Rory knocked on Mick’s red alley door in the particular pattern and waited. He was a little nervous, not sure how Mick would take his account of things. One of Mick’s other guards, Geo, opened the door. He was just as big and burly as Marvin but had skin as black as the sky and equally dark dreadlocks tied in a tail at the back of his head. He gave Rory a bright white smile when he stepped aside and Rory returned it before following him back to Mick’s office. Geo was, personality-wise, not like Marvin at all. He had always been friendly to Rory, and had even spoken to him a few times. His accent was unlike anything Rory had ever heard… sort of stilted but musical.
As they arrived in the flexcrete room, Mick smiled at Rory. But the moment he saw his face, Rory saw him visually scanning him up and down. He figured Mick must have spotted bloodstains on his t-shirt, shoes, and bag because his smile quickly turned into curiosity and caution. Rory sat, dropping his bag to the right of the chair on the floor.
Rory knew Mick wouldn’t ask because it might be unrelated to him and he never pried into other people’s business. That being true, Rory spoke first. “I have news, Mick.” Mick nodded, telling him to continue. “Marvin and two goons tried to rob me on the way back here.”
Mick froze still for a few seconds and then his eyes narrowed. “Details?” he asked.
So Rory complied. He told him everything, emphasizing the part about Marvin’s claims of people disappearing on Mick. Of course, Rory didn’t say what weapons he used. Again, he never lied to Mick. Omissions were allowed though. Mick would notice, of course. The question was, would he ask?
Rory was relived that he apparently didn’t feel he needed to. Instead Mick fell against the backrest of his seat and let out a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his right hand. “Damnit, Marvin,” he mumbled.
“I have their bodies and possessions along with the cells,” Rory said cautiously. “I’d like to sell those too if you’ll allow it. I know he was one of yours.”
Mick looked at him for a few seconds and shook his head. “He stopped being one of mine when he betrayed me. And quid is quid. I’ll buy it all. Let’s go to the back room.”
Rory followed Mick to the room where there was space for larger stuff. He pointed to where he wanted Rory to put everything and Rory immediately freed up eight shelves in his ring’s vault by making all cells he had retrieved appear on the table. Following that, he also dumped all of Marvin’s things and, after a few seconds thought, his emptied and blood-soaked backpack too.
Rory would have liked to see if the commos had vaults, but when he had checked, he found them locked. Of course, he had no idea how to force them open, so he would just turn them in with the rest.
Finally, he put the bloody school clothes into a newly freed-up shelf in his ring and waited for the final tally.
Mick spent the next forty-five minutes checking every myst cell using his gadgets, then examining all the rest of the stuff while tapping away at his tablet. After a while, he let out a breath and looked at Rory. “Still on board with our deal?”
Rory nodded and Mick led him back to the office. When they got there, Mick went back out and a few minutes later returned with an old, dented crate that was about a foot and a half cubed in size. He dropped it on the end of the table by Rory and sat.
“I rounded up because of Marvin. Check it.”
Rory nodded and did. He first checked the money and found two hundred pounds cash in small bills along with fifty shillings and fifty pennies in a small cheap pouch. Beyond that, Rory found a pair of common woven black gloves with half-fingers, an old tablet that Rory excitedly verified had a GalNet connection, two bars of soap, a good-sized bottle of shampoo, and, surprisingly, a new backpack.
The vault gives me all kinds of new options, and I plan on using them.
Looking up, Rory nodded to Mick and said, “Thanks for the new bag.” That hadn’t been part of their original deal and he appreciated it. Mick just shrugged. Rory then moved a few of each type of money into the backpack, and sent everything else from the crate into his ring.
Rory stood. “Thanks. Sorry about Marvin.” He wasn’t really sure what to say but felt like he had to say something.
Mick nodded, looking down. Then Rory left the same way he came in.
***
He made four stops on the way home, the last being to dump the bodies in a ditch. Once he arrived in their flat, he left his mum two bottles next to her mattress and grabbed her empty.
The less awake you are tonight, the better.
Rory ate the meal he purchased after he left Mick’s, washed his clothes and then himself with just water and scrubbing like normal, went over to his corner, and took out the tablet to explore GalNet and do some preparation for after their debts were paid.
GalNet was the galaxy-wide network for the Empire and was accessible on all planets that had a transport beacon, which was how the information flowed. The beacons were also responsible for transporting non-living things across the galaxy. For living things, like food, livestock, and, oh, Rory and his mother, physical space transports were required. Those massive vessels used gigantic myst cells and fancy technology made by Soul Crafters to move through galactic space really fast.
