Brightblade

by Jez Cajiao

  “And the cost?” I asked.

  “There is always a cost, that is true; but for now, we truly need each other. I will allow you access to the first ring for ten thousand mana, and five Marks of Favor. Each level of secrets within the sections will cost more than the last, but how much depends on your knowledge and that of your followers. The second ring will cost fifty thousand mana and twenty-five Marks, the third two hundred and fifty thousand mana, and one hundred and twenty-five Marks. I’m sure you can see the pattern by now.”

  “Yeah, five times more expensive each time, and I have to give you twenty percent of the Tower’s mana? Hmmm, I don’t know; seems kinda steep. We both know the Tower is going to pull in a huge amount of mana when it’s repaired, after all…” I said, bluffing as I went. “Maybe I could, you know, go to six percent of the mana, provided you work to help Seneschal to fix things faster. After all, if the Tower collapses, you’ll get nothing…”

  “Nineteen percent!”

  “Seven.”

  “Fifteen.”

  “Nine.”

  “I’ll tell you what, Jax. I’ll accept fifteen, but I’ll make sure the Tower’s capacity grows by more than that in the first week, so it’s practically free to you…” I could sense the pleasure in her voice as we bartered, as well as the hunger.

  “Twelve, and you agree to work with Seneschal to increase it by as much as possible.”

  “Fourteen, but I’ll throw in a free hint to you how to further increase the capacity yourself, past what I will cost you.”

  “Fuck it. Tell me how we survive the week as well, and it’s a deal. I’ve not forgotten about the assholes incoming.” I said, well aware that if we didn’t win the upcoming fight, this deal didn’t matter.

  “Ha, deal!” I felt the Tower shudder slightly as a pulse spread out from the top, flowing down and into the ground as the mana collectors had tiny realignments made.

  “Jax? What did you just do!?!”

  “Oh… hi, Seneschal. Sorry, buddy, should have said before; my bad. I just struck a deal with Jenae, Goddess of Fire and Knowledge. She’s now our Patron Goddess and will be taking fourteen percent of the mana we take in. She’s agreed to help us to improve the efficiency… has it worked?”

  “Yes…I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting the touch of a Goddess, that’s all. The mana collectors are drawing in mana at a six percent increase in efficiency, and the repairs I need to make to them have been marked up to increase their speed. All in all, it will come to an increase in mana collection of twenty-three percent. Even with Her tithe, this will greatly increase our growth.”

  “Funky! Keep me informed if anything changes, okay?”

  “Of course.”

  I separated from the strange wisp’s mind and looked back at the Starscape that still hovered before me. As I watched, I sensed Jenae’s amusement, then in rapid succession the stars for ‘Magical Research’, ‘Enhanced Construction’ and ‘Governance’ pulsed one, twice and then a third time, before the Starscape vanished.

  “That’s all the hint you get. Now for the second part of our bargain, there is a way to survive the incoming ship, but it won’t be easy…”

  She went on to explain the plan, and while I agreed it stood a good chance of working, it was going to be a pain in the ass to pull off, not to mention the chance of drawing a target on my back for the world to see. Not that I had much friggin’ choice, though!

  “Hey, Jenae, what happened to the quest you offered?” I asked aloud, suddenly remembering what She’d said. After all, a quest was a quest…

  “Dammit… so much for Divine Infallibility…” I had a mental image of a Goddess facepalming, and it was worth it.

  You have been offered a Quest!

  Establish a Holy Site for Jenae, Goddess of Fire, Hidden Knowledge, and Exploration!

  Dedicate a Site of Power to your Goddess, gaining her favor and more:

  Rewards: 1000 Exp, 1 Mark of Favour and Access to the Starscape of Secrets

  Do you accept? Yes/No…

  You have accepted the Quest: Establish a Holy Site for Jenae Goddess of Fire, Hidden Knowledge, and Exploration!

  “So, how do I do this, then?”

  “Simply will it into being when in contact with the control interface for the Tower.”

