CHAPTER 16: AN ACT OF MASS NEKOCIDE
Ludwig Acron was not a man used to being frustrated, nor one used to failing his master. Finding a person within the confines of this very city should be a matter of trivial challenge - he would bring notice of his interest to the right ears, and many, many people eager to find his favor would make sure that interest would be satisfied in but a few hours.
Indeed, a few months ago, young Miriam had been brought before he managed to return from his trip into the city, expressing said interest.
Alas, this time proved ... more difficult. The young man in question had been around only for a very short time, had made few contacts outside of the adventurer community, which would usually stick together. And if reports and witnesses were to be believed, he had not been seen for four days. Unfortunately he had not found a reason to not believe them and both the city guards and the harbor inspectors guaranteed said young man had not left the city.
In what would be called "pacing" if done by any person lesser person, but could only be called strolling by such dignified gentleman, Ludwig pondered how to continue. Pausing after a few minutes to look at the portrait of his master he realized his own folly.
It was his masters will, to meet the young man.
His master's will would be done.
If that took more resources to accomplish than usual, then that is what those resources were there for after all. Still, it was rather fortunate that lord Robert was not the kind of person to personally inspect the expense books.
That decided he called for one of the pages while putting together a short message. After all, it would not do to personally visit a hired menial, even if a particularly gifted and expensive one.
Work in the administrative center of the County was never sparse, especially for the person responsible for its smooth operation. Ludwig spent the time waiting dealing with the routine paperwork - personnel performance reviews, lest one's sarcasm atrophy through disuse - though he did only have to wait for less than an hour before a polite knock on his door indicated the hireling had arrived. Quite swift, considering her place of residence, truth be told, but then again, her retainer did factor in promptness when demanded.
"Enter" he commanded and the well-oiled door opened without a sound as a woman in her prime entered, her steps no louder than the door. Most commendable and but the first sign that the northern beauty should not be underestimated despite her lacking height. Ludwig set aside the documents he had worked on before this welcome interruption and observed her approach.
With an inherent grace that defied description and was utterly impossible to fake she almost glid over the floor, her long, brown hair still as if there were no movement at all. Her perfectly shaped curves enough to drive many a lesser man mad ... until said creature would find itself pierced by her sharp green eyes, which would have done well at accentuating her well-tanned charms. If she did not wield them like rapiers instead.
That she not once used her charms to try and manipulate Ludwig was certainly a major point in her favor.
"You called." The statement most certainly not a question and he barely managed to nod in confirmation before she continued. "So, who or what are you looking for this time?"
"Straight and to the point as always, one of the pleasures of working with you Miss Fernández." He nodded and indicated the chair in front of his office table, which she took without ever looking away from him. Indulging in her preference for skipping polite nothingness he got straight to the point.
"A missing person this time. Unfortunately, I have a lot less to work with for you than I would prefer this time." He sighed, opened a drawer and took the sheet of paper he had prepared beforehand, then placed it in front of her. "This sketch is the best rendition available, alas. This young man's name is Arcanis, a young adventurer who had just recently arrived in Erfurt. Ten days ago to be specific."
Reaching behind himself with one of his gloved hands, he took the wooden spear he had placed on the shelf behind himself, then presented it to her. "The adventuring party he joined - one led by a Thomas Endosi - was training him in several weapon types, spears among them. This was used by the man I am looking for, he was the last being to touch it with his own hands." He placed the implement on his table as his hired seer stared at who knows what her observant eyes saw in the two objects.
Finally, she leant back with a sigh, her eyes back to focusing on the butler and majordomo of the Erfurt residence. "Not much to work with, as you already realized. Probably enough if he is still in the city, but ..." she drummed with the fingers of her right hand on the sketch "... I cannot even guarantee that. My Sight gets more precise the more profound your past, the greater the impact you had. The Emperor of Karalis? Not a problem if he ever got into range. A young man like that however ..."
