by A F Kay
While in the Spirit Realm, after they’d left the Cultivator camp, Jagen had spent three hours talking with Ruwen about different armors. Jagen had told Ruwen about his huge collection of armor back home, and why each piece was special.
Ruwen had learned a lot from Jagen and now had a good idea of how much protection different armors offered their wearers: from a naked zero to the thousand plate armor provided. Ruwen knew now that his previous AC of one hundred sixty-one had been the equivalent of padded armor, and his new three hundred seventy-four made him as tough as studded leather. Just one more place where a stat had doubled.
In fact, most of what Ruwen wore provided some sort of utility, not armor. His cloak, Clapper skin leggings and shirt, and boots only totaled eighty AC. Which meant that even naked, his body had the equivalent AC of leather armor.
That reminded Ruwen of the Aspect armor and its one thousand six hundred eighty Spiritual AC. That would be the equivalent of plate armor and a tower shield. Such AC seemed unbelievable, but then he remembered the ones fighting in those Aspects were usually gods or their chosen. They were powerful entities that also had weapons that did insane damage like his Aspect’s staff.
Persuasion had benefited from the Knowledge increase and had gone from twenty-seven percent to thirty-five percent. Similarly, Ruwen’s Cleverness had gone from forty-two percent to fifty-three percent. His Perception had started at thirty-three percent and ended up at fifty-eight. That would help immensely when sizing up enemies.
That left Ruwen’s Regeneration values. His Health had generated 1.4 Health per second before but now ticked for 2.27. Mana had gone from 1.55 to 2.12, and Energy from 29.67 to 37.91. All welcome gains.
Ruwen felt great about all the stat changes and focused on the small person icon in the lower right of his vision. His Inventory appeared and displayed his equipped gear. His baton hadn’t felt any different when he’d tested it earlier, but in his display, the color had changed from brown, uncommon quality, to green, fine quality. He focused on the baton to see what had changed.
Name: Spirit-Infused Baton of a Thousand Uses
Damage: 4-16
Quality: Fine
Durability: 50 of 50
Weight: 12.00 lbs.
Effect: Produces useful tools.
Effect: Ignores 25% of target’s Armor Class
Restriction: Worker
Description: Not quite a thousand. Cup not included.
When Ruwen had added Spirit to everyone’s weapons before the Plague Siren, it must have altered their makeup. His baton’s damage had quadrupled, and it now ignored twenty-five percent of the target’s armor. The baton had now become a viable weapon. He needed to ask Hamma if the Staff of Chimes had changed, and wondered about Juva’s two swords.
Ruwen pushed on the person cutout that showed his equipment, and it turned, revealing his Harvester view. His Scarecrow Aspect lay underneath the twelve Meridians, which were spaced unevenly across the body of the cutout.
A list ran along the side of the cutout detailing the progress he’d made in Fortifying his body.
Meridian - Location – Level – Progress to Next Level
Body - Heart – Silver – 78%
Stone - Right Leg/Foot - Silver – 73%
Order - Spine - Silver – 79%
Water - Right Shoulder/Arm/Hand - Gold – 23%
Light – Head/Neck - Silver – 79%
Life – Groin/Hips/Abdomen - Silver – 75%
Mind - Brain - Silver – 78%
Air - Left Shoulder/Arm/Hand - Gold – 23%
Chaos – Torso - Silver – 65%
Fire - Left Leg/Foot - Silver – 75%
Dark - Organs - Silver – 68%
Death – Intestines - Silver – 73%
Below the cutout, where Ruwen’s Inventory contents would usually be, was a diagram of the Divine Circle. Each circle on the cutout represented a now-familiar Meridian, but this time they all had values. In the middle, a larger sphere sat representing his Spirit, and it read 11.55 percent.
The icon for each Meridian matched the icons under his spells and abilities. This Divine Circle listed the amount of essence he’d managed to Refine, although the vast majority of this essence had come from the storm over Stone Harbor.
