As they exited the Hall, Owen looked around before asking Marco.
“Hey Marco, where’s the Skattle?”
“Oh, Mr Boulder bought it from us. He taught me a lot, which was really fun…before they showed up.” Quickly changing the subject, Owen turned to Selia.
“Which way is Light?”
“It's North-East of us, maybe a day’s walk,” Selia answered quietly.
“Alright,” Owen nodded, “We’re going to head back out the south gate, then head in that direction, taking the roads whenever we can. Alright, everyone, let’s get moving.” As they made their way through the city, Owen opened up his Map. Thankfully, there were only two red dots, and they were on the northern side of the town. As they came up to the southern gate, there was a different guard from this morning and they just watched, as they left the town behind. As soon as they cleared the gate, a string of notifications appeared.
Skill increase: Mana Bolt Skill increase: Mana Circuits Skill Evolved: Mana Bolt >>> Primordial Mana Manipulation Spell Created: Mana Bullet
Lancer Level 11 Slain Combat Exp gained 216. The User has leveled up.
Achievement gained: Spellweaver Achievement gained: Complex Spellweaver
Dismissing his notifications, Owen wanted to end the awkward silence that had overtaken the group.
“So, Marco. How did it go with Boulder? Told you he was a big softy, you got him to buy everything huh.” Owen asked loudly, hoping for it to work.
“It was great!” Marco enthusiastically responded, “He taught me a lot about selling things and how to make people like the price you want. I even got him to buy the Skattle. Oh, Oh, I got a few levels, and my Skill went up too. He was really nice.” His face suddenly dropped as he finished, “Was it my fault? Is Mr. Boulder in trouble because of me?”
“No. No, Marco.” Owen said, placing his hand on the young boy's head, “None of that was your fault. They were just bad people.”
“Is that why you hurt them?”
“Yes, they might have wanted to hurt you or your friends. It scared me, so I lashed out.”
“You were scared, Mr Owen,” Marco asked, looking up in surprise.
“Yeah, I was. I was scared because they might hurt you, Borit, or Alice.”
“Oh, Okay. I was scared, too. Mr. Owen?”
“Yeah, Marco?”
“I’m hungry.” The suddenness of the conversation shift caused Owen to laugh as he remembered Marco hadn’t gotten to eat since he was busy with Boulder. Thinking on his feet, Owen summoned some leftover candy from his MREs.
“Here, this is some candy; go share it with the others, okay,” Owen told him as he handed him a package of red licorice. The boy's eyes shone as he darted ahead to his friends, telling them about his newest trade. Smiling at the scene, Owen continued walking as Selia walked beside him. They continued like that, in silence, for what felt like hours. Only a few minutes later, Selia spoke up.
“I’m sorry, Owen.” She softly spoke.
“It’s fine,” Owen responded quickly.
“No, it’s not. I…I heard what you said with your Captain. I…you deserve to know why I looked at you like that. I can feel people’s souls, Owen, and I was shocked. When those men came in, they felt sickly. Tainted and stained in blood and pain, especially that large brute. His soul felt twisted, and then he used some Skill on you, and it felt like he was choking the very air itself. Then your soul froze over.” As she said this, Owen looked at her, confused at what she meant, “Normally you feel warm, like the sun on my back, but when he used that Skill, you changed. Then you killed that man and felt nothing; I was freighted since you were so different. Then everything was over, and your soul started to return, but it was weak. I’ve heard that soldiers are completely different people on a battlefield, but I’ve never seen it to such an extreme. Then you sounded so hurt; I’m so sorry, Owen. I know you did all that for us, and all I gave you as thanks was my hesitant face. Then you felt broken, and I watched as you struggled with something, and I did nothing. It took one of the children to calm your soul, and all I was good for was staring at you, too confused to move.” Selia sobbed as she stopped moving forward. Owen stopped with her until she shook her head. “Keep going. I can’t let the children see me like this.” Nodding his head, Owen continued walking until he felt Selia wrap herself around him and bury her head into his back. He kept walking as she softly cried; reaching up, Owen held her hand that was on his chest.
