by Jez Cajiao
“Did you know?” I asked her, summoning a water fountain, and trying to scrape the residue off my tongue.
“That Bernicle beans are foul?” she asked, trying to keep a straight face.
“Yeah.”
“Well… yes… I did. Never seen nobody eat ‘em just random-like in public before!” she said, trying to keep from laughing.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Well… well, look you didn’t swallow ’em, did you?” she said, looking suddenly embarrassed.
“No, why?” I asked, getting worried now as well.
“Oh, thank the lady! Well, they have certain side effects…down below…that’s kinda their main use, if you get my meanin’…” She looked heavily embarrassed.
“Noooo, still not a clue…wait, you mean…” I said and gestured towards my crotch, getting a cough and a nod in return. I started to move on, determined to get this awkward conversation over with as soon as possible, and then thought better of it. Better to find out now. I’d only end up asking someone else later otherwise, and that’d be an even more awkward conversation to start. “Okay, let’s keep it quiet; I didn’t have a clue what they do, so…?”
“They, ah, make certain things harder? Like, longer?” she said, her face aflame with embarrassment.
“Ooookay, got it! Thanks. Aaaaand we never had this conversation, okay?” I said, both of us turning away as swiftly as possible, trying to pretend the conversation had never happened.
The last item the mage had, beside a couple of rune-inscribed things that looked like sticks, which I put aside, was his staff. The staff was composed of a dark wood, about six foot in length, and was topped with a round black orb that had several small cracks running through it.
Synergistic Staff
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
This Staff was created by the Master of enchantments Lufthousen and gives a boost of 10% to magical experience gained while
wielding the staff, as well as a 10% boost to your mana capacity. 9 Damage in Melee fighting.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Rare
Yes
35/100
43/100
I had no idea who ‘Lufthousen’ was, but I loved his ability to create a staff. It was nowhere near my naginata, but hey. Setting it aside for later, I moved on to check the captain’s corpse, finding two large purses of gold and silver, I didn’t bother counting them, just put them with the other one. He had three rings, only one of which was magical; the other two were pretty, but far too sparkly for my tastes.
Ring of Farseeing
Further Description Yes/No
Details:
The Ring of Farseeing is part of the standard equipment given to Warship captains by the City of Himnel. This ring forms part of a set and grants +1 mile to visibility in ideal conditions. Once per 24 hours, a single charge may be used to focus the wearer’s or another’s vision for 30 seconds.
Rarity
Magical
Durability
Charge:
Unusual
Yes
79/100
7/100
I pocketed the ring, planning on giving it to Oren, and continued to search, finding a pair of boots that were enchanted to increase traction in the wet. Little else wasn’t sparkly, ruined by blood, or otherwise rubbish.
I’d seen maps and other clothes in his quarters, and decided I’d talk to Oren about them later. The sheath for the dagger was on his waist, but honestly, the dagger would be worth more smelted down, after he’d practically ruined it in his attempt to stab Bob. It was crap.
I didn’t even bother reading the rest of the details on the boots, just checked their title and chucked them aside to join the small pile. Lydia hadn’t fared well either; between Bob’s attack, the two guards had left a small amount of usable armor, two swords, three gold, six silver, and eighteen copper, and a few bits of personal junk I ignored.
“Okay, well, that’s enough, anyway.” I straightened up and backed away from the corpses. Lydia did the same, and Bob moved forward, at my silent urging.
“Woo boy, okay…” I muttered to myself. Beginning to cast at Bob, I funneled a third of my mana straight into him, using my bonus ability ‘Bonemeld’ to heal over cracks and breaks in his form wherever possible.
After a few minutes, he looked better; not right, as he still had a lot of his mass missing, but not quite as freakily broken as before. I poured mana into the bodies arranged all around him, watching the flesh slough away into noxious puddles as the bones lifted into the air. As each corpse collapsed, the bones gathered around Bob, building up a stock of material to rebuild him.
I closed my eyes, seeing a mental picture of Bob hanging before me, and I slowly separated out his form.
I started with the legs, making them thicker and stronger, and reshaping some of the bones to create smaller overlapping plates designed to absorb damage, but break off before his actual structure was broken. I carried this theme up to his chest, giving him a heavier, thicker ribcage, overlapping the bones to strengthen his shoulders, then melding bones together to form a sort of cuirass. With his shoulders so heavily reinforced, the lower pair of arms was scrapped to provide extra bone for armoring. I kept the flexible spear-like legs attached to his back as well; they were just too cool to change.
In the end, when I opened my eyes and looked at him again, he was an imposing sight.
He stood almost eight feet tall, and the combination of the naga skull and back spears mixed with the bone armor to make a hell of an impression.
I grinned at him as he shifted about, examining his new form, and with a thought, I pulled up the new notification I’d received.
You have created a new armored form for your minion. Do you wish to save this form for easier reconstruction later? Yes/No
I chose ‘yes,’ of course, and was asked to name it. Easy one, that.
