《Project Looking Glass: Freelancer》 Prologue ¡°Look Michael, it isn¡¯t going to happen,¡± the Career Counselor told me. I looked back at the man. He was a veteran of thirty years in the United Earth Navy, and his son was one of my best friends. If he said it wasn¡¯t going to happen I believed him, but my stubborn streak wouldn¡¯t let me just give up like that. I responded, ¡°Why not? I have almost completed my initial tour of duty, have no marks against me in my file, and I even managed to get two degrees while still doing my job.¡± The older man smiled and said, ¡°You have. Granted I¡¯m not sure what a degree in Mythological Studies will do for you, but the degree in Military History doesn¡¯t hurt. It¡¯s not your capability that is in question. I¡¯ll level with you. If you wanted to become an officer for a post that didn¡¯t require a security clearance you could go far. You however are trying to get into Military Intelligence. That involves a substantial background check, including looking into your relatives. While there is nothing illegal going on, your father is an unknown and your mother is in debt. You have a college loan to pay off, which is a moot point with the military subsidizing the cost, but your younger sister is also in college. You wouldn¡¯t be able to get the security clearance necessary.¡± There it was, like always, money made the world go around. I had joined the military to help pay for college and start a career that would carry me out of the near poverty I had grown up in. My friend Ken had told me his father could help me choose a good path, and I had gone for it. While I had done well in the physical demands of the military; I had always known it would be my mind and my ability to absorb and break down information that would help me succeed. Unfortunately I hadn¡¯t considered the problem of an unknown father or the family financial situation when I put forth my desire to go into the officer program. ¡°So my option is to either be an officer in a job where I¡¯m going to be spinning my wheels, or muster out and start over?¡± I asked. A calculating look entered the old man¡¯s eyes as he looked at me, ¡°Maybe not. Look I don¡¯t want to get your hopes up, but there is another option that will allow you to start fresh. It¡¯s a bit of a gamble, and will require you to push yourself to your limits. If it works however you could be set for the rest of your life.¡± I was interested so I asked, ¡°What can you tell me?¡± ¡°Not much, mostly because I don¡¯t know all the details. You have heard about the Pioneer mission right?¡± I nodded; the United Earth Federation was launching its first colony ship, the Pioneer, into deep space on route to a new planet for colonization. No one knew how to get a place on the ship, but many adventurous souls were gnashing their teeth to see a new world. I asked, ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°Apparently anyone in good standing with the military who will be mustering out within the next few months has the option of going on the journey, provided they agree to serve four years after landfall on the militia or in civil service positions. About half the people this was offered to have declined the option because of family obligations. There are rumors that colonists will have the opportunity to gain land and wealth of their own on the way to the new planet but I don¡¯t know the details,¡± he continued. I considered the old veteran. Even if he had more information, it was likely being kept secret from the public and he had always been a straight shooter. He wouldn¡¯t tell me what the details were, but if he was offering me the chance it had to be worth it. I asked, ¡°Is there a catch I need to know about?¡± He waggled his hand in a so-so gesture and said, ¡°Nothing that I can share that isn¡¯t obvious. It¡¯s a long journey to another star system, so time will pass here while you¡¯re on your way there. So you will be giving up on any life here. You can¡¯t take any wealth you have here with you, but everyone will be getting a fresh start.¡± I caught his hedging of the catch and knew there would be another catch to this obviously good deal. The fact that he couldn¡¯t share it bothered me a little, but I asked anyway, ¡°And the not obvious part?¡± He grinned and said, ¡°Without violating any rules all I can say is you won¡¯t be the only one looking for a fresh start.¡± I nodded, my mind spinning with the limited information and forming chains of logic that gave me a few dozen possible reasons for others seeking a fresh start. The most likely options being either minor criminals seeking to get away from their past, or others that were in hiding such as those under witness protection; or people like me with family history that would hold them back from being able to rise as far as their talents would take them. I smiled and said, ¡°Where do I sign up?¡± He returned my smile and reached into his desk to pull out some papers, ¡°Well first I give you this Non-Disclosure Agreement.¡± We began the process that would put me on the UEF Pioneer. @ @ @ @ @ @ Six months later I found myself settling myself into a long term stasis pod while a bored technician droned on with his safety speech, telling me how to get out in the case of an emergency and how I had nothing to worry about. I had already read through the technical documents regarding the pods. While I didn¡¯t understand the specifics of how they worked, I had memorized the safety features and general use information. Tests had indicated that the mind had to be kept active during prolonged stasis, such as would be required for the travel between stars, or the mind would atrophy along with the body. While keeping the body active had long ago been mastered for the pods, it was keeping the mind going that had proven to be a problem. People as a whole grew bored with repetitive exercises that most researchers had tried to implement. Knight Technologies had introduced the idea of giving the players a game to play instead; something that would simulate life, but provide challenges to the people in stasis. Full Immersion Virtual Reality technology was still a dream when they came up with the idea, but the stasis pods proved to be the technology that was lacking. Knight Technologies made enough money with their ground breaking Beyond the Looking Glass game, which was based loosely on the classic Alice in Wonderland story, when it was released. Now apparently we would be immersed in a new version of the game, using the same core system, known as Project Looking Glass. I thanked the technician when he was done with his briefing and settled in, breathing deeply as darkness took me, only to open my eyes seemingly moments later to find myself sitting in a comfortable rocking chair looking at a small blonde woman petting a white rabbit across from me in a matching chair. I stuttered a bit and said, ¡°Hello.¡± The woman smiled, and I could admit she bore a passing resemblance to the old Disney version of Alice, as she said, ¡°Greetings, and welcome to Project Looking Glass. I am Kathryn and I will be your guide for the start of your adventure.¡± I chuckled and said, ¡°So not Alice then.¡± She smiled softly and said, ¡°No; but I am the AI in charge of helping settle new players into the game, and explaining the rules of the contest.¡± ¡°Which do we do first?¡± I asked. ¡°Which would you prefer?¡± she asked in response. I pondered for a moment. I hadn¡¯t played many games, but knew that if I was going to build myself toward a specific goal it would help in the long term. I stated, ¡°How about the contest rules first then.¡± She nodded and said, ¡°The contest is relatively simple. Each player will be able to eventually earn land and wealth in the game. The world setting is a mirror to the planet Seras that you are traveling to. A portion of the land you claim within the game, and prove you can hold, will be yours to begin your homestead on when you arrive. Due to the time dilation within the game, and the length of the journey, you will have effectively twenty years to stake your claim.¡± The math took barely an eye blink as I realized that meant that there was a four to one ratio of time, as the trip was scheduled to take five years to cross the distance. I asked, ¡°How much is a portion?¡± ¡°That would depend on how much you held. It is listed as a sliding scale. Anything over one hundred acres would be subject to diminishing returns,¡± she answered. That made sense, even as far back as the European Dark ages a plot of land that size was able to support a large family. This meant that placement of the claim would be important. I asked, ¡°What is to stop other players from trying to claim the same land? Do we get any resources at the end of the contest?¡± Kathryn shook her head and answered, ¡°Only you can prevent others from claiming your land. As to resources, a portion of the wealth you earn during the time can be converted to resources or tools to help you develop your land. The exact price will depend on how much wealth is gained within the game. I know that basic housing will be provided to anyone who claims a holding, but beyond that will require you to prove yourself.¡± Now I understood the gamble that the counselor had referred to. If I didn¡¯t earn enough to start a life for myself, I would be back to square one. At the same time I could manage significantly more that what I started with. In addition it seemed that all players would be starting on the same foot regardless of previous financial standing.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°What about guilds, or clans, or whatever they are called in this game?¡± I asked as the thought struck me. She smiled and responded, ¡°Not many have thought that far ahead to ask me about group claims. The terms are interchangeable depending on the world region as far as what you are asking. For the most part Guilds will refer to various trade specialists such as crafters and gatherers. For the purpose of this conversation I will use the term Clan as it doesn¡¯t have much of a place outside of a family group within the game. If a clan holds land; each member of the clan is entitled to an equal share, or a share defined by the clan charter, of the land they hold. The wealth of the clan will be used to determine additional purchases after landfall for housing and support. Individual purchases will be made for individual land claims. It will be recommended for players to be part of a clan they can get along well with as if the clan holds land they will likely be neighbors.¡± I considered that, it would seem that a large enough clan could hold an equally large territory. It did bring up a concern for much further in the future however and I asked, ¡°What about future colonists? If the land is all claimed before they arrive how will they get a chance to start their life here?¡± A small giggle erupted from her mouth and she answered, ¡°Very good. Only claims on the eastern continent of the planet are guaranteed. In addition any land claim will have a secure claim of twenty acres that will not be taken away from you or your family while a member lives or until ten generations have passed. Claims made on other land masses are exempt from this rule except for the island chains within five hundred miles of the continent. The details will be announced for defending a far off claim when the next colony ship is ready to be launched. Do you have any more questions regarding the contest?¡± A few questions tickled the back of my mind, but I couldn¡¯t quite bring them forward, so I asked, ¡°Is there a way to ask further questions during game play?¡± She nodded, ¡°Temples to the gods will permit you to ask questions of the game AI, me, at a later date. It is in message format so be sure to include the details you wish to know about. If the question is common a notice will be provided to all players in some manner. If that is all I will explain the game and we can proceed with your character creation.¡± I nodded my acceptance and she explained the game restrictions. Most of it was standard fare for a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). The major rule however was Non Player Characters (NPCs) should not be told that the players were playing a game. If this was done the player would be penalized and their statement garbled. We were expected to immerse ourselves in the world. NPCs had some knowledge of the game mechanics but thought it was a standard way of life. ¡°So mention of statistics, depending on context, is fine; but saying we are playing a game is a no go?¡± I asked. Kathryn replied, ¡°That is correct. Be careful of what and how you bring up game information, even among other players, as you never know who is listening.¡± I accepted the caveat and said, ¡°What about character creation. How do we do that?¡± Kathryn waved her hand and four medallions on simple chains on a small coffee table appeared between us. Next to the medallions was a small sheet of paper and a mirror. ¡°You may use the mirror to make minor physical adjustments to your appearance. The paper holds a listing of your statistics, and the medallions each represent a class option available to you. Once you have finalized your appearance and looked at your character sheet I will explain the statistics.¡± I looked in the mirror first. Instead of my reflection it showed a three dimensional model of me along with some various sliders to adjust it. I was listed at six feet two inches, and two hundred and fifty pounds though I looked more like I was a runner with my build. My hair was a sandy blonde that showed hints of bronze except in bright light. My eyes were a hazel green that I had always thought made me look like a villain. I used to wear glasses but had gotten surgery to fix them when I was in the military. I saw no reason to change my appearance and set the mirror down to review the character sheet.
Name: Michael Wolfe
Class: None
Core: None
Strength 5 Offense 5
Agility 6 Defense 5
Vitality 5 Spirit 5
Willpower 6 Unassigned
Luck 5 Unassigned
Skills
None
Abilities
None
Traits
None
Most of the information was standard, though I noted the lack of a health point system and an intelligence score, as well as a statistic that represented social interactions. As I reviewed the information Kathryn said, ¡°Most of this information is as it sounds. Strength is your physical strength and will affect those tasks. Agility is a combination of your various motor skills along with your hand eye coordination. Vitality is your general health and physical wellness. Willpower represents your mental fortitude, while Luck affects everything in a general sense. The Offense, Defense, and Spirit scores are based on your primary statistics and represent your base values for combat activities related to hand to hand combat or magic. There are more statistics that will be unlocked as you meet the requirements and each can be reviewed by focusing on the stat in your character sheet. Skills are your active skills that you learn or demonstrate within the game. For example your record indicates you served in the military so have a basic training in marksmanship. If you display that skill within the game you will see a record of that here with a rating based on how it compares to others. Abilities are special abilities learned in the game, such as various magic spells. Traits are passive abilities that are always active even if they do not always have an effect in whatever activity you undertake.¡± I nodded and stated, ¡°I don¡¯t see and Intelligence score, or hit points for that matter.¡± She responded, ¡°Intelligence is hard to measure. There is an old argument regarding book smarts versus street smarts, and the designers decided it was better to let natural intelligence be the only way that is represented. The same is true for a stat like Charisma as in most games it represents both looks and social interactions. As far as hit points are concerned, that is a hidden value based on your vitality. Players will see a health status icon for themselves as their health deteriorates but no numerical basis. The designers decided that having a score indicate you were only down a quarter of your hit points when you get shot in the head is a detriment to the realism. Instead the numbers are hidden and attributed to various body parts, when those hit points are depleted the part can¡¯t be used.¡± I clarified, ¡°So the score is still there, but players won¡¯t be able to see it. Instead we get an indicator when our health begins to get low?¡± She nodded and continued, ¡°If you are in a party you will see a representation of another person¡¯s general health as well. Beyond that you will need to discover on your own. Now every new player is granted a chance at one of three bonus traits based on the player¡¯s history. Please choose yours.¡± Lucky Break: Sometimes you just get lucky. There is a chance when you are dealing with others that they will attempt to help you however they can; this may or may not be the result you were looking for. Basic Training: You have completed military basic training. You will begin with an increased skill rating in ranged combat, hand to hand combat, and etiquette. You will also receive bonus reputation gains with friendly military factions. Learned Man: You have established yourself as an intellectual individual, set to prove brain is better than brawn. You will receive an increased skill rating in research and lore skills relating to your chosen fields. You will begin with texts of creatures based on your knowledge. You will also receive bonus reputation gains with friendly scholarly institutions. I took a moment to think of the options. Both Basic Training and Learned Man would give me increased reputation gains, which from my research were always a positive in games. I wasn¡¯t worried about the skill bonus, as Kathryn had said that the game would record demonstrations of these skills. I decided to settle on Lucky Break, because like the old saying went ¡®I¡¯d rather be lucky than good.¡¯ ¡°I¡¯ll take Lucky Break,¡± I told her. She nodded and I saw the entry on my character sheet change to reflect my choice. She then continued, ¡°Each of these medallions represents a class option you have based on your history.¡± Each of the medallions had a different geometric design on them, with between three and eight small colored indentations. She indicated each medallion as she explained, ¡°This is the Warrior class, focusing on physical combat of one form or another. This is the Scholar, a hybrid magical class with no focus on offense or defense. This is the Spy, a hybrid fighter and magical support class with an emphasis on information gathering.