for instance, to wait for Tersk to put together his whole entire belt. Instead, all he needed was a single leather sheet, precut but unassembled, which he could then engrave with a high-complexity set of spatial storage runes. Then, instead of activating them by adding the arcane powder and imbuing them with mana, he could hand off the leather sheet to Jerrik. As long as he didn¡¯t touch or mar the engraving, Jason could then perform the final step later, after the piece had been assembled.
All in all, it had only taken Tersk, his family, and Jerrik about four hours total to assemble Jason¡¯s initial armor, all the way from chest-piece to boots, and the spare parts he wanted. During that period, Jason worked tirelessly - mostly thanks to careful use of least stamina potions - first on completing Lumi¡¯s armor, then on assembling his much-needed spatial storage compartments. Then, once Tersk and Jerrik had assembled his own armor, Jason had insisted on retiring to his lab to finish the job. Jerrik had protested, saying that he needed to do a proper fitting, but Lumi, understanding what Jason was getting at, pointed out that a proper fitting was somewhat pointless when both suits of armor were going completely reshape themselves as soon as Jason activated the runes.
There was also the fact that Jason wanted to ask Nissette about her [Personalize] skill she¡¯d once demonstrated for Kera. He didn¡¯t doubt for a secondthat it couldn¡¯t influence the outcome of arcanite¡¯s shape changing, and he hoped she¡¯d be willing to sell the use of her skill to him and Lumi to do a little touching up. The two effects seemed closely similar, after all, who didn¡¯t like to put a personal touch on their outfit?
Jason let out a slight groan as he stretched, flexing his hands. They¡¯d really started to cramp up during the last hour.
Lumi looked up from one of the other tables where she¡¯d been assisting Jason by doing some of the prep-work for alchemy refinement. Since he had been working hard all day, and partially for her benefit, she¡¯d felt it was only fair to offer her assistance.
¡°Finished up?¡± she asked.
¡°I think so,¡± he declared. He picked up his conjured screwdriver and made one last adjustment before unsummoning all his tools and leaning back in his chair.
Lumi got up from her seat and came over to take a look, picking up the armored glove that would cover his left hand, examining it.
¡°Ye gods, I¡¯m stiff,¡± he complained, rolling his shoulders. Every motion sent a little spike of pain through his neck and shoulders.
Lumi put down the glove and glanced at him. ¡°Here¡ allow me..¡± she said, and went to one of the shelves picking a spare Serenity Tonic. She handed it to Jason. Then she moved to stand behind him and put her hands on his shoulders.
Jason, shrugged, and eyes closed, downed the potion. As he felt a wave of relaxation wash through him, he was enveloped in a pleasant heat and the golden glow of [Warmth] filled the room. He felt Lumi began to knead at the base of his neck, digging her thumbs into his knotted shoulder muscles.
¡°Thanks,¡± he said, giving in to the sensation almost instinctively. It felt fantastic, and his tension seemed to just melt away.
The two of them stayed that way for a few minutes; Jason simply leaning back and indulging, Lumi quietly massaging his shoulders.
Then Jason heard Kera making her way up to the lab, presumably to investigate the glow. He lazily opened his eyes just as she stopped halfway up the steps.
¡°Oh!¡± Kera exclaimed softly. Her eyes were wide and her face went a little red. She started to stutter an apology as Lumi pulled her hands away suddenly and the glow of [Warmth] faded away.
¡°I-I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to interrupt¡¡±
¡°Huh, what do you mean?¡± Jason asked sleepily.
Kera bit her lip, and looked a little upset. She turned slightly, as if she was going to head back downstairs, but Lumi shook herself a little, and then moved to her side.
¡°Kera, it¡¯s fine,¡± Lumi insisted, pulling her the rest of up the way up the stairs by both hands, and into the lab. ¡°Jason¡¯s been working nonstop all day, and I just thought I would do something nice for him. It¡¯s.. it¡¯s nothing... Look, we¡¯ll talk about it later ok?¡±
She pulled Kera over to the table. ¡°Here, check it out. He¡¯s finished with our armors. All he needs to do is turn on the enchantments. We¡¯re about to head over to Nissette¡¯s place and get all the resizing and stuff done. Want to come with?¡±
¡°A-are you sure?¡±
¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Lumi replied firmly.
In Jason¡¯s tonic-induced relaxed state, he felt like he was missing some kind if important subtext, but he was too sleepy to work out what it was.
Jason heaved in a deep breath and shook himself a little to clear his head.
¡°Yeah, let¡¯s not keep Jerrik waiting,¡± Jason said. ¡°You should definitely come with us. Hopefully, Nissette will have what I asked for on your behalf ready, too, Kera.¡±
¡°Me?¡±
¡°Yep. Wait til you see. Lumi¡¯s not the only one I¡¯m making cool toys for, after all. Though a bunch of yours are going to have to wait til later. Anyway, let''s go get our final results.¡±
Jason brought a large supply of arcane powder and several mana potions with him, while Lumi and Kera bundled up and carried the armor. Theyprobably could have fit everything into his Haversack, but currently it was still filled with all their camping supplies, and Jason wasn¡¯t totally clear on the bag¡¯s maximum capacity. So they decided to play it safe.
Lumi lit their way with a bobbing mage-light, and soon they were pushing their way in through the front door of Fanciful Finery. Tersk, Nissette, and Jerrik were all present, seated or standing around the front counter.
¡°Looks like we¡¯re all here,¡± Nissette said lightly. ¡°Everyone ready to get started?¡±
¡°Definitely,¡± Jason said with a grin.
¡°Wonderful,¡± Nissete said. ¡°First things first¡ Kera, I have something for you.¡±
Nissette unfurled a long, blue and black robe similar in cut and style to the one that Kera normally wore. The silver trim, however, now shined with a distinct shade of pale blue, and distinctly runic patterns ran along the hem.
She held up a spool of silver-blue thread. ¡°Young Jason here asked me to do some goldwork with this arcanite of his, even going so far as to bring me very specific diagrams of what he wanted. Runes, by the look of them, so I tried to be as exact as possible. Since I know you like the silver, I mixed some of that in along with other metal. I do think it came out quite nicely.¡±
Jason inspected the runes critically. They looked perfectly fine to him, but there was only one way to make sure, and that was to activate them.
He withdrew four vials of arcane powder, and gestured for Nissette to place the dress on a nearby table. ¡°Uhh¡. sorry if this like, catches fire or something. I don¡¯t actually know for sure if you doing the embroidery and me activating the runes will even work, or if arcanite thread will impart the enchanting threshold bonus or not. I¡¯m really hoping it does. I guess uh¡ Lumi, stand by in case we need a dousing?¡±
Nissette frowned in concern, but didn¡¯t stop Jason from performing the final activation. With a swirl of light, the arcanite absorbed the powder and began siphoning off Jason¡¯s mana.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when instead of catching fire or melting down, a portion of the hem twisted and reshaped, and runes took on a distinctly drake-like embroidery pattern.
Jason blinked and looked at the new design in consternation. ¡°Does¡ does it tap into your mindstate or something? There¡¯s no way what I had you put on there was in any way reflective of Ceri. I didn¡¯t even include the bit of lightning resistance her originals have.¡±
Nissette clapped her hands together and laughed. ¡°Oh wonderful! I¡¯m so glad it worked. It would have been a shame if it had been damaged.¡±
¡°To answer your question,¡± Nissette said, turning to Jason, ¡°More than likely. That is how most shape changing works. Resize and Personalize certainly work that way, and I gather from speaking to Kera here that her changeling powers work the same. The Voice often intercedes in such cases.¡±
¡°Ah, well that explains a lot,¡± Jason said. Then he turned to Kera, gesturing to the robes as Nissette passed them over to her.
¡°These are a little different than your current set,¡± he explained. ¡°Which, incidentally, I could add a bit more to now of you¡¯d like. Especially if Nissette is willing to do some more embroidery work for us. Anyway, these new ones still have your Sculpt Self compatibility, but I¡¯ve dropped the resistance boosts.¡±
¡°Huh? Why?¡± Kera asked.
Jason dug one of the defensive rings out of his pocket and handed it to her. ¡°This is better.¡±
She examined it briefly before putting it on.
¡°I¡¯ll be improving the rings as we go along, but they¡¯ll be your source for resistances. These new clothes will instead give a fairly sharp boost to all of your physical stats, will provide more rapid recovery, make you more resistant to things like disease and poison, and a few other things, which may very well be important for you.¡±
¡°Isn¡¯t that just Fortitude?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason shook his head. ¡°Not exactly. I mean, it is, but they¡¯re different runes. Vitality and Resilience do¡ vaguely different things from our normal secondary stats, and they aren¡¯t stats themselves. The sequences do boost Endurance, Fortitude, and Resolve, but to a lesser degree and they have more nebulous effects as well, like you¡¯ll heal on your own slightly faster, are less likely to get sick, you¡¯ll respond to healing magic more efficiently, generally feel all around better, et cetera.¡±
¡°Oh,¡± said Lumi. ¡°So it would be like¡ maybe a ¡®Ferocity¡¯ rune which boosted Might and Agility, but at the same time made you a little more aggressive and prone to injury. Vague, unquantifiable stuff?¡±
¡°Basically,¡± Jason replied. ¡°In fact there was something just like that in my book, but the drawbacks were.. unpleasant. These two didn¡¯t have anything like though, which was great.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t suppose they¡¯d stack, would they?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason shook his head. ¡°Unfortunately not.¡± Then he tilted his head, and tilted a hand from side to side. ¡°Well¡ that¡¯s not totally true. Different runesstack, so like you can have Strengthen effects for Endurance, Vitality, and Resilience all providing benefits to Endurance, but you couldn¡¯t put Might runes on every piece of gear and become Superman.¡±
¡°That¡ doesn¡¯t make any sense.¡± Lumi said.
Jason shrugged. ¡°No, but that¡¯s how it is.¡±
Tersk spoke up. ¡°Like I said before, lad, limits to encourage creativity.¡±
Jerrik nodded in agreement. Apparently he shared Tersk¡¯s sentiment on that matter.
Kera hugged the dress to herself, looking to Nissette. ¡°Can we¡?¡±
¡°By all means, let¡¯s go get you squared away,¡± the older woman replied.
While Kera went and quickly changed, Jason downed a least mana potion and allowed his mana to regenerate. Kera¡¯s robes had taken quite the hefty chunk of mana to activate. He¡¯d had enough experience enchanting by now to work out there was roughly a rate of consumption equal to about fifty mana per individual rune in a sequence, though each rune was technically made up of multiple ¡®letters¡¯. Kera¡¯s robes had had sixteen different runes, so it had cost him almost his entire mana pool.
He was going to really be pushing things when it came to his own armor.
Kera returned after a few minutes, still in her black-haired kitsune form, her robes now [Resized] to fit her properly. Jason briefly reflected that she really did look good in blue, black, and silver, no matter what form she chose to take.
Then it was Lumi¡¯s turn. Over Tersk¡¯s objection, she insisted that she wanted to don the full set first, and then have Jason activate the enchantments, in the hopes that she might be able to influence the final result with the aid of Nissette¡¯s [Personalize].
So Jason carefully paced himself, making sure to enchant each segment of her armor one piece at a time, with a solid five minutes¡¯ rest between each major activation. And there were several: despite using relatively little arcanite in total in comparison to Jason¡¯s suit, her gear was still comprised of a half dozen highly-enchanted pieces, and few that he¡¯d left open for when he learned more sequences.
She¡¯d gone with a lightweight ensemble which kept her cloth-and-leather clothing, but had removed the studded leather segments. In their place, she would be employing several arcanite pieces: a breastplate, which would be worn over a flexible combination of hardened leather and stiff cloth; a pair of arcanite boots, which came to her knee; a pair of arcanite-studded gloves, and some smaller plates worked into the leather to protect her shoulders, elbows, and forearms. The spaulders and elbow-guards were worked directly onto the leather, while the bracers and gloves were separate.
For her breastplate, he¡¯d focused strictly on raw stats relating to strength and durability. Jason had a theory that the stronger the unified theme of the piece, the stronger the affect of the arcanite¡¯s transformation.
He wasn¡¯t wrong.
As he activated the breastplate enchantments, the arcanite plates twisted and warped in a far more dramatic fashion than Kera¡¯s had, undergoing a radical change. Lumi gasped and squirmed as the metal stretched, pale blue gaving way to a deep, midnight black. A pattern of golden-hued, feather-shaped ridges appeared, beginning at her navel, then sweeping up along her core and curving around her breasts, to finally stretch diagonally across to each shoulder where they would meet her spaulders.
Jason discovered that even though someone else was wearing it, as the technical ¡®creator¡¯ he could still open up the interface and alter the description. For now, he opted for simplicity, since this was for him and his friends rather than for sale, so he simply named it and gave a brief outline of the enchantments. Jason checked with Jerrik and Tersk to make sure he could revise the description later, and then had Jerrik examine the piece to see if he could determine what, if any, hidden ability had appeared, before finalizing the entry and sharing it publicly.
Breastplate of the Battlemage: Provides a sharp increase to Might, Agility, Vitality, and Resilience. Provides an as-yet unrated level of passive health regeneration.
Five minutes later, Jason activated the enchantments on the spaulders. After the feathered motif of Lumi¡¯s breastplate, and given her class specialization, none of the earthlings were surprised to see them flex into a layered, half-dome shape with a protrusion that was reminiscent of wings.
¡°Why the feathers motif?¡± Nissette asked, examine them. ¡°I mean, it doesn¡¯t really shout ¡®swordmage¡¯ to me or anything. I didn¡¯t think you had a personal sigil?¡±
¡°It¡¯s the Valkyrie thing, probably. That''s what I was trying to keep in my head,¡± Lumi said.
¡°Valkyrie?¡± asked Jerrik. ¡°Is that one of your classes? I¡¯m not familiar with it.¡±
¡°Uhhh¡no,¡± Lumi said. ¡°They¡¯re... uh, well... it''s sort of complicated. Jason? Help me out here?¡±
¡°Where we¡¯re from, they a sort of¡ legendary warrior, I guess you¡¯d call it,¡± Jason said. ¡°Not actually real, just a story. For some reason over time they¡¯ve gone from being some kind of priestess to being almost like a beast-kin¡ they¡¯ve become divine warrior women with wings and an sort of bird-slash-angel theme.¡±
¡°Hmm¡,¡± Tersk mused. ¡°Maybe not so legendary after all, yes? Perhaps Lumi is one of these¡ valkyries, just in the making?¡±
Lumi¡¯s eyes grew huge, and Kera burst into laughter at her expression. She threw one arm around the other girl¡¯s shoulder.
¡°Tell you what,¡± she said. ¡°If you suddenly sprout angel wings, we¡¯ll see if we can¡¯t get me some bat wings or a sexy devil form. Then we can be Jason¡¯s real life consciences!¡±
Lumi eyed Kera askance. ¡°I think we¡¯re a bit big to fit on his shoulders.¡±
¡°Oh I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a potion for that out there somewhere,¡± Kera replied blithely. ¡°Got any Potions of Reduce Person in stock, Jerrik?¡±
The old man grinned at her. ¡°No, but I bet you I could find someone who does. For the right price, of course.¡±
Jason rolled his eyes at them, and drank another mana potion. ¡°I still need to label these, you know. Jerrik?¡±
¡°Ah, yes.¡± He stepped forward and laid a finger on the spaulders. ¡°Hmm, nothing major here. A small boost to overall spell power. Perhaps equivalent to that of a single Intellect step.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± Jason said as he finalized the entry.
Spaulders of Elemental Might - Enhances the strength of spells utilizing Fire, Light, Ice, and Shadow aspects. Provides a small boost to Spirit and Mana capacity. Slightly increases the potency of all spells cast by the wearer.
Next up were Lumi¡¯s boots, gloves, and one of her two bracers. Jason did all three pieces at the same time, as none of them were fully enchanted and he had just enough mana. They morphed into a similar color scheme as the rest of Lumi¡¯s armor, and Jason noticed with some relief that the boots did notdevelop those ridiculous ¡®Hermes¡¯ wing-spurs that were so common in video games. The spaulders were bad enough, but at least they were fairly tame in scope and looked nice, unlike the more typical, stupidly large pauldrons you saw in MMOs.
He had Jerrik check the pieces over while he labeled them and took another mana potion.
Boots of Sprinting - Provides enhanced Stamina and Endurance. No current bonus.
Wristband of Kinetic Projection - Consumes a portion of the user''s mana to release a punishing wave of force with enhanced knockback. Good for knocking down foes foolish enough to group together.
Lifegrasp Gauntlets - By channeling the user¡¯s mana, the wearer of these gloves can grasp a foe from a distance, locking them into place and draining their strength while transferring a portion of it to themselves. Absorbs Vitality, Life, Stamina, and Mana. Bonus rooting effect.
Lumi turned her hands over, examining them critically. ¡°Now that¡¯s what I call a magic item,¡± she said of her gloves. ¡°These weren¡¯t on the list I gave you though. Why make them?¡±
¡°Not that I¡¯m complaining at all,¡± she said hastily.
¡°I thought it might be appropriate with the whole Valkyrie thing,¡± Jason said. ¡°After all, they¡¯re supposed to be choosers of the dead, right? They don¡¯t just go around taking people to heaven or whatever¡ª¡±
¡°Valhalla,¡± Lumi corrected.
¡°but they actively decided who lived and who died during a battle, basically cutting down people,¡± Jason said, ignoring her pedantry. ¡°That¡¯s more than a bit evil in a way. So I thought, why not something along the lines of life drain?¡±
Lumi gave him a hug with one arm. ¡°Well, thanks. I love it.¡±
Nissette handed Lumi an ordinary cloak, which she pinned around her shoulders.
She struck a pose. ¡°Well, how do I look?¡±
¡°Like a valkyrie,¡± Kera commented succintly. She bobbed her head from side to side. ¡°I mean¡the color scheme is different, but¡you really do look like one. All you¡¯re missing is maybe a skirt instead of pants, one of those fancy waist-armors, and some wings.¡±
¡°It¡¯s kind of hot, actually,¡± she finished frankly, provoking a blush from Lumi.
¡°A-anyway¡ you next, Jason,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got.¡±
It took Jason over half an hour to get his armor fully activated. This was due to two things: First, he perversely wanted to make a big impression when he revealed the full extent of his hard work to the girls and thus didn''t want to reveal in stages, and second, everything kept requiring constant adjustments during the whole process. Fortunately, his skills helped a bit in that regard.
So Jason removed himself to one of the changing rooms, where he ensconced himself alongside Jerrik, who assisted him in various adjustments. When he returned, Lumi gave him two thumbs up and a big grin.
¡°Daaaamn¡ you look proper sci-fi now,¡± she exclaimed. ¡°With just that little bit of wizard thrown in.¡±
¡°Maybe a lot of wizard,¡± Kera suggested. ¡°Are those mana crystals?¡±
Jason¡¯s armor wasn¡¯t a single solid suit, but after it¡¯s transformation, it might as well have been. He¡¯d intended to end up with a slightly heavier version of what Lumi had chosen. Whether it was his subconscious or the Voice that had dictated otherwise, he wasn¡¯t sure. Once he looked in the mirror, he decided it didn¡¯t really matter. Whatever the answer was, they had a sense of style.
Instead of half-plate, he was dressed head-to-toe in what would have felt like a mountain of steel if it hadn¡¯t been for arcanite¡¯s weight reduction. He was postive the transformation had violated all sorts of physical laws. As it was, the suit probably weighed a little bit more than your typical full plate, once he included the solid-looking cube of metal that at the moment only vaguely resembled a backpack. It even came complete with enclosed helmet.
His chest plate had thickened considerably, and was now formed from layered, steel-grey arcanite plates with light blue highlights that shone with a tell-tale glow of mana, almost as if he¡¯d added LED strip lighting. Additional thickened plate covered the exterior of his shoulders, arms, and legs. Beneath the main plating, black-tinted layers of thin, intricate scales provided him with greater mobility, without sacrificing much in the way of protection. At his waist was the thin band of a utility belt, to which he¡¯d attached several enchanted storage cubes.
Then of course, there were his gauntlets. He¡¯d reforged an entirely new version of his transmutation gauntlet, and now sported its slightly-modified twin on his left arm as well. The left arm in particular was what had drawn Kera¡¯s eye, for all along one side were dotted medium-sized mana crystals, set into three different hardpoints.
