by Tao Wong
“Redeemer.” Draco, the Vice-Guild Master of the Irvina branch, sits before me, legs crossed. That he has two that he crosses and two—and a tail—that he uses to balance himself makes the snake/dragon hybrid a sight to behold. After seeing his weird number of limbs, his beautiful purple and green scales and his long, lizard-like face aren’t that shocking.
Draco min Tish, Vice-Guild Master, The Silent Killer, Nightwarden, Monster Slayer, Duellist, more… (Level 43 Inked Mage) (M)
HP: 1570/1570
MP: 9890/9890
Conditions: Flame Friend, Reinforced Scales, Ink Armor, Layered Power, Mana Battery (B), Health Battery (A)
“Before you ask, an Inked Mage is normally someone who uses tattoos to fight. Though with Draco’s scales, I have a feeling that he’s altered the way he uses his Class slightly.”
“Vice-Guild Master,” I say respectfully. His titles, if not his Level, would have me be respectful. As for his Levels… well, that’s more than enough to make me somewhat wary. “Thank you for seeing me.”
“As if I would not speak with a potential Master recruit. The Spear mentioned that you would likely arrive,” Draco says. “I did warn the Spear that your acceptance to our guild would be dependent upon your own accomplishments.”
“Oh?” I raise an eyebrow, curious. This is the first time one of the guilds has been so blunt. Especially when someone like Mikito has already vouched for me. I wonder if it’s my Reputation. Or something else.
“You come with a degree of infamy. While we are—somewhat—aligned with the Expansionists, a significant portion of our members are also members of the Fist faction. That your actions have caused one of the Dungeon Worlds to become less welcoming to members of that faction is difficult,” Draco says. “And while your combat ability is without doubt, it seems you have some reservations about joining a guild fully.”
“I do.” I consider how to say the rest. “Firstly, I’m always going to put humanity first. Guild or no guild, if there’s a conflict—”
“A non-issue. Species-upon-species conflicts is a common exception.”
“Good. I also don’t want to accept quests willy-nilly. Frankly, I’m here at Irvina to study at the Questors’ hall.”
“Yes. The Spear mentioned that.” Draco makes a face. “While we do not have any objections to Questors, we’ve found many of them to be either extremely foolhardy in their attempts to test new hypotheses or entirely too reluctant to join expeditions.”
“Well, I’m not planning on running any tests that will endanger others.” I pause before adding, “And I’m going to need a lot of funds very soon. So running the dungeons is a non-issue.”
“Until you acquire sufficient funds,” Draco says. “At which point you’ll disappear and shelter yourself under our guild’s name.”
I shrug slightly, not denying his words.
“You are very straightforward.”
“Is there a point lying?” I ask.
“No.”
“I’m also not looking to get assigned any special duties or do any of the paperwork,” I continue, figuring I might as well finish my spiel.
“That is a non-issue. Few Combat Classers are suited for desk work.”
“Well, that’d be about it then.” Really, my wants and needs weren’t much. Just don’t bother me and let me do my thing. But…
“I’m currently failing to see what we would gain from having you in our Guild, Redeemer,” Draco says.
“Truth be told, so am I.”
“Oy!” Ali exclaims, rolling his eyes as he floats over. “That’s a horrible bargaining statement. And you know boy-o brings a ton. While he might not want to do quests, if you’ve got any bleeding heart quests out there, if you waved it in front of his face, he’d probably go help. Not too often of course, ‘cause I’d get pissed.”
“Bleeding heart?”
“Mana siphon quests,” Ali says.
Draco nods, looking me up and down consideringly. “Ah. One of those. Rare at the Master level.”
“He’s all kind of rare,” Ali says. “Add the fact that you haven’t seen him and Mikito get to work. Your people might be good, but those two are another thing altogether.”
“I’ve seen the Spear’s returns,” Draco says. “Impressive, considering her level and lack of knowledge of the local dungeons.”
