by Jez Cajiao
“I’d suggest that Timoth be given the skill book, as he’ll retain more than any other, and as the highest skilled, and only professional Farmer we have, he’ll be in charge of the entire group, for now at least. Rin would do well with Gizmo’s Growth; she’s the halfling and has the highest intelligence of any of the farming group, and Tel has the second highest and is particularly interested in herbs and learning some of the alchemical side of things, so I’d suggest giving him ‘Nature’s Boon’. He can split his time between working with the growers and working with Esse, the Mer herbalist.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said pushing the stack to one side.
“Make sure they understand these come with the expectation that when they get skilled enough in their use, they’ll teach others.”
“Of course. When is that, usually?” Cai asked, and I turned to Oracle.
“It depends on the individual, but most can teach a spell they know to another after they’ve reached level twenty in that spell. It’s a basic version that can be taught; the student always gets a weaker spell than the teacher, as they don’t understand the little bits that the teacher knows instinctively. The only way to learn a spell as the caster knows it, is to have the caster create a Spellbook, and learn it from there, as the caster must pour all their knowledge into a Spellbook.”
“Wait, so when I teach Ame our ‘Battlefield Triage’ spell, she’ll only get a weak version of it?” I asked, and Oracle nodded.
“The spell she learns will have the same basic capabilities, but the overall spell we use is compounded by our joint knowledge, so ours will do more than she can with it. The greatest spells are always self-created. Those learned from others, even if from Spellbooks, are always another’s knowledge grafted onto you, and some bits just don’t stick.”
“Crap. Okay then, I guess we can leave it at that for now for the farmers. Who else are we looking at today?” I asked Cai, and he flipped to another section.
“Warriors,” he said bluntly. “They can be a lot more expensive to train. I’ve spoken to Barrett, and he’s told me about his training. It seems the best way to teach a group of warriors is by a warrior, basically."
"If a soldier is trained to teach their skills, then they can, over time, teach a group to use them as well. That’s common sense, I know, but certain abilities, such as ‘Recover’ or ‘Charge’ can also be taught, provided the trainer is a high enough level in both teaching and in the skill needed. I’d suggest we talk to various fighters, mainly Barrett and the Mer, and see what abilities they have.” Oracle moved out from the shelves again, carrying a single small black skill book. I glanced at it and nodded to her in approval.
“I suppose we might as well include this for now. We have several skill books on fighting styles, mainly armed, but some unarmed as well. As soon as we can get things a bit more secure here, and get my brain fixed, I’m going to use at least one of these books, and begin giving classes. It’ll be a small cadre at first, probably only to three or four people, but they’ll then assist me as we teach more. While I want everyone to be able to fight primarily with a weapon of their choice, I also want everyone to be able to defend themselves. Unarmed Combat is about learning to fight without relying on anything else. In my world, I studied a lot of different arts over the years, and many taught you to take the enemy’s weapon and use it on them. I want everyone that lives here to be able to do that, and more. I won’t have them being victims, not again.”
“I believe you will have a lot of volunteers for that, Jax,” Cai said quietly.
“I hope so, my friend. Now, Barrett and Flux; I know they’ve both got a background in fighting, and some training. Has either of them got any experience…”
“Flux has experience both in training small groups and in teaching particular fighting styles,” Cai interrupted me with a smile. “He’s actually asked when you train, as I think he’s decided he’s going to help you.”
“Oh crap,” I muttered, having seen Flux fight. While I knew I had a lot to learn, I also just knew that training under Flux would be painful. Everything he did had an economy of movement that was just beautiful and terrifying to watch. If he was a machine, fighting simply and perfectly, regular, exact movements, and all… I was more of a pissed off cat, full of hissing, spitting, manic energy.
“Yes, he asked me to tell you to be sure to meet him after you’re done to discuss training together, and that he was looking forward to payback for leaving him to ‘that woman’.” At that, Oracle burst out laughing before covering her mouth quickly and trying to pretend she’d done no such thing.
