《Splinter Angel》 Chapter 1 Nicola Stamper was having a good time. No, a great time! He was in an exclusive nightclub, he was with his friends, he had his dad¡¯s credit card in his pocket, and he had a beautiful girl sitting next to him. But with great credit limits came great bottle orders. Nicola had had too much to drink. Nic was not feeling so great. He turned to Stacy, his ¡°girlfriend,¡± and saw her looking at him funny for a moment, her head nodding quickly towards the door before she went back to the ditzy girl that all his friends knew. ¡°Sorry, boys,¡± she cooed, her voice cutting through the music. ¡°I¡¯ve gotta take this one home before he becomes completely useless.¡± She smiled suggestively as she took his arm and hoisted him to his feet, to the cheers and jeers of his friends. ¡°Go easy on him, Stace!¡± someone called, and she stuck her tongue out at the speaker, her eyes smoldering in a way that almost made Nic jealous. God, she¡¯d been perfect tonight, hadn¡¯t she? Touchy, just clingy enough, talking him up to his friends, making nice with their girls¡­ should he go for it? The piss said yes, definitely! But there were good reasons not to, weren¡¯t there? He knew her too well, didn¡¯t he? Or rather, he knew about her. He wasn¡¯t sure that anyone actually knew Stacy. Maybe his dad did? Anyway, no. Terrible idea. He¡¯d seen what she could do. As Stacy straightened Nic¡¯s shirt he was vaguely aware of her glancing at someone and jerking her head towards the door. Oh, right. Charlie. Charlie was here. Of course. ¡°Come on, big boy,¡± Stacy said just slightly too loudly, nestling in next to him so his arm was over her shoulders and her own around his waist. ¡°Let¡¯s get you out of here.¡± The man at the door let them out with a respectful, ¡°Good night, sir. Madam,¡± and they were outside in the cool air of a London summer night. Nic stood unsteadily, leaning on Stacy and unsure what had just happened. They¡¯d been drinking, talking about getting a couple of chalets in Switzerland for winter¡­ ¡°Charlie will be here with the car in five minutes,¡± Stacy said into his ear, her voice all business now. ¡°Think you can stay on your feet that long?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± he stated confidently as his left knee almost buckled, and Stacy had to steady him. He looked at her as he tried to figure out if he should go in the alley to vom, go take a piss, or try to do neither so he didn¡¯t disgust Stacy. Fucking hell, she was well fit, wasn¡¯t she, with her sidecut and her tight purple dress and her yank accent and her ink? Yeah, she was a little older, but, like, hot older. It almost made him wish she really was his girlfriend. But she wasn¡¯t. It was important to remember that, but it was also important that other people think so. Oh yes. Very important. ¡°Aaaaay, Nicky-booooy!¡± There came a holler from the club entrance. Aston and his girl Tricia had come out, and they were coming over. Shite! Had to sell it, right? He was supposed to tell her first, but¡­ ¡°Sorry about this, love,¡± Nic mumbled, bent way down, and pressed his lips to Stacy¡¯s.
Anastasia Cole was not having a good time, but it was about to get better. In a few minutes Charles would bring the car around. He¡¯d drop Ana off at her apartment, and she could finally get out of this ridiculous dress and these idiotic shoes, get cleaned up, and sleep for the next ten hours. Maybe have some hot cocoa at some point. With marshmallows. Well, that wasn¡¯t quite fair to the outfit. She liked the dress, and the shoes were not too uncomfortable for a 3 inch heel. She just disliked the context in which she wore them. Who she needed to be to sell the illusion of ¡°Stacy.¡± In any case, Nic would soon be Charles¡¯ problem. Until the next time he wanted to go out, that was, which mercifully wasn¡¯t that often. And in only a few weeks the boy would be off to college. No, ¡°university¡±. He¡¯d already been to ¡°college.¡± After years in Britain she still wasn¡¯t used to the lingo. Once the semester started she¡¯d only have to deal with him a few times per year, and what a relief that would be. Playing besties with socialites was exhausting, but not Nic-level exhausting. To be fair, tonight hadn¡¯t been as bad as it might have been. Nic had neither hit on any other women in front of her or thrown up down the front of her dress, so that was something. ¡°Aaaay, Nicky-boooy!¡± Ana threw a glance at whoever that was, her left hand going to the clasp of her purse, but it was only Nic¡¯s friend Aston and his girl-of-the-moment Patricia. Ana didn¡¯t like surprises, but they were both drunk and unlikely to cause any trouble. Everything was fine. Then Nic spoke. ¡°Sorry about this, love.¡± Ana didn¡¯t like surprises. When she turned to look up at Nic and he wrapped his arms tightly around her, mashing his lips against hers, she very nearly took him down. It wasn¡¯t the fact that he kissed her. She had kissed him before. Many, many times. They were posing as a steady couple, after all, and physical affection was an important part of selling that. Neither was he a terrible kisser, so it wasn¡¯t exactly a burden. But they had a procedure. He was supposed to telegraph or explicitly ask her ¡ª in an appropriately romantic way ¡ª ahead of time. That way she could act appropriately. As it was she froze for a moment before relaxing against him and responding, and she had to hope that Aston and Patricia were too drunk to notice the lapse. But she could handle that surprise, annoying as it was. What she could not handle was the way she, a couple of seconds in, suddenly felt faint. The way her knees went weak. It was like the world had dropped out beneath her, and Nic was the only point of stability that existed. Was she¡ª? No. Surely not? She had kissed a lot of people, and she would be damned if this brat¡ª Ana''s hands hit the floor hard, the air leaving her lungs with a pained gasp. She hadn¡¯t even known that she was falling, but Nic took the brunt of it. She felt something cold and smooth against the backs of her hands, nothing like the pavement she would have expected, and when she checked her surroundings everything was wrong. It was dark. There were no streetlights, though she could see the flickering lights of small fires ¡ª torches? ¡ª nearby, visible which lit up a faint haze in the air. They were surrounded by tall standing stones, and beyond those, trees, and the air smelled like pine and leaves, ozone and sulfur. This was all wrong. All right, she told herself. Stay calm. Assess the situation. First, the client. Nic was under her, out cold, but looking otherwise unharmed. With any luck he wouldn¡¯t throw up and drown himself before she could figure this out. Second, the situation. Outside the city. No idea what happened, and no immediate way to figure that out. Drugs? Gas? Leave it for later. Third, threat assessment. ¡°It worked! Aha-ha, it worked!¡± A mad, high-pitched cackle came from somewhere to her left. She freed her hands from under Nic and pushed herself up to her knees. Her wrists and elbows felt fine, so she probably hadn''t injured anything. In fact, she felt strong and whole, like she could take her heels off right now and run a marathon. ¡°Go!¡± the voice chortled. ¡°Take the boy and prepare him! Soon¡ª¡± ¡°My lord,¡± came a different, lower voice. ¡°There¡¯s two of them!¡± ¡°What?¡± said the first voice. Sitting up, Anastasia saw three figures, but the light was behind them and while their silhouettes were clear, she couldn¡¯t see any detail. ¡°Oh, so there is,¡± the voice continued, sounding bored now. ¡°Prepare the boy. Do as you wish with the girl.¡± ¡°As you say, my lord,¡± said a third voice. Ana did not like the leer implicit in his tone at all. As two of the figures began to approach, Ana pulled out the very illegal semi-automatic pistol she kept in her purse, racked it and flicked off the safety with a practiced motion, and trained it on them. ¡°Stop right there, or I will shoot,¡± she said, making sure to be loud and clear. No room for misinterpretation. One of the men hesitated, looking confused but not afraid, and they came on. She gave them two more steps to change their minds. The pistol barked and bucked in her hand, the comfortable, acrid smell of gunpowder quickly crowding out the scents of the forest. Eight-seven, six-five. Five rounds left. The man on the left stopped on the spot, looking down with a confused moan before he dropped. The other continued forward. The pistol barked again, and he fell six feet from her and Nic. Four rounds left. ¡°Stay where you are,¡± Ana ordered the third figure. With her pistol trained on him she slowly got to her feet. ¡°What¡ª?¡± the figure said, then seemed to recover. ¡°Useless thugs,¡± he mumbled, seemingly to himself, as Ana circled to get a better look at her opponent. ¡°Have to do everything myself these days¡­¡±Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. With the light no longer directly behind the man, Ana could see that he was old. He had a neatly trimmed, gray beard, and was wearing a fancy robe of some sort, like he¡¯d just come from a costume party. That mattered little, however, as he reached to his belt and drew what was, unmistakably, a long, thin sword. ¡°Drop it,¡± Ana instructed him. ¡°I will not warn you again.¡± ¡°Foolish girl,¡± the man sneered and took a step forward. ¡°What those two would have done to you will pale ¡ª¡± Three-two-one. Two in the chest, one in the head. One round left. Nine more in the mag in her purse. There was a blue shimmer around the man as the first bullet hit him. Then he dropped like someone had flipped his switch to ¡°off,¡± his sword clattering to the ground. Ana¡¯s vision blurred slightly around the edges. She blinked as she approached each of the fallen men, checking for a pulse before proceeding to the next. The blurriness didn¡¯t seem to want to go away, so she rolled her eyes, which sometimes worked. When her eyes reached either lower diagonal direction, text scrolled into her vision.
Congratulations! You have defeated: Human Summoner (22); Human Cultist (10); Human Cultist (12). You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Major); Growth Crystal (Minor); Growth Crystal (Lesser). Attention: Growth Crystals are set to auto-consume. You have been awarded 1100 experience points. No Class detected. Class set to Guardian Angel, based on memories, aptitudes, and life experience. Congratulations! You have reached Guardian Angel, level 3. 6 cumulative advancement points awarded. You have joined the Party of Anastasia Cole, Human Companion (3).
When she read that line, the world stopped. Her vision was completely filled by a translucent field of information. She couldn¡¯t hear, smell, or feel anything. She couldn¡¯t move, frozen in a crouch with her hand on the neck of the old guy with the sword. She couldn¡¯t even breathe, but after a few moments she realized that she didn¡¯t feel a need to. It was literally as though time had stopped, except for her mind.
Advancement initialized. System insertion detected. Partial calibration performed. Skills not compatible with this World detected. Incompatible Skills not included in Summary.
INDIVIDUAL SUMMARY
Name Anastasia Cole
Race Outsider, Summoned (Human aspect)
Age 26
Classes Guardian Angel (3) (Hidden, shown as Companion (3))
Experience 400/800
Attributes
Attribute Base Multiplier Effective
Strength 14 1 14
Endurance 16 1 16
Vitality 15 1 15
Agility 18 1 18
Dexterity 15 1 15
Perception 13 1 13
Acuity 13 1 13
Willpower 15 1 15
Charisma 18 1 18
Connection 13 1 13
Advancement Points: 6
Abilities
Hidden Class (Guardian Angel)
Guardian Angel
Devotion
Danger Sense (Special)
Skills
Skill Level
Command 2
Inspect 1
You have 6 Advancement Points available. Please spend Advancement Points now!
¡°What kind of nerd shit is this?¡± Ana grumbled silently to herself. For probably the first time in her life she wished that Nic was awake, and that she could ask him if he knew what was going on. He understood this stuff. He¡¯d even drag her along when he played his pretend games with his nerd friends, and she''d be the picture of polite disinterest, looking pretty while playing with her phone. To be fair, they had all had fun, nobody got drunk, and nobody tried to feel her up. All in all, those nights were among the better social events Nic had taken her to, much better than when he went out with his friends from "college."
You have 6 Advancement Points available. Please spend Advancement Points now!
She still couldn¡¯t move. The text wanted her to do something and she had a feeling that she wouldn¡¯t be free until she did it, but she had no idea how. ¡°How do I do that?¡± she tried to say, but thinking it seemed to be enough. ¡°What are these points?¡±
Advancement Points are earned by gaining Class levels, or by completing certain Achievements. Advancement Points must be spent if possible when opening the Individual Summary. Advancement Points are used to increase Attribute Multipliers, at ten percentage points per Multiplier Step, and a cost equal to the Multiplier Step you wish to buy. Each Step must be bought in order.
¡°All right,¡± she sighed mentally. ¡°Boost my fucking¡­ perception, I guess, as much as possible, and let me try to fix this.¡±
Perception Multiplier increased to 1.3 for a total of 6 Advancement Points. New effective Perception: 16.9. You have no Advancement Points to spend. Advancement finalized.
She could finally move again. She quickly walked back to Nic. He still lay exactly where she''d left him, not having reacted to the gunshots at all. When she got closer, she saw why. There was a dark patch spreading slowly around Nic''s head. He was breathing, but when she lifted his eyelids he didn''t react. He didn''t focus. His pupils were unevenly dilated, which was a really bad sign, and when she shone her phone¡¯s flashlight into his eye, nothing happened. When she pressed hard on his nail beds, he didn''t so much as twitch. With a sinking feeling Ana reached one hand around the back of Nic''s head and probed gently. His skull gave a little in a way that a skull is definitely not supposed to. "Shit," Ana hissed to herself, digging out her iPhone from her purse. No signal. She dug Nic''s phone out of his jacket, holding it up to his face to unlock it. Same problem. "Shit, shit, shit!" Nic''s dad, her employer, was not going to like this at all. And for all that he loved his son and took good care of his employees, Carl Stamper was a very, very bad man. She had known that since the night she met him. It had been pretty obvious. Good men did not have a habit of helping teenage street rats cover up crimes, especially when that crime was stabbing a man to death behind an IHOP. The dead man had robbed her, smacked her around, and was probably intending to do worse, but still. Mr. Stamper had been very good to her. He''d helped her get her GED, had taught her or had her taught all kinds of things, and even helped her immigrate to the UK to work for him. For years, he''d been like the father she''d never had. That wouldn''t stop him from feeding her to his pigs when he found out that his precious boy had gotten brain damaged on her watch. She wasn¡¯t exaggerating, either. Protecting VIPs wasn¡¯t all he did. He¡¯d never asked Ana to help out with the less legal side of his business, but she knew all about it. God damnit. Nothing was going to fix this. She was going to have to disappear. But she couldn''t just leave Nic the way he was. She got up, her body feeling heavy despite the rush she''d felt before. On the ground nearby she saw one of the long daggers the first two men had carried, so she fetched it and crouched by Nic''s side. He wasn''t a bad kid. He could, very occasionally, get a little grabby when he was drunk, but that was it. His worst crime was his taste for all things nerdy, and honestly she liked his nerd friends better than his party friends. She stroked his carefully styled and then carelessly ruined hair back gently, and looked into his eyes for any sign of actual consciousness. She went through all the tests again. Nothing. "Sorry about this, Nic," she whispered. Then she drove the dagger into his heart. He jerked once, then again. Then he sort of shuddered for a few seconds. A little later he stopped breathing. He never made a sound until the breath left him, and his eyes never changed. That made her feel a little better. Chapter 2 Ana woke up to pale morning light and birdsong, and a burning in her eyes. She''d never washed off her make-up ¡ª not like there was any remover or any cotton pads here ¡ª and now her mascara was trying to kill her. Fucking great! She squeezed her eyes shut and wiped away what she could, but the damage was done. She''d just have to grit her teeth and bear it until the tears did their job. At least there was no one here to see the mess she''d made of her face. Poor Nic. He''d deserved better. Now he lay in a pile in the bushes with the three assholes, where she''d left them after stripping them of anything of value. Not that there''d been much, but she''d found some small leather pouches of coins, which she took. They were weird, but they looked like they may be real gold and silver. She''d also taken Nic''s cash, which was quite a few quid, even after a night out. She left his cards, his driver''s license, and his phone. She didn''t want anything on her that might connect her to him. She''d found a small camp nearby, where she''d also found the men''s packs. The three men had only brought supplies for a short hike and a single night, judging by the food she¡¯d found. That meant that they couldn¡¯t be too far from people. Or at least, so Ana hoped. All that she found was some food, a few tools, primitive camping gear, a thick, black book that looked like it might be valuable and, luckily, a spare robe. She''d put that on immediately, the air here being considerably more chilly than the London summer night she''d come from, and her wearing only a much too thin lavender party dress. The robe hung loosely on her, but it would do. She''d slept in a kind of sleeping bag which was pretty much just two furs sewn together, but it was warm and soft, so she''d wrapped herself up in it. She''d have preferred not to sleep alone in a strange place, but she''d had a long day followed by a long night, and she was completely exhausted. She was a light sleeper and had her gun ready, so she''d been safe enough. Now that it was morning she rolled it up and packed it with the rest of what she''d taken. Her heels also went in the pack. Even walking barefoot would have been better than trying to make her way through the forest in those. None of the dead men¡¯s boots had fit her, and Nic¡¯s massive loafers were right out, but luckily she had plenty of unused cloth lying around in the form of their robes. She cut long strips from one and wrapped her feet, packing the rest for spare material. She''d gotten pretty good at that on the street, where she¡¯d had her shoes stolen more than once. She considered strapping on the sword, but beyond ¡°stick ¡®em with the pointy end¡± she didn''t know how to use one, so it went in the pack, the hilt sticking out the top. She did, however, put both of the daggers on a belt under the robe. She could use those. She''d rather not, but she could, though as long as she had her gun it shouldn''t come to that. She had one mag of nine rounds left, and one single round in the spare. That should be plenty. After a light breakfast of dried meat, bread, and cheese, plus water from a nearby brook that she prayed wouldn¡¯t make her sick, she threw on the pack. Morning calisthenics were out: she was not doing goddamn burpees in the forest in a party dress. Other than that break with routine she was feeling pretty good, all things considered. Sure, she could never go back to London. It would probably be better to leave the UK entirely and go back to the US. And the whole thing with Nic had been pretty sad. On the bright side, she wouldn''t have his whining to ruin what looked like a pretty nice hike through a beautiful old-growth forest. Now she just needed to convince herself that she wasn''t insane. That might be tricky. Hiking left her plenty of time to think, and most of those thoughts revolved around the fact that she''d seen, or thought that she''d seen, a bunch of weird text last night, telling her that she had gained experience, that she had a bunch of Attributes, and that she had to spend points. Text that had frozen time until she did what it wanted her to. She wasn''t completely ignorant. She''d spent just under a year as Nic''s politely interested ¡ª meaning ¡°actually not, but if it makes him happy¡­¡± ¡ª ¡°girlfriend,¡± long enough to have picked up the basics of D&D. And Dark Heresy. And some robot game called Lancer and a bunch of other games Nic played. She''d sometimes amused herself by asking Nic''s friends which D&D they were playing that night, to see which of them was the worst at hiding their annoyance. She didn¡¯t see why Nic needed a bodyguard with him to play pretend with math, but Mr. Stamper insisted, and she got her fun where she could. The point was that she''d become involuntarily familiar with role-playing games. She knew about Classes, and Attributes, and skills and all that. But having it pop up right in front of your eyes, telling you that you got stronger by killing three men, was not a sign of a healthy mind. Ana couldn¡¯t just tell herself that she¡¯d imagined it, though. She had two pieces of internal evidence that she couldn¡¯t ignore. First, while she¡¯d been reading all of the text, the world had literally stopped. Second, when she was done, and had been told that her perception was better, her perception actually had been better. The dark did have more shades of darkness, letting her see more detail even though the light was no brighter, and everything had been just a bit sharper. Besides that, there was external evidence. She was suddenly in a new, unfamiliar place. There were none of the after effects that she¡¯d expect if she¡¯d been drugged, and the men that had attacked her had acted as though Nic and she had just appeared. Even if this had been some bizarre prank, she had shot three men dead, and no one had come running in a panic calling for an ambulance while trying to talk her down. So, for now she had to proceed with the assumption that everything was real, that the text was there, and that weird shit was going to continue happening. That meant that she should figure out the situation better. The first time she took a rest, sitting down on an old log, she brought up her Summary again. It took a couple of attempts, but she figured out how. After asking out loud, ¡°How do I get to see that damn individual thing again?¡± she got a notification in her peripheral vision. It said:
Individual Summary is displayed by invoking Individual Summary.
This was about as helpful as saying, ¡°Do it by doing it,¡± but when she thought the words with enough will behind them the text popped up. This time, though, everything in the world continued as normal behind the text. Bugs buzzed by, trees swayed in the breeze, and birds sang.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°What do the Attributes do?¡± The Summary was replaced by a list of descriptions:
Strength: Affects the maximum amount of force your muscles can generate. Endurance: Affects your ability to maintain physical exertion, as well as your ability to stave off the effects of hunger, thirst, and exposure to the elements. Vitality: Affects your ability to withstand physical harm, disease, and poison, as well as your ability to recover from such effects. Agility: Affects your general ability to control your body, as well as your ability to track your body¡¯s relative position in space. Dexterity: Affects your hand-eye coordination, as well as your ability to perform single or multiple simple or complex actions with one or both hands. Perception: Affects your ability to sense and interpret stimuli of any kind. Acuity: Affects your clarity of thought, your mental quickness, and your ability to keep track of and order information. Willpower: Affects your ability to resist your own impulses and external manipulation, as well as your ability to resist mentally harmful effects. Charisma: Affects your force of personality, as well as your ability to recover from mentally harmful effects. Connection: Affects the strength of your connection to the World Soul, as well as your ability to draw on and manipulate that connection.
¡°All right,¡± she muttered after reading everything and went back to the Summary. ¡°Better check out the rest, I guess. What¡¯s my race mean? Outsider?¡±
Outsider, Summoned (Human aspect): You are a creature from outside of this plane of existence, summoned for a specific purpose. You may or may not be bound to do your Summoner¡¯s bidding, or to perform a specific task. You are physiologically indistinguishable from a Human, and any inspection save for particularly powerful inspection abilities or spells will return you as Human.
She snorted. Apparently she wasn¡¯t even human anymore. She could live with that. Outsider. It fit. Sometimes she felt a little like an alien who¡¯d come to Earth to observe the humans and their weird little lives. She¡¯d never fully felt like one of them. There were so many things you were supposed to do and have as a human that she simply didn¡¯t. ¡°All right. What do my Class and abilities do?¡±
Guardian Angel (Paragon): Due to your exceptionally high moral standards and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of the well-being of others, you have become a paragon of selflessness and devotion. You are devoted to one or a small group of individuals, and none shall harm them so long as you draw breath. Special: As a reward for your self-sacrifice, each Attribute¡¯s base value increases by 1 for every level you gain in this Class. Hidden Class (Guardian Angel): This Class may be hidden from inspection. While hidden, the related Class levels will be shown as belonging to another Class appropriate to you. This ability can be disabled for any and all other individuals as desired. Note: This ability is ineffective against particularly powerful inspection abilities or spells. Devotion: You are devoted to one or a small group of individuals. You are always in a Party with the objects of your devotion, and can sense their direction relative to you and their general condition. You gain extra Growth Crystals when defending an object of devotion. These Growth Crystals are bound to you and cannot be traded. You cannot willingly allow your objects of devotion to come to harm. If you have no object of devotion, you can bond with an individual by swearing your life to them. This bond can only be broken by your death or theirs, or if they formally dismiss you. You can have a maximum of 1 bond. Maximum number of bonds increases with Class level. Current objects of devotion: Anastasia Cole. Guardian Angel: While within 3 feet of an object of devotion you can absorb any harm meant for them, including magical or physical attacks or poison. While fighting to defend an object of devotion the base value of each Attribute counts as 3 points higher. All values increase with Class level. Danger Sense (Special): You have a subconscious and supernatural ability to sense when an object of your devotion is in danger, so long as they are within 30 yards of you and the origin of the danger is within 3 feet of them. Ranges increase with Class level.
¡°Objects of devotion, Anastasia Cole¡­ how the hell does that work?¡± she said to herself, but she wasn¡¯t going to argue. If she was bound only to herself that was an absolute victory as far as she was concerned. It wasn¡¯t like she disliked all people. She liked Mr. Stamper, and she was very grateful to him. She liked some of her colleagues. And she¡¯d liked Nic¡ª when he wasn¡¯t being an annoying or grabby little shit. She¡¯d just rather not be stuck to anyone. It made things messy. But if all this was real, and if she understood everything correctly, then she was always going to know if someone close to her was a threat. And as long as she was fighting to defend herself ¡ª and if she was in a fight, of course she would be doing that ¡ª she¡¯d get stronger. Something must have gone very wrong in her favor. She was all for it. A fairly clear path led away from the stone circle and the camp through the forest. It passed a large stream with a simple wooden bridge, where Ana refilled the waterskins she¡¯d taken, and about an hour and a half after her first rest she arrived at a dirt road. Around that time she really started to wonder where the hell she was. She didn¡¯t think they had forests like this in England. Since she had no way of knowing which way to go, and she didn¡¯t want to wait for who knew how long for a passer-by she could ask, she went north-west, for the simple reason that it kept the sun mostly at her back. The road was wide for a dirt track, maybe eight or nine yards, but the forest packed in close on each side, and she kept a watchful eye on the trees and bushes. After perhaps two hours of walking, and a short break to eat something and rest her feet, her vigilance was rewarded. Chapter 3 The moment Ana saw a man standing in the shadow of one of the many trees that vaulted the road, she reached into her purse with both hands and racked her gun. Either he wouldn''t notice, or he would, and he''d be more careful. When he noticed her looking his way, he pushed away from the tree casually and stepped into the road, about 30 yards ahead of her. Sure, he might just want to say, ¡°Hello.¡± He might even be helpful. But Ana doubted it, and when she saw his face properly those doubts grew to near certainty. She knew a predator when she saw one. She stopped close enough to speak, but far enough away to draw and fire in case he suddenly came at her. Freeing herself to move, she made a show of taking off her bulky pack, sighing and rubbing her shoulders. ¡°Hello!¡± the stranger said with a smile. ¡°May I say, Miss, that you look lost?¡± The man''s whole appearance was odd. Honestly he looked like something out of that D&D movie that had just come out. Which Nic had made her watch. Twice. He had a large pack leaning against the tree, and over a green shirt and gray trousers he wore leather armor that covered his entire torso, with flaps that hung down over his hips and thighs. On one hip he carried a sword, and on the other a small crossbow. He looked a bit dirty, his long brown hair hanging limp and greasy, but he radiated friendliness in a way that put Ana immediately on edge. Something else that she didn''t really like was that when Ana focused on him there was even a little tag that said [Human Ranger (7)]. More weird text, just hanging there and impossible to ignore. ¡°Oh, not really,¡± Ana said in a bright, cheerful voice. It wasn¡¯t quite her Stacy voice. It was her ¡°playing nice¡± voice, the one that she used a lot with people who weren¡¯t actually bothering her yet. ¡°I''m just trying to get to town. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know the way, would you?¡± ¡°First time Delving?¡± the man asked with a chuckle. ¡°And not by choice, I¡¯d wager. If you belonged here, you¡¯d know that there¡¯s no town, just the outpost. And if you¡¯ll allow me to be so rude, I can see your Class and your level plain as day. There¡¯s no need to hide it, Miss. People drop into splinters by accident sometimes. It happens.¡± Shit. Of course he could see that stuff. If he had a label, it only made sense that so would she. Her mind raced. Her Class and race were supposed to be hidden, so she was supposed to show as a human ¡°Companion,¡± which sounded vaguely insulting but ultimately harmless. And her level was less than half of his, which sounded like it should make a difference. All right. Fine. Ana could play the damsel in distress, and as long as she didn''t give him a chance to try anything she might come out of this with something useful. ¡°Well,¡± Ana said bashfully, ¡°you caught me, I guess. Can you show me to this outpost, then? I¡¯d be so grateful.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no shame in it,¡± the man continued, making no move to lead the way, his eyes flicking away from her every so often. She didn''t like that. ¡°You¡¯re hardly the first to¡ª¡± Out of nowhere, Ana''s lizard brain screamed ¡°Danger!¡± Before she knew what she was doing she''d dropped and twisted, coming face to groin with a second man whose arms closed in the air above her head. She considered herself to be an alert and perceptive person. As a teenager it had kept her alive and mostly unharmed. But she''d had no idea that the man trying to grab her was there until the warning bells went off, and for the moment, no matter what was going on with her brain she was glad for it. The man grunted with frustration, and Ana''s instincts and training took over. She felt a surge of strength, and she used it. A savage elbow strike to the side of one knee made it buckle and the man gasp, but as Ana tried to put some distance between them he used the fall to get on top of her, pinning her to the ground for a moment. She tried to push him off, but he pinned her right hand with his left. He had a dagger on his belt, but they must have wanted her alive because instead of drawing it, he rose enough to punch her in the face first once, then twice. She took it. She''d had worse. The purse had ended up trapped under her back, but she dug her free hand inside her robe. Her fingers closed around the handle of one of her daggers, and as the man''s hand rose to strike her again she stabbed him, up and in under the ribs, five, six, seven times in rapid succession, the blade sliding in and out easily. The man made a horrible, hoarse sucking sound as blood gushed out of him and all over Ana''s looted robe and nice, lavender dress. He still tried to hit her, but she easily pushed him to the side and got her legs free, turning to get eyes on the first man just in time to catch a boot in the ribs. The kick was so hard that she felt something give, and it lifted her in the air and threw her back at least a yard or two. For a moment all she could do was to gasp and grab at her side, which she instantly regretted. ¡°Well,¡± the Ranger said. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to hear Larry coming. Certainly didn¡¯t expect you to kill him. But he¡¯s better off dead. A level 6 combat Classer, killed by a gods-damned level 3 civilian? Shameful." The man was standing by his still partner, poking at the body with his boot. He had his sword drawn, and was holding it with a relaxed, familiar grip. He looked at Ana, who''d struggled to her knees. She''d managed to keep her grip on the dagger, and she held it towards him. "Put down that knife, darling," he said calmly, gesturing with his sword. "You''re very, very much outmatched, and I don''t want to hurt you more than necessary." She did, and dug for her purse. "Please," she croaked. "What do you want?" "Your money and valuables, for a start," he told her. "And then, if you behave your¡ª" He stopped and scrunched his face curiously at what Ana had in her hand. She fired four shots. Two of them hit him in the head, and he wobbled and dropped like the sack of shit that he was. She would have aimed for center mass, but she wasn''t sure about his armor, and he gave her plenty of time to aim. A little message popped up in the corner of her eye.
Congratulations! You have defeated: Human Ranger, level 7; Human Rogue, level 6. You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser); Growth Crystal (Least) (2), Growth Crystal (Shard). Attention: Growth Crystals are set to auto-consume. You have been awarded 210 experience points. Skills partially calibrated, based on use.
"Great," she said into the silence as she lay back in the dirt. "Thank you. Show me."
INDIVIDUAL SUMMARY
Name Anastasia Cole
Race Outsider, Summoned (Human aspect)
Age 26
Classes Guardian Angel (3) (Hidden, shown as Companion (3))
Experience 610/800
Attributes
Attribute Base Multiplier Effective
Strength 14 1 14
Endurance 16 1 16
Vitality 15 1 15
Agility 18 1 18
Dexterity 15 1 15
Perception 13 1.3 16
Acuity 13 1 13
Willpower 15 1 15
Charisma 18 1 18
Connection 13 1 13
Advancement Points: 0
Abilities
Hidden Class (Guardian Angel)
Guardian Angel
Devotion
Danger Sense (Special)
Skills
Skill Level
Acting 3
Charm 1
Command 2
Inspect 1
Sense Motive 2
Short Blades 3
Unarmed Combat 4
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"That didn''t take much," she muttered, thinking about the new skills in the list. The pain in her side was¡­ bad. Her vocabulary was better than that, but everything was getting fuzzy. She definitely had cracked or broken ribs, and the surge of strength and¡­ everything that she had felt when she was attacked had vanished the moment the fight was over. Her whole body felt heavy. "Don''t go to sleep," she whispered to herself. She was in the middle of a forest road, with two corpses next to her. She had no idea what animals there were here, or how well trafficked the road was. "Don''t go to sleep," she repeated. "Don''t¡ª"
Ana''s consciousness flickered. She couldn''t have been out long, based on the shadows, but it was bad enough that she''d nodded off, or passed out, at all. With a groan and a stab of pain she forced herself to her feet. She knew that she shouldn''t but she had to, so she gritted her teeth and did it anyway. She checked the bodies. She took their weapons and valuables. The Ranger had the good manners to fall in such a way that all the blood drained away from him, so she figured out the straps on his armor and took that too. The robe she was wearing had taken the brunt of the blood, so she gingerly shucked that off, leaving her in just her dress. She went through the pack by the tree and found some spare clothes, but the pain in her side when she lifted her arm was too bad for her to bother getting them on. The dress would do ¡ª it was warm enough. She did put on the armor, though. She could do that without raising her arms. The whole process was torture, but she did it, even managing some of the straps. She whined involuntarily, and she was panting when she finished, but she did it. She took only the most important things from each pack. Food, the sleeping roll, the valuables and weapons. Some little arrows for the crossbow. The remains of the cut-up robe, in case she needed a bandage at some point. And, after a moment''s consideration, she added three small bottles of what smelled like liquor as well, in case she needed help getting to sleep. Then she steeled herself and screamed through her teeth as she put the pack on. By the time the forest gave way to fields, Ana was about ready to throw up. The pain was constant and awful, and the armor didn''t breathe at all. Besides that, it didn''t matter how much stronger or in better shape she was supposed to be thanks to the ¡°Class¡± that she''d been given. She wasn¡¯t hurt. She was properly injured. Her ribs were probably fucked where she¡¯d been kicked. She stumbled and staggered, her jaw clenching against the pain, but she couldn''t stop. It was an incredible relief when she came into sight of the part town, part armed camp that was the outpost. She couldn¡¯t afford to question the fact that it looked like an open air museum. It was certainly large enough to be called a town, whatever the dead man had said. The place was a half mile wide expanse of tile roofs, with a mile of clearing between it and the forest on all sides. Surrounding it was an impressive wooden wall, and at the foot of that were several rows of stakes. There were some fields and farm houses outside the walls, but they had their own walls, and there was nowhere near enough farmland here to feed the settlement as far as Ana could tell, which she figured must mean that they got food from outside, somewhere. For all that it looked like the place was ready for trouble, the gate that the road led to was wide open. There was no one going in or out at the moment, but as she stumbled closer Ana could see two bored guards standing in the shade of the gatehouse. All right. Just a little farther. She had to get in, and she had to get some kind of medical attention. Ana was an attractive, injured young woman. She knew it, and she was going to milk it for all that it was worth. The guards watched Ana with the smallest bit of interest until she stopped just outside the gatehouse. They didn''t wear anything like a uniform, just an orange armband. Ana hoped that marked them as guards. Otherwise these might just be two bored men, and this might get embarrassing or dangerous. She took the pack of, dropping it heavily to the ground, then allowed herself to stumble and go down to one knee. With the way she felt, she barely had to play it up at all. "Oh, shit," one of the guards said, stepping out of the shade and approaching Ana. He was a tall young man, with short, curly hair. His skin was a bit ruddy, and he had a rugged look to him. His label said [Human Fighter (13)]. "Are you okay, miss? I don¡¯t recognize you. You an accidental?" ¡°Not an accident,¡± Ana said piteously. With how much pain she was in, looking and sounding pitiful didn¡¯t take much acting. ¡°I was attacked!¡± "No, sorry to hear that, but I don¡¯t mean ¡®did you have an accident,¡¯ miss. I asked if you¡¯re an accidental. Dropped in here by accident. Not much else you could be, with your Class and level," the guard said with some sympathy. "Right," Ana said. "Yeah. I woke up in the forest. I was so scared!" "I can imagine," the guard said. He turned to his shorter partner, saying, "You stay here, Draver. I''ll take her to the captain." "Sounds good, Tor. Take your time," the other guard said, leaning back against the wall. "What¡¯s your name, miss?" the man called Tor asked. ¡°And can you walk a little farther?¡± "Anastasia," she said, looking up at the man with hopeful eyes. ¡°I think I can manage a little farther.¡± She wasn¡¯t exaggerating. ¡°A little farther¡± was about as much as she could handle. Her whole side felt like it was on fire. She needed to deal with these guards and get to some kind of clinic. ¡°I''m Torden. And you really don¡¯t look like you should be carrying a pack,¡± Tor said with a dubious look. "May I?". Ana¡¯s gratitude was real when she said, "Oh, please. Thank you." "All right, Miss Anastasia,¡± Tor said, throwing the pack easily over one shoulder, then offering his hand to help her stand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about this, but I have to ask: do you intend to cause any trouble in our settlement?¡± ¡°I certainly don¡¯t want any more trouble,¡± Ana said, all pained innocence. "Good enough. Come with me. Captain Falk wants to see all new arrivals," Tor said, and led the way into the outpost. Chapter 4 Now that she¡¯d relaxed a little, the pain in Ana¡¯s side was slowly becoming unbearable. Despite that, she did her best to take in the sights. She would be forced to stay here for at least a few days unless she wanted to risk killing herself, and it was impossible to know exactly what would become important in the near future. The outpost was a town of almost haphazardly mixed materials. Different woods, red or yellow brick, granite and other stone ¡ª different buildings had used whatever the builder had available and could afford. Well built, sure, but¡­ messy. Most of the buildings were two stories tall, and they favored a style where the whole front of the first floor could be opened to the street. Ana saw a mix of stores and workshops, and sometimes both in one space, as they walked along. She assumed that the proprietors lived upstairs. The street that the guard, Tor, led her along was paved with stone bricks and lined with tall, narrow trees that looked decades older than the buildings around them, and while Ana wouldn¡¯t call it heavily trafficked she still saw a number of people moving between the various businesses. On the whole, people looked friendly. Happy, even, by the way they smiled and talked to each other. Tor seemed to be well known, and many of the people greeted him with a quick word or gesture. Despite that, Ana kept her purse hanging two thirds open on her hip, ready to draw if necessary. She knew how fast a smiling face could turn ugly. The street they were on was completely straight, and ahead she could see a towering black obelisk reaching into the sky. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± She asked Tor, though her voice hitched slightly. Speaking was becoming painful. ¡°The big black stone ahead.¡± ¡°Hmm? Oh, that¡¯s the Waystone. Never seen one before?¡± Tor answered. He didn¡¯t sound too surprised, so honesty seemed fine. ¡°No,¡± Ana admitted. ¡°I haven¡¯t.¡± ¡°Fair enough. By your level I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve been pretty sheltered, and far from every city has one.¡± ¡°What is it, a monument of some kind?¡± ¡°I suppose you could call it that, but its most important role is that it¡¯s how we stabilize the splinter. That, and it¡¯s the easiest way to get in and out. Ours is in the center of the outpost, but not every outpost is built around their Waystone. Some like to keep it outside of the settlement, since¡ª¡± He looked at Ana with concern. ¡°Are you sure that you¡¯re okay to be walking?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± she said. ¡°But I need to see a doctor once we talk to your captain.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­¡± Tor sounded skeptical. ¡°Maybe¡ª?¡± ¡°Please. Mister Tor. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Tor¡¯s look told Ana just how convincing she¡¯d failed to be, but he didn¡¯t argue. As they got close to the Waystone the street merged into a large square. In the center of the square was a platform, and in the center of that was the Waystone. The thing was at least fifty feet tall and maybe five wide at the base, a towering spike of unevenly cut black rock. ¡°This way,¡± Tor said, cutting diagonally across the square. There were a few people here, though the square looked more like a meeting place than a place of business. Some shops that opened onto the square and a few stalls sold drinks and meals, and nothing else that Ana could see. ¡°Almost there. The guardhouse is the big stone building ahead. That¡¯s where we¡¯re headed.¡± There was indeed an imposing, three-story building of dark gray stone ahead of them. A man and a woman, each wearing one of the orange armbands, lounged outside and greeted Tor as he approached. ¡°Hey, Tor. Who¡¯s this?¡± the woman asked in a bored voice before she took a curious look at Ana, then continued, ¡°And what the hell is she doing here instead of with the midwife?¡± ¡°Hey, Sira. This is Miss Anastasia. She¡¯s an accidental,¡± Tor said, and the woman gave Ana a sympathetic look. ¡°Is the captain in?¡± ¡°Sure is. Head on in,¡± she said and opened the door for them, while the man just gave them both a nod. ¡°And welcome to the splinter, girl. We¡¯ll get you settled in, don¡¯t you worry.¡± There was nothing like a reception inside. Instead there were a few tables at which more rough-looking individuals with or without orange armbands sat, talking, playing cards or other games, and drinking from mugs. Nobody paid them much mind as they entered beyond a casual wave of a hand, and Tor simply led Ana past the tables and through a door at the back and side of the room. There were stairs leading up and down, and Tor took her up. ¡°Up are the offices, and then the captain¡¯s apartment,¡± Tor explained. ¡°Down are the cells, though we¡¯ve barely ever used those. Pretty peaceful place, this outpost.¡± Up one flight of stairs a door opened in the same direction as they¡¯d entered, leading into a small seating area with a number of doors. Another flight of stairs continued up, but it was blocked by a small gate which Ana could have easily stepped over. If her side didn¡¯t hurt so abominably, that is. A sign on the gate read, ¡°Stop! Private domicile!¡± in complex letters that were at once completely unfamiliar and yet completely readable to Ana. Ana stopped and stared. What the hell was this? How could she read that? ¡°Anastasia?¡± Tor asked, his concern obvious. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Now that she thought about it, Tor wasn¡¯t speaking English, nor had anyone else. She¡¯d just been going along, not noticing, because she understood every word everyone said. She did the same thing with Spanish and French sometimes, not noticing which language she was speaking, but this language was completely unfamiliar. ¡°I need to sit down,¡± she said. Her legs felt as wobbly as her voice. She wasn¡¯t speaking English either. ¡°Oh, damn!¡± Tor said, rushing forward and supporting her by the elbow. ¡°Here, sit,¡± he said, indicating a bench just inside the door. The room was much longer than it was wide, with three doors on the long side and one on the short side. Tor strode over quickly and knocked on the single door. ¡°Come,¡± came a strong voice from inside, and Tor opened the door. ¡°Captain, I¡¯ve brought in an accidental,¡± he said without entering the office. ¡°An accidental? Bring him in.¡± ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, Captain, could you come out? She¡¯s worse off than I¡¯d thought.¡± Ana could hear the scrape of a chair from inside the office, and a man exited past Tor. Captain Falk was perhaps in his mid forties. He had a long face with olive skin, and dark, close cropped hair which was spattered with gray. His label read [Human Peacekeeper (29)]. He regarded Ana with serious, light brown eyes for a moment, then turned to Tor. ¡°Mister Barlo, why have you brought this young lady here instead of to see the midwife?¡± ¡°Apologies, Captain. We walked past her shop, but I didn¡¯t realize how badly Miss Anastasia here was hurt.¡± Oh. That was nice, Ana thought. He didn¡¯t even mention how Ana had insisted that she was fine. ¡°In that case, Barlo, please go see if Mistress Touanne has time to come here.¡± ¡°Of course, Captain,¡± Tor said and left quickly, leaving Ana¡¯s pack by the door and Ana alone with the older man. ¡°Well, Miss, I''m Captain Tober Falk,¡± he said, offering his hand. She reached out and shook it automatically, and he looked at the handshake curiously for a moment, then shrugged.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Anastasia,¡± she said, her voice much more tight and flat than she¡¯d intended. She¡¯d wanted to be charming, to get on this man¡¯s good side from the start. But she was feeling a little light headed ¡ª not quite all there. ¡°Miss Anastasia,¡± Falk said gently, ¡°I suggest you take that armor off and lie down. You¡¯re clearly not well.¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡ª¡± Ana said, scooting back so that she leaned against the corner of the wall. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± She was not going to be fine. She knew that very well. She was feeling faint. Short of breath. She was slightly confused, and in a nauseating amount of pain. All symptoms of something distinctly bad. ¡°Miss, please,¡± Falk said. ¡°I could¡ª¡± He stopped himself, then said, ¡°Ah, of course. Apologies, Miss.¡± He walked over to the door closest to his own, knocked twice, then opened it without waiting for an answer. ¡°Marra,¡± he said through the door, ¡°would you come out here, please?¡± ¡°What is it, Captain?¡± a mature woman¡¯s voice asked, stressing the rank, and shortly thereafter a heavyset woman with long, curly red hair was visible through the open door, ¡°I have a new arrival here, Marra, and I think she needs some kindness. Would you be a dear and get us all some tea?¡± ¡°All right, Captain,¡± the woman answered in a long-suffering voice, then looked at Ana. ¡°Goodness, Tober,¡± she said to the captain. ¡°Why isn¡¯t she with Touanne already?¡± ¡°I sent Mister Barlo to fetch her, dear,¡± Falk said softly, then louder, ¡°Now how about that tea?¡± ¡°As you wish, Captain,¡± the woman, Marra, said before bustling down the stairs. Falk went into his own office and came out with a chair, sitting down three yards away from Ana before speaking again. ¡°Miss Anastasia, our settlement¡¯s best Healer is coming to take a look at you. Until then, do you feel up to covering some of the formalities?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± Ana said, though there was a groan in her voice. Shit. Had she aggravated her injury carrying that pack? Was she bleeding internally? And they called this Touanne woman a ¡°healer,¡± not a doctor. How screwed was she? How much did any of this matter? She listened to Falk speak, and she understood everything he said, but now that she was aware of the fact that every single word he said was in a language that she was completely unfamiliar with she wasn''t sure how much she could trust of what she saw, felt, and heard. ¡°Good, good,¡± Falk said, his voice calm and steady. ¡°So. Welcome to our splinter. It doesn¡¯t have a name yet on account of not having stabilized, but signs are good and we¡¯re very hopeful. My name is Tober Falk. I¡¯m a captain of the Bluesky Guild, which controls the splinter, and in charge of the safety of this settlement. If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like to know who you are and what you¡¯re doing here.¡± ¡°Anastasia Cole,¡± she said, her voice strained but trying to be pleasant. ¡°I¡¯m an¡­ accidental, like Tor ¡ª Mister Barlo? Like he said. I woke up in the forest last night.¡± With Nic braindead under her, and three lunatics attacking her with daggers and swords. She had an urge to tell him that, but it didn''t really make any difference, did it? Falk sighed. ¡°Mercifully rare, but not unheard of. You¡¯re not the first accidental we¡¯ve had, though none this cycle, and none have chosen to stay. Now, I see you¡¯ve had some luck, good and bad,¡± he continued, indicating her dress and her pack. ¡°I doubt that you arrived with that equipment. I¡¯ve never seen an accidental who was adequately prepared. And as we¡¯ve already established, you, Miss, are clearly injured. But don¡¯t worry. Touanne, the midwife, is an excellent Healer. Very strong in the Craft of Life. And if she¡¯s too busy we¡¯ll give you a potion and you¡¯ll be just fine.¡± He paused, then said, ¡°Would you mind explaining the equipment?¡± ¡°There was a camp near where I woke up,¡± she said. ¡°It looked abandoned, so I took what I needed.¡± She tried to play embarrassed, looking away and making herself blush, but with the state she was in it was hard to say how successful she was. Falk regarded her neutrally. ¡°The armor, the weapons strapped to your pack, they were all from that camp?¡± She might as well tell him that part. She''d just have to twist it a little. She had already told Tor that she¡¯d been attacked, and she¡¯d decided to be mostly open about what happened. They probably wouldn''t ¡ª what? Hang her? ¡ª for defending herself. Falk seemed like a sympathetic guy. Worst case they might lock her up for a while they investigated. ¡°No, Captain,¡± she said, working hard to turn on the waterworks. It didn¡¯t take much. She was on the edge as it was. ¡°I found my way to the road, but on the way here I was attacked.¡± ¡°Attacked, you say?¡± Falk said with concern. ¡°By animals? Demons?¡± ¡°You might call them demons,¡± Ana said piteously. ¡°But they were human. Two men. One distracted me with promises of help while the other snuck up behind me.¡± She looked at Falk with fear and pain in her eyes. ¡°I can only imagine what their intentions were, but I¡¯ve been taught some self defense, and I had a dagger from the camp and¡ª¡± She didn¡¯t so much force out a sob as stop holding it back. ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened, but the next thing I knew they were both dead!¡± Falk was scowling now. ¡°Bandits, in my splinter,¡± he said darkly. ¡°With your level so low, and a social Class besides, I¡¯m sure they underestimated you. They would never have expected you to know how to defend yourself. Do you know anything about them?¡± ¡°No, Captain. I¡¯m sorry. I was so distraught with suddenly being here, and then being accosted like that¡­ I think one of them was named Larry, or something like that, but I¡¯m not sure. The other was a Ranger.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Falk said. ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find out soon enough who¡¯s missing. It¡¯s a small community, after all. Ah, here is Marra with the tea!¡± His face brightened as the short, somewhat round woman arrived up the stairs with a tray bearing four steaming mugs. ¡°I took the liberty of bringing an extra for Touanne,¡± she said, then noticed Ana¡¯s tear streaked face and puffy eyes. ¡°Oh, Tober, you beast,¡± she scolded. ¡°What have you done to the poor girl?¡± ¡°Miss Anastasia was just telling me how she was attacked by two men on the road,¡± Falk said, his anger about the situation clear in his voice. ¡°Attacked?¡± Marra looked at Ana. Her face twisted into a cruel smile, a strange thing on her cheerful face. ¡°And here you are, Miss, wearing armor much too large for you. You really showed those bastards, didn¡¯t you?¡± Ana gave her a weak smile. ¡°I suppose I did, Ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t you ¡®Ma¡¯am¡¯ me. I¡¯m Marra, or Mistress Falk if absolutely must be formal. Now,¡± she turned to Captain Falk. ¡°Will there be anything else, Captain?¡± ¡°No, lov¡ª Marra, that is all for now. Thank you.¡± He picked up his mug and turned to Ana. ¡°While we wait, let me tell you a little about what you¡¯ve gotten yourself, or been dragged, perhaps, into. This is a young splinter. We¡¯ve only been here a few cycles, barely established as all things go. Now, again, you have some good luck, some bad. Unfortunately for you, this is a low-ambient splinter. That means that the cycles are long, and to make matters worse, we¡¯re in the beginning of a cycle.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what that means,¡± Ana said. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about splinters and Waystones and all this. What do you mean about the cycle? Why is that bad?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯m sorry, I should have considered your level compared to your age. You must have been very sheltered, am I right?¡± ¡°I suppose,¡± Ana said noncommittally. ¡°Well, the Waystone only opens at the end of the cycle, unless we force it, which we¡¯re extremely reluctant to do. Terribly destabilizing for the splinter, you see. No one can leave until then, meaning that you will not be able to leave this splinter for¡­¡± He turned and spoke loudly towards Marra¡¯s door. ¡°Marra! How long until the end of the cycle?¡± ¡°Hundred and forty-seven days!¡± came the reply. ¡°Thanks!¡± He turned back to Ana. ¡°So neither you nor anyone else will be able to leave for one hundred and forty-seven days.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Ana said. She had no idea how to feel about that. ¡°But, you have some good luck as well!¡± Falk said with great enthusiasm. ¡°This is a low-level splinter, meaning low-risk. Easy crystals! I know that you have a civilian Class, but even you will be able to get along if you just practice some combat Skills and join a casual team of other non-combatants. Who knows? Perhaps you¡¯ll get a taste for it and will want to switch to a combat Class? You¡¯re low level, after all. You¡¯d surpass your current level in weeks, I¡¯d bet. And while the splinter is low-level it is considered to have high potential for development since it¡¯s an eternal summer splinter. We expect agriculture to boom in the next few cycles. That means high investment and high levels of support from the Bluesky Guild, which keeps prices down!¡± There came the sound of more than one set of boots on the stairs, and Falk looked out the door. ¡°And here comes Tor ¡ª Mister Barlo, I mean ¡ª with the midwife,¡± he said. ¡°Thank you, Barlo. Touanne, thank you for coming. Would you mind taking a look at this young lady, Anastasia, here?¡± Touanne, the midwife, was an [Elfin Healer (23)], a willowy woman with fair, freckled skin and straight, chestnut hair that hung to her shoulders. Ana would guess that she was in her early thirties, and there was something about her that radiated concern and compassion. She could probably trust her. She¡¯d have to, if Touanne was it for local medical professionals. She relaxed and felt her head spin just a little. After a few seconds, she realized that she¡¯d been staring. She¡¯d seen Touanne¡¯s lips move, but she had no idea what she¡¯d said. The woman in front of her turned to the captain with an urgent expression. "Captain," she said, "I need to borrow your office. Right now. Tor, help Miss Anastasia inside." Tor quickly moved to put Ana''s arm on her uninjured side over his shoulder. She protested weakly, but she really didn''t feel well, and she didn''t sense any danger from him. She let herself be helped to her feet and shuffled into the captain''s office. Falk picked up the chair he''d brought and took it back inside. "In the chair, there," Touanne directed, and Tor helped Ana sit. "Thank you for your help, gentlemen," Touanne said to Falk and Tor, then unceremoniously shooed them out and closed the door. Chapter 5 Ana sat silently in her chair as the men left. The woman, the Healer, who had just arrived took a second chair from by the wall and sat down slowly, facing Ana with a smile. "Hello," the woman said. Her voice was gentle and warm. "Torden tells me that your name is Anastasia. Is that right?" "Yes," Ana said. She had to focus just to sit upright in the chair, and her side felt alternately on fire or almost completely numb. "My name is Touanne," the woman continued. "I''m a Healer. I would like to examine you, if that''s all right, and help if I can." "Okay," Ana said. "Thank you," Touanne said. "First I''m going to do something to help you focus. If that''s all right with you, please give me your hands.¡± Ana had absolutely no idea what this woman thought that she could do, but at the moment Ana was pretty sure that she might be dying, so she''d try anything. She held her hands out, and Touanne took them. The midwife''s hands were soft and warm. Touanne closed her eyes, and Ana felt a rush and gasped as her head cleared. Just like that, like she¡¯d had two energy drinks and a shot of adrenaline. Gasping fucking hurt! "There," Touanne said. "Before I examine you, I want you to know that you don''t need to tell me anything you don''t want to, but there¡¯s also no need to pretend, or try to hide anything from me. I promise that nothing that I see or hear will leave this room. That''s absolute. It doesn''t matter if you''re a criminal or an angel. Anything you need me to know, or just need to say, you can tell me without worry. All right?" ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said, bewildered by what had just happened and a little taken aback by the woman¡¯s earnestness. ¡°All right.¡± ¡°Good. Now, I need to touch your injuries, skin on skin, to determine what is wrong and what to do about them. I¡¯ll be as gentle as I can, but I can¡¯t promise that it won¡¯t hurt at all. I¡¯ll show you with the bruises on your face, and then we can go on from there if you¡¯re comfortable. All right?¡± ¡°All right,¡± Ana said. Something about this felt wrong. Like she should be more on guard, more suspicious, but the way the woman held herself, the way she looked at Ana, the tone of her voice, they were all so¡­ earnest and sympathetic that Ana found herself wanting to trust her. Anybody trying this hard to put you at ease should be immediately suspect, yet Ana wanted to believe that this woman truly, more than anything, just wanted to help. And finding herself unable to be suspicious of someone was terrifying. But she was also still pretty sure that she was bleeding internally and might be dying, so she''d just have to suck it up. ¡°Here,¡± Touanne said, ¡°just sit still, and breathe slow and deep.¡± Her hand touched the side of Ana¡¯s bruised face, her fingers feather light, and there was a slight tingling. No pain or other discomfort, just a mild version of your hand or foot waking up. ¡°No broken bones,¡± the woman said, her eyes closed. ¡°The bruising is deep, but¡­ there. It should be gone in a few hours.¡± She opened her eyes and removed her hand. ¡°Now, how does your cheek feel?¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Ana said, amazed at how inadequate that word was. The ache that she had felt ever since the fight with the bandits was gone. When she touched her cheek it was tender, but there was no lingering pain. ¡°What did you do?¡± ¡°I healed it, of course!¡± Touanne said with a small smile. ¡°But why are you surprised? I told you that I¡¯m a Healer. Removing pain is the easiest aspect of the Craft of Healing.¡± ¡°And you can just¡­ do that?¡± Ana asked. ¡°With just a touch? No medicine?¡± ¡°There¡¯s more involved than just a touch, I assure you,¡± Touanne said, sounding happy to explain a little about her craft. ¡°And potions certainly have their place, with or without healing to accompany them. Massive blood loss, for example, is extremely difficult and strenuous to heal, while a good potion can do the job in minutes, seconds even if the quality is high enough. But do you really not know these things?¡± "I''ve been very sheltered,¡± Ana said, realizing that she¡¯d led the conversation into dangerous territory, and using the convenient excuse that the two guards had provided her with. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about, ah, healing.¡± ¡°Oh, one of those places,¡± Touanne said sympathetically. ¡°Well, if you¡¯re interested, I would be happy to give you a basic introduction to magic. But some other time, perhaps? For now, would you be comfortable with showing me the injury to your side? Torden thought you might have injured your ribs, and from observing you I''m inclined to agree.¡± ¡°Yeah, okay,¡± Ana said. Right. Magic. The woman was casually talking about magic. And unless reiki was very real and far more effective than even Karate Kid gave it credit for¡­ "Ah¡­ I feel like I might be dying?" Touanne looked at her with concern, but didn''t rush. "I try not to disregard my patients'' instincts, but I think you''ll be safe until I can help you. Now, let''s get that armor off." "Yeah, okay," Ana said. She tried to do it herself but it hurt too much, and she had to sit patiently as Touanne undid the straps and carefully lifted the stiff leather over her head. ¡°We will need to remove the dress completely,¡± Touanne said afterward. ¡°Again, I need skin contact, and I need to be able to see how large the injury is. Is that all right?¡± Ana hesitated. There were things she¡¯d rather not show anyone, but if Touanne could do to her side what she¡¯d done to her face¡­ In the end it came down to the fact that Ana wasn''t too proud to risk dying over some potential embarrassment. And Touanne had promised not to tell anyone about anything she heard or saw.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Fine,¡± Ana said. ¡°Can you, ah¡­¡± ¡°Of course. Turn sideways on the chair, please,¡± Touanne said. The woman carefully and professionally helped Ana shift the straps over her arms, pulling the whole thing down to around her waist. It was a little awkward getting it down without touching her injured side, but they managed. Ana¡¯s heart sank a little when she heard Touanne¡¯s sharp intake of breath. Here it comes, she thought. ¡°That¡¯s marvelous,¡± Touanne said. ¡°The colors¡­ and it¡¯s so lifelike! It¡¯s a firebird, isn¡¯t it? And this!¡± Touanne said, gently touching the band of Ana¡¯s bra. ¡°It looks so practical! Where did you get this?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not even a comfortable one,¡± Ana grumbled. What she wouldn¡¯t give to have been brought here in a pair of boyshorts and a wireless bra instead. ¡°The tattoo¡­ it¡¯s a phoenix, yeah.¡± Ana had a love-hate relationship with her tattoo. Objectively it was well done, with sharp, smooth lines and beautiful coloring. Rising from the small of her back, the tail feathers followed the curve of her butt, the bird had its head low, wings raised with the tips just under her shoulders. Big, but possible to cover. She could wear U and V-backs as long as they weren¡¯t too deep. It was just that¡­ she¡¯d gotten it as soon as she turned 18, with a teenager¡¯s mind, full of ideas about symbolism and yadda yadda. Now she still saw the symbolism, but mostly it just felt tacky, and most people would have no idea what she¡¯d gone through, and what it meant to her. But she¡¯d had it for years, and had never once considered getting it removed, which was evidence enough to herself that it was worth the occasional eye-roll. ¡°Well!¡± Touanne said. ¡°As much as I could sit here for an hour and admire the art you¡¯ve decorated yourself with, that bruising along your side looks very nasty. I¡¯m going to touch it now, okay? Again, I can¡¯t promise that it won¡¯t hurt, but I¡¯ll be as gentle as I can.¡± ¡°Go ahead,¡± Ana said, steeling herself. This time Touanne placed both her hands palm down on Ana¡¯s skin, one under her armpit and the other on her waist. Ana turned her head to look, and yep, that¡¯s how big the bruise was. She hadn¡¯t been able to tell. Her whole side was just a mass of pain, making it hard to determine where exactly it came from. The fact that Touanne gasped when the tingling began did not put Ana at ease. ¡°Oh, you poor woman,¡± Touanne said. ¡°I''m so sorry for doubting the severity of¡­ You carried a pack with this? How far? How are you still conscious?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had worse,¡± Ana replied, thinking back to a particularly vicious beating she¡¯d gotten once that left her broken and shivering in an alley. She¡¯d been lucky to survive that time, and probably wouldn¡¯t have if one of the kinder old bums hadn¡¯t taken her to a free clinic in his cart. ¡°Oh, I can see that,¡± Touanne said, and her voice was full of such warmth and sadness that Ana felt slightly ashamed to have doubted her, or even having wanted to doubt her. It was not a feeling she was used to. She didn¡¯t like it. ¡°Knotted bones, scarring on the lungs. You¡¯ve lived a hard life, haven¡¯t you?¡± Touanne asked. ¡°Does it matter?¡± Ana snapped, her shields coming up immediately. She¡¯d accept some measure of sympathy, but she wouldn¡¯t invite or tolerate pity. ¡°Can you help or not?¡± ¡°My apologies,¡± Touanne said sincerely. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to pry. You have one broken rib, and one cracked one. They''ve done some damage, but I''ve stopped the bleeding and I''ll help it heal cleanly, so that there will be no deep scarring. Your lungs, too. The scars are old, but I should be able to reduce them, at least.¡± She was silent for a while, and the tingling intensified, then fell off until it was gone, taking the aches and pain with it. ¡°There,¡± Touanne said. There was a sheen of sweat on her brow, and she was slightly out of breath. ¡°You should feel much better already, and in a day or two you should be able to move normally again. Until then you should treat the injury like any other. That means no heavy lifting, no strenuous exercise, and no sleeping on that side, even if it doesn¡¯t hurt. I cannot stress this enough. The pain is gone, but the injury itself is not! ¡± ¡°I''ll remember. Thank you,¡± Ana said, moving her arm carefully and feeling much less pain in her side when she did so. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for snapping,¡± she added diplomatically. This woman was extremely useful. Having her on her side could be invaluable. ¡°I know that you meant well.¡± ¡°No, again, I apologize. I should not have pried. Your story is your own, and I should not have tried to lure it out when you were clearly being restrained with your answers.¡± ¡°Either way, thank you. Now, what do I¡­ I mean, do I pay you, or¡­?¡± Touanne laughed softly. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Torden told me of your circumstances, and I think you¡¯ll need your coin for other things until you get your feet under you. Besides, for those who truly need my help I usually do it for free, unless I really don¡¯t like the patient in question.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Ana said, no longer used to or much liking charity. ¡°Are you sure there isn¡¯t anything I can do?¡± ¡°If you really want to help, there are certain plants and demon parts that I can use for making potions. Yes, I do make potions. Like I said, they have their place, and can do things that healing cannot. Anyway, if you decide to take up Delving to support yourself, or just to pass the time, I would appreciate it if you might come by my shop, and I can give you the details. I¡¯d pay, of course.¡± ¡°If I do,¡± Ana said carefully, ¡°I promise that I¡¯ll come by.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I ask.¡± There was one thing that Ana wanted to ask. She¡¯d been curious ever since she saw Touanne but the moment to bring it up hadn¡¯t really presented itself, so she just went for it. ¡°I¡¯d like to ask you something ¡ª and please, tell me if this is rude, all right?¡± ¡°Go on,¡± Touanne said, a curious glint in her eyes. ¡°When I look at you, your label says that you¡¯re elfin.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°Well, I know one meaning of that word, and it doesn¡¯t really fit you. But it says that you¡¯re elfin the way that Tor or Falk are human. So¡­ what are you? What¡¯s an elfin person?¡± Touanne looked at Ana for a moment, snorted, then broke out into genuine, full throated laughter. ¡°I¡¯m sorry! I¡¯m sorry! Oh, sheltered indeed!¡± she said between bouts. ¡°Is that all? We¡¯re a people like any other! Some say that we came into being when elves and humans mingled at the beginning of time, and maybe there¡¯s something to that. We¡¯re less different from either elves or humans than they are from each other, and we can have children with either, though with difficulty, while you, for example, could not have a child with an elven man at all. Although,¡± she said with a mischievous glint in her eye, ¡°some consider that an advantage. But no, don¡¯t worry! It¡¯s never rude to seek to cure one¡¯s ignorance.¡± ¡°Just people,¡± Ana said. ¡°Got it. Can I ask something else? And you swear you wont tell anyone that I asked this?¡± Ignorance was weakness, and she had never been comfortable with being seen as weak. If you were weak, you were a potential victim. But if she was going to ask anyone, this woman seemed like her best bet. ¡°I do,¡± Touanne answered seriously. ¡°Whatever it is you need to know, just ask.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Ana said, preparing to make a fool of herself. ¡°Does everyone get little messages in front of their eyes, and what the hell are Growth Crystals?¡± Chapter 6 Touanne looked at Ana curiously for a long time, to the point that Ana became acutely uncomfortable. Touanne must have noticed, and filled the silence. ¡°Anastasia,¡± she said gently. ¡°You¡¯re level 3. How can you not know what a Growth Crystal is?¡± ¡°So you do get the messages?¡± Ana demanded. ¡°Well, yes. Of course! How else would we¡­ but Anastasia, again, you¡¯re level 3. I understand that you may have been sheltered, and level 3 is indeed very low at your age. So low that the only way I can see for that to happen is if you¡¯ve given most of your Crystals away, even the ones you¡¯ve generated naturally. But then how can you not know what they are?¡± Ana felt herself close down, dropping the facade she¡¯d been presenting. A mistake, probably, but she¡¯d had a really shit day, and was emotionally exhausted. She became flat and calculating, and for a fleeting moment she saw that look in Touanne¡¯s eyes, one she¡¯d seen far too many times after showing her true self to someone. It was clear as day: Touanne wondered if she was in danger. Her eyes flicked to the door and back to Ana, no doubt wondering if she should call for the two men outside ¡ª regretting that she¡¯d asked them to leave. But it wasn''t like she could ask a patient to undress in front of a couple of strangers, was it? Then she relaxed, and Ana could almost imagine that she felt a wave of calm roll off the other woman. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Touanne said. ¡°I did it again. I pried. I let my curiosity get the better of me when I should have just answered your question. Yes, Anastasia, everybody sees the messages, in some form that they understand. It¡¯s not just you. It¡¯s how we interact with the System, or whatever you want to call it. The Growth Crystals, well¡­ I don¡¯t think that anyone knows what they are, really. They exist, and they don¡¯t. They are in our world, and in some ethereal other place. They are experience made manifest. Here, let me show you.¡± She held out her hand, palm up, and a piece of some strange material appeared from nowhere. It was smaller than Ana¡¯s little finger, vaguely crystalline and colorless with an ethereal quality to it, a transparency which was very different from glass. It didn¡¯t bend light; it was just not completely there. ¡°This is a Shard,¡± Touanne said. ¡°It is worth ten experience points. You should have received one around every full moon since you¡­ became a young woman.¡± ¡°You mean puberty?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Oh, good,¡± Tuanne said. ¡°You¡¯re educated, to some degree at least. Puberty, yes. The Shards usually start appearing the month before a girl begins bleeding, two or three months before at most. Quite a useful warning, in that way,¡± she laughed. ¡°They come at a similar age for boys. And then you would have received a few more every so often for accomplishing things, like gaining a Skill, or doing something in line with your Class. So, you see, that¡¯s why I was so surprised. You really should be level 4 or 5, even if you did nothing at all except float through life.¡± ¡°The messages say that my crystals are ¡®set to auto-consume.¡¯ I¡¯ve never seen one before.¡± Touanne¡¯s eyebrows shot up. ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t recommend that at all! What if you need some quick money, or if a friend needs just that little bit to gain a level? You should change it to manual immediately!¡± ¡°And how do I do that?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Just¡­ tell it to,¡± Touanne said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Interacting with the System is such a basic skill that it isn¡¯t even taught, really. I¡¯ve never¡­ Children just pick it up.¡± Touanne¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t at all patronizing, but Ana still felt talked down to. Which might be fair. She apparently lacked a skill that was so basic that children picked it up before they learned to talk. So she ignored the vaguely insulted feeling and brought up her Summary, then said, ¡°System! Set my Crystals to consume manually!¡±
[Growth Crystals will be stored until manually consumed.]
