Chapter 129
The interior of the lighthouse was poorly lit. They were in a large circular room. It was a bit big for a single room, and could have easily been divided in to four large rooms. On the far end of the room was a winding stair case that appeared to go up as well as down.
In the room Jay could make out a number of large upright barrels, all sealed. A hulking mass of metal sat off to the left side of the room that appeared to be a device of some kind, purpose unknown. The right side of the room held a number of benches that had been dragged in to a circle. It appeared that someone had set up a cooking station in the middle of the benches.
“Traps?” M'redith asked and Jay took out a round object from his pouch. It looked like a softball sized orb with a single fingernail sized hole that was shut tight. He inspected it for a moment.
Streamer Ball – [Rare] - This item when squeezed will produce 8 light-as-air streamers which will cover the area in front of the item before gently descending to the ground. After touching the ground the streamers will disappear in to motes of light after a period of ten seconds. This item may be used at will, does not need to be refilled, and operates using ambient magic alone.
Jay pointed the ball towards the middle of the room and gave the ball a squeeze. Multicolored streamers shot out of the ball in to the air and slowly settled to the ground. Jay continued spraying the streamers as he walked around the room and checked for pressure plates or triggers.
The room slowly became littered with bright rainbow colored streamers, none of them caught on anything and all drifted to the floor in a cheery, colorful display. Finally he cleared the stairs and the cooking area and turned back to M'redith. “All clear,” he said.
The rest of the group let out a breath they hadn't realized they had been holding. Norri was the first to move and she walked over to one of the benches and sat down. The rest of the group followed moments afterwards.
The room was lit by magical torches attached to the walls at intervals. The problem was those intervals were large which left great big shadows draped across much of the room. The torches only emphasized the darkness rather than push it back.
“Rest time. Let's level up here and then start looking at the other floors. Carly, Jay, you two can hang out with us while we do this or you can check out that metal thing off to the left instead. Up to you.” M'redith said with a smile. She was talking too fast due to her excitement over leveling up.
Jay looked at Carly and shrugged. “Sure thing. Want to go looking around?” he asked Carly who smiled faintly.
“Sure, let's go.” she said and Jay and her walked over to the metal device that took up most of the left side of the room.
Jay peered at the contraption for a bit. Most of the device was contained within a metal shielding that he couldn't get past, but there was a section with a funnel tube that could be opened up as well as a number of buttons. One large button had a circle with lines radiating off of it. Another button had a black circle which was currently depressed.
There were other buttons. One looked like a pipe draining fluid. Another had a cross drawn on it. There weren't many of the buttons and Jay thought that he might be able to guess what did what. A display showed a range from 0 to 100. The indicator was at 0.
“What is this?” Carly asked once Jay had finished inspecting the thing.
“I think this is where the fuel goes?” he said while pointing at the barrels up against the wall near the device.
“What does it do you think?” Carly asked.
Jay wasn't sure if she really couldn't guess or was just making conversation. He looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “I'm guessing it fuels the lighthouse as well as the main light itself.”
“Like a giant hand lantern that runs on oil?” Carly asked.
Jay nodded. “Exactly! Here, help me with this barrel,” he said as he began to drag a barrel over to the funnel tube portion of the device.
She helped him pry off the stopper and then lift the barrel and pour its contents in to the funnel. They emptied the entire barrel in to the device and then set the empty barrel aside. Jay shut the lid of the funnel and walked the empty barrel off to the side of the room. He returned and reinspected the control panel.
Carly stood next to him but not too closely as he frowned. “Now what button starts this thing up?” he asked to himself.
He pored over the buttons once again. The x button was probably not it. That would turn it off. The draining pipe button probably just drained out all the fuel for maintenance purposes or who knows why. The dark circle and circle with radiating lines weren't it. That left three buttons. One was a solid line going from side to side, another was a stylized torch, and the last was of lines formed in to a grid.
Jay reached out and pushed the button with a line going from side to side.
A groaning sound so loud the group felt it in their bones streamed throughout the lighthouse and the group heard a metallic screeching before it was replaced by a deep thrumming sound that they could feel more than hear. The thrumming sound was rhythmic and constantly sped up until the rhythm was lost in the deep bass rumble it transformed in to.
They could feel the floor vibrate a little as the device spun to life.
“JAY!” M'redith yelled from over at the cooking area. She sounded a little panicked.
