Myantha drops beside me and starts putting on the rest of her armour. Alistern drops beside her. I was still in my casual clothes.
I looked at Alistern.
“This was the only place where we could guarantee privacy,” he said.
“Except for the Trial Keeper,” I quip.
He nodded. “So what happens in the trial stays in the trial,” He repeated the mantra. “This is a safe zone and private, so tell us what happened.”
Myantha was looking at me as she strapped on her weapons.
“You brought us down here to avoid spies,” I accused.
“There has been no official war declared,” he said, “but we are at war. A permanent Trial growing and a source of crystal significantly strengthens the Duchy. I have already removed one assassin from Slyhill. There will be more.”
That made sense, and the Lieutenant had several sight abilities and saw through my illusions. Then, I realised, “You thought I was an assassin.”
“Or spy,” Alistern said. “Those are great illusion skills.”
“But you changed your mind. Why?”
He nodded. “The professor’s account of you actually causing the trial to grow, and when we talked, you were truthful about your run-in against the Immortals, plus I had the Diviner the Duke sent to check out the Trial also check you out.”
I raised an eyebrow at that.
“We three are some of the most powerful people in Slyhill at the moment. I needed to be sure,” he said unapologetically.
“And what did the Diviner say about me?”
“That Spectral Slayer was a Specialised Advanced Class and that your intention was to carry on seeking your fortune in the wilds. Your intentions are definitely anti-Al’verren, and you could go a long way.”
“That is a lot for a Diviner. They must have been at a high level. I didn’t sense anything.”
“She is actually a Seer, and she was the single most powerful person in Slyhill while she was here.”
Both Myantha and I raised our eyebrows at hearing there was a Seer. That was legendary. If the Duke has a Seer on board, he has reason to be confident.
“That was revealed in confidence,” Alistern said unnecessarily.
I looked at both and shrugged. “So I came down here to train…” I walked them through what was relevant to the Trial's growth.
“Any clue as to what would trigger the Trial to grow again?” Alistern asked.
“Well, I avoided clearing all the secret caches in the maze, but I suspect it is nothing so simple.”
“No, I suspect not, but we can always try to repeat it.” He indicated the tunnel. " Shall we? After all, the kill requirements for the Slayer classes just keep getting higher.” He winked at me. He jolly well has a Slayer Class as well, doesn’t he? I wonder what type his is, or is it just a basic Slayer Class?
I switched to my armour disguise and equipped the Haladie. There is no sense in giving away all my secrets.
I was a little confused when Alistern equipped a bow, but I guess he is also not giving away his secrets. I guess there could be a ranged Slayer specialisation, but the class seems to be strongly melee-focused.
All the floors had grown again, but things went faster with the three of us. Alistern wanted to mine all the crystals again, which was a larger job. He said the Guard would buy them off me.
Alistern was amazing with the bow, and I strongly suspect that is his basic Scout Class, not his advanced class.
I really wanted to bring Rob out to play, but I had skipped over the rewards in my account, and they hadn’t asked. I silently promised him I would get you another opportunity.
None of us really had to break a sweat defeating the Rat King. The spider cavern was huge. No spider came near us that Alistern didn’t allow. I stopped helping and just got to mining. He was soon filling the Matriarch with arrows as Myantha, and I cut the hordes apart.
The lizards were not much more difficult. I spent most of my time mining. The lizard boss was not hard. Alistern let Myantha and I take it apart.
It turns out Alistern can create arrows to kill incorporeal creatures. Plus, he has some sort of Spray Shot skill, and he could walk through caverns where I burned. I was getting a little envious.
It was the Crystal boss when I finally saw him get serious. He stored his bow and equipped two wicked-looking swords. They were a paired set. He and Myantha tore into the crystal golem. I think Myantha was the better swordsperson, but not by much. I basically watched them and took out the extras as they came.
Then we hit the maze. The maze layout had changed, so we started at random, and as my map filled in, my Pathfinder Skill and Intuition started guiding us better. Alistern was rapt with the Graks. “They will be great for the students.”
He was also very pleased with the basic skills and weapons the trial produced, which were again ideal for the academy. “The Students are going to hate it down here,” Myantha said as we navigated the maze.
“Yes,” agreed Alistern, “but this is actually the best floor for them.”
Myantha nodded, “Shame they can’t just come straight here.”
Alistern kept the Map ability and Iron crystal weapons we found in the larger caches. He compensated us, but nothing like what I could have got. I didn’t really mind.
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“This is great,” Alistern said. “I will get the sergeant to let slip to the students that the final floor is dropping the map ability and good weapons, and that will motivate them to persevere.”
The Graks were easier to clear than the Lizards, even the final horde. I still used my Haladie and Lightreaver, and I didn’t show my Helping Hand.
The Serpents Blade Dance leveled.
Before we left, the Trial Alistern turned to me, “It might be a couple of weeks before we are ready to leave for Merryport. Our guide has been held up, but he is worth waiting for. In the meantime, I would like to flush out as many spies as possible. What are your plans?”
I learned a lot of new information from that. I didn’t know Alistern was planning to come with us or that there was a guide. This also hinted that the Academy was not running this trip, but the Duke was.