  I reached out, putting my hand on the table and watching as a ripple of light spread across it, now that I’d formally claimed it as my own. The table was crescent shaped, and my chair sat at the fullest part, with the horns sweeping out on either side to come together across from me. I remembered that Seneschal’s Manawell had sat there, and I knew he’d be pissed that he wasn’t connected to this anymore, considering how little he seemed to like change.

  "There's one more thing we need to discuss before I return to my rest Jax."

  "Okay, uh, my Goddessness?"

  "Hah! Don't even try to pretend respect at the minute Jax, you don't feel it, I know. Give it time though, and remember what I am. Okay, there is no 'nice' way to put this, so I'll make it simple. You're broken."

  "Love you too."

  "Ha, I'm not being offensive Jax, your body is different, that's not necessarily a bad thing, but you have a great many issues in your genetic makeup. The end result of this is that you're levelling far slower than you should be."

  "Really? I thought I was levelling pretty quick?"

  "Think about it Jax. Most people don't go around fighting the creatures of the night, so yeah, fighting them has levelled you quickly. The issue is that it's not levelling you quick enough. A farmer that fought something like the SporeMother would have jumped ten levels."

  "Okay, can we fix it?"

  "Yes and no, I can't fix it for you. I can recommend a way to fix it in the future though, and give you a boost of experience with your quest. That's the best I can do until I accumulate more power."

  "How do I fix it?" I asked cautiously.

  "You need to give some of the spellbooks and memories to someone, create a healer, a highly dedicated one, and at their tenth level they will have access to a specialisation called 'Regenerate'. It's a rarely chosen class, but it will enable them to heal your issues, as well as heal the scarring in your brain."

  "I'll be able to learn more spells?" I asked excitedly.

  "You could, you could learn two spells from a spellbook, then give it time to heal, maybe another in a few months...or..."

  "Or?"

  "You could learn a profession." Jenae paused then, letting me think about the possibilites, before going on. "I'm tired Jax, I'm going to rest now, I'll be in touch soon, think on what I've told you."

  With that the sense of her presence disappeared and I sat back thinking. If I'd not used all the spellbooks I had, maybe I'd have levelled faster already?

  I knew that the higher the level the more experience I needed. So while it'd not really been apparent now to me, I guessed it would have been as I started to really climb the levels. I shook my head and dismissed it, I needed to get on with things here and now.

  The table had a lip around it that stood a few inches higher than the rest of the table and maybe provided an edge that was three inches deep,. As I watched, the rest of the table slowly began to fill with liquid mana, like quicksilver. It took less than a minute, and then a familiar form began to grow, flowing upright from the pooling liquid until Seneschal stood before me, looking around at the room in disappointment. Where I saw the improvements from the dilapidated state I’d first seen it, he saw how far it’d fallen from the past.

  “Humph. Well, it will have to do, I suppose. I’ll need my well to be moved down here as soon as possible, though. While I can survive linked in this way, it is…unsatisfying.”

  “Yeah, well, we’ll put it on the list, buddy,. Might be a while though. So, how do I use this thing then?”

  “Simply think, and it will obey, Jax.”

  “Well that’s really unhelpful, mate, I’m thinking of a decent glass of rum and a naughty lady and I know I�
�m not getting either! How’d…”

  “Jax? Did you call?” Oracle’s voice echoed in from the hallway and I had a sneaking suspicion she was damn well listening at the door or something, waiting for the perfect time to join in… She flew into the room a few seconds later, smiling innocently as she landed on the opposite side of the table to Seneschal. She immediately dipped a toe into the liquid and grinned at me as her clothing melted away, before reforming into a bikini. The kind that highlighted rather than hid. The kind she could have only gotten from the depths of my mind…Dammit!

