Blood and Cupcakes
Page 42
“M’kay…” She muffled through the bear hug. She reached up to pat the older woman on the back to calm her and extricated her face from her chest.
“I’m okay—it’s okay. I just got to level five in runes and went to the Hall of Runes. Everything is fine.”
“Oh, thank god, I was scared witless! You just froze and a barrier popped up when I tried to get to you.” She finally released Mayah and went to sit down in her chair to catch her breath.
“So, where were we?” Mayah pondered. “Ah yes, talking about quitting time!”
“Yes, I could definitely use a rest.” Margaret’s body slumped from exhaustion.
“it’s a good time to feed your real body. We're gonna need you back here for the tournament, though.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, dear. Are you going to be alright by yourself?”
“Should be. I’m just gonna enchant some stuff before I head back to the dorms. Speaking of, leave your leathers here. I’ve got some ideas.”
“When don’t you?” They laughed and Margaret helped clean up. Then Margaret gave her a hug and exited the game.
Mayah looked at the pile of weapons. It was a stack of work that only she could do. Well, if I can’t enchant them all, at least we’ll have spares ready if we really need them.
Sitting in the quiet smithy she pulled out Grax’s swords. Now that I won’t be distracted, let’s do some fine tuning. She used Analyze on the sword and all of its characteristics popped up.
Name: Cat’s Claws
Type: Katana (Set of 2)
Grade: C (Common)
Material: Steel
Weight: 3.2 pounds (each)
Damage: 15 slashing /17 stabbing
Durability: 87/90
How come his starting weapon was so much better than mine? Maybe it’s because mine was enchanted, or it was from a kid’s game. Anyways.
She turned the sword over and over in her hand and looked at it from every angle. She withdrew the sword from the sheath and a small menu popped up.
Analyze complete
Would you like to add plans to your drafting table?
Y/N?
She pressed yes and her vision was filled with a blueprint of the sword. It showed multiple angle views and the weights and balances of the sword.
“Sweet… Mama’s gonna have fun tonight,” she said rubbing her hands together.
She quickly opened all of the tabs on the bottom of her screen and found what she was looking for—the “Add Components” button. She quickly drew the rune for Spike (W) in the entry field. She dragged the rune from the box that appeared in her components tab on the main page to the flat of the sword and set it in the right place. She repeated that action three more times, flipping the sword to put two on the other side.
She then added the rune for Hold (E) to the components tab and placed one of those runes on each side of the sword, drawing a line that followed the bevel and encircled the edge of the blade. She then circled the runes and connected them to the larger focal point. Finishing that, she found the simulation tab.
Clicking it in the simulation tab there were empty slots with the word “Load” inside of them. She pressed the first empty slot and it gave her options to load a plan into the simulator. She selected the only plan she had and pressed select.
The sword appeared in the simulation slot. She clicked on it and a button appeared. It simply said, “Run Simulation.” She did so happily. The sword spun, showing it from every angle. It began to flash faster and faster. Finally, a window popped up.
Simulation Results
Simulation shows that this weapon will inflict ice damage, slashing damage, and stabbing damage. Item will also reduce movement.
Simulation Probability: 50%
So that means there is a 50% chance this will work. But since my probability is limited to 50% accuracy, true probability could be much higher than that. ‘Kay, I’m gonna go for it.
She pulled out Grax’s sword and set about making marks in pencil detailing where she saw the runes going, and then paused. She activated Analyze and thought about the plans she had drawn up. An overlay came into her vision and settled on the sword matching it exactly.
This is going to make engraving much easier.
She tore into the sword, making perfect cut after perfect cut. When she finished, she analyzed it again. She saved the plans and began to enchant the sword. She triggered Arm which made the runes glow brightly, and the enchantment settled into the sword with an icy click. Frost formed on the edge of the blade, and white wisps of cold rolled off of the sword.
Ding!!!
