“Level?”
“One,” I responded.
“Buahahaha. Alright there smart ass. Seriously though, what level? I need it for your file.” The imposing man, who I’d learned from Dansin was called an orc, laughed as he took down my information.
“It’s one, Sir.”
“Look, I’m nobody’s Sir here. We aren’t the army, we’re Adventurers and we don’t say Sir or Ma’am to anyone. Unless they are posting a quest,” The green giant laughed with a deep chortle at his own joke then continued. “But serious? How did you get this far in life and only be level one? Were you just born yesterday?”
“Something like that,” I replied.
“Look, you need to take it down about three notches here. This is just an intake interview to be sure we get our records straight and we know our people’s abilities in case we need to set up teams in an emergency. It doesn’t happen often, but it is important. Also for if the Ecclesiarch sets up another draft.”
“My skills are [Throwing Weapons], [Piercing Strike], [Rune Crafting], and [Magitech Interface]. Though I do have another level up I haven’t taken yet.” I decided against sharing the information about my [Siphon] skill. It was far too peculiar and I definitely didn’t want someone called the Ecclesiarch to find out about it.
“You throwing your voice there son? Sounded different for a moment. Maybe I’m just losing it. Either way, I don’t know nor care about your specific skills. We don’t have enough time to track everyone’s skill ups and with each one tailored to the individual, names mean nothing. I’ll write you down as a tech skirmisher. That sword and shield just for decoration?”
“I’ve fought with it before.”
“Sure you have, Mr. I’m at level two. You want my advice? Doesn’t matter, you’re getting it anyway. Get a defensive skill. Greenhorns like you tend to focus on attack. That won’t do you any good when you get hit. And you will get hit. It’s not if, but when. Armor, shield, tech, even some of that esoteric mumbo jumbo. It might not stop you from getting hurt in a fight, but it could keep you from bleeding out after it’s done.”
All this was old news, I’d served in the Legion for years. But if I was under leveled compared to the norm, it would only make sense that he’d try to provide tips to keep myself alive. Visiting relatives of the lost to give them the bad news was the worst part of leading men, I’d seen that myself.
“I’ll see what comes up, thanks for the advice,” I replied and meant it. Too many died too young while seeking glory. I could only imagine how bad it might be here with numbers and rankings to clearly show who was on top of the pile. That was probably why he didn’t want the detailed breakdown too. Easier to make friends when you all start from the same place, we did the same with recruits.
“Alright then, welcome to the Adventurers Guild. Clement over there is our skill trainer,” An old looking lizard looked up from the table where he had been sleeping, nodded, then went back to snoozing. “After you complete a few jobs, I’d advise you talk to him. He’s the best repository of knowledge this side of the Dalke Mountains, if you can wake him up. Expensive, but worth it to unlock a new skill.”
I took the small tag Crelk handed to me. “Rank 10? That seems a bit high.”
“Don’t know where you’re from kid, but that’s as low as she goes. Welcome to the bottom of the totem pole!” With that, the pudgy giant clapped my shoulder with a shattering blow that nearly bowled me on my face.
“Thanks, so how do I sign up for a quest?” I asked the man who either lacked control over his strength or didn’t care to. My bet was on the latter option.
“Sign up? Just take it off the board there and let me know. I’ll take hold of it and if you don’t come back within a few weeks I’ll assume you’re busy being fertilizer for the daisies.”
“Got it, thanks!” I replied as I made my way through the building.
A few of the regulars seemed to be lounging around. One particularly vicious looking elf with purple skin and burning embers for eyes called out to me from beneath a layer of entrails and viscera that lay caked on his minimal armor. None of it appeared to be his.
“May death claim you while hearing the laments of your women,” He snarled.
“Good day to you friend, any postings you could recommend for a low level fighter? Just got in town a little while ago,” With that I flashed my new badge to the kind elf.