As easy as that. When Ana closed her Summary, interface, whatever, Touanne was grinning. As though Ana had just said or done something terribly funny. Or possibly cute. Childish. Again, Ana ignored the embarrassment and declared, ¡°It worked. So you can just take these things out and sell them?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Touanne said excitedly. ¡°In fact, take this.¡± She held out the Shard she¡¯d brought out to show Ana. ¡°Please. I got it for Healing you, and I¡¯m high enough level that a Shard is practically nothing. It¡¯s really no loss to me. Consider it the smallest of apologies for my prying before.¡± Ana looked at her skeptically, but then reached out and took the Shard. ¡°It doesn¡¯t weigh anything,¡± Ana said curiously. ¡°And it¡¯s like I¡¯m not really touching it, either. Like¡­ I don¡¯t know. My fingers stop, but there¡¯s nothing there. Not even pressure.¡± Ana thought about that message, about storing Crystals, and the Shard vanished as though it had never been. Ana felt herself flinch, and hoped that Touanne hadn¡¯t seen. She thought about bringing a Shard out, and it appeared in the palm of her hand. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if that would work,¡± she said, a little flustered. Touanne giggled for about half a second before forcing it down. "Anastasia," the Healer said, "I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you putting your trust in me like this. I think that we should rejoin the gentlemen now, but if you have any more questions, any at all, just come find me. I will extend the same promise of confidentiality whenever you ask for it." "I might take you up on that, Touanne," Ana said, her eyes locked on the Shard in her palm. In a burst of childish wonder she closed her hand with a flourish, storing the Shard, then opened it again to show an empty hand. "Ta-da!" she whispered to herself, and this time Touanne let herself giggle.
Once Ana was decent and had her armor back on, with the reasoning that wearing it was easier than carrying it, she stayed in her chair as Touanne went to call the men in. "We''re all done in here," the Healer called out the door, then returned to Ana''s side, though she remained standing. The Captain took his own seat behind the desk while Tor remained standing. "Thank you, Touanne," Falk began. "Your invaluable help is, as always, appreciated. Miss Anastasia, I trust you are at least somewhat better now?" "Much better, thank you," she said demurely. "Yes, well. You should know that Barlo and myself have had a very interesting conversation about your circumstances." Cold suspicion crept up Ana''s spine. There was an implication in those words that she didn''t like at all. Her pack was by the stairs. Tor was in the door, but Ana wasn''t that big, and she was slippery when she needed to be. Trying to keep her face and posture neutral, Ana prepared to move. "I should leave," Touanne said and stood, throwing Ana off. Now she was in between Ana and the door as well. "This is private business, I''m sure. It was lovely meeting you, Ana, despite the unfortunate circumstances. You will come by my shop soon, won''t you? It¡¯s on Main Street, but you can just ask anyone, really, and they can point you my way. If nothing else I want to make sure that the healing is coming along as it should." "I will. Thank you for your help," Ana said, following the other woman with her eyes as she left the room, closing the door behind her. She should have taken her chance.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Tor took Touanne''s seat, looking open and relaxed. "We''ve figured out who attacked you," he said. "I recognize the armor, to be honest. Just didn''t have a name to go with it." "We are also well aware that you haven''t been completely forthcoming with us," Falk said. "But I want you to understand: you are not in any trouble at the moment, though I do urge you to be more completely honest with us from now on." "I''m not sure ¡ª" Ana began, trying to resume her appearance of simple innocence from before, but a look from Falk told her that he saw through her facade. "Fine," she said instead, relaxing her face and dropping her voice to her natural alto. "What do you want from me?" "How about you start over from the beginning." Ana scowled and sucked her teeth while she thought. The more she looked at Falk the more convinced she became that lying to him was useless, or at least that he''d know if she did. Fucking levels and Skills and Abilities¡­ "All right. I got dropped in here last night, from somewhere you''ve never heard of, together with a kid I was protecting. We were attacked by three men. I killed them, but Nic didn''t make it. I slept in their camp, took what I needed, and hiked out of the forest hoping to find a road, or at least some signal. No such luck." Ana looked at the two men, but Falk just gestured for her to go on. "I found the road. A while later I was attacked by two assholes. The one whose armor I''m wearing was a Ranger, the other one was a Rogue, I think. Named Larry or something, like I said." Tor nodded. "I talked to Draver, and two troublemakers left by the south gate yesterday." "Right. Well, Larry tried to grab me, then punched my head into the ground a couple times, so I did what I had to. The Ranger was a smarmy shit who kicked my ribs in and thought he could do whatever he wanted to me, so I killed him too. I took what I could carry, just barely made it here, and if you hadn¡¯t brought Touanne I¡¯d be dying on the floor right now. Good enough?" "That will do, I think. I can tell that you''re holding something back, but I have no doubt that you''re the victim in this situation, as well as the poor child you came here with. Now, to be fully honest, Barlo had you figured before he brought you up here. You are not the first lady companion to be taught how to defend their charge, either. But, have no worries. We shall not be spreading any gossip, shall we, Barlo?" "No, sir," the younger man confirmed with a sincere smile. "The important thing here is that I am quite satisfied that, while you have by your own report killed three unknown men who were certainly up to no good and two members of our small community, you are not to blame. You certainly believe that you acted in self-defense, and I do not intend to take any action but to congratulate you on your skill and good fortune in surviving. Any of their possessions that you have you may keep as damages and compensation for your trouble. That said¡­" He took a long pause. "Since you''re new here with no way to leave, I assume that you will want to join our community, at least for a time. The alternative is to take your chances in the wild. And because you have not come here through approved channels, that being the Waystone, for the sake of that community I will be placing you on probation. I will expect you to behave, and I am asking Barlo here to keep an eye on you and show you around. Mister Barlo is an honest young man, and I hope that this will not be a problem. Now, Miss Ana, I am very pleased to have met you though, as Mistress Touanne said, I wish the circumstances might have been kinder. I regretfully have work to do. You may go." Tor brought Ana out of the office. ¡°Sit down, would you?¡± he said. ¡°I want to talk some more with you before we leave.¡± There were the stairs. Her pack, light as it was, stood right beside them. Ana sat. There was no point in making a run for it or antagonizing the guy, since she was apparently in the clear. Once she was seated he continued, still standing. ¡°The first thing I want to tell you is, and I cannot stress how important this is, that you need money. Everybody here is hoping to get rich, and charity is difficult to find on the regular. So, I need to ask you some uncomfortable questions. I promise that I have your best interest in mind, right? So I want you to answer me honestly, and to not get angry.¡± Ana was already unhappy, but didn¡¯t protest. "That depends on the question, but I''ll try." ¡°First, how much money do you currently have?¡± Ana opened her purse and brought out the two bags in which she¡¯d collected the money of the three cultists and the two bandits, respectively. ¡°I''m not exactly familiar with the currency here,¡± Ana said. ¡°And the money in each of these two bags is different.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s have a look,¡± Tor said. Ana carefully emptied each pouch into two separate piles on the small table. ¡°Well, these are regular Bluesky coins,¡± Tor said, pointing to the smaller pile on the right. ¡°Looks like¡­ five silver, sixteen copper. There¡¯s twelve copper to a silver and twelve silver to a gold. A room at an inn will usually run you a silver per night, and another six copper if you want meals. And you¡¯re unlikely to find cheaper food elsewhere, unless you want to live on bread and water. So you¡¯re good for four days, if you don¡¯t spend more than a copper or two.¡± He turned to the other, larger pile. ¡°Now, these I don¡¯t recognize, but you should be able to exchange them at the administrative office. If you do, tell the clerk that Captain Falk will be interested to know where they¡¯re from. I assume that they¡¯re from the first men who attacked you?¡± Ana gave a curt nod. ¡°Might be useful if we ever need to figure out where they¡¯re from. Anyway, you may be able to exchange these by weight, depending on what the clerk says about them. Looks like you¡¯ve got two gold, a bit smaller than Bluesky coins, twelve silver coins, a bit larger than ours, and these eight look like bronze. No idea what they may be worth, but I¡¯d wager you have something like¡­ thirty, thirty-five silver and change, here? That will keep you housed and fed for a while longer, but remember that it¡¯s almost a hundred and fifty days until you can leave, and even then you¡¯ll need money to get home. Which brings us to my next two questions. For the first one, please take this in the spirit that it is asked.¡± The tone in his voice put Ana on edge. She had a good idea about what the question might be, and she prepared herself, very carefully, to not lash out at him. ¡°Ana,¡± Tor said, embarrassment clear on his face. ¡°Are you a Courtesan or similar who¡¯s hiding her Class?¡± ¡°What, a girl can¡¯t whore herself without the right Class?¡± Ana¡¯s voice could have frozen magma, and the glare she gave him was an order of magnitude harsher than she¡¯d intended. It was just¡­ she¡¯d been there. At the edge, with no money and no income, and nothing to sell but what remained of her pride and her dignity. She didn¡¯t appreciate the reminder, no matter how well meaning. Well. Better than slapping him, she thought. Tor still winced. ¡°The answer is no. I¡¯m not doing that." ¡°That¡¯s fine. I just wanted to make it clear that the option is there. Question asked and answered. In that case, do you have any skills that could make you money?¡± ¡°What¡¯s in demand?¡± ¡°Cooks, blacksmiths, tailors, leatherworkers, anyone who makes or repairs anything can make a living here. Plenty of game in the forest, too, so hunters make some decent money. We¡¯re a growing community based on Delving, and Delvers need many things. We also like to spend our money on entertainment after a successful Delve, so anything like that¡ª¡± Tor flinched again at her expression. ¡°I mean music, dancing, storytelling, things like that. My point is that any skilled job is in demand, but unskilled ones, bar one¡­ not so much, unfortunately.¡± ¡°I got my GED,¡± she muttered, which obviously meant nothing to Tor. The man just looked at Ana patiently until she continued. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°No skills that would be of any use here. Some math, I guess.¡± ¡°Math?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Mathematics. Sums, differences, multiplication, division, all that.¡± Tor nodded thoughtfully. ¡°We can ask at the administrative office. But until you can secure a position as a clerk of some kind, without Skills you¡¯re really limited to doing odd jobs like physical labor, or going outside. Hunting demons and clearing Delves, I mean. Me, I think you can do it. I know that you can fight, and you have most of the gear already. If you want, I¡¯d happily give you some lessons in swordsmanship to prepare you.¡± Ana''s first impulse was to refuse the offer, but she forced herself to think about it. She didn''t mind fighting if it was for a good reason. ¡°I don¡¯t like blades,¡± she said finally. ¡°I can use a knife but I hate it.¡± ¡°May I ask why?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Because a knife is really only any good if your opponent is unarmed, isn¡¯t it? You never want to get in a fight where you both have knives. Even if your opponent has no idea what they¡¯re doing you¡¯re still going to get hurt. There¡¯s a saying where I''m from: ¡®In a knife fight the loser dies on the street, and the winner dies on the way to the hospital.¡¯ The only reason I learned was because my employer insisted. In case I was attacked by someone with a knife who didn¡¯t know how to use it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s some surprising insight for someone without a combat Class. Still, a sword removes some of those issues. If you know how to use your sword, you have a good chance of getting out of a fight unharmed. And even if you don¡¯t want to carry a sword, knowing how to use one would help both against enemies who do, and if you lose your weapon and have to grab something off the ground. Swords are common. Most importantly, you won¡¯t be fighting anyone here. Only demons, and the ones you may face don¡¯t carry weapons. So, please, think about it. It¡¯s not without its dangers, but it''s good money, good experience, and honestly a lot of fun with the right group.¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll think about it." There was some sense in what he said, and she didn''t see how else she''d make a living here unless she wanted to start hooking or mugging people. "Like I said. I''d be happy to teach you the basics, at least. And while I''m not much good with a crossbow, I know someone who¡¯d be happy to show you how to handle that, too. Now, come on." He picked up her pack and threw it on. "I''ll show you around." Chapter 7
Skills partially calibrated, based on use.
The little message kept bothering Ana as Tor led the way out of the building. He¡¯d promised to show her around a little before taking her to an inn he could recommend. Nothing fancy, he said, but of the three in the settlement this was the best combination of cleanliness, filling meals, and a price she could afford. Bring the damn thing up, she said to herself. Summary, or whatever. The System responded instantly. There was a new line under the experience counter, but she''d seen that before, with Touanne. It said [Storage: 1 Shard.] But there was a new line in her Skills, as well: Intimidation. She didn¡¯t have any way of evaluating what the numbers by those Skills translated into when it came to actual skill, but she knew that she was good at unarmed combat. Not national competition good, unless they allowed really dirty, really dangerous moves, but good enough to take down most people. So a 4 was probably pretty good. The 4 next to Intimidation made her grin. She¡¯d been pretty pissed when Tor outright asked if she was a prostitute. Fair question, in hindsight; she was wearing about half as much as the next least dressed woman she¡¯d seen. Probably good money to be made that way, in a place like this, too, and her visceral reaction probably wasn''t fair to anyone who chose that profession. And Tor had been trying to help. But the way that he¡¯d cringed¡­ She¡¯d practiced that look and that voice in the mirror for hours, and in real life situations more times than she could count. The idea that her ¡°say that one more time¡± face was objectively as effective as her martial arts training was pretty damn funny, not to say satisfying. Two hands on her arms stopped her just as she was about to walk into a table. She suppressed the urge to lash out. I¡¯m safe here, she told herself. These are the cops. If their boss is anything to go by, she reasoned, then they mean well. As weird as it is, I have to trust these people. ¡°Miss Anastasia, please,¡± Tor leaned in and whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t look at your Summary while walking. People will think there''s something wrong with you. And you¡¯ll just walk into things.¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks,¡± she said, annoyed with herself. She should have been paying attention, but there was something about having actual metrics for how good she was that appealed to her. Instead of taking her out the front door, Tor led Ana out the side, through a small armory and into a courtyard. One pair of men and one of women were going through exercises with swords and shields, making the purpose of the space clear. "This is the practice yard," Tor said. "It''s open sunup to sundown, to all guild members who want to use it. That means everybody in the outpost except you, so¡­ you might want to sign up. Are you a member of a Guild already?" "No," Ana replied, looking at the two pairs as they worked. It wasn''t swordplay as she thought of it. Only one in each pair was armed, while the other wore thick, elbow length gloves, a little like those things you used to train police dogs. "Good," Tor said. "That makes things easy. Switching affiliations can get messy." "Is it mandatory?" Ana asked. The person in each pair with the gloves would swipe and lunge at their partner, trying to touch them or knock them down. The one who was armed would dodge, block with the shield, and strike back with the sword. No fencing there. Didn''t look like there was much technique at all, only reflexes and brute strength. "Not as such," Tor said as he led her out a gate to a side street. "But in practice, yes. You don''t want to spend the next half-year being the only non-member in the settlement. It would make your life extremely difficult. Besides, it''s no hardship. Life-time membership dues were set at one silver ages ago. You promise not to break any rules, not to work against the guild, and to answer the call if the guild needs you. That means defending the outpost, the odd rescue expedition, stuff like that." Mandatory membership. Fucking awesome, Ana thought bitterly. But all she said was, "Benefits?" "Access to all non-restricted guild services. Guild merchants and Guild craftsmen ¡ª meaning all of either, here ¡ª Guild trainers, Guild jobs, and rescue if one of those jobs goes to shit. Those are the major ones. And you can sleep in the barracks if you want to save some coin, but I don''t recommend it if you can afford anything else." Tor stopped her and looked at her seriously. "You should join up. I can''t stress that enough." "So this is a company town," Ana said. "Complete monopoly." "Not sure what a company town is," Tor said patiently, "but there are plenty of merchants. They buy from the Guild, which handles all deliveries through the Waystone, but every merchant is free to set their own prices. And the Guild does not abuse its position, I can assure you. We all want the settlement to grow, to stabilize the splinter, and if the Guild was exploitative people would simply leave at the end of the cycle and warn others off. Frankly, living here is cheaper than back in the Primes." "If you''re a member of the Guild," Ana said. "If you''re a member of the Guild," Tor conceded. "But since you normally can''t even come here without being a member, that''s rarely a problem." "All right, I get it," Ana said after a short pause. "Let me guess: fuck up, break the rules, and you''re out of the Guild. Is that right? You basically have to be a member to survive here, so dangling expulsion over people''s heads keeps them in line." "It''s pretty effective, yes," Tor said matter-of-factly. "But expulsion is one step down on the scale from execution. Simply messing up isn''t enough. You have to be a real cunt ¡ª sorry, a real villain ¡ª to get kicked out, instead of just fined, demoted, or thrown in the cells to think about what you did." ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll sign up." She couldn''t buy or do anything without being a member, apparently, so what the hell else was she supposed to do? Run off and live like a wild woman, lawless in the forest? Try to make her way somewhere else, even though these people insisted that there was nowhere else to make it to? Tor relaxed a little. ¡°That¡¯s good to hear,¡± he said. ¡°In that case, let me be the first to welcome you to the Bluesky Guild, even if it¡¯s not official quite yet. I was going to show you Administration anyway, so we¡¯ll get you signed up once we get there.¡± Tor took her on a circuitous route, showing her the most important locations in the settlement. It wasn¡¯t large, but there were plenty of stores, taverns, and other businesses catering to adventurers, as befitted what was essentially a frontier town. Tor seemed well known, though perhaps that was to be expected in such a small community. Many of the people they met greeted him by name; more stared curiously at the unfamiliar woman. Maybe it was her hair? She hadn''t seen any other side cuts so far. Or maybe not. "Hey, Torden. How often do new people arrive here?" "Four or five times per cycle has been the norm. Sending anything living through uses way more mana than sending goods, so the Guild likes to gather two dozen people at least before they send anyone through." "Right. And I''m the only new girl." "Makes you stick out, yeah. Another good reason to join up. Gives you something in common with everyone else." During the tour, Ana realized quickly that the comments about her being at a low level were very much justified. The average seemed to be around level 9 or 10, though it varied greatly with some being in the 20s and the lowest, a young man ¡ª a boy, really, who couldn''t have been older than fifteen ¡ª being a level 5 Apprentice. It looked like only small children would normally be Ana''s level. According to Tor there was not a single actual child in the whole splinter, though that was going to change soon, with one of the farm girls and a tavern maid being unmistakably pregnant. ¡°It¡¯s a good sign for a new splinter!¡± Tor said cheerfully. ¡°They would have both known by the time the last cycle ended, but they chose to stay. Gives everybody some confidence in this place, you know?¡± ¡°Torden, what is a splinter, exactly?¡± The name gave Ana some ideas. Wild, crazy ideas. But she needed to know, especially if she was going to be stuck here for several months. ¡°Exactly? No idea. It¡¯s a little bit of the world separate from everything else. Like an island, only it¡¯s surrounded by nothing instead of water. You should go to the edge, sometime. It¡¯s not far.¡±If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± ¡°Nothing at all,¡± Tor said, his eyes faraway for a moment. Then he snapped back. ¡°That¡¯s the whole thing about it. You must have seen the mountains in the distance, right? You¡¯ll never reach them. They don¡¯t exist. Keep walking towards them and the world just¡­ fades out. The air gets thicker and thicker until you can¡¯t move anywhere except back the way you came. It¡¯s a strange feeling. Harmless, though. Everyone should try it once.¡± The settlement was regularly laid out, with straight streets running parallel and perpendicular to each other. There were two wide central streets: Main Street, which ran roughly south to north from the gate where they¡¯d entered, and Cross Street, which ran roughly east to west. The two crossed at the eastern third of the main square, with the Waystone dead center in the cross. As they walked north along Main street, the same way they¡¯d come before, Tor made sure to point out Touanne¡¯s shop, a green and white two-story wooden building with lots of windows and low bushes in front. It showed signs of having been recently touched up, even among the general newness of the settlement, and there was a sign featuring a mortar and pestle over the door. "Why do you call her the midwife?" Ana asked as they passed. "She''s like a doctor and pharmacist, isn''t she?" Tor looked at her with blank incomprehension. "Healer and¡­ apothecary?" she tried instead. "Right. Well, that''s true," Tor said. "But she only came here at the beginning of this cycle, and took over the shop from the previous apothecary ¡ª he was kind of run out of town, for several reasons. She says she has years of experience with midwifery, though, and with two babies on the way¡­ it''s kind of, what''s the word? Aspirational. Her showing up is another good omen." On the main square Tor pointed out the temple of the Wayfarer, a large building of red and pink stone with a two-tiered, peaked roof and surrounded by well tended trees and bushes. It lay across the square from the guardhouse, dominating the eastern side of the square the way the guardhouse did the western. It was a beautiful building, and apparently the only full temple in the splinter. ¡°There are a few smaller shrines, and a lot of people have a little shrine to one deity or another at home, but the cult of the Wayfarer are usually the only ones who will really invest in a young splinter like this. That¡¯s to be expected, though. The Waystones need their goddess¡¯ blessing, after all, and they¡¯re always willing to help any guild trying to stabilize a new splinter, so they get some special treatment when it comes to guild membership.¡± He paused. ¡°If you ever need charity, they¡¯re your best bet, but be warned. They can be pushy once you step inside.¡± On the northern side of the square, to the west of Main Street, lay Administration. Built of the same solid stone as the guardhouse, it did not have a particularly large footprint, though at five stories it was the tallest building in the settlement. ¡°Administrative Captain Pirta lives on the top floor, the same way Guard Captain Falk does in the guardhouse,¡± Tor said. ¡°The rest is all offices, with some storage in the cellar. It takes a surprising number of paper pushers to run a little place like this.¡± ¡°All right. What are those people around the Waystone doing?¡± Ten or so people had formed a large circle around the obelisk, keeping everyone else from stepping onto the platform. A woman stood with her hand on the stone, eyes closed and looking like she was waiting for something. ¡°Hmm? Oh, there must be a delivery coming through. Should be any second now if Thair ¡ª that¡¯s the woman on the plinth ¡ª is doing her prayer.¡± Even as he spoke, the world pulsed. A wave of something rippled inwards through the clouds, centered on the obelisk. The air shimmered and thickened above the pillar, followed immediately by a blinding flash and an outward rush of wind from the circle around the Waystone. When Ana opened her eyes again a dozen crates and several wooden barrels stood on the platform, where before there had been nothing. ¡°The fuck¡­?¡± Ana whispered. Magic. She¡¯d been healed by magic, and now things had appeared from thin air. Magic was a thing, and all she could do was to roll with it or she¡¯d stick out worse than she already did. Tor laughed. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a sight the first time, I guess. Gets pretty annoying after a couple of months of blinking the spots away, I promise you, but it¡¯s also how we get about half of our food, so what can you do?¡± ¡°Right.¡± The feeling of unreality that the magic had brought melted away as she felt much more familiar things falling into place. ¡°So you rely on the Waystone to keep this whole place from falling apart and to keep people fed. And this cult of the Wayfarer, they decide who gets to have one? They control it? They must have a lot of influence here.¡± To her surprise, instead of deflection or agreement, all she got out of Tor was more laughter. ¡°Not hardly! The damn things are expensive, but anyone with good intentions can put one up and the Wayfarer will bless it. Her cult is happy to foot the bill for smaller Guilds like ours, but they don¡¯t control it! I think they¡¯d be honestly offended if you suggested that they do. And I¡¯ve never once heard of her withdrawing her blessing. Don¡¯t think that¡¯s a thing; once it¡¯s up, it¡¯s up. Now come on, Administration awaits!¡± Tor led her through the door of the tower. The reception was small but tastefully furnished and well ventilated, with a bench and a desk, behind which sat a serious looking middle aged woman. She was, apparently, a [Human Administrator (18)]. ¡°Mister Barlo,¡± the woman greeted Tor as they entered. ¡°Good afternoon. How can I help you?¡± ¡°Same to you, Mistress Drisa,¡± Tor said with a smile, ¡°and may I say that you look lovely today, as always?¡± Though the woman¡¯s tone didn¡¯t change, her eyes smiled. ¡°You may, though it will do you no good. Shall I assume that you¡¯re here because of this young lady?¡± ¡°Astute as always, Mistress Drisa,¡± Tor replied. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Captain Falk sent word already, but this is Miss Anastasia. She''s an accidental, and she wants to join the Guild.¡± Drisa¡¯s eyes softened. ¡°Oh, you poor kid. Such a low level, too. And your Class¡­¡± She rummaged around a drawer and brought out a set of papers and a metallic blue sphere set in a metal cradle. ¡°Well, it can¡¯t be helped. Since you¡¯re here you¡¯re definitely making the right decision in joining. Now, first I¡¯ll need you to read these,¡± she pushed the papers her way, ¡°or I can read them for you if needed. No shame in that, just ask. These are your rights and obligations as a member, so it¡¯s important that you understand them before finalizing.¡± Ana looked at the papers in front of her and found again that she could read them without trouble. It was just as disturbing as the first time. The papers said pretty much the same things as Tor had told her, except with more words. ¡°That¡¯s all fine, I think,¡± Ana said once she¡¯d finished. ¡°What do I do now?¡± ¡°Well, first you pay me one silver,¡± Drisa said. Ana fished out one of the Bluesky silver coins and put it on the desk. Drisa took it, then asked Ana, "Have you understood and agreed to all the rights and responsibilities?¡± ¡°I suppose so,¡± Ana said flatly. She still was not happy about this. ¡°Very good. Now, I¡¯ll need you to place your hand on the orb and state your full name, and it will take a copy of your Summary. We encourage you to come in and update it regularly, whenever there has been a significant change. I will ask that if you have any hidden Classes you reveal them for the purpose of this record, so that we can be of maximum help to each other. You should know that you can''t fool the orb. It will know if you have a hidden Class, it just won''t know the details. On the Guild¡¯s behalf I can promise that your Summary will be kept strictly confidential outside of authorized Guild officers, though we may use the information internally to help you form teams, to choose members for rescue expeditions, or other things like that.¡± ¡°A copy of my Summary?¡± Ana kept her face very carefully neutral. This was a problem. There was the whole Outsider thing, though it was supposed to be hidden. The orb was supposed to see through hidden Classes, but would it see through that? Would it look more suspicious to back out now? She didn¡¯t even know if anyone would care that she was an Outsider, but since the System was trying to hide the information she¡¯d rather keep it secret. ¡°Miss?¡± Drisa said to Ana. ¡°If you would?¡± Ana had been staring at the orb like it might bite her. There was a long, uncomfortable moment of silent stillness. Then her hand snapped out, landing palm down on the orb, and she quickly said, ¡°Anastasia Cole," willing her Class to reveal itself until the recording was done. There was a bright pulse of light, and Drisa recorded her name in a ledger before slowly saying, ¡°Thank you, Miss Cole.¡± Ana snatched her hand away, and Drisa then put her hand on the orb, whispering, ¡°Anastasia Cole.¡± Surprise flashed across the woman¡¯s face, before she schooled it back into cool professionalism. ¡°Very good, Miss Cole,¡± Drisa said, opening her eyes and locking them on Ana. She slowly removed a square piece of what looked like steel, a little smaller than one of the silver coins, from beneath the orb, and slid across the desk. ¡°Thank you. Here is your membership token. Do. Not. Lose it. It''s an administrative nightmare to replace. Was there anything else?¡± ¡°I have some coins I¡¯d like to exchange,¡° Ana said, taking the token and looking at it before putting it in her purse as she took out the other pouch of coins. The token had a stylised sun on one side, and the word ¡°Bluesky¡± along the inside of the edge on the reverse, with her own full name in the center. It had a hole in the top corner, presumably so that it could be hung on a necklace if one so chose. ¡°Captain Falk wants to know where the coins are from, if you can figure it out,¡± Ana said, holding Drisa''s stare. The woman had seen something, by her reaction, but was it just the Class that surprised her, or the race? ¡°Anything for our valued members,¡± Drisa said, her eyes never wavering from Ana. "Mister Barlo, if you would witness that everything goes fairly?" "Sure," he said, oblivious to the mood in the room. Tor hadn''t been far off on his estimate. Drisa weighed up the coins, got out some tables, and did some calculations. Less the changing fee, Ana ended up with two gold coins, eight silver ones, and fifteen coppers, which Tor encouraged her to take since it was very common to make purchases in copper. That totalled up to two gold, thirteen silver, and thirty-one copper, which should keep her housed and fed for a couple of weeks at least. Ana would have been rather pleased with that if Drisa wasn''t evaluating her the way she was. "Mister Barlo," Drisa said. "I would like a private word with Miss Cole. You understand." "Oh. Uh, sure," Tor said. "I''ll be right outside," he told Ana before exiting, closing the door behind him. Chapter 8 The silence hung thick in the small reception after the door clacked shut, the two women appraising each other. Whatever the older woman wanted, Ana doubted that she''d like it. She kept her hand near her purse just in case. Drisa broke the silence. "Miss Cole. That''s a very interesting Class you''ve picked up. I''ve never seen nor heard of it. Paragon tier. At level 3." If she was watching for any indication that Ana knew what she was hinting at she wouldn''t find it. For once there was no guile in Ana''s appearance. She was as ignorant as she looked, and if Drisa wanted to know anything she could damn well ask. "Most people would be twice your age and ten times your level before they might hope to gain a Paragon tier Class." "Lucky me." "Indeed. Would you care to tell me, as a Guild official, how this came about? Perhaps what Class you were before? I¡¯m guessing that you lucked into meeting the requirements early, and reset completely rather than progressing. Am I right?" "No. I have no idea how I got it. It¡¯s the only Class I''ve ever had." The fact that she was telling this nosy woman the absolute, unadulterated truth lit a fierce, spiteful joy in Ana''s heart. Drisa was probably just doing her job, but as long as her job involved prying into Ana''s business she could just cope as far as Ana was concerned. "Well. That is perhaps even more interesting. I do hope that we can talk about this further, some day, and that you¡¯ll be more forthcoming. For now, I''m sure that you''re very busy, learning the lay of the land and settling in, and so on. If you don¡¯t wish to tell me I can¡¯t keep you. Two things, though." Ana arched her eyebrow at the other woman, inviting her to finish. "First, you made the right choice in keeping your Class hidden. Appearing to have a fairly useless Class might hold you back somewhat. People will underestimate you. But it is better than drawing the kind of attention that flaunting a Paragon Class would invite. Besides, if you wish to join a pick-up team to try your hand at Delving, it is myself and my colleagues who assemble those. I''ll get you out there. It¡¯s not unusual for people with non-combat Classes to join such groups, and we¡¯d be happy to have you. If you do well you can always credit it to having high skills. That leads me to my second point. I want to reiterate that your record is strictly confidential, on pain of expulsion for anyone who leaks it. If anyone who should not know about your Class even insinuates that they do, come to me. Even if it''s a guild officer. They may have access, but they still should not be going into the records without cause, or without informing me." She paused. "Of course, if the Guild needs you in an emergency, we''ll take your actual Class into consideration. That is all." Ana stood. "I''ll remember that," she said, then, after a moment''s hesitation, leaned over the desk and offered her hand. "Thanks." Drisa half-stood and clasped Ana''s wrist, and Ana reciprocated, wondering if the other woman had noticed the delay while Ana adjusted. Another little thing that marked her as an outsider. At least now she knew, and it explained the captain''s odd look when she shook his hand. The woman seemed sincere enough, Ana thought as she walked out, but that might just mean that she was a good liar. Ana herself had a Skill called Acting, so why shouldn''t there be one for Deception or something like that? Although¡­ were Skills just a measure of how good you were at something, or did they actually make you better? Could she ask Touanne about this? The woman already knew that Ana was ignorant, but was this a step too far? No, she decided, it should be safe. She''d asked about the messages and the crystals. That must be way more basic than the details of how this magical System of theirs worked. If she''d trusted Touanne this far, she could go one step further. Sure, ¡°slippery slopes¡± and all that, but sometimes you were better off just sitting your ass on the ground and sliding all the way. She was far more likely to get screwed over because of ignorance than because someone found out that she had been ignorant. "All right, Torden," she said once she was outside. The man was lounging against the wall, enjoying the afternoon sun with Ana''s pack at his feet. "Done here, I guess. If you wanna show me to that inn you were talking about I''ll settle in, and you can go back to your day." "Great! Now, don''t judge the place until we''re inside¡­" If the inn that Tor took Ann to were a book, it would have been worn and stained, maybe used to prop up a rickety table in a bar somewhere. But Ana had slept in far worse places, so she did as he asked and reserved judgment. The inside was quite a lot better. It was spare and simple, but clean and orderly. There was fresh straw on the floor, which was weird to Ana but matched the aesthetic, and even some healthy cut flowers in a vase on the bar. It was, in a word, neat. They''d entered into a common room, unoccupied except for a man at one table studying a map with a mug of something next to him, and a woman reading a book by one of the windows. Tor brought Ana to the unmanned bar and knocked on the wood sharply with his knuckles. There was an open door behind the bar, and through it a woman called, "Be with you in a bit!"Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. "No hurry, Petra!" Tor called back, resting his arms on the bar and relaxing into it. "Probably preparing dinner," he said to Ana. A minute later a short, stocky woman, a [Human Custodian (18)] with warm, dark skin and black hair in one long braid came out of the kitchen door, wiping her hands on a towel. When she spoke her voice was low and warm, with just a bit of fry. "Afternoon, Torden! Who''s this with you?" "This is Anastasia. Anastasia, Petra." Ana nodded to Petra, who threw the towel over her shoulder and nodded back. "She''s new, and needs somewhere to stay." "As long as you''ve got coin, Miss, I''ve got rooms," Petra said to Ana. "Silver a night, breakfast and dinner for another six copper. Nothing fancy but it''ll fill you up. Pay up front for a week, and I''ll include the meals in the price of the room." Ana looked around the common room. It was clean and orderly. The proprietress was direct and earnest, which Ana appreciated. And she didn''t have an income at the moment, so every coin counted. She decided to trust Tor. Worst case she could just move somewhere else. She grabbed seven silvers from her pouch, Petra looking curiously at her purse. It wasn''t anything fancy, a white Kate Spade that had gotten pretty scuffed from the fighting, but it stood out more than Ana was comfortable with. She''d need a replacement, something convenient and not chosen because it matched a lot of her clothes. "All right," she said to Petra, stacking the coins on the bar, "I''ll take a week to start." "Glad to hear it! Meals are at sunup and sundown, and I''ll wake you before breakfast unless you don''t want it. Your room will be cleaned once a week, so that''s three days from now, unless you ask me not to. If you don''t want your room cleaned you can bring me your linens and towels, and I''ll give you a fresh set. Other than that you''ll need a good reason to change anything. Company is fine as long as you don''t disturb the other guests. Is that all acceptable?" Petra gave her whole spiel without pause, her cadence that of someone reciting by rote. "Uh, yeah. That''s fine." Satisfied, Petra dug out a ledger and a key from under the bar. "Full name?" "Anastasia Cole." "You want waking up and cleaning?" "Waking up. No cleaning for now." "All right¡­" Petra drawled in a ¡°if-you-say-so¡± voice. "You''re on the second floor, third room on the left. Torden, would you¡­?" "Happy to!" "Great." Petra handed the key to Ana. "Don''t lose that. It''s a one gold fine if you do. You can always leave it with me or my helper Mikkel unless it''s the middle of the night, and I recommend you do that. Especially if you go Delving! Which I also recommend, though I assume Torden''s already started working on you on that point. Always nice to have more ladies among the casuals!" Ana looked at Tor, who grinned. "Petra here is a stalwart of the casuals. If she can even be called a casual. She¡¯s pretty much a half-time Delver at this point." "Don''t let anyone tell you that you need a combat Class to go out in the wilds, Miss!" Petra said earnestly. "Abilities help, sure, but Skills and a big set will get you far!" "Besides, any Delver would be lucky to have Petra running their camp for them," Tor added, still grinning. "We tend not to think too much about logistics and order." "There''s a truth for you," Petra scoffed. "It''s amazing that the average Delver doesn''t die of starvation or exposure sooner or later. But on that note, I need to get back in the kitchen. Glad to have you here, Miss Cole. Remember: dinner at sundown!" Petra bustled back into the kitchen as Tor took Ana up a staircase set to the right of the room, near the front door. "Here," he said, showing Ana a door upstairs. The key worked like any other, and the handle doubled as a latch. Once the door was open Tor stepped inside and put down Ana''s pack, then stepped into the hall again. "There you are. I''m guessing you''ll want some rest and then dinner, so I''ll leave you to yourself now." "All right," Ana said. "Hey, could I buy you a beer or something later? I''ve got some questions, but I really need some sleep first." "Um¡­ sure!" Tor said, his surprise obvious. "I can come by an hour after sundown, give you some time to eat and all." "Great," she said as she began to close the door. "Thanks for schlepping my pack. See you later." "Schlep¡ª?" The door closed on Tor''s confused face, and Ana quickly figured out how to properly secure the door. As orderly as the outpost and this inn were supposed to be, Petra clearly took security seriously. Besides the lock, there was a metal construction that could be slid into place to effectively bolt the top, center, and bottom of the door. Anyone trying to get in would have better luck knocking the hinges out. There was a window facing the side of the building, which was another possible point of entry, but there wasn''t much Ana could do about that. The room was small and spare, but as clean and neat as the rest of the place. A well-made bed, plenty big enough, sat along one wall. Along the other was a narrow desk with a candlestick and some candles on top and a stool tucked below. Next to the door was a built-in wardrobe with a larger lower compartment and some shelves. That was about it. She''d have to figure out the hygienic situation later, because at the moment she badly needed to lie down. She got her footwraps off ¡ª boots would have to be a priority ¡ª then her armor. She put her gun by the pillow and wedged in one of the sheathed daggers between the bed frame and the mattress so that the handle stuck up for quick access. Finally she got out of her ruined dress, put on the oversized men¡¯s clothes from her not-stolen pack, and lay down on top of the covers. The bed was not soft by anyone''s standards, but it was far better than a fur sleeping bag on the ground. Then she took a deep breath, relaxed, and just cried softly for a while. It wasn''t anything specific. She wasn''t sad, or afraid, or anxious. The pain was gone, and she had a plan and a backup plan for how to get along. It was just¡­ Nic was dead, and she''d been attacked twice and had killed five people, and she damn well wasn''t in fucking Kansas anymore. It was too much, too fast, and she hadn''t had a chance to really decompress somewhere safe since the previous night. If she''d been home she''d have gone to her gym and beaten the crap out of a bag for half an hour, but that wasn''t an option. So she opened the valve, and cried until enough pressure had bled off that she could drift into sleep. Chapter 9 Ana woke to a sharp knocking on the door. An unfamiliar voice, a teenaged boy, she thought, was calling for her. "Miss Cole? We''re serving dinner and Tor¡­ that is, uh, Mister Barlo, he said that you''d want to be told." "Mmm? Right. Yeah. Thanks," she called back, sitting up on the bed. After a good cry and a nap she felt much better, and utterly ravenous. She looked at her feet, then her discarded wraps. She didn''t want to stand out more than necessary, but she hadn''t noticed anyone looking at her feet, specifically. And she''d be taking her purse, anyway, which would draw some looks. Probably. She briefly considered just going all out and putting on her heels. The mental image of the oversized men''s clothes she was wearing together with her party heels made her snort briefly. Not happening. Nor was she going barefoot, so she wrapped her feet back up in the filthy cloth strips, put her gun back in her purse, and headed out. The door locked with a satisfying clack. "''scuse," something rumbled, and Ana looked to her side just in time to see a giant of a man with incongruously soft steps somehow squeeze by her in the narrow hallway and head down the stairs as she looked after him. She''d barely noticed him coming! He''d been polite and careful not to bump her, but it still made her uncomfortable to know that she''d missed someone like him, especially in a confined space like the hallway. He probably had some Ability, or a high Agility. Or, maybe he just had a background as a ballet dancer. This magic stuff was going to take some getting used to. She swallowed her frustration, and followed the large man down to the common room. Where it had been almost empty when she arrived, now it was half full of people talking, laughing, and above all else, eating. She scanned the crowd and saw mostly humans, with a variety of levels and Classes. Some she barely reacted to, like Fighter, Rogue, or Archer. A few were obviously magical. She saw a Summoner in the crowd, but since no one else reacted to the woman Ana guessed that she''d just run across a bad one. Other Classes she had no frame of reference for. Like, what the hell was a Kineticist? Dinner was some kind of stew. It was thick and had lumps of various colors in it, but it smelled good and got Ana''s stomach rumbling. A kid, possibly the same one who''d woken her, ran in and out of the kitchen with wide bowls of the stuff that he simply put on the bar. "Evenin'', Miss," the kid said when he spotted her. "Want ale with your stew? Only two coppers!" "Uh, sure." Ana remembered something about how people used to drink beer and wine because it was safer than the water. She''d taken her chances in the forest, but she wasn''t going to get dysentery or something if she could help it. Besides, one beer couldn''t hurt. She fished out two copper coins and handed them to the kid. "I''ll bring it in a moment, Miss. Here," he handed over a huge chunk of bread. "Grab a bowl and sit anywhere, I''ll find ya." "Thanks." The bowls were smooth carved wood. So were the spoons stuck into the stew. Ana dropped her bread into one of the bowls and looked around, finding an unoccupied table and sitting down. She lifted a spoonful of the stew and looked at it skeptically. It was mostly brown, but there were some green and yellow bits in there, and something that was almost more of a blue. It was hard to tell with how the sauce, thick as chowder, clung to everything. Smelled good, though. She popped the spoon in her mouth and it was¡­ stew. Nothing spectacular, but it was rich and savory, so she happily kept on eating, trying to take it slow like she''d learned instead of shoveling it down as fast as she could, the way she''d once had to. "Your ale, Miss." The voice was accompanied by a large mug ¡ª flagon? Stein? ¡ª of foamy liquid thwacking onto the table. Ana couldn''t say anything about the color because the mug was, like the bowls, made of wood. "Thanks, kid," Ana said after swallowing the big bite of bread she''d been working on. "Do you want seconds? You get another bowl if you want it, but if you want more after that it''s three coppers." Ana looked at her bowl and only then realized that she''d finished the whole thing and was wiping up the remaining sauce with her bread. "Yeah, thanks. Do I just¡­?" "I can get it for you, Miss," the kid said quickly, taking her bowl and bustling off. Ana had barely tasted her drink, which was not very strong and more like a red ale than anything else, when a bowl and a mug clattered onto the table across from her, accompanied by the scrape of a chair and a woman practically throwing herself into it. "Looks like Mikkel''s sweet on you, new girl!" Ana''s uninvited guest announced cheerfully in a high voice. She had her head shaved and had a wide jaw with a narrow chin, but beyond that everything about her appearance was slightly off. Her eyes were too wide, the irises too yellow. Her ears were slightly too sharp, though not like Touanne''s, and her mouth, Ana couldn''t help but notice, smiled just too wide and showed too many, too sharp teeth. Altogether it put her firmly in the uncanny valley, almost human but not quite. [Themion Evoker (15)], read her label. Ana had no idea what either of those things were. Ana put her mug down and put on her best expression of polite disinterest, saying, "Can I help you?" She didn¡¯t want company, but she didn¡¯t want to leave, either, and she¡¯d prefer to avoid a scene. "Nah, probably not!" the woman said and tucked into her stew, speaking between swallows and gesturing at Ana with her spoon. "But I can help you!" "I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m interested." That didn''t dissuade the woman in the slightest. "No way for you to know that until you hear me out, is there?" "I barely have money for room and board, so¡­" "Yeah, Tor told me. Don''t worry about it." The woman stopped eating for a moment and looked up. "Ah, right, yeah. Should''ve led with that, eh? Tor told me he''d brought a new girl into town, asked me to make ya welcome! Oh, and to show you how to use a crossbow! But maybe not tonight. I¡¯ve had a couple, you know? You¡¯re Anastasia, right?" She shoved a hand across the table. Ana took the woman by the wrist after a moment''s consideration. "Torden asked you to talk to me?" "Yeah. Name''s Kaira! And the lump behind ya''s Omda." Ana looked over her shoulder and nearly pulled Kaira across the table when she saw the large man from upstairs looming over her. She''d been going for her gun, but Kaira''s grip on her right wrist delayed her enough to recover her wits. "Jesus fucking Christ!" Ana exclaimed angrily, her polite facade dropping while the startled Kaira released her. "What''s wrong with you, sneaking up on someone like that?" Omda took a step back and held his palms out to her. "Shit, sorry, Miss! Only I got a new Ability and¡­ sorry." The people around them had stopped whatever they were doing to watch, but lost interest when it became apparent that there wasn''t a fight breaking out or anything. Ana considered leaving, but if she was stuck here in a small community she really didn''t need a reputation for being standoffish or rude. "Just sit down," she said, forcing her breathing back under control and taking a gulp of her ale as she eyed Omda. He was a [Human Ranger (12)]. "Did Torden sick you on me, too?"