Primordial Gauge revealed that Ray’s new accessory was definitely something he ought to consider adding to his active collection.
[Primordial Gauge]
Primordial Gauge indicates there is an item nearby interacting with Mana.
* Jade Earring of the Originator: Earring crafted by a failed Paragon. Naturally draws in and stores Mana from the environment, converting it to Origin Mana. [Tier 7]
Considering how costly Ray’s sole Origin Mana skill was, he would do well to add it to his collection.
He clasped it to the bottom of his ear. It added a tiny bit of weight that he would no doubt have to get used to when moving. At least the chain wasn’t so long that that the crystal at the end would bang against him.
No more monsters had emerged from the lake, even while Ray had been busy with his level up rewards. That was a shame. He attacked the water itself again, throwing down more magma with the Viledrake tail. But still no more Elementals emerged. Had he already taken care of them all? Hmm…
Ray took a little tour of the lake’s edge, travelling along its shore while throwing down more and more lava to force any hidden Elementals to come out. It wasn’t a very effective method. He ended up crushing two True Mana shards before he found another batch.
It could have gone the same way as last time, but Ray tried a different tack. Anima Charybdis was built for taking out groups of monsters, so Ray put it to good use. While water itself was immune to the chaotic corruption of the black-red energy, the spell still stole away a chunk of the monster’s souls to coalesce them together into a powerful bomb.
That led to an explosion that destroyed about half the Elementals Ray was facing. He grinned. Oh yes, that was quite effective.
To mop up the remainder, Ray used his Viledrake tail to cough up Molten Mana, which the Water Elementals had no response to.
He didn’t use Abstract Conversion and Origin Resonance to turn his other spells to their Molten Mana versions this time. Not when he had no Origin Mana crystals or shards to replenish his supply. That was the new problem Ray had encountered a little while ago. Crushing True Mana shards refilled his True Mana supply, but not his Origin Mana supply. Crud.
Thankfully, powerful swipes from his Viledrake tail, alongside its ability to throw a flying avalanche of lava, were enough to take down the Water Elementals.
[Enemy Defeated—Water Elemental]
Tier 10 Monster: Water Elemental [Level 25] x9
Essence: +22,500
Knowledge: +27
Mana Restored: +2,250
Essence to Level 34: 41,940/83,200
Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,434/1,500
With that batch down, Ray considered flying around some more until he had scoured the lake and drawn out all the Elementals within it. Not a terrible plan. Hopefully, his next level up would replenish all the True Mana shards he was using up.
By the time it was nightfall, Ray had circuited around the entire lake and left the shore a burning, steaming mess.
But he had killed a lot of monsters too. He was happy about that.
[Enemy Defeated]
Tier 10 Monster: Water Elemental [Level 25] x27
Tier 11 Monster: Greater Glidescale [Level 28] x2
Tier 4 Monster: Scarserpent [Level 18] x12
Essence: +82,300
Knowledge: +150
Mana Restored: +9,470
[Level Up!]
Reward
* +5 Intellect, +5 Spirit, +2 Vitality +2 Agility, +10 allocatable free stats.
* 5 True Mana Shards
* 5 Origin Mana Shards
Essence to Level 35: 41,040/90,200
[Reputation Threshold Crossed]
For reaching the 1,500-point threshold, your Knowledge has raised your Intellect by 100.
Knowledge to next Threshold: 1,584/2,000
Needless to say, all the free points went to Intellect to get it closer to the next Tier break. He also appreciated the fact that he had Origin Mana shards to go along with his True Mana ones. Just what he had been looking for.
Ray basked in the glow of a job well done at the end of the day. He ought to inform the locals that their lake problems had been taken care of. Then he glanced at the conditions of the lake itself.
Water steaming and bubbling, chunks of rocks and stones floating everywhere like flotsam in a flood, the shore burning and smoking here and there.
Ray supposed he could wait a bit before telling the locals.
Or maybe, they could just discover their newfound freedom from monstrous oppression themselves. That, too, was a perfectly solid plan.
----------------------------------------
Ray was sleeping out in the wilderness that night when he received it. The message he had been waiting for.
Ram: Ah, Ray. How good of you to contact us.
Lam: Yes, yes. I admit, I was a bit sceptical at first, but you have blown my expectations away.
