The Base Camp disappeared in a flash when Ruby triggered the pack option.
“Which way?” she asked.
“Do you sense anything?”
“Not really.”
“How does the tracking ability work?”
She shrugged. “This is the first time I’m trying to use it.”
I considered that for a moment. “Trackers usually have to look for clues, right? Tracks, broken twigs, and stuff like that.”
“Probably, but the person we’re hunting hasn’t been here.”
“True, but it’s magic. So how about we circle the clearing and see if you get any impressions. If not, we’ll pick east or west. I came from the south, and we won’t make it much farther north before we hit that giant cliff.”
She agreed and we hiked around the meadow, senses alert for more monsters. I couldn’t decide if I wanted another battle right away to gain more experience, or if I preferred enjoying a pleasant stroll with Ruby while not fighting for our lives. In the end, I just tried to enjoy the moment, but remained alert for danger.
Ruby felt nothing until we circled most of the clearing and reached the western-most part. Then she stopped, cocked her head to one side, and frowned. “I’m getting a weird feeling that we should go this way.”
“Works for me.”
“But what if it’s nothing?”
“What if it’s something?” I responded with a shrug. “This was one of the directions we would have chosen anyway. The sooner we start, the sooner we find out if you’re right.”
The forest became more sparse as we skirted the towering mountains in a westerly direction. The ground became rockier and we had to skirt several deep gullies.
I discovered that I could jump nearly twenty feet in a single bound, which was incredible. Ruby managed almost as much. She might not have as much raw power, but her agility was really good.
We covered half a mile that way, jumping the smaller gullies and keeping our eyes out for monsters. We saw nothing but stunning vistas until the forest grew thicker again. Eventually we crossed through one larger meadow that had another giant sentinel tree in the center towering above the rest of the forest.
“You have Bio Morph. How about climbing that tree and seeing if you can spot anything?” I suggested.
Ruby hesitated. “I don’t usually like heights, but Bio Morph does let me climb really well.”
“You can do it,” I assured her as I peered up into the tree. I saw no monsters and hoped she wouldn’t run into trouble up there where I couldn’t help.
Ruby nodded, took a deep breath, and rushed the tree. I didn’t see any physical changes when she activated Bio Morph, but she scampered up the tree as fast as a monkey. That was a really good utility spell. In moments, she ascended nearly out of sight, lost in the increasingly dense foliage up near the top.
I waited with growing worry as the seconds ticked by. Had she gotten into trouble? Was a monster eating her? I didn’t hear anything, but that just made me worry more. I didn’t want to lose my only living teammate so soon after finding her.
Thankfully, she reappeared a moment later, hurrying down the tree with obvious agitation. I scanned the branches behind her for any threats, ready to unleash Frostfire Nova. It was probably my best long-ranged attack.
Ruby let go and dropped the last 20 feet, easily absorbing the impact with her legs and rushing toward me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. It’s all good! I found him.”
“Him?”
She nodded eagerly. “I saw someone walking across a meadow just a couple hundred yards south of us. And Lucas, I found a gold loot box!”
“Really? Up there?”
She nodded happily. “A hidden loot box. The AI voice said my chances of finding hidden loot were upgraded since I’m in your party.”
“Yeah, that was part of my bonus.”
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“I love finding loot boxes!” she gushed, then extracted a bow and handed it to me.
“Uncommon bow. This powerful bow will generate its own arrows. Can be upgraded to imbue arrows with elemental powers.”
“Nice,” I said with a noted lack of enthusiasm as I took the weapon. It really was beautiful, a fancy recurve design made out of a golden wood.
“You don’t like it? I’m terrible with a bow, but I got a blowgun with poison darts. I think I can learn to use it.”
I shrugged and dropped the bow into my inventory. “I’m even worse with a bow. I’m glad you got a ranged weapon. That’ll help a lot.”
“Do you want the blowgun?” she asked softly.
“No. You keep it. You can back me up from a distance. That’ll play to both our strengths better.”
Looking relieved, she said, “I also got a fireball spell with 2 uses and a scroll to summon a standard healing potion.”
“I got one of those yesterday.”
“Weird,” she said with a shrug. “I should just read it.”
“Hold on,” I said slowly, an idea percolating.
“Why?”
“When you get to level 10, you can permanent any spell. Can you permanent a scroll? It’s like a spell written down, right?”
“I don’t know,” she said, fine brows furrowed.
“Well?” I looked up.
“I expect nothing but great questions from you, Lucas, and that one is no exception. No one else has thought to ask that one yet across all of the factions.”
“Seems like an important question.”
