After toning down the archer’s hooting joviality, Joe checked in on Margen. The giant human was kneeling with one hand bracing himself. The warrior was shaking his head, working through his grogginess better than many of the others in the group. Joe’s [Eyes of the Healer] could see how far the decay had been driven back. Mortalius had done wonders; Margen was no longer teetering on the brink of death.
Though he appreciated the silent templars' care, Joe chose to revive the raven cleric next for more practical reasons. By restoring Mortalius first, he ensured two healers were working to get everyone back up and going again.
[Exorcise] has removed the Dazed affliction from Mortalius Tam.
The fomori’s eyes immediately cleared, and found Joe standing beside him. The black-garbed Hellion rose and gave Joe a nod with a clap on his shoulder before heading for Broon. The motion was so completely automatic that Joe wondered just how many times Broon, clearly the least durable of the semi-sinister team, needed to be pulled out of the proverbial fire.
Turning toward the other muddled guilders, he immediately sought out Kendell. Before there was a chance to assess her condition, Joe was startled a second time by an exuberant outcry. This time, it was Yuk.
“Bowntee’s Boons! Joe, did you look at our gains? We’re twenty. From fifteen, we broke the twenty cap in one shot. Gods abound! You and us are no longer junior guilders. We’re badassess!”
Joe quickly gave the waiting level-based windows a brief glimpse, though honestly, he cared more about his downed teammates at that moment.
You have reached level 18. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point.
You have reached level 19. You do not gain an attribute point on this level.
You have reached level 20. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point, 2 traits, and an uncommon skill.
You have reached level 21. You do not gain an attribute point on this level.
He noted he had missed hitting twenty-two by a small fraction, but that was okay. The rewards for level twenty alone seemed amazing. Other notifications were waiting for his attention, but Joe had more important priorities. No one looked in too bad shape, but if he could help them recover faster, Joe didn't mind waiting on the rest of his alerts until he had done what he could for his friends.
“Nice! I’m going to get everyone back on their feet first, then I’ll look everything over.”
Woundsight told him Kendell had numerous sprained joints and some lacerations. It looked like those who had been standing during the explosion had been pelted by hurled debris. Rather than having her become alert in pain, Joe quickly removed Kenda’s injuries with some basic healing before purging the stun.
Her deep brown eyes found his, and a second later, she all but tackled him in a powerful hug.
“Oh, Myrrhcee may. I was sure we had lost you. How the Hells did you survive?” she demanded, her face pressed into the shaggy pelt Joe had formed into a vest.
“Yuk is crazy versatile, and I’m friggin’ fast nowadays. We ran and hid and then got lost. Oh, and we found a two-hundred-year-old semi-living legend.”
“I KNOW!” the guild’s skill-savant shouted, thrusting herself back with both arms, her hands still clasping his arms tightly. She looked him in the face, beaming with wonder and pride.
And then she noticed her embrace had transferred a significant portion of Joe’s segmented teammate to her arms, chest, neck, cheeks, and hair. She had a brief panicky look before realizing she was not covered in just any bugs but a specific skittering ally instead.
“Oh, yuck! Yuk! Come on! Get off!” Joe had become pretty much immune to the idea and sensation of his crawling passengers. Poor Kenda was clearly not a bug fan, regardless of how much she adored Yuk.
“Ssssooooooryyyyyy,” the chorus of voices all over her chattered. That didn’t help. Joe watched her face pale and her body wince as the small army of vermin slithered off her and back onto Joe. “I’ll go talk to Myllo and debrief while you two get reunited. Have fun,” Yuk sent with a bit of a teasing leer on those last words.
“Shoo fly,” Joe quipped back as Yuk’s multitude scampered down his body. And then, for the first time in what felt like forever, Yuk was gone.
Your party has been dissolved. [Parasitic Connection] has ended.
A shiver ran down Joe’s back. He had become used to Yuk bumbling around with him in the hive-mind they had been sharing. He felt suddenly smaller without his odd new friend sharing their collective headspace. It was strange how quickly he had become comfortable and a bit reassured by his mental bond to the raggedy guilder.
That loss of closeness was swiftly replaced by a far more physical connection. Kendell pulled him close, kissing him soundly before returning to her bone-bending hug. Joe squeezed her back. Without trying to, he felt his body shift slightly, melding to her. His collarbone moved enough to be out of the way while his ribs bowed so her breastplate was no longer pushing two of them apart. Kenda sighed and held him tightly, relishing in the closeness before her sharp mind caught on to what Joe’s form was doing. She leaned back again, this time releasing him fully, watching as Joe’s chest reformed to its natural state.
