Lucky, Lu, Teuila and I begin leaving Mount Verdimenn, and I’m feeling incredibly accomplished for how early it is in the day. I’m trying to temper myself so as not to rush Nietru and kiss the hell out of her for her shop having these tools. I doubt anyone in the strategists-eight would understand why the hell I was doing so. Even explaining it might not— explain it. Bluh. I heave a sigh, then another, huffing, then puffing. I roll my eyes at myself while Lu and Te chuckle at my internal monologue.
Stopping by to speak with Deli, I offer her a strong forearm handshake as I mention, “In um, I think the morning after tomorrow, if I’ve made it back from Vorzog keep or whatever, I’ll be attempting to take a full day worth of the resource warrens into my magical inventory. Just so that everyone can plan around not having to harvest on that day, unless they just want to help me shove it in my inventory. And so that you can all plan around how much you’ll have to work with. I hope that that doesn’t seem unfair. I’m trying to make sure I have a backup of enough material to restart the warrens in case something tragic happens.”
Deli scoffs, laughing, before responding, “Schism, with today’s material alone, we’ll have weeks worth of raw resources. Tomorrow’s harvest could see us having surplus stockpile to do whatever we could imagine with it. I know you invested a tremendous amount to get the project kickstarted, but even if you hadn’t invested that, and just left us to work with what you originally had, we’d have been set for months if not years. Trust me, two days of harvests before you take one for yourself is plenty. Besides, it’s not like the resources don’t belong to you. You made ‘em after all.”
Deli pauses before continuing, “I’m actually going to retire early today, and take a couple days off, so I’ll relay the message to some friends. I want to take Yer around, introduce him to some of my friends, find out what else he needs, and get us both a good long sleep early eve, and a few rests. Yesterday took more of a toll out of both of us than I thought, and my usual early rise wiped us out more than I figured it would. Oh, speaking of my boy, he made this for you. It’s, ah, some sort of ornament I suppose. Even if you just use it as a paperweight, it’d mean the world to him if you accepted it.”
I blink several times, and am forced to rub my itchy, wet eyes, as a tear forms. It seems to be an attempt to make a blob of orichalcum into, well, a void dragon. Maybe. I sniffle, nodding rapidly, and gulp, gladly accepting it. Poor Yerjhro looks to be asleep on his feet nearby. I don’t want to wake the poor tired lad up, but I’m incredibly touched. It almost looks like Yerjhro was trying to sculpt this rather than smith it. Hm.
Gnawing my lip, I glance at Deli as I ask, “Del? I hope this isn’t insulting. I recently got some new craftsworks tools, materials, and uh, stations I guess. Some of them might even be enchanted. Is there any chance Yer enjoys sculpting? Either as much as, more than, or instead of smithing? I in no way—.”
As Deli raises an eyebrow my way, I’m worried I’ve insulted her, that she’s going to berate me for telling her how to raise her child. Gulping, I await Deli’s response of, “Hm, hadn’t put too much thought into it Schism. We’ll see what the lad has to say when we take off early today. Like I said, was going to find out what he needs this eve. He’s free to experiment in your craftsworks room then? I’ll let the lad know. I appreciate it. Takes a village, and all that.”
Noticing my almost-panic, Deli grins and winks, “Seriously, no fret. I could see the worry eating on you there. You’re our Hero, in more ways than one. Glad it’s you. But go on now, git, your gals and Hunter look antsy. I’m sure you’ve got plenty to keep you busy. Not that I don’t enjoy the company, but I’m trying to wrap up early, like I said.”
Nodding emphatically, I smile at Deli, and wave as I leave her to it. She seems to be stuck with the position of managing a lot of the smithy volunteers, and other volunteers, despite her obvious preference for doing actual smithing herself. Hm, I wonder if the woman approaching her is Deli’s sister, cousin, or, maybe girlfriend? That kiss on the cheek lasted more than a brief second. None of my business really. I’m just glad someone so wonderful seems to be happy, even if she also seems overworked.
I wonder if there’s anything I can do for Deli. I mean, I can’t really imagine anything that I can *give* her. The resources are free for them to use, and she’s a better crafter than me by far. Maybe I could enchant something of hers for her at some point? Or something of Yerjhro’s? I imagine she might like it if her son had some sort of magic that helped keep him safe. What about for herself? She’s so muscular, and great looking, I can’t imagine a gift of something dumb like fitness equipment would go over well. Similarly, I doubt anything too—. Bluh. I don’t know. I’ll just try to keep telling her I appreciate her when I remember to and get the chance. I’ll ask if she has anything she desires, or dreams of, or anything. I suppose I could have started setting up the alcohol supply line.
