I took the needle and catgut she held out to me and got to work. “Vastil is the wealthiest county, though?”
“Aye. And Litvy is the biggest city in the province now - ever since the House of Soma began building airships. It is a city of commerce, and the noble families there live by the scales, not the sword. Litvy also has a good school, and a sacred smithing college run by the Forge Brothers. When I was a girl, House Soma wasn’t even nobility!”
That was an interesting piece of information. “How long ago was that?”
“Oh, about sixty, sixty-five years ago now. The House of Soma were mere merchants back then. Shipwrights and merchants. They manufactured airships for the Crown, which is how Orvel Soma gained his peerage. His grandson is now Count of Vastil, but I hear Lorenzo Soma is something of a boor.”
“Huh. Good to know.”
We spent about thirty minutes finishing up the rounds, and every time I helped Masha, the Skill EXP trickled in. When we were done, Masha beckoned to me and took me aside to her laboratory. There was an Alchemy table with a safe for storing mana, an herbalist table, and floor to ceiling dressers full of potion ingredients along the walls. It was clean and cozy, the herbal smell overlaid with a faint ozone scent – the odor of mana.
“You are leaving tomorrow morning, then?” She asked me, puffing as she climbed a step-stool and hauled a bag of tools from a shelf.
“Yeah.” I watched her from the doorway. “Not much time to learn from you, unfortunately.”
“It is unfortunate. I’ve never taught a Starborn before, but if they’re all as quick as you, I’ll be glad to see more of them in Taltos.” She began to rifle through the bag, pulling out leather wrapped surgery tools, bandages, linen cloth… and then an old, battered pair of spell gloves.
“I… uh… thanks.” I actually flushed. No one had ever described me as ‘quick’ before. “I’m not really that smart, though.”
“Shush. I didn’t ask your opinion, did I?” Masha motioned to me to come closer. “Now, you’re going to want to prepare for the journey, hmm? I have a few things to give you. You may also use this oratory to work.”
I drifted over as she pulled rolls of parchment out and laid them down beside the gloves. “Recipes?”
“Yes. Here: put them in your inventory. Practice those formulae, and you’ll be ready for Journeyman level in Herbalism. I need a new valve for these spell gloves before you can use them, though. Wait here.” She pushed the stack of papers over to me, then hopped down and bustled off to her alchemy table.
I uploaded the new recipes to my Inventory, and received a string of prompts:
[You have learned new recipes: Starberry Salve, Goldenseal Tincture, Droptick Oil, Nightshade Solution (A), Bonefuse (A), Bull’s Strength Potion (A)]
[Congratulations! You have reached Herbalism 11! You can now study Journeyman-level textbooks, brew more complex potions, and use better equipment!]
[Congratulations! You have unlocked Alchemy (Levels 4 – 10)]
[Your ability to understand Alchemy has increased! You have unlocked detailed recipes and instructions, including listed benefits and side-effects.]
Hell yeah. I’d been stuck on Alchemy 4 - the limits of self-taught Alchemy - since before I’d left Ilia. While Masha fiddled with the gauntlets, I eagerly brought up one of the new recipes and had a look:
Bonefuse (Alchemical)
A phototoxic potion which instantly repairs broken bones.
Benefit: Administering Bonefuse will cure any set and splinted fracture. You must straighten any broken bones before use.
Side-Effects: Bonefuse will cause the patient to be painfully allergic to sunlight for 2-5 days. Exposure to direct sunlight will inflict the Burn status and drain 20 HP damage per minute of exposure. The side-effect cannot be offset with other medicines.
Toxicity: 5/10 (Risk of Stranging if used on NPCs: 50%)
Ingredients: Comfrey x 2, Bergamot oil x 1, Mana (Any) x 1, Monster Saliva (Any), Bishop’s Weed x 1, Distilled Water x 1, Sealed Flask.