“Wow. You have some serious instinctive control over that skill now. I can’t wait to share notes,” she mused. “Ok, do your thing,” she stated, nodding to where RC, Tez, and Hah’roo were trying to rid themselves of their stunned condition. I’ve got to get this back to Myllo,” she stated, easing the white ribbon off his forehead. I can’t believe Lady Blackgrove lent this to the guild. It's a good thing she did.”
“Yeah. Even though I eventually got hammered by stuns, we would have been in way worse shape without it,” Joe replied, catching her hand before she pulled away. He lightly kissed her once more while giving her fingers a heartfelt squeeze.
Her smile was radiant. That is until she looked down to where their hands were clasped together and saw the state of his bisected hand. “What the Hells, Joe! Your hand!”
“Really, no worries, Kenda,” Joe blurted, trying to pull his truncated fingers away. Kendell clapped her other hand to his wrist, and since she was a good deal stronger than he was, Joe’s wounded limb remained firmly in her grasp. “I should be able to rebuild it in a couple of days. I’m not great with bone yet, but they are small bones. I’m certain I can fix it.”
When she clearly was not about to relent, he added, “Practice,” in a sheepish voice.
Her huff almost caused him to laugh, but Joe contained it. A second later, Kendell let go with a dubious look. As she moved off, shaking her head, Joe gave his odd-looking paw one more speculative glance before dropping a pair of [Heart Fires] for everyone in the area.
With a few quick strides, he closed the distance to remove the debilitations from Hah’roo, Earcellwen, and Tezeno. Tez had pretty much cleared the stun on his own but he still looked a tad rattled. After a fast volley of Joe’s curative magic, his teammates stood and joined him.
“I told them you’d be fine,” breathed the white-skinned huntress. “The winds spoke of wildness and wonder, but not once of woe.”
“And somehow, we were supposed to be heartened by that cryptic aeromancy. Though, after the insanity you pulled against Tusked Tarz, I was inclined to believe her. Glad to see we were right after all,” the archon remarked in his flat metallic manner. He grasped Joe’s forearm in a warrior’s clasp and gave Joe a firm shake. Even though the sentinel never sounded emotional, the steely-skinned defender bore a wide smile.
“Thank the Wald you are! I would never have forgiven myself if you died to save me,” the elf lamented. Tears welled up around her wide, green eyes. When they spilled down her petite cheeks, the drops looked enormous, causing Joe’s sympathy-reflex to jump into overdrive.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he crooned, scooping her into a hug. “You saved my butt with the badboons more than once.”
“You … you know that’s different,” she stuttered. “What you did …”
“Is what any one of us would have done for each other,” he asserted earnestly, cinching his embrace around her a bit tighter. “We’re a team.”
“He’s not wrong, Earcellwen,” Tezeno professed. “I am by no means trivializing Joe’s outstanding bravery, but if I, or Hah’roo … or you were the one best suited to the task, you know we would have been the one to undertake it.”
The archon continuously surprised Joe with his odd mix of strict rigidity and general compassion.
“I can see you debating a Wyrd Oath,” the justiciar continued. “I would bet my shield that such a vow would be the last thing our idealistic companion would want from you.”
“That sounds right,” Joe agreed. “What the heck is a Wyrd Oath?”
“It is part of elven culture, Joe,” the small voice against his chest answered. “When someone performs an extreme act to save another, the one saved serves to become their savior's vassal until the debt is paid. I would be …”
“NO!” Joe stated as firmly as he could without snapping harshly at the teary-eyed archer. He stepped back. “No way! You are one of my best friends in the world, RC. There is no way I’d ever want … or allow you to become my vassal.” He met her eyes with his. He could see she was not convinced. Joe took a chance and added, “What would your dad say about friends.”
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“True friendship is a seamless bond without beginning or end,” she uttered almost remotely.
“Meaning.”
“True friends are equal, never counting station, rank, level … or debt.”
“Exactly,” he assured, grateful that his gamble had not stumbled into a dad-quote about obligations trumping friendship. “There is no debt between true friends, ok?”
“Agreed,” she breathed with a heavy sigh.
“And I have got to meet your Dad someday soon,” Joe tossed in, giving her shoulder one more squeeze.
“It is a long way to where my clan resides in the Hornwood Wald, but I would love to introduce you.”
Joe looked around to see if he was needed elsewhere, but it looked as though everyone had either recovered on their own or been roused by Mortalius. Of course, everyone’s attention and discussion were focused on the miraculous appearance of the legend from Fort Coral’s founding. If the guilders were not openly staring, their gaze would flick to the massive swordsman every couple of seconds.
Joe noticed Margen seemed to have accepted the captain of the Hellions being an icy infernal amazon far better than he had thought the great hero would. The ancient general was discussing the exfiltration of the teams with Myllo, Hah’roo, and Naragash. Once again, Myllo seemed to be ignoring the rulebook regarding size. While he was not quite up to the seven-foot statures of the cambion axewoman or the founder, he now stood several inches taller than Joe. The pale galeling looked tiny compared to the mountainous trio she was standing beside.
