The following days in Newtown were fairly relaxing for Zoe, at least. Brick and the others seemed rather stressed by all of the preparations they had to make for their next journey out as they tried to find somebody to identify the items they’d been given by the dungeon. But for Zoe, it was a comfortable two days of eating some greasy food and fantasizing about what she’d be able to do once she managed to copy Brick’s skill — if she could.
Even if it only lasted for a week, or maybe even two, that would be enough for her to at least feel comfortable leaving Abyllan for a bit. She could go visit the moon, see some of the nearby planets. See how close she could get to the sun, maybe. And all without the fear of losing her home, being stranded in the vastness of space without a way back.
Maybe her sixth class would give her something similar if she got a powerful space class with it, some kind of anchor point that would let her always teleport back home if she wanted. Something like that made sense to her for a powerful space class. Every mage needed a home base.
Maybe she could enchant something to cause a similar effect to Brick’s, now that she thought about it. She wouldn’t need to know where home is, if she just had an item that would always teleport her back to the same enchanted circle somewhere. It could be a good use for that massive cavern she’d carved out behind her home and never ended up actually using.
She shrugged. That was a problem for another day. Today was the day they departed from Newtown, off in pursuit of the dragon’s trail. She’d need to have a bit of a difficult conversation with the group about her abilities, but she’d already thought about what she’d tell them.
For starters, she’d tell them that she was an enchanter — and a powerful one, mostly in the hopes that they’d have some ideas for her to try out. Second, she’d share her Gales skill and let them know that she could provide air for them to breathe indefinitely should they be trapped in a sealed box. Such as when a wanderer is around, or perhaps if they get attacked by some other group again.
And finally, she’d tell them that her healing was far more capable than she’d let on — though she wouldn’t share Nature’s Clearing with them unless it was needed. The notification the system gave was just far too descriptive of her abilities to use that on them, even if she was beginning to trust them a lot more. The last thing she needed was for somebody to end up hating her and also happen to know what resistances she didn’t have.
Brick and the others were unfortunately not able to find anybody to identify the items for them, though they did get recommended to another nearby town where somebody might be able to. Gloria in Lionhead, a couple weeks journey to the south-east. A little out of the way for them at the moment, so they decided to stop by on the way back after they’d found the dragon.
With the new storage item Brick had, they were able to stock up on some more clothes for the group, as well as some new warm blankets and even a couple pillows between them. The rest of the space Brick filled with food.
Altogether, the group was wealthy and it showed. Magical items were abundant, and they clearly even had the storage space to carry food with them rather than hunt as they travelled. Many of the locals looked on with greedy eyes, vying for their wealth.
Brick suspected that some of them would give chase when they left and try to steal their wealth, and decided on a plan to prevent needless violence. They’d leave and run towards the south east to Lionhead for a few minutes and then Zoe would Cosmic Step them several kilometers to the north. Brick had already put on a bit of a show as a rather powerful space mage, so anybody pursuing them would assume that they’d pushed themselves as fast as they can to the next town to get their items identified.
The plan went off without a hitch, though Zoe wasn’t sure if anybody was following them anyway. If they were, they were staying far enough away that Zoe’s Cosmic Vision wasn’t able to see them, and she didn’t stick around long enough to try and find their tracks anyway. But even after several days of running to the north from Newtown, they hadn’t been bothered by any nefarious thieves. So either nobody decided to steal their wealth, or the plan did work.
Either way, Zoe was glad to avoid the possible bloodshed.
“I still don’t get why we don’t just teleport all the way there.” Spark said as they rushed through the massive trees, leaping from root to root.
“Because maybe we find something interesting.” Zoe answered. “We already found one dungeon, maybe we find another. Or maybe a wanderer. I’d like to see a wanderer.”
Brick shuddered. “I don’t know how powerful you truly are, but I hope we never see one.”
The conversation about Zoe’s abilities had gone well, nobody pried for more information than she was willing to give up and were glad that she was a more capable healer than she already was. But there was still an undercurrent of curiosity beneath all of their emotions, wanting to know more about Zoe. What she could do, what her limits were. Zoe wasn’t sure herself, it had been quite some time since she’d been truly challenged.
Though, that was largely intentional. If she was challenged, she was in danger. And if she was in danger, she’d prefer to run away. Kliggig would have been the last time she truly felt challenged, but that wasn’t because it was stronger than her, but because she was made weaker than it. Or at least her usual tools had been taken away from her.
“I bet we could get away if nothing else.” Zoe said.
“She’s probably right,” Blue added. “If she took us up far enough, the light from the stars would stop them if nothing else. If the wanderer could even pursue us that high in the first place.”
“They don’t like the light?" Zoe asked.
“You really know nothing, do you?” Brick asked.
“Not really. You’re basically the first people I met down here, aside from James’ party. But you know how that went.” Zoe said.
“Well, we’ve got the time while we run, I guess.” Brick said, to Zoe’s delight. “The wanderers are denizens of the darkness. Humans, once. People who accepted the darkness for themselves, who welcomed its terrifying embrace.”
“Like a corruption?” Zoe asked, thinking of the Okiu from outside of Flester.
“Somewhat. I guess that’s a good description of it. But I don’t think it’s really corrupting them, I think they were already lost and gave themselves to it. A gift to the darkness, more than corrupted by the darkness.” Brick answered.
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Zoe nodded. “So they were people? Are they still people? Can they talk?”
Spark scoffed. “They’re not people. They were, but they’re not anymore. Just monsters. Terrible creatures that want to destroy everything they see.”
“But can they talk? Even if they’re not people, are they still able to think and speak?" Zoe asked again.