¡°Those are indeed mana crystals, and purified ones at that,¡± Jason confirmed. ¡°They serve as a form of mana storage device for my new gauntlet.¡±
He nodded to Lumi. ¡°Throw one of your fire spells at me,¡± he told her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be totally fine.¡±
¡°If you¡¯re sure¡?¡±
¡°I am. It won¡¯t cause any problems to do it in here. Just give us some space,¡± he said to everyone else.
They backed up, and with a cry of ¡°Flame Lance!,¡± Lumi launched a spike of fire at Jason.
In a flash, he reached out and seized her spell, squeezing his left hand around it. With a quiet roaring of wind, the flames were spun inwards, sucked into a ball of flames in his palm, where they faded away. Lines of flame-colored mana arced up his arm and into one of the mana crystals, which turned a deep orange.
Jason was surprised by his own movement, and by how tactile the spell had been; as soon as he mentally triggered the enchantment, his body had just moved on its own. He¡¯d been expecting something different, not to physically intercept it.
¡°Holy shit,¡± Lumi said, dumbfounded.
Jason spend a moment or two in surprise examining his hand, which was completely unharmed. He''d felt the heat, but it hadn''t burned him. Then, realizing everyone was waiting on him, he began to explain.
¡°So, yeah¡ it occurred to me,¡± he said, ¡°mana crystals are like¡ storage devices for aspected mana, right? Sort of, anyway. We saw it with my first attempt on my transmutation gauntlet¡ the one that worked, anyway. The elemental shard I used was consumed by the enchantment because I didn¡¯t have enough mana for the activation. So I thought¡ why not use them as batteries, or capacitors? After all, every enchanted item requires a capacity rune, right?¡±
¡°And then I thought, they also almost always have an absorption rune too, for pulling ambient mana into the item to keep it running, otherwise it would run out.¡±
Understanding dawned on Tersk¡¯s face. ¡°Brilliant!¡± he said. ¡°So you found a way to make it activatable, and more potent, allowing you to make a variation on the classic ring of spell stealing?¡±
¡°Exactly,¡± Jason said. ¡°Even better.. now that I¡¯ve got the spell, I can do a few things with it. First, I can enhance it with a bit of my own mana, and shoot it back out.¡±
¡°I uh¡ won¡¯t demonstrate that here,¡± he said hastily with a nod to a relieved-looking Nissette.
Jason held up his palm, revealing a transmutation circle inscribed in his palm. ¡°When I do that, I can also change the element when releasing it, if I¡¯m willing to pay the mana cost.¡±
He tapped a protrusion on the back of his wrist, and his armor flowed, popping out a raised section. ¡°Alternatively, instead of releasing the mana as a projectile spell, I can use it to it to power what¡¯s basically a mana-blade for a few minutes. Well... I assume it¡¯s a few minutes. Mana crystals are pretty dense, storage-wise, but it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve tested it out, and again, I wont do that here. But the protype I tried out ran for about two minutes before the shard burned out.¡±
Jason dropped his arm and depressed the mana crystal, which began to turn slowly from orange to blue. ¡°Last of all,¡± he said, ¡°I can simply purify the mana and absorb it into myself, essentially using it like a free, really garbage-tier mana potion.¡± The crystal abruptly turned clear, and Jason felt a slight rush as his mana ticked up slightly.
¡°Cooool,¡± Kera cooed, grabbing him by the arm and turning it and his hand over in close examination of the machinery of the mana-blade. ¡°What else?¡±
¡°The chestpiece provides me with additional strength, speed, and endurance, of course,¡± Jason said. ¡°It¡¯s pretty similar to yours, actually, Kera, nothing more than just a bit boost to raw stats. This thing is heavy, so I¡¯m glad I did.¡±
He reached up and pressed a finger to his temple, spinning through several different vision modes, observing that his faceplate actually changed colors when he did so.
¡°The helmet gives me a few different abilities, namely scanning for lifeforms, nightvision, and a zoom feature. It can also extrude what¡¯s basically a flashlight, on the offhand chance that Lumi isn¡¯t able or around to cast us some mage lights.¡±
He pressed a second button on the top of his head, and the helmet pulled apart, retracting into a sort of thick collar. "And I can do that, courtesy of Kera''s clothing morph, just in case I don''t feel like wearing the helm."
¡°As for some of the other parts,¡± Jason said, ¡°my boots aren¡¯t enchanted at all yet, because I really want to save that for some form of flight spell if at all possible, or maybe magnetic grip or something, but I don¡¯t have anything like that available yet. Meanwhile, the legs and belt are currently just storage space, for similar reasons. I¡¯ve left the upper arm hardpoints free for now. They''re hidden by the clothing morph as well.¡±
¡°And the¡ backback?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°What¡¯s that? Not a jetpack, if you¡¯re waiting for rocket boots.¡±
He gave her a cheeky grin. ¡°Why, I thought you¡¯d never ask!¡± He reached up over his shoulder and patted the square. ¡°This... is my new [Contraption]. Might wanna step back.¡±
¡°Shard! Out you come!¡± he commanded.
With a flurry of motion and a long, quiet series of repetive clicking and tapping sounds, his ¡®backpack¡¯ began to change. Slots open along the sides, and long, spindly segments extruded, reaching around to lightly clasp Jason around the torso and shoulders. The central section unfolded into a bundle of thick, arcanite cables, to which was mounted a device that anyone from earth would recognize as a miniature, multi-barreled cannon. Jason braced himself slightly as the pack heaved upwards slightly in relation to the rest of his body. The ¡®head¡¯ of the cannon swiveled up and over his left shoulder, twitching back and forth as if scanning for targets.
¡°Down you go, Shard. Sentry mode,¡± Jason commanded, and his ¡®backpack¡¯ climbed off of him, like a huge, black, metal spider the size of a large dog. By the time it was free of its perch, the machine seemed sleek and elegant, with no trace of its former blocky shape. It danced to one side and it''s ''head'' began swiveling in all directions.
Kera clapped both hands together and bounced up and down.
¡°You made a spider bot! Awesome!¡± she crowed. Then she gave Jason a big hug. ¡°I told you you¡¯d manage it!¡±
Jason saw the dumbfounded expressions of Tersk, Nissette, and Jerrik, and the excited ones of his friends, and knew he¡¯d made the right decision to reveal things all at once.
Chapter 45
¡°Soooo,¡± Lumi began after a few minutes had passed. ¡°Don¡¯t keep us hanging here. You said that your gear is like, an actual set right? What¡¯s the bonus do?¡±
¡°Er¡ well about that,¡± Jason said. ¡°I.. don¡¯t actually know, and that¡¯s apparently because I¡¯m not finished. As soon as I started activating the third piece, I got a new quest. Here, look.¡±
Jason pulled up his status, noticing as he did so that he¡¯d received another level-up notification, this one for Golemist. He left it hidden for now, and brought up the quest notification he¡¯d minimized earlier.
You have received a new personal quest: Enchant 8 separate pieces of the Machine-Mage Armor Set with a minimum of 4 medium-complexity enchantments. Pieces Remaining Until Completion: 3. Reward: Bonus Set Item Functionality.
¡°I did leave off enchanting the boots for now,¡± Jason said, ¡°which, uh, I guess the Voice is dinging me for or something. The legs and belt only have the shape change enchant too, and I guess it¡¯s not counting Shard, any rings, or all the storage space.¡±
¡°Well that¡¯s kinda lame,¡± Lumi said.
Jason just shrugged. ¡°It¡¯ll happen eventually.¡±
Kera pulled their attention back to Jason¡¯s spider-turret by tapping Shard on the barrel that formed its head. She was leaned over slightly, pacing around the creature to examine it from all sides. ¡°So¡ is this thing actually alive, or what? Does it eat?¡±
Jason scratched his head. ¡°Sort of? I mean I guess that kind of depends on what you¡¯d call ¡®alive¡¯. I mean, the rune itself is called ¡®False Life¡¯, after all, so maybe there¡¯s the answer. If you mean like, is he self aware and has feelings or free will, then¡ not really. He¡¯s like a really sophisticated robot instead of like¡ an android or a synthetic, because he¡¯s really just a mixture of clockwork trickery, shape-altering enchantments, and animate object. He doesn¡¯t have ¡®feelings¡¯ so to speak, but he does ¡®think¡¯ after a fashion. He can make decisions on his own about orders I¡¯ve given thanks to Intellect and Perception enhancements, and move about on his own depending on the order¡¯s I¡¯ve given. But he also can¡¯t act outside any parameters I¡¯ve given, and even within that, his ability to make decisions only goes so far. Without the Intellect boost, he¡¯d be about as smart as you¡¯d expect an animated chair to be.
¡°Oh, and he does eat,¡± Jason added. ¡°Kind of, anyway. He runs on mana crystals.¡±
Kera gave Shard a gentle pat on the head. ¡°Well, I guess that¡¯s good then. It might be a little awkward if Ceri or Echo decided they didn¡¯t like¡ him? Why a him?¡±
¡°Because he¡¯s got a long, hard barrel,¡± Lumi said with a wicked grin as Kera quickly snatched her hand away from Shard¡¯s head.
Jerrik choked, and even Nissette laughed.
¡°Anyway¡moving on,¡± Jason said, changing the subject before anyone else could comment. He turned to Tersk and Jerrik. ¡°Did you happen to finish the other stuff I asked about? I don¡¯t want Kera here to be left out. A single robe doesn¡¯t compare to a whole new set of armor, and I need some of that stuff if I¡¯m going to get her outfitted as well as I can in the next two hours.¡±
¡°We did,¡± Jerrik confirmed with a nod. He reached under the counter, and pulled out a large sack that clinked heavily against the counter-top, followed by several other items: A small pouch tied tightly with string, a pair of arcanite earrings set with lightning-element mana crystals, a small arcanite sphere, several simple bracelets, both arcanite and otherwise, and a spool of arcanite wire to go along with the thread.
Jerrik nodded to the pouch. ¡°The powder there is all ready to go, just needs to be added to your ink or dye. As for the money¡ believe it or not, it turned out an associate of mine knew of an outstanding order for something quite similar to the ring you made, so I was able to pass it on down the chain right away. Didn¡¯t even need to draw on funds from the Vendors Association either, as the money was already on hold.¡±
Kera meandered over while Jerrik was speaking, and peeked into the sack. She put her hand to her mouth with a sharp intake of breath, and looked at Jason with huge eyes.
¡°Later.¡± Lumi whispered to her.
Jerrik also pulled out a pair of bags made from stiffened cloth.
¡°Wait, aren¡¯t those ours?¡± Kera asked. ¡°Those look like those grocery bags you made awhile back.¡±
¡°They are,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°I ran them down to Jerrik earlier because Jason was busy with the armor.¡±
Jerrik nodded. ¡°It¡¯s all here, though I had quite the time tracking down enough farmers who still had the fruit for trade. I don¡¯t know why you needed enough food to practically feed an army¡¡±
He trailed off as realization dawned.
¡°Wait, this is for the raid?¡± Tersk asked.
Jason nodded emphatically. ¡°Sure is. Remember the cookie? Think bigger.¡±
Tersk began laughing uproariously, slapping his thigh. After a moment, he turned to Jerrik and explained. Jason remained silent and tried not to grin as he listened to the dwarf relate Jason¡¯s entirely misleading explanation about applying traditional potion-making techniques to food, without even realizing that he was putting his own advice for Jason into play for him.
¡°Well now I¡¯m curious to see how it all turns out,¡± Jerrik replied afterwards. ¡°Save us some of the next batch if you get a chance,¡± he said with a friendly smile.
Jason nodded noncommittally as he gathered up everything Jerrik and Tersk had brought him.
¡°Well¡ I think that just about wraps everything up then. I¡¯d better get to work finishing up Kera¡¯s stuff. If that¡¯s all?¡±
Tersk reached up and gave him a hearty pat on the back. ¡°Go on and give us all a good showing. With that gear, you better be the one bringing back a dead core!¡±
¡°I absolutely intend to,¡± Jason said emphatically. He turned to his Contraption, which was sill silently standing in place.
¡°Shard! Time to go,¡± he called. ¡°Return and sleep.¡±
With a series of whirrs and clicks, Shard jerked upright, turned around in place, and ran to Jason. It climbed onto him, where it transformed back into the semblance of a backpack.
He turned back to Nissette, Jerrik, and Tersk, giving them a slight bow before turning away and exiting.
Upon reaching the house, Jason immediately unloaded all the supplies he¡¯d assembled onto the kitchen table, but left the food inside their respective refrigerated bags for the time being.
He turned to the girls. ¡°Ok, I know that normally I¡¯m not supposed to do my work down here, but we¡¯re on a time crunch, so I was hoping you two would be willing to assist me with both some of the cooking and refinement. I can easily direct you both from here and jump in where I¡¯m needed, and that¡¯ll give me the opportunity to do more engraving while we prep the last of our raid supplies.¡±
¡°Aww, I was hoping to get some sleep,¡± Kera grumbled. ¡°Me and getting up at dawn don¡¯t really mix.¡±
Jason grinned at her. ¡°I¡¯ve totally got something in mind that¡¯ll make it worth both your whiles to stay up.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± Lumi asked. ¡°Do tell.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a surprise¡ but also if you¡¯re helping me make more gel candies, you get to choose the flavors, too.¡±
¡°Well in that case¡dibs on the sour ones,¡± Kera said, sliding into a chair. ¡°What do you need me to do?¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Jason gave the two girls instructions, and they began pulling beets, honey, and fruit from the bag while Jason conjured up numerous smaller tools.
While the girls got to work with the food, Jason got to work on something he¡¯d been practically dying to do since a few days after he¡¯d first arrived.
He began by snagging a few lemons and rigging up a very simple lemon-battery, as he had once before, in order to produce some new lightning shards. With a bit of judicious use of [Synthesis] and [Mana Catalysis], he shortly has several small, weak lightning shards.
Next, Jason assembled a strangely shaped, rectangular arcanite box, perhaps a foot in length and a few inches in width, divided into three segments. The box had several small sockets set into the back, which readily accepted Jason¡¯s weak lightning shards, and a sloped, rectangular depression on the top center, almost like a sort of slot, except that it had a tiny bit of arcanite wire sticking out inside. On each of the side segments, Jason fastened a taut square of layered cloth and leather.
Around the lightning shards, Jason engraved a series of linking runes that would treat the shards as a power source, rather than the normal passive absorption runes that most magical items relied on. From there, he split the mana flow off into two separate sets of sequences: One that should amplify sound, and another that collect, store, and release lightning-aspect mana at a controlled rate.
¡°That looks like.. some kind of radio if it were put together by someone who¡¯d neveractually seen a radio before,¡± Kera commented as he was finishing up.
Jason looked down at his creation for a moment.
¡°Ah, but it¡¯s far better than a mere radio,¡± Jason said. With a flourish, he produced his phone from his haversack, which was sitting on the floor.
¡°I present to you¡ a smartphone stereo-charger.¡±
He lay the phone across the horizontal slope, focused his mind sharply on what hereally wanted, and activated the enchantments.
The arcanite glowed as mana drained slightly from him, and he and the girls watched as the small bit of wire stretched, snaked across the top of the box, and then split into a series of small clamps, two for each side of the phone. Meanwhile, the depression the phone sat in conformed itself to the correct proportions, and the cloth and leather coverings twisted into the circular approximations of speakers.
With an audible snap, the phone clicked into place. The screen flicked on, and the charging logo appeared.
Jason quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
¡°Ok, that was actually pretty cool to watch,¡± Lumi commented. ¡°But I fail to see why you felt it was important to do right now¡¡±
¡°Tell me that again in twenty minutes,¡± Jason said with a grin, ¡°when we¡¯re working hard, cooking and engraving and brewing, while we jam to music none of us thought we¡¯d hear again.¡±
Lumi¡¯s expression of ¡°Oh!¡± was all the response he needed, and he grinned back at her.
He slid the charger over to the girl¡¯s half of the table, and addressed Kera.
¡°Ok.. so now that that¡¯s out of the way¡ I have an idea I wanted to ask you about, Kera. Did you ever get a chance to go through and learn more snake forms from your belt? I haven¡¯t seen you use it much recently, even in our sparring sessions.¡±
¡°Oh¡ uh, not really,¡± Kera replied. ¡°I keep meaning to, but then get distracted by other stuff.¡±
¡°Ok, so next question then,¡± Jason continued. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask¡you seem to be really enjoying the kitsune form, yeah? You¡¯ve kept it pretty steadily in one variation or another the past couple days.¡±
Kera ducked her head shyly for a moment, and tucked an errant strand of hair back into place. One of her ears twitched. ¡°Um¡ well I mean you and Lumi liked it, and... and I mean I did turn off that trait because other people were staring a little too much but I...um.¡± She paused a moment.
¡±Yes. I like it,¡± she finished. ¡°Having a tail to swish around is fun.¡±
¡°Well¡¡± Jason said slowly, ¡°how¡¯d you like an actual fox shape to go along with kitsune? For some reason, back when you were demonstrating your forms for Ravs, I learned some kind of beast rune for foxes from your kitsune sculpt. I¡¯m not really sure why, though there¡¯s the obvious answer in there.¡±
¡°Anyway,¡± he continued, ¡°I was thinking¡ maybe I could try and make you a fox version of your snake belt? I can¡¯t make it quite so broad-ranging, but I could do something like attach an elemental rune as part of the sequence. It might even get you some new mana-touched forms or spells.¡±
Kera bounced a bit in her seat in clear excitement. ¡°Ooh, yes! That sounds great. New forms are always good. What elements can I pick from?¡±
¡°No need to pick, really,¡± Jason said, ¡°I was just thinking I could do several different versions on some of these plain copper bracelets I got from Jerrik. Then you could run through them and see what you get. If it works really well, I might be able to make you a variable version kind of like mine and Lumi¡¯s barrier enchant, like an amulet with a socket we could plug a shard into, instead of being reliant on my elemental runes.¡±
¡°Ok, let¡¯s do it.,¡± she replied.
Five minutes later, Jason had engraved one of the bracelets with four separate activations tied to the elements of fire, shadow, light, and lightning.
¡°What happens if I do two at once?¡± Kera asked.
¡°Uhhh¡ that sounds dangerous,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Maybe you should¡ª¡±
¡°Nope, trying!¡± Kera exclaimed, sliding the bracelet on.
Her form blurred, becoming shadowy and indistinct as she collapsed down into a much smaller form. Small, heatless sparks wisped off of her fur, as if blown from a campfire by an unseen breeze, and she gave off the distinct odor of smoke. Her eyes glowed like coals, and flashes of half-seen reds and oranges glowed beneath wispy fur that bore a distinct resemblance to the mistwolf.
¡°Why even ask?¡± Lumi said, rolling her eyes. ¡°Also, you¡¯re getting soot all over the chair.¡±
¡°Sorry, sorry,¡± Kera said.
¡°I have to admit¡ this was not my expectation,¡± Jason said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t look like fire or shadow¡ it¡¯s like¡ smoke. Or ash. Some combination of the two.¡±
¡°Well Nissette did say the Voice kind of helps transformation along a little,¡± Lumi replied.
¡°Still¡¡± Jason said.
¡°Oh well, who cares?¡± Kera asked. ¡°New forms! Here let me see if¡.oh. Huh. Nope, can¡¯t just add any old thing in. Interesting.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Jason asked.
¡°It won¡¯t let me just add elements together at random,¡± Kera said. ¡°Like, shadow and lightning together doesn¡¯t do anything. Light and lightning does though. I think it maybe has to either be a valid creature?¡±
¡°Does your current one have any special skills?¡±
¡°Ummm¡ hard to say. I¡¯d have to goof around a bit and see what came to me instinctually. Maybe not the best idea if I¡¯m part-fire right now.¡±
Lumi cautiously extended a hand in Kera¡¯s direction.
¡°You don¡¯t feel hot,¡± she said.
¡°Thanks a lot,¡± Kera said drily. She gave Lumi a fox-grin and stuck out a fiery-red tongue to show she was being facetious.
Jason though it was incredibly adorable looking.
Lumi leaned forward and scooped Kera up into her arms.