She shook her had sadly, rose and took the two items before looking at her employer. "I'll take it to the ritual room, I suppose we will see what will come of it"
* * *
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The way back was mostly a quiet affair, the two friends not saying much. Their ponytailed companion no longer quivered with positive energy, but it appeared nothing could truly keep her mood down: Her cheerful smile was present more often than not while her eyes kept scanning their surroundings, the spring in her step and tension in her body signaling her readiness to unleash destruction on minimal notice. That tension never made it to her face however, even when she tried to honor the two men's obvious desire to stew in their loss.
Halfway out she failed and started humming a sunny tune, silently first, growing louder by the minute. The dirty looks of her fellow adventurers did not leave a scuff-mark on her armor of cheer.
Close to the exit she finally lost self-control, dance-stepped in front of the other two, walking backwards without any trouble as she addressed them with an inquisitive grin. "So, what'cha gonna get from the skill-shop?"
Tirion gave her a dirty look and let the silence stretch out before responding. "A bit personal a question, don't you think?" He pointedly looked at the halfling at his side, who was busy staring daggers at the female adventurer. "Besides, can't you see this ain't exactly the best time for small-talk!? We lost two friends in this bloody dungeon, barely survived ourselves. Read the room, woman!"
Her ... excessively cheerful expression faltered for a moment, and Tirion thought he spotted actual pain in them. It must have been a trick of his lamp-light, as it immediately morphed into a gentle, sympathetic smile. "Your friends ... I don't think they would want you sad, would they? I did not truly know them, so I cannot definitely speak for them, but ... in this life of adventure, death is bound to be a frequent companion. Will I let myself be broken by it?
"The way I see it, I can either smile or cry in the face of this, and one of those is more likely to lead to myself being broken." She pointed at Tirion with her right hand, in a small waving motion as if to invite him in, her body language speaking of a fine upbringing, even if her language was rather direct. "Think of it this way: How do you best honor your fallen friends? By moping around in despair?" Her smile turned into a wicked grin. "Or by turning their death into an epic, and only slightly embellished, ballad and bragging about your friend as you tell their tale over a beer or two - or three - in the inn?"
The woman turned to Aurum and poked him in his unarmored stomach. "Is not the best tribute to our fallen to lead the best life possible?" Again, the grin lowered into a compassionate, gentle smile. "To make sure their sacrifice was not in vain?"
They met again outside of the skill shop, previously having turned in the quest, notified the guild about the deaths and cleaned up their gear. Again, their female companion - named Suna, as they had found out - was brimming with energy, like a kid who could barely hold in their need to share a secret. She did not waste any time proving the observation true.
"Finally!" she pinned Tirion with that infectious grin of hers. "You would not believe how annoying it was to get all the prerequisites together, but finally!-" Suna pinned them with her eyes while waiting for a dramatic second or two before continuing. "-finally, finally, finally I managed to get [Explosion Magic 1]!" Her eyes glowed - both literately and figuratively - as she postured in front of them, obviously proud of herself.
The warrior did not know what to say to this, still stunned by her performance and processing the actual content of her words. The halfling however was not quite as dazzled and apparently more read on the matter as a wizard himself, if his glower was any indication. "Explosion Magic?! Explosion. Magic?! What the hell is riding you, girl!?"
She looked at Aurum as if he had grown a second head. "What wizard would not want to unleash the largest, most devastating and flashiest explosions?" Confusion was writ large across her face. "I mean ... why else would you become a wizard if it wasn't for the biggest bang?"
The halfling managed to look down on Suna, height notwithstanding, before continuing in slow, simple sentences, as if talking to a child. "Explosions. Adventurers often enter dungeons. Dungeons are enclosed spaces. Explosions go where there is less resistance. Walls are hard. Passages with adventurers in them are not hard." He gave her a pointed stare that managed to make it through Suna's mental armor and had her squirm. "Do try not to kill us all, please."
Pouting and even having her index fingers meet as she looked over them she looked slightly subdued. "Aw, come on, what's an explosion or two among friends?"
