“That went well,” Samuel stated firmly. “I wasn’t expecting so many enemies this close to the edge of the corpsevines’ control, but that probably means we’re pulling them in from closer to the Conservatory.”
“Is that why they hit us in a more or less steady stream?” Dav hovered over Essia as she healed Amy. His healing beacon glowed a little to the side.
It was different from any of the beacons Sophia remembered. To an extent, that was true of all of them, but this one felt different, even if Sophia couldn’t say why, other than to say that it felt like it should be moving while the others seemed static. It reminded her of a frozen wave, even though it was very distinctly green and black and sort of bowl-shaped.
Healing Beacon [https://i.imgur.com/jFm7rqw.png]
It was strange, but it probably didn’t mean anything. If it did mean something, Sophia knew she wasn’t going to figure it out any time soon.
“Eh, likely,” Samuel admitted. “That’s why we were near the edge of what we thought was their territory, at least. We have to thin the numbers before we can do anything useful. The other reason, probably, is the other groups; four groups isn’t that many, but it’s enough to split the corpsevines into more manageable numbers. I’m hopeful that the group headed for the Conservatory itself managed something, but we won’t know that until tomorrow morning at the earliest.”
Sophia suddenly had a very bad feeling. She was used to clearing dungeons, which had clear goals and endpoints; this didn’t, unless the endpoint was “kill all of the corpsevines.” When you finished a dungeon level, you could leave, even if you missed a few monsters. That wasn’t true here; the problem they were facing was evidence of how bad missing a few could get. Worse, they didn’t even know how many there were. “How long do you think we’ll be out here?”
“In the forest? We’ll be back at the base well before dark.” Samuel winked at Sophia and clued her in that his less than helpful response was intended to trigger exactly the sigh and rolled eyes that she gave him. “I don’t know how long it will take to kill the corpsevines. If Master Jessamine and her team made it into the main Conservatory, it should only be a few days while we clear out whatever’s out here. I don’t expect that to happen; there were too many corpsevines too far from the Conservatory.”
Sophia frowned at the confirmation of her fear. This needed to be done, but it wasn’t going to be nearly as fast as a dungeon. The way Samuel spoke, she could probably expect days or weeks of the same thing. It might even take months; there was no way to know.
“In some ways, it’s better if it takes longer,” Samuel added. “I already have one, but most of you don’t have a Major Defense Feat. Three, as it happens; the corpsevines ten years ago gave me my second. No one really knows what it takes to get one, but one day of fighting won’t do it. A couple weeks usually will if it’s in the defense of a city, and this should count. Probably.”
“Major Defense Feat?” Sophia kind of knew what a feat was; she’d accomplished one when she and Dav arrived after crossing between worlds, one when they killed the monster box that held the Shard of Kestii, and a third when the warped version of one of Cliff’s hawks attacked her and was killed. The Guide had called each of those a Feat and given something for them: the language skill, access to Spheres (or, at least, a Hallow), and an ability that actually belonged to Cliff, not Sophia. That meant the Feat probably belonged to Cliff as well, but apparently the fact that he was “linked” to her meant she was able to see it. “Does that mean there’s a special reward for it?”
“Of course, that’s the point of pursuing Feats.” Samuel paused as if he wasn’t going to say anything more. Right before Sophia gave up and asked him to elaborate, he continued with a grin. “The first Major Defense Feat is one of the easier ones to get; the benefit is useful but minor. It grants the Unaffiliated Ability Nexus Defender.”
This time, Samuel didn’t continue after the pause, so Sophia had to ask. “What does that Ability do?”
Instead of answering, Samuel turned to Amy. “You can stop pretending you can’t shift back. We need to get moving, and I’m pretty sure Sophia will be upset if she finds out you’re healthy and letting Dav carry you anyway.”
Sophia wasn’t actually certain how she felt about that.
Amy, on the other hand, clearly had an opinion. She got to her feet, even though she winced when she put weight on her left forepaw, then unceremoniously launched herself at Samuel. Amy’s flying headbutt caught him by surprise and knocked him down.
Samuel shook his head as if dazed, looked up at the annoyed wolf standing on his legs and chest, then laughed. “Fine, you can have some more healing time.”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Sophia couldn’t resist it anymore. Samuel’s poleaxed expression was too amusing not to laugh. She tried to keep it quiet, but she didn’t think she succeeded very well. Her laughter seemed to set off several of the fire mage’s guards as well.
Amy snorted and pawed Samuel’s face with her damaged leg. It was off to see a wolf express her opinion so clearly.
Samuel sighed. “And I won’t imply you’re trying to take advantage of Dav. Now would you let me up?”
Amy snorted again, then stepped off of the fire mage.
