She felt she’d been constantly guilty or angry the past few days, and she hated it. She wanted to just cuddle with Henry and hear more about silly things from his childhood like “Gilligan’s Island,” but she was running out of ideas to describe Ludus culture to Henry in a way he could relate to. He didn’t understand his role as the head of a family, much less a noble family.
Mareen wished she could be more eloquent, more patient. She could explain numbers, and she understood complicated matters in her heart, but it seemed whenever she tried to explain important things to Henry, she mixed up her words. Then when she got upset, she’d think of George, and how easy it had been for him to explain anything to anyone, and this would bring the crushing sorrow back. The fact Henry dealt with all of her mood swings and just…continued to love her made her feel like a terrible person.
When Jason cleared his throat and began to speak, Mareen shook her head slightly and focused on the matter at hand. A meeting wouldn’t have been called unless there was something legitimately important to talk about. Mareen tried to settle herself. She wouldn’t let anyone or anything control her, much less her own emotions.
Jason said, “Okay, we’ve actually needed to have this meeting for a while. A long time ago, Henry and I decided to be completely transparent with our plans and with gear distribution. As you all know, I went off with Keeja on the day we found Thirsty and acquired some loot. This was at the same place that Keeja found her music player that we’ve all been enjoying the last few days.”
Mareen nodded slowly as she thought about the music player. Whenever Keeja actually traveled with them anymore and wasn’t flying around somewhere, she hooked her music player up to a cone contraption Henry had made of thin bronze to amplify its sound. The group had been able to hear a large number of popular Areva and Terran songs.
It turned out the best singers in their party were Jason and Thirsty. Everyone in the group seemed to prefer Terran music, even the Mo’hali and Areva. Areva music was almost uniformly precise and martial.
Keeja was a big fan of Bonnie Tyler and some Indian artist whose name Mareen always forgot. She also liked something called “Disco,” which upset Henry and Jason. Henry had started calling Keeja, “Grandma,” but so far she just ignored him.
Mareen shook herself and focused on what her husband’s friend was saying again. Jason continued, “We have some loot to divvy up.” He paused and scratched his head. “So far, we have an unspoken rule within Delvers LLC that orbs or spirit stones found by individuals belong to those individuals.” He gestured at Mareen to make his point, and a few pairs of eyes turned to her before focusing on Jason again.
“However, I recently came in possession of four spirit stones.” There were a few gasps, but he kept talking over them. “The last few days, I’ve been talking to Henry about how we should handle this. We even asked Keeja’s advice.” He gestured to the demigoddess in the corner, who nodded before going back to listening to her music device.
“The spirit stones I found are technically mine to do with as I please. I really struggled with whether to give some of them to our first rank orb-Bonded like Mareen, or increase my own strength. No offense to Berber Intelligence, but giving Gonzo any spirit stones was never a consideration.”
“No offense taken,” said Gonzo.
Jason sighed and said, “My decision is to split the spirit stones between myself and Henry. Keeja told us this should be enough to bring us both to the next rank.” Jason noisily inhaled and said, “I’m still not really happy about this, but it makes the most sense right now. Gonzo and Vitaliya can hold their own, Mareen is tough as nails, and we don’t even know what Aodh can do yet.
“Anyway, that brings me to the other loot.” Jason pulled a sheet off a side table to reveal what it had been covering. “We have two more health potions like the one Mareen has. I am going to claim one for myself and for Henry. The rest is up for grabs. There is even another magic flashlight like the one Mareen has, too.”
Mareen narrowed her eyes and asked the first question that came to mind. “This is it? Didn’t you say Yanbei had a full Battlewagon worth of stuff?”
“Well, I had to leave a few things behind, the bigger items,” replied Jason. “However, I think the fact there were four spirit stones explains why there was a lot less loot in general. The amount of wealth was still roughly appropriate for a dungeon. Some of the gear I had to leave behind were full suits of armor. I can’t exactly put that sort of thing in my pocket. I didn’t see any weapons, but we can’t go back to check.”
“Why can’t we go back?” asked Aodh.
Jason got a haunted look. “I’m not going anywhere near that place without Keeja to protect me. You guys wouldn’t understand since you didn’t see it. There are challenges out there that our group is not ready to handle yet.”
The atmosphere in the room sobered. Jason smiled, obviously trying to lighten the mood. He patted the table with loot on it and said, “There are a few small magic devices here like fire starters, a pair of magic binoculars, and some other stuff. There are a few small, blessed steel folding knives, too. They’re worth a lot of money, but since we use knives all the time, I figured this could be a bonus for our Delvers members.”
Gonzo, Vitaliya, and Keeja stayed seated, but the rest of the group surged forward to check the table for anything they wanted. The situation seemed surreal to Mareen. Jason was casually giving away incredible wealth, and the rest of the group was just as casually accepting it.
She shook her head and moved forward. If she were being honest, she really could use another knife for mundane tasks.
