by Taj McCoy El
“In the meantime, let’s keep ourselves busy. Wanna find a quest? or go farm?” Mo asked his compatriots.
“beep- Maybe a farm-quest? It’s the best of both worlds. L-O-L-O-L. -boop”
Mephi looked at the floating circuit board and grimaced. "I hate to admit it but, bot-ulism is right.”
Ziggurast rotated its front side to Mephi without changing the direction in which he was floating. “beep- How did it go down? -boop”
Mephi looked puzzled. “How did what go down?”
“beep- The crow you just swallowed. Ha ha ha ha ha. -boop”
“You floating box of bolts.” Mephi visibly and olfactorily bristled.
“C’mon guys, cut it out,” Mo begged his party as he came to a halt holding his nose. “Let’s split up and see what quests we can find, and then go fetch.”
Mephi muttered, “Fine,” and spun, walking off in a huff.
Mo looked away from the skunkman to Ziggurast. “Ziggs, Why do you have’ta drecking torment him?”
Light pulsed around Ziggurast’s circuits for a moment, and then it responded, “beep- Partially because it’s so easy. Partially because he has a spear up his scent gland. -boop”
“What have I gotten myself into?” Mo muttered to himself.
“beep- Don’t worry about it, bro. -boop” Ziggurast floated away.
“What do you mean don’t worry?”
“beep- HA HA HA HA HA. -boop,” it droned as it floated away.
“Ziggs, what do you mean?” Mo yelled after him. Mo watched as Ziggurast ignored him into the distance and turned left onto the street opposite the one Mephi took.
He shook his head again. I wonder if this is the right team for me?
Taking a look around he picked the only other street left available for choosing and walked straight ahead. He kept his eyes open for anyone in need. For anyone in need, was sure to have a quest. After an hour of walking twilight was hitting the city making the shadows long and small lights were starting to wink on above doors in the darkness. Further down he saw what looked like a street lamp flicker on above the road. The light was bright but had a pale green tint to it.
As he wandered, people came and went, travelling about their business. The shops in this direction were getting fewer and fewer in between. Maybe it’s time to head back and check out another street.
He turned down a side street to look for another avenue back to his friends and fill in more of his map. There were less people here, less lights, and more shadows. Mo felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He kept going though, sure he would be able to handle himself enough to get away from any dangers he couldn’t put down. Ahead of him, he saw an empty space between the houses. Approaching, he came to see it wasn’t empty. The house was setback about twenty feet from the street. In the hollow that was formed there were six fellows sitting on makeshift chairs around makeshift tables.
“Oi ain’t never seen’t youse round ‘ere before,” a weaselly looking man said as he stood up. A red bandanna was wrapped atop his greasy looking hair. And he wore a dirty mustard colored canvas trench coat over a dingy white tank top. He stepped out into Mo’s path.
“Ya’dressed a bit funny. Are’youse lost?”
“No,” Mo said moving to walk past the man. “Just out for a walk.”
“Youse don’t wanna walk that way.” The man stepped in front of Mo again, this time with his arms spread wide making his trench coat fall open exposing a large pointy knife. Mo took a step back.
“Wot’sa matter? Are’ya’kay?” the weasel asked him. The weasel’s friends were standing up and making their way over.
Mo looked back at the weasel looking for an escape route of least resistance. “Look I just got here today, and I have quests to find. I don’t have time for this.”
The weasel smiled like he just won the lottery. “Did’youse jus’ say quests?” He waved his buddies over. “Oy…lookie ‘ere you lot. This’uns one’a those paladins.” The shifty looking character’s eyes looked around at his friends as they circled Mo. They were all shifty looking in some way. Some had shifty eyes, others seemed to carry their shifty like the cudgels they displayed on their belts. Some of these Shift-wits were regular sized, one was definitely not. Even from a distance that one loomed over Mo’s six-foot frame with large hands and small eyes that seemed too close together.
