by Jez Cajiao
“This wood is too weak to survive the magic that would be drawn through it; it would be lucky to survive a hundred arrows.” I grimaced but she went on, examining it before clutching it to her chest. “I must have it,” she stated, and I frowned in confusion.
“I thought you said it was shit”? I asked.
“It is,” she replied brutally. “But there are two Runes on here I do not know; considering how the crafter butchered the Rune of Addition. I can only imagine the months of work…of experimenting and researching to fix the errors I have ahead of me, but still! These are two new Runes, three, counting that Containment Rune, which is more than I have seen in almost a decade. Add these to what I have learned from my books? I can use these Runes in a dozen ways that I can think of already.”
“Why is it so rare to find new runes, anyway?” I asked her, and she tapped at the runes clearly visible on the bow.
“Have you seen other runes like this?” she asked me, and I shook my head.
“I’ve not been looking, though. I’ve got a few magical bits of gear, and…”
“Do they have runes on show, like this?” She interrupted quickly, her tendrils all extending and that now familiar subsonic thrum shaking my teeth as she examined me.
“No…not that I’ve noticed…” I admitted and she gave up after a few seconds of examination.
“No, they don’t.” She muttered, clearly disappointed. “The runes on the cannons on the ships are partially hidden as well, warped to hide sections so they cannot be copied.”
“What’s the difference?”
“When an enchanted artifact is created, the rune is etched into it through the use of magic, as part of the runes creation, a secondary section is overlaid, to hide all or part of the rune from the eyes of all that see it, except the creator and their teacher. This means that the Runecrafter or Enchanter can keep their secrets. Whoever created this bow decided not to do this; I cannot imagine why, but I will gladly learn their runes!” I was struck by a sudden insight and spoke before I thought about it.
“No, they didn’t.” I said and grinned at Ame. “They didn’t have the choice to hide the runes because the bow was created in my world! There’s much less mana there, so they didn’t have the mana to spare to make it!” I grabbed at my Bag of Holding, untying it, and holding it out to her. “What about this? Can you sense anything on here?” She took the bag and started examining it. I stood there for a few long minutes as she examined it minutely, before slowly nodding.
“There is a hint of the rune still visible, here, you see. They tried to hide it, but not well enough.” She said, tapping at one side of the bag, and I looked closely. There was nothing I could make out, and Flux shrugged when I looked to him, clearly not seeing anything either. “Blind fools.” Ame muttered, before going on. “Here there is a resonance to my touch. My mana follows paths woven into the structure of the bag. It is not enough for me to make a Bag of Holding, even one so basic as this, but if I were to study it, I might be able to glean the rune that is visible…I will keep them both,” she stated suddenly, and I fixed her with a glare.
“You damn well wont.” I said. “I need my bag, and as to the bow, I was going to give it to Miren or Stephanos!”
“But Lord…”
“And call me Jax!” I snapped.
“Jax… I must study this! If it were lost, or broken, we would lose the chance, but if I learn it, I could make more. I could use these runes to improve a dozen weapons easily if they are what I think they are! Please, I beg of you, we must examine this…” She said, holding the bow like it was her firstborn, while I took my bag back, securing it to my side.
I looked at her as I thought about it, and finally I pulled the arrows out of the bag and passed them to her as well.
“Okay, learn what you can, but I know you’ve got a fuck ton of work on already, between helping the squads and researching into Runecrafting. Take your time, and don’t fucking burn yourself out. Rest when you need to. Flux, I expect you to make sure she damn well does that, okay?”
I insisted, waiting until I got a nod in response from each of them. “Good; examine the bow and see what you can learn then. Although, out of curiosity, how the hell do you learn new runes if everyone hides them?”
“You have to destroy the artifact,” she said simply. “You have a chance to learn the rune as you destroy it, but it is a slim chance, and few manage it. Beyond that, you must apprentice yourself to a teacher, serving many years to learn a single rune. In such ways are the balance of power maintained; after all, the greatest armorers will only entrust their creations to the greatest of enchanters. In this way, those of us who are not sworn to a lord or crafting association can never grow to compete,” she said bitterly.
“Well, you’re sworn to one now, so I guess I’ll have to try and get you some more Runes, then.” I shrugged. Enough of this crap, I decided, heading to the door.
I stalked out of the captain’s cabin, shrugging my shoulders to settle the pauldrons in place and trying to ignore the sting of Renna’s work.
I stopped in my tracks, a grin coming to my face as I saw how quickly people were running, determined to make the ‘Freedom’ ready for this trip.
I could see Lydia and her team gathering on the deck of the ship, the crew running back and forth as they completed last-minute tasks.
“Bane?” I said quietly, testing, and a second later, I heard a quiet response.
“Yes, Jax?” he said, and I looked over at him. His stealth skills and natural camouflage had allowed him to hide in almost plain sight next to a pile of barrels by the door.
“Nothing, mate; I just wondered where you were,” I said, when a thought struck me. “I didn’t actually ask you about this, but are you okay with the idea of training me?”