  “I..” It came out higher pitched than I’d would have liked, as my groin short circuited my brain. I knew she didn’t have to strip off to change. I damn well knew it, and she knew that I knew! I shook my head, in lieu of slapping some sense into myself, before speaking up again. This time, it came out a bit more like my normal voice, thankfully. “Didn’t…ah, didn’t I ask you to watch over the new people?” She grinned me mischievously. I had to close my eyes to pray for strength; one of these days, I’d end up throttling her, if she kept teasing me like this, or worse, once my hands were actually on her. When I opened my eyes, she’d grown again, and was now almost the same size as me. She was sitting on the side of the table, perfect legs hanging down and kicking idly as she raised an eyebrow at me. Another one that could read my mind….!

  “You asked me to stay and keep an eye on them while they stripped the corpses and cleaned up. That’s done now, so I asked Heph to monitor them, and he said it was fine, I think he’s been lonely, and he likes watching people.”

  “I...you know what, it’s fine. Good job that you’re here. We’ve got a lot to do.” I said, shaking my head free of the thoughts I was having. “So, Seneschal, try again, mate.”

  “Hmmm. Think of the Tower, Jax.” he said, and I did, my hand resting lightly on the edge of the table. The silvery liquid shimmered before flowing together and rising. It built rapidly, becoming trees and bushes, walls and overgrown courtyards. It grew, faster and faster, the viewpoint spiraling constantly as the trees and ground level grew smaller. In under a minute, the entire Tower stood there before me, rendered in exquisite detail, down to the wrecked ship that lay before it.

  I blinked and smiled as text began to flow into existence, golden words, with reds, greens, and yellow layers rendering as I saw the Tower’s status in an easily digested way for the first time.

  The Tower slowly rotated, and sections were highlighted, starting from the underground portions. There were dozens of rooms and entire floors I’d still not seen, which were all buried. These sections were all marked as red, as was the majority of the lower Tower and all of its rooms, barring the one I sat in, several empty chambers, and the storeroom I’d discovered.

  The outer walls of the Tower were marked as yellow and showed various numbers, from a lowly three percent up to forty-five. The higher I went, the better it looked, as these sections had escaped the ravages of battle, and had instead succumbed to the inevitable destruction of time instead. The outer walls were even green in places, ranging from several deep red sections at the base, where it looked like the Tower was open to the elements and floor had collapsed through, to areas like the Hall of Memories, which was green and almost eighty percent intact. I focused more closely on the Tower and thought of the Armory near my last fight. The diagram expanded, rebuilding until it showed the entire floor in brilliant detail. I could see the outlines of weapon piles, collapsed walls, and frames that must have once held armor or other sundries. I could even make out the still forms of the bodies I’d left behind, and I wondered idly about the equipment they had left.

  More importantly, I looked over the opening to the floor and the restrictions on movement that I could impose.

  I grinned, seeing a few easy solutions to make it as hard as possible for the invaders to get anywhere, provided I could entice them to an area like this, damaged heavily enough that they wouldn’t look too closely, but provided plenty of cover. First things first, though, I needed to lure them to land somewhere high enough that I could restrict their movements and keep them from surrounding me. Besides, I had some new allies, or at least, I hoped I did.

  I concentrated and thought ‘dedicate as a place of worship’ at the Tower interface, and it responded with a prompt.

  Do you wish to dedicate the Great Tower of Dravith as a Holy Site? If so, please confirm your selection and confirm the Deity this site will belong to…

  I saw a list begin to blur into being. I thought ‘Jenae’ at the interface, ignoring the list. I really didn’t have time to fuck about with it all.

  You have selected Jenae, Goddess of Fire, Exploration, and Hidden Knowledge. Is this correct?

  Yes/No

  I selected ‘Yes,’ and the tower shook slightly, dust falling from the walls and ceiling as subtle changes occurred. The visible stone took on a slight luster and the Tower seemed to warm perceptibly as Jenae’s presence became stronger.

  “Oh, that’s better!” I heard her voice in my mind, and the Tower interface showed a drop in the mana available for repairs as she took her tithe. I realized I’d probably been hosed on the deal, as I felt her begin to hungrily accept the mana. I also realized that having a Goddess on my side was likely to be seriously helpful, so I’d take the deal, regardless.