"Suna de Erob, you stand accused of gratuitously endangering sentient life in twenty-one instances, threatening the economic wherewithal of the city of Karas, destruction of property with a total value of over two hundred gold, violation of the dungeon operations security guidelines, violation of the city code of conduct, littering and ..." the judge gave the woman in front of him a deathly glare "... endangering the life of a noble.
"Even if the noble in question was yourself."
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* * *
Arcanis woke up to the cheerful pounding of an absolutely murderous headache. He could feel quite a few system messages waiting for him, but did not need them to realize his broken state - his body was not exactly shy with its complaints. I am lucky I did not manage to break my spine, considering how my back feels. Opening his eyes, the aspiring wizard found himself lying on the broken trunk of a small tree facing the lake, his surroundings mostly a sea of debris. The lakefront was deeply scorched, the grass ruined and a light crater where he had started his experiment gone bad.
Answering the complaints of his body he started a few "Healing Touch" casts, stopping to slow drain of what health he had remaining. With his broken shell on the mend, he tried sensing his mana and observed how the spell was patching him up. There was a lot of damage, the healing energy from the spell exhausted almost immediately after entering him. Again and again he watched progress being made, but chose to remain passive only. I really need to find a less painful way of experimentation.
Some time passed like that and he found himself somewhat better able to see how the mana from the spell interacted with himself. Most notably, he noted how the spell mana was diminished as it tried to enter his body - as if there was some attrition breaking through his skin. Not his physical skin, as the same happened when he touched a wound, but ... some kind of mana-skin? More to observe. Come to think about it, that Dwarf mentioned a skill to lower your own resistance to magic - pretty sure that skill relates to this barrier. With the next spell he tried- Stop, idiot! First fix yourself before starting another stupid experiment!
Thus the healing continued and pain subsided. He rolled off that trunk with a pained grunt and straightened his right leg that turned out to be broken. Somehow the healing had ignored the break so far. Maybe the spell has some way to detect breaks it cannot fix properly. That spell is absolutely broken in its complexity.
Continuing with the healing he noticed how it moved to his left arm and started fixing it. While one of the bracing sticks had been broken in the explosion or its aftermath, the other two had held and were only lightly scorched, so that arm was still adequately straight. A quick heck of his status showed that the Tortured status effect was finally gone, so - with his health adequately stabilized where the pain was only distracting, not agonizing - Arcanis finally checked his notifications, ignoring the latest broken bones messages. Kind of aware of them already ...
The status effect [Tortured] has expired.
Finally
You have raised the skill: Manipulate Magic to level 2
Improved throughput and control
You have raised the skill: Manipulate Magic to level 3
Improved throughput and control
You have unlocked the skill: Burnout!
Burnout (Level: 1) [Magic]
"The key skill of any magic apprentice: Resistance to learning from painful experiences."
Congratulations! You have managed to fail to observe your master's teachings in a truly spectacular fashion!
And you even managed to survive the event.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
While not exactly a proof of your intelligence, it sure shows tenacity.
-1 Power, +1 Constitution, +2 Luck, +1 Agility, Increased Pain Tolerance, Reduced damage from spell backlash
Curious, the first time that a skill reduces an attribute. Still, the same total, even if that large bonus to Luck somehow pisses me off for some reason.
With the messages caught up with, Arcanis returned to fixing himself, focusing on his left arm first. While it took a while - his maximum health having increased steadily over his dungeon trip, while his healing power had not gone up much - the aspiring wizard finally managed to patch himself up fully, being fully hale for the first time since the fight with the Goblins.
"Alright, time to get back on track!" his body insisted he move, so pace he did as he forced his mind back on survival priorities. "Current short term items: Food. Not getting eaten by big, hungry kittens. Escape." Escape kind of requires the cat problem taken are of. Food ... more than yesterday, thanks to the foraging, but need more and unless dungeon regrows them at a prodigal rate I'm on a steep timer.