“Certain doom will fall upon weaklings such as you, come as lambs to the slaughter,” He got up, leaving behind a stain of blood where he had been sitting, “I will not expect nor wish for you to survive any of these places of pain. May your wailings be as sweet music to your foes.”
After a few moments of searching, he laid three notices before me. These had been taken from the bottom of the board, apparently the increase in position for higher ranks was literal here.
***
Title: I need a hero!
Please help me brave heroes! My cellar has been overrun by Rous. I’m afraid they will break through and eat my children! How was I to know the Faire vendor was lying when he said they were ordinary kitchen mice?! Please hurry... they are coming.
Task: Slay 4 Rous in the Mildred’s Cellar region
Reward: 30 gilder, 20 XP, and Ms. Mildred’s affections
***
“Her cellar is a region to itself?” I asked aloud.
“Mildred’s place? Yeah, she tied it into some ancient underground structure to meet building code for minimum space per cat,” Crelk helpfully supplied.
“Think I’m going to pass on that one, but let’s see what else we have first.”
***
Title: Urgent Slayer Request
A caerbanning has taken up residence in a mineshaft not far from our village of Perthshire. Every night it takes another of our livestock. The screams of its prey give the hardiest among us nightmares, but the grisly scene of its kills are even worse. We need a hero to put it down before it starts taking the younglings and the children too!
Task: Slay the Caerbanning menacing Perthshire
Reward: 85 gilder, 60 XP
***
“What do you make of this one? It sounds especially dangerous compared with the last request,” I asked the elf.
“Death awaits you all with big, nasty, pointy teeth,” He informed me with a smile, showing a wicked gleam to his own formidable set.
“That’s a good point. We aren’t here for safe work. I wonder what else we have to choose from.”
***
Title: Sewer Cleaning Requisition #563
North sewers require cleaning due to excessive buildup of hostile slimes. Independent subcontractors are invited to perform this duty for the good of Oxdale and a solid pile of gilder.
Task: Cleanse the north sewers of slimes
Reward: 300 gilder, 30 XP
***
“That’s a lot of cash,“ I observed, checking the room for a reaction.
“Has to be, otherwise nobody would do it,” Crelk shrugged, “Also dangerous if you don’t have any tech. Even entry level Magitech gear is expensive, plus it’s disgusting down there. Straight physical attacks won’t do more than piss them off. You really wouldn’t like them when they’re angry.”
“Looks like I’ll be taking the Caerbanning then,” I told the headmaster.
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“Right you are, be careful out there kid. I don’t want to have to repost this one because you got cocky,” Crelk told me.
Were it not for the jutting tusks and green skin, I could have almost seen him as a fatherly figure. As it was, it was still taking some effort to wrap my mind all the varying species and forms that were normal for this place. Of all I’d met in my short time here, Colette was probably the most human looking despite her tail and ears. The Dwarfs were proportioned too oddly to pass as human despite their general features being roughly the same.
Task set, I decided to head out without further delay. At this point throwing myself into things to keep me busy was the only thing keeping me going. This world had thrown me for a loop, and my fear was that if I settled down to think of it for too long, I might actually just lose it.
“Samara, Professor Dansin, whatever you are called. I’m going to level with you here. This... all this. I’m having a hard time,” My feet plodded along as I made my way along an empty road towards the end of the village.
“Me too. I wasn’t prepared for this. Don’t think anyone could be.”
“I’m sorry for calling you a demon. Clearly there are worse things out there. I just wasn’t expecting to wake up and find myself in a world where magic is real and people can do things I’d never dreamed of.”
“... I appreciate the apology. I wasn’t prepared for a word where the comforts I knew no longer existed. So much has been lost in so little time. There must be a way to bring it back. So long as I know and remember, there’s a chance that it could come back.”
“I want to go home. Where things are familiar. Where I know what to expect tomorrow. Where I’m not stuck sharing my body with someone else. How do we even do that? It shouldn’t work. You try to pick my arm up wile I hold it down,” As expected, I picked my arm up a bit then set it down. I did. Of my own free will. There was no opposing force or resistance fighting me. It was just myself.