“And indeed it is,” Cyrus agreed with even more enthusiasm than usual. “You can permanent any spell, including temporary spells, spells triggered by gear or weapons, although the gear would be consumed in the process, or scrolls that act like spells, like that summon potion bottle scroll.”
“Wow,” Ruby breathed.
“That means our permanent spells could pull from a nearly limitless list of possibilities, assuming we don’t all get the same gear.” The thought was kind of mind-blowing as I considered the possibilities.
“Indeed, but some things are not included, like potions or single-use scrolls that affect stats, titles, or things like that.”
“How did you know I was thinking about those?”
“You were?” Ruby asked, frowning.
“Of course. Imagine getting a scroll that increases your Strength by 5 points and making that permanent.”
Her eyes widened, but Cyrus chuckled. “Exactly why they are exempt.”
“Are there other limitations?”
“Yet another great question. I will share a caution more than a limitation. Any spell you permanent will affect your build and eventual class choices.”
“That sounds amazing more than worrying,” Ruby said.
I had to agree. It suggested that our final builds could include nearly limitless possible combinations. That had to be a good thing, right?
My thoughts were interrupted by Eva interjecting, “Congratulations, Lucas! You receive a silver Thinking Man loot box.”
The sparkling silver loot box appeared in the air in front of me and I instantly opened it, grinning with anticipation. It contained three more scrolls to summon standard healing potions and one scroll to summon a full healing potion.
I gave the last one to Ruby, who looked at it in wonder. “You can get random loot boxes just from asking questions?”
“That one’s sub-par,” Cyrus responded. “You already know the answer.”
“He doesn’t like explaining things he thinks we can figure out.”
“Absolutely right!” Cyrus cheered.
Ruby looked around expectantly. “Shouldn’t he get another loot box.”
“I’m no longer in the mood,” Cyrus said.
She gave me a confused look. I just shrugged. “You’ll get to know him.”
She looked like she wanted to say, “Do I want to, though?” but bit her lip instead of saying it aloud.
“So what do you think?” I asked, gesturing at the full healing potion scroll she still held. “You could save your fireball spell and make that permanent. It would be a solid choice and could set you up for a fire wizard build, or something like that probably. Or you could make that scroll permanent and have a never-ending supply of full healing potions. Might get you a crafting class, or what, alchemist?”
“Either is a possibility,” Cyrus confirmed.
Ruby considered that, a small line creasing between her delicate brows. “Honestly, I’m more tempted by the healing potions. No offense, Lucas, but you seem to enjoy the fighting and killing a lot more than I do.”
“No offense taken. If I could use a bow and fight from a distance, I’d love to, but I don’t have those skills. I charge in because I have to.”
“I appreciate that you’re here to do it. Someone has to. I totally get that, but it’s not me. If I can build more of a crafting class to feed potions and things to you on the front line, I could help you survive better than trying to keep up with you.”
“You have time to decide. Now at least you have options.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, her gaze intense. I felt myself begin to flush and turned away.
“We got 2 more items from that loot box in the tree,” she added and a pair of epic looking leather arm bracers appeared in her hands. She handed them over.
“Are you sure?” I asked, but still took them.
“I think you’ll need them more than me.”
I wasn’t about to argue, but slid them onto my arms under my leather jacket. They fit perfectly. “Uncommon arm bracers. Adds defense against slashing and stabbing attacks.”
“I feel like I’m taking more of that loot, though. You’re the one who found it.”
“I got another item, but I’m not sure I’ll use it.”
“What?” Would Cyrus give her another stupid wardrobe item, like a garter belt, or something? Cyrus seemed to like trolling her with dumb loot.
She sighed. “A scroll that gives me a level 2 Dance Fighting skill.”
I laughed. “Really?”
She rolled her eyes and glared up at the sky. “Not my thing.”
“A fighting skill is nothing to scoff at, though,” I said, trying to hide my enthusiasm. Any kind of fighting skill would give her a big combat edge, even if she wanted to choose a more cafting-focused class. Besides, it fit the Ruby Roundhouse theme Cyrus had chosen for her.
One of my favorite scenes in Jumanji was the first dance fighting scene when Ruby was failing at flirting so badly, then beat up the two thugs she needed to distract. I did not mention that, though.
“I’ll think about it,” she said, fingering her red hair.
Cyrus had already forced her to make choices that pegged her more and more into the role of Ruby Roundhouse. She had a point. If she accepted the Dance Fighting skill, she’d take one more step into the mold he’d created for her.
Suddenly, the skill seemed more like a trap than loot. I couldn’t do anything about that, not yet. So I focused on the fact that we had a lead on our last teammate. Together, we rushed in that direction.