Over the next hour, the team alternated between hunting the Cauldrakon-spawned monstrosities and helping Forters harmed by the storm or the spawn. They had a few more battles. Thankfully, these encounters held only two to four of the hulking crabs. No more overwhelming swarms.
In one encounter, Joe finally was able to come to Hah’roo’s rescue for once, instead of the other way around. They found the wind-dancer keeping three of the hard-shelled enemies engaged as the locals pulled wounded civilians to safety. She had managed to kill a fourth crab, but when the team arrived, she was clearly on total defense, trying to give the nearby people time to get away. Tezeno interposed himself between her and one of the crabs while Finn bull-rushed another. Joe dual-cast [Deaden Flesh] on the pincers before rushing over to the wounded noncombatants. With RC and Kendell tag-teaming alongside her, Hah’roo helped polish off the trio of monsters in a few frantic seconds.
“Thanks,” the white-haired ranger breathed. “That would have been much harder without your timely arrival.”
“Happy to,” Joe replied with a smile as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She had cuts and scrapes everywhere. Nothing overly terrible, but all totaled, she was well below half health. The worst was the almost dozen large splinters in her left thigh. She must have fallen or slid against some rough wooden surface since he had seen her last. His healing pushed the wooded shards to the surface where his [Fetching Fist] could pluck them the rest of the way out.
Tezeno canvased the crowd, calling Joe over when he finished with Hah’roo. Meanwhile, Kenda and Earcellwen scouted the area for more crabs. This had been how they had been functioning since the archon had joined them. Hah’roo slotted easily into the group, allowing Kendell to alternate between the two focuses. The five-man and one big chimera squad crisscrossed Midtown, looking for those in need and any remaining storm-spawn.
Joe could not help but realize that this whole encounter with Cauldrakon, while tragic in one sense, was turning out to be a substantial boost to the team Joe was fighting with. Each of them, including Hah’roo and Finn, had leveled once. Earcellwen and Joe had leveled twice. Joe opened his party screen to review everyone’s standing.
P
A
R
T
Y
Name
Level
Classes
Health
(Current/Max - %)
Stamina
(Current/Max - %)
Hah’roo
24
Ranger / Dancer
432 / 457 - 95%
616 / 1885 - 33%
Tezeno Rhal
19
Sentinel / Justicar
985 / 1393 - 71%
1136 / 2977 - 38%
Kendell Bracey
18
Seeker / Savant
453 / 529 - 86%
787 / 1651 - 48%
Earcellwen Rhuival
16
Ranger / Wildbow
232 / 250 - 93%
634 / 988 - 64%
Joseph Morris
16
Healer / Fell Bane Hunter
559 / 725 - 77%
1764 / 1833 - 96%
● Finn
21
Chimera (Akhlut)
1254 / 1717 - 73%
1368 / 2470 - 55%
When they were sure the area was clear, the group trudged the last block to the Adventure’s Guild. There, they found the plaza filled with benches and tables laden with water, food, and blankets. It was clear those seeking help were indeed coming to the guildhouse for aid.
Joe saw a tall gentleman administering healing to a young man seated on one of the benches. There was a line of city folks waiting for the doctor. The man reminded Joe of the first mate of the Tide Dancer. He had the same dark skin and large frame as Kyllean. He even had similar features.
Hanebbo Daneskigh: Dunian: Healer/Physic 24
“Hey, Earcellwen. Are you heading back out?” Joe asked the archer as he placed a hand on Finn’s smooth leg.
“Not sure. Food first. But after, who knows.” the elf stated.
“Can I leave Finn with you for a minute while I go help Master Daneskigh?”
“Sure,” RC exclaimed excitedly. The ranger was clearly an animal lover. Whereas Hah'roo's 'rangerness' was more in line with her wandering personality.
Joe projected ‘Be good’ through [Pack Master] before crossing the plaza to where the clinic was set up. As he stepped to the man’s side, Joe addressed the healer.
“Master Daneskigh, hi. Mercy Suku mentioned you to me. How can I help?”
Joe felt the brush of an assessment as the man’s dark eyes fell on him. The physician looked puzzled for a moment. Joe realized that [No one] must be presenting Master Daneskigh with a very abbreviated list of information. Regardless, the man’s face brightened quickly and he held out a hand.