Pft, heh, I might get Miraina in charge of that, since she is in her twenties after all. I wonder if the shops would have had an age verification to buy spirits and alcohol. Or would they just sell to whomever had the money that knew how to order? Anyway, I’ll need her help to organize some volunteers to haul the ale and spirits around from Mount Verdimenn to Mount Solace, as well as to organize earnings to purchase them regularly. I might have them sell off my “odds and ends respawnables” warren materials. Those are mostly organic things, and loot drops from mobs on Can’Z’aas that are basically monster parts, bodyparts and such.
I—, I did notice that the kraken tentacles were, erm, a bit lively, heh. Which I guess is what Deli was hinting at that I should take care of it before next week, before we got too many of them respawning. Ugh, why did I plant that? I mean, it’s a common trope for stuff like that to be reagents in certain high end potions and so on, but still. Now there’s like half a dozen kraken tentacles to either carefully move past, or to fight off every d—. Training. Combat training. Leveling, experience—. Holy crap. I mean, maybe subconsciously? I wonder who’d benefit the most. Lucky? Lil? Lu?
Te and I are maxed out in the regular system’s levels, so we only have lateral, um, horizontal, growth to be able to do. Unless I can break us out into some sort of epic leveling system. Hm. I mean, not that Te or I really need some mob spawns in Mount Verdimenn to crank up our ee ex pee gains. We’re going to be getting plenty tomorrow. Though, if I can figure some way to break our system by tomorrow—. Hm. Wait. Kinzul is now part Shellcracker. I saw our bond encompass her with the Shellcracker soul, my soul. Could she start leveling up safely down there? Would she start out at level one, in the system of our world? Or would she already be maximum level, or even epic level? Grr, I wish we could see the menus.
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I was like, what, level seven right after spawning or something? Or wait, but what about the time that I was just a soul? Was I somehow gaining experience during that time? Ugh. Friggin’ hell. I’m such an oddity, that even if I had frames of reference and points of comparison, they might not be how things are supposed to work anyway. Gorramit all. I just, I just want to save Kinzul from—. Huff. Too many minds open to my passive broadcast right now. Let’s just say I want to save her from any hurts or pains. If I could somehow make her more powerful, I’d do it.
Give your brain a break for a bit Reggie. It’s overheating on overdrive from the frenetic time in the shop bunker in Verdimenn, with as little sleep as you’ve had. Blargh, really? Ow. Yes, yes it is. Ugh, huff, migraines and headaches suck. They suuuuuuuck. I lift myself in my telekinesis instead of continuing to walk with Lu and Te, somehow believing that taking the pressure off my feet will reduce this pressure building inside my head. My gals try not to chuckle at me, because they know I’m suffering in pain at the moment.
Veril and Farzee are catching up, there we go. Farzee is looking around a bit timidly. Te, I think she—. There you go. Thank you Teuila. Keep being your amazing self. Veril tries to ploy Luni into carrying him, since Farzee’s getting carried, but Lu just shoots him an incredulous look and rolls her eyes. I chuckle, despite my headache, ow. Can’t say I blame him for trying, being in Luni’s arms is heavenly, it’s amazing. Being held to her full, soft chest, loved on by Luni with her beautiful smile aimed down upon you? Utter bliss. Err, sorry, not to make you jealous Veril. Hehe, cute pout though buddy.
Ugh my friggin’ head. Huff, huff, ow. Hm. If I gave Miraina a ranged weapon, Pawn could be the one benefitting from killing the kraken tentacles every day, and they might even drop loot in addition to being harvestable, which could provide plenty of money to purchase liquor and spirits. Worse than the tentacles though, there are some mite-hulk claw pistol turrets. They aren’t supremely deadly to most anyone with a bit of armor or padding, but they’ve got a lot of knocking force, and could knock someone as small as Miraina to the ground, giving her a concussion, or worse. They could also knock her into the grasp of a tentacle. I’d want her to make sure she always has at least a capable partner for backup, because I couldn’t forgive myself if she got hurt, or, gulp, worse. Do you think she’d be annoyed at the additional responsibility?
Suddenly, across one of many psychic wavelengths shared with her, Pawn chipperly chirps, “Not at all Schism! I’ve never really gotten to hunt. I’m always running around Mount Solace, always. It might be kinda fun. Talk to me about it before you leave tomorrow for your mission? Hangin’ with momma. Hugs ‘n’ kisses from both of us!”