“This is gonna fucking hurt, isn’t it?” I muttered, dropping my head into my hands, and shaking it slowly. “Just when I had gotten free of the training as well. Dammit. Okay, then I guess I’ll speak to him myself about training our people and teaching them some skills.”
“I imagine so, yes… moving on!” Cai said with a wide smile on his face, and I glared at him. “I think the crafting group is next. We have a lot of my former fellow slaves that have expressed an interest in learning to craft. Some, such as Elan and Frank, will be useful, as they wish to set up a tanning and leatherworking area between them, and with Milosh being a leatherworker already, I think they will make a good group."
"Once the hunters begin bringing in skins for them to work on, I’d suggest a skinning primer for them if you have one?” Oracle spun away and returned quickly with a pair of basic skill books that covered the basics. I ordered that one be kept back and passed him the other.
“Okay, I’ll ensure the right person gets this. The other crafts are mainly ones they can learn the basics of themselves, such as woodworking, or ones that we would be better off waiting on, as the trip to recruit from the village might save us from using a valuable skill book on someone less suited to it. The only group that I’d still like you to consider, though, is the engineers. They have pledged loyalty and are highly skilled individuals, but most of them are self-taught. The mana engines and other flight systems of the airships are constantly being refined, as they’ve only been really in use for the last twenty or so years. Do you have anything that might be useful to them?”
I turned and noticed that Oracle had already gathered an armful of books and was staggering over with them.
“Well, we will soon see, I guess,” I said, getting up and helping Oracle with the stack. “Also, before we get into this, I need an artist. Do we have any?”
“What kind of artist?” Cai asked, a little nonplussed, and I grinned at him.
“Someone who’s great at drawing and painting, preferably,” I said, and he frowned in thought, nodding slowly.
“I think I might have just the person; why?”
“Just a little secret side project. Not sure if it will work yet, but I’m going to give it a go. You sort out the artist for me and send them my way, okay?”
“Very well. So, to the engineers?” We both turned back to the pile of books. I sorted through them, putting the more advanced volumes aside to return to later, and narrowing it down to three that I was both interested in seeing what the engineers could do with, and very wary of letting go.
“So, these are the only copies we have of these skill books, and they’re all fairly advanced; journeyman skills, each of them,” I said, looking from one to another.
“True; but giving them these books? You’ll have them for life, that’s for sure…” Cai said, shaking his head slowly as he read and reread the titles.
“That’s one point, but I’m considering their long-term usefulness at least as much as their loyalty,” said Oracle, separating out the books and naming them from left to right. “We’ve got ‘Magical Structures’, ‘Overpowered Engines’, and ‘Secrets of Mana and Metal’. The first is a basic guide on producing magical structures; it should be helpful to any of the engineers, but mainly the general ones, I think. The second, despite the name, is not really appropriate for the engines. It’s the second in a series of five books around siege weapons, and i
t deals exclusively with the basic magical siege weapons. The authors didn’t include information on magical cannons in this volume, but I’m thinking whatever knowledge they did provide could be used to improve the ship’s weapons?"
"Last of all is ‘Secrets of Mana and Metal’. It’s another one from a series, and it deals with using various metals to conduct mana, amongst other things. The series is aimed at enchanting and making magical weapons more than anything else, but I think that Elaine, the Magical Systems Engineer, might be able to make the best use of this…”
I looked over the pile of skill books off to one side and back at these three. Each was the only one of their kind, and I didn’t think they’d be easy to replace. Neither did I think they should be horded forever, as they’d be bugger-all use to me then.
“You honestly think they could make good use of these, Oracle, Cai?” I got a fervent nod from Cai, along with a smiling one from Oracle.
“I think that making our engineers more skilled, and their use of those skills in making our ships better can only be a huge help to us, but these books are treasure beyond compare. Only you can decide this.”