"Which leaves the cat-monsters." Thinking back to the encounter, while they are massive, given the effect improved attributes have, they are actually doable as I am, if still a bit risky. The young adventurer added a few circles while pondering his options, before coming to an unhappy conclusion. The staff would not do for fighting the cats, even with his second arm back in business. The sad fact was that blunt weapons only work, when the enemy has something brittle that you could break - bones being the common example, but stone monsters or slimes with a vulnerable core also had been around in Arcanis' past. While the big cats did have bones - probably - it was just too massive for even Arcanis grown stats to impact. And even if I could, the staff I have is too fragile for it.
With that realization, he was back to wielding his sword, at least for this area. "Might as well accept it for now and also try capping the rest of my physical attributes." With Constitution and Dexterity already at their maximum, only Strength and Agility needed improvement for the moment. The only source of Strength so far have been weapon skills, and the only ones I have any chance of raising in time just so happen to be my sword skills. The young adventurer sighed, stopped walking and stared into a distance that had little to do with his current location. "Looks like my past really, really does not want to let go this time around.
"As for Agility, now there we have a few more options - Acrobatics would be the most promising, it being only level four and granting two points per level." Balance, another high Agility skill was already at seven and thus likely a bit harder to raise. Burnout was to be avoided, as it would lower his magic output ... and Arcanis did not actually like pain. Recent history notwithstanding. Unarmed Combat might be another option for a point or two, given its low level.
He nodded to himself and started to rise when he remembered the last missing part for his preparations: Raising my healing output. If healing during combat should become necessary, it would be useful to be able to deliver, and his current option was ... lackluster. "So ... either raise Power or lower my own resistance to being healed." Checking his skills he realized there were few good options to raise the stat. Cooking was one of his main sources for it and seemed unlikely to rise higher than it was right now, unless he managed to deal with the monster meat somehow. Tempting, given how it would transform his food situation, but unlikely to actually succeed. Combat Casting would require high risk for actually very little reward, but low level so something to consider. His other related casting skill, insulting though both name and description, was already too high to grind usefully before tackling the large cats.
Thinking back to the list his dwarven teacher had given him - or at least whatever part of it that stuck to his memory - he looked for a likely candidate to quickly skim of some points. Gaming would not really work, but he might be able to nab a level or two in Drawing. Tea-Making was right off the table, as was Calligraphy for lack of tools or Herbology for lack of teacher. But Cartography might be an option. Another memory caught Arcanis' attention and he swiftly searched through his inventory, then covered his face with his hands in mock shame. Right. Reading. With that bloody book I keep lugging around and ignore, which was supposed to teach another useful skill!
"Right, focus." And I need to break that habit of vocalizing my thoughts before I leave this place. Lonely or not lonely. Preparations for today, going for the big ones tomorrow. Phase one: Forage and practice against the smaller cats, trying to raise Strength and Agility. Phase two: Raise healing output.
"Now if only I hadn't managed to blow up my own boots ..."
Travelling beyond the inner ward stone circle, the young adventurer kept a mental eye on his magic sense for navigation purposes. His attempt to close his eyes and just rely on his magic perception did not work out as intended - he kept stumbling over roots (highly unpleasant on his toes without any boots to protect them) he did not see or hitting low branches that refused to show up in his mental vision. On the other hand, there just might be a blind-fighting skill. Something to test with the small cats, I suppose.
Going onwards with all senses online, taking care to make as little noise as possible, Arcanis managed to find a few more of the fruit-bearing trees, consuming some for lunch but still managing to keep a few in reserve. Which was also how he managed to find the first feline bandit before the creature spotted him. Taking cover behind a tree, he let the small, red-furred monster pass before jumping at it with maximum force ... completely underestimating his own jumping power, sailing over the surprised cat and hitting the tree on the other side significantly less gentle than necessary for comfort.