You have selected ‘Knight’ as the name for this form. Reconstruction will require 1.23 metric tons of bone to complete from scratch. This form has received the following bonuses:
+1.5 to intimidation
+3 to damage against Darkness-aligned foes (due to consecrated bones used in construction)
Congratulations! You have raised your spell ‘Raise Weak Skeleton’ to level 12. Once this spell reaches level 20, you may choose its second evolution. As a ‘Reanimator’ you may be able to unlock certain abilities inherent in the bones you use…
I grinned at Bob, admiring my companion as he banged one huge bone fist off his chest armor to test it before straightening up and becoming immobile again, returning to watching over me.
I turned from the corpses and saw Lydia gaping at me in wide-eyed shock.
“What?” I asked, confused at her expression.
“You…you just made him!” she whispered; her voice filled with awe.
“Uh, yeah? What did you think I meant when I said I needed to fix him?” I asked her, thinking quickly.
Since I’d adopted everyone, I couldn’t remember if I’d made any changes to Bob, and it took a few seconds of her mouth opening and closing before I got it.
I hadn’t changed his appearance since the fight with the SporeMother, and people obviously hadn’t realized the things I could do with him. I shrugged and gestured to him as I turned to look out over the ship.
“He’s my minion, yes. I created him from bones I found in the Tower. After all he’s seen and done since coming to life, he’s starting to become ‘more’ now, though. He’s… well, if not fully sentient yet, he’s on his way, so please, do me a favor and let people know that he’s to be treated with respect, okay? Also, where did you think he came from?” I asked curiously, glancing over at her.
“Well, I…I thought he were a Bone Minion!” she said, still awed.
“Uh, yeah? He’s made of bone?” I said, confused.
“No! A Bone Minion.
They’re magic, like the Golems. I seen ‘em before; they do some jobs in the cities, but they don’t last long. I thought you’d got a load of scrolls and were using ’em!”
“No, but it’s cool that you can do that…” I said, only to be met with a furious shaking of her head in response.
“No, Bone Minions ain’t cheap. They sell slaves because we’re cheap! Bone Minions only last a few months, and then you need to buy another. I been made to do their jobs before ‘til they can get another! Are ya… are ya gonna make more?” Her voice quavered as she asked me, practically terrified of the answer.
“No,” I said. “I choose to only have Bob, I wanted him to grow, rather than just get more copies of him. Why?”
“I…Well…yer could make a load o’ gold, an’…”
“I don’t give a shit about gold at the minute,” I said, holding her gaze, “and as far as I’m concerned, the real wealth here is you and the others. We can always get money. We can’t get people so easy, so don’t ever think your place here isn’t safe.”
“Oh, I… uh, I didn’t mean that…honestly…” She said, looking anywhere but at me, and I nodded, certain that it was exactly what she’d been worried about.
“Thanks for your help, Lydia.” I said, and she straightened, saluting me with a fist to her chest.
“Anytime, lord. An’, well…” she said, looking suddenly hesitant.
“Just say it. You don’t have to be worried; god knows you always said what you meant before.” I grinned at her. I’d seen a difference in the way she acted around me since the fight, like she’d decided maybe I wasn’t a waste of skin after all.
“Well… ah, fuck it,” she said, suddenly deflating and wringing her hands. “Look, when we met ya, I… I thought you were gonna be one of those ones, ya know, an adventurer. All mouth, just out fer yerself, and screw everyone else. I half expected you’d use us, just so yer could escape this place. I was a slave; I figured even a little chance to escape was more’n I had before.” She shook her head and looked around, gesturing out to the people below in the cages, then to our own people as they walked about, free. “I been shit on, used and sold fer years. I was dead and still walkin’. Now I’m free. I’ve got food, I’m safe, and I can go where I want."
"I been there, where those poor fuckers are. All I’m sayin’, I guess, is thank you. And maybe give ‘em a chance. Might be, they’re shits and need taught t’ fly, like Toka, but maybe there’s some good ’un’s too.”
She trailed off, shrugging as she looked at me. “Maybe they’re all twats, though. Fuck it.” I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw the way she washed her hands of it all, but her honesty touched me, and I smiled.
“Thank you, Lydia.” I said, “I, well… I try. I’m trying to keep us all safe, and I’ll try to be the man you all need me to be.”
She saluted again and walked off, as I looked down at the cages, noting the dejected and scared looks on the faces of those inside. Oren was standing outside talking to them, but only a few seemed interested. The rest seemed, well…resigned to things, as though they’d given up, and a few looked furious. I shook my head, seeing too many similarities to the way the slaves had looked when I’d found them. I had to straighten this out, and I needed these people.
Chapter Five
I summoned Bob, and we both headed down to the cages, coming to a stop next to Oren.
“Well, ye all heard who I be, and this be the Lord Jax I been tellin’ ye about. He be the one that kilt the SporeMother and all, so ye be careful now…” Oren said, straightening up and stepping aside to stand at some imitation of attention.
I stood there for a long minute, looking them over. There were two distinct groups, ten men and women of various species that wore brown coveralls—well, nine I supposed, as the tenth was a humanoid that looked to be made of rock. I’d almost assumed him to be a Golem, until I saw that his eyes were perhaps the most intelligent of the lot, and that he’d had a brown coverall style of uniform painted onto him as well.
