Phantasmal Party
Page 8
"Or," Lucy added, "It could be because of the spear instead of the spearman."
"Yeah. No way of knowing before I try it, and I don't want to risk not being able to use it. And if that weren't all, I've got Lightning Field ready to rank up, but I can't afford the increased mana reserve for it."
"So get the Manaflow."
"See, that's the thing. I'm also a front line warrior right now, and the monsters are starting to hit hard. I could really use an Endurance to boost up my HP."
"I get that, but you'd probably be better off with a Manaflow and Mage Armor, since you'll be able to share mage armor with your summons."
"There's that, yeah. I do think Manaflow is the better choice for now."
"What about your… you know," Lucy asked, purposefully mimicking Ed.
"The mage is easy. Sorcerer, and Manaflow for when the Sorcerer has a slot for it. It's running out of mana too fast to be really useful for now. The Spearman is harder. It's too much of a glass cannon for now. I really want to go Lancer on it, but that means Armored Combat, and if Armored Combat works on it like spearman did, then it'll appear armored, which there's no way I'll be able to hide, and if you're right about the mana costs, it'll increase too."
"Seriously Ed, you can't possibly believe that Kevin and James missed seeing the spear today. That bird has long since flown the coop."
"You're right. I know you're right. So Armored Combat for the Spearman, and then Lancer when it has a slot open."
"So that's Sorcerer, two Manaflows, and Armored Combat? That quite a dent to your funds."
"Yeah. And that's without doing anything with the third and fourth, which will open up soon."
"I think you're going to have to leave those on the back burner for now, or people are really going to get curious about you."
"It's not like I have the credits to do much with them anyway."
Lucy paid for dinner, and she and Ed went looking for the Shards they needed, and a few more mana potions for each of them. It took a while to find everything Ed needed, and the two entered the Pug much later that evening.
"Can I come up with you?" Lucy asked Ed as they were approaching the tavern. "I want to see you Slice your phantasms."
"Sure thing."
The two entered Ed's room, making sure to lock the door behind them, and Lucy sat down on Ed's bed, and Sliced her new Manaflow Shard.
Manaflow
Tier 0
Level 1
0/100 essence
Passive skill
Increase maximum mana and mana regeneration by 10%
Meanwhile, Ed downed the first of his mana potions, summoning his goblin spearman first.
Ed took out his Armored Combat Shard, and Sliced it into the goblin.
Armored Combat
Tier 0
Level 1
0/100 essence
Passive skill
Decreases the movement penalty of armor by one tier
"Summon it again," Lucy said eagerly from her sit on the bed. "I want to see if it'll be armored now. I'll give you the mana potion for it."
"Sure. Looks like it's gone up to 20 mana now. That's my limit, so no ranking up for it until further notice." Ed drank another potion, and summoned his new and improved phantasmal goblin spearman.
Ed's goblin appeared wearing a leather jerkin, trousers and helm, and carrying its spear. Ed spent a moment to look at its status screen before dismissing it.
Phantasmal Goblin Spearman
Race
Goblin
Class
Spearman
Shards
2/2 (1)
Strength
5
Dexterity
7
Wisdom
2
Constitution
2
Agility
5
Intelligence
1
HP
7
Mana
4
HP regen
0.2/hour
Mana regen
1/hour
Shard
Level
Essence
Goblin
4
250/2000
Spearman
Sharpness
5
2
Locked
1290/2000
Armored Combat
1
0/100
"Nice," Lucy said. "We can probably assume that its armor will improve with the Shard, just like the spear."
"You're probably right. I'll have to talk to Ingrid about an excuse for this. Some sort of Bjørnson experiment."
"Yeah. People will believe almost anything about Mad-Ved's lot."
Ed agreed, summoned his kobold and Sliced the Sorcerer Shard.
"That's it for now. I'll keep the rest for when they become relevant." Ed placed his bag on the desk, and turned towards Lucy. "I had a lot of fun this evening. Thank you for the dinner and your company."
Lucy rose and approached him. "The fun doesn't have to end yet," she said, placing her left hand behind Ed's neck.
"Lucy?" Ed started, but Lucy placed her finger on his lips to silence him.
"We could have died today. We could die tomorrow. Delvers can't afford to be shy."
Instead of answering her, Ed placed his own arm behind her shoulders, and leaned in to kiss her. And it might have been his imagination, but he thought he could still taste the sweetness of the mead on her lips.
◆◆◆
Ed woke up the next morning to the pleasant smell of Lucy's hair. She was lying on her side, naked, her back pressed against Ed's chest, his face pressed against her neck and his arm laid across her belly. He was feeling a pressure in his bladder, so he gently disentangled from her and stood up to go to the restroom.
By the time Ed finished brushing his teeth and dressing, Lucy was starting to stir, and Ed went down to the common room, and made sure to order the usual three cups of coffee. His timing was excellent, and Lucy joined him just in time to instantly drain her first cup of the day, and promptly plop down in his lap and give him a coffee flavored kiss. "Morning Ed."
"Morning Lucy," Ed said with his left arm around her waist and his right reaching for his own cup.
