Tim woke to bright light and the rolling thud of chicken bones falling off his chest to the stone floor. Jil was gone. Tim tracked his memory to finishing his aura pillow, and he thought he’d made his decision on what Khempal would order overnight.
He squinted through the sunlight and the pounding headache it fought with. His pillow achieved the 70/30 physical to aura ratio he’d aimed for, with the center like a sponge nuclei made out of the zetkler’s feathers. A pink, semi-transparent aura surrounded the feathers, keeping them floating in its center. Black specks hung in the aura like bits of shells in his egg whites. He pressed the aura and a flat sensation reacted at his touch. It had drawn the dead crystals from his aura fatigue and needed a full day of cooldown before they could be metabolized and the aura effective again.
Good afternoon, earthling.
Behind him, Dryfu hovered by Thron who was reaching over the wall project, balancing precariously from a ladder made with rope tied sticks Tim would call 60% safe and effective for the task.
It’s good to have a world-changing gift like yours, isn’t it?
I could cast Danger Sense and really give you the business.
Don’t threaten me with a good time.
Tim had no idea how to respond, so he kept on admiring the wall they’d built while he slept. They’d made good progress, removing most of the rubble from the tower. Only two small piles remained along the walkway where Thron reached to place his next piece. The hole in the wall was now three-quarters complete. Thron’s brick had a layer of black mortar on the bottom to help it stick in place, then Roz scraped more chalky goodness across the top and sides to finish the job.
Last night, Khempal pointed out a mixture of ingredients to use for mortar that would add explosion resistance, and he’d agreed to the expense. While they didn’t have enough for the whole outer wall, they didn’t want to waste the materials in the face of a grenade’s power. This was a backup plan more than their main defense. Best to eliminate any weaknesses if possible.
The wraiths didn’t return last night, but he had a sense they would tonight when they woke. Jil called them nocturnal and expected they’d be back to thank them for all the food. Tim shivered anew thinking of her description of how they feed from the aura out, splaying their prey open at the chest and sucking them dry. Once again, he was grateful for them on his side.
Khempal’s fears came to mind and how their aura elemental nature would make them a greater risk of the Murphy absorbing them into exponential strength. Even if they weren’t there for the battle with the Murphy, they would be suitable for casting a wide net of protection at night when they traveled down to fight it. Then the repaired section of the wall allowed them to avoid a potential weakness if one of their enemies slipped through. They still expected attention at that point in the wall, so Khempal had them apply the enchanted mortar on the inside. It would seep into the wall without detection from the outside.
“There he is,” Thron said. “I hadn’t seen Jil cozy up like that with anyone. I’d been wondering if you’d wake up with glowing skin and an aura rocket on your back, ready to lead us into battle.”
Tim did feel blessed to have had her company but flushed a bit at the attention. “Maybe I have uh, brunch first before I turn into rocketman?”
Thron chuckled. “That sounds good to me. We put a fresh canteen of water in your belt, too. Drink liberally.”
“Thanks.” Tim reached for his belt. A double take confirmed his leg stump had healed all the way to his boot tip. Whoa. The texture emanated a bad reception type picture, as though whatever existed between it and what he saw had a kind of electronic interference. Aura interference, rather.
The aura fade status is still present in your bones. Better than it was before treatment, but still a ways away. Start with Thron’s advice to hydrate.
He reached to grab the heel and a cramp shot up his leg, forcing him to his side, growling.
Unless you planned on drinking from your boot, I–
Okay, okay. Tim stopped and redirected toward his canteen. The cool water washed away the phlegm in his throat and refreshed down as it absorbed into his bones. Becoming an Oil and Water aura mage transformed him in more ways than initially advertised. He gained new senses of others and how to read their aura, and then also allowed him to read his own aura. In this case, it was a parched, sunbaked floor soaking in every drop of water it could. Tim guzzled and spilled some down his chin. He’d need maybe ten more of his canteen size in water before he would feel replenished.
“I broiled fish and seaweed for you in our Campaign Chest,” Roz said. “It’ll taste as fresh as when we cooked it.”
Tonda scaled down the wall by Thorn, and with three graceful, gravity-defying strides, leapt off to trot toward Tim. He tested his restored foot, heel first and braced for Tonda’s playful charge. She hopped up and forced him to catch her, then assaulted his face with scratchy cat kisses.
“Good to see you too, Tonda. Did you fix my leg? Did you?”
She responded with an incidental poke of her claws in his gut.
“Oof, okay. That’s enough girl.”
She kicked off, satisfied to have reminded him of her presence. Her graceful landing spun around on the ground, and she lowered her body flat, eyes up and locked on Tim as though ready to fetch a stick or a flying squirrel if he’d throw it. “You play fetch too? Are you part dog?”
“Jexin are immensely playful,” Jil said, stepping out of the cellar. Her skin was clean, and her hair washed free from the wear of battle. Her black hair flipped out in waves at the end, shining like he hadn’t seen. Her new outfit stunned him almost silly. A bear head cap with fur draped over her black hair blended into a mix of fur and green leather which would make for great camouflage, as she’d said. The wooden bow had a green finish like the scales of a snake, with red stripes on the ends and its head carved into the handle.