Bam: I, however, still maintain my solid distance. However, I will admit your benevolent interest is a pleasant surprise.
Ray was still groggy from waking up in the middle of the night. It was so dark out, the words on the glowing blue chat window felt blinding. He tried to send a message back but stumbled a bit.
Ray: Urgh.
Lam: Bah, I take it back! Clearly, he has fallen into a stupor.
Bam: Replying has been a waste of time, it seems. I was right to withhold my judgment.
Ram: Now, now, the humans merely have fascinating conversational nous.
Ray: I’m just sleepy, geez. You picked a weird time to reply back.
Ram: Oh, yes, that too, I suppose. We should remember humans aren’t nocturnal.
Ray was rapidly gaining back proper consciousness. He wasn’t even sure that the System’s chat function had some sort of alarm function that had awoken him, or if it had just been that awfully bright glow. Probably the latter.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Lam: To answer your question, if your groggy mind can even comprehend information at the moment, we are alright. The pressing matters you sought to report to us were already known.
Ray: I’m sleepy, not stupid. But I’m glad you’re okay.
Bam: Yes, your goodwill does you credit, though not enough for me, just yet.
Ray sighed. It was almost like he had the trio right before him.
Ram: We do agree, though, that the situation here has gotten quite dire.
Ray: So you aren’t alright?
Ram: Oh no, we are quite fine. Especially since we have had some assistance. But that is the quandary. The fact that we needed assistance, when our job is simply to perform some accounting of what is going on here, is troublesome.
Ray: Where are you right now?
Ram: We are in the capital of Cliff Two. Secreted away, lest we be caught in more trouble. Why? Do you wish to meet us?
Lam: Don’t tell him where we are!
Bam: I also vote on withholding such vital information. At least until he is less groggy.
Ray: I am not groggy.
He was quite glad they couldn’t see him yawning wide enough to make hippos jealous.
Ram: Come to the Holy Shackles shop, close to the Leaf Blower’s Tavern. Ask for me there. The craftsman there will help you. I’ll send a message that you’re coming.
Ray: Alright, I’ll meet you there.
He had no idea where that was supposed to be, exactly, but he figured he could find out without trouble once he reached the city itself. Ray needed to head there anyway. His time on Cliff Two was coming to an end. He had to ensure his passage up to Cliff One wasn’t blocked.
It was a little surprising that Ram, Bam, and Lam had built up this weird network. Maybe they had a ton of money or valuables to spare. Or they had discovered some dirt over this poor craftsman.
Whatever the case, that was further proof the Holdstar trio seemed to have things in hand. That was relieving.
Ray would have liked to take care of more monsters before going to meet Ram, Bam, and Lam, but that wasn’t going to be effective. His next targets were at the face Cliff One. That meant journeying across the entirety of Cliff Two to reach them. Highly unideal.
So for now, he went straight to the city first.
Ray found that things weren’t exactly as peachy as he had hoped. The gates were locked and guarded, and the battlements were being prowled by patrols of those gold-and-black armoured soldiers. This wasn’t looking good.
He could have gone through the gates. Or tried to, at least. After all, they shouldn’t be locked completely. The city had to survive.
But Ray had a bad feeling about a direct approach like that. The meeting with that guard from Cliff Three had set him on edge. He had no idea what the man had told his superiors, but for all he knew, the Everstead people operated on the same mantra that the Wild Tides were so fond of shouting out.
If Ray wasn’t working with them, then he had to be working against them.
To that end, it would be in his best interests not to get caught by the guards or any other authority here.
That didn’t mean Ray’s little urban trip was now cancelled. He just had to be a little creative about how he entered and went through the city.
Ray’s plan was simple. He was going to take advantage of just how varied his armoury of spells had become after his class evolution. He got himself into position under the lee of some trees, significantly far from the city walls. It took about an hour or so for Ray to memorize just how often the guards walked past the same point.
He also noted the position of any lookouts and such. The spot he aimed for didn’t have any specific people keeping an eye on it, apart from the group of four soldiers that passed it every seven to ten minutes.
Of course, the following patrol would have that stretch of the wall within their line of sight long before those seven to ten minutes passed. That was why Ray had to time things right. He had to start moving from under the shade of trees before a patrol passed his selected spot, so that he could cross over as soon as they had passed.