Sell Price: 20 olbia (gold)
Damn, Bonefuse wasn’t fucking around. Curious, I went to examine one of the first Alchemical potions I’d ever made – my unused bottle of Barghest Serum. The murky glowing potion had been sitting in my inventory ever since I’d first brewed it, un-used. That was because its description HAD been a one-line warning: ‘a deadly poison that allows you to see in the dark for 60 seconds.’ Bringing up the item description now gave me an expanded breakdown, just like the Bonefuse recipe:
Barghest Serum
A deadly poison that allows you to see in the dark for 60 seconds.
Benefit: Consuming Barghest Serum gives you perfect darkvision for one minute. You can see in lightless environments, and even underground. Barghest Serum can also be used to poison weapons. Wounds inflicted by weapons poisoned with Barghest Serum will glow with bright light for up to six hours.
Side-Effects: Barghest blood contains a potent toxin that drains HP. NPCs take 150 HP damage over 2 minutes after contact or consumption. Player characters take 100 HP damage over 2 minutes. Mercurions, Monsters, Dragons and Dragonforged characters take no damage from this poison.
Toxicity: 7/10
Ingredients: Barghest liver x 1, Barghest Eye x 1, Eyebright x 2, Water x 1, Sealed Flask.
“Here we go. There’s a new valve on the left hand… very important to keep an eye on the durability of these things. You don’t want your mana leaking everywhere.” Masha rejoined me at the island counter in the center of the room and handed me the spell gloves. They weren’t exactly new, and were made of brown leather, cloudy crystal, and old brass fittings.
[You got Old Alchemist’s Spell Glove!]
“This is a good first glove. It can only process fractionated Green crystal Mana, but that’s all a beginner really should be using,” Masha said. “A Green Mana spill isn’t likely to kill anyone. You’ll be able to use better mana and better equipment as you gain more experience. You can start by making potions in my Alchemy laboratory, but you must buy the mana from me. I can’t afford to just give it away.”
“No worries,” I replied. “And thanks. These will be really useful when we’re stuck in Myszno.”
“I hope so. I fear for Lord Bolza. When I was a girl, I remember seeing the lord’s father in town once. The Bolzas, and all their green and silver knights and beautiful glossy hookwings… that spectacle was what made me want to come here and see the big city.” Masha’s eyes softened slightly as she spoke. “But that’s enough of this old woman’s rambling. You should go and see your sorceress. She may appear lifeless, but those in coma often benefit from kind touch and encouragement. Assume she can hear and will remember everything you say.”
“I nodded. “Thank you. Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Eh, no. I am concerned about His Majesty’s health.” Masha sighed. “Ignas is under terrible strain, and for all that he is surrounded by people now, he is alone. No wife, no children, no one to share his worries and joys with. Caring for him and the sick here are all I can do. I’m too old to travel. If you wish to continue your studies, you will find tutors in Myszno. I recommend the School of Medicine in Karhad – that is where I trained. Rumor has it that the Baru, the Tuun monks, fight in the army alongside His Majesty’s troops. If that’s true, they will have even greater healing abilities than I. I’m sure your countrymen will be glad to receive you, given you bear the Black God’s mark on your skin.”
“Long story, but I don’t think they will.” I rubbed the back of my hand, feeling the Mark of Matir prickle and ache. “I... uhh… broke an oath to expose Andrik’s plot against his brother.”
“Then you must atone. But, the Baru are as merciful as they are fierce. That is the meaning of the knife you carry.” She pointed at the slender, ice pick-like dagger hanging from my belt. “You are already on the path of the healer. Now you must live up to it.”
“Thanks. And thanks for all of this help,” I replied.
“It is my pleasure and my duty both.” The Master Healer pressed her lips together in a thin line. “I have lived here in Taltos for many years now, but Myszno will always be my home. When I pass, I wish for my old bones to be taken back there and given a proper burial in the manner of the Kel Khammut. So please… do everything in your power to protect Myszno. Burna’s flock of sacred flies await me in my homeland.”
***
Even though I knew Rutha was unconscious, I tapped on her door before letting myself inside.