“Hello, Rogue. Your new outfit looks great.”
“Thank you.”
Her reaction lifted him onto a cloud. He tried to hide it, asking, “Did the perks come as advertised?”
He grumbled inwardly at the awkwardly stated question he barely managed to spit out.
“Um, yes,” she said, smiling away the confusion of a breath ago. Her white teeth flashed, marking a contrast between her beauty and the yellowed fangs left in the bear cap. “You can look for yourself.”
That about made him choke. He cleared his throat and scanned her figure until the stats appeared:
Ares Bear Cap
+14 Head defense, +2 Weight, 9.5/10 Durability
Bonus: Increases Stealth skills by 50%, Animal Charms by 50% and +2 Intimidation
Her bow arm had a furry extension of the brown bear coat in linked bracers, with + 2 Camouflage and +2 Defense. Bear fur spun into a thick string circled her other arm like a shoelace. +2 Bear Strength added to that arm, helpful for pulling the bow or punching the enemy in the teeth, as she’d said. Matching brown fur leggings climbed up her thighs, granting her +2 Stealth to Stride and +2 Bear Strength to leaping and kicking. Her leather boots clasped high on her calves and had emergency daggers slid into sheaths on the outside of each leg. Piercing +9 highlighted beside each dagger. Hunter’s Eye adorned the red jewels made to look like snake eyes on either side of the hilt.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The outfit cost over six hundred gold. Chris’s idea to sell nicknacks from the “Tragedy at Squire’s Castle” had added over $300 gold to their trade income. Chris claimed a collection of seeds he could use for his plant sorcery, including six strands of aura seeds Tim couldn’t wait to see. He sold a little Wicker Sea powder with a note to contact him for more.
Jil’s gear purchase concluded with $200 for the double pack of quivers. Their green and yellow striped feathers stuck out in a cross over her back. Only one arrow stuck out of the tall quivers. Part of the allure for their purchase was the auto spool cover to keep the arrows from falling out. Their hole in the center twisted the next tip feathers out into the withdrawal slot. As soon as she took it out, the next one would spring into place.
She was worth every piece several thousand times over.
“Very impressive,” he managed to say, watching her stride in awe. “You look like you could cause some serious trouble.”
“You don’t know the half of it.” She handed him the jar of aurthecary half wrapped in a folded blue blanket. “Thanks for the company last night,” she added, quiet enough for only him… and Dryfu to hear.
The brush of her finger along the bottom of his hand elicited a slight shiver. A tasty smile tipped off the point of her charm. “Take your time but finish it all. It has the consistency of syrup and the potency of a kick to the gut.”
“Well with that endorsement, I’ll get right on it,” he played back.
“Tonda spent a heaping portion of aura to restore your leg, but you’ll still need all of that and more. The aura channel is still fragile.”
Shifting his weight to his right side, a twinge of numbness spread down his leg. “Yeah. I can see that. Thank you.”
He opened the bottle and tipped it over his mouth. It took a moment to land. Once it did a kick of cold seized from the tip of his tongue to several muscles in his neck. They fanned out in a spasm as he struggled to swallow. Once he did, heat whooshed down his chest. It spread to his arms. His head moved as though taking a life of its own, curious to see the new world. Kind of like being drunk, only much heavier.
The aura replenishment seeping into his stomach, filling holes he didn’t know he had and wrapping his core in a warm hug. So many neurons fired back in their pleasure to be restored. They were like a sea given voice to every bursting bubble.
He’d had no idea how damaged his aura channel was, nor how intricately it was positioned throughout his body. Channel really was the best way to describe it. Only its path and the intricacy of all its moving parts had been concealed.
Bubble protection through Rreyg’s belt restored. You can now use Full Aura Form.
Tim signaled Jil to follow him to the campaign chest set beside the cellar. He shared the update with Jil on their way to him grabbing breakfast.
“That’s a good next step,” she said, about the full aura access. “Still take your time with whatever plans you’ve got spinning up there.”
“You think tonight is too early to take the Murphy?”
As soon as he focused on the campaign chest, holographic windows opened in his HUD, displaying icons for each item and sub-menu routes to check stats, equip, trade, or trash. He “equipped” the fish and seaweed from the top drawers. His stiff leg reminded him to take a swig of water first. A transparent glass pitcher kept clean water to the brim. The fish flakes were still hot and juicy, with a seasoning that added to the mouth-watering goodness. Its top had a light char that added a bit of crunch to the succulent moisture in the underside.
It’s too early for this.
I missed you too, Dryfu. “Mmm. So hungry.”
Fish bones filled a small compartment atop the chest, marked with a note for the party to take as needed. As it turned out, fish bone arrows have a bonus to flight similar to bird bones, and they had plenty of leftovers to gather.
Jil approached the campaign chest, eyes lit with excitement. “The guys have already taken their new gear, so yours is the only one left.”