¡°Ack!¡± Kera exclaimed as Lumi gave her a big hug. She rubbed her face against Kera¡¯s head, which left a big, sooty mark on Lumi¡¯s cheek.
Then she put Kera back down on the floor.
¡°Comfortably warm, and rather soft too,¡± she commented.
¡°Uhhh¡ Lumi,¡± Jason said with a snicker. ¡°You might need a damp towel to clean off, there.¡±
Her lap and the front of her armor was covered in ash.
¡°Errr¡ oops.¡± Lumi said sheepishly. She got up and headed to the bathroom area.
Kera sighed. ¡°Maybe we should do this later.¡±
Her form wavered, and she sprouted back upwards into kitsune form.
¡°Did you get anything though?¡± Jason asked.
Kera brought up her status. ¡°Yep! Looks like I learned the form. No mana-touched, but maybe ¡®Ash-touched¡¯ isnt normally a thing.¡±
¡°Or it isn¡¯t for that particular species,¡± Jason suggestion. ¡°We can try some of the others out in the field, maybe.¡±
¡°Good idea.¡±
Ten minutes later, Jason¡¯s phone booted up. By then, Lumi had cleaned herself up, and Kera had wiped down the floors and chairs to remove any traces of soot.
A kind of impromptu mini-celebration esnsued as they each took turns picking out songs and forming a playlist. Jason had rather broad tastes in music, and his phone was packed with an extensive collection that he¡¯d accumulated over the course of nearly a decade, so everybody was happy. Kera turned out to have quite the singing voice which she wasn¡¯t shy about showing off at all, preferring pieces with strong melodies and vocals, while Lumi was more into rhythmic beats good for dancing, as well as leaned more on the instrumental side of things. More than once, she interrupted Kera or Jason¡¯s work to pull them away for a few minutes of carefree, up-close dancing. Neither of them minded in the slightest, and everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. Even Ceri and Echo joined in to an extent, picking up on their mistress¡¯ excitement.
Through it all, Jason continued to engrave new, smaller pieces of gear, most of them for Kera. Jason filled out her ring enchantments with additional resistances, upgraded her staff with improved energy projection of varying types, and enchanted her earrings with an ability that would, with luck, allow her to siphon off another mage¡¯s elemental barrier and claim it for her own for a time.
In addition he enchanted five separate rings, one for each member of the group, which would assist them in underwater travel. When activated, the rings projected a kind of barrier around portions of the user¡¯s body. The barrier would alter the temperature of the surrounding water, attempt to purify it of contaminants, aid with visibility, and produced purified air in breathable form. Mixed with a simple potion designed to improve the imbiber¡¯s ability to swim, and small stones that could be popped into the mouth for an hour¡¯s worth of air for emergencies, Jason was more than confident in their ability to navigate aquatic terrain.
Over the three hours he had until midnight, with the girls¡¯ assistance Jason also continued to mass-produce additional potion supplies, this time in the form of his gel candies. While he applied mana catalysis and synthesis to create sugar and gelatins, the two girls decided on flavors. Lemon sours became stamina potions, apple and strawberry sweets became health potions, and the orange-flavored ones were, by process of elimination, assigned to mana potions. He also made more of his ¡®Calming Mint¡¯ candies at Kera¡¯s suggestion, made with mint flavoring, sereni-tea, and a bit of stamina potion. Jason decided that they were his favorite, as they provided an effect not dissimilar to a really strong cup of tea: relaxing, refreshing, and it woke you up more than a little.
Then of course, there was the food for the raid. There, Jason went for lighter fare, choosing a mixture of spiced jerky, bread, and spinach-and-fruit salad that didn¡¯t require heating, went down quickly and easily, and didn¡¯t weigh on the stomach. They would be fighting, after all. The jerky and the light oil and lemon dressing provided the vehicle for his alchemy, which provided a small ¡®well fed¡¯ effect which boosted all of your stats slightly for several hours.
By the time midnight finally came around, Jason and the girls had worn, or perhaps partied, themselves out, and collapsed into a well-earned, exhausted sleep.
The following dawn all three friends awoke alert, refreshed, and ready to face whatever the dungeon had to throw at them. After a set of quick showers and even quicker breakfast, they set off for the main square to report for duty.
Chapter 46
Chapter 46
Needless to say, when Jason, Kera, and Lumi arrived outside the lodge, heads turned.
Jason drew the most attention, decked out from head-to-toe as he was in a highly-enchanted suit of unusual design. However, they¡¯d all decided on making something of an entrance, so Kera and Lumi drew their own fair share of attention as well. Lumi had taken some brief time that morning to polish her armor with something Jason had whipped up on the fly, and as a result the golden highlights of her otherwise black armor gleamed under the dawn¡¯s light. Between that, her high Appeal, and her slightly-suggestive armor patterns, she turned heads.
Kera, meanwhile, rode confidently beside Jason upon Echo¡¯s back, her head held high as both she and Echo proudly displayed Kera¡¯s newly discovered form: that of the Storm-Touched.
Upon waking, while Jason was making breakfast, Kera had decided make use of the ring Jason had made in order to run through all the fox aspects she could. In yet another strange upset to how Jason kept assuming the system should work, the combination of light and lightning had created a form that was made of something akin to an elemental plasma.
At the time, Jason had grumbled about yet more flagrant ignorance of actual science on the part of the system, such as had been the case with the gunpowder trait, but Lumi had pointed out there was at least a kind of logic there. After all, lightning was only one form of plasma, and plasma was the most common form of matter in the universe, because it was what stars were made of. And the theme of stars -and that of the sun- was heavilyintertwined with the Light aspect.
As far as Jason was concerned, that didn¡¯t really explain why Storm was the Sparkpup¡¯s ultimately associated aspect, but frankly Kera had been far too cute as a tiny, static-charged fox puppy for him to keep belaboring the point.
Besides, now as a Storm-Touched Kitsune, she had presence.
As a Storm-Touched, Kera had undergone what Jason had jokingly referred to as a ¡®palette swap¡¯: her basic form had remained the same, but instead of a black tail with silver highlights, she was now the other way around. Her hair was still shoulder-length, but was now mixed heavily with streaks of grey and silver. Black, elegant, tattoo-like patterns reminiscent of Lichtenberg scars ran down across her now-bare arms to her fingers, and occasionally a small, barely-visible line of sparks would race along them from her shoulders down to her fingertips.
Kera had dropped her Charisma and Appeal back down, having reshuffled her free stats into primarily Might and Stamina in order to prioritize close combat, and had long since dropped the kitsune¡¯s supernatural appeal trait, but Jason still vaguely felt like he wanted to turn and stare. Not because of the attraction he still felt, but rather because she seemed surrounded by a sense of expectation. A kind faint premonition of an oncoming storm, brought on by what seemed to be a half-imagined, faint thrum in the air around her, accompanied by the faintest scent of ozone.
Like her mistress, Echo had changed as well. Through some combination of [Ritual Magic], [Feral Bond], and [Evolution Surge], Kera had managed to lend her mana-touched status to the rockhound; she''d changed color as well. Her hide was now a shimmering white, with purple-tinged crystals and spines that occasionally threw off sparks with a faint crackle as energy arced between them.
Jason, Kera, and Lumi weren¡¯t the only exotic-looking set of adventurers in the square, not by a long shot, but nevertheless they all drew eyes, both from the locals who¡¯d turned out to help load wagons, and from the adventurers themselves.
Aldin, who¡¯d been lounging against the outside wall of the lodge where he could wait out of the way, gave a long, low whistle.
¡°So this is the end result of the ¡®secret project¡¯ you were talking about?¡± he asked as he pushed himself upright. ¡°Talk about some project. How long have you been working on¡? No, wait, obviously you can¡¯t answer that.¡±
Jason grinned at him. ¡°Got one or two things for you and Ravs, too,¡± he said. ¡°Where is she, anyway?¡±
While Kera climbed down from Echo¡¯s back and gathered Ceri into her arms, Aldin gave a nod towards the far end of the market where a pair of large, horse-drawn wagons were being loaded with supplies. Jason turned in the direction he¡¯d indicated.
Ravs was standing in a small, open space that had been fenced off with rope, an intense look of concentration on her face and mist pooling around her. Aurion and the seer woman stood nearby, watching as a series of crates popped into existence in front of Ravs. She then sagged with a clear sigh of relief, releasing whatever spell she¡¯d been casting. Immediately, several workmen grabbed up the crates and began loading them into the wagon.
Aldin motioned for Jason and the others to follow as he began moving in her direction. ¡°Aurion asked her if she¡¯d help speed us up a bit by shifting in as much as she could. She agreed because its good practice for teleporting small groups, and she¡¯ll have plenty of time to recover on the trip.¡±
¡°He wants your assistance, too Jason,¡± Aldin added as they approached. ¡°Something about boats.¡±
¡°Not that I¡¯m objecting, but what happened to change the plan?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Aldin replied with a frown. ¡°I think some last minute thing made Aurion change his mind about how fast he wanted us in position. He showed up at our room at the inn an hour before dawn, looking for Ravs.¡±
¡°Wait¡our?¡± Kera asked. ¡°The inn? I thought you had separate rooms at the Lodge.¡±
Aldin stopped walking abruptly and turned a slight shade of red, his ears twitching rapidly in agitation, and stammered. ¡°Uhhhh¡¡±
Lumi laughed lightly, covering her mouth. ¡°Kera, you didn¡¯t realize?¡±
¡°I didn¡¯t know either,¡± Jason interjected, ¡°though I kind of suspected.¡±
Lumi leaned over and stage-whispered in Kera¡¯s ear. ¡°F. W. B.¡±
Then she straightened as a slow expression of dawning realization crept over Kera¡¯s reddening face, as if several pieces of a puzzle had suddenly come clicking together in her mind.
¡°I thought it was kind of obvious,¡± Lumi said. She gave Aldin a mischievous wink and a grin.
¡°It¡ it was?¡± Aldin stammered.
Seeing his mortification, Kera ducked her head and apologized to him. ¡°Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have pried. Not my business.¡±
Jason grinned and nudged Aldin with one elbow. ¡°Hey, it''s cool. Good for you two. Where we¡¯re from we have expression¡ ¡®you do you¡¯. None of us are going to mind, much less judge.¡±
¡°It¡¯s not¡. we weren¡¯t¡¡± Aldin looked away for a moment before looking back at Kera and clearing his throat. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not like a secret or anything. I just¡¡±
Lumi threw her arm around his shoulder in a one-armed hug of reassurance.
¡°You like your privacy,¡± she said, ¡°and we¡¯re still relative strangers. We get it.¡±
Lumi stepped away from him. ¡°Enough of embarrassing our teammate,¡± she declared. Then she turned and began striding away towards Ravs and Aurion, beckoning everyone to follow. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s see what¡¯s up.¡±
Ravs was leaning heavily against one of the wagons, catching her breath and presumably waiting for her mana to recover. She looked up at their approach, and her eyes widened.
Aurion noticed, and turned to follow the direction of her gaze.
¡°Ah Jason, just the pers¡ª¡±
He paused mid-sentence, blinking hard as he took in their combined changes. He open his mouth, visibly changed his mind about whatever he was going to say, and closed it again.
¡°Ah¡ you¡¯re just the person I wanted to see,¡± he said after a moment, recovering from his surprise. ¡°Ordinarily I don''t like to make requests of delvers the day of an operation, because the Guild wants its members to be in top form. Circumstances are forcing my hand a bit here, unfortunately: we¡¯ve had some alarming news from our forward scouting party about how fast the Dungeon is making changes. As a result, I wanted your assistance with something.¡±
¡°Shoot.¡±
Aurion gave him a sharp look, and Jason sighed internally. It seemed so strange to him, the near-random nature of what colloquialisms people in this world understood, and the ones they didn''t. He''d come to suspect that more than likely, he and his friends were not remotely the first Earthlings to have ever come to Verdania, but he still had yet to get much of a grasp on what had been picked up, versus what hadn''t. Or maybe it was whatever language translation the system seemed to have shoved into his brain wasn''t quite one-hundred percent accurate. He still wasn''t sure if that was a thing or not; everyone seemed to speak perfectly fine English, but with something altering your mind, how could you ever tell?
¡°I mean go ahead,¡± Jason said. ¡°Happy to assist, that¡¯s why we¡¯re here after all.¡±
¡°I¡¯ve been told by Sevani you have some sort of.. reassembly skill, a part of Artificer, is that correct?¡± Aurion asked.
¡°Far more than just that,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I can break down and reassemble just about any object in moments, repair broken items, and have a even skill that helps me vastly speed up putting things together from random bits of scrap as well.¡±
Aurion visibly sighed in relief. ¡°Would you be able to disassemble a small boat? And then reassemble it quickly once we¡¯re on site?¡±
Jason rubbed the back of his head. ¡°Well¡ I¡¯ve not tried something that big, but more than likely. I mean, I¡¯m sure Sevani, uh¡ told you about the barricade. That was large but it wasn¡¯t complex. I¡¯m game to try though. Shouldn¡¯t be an issue, I think.¡±
¡°Good, then that means Kaerlin¡¯s prediction was accurate,¡± Aurion said without elaboration. He handed Jason a pair of oversized sacks that Jason immediately recognized as being for large-scale spatial storage.
¡°Ravs can teleport you to and from the warehouse where we¡¯ve had the locals working overtime to put together our transport,¡± Aurion said. ¡°If you can simply disassemble the boats and store all the parts away, and put them back together on-site, we can save ourselves a huge amount of hassle and cut down on our travel and setup time.¡±
¡°Don¡¯t lose these,¡± Aurion emphasized. ¡°They¡¯re highly enchanted, directly from our Guild Vaults, and the Grandmaster expects them to be returned.¡±
Jason examined the bags briefly before nodding. They seemed to be crafted from only two different runes, but strung together with such incredible complexity that it made his head hurt just looking at them. He shook himself and hooked them onto his belt.
¡°Understood,¡± he replied to Aurion.
Jason then reached up to his left shoulder, and pressed a hidden catch a the base of one of his ¡®pockets¡¯. The skin of his armor closed over the space with a hiss as the storage module came away in his hand.
He passed it to Aurion. ¡°Speaking of¡ these are the [Breath Pebbles] you asked for. I¡¯ve also included a limited quantity of small candies. The teal ones with dark swirls will let you see underwater, and the clear ones will make you sink like a rock and free up your movement, in case anyone thinks they¡¯d be better off fighting with solid footing underwater. Tell everyone they¡¯re limited duration, though; the effects will only last an hour and the spell is only good for a few weeks until the candy goes bad.¡±
¡°I can think of at least one group who¡¯ll want them,¡± Aurion confirmed.
¡°Finally¡ uh¡¡± Jason said hesitantly, ¡°I have something that¡ Well I guess you''d say it¡¯s both functional and will be great for morale before we head out. Once we make camp, could you call a general meeting so I can pass it out just before the first groups head out?¡±
¡°Depends,¡± Aurion said. ¡°I was planning on it to begin with. Will your addition take long?¡±
¡°Not really,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Lumi or Kera can fill you in on the details while I see to the boats.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Very well. Get moving.¡±
When Aurion had said ¡®boats¡¯, Jason had assumed he meant a handful of the classic, four-to-six-person rowboats which in his experience were so common to every video game or movie that ever happened to involve small boats. He had been completely wrong.
Instead, what the townsfolk had put together turned out to be something on the order a dozen and a half three person, pole-driven canoes called ¡®punts¡¯. With an extremely shallow draft and a wide, flat head, a punt had a single ¡®pilot¡¯ who simply stood at the back of the boat and pushed it along with a wooden pole, as opposed to being propelled by several people manning oars or paddles. This allowed the punt to be maneuvered easily through alternately shallow and deep waters of a swamp without needing to worry much about the water being too shallow.
[Deconstructing] the punts and breaking them down into their component parts had been a simple matter for Jason. Between his own increased spirit and the enhancements from his armor, he¡¯d had more than enough mana to break them down without needing a potion. Neither he nor Ravs had even needed to exert themselves in storing the pieces either: as part of the process, Jason had been able to simply float each segment away into the wide-mouthed storage bags that Aurion had lent him.
As a result, a task that should have taken close to an hour and required multiple workers, multiple wagons, and several horse teams in order to load all the punts for transport was reduced to mere minutes. Ravs warped Jason back to the square, where soon horses were provided to everyone, and the band of adventures departed along the northern road with only a mere handful of wagons in tow.
Hours passed as Jason rode quietly along the forested road amidst his fellows. At first, conversation was generally subdued thanks to the early hour, though the steady encroachment of cloud-cover that gradually darkened the skies elicited more than a few mutters. Gradually though, the exertion of riding a horse woke everyone up, an banter between various groups arose, and everyone seemed in good cheer.
That all ended when they arrived at leading edge of the dungeon¡¯s corruption.
At first, off in his own little world where he was busily contemplating the possibility of using air blast enchantments to make a hover-wagon, Jason didn¡¯t notice the slow die-off of conversation around him. The sky had been threatening rain all morning as well, so when the first fat droplets of rain began splattering down on him from the canopy above, he simply laid a finger on his collar, causing his helmet to spingup around his head to keep out the rain. It wasn¡¯t until his visor enchantment alerted him to the fact that the rain drops weretainted with some kind of blackish-green mana aspect that he really took in what was going on around him.
Twisting around in his saddle and taking in his surroundings, Jason realized that the forest had begun to change. Not in some abrupt, dramatic fashion as if some continent-striding deity had drawn a line between two radically different biomes, but rather as if someone has spilled a bucket of clean water across detailed woodwork, and you were now looking at the splatter.
Here in there through gaps in the trees, Jason caught sight of pockets of wilting vegetation sitting in pools of stagnant, filthy water. A variety of strange, rotted-looking hanging moss had become a frequent feature, where last he¡¯d walked this road there had been none. Patches of waterlogged mud were everywhere, and something about the rapidly darkening skies alarmed Jason in a way he couldn¡¯t put his finger on.
He wiped some of the rain from his faceplate with one hand and looked down at it.
¡°Analyze Aspects.¡±
Gross.
Jason flicked the water away from him in distaste and then unconsciously attempted to wipe his hand on his pants, only to remember that he was currently covered metal plates rather than cloth. At least he hadn¡¯t actually touched the stuff.
He gave his horse a light tap with his heels, splashing through steadily increasing mud in order to catch up to Ravs, who¡¯d been riding ahead of him.
¡°Very important question,¡± he said as he drew alongside her.
She looked at him, raising one eyebrow.
It wasn¡¯t truly raining yet, barely even sprinkling, really, so Jason wiped another bit of water from his helmet with one finger and gestured with it.
¡°Please tell me the mana aspects in this stuff aren¡¯t harmful to us,¡± he said. ¡°Aria told me a person could handle the Wastes¡¯ corruption for a month or two but¡.¡±
He gestured to a small, wilting bush up ahead, which appeared to have algae already growing in the water pooling at its base.
¡°This stuff has Rot and Disease aspects in it, among others,¡± he said. ¡°Is that a problem for us?¡±
She scrunched up nose in an expression of disgust as she flicked away a droplet that struck her hand.
¡°Not unless things go badly and we don¡¯t finish this quickly,¡± she said.
¡°Are you sure¡?¡± he asked. ¡°If¡ª-¡±
Jason was cut off by a sudden commotion from the front of the caravan as someone up ahead called a stop. He spotted Aurion, Kaerlin, and a few others gather together for a quick conference, before a request was back along the line for Hebran and someone Jason didn¡¯t know to make their way to the front.
Jason watched as the pair passed him. After about a minute of silently wondering what was happening, a loud, constant grinding sound began to echo from up ahead. Orders came down the line to ride single-file. The wagons began moving again, followed by everyone else, and shortly Jason found his horse stepping upwards slightly onto a series of of wide, stone sheets that were layered across the top of the road, like planks. To either side, Jason could see that what had once been the packed dirt road was now very deep-looking mud choked with loose grass floating amidst pools of standing water.
They continued traveling that way for perhaps another hour. During that time, the intermittent raindrops increased to a light drizzle, and the faint smell of decay began to tickle at Jason¡¯s nose, turning his stomach and reminding him that he had yet to put any kind of environmental control enchantments into his armor. The clouds and sky continued to darken as well, further and further until it seemed that the skies above the canopy and faintly glimpses cloud-cover must have been cloaked in some kind of supernatural darkness. The word that came to Jason¡¯s mind was gloomy. It made the trees around him seem darker and more sinister than they actually were, giving the arching branches the appearance of closing in around them, and yet he could still see everyone clearly in what little light there was.