¡± She stopped and looked at me for a decision. There were four medallions though so I asked, ¡°What about the last one?¡± She held up the final medallion, with five white indents and said, ¡°This is the Freelancer class. It is always an option to new players, but has does not give anything but general benefits. It is commonly used by adventuring tradesman who wishes an increase to their survivability when traveling far from civilization. While it does not have any major strength, it also lacks any major weaknesses.¡± I grinned, I thought I would prefer to be flexible in my options; especially since there was no indication if we would be stuck with a single class or not; which did raise the question, ¡°Is there a class change option in the game?¡± She nodded, ¡°Yes, though the exact method will need to be discovered once you start playing.¡± I reached out and claimed the medallion, hanging it around my neck and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take the Freelancer than.¡± She cocked her head and stated, ¡°Honestly I expected you to choose Scholar or Spy. The only other Freelancer so far is an engineer who wanted to have combat options.¡± I shrugged and said, ¡°Since I won¡¯t be limited in the future I figured starting out with a flexible class would be of the most benefit.¡± She nodded and then started showing me how the game¡¯s abilities would work by granting me a spell Ice Shard and letting me do some target practice. It was based on intent and all I had to do was focus my will on using the ability and a shard of ice flew from my hand to impact the wall. I said, ¡°This is cool.¡± She winced at the unintended pun and said, ¡°Unfortunately you don¡¯t get to keep the ability. It was merely used as a demonstration.¡± I sighed and watched as the spell disappeared from my character sheet. She continued, ¡°I think that is everything, unless you have more questions?¡± I shook my head and said, ¡°No, I¡¯m ready to get started.¡± She nodded and said, ¡°Enjoy the show.¡± I sat down and my vision darkened into a sea of stars. I saw the UEF Pioneer flying through the emptiness. My vision passed through the halls to see the crew working daily tasks. Suddenly an alarm sounded and a voice announced, ¡°Unknown object approaching. Brace for impact!¡± The ship rocked and a pure white crystal speared into a corridor. Alarms blared and emergency lights kicked on. I watched as the crew ran to their stations and damage control teams rushed to the breach. From the crystal emerged small three foot yellow creatures, they reminded me of the classical fantasy goblin, with sharp teeth and glowing red eyes. In the end the security team for the ship managed to defeat them, but they could not extract the crystal from the hull. As the ship continued its journey toward Seras the view faded, but not before I noticed the crystal shift slightly outwards, growing along the floor. Chapter One I could hear a banging noise, metal on stone, as I began to wake up. I couldn¡¯t move, and for a moment I began to panic. I heard a male voice call out, ¡°There¡¯s another one in here.¡± ¡°Get him out,¡± responded a female voice. My panic subsided as I realized they were talking about me. The banging sound continued and soon I felt the pressure on my body ease as whatever held me down was removed. Opening my eyes I found a man in a rough smock and trousers with a mining pick in his hand. When he saw me open my eye¡¯s he nodded and moved off to begin banging on another area. As I looked around I found that I had been incased within a green crystal, chunks of which were on the floor nearby. I noticed I was still in the ship skinsuit I had been wearing on the way to Seras, but had nothing else on. A woman, with blonde hair down to her shoulders and wearing a steel breastplate along with a blue uniform, stepped into my field of vision. She said, ¡°Easy now, your companions are a little confused as well, but so far everyone seems to be making a swift recovery. I¡¯m not sure why you were in the crystal but we need to make sure there was no lasting damage or mutations from it.¡± Placing a hand on the edge of the crystal opening I stepped out and asked, ¡°How many have you found here, and what do you mean by mutations?¡± She nodded, seeming impressed by the fact that I wasn¡¯t beating around the bush on questions, ¡°We have found twelve so far, including you. As for mutations, we have found that those exposed to the energy of the crystals for too long develop strange mutations, sometimes creating monsters where once there was only an animal.¡± My eyes were still focusing in the dim light of what seemed to be a cave and I said, ¡°That should be all of us. I¡¯m not sure if the others are alive or dead, but there were twelve of us there. I feel normal, a little woozy but everything seems to be where I left it.¡± I heard the lady call out that they were looking for at least five more people in the crystal, before she turned back to me and said, ¡°I am Squire Rhiogail Siodh of the Kingdom of Vendras.¡± Manners forced me to answer, ¡°Michael Wolfe, colonist on the UEF Pioneer.¡± ¡°Some of your companions said they were on the same ship, I am assuming it was a ship, on their way here,¡± Rhiogail responded. I nodded, ¡°Yes, we were in stasis for the trip in the same compartment.¡± She asked, ¡°Do you remember anything about how you came to be incased in the crystal?¡± I shook my head and answered, ¡°Yes and no. I know our ship was struck by drifting crystal, but it was only a shard that was four meters into the ship. We had to deal with some small yellow beasts, but it didn¡¯t cause us any issues in continuing so we reentered stasis for the rest of the journey. The next thing I knew was waking up to the miner banging on the rock that surrounded me.¡± The squire grimaced and said, ¡°The crystal grows, the scholars say that sources of energy increase the spread.¡± I grunted and said, ¡°That would explain why I woke up surrounded by crystal. The pods had a lot of energy sources to them to keep people alive. I wonder why I woke up if the crystal ate it.¡± Rhiogail answered, ¡°The scholars think that the crystal takes on the properties of what it absorbs.¡± I nodded, ¡°Makes sense. It kept us alive because that¡¯s what the pods do.¡± I was starting to regain my balance when I heard an alarmed cry come from what I could only assume was a passageway in the cave, ¡°Lady Siodha, we have gremlins incoming!¡± The lady in front of me cursed and called back, ¡°How many?¡± ¡°At least three swarms, we couldn¡¯t find the source!¡± shouted the voice, which I saw came from a man in a leather jacket carrying a crossbow running in from the passageway opening. Rhiogail cursed again, ¡°That¡¯s too many for my men to handle.¡± I¡¯m guessing I wasn¡¯t supposed to hear that, because she jumped a little when I said, ¡°Do you have any spare weapons, we might be able to help.¡± Sighing she said, ¡°Weapons won¡¯t be a problem. What is going to be a bit of an issue is the lack of Aethercrests. Civilian¡¯s have a hard time against monsters without either advanced weaponry or abilities gained by an Aethercrest.¡± I looked at her confused and asked, ¡°Aethercrests?¡± She said, ¡°Its technology the ancient¡¯s used to harness the crystal¡¯s power. We don¡¯t know exactly how it works, but it gives people an edge against the monsters, the mutated beasts.¡± I frowned and brought the medallion I had claimed during the tutorial ¡°You mean this?¡± Rhiogail stared at me, ¡°Y¡­Yes. That¡¯s an Aethercrest. It¡¯s unlike any I¡¯ve seen before, but mine is a creation of the artificers.¡± She pulled out a medallion made of steel. It looked different than mine, with only three indentations, one of which had a small blue gem in it and a second with a green gem. Gathering her composure she asked, ¡°How do you have an Aethercrest?¡± I shrugged and said, ¡°I was wearing mine before I awoke here.¡± Her eyes grew wide and she said, ¡°You¡¯re an Ancient.¡± I looked at her and said, ¡°I¡¯m twenty-three, hardly an ancient anything.¡± ¡°I mean you¡¯re one of the original settler¡¯s of our world, one of the Lost Pioneer¡¯s,¡± she countered. I shrugged and said, ¡°Since I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about I¡¯m going to remind you that we have swarms of gremlins coming our way.¡± She shook herself and called out, ¡°Andre, did you find crests where the others got dug out.¡± The miner that I had first encountered responded, ¡°No ma¡¯am, but I wasn¡¯t looking.¡± ¡°Davis, you have the best memory, check for me. If you find a crest return it to the person who came out of that hole,¡± she called out to a short white haired man in a blue coat. I called out, ¡°Anyone that got dug out, if you have your medallion on you please pull them out.¡± Everyone already had them on and I said, ¡°You are going to need to give us a quick explanation on how these work.¡± The squire nodded and said, ¡°Alright listen up, the first step is to bind the crest to your own personal Aether. This will grant you the benefits even if it is not on you. Be aware however that if it is too far away you will be limited in the benefits you gain from them.¡± I focused on the medallion and a screen popped into existence in front of me. Item: Alpha Aethercrest ¨C Freelancer A crest attuned balanced class that does not excel at any specific task. This class allows for a more flexible approach to situations. Note: Alpha crests are ancient creations unlike the manufactured Beta Aethercrests. Core Sockets: 5 Hybrid sockets. Do you wish to bind this item? I mentally said yes and received another notification. Class unlocked: Freelancer; Strength +1, Agility +1, Vitality +1, Spirit +1, Aether Pool. ¡°Okay, apparently I unlocked a class in doing that,¡± I said under my breath. Apparently it wasn¡¯t enough under my breath as the squire responded, ¡°Yes, once you bind the crest to your Aether you will be able to see a representation of yourself when you focus on it. It will tell you how your attributes are affected, as well as the contents of what we call the ¡®class cores.¡¯¡± ¡°Now before anyone asks, class cores are gems fashioned and infused to increase the capability of an Aethercrest. We call them class cores because they unlock different classes in your crest depending on what type you have socketed. Different crests will have different types of sockets. For example my crest has a green socket which tends to be defensive abilities, a blue socket which are for types of magic abilities that are support in nature, and a hybrid socket which can house any type of class core,¡± she continued explaining. Sounds of fighting could be heard coming down the tunnels and she quickly called out, ¡°We are running out of time. Anyone that has a mage type crest please see Davis, if you are not using a mage crest we will find some way to compensate you when we get out of here. Andre, break out the weapons.¡± The miner grinned, and I had a suspicion that a miner wasn¡¯t all he was as he pulled a large pack off his back and started pulling weapon after weapon out of it. They were all plain but serviceable examples of the arts of war from swords, to spears, to axes, and even a few ranged weapons. He also pulled a few iron shod staves out of the pack. I asked, ¡°Are backpacks like that normal?¡± Rhiogail nodded, ¡°They aren¡¯t too uncommon. Most members of the trade guilds carry them as it makes it easier to bring back large loads of goods from a long trip. Andre tends to make things like that during any journey and sells the product when he returns to a major town. I thought he was foolish until I realized how much extra profit he brings to our company. Davis is a core researcher as well as a talented mage. Most of the cores he is giving out he created. That will hurt the profits at the end of the journey but it¡¯s better than not making it back.¡± Seeming to come to a decision she called out, ¡°Listen up, by my oath as a Squire of Vendras each of you that helps us in this battle will get to keep the weapons and cores you are given. If you do not receive a core, as I know we lack the physical based cores, you will receive one of equal rating when we can provide you a selection.¡± A small timer appeared at the side of my vision, showing a five minute count down. It wasn¡¯t hard to guess that we had that long to arm ourselves. Half our number moved over to Davis and began to ask him about the cores he had available. I, along with the rest, moved over to where Andre had set out the weapons. I asked, ¡°Anyone have any experience with any of these?¡± One person, a young woman with waist length ink black hair stepped forward and picked up a bow while saying, ¡°My family used to go hunting when there was time. My brother showed me how to use a bow, though I haven¡¯t actually done anything beyond target practice with one.¡±Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Andre pulled out an overstuffed quiver of arrows and handed it to her while saying, ¡°These aren¡¯t much more than simple broadheads, but they should suffice for gremlins or anything else that isn¡¯t wearing a lot of armor.¡± One man with a posture that screamed ¡®military¡¯ claimed a crossbow and quiver of bolts. It made sense to me as it was a small transition from rifle to crossbow. A man and woman who looked enough alike to be brother and sister, if not twins, stepped forward; both were around six feet tall with dark brown hair, green eyes, and looked like they exercised often. The woman asked, in a pretty soprano voice, ¡°Do you know what a scutum is? If so can we each get one and a short sword?¡± Andre tilted his head and asked, ¡°Scutum?¡± I interrupted quickly; my knowledge of ancient military history rising to be of use, ¡°A large shield usually oval shaped and curved in a bit. When resting on the ground it should stand to about the shoulders on an average person.¡± Andre smiled and reached into his pack, ¡°Oh a tower shield, yes I have some of those. I didn¡¯t make many because they aren¡¯t used as often as a round or kite shield.¡± He handed each a shield and they each lifted it easily, the lady gripping with her right instead of her left. From my reading I was under the impression that tower shields tended to weigh around twenty to thirty pounds. Mental note: do not get into a competition of strength with these two. I saw the last of the physical based people claim a hand and a half, or bastard, long sword, which he handled like he had some familiarity with it. He was tall, a little over six feet, and had short cut blond hair and looked like he hadn¡¯t shaved in a few days. I had no real training with any of these weapons, and doubted a life or death fight was the best place to learn, so I claimed a simple spear with the intent to stick not allow an enemy close enough to me to need it. If these were the same creatures we saw during the intro then I knew my hand to hand training would be useful, but I also knew that there would be injuries. I moved over to Davis as the people there moved to look at Andre¡¯s stock. I asked, ¡°How many healers do we have?¡± Davis grinned, and I realized his white hair was just a lack of color and not due to age, his blue eyes twinkled a little when he said, ¡°Good, one of you is thinking long term. Two others chose cores with healing abilities on them. Both had crests with multiple support sockets on them.¡± I saw him looking at my crest, which was still hanging from a chain outside my shirt, and he said, ¡°Yours isn¡¯t one I¡¯ve seen in a while. Most people ignore the Freelancer crests, believing they will not provide enough of an advantage.¡± I shrugged and responded, ¡°I like having options. Speaking of options, if I were to claim a support gem now, could I give it back if there is an option I like better when we get access to the physical cores?¡± Davis frowned and said, ¡°I would prefer you didn¡¯t. Magic based cores are common as it is easier to find infusers who are also mages. Physical cores tend to be more expensive. However Lady Siodha did promise you your choice in core so I can¡¯t in good conscience tell you not to use a healing core for this task.¡± A notification appeared and Davis¡¯s eyes twinkled again and he said, ¡°Or you can help me to answer a question.¡± I was a little curious as to what the trait I had earned in the tutorial would give me, but I wasn¡¯t going to argue much as I asked, ¡°And what question would that be?¡± Davis pulled a white gem out of his pocket and asked, ¡°What exactly I managed to put into this.¡± I kept an eye on the countdown, which was nearing one minute remaining, and asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡± Davis said, ¡°Well, infusers imprint gems with abilities from the cores they have in the crest. As an experiment I socketed multiple different types of magic cores into my crest.¡± He pulled out his own Aethercrest which had seven different gems socketed in it, each of them a shade of blue or red. I noticed that the individual shades differed a bit, but couldn¡¯t tell why. He continued, ¡°I also used the hybrid sockets to include a green defensive gem and a yellow physical gem. Now I have this hybrid gem that I haven¡¯t been willing to test out yet for fear that I ruined it.¡± The timer was running out so I asked, ¡°What¡¯s your offer?¡± Davis said, ¡°Simply a small gamble. If this gem has abilities on it you keep it, but have to tell me which abilities it gained. If there are no abilities on it you get a healing gem and I will personally purchase another D ranked gem for your use when we reach civilization.¡± I winced, that meant that if the gem didn¡¯t have any support abilities on it I would be stuck, I asked, ¡°Would you accept the counter offer of if it lacks healing abilities you exchange the gem so it doesn¡¯t cost you as much?¡± Davis shook his head, ¡°No, but if it lacks healing abilities I will loan you a second gem for this battle.¡± That wasn¡¯t a bad deal. If magic cores were relatively common I could always replace the healing gem later. I nodded and held out my hand, ¡°Deal.