Mareen couldn’t find it in herself to use the blessed steel dagger at the small of her back as anything other than a backup weapon. The idea of using a blade that had almost ended her life to trim her nails or eat with was not…comfortable.
* * *
Jason regarded the spirit stones on his palm and sighed. Uluula was already asleep in the bed beside him, a testament to how long he’d been awake, thinking about upgrading his orb powers. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for hogging the stones for himself and Henry, but he really did think it was the right choice for the group.
He sighed again and finally swallowed the spirit stones before lying down. He was asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The transition to sleep was so sudden, Jason felt like one moment he was in bed, and the next he was sitting in the Space Needle restaurant in Seattle. The city skyline out the window was gorgeous, the dawn light casting shadows over the trees and parking lots below. The restaurant was empty other than a familiar purple cartoon cat sitting across the table from him.
“You,” he said.
“Yes, me,” the cat responded.
“So, shall we get on with this?” Jason tapped the table with a finger in annoyance.
“With what? Upgrading? We can’t do that right now.”
“What?” Jason blinked. “But I just swallowed two spirit stones.”
“True, and normally that would meet the requirements, but part of my job is to guide your evolution. Modular orbs like myself are a little different; we have some free will. Plus, the rate at which you are acquiring more spirit stones is very unusual. I can’t allow you to rise in rank yet.”
“What?” Jason blinked. The cat’s answer was so unexpected, he wasn’t sure what to say.
“Yes, see, you have been developing your power quite a bit. If I were to force you into third rank now, you’d lose a lot of potential power. You need to continue to practice and grow your abilities organically before I take you to the next level. An analogy you might understand would be…you need to reach a higher RPM before switching to a higher gear.”
“I am not an engine.”
“Ah, but how do you know that? What are you actually? How does your power function? You are still ignorant of many things.”
“Okay…fine. I guess I can live with this since it means I can still keep getting stronger on my own.
So when am I going to level up, though?”
“I will start your expansion to the next rank as soon as you’re ready.” The cat settled back in his chair, eating candy from a bowl that appeared from nowhere.
Jason discovered he was beginning to get angry. “So what is all this, then?” He gestured around the restaurant.
“This place holds pleasant memories for you, the same reason I appear the way I do. As for why we’re chatting, swallowing more spirit stones allowed me to communicate directly with you again. I figured you would want to hear about your situation instead of just waking up in the morning with no changes.”
Jason narrowed his eyes. “You actually can talk to me whenever you want, can’t you? You’re under some sort of rules just like Keeja.”
“You are a smart cookie!” said the cat. “It’s not the same thing, but somewhat, yes. However, my limitations are less based on fairness or rules between competitors, and more because I don’t want to melt your brain. Killing you would kind of mess up my mission after all!” The cat giggled.
“So talking to you puts strain on me?”
“Enormously so, yes.”
Jason shook his head. The strangeness of such a silly cartoon character speaking to him about such important subjects really drove home the ridiculousness of the situation. Finally, he asked, “Well, since you’re here anyway, can I ask you a question or two?”
“Actually, yes. I have some time left, and I can probably answer some more questions so long as they are related to your Dhu-based development.”
“What about Henry? Does he get to advance and I don’t?”
The purple cat cocked his head to the side for a moment before grinning. “I am allowed to tell you that he can’t advance either. You two are both in the same circumstance for the time being. How exciting!”
Jason frowned and asked, “What else should I know about my orb that may be a pain in the butt later?”
“That is way too general of a question! Try again with something I tell you. It never hurts to help!”
“So you can’t answer certain things unless I know to ask the questions in the first place, right?”
“That’s right!”
“And this is why you didn’t mention certain things to me when we talked earlier?”
“Yes, yes.” The cat grinned.
“Okay,” Jason said with a tight-lipped smile. His mind started spinning and he felt a little predatory. “I’d like to know about combining magic schools and how that would work with my advancement in the future.”
“Ah, that is an excellent question!” said the cat. He held up one pudgy cartoon finger, extending a sharp claw. He began drawing a grid on the table and said, “It’s quite simple, see…”
Jason paid rapt attention.
* * *
Liangyu sipped tea, relaxing in her room in Harmly. Things were going smoothly, perhaps even too smoothly. Her mercenaries had an ambush site scouted out about a day outside of town, and she was about to move her entire operation there to prepare for the ambush she had planned.
Aodh’s group had moved faster than she’d allowed for, but they were staying on the outskirts of Pilk longer than she had thought they would. Luckily, the distance between Harmly and Pilk was barely within the range of Ghinsja’s power, although reaching so far was exhausting the Areva orb-Bonded every night.
No matter, she can just rest during the day. Liangyu sipped her tea some more as Ghinsja stumbled into the room, fatigue written upon her face.
“I was able to see them again, but this will be a lot easier when we are closer,” she said, dropping to the floor and guzzling a large cup of lukewarm tea that Liangyu had left out for her.
“Is that so?”