Weapon Upgraded
Name: Fang of the Snow Tiger
Type: Katana
Enchantment #1: Spike (W)
Enchantment #2: Hold (E)
Grade: B (unique)
Material: Steel
Weight: 3.1 pounds
Damage: 15 slashing /18 stabbing / 7 ice and freezing damage per second (DPS) over 20 seconds and lowering target's speed by 8% for 40 seconds (stackable)
Durability: 87/88
It lowered the durability and the effect isn’t as strong for the sword as it was for the stiletto. Maybe it has to do the area of the containment circle? Hmmm… Well an upgrade is an upgrade. Get back to it, cupcake.
She locked the second sword into the vice and repeated the process.
Ding!!!
Weapon Upgraded
Name: Fang of the Snow Tiger
Type: Katana (Set of 2)
Enchantment #1: Spike (W)
Enchantment #2: Hold (E)
Grade: B (rare)
Material: Steel
Weight: 3.3 pounds
Damage: 15 slashing /18 stabbing / 7 ice and freezing damage per second (DPS) over 20 seconds and lowering target's speed by 8% for 40 seconds (stackable)
Durability: 88/88
Well, Grax better be happy Even with the durability drop this is actually a really good weapon.
She put the swords back into the scabbards and placed them by the door to John’s office.
She turned to the pile of unenchanted equipment. Maybe I can enchant while I walk. She slowly cleaned up the mess she had made, enchanting objects whenever her mana regenerated enough. When she had everything in her bag she went back to her dorm room, charging arrow after knife after stone as she walked.
She fell on her bed—So comfy. Her head lolled to the side and her eyes opened for a moment and she spied the crate of Maam’s things. She wearily sat back up. It was after three a.m. and there was so much to do before the tournament.
Well, no pressure, right?
She decided to enchant one weapon and then one bobbin so she would be killing two birds with one stone. Besides, when she woke up, Grax could come here and engrave while she enchanted.
She finished up the last of Maam’s things at twenty after four and enchanted until five. She sent Grax and Margaret a message to get her at 11 and for Grax to pick up his swords at the smithy and test them out.
With that all done she laid down and fell asleep.
…..
Carelton leaned back in his seat stretching his hands over his head, and asked Sheriece, “How are the ports for the tournament looking?”
“They’ve been finished for five minutes now. I’m just tweaking her I/O stats to make sure there’s no lag.”
“Good. Keep up the good work.”
Ronald walked in to the hub and over to Sheriece’s terminal holding a drink carrier. “Would anyone like to make a wager against Mayah?” he said, handing her the cup of precious caffeinated life blood.
“You didn’t just ask me that.” Sheriece looked aghast as she took the drink from Ronald and went right back to work, ignoring him completely. It was probably because she had manners and decency, something that Ronald didn’t even seem to notice as he was in short supply.
“Well, since I’m betting on her I’m hoping someone is stupid enough to take the bet. Only the online idiots
have bitten so far. So many people want to see her get served it’s ridiculous. I’m gonna make a bundle.”
He handed out the coffees he was carrying.
“Don’t you look chipper after two hours of sleep and a shower?” Kyle said with his arm outstretched for his tasty, hot beverage
“And don’t you look like the same ugly mug I left here hours ago?” He handed Kyle his coffee along with the friendly insult. He sat down at his console and took a sip of his coffee.
“Speaking of online fools, has anyone checked the standings for Mayah’s village?” Ronald asked.
“Not really,” Kyle said over his shoulder. “Registration is still slow. I would check again in an hour.”
“I’ll just take your advice on that. How are the ports working out ‘Riece?’”
“Mostly finished. Just tweaking their latency a bit. And I’ve already told you, if you’re going to shorten my name, don’t use Reese. That’s my father’s name, ‘Nald.’”
Ronald sucked his teeth at the newly-minted nickname.