¡± Davis clasped hands with me, and then handed me the white gem. Item Unknown hybrid class core This class core was infused by aetherical researcher Davis Kincaid, but not even he can identify what he created. I set it to my aethercrest and another notification appeared. Do you wish to attune ¡®Unknown hybrid class core¡¯ to your Aethercrest. Warning: changes to the sockets in your Aethercrest can affect your class attribute bonuses. I accepted and a pulse of light traveled from the socket along the lines of to stop at the empty sockets. Another notification appeared. Unknown hybrid class core attuned. Trait gained: Spirit Caller: creatures summoned by you default to a friendly status. Treat them well and they will aid you greatly. Ability gained: Evolving Summon: Phoenix (50 AP)¨C Summons a being that embodies fire, air, and healing power. Evolving Summon: The creature summoned by this ability will grow stronger the more it is summoned. Ability gained: Evolving Magic: Fire (5 AP) ¨C Casts a burst of fire at a target. Evolving Magic: These spells are changed based to reflect other class cores they are attuned alongside. Ability gained: Magic: Wind Shield (10 AP) ¨C Creates a barrier of wind magic to increase the defenses of a target. Defense +3/+6 vs. projectiles. Ability gained: Magic: Heal (10 AP) ¨C Channels healing energy into a target replenishing health. Healing is based on the Spirit attribute and modified by other traits. I grinned and quickly lifted my hand while I focused on the Phoenix Summon spell. Lines of energy formed glyphs around my upright hand. The glyphs looked familiar to me, and I recognized some as various elemental symbols used in Earth¡¯s folklore. I made a mental note to research this later. A phrase appeared in my vision and without thought I spoke it aloud, ¡°Dico vobis succurrere vitae igni.¡± The glyphs collapsed in a burst of flame, from the fire a small bird made of a soft yellow flame emerged. It chirped out a greeting and sailed to my shoulder. I didn¡¯t burn, but could feel gentle warmth emanate from the creature. Davis¡¯s eyes widened and he said, ¡°A summon, it was a summoning gem.¡± I nodded and said, ¡°It also contained spells for Fire, Wind Shield, and Heal. The fire spell indicates it is an evolving spell?¡± My last statement was more question than anything else and Davis quickly clarified, ¡°Evolving magic isn¡¯t uncommon. It means that the spell will change if you have a socket linked to another gem with a different effect. A common example would be a compatible physical ability which would change the spell to be a hybrid magical attack or enhancement, like adding a flaming effect to your weapon.¡± I nodded and said, ¡°Do you wish the class core back?¡± Davis shook his head with a smile, ¡°No, I recorded the gems used in the experiment and should be able to make another; though it does bring up more ideas to try when we get back to town.¡± I smiled until I saw a squad of soldiers rush in from the tunnel and stop to speak to the squire. I said, ¡°Looks like we are out of time.¡± With that I turned and moved back to the others. I was stopped by the dark haired archer who said, ¡°I figured out the party system. I heard you trying to get a healing ability out of Davis. Care to join up with the twins and me?¡± I accepted the invitation and saw at the side of my vision three symbols with names next to them. Two of the sigils looked like more complicated versions of the Aethercrest Rhiogail had, beside these were the names Marcus and Helena Guerriero. I guessed that the sigil represented there Aethercrests. Lily¡¯s was different than either of the twins or mine so that theory seemed accurate. I asked, ¡°How are the other groups sorted?¡± As we moved to the twins, within earshot of the squire, Lily answered, ¡°Well apparently four is the group cap without some kind of leadership trait. The guy with the crossbow has one called ¡®Squad Leader¡¯ that let him bring in another four. Rhiogail mentioned that there were different ones that militaries used that all did similar things to group size. Apparently she has one more person in the tunnel that should arrive just ahead of the swarm. The other group has four combat mages, the crossbowman, both healers, and the guy with the sword. I¡¯m not impressed with the mages as they went with the stereotype of using a staff without considering any other option. One of the healers took a bow and seems to know what he is doing with it, and the other grabbed a dagger.¡± I nodded, ¡°Well I managed to get a healing spell and a defensive spell from the core, along with my little friend here.¡± Lily nodded, ¡°How did you manage that?¡± ¡°A trait and a gamble, it is also a hybrid only class core,¡± I responded. ¡°Guess we will figure out what it can do shortly. Summons don¡¯t seem to be uncommon at least. One of the healers has a fairy, and one of the mages has a fire elemental,¡± she said. I nodded to the twins as we got to them and listened to what the squad was telling Rhiogail, ¡°Cyrus used a barrier to buy us some time, but unless there is another way out we are stuck fighting here.¡± The squire nodded and said, ¡°The people we found have Aethercrests, we shared some of the weapons and cores so they aren¡¯t helpless. How injured is your squad?¡± The man shook his head, ¡°Bruises mostly Squire, but we are still recovering the Aether we expended holding them back. I hope these people can hold their own in a fight or we are in for some trouble.¡± I tuned them out as the countdown timer changed from white to red when it hit zero and listed thirty seconds. Looking at the passage I did a few quick measurements in my head and said to the twins, ¡°I think you two could probably block most of that passage way. If I and the swordsman moved behind you to pick up any straggler we can probably hold them out of the chamber. I think it¡¯s when this becomes a free for all that things will get difficult.¡± Marcus nodded and said, ¡°We should be fine, our grandfather had some odd hobbies and showed us how to use the shield.¡± It was a strange way to get around the information filter, but it did tell me that they knew what they were doing. Lily called over to the other group, ¡°Richard, can you help plug gaps while they hold the line?¡± The man who had taken the bastard sword nodded, and I could feel Rhiogail¡¯s eyes on us as we moved to take up position. I focused on casting the Wind Shield spell, assuming it would be like the summon spell and activate by my will. The glyphs appeared around me, much less complicated than the summon magic, too fast for me to catch them. I could feel a gust of wind swirl around me and a small icon appeared at the bottom of my vision. Focusing on it caused text to appear: Wind Shield ¨C 5 min 57 sec. with a countdown timer. I quickly focused on casting the spell on the shield bearers with me. Icons appeared next to their names in the party list. At the bottom left of my vision I saw a blue bar around my personal crest that was now about halfway down. I hadn¡¯t regenerated enough Aether to cast it on everyone if I wanted to be able to heal. I said, ¡°I¡¯m about halfway down on my Aether Pool. I¡¯m going to save the rest for healing.¡± Lily nodded and said, ¡°Let¡¯s get in position. If we wait until this Cyrus person gets back it might be too late.¡± The twin¡¯s took up their shields and stood in a slight crouch at the entrance to the cavern. I hefted my spear and stood between them and a step behind. The swordsman Richard rested a hand on my shoulder and said softly, ¡°I¡¯ll be moving behind you to either side as needed. If they are using Roman techniques they will open their shields when they block to the side, strike during that opening. I¡¯ll cover the sides with the archers. The mages will handle long range support.¡± I nodded and took a breath to calm myself. I knew it was a game for us, but I was getting caught up in the moment. I asked, ¡°You know how to use that thing?¡± He smiled, an almost feral light entering his pale blue eyes, and said, ¡°I won¡¯t be as effective in these tight confines, but well enough to back them up.¡± I was curious as to what he meant, but the sounds of running footsteps interrupted my response. From the tunnel came a man sprinting for all he was worth, a longsword in one hand and an armored sleeve stretching from a fingerless gauntlet to his shoulder on the other. As he neared the twin¡¯s the shifted slightly and a hole opened between them to allow him to pass. Screeching echoed down the tunnel and at least a dozen Gremlins appeared in the light. The man with the crossbow called out, as the twins crouched to receive the rush, ¡°Mages! Open Fire!¡± Spoiler: Character Sheet at end of Chapter 1
Name: Michael Wolfe
Class: Freelancer
Cores: Unknown Hybrid,
Strength 6 Offense 6
Agility 7 Defense 6
Vitality 6 Spirit 6
Willpower 6 Aether Pool 120
Luck 5 Unassigned
Skills
None
Abilities
Evolving Summon: Phoenix, Evolving Magic: Fire, Magic Wind Shield, Magic: Heal
Traits
Lucky Break; Spirit Caller
Chapter Two Lances of fire, shards of ice, and a burst of lightning shot past the twins from the other group to impact on the little yellow monstrosities that were charging for us. Unfortunately there was a lack of coordination and the damage was spread out among the gremlins in the pack. I didn¡¯t see any damage notifications, and doubted I would, but could see scorched yellow skin on one of the beasts as the leading gremlins crashed into the shields that blocked the tunnel. Marcus¡¯s arm whipped over his shield like a scorpion¡¯s tail and drove his blade into the gremlin that had struck it. I could only watch in awe at the two shield bearers. It wasn¡¯t hard to believe that this wasn¡¯t the first rush they had met with shield and sword. Reenactors, people who made a hobby out of studying and recreating historical periods, were not uncommon in the United Earth Federation; but I hadn¡¯t met any until now. My gaze was drawn to the tall swordsman as he danced to the left of Helena to stab out at the beast on her shield as she covered Marcus. Maybe it wasn¡¯t just the twins who had immersed themselves in that hobby. I stood holding my spear and watching as the others efficiently carved apart the attacking gremlins. The first injury happened when one gremlin ran up Marcus¡¯s shield and bit down on his sword arm, only to be transfixed by a crossbow bolt before it could continue the assault. I stepped forward resting my hand on his bleeding sword arm and activated my Heal spell. He kept moving his shield around to support his sister, not even breaking stride as the injury knitted closed. In less than five minutes the first wave was cut down, with the only injury being the one I had closed. Rhiogail¡¯s voice spoke up from behind us with a mixture of awe and satisfaction, ¡°That was well done. I didn¡¯t realize you all would be this capable. We may just make it out of this.¡± Lily¡¯s voice spoke up, ¡°The other swarms may be more difficult. This is the group that your team already weakened.¡± Rhiogail only grunted in response. Marcus turned to me and said, ¡°Thanks for the healing. That was an interesting sensation.¡± ¡°What did it feel like?¡± I asked. Marcus cocked his head, considering my question, and said, ¡°The injury felt like one would expect when something with sharp teeth takes a chunk out of you. The healing, well the healing felt like the area was numbed and then itched fiercely as it closed. I¡¯m not sure how else to describe it.¡± Davis¡¯s voice spoke up, ¡°It¡¯s like that with open wounds. Generally a healing spell feels like a warm breeze or a refreshing drink when it affects your whole being. For wounds like that you have to use a more focused healing. I was about to point it out to him, but he figured it out on his own.¡± I considered Davis¡¯s statement as I noticed a new countdown timer appear in my periphery: two minutes and counting. For most games a healing spell restored hit points based on the level of the healer, an appropriate stat, and the level of the spell. While I could believe it restored general hit points, with this system we couldn¡¯t see it. Kathryn had said that different body parts had individual hit points, so it appeared that if I focused on a specific limb the healing would affect it to the exclusion of the others. I asked, ¡°How effective is the healing in general?¡± Davis considered for a moment then answered, ¡°For the average new healer a general heal will remove bruises gained from a hard workout. A focused healing like you did would close a small injury like that one but not fully heal a more serious one. You would have to ask a dedicated healer to see how your abilities measured. I know most of them spend more time on more serious wounds¡± Translation, don¡¯t rely on the healing spell to cure a mortal wound in an instant. I saw the soldier with the crossbow and our group¡¯s dark haired archer conferring while I spoke to Davis. A moment later she came back over while shaking her head and said, ¡°Those overeager little shits blew their load on the first round.¡± Davis chuckled and I clarified, ¡°They used up all their Aether Pool on the first wave didn¡¯t they?¡± Lily replied, ¡°Yeah, apparently those offensive spells are able to be charged for more power at a larger cost in Aether.¡± Davis nodded, ¡°Most spells work that way, the longer you hold it the more effective it is. For healing that means that you are continuously casting the spell on injuries. For offensive magic, you either have to cast and release or you will constantly push Aether into the spell.¡± Helena spoke up, ¡°Could it have been an accident? Maybe they didn¡¯t realize that was how it worked.¡± Lily shook her head, ¡°I doubt it. They were like eager little kids just wanting to be big and bad with lots of boom.¡± I grinned and replied, ¡°I guess that means it¡¯s our turn. How about the healers, did they add to the offense?¡± ¡°Oh the only one who did anything was the one with the bow. He added a few arrows to the mix but mostly was watching how everything was going. The girl with the knife had offensive spells mixed in with her healing spells, she held off doing anything and is being given hell for it,¡± she responded. ¡°Well if we can get one of them over here to help keep an eye on the tanks, I have an offensive spell I can use as well,¡± I said. ¡°Yeah Jared, that¡¯s the guy with the crossbow, asked the girl to come over. Our ranged arsenal is down to four, five if you include her,¡± Lily said. I watched as the timer ticked down to zero as the girl, an average sized woman with short cut red hair who introduced herself as Marie, came over to the group. Screeches once again filled the tunnel as another swarm of gremlins, at least doubled in number, rushed toward us. Focusing on my fire spell I held up my right hand and focused on not releasing it yet. Three glyphs circled my hand, remaining in a triangular pattern around a small ball of fire in my hand. I watched the bar that represented my Aether Pool drop every three seconds, and the ball of fire grow when it did. After the third reduction of my aether I released the spell and watched as the fireball shot from my hand and impact a gremlin leaping through the air at Helena. The creature didn¡¯t even have time to scream as burned and faded in a burst of light. I smiled and nodded while saying, ¡°That was a three charge. I¡¯m going to try a single charge now.¡± Lily knocked and loosed an arrow from her bow, and the asked in an exasperated tone, ¡°Is there a reason you¡¯re announcing it?¡± ¡°Because my class isn¡¯t a mage type, if I can take them down in one hit the magic focused classes should be able to as well,¡± I responded as I let fly with a quickly readied fire spell. This time the spell didn¡¯t vaporize the gremlin, but it still fell and exploded in a burst of light. I guessed that the light show was how mobs in this game died. Lily spoke before I could, ¡°I guess it is enough.¡± The gremlins were falling quickly, usually within one or two solid strikes from any of us, so I limited myself on throwing more fire spells. I knew thanks to the quest notification that there was still another wave coming, and my ability to cast spells was not infinite. By the time the fight was over my aether pool was down to about a third, and Marie¡¯s was down to half due to the twins taking more hits this round. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The countdown timer for the final wave reset to five minutes and Lily moved back to consult with the crossbowman who led the other group. I noticed that my mouth was dry as Andre slapped a canteen into my hand with a command to drink. I took a few mouthfuls and passed the canteen on as I took stock of the room. The room was more or less circular, with a large quartz-like crystal, that glowed with a soft but bright green light, taking up about a quarter of it. A few stalactites hung from the ceiling which was about ten feet above my head, but there was little light to see up there. The crystal was broken where Andre had been harvesting from it, and the gaps where we had been incased. There were no other exits that I could see except for the tunnel the gremlins were coming down. I could see a stack of supplies that Rhiogail¡¯s team had brought with them, and it appeared they were using this cavern as their base camp. Davis was with the group of mages, and it sounded like he was instructing them on meditation so that they could restore their lost aether faster. The twins had lowered their shields and stood leaning against them as they caught their breath. Richard had taken a knee, resting his sword across one shoulder, and seemed to be staring hungrily at the tunnel as if he were eager for another fight. Rhiogail was tending to her troops, and I saw the same glyphs appear around her hand as she worked to heal the injuries they had sustained during their previous fight. That was probably for the best as I suspected the last wave was going to be much more difficult. An increase in heat and a small chirp from my shoulder brought my attention to the little phoenix on my shoulder. As I lifted my arm it hopped down until it was perched on my wrist staring at me. It chirped and a notification appeared in my vision. Evolving Summons require a name to grow. Please name your Evolving Summon: Phoenix. ¡°Well, what should I call you then,¡± I mused while thinking on the stories of Phoenix¡¯s in Earth¡¯s folklore. The most famous phoenix was China¡¯s Feng Hua, the lord of birds who wasn¡¯t actually a firebird like the other legends. I focused on the bird hoping to bring up information regarding the bird¡¯s gender, and was surprised when it worked. Unamed (Phoenix) This phoenix rose in infancy at the call of a summoner blessed by powers of fire and life. She has decided to remain at the summoner¡¯s side for now to assist in his adventures. Abilities: Magic: Cleansing Flame, Action: Wind Dance, Magic: Wind Shield, ¡°Well you are a beautiful lady; do you mind the name Chola?¡± I asked, offering the name based on the old phoenix of legend Chol. Chola chirped and the name on the notification changed as she lifted in the air and circled around my head. I noticed as she circled me that she seemed to grow in size a little. Not much, but she was now about the size of a small crow. I wished that I could see her stats, but no matter how much I focused on her they would not show. I pulled out my Aethercrest and focused on it, willing my character sheet to show.
