CHAPTER 116
Everlyn joined him with no interesting news. She was busily exploring the surroundings and there were lots of tunnels and helpful terrain features in the areas outside the walls, but she had discovered nothing useful beyond killing a couple of low ranked monsters
Bored, she snuggled in against him and he saw her resting her eyes even though she was supposed to be on watch. He let her. After all, she had done considerably more exercise today than he had. He had spend the entire day practising his throwing including with his off-hand to get it to where with the use of his Accurate Throw he should be able to hit a target as well as an Olympic athlete if there had been a sport that involved throwing rocks. Though he smiled at himself, his base throw would be slower than those hypothetical people because of the impact of the Skill slowing his arm more than his superhuman strength and agility advantage.
Tom looked up as there were sounds of multiple feet coming up the ramp toward them. “Company.” he whispered and nudged Everlyn who had fallen asleep even though she was technically on sentry duty. Only lizards would attack at this time of day, and Tom would have no problems spotting them. The only genuine threat would be ferrets, but since that first day they had tested the fortifications they had disappeared and if they tried again Tom had the title that would allow him to spot them.
“Good day on the wall Tom?” Sven asked with his usual mocking edge.
“Screw you. It was boring.”
Sven grinned broadly. “What else would you prefer to be doing? Crafting, scouting, harvesting.”
Tom shook his head. “Yeah, nah. None of them are really my thing. Though I’m pretty decent at scouting, but with no Skills… what I can do is limited.”
“How about you, Everlyn?”
Everlyn looked up as all traces of sleepless vanished from her eyes. “I had fun. I didn’t find a trial, but I found a small lair.”
“Oh, are we going to clear it tomorrow?” Sven asked hopefully.
She shook her head. “I sort of went down and mosied around to see what filled it. Turns out rank twelve cave bludgers.”
“Blind with an incredible sense of smell.” Tom said thoughtfully. She had mentioned a couple of minor fights and promised to give him a blow for blow retelling later. The fact it was a lair instead did not bother him. Rank twelve lair was a nice source of experience, but not anything exceptional that needed to be immediately shared like a new trial would be.
“Good hearing too.” Everlyn agreed happily. “But with my traits and skills their sense of smell was the issue. Luckily, an early cave I had explored contained white bell flame blossoms, so I went back and harvested them.”
Michael looked interested. “What are those?”
“Think ghost peppers in pollen form.”
“Nasty.” the healer muttered with a worried frown.
“Yeah particularly if you rely on smell to protect yourself.” Everlyn grinned. “I got the pollen and then put a plug on my nose. My eyes are immune to irritants because of a side effect of a class skill and I have a trait that lets me cancel sound. After that, it was a simple matter to spread the dust and then I could then move around knowing I wouldn’t be spotted. I would find a raised spot and then shoot them till they died.”
Tom deliberately said nothing about her unlimited arrows. However, that simple fact would have changed the dynamics as much as everything else she listed. Without that benefit, most people would have chosen to fight hand to hand against the bludgers and even with their senses cut off that would have been a challenge.
“Official lair?” Sven asked.
Everlyn nodded.
“So, did you choose natural loot or random?”
“Random. I’m not carrying back two hundred Cave Bludgers.”
Sven frowned. “Two hundred? Single clear what did you get?”
“A shitty title, a nail enhancer potion and four hundred auction credits.” She laughed. “That potion was tier 2 and absolutely incredible if you have claws.” She held up her perfectly manicured fingernails for everyone to admire. “Not for me.”
“You put it up for auction.”
“Yes, Michael, I did. If one of us had claws, I would have sold it cheaply to them.”
“How much?”
Everlyn glanced at Michael suspiciously. “Twenty thousand for buyout. Why are you looking at me like that? You think it was the wrong choice?”
Michael shrugged. “Twenty thousand seems cheap. I probably would have investigated if anyone here could have got a mutation and then used the potion.”
She waved that away. “You can do that. It’s still up for auction.”
“Anything else fun,” Sven continued.
“What is this? Twenty questions?”
“I stayed here all day. I have to live vicariously through your adventures.” Sven grinned. “Plus, it’s fun hearing about your success when one of Legen’s people gets uppity. I can drop lines like. Yeah, Everlyn went out scouting and made a hundred thousand credits. Shuts them up good.”
Everlyn clapped her hands. “I also harvested lots of valuable stuff.”
“Did you auction them too?” Michael asked grumpily.
“Nah, I bartered it to Ran Seong for sixty-five percent of production or profits if they’re sold.”
Michael looked surprised. “How did you get such a favourable deal?”
“I played her off against Reinout.”
“I thought Reinout only dabbled.”
Everly grin got larger. “Yeah that’s why Ran Seong won the business.”
“Good call. The rest of us were protecting here or escorting to the challenge trial.” Michael told her. “I’m glad one of us could be productive.
Everlyn grinned predatorily. “And how did that go, Michael?”
