Chapter 30: Bestowing More Abilities
Reluctantly, the brothers agreed to help on the basis that they would be saving the lives of many citizens in the Empire. DM gently infected everyone and split up tasks for how to undermine Vosk’s efforts. Luna would return to Gazahanar, Kat’s party would travel north to the border with the Union, and the rest of Sasha’s party would meet up with Andrei Vosk and the Burgers.
Kat’s party, with morphling in tow, escorted Luna until the capital came into sight. Luna entered the city as the five girls continued north to the border. Meanwhile, the falcon was deployed with a written message to Andrei Vosk. Upon receiving it, Vosk sent word to Baram that his nephews and their party members were invited to the staging point where many of his soldiers, as well as the monster army, were camping out.
Once Gazahanar was out of sight, Kat asked the morphling to explain what was really going on. She knew DM hadn’t been able to speak entirely freely with Luna listening up until now.
“…Your mission is mostly unchanged, except Bandit will proceed east to Zaranar Harbor.”
“To take care of the ships there somehow?”
“…Correct. Your training as a Guild Agent will come in handy here, although you may need to get your hands dirty. …If you don’t want to do that, I won’t force you. Lupy’s demonstrated remarkable resilience after all.”
“No, if you have Lupy do it, even more people will die…”
“So?” Lupy didn’t see the problem.
“…If you’re sure, then that’s fine. Bandit, I only need you to take the top one or two leaders of each ship out of commission. …The chaos that will cause is sure to delay any orders to sortie. Sabotage the vessels themselves if you can.”
“I think I can do that.”
“…So long as you get within range such that I can infect a few people, your top priority is to make a clean getaway, meaning nobody can identify you as the one who snuck in. Do you understand?”
“Yes. That’s part of Thaw’s training.”
“…Also, I think you girls are all ready for an abilities upgrade.”
“Oh! Which abilities?” asked Shiba.
“…I can grant you all any abilities I already possess at T2 or higher. The tier of your ability will be at least one level below my tier. …For starters, touch abilities.”
“Which ones?” Kat, being a healer, didn’t sound super eager about delivering status effects through contact, but Shiba looked ecstatic.
“…All but two of them. You’ve all earned my trust, but you must be mature and not abuse these abilities. …Do you understand?”
All five girls nodded.
“…Here are poison touch, slow touch, berserk touch, mana touch, health touch, paralysis touch, stone touch, confusion touch, and sleep touch. You must be careful not to reveal them or it will draw too much attention. …Think of these as secret weapons.”
As the girls stuck out their wrists to receive a gentle handshake from the spawned tentacle granting the abilities, Shiba asked, “Which touch abilities are you not giving us?”
“Charm and one other. I don’t have a leg to stand on, but they’re nasty abilities that shouldn’t be passed around freely.”
“You don’t even have a leg,” observed Lupy, twisting the knife a bit.
“Wait, which is the other touch ability you’re not giving us?” asked Shiba again.
“…I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
“How old?”
The morphling hesitated. “…Fifty.”
“Fifty!?”
Kat placed a hand on Shiba’s shoulder. “I think we got enough abilities…”
“True, thank you DM!”
“…I’m not finished.”
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“There’s more?” asked Vulp.
“…I can’t upgrade your sense or regenerate abilities right now, but I have a few more to give you. I’ll upgrade your fireball and also give you ice spear, lightning bolt, air blast, and earth spike at T2.”
“Wow!” Unsurprisingly, Shiba was the most elated. She’d nearly doubled her offensive abilities as a black mage.
“…Be careful. None of you have enough MP to use these abilities over and over.”
The girls nodded again.
“Anything else!?” Shiba asked excitedly.
“…This one, in particular, you need to be careful about using. Here is spawn tentacle T1. …It will allow you to apply those status effects from afar. Also, here’s tentacle slap so you can weaponized the tentacle directly if you need to.”
“Wow!” Not just Shiba, but all the girls were pleasantly surprised to receive such an upgrade.
“…The only elemental guard ability I can give you right now is fire at T1, but don’t rely on it too much. Also, I won’t give you charm guard because in an emergency you might need me to temporarily charm you.”
“Okay!”
“…That’s all.”
“I should get going…” Bandit split off from the group to head east, alone.
“…I’ll escort you for a little while.”
“Okay.”
Bandit and morphling Lupy walked with the setting sun on their backs. The other girls waved and then Kat led them over the border into the Union.
Once the two groups were out of each other’s sight, the morphling asked Bandit to pause.
“What?”
“…Given the dangerous nature of your role, both now and in general, I’m going to give you a couple of abilities I didn’t even give to the other girls.”