“Do you want the honest answer? Or the nice one?” Bane replied after a few seconds, and I felt the subsonic of his race’s laughter reverberate through me.
“Don’t blow sunshine up my arse, mate, just tell me straight. I’m a big boy, I can take it,” I replied, grinning at him.
“I’d rather you learned how to fight before we go anywhere. So far, you have survived on a mixture of insane aggression, luck, and what seems to have been very basic training, but to anyone that actually studies your fighting style, you have huge gaps in your knowledge. Have you chosen your specializations yet?” he asked, and I shook my head, confused.
“I don’t think so; what are they?” I replied and I heard a low groan from him.
“I knew it. Okay, Jax, this is simple, but oh so complicated at the same time.” He stood up and moved over to stand at my side, watching around the ship as he did so. “Not much point in my staying in stealth when we’re in a conversation, I suppose.” he said, shrugging. “So, when you reach level ten in any discipline, you gain a specialization. I don’t know about the other aspects of life, but in fighting, you can choose a way to improve your skills. When I reached level ten in my daggers, I chose to improve their piercing ability. I gained an extra ten percent of the overall damage done by any dagger I use, and it bypasses my target’s armor.”
“How the hell does that work?” I asked.
“I hit harder, and cut faster; not by much, but as skilled as I have become with daggers, I would have been surprised if I had not improved somehow.”
“Okay, give me a minute…” I said, concentrating as my skill matrix appeared. It flared and changed, the details shifting as I concentrated on only what was important to me right now.
Skill
Sub-Skill
Level
Bonus
Specialty knowledge
Ranged
Archery
1
Bowman (0/100)
Throwing knives
3
Small Blades (20/100)
Throwing axes
1
Axes (0/100)
Melee
Axes
1
(0/100)
>
Dual Wielding
4
Twin swords (50/100)
Daggers
5
Daggers (90/100)
Maces
3
(40/100)
Swords
6
Swordsman (40/100)
Staffs
8
Naginata (70/100)
Spears (50)
Unarmed
6
Unarmed (50/100)
The skills list, once I’d dismissed the details for anything not weapons-related, was short and to the point. I read it out to Bane, and he laughed.
“Well, at least you’re close to your first specialization for your weapons, then; one more fight will probably do it. Considering the way you fight with that naginata, I’m surprised you’re so low, still, but we can fix that.”
“When we spar, does that increase the level?” I asked and got an immediate shake of the head.
“No; for whatever reason, the Gods decided that such skills only increase with actual combat, but the act of training does make a difference, and not just to your chance of living through the fight. If you train in a skill, then use that same skill in combat, you will increase the skill much quicker than without training first.”
“So, basically, train my ass off, and it’ll all be worth it later. Gotcha,” I muttered, dismissing the screen.
“Essentially true, Jax; we will work on it together,” Bane said reassuringly, before easing back into stealth and vanishing.
“Fuck it, then,” I muttered, watching Flux and Ame finally leaving the cabin behind me. Oren and Cai walked over, and I waved to them to join us.
“Okay, guys,” I said when we were all standing together, “take care of things here, get our people trained as best as you can, and don’t let the damn Tower collapse while I’m gone. I trust you, so for now, act as a council for me. You deal with any issues you have to, and I’ll check in with Seneschal as often as I can; you can give him messages for me.”
With that, and a round of wrist clasping and nods, I turned and walked up the gangplank, finally ready to go. I could feel Bob somewhere below me; I’d sent him a command to protect the Tower, but it felt weird to not have him by my side. I’d considered taking him to the city; people have seen skeletal constructs, after all, but he’d draw too much attention even then, and I needed to be as stealthy as possible. Lastly, I knew I needed him to protect my people here, so as much as I wanted my buddy with me, he was staying behind.
Oracle flew down to me, full sized, and her arms were full of books, which drew the eye of everyone that saw them. I took them and slipped them into my Bag of Holding, thanking Oracle and getting an excited grin from her as she felt the engines roaring to life below us.
“Are we off?” she asked me, and I grinned at her, unable to help myself.
“Yeah Oracle. Fuck all this town building shit; we’re off to kill people,” I said, feeling the last of the weight of the Tower sliding from my shoulders. I’d spent too much time on building the infrastructure up. I knew I could have sorted it out in half the time, if I’d known what I was doing, but I just didn’t know enough.
I’d have to rely on Cai and the others more than I had been; I’d had conversations about what I wanted to see happening with the Tower, we’d all thrashed those ideas out, but still, it had ultimately been me telling everyone what to do and where to go.
No more.
From now on, I decided, I’d be giving Cai, Barrett, Flux, and Ame orders, and they could be the ones that made shit work. I was going to do what I was best at.
Fucking monsters up and stealing their lunch money.
Chapter Eighteen
“Lydia!” I called over to her. “As soon as you’ve got them sorted out, come join me, okay?” She nodded and started getting her people moving. They had bags of gear, weapons, bedrolls, food, and other equipment, and with rushing them as I had, they hadn’t had time to sort it all out yet.
