Kaira clapped her hands. “So, you all know me, and you five know each other, but we’ve got two new people with us this time. You may know one of them, but I know that most of you don’t know the other. So! Deni, Ana, front and center, please!”
It was the morning of Ana’s first expedition, Delve, organized adventure, or whatever else anyone might want to call it. It was right after breakfast, the sun was barely up, and Kaira, Ana, and six other women had gathered with all their equipment, borrowed or owned, beside the Waystone. Petra was there, and Ana thought that she recognized some faces from the baths, but that was it.
As Ana prepared to introduce herself, the girl called Deni beat her to it. Deni looked young — and with her label being [Human Clerk (6)] she probably wasn’t older than 16 or 17 — and very, very excited.
“Hi, all!” Deni gushed. “I’m Denikla Parser, but call me Deni, everybody does! Um, you may recognize me from my parents’ shop, they’re the bookbinders behind the baths, but if you don’t that’s all right. So, um, I’m a Clerk right now but Miss Kaira helped me find my affinity and learn Channelling and Shaping and, oh gods, don’t tell my parents but once I’ve got enough Crystals to hit 5 in one go I’m going to reset!”
Good Lord, Ana thought. Kaira helped her… and if Crafts can make you behave more in line with them, and if she’s this energetic now…
Ana suspected that once Deni really got going with her Craft, she’d be… interesting to be around.
Kaira was beaming. “Thank you, Deni! And what do you do in a Party?”
“Oh, right! Offensive mage!”
“Great! And next, Ana!”
Right. It was time to be likable.
“Hello,” Ana said and waved. She wanted to look a little shy and uncertain, but not enough that Kaira would think it was weird. “My name’s Anastasia Cole. Ana. I know that there’s been some talk going around and I’m sure that some of you know this already, but, well, I’m the new girl. The accidental.”
There were sympathetic murmurs and kind looks from most of the group, except one woman in the back who looked very unimpressed.
“As you can see my Class is Companion—”
There were some curious looks at that.
“—But, no, not that kind. More like a minder. I came here with a boy, but…” she hesitated just long enough. She made her voice soft and sad and her eyes nice and teary, and finished, “...he died. When we came through. We were attacked.”
The sympathetic looks and murmurs were much more direct this time.
“But there's nothing I can do about that,” Ana continued briskly, blinking the tears away. “I was lucky enough to meet Kaira and her group, and this Delving business sounds very exciting. And while I’m sure some of you are worried about my low level—”
The skeptical woman in the back nodded minutely.
“—I can take care of myself. I know how to fight—”
“Knife girl!” someone said cheerfully, a tall-ish, bright-eyed woman with a head full of tight brown braids.
Ana smiled and continued, “—and I’m no stranger to the woods, either. I’ve got a crossbow but I’ll be fighting close up most of the time. I won’t hold you back.”
“Thank you, Ana!” Kaira said, clapping her on the shoulder and addressing the other women. “Go on, ladies. Your turn!”
Petra spoke up first. “You both know who I am,” she said with a friendly wave. “Petra. I’m a frontliner in these groups, and I usually run the camp.”
“And we’re damn lucky for it,” the young woman to her left said. She was a large woman, tall and curvy, and a [Human Clerk (12)]. “Hi, I’m Dilmik! I work at Administration, usually, but I like to skive off and run around shooting arrows in the forest whenever I get the chance.” She smiled hugely as the woman next to her rolled her eyes.
This woman was short and slight, but otherwise bore a resemblance to Dilmik. A year younger, perhaps. Despite her build there was a sense of steadiness to her. To Ana’s surprise she was labeled [Human Evoker (10)]. An Evoker who wasn’t a fulltime Delver, then? “Don’t mind Dil,” she said. “This woman has never missed a day of work in her life. She clears any time off weeks in advance.”
Dilmik reached out with a smile and ruffled her hair, which she accepted stoically. “I’m Sendra,” the Evoker said. “We’re sisters, if you couldn’t tell by how very similar we are. I’m a Water Evoker, and I’m one of the small group of people who keeps the baths running. Satisfying work, but not very exciting, so I’ll be the support mage on this Delve.”
“Rayni,” said the unimpressed woman at the back once Sendra fell silent. She was a dark, slightly built [Human Huntress (11)] with hawkish features. “I’ll be scouting, and providing ranged support in fights.”