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“It’s okay, Selia, I’ll be fine,” Owen said, trying to comfort her.
“You can’t lie to me, Owen,” She sniffled and chuckled lightly, “I can feel you holding something in,” She said as she held his hand back, “I just…I just want to be useful. I know it may be hard, but maybe we can talk more later.” As she finished talking, Owen felt her release her hold on him, except for his hand. As she glided up next to him, the two continued to walk together as they watched the young ones. After a few hours and many breaks here and there, the sun was slowly starting to set. Owen opened his Map, trying to find a suitable area to set up camp. Having found an open area nearby, Owen closed his map and called out to everyone.
“Alright, everyone, it’s getting late; I know a good place, so we're going to set up camp, okay.” Tired and exhausted cheers came from all the kids before Owen led them towards the empty area. It was a few hundred feet into the tree line when they finally found their spot for the night. “Alright, everyone, I need you to stand with Miss Selia over there.”
“AWW.” They all cried in unison before someone asked, “Why do we have to do that, Owen.”
“Well,” Owen chuckled, “I have this really cool Skill for setting up camp, but everyone has to be somewhere safe for it to work. Okay?” With the mention of Magic, all the kids' eyes shone as they readily agreed and stood a safe distance away with Selia. Concentrating, Owen used his Deployable F.O.B., though this time was different. Instead of the usual, immediate pull from his core, his vision changed. It was like an overlay was laid out on the ground. Confused, Owen brought the Skill up.
Deployable F.O.B.: Using Primordial Magic, create a custom defensible structure. Contains amenities and provisions for a number of individuals. Cost 300 Mana minimum.
Confused, Owen brought up the other Skills and the Achievement’s he had gotten earlier, looking for an answer to the change.
Primordial Mana Manipulation: Aids the User with the manipulation of the primal universal elements.
Achievement: Spellweaver – Create a never before seen Spell. Increases INT and FOC by 1. Achievement: Complex Spellweaver – Create a never before seen Spell composed of at least three elements. Increases the power of random Skill.
After reading the description of his Achievement’s, Owen understood. It must have upgraded his F.O.B. Happy that he knew what was going on, he checked his status before using his F.O.B. again.
STATUS Inventory Armory Other Name: Owen Grest Class: Assault Marine Species: Human Level: 9 EXP: 31/745 Health : 662/662 Stamina : 600/648 Mana: 588/617 Stats Strength: 31 Endurance: 25 Dexterity: 26 Vigor: 24 Intelligence: 18 Focus: 22 Faith: 15 Luck 9
Once again, the overlay appeared; looking at it closely, it seemed to be an upgrade of his old camp. Instead of dirt mounds, there were cots, proper folding chairs, and a table instead of a cardboard ripoff. The walls were slightly more prominent, with a type of gate now at the entrance. Focusing on the cots, other items began to appear on the overlay. He could add a tent for 50 mana, another cot for 10 mana, and even blankets for 5 mana. This is amazing, Owen thought, adding enough cots for everyone, another table, and more chairs, tents, and blankets. Next, he looked at the C2 tent as well as his defenses. The walls appeared to be the same, just taller and more robust, but what caught his eye was some of the C2 options. He could create golems for defense for just a measly 500 mana. Scanning the list, Owen finally found something, both functional and within his mana pool. An alarm that would ring within the minds of anyone in C2 when enemies were nearby. After finalizing his design, a notification popped up.
Would you like to initiate Deployable F.O.B. using 415 mana? YES | NO
Selecting yes, Owen felt the familiar tug from his chest as his mana drained into the ground before him. He could hear the kids gasp as the 5-foot walls rose, encapsulating their temporary camp. As the last of the mana needed was pulled from his core, Owen took a deep breath and a shaky step forward before turning to the kids with a large smile.
“Alright. Who wants to race inside?”