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "He asked me to say hi, yeah," Omda said sheepishly. He had a predictably deep voice, but a quick, jerky way of speaking. "We''re a Party, the three of us." "Meaning?" "We go out together. Delving " "I thought he was a guard." "Nah," said Kaira, who''d gone back to her stew. "He''s on rotation. One week in six." "Like a volunteer?" Ana asked. The kid, Mikkel, brought her a near overflowing bowl of stew. "Thanks," she told him as he put it down, and he smiled shyly before running back to the bar. "Definitely sweet on you," Kaira commented. "The guard thing is kind of volunteer, I guess. Lots of people do that, or something else, for the Guild. We get paid for our time, though. Me, I do run-alongs with casual groups, so I don''t need to do piss boring stuff like guarding." ¡°What¡¯s a run-along?¡± Ana asked, starting on her new bowl. ¡°Casual groups are people like you, right? Tailors and Apprentices and whatever. The Guild can¡¯t stop you all from making groups and going out, but they also don¡¯t want corpses in the forest. So if you want official support they¡¯ll send a run-along with you. An experienced combatant, in case shit gets twisted. And I do a regular scheduled civvie group, too. Call it ¡®Ladies Night¡¯. We don¡¯t join the Party, so we don¡¯t get any Crystals, but we get paid no matter what so, hey! Better than guarding for some extra dosh.¡± Kaira gave Ana a feral grin. ¡°And it¡¯s a hell of a lot of fun when I do have to step in. Civvies always get so impressed when I cut loose.¡± ¡°How does that look? When an Evoker cuts loose, I mean,¡± Ana asked. Kaira was more than happy to carry the conversation, so Ana would let her, and maybe learn something in the process. She still had plenty of stew to finish. ¡°Shit fries and dies!¡± Kaira shouted happily, loud enough for people to turn and look at her. ¡°Kaira¡¯s our mage. Main damage dealer. She''s focused on heat and lightning,¡± Omda said. It was almost a sigh, the first sound out of him since he¡¯d sat down. He¡¯d been so quiet that Ana had almost forgotten that he was there. ¡°Of course I am! They are objectively the best! I¡¯d show you, Ana, but Petra would kick my teeth in, and anyway the mana¡¯s too thin here. So, you got plans tomorrow?¡± ¡°No,¡± Ana said slowly. ¡°I¡¯d been hoping to make some after talking to Torden tonight.¡± ¡°Great! He¡¯ll be here whenever, and we can all have a couple of drinks and figure out how to get you settled in. HEY, MIKKEL!¡± Kaira waved her now empty mug in the air, and the kid nodded at her from the bar. ¡°Should he be slinging drinks?¡± Ana asked. ¡°How old is he? Fifteen?¡± Omda shrugged. ¡°Thereabouts. Why? Respectable trade, running an inn.¡± ¡°Yeah, but¡­ you know, forget I said anything,¡± Ana said and took a drink. They¡¯d probably never heard of a liquor licence or child labour laws here. And what was the kid supposed to do instead? Go to school? Did they have schools? Not here, in this ¡®splinter,¡¯ that was for sure. Mikkel was probably one of the youngest people in the settlement. ¡°Hey!¡± Kaira exclaimed after some time had passed. ¡°There¡¯s Tor! TOR! Over here, meat shield!¡± She semaphored her arms vigorously until Tor, who¡¯d just stepped in, saw her and headed over, stopping briefly by the bar to collect Kaira¡¯s ale from Mikkel along with a mug for himself. "Good evening, Anastasia," he said, snatching an empty chair from a nearby table. He ruffled Kaira''s non-existent hair and sat down between Ana and Kaira, across from Omda. "I see you''ve met my friends." "Yeah, your ambush worked perfectly," Ana answered, a little more sourly than she''d intended. "I thought I was buying the beer?" "You can get the next one." Tor took a deep drink, then gestured to his friends. "I figured it was better to get it over with. Kaira would find you sooner or later." "You make me sound like a predator!" Kaira said with mock outrage, swatting at Tor''s shoulder. "You are a predator!" Tor shot back. "Or are all those teeth just for show?" "Come on, I''m not that bad!" "Is there a single civvie woman in this outpost that you haven''t tried to recruit to your group?" "''course not!¡± Kaira said, her whole demeanor full of mock offense. ¡°I''m not a slacker, am I?" "Besides," Tor turned to Ana, "she''s the friend I told you about who might show you around a crossbow." "Already offered," Kaira said. "How about it?" Ana shrugged. "Sure, I guess," she said, then, "Sorry. Yes. Please and thank you. I''d appreciate it." Kaira slapped both her palms on the table hard enough to make everything rattle. "Great! Got to love a good crossbow! A lot of the casuals want to be at the front, or they prefer regular bows, don''t ask me why. I''ll make you a Sharpshooter in two weeks, three tops!" "Back up," Ana said. "What do you mean by Kaira''s group? I thought the people at the Administration made the groups." "Well, yeah, but not really?" Kaira answered. "¡¯Ladies Night,¡¯ remember? If you ask for it they''ll put you with me. It''s a pretty relaxed setup." "And more people asking for Kaira gets Kaira more run-alongs," Omda said. "Yep!" Kaira raised her mug happily. "So ask for me! Everyone wins!" "What''s in it for me?" Ana asked. "Well, my groups are mostly, sometimes all women, hence the name. So you generally don''t need to worry about some asshole trying anything. And you''ll have me along!" "More in hand, Irry''s groups usually do well for loot and experience," Tor said. "Probably because she can''t sit still for more than five minutes and won''t let anyone else do so, either." "I''m sitting still now!" "Barely. And only because you have a drink and something shiny in front of you. No offense intended, Anastasia." "She''s not as bad as that," Omda said. "She''s driven. And deep into the fire and lightning side of Evocation, so¡­" "Right." Ana said, eyeing the group at her table. She was going to need that primer on magic from Touanne for sure. "So, say I do want to go out with¡ª" "I knew it!" Kaira cheered, almost spilling her drink as she swung around to slap Tor on the shoulder. "If," Ana repeated more loudly, "I want to go out, what''s the system? How long does it take, what do I need and, most importantly, who are you fighting out there?" "''Who?'' Something''s gone all the way to shit if we''re fighting a ¡®who¡¯," Kaira said. "Demons," Omda added. "Demons." Ana kept her voice carefully flat. She didn''t want to assume that they were messing with her. People had called all kinds of things ¡°demons,¡± historically. "Weak ones," Omda elaborated. "They get into unstable splinters and make them even more unstable," Tor explained. "They feed off of mana, but they''re greedy little bastards, so the ambient mana isn''t enough for them. Especially in a low ambient splinter like ours." Kaira picked up. "So they get into animals and eat their mana and take them over. And when something dies all their mana gets released, so they start killing animals around them and eating their mana, and then the weakest demons can get into the corpses and yada yada.¡± "What about people?" "Oh, yeah! They''d love to kill a person, the higher level the better! Smarter creatures have more mana, see? And so do higher level ones. A high level sapient is irresistible to the fuckers." "What about¡­ getting into them? Taking over?" Ana couldn''t quite believe that she was taking this seriously, but with all the other weird shit she''d been exposed to lately¡­ "Bodies? Sure. They''ll get into dead bodies and even pretty whole skeletons just fine." "What about live people?" The mood around the table instantly turned sombre. "If you think someone has been possessed, you run," Omda said. "You run, and you pray. And you tell the Captains, so they can decide if we need to evacuate the splinter." "That bad?" "If we''re dealing with a demon strong enough to possess a living person, yes. It''s that bad," Tor said. Then he quickly changed the subject, his mood turning artificially cheerful. "As for what you need! You have armor, though you should get it fitted or trade it for a suit that fits you better. Same with your clothes. And boots, of course." "Boots are top of my list." "Good! Reliable boots are some of your most important gear. If you go out with an organized casual group like Kaira''s then the Guild will loan you camping gear against a deposit, so don''t worry about that. And for weapons¡­ you already have daggers, swords, and a crossbow, right? So I''d say start with that. I''ll have you try out some shields, too, see if that''s something you''d like." The conversation drifted from there into some tentative planning. At some point Ana was talked into having another beer, or ale ¡ª she''d never bothered to learn the difference ¡ª and two turned into three, then four. When the others moved on due to Kaira''s demand to go somewhere with some music, Ana finally managed to separate herself and return to her room. She couldn''t avoid a fierce if unsteady hug from Kaira, but after the initial surprise she felt pretty okay about it. Some human ¡ª or themion ¡ª contact might be what she needed. She was in bed by the time she realized that she''d never paid for anything. Every time she''d tried to order a round someone else was quicker, and when she was the only one who hadn''t stood one Kaira insisted they go. Ana suspected that she was being handled. Fuck it. If they wanted to be generous, she wasn''t too proud to accept. She''d stand her round next time. Next time. When had she decided that there should be a next time? Chapter 10 When Ana woke up to Mikkel knocking on the door and calling her name, announcing breakfast, she realized a few things. First, the beer must not have been very strong, no matter how she¡¯d felt the night before. Her head was clear, and she didn''t have a hangover. This meant that, second, Kaira was a lightweight. She barely knew the woman, but she still found the thought pretty funny. Third, she''d promised to spend pretty much the whole day with Kaira and Tor. Kaira wanted to help her shop for new clothes then start on teaching her how to handle her looted crossbow, and Ana had agreed with Tor to meet afterwards for sword practice. Both shooting and fighting were at the guardhouse yard, so that worked out nicely. Perhaps she''d been a little too quick to agree to things. She''d wanted to visit Touanne today, to ask a bunch of suspicious and possibly embarrassing questions. But the whole group last night had been open, friendly, and, as far as she could tell, honest. She''d been swept up in their enthusiasm, and that didn''t happen to her often. Finally, and most urgently, she could smell herself, and her mouth tasted like garbage. It made her keenly aware that she hadn''t brushed her teeth, or washed so much as her hands properly since she arrived. All this in as long as it took for Mikkel to stop knocking. "Wait! Mikkel!" she shouted as she threw her legs off the bed and rushed for the door. She opened it a crack, then realized that she''d slept dressed and opened it all the way. "Miss Cole?" Mikkel said, his eyes taking a quick trip to her toes with a few stops along the way, then snapping guiltily back up to her face. In her own opinion she probably hadn''t looked less sexy in years, but this was a fifteen-or-so-year-old boy, so¡­ "Mikkel," she said sweetly. "Is there a washroom in this place? Or, like¡­" What did medieval people do for hygiene? "A bathhouse nearby?" "Uh¡­ uh¡­ there''s a room with water to wash your hands and face behind the stairs in the common room, Miss Cole. It¡¯s the door next to the shrine.¡± ¡°Shrine?¡± ¡°To the Lord of Hearth and Home, yeah. And there¡¯s a bathhouse on duskward Cross Street. Can''t miss it." Duskward¡­ west? "That''s great. Thank you." She put on a warm smile for him and closed the door. Great. Now she had something like a plan: breakfast, meet Kaira, new clothes, boots, and then a bath. But first, calisthenics. Naked, to spare her clothes, using the remains of a spare robe for a towel. Quick program: one set each to fatigue of sit-ups, leg raises, burpees, squats, then shadow boxing. She already looked and smelled like hell warmed over, so who cared? That done, all she really had to do was to wrap her feet and grab her purse, and then she was down the stairs. The washroom was right where Mikkel had said that it would be. It was a door under the stairs, next to a low bench that held a figure of a bearded man, carved out of wood. He held a mallet in one hand and an oversized key in the other, and at his feet was a small tumbler of beer and an equally small dish of porridge. Ana was reminded of her trip to Bali, and the dozens of shrines she¡¯d seen there with offerings of flowers and different foods. She steeled herself at what she might have to make do with then opened the door, but to her very pleasant surprise, what she found was a trough with clean, running water and a bar of pale yellow soap on the side. They were clearly more advanced here, in some very important areas, than she¡¯d feared. It gave her hope for some other important conveniences. Most pressing, the running water reminded her how much beer she¡¯d had the night before, and that she was definitely going to need a bathroom after breakfast. There were, unfortunately, no towels, so after washing her hands and face with soap she had to make do with wiping most of the water off with her hands and then relying on the air to dry her. She was not drying anything clean on her clothes. Breakfast was served the same way dinner had been, in bowls on the bar, only in this case it was some kind of porridge with bits of dried fruit, cheese, and meat in it. It came with some kind of herbal tea or, irresponsibly, more of the beer. Ana went with the tea. When she scanned the room for somewhere to sit ¡ª no problem, since there were far fewer people than there had been last night ¡ª she caught sight of Omda by one of the few windows, eating by himself. She headed over. Ana had liked Omda well enough once he was no longer looming. He didn¡¯t say much, but when he did speak it was thought through and relevant ¡ª no matter what the subject had been. Besides, she was trying to get in good with his friends, so showing some friendliness herself should help. ¡°Good morning, Omda,¡± she said as she reached his table. ¡°Mind if I sit?¡± Omda looked up from his bowl, finished chewing, and swallowed before he spoke. Something else Ana appreciated. ¡°Anastasia. Go ahead,¡± was all he said before going back to his breakfast, but the way he said it was welcoming. The porridge was¡­ odd. But not bad. The bits gave a nice mix of sweet and savory to the bland mash of grains or whatever it was, and it was warm and filling. The tea tasted like hay more than anything, and Ana wondered if she should have gone for the beer, like Omda. ¡°Where are the others?¡± Ana asked after a few minutes. Omda again cleared his mouth before answering. ¡°Home, probably.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t stay here?¡± ¡°Tor lives with his folks, and Kaira shares a house.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± After a moment Omda added, ¡°Kaira should be here soon.¡± ¡°Great.¡± He didn¡¯t resume eating, which made Ana look up. ¡°She can be¡­ a lot. I hope you give her a chance. She likes making friends, and I think she liked you. Tell her to tone it down if you need to. She won¡¯t mind.¡± He went back to his porridge. That was a lot of words at once for Omda, Ana thought. He must really want to help Kaira out. ¡°Thanks,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± They finished their breakfast in silence. Ana had another cup of the ¡°tea¡± while looking out the window, which faced a narrow alley, the last resting place of boxes, barrels, and old tools. None of the things piled out there looked like they¡¯d been moved for months at best. At least it was clean, with no outright litter or garbage among the tufts of grass growing in the dirt. The peace was broken when the door swung open, followed by a terrifyingly energetic, ¡°Om! ANA!¡± Kaira came practically bounding over, showing no sign of the hangover she so richly deserved. ¡°You ready to go, Ana?¡± Ana had no memory of telling Kaira her nickname or asking her to use it, but decided not to press it. From Kaira it sounded more natural than her full name anyway. ¡°Just about,¡± Ana said. ¡°I just need to, uh¡­ does either of you know where the restroom is?¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°The toilet? Water closet? Latrine?¡± ¡°Outhouse,¡± Omda said and pointed to a back door, across the room from the entrance. ¡°Out there.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ana said. ¡°Thanks.¡± The door opened to a small fenced in yard and there, like Omda had said, was an outhouse. It had two doors, with a surprisingly modern looking ¡®free/busy¡¯ indicator above the handles. The inside¡­ suffice it to say that Ana would miss modern facilities. She washed her hands again inside, very carefully. ¡°Ready to go,¡± she told Kaira back at the table. ¡°Omda, it was nice seeing you again.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Same.¡± He raised his mug and went back to looking out the window. ¡°Boots!¡± Kaira exclaimed as they got out on the street. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You desperately need some! Ones you could kick a badger to death with, preferably.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll settle for about anything better than these,¡± Ana said, lifting her foot to show off her disintegrating wraps. ¡°Unfortunately I don¡¯t have much money, so affordability will have to go before quality.¡± ¡°There¡¯s the Guild exchange, if you don¡¯t mind second hand,¡± Kaira said. Ana¡¯s interest was piqued until Kaira continued, ¡°Someone might have died in them, though. You never know.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s look at something new, first,¡± Ana said flatly. ¡°All right, I know just the cobbler. Good enough at as cheap as you like!¡± The cobbler to whom Kaira took Ana was named Merv. His shop was located on a back street, but he seemed cheerful enough. His work was, as Kaira had said, good enough. What it was not, was fashionable. Unless you¡¯re a punk or into combat chic, Ana thought, which she was not. Still, he had a pair ready that fit her and felt comfortable and sturdy enough. The boots set her back seven silver coins, a week¡¯s worth of room and board, but Kaira assured her that, ¡°You won¡¯t pay less for anything worth paying for,¡± so Ana just had to suck it up and pay the man. New clothes were not much cheaper, though she got much more for her money. Going by the same principle as with the boots, Kaira took her to a tailor named Lanpellia who sold her a long-sleeved tunic, a pair of trousers, and two sets each of socks, underwear which were basically boxer shorts, and chest wraps, all in simple undyed wool or some kind of plant fiber, and all for her last gold coin. ¡°It¡¯s fine!¡± Kaira promised her when they were out of the shop and Ana worried about her rapidly emptying purse. ¡°You have two swords and a bunch of daggers, right? Once you¡¯ve had a lesson or two with Tor, you can sell whichever of the swords doesn¡¯t suit you and one or two of the daggers. A decent sword will get you a gold at the absolute least, maybe even twenty silver or more if it¡¯s something special. And anyway you¡¯re going out with me in a couple of days, right? Riiight?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Ana said firmly. ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet.¡± ¡°Pfft, you¡¯ll be bored off your ass in two days tops, I know it. You¡¯re coming. So, crossbow practice?¡± ¡°Not quite. Mikkel told me that there¡¯s a bathhouse on Cross Street, and I was hoping to¡ª¡± ¡°Oh thank the gods! I didn¡¯t want to say anything. Well, I did, but people tend not to like it when you tell them that they stink. You need a bath bad, lady.¡± ¡°... right. What does it cost?¡± ¡°Practically nothing. Two copper if you just want to go in and get clean and relax. If you want to spend more they¡¯ve got fancy soaps and oils and stuff you can buy, and people who¡¯ll rub you down if you want, too.¡± Kaira grinned lasciviously. ¡°It¡¯s pret-ty nice.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine just getting clean, thank you,¡± Ana said. ¡°And then I need to get these,¡± she grabbed the shirt she was wearing, ¡°washed. They don¡¯t exactly fit, but they¡¯re one of two sets of clothes I own right now.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. I¡¯ll take you to the lady who does my laundry. It¡¯ll only cost you a couple of coppers, probably.¡± Following Kaira towards the bathhouse, her purse much lighter but wearing a pair of actual boots and a pair of her new socks and carrying the rest of her new clothes in a bundle in her arms, Ana actually felt much better. Sure, she was down to less than two weeks of food and shelter, but if Kaira was to be trusted then she could turn that around pretty easily. And truth be told she probably would be going out with Kaira, if not in a few days then some time later, and from what the others had told her she was likely to make some decent coin that way. Exactly how, she wasn¡¯t sure. ¡°Harvested stuff¡± was as specific as they¡¯d gotten before moving on, but you could apparently also sell the mystical Growth Crystals for decent money. Opinions varied on whether that was a good idea or not, but if she desperately needed money it was better than the alternatives. The bathhouse was surprisingly modern, reminding her of some spas she''d been to, with lots of polished stone. Or perhaps the spas had been classical. It was one of the few all-stone buildings in the settlement, and was, according to Kaira, basically a public service. While it was theoretically privately run, it had been built with large contributions from the Guild, the Wayfarer cult, and some high-level Delvers who had decided to support the development of the splinter early. It was well known that the proprietors of the bathhouse had some very strict limits that they operated within, on pain of simply having the place handed over to someone else. After they each paid the entry fee, declined any extras, and had been handed a pair of towels and washcloths, Kaira led Ana through the door labeled Women. Inside, the air was hot and hazy with humidity, with a sweet, herbal scent in the air, and something struck Ana. She hadn¡¯t really considered it before. It honestly hadn¡¯t even occurred to her, but the arrangements in this place were considerably more¡­ Continental, perhaps Nordic, than Ana was used to. Meaning there were no private rooms, there were no dressing rooms, and while there were only three other women in the pool this early in the day, they were all very clearly naked. The women and Kaira exchanged good mornings as though this was completely normal, which Ana could only assume that it was. They left their towels on a rack near the hot pool. ¡°This is going to be so good!¡± Kaira said happily as she started undressing by a set of long shelves which already contained three sets of clothes. ¡°I haven¡¯t had a morning soak for ages! What are you waiting for? Get buck and let¡¯s get clean so we can get in!¡± ¡°Right.¡± Ana couldn¡¯t remember if she¡¯d ever been naked with a woman she¡¯d known for less than twelve hours before, but here she was, with Kaira in front of her bare as the day she was born and waiting with what could only very generously be called patience. It wasn¡¯t like she was going to back out. The pool was deep and clean and steaming hot, and Ana wanted to get clean way more than she wanted to hold on to whatever shreds of nudity taboo she was still carrying around. It was her tattoo more than anything that made her hesitate, but if she was going to be hanging around with Kaira she¡¯d probably see it sooner or later, and if these other women saw it, well, she didn¡¯t know them anyway. To hell with it. Ana stripped off her filthy, oversized men¡¯s clothes and the matched set of underwear that she¡¯d been wearing for way too long, putting them in a folded stack next to her bundled new clothes on the shelf. She only felt a little awkward as Kaira took her to one side of the room where there was running water and soap for getting clean before the bath, as well as large scoops for rinsing. Washing herself in the open like this was, again, unfamiliar and awkward, but she powered through. She only wondered how long¡ª ¡°Woah! Gods below, I love that!¡± Kaira exclaimed. There it was. ¡°How do you even¡­ these colours are fucking amazing! Where did you get this? How long did it take? Could I get one?¡± ¡°Eight five hour sessions,¡± Ana said. Forty hours of pain. ¡°Got it done at a studio in New York.¡± ¡°Never heard of Nuyork before. Is that where you¡¯re from?¡± ¡°I lived there for a couple of years.¡± Three bad ones, and two good, to be exact. ¡°Seriously though, this is amazing!¡± Ana stiffened as she felt fingertips trace one of the phoenix¡¯s wings across her shoulder blade, fingers that were quickly snatched away. ¡°Shit, sorry,¡± Kaira said. ¡°I know non-themions don¡¯t usually like being touched, but I forget sometimes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ all right,¡± Ana said, forcing herself to relax. ¡°Let¡¯s finish getting clean so we can get in the pool. I¡¯ve been looking forward to this all morning.¡± ¡°Hell yeah!¡± Kaira said, her momentary embarrassment giving way to her normal explosive enthusiasm. ¡°I¡¯m so jealous, though. I always wanted skin art but I hate the idea of that little needle, you know?¡± ¡°Eh, I¡¯m good with pain. But I know what you mean. You just have to want it enough.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that always the truth? Now close your eyes and put your head back and I¡¯ll rinse ya.¡± There were two pools. First they got into the smaller one, a plunge pool deep enough to jump in straight legged and submerge yourself, and so cold that it made Ana¡¯s breath catch. Kaira insisted that you had to stay in until you got used to it and dunk your head to get the full effect of the hot pool. It was a hell of a shock, and it took Ana a while to get in completely, but once she was in it wasn¡¯t so bad. Invigorating if nothing else. Kaira just jumped in, breaking the surface sputtering and cursing to make a sailor blush. Going from that to the enormous hot pool, which was properly hot, was another shock. The hot pool somehow felt almost colder than the cold one until the sting hit, and Ana decided that she had to just get in there before she lost her nerve and made a fool of herself. Once she was in and relaxing on the bench that ran around the edge, though¡­ Ana melted. All her limbs went limp and her eyelids got heavy. It was strange and wonderful all at once. There she was, naked with three complete strangers and one woman who she barely knew, in a hot tub big enough for at least fifty people, and that was just around the edges. And yet this was the first time she¡¯d been completely relaxed since she got dressed to go out with Nic. Kaira sighed with contentment from the other side of the corner they¡¯d occupied, and gently kicked Ana¡¯s calf. ¡°Ah, this is it. This is heaven, right?¡± ¡°As close as I¡¯ll ever get,¡± Ana agreed as she melted a little deeper into the water. Kaira briefly introduced Ana to Med, Jancia, and Tellak, the three human women they shared the pool with, because of course Kaira knew them. Their Classes were Sharpshooter, Lumimancer, and Bulwark, and they were a team, or Party. They called themselves ¡°The Living Daylights,¡± and were all a few levels higher than Kaira. ¡°Goin¡¯ out today,¡± Jancia said. ¡°Last chance, ya know?¡± Other than that they didn¡¯t talk much. The Daylights were curious about Ana, of course, but after she gave the short version ¡ª accidental, made it to the settlement with some trouble, Kaira and Tor had promised to train her a bit ¡ª they respected her reluctance to elaborate. The Daylights left maybe fifteen minutes after Ana and Kaira arrived. Ana and Kaira got out another fifteen minutes after that, passing through the cold pool and rinsing off before they left. Dressed in her new, clean clothes, wearing sturdy boots that fit, and with every pore feeling as clean as they were likely to get in this place, Ana stood outside the bathhouse. She looked at Kaira, who grinned at her and said, ¡°All right! Crossbow practice!¡± and allowed herself to actually feel a little excited. This might, despite what had happened and where she was, be a good day. She just had to embrace the madness. Chapter 11 ¡°Have I told you that I love your hair?¡± Kaira asked after they¡¯d dropped Ana¡¯s dirty clothes off at the laundry that Kaira used. It had cost her three coppers, and God only knew if her bra and panties would survive. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever seen a style like that.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Ana said. She wondered how long it would take for her sides to grow out enough that her side cut would look like crap. And her roots would start really showing in a few days. Platinum blonde on naturally chestnut hair wasn¡¯t exactly low maintenance. She wondered what people would say about that. Did they have hair dyes here? If she shaved the sides and let the rest grow for a while¡­ Nah. Too much work. ¡°I don¡¯t think I can maintain it,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe I should go with your style for a while. Looks good on you. Uh¡­ are you naturally smooth or do you shave?¡± ¡°Shave,¡± Kaira sighed. ¡°And thanks, but it¡¯s not really a choice, honestly. I don¡¯t take much damage from my own flames, but hair? Eyebrows? Forget about ¡®em. Keeping any kind of hairstyle isn¡¯t really compatible with being a Fire Evoker, at least not if you like to get stuck in.¡± She grinned. ¡°But at least I don¡¯t need to wait for my hair to dry when I get out of the bath, eh?¡± ¡°True enough.¡± Ana had gone full G.I. Jane herself at one point, and only needing to run a towel over your head after a shower had been extremely convenient. They swung by Petra¡¯s inn to pick up Ana¡¯s weapons, then continued to the guardhouse. It was well into the morning by that point, and Kaira wanted to go over the basics before lunch. Ana doubted that she¡¯d be able to eat anything until dinner. She¡¯d had both large bowls of the porridge that she¡¯d been offered, and was still full enough to feel it. They set up at a table in the large room at the entrance of the guardhouse. There were a few people there, but no one so much as looked at them twice, so this was probably not an uncommon thing here. ¡°I mean, we call it the ¡®guardhouse,¡¯¡± Kaira said when Ana asked about it, ¡°but it¡¯s mostly that the Captain has his office here. It doubles as a Guild hall, so pretty much anyone can come by for whatever. Got the notice board here and all. So, anyway, what you have is what most people would just call a light crossbow. It¡¯s a pretty basic one, too, but that¡¯s fine for a beginner. If you stick with it you can get a full size one, you know? Composite or recurve, even. Or hells, get an arbalest and become a dedicated backliner! Anyway: this is the prod, this is the tiller¡­¡± It was a lot like a beginner shooting course, really. Kaira went through the parts of the weapon, showed Ana how to remove and replace the string, and how to care for everything. When it came time to actually show Ana how to load the thing Kaira paused. ¡°Right, so, this is actually made for someone who¡¯s fairly strong. I didn¡¯t think about that. I¡¯ll show you how my crossbow is spun this afternoon, but to span this one you just pull the string back to the nut with your hand. I, uh, I don¡¯t wanna get too personal, but are you strong enough?¡± ¡°Only one way to find out.¡± There was a handle at the front of the weapon, and Ana grabbed that in her left hand, then hooked the first two fingers of her right over the string and pulled. It was tough, and the string threatened to cut into her skin, but she got the weapon ¡°spun,¡± meaning ready to shoot, she guessed, without any trouble. Kaira grinned at her. ¡°You¡¯ve got some muscle on you, new girl! All right, so you aim like this, and pull this lever to shoot¡­¡± All in all, Kaira¡¯s assessment of Ana¡¯s looted crossbow was that it would do just fine. The same went for the bolts, the short, thick arrows that Ana had looted together with the weapon. ¡°These are basic Delving or hunting bolts,¡± Kaira told her. ¡°See how you¡¯ve got the wide, thin head? It¡¯s good for causing bleeding when you¡¯re hunting, or disabling limbs by cutting muscle and tendons or mucking up joints when you¡¯re killing demon-possessed creatures. Won¡¯t do much against armor, but if you¡¯re up against anything in armor you¡¯re better off running, anyway.¡± Shooting the thing, once they were out at the straw practice targets in the yard, which had their own area extending around the back of the guardhouse, was very different from anything Ana had experienced. For one, while hers was apparently a fairly small crossbow it was much more like a longarm than a pistol, and Ana had never fired a rifle or a shotgun in her life. She held it to her shoulder, aimed down the length, and pulled the lever. It had a soft kick to it when the tension released with a satisfying tchunk, and she could actually track the bolt in its short flight before it struck the target. While that made it feel like the bolt had moved quite slowly, it still embedded itself deep in the target, and Ana got a pretty good idea what it would do if it hit flesh instead of straw. ¡°Hell yeah, new girl! You¡¯re a natural! You¡¯re gonna be sniping demons in no time! Let¡¯s stop on a high note and grab some lunch! We¡¯ll grab something from the square, right? Then we can stop by my place for my crossbow, so you can try that out. We¡¯ll have you practice with your own after that, since you don¡¯t exactly have the purse to get a new one right now. But we¡¯ll fix that soon enough, no worries! Three days, remember? Oh, we should go by Admin when we¡¯re at the square and get you in my group!¡± Ana wanted to argue on principle. She¡¯d never liked having people make her decisions for her. Who did? But the aggressively friendly not-quite-human Kaira had proven to be useful, helpful, and surprisingly fun to be around given her first impression. So, if she was leading or supervising the group, and Ana didn¡¯t exactly have anything else to do¡­ and money was tight¡­ Honestly, it felt more like she was denying herself something than anything else. ¡°All right,¡± she said, though she made sure to sigh a little when she did to appear just a little reluctant. ¡°Sure, let¡¯s do it. But I¡¯ll only have three days of training. Are you sure I¡¯ll be ready? I don¡¯t want to be a burden on anyone.¡± ¡°You made it here on your own, and you hit the target on your first shot. And you¡¯ll be with a bunch of experienced casuals. And me! We¡¯ll all have a good time, you¡¯ll make some friends, and you¡¯ll make some experience and some cash. It¡¯ll be so good!¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take your word for it. So I don¡¯t need to buy any of my own gear, right? I can borrow it all from the guild?¡± ¡°Basic equipment and rations, yeah. Most casuals who go out a lot like to get their own stuff, at least for bedrolls and stuff like that, but the basics are fine. It¡¯s not like you¡¯ll be roughing it or anything.¡± Lunch, for Kaira, was a big wooden skewer of barely grilled meat, which she tore apart with almost frightening ease with her sharp teeth. Ana didn¡¯t eat, but she did get them each something like a fruit slushie. She almost had to get them; the man who sold them prepared them with a mind bogglingly casual application of magic, the pot of fruit juice that he was stirring freezing rapidly under his splayed fingers. It was cold, sweet, and purple, and tasted like something between a cherry and an apple. Weird, but refreshing. Kaira drank hers so quickly that Ana almost got a sympathy headache, but seemed entirely unaffected. When Ana asked her about it Kaira just shrugged. Apparently ice cream headaches just weren¡¯t a thing for themions, or evokers, or both. At Administration the same woman, Drisa, was at the desk. She looked up from her work as they entered and gave them both a calculating look, accompanied by a small smile. ¡°Ah, Miss Cole. I didn¡¯t expect you back quite so soon, but welcome. And Kaira! I wondered if you¡¯d get your claws in her.¡± ¡°Hey Drisa,¡± Kaira replied familiarly. ¡°You know I¡¯m the best at what I do.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°¡®What you do¡¯ being convincing young women to go out risking their lives in the wilderness,¡± Drisa said, but her tone was clearly not serious. ¡°Haven¡¯t lost one yet. And me and Tor are going to be giving her a crash course, so she¡¯ll be better than fine. Right, Ana?¡± ¡°Ana, is it?¡± Drisa said, her smile amused. ¡°Well, Miss Cole, since you¡¯re here I assume that you want to join Kaira¡¯s group, but I¡¯ll need a clear ¡®yes¡¯ from you to sign you up. And don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not binding. You can back out any time you want, when this one inevitably becomes too much.¡± Kaira rolled her eyes dramatically. ¡°Pssh, just because you couldn¡¯t hack it doesn¡¯t mean Ana can¡¯t. Drisa woke up with a bug in her ear and hasn¡¯t been out again since,¡± she said to Ana. Ana nearly choked when Drisa stuck her tongue out at Kaira¡¯s turned head, her face returning to amused propriety before Kaira looked back. ¡°I¡¯ve decided that the settlement is quite rough enough for me, thank you. So, Miss Cole?¡± Ana couldn¡¯t help but smile back. ¡°Yeah, sure. Sign me up.¡± ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ll have a kit prepared for you. I assume that you¡¯ll need one?¡± ¡°Camping stuff, yeah.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll need to leave a deposit, but if you¡¯re short on coin on the day I¡¯m sure we can work something out. And don¡¯t worry. Kaira¡¯s group has some fairly experienced members, and she is right in that she¡¯s never lost anyone. Well, no one had died on her watch, at least. Her pace tends to cause some turnover among the newer members, but I have a feeling that won¡¯t be a problem with you.¡± Ana and Kaira ducked out of Administration with a quick ¡°goodbye,¡± then headed to Kaira¡¯s home in the south-western part of the settlement. That area seemed to be less dense than the others, with large homes shaded by trees, and surrounded on each side by at least a little bit of grass instead of being wall-to-wall like most of the rest of the outpost. ¡°Does Torden live nearby?¡± Ana asked as they approached one of the houses, Kaira fishing for a key in an inside pocket of the light robe she was wearing. ¡°Tor? Nah, lives with his folks on the other side of Main Street. They¡¯re both Engravers so they¡¯ve got one of those workshop-houses, ya know?¡± ¡°Oh, are they artists?¡± ¡°Huh? No, Engravers! They¡­ right, there¡¯s a bunch of shit you don¡¯t know, isn¡¯t there? Sorry. They take regular items and engrave mana channels on them, so you can use magic through them. Fiddly work, and expensive as you-don¡¯t-wanna-know. Ah, here!¡± Kaira brought out a key just as they reached the door of the house she¡¯d been steering Ana towards, unlocking and opening it in one smooth motion to reveal a small vestibule and a carpeted corridor. ¡°So, first floor is me and Girry, and Valena has the whole upstairs, but it¡¯s her house so fair enough, yeah? Just come in. Close the door behind you, though. Here!¡± One third down the length of the corridor they passed a door on the right, and two thirds down was another door, which Kaira unlocked with a second key. ¡°We won¡¯t be long,¡± she said as she opened the door, ¡°but come in! Have a look!¡± Kaira¡¯s room was not the monument to chaos that Ana had expected from her personality. It was, in fact, rather more orderly than Ana¡¯s own flat back in London. It wasn¡¯t like everything was labeled and lined up in neat rows, ordered by size, but there was still a very clear sense of everything in its place. There was a reading corner, with two long bookshelves. There were no books anywhere except on the shelves or the small side table by the chair. There was a rack of vials, clear, brown or green and containing liquids of various colors, and all the vials in the room were on that rack. Everything that looked like a weapon was collected in another corner, with two crossbows and their ammunition on one rack, a few daggers mounted above them, and two staves on a different rack against the other wall. In the middle of the room was a table large enough for the four chairs surrounding it, covered in a fringed green table cloth. Kaira picked up the smaller of her two crossbows and put it on the table. It was several inches longer and wider than Ana¡¯s own. ¡°Here, take a look,¡± Kaira said, and Ana did as she asked. ¡°See how you¡¯ve got the larger stirrup at the front? You put your foot in that. Then this,¡± Kaira held up a short leather strap with a hook on either end, ¡°goes one hook on the string, and the other on your belt, and then you use your leg to pull the string back. I usually wear a good, thick leather belt with a metal loop on it. Or if you¡¯re real, real strong you could do it by hand, but if you¡¯re that strong you probably prefer close combat anyway.¡± ¡°Speaking of,¡± Ana said. ¡°You¡¯re a, uh, an Evoker. You use magic?¡± It felt ridiculous to say. She half expected Kaira to laugh at her. ¡°Fire. And lightning. At range, right? Why do you need a crossbow?¡± ¡°Saves on mana,¡± Kaira said, holding up a hand and ticking off fingers. ¡°Sometimes my spells are overkill. Sometimes someone¡¯s in the splash zone. Sometimes you wanna shoot something for dinner without certain giant lumps bitching about the smell of burnt fur. And the tchunk is sooo satisfying!¡± She said the last with a wide, sharp toothed grin. ¡°I know you liked yours. I saw you smiling! Just wait until you shoot this lady, here!¡± She patted her weapon fondly. ¡°And the other one?¡± Ana waved to the larger crossbow still in the rack. The thing had a winch on it. ¡°That¡­ you¡¯re not ready for that. I don¡¯t want you shooting out a window or something. Hells, I don¡¯t take it out with me. I¡¯m still getting used to it. Probably need to up my strength mult a bit next time I level. Lots of fun though!¡± Kaira kept talking, but Ana barely heard her. Of all the things she¡¯d seen and all the things that had happened to her, this was what made her feel disconnected from everything. It was like yesterday, when she''d realized the language and writing were all wrong, but worse. The way Kaira had so casually referenced leveling and her strength multiplier, even shortening it to mult. It was like Ana was sitting in someone¡¯s living room while Nic and his friends chatted about whatever game they were all enamored with at the moment. Everything felt unreal. A woman who wasn¡¯t human, but who was as friendly and clever as anyone she¡¯d ever known, who could supposedly throw around fire and lightning, was teaching her how to shoot a crossbow! Later, some guy she¡¯d just met was going to show her how to use a sword, so she could go with this woman into the wilderness to kill demons! What was that? How was she supposed to adapt to that? ¡°Ana? Ana? ANA?¡± There was a sharp clap as Kaira slammed her palms together right in front of Ana¡¯s face. ¡°Are you all right, Ana?¡± Kaira said. Ana slowly focused on her face and saw a look of real concern there. ¡°Um, I¡­ Is there somewhere I could get some water?¡± ¡°Shit, yeah, uh¡­ Here, sit.¡± Kaira came around the table and pulled out the chair Ana was standing by, guiding her into it. Then she opened a cabinet that contained a couple of bottles, and another one under it with mugs. She filled a mug from one of the bottles and handed it over, and Ana found that it was cold, fresh water. ¡°Thanks,¡± she said after gulping down her water. ¡°I just felt weird, there.¡± ¡°Are you all right? Do you want to break for the day? I can just tell Tor¡ª¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s¡­ I¡¯m fine,¡± Ana said. ¡°I just needed to sit down. Let¡¯s get back to the guardhouse and try out this crossbow of yours.¡± ¡°Woo, good! I was looking forward to seeing your face when you shoot ¡®er! Gods damned awesome!¡± Kaira said without a hint of her previous worry on her face. Ana still had that not-quite-there feeling when they got to the guardhouse, and she wasn¡¯t sure if it was likely to go away any time soon. But Kaira was right. Shooting the full-sized crossbow was, indeed, goddamn awesome. They went back to Ana¡¯s own crossbow, since that was the one she needed to be more familiar with, and practiced for another hour before a notification flashed in the corner of Ana¡¯s eye.
Congratulations! You have learned the Skill Crossbows! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser).
¡°Hey, Kaira,¡± she said. ¡°I just got the Crossbow Skill. Let¡¯s take a break.¡± Kaira¡¯s eyebrows shot up. ¡°What? Already? Are you joking?¡± ¡°No? I just got the notification.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s¡­ No, you know what? Congratulations, that is fucking awesome, my envy runneth deep! It took me days of practice before I got it. Do you have Archery from before?¡± ¡°No, no ranged weapons in my list. Do skills that kind of overlap help each other?¡± Although, she thought, she¡¯d probably have a two or three in pistols or whatever it would be called if the System hadn¡¯t eaten her ¡°incompatible¡± skills. Maybe it was still there, in the background. ¡°Uh, yeah! If you¡¯re good with one kind of magic you¡¯ll learn others more easily. Same for close combat weapons, or ranged weapons. I mean, bashing a demon over the head with a hammer or a sword isn¡¯t that different, right?¡± ¡°It is! For one, you wouldn¡¯t ¡®bash a demon over the head¡¯ with a sword, Irry!¡± Tor¡¯s voice cut across the yard. Ana watched him approach, then saw what he was carrying moments before he threw a wooden practice sword at her. She caught it one-handed. By the blade. ¡°That¡¯ll leave a nasty cut,¡± Tor said, grinning. ¡°Ready to learn some real fighting?¡± Chapter 12 Practicing with the sword was a lot more painful than with the crossbow. Tor wasn¡¯t being needlessly mean or anything, it was just that his style of teaching was to show Ana the very basics ¡ª hold like this, strike like this, and parry that strike like this ¡ª and then go immediately into partner work and cutting against straw targets ¡ª which Tor kindly paid for. Ana had done a lot of martial arts training and had been prepared to get sweaty, sore, and possibly knocked around a bit. All those things did happen. But what she hadn¡¯t been ready for was the burning ache in her forearms, or the shocks that shot up her arm every time the practice swords knocked together. Or the blisters! She should have expected that, she realized, but they were so bad! She asked Tor about gloves, and he just shook his head. ¡°You can and should wear gloves when you fight for real, but when you¡¯re practicing you need to build calluses. And I know you already have some, but they¡¯re not the right kind, or in the right place. So you¡¯ll just have to suffer through it, and then when we¡¯re done we¡¯ll ask Touanne to help them heal. She knows how to do it without healing it perfectly." "Because healing the blisters perfectly would prevent calluses?" Ana asked, blowing on her stinging hand. "Right. We''ve tried some tricks to numb the pain, but you don''t really get the right grip that way. So you just have to grin and bear it. Sorry. And that''s enough rest, I think." "Can we give the swords a break, at least? I don''t think I can hold it right for a while." "What do you have in mind instead?" "Unarmed? Striking and grappling?" "How about short blades? You said you''re good with those." Ana scowled minutely. "Not a fan, like I told you." "But a dagger will do you a lot more good against a possessed animal or corpse than your feet or fists will," Tor said. "Besides, I''m curious." "C''mon, Ana!" Kaira was sitting on the side, taking a break from shooting and alternately watching and reading a book she''d produced from somewhere. "You never told me you''re a knife fighter! I gotta see this!" Ana thought about it, then gave in. "All right, fine,¡± she said. ¡°You got some practice knives in there?" Kaira bounced to her feet and fetched two practice daggers made of the same reddish wood as the practice swords. With the shorter blades, the tables were not only turned. To Kaira''s steadily growing amusement, which built into a cackling delight with each exchange, they were flipped, demolished, and used for kindling. It wasn''t that Tor didn''t get any touches on Ana. In a drawn out fight with multiple opponents Ana would have been dead five minutes in from small cuts and punctures. But every exchange ended with Ana marking a lethal hit on Tor. Throat, wrists, an eye once, the heart when she felt that he was being really sloppy. The inside thigh at one point, which made Tor flush beet red from an embarrassment that had nothing to do with losing the exchange. Mostly it was just the good, old, tried and tested ¡°multiple stabs to the abdomen¡±. "Your main weakness," Ana said as she held her blade to Tor''s throat, "isn''t your skill with the blade itself. You''ve got the stance and the technique down pretty well, and you know where to aim. But you''re only fighting with the blade. That close in you''ve got to use your whole body." They''d drawn a small crowd at that point. There weren''t many others using the yard that afternoon, but those that were there had stopped what they were doing to watch. Ana was kneeling on Tor''s back, his knife hand in the air behind him. While he coughed in the dust, Kaira was laughing her smooth head off, having given up entirely on her own practice. "If I''m going to guess, I''d say you don''t practice much to fight people. Am I right?" "Yeah. Can I get up now?" Tor groaned. Ana released him and gave him a hand. "You''re right. Nobody here expects to fight each other, so we practice fighting demons. It''s quite different. But beside that, how are you so damn quick and strong? I''m pretty well rounded, but my strength at least should still be higher than yours." And it was true. Tor was significantly taller and had a more muscular build than Ana, testosterone and a more strength-focused life both working in his favor. He also had perhaps seventy or eighty pounds on her, and that was always going to be an advantage if he knew how to use it. But the bonus from her Guardian Angel Class closed the gap a bit. When she factored in the additional bonus from the Ability of the same name, which triggered even while sparring, Ana wouldn''t be surprised if they were nearly evenly matched for strength, with most or all of her other stats being higher than his. And that''s at level 3, she thought, the feeling of unreality coming back. What would it be like at 12? If she had 3 points in Strength from her Class, she would have started from 11, and she¡¯d always been pretty strong for her size. At level 12 she''d be twice as strong as she''d been before this magic business. If she got to the 20''s, three times. Assuming stats were linear, she¡¯d be able to do world record-breaking Olympic lifts at that point. She didn''t say any of this to Tor. The only explanation she offered was, "Skill and leverage. Strength is less important if you know what you¡¯re doing." ¡°But not unimportant.¡± ¡°Raw strength is never unimportant when you¡¯re fighting, no. Or mass, for that matter. I¡¯d probably have some real trouble throwing Omda the way I did with you just now. And if the two of us had the same strength, you¡¯d still do more damage with a punch if you know how to put your weight behind it.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound fair to me,¡± Kaira said from the side. "Depends on how you look at it, I guess. But fair or not, it''s something to keep in mind." "Good reason to learn to shove a lightning bolt up someone''s arse, I say." Right, because that was something people could just learn here. "Any way to make a fight unfair in your favor, really," she said. "But yeah, a lightning bolt would do it." Or a stun gun, she thought. Or a nice little semi-automatic. Six rounds. She had six rounds left. Which was just as well, because she didn''t have any way to properly maintain her gun. The next time she used it would probably be the last time. It made her gut twist a little. "All right, enough philosophizing," Tor said, throwing Ana a practice sword again and waved off their audience. "The rest of you, show''s over. You can come watch me get flipped arse over head again tomorrow." He turned back to Ana. "Kaira told me how quickly you got the Crossbows Skill, and I don''t want to leave here until you''ve got Long Blades. Then we can work on Shields tomorrow."
