I caught the sight of Shad collapsing out of the corner of my eye. Immediately concerned, I launched forward to see what was happening and, if necessary, protect the elf from a sudden demise.
Kiara gently brought Shad to the ground as I drew close. As I inspected them I could see no obvious injury. I looked more closely and I saw flecks of glitter dusting the lower half of their face. “You dusted them? Why?” My concern deescalated as my curiosity crept forward.
“They are enthralled, quite skillfully, Mav. They were getting agitated and Ki needed room to assess more thoroughly. The wolf signed off as a good path forward.” Samir leaned over and opened an eyelid on the prone elf. “They’re pretty deep in. We should have several glasses, Ki.”
“Mavrich, what do you know of their Guide and how long they have been in this instance? Do you know of anything that would explain why someone would lock them out from fully utilizing the Sentient and also lead them to have more random encounters of Chaos than a normal seed would produce?”
Kiara squatted down next to Shad and held their wrist lightly while monitoring their heart rate. I hadn’t seen many people dusted before, and I was glad Kiara was taking precautions.
“Valen has them Pathing Freelance which doesn’t line up with what you are describing. While she is more than capable of intricate enthrallments, Valen stated to me she would like to see Shad supersede the Sentient, not be blocked from fully utilitizing it. She also said she would let Shad float along the river of circumstance and not interfere. She hinted at something more, but it sounded decades off.” I sighed and scratched my scaled cheek ridge. “As to the Chaos piece, that explains a lot of what we are seeing. While what has been happening is explainable, Shad doesn’t strike me as someone who is foolish and has been plagued by a fool’s worth of misfortune.”
I took in the scene around me again while deciding if anything else was helpful to add. I looked to Nattens and saw the wolf had curled up next to Shad, her body language that of the patient hunter she was. I debated reaching out to the wolf for her thoughts and knew it wasn’t worth it. Nattens and I had never really gotten along my gut told me, and I trusted my deep-seated instincts when it came to companions.
“What do you need to move forward, Kiara? And how quiet are we keeping this? The rest will notice the elf is down again soon enough.”
“Valid point. If asked, tell them Shad is processing their gains from their last reseeding to now, which, with the mind skill, would explain their state. It is also somewhat true since I will be uncoiling a skill suppression from their being which tends to trigger consolidations.” Kiara’s shrug understated what the process entailed, but I didn’t feel like pushing her on it. Shad had been very resilient so far.
“I’m not quite sure how much time I will need, and I want to have a firm grasp on the skill’s signature so I can recognize the owner or owners of it in the future. Encourage the others to finish collecting more carryable loot, attend to their Skill level and find their random chests. It will save time later if Reev also tracks down Shad’s chest.”
I nodded my agreement and went to do just that after another glance at the unconscious elf.
Samir stood and whispered to Rakshasa to stay with Shad and protect them, and then she sauntered off across the soggy ground to take Kiara’s advice.
I looked around and didn’t see Reev, which was not at all surprising, so I headed toward Chad, figuring the half-elf assassin would pop up when he was ready. I chuckled to myself as I realized I had stopped noticing the squelch of mud and decomposing foliage that worked between my clawed toes with every step I took. I would make a point to check Engli, Rakshasa, and Night’s paws to make sure they didn’t have any cuts that could lead to rot.
Arriving next to Chad, I cleared my throat as I realized he was deep in his interface. Once I had waited several minutes with no recognition or acknowledgment from the paladin, I moved over to Engli. The lion was cleaning their paws, which was a perfect opening for me. “I would like to inspect you to make sure you aren’t going to be afflicted. Do you have any spots that have open wounds, even tiny ones?”
Engli considered me. “I do actually, on my hind leg between my toes. I’ve been keeping it clean since I don’t know of a way to protect it other than that. What would you suggest?”
I took my time to consider. In the swamp, every footfall was met with stagnant water, decomposing material or slimy mud. Closing the wound seemed like the best option. “If I can use my assessment skill I’ll know for sure. I’m leaning towards a tincture of deterge followed by a quick seal skin skill. Would it be ok to assess you?”
Engli took their time answering. Assessing people wasn’t taboo per se, but it was also an intimate practice held by family, close friends, or lovers. We were none of these to each other. Narrowing their eyes at me, they decided, “I trust you to respect it as if I had asked the same of you.”
Not one to drag something out, I triggered the skill Alchemist’s Assessment and brought up my interface to read through the information. I modified it to show me an image of Engli with the injured areas color-coded for severity and descriptor text available on zoom in to highlighted areas. I had it set up to cross-reference my inventory and recommend the most efficient curatives.
In addition to the wound on Engli’s paw, there were some bruised ribs, strained neck muscles and stress fractures on their right shoulder. I knew that bruised ribs, left untreated, could take weeks or longer to heal. I triggered the skill again to glean the age of the injuries and layered that into my interface. I had been right to do so, the ribs were injured three weeks ago, the right shoulder and strained neck muscles were a week-old injury. The stress fractures and cuts - there were several - were from the past three days.
