I blinked. “Everyone? What are you talking about?”
Cuby made a sound of discomfort—like she’d been hesitating to bring this up because she knew how the conversation would go. “Well not everyone—just Oromar’s Bastion.”
“Everyone here?” I asked. “What did he say to you? Why didn’t you say this earlier?”
Cuby crossed her arms. “Because it took you something like two whole hours to get over killing those people in the mine, Alatar.”
I scowled as the familiar image of the falling woman surfaced in my mind. I was not “over it”, and probably never would be, because it was murder. How could I explain to her that my entire world had been upended, that my whole brain was just in distraction mode?
“And anyway, it’s only something I suspect—he didn’t say anything about a plan to raid. And if he’s smart he won’t try it, but….”
She left the sentence hanging, but I couldn’t help finish it for her. “You don’t think Haroshi is very smart.”
“It was just… his crew were too quiet for how many of them there were,” she said. “You’d think they were all karox from different spores, or something. And—I know this might sound weird, but I’m used to reading the faces of the taxin el, deciphering their expressions, and neither their faces nor their expressions are different from these human ones that all of us—well, almost all of us—are suddenly using by instinct for the first time.”
I remained silent. It was pretty obvious when she said almost who the exception was supposed to be.
“They just… they all looked suspicious, okay? They should have been raucous, a few dozen people meeting each other to head out on an adventure. Instead they were shooting me glances and muttering like they were up to something. I know that doesn’t sound like much—”
I shook my head. “It sounds like much, Cuby,” I said quietly.
She paused a moment before continuing. “He and his followers all have double elemental affinities,” she said. “Which, I mean, you could conceivably argue your way into getting them because you were heading to a dungeon… but I don’t see what would make the double affinity better than anything else you could buy or build in town, like survivability or damage gear, when it comes to confronting a dungeon.”
“What do you mean, double affinity?” I asked. My own affinity was currently a mix of magic and psychic—did that count as double?
“It has to do with how affinity and resistance are calculated,” she said. “Your affinity for any ability or attack you use is either the highest value affinity you have, or a mix of two elements if you have a tie, remember? If you have two frost affinity and one magic affinity, all your spells will deal only frost damage.”
“Oh,” I said, a pit growing in my stomach as I realized what this might mean. “Right.”
Cuby saw my expression and nodded. “Base stats don’t give resistance to secondary elements like frost,” she said. “Which means they’ll deal a lot more damage to players who don’t have any resistance yet.”
“Full damage,” I said. “That’s… look, Cuby, if there’s even a small chance that these people are going to come under attack, we’ve got to warn them. We’ve got to be prepared.”
Cuby sighed. “They are prepared, Alatar. They’ve got people guarding the beacons, more guards in the town square, and probably every member of town is on alert. They know that the players might turn on them.”
I closed my eyes. “What do you mean, beacons?”
“The town has beacons of safety,” said Cuby. “If he can capture them all, the town stops being a Safe Zone. They’re all just inside or outside the walls.”
I drew in a slow breath. “And if it’s not a Safe Zone….”
“If Haroshi successfully liquidates the town, he’ll have an army of level 10 or highers to confront the dungeon with. Some of these people might be level 2 and 3, and maybe they’ll stop being worth experience… but there’s enough higher-level townsfolk to give him a serious boost and get him ahead in the ladder season, I’m sure of it.”
“He’s going to kill everyone.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I just know that it’s occurred to him. Whether or not he’ll do it depends on whether he’s stupid enough.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “You said you understood the taxin el?”
“Yeah.”
“When would he attack?”
She shrugged. “Tonight or tomorrow morning. Tonight because they might go unseen and surprise the guard, and tomorrow because if they attack while most people are out adventuring there will be fewer players to assist the town. The virtue ability we got recharges at dawn, but I don’t think he’ll consider that.”
“It could be tonight?” I asked. “As in, soon?”
“Mmhmm!” said Cuby.
“We should be buying resistance potions,” I said. “If we can. And I should be learning the Elemental Aegis spell that I passed on. Did his people all have the same element?”
“Nope,” she said. “Crafted common crowns and weapons of fire, lightning, or nature damage—they knew about our Frost Resistance boots, unfortunately.”
“The mage’s shop might have the spell I need,” I said. “I can buy the card and use it only if we have to.”
“Huh,” said Cuby. “That’s a good idea. How about you do that and I’ll go look for some potions?”
“Good,” I said. “Meet you back here?”
