While all three skills had some use or another, I didn’t need the System to talk to me about mud and trees. Likewise, Base Class was just a rough approximation of what their actual Class was. For me it would be Spellcaster. Most opponents dressed in a way that made it clear what sort of role they functioned in on the battlefield.
There had already been a few times where I hadn’t been able to see other debuff icons that would have been helpful. Like, knowing Jokkar had stunned the other two and not killed them would have been less stressful. I raised my eyebrows at my party now, and accepted
Quinn had an icon. A red T on a gray background with a small number one in the bottom right corner. The first level of Trauma, I assumed. At least he had been forward about, and now I felt like a bit of a creep for being able to see this about people. Maybe it suited the magician part of me, to help Dazzle or win over people if I knew what ailed them. Time would tell.
Ren had nothing over her. I was partly ready to guess that she had something that made her immune to being Dazzled, or something that perhaps hid her Status Effects - but then again, that wouldn’t necessarily be something I could see with this ability, anyway. She tilted her head in seeing me narrowing my eyes at her.
I switched to Wolf, who had two icons over him. The first was a red square with the outline of a stomach in black upon it. Second was a light blue color, with an upward arrow in black. With an eyebrow raised, I found I could bring out the description of these, since I was apparently close enough.
[Hungry] [You require food]
[Energetic Boost] [STR and CON increased at the cost of increased hunger (On)]
Well, now that made a lot of sense. I wasn’t sure whether or not I should tell him, however. Depending on how good the boost was, I’d be happy to continue filling the bear with food if it increased his efficiency. Still, if he was doing it out of ignorance, it wouldn’t be fair of me to keep a secret for myself.
“Wolf, are you aware you have a buff skill toggled on all the time?” I tilted my head, but clocked Ren’s raised eyebrow at my question.
“I know some of those words,” he grumbled, his eyes currently closed and chin resting on his paws.
“You have something that makes you more powerful, but requires you to eat a lot more. You could turn it off when not in combat to remain satiated for longer.” He probably knew all those words if the System was doing its job of translating everything for us properly.
“I like eating.”
Ren rolled her eyes and came at me with a question of her own. “What did you get from the book then, trickster? You can see all icons now?”
“I’m not sure about all…” I leveled a blank stare at her to see if I could read anything from her expression. “But generally, yes. I can see Quinn’s Trauma status.”
“Anything on me?” she asked.
“Should there be?” We both remained impassive, perhaps the two best poker faces in the System.
Quinn cleared his throat. “Ah, speaking of my status - if we have the grace of Fiona et al, it would be nice to get some rest.”
I slowly broke eye contact with the elf before addressing the man. It was getting close to dusk, and if we were going to have a busy day of traveling and leveling tomorrow, then getting some good rest sounded like a solid plan. Plus, I had survived the day and had a kiss coming my way if I played my cards right. Which I always did.
“Good idea, Quinn.” Other than having to deal with the other Players. “Any objections to heading to the camp for the day?”
Ren didn’t seem too enthusiastic, but shook her head. Wolf grunted and murmured something about hoping they had some food. It was all as expected, really. I stood from my chair, giving it a glance so I could put it away. The other two did the same, but much slower. For a moment, I just turned and took in our surroundings. Amber light from the waning sun had started painting the landscape a different hue.
Beautiful in a way. Again, I found myself in awe of the System to some degree, coming from a world that was often just the glow of the stage or the drab gray brickwork of civilisation in twilight. It was enough to remind me of what we were fighting for. All that found themselves here with enough earnestness in their hearts deserved a pleasant world to grow and thrive in.
Ren put her hand on my arm, jostling me from my thoughts. “Everything alright, Max?”
I smiled and put my arm around her, surprised briefly that she allowed it. “It will be, Ren.”
She followed my gaze out to the fields, now almost golden with the sunset approaching. “Wasn’t angling for a romantic moment, but I’ll accept it. My worry was… I just had a feeling. Like back at the dungeon.”
My hand slid away from her back, and I turned to face her. “One of your skills gives you some kind of premonition powers?”
