Wella summoned her swarm, which was maybe a couple of hundred Bitebugs. A tattoo had appeared on her left arm, which she could summon the bugs to and from, like the one I had for Rob.
“How many summonses can you have?” Juth asked.
“It depends on the summons,” Wella replied, “I get more capacity as I level the class, but I feel some large creatures will take up more space than others. I feel I can also choose to grow my swarm.”
“How do you get another summons?”
“I think I might get options as the class levels, but I feel I could also hunt out creatures as long as I have capacity. I will have to find information on this.”
Juth nodded. “Ok, let's finish up here. We will wait out the night at the same camp as last night before we head back to base.”
No other major discoveries were made.
Summoner is a basic class, but one that was restricted in the Al’verran Kingdom. Obviously, those restrictions no longer apply. From what I gathered, Wella was now a Level 30 Warrior and a Level 1 Summoner. It is interesting she had not specialised her Warrior class. I think that happens if you are not particularly suited to any specialisation options. This new Summoner Class will probably open more options for her.
I looked at Ryan. He looked disappointed but seemed resigned to missing out. Would the reverse be true if Wella missed out?
The good news for us was that Tāwai’s experiments bore fruit even if mine did not. He has a new Skill called Poison Cloud, which pretty much does what it says. The bigger the cloud, the more dispersed the poison, although this will grow with the skill levels. The cloud is easily manipulated with Air Manipulation, so that is great. If he poisons me, I will know it was deliberate.
I gained a level of Umbral Cold and Provoking Aura, and Rob just got fat. I think Rob was the happiest. Bugs are a lizard's natural food.
As I spurred with Juth and Hist, my Basic Spear went up again. I think Hist was quite aggressive. I don’t think he is holding a grudge as such, as he did ask if I had any general Ice skills he could buy. Unfortunately, the answer was no.
Ryan handed me a Bug core, and I purchased the others. None of them had skills in.
We only had one attack overnight, and the guards dealt with it. Rob wanted to go and help, but I held him back. I think he was only interested in Wella’s Bug Swarm in action.
Juth had us all do an extended training session before we left for Base Camp. The trip was relatively uneventful, as I only got four monster cores from it and a strange pair of wooden boots from my agreement with Ryan. They were flexible like vines, with a resin-type sole that had a good grip. I kept my damaged Dance of Death Boots as the Sure-grip enchantment was still better, even though one of them would no longer self-repair.
We arrived back at Base Camp in the late afternoon, and they were still there. I refreshed my wards, and we settled in to wait for the other group. Depending on how well they did, it should narrow down how many pieces were left to find. If they come back with two like us, then we may only have one or two more to get.
I looked at my Status, and the Seeker Class can level again, but not the Pilferer Class. I decided to put most of my points into Dexterity to up my precision.
Juth had us training hard that night and early the next morning. Once training was over, I started looking at my wards again. If I could understand them better, they could be really powerful. I pulled up my notes about when I cracked the wards in the Undying Lord's trial. Weaving Wards is the right track. It is like putting together a lot of wards that will then work together, and the key is the mana flow through them.
All the wards I have seen protect something—doors, safes, etc. If you trigger them, you can trigger alarms, but you can also trigger a deadly response. So far, I have only been able to trigger simple things that I had the manipulation skills for, but that can’t be all. I think a Poison Cloud would be great in a ward. Light or air should be good for triggering a ward, but I only know how to trigger it by touch.
Stolen story; please report.
I get out of the trust Rattrap. It is looking a bit worse for wear, and it is triggered by touch, but I want to see how it works. It is a trial construct and a good trap. Can I duplicate it or add to it with a ward?
I spend some time poking at it and examining it with my Mana Sight. There is definitely a pattern in there, and I think it is limiting the trap to small furry mammals. I slowly map out what I can see. I also took it out and tested it. Tāwai and Rob refused to be my test subjects, but eventually, I captured a small bird, and it did not set off the trap.