Name: Michael Wolfe
Class: Freelancer
Cores: Unknown Hybrid,
Strength 6 Offense 6
Agility 7 Defense 6
Vitality 6 Spirit 6
Willpower 6 Aether Pool 120
Luck 5 Advancement Pool 17
Skills
None
Abilities
Evolving Summon: Phoenix, Evolving Magic: Fire, Magic Wind Shield, Magic: Heal
Traits
Lucky Break; Spirit Caller
I looked up and found Andre nearby so I asked, ¡°Andre, what¡¯s an advancement pool. My Aethercrest shows it now.¡± Andre nodded and answered, ¡°Aye, I thought one of you might have that question. Monsters like the gremlins are corruptions in the Aether released by the crystals. When you defeat a monster your crest absorbs and purifies some of the Aether that formed them. You can then focus that aether into your crest to make it stronger, or you can focus it into the cores to attune abilities to the crest. Since most crests have a limited number of core sockets it is recommended that you do a bit of both so that you can remove a core and replace it with a new one.¡± Richard, still kneeling where he was, asked, ¡°What are the limits?¡± Andre grinned and answered, ¡°Smart lad. The advancement pool only works on the crest you¡¯re bound to when you gained the points. If you bind a new crest you have to start over. Also if you are attuning a core¡¯s ability to the crest you have to completely attune it before you change cores, or you lose your progress. Most crests have a limit to the abilities that can be attuned to them.¡± ¡°What do you mean by attuning a core¡¯s ability?¡± I asked. Andre pointed at me and said, ¡°Take your healing spell. It came from the core Davis gave you. If you attuned the ability to your crest, than even if you replaced the class core with something else, you will still have access to that ability.¡± So that was how abilities worked, I had been curious ever since I summoned Chola as I didn¡¯t want to give up the evolving summon. It did raise the question though, ¡°What about Evolving magic? According to Davis the spell changes depending on other cores.¡± Andre shook his head and answered, ¡°I¡¯m not sure. You¡¯ll have to ask Davis when we get out of here. I do know that not all of the abilities on a core can be attuned though.¡± I focused on my crest again, this time with the intent of advancing the crest or the core. The lines of the sigil on it grew in my vision and I saw that each was labeled with a different statistic. There were five lines that formed the pattern, though it looked like there should be more, and I saw that I could increase my Strength, Agility, Vitality, Spirit, or Aether Pool stat for ten advancement points. When I focused on the class core I was prompted to input a name for the core. I chose to call it a Hybrid Summon core. With the name selected I saw that I could attune the Evolving Magic: Fire and the Evolving Summon: Phoenix to the Aethercrest. The fire spell would cost me 100 advancement points, but the summon was going to cost me two thousand points. I winced and said, ¡°Looks like the summoning costs a couple thousand points.¡± Andre winced and said, ¡°Ouch, I didn¡¯t know it would be that much. I¡¯ve heard of some of the stronger abilities costing that much, but not a low level summoning spell.¡± ¡°Well Chola is listed as an evolving summons, I don¡¯t know how that rates as far as strength goes,¡± I said. Andre¡¯s eyes widened and he said, ¡°That would explain it. Evolving Summon magic is uncommon. There are others out there with that type of magic, and the creatures called can become fairly powerful. I would ask Davis, but I¡¯m pretty sure that you should be attuning that ability to your crest.¡± I couldn¡¯t argue the point, having a summoned creature that could support me and grow with me would make my long term goal of claiming land much easier. I thanked Andre as he moved off to bring water to the rest of the people resting in between waves. As the timer reached the last fifteen seconds we began to hear the screeching of the gremlins down the tunnel. We all stood ready as the first of the gremlins appeared. A quick headcount showed ten of them and they stood back down the tunnel not advancing toward us. Other than their screeching it was quiet and I heard Lily mutter, ¡°Why aren¡¯t they rushing us like last time?¡± I wondered that too. The previous two waves had been mindless charges, with the intent to bring us down by sheer numbers. A flare of light appeared in the tunnel as one of the mages threw a fireball down it. It guttered out a few feet in front of the gremlins as if it had run out of fuel. Another larger ball of fire followed, growing smaller as it passed where the first had dispersed, to strike one of the gremlins burning it into a burst of light. I heard the crossbowman call out, ¡°Save your aether, we don¡¯t know how many there are this time.¡± Richard growled softly, ¡°They are up to something, I can feel it.¡± I nodded my agreement and focused on trying to think of what options the gremlins had. With the twins holding the door they hadn¡¯t managed to gain a foothold in the room. Rhiogail¡¯s men were recovered, and standing by ready to reinforce the opening. Between the mages and the archers the swarm was a sitting duck if they came in a pack like they had before. An intelligent opponent would try for a flanking maneuver, but there weren¡¯t any other entrances to the room. A suspicion crept into my mind, and I launched a fireball upwards as I called out, ¡°From above!¡± In brief instant the fireball lit the ceiling I saw holes near the stalactites, and red eyes peering down at me before screeching once again filled the air and gremlins fell down into the middle of the groups. Chapter Three Cause and effect chains raced through my head as I stared at the falling gremlins. The ceiling wasn¡¯t that high up so I doubted they would be injured from a controlled jump. The twins had to hold the tunnel to prevent us from being flanked, but they were our best defense. The twang of Lily¡¯s bowstring shot through me like electricity, snapping me out of the mental whirlwind. It was the same issue I had dealt with in boot camp. I could analyze a situation to death, following chains of possible events to logical conclusions to the point where I hesitated to act. Now, like then, it was the sound of combat that shook me loose, and forced me to even greater mental focus. Just the facts then; Gremlins were coming down from above from at least six different openings based on the numbers. Our strongest defensive units were stuck holding the door, while our offensive units were glass cannons. Rhiogail¡¯s men might be able to help, but we shouldn¡¯t rely on them as this was a quest. ¡°Marie, you, Lily and the other healer stay on the tunnel!¡± I called out. The mages were cutting loose at the gremlins, but I doubted they could keep up the pace for very long. Jared was trying to get them to move back against a wall to prevent themselves from being surrounded, but they didn¡¯t seem to be listening. Richard however had a grin on his face that reminded me of a wolf looking at a lamb. He glanced at me and said, ¡°See if you can keep the kids standing.¡± With that he sprang from his kneeling position in a long lunge that speared one of the gremlins out of the air like a heron taking a fish. I blinked in astonishment as he seemed to dance among the falling gremlins, his sword in a two handed grip, dealing deep cuts as he passed. My eyes tracked his movement and I could see the patterns he wove: step forward, cut, step past to put the opponent between another attacker and himself, finish off the opponent with a strike from behind, side step to avoid the leap from behind ¨C how did he know that was coming ¨C and back to the second opponent. It was a sight to behold, but I didn¡¯t have time to watch. I stepped in close to the crossbowman and swung the spear like a quarterstaff to launch a gremlin away from him; doing little damage, but giving the man some distance to fire. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said. I nodded, ¡°Get to the wall near the healers. Your aim is good enough to pick off ones for Richard, and the healers are over there if you need backup.¡± He grunted and said, ¡°What about the mages? They are getting pretty torn up over there.¡± He was right; one was on the ground trying to use his staff to hold the gremlin off of him, while two others were quick stepping away while trying to maintain enough focus to throw their spells. I shook my head and said, ¡°If they lose their cool in this situation they are as good as dead. I¡¯ll see what I can do, but I don¡¯t know how the group structure works if you go down.¡± ¡°Shit, I didn¡¯t consider that,¡± he said and quickly moved to the cavern wall nearest to the healers. I assessed the battlefield, and Richard¡¯s position on it, and grinned evilly. This next bit may not be the most effective method of doing things, but it should at least look cool. With a surge of speed faster than anything I had managed before, part of my brain attributed this to the increased agility of the Freelancer, I rushed forward and drove my foot into the gremlin on the mages chest like I was trying to make a field goal. Honestly I was as surprised as the mage when the gremlin easily lifted into the air flying straight toward Richard¡¯s back. A back that was no longer exposed as the man turned and used the edge of his sword to clothesline the little yellow bastard. The mage on the ground cackles, ¡°Goal!¡± I snort out a short laugh and help him to his feet saying, ¡°Get with the others by the tunnel. If you have aether left try and hit the stragglers but don¡¯t risk hitting Richard or myself.¡± Nodding the mage ran off to join the others, leaving me to turn around and catch a sharp claw across my arm instead of my belly. ¡°Fuck!¡± I cry out, that hurt worse than a knife wound. The source of my injury was a gremlin that was soon joined by two more that began to swipe at me, keeping me spinning on the defensive. ¡°I wish I had a god damn pistol, put a bullet in each of your slimy little AUGH!!!¡± One of the gremlins had managed to bite deep into my left leg as I blocked the swipes from the other two. The pain was bad enough to make the leg buckle and I dropped to a knee, still keeping the spear moving and blocking the now increasing number of strikes that were coming at me from three directions. ¡°I¡¯ll take at least one of you bastards down with me,¡± I growled out, releasing one hand from the spear shaft to aim my fire magic at the left most gremlin that had bitten me. Chola, overlooked until now, swept in before I could cast my spell, a whirlwind of light and fire as she danced around the gremlin to my right. Part of my mind registered that the fire was more intense on her wings as trails of fire were left in her passing. Dropping the spear I raised my right arm to accept a bite from the center target as I cast fire into my target. Chola¡¯s actions made more sense as the trails of fire condensed on the Gremlin burning it to ash and a burst of light. ¡°And then there was one,¡± I snarled as I gripped the skull of the bastard, the one who was currently chewing on my arm, and cast fire. In retrospect this probably was not one of my brightest moves, but I challenge anyone to think clearly with a three foot yellow monster using you as a chew toy. The flare of heat engulfed the gremlin, singing me in the process, and left me without an opponent for the moment. Chola glided in and settled on my arm, above where I had been bitten, and I said, ¡°Thank you Chola. Can you warn me if any of them start heading this way? I need to tend to my wounds.¡± Chola¡¯s little bird head cocked sideways as she spread her wings and a soft crimson fire began to sweep from her talons down my arm. I flinched expecting to be burned. Instead I felt like I had just stepped out into a warm afternoon day at a beach, as I watched the bite wound knit closed. ¡°Damn, I wish I had some kind of log to tell what you just did,¡± I muttered as I focused on my leg and cast my healing magic into it instead.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. A firm hand gripped my shoulder, and Richard¡¯s voice asked, ¡°How are you holding up?¡± Chola hopped to my shoulder as I retrieved my spear and stood saying, ¡°That was unpleasant, but I still live. What¡¯s our status?¡± Lily answered, ¡°The swarm is dealt with, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s over.¡± Sure enough, now that I was paying more attention, I saw a new countdown timer appear. This one showed fifteen minutes. ¡°I thought they only said three swarms,¡± I complained. Rhiogail asked, ¡°What are you talking about? The men said this should be all of them.¡± I glanced up at the others, noting that two of the mages were unmoving on the ground. How were we supposed to answer that question without giving away the game elements that we had access to? It was Jared, the crossbow wielding soldier, who responded, ¡°It is always best to expect more trouble. Besides, those creatures didn¡¯t seem like the type to think of tunneling their way to us.¡± Rhiogail cursed, ¡°Damn you¡¯re probably right.¡± As she moved away I whispered, ¡°A boss of some sort you think?¡± No penalty fell on my head, so I guessed I was okay using the term since it was not directly a game term. It did make me wonder what forms of slang we could get away with though. Lily answered, ¡°Probably, or the end of the situation. I doubt we will be that lucky though.¡± Jared and Richard both looked at us confused and I clarified, ¡°Escalation. They brought fists, we brought swords. Now what are they going to bring?¡± Jared scowled, ¡°Probably a tank, because those waves were too easy.¡± I waggled my hand and responded, ¡°Something bigger and smarter is likely, but the only reason we did so well during those waves was the twins and Richard.¡± He continued to scowl, but nodded his acceptance of my words. I turned to Lily, ¡°Two of the mages are down. Are they out or gone?¡± ¡°Gone, they got swarmed around the same time you did,¡± she said as she turned to look at the bodies, ¡°Holy Shit!¡± Multiple heads whipped around to look at the fallen players bodies as they glowed with a soft green light, the same shade as the crystal we had been encased in. A few seconds later their bodies faded into the light and were drawn into the crystal which began to glow. I heard the rasp of steel as Rhiogail and her men drew their swords at the sight of two glowing figures appearing next to the large crystal. As the glow faded I saw it was the two mages. Respawn, I thought, realizing what I was seeing. This was a game for us, no matter how easy it was to become immersed, and players in MMORPGs almost always had respawn. ¡°Okay, that sucked,¡± said one of them as he checked his body for injury. Rhiogail stammered, ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± I waved a hand at her and said, ¡°That¡¯s a dirty word; maybe don¡¯t use it around us.¡± My comment drew chuckles from the others, and eventually from Rhiogail, as I continued, ¡°Do you remember how I mentioned us sleeping in pods designed to preserve our life? Well if the crystal took on that task maybe it is still trying to do that.¡± I knew it was a weak explanation, but I didn¡¯t understand enough of the world¡¯s lore or technology to offer a better one. I needn¡¯t have bothered though as Davis interrupted with the information, ¡°Some texts state that the Ancient Pioneers could use crystals to preserver there spirit when their body died, and then the crystal would fashion them a new body. It was apparently based on the same process that caused monsters to be created from the corrupted Aether.¡± I shrugged, ¡°We¡¯ve been on ice for however long it¡¯s been. Don¡¯t ask us.¡± Davis smiled and said, ¡°Some other texts state that the Aicrys, sentient spirits of the crystals themselves, bless some people with the gift of another life. There are rumors that the Eisendrachian Emperor has this blessing.¡± It appeared that while the mages retained their clothing and Aethercrest, they still needed to reclaim their weapons. Good thing to keep in mind for later. I looked around at the rest of the group and asked, ¡°What do we do now? Should we make a run for it and try and get out of the caves, or see what comes down that tunnel next?¡± Richard shrugged and Lily echoed him. Rhiogail spoke up, ¡°My men and I don¡¯t like to run from trouble, but there is a good chance whatever comes next will be between us and the exit.¡± I had a hard time arguing with that, I was about to speak again when Jared interjected, ¡°It might be best to let us whether the brunt of the attack. While your men have had a chance to rest, it seems like we have a decent chance of not staying dead.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t let you do that, we are soldiers of Vendras,¡± Rhiogail began to argue. Richard cut her off, ¡°Aye lass, we know. We want to have the fun though, and besides you can¡¯t give us a tour of the taverns if you die.¡± The squire stared at the tall swordsman dumbfounded. I snickered and she shook herself enough to respond, ¡°Who says I¡¯m going to show you the taverns?¡± Richard just smiled and said, ¡°Me.¡± The snicker turned into full on laughter at that point. I couldn¡¯t believe the balls on this guy. He would have given military officers fits with his eagerness to charge in on a fight, but he had backbone to spare. Rhiogail blushed and turned to organize her men for either a fight or a march as Lily said, ¡°Be that as it may, we need to deal with what comes next before you get the lady to buy you that drink.¡± ¡°We probably need to figure out how money works too when we get out of here. I wonder where the others ended up,¡± Richard replied. I was wondering that too as I watched the time. I continued scanning the room as the timer approached two minutes, and began to notice something odd. The crystals light seemed to be pulsing, getting brighter for a second and then dimming. ¡°Does anyone else see that?¡± I asked. Richard replied, ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not ominous or anything.¡± As the timer hit zero the crystal flashed with light and a miasma of darkness seemed to be shoved out from it. I noticed that Rhiogail and her men began to cough as it reached them, and they began to sag with weakness. Each of the players seemed to give off a soft aura that kept the dark miasma away. ¡°Yeah, definitely ominous,¡± Richard said, lifting his sword into a high guard. Some of the miasma began to coalesce into a humanoid form about nine feet tall. The thing could have jumped and grabbed the spires that hung from the ceiling. As the cloud settled skin could be seen the purple of a bruise, and as leathery as a lizard. It looked to be shaped like one of the gremlins bigger brother, much bigger. As the miasma cleared from its face we could see a mouth filled with large shark like teeth, and eyes that glowed with a malicious red light. It roared out its fury and hatred at we mere mortals that had slaughtered its kin. In the silence that followed the only sound was Lily¡¯s voice as she stated, in no uncertain terms, ¡°Shit.¡± Spoiler: Character Sheet at end of Chapter Three
Name: Michael Wolfe
Class: Freelancer
Cores: Unknown Hybrid,
Strength 6 Offense 6
Agility 7 Defense 6
Vitality 6 Spirit 6
Willpower 6 Aether Pool 120
Luck 5 Advancement Pool 17
Skills
None
Abilities
Evolving Summon: Phoenix, Evolving Magic: Fire, Magic Wind Shield, Magic: Heal
Traits
Lucky Break; Spirit Caller