Essence – Capacity
Body – 61%
Stone – 61%
Order – 63%
Water – 61%
Light – 63%
Life – 62%
Mind – 62%
Air – 61%
Chaos – 59%
Fire – 61%
Dark – 59%
Death – 60%
Ruwen focused on Death essence, and a new value appeared, replacing the 60% with 60.39329%. That made him happy since the extra significant digits would allow him to experiment with his essence rods and figure out what these essence values really meant. Right now, he didn’t know if a level ten essence rod took 0.001 essence, or ten essence.
A new value, Core Velocity, sat underneath the diagram, and it read zero percent. Ruwen really wanted to spin up his Core and start Refining more Spirit into essence, but that would trigger his Aspect and cover him in the Scarecrow's burlap. It would have to wait until he got Uru’s temple up and running and could afford some private time to focus on his Harvester training.
Sift stood and waved at Hamma. Ruwen stood too, closing his displays, as Hamma joined them.
Sift helped Lylan up. “Lylan wants to talk about Sub Classes, but I don’t know anything about them. I’ll keep watch.”
Ruwen checked on Whiskers and saw that the white dot that marked her had made it near the lake. There were a few green dots on the map, and he concentrated on one. A picture of a squirrel appeared, and the other two dots were birds. Green probably meant Whiskers didn’t think they were dangerous.
Hamma tapped Ruwen on the forehead. “Hello?”
“Sorry,” Ruwen said. “I was just checking on Whiskers.”
“Do you want to talk about Sub Classes?” Hamma asked.
“Yes. I have issues,” Ruwen replied.
“Join the club,” Hamma said.
Lylan looked relieved, and the three of them sat by the backpacks.
“You go first,” Hamma said to Lylan.
Lylan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was the most nervous Ruwen had ever seen her.
“First, I need you to understand my predicament,” Lylan said. “My older brother is a Thief. A really good one, and he works for Ky as well. He got nabbed doing a job on the west coast awhile back. Ky, myself, and a small team had spent two months preparing to break him out when Ky just disappeared.”
Ruwen’s stomach turned. He recalled what Ky had said when Tremine asked where she’d been. They had all been sitting in Ruwen’s room in the library eating poppers on the day of his Ascendancy. Ky had said, “The Legion’s Vault in Malth. Two months of planning. Was going to hit it tomorrow night.”
Instead of rescuing Lylan’s brother, Ky had returned to Deepwell to save Ruwen.
“Anyway,” Lylan said. “I want to rescue him. When I hit level twenty, I have two options as a Shade: Thief or Assassin. I’m unsure which gives me the best chance of helping him.”
Ruwen placed his head in his hands. He felt like a vortex, pulling everyone around him into the chaos of his life. And again, he felt guilty for not appreciating what others had given up to help him. When Ky had mentioned Malth and her plans, it hadn’t occurred to him what he’d disrupted. He couldn’t even blame Uru, as it had been his stupid Fireball that had started that terrible chain of events.
Lylan’s brother remained imprisoned in the Legion’s Vault of Malth because of him.
Chapter 52
Ruwen already knew that keeping his involvement in the failed plans a secret would eventually blow up in his face. Lylan was difficult for Ruwen to read as the woman kept a tight grip on her emotions and didn’t speak much. He didn’t know if they were friends yet, but Sift loved her, and that
meant a lot. Plus, he recognized the right thing to do when he saw it.
“It’s my fault,” Ruwen blurted.
Both women stared at him.
“My hips are your fault?” Hamma asked. “Have you been eyeing me?”
“What?” Ruwen choked out as his cheeks warmed. How long had he been thinking? How in the name of Uru had the conversation turned so quickly from Lylan’s brother to Hamma’s anatomy?
The women laughed, and Hamma looked at Lylan. “When his eyes glaze over, I know he’s thinking and not paying attention.”
Lylan nodded. “He does that a lot.”
“I know,” Hamma said. “I decided to start making him suffer for it.”
Lylan looked back at Ruwen and smiled. “Look at that blush. And I thought Sift was innocent.”
Hamma reached over and patted Ruwen’s knee. “I know, and it makes it impossible not to tease him.”
“So, what’s your fault?” Lylan asked Ruwen.