Michael looked uncomfortable. “I got a tier five purification spell.”
There was applause all round.
“As for everyone else, a couple of people flamed out badly. From what I could tell, they didn’t get anything good.”
“Who?” Sven asked.
“The worst was Dominica.”
“She’s one suspect isn’t she?” Thor asked.
“Yes,” Michael confirmed. “I think the stress got to her.” They fell into uneasy silence. “We’ll have to watch her along with Thumper.”
“Speaking of suspects what’s the plan for tonight?” Everlyn asked finally.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Tom needs to leave a space so he can hear us if there’s an emergency for one.” Sven said immediately to more laughs.
“That means you’ll need to hear me and…” Tom joked before Everlyn’s sharp elbow silenced him.
There were more smirks. “I meant the other thing?” Michael said eventually. “Our attempt to find the killer.”
“I’m at full fate,” Everlyn informed them. “It’s why I got a potion for claws.”
“Same.” Tom told him. “Sorry for not actually contributing any fate in your prayer sessions.”
“The fact you were there was noted,” Michael unperturbed. “Plus, that routine will build good habits for the entire community.”
Everyone nodded.
“And what is the plan?” Michael asked. “Are we each going to investigate a certain type of magic? Or part of the crime scene? Or?”
“No coordination.” Tom interrupted quietly.
Michael studied him. “Are you saying that as a fate expert?”
“Yes.”
“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Sven asked finally. “The killer is bound to make a mistake and everyone here is protected by Tom’s oracle question. It’s better if we use our limited fate to strengthen ourselves so that when we find the killers, we can fight them.”
“It’s not just us it’s about the community. We want to stop him before the next murder.” Michael stopped talking. “Wait killers?”
“Him, her, it, them,” Sven said with a laugh. “I just figured we don’t know and shouldn’t assume.”
“Killers plural still doesn’t make sense to me,” Michael argued. “How could they possibly have coordinated that?”
“I didn’t mean anything by it.” Sven said, raising hands defensively. “But if there’s two killers with one being a copycat, then the alibi situation makes more sense.”
“This is not a TV crime show.” Tom said into the silence. “What’s the odds of a group of eight having two independent serial killers in it.”
“You’re right it was a silly thought.” Sven agreed. “I’m still not sure this fate approach is worth it.”
“I am,” Michael said strongly.
“So am I.” Tom agreed after a moment’s consideration.
“Well, tonight it is.” Michael concluded. “Everyone uses their fate before sleep. Here’s to our future success.”
With the meeting over, they retired for a quick meal. Tom was excited to see that someone had either grown, harvested, or purchased green to go next to his meat. While meat had been a huge upgrade from a wasp having a piece of steak with some vegies on the side, took the food to the next level. Deprivation meant he was easily impressed.
He wondered how long it would be until they got pancakes for breakfast.
Meal finished they retreated to their bunker. He had expanded it during the day to expand the free space in the centre. If they wanted, they could have installed a dinner table. Instead, Golly was called down to stand guard.
“Is that necessary?” Sven complained.
Tom looked at him. “I made the room larger to fit the table in. And if I’m leaving gaps to allow us to hear I want some extra security.”
“We’re not just relying on the golem. We’ll still set our own guards.” Michael told them authoritatively.
“The golem should remain guard outside. It’s going to creep me out having it in here.”
“No Sven,” Michael said. “I’ll sleep better having it closer. I even pulled the card that it’s not intelligent enough to patrol beyond the walls. Or at least if there is an attack it might do more harm than good.”
“They bought that?” Tom asked.
“Last night, there was a lizard attack. The golem engaged and everyone had to let it fight the monster because it was too dangerous. A lot of people didn’t enjoy giving up the experience.”
“Who cares about the golem? I don’t see the point of the rush to risk to fate.”
Michael glared at Sven. “Someone was murdered last night.”
“I wouldn’t be sleeping if I was one of the suspects.” Sven said defiantly. “But the rest of us are safe. The killer is contained. We should exile them.”
Michael held the bridge of his nose. “I don’t know what to do. Hopefully, our investigation today will reveal a path forward.”
“I’ll take first watch with Thor,” Michael declared. “And Tom you’re not getting out of it this time.”
“Fine, I’ll share it with Everlyn.”
Michael smirked. “Of course you will. Do you have a preference?”
“Last shift,” Everly said quickly.
Michael quickly assigned Harry and Sven to the second watch, and Claire and Toni to the third. Michael had pulled strings to ensure that they were all excluded from external wall duty.
Tom and Everlyn got into their bed and for security he reestablished the stone wall, growing it almost to the bed above but stopping to leave a gap that they could hear through.
“Let’s do this.” She whispered.
Tom, before going into his system room focused on his fate. He wanted to find something that would help them find the murderer.