Chapter Four I couldn¡¯t argue with Lily¡¯s rather colorful description of the events. The desire for an analyze ability snuck up on me as I stared at the roaring monstrosity. Unfortunately no helpful analysis of the creature appeared which led me to assume that my information on Chola was based on the fact that I had summoned her. It did make me think there would be one available, but I was getting off track. Not that it was really a surprise, fighting this thing seemed like a death sentence. Gremlin Assault Weapon of choice from Azure Squad (Received), Rank D Class Core from Azure Squad (Received), 100 Advancement Points ¡°Screw this, I¡¯m out of here,¡± came the voice of one of the mages. A quick glance showed that most of that group was making a run down the tunnel to flee the area. Of the other party Marie, Jared, and Richard remained. Lily looked at me and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± I stared at her dumbfounded and responded, ¡°Why are you asking me?¡± She shrugged and said, ¡°The twins seem the sort to go with the flow, not leading unless they have to. Richard strikes me as the type to fling himself into a dragon¡¯s maw in an attempt to go out in a blaze of glory. Marie is trying to get the soldiers out of the room. I could go either way with this. I won¡¯t run, but I won¡¯t fight a hopeless battle either.¡± I shook my head, ¡°That doesn¡¯t answer the question. Why are you asking me if we should fight or flee?¡± I kept my eyes trained on the purple hulk while I said this. I wasn¡¯t one to fight a hopeless battle either, but I also wasn¡¯t one to lead when there were competent leaders available. Lily snorted and said, ¡°Are you serious? I would trust Richard to lead a charge, but that¡¯s about it. Jared was a squad leader, so he may be good at coordinating small groups and could arguably take over. Me, I played games and wrote code that got me in trouble. I do however read people fairly well. You have been looking at everything we have encountered so far like I look at a piece of software: where is the pattern and openings. If you think we can manage this I¡¯ll back you up.¡± I heard three sets of footsteps approach before Jared said, ¡°What¡¯s the verdict Lily?¡± She looked at me and I sighed. Well I had wanted to be an officer, but not to have things dumped on me. I shifted my shoulders as if I was settling a weight and stopped focusing on the reasons why someone else should lead, and instead focused on the challenge before me. This thing was large, and the room was relatively open. There was plenty of open space to maneuver around it. The hide was more leathery looking than the gremlins skin which made me think that it had some form of natural armor; that meant solid strikes would be best but also that it might have some resistance to heat like a lizard. I really wished I had an analyze ability. I could see tendons, muscles, and weak points such as the eyes but wasn¡¯t sure how well strikes to those would be. Honestly it was just a larger, angrier, version of the gremlins. My eyes tracked over the party that remained. Marie was out; she was dragging the soldiers out of the room. It was good to see that once they cleared the cavern entrance they seemed less affected by the miasma. They wouldn¡¯t be able to help however. Richard was vibrating with an eagerness to launch himself at the thing that reminded me of a puppy seeing a ball in his owner¡¯s hand. He was however holding himself back, keeping one eye on the rest of the group. Jared and Lily watched me, weapons ready, while the twins held their shields as if they were going to charge alongside Richard. Game logic, we had two tanks, one melee damage dealer, two ranged damage dealers, myself who was a hybrid healer and damage dealer, and possibly a dedicated healer if Marie came back in. That was a small scale raid group for some games. On the other hand it was larger than standard party for some others. Either way I doubted the quest would have been available at the start if we didn¡¯t at least stand a remote chance of succeeding at it. ¡°Alright, I think we should go for it. We can¡¯t just rush in though, this can¡¯t be as easy as the swarms,¡± I said. Jared asked, ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°First, I assume the runners got dropped from the group. Invite the rest of us into one party,¡± I answered. A second later and it was done, with the seven of us in one group. Marie was still dragging people away, but seemed to be hurrying now that the group had reformed. I guessed she could see which way we were planning and was determined to help out. ¡°Marcus and Helena, I want you two to try and keep it focused on you. Without any special ways to taunt them it may prove difficult. Everyone else give them a ten count before you attack. Richard, I want you trying to see if those tendons are worth cutting. Jared and Lily if you think your aim is good enough go for its neck and eyes. I¡¯m going to focus on healing until Marie joins us, assuming that happens she should take over primary healing duties.¡± Richard growled softly and said, ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll start the count when they make the first blow.¡± I nodded and said, ¡°You two know your way of fighting better than I do, so position yourselves how you think best. Go for it.¡± The twins lifted their shields and quick stepped forward without a word. They were halfway to the beast when it stopped roaring and started moving to engage them. My thoughts hit my lips without checking in with the rest of my brain first and I said, ¡°Now we see how it fights. Will he try and smash? Maybe a claw rake? Grab and bite? Does it have magic now or is it just an overly large gremlin?¡± Lily¡¯s chuckle interrupted my train of thought and I looked at her as she said, ¡°You have thought out how to respond to each of those haven¡¯t you?¡± Realizing I had been speaking my thoughts I said, ¡°Maybe a little. I won¡¯t know how effective the counter strategies will be until I see how hard he hits and how hard he is to hurt. If he has magic that¡¯s going to be the real challenge as I don¡¯t know an effective way to deal with it except to heal through it.¡± Both the twin¡¯s shields rose, locked together in support, as the beasts first attack came at them. It was a downward strike with the claws on either hand one after the other, that was stopped by the shields. The force of the strike however caused our tanks to take a knee in response, but they quickly rose back up and lashed out with their swords at the retreating claw. Marcus¡¯s sword bit deep into its palm, but Helena¡¯s took off one of the beast¡¯s fingers. ¡°Richard, how would you rate your strength compared to theirs?¡± I asked, my brain doing mental math of the shields weight and how quickly they moved both shield and sword. Richard answered, ¡°Mine was a six before I bonded the crest. It puts me at an eight now. I¡¯d say they are at least an eight, maybe a nine now.¡± Jared interrupted, ¡°Marcus is a ten and Helena is a nine.¡± ¡°When did they tell you that?¡± I asked. I could feel his eyes on me as he responded, ¡°They didn¡¯t.¡± It didn¡¯t take much for me to understand, especially as I noticed the difference between his party sigil and Lily¡¯s, ¡°Shit, your class has some analysis passive doesn¡¯t it.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Yes, I picked scout. I gained a passive trait that grants me the effects of the analyze ability. It lets me see the status page for each of us, and basic information on monsters. Apparently it can be upgraded to share the effects with the party, but that costs five hundred advancement points,¡± he responded. ¡°What can you tell us about this thing?¡± I asked. ¡°It¡¯s called a Void Gremlin; it was formed of the condensed corrupted aether. It apparently has three special actions: Claw drive, Call of the Void, and Bestial Bellow,¡± he answered. I muttered to myself, ¡°Should have fucking asked if anyone could see anything.¡± Pushing my self-flagellation aside for the moment I ran through the possibilities. Claw drive sounded like a straight forward damage attack. It would be either strong or swift, or both. Bestial Bellow was likely either an area stun ability or some other debilitating effect. Call of the Void sounded disturbing like an ability that would call forth additional enemies. My analysis was interrupted by the sight of Richard launching himself forward straight towards the back of the twins. My brain was moving faster than the rest of me as I noted the Void Gremlin begin another attack with both of its claws. This time I caught the slight darkening around it¡¯s limbs as it began the attack. ¡°That¡¯s Claw Drive,¡± I said. The twins readied themselves to take the hit and I saw an opportunity. As the first claw struck I called out, ¡°Springboard!¡± They understood my words. As they took a knee to help absorb the strike Richard reached them. Instead of instantly coming back to their feet they paused, allowing Richard to step first on Marcus¡¯s broad shoulder, and then onto the overlap of the shield. As his foot left the shoulder, both twins stood and pushed to give the crazy swordsman a little more of a boost. Lily commented, ¡°I swear, give that man an axe and he would be a movie worthy barbarian.¡± I really couldn¡¯t argue as I watched him fly towards the head of the beast. Instead of striking though, he reached one hand to catch the beasts shoulder arresting his motion while he was on its back. As the creature raised a hand to strike I saw him reverse the grip on his sword and drive it into the things back. It obviously felt that one as it reached with both arms to strike at him. Richard though didn¡¯t waste any time and he soon dropped out of sight from above the creature, his feet slowly appearing between the creatures crouched legs. ¡°Is he letting his weight draw the blade down?¡± I asked before shaking my head and saying, ¡°Aim for the gut while it is distracted!¡± Both of them began firing, Lily in a display of speed that showed while she may not have hunted much she was skilled. I glanced at the party sigils in the side of my view and saw that both the twins had a slight red circle around theirs. I cast my healing spell on one, only to see another healing spell hit the other as Marie stepped up beside me. I nodded to her and said, ¡°That attack of the boss seems to hurt them even when they block it.¡± Her light voice answered, ¡°I noticed that. It seems that a block will negate a certain amount of damage, but anything beyond that still gets through. They didn¡¯t take anything from blocks against the smaller ones at the tunnel.¡± Out of curiosity I asked, ¡°Jared, do you see any numerical representation of the damage?¡± ¡°No, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if that is available somehow. We may just need to discover it. It does say the thing is moderately wounded however,¡± he answered. When we got out of this I needed to sit the NPCs down for a long conversation about what kinds of abilities were out there. Effective strategy required information. That was for later though, for now we had to defeat this thing. If it was only moderately wounded from Richard dragging his sword down the things back that meant it was fairly tough. In some games that level of damage had around fifty to sixty percent health left. While I wasn¡¯t a gamer I had done some research in preparation for this trip. Usually a special move was used at major health intervals which meant; I called out, ¡°Watch for an attack change!¡± My words were just in time as the creature lifted its head and roared. The sound vibrated through us, and I saw status icons appear next to our melee team¡¯s names. At the same time I heard the cracking of stone and saw some of the stalactites break free and come crashing down. The falling spears weren¡¯t going to hit us though so I ignored them. I couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that both the twins had lowered their shields and seemed to be trying to hold themselves upright as the creatures arms began to darken again. ¡°Ah fuck,¡± I cursed as I sprinted forward, my spear held up and ready. I did not want to see what that claw strike would do when not blocked. They icons showed that all three were stunned for five seconds; apparently the ranged group was far enough away not to be affected. Options flashed through my consciousness as I watched the right claw move back to strike. I knew I couldn¡¯t take both hits, but I had no shield to block one. There was a chance of stopping, or at least weakening one hit, but the second was going to hit me. ¡°Marie, watch the group. Chola, I hope you¡¯re up for this girl.¡± I heard the birds chirp as she lifted off my shoulder. The creature¡¯s claw began to descend as I shouldered past the twins, my spear point lifted and the butt braced against the ground. The claw struck; the tip piercing deep into its hand before the shaft snapped and shards of wood flew around. The first strike was stopped, but even as I started to leap to the side the second claw caught me in the gut, one tip piercing out my back before I flew off of it and crashed into the crystal. The pain was intense, worse than anything I had ever felt before. It only dimmed slightly as I felt the warmth of Chola¡¯s healing begin. I wasn¡¯t going to be doing much more than lying here and hurting for the time being. My brain however wasn¡¯t idle, latching onto various bits of information as it sought to escape the pain. Richard had recovered and sliced deep into the back of one of the creature¡¯s legs, causing it to lose the use of the limb. That allowed the twins to alter their method of defense and shift to both the right and left of it. The next time it tried to use its special attack the second attack was interrupted as it tried to turn to strike on a leg that wouldn¡¯t hold it. The amount of damage blocked was less, due to being only one person blocking as opposed to when they used the supporting shield. Marie was keeping up with the damage though. I could see the wounds to my abdomen closing, and I added my own heal spell to the effort, focusing it on the injury itself. Jared and Lily¡¯s fire never stopped and within another sixty seconds the beast let out a pained bellow before it fell over and seemed to dissolve into black dust that disbursed into nothingness. My aether had run out, as it seemed had Chola¡¯s, at about halfway through the healing. I could tell that the wound was closed enough for me to move around, but I would likely reopen it if I did anything too strenuous. ¡®Damn, the damage mechanics in this game are no joke. I can see why Kathryn said that hit points would take away from the realism, but right now I wish I didn¡¯t have to deal with this,¡± I thought as I used the crystal to assist me as I stood. ¡°Nice work,¡± I said when I had regained my feet. Marie rushed over, glyphs appearing around her hand in the pattern I was used to seeing in my own healing spell, before I waved her off, ¡°Save your aether. If there is another fight you¡¯re the only healer left. I¡¯m tapped, but not dying.¡± Apparently a spell couldn¡¯t be canceled as I felt a burst of healing, stronger than my own, before she stopped. She said, ¡°You¡¯re probably right, but what else could happen?¡± Jared, Richard, and I all groaned as she said this. Lily spoke up, ¡°Never tempt Murphy with that question girl.¡± The miasma was dissipating completely, and I saw Rhiogail with Davis by her side come back into the room. My hand on the crystal felt it begin to grow warm and I quickly moved away from it, my hand reaching for a weapon. My spear however was in pieces, and my aether was spent. The crystal continued to brighten, and we all raised a hand to cover our eyes. The light dimmed slightly as a figure stepped from the crystal bathed in the green light. It was feminine, standing about five feet tall, and bore a spear and shield. As the light dimmed further we could see the woman looked like the stories of elves. Delicate with sharp pointed ears and arched brows. Her hair, eyes, and armor were all the same shade of green as the crystal. In fact her weapons and armor seemed to be made from the crystal. Jared¡¯s voice interrupted my train of thought, ¡°Crystal Guardian. A spirit bound to the crystal to serve as its protector. The special abilities hidden, but there is a sigil next to the name that looks like the twins¡¯ with a few frills around it.¡± I nodded at the quick summary and waved my hand in a gesture meant to tell my companions to lower their weapon. The being looked at us and smiled the smile of a child does when it looks at a puppy, before she said, ¡°Greetings and thanks be upon you brave warriors for what you have done this day.¡± Spoiler: Character sheet at end of Chapter Four
Name: Michael Wolfe
Class: Freelancer
Cores: Hybrid Summon (Rank D),
Strength 6 Offense 6
Agility 7 Defense 6
Vitality 6 Spirit 6
Willpower 6 Aether Pool 120
Luck 5 Advancement Pool 317
Skills
None
Abilities
Evolving Summon: Phoenix, Evolving Magic: Fire, Magic Wind Shield, Magic: Heal
Traits
Lucky Break; Spirit Caller
Chapter Five ¡®Interesting¡¯ I thought as I saw the quest completion notice; the Verdant Aicrys was a faction in this game, which meant that the theory about beings within the crystals was at least true in some respects. More theories crept through my mind at the term Verdant though. Verdant was usually referencing grass green, and Vert was the term used for green in medieval heraldry. It made me wonder if crystals of other colors were represented by different Aicrys. Lily spoke up, taking the lead once more, ¡°We were glad to have helped. What or who are you though?¡± I could almost hear the unspoken portion of her comment: what can we say about you without breaking the ban on mentioning game mechanics. The guardian replied, ¡°I am Bercila, one of the guardians of the Verdant Crystals and voice of the Verdant Aicrys. In ages past my brethren and I fought to keep the corruption from gaining too much of a foothold in the realm. Now we strive to keep the corruption from claiming the power within the crystals.¡± Rhiogail asked, ¡°We have found sources of the crystal in many portions of the kingdom. Never before have we seen a beast like the one these people fought.¡± The guardian shook her head, ¡°Many sources of crystal are no longer protected as they once were, the corruption having killed the spark long ago. Some were abandoned so that their power could be drawn to the crystals that protected the ones you call the Lost Pioneers.¡± Richard added his own question, ¡°Why were we trapped within the crystal? Apparently there were others who made landfall here.¡± That was a good question regarding the world¡¯s lore and Bercila answered him readily, ¡°The crew of your ship, those that awoke before landfall settled the land ages ago. They could not return home due to the damage the shard of corrupted crystal did to the ship. Unfortunately the crystal grew to encompass you ¡®The Lost.¡¯ It was believed that the crew was the only survivors as your pods were encased within the crystals; however the Aicrys sought to keep you alive and find a way to return you to your people. The constant battle with the void corruption sapped the power available and in the end all we could do was keep you safe until others found a way to free you. As the power required to keep you alive was freed when you were pulled from the crystal, the others of your kind were also able to be freed. There were side effects to your long imprisonment though.¡± I spoke up, ¡°Are these some of the mutations that Lady Siodha mentioned earlier?¡± Bercila cocked her head as if considering and said, ¡°Yes and no; they are changes to those of you trapped within the crystal, but the changes do not alter your fundamental being. We believe the mutations she spoke of relate to the corrupted aether rather than what has happened to you.¡± Lily asked, ¡°What changes should we have to expect then, because if I have to go through puberty again I¡¯m going to be even more of a bitch this time.¡± The green guardian laughed like bells tinkling and answered, ¡°No, it is nothing like that. The power of the crystals infused into you, creating both a shield and a beacon for the corruption. The corrupted aether can not affect you, like it did the others a short time ago. You will however draw the attention and ire of any being affected by the corruption. Also as you were preserved by the crystal, you can also choose to return from death at crystal with a strong enough aether. You must be careful to only do this at a cleansed crystal or risk death once more by creatures of corruption.¡± To me this translated easily to the game mechanics that would make the players stand out compared to the NPC soldiers for dealing with monsters. If that miasma happened in other places then most people wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with the source of the problem. In addition since we would come back from death we could be sent to handle the more troublesome creatures without the NPCs having to risk their ¡°lives.¡± I would need to find out what kind of death penalty there was though. Bercila leaned her sword against her shoulder and reached behind her shield a moment before pulling out shard of crystal about the size of a football. She handed the crystal to Lily and said, ¡°Take this to the crystal pillar within the city of Traham. It along with the other crystals brought be your compatriots will restore the power to the crystal. This should both help protect the city and give you and the others a safe place to return.¡± I accepted the quest as Rhiogail asked, ¡°Is there some threat to the city we need to be aware of?¡± Bercila shook her head, ¡°The crystal can push back the corrupted creatures, which will help keep the city safe from trouble of that nature. It won¡¯t prevent threats from people.¡± Rhiogail nodded saying, ¡°That will still be a help; the beasts attacks do cause trouble.¡± Bercila raised her hand and a chunk of crystal about two feet across and a foot in the other two directions slid off the crystal formation to rest near her feet. She said, ¡°Lady of Vedras, you came seeking crystal to empower with aetherical abilities. Take this to use in your efforts. Know that the guardians of the crystal will give freely to aid in those who battle the corruption.¡± Rhiogail bowed and hefted the chunk of crystal with some effort. The twins stepped forward and took it from her arms with a short statement that they would carry it until they Andre could put it in his bag. With another bow to Bercila she left to return to her men. ¡°Fare thee well brave ones. Until we meet again,¡± the guardian said before she stepped backwards into the crystal. Richard said, ¡°I guess that¡¯s one way to finish a conversation.¡± I nodded and replied, ¡°I guess we should get going.¡± Lily offered the crystal to me, ¡°If you don¡¯t mind carrying this, we can get a move on.¡± I took the crystal and headed with the party out of the cavern and toward Traham. @ @ @ @ @ It took almost an hour to work our way out of the cave system where the crystal was located. It was apparently an old iron mine that had been closed down years ago when the gremlins became an increasing threat. We found the soldiers at the exit with Davis and Andre, but the mages that had been in the crystal with us were nowhere to be seen. As we exited the caves bright sunlight met us along with the scent of pine and cool fresh air. We seemed to be midway up a mountain side with trees that looked like tall oak, but with blue leaves and the odd scent. In the dirt of the path we could see foot prints leading away down the mountain trail.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. ¡°I guess we know which way the others went,¡± Jared said. Rhiogail nodded and replied, ¡°I thank them for their aid in the first battle, but I am not certain I would trust them to not run again when faced with a difficult battle.¡± I shrugged and said, ¡°If we encounter them again we can inform them of what the guardian told us.¡± Rhiogail shrugged and said, ¡°I can¡¯t see any reason not to. For now though we should make our way towards Traham. It is about a four day journey to the south east; you would be able to see it in the distance if not for the trees on this slope.