“It's ok!” he yelled back. “Working as intended!” he said and then thought for a moment. “Probably!”
“PROBABLY?” M'redith replied and sounded a bit distressed.
Jay looked down at the control panel at pressed the button with a torch on it. A loud cracking sound reverberated throughout the room as bright lights popped on above them. The room burst in to brilliance as bright white light flooded the area.
Jay heard Norri make an eep noise as the lights cracked on but then everyone cheered as the white light filled the space.
“Better?” Jay called out to M'redith.
“Yes but a little warning would have been nice!” she said before going back to picking her Class Ability.
“How'd you know that would do that?” Carly asked a bit curious. She had zero experience with generators apparently.
“There are things like this back where I come from. I've seen things like this before,” Jay answered as he thought about every video game he ever played with a generator puzzle involved.
“Huh,” Carly said as she looked at Jay approvingly. “What about these other buttons then?”
Jay grinned, “Well the black circle turns off the main light, the circle with radiating lines turns it on. I've no idea what the key with a grid on it does.”
Jay looked about the room and saw that things had changed slightly and not just the lighting. Jay could now make out a glowing plaque set in to the wall next to the winding staircase.
Carly noticed his expression change, “What is it?” She looked about the room but didn't see anything.
Jay walked over to the blue glowing plaque but didn't touch it.
“I've got a Traveler's plaque over here.” Jay said.
“Don't touch it yet, we're still working on our choices!” Aiden yelled back.
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Carly pursed her lips, “I don't see it, what do you see?”
Jay nodded, “Its ok, no one but me can see it.”
Carly nodded and looked at Jay as if he were a tad crazy.
Jay laughed, “No, seriously. I'm a Traveler and these plaques are apparently spread out all over Eden. Only Travelers can see them and use them. So far every one I've found has ended up with my group getting something great out of it, so no worries.”
Jay sat down with his back up against the wall and after a moment Carly joined him. Jay set his head against the wall and closed his eyes.
He would be at work right now if he were still back on Earth, running a cable line to a customer's house, showing them how to use a remote control properly, climbing a roof to run a drop line – he didn't miss it at all.
He was in a dungeon with his girlfriend, his best friend, an adorable Druid in the making, and Carly. They were in a dungeon that hadn't yet been mapped with bosses they would have to figure out on their own. There would be secrets. Hidden loot. Trapped treasure chests. Who knew what else?
Jay was having the time of his life.
Carly watched him close his eyes and smile and she wondered what he was thinking of.
M'redith called them back over, “I think we are ready now. Want to hear what we picked?”
Jay grinned, “Damn right I want to hear what you picked.” He got up off the ground and gave Carly a hand up. She took his hand graciously but didn't attempt to continue to hold his hand the way she normally would just to mess with M'redith.
The two walked over to the rest of the group and took a seat. Carly took an open bench and Jay sat next to M'redith.
“So what'd you get?” Jay asked M'redith happily but Aiden answered first.
“Ranged heal, yes!” Aiden said excitedly. “No more having to touch you people.”
“Hey!” Norri said.
“Just kidding! Still, a ranged heal is perfect.” Aiden replied with a grin.
“What were your other options?” M'redith asked.
M'redith loved Class Abilities. She wanted to know everything she could about them, how they worked, how people learned them, everything. Having three people all picking a Class Ability at once was a great opportunity for her.
“Lousy, that's what. I had a common ability that let me purify water, an uncommon ability that let me cure disease, and then the one I picked.” Aiden replied.
“How's it work?” Norri asked.
Carly had been quiet during the discussion but was quite interested in the conversation. She hadn't had a lot of experience with Class Abilities, or choosing them.
“Here, let me read it off to you,” Aiden said with a smile. He was thrilled with his Choice.
Physician's Blast – rare – when activated shoots one bolt per rarity level (rare=3) in a forward facing cone. The bolts are green in color and glassy in appearance. The bolts do not interact with objects and will splash harmlessly against them. Any party member struck will have their wounds covered with a green gel and receive moderate healing. Any enemies struck will be blinded for two seconds and take moderate damage wherever the green gel touches them.
“Wait, so you can heal and do damage at the same time?” Carly asked a bit surprised, “That's insane!”
Norri nodded, “That's a pretty overpowered ability. I love it!”
M'redith nodded, lost in thought. “The blind effect at the end will help us a lot too in big fights. Or in any fight for that matter,” she said as she tapped her lips with one finger.