“Sure thing!” she said. “Just… one more thing.”
I waited.
“If you are one of the taxin el,” she said slowly. “Then I guess I just wanted to say that I admire you for your duplicity. Because I….” She frowned at me and crossed her arms. “I don’t think you’re one of them. Even when it’s the obvious, best answer as to what’s going on with you, I still feel… doubt about it. You make me curious.” She suddenly broke into a smile. “So don’t run away on me, okay?”
“Yeah, Cuby—okay.”
I thought about what she’d said as I went for the stairs that led to the observatory. More than anything, I kept fixating on what she’d said about taxin el expressions: that they were the same as these human ones.
And I thought about what she’d said when she’d awkwardly propositioned me, too: that the taxin el had a strange way of subtly weaving their mating viability into all their social hierarchies.
Were the taxin el just… humans?
It was hard to believe. I knew it was unlikely that humans would go out exploring the galaxy and find aliens who just looked like human actors wearing makeup, but even if they did, the likelihood that we’d share the whole set of biological underpinnings that come with our facial expressions, and thus our facial expressions themselves, seemed zero.
Were taxin el simply humans by another name, with another appearance? None of what I’d heard of them so far seemed at odds with humanity, ruthless as it made them sound.
I reached the stairs and started to climb them. In video games, it was normal to get to a town for the first time and then run back and forth as you check shop inventories, sell your own stuff in the right places, then buy whatever your best options are—but in a real life video game like this one, it was feeling very repetitive.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Oh well,” I muttered to myself. “Hope it stays that way: boring.” I’d take repetitive over actual battle anyday.
I opened my quest log and picked the reward for the Great Machine quest. I took the Belt of Physical Resistance:
You have received: Uncommon Equipment – Iron-Clasped Belt of Physical Resistance
This plain leather belt bears an iron clasp that has been crudely wrought into the shape of a serpent.
+ 6 Physical Resistance
If there was any chance of combat coming, I figured I ought to choose, and physical resistance was the least likely resistance for me to gain through stat points, whereas Spirit was already granting me a lot of magic and divine resistance, and I might level my Focus later.
At the top of the stairs I once again found Anoth, who led me inside to look at the spell cards, all in a row beneath their glass case, still taggable through it. This time, instead of just asking him if they stocked Elemental Aegis, I read through them all—why not, now that I actually had both my classes and could figure out what would be strong?
There were a few abilities not worth mentioning here, because I could tell instantly that they weren’t for me. Spell Strike empowered a melee attack, so that was obviously out; Quicksand, Flame Whip, and Vinebind all did more or less what you’d expect, but required Physical, Fire, and Naturel affinities. Auditory Illusion was something I might be interested in… later, when I had more spell slots. Rune Bomb I’d already passed on.
Beyond that:
Common Spell Card – Charm of Gliding
Cost: 4 Mana + 10 Mana / Minute
Cast Time: 0.2 Seconds
Range: 0 Meters; Self
Effect: Gliding
This spell allows you to glide, slowing the rate at which you fall through air and allowing some amount of control over which direction you travel. You are considered to be casting a spell for as long as this spell is active.
Common Spell Card – Hex of Flesh Corrosion
Requires: Magic or Divine Affinity
Cost: 5 Mana
Cast Time: 2.4 Seconds
Range: 20 Meters
Duration: 16 Seconds
Effect: Up to 3 Might and Haste reduction
This spell gradually reduces your target’s Might and Haste for 8 seconds, when the reduction reaches its peak at 3 and will stay there for the rest of this ability’s duration.
Common Spell Card – Elemental Aegis
Cost: 10 Mana + 10 Mana / Hour
Cast Time: 7.9 Seconds
Range: 5 Meters
Effect: 11 Resistance
This spell imbues its target with added resistance of your choice: Fire, Frost, Lightning, or Nature. It provides half as much resistance to every other one of these resistances as it does to your primary choice.
While you may have this spell active on multiple targets, you must choose the same element for all of them.
Uncommon Spell Card – Destructive Wave
Cost: 10 Mana
Cast Time: 3.2 Seconds
Range: 20 Meters
Effect: 55 Damage
A damaging arc slowly extends outward from your position when you cast this spell. The arc travels to a distance of 10m and is 10m wide at its widest.
Uncommon Spell Augment Card – Intuitive Spell
Base Spellcraft: Add 2 Per step you reduce (see below)
Casting Time: Add 20% Per step you reduce (see below)
You reduce each of the oral, movement, and mental components of the modified spell by any number of steps.