“They do us no good sitting here, Jax. I’ve watched over them for hundreds of years, and I think it’s time they were used,” Oracle said simply, and I nodded slowly.
“Okay, then, guess it’s time to give them out. Cai, I need you to gather the relevant people together, maybe bring everyone to the garden on the fortieth floor? The small one that’s got the grassy area, with the pool?” I said, looking over at Oracle, who confirmed that I had the floor details right. “Bring the artist, too, please. What are they doing currently?”
“She… it’s Renna, from my old group. She’s been clearing rubble and helping the crafters with odds and ends and drawing in chalk in a few of the rooms that have been cleared whenever she has the energy. The children love her creations,” he said with a gentle smile.
“Perfect; bring her as well.” I straightened up and stretched, letting my back crack and pop as I relieved the damage done by hours of sitting and listening instead of doing things.
I gathered up the books, asking Oracle to get me one final selection, and I set off to climb up to the fortieth-floor garden.
It was about twenty minutes later when I heard the sound of someone running behind me. I’d stopped for a break and was resting the pile of books on the edge of a pile of debris when Flux appeared from the stairwell, and I groaned.
“Ah, Jax!” he called out, smoothly jogging over to me, hardly seeming out of breath at all. “I’m glad I found you. Oracle said you were ready to discuss training?”
“That little traitor…” I muttered in shock, and Flux let loose with the subsonic I’d come to assume was his equivalent of laughter.
“Well, she said, and I quote ‘Better to get this out of the way now…’ and I agreed with her. I owe you a lot for your help with the goblins, and I think it’s best to make sure you survive, don’t you?”
“I’d like to survive…” I said warily, picking the books up again, and Flux reached out, taking half of the stack from me, and walking alongside me.
“Excellent! Well, now that we’re in agreement, I think two hours on a morning and on an evening should help. I’m thinking weapons practice for an hour of each, with a ten-minute warm up and cool down; how does that sound?”
“And the other forty minutes each session?” I asked, my heart sinking.
“That’ll be sparring, of course!” he said, and an evil edge bled into his voice. “We’ll start tonight, and I’ll be your first partner. Also, just so we’re clear, I need to… thank you… properly for leaving me with Ame earlier…”
“Great…” I muttered, closing my eyes for a brief second. Then I drew a deep breath and spoke up, thinking ‘in for a penny, in for a pound!’ “Actually, I wanted to speak with you about training anyway. I need training, I know, but so do my people. I want you to help me teach them to fight, and to defend themselves.”
“To do this properly will require a lot of effort on my part, and that of the other trainers.” He was quiet for a long time, and I was just about to break the silence when he finally spoke again. “I will be your trainer, and I will organize with Barrett to teach the fighters, the hunters, and the scouts, as you need them badly. However, you will attend these lessons in addition to your own, you will owe me a favor, and…” He broke off, as though unsure how to proceed.
“And…?” I prompted him, and he replied quickly.
“And you’ll take me out of the Tower with you to the city, before Ame can stop us! She’s got some harebrained plan that we were meant to be together. She’s insane, and I have to get out of here before she can do anything about it!”
He was so agitated, and spoke in such a desperate rush, he nearly dropped the books. Then the realization of the value of his armload struck him, and he nearly dropped them all over again. “Jax, she…”
“I thought you liked Ame?” I said, confused.
“Of course I like her!” he snapped, settling the books properly and shaking his head. His tendrils raised as he checked the area for anyone else close enough to hear us. “I…I’ve loved her for most of my life, Jax, but that’s not the point! She’s a Runecrafter, and now she’s going to learn the magic of healing. Do you have any idea how rare the talent for magic is amongst my kind? We had two in the last four generations, that I know of. Her apprentice came to us from hundreds of miles away because it was known that Ame was willing to teach. The girl was the only other known to us that had been born with the gift of magic. Ame is…Ame! She’s the rarest flower of our kind, and she’s determined that I will be her mate, but it’s a mistake. She deserves better!”