Not a believer in chivalry and mercy towards your enemies, the monster used the distraction to overcome its surprise and claw the adventurer for all its claws were worth. Which was not much, given how they missed anything critical, but hurt and bled none-the-less. Irate and hurt, the young man screamed in rage, got up punched the cat with a lot more force than its head was designed to handle - blood splattered across his knuckles as the broken body of the beast tumbled onto the grass.
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His friend looked at him across the table, the stress and exhaustion visible even in the dim lantern light that was all the war-camp had to offer its commander. Their planning - which had not gotten far, truth be told, unpalatable as the situation was - was interrupted by a loud meow followed by the red-furred rogue that had taken possession of his friend jumping onto his lap. The twin-tailed Nekomaho managed to both look majestically aloof and demand attention and service from her royal attendant, without ever giving the impression she had actually bestowed the grace of her look onto him.
With a fond smile, the young man surrendered and gave the demanded petting without complaint, while giving his friend a gentle look. The war will lose itself tomorrow just as well as tonight.
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Looking up from the unbidden memory, he came to his senses just in time to watch the unlooted body liquefy. He noticed several pending system messages, but an old instinct interrupted him before he was able to look them up - there was danger in the air. Looking around, Arcanis spotted dozens of cat monsters in the branches above or peaking through bushes or around the trunks of nearby trees.
He was surrounded. "Eh ..." The young adventurer looked at the closest feline. "... sorry?"
With an angry hiss, feline chaos descended upon him.
He had intended to jump around as he fought, just as an exercise to boost the skill in a fight that would be too easy to bother anyway. Turns out, being able to jump above attack range of a mob of angry cats - when you are not wearing any boots - really has its upsides. He had planned to use some unarmed attacks instead of his sword, just to give his Unarmed Combat skill a go, where it would not matter either way given the enemy. As it turns out, in a fight that was the very definition of 'Target Rich Environment' he really did not have to pick which to use - with two hands and only one sword, never mind the legs perfectly suitable to kicking, there always was an enemy available, no matter the extremity. Combat Casting? No problem, being hamstrung gives excellent motivation to push through the distractions and use the spells, rather than being torn apart by dozens of small claws.
Jumping around, avoiding the mob, kicking, cutting, hitting, screaming ... it was a lengthy maelstrom of violence as Arcanis faced the potential death of a thousand needles. Wall of Blades proved its worth, as following its motions allowed him a surprising burst of speed ... until somewhen into the fight, where an unfortunate bite into his right hand caused him to drop his sword. Then it was all down to dodging and striking first until he finally managed to escape up a tree, his ability to climb faster, by what almost amounted to jumping up the tree, buying him the seconds to heal his right hand. Retrieving his staff from inventory, Arcanis got back to business, using the superior range of his weapon and his ability to jump from branch to branch to avoid being cornered by his assailants.
Feline reinforcements, attracted by the incredible racket of the fight kept coming in, to the point that the aspiring wizard was forced to fall back to using his Firebolt on the lest few monsters, too utterly exhausted to use his arms to end them. Once the last creature fell down, it being incinerated surprisingly well hidden by the color of its fur, the aspiring wizard dropped down, panting heavily. His body too heavy to move, the aspiring wizard almost panicked when he saw another cat-monster enter his vision.
Forcing his mind into compliance as the creature slowly stalked closer, Arcanis managed to focus on his magic, raise his right arm and send out another "Firebolt" moments before it would have been upon him. With his mind on magic he observed the spectacle unfold, the overlap and incongruity of what his different senses were telling him almost giving him yet another headache. The first thing he observed, was that while his magic senses might not be viable for navigation, they were able to make out the monster quite clearly. To his eyes, the cat was hit by the fire projectile, set aflame across much of its body, though that was hard to gauge correctly with the red fur making it hard to differentiate. The magic impact however was something to behold, compared to the subdued visuals: The package of flavored mana impacted ... something - it was hard to make out, but for now the aspiring wizard assumed it was the same barrier he hit when healing himself. Some of the energy of the projectile broke off and splashed along its surface, thus causing the surface incineration. Much of it however penetrated into the body and spread out from the impact area, dealing critical damage to its internals.