"Luce," She said between sips of her second cup, "Call me Luce."
"Looks like somebody had a good night," Ingrid said as she sat down on Ed's right side.
"Yes I did," Lucy answered her, pursing her lips in an air kiss. "And it looks like Ed doesn't mind public displays of affection either."
Ingrid leaned across Ed and kissed Lucy's pursed lips. "Vixen."
"Sow," Lucy answered her, and slid off Ed's lap just in time for James to miss seeing her do it.
"Where's our fearless leader?" James asked in lieu of a greeting.
"And good morning to you too, James," Ingrid answered. "Kevin is in his room. We didn't have enough credits for an instant heal, so it'll take him most of today to regen. We can go back to the Labyrinth by tomorrow morning."
"I see," James waved away the waiter coming to take his order. "In that case, I've got things I need to be doing." And he turned away and left the tavern without another word.
"Always the friendly sort," Ed said after James was out of earshot.
"Truer words have ne'er been spoken," agreed Lucy.
"You two got your shopping done yesterday?" Asked Ingrid.
"Yeah," Lucy answered her. "Ed could probably use a few more, but he wanted to keep some credits for irrelevant things. Like food."
"Actually," Ed interjected, "I thought of something this morning, and while it might cost a bit to try it out, it'll be really good if it works."
"Spill it," Lucy demanded.
"Not here. Let's finish breakfast and go back to my room, and I'll explain there."
The trio ate in companionable silence, enjoying the company but not wanting to postpone hearing about Ed's plan, and half an hour later, Lucy and Ingrid were sitting in Ed's
room, waiting for his explanation.
"Here's what I'm thinking," Ed started after he made sure the door was locked. "My Conjure Phantasm skill lets me conjure up to one phantasm per level, but it doesn't say anything about a limit to how many different phantasms I have to choose from."
"What's your point?" Lucy interrupted him. "Having more phantasms then you can summon just spreads both your cash and your essence thinner."
"I'm not talking about making more phantasms to fight with right now, although I do have another summon slot open. I'm talking about using them as experimental subjects."
"OK, Now you've gotten me curious." Ingrid leaned forward to hear better.
"I'm thinking about the Frostfire Ball Jessica Baker created a few years ago. The one that got her accepted into Hermes."
"I remember that. She Sliced a Shard into her Fireball spell instead of her Classshard, and it got changed into frostfire. But she never told anyone which Shard she used, and attempts to repeat her accident caused the fireball Shards to explode and kill the users, and almost nobody… tries…" Ingrid trailed off as Ed's meaning registered.
"Yup. Nobody tries anymore because it's too dangerous, but if I have disposable phantasms to use…"
"I get what you're saying," Lucy interrupted. "But while a Frostfire Ball Shard would be very nice to have, I don't think it's something any of us can actually use right now."
"You're right. But I'm not talking about Frostfire Ball. Jessica Frostfire proves that combining Shards is possible, and logically we have to assume there are more of them, even if they are extremely rare."
"I hate to rain on your parade, but it's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack," Ingrid said. "If you had a lot more credits for Shards and mana potions, you'd be able to go somewhere with this. And as soon as we tell my family, I can guarantee that you'll get those credits. But from what you, or even the three of us, can raise right now?"
"I know we can't do large scale testing about this," Ed answered her, "but I have a hunch about one Shard in particular that we might be able to combine."
"My Impediment!" Lucy gasped. "You want to try and change Chromatic Sorcery like you did phantasmal worker!"
"That's brilliant," Ingrid whispered. "If we accept that Impediments were meant to be useful, we have to assume that it'll be easier to combine."
Lucy stood up excitedly. "I'll go buy some Shards so we can try." She turned towards the door, and then stopped. "What do we try to combine it with?"
"Well," Ingrid started, "it's called Chromatic Sorcery, so I'd bet it'll need to be combined with a spell of some sort. I don't know what spell would work though."
"I don't know if phantasmal worker would react to anything other than a Raceshard," Ed reasoned, "so we'll probably want to get one in case we can't do anything without it. And we have to assume that failing will destroy all the Shards used, so each attempt will cost one race, one chromatic, and one other spell."
"I've got the credits for three sets," Lucy said. "And this is about my Impediment, so I'm the one buying them."
"Then I think we should buy one offensive spell, one healing spell and one buff to try it with. That way we can cover the basics, at least."
"Sounds like we have a plan," Lucy turned back towards the door. "I'll go get the Shards. You two have things you need to talk about."
"I thought you and Lucy were a couple," Ed started after Lucy left the room, "but she seemed very sure about wanting to..."
As Ed turned to look at Ingrid, he saw that somewhere between the time Lucy stood up and the time she left the room, the shield bearer had taken off her armor, and was now striding towards him. When she reached him, Ingrid shoved him against the wall and kissed him roughly. "Luce and I are a couple, Ed." She told him after she finally came up for some air. “But that doesn’t mean there’s no room for a little bit more.”
It turned out that Lucy was wrong. There was very little talking in the room, at least for a while.