Her eyes never left Ana.
“And I’m Mestendi,” said the woman with the braids. Her label marked her as an [Elfin Jeweller (14)], and when Ana looked closely she could see the pointed ears, decorated by numerous studs and small rings and partially hidden by the braids. She was also, Ana noted, the only woman there wearing obvious make-up, amber eyes thickly but neatly lined with some black substance that flared into exaggerated wings. It was, Ana thought, an interesting decision considering that they’d be sweating a lot, but she wasn't going to criticize the other woman’s fashion choices if that was what she wanted to do. She seemed nice enough, having had a friendly grin on her face ever since she’d recognized Ana. “You can call me Miss, Ten, Dee, or whatever else you want. I’ll be joining Petra and Anastasia at the front.”
Kaira clapped her hands. “And that’s everyone! Now, ground rules. This is mostly for Ana and Deni and I could have just gone through it with them because the rest of you have heard it all before, but you all gotta listen up anyway! Rule one…”
The official rules were… well, military discipline it was not. It basically came down to: be nice, help each other, absolutely no drinking as long as they were out. Kaira was going to be staying in the background, but if she got involved she was an absolute dictator. Obey her on pain of not being welcome back, or possibly death by demon depending on how serious the situation was. To this Kaira added that Petra ran the camp, and if she asked you to do something you should just do it, and everyone would have a much more comfortable experience.
After that they went through what they were actually doing. If Ana had her way this should have taken a couple of hours, but Kaira had treated it so casually when she’d brought it up that Ana hadn’t wanted to push. And at no point had she gotten a sense of danger or real worry from anyone. Whatever they were doing it was supposed to be fun and exciting, but ultimately safe. And hell, if things went entirely sideways, Ana had her gun with her last few precious bullets in a belt pouch.
She didn’t get much more in the way of detail now, either. “We’re heading out the dawnward gate,” Kaira announced, “And then heading dawnward and south for, oh… ten or twelve hours. That’s actual walking, by the way. There’s been some really great low-mana locuses out that way, lately. No one’s reported clearing them for a week at least, so there should be a solid Delve or two waiting for us, besides whatever is roaming the forest. Nothing you all can’t handle, good chance of a nice haul, and good fun! Now, Petra, do you want to do the honors?”
“Love to,” Petra said. “Deni, Anastasia, have you ever been in a Party before?”
From the way Petra put weight on the word, Ana assumed that her answer was “No,” and said so. Deni had, though.
“That’s fine, Ana. There’s nothing to it. When you get asked if you want to join my Party, you just accept, all right? That way we’ll share rewards, and some of Sendra and Rayni’s Abilities will affect you. Now, when I ask if you’re ready, keep an eye on your notifications, because these things go away after a moment. Anything will do, really. Thinking ‘Yes’ or ‘Okay,’ feeling like you want it… I just mentally put my thumb on it and it understands. Are you ready?”
“Yes,” Ana said, and a moment later there was a notification.
You have been invited into the Party of Petra, Human Custodian (18). You are already in a Party. Do you wish to leave your Party and join the Party of Petra, Human Custodian (18)?
Yes, Ana thought. Her Devotion Ability did say that she was always in a Party with, well, herself, but she’d never really thought about that. When she accepted two things happened. The world came just a little more into focus, and a new notification popped up.
You have left your Party.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
You have joined the party of Petra, Human Custodian (18).
Party members:
Petra, Human Custodian (18), Leader
Mestendi, Elfin Jeweller (14)
Dilmik Ters, Human Clerk (12)
Rayni, Human Huntress (11)
Sendra Ters, Human Evoker (10)
Denikla Parser, Human Clerk (6)
Anastasia Cole, Human Companion (4)
Party effects:
Pack Vigilance (Rayni): All other Party members get a bonus of 2 to their base Perception. Bonus increases with Class level. This cannot raise their effective Perception above yours.
Mana Confluence (Sendra Ters): All Party members gain a bonus to their Shaping efficiency and recovery from mana depletion, based on the average Connection of the Party.
Bonuses? Ana liked the sound of that. A quick check showed her that her Perception was now 20, which explained why everything was just a little sharper now. The second bonus wasn’t anything she’d benefit from directly, but at least she should be raising that average, going by what Touanne had told her. It also had some implications for optimal Party compositions, which was some nerdy crap that Nic had been very excited about, but to which Ana had never expected to actually need to pay attention.