The technology was all beyond Rory’s understanding, but he had experienced the use of it once. He and his mum had spent nearly everything they had had left to hire onto a livestock transport to bring them out here, beyond the Walshes’ reach. Or at least as beyond as they could afford to pay for. He knew that they would probably have to leave the Empire to fully be free – if that was even true – but they couldn’t afford that. And they would have to be pretty desperate to even try.
Science and history aside, Rory was confident that his new tablet’s GalNet connection would become a lifeline to their future. Now that he could grow stronger, he knew needed to figure out how to do it right and how to make good money doing it. Specifically, he needed to understand what was available on Queen’s Gate to accomplish that.
The first thing he did was some general research. As expected, there was no material on his ghost’s Soul tree. As far as he could tell, not a single Soul Wielder had access to it, save himself.
I suppose that makes since the only way I got it was by exploding my construct using the power of a glowey god-man with the help of a once-in-an-eon talking death snake. Yeah… Moving on...
Doing just that, Rory researched how Soul Warriors could choose to grow. Honestly, Rory was a little concerned at his situation because he wanted to make sure he spent his SVs right and didn’t mess up his future growth. After all, he had already expended over two-hundred seventy vessels. That said, he was technically only level 4, so he had hope it wasn’t too late. Thus, Rory spent the next hour finding the places to learn these things and then just reading what was there.
Unfortunately for him, what the overwhelming majority (meaning just about every single one) of experts on GalNet’s forums recommended was to spend the first five – preferably ten – SVs on the Wielder tree, meaning on improving the body. Given every Soul Warrior had at least one free SV from compatibility, it wasn’t hard for most warriors to invest their vessels that way.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
The commenters and advisors in the forums insisted that it wasn’t that difficult to kill level 1 creatures, even with weak Soul Weapons. Thus, earning between two and nine SVs early on should be a bloody cakewalk, especially for those with sponsors. In fact, the best sponsons would simply provide the first few myst beasts in cages so it was basically cheating. Rory actually agreed that it was easy. Even he, with his horrible physical condition, had been able to kill level 1 tunnel rats using only his rusty old rubbish weapons.
For every Soul Warrior who had a Wielder tree, which was everybody but him, the professional trainers on the forums provided studies and reasoning for their recommendations. All of that material went into what they called “starter builds.” Those were a whole variety of different recommendations for how to place the first five and then ten SVs based on the Soul Construct type.
Of course, they all say to spend first points on the wielder tree and improving the body. Obviously.
The experts recommended strongly against putting any SVs in the construct itself until the body was no longer able to offset that by simply being stronger, faster, more resilient, and the like. It turned out that while that wasn’t necessarily true for defenders or crafters, for warriors like himself, that was absolutely the way to go. As for the others, well, those options weren’t his problem, so he ignored them.
Despite his concerns and limitations, Rory found himself quite interested in what he was reading. The “builds” were absolutely fascinating to him because of the amount of thought and study that went into it all. How to invest vessels throughout a wielder’s life was an entire scientific field with experts who would construct detailed plans out the hundredth SV or later based on the construct type and wielder goals.
Obviously, paying for a consultation from an expert like that was not an option for Rory, because he couldn’t afford it, sure; but also because he did not want to risk exposing himself in case the Walshes were still out there thinking about him.
Thus, Rory spent some time trying to figure out his “build path,” as they were called. First thing was to find weapons similar to his because nobody had a recommendation for chakram for whatever reason. That meant he needed to focus on what his weapons offered. First, they could be used in both melee and at range equally effectively. Second, they were both speed and strength-focused. And third, they had elements.
The list of similar weapons he had compiled consisted of knives, hand axes, hand hammers, and javelins. He dropped javelins immediately because they were long-reach weapons at melee. Hammers quickly followed because they were heavy and bludgeoning.
That left knives and hand axes as the best comparison weapons. Rory read through both and found they were strikingly similar. The only difference being the number of vessels spent on strength versus agility. Axes provided better benefit when struck with more force; in contrast, with knives quickness and flexibility mattered more. Comparing the breakout, he debated between the two.
Knives 1st 5: Body - Str: 1, Agil: 2, Vit: 1 | Mind - Pow: 0 Def: 0
Hand Axes 1st 5: Body - Str: 2, Agil: 1, Vit: 1 | Mind - Pow: 0 Def: 0
----------------------------------------
Knives 1st 10: Body - Str: 2, Agil: 5, Vit: 1 | Mind - Pow: 0 Def: 0
Hand Axes 1st 10: Body - Str: 5, Agil: 2, Vit: 1 | Mind - Pow: 0 Def: 0
For a few seconds he could not figure out why there were only four points being spent in the row that said it their first five SVs, but then he remembered that one SV had to be spent to open the body tree. That figured out, he dug in.