“You were telling us about Nexus Defender?” Dav’s voice clearly revealed the laughter he tried to suppress. He might have more control than Sophia, but even his straight face wasn’t good enough for this.
Samuel sat up and brushed himself off. The leaf in his hair meant that wasn’t particularly successful, but Sophia wasn’t about to tell him that. “Ah, yes. Nexus Defender. When you are in a Nexus that is assaulted, you regain your Shield. That’s all it says, but even that is very important for a Called if you’re in a city under attack. It also opens up the entire Nexus Defense ability chain.”
“I thought that was the point of a Nexus, to protect the inhabitants.” Sophia frowned. When she thought about it, that explanation couldn’t be complete; after all, the story of the Lion of Catshold talked about cities coming under attack. That didn’t make sense if everyone lost their abilities.
Slightly behind Samuel, Amy blurred and turned from a wolf standing on three legs to a woman on her knees. The transformation itself took several seconds. Sophia couldn’t keep herself from watching; it was surprisingly different from the way her siblings shapeshifted. Amy seemed to blur and stretch into her other shape, with her clothing and gear appearing while she was still mid-shift.
Samuel let out a long sigh, which pulled Sophia’s attention partially back to the fire mage. “It is, but the Nexus doesn’t stop everything. Something like the corpsevines has a hard time getting in; it would probably have to surround at least half of the Nexus before the Nexus came under attack. Until then, the monsters and the things they control simply can’t enter. After that, they can - and if the Called in the city don’t have Nexus Defender, the Professionals have to defend the city. Sometimes that works.”
Samuel didn’t sound very enthusiastic about the idea of Professionals defending a city. Sophia could think of several possible reasons for that; they wouldn’t have Abilities to help, though they might well have good equipment. It also was possible he didn’t like the idea because he looked down on Professionals, but Sophia doubted that; no, it was far more likely he thought that Abilities were important for defense.
If attacking a city required first at least partially sieging it, Sophia could see where he was coming from. After all, no one wanted to be in a besieged city. At the same time, a city that was built for defense was very hard to attack; even unskilled defenders could hold off a surprisingly large number of attackers if they were prepared and had the right tools.
That was the real reason the Registry mobilized as quickly as it did, wasn’t it? The corpsevines were a potential threat to the city, not only the people who lived outside the formal city limits. Sophia didn’t know how widespread they were, but the plans seemed to assume that they could be around a quarter of the city’s wall. That wasn’t the “more than half” that Samuel mentioned, but that could change fairly quickly if the plants grew faster because they were more established. They certainly had the ability to travel already.
Sophia still didn’t understand why they let it get as bad as it did. Had they really thought they’d taken care of it and ignored all of the issues outside the city?
“I guess you have to take more Abilities after Nexus Defender to actually be able to use your Abilities?” Dav sounded somewhat annoyed.
Samuel nodded. “One more, yes. The others in the chain grant specific defensive Abilities; they’re usually taken by people who plan to create settlements in the wild lands. They’re very good, but…”
Sophia nodded. Samuel didn’t really need to finish the sentence. Abilities that could only be used in defense of a settlement were by nature extremely limited. Abilities that were restricted in how they could be used weren’t at all common back on Earth, but they did exist.
“There are entire Vocations for that,” Amy interrupted. “Casterville doesn’t value them because this place is weak, but my people know their value. They are rare, but anyone who can gain that type of Vocation is supported and helped until they are strong enough to help us all. Let’s go; I am tired of sitting.”
“I can heal you a little,” Essia offered. “At least let me restore some more of your Shield.”
The girl looked drained, even exhausted. Sophia frowned and took a good look with her Mage Sight. It wouldn’t let her see exactly how much mana was left in her system, but it did let her see that Essia was leaking essentially no mana into her aura. That was the sign of someone who’d nearly exhausted their mana.
“When we’re back at the mansion,” Amy answered. “Save whatever you’ve got left in case someone really needs it. We’re away from the corpsevines but that doesn’t mean we’re away from everything.”
Despite Amy’s concern, they didn’t see anything dangerous before they made it back to the temporary base.
That evening, Sophia discovered that there was not a communal bath in the temporary base like the ones she’d gotten used to since she landed in the Broken Lands. The only setup they had for cleaning up after the fight was a set of basins filled with water from a fortunately functional roof cistern. They didn’t even have a single-person bathtub.
At least Samuel didn’t mind when she asked him to heat the water. A cold sponge bath wasn’t as bad as a room temperature shower, but a warm sponge bath was better than either. She and Dav helped wash each other, but it just wasn’t the same.
At least she had her tent. She didn’t trust the soundproofing on the old building’s walls.