“Ah, you must be the Joe I have heard so much about. I was wondering when we would meet. No better time than the present. Grab a stool and help the next in line unless a critical case is brought in. They have been prioritized for us already by that gold-haired gnome,” Hanebbo stated, gesturing toward Puqmup as he drew a tin of ointment from a satchel that looked identical to the one Joe had hanging off his shoulder. With a deft touch, the doctor spread a line of glistening salve over the young man’s recently healed abrasion. When Doctor Daneskigh saw Joe’s curious look, he added. “A dab of numbing agent. Our healing tends to leave a bit of soreness this young man can do without.”
Joe knew that was how his healing worked, but he had never given it much thought. The pain faded quickly enough. Still, the master medic’s method saved the patient even that last lingering discomfort. Joe would remember that.
He sat down and immersed himself in doing the best job he could beside the local healer. Master Daneskigh was just as agreeable with those he was healing as he was with Joe. Between patients, he asked a few simple questions to get Joe’s story. In turn, Joe learned that the man had traveled north from the Southern Deserts, the homeland of the Dunian tribes. Versed in the practices of the Wehlian church, he found his talents were welcome here in the rough and tumble coastal city.
Together, they worked their way through those waiting and the many more that were being brought in. When the line finally dwindled, Hanebbo sent Joe off to get something to eat and drink. “You clearly have been fighting as well as tending. I can finish up here.”
Joe was grateful for the break. His stomach had been growling loudly for the last ten minutes. As he stood and turned toward the food tables, he saw Tezeno approaching with a plate and mug. The archon's eyes poignantly swept across the clinic, ending in a raised brow.
“Yeah, yeah.” Joe scoffed back. “Ok, this would have worked. Probably far better than heading into the storm.”
“And the likelihood of chimeric abduction would have been significantly lessened,” the sentinel mocked.
“You are not going to let that rest any time soon, are you?” Joe shrugged as he dug into the plate of beans and meat.
“Nope. But I know we saved lives last night, and I heard your presence on the beach saved many more. In that light, I can temper my ‘I told you so’s’ to once an hour,” the archon uttered in his dead-pan voice, even though he was grinning broadly at Joe. “So you have to tell me what happened. Was that Tusked Tarz I saw in the storm?”
“It was,” Joe replied. He began the story only to have to restart it when Kenda and Hah’roo joined them. Joe looked for Earcellwen and his companion only to find the elf had gotten the big brute to let her ride him. The two looked like they were about to run a load of supplies down to the beach. Joe was sure he would end up retelling the tale again sometime later for the archer.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
They were not at all surprised by his escape from the manticore. This group was familiar with Joe’s teleport and purging skills. It was the hide ball in the sky that raised eyebrows.
“That actually worked,” Tez asked. Even with his monotone voice, Joe could detect a note of skeptical astonishment.
“Surprisingly better than you would expect. The biggest boon from the ridiculous idea was the orb carried me away from the city and out over the ocean. I had hoped to figure out a way to make a controlled decent, but that idea went to crap pretty quickly. As soon as I opened it a tiny bit to see where I was, the whole thing collapsed.”
“How high were you?”Kendell asked, sitting at his side. Joe kept thinking about taking her hand again, but he had always been an animate storyteller. He was gesticulating his way through his wild journey in a manner that required both of his hands.
“Lower than I started. Higher than I wanted to be. It was hard to tell with the waves being as tall as they were. The hide saved me. As it came from an epic werewolf, the thing had massive damage resistance and a huge self-repair. We hit the water hard, but it took the brunt of the damage. I only came out of it with a broken leg.”
“You have a broken leg!” the trainer demanded. “And you have been fighting on it this whole time?”
“Huh,” Joe grunted, amazed himself. “Actually, no. It’s healed. How the … the Mercy. When she channeled that huge heal through me, it must have fixed it. I forgot it had even been broken after that.”
“Continue then with the tale,” Hah’roo prompted. “What became of the hide? Was it lost?”
“It was in pretty bad shape, but I managed to shrink it enough to get it back into my dim-bag, along with an awful lot of seawater. I’ll have to deal with that mess shortly.”
