Jeolas had been relaxing the day from there on, somehow not growing tired as he waited for the others to arrive at the designated place.
As they did, their frills jumped in exitement, sitting at his table and buying a round for all three of them.
"We aren't sure what you did, and those slime things scared us at first, but within seconds, no one was there anymore. Not a single soul protecting the cities wealth. We should probably run away now, though that damned black sky and the desert bejond are in our way. We are rich now and can't even spend that damned money because the people from the bank will know if it is used to pay inside the city walls."
The two explained their gratitude for his help visible, but not as overwhelming as Joelas needed it to be.
"The beasts are leaving you alone because you are contracted to me, so, as soon as I call in that favor, make sure you are out of sight of these beasts, I don't know if a lingering scent is enough to drive them off. I'll store that favour until I need something of you two, and you can go around the city without the fear of being killed by the black sludge auddenly coming for you. An incursion like that does indicate it is trying to do something bigger, though. Now, let's just celebrate todays success."
He said, and the gel the other two ordered arrived.
As they began slowly smearing the gel on their skin, mixing it with their own mucus to ingest it as efficiently as possible, the robbers began to talk about their heist.
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"At first, Tolan guided us inside, where I quickly dispatched of the locks.
Now we expected to have to hurry and evade the guards, but that became unnecessary as everyone ran away, given the timing, we knew it had to be your distraction and ran inside, acting scared so long as there were still people around. When that was done, we proceeded deeper, dodgin cameras, and shaking our heads whenever one of the guard posts was empty. Soon, we noticed that the creatures did not come anywhere inside, and the few that somehow managed to climb in did so seemingly on accident and completely ignored us on their way outside. At that point, Tolan's knowledge of the buildings structure saved us from a few traps they put inside, and I had to break a few more locks before we finally arrived at the safe, a gigantic construct that Tolan knew the code to, easily opening it as I destroyed the alarm with my acid. Then we went inside, stashed parts of the currency preservation bars, and escaped.
They probably won't even care, keeping the coins at the same value to cover everything up and avoid inflation. Following that, they will wait for us to turn them to coins and catch us using that interaction.
We escaped the way we came and were out of the place just as most of the slimes dissipated into thin air."
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When Hila recounted the tale, Tolan spent most of his time nodding along, while Joelas tried piecing together how that might have worked.
"You worked at the bank, right? Either you were fired earlier, or you did this to make your already great income even better. May I ask where you teo met, and how you came to the conclusion that a heist would be a good Idea?"
The duo smiled at that, Tolan spreading his arms magnanimously as he confessed.
"We met in this very inn, consuming gel and complaining about our jobs when we decided to come together and make the best out of our situation. With her being a professional locksmith, and my job as a guard of that place, we were a match made in Laquar."
The explanation made Jeolas nod, before he halted and flexed his frills.
"How do we know eachothers gender, by the way? My system claims that I am genderless."
He asked the other two quickly explaining it.
"I don't know how Abberations like you do it, but any half past developed civilisation develops their gender as they grow, either feeling feminine, masculine or any other type that they think describes them best. We assume that those gender differences come from a time when we still interacted with those inferior surface races, in between our fall from Laquar and the Archons search for a safe home."
The Hero tried his best to give the expression of wrinkled brows, asking a final question to help him piece together the bigger picture.
"And what is Laquar? Where do we find that place?"
A question answered with polite laughter, followed by visible confusion when he did not react at all.
"The great sea? The starry Void? The blackbess we see when the light of day finally stops pestering us? Iur connection to that place is the main reason we only act at night, because the dailight distances us from the stars our ancestors descended from to help the mortals against the first Champions, people just like the ones you described in your market speech, a speech that has many politicians worried, if I might add. They are currently everywhere trying to stop your fans from spreading, though some break their contract and are subsequently killed by a stray slime. I don't know how much of what you said was true, but given that the system supports you, you must be a good guy."
He concluded, a smile spreading across Jeolas face as the gel finally kicked in.
"Thank you. I will go to sleep now, I really don't want to stay awake longer than absolutely necessary."
And thus he went to sleep. Drifting in and out of dreams as his past lives judged his actions.
Unlocked Skills
Spoiler
Respawn (Skill) (Unique): When you die, your soul is pulled back to the character creation screen with half your levels. Once here, you can build a new character and try again.