“Going in cold is kind of our thing,” I say, stepping in. “In fact, if you guys ever have new dungeons—”
“Not a feature of our city dungeons,” Draco says. “But the city does have kill and Mana thresholds for each guild. If you and the Spear are able to elevate our level…”
“No guarantees,” I say.
“No problem,” Ali says at the same time.
I glare at Ali, who opens up a notification window for me to look at. It’s a ranking chart of the various guilds and their Mana dispersal contribution—a.k.a. kill points. As in, the Mana that gets dispersed when you kill a monster. And all it takes is a quick review to make me realize why Ali’s willing to make the guarantee. The guild is close and getting them to the next level would only take a little bit of work. From what I recall of Vancouver’s dungeon, the Mana points each monster provides increases as their levels increase. All I have to do is kill a bunch of high-Level monsters for a few days. Probably.
“You’re confident, I’ll give you that.” Draco shrugs as he stands. “Well, let’s see how well you do. You’re a spellsword, correct?”
“Paladin of Erethra.”
“I was speaking of your fighting style. Magic and sword, yes?” Draco says impatiently as he leads me out of the room.
I follow after agreeing, already having an inkling of where we’re going. And while he hasn’t agreed to us joining—and I haven’t said I would—I have to admit, I’m curious to test myself out against his people.
He says, “Room three should be fine.”
“Three?”
“We have four training rooms that can be used at any time. The first two are meant for Basic and Advanced Classes, the third for Master Classes. The last is set up for ranged combatants of all levels,” Draco says. “You’ll show us what you have in the third room.”
When we arrive, I eye the training room. On first look, it seems to be a plain room filled with tall posts with arms sticking out of them. Those arms glow with enchantments—some sparkling with ice, others burning with fire, and even an occasional post cackling with lightning. The floor itself is dark sand while the ceiling is bare of any dangers. So. The moving posts are the greatest danger.
Well. That, and the six-foot-tall Amazon with flame-red hair that literally ripples as she stands there. I find myself staring at her chest, the disjointed look of her body throwing me off for a second before I shake my head. The galaxy is entirely too weird when basic symmetry is no longer an issue. On the other hand, the bow and arrows that my opponent carries is worrying, considering I also have an obstacle course to get through. Or would be if I couldn’t Blink Step.
“Clear the room. Don’t kill anyone,” Draco says then steps backward.
I nod amiably, but the moment I take my eyes off the Amazon, she’s drawn and fired her bow. The arrow shrieks through the air, and I barely dodge the attack, the arrow plucking at my hair as it flies past. A Soul Shield gets layered on within seconds, which is good because her follow-up arrow slams into my shield, the arrow head shattering into pieces and pelting my shield. I snarl, ducking low and hiding behind a post.
It’s useless though. Her arrows arc over and around my cover as if she can see around it. I conjure swords and cut a pair of projectiles apart, but the second one explodes as I do so, wrapping me in flame. Which is exactly the kind of distraction I’ve been waiting for.
Ali’s taken to the sky, hovering high above and observing the whole situation. He’s high enough that I can use his gaze to Blink Step right behind the Amazon, throwing a cut as I spin around to catch her by surprise.
Funnily enough, I’m the one caught out. The
ground surges up as the black sand parts, the sand elemental wrapping around my legs as it crawls along my body.
My cut still catches the Amazon high on her back, tearing apart her gleaming metallic armor. The attack isn’t good enough to kill or disable though, as the Amazon throws herself into a roll to get away. In the meantime, the damn sand elemental glomps onto my arm and crawls up the rest of my body even as it constricts my movements.
Blink Step takes me high, but surprisingly, the elemental is still with me. I fall hard, since I can’t actually splay or otherwise shift myself to take the impact. We land and crater the ground slightly even as I spot the Amazon raising her bow. A moment later, a sharp shock ripples through my side, a Mana-enhanced arrow landing in a tiny gap that the elemental created for the attack. It hurts, especially as the Mana arrows ignore my base defenses.
“You’re annoying me,” I growl. Flexing my arms, I find them pressed against my body as though steel bands were holding me down. Well, steel bands for my pre-System self. Pure strength seems to be out of the question. So… “Let it burn.”
