SpeedRunner (Tower of Babel Book 1)

by Adam Elliott

  "Gotta go... slow." Cayden chuckled. His normal urge to do everything quickly was a bane to him here, so he took a moment to center himself before he began. Fingers ran along the breastplate, touching the edges on the inner side of the plate. He'd be inscribing it there rather than the outside face of the armor to keep his secret hidden. Doing so had no mechanical penalty to the stats, but it would make it harder to craft. As if he needed anymore difficulty.

  "Set Timer, ten minutes. Personal Skill Use: Steady Hands. Personal Skill Use: Outline." The armor glowed slightly under his touch, and he threw a small handful of dust overtop of the item. As the dust fell the armor shone more brightly in five specific points. The light from the breastplate seemed to pool in those locations until they were the only spots shining with that blue light. Those would be the placed he would need to inscribe.

  From there he took up his tools and began the painstaking process of applying the first markings to the steel. It moved smoothly under his touch; the small picks digging into it as though he were molding clay instead of digging into forged steel. His hands were as still as any surgeon's, an unwritten bonus to go along with the undocumented penalty. When used manually, crafting skills had a timer. It varied from skill to skill, with more direct skills such as forging tending to have a shorter duration. In his case, it was ten minutes. Hence the timer.

  The first ten passed worryingly fast. Outlining for steel armor such as this involved pitting out the shape of the runes in each of the five locations, a guideline that he would later fill in with fast hardening clay and pigmented with ink and accented by gold or silver leaf. To keep his buffer for the following phases, he needed to finish roughly one of the five locations on each outline, which would leave him time to go back and tidy up little mistakes. So far he'd done just under one.

  “Maybe not that slow. Personal Skill Use: Steady Hands. Personal Skill Use: Outline.”

  The second round went by faster than the first, and the third even quicker than the second. He was getting a hold on how to do it properly. The real question was whether or not he would manage to catch up.

  It didn't look like it. By the time forty minutes had passed Cayden had only managed to complete three of the five outlines. His back ached, and his hands cramped as he leaned up and away to survey his work thus far.

  Progress: 22/100

  Grade: 45/?

  Durability: 15/20

  That was... not great.

  His durability was going to take a big drop when he entered the final two steps, but near as he could guess his progress was alright. The actual progress from outlining was always rather limited, but the boost the skill gave should more than make up for it once he started the detailing. The real question was whether or not he could keep the durability up long enough to finish.

  “For your hands.” The voice made him jump as he turned to see the wizened Elan standing over him. Cayden hadn't even heard him approach. For all he knew the other man had been hovering over him for the better part of the last hour, his glittering eyes surveying every stroke of Cayden's work.

  “What?” He asked at last.

  “This.” His elder chuckled, indicating a steaming washcloth that he had placed by Cayden's elbow, as well as the equally warm up beside it. “And this is for your wits. Something to soothe you before you dig back in.”

  "Not a tea drinker, but..." Cayden started, only to think better of it. He took up the washcloth, the warmth of it soothing his aching joints and cleaning the metal shavings and ink from his hands. Once they were clean, he plucked the tea, tipping it gingerly in salute to his host. "Actually, thank you."

  Cayden took a sip, and it was all he could do not to spit the liquid out. It was bitter like nothing he'd ever tasted. The blackest coffee never tasted this sharp, and he couldn't hide the wince that crossed his features as he forced it down, much to the Elan's bemusement. “Ugh...! That is... I'm sorry, but that is awful.”

  "No offense taken. It tastes awful." Mischief twinkled in those eyes as he patted Cayden on the back. "Finish it though."

  “I think I'll pass. My wits feel plenty soothed.”

  The old man dipped his chin, his brow wrinkling as he spit Cayden upon those reflective eyes until he relented.

  "You are persistent; I'll give you that." Cayden complained, steeling his resolve before he plucked the small mug from the desktop and downed its contents in a single go. "That is just... just foul!"

  White Jade Tea - Consumed

  Effect: Improved Focus. Personal use crafting skills last 25% longer.

  Duration: Two hours.

  Well, that certainly helps. Cayden smiled in spite of the foul taste in his mouth. “I see what you mean. It's like Buckley's.”

  It was his turn to laugh as the old man tilted his head to one side. “Sorry, I suppose you wouldn't get that reference. I keep forgetting you are-” Cayden shook his head, stopping that thought in it's tracks. “You know, I'm incredibly rude. What is your name?”

  “Iwamatsu.” The Elan replied without hesitating.

  “Cayden.”

  "The pleasure is all mine, I assure you." Iwamatsu replied, a sly smirk on his lips.

  “No doubt because I'm the first customer you've had in a week.” Cayden couldn't resist getting a jab in. “Though, depending on how this goes, that might very well change.”

  "Then I should let you get back to it, hmm?" The Elan offered a slight half bow, then turned to leave before Cayden could offer any last word.

  Cayden turned in his seat to regard the breastplate before him once again. It seemed somehow less mountainous now, a task he could complete if he kept himself steady and focused. It was enough to make him wonder about the old man. Was that just something he chose to do or was his kindness there no different from a Command Prompt reaction, something designed into him if he saw a beginner player getting stuck on a task.