“I’m not even in my own body. So you’re one up on me there. But these muscles have their same reflexes from when I did my work in the lab, and yours from fighting. It shouldn’t work but it does. The scientist in me is fascinated by the implications. Personally, it’s like I’m stuck in some cheap horror gig. ‘Oh you wake up and are stuck in someone else’s body but are still yourself.’ But as an added bonus the someone else used to be the body’s original owner!” I let out a strained laugh.
We walked along in silence for awhile longer, neither of us knowing what to say. The heat of the day was upon us again as we tucked around the corner and the last house faded from view.
“Can this be undone with your science and magitech?”
“I don’t know. Some reactions are permanent. This is an entirely new field of study. As far as I know, two consciousnesses have never been successfully merged before.”
I asked after the unstated caveat, “And unsuccessfully?”
“A few madman tried. It was outlawed by all the kingdoms but some still tried. One personality would overwhelm the other, or neither would survive the process. The trauma left those who made it drooling vegetables or reverted them into animals guided by instincts only. We believe they lost their souls.”
“But we’ve been brought together without those things happening?”
“Not yet at least. I don’t know by whom or how they achieved it. Trying to undo work without understanding how it was achieved in the first place might result in losing myself, you, or most likely both of us. I have no way to know. For the sake of this world, my world, I cannot let that possibility happen until the knowledge I have is safe with someone who can use it wisely. But I do want you to know that I will continue searching for a way to fix us so long as the possibility remains.”
Our conversation was cut short as a cart clattered up the road behind us, loose floorboards slapping the frame. Two chestnut colored shaggy cattle with curled ram’s horns snorted and grunted as they approached.
“Greetings adventurer! Heading back to the capital, care for a ride?” The lizard man with sharp features called as he came even with me.
“I’m actually going to Perthshire myself.”
“Well then climb in back and we’ll be off! The cart is light and the musken are happy to haul. We should get there by mid morrow. Faster than by foot.”
Taking the offered hand, I pulled myself into the cart. “Fabius Dansin, pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
“Orth, son of Ertar. The roads have been calm lately, makes me nervous,” The lizard kin’s sharp face narrowed with concern.
“Why’s that?”
“Something big is coming. Not a single monster attack on the way in. Typically something will try to make off with my vegetables or one of the musken. Nothing so much as a single rous trying to get into the grain. It’ll be good to have another set of eyes on the way.”
“What else have you seen this way? It’s been too long since I’ve ventured these plains.”
“The usual bandit shakedown, a few of those rodent vermin. Nothing too bad. Few years back a basilisk was sighted a few kilometers north of here. Adventurers Guild took it out before it could grow too big to handle.”
“Last one I saw was nearly three meters, could petrify a man in less than a minute.”
“Ha! That’s what I love about you adventurer types. Always spinning a good one. Try making it a bit more believable though, the one the guild found was just under around 60cm!”
“That so? Vicious little things. A right nuisance once they set up a nest. Glad to hear they’ve been cleared out,” An infestation of them in one of the political science rooms at the college had been quite the embarrassment.
“True to that. What brings a warrior like yourself out to a tiny place like Perthshire? Quest I assume, or family?”
“Quest. Apparently a Caerbanning set up home in an old mineshaft and has started preying on the local livestock.”
“Hmm, maybe that’s what’s kept these roads clear. I’m not convinced yet though. Once they set up a territory it’s not like they roam very far. Usually things learn to avoid the area.”
“Either way, I’ll at least take care of one issue. Have an alchemist friend in Oxdale that needs some new equipment before they can make my order.”
“Friend, or ’friend’?” He asked me with a raised eyebrow ridge.
“Just a friend,” His eyes gained a bit of sparkle at my reply.
“Ah, good to hear that you’re willing to help out the little guy. Too many adventurers get complexes and think they’re the second coming of Dave!”
“Dave?”