Brick shrugged. “I’ve heard some people say they’ve heard wanderers talk, but I’ve never seen it myself. Never even seen a wanderer with my own eyes, just felt them through my skill.”
Zoe nodded. “So in theory, we could find one and talk to it?”
“In theory. In practice, we would find one and be killed by it before we even had a chance to say hello.” Brick said. “It’s not worth trying to talk to them, Zoe.”
“But light scares them away?” Zoe asked.
“A lot of light does, they’re like the shadows that come to life at night. A little light brings them to life, angers them. A flickering flame spurs them on, sends them into a violent rage. But a lot of light shuts them down. In the day, the sky shuns them away, forcing them back to wherever they’d come from.” Brick said.
“So if you could make a tonne of light, you could be safe at night still?” Zoe asked.
“You could. I’ve heard of one town that tries to do that.” Brick said.
“Litten,” Spark added. “Wouldn’t step foot in there myself, though.”
“Why’s that?” Zoe asked.
“If you get enough light, you’re safe. But what happens when one of the torches burns out? When somebody covers one of the lights with a blanket? When you move your bed to just the right place to cast just the right amount of shadow beneath it?” Spark asked.
Zoe nodded. “Put more lights beneath your bed, then?”
Brick laughed. “I prefer to stay in the dark and hide from the wanderers. It’s hubris, in my opinion. We can’t fight back the darkness, they will one day fall when something goes wrong. And I won’t be there when it happens.”
“You’d never feel safe. Not really.” Spark said. “Not like up on the peaks, not like you people. That fear never goes away.”
The sky began to dim, and Zoe teleported the group far up into the sky to where the night stars shone through whatever layer was blocking out the light. Some kind of gas that settled in to the valleys? Breathing wasn’t difficult, but maybe that was because of her level or regeneration more than anything else. Or maybe it was just magic, Zoe wasn’t sure what caused the oddity in the sky down below.
A platform of earth formed, floating far above the forest below. Grass sprouted from the dirt and a few trees grew from the ground, rising a few feet above their heads thanks to her Flora skill.
Brick chuckled. “Does it get old?”
“Does what get old?" Zoe asked.
“This!” Spark shouted. “All of this! You just made this, in what? Two minutes?"
“Oh.” Zoe smiled. "I dunno. It hasn’t yet.“
Blue laid down on the green grass with one of the pillows Brick summoned and pulled up a blanket over themself. “It’s much more comfortable than down below. You’re sure you’re alright with this?"
Zoe shrugged. “I have a lot of mana, this isn’t really much anymore.”
Brick shook their head. “Mana and power, what I wouldn’t give to have that.”
“You’re pretty high level though, why don’t you have more mana?" Zoe asked.
“I could ask the same of you. How do you have so much? You only get so many stat points on a level, and classes only give so much for bonuses. You must have some incredible classes.” Brick said.
“Their mana sucks extra cause their class gives them a mana regeneration penalty.” Spark said.
“Hey,” Brick said. “That’s personal.”
“Whatever, she shared enough with us. It’s not gonna hurt you.” Spark shrugged as they laid down next to Blue.
“You got a mana regeneration penalty?" Zoe asked.
“Yeah. It’s a good class, but my mana regeneration suffers for it. I’m tempted to swap it out, but that’s asking for death. I should have swapped it earlier, when I wasn’t so used to everything else it gave me. But losing it all now would just kill me.” Brick said.
“You were fine before though, weren’t you?” Zoe asked.
“Yeah, when I was used to what I had before. I’ve had this for six years now. I’ve grown used to it. My habits are built around it, the decisions I make expect it. If I don’t have it, that’s more I have to think about. If something happens, and I have to spend another half second thinking about what to do, I could be dead. If we get attacked and my reaction is to teleport us to safety, and I can’t because I lost that skill, then we’re dead.” Brick explained.
“Ah. Well, maybe you can do it when we go to the peaks after. It’s a lot safer up there.” Zoe said.
“Maybe I will. But for now, I’ve got to put another tracker on you. You ready?" Brick asked.
Zoe nodded.
“Hold out your hand. I put on people’s backs normally, since that’s what I can see while they’re sleeping. But if you want to watch it, your hand will be better.” Brick said.
Zoe held out her hand, and Brick touched the back of it with their index finger. A surprising amount of mana rushed out from their finger, twisting around Zoe’s hand, dancing through the fabric of space. Wisps flowed into the back of Zoe’s hand, and then back out the tip of her finger, winding around like threads being sewn together in a messy knot.
Much of the mana seemed superfluous, to Zoe. The system’s wrapper, perhaps? Mana that seemed to coat the structure, not weaving through the threads that cut through her hand but stretching around the entire structure, obscuring the fine details below.
Some of the mana rushed back in to Brick’s finger after winding through Zoe’s hand, twisting up their arm and settling in near their shoulder. After a few seconds, the wisps of light shuddered and rushed into Zoe’s hand with a slight pinch as though somebody had pulled the knot tight. Brick flinched as the mana around their shoulder rushed in to them as well, and the skill finished.
“Hope that helps,” Brick said. “I don’t have the mana to do it very often, but when I keep them up, I’ll let you know.”
Zoe nodded and summoned one of her several notebooks to scribble in. “It helps more than you could ever know, thank you.”
The skill seemed complicated, a tangled mess of mana that would require a lot of study to follow all of the movements, and be able to even try to replicate it for herself. But it would be possible. She could see it, she could follow the patterns, understand what they were doing. There was far too much mana rushing around for her to even begin to comprehend the exact structure of it on her first try, but it was possible. With time, she’d be able to replicate it.