I call down the Beacon of the Angels right on top of the Amazon. The attack catches her by surprise, the beam of brilliant white light appearing from above with little warning as the woman focuses on my thrashing form. There’s not enough time for the Amazon to dodge, though she tries. As for the sand elemental, there’s nowhere for it to go. The beam splashes over both of us, sending the elemental screaming and rippling over my body. Even so, it continues to hold me down, unwilling to let go.
I growl softly, straining against the sandman and finding no give. By this point, I’m entirely entombed in the creature and it is attempting to infiltrate my orifices. Panic attempts to overtake me then, as claustrophobia asserts itself. Entombed, unable to move, my body slowly being invaded as oxygen runs out. It’s a nightmare scenario of epic proportions.
But I’ve been in worse positions. Thousand hells, I threw myself down the gullet of a nightmare creature, choking on its bile just to win. And my mental resistances are better now. I no longer need to sheathe myself in anger. Instead I wrap myself in calm.
“Ali—polar zone.”
I leave the Spirit to cast the spell for me, lowering the temperature and slowing down the Amazon and chilling the sand elemental. Then I cast Ice Blast, letting the attack out from my trapped hands into the elemental. Once, then again.
I feel it thrashing in pain. Without being asked, Ali continues to channel the Polar Zone while adding an Ice Storm above us. The temperature drops and drops, but I’m snug and warm in the elemental. The elemental is held together only by bonds of Mana and will, both of which are under attack. Its body hardens as it grows slightly wet from the ice and the spells restrict it. Already those questing tendrils that invade my nostrils have stopped moving. Even as my body coughs and jerks, attempting to free itself, my mind chants the spells and layers them again and again.
“Get out here, boy-o. Lady A is trying to pincushion me. And I’m too young to be an embroidery.”
I’m too busy to even work out what the Spirit is trying to say. But as another Ice Blast smashes apart the elemental, I decide it’s time. I throw my not-inconsiderable strength against the bonds holding me while drawing all the lent strength possible from the System, disregarding its other benefits. I feel my muscles bunch and twist and tendons tear, muscle fibers twisting and joints popping as my body, no longer held together by the System as I apply the full power of the Strength attribute, comes apart. Even as I tear myself apart, the System helps by healing me, stitching torn muscle and tendons together as fast as I tear them apart. I roar in muted agony as I strain, pushing against the elemental, blood flooding my mouth.
A crack, a snap. But this time, it’s from the elemental as I shatter the sand cage of its body. It falls away and I roll aside as I Blink Step into mid-air, freeing myself of the foreign substances within me. This time around, the elemental doesn’t come along, too damaged to try. Oxygen, blessed oxygen, floods my body. I find myself coughing and spluttering as blood and air mix in entirely inappropriate ways.
Gravity takes over and I fall, peppered by arrows. The first knocks me sideways, spinning me about, while the next two pierce my body and set up a circuit that runs between the arrows within my body.
“Aaaarggh!” High pain threshold or not, having your body cooked from the inside out is agonizing. I fall to the ground, scrambling to pull out the arrows. Another arrow sprouts in my shoulder, but I throw up a Spirit Shield to stop the next two while I toss the shock arrows aside. “You like lightning, do you?”
I raise my hand. Rage bubbles up in me as I watch the Amazon dash away and hide behind the spinning pillars. Even running away, dodging between the pillars, she’s launching arrows at me. I layer the Soul Shield again, making sure it’s all the way up before I release my attack.
Lightning darts from my hand, playing across the room. I don’t bother trying to guide it, allowing the destructive power of free-flowing electrons to heat and shatter poles, to jump between enchanted arms to land on other extended arms. To ground itself in sand and flesh, to sear and cauterize, to melt and mangle. The lightning dances and I find myself grinning.
“Enough, Redeemer. I’ve seen enough.” Draco’s voice cuts into my fun, and I find myself sighing as I let the spell go.