Sheriece looked up from her data. “Must be nice to have a whole farm of mind cores to run your gaming session—except for the major downside of being stuck in the game.” Sheriece’s eyebrows knit together in thought over that one, then she returned to work.
“Well, thanks for your take on the situation ‘Nald,’” Carelton said, voice laced with sarcasm, “but would you mind checking the volatility index on the Ouroboros? We don’t want to have a relapse because we missed something.”
“Sure thing, boss.” Nald took a sip of coffee, cracked his knuckles, and got back to work.
Day Seven
Fools Rush In Where Angels Tie Their Shoes
Patience puts a crown on the head.
- Ugandan proverb
7.1 A Name…???
Mayah awoke to a gentle knocking on her door.
“Gimme a minute,” she mumbled loudly.
She stood wearily, stumbled to the door, and opened it to find Margaret and Grax standing outside.
“Well, come on in. we’ve got work to do,” she said drily, doing nothing to suppress her yawn.
Grax took one look at the digital bags under her eyes and snarked, “Well aren't you all sunshine and buttercups?”
“Maybe I might be if someone was engraving along with us last night,” she shot right back.
Margaret hurried through the door, shutting down the argument before it blossomed into a fiasco. “I saw your message, dear. Is that what time you went to bed?”
“Yeeeee-up,” Mayah said through another yawn.
“You poor thing. I stopped by to see Cloutus and he said to bring you this.” She pulled a thermos out of her bag.
“Ooh, what is it?”
“Some hot tea, dear. That should perk you right up. I think he said it was buff tea. Weird name for a tea.” She shook her head and handed the warm thermos to Mayah who sat back down on the bed.
Mayah inspected the thermos and found a sticker that had a majestic rooster with two swords crossed in the background and said, “Beware Chickens.” That’s weird. Funny, but weird.
She opened the thermos. “He probably meant the tea would give me a buff.”
“A buff?”
“A buff is a plus to your stats, abilities or regen rates. Like we get at the tavern.” She poured a cup and took a sip of the tea, “Mmmmf… you’ve got to try this. Boosts stamina and mana regen.”
“Good thing I also brought pastries,” Grax smiled
“Look at you, carrying your weight,” Mayah said over her cup of tea.
Grax just smiled as Margaret poured herself a cup.
“Cloutus also said that your idea is brilliant, and he’s started the patent paperwork already. He had a nice, long talk with the owner of the magical and general supply store. The two of them hit it off quite nicely. He offered him a nice discount for information about going rates. There might be a partnership in the works.”
“I’m glad that’s panning out. That should help us stay in the money. For a little longer. ...someday.” The timeline on it all was still rather sub-optimal for her needs.
“So, what are we doing today?” Margaret asked.
“Wait,” an annoyed Grax interjected loudly. Both ladies turned to stare at the cat. “Can I get a cup first?”
“Of course, dear, I apologize.” She passed the thermos to Grax.
“Oh, do continue.” She gave Mayah her whole attention.
“Okay, I planned it out last night: we’re going to use my room as our workshop. You two will be engraving and I’ll be enchanting. Grax did you try out your blades?”
“Well about that…” He pulled the katanas out of his bag. They were covered with ice. They looked like ice clubs with sword hilts instead of freezing blades.
“When I got to the smithy they were sitting next to the forge. John was complaining a bit because they froze into the floor around his door. It took him half an hour to get them unstuck without breaking them, then another half an hour just to thaw them enough to get the blades free of the scabbards. He said you need some fire runes on the scabbard to keep the enchantment contained. But I did try them out at the smithy. John and I were both highly impressed.”
“I’m gonna have to go apologize to him.”
“Yeah, you probably should.”
“And I also have to see if I have something that will work for keeping the blades from freezing. We’re gonna need those blades in action.”
Grax nodded in agreement.
“Let’s get started; we’ve only got ‘til two or three. Then we need to make sure we get registered, and there’s a lot to do before then.”
“Where are we going to work?” Grax asked, waving a hand around her room.