Congratulations! You have learned the Skill Long Blades! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser).
It took the rest of the afternoon, but Ana got the skill. Tor and Kaira were only slightly outraged that it had gone so quickly, and their congratulations seemed completely sincere. "Lets head back to Petra''s for dinner and some celebratory ale," Tor said. "We can tell Omda the good news and then have a look at those swords you¡­ acquired. If you don''t mind," he added hastily. "That''s fine. I appreciate any advice you can give," Ana said. "But you''re not weaseling out of letting me buy a round of drinks this time. First round is on me." "Saw through that, did you?" Tor said with a grin. "Baths first?" Kaira suggested. "You two reek. And your other clothes should be clean and dry by now, Ana!" Right. It was warm and Tor had been working her mercilessly, and antiperspirant was only a beautiful memory. Ana''s new clothes were sweaty and dusty, and two copper felt like a small price to pay. She¡¯d better not make a habit of two hot baths a day, though. Neither her purse, her skin, nor her hair would appreciate that. "Sure," Ana said. "Sounds great. Tor?" "I''ll see you at Petra''s," Tor said. "I could use a change of clothes as well."Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. "Aaand," Kaira said, leaning in conspiratorially after they''d gone their separate ways, "Tor''s folks donated a bunch of money towards building the baths, and they Engraved the accumulators for free, and now the staff all fawn over him. He doesn''t go often." "Accumulators?" "You know, for the heating and cooling and circulation and¡­ everything. Big suckers, too, with the low ambient and the Waystone right there down the road. Probably worth more than the rest of the building combined!" "Oh. So Engraving pays well, I guess?" "Yep! Oh, right, I should warn you. Bath''s going to be way more crowded now. You okay with that?" ¡°I¡¯ll have to be. I¡¯d rather not sleep like¡­¡± Ana pulled at the neck of her tunic with her free hand, ¡°...this.¡± Frankly, she might as well get it over with. Back home she could usually hide her tattoo by showering at home or waiting until there was no one else in the changing room, but it wasn¡¯t like anyone ever said anything the few times she hadn¡¯t been able to. That wasn¡¯t even true. She¡¯d had compliments, and nothing else. She¡¯d done enough self-analysis to know that the only reasons she had a hangup over her tattoo was that it made her stand out, and that she¡¯d gotten it at a point in her life that she didn¡¯t like to think about anymore. A time that she¡¯d left behind, gone and hopefully, one day, to be forgotten. Well, here was a new chapter. And in this one private showers were a luxury she couldn¡¯t afford, and that might be true for a long time. She already stood out as the new girl, who¡¯d dropped out of the sky when no one was supposed to. Anyone who cared would know about her soon enough. What did it matter if they had one more thing to gossip and recognize about her? It certainly didn¡¯t matter enough to keep her from getting clean after hours of training in the dust. They dropped off Kaira¡¯s crossbow at her home, then got Ana¡¯s clothes from the laundry. Her delicates had, miraculously, survived, which was a relief not so much because she loved the set but because she only had so much to wear and little money to buy more. She realized pretty quickly, though, that she may not be able to afford daily laundry, which was going to suck. Three coppers wasn¡¯t much, but it was going to add up pretty quickly. ¡°So, how much could I expect to make on one of these expeditions of yours?¡± she asked Kaira as they walked up Main Street. ¡°Depends on so many things. If anyone¡¯s been through recently, if the mana¡¯s been fluctuating, if there¡¯s any wandering demons, how the Wayfarer¡¯s feeling this week¡­ who knows, really? But for a normal three day outing¡­ a gold a day, if we¡¯re lucky? Half that if not? That¡¯s if you wanna eat most of your Crystals, of course, which you probably will at your level.¡± Between eighteen and thirty-six silver, Ana thought, for three days. Less if she wanted to gain levels more quickly, which she did. More levels meant higher Ability scores, less vulnerability and, presumably, higher earning potential. ¡°And how often can I go out?¡± she asked. ¡°There¡¯s usually an organized group every week, sometimes two. I do it like once every couple of weeks, when there¡¯s enough interest and me and the boys aren¡¯t out on our own. And before you ask, yeah, you can tell Admin that you wanna go out as often as possible, and they¡¯ll try. But if you go out with one of the mixed groups, don¡¯t take any shit, all right? That goes double if it¡¯s a group with mostly men. They don¡¯t usually mean anything by it, but the flirting and the jargon can get pretty tiresome. Lots of guys here, not so many ladies, you know how it is. Oh, here we are!¡± Kaira stopped them outside of Touanne¡¯s shop and just walked in, clearly expecting Ana to follow. It wasn¡¯t like Ana had forgotten her blistered hands, it was just that she¡¯d subconsciously resigned herself to wrapping them and waiting for them to heal, and healing them with magic was not a possibility that had stuck around in her mind. ¡°Mistress Touanne?¡± Kaira called into the empty shop. ¡°Are you available?¡± ¡°A minute!¡± came the reply from some back room. The front didn¡¯t look like a shop, nor did it look like a doctor¡¯s office. There was a narrow table with three chairs and a couple of shelves with jars and bottles on them, but no counter or anything like that. Some dried herbs and flowers hung from the rafters, spreading a pleasant smell, and an open door led to the back of the shop. That was it. Ana looked at the labels on the jars and bottles. Cuts and Scrapes, said one. Burns - Fire, said another, and next to that, Burns - Acid. Then there was Stamina, Antivenom, Mana Exhaustion, Cure-all and many others. Notably there was only one of each, and when Ana took one and wiggled it she felt that the bottle was empty. Touanne was kind and caring and generous, but she was clearly not trusting enough to leave her wares sitting out in an unattended shop. ¡°Well, how can I help you?¡± Touanne said before she even came through the door. When she did, she was wiping her hands on a towel. ¡°Ah, Miss Kaira!¡± she said pleasantly. ¡°Need more of the usual? And Ana! Do you need anything?¡± ¡°We¡¯re here for her, actually,¡± Kaira said. ¡°And I¡¯m all sorted with burn ointment, thanks. Ana, show her your hand, yeah?¡± Ana held out her blistered right hand, and Touanne looked at it for just a moment. ¡°Learning swordplay? Not a bad idea, here. I¡¯m guessing you want the calluses?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what Tor said,¡± Ana confirmed. ¡°Then, let me just¡­¡± Touanne closed her eyes and laid one hand gently on Ana¡¯s palm. There was a tingle and a warmth, and the stinging pain of the blisters disappeared. ¡°There. It should heal overnight. Just be careful with that hand until then. And how is your¡­¡± Touanne glanced at Kaira, ¡°other problem?¡± ¡°My ribs feel fine. Fine enough that I forgot all about taking it easy today, actually.¡± ¡°As long as you didn¡¯t take any blows to that area it shouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡± Touanne said. ¡°And your face looks nice and healed. Good!¡± ¡°Yeah. Thanks. How much do I owe you?¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Touanne said, waving it off. ¡°Such a small thing. But I would still like to talk to you about reagents and such, if you¡¯re interested?¡± ¡°I¡¯d been planning to come by today, actually,¡± Ana said, ¡°but then Kaira and Tor generously offered their time to train me, so¡­¡± ¡°That is perfectly fine. I¡¯ve been quite busy all day as it is. Quite a few parties returned today, and there¡¯s always things to heal and stocks to replenish when you get back from a delve, isn¡¯t that so, Kaira?¡± ¡°Yeah, like burn ointment,¡± Kaira said with a grin. ¡°That¡¯s mostly you, but yes,¡± Touanne laughed. ¡°Though I believe that most Evokers prefer to use their spells at a somewhat greater range than you do.¡± ¡°Eh, don¡¯t see why. Effect drops off with range, everyone knows that! Waste of mana!¡± ¡°But they also don¡¯t regularly burn their eyebrows off!¡± ¡°Eyebrows are overrated!¡± ¡°Do you have time tomorrow morning?¡± Ana interjected before the playful argument could continue. ¡°I have some things I¡¯ve been hoping to ask you.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be doing alchemy all morning, but you¡¯re welcome to join me,¡± Touanne said. ¡°It¡¯s all very routine, so I can talk while I work. Just drop by any time! Now, was there anything else?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah.¡± Ana remembered that morning, and the awful taste in her mouth. ¡°Do you have anything for dental health? Like, cleaning my teeth?¡± ¡°Certainly! A moment.¡± Touanne disappeared through the back door, and came back a minute later with something that looked like a stick, two inches long and a quarter inch wide. ¡°Here you go. No cost!¡± she said, handing it to Ana. The end was split into stiff fibers, kind of like a cross between a paintbrush and a toothbrush. She didn¡¯t want to ask. She¡¯d just figure it out. Touanne also made a thick paste that was supposedly like a very diluted health potion made to stick to the teeth and gums. It was cheap, and Ana got some, feeling much better despite her limited finances. With that Ana and Kaira moved on. They dropped Ana''s stuff off at Petra¡¯s then headed for a quick bath, Kaira coming along for company more than necessity. The baths were indeed quite crowded, to the point that Ana preferred to wait for some bench-space to free up rather than crowd in like many of the other women did. Most of the other bathers didn¡¯t say a word about her tattoo. The least positive comment that she heard was that it was ¡°interesting.¡± She did, however, get one cheerful greeting of "Knife girl!" from somewhere in the mist. Ana just waved back to the pool in general. No point in appearing unfriendly. Then it was back to Petra¡¯s, and suddenly she was once more seated at a table with three almost-strangers eating, joking, and laughing. Dinner was, again, fresh bread and stew. Ana asked Mikkel and it turned out that dinner was always fresh bread and stew. The bread varied and so did the contents of the stew, but it was always some variation on the same theme. At least the bread and the stew were good, two for two, and it wasn¡¯t like Ana could afford to complain. "Fucking prodigy here!" Kaira cheered, speaking to Omda but raising her mug to Ana. "Picked up¡ª" She lowered her voice and looked around, waving the huge man in to the center of the table, then stage whispered, "She picked up two Skills in one day! Never held a sword or a crossbow before, and she got both Skills!" Omda''s eyes widened, then he gave Ana a wide, warm smile. "Well done!" he said, and raised his own mug to her. Ana had friends back home. Or at least she had colleagues that she got along with well. But she was not at all used to this kind of warmth. This praise. She was surprised to not find herself uncomfortable. It was¡­ nice. She didn''t particularly feel that she''d done anything to deserve it, and she still wondered what the end goal was with all this generosity and kindness, but it was nice, and she needed that. At least that was what her therapist had taught her. To accept kindness and positive emotions without suspicion. It was hard, but she tried. Besides, she didn¡¯t want to be suspicious. She felt like she''d lucked out with these people. With them she got what she needed without having to remember or chase it. It would be unfortunate if she had to drop them. "Going to start her on Shields tomorrow afternoon," Tor said. "You should come watch, Om. Kaira''ll be there, too, won''t you? We''ll make it a Party thing!" Omda hesitated, looked down, then looked at his friends. He seemed uncomfortable and reluctant, and Ana wondered what the story was there. Then Kaira reached out and clapped him on the arm, saying "C''mon, Om. Please?" "Okay," he said. "Afternoon?" "Afternoon!" Kaira cheered. "Let''s get another round in here! Mik¡ª" "Don''t you dare!" Ana hissed. "Mikkel! A round of drinks!" She saw the kid''s face light up, and he busied himself behind the bar. "Didn''t think I''d have to fight you guys just to buy a round here," she said once they''d been served, to the appreciative cheers of the table. Yeah. This was nice. Chapter 13 "Right! Let''s have a look at those blades!" Tor said. They''d rounded off for the evening. One round had turned into one each, and Ana was starting to suspect that the beer wasn''t as weak as she''d thought that morning. Omda had begged off and returned to his own room, but Kaira and Tor had joined Ana, crowding into the small space. Ana dug the two weapons out from under the bed, where she''d stashed them. It kept them both close and out of the way when she slept. Tor immediately fixated on the long, narrow blade that she had taken from the Summoner. "This is nice," he said without even removing it from its scabbard. "Scabbard''s a bit flashy, but it¡¯s made of good materials. And look at this hilt! See how even and smooth the wrapping is? Careful work went into that. Stand up straight, would you, Ana?" She did, and Tor held the sheathed sword vertical next to her. "Too long for you," he decreed. "You should sell it." Then he unsheathed it, and took a slow breath. "Look at this, Kaira! What do you think?" Kaira drew her finger along the intricate designs on the blade. Ana hadn''t thought much of them, assuming that they were just decorative. "Definitely sucking mana. Most of it is etched, not engraved, but still. Decent bit of work, I''d guess. You should ask the experts." "Yeah," Tor agreed. "Ana, do you mind if I show this to my parents?" "Why?" "They could tell you what the engraving adds to the value. And I''m sure that they''d do it for free if I tell them that it''s for a friend. An assessment from them carries a lot of weight for something like this." "But if it''s so valuable, doesn''t that mean that it''s a good weapon? Couldn''t I use it?" "Yeah and nah," Kaira said. "I could channel heat or lightning through it, but for you it''s just a pretty good rapier. Unless you¡¯ve got some magic skills you haven¡¯t told us about?¡± Kaira¡¯s tone was hopeful, but Ana shook her head. ¡°Oh well. But if Tor says it''s too long for you, it''s too long. He''s good with that. And, I don''t see you being the duelist type, all Thrust! Riposte! Fancy footwork! You''re more hack, slash, bash-your-teeth-out-with-my-shield. Am I right, Tor?" "You''re clearly not afraid of close work, that''s clear enough," Tor said to Ana. "So what do you say?" "All right," Ana said. "If you think it might let me sell it at a better price, please. Have your parents look at it." "I can take it with me tonight and give it back to you tomorrow, if that''s all right?" "Yeah, fine. What about the other sword?" "Much more your style, I think. And the length is better." Tor drew the sword Ana had taken from the Ranger who''d attacked her. "Slight curve, single edge with four inches of false edge ¡ª that¡¯s the sharp bit on the back of the blade, at the tip. Decent materials and competent workmanship. Nothing fancy, but solid. A good starter, I''d say, but not one you''d keep forever. Rankan, the guy I¡¯m assuming you took it from, he was¡­ what, level 12? 13? He was probably feeling like he¡¯d outgrown this. Would have wanted something heavier. Speaking of him¡­ I know you don''t have much right now, but you shouldn''t wear those clothes around town if you can avoid it. Same for the armor. He didn''t have a lot of friends from what I know, but the ones he had are some of our less upstanding members. He''s officially out on a Delve, not even missing as of right now, but if someone recognizes his things¡­ I don''t know. Better not to provoke them." Great. More expenses. "Don''t worry," Kaira said, much more softly than her usual exuberance. "You need properly fitted armor anyway, and you should be able to trade the suit you have for something at the Exchange. And once you sell the rapier you''ll have money for new clothes and a shield and all!" "Honestly, even without the engraving this rapier would probably get you a couple of gold," Tor said. "As it is you should be able to get enough to live, not just survive, for at least a month." "So I don''t need to worry so much about selling Crystals? I can just use them?" "Yeah!" Kaira said. "Let''s get you some levels!" That was a pretty massive relief, honestly. Ana had been on-the-street destitute before. If avoiding that meant staying comparatively weak, that was a price she''d been prepared to pay. But not needing to make the choice made her feel just a little lighter. "Got some other shit, too," she said. "Most of it is basic stuff but this¡­" she got out the black book she''d taken, "I got this from the Summoner, too. Think it might be worth anything?" ¡°What¡¯s in it?¡± Kaira asked. ¡°Not a clue. I can¡¯t read it. I was hoping one of you could tell me.¡± Ana sat on the bed and opened the book on her lap, turning it for the others to see. ¡°I can¡¯t even guess,¡± Tor said. ¡°Nothing looks familiar at all. Kaira?¡± Kaira was slowly flipping pages, stopping every so often to look at an illustration. ¡°I can¡¯t read a word of it, but I¡¯m pretty sure that some of these diagrams are ritual circles. Makes sense, I guess. But we¡¯ll need someone else to take a look. Maybe Touanne could make sense of it?¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Ana said. She should have thought of that, but the beer was getting to her head a little. ¡°I¡¯m seeing her tomorrow. I could ask then.¡± ¡°You should!¡± Kaira said, suddenly excited. ¡°Even if it¡¯s not valuable it might help you find out what that Summoner was trying to do!¡± That was a good point. With everything going on, where she was and what to do about it, Ana hadn¡¯t really spared a thought as to why she was there. The old guy had been really damn satisfied with himself that he¡¯d got poor little Nicky. By his reaction to Ana, she had just been unlucky. Along for the ride. It felt like there should be something else, too, but that last beer was really kicking in. She¡¯d drunk that one fast. ¡°All right,¡± she said. ¡°Thanks for your help. Hope you don¡¯t mind, but I need to sleep. I¡¯ll see you both tomorrow, after lunch, right?¡± ¡°Aw, already?¡± Kaira whined, but Tor took her gently by the shoulders and steered her towards the door. ¡°The sword,¡± Ana said, grabbing the rapier from where it was leaning against the wall and offering it to Tor, who took it. ¡°Oh, right. Tomorrow, then?¡± ¡°Tomorrow,¡± Ana confirmed. She was getting really sleepy. ¡°Hey, guys?¡± she called after them as they stepped out through the door. ¡°Thanks. For today.¡± ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t even know!¡± Kaira said happily. ¡°You have no idea. You don¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°You¡¯re very welcome, Ana,¡± Tor said, smiling as he closed the door on Kaira¡¯s excited declarations. That night Ana actually managed to get her clothes off before she fell asleep.
Morning. Four beers needed out immediately, then calisthenics, then porridge and tea with Omda. Basically no conversation, but that was fine. She tried her new toothbrush at the indoor sink. It was uncomfortable and fiddly to use but infinitely better than nothing ¡ª at least her teeth felt mostly clean afterwards. After that, back to the tailor Lanpellia who sold her another tunic and pair of trousers. It cost her seven silver, which was most of her money, and Lanpellia insisted that was with a discount. Back to Petra¡¯s to drop off the clothes. The dead Ranger¡¯s tunic made a makeshift bag for the book, and then she was off to Touanne¡¯s. Ana wasn¡¯t excited, exactly. She very rarely got excited about anything. But she was looking forward to speaking with Touanne again. She had questions, and talking to Touanne felt good. She felt like she could tell the woman anything, like with her therapist back home. It felt strange to trust anyone like that so quickly. It had taken months before she really felt that she could open up to Dr. Salman, but Ana trusted her gut, and her gut told her that Touanne could be trusted.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. The streets were nearly empty and Ana wondered if she¡¯d gotten out too early, but Touanne had said any time. The door to the shop ¡ª clinic? practice? ¡ª was locked, but there was a chain with a small sign that said ¡®Please ring,¡¯ so Ana pulled the chain and a bell chimed somewhere inside. It took a minute, but then steps approached inside and the door unlocked, opening to reveal Touanne, with her hair up in a messy bun and wearing a heavy leather apron. A smile spread across her face. ¡°Oh, good morning, Anastasia!¡± she said, moving out of the way. ¡°Welcome! Come in, come in!¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Ana said, stepping inside. ¡°And call me Ana, please.¡± ¡°Sure, Ana. I¡¯m just Touanne, I¡¯m afraid. Some people tried ¡®Tou¡¯ for a while, but it never felt like me, you know? And now I suppose that ¡®Anne¡¯ would be confusing,¡± she laughed. ¡°But you¡¯re not here to talk about me. Come with me, please. I still have work to do, but you¡¯re very welcome to join me while we talk.¡± Ana followed Touanne through the door that led into the back of the shop into a short hallway, then through another door on the right into a room that looked like a cross between a fairytale witch¡¯s cottage and a chemistry lab. Dried plants hung from every inch of the rafters, bottles and jars and bowls and boxes lined the many shelves containing who knew what, and the large table that dominated one wall was covered in strange glass apparatuses that Ana couldn¡¯t guess the purposes of other than ¡°chemistry.¡± A round glass bottle that was connected to a series of spiraling tubes bubbled above a blue flame coming out of a stone plate with no obvious source of fuel. The liquid inside had a strange metallic sheen. That might be normal in a chemistry lab, but Ana doubted it. ¡°So, Ana, what did you want to talk about?¡± Touanne asked as she turned up the flame with a touch, then busied herself grinding some kind of dried purple flower into fine powder in a large mortar. ¡°First,¡° Ana said, and this had been bothering her. Or rather, the fact that it hadn¡¯t been bothering her, had been bothering her. ¡°Everyone here seems to love and trust you. I trusted you enough to show you how ignorant I am after knowing you for all of a minute. That should make me suspicious as hell, but it doesn¡¯t. I realize that expecting you to be honest about this also assumes that I can trust you, but¡­ why?¡± ¡°Well,¡± Touanne said, ¡°the obvious answer as to why I¡¯m well liked and trusted here is that I¡¯ve helped a lot of people, and shown that I¡¯m trustworthy. But I know that will not satisfy you. So, I¡¯m going to, ironically, ask you to trust me and tell me something. How high is your Connection?¡± ¡°Why do I get the feeling that¡¯s a rude question?¡± ¡°Because it is. It¡¯s a little like asking someone to show you their bum: you shouldn¡¯t ask unless you¡¯re sure that they¡¯ll do it. Have I offended you?¡± ¡°No. I have¡­ let me check. My Connection is 13.¡± ¡°I thought so. Well, not the number, but I had a feeling that it would be higher than average. You see, your Connection doesn¡¯t just connect you to the World Soul, it also connects you to other people. If you have a higher than average Connection you can get a feeling for others who have a very high Connection. Think of it as an aura ¡ª people often speak of it as such. It lets you sense what their personality is like, how they¡¯re feeling¡­ if you can trust them or not. Since you told me, I will let you know that my Connection is well into the 40s. To someone like you, I am a bit of an open book.¡± Touanne smiled, then tipped the lavender powder in her mortar into a small bowl. ¡°Most people don¡¯t bother increasing their Connection. They start with a 7 or 8, and getting your base up is a slow and, to most people, boring process. And nobody wants to raise their multiplier for an Attribute they barely notice that they have. Only dedicated mages like myself, or your friend Kaira, for example, need their Connection to be high to be effective at what we do.¡± ¡°So I trust you because I can tell that you can be trusted?¡± ¡°Pretty much, yes. And the reason that I can be trusted is that magically I am almost completely dedicated to the Craft of Life. It changes you, you understand. With a strong Connection you have a much higher potential in your Crafts, but your Crafts also influence you more as a person. And to qualify for the Healer Class, like I have, you must be so dedicated to the Craft of Life, and specifically to the path that deals with Healing, that empathy and caring for others become essential parts of who you are. You can trust me, Ana, because I can¡¯t imagine much that would be more painful to me than betraying your trust. And because of our respective Connections, you can feel that, even if you don¡¯t know why.¡± That was a lot to take in. Magic changed your personality? You could read people¡¯s¡­ what, souls, because you had one of your Attributes high enough? Other people could¡­ ¡°All my Attributes go up with my level.¡± She didn¡¯t quite blurt it, but this seemed like the kind of thing she should keep secret from almost everyone. ¡°I¡¯m not a Companion. I have a hidden Class that sounds really strong, and it makes all my Attributes higher. Does this mean that everyone will be able to read me in a couple of levels?¡± Touanne stared. She seemed actually speechless for a moment, the only sound being the bubbling of the liquid in the bottle and the dripping from the tubes. ¡°All your Attributes?¡± she said after a few seconds. ¡°Yeah, all of them.¡± ¡°They increase with your level. As in, they all go up by one, every time you level? Base? Before your multipliers?¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s amazing. Some Classes get a bonus to an Attribute. A few, to two,¡± Touanne¡¯s voice was soft and full of wonder. ¡°In ten levels¡­ twenty¡­ that¡¯s amazing!¡± The stunned look on Touanne¡¯s face slowly turned to one of open, genuine delight. ¡°I am so happy for you, Ana! But you can¡¯t tell anyone else. Please be very careful who you tell. Promise me?¡± ¡°Yeah, I get that already, thank you,¡± Ana said, ¡°I had to do one of those records when I joined the Guild, so they know. Or at least that Drisa woman does. But I haven¡¯t told anyone else. I wasn¡¯t even planning to tell you until you told me about the Connection thing.¡± ¡°Yes, right. Your question. Well, even if¡­ rather, even when your Connection gets into the 20s most people won¡¯t be able to get much from you. A vague sense, not much different from reading someone¡¯s body language. Mages, though, they¡¯ll see a lot about you unless you learn to mask yourself very well. Of course by then all your other Attributes will be so high¡­ and that¡¯s just the base! The multipliers¡­ what I¡¯m saying is, by the time your Connection is high enough to really worry about, you¡¯ll be so strong and perceptive and everything else that you may not need to worry about¡­ anything! Though we really should teach you to suppress your aura before then, for everyone¡¯s sake.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± That was a good point. Why worry about hiding anything if no one could use it against you? ¡°And that¡¯s only level 3,¡± Touanne whispered, seemingly to herself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m just so excited for you. You could be anything, with a Class like that! Have you found out what kind of Class it is? Combat, non-combat, magic or melee¡­?¡± ¡°Drisa didn¡¯t recognize it,¡± Ana said. ¡°And if she can be trusted, no one else should know about it. But from the¡­ descriptions, it¡¯s focused on protecting other people.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Touanne¡¯s voice was just a tiny whisper. ¡°I love that.¡± ¡°I actually wanted to ask about magic, too. How you learn it, how you use it. It seems like too strong a tool to ignore. But¡­ it messes with your head? I¡¯m not so sure any more.¡± ¡°Oh, no! No!¡± Touanne said, her voice rising again with excitement. ¡°Don¡¯t think like that! Think of it like¡­ well, let¡¯s start from the beginning. You asked how to learn. Well, the first thing is to see what you have an aptitude for, if anything. Not everyone has a strong aptitude for any Craft, and most people who don¡¯t have a strong aptitude don¡¯t bother. But your aptitude generally depends on which Craft you¡¯re already closest to, you see? I was already an apprentice alchemist and healer when I found my aptitude for the Craft of Life. I¡¯m sure that Kaira was energetic, excitable and hot-tempered long before she learned the first thing about Evocation. So if you¡¯re interested, then you should think, really think, about who you are, and then see if that aligns with any of the Crafts. Then you can take it from there, and see how difficult it is for you to perform the simplest principles of that Craft.¡± ¡°Soul-searching, huh?¡± ¡°You could call it that. Though, if you¡¯ve qualified for a powerful Class focused on protecting others I would suggest starting with Life or Earth. Although¡­¡± Touanne smiled sadly. ¡±Life most strongly aligns with empathy. And that¡¯s not really you, is it?¡± Empathy? No. Though Ana hadn¡¯t truly understood that until fairly recently. After all, she understood what others felt, and how it affected them. She took it into consideration when she acted. She tried to avoid hurting others. But it was all intellectual. Finding out that most people were actually, personally, emotionally affected by the feelings of others had been a revelation, and something of a shock. When someone Ana liked was sad, that was unfortunate, and Ana wanted to help them. When they were happy, that was good. People were a lot more enjoyable to be around when they were happy. Actually sharing in that pain or that joy, though, was an entirely foreign concept to Ana, and one that she was still learning to emulate. ¡°Did you get that through the Connection?¡± she asked, and Touanne, shrugged noncommittally. ¡°Partially. But also from simply observing you. You wear emotions on your face and in your body language, but I don¡¯t feel them from you. And when I speak with someone there are usually certain emotions that accompany their words that are absent with you. Things like that. Now, that doesn¡¯t mean that you¡¯re unempathetic, but I¡¯ve met and known a few people similar to you, so it seemed like a safe guess.¡± ¡°Other mages?¡± ¡°Yes, most of them. Most non-mages do not bother raising their connection high enough where I could have read them to that degree.¡± ¡°What kind of magic do they learn? Which Craft?¡± Touanne went silent, and didn¡¯t seem to want to meet Ana¡¯s eyes. ¡°You won¡¯t tell me?¡± Ana asked. ¡°I¡¯d prefer not to, no.¡± Touanne sighed. ¡°But it would be unfair, I suppose. And you will find out sooner or later. Death, Ana. They tended towards the Craft of Death.¡± Chapter 14 ¡°You think I¡¯d be good at Death magic?¡± Ana asked Touanne. She felt¡­ offended, perhaps? She wasn¡¯t sure. But some people assumed that just because she didn¡¯t experience or express emotions the way most people did, she was somehow dangerous. Well, perhaps she was, in a way. But only to those who deserved it. It was much easier for her to hurt others than it was for most people, after all. But just because she didn¡¯t feel bad about hurting people didn¡¯t mean that she wanted to. Was that what Touanne thought? Was this another in a line of potential and nascent friendships that would fizzle out because Touanne thought that Ana was dangerous, or, in the words of one particularly judgmental woman, ¡°an unfeeling, fucking monster¡±? ¡°Ana?¡± Touanne said. ¡°Ana? Where did you go just now?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Ana said, blinking and looking at Touanne. ¡°You asked me if I thought that you¡¯d be good at Death magic, but I don¡¯t think that you really heard my answer.¡± ¡°Oh. Which was?¡± ¡°That no, I don¡¯t think that you¡¯d necessarily be good at the Craft of Death, although if you wanted to learn it might be easier on you, mentally. Most of those who have a strong aptitude for Death are not only lacking in empathy, but actively malicious. They enjoy hurting others, or dominating them, or both. And I have not really had an opportunity to see that in you, either way.¡± ¡°Oh. I suppose that you don¡¯t exactly like the, uh, Craft of Death, or those who use it.¡± ¡°The Craft of Death deals in stripping away the mana of a creature, either to simply kill it or to use that mana for some purpose. It is a Craft that cannot be practiced without causing suffering. It is the antithesis of everything I believe in and strive for, so, yes, you¡¯re right. I do not particularly like it.¡± Anyone else might have said that with acid in their voice. Touanne¡¯s tone was soft, and accompanied by a sad smile. ¡°But I can¡¯t hate those who use it. They start out cold and selfish, perhaps, usually because of sad circumstances. And then they begin to practice the only Craft they have an aptitude in, often out of desperation, and it twists them. While they are certainly responsible for what they do, they are victims of fate and circumstance, and they deserve our pity.¡± ¡°So how do you know them?¡± ¡°From trying to help them, what else? There are some of them who realize what they are becoming before it is too late, and who reject that path for something better. But it scars the body and the soul, in a way, and so some of them seek out Healers to ask for our help. And as long as they do not practice the Craft, they can be helped. Some have even become strong practitioners of the Craft of Life themselves.¡± ¡°Does that make them more empathetic?¡± Ana asked. She didn¡¯t feel hopeful, exactly. She was quite satisfied with herself, and didn¡¯t feel like there was anything wrong with her. But she was curious. ¡°I¡¯m afraid not. Not those who felt no empathy at all to begin with, anyway. Those who are unable to truly empathize with others can¡¯t seem to practice Life at all. I¡¯m sorry if that disappoints you, but¡­ well, I don¡¯t think that it does.¡± ¡°No, not really,¡± Ana confirmed. ¡°Though I find the idea of being, I don¡¯t know, locked out of something a little annoying. Being able to heal myself or others sounds like it might have been useful.¡± ¡°Oh, you wouldn¡¯t be locked out, as such. Learning to use a Craft that you lack an aptitude for is certainly possible, but most people find it very difficult, to the point where they give up before they get anywhere. Your strength in a Craft depends on your understanding of it, and without the innate understanding that comes with an aptitude¡­ well, not many Delvers have that kind of patience. If you wish to learn any magic at all, I would start with a Craft that you have an aptitude for, to learn the basics and pick up some skills. Maybe then.¡± Ana thought about it. Magic. Magic was real and she would have a good base for it simply because of her Class. If she was going to buy in completely here, how could she not try, at the very least? ¡°If I want to learn,¡± Ana said slowly, ¡°where do I start? How exactly do I find out if I have an aptitude for something? Can you help me? Could Kaira?¡± ¡°If you want to test for Life despite everything, I am willing to try. But we can only help you test for our respective Crafts, I¡¯m afraid. You need to find someone who¡¯s skilled in the Craft you want to try, and I suggest you begin with Earth. Now, if you can wait for a while I know someone who I¡¯m sure would help you, but she left with her Party yesterday and will be away for a week, at least. I want to talk to her before I give you any false hope. But if you¡¯re eager to get started you shouldn¡¯t have any trouble finding someone. You can ask at Administration and they¡¯ll help you, or you can simply put up a note on the board or ask in the common room at the guardhouse. This is a low level splinter. Most people here are or were recently low level, or are here because they want to help new Delvers.¡± Touanne smiled. ¡°It¡¯s a helpful place.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll wait for your friend, I guess. But I still want to try Life, if you have the time.¡± ¡°I can make the time, sure. Just give me, oh¡­ fifteen minutes, or so, to finish this fractionation.¡± ¡°Of course, yeah. Is there anything I can do to help?¡± ¡°Not really. Although I¡¯d be happy to tell you what I¡¯m doing as I work.¡± It all went well above Ana¡¯s head. She knew the basics of chemistry: acids and bases, how different things dissolved better or worse in different solvents, stuff like that. But what Touanne was doing was alchemy; real alchemy. It was as much magic as chemistry, relying on Touanne¡¯s Abilities and using mana to do things that Ana was pretty sure would be impossible without it. But even if she didn¡¯t understand it, it was not at all a waste of time. Ana learned not only some things that were possible with alchemy, but also something new: When Skills hit certain levels, you gained Perks. Touanne¡¯s Alchemy skill was above 10, and she had two Alchemy Perks thanks to that: Mana Infusion, which let her increase the efficacy of her potions, and Mana Distillation, which let her isolate substances that would otherwise be impossible to separate without some extremely advanced modern chemistry, if at all. Considering that Ana had two Skills at 4, Intimidation and Unarmed Combat, she wondered if she should try to train them to see what she got. Of course, neither of those Skills were likely to be very useful when she went out with Kaira and her group, so she should probably work on whatever Tor and Kaira had planned for her. There would be plenty of time to beat people up or scare the crap out of them later. ¡°There we are,¡± Touanne said as she wiped her hands with a rag soaked in something that smelled vaguely like gasoline. She had produced ten very small jars of a salve which was supposed to counter ¡°necrotic damage, ¡°which sounded horrible, and five small vials of general purpose antidote. ¡°Let¡¯s go in the front room and sit down. You will need to be comfortable and focused for this.¡± As they got seated across from each other at the narrow table in the front room, Touanne lit a small bowl of incense, then put her hands, palms up, on the table. ¡°Now, Ana, I want you to take my hands and clear your mind. I am going to channel a small amount of Healing-aligned mana at you but not into you. You understand the difference? Good. All I want you to do is to try and hold that mana. You don¡¯t need to do anything with it. Just hold it, and if you can do that, then we can move on to actually shaping or directing it. If you can¡¯t, don¡¯t feel bad. It doesn¡¯t mean that the Craft of Life is impossible for you, only that you do not have a strong enough aptitude to do it on your first try. You have never worked with mana before, correct? So you lack even the most basic skills. Most people need several attempts before they succeed. All right?¡± ¡°All right.¡± ¡°Good. Then close your eyes, empty your mind, and let¡¯s begin.¡± At first there was nothing. All Ana felt was Touanne¡¯s hands, soft and warm, under her own. She¡¯d dabbled in meditation before, and tried some of the techniques she¡¯d learned for clearing her mind, finally falling back on the one that had often helped her sleep: simply telling herself, ¡°Don¡¯t think. Don¡¯t think. Don¡¯t think,¡± over and over and over until it became a mantra, the only thought in her head. Well, almost the only thought. Trying to feel anything in her hands naturally led to a running mental monologue, but it was much fainter than what was usually there. So, job half, if not well, done. Then, as her mind calmed, there was a warmth, very different from the actual warmth between their hands. It was similar, but not quite the same as when Touanne had healed her. It made her grateful in a different way that Touanne had healed her blisters, since she now had something to compare directly with. And with the warmth came the faintest pressure, as though slightly warm air was streaming into her palm and pouring between her fingers. But try as she might, she couldn¡¯t hold it. She couldn¡¯t stop it from escaping between her fingers, or right through her palm for that matter. She tried focusing, and visualizing, and even literally cupping her hands and squeezing her fingers together, but nothing worked. Every time she thought she had it it would slip away from her.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. When she finally gave up with a disappointed sigh and opened her eyes, she found Touanne smiling at her. And it wasn¡¯t the kind, consoling smile she¡¯d expected, but one of genuine delight. ¡°You felt it, didn¡¯t you?¡± Touanne asked. ¡°But I couldn¡¯t hold it,¡± Ana said. ¡°That you could feel it at all is a cause for celebration, Ana! Like I told you, I never expected you to succeed unless you had an aptitude, much less on your first try. This is wonderful!¡± ¡°In that case, can we try again?¡± ¡°I¡¯d love to, but weren¡¯t you meeting Tor after noon?¡± ¡°Yes, but¡­¡± Ana looked at the table. The incense was cold, long since burned out, and she suddenly felt how stiff she was. ¡°How long did that take?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± Touanne said. ¡°You were so focused that I didn¡¯t want to disturb you. But I¡¯d say it¡¯s a quarter of an hour to noon, or so.¡± ¡°You let me sit there for hours?¡± Ana was more incredulous than angry. Getting angry at Touanne was perhaps not impossible, but it was hard to imagine her doing anything malicious, selfish or egregiously thoughtless. If Touanne did something, Ana¡¯s gut told her, it was because she genuinely believed it to be the most helpful thing she could do. And Touanne had given Ana her entire morning, putting aside the alchemical work she doubtless needed to do, to help her take her first steps towards learning goddamn magic. Sure, there was probably a healthy dose of personal curiosity involved, with Touanne wanting to see what Ana could do given time, but still. So, Ana settled on gratitude. ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± she said, ¡°and your time. I¡¯m sure that I¡¯ll be back with more questions, but I¡¯ve learned a lot today.¡± ¡°You¡¯re very welcome. And thank you for trusting me with your secret, Ana. It¡¯s¡­ incredibly interesting, frankly, and I¡¯m very excited to see what will become of you. Please, any help you need, let me know and I will try to make time.¡± ¡°You can count on it.¡± Ana was about to rise, then remembered her other errands with Touanne. She took the book out of her makeshift bag and put it on the table. ¡°Neither Tor nor Kaira could make sense of this. I got it from the Summoner who attacked me when I first came here. Kaira thinks it¡¯s about summoning magic or something like that, but none of us can read it. If I leave it with you, could you take a look at it, see if you have any more luck?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that I could find some time for a mystery,¡± Touanne said. She touched it, tensing just a bit before she did, but relaxed again. ¡°With such a wicked background, you¡¯d almost expect it to be bound in elven skin, or something like that. But happily, no.¡± She opened the book and flipped some pages. ¡°Ah. Well, I can¡¯t read the text, but the script looks vaguely familiar. And I¡¯m sure that I¡¯ve seen the runes in the diagrams before. With some reference materials I might be able to get somewhere, though I can¡¯t promise anything.¡± ¡°Trying is more than enough. Since none of us could understand it we won¡¯t be any worse off. If we can¡¯t get anywhere I suppose I can try to sell it to the Guild, or something, or just give it to them for good will.¡± Ana stood. ¡°I was meaning to ask you about those reagents you were interested in, but I can come back. We¡¯re going out the day after tomorrow, so there should be time.¡± ¡°I would appreciate that, thank you!¡± Touanne said, then gave Ana a wry look. ¡°Perhaps you¡¯ll be back after some more of Tor¡¯s training?¡± Ana grimaced, remembering the blisters and looking at the new, small calluses that now graced her palms. ¡°Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised,¡± she said. ¡°He takes training seriously, and he takes magical healing into account. There was no mercy for blistered hands yesterday.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that he means well. He just wants you to be as prepared as you can possibly be when you go out.¡± ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t doubt it. It¡¯s just strange to not need to tape and wrap my hands for the next couple of days. What you did yesterday was extremely effective.¡± Touanne beamed. ¡°I¡¯m very glad that you think so, Ana. Now, I really do think that you should get going, if you want to be on time.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said, then turned around at the door. ¡°Thanks again, Touanne. And I¡¯ll see you soon, I guess.¡± Again, Ana wasn¡¯t hungry. The portion sizes at Petra¡¯s were honestly ridiculous, and Ana had stuffed herself to near bursting. She still passed through the square, looking at the obsidian obelisk in the center and the people, more than the day before, passing through and stopping at the various stands, or just waiting around, presumably for friends or Party members. With the level of activity it felt a little like the center of a much larger place, a city of a few thousand, perhaps, and she could only assume that this was how most people got their lunch. It kind of made sense. Pretty much everybody was either a ¡°Delver,¡± as they called them, or worked to support those Delvers in some way. The Delver half of the population would spend much of their time outside the walls, and many of them lived at inns that, if Petra¡¯s was anything to go by, didn¡¯t offer midday meals. And Kaira hadn¡¯t had anything that looked like a kitchen, so she probably ate out for all of her meals anyway. Petra¡¯s certainly had a lot more people coming for breakfast and dinner than could possibly be living at the inn. When she actually had money to spend she should start looking around at what was available, she decided. The food at Petra¡¯s was plentiful, tasty enough, and filling, but it was also pretty much the same thing every day. Ana liked routine, but she did not like monotony if she could avoid it. Ana entered the guardhouse practice yard from the street. There was one man there practicing archery who waved a vaguely friendly greeting to her and went back to what he was doing, but otherwise there was no one there. Not one to waste time standing around, Ana stepped into the armory and looked around. She picked up a practice sword, gave it a few swings, then tried one which was a little different, more like the one she had back at the inn. There were a few shields as well, in different styles and sizes. She tried a few on for size but didn¡¯t find anything she liked until, on a whim, she tried picking up a smaller shield with a central handle in her right, with the sword in her left. Then it just kind of clicked. Since she only had one day of practice with the sword it wasn¡¯t a big thing to switch hands, and she liked how much more flexible she felt with the shield in her right. It remained to be seen how effective it would actually be, but she had a good feeling about the setup. Ana spent a little while in the yard practicing the basic forms that Tor had shown her, only now with her left hand and trying to think about how to incorporate the shield. She assumed that she was doing some straight up ridiculous things, but that was to be expected with literally no training and no experience in using a shield. Her assumption was justified by a voice calling out, ¡°You need to keep the shield up!¡± She stopped and looked around, and the man she¡¯d been sharing the yard with was holding his bow by his side, watching her. She was more than a little annoyed. This was just one more in a long line of guys offering unsolicited advice, but with a significant difference. This time there was a good chance that he actually knew a lot more than her about the subject at hand, and she would need to use these skills very soon. ¡°How do you mean?¡± she asked, walking over to him. He was a little guy, half a head shorter even than her and with a slight build, and for a moment she wondered if he was some kind of near-human. But, no. His label said [Human Skirmisher (19)]. He was just a short king, built on a smaller scale than most the way Omda was built on a larger one. That 19 in his label also meant that he probably knew at least something about using a sword and shield, if only from observation. ¡°Your shield is all over the place when you strike,¡± he said, ¡°but mostly you drop it down and to the right. Not always, but most of the time. That leaves you open, and most of the critters you¡¯ll be fighting out there aren¡¯t going to go down in one strike. You need to focus on keeping your shield up.¡± ¡°But I was keeping it up,¡± Ana said. ¡°Or at least I thought I was.¡± ¡°Hold it up for me,¡± the Skirmisher said. ¡°Get in a ready stance, facing me. I¡¯ll show you what I mean.¡± ¡°All right.¡± Ana got into a mirrored version of one of the ready stances Tor had shown her, left foot forward and sword high, and added the shield between herself and the guy. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ decent,¡± he said. ¡°Now, strike at me. And don¡¯t worry, I can take some bashing around.¡± The guy was unarmed and inviting Ana to attack him. She wasn¡¯t dumb enough to think that she had a chance of hitting him, but she tried anyway. She was about halfway when he stepped inside her guard and poked her in the stomach, right past her shield. ¡°That¡¯s what I mean,¡± he said as Ana took a step back. ¡°You move the shield too much when you strike, and you¡¯re not thinking about it. You¡¯re focused on your strike. Here,¡± he grabbed the rim of her shield and moved it so that it was between them, ¡°you can easily move it to block any attack against your center. This is where you hold it when you attack.¡± Again he grabbed the shield and, despite her resistance, effortlessly moved it back, only a few inches. ¡°Here it is useless, unless you have very good skills and reflexes. It also makes it very hard to use it offensively, which I assume that you¡¯ll want to do since you picked a center-punch shield.¡± Ana considered the shield. She moved it to the center line, then back to where the guy had showed her that she¡¯d been holding it. It wasn¡¯t much, only a few inches, but when she thought about it she could see the difference. ¡°Could you show me?¡± she asked, holding the shield out to him. ¡°Sure,¡± he said, taking it, ¡°but you were here training with Kaira and Tor yesterday, right? I don¡¯t want to step on any toes if Tor is teaching you.¡± ¡°You know them?¡± ¡°Not personally, but Tor¡¯s folks are important here, and he makes himself likable when he¡¯s on rotation. And Kaira¡­ I¡¯ve been out with her. She¡¯s memorable.¡± ¡°Out? Like Delving?¡± ¡°Yeah. We were both between groups for a while. She¡¯s effective, I¡¯ll give her that.¡± The guy smiled. ¡°Not entirely sure how she¡¯s still alive, though. Never saw an offensive mage who loved to get stuck in like her. Fun during downtime, too, but she can get a bit much. Comes with the Craft, I guess.¡± ¡°Right. How about the shield?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah! So, first off, I prefer shield forward¡­¡± The guy quickly showed her a couple of different stances, and how to position the shield while moving and attacking so that he didn¡¯t open himself up. It was really more of a demonstration than a tutorial, though, since she was waiting for her new friends and he wanted to go back to practicing. ¡°That¡¯d about cover the basics,¡± he said after a few minutes. ¡°Then there¡¯s a lot of details depending on your choice of weapon and all, but Tor¡¯s a competent young man as far as I know. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll steer you right.¡± He looked over her shoulder. ¡°And speaking of, here he is, with his Party in tow. I¡¯ll leave you to it. Good meeting you, and hope that you get some use out of what I showed you.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure that I will,¡± Ana said, and extended her hand. ¡°I¡¯m Anastasia. Thanks.¡± ¡°Brosden,¡± the guy said, clasping her wrist. ¡°Happy to help.¡± Then he gave a wave to the approaching group. Tor waved back cheerfully, Omda awkwardly, and Kaira, at the back¡­ Kaira was blushing. Chapter 15 ¡°Always nice to see an eager student,¡± Tor said with an easy smile. He¡¯d picked up one of the giant gloves that Ana had seen some people practicing with on her first day. ¡°What have you been doing?¡± ¡°Tried on some shields,¡± Ana said, gesturing with the buckler in her hand. ¡°This one felt kind of right. Switched hands with the sword, too.¡± ¡°All right, whatever feels good to you. Om, Irry, are you doing some shooting while we get started here?¡± ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll just watch you two for a while,¡± Kaira said, glancing over at Brosden as he fired at the archery targets, and leaning her crossbow against one of the low fences that divided the yard into lanes. Omda looked at her, shrugged, and headed over to the archery range, taking his place next to Brosden with a nod. His bow was a massive thing, with arrows like small javelins. When he strung it and held it up, though, Ana saw that proportionally it was the same as Brosden¡¯s, going from just above the knee to a few feet above his head. Kaira just sat down on the fence next to her crossbow, forlorn and looking at Brosden for a moment before looking back at Ana with a sickly smile. ¡°All right,¡± she said. ¡°Give me a show, why dontcha?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Tor said. ¡°Let¡¯s start with basic stances. We¡¯ll stick with the buckler you picked and work on pure defense first, and depending on how that goes we may move on to basic offensive uses for the shield. Tomorrow we¡¯ll combine attacking and defending. Now¡­¡± Tor went through a lot of the same things that Brosden had, except he did it much more slowly, taking his time to make sure that she had each stance down and having her block a number of attacks before moving on to the next. ¡°Honestly, you¡¯re not likely to be blocking a lot of sword strikes out there. If you come across a possessed corpse with a weapon, let Kaira and the more experienced Delvers handle it, okay? It takes a pretty strong demon to possess a corpse, and going toe to toe with something that strong when you¡¯re low level and inexperienced is a good way to make two possessed corpses. Just hang back and harrass it with your crossbow.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably best, yeah,¡± Ana agreed. She did not plan on getting injured if she could help it, magical healing or no. ¡°So what I want to focus on is not so much properly deflecting a sword or an axe, but getting your shield in between you and anything coming at you and keeping it there. It¡¯s pretty hard to train defending against a possessed badger or something like that, but that¡¯s what the glove is for. Closest we can get. But if you¡¯re familiar with the weight and size of your shield you should be able to learn in the field, so to speak. And Irry¡­ Kaira, I mean, won¡¯t be taking you anywhere you¡¯re likely to face anything you can¡¯t handle with the others backing you up. Right, Kaira?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Kaira said, but she was looking over at the archers again and clearly not paying attention. She¡¯d been sitting there for two hours at that point, without doing any training of her own, just looking back and forth between Brosden and Ana. Ana looked at her, then turned to Tor. ¡°Can we take a break?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Tor said, glancing at Kaira and clearly taking the hint. Then, softly and stepping in close to Ana he said, ¡°Just don¡¯t push if she clams up, all right? She may not look like it, but she¡¯s sensitive.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ana said. She hadn¡¯t been intending to. She wasn¡¯t completely unsympathetic, although it was more of a learned thing than an instinct for her. More than anything else she was curious. Kaira hadn¡¯t seemed like the type to get lovesick, and Ana wanted to know about the history there. ¡°So, Brosden said that you two used to go out together,¡± Ana said, sitting down next to Kaira so that she blocked the latter¡¯s view of the archery range. ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± Kaira said, looking down at her own feet. ¡°Pick-up groups. We made some good money, got some good experience¡­ it was fun. Why? Did he talk about me?¡± ¡°Yeah. Sounds like he likes you.¡± ¡°But I can be a bit much, right?¡± Kaira said, smiling weakly. ¡°He might have said something like that, yeah. So you two¡­?¡± ¡°Hah, oh, yeah. Little guy, big presence. We had a great couple of weeks.¡± ¡°So what happened?¡± ¡°I fucked it up, like usual,¡± Kaira sighed. ¡°Probably not all my fault, but, I mean, I know that I¡¯m impulsive. And you haven¡¯t seen it, but I can maybe have, you know¡­ a temper. Comes with the territory, you know? The Craft. And he likes his space and can get pretty fucking defensive. So things didn¡¯t work out.¡± ¡°Anything you want to talk about?¡± ¡°Not really, no!¡± Kaira said, very nearly managing to appear her normal, cheerful self, and stood up. ¡°I¡¯ll go inside for a bit. Want some water?¡± ¡°Yeah, thanks,¡± Ana replied, and the words were barely out of her mouth before Kaira had walked away with a determination that showed that no follow-up questions were welcome. Ana turned to look at Tor, the question clear in her eyes, and when he saw her looking he shrugged. ¡°That went about as expected,¡± he said after closing the short distance. ¡°Even left her crossbow.¡± ¡°Should I not have asked her?¡± ¡°It was worth a shot,¡± Tor said. ¡°Om and me, we¡¯ve given up on talking to her about Brosden, but she needs to get over it, and him, sooner or later.¡± ¡°Anything you want to tell me? About what happened?¡± ¡°Eh¡­¡± Tor waffled a bit. ¡°Look, Ana, most of it is my friend¡¯s private business. You understand? If she wants you to know, she¡¯ll tell you. What I can say is that I think that I know the whole story. Nothing terrible happened and neither of them is completely blameless, but Kaira herself will admit that it was more her fault than his. He was as down as she was, a couple of months ago, but he¡¯s over it and she¡¯s not. And that¡¯s about all you need to know from me.¡± ¡°Fair. Thanks.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Tor said, then brightened. ¡°While we¡¯re just sitting, I¡¯ve got some good news!¡± ¡°Oh, yeah?¡± Ana said with interest. ¡°My parents had a look at your sword, and, hey, congratulations! Your short-term money problems are over!¡± A weight dropped from Ana¡¯s shoulders that she hadn¡¯t even known that she was carrying. From the moment she started earning money, she¡¯d always made sure to have a buffer, even if that meant eating noodles and turning down the heat in her apartment. Being down to her last few silver coins had been an unpleasant feeling. ¡°So,¡± she said carefully, ¡°how much are we looking at? If they gave you a firm estimate, that is.¡± ¡°Even better. They gave me a signed note with their estimate of how much work the Engraving would be, and what that would cost in time and materials. It¡¯s all technical language, but I¡¯ll translate for you.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Sure. Now, the sword itself would probably cost three gold, maybe three-six, brand new. But it¡¯s in great condition, so it should get you two gold at least. Now, the Engraving¡­ Kaira was right about most of it being decorative by the way, maybe to make the blade look like it¡¯s had more work put in than it has, but what is there is quality work. My dad, he estimates two full day¡¯s work for an Engraver of his skill, at the least. Add in materials and mom says you shouldn¡¯t let it go for less than ten gold, and could probably hold out for twelve.¡± Ana hadn¡¯t known what to expect. She had no frame of reference. But she¡¯d decided to trust Tor, and that by extension meant trusting those he trusted to some degree. And if he said ten gold¡­ Ten gold was 120 silver. That was four months of room and board. With that kind of money she could justify getting some more essentials, maybe spend some money befriending a few more of the locals to make her position more secure, and she could equip herself better to be in a safer position to earn even more money, to the point where she might achieve something like a stable economy. It was also, very importantly, enough that the entry fee for the baths was not only worth it but no longer a concern. She might even be able to justify some extras! Same for getting her laundry done. Not needing to choose between eating and being clean was a luxury she¡¯d never thought she¡¯d go without after getting off the street, and she¡¯d hated the experience. The thought of not being able to get properly clean made her skin crawl, which meant something very different to someone who could remember literally having fleas. The lightness Ana had felt blossomed into the soothing warmth of actual relief. When she focused on Tor again, he was grinning. She wondered what he¡¯d seen, but clearly he¡¯d liked it. Embarrassed, Ana cleared her throat. ¡°Give your parents my thanks. And once I¡¯m a bit more presentable I¡¯d be quite happy to give them my thanks in person. It¡¯s a¡­ a real comfort to have their expert opinion on this.¡± ¡°And a paper telling any buyer that they¡¯d be a thief to offer less than ten gold and that you know it, that doesn¡¯t hurt either, right?¡± Tor said. ¡°Not gonna lie, that feels pretty damned good, yeah. So how do I¡­ do I just go to the Exchange?¡± ¡°Depends on a lot of things, really, but yeah, the Exchange is probably your best option. You can put a note on the board, in there,¡± Tor gestured to the guardhouse, ¡°but that works best when you already have a reputation and you¡¯re selling something people already know, and then people who are interested have to find you, and you have to show them the item and so on. At the Exchange you don¡¯t need to deal with all that. You either sell it directly to the Exchange and they sell it on for a profit, or you let them sell it with a minimum price and they take a cut. Depends on how quickly you want your money, really.¡± ¡°What do you suggest?¡± ¡°In your situation? Just sell it tomorrow morning, together with your armor. Take the money and spend some of it on a shield and a new suit and anything else that¡¯s urgent, then think about what you need while you¡¯re out with Kaira. Most newbies learn a lot on their first outing, so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if you have a list when you come back.¡± Ana already knew what else she needed to buy: at least one more set of clothes to replace the ones she¡¯d taken from the dead man, and several pairs of socks. Maybe new boots, but the ones she had were surprisingly solid for what she¡¯d paid. Socks, though¡­ she¡¯d done enough hiking to know the value of a clean, dry pair after a full day of walking. It would cost her at least one gold coin for what she wanted, if she could get the same prices as before, but it would be worth it. And maybe she could get a little back for the men¡¯s clothes she was getting rid of¡­ ¡°Hey, Ana! Are you still with me?¡± Ana focused on Tor and realized that he¡¯d been talking to her. ¡°Sorry, what?¡± ¡°I said, we should get back to it. Daylight¡¯s burning, and all that.¡± ¡°Oh, right. Yeah.¡± Ana carefully flexed her blistered hands, the left worse than the right. This was going to suck. And she never got that water, either.
