Joe just stared in shock at his right leg that ended where the armor did. Joe was so used to walking barefoot everywhere and even using the claws in his feet when he climbed that he purposefully didn't make boots when he made his armor. Now that choice had come back to bite him. Joe cast a quick Healing Touch, but other than relieving the pain nothing about his leg changed. His hit points wouldn't even refill all the way, as a permanent reminder of the loss of his foot. He wondered if Otto faced a similar problem with the scarring he had from being badly burned months earlier.
Joe put himself into his meditation position and converted most of his stamina into hit points. There was no change to his hit points.
Hit Points: 1271/1338
Apparently his foot was worth 5 percent of his entire pool of hit points. Joe continued to meditate in order to refill his mana and now his stamina as well as pass the time while the ice continued to melt. When his mana was refilled he used Levitation to get himself back up and over to the block of ice, which hadn't melted yet. He cast Strength Boost and then pounded on the ice to break it. It took only two hits to crack the ice enough to pull apart the shell over the stone body of the magma lion elemental. Thanks to the Healing Touch he had cast on himself fixing any internal injuries caused by losing his foot he was able to put weight on it without pain, just discomfort, which he used to brace while he pulled the ice off.
The minor cost of Levitation to get over there was already refilled without even Meditation, so he cast Harvest with his full pool of mana to see what he could get from the elemental, remembering that the bounty asked for him to provide its core as proof of kill. His Harvest spell leveled up as being an elemental he had access to a new type of item from this corpse: essences. He could extract three different types from the elemental; magma, stone, and fire. He got a good assortment of essences that came in glowing glass jars that looked like they had fireflies inside, the elemental's core, a good number of obsidian arrowheads, and a pair of obsidian longknives. One knife had Flaming Strikes and the other had Extra Effort. He would give the arrowheads and knives to the Metalhands. He also got a lot of raw obsidian and stone as raw materials he and Kerras could work with.
The Harvest had given him an option for a stone prosthetic foot, but he rejected it. Relying on his magic to accommodate for his loss will help him train his spells and skills better. Yeah, that was totally the reason and not that he was refusing to accept his loss. Joe put himself back in a meditation position and transferred half of his stamina and hit points to his mana and then used Meditation to refill his pools. He gained a level in Energy Conversion, Regeneration, and Stamina Growth.
His hit points had gone up, but only because of his Vitality gains from his skill levels. He was still missing 5 percent of his total hit points and it didn't increase beyond that. Joe didn't want to turn in the bounty just yet and instead returned to Rust's Edge. Joe needed to replace his leather clothes but it was late in the day, so he would do that tomorrow after his usual chores around town.
- - - - -
Joe's Agriculture went up another level after working on his wheat field for the day. He stopped by the Metalhands' place and gave the arrowheads to Thagro and the knives to Deena. As Joe went about his day he used Levitation to assist him in keeping his natural gait. While everyone noticed Joe was missing the leather clothes that normally cover his armor, only Belstak noticed and asked about his missing foot.
Joe did his best to assuage everyone's concerns for his well being, showing that his high Agility enabled him to balance perfectly fine on one foot and his Levitation spell allowed him to walk normally. Still, neither Joe nor Tess had strong enough Healing Touch spells to restore his missing appendage.
After finally making everyone aware that he was going to be okay, Joe had a few more tasks he wanted to do before lunch. He went and planted six of the ten Steelwood seeds he had gained the previous year. When he met Otto. They all went to different spots along the river. He cast the individual version of Speed Plant Growth on each one, with immediate results of a small sapling. He even gained a level in the spell by using this stronger version several times.
After that he gathered cured toadskin leather to make new leather clothes for himself after lunch. He had already made a set so it was easier this time, and he gained another level in Illusory Rendering in the process, having used it to project the pattern onto the sheets of leather he was using. Finally he used Dye Leather to change the color from its natural pink hue to a deep brown that matched his hat. His Dye Leather gained a level as well. Of course his Leatherworking also increased a level.
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Joe spent the rest of the day working on his Energy Conversion, Meditation, and resource restoration skills. His Energy Conversion skill felt like it was past the block earlier that prevented him from using it while doing other things. He felt like he could use it in combat if he had to, although a higher skill level would make it even easier. He gained another level in all the relevant skills: Energy Conversion, Meditation, Mana Channeling, Stamina Growth, Regeneration, and also Focus for using Energy Conversion and Meditation at the same time.