“Yes, but I was able to see a few things. First off, they definitely have more than one orb-Bonded in their group. The darker-skinned girl obviously has enhanced strength and hasn’t demonstrated any magic that would account for it. I would guess she is a warrior type. There is an Asian man with the group who could be dangerous, too. I’ve seen him carrying heavy things without much effort.”
“Good, that helps. So far, what do you think?”
“I think it will be difficult to get reliable information in the time we have even if I continue to watch them every night.” Ghinsja swallowed another mouthful of tea. “They actually have a fairly large group, and they’re using vehicles unlike any I’ve ever seen before.”
“What about scrolling orb messages? Have you gotten a chance to look them in the eyes?” This was the question Liyangyu was most curious about. The fact Ghinsja hadn’t said anything about it yet was interesting in itself. The woman was usually very thorough.
“Yes, I’ve looked in almost all their eyes and I have not seen any messages,” Ghinsja said, her voice flat.
“I see, so Aodh, and perhaps a companion or two, are nobles, then. Only nobles or extremely rich people know the secret to hiding the messages.” Liangyu tapped her chin with a dark nail. “This has suddenly become more personal for me.”
“I thought you might say that.”
“Yes, and I’d like to move out to our ambush point immediately so I can start creating my tools.”
“I thought you’d say that, too,” said Ghinsja. “I would urge more caution with such a large group, but I know you will take every chance you can to kill aristocrats. I’ve had the mercenaries start working on the ambush point for you since I knew what your order would be.”
Liangyu smiled. She was lucky to have Ghinsja. Capable help was so hard to find these days. She agreed with Ghinsja’s assessment that there would be a great deal of risk involved with attacking a group with so many unknowns. However, Liangyu’s magic worked best if she could prepare for combat before it occurred. Knowing exactly where her prey was headed, and the route they’d take to get there, was a huge advantage.
Liangyu smiled. Getting enough orbs and spirit stones to justify heading back to Berber would be sweet, but the opportunity to kill more spoiled nobles would definitely make her team’s efforts all the more worthwhile.
She’d never loved nor hated Dolos. However, she was thankful he’d sent her the note about Aodh’s group. She was enjoying the challenge.
Approaching Storm
“Are you sure you can’t tell us what it is?” Jason asked Keeja.
“Yes, like I told you yesterday, my legs are restrained with cables.”
Well, that’s another strange idiom, thought Jason. Their group had ended up staying near the town of Pilk a while longer, and they’d been on the road for two days heading towards Harmly, the next major town down the road. They were making really great time and monster encounters were low. The only problem was that Yanno-ibbi had reported a strange feeling of being watched since before they had left Pilk. After he’d said so, a few other members of the group admitted they’d been feeling uneasy too.
Jason and Henry had taken these concerns seriously and decided to start pulling watch shifts of their own. Two nights before, while on watch with Bezzi-ibbi, Jason had seen something. More than anything, it had looked like a heat distortion in the fog, and he probably wouldn’t have noticed anything in the first place if he hadn’t been familiar with a certain cloaking, predatory alien from movies.
Jason had been going to attack it, but he’d decided to watch instead. Whatever it was had moved around the camp all night. Nobody knew if it was a monster or something worse, but the fact Keeja refused to discuss the matter was putting everyone on edge. Henry had already ordered the group to stay battle ready at all times, and Jason had been encouraging everyone to hide their powers.
After thinking about it for a while, Jason decided the apparition was most likely a scout of some sort. They could be under surveillance. The thought disturbed him.
Only a few members of the company could even see the entity, whatever it was, but the whole group felt watched at night. Hardly anyone spoke during the day anymore; they just listened to Keeja’s music player, discovering new
songs and requesting favorites in order to keep the worry at bay. Henry hadn’t even been complaining about Keeja’s disco music choices anymore.
Those that could see the figure in the mists did things occasionally to try interacting with it, but nothing overt. Jason had considered asking Vitaliya to try hitting it with flame, but he had thought better of it. He wasn’t sure it’d actually do anything more than show off Vitaliya’s power and tip off that they were aware it was there.
Henry had already told everyone that the best they could do for the moment was try to be prepared for anything. Towards that end, Jason and Henry were both training hard to improve their powers. Jason had even figured out several of the abilities Keeja showed him, including how to store items in what he was calling “sideways space,” a small…pocket he created for himself.
It was an amazing ability, and he would have normally been extremely excited if not for the dread hanging over the group. He hadn’t really even told anyone about his new abilities yet other than Henry, and that was only to explain why he was asking his friend to make him a couple dozen more throwing knives.
Jason had been able to put plenty of knives in his new storage, but it had used up most of the group’s remaining stash of bronze. Henry wasn’t happy about it, but he had agreed with Jason that it would be smart to prepare as best they could in case of unexpected danger.
Plus, if Henry needed to, he could just melt down some of the other tools he’d already made to craft new ones. Jason thought his friend just liked having lots of metal on hand and was being a bit of a drama queen. He couldn’t pull bronze from the earth because it wasn’t as common as gold, which was also why it wasn’t effectively worthless like gold on Ludus.
Delvers LLC: Obligations Incurred Page 17