Things would have been a lot simpler if he could have just flown over the walls. Unfortunately, the elevation limits of Soaring Wings wouldn’t let him.
The walls were almost fifty feet high by his rough estimation. Ray could attempt boosting his ascent with his draconic maws acting like jetpacks, but that would unleash far too much noise. Instead, he had a lot more elegant of a solution lined up.
Spectral Step.
Ray’s heartbeats sped up as the time came. Soon. Soon he would need to move. It would have been a lot more convenient if he could have waited right under the walls, but the soldiers had cleared out hundreds of feet before them to ensure they had a good line of sight.
The guards got into position. Ray’s hands curled into fists. Now.
He rushed forward as fast as he could. Soaring Wings was already on his back, boosting his flight, which was also sped up thanks to a cast of Soullife Cloak and replacing the imbued Molten Mana in his Vestments with more Flight Mana. His speed was unrivalled, fast enough to make him zip across the entirety of the space in less than fifteen seconds.
Ray’s heart thundered as he came to a halt before the wall. The guards were passing his position. They hadn’t seen him. He was clear. It had worked.
No time for relief or exultation. Ray cast Mottling Spiritguard. He concentrated so that he called up only one chaotic orb instead of fifteen. The spell actually listened. Perfect. He couldn’t act with the Spiritguard orb just yet, though. First, he had to use Origin Resonance.
Summoning just the tip of the Viledrake tail was enough to grant him the Molten Mana for the purposes of Abstract Conversion. With Origin Resonance, he imbued the Molten Mana into Spiritguard orb. It began turning from a sphere of sparking black-red energy to a weighty orb filled with bright-hot magma.
Weighty. That was the property Ray was looking for. Now for the next part. Dismissing his tail, Ray cast a True Mana arm using Soulstrike, turning its end into a grasping point and grabbing the Spiritguard orb.
His heart was pounding hard with how much time this was taking. He even had sweat beading his brow. But he focused. He could do this.
Pulling his True Mana arm back, he chucked the orb over the wall. It flew. Ray almost laughed in relief. He could have attempted to throw it with his own hand, but he knew he didn’t have anywhere near enough strength for it to succeed. But his True Mana arms definitely did.
Ray counted. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three Mississippi. Now.
He cast Spectral Step. The world shifted. Ray was hit so hard with the disorientation, especially because when he reappeared and stabilized, he was mid-flight, that he almost vomited.
Tamping down the urge to throw up non-existent food, Ray spread his wings and shot straight down. He reached the ground a second later, dismissing his wings in the next instant.
Ray had to hide behind a building. It had worked. It had worked. That had been a bit exhilarating, but he had executed it perfectly. He hadn’t been seen. There weren’t guards yelling about an unidentified flying object. There were no patrols rushing to his locations.
It took some time for his heart to calm down, though. Holy shit, that had been a lot more pulse-pounding than he had expected.
At least Ray was able to figure out the next stage of his plan. His earlier assumption had been correct. The city was tense. It wasn’t a complete lockdown. There were still a few people here and there. But it was easy to see that things were quite oppressed.
Soldiers did patrol the streets nearly everywhere. The few people Ray did see out and about all moved furtively and went about their business as quickly as possible.
Ray wondered if there was a curfew going on. Just the cherry on top he needed.
He was prepared for something like this, though. A cast of Lifeblood Soulform brought up his mimic construct.
“No, my tricksy minion,” he said. “You don’t have to go anywhere. All you have to do is give me your Mana.”
Ray used Origin Resonance and Abstract Conversion next. With the Imitator present, Ray got Mimic Mana pretty easily. Origin Resonance had him imbuing all the converted Mimic Mana over his entire body, especially his face and his Vestments.
Then he turned into one of the random passers-by. Perfect. If only he’d had this when they had been trying to trick Derrick Orden the first time.
Ray didn’t seem to have transformed to himself. When he looked down, he found that he was covered in thin film of reflective liquid, like he was covered in mercury. But he took some careful steps towards a windowpane and smiled. Oh yes, that was definitely not Ray.
Confident in his disguise, Ray headed out. Time to find wherever the Leaf Blower tavern was. What an odd name.