Jason began to really wish that he didn''t know the plan was to make camp until nightfall. He was a veteran outdoorsman, and something about the whole place already screamed ¡®unnatural¡¯ to him. Thinking about navigating around at night out here put him in mind of Japanese horror films.
He gave a small shudder, attempting to shake off his unnerve. He only partially succeeded, as it was shortly afterwards that the expedition turned east off from the road suddenly and into the trees. Shortly, a final halt was called, and several members of the expedition were called out to lay out stone and earthworks, while others, like Lumi, were called to use air magic to secure layers of canvas and sheaves of thick leaves overhead to keep out the rain.
Jason was called forward as well. A man whose name he didn¡¯t catch directed Jason to one side of the swiftly-erecting encampment, where deep mud gave way to algae-covered swamp water. Hebran joined him, conjuring a series of raised stone posts and slats in the form of a hastily improvised pier. Jason quickly got to work with [Arcane Reconstruction], reassembling the punts one after another, while Hebran laid down small piers wherever there was room between the waterlogged trees. Several other adventurers stood by to assist in tying down the punts and loading them with a few minor supplies.
The speed at which camp was set up shocked Jason. Thanks to the assistance of both skills and spells, the whole thing took perhaps a grand total of ten minutes, after which they were surrounded by a kind of massive canopy tent. Leaves and canvas sheets shielded them entirely from the rain, and provided walls. Layers of heavy stone tile kept out the worst of the mud, and mounds of shaped earth provided fire pits. Someone had even conjured up a some sort of miniature, elemental slime-creature to just bumble around, vacuuming up the remaining mud and grit into its watery body only to spit it back out into the swamp.
Jason thought the critter was almost cute as it shuffled its way across the floor, and he found he was delighted by the idea of using elementals as some kind of roomba. He made a mental note that if he ever managed to complete any kind of extradimensional mansion, that was definitely now on his to-do list for features.
After the wagons were unloaded, the horses were taken care of, and the several town guards who¡¯d come along were placed on sentry duty. Then, in front of the main fire pit, chairs and tables made from all manner of materials sprouted up from nowhere, courtesy of numerous conjurers, and the general meeting was called.
As he took a seat, Jason was briefly distracted by the fact that the flames seemed to give off warmth and light, but yet didn¡¯t scorch the canvas up above nor give off smoke.
Some sort of illusion? Jasonwondered. Or is it some kind of instant safe campfire spell or skill for travelers so they don¡¯t accidentally create a forest fire? Wish I¡¯d had something like that when I first arrived. Would have saved a lot of effort.
He was broken out of his thoughts by Aurion clearing his throat to address the assembled group.
¡°Alright everyone, listen up. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all curious about the sudden changes to our timetable, and I¡¯ll get to that in a moment. First though, a bit of extra formality.¡±
¡°Now, most of you are aware we¡¯ve had some last-minute additions to the class, which resulted in some party-shuffling. You¡¯ve probably seen them around the training yard, and even may have even fought beside them, but until now there hasn¡¯t been a good time to introduce them properly. As they are a part of our forward assault group, now¡¯s the time.¡±
Aurion beckoned to each of them in turn. ¡°First, their party leader, Lumiriel Dun¡¯val, a multiclass [Spellblade] with a mixed elemental focus. Her chosen combat role is that of a front line defender, and she was instrumental in keeping the merrow¡¯s attention long enough for the rest of us to take care of the swarm.¡±
Lumi stood and moved to the table closest to Aurion. She had Jason¡¯s grocery bags with her, which she placed on the table before turning and bowing to the audience without saying anything.
¡°Next up is Kerali Vakar, a feralist mage and a beast tamer, and a changeling on top. Get used to seeing her in all sorts of shapes and sizes, as I gather she changes frequently.¡±
¡°That¡¯s me!¡± Kera said with a wave of her hand. ¡°The big rockhound I was riding is named Echo, and this guy here¡±¡ªshe gave Ceri a pat on the head, who preened at the attention¡ª¡°is Ceri, my skydancer drake.¡±
¡°And last of all,¡± Aurion concluded, ¡°Jason Elric, whom you may be familiar with as the consummate Artificer who was responsible for providing so many of the armaments put to use by the town militia.¡±
Jason stood and approached the table. He turned and gave a brief wave to everyone, along with a simple ¡°Hi.¡±
¡°Now,¡± Aurion said, ¡°to forestall any of the potential complaints or questions you might have about my allowing someone to join the class two thirds of the way through and just before the practical, I would like to remind you that several of your number were already given similar considerations. Some of you, for instance, were allowed to simply skip the rigorous physical examination segments because you were already established adventurers in your own right, with Guild records, so we already knew you could handle yourselves in a fight. Others, like Velan, are sometimes allotted extra weight to the written exams because while you may not be the best students of lore, you nonetheless possess knowledge and experience that is acutely valuable to us.¡±
Aurion gestured to Jason. ¡°Particularly relevant to all of us today, Jason here possesses an apparently unique skill that presents us with an extra edge when it comes to raiding dungeons. Namely, he¡¯s worked out how to apply the traditional potion-crafting process of forcing mana into a catalyst to a normally wholly mundane skill: Cooking.¡±
There were a few guffaws from amidst the crowd as Jason began assisting Lumi and Kera in withdrawing an entire feast¡¯s worth of food from his preservation bags. As Aurion talked, they laid out several kinds of jerky, large serving bowls of fruit and spinach salad, the dressing for the salad, and four small kegs which he¡¯d picked up from the market that contained a low-alcohol, spiced berry drink.
¡°You laugh,¡± Aurion warned, ¡°but the results speak for themselves. With only a minimal expenditure of arcane dust, Jason has been able to provide us with enough enchanted food here to equal the same benefit as¡.¡±
He looked over at Jason, who did some quick math in his head.
¡°About¡. nine mid-tier potions-worth per person, I think,¡± Jason said as he unstoppered a bottle of dressing and placed it on the table. ¡°Assuming you eat your fill and include a little of everything, the Feast of Spring¡¯s Bounty effects will boost all of your stats by two, greatly enhance both stamina and mana regeneration, and will last for six hours without saturation issues.¡±
There were several sharp intakes of breath.
Jason lowered his helmet, snagged a strawberry, and ate most of it in two large bites. Then he grinned at everyone else, gesturing. ¡°Plus, you know¡ benefits of not missing lunch.¡±
Meanwhile, Aurion smirked at the other students. ¡°Let that be another lesson to you: never underestimate the usefulness of even the most ordinary of skills. You never know when some oddball combination will be the key to unlocking a unique skill.¡±
Aurion then waved to someone who was standing off to one side, and wooden plates and forks were delivered to the table as he motioned for people to begin serving themselves. After a few moments of organized chaos, he began to speak as everyone dug in.
¡°Now¡ the reason for our haste.¡± Aurion gestured all around, to the surrounding swamp. ¡°Who can tell me why aquatic dungeons are so dangerous, and why swamp dungeons are one of the absolute worst?¡± he asked.
¡°Undead?¡± someone from the rear asked.
¡°Well, that¡¯s a reason they can be unpleasant, but that¡¯s not specific to aquatic dungeons,¡± Aurion replied. ¡°In fact the vast majority of dungeons that deal with such creatures are some form of Death aspect.¡±
Lumi raised her hand. ¡°Uh, I actually think I know,¡± she said. ¡°I mean, we¡¯re still playing catch-up, so sorry if I don¡¯t know all the right terms, but it¡¯s because they have such a vast, renewable food source, right? Even plain old fish don¡¯t stay in one place most of the time, they swim all up and down the place. A dungeon who¡¯s entrance is sitting in a river is like a giant krill scoop, just sitting there sucking up huge quantities of stuff. Then there¡¯s all the other stuff that lives in and on the water¡ insects, algae, amphibians¡ moving water is chock full of life.
¡°Exactly,¡± Aurion confirmed with a nod. He began pacing from side to side. ¡°Not only does an aquatic dungeon have a readymade food source that requires little action on its own part to bring in, its minions are still capable of ranging far and wide to bring anything they can. In fact, so close to the actual claim, I¡¯m surprised we aren¡¯t yet seeing evidence of logging.¡±
¡°That aside¡ what makes swamp dungeons able to grow so aggressively is the sheervolume of surrounding life for it to consume through three separate vectors: its minions, the rot and decay of waterlogged plants, and the water itself. Likewise, their type supports all manner of different creatures capable of thriving in diverse environments, be that on land, in the air, or underwater.¡±
Aurion pointed upwards to the sky. ¡°And that is a sign that the dungeon is getting stronger by the second. We aren¡¯t even in the dungeon''s Claim yet, and already we can see the effects it is having on the weather and surrounding terrain. And that is merely the effect of the wasted mana it is pumping out, now spreading rapidly through the region.¡±
¡°Now, normally I would have you waiting til at least nightfall to send everyone out, ideally til tomorrow so you¡¯re refreshed and at top performance. However, if the dungeon has already reach the stage where it is actively manipulating weather patterns already outside its immediate Claim, I¡¯m willing to take some risks.¡±
¡°Dreja, Sanders¡ your teams leave now. Kaerlin and Abaht will be your evaluators, and you have a dispensation to ask for assistance. Find that entrance, and report back every single detail you can about any of the surrounding buildings so we have a good idea of what to expect. Do not engage if at all possible, and definitely don¡¯t lead anything back here if you do. Remember: scouting only.¡±
¡°The rest of you: eat up, relax, and wait for your turns. If you happen to know a thing or two about steering a boat, maybe show a few tricks to people who want to learn. You¡¯ve got some time on your hands until we sent you out.¡±
¡°Dismissed.¡±
Chapter 47
Chapter 47
¡°Just need to¡..¡± Jason muttered to himself quietly as he once again pressed his newly created [Lesser Ring of Heating and Cooling] to the side of a small bowl of half-congealed white sludge. In mere moments, the mixture began to melt down, and he mixed in several handfuls of crushed leaves.
¡°Ready Ravs?¡± he asked in a quiet voice, turning to the sorceress.
Currently, he was standing in front of a stone table, courtesy of Lumi, that had been grown up out of the pavilion floor, off to one side where they¡¯d be out of the way. All around, adventurers went about the business of readying themselves to move out the moment word came back from the scouting parties. Weapons were checked, sharpened, and oiled. Temporary travel packs were assembled and made secure. Many had elected to wait to try out Jason¡¯s [Feast of Spring¡¯s Bounty] until just before the scouts were due back, and now sat at various tables, eating and drinking.
Jason and his companions were no exception, though as almost all of his party¡¯s supplies were sequestered about his person in various spatial storages, there was little for them to check. Lumi however did elect to do a weapons check for everyone, carefully testing them for any flaws or damage, and sharpening the few blades they had; namely, Ravs'' [Mistblades] and her own [Frostscourge]. She even looked over a simple steel mace that Aldin had produced seemingly from nowhere; Jason hadn¡¯t even been aware he¡¯d had a weapon, but when asked, Aldin had just shrugged, and said he needed something in case a dungeon-spawn rushed him while he was out of mana. Jason had agreed with the sentiment though. It was exactly why he¡¯d made the phase blade.
¡°Just about,¡± Ravs murmured quietly back to Jason. She was standing to his left, eyes closed in concentration as she focused on whatever strange power she received from her patron.
To his right, Kera stepped away from the table, pulling Echo and Ceri along with her. Aldin and Lumi joined her, making small talk. Together, they a formed a deliberate, casual buffer between the table and the rest of the pavilion that would draw attention to them and away from Jason and Ravs.
¡°Go.¡± Ravs said. ¡°Shroud: Perception Ward,¡± she commanded quietly.
The light around the table seemed to dim slightly, and the air grew hazy. Jason knew that behind him, any glances cast their way would be glassily sliding off of he and Ravs, only to focus on his companions¡¯ idle conversation behind them. When Ravs had informed him that she had acquired a new spell from her patron that made other people overlook you, even in a crowd, he¡¯d been ecstatic. [Shroud] didn¡¯t make you invisible per se, but rather unnoticeable to anyone who wasn¡¯t in your system-enforced party. It was like having a huge blind spot in the middle of your vision and memory. People couldn¡¯t look directly at you, and if they tried, they¡¯d forget about it the moment they looked away. Ravs assured him that while particularly strong-willed observers who were on edge and watching for the effect might be able to realize it was there and take countermeasures, but otherwise, is was every bit as good as invisibility, with the added bonus that as long as you didn¡¯t interfere with an onlooker directly, they simply couldn¡¯t realize that you were there, and you could go about your business undetected.
She¡¯d proven it earlier by stealing a cup of tea right out from under someone¡¯s nose, with an assist from Kera to turn the man''s attention away from his food for a just a brief moment. Jason had had to bite his tongue to stop from laughing as the man had gotten a confused, glassy look on his face for a moment when he moved to take another sip. Then Kera asked him a question, and he looked up at her and then continued on with the conversation as if nothing had happened. A few minutes later, Ravs handed him a new ¡®refill¡¯ as if she¡¯d gone to fetch him one, and he accepted it like nothing strange had occurred at all.
Jason suspected it wouldn¡¯t fool a camera, as it seemed to be some sort of mental compulsion effect, and he suspected it probably wouldn¡¯t fool Kaerlin¡¯s remote viewing either, but it was ideal for his current purpose. Namely, passing off some subtle crafting as nothing more than a bit of herbalism on the side.
He activated [Synthesize] quietly, and then began scooping the substance that resulted into a series of small tins while assigned his newest creation a label.
Elric¡¯s Insect Repellent: This pale white cream is formed from a specially treated mixture of yarrow, swamp tea, and common mallow leaves. When spread thinly across the face and hands, it gives off a pleasant-smelling scent that repels most forms of common insects for several hours. Also provides slight relief from existing bites.
¡°Now there¡¯s a product to sell, with no-one the wiser,¡± Jason said half to himself as he held up on of the tins. He grinned over at Ravs.
Ravs, with a look of vast relief on her face, immediately stuck both hands into the bowl and scooped the last remaining bits of the stuff out with her fingers, applying it aggressively onto her face and arms. The elf girl¡¯s fragile skin held quite a number of red wheals.
¡°Oh, thank the gods!¡± she exclaimed, shuddering slightly as the relief effect kicked in. With how pale she was, Jason could actually see the redness of her many mosquito bites fading away more than a little. Ravs shakily slumped down into a chair, blowing out a sigh as she dispelled the [Shroud] again.
¡°Why couldn¡¯t we have started with that first?¡± she sighed.
¡°Sorry, I hadn¡¯t realized it¡¯s been that bad for you,¡± Jason apologized. ¡°It¡¯s not like they can get into my suit. Next time say something sooner?¡±
Ravs just nodded, her eyes closing as she began to visibly relax in her seat.
Jason turned to the others. ¡°Done!¡± he called to them. He scooped up a pair of the half-dozen tins he¡¯d made and deposited them into the storage module on his belt. Then he handed another one of them to Kera.
¡°As requested!¡± he said cheerfully to her. ¡°One tin of bug repellent. It smells good, is an excellent moisturizer, and even acts a bit like aloe gel in that it relieves a little pain and itchiness.¡±
Kera hastily opened the tin with a half-hearted glare in Lumi¡¯s direction and a mutter of ¡®so unfair¡¯. She immediately dipped a finger in and began smearing it along her exposed legs. Lumi cocked an eyebrow at the other girl with a wry grin of amusement. While Lumi didn¡¯t have an enclosed suit like Jason¡¯s, she hadn¡¯t had much trouble with the local swamp bugs. Unlike Ravs, who was some kind of mosquito magnet, apparently Lumi was one of the lucky few who¡¯d won the genetic lottery: she wasn¡¯t appetizing to them at all. As long as someone else was around, they¡¯d nearly always choose them over her.
Not that that stopped her from taking the tin from Kera after she was done with it and using some herself.
¡°There should be enough cream in there for at least a dozen and a half applications,¡± Jason told them as everyone took a turn. ¡°I¡¯ve set aside two more for us, and there¡¯s plenty more ingredients where that came from. This place is a gold mine of, er, herbalism ingredients.¡±
Jason glanced at Ravs thoughtfully. ¡°In fact¡ Kera¡¯s brought me enough stuff here we should probably just distribute a tin or two to the others. Plenty more where this came from, and I¡¯m sure Ravs and Kera aren¡¯t the only ones suffering.¡±
He grimaced. ¡°Besides, with the aspects in the water here¡ maybe best to avoid bug bites as much as possible.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
¡°I¡¯ll go mingle some then, if you don¡¯t need me further¡± Lumi volunteered, grabbing a second tin. ¡°I¡¯m tired of standing around in one place. Those scouts can¡¯t get back soon enough.¡±
¡°I think we¡¯re good for now,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Thanks.¡±
Lumi waved a hand in an ¡®it¡¯s fine¡¯ gesture before moving off towards the other tables.
¡°Want me to keep getting more?¡± Kera asked. ¡°My mana¡¯s about refilled now.¡± Kera asked. She reached up towards her shoulder where Ceri was perched, and gave him a few scratches under the chin. ¡° And Ceri¡¯s enjoying the chance to really stretch his wings. He¡¯s been pretty cooped up lately and is really happy helping.¡±
Jason thought to himself a few moments. Then he shook his head. ¡°Let¡¯s wait a bit. I¡¯ve got to get all this stuff filed away, and want to make some notes about what all we can do with it.¡±
Kera shrugged. Then shewrapped her arm around his and leaned slightly towards the table to look at the assembled pile of plant parts they¡¯d collected. ¡°What all have we gotten so far, anyway? Its dark enough out there that while I¡¯m guiding Ceri I can¡¯t really pay attention to what you¡¯ve been muttering to yourself about at the same time. I¡¯ve mostly been concentrating on his senses, not mine.¡±
¡°A whole bunch of stuff,¡± Jason replied, mentally shrugging at Kera¡¯s sudden contact. He¡¯d noticed that she¡¯d been a lot more physical with both he and Lumi of late. Maybe it was a kitsune thing? It had certainly seemed to be for Reis, whom Kera had gotten the form from.
¡°I never realized how much medieval medicine came from swamps and marshes,¡± he said instead of voicing his thoughts. ¡°That was a great suggestion of yours, to use that history textbook app to poke around. Here, I¡¯ll do a party-only share¡¡±
He brought up his notification history and condensed it down into a series of summaries.
He and Kera had been busy. For the past two hours, Jason been surreptitiously looking different plants up on his encyclopedia app while Ravs shielded him with a shroud, and then comparing what he found there with the knowledge that [Advanced Herbalism] provided him. Then, Kera guided Ceri remotely via [Shared Senses] flying from the improvised staging grounds out into the nearby forest and swamp to acquire various samples at Jason¡¯s direction.
The results had been¡ more than a little impressive. A dozen and a half alchemy traits, two thirds of which were entirely new, across eight varieties of common plants. All of them had multiple, proven medical uses dating back centuries, at least on earth. A few even had potentially useful modern chemical extracts as well, if Jason could work out a way to obtain them.
While Kera was doing the actual searching, Jason had assembled them into partially assembled packages. Some of the plants he divested of seeds or packed away carefully as sprouts, fully intending to keep samples to begin growing them himself. Others he¡¯d dried, chopped, or bundled into pre-prepared poultices and vials that needed nothing more than an activation of [Brew Potion] to be turned into various remedies, be it [Antidotes] and [Potions of Cure Disease], or something as simple as quickly brewing up a magically-infused tea made from willow bark and mugwort to calm the nerves and reduce pain. Jason was now tentatively hopeful that he could, with some work in his lab, synthesize something not unlike actual aspirin: according to his phone, willow bark contained a chemical called salacin, an aspirin-related anti-inflammatory.
¡°Wow¡¡± Kera said, peering at the list of thier results. ¡°Those are some¡ really useful traits. You could even make some weird poisons too with that nightshade or snakeroot right?¡±
Jason scratched at the back of his head. ¡°Eh¡ I could I suppose. I¡¯m a bit¡ hesitant about making that kind of stuff. I don¡¯t want to run afoul of any laws, you know? Who knows what trouble carrying around a bunch of poison arrows or something might get you in, you know?¡±
¡°You could always ask,¡± Kera suggested. ¡°Aurion would know. Some kind of paralysis rounds for your gun would be pretty cool, I think. Ooh! I know, you could ¡ªeep!¡±
Kera cut off as Ravs suddenly sat up and poked Kera in the side with a finger.