Mayah put her hand on her desk and called up her settings menu. She widened her desk and added another chair so two people could sit at it comfortably. There was just enough room for the door to have clearance.
“How’s that?”
“Looks good to me,” he nodded
“It’s perfect, dear,” Margaret smiled.
“Well then, get to work.” She clapped her hands abruptly. “Time is going to run out quicker than you think.” She dumped a bunch of arrows, knives and grenades on the bed and got down to business.
Three hours is gonna go by in a blink.
…..
“Margaret, how many times can you cast Resurrection Doll in an hour?” Mayah asked without moving her eyes from her work.
“It doesn't have any cooldown. So as long as I have mana, I can cast.”
“Good, we're gonna need to store some spells. The good news is that we’ll have some time between matches to do that as well. Now, let’s talk strategy. I’m gonna be making some Acid (D) grenades that explode more Acid (D) grenades which in turn explodes even more Acid (D) grenades. If we had more it would make a bigger boom but we don’t so we're going with one “Acid (D) Bloom” for the tournament. But we're saving that for any major obstacles. We’ll divvy up the rest of the grenades and we’ll put some on your arrows, Mags. I wish I had more time to go over my new runes, but I’m not gonna depend on anything I haven’t tested yet. It’s a good thing we already have the Kitty-in-a-hood strategy.”
Grax looked puzzled.
“You ride in my hood and when things get dicey, you go for a teleport and Shadow Step all slicey-dicey over our opponents.”
Grax nodded his understanding.
“Margaret, you're going to be turning everybody into pincushions. The explosions from the reanimating arrows will hopefully stun our opponents and let your dolls get them while they’re down. Use the silver imps as your first arrow—That’ll slow them down a bit. Go after any support or ranged paladins, mages, archers, healers, and the like first.”
Margaret also nodded her understanding. “I shot an arrow in the air, it fell to earth I know not where.”
“If you feel like shooting an arrow up in the air you better know where it’s gonna land,”
Mayah reprimanded her. “If not, a zombie will fall from the sky and crush one of us.”
“Children these days have no culture. That’s a famous poet…”
“...Henry Wadsworth Longfellow,” Mayah cut her off before she could get started. “Yeah, yeah Mags, I prefer Saul Williams. But…” She got a glint in her eye. “If you can make an aerial attack work…”
Grax and Margaret could actually see the gears turn in Mayah’s head.
“The dust spiders would be good for that. As for me, I’ll be protecting Margaret with Shield (F) and good old body parts.”
“We really need a tank,” Grax moaned.
Mayah waved her hand in the air like she was in church. “That’s what I’ve been saying.”
“What’s a tank?” Margaret of the Ever-Noobs asked.
“Someone to soak up damage. They usually have skills to draw aggro and take a beating, real tough guys. Not too fast—but sturdy. Imagine a knight in full plate armor, kinda like Travisty but protecting you and not being a jerk. That’s where we’ll be using silver imps. Singularly they’re not that strong but with... Mags how many dolls can you cast?”
“Seven for now.”
“You’re a bad necromancer,” Grax said shaking his head.
“You don’t say?” Margaret rolled her eyes.
“Hush, Grax. But he does have a point. We need your dolls to win. If you had cast it some more, you might have had ten or twelve dolls by now. And the fifth level Resurrection Doll skill. Which is what by the way?”
“Cloutus won’t tell me anything except it’s a DOT. And you’re right, I should have been leveling my dolls, but I still don't like them. Have you been close enough to smell them? Narsty...”
“Then let the narsty monsters stand in the way of any harm to our mutual safety. Use THEM …to save US?”
“Okay, okay….” Margaret said with a tinge of frustration.
“Mags, what happens when you cast an eighth doll?”
“It would cancel out the first doll I called. I can also selectively drop a doll and then pick it up later. That might be a good strategy. Let them get an easy hit to attack them from behind later.”