Red bandana spoke again catching Mo’s attention, “Oi’ve ‘eard that you lot come back to loife if youse doie. Is it tru’ue?” The true had two syllables that modulated like a bird call.
This is not good. “Look I don’t want any trouble,” he said as peaceably as he could.
The giant behemoth who had somehow made it behind him reached out and placed his hand on Mo’s right shoulder. “We‘on’t want any trouble eever.” His voice deep, slow, and a bit dopey came through a smile promising all kind of trouble. That was when Mo decided.
As quick as Mo could he spun left snatching his shoulder from the behemoths grip. He followed through with a right hook to his nose. The behemoth staggered backwards.
You have attacked
Treegan
Level: 37
-62DP speed punch
????/????HP
Mo ignored the message and dropped into a fighting stance and saw his opponents looking at him in horror. The giant fellow pressed his hands to his nose squinting his eyes to hold back tears. Their faces aghast as they collectively gasped, stepping back from him.
“WHA’DID’YA’DO’THA’FOR…???” The weaselly guy ran to the behemoth and pulled out a hanky for his tears.
Wait, what…? That’s not the reaction I was expecting.
“He hid me in my nose,” the behemoth said covering his nose with both hands. His eyes were on the verge of full-blown tears. Mo’s jaw dropped.
The weasel spun on him. “Is that what youse paladins are loike? Oi thought it moight be noice to find a paladin and treat’em classy loike. But it looks like oi was sadly mistaken. Ya just went and punched one of sweetest souls ever ta walk Majesta.” The weasel placed a hand on the hilt of his knife sneering at Mo.
“I…I’m sorry…I thought…” Oh boy. Wow…did I ever misread this situation. Mo looked back and forth at the Majestans who shared looks with various degrees of disappointment and apprehension. “Look I truly am sorry. I thought that you were surrounding me.”
“O’course, we were surrounding youse!!!” The weasel yelled with a hand on the hilt of his knife. Making Mo pull back. “We wan’ed to get a bloody look at’ya. You’re the first ruttin’ paladin oi’ve ever laid moy eyes on. Ya cain’t go ‘round punching people for saying ‘ello. It’s just poor manners, it is.”
Mo squared up his shoulders and turned to the behemoth. Slowly he walked forward, hands at his side. He bowed at the waist in the Japanese style, "I apologize for punching you. I was afraid that I was in danger. I am new to this world and haven’t understood all its ways yet. If you could forgive me of my trespass, I would be forever grateful.”
He stayed bowed, waiting for a response. When none came, he looked up at the huge fellow whose small teary eyes were trained on him.
“Truce?” Treegan asked looking into Mo’s eyes for any sign of deception.
A Knocker’s Truce
You have been offered a Knocker’s truce. It is a truce offered when any Knocker’s members quarrel and wish to end the disagreement.
Do you accept?
Y/N?
"I accept your truce.” Mo said with a final bow before standing. The behemoth smiled like a kid in a candy store. Mo smiled back at him, feeling like he had just made a new friend.
“Oy!” The weasel whistled to get Mo’s attention. He rapidly fanned his fingers up and down in front of his chest. “Ya moight regret tha’ in’na minute.”
“Why?”
“Well,” The leader began scratching the whole underside of his chin and throat, “when a Knocker offers truce, it’s usually b’cause some git was in the wrong. And o
’course, we ‘ave to settle things loike men. So, when the o’ffending party comes to end their shenanigans the member who was o’ffended will be given the recompense of one blow.”
“One blow? Wait, he…?” his finger pointed at the larger fellow then back at his own face.
“That’s pretty much the gist uv’it, me lad” The behemoth walked towards Mo cracking his knuckles and smiled again. This time when he saw the smile, he was not misreading it.
Gnarls, he thought. He tried to Guard himself, but a system message flashed, and he was held rigid, His arms were locked at his side as he tried to block. The giant wound up his fist, leaning back to get a good swing. Mo kept struggling but couldn’t budge an inch. It was if he was locked in concrete. His heart pounded in his ears.