Congratulations! You have learned the Skill Shields! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser).Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Congratulations! You have learned the Skill Defense! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser).
Finally! Ana thought as she got a notification, and the messages popped up. She had broken blisters on her left hand, and her right was burning, but it had been worth it. ¡°Got ¡®em!¡± she told the assembled Party. Omda had finished for the day, as had Kaira, who¡¯d gotten some practice in once Brosden left. The last fifteen minutes they¡¯d been watching Tor and Ana. At the end Tor had Ana incorporate what were basically punches with the shield, and it felt surprisingly natural. Treating the shield as an oversized knuckle duster just made intuitive sense. And it was felt appropriate, somehow, that she''d gotten the Skill after smashing Tor in the chest. ¡°Them?¡± Tor asked in between catching his breath. ¡°I got Defense, too. Didn¡¯t know that was a thing.¡± ¡°You parry well,¡± Omda offered by way of explanation, waving to Ana¡¯s sword. ¡°Oh. Cool. And thanks. So¡­ how much is a Lesser Crystal worth?¡± ¡°Points or gold?¡± Kaira asked. ¡°It¡¯s 100 exp, but we¡¯d have to check the rate today for gold. Or silver, really, for a Lesser. Don¡¯t want to get your hopes up.¡± Omda listened patiently, then said, ¡°20 copper, normally.¡± ¡°How many do you have?¡± Tor asked. ¡°Four.¡± ¡°That would get you half way to level 3!¡± Kaira exclaimed excitedly. ¡°Huh?¡± That threw Ana for a loop. They could see her level. ¡°I¡¯m already level 3. I could get to level 4 with this.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, sure,¡± Kaira said, and Ana was pretty sure that she heard disappointment in her voice, and that she was trying to hide it. ¡°Of course. It¡¯s just that I thought you would want to reset, you know. Switch to a combat Class, now that you have a couple of fighting Skills. That''s what I did.¡± Right, Ana thought. They had no idea what her real Class was. As far as they knew she was some kind of nanny who¡¯d picked up some self-defense skills. Why wouldn¡¯t they expect her to want to change that, if she was going to be fighting a bunch for the next several months? ¡°You weren''t always an Evoker?¡± Ana asked, deflecting while she thought about how to handle this. She wasn¡¯t ready for just how hard Kaira started laughing. Tor was chuckling, too, and even Omda pulled a smile. ¡°Shit, no!¡± Kaira said after she calmed down a little. ¡°I¡¯m common as dirt! I had to scrape and save to be able to afford testing for affinities and lessons to pick up the Skills to qualify for a magic Class. I was a Ranch Hand until a few years ago! Level fucking 7 when I reset, and I haven¡¯t regretted it for a second!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why Irry''s so scrappy,¡± Tor said. ¡°Because she wasted 7 levels of Advancement Points in Strength and Endurance.¡± ¡°Fuck you,¡± Kaira told him with a big grin, then turned back to Ana. ¡°He¡¯s right, though. That¡¯s how I picked up Crossbows, too. Lots of predators on the plains, so you better be able to protect the herd. And yourself, too. I used to have a smaller crossbow, kind of like yours, and being strong enough to reload it one-handed was basically necessary. And it¡¯s not such a big deal! Sure, it sucked to have a low Connection for the first 7 levels, but once I hit 8 in Evoker I got 8 points, right? Getting a 3 point boost in Connection all at once was a fucking rush, believe me!¡± ¡°That¡¯s why you should reset early, if you¡¯re doing it,¡± Tor said. ¡°And, to be clear, I think you should.¡± ¡°I could just put my points in Strength or something anyway,¡± Ana pointed out. ¡°You could, but then you¡¯re missing out on strengthening your current Class¡¯ abilities. I¡¯m not familiar with Companion, but I¡¯d be surprised if it weren''t Charisma focused.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that chance,¡± Ana said. She wasn¡¯t ready to let them know about her real Class, and if they really wanted her to switch they¡¯d just have to be disappointed. Too bad, but she got so much per level that there was no way she wasn''t getting to 4 before going out with Kaira. ¡°Um¡­ How do I use the Crystals? I always just had them auto-consume, until I turned it off. No one ever told me how to use them manually.¡± ¡°Oh, shit. That¡¯s right!¡± Kaira blurted. ¡°Someone farmed you or something, didn¡¯t they?¡± That felt very bluntly insulting. ¡°Farmed.¡± Like cattle. Ana really didn¡¯t see any other way to take a comment like that, and she couldn''t keep her normally careful mask from cracking, a slight scowl twisting her face. Kaira seemed to agree. She caught herself, wincing at her own words even before Ana¡¯s reaction, but when she saw Ana¡¯s scowl she blanched, covering her mouth with her hand in horror. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Kaira said, her muffled voice tight. ¡°Oh, gods, I¡¯m so sorry! I wasn''t thinking, I¡­ my fucking mouth!¡± Ana looked at Tor and Omda. They both looked very uncomfortable with the whole situation, as if Kaira had accused her of something deeply shameful. She decided not to press it, despite her curiosity. ¡°You¡¯re forgiven,¡± Ana said bluntly, then softened her tone a little. ¡°Don''t worry about it. Really. But without involving what may or may not have happened in my past, what do I do? Come on,¡± she added more cheerfully. ¡°I want to level, here!¡± ¡°You just do it,¡± Kaira mumbled. ¡°Like everything else, really. Just focus on which Crystals you want to eat, and how many.¡± She looked up from her feet and met Ana¡¯s eyes. ¡°Really, we¡¯re good? Nobody should be ashamed if they¡¯ve been trapped in one of those places, but¡ª¡± ¡°We¡¯re good,¡± Ana confirmed, meaning it. Then she focused. She needed 250 experience. That meant three Lesser Crystals, so she willed the System to consume just that. And it did!
Growth Crystal (Lesser) (3) consumed. You have been awarded 300 experience points. Congratulations! You have reached Guardian Angel, level 4. 4 Advancement Points awarded.
Ana gasped as the effect of all her Attributes increasing at once hit her like a shot of liquid power right into her veins. She hadn¡¯t been prepared. She¡¯d known, but she hadn¡¯t known. It hadn¡¯t been like this that first night, when she¡¯d been riding an adrenaline high after killing three men. There was no gradual increase. Instead, every sensation was suddenly sharper. She felt stronger, steadier, sturdier, each effect minor on its own but together¡­ Ana felt the sudden urge to giggle, but managed to bargain it down to a grin. What a rush! And there might be more! She quickly brought up her numbers.
INDIVIDUAL SUMMARY
Name Anastasia Cole
Race Outsider, Summoned (Human aspect)
Age 26
Classes Guardian Angel (4) (Hidden, shown as Companion (4))
Experience 110/1250
Storage 1 Shard, 1 Growth Crystal (Lesser)
Attributes
Attribute Base Multiplier Effective
Strength 15 1 15
Endurance 17 1 17
Vitality 16 1 16
Agility 19 1 19
Dexterity 16 1 16
Perception 14 1.3 18
Acuity 14 1 14
Willpower 16 1 16
Charisma 19 1 19
Connection 14 1 14
Advancement Points: 4
Abilities
Hidden Class (Guardian Angel)
Guardian Angel
Devotion
Danger Sense (Special)
Skills
Skill Level
Acting 3
Charm 1
Command 2
Crossbows 1
Defense 1
Inspect 1
Intimidation 4
Long Blades 1
Sense Motive 2
Shields 1
Short Blades 3
Unarmed Combat 4
¡­ And the world stopped.
You have 4 Advancement Points available. Please spend Advancement Points now!
She¡¯d forgotten that part, but it wasn¡¯t a big deal. It gave her a moment to think. To her annoyance, though, thinking about anything except how to spend the points was hard! It was like her mind just slid around any subject not directly related to how she could best use them. After an indefinable length of time she gave up on trying to defy the system and just went with it. Fine, she thought. How should I do this? She could increase her Perception again, she could get a ten percent increase to each of four Attributes, or she could get twenty percent to one and ten to another. The effective increase only used the whole part of the bonus, so the third option felt best to her. It meant that she could get a 3 point boost to her Strength, which was¡­ considerable. And when she was fighting it would increase by even more! Too good to pass up, was her conclusion. She put 3 points into her Strength multiplier, and the last one into Vitality, on the basis that being less likely to die was a good thing. This gave her a new effective Strength of 18, and an effective Vitality of 17 which was, if she understood things correctly, pretty badass. When the world started moving again, Ana was, somewhere in a corner of her mind, disappointed that she hadn¡¯t received a new Ability. But that almost completely vanished in a second surge of power. Ana giggled. She was a twenty-six year-old woman who took herself pretty seriously, but this time she couldn¡¯t help herself. She felt so light, and in a very real, if relative, way, she was. In a few seconds she had gone from 14 to 18 Strength, and if everything was linear that made her¡­ somewhere between a third and a quarter stronger. Two sevenths. On an impulse she took a standing jump, straight up, and found her feet clearing Tor¡¯s head, and he was a fairly tall guy! She came back down, landing lightly, knees bent, and came back to her senses. A last, rogue giggle escaped her before she schooled her face, leaving only the faintest smile on her lips. The others, she saw, were looking at each other with knowing grins. ¡°So¡­¡± Kaira drew out the vowel knowingly, every trace of her previous mortification gone. ¡°Increased your Strength mult, did you?¡± ¡°I feel like I could wrestle an elk,¡± Ana said, still riding the high even if she wasn¡¯t showing it anymore. She finally understood, really understood, what Nic had loved about his games. The numbers went up, and it felt good. Chapter 16 The next morning was¡­ difficult. The others had insisted on celebrating Ana¡¯s new level, and while there had been a lot of drinks she had not been allowed to pay for any of them. It felt as though having a 16 in Willpower should have made her harder to convince, but she had been in a very good mood and might have gone somewhat overboard. On the bright side, that morning she¡¯d made the connection between having a high Vitality and recovering quickly from hangovers. It seemed obvious in hind-sight, really, and after a work-out and another massive breakfast of everything-porridge she was as good as new. As she was finishing up, Tor came by to take her to the Exchange. Kaira had offered to do it, but had quickly been convinced to leave it to Tor, due to her tendency to get heated when she felt that she wasn¡¯t getting a good deal. ¡°Oh, right, yeah,¡± was her response to that accusation. ¡°I really don¡¯t need to be banned from there again.¡± ¡°Banned?¡± Ana said curiously. ¡°Again?¡± ¡°They were trying to screw me!¡± Kaira said, her lower lip jutting out angrily. ¡°They were trying to turn a profit,¡± Tor said, firm but gentle. ¡°Yeah, well¡­¡± And so it was Tor who came and said hello to Omda as Ana finished her meal, and then brought her to the square. The Exchange occupied a large portion of the southern side of the square, a nicely constructed building of stone and wood rather than the sturdier, all-stone guardhouse and Administration. The reception of the building reminded Ana a little of Touanne¡¯s front room; for a store, there was very little on display. Despite the early hour there were already other customers ¡ª clients? ¡ª in there, two women leaning on the counter and talking in hushed voices with a middle-aged man who seemed completely engrossed in whatever conversation the three were having. That left a younger man to greet Ana and Tor. ¡°Torden Barlo!¡± the man said, greeting Tor like a long-lost friend. ¡°And you¡¯ve brought us the newcomer! Welcome, Miss! My name is Yildim. How can I help you this fine morning?¡± Ana glanced at Tor, who waved her forward with an encouraging smile. ¡°Anastasia. I have some things I¡¯d like to sell,¡± Ana said to Yildim, ¡°and I might want to buy something, depending on what you have.¡± ¡°Love to hear it!¡± Yildim said. ¡°Put it on the counter, then, and let¡¯s have a look.¡± Ana put down the suit of leather armor on the counter, and the sword, still in its scabbard. Yildim snorted as he looked over the suit. ¡°Pretty sure I sold this once already,¡± he said in a low tone, giving Ana an appraising look. Ana looked back flatly. ¡°But I¡¯ve heard that you talked to the captain, and you¡¯re here instead of in the cells, so I won¡¯t ask. I can give you one gold and eight for it.¡± ¡°Two gold,¡± Ana countered, hoping that she wasn¡¯t underestimating how much Yildim was trying to ¡°screw her,¡± as Kaira had so eloquently put it. ¡°Or I can trade it in full or in part for something that fits me better. I need to keep it if I can¡¯t replace it, anyway.¡± Yildim hemmed and hawed, sucking his teeth as he made a show of looking over the armor, then nodded. ¡°I can give you two gold in value on a trade,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m firm on one and eight in coin, though.¡± ¡°Deal,¡± Ana said. They shook on it quickly, and Ana took the armor down, resting it against her side of the counter. ¡°Then there¡¯s this.¡± She lifted the scabbard and pulled the blade one third out, handing it to Yildim who again started with his theatrics. ¡°Well, it¡¯s a decent enough blade,¡± he said. ¡°But the engraving¡­ I can give you five gold, and that¡¯s being generous. This is mostly ornamental, see?¡± he said, tracing his finger to point out what Ana already knew. ¡°And the quality of what there is¡ª¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± Ana said, unfolding the note that Tor had brought with the sword and sliding it across the counter. ¡°According to the Barlos, who I understand are the resident experts on these things.¡± Yildim looked at the note as though it might bite him, then put the sword down and picked up the paper instead, reading it carefully. ¡°Tor,¡± he said mournfully, turning his eyes on the other man. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯d do this to me.¡± ¡°The note comes with the blade,¡± Tor said cheerfully. ¡°And you should know better, Yil. Really?¡± ¡°A man¡¯s got to make a living,¡± Yildim said with a shrug, then turned back to Ana. ¡°So¡ª¡± ¡°Twelve gold,¡± Ana said firmly. ¡°I know what it¡¯s worth.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious. We¡¯ve got to make a profit here, you know? Ten.¡± ¡°Eleven and eight. Wait for the right person to come along and you¡¯ll make plenty of profit, you know that as well as I do.¡± ¡°That could take weeks, and storage is not infinite. Ten and six.¡± ¡°Eleven gold,¡± Ana said, locking eyes with Yildim and reaching out to put her hand on the scabbard, though not quite grabbing it. ¡°And two silver for trying to screw me.¡± ¡°I am but a man,¡± Yildim muttered. Then he stretched out his hand. ¡°Deal. Eleven gold and two silver for the Engraved sword.¡± Ana was barely surprised when a notification popped up.
Skills partially calibrated, based on use.
A quick check showed that she now had the skill Negotiation at level 2. It was a little bittersweet, though, now that she knew how many hundreds of experience points she was missing out on by not gaining the Skills the ¡°normal¡± way. Sure, haggling saved her more than a few bucks ¡ª and quid, and euros, lira, rupiah¡­ ¡ª over the years, and it had probably made her a couple of silver just now, but if she hadn¡¯t had it in the background she would have been that much closer to level 5 now. ¡°You were interested in buying, too, weren¡¯t you?¡± Yildim asked after coins had changed hands and the sword was stashed away somewhere. ¡°I am,¡± Ana said, feeling confident now. ¡°I need armor that fits me better than what I have, and a¡­¡± She looked at Tor, who said, ¡°A buckler. A sturdy one.¡± ¡°Armor that fits you better¡­¡± Yildim mused, looking Ana over perhaps just a little longer than strictly necessary. ¡°Hardened leather?¡± ¡°Or leather scale,¡± Tor suggested. ¡°More flexible,¡± he explained in an aside to Ana. ¡°Right¡­ Right¡­ Miss Anastasia, if I may be so rude¡­¡± He waved for Ana to lean in, and she did, hearing him whisper, ¡°Is your Strength above 12?¡± She considered the question. They really took secrecy seriously here when it came to that stuff. But she assumed that it was to get her appropriate gear, and Yildim was being very considerate about it. ¡°Little higher, yeah,¡± she whispered back, and Yildim nodded.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°I might have just what you need,¡± he said, vanishing into the back again. After Yildim had been gone for about a minute, Tor leaned in close to Ana¡¯s ear. ¡°Sorry, Ana, but I can¡¯t resist asking. I know you boosted your Strength yesterday, but¡­ did you increase your Charisma, too?¡± ¡°It might be a point higher than yesterday,¡± Ana confirmed. ¡°I thought so,¡± Tor murmured. ¡°Worked out well, too. Yildim¡¯s good at what he does, but he¡¯s always been a sucker for a girl who knows what she wants. And I¡¯m assuming you¡¯ve got some decent socials to go with it, so boosting those before doing this was a good plan.¡± Ana hadn¡¯t thought of that at all. She¡¯d never even considered increasing her Charisma deliberately, since she had far more important things to improve, and between the initial value she¡¯d been assigned and the increases from her level she was quite satisfied as it was. Still, it was supposed to increase her force of personality, and her Charisma was higher than her Strength. She might as well start putting it to deliberate use. ¡°Mister Barlo, are you saying that I¡¯m charming?¡± she said, giving Tor a doe-eyed smile and putting all the innocent charm that she could into it. Tor blushed, then smiled back when he saw what she was doing. ¡°Social Classes,¡± he said with mock ruefulness. ¡°Us poor combat types are defenseless against you.¡± ¡°So does Charisma directly improve Negotiation?¡± Ana asked. ¡°And Willpower and Acuity and Perception¡­ even Connection, I think. Lots of things go into a good haggle right? But it could be the other way around, too. It¡¯s not exactly clear, as far as I know. What we do know is that Skills and Attributes work together in ways beyond each being important. A single point increase in an Attribute has more impact with a higher Skill, right? That¡¯s firmly established. So there must be some connection.¡± So¡­ some kind of multiplicative effect, maybe? Ana wondered. She was sure that her Acuity was helping her see patterns. It was now 40% higher than it had been back in London, and that had to count for something. Still, Math was a skill, if not a Skill, and it just wasn¡¯t something she¡¯d ever focused on. If she could get some kind of academic Skill, would she just automatically get better at it as she gained levels? Further musing was interrupted as Yildim came out holding two items. One was a buckler the size of a serving tray, covered in what looked like gray leather and with a bulging brass boss in the center. The other¡­ ¡°I noticed this in the back a few days ago,¡± Yildim said. ¡°I guess it hasn¡¯t sold for a while, because it was way back there. Looks like it should fit you well, though!¡± Ana basically shut her face down. There was no expression she could make at that moment that wouldn''t make it clear to Yildim just how much she loved the suit of cream leather armor he was holding. She couldn''t say why. She knew nothing about what made any piece of armor good beyond ¡°keeps you alive.¡± But the suit called to her, and she wanted it. It wasn''t scale, like Tor had suggested, but Ana could see how easily she would be able to move in it. In design it was quite similar to what she¡¯d had, with a few extra parts; beside the solid front and back pieces and the skirt, this suit had a rising neck guard and some short pieces covering the shoulders and upper arms. ¡°What do you think?¡± she asked Tor, keeping her voice carefully neutral. ¡°The shield looks good, depending on the price. I still think you should get something more flexible for the suit, but it¡¯s worth trying it on. Looks like it won¡¯t be too big, at least.¡± ¡°Is that all right?¡± Ana asked Yildim, who handed the suit over with a smile. ¡°Do you need any help?¡± he asked hopefully. ¡°I notice that you¡¯re not a combat Class.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure that Tor can help with the straps,¡± Ana said drily. The suit had barely settled on her shoulders when Ana made her mind up. She had to have it. Price didn¡¯t matter; she could make more money. It sat on her like a second skin, comfortably warm and surprisingly flexible, and when Tor tightened the straps¡­ there was a notification. Ana froze. ¡°Is there something wrong?¡± Yildim asked curiously, leaning forward over the counter. ¡°Not sure,¡± Ana said, and brought up the notification.
I¡¯m sorry, Anastasia. You shouldn¡¯t be here. I¡®ll try to make it up to you.
Ana''s mind raced. What the everliving fuck was going on? That was¡­ firstly, it was a lot more personal than anything Ana had seen from the System. It was directed to her by name. And it had come when she put the armor on. Who could make that happen? Who could make that happen that cared about her? Was this a trap? Should she get as far away from this armor as she could? ¡°Is it uncomfortable?¡± Yildim asked. ¡°I think there¡¯s¡ª¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s fine!¡± Ana said hastily. ¡°I¡¯ll take it!¡± ¡°Oh, great! Eight gold for the shield and the armor.¡± That got at least some of Ana¡¯s attention. ¡°Are you mad?¡± she asked. ¡°You just said that you can¡¯t get rid of it. I¡¯m basically freeing up space for you! Five gold for both.¡± Behind her Tor subtly choked. Too low? ¡°Oh, I know that¡¯s not a serious offer,¡± Yildim said. ¡°It drips quality. Just look at the dye! Eight was generous. Come on, what¡¯s your real counter?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t blame a girl for trying, right?¡± Ana said, trying to get her head back in the game. The notification with her name on it still hung there in front of her, but despite her misgivings she wanted it. ¡°Four gold, six silver, plus my old armor.¡± ¡°Six plus the armor.¡± Ana rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s the same as your first offer. Four and ten.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t blame me for trying?¡± Yildim said with a grin, as he looked her up and down. ¡°Five and ten.¡± Maybe he was trying to be subtle about the way he ogled her. Maybe not. To Ana it was impossible to miss. And if he was going to be a creep, she was happy to abuse that. She sucked in her bottom lip, worrying it a bit, then took a big, quiet breath and held it. She spun slowly where she stood, then swung her arms a little, moving around as if to get a better feel for the armor but really just making sure that he was looking at her move. Then she faced him and gave him her biggest, saddest eyes. ¡°Listen,¡± she said, pleading for him to understand. ¡°I really want this. But the money you gave me for the sword is all I have, and I don''t really have much of anything else. I¡¯m trying to build a life here, from nothing. Every silver is a day of room and board. I can give you five and two, plus the armor. Can you do that? Can you help me?¡± Yildim looked back at her. He didn''t look quite awestruck or smitten, but he did look sympathetic. He took a deep breath, sighed, and folded. ¡°You¡¯ve got a deal, Miss Anastasia,¡± he said, offering his hand. Ana took it. ¡°Thank you, Yildim,¡± she said, and smiled. Ana wore her new purchase out of the store. The notification ¡ª the message ¡ª still bothered her, but she felt confident in her decision. Whoever sent that message hadn¡¯t asked anything of her. All it did was apologize. Of course, magic was very much a thing and so were enchanted items, so perhaps the tone of the message was intended to lull her into a false sense of security so that she¡¯d wear the armor? But if she were to believe that she might as well go around naked. At least this one item had a notice on it to make her suspicious. Tor started laughing softly as soon as he¡¯d closed the door behind them. ¡°Warn a man the next time you intend to turn on the charm, would you?¡± he said. ¡°Maybe, if you behave,¡± Ana replied noncommittally. Neither her Skills nor her Charisma were that high, and she was confident enough to think that things would have gone the same back home. ¡°Do you think it got me anywhere, or did I just embarrass myself for no reason?¡± ¡°Honestly? Eight gold was a generous offer, from what I can see of the armor. There was probably a little wiggle room, but I¡¯d say you saved yourself five or six silver with that little act of yours. Do you always use your appeal to bargain, or was this for Yildim¡¯s benefit?¡± ¡°I didn''t like the way he looked at me. There¡¯s a time and a place for that shit, and an hour after sunrise at the store is not it. If I want to be appreciated, you¡¯ll know.¡± The rest of the day was spent getting Ana properly acquainted with the equipment she¡¯d be using, which meant drills with her real sword and shield while wearing her armor. They took a break for lunch, where Ana went to visit Touanne and get the Healers notes and descriptions of reagents she wanted Ana to look out for. Ana also made sure to visit the tailor for another full set of spare clothes with extra socks and underwear. Peace of mind was well worth the one gold and four silver that she spent on it. The afternoon was filled with more drills, a visit to the baths with Kaira, and dinner with the Party, a cheerful sendoff with far too much ale. And then, somehow, it was the next morning, and Ana stood in the square wearing her equipment, with the pack of gear she¡¯d borrowed from the guild in front of her. ¡°Good morning, ladies!¡± Kaira said to the seven women assembled before her. ¡°Is everyone excited? I know that I sure as hell am! Let¡¯s do some introductions for the newbies and get this Party started!¡± Chapter 17 Kaira clapped her hands. ¡°So, you all know me, and you five know each other, but we¡¯ve got two new people with us this time. You may know one of them, but I know that most of you don¡¯t know the other. So! Deni, Ana, front and center, please!¡± It was the morning of Ana¡¯s first expedition, Delve, organized adventure, or whatever else anyone might want to call it. It was right after breakfast, the sun was barely up, and Kaira, Ana, and six other women had gathered with all their equipment, borrowed or owned, beside the Waystone. Petra was there, and Ana thought that she recognized some faces from the baths, but that was it. As Ana prepared to introduce herself, the girl called Deni beat her to it. Deni looked young ¡ª and with her label being [Human Clerk (6)] she probably wasn¡¯t older than 16 or 17 ¡ª and very, very excited. ¡°Hi, all!¡± Deni gushed. ¡°I¡¯m Denikla Parser, but call me Deni, everybody does! Um, you may recognize me from my parents¡¯ shop, they¡¯re the bookbinders behind the baths, but if you don¡¯t that¡¯s all right. So, um, I¡¯m a Clerk right now but Miss Kaira helped me find my affinity and learn Channelling and Shaping and, oh gods, don¡¯t tell my parents but once I¡¯ve got enough Crystals to hit 5 in one go I¡¯m going to reset!¡± Good Lord, Ana thought. Kaira helped her¡­ and if Crafts can make you behave more in line with them, and if she¡¯s this energetic now¡­ Ana suspected that once Deni really got going with her Craft, she¡¯d be¡­ interesting to be around. Kaira was beaming. ¡°Thank you, Deni! And what do you do in a Party?¡± ¡°Oh, right! Offensive mage!¡± ¡°Great! And next, Ana!¡± Right. It was time to be likable. ¡°Hello,¡± Ana said and waved. She wanted to look a little shy and uncertain, but not enough that Kaira would think it was weird. ¡°My name¡¯s Anastasia Cole. Ana. I know that there¡¯s been some talk going around and I¡¯m sure that some of you know this already, but, well, I¡¯m the new girl. The accidental.¡± There were sympathetic murmurs and kind looks from most of the group, except one woman in the back who looked very unimpressed. ¡°As you can see my Class is Companion¡ª¡± There were some curious looks at that. ¡°¡ªBut, no, not that kind. More like a minder. I came here with a boy, but¡­¡± she hesitated just long enough. She made her voice soft and sad and her eyes nice and teary, and finished, ¡°...he died. When we came through. We were attacked.¡± The sympathetic looks and murmurs were much more direct this time. ¡°But there''s nothing I can do about that,¡± Ana continued briskly, blinking the tears away. ¡°I was lucky enough to meet Kaira and her group, and this Delving business sounds very exciting. And while I¡¯m sure some of you are worried about my low level¡ª¡± The skeptical woman in the back nodded minutely. ¡°¡ªI can take care of myself. I know how to fight¡ª¡± ¡°Knife girl!¡± someone said cheerfully, a tall-ish, bright-eyed woman with a head full of tight brown braids. Ana smiled and continued, ¡°¡ªand I¡¯m no stranger to the woods, either. I¡¯ve got a crossbow but I¡¯ll be fighting close up most of the time. I won¡¯t hold you back.¡± ¡°Thank you, Ana!¡± Kaira said, clapping her on the shoulder and addressing the other women. ¡°Go on, ladies. Your turn!¡± Petra spoke up first. ¡°You both know who I am,¡± she said with a friendly wave. ¡°Petra. I¡¯m a frontliner in these groups, and I usually run the camp.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re damn lucky for it,¡± the young woman to her left said. She was a large woman, tall and curvy, and a [Human Clerk (12)]. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Dilmik! I work at Administration, usually, but I like to skive off and run around shooting arrows in the forest whenever I get the chance.¡± She smiled hugely as the woman next to her rolled her eyes. This woman was short and slight, but otherwise bore a resemblance to Dilmik. A year younger, perhaps. Despite her build there was a sense of steadiness to her. To Ana¡¯s surprise she was labeled [Human Evoker (10)]. An Evoker who wasn¡¯t a fulltime Delver, then? ¡°Don¡¯t mind Dil,¡± she said. ¡°This woman has never missed a day of work in her life. She clears any time off weeks in advance.¡± Dilmik reached out with a smile and ruffled her hair, which she accepted stoically. ¡°I¡¯m Sendra,¡± the Evoker said. ¡°We¡¯re sisters, if you couldn¡¯t tell by how very similar we are. I¡¯m a Water Evoker, and I¡¯m one of the small group of people who keeps the baths running. Satisfying work, but not very exciting, so I¡¯ll be the support mage on this Delve.¡± ¡°Rayni,¡± said the unimpressed woman at the back once Sendra fell silent. She was a dark, slightly built [Human Huntress (11)] with hawkish features. ¡°I¡¯ll be scouting, and providing ranged support in fights.¡± Her eyes never left Ana. ¡°And I¡¯m Mestendi,¡± said the woman with the braids. Her label marked her as an [Elfin Jeweller (14)], and when Ana looked closely she could see the pointed ears, decorated by numerous studs and small rings and partially hidden by the braids. She was also, Ana noted, the only woman there wearing obvious make-up, amber eyes thickly but neatly lined with some black substance that flared into exaggerated wings. It was, Ana thought, an interesting decision considering that they¡¯d be sweating a lot, but she wasn''t going to criticize the other woman¡¯s fashion choices if that was what she wanted to do. She seemed nice enough, having had a friendly grin on her face ever since she¡¯d recognized Ana. ¡°You can call me Miss, Ten, Dee, or whatever else you want. I¡¯ll be joining Petra and Anastasia at the front.¡± Kaira clapped her hands. ¡°And that¡¯s everyone! Now, ground rules. This is mostly for Ana and Deni and I could have just gone through it with them because the rest of you have heard it all before, but you all gotta listen up anyway! Rule one¡­¡± The official rules were¡­ well, military discipline it was not. It basically came down to: be nice, help each other, absolutely no drinking as long as they were out. Kaira was going to be staying in the background, but if she got involved she was an absolute dictator. Obey her on pain of not being welcome back, or possibly death by demon depending on how serious the situation was. To this Kaira added that Petra ran the camp, and if she asked you to do something you should just do it, and everyone would have a much more comfortable experience. After that they went through what they were actually doing. If Ana had her way this should have taken a couple of hours, but Kaira had treated it so casually when she¡¯d brought it up that Ana hadn¡¯t wanted to push. And at no point had she gotten a sense of danger or real worry from anyone. Whatever they were doing it was supposed to be fun and exciting, but ultimately safe. And hell, if things went entirely sideways, Ana had her gun with her last few precious bullets in a belt pouch. She didn¡¯t get much more in the way of detail now, either. ¡°We¡¯re heading out the dawnward gate,¡± Kaira announced, ¡°And then heading dawnward and south for, oh¡­ ten or twelve hours. That¡¯s actual walking, by the way. There¡¯s been some really great low-mana locuses out that way, lately. No one¡¯s reported clearing them for a week at least, so there should be a solid Delve or two waiting for us, besides whatever is roaming the forest. Nothing you all can¡¯t handle, good chance of a nice haul, and good fun! Now, Petra, do you want to do the honors?¡± ¡°Love to,¡± Petra said. ¡°Deni, Anastasia, have you ever been in a Party before?¡± From the way Petra put weight on the word, Ana assumed that her answer was ¡°No,¡± and said so. Deni had, though. ¡°That¡¯s fine, Ana. There¡¯s nothing to it. When you get asked if you want to join my Party, you just accept, all right? That way we¡¯ll share rewards, and some of Sendra and Rayni¡¯s Abilities will affect you. Now, when I ask if you¡¯re ready, keep an eye on your notifications, because these things go away after a moment. Anything will do, really. Thinking ¡®Yes¡¯ or ¡®Okay,¡¯ feeling like you want it¡­ I just mentally put my thumb on it and it understands. Are you ready?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Ana said, and a moment later there was a notification.
You have been invited into the Party of Petra, Human Custodian (18). You are already in a Party. Do you wish to leave your Party and join the Party of Petra, Human Custodian (18)?
Yes, Ana thought. Her Devotion Ability did say that she was always in a Party with, well, herself, but she¡¯d never really thought about that. When she accepted two things happened. The world came just a little more into focus, and a new notification popped up.
You have left your Party.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. You have joined the party of Petra, Human Custodian (18). Party members: Petra, Human Custodian (18), Leader Mestendi, Elfin Jeweller (14) Dilmik Ters, Human Clerk (12) Rayni, Human Huntress (11) Sendra Ters, Human Evoker (10) Denikla Parser, Human Clerk (6) Anastasia Cole, Human Companion (4) Party effects: Pack Vigilance (Rayni): All other Party members get a bonus of 2 to their base Perception. Bonus increases with Class level. This cannot raise their effective Perception above yours. Mana Confluence (Sendra Ters): All Party members gain a bonus to their Shaping efficiency and recovery from mana depletion, based on the average Connection of the Party.
Bonuses? Ana liked the sound of that. A quick check showed her that her Perception was now 20, which explained why everything was just a little sharper now. The second bonus wasn¡¯t anything she¡¯d benefit from directly, but at least she should be raising that average, going by what Touanne had told her. It also had some implications for optimal Party compositions, which was some nerdy crap that Nic had been very excited about, but to which Ana had never expected to actually need to pay attention. ¡°There we are!¡± Petra said. ¡°All right, Kaira, I think that we¡¯re ready to go.¡± And then they did. Ana had noticed as soon as she arrived that she was the only one wearing her armor, which immediately set her apart as inexperienced, but her new suit was so comfortable that she decided to try marching in it. In the worst case, she¡¯d learn an important lesson and she could take it off when they stopped to rest. They left by the dawnward ¡ª or eastern ¡ª gate, and soon entered the forest. Ana hadn¡¯t known what to expect. What she found immediately was that the mood was raucously cheerful. By the way the other women were talking and laughing ¡ª or at least Kaira, Dilmik and Mestendi, occasionally joined by Petra and Denikla, the latter of which chattered nervously whenever she was called upon ¡ª Ana might have thought that they were heading for a long weekend on Ibiza. Or a bachelorette party, if she went by the topics that caused the most laughter. Rayni the Huntress was nowhere to be seen, but considering her Class and her role in the Party, she was probably around. Just¡­ not very close to the others. For much of the march out Ana and Sendra the Evoker ended up walking together, a few hundred feet behind the others, simply because they both valued a little peace and quiet. Ana had tried to stay in the main conversation for a while but, while she wasn¡¯t a prude by any measure, the general atmosphere of cutting loose and the combined effect of Kaira and Dilmik teaming up to embarrass Deni finally made her fall back. Mestendi tried a few times to drag Ana back into the frequently obscene conversation, but she smiled and begged off, which the elfin woman accepted with good cheer. Talking about sex just didn¡¯t interest her. Never had. Ana walked alone for a while until she noticed Sendra coming up on her. A nod and a smile, and then they were walking together in comfortable silence, broken only by the regular bursts of laughter in the distance. At least until Ana noticed Sendra watching her placidly as they walked. She didn¡¯t call her out on it, just turned her head to look back and raised her eyebrows in a silent question. ¡°This is your first Delve,¡± Sendra said. It wasn¡¯t a question. ¡°It is,¡± Ana confirmed. ¡°I haven¡¯t been here long.¡± ¡°And adventuring wasn¡¯t an option where you came from,¡± Sendra said. ¡°So why didn¡¯t you ask any questions before we got started? I could see that you had them.¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t seem like it would get me the answers I wanted, I guess,¡± Ana said. ¡°Kaira¡¯s been avoiding giving me anything concrete. I don¡¯t know why. I feel like I can trust her, though, so¡­ I¡¯m just going with it, I guess.¡± Sendra smiled. ¡°I do that a lot, myself. And Kaira, she¡¯s like that. She likes it when newbies get to experience things for the first time. The surprise, you know? The wonder, the excitement¡­ I guess that¡¯s why she didn¡¯t tell you much. She would have, if you¡¯d pressed her.¡± Ana nodded. She¡¯d figured that much. ¡°What about you, Sendra?¡± she asked. ¡°You¡¯ve done a few of these, right?¡± ¡°I have.¡± ¡°Mind answering some questions?¡± ¡°Not at all. What do you want to know?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not worried about ruining Kaira¡¯s fun?¡± Sendra looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, ¡°Kaira is a very effective Evoker, and she¡¯s good at leading these groups. I enjoy her company, for the most part. But she doesn¡¯t always think things through. When something interests or amuses her, she can be blind to practical concerns. And I think the two men in her group, Omda and¡­ Barlo, I think. The Engravers¡¯ son. They indulge her. So, no. If you need to know something to feel comfortable, then ruining her fun is not something I¡¯m worried about.¡± ¡°In that case, what are we actually doing? People keep throwing words at me and not explaining them. What does one of these expeditions actually look like?¡± Sendra smiled. ¡°They really have kept you in the dark, haven¡¯t they? But you look well equipped, so I don¡¯t imagine that you¡¯re completely unprepared.¡± ¡°They told me about demons. How they get into animals and corpses and want to¡­ eat our mana, I think?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sendra said. ¡°Demons breach the splinter and take a host. They attack living things, especially sapients, since we concentrate much more mana than other creatures. And when we destroy the demons we get Growth Crystals and mana-rich parts. That makes being strong enough to destroy them safely a lucrative career, as you can see from all the professional Delvers in our splinter, or a fun and profitable pastime, for the rest of us.¡± ¡°What are they like to fight?¡± ¡°That depends very much on what you¡¯re fighting. They swell and twist as the demon settles in and gathers mana, so a possessed fox, for example, will be far larger and more grotesque than you¡¯re used to. Much more resilient, too. They don¡¯t seem to feel pain. But it will also be dumber. More aggressive and single-minded. That makes them easier to destroy than you might think, as long as you can avoid being hurt too badly yourself.¡± ¡°And the¡­ corpses?¡± Ana had been tempted to say ¡°zombies¡± but wasn¡¯t sure if it would translate. ¡°From sapients? You¡¯re unlikely to ever see one. We rarely lose anyone on this splinter, and when we do it¡¯s in areas far more dangerous than anywhere Kaira would take a casual group. Besides, everyone knows to burn the bodies if they can¡¯t take them with them, so it only happens when someone¡¯s alone, or a whole Party gets wiped out. But if you were to see one, again, it depends. A larger body will make a stronger revenant than a smaller one. So will a fresher one, compared to an old, decayed one. And, of course, the corpse of a high level person will make a far more powerful revenant than that of someone with a lower level. What makes them truly dangerous is their Skills and Abilities. They retain some of them, you see.¡± ¡°The revenants?¡± Ana said, tasting the word. She wondered what that meant for the bodies she¡¯d left behind. Shit. What about Nic? ¡°Yes,¡± Sendra continued. ¡°We don¡¯t know how it works, not really. Perhaps the residual mana in a body retains some kind of imprint, or perhaps some of the soul lingers and the demon can co-opt that. Revenants made from fresher corpses certainly retain more. And if a demon is so powerful it can possess a person who is still alive, of course, it can use all of that person¡¯s Skills and Abilities, besides whatever the demon itself brings. Extremely nasty, I hear, but hopefully this splinter will never see one.¡± ¡°Yeah, Omda said that if I ever see one, I should just run.¡± ¡°Good advice,¡± Sendra said, nodding. ¡°It probably won¡¯t help, but we must always try, right?¡± ¡°Right.¡± Ana had not actually tried her physical capabilities all out yet, so she wasn¡¯t so pessimistic. She¡¯d had a decent sprint and 5K time before. With her Strength something like 60% higher than it had been, and her Endurance increased by more than a quarter, she should be capable of some ridiculous feats of speed. She hadn¡¯t really thought about any of that, only literally lifting and hitting things. Well, and jumping. It just wasn¡¯t intuitive. But all of a sudden Ana was very excited about seeing just what this Class of hers would let her do. She probably shouldn¡¯t go all out around these women, though. Even Kaira. Logically, she was far beyond what a ¡°civilian¡± of her level should be able to do, no matter how genetically blessed she might have been ¡ª if genetics was even a thing in magic-land ¡ª and she just wasn¡¯t ready for that conversation. It was bad enough that Drisa at Administration knew, since Ana had to take it on faith that she wouldn¡¯t spread it. While Ana thought, Sendra was moving on. ¡°Now, Delves are the main thing we¡¯re going for,¡± she said. ¡°If we don¡¯t find any, where we¡¯re going, I¡¯d expect Kaira to move on until we do.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± Ana said, snapping back. ¡°I¡¯ve heard people call going out at all ¡®Delving,¡¯ though?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how important the Delves are,¡± Sendra said. ¡°Every time I¡¯ve gone out, the Delves have been where most of our Crystals come from, by a large margin.¡± ¡°So what are they?¡± Sendra paused, looking thoughtful. ¡°Think of a Delve as a space within a space. A hole in the splinter, that we can enter without going anywhere. When you get a locus, a gathering of mana, that is, that mana has to go somewhere. And it kind of¡­ drains into the Delves, I guess, where it crystallizes into, well, Growth Crystals. And a Delve draws lots of demons, because of the mana concentration. So we go in, clear out as many demons as we can for their Crystals and whatever we can harvest from them, and then we loot the Crystals at the bottom, or the center, or wherever the Crystal chamber has ended up ¡ª it¡¯s not exactly obvious. You¡¯ll see. Anyway, that makes the Delve collapse. Then we either look for another Delve, or we go home and enjoy our share of the loot. Exciting and lucrative,¡± she finished with a satisfied nod. ¡°And what if you¡¯re in there when it collapses?¡± Ana asked. She didn¡¯t like the sound of that at all. ¡°Oh, we will be. It takes a little while, but it¡¯s usually much faster than running out. It just drops you somewhere nearby. Don¡¯t worry about it!¡± That was about when Ana noticed that they hadn¡¯t heard from the women in front for a while. Listening closely she could hear lowered voices, and as she and Sendra got closer they saw that Rayni had joined the others. Rayni noticed them pretty much the moment they came into sight, and nudged Kaira, who looked up, a frighteningly toothy grin splitting her face. ¡°Time for you two to show what you¡¯ve got,¡± Kaira said, taking Ana and Deni aside. ¡°Rayni found a wandering demon, and you two are dealing with it!¡± Chapter 18 ¡°You¡¯re going to do just fine! Just stay behind Ana and focus on your channeling, like I¡¯ve showed you, yeah?¡± A few feet away from everyone else Kaira was talking softly to Deni, the youngest, and completely untested, member of the group. Deni¡¯s excitement had turned into a severe case of performance anxiety the moment the time came for actual fighting, and all the women except Ana and Rayni were doing their best to boost her self-confidence. Ana would have been with them, for the sake of appearances and team cohesion if nothing else, but she was at the front sneaking along behind Rayni. The scout was leading them to where she¡¯d last seen the demon, stopping them all to look, listen, and even sniff the air sometimes before continuing, sometimes changing their direction slightly. Ana and Deni would, in practice, be acting as a two-woman team. Ana would be ¡°frontlining¡±, meaning that she would be staying between Deni and the enemy, taking the brunt of the demon¡¯s attacks and trying to hold its attention. Deni, meanwhile, would be ¡°backlining¡±, doing as much damage as possible at range. She didn¡¯t have any of her actual Craft Skills yet, but she knew a spell or three, apparently, and trying to get her a Skill was part of the purpose of this whole exercise. Ana wasn¡¯t sure how it all worked, but Kaira seemed confident that Deni had what it would take, and that was good enough for Ana. The other purpose was, of course, to see how effective the newbies were. And possibly that the more experienced women thought it was funny to throw them at a demon to see what happened. Ana might have been annoyed, but the fact that no one seemed worried, and that Deni was well liked among the others, was reassuring. ¡°There!¡± Rayni stopped them with a whispered word and a hand signal. She crowded in close to Ana, nearly cheek to cheek, and pointed. ¡°See? The gray and purple blotch there. It¡¯s moving. Stands about two and a half feet tall. That¡¯s your prey.¡± Ana looked carefully. At first she didn¡¯t see anything, but then it moved, just like Rayni had said, and Ana saw it. No details, just a smear of color in the distance among the trees. It must be 200 feet away, Ana thought, but when she knew where to look it was impossible to miss. ¡°What the hell am I looking at?¡± she whispered. Even without detail, it was just wrong. Offensive to her eyes in a way that nothing had ever been. ¡°Used to be a badger, until some spirit or other got into it and made it into¡­ that.¡± Rayni waved her hand vaguely at the thing. ¡°Badgers can be nasty, and this is gonna be worse. But it¡¯s not too big, and not too high threat. The two of you¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Ana whispered back and nodded, then turned her head. ¡°Deni? Ready to go?¡± Deni closed her eyes and swallowed. ¡°Y-yeah,¡± she stuttered. She took one hesitant step forward, the others pushing her gently along, then another, and another, becoming steadier as she went. ¡°We¡¯re all right behind you if anything goes wrong,¡± Kaira said softly. ¡°But it won¡¯t, because you¡¯re both stone cold bitches with death in your eyes, right? You¡¯ve got this! Deni, once Ana has its attention, stop suppressing your aura and focus on shaping. Now go! Get that little shit!¡± Ana checked her straps, grabbed her buckler tightly, and drew her sword. She¡¯d drilled with this exact same equipment most of the previous day, but now, wearing it, standing there, it felt¡­ odd. Odd, but not bad. Exciting, mostly. It was like stepping up on the mat against an opponent she¡¯d never faced before, not knowing if she was about to kick ass or get her ass kicked. ¡°Follow me,¡± she said to Deni, her voice calm and sure. ¡°I¡¯m going to go piss it off.¡± With that she broke into a jog. Perhaps, she thought, she should have been more careful, more methodical. She didn¡¯t really know what she was going up against, she didn¡¯t know what Deni was capable of, and for all her practice she hadn¡¯t actually fought using a sword before. But the confidence the other women in the Party had shown them, and the fact that she¡¯d been asked to deliberately draw out the fight to let Deni get more hits in, made her feel like the outcome was a foregone conclusion. They¡¯d trounce this thing. That knowledge didn¡¯t stop adrenaline from rushing into her veins, though, as she got closer and got a good look at the thing. It had been a badger, just like Rayni had said. But not one of the friendly-looking British badgers. This looked like a cross between a honey-badger and an alligator had suffered some kind of horrible, mutating accident. Rayni¡¯s estimate of its size had been a little off, but not by much. The demon stood just over waist high to Ana, and was moving along with a slow, twitchy kind of walk. It was nauseatingly bloated and twisted. Its fur was slick and matted with¡­ something, its skin covered in lesions, and it looked like it had too many bones with knots and bends and ribs twisting out of its skin to point redly in every direction. Demon was the right description for it. It started to turn when Ana was about sixty feet away, showing her a face full of too many twisted teeth, and too many eyes rolling madly and hatefully as she sensed it focusing on her. She felt a stab of fear deep in her gut, but fought it down. She needed to do this. Thirty feet out she saw a label. [Possessed Badger (Threat: Serious)]. No Class or level, was all Ana had time to think before the thing shrieked, a warbling, cutting sound that Ana¡¯s brain tried to reject as impossible. The thing twisted unnaturally and lurched forward, and as Ana¡¯s senses screamed Danger! her bonuses kicked in. The world came into sharp focus and seemed to slow down as the weight of her gear became negligible. Whatever training Ana had from Tor fled her, and she did the first thing that came naturally to her. The moment the demon got close, she kicked it. She barely saw or felt her own leg move, but she felt the heel of her boot connect with the badger¡¯s snout in a textbook push-kick. She could have gone for damage, but in the split second between deciding to kick it and actually beginning the movement, she¡¯d remembered that Deni was supposed to be the one to destroy the thing. Her back foot dug in, then slid in the loamy soil of the forest floor as the creature¡¯s momentum was canceled out, and then all hundred-plus pounds of the thing flew back with a terrible, frustrated yowl. With no one but the demon to see, Ana grinned wildly. ¡°Come fucking get some!¡± she screamed at it, then turned to look behind her. Deni was fifty feet behind, looking shocked at how easily Ana had knocked the thing back. ¡°Come on, Deni!¡± Ana shouted. ¡°Light it up!¡± Deni looked at her, then answered Ana¡¯s wild joy with a weak smile of her own and leaped forward, her lips moving silently. Ana would have loved to keep watching, to see what would happen, but a furious scrabbling alerted her that the demon wasn¡¯t done. The twisted thing was getting to its feet. Blood streaked with blackish-purple ran freely from its face, but it showed no sign of being affected by the kick and came lumbering in again. This time Ana forced herself to remain conscious of her weapons, and when the demon lurched forward she slammed it with her shield, stopping it and knocking it sideways. She was raising her sword to strike, intending to go for joints and tendons to slow it down, when a blindingly bright marble flashed in from behind her with a tearing, screaming noise, passing just barely to her right. Ana felt the heat of it as it went by, in almost the same instant as it hit the demon. There was a cracking pop as the putrid flesh where the marble hit superheated and exploded outwards, leaving a fist-sized crater. Scorched flesh and burning fur joined the acrid stench that already hung around the thing, and the demon staggered, then looked past Ana with a hunger that made Ana¡¯s stomach twist. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Deni exclaimed from behind her. ¡°Oh, no! Sorry! I¡¯m so sorry!¡± The demon launched itself forward again, this time trying to get past Ana to Deni, but it was frustrated when Ana got between them, buckler up and sword flashing. The steel bit into the creature¡¯s shoulder, but while it staggered it still tried to power through. The fight would be easy to finish, Ana realized. The demon seemed completely focused on Deni now, and barely even reacted to Ana¡¯s own attack. But that was not what they were there for. ¡°Angle!¡± Ana called, not taking her eyes off the demon. ¡°Move around so you get a better angle!¡± She couldn¡¯t see Deni, but she could see the demon tracking her, trying to get past Ana as she stabbed, bashed, and kicked to slow it and stop it from getting anywhere. The thing never touched her, but its drool stung when it spattered her bare skin, leaving pink welts even if wiped off immediately. A second marble came in and missed, blowing a smoking pit among the leaves, then a third and a fourth that hit. The last caught the demon in the back leg, blowing the limb apart below the knee and reducing it to dragging itself on its two remaining limbs. The cheering and whooping from the onlookers told Ana that the fight was, indeed over. ¡°Finish it off, Deni!¡± she called, kicking it down as it managed to get unsteadily to three feet. ¡°Out of my way!¡± Deni answered. ¡°I wanna try a spell but I can¡¯t have anything in between it and me!¡± Ana looked at the downed demon, then back at Deni, who already looked like she was casting, and hastily moved back and to the side. As her lips moved Deni¡¯s hair began to stand out from her scalp, and she threw her staff down, reached out with both hands, and screamed. A jagged flash connected Deni¡¯s hands to the badger, and the upper half of it simply blew apart. The tiniest moment after that there was a literal thunderclap, so loud it made Ana drop her sword and shield to reflexively cover her ears. Good God, Ana thought as she blinked against the flashing purple streak in her vision, if that¡¯s what a complete newbie who didn¡¯t even have a Class could do with magic, what could Kaira do? Forget that the physics of it seemed all wrong. Who could worry about that when a girl, a level 6 Clerk, for God¡¯s sake, had just blown a creature up with magic!? Deni, breathing heavily, looked at what she had done. Shreds of fur and meat and bone were scattered across the forest floor, and stuck to and sometimes in the bark of trees. She turned her saucer eyes at her hands. And then she fell over.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Congratulations! Your Skill Inspect has improved to level 2! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser). Congratulations! Your Party has defeated: Possessed Badger (Threat: Serious). Based on your contribution, you have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser). For fighting in the defense of your object of devotion, you have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Least) as a bonus.