“There we are!” Petra said. “All right, Kaira, I think that we’re ready to go.”
And then they did. Ana had noticed as soon as she arrived that she was the only one wearing her armor, which immediately set her apart as inexperienced, but her new suit was so comfortable that she decided to try marching in it. In the worst case, she’d learn an important lesson and she could take it off when they stopped to rest.
They left by the dawnward — or eastern — gate, and soon entered the forest. Ana hadn’t known what to expect. What she found immediately was that the mood was raucously cheerful. By the way the other women were talking and laughing — or at least Kaira, Dilmik and Mestendi, occasionally joined by Petra and Denikla, the latter of which chattered nervously whenever she was called upon — Ana might have thought that they were heading for a long weekend on Ibiza. Or a bachelorette party, if she went by the topics that caused the most laughter.
Rayni the Huntress was nowhere to be seen, but considering her Class and her role in the Party, she was probably around. Just… not very close to the others.
For much of the march out Ana and Sendra the Evoker ended up walking together, a few hundred feet behind the others, simply because they both valued a little peace and quiet. Ana had tried to stay in the main conversation for a while but, while she wasn’t a prude by any measure, the general atmosphere of cutting loose and the combined effect of Kaira and Dilmik teaming up to embarrass Deni finally made her fall back. Mestendi tried a few times to drag Ana back into the frequently obscene conversation, but she smiled and begged off, which the elfin woman accepted with good cheer. Talking about sex just didn’t interest her. Never had.
Ana walked alone for a while until she noticed Sendra coming up on her. A nod and a smile, and then they were walking together in comfortable silence, broken only by the regular bursts of laughter in the distance. At least until Ana noticed Sendra watching her placidly as they walked. She didn’t call her out on it, just turned her head to look back and raised her eyebrows in a silent question.
“This is your first Delve,” Sendra said. It wasn’t a question.
“It is,” Ana confirmed. “I haven’t been here long.”
“And adventuring wasn’t an option where you came from,” Sendra said. “So why didn’t you ask any questions before we got started? I could see that you had them.”
“It didn’t seem like it would get me the answers I wanted, I guess,” Ana said. “Kaira’s been avoiding giving me anything concrete. I don’t know why. I feel like I can trust her, though, so… I’m just going with it, I guess.”
Sendra smiled. “I do that a lot, myself. And Kaira, she’s like that. She likes it when newbies get to experience things for the first time. The surprise, you know? The wonder, the excitement… I guess that’s why she didn’t tell you much. She would have, if you’d pressed her.”
Ana nodded. She’d figured that much. “What about you, Sendra?” she asked. “You’ve done a few of these, right?”
“I have.”
“Mind answering some questions?”
“Not at all. What do you want to know?”
“You’re not worried about ruining Kaira’s fun?”
Sendra looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, “Kaira is a very effective Evoker, and she’s good at leading these groups. I enjoy her company, for the most part. But she doesn’t always think things through. When something interests or amuses her, she can be blind to practical concerns. And I think the two men in her group, Omda and… Barlo, I think. The Engravers’ son. They indulge her. So, no. If you need to know something to feel comfortable, then ruining her fun is not something I’m worried about.”
“In that case, what are we actually doing? People keep throwing words at me and not explaining them. What does one of these expeditions actually look like?”
Sendra smiled. “They really have kept you in the dark, haven’t they? But you look well equipped, so I don’t imagine that you’re completely unprepared.”
“They told me about demons. How they get into animals and corpses and want to… eat our mana, I think?”
“That’s right,” Sendra said. “Demons breach the splinter and take a host. They attack living things, especially sapients, since we concentrate much more mana than other creatures. And when we destroy the demons we get Growth Crystals and mana-rich parts. That makes being strong enough to destroy them safely a lucrative career, as you can see from all the professional Delvers in our splinter, or a fun and profitable pastime, for the rest of us.”
“What are they like to fight?”
“That depends very much on what you’re fighting. They swell and twist as the demon settles in and gathers mana, so a possessed fox, for example, will be far larger and more grotesque than you’re used to. Much more resilient, too. They don’t seem to feel pain. But it will also be dumber. More aggressive and single-minded. That makes them easier to destroy than you might think, as long as you can avoid being hurt too badly yourself.”
