After a little involuntary jump, and maybe a yelp, I extended my hand to shake hers, “deal, but for the record, I’ve been asking for that since the…” and here I whispered, blushing myself, “you know… ‘burrito’ incident.” We shuddered involuntarily just thinking back to that incredibly awkward conversation. It had the desired effect though, making her grimace, as I chuckled.
“So, this is you? Huh, System, so where were we.” I said, hoping to get back on topic, while being as awkward as possible. I offered her a seat on the log next to the fire with me as I sat down. The log being long enough to seat both of us with a meter between us.
“My name is Tabby, thank you very much,” she informed me, shrugging her shoulders as she sat and continued. “The reason for all this, as I said before, is to preserve life. As to how. Well, us, of course.”
Chapter Nine
“Okay, care to elaborate on the ‘us’ part,” I shook my head, realizing what she had named herself. “Really, of all the names, you pick Tabby, you know I hate cats.” Yeah, it was a lot to take in. The system, no, Tabby—have to get used to that—had ‘her’ a body apparently. This topped anything I ever thought could happen. That mixed with the conversation we had been having earlier should have fried my brain. Luckily, I had two things going for me. One, as I had stated previously, as a Gess, my genes numbed mental trauma the same way they would any other pain. Two, and most importantly, after two deaths with all the memories of the lives I had lived, it was easier to accept than you might think. “I mean, why not Phoenix? You did rise from the ashes after all.” She wasn’t paying me any attention, ignoring my questions.
Gracefully, yet cautiously, she walked over to the fire, warming her hands. “Do you know how many bodies I have seen fire through.” She asked, eyes focused on mine yet her voice coming out in a whisper. “The number is so big that it doesn’t have a name, just a magnitude,” she paused, pulling her hands away. Shaking them as if slightly burned. “And yet, this is nothing like all those times. I think I understand the word primal in a much deeper way.” She stopped talking, turned her back to the fire and walked back to the log, sitting with her back against it, straightening her legs out. Leaning back to look at me while she spoke, she began, “I guess that first quest makes more sense now doesn’t it.” Prompts filled my vision.
Quest Completed (Ongoing): Keep your friend company.
●Bonus reward: 600exp
You have reached level three! Good for you!
EXP Earned: 600
EXP Total: 2000
EXP Until Next Level: 2000
“No more freebies. No more quests, at least for a while. Things are different now. While I am in this body, the nanites that you refer to as ‘the system’ are no longer sentient. At least, not in the same way. The system still works, it’s just on... autopilot if you will.” She paused there, looking deeply into my eyes, measuring my every movement. “So, will you help me, or am I going to have to kill you?” She said with a blindingly bright smile that in no way met her eyes.
I didn’t answer at first, carefully controlling my emotions. Doing my best to show that I took what she had said seriously, I leaned forward, my elbows on my knees as I looked over my shoulder at her. “You did go through a lot of trouble, so I guess it’s only right,” I replied seriously, letting out a breath of relief as the smile was finally seen in her eyes as well. Eyes I could get lost in, I thought. Then, deciding to just go for it, I said. “I’m going to be honest with you, though. I find you extremely desirable and would like to… well, court you. I know it sounds corny and weird, but well... I’m not particularly good at this.” I stopped, noticing her blushing as she looked away from me.
“Noted,” she said with a little giggle. Thank Gebus. That could have gone better, or much worse. I shuddered as I felt my cheeks heat as well.
“Alright, so, our mission is to bring the wisdom of the ages to the masses. Did I get that right?” I paused, watching her nod, trying my hardest to change the subject. “Okay, then how do we go about that? First, though, is it safe around here?” I asked. Remembering the monsters I had fought not too long ago.
“Before I placed my cognizance into this body, I did a last sweep of a five-mile radius around this area. After the three I sent to you, there is nothing left that would attack us. So, as safe as being in the wild can be.” Tabby stopped, looking away. She sighed softly before continuing. “Look Rho, there is going to be a lot of dangerous… things out there, and well, it will be your job to take care of them.” Tabby looked back over to me, smiling sadly while, playfully knocking her feet together as she continued talking. “I’m a combat healer so my job is to keep us alive. Though just like you, I can’t share my screen to show you the extent of my abilities, but you’re aware of their capabilities. There was at least one per squad in the war.” She finished, looking back at the fire. Picking up a stick, she threw it into the flames, sighing contentedly as she relaxed.
I watched her for a few seconds before turning to the fire, lost in my own thoughts. Tabby was right, though, I was well aware of what a combat healer was. It was a magic support class, a lot like mine, just healing based rather than dealing damage. No heavy armor, only a mace for weapons proficiency, I don’t think she has the finesse ability that I got from the specialized training though, with four spells, Heal, Cure, Purify, and Restore if I remembered correctly. I didn’t know what her abilities were, or anything else about her character sheet, and since she didn’t seem to want to talk about it, I left it alone. After a minute of comfortable silence, I asked a follow up question. “You talked about me doing the killing, well not exactly, but I guess that was what you were getting at. And you’re a healer,” I paused, looking at her, trying to read her reactions, “so, I take it this is going to be pretty difficult.”