“Why is it a mistake? And what do you mean about magic? We have Spellbooks, and as far as I can tell, they work for anyone. Sure, they sometimes fail, but that’s a really rare occurrence, right? And if you need to, you can always improve your Intelligence and Wisdom score?”
“You ask questions like beavers chews trees: randomly, and irritatingly! And no, not all can learn magic, because Spellbooks are horrifically expensive. Yes, all beings have some capacity for magic, but unless one is born with the ability, or finds such a book, they will never learn to harness it.”
“But, using their mana, by somehow, say…granting it to a deity a couple of times a day, that would unlock the ability to use magic much more easily, right?” I asked, another link forming in my mind.
“Yes, if we were willing to travel to the Dark God’s temple in Himnel. We are not. We will not follow a being that helped to destroy the realm!”
“What about the other Gods, though?” I asked cautiously, a hope building as we spoke.
“There were altars to all the Gods across the land long ago; now, there are none. They were all lost or destroyed. None but the worshippers of the Dark One can grow that way now. That has nothing to do with Ame, though; she…”
“And if you could pray to…oh, say…a Goddess of Fire and Hidden Knowledge, and devote your mana to her, you’d have a better chance of unlocking your ability to do magic, right? And so would your people?”
“Well, yes… why?” he asked me suspiciously, and I grinned at him.
“Because I’m the Chosen of Jenae, and this whole building is dedicated to her. My people pray to her and gift her a portion of their mana most days. It’s helping both her and me, and it’s certainly helping them as well, by the sound of it,” I said, bragging slightly.
“How?” Flux asked me, coming to a dead stop. “How did you do this?”
“When I explored the Great Tower, I found the Altars. There is one for each of the Gods up there. I felt… no, I chose to follow and ally myself with Jenae, as her outlook matches my own. I guess I was just lucky, really.”
“And you are sure that she still exists, that the strength you send to her is helping her?” he asked intently.
“Yes. Look, we’re only a few minutes from the garden now. When we get there, I�
��ll show you something, okay?” We headed off, circling the tower through the final stairwell and out onto the grimy fortieth floor.
I looked around and nodded; it was as I’d remembered, silent and abandoned. The main floor was made up of dozens of rooms, almost all sealed, and the gardens were nearly invisible behind the crap-covered glass and stone piled up around the doors. I led him over, finding the opening where I’d struggled through previously. I carefully set the books down, pulling and heaving at the rocks until I’d cleared enough of a space to walk out easily.
Now that a way had been cleared, the gentle light of evening fell inside the Tower, and I realized how dark the last few floors had been.
I had my Darkvision ability, and clearly Flux, coming from a species that lived deep underwater and had no eyes, had no need of light either. I fumbled out one of the magelights and set it down by the top of the stairs, determined that I’d make lighting a priority for everyone… as soon as the Tower was unlikely to collapse, anyway.
I picked up the stack of books again and led Flux out into the small balcony garden. I felt him stop in surprise.
The air here was full of life, even this close to the SporeMother’s lair.
The balcony was only a few hundred feet square, but it was covered in lush trees and grass, and there, at the center, as I led Flux through the low-hanging branches laden with fruit, was the pool.
I didn’t know why it had originally been stocked with fish, but over hundreds of years of storms and buildup and breakdown of the plants and general growth, there was now a small secluded grove. The ground was carpeted in lush grass and moss, and the pool had been surrounded on all sides with overly full fruit trees.
It was beautiful, and now, with the sun slowly sinking in the west, the red-tinged sky made it even more so. Flux and I sat down on the banks of the small pool, carefully stacking the books well back from the edge, and relaxed for a moment. I watched, bemused, as Flux shifted forward, slipping down into the pool, and dipped under, sinking all the way to the bottom, where an explosion of fish and sediment marked his impact.