The following day Joe tended to his crops again and then got ready to return to Trenos to turn in the bounty for the magma lion. He didn't want to attract attention for his missing foot, so he designed a realistic looking prosthetic on his sketch pad and then was able to use Illusory Rendering to make it appear in place at the end of his leg. Without his high Focus skill he didn't think he'd be able to make it work right, but he was able to split his concentration between Illusory Rendering and Levitation to make his walk look normal to observers.
Joe got to Trenos with no problems and collected his bounty. He received 1500 platinum for the elemental, which felt fair considering how tough it was to kill. There was a lesser reward for driving it off, which had been paid out several times in the past few years, no one had expected anyone to actually kill the thing. And that reminded Joe that he wanted to do more research at the libraries of Trenos. He wasn't going to go attacking anything else without doing his homework if he could help it. Joe also got to keep the elemental core, which he was sure would be useful in crafting.
As Joe was getting ready to leave the barracks another guard came up to him, “Excuse me, sir. Are you from Rust's Edge?”
Confused about how they knew that and why it was relevant Joe still decided the truth was the best course of action. “Yes I am. Is something wrong?”
“Please come with me to the commander's office, there may be an issue affecting your town.”
Joe was escorted to a small office, inside of which was the same orc man he met the first time he arrived in Trenos, the one who gave him the payout for defeating the bandits.
The orc looked confused for a moment then spoke up. “You're the one who defeated the bandits on the road to Mankerin, aren't you?”
“Yes, that was me. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it was just last fall.”
“And you're from Rust's Edge?”
“I am, but can I ask how you know that? I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm trying to keep a low profile. If there were other bandits who weren't in the hideout at the time I don't want to bring trouble to my town.”
The orc started laughing, “Bringing trouble to you? I hear you just turned in a bounty for killing an elemental. I feel sorry for anyone who tries to bring you trouble. We weren't formally introduced last time we met, and I feel like I greatly have missed out by such a lack of decorum. My name is Lesfo Knucklebrand.” Lesfo extended a hand to shake Joe's.
Joe shook the man's hand and replied, “I'm Joe Pinkerton. Now, how did you know I was from Rust's Edge?”
“Not long ago you brought the tax payment for the town to one of our offices. Yesterday when we received a raven about a possible problem that would impact your town we asked around our officials to see if we could get descriptions of anyone known to be from the town so we could keep an eye out since there's no direct raven communication with your town. It turns out you've met my sister, Greldi.”
Joe had a look of concern on his face, “What issue has arisen? What can I do to help?”
“Well, I don't know when you were last in contact with your town, but several weeks back your mayor agreed to take in refugees from another town that had slowly withered and died after the loss of life from the Imperial War. The dozen people who were traveling to Rust's Edge should have passed through Telknock by now but there's been no sign of them. We fear they may have been attacked by something or someone on their trip.”
Now it was Joe's turn to laugh. “Wow, you really had me worried for a moment. Is that all? They're fine. They're already living in Rust's Edge.”
Lesfo looked confused, “What do you mean they're already living in Rust's Edge? That trip would take months.”
Joe nodded, “Yes, two to three months of long, dangerous, uncomfortable travel. But what if that didn't have to be the case? Commander Knucklebrand, I was in Rust's Edge less than an hour ago. If you need assurances I can take you there now so you can meet with our mayor as well as the new residents who moved from Kela's Landing.”
Joe could see the gears moving in Lesfo's mind and not gaining any traction, which his jumbled speech confirmed, “No, but. That's not. People can't.”
Joe summoned his physical Guidebook and flipped to the page with his spells and made the Backtrack spell visible for the commander and handed it over.
Lesfo read it and then Joe could see him trying to do the math in his head. “But no. With the distance there's no way you can get that far.”
“Normally you'd be right, but I have a method to boost the effectiveness of my spells so I can make the trip in a single casting. Again, if you're willing I can take you right now, or anyone else you designate.”
The orc thought about it for a minute and finally said, “Yes, let's go.”
Joe cast the Backtrack spell and put the portal on the wall within the commander's office. Joe went through first to show that it was safe and Lesfo trailed after him cautiously.
After they emerged from the portal in front of The Rusty Cup Lesfo took out his own Guidebook and flipped to a page to see his newest entry. He turned the page to show Joe a familiar notification.
E- Entered the town of Rust's Edge!
You have received CWEST experience for discovering a settlement.