“Heeeeeeee….” The giant let out a deep, little chuckle through his big dopey smile, he saw the fist begin to move, and then everything snapped to black with a flash of pain.
…
“So, how did their visit go?” Delilah asked Josh as he walked into her private office. Josh closed the door and sat on the couch.
“It went pretty good, considering.” He wore a tiny smile as his eyes wandered to an empty corner.
“What’s on your mind?” Delilah looked over her glasses at him.
“Oh, nothing.” He glanced back at her.
“Have you forgotten who you’re talking too? I know that look all too well. Spit it out before it eats you alive.”
Josh chuckled at her familiarity. “It’s just that the Butlers have such an amazing family and I’m hoping to one day have the same,” he said this pointedly while searching Delilah’s eyes.
It was Delilah’s turn to blush as she looked away from him. "I think that’s what we’re all hoping for.” Her face grew a small smile that spoke volumes about her love for Josh. His heart ba-thumped quickly in his chest making his breath stutter. And he turned the conversation away from their lovely impasse.
“How are the plans for the unit coming?”
“Fairly well considering we’ve barely had a day to put something together.” She swiped at her desk and threw the file to a wall display. From there she made a pulling motion and a 3D holographic representation floated out of the wall, blossoming into the middle of the room.
“We’re creating a clamp that will attach to the probe in the receptor and drill small holes in its shell. Then we can extend scanning filaments inside the body of the probe. The clamp looked like an extruded “C” the inside of which looked like it was covered with tiny hairs. Josh Knew from his previous work with Delilah, that each one of those hairs had multiple uses. There would be enzymatic as well as mechanical drills of differing sizes, at least nine different fiber optic visualization tools, modular scanning capabilities and nano fingers which would do any probing work with a feathery touch.
“How long before we’re ready to test it?” Josh asked.
“This first model is printing on the CadMod now. After we determine its viability for use, update the design removing any flaws we find,” She pulled up a screen of numbers for inspection, “and we should ready a few hours after that. If the med team is ready.”
“I’ll get their eta for the procedure and get the Butlers to sign off on it.” He came over and placed both hands on her desk. He loved her office. It smelled faintly of her favorite perfume. He smiled, knowing he would smell of it for a bit after he left.
“Good job, Delilah. Not that you do anything less than stellar, but could you run through it once more to make sure I understand it.”
A faint smile rose to her face. “Well, I’m fairly certain that you have a better grip on it than anyone, besides myself of course.” She stood and walked around the desk to stand in front of Josh. She removed her glasses and looked directly into his eyes. “But you are the boss and I like my job. So, I believe that I have a few more minutes to spend on the explanation.”
Josh fell into those eyes as she explained the clamp again. Though this time was more for his enjoyment than his edification.
8.5 Testing… Testing…
Even though the sky was still light, the campsite had fallen into true darkness. The temperature while cooler was by no means chilly and the Royal Death Claws had finished taking stock of all their belongings and sorted it into personal bundles for each of them to carry. Grax was using a piece of firewood as a base to hook his engravers vise and was engraving stilettos for Mayah to enchant. Margaret was tallying the supplies and making a list for each of them to have. Mayah was studying her book of runes.
Ding!!!
Your party has defeated
Skaduweesp
Level:10
XP: +50
2496XP till next level
“Geez she’s not gonna stop, is she?” Grax chuckled. “Not that I’m complaining, at all. I’m loving level 17.”
“Fluff, why do you think she’s still going?” Margaret asked their diminutive leader.
“I’m not sure but her timer for being summoned is still at zero.” Mayah checked the timer once more to make sure it was still zeroed out. She hadn’t noticed until Vergie made a kill after her timer should have run out. It had been an hour since then. This was Vergie’s 104th kill and the team were all level 17 now. “It may be location specific. …Or a glitch. At this point I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. I’m going to take whatever XP I can before this gravy boat runs aground.”