I smiled to myself as I saw a pile of rope amongst it all. Can’t be an adventurer without some rope…
I sat on the edge, watching the forest below gliding by, and I reveled in the breeze, the feeling of standing on the edge of a cliff and looking down, combined with the fresh, beautifully clear air to make me feel amazing, despite how concerned I was about Tommy.
I had a half-baked plan to get into the city, fighting my way along the smuggler’s path and hopefully raiding, in turn, whatever the fuck had been raiding them. Then I’d use the smugglers’ stolen goods to pay for a fucking criminal to help me get a fuck-ton of people out of the city. If I was lucky, we’d get some gear as well, and if I were really lucky, I’d find my damn brother while I was at it.
My chances were slim; hell, they had to be in the single digits, but I didn’t give a shit. I’d make it work.
I thought over the plan again, taking it apart piece by piece. There was still too much left to chance. Maybe we wouldn’t be able to find the entrance; maybe we’d be caught; maybe there’d be a fucking cave in, or the smuggler that Oren knew of would sell us out.
There were a million things that could go wrong, but I’d find a way, because at the end of the day, all most people wanted was an easy life. I didn’t have that luxury; I had too many people relying on me to not succeed. I’d fucking do it. I knew I would, even if I had to leave the streets of Himnel running red.
“Lydia,” I said pleasantly, and she turned to me, saluting. I returned the salute, and she instructed the others to get on with stowing their gear before moving off to the railing as I gestured for her to come with me.
“What’re we doin’, Jax?” she asked me, looking out over the trees below as they sped away, the speed difference between Decin’s ‘Freedom’ and the ‘Agamemnon’s Wrath’ strikingly clear.
“We’re going to Himnel; we’re going to kick some ass and find my brother, free the crew’s families, and hopefully get some gear to help ourselves as well,” I stated quietly, a sardonic smile lifting the corner of my mouth as I looked at her.
“Oh, and I thought it’d be hard,” she muttered, grinning at me.
“I should have said this before, but if there’s anyone you or the rest of the team want to bring along as well, if you can trust them to keep their mouths shut, then they’re welcome,” I said, just realizing all the focus had been on the ship’s crews until now.
“Thank you, but yer don’t tend to end up as a slave if yeh’ve got family that care about yer,” she replied grimly.
“Well, if there are any slaves you want to bring along and free, then?”
“And how will we pay for ’em? I don’t see much gold. I know ye got some from the battles, but yer’d need a lot…”
“Truthfully, I don’t know, Lydia,” I said, shrugging. “But leave that to me to worry about, I’m going to have a lot of things to sort out, not least how I’m going to convince a smuggler that helping us is in his best interests, so buying a few slaves is a minor issue. Whatever happens, though, I know I can rely on you and your team to watch my back, so if you need something, just tell me.”
“We will,” she said smiling genuinely, and I sensed that she felt she’d found where she was supposed to be in life.
“Good.” I turned, looking around and frowning until I spotted him crouched beside a pile of gear. “Fuck’s sake, Bane, I swear I’m gonna make you wear a bell or something,” I said, shaking my head. “Get your bony arse over here.” I gestured for him to join us by the railing. “Right; I’ve got a couple of skill books for you both, and then there’s some for the squad, as well.” I reached into my Bag of Holding.
The first book, I gave to Bane, then two to Lydia, before piling the remaining handful on the top of a barrel that was handily close.
“Bane, this one’s for you, mate; it’s an assassin’s skill, but I think that’d be useful for you?” I said, giving him ‘Midnight’s Kiss’.
“It’s a dual dagger technique?” Bane asked, looking
the book over, and I nodded.
“It requires stealth to use it properly, and I guessed you’d be the best for that; besides, you can use it twice, I guess?” I said, looking at his two sets of arms dubiously.
“Thank you!” he replied, turning the book over and over reverently. I could feel the subsonics as he examined it, and I grinned at him.
“Don’t thank me yet, mate; you just got a new job. In addition to helping to train Lydia’s squad and me, from now on, you get to keep watch for others you think will be suitable. I need a cadre of assassins and stealth types.”
“I’ll see what I can do then, Jax; thank you,” Bane repeated quietly, nodding his head and stepping back to watch over the ship, making sure there was nobody nearby before he used the book.
“And for you, Lydia…” I said, handing her the second and third books.
“Heavy armor and mace usage?” she read, looking the books over. “But I don’t have any heavy armor…the mace, I’ll take happily, and thank ye so much, but…” I cut her off with a shake of my head.
“You’ve more than proved yourself to me. I know it’s not going to fit you properly; after all, regardless of what people might think, men and women are not the fucking same, but I had a full set of the heavy armor from one of the elite soldiers brought onboard. It should be belowdecks on an armor stand that was being cobbled together by one of the engineers. Go check it out, read the book, and take what you can wear comfortably from there, unless you think someone else would be better suited to be the tank for the group?”