Chapter 7:
Ram-ifications
They weren't quite finished by the time Lucy came back, and Ed found it a little strange to have Lucy watching. But if the girls weren't going to complain, then he sure as hell wasn't.
Once Ed and Ingrid were finished and dressed, Lucy handed her bag to Ed with a kiss and sat down in Ingrid's lap. "I take it that you had a good talk?"
"There was some talking, and it was certainly good." Ingrid answered.
"I'm kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop," Ed added while taking numerous Shards out of Lucy's bag. "This is far too close to the kind of fantasy that gets a guy slapped."
"Not gonna happen," Lucy told him firmly. "It wasn't easy to find a guy we both liked that would be cool with it, and we're not letting you go now that we've found you."
"I can't argue about finding a guy you both liked, but I have a hard time believing anyone would say 'no'."
"You'll be surprised how many men get weirded out by a girl being aggressive."
"Not to mention how they react to someone built like me," Ingrid added. "If I hear the term 'snoo snoo' one more time, there may well be a death involved."
"Ugh. I apologize for my fellow men. Can't say I'm sorry for them being idiots though."
"Always the charme, Ed," Lucy laughed. "Points for the honesty though."
"Now let's see those phantasms," Ingrid said. "I want to see if your idea works."
"As you wish," Ed mock bowed and took out a Chromatic Sorcery Shard. "Let's see first if we can spare the Raceshards."
Chromatic Sorcery
Tier 0
Level 1
0/100 essence
Allows the user to freely alter the color of any spell used.
Ed summoned a Phantasmal Worker, and tried to Slice the Shard into it, only for the Shard to pass through the phantasm as if it wasn't there. "Guess that's a no. Not unexpected, but worth the try."
Next, he took out one of the Raceshards Lucy bought, an Elf Shard. The Raceshard pierced the phantasm, and both vanished. After summoning the Phantasmal Elf, Ed Sliced the Chromatic Sorcery Shard into it, causing it to vanish again.
"And that's it for my mana," Ed said and drank on of the potions Lucy bought, and summoned the Phantasmal Elf again. "What do we try first?"
"Go for a heal," Ingrid said. "If it works, Luce gets a healing spell, and having some extra healing never hurts."
"Healing it is," Ed said and took out a Cure Lesser Wounds Shard, placing its tip on the pentagonal patch left by the Chromatic Sorcery on the elf's chest, and pushing it in.
◆◆◆
A splitting head ache woke Ed up an unknown time later. His head was resting on Lucy's lap, and Ingrid was holding a potion bottle above his mouth and the potion slowly into his mouth. Drop by drop the pain receded, and soon Ed felt well enough to finish drinking the potion. A blue message screen popped up in front of his eyes.
You are suffering from Shardshock.
Mana regeneration and essence gains reduced to zero.
Time left: 2 hours, 43 minutes.
"What happened?"
"The phantasm popped as soon as you Sliced the Shard, and you just collapsed. You hit your head on the desk, so Ing went to get you a healing potion. I take it healing was a bust?"
"Let me check," Ed said and brought up the information for his Conjure Phantasm skill.
Conjure Phantasm
Tier 0
Level 3
278/300 essence
Creates constructs made of pure mana to serve the user. One construct can be created per skill level.
Available phantasms
Phantasmal Worker
Creates a construct that can carry out simple tasks and will take up to ten points of damage before being dispelled.
The construct cannot attack or use any weapons.
Mana cost: 10
Duration: until dispelled
Phantasmal Goblin Spearman
Creates an armored goblin spearman that can fight a
nd carry out simple tasks.
Slice more Shards to give the goblin more abilities.
Mana cost: 20
Duration: until dispelled
Phantasmal Kobold
Creates a Kobold that can cast Icebolt and carry out simple tasks.
Slice more Shards to give the kobold more abilities.
Mana cost: 10
Duration: until dispelled
"The elf is gone, so yeah. And I got a debuff called 'Shardshock' that stops my mana regeneration and essence gains."
"Ouch," Lucy winced. "Maybe we should stop."
"No. I want to see if we can make it work," Ed said before summoning another Phantasmal Worker. He took another Elf Shard, and Sliced it into the new phantasm.
After drinking another mana potion, Ed summoned the new elf, and Sliced it with another Chromatic Sorcery Shard. "I'll try the buff Shard next," he said and took up a Mage Armor Skillshard, before summoning the elf again.
"You should sit down before you try it again," Lucy cautioned. "Wouldn't want that pretty face damaged."
Ed sat down, and Ingrid went to stand behind him, placing her hands on his shoulders to keep him up in case he blacked out again. Ed started Slicing the Shard.
◆◆◆
His head was hurting again, and when he opened his eyes, the light in the room was blinding. A blue message screen let him know that his Shardshock debuff got extended by another three hours. He was lying on his bad again, his head in Lucy's lap and her hand brushing his hair back from his eyes. "I'm starting to get worried, Ed," She told him. "I think you should stop this."
"I have to agree," Ingrid said. "As excited as I was at a way to test combining Shards without danger, I don't like seeing you black out like that. It can't possibly be good."
"We only have one more," Ed answered them. "If this doesn't work, we'll forget about it."