Besides the deterge tincture, the skill recommended I provide an ossium potion to aid in the bone repair. Happy with the results, I closed my interface and dug the two out of my vambrace for Engli. “This blue one is a deterge tincture. It will wash out any impurities before I cast my Seal Skin skill on you. The second, this yellow one, is the ossium potion and will help your bones heal faster. You can take them back to back with no ill effects. You will be thirstier than normal. Any questions or concerns?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I observed Engli using their analyze skill on the vials I held. Not offended in the least, I waited to see if they would move forward with my recommendation. If Engli did move forward, it should level my Crafters Consultation skill and tier it up from Apprentice to Journeyman Common. Those 100 levels between the ranks had come quickly.
“Yes, let’s do this. It will be refreshing to have less pain if I am to continue being a pack animal for Shad.”
Pleased, I quickly provided the potions and cast the skill. I felt the tier up and smiled. A job well done. “Thank you Engli. When Chad is done, please let him know that Kiara has requested we collect more carryable loot, find our treasure chests while watching out for Shad’s and deal with our skill level before we attend to the cleansing this floor for reseeding.”
“He’s already doing the Skill level. I’ll let him know about the rest, Mavrich. Thank you for easing my injuries. I will let you know if any others arise that my own skills wouldn’t soothe.”
I worked my way towards Reev, smiling at the compliment and proud of my progress. I wanted to catch him before he flitted off again, so I hailed him with a hand sign and a bright grin. I had assessed correctly that Reev would stick around for the combination.
“Whatcha got Mav?” He danced from foot to foot with a trace of impatience.
“Just passing on word from Kiara. She is hoping you can track down Shad’s chest and help us increase our carryable loot. I imagine you have already dealt with your skill level?”
“Yes. Seeing Shad bite it so hard from that lightning, I spent my skill level to acquire a general body resistance skill. I’ll have to get more specific once I can rent time in a training hall, but it should help in the short term. I could tank that attack for another floor, but I don’t think I could after that, and we have lots of dungeon to go. And can do on the rest. I see Shad is down again. We should build them a hammock and harness it between Rakshasa and Samir.” He chortled as he finished saying it, and I too found it an extremely entertaining image.
“Whatcha gonna do with your skill level, Mav?”
“I am planning on leveling my potion potency skill. I have a long way to go to get it to Expert without this reward as it’s only Journeyman 17 now. All of my other profession skills are further along.” Reev nodded in agreement with my choice, and I appreciated the validation. Free skill levels were incredibly rare and not to be wasted.
Reev said nothing more as he turned to do more looting, and I took the opportunity to move towards the chest I had spotted earlier with an image of a whimsical purple-hued dragon floating above it. Placing my clawed hand on the cover, I felt the catch release. Opening the lid, I was pleased to see five items inside. Triggering Analyze, I identified my first floor rewards.
Boots of Levitation
Item Level: Expert
Item Quality: Rare
These Boots of Levitation would have been super handy for you at the start of this level! But hey, no time like the present. Get it - present. Ahem. The user can levitate up to one foot above a surface.
Amulet of Sensing
Item Level: Journeyman
Item Quality: Uncommon
The Amulet of Sensing can protect one of your senses from being influenced by skills or the environment. Holds five charges per day. Can be upgraded for more charges and more senses. Recommend you use it now for your sense of smell. For reals!
Cloak of Cooling
Item Level: Expert
Item Quality: Uncommon
This would also have been refreshing a couple of days ago, eh? Le sigh. A familiar deep black, this shiny cloak did indeed come from the swamp snake your party destroyed earlier. Waste not, want not, I say!
Bag of Bounty
Item Level: Apprentice
Item Quality: Journeyman
Nothin’ to see here. Quick, hide me! 500 platinum shinies!
Cunning Cucurbit
Item Level: Expert
Item Quality: Rare
Seems funny to get a piece of an Alembic, but there you have it. When paired with Journeyman and above crafting skills, this cunning cucurbit is designed to have better heat spread and retention. As your skills level the cucurbit will adjust so that you don’t outlevel it. You looked like your tools could use an upgrade. You’re Welcome! Keep going and who knows, you may walk away with a whole set.
Remember, these filters are changeable in your interface. Just sayin’ - you chose this.
Collecting the items, I opened my interface to check my quest reward notification settings. Finding the setting prompt of “tell me more big guy,” I remembered that I had changed it the last time I went on a tavern hopping tour with Valen. Playing with the options and test prompts, I updated it to “just enough information for now” and closed out my interface.
These were good rewards. Really good rewards for the first floor. If the others received the quantity and quality that I did there was little doubt they would want to clear the entire dungeon. I wrapped the cloak around my shoulders to immediate effect and started whistling a jaunty tune as I triggered the amulet to protect my sense of smell. What a blessed relief! Taking a deep breath while I could, my mood soared.
Now we just needed to get off this floor so I could fly!