“Pfft. Nah.” Tabby waved it off, unworriedly. “Those creatures I sent were a baseline. A test if you will. There are few things on this planet that could truly kill you with your ability. Add to that your combat experience.” She whistled, “Even at your low level, your training is still there.” Grinning impishly at me, she continued, “it will be very difficult, don’t think otherwise, but it should be manageable.”
She stood up, looking me up and down, brushing her hands off as she said, “For now, however, you are going to learn a weapon smithing skill. Then forge us weapons, with that metal I gave you.”
“Gave me,” I snorted, a playful grimace on my face. “I almost blew myself to bits earning that metal.” Even though I knew that the metal given to me was way above what I should have received, she didn’t need to know that. Plus, there’s nothing wrong with a little teasing. “Weapon smithing? How am I going to do that?” I shook my head just thinking about it. I had never been a crafter in either of my lives, so had no idea where to even start.
“Well, I do have some…” she paused then stressed the word, “tricks up my sleeve. So, quit moaning,” she teased with a dismissive wave of her hand, walking to where the chunks of metal were. Bending over, Tabby lifted the twenty-five-pound titanium chunk with no effort. Turning back to me, she covered about half the distance between us before stopping again. “Now, watch. Look at the particles in the metal with your magical senses on. Then you will see how to become a weaponsmith with the skills you possess.”
I turned my perception on, then asked her to stop. “Can you wait a minute so I can level?”
“Sure.” Tabby said with a grin and a shrug, tossing the metal from hand to hand.
“Thanks,” I replied as I pulled up an abbreviated version of my character sheet.
Character sheet:
Name: Rho
Race: Gess
Class: Combat Sorcerer
Level: 3
Total Experience: 2,000
Age: 3,573
Base speed: 30’/s
Weight: 220lb
Spell Slots: 16/16
Healing factor: 6in^3 × con bonus (3) = 18in^3 per min. Raising by 2in^3 per l
evel.
Eighteen cubic inches.
Maximum achieved at level five.
Attributes:
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 16
Constitution: 16
Intelligence: 16
Wisdom: 15 + 1 (16)
Charisma: 18
Class Skills:
Manipulate gravity: 4
Dense star: 3 + 1 (4)
Haste/Slow: 4 + 1 (5)
Ion control(N): 10 + 2 (12)
●Novice Perk: Shocking
○Shocking: allows individual to use electricity. Can fire weak bolts of electricity.
Telepathy: 3
Shapeshifting: 3
Perception(N): 3 + 7 (10)
●Novice Perk: Eye for magic.
○Eye for magic: Your magical vision is now sharper, letting you see clearer, with more depth and understanding.
Precision strike: 3
Concentration(N): 8* + 2 (10)
●Novice Perk: Double trouble
○Double trouble: Can cast two spells at once.
Bastard swords: 3
*: Five of these points do not count toward individual’s skill point cap total.
Skill points available: 7
*Learned skills:
Light armor: 1
Medium armor: 1
Survival: 2
Cooking: 1
Skill levels are as follows and grant a perk when each new rank is achieved (no perk for unranked): 0-9 unranked, 10-24 novice, 25-49 journeyman, 50-74 adept, 74-99 expert, 100-149 master, 150-200 grandmaster.
*Learned skills progress on their own and can be learned and taught by anyone. Skill points earned through leveling cannot be used to increase learned skills. Learned skills are still limited by an individual’s class skill restrictions. e.g.: cooking (skill).
I added my attribute point to wisdom to get the higher bonus. Thanks to the skill-ups in concentration, I was able to get the novice perk. Casting two spells at once was great in combat situations, allowing me to be a lot more effective. I added points to perception to get the novice perk, knowing what Tabby was about to show me involved using that skill. The last changes I noticed were the additions to my learned skills. These skills worked a little different from class skills in that you didn’t receive notifications for skill gains. Overall, I was happy with my progress so far. Although, I had forgotten just how powerful concentration and perception were. Those two skills weren’t really skills I added points to, but if you did, the perks were amazing.
Done with leveling, I turned my attention fully back on Tabby. “Okay, Tabby. Show me what you have.” At my words, Tabby let go of the titanium chunk. It didn’t fall to the ground, instead it started to glow, hovering in mid-air. What was happening at a magical level was the real show though, making what normal eyes could see nothing more than a parlor trick. In a magically controlled combination of magnetic field, electrical charge, and light particle manipulation, the metal became molten fluid. The magical energy surrounded the metal, passing through every molecule as I watched. Seeing the energy twirl and twist around in different ways as she casually managed the diverse aspects of ion control was beyond impressive. I scooted forward on the log, mesmerized by her ability, to say nothing of the amazing work of magic she was performing. The magic suddenly shifted, causing the glowing, molten metal to slowly flow toward the ground like shining honey. It took some time, yet the metal eventually took the form of a simple staff, losing its glow as the magic faded away. Tabby’s face was dripping with sweat, both from the heat produced and the total concentration she was forced to maintain throughout the process. Still, she was smiling, her eyes twinkling with mischief, pride written all over her face.