The second Knight of the Red Star who had been posted to keep watch over her looked up when I entered: a fierce-looking man in the red and black lamellar armor of his order. His head was shaved except for a forelock at the front, and his cheeks were tattooed with lines of script that ran from just under his eyes to the edge of his goatee. He had a saber resting across his lap and a half-read book in his hand, and nodded to me as I crossed to Rutha’s bedside. She was hooked up to a small magitech device. The core of the machine swelled with a blue-white glow. When the glow peaked, magical glyphs shone briefly on Rutha’s skin, and she breathed in. When they faded, she breathed out. It was some kind of arcane iron lung.
“Hail, warrior,” the knight said in Vlachian. I recognized him - it was Ur Lanso, one of the retainers often seen at court. “Do you need to be alone with the lady?”
“Yeah.” I pulled up a seat so I could sit beside her. “Thanks.”
Ur Lanso rose, bowed stiffly, and then left the two of us in the herb-scented hush of the room.
Rutha was an elf from my home continent of Daun. She’d always been a short, delicate woman, but weeks of torture had shrunk her. Her long ears were scabbed, and the skin of her face was stretched tightly over her jaw and cheekbones. Her lips were dry and cracked. Her short-cropped hair emphasized the thinness of her neck, the jut of her collarbones... and the poorly healed fracture there.
“My god.” I pulled my gloves off, then cupped one of Rutha’s hands in mine. They were thin and brittle, like bird’s legs. “Those fucking bastards.”
There was no response. Rutha’s eyelids didn’t even flicker, and because of their stillness, I noticed that she was missing her eyelashes. They had been scorched away. Frowning, I smoothed away a strand of hair from her face, then got some of the balm Masha had left beside her bed and smoothed it onto her lips, making sure they were well-coated. Despite what Masha had said, I didn’t have much to say to her. After making sure her mouth wouldn’t hurt, I checked her dressings and her IV, thinking until the words came.
“Whatever they told you, whatever they did to you... they were wrong,” I said, haltingly. “I’m going to get them for what they’ve done, Rutha. To you, to me, to Karalti’s mother, to their dragons, to the game. They’re dead men walking. I’ll find a way to delete them right the fuck out of Archemi. You’ve got people on your side out here. We’re waiting for you, when you’re ready to wake up.”
I gave Rutha’s limp hand a gentle squeeze and lay it back down on top of the covers. For a time, I just watched her, remembering her. The Rutha I’d met on the Arabella was fierce, dynamic, brilliantly intelligent. Matir had told me that she was part of Ororgael’s plan to return to Archemi, and in my darker moments, I’d wondered if our brief love affair had been part of his plan all along... but looking at the damage done to her, it couldn’t have been. Whoever had beaten the shit out of her was furious. They were angry, violent injuries inflicted by someone with a grudge.
“You just... you get better, okay? You need to meet Suri, and Ignas… and Rin and Karalti. We’ve all got your back. Suri made sure to ask me to tell you that.” I bent down, and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to Rutha’s cold forehead. “We’re going to a war tomorrow… but I’m going to try to get stronger. We’ll come back for you. I promise.”
The sorceress didn’t stir as I left, her chest rising and falling in time with the machine beside her bed.
Chapter 7
My first stop after the hospital was the Keep’s Outer Gate, where the Castellan lived and worked. He was happy to hear about the dead Glacier Toads. I got my EXP and silver, which I handed back. I told him to donate the 500 rubles to the families of the guards who had been lost during the battle between Andrik and Ignas. Because I gave the money back, I got 25 points of Renown instead. That popularity was going to be more important than money down the road.
By the time I reached my suite, I regretted not going to the Night Market with Suri. Karalti was still gone, and when I tried to reach out to her, there was nothing but the blankness of sleep. That left me stuck in Vulkan Keep with nothing to do except spend time with my worst enemy - my brain, which currently had a bad case of the ‘it’s not fair’s’.
Baldr had taken over a kingdom and raised himself and his pet players to end-game levels in a few weeks. It sucked. A lot. I was hurting from how much it sucked. The old Hector, the Hector who had bluffed his way through life - bouncing bars, riding motorcycles, playing games and inhaling pizza - would have given up from that humiliating pain. There was no way to catch up with cheaters. There was no amount of work we could do, no legitimate effort we could make to honestly exceed them. But even as I paced, my inner drill sergeant was screaming: “So what? So what if they’re cheating? So what if Baldr-Ororgael is the best gamer who ever fucking walked the earth? What are you going to do about it, boot?”
