by A F Kay
Stop. How long would it take to reconfigure three Guardians from assault to stealth?
Two minutes, six seconds, four hundred twenty-eight milliseconds.
From now on, unless I ask, seconds are all the precision I need.
Understood.
I don’t want to lose any Guardians, so they need to prioritize their safety first.
They can be set to “cautious,” which will avoid contact. It will slow the survey, however.
That’s fine. I don’t like how blind we are. Please proceed with the reconfiguration and cautious survey.
As you wish, Architect Starfield.
Ruwen stopped at the lake’s edge and peered at the far shore. It reminded him of the Bone Sculptor and the trick he’d played on them. There were still bones scattered about, and Ruwen wondered how they were going to gather them all up. But that was a problem for another day.
The others were near, their conversations preceding them, and Ruwen turned to meet everyone.
Sift held Shelly in his palm, and he lifted her to eye height. “Okay, spill it.”
Everyone had arrived and gathered in a semi-circle around Ruwen.
Ruwen pointed at Shelly. “That is no ordinary turtle.”
Sift brought Shelly back down and rubbed her shell with his thumb. “No kidding, genius, she’s the cutest turtle in the world.”
“That’s probably true, but she also likes to travel,” Ruwen said.
“Just like me,” Sift said.
Ruwen wondered if that desire to see new things was one of the reasons the turtle had chosen Sift.
“I think Shelly can change her size,” Ruwen said.
“Well, the way Lylan feeds her, she’s going to get fat,” Sift said.
Lylan winced.
Ruwen tried again. “I think in the Spirit Realm, that creature swimming below our raft just before Stone Harbor, was Shelly. And the thing that fought Tickles and gave us time to portal through the iris was also Shelly.”
Sift frowned. “Those are your secrets? They’re impossible.”
“I haven’t told you the impossible stuff yet. Rami found a description of Shelly’s kind being gigantic.” Ruwen left out the eating stars part.
Sift looked doubtful.
Ruwen pushed ahead. “And they carried people. Like some sort of turtle ship.”
Sift turned to Hamma. “I think he got scrambled when this place revived him. Are you sure he’s okay?”
Hamma looked worried as well.
“Have you had any luck talking to her?” Ruwen asked Sift.
Sift shook his head.
Ruwen bit his lip, getting worried himself. “Let's just try something. Put her down, and we’ll all give her some space. Then try telling her the two of us need to go northwest.”
Sift shrugged, sat Shelly on the ground, and then everyone backed away fifty feet. The little turtle crawled toward the shore and disappeared into the water.
Ruwen’s hopes fell. He turned to Sift. “Are you thinking at her?”
“Yes.”
Ruwen rubbed his forehead and wondered what was wrong. Rami’s findings had confirmed his own suspicions. He knew this was right. But how could they communicate with Shelly? Maybe if Sift could show Shelly on his map, the turtle would understand.
Rami, there must be a spell or ability in the Commander Sub Class that can form groups. Can you find it for me, please?
A picture of five people appeared in Ruwen’s head. They all stood facing a castle in ruins, and the man in front pointed toward the castle with his sword. Ruwen concentrated on the picture, and it slowly dissolved away. He felt a tension in his mind and then what felt like a pop. Opening his mouth wide, he relieved the pressure on his ears and read the new notification.
Ping!
You have learned the Ability Ringleader
Ability: Ringleader
Level: 1
Class: Fighter
Sub Class: Commander
Effect: Create one five-member group per ability level.
Ruwen closed the notification and focused on Sift while holding the five-person symbol in his mind. Sift frowned and then looked at Ruwen. A moment later, Sift’s portrait appeared on the right side of Ruwen’s vision as Sift accepted the group invitation.
Ruwen opened his map, found the mine, and then willed the location to Sift.
“Open your map,” Ruwen said.
Sift had the basic interface Ruwen had grown up with. Sift would be stuck with that interface his entire life since he refused to Ascend, but it had the essential things, including a map.
“Do you have the location?” Ruwen asked.
“Yeah, but how did you do that?” Sift asked.
Ruwen waved the question away. “I’ll explain later. Focus on Shelly, our group, and that location. Can you hold that much in your head at once?”
“Ha ha ha, you’re so funny. I haven’t had a chance to check this lake out. Shelly better not get eaten by a toad or something.”
“I don’t think anything can harm that turtle. Just do what I asked.”
“Fine. I am. Just admit that—”
The water roiled thirty feet from shore. Like an island emerging from the sea, a shell appeared. It kept growing as a giant turtle rose from the water. The women both gasped, and Sift was blessedly silent for once.
“Amazing,” Tremine said.
When the head finally appeared, Ruwen guessed the turtle was three hundred feet long.
“Shelly?” Sift whispered.
“Flip my wagon,” Bliz said.
Shelly glided across the water toward them, covering the thirty feet in just a blink. When she reached the shore, she turned so her side faced them. Where her top and bottom shells met, just behind the front leg, a square opening was visible.
It looked like a doorway.