  Maybe not the time to ponder Elan freewill. Cayden thought with a shake of his head.

  Instead, it was time to work. Time felt slower now as it ticked down at the corner of his display. It wasn't just the tea, he knew. He'd been getting frustrated and panicked. The more he worried about failure, the more likely he'd been to fail. If he'd thrown in immediately for a fifth turn of outlining he'd have failed miserably because he was expecting to fail miserably.

  Now, well, he was still nervous. It just wasn't debilitating. Far from it in fact. Instead, it was driving him on, pushing him towards his end goal. Would the bonus be worth the time and the stress, was the ability he discovered even worth having?

  The fifth round of outlining couldn't have gone better. In twelve minutes he finished what had previously taken him twenty-five. Two more outlines glowed dimly amidst the sky blue light emanating from the breastplate, which left him a full skill use to perfect his craft on all the others. He smoothed out sharp edges, cleared out imperfections and just generally tidied up his work to a level he was not only satisfied with. He was happy with it.

  “Okay. Next.” Cayden said, trying to draw on that same feeling of focus as the minutes continued to drag on. It was time for the details, and his heart was pounding as he reached for the clay and began to speak. “Set timer, twelve minutes. Personal Skill Use: Detail Work.”

  Without a steady hands skill use, his hands were anything but as they fumbled over the clay. He'd spent over an hour on this project, so it was honestly a miracle he wasn't just shaking like a leaf as he pressed the clay into the runic depressions he had scraped out of the metal.

  Despite his nerves, this part was rather easy. He only had to fill in the areas that he had previously worked on, covering over each in turn. By the time that was done the clay had hardened, and he was able to apply the ink to dye the words a rich, royal purple that both accented and stood out among the metal surrounding it.

  Simple or not, it wasn't without its folly. A single droplet of ink that escaped his quill left a garish stain on the inside leather of the breastplate and took a full seven points off i
ts durability in an instant. That one mistake brought the nearly finished project down to five durability.

  It was all Cayden could do not to swear as he leaned away from the desk to study his work.

  Progress: 89/100

  Grade: -32/?

  Durability: 5/20

  Wonderful. He thought grimly. Not only had the mistake trashed his durability, but it had reversed every bit of progress he'd made on the grade of the final product. Even if he finished, the best he could hope for would be a normal quality item. More likely he'd be rewarded with a low-quality item, which would have correspondingly worse bonuses. Assuming the Rune Phrase even took hold.

  “You can do this Cayden.” He reiterated with confidence he didn't feel. A brief glance over his shoulder sent his nearby host suddenly scampering for work. He wasn't the only one who wanted to see how this turned out, apparently. “Personal Skill Use: Steady Hands. Personal Skill Use: Finishing Touches.”

  Even when he had been making simple inscriptions with the automated system, this had seemed like the hardest and most time-consuming part. He didn't want a timer as he worked, nothing to distract him from his simple-minded focus.

  Highlighting each of the five phrases was every bit as difficult as he'd imagined it would be, and it would have been all but impossible for him to do in time if he hadn't spent the last five minutes of his outlining preparing the steel to accept the silver. As it stood, he had barely enough time to apply it each patch, and heat them in turn.

  It was a bizarre process, one he was fairly certain would not have worked under normal physics, but Cayden couldn't argue with the results as he pulled away the first patch. The blue light that had suffused the armor since he had begun was deadened beneath the silver, the runes the only thing left glowing as he discarded the patch and moved to the second. Its durability was low, but he should make it.

  The remaining patches came off one after another, pulled away and discarded as the runes glowed ever brighter, as though the same amount of light could only now escape through them. When the fifth came away, they flared with energy.

  And then nothing.

  This should have been the part where the crafting was complete. He should receive a notification, a nod to his success or failure. And yet there was nothing save for the angry pulsing of the five rune phrases.

  “What does it want?” Cayden asked, turning to Iwamatsu.

  "Invoke the phrase." The elder man said quietly, his face inscrutable.

  “I Have Defied Gods and-”

  “No!” Iwamatsu interrupted angrily. “You call upon the Great Emperor's power. Invoke his words.”

  Confusion knitted Cayden's brow for a moment, though it was short-lived. He set aside his tools, donning one of his Haptic gloves and snapping his fingers. The menu opened, he opened the Lexicon and quickly scribbled out a series of phonetics beneath one of his early copies of the Rune Phrase.

  “Isa Servel Daigron Kira Tei Mika.”

  The light flared one final time, growing so bright that Cayden had to turn away from it's source. And then, as though a light switch being flipped, it was gone.

  “Does it always do that?” Cayden asked.

  "I wouldn't know." Iwamatsu replied, stoic though naturally intrigued in a way he could not entirely conceal. "Is the result to your liking?"

  “Let's find out. Skill Use: Observe.”

  Inscribed Albieth Steel Breastplate

  A breastplate made of common Albieth Steel

  Defense: 60

  Required Level: N/A

  Required Strength: 12

  Durability: 20/20

  * * *

  Low-Quality Inscription: "I Have Defied Gods and Demons."