In his mind, he reviewed the clues he had seen. The strange fate effect. The different ways people had been murdered. That peculiar smoothed earth, the way their faces looked, every single bit and piece that he knew about how the killer had got their victim alone. The sleep, the darkness, the trick they must have used to get into the prison. He held it all in his head and the desire to find something in the auction house or journals of information they had that could help them hunt down the killer.
His fate rushed out of him as he committed it to the task. Then he entered his system room.
Everlyn Louise Campbell has invited you to her personal system room.
Do you wish to accept the invitation?
Yes, he accepted the offer immediately.
He was in the system room with Everlyn standing in front of the experience shop. She was wearing a long skirt, a well-fitted blouse with a small flower print and her auburn red hair was loose to her shoulders.
With a thought, he was in jeans and a t-shirt.
She looked at him. “You can do better than that.”
“I’m not sure I can.”
“You know what a dress shirt is.”
Tom paused, concentrated, and he changed into a buttoned up shirt. The magic of the place must have fixed his image because the shirt felt comfortable despite it not being the clothing that he was used to wearing.
“But you’re not going to lose the jeans?”
“I loved my jeans. They feel like wearing air.”
Everlyn laughed. “Leave them. You look handsome no matter how you dress. How were you planning on searching?”
“Don’t know. Maybe rituals that affect fate and require sacrifice?”
Everlyn waved a hand and almost a hundred books landed with a thump on the table that had just appeared. She laughed at the number. “Have fun.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I might look through traits and bloodlines.”
As she spoke there was a shimmer. The table grew to four times its size and the dimensions of the room shifted to accommodate the extra-large table.
They looked at each other quizzically. There was another whoosh and piles of books appeared stretching above their heads.
They both burst out laughing.
“A needle in a haystack.” Tom commented.
“Finding the word blue circled with a green pen on one page in a library full of books,” Everlyn counted without missing a beat.
“That sounds both harder and more apt. Particularly the part that a book containing that circle might not even exist.”
“Exactly.” Everlyn muttered.
Tom looked at the huge number of books that had appeared. “That’s a lot of detail on traits and bloodlines. Did you limit them to ones that impact fate?”
“No, I was wondering if maybe multiple things are at play and if we go for a single catch all, then we would never solve it.” She picked up a book and opened it to a random page. “Bloodline of the hare. Nope.” She theatrically tossed it over her head, and it vanished before it hit the ground. “I spent fate, so despite the impossibility there is at least a chance.” She signed as she looked at the mass of books.
“As did I.” Tom agreed, and he picked up one of his books. It was a book on fertility rituals. Not for humans, but for farming so completely useless. He still opened each page to glance at each ritual and absorbed the summary of each line, as it might be related to the soil the killer left under each body.
Ritual of Pest Control.
Provides protection against tier 3 and below vermin and insects. Range dependent on mana invested.
What could be achieved was interesting, but flicked through each of the rituals with no reason to absorb any of the immense detail supplied. Impacts of weather, soil types, ambient mana they all influenced the eventual outcome, but even if it was a useful ritual instead of pest control, it was useless to him. Knowledge that he read here could help guide decisions, but unless he bought the specific skills and rituals from the experience shop, he could not apply it in Existentia. It was a constraint of being a competitor race. It was impossible for him to learn a ritual by trial and error only by purchasing it or by being actively taught by a master could he acquire one. The native races did not suffer that constraint, but it made sense because otherwise humans could duplicate rituals they had no right knowing with the library of knowledge at their fingers. It was probably a negotiated position by DEUS, Tom could only imagine how painful life would be if he didn’t have access to this database. While it was easy to dismiss it as pointless, it had been available in the tutorial and now guided his decision making.
He worked through the books, discarding more than he read, and the ones he read were only skimming the ritual summary lines. They were interesting, and the knowledge was not useless. It was already opening up possibilities for himself or Harry to exploit and improving his understanding of how things worked. There was a fate halo ritual that produced an effect that lasted for months and basically increased your luck or another that granted fate points.
Free attributes points!
Though the reagents were expensive but if you had a greenhouse growing the correct plants and a forest with the right animals, it would definitely be worth acquiring.
There was even one that would direct your fate points to maximising your material wealth. Increase your chance to find gold or rare crafting ingredients. For most races, that would be an extraordinary boon. They would turn a mostly ineffectual, passive pool to something that helped them every day.
Useless for humans, because Tom could duplicate the effect with a simple prayer each morning.
He leapt up from the table and kicked the couch angrily. His foot stung a little with the pain of the impact.
It was hopeless.
All the rituals were different, but the same. He was no closer to finding the killer; it was all wasted effort.
But now was not the time to slack off. He looked at the pile of books and Everlyn who had ignored his outburst as she read through an impressively sized tome, totally engrossed in its contents.
His brain hurt from the reading, and he had too much energy coursing through him. He felt like jumping, sprinting, fighting, anything but standing there.
He needed a diversion.
“Bring up the Spectaculi.”