¡± The twins transferred the block of crystal to Andre¡¯s bag and we set off. While we walked I fell back beside Davis to ask him the questions that I didn¡¯t have time to ask before the battle. ¡°You seemed a little astonished at the discovery of a summon spell on the core you gave me,¡± I began. Davis glanced at me before shrugging and responding, ¡°Surely you jest, you must know about how the cores work since it was the Pioneer¡¯s that passed the knowledge down.¡± I shook my head, ¡°We had many capabilities, but using the cores and crests together was not possible before coming to this land. Since my companions and I were not there when it was discovered we are quite literally starting from scratch on this. Your knowledge would be appreciated.¡± He looked a bit astonished at my admission, but quickly started speaking in the tone of a professor giving a lecture, ¡°The creation of a class core is relatively straight forward if one has the ability. Some Aethercrests have the ability built into them, such as the Scholar and Artificer crests.¡± He patted the medallion he wore as he mentioned the Scholar class as he continued speaking, ¡°In most circumstances when you infuse a core with abilities you copy the abilities from the linked cores to the new core. Not all abilities will transfer. I don¡¯t know why, but I¡¯m sure some of the researchers at the kingdom university have some theories. When we return to the capitol I had intended to take some time away to study there until the company moves out again.¡± My mind raced, but I didn¡¯t quite have enough information to form more than wild speculation, so I asked, ¡°Can you explain the basics of crests and cores for me then? Also is there something special about that block of crystal Andre has?¡± He laughed, ¡°Yes, the glowing crystal Andre has is uncommon. We know that aetherical charged crystal can be infused with both stronger abilities as well as a greater number, making higher grade cores. This leads me to your other question. I¡¯ll start with the crests then circle back to the cores shall I?¡± I nodded and said, ¡°By all means, explain it to me however you think is best.¡± ¡°Aethercrests come in two forms currently. One is the manufactured crests the Artificers Guild develops. These can be rated in the same method as the cores, from worst to greatest as D, C, B, and A. This seems to be based on the materials used to make them, as well as the number of core sockets, and how much aether can be attuned to them. For example Lady Siodah has a Grade D Warrior Aethercrest, which is made of steel and has three sockets. This is the lowest grade of aethercrest, but that still allows her to double or triple civilians¡¯ abilities without taking the class cores into consideration. The other type of Aethercrest is Alpha Aethercrests; these are the creations of the ancient settlers of the land. There have been a few of these found over the years, but they are rare,¡± he said. That meant that our starting class would likely be our strongest for the time being, it did raise the question, ¡°How much of a power difference is there between a grade A Aethercrest and an Alpha Aethercrest?¡± Davis shrugged slightly and said, ¡°I have heard the difference is minor as far as raw power is concerned. As I understand it the Alpha Aethercrests have a higher capacity for attuned abilities that the manufactured ones. I seem think there was something else regarding the passive abilities but can¡¯t quite remember.¡± So a grade A would still provide a powerful class, at least if it was properly equipped. I said, ¡°Sorry I interrupted, please continue the explanation.¡± He smiled and said, ¡°Each type of Aethercrest has the sigil which sets links between the different core sockets. The sigil depicts the base class of the crest, while the sockets allow for abilities of the appropriate type to be attached. Some of the sockets are linked, and depending on the cores you put in the sockets the Aethercrest may grant a new class with new abilities. As far as I have seen it takes at least two grade C cores to grant the second tier of classes. Once you unlock a class on your crest it can be attuned like other abilities to remain available even if you change the cores. I¡¯ll use the squire for this example as well. She unlocked the Knight class, one of the second tier Warrior classes, with a yellow physical core and a green defensive ability core. She then earned enough advancement points to attune the class to her Aethercrest, allowing her to remove the physical core. Since she had already attuned the abilities from the physical core she loaned it to Andre to use for this mission.¡± That left me with a couple of theories regarding the way the classes were unlocked. I wondered if the reputation of the Lost Pioneers would be enough to get me into the university to see some of the research notes. I doubted it, so continued listening to Davis speak, ¡°When I infused that gem I used a blank white crystal, they can change shades depending on the power infused, and used a combination of gems that should have placed defensive, healing, and attack magic on the core. Instead it became what you received.¡± I countered, ¡°Except you got exactly what you were trying for. There is a shielding spell, a combat spell for fire, as well as a generic healing spell. What were you expecting?¡± ¡°I am not sure what I thought, considering I used all grade D cores I had fashioned before. I was hoping to create a rank C core by linking four different cores to it in the creation process. Now as to the creation of class cores; if you have the ability to infuse a class core you have to socket a blank core into one of your core sockets linked to at least one other. You can then transfer abilities from the other cores onto the new one. If you only have one core linked you usually get a duplicate core, albeit one with abilities at their base level. If you have more than one core linked to the blank core you get an assortment of abilities. The ¡®Infuse Core¡¯ ability can be upgraded to allow you to choose which abilities you¡¯re infusing, but I haven¡¯t upgraded it yet. I think I need to if I¡¯m going to properly conduct research on which abilities created the summoning spell,¡± he continued before trailing off into the muttering of an intellectual with a new puzzle. While I could relate to his predicament I still had one further question that my group and I would need answered, ¡°Is there a list of the known classes and how to unlock them somewhere we can access? From what the guardian in the cavern said we are likely to be dealing with more of the corrupted creatures.¡± ¡°Huh, well yes and no; there isn¡¯t really a list of the classes except maybe in the capitol. The common second tier classes are known to anyone that has the appropriate base crest though. Usually a town guard of rank has a Warrior type aethercrest for example. They would know how to unlock the Knight or Soldier class. The King¡¯s messengers all have Scout type cores, and likely know the method for unlocking the Wayfarer and Ranger classes. Which reminds me; sometimes a class can be unlocked on multiple Aethercrests. Take young Lily, she has an Archer aethercrest. Both she and Jared, I think his name was, can unlock the Ranger class by using appropriate cores,¡± he answered. I considered a moment before asking, ¡°What types of cores are there, at least the ones you know about.¡± ¡°Well there are the physical abilities, which are shades of yellow. There are support class cores which are usually shades of green and blue. There are offensive abilities that are shades of red and orange. The one I gave you was the first one I have seen that was white, but I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there were others,¡± he answered. I thanked Davis for his time and returned to the others to inform them of what I had learned. While we were technically competing against each other for the prime locations to call home, I suspected the early good will may come in handy. Throughout my explanation to my companions I considered the information Davis had shared and a blindingly obvious pattern stood out to me. The abilities he had stated were color coded. If physical abilities were yellow and support magic was blue, that meant that the special abilities in green were support in nature but a hybrid of physical and magical. I suspected that the orange class cores were based around hybrid physical and magical attacks. Could there be abilities that were both offensive and support based magic abilities? Could one be created? I really needed to see if I could get in to see the research of the university. Maybe I could also find a map of the continent while I was there. Chapter Six The trip to Traham passed quickly. Bercila¡¯s warning of us being a beacon for corrupted creatures proved apt, as wandering monsters did attack more often than what Rhiogail expected. Unlike the gremlins, which had dispersed when they were defeated, the corrupted forest wolves that attacked left behind bodies. There was no loot mechanic as there was in other games, but Jared, Lily, and Richard were familiar with hunting wild animals enough to skin and clean them for use. At first I was concerned about the corruption when Andre started making a wolf stew the first evening but Davis reminded us that the aetherical corruption was removed when an Aethercrest generated the advancement points from defeated monsters. Since the beasts were slain by us we got to keep the harvested hides, but Andre offered to buy them off the group for some coin to help us get started when we reached town. We did learn that the world used a simple monetary system of what they called numus. Numus were small metal discs of copper that had various amounts engraved onto them, along with a small chip of crystal in the center. Apparently the crystal prevented the disc from being altered, damaged or copied. I wasn¡¯t willing to get into the economics of the system, but after some discussion with Andre I was able to do understand that numus translated to roughly the same value as UEF credits; which would give me a better understanding of what basic living expenses should cost. By the time we reached town each of the group had exchanged most of the numus we earned back to Andre for clothing, boots, and other traveling supplies that would stand out less than the skin suits we were wearing. It had actually been amusing to watch Rhiogail verbally berate Andre for trying to charge us beyond the cost of the materials. Even that wasn¡¯t much as Andre would be able to use the wolf hides to replace the stock we had. Now I wore tough leather boots, soft dark brown leather pants, a vest of the same color leather over a shirt made of something like linen, and had a pack across my back to carry further supplies. Andre had offered to sell me another weapon, but I waved him off for the time being. I had learned hand to hand combat during my time in service as well as the magic my initial class core granted. I knew I would need another weapon eventually, but I needed to find something that I wouldn¡¯t struggle with. Of course I could also find a trainer if there was one in the capital. As we approached the capitol my breath was taken away by the scale of the city. I had expected something around a square mile or two such as was common in Earth¡¯s medieval history for major cities. Instead as we came up a rise to the river valley the city was located in I saw a city easily large enough to hold a quarter to half a million people that stretched out on both sides of the river. It was the technology level of the city that really stood out though. I had assumed based on the medieval arms and armor of Rhiogail¡¯s group that the world setting for the game would be like Earth in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Instead I looked down on a city that reminded me of the steampunk stories that merged early industrial age technology with late medieval technology in combinations that pushed the limits of what could be believed. A trio of towers pierced the sky on the northern edge of the city, each with aerial vehicles docked at them. I suspected they were simply called airships as the least technological of them looked like an old wood hulled sailing vessel with an oval bag instead of sails holding it aloft. The second was more streamlined; it was painted a dark blue and had solid arms stretching upwards to large crystal prisms. The design reminded me of the old Star Trek movies. The third looked more like a twentieth century earth zeppelin. Some areas of the city had what looked like electrical power lines running between buildings, buildings that seemed made in old medieval style. The cross culture and technology of the city was simply staggering. We approached walls made of mortared stone block toward a large gate banded in steel and manned by a small squad of guards, who seemed there mostly to keep things orderly than prevent entry. Rhiogail called out to one of the guards as our turn to enter the city came up, ¡°Gerald, good to see you. Are Adam and his company back already?¡± An older guard, dressed in a chainmail tunic and wearing a tabard with crossed red spears on a black background looked up at the call. He smiled and saluted before responding, ¡°Little Rhio, welcome back. Yes, he and most of the other squads returned earlier today with some strange companions; kind of like what you are doing now. Granted yours are better dressed than some of them.¡± She scowled at the nickname before saying, ¡°Where is he so I can give my report?¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t get your pants in a twist girl. Adam and a few of the other squad leaders are at the crystal square. Seems that each of the groups were headed that way so he sent orders for any returning squad leaders to go there for debriefing,¡± the guard returned, smiling at her scowl. Thanking the guard she motioned for us to follow. My curiosity got the better of me so I asked, ¡°Who is Adam? And do I want to know about the nickname?¡± ¡°To your second question no, and if any of you call me by it I will take your Aethercrests and gag you with them,¡± she said before calming slightly and continuing, ¡°Sir Adam Caladus is one of the most well regarding Knights in the kingdom. He is the third son of House Caladus, the head of the house being Knight Commander Alexander Caladus the leader of the kingdoms military. He is the commanding officer of Delta Company, which Azure Squad is part of.¡± Jared asked, ¡°So there are multiple squads like yours that are part of Delta Company?¡± Rhiogail nodded and said, ¡°There are seven squads of irregulars that are various sizes and commonly used for scouting missions and for small scale troubleshooting. Right now Azure squad is the smallest since I am in command of it. Like you I can only have a total of eight people in my group share in the advancement points we earn. The kingdom has been at peace for the past decade and right now Delta Company only maintains the irregulars and a small cadre of veterans while helping to train a group of reserves.¡± To me she sounded like she was describing an organizational structure much like the old United States National Guard crossed with medieval feudal levies. I could see how it would work in times of peace, particularly if the cadre that was in regular action with monsters were all people with Aethercrests. I wasn¡¯t too concerned with how the military here was structured so I tuned out their continued conversation as we traveled along the main street toward the heart of the city. People milled about without any undue concern while children both played and ran errands through the city. The street was lined with two and three story buildings, many of which followed the classic storefront below an apartment design used for centuries. I made note of the role playing game staples of a general store, weapons shop, and an armor outfitter. I also noted a store that had a sign declaring its merchandise as class cores and aethercrests of varying grades. I indicated the store to Davis and asked, ¡°I take it that cores aren¡¯t exactly rare?¡± He shook his head and said, ¡°Most grade D cores are common, the same is true for aethercrests. Grade C cores and crests are less common, but still common enough for a store in the capitol of a kingdom to offer them. That particular store has been run by the same family of artificers for six generations, and they have made quite the profit for themselves in doing so. The current proprietor was actually the commander of Aurum Squad before he retired and passed the reigns to Adam. I think his daughter is making a name for herself in Argentum Squad. While it was more information than I had been looking for, it did answer my question as to whether or not one could acquire more class cores easily. I made a mental note to check out the store when we were done at the square. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. It took an hour for our group to reach what was known as Crystal Square. Unlike what I had expected of a city square, this one was more of a small park with a stone pedestal in the center. Atop the pedestal was a spire of crystal circled by decorative iron bands to form an artistic obelisk. To one side of the pedestal was a group of people in tabards similar to what Rhiogail wore but with different heraldry. Relaxing on the other side were groups of what I assumed to be players as the majority of them were still in their starting clothing of a skinsuit. Lily and the rest of the group moved over to the rest of the players while I remained behind with Rhiogail, wanting to hear what the officers had to say about the situation. A man who I guessed was in his late twenties in a white tabard with a blue eagle on it, with blue eyes and dark hair, seemed to be the one in charge. My guess was confirmed a moment later when Rhiogail saluted with fist to heart and said, ¡°Sir Adam, Azure Squad reporting.¡± The man returned her salute, glancing at me a moment before returning his gaze to her and speaking in a crisp accent that reminded me of people from New London, ¡°Welcome back squire. Are these another group of the Lost Pioneers?¡± Rhiogail nodded and he continued, ¡°It seems they are popping out of the woodwork now. Did you encounter one of the guardians during your mission?¡± Rhiogail answered, ¡°We did, and she identified herself as Bercila. She claimed to be representative Verdant Aicrys.¡± ¡°That is similar to what my team encountered, only ours identified himself as a representative of the Cerulean Aicrys. Did she give you a shard of the crystal to bring here?¡± the knight continued. I spoke up, ¡°Yes Sir, I am carrying it. I wanted to make sure it wouldn¡¯t cause complications for your people before completing the objective.¡± That gained a smile from the serious knight as he replied, ¡°I thank you for your courtesy. We don¡¯t think there is going to be a problem. We are merely waiting for a message to return from the King before we proceed. Squire Siodah, you may dismiss your men to their rest. Goodman pioneer, if you will please wait with your fellows until a decision on how to proceed is reached.¡± I nodded at the knight and moved over to join the rest of the group. Jared was conferring with what I could only assume was the leaders of the other parties. Lily and Richard however had waited for me to join them. Lily asked, ¡°What are your plans when this is done?¡± I gave her a puzzled look to which Richard clarified, ¡°It looks like the group is breaking up after this. Jared and the twins are going to look at joining one of the military squads. Not a bad idea for them to grow stronger, especially with their mentality. Marie is still on the fence about whether she should go with them or not. She used to be an army medic before the trip so she will make an effective healer for any group she joins. Lily and I aren¡¯t the military types, so we were looking to try something else. What about you?¡± ¡°While I was military before this I don¡¯t think that is the best way for me to go. Is this the same thing as when we were in the cave?¡± I asked. Lily grinned and said, ¡°Pretty much. I want to hear your thoughts, and in the long term I think we are different enough that we won¡¯t be competing much with each other.¡± It was a vague way to mention the prize at the end of the journey to Seras. I let my mind wander a bit, considering all I had seen and heard on the way here before I responded, ¡°There are a few ways I would think to move forward. If bringing the shards here makes it where we return here if we are killed it will make this our central base for a while. I personally want more information on the class core combinations for unlocking new classes and what benefits each one gives. In addition I need to get some training in the available weapons. I¡¯m comfortable with a rifle and pistol, but otherwise all I have is the basic hand to hand training. We would need a way to raise funds to afford gear and core upgrades; we also would need to figure out how to set new rebirth locations further out.¡± Richard nodded before saying, ¡°Andre mentioned that the Artificer¡¯s Quarter, near the airships docked, was the best place for technological equipment. Maybe we can find you a weapon your more comfortable with.¡± Lily interjected, ¡°Yeah, did you notice that two of the others had pistols?¡± I looked at the other players nearby and I saw that four in fact had what could be classified as pistols. They weren¡¯t quite like the high tech pistols I had trained with, but neither were they the medieval flintlocks. I responded, ¡°Something to look into then. The only other thing I personally want to see is a map of the region. It will be hard to plan for the future if we have no idea where we are going.¡± Lily smiled and asked, ¡°So it¡¯s we then?¡± I shrugged, ¡°I see no reason not to team up for now. I think most people are going to be like those mages we started with, running all over the place trying to rush things without a concrete plan.