The cavern glowed as green light oscillated and pulsed over Win's entire frame. Her chest and arm expanded. Wounds closed. Scars disappeared. It took mere seconds, and when the light faded, her body started to convulse. Win sat bolt upright, then turned and vomited black bile onto the cavern floor.
Win had both arms raised towards Lycra, radiating healing energy even before she finished with the sick.
Reid wasn't the target of her skill - but familiar, warm energies seeped into him and worked their way through his body nonetheless. Win's healing was orders of magnitude more powerful than anything he'd felt from his wife - or Danny. Lycra's form knitted itself back together, and the deformed part of his skull grew back out to its normal position. Energy continued to flow. Scarring on the top of Lycra's head and the base of his neck faded and disappeared. His lingering cut from the shopkeeper's thugs was gone, and his skin took on a new warmth.
Reid waited for Lycra to open his eyes, but he remained unconscious. His calm, rhythmic breathing let Reid know he was alright.
Win was breathing heavy, eyes rimmed red, and she looked as if she'd been starving for weeks. She raised an eyebrow at the bone spear Reid had let clatter to the ground. He'd forgotten - in the fight and after - about keeping his skills secret. But he wasn't the only one that had revealed something. Healing wasn't a skill that people had in the Warrens. At least, it wasn't supposed to be. When she caught her breath, Win broke the silence with a question.
"Does he know you can do that? The osteomancy?"
Reid nodded. "Osteal Smithing. Weapons and armor. Yeah. Lycra knows just about everything. Who knows you can heal?"
She moved over and laid down on a rock - one of the ones the mole had nearly killed her with. Reid followed, and laid Lycra down on one beside her. "You. And Lycra when he wakes up, I guess. I've got a specialty, too." She waved a tired arm at Reid. "The pills - skill based. I make them at the clinic so no one sees me do direct healing, but it's the same principle. Package energy the right way, and it affects the body."
Reid nodded. Things started to fall into place. Win's focus on her committees and the clinic stemmed from her natural desire and ability to help and to heal. But it didn't explain everything. Reid looked at his new status section.
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Titles:
[Honorary Knight]
You have been entrusted as an expert, advisor, friend, or warrior of great renown. So long as you keep the granter's trust and do not betray their confidence in you, you may keep and use this title as you would any other. You are 2% more powerful in the presence of the title granter. You are 1% more powerful in all other situations. You may elect to be recognized as "Ser" by system events and challenges. As an honorary knight, you may give out two [Honorary Squire] titles.
----------------------------------------
"How did you give me a title?"
She waved a hand. "Let a girl keep some mysteries to herself. I'll make it even, and not ask you my burning questions around your last name." She let out a grunt. "I bet your clown car isn't even empty yet, too."
"My what?"
"You - are a clown car - full of secrets. All-god's tits, Reid, pay attention to your friend's conversations more. I need a nap. Don't move me."
Win was snoring seconds later. Reid looked between her, Lycra, and the spear on the ground.
Win had revealed something to him - something she'd spent a long time protecting. She'd nearly died before she let it out. And when she did reveal it, she hadn't paused a moment before she brought Lycra back from death's door. Reid didn't want either of them to get hurt like that again. As it was, Lycra and Win were both going to need time to properly recover - at least a day before Win should be back on her feet. He could still carry the both of them, if he needed to.
Win's snoring filled the cavern, but in the spaces between her breaths, he could hear blood and other fluids dripping out of the dead mole. An errant strike - or an intentional one - had nearly killed the both of them. If they'd been properly equipped, things would never have gotten so dire. Reid found a comfortable looking spot, and rolled his shoulders. He sat in the dirt.
Then he reached inside himself, and crafted bone.
#
"It's a bit tight around the tail, but damn good work." Win praised. She put the armor pieces back into the bone box, and Reid lowered it all into he hole. Lycra and Win each had a bone knife they'd be keeping on themselves for protection, but the rest of the gear he'd made was too eye-catching to bring back with them. It would've been like shouting to the entire prison what his skill could do. They'd tried on all the pieces instead, and were burying them an hour's hike deeper down from the dung cave.
