Brace For the Wolves
Page 33
“The rest of it?” I repeated stupidly. “I take it there’s a blade that goes on it?”
“Usually,” she nodded. “But some stories vary. I haven’t heard them all, though.”
“So why is there a hole in the floor that it will fit in?”
“To choose a king,” she said simply.
She was far less bothered with my questions than I was. And I think I resented that.
“Why does it choose kings?” I demanded. “You said its job is to break things. What does that have to do with being king?”
“Isn’t that what kings do?” she replied curiously. “Break things that need breaking? Isn’t that what you did?” she insisted. “Break into this place? Break our captors? Break our bonds? Break the impossible?”
Huh.
“Yeah,” I said finally. “I guess I did.”
She smiled happily, and I looked back down at the head-breaking little bastard in my hands.
Alright, I thought at it. There too many other kinds of crazy going on right now for me to really worry about you, so I’ll go back to putting up with your nonsense for a little longer. But I want you to take the occasional stab at making sense. And… I realized I was getting an impression from it. Did you just smirk at me, you little bastard?
I huffed for a moment, then counted to ten in my mind. Then I carefully wrapped up a giant package of expletives and insults to be delivered to the semi-sentient artifact, at a later date when it could appreciate them.
“I’m fine, Breena,” I said as she hovered protectively over me. “Just making more room in my brain’s crazy box. Getting back to work now.”
I started walking over to the indent in the middle of the room.
“Is Mister Dragon okay, Miss Fairy?” I heard Talitha ask worriedly behind me.
“He’s trying to be,” Breena whispered. “He’s... he’s had a lot of bad things happen to him.”
“Oh,” I heard the former ghost say. “Like us. We’ve had bad things happen to us too. Is that why he cares so much for us?”
“Sort of,” the fairy whispered back. “He cares because he’s sweet and he’s good. But he needs care too.”
“Avalon,” I said out loud, not caring to hear the rest of that conversation right now. “Confirm that the item in my hand is necessary for the conclusion of the Rite.”
“Confirmed that the Challenger possesses the necessary Weapon of Kings to complete the Rite. Further assembly of said weapon is advised.”
“Noted and logged,” I answered dryly. “I’m going to try and complete the Rite now. Stop me if I start doing it wrong or otherwise am about to hurt myself.”
“Command confirmed.”
I took the broken weapon, kneeled down and thrust it into the indentation at the center of this strange, spiral-like room.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then something rumbled.
“Confirming completion of the Rite of Transit,” Avalon boomed. Mist started streaming out of the whole. “The nascent lord has demonstrated the ability to successfully bear the basic burdens of leadership, of safeguarding relevant relics, of protecting that which is precious, of overcoming challenges to his claim, and battling for the people of his world. Avalon hereby confers additional Right to Rule upon the Dusk Era human, Wes Malcolm of Earth. Avalon will first do so by recognizing, and awakening, the dormant Avalonian blood inside Wes Malcolm. The intent is to further bond the nascent lord with his people. Stand by for adjustments.”
Something in my blood began to cool. I was grateful for that. So far every other ‘power-up’ today had involved some really, really bad trips and it was a relief to just get shit-shit-ow!
“Avalon further notes the progress the nascent lord has made on his Paths of leadership and will also lend its blessings.”
No-no-stop-ow-don’t....
Fortunately, this time the pain was less intense and passed far more quickly.
My mind-screen then took its turn to generously note all my new changes:
The Challenger has awakened a new part of his bloodline, tying him to the world of his Profession. The Avalonians were an ancient and powerful race known for their grace, nobility, general wisdom, and proficiency with magic. The Challenger will now gain +1 to Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma per Rise, taking past Rises into account as well. The Challenger will also receive one additional skill point per Rise (both past and present) that must be used on a form of magic, including but not limited to that of the Ideals.
The Challenger has taken an additional step on the Path of War. War-related skills and actions will now be easier to learn. The Challenger will now receive one free point to spend on a weapon or combat-related skill.
The Challenger has taken an additional step on the Path of Kings. Social and administrative skills will now be easier to learn. The Challenger will now have an easier time recognizing the lies of others.