¡°Hold up. My monitoring spell just picked up someone¡¯s attention just now.¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Kera asked.
Ravs craned her head around to look beyond Jason. She nodded her head in that direction, and Jason turned slightly, Kera still holding onto his arm, to see a pair of guild-hopefuls approaching: A medium-build, leather armored man with fair hair and smooth skin, and an equally fair-haired, shorter, younger woman.
Jason wasn¡¯t totally sure, but they looked related to him, probably brother and sister. Judging from their perfectly-groomed appearance and the cleanliness of their weapons, Jason also suspected they might be of lesser nobility, vaguely on the assumption that only a nobleman would worry about looking spotless while standing around in the middle of a swamp during a combat operation.
That¡¯s a question worth considering, he thought. Do nobles have any special classes? I should ask sometime. Or invest in some kind of class identifier skill.
The girl, who couldn¡¯t possibly have been older than eighteen or nineteen by Jason¡¯s estimation, tucked an arm behind her, swayed slightly, and gave him a shy smile and a small wave as they approached.
Jason reconsidered. Ok, maybe not nobility. Or else very good at faking sweet and shy.
¡°Hi,¡± she said hesitantly while her companion merely inclined his head an a short, if friendly, nod. ¡°Um. You¡¯re uh¡ Jason right? The um, cook and herbalist right?¡±
¡°Among other things,¡± Jason replied. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±
¡°Um, your friend showed us some of that¡ stuff for keeping the biters away? I was wondering if, um¡ you had any more?¡±
¡°Oh, did she run out?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got another tin I could give her to pass out.¡±
¡°No not that,¡± the girl said. ¡°I mean, that is, I was wondering if we could buy some? Or like, make a trade? It smells nice, and other than Rennig, our squad is all girls and we have the worst time in places like this, and¡¡±
She trailed off shyly for moment, and then shrugged. ¡°It seems to be working and it¡¯d be nice to not have to deal with getting bit all the time. It¡¯ll be even worse once we¡¯re out there. We know this [Witch] who usually buys Elerie¡¯s stuff she harvests, and makes us some stuff in return, so we keep an eye out for plants and bugs and stuff. It¡¯s gross, but maybe we have something useful to you?¡±
Jason thought for a moment, and then shrugged as Kera nudged him. Barter was a common thing between adventurers, and he figured it wouldn¡¯t hurt to hear her out at least. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few batches of the stuff,¡± he said, ¡°so I don¡¯t see why not. How much are you looking for and what are you willing to offer?¡±
She reached into a small bag she had at her side, and pulled out a few small miscellaneous jars, placing them on the table.
¡°Go ahead, take a look,¡± she said.
Jason examined them with [Arcane Sight]. Several held various swamp herbs, one of which he immediately identified as more nightshade. Another held a jar of large, live beetles crawling around on a half-rotted piece of wood. The last one got his attention though. It was mostly empty, containing a bare handful of long, black, flattened¡ somethings that rattled around when he picked up the jar to examine it closer.
Curious, Jason put the jar back onto a table and held up a hand for a moment to ask the girl to wait a moment while he quickly brought up his status sheet, referencing the ¡®Leeching¡¯ trait.
Jason consider the entry. Huh. It¡¯s not actually related to the creature type, but rather to the Drain rune. Like ¡®Potion of Life Leech¡¯. That¡ could be very useful.
He closed his status and picked up the jar, regarding it as if giving it serious consideration. Which he was, really.
There weren¡¯t a lot of the leeches. Only a handful, and his skill informed him that he¡¯d need quite a few to extract enough of the trait. But if he had his guess¡.
¡°These are actually pretty useful,¡± he told the girl. ¡°Any chance you could get more? This here isn¡¯t really enough for my purposes, but¡?¡±
The man, who Jason guessed was Rennig, finally spoke up.
¡°Doable. Just gotta stick a leg in,¡± was all he said.
The girl looked up at him and grimaced. ¡°Ew, Rennig! You¡¯d better be the one volunteering!¡±
Rennig just shrugged.
The girl sighed, turning back to Jason. ¡°Sure, we can do that,¡± she replied. ¡°Would say¡ a full jar do? I¡¯m not sure we¡¯ll have time for more than that before it¡¯s time to head out.¡±
¡°That sounds great,¡± Jason replied. ¡°I¡¯d be willing to part with say¡ three tins for a full jar? And if you want to bring me more later, I¡¯m sure we can work something out.¡±
¡°Deal,¡± the girl said, offering a hand. Jason shook it, and she and Rennig returned to the crowd, presumably to locate their squad for a quick foray.
Kera squeezed Jason¡¯s arm for a moment before finally releasing him, and picking Ceri up off the table. ¡°See? Told you could totally make stuff people want to buy with no one the wiser. She just totally assumed you had some kind of apothecary class like Flora¡¯s. As long as you don¡¯t charge an arm and a leg, people won¡¯t even think to wonder about what you¡¯re really doing.¡±
With Ravs'' and Kera¡¯s assistance, Jason began the process of bundling up the various materials and storing them away. One hour later and a jar of leeches richer, Jason was ready to go, and the scouts had returned.
Chapter 48
Chapter 48
In Jason¡¯s estimation, the return of the two scouting parties was a bit like someone kicking over an anthill. First, there was a commotion on the western half of the pavilion as the handful of Arnvalers who¡¯d volunteered for sentry duty called an alarm on account of spotting movement in the swamp. That then provoked an immediate reaction from everyone else, as the massed adventurers surged to their feet and drew weapons in preparation for immediate contact.
Then Aurion had used his raid-alert skill to calm everyone down, and announced the return of both scouting parties. He called for everyone to divide up into their assigned teams, and then asked for the team leaders to join him and the other Black Thorns at the main table.
Jason tried to observe, but his decision to sit at the far edge of the pavilion was a double-edged sword: while it had been great for keeping away from everyone else, it made it more than a little difficult to see what was going on. He caught a few glimpses of people he recognized at the head table, such as the huge, bear-like man with the greatbow, and of course Kaerlin and Aurion, all involved in deep discussion with the two scout leaders while the other party leads listened in.
Unfortunately, he couldn''t make much of the conversation out, so instead he decided to ask Ravs a question that had been bugging him.
¡°So, I¡¯ve been wondering¡¡± he began, turning to her. ¡°I realize that this is all like¡ basically an exam and Aurion wants to test everyone¡¯s knowledge and skills, but why doesn¡¯t he have Kaerlin do that remote viewing thing to find out what the exact state of things is? I mean¡ why not just scry out the general layout and the entrance location?¡±
¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy,¡± Aldin interrupted. ¡°Even I know that one. It¡¯s because most teleportation and divination don¡¯t work inside a dungeon¡¯s claim.¡±
Ravs raised an eyebrow in Aldin¡¯s direction with a faint smile. ¡°So you do pay attention.¡±
¡°Most?¡± Jason asked.
¡°Yeah,¡± Aldin replied, ignoring Ravs¡¯ verbal jab. ¡°Stuff like Lumi¡¯s [Dimension Slide] will still work, but you couldn¡¯t have a Traveler¡¯s Gate tune in on the dungeon and transport someone right the the core.¡±
¡°Got it,¡± Jason replied. ¡°No teleporting death squads. And the scrying?¡±
¡°Uhhh¡.¡±
Aldin trailed off and then looked at Ravs helplessly, giving a shrug. She rolled her eyes at him and continued in his stead.
¡°Its because dungeons aren¡¯t quite properly part of the world,¡± she explained. ¡°Once you step inside their Claim, the rules of nature can be¡different, sometimes. Impossible structures, weird spatial loops, bizarre gravity¡ Sometimes, in underwater dungeons you can even just walk around at the bottom of the sea, moving and breathing just fine without the aid of magic. Nobody knows why.¡±
Jason pulled out one of the underwater movement rings he¡¯d crafted. It held a small, cross-rose cut air shard, supported by tiny pillars of blue-green arcanite carved into what looked like flowing water.
He frowned, gesturing with the ring. ¡°Wish I¡¯d known that before I¡¯d made these. Took me quite a few hours to make enough for all five of us. I¡¯m going to be annoyed if it turns out I wastes a bunch of time.¡±
Ravs raised one finger in the air. ¡°Some aquatic dungeons,¡± she emphasized. ¡°We don¡¯t know how this one will be until we¡¯re in it. Being over-prepared is better than needing water breathing and not having it, and there¡¯s always the possibility of water trapped-rooms.¡±
¡°Fair,¡± Jason replied, tilting his head in acknowledgment with a certain level of relief. ¡°Which reminds me¡ here. These are for both of you.¡±
Jason pulled out the other spare ring, and handed one each to Aldin and Ravs. He¡¯d already given Kera and Lumi theirs, but had gotten caught up with deconstructing the boats and had forgotten to hand them out. He handed over the two resistance rings he¡¯d crafted for the them as well.
They looked at each other and Jason with wide eyes after examining the rings¡¯ descriptions.
¡°Jason¡¡± Ravs began, her eyebrows drawn together in uncertainty.
¡°Yes, yes¡ I¡¯m aware of their value,¡± Jason said. ¡°Nevertheless, they¡¯re gifts.¡±
¡°But¡ª¡±
Jason shook his head. ¡°No, they¡¯re yours.¡±
He sighed. ¡°Look, where I¡¯m from¡ adventurers have a saying: ¡®Need Before Greed.¡¯ It means¡ well in this case it means that it''s stupid for me to worry about wealth distribution when people¡¯s lives are on the line, myself included.¡±
¡°Hell,¡± Jason said with a gesture all around him. ¡°Look at all this. We were just having a two-hour feast in the middle of a swamp. Your average adventurer can realistically live as soft a life as they¡¯d like, because the danger pay is insane. I don¡¯t need more coin; I¡¯ve got it to spare. Besides, what good is it all if I¡¯m murdered by a pack of wandering monsters we can¡¯t handle? Better to make sure I¡¯ve got allies who are as strong as possible than to be stingy with gear.¡±
Ravs scowled. ¡°I get that, but charity is different.¡±
¡°It kind of isn¡¯t charity, though,¡± Aldin pointed out. ¡°His whole point is that by helping us, he¡¯s helping himself. Right, Jason?¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Exactly, Think of it more like¡ self-interest on my part. I¡¯m part of the group, so improving our ability to accomplish tasks as a whole helps me out more than just being selfish would.¡±
He grinned. ¡°Self interest, appreciation gift¡ whatever you¡¯d like to think of it as.¡±
She rolled her eyes with a snort, but slid the two rings on without further protest.
¡°So you¡¯re bribing people overtly now?¡± Lumi¡¯s amused voice came from behind Jason.
Kera, who until now had been sitting off to one side giving some much-needed attention to her pets, spoke up as Jason turned to face Lumi.
¡°Yep.¡± Kera said cheerfully. ¡°Gotta get us thinking about how much we¡¯ll miss out on if we screw him over, that way we won¡¯t even consider blackmailing him.¡±
Jason spluttered a bit in indignation while Kera laughed at him. She placed Ceri on the table, and then got up and gave him a short hug.
¡°Kidding¡ kidding,¡± she said.
¡°So, whats the plan?¡± Jason asked Lumi after Kera released him.
¡°Brief summary¡,¡± Lumi began, ¡°the dungeon¡¯s Claim isn¡¯t expanding, but it¡¯s been putting up structures and rooms all over the place at a furious rate. We¡¯re¡ª¡±
¡°Hang on, wait. Rooms?¡± Kera asked. ¡°Like, on the surface? How does that work?¡±
Lumi shrugged. ¡°It was in the books we were supposed to read. Just adventurer jargon, really. Dungeon surface Claims are usually completely overgrown or covered in hazardous terrain, so that people generally try to stick to the paths the dungeon carves into it. ¡®Rooms¡¯ in this case means big, open areas, usually with buildings or monsters in them, whether they¡¯re buried ruins, caves, or forest clearings.¡±
¡°Ok, I think I get it,¡± Kera said. ¡°Sorry, continue.¡±
Lumi took a breath. ¡°Anyhow, Aurion¡¯s got a vague map now, and we went over the essentials. The long and short of it is there¡¯s a few different main routes through the Claim, lots of new buildings and monsters, and a variety of goals to compete for, like being first to find the entrance.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
¡°Wait, what do you mean ¡®find?¡¯¡± Jason asked.
¡°Uhh¡ well the scouting parties didn¡¯t find it themselves,¡± Lumi said. ¡°Or rather, they think they found it, as there¡¯s a giant whirlpool right in the middle of the region, but they couldn¡¯t get close enough to look on account of¡ª¡±
She cut off suddenly, the shook her head. ¡°Actually¡ no, wait. Look, this gets into exam territory. I¡¯ll explain when it¡¯s our turn, yeah? Aurion wants us to hold off on discussion until it¡¯s our turn to go check out the map and head out. We¡¯re up second, incidentally; we drew lots.¡±
¡°Second¡¯s good, if we¡¯re competing somehow,¡± commented Aldin.
Lumi nodded. ¡°I¡¯m actually betting the first group¡¯s leader is going to make a mistake. I¡¯ve bumped into Belris once or twice in training. He¡¯s¡¡±
She paused for a moment, as if searching for the right word.
¡°Hotheaded?¡± Ravs asked with a grin. ¡°Trust me, we know. All his friends are too.¡±
¡°I think I would have chosen ¡®gung-ho,¡¯ but sure,¡± Lumi replied.
¡°I don¡¯t know what that means,¡± Aldin replied.
¡°Basically enthusiastic and reckless, except usually specific to fighting someone,¡± Jason explained.
Aldin nodded sagely. ¡°Ah¡.Yeah that about sums up Belris.¡±
Lumi nodded towards the center of the pavilion, where a small group was making a beeline for the docks. ¡°Annnnnd there they go already,¡± she said. ¡°Quicker than I expected, even.¡±
¡°Welp¡ guess that means we¡¯re up already,¡± she said. ¡°Aurion¡¯s setting us out one at a time, but pretty much as fast as each group is ready to go.¡± She motioned for everyone to follow.
They made their way to middle of the pavilion, where Aurion was sitting at a large, circular table, upon which had been cast an illusory map of the area; presumably, the scouts¡¯ work. Off to one side sat the remaining Black Thorns members, and Jason noted with interest that neither Kaerlin nor the greatbow archer were present. Jason wondered if their portion was done, or if the unnamed archer was the first group¡¯s evaluator.
At the same time, Jason was surprised to see Sylvia, the Lapid [Arcane Duelist], seated at the table alongside Aurion. She gave Jason a short, cheerful wave as the group approached.
She then looked Jason¡¯s armor up and down briefly, followed by an equally brief examination of Kera and Lumi.
¡°Wow,¡± she exclaimed. ¡°Aurion wasn¡¯t kidding when he said you all had made some changes.¡±
¡°Uhhh¡ yeah. Just a bit,¡± Jason replied. ¡°Good to see you again. Why¡?¡±
Aurion interrupted. ¡°Sylvia Arrowgale will be your evaluator today,¡± he said. ¡°I believe some of you have met her already. She¡¯ll be coming along of course, but do not rely on her for assistance. She will attempt to stay clear of any fighting, beyond defending her own person as necessary.¡±
¡°Now,¡± he continued with a gesture towards the map image hovering above the table, ¡°as Lumiriel may have already informed you, we¡¯ve established several potential goals. Which ones you choose to pursue are up to you, and unless you choose to cooperate with other groups, any magic items, currency, or useful materials you come across are yours to keep.¡±
Aurion cleared his throat for a moment. ¡°Among the goals to pursue are specific harvesting quotas, diving the main dungeon and securing the core, and identifying and taking down any surface-level bosses that may be present.¡±
He gave Jason a look. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you¡¯ll be wanting to pursue the core?¡±
Lumi nodded. ¡°Absolutely,¡± she said.
¡°Then perhaps I should advise you that the previous group elected to take the direct route straight through the center of the region,¡± Aurion said. ¡°Belris desired that his group be the first to attempt whatever final defenses the dungeon may have below.¡±
Lumi face-palmed. ¡°I knew it,¡± she said. ¡°Such an idiot.¡±
¡°Should you be telling us what everyone else is doing?¡± Jason asked. ¡°I mean, if we¡¯re competing and all?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Aurion confirmed. ¡°Part of the evaluation involves seeing how you analyze the other groups¡¯ actions. Whether they impact your own goals, advantage and disadvantage of cleared routes, and so on.¡±
¡°Got it,¡± Jason said with a nod.
Sylvia tilted her head and looked at Lumi. ¡°On that note¡ why do you think Belris¡¯ decision was foolish? And you are not surprised that he chose a direct route?¡±
Lumi nodded. ¡°Yeah. He was really into drawing first pick, practically bouncing in his seat while you went over the basic rules. He was ready to get out there, kept asking about looting rights, and didn''t ask about the entrance or the camps.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± Sylvia asked with interest.
Lumi shrugged. ¡°Belris clearly was after treasure, judging by his questions. And we all know bosses drop the best treasure, and the same goes for completion. Furthermore, Dreja and Sanders¡¯ teams didn¡¯t spot any obvious surface bosses, and to my knowledge you didn¡¯t ask them to withhold anything. There could be some hiding underwater, or maybe chieftain-types in some of the bigger buildings, but with all the mana the dungeon must be slinging around, I doubt it. More likely, any bosses will be found inside the dungeon proper. If Belris wants the good loot, he needs to go for the bosses under the surface.¡±
Lumi leaned over the map, and began explaining the markers to Jason and the others. The surface Claim was divided into roughly five different sectors, as if the dungeon had felt a need to organize. In the center of the map stood the first sector, a circular region dominated by the whirlpool Lumi had mentioned, with an open space surrounding it that contained only a handful of squares that represented buildings. Beyond the central circle, the rest of the area seemed more or less divided into four distinct arcs. While there was some overlap, each was filled with squares and dots of a predominantly a single color: green to the east, which was closest to the staging grounds, blue to the south, red to the north, and a thin scattering of yellow to the far west. A great many of the squares pulsed slightly at various rates.
¡°Blue represents Murklings,¡± Lumi explained to them. ¡°The red is the newer Brakyura, those crab-men, yellow is undetermined, and the green is, well, a variety of bigger reptile monsters. Sobeks, Lizardfolk, and something called ¡®Grick¡¯.
She looked inquiringly at Kera.
¡°Its a scaled, beaked, snake-squid thing with lots of tentacles and suckers for a face,¡± Kera supplied. She paused a moment. ¡°Not really unlike that Merrow now that I think of it. Except a snake.¡±
¡°Gross,¡± Lumi commented firmly. ¡°Anyhow, the scouts reported that there¡¯s all sorts of new¡ uh, evolutions I guess, of each species type, so we¡¯ll be up against lots of stuff we haven¡¯t seen before. The pulsing there refers to various activity rates in the area.¡±
¡°As you can see,¡± Lumi gestured, ¡°there¡¯s some pretty major concentrations of buildings stretching fromthe southwest tothe northeast, withthe section east of the center holding the greatest concentration of species overlap. Meanwhile, the western quarter is almost completely undeveloped except for a single one of those big sunken-temple kind of things and a handful of small, unknown buildings surrounding it.¡±
Lumi leaned traced a line that slightly zigzagged through the section of swamp closest to the staging grounds.
¡°As for Belris¡ this path here pretty much cuts straight through monster central towards the middle, where that giant whirlpool sits there screaming ¡®dungeon entrance here¡¯.
¡°And that¡¯s a problem, why?¡± Sylvia asked with a small, knowing smile.
¡°Well,¡± Lumi replied, First, he¡¯ll have to fight his way through loads of monsters, and more importantly¡ª-¡±
¡°That¡¯s not where the entrance is,¡± Jason said suddenly, nodding.
¡°You see it too?¡± Lumi asked him.