It quickly became apparent to him that he would have to make a choice. The problem he felt he was facing was that his weapons were lighter and better balanced than axes, but heavier and more damaging than knives. After a few minutes of back and forth, reality hit.
Dropping the tablet and flopping his head back, he asked out loud, “Why am I even worrying about this? My bloody wielder tree is busted and I can’t add points.”
Sighing at the annoying reminder, Rory sat back up and shook his head. His whole approach had to be different than normal because of that.
No use whining about it. So what should I have for a build path then?
That question led him to remember he currently had two vessels to use.
Right. So speaking of builds, what’s mine going to be?
After some thought he decided marking this stuff down made sense. So he searched for a note taking app on his tablet and he started putting his ideas down.
Build:
1. Can’t use wielder tree. Sucks to be me.
2. Spending SVs to just open a tree to see what’s inside is annoying as hell.
3. Construct tree is viable.
3a. Sharper is better. No downside.
3b. Can use elements. Again, costs lots of SVs just to open the tree and see if the techniques are any good.
4. Soul tree is open and only mine. Unique trees have to have strong techniques, right?
4a. Summons are the shit, at least potentially. But no myst gained from kills is a bugger.
4b. ***Can improve the body like wielder tree, but gains are unknown. Also needs more summons for more gains to physique. Really like this option, but big unknowns.
That done, Rory reflected on his needs both immediate and long term. The first thing that came to his mind for immediate gains was that he could improve his current summon, the treant. It would grow stronger, glow brighter, and maybe be able to actually help him fight sooner. But none of that made sense since first he received no myst from its kills, and second, well, it kind of sucked as a combatant – as evidence by his own rather sloppy victory. And as even more evidence of that being the wrong choice, he had the winding lamp now so the glowing, its original purpose, was no longer needed. Nor were two levels going to turn it into a fighter or make it more useful. So no, that was a bad choice.
Option two was along the same lines, but was to save the two vessels so he will be able to make the next summons available. That option makes more sense than the last, but not by much. First, he had no idea when he’d actually get a summon. It was apparently luck-based and well, his luck was… questionable. Second, a level 1 or 2 summon was utterly useless and, again, he couldn’t gather myst with it, no matter its level.
So summoning was out, but that did not mean the Soul tree was useless. Particularly because his next thought was to invest them in his body using Withdraw Soul. The upside was an immediate gain in what he assumed would be either strength or vitality given the nature of the treant. The downsides were that the amount was unknown and there was some health risk. Regarding the latter concern though, the gain would probably be so small that it wasn't likely so he put it aside.
That raised the next material issue: once the SV was spent on the treant, he couldn’t withdraw the attribute again. That would be short-sighted in his view because he only had one SV invested into Withdraw Soul, when it could have up to five and each would increase the amount he would gain. That would be a lot of missed growth potential in his opinion. Alternatively, he could add them to the technique itself, but then he’d have lost vessels and gained nothing to help him immediately.
All that adds up to one last option: Investing in sharpness of the construct. However he didn’t even know if it needed to be sharper. Maybe it was going to cut creatures fine. So far it had worked all the snakes he’d attacked after all. The only thing it had had trouble cutting was Lucifer’s skin and that was… different.
That left opening the element trees, but he would gain nothing since both SVs would only give him access to look at the tree and not actually learn a technique. Not to mention he’d have to decide between ice and death to open, which he was absolutely not ready to do.
Rory sighed and shook his head.
In short, I have no bloody clue. Then he fell back and stared at the cracked and stained ceiling. What am I going to do? None of these choices feels right…
Not having found any answers, he put deciding on the SVs aside for the moment. Spending them was not required for what he knew he needed to do next: determine what options he had for gaining wealth and myst where he was. And unlike with his build, GalNet could help. In fact, the experts were actually rather generous with their public advice on this topic.
Rory found that for new and younger warriors who didn’t have backing or had limited sponsorship and wanted to become financially independent and successful, there were only two choices of any merit. The first was to hunt creatures and sell the carcasses. It was straightforward and profitable more often than not. It was also higher risk than the next option. That was to rent your service as a guard, escort, or whatever. That was hit and miss based on the reputation, job type, experience, and the like, but probably lower risk.
For Rory, that was a no for a bunch of reasons. One, he had to remain anonymous and away from any sort of attention that might draw the Walshe’s eyes. Two, his Soul Weapons were pretty distinctive and attention-grabbing. See reason one. Three, the pay was bad for beginners according to his research. And finally, it sounded absolutely boring as shit. So no. Just no.
That meant hunting was the way to go for Rory. Now to figure out where and how.