She shook her head. “Not as such. I didn’t know you were going to be kidnapped, so it’s not something related to my Oath.” Her face wrinkled up. “Maybe it’s just been a long day.”
I nodded, and we turned to join the other two. She was trying to downplay it, but I trusted her instinct entirely. Probably a good idea to tell her. “I trust your instinct entirely.”
She rolled her eyes. “Really trying hard for that kiss later, huh? But, thank you. We’ll need to be on alert then.”
“We will be.” I smiled and ignored her playful jab. As much as it might be true, the prospect that something bad might be around the corner had thrown a wet blanket over the possible flames of our blooming romance. It felt awkward to call it that, but she had officiated it, so she only had herself to blame.
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Wolf chuckled loudly. A rumbling thing from ahead of us. He and Quinn had apparently found some common ground to talk about. The snippets I caught seemed to be about food, but I was way beyond being surprised.
“You made a good call with Quinn.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “Oh?”
“We’ve been through a lot.” She exhaled and looked out to the trees as we rejoined the main road. “Your choice shows that you’re not… you won’t become a monster. Cold and indifferent.”
“Hmm.” How correct was she on this? My actions with Rolo sparked a truth of what I was capable of. We had already slain our way through enough people for it to be hard to believe I had a clean and good soul. In the fort she had told me to not lose sight of myself, and this was what she meant.
I had no doubt she would follow me, even if I had killed Quinn. Even if I had killed through the camp. There was a limit, I was sure, where she would put the demon-killing arrow through the back of my neck. I was in no hurry to get close to that line. In fact, the further away from the line I could be, the better.
“I’m fallible.” I admitted to her. “But glad I have you to keep me pointed in the right direction. If I was alone in this, I’d…”
“You’d be like I was on the starter island.” She hooked her arm around mine as we walked. “Dissociated, bitter, and angry. Fiona drew me out of it a little, but then it compounded when she left. I… was not in a healthy place.”
“What changed when you met me?” I relaxed as we fell into step. “Other than being swayed by my charisma and good looks, naturally.”
“Honestly? It helped that you weren’t entirely an asshole. You seemed earnest about wanting to help me, and I was desperate for a conclusion. Something to put an end to the constant torment.” She sighed.
“And I was desperate for someone to show me the ropes in this world and find some safety.” I smiled as she shot me a scowl.
“You’re competent enough, trickster. I treated you like shit, and I’m glad that didn’t push you away.”
“We are both good at reading people. I could see your intent behind the scowls and disdain for how I beat out the odds with childish flair.” I grinned to myself as we were almost at the large rock before camp.
She let go of my arm and straightened out her waistcoat. “Now look at me.” She tilted her head and gave me a soft smile. “Seeing me beneath the layer of grump was an easy way into my heart. Hadrian, Fiona, other nameless jerkoffs - they just thought I was pissed at them all the time.”
“They were all assholes,” I said diplomatically.
Her eyes rolled, but her expression was content enough. “You’re an asshole sometimes. So am I. I’d be more worried about you if you weren't a dickbag.”
Our conversation petered out as we rejoined the two ahead of us as they stopped on the path leading into the camp. No surprises that Fiona was awaiting our arrival, but interestingly enough, it was only her there.
She looked as though she was chewing on some manner of insult or jibe to throw our way, but it melted away. “Group decided to trust you. I’m not going to welcome you with open arms, but you’re free to stay as long as you need.” She raised an eyebrow at Quinn. “Some of you may need healing. All we ask in return is you help take watch. There’s a gap tomorrow night.”
“Smaller camp tonight?” I asked.
She nodded curtly. “The pair you saw earlier, their group is going out to the west. Against my advice, but adventures do what adventurers do.”
I gave her a low bow. “I appreciate your discretion.”
“Whatever.” She sighed deeply. “Thank Ruby, mostly. The world is too full of shit for us few to be so up in arms.” She held out a hand toward me.
I took it and shook. “Tensions are naturally high. What matters now is the way forward.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, but didn’t want to address the comments. “Same tent is available to you both, and we have one for Quinn nearby.”