“You are asking my plans because you want my help flushing these spies and assassins,” I stated.
“Giving them a juicy target generally entices them to take risks.”
“Surely, the professor here is a good sitting target,” I pointed out.
“Her value as a target is done. It is how I caught the other assassin.” Both Alistern and Myantha smirked at that memory. I wonder what happened.
“My plans are to ride the area, map it out and get my new summons ready for the trip.”
“Summons? One that you can ride?” Myatha asked.
“It was my reward for the first clear of this floor.”
“That could work,” Alistern said. “Every second day, you come back for a night. It will give me time to set you up and a window of opportunity.”
“And if they follow me out of town?”
“I will ensure your trail is clear. That is another window of opportunity.” It was obvious Alistern was a good scout, and not much would get past him.
“I guess it will help me train in some different areas. OK then. I have business getting a saddle made first, but Ok.”
“If you go to Smith and Jones Mounted Leather Emporium, the Guard will pay the cost as payment for luring out spies.”
“OK, then.”
We exited and Alistern went to talk to the guard and spread whatever rumours he wanted. I looked at Myantha and said, “Drink?”
She accepted, and we went to the nearest tavern.
The next day I had some shopping to do. I started with Smith and Jones, and they measured up Rob.
“So, you will need a quick method to saddle him,” Smith said.
“Summons can’t take anything when they are absorbed into the tattoo,” Jones continued.
“Anything he is carrying will fall on the ground when he is absorbed. Do you have a method to store the saddle?” Smith asked.
“Otherwise, we can design a spatial pack for it, sort of like the ring you are weaning,” Jones added.
“But this costs significantly more,” Smith said.
“I will take the spatial pack for one,” I said, “But if you make me a spare saddle I can store without for a backup, that would be great.”
“You will find it is worth the extra cost,” Smith said.
“We can enchant it to pack up when you absorb the summons automatically,” Jones explained.
“It is very popular,” Smith added.
I couldn’t store the ring with the Burning Knife in my Storage like I couldn’t store the spatial packs, so I assumed I could not store this either. Backup for a long trip was always good.
“The saddle needs to have straps for grips and a way to strap me in if necessary. He can easily go vertically and totally upside down,” I said.
“Easily done. Do you want to be able to carry passengers or luggage?”
“I am not sure how strong he is yet.”
Smith looked at Rob and checked his paws. “A second person should be fine, but not a lot more.”
“We can make saddle bags as part of the design, but they can’t be spatial bags if they are going into the pack.”
“Some small storage bags would be handy,” I said.
“Do you want weapons attached to the mount, and if so, where and what type?” Smith asked.
“I haven't worked out mounted fighting yet. I plan to practice it over the next two weeks.”
“Do you use a bow? If so, quivers are the most obvious and useful thing to have.”
“I don’t generally use a bow. I am more into throwing things.”
Smith looked at Jones, and they said together, “Javelins!”
“What?”
“Javelins are a great throwing weapon,” Smith said,
“More power than darts or most arrows,” Jones said,
“Easy to make and use,” Smith said.
“We can get a javelin holder right there without interfering with the mount's movements, and they are in easy reach,” Jones added.
“Javelins or spears, no more than 2.5m long, though,” Smith warned.
“Where…?” I started
“Wyatts Wooden Weapons, two blocks that way,” Jones said.
“Before you go, do you want any armour included in the design?”
“What would you suggest?”
“The heart and lungs are usually right here at the base of the neck just before the front paws. A section of hardened leather is usually a good idea.”
I checked Rob's organs with Spectral Vision (See-thru), and the placements were the same. “I don’t think so,” I said. “It will interfere with his Adaptive Camouflage, and in fact, all the leather needs to be as thin as possible so as not to be seen.”
“Right, Good Information,” Smith said, thinking.
“Two saddles,” Jones said.
“Two saddles,” Smith agreed.
“One for travel and a passenger and a thin one for stealth and combat,” Jones said.
“The travel one can have key armour and javelins and be for open fighting,” Smith said.
“The Stealth one basically only key straps,” Jones added.
“One of each with a spatial pack and one spare without,” I added.
“Perfect,” they said together.
Alistern did offer to pay, so I might as well take advantage.
“Welcome to Wyatts Wooden Weapons. How can I help you?”
“Smith and Jones sent me to inquire about throwing javelins or throwing spears.”
“Excellent. The key aspects of throwing weapons are the balance and the piercing head. We have a wide variety of tips, similar to different arrowheads. Come this way.”
Some were a straight wooden tip, and then there were a variety of steel tips, depending on what you wanted to pierce, which made it difficult to get the spear out of the body. I bought a wide selection so I could try them.
“We have a selection of Skill stones that help. With these, the throw skill is best supported by the Basic Spear Skill,” at my nod that I have both of those, he went on. “Precision Throw, Power Throw, and Piecing Throw are the more advanced stones here. It is best to have all three as they have a clear synergy. You will need a minimum of 25 in Strength, Agility and Dexterity.”
Power Throw and Piercing Throw were added to my status. This will help my darts and knives as well.
I asked about making the javelins, and there were crafting skills available, but you needed some wood affinity, which I didn’t have. The best I could do was sharpen sticks.