The larger second group was a lot better dressed. They too seemed to have a uniform, but it was a simple white top and blue pants. All were human males, maybe thirty of them, ranging in age from about fifteen to maybe sixty or seventy. I locked eyes with the oldest man, and he nodded back to me in acknowledgement.
“You’ve all had the pleasure of Oren’s company here, and you’ve had time to see what’s going on,” I said to them,
“I’m Jax, lord of the Tower, and this land. You’ve seen the announcement, I’m sure. I’m not interested in keeping slaves or prisoners, so I’ll make this quick. Those that want more information can ask, and I’ll talk more afterwards. You can join me, or you’ll be set loose to return to the city. If you choose to swear loyalty and stay, you’ll be free, get food and respect, and the chance to learn skills. Some of you are already skilled with the ship, and that’ll be useful. I’ll be clear, when I say skills, I mean SKILLS. I have some Skill Books, Memories, and Spellbooks, and I’ll be giving those out to people that impress me and earn them.” At that, the people that’d been sitting zoned out or looking uninterested joined the rest in paying attention. There were four that sat at the back that I’d taken special note of, though, as they’d been the angrier looking members of the group. They exchanged sharp looks and pushed forward, shoving others out of their way. I also saw the way the rest of the crew moved to avoid them, all either showing dislike or fear of the small group.
“Aye, alright, we’re interested!” said the one that pushed to the front. He was small, but wiry, and had the teeth missing on one side of his mouth, giving him a lopsided appearance. “What spells ye offerin’, then? And what skill memories? How many ye got?”
He tried to grin at me, and I stared right back at him as Bob hulked up beside me, a low rumbling growl coming from him as he picked up on my dislike of the man.
“As I said, I’ll be giving these out to those that earn them.” I said and he stared at me, licking his lips nervously, then looked away.
I took the time to make eye contact with the rest of the group, noting the looks they gave the foursome. “Those that want to stay, I’ll require an Oath from you, one that will be magically enforced. Those that don’t want to stay, well, I’ll let you go. I won’t hurt you, despite you trying to raid my home. I know you were forced to come here by your captain and by that prick, Barabarattas.”
“You’ll let us go?” Another man spoke up, one of those in the brown coveralls.
“Yes. I’ve no interest in keeping prisoners, or in killing you. If you don’t want to be here, you can go. I’d prefer to recruit you, reward you for working hard, and offer you a place in the Tower. That goes for you and your families, but I won’t lie to you, I’m at war with Barabarattas. There’s risk for everyone, no matter which side you choose.”
“Aye, well, we’re in, ain’t we, lads?” The wiry little man said, waving at the cage. “So, you just let us free, yer lordship, and give us what you promised, and we’ll join yer.” Again, he tried to grin at me, and Bob stepped forward, making them all cower back in the cages.
“That’s great!” I said, feigning enthusiasm. “One point, however, you’ll remember I said your Oath would be magically enforced. That comes in two parts. First, you swear loyalty to me,” I said locking eyes on him. “Second, you swear to be truthful in all your dealings with me, just as I will with you. That second part means that once you’ve sworn and I ask you if you had any intentions to fuck me over, like, oh I don’t know... if you’d planned to take the Memories and Skills and rob me, or harm my people, you’ll be forced to tell me the truth. At that point, I’ll strip you of citizenship, and I either give you to my minion, Bob, here…” I said, gesturing to Bob, who made a point of flexing his enormous taloned hands and opening his mouth to show his pointed teeth off to best effect.
“Or, if I decide I’m really angry…I’ll deal with you myself.” I said, my naginata beginning to glow and pulse with power as Oren spoke up.
“Aye, an’ remember tha’ Lord Jax just fuckin’ killed a SporeMother. On his own. Ye dinna want to see ‘im pissed off! I’d be hopin’ Bob’d make it quick, ‘cos I’ll tell ye, he be the one more likely to be merciful!” The four slowly melted back in the cage, pushing others in front of them.
“Yeah, I thought so.” I shook my head before looking at the oldest of the ship’s crew. “You have a question?” I asked, catching his gaze on me again.
“Ah, yes, Lord. I was the helmsman of Agamemnon’s Pride. I live to fly, but you said you’d give us a home? I saw you before, you and your wisp. You were healing people!” he said, stepping forward and gripping the bars of the cage with gnarled and weathered hands. “I…well...”
I grimaced, seeing his fingers, bent, and twisted with arthritis, and I held up a hand to stop him.
“Oracle, where are you?”
“I’m in the hold; be right there…”
A handful of seconds later Oracle came flitting out of a porthole and flew across to me, perching on my shoulder like an insanely attractive parrot.
“Will our healing spell, the focused heal-all, have the ability to fix his arthritis?”
“His fingers?”
“Yeah.”
“It should; simple physical damage like that should be easy to fix…”
“Good. I thought this would be embarrassing if it didn’t work!”
I lifted my hands, slowly building the spell, making sure I had all the sections and various weaves right, investing a lot of mana into it, until I’d nearly bottomed out my reserves. I wanted this to prove a point as well as help him.
