The last several days were tortuous in more ways than one. The feelings of sickness and wrongness were slow to diminish, and Samantha’s ability to use arts were greatly hampered. Every time she tried to cycle her qi in the correct patterns she was rewarded with sharp pain, nausea, and a bit of dizziness. Even attempts to cultivate the ambient qi seemed impossible. To add insult to injury, because she didn’t feel safe leaving the outpost to hunt for herbs in this condition she started falling deeper into debt once again. Though she did whatever jobs she could in town to try it wasn’t even enough to cover her daily expenses.
After the first couple days, Harold started pestering her about why she wasn’t bringing him more materials to craft with. His own profits were taking a hit as his stocks ran low and he became more reliant on purchasing overpriced herbs from the shops through intermediaries. Feeling uncomfortable about admitting just how bad off she was, she gave the lame excuse that she was trying to focus more on improving her social connections for the time being. He didn’t seem to completely buy her reasoning, but couldn’t do more than continue to complain about her staying in the outpost.
Though watching her point balance dip lower into the negatives was frustrating, she did her best to stay positive and not obsess over it. On the bright side of things, apart from the initial impact her spiritual injury had on Silas–which he compared to feeling ill–he recovered quickly and seemingly with no permanent harm done. Also, once she received a notification that she’d achieved Rank 1 of Spiritual Poison Resistance her improvement speed markedly increased. Another unexpected benefit to being forced to take things easy was that she was able to spend more time thinking about things with a clear mind.
Whenever the daily in-town jobs she wanted to take dried up, she went back to the barracks to work on drafting a rough contract for selling the rift location to the Delvers. She considered many possible ways she could ask for compensation, but her general ignorance made things complicated. While requesting some sort of ongoing commission might pay off in the long term, Samantha had no idea how long she would actually remain on this floor. Then, there was the matter of how she would actually collect the fee from the Delver's guild, and if they would honor a contract made with an Unaffiliated or not. She didn’t even know if there was already some sort of official ‘rift reporting’ process in place, and was afraid to tip her hand by asking about it. A lump sum didn’t feel completely right either since she didn’t really know what rift discoveries were worth. After thinking it through, she eventually settled on an option she considered ‘good enough’ and committed to working through it.
During the downtime when she wasn’t refining her contract, she allowed herself to look through the letters her parents had sent up with her and fully grieve their separation. Finding herself in one such moment now, she pulled out the note she had been rereading the most and held it gingerly in front of her. Pulling the temporary curtain she’d installed around her cot closed for added privacy, she permitted herself to indulge in her bittersweet emotions. She didn’t try to fight back the tears that escaped onto her cheeks as her gaze drifted across the familiar lines of handwriting.
Our most cherished treasure,
We don’t know when you’ll have the opportunity to read this, but hope whenever you do that it gives you some comfort. Are you healthy? How are things on the next floor? Have you made any friends? If someday you’re able to send us some sort of message, we’d love to know. Until then, we’ll be thinking of you every day.
When you told us that you were ascending, we didn’t know what to make of it. First, our little girl becomes a cultivator, then she goes off on a grand adventure where we’re unable to follow? Normally, that sort of thing doesn’t happen until after your children get married and start their own families! You really caught us off guard. Then again, maybe we should have seen something like this coming. As we’ve had the honor of watching you grow up and develop into your own person, it was obvious to see you had big dreams and a bigger heart. Even though that heart of yours sometimes got you into trouble, we were always proud to call you our daughter. Beautiful, kind, smart, and stubborn… a true Cray through and through. And, yes, despite how vocally some members of our family may deny it, stubbornness is most definitely a Cray hallmark!
Speaking of being stubborn, here’s our own minor show of hard-headedness for you. We know you said not to tell you anything about where we were headed because you were concerned about ill-intentioned people finding out… but this isn’t ‘telling’ you! By the time you see this, you’ll likely be beyond the reach of anyone who would use the information to do us any harm. Maybe it’s selfish of us, but parents are allowed to be selfish sometimes too, you know? And maybe, just maybe, this information can help you find your way back to us…
The letter went on to describe their plans to leave for a city far to the North of Yivesh called Sophras. Their travel route would take them through a settlement every few weeks to restock supplies and encompassed months worth of slow, steady progress. Depending on how smoothly things went, it was entirely possible they wouldn’t arrive at their destination for six months.
Despite all Yiveshians being brought up with basic weapons training and her parents possessing vast knowledge about weapons and armor due to their profession, she still had a hard time envisioning them in a life or death fight. As much as she wanted to pretend the entire journey would be a safe one with Tiny, Felix, and Thomas protecting the caravan, it was unlikely that nothing would go wrong. She could only pray that any injuries were minor and there would be no deaths. If there were, she didn’t know how she would cope with that. It was painful enough to be responsible for death already, but her family…?
Pushing the unhelpful speculations from her mind, she read the final words of the letter.
Love you forever and ever,
Mom and Dad
P.S. …and ever!
She smiled, and carefully put the letter back in its envelope. She placed it beside the other letters in her enchanted bag and took a few minutes to compose herself. As she dried her face and waited for any lingering redness to go away, she pulled up [Jackalope of All Trades] again.