The Challenger has advanced his Profession to that of a Baronet. The Challenger may now designate a place of residence for his people. The place of residence creates an uncomfortable feeling in natural predators, making them more likely to avoid the area. Nobles of other communities will automatically gain a small amount of awareness regarding the Challenger’s status, though they may choose to disregard it.
Having survived the flurry of updates, I then willed my mind-screen to open my status.
Wes Malcolm
Race: Human/Avalonian. Origin: Earth (Dusk Era), Avalon (Challenger)
Growth Level: Seventh Rise (Flash)
Path: War (Third Step- increased learning speed with warfare-related skills. Free proficiency each Rise)
Path: Kings (Third Step- lie recognition, increased social and administrative talent)
Strength: 68
Dexterity: 75
Constitution: 75
Intelligence: 82
Wisdom: 82
Charisma: 74
Speed: 84
Deftness: 84
Wits: 85
Will: 113
30 skill points remaining
The skill points were such a mess that I wound up collapsing that section as soon as I looked at it. My combat skills had all stayed around Rank 8, with the exception of Dual-wielding and Spears. I had used Water magic just often enough to bump it into Rank 5, which gave me the
Initiate bonus of a decreased cost in mana for spells of that school. The other three Ideals had all increased to 9, meaning I was already closing in on the next stage of advancement, Novice, at 12. But with all of the other trauma going on in my head I still wasn't too keen on
pushing any of my skills, and especially my magic, more than two stages past my Risen level. I divided everything up to bring it all up to Rank 10, wincing through the increasingly familiar sense of pain.
Fortunately, it still wasn't anywhere near as bad as dealing with the last two years of that 'disability,' or device somehow snuck into my head after a football accident. Even more fortunately, except for my Wisdom and Intelligence, most of my Traits seemed to be within Stell's limits. I had no idea how long that would last, as contrary to Stell and Breena's
beliefs I had been tripping their 'warning zones' by accident. And part of me resented the fact that I didn't know about those said warning zones before I got yelled at over them.
But the rest of me knew I had to move on. I used the free points my fancy
new blood line and 'path' of violence granted me to save me over 16 skill points. I kept my magic and weapon skills all around 10, and saved 20 of my skill points in reserve. That was a ridiculous amount to have left over but I knew there were going to be some skills I'd need to
rapidly acquire at least a passing knowledge on them. And three of them might be my friends' special schools of magic.
This strange link we shared was even more curious than I realized. By now I
wasn't just aware of what Karim and the others were doing, I was becoming more aware of how they were doing it. I needed
to know just what they were doing so that I could figure out whether I needed to invest in their magics. After all, their learning of my magic had saved
everyone's lives. What would happen if I learned theirs?
Finally, I decided to add my eight points into Strength, since it had been the
Trait that had grown the least. And because I was carrying hundreds and hundreds of spare pounds of gear and had started slugging it out with things a head taller or more than my six-foot-two-inch frame. I looked at my changes again to make sure everything had worked out.
Race: Human/Avalonian. Origin: Earth (Dusk Era), Avalon (Challenger)
Growth Level: Eighth Rise (Flash)
Path: War (Third Step- increased learning speed with warfare-related skills. Free proficiency with each Rise)
Path: Kings (Third Step- lie recognition, increased social and administrative talent)
Profession: Lord (Rank: Baronet) (+5 to Challenger’s Charisma and Will. Increased
ability to manage groups of people. Place of residence, minor
recognition)
Strength: 76
Dexterity: 75
Constitution: 75
Intelligence: 82
Wisdom: 82
Charisma: 74
Speed: 88
Deftness: 88
Wits: 85
Will: 113
20 skill points remaining
“Alright,” I said.
“Can I see, Wes?” Breena asked.
"I thought you already could?" I asked. Since Breena was bonded with me, she always had a sense of my overall strength, just as I had a very faint sense of hers.
"I just want to make sure about something. Do you mind if I scry your mind-screen?"
"Sure," I said with a shrug. "Go ahead."