“Don’t wait,” Kenda stated. “Buy yourself a [Dryrock] or [Hotrock]. Once you start getting mold in a dimensional bag, it's almost impossible to get it out.”
“Better off just buying a new one,” Tezeno added.
“Good to know,” Joe replied. Since he had been talking for a while, he turned to Hah’roo. “So what happened with you guys? How did …”
“You cannot leave your tale there, Joe,” the wind-dancer huffed. “How did you get to shore?”
“Quick answer is a [Potion of Endless Breath] and Finn. The long answer is one Earcellwen will want to hear, so … come on. How did you and RC get separated?”
“The storm wardens were predicting the formation of the creature. As I was able to sense patterns even more clearly than they could, they asked if I would help them. They had hoped to disrupt the manifestation of the beast. As we were discussing this, a message from Kerrig reached Vexor. Their team had been anchored by the draconian ambassador. Like all of their kind, the man failed to honor his word. He left them to chase down a shellycoat champion. This left their end of the beach significantly undermanned. Vexor and Earcellwen went to assist while I remained with the wardens.”
Joe noticed that more wounded had been brought to the plaza in front of the guildhouse. Master Daneskigh was tending to them, but now that Joe had eaten, he realized he should probably get back to work.
“I’ll finish this later. Look, there are folks who need me,” he stated, standing.
“Or we could go with your original idea. Now I think it is far more pragmatic than it was last night,” Tezeno interjected. “I think you and I and a scout could get to those who need help but can’t make it here.”
Joe stopped in his tracks. He was starting to like Tezeno, but the man constantly surprised him.
“Alright,” Joe drawled. “Sounds good.” RC was gone, but he had someone just as capable right here. “Hah’roo? Care to join us?”
“Of course,” she assented airily.
Kendell looked around and shrugged. “I should stay here. Myllo and Puq will need help coordinating efforts. Before you guys go, you should both take a few minutes to incorporate your gains. Better to have all your tools available rather than have something that could have helped be waiting in your scrolls.”
The shield-bearing archon nodded his agreement. “Let’s take ten, and then we’ll go.”
Joe looked at the massive stack of waiting windows. He had to agree; there was a lot of potential waiting for him in those windows. Joe walked over and grabbed another mug of water and then found a spot out of the way to start weeding through the pile. First, he purged all the old status and condition warnings. That chopped a quarter off the stack. He then mass accepted the skill level-ups, reducing the remaining screens by almost two-thirds.
The first windows he sought to open had to be his level-ups. It had been a while since he had leveled, and last night, he had earned two of them. The rare-ranked crabs had been worth a hefty chunk of experience points, especially for Earcellwen and himself, given they were the lowest levels on the team.
You have reached level 15. You do not gain an attribute point on this level.
You have reached level 16. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point and a trait and skill for that class.
Due to the strange conjunction of the lycanthropic infection and Joe’s changeling abilities, he had a stack of skills he passed up on when he took the Fell Bane Hunter class. Everyone builds such a list as they level with multiple classes; case in point, he had a Healer class ability he passed on when he took [Spot Weakness] at level 14. Joe’s catalog of untaken skills just started out more extensive than most. He looked over the list, noting the two new options available to him now.
Skill
Class
Rarity
Attribute
[Behemoth Slayer]: You gain a 25% chance to track abominations, giants, monstrosities, and dragons, plus 2% for each skill rank you have with this skill. Your damage versus these creatures increases by 2% plus .5% for each skill rank you have with this skill.
Fell Bane Hunter *
Common
PER
[Break Grapple]: Beasts will try to ensure you can not avoid their attacks by pinning you in place. You gain 10% to your Strength to break free of grapples and entangles, plus 2% for each skill rank you have with this skill.
Fell Bane Hunter
Common
STR
[Charge Breaker]: If a creature charges you, you can interrupt its attack with a blow of your own. This attack deals an additional 25% damage plus 2% for each skill rank you have with this skill and has a 5% plus 1% for each skill rank you have with this skill chance to stun your attacker.
Fell Bane Hunter
Common
STR
[Defused Damage]: When you are harmed by a creature, you can shunt a portion of the damage into a secondary health pool drawn from your Stamina. The Health pool is equal to 5% of your stamina plus 1% for each skill rank you have with this skill.