Once they made it back to the main camp, Win would end up having to share where their find had been - and that probably meant more people would be coming down to strike it rich. When their trio ventured deeper down, they'd dig the box of equipment back up to retrieve everything.
It was a long walk back to the processor, but a good one. Lycra practically skipped for the first hour. He'd been ecstatic to learn more about Win, and volunteered the information on his own Mana Lattice Engineer skill to 'even' things out. When he realized she'd removed the scarring from the base of his neck, he'd broken down in happy tears.
Three decapitated mole heads were haphazardly secured to the top of Reid's mine cart train, and when they made it to the lit - and worked - tunnels, they drew attention.
By the time they got to the processor, the entire area was packed with miners. There wasn't a crowd surfing welcome this time - instead, everyone gave them and their still-foul clothes a respectful berth. They stared, incredulous, at the crystals and the severed heads.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Crystals first?" Win offered. Lycra and Reid agreed, and they dumped the carts out.
[Crystal - 9,000 credits awarded. Split 3,000 / 3,000 / 3,000]
Murmurs went through the gathered crowd. It was a damn good haul for how long they'd been gone.
Reid hefted the heads over. There wasn't enough room to fit them all in at once, so he started with the smaller ones as a pair
The crowd collectively held their breath as the machine made its noises.
TING!
[Lvl 12 Mole - 6,000 credits x2 - 12,000 credits awarded. Split 4,000 / 4,000 / 4,000]
Reid nodded, a bit disappointed. Win had warned them about the scaled rewards - and although it was significantly lower than the level 17, it was still a decent impact on their debt.
I hope it scales the other way.
A voice shouted to the crowd. "SIX THOUSAND EACH FOR THE SMALL ONES!" The applause was short and quickly died down. As it faded, Reid could hear murmurs of conversation in the crowd.
-
"A little one like that, I bet we could take it."
"If a team of three can do it, maybe the moles aren't so tough."
"I bet they found a secret method. They should share how they brought them down."
-
He kicked the level 19 mole's head into the chute, and waited. The crowd stilled and quieted.
When the text came on screen, the word 'elder' was flashing bold.
[Lvl 19 Elder Mole - 84,000 credits awarded awarded. Split 28,000 / 28,000 / 28,000]
Silence stretched for seconds. "E... EIGHTY FOUR THOUSAND!!!"
The walls of the cavern shook as the crowd cheered.
#
"So people, that's the news. I gave out the map to the poop cave - find a committee member if you want a copy. But remember, you go at your own risk. Not every mole you encounter is going to be taken by surprise mid-shit, and nobody in here is as tough as me - be smart, and don't die in the dark."
Win threw the cone down to the man who 'owned' it, and jumped back down off the table. They were all thoroughly showered, and the information sharing portion of things was done.
Win's map had barely exchanged hands before a massive group formed and headed down to find their own riches in the poop cave. Jim was with them, and Reid was almost certain he caught the man sneering in his direction. Apparently, the mole's level and reward were the highest in the Warrens' recorded history. Either he was angry he hadn't gotten to tag along with Reid's group, or it was indicative of a larger divide growing between him and the blue man.
Setting the record had brought with it a stifling amount of attention. Everyone wanted to talk about the fight, and the poop cave, and how they made it out without a scratch - like they were heroes brought to life. If Lycra hadn't insisted on the walk that they come up with a simple, cohesive story, the charade about killing the moles mid-defecation would've broken down during the protracted questioning.
Hero worship wasn't the only way people were looking at them, though. There were groups and lone prisoners that hadn't danced and didn't celebrate. Instead, they watched the trio like they were looking at their next meal. Lycra and Win had also both noticed, and when they finally had the table to themselves, Win brought the topic up.
"These idiots are planning on stealing the next head we bring up." She gave some of the prisoners eyeing them pointed looks, and even shouted at one. "If you can't kill the mole, you won't kill the mole killers!"