He nodded. ¡°Definitely. May I?¡±
Lumi stood back. ¡°Be my guest.¡±
¡°It¡¯s a couple of things that immediately jump out at me,¡± Jason said. ¡°First is that mixture closest to us. Other than the far side, it¡¯s the only place that holds all three, uh, factions, we¡¯ll call it. But we already know that the Sobeks are like, leader types for the raids, right? And that uh¡ community, I guess, sits right smack along what used to be the main river.¡±
He traced a line from north to south, slightly off center on the eastern side, wherea wide, open swathe was visible. Once the line he tracedpassed out of the Claim, it was clear it connected on both ends to the river that ran parallel to the road.
¡°I¡¯d guess that¡¯s probably where the dungeon was first planted,¡± Jason said. ¡°The thing is¡ two days ago after the quake, Aurion informed us that the dungeon had moved the entrance somewhere else. Well, technically he said it was moved underwater, but the important takeaway is that the entrance can be moved. That means it may not still be in the same place, right?¡±
Aurion nodded along with a smile of his own. ¡°Correct.¡±
Jason nodded. ¡°Right. So the obvious place it would be is in the middle of that whirlpool, like some kind of giant siphon. But¡ we already know the dungeon likes distractions, and an educated guess pegs that big mixed population asprobably a leftover from the initial Claim.¡±
Jason tapped the western temple building. ¡°In the meantime¡there¡¯s this conundrum. A small mixed-species nexus with a major underwater building, positioned not too far away from two newer, major ¡®room¡¯ networks on either side, meaning a lot of activity in and around the edges of an area that looks like it¡¯s been largely ignored. That region is seeing nearly as much activity as the old river, where the first of the surface buildings probably went up, and we don¡¯t know what this place is for.¡±
¡°That certainly sounds like an entrance to me,¡± Aldin commented. ¡°Its on the opposite side though. Do we just go around the long way?¡±
Lumi shook her head. ¡°No, that would probably take quite awhile. We¡¯d be forcing our way through deep forest, in the rain and mud, probably without boats, and then have to swim for almost a half-mile. No way.¡±
A thought occurred to Jason.
¡°Hey Ravs¡ you¡¯ve got that teleport spell that makes all that mist, and I¡¯ve seen some of you other spells do something similar. I don¡¯t suppose you have some kind of dense fog spell, do you?¡±
¡°I can cast Obscuring Mist. It¡¯ll make a wide-area fog bank that follows me around. Why?¡±
Jason grinned at her. ¡°That¡¯ll do nicely.¡±
He turned to Lumi. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got a plan. Let¡¯s cut through slightly to our south. We can head west, ambush a few of those scattered pockets, sneak our way through the main Murkling camp, and then make a line straight for that submerged building on the far side. We take out anything in the area, and if it turns out to not be the entrance¡¯s hiding spot, we can still head back inwards towards the whirlpool afterwards.¡±
Lumi¡¯s eyebrows rose. ¡°You think we can sneak through one of the main camps?¡±
¡°Absolutely,¡± Jason said firmly.
¡°Alright, then,¡± Lumi said. She turned to Aurion. ¡°Looks like we have our route.¡±
Chapter 48.2
Chapter 49.2
After being handed a rolled sheet of magical parchment which Aurion informed Lumi would reflect the state of the region map, Lumi led Jason and the others to the stone pier where the punts awaited.
¡°Alright, so how do we do this?¡± Aldin asked upon arrival. ¡°There¡¯s what¡? Seven of us?¡±
¡°Eight if you include Shard,¡± Lumi replied. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure if Ceri counts. He¡¯s tiny. Unless we¡¯re changing that.¡±
¡°Uh, Shard?¡± Aldin asked. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±
Jason smacked himself in the forehead lightly in exasperation with himself. ¡°Right, right¡ there¡¯s so much I still haven¡¯t shown you guys. Just hasn¡¯t been time.¡±
¡°Shard, out you come. Sentry Mode!¡± Jason commanded.
Aldin and Ravs jerked backwards in surprise as the spider bot emerged in a flurry of clicking and whirring, and clambered down from Jason¡¯s back.
¡°I see your ¡®crossbow¡¯ got some upgrades, too,¡± Sylvia commented. She stepped cautiously towards Shard and leaned in to inspect the construct closely, though she kept her hands clasped behind her back.
¡°That is super creepy, dude,¡± Aldin said. ¡°Those legs¡ and that sound¡!¡± He gave a slight shudder.
Lumi made a thoughtful humming noise. ¡°Is it even OK to put Shard in a boat? He¡¯d need to grab onto the hull, and what happens when he needs to fire?¡±
¡°Shard¡¯s recoil is almost nonexistent,¡± Jason explained. ¡°He¡¯s also a shoulder-mount weapon, right? I took that into account when designing him. He¡¯s got both mundane and magical functions to reduce recoil and help muffle the sound of his shots, so I don''t injure myself whenever he fires.¡±
¡°I was thinking he could sit in the front, if we¡¯ve got room,¡± Jason finished.
¡°Speaking of room¡¡± Ravs said, ¡°that¡¯s a bit of an issue.¡± She nodded towards Echo, who was still enchanted with Kera¡¯s [Mount] evolution. ¡°No way is she fitting on a boat that size. She¡¯d sink it.¡±
¡°Actually, I think I have a solution to that,¡± Kera said. ¡°And it would mean the rest of you only need two boats, Shard included.¡±
¡°What do you mean?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°Well¡Evolution Surge can do all sorts of stuff,¡± Kera explained, gesturing. ¡°I was thinking it could be to our advantage to have me, Ceri, and Echo all in the water as aquatic escorts, right?¡±
Lumi nodded. ¡°When facing potential underwater threats? Definitely. What did you have in mind?¡±
¡°Two things,¡± Kera said. ¡°First, I can just do a new evolution ritual. Something for both changing size and altering them into an aquatic form. I¡¯m thinking¡ one of those rings as a focus, plus maybe a few breath pebbles and water-sight candies would do the trick. Maybe a water shard, too.¡±
¡°As for me,¡± she continued, ¡°I¡¯ve got the alligator form, but Jason keeps reminding me I haven¡¯t taken the time to learn new snake shapes, so¡ why not see what I can nab? I might be able to pass that on too, like how Echo is lightning-element right now.¡±
Jason looked to Lumi and shrugged. ¡°Sounds good to me,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few things that could maybe work for a ritual.¡±
¡°Will it take long?¡± Lumi asked Kera. ¡°We are in a sort of a race, and while I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll take the muscleheads ages to fight their way through monster central, I doubt Aurion will hold back the other teams while we prep.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Kera replied. ¡°Fifteen minutes, tops? Probably a lot sooner?
Lumi hummed to herself for a moment, then nodded. ¡°Alright. Go ahead.¡±
Kera brought up her interface and began parsing through her belt options.
While she did so, Lumi continued on. ¡°OK, let¡¯s see¡ Sylvia¡¯s supposed to stay as hands-off as possible, so she can pilot one boat. Aldin, you¡¯re primarily noncombat as well, and frankly Ravs, unless you¡¯ve been hiding some offensive ranged spells from us, you¡¯re relegated to support and defense whenever we¡¯re on the water. Why don¡¯t all three of you take the rear, while Jason pilots for me and Shard in the front? Aldin can heal from range, Ravs keeps him safe, and then Kera can be on point with Ceri and Echo guarding our flanks.¡±
She looked in turn to each of them, and Jason nodded in agreement along with the others.
¡°Alright, I¡¯ve got my pick,¡± Kera said once Lumi was finished. ¡°Nothing special, just a basic water-template snake. Should get me water-touched though. I can work that into the ritual easy enough with Jason¡¯s help.¡±
Closing her status screen, Kera activated her belt, collapsing downwards like wax and molding into the form of a ten-foot python with partially translucent, blue-green scales. A long, wavy dorsal fin ran down along her back, with scattered smaller fins along her body, giving her a distinctly eel-like appearance.
She slithered quickly into the water, where she spent a few moments swimming around to familiarize herself with her new shape. Then she coiled her way up one of the stone posts and heaved herself back up onto the dock, where she reverted to her kitsune form, this time clearly sporting a water-touched variation. Dark green streaks ran through her now primarily deep blue hair and fur, and she had what appeared to be tiny gill slits at the sides of her throat. Her tail was now lightly furred, thick and fish-like with small fins, which reminded Jason vaguely of a cryptid hoax he¡¯d once read about online.
Kera open her mouth to speak, and attempted to take a deep breath as she did. Instead, her gills flared, and she gave a horrid, mucous-filled sound and bent over, clutching her throat in a way that alarmed Jason. Then she straightened, scrunching up her face as she worked her mouth, gurgling for moment. She coughed once, hard, and spat a disgusting glob of something into the water. She grimaced.
¡°Ack, new muscles,¡± Kera groused, lowering her hands and shifting her shoulders as she took a proper, deep breath. ¡°Always takes a second to notice them. At least my body always seems to know how to use them. Doesn¡¯t stop me from being surprised by them in the first few moments though.¡±
She shook herself briefly, shedding leftover water, which seemed to simply slough right off of her hair, fur, and clothing.
¡°Alright. I think I¡¯m good now. And this template ought to help adapt Ceri¡¯s wings into something he can use in the water. Let¡¯s get started.¡±
The next squad in line did end up leaving before they finished up, but ten minutes and two short rituals later, Kera was downing a least potion, having changed Ceri and Echo into their new aquatic forms. Both now sported stubby fingers with webbing between them, much like an otter¡¯s ¡®hand¡¯, except with wicked-looking claws at the tips of each finger. The membrane and bones of Ceri¡¯s wings had shifted around, providing a set of folding, sweeping fins capable of propelling him rapidly forwards. Their long, powerful tails provided similar function as well, and both beasts were about eight feet in length, now roughly the size of a dolphin.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Everyone piled on into the punts as Kera shifted into her alligator form and dived into the water alongside her pets. Jason set Shard up to grip onto the front end of his and Lumi¡¯s boat, while Jason himself took the rear position in order to steer. As for the other boat, Aldin settled down in the middle with one of Jason¡¯s healing wands, while Ravs guarded the front end and Sylvia piloted.
They pushed off into ever-deepening gloom. At first, Lumi conjured a small orb to help light their way, despite Jason pointing out that this would make them highly visible. However, shortly afterwards Aldin informed them with the expenditure of a small amount of mana, he could embrace his beast-touched heritage to the point that he could see well enough in the dark, and thus would be able to guide Sylvia. So Lumi doused her light, only reconjuring a greatly weakened version to occasionally check the map. Meanwhile, Jason switched to relying on a combination of the lifesense and thermographic settings on his helmet to pilot his and Lumi¡¯s craft. Kera and her pets needed no such magical aid, course: her [Primal Huntress] and [Shared Senses] skills were more than up to the task of navigating in complete darkness.
Beyond that, the first ten minutes of travel or so was pretty boring as far as Jason was concerned. They pushed out into the deeper swamp, slowly poling their way along and getting the hang of the steering. They headed quickly northwards at first, and then hooked west, crossing over the point where the road should have been. A few minutes further found them venturing out into even deeper water, while drooping, moss-covered trees arched high overhead, blotting out what little sky there was and creating a kind of dark, flooded tunnel system.
Jason found the near-silence to be unnerving. There were no birdcalls, no distant animal sounds; only the sound of sloshing water at their passage disturbed the stillness around them. As a result, Jason startled and nearly fell out of the punt the second they crossed the threshold into the Dungeon¡¯s claim and he received the quest notification. He wasn''t the only one, either; Lumi had jumped as well, and he heard Ravs mutter a quiet oath moments later.
You have entered a surface region Claimed by a Dungeon Core! Beware its minions!
You have received a new Dungeon Quest: Fight or sneak your way to the entrance!
Bonus Objective: Clear at least five Rooms on the way.
Reward: One Common-Tier Materials Chest.
Bonus Reward: One random Chest of any type.
Jason couldn¡¯t really see Lumi¡¯s facial expression in the darkness; his visor only provided enough detail for vague impressions rather than proper nightvision, but it seemed to him like Lumi was grinning as she turned in place to call a halt.
¡°Good thing we already planned to hit a few spots,¡± Lumi said. ¡°More loot is always welcome, yeah?¡±
She re-conjured her spark of light and unrolled the map.
¡°Looks like from here we have maybe five minutes of winding tunnel, and then we¡¯ll want to hook a left,¡± she announced one everyone had gathered as close as they could. ¡°After that, it¡¯s pass two branch-offs, then take the next right, and we¡¯ll be at the first of what I¡¯m just gonna call the ¡®island rooms¡¯. That¡¯ll be our first target.¡±
¡°I want to take this first one a little carefully,¡± Lumi declared. ¡°It¡¯s only a small cluster of what looks to me like basic dwellings. Several very small buildings, all quite close together. I¡¯d hazard it¡¯s essentially a lair room, probably doubling as a guard post, what with being so close to the edge.¡±
¡°I doubt there¡¯ll be any problems, but I¡¯d like to get us some eyes-on before we rush in, just to make sure. Jason, you said you had ideas for sneaking? We might do a test run here.¡±
¡°Good idea.¡± Jason replied. He pulled out the aquatic movement rings he¡¯d made the previous night. ¡°Those dark green candies we used in Kera¡¯s ritual? Among other things, these rings provide a similar benefit, allowing us to see clearly when surrounded by water, regardless of depth or dirt or anything else. That¡¯s why I asked Ravs if she had any fog spells: there¡¯s no reason the enchantment shouldn¡¯t let us see right through it.¡±
He turned to Ravs. ¡°Think you could manage a fog spell and a shroud at the same time?¡±
Ravs inclined her head slightly. ¡°Yes. Obscuring Mist is a¡ what did you call it during training? A ¡®fire and forget¡¯ spell? It doesn¡¯t require me to concentrate on it. Shroud does.¡±
¡°Great,¡± Jason said. ¡° Then between the fog, the darkness, and the shroud, we should be able to get right up into their faces. With a bit of luck, they might not even realize the fog shouldn¡¯t be there. Even if it doesn¡¯t work like that, they¡¯ll have a hell of a time actually spotting us.¡±
¡°Let¡¯s test it here first, then,¡± Lumi said. ¡°If the rings work the way you hope, we¡¯ll take a quick look from a distance while Ravs keeps us shrouded. If it¡¯s just basic murklings and whatnot, we¡¯ll go in hard and fast. Otherwise, we¡¯ll pull back and rethink things. Sound good to everyone?¡±
Even before they broke free of the fog bank, it was obvious to Jason that the murklings suspected something was amiss. Thanks to his ring, Jason could clearly see five of the creatures standing guard along the shore, near a cluster of small, circular huts that were propped up on stilts. Three of the five held spears, and the fish-creatures were making a series of alarmed fluting sounds to one another as they peered intently into the mist that had formed a wall across the waterway. Two others had emerged from one of the huts as well, no doubt to see what the commotion was.
Lumi quietly drew her sword with one hand, steadying herself in a crouch with other while Jason gave the punt an extra-hard shove, propelling them swiftly onwards. They burst free of the fog just as Ravs canceled the shroud, provoking an immediate, panicked response from the creatures. Three of the armed shore-guards rushed into the shallows to intercept, preparing to dive into the water, while the remaining two ran for the huts.
With a roar, Kera surged upwards from just beneath the surface of water. She seized the closest murkling in her jaws, rapidly snapping her head from side to side, which shattered the fish-creature¡¯s spine before she flung it sideways into its brethren. Cries of pain burst forth from the two as they were bowled over. , but Kera ignored them in favor of pushing her way forwards, leaving them instead to be set upon by Echo and Ceri. The moment she was free of the water, she turned toward the two murklings by the hut, who were in the process of snatching up their spears. She opened her maw wide, and a jet of flame erupted from her throat, engulfing them.
Meanwhile, Jason¡¯s propelled his craft rapidly to the shoreline, with Ravs, Aldin, and Sylvia close behind. The moment the bottom of the vessel ground against the shore, Lumi stood, flexed her legs, and vaulted over the side.
¡°Meteoric Strike!¡±, she yelled as she touched down, and a halo of fire burst in existence around her. She rocketed across the intervening space, slamming her bracer¡¯s flame-shield into of the back of one of the murklings who¡¯d been attempting to flee towards the supposed safety of the buildings. It staggered heavily, shrieking as it caught fire, only to fall to the ground dead as she ran it through.
Several more warriors came boiling out from the huts as the murklings began calling the alarm loudly. Jason jumped down onto the wet, marshy soil, and mercilessly ordered Shard to begin torching the buildings with flame rounds while he drew his lightning wand, electing to hold position and support Kera and Lumi from range.
Sylvia meanwhile grounded her punt next to his. Aldin moved up to Jason¡¯s side, while Ravs disappeared in a short blast of mist only to reappear a short distance away, at the entrance to one of the huts. She lashed out with both daggers, striking down an emerging fish-man before he could defend himself.
The fight was over in moments. With Shard firing upon the buildings, Kera and her pets tearing into any fleeing murklings who tried to make for the water, and Lumi and Ravs rapidly blinking across the battlefield to strike down any resistance, Jason never even needed to lift his wand. Their sudden attack had caught the murklings almost completely off guard, and it wasn¡¯t like they were particularly challenging opponents in he first place. Aldin even just crossed his arms and leaned against the boat to watch, once it became clear his healing wouldn¡¯t be needed.
Jason felt a bit bad for the young [Shaman]. At least Shard was part of Jason¡¯s [Machinist] class, so he was technically participating. Aldin probably wouldn¡¯t get any XP at all. Internally, he grumbled a bit over the fact that even here, reward systems discriminated against healer roles.
Not five minutes after the initial contact, the bodies of a dozen and a half slain murklings were breaking down into motes of light as everyone regrouped. Jason harvested what he could from the bodies before they despawned completely, managing to acquire a small number of units¡¯ worth of both Breath and Swim. He was also surprised to see the smoldering remains of the huts breaking down as well; he wondered if it was because they had been made of mana themselves, and if the Dungeon could respawn them at reduced cost like it could the murklings.
¡°Well¡ that went faster than I honestly expected,¡± Lumi commented after a brief moment to catch her breath. ¡°Everyone ready to keep pushing forward?¡±
¡°Hopefully with something for me to do this time,¡± Aldin groused.
Ravs just patted him lightly on the shoulder.
Chapter 49.1
Chapter 49.1
The assaults on the second and third rooms were more of the same, and went about as smoothly. Each islet was no more than a cluster of small huts for living space, and Jason and the others used the combination of darkness and Ravs¡¯ Obscuring Mist to great effect.
The second set of huts had had a pair of frogoids lounging about in front of one hut, almost like a pair of dogs. They¡¯d also come across a species of rare marsh reed that Jason identified as possessing the Perceive trait, which meant that combined with what he could harvest from the frogs, Jason was able to put together a good-sized batch of [Potions of Extended Nightvision], which were immediately passed around.
Jason wasn¡¯t totally clear on the status of Sylvia regarding her knowledge of his skills, so at first he hesitated to use [Brew Potion] so openly. What decided him was the fact that her exact job here was to evaluate their abilities and competence. She couldn¡¯t very well do that if they were holding back, not to mention that holding back could be dangerous. If Aurion had meant for Jason to hide his key skills from Sylvia, Jason was fairly certain the man would have said something.
Once everyone could see clearly through the murk, they were able to pick up their pace. The third cluster of huts were cleared in no time at all, and they were moving on within minutes. It was only then that they began to run into difficulties: the dungeon began to react to their presence.
As they neared the estimated location of their fourth target, at a point where their current corridor took a sharp turn, Kera suddenly surfaced and called out to the rest of the group. ¡°Hold up everyone. Lights up ahead, to our left.¡±
Jason couldn''t see any, but nevertheless he shifted his grip on the pole and brought the punt to a halt. Sylvia did the same. With a lash of her powerful tail, Kera circled quickly back around to the side of Jason¡¯s craft. At the same time, Echo¡¯s dark form surged forwards beneath the water, heading off into the darkness.
After a moment of waiting, Kera lifted her head and propped it against the side of the boat so she could address Lumi. She kept her eyes closed as she spoke.
¡°Two¡ªno, four light sources in the distance. Moving slowly, but coming our way,¡± she said. ¡°Looks like¡maybe a hunting group or patrol of some kind. And they¡¯re riding¡ oh, gross! What is that? It looks like some sort of disgusting slime-fish. There''s a bunch of murklings riding---¡±
She cut off, and tilted her head as if thinking.