Stell had designed Breena with a lot of magic for monitoring Challengers, making her sort of a doctor and life-coach all rolled into one, I guess. She flew around me, muttering whatever magic let her do her job, peered at a tiny blue window I couldn't really make out, and then sighed in relief.
"Oh, thank Stell. Your power is stabilizing."
"Does this mean I won't get any more admonishing messages from Stell?" I asked.
"Oh, herb no!" she snorted. "We bet cookies and stuff over those. Those are there to stay. Though um," she added hesitantly. "I may wait until she gets back safe and sound before I start taking all of her stuff."
"That's generous of you," I said, deciding to grin, instead of obsessively worrying about my current lost friend. One problem at a time, I reminded myself. That's how you'll get through all of this.
Avalon interrupted our conversation with another update.
"Recognition of the Challenger's Right to Rule has allowed for further access to Avalon's systems. Avalon's area of surveillance has expanded. The entire range of the warded zone's surface and current explored layers are now viewable. Identification of current accessible rooms are now possible."
"Great," I replied. "How are the refugees doing?"
"Status of other sentients is unchanged. Location of perimeter hostiles is unchanged."
The supercomputer paused, as if processing, and then continued speaking.
"Monitoring is sufficient for identifying current needs of local sentients. Sentients possess minimum necessary access to shelter and food. Recommend that improvements be made to the dilapidated buildings and lean-to shelters. Further recommendations are to improve their dietary access by providing more grain-based seeds. One-time creation of said seeds is possible via Avalon's new rituals. Please confirm if the nascent lord wishes to activate said ritual."
"Potentially, that's really great news," I said. "How much leftover mana will you have if you do that?"
"The drain on mana will be sufficient to hamper numerous other rituals, but is still recommended, especially given the upcoming surge in population."
"Right," I realized. The incoming super-miracle of having million-year old people all coming back to life. I was fortunate everyone still somehow all spoke the same language. Actually I had no idea how that was happening either, because so far five of my planet's languages had been represented here aeons before they were ever supposedly spoken on Earth. But again, one problem at a time. "You mentioned the pendants I've been collecting would help with all of that. I've got three left, including the largest one. How far would that go?"
"Confirming that one medium-sized pendant has sufficient mana inside to power the seed-creation ritual of multiple different plants with power left over."
"Fantastic," I said, reaching for the pendant. "In that case... wait. You said power left over? And for just one pendant?"
"Confirmed."
"And, assuming we ever get the portals working again, or find some other traveling method, I could hypothetically transfer these plants to other worlds, correct? And possibly make them grow there?"
"Confirmed, although each planet's soil will have an impact on the process."
"Okay," I said, still thinking fast. "And is this ritual a one-time ever thing, or just one-time per species of seed?"
"Confirming that the ritual cannot be used to create more than one copy of the same seed, but can theoretically be used to copy or create an infinite number of different species of seeds. However, the mana cost increases exponentially with each new version of seed. Current pendant provides mana for a maximum amount of five seeds."
"You said create, though," I persisted, trying to seize on every important word. "Does that mean I could create new strains of seeds?"
"Affirmative, with the use of additional mana."
"Okay, Avalon," I said, taking a breath. "Here's what I want to do. Let's go ahead and get this started right now. I want to generate seeds for oats, wheat, rye, barley, and rice. Try to enhance each version to be the most beneficial for consumption by the known civilized races of each planet. Do what you can to make them resistant to disease and easy to grow, and unlikely to trigger allergic reactions. Is that possible?"
"Affirmative, although it will consume the entirety of the mana inside the pendant," Avalon confirmed. I sighed in relief. I was neither a botanist nor an agricultural geneticist and I had no idea if my idea would work.
"Alright then. How do we get the mana from this pendant into your rituals?" I asked.
"The Challenger can transfer said mana by placing the pendant on the floor. Avalon will handle the rest. Creation of new plant life will take one day."
"Great," I said. "Here you go."
I knelt and laid the pendant out on the floor and watched the mist cover it.
"Absorption successful. Beginning the creation ritual now. Will update the Challenger upon completion."