Jackalope of all Trades (Rank 4)
*Mongrel Bloodline
(0/4 Bond Ability Points Invested):
Forge Light [2 BP] - Like the Celestial Hare, you gain the ability to manipulate light into a solid state. Properties and duration of forged objects will vary depending on light source, light intensity, and initial qi invested.
Abundant Spring (Rank 2) [2 BP] - You and your bond’s qi pool and regeneration combine into one. Your bond’s cooldowns will be significantly reduced in exchange for a small consumption of qi per ability use, and can be eliminated entirely by expending additional qi. For one minute each day your bond can call upon their Empyrean Stag heritage to increase in size, Strength, and Resilience relative to your shared maximum qi pool.
Spectral Projection (Rank 2) [2 BP] - You gain the ability to temporarily project your consciousness outside of your body or to any location you can clearly visualize for 1 qi per minute. By expending additional qi, you can manifest a weak, semi-transparent physical form. Arts used while projecting will no longer incur a qi cost penalty. Upon canceling the ability or running out of qi your consciousness will be returned to your body.
Mongrel’s Feast [2 BP] - You can permanently sacrifice bond abilities in exchange for an amount of BP’s equal to their cost. Sacrificing an ability with the potential for multiple ranks will yield BP’s equal to the total cost of all ranks. Sacrificing a purchased ability will yield a full refund of invested BP and BP for any remaining rank potential. Sacrificing the unpurchased rank of an ability you already possess will yield BP for the remaining ranks and halt that ability’s potential progression.
When she’d first seen the new available abilities she’d been incredibly excited by all of them, but as time went on she became more distressed about her future choice.
[Mongrel’s Feast] had stood out to her the most because it was so different from all other bond abilities she’d seen or heard of. The option to exchange abilities for bond points could have a radical impact on her and Silas’s fighting capabilities depending on how she used it. Her first reaction was that this was a must-have power, but that would only leave her with one other item from the list.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
With her parent’s letter telling her exactly where they’d be, could she really afford to pass up rank 2 of [Spectral Projection]? All she’d need to do was project herself directly to Yivesh and follow the directions they left behind… and she could find them eventually. She could even physically manifest herself to interact with them, though, her recent injury while projecting made her wonder if there weren’t some unseen risks to such a technique. That wasn’t the only potent enhancement it offered either. Her arts would cost the same regardless of how far she was from her body, which would give even more range and versatility than she already had.
She worried if she was being biased in this thought process, however. Would she still want this ability so badly if she knew for certain that there were other arts that could do something similar? Her representative had said that people had interacted with their descendants already to a degree, and logically, not all of them could have been purely relying on a Lunar Wolpertinger’s Mongrel Bloodline. Even if she did know for certain that she would find a replacement art eventually, could she stand to wait however long it took?
After gaining the ability to project indefinitely she had tried to return to the first floor more than once. The problem was, she had no idea how to actually escape the confines of the second floor. Flying straight downwards through the earth had only resulted in seemingly endless darkness. Trying other directions wasn’t much better since she couldn’t spend endless hours projecting and exploring without falling behind on other obligations she needed to take care of. This ability seemed like such an easy answer to her problem, but it might not be. Maybe it wasn’t powerful enough to cross the threshold between floors. If that were true, would she still think this choice was worth it?
She mentally dismissed the window and roughly tousled her hair with her hands.
I don’t even have the points for any of these yet. I need to focus my energies on problems I can actually solve.
She pulled out the rift contract terms and went through them again for what felt like the thousandth time. She wracked her brain for any potential loopholes she missed or conditions she overlooked. Unsurprisingly, just like the last ten times she’d read through the document, she couldn’t think of anything. Feeling a sudden wave of resolve that it was good enough, she promised she would present the proposal to Fara the moment she had fully recovered.
----------------------------------------
Samantha cultivated small amounts of ambient qi, drawing it into her dantian and feeding it to the dense, droplet of power that thrummed within her. Standing quickly from her cross-legged meditation position, she moved through a few basic martial arts forms while using [Swift] and [Indomitable Body]. She let the arts dissipate and relaxed her stance as she exhaled slowly.
No discomfort. No pain. It’s time.
She had seen Fara walk into the central hall not long ago, so it didn’t take long to find her once she’d fetched the contract from the barracks.
“Hello Fara.” Samantha gave a short bow to pay her respects to the Silver tier woman.
Fara looked oddly regretful at her arrival, “Ooh–I just sent someone off to do the job I needed. I don’t have anything else for today.”
Samantha stood straight and shook her head, “I’m actually here for something else. Is now a good time?”
Fara brightened, In that case, sure. What is it? Wait–” she paused before continuing in an exasperated tone, “--don’t tell me Harold’s causing even more problems! If I have to handle one more complaint about him…”
“No! It’s not Harold related.” Samantha interjected, trying to keep the conversation on track. “I actually had a business proposal for you. Or, more generally, the Delver’s Guild.”
Fara tilted her head slightly in curiosity, “What kind of proposal?”