The new Hector had survived five years on the front lines of the Total War. My character upload had glitched and I’d survived anyway. There’d been no bunny slopes for me. No tutorials. The goddamn God of Darkness had chosen me to be his ‘herald’, whatever that meant. I... actually wasn’t sure.
But yeah, that Hector, he was a Queen's Rider. A Kingmaker. A Kingslayer. There had to be something in me that was capable of beating these assholes, even if I still felt like I was just cruising my way through life. I wouldn’t give into the urge to brood about cheating losers, or my missed date, or the fact my dragon wasn’t talking to me. I was going to pick myself up by the bootstraps and brew some motherfucking potions.
After activating Blessing of the Raven - +10% to Skill EXP gain, thank you very much - I took a note from Masha’s book and beat those herbs like I planned to beat Lucien’s face: To a pulp. I rage-crafted Goldenseal Tinctures, Common Antidotes - basically just charcoal and purified water - and some other recipes I’d bought at the apothecary in town. To be an effective medic, you had to have treatments that aligned with the four humors: Sanguine, Choleric, Phlegmatic and Melancholic. I made healing potions that could treat diseases of each type. I made Concentrated Moss Tinctures for days. I made a couple of things out of mana and frog parts that I really wish I hadn’t. Fortunately, my suite had big windows and the toxic smoke cleared out pretty fast.
[Warning! You are dehydrated! -1 HP per 10 seconds]
[You have triggered Endurance!]
[You have reached Herbalism 15!]
[You have reached Alchemy 5!]
[Warning! You are famished! -1 HP per 10 seconds]
[You have reached Alchemy 6]
[You are exhausted! -10% to Skill Checks]
The brewing and crafting was only an hour’s work, but by the end, I was running on fumes. My Endurance ability was keeping me going, but it wasn’t going to last forever. I got a drink and a small bite to eat from my Inventory before running a bath and settling down in the steaming water. Once I was settled in, I bought up my character sheet and had a look at what I had to work with.
Dragozin Hector - Dauntan (Tuun)
Level 17 Dark Dragoon
==Stats==
Strength: 45 (+10 bonus)
Dexterity: 51
Stamina: 35 (+5 bonus)
Will: 57
Wisdom: 27
Intelligence: 20
HP: 1362 (+300 bonus)
EXP: 12,173 (2792 to next level)
Adrenaline: 136
==Abilities==
=Racial=
Blessing of Burna: +10% bonus to resist
disease; +5% Stamina bonus to recover from illnesses. Immune to Pox and Lockjaw. +10% cold resistance. All physical needs accrue 2% slower.
Plateau Native: No Stamina penalties in thin air, -2 Stamina penalty at sea level.
Saddle Born: All Riding skills increase 5% faster.
Sun-sight: No vision penalties in bright or very bright light, -5% penalty in dark environments.
Blessing of Tarn: +15% movement speed.
Blessing of Hrrun: No airsickness, reduced inertia at high altitudes, no vertigo.
=Traits=
Curiosity: The player is an open-minded and engaged person, willing to question their modes of thinking and doing and readily accept new ideas. Combat, craft and class skills gain 5% more quickly.
Introvert: With a preference for their own company or small groups of loyal friends, the player gains a 5% bonus to accumulate skills in solitude provided they are not disturbed. Fatigue accumulates 10% faster in large groups and crowds outside of combat situations.
Dyslexic: The written word is something of a mystery to the player. Books take longer to read, and all language-related skills gain %5 slower.
Natural Leader: You have a natural inclination to take charge. Social skills increase +2% faster when engaged in leadership activities.
Endurance: You are accustomed to pushing yourself, even when you are exhausted. You may spend adrenaline to offset starvation, fatigue or bleeding for +1 minutes x your Stamina.
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