¡°Wait... I¡¯ve read about these. They were covered under¡hang on, let me recall Echo.¡±
She paused again, then opened her eyes.
¡°We¡¯ve got two bogri incoming,¡± Kera said to Lumi. ¡°They¡¯re like¡ frogoid tadpoles gone horribly wrong. Imagine an enormous, slimy fish-eel with just two webbed, clawed hands and lots of teeth. Murklings use them as a kind of workhorse because they¡¯re big enough to strap baskets to. They can either hold on for the ride or use them to haul cargo, and they¡¯re strong enough to easily swim against currents. The lights I spotted are basically waterproof algae-lamps.¡±
¡°How soon, and can we let them pass us by?¡± Lumi asked.
Kera shifted her snout from side to side. ¡°Unavoidable. We''ve got two minutes, maybe less.¡±
Lumi swore loudly, and quickly looked up and down both sides of the waterway as the light in the distance began to grow brighter. She was clearly hoping to spot a place where they might have enough room to make a stand. Unfortunately the water passage was mostly bordered by a sheer ledge, blocked by both dense trees and heavy undergrowth, which dropped immediately into a few feet of water.
¡°Ravs, cloak us,¡± Lumi ordered. ¡°Buffs out, get your rings on, and brace yourselves ¡ª this is going to get wet.¡±
Thick fog immediately began boiling off Ravs¡¯ shoulders. Kera dived and Echo came racing back, joining Ceri and their mistress below the surface. Jason began angling his punt to one side, in order to be closer to what little shore there was, and also positioning for a broadside from he and Shard and Lumi. Meanwhile Aldin chanted a series of spells, and the mace he¡¯d withdrawn lit up in a riot of different colors. He held one of the healing wands in his other hand. Ravs continued to exude dense fog, and drew both her daggers.
With some confusion, Jason briefly noted that Sylvia was no longer in the punt with Ravs and Aldin, having vanished somewhere, but then the two bogri were sweeping down upon them and he didn¡¯t have further time to wonder.
Kera hadn¡¯t been kidding about the bogri¡¯s size. The creatures strongly resembled enormous mud puppies, except that they were the size of a bus and sported a mouthful of needle-like teeth. Jason could see that they had what amounted to a series of basket-like saddles strapped to either side. Each basket held a single murkling, and glow-lamps had been affixed to the outside of the center baskets to provide meager light.
The creatures came within sight of the rapidly growing fog bank, and one of the murklings barked out an order, and the bogri closed towards one another in the center of the waterway. They sank downwards, submerging most of their bodies and the saddle-baskets along with them into the water.
Jason had the sudden realization there was a rather large flaw in their strategy: while fog spells were great for concealing your location on the ground, they don¡¯t function particularly well under water. He had only enough time for a sudden expletive before the water roiled violently and the bogri accelerated to top speed, headed straight for their tiny crafts.
Lumi stood and extended both hands to either side with a cry, and her [Shadow Curtain] rippled into existence ten feet away, extending down into the water and partially above it. For a brief moment, Jason expected to see the telltale ripples of something massive impacting the barrier.
Unfortunately for him, this was not the case. Much like their frogoid cousins, bogri were more than capable of leaping straight out of the water. Just before they impacted the shield, the serpentine creatures gave a powerful, sinuous lunge that flung them up out of the water, where for a moment they scrabbled wildly for purchase with their webbed claws.
They latched on, heaved themselves forward, and came sliding over, back down into the water with a massive splash that rocked both punts severely. Jason lost his footing, and toppled backwards over the side.
His armor weighing him down as it was, Jason sank like a stone. His back impacted the riverbed, and he struggled to find his feet. Jason¡¯s heart began to race, and he willed himself not to panic. He firmly reminded himself that his helmet was mostly enclosed, and he had his ring already activated. In fact he didn¡¯t need the helmet: he could breathe perfectly fine without it, and wasn¡¯t in any danger of running out of air. Just to prove it to himself and to steady his thoughts, Jason took a deep, measured breath. The air smelt strange thanks to the purification properties of his ring, but it was air nonetheless. He forced himself to relax, found his footing, and took stock of the situation.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
He could see clearly enough. A dozen feet in front of him, a battle raged in the water as Kera and her pets fought tooth and claw with one of the bogri. She¡¯d morphed into her gorthek form, no doubt because it was far more massive than the crocodile, capable of actually standing in the deep water. He saw the water turn a shade of red as she gored the beast in the side.
Jason did have some difficulty seeing out of the water, but it was clear enough that Lumi had somehow managed to keep her balance; no doubt her mobility skill and high agility at work. A searing gout of wildly uncontrolled flame erupted from her extended arm, illuminating the area and presumably barbecuing one of the murklings. The others took to the water in a flash, abandoning their baskets.
Jason didn¡¯t have much time after that to worry about his companions, as several of the fish-men spotted him just standing there at the bottom of the waterway. Spears were leveled, and with a kick of their finned legs, they launched themselves in his direction.
Jason knew he¡¯d never out-swim them. Even if he had time to pull out a swim speed candy, the water was a murkling¡¯s native habitat, and he was wearing armor. While he could still move, and even swim with a lot of effort, he¡¯d be far too slow to escape. Instead, he¡¯d have to meet them head-on. Jason bent his knees slightly, sinking closer to the floor. He swiftly swapped his two primary lightning shards out for a pair of the preciously limited Steel shards that he¡¯d gotten while processing earthheart. It felt like a lifetime ago since he and Pelk had harvested the stuff.
The first of the murklings closed in, attempting to skewer him directly. At the last possible moment, Jason raised both hands and pushed off hard with both legs, launching towards his attackers. He twisted as he did so, rotating slightly as he activate his gauntlet enchantments in sequence. He batted the oncoming spear aside with a wide, serrated disc of steel, and used that momentum to change a slight turn into a full spin. Jason planted his fist against the surprised fishman¡¯s side just as his melee module extruded from his forearm. A solid, foot-long spike of steel punched straight through scale and flesh alike. Blood clouded the water as his opponent screamed and went limp, but Jason could still see thanks to his ring. He kicked off away from the now-dying murkling and turned to meet the spears of the others.
Grinning to himself, Jason deactivated his current armaments, and extended his left arm outwards in the general direction of the swimmers. In his mind¡¯s eye, he imagined in detail the process that occurred within his shard cannon as he gleefully opened fire underwater. First came the barrel-clearing blast of elemental air, which forced out the water and filled the barrel with oxygen. Then a gunpowder charge was swiftly ejected into the pan, one kept safe and dry within the confines of the gun¡¯s spatial storage. A round was chambered, and the fire shard pin came down.
With little more than a deep, muffled thump, Jason¡¯s arm cannon fired flawlessly despite him being six feet underwater. The two murklings in his cone of fire barely had time to register they were being attacked before Jason¡¯s round ripped through the water, leaving behind a growing trail of ice crystals in its wake. The lead murkling was only a few feet from Jason; it was struck directly in the chest by what amounted to a density-enchanted icicle traveling at over five hundred feet per second. It died instantly, even as the shard¡¯s magic encased it in a near-solid block of ice.
The small shock wave of expanding ice and high-velocity fragments took the second murkling by surprise. It lost one of its arms at the elbow as its right side was caught in the ice bloom. Thus encased together with the dead murkling in a miniature iceberg, it bobbed to the surface. Jason didn¡¯t bother to follow up with a second shot. One of his allies would finish the hapless creature, it would bleed out from the loss of its arm, or it would die slowly of hypothermia before it managed to free itself. A gruesome way to go, but Jason now had other priorities: namely, the bogri.
Kera¡¯s fight with one of the creatures was not going well. Lumi had her own boat shielded with a hemispherical barrier of light, but that had only served to allow the other bogri to shove her far out of position, while preventing her or Shard from returning fire. Jason watched with dismay as the bogri gave up hammering against the shield. It gripped down into the mud with its claws, bracing itself as it slammed its tail into the punt carrying Aldin and Ravs, who¡¯d been fending off encroaching murklings. Their craft was smashed to flinders, and the pair plunged into the water.
Jason mind raced. He knew his current location wasn¡¯t going to allow him to help his allies further. Despite the rather explosive results, his attacks couldn¡¯t travel very far in the water, and he couldn¡¯t swim at more than a crawl. But watching the bogri sink its claws into the mud gave him an idea. His skills were largely the result of the Voice¡¯s intercession. Nothing said that Shard needed to actually hear his commands: the thing didn¡¯t even have actual ears or eyes, so would the intervening water even matter?
He called out to his Contraption, mentally as well as vocally. It jerked upright and dived straight into the water like some kind of demented squid. It sank straight to bottom, and began dragging itself along by stabbing two legs forward into the mud, yanking itself forwards, and repeating the process. Within moments it was at Jason¡¯s side.
Under Jason¡¯s direction, Shard wrapped three of its legs tightly around Jason¡¯s waist and shoulders. Jason was then dragged rapidly to the edge of the water, whereupon Shard hauled him out of the water. His Contraption¡¯s sharp, pointed legs bit into the soft, half-rotten bark of nearby trees, and like a massive, mechanical spider Jason ascended upwards into the canopy. Shard flipped them both around, and suspended in the air, they drew aim upon the enemy below.
A disturbing sense of glee ran through Jason as he and Shard rained hell down upon the murklings and their bogri. His own ice shards froze the water around the great beasts, trapping them in place. Shard¡¯s flame rounds punctured the bogri¡¯s slimy skin and roasted them from the inside. When Jason¡¯s magazine ran dry, he swapped it out for high-velocity air shards, which ripped through the murkling ranks like miniature tornadoes and waterspouts.
It was a slaughter. The murklings had brought no ranged capability of their own. Four of the bogri-riders wielded barbed whips for some reason, but they weren¡¯t long enough to reach him. For that matter, although Jason couldn¡¯t see it himself, the slowly dispersing fog probably meant that even if they¡¯d had bows or the like, they would have had trouble seeing him. Jason almost felt bad for them, except that moments ago they¡¯d been trying their damnedest to kill him and his friends.
As far as Jason was concerned, completely unfair no longer mattered in such cases.
¡°Arcane Reconstruction,¡± Jason commanded, holding out a hand towards the scatter remains of the second punt. He felt his mana drain significantly as the sundered craft pieced itself back together, but that was fine: he hadn¡¯t actually ended up using any during the fight.
Of all of them, it was Lumi and Ravs who¡¯d truly exerted their mana-pools. Ravs¡¯ fog and shroud spells weren¡¯t cheap, so she¡¯d been low to begin with, and she¡¯d made use of several short-range confusion spells to keep the murklings coming at her and Aldin only one at a time. Not that daggers were the best defense against waterborne spears. She¡¯d also broken her arm when the bogri smashed the punt apart, but thankfully that was relatively minor for Aldin to fix. According to him, minor breaks and surface wounds were far easier to heal than major organ damage, like the impalement Lumi had once suffered.
Kera had ended up a right mess, covered in dozens of lacerations, but apparently her shapeshifting helped a fair deal when it came to healing. Two greater healing potions and a return to her crocodile form were enough to put her back together. Just to be careful, as they were poling about in a swamp, Jason used some of his precious new ingredients to whip up a pair of Cure Disease potions and made her drink one. Despite Ravs¡¯ reassurances, he wasn¡¯t going to simply trust that the region¡¯s Rot and Disease aspects wouldn¡¯t affect their likelihood of catching something. After all, it was clearly affecting the trees after only a few days. In fact, he was now determined that they¡¯d harvest as much they could after everything was finished. He¡¯d even pay people to go out and harvest for him, given the opportunity.
The punt finished its self-restoration, and Jason lowered his hand. It took some doing, but eventually they got everyone back into their proper positions. Sylvia reappeared from wherever she¡¯d vanished, everyone topped back up, and after some brief deliberation about future plans, they were once again on their way.
VotW Returns! Ch 49.2 plus News!
Chapter 49.2
It had taken Jason a few minute¡¯s worth of [Arcane Reconstruction] to put the punts back together while the others gathered up the loot and assessed injuries. That had put a significant enough drain on his mana that he was going to need a few least potions, and he wasn¡¯t the only one in need of a top-up, either. Ravs had actually broken her arm when the punt had been smashed, Kera had taken some fairly extensive wounds from the bogri, and Lumi had drained much of her own mana in trying to prevent the same from both happening to her and her vessel.
Once potions had been distributed and everyone was back in their respective punts -or treading water in her aqua-kitsune form, in Kera¡¯s case- Lumi called a strategy session while the potions got to work.
¡°First off¡holy shit Jason, you¡¯ve been holding out on us,¡± Lumi exclaimed. ¡°I mean seriously, what the fuck was all that?¡±
Jason coughed nervously. ¡°I, uh¡ may have been playing it more than a little too safe in the past weeks, after the whole arrow debacle. There¡¯s¡ a lot of nasty things I could be doing that I¡¯m hesitant to make use of, because, well¡ it¡¯s not like this is some kind of game with options to turn of friendly fire, you know?¡±
He gave Lumi a wry grin and shrugged with embarrassment. ¡°But at least with Shard¡ well um, I enchant him to be a really good shot so that hopefully that wasn¡¯t going to be a problem, and¡¡±
Lumi held up a hand, interrupting him. ¡°Alright, I get it. Moving on. Ravs, Aldin? Those bogri were far and above anything we¡¯ve seen so far, and I don¡¯t remember hearing about anything like that from the scouts. Any thoughts on why there are suddenly patrols where there weren¡¯t before, nor did the scouts report any such thing? Were we just unlucky, or is there some other reason?¡±
¡°There is a reason,¡± Ravs said calmly. ¡°By now, most everyone will have entered the Claim, and the Dungeon is reacting to the presence of so many people. Remember, it thinks of us as food. When there is a single small group headed directly in, there is no reason for the dungeon to act¡but when food is plentiful, and traveling in many different directions, it will work hard to get every last scrap.¡±
¡°That¡ makes a terrifying kind of sense,¡± Jason said. ¡°Please tell me it doesn¡¯t know exactly where we are at all times?¡±
¡°It does not,¡± Ravs replied. ¡°It is not.. truly aware enough unless we come into its Core Room.¡±
Lumi blew out a sigh of relief. ¡°Well that¡¯s a load off my mind, too, thanks for that terrifying thought, Jason.¡±
She continued with a look towards Jason. ¡°Next up, loot. What¡¯d we get?¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
¡°Some good stuff, but not much of immediate use, unless you want me to spend time experimenting,¡± he replied. ¡°More [Aquatic Sweetbreads], several jars¡¯ worth of [Bogri Slime]¡ quite a few random plants I haven''t had a chance to identify yet, either; apparently one of the baskets had stuff in it. And then of course, there¡¯s this¡.¡±
Jason hefted the trident that one of the murklings he¡¯d killed had left behind after despawning. He gestured to the simple rune script that twined its way up the haft.
¡°This here¡¯s a [Trident of Swift Swimming], and I actually learned two runes off of, both of which I really wish I¡¯d had before we started.¡±
¡°What runes?¡± Sylvia asked with curiosity.
¡°Swim and Velocity,¡± Jason replied.
Lumi¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Velocity, seriously? Is it open-ended, or specific to movement speeds or¡?¡±
Jason gave her a wide grin. ¡°Oh its very open ended, like most runes. For that matter, so is Swim. Both of them make me want to rub my hands together and laugh forebodingly.¡±
¡°No mad science!¡± Kera said firmly, swimming in a sudden circle with agitation. ¡°You¡¯ve already almost killed yourself several times now.¡±
Jason wanted to blow a raspberry at her, just to lighten the mood, but decided would be kinda gross with the helmet on, so he refrained.
¡°Fiiiine,¡± he said in mock resignation, instead.
¡°Back on topic, we¡¯re on the clock here,¡± Lumi insisted. ¡°Jason, go ahead and store our loot; we¡¯ll check things out as we go but unless something is immediately relevant to someone¡¯s skill-set, we¡¯ll wait until we¡¯re back safe and sound to divvy up.¡±
¡°Next order of business: we clearly need to start scouting ahead. Kera, anything you have for us on that front?¡±
¡°I can!¡± she exclaimed excitedly. ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing this in my free time in case there was ever a time I didn¡¯t want to risk Ceri. It¡¯s hard, and I¡¯ll need to sit in a boat to do it probably because I need a lot of concentration to pilot two at once, but I¡¯ve got those two summon spells, [Murderous Crow] and [Spider Spy]. The spider works a lot like when I¡¯m controlling Ceri, but its slow. So I thought.. why not give it something ride? It¡¯s tiny after all.¡±
¡°The crow I can give orders to mentally, but I can¡¯t actually see what it¡¯s seeing so normally I can only direct it places in light of sight. But together? Then I can watch through the spider¡¯s eyes and give commands to the crow way outside my own visual range, up to a few miles. More than enough for here.¡±
Lumi cursed quietly. ¡°You really should tell me about stuff like that, Kera. We definitely should¡¯ve been using something like that, at least every so often to have a better look around, rather than you sending Ceri out. We could''ve had Jason bring a spare boat.¡±
¡°Sorry,¡± Kera replied, hunching her shoulders slightly. ¡°Its a bit mana intensive, so I hadn¡¯t thought it was really¡ ready, I guess?¡±
Lumi waved a hand. ¡°Look its fine, just tell me next time when you¡¯re working in stuff like that.¡±
She rested her chin on the back of her hand while she glanced around the swamp briefly. After a moment of thinking, she spoke again.
¡°Alright. Here¡¯s what we¡¯re gonna do. Kera, you¡¯re in the boat with Jason and I for now. I want you scouting ahead to check for patrols while we move on, we¡¯ve already wasted more time than I¡¯d like. Jason, you¡¯ll be putting Shard away whenever Kera¡¯s with us, since there¡¯s no room. Once we get to the next island room, we¡¯ll start having Kera scout for patrols between us and our destination first, just a quick aerial recon, before deciding how to proceed.¡±
¡°Everyone topped up by now?¡± she asked.
Jason checked his status briefly and then nodded alongside everyone else.
¡°Alright, lets move out!¡±
Chapter 50
Chapter 50
You totally set me up for this, Jason thought at Lumi, snorting with faint embarrassment at the knowing grins of his companions.
He wasn¡¯t actually indignant, not really, because Kera leaning back against him as if asleep was far from unpleasant. After all, she was soft, currently rather fluffy, and highly attractive. No, it was the knowledge that he was enjoying himself, and that everyone else,including Kera, totally knew it that was making him feel¡ well, he wasn¡¯t sure what exactly. It was complicated and pleasant and embarrassing all together though.
And it was absolutely Lumi¡¯s fault. Somehow, when the other girl had suggested she pilot the punt while he resupplied some of their simpler potions, she must have known this would happen. He¡¯d been wary of the sly grin she¡¯d had at the time, and now he knew why: unlike Jason, she hadn¡¯t forgotten that Kera had a preference to just go limp and wholly focus on her pets when sharing senses. And, well, her relatively newfound enjoyment of teasing him, too. Which had led to his current predicament. Namely, Kera having purposefully leaned herself back against his chest while she wrapped one of his arms around her waist before activating her spells, leaving him with only one arm to try and craft potions with.
It had taken a bit of extra effort, but he¡¯d managed, thanks to all the pre-processing he¡¯d done back home. Now he was just sitting there, feeling lightly embarrassed over how much he was enjoying having Kera snuggled up against him, wondering how his life had managed to turn so strange. Only a month ago he¡¯d been a college student just coasting his way through life. Now he was¡ some kind of super-rich, magical scientist-engineer, wearing hand-crafted armor right out of a scifi movie, making his way through a monster-filled swamp while holding a serenely happy-looking fox-girl in his arms.
Talk about reinventing yourself, he mused.
Eventually, Kera stirred under his arm and shifted slightly, but made no move to disentangle herself from him, instead shifting so her head leaned more comfortably against his armor. Her eyes opened, but she stared blankly off into the distance, unseeing. Jason assumed she was still viewing through her spider¡¯s eyes.
