They left after they had drained the crystal. The tally was good. Kat had leveled up her [Striking] subclass to 24, as well as her [Power Strike] to level 8 and [Tough Skin] to level 6. She also got two increases in her Power attribute, bringing it up to 26. All in all excellent progress. Balmer tried his best grimace of a smile when she recounted her progress in excitement.

Logan’s progression wasn’t quite as prolific. He was higher level than Kat, but finding the crystal and spending a little less than half of it had still been a boon. Potency to 35, Control to 36. Not to mention Two levels in [Funnel] and a level in both [Transmutation] and [Enchantment]. Logan brought up his stat sheet.

Logan Specter - [Artificer level 7]

Attributes:

Potency: 35

Efficiency: 35

Durability: 25

Control: 36

Focus: 32

Subclasses:

[Transmutation]: 31

[Enchantment]: 32

Class Skills:

[Empower]: 10

[Funnel]: 13

[Repair]: 11

General Skills:

[Power Armor Fighting]: 13

Looking at it made him proud. He had come a long way. Not only as a leader and as a person, but also as, well an [Artificer]. It felt good to provide service to the people he was taking care of.

Because of that, Logan felt more excitement as he knelt down on the floor, while Kat held up a light behind him. He scooped up all the darkmetal items in the temporal space that was a part of his Armor. According to Tumor, there were three and a half pounds of the material there. It all gleamed with a sheen, as if they were oiled yesterday; not a speck on them.

“We can finally make Numa batteries for the village to use,” Logan said. Their blue-veined captive growled and snapped at them, but having lost most of its strength, it was more bark than bite and they all knew it.

[Have you considered my request?]

“Oh…” Logan said, as they turned and started to make their way out of the ruins, with Kat moving in front of Logan, holding their captive on a neck collar which was connected to a shaft of darkmetal. Balmer called it a rigid collar, which wasn’t the stupidest name, so Logan had shrugged at that. Balmer himself was scouting ahead in the darkness, twenty yards ahead or so.

[I understand that my request is selfish and perhaps even vainglorious.]

“It’s not that…” Logan said and stuffed his hands to his sides. At his hips, to pockets morphed, wherein Logan could push his hands into. “I wish we had more of this material.”

[Perhaps we could strike two birds with one stone.]

“I’m listening.”

“What are you talking about?” Kat asked over her shoulder.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Tumor’s body,” Logan said.

“Oh, right,” Kat said, clearly an undertone of disappointment in her voice.

“What’s wrong, Kat?” Logan asked.

“Forget it.”

“Spill it.”

She let out an awkward chuckle. “Heh. Well I was hoping I could get another suit like yours.”

[Tell her that while it is theoretically possible for us, provided we have enough material, at this moment I am too low level in my class to provide such a service as to control two Armors. It is likely I could expand my capabilities at a future date, provided that you two are in close proximity when using the Armors.]

“He says he can’t do it for now,” Logan said.

[That’s not what I said!]

Logan smirked. “Sometimes things get lost in translation.”

Logan ignored the unreasonable and indignant protestations of Tumor and turned his attention back to Kat.

“Yeah, makes sense,” she said. “With the way you move and fight, I assume Tumor has his hands full.”

“Uhhuh,” Logan said.

Kat scoffed. “Don’t be a baby. You don’t have a fighting class. Anyway, I just would want to see what I could do with a suit like that considering…”

“Considering that you’re better than me?”

Kat turned her head to smirk over her shoulder. “At anything and everything.”

“I’d love to enchant you some boots.”

“I imagine I would look great in them,” Kat said and pushed their reluctant captive forward.

“Combat boots,” Logan said. “For improved mobility and explosive power.”

“Well it's your darkmetal,” Kat said.

Logan shook his head. “It’s ours. But for some reason I have to decide.”

“Oh no,” Kat said in mock pain. “Woe is you.”

“Screw you,” Logan said. “I can’t please all of you.”

“I never took you for a people pleaser.”

“I’m not. But you all want a piece of me. It’s distracting. You all deserve more than I can give, but at the same time, I have to try to make the most utilitarian choice. It’s a fucked place to be in.”

Kat was silent for a while. “Lonely at the top, huh?”

Logan shrugged. “Eh, I got you to nag at me. And Balmer, when he finds his rocks. And Tumor of course. Thank goodness for Frey. She keeps me sane.”

“You two are good together,” Kat said.

“Yeah,” Logan said. “So are you and—”

Like a blurred shadow, Balmer zip back to them, pushed them against the wall and clamped his hands on their mouths. Their captive growled and looked at them with pure wrath.

“There’s Dorves ahead,” Balmer whispered and slowly released his cupped hands. “Four or five of them.”

“You should wash your hands,” Logan muttered. Balmer just gave him a sharp look. Logan nodded. Fair enough, this wasn’t a time for quips.

“How do you want to proceed?”

“How far are they?” Logan asked. “Are they coming this way.

Balmer crouched and Logan and Kat followed. That made their captive also bend, which illicited another growl. All of their eyes went wide and they listened silently for a while. When they heard no approaching Dorves, Balmer continued.

“They’re fifty yards ahead. Taking a break at an intersection.”

“So there’s a fifty percent chance they’re coming here,” Logan muttered.

“Not twenty five?” Kat asked.

Balmer looked at her as if she was trying to convince them that the Earth was flat.

“What?”

“They came from one direction,” Balmer explained carefully as if to a child. “And the direction they’re likely not to go, is not to the right from the intersection, where you go to get above ground.”

“You don’t know that,” Kat said defensively. “Maybe they’re going for a picnic.”

“Yeah sure,” Balmer said. “But it’s still not twenty five percent. It’s thirty three percent, and I don’t think that’s a chance we want to take either way.”

“What you lack in fighting, you make up in tactical analysis,” Kat said and gave him a smirk.

Balmer scoffed.

“It was a compliment, idiot.”

“Were they warriors?” Logan cut in.

Balmer nodded.

“Damn it,” Logan muttered.

Killing Levespawn was all and good, as long as you weren’t stupid about it. Because at the end of the day they were just beasts. Fighting trained warriors, who had probably had their class for years? That wouldn’t end well for them. The Dorves would be stronger, faster and more skilled.

[Your suit does grant you superior capabilities. You might be able to escape. Felix Balmer will also have a reasonable chance of escaping.]

“We’re not leaving her here,” Logan said.

“Wait you guys talking about me?” Kat whispered. “I’m the weakest link?”

Balmer shrugged. “In this scenario.”

Kat drew in a breath, and Balmer jumped in to place a hand on her mouth. Logan and Balmer both brought a finger over their mouth and gave her an ugly look. She relented, shoulders sagging.

“Let’s go back,” Logan whispered. “We’ll hide in some alcove and wait for them to pass us if they come this way.”

Kat and Balmer nodded, and slowly they got. Kat was especially careful, and their captive only let out a single displeased grunt.

Suddenly they heard a clonk of metal on stone. Two cylinders bounced at them from the corridor and a plume and white gas filled the room. Logan breathed half a breath in before he noticed. Big mistake.

His eyes, nose and lungs started to burn, and soon he found himself spitting, sniffing and coughing on the ground.

Tear gas!

Between his coughing fits he heard steps approaching.

“Well, well,” a muffled voice full of smugness said. “What do we have here?”