  The Tower structure gently spun over the table as I examined it, but just as I was about to dismiss it, I realized I’d been missing something. All around the base of the Tower were black rectangles, filled with symbols I couldn’t make out. I only noticed them because, as the Tower rotated, one came into view that pulsed faintly golden, followed by a second that shone steadily.

  My attention jumped straight to the solidly glowing section, and it expanded to show the doorway of the Hall of Memories. The perspective changed, and I zoomed toward the door, which opened smoothly to reveal two smaller doors inside. I chose the one on the right first, which housed shelves filled with magical books. The books organized easily when I thought of ‘healing spells’ or ‘Fire’. I practically began salivating and forced myself to not go any deeper, backing up mentally and opening the second door. I found myself in a room filled with hundreds of glowing orbs. Each pulsed with their own internal light and gave off impressions as I looked at them. One drew my attention and quickly filled my mind with the scent of fresh baked bread, memories of building my own bakery, and the bonuses and buffs I could create with the right ingredients and equipment. I blinked, backing away, and the memories faded. Peering into another, I remembered the joy of glassblowing, shaping sand and a simple handful of colors to become a kingfisher perched exquisitely on the edge of a branch, and the pleasure I felt as customers sang my praises. Backing away again mentally, I realized that these were the skill memories, and Oracle’s earlier comment about treasure was right. This one room held gifts that could turn my people from the sad collection of ex-slaves and sailors that they were into a true community. One that could bring beauty to the Tower, as well as life.

  I backed all the way out of the image room and focused on the irregularly pulsing section, receiving a warning when I tried to look at it.

  Beware! This interface is currently severely damaged. All construction, management, and upgrade facilities are unavailable until the Genesis Chamber has been repaired to basic functionality.

  “Seneschal, is this for the golems?” I asked quietly, reading the warning over again.

  “Yes, it is the main interface for the Genesis Chamber,. Once repaired, it will give you options for upgrades, building queues, and customization, including alterations to the basic golem designs. Upgrades will give further options for higher capacity golems.”

  “Cool. Okay, it’s clearly buggered right now. What about the rest?” I asked, drawing my attention back until I could see all of the tiles slowly rotating around the base of the Tower. There were dozens of them, but they were all dead, except for one more I hadn’t noticed before.

  Beware! This interface is currently severely da
maged. All construction, management, and upgrade facilities are unavailable until the Labyrinth has been repaired to basic functionality.

  “These are the interface tiles for facilities or systems that are currently damaged or destroyed. Much as the Genesis Chamber will give options, these other sections will do the same. At this point, however, you have no access.”

  “Well, what do we have?” I asked, trying to make out the symbols on some of the dead tiles.

  “Nothing beyond these three heavily damaged tiles. The rooms that they once represented are so badly damaged that they are no more. The Foundry and Smithy are both little more than tumbled down walls and rusted metal scraps, I’m afraid. To bring life back to these tiles, you will need to construct new buildings or facilities.”

  “Well that’s a bit depressing, mate, but we can do it, I suppose. The rest of the servitors should be getting built soon, and once they’ve repaired the Genesis Chamber, they can start on the rest of the Tower”

  “Of course. Perhaps the time to plan the next steps and the growth of the Tower facilities would be after we have secured the land?”

  “Smartarse.” I muttered, as I released the table and stood up. Gathering my naginata and gear, I gestured towards the door and began walking.

  “Come on, then, Oracle,. Let’s go see if Oren has gotten things sorted out, and give him the bad news!”

  “What bad news?” she asked, flying over to me and landing to walk by my side.

  “The bad news about his ship. I think I’m going to need it!” I said, looking at her out of the corner of my eye. “Also, you might want to either put some more clothes on, or go back to your normal size, ‘cause you’re kinda distracting like that…in fact, do both, please!” I said, trying to get my head back in the game. She idly evaporated her clothes, creating more on the spot. She’d opted for jeans that were so tight, they looked like they’d been painted on, and a barely decent crop top, while her hair became a lustrous blonde and blew about in its own breeze. She shrunk down to her normal size as I’d requested, but also landed on my right shoulder, and that was still kinda distracting.