“And the… corpses?” Ana had been tempted to say “zombies” but wasn’t sure if it would translate.
“From sapients? You’re unlikely to ever see one. We rarely lose anyone on this splinter, and when we do it’s in areas far more dangerous than anywhere Kaira would take a casual group. Besides, everyone knows to burn the bodies if they can’t take them with them, so it only happens when someone’s alone, or a whole Party gets wiped out. But if you were to see one, again, it depends. A larger body will make a stronger revenant than a smaller one. So will a fresher one, compared to an old, decayed one. And, of course, the corpse of a high level person will make a far more powerful revenant than that of someone with a lower level. What makes them truly dangerous is their Skills and Abilities. They retain some of them, you see.”
“The revenants?” Ana said, tasting the word. She wondered what that meant for the bodies she’d left behind.
Shit. What about Nic?
“Yes,” Sendra continued. “We don’t know how it works, not really. Perhaps the residual mana in a body retains some kind of imprint, or perhaps some of the soul lingers and the demon can co-opt that. Revenants made from fresher corpses certainly retain more. And if a demon is so powerful it can possess a person who is still alive, of course, it can use all of that person’s Skills and Abilities, besides whatever the demon itself brings. Extremely nasty, I hear, but hopefully this splinter will never see one.”
“Yeah, Omda said that if I ever see one, I should just run.”
“Good advice,” Sendra said, nodding. “It probably won’t help, but we must always try, right?”
“Right.” Ana had not actually tried her physical capabilities all out yet, so she wasn’t so pessimistic. She’d had a decent sprint and 5K time before. With her Strength something like 60% higher than it had been, and her Endurance increased by more than a quarter, she should be capable of some ridiculous feats of speed.
She hadn’t really thought about any of that, only literally lifting and hitting things. Well, and jumping. It just wasn’t intuitive. But all of a sudden Ana was very excited about seeing just what this Class of hers would let her do.
She probably shouldn’t go all out around these women, though. Even Kaira. Logically, she was far beyond what a “civilian” of her level should be able to do, no matter how genetically blessed she might have been — if genetics was even a thing in magic-land — and she just wasn’t ready for that conversation. It was bad enough that Drisa at Administration knew, since Ana had to take it on faith that she wouldn’t spread it.
While Ana thought, Sendra was moving on. “Now, Delves are the main thing we’re going for,” she said. “If we don’t find any, where we’re going, I’d expect Kaira to move on until we do.”
“Oh, yeah,” Ana said, snapping back. “I’ve heard people call going out at all ‘Delving,’ though?”
“That’s how important the Delves are,” Sendra said. “Every time I’ve gone out, the Delves have been where most of our Crystals come from, by a large margin.”
“So what are they?”
Sendra paused, looking thoughtful. “Think of a Delve as a space within a space. A hole in the splinter, that we can enter without going anywhere. When you get a locus, a gathering of mana, that is, that mana has to go somewhere. And it kind of… drains into the Delves, I guess, where it crystallizes into, well, Growth Crystals. And a Delve draws lots of demons, because of the mana concentration. So we go in, clear out as many demons as we can for their Crystals and whatever we can harvest from them, and then we loot the Crystals at the bottom, or the center, or wherever the Crystal chamber has ended up — it’s not exactly obvious. You’ll see. Anyway, that makes the Delve collapse. Then we either look for another Delve, or we go home and enjoy our share of the loot. Exciting and lucrative,” she finished with a satisfied nod.
“And what if you’re in there when it collapses?” Ana asked. She didn’t like the sound of that at all.
“Oh, we will be. It takes a little while, but it’s usually much faster than running out. It just drops you somewhere nearby. Don’t worry about it!”
That was about when Ana noticed that they hadn’t heard from the women in front for a while. Listening closely she could hear lowered voices, and as she and Sendra got closer they saw that Rayni had joined the others. Rayni noticed them pretty much the moment they came into sight, and nudged Kaira, who looked up, a frighteningly toothy grin splitting her face.
“Time for you two to show what you’ve got,” Kaira said, taking Ana and Deni aside. “Rayni found a wandering demon, and you two are dealing with it!”