“How about you M'redith, what did you get?” Norri asked.
M'redith was shaken out of her thoughts and spoke up. “Well I was offered an uncommon ability that let me cleave and hit three targets in front of me, a common ability that let me charge at an enemy at the start of a fight, and, well, I'll just show you,” M'redith replied with a brilliant smile. She shared her ability description with the rest of the group.
Fancy Doppleganger – very rare – The caster's body is replaced by an exact copy of itself that will continue to fight as the caster would. The caster is transported behind their enemy but turned so that they are facing the enemy so long as the enemy is within ten feet. Once transported behind their enemy their doppleganger explodes in to bright flashy glitter. The glitter hangs in the air and prevents spells being cast through it. The glitter lasts until the caster makes contact with their enemy or five seconds elapse, whichever happens first.
Carly's mouth opened and then shut. Normally people received a number of common or uncommon rarity abilities to choose from. Once in a long while if a person was lucky enough they might get a rare ability as an option. A level twenty character would be lucky if they were offered a very-rare ability even once. Yet here was Jay's group sporting rare and very-rare abilities as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Carly couldn't figure out what their trick was but it seemed like it might have something to do with Jay and his Traveler status. Carly hoped that whatever it was would rub off on her for her next level-up. Carly already had one rare ability, Starburst, and that one ability alone set her above her peers with more common abilities. If she could get another ability of the same rarity or higher she'd be well set up. Carly gave herself a mental pat on the back for making friends with Jay and his group. Well, maybe not friends, but friend-adjacent perhaps.
Still, how were they doing it? Carly had to know.
Norri was quiet but was smiling happily.
Jay noticed and called on her, “Norri? How about you?”
Norri was practically bouncing with excitement when she looked up, “I was offered just two options. I could choose between an uncommon ranged attack and.. well, the second thing. I chose the second thing!”
“But what kind of ranged attack was...” began Aiden when Norri shared her ability's description.
Ursine Rage – very rare – once per day the caster may transform in to a seven foot tall multi-ton bear. The bear form will be that of a fully grown adult regardless of the caster's size. Any clothing, armor, or belongings are magically stored until the form ends. Any restraints on the caster will be removed and will not be reapplied when the ability ends. The caster will for all intents and purposes be a gargantuan bear until the end of this ability but will retain their mental faculties. The form may be maintained for one minute per rarity level (very rare=4) and may be ended at will by the caster. Any wounds of moderate severity or less will be fully healed once this ability concludes.
“Bullshit!” Carly finally yelled.
Jay's group was a bit taken aback by her outburst. Aiden laughed.
“How are you all getting these rare and very rare abilities!?” Carly finally asked. It was driving her crazy and she couldn't hold it back any longer. She had to know.
Jay looked startled as he received a notification.
Congratulations! You have received lost knowledge on leveling and character statistics!
Book creation halted – Mighty Book detected.
Your new knowledge has been added to your Mighty Book under a fresh section, Character Statistics!
Jay looked around but no one else had apparently gotten the message. Jay didn't mind sharing what he would learn with his friends M'redith, Aiden, and Norri but he was still uncertain about Carly. He decided to hold off on looking at the new chapter until he and his friends were alone again.
M'redith nodded. “I have a possible explanation but it isn't backed up by any hard facts, it's just a guess.”
Carly shrugged, “Try me.”
“We all just came back from Ashagi – a tough place to survive and mostly impossible to escape. I think our Class Choices might be a reward for our survival and escape. It's either that or something to do with Jay being a Traveler. Or maybe both? There's really no way to be sure, the way it works is really opaque, we only get hints of what is going on.” M'redith answered.
Carly sat quietly and thought about that. It all came back to Jay. Wherever Jay went good things seemed to happen for everyone involved. Except for his enemies. They never seemed to fare very well. Best not to become one of those, Carly thought to herself.
“Norri that is just...wow. Your staff work wasn't deadly enough? You had to become a BEAR?!” Aiden asked with a grin.
Nori giggled a very un-bear like giggle while the rest of her group all congratulated her.
M'redith had been recording everything in her notebook that she carried around with her and finished writing just as the congratulations died down.
Jay grinned, “Guys, really great Choices, I can't wait to see what you can do with your new abilities!”
“Now can we go exploring?” Carly half begged and Norri and Aiden laughed.
M'redith gave Jay a look who merely shrugged in reply. “Sure, why not?” Jay finally said with a smile.