He gave her a low bow too, a mirror of the one I had performed. I saw her jaw work, but she gestured for us to follow on in.
Ren stepped ahead of me. “Do you have someway to bathe here, Fiona?”
“We do, back left. There should be some water left in the shower.” With one last put-on smile, she waved us away. “I’m on front gate duty for a while longer unless Clive comes to relieve me, but perhaps we can speak further in the morning?”
The elf put her hand on my shoulder and leaned into my ear to whisper. “As much as I’d like you to keep an eye on me, I’d prefer you kept an eye on Quinn.”
I nodded as she moved away, totally unflustered by the mental images now fighting for brain space. “Wolf, go and protect Ren with your life. Extra rations for you.” He seemed happy with this.
As I watched her walk off, I could have sworn there was a coy smile at the side of her mouth. I exhaled and turned to Quinn. “Come on, let’s go and see the doctor.”
He hadn’t been gazing after the elf when she left with the bear, which was a good sign. Party dynamics would get messy if he still held a candle for her. Liable to get burned. It seemed the lustre was just on the surface layer, and the run in with me had set him off on a more realistic path. Still, she wasn’t about to take the risk of having a peeping tom while she showered, and Wolf would definitely keep her safe from that.
The pair of us went to the side of the camp where the medical tent was. A lantern illuminated the inside, but the opening was down. I screwed up my face in being unsure of the procedure here.
“Knock, knock?” I said, with all the confidence I could muster while still having it come out as a question.
There was movement, and then the flap was moved to the side to reveal the face of the goblin. “Oh! If it isn’t my favorite pair of patients. Come on in.”
I shrugged at Quinn’s raised eyebrow. We hadn’t been here long enough to be a favorite, and it didn’t sound sarcastic enough given how often I was prone to getting myself in trouble. I allowed him in first, before I followed into the tent.
“Take a seat, both of ya.” She tutted and crossed her arms. “What’s wrong with you now, Max?”
I sat on the edge of the bed and raised an eyebrow. “Nothing, I think? For a change.” Rather sane and undamaged, for the present moment. Just tired.
“Perfect. Then I can give you this.” She withdrew a potion bottle from a wooden case on the side table and handed it over. Dark green in color with slow swirls of purple when I moved it.
“Oh, thank you. I thought you mostly dealt in goop?”
She grinned before giving a brief curtsey. “Oh, it’s totally goop. Barely a potion at all, given how viscous it is. System should give you a heads up, though.”
[Grand Arcane Potion] [+100% Mana Recovery Rate, +20% Magic Damage, +5% Magical Crit Chance. 20 second duration. Inflicts Mana Exhausation]
I whistled. “I’d hate to be in a situation where I’d need this.” It was bound to be soon, I was sure. Mana Exhaustion meant my power recovery would be all but nothing for two hours after the potion wore off. “I am to understand that we have you to thank for allowing us to stay?”
“Eh,” she shrugged and went to the cabinet for something. “Fiona gets stuck doubting her own decisions. She is smart but not really a leader, she just does it because… someone had to, you know?” Ruby turned back to them and drew a box over toward Quinn.
It was understandable. She was trying to create a space where people could be safe. One of the towns seemed like a better place, however… perhaps a question for the morning.
The goblin spread some dark goop across Quinn’s forehead. “Told you to stay put. Now look at you.”
“My humblest apologies,” he murmured, looking down at the floor.
“Broken nose too? Trauma status is like a force multiplier for bad times, you know?” She tutted and moved his head around to observe the damage I had caused.
“That was my own hubris.” He winced as she prodded the sore looking area.
She shook her head and hopped down to dig around for another medicine. “Always hubris. Gotta be careful out there.”
We looked at each other and gave small shrugs, smiles across our faces. Through all the turmoil, I may have just made another friend.
The tent flap flung open, and the armored figure of Fiona stomped in. She turned to me, her eyes narrowed and burning with some emotion.
“I want to know how you did it.”