The sun had set while she was working, the firelight shining off the rapidly cooling staff in her left hand. It had taken a few hours for the process to be completed, but I never once looked away. My muscles were sore from the tension, along with the position I was sitting in. Worth it, I thought as I got up to stretch.
“Now, it’s your turn, I’ll keep watch till I’m required to rest.” With that, she walked into the forest, out of sight.
Alright, let’s see what this has earned me.
New Skill Learned: Mystical weaponsmithing (crafting): can use the spell ion control to forge weapons. At this skill level can forge weapons at a quality of Good or below.
Qualities are as follows: Improvised; Poor; Average; Good; Excellent; Masterwork; Legendary; Mythical.
Mystical Weaponsmithing: +3
Seeing the skill description, I pulled up ion control as well to see what had changed.
Ion control (skill): Can manipulate the charged particles in the environment to cause damaging effects. Targeted, touch, discharged through weapon (may cause weapon damage due to durability loss). Damage output dependent on skill lvl and cha score. Can be channeled (no target needed when channeled). Instant casting. Recharge dependent on environmental conditions, with a minimum of one second to a maximum of ten seconds. Channeled spell uses a spell slot at the rate of 1 slot every 10 seconds*.
*: When used in crafting, channeled spell uses a spell slot at a rate of 1 slot every minute.
Not bad. That makes crafting more feasible, I thought, pulling up the crafting section of my character sheet.
Crafting skills*:
Mystical weaponsmithing (N): 3 learned + 7 class skill points (10)
●Novice Perk: Spell slots count double for crafting. Weapons produced automatically of Good quality.
*: Crafting skills can be both learned and advanced through class skill points. Crafting skills can only be taught by masters in their craft. Crafting skills are still limited by an individual’s class.
I pulled up more detail on crafting from the character sheet as well. Seeing if I could add my skill points to a crafting skill, which I could, I decided to go ahead and use the last of my skill points to bring it up to novice. Should help make this go faster. Hopefully. I closed the prompts, eager to get started.
Crafting was something that Gess weren’t allowed to pursue back at the laboratory, so I never got a firm grasp on it. The geneticists thought we Gess had enough to learn, so they decided to focus our training on combat. Turned out, it was like class skills in the way that they leveled. Though it required a master to teach it, making it different from learned skills. Though it was not a Master as in skill level more someone that had a deep understanding of the process involved, I’m starting to think there was more to not teaching us crafting than I thought. Crafting looked to be a powerful tool in the right situation, yet required a master to pass it on, making it somewhat difficult to break into. I briefly wondered how Tabby was considered a master, then shrugged, chalking it up to her time as the system, and not something that was overly important. Crafting was definitely something I would develop fully given time, for now. let’s try it out.
Sitting back down on my log after grabbing a chunk of titanium for myself, I levitated the metal using Ion control, again this little action not taking a spell slot. I stared at the metal in front of me like it was my child telling me a story.
I pictured my old, battle-worn long sword in my head, channeling ion control to mold the metal into the shape I had formed in my mind. After twenty minutes, I had an exact copy of my old sword, but that was all it was. I could tell the metal’s crystalline structure wasn’t developed properly, the blade didn’t have a solid core, a more flexible inner layer… the list just went on. At least it was a Good quality copy, I snorted derisively.
I used my skills to melt the metal back down, forming a sphere of glowing titanium in front of me. Then I started to experiment.
When I awoke sometime later, the metallic ball had rolled a few feet away. I was now staring at the world sideways from where I’d fallen when I passed out. I forgot to keep an eye on my spell slots, I thought. realizing immediately what had happened. Once my spell slots were spent, the magic I was holding was cut off, making me pass out from exhaustio
n.
I shook myself off, grabbed the sphere, and pulled up the notification waiting for me.
Skill points earned: + 2 to Mystical weaponsmithing!
Mystical weaponsmithing (N): 5 learned + 7 class skill points (12)
●Novice Perk: spell slots count double for crafting. Weapons produced automatically of Good quality.
I had a lot of work ahead of me, so I went back to it. Thirty minutes later, I stopped channeling my magic with a frown. The long sword I was in the process of making wasn’t even close to what it should be. Let alone being anywhere close to finished. Unfortunately, I had run out of time, making the metal before me just another failed attempt. Completely misshapen, twisted into a perversion of my old sword, I could only frown in disgust at it. After waiting to recover my magic, I will still have to melt it down and start again. I guess, I’ll have to grind this out, I sighed, shaking my head. This is going to take a while. Should at least make journeyman. I hope the perk is worth it. I had a mental dialogue going with myself as I meditated, restoring my spell slots. Once recovered, I started working the metal over and over again, determined to get it right.
G.E.S.S.: Genetically Engineered Super Soldier Page 6