Uncommon Spell Augment Card – Warped Spell
Base Spellcraft: Add 1
Spellcraft Multiplier: Add 50%
Cost: Add 20%
This Spell Augment only affects spells which launch a projectile at their chosen target. The projectile originates from a position you choose within 20m of you, rather than your position, then moves to strike your target as normal.
You can use this ability to increase the effective range of your spells; the spell is cast as if you were standing in the targeted position.
Uncommon Passive Card – Ambush Caster
Double your precision for spells you cast against targets who are unaware of you and not engaged in combat.
This ability has no effect if you are outside an NPC target’s engagement range when you cast your spell.
Uncommon Passive Card – Soul Font
Your Mana regenerates 25% faster.
Uncommon Passive Card – Broadcaster
Beneficial effects you have on more than 5 / 10 players have their upkeep costs reduced by 10% / 20%
All of these abilities interested me, though not because I wanted them now: Warped Spell and Ambush Caster might allow for some brutal opening criticals, though I had no way of aiming around corners. Destructive Wave was the first AoE that I’d seen, Flesh Corrosion looked like it would be a very mana-efficient spell for grinding, and Charm of Gliding was clearly going to work well when paired with Mighty Leap and my grappling hook to gain me elevation—though I’d already taken it as a scribe recipe, and could learn it by making the card myself.
Past the displays, Anoth led me up a spiral staircase to where there was equipment on display, but their stock was clearly dwindling on account of the influx of players—two racks that might once have held robes were empty, and another that held staffs had only one remaining:
Uncommon Equipment – Carved Oak Staff of Corrosion
This broad staff of oak has been expertly carved with runes which enhance its bearer’s spellcasting, imbuing their spells with acidic power.
Weapon Level: 3
+ 1 Nature Affinity
+ 3 Precision
It was only marginally better than the staff I’d just sold, and I shuddered to think at what the price on it might be. There were more, weaker staffs at common rarity, along with a small display case for jewelry that was, again, mostly empty.
Two items remained:
Uncommon Equipment – Ring of Implosive Missiles
A polished jet set into this band of worked silver has been enchanted to increase its wearer’s magical potential.
Grants Spell: Implosive Missile
Spell – Implosive Missile
Cost: 7 Mana
Cast Time: 4.6 Seconds
Range: 15 Meters
Effect: 154 Damage
This spell deals massive damage to its target, but has a long casting time and a short range.
Uncommon Equipment – Ring of Water Breathing
This band of beaten copper has been set with a large, polished turquoise. The stone is enchanted to increase the wearer’s magical potential.
Grants Spell: Charm of Water Breathing
Spell – Charm of Water Breathing
Cost: 10 Mana + 10 Mana / Hour
Cast Time: 4.6 Seconds
Range: 5 Meters
Effect: Water Breathing
This spell allows you or a target creature to breathe normally underwater.
As I read these over, I forgot momentarily about all the spell cards downstairs. The dual-class combo I’d been building with Fragmented Spell and Supercharged Spell had found its burst damage monster in Implosive Missile, a no-frills big damage spell with an appropriately big cast time. Its element requirements suggested that psychics could grab it anyway to use with their Fragmented Spell, but at double-power, and being enhanced by a double-power Moment of Mastery, I had a feeling it was going to be beyond broken. And what was more, buying the ring wouldn’t cost me a spell slot—only a finger slot, and both of mine were free.
I checked its Spellcraft requirement in the expanded description: 6. I could use both my Spell Augments on it right now—happily, they would bring its overall requirement up to 24. It seemed to me that damage spells especially had been made with spell augments in mind.
I had to have it.
“How much for the Ring of Implosive Missiles?”
“Seven hundred seventy one gold,” said the elf who ran the shop, an woman named Miradel.
Ouch. I wouldn’t have even been able to afford it, were it not for the Staff of Frost I’d sold. “And the Elemental Aegis card?” I asked.
“One hundred twenty gold.”
“And the Charm of Gliding card?”
“One hundred thirty-five gold.”
I nodded. “Do you sell any potions?”
“Only mana and health.”
“All right. I’ll take the Missile and the Aegis, if you please.”
I left the store, eager to find some monsters to try my new powers on, satisfied that I was well and truly overpowered.
Time to go find Cuby, again, and… well, and wait to see if we were going to be attacked.