Hamma left her hand on Ruwen’s knee, and it continued to distract him. The exchange had caused him to lose his train of thought. He’d spent most of his life alone, and getting to know people over the last year had been almost impossible because of the lies about his parents. He’d been around plenty of girls before in his classes and at the library, but none of them had affected him the way Hamma did. It felt like she lowered his Intelligence by ten every time she touched or teased him.
“You just did it again,” Hamma said.
“Sorry, it’s hard for me not to think,” Ruwen replied.
“I know. What is your fault?” Hamma asked.
Ruwen refocused his thoughts, and the guilt came crashing back. He faced Lylan. “Ky left Malth because of me. I made a mistake that exposed me, and Uru brought in Ky to protect me. I’m sorry, Lylan.”
Lylan’s jaw tensed, and she grew deadly still. Ruwen wondered if she would attack him. He didn’t want to fight, but he didn’t want to die either.
Lylan sighed and shook her head as her body relaxed. “That makes us even, I guess.”
“Even?” Ruwen asked.
Lylan locked gazes with Ruwen. “Sift said you’re the reason he escaped Blapy. And without you, I doubt I’d have my memories back. Plus, I’d already figured out you were probably the reason Ky bailed on us.”
“When did you figure all this out?” Hamma asked Ruwen.
“Just now,” Ruwen said. “After my second death, Ky found me in the library. She told Tremine she’d abandoned a two-month job in Malth. Now I know the details.”
Lylan nodded. “You’re a good guy, Ruwen. I appreciate the honesty about your involvement. I get why people trust you.”
“I’ll make it up to you, Lylan. When I have a chance, I’ll help rescue your brother.”
A notification appeared, and Ruwen opened it.
Ting!
You have received the quest…
Bros and Cons
Lylan’s brother, a Thief belonging to Mistress Kysandra’s Black Pyramid, is imprisoned in the Legion’s Vault of Malth. You have offered to help rescue him.
Reward: Appreciation from Lylan.
Reward: Tier 5 Rune from the Black Pyramid’s Quartermaster Fluffy
Reward: 25,000 exp.
Accept or Decline
Ruwen chose Accept. It worried him a little that the rewards were so good. Twenty-five thousand experience and a level five Rune probably meant this quest would be very difficult. Ruwen wondered how many level five Runes Fluffy had. They were extremely rare, as trapping a level five spell inside a Rune took incredible skill.
“Thank you, Ruwen,” Lylan said. “That means a lot to me.”
Ruwen smiled at Lylan, and Hamma patted his knee approvingly.
“Okay,” Lylan said. “Back on target. Thieves are good at extracting items, and Assassins are good at extracting information. And I don’t know which one will benefit saving my brother more.”
Hamma placed her hands in her lap and bit her lip. “I think you should look past your brother. You have hundreds of years to think about, not just now. Your problem is the same issue I’m having. There are immediate issues we’re facing that would benefit from one path, which might differ than what would make us happier in the long run. We really should look at our choices with the future in mind.”
“As always, Hamma, you’re full of good advice,” Ruwen said. “Somehow, you all got sucked into the madness that surrounds me. Please please please don’t choose a Sub Class or Specialization to help me. I couldn’t handle the guilt of that. Pick something you want, and we’ll make it work. We always do.”
Lylan nodded. “Assassins need commitment. Jobs are almost always to kill someone multiple times. And the target gets harder to kill each time as they become more cautious. I’m not sure I have the patience to kill the same target five times. But Assassins get massive benefits to damage, access to magical poisons, and methods to extract information from people.”
“I’m not judging,” Hamma said. “But what about the morality of Assassins?”
Lylan shrugged. “I haven’t seen a lot of good in my life, and most people deserve a death or two to set them straight. When you shadow a target, you learn quickly if they’re a decent person or not. I’d like to think I’d only kill those that deserved it. Although, actually meeting Uru has made me a little more devout.”
“What about being a Thief?” Ruwen asked.
“I could learn from my brother, so that would be nice. Items are simpler than people and don’t have all the moral baggage.”
“Stealing isn’t exactly noble,” Hamma said.