All around the quartet of leaders were clusters of hushed, incredulous conversations. Most were standing by one of his [Heart Fires], basking in the balmy restoration, except for Broon, who stood as far from the flames as he could get while still remaining roughly near one of the discussions. Joe extinguished the extra radiant campfire, giving the necromancer more room to be with everyone else.
Giving the teams one last look, he noticed Vexor dispelling a red bracelet made of force energy with exactly the same patterns as the collar Myllo had given him. That must be how Joe and his passengers had been teleported right to the group. The endpoint of the portal had been a moving target attached to the cambion sorcerer’s wrist.
He wandered over to a fallen trunk and slumped onto the limb, wrung out. It was not so much physically or even mentally. Still, the last twelve hours had been a rollercoaster of significant events, wondrous discoveries, oppressive dread, lost control, and a hefty chunk of sheer terror from running around with a live bomb in his chest. He could see the others stealing glances his way, but Tezeno, who had taken a position pretty much between the teams and his perch on the log, was warding them off, for which Joe was grateful. He really did need a minute.
He blearily opened his notifications, more for something concrete to focus on more than any other reason. There were stacks of effects and damage warnings, which he just auto-dismissed. Then he got to the good stuff.
Achievement: You have defeated an empowered elite enemy. Your conduct has awarded you the following choice of Traits:
[Diamond Mind]: The Power of Purpose. You have Superior Resistance against Domination and Confusion effects.
[Teamwork]: Better Together. Partied Allies within medium range of you gain an attribute bonus equal to 12.5% of your highest current attribute.
Thanks to the sash, Joe realized just how amazing superior resistances were, but he also was aware that, more often than not, his major resistances were sufficient. Maybe someday down the road, he’d regret this, but being able to boost Yuk’s, or the team’s, or Finn’s Spirit every time they were together seemed like a better idea.
With the size of the attribute numbers, two points of Spirit were a big deal. It was not just a bonus to mana; it also would help people recall facts more clearly or memorize new information. It provided focus and mental fortitude. To Joe, who had been bedridden for years, he valued the mind over the body. To him, Spirit was the bomb.
Joe picked Teamwork and then switched to the bounty of rewards offered for breaking into level twenty.
You have reached the threshold level of 20. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point, 2 traits, and an uncommon skill.
Your first trait award is reflective of the path you wish to follow. Please choose one of the following options:
[Arcanist]: -10% to your mana costs
[Combat Medic]: All of your heals will include a [Warding Heal] enhancement for no additional mana costs.
[Puppeteer]: You can make your force hand constructs invisible, and they will have fine motor control.
[Rift Strider]: Double your teleportation ranges.
[Shifter] +20% ranks to your self transformative skills.
[Wild Warden]: Your affinity with Beast magic will advance to Exceptional.
There were way too many options here for Joe’s exhausted mind. He sat and stared at the list for quite a while until a hand nudged his shoulder.
“Hey,” Kendell announced, once again beaming happily at him. “We’re moving out. What’cha looking at?”
“Level twenty is complicated. I’m only on the second set of options, and I have six things to choose from.”
“Congrats! Tez broke twenty, too. I’m right behind you guys,” she praised, taking his proffered hand and pulling him to his feet. She did not let go of his palm; instead, she used it to lead them both into the line of guilders, climbing the hill up to the braided wards and the base camp.
“Actually, I’m almost twenty-two. Yuk hit twenty as well.”
“You lucky lunatics,” she brayed. "Then Tay, too, got a huge boost. Taylyn had just hit twenty during the Cauldrakon event, so she must be what …” The trainer paused a beat to do the math before continuing, “Twenty-three now.”
Kenda blew her lips in a huff. “I’m falling behind here.” She groused, but her generous expression indicated she was not genuinely bothered by this fact. Kendell cared more about making everyone around her better than any desire to compete with them. “Tay makes sense. She only uses her gifts when there is something dire going on. But you. Man, do you leap levels. The next time you tackle some crazy unbalanced shit, I want in,” she exclaimed, squeezing his fingers. “So. Back to your rewards. What were the first options, and what’d you take?”
Joe filled her in on the choice between [Diamond Mind] and [Teamwork]. Joe was pretty pleased his logic was identical to her savant reasoning. In the very long run, [Diamond Mind] could prove to be the better choice, but [Teamwork] would pay much better dividends now and for quite a while to come.
Joe remembered his first days when party-oriented traits were the last thing he wanted. Now, he could easily see himself hanging with Yuk and Finn, as well as Kenda, RC, and Tez. Joe knew that he and Hah’roo would likely stay friends, maybe forever, but he could easily see the free spirit moving in and out of his life over the years.