“Hear, hear…” Grax leaned over and gave her a fist bump. “Found any good runes yet?”
“A few but it looks like I’m going to have to try some combinations of runes to get the desired effect. It’s weird though, it seems like some of the runes should be in different paths. For instance, I have the rune death three times, but it’s listed as an air shadow and water rune. I also have air and light as water runes and life as an earth rune. The more I read it. The more I feel like I’m missing something. I’ll be able to experiment next time we have to battle. I’m thinking that we should prep all day tomorrow and go experiment at twilight.”
“Speaking of tomorrow, it’s almost my bedtime,” Grax sighed. "I wish I could stay in here like you guys…I mean ladies.”
Mayah scowled at Grax who saw the look and became agitated. Mayah looked to Margaret her look softening and said, “He’s almost trained. Soon, we can release him into the wild.” She wiped a non-existent tear from her eye. “They grow up so fast these days.”
Margaret spit out her non-existent drink and rolled onto her side doubled over with laughter. Grax slit his eyes at Mayah. A flash of light reflected in them sliced through the air towards Mayah like katanas in the moonlight. She parried it with a condescending sneer and a Hmmph of disdain that curled around whipping back at Grax. Grax flinched. Mayah smiled victoriously as Grax bowed his head.
Grax, who was looking at the ground, finally said, “So, what about that duel?”
The air dropped out of the clearing. Margaret instantly stopped laughing and sat up, looking back and forth at the two with rapt attention. Grax lifted his head and gave Mayah a cocky smile, full of feline confidence.
Mayah, dropped her head for a second. Mwahahahaha-aha…Okay, okay pull it together. Don’t let him see the twinkle in your eye. Look slightly ambivalent. A little mad and a little ready for vengeance.
She raised her head and met Grax’s arrogant stare and said, “Bet…” with a nod.
Grax swaggered to one side of the clearing, turned and made a bow. As he stood up, he equipped all his armor. The bandit mask covering his face except for his patronizing smile. The very smile she was gonna wipe the floor with. Grax didn’t know it yet but he had just signed up to test some runes.
Mayah spun while writing two runes, one on each palm. One was Fire (A). It would add an intense burst of superheated air for twenty seconds. As she returned to center, she activated the Shield (F) rune. Her fire shield came to life, she equipped happiness and ran towards Grax.
Grax stood there smirking calmly as he had seen Sh
ield (F) before. He finally moved when he felt the heat from the princess. He drew his katanas as Mayah wound up for her strike. As soon as she committed, he teleported above her. Before he could do anything, Mayah triggered the Fire (A) rune.
Mayah’s Shield (F) instantly exploded with heat, her form bursting with flames that reached out three feet on all sides of her. Grax fell directly into the fires and they burnt him with incredible pain. He almost missed Mayah’s rotation. She had planted her foot and continued her swing in an upward arc. In mid-air there was nothing he could do, so he braced for impact.
He felt happiness clobber him in the gut, cartwheeling him through the air. He landed with a splat and bounced three feet from his point of impact. His fur was charred and smoky. She quickly read the damage report.
You have attacked
Graxiel Destruir
-185DP Crushing Blow
-75DP Fire (A)
-3DP Shield (F)
-263DP
As Grax pulled himself to his feet he read the damage report. Mayah stood there waiting for him. He wiped his paw across his snout like Bruce Lee and froze. He patted his face with both paws. He suddenly gave Mayah a look that would make the devil need new shorts. He was shaking uncontrollably. Mayah took a step back getting set for his charge. And charge he did.
“MY WHISKERS…!!!” he yelled, throwing every stiletto he had at her. Luckily for Mayah he was mostly out of stillacids. She deflected those she could and even with the ones that missed because of his anger she was taking a pounding. She reached into her bag and pulled out a delivery parcel and tossed it at Grax.