¡°OK, so good-news-bad-news,¡± she announced as Lumi called a brief halt. ¡°The good news is there¡¯s no more patrols between here and the next room. Looks like that was the only one. Bad news¡ the next room is big. Not village-big, but several large, new structures, lots of murklings, several of them variants we haven¡¯t seen. And there¡¯s a cluster of three of what my lore skill is calling ¡®Corrupted Spawning Pools¡¯, which is some kind of befouled version of the pools murklings and frogoids breed in. They¡¯re gross, with scummy water and glowing eggs and stuff. But more good news, kinda? They have a bunch of chests sitting in the middle on a tiny mound of earth, if we want to clear them.¡±
¡°I¡¯d bet money that¡¯s a Challenge Room then,¡± Aldin called out. ¡°There¡¯ll be something nasty in the pools, possibly a number of somethings, and if we trigger the event before clearing everything else, we¡¯ll have a real nasty fight on our hands.¡±
¡°How many is ¡®lots¡¯?¡± Lumi asked.
¡°Ummm, maybe a couple dozen?¡± Kera replied, ¡°The few groups outside are moving around lots, so its hard to count, but there¡¯s bound to be more indoors. It¡¯ll take me time to get my spider into the buildings to get a real count, though.¡±
Lumi considered the information for a moment. ¡°Your opinion on the danger level?¡±
¡°It looks OK to me,¡± Kera replied. ¡°We fought much worse defending the town, to be honest. None of these weird breeds look all that dangerous, and nothing is setting off any alarm bells for my lore skill.¡±
Kera shifted again, sitting up slightly and tilting her head to one side in thought while biting her lip. ¡°I¡. don¡¯t usually get the chance to get close enough, but since its mostly vision based, I could see if I can use my spider to use Analyze on what I can¡.?¡±
¡°Can you do that?¡± Lumi asked in surprise.
¡°It¡¯s based on me examining something up close so¡ maybe? At worst my summons get dispelled.¡±
¡°Alright, go ahead,¡± Lumi said. ¡°In the meantime, let¡¯s keep moving.¡± She began poling their punt forwards once more.
Kera leaned her head back against Jason, and began mumbling quietly to herself. ¡°OK¡ let¡¯s try this. Open window¡ oops, almost got¡ Ah, there¡¯s a regular one who¡¯s distracted. Landing behind it¡ yep! Worked. Now to find¡.¡±
A few additional minutes of Kera¡¯s mumbling past, when she jerked upright with a sudden squawk. She overbalanced, and Jason quickly threw his other arm around her for a moment to before she went over the edge. Once she had regained her balance, he released her.
Kera shivered for a second, wrapping her arms around herself. ¡°Ew. That was¡unpleasant. Got snapped up by a frogoid I didn¡¯t see. I¡¯m gonna have nightmares about getting crunched now.¡±
She took a deep breath to steady her nerves, then looked pensive for a moment before turning towards the other boat.
¡°Hey Ravs¡? Do dungeons usually um, need specialized buildings or rooms before they can make new kinds of monsters, or like¡ upgrade old versions? Or they need certain structures before their minions can take certain classes¡?¡±
Ravs looked like she was carefully considering her answer, but Jason was surprised when Sylvia spoke up first instead.
¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s been covered in your course just yet,¡± the woman began, her long ears twitching in amusement, ¡°as normally we wouldn¡¯t have had the practical until a few months from now. There¡¯s a few nuances to the full answer, and the why of it is debatable, but the ultimate answer is yes.¡±This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°OK, I thought that¡¯s what I was seeing,¡± Kera replied. She turned back to Lumi. ¡°Anyway¡ enemy forces. There¡¯s a fair number of ordinary murklings, which we knew. There¡¯s also three new¡ variants? ¡species? I dunno what to call them. Anyway, we¡¯ve got bladefins, which are pretty much what you¡¯d expect. Weaponized fins on their arms and legs, plus a ground speed to use them well.¡±
¡°Then there¡¯s several ¡®inkgills¡¯. They¡¯re¡ very minor spellcasters of some sort. I couldn¡¯t get a good read on them though. My skill is only rank one, and it partially failed against the one I was able to sneak up on, so I didn¡¯t get more than they have minor spells. They still use the spears though, so I¡¯d hazard they¡¯re a bit like a spellblade?¡±
Lumi grimaced at that, but didn¡¯t interrupt, so Kera continued on.
¡°Last, there¡¯s two ¡®Murkling Lashers¡¯, which I think are a classed version of the basic ones. They¡¯re like¡ beastmaster types. They¡¯ve got these uh¡ I think they¡¯recalled nine-tailed whips? And they had bigger, meaner-looking frogoids with them, but I think they were still normal frogs, just higher level ones.¡±
After Kera seemed to be finish, Lumi spoke up once more. ¡°Alright then, that doesn¡¯t sound too bad. Good work on the scouting. I think we¡¯ll definitely avoid the pools for now, at least until we¡¯ve cleared the area and had a chance to examine them in more detail, preferably from a distance.¡±
Lumi hummed thoughtfully to herself for a minute before continuing.
¡°OK, here¡¯s the plan. We¡¯re going to do this one a bit different, both because of the numbers involved and because our last encounter showed us a pretty major flaw in our stealth strategy. Besides, before we actually tackle the core or any bosses, it will be good to have a least a live test of our more defensive tactics that we¡¯ve worked on at practice.¡±
¡°Instead of spreading out and going for shock and awe, I want us in close formation this time. Kera¡ you, Echo and Ceri will be on point as our main fighters. I¡¯ll be positioned just behind you, running defensive shielding as needed while funneling the mobs to the central point. Aldin, you¡¯ll be on full support behind me; buffs and heals only for you. Jason, I want you¡ª¡±
She trailed off thoughtfully for a moment, turning to him.
¡°¡Actually, I forgot to ask, hows your ammo situation looking after that display earlier?¡±
Jason grimaced and tried to rub the back of his head, before realizing he had a helmet on. ¡°Ehhh¡. I may have gone a bit overboard there. I mean, it was a bit of an emergency, really, but I didn¡¯t have the time to prepare enough rounds that I can spend them with impunity, and I can¡¯t just whip up more on the fly without slowing us down enough to jeopardize our finding the entrance first. I won¡¯t run dry anytime soon, but¡¡±
Lumi held up a hand to stop him. ¡°I understand, its fine. In that case, I¡¯d rather you conserve your main firepower for potential boss fights. So for this room, I want you and Shard with Aldin, on overwatch. Take shots as needed to cover people, protect Aldin from rear attacks, but otherwise stick to one of your temporary wands. Or run spot healer.¡±
He nodded.
¡°Last of all,¡± Lumi said, ¡°now that we finally have some more open ground¡ Ravs, I want you doing what you do best. Circle around behind them, use your stealth and illusions to take out any casters that are holding back, or any other soft targets you can get your knives into, but make sure you don¡¯t get separated so far you can¡¯t get back to me if we encounter any problems.¡±
¡°We¡¯ve got this.¡±
Jason had Shard in his shoulder-mount configuration, and as they burst free of the fog line, he opened fire on the beach with a handful of fire-shard rounds. The handful of murklings loitering on the shoreline panicked as great gouts of flame and mud erupted all around them, and they fled towards the closest mud-huts, away from the oncoming punts.
Kera, Ceri and Echo then burst up out of the water, dashing onto dry land, where both Kera¡¯s mistwolf and frost beetle took shape as well, creating a wedge formation.
The moment Jason¡¯s punt ground against the muddy ground, Lumi was leaping into ankle-deep water, her golden aura enveloping them even as her feet splashed down.
Jason himself stumbled slightly as he jumped out, unused to being so off-balance due to Shard¡¯s weight, but he caught himself and sprinted through the shallows after Lumi. As he ran, he lined up his arm with one of the fleeing murklings. He¡¯d already swapped out his steel shards, which had thankfully survived the previous fight, and with a sharp twist of the dial to disable the power magnification in order to preserve the shard, Jason activated his projection enchantment. A lance of fire shot towards it, striking it in the back.
Aldin jumped into the shallows besides him, with Sylvia once again nowhere to be seen, and together they quickly took up position behind Lumi, slightly to either side on the inside of Kera¡¯s wedge. The young shaman called out a short incantation, and the fell to one knee, slamming his mace into the ground. A fleeting swirling blast of leaves sprang from nowhere and surrounded them before dissipating, leaving Jason with a strange sensation of stability and enhanced strength. Aldin stood, and second spell from him called forth balls of lightning that spun into existence, rapidly orbiting around Ceri, Echo, and Kera.
By the time the murklings rallied and began to organize themselves, Lumi¡¯s [Sunlight Shields] had flashed into existence along the group¡¯s flanks, essentially forcing the murklings to attack head-on. The first several to close the distance were knocked aside by Aldin¡¯s lightning shield, twitching violently as they were hurled away from Kera and her pets. Others were mauled by claws, or seized in jaws and flung aside as a flood of the fish creatures charged their position.
The evolved murklings showed their value to the dungeon quickly, however. Unlike the maddened swarmers they¡¯d seen during the Battle of Arnvale, these new variants were comparatively intelligent, capable of tactical assessments. The inkgills, easily identified by the jet-black veins that ran across their bodies like tattoos, had held back, seemingly content to observe the battle from a slight distance. Suddenly, one of them barked an order and leveled its trident in Echo¡¯s direction, launching a bolt of shadow-stuff which temporarily blinded the rockhound. Immediately, a trio of bladefins, far quicker than their ordinary brethren, attempted to dart past her to leap at Jason. However, Jason had been waiting for just such an attempt to be made. A command to Shard took the first one right out of the air, and he batted the second aside with his flameshield, eliciting a painful shriek from the creature. The third tried to cut away at Jason¡¯s legs with a finned arm as it dashed past him, but his armor was more than up to the task. Instead of laying Jason open as it has expected, it was bowled over sideways by a swift kick, putting it well within reach of Kera¡¯s frost beetle, which spewed freezing slush all over it, adhering it to the ground.
Unfortunately, the momentary distraction on Jason¡¯s part to confirm the bladefins were finished lasted long enough such that he missed the inkgill lining up a second spell, this time aimed at him.
Just as Jason turned back to face the front, he was engulfed in a cloying, clinging shadow that dampened sound and sucked his breath away. Panic caused him to fall to his knees and scrabble at his throat as his felt his lungs fill with a sensation of terrible cold. Jason shook as he attempted to cough out the foul-tasting substance, splashing the inside of his helmet with a dark fluid.
His sight began to dim further, and he felt his thoughts growing sluggish and confused, but suddenly a green warmth filled his mind, washing it all away like a heavy wind through fog. Sound returned, and with a second wracking cough filled his lungs with air once more. He found himself being hauled to his feet and steadied by Aldin, who shouted something he didn¡¯t understand, but which brought his mind back to the battle at hand.
In the distance, he saw Ravs, surrounded by dispersing mist and cutting down the two inkgills. He shook his head to clear the last of the confusion, took a shot at a murkling that was trying to dodge past Ceri, and soldiered on.
Chapter 51
As the last of the murklings fell, a lasher taken from behind by one of Ravs¡¯ knives, Jason allowed himself to finally sink down to the ground. Getting hit with the inkgill¡¯s spell had taken a fair bit out of him.
Aldin started to move in his direction, a concerned look on his face, but Jason waved him off with a simple, ¡°I¡¯m fine, just exhausted.¡±
Jason wasn¡¯t the only one to take a breather, either. Kera¡¯s two summons abruptly dissipated as she dug her hind legs into the ground and flopped over with a final exertion, exposing her croc-belly to the air, before suddenly shrinking back into her ordinary, unaugmented changeling form. Jason chuckled to himself as he watched her blow a plume of wispy hair away from mouth, too tired to even bother moving her arms.
After a minute or two, the bodies of the dungeon¡¯s minions evaporated, and Jason hauled himself to his feet. He left the others to pick up the scattered bags of minor coins left behind by the ordinary murklings, and instead chose to first see if the inkgills or lashers had left anything interesting. Sure enough, one of the casters had left behind a small vial of fine, black powder.
As he called up his [Arcane Sight], Jason reflected how odd it was that they basically got free containers along with the loot, at least from dungeonspawn anyway. Convenient, certainly, and at least it meant you didn¡¯t always need to carry around spare jars for some as disgusting as bogri slime. Still, he felt it was a little strange that somehow the Voice provided free sacks and jars and vials, and yet somehow here was no game-like inventory system.
[Vial of Arcane Powder - Shadow] - A rare variety of arcane powder contaminated by shadow aspect mana. Usable only in the creation of shadow-aspect items, with a slight chance of creating additional effects. Traits Discovered: Mana, Shadow.
Then again, maybe it was a dungeon-loot thing. It wasn¡¯t like he got free containers when harvesting local flowers and herbs, nor did he receive any such thing when manually harvesting the bodies of slain frogoids¡ assuming they lasted long enough before despawning. And yet, if he let it happen naturally though, he didn¡¯t always get any meat, but what he did get came in small packages.
Jason snorted, laughing at himself trying to make sense of everything again. Lumi was right; it was a thing he did almost automatically, never letting things just be. Of course, that kind of thinking is what led him to his current fortune, so he had trouble seeing where the problem was¡
¡°Oi, Jason, stop daydreaming!¡± Lumi called out to him. ¡°Come and look at this.¡±
Shaking himself, he located Lumi standing on the edge of the three spawning pools. With a start, he realized that the entire village had been somehow arranged around them. First, the three, perfectly circular pools of filthy, reddish water, arranged in a triangle formation, but with space between them so you could walk into a fourth circle in the center, this one made of dry land. Beyond each pool was located one of the major structures of the ¡®room¡¯ - one for each evolved form of murkling, if Jason was guessing things correctly. The open-faced hut that looked very much like some kind of twisted stables, complete with small ponds in each stall, probably belonged to the lashers. The barracks-like log cabin was probably for the bladefins, which to Jason meant that in turn, the large enclosed stone hut belonged to the inkgills.
Between the three primary buildings was where the ordinary murklings had made their homes: more of the small, stilted mud and wood huts they¡¯d seen quite a number of so far.
It was the pools, however, that Lumi had called Jason over to, because there, in the center of the entire formation, was a wide, circular mound of earth topped with a collection of small chests clearly covered in some kind of arcane energy.
Lumi pointed towards a long line of runescript that was running along the ground in front of her, cutting straight across one of the paths that thread between the pools and into the center.
¡°Tread carefully.¡± she warned him, also giving a significant look towards Sylvia, who¡¯d mysteriously reappeared at some point and was now quietly following along, watching and listening.
Jason quickly flicked through his helmet¡¯s sensor enchantments, activating the zoom feature along with the nightvision to examine the several treasure chests piled amidst the center of the encampment.
¡°Yeah looks like Aldin called it for sure,¡± he confirmed after a moment. ¡°There are definitely runes all over those chests. There¡¯s also some kind of pedestal in the center, maybe for some kind activation or spell. I¡¯d need to get closer to read them properly, but its definitely some kind of trap.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Sylvia smiled faintly to herself, as if making some kind of mental note. Jason couldn¡¯t decide if that meant he¡¯d made a mistake or just done something right.
Just to make sure, he went ahead and switched to his life sensor, planning to check the pools for any surprises, and his heart leapt into his throat as the pools positively burst into brilliance. He jumped backwards with a loud curse, bringing up his shield barrier reflexively before it registered on him that whatever it was he was looking at, it wasn¡¯t moving. Yet.
Lumi was backing as well, taking his alarm as a warning, but he quickly forced himself to relax and waved her back forward.
¡°Sorry, false alarm,¡± he apologized. ¡°Those pools are absolutely teeming with life. There¡¯s so many signatures there I can¡¯t even make out what it actually is. But they¡¯re¡in stasis or something? Completely, utterly still, at any rate.¡±
¡°Related to the¡ challenge, do you think?¡± Lumi asked.
Jason squeezed his eyes against the glare before switching off his sensors. ¡°Probably. Lemme get a look at these runes.¡±
Jason activated his [Arcane Sight] while he carefully looked over the runes inscribed across he ground. They didn¡¯t seem like much; mostly a large chain of linking runes that appeared to run along together, kind of like when Kera¡ª
¡°Aha.¡± he said out loud as the realization clicked. ¡°These are actually the border of a ritual circle.¡± He drew Lumi¡¯s attention to where the runes passed into the water. ¡°Look there. It¡¯s hard to see, but these actually keep going just along the shore under the water. If we follow it along¡¡±
Jason motioned Lumi to follow, and slowly walked along the edge until he found what he was looking for, right where the lodge lined up with the triangle formation of the pools.
¡°Annnnd yep, look¡ there¡¯s your trap sequence right there,¡± he confirmed to Lumi, pointing.
He motioned her back a moment before kneeling down to get a better look, careful not to come anywhere near touching the rune sequence. It was hellishly complex, but Jason had had a certain degree of experience with that lately. His hard work studying paid off with a quiet chime as he received a system notice.
Critical Success! Thanks to your recent efforts studying how simple runes can be made into more complex variations of themselves, you have been able to identify the basic structures of the Ritual of Awakening! You have been awarded knowledge of the following runes: Awaken, Cleanse, Sleep.
Knowledge of the ritual blossomed into his mind, and Jason made the realization that he had to be looking more than one ritual, because this one was designed to slowly woke up everything that was within the pools.
Scanning across the water with [Arcane Sight], he found what he¡¯d missed before, under the water¡¯s surface. While he couldn¡¯t accurately see the whole circle, Jason¡¯s zoom feature let him see enough, causing him blanch and back away from the water¡¯s edge slightly.
¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t touch the water,¡± he emphasized to the two women. ¡°There¡¯s more than one ritual here. Get so much as a toe wet, and you¡¯ll be pulled in and put to sleep. Permanently, until someone triggers the event.¡±
¡°Damn, so it¡¯s just a trap then?¡± Lumi asked, disappointed. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll have to leave¡ª¡±
Jason held up his hand to interrupt. ¡°No. It¡¯s an event for sure. The trap is if you try and avoid crossing the runes on the ground by going through the water. I think crossing the circle on land is perfectly fine. A red herring. I need to double check first, but gather everyone up in case I¡¯m wrong?¡±
Lumi nodded and turned away, calling for the others. Meanwhile, Jason took his time, pacing around the edges of the circle, looking for any kind of trigger mechanism that might hint that stepping into the circle at all would be a poor idea. When he failed to find anything, he took a deep breath, checked behind him to make sure everyone else had gathered together, and stepped over the line onto the path.
He breathed a quiet sigh of relief when nothing blew up in his face, and cautiously made his way towards the interior.
Now that he was up close, he could see that there were close to a dozen small, plain wooden chests. They were uniform in construction; unadorned, and perhaps no more than two handspans in size apiece. A slightly shimmering field of arcane energy flowed over them, and Jason didn¡¯t even need to active his [Arcane Sight] to know that the field would prevent you from opening them until it was dispelled.
Which of course, led him to the small pedestal with an ornate stone book lying on top of it, which had a single activation rune carved into its ¡®pages¡¯.
After very brief moment¡¯s study of the entire area using [Arcane Sight], and Jason began to laugh quietly to himself before returning to the others.
Lumi gave him an odd look, so he guessed his amusement must have shown on his face.
¡°Well, I definitely know that this challenge is,¡± he announced. ¡°In fact, barring some kind of mini-boss, which I¡¯ll admit I won¡¯t rule out as a possibility, I¡¯m about¡ oh, call it 95% sure I know we can take this.¡±
¡°Oh?¡± Ravs asked, raising an eyebrow at him with a smirk.
¡°It¡¯s a Horde Mode event.¡± he declared.
Lumi let a laugh slip before she recovered. ¡°What, really?¡±
¡°Pretty damn sure,¡± Jason replied. ¡°That pool is full of a ton of mobs, all in some kind of sleep-stasis. The ¡®rewards¡¯ is locked behind a timed system that both slowly unlocks access to the chests while at the same time pulsing the awakening runes on the edges of the pools. Activate the ritual, and you have to fight of steady waves of monsters, and once you¡¯ve killed them all, the treasure¡¯s yours.¡±
¡°If I had to guess,¡± he added, ¡°given the pool is ¡®corrupted¡¯ we¡¯ll be facing a whole mess of those swarmling types we saw back at the well, probably with a variety of other stuff mixed in here and there.¡±
Lumi looked out at the central ¡®island¡¯ dubiously. ¡°I don¡¯t really like the idea of being surrounded¡.¡±
Jason grinned at his friends. ¡°Oh no, no need to do that at all. Look, here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do¡.¡±