About time. I’m down to the last thousand or so of my Mana. But as I survey the damage, I’m a little impressed with myself. The most damaged are the poles next to me, but there’s a trail of smoking wreckage. On the ground about two-thirds of the way away from me are the Amazon and the elemental.
“How’d I do?” I say, strolling forward.
“A solid C.”
“C?” I frown, the competitive Chinese in me rearing up. God knows how many times I’ve been beaten for getting a B, never mind a C.
“C. You took too long to deal with the sand elemental. And your coordination with your Spirit is lacking,” Draco’s voice is dispassionate as he continues. “You are able to deal a significant amount of damage, but your combat experience is still lacking. Your tactics are well-known and easy to predict. You react to danger instinctively by reaching for a larger, more powerful attack, rather than subtlety.”
“It worked, didn’t it?” I say defensively.
“It worked. For now. As you progress, more and better-trained opponents will appear,” Draco says. “In the end, you’re too used to fighting monsters. Until you apply yourself to fighting other sentients, until you gain the necessary experience, I cannot increase your rating.”
I growl but clamp my mouth shut. He’s right. The sand elemental and Amazon-girl are high Advanced Classes only. Even working together, they shouldn’t have caused me so much trouble. They might have their own buffs, speed increases, and coordination, but I should have done better. Had to do better.
“Fine. You’re right.” I exhale forcefully. “But it’s not as if I can just go around picking fights.”
“But you can train. Here.” Draco waves around the training room, which the System is already restoring. “The guild can provide a large number of training partners for you. Give you the variety and experience you lack.”
“For?” I ask suspiciously.
“Well, you’ll be training our people too. But I’ll expect you to take up a guild-designated quest each month you train.”
“I won’t take just any quest.”
“Agreed. But you will take one.”
“Done.”
“Then welcome to Tig’s Guild,” Draco says.
“You call it that too?” I say with a slight smile.
“I don’t have the required number of vocal chords to pronounce it in the original language. Or the time to say its full name properly in Galactic,” Draco says. “And the guild master has banned calling it anything but its proper name. As such, we’ve taken to calling it his guild.”
I find myself nodding, accepting the fact that I’m now in Tig’s guild. Even if it’s not perfect, I l
ike Draco. I like what he’s selling, and since Mikito is part of the guild already, it’ll make partying with her much easier. And frankly, of the groups I’ve seen, this seems to work for me. They might not be as close-knit as the Green Waters or as effective as the Enkrago, but a middle ground is good. A middle ground is balance.
I’m surprised when I finally get back to our hotel suite and find that I’ve got a visitor. Thankfully, the presence of familiar guards in front of the suite doors gave her presence away well before I walked in.
“How’d you get the key?” I say, flopping down in a chair opposite Katherine. Not that key is the right term, since it’s more of a Status update and permission, but whatever.
“I am the one paying for these rooms,” Katherine says. “Also, Mikito told me I could come in any time I wanted.”
I grunt an affirmative, looking over the older woman carefully. For the first time in a long while, I actually look at my ex-secretary, taking in the changes the System had wrought upon her. There aren’t a lot, but they’re definitely there—a tightening in the skin on her face, the smoothing out of lines, and a little more luster in her hair. There’s more definition in her arms and body, a slight filling out and slimming down as she grew healthier through the application of points. More interesting is the subtle pressure of presence that even I can notice, a significant increase from before. It makes Katherine stand out even when she’s sitting still. Probably the manifestation of her Charisma points.
Katherine Ward, Ambassador for Earth (Level 11 Diplomat) (B)
HP: 390/390
MP: 1820/1820
Conditions: Condition linked (x4), Social Network, Shielded, Subtle Presence, Here be my Domain
Ever since she got the job as the ambassador, Katherine has branched and multi-classed. It’s not the most effective way of getting new Classes, and I know at some point she might want to reset all her experience and points. The actual act of resetting Classes is something we’ve only recently learned is possible. Mostly due to a restriction being lifted by Rob as the new ruler of Earth.