Not only does that explain how fire spells can be deadly when they should 'just' deal surface damage, it also shows that while it is critically dangerous to mess with the spellform as it is being created, it should be decently save to manipulate once the spell effect manifests. Otherwise parts splashing off the surface would be way more dangerous than the mana entering the victim.
Between recovering his energy, putting down stragglers and healing up his wounds, more time passed. Being able to spot creatures behind him using Sense Magic proofed quite valuable, more than once preventing him being ambushed by the sneaky mini-monsters. While the huge mountain of mobs from his main engagement liquefied unlooted, he did manage to go through four of the stragglers, netting him more poisonous - or at least unpurified - meat as well as more claws and a level in Butchering and Dismantle each.
Finally done, he escaped from the site of mass caticide before even more stragglers turned up. Probably wiped out every single one on this side of the barrier, but ... better safe than sorry. Finally across the barrier boundary he made it to the lake and almost collapsed to the ground, barely managing to catch himself and sit down properly. I really miss the days where I would not end up exhausted and broken several times a day. "Oh well, messages, nap, phase two." Leaning back into the grass, Arcanis looked up the latest gains before nodding off.
* * *
You have raised the skill: Butchering to level 4
+2 Dexterity, Improved quality of result
You have raised the skill: Dismantle to level 2
+1 Dexterity, +1 Luck, Improved quality of result
You have raised the skill: Navigation to level 2
Improved resistance to being mislead, Improved perception of navigational markers
You have raised the skill: Acrobatics to level 5
+2 Agility, Improved Jumping Power and control while maneuvering in mid-air
You have raised the skill: Acrobatics to level 6
+2 Agility, Improved Jumping Power and control while maneuvering in mid-air
You have raised the skill: Acrobatics to level 7
+2 Agility, Improved Jumping Power and control while maneuvering in mid-air
You have raised the skill: Athletics to level 7
+1 Agility, +1 Constitution, -1% EP Consumption from exertion
You have raised the skill: Balance to level 8
+2 Agility, Improved stability and sense of balance
You have raised the skill: Combat Casting to level 4
+1 Power, +1 Constitution, +1% Cast Time Reduction, +1% Pain Tolerance
You have raised the skill: Combat Casting to level 5
+1 Power, +1 Constitution, +1% Cast Time Reduction, +1% Pain Tolerance
You have raised the skill: Magic for Dummies to level 11
+1 Power, -2% Spell Cost of Simplified Spells
You have raised the skill: Ambush to level 4
+1 Agility, +1 Dexterity, +10% Damage to unsuspecting targets that are not engaged in combat
You have raised the skill: Unarmed Combat to level 5
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Agility, +1% Damage when unarmed
You have raised the skill: Unarmed Combat to level 6
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Agility, +1% Damage when unarmed
You have raised the skill: Unarmed Combat to level 7
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Agility, +1% Damage when unarmed
You have raised the skill: Unarmed Combat to level 8
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Agility, +1% Damage when unarmed
You have unlocked the skill: Unarmed: Roundhouse Kick!
Unarmed: Roundhouse Kick (Level: 1) [Martial]
"Count to Infinity. Twice."
Congratulations!
You learned the one trick your master did not want you to learn. Not because it is some ancient secret only the inheritor may know ... but because it is the one move that only ever works in theaters.
But hey, here, take this maneuver skill, at least that way it serves - at least a little - more than just for amusing your enemies.
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Agility, +5% Maneuver Strength
You have raised the skill: Unarmed: Roundhouse Kick to level 2
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Agility, +1% Damage when unarmed
You have raised the skill: Staff to level 19
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1% Damage with Staves
You have raised the skill: Sword to level 12
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +1% Damage with Swords
You have raised the skill: Wall of Blades to level 12
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +5% Maneuver Strength
You have raised the skill: Wall of Blades to level 13
+1 Strength, +1 Constitution, +1 Dexterity, +5% Maneuver Strength