Ana quickly looked at the notifications as her bonuses left her and the world returned to normal, together with a stinging sensation on the right side of her head. Then she joined the others in rushing over to Deni. Being closest she reached Deni first, but there was nothing to worry about. Deni, while showing every sign of being exhausted, was laughing, half delirious as she rolled and kicked among the leaves. When Ana leaned over her, Deni locked eyes with her and started repeating, ¡°I got it! I got it!¡± in a croaking giggle. ¡°What did you get!?¡± Kaira asked, almost feral with excitement as she joined Ana on her knees by the laughing girl. ¡°Lightning! Craft-Evocation-Lightning! Didn¡¯t get Fire yet but I got Lightning! I could never do that spell before but the moment felt so good, so right, I don¡¯t know! I just went for it and it worked and I got it!¡± ¡°You got it? You got it!¡± Kaira exclaimed, then grabbed Deni by the front of her padded jacket and hauled her off the ground and into a hug. What followed was that Ana stood back, feeling awkward as Deni was passed around like a giggling doll, being embraced and congratulated by each of the women in turn. Except for Rayni, who stood next to Ana looking uncomfortable with the outpouring of emotion. ¡°So¡­ big deal?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Very,¡± Rayni said. ¡°She¡¯s got all the Skills she needs now. She can reset and become an Evoker whenever she wants.¡± ¡°She¡¯s already pretty effective. I mean, she turned half of that thing into mince. Will the Skills and the Class make that much of a difference?¡± ¡°That thing was already worn down, and pretty badly hurt. That spell wouldn¡¯t have been nearly as effective on something at full strength, but I¡¯m guessing she knew that.¡± ¡°All right, good to know. One of my Skills improved, too. Inspect. Is that common, getting a Skill on your first real fight?¡± ¡°Eh,¡± Rayni wiggled her hand in the air. ¡°Not uncommon, I guess. Being under a lot of stress seems to help. But Deni almost killed herself with that spell, and I¡¯m guessing you inspected enough powerful shit with that badger to cross the line.¡± Something had been a little off about Rayni, Ana thought. She was fidgety. But then Rayni turned to face Ana directly, and said, ¡°By the way¡­¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I¡¯m on to you, Anastasia Cole.¡± Something prickled at the back of Ana¡¯s neck, but she didn¡¯t sense any danger from the other woman. It was more like a sudden sense of the Huntress wanting something from her. Sense Motive in action, probably. ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not a fucking civvie,¡± Rayni said furtively. At first it looked like she was forcing the words out, but as she talked her confidence seemed to grow. ¡°Definitely not a social Class. I¡¯ve been watching you. You¡¯re too strong. Your reactions are too fast. And no way should you have been able to see that demon from where I pointed it out. So you¡¯ve got some kind of hidden Class, either combat or hybrid, that you¡¯re not letting on.¡± ¡°Really? You think so?¡± Ana said, letting her face go blank. ¡°Yep,¡± Rayni said. They looked at each other for several long seconds while the others cheered in the background, and Ana could see Rayni go from confident, to merely sure of herself, to uncertain, until Rayni finally blinked and licked her lips nervously. ¡°And what if I do?¡± Ana asked coldly. Rayni hesitated. Whatever her game plan had been, it clearly hadn¡¯t survived contact with reality. ¡°Nothing,¡± she said. ¡°I, ah, I just don¡¯t like my teammates lying to me.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re right, shouldn¡¯t you be glad to have me on the team?¡± ¡°I¡ª¡± ¡°You saw how I handled that badger thing. I could have killed it myself. Easily, even. Probably didn¡¯t even need my sword, if it came down to it. Isn¡¯t that an asset to a team like this?¡± ¡°...yeah,¡± Rayni said, with a look in her eyes that Ana had learned to recognize. It was the look of someone who desperately regretted starting something that they now realized that they couldn¡¯t win. ¡°Great,¡± Ana said, clapping the other woman on the back just a little more firmly than necessary. ¡°Good chat.¡± Then she went over and joined the others in congratulating Deni. That had been interesting, Ana thought as she effortlessly went back to the friendly, excited person she¡¯d been projecting to the Party so far. She hadn¡¯t done anything consciously, but she could feel Intimidation working when she spoke to Rayni. She¡¯d chosen her words and mannerisms, of course, but there had been another layer to it, something beyond what she¡¯d expressed, a general vibe of ¡°don¡¯t fuck with me.¡± And it worked perfectly! When she looked back at Rayni a little later the woman was sitting right where Ana had left her, and when their eyes met Rayni quickly looked away. She wouldn¡¯t be trying anything like that again.
Ana hadn¡¯t gotten away as unscathed as she¡¯d thought at the end. Sendra had sidled up to her as they were getting ready to move on, and offered to clean her up. At first Ana wasn¡¯t sure what the water mage meant, but looking down she saw that her cream leather armor was spattered with black and reddish brown. She was instantly thankful that the creature¡¯s blood hadn¡¯t burned the way its spittle had. ¡°Your face isn¡¯t much better, I¡¯m afraid,¡± Sendra said. ¡°Hold your breath and close your eyes, if you would.¡± Not sure what to expect, Ana did as she¡¯d been asked. There came a sensation of wetness on her face. Not running down it; it was as though she¡¯d dipped her face in a bowl of water, but one that was moving and leaving her dry as it passed. Once the sensation vanished and Sendra said that she could open her eyes again, she looked down and saw a glob of water gliding over her armor, following the movement of Sendra¡¯s hand. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ useful,¡± Ana said, the word nowhere close to expressing her amazement. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°I got the worst of it, I think,¡± Sendra said pleasantly, then flung the now-dirty glob of water away and smiled. ¡°You¡¯ll need some scrubbing to get the rest, though. But, yeah. Support mage, remember? That doesn¡¯t just mean in combat. Your hair seems to have gotten out clean, at least. What¡¯s left of it, at least. Good thing, too, because this method isn¡¯t great with hair.¡± Ana heard what Sendra told her, let it process, then touched her hair and hissed. It turned out that Ana wouldn¡¯t need to worry about her sides growing out for a while, at least not on the right. Deni¡¯s first spell had passed close enough to Ana¡¯s head that it took a liberal application of Touanne¡¯s burn cream to her side and ear before the stinging went away. At least the cream, and a similar one for the burns from the spittle, was good enough to prevent any permanent damage. That was what Kaira said, at any rate, and she should know. They killed another two demons that day, but as a group ¡ª Kaira hanging back and acting as a combination coach and cheerleader ¡ª which made it truly effortless. Ana hung back those times, watching the others to see how they fought. The first one was a corrupted squirrel the size of a labrador, which was horrifying in all kinds of ways. It was quick and agile, but Sendra turned a patch of ground in front of it into thin mud then dried it into clay, trapping two of the creature¡¯s feet, after which Deni, Dilmik and Rayni made short work of it using their ranged attacks. The archers didn¡¯t shoot for the throat or the major organs the way Ana understood hunters usually did, but instead aimed for joints, crippling the creature while Deni did most of the damage. Ana got a couple of shots in with her crossbow, trying to imitate Dilmik and Rayni once she realized that she wouldn¡¯t need to fight it close up. Shooting a moving creature, even one stuck in the ground, was a lot harder than a stationary target. The other was a lizard of some kind, but it was slow and dumb enough that the melee combatants could take turns cutting and beating it into a chunky mess. Petra, with her larger shield, stayed right up in its face, doing her best to keep its attention. Mestendi, on the other hand ¡ª or ¡°Messy,¡± as Deni had recently dubbed her ¡ª lived up to her latest nickname. Staying back, waiting for openings, and lunging in time after time, she stabbed and slashed, crippling and bleeding it and generally making a mess of the thing until the three of them could close in and finish it off. And she really did make a mess. The creatures bled too much. Their blood was too thin and too black, and they barely slowed down even after losing what looked like their own volume in blood. The stuff just kept coming, even though the wounds slowly healed before Ana¡¯s eyes as a fight dragged on. Fucking magic, she thought to herself. Then, after each kill, came the messy business of extracting anything useful from the carcasses. Rayni the Huntress unsurprisingly shone there. She effortlessly found and dug out strange blobs of tissue and crystallized nodules that resembled things that Touanne had asked for. She even took the time to explain what she was doing, as she sliced flesh and cracked bone to get at the disgusting treasures inside. Sendra, knowing how things worked, waited until the harvesting was done before cleaning people up. Everything went into little oiled and waxed bags, which were distributed equitably. It made, Ana thought, a decent haul, but she definitely preferred harvesting the various plants, mana-infused or otherwise, that the other women pointed out as they traveled. They smelled better. By the time they made camp Ana really understood what they¡¯d meant by this being both fun and lucrative. As easy as the fights had been, they¡¯d still been exciting, with the more experienced women promising that this had all been barely a warm-up compared to the average Delve. She¡¯d also received a bunch of Crystals ¡ª a Shard, three Leasts, and three Lessers, with her bonus Crystal always being a tier lower ¡ª and it was only the end of the first day. If the rewards in the Delves were as good as the others had led her to believe, she wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she might make not only level 5, but level 6 by the end of this expedition, with Crystals left to sell! Setting up camp was easy. Everyone except Deni knew what to do, and with Petra supervising everything went smoothly. They had a very companionable dinner ¡ª Stew. No surprise there ¡ª and then it was time to sleep. The only slight hitch came when Petra announced the watch rotation. The pairs would be sharing tents as well. ¡°I¡¯ll take the first watch with Denikla,¡± Petra announced. ¡°Camp leader¡¯s prerogative,¡± she said with a grin to the boos and hisses of the assembled ladies. No one liked being woken in the middle of the night. ¡°Then Kaira ¡ª shut up my camp my rules you¡¯re taking a watch ¡ª with Mestendi. Then Anastasia with Rayni, and last Sendra with Dilmik. Everyone satisfied with that? Tough, that¡¯s how we¡¯re doing it.¡± And that was how it went. In the camp, Petra¡¯s word was law. Ana and Rayni looked at each other, Rayni fidgeting as they did, but it wasn¡¯t like they could reasonably ask for the pair-ups to be changed. Everyone was having fun, right? Getting along, getting to know each other¡­ It would look strange if two of them suddenly didn¡¯t want to take a watch together. Sitting less than two feet apart inside the tent was¡­ uncomfortable. ¡°I, uh, I can sleep outside,¡± Rayni suggested, glancing hopefully towards the open flap where the light of the fire danced, as Petra and Deni talked in low voices. Well, Deni talked, with an occasional ¡°Uh-huh¡± or grunt from Petra. ¡°Why would you do that?¡± Ana asked innocently. She knew Rayni¡¯s type. If Ana wanted to keep Rayni in line, she¡¯d need to dictate what would happen for at least the rest of this trip. ¡°We¡¯re getting along, aren¡¯t we? Nothing¡¯s happened between us. Would you normally sleep outside?¡± ¡°No,¡± Rayni admitted unhappily. ¡°Then get in your bedroll and let¡¯s get some sleep, Rayni. We need to be alert on our watch, and you need to be sharp to help us find a Delve tomorrow. As fun as killing demons has been, I¡¯ll be really disappointed if I don¡¯t get to see one of these things. Good night.¡± With that Ana lay down, stretched herself out properly, and got as comfortable as she could on the thin bedroll. It wasn¡¯t bad. She¡¯d slept on worse. She felt completely safe, too. For one, she didn¡¯t think that Rayni would go so far as to try to hurt her. She might be a bully at heart ¡ª Ana wasn¡¯t entirely sure ¡ª but not the violent kind. And even if she did try something, Ana trusted in her Danger Sense and her reflexes to keep her safe. Ana closed her eyes, but Rayni still hadn¡¯t moved. It took until Ana relaxed completely, slowed her breathing, and affected a small snore, before Rayni sighed, lay down, and settled in. Chapter 19 In her dreams, Ana was running. Not out of fear ¡ª she could handle fear ¡ª but driven by a shame so intense that she couldn¡¯t make herself look back. ¡°Ana, wait!¡± a young man¡¯s voice pleaded from behind her, but she kept running. She couldn¡¯t look at him. She¡¯d failed him. It was her fault that¡ª ¡°I¡¯m sorry!¡± the voice called. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, right? Don¡¯t leave me!¡± She¡¯d fucked up. She should have done something! He was dead and he was following her and it was her fault! She should have taken the fall somehow, or brought him to Touanne! Touanne could have healed him, right? Why hadn¡¯t she¡ª? ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Ana,¡± the voice said. A hand with a grip that crushed bone clamped down on her shoulder and spun her where she stood. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I kissed you, right?¡± Nic¡¯s horribly twisted form, black and purple wisps leaking from its eyes, told her mournfully. ¡°It¡¯s all my fault, yeah? I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Ana couldn¡¯t speak. The thing that had been Nicola Stamper pulled her in and wrapped its arms around her, hard enough that she felt herself break. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± it said, and Ana screamed.
¡°Ana, are you okay? Hey, Ana! Knife Girl! Anastasia!¡± Ana startled awake, her hand going under her pillow to grab her¡­ but that wasn¡¯t right, was it? She wasn¡¯t back in her comfy bed, in her cozy apartment in London. Her gun wasn¡¯t under her pillow ¡ª she didn¡¯t even have a pillow ¡ª it was still in a belt pouch tucked away between her and the canvas. And¡­ Right, she didn¡¯t need it. The braids, the eyes, the nickname¡­ This was Mestendi, the elfin woman. Ana blinked a couple of times. The Jeweller, as the helpful little label told her. Right. The woman was looking directly at Ana, her eyes a startlingly bright amber in the dim light. Oh, Ana thought, still a little groggy. That¡¯s why she has the thick eyeliner. Really sets them off. Mestendi looked concerned. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked softly. ¡°I came to wake you and you were¡­¡± she trailed off, as though she¡¯d rather not say. ¡°Come on,¡± Ana said. ¡°I can take it. What was I doing?¡± ¡°Well¡­ whimpering?¡± ¡°Oh. Right.¡± ¡°Nightmare?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said, then, not sure why, continued, ¡°The kid I came here with, you remember? I, uh¡­ I left him. In the forest. I had to leave and I couldn¡¯t take him¡­ his body¡­ with me.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Mestendi said, her eyes widening with understanding. ¡°He wasn¡¯t a bad kid. He didn¡¯t deserve to go like he did. And he definitely didn¡¯t deserve to¡­ you know. Do you think¡­?¡± Mestendi¡¯s sad expression was the only answer Ana needed. ¡°Right,¡± she said. ¡°I was afraid of that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not him anymore, you know that, right?¡± Mestendi said kindly. ¡°It might look vaguely like him, but it¡¯s something else, puppetting his body around. He¡¯s already gone.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ana was annoyed with herself. Why the hell was she getting sentimental all of a sudden? ¡°Is it time for our watch?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I came in,¡± Mestendi confirmed. ¡°Grab Rayni and come out when you¡¯re ready.¡± Rayni, it turned out, was already awake, and had been for a little while. Long enough to hear the whole conversation, Ana guessed, because that was just how these things went, right? At least the woman had the good sense not to say anything. They relieved Kaira and Mestendi at the fire, and if either of the two noticed the tension between Ana and Rayni they didn¡¯t mention it. More likely they were too eager to get a few more hours of sleep to notice anything. Sitting down, each on one side of the fire and facing away from each other, any other two women might have been able to pretend the other wasn¡¯t there; that the crackling of the fire and the soft sounds of the night were all that disturbed the peace. But Ana¡¯s Perception was high enough that in the calm she could hear the sound of Rayni¡¯s breathing and, below even that, her heartbeat. And she knew that Rayni¡¯s Perception was higher than her own. Ana used that. ¡°So,¡± she said, low enough that no one in the Party but them could possibly hear, even if they were awake. ¡°What was your plan?¡± Rayni didn¡¯t say anything, but Ana could hear her heartbeat pick up. ¡°Blackmail? I don¡¯t see the point of that. I don¡¯t have much. That¡¯s why I¡¯m out here in the first place. And there¡¯s not a whole lot I could do for you. So if that was it, well¡­ pretty dumb choice of target.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to try to blackmail you,¡± Rayni whispered. ¡°Then, what? Just fucking with the new girl, for the sake of it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not like that.¡± ¡°Really? Then why? And think about this very carefully. This is pretty important for if we can work together in the future, right? And I¡¯m pretty good at telling when someone¡¯s bullshitting me.¡± Ideally she should actually be able to see the other person, but Rayni didn¡¯t need to know that. Rayni stayed silent for what felt like several minutes, but her heartbeat never slowed down. Then she said, ¡°I needed you to know that I know, all right? I¡¯ve heard about you. I heard what you did in the practice yard, with that guy. Knife Girl, right? A level 3 social Classer comes in and just wipes the floor with a Fighter four times her level? Nuh-uh. Then you come into the bathhouse last night with this giant piece of skin art of a firebird, like some ganger from the Core cities. No way that didn¡¯t cost you a ton of coin, either. And now, this morning, you¡¯re there, with this sob story about some kid¡­¡± Rayni sighed, the loudest sound she¡¯d made since they¡¯d sat down. ¡°Although now I¡¯m thinking that part was true. Sorry.¡± Ana thought about Rayni¡¯s words, and something clicked. ¡°You were scared!¡± she said as the revelation hit. ¡°You thought I might try something! Maybe not on this trip¡ª¡± The Huntress snapped. ¡°Fine! You come in, you kill Rankan and Larion ¡ª Yeah, I heard about that ¡ª and they were assholes but they weren¡¯t weak, and they weren¡¯t stupid. But more than that, every time I see you, every time you speak, I know that you must be hiding something. Because my Danger Sense is just screaming at me, telling me that you¡¯re a predator that I can¡¯t fight. So yeah, I¡¯m scared of you. I panicked. I wanted something to hold over you in case you¡­ in case. There. Does that make you happy?¡± Did that make her happy? ¡°No,¡± Ana said, and her voice sounded small and sad even to herself. Predator? Dangerous? That¡¯s how the woman saw her? Not as an easy mark, but as something she needed some way of protecting herself from? ¡°I¡¯ve hurt people,¡± she said, shuffling around the fire until she was next to Rayni. She felt a terrible need to explain herself to this woman. And for what reason? Why should her opinion matter? Except that they had never even spoken before that day, and Rayni had feared her. For no good reason. That hurt more than Ana had thought possible. When Ana got close she felt Rayni twitch, as though to run away, before stiffening and standing her ground. The Huntress¡¯ eyes were fearful but determined. ¡°I won¡¯t pretend that I haven¡¯t. I¡¯ve killed people, too,¡± Ana continued. ¡°But only in self-defense. No one who didn¡¯t deserve it.¡±Stolen novel; please report. Except for Nic, she reminded herself, but he was already as good as dead, wasn¡¯t he? It had been an act of mercy. She hadn¡¯t known about potions, or healing magic. She had to remind herself of that. She could see the thoughts racing through Rayni¡¯s mind. What did Ana consider self-defense? Who, exactly, ¡°deserved it?¡± Everyone else was asleep. They were practically alone, and Ana was pretty quick¡­ Ana had been wrong in her first impression of Rayni. She was sure about that. Perhaps some honesty and vulnerability would help where covert threats hadn¡¯t? She sighed and dropped every hint of menace that she¡¯d been projecting, everything fake that she¡¯d been showing. It would help, or it wouldn¡¯t. ¡°Listen, Rayni,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to be afraid of me. I don¡¯t want anyone to be. I¡¯ve been dealing with that for most of my life, once they see the real me, and I¡¯m tired. If anything, I¡¯m hoping we can work well together, because I plan on going out on these expeditions a lot and it¡¯s clear that you¡¯re an important part of what makes them successful, yeah?¡± ¡°I, uh, I¡¯m good at finding demons and Delves, yeah.¡± ¡°So, believe me when I say that you have nothing to worry about. Not from me. Not as long as you talk to me first, instead of doing something stupid like threatening me. All right? ¡°Yeah, all right,¡± Rayni said. But while she looked calmer, Ana could tell that she was just saying what Ana wanted to hear. Ana sighed with quiet frustration. ¡°Danger Sense still going off?¡± she asked. Rayni hesitated, then nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Any idea why? I really, honestly, have no wish or intention of hurting you.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t work like that,¡± Rayni said. ¡°It doesn''t tell me how dangerous you are to me right now. It tells me how dangerous you could be. And it¡¯s been telling me that you¡¯re a combat Classer, way higher in level than me, with anger issues. You¡¯re louder than Kaira!¡± That was interesting, Ana thought. Though she¡¯d been told several times that Kaira could have a temper, and after what Deni had done¡­ ¡°But I know Kaira, right?¡± Rayni continued. ¡°She¡¯s strong and she burns hot, but she¡¯s not a nutter. I know what pisses her off, and it¡¯s easy to avoid by not being a complete bitch. But¡­¡± ¡°But you don''t know me. Right. Well, here¡¯s the basics: don¡¯t be an asshole, don¡¯t try to harm me or fuck me over, and we¡¯re good. That¡¯s it. Whatever your Abilities tell you, you¡¯ll just have to stick around and see that for yourself, or stay out of my way. And I¡¯d be disappointed to lose a potential ally, but if that¡¯s how it has to be¡­ just leave me alone, and you¡¯ll never have to worry about me.¡± ¡°I want to believe that.¡± They sat in silence ¡ª well, relative silence, considering how each of their Perceptions was ¡ª until Ana said, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything to anyone else? If you feel so threatened, I mean.¡± Rayni gave her a small, rueful smile. ¡°Tell who? Kaira? The woman likes you. The way she looks at you I¡¯d wonder if she was trying to get in your pants if I didn¡¯t know she doesn¡¯t cleave that way. Petra? Maybe, but she wouldn¡¯t care. She doesn¡¯t get involved in other people¡¯s problems unless they¡¯re close. And the others either wouldn''t believe me, wouldn¡¯t care, or couldn''t do anything about it. Besides, I have a reputation to maintain.¡± ¡°Cold, distant, tough?¡± That had been Ana¡¯s impression. ¡°Yeah. It keeps people from bothering me. If I ran around begging people to save me from the big, bad level 4 Companion I¡¯d never hear the end of it.¡± ¡°Pride over safety? Is that smart?¡± ¡°Pride and safety are the same thing if you do it right,¡± Rayni said with a shrug. ¡°You could have pulled out. When you knew that I¡¯d be joining.¡± ¡°No, I couldn''t. I need the money, and they all know it. There¡¯d have been questions, and¡­¡± Rayni trailed off with a sigh. Ana left it there. They were supposed to be on guard, and they both had some things to think about.
The next morning the camp was a flurry of cheerful activity. The three demons they¡¯d killed the day before were taken as a good sign, and everyone was excited about finding a Delve, where the real excitement ¡ª and the real profit ¡ª was to be found. Ana¡¯s morning exercise routine was a source of great amusement to most of the others. Especially the amber-eyed elfin woman. ¡°Like to keep in shape?¡± Messy asked. Ana feigned embarrassment. ¡°Yeah. It was part of my terms of employment at first, and at some point it just became a comfortable routine, you know?¡± ¡°Sure. And it¡¯s done you good! Maybe I should get into it, too? I¡¯m a frontliner, after all. Mind showing me?¡± Inwardly, Ana sighed. To Messy, she said, ¡°Oh, sure. I¡¯m doing burpees next. Here, let me show you, and I¡¯ll get you into position.¡± The burpees failed to scare Messy off, but at least she didn¡¯t talk through the rest of the workout. ¡°We¡¯re sending Rayni and Messy out ahead to scout,¡± Kaira announced as they ate their porridge. Petra was cooking, so of course it was porridge. ¡°They¡¯re the stealthiest of us. I¡¯d send Rayni on her own, but we¡¯re in or close to a locus now, and I don¡¯t want anyone going anywhere on their own, yeah? I know that I¡¯m repeating what you already know, but that means that if you leave the group for any reason, you take someone with you! I don¡¯t care if it¡¯s something embarrassing. We¡¯re all grown women here. And I know that we¡¯ve had easy going so far, but we¡¯ve been fighting on our terms. Some of these demons can be damned sneaky, and I don''t intend to lose my first casual because she got caught alone with her pants down, literally or figuratively!¡± Nobody complained about that rule. Imagining it was bad enough. ¡°So¡­ then what?¡± Deni asked, then immediately blushed as everyone looked at her. ¡°Are Rayni and Messy finding more demons for us until we find a Delve, or¡­¡± ¡°Good question! And, nah, we¡¯re going straight for a Delve! If there''s one nearby it should draw the little shits like moths to a candle, so the plan is for our scouts to find a demon and stalk it. The rest of you will just hang back and stay ready in case you¡¯re needed.¡± And that was just what they did. They packed up the camp, got moving, and didn¡¯t do much of anything. Mostly they talked. There were a lot of questions about Ana, of course; how old was she, where was she from, was she comfortable explaining why she was such a low level? Was it true that her whole body was covered in pictures of birds, and that she beat up Torden Barlo for propositioning her? She corrected that one very quickly, while Kaira cackled happily. ¡°But you beat him without any weapons?¡± Deni asked incredulously. ¡°You flipped him onto the ground, just like that?¡± ¡°Pretty much, yeah. We had knives, but I wanted to prove a point.¡± ¡°Which was?¡± ¡°Mostly that if your opponent has a knife and you don¡¯t, you still have a chance. Fighting in that situation is still a terrible idea, but you have a chance. And I could have ended that fight without anyone getting killed, which is a good option to have.¡± ¡°Could you teach me?¡± the girl asked, leaning in. ¡°How long did it take you to learn to do that?¡± ¡°Disarm and throw someone with a knife? In a friendly practice setting you could learn to do it in a few weeks, I guess. In reality¡­ shit, I dunno. You practice and practice, and one day some asshole comes at you with a knife too quick for you to run and you either do it or you don¡¯t. It took three years before it happened to me.¡± ¡°Years?¡± ¡°Two hours a day, four or five times per week, for about three years, yeah. And I¡¯d probably be dead today without it, so time well spent, I guess. But most of what I did with that time was completely unarmed. People don¡¯t usually carry any weapons where I¡¯m from.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Deni said. ¡°I know some of the cities are like that, where no one¡¯s allowed to carry weapons or use offensive magic at all. I guess knowing how to fight with no weapons would be useful then. Although¡­¡± She made one of her white-hot marbles appear in the palm of her hand, before snuffing it out. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said, catching her meaning. ¡°If someone doesn¡¯t care about the law, you might be shit out of luck.¡± That was why she herself had usually carried her gun, after all. The others still wanted a demonstration, and Ana was happy enough to oblige, but Kaira put the kibosh on that. Seeing her being the responsible one was interesting, since Kaira was usually so carefree, but she could clearly be serious when the situation called for it. And she was right. They were supposed to be staying ready in case the scouts needed them, or a demon stumbled onto them, or something like that. While nothing like that happened, it didn¡¯t take long after that particular discussion wound down before Mestendi came jogging back to the main group. Her amber eyes were alight with excitement, and with a grin the elfin woman told them all exactly what they wanted to hear: Rayni had found a Delve.
The entrance to the Delve was the most incredible thing that Ana had ever seen, in the sense that she couldn¡¯t believe that the thing she was looking at was real. It was, basically, two dimensional. And if that wasn¡¯t enough, it just¡­ wasn¡¯t there. Sure, when Ana looked at it from an angle where it was, for lack of a better word, visible, she could tell that there was something between her and the background. But her eyes slid off the thing, her mind unable to process what was supposed to be there. And it didn¡¯t actually block her from seeing anything. Whatever was behind the entrance just kind of bunched at the sides, warped but still very much visible. It was like the world was a painting, and someone had made a cut down the middle of it and pulled the sides apart, revealing something utterly incomprehensible. This, the others agreed, was normal. That was just how the entrance to a Delve looked. ¡°The bastard we followed here just disappeared inside,¡± Rayni said as the others joined her. ¡°Used to be a deer. A small one. It¡¯s probably still right on the other side, so the muscle should go through first, yeah?¡± ¡°Right,¡± Kaira said. ¡°Petra and Messy, you go first, then me, then Ana and Deni. Sendra, Dil and Rayni, you make sure nothing comes at the advance party from behind. I¡¯ll come out and tell you when the entrance is secure.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Deni said. ¡°Why? Why do we do it like that?¡± Kaira shrugged. ¡°Usually works well? Petra and Messy are our strongest frontliners. I¡¯m going in just in case there¡¯s a pack near the entrance, so they don¡¯t get a chance to overwhelm the first two. Then you go in with Ana so the two of you get some extra practice. I want the others outside since Rayni and Dil both have good perception, and Sendra¡­¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t like being split up from Dil,¡± Sendra said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I appreciate the consideration.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Kaira said. ¡°So. Advance team, get your packs off and get your kit ready if you haven¡¯t. We¡¯re going in.¡± Chapter 20 Petra and Mestendi, arms at the ready, looked at each other, then stepped into the Delve and dissolved. That was the best word Ana could think of for it. They rushed through, Petra first, shield up, then Mestendi with her sword and dagger at the ready, and as each inch of them passed through the boundary they dispersed into the background. It was profoundly disturbing on an existential level, but since only Deni seemed to share her reaction, Ana didn¡¯t say anything. This, she assumed, must be normal. ¡°Count to five, then follow me!¡± Kaira commanded Ana and Deni. Then she, too, stepped through and diffused into nothingness. ¡°One, two, three¡­¡± Deni counted out loud. Her voice was steady, but the look she gave Ana was anything but. ¡°... Four, five. You¡¯ve got this,¡± Ana said with a bravado that she didn¡¯t feel. She looked at the tear in reality. Just do it, she told herself. Like ripping off a bandaid. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and moved. * * * Ana stepped into a brawl. There had been no sense of transition, only a feeling of passing into a slightly colder space. No bizarre visions, no swirling, stretching liminal space full of impossible colors, or anything else the Hollywood visual effects wizards might have dreamt up. One moment she was running at a tear in space, her buckler in front of her and her heart hammering in her chest, and the next she was in a dim, dank space, her bonuses active, and fighting for her life. The ceiling, the floor, even the walls seemed to be made of some kind of black glass, making the contours of the space they were in hard, but not impossible, to see. Her sword was already bloody. There were strong smells of blood, charred flesh and ozone in the air. Someone was screaming in pain and someone else was screaming even louder in absolute fury. Ana¡¯s Danger Sense made her twist to her right, her buckler coming up to lodge in a massive maw of misshapen fangs and noxious drool. The label [Possessed Wolf (Threat: Considerable)] flashed in her vision, but she barely had time to read it or to see the giant paw ready to swipe at her before a whole front quarter of the thing that she had been fighting blew apart in a shower of gore and bone, hot enough to sting her bare skin where it spattered her. ¡°Dammit, Ana! Back! Grab her and fall back!¡± It was Kaira¡¯s voice. Grab her? Who? Ana had no damn idea what was going on! She was spattered with gore, her sword hand burned, and the place stank like an abattoir inside a chemical plant. Then she saw Petra on the ground ten feet in front of her in a small pool of blood, brown skin and tan leather and vivid red against the black of the floor background. One leg was a mess from hip to knee as she tried to crawl backwards while holding a fox-thing the size of a dobermann off with her shield. By the time the sight registered, Ana was already moving. Right. Grab her, and fall back. Ana took two running strides past the steaming carcass of the wolf and kicked. It wasn¡¯t elegant, but she put all of her strength into it, and her boot collided with the fox demon like a runaway motorbike. She could feel her foot sink in halfway to the ankle, flesh tearing and bone snapping before the demon flew off Petra and collided hard with the not-quite wall of the space. Taking her sword and shield both awkwardly in one hand, she took the collars of Petra¡¯s shirt and jacket in her free hand and effortlessly dragged her backwards, Petra groaning through gritted teeth, to where she could see the three others gathered. Mestendi was curled up on the ground, wailing weakly with her hands clasped over her belly as Deni and Kaira stood over her, casting as fast as they could towards a group of demons approaching at a run from a connecting passage. Ana had been told several times that Kaira was good at what she did. That she was powerful, at least for her level. Dangerous. And she had believed it, in a general sense. But seeing her fully in her element, face twisted in feral rage, her too-many pointed teeth bared as she screamed and sent a sheet of flame racing toward the oncoming enemies and causing them to howl and stumble, Ana understood. One particularly quick creature reached Kaira well ahead of the pack. With a howl, Kaira raised one hand, crackling with energy, and brought it down like Thor¡¯s hammer. Just before it struck Ana could see lightning arc off it and into the demon¡¯s head, and when the fist made contact the thing¡¯s whole head caved in. What remained of the demon jerked and seized and burst into flame as it barrelled into Kaira, taking her to the ground with it. For a moment Ana just stared slack-jawed, then she realized what that meant. Deni was the only one on her feet, and she had three demons, singed but very much alive, bearing down on her. Ana didn¡¯t have time to think. She dropped Petra by Mestendi. She would live a while longer without aid. Mestendi¡­ unclear. Nothing Ana could do about that. She grabbed the flaming carcass on top of Kaira and heaved it off, then took her sword and shield in her burned hands and charged the oncoming enemies. It was reflexive. Instinctual. Deni was in danger, as were the others, and so Ana moved. The lead creature was the possessed deer that Rayni had seen, or one like it. It stood as tall as Ana and must have been considerably heavier, but she faced it head on. She couldn''t let any of the creatures pass, and she would do anything to make sure they didn¡¯t. Even knowing that the thing had much more momentum than herself, Ana tackled it. She dug in her feet best she could at the last moment, and slammed her shoulder into the demon¡¯s chest and twisted, putting everything she had into it. It didn¡¯t stop the deer, but it did divert it sharply to the side, making it stumble and fall as Ana was knocked down and to the opposite direction herself. The next demon, another thing that had once been a fox, pounced on her as soon as she found her bearings. From her sitting position she stabbed wildly with her sword, catching the thing in the chest. The sheer force she could put behind it drove the sword through muscle, bone and organs, cutting through the spine and finally lodging in what was probably the demon¡¯s shoulder blade. As the thing''s back legs went slack it tumbled, jerking the sword from Ana¡¯s grasp as the third demon, some kind of large forest cat, fell on her. Its claws dug into her legs as it used her flesh for purchase to get at her throat, front paws raking across her leather chestpiece. With her sword gone, Ana simply punched it. The buckler in her hand took the cat in the side of the head with a crunch, and it fell off her. Ignoring the burning pain of the cuts on her legs, Ana threw herself after the demon and punched it again as it tried to right itself, putting it on the ground. Then she punched it again, and again, and again. She was dimly aware that she was screaming. A burst of heat and light to her left snapped her out of it, drawing her attention just in time for most of the deer demon to crash into her. Heaving it off herself Ana saw that it was charred and pockmarked, but more importantly it was very much dead, most of the back half lying several feet away after one of Kaira¡¯s spells bisected it. Back and to the right, Deni stood only feet from the fox, which was dragging itself towards her. With a look of utmost concentration the girl raised her hand, let out a banshee howl, and slammed one of her flaming bolts into the thing, blowing most of its face off.
Congratulations! Your Party has defeated¡­
And then it was over. Ana¡¯s bonuses left her, letting all the pain and fatigue rush in. She keeled over, and everything went black.
¡°... good pair of trousers!¡± Ana woke up to a very annoyed voice. ¡°Cost of doing business, you know that,¡± said another voice. Kaira, Ana thought. ¡°Yeah, well, they were well tailored. Hard-wearing, too! And now they¡¯re rags,¡± the first voice grumbled. That was Petra. Petra was alive and well enough to complain. That was good. ¡°At least you don¡¯t have a tear right through your jerkin,¡± Mestendi¡¯s voice said angrily. ¡°It was new, too. A damn tear! I¡¯m going to tear that leatherworker a new asshole when we get back!¡± Hey, Mestendi¡¯s alive, too, Ana thought. ¡°Ladies? Her breathing¡¯s changed and she¡®s moving a little and I think she¡¯s awake!¡± That was Deni. Good. Everyone was alive and well, somehow. That was good. Then she was being dragged to her feet by a short, stout woman who wrapped her arms around her, before someone else embraced her tightly from behind. ¡°Woman of the gods-damned hour!¡± Petra said with a grin, still holding Ana¡¯s arms after pulling back from the embrace. ¡°Saved my rotund hiney back there, didn¡¯t ya? Your room is half off, as long as you want it! Least I can do!¡± ¡°Can¡¯t believe you did that,¡± Mestendi said softly, right by Ana¡¯s ear. ¡°Can¡¯t believe you risked your life for me like that.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ana said, turning her head between the two and trying to catch up. ¡°Thanks. Don¡¯t mention it. Uh¡­ what happened?¡± ¡°I was overconfident, that¡¯s what happened,¡± Kaira grumbled. ¡°Petra and Messy walked right into a pack of stronger bastards than have any right to be here.¡± Then her morose expression turned sunny again. ¡°But then you came through and saved the day!¡± ¡°Petra tried to keep that big bastard off me while I fought two smaller ones,¡± Mestendi said. Petra had backed up, but the elfin woman was still pressed against Ana¡¯s back. ¡°But it swatted her out of the way, and got a good swipe at my guts and put me down. The little ones were about to do me in when Kaira came in and blasted one¡­¡± she indicated a mess of charred, fleshy scraps spread around part of the chamber they were in, ¡°and then you came in! You just sliced the other little one¡¯s head off, kicked the big fucker away, and dragged me back!¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Her grip on Ana tightened. ¡°You saved my life, no doubt about it. Thank you!¡± ¡°Yeah, of course,¡± Ana said, more than a little uncomfortable. She gently pried one of Mestendi¡¯s hands loose, which made the elfin woman let go and back up. ¡°You were amazing,¡± she said grinning sheepishly. ¡°And then you just went right back, trying to get to Petra!¡± ¡°Thanks again for that,¡± Petra said. ¡°Like I said. As long as you want.¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll take you up on that,¡± Ana said. ¡°So¡­ it¡¯s not always that intense?¡± ¡°Shit, no,¡± Mestendi said. ¡°That was the worst entrance I¡¯ve ever seen!¡± ¡°But everyone¡¯s all right?¡± Ana said, looking around. Petra¡¯s pants were a mess of blood and torn fabric, and Mestendi¡¯s equally bloody leather jacket had deep rents in it, but they seemed otherwise fine. And while her own trousers were likewise torn, she didn¡¯t feel any pain, though she could see shiny, pink lines on her skin through the holes in the fabric. ¡°We brought lots of alchemical aid,¡± said Sendra¡¯s voice. ¡°Healing potions, anti-venom, ointments, plenty left of all. And Mistress Touanne is very good at her craft.¡± Turning around, Ana saw that Sendra and Dilmik had come through as well. ¡°Rayni?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Coming through in a moment. We killed one on the outside, and she¡¯s harvesting.¡± ¡°So we¡¯re going on? You¡¯re all fine with this?¡± ¡°No reason not to,¡± Kaira declared. And everyone seemed to agree. Spirits were surprisingly high for a group that Ana thought had just nearly died. ¡°All right,¡± Ana said. If they all thought so¡­ She was still unsure what had happened at the beginning. She¡¯d suddenly been in the middle of a fight with a wolf demon, halfway across the space between Petra and the entrance, which she could see hanging in the air behind Sendra and Dilmik. No memory at all of going from there to where she¡¯d been. The group did not need to know that, though. She¡¯d take it up with Kaira later. ¡°You really were amazing, Ana,¡± Deni said, her voice vibrating with awe. ¡°The way you just tackled that huge deer and knocked it down! I didn¡¯t know a person could do that!¡± ¡°You should check your notifications,¡± Kaira said happily. ¡°I know I stole some of your kills, kinda couldn''t help it, but your contribution must have been huge!¡± ¡°Oh, right,¡± Ana said, and checked. The after-combat notification was gone, and she didn¡¯t know how to bring it back, but the rest:
Congratulations! Your Skill Long Blades has improved to level 2! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser). Congratulations! Your Skill Defense has improved to level 2! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser). Congratulations! Your Skill Unarmed Combat has improved to level 5! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Minor). You have gained the Perk Iron Body.
A Perk! From a Skill increase! That got her heart racing. Touanne had talked about her Alchemy Perks like they were basically Abilities, and Ana¡¯s Abilities were awesome. She quickly brought up her Summary to check it out, but her eyes stopped near the top.
[Storage: 6 Shard, 7 Growth Crystal (Least), 6 Growth Crystal (Lesser), 2 Growth Crystal (Minor).
That was a whole lot of Crystals. Some of them, her bonus Crystals, couldn¡¯t be sold. But that didn¡¯t bother her. She wanted experience points. And at 10 points per Shard, 50 per Least, and then doubling for each tier¡­ ¡°Ladies,¡± she said, and the place went silent, ¡°is there any reason for me not to level up right now?¡± The ¡ª Cavern? Room? Space? ¡ª erupted with congratulations and questions about how many Crystals she¡¯d received, as well as a rather scandalous ¡ª judging by the others¡¯ reactions ¡ª question from Mestendi about which Attributes she intended to boost. But what caught Ana¡¯s attention, and caused her some worry, was the way Kaira¡¯s face fell before she plastered on a sickly smile and said, ¡°Only if you don¡¯t want to sell the Crystals. Don¡¯t you need the coin?¡± Ana pretended not to have noticed Kaira¡¯s dismay. She¡¯d have to talk to her soon; She¡¯d been unhappy last time, as well. ¡°I think I¡¯ll be all right,¡± she said, then went back and consumed 1140 points worth of Crystals.
Congratulations! You have reached Guardian Angel, level 5. 5 Advancement Points awarded. You have gained the Ability Companionship.
The rush of gaining a point in every Attribute was as pleasant as ever, though it was nothing compared to the intoxication of the boost she got when she fought. It couldn¡¯t distract her from the final part of the notification, though. Another ability! Around her, the others seemed to relax, just a little. Looking a little calmer, a little more relaxed. Breathing a little more easily. That was¡­ interesting, and she quickly went to look at her new Perk and Ability.
Iron Body: Your body is hardened from giving and taking blows in unarmed combat. Your base Strength, Endurance, and Vitality are each increased by 1. Values increase with Unarmed Combat Skill level. Companionship: Your presence lends strength and comfort to those under your protection. As long as an object of devotion or a member of your Party is within 25 feet of you, they recover more quickly from fatigue, mana depletion, and injury. Range and effect increases with Class level. You have 5 Advancement Points available. Please spend Advancement Points now!