Chapter 10
Sift walked up to Shelly as she put her head on the ground. He rubbed the side of her neck, and Shelly closed her eyes.
“Check out that opening,” Ruwen said.
Sift turned. “How do we get up there?”
Ruwen studied Shelly, and only one way made sense. The turtle’s leg looked almost like a ramp to the door.
“Walk up the leg,” Ruwen said.
Sift frowned and turned back to Shelly. “If this hurts you, smash the sour-looking one.”
“He’s joking, Shelly,” Ruwen said a little too loudly. If Shelly was anything like Lir, Ruwen could easily get killed.
Sift carefully stepped onto Shelly’s flipper and then walked up the leg. The folds in the turtle’s skin acted like stairs and Sift made good time. He paused at the dark doorway seventy-five feet above the beach and then disappeared through it.
The doorway turned from black to white, and Ruwen stepped forward to help Sift, only to realize an internal light had come on inside Shelly, and nothing terrible had happened. Half a minute later, Sift reappeared.
Sift waved his hand and shouted down to them. “Come look at this.”
Everyone started for the flipper, but Ruwen hung back. He yelled up at Sift. “I’ll go later. If she senses the entire group inside, she might take off.”
“What do you mean take off?” Sift asked.
“Oh, that’s the other secret. Shelly can fly.”
“What?” Sift asked and almost fell out of the door.
“Who knows what else she can do,” Ruwen said. “But a flying turtle ship is one.”
As everyone began their climb, Ruwen sat in the sand to wait. He’d already gone through all the Fighter abilities and spells the amulet had given him, but he didn’t know what the higher levels offered.
Ruwen ran a query against the bookcase Rami had provided him, this time for information on the Fighter Class. He’d already picked the Commander Sub Class and the Warlord Specialization, and he added that to the criteria. Hopefully, he could find some books that described the higher level Fighter spells and abilities.
The query returned with hundreds of
results. It looked like Fighters were a popular subject. Since Fighters had so many Sub Classes, it made sense that there were a lot of books. The first book Ruwen took from the bookshelf had what he needed.
At level six, Ruwen could invest in the Fighter ability Demoralize.
Ability: Demoralize
Effect: Shout decreases enemies damage by 10% per ability level by 10ft per Ability Level for 2 seconds per ability level.
At level eight, Ruwen had this option.
Ability: Flurry
Effect: Attack target with multiple blows to interrupt spell casting. Target unable to cast spells for 1 second per ability level.
The abilities were decent, but Ruwen already knew he didn’t have enough ability points to take everything. He skipped to the section on the Commander Sub Class. There were five abilities listed.
Ability: Ringleader
Effect: Create a five-member group per ability level.
Ability: Fearless Leader
Effect: Increase the Health Points of everyone under your command by 10% per ability level.
Ability: Chat
Effect: Telepathy between group members. Each ability level doubles the distance group members can be separated.
Ability: Draft
Effect: Add 5 members to all groups (excluding Primary) per ability level. Merge and resize groups (excluding Primary) in each layer, but not between layers.
Ability: Battlefield Promotion
Effect: Grant one member from each group the ability to create their own group. Each ability level extends this power to another layer.
Ruwen had already taken Ringleader, but the other abilities looked great as well. Chat would allow the group to communicate without even talking! What a huge advantage in a battle. And Fearless Leader would give everyone a huge Health bonus if he invested enough points in it.
Wondering what ability level twenty gave him, Ruwen looked in the Warlord section and gasped.
Ability: Banner
Effect: Designate one group per layer as a Banner Group. For every ability level taken, a Banner Group gets an additional Banner benefit. Banner benefit choices include:
Renew - Healing received 30% more effective
Havoc - Damage increased by 25%
Awareness - Perception increased by 25%
Forced March - Movement Speed increased by 35%
Muffle - Sound decreased by 35%
Notice - Detect Trap increased by 30%
Unrelenting - Regeneration Rates increased by 30%
Indestructible - Armor Class increased by 25%
Vigor - Resilience increased by 50%
Blur - Haste increased by 25%
Blockade - Parry and Block increased by 25%
Heft - Max Encumbrance increased by 20%
Advanced - Attributes increased by 20%
Cripple - Critical Strike increased by 20%
Bludgeon - Power Strike increased by 20%
Untouchable - Dodge increased by 25%
Sway - Persuasion increased by 25%
Grit - Endurance increased by 35%
Tutor - Experience increased by 20%
The quest for Warlord had mentioned Banners, but Ruwen hadn’t completely understood what it meant. Now he did. If he invested five ability points in Banner he could give five of the benefits listed above to a single group.
Even more powerful, if he invested in Battlefield Promotion, he could pick someone to form a group under them, and so on, until he had five layers of groups, each with a Banner Group, each with five Banner benefits.
But, after the massive investment of ten points in Hey You to unlock True Name, Ruwen only had twenty-one ability points left, six of which had been refunded from his Observer choices. This would not be easy.