“O–Okay…”
“The girls will be able to tell, eventually, when they use sensing magic on you, so be prepared for that. I’m sure Shiba will complain.”
“Whatever.”
“…I’m giving you charm touch at T5.”
“What!?”
“…I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you this, but absolutely do not abuse this ability. You’ll be able to charm just about anyone unless they’re wearing special equipment giving them complete immunity to charm or they’re much stronger than you.”
“Wow…”
“…Also, here’s absorb equipment T2. I’m not sure if you’ll derive benefits from absorbing equipment the way I do, but at a minimum it should allow you to weaken opponents if you use the ability correctly.”
Bandit stared at DM wide-eyed, unsure what to even say.
“…Between your succubus and your new abilities, you should be able to handle being outnumbered much better now. It’s too bad I can’t teach you any new abilities to enhance your stealth capabilities."
“No… This is… really helpful.”
“…More than even the other girls, you’re placing your life in danger for me, so this is the least I can do.”
“Thanks DM. Wait, what was the other touch ability you said we have to wait until we’re fifty to even find out about?”
“…Oh, that?” DM hesitated again, ultimately deciding, if Bandit is able to risk her life for DM and even employ the services of a succubus, she can learn this much. “…I can use pleasure touch and pain touch. They’re opposites. There’s no need for me to grant pleasure touch to any of you, regardless.”
“What about pain touch?”
“…You know, you’re sounding more like Thaw lately. And no, I don’t have that ability at a high enough tier to grant it to anyone yet, anyway.”
“Oh, okay.”
“…Remember, I can’t teach you infect so your new abilities are limited to what you can see, only. I’ll keep an eye on you during your mission. …Good luck.
“Thanks. What will the morphling do now?”
“…Find the nearest bird to morph into, I guess.”
----------------------------------------
“Uncle!”
“Ah, there you are.” Andrei Vosk eyed his nephews as well as the elf and human girl escorting them. “I read your note, but what happened to the Kraus blacksmith?”
“She gave us the slip last night. Probably returning to Gazahanar, but as far as we could tell she didn’t learn anything that useful.”
“Then it matters not at this late juncture. And them?”
“It’s an honor to make your acquaintance, Lord Vosk. My name is Ardreth, and my adventuring companion is Sasha. We journeyed from the Holy State to investigate wyvern sightings, although we learned something very interesting during our travels with your nephews.”
Andrei narrowed his eyes. “Oh? What did you learn?”
“Specifically, that Noah was responsible for the downfall of the previous Emperor.”
“Of what significance is that to each of you?”
“Elves do not take kindly to selfish acts which disrupt the natural order in the surrounding lands. A destabilizing event like usurping the imperial throne is a prime example.”
Andrei looked at Ardreth side-eyed. “I could understand if you were from a forest in the Empire, but you journeyed here from the Holy State, did you not? Forgive me, but, why do you care about matters of state here?”
“As you know, my people mostly keep to the forests. Only a small number of us journey outward. There are very few elves available to monitor the state of the world at any particular time. We don’t allow national borders to hinder our efforts to observe and influence, when necessary.”
“Hm, I suppose that makes sense. And what outcome are you seeking here in the Empire?”
“Lord Vosk, are you aware of what happened to Eddie Pool in the Holy State recently?”
“Hm? The Lord of the Twin Cities? I heard he met an untimely demise.”
“Eddie Pool’s selfish acts threatened to disrupt the natural order. Just as this Noah’s acts have done the same. The sanctity of the forests will not be assured if we enable such behavior.”
“Didn’t…” Andrei took a moment. “Wasn’t Pool’s entire family line slain?”
“Lord Vosk, I’m sure you have no evidence to suggest the elves are behind that.”
Everyone, including Sasha, stared wide-eyed at Ardreth.
Andrei also gulped. “O—Of course not.”
“That would be a very serious accusation.”
“Think nothing of it, Ardreth, was it? It’s fortunate you encountered my nephews and learned the truth of what’s happened recently in our empire. Knowing we have the support of the elves will surely boost morale.”
“Oh, I did not accompany them here just to offer you words of support. I offer my council. I intend to see this through. Sasha and I will return to the Holy State only once security in the Empire is restored.”
“Is that so? Well I fully intend to settle matters here quickly. You won’t need to wait long for your return trip, I’m sure.”
“That is excellent news. However, we must address the first order of business right now.”
Andrei raised an eyebrow. “And that is?”
“What’s with all these monsters?”
“Actually, Uncle Andrei, we want to know that too…”