He mused at how his new life had reinvented a big part of who he had been. Following Zeabos’ shaggy rump, he finally accepted that he could no longer call himself a loner. He had people now who not only helped define his place in the community but with whom he craved to be with.
“I lost you there, Joe,” one of the closest of those new friends asserted. Joe looked over at the woman beside him as she brushed a wayward lock behind her ear. “What did you take for the level twenty foundational trait?”
“Is that the big list?”
“Yeah. It is kind of a summary of your first growth stage. You get your second one at fifty and another at one hundred, but almost no one gets that far. There are theories that there may be another beyond one hundred, but that’s never been proven. So, did you pick yet, or was that what you were working on when I grabbed you?”
“The second one,” Joe answered. “Here’s what I’ve got.” As he started reading off the list of options, Kendell grumbled how she wished Joe could just share his development and character screens like everyone else.
“Hmm,” she murmured when he finished. “There are some good ones there. I’d skip [Arcanist] since there are plenty of Mana Reduction items that you can buy that will do this for you. Same with [Rift Strider]. Increased teleport range is less common but still not too hard to find. [Combat Medic] just saves you mana, so it has basically the same argument as [Arcanist]. I’d pick from the remaining three: [Puppeteer], [Shifter], or [Wild Warden]. Upping your affinity with Beast would strengthen at least ten of your skills. [Shifter] would only boost six or so, but you would get bigger and more concrete boosts for those six. [Puppeteer] would be interesting, but as I don’t see you going for the sneak attack or thief route, it’s probably not your strongest choice.”
“All of that just off the top of your head? That’s amazing. So, skipping [Puppeteer] for now. Specifically, what are we looking at with the other two?”
“Your current Beast affinity is Strong. If it jumped up a level to Exceptional, you would see a 6% reduction in resource costs, and your spells would be about 4% harder to resist. The spells I’m sure you currently have that are either fully Beast or paired with Beast are [Savage Claws], [Beast Shape], [Efferous Endurance], [Morphic Form], [Hunter’s Pursuit], [Tracker], [Call Nature’s Ally], [Pack Master], [Spirit of the Pack], and [Wild Voice]. You could have others, too. Like [Night Eyes] could be the Night affinity, or it could be Instinct, which is Beast and Mind together. ”
“That list covers a whole lot of the things I use all the time,” Joe noted as he and Kendell hit a steeper section of the path. They both kept holding onto each other’s hand, steadying one another over the rougher parts.
“Right. Now, the other one, [Shifter], gives you straight bonus ranks to your skills. This helps up your numbers for damage, or healing, or whatever. It also helps you cross over requirement thresholds. Your transformation skills are [Savage Claws], [Beast Shape], [Morphic Form], [Hunter’s Pursuit], [Night Eyes], [Tracker], and maybe [Sense Weakness]. [Sense Weakness] shouldn’t be one, but it seems to have changed for you, so I think it might be.”
“Mostly the same spells but not as many. No [Efferous Endurance], for example.”
“Right. Even so, I would go for [Shifter] if it were me. Your affinity with Beast will likely go up independently, considering how many Beast skills you already have. The plus 20% bonus to ranks will only get incrementally better as you level up.”
“Why wouldn’t I move Beast to Exceptional now and wait for it to advance to Superior later?”
“That would be great if it worked that way,” Kendell lamented, “but almost nobody advances past Exceptional naturally. The only way people ever get Superior or Perfect affinities is by being born with them or getting a trait that gets them there. If you were at Exceptional and level 20 was offering you Superior, then this choice would have been a no-brainer.
“Doh,” Joe blurted before realizing the reference was mostly lost on the trainer. “Maybe next threshold, then. Okay. Let’s grab [Shifter] then.”
“Wait, you should get to the top first. A skill-boost rush like that could be disorienting. You really don't want to tumble all the way back down this,” a slightly breathless Kendell pointed out, sweeping a hand back down the steep incline they had been hauling themselves up.
Joe nodded back to her and looked up the remaining slope. They only had a couple of hundred yards to go. Even from where they stood, it was easy to see the toppled Wardstone now standing again. Hopefully, the wards had been fully restored with it now back where it belonged. That would mean there would be no reason for the Fey to return. Additionally, the corruption leaking into the land around here would fade away under the light of the bright southern sun.
Joe looked back once more at the devastation tiny Taylyn had wrought on the center of the valley. The loom and the Erlking had surely been destroyed, but who knew what other evils had grown in that dark valley over the centuries? There were still plenty of brooding, grim-looking forests around the edge of the vale. With the Fey-wards resealed, the guild had plenty of time to mount later expeditions to clear the evils out of Glen Cumha for good.
Maybe that would be how he would hit twenty-two, and Kenda could reach her milestone level.
But not today. Today’s work was done.