Lylan smiled. “Well, I think that depends on who you steal from and why you do it.”
“Fair enough,” Hamma said.
“What benefits does a Thief get?” Ruwen asked.
Lylan counted on her fingers. “Massive increase to stealth, abilities for appraising value, nullifying magical protections, and understanding an item’s purpose, as well as spatial awareness to help find hidden things.”
“Both Specialties have clear advantages,” Ruwen said.
“Ask your two-hundred-year-old self what they want to be doing,” Hamma said.
Lylan nodded. “Thanks. Just saying this all out loud has helped.”
Ruwen pointed at Hamma. “Tell us about what you’re thinking.”
Hamma sighed. “My mom wanted me to Sub Class as a Priest. Then Specialize in Administration and be a High Priest like my dad, or maybe Specialize as a Judge. I dreamed of Sub Classing as an Enforcer and then Specializing as a Guardian if I wanted to live in a city, or as a Crusader if I wanted to see the world. But…”
Hamma didn’t continue, and Lylan leaned forward. “But what?”
Hamma glanced at Ruwen and then back down at her hands. Ruwen was used to seeing Hamma confident and sure, and her uncertainty made him uneasy.
“I’d never considered the Healer Sub Class because it seemed dull. But, when we were fighting in Blapy, it opened my eyes to a different world. Ruwen and Sift would have died without my heals. It felt amazing to hold life and death in my hands.” Hamma shook her head. “That sounds maniacal.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Ruwen said.
Hamma gave Ruwen a small smile. “The fact is, I have never felt as critical or needed as I did when healing. It felt so satisfying. Healing filled a part of me I didn’t know was empty, and I think there’s a way for me to have a little of everything.”
“How?” Lylan asked.
“Taking over the chapel in Blapy gave me access to a powerful prayer book, but also requires me to do many Priest-type activities like weddings, last rites, and things like that. The Healer Sub Class has two Specializations, Surgeon and Warden.”
“I’d forgotten about Wardens,” Ruwen said. “Most Healers are Surgeons.”
Hamma nodded. “Wardens are battle priests. But most people who want to fight will pick the Enforcer branch, and most people who choose the Healer branch will pick Surgeon because that Speciali
zation defines the role. It takes a weird type of person to enjoy both fighting and healing.”
“You’re not weird,” Lylan said.
Ruwen frowned. “But a healing fighter seems powerful. I’d think it would be really popular, especially with people who like to adventure on their own.”
“The cost is watered down spells and abilities. Wardens get fewer instant heals, spells cost more Mana, and you get access to them later than Surgeons. For fighting the armor is limited to studded leather or maybe hide, and weapon choice is limited as well. I won’t get all those awesome auras the Enforcers get either, so I’m less valuable to those outside my group.”
Ruwen tapped his chin. “If you went the Enforcer route, you could wear better armor, protect yourself better, and still benefit everyone around you with auras. You’d be much safer.”
“Now you sound like my mom,” Hamma teased.
“Sorry,” Ruwen said.
“That’s a hard decision, Hamma,” Lylan said.
They were quiet for a few seconds, and then Hamma pointed at Ruwen. “What are you going to do?”
Ruwen held up his Void Band. “My Worker path was decided as soon as I put this on. It’s the most amazing thing I have, and I need to Sub Class as a Collector and then Specialize in some sort of Gathering for it to continue working.”
“I’ll admit to being a little jealous of that band,” Lylan said. “You’ve done some amazing things with it.”
“Thanks,” Ruwen said. “I think I’m just scratching the surface with it. For my Observer Class–”
“That’s what I’m jealous of,” Hamma said. “Can you pick two Sub Classes in your base Class? That would solve my problem in a snap.”
The question surprised Ruwen. He’d never thought about that, and he didn’t know. After seeing Ahvy and her team of Handlers, he didn’t just dismiss the idea either. There was a Steward Specialization in the Household Sub Class that sounded vaguely interesting too.
A pinecone hit Ruwen in the chest, and he held up his hands before Hamma threw another. “I’m back, sorry. That’s a great question, and I don’t know the answer. The next time I die, which will be never, I’ll look.”