“I’d feel more comfortable discussing it in a more private space. Is that acceptable?”
“I don’t see why not. We can use the empty room over there.”
The central hall wasn’t a particularly large building in the first place, but the fact that a fair portion of it was subdivided into rooms made it seem all the smaller. The square, single-story layout favored functionality over aesthetics. The back third of the building was walled off and only accessible through a guarded door. Given what Harper had told her, she would guess that it led down to where the outpost’s rift was. Near the guarded door was a wide, crescent desk, and behind it was a board that had various reports, announcements, and posters pinned to it. Along the left and right walls were sets of general-purpose rooms, which all contained a seemingly random assortment of tables and chairs.
Navigating to the nearest open room, Fara closed them inside and both women sat down at a table.
“So, what’s your proposal?”
Samantha slid the folded contract across the table to Fara, “I’ve discovered a rift nearby, and I’d like to sell the guild its location. I’ve already thought through what I’d like for it and have it written down there.”
Fara didn’t immediately react as she took the contract in hand and started reading through it in silence. After a few seconds she raised an eyebrow. A few seconds later she widened her eyes. Apparently reaching the end of the contract, she set the paper face down on the table and let out a long breath before speaking, “I’ll be honest with you, this is a very tough sell.”
“My terms are fair.” Samantha asserted.
“They’re unconventional.” Fara countered, “And you’re Unaffiliated, which also makes things…” she drifted off.
“That doesn’t mean it can’t be done though, right?”
Fara leaned back in her chair and rubbed her temples, “Ascendants…”
Since Fara seemed to be thinking it over, Samantha waited patiently for her to continue.
Fara leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table, “Alright, before I even seriously humor this proposal or any agreement with you I need to ask a question or two.”
Samantha couldn’t help but feel a bit suspicious at that, but nodded her assent.
Fara chuckled, “You’re right to be suspicious, but I’ll give you my cultivator’s oath that I’m not trying to weasel any information out of you that will let us find it without you.”
A Mid Silver cultivator has offered you an oath (Oathbreaker Marks: 0). Violating this vow will result in the promiser receiving a permanent Oathbreaker Mark.
Accept? Y/N
The knot of tension in Samantha’s stomach loosened slightly as she accepted the oath.
Seeing that Samantha had accepted, Fara asked her first question, “Are you certain that you found a rift? I’m assuming this would be your first time even seeing one.”
“It was in an area with Riftberries. It was a thin, sort of shimmery line that looked like the space around it was wrinkled, folded, or torn. If it wasn’t a rift, I don’t know what it was.” Samantha admitted.
“Sounds like a rift to me then. Good. And I don’t believe you’re lying to us due to your…” Fara glanced down at the contract again, “...stipulations. Did you see a guardian nearby? A spirit beast that was particularly strong, I mean.”
“Yes.”
“Do you know what kind?”
“Yes.”
“...What is it?”
“I’m still not familiar enough with this floor to know if telling you what it was will give you a hint as to where the rift is.” Samantha explained, “However, if we can reach an agreement I’ll tell you.”
Fara frowned slightly but nodded, “Very well. However, that does bring up an interesting issue. No matter how strong or hardy you are as a Low Bronze, a rift guardian would almost certainly obliterate you before you got close enough to a rift to spot it. How did you manage that?”
Samantha sighed. She’d expected such a question, but it still grated on her to be forced to reveal even part of the useful ability, “I have a sort of… scrying art. It lets me see places that I’m not physically present at. If you don’t believe me, you can test it. Have a couple of your people go into a private room and I can tell you what they’re writing or drawing in real time.”
Fara did exactly that. After several rounds of confirming Samantha’s ability to see what the Delvers were doing, Fara sent for a couple other high ranking guild members to consult them about the deal. After they arrived Fara explained the situation and handed over Samantha’s proposal for them to review.
“A lump sum payment, permission to enter that rift alone or with delve teams, and first pick of five items from the initial delve? Are you mad, girl?” a grizzled looking veteran accused. The stately woman beside him was shaking her head.
Samantha argued back, “I know the lump sum I’m asking for is far less than what is typical. You’ll also notice that while I’m with the delve teams I’m not expecting them to be my protectors. I will earnestly contribute to any battles that occur. Furthermore, five items is nothing in the grand scheme of things. Your guild and this rift will exist for years to come, and you’ll get much more from it than that!”
After what felt like hours of debate and discussion between her and the three Delvers, they finally came to an agreement on how to proceed. Everyone was slightly unhappy with the arrangement, which Samantha had been taught usually meant that it was a fair compromise.
Samantha would lead them to the rift and participate in the fight against the guardian, after which she would be permitted to venture into the rift with a group. In exchange for a slightly higher lump sum and being paid by the guild for her contributions to any delves she attended, she would only take three items from the initial delve. Any items she obtained while traveling with delve teams would need to be given over to the guild, but if she entered the rift alone she could keep what she found.
With the formal agreement signed and more Oaths given that everyone would honor the contract, Samantha told them about the Ancient Cliff Drake and everyone adjourned to make the appropriate arrangements for the fight to come. They were leaving for the rift tomorrow.