¡± Richard nodded, ¡°I¡¯ll be the first to admit that it¡¯s my initial instinct. I recognize the value of long term planning; I¡¯m just not good at it.¡± Lily laughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, anyone who opens up a can of whoop-ass like you do is someone I personally want to keep on my team.¡± ¡°So how do we want to handle this?¡± I asked. Lily answered, ¡°I¡¯d say we split up a bit when we¡¯re done here. Richard goes looking for information on where we can find trouble and loot. I¡¯ll see about supplies, a map, and lodging; while you see what you can find regarding the class cores.¡± ¡°I can work with that. I¡¯m curious to see if there is an adventurer¡¯s guild or something for freelance troubleshooters, or if it is all controlled by the military,¡± Richard said. I wasn¡¯t sure how to answer that without violating the restriction on speaking about game mechanics. As I was trying to think of a response Sir Adam called out, ¡°Thank you all for waiting. There were no objections from the council about trying this, so if each of you that carry the crystals will step forward and place them on the spire we can all find a hot meal and a warm bed.¡± Seven of us stepped forward, each hefting a crystal of a different shade: red, purple, green, blue, yellow, black, and white. As we held them to the spire of crystal the glow intensified before they lifted from our hands to orbit the spire. We each stepped back as the spire began to shimmer like a polished opal under a lamp. The shards of crystal tightened their orbit around the peak of the spire and a figure began to emerge from the crystal. This figure looked like a tall human female in a sleeveless gown with lightly tanned skin, medium brown hair that flowed down her back, and light grey eyes that took in the assembled players and soldiers with a warm smile. ¡°We thank you for restoring the light of this crystal. Know that so long as the light shines the corruption of the void will not be able to approach the city,¡± she said. Sir Adam shook himself and asked, ¡°My Lady, who are you? You don¡¯t seem like one of the guardians that we encountered before.¡± I had to fight to keep my mouth shut as my analytical side made some slight modifications to the hair and eye color, along with the skin tone, and realized we were looking at Kathryn. The lady said, ¡°My name is Fiona, and I was one who offered my services to the Aicrys in ages long past in an effort to protect my home. Now I am here to offer my aid to you and those who battle the voids darkness.¡± ¡°Is there anything we can do to aid you in this task?¡± Sir Adam asked. Fiona smiled and answered, ¡°Nay brave knight. So long as this crystal remains intact the protection of this city will remain. The further blessings the Aicrys offer will be of little use to you and your brethren. It is for those you call ¡®Pioneers¡¯ that more can be done.¡± The knight bowed and stepped back as Fiona turned to the players and stated, ¡°For you who bear the crystals aether within your being we can aid you further. Across the land you and your fellows have restored crystals such as this to life. At each of these you may be reborn.¡± With a wave of her hand a small piece of cut clear crystal, similar to the old quartz necklaces, appeared floating in the air before each player. She spoke, ¡°Take these, they will aid help in this process.¡± I grasped the crystal and looked at it. As I looked I found a display screen opening up with a list of locations that were grayed out, but one was not: Traham, Kingdom of Vendras. There were also a number of locations that were listed as question marks. I looked back up to ask a question only to see Fiona stepping backwards into the crystal, the light dimming so that the reflected colors of sundown shone off of it. Sir Adam spoke into the silence that followed Fiona¡¯s departure, ¡°Ladies and gentleman. In thanks to your service we would like to offer you what aid we can. We will find you rooms to rest in our barracks and you may join us in our meals. I know some of the squad leaders offered recompense for your aid, and this will also be settled shortly. Some of you have suggested you wish to join our company as soldiers. Those who wish this I will clear time over the next few days to speak with you. For now please see the squad leader you arrived with. I bid you a good evening.¡± Chapter Seven Morning greeted me with the familiar noise of tramping feet and a marching song being sung into cool air. Muttering from an annoyed Richard in the next bunk over made me smile a little. Dinner had been a simple yet filling stew, and then the thankful leaders of Delta Company had shown us to the barracks where there reserve units stayed when they were on duty. The barracks were closer to small motels than the barracks I had seen during boot camp, but I had quickly realized the reason. Each room had the same floor space as a large tent, and the beds were the same size as travel cots with storage trunks at the foot. This would give the soldiers a familiar size room for when they were on duty. My thoughts continued to wander as I donned the clothing I had gained the day before. Sleeping in the skinsuit, even with the hole in it, was enough to satisfy what little modesty I had. I kicked one of the posts of Richard¡¯s cot and said, ¡°If it is like any military unit in history, breakfast doesn¡¯t last long.¡± The mention of food earned me a glare from the larger man, but he pulled himself up and began getting ready as well. The group had broken apart after dinner the previous night, with the others indeed planning to join the ranks of Delta Company if they could. Lily¡¯s task had proven even easier as we had been given access to the quartermasters of the company. We could resupply through them, and we were also given until the end of the month, when they were having the next group of reserves cycle through, to use the barracks. That gave us about ten days to get our bearings and begin our adventures. Lily and Richard had been given a voucher to take to the core merchant we had passed on our way into town. In effect it said that Azure Squad would cover the cost of one grade D class core of the bearer¡¯s choice. It was going to be our first stop after breakfast this morning and I was looking forward to it. We sat down in the company mess hall across a table from Lily to begin eating. As we started in on our food, a thick porridge with some kind of fruit that looked like apples but tasted closer to a melon, Lily said, ¡°I picked the quartermasters brains last night. There is in fact an Adventurer¡¯s Guild. What I was told was that the guild was the basis for Delta Company¡¯s squads of irregulars. The way the story goes is that the soldiers usually had to be called in when a particular problem got too large. Originally the kingdom had most of its soldiers with Aethercrests spread about. When Delta Company was formed it was just people with Aethercrests, which allowed them to handle large difficult jobs. Now anything that is considered too difficult for a standard party is forwarded on to Delta Company by the guild. They either handle it themselves, or the guild sends multiple groups after the problem. It seems to work well, as the company gets plenty of combat experience and advancement points for use with their crests.¡± I swallowed the current mouthful and asked, ¡°Were you two going to stop in after we visit the core shop?¡± She nodded and said, ¡°Yeah, we need to find a couple of quick jobs so we can get some of the basics for a longer trip. A change of clothes would be nice; these are going to start to smell soon.¡± ¡°Three sets; one to wear, one to wash, and one for reserve,¡± I responded, ¡°the reserve set should be whatever our nicest set is in case of a formal affair.¡± Richard interjected, ¡°That sounded like you were quoting something.¡± Lily waggled her hand as she swallowed some of her breakfast before saying, ¡°Not so much a quote as an old standard. I remember reading a book where something like that was stated. You had two sets of everyday clothes that you went to work in, one was usually being cleaned on the day you wore the other. The third was for festivals or religious observance. I think it¡¯s where the term Sunday best originated. Plus unless we can manage to get bags like what Andre has we will be carrying it all ourselves.¡± I nodded food taking priority over any verbal commentary I might add. Richard pulled out his voucher for the core shop and it reminded me of a question I had meant to ask, ¡°Lily, do the quartermasters have cores also?¡± She shook her head, ¡°They have a few, but Davis had a better selection than what they have. We can get traveling supplies from them, kind of like a military surplus store, but anything beyond that we have to get in town like any other person.¡± I nodded and spooned up the last bit of my porridge. Crystal Cores was arranged very much like a jewelry store when we walked in. There were a multitude of glass cases with gems of every color on cloth that allowed you to see the different hues. The cases were labeled with the core types and grades, and each core also had a price tag below it stating how much it would cost. A smaller section of aethercrests made from what looked like steel and silver was in one corner with a sign stating that the customer could special order other crests. An elderly man in his sixties, moving with the aid of a cane but his graying hair still showing a few strands of dark red, looked at us with keen blue eyes before saying, ¡°Welcome Pioneers, what can my humble shop do for you today?¡± I grinned, apparently we weren¡¯t the first of the players to stop by his shop, ¡°Greetings sir, my companions are looking to get class cores appropriate to their crests, while I had hoped to look around a bit and maybe ask some you some questions regarding both cores and crests.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s take care of them first, then I can tell you the same thing I told the others who wanted me to share all my secrets,¡± the old man said. I suspected the conversation wouldn¡¯t last very long so I smiled and waved the other two forward with the statement, ¡°I think they are looking for physical ability cores. I suspect yellow or orange would work best if I understand how the color coding of the cores works.¡± ¡°Aye, yellows are straight physical abilities; while orange have magical effects. What kind of abilities are you looking for?¡± the old man responded. Lily motioned for Richard to go first and he said, ¡°Not knowing what my options are makes it difficult. Rumor has it you used to be part of Delta Company. What would you recommend for us? Lily¡¯s class is an Archer while mine is a Warrior.¡± The old man nodded with a smile and said, ¡°Not too proud to ask for help, that¡¯s good. You''re working in a group so you need abilities that complement each other. You aren¡¯t carrying a shield so most of the defensive yellow cores won¡¯t suit you.¡± Lily spoke up, ¡°I thought the defensive abilities were green cores.¡± I managed to speak before the store owner could, ¡°If my understanding is correct, the green gems are physical abilities with support magic effects. You could likely find offensive abilities in the green cores, provided they are built around a support magic effect as well.¡± The shopkeeper pointed his cane at me and said, ¡°You are correct. Most of the defensive abilities do fall under the support magic category though, but there are a few that are purely physical in nature. Most of those are passive or reserve abilities, like many of the yellow cores. Now young lady, while I help him find his, you need to decide whether you want to go the purely physical route or not. I have a great many options for archers, but precious little patience to teach.¡± Lily nodded as the man turned back to Richard, ¡°For you I have the same question though. Do you wish the purely physical cores, or the hybrid cores?¡± Richard said, ¡°For now I think the purely physical cores. I am not a defensive fighter by nature, so if you have something you would recommend to increase my offensive options I would appreciate it.¡± The man nodded and moved behind the counter. First he pulled out an item shaped like an old tablet computer, but with a polished wood backing and a ¡°screen¡± of smooth crystal. At the top of the screen was an indent surrounded by a simple sigil that reminded me of an aethercrest. I stared at the little device, causing the old man to smile, as he plucked a yellow crystal from the case and set it on the indent. Text appeared on the crystal listing the four abilities within the crystal: Passive: Toughness, Action: Rock Breaker, Reserve Action: Rage, Evolving Action: Spinning Edge. Lily was all but drooling at the device too and asked, ¡°What is that?¡± The old man smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s a core reader. My family created the design when we opened this shop. It reads the abilities on a core and displays them for you to see. It duplicates the ¡®Core Analysis¡¯ ability reasonably well I would say.¡± ¡°And do you sell those as well?¡± I asked. He shook his head, ¡°Yes, but they are not cheap. I would recommend getting one of the Analysis class cores that will fit your crest. I¡¯ll show you what I have after I help the lady.¡± Richard had tuned out our conversation, but had questions of his own when the shopkeeper returned to him, ¡°Can you tell me what these abilities do? I can get some idea based on the names, but I could be reading them wrong.¡± ¡°Of course, of course; that is the one problem we haven¡¯t quite worked out on the device. When you use the ability to examine a core you are also able to get a sense of how the ability can be used. We haven¡¯t quite figured out how to make that show up on the screen, but I digress. The Toughness ability is straightforward and makes you tougher and harder to injure. As a purely passive ability it does not require aether to activate, but increases the abilities of the crest. Rage is a reserve action, meaning that it will reserve some of your aether to grant you the effect; but what it does is a bit of a mixed blessing. It will increase how hard you hit with every strike, but it seems to have a negative effect on how much the user pays attention to their defense. In general you hit harder but will get hit harder in turn, which is why toughness was placed on the core as well. Rock Breaker is a common offensive action that increases the power of the attack made when you activate it. Spinning Edge is the interesting one here; it allows you to throw your blade out and it will ricochet back to your hand. It takes some practice to get right, but it gives you a ranged option. In addition since it is an evolving action there are alternate ways to use it depending on your own choices,¡± the man explained.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I thought evolving abilities were affected by the abilities they were linked to?¡± questioned Richard. ¡°Bah, whoever told you that was an amateur. Yes, when you have an appropriate core linked along the lines to a core with an evolving action it modifies the ability. However, you can modify the ability without linked actions with advancement points. Take for example lightning magic, if you were to link an evolving lightning magic to this core the spinning edge would take on electrical properties. Or you could evolve it to do so without having to link a magical ability. There are a numbers of combinations that either haven¡¯t been discovered, or are being kept secret, out there. As I was saying though, for a purely physical selection this is what I would recommend,¡± the old man said in a bit of an exasperated tone. While Richard looked at a few other options I took the time to focus on my own evolving abilities. Summoning was different from what the old man said, but it had a descriptor that stated the summoned creature grew in strength. The fire magic however did have a few options in a skill tree format when I examined it. There were two initial options; the first option was to change the spell into an ability that would reserve the aether and add a burst of flame to my weapon attacks, while the second option reduced the charge time for the spell. I couldn¡¯t see the options beyond that other than seeing that they were there. I continued looking at the options for advancement while Lily took her turn discussing options with the storekeeper as Richard had settled on taking the core that he had suggested. With how helpful Chola was in the fight in the cavern I was planning to save all my initial advancement points to attune the ability to summon her to my crest. I noticed that the Spirit Caller trait I had earned, was now bound to the Aethercrest and I asked Richard, ¡°Where did the passive ability you gained with that core go on your sheet?¡± ¡°Huh, oh it¡¯s in the traits now. That¡¯s odd, I would have thought it would stay in the abilities,¡± he responded. The storekeeper looked at us sharply when he said this and I shook my head at him and mouthed after. He nodded and continued explaining core options to Lily. She settled on an orange core with the abilities Aimed Shot, Ricochet, the evolving action Elemental Arrow, and the evolving action Strider. Aside from the last they were all straight forward damage dealing abilities, with the last being a movement type ability that she seemed to think would come in handy. As they left the old man introduced himself, ¡°My name is Gerad.¡± I offered my hand, which he took, and responded, ¡°Michael is the name. You seemed a bit surprised there when we mentioned the passive abilities.¡± He nodded, ¡°Aye, you could say that. Most of the time passive abilities can be attuned to the Aethercrest, but I have never heard of them becoming traits. It seemed odd, and I can¡¯t think of a reason why it would happen.¡± ¡°Maybe it¡¯s the crest rather than the core?¡± I asked as the theory crept in. ¡°Unlikely, I¡¯ve made every type of Grade A Aethercrest the kingdom has seen. None of them had the ability to instantly attune a passive ability,¡± Gerad said. I pulled the medallion off over my head and placed it on the counter. From my conversations with Davis I knew that a bonded Aethercrest would not lose its bond to me if it was removed. I would lose access to the abilities it granted if it was more than a hundred feet away though. Yes, I had in fact tested the range during the trip, sue me. His eyes widened as he examined the crest before him, ¡°Alpha Aethercrests! Are you telling me that all of you have Alpha Aethercrests?¡± I shrugged and answered, ¡°I would assume so. Each of the others that Azure Squad helped had one, so the other groups probably did as well.¡± ¡°That is likely the case then. The only Alpha Aethercrest I have heard of before this is bonded to the Dark Knight Dietrich,¡± he said eyeing the crest hungrily. I slow smile crossed my lips as I noted his avid stare. Not wanting to sound greedy though I instead joked, ¡°You look like you¡¯re a lion with a steak my friend.¡± He started slightly then laughed and replied, ¡°Aye, I guess that is so. Maybe if I had more time I could figure out what caused the passive attunement?¡± I let the grin show as I asked, ¡°How much time would you need?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t say. I have never had the chance to examine one before,¡± he responded. ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal then,¡± I started, deciding to get the ball rolling. His eyes narrowed and he said, ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡± ¡°My companions and I are planning on picking up a job or two from the Adventurers guild. It is likely we won¡¯t be leaving until tomorrow though. As far as I understand it you can¡¯t sever the bond of an Aethercrest with its owner by force. That doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t leave it here for you to look at for the evening, provided I can reclaim it before we leave in the morning,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re right and wrong about severing the bond. If you kill the owner of an Aethercrest you can collect it, but nothing short of that will work to my knowledge,¡± he began. I shook my head, ¡°One of the effects of waking up encased in crystal seems to be the ability to return from death. A few of the group we started with met unfortunate ends in our first battle, but their bodies and crests faded rapidly.¡± ¡°Then no, I don¡¯t believe anyone could take this crest from you by force. So what is it you want for the chance to examine the crest overnight?¡± he asked. I shook my head, ¡°What are you willing to offer. I could ask for a something, but you could just keep asking any of us who come into the shop until someone agreed.¡± ¡°You have a point. I have coin, cores, and crests in my shop; along with the knowledge of them. To be honest though I am willing to negotiate to a point,¡± Gerad countered. ¡°How about this then,¡± I offered while looking at the price of most of the grade D cores and crests, ¡°These cores normally sell for around two hundred numus, give or take a bit depending on the abilities. You¡¯re selling the grade D crests for five thousand numus. Now I need to go by the Artificers Quarter to acquire a more appropriate weapon for myself so I need to earn some coin. I would like a reasonable amount of coin so that I can purchase the weapon and the answers to a few questions about class core combinations for unlocking new classes on the crests. I assume you have more familiarity regarding the costs of goods in the town.¡± The old man smiled and he responded, ¡°That is a reasonable offer, as well as one that shows some foresight. The problem is that the weapons sold in the Artificers Quarter can be expensive. I assume the weapon you are looking for is a form of firearm? If so I have a counteroffer.