She¡¯d been expecting that notification. Looking forward to it, even, and she already knew what she wanted to do with the points. She quickly spent them on her Strength and Vitality modifiers, both because she expected it to help as they continued, and, being honest with herself, because she expected another rush of pleasure as her Attributes increased. She¡¯d never been hooked on anything in her life, but this¡­ She exited the Summary, time resumed, and she almost staggered at the sense of strength and wellbeing that suffused her. It felt like it spread from her soul outwards, making everything it touched feel just¡­ wonderful. She took a deep breath, smiled, and opened her eyes. The others were looking at her a little funny, but she didn¡¯t let it bother her. She felt too good. ¡°You, ah, you get a big bump there, in something?¡± Mestendi asked with a smile. ¡°Could say that, yeah,¡± Ana replied, smiling back. ¡°When are we moving on?¡± ¡°We¡¯ve got to harvest first,¡± Petra said, not quite meeting Ana¡¯s eyes. ¡°Rayni should be along at any moment, but let¡¯s just sit tight and keep our eyes and ears open until then.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ana said. That was the smart thing to do, yeah. Couldn¡¯t leave all this money on the ground. Then she remembered something. The new Ability, Companionship, had said that it affected her objects of devotion, i.e. herself, and members of her Party. ¡°I got an Ability that affects you guys, I think. It should help you recover faster.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s what I felt!¡± Deni said, then went glassy eyed for a second. ¡°What¡¯s an ¡®object of devotion¡¯?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a Class thing,¡± Ana said, then smoothly let her face drop and lied, ¡°I¡¯m supposed to have one, but¡­ he died. The kid I came here with.¡± Her simple statement, delivered with just the right amount of regret and backed by the force of what was now 20 Charisma, shut that line of questioning down with ruthless efficiency. Soon Rayni came in. She actually looked quite cheerful for once, having received a decent haul of Crystals for practically nothing. Ana was watching her work, harvesting the scattered remains in the strange space with some of the others, and thinking about joining in. There must be a Skill for that, she figured, and if not it would be useful just to know how to do it. But then Kaira came up to her, looking uncharacteristically concerned. ¡°Ana, can we talk a little?¡± she asked, gesturing off to the side with a nod. ¡°Sure, Kaira,¡± Ana said, rising smoothly and following as the other woman moved off. ¡°You, uh, you got another level!¡± Kaira started with false cheer once they were a couple of dozen feet away from the others. ¡°Congratulations!¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said, and decided to cut the bullshit. ¡°Kaira, what¡¯s up with you? You¡¯ve looked sick ever since I even mentioned leveling.¡± ¡°Have I?¡± Kaira''s smile stayed plastered on, but her eyes fell. The woman had no skill at deception at all, and definitely no Skill. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I feel fine. I¡¯m fine! But about that¡­ you took another level of Companion.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana fibbed. ¡°Got a nice Ability out of it too.¡± ¡°Right, right. I can feel the effect, too, you know? It¡¯s not huge, but my mana depletion is burning off noticeably faster. Very nice! It¡¯s just, I just sort of¡­ I¡¯d thought¡­ I meant to talk to you, but then you leveled so fast¡­¡± She trailed off, and Ana was about to speak when Kaira¡¯s whole demeanor changed, her disappointment and anxiety quite suddenly melting into obvious relief. ¡°Of course!¡± she said, as though she had just solved a complex puzzle. ¡°Right! You¡¯ve read up on your Class, of course you have! You knew that there was a strong Party skill at 5, and then instead of resetting you¡¯re going to stop there and switch over! It¡¯ll slow your progression a bit, but you¡¯re a team player, right?¡± Ana stared silently, not sure what to say. ¡°You¡¯re slowing down your progression in whatever combat Class you¡¯re taking because you want the social utility! Gods, it¡¯s so easy to blind yourself when all you focus on is Delving. I¡¯m sorry if I worried you, I''m fine now. I get it! Oh, I was right about you, you¡¯re perfect! Good talk!¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said to her friend¡¯s retreating back. ¡°Good talk.¡± She was really going to have to talk to Kaira. Setting things straight, managing expectations, things like that, and sooner, rather than later. She¡¯d do it right after they got back to the settlement. They didn¡¯t need the distraction. Partially out of a desire to avoid Kaira until she knew how to handle her, but also out of genuine interest, she joined the group harvesting the remains of the wolf demon that Kaira had blasted apart. ¡°Hey,¡± she said. Rayni tensed minutely as Ana crouched next to her. ¡°I¡¯d like to get my hands dirty. Show me what to do?¡± ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± the Huntress said, relaxing again. ¡°Get your knife out. Right now we¡¯re going for a kind of crystal that forms above the kidneys¡­¡± Chapter 21 Ana didn¡¯t get any kind of harvesting Skill in that first Delve, but she did learn what things to look for and how to slowly and laboriously extract them. Compared to her clumsy attempts, Rayni¡¯s work looked effortless, and some of the others, especially Mestendi, were clearly also quite skilled at the task. Still, she got some impressed looks for how well she did as a beginner, doubtlessly a combination of her high Dexterity and Perception Attributes. The problem lay in knowing what to look for and how to get it out in one piece. Rayni kept giving her odd looks as they harvested, but that was to be expected. First she¡¯d been told of Ana¡¯s performance at the entrance, which must have made her feel vindicated as to her assumption that Ana had a hidden Class. But then she¡¯d seen the Party Ability that was now affecting her. Based on the Ability¡¯s name and effect, Ana could only guess that Rayni must be doubting herself. That, of course, suited Ana just fine. Let her wonder. Once they were done collecting what Rayni thought was worth the effort, they gathered up, brought in Dilmik and Sendra, who¡¯d been standing sentry on the other side of the rift, and moved on. There were three twisting passages going off the chamber they were in at seemingly random angles, but when Deni brought up her concern of getting lost Kaira clearly wasn¡¯t worried. ¡°We¡¯re good,¡± Kaira said flippantly. ¡°We¡¯ve got food in case we need it, but a low-mana area like this? The Delve won¡¯t be too big. We¡¯ll check around until we find the core ¡ª that¡¯s where the Crystals are ¡ª and then we¡¯ll do a final sweep before we grab them. With any luck we¡¯ll have time to find and clear a second Delve before we¡¯ve got to head back.¡± And she was right. They went down one passage, killed two demons by overwhelming them, and found that it was a dead end. They didn¡¯t bother harvesting; that had been mostly something to do while everyone recovered, and between Ana¡¯s Party Ability and the ease with which they¡¯d destroyed the two creatures, no one needed to. A second passage split into two, and following the right hand path, killing a demon on the way, took them back to the first chamber. It didn¡¯t make sense. It should have led them farther from the entrance, not closer, but the experienced women insisted that this was normal, and that passages might connect in impossible ways. You just had to map each Delve without preconceived notions like cardinal directions, or occasionally up and down, being constants. Escher bullshit aside, that left only one way to go. They heard demons in the distance before they found the final chamber. Rayni, scouting ahead, confirmed that this was indeed it, and that it contained, as she put it, ¡°two giant, scary bastards and a goddamn shit ton of Crystals!¡± ¡°Count your blessings, ladies!¡± Kaira gave them her finest, most feral smile. ¡°You¡¯re getting those Crystals, one way or another. But I¡¯m not doing the work for you unless you¡¯re in real trouble. So, we¡¯ve got two strong enemies, right, Rayni?¡± ¡°They both made my Danger Sense want to piss itself, yeah,¡± the Huntress replied. ¡°So, you know what to do. Anyone?¡± ¡°Focus fire,¡± Sendra said, and Kaira pointed to her with a snap of her fingers. ¡°Good woman! Focus. Fire! Ana and Messy, I want the two of you to hold off whichever one looks nastier. I¡¯ll leave the choice to you. The rest of you pour everything you¡¯ve got into the other one until it¡¯s properly dead, and then you all finish the job together. Rayni and Dilmik, range or melee, it¡¯s your call. And if I hear anyone¡ª¡± Kaira¡¯s face turned dead serious, ¡°¡ªand I mean anyone call my name, I will cut loose, all right? That means I¡¯ll probably steal your Crystals for the fight, but it¡¯s better than someone getting seriously hurt or worse. All good?¡± ¡°All good,¡± Ana said, as her companions nodded or said some variation of the same. ¡°All right, then get your butts in there and earn some Crystals!¡± With that the group shrugged off their packs, formed up, and moved in. Up ahead the passage opened into a chamber. A raised mound in the center was festooned with oddly translucent Crystals, like larger versions of the Shard that Touanne had shown Ana. They were spread with an odd regularity around the mound, with the smallest Crystals ringing the bottom and the size increasing as they got higher and fewer towards the peak, the mount being topped by a particularly large Crystal that looked to be the size of Ana¡¯s forearm. In the sourceless light of the Delve the Crystals looked almost like silver line drawings against the black, glassy background. And there were indeed a lot of them. The mound was covered in Crystals of different sizes and shapes, and Ana eagerly imagined how close her share of those Crystals would get her to her next level, and her next Attribute boost. Almost as eagerly as she eyed the two monsters basking in the presence of the Crystals, and the knowledge that in a moment she would be fighting for her life and, more importantly, get a full 5 point boost to all of her stats. The anticipation of that rush was almost as good as the rush itself! That was probably not a good reason to go into life-or-death situations, she thought, but she shoved the insight away. No time for self-doubt. They were only seconds away from combat, after all. ¡°Right one?¡± Mestendi asked as they stalked forward. ¡°Right one,¡± Ana agreed, and Petra to their side nodded. The demons had noticed them now, but seemed reluctant to leave the Crystals. The one on the right definitely looked like the nastier of the two, and when Ana focused on them the labels agreed. The ragged thing on the left was merely a [Revenant Elk (Threat: Considerable)], while their chosen opponent was a [Possessed Black Bear (Threat: Lethal)]. With Considerable being the previous highest threat Ana had seen, this promised to be their toughest fight yet, and Ana wanted it. And then they were there, too close for the demons to ignore, and the rush that hit Ana, telling her that she was officially fighting to defend¡­ someone, set her mind on fire. With a whoop she surged forward. The bloated bear reared up with a bubbling moan, ready to smash her into the ground, but it was so slow! She moved easily past it, crossing under its arms and slashing with her sword, first up at its armpit, then down at its knee. The cuts weren¡¯t deep, despite the force she put behind them, but they got its attention. It twisted to follow her, slashing with its claws, but she danced back and deflected a near-hit on her shield then stepped in again, her sword flashing out to cut it right across the nose. While Ana and Mestendi engaged the bear demon Petra had stepped in diagonally between the revenant, the duo and the back line, effectively preventing the creature from moving on either group. It bit and slashed with its horns at the stout woman, but she stood firm, taking the hits on her shield rather than dodging. As Ana looked quickly past her own foe she saw two arrows and a blazing marble come sailing in towards the elk. The arrows did little damage despite their broadheads, but the marble took it in the right hip, blowing a small crater in it and causing that leg to fold for a moment at the same time as ice coated the ground beneath it. It crashed to the ground, which Petra and her hammer took immediate advantage of, smashing into the deformed skull of the thing. Mestendi, on her part, had exploited the bear¡¯s focus on Ana. Normally a graceful and dexterous fighter, now she slashed furiously with her sword at the demon¡¯s back limbs, trying to get through the thick, tough hide to the muscle and tendons below. That was how you destroyed a foe much stronger than you, and which did not feel pain: you wore it down, little by little, until finishing it off was only a formality. Unfortunately, while she had the Skill and Dexterity to wield her sword effectively against lesser demons, the bear was simply too tough. And while it was focused on Ana, that didn¡¯t mean that it ignored the elfin woman savaging its hindquarters. Even as Ana dodged another swipe from its claws, its back leg kicked out, catching Mestendi flatfooted and sending her tumbling back towards Petra and the elk. Down, hurt but not injured, Ana thought. She wasn¡¯t sure how she knew that, but chalked it up to her boosted Perception and Acuity. The elk was back on its feet. It had taken hits from several more arrows and another blast from Deni. The flesh of its face was sloughing off and its skull was cracked from Petra¡¯s hammer, but it was back on its feet and fighting. And when Messy went down, it saw easier prey than the woman in front of it. Ana saw it move towards Messy, and then she was moving herself. The bear was between her and the downed woman. The elk swiped at Petra with its horns, forcing her to block and take a step to the side, and then it was moving towards Messy. Ana leaped, superhuman strength carrying her up and onto the bear¡¯s back, where she drove her sword in deep between its shoulder blades for balance. The elk reared up and smashed its hooves down, missing Messy by inches as she just barely recovered her wits and rolled. ¡°Switch targets! Switch targets!¡± Ana roared, and then she leaped again, abandoning her sword and crossing the dozen feet between the bear and the elk easily despite her foot slipping on the bear¡¯s slick hide. Her mind was working so fast that she had time to notice Petra¡¯s startled expression as the woman¡¯s shield came down. The elk rose again, and Ana smashed into its side. Despite the force of her leap, Ana did not carry a whole lot of momentum. She was not a large woman. Even with the added weight of her equipment she barely moved the massive demonic creature, but she did catch its attention very effectively as her free left hand grabbed onto its antler. Ana didn¡¯t have much weight to put behind a punch. To do real damage she needed leverage. Now she had it.Stolen novel; please report. Currently, while fighting to defend herself or someone in her Party, she had 28 effective Strength. She put every single ounce of that behind her blows as she began smashing her buckler into the thing¡¯s head and neck. The sounds of Petra and the others engaging the other demon faded behind the wet, crunching sound of metal meeting fetid flesh and twisted bone. The elk reared up, pulling Ana off the ground entirely, but she held on and kept smashing. It brought its head down, trying to stomp Messy again, but she had rolled out of the way and was retrieving her dropped sword. Ana¡­ Ana flopped out like a piece of wet laundry when the elk reared back. She kept smashing, and the thing¡¯s right antler broke off with a wet, sickening crack, but when it threw itself down it brought its head all the way down. And it was strong enough, and quick enough, that Ana didn¡¯t have time to do much of anything to soften the impact. She belly flopped hard into the floor, the air exploding out of her as she lost her grip on both the antler and her shield, bouncing a foot into the air before coming back down. Stunned, she tried to rise, to roll, to move, but the thing reared up and smashed its hooves into her back like twin hammers. Her armor held, but damn, did it hurt! Although¡­ she should be dead after two blows like that. Ana knew that she should be dead, and instead she was¡­ annoyed. And winded, sure. And her lip was busted, and she was probably a walking bruise, but between the armor and her Vitality she could shrug off a blow that might have killed any of the others. The others. She glanced right, and saw Petra and Messy in a desperate fight to keep the bear back from the back liners. But they were holding. Nobody had called for Kaira. Hold a little longer, she willed them, and got her hands under her. Looking up, she saw the elk''s head descend, jaw horribly open, and twisted teeth snapped at her as she shoved herself to the side. It reared again, and she was in a terrible position to dodge. She steeled herself to just take the hit, but it never came. The sound of air tearing preceded a nearly solid sphere of clear water which crashed into the elk¡¯s chest as it raised itself, knocking it clean off its feet and into a heap on the still icy ground. Ana wasted no time. Her sword was still lodged in the bear, and her shield was on the ground somewhere, but she had her fists, her feet, and her daggers. Drawing one of the blades she swung herself onto the demon¡¯s back as it struggled. While her legs locked under its ribcage, squeezing hard, her left hand found purchase on its head. This time she ignored the remaining antler. Her middle and ring fingers hooked into the left eye socket as she heaved and pressed with her thumb against the thing¡¯s ear. With a squelching crack it broke through, leaving her with an unbreakable grip. The thing gave off a horrible sound, a wet, twisted mockery of an elk¡¯s bugle. It tried to shake its head, but Ana was strong. With her legs locked around its chest and her hand controlling its head, it could barely move its neck. And then Ana began to cut. Or, more accurately, to stab, tear, and gouge at the horrid thing¡¯s putrid neck for all she was worth, using an eight inch blade to slowly, brutally work her way through the skin, muscle, and tendons. Black, clotted blood splattered onto the ground, spattering everywhere as the thing staggered and shook, trying to dislodge the fury. Finally, her work done, with the head hanging on only by the spine and the creature somehow still moving, Ana drove her dagger between two of the thing¡¯s vertebrae, took a firm grip on the skull with her right hand as well, and heaved and twisted until there was a crunch and the spine gave. As its head came off in Ana¡¯s hands, the elk demon finally crashed to the floor one last time, with Ana riding it down. She hit the floor and stumbled to her feet, feeling spent and unsteady. But she had no time to catch her breath. Petra and Messy were still up, but they were both hurt and moving sluggishly. But then, so was the demon. It hadn¡¯t been able to get past the two melee fighters, but while both Petra¡¯s hammer and Messy¡¯s sword had done very visible damage, they were not the main source for it. Arrows sprouted from every part of the creature, focusing on the joints, slowing it, and it was pockmarked with charred and weeping craters and thin, bleeding slashes. Those confused Ana for a moment, until she saw Sendra raise her hand, twist, and launch a razor thin whip of water at the bear as it reared up, opening another gash across its neck from which blood began to gush almost instantly. Part of her knew that they probably didn¡¯t need her. The fight was practically over. She could rest. And yet she moved. Her Party was fighting. They were in danger, and she could not let them get hurt if she could help it. And so she moved. Collecting her shield on the way, she took her place between Petra and Messy, screaming, waving her shield, and darting forward with her dagger when the opportunity presented itself. Then, a mistake. Deni, drunk on success and anticipating victory, stepped forward, shouting, ¡°An opening! Give me an opening!¡± Ana looked back, and saw her coming closer and closer, lightning arcing between her raised hands and lips moving silently as she prepared some powerful spell. Demons were drawn to mana. And here was a small, soft creature, brimming with the stuff and calling more and more in. The enraged creature charged. Heedless of the hits it took from the three front liners it charged towards the young would-be Evoker, forcing them aside by sheer mass. Ana tried to grab on. Instead she was knocked back, tumbling ass over tea kettle and landing by Deni¡¯s feet. Looking up she shared a brief look with Deni as the girl¡¯s eyes widened, the excitement replaced with helpless fear as she realized what was about to happen. She began to backpedal, but it was too late for her to run. The demon was too fast, and Deni had been focused on her casting, moving forward to get a better angle. As Ana began to turn she saw the others reacting. Kaira, beginning to cast her own spell ¡ª it would doubtlessly obliterate the beast, but by the time she finished the damage would be done. Sendra, absolutely focused. Dilmik, fumbling an arrow in her shock. And Rayni, her bow on the floor, moving forward, snarling with a hatchet raised to strike, as though it would do any good against the monster. Ana twisted, but she wasn¡¯t fast enough. She watched impotently as the bear lumbered past her, one clawed foot stepping on her to add insult to impending tragedy as its head came down, jaws closing over Deni¡¯s shoulder and half way down her back. And Ana didn¡¯t move. She couldn¡¯t. But she acted. She couldn¡¯t let Deni get hurt. Not as long as she herself lived. The demon¡¯s jaws closed on Deni. The girl shrieked, in fear but not in pain. A bolt of incandescent white flashed past her, singeing her skin and curling her hair a split second before it impacted the demon and caused its chest to explode out and to the side in a shower of steaming gore. And Ana, blind with agony as she felt every jagged tooth tear into her flesh, screamed.
At the edge of her consciousness, Ana heard singing. It was low and melodic, heartbreakingly beautiful, in a language she didn¡¯t know. She groaned with remembered pain, and the singing stopped. ¡°There, now,¡± the voice said instead. ¡°Hush. Drink this.¡± She felt something against her lips, hard and smooth, then a thick, cool liquid with a sweet herbal taste touched her tongue. As soon as she responded the trickle of liquid sped up, and she gulped it down gratefully. ¡°Good,¡± the voice said. ¡°A little more. There.¡± She was lying down on a hard surface, but there was something soft under her head. She tried to move but the right side of her torso was a mass of pain from the shoulder to the center of her sternum. The pain made her groan again, and she felt a hand stroke her hair. ¡°Hush, now. I¡¯ve got you,¡± the voice said, and the singing resumed.
The next time Ana woke up she felt much better. Her eyes opened, staring into infinity, confusing her until she remembered the strange edges of the Delve. She was still lying down, still with her head on something soft. ¡°Ana?¡± said a gentle voice, and a head full of braids filled her vision, amber eyes lined with black drawing her attention. ¡°Hey, Knife Girl. There you are. Welcome back.¡± ¡°Messy?¡± Ana said softly, her throat feeling dry. ¡°How long?¡± ¡°About an hour and a half. You got hurt quite severely, and the potions take some time to work.¡± Ana looked down at herself. Her armor had been removed, and her shirt was stained with blood. A lot of blood. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Well,¡± the elfin woman said with a crooked smile, ¡°first you saved my life again, I think. And after that, well, we¡¯d all like to know what happened.¡± ¡°Deni?¡± Ana said urgently. ¡°She got bit. Is she¡­?¡± But she already knew, somehow. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Deni¡¯s voice said, and her face joined Mestendi¡¯s above Ana. ¡°Though I¡ª I have no idea how. We, uh¡­ we were hoping you might tell us what happened. That you might know.¡± Ana blinked, then closed her eyes. She was tired. She wished she was fighting something; she had so much energy and could think so much more clearly when she was fighting. Still, she tried to remember the sequence of events. She¡¯d been knocked down, she remembered that. The big bear demon had gone all out to get to Deni, and the thing had driven its head into her gut, knocking her back and flat on her ass right by¡­ Right! Deni had been walking up! She¡¯d been preparing some big spell, and that was when the demon charged! And Ana had ended up by Deni¡¯s feet. Then the thing had stepped on her, which had been painful, yeah, but it was when the demon¡¯s jaws closed on Deni that¡­ It had felt like Ana herself had been the one who¡¯d been bit. But that was¡­ That sounded familiar, but wrong. Because she had an Ability, the titular ability of her Class, but it wasn¡¯t supposed to¡­ was it? She quickly opened her Summary and brought up the Ability¡¯s description.
Guardian Angel: While within 5 feet of an object of devotion you can absorb any harm meant for them, including magical or physical attacks or poison. While fighting to defend an object of devotion or a member of your Party, the base value of each Attribute counts as 5 points higher. All values increase with Class level.
But that wasn¡¯t right, was it? It didn¡¯t use to say anything about a Party when she¡¯d read it before, had it? And why did the text in the part about the Party look different? Anyway, the text said ¡°you can,¡± not that it happened automatically. Unless¡­ Ana pulled up the description of her Ability, Devotion, and there it was. In the middle of the description there was a line, complete with the different-looking text:
[...] You cannot willingly allow your objects of devotion or members of your Party to come to harm.
Danger Sense had the same addition about members of her Party, as well. Something had happened. She didn¡¯t know what, but something had changed her abilities to include members of her Party. It was the only explanation she could think of. And now that she knew, if she focused, she could feel the others around her, all of them healthy and rested. She lay back, her head in Messy¡¯s lap, her mind racing. The elfin woman leaned back and began to sing softly again, her fingertips gently stroking the sides of Ana¡¯s head. It was nice. Soothing. And she knew what had happened, now. She¡¯d absorbed a hit meant for Deni, which would have likely killed the girl outright. Ana, with her massive Vitality, had been able to take it. It had just been so excruciatingly painful that she¡¯d passed out, probably when combat ended and her bonuses went away. And anyone with more than half a brain would be able to put the pieces together, she was sure of it. A clerk like Deni coming away unscathed while Ana screamed in pain on the ground was not something they¡¯d be able to overlook. So, she came to a decision. And it would be better to do it now, though she regretted interrupting Messy. The singing and the gentle attention were¡­ she wasn¡¯t sure how to describe it, but ¡°pleasant¡± was a good start. She opened her eyes. Deni was gone. ¡°Messy,¡± she said reluctantly. ¡°Could you gather the others? There¡¯s something I need to tell you guys.¡± Chapter 22 Ana stood facing a half-circle of women. Messy had somewhat reluctantly allowed her to stand up, and Ana had been perfectly comfortable where she was, but she needed to do this on her feet. She was already regretting some of her choices. Doing this at all, for one. She¡¯d have to negotiate it carefully to not leave the other women with a lasting bad impression. And she¡¯d unconsciously put herself with her back to the wall, which probably wasn¡¯t a great look when surrounded by friends, but she felt like she was about to receive a scolding. Hopefully they wouldn¡¯t notice. There had been a lot of apprehension in the group, and a lot of curiosity. That only increased after Ana asked Mestendi to gather the others. But at least no one seemed angry yet, which was a good sign. They either hadn¡¯t guessed what she was going to say, or they weren¡¯t offended. Ana looked at the assembled women. The longer she stood there silent, the higher the tension built. ¡°Right,¡± she said, and paused, looking at two particular women. ¡°I owe you all an apology. Kaira, I was going to talk to you after we got back, but, well¡­ And Rayni, you were right from the start.¡± This shouldn¡¯t be hard. She¡¯d known these women for less than 24 hours, Kaira and Petra excluded. Their opinions shouldn¡¯t matter. But in that time they¡¯d laughed and bled and suffered together, and while she didn¡¯t care what they thought of her on an emotional level, there was a nascent camaraderie there now. She¡¯d laid the foundations of a number of potentially strong and useful relationships that she would hate to see damaged because of one, really quite small, lie. She looked directly at Kaira, the one of the group that she could confidently call a friend. ¡°Kaira, the reason that I haven¡¯t ¡ª what do you call it, reset? ¡ª my Class is that I already have a combat Class.¡± As the group exploded with questions and exclamations, Kaira¡¯s face went through a kaleidoscope of emotion, from surprise to joy to anger, finally settling on a hurt expression that made even Ana¡¯s heart ache a little. ¡°I¡¯d like to talk to you once this is over. Privately.¡± Kaira¡¯s expression soured for a moment, but then she nodded. ¡°Yeah,¡± she said, the hurt evident in her voice. ¡°Right. Sure.¡± Ana sighed. That wasn¡¯t going to be fun. ¡°But, yeah. I¡¯m not a Companion, whatever that Class is. I have a hidden combat Class. The reason I didn¡¯t tell you all is that two highly placed people in the Guild¡ª¡± Dilmik and Sendra immediately started up some whispered speculation at that ¡°¡ªrecommended, pretty much outright ordered me, to keep it secret. So, I¡¯m not going to be sharing any details. Except with Kaira, later, if you¡¯ll hear me out?¡± Kaira''s expression turned a little less sour and a little more excited at that. That had been easy, Ana thought. Kaira wasn¡¯t simple, but she clearly liked new, interesting things, and being let in on something that the Guild officers wanted to be kept secret? That seemed to go a long way towards repairing any damage done. ¡°What I can tell you is that it¡¯s a Class focused on defense. Defending others, specifically. I have some Abilities¡ª¡± she pulled on her bloody tunic ¡°¡ªthat help me do that. The kid that I came here with, I, uh¡­ I was his bodyguard. And he died. I fucked up, and I can¡¯t go back.¡± It wasn¡¯t everything, not by a long shot. She¡¯d left out the most important part, about how monstrously fast her Attributes were going to increase compared to everyone else, but she¡¯d trust Touanne on that and keep it secret until it became obvious to everyone around her. ¡°That¡¯s about it. That¡¯s all I can tell you. I might have already said too much, based on what the Guild officers told me, but you all deserve an explanation for what happened. And while I¡¯m not in a position to demand anything from any of you¡ª¡± Which got a skeptical look from Rayni ¡°¡ªI ask that what I¡¯ve told you stays between us.¡± With that, Ana stepped up to Kaira, making sure to put on her best ¡°I know I fucked up and I¡¯m sorry¡± face. ¡°Kaira, can we talk?¡± Kaira gave her a small frown, then relented. ¡°Yeah. But this had better be good.¡± She turned to the others. ¡°The rest of you, start harvesting those Crystals! Just¡­ give us a shout before you grab the big one on top, all right?¡± The others were taking Ana¡¯s explanation well, overall. Rayni looked triumphant, Sendra contemplative, Deni awestruck, and Dilmik and Petra were chatting in hushed tones, probably trying to figure out which two Guild officers would know the details. Messy¡­ Messy had a smile on her face and an almost predatory gleam in her eyes that Ana wasn¡¯t sure what to make of. Kaira walked off up the passage, and Ana followed until her friend rounded on her. ¡°Shit, Ana! I know we¡¯ve only known each other for a few days, but that¡¯s one hell of a thing to hide from me! I thought we were being honest with each other!¡± Ana winced. ¡°I know, Kaira. And I honestly was going to tell you after this. It just didn¡¯t seem possible to hide it any longer after that fight.¡± ¡°You mean after a demon chomped down on Deni and you took it instead? Yeah. Hell of an Ability to explain away.¡± ¡°Yeah. Well. Couldn¡¯t let her die, could I?¡± Kaira looked away. ¡°Thanks for that, I guess. I like the kid. I think she¡¯ll make a good Evoker. Would¡¯ve killed me to have her die like that, especially because I was too fucking slow. Good thing you¡¯ve got some kind of super secret hidden Class, huh?¡± ¡°Good thing I do,¡± Ana agreed, not volunteering anything. She was going to hold as little as she could back, but it felt like Kaira needed to be in control of this conversation. ¡°So are you going to tell me, or what? You going to tell me what¡¯s so special about this Class, that only Guild officers are allowed to know about it? Why you pretend to be some kind of glorified nanny, when you could kill any of us if you wanted to?¡± ¡°Please,¡± Ana said, rolling her eyes and waving her hand at the steaming carcass of the bear demon just outside the Crystal chamber. ¡°Like you couldn¡¯t paint the walls with me in two seconds flat. I¡¯d have to sneak up on you, and you know it.¡± Kaira stared, then snorted and actually smiled slightly before resuming her scowl. ¡°So do I need eyes in the back of my head now? You going to get rid of us, now that we know your secret?¡± ¡°Nah, too much trouble.¡± The smile came back. Kaira made an effort to scowl, making it look like she was having some sort of facial seizure before she gave up. ¡°All right, spill. Super secret Class. I want the details.¡± Kaira¡¯s change of mood was a huge relief, and Ana couldn¡¯t help but smile. Then she turned serious. ¡°Kaira, I want you to know that I¡¯m willing to tell you. But you have to swear that it stays between us. And I mean absolutely. You tell no one, not Tor, not Omda, no one. If you can¡¯t do that, I can¡¯t tell you. If you swear, and you break that trust, I will not forgive you. All right? If you can¡¯t make that promise, I¡¯ll walk away, no hard feelings on my part.¡± Kaira¡¯s nose twitched with annoyance, but after a moment¡¯s consideration she said, ¡°All right. I swear. If you give me the details, I¡¯ll tell no one, on my honor and on our friendship. Even my Party mates. Even if one of the Captains demands to know I¡¯ll tell them to sit and spin. Good enough?¡± ¡°Good enough,¡± Kaira confirmed. ¡°So¡­¡±
Ten minutes later, Kaira was sitting poleaxed against one of the passage¡¯s diffuse walls. ¡°Every level?¡± she asked for the tenth time. ¡°And another point when you¡¯re defending someone?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said patiently. ¡°Every level.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s base.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°So your Strength is¡­¡± ¡°Rude. But in the interest of honesty: 22.¡± Kaira yipped and covered her mouth with both hands. ¡°28 when I¡¯m fighting.¡± Kaira¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of her head, and her feet kicked excitedly against the floor. ¡°How did you not kill Tor when you were grappling?¡± Kaira hissed from behind her hands. Kaira shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m good at holding back. I¡¯ve done lots of full-contact sparring. And I¡¯ve gained two levels and a bunch of Strength since then.¡± ¡°You must have been 20 plus, though! That¡¯s like¡­ okay, both Tor and Omda are above that but still! You were level 3!¡± ¡°More like¡­ 18, I think,¡± Ana mumbled. ¡°And you did that with 18 Strength?¡± Kaira squeaked, and then her eyes impossibly widened further. ¡°What¡¯s your Connection? No, don¡¯t answer me, I don¡¯t want to know, I¡¯ll be jealous. What is it, though? No, don¡¯t tell me. For real, don¡¯t tell me. Shit. Shit. Shit, I can feel you! I never even bother trying with non-mages but I can feel you! You have a real aura! You must have¡­ We need to learn you some magic!¡± ¡°So¡­ we¡¯re okay? You still want to be friends?¡± ¡°Want to be friends? I don¡¯t want to let you out of my sight!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not¡ª¡± ¡°Yeah, I still want to be friends! I get to keep hanging out with you, and I get a front row seat to whatever you¡¯re going to become, miss ¡®Angel?¡¯ Count me in!¡± ¡°So you just want me for my Class now, is that it?¡± Ana asked wryly. ¡°Shit, no! You¡¯re a weirdo in the best way, and I love it! Now come on, let¡¯s grab those Crystals and make you even more unfairly bullshit strong!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t think I should keep them to sell?¡± ¡°Lady, I¡¯ll support you if you promise to go out with me and the gang in a few levels! And you get extras anyway, you absolute bitch!¡± Kaira chuckled. ¡°Oh, gods beyond! I¡¯m so jealous! What does someone have to do to get a Class like that?¡± Get forcibly dragged away from everything you know, and have the son of the most important person in your life die on your watch, Ana thought bitterly. But she didn¡¯t say that. Instead, she lied. ¡°Don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just always been my Class.¡± ¡°Blessed by the fucking Watcher or something,¡± Kaira muttered and started walking. ¡°One day you¡¯re going to have to tell me how the hell you were at such a low level when you got here. But telling me about this bullshit Class of yours has bought you a week at least before you¡¯re obligated to spill that secret.¡± One day, maybe, Ana thought. When I think you¡¯re ready for it. ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± she said, and they joined the others. On the way, Ana checked her notifications.
[Congratulations! Your Skill Shields has improved to level 2! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser). Congratulations! Your Skill Unarmed Combat has improved to level 6! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Medium). Congratulations! Your Party has defeated: Possessed Black Bear (Threat: Lethal), Revenant Elk (Threat: Considerable). Based on your contribution, you have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Minor), Growth Crystal (Lesser). For fighting in the defense of your object of devotion, you have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser), Growth Crystal (Least) as a bonus. Congratulations! Your Skill Charm has improved to level 2! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Lesser).]
That was one hell of a haul, she realized, even without her share of the Crystals in the chamber. The increased level in Charm was unexpected, but she supposed that she had been trying to make the others sympathize with her, so why the hell not? She hadn¡¯t picked up anything like a Lying Skill, though, which might have been useful. She wondered why that was. ¡°So, what do we have?¡± Kaira called out as they got close. The other women were gathered around the central heap, with only the largest, single Crystal at the peak remaining to be removed. The dead demons had long since been dissected, anything of value removed and stored away. ¡°Good haul!¡± Petra replied and pointed to the last Crystal. ¡°That one¡¯s a Supreme.¡± Kaira whistled a long note. ¡°That is a good haul! What¡¯s the factor?¡± ¡°Started at one, so besides the Supreme we¡¯ve got ¡ª and I¡¯ve counted them ¡ª two Greater, four Major, seven Medium, eleven Minor, sixteen Lesser, twenty-two Least, and twenty-nine Shards. Even split seven ways we¡¯re each going to have a very nice cut.¡± ¡°Explanation, please,¡± Ana said, and Kaira turned back to her. ¡°Right, sorry,¡± she said. ¡°Deni, you listen up, too. So, the peak Crystal in this Delve is a Supreme. That¡¯s¡­ well, these two bastards were stronger than they should have been, so the mana concentration must have been higher than we thought. Anyway. There¡¯s a Supreme at the peak. The ¡®factor¡¯, as we call it, was one. All that means is that there was one more Greater Crystal, so two of those in total. Then, remember the factor is one, there¡¯s two more Majors, so four. Then three more of the next tier, four more of the next, and so on, until we¡¯re down to Shards.¡± ¡°Is that normal?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Well, the tier of the peak Crystal depends on the concentration of mana in the locus. I¡¯d expected a Greater Crystal as the peak. Then, the factor depends on how old the Delve is. This area of the splinter is cleared fairly often, so the Delve is very young. If we¡¯d left it for another month the factor would have probably hit two, and then there would have been three Greaters, seven Majors, and so on. Of course, the place would be much larger by then, more complex, and crawling with demons. Richer pickings, sure, but try to convince a couple hundred Delvers to leave a nearby locus undisturbed for that long. Hah!¡± ¡°So it was better than expected, not as good as it could have been. Got it.¡± ¡°I mean¡­¡± Kaira trailed off and got serious for a moment. ¡°Look. We had multiple injuries at the entrance as it was. If this was a factor two Delve¡­¡± ¡°You might have gotten Messy out,¡± Petra finished for her. ¡°But there wouldn¡¯t have been time for anyone to save me. We¡¯re casuals. We¡¯re not combat Classes, or, well, Ana is, I guess. Sendra technically is, though she¡¯s focused on utility, and Rayni and me, we¡¯re hybrids. But a Supreme factor two Delve? If we were all combat Classes and Kaira was with us as a regular Party member, sure. We¡¯d have a shot. We¡¯d take some bad injuries, probably, but we¡¯d have a shot.¡± ¡°Listen to the woman,¡± Kaira said gravely. ¡°She is aged and wise.¡± Petra grinned and good-naturedly gave Kaira what was undoubtedly a rude gesture, much like the good old British V-sign held close to the face. ¡°In seriousness, though,¡± Kaira said, returning the salute. ¡°I¡¯m probably repeating myself, but she¡¯s been on more Delves than I have, including some bad ones that I know of. She knows her shit. Now, Deni, you¡¯re the youngest here. You do the honors.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Deni said, looking around excitedly as everyone urged her on. Then she reached out, grabbed the peak Crystal. For a moment she got a focused look on her face, and the Crystal vanished as though it had never been there. Immediately there was a change. It was as though all the air in the place was suddenly rushing out in every direction at once. The walls, floor and ceiling, all the black glass boundaries, began pulsing in a strange way, growing less and less distinct, and where before they had been hard to focus on, now it became impossible. ¡°Circle up everybody!¡± Kaira called. ¡°Packs and mages in the middle, and weapons ready!¡± They did as she said, gathering their equipment in one place. Deni, Sendra and Kaira stood in a triangle around the packs, backs to the center, and the other women formed a loose circle around them, the melee fighters readying themselves and the archers nocking arrows. ¡°Do you feel it?¡± Kaira asked. ¡°Deni? The shift in the mana? Do you feel it?¡± ¡°I do!¡± the girl said. ¡°It¡¯s all rushing out! It¡¯s¡ª¡± They all dropped half an inch onto the forest floor, hard enough to jar them but not so hard that anyone fell. They were still in their formation, and there was a rustling spatter all around them as the dispersed gore of their battle popped into the forest with them and showered lightly onto the dry leaves. A monstrous bird, a [Possessed Swinefowl (Threat: Weak)] which looked like a turkey of all things, gave them one surprised look before being obliterated by a bolt of plasma from Kaira, popping like a microwaved egg. The woman giggled as the feathers settled. ¡°Sorry all. Reflexes, you know?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Petra said in a long-suffering tone. ¡°Like you don¡¯t ¡®accidentally¡¯ pop at least one weak demon every time we go out. We love you anyway.¡± ¡°So, are we splitting these Crystals, or what?¡± The words burst out of Dilmik. The excitement that had been bubbling in the woman ever since Deni grabbed the last one had finally boiled over. ¡°I¡¯ve already eaten all my Crystals, and I¡¯m so close to 13 I can taste it! Let¡¯s do this!¡± ¡°Hells, yes!¡± Messy agreed, and one by one the rest of the group joined in. Kaira spread a thin, black sheet of some velvety textile on the ground. All the Crystals were brought out and ordered according to their tier by those who¡¯d gathered them, with Deni finishing by placing down the Supreme Crystal. Chapter 23
Congratulations! You have completed the Achievement Party Delver I! 2 Advancement Points awarded! Party Delver I: In a Party, clear your first Delve.
Achievements? Ana thought, but was immediately distracted. ¡°Standard system, Ladies,¡± Kaira declared, looking at the women gathered around the small array of Crystals. ¡°We¡¯re selling the big boy and splitting the gold. Now, who wants a Greater?¡± Mestendi''s hand shot up while Sendra casually raised hers. Messy got some amused looks for it, to which she sheepishly said, ¡°I need the coin, all right? For investments!¡± ¡°Finally buying out the shop?¡± Sendra asked placidly, and Messy grinned. ¡°Saving for it, at least. Master Renvi is talking about going back to the Primes at the end of this cycle.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± Dilmik said. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll be the same level for a while, then.¡± ¡°Probably. But what can one do, sometimes?¡± ¡°Excuse me,¡± Ana said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should be wanting one of these or not, but the way you talk it sounds like the sales value of a Crystal doesn¡¯t exactly scale with the experience value?¡± ¡°Oh, not at all,¡± Sendra said. ¡°You need Crystals to empower Engravings, and the more powerful the Engraving, the larger the Crystal you need. You can¡¯t just use a couple of smaller ones to get the same result.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Kaira agreed. ¡°Market value changes with supply, but usually you can expect the cost for each tier to go up by something like double and a half instead of just double. Could be triple, even. So that big beauty should sell for quite a bit. Like¡­ 15, 16 gold. But with a big group it¡¯s going to have an experience value higher than the average, right? So we sell it and split the coin. Then, to make it more fair, anyone who takes from the next tier down gets a lower experience total than the others, though they usually end up with a bigger value in coin. And then we work our way down. Honestly, there¡¯s a lot of good will and trust involved here.¡± ¡°And that works?¡± Ana asked, a little incredulous. It sounded like some people could end up with a lot more money than the others in a system like that. ¡°I mean¡­¡± Kaira said, then started over. ¡°Look. I don¡¯t have a stake other than wanting everyone to have a good time, but this gang here? They, and a few others who couldn''t make it, they¡¯ve been out together enough times that they¡¯re practically an official team. They don¡¯t fuck each other over, right? They accommodate. If someone needs more coin, they work it out. With groups that don¡¯t know each other that well, though, it isn''t uncommon to just sell the whole take from the Delve and split it, so no one feels short changed.¡± ¡°All right,¡± Ana said, thinking it over. ¡°So¡­ one of those Crystals up for grabs now, it would sell for, what? 6-ish gold? But I get less experience value if I take it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Messy said, looking at Ana hopefully. ¡°And if three of us want one, then what?¡± ¡°Game of chance,¡± Kaira said. ¡°Dice, usually.¡± ¡°Okay. No more questions. I¡¯d rather have more experience. Messy and Sendra can have them, if no one else is interested.¡± In the end, after a bit of hashing everything out, Ana ended up with 3 Medium, 3 Minor, 2 Lesser, and 4 Least Crystals, which if she had the numbers right should add up to 2200 experience points, on top of what she was already holding from the demons they¡¯d killed. She would have had more, but the group unanimously agreed to give the Shards to Kaira. Apparently tipping existed in this world, too. ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± Deni said after picking up her share. She was oddly calm, her voice barely there. She was holding her Crystals carefully in her cupped hands, looking at them with the expression of someone who held the key to a better life and a brighter future. ¡°With this I can reset, choose Evoker, and get to level 5. I can become a real Delver whenever I want. I could do it now.¡± ¡°So what are you waiting for?¡± Rayni asked. ¡°Getting second thoughts?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ I thought I¡¯d have more time, you know? I never expected to do it in one Delve! I was hoping, but I thought I¡¯d have to wait until the next time you all go out to get enough. It¡¯s so sudden, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°What will you do once you, uh, change Classes?¡± Ana asked. ¡°Do you have a plan, or¡­?¡± ¡°Mhmm!¡± Deni said. The question woke her up from her trance and she nodded excitedly. ¡°I¡¯ve got some friends who¡¯ve been doing casual groups and who¡¯ve already reset, a Fighter and an Archer, and we¡¯re going to go out in the forest and start really learning how to be Delvers! Probably can¡¯t do any Delves just the three of us at our levels, but just wandering demons should be fine. And we can always do pick-up groups, right? It should be really good experience!¡± Then she sighed. ¡°But¡­¡± she said with a pout, ¡°I¡¯m going to be responsible. My parents rely on me to run the front. I¡¯m going to have to help find a replacement who can do my job before I reset and lose my Abilites.¡± ¡°Boo!¡± Kaira exclaimed. ¡°Do it now!¡± But no one paid her any attention. Deni did not, in fact, reset at that very moment, but she cheered up a little when Dilmik pointed out that if she saved her Crystals and waited, they might have time for another Delve with the current group, and that way she could start her career as an Evoker with another level or two. ¡°Now, the bad news,¡± Kaira announced. ¡°Since we were talking about the next Delve and all. Some or all of you have probably guessed already, but as much as I¡¯d like to, Guild rules stop me from going for another Delve today. We¡¯ve had too many injuries and are down to three healing pots, and we¡¯ll need them in case something happens on the way home.¡± There were some disappointed groans from the group, but no one was really surprised. Kaira clapped her hands and grinned. ¡°That does not mean that we can¡¯t have some fun! We have plenty of daylight left and all day tomorrow, and we are not taking the direct route back to the Outpost! Oh, no! We¡¯ll do a final sweep of this area for any valuable plants, and then we¡¯re taking the long way home, looking for some big beasties along the way! Any objections?¡± The groans turned to cheers and excited chatter, and Ana couldn¡¯t help but join in. She¡¯d been disappointed at the idea of not having any more opportunities to pick up more Crystals, but this would do. She¡¯d enjoyed the others¡¯ company, and the forest was quite calm and pleasant when nothing was trying to eat their souls. She did not mind at all taking another half day or whatever to get back to civilization, such as it was, especially if they could get into some trouble along the way. They put away their Crystals and got their gear in order, and while those who lacked any skill at harvesting waited for those who had it, Messy came and sat next to Ana. ¡°Isn¡¯t this great?¡± she said, leaning in to bump Ana with her shoulder. ¡°Another whole day out here? Maybe we¡¯ll find another big bastard, like that bear! I¡¯d love to watch you kick the crap out of it like you did with the elk.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think anyone really saw that,¡± Ana said, smiling at the other woman. Everyone else had been so focused on the bear that she was pleased that someone had noticed. ¡°You did pretty well yourself.¡± Messy waved that off. ¡°With the little ones, maybe. The ones I saw coming. I need some more training, I guess, and more experience, but let¡¯s forget that for now. I never did thank you ¡ª properly I mean ¡ª for saving me. Twice! What do you think about coming around to my shop once we¡¯re back?¡± ¡°Your shop?¡± ¡°Well, Master Renvi¡¯s shop, where I work. I¡¯ve got some beautiful ear studs, thunderstone that I set in silver, and I think they¡¯d match your eyes perfectly. I¡¯d like to give them to you, as a token of my gratitude.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Ana said, taken aback, ¡°you don¡¯t have to¡ª¡± ¡°I know. But I want to. I¡¯m a Jeweler because I love jewelry. I love to make it, and I love to see it worn by the right person. Please?¡± Messy¡¯s bright amber eyes were filled with gratitude, hope, and something else that Ana could only describe as awe. They were all things that Ana wasn¡¯t used to seeing, and made it very hard to turn her down. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said, without really thinking about it. ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll come.¡± ¡°Great!¡± Messy said with a huge smile. She bumped Ana¡¯s shoulder again, and walked off to join the harvesters. Ana sat for a while, analyzing what had just happened, asking herself why she¡¯d agreed. Normally she would have refused the suggestion of a gift. Gifts, to her, always carried an implication of reciprocity, and she hated the idea of being indebted to anyone. Although¡­ here it might be more a case of Messy feeling indebted to her. It still didn¡¯t explain it, though. Ana had refused gifts from clients in the past ¡ª how was this any different? Perhaps there was some high Charisma or Charm in play, or some kind of Ability? Or perhaps, she thought, I just wanted to make Messy happy. Being around the elfin woman was comfortable, and while Ana never really made emotional connections with other people, she did like some of them. She¡¯d never had many friends, and that was something she hoped to change. Of course, who could know if Messy would still like Ana when she actually got to know her? But that was a concern for another time. Daniela, a Portuguese colleague of Ana¡¯s, often said not to suffer tomorrow¡¯s headache today, and this was definitely tomorrow¡¯s headache. Out of the corner of her eye Ana saw Kaira talk to Rayni, who nodded and took off among the trees. Soon they were all moving, following the Huntress through the untamed forest, as the sun slowly sank and the shadows grew longer. That night, as Ana was sitting by the fire, taking her watch with Rayni, she decided that there was no point in waiting. She¡¯d put off leveling in case she decided she¡¯d rather sell more of the Crystals, but who was she fooling? She wanted it. She wanted to be stronger, harder, more perceptive. She wanted to improve her earning potential. She wanted to be safe. Well, perhaps not safe, as such. She didn¡¯t mind taking risks if the potential reward was large enough, but she wanted it to be on her own terms. So she didn¡¯t want to be safe, she admitted. She just wanted to be independent. Immune to outside influence, as completely in control of her own life as she could possibly be. And every level got her closer to achieving that. ¡°Rayni,¡± she whispered, so low that she knew that no one else could possibly hear. ¡°Yeah?¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°I¡¯m going to level. Don¡¯t be surprised if I¡­ I don¡¯t know. Twitch or something.¡± There was a moment where only the crackling of the fire could be heard, and then, ¡°...all right.¡± Having done the responsible thing and warned her teammate, Ana focused and consumed 1800 points worth of Least, Lesser, and Minor Crystals. To her satisfaction she saw that she could use her bonus Crystals first, leaving her with only ones she could sell if she wanted to. She shuddered as the expected rush of the Attribute increases washed over her, even before she brought up and dismissed the notification. Then she quickly brought up her Summary, and the world stopped.
You have 8 Advancement Points available. Please spend Advancement Points now!
8 Advancement Points, from the level and the Achievement. She could do a lot with those. She could increase her Strength ¡ª or less realistically, her Perception ¡ª and four other Attributes that she hadn¡¯t invested in yet. She could increase both Strength and Perception. Strength, Endurance, and Vitality was an option, or anything else she hadn¡¯t improved instead of the Endurance. Or she could increase her Vitality and invest two Steps in an untouched Attribute and one in two others. And then there were the other options, where she increased only her untouched Attributes: one of them three Steps and two of them one, two of them two Steps and two one Step, or just go wild and increase six of them a single Step and have points left over. The last option was oddly attractive. It would make her more well rounded, and she didn¡¯t truly know which Attributes she¡¯d need in the future. In the end, though, the rush was too hard to resist. She increased her Vitality and then, figuring it would help her in most parts of her life, increased her Endurance by two Steps. Her last two points went to Agility and Dexterity, figuring that hitting and not getting hit were equally important in fight. When she closed her Summary the effects were immediate. What little pain she¡¯d still had, as well as the fatigue from the afternoon¡¯s march, were all but washed away. It left her feeling whole and refreshed and very, very good. ¡°Wayfarer¡¯s arse, girl, you¡¯re making me jealous over here,¡± Rayni muttered with an amused twist to her voice. ¡°Huh?¡± Ana managed. ¡°Well, clearly no one ever taught you to mind yourself when you increase your Vitality. You weren¡¯t exactly quiet over there. Or, you were, but, you know. Perception.¡± Ana felt her face burning. That was not something that happened often. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yeah. Just¡­ I know it feels good, right? Vitality literally makes everything bad less bad, so what can you expect? Just, I don¡¯t know. Brace yourself next time.¡± Ana turned to look at Rayni across the fire, then felt her mouth twist into a slight smile, completely unbidden. ¡°Yeah, got it.¡± There must have been something in her face or her tone, because Rayni relaxed, her own wry smile sliding into something more genuine. She turned away from Ana, muttering, ¡°Figured you needed the help.¡± Ana looked at her in silence for a while. It was true. She did need help, lots of it. The problem was finding people she could trust to supply that help without trying to take advantage of her. Even Mr. Stamper hadn¡¯t helped her entirely out of the goodness of his heart, such as it was, though the worst he¡¯d done to exploit her was to offer her a job. ¡°Rayni,¡± she said, and the other woman turned back. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°You¡¯re a Huntress. Do you actually do a lot of hunting?¡± ¡°Yeah. That, and I scout for pick-up groups sometimes. Not enough Rangers around, you know?¡± Ana thought for a moment. ¡°They¡¯re good at tracking, stuff like that?¡± ¡°Yeah. Not as good as a Scout or a Hunter, though. So there¡¯s good money and experience to be made if you¡¯re okay with taking some risks. And gods know I need the money.¡± ¡°Not the experience?¡± Rayni¡¯s expression soured. ¡°Yeah, sure. That would be great. But no. I need the money. I usually eat the Shards and the Leasts, and sell the rest.¡± The beginning of something formed in Ana¡¯s mind. Not a plan, as such, but an idea. ¡°You go out a lot?¡± ¡°Heading out again the day after tomorrow. Once we¡¯re back at the Outpost I¡¯m selling my cut, stocking up on supplies, and hitting the baths. A night in an actual bed, and then I¡¯m out again in the morning.¡± ¡°What do you hunt?¡± ¡°Eh, deer, mostly. Plenty of them out there, good skins, and everyone loves venison. But I¡¯ll take anything. Boar, swinefowl, foxes and other critters for the pelts¡­¡± ¡°No demons?¡± ¡°Shit, no. Are you crazy? I can¡¯t take on a demon on my own! Even if I killed it the cost in arrows and potions would leave my purse lighter every trip, and that¡¯s with Touanne being a softie who undercharges. Nah, when you¡¯re on your own it¡¯s much safer and more profitable to just hunt game and sell that.¡± ¡°What if¡­¡± Ana said slowly, ¡°you weren¡¯t on your own?¡± Rayni turned all the way around at that, her eyes locking intently onto Ana¡¯s. ¡°What exactly do you mean by that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t intend to sit on my ass back in town until another one of these groups gets together. But I don¡¯t know how to track, I don¡¯t know what to look for, and I don¡¯t know what to avoid. You do.¡± ¡°You want to go out. Just the two of us.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°Hunting demons, I assume.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°You¡¯re insane. Completely fucking mad. You go on one successful¡ª¡± ¡°I could have killed that first badger on my own,¡± Ana said confidently. ¡°Easily. You saw me in the last fight. The bear, no. But I could have taken the elk on my own, if I had to. And I have my Party skill, so you¡¯ll need less rest.¡± ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± Rayni began, but her voice faltered. Doubt began to creep in from the corners of her eyes. ¡°Why me?¡± ¡°I want to learn. Stealth. Tracking. Harvesting. All things that you¡¯re good at. Maybe how to use an axe like the one you carry around.¡± She smiled. ¡°Besides, I saw you throwing yourself at that bear. You¡¯ve got guts. I think we could work together.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Rayni¡¯s mouth worked silently, then she blinked and looked away. ¡°Shit, you think I¡¯ve got guts?¡± ¡°I was pretty sure that I¡¯d be all right. I¡¯m a lot tougher than you¡¯d think, from my level. You? Sorry, but that bear would have probably torn you apart. You know it. And you still went for it. So, yeah. You¡¯ve got guts.¡± A notification popped up in the corner of Ana¡¯s vision. She quickly checked it.
Congratulations! Your Skill Charm has improved to level 3! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Minor).
She dismissed it immediately, feeling vaguely annoyed. She was just being honest. Sure, she was trying to convince Rayni, but now she felt manipulative about it. Rayni broke into a wide, genuine smile for just a fraction of a second before schooling her face, glancing towards Ana as though to see if she¡¯d noticed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be immediately,¡± Ana went on. ¡°I¡¯ve got some things I need to take care of, some people to see. But when you¡¯re back¡­ I¡¯m staying at Petra¡¯s. I have breakfast and dinner there every day, sunrise and sunset. If you¡¯re interested.¡± ¡°Maybe. I¡¯ll think about it,¡± Rayni said, in an actually thoughtful tone that said that she wasn¡¯t just brushing Ana off. Ana could be satisfied with that.
¡°One big bastard,¡± Rayni said. It was early in the morning. They had broken camp an hour before, and Rayni had just returned to the group to report. ¡°I would normally say we avoid it, but I found boot prints and traces of blood. It¡¯s tracking someone, and they¡¯re moving slow.¡± ¡°Then we go.¡± Kaira left no room for argument. ¡°Lead the way. Just let me get a look at what we¡¯re facing before we engage. If this thing is a Considerable threat to me, I won¡¯t be holding back. This is a rescue, not a hunt.¡± Nobody argued. Ten minutes later they found the demon. It was some kind of bovine, Ana thought. Shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem. When they got close enough for her Inspect Skill to work, though, it showed as a Possessed Aurochs (Threat: Extreme). The thing was pacing around the base of a relatively thin but massively tall tree, the ground churned to mud and the bark and outer layers of wood smashed to splinters from the attacks the demon launched at it with horns and hooves. ¡°Shit,¡± Kaira hissed. ¡°Lethal to me. Petra?¡± ¡°Considerable,¡± Petra answered. ¡°High end of Lethal, then. 21 or 22. Don¡¯t know what in all the hells that thing is doing this far north. We should¡ª¡± ¡°In the tree!¡± Rayni said urgently, interrupting her. Everyone looked up. High up, slumped over some branches and looking like they were barely hanging on, was a figure, unidentifiable and covered in a filthy, white cloak. Every time the demon struck the tree the entire trunk shuddered, and the figure tightened its grip on its perch. Kaira¡¯s mouth formed a straight, firm line for a second before she spoke. ¡°I won¡¯t judge any of you who want to pull out. If you don¡¯t want to risk fighting this thing, go. Now. Put as much distance between us as you can, as fast as you can. But the more of us there are, the more likely we¡¯ll be able to take it down without anyone getting hurt.¡± No one spoke, and no one moved. A feral grin split her face. ¡°No? Then, Petra?¡± Petra nodded and a moment later there was a notification.
Kaira, Themion Evoker (12), has joined your Party.
¡°Right. Petra, Messy, Ana. You go in first. Spread out, give us room to fire between you. Defensive, yeah? Joints and tendons if you get a safe shot. No heroics. Just distract it while we wear it down, and if it charges, try like hell to buy us time to get out of the way. Archers, go for the face if you can, and hope for a lucky shot on the eyes. Deni, joints. Sendra, try to mess with its movement. Everyone ready?¡± There was a soft chorus of nervous ¡°Ayes¡± and ¡°Yeahs¡±. Deni just swallowed thickly and nodded. ¡°Right. Melee fighters, when I cast, move in.¡± Kaira didn¡¯t wait for an acknowledgement. She immediately stood and started moving her lips soundlessly, her hands held out low and to her sides, and Ana could feel something happening. A stirring in the air around her, as though an invisible current were moving towards Kaira. At the same time Sendra also began to cast, eyes closed in focus and one hand held out towards their enemy. Everyone gave them plenty of room, watching with everything from awe to curiosity as the two finished their spells almost simultaneously. Kaira whipped her hands forward, two blindingly bright bolts of energy shooting towards the demon. At the same time, Sendra exclaimed one unintelligible word and brought her hand down in a sweeping motion, and a wide patch of the churned soil around the tree turned dark and soft. Kaira¡¯s attacks flew true. They slammed into the thing¡¯s hip with twin Whomps, but while they left deep, scorched craters in its putrid flesh, they didn¡¯t have the explosive, penetrating impact that Ana was used to from Kaira¡¯s attacks. But there was no time to think about that. The aurochs rounded on them, and as Petra and Messy began to move, a familiar, welcome, wonderful surge of power filled Ana. Half drunk on a sense of near invincibility, Ana effortlessly pulled ahead of the others with a wordless yell, covering the hundred feet between them at Olympic speed. Grab the thing¡¯s attention, she thought, that¡¯s what Kaira wants, right? Distract it? Here¡¯s a fucking distraction! As the demon began a charge, aborted as its feet sank and slipped in the muddy quagmire around it, Ana stepped, twisted, and brought her buckler around in a lightning quick haymaker, the bronze boss in the center smashing into the demon¡¯s snout. There was a squelching crunch as foul flesh was pulped and bone broke, but Ana had miscalculated. Oh, shit, was all she had time to think as her action was met by an inevitable reaction. The aurochs¡¯ head moved to the side, and it almost, almost, stumbled. The much lighter Ana, however, hadn¡¯t anchored herself. When her buckler connected she not only stopped but was thrown backwards slightly as she spun clockwise, doing a quarter turn before hitting the ground. Even in the confusion, her boosted stats gave her the wherewithal to end in a clumsy three-point landing instead of crashing down, which was something, at least. She immediately had to roll out of the way as the demon roared and stomped the ground where she¡¯d landed, hooves sinking half a foot into the soft ground. ¡°No fucking heroics, you maniac!¡± Kaira screamed, and then the fight was truly on. Chapter 24 Cursing herself for her own recklessness, Ana got to her feet, facing the Possessed Aurochs as Messy and Petra closed in. What had gotten into her? Charging in like an idiot wasn¡¯t¡ª She had no more time to chew herself out as the demon began a furious assault on the three women arrayed before it. Unable to gain enough purchase or distance for a proper charge, it instead kicked, stomped, bit, swung its horns and attempted to gore them, never letting up for a second and keeping all three on the defensive. But that was fine. It was part of the plan. All they needed to do was to keep the thing distracted and in more or less one place while Kaira killed it. With that in mind they also had to make sure to leave openings for the backliners to get their shots in. They formed a lopsided triangle around the creature¡¯s head with Petra in the middle, and while they yelled, swung and slashed at it arrows and bolts came zipping past them, most of them doing little except further enraging the monster. Two minutes in, its head, neck, and shoulders were festooned with arrows and pocked with weeping craters, but none had hit anything vital. Meanwhile, the ground under its feet shifted constantly, growing muddy and hardening in turns as Sendra worked to ruin its mobility or, ideally, trap its feet in hardened mud. In return, the aurochs had managed to get some hits in with its long horns. Messy bled from a long, angry red scratch along her left forearm, and Petra was hunched over, gritting her teeth from a puncture in her side. They were wearing the demon down, but they wouldn¡¯t get out unscathed. What¡¯s Kaira doing? The thought popped into Ana¡¯s head as she lunged, dodged, and cut. The bolts that had come in were all too weak to be Kaira¡¯s. What was she¡­? ¡°Petra, Ana, open up!¡± Rayni shouted frantically, and Ana risked a glance over her shoulder. She didn¡¯t quite freeze at what she saw. Instead it made her jerk and immediately scramble to her right, putting another three feet between her and Petra as the older woman did the same, but she couldn¡¯t pull her eyes away. Kaira was standing with her arms raised, lips moving silently and sweat pouring off her as miniature sun the size of a basketball hung between her palms. Her voice slowly became audible, rising until, with a final, screamed syllable, the basketball collapsed into a marble, blindingly bright, and Kaira snapped one arm forward, pointing at her target. Ana barely saw the point of light move. A loud, tearing sound and a black-and-purple streak in her vision accompanied an immense flash of heat that was gone as soon as it had come, and then, before she could see what had happened, she got a couple of notifications:
Congratulations! Your Party has defeated: Possessed Aurochs (Threat: Extreme). Based on your contribution, you have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Least). For fighting in the defense of your object of devotion, you have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Shard) as a bonus. Congratulations! You have completed the Achievement Hunting Party II! 5 cumulative Advancement Points awarded! Hunting Party I: While in a Party, slay an opponent with a threat level of Serious or higher to the highest-level Party member. Hunting Party II: While in a Party, slay an opponent with a threat level of Considerable or higher to the highest-level Party member.