Most of him wanted to shirk away from meeting any of the patrolling soldiers, but he knew it would be less suspicious if he stopped acting suspicious. So, to cure himself of his own hesitation, Ray approached a patrol with a smile that decidedly didn’t feel like his own.
“Hello there.” His voice hadn’t changed, but that ought to be fine. These random guards wouldn’t recognize it. Hopefully. “Could you fine fellows tell me where the Leaf Blower tavern is? I seem to have lost my way.”
“You… lost your way?” one of the men asked. He had probably raised his eyebrows but it was hard to see under that helmet.
“Yes.” Ray hoped his smile looked apologetic and stupid enough. “This is my first time visiting. I came to see my brother. He’s the first in the family who moved here, you see. Even has his own little family now! I’m so proud of him, you have no idea. I’ve always wanted to be just like him. You know how it is with little brothers. But sadly, I was just never talented or—”
“Alright, alright.” The guard whom Ray had accosted pointed down the street. “Go down and take the second right. You’ll reach Haversham Street. From there, go straight until you reach Abby’s Holy Shackles Workshop, and then you turn right again and you’ll see the tavern at the end.”
Ray hoped his eyes lit up. “Thank you greatly for your generosity, good sir. I will never forget your kindness.”
“Go on, then,” one of the other soldiers said. “Don’t stay out for long.”
Ray wasn’t sure when the last time was that he had bowed, but he performed his best approximation as the soldiers moved on. Whew. That had gone better than he had expected. He wondered if there was a class that specialized in acting, lying, and smooth-talking.
Following the directions led Ray to his destination before long. It wasn’t actually the tavern he was heading for. The soldier had already told him where to finds his main target.
The Holy Shackles workshop.
It turned out to be a small crafts store on the side of the street. The place looked run down like it was going to go out of business any day now. Ram, Bam, and Lam had found an interesting hideout.
“We aren’t open right now,” the proprietor said when Ray entered, his appearance ushered in with the tinkle of a small bell against the doorway.
There was no one else inside the small shop, so Ray wouldn’t be in trouble if he talked.
“I’m not a customer,” he said.
That made the man with the greying hair and beard at the counter sit up and take notice. His bored expression was replaced with curiosity. “Who are you, then? What do you want?”
Ray lowered his voice. “I was told to come to you to find someone. Several someones.”
The proprietor swallowed. He was tense now. His eyes squinted like he had a scanner in his head that was determining if Ray had any ill intentions. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, sir. You’re not in the right place. Why don’t you go—”
“Let’s cut the crap, shall we?” Ram hadn’t given him a passcode or anything like that, so Ray would have to forge on with his best convincing act. “I want to meet the Holdstar. They’re my friends. Surely, they’ve told you I’d be coming, right? Ram, Bam, and Lam. That’s their names.”
None of that seemed to reassure the proprietor, for whatever reason, but his posture slowly relaxed, even if the scrutinizing look never went away. “I see. I thought you were one of the guards coming in with a disguise. But it looks you’re the real deal, since you know them.”
Ray laughed. Damn, the guy was actually close. “That’s ridiculous.”
The man lowered his voice and leaned forward. “They’re down the alley to the side. There’s a small building with a broken wall. If you go in and reach the end, you’ll see them waiting there.”
Thanking the man, Ray quickly left. The directions were simple enough. He found the indicated building with the hole in its wall. Going through brought him into a warehouse of sorts, filled with towering rows of crates and sacks. It definitely wasn’t small. Was he in the wrong place?
He even reached the spot that the man had indicated. The back wall, where he was supposed to have reached Ram, Bam, and Lam.
If they were even there.
That’s when Primordial Guage went off. Ray wasn’t alone. But his guests were not the ones he was expecting.
It was perhaps his instinctive use of Mottling Spiritguard to protect himself that saved him from a grievous injury, if not worse. Something flew in with the speed of a cannonball, something that registered to Ray as nothing more than a spear of burning, crimson energy.
It hit one of his sparking chaotic orbs and exploded. The detonation wasn’t impossibly strong, but Ray was still staggered back several steps.
“Bastard survived!” someone shouted.
“Doesn’t matter.” A different voice, a woman’s but just as loud. “Kill him!”
Ah, shit. So Ray’s fears were right. He had been set up. Fuck.