Ruwen realized he’d never looked to see what his level twenty Gatherer abilities and spells were. He pulled the Worker book off his mental shelf and found the Gatherer ability section.
Ability: Analyze
Effect: Provides detailed information on target allowing the Gatherer to more easily determine uses and value. Analysis takes 5 seconds. Each Ability Point decreases analysis by 1 second.
That didn’t have the instant wow factor of Banner, but Ruwen knew better than to dismiss this ability. The fact that it was the level twenty ability must make it useful. He glanced at his level twenty Gatherer Energy and Mana spells since he had the Worker book open.
Spell: Sixth Sense
Effect: Channel Energy in a 1,000 foot radius to provide details on nearby nodes such as type, location, density, purity, etc. Every spell level increases the radius by 1,000 feet.
Spell: Worker Wagon
Effect: Create an air wagon that rests on a cushion of air and can be pulled over any terrain with very little effort. Measuring six feet wide, fifteen feet long, and five feet high, the sled has a capacity of 450 cubic feet. Each spell level allows another wagon to be created. Wagons will follow the lead wagon.
Again, Ruwen didn’t dismiss these spells. There had been a lot of node choices in his map interface, and Sixth Sense might save a lot of time if he needed to find something specific. He also remembered the bland sounding ability Survey that improved his map’s abilities. It wouldn’t surprise him if there were hidden synergies between all these spells and abilities.
Ruwen put the Worker book back on his mental shelf and reopened the Fighter book. He wanted to quickly look at what his spell choices were for Commander and Warlord before everyone came back down from Shelly. There were two Energy spells for Fighter he didn’t have.
Spell: Quicksand
Effect: Slow attackers by 5% for every enemy within 5 feet. Additional spell levels increase slow by 5% and distance effected by 5 feet.
Spell: Vital Signs
Effect: Increase Critical Strike chance by 10% every 5 seconds while channeled. Each additional spell level reduces duration by 1 second.
Ruwen continued on to the Commander Energy spells.
Spell: Gust
Effect: While channeling, create erratic wind gusts in a circle 50 feet in diameter, making arrows, bolts, and spears 50% less accurate and reduces damage from missiles by 25%. Each additional spell level increases the diameter by 50 feet.
Spell: Move On
Effect: Create a bridge to span gorges, rivers, trenches, or any other obstacle where the two sides are relatively level. Each spell level provides 500 square feet of surface area.
Spell: Bodyguard
Effect: Link to a group member and absorb 20% of the damage they receive. Each additional spell level increases absorption by 20%.
Spell: Fallen Heroes
Effect: Summon an apparition to aid a group. Apparition will be the same level as the Commander and remain for the duration of the channeled spell. Each additional spell level adds another apparition.
Spell: Coma
Effect: While spell is channeled, keep a member under your command in a coma, keeping them alive until a healer arrives. Each spell level reduces the Energy cost by 25 Energy per second.
All of the Commander Energy spells looked great. Ruwen hoped he had enough spell points to go around. He glanced at the single Warlord Energy spell available to him at level twenty.
Spell: Warcry of Freedom
Effect: Cleanse all impairing effects from those under your immediate command and increase Mind Resistance by 50% while channeled. Each spell level will allow the spell to affect an additional command layer.
That cleanse was better than an area of effect spell. Eventually, Ruwen might manage five separate groups, all in different locations. This cleanse would help everyone, regardless of where they were located, which made it a very powerful spell.
The only thing left was his Fighter Mana spells. He could hear distant voices, and he glanced up to see people emerging from the doorway. He didn’t have much time to see what the Mana spells offered.
The first two were the level six and eight spells.
Spell: Draining Bandage
Effect: Convert 95 Energy into 80 Health. Each spell level decreases Energy cost by 5 and increases Health benefit by 5.
Spell: Painful Charge
Effect: Convert 95 Health into 80 Energy. Each spell level decreases Health cost by 5 and increases Energy benefit by 5.
Ruwen hurried on to the Commander Mana spells.
Spell: Last Supper
Effect: Removes hunger pains, malnutrition debuff, dehydration debuff, and exhaustion debuff of everyone under your command. Recipients must be out of combat. Lasts 12 hours. Each spell level increases the layers this spell effects by one.
Spell: Relentless
Effect: Increase Energy Regeneration by 5% for 1 hour. Each spell level increases the percentage by 5%.
Spell: Quartermaster’s Yell
Effect: For 1 hour, decrease resource cost for all spells by 10% and potions are 10% more effective. Each spell level decreases resource cost by 10% and increases effectiveness by 10%.
Spell: Emissary’s Shout
Effect: For 1 hour, increase Perception by 10% and Speed by 10%. Each spell level increases both percentages by 10%.
Spell: Warlord’s Roar
Effect: For 1 hour, increase damage by 10% and Armor Class by 10%. Each spell level increases both percentages by 10%.
All of the Commander Mana spells seemed powerful. The group had almost reached him, and he looked at the single Warlord Mana spell available to him at level twenty.
Spell: Warcry of Life