“Dave. You know, cosmic overlord and entity beyond our comprehension Dave? Cause of the cataclysm Dave? That one. Where have you been?”
“Sorry, I don’t pay much attention to religion.”
“Ah, your family were deniers then. That makes sense. I’ll admit that it is wild to believe in something told in stories that happened almost 300 years ago. Still, I prefer to believe that the fall wasn’t caused by a single person. Could you imagine having that much power? Though stories also tell of mechanized warriors in suits of armor shooting bolts of light. The capital still has a set on display you know but the Ecclesiarchy says the enchantments faded. I’m inclined to believe it never worked in the first place but don’t let them hear you talk like that.”
“I’ll have to take a look if I ever get that way. How far is it from here anyway?”
“Probably take me a week by cart, more if the roads are bad.”
With nothing more urgent to discuss, we settled into a routine as the kilometers were plodded away under the sure hooves of the musken. Despite their odd appearance, they did move a good bit faster than I could by walking, with the added advantage of me not actually having to walk. My legs were still slightly protesting the walk from Eshix to Oxdale.
A few travelers passed us on the road out, wagons laden with goods to sell. The wealthiest looking among their number had frost rimming the back compartment. A butcher, or so Orth presumed. Refrigeration runes could make a business when they were passed down through the generations. When I asked how they kept the runes maintained, he laughed and deflected. Grateful for the ride, I decided not to press the question for now.
As evening rolled around, Orth handed the reigns over to me, “Just keep them on the road, they know what to do.”
Before waiting for a response, he ducked back into the bed and began rummaging around in a couple of trunks. After a brief search, and a number of metallic objects falling on each other, the lizard man appeared with a handful of skewers heavily laden with various vegetables and mushrooms grilled to perfection. Room temperature now, but still smelled plenty good.
“Did those come from the market?” I asked my host.
“My brother Gil lives in Oxdale, he’s a street vendor. Always gives me a pile like this to keep me fed on the way out after dropping off supplies to him. They start to get a bit funky after the second day and he always gives me far too many.”
Reaching out, my hand brushed against his as I grasped the base of a full skewer of vegetables. His scales were soft yet rigid, just like my own had been. “Much appreciated,” I told him through a full mouth.
“Thanks for helping me get rid of them! He cooks good but there’s only so many times you can eat the same thing and not get tired of it.”
We continued to chit chat as the musken plodded along, snatching a few mouthfuls of grass from plants growing too close to the side of the road. I learned that he was expecting seven hatchlings shortly after getting back home, the first clutch he and his wife were having together.
“If you’re willing to take the first watch, I’ll get a bit of shuteye and we can get to Perthshire by early morning,” Orth asked me.
“Sure, I don’t see a problem with that. Won’t the musken need a break though?”
“They’ll be good for at least another couple days. Just had a full night sleep in town, and now the cart weighs half what it did on the way in. Wake me up around midnight,” The merchant responded.
With that settled, he popped in the back and quickly fell asleep in the rocking wagon. Left alone with the two musken slowly plodding ever forward, I realized that they were following the road entirely of their own accord. Maybe they were smarter than I’d given them credit for. Or they were too lazy to try pulling the cart somewhere less stable. It was quite difficult to get a good read on them. The stars crawled overhead as the night deepened.
“He’s awful cute, don’t you think?”
“He’s married Samara.”
“Well if you’re allowed to look at the fluffy cat kin, I’m allowed to take an interest in someone a bit more scaly and smooth.”
“Or we could focus on surviving this quest and finish leveling up.”
“Okay well now if you’re being the voice of reason here, the world as I knew it is well and truly gone. We should look at leveling up, see how that goes for us.”
Hearing her try to make light of the situation actually made me feel a bit better. This was a big change for the both of us, but we would have to rely on each other more if we were ever to get to the point where we’d be able to resume our separate lives. “Alright, lets give it a shot.”
“Status Menu!”