Fell Bane Hunter
Common
VIG
[Effortless Healing]: By burning Stamina, you can cast your healing spells almost immediately. Cost: Moderate Stamina minus 1 point for each skill rank you have with this skill.
Healer
Common
SPI
[Mana Surge]: Target in close range gains a +15% mana recovery for 10 seconds plus 1% and 1 second for each skill rank you have with this skill. Cost: Major Stamina. Cooldown: 20 seconds post effect.
Healer *
Common
SPI
[Nimble Evasion]: Some creatures have areas of effect attacks that can be dodged, such as dragon breath. You gain 10% to your Dexterity to avoid these types of attacks, plus 2% for each skill rank you have with this skill.
Fell Bane Hunter
Uncommon
DEX
[Poison Resistance]: Many of the creatures you will hunt have toxic attacks. You gain Moderate Poison Resistance.
Fell Bane Hunter
Common
VIG
* Newly available skills
There also had been one called [Sight in Shadows], but Joe had hidden it on the screen since his [Night Eyes] provided the same benefits. Of the new skills, [Behemoth Slayer] held no interest to Joe at this time. [Mana Surge], on the other hand, was something he desperately could use. He had chugged down almost a dozen mana potions in the fight with the Cauldrakon crabs. Hah’roo’s mana charms always made his life so much easier. Having a way to boost his mana recovery was precisely what he needed.
Joe was still tempted by [Nimble Evasion] as it would give him 2 points of DEX instead of 1 point of something if he took a common skill. Dodging AoE attacks was also an unquestionably solid ability, too.
Joe decided to hold off on the AoE dodge again until he did not have a better common. Right now, [Mana Surge] was more important than a chance to eliminate damage, damage that he could heal if need be.
[Centered] +1 to Spirit. You have gained 1 spirit-based skill.
[Mana Surge]: You gain a +15% mana recovery for 10 seconds plus 1% and 1 second for each skill rank you have with this skill. Cost: Major Stamina. Cooldown: 20 seconds post effect.
The next windows Joe opened were his achievements. The first looked like one that every defender might be getting.
Exceptional Achievement: You have aided in the defeat of the legendary creature, Cauldrakon. You have gained 1 unassigned attribute point. Your conduct has awarded you the following choice of Traits:
[Hometown Hero]: This is our land! +10% experience awards in the Fort Coral region and +200 Reputation with Fort Coral or the Adventurers Guild.
[Grounded]: So what if it’s storming? Moderate Lightning Resistance and +100 Reputation with Fort Coral or the Adventurers Guild.
[Well Paid]: Do the work, get paid. 1,000 gp. Plus 50 gp every year on the anniversary of the event. +50 Reputation with Fort Coral or the Adventurers Guild.
Joe was looking forward to spending a great deal of time here in this city by the sea. While Moderate Lightning Resistance sounded good, he selected the [Hometown Hero].
Achievement: You bonded to your first companion. This action has awarded you the following choice of Traits:
[Cavalry]: Yee-haw. +25% to riding-based skills.
[Sympathetic]: What’s mine is yours. When you or your companion receives a positive buff or healing, and you are within close range of each other, the other member gains an additional 10% of the total effect.
Joe did not have to think about this option. While riding sounded fun, personally gaining 10% of his healing every time he cast on Finn or vice versa was too good to pass up.
Achievement: You have advanced your first skill ([Healing Touch]) to rank 50. You have gained 2 unassigned attribute points. This action has awarded you the following choice of Traits:
[Altruist]: Healing those in need. Healing spells on others provide 10% more health.
[Synergistic]: You can’t help others if you’re dead. Healing spells on yourself provide 10% more health.
Joe had had almost this exact same option back in Crowfield. The bonus was it came with 2 unassigned attribute points this time instead of just 1. Back then, he had taken [Survivalist], thinking he was not looking to become part of a team.
That had all changed.
Joe could not say he ever had any true friends back on Earth. Yet here, the number of people he would call friends seemed to be growing every day. First, there had been Hah’roo. Then Kenda. Earcellwen. Now, he could add Tez to the list of folks he could count on. Even Vexor was someone he looked forward to talking to, as long as the celestial lantern was burning, of course.
With a smile at this strange new life of his, Joe picked [Altruist] with no regrets.