¡± I nodded my head and said, ¡°I was looking for a pistol. I noticed a few of the other pioneers had acquired them so I know they exist. I¡¯ll hear you out on the counter offer.¡± He pulled a holstered pistol out from under the counter and set it on the case, ¡°This is my own personal weapon. My daughter made it for me and taught me the method. I will provide you with one like it, but I will require three days with the Aethercrest.¡± A day was still fairly close to the twenty four hours we were accustomed to on Earth, but I doubted I could do without my crest for three days which I promptly informed him of, ¡°It would be a bit difficult for me to gain any advancement points or be an effective healer for our group without the crest.¡± The old man smiled and nodded, ¡°True enough. Then how about 120 hours of the crest being in my possession in between your own activities? In exchange you get a pistol and belt for it, three magazines, and I¡¯ll even answer a few questions for you.¡± I nodded and said, ¡°That sounds like a good deal, but I¡¯ll need to know where to get ammunition.¡± His smile grew wider as he said, ¡°No you won¡¯t, but you may want to look into an analysis type core while you¡¯re here.¡± I laughed and extended my hand again to seal the deal, ¡°That sounds like a good deal. How do you know I won¡¯t run off without paying my debt?¡± He shrugged as he shook my hand and said, ¡°If you tried to do that I would post a bounty at the Guild and forward a copy to my daughter.¡± I laughed even harder and replied, ¡°There is that. Now would you care to explain to me why the gun won¡¯t require ammunition?¡± Nodding Gerad slid the pistol out of its holster and dropped the magazine before showing both to me and saying, ¡°There are pistols that use chemicals or aether to fire projectiles that require ammunition. There are even some that don¡¯t require ammunition at all. My daughter however figured out a bit of a middle ground. The magazine is charged with ambient aether, it takes about twelve hours to fully charge. The pistol pulls that aether from the magazine and condenses it into a kinetic blast that it fires at a target just like a purely mechanical bullet. The downside is that the force depletes rapidly after about fifty yards. I made some improvements to the magazine that will allow you to charge it with your own aether if you need to. It still takes a few minutes so you wouldn¡¯t want to do it in a fight.¡± I tapped the white core attached to my aethercrest and asked, ¡°One of the upgrades I have to my fire magic allows me to make it a reserve spell to add fire to my weapon attacks. Would that work with a pistol like this?¡± Gerad cocked his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. The pistol actually works like a crest and core to duplicate the basic Air Bullet spell, using the trigger and barrel as the aim and activation.¡± Geard began looking through his core selection before finding the one he was looking for. He set the orange core on the analysis tablet before saying, ¡°This core will give you the same ability without having to upgrade your evolving magic down that path. It actually has both the Air Bullet spell, as well as the Aetherial Weapon ability.¡± I looked at the tablet and he was correct. The Air Bullet spell was listed as an evolving magic, while the Aetherial Weapon ability was a reserve ability. There was also a passive ability that reduced the aether cost of spells called Channeling, and an action called Flurry. I asked, ¡°How much?¡± ¡°This one is normally two hundred and twenty-five numus. However I¡¯ll sell it to you for one hundred fifty if you make a report about the ability combinations,¡± he offered. ¡°Deal, but only if you help me find a good analysis core. Our last team had a Scout, but he¡¯s looking at joining the irregulars,¡± I agreed. Three hours later I was left with one hundred numus in my pocket, the rest spent on the two cores which I attached to the Aethercrest. I was much richer in information though. I had gained the passive ability Analyze, which showed me basic information related to creatures and objects, when the core was attached. The core, a very pale blue in color, also contained Core Analysis and Crest Analysis which were channeled abilities that would give me details on class cores and aethercrests. The final ability on the core was the real prize though; it contained the Infuse Core ability. That core alone had cost three hundred numus. I had also learned of a number of crest and core combinations that would unlock second and third tier classes on an Aethercrest, but none of them were for my own Freelancer class. Lily found me deep in discussion about the passive abilities on various types of Aethercrests, and she interrupted me with a sigh and a scowl, ¡°I should have known better than to leave an information geek in a store that sells his drug. Did you spend all of your money before you found a weapon? Your mind is good, but if you can¡¯t hold your own in a fight I won¡¯t carry your dead weight.¡± Gerad laughed at my sheepish expression and explained, ¡°None of that now. The young man made a deal with me for an appropriate weapon, but it will take me until morning to finish putting it together. I¡¯ve actually enjoyed our conversation, especially because the young man will be spending more money here.¡± Lily couldn¡¯t hold the scowl on her face as she said, ¡°Well we found a job that looks interesting. Richard suggested we head out at dawn, will that be enough time for you to finish it?¡± The older man nodded and said, ¡°Aye, that won¡¯t be an issue. I usually am puttering around down here around then.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get him out of your hair then,¡± Lily said as she grabbed my arm and started leading me to the door. ¡°Have a good day Gerad,¡± I said before we crossed the threshold, his laughter following us out. Chapter Eight We left Traham shortly after dawn the next morning, with me collecting the pistol and Aethercrest from Gerad shortly after dawn. I took a minute to analyze the gun with my new ability. Aethertech Pistol: A custom designed pistol that duplicates the effects of the Air Bullet spell through the use of aether charged magazines. Damage Rating: 3, Durability: 100/100, Ammunition: Special. I was curious about the damage rating and examined both my companions¡¯ weapons to make a comparison. Military Issue Hand and a Half Sword: A basic military issue sword. Damage Rating: 2/3. Durability: 95/100. Military Issue Recurve Bow: A basic military issue bow. Damage Rating: 3, Durability: 98/100, Ammunition: Arrows. ¡°Did either of you learn anything about the damage rating on weapons? I got an analysis core at the store yesterday and it is listed as a property of all our weapons,¡± I asked the others as we began to travel west from the city. Richard replied, ¡°I talked with Jared and Andre about it. It¡¯s a base modifier for your offensive ability to the damage a weapon deals. There are more modifiers based on how you use a weapon, where you hit, and passive abilities.¡± ¡°So, lots of numbers and calculations that don¡¯t mean a lot to us?¡± Lily asked in a dry tone. I grinned and said, ¡°Basically. I was just trying to get a handle on the guns damage output. It has the same damage rating as your bow.¡± Richard commented, ¡°Sounds a little weak for a pistol.¡± I shook my head, ¡°Not really. There were a number of comparisons done over decades that showed that the stopping power wasn¡¯t much different, only the type of wounds inflicted. Pistols and rifles were more of an improvement over crossbows, which work in much the same way. Bows take more training to become competent with, while guns and crossbows are easy in comparison.¡± Lily nodded, ¡°Yeah, but you can also make a basic bow if you have a sharp knife and decent wood.¡± I nodded, ¡°Right, but as far as the numbers go they sound right to me. I just wish I knew how the modifier worked. I hate not having all the pieces to a puzzle.¡± My two companions just laughed as I used my core analysis ability on the Air Bullet spell to see how it compared. Evolving Magic: Air Bullet (5 AP) ¨C A ranged magical attack aimed with the casters finger that inflicts physical damage on a target. Evolving Magic: These spells are changed based to reflect other linked cores abilities. I had the core attached to my crest on a line that didn¡¯t link directly to my fire magic. I wanted to see the difference between the ability and the pistol before I saw the combinations occurred. I hadn¡¯t had the chance to test how the linked abilities worked yet. Now that we were on the way though I asked, ¡°So what is the job?¡± Lily answered readily enough, ¡°It¡¯s a monster extermination job. There is a large area in the forest to the west with that miasma in it. Corrupted animals come out of it on a fairly regular basis so the kingdom offers a bounty through the guild to cull them. Occasionally though they get a monster that wanders out as well, those are considered more difficult but are worth a larger reward.¡± ¡°How do they keep track of kills then? I could understand getting something off the wolves but the corrupted aether creatures don¡¯t leave bodies. Unless there is something you¡¯re not sharing with me?¡± I asked. Lily let loose a peal of laughter as Richard grumbled then handed over some numus to her and I scowled, the pieces falling into place, before saying, ¡°You two bet that I would ask that question didn¡¯t you?¡± Richard explained while Lily laughed, ¡°Yes. She bet that you would ask about the kill tracking while I figured you had already found out. As to how it is done, anyone group or individual that registers with the guild can either pay a fee or have the cost deducted for an artificer device that tracks jobs. They couldn¡¯t explain how it worked other than the fact that it records kills made by a party. It doesn¡¯t differentiate between corrupted or non-corrupted creatures for its recording.¡± Lily pulled out a small device from a belt pouch that looked something like one of the old smart phones. It was about three inches wide by six inches long and constructed much like the core analyzer Gerad had, but of steel and crystal. When she tapped the screen it even acted like a smart phone or tablet computer with two icons listed on it. One icon represented a kill log while the other looked like an application designed to track guild jobs, comparing them against the kill log when that was the task. ¡°What did it cost, and did they say who made it?¡± I asked Lily shook her head, ¡°The cost was a thousand numus. The guild will take up to half the job pay until we pay that back. As to the maker, the person I talked to had no idea. They had a few dozen in a box under the counter though so I¡¯m guessing they aren¡¯t uncommon.¡± ¡°Someone probably stocked up when they heard we were in town,¡± Richard commented. Lily handed me the device and I found that the controls were like most touch screen devices used in the twenty-first century on Earth. The juxtaposition of a cell phone in a medieval society made my head heart, but also made me wonder if there were other applications this device could run. Something like a guild chat or messaging system? I would need to look into it more when we got back to town. For now though I examined the details of the job. It was a standard game mission of kill ten corrupted animals. The major difference was that the details were listed as at least ten, with a base reward of one hundred numus. Each additional corrupted animal would be paid for depending on the type of creature; boars and bears were worth more than wolves while monsters like the gremlins were worth even more. The kill log turned out to be more of a bestiary that listed the analyze information on a target as well as the number of kills. I handed the device back to Lily and asked, ¡°That doesn¡¯t seem like a large payout, and you don¡¯t seem like the type to go for the easy job. What¡¯s the angle?¡± She smiled, very much like a cat with cream, and said, ¡°The miasma has to have a source, and the soldiers can¡¯t seem to go into the areas with it.¡± I got it; honestly I wasn¡¯t sure why I didn¡¯t see the connection when she mentioned the miasma initially. In the cavern the miasma was pushed out of the crystal when it was cleansed. I suspected the areas with the miasma were supposed to be this games version of a dungeon, and if we got paid a larger amount for killing the monsters created by corrupted aether the payout for the job could be significant. I clarified, ¡°So the plan is to head into the miasma and hunt the beasts, then precede further to get some monsters?¡± ¡°Huh, that¡¯s the same distinction the guild guy used; but basically yes,¡± Lily said. It took us about an hour to get to the section of forest where we started seeing hints of the miasma. What surprised me was the small two storied building that reminded me of a hunters lodge set up off the main road at the head of the path that traveled into the woods. It was of a sturdy wooden log and mortared stone construction, and I could smell food cooking and see smoke coming from a chimney. There was a sign hanging above the front door proclaiming the building ¡®The Hungry Wolf.¡¯ Upon opening the door we found what looked like a combination of general store and restaurant, similar to old Earth truck stops, on the bottom floor with a set of stairs roped off in the back. The food smell was coming from what I assumed was the kitchen behind an area with a few tables. A well muscled middle aged man dressed much like our group, but standing behind a counter in the store area, called out, ¡°Welcome travelers, come to hunt the Wildwood have you?¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Lily greeted the man in turn, ¡°That is the plan. We didn¡¯t expect to see a store out here though.¡± The man chuckled, ¡°My wife and I opened the place after we retired from the guild jobs. We do a regular business for the hunters that come into the woods hunting the corrupted beasties.¡± Lily smiled and said, ¡°Having a place to restock and get a hot meal while you¡¯re out hunting must be nice.¡± ¡°Most think so, plus we can get a message to the city quickly enough if the beasts get rowdy. They have been a mite more aggressive the past few days and we were hoping the guild would send people by. So what can I get for you before you go in,¡± the man said. Lily looked at us and I said, ¡°I think we have everything we need right now. We hadn¡¯t expected this place so stocked up before we left Traham.¡± ¡°Well we are here if you need to restock, also we can buy any of the hides and meat you get from the beasts out here,¡± he replied. We took a few minutes to browse through the selection of goods offered, mostly ammunition and food with a smattering of leather goods mixed in, before we headed back outside and into the woods. The miasma wasn¡¯t as thick at the forests edge as it was in the cavern and I suspected it had to reach a higher density before it affected people with Aethercrests based on the fact that this was a regular hunting area. I heard growling from our left and said while turning and drawing my pistol, ¡°We have our first customers.¡± I saw a pair of the corrupted wolves similar to the ones we encountered on the way to Traham from the cavern. Focusing on them for a moment caused my Analyze to activate showing me information on them which I relayed to the group. Corrupted Forest Wolf (Corruption Level 2) ¨C This wolf has been altered by corrupted aether, causing it to become more aggressive. Special Abilities: Iron Jaws, Pack Tactics. I didn¡¯t hesitate and squeezed the trigger on my pistol. Instead of the expected bang and recoil I instead felt a very minor amount of recoil, and heard a sound similar to if I had a silencer equipped. The wolf on the left caught the shot in the chest and collapsed dead; while the one on the right leapt for me only to be intercepted by a Richard¡¯s fist as he stepped past me and punched it in the snout. The beast yelped in pain as it landed and began to circle the three of us. Lily commented, ¡°I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t lead with your sword there.¡± Richard kept an eye on the circling wolf as he responded, ¡°I¡¯m trying to get an idea of how much damage these things can take.¡± I chuckled and said, ¡°Sounds like something I would say.¡± The swordsman shrugged and responded, ¡°Maybe so, but it¡¯s still good to know how hard you need to hit something. That Pack Tactics ability makes me think they will be harder to deal with in large groups. Part of how I fight groups is by getting my opponents to tangle themselves up with each other, it doesn¡¯t work if they are skilled at working together.¡± Having seen him dance among the gremlins back at the cavern I could believe it. Analyzing the wolf again I said, ¡°Lightly injured from that strike, but the Iron Jaws ability is grayed out.¡± Richard nodded and I almost jumped a bit as his eyes turned red for a moment as a faint red aura surrounded him. It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand that he had just activated his Rage ability. When the wolf tried to dart forward and bite him again he kneed the beast in its already injured muzzle. I calmly, oh so very calmly, said, ¡°Severely injured, likely from repeat strikes to the injured location in addition to the boost from Rage.¡± Nodding Richard swung his sword and finished the wolf off in a clean strike before I saw the aura fade and he said, ¡°I can see why the old man said people pay less attention to their defenses with that ability.¡± Lily looked concerned and asked, ¡°Will it be a problem?¡± He shook his head and said, ¡°Nothing I¡¯m not familiar with. The trick to fury like that is to direct it where it is needed.¡± He seemed to be staring off into space for a moment before he gave a dry laugh and said, ¡°Apparently turning the ability off isn¡¯t supposed to be as easy as I just made it. The ability evolved to Controlled Rage. It¡¯s one of the upgrade options I had considered picking up when I had the advancement points.¡± ¡°Expensive?¡± I asked. He nodded and said, ¡°It would have cost five hundred points. It says it negates some of the defense penalty and allows me to turn the ability off when there are no more perceived enemies.¡± ¡°It seems odd to me that we can upgrade abilities without spending the points on them,¡± Lily said. I shook my head and explained some of what Gerad had told me, ¡°What I was told was you can upgrade passive abilities by meeting certain conditions. The conditions vary depending on the passive ability. Toughness for example can be upgraded by being hit a lot but still surviving. The only example Gerad had was that of a soldier who had six arrows in him managing to defeat a group of bandits, and then marching for two hours back to his base camp carrying his injured partner.¡± Richard whistled and said, ¡°Now that¡¯s a man I would love to meet.¡± I grinned and said, ¡°I believe his name is Adam Caladus.¡± Both my companions laughed and I continued, ¡°I¡¯m willing to bet that most would have trouble meeting the requirements for upgrading Rage like you did, it would be good to look into the passive upgrade options beforehand and use the points on abilities we can¡¯t upgrade naturally.¡± Lily nodded, ¡°Sounds good, but how about we discuss this after some hunting. I figure we find the thicker miasma before we take a break for lunch back at the Hungry Wolf, and kill every corrupted beast on the way.¡± No one had any objections to the plan so we set off deeper into the forest. It took us two hours before we found where the miasma started to thicken. We had surpassed the required ten kills for the job in half of that as they seemed more interested in hunting us. I was able to test my evolving magic during that time though and found out some interesting aspects of it. First and foremost was the fact that I had to choose the combination for each evolving magic, but I could adjust it if I had time. Right now I had my Fire spell unmodified, but my Aetherial Weapon was instead a Flame weapon; and my Air Bullet was left unmodified due to the fact that Flame Weapon did affect the gun by changing it into a Fire Bullet. It would probably be better if I had more elemental options, but these would do for now. As I stepped into the area of the thicker miasma I saw a notification appear in my vision. Well shit, sometimes I hate when I am right; that meant this was the equivalent of a dungeon then. Since the NPCs couldn¡¯t enter the areas with miasma that meant these were intended for the players. I looked over to Lily and could tell by the look in her eyes that she was getting the same notification, while Richard looked like a kid in a candy store. Lily smiled and said, ¡°I thought that might be the case. First timers usually get extra bonuses.¡± I cocked my head at her in question and she continued, ¡°Those that challenge things first usually get a bonus reward. I¡¯m not sure how to explain it clearer due to the restrictions.¡± I thought I understood what she was saying when I thought about the extra notice. We were basically going to get bonus experience for doing this ¡®dungeon¡¯ before anyone else did. Which was likely Lily¡¯s idea in the first place. She really was trying to hit as many birds with one stone as she could. The question now was, how do we clear the dungeon. Spoiler: Character Sheet at End of Chapter Eight
Name: Michael Wolfe
Class: Freelancer
Cores: Hybrid Summon (White), Analysis (Pale Blue), Offensive (Orange),
Strength 6 Offense 6
Agility 7 Defense 6
Vitality 6 Spirit 6
Willpower 6 Aether Pool 120
Luck 5 Advancement Pool 426
Skills
Firearms (4C),
Abilities
Evolving Summon: Phoenix, Evolving Magic: Fire, Evolving Magic (Reserved): Aetherial Weapon (Flame Weapon), Evolving Magic: Air Bullet, Magic: Wind Shield, Magic: Heal, Action: Flurry, Channeled Action: Core Analysis, Channeled Action: Crest Analysis, Evolving Magic: Infuse Core
Traits
Lucky Break; Spirit Caller, Analyze, Channeling