***
Fabius Dansin
Level 2
100/100 HP
100/100 SP
Progress to next level: 4/200 XP
Statistics
Body: 10
Mind: 10
Soul: 10
ALERT- You here 10 unspent stat points
Skills
Throwing Weapons (1) - Accuracy of thrown weapons increased by 15% and damage by 5%
Piercing Strike (1) - A forceful attack that ignores 50% of armor. Activation Cost: 5 SP, 8 second cool down.
Rune Crafting (1) - Construct and apply basic runes to equipment. SP cost depends on rune.
Magitech Interface (1) - Activate Class 1 magitech devices for 50% SP
Siphon (1) - Heal 5% max HP with your next successful attack. Passive Ability: 8 second cool down.
ALERT- You have 7 unspent skill points
Skills Available:
Martial-
Endurance (1) - Resist fatigue and boost healing rate from all sources by 20%
Sword (1) - Increase damage done with swords by 10%
Throwing Weapons (2) - Sharpened edges increase the rate of bleeding from wounds on your foe. Accuracy of thrown weapons increased by 20% and damage by 8%. An additional 25% of base damage is dealt over 10 seconds as a bleed.
Shield (1) - Durability of equipped shields increased by 30% Damage Resistance of shields increased by 2.
Piercing Strike (2) - Aim not for your target, but through it. Ignores 66% of armor. Activation Cost: 8 SP, 8 second cool down.
Technical-
Rune Crafting (2) - Construct and apply apprentice runes to equipment or weapons. SP cost depends on rune.
Magitech Interface (2) - Ability to disarm basic magitech traps. Activate Class 1 and 2 magitech devices for 50% SP.
Efficient Conductor (1) - Reduce SP costs by 5% for all actions.
SP Channeling (1) - Efficacy of elemental energy runes increased by 20%
Esoteric-
Unbroken Will (1) - Gain immunity to [Stun] and [Fear] afflictions for 45 seconds. Activation Cost: 20 SP, 12 hour cool down.
Scholar (1) - 10% increased critical chance vs studied enemies / 10% damage resistance vs unknowns
Thaumaturge (1) - 10% chance to receive a random beneficial effect on each successful attack.
Conversion Matrix (1) - Sacrifice 20% max HP and SP to increase all damage done by 30% for 15 seconds
Siphon (2) - Heal 5% max HP and SP with your next successful attack. Passive Ability: 8 second cool down.
Perks
Twinned Souls: +2 skill points per level, +30% resistance to mind altering conditions.
Eyes of the Void: Increased capability to discern the true nature of things, may unlock unique skill evolutions.
***
“Looks like the standard level up is five stat and five skill points, luckily we get the extra two. How much do you want to bet on each skill tier being more expensive than the last?”
“Not betting on that. We still have five unused slots, probably should see about filling them in. But I also really want to be able to disable magitech traps if we’re going adventuring. The Maugin’s had an alarm on the abandoned cabin in the woods and we never noticed. If they’d been hostile...”
“But they weren’t. The second tier skills all look like tempting upgrades.”
Through the night we discussed and weighed our options. In the end, it was decided that for now splitting stat points between body and mind was for the best. The upgraded [Siphon] would get even better as our HP and SP pools grew. Not much need for slow recovery when you can get it instantaneously in combat. That skill was quickly taken.
[Magitech Interface] was the second choice we agreed upon. Traps were too dangerous of an unknown, even if we couldn’t disarm them, it might help avoid tripping one by accident.
[Sword] and [Endurance] were my decision, having only ranged options upgraded left me feeling vulnerable were an enemy to close the gap. I knew from experience that would happen eventually, even the nimble velites got pinned down quickly and when they did, it wasn’t them who came out on top.
Samara decided on [Scholar] seeing as neither of us had combat experience against monsters and the bonus would help with slaying them again once we understood one.
With selections set, we mentally approved the choices and woke Orth to take his shift. The sleeping bag in the wagon wasn’t the most comfortable place with ruts in the road bouncing us around, but eventually the slow rocking motion took me into a dreamless sleep.