Blinking to clear her vision, Ana turned back as she heard a sizzling and a heavy, wet thump beside her. Right. Achievements. She¡¯d got one after they got out of the Delve, too. And they gave Advancement Points, which was great, but she didn''t know what she wanted to spend them on, and this wasn''t the time to worry about that, anyway. The demon was decidedly dead. There was a hole the size of her fist going from roughly where one eye should have been, taking most of the skull with it as it passed through into the neck and then the torso. Behind the thing the mud steamed, and grass and bushes burned around a line of black, bubbling glass. Somewhat stunned, Ana walked around the dead thing and verified that, yep, the little marble had gone straight through. ¡°Potions! Potions!¡± Sendra shouted, and Petra and Messy rushed towards the backliners. Ana looked up and followed suit when she saw Kaira collapsed on the ground, her breathing quick and shallow, eyes fluttering at the edge of consciousness. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Ana asked, kneeling by her prone friend. It looked like she was in shock or something. ¡°She overdid it,¡± Sendra said tersely as she slowly poured small sips of a shimmering green liquid into Kaira¡¯s mouth. ¡°Overtaxed her mana channels. Kept pouring more and more mana into her spell until it became self-sustaining, drawing her mana uncontrollably. Fortunately she was able to finish the cast before it drained her completely. Stupid, reckless thing to do, but that¡¯s Kaira for you. She wanted to be sure, I guess.¡± ¡°Ana, the range of your recovery ability is thirty feet, right?¡± Petra asked. ¡°Right.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t want you further than that from Kaira until she wakes up, preferably until she¡¯s on her feet. Consider us camped.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± Ana said. She wasn¡¯t going to argue. She liked Kaira, and if staying close was the best way for her to help, she¡¯d stay close. ¡°Good. Dil, come with me. Let¡¯s get that poor bastard out of the tree and see who we¡¯re dealing with.¡± Kaira was sleeping peacefully when the two returned with their rescuee. Her breathing was still shallow and her temperature a little higher than Ana would have liked, but she wasn¡¯t sure what was normal for a themion. She¡¯d never seen Kaira sleep before. ¡°Come on, Jay. Accept,¡± Petra was saying gently as they dragged the stumbling woman into what was slowly becoming a camp. ¡°Ana has a Party recovery ability, all right? Accept the invitation!¡± It took some more coaxing, but after a moment there was a message, followed by a soft sigh.
Jancia Versil, Human Lumimancer (18), has joined your Party.
That jogged something in Ana¡¯s memory, but when it came to her she couldn¡¯t connect the face she saw to the name and Class. Jancia, Lumimancer. She was too pale and gaunt, her eyes too haunted. It took a long, careful look before Ana recognized her. She¡¯d met this woman briefly, together with her team, the first time she went to the baths. Kaira had introduced them. But there had been two more, a darker woman with incongruously ginger hair and a nearly white-skinned one with long hair so black and fine it looked like ink floating on the water. Med and¡­ Tellak, if she remembered correctly. So what had happened for Jancia to be alone? And what had happened to Jancia herself? She¡¯d been in a fight, that was obvious, and it was just as clear that it had not gone well. The woman had been holding her tattered and bloodstained robe and cloak closed, but when she collapsed onto her butt on the ground they fell open. The armor beneath had a wide gash going down the center of the stomach, exposing torn skin. Something like small, whitish blue crystals glittered along the wound, making Ana pull back instinctively. ¡°Is she sick?¡± she asked the group at large, but no one seemed to know what she was talking about until Rayni, with her Perception even higher than Ana¡¯s, gasped. ¡°Shit,¡± she said grimly, ¡°look at her wound! What the hell is that?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t¡­¡± Jancia said, her voice faint as she tried feebly to pull her robe closed. ¡°Nothing to¡­ it¡¯s nothing.¡± ¡°Nothing, hells,¡± Rayni said, pulling the injured woman¡¯s hand away. ¡°Look at this. Petra, you¡¯ve got the most experience. Have you ever seen anything like this?¡± ¡°No.¡± Petra¡¯s voice was clipped, her face concerned. ¡°Give her a healing potion for now. If nothing else she¡¯s feverish, and she¡¯s lost a lot of blood. Then we need to get her to Touanne as soon as we can. Once Kaira can walk, we¡¯re going straight to the settlement.¡± She knelt by Jancia and put her hand on the other woman¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Jancia, you need to drink, okay? You¡¯ve been injured. If you can¡¯t walk we¡¯ll take you on a stretcher. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Nothing¡­¡± Jancia said, laying back on the ground. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, it¡¯s¡­ why can¡¯t I feel anything? Where¡¯s everything gone?¡± ¡°Jancia,¡± Petra said urgently, taking her hand. ¡°You need to stay awake, okay? We don¡¯t know what this is. Ah, thank you, Rayni,¡± she said, as the Huntress handed her a potion bottle. Then she reached out, grabbed both halves of Jancia¡¯s robe, and pulled her back into a sitting position. ¡°Here, drink this.¡± They took turns talking to Jancia to make sure that she stayed awake. The potion together with some rest gave her back some energy, but she stayed mostly incoherent, and all they could get out of her was that she¡¯d been in a fight and that ¡°It got me. It must have got me.¡± She didn¡¯t know where her teammates were, and kept asking after them as though she didn¡¯t remember doing so every ten minutes. Nearly two hours after they¡¯d rescued Jancia, Kaira woke up. The first thing she said was, ¡°Aw, Wayfarer take my head and throw it in the void! Fucking mana hangover is going to kill me.¡± The second, after she¡¯d looked around, was, ¡°What the hell is Jay doing here, and what¡¯s wrong with her?¡± The third, once she saw Ana, was, ¡°What the hell were you thinking, and what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Since Ana had been singled out, the others left it to her to answer. She scowled with embarrassment. ¡°I wasn¡¯t. I got too excited and I didn¡¯t think. It won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°It better fucking not!¡± Kaira said, though her anger cooled a little. ¡°If you weren¡¯t faster, the damn thing would have killed you right there!¡± ¡°Yeah. Well, it didn¡¯t. And we got Jancia out of the tree, so¡­ we don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with her, though. She¡¯s hurt, and confused. Some kind of weird growths around her wound. We need to get her to Touanne. Can you walk?¡± Kaira looked and Jancia, taking in her pale, drawn skin and her erratic breathing. ¡°Right. Oh, shit, right! Yeah, I can walk. Can she?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t think so. Rayni and Sendra made a stretcher for her, so we¡¯ll take her on that.¡± ¡°Good plan,¡± Kaira said, forcing herself to her feet with a wince. They packed up quickly and got going. Petra and Ana, being the strongest of the group, took the stretcher, with Rayni ranging ahead as usual. Despite their best efforts, Jancia fell asleep, or passed out, more like it, after the first hour. By the shortest route it took them the rest of the day to reach the cleared stretch of land between the forest and the outpost, and there Kaira told them to set the stretcher down, sending Deni and Dilmik in to get the Healer.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡°Why?¡± Ana asked as the two jogged off. ¡°Why not just take her in?¡± ¡°The Waystone,¡± Kaira answered. ¡°It absorbs most of the mana within a couple thousand feet of it, and this is already a low-mana splinter. Close to the Waystone it may as well be a dead zone. Touanne¡¯s strong and skilled enough to do most regular healing even inside the settlement, but for really serious injuries you need to get outside. The edge of the clearing kind of marks where it¡¯s worth bothering to try to cast.¡± ¡°And whatever this is¡­¡± Ana trailed off. ¡°Yeah. Whatever this is, I bet it¡¯s going to take a lot of mana to fix.¡± Sendra came over and sat down with them, speaking in a low voice. ¡°You feel it, don''t you, Kaira?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel it, you mean? Yeah.¡± She glanced at Jancia where she lay unconscious on the stretcher. That jogged something in Ana¡¯s memory. ¡°Sendra, wasn''t Jancia saying something like that, before she passed out? How she couldn¡¯t feel anything?¡± ¡°She was. I thought she meant that she was feeling numb or something like that, but now that I¡¯ve been around her for a while¡­ it¡¯s like she¡¯s barely there.¡± Kaira nodded, her face unnaturally grave. ¡°Like¡­ well, like anyone else, really, but she¡¯s a level 18 caster, and a good one. I¡¯d usually know she was around long before I saw her. She¡¯s got bells on, kind of. Bright, pleasant aura, impossible to ignore. Now¡­ nothing. Like her Connection¡¯s in the single digits.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s new?¡± Ana asked. ¡°It¡¯s horrible! I guess you wouldn¡¯t know, not being a caster and with your background and all, but your Connection isn¡¯t like your other Attributes. It¡¯s almost impossible to train, and it doesn''t go down with age, or if you get hurt bad enough. I¡¯ve never heard of any poison or disease that might reduce it, either. It¡¯s a part of your soul more than your body, and if she¡¯s got something that can decrease it¡­¡± Both of the Evokers moved ever so slightly further away from the unconscious woman. ¡°I¡¯m sure that Touanne can fix her,¡± Sendra said, though her voice held less confidence than hope. ¡°She¡¯s a brilliant Healer.¡± Fifteen minutes later there was still no sign of Dil, Deni, or Touanne, and the women who stayed behind with Jancia were getting worried. Or concerned, in Ana¡¯s case. ¡°I should go,¡± Ana said. ¡°If only to help them find Touanne.¡± Kaira looked at her, then at Sendra and Rayni. ¡°All right. But take Sendra with you, in case you need to look for her. You don¡¯t know the outpost that well.¡± Ana nodded, then turned to Sendra. ¡°How fast can you run?¡± ¡°I, ah, I¡¯m a caster and a civilian. So, not all that fast?¡± ¡°Right.¡± Ana turned around, and patted her own shoulder. ¡°Hop on.¡± ¡°What? Are you serious?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t argue!¡± Ana snapped. ¡°We need to get Touanne out here!¡± Ana heard Sendra croak out an aborted answer, then felt arms over her shoulders and knees around her waist as Sendra hopped on her back. Sendra was not large; to Ana, with her new Strength, it was like carrying a child. She nodded once to the remaining women and took off. Sendra yelped. Even with Sendra on her back, Ana was running faster and more surely than she¡¯d ever managed back home. Long, fast strides ate up the short distance to the gate, and the man and woman on the gate took one look at them and stepped aside, letting Ana proceed without even slowing down. They came in via the southern gate, and Ana ignored the looks from the few people on the street as she continued towards Touanne¡¯s shop. Ana knew that there was trouble before they reached it. Since they were still in a Party she could feel where Dil and Deni were, and that direction swung sharply halfway up the street, into a narrow passage between two buildings. Roughly when they reached the mouth of that passage, she knew that her two Party members were in some kind of danger. She made a choice. ¡°Hop off,¡± she told Sendra, who complied. ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°Deni and your sister are in trouble.¡± ¡°How do you figure?¡± ¡°Remember how I told you about my Class? I know. I¡¯m going. I don¡¯t know how bad it is, so¡­ I won¡¯t tell you not to come, but I can¡¯t guarantee anything.¡± Sendra searched her face. ¡°You¡¯re serious. I¡¯m coming.¡± Nothing else needed to be said. Ana nodded, and they stepped in between the buildings. The passage led to a small yard, hidden in the middle of several houses. There were a pair of fruiting trees and a gardening plot there but, more importantly, there were also two men and a woman menacing Dil and Deni. ¡°Stop being so fucking difficult, Parser,¡± said the man in the middle of the three. ¡°We know you went out with that accidental, and we know that she came here with Ran¡¯s shit. And he should have been back with Larry days ago. We want to talk to her, right? That¡¯s it.¡± He was a [Human Fighter (10)] and the likely leader of the little group, a tall and solid young man, 20 or 22 years old, with cropped hair and the face of a bully trying to look friendly. Ana knew the type well enough. She¡¯d been approached by more than her fair share, before and after she started working for Mr. Stamper, and they always meant trouble. The man¡¯s cronies were no better. Both were humans, like most people there, the man being a Rogue (9) and the woman a Scout (8). ¡°I¡¯ve told you, Waller,¡± Deni replied defiantly. ¡°I¡¯m not helping you! Find her yourself if it¡¯s so important, or talk to the Captain!¡± ¡°Why do you have to be so damn¡ª!¡± the man, Waller, said, his face twisting with anger, but the Scout woman cut him off as she turned to look in Ana¡¯s direction. She jutted her chin at the two newcomers. ¡°Wall, look! Won¡¯t need to go looking any more after all.¡± ¡°What the¡­ how¡¯d she find us?¡± the Rogue asked no one in particular, looking honestly confused. Waller sneered. ¡°Who the fuck cares? You, Companion! You owe us some answers!¡± Yeah, Ana knew his type, all right. Putting her hand up behind her to halt Sendra, she continued forward, taking in the small yard and the people in it. Dil and Deni both looked scared but unharmed, but Ana¡¯s Danger Sense kept telling her that they were in danger. ¡°Is there a problem here?¡± she asked, her voice icy. ¡°Aren¡¯t you listening?¡± Waller said. ¡°You owe us. I know you hawked Ran¡¯s armor at the Exchange, and I bet that¡¯s his fucking sword you got, too. Where the fuck is he? Where¡¯s Larry? Ana slowly stalked closer. ¡°They your friends? Do you know they tried to rob me?¡± ¡°Bull. Shit! I don¡¯t know how you got their gear, but you¡¯re going to tell us where our mates are, and you¡¯re going to pay for it, one way or another.¡± The Scout met Ana¡¯s eyes, didn¡¯t like what she saw, and took a step back. ¡°Uh, Wall¡­¡± ¡°Shut up, Trig!¡± Waller snapped at her. ¡°How about this?¡± Ana was ten steps away and getting closer. ¡°I take my friends here, and I forget that this ever happened. You forget about getting a word or a single fucking copper out of me. Deal?¡± Dil and Deni looked at Ana like she was insane. ¡°Ana!¡± Sendra hissed from across the yard. ¡°What are you¡ª?¡± She shouldn¡¯t be doing this. She should be trying to talk him down, not provoking him. Five steps. Four. Three. Waller rounded back on Ana, taking a long step towards her. ¡°Who the fuck do you¡ª!?¡± he spat, his arm coming around almost blindingly fast, palm flat. Ah, there it is, Ana thought as she felt the rush. She moved. There was a good chance that Waller was stronger than her, if he¡¯d gone heavily into Strength. He was certainly much taller, decently muscled, and he was a Fighter. His slap came ridiculously fast, making it difficult to defend against, or even react to. Or it would have been, if Ana hadn¡¯t been expecting it, and if she hadn¡¯t been supercharged the moment Waller decided, consciously or not, to attack her. If their heights had been better matched she would have stepped in and caught his arm under her own, pinning it to her side. With his shoulders at eye-level for her, that wouldn¡¯t work. But that was fine. She didn¡¯t need to block. What she needed to do was to end the fight before it really started, ideally without doing any permanent damage. And the difference in height was too big for her to do what she wanted to do, so instead of stepping in and blocking, she leaped. Waller¡¯s eyes had a moment to go wide, but his arm didn¡¯t stop. He stumbled back as she collided with him, the inside of his arm hitting her waist and wrapping around her as she nearly jumped over his shoulder. Holding on, she locked her legs around his back, under the armpits. She¡¯d been planning to just bash his face in, but since he was apparently too surprised to react properly, she changed her plan. She put one arm around his neck from the back with the other hand grasping the wrist of the first. Then she locked eyes with the two cronies, straightened her back, and squeezed. Waller choked. Then he stumbled, his hands trying to get to his belt, but Ana¡¯s legs were in the way, and he couldn¡¯t bring his arms down. He began slapping and punching ineffectually, and it hurt a surprising bit considering how poor of a position he was in, but Ana took it. She squeezed, and squeezed, and squeezed, and the stumbling became more unsteady. The slaps became weaker. The only sound in the yard came from Waller, his muscles heaving as he struggled against the chokehold, something he¡¯d likely never even considered having to defend himself against. All the time Ana kept her eyes on the other two. Not to intimidate them, specifically, although that seemed to be happening anyway, but to make sure they didn¡¯t suddenly magic up one set of functional gonads between the two of them and try to step in. If they did, well¡­ she¡¯d have to play it by ear. With a lurch, Waller fell to one knee, then pitched forward, putting Ana on her back. She was honestly impressed by how long he¡¯d held out. Anyone, anyone back home would have been unconscious fifteen seconds ago, she thought. Fucking magic. Waller jerked, then stilled. That was Ana¡¯s cue to let go. She released his neck, pulled in her legs, and kicked him off her. He took a deep, shuddering breath, but it was automatic. The man was out cold. Ana wasn¡¯t even winded. This guy, she thought, is a level 10 Fighter. He¡¯s enough of a thug that at least some people are scared of him. And he has no idea how to fight against people. Still with her eyes on Trig and the unnamed man, Ana kipped up. Unnecessary, but part of the show. She approached them, stepping on Waller as she did so, and they backed up. As Ana¡¯s bonuses left her, she knew that the fight was, indeed, over before it had begun. ¡°That was me being gentle,¡± she told them casually, and produced a dagger. ¡°I didn¡¯t even draw this. I didn¡¯t need it. So get this, and tell your friend on the ground: if any one of you ever fucks with me or my friends again, you will die. It¡¯s that simple. I won¡¯t hurt you. I¡¯m not going to make any threats about how painful it will be or any bullshit like that. I will kill you, as quickly and efficiently as I can.¡± She spun the dagger in her hand for emphasis before putting it away. A notification pinged as the Scout and the Rogue stood stock still and staring.
Congratulations! Your Skill Intimidation has improved to Level 5! You have been awarded: Growth Crystal (Minor). You have gained the Perk Predator. Predator: You exude an aura of danger and violence. When using the Intimidation Skill, your Charisma Multiplier is treated as though it were 1 Step higher for body language and other non-verbal cues. Values increase with Intimidation Skill level.
She snorted and turned to Deni and Dilmik. They looked just as stunned as Waller¡¯s two companions. ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s get Touanne.¡± Chapter 25 ¡°Well,¡± Sendra said, almost dreamily, as they got back to the street. ¡°I doubt anyone will believe that you¡¯re a Companion for much longer.¡± Ana shrugged. ¡°Maybe, but I doubt they¡¯ll tell anyone what just happened. I don¡¯t know if it matters that I¡¯m a woman, but I¡¯m half Waller¡¯s size. And I don¡¯t even have a combat Class, right?¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± ¡°So he¡¯s not going to want it getting out that I just put him down without breaking a sweat. I know his type. He¡¯s all pride. He might come after me, but he¡¯s not going to want this to get around.¡± ¡°Was it true?¡± Deni asked timidly from behind them. ¡°About that Ran guy? Rankan? Is that his sword you¡¯ve got?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Ana didn¡¯t like the turn the conversation was taking, but she wasn''t going to lie about it. ¡°He tried to rob you?¡± ¡°Him and his buddy, yeah.¡± Deni started to say something, hesitated, then pushed through. ¡°Where are they now?¡± ¡°Not coming back,¡± Ana said curtly, and opened the door to Touanne¡¯s shop. Touanne was, in turns: happy to see them, congratulatory about Ana¡¯s new levels, concerned at the four women¡¯s demeanor, and horrified to the point of being near tears when they described Jancia¡¯s affliction. She turned off some heating items and locked the shop, but that was all the delay Touanne would allow herself. She couldn¡¯t run quite as fast as Ana, but she had some legs on her, Ana couldn¡¯t deny that. Probably specifically for cases like this, where she needed to get to a wounded person quickly. The two easily pulled ahead of Deni, Dilmik, and Sendra, who followed at the best pace they could manage.
Fifteen minutes later Touanne slumped back, now actually in tears. ¡°I can¡¯t do it,¡± she whispered, turning her red eyes on Kaira. ¡°Everything I¡¯ve tried¡ª every erg of mana I channel, no matter how subtly, it¡¯s like something¡¯s absorbing it. It never gets a chance to do anything for her.¡± Ana looked at the exposed wound on Jancia¡¯s belly. It was long, but looked shallow ¡ª the light armor had saved her from the worst of it. The crystals, of course, were pretty nasty, but there didn¡¯t seem to be any sign of infection or anything like that. ¡°Do you think she¡¯ll heal on her own?¡± she asked Touanne. ¡°With rest, yes. And potions may help. But whatever this affliction is, there¡¯s nothing I can do,¡± Touanne replied helplessly. She began shaking softly with smothered sobs, unable to take her eyes off the woman she had failed to help, and Ana could have sworn that she herself could feel Touanne¡¯s helplessness. She didn''t like it. Jancia was still sleeping, or unconscious. It was hard to say which. Her breathing had grown less labored since her rescue, but no one had managed to wake her up. And there was still the matter of the mages, even Touanne, being unable to feel her, which terrified everyone who understood how significant that was. Some kind of damage to the soul. That¡¯s what they said, but Ana didn¡¯t really feel it. She wasn¡¯t convinced that souls were a thing, no matter what anyone else believed. She¡¯d certainly never been religious. Oh, she¡¯d gone through the motions. Her piece of shit foster father, the second and last one, he¡¯d been a pastor. She didn''t know who might have saved her if she didn¡¯t play at being a good little Christian, because there was no loving God in that house, she knew that much. There was a reason she¡¯d lived on the street for years rather than risk going back. She shook her head, trying to get rid of those poisonous thoughts. The less she thought about that part of her life, the better. Wherever he was, live or dead, he didn¡¯t deserve to be remembered. ¡°Hey, Ana?¡± Kaira said. Her voice was gentle. Concerned. Touanne was looking at her with worry, too. Ana wondered what she¡¯d been showing, then remembered what Touanne had told her about having a high Connection. It was up to 16 now. Could they tell what she was feeling, if it was strong enough? ¡°Yeah?¡± She answered, and was horrified to find her voice unsteady and her nose a little runny. Aw, shit. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and it came away wet. She didn¡¯t acknowledge it. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I was gonna¡­ are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± She would, in a few minutes. ¡°All right. Let us know if you wanna talk, yeah? For now, can you help with the stretcher?¡± Something to do. That was good. She needed to do something. ¡°Love to,¡± she said, getting to her feet. ¡°Petra, front or back?¡± ¡°Back, if that¡¯s all right,¡± the stocky woman answered. ¡°Hate carrying stuff behind me.¡± All the short way back into the outpost, and then to Touanne¡¯s shop ¡ª which doubled as a clinic ¡ª Ana felt more than saw Messy hovering just beside her. The elfin woman never spoke, but she was always there. Ana knew, logically, that Messy was probably just worried. She¡¯d probably seen Ana crying. But that just annoyed Ana. She hated feeling vulnerable, but more than that she hated others seeing her that way. And now Messy was there, a silent reminder of how Ana had let herself slip and what had caused it. Ana had to fight the impulse to tell Messy to fuck off and leave her alone. We¡¯re trying to be friends, she told herself. Friends worry about each other. That¡¯s all she''s doing. She has no idea about what it¡¯s doing to me. All she knows is that some bad shit happened, and then I started crying out of nowhere. She doesn¡¯t know about¡ª She stomped the thought down. They left Jancia with Touanne, as well as the Healer¡¯s share of the plants and monster parts they¡¯d harvested, then soberly made their way to the square. While their Delve had been an unqualified success, finding Jancia in the state she was in had spoiled the celebratory mood. They broke up unceremoniously. Kaira said a few words about a job well done and how impressed she was, but it was clear that her mind was elsewhere. Then Petra dissolved the Party. Ana got a pair of notifications, and that was it.
You have left your Party. You have joined the Party of Anastasia Cole, Human Companion (6).
Afterwards, Messy stepped in close to Ana. ¡°Most of us will be going to the baths, once we¡¯ve stowed our equipment and all,¡± she said, the invitation implicit in her tone. Ana¡¯s first impulse was to decline offhand. Old, dark memories played on repeat, and she wanted to do what she¡¯d always done when that happened: exhaust herself completely, then cry herself to sleep, alone in her room. It wasn¡¯t the most constructive approach, but she¡¯d usually wake up feeling better. But that wouldn¡¯t work this time. Ana wasn¡¯t sure she could exhaust herself without making it painfully obvious to anyone watching that she wasn¡¯t what she said she was. And, she knew that she wouldn''t be able to sleep. She wasn¡¯t sure if it was even noon, yet. So, instead of running away, she steadied herself the best she could, turned to Messy, and said, ¡°I¡¯d love to join you, if that¡¯s all right?¡± Messy smiled brightly, then quickly turned away as she stifled a giggle. ¡°They¡¯re public baths,¡± she said, ¡°but yeah, we¡¯d love that. It¡¯s just what we usually do after a Delve. Good for group cohesion, and all.¡± ¡°I bet,¡± Ana said, trying to sound anything except flat. ¡°Before that,¡± Messy continued, a little pensively, ¡°would you come with me to the temple? I¡ª¡± ¡°No,¡± Ana almost snarled. Her voice cut savagely through Messy¡¯s, harsh enough that Messy flinched. ¡°Sorry,¡± Ana said, forcing herself to speak more softly. This was not upstate New York, she reminded herself. The temple was not her foster father¡¯s church. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to¡ª¡± ¡°No, no, I get it,¡± Messy said, not looking at her. She hadn¡¯t been entirely her normal, forward self, but now she sounded almost ashamed, and Ana hated it. ¡°We just met and some of Her followers can be¡­ a lot. Forget I asked. I¡¯ll see you¡ª¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. She¡¯d been trying to be nice. Ana could tell that much. And Ana liked Messy. Not in the way that she suspected Messy liked her, with the looks she¡¯d caught. She¡¯d have to make that clear at some point. But besides Kaira, Messy was the person she¡¯d been most comfortable around so far, and she hated seeing how badly her harsh refusal had affected her. And she hated that she still, more than ten years later, let that bastard have power over her. From nowhere, Ana found herself saying, ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± ¡°What?¡± Messy said, looking up in surprise. ¡°Let me drop off my borrowed gear, and I¡¯ll join you,¡± she said, while mentally asking herself what the hell she was doing. Was she that desperate for another friend? Maybe she was. ¡°Oh,¡± Messy said, then brightened. ¡°Okay! If you¡¯re sure? I¡¯ll drop my stuff and meet you here! And I¡¯m not one of crazies, I promise! I just say a prayer now and then and like to give thanks after a Delve, that''s all.¡± ¡°I said I¡¯m coming,¡± Ana told her. ¡°You don''t need to sell it.¡± She joined Deni and Kaira, who¡¯d been waiting to take them to drop off the borrowed gear. Everything went smoothly, no fuss from the clerk, and they got their deposits back. ¡°So, I saw you talking to Messy,¡± Kaira said, an unspoken question in her voice. ¡°Yeah,¡± Ana said. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going to the temple with her.¡± Kaira smirked. ¡°Yeah? Not a bad idea to have the Wayfarer on your side. I usually go after Tor and Om and me get back. Didn''t figure you¡¯d be interested, though.¡± ¡°Well, she asked.¡± ¡°And you just couldn''t say no?¡± ¡°I figured it¡¯d make her happy, and I needed to take my mind off¡­ something.¡± Not that going to what was basically a church was the best way to do that, she added to herself. ¡°All right, great,¡± Kaira said, her smirk widening into a toothy grin. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll have a great time together!¡± Ana looked at her for a moment until it clicked, and rolled her eyes. ¡°Not the way you¡¯re thinking, we won¡¯t.¡± The grin didn¡¯t falter the slightest. ¡°Sure, sure, whatever you say,¡± Kaira said as she turned toward her home. ¡°See you at the baths!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not¡ª¡± Ana said to Kaira¡¯s retreating back. She¡¯d definitely have to talk to Messy. Messy was waiting at the Waystone. Ana thought that she must be living nearby and been quick about dropping off her things, because Ana hadn¡¯t been away that long. ¡°Hey Ana!¡± the elfin woman said when they saw each other, and there was just a hint of excitement in her voice. ¡°Hey, Mess,¡± Ana said. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Just ¡®Mess¡¯, now, huh? Was ¡®Messy¡¯ too long?¡± ¡°Nah,¡± Ana said. ¡°You¡¯re not messy. But you are a mess.¡± Messy giggled, and Ana silently rebuked herself. That is way too close to flirting, she thought. I really shouldn¡¯t give her the wrong idea. The temple wasn¡¯t a huge building by Ana¡¯s standards. The steps rose so that the floor of the building was level with the Waystone¡¯s plinth, and then the actual building was about two stories tall. But Ana¡¯s standards were New York and London, and in this settlement the temple dominated the square. The roof peaked at least thirty five, maybe forty feet high, and by footprint it was the second largest in the outpost by a small margin, the baths only just beating it. At the top of the low steps the doors stood open, as they had each time Ana had walked past. Next to them she saw Messy¡¯s pack and other gear stacked against the wall. She hadn¡¯t even gone home, Ana realized. ¡°May the Wayfarer bless you on your travels,¡± said a smiling woman in hard-wearing clothes who waited at the entrance. ¡°Can I help you?¡± ¡°Thank you, Sahna,¡± Messy said. ¡°We¡¯re just here to say a prayer and make an offering.¡± ¡°How lovely! Well, Miss Mestendi, you know what to do. And you, Miss¡­?¡± The woman, Sahna, turned to Ana. ¡°Oh! You¡¯re the newcomer we¡¯ve heard of! And you¡¯re a Companion! How auspicious!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Ana said doubtfully. Auspicious? What the hell? ¡°Anastasia. I¡¯m with her.¡± ¡°In that case, Miss Anastasia, I¡¯m sure that Miss Mestendi can show you what to do. But if you need any help, or if you would like to learn anything about the Wayfarer or our sacred mission here, please don¡¯t hesitate to ask!¡± ¡°Sure. Messy?¡± ¡°Thank you, Sahna,¡± Messy said before leading Ana across the threshold. ¡°Come on, Ana. It¡¯s right¡ª¡±
One second Ana was stepping past the tall wooden doors of the temple, Messy¡¯s hand on her back leading her forward, and the next she was alone on a forest path. The sun was blinding where it pierced the canopy, and a breeze danced in the tall trees while birds sang and insects buzzed all around her. ¡°What the¡ª?¡± Ana¡¯s hand went to the sword at her belt, but she wasn¡¯t wearing it. Her sword and shield were both gone, as was the pouch where she kept her gun. She was still wearing her armor, though. ¡°Ugh, finally!¡± said a light, airy voice behind her, and Ana whirled to face whoever had spoken. ¡°Took you long enough,¡± said the woman standing before her. She was tall, with a lean, angular face of a warm, reddish brown, and was wearing worn, dirty clothes, a long cloak, and a serious pair of boots. ¡°Where¡ª¡± Ana began, but the woman cut her off. ¡°You haven¡¯t gone anywhere. This is all in your head, and you¡¯re still on the threshold of my temple. Think of it as a space between moments. Once we¡¯ve had this little talk you¡¯ll be right back, and no one else will be any the wiser.¡± ¡°Your temple?¡± Ana said, seizing the opportunity the moment the woman paused. ¡°Are you the¡­ high priestess, or whatever? How are you doing this?¡± ¡°No,¡± the woman said impatiently. ¡°I understand that this may have come rather suddenly, but I really have been waiting for an opportunity. To answer your first question, I am not a high priestess. I am the goddess called the Wayfarer. For your second question, again, I am a goddess. And for your third¡­ I¡¯d like to apologize.¡± Ana¡¯s bullshit detector went off on principle, but the woman sounded completely relaxed and serious. ¡°The Wayfarer?¡± she asked. ¡°The goddess? That¡¯s one hell of a claim. Why should I believe you?¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°You probably shouldn¡¯t. Not taking everything at face value is a good survival trait, and we both know that if there¡¯s one thing you do well, it¡¯s surviving. Believe me or not, but humor me, please. As I said, I want to apologize.¡± ¡°For what?¡± The woman took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. ¡°For¡­ well, not for bringing you here. I didn¡¯t do that. But it¡¯s partially my fault, because I made it possible in the first place. I didn¡¯t put in enough safeguards. Nicola being summoned, well¡­ Sorry to say, but that was part of the deal I had to make when I set this all up. The Splinters and the Delves, I mean. Not Nicola specifically, but the possibility of summoning someone against their will. But, I never imagined stealing someone from outside our world. So, that¡¯s on me.¡± Ana stared for a moment, then scoffed. ¡°You ¡®set this all up¡¯? Again, one hell of a claim. And you¡¯re saying it¡¯s your fault Nic¡¯s dead? Why shouldn¡¯t I beat the shit out of you, if I believe you?¡± The woman responded with a warm, friendly laugh, as though Ana had just told her something terribly funny. ¡°Well, for one, I was much stronger than you are now before my apotheosis. So you can try, but you won¡¯t like the outcome. And yes, I set this all up. You have no idea how boring it was, back when I was mortal! One finite plane, and most of that explored already? Bullshit, that¡¯s what I said. So, the moment I reached apotheosis and got the power, I¡­ made some changes. And I had to make some deals with the other divinities in the process. Anyway, I¡¯m not claiming responsibility for his death. That¡¯s on the shithead that summoned him. But you¡­ you shouldn¡¯t be here. You got my message, right? You¡¯re wearing the armor I sent you, so you should have seen the message.¡± ¡°¡­I shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± Ana said softly. That was what the message had said when she put on the armor. ¡°No, you shouldn¡¯t,¡± the Wayfarer, if that was who she was, confirmed. Her whole demeanor softened. ¡°The truth is, I fucked something up. I¡¯m not even sure what triggered it, if it was the momentary connection of a kiss or the fact that he was holding you or something else, but when Nicola was summoned he dragged you along. And that should not be possible either, so I must¡¯ve fucked something up. And for that, I apologize. I did what I could to help you two, but I didn¡¯t have much time, and I¡¯ve got some pretty serious restrictions on me when interacting with mortals, and then Nicola died, and¡­ yeah. It¡¯s a mess.¡± ¡°Help us?¡± Ana asked, then made the connection. ¡°The Class. You gave me this Class, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± the Wayfarer said sheepishly. ¡°Like I said, I didn¡¯t have much time. The first impressions I got from you were that you were completely focused on Nicola¡¯s safety, so I grabbed the strongest, most appropriate Class I could think of for you. Had something fun lined up for Nicola, too, but¡­ yeah. Of course, now that I¡¯ve watched you a little longer I¡¯m thinking that it was maybe not the best choice to tie you to one person like that. I dunno. But, hey, that part worked out, at least! With Nicola dead when you got your first level the System tied you to the one person you care about the most!¡± ¡°Myself,¡± Ana said, a little bitterly. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t feel bad. I¡¯m certainly not judging. Looking out for yourself first? Again, a very good survival trait. A woman after my own heart. I wouldn¡¯t be where I am if I wasn¡¯t the same way. Can¡¯t help anyone if you¡¯re dead, right?¡± ¡°What about the Party thing?¡± Ana said. ¡°A bunch of my Abilities mention my Party now, and I¡¯m sure that wasn¡¯t there the first time I looked. Did you do something?¡± ¡°Yeah, right, so, about that. When you went into the mana sink ¡ª the Delve, as you all call it nowadays ¡ª I had a chance to interact with you again. And I could tell that you cared about the people in your Party, and I totally approve. Look out for number one, yeah, but look out for your Party, too! So I figured I¡¯d help you with that. And that mage girl is still alive, so I¡¯d say I did a good job! Don¡¯t you think so?¡± Ana scowled, but she had to agree. Deni would not be alive if Ana hadn¡¯t been able to absorb the damage dealt to her. ¡°Maybe. But you know how much this is going to mess with my head, right? I literally can¡¯t choose not to take a hit for someone else if I¡¯m in a Party with them.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that bad,¡± the Wayfarer said defensively. ¡°It¡¯s not like you absorbed every little scrape for them. You only ate that one lethal blow, and you can take it way better than most people. You¡¯re tough! But, anyway. That¡¯s about all we have time for. I just wanted a chance to tell you that I¡¯m sorry, and I¡¯ll be slowly paying you back. I can¡¯t do much more to help you without the others getting suspicious, but I think that I¡¯ve given you the best shot at a life here that I could. Keep leveling and stay out of politics, and you should be able to have a long, happy life.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care so much about ¡®happy¡¯ as long as it¡¯s my own.¡± The Wayfarer cocked her head. ¡°Aren¡¯t those the same thing? Anyway, once you hit 50 ¡ª and I bet you will ¡ª you¡¯ll be untouchable, practically a demi-goddess. And beyond that¡­ But I really do have to go. Right now, in fact. Pray at any of my temples or at a Waystone if you need to talk. No promises, but I¡¯ll make time if I can. Farewell for now!¡± The Wayfarer raised her hand¡ª Chapter 26 ¡°¡ªover there, to either side of the statue, see?¡± Ana stumbled half a step as she crossed the threshold to the temple, a momentary jerk in her stride. Thankfully, her high Agility kept her from embarrassing herself, and her next step landed as smoothly as if nothing had happened. What the fuck? Ana thought to herself. Did that actually just happen? Did she talk to an actual goddess, or something powerful enough to pose as one, or was someone messing with her? Could magic make you have a conversation of several minutes in the time between two syllables? No one even seemed to notice. Messy kept talking without even a twitch, though she lowered her voice as they entered the sacred space. Ahead of them a massive statue dominated the building, an idealized but still recognizable version of the woman Ana had just spoken to. She wore boots and traveler¡¯s clothes, had a walking stick in her left hand, and the raised torch in her right hand almost reached the ceiling, some thirty feet above. Did the goddess show herself to whatever sculptor made this statue? Ana wondered. Or did the woman she just spoke to make herself look like the statue to better deceive Ana? ¡°There¡¯s nothing that says you have to make an offering,¡± Messy continued. ¡°Just paying your respects is more than enough, according to the priests. But I usually leave something, depending on how well the Delve went and my personal needs at the time.¡± ¡°What kind of offerings are we talking about?¡± Ana asked, on autopilot as she thought about what the supposed Wayfarer had said. Ana shouldn¡¯t be here. A goddess felt, what, obligated to her? Other than that, two things stood out from what she¡¯d just experienced. The first was that the Wayfarer had said that Nic was already dead when she got her first level. But that happened before she put a knife in his heart. Come to think of it, she hadn¡¯t received a notification or anything for that. He must have been brain dead already, the body just barely chugging along for a while, or his soul had fled, or whatever the System used to determine if a person was alive or not. She hadn¡¯t known that she¡¯d been carrying such a burden of guilt over that, but she suddenly felt lighter, like she could breathe a touch more easily. The other was that if she got to level 50, she¡¯d be untouchable. A demi-goddess. Well, ¡°practically,¡± but she could believe that. She already felt like some kind of super-heroine when she was fighting. What would it be like with a Strength and Agility above 100? Who could touch her when she¡¯d see them, hear them, smell them coming a mile away? Who could hurt her when she could no longer, in any meaningful way, be hurt? ¡°We offer Crystals, usually,¡± Messy said, answering Ana¡¯s question without missing a beat. ¡°Although the temple appreciates anything, Crystals go straight to the goddess, so they¡¯re usually considered more meaningful.¡± ¡°Straight to the goddess, huh?¡± Ana said. They¡¯d reached the alcove to the right of the statue. The small, dark man kneeling before the low altar there shuffled to the side without otherwise acknowledging them, his eyes closed in prayer or meditation. [Human Spearman (17)], Ana saw. Some kind of specialized Fighter, maybe? Messy knelt down by the Spearman and, with a small flourish, summoned a Crystal into her hand. A Lesser one, Ana thought, though she wasn¡¯t sure. Instead of immediately putting it down, Messy brought the insubstantial thing to her lips, giving it a little kiss before placing it on the altar, shifting and rotating it slightly to meet some unknown aesthetic criterion of her own. There was a brief flash in the heart of the Crystal, a light that in one instant grew to fill it and then collapsed. The Crystal went with it. Just like that, it was gone. Ana took a small, surprised breath, and Messy turned to smile up at her before rising. ¡°Thank you,¡± Messy said. ¡°We can go now.¡± Ana hesitated for a moment, then summoned a Lesser Crystal of her own. Not bothering with any ceremony, she bent down and placed it where Messy¡¯s Crystal had been just a moment earlier. ¡°Thanks for looking out for us,¡± she whispered, and with a flash her own Crystal vanished as well. Ana felt a sense of amusement and gratitude wash over her, so quickly that she might have imagined it. It vanished with the Crystal. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that.¡± Messy¡¯s smile betrayed how pleased she was. ¡°Yeah, I know, but it felt right,¡± Ana said, first looking at Messy, then turning her head at the sound of footsteps approaching. ¡°Hey, did you want something?¡± she said to the man who¡¯d approached them, a tall [Human Cleric of the Wayfarer (29)] with short, sandy hair and a slight smile on his face. He wore the same simple clothes as the other devotees she¡¯d seen in the temple. ¡°I only wanted to welcome you, Miss,¡± the man said. His voice was a smooth baritone, but he spoke in a clipped staccato that grated slightly. ¡°And you, of course, Miss Mestendi. It¡¯s rare for us to meet new worshipers outside of arrival days, so I thought that I should introduce myself. My name is Mamtass, and I have the good fortune of leading this temple of our blessed goddess. May I have your name?¡± ¡°Anastasia,¡± Ana replied. After a beat she extended her hand, which the priest shook energetically, clasping it wrist to wrist. ¡°Miss Anastasia, I couldn¡¯t help but see that you left an offering. Thank you, truly. Few show our goddess the appreciation she so richly deserves, for the amazing world of adventure and opportunity she has created for us. Are you a longtime worshiper, or a new convert?¡± ¡°Neither,¡± Ana said firmly. ¡°I thought she deserved some appreciation, like you said, but I don¡¯t worship anyone.¡± ¡°Ah, of course, of course,¡± the priest said, his smile not faltering in the slightest. ¡°All are of course welcome here, whether they consider themselves members of our congregation or not. The fact that you¡¯ve shown the Wayfarer as much respect as you have already makes you one of my favorite people in the splinter. So many, Delvers or not, take her gift for granted. Would you¡ª?¡± He turned to look at Messy, and his face turned wry. Ana glanced to her side and saw that Messy had a tight-lipped smile frozen across her face, her eyes rapidly flicking between the priest and the doors. ¡°I meant to say,¡± the priest continued without missing a beat, ¡°that if you have any questions, or if you would like to learn more about our blessed goddess or our work, here or on other splinters or in the primes, or if you would like to offer up some of your own time, you are always welcome. Our gates are open from before sunup to after sundown. Just ask anyone here, and they can help you or take you to someone who can. And now, I realize that I have taken too much of your time already. Again, Miss Anastasia, Miss Mestendi, thank you, for your consideration and for your offerings. Have an exciting day, now!¡± ¡°Yeah, you too, uh¡­ father Mamtass?¡± Ana said. ¡°What an odd form of address. Thank you!¡± the priest said, with a smile of actual, genuine amusement, before he moved off. Messy put her hand on Ana¡¯s back and gently but firmly steered her out the doors. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°I am so sorry. He¡¯s a good man but he¡¯s just always on, you know? I apologize if he was too much.¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Ana said, ¡°that¡¯s what you consider ¡®too much¡¯? Mess, if everyone who tried to get me to join their church was that cool about it, I wouldn¡¯t have been such a bitch about coming with you in the first place. He didn¡¯t even follow us out the door!¡±If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Really?¡± Messy said incredulously. ¡°They do that where you¡¯re from?¡± ¡°Honey, I¡¯ve had people tell me that I¡¯m an awful person and that my soul is damned as their opening pitch.¡± ¡°How awful,¡± Messy said, but with a pale blush and a slight smile on her face that were completely at odds with her words. ¡°So, ah,¡± Ana said quickly, realizing that calling Messy ¡°honey¡± might not have been the best idea, ¡°do you ever feel anything when you leave an offering?¡± ¡°Feel anything? Well¡­¡± Messy thought about it. ¡°A little satisfaction, I suppose. Inner peace, knowing that I¡¯ve done the right thing. It feels good, you know? Is that how you mean?¡± ¡°Not, like, gratitude, or anything like that?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah! Of course I feel gratitude. That¡¯s why I go in the first place. I¡¯m always thankful to the goddess for creating a place like this, where we can go to be away from it all, to make new lives and really be ourselves, you know? It just feels so obvious that I don¡¯t really think about it, I suppose.¡± Messy looked up at Ana, her contoured amber eyes sparkling. ¡°If you feel it too, I¡¯m happy for you. Gratitude is such a lovely feeling, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I suppose, yeah,¡± Ana said. She only had a little experience with that emotion, but for her, it had given her direction and purpose. So, yeah. It was pretty good. ¡°You know, speaking of gratitude¡­ I can¡¯t really express how thankful I am to you,¡± Messy continued. ¡°For saving me, for saving Petra and Deni¡­ this Delve could have gone bad. Real bad. And Kaira would have never forgiven herself, I¡¯m sure of it.¡± She reached out and took Ana¡¯s hands in her own. ¡°So, thank you, Ana. Truly. And I can¡¯t wait to give you those earrings. They¡¯ll look lovely on you.¡± ¡°Yeah, uh, Messy¡ª¡± Ana began, but was cut off when Messy closed the two feet between them, gave her a hug that lingered just a beat too long to be casual, then backed off. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at the baths, right?¡± Messy said, moving off to grab her things from beside the temple doors. ¡°... yeah. See you there.¡± Ana watched Messy leave by the north-eastern corner of the square, then started walking slowly toward Petra¡¯s to drop her things off. She could have followed Messy, or stopped her. Just a word, a phrase, a short sentence. ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°I need to tell you something!¡± ¡°Can we talk?¡± Anything would have done. But she¡¯d just let her go, and the longer Ana left it, the more likely it was that Messy was going to get hurt when Ana told her that she wasn¡¯t interested in anything romantic, neither love nor sex. That she was, she suspected, incapable of the first and almost entirely uninterested in the second. But friendship? She wanted that. Contrary to what most people that thought they knew her believed, Ana liked people. Sure, she liked people in the same way that she liked animals, or good music, but she still liked them. She wanted friends. But it was hard for her to maintain friendships, and getting better at that was a life-long project for her. Others seemed to have some instinct that she simply lacked. And once they got to know her, really got to know her, most people distanced themselves from her. Sure, they¡¯d smile and be polite and include her, but it was almost always out of obligation, not appreciation. She hadn¡¯t been completely lonely, though. Mr. Stamper, her boss, had appreciated her for who she was and what she could do. There were two or three people, in the company and in her MMA club, who seemed to actually like her, and who¡¯d call or text her to hang out. And out of all the people she¡¯d known, Charles, the driver, had been the one who really got her. He found people in general frustrating, and with him she could take her mask off, stop pretending, and he¡¯d be thankful for it. They could talk and understand each other, and it was great. But they were gone. Hell, Mr. Stamper would most likely kill her if he saw her. And while Kaira definitely seemed to like her, Ana had always had this sense that Kaira wanted something out of her, which had been all but confirmed when Kaira told her that she¡¯d been hoping that Ana would switch to a fighting Class. She¡¯d wanted Ana for the team. Maybe that was unfair. She wanted Ana for the team because she appreciated what she could do, and they got along. And from the sound of it Kaira made it difficult to recruit or hold on to people. It made sense that if they got along, even liked each other, which they did, Kaira wouldn¡¯t want to miss the opportunity. But Messy truly seemed to want nothing from Ana but herself, and that was something Ana wasn¡¯t used to. It was something rare and fragile and beautiful, and she didn¡¯t want to fuck it up. She was used to people wanting her just for sex. She¡¯d even give in every so often just for the physical closeness ¡ª it wasn¡¯t like she hated it, and her body responded well enough. She just didn¡¯t feel any desire of her own. But she didn¡¯t get that sense from Messy. It was probably part of it, from how Messy had looked at her, but there was also a¡­ what? A gentle, undemanding desire to just be close? Something like that. Messy was attracted to her, but she also seemed to like her. So, what if Messy took offense that Ana wasn¡¯t interested in her in the same way? What if Ana showed her real self, without the facade of normalcy that she put up, and it scared Messy off? What if she waited too long, and Messy would have been fine if Ana had just said something earlier? What if she said something now, and Messy would have been fine if she¡¯d just taken it slower, and let her get used to the idea? What if she told Messy that she only wanted to be friends, and it turned out that she¡¯d read the whole situation wrong and embarrassed both of them? What if? Fuck. Fuck. And fuck for good measure. At Petra¡¯s, Mikkel stood behind the counter, like he usually did when Petra wasn¡¯t around. And there it was. That was the way Ana was used to being looked at, though he wasn¡¯t blatant about it. But he was a fifteen-year old boy, so whatever. He handed over her key and told her that Petra had said that she hoped Ana would join her at the baths. As she dropped off most of her stuff in the room, Ana found her gun in the pouch she¡¯d kept it in. She¡¯d never even considered drawing it. Not that it would probably have done much, but even with all the violence, all the danger they¡¯d been in, Ana¡¯s first choice, every time, had been to get stuck in. She¡¯d just gone in, fighting hand to hand, high on the rush of combat and boosted Attributes. That was probably bad, but she quite frankly was in no mood for introspection. She grabbed a set of clean clothes and dropped off her key with Mikkel again before heading out. Besides the light midday crowd, only Petra and Deni were at the baths when Ana walked in, still feeling no less weird about being naked around a bunch of strangers. Deni immediately offered to wash Ana¡¯s back and help her rinse before getting in, but Ana waved her off. After getting as clean as she reasonably could, Ana plunged into the cold pool, and when she couldn¡¯t stand it anymore she slipped into the little piece of heaven that was the steaming bath. And she felt even better about it than she had before, since Sendra had told her about the various magical devices that constantly circulated, heated, and cleaned the water. No stewing in filth here ¡ª cleaning off before getting in was more about politeness, efficiency, and some kind of social grooming ritual than anything else. She made her way over to her erstwhile teammates, exchanging some simple greetings, and then just let herself relax for a while in the soothing warmth of the water. She did her best to let her concerns go down the drain with the dirt and the tension, and the rest of the team slowly drifted in. First came Sendra and Dil, scrubbing each other off before joining the growing group in the water. Then, when Messy walked in, Ana almost panicked. Should she offer to help her? Would that give the wrong signal? Or would not offering be seen as a rejection? She had just decided that, no, this was just something friends did here to bond, and she should definitely offer, when Kaira walked in a few seconds behind Messy and rendered the whole dilemma moot. The last to arrive was Rayni, who waved Ana down with a smile when she raised her eyebrows questioningly at her, and then they were all there, a somber group despite the success of their little adventure. They talked little. Simply being there, together and for each other, seemed to be enough. What they did say was either praise for particular feats that each of them had performed, or short discussions about what they¡¯d do with their Crystals, which was a common enough topic to have a name: Sell, Save, or Spend? Messy and Rayni needed the money and were selling most of theirs. Petra was doing about half and half, selling her most valuable Crystals and spending, or ¡°eating,¡± the rest. Dilmik and the group¡¯s mages were going all out on spending. Dilmik apparently qualified to change to an Administrator Class already, but there was some really good organizational Ability at level 15 that she didn¡¯t want to miss out on. Deni, of course, was going to reset her Class and start over as an Evoker and needed everything she could get. Sendra just wanted to get stronger. And Kaira¡­ ¡°Here,¡± Kaira said, holding her hand out to Deni. There was a small pile of Least Crystals and Shards in it. ¡°This is what I got for the whole Delve. Not much, but it¡¯ll help you along a little. Take it from someone who¡¯s reset: those first levels suck!¡± ¡°Oh, gods, Kaira! I can¡¯t! Please¡ª¡± Deni, of course, protested, but finally gave in with profuse thanks. The mood had risen slightly when it absolutely plummeted again. They were all about to leave and go their separate ways when a muscular woman walked in, pale and with long, black hair, and it seemed to Ana that all eyes were on her as she mechanically rinsed off. Ana vaguely recognized her, but it wasn¡¯t until the newcomer had gotten in the water and curled up on herself in a corner, her eyes empty, that Ana recognized her. The woman was a [Human Bulwark (20)]. This was one of Jancia¡¯s two teammates, from The Living Daylights. And she was alone, and broken.