Reid glanced behind him. "You really think they'd break the rules like that, in front of everyone? There'd be no way to hide it."
Win took a swig from her mug. "Moral. Scale."
Lycra nodded. "I had a group once. Good group. We helped each other - shared food, even." He looked up like he'd just realized who he was speaking to. "That was a big deal. One morning, a young one - Jenaka - she found a real coin pouch. Rare - almost everyone uses non-physical currency, like credits. The coin pouch was full - 20 imperial marks." When neither Win nor Reid reacted, he clarified. "Worth four million credits. She, and many others died that day. All in a free-for all for the pouch. There was enough to share, but it didn't matter. One of the bigger teens - Frogg - he was good. A protector. Fended off a loaf once to help the young ones get away. He killed... many. And we never saw him again after he left with the pouch." Lycra did a wiggle-wave, then rubbed uncomfortably at the back of his neck.
Win gave a curt nod and took over.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s orphans or high society - or these warrens. People’s greed always works on a scale. The same person that would never think of stealing 3,000 credits worth of crystal from you would kill you for 84,000. If they had to and they could, they’d probably be willing to kill everyone here. For many, that much money might be guaranteed freedom.”
Reid found himself glancing around again. "I'd rather not be watching my back around everyone in here. We should keep close to one another."
Win laughed. "They're not all going to up and try to kill you, Roc - but morals shift around big things like this. If killing one person here would instantly make you strong enough to face down the people chasing you and solve all your problems, would you do it?"
The question hung in the air.
If Reid could get home by trading a single life? It would be a hard thing to not take the out. He'd killed Bertrand's army by the dozens. What was one more death by his hands?
"I'd like to think I wouldn't, but... I don't know."
"Yeah." Win nodded empathetically. "Moral scale."
#
When the three of them set out again with fresh supplies the next day, they practically had to fight off the people that wanted to follow them out of the main camp. Then they had to do it again when miners at the poop cave saw them. There were over 150 of them in the area, and the massive number of dung piles they'd broken open made the entire thing nearly unbearable to breathe.
It added extra time, but eventually they dug up the armor and weapons that were waiting for them. Lycra had a dual-edged, hero-style sword, and Win had the spear Reid made during the prior day's fight. They both looked somewhere between intimidating and ridiculous in their white armor. Lycra's had hollow protrusions for his ears that pushed it more towards the side of ridiculousness.
Though Win now knew about Reid's bone cube map, she still insisted on using her own etched maps to guide them. Ten hours' hiking past the armor stash, she halted the group.
What looked like a small step down in the tunnel ahead, was actually a crevasse - wide enough for any of them to potentially touch both sides at once, but deep enough that they'd be climbing out for hours or days - if they fell and survived. There were marks on the stone that didn't quite match mole claws.
Win turned them around, and nearly two hundred feet back from the chasm's edge, found a smaller tunnel hidden partway up the lefthand wall. None of them had seen it because it blended into the other curves and scrapes in the stone - just like none of them had seen the chasm until it was nearly too late. Dark tunnels hid too many dangers. Win pointed with a hand.
"That's where we're supposed to go. Something burrowed down since the original mapping, so we've got to climb up. Reid, give me a boost."
Another two hours down the hidden tunnel, Lycra and Win gasped in unison.
Their lantern light reflected off a massive ring made up of shimmering, alternating blue and white bricks. They seemed to shift and distort when Reid looked at them too closely, just like the beacon and its half-dome had. He waited for his friends to speak.
"Escaped Moles. I was right." Win mumbled softly to herself.
Lycra's eyes were wide and wild. His voice was filled with wonder. "A challenge gate. A real, live challenge gate." He turned to Reid with a toothy grin. "Reid!! We will have a quest!!"
Reid gave him a warm smile - though he had no idea what a challenge gate was. Quests, though, had never been easy.
Which meant he would want to go in, not just with a weapon - but with his weapon.
He sat himself against the cave wall, and breathed deep.
It was time for a summoning.