Once you press the create button on the character creator, you will be spawned at a place appropriate for your character.
Grounding (skill)(ground): While cast, this skill infuses the targets body with geound mana and forces it to remain on a surface below it.
Dash (skill)(air): Your movement speed increases by (move*skill level).
Tag stomp (skill)(Gravity): Target a creature and accelerate towards it at (lvl) times your normal speed. Cannot be used for the amount of time needed to accelerate before impact.
Restfull petrification. (ground): Your body is petrified for the duration you sleep. While you are petrified in this way, you are considered hidden.
You will restore (lvl) times the energy you would by sleeping the same amount of time.
Jet legs [1] (air) (skill): Air mana will concentrate in your entire body and focus on your legs. Once you activate this skill, you can gather ambient air mana for up to (lvl) seconds and release it at a later time explosively. One second worth of air mana can move you (lvl) meters in any direction and push everything else away.
Groundbound [1] (ground) (skill): an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by ground Mana, making everything within heavier.
Blizzard aura (ice) (skill): Raise your surrounding ice and turn it into a shield of projectiles. Born from memories of a fallen goblin, this skill has been optimized to spare the user any colloteral.
Second skin (Steel) (Skill): Coats the user in a secondary skin of Mana, reducing the damage received by [lvl].
Elemental aura [0] (mod) (skill): every living being in an area of (lvl) meters around you is flooded by Mana of your choosing, affecting the target as if it stood in an environment typical for that element.
Regulate temperature (Ice/Fire) (skill): allows the user to adjust his body temperature.
Soul Contract (skill) (Meta): To log an agreement into the system is the ultimate form of contract. Unfair contracts might lower your system access.
Amount of contracts allowed at a time:
system access * skill level.
Unlocked perks
Spoiler
Fairy wings (Perk) Reduces weight by 1 kg and gives the user a magical flying speed of 10km/h.
-10 token
Magical body (perk): Your body is held together by magic. Your body can not be dispersed by non magical means, and everything you do counts as magical. Dispersing magic will deactivate this perk for the duration. Your natural lifespan will now be extended by 10% for every point you have in Willpower.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
-5 token
Magus ¤ : This Perk allows a person to interact directly with mana
Thick bones (Perk): Your bones are two times denser than is normal for your race, making it harder for your body to be moved in any direction.
-5 Token
Thick skin (perk): Your skin is thicker than that of most members of your species.
-5 Token
Blubber (Perk): You hold a layer of fad under your skin. Increases your weight by 5kg for every meter of height you have, but allows you to thrive in much colder climates.
-5
Muscles of steel (Perk): Your muscles are naturally harder and more effective at movement. Your muscles are much more resilient than they would normally be.
-10
Aquatic essence (perk): so long as a part of you is in contact with you, your body can reform from it.
Cost: 20 Token.
Psyonic aura (Perk): Your words draw the attention of everyone that can hear them, forcing a contest of willpower upon everyone involved.
Cost: 20 Token
Shed skin (Perk): You can shed your skin and choose how the layer beneath it will look. The skin will look like you and proceed to act as yours would.
Cost: 15 Token
Animating dust (perk): Anyone that dies after inhaling the dust will be reanimated as a Vito-Necromantic shambler.
Cost: 40 Token
Unlocked Handycaps
Spoiler
Slim: Reduce the amount a creature weighs by 5% per level of this handycap chosen, which can be stacked up to three times.
+1 Token
Small: Reduces the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Heavenbound (handycap): Should you ever disconnect from the ground, gravitation will reverse for you. Any kinetic force excerted on you will be 100% more effective at moving you.
+8 Token
One armed (handycap): You only have one useable arm.
+30 Token
Bulky tendencies (Handycap): Your weight can not be reduced by more than 10% increases to your weight that hold for more than a day are permanent.
+15 Token.
Large (Handycap): Increases the height of a creatur by 20%.
+5 Token
Overweight (handycap): You weigh 10% more than your race normally does. (Can be equipped up to three times)
+5 Token
Body of stone (Handycap): your body is petrified, heavily limiting your mobility.
+30 Token
Shadowless (handycap): You do not have a shadow.
+20 Token