I blush to high heavens at Miraina’s response. I forgot that her range is likely nearly as far as Kinzul’s. Hell, either one of them might be able to sense me from practically anywhere in either mountain. I’ve never been able to pin down the exact range on Kinzul’s or Pawn’s telepathy. Lil’s should be pretty incredibly high too, but he’s also more likely to be oblivious and not notice or hear my thoughts, or well, yeah. Still, he felt out of range when Kinzul was within range earlier, which is weird.
Lil’s and Miraina’s ranges should be pretty comparable. Also, I’m still blushing my brains out at the idea of being kissed by Prinrin and Miraina simultaneously. Based on how well I know her mother, I can almost bet that the gooberific cutie did that on purpose. Anyway, I’d have to puzzle the specifics out later, though I did specifically layer up two multiplicative ranged permanency enhancement enchantments onto Kinzul’s telepathic bond on the first day I met her, if I recall correctly. I—. Oh.
With one hand I clutch my head in pain. With my other hand, I clutch my chest as I weep. My Lady, my love, my wife. I’ve literally cast a spell upon you, and now you’re mine. I mean, not mine, you’re not an object. It’s just, just that you’ve given yourself over to trying to invest in me, to heal me, to support me, since the very moment we met. Even though you knew. Even though you’d seen it. Oh Kinzul. You’re so kind, supportive, fiercely intelligent, loving, nurturing, wise. Please. Please never perish. I know how selfish a plea that is. I’m only mildly sorry for it.
Lucky grows in size enough to lap at my face with his enormous tongue while I’m sitting on one of my T K Surfboards, bowling me off of it as he tries to clean off my tears. Oy vey. Flexing my jaw, I rub several pressure points along the base of my neck, jaw, cervical vertebrae, and near my temples. If it’s a muscle tension headache, I might be able to reduce it slightly. Blurgh, now my guts are cramping up too though. Wrapping my arms around Lucky’s neck, I let him help me to my feet before I double over clasping my stomach. Oof, yeah, crampy. I should probably eat breakfast.
Rolling my eyes at myself, I head back towards Mount Verdimenn to cast a full pot of water into the cauldron, and telekinetically stir it. Helping myself to a bowl of stew, I fill several more to offer to the rest of my party. Most accept and join me in eating stew, even Lucky. Seeing Leezahna milling about, I point to the cauldron, and motion that she can eat if she’d like. I’m sure once she gets more settled, and has enough income to get her home furnished, she’ll probably start exclusively eating gems or gold or something. I really hope she doesn’t lord that over people that she’ll have such easy access to them. Still, the fact that she’s able to earn a couple hundred dollars an hour with her calligraphy or whatever she’s doing is pretty impressive, I hate to admit it.
Hm, y’know one thing I haven’t tried in a while is my thunder shout. I think maybe not since I was crawling inside a hydra. Now that I’m in RS2 form, I might be able to brace myself and not topple over. If nothing else, I can put a T K Square at my back. I wonder how powerful it is at this point. It isn’t a Can’Z’aasian skill per se, but it might be modified by my breath weapon skill bonus. It is technically from a piece of magic equipment from Can’Z’aas, despite being baked into my biology currently. I almost forgot that we slipped it in there, since it was just a copy and paste job from certain parts of my biology that must have been altered by the shrapnel of the thunder staff. I mean, it is still here, right?
Experimenting, I can feel a charge building in my throat, so I’m pretty certain I’m correct. This could leave me feeling nauseous if I don’t go use it up. Hm, probably best to do it in the odds and ends warren, since no one is over there harvesting any of that due to the kraken tentacles. Be right back everybody. Oh, hm, I could definitely train my breath weapon skill multiplier bonus on these. It’d be quicker by a longshot, than just breathing randomly around Mount Solace. Still, I should probably just try to remember to use it almost nonstop during the offensive tomorrow.
Speaking of training and offensives and abilities to use and such, I should think of multiple names for my best greatest shadowy evocation elements. If someone sees me using one, and decides it’s an illusion, they might fall for it if I sound like I’m casting a different spell. Like, for the Darkest Star’s Event Horizon, I could also call it the Bee Aych Bee, the Black Hole Bomb, or the Dee Ess Ee Aych. Huff, I’m being kind of silly. Anyway, let’s puff like a magic dragon on these creatures who live in the sea. Well, their bodyparts anyway.