  Effect: Holy Resist +3%

  Effect: Dark Resist +3%

  "Okay, so that is a new one. Don't think anyone has seen a typo in an item description before. It isn't too bad though." Cayden announced, scooping the item back to his inventory and selecting to equip it. "0.3% to two different resists is pretty damn good for a low-level inscription so I-"

  No way. That can't be.

  “Something the matter Cayden?” Iwamatsu asked unable to see what had so stunned Cayden.

  It wasn't a typo. He'd checked his detailed info, and there, plain as day, were his resist bonuses:

  Resist Fire: 0%

  Resist Water: 0%

  Resist Earth: 0%

  Resist Lightning: 0%

  Resist Poison: 0%

  Resist Arcane: 0%

  Resist Holy: 3%

  Resist Dark: 3%

  He'd thought something close to half a percent would have been a nice bonus. Three percent wasn't nice; it was absurd. Some of the highest level items that had dropped in the entire game added at best twenty or thirty to single resist, yet he'd just crafted a low-quality inscription that added a total of six percent.

  He could make a fortune overnight selling just this single inscription. If he had any doubts before, they were quashed now.

  People would kill to learn this skill.

  Chapter Ten

  “Skill Use: Southern Cross!”

  Cayden let himself go as the skill took over his body, already wincing as the blade raked down and across the halberd-wielding creature. The sound was horrendous. Steel parted iron with a terrible shriek as his new weapon cleaved its way through the golem-like Man of Iron.

  The creature was his twenty-sixth of the day, but Cayden didn't think he'd ever get used to that noise. Like rusty nails being dragged across a blackboard with an angry cat strapped to it. It felt like the sound of him cutting them to ribbons had done him more damage, albeit mental scarring, than the mobs had managed to deal him over the course of the day.

  The problem the Men of Iron-faced was that they were slow. Their halberds could deal substantial damage, but in a one on one fight Cayden had little difficulty blocking their ponderous attacks until he could slip inside their reach. After that it was slice and dice, putting the pressure on and DPSing the metal men until they finally fell. All told they were easier for him than the first level goblins had been, which was half of the reason he was here in the first place.

  “Twenty-Six.” Cayden announced for the chat. “Now let's see if we're lucky and this one turns out to have... nope. No hands.”

  He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry.

  Perhaps one of the weirder genre conventions Babel had kept to was the low drop rate fetch quest. A staple of most MMORPG's dating back to Ultima Online, it was a simple concept. An NPC tells the player to obtain some obscure item, be it Newt eyes, pirate bandanas or bear asses, and the player goes off to kill the appropriate mob who may or may not drop the item in question. Then, in an attempt to keep the grind concealed, the developers would put a requirement of ten or twenty items, but only have the item drop off every third or fourth mob, artificially extending the quest.

  In old MMO games, this felt weird enough but could be waved away with flimsy explanations. It wasn't the right bandana, or that the bear ass was mutilated beyond recognition. In Babel, it just felt... silly. He could see the hands. Sure they were turning to ash in front of him, but he ought to be able to chop the damn things off and bring them back, shouldn't he? Cayden had a sneaking suspicion that the developer was one of the disgusting few who enjoyed such quests. As if they needed any more proof that he was a monster.

  “Well, maybe twenty-seven will be our lucky number.” Cayden said with a sigh. He'd been sitting at nine out of ten Iron Hands for the better part of the last hour, and it was starting to get on his nerves. He needed the quest to be over, because the sooner he grabbed that last hand, the faster he could cut his stream and focus on his real objective for being here.

  It had been two days since he'd completed his first Rune Phrase inscription in the Old Man's shop. In those two days he had spent every private moment he had been able to scrounge working to further explore his new skill.

  He'd begun at the obvious starting point, Krom the Destroyer's boss room, th
ough only to moderate success. A more thorough search of the chamber had only earned him a pair of additional words, Fire and of though the latter proved particularly useful in finding others. His trip back to the lobby where he had selected his class proved more fruitful, netting him eight more words including Terror, Lure, Night and, most crucially of all The. All told he had expanded his vocabulary to seventeen words and learned quite a bit about what he needed to do to learn them.

  Some of his initial guesses had proven correct. It wasn't enough to say the word by itself; he had to use it in a phrase for his guess to unlock the word. This meant that in practice he had to know a minimum of two or more words next to the one he was guessing at if he was to have any chance of success. He wasn't certain, but Cayden also suspected there was some lockout timer to keep him from guessing entirely at random after he had exhausted the majority of his vocabulary throwing words at a phrase that hadn't seemed that hard to guess of first blush. Whatever the case, he had exhausted the runes available to him in the two places he knew about, which meant his next task was to find more.

  This had proven surprisingly more challenging than he had expected. While there were plenty of places in Babel that had a smattering of runic text throughout, the two most well-known repositories were those he had already ransacked. And while the internet contained a wealth of information on all manner of facts about Babel, the locations of large amounts of Runic text did not lay among them. It simply wasn't useful information to players until now, which meant that his best source of information on the topic wasn't players at all.