The more I look at it, the more I see that it is about furry mammals but does not specify their size. The physical trap limits the size. Could I transfer this onto a foot trap or a snare, and it would only catch furry mammals? This could be an interesting exercise.
Team 2 did not arrive that day, and Juth asked me where they were. I pointed in the general direction but couldn’t tell her more. I am pretty sure the tracking items they have said the same thing as I did.
We defended the Camp a few times, and I took a turn on watch. We trained morning and night. Training with expert spearmen was doing my Basic Spear skill wonders. I won’t mention it but this level of training would cost me a pretty penny anywhere else.
Alistern, Zeek, and the team turned up at lunchtime the next day. They were missing a person… what was his name? Phil, that's right. They looked exhausted and battle-weary, and all their equipment showed signs of a hard fight or more. They slumped down, and Austin went through them, examining them. Most were not wearing the Guard uniform armour anymore. Several had scars and hair that had been burned off.
Alistern and Juth went off to debrief, and I sat next to Pok. “You look like you had a hard time of it,” I said.
He nodded, “Alistern pushed us hard. Maybe too hard for poor Phil.” He brightened, “We got three shards, though, and I have never got so many levels in so short a time.”
“Three? That is amazing. We only got two. How many do you think are left?”
Pok shrugged, “Alistern will get the shards together, and the academics can look at it. Zeek thinks there might only be one left.”
“What happened to Phil?”
“Poor Phil. Keg and Stretch owe him their lives. They are taking it hard, and the three were tight. It was a monster that was hard to describe. It was a walking plant thing with trapping vines and slime acid. The Lieutenant called it a Viridread. Akina’s water was essential as the acid had to be washed off real quick. Most of us are wearing our backup armour as our primary armour has been destroyed. Phil got Keg and Stretch out of the vines and to where Akina could hose them down, but nobody could save Phil. Alistern and I certainly tried. At least that god-cursed creature is gone for good.”
“It sounds like we had a walk in the park compared to you,” I said.
Pok just shrugged.
I talked with Hilke, who had gone with them. Apparently, the first shard was in a giant snail-like creature with a squirt attack. It was hard as it retreated inside its tough shell, but once they finally broke through, it was a straight forward fight. The second shard was in a nest of tree squirrels and Zeek and Alistern stole it out from under them. Because that was so easy they had decided to go for a third.
Alistern called a meeting midafternoon. The tablet shards were laid out on the branch in front of him. They formed a shape like a rectangle with a rounded edge, like tombstones the rich used in the capital, and about the same size. There was a shard missing in the lower right corner, assuming the square edge was the lower edge.
The patterns on it looked like a ward, but not one I knew. I picked out some similar parts from the door in the keep of the Undying Lord, but the symbols, which may be some sort of writing, were totally foreign. I used my Map skill to map the broken paths and symbols like I would map a ward. My Lore Skill was hungry for it to be completed. This way, I could mull it over in my spare time.
“Thank you for all your hard work,” Alistern started. “We knew this expedition had risks, but you have risen to the challenge, and we will honour the fallen.”
There was a time of silence as we honoured the dead. We are down two guards and a research assistant.
Alistern continued. “We have all had gains. Skills, levels, and several new classes. Congratulations to all of you. As you can see, we are one or possibly two shards away from completing the Tablet. The academy professors will study the tablet to try to work out what it says or does.”
“Any clues yet?”
“I think it is a weapon component,” Barnard, the ancient weapons expert, said.
“It is not elvish,” said Rylark, the elvish historian
“Nor Alrashian,” said Myantha.
“I am thinking ancient dwarvish or one of the Beastkin races,” said Esdras, the general historian.
That got a scoff from Rylark, but Alistern interrupted before they could really start arguing. “As I said, we will let the academics work on it. Just finding the last pieces will complete the boss challenge. If we can work out what it does, there will be a bonus.”
“When will we get the rewards?” a guard asked.
“I think it will be assessed when we exit the trial,” Alistern said, and I saw Zeek nodding. “For the last piece, we will go as one group, and I will be looking for volunteers. We will be setting out in the morning.”