Pearls were specials. Unlike other gems they weren’t tied to only being able to channel a specific type of mana through them. Ajax was very much interested in observing the pearl and comparing it to the feeling he got from running his mana through the glove he always wore.
He knew the glove was something of much higher quality that anything else he had gotten the chance to see in action, afterall not only was it made by a dragon but it also seemed to have the ability to adapt his gem usage as needed. He didn’t have to choose a specific gemstone from the many hidden under the metallic cover, he just infused the mana and it was directed to the correct gemstone.
This may not seem like a big deal as controlling where your mana goes is something that isn't all that difficult, and it isn’t at least not when you are just using a single mana type. Gems were valuable in both Enchantments and Runic casting as ways to amplify certain mana types. Pearls got their value for being an omni-amplifier.
Beginner or quick-action spells weren’t something you wanted to use pearls for as gems would always be much better. A fireball, wind blast or earth spike was a simple answer and for most problems a simple solution is often best.
Pearls came in handy when the solution was complicated. Turning a field into a swamp, unleashing a storm or a blizzard over an area or even creating a privacy field were complex multi-element spells. This meant that people who used such spells were at least intermediate mages and this made pearls skyrocket in price.
“Let me see it,” Nelly said as she snached the pearl from the hand of the scout. “Damn, it already has three water runes inscribed on it.”
“And that is a bad thing?” Ajax asked.
“Yes” She nodded as she noticed his interest in the small treasure and handed it to him to observe. “Runes all need to be of a certain size compared to the surface of the pearl in order to work. Depending on the rune combination you can get five or six, the amount of skill in using the black spaces in one for another to fit in matters a lot. There is an enchanter in the capital that is said to have made eight fit on a single one but he has gone to great lengths to keep the arrangement secret.”
Ajax fiddled with the pearl a little and infused a bit of his water mana through it and saw how the pearl amplified it through as it released a trickle of water. He saw a solid 10% increase in output compared to what he fed into it and had to admit he was impressed. Even with a maximum capacity dependent on the quality of the pearl such an increase was nothing to scoff at.
With the water collected the team once again continued their journey. For the first time Ajax started to feel the weight of the pack on his back, even with the ambient mana he is constantly syphoning the weight of the water barrel is starting to affect him. This isn’t to say that he couldn’t carry it, just that it was starting to do more than change his center of gravity.
“Say kid, you don’t happen to have a skill called ‘lucky find’ or ‘fortunate encounter’ do you?” Bobby said as he looked towards Ajax.
Ajax was stunned and unsure as to how he should reply to such a question but someone else beat him to it.
“Not a polite thing to ask Bobby.” the scout chastised the massive warrior. “Especially right after he reacted quickly enough to get me out of a dicey situation.”
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The scout then turned to Ajax and with a teasing grin added “Even if he zapped me a little.”
“I know, I know” Bobby waved off the displeased looks “But I doubt I’m the only one thinking it. That amount of strength and the fact that we found not only the oasis crocs, two out of the eleven of which had mana cores by the way, a peal and a water elemental. All of this on our first delve with him.”
“It’s up to him to share having a skill like that.” Jones answered in a bit of an admonishing tone.
“That's not exactly true.” Bobby countered, the jovial tone gone as got into the heart of what he wanted to know. “If it's a strong epic skill, yeah I have no problem with it. He can admit it or keep it to himself. But we all remember our last run in with a lower quality fate type skill.”
Ajax noticed how the entire party turned quiet, not only that but a few of them seemed to turn and look a bit fearfully in his direction. The most pressing issue for him was , what the hell is a fate type skill.
“A what type skill?” Ajax spoke, drawing all the attention.
“A fate type.” Nelly was the one who once again filled in for him. “Fate type skills are a very rare and unique subtype of skills. They differ from other skills in that, as far as the known ones go, the lower the rarity of the skill the stronger the effect.”
“How is that possible?” he asked
“Nobody has figured out exactly how they work yet, despite this two epic ones are publicly recorded along with five rare and ten uncommon.” She continued. “What is known is that they all have the word ‘luck’ or ‘fate’ and they increase the likelihood of something good happening when a person wants it to.”
“I’m still not seeing the problem, nor am I seeing why the epic ones would be weaker than the uncommon ones.” Ajax was still confused but more intrigued than ever.
“However they affect luck seems to go from forceful pull to a gentle guide. The uncommon ones seem to forcefully change the desired event however this seems to have a backlash as a way to correct it. The epic versions seem to guide things naturally to a more favorable outcome.”
“And how would that work?” Ajax still didn’t find the connection with the fear or hostility displayed towards the skill.
“Let's put it this way.” Bobby said “You know how to play hold 'em?”
“Yes.” Ajax confirmed.
“What I am worried about is you having an uncommon version. You see uncommon affects a very specific event and have an immediate backlash. For example, as long as the person shuffling the cards isn’t cheating and the person uses the skill he will always get two kings or two aces. The problem comes when the backlash hits the river is almost always the worst card possible.” Bobby said.
Ajax could see how much of a downside something like that could be. The skill would bankrupt someone rather than make them any money.
“The rare version isn’t as abrupt, it results in the next few hands being given horrible hands. But the way this delve has been going, especially since we entered the second floor has felt a lot like getting a pair of aces. I understand not wanting to let people know about such exploitable skills but an uncommon version means we need to be ready for something catastrophic to happen.”
Now it clicked for Ajax. He could see where Bobby was coming from, losing a hand of cards could screw you out of your life savings but in a dungeon the skill could help you find treasure only to die before you can even gain a benefit from it. He also wondered just how powerful a legendary or maybe mythic version of such skills could be.
“I understand,” he nodded. “I don;t have an uncommon or rare skill like that.”
He wasn’t going to tell them he didn’t have one at all, in fact having them think he had an epic one would provide some cover for his cheat-like trait and stats.
“Good. Thanks for settling that for me.” Bobby said and picked up the pace a little.
“I apologize for that.” Nelly whispered to him. “It’s just that….”
“Just that?” he whispered back.
“A few years ago we pissed off a visiting noble.” she said “The way he decided to get back at us was by sending an assassin after us.”
‘This is exactly why I didn’t want the nobles to take notice of me’ Ajax thought.
“This assassin was special though. Unlike most others in his line of work he didn’t kill his targets directly. He had a very different method. Whereas most assassins focus on offense he was a pure escape type. He barely even had any knowledge of defense.” She shuddered a bit as she recalled something. “What he would do is get close to his targets, get his Uncommon fate skill to work for the group and have the backlash kill them while he ran away.”
“That can’t be a very effective method.” Ajax noted.
“It's less and less effective as you grow in strength.” she nodded. “But it was also the closest we had ever come to losing somebody before and since. And it’s all but impossible to prove.”