Last night they’d decided to splurge on their gear instead of splitting it enough to buy the Farar or Melody anything. They paid for a sizable storage of healing and regen items and something nice for everyone who crossed the river, including their companions.
“Did you like your new Trident?” Tim said to Dryfu.
The stykiller let his wings blow in the breeze, perched on the slope of wood atop the chest.
Items:
ten tinctures
ten potions
ten aurapods
The tinctures were rumored to deliver 100 MP and the potions up to 200 HP per. The aurapods weren’t aura, but they were engineered to spark aura regen to greater deposits. This was because aura comes from within. Though the peas inside the pod did have a little plant aura. Part of the spark to the regen arises from that side dying in your mouth when you bite through. Tim popped one and crunched into the pod. Sweetness like a deep bite into cold soft serve surged through his teeth and into his jaw. He swallowed the odd melon taste in the hope that it was doing good.
Jil slid open the second drawer to reveal a gotr bladed short sword. Engraved red letters wrote “Farji.” In Adiba, its definition was a combination of aura mage and ranger, emphasizing the strength in both while adding a possessive, personal suffix. The endearing element of that name inspired him even more than the sheen in its carved gotr. At the end of the writing was a single character space to signify his Oil and Water path. He’d chosen a classic font similar to Will Wight’s Cradle covers, with capital letters O and W. The latter cut halfway inside the O to fit the rectangular blocks the Adiba letters took.
Gotr Short Sword “Farji”
+14 Attack
+3 Weight
10/10 Durability *Pristine
Bonus +4 Attack when following contact with another gotr blade.
He’d picked that enchantment at an additional third of the sword’s cost. Hopefully it would work well with his double whammy fighting style.
“Roz volunteered to teach you how to use it,” she said. “Khempal is going to join and help you learn to protect your aura stamina so you don’t fade if we have to fight tonight. But before that fun little butt kicking, which I will pretend not to enjoy,” she added with a right corky attitude. “Before all of that, you and I get to chill and have a meal in peace.”
“Before you enjoy, I mean, try not to enjoy watching me get my can handed to me—”
“Not totally enjoy.” She laid the bayside babe accent thick and was loving every minute of playing with the American. Like he was a new chew toy.
“This is what happens without Netflix.”
She shrugged. “No, I don’t envy that part of your culture. Yuck. You lay around and watch screens all day. No thanks. Wouldn’t you rather see the real thing?” The look in her eyes challenged a more direct question.
Tim took a bite from his fish. With a mouth half full, he said, “The sights are better here, for sure.”
“You can finish,” she said, with a pitying look mixed with willingness to forgive.
Tim swallowed. “It’s all the near death stuff that I’m not such a fan of. Like I’m a little but a fan—” He pinched a tiny space between his fingers for emphasis.
Jil wasn’t buying it. “I think you’re a bigger fan than you realize.”
“Okay. You’re right. I am a very big fan of surviving the near-death stuff. Not so much the very small margin for a life expectancy, say, beyond this week.”
“I can feel that,” Jil said. “As an aura ranger, you will be more susceptible to valleys. The kind that knock you in your back and you don’t know if you’ll ever get up. When that happens, it’s best to isolate aura rangers from too much sound, too many physical sensations. Squire Aeu had a sound pool in his cellar. I’ll take you down when you’re done eating.”
“Sure it’s not cause you’re with the cartel and plan to drown me while they’re busy on the wall?”
Tonda growled at his feet, though not serious enough to interrupt her picking at the fish.
“If I wanted you dead, you’d already have ingested the poison. I’d much rather keep you around, even if just to accept the challenge of teaching you how to cultivate prisms.”
“That sounds…challenging.”
“Well, you won’t get to Roz and Khempal until you figure it out, so finish your meal, pet your cat and meet me in the cellar when you’re ready. I’m going to have a look around the squire’s cozy library. Your world had it right in inventing the printing press. Ours came about 500 years sooner, thanks to our magic. And then they used magic to make many languages exclusive, then deadly, seductive, joyful, you name it. I’d be excited to discover a library in your world too, but we have some real powerhouses in ours. Let’s see if we get lucky.”
The sense of wanting him to stay was only skin deep. Below that, she wanted him to join her and show enjoyment at her company. Tim pocketed the seaweed, poured a full canteen from the pitcher and brought his half-eaten fish. “I’m coming too. Promise I won’t make a mess in his library.”
“I was thinking more of keeping the fish out, but you don’t smell much better, so might as well.”
“You were planning to dunk me in the, what was it called, sound pool?” Tim mumbled through his full bite of succulent fish. Aura infused the herbs used in the spice rub they broiled into the flesh. Each little bit flared like incense into his mouth, filling his nostrils and rising into his cheeks. Chris had a hand in that, he was sure.
Tonda brought fish in her mouth, flapping its limp ends on either side of her mouth as she trotted. Spine straight, she was a happy girl. Night and day different from when he’d found her. He didn’t detect any of the Takekuma poison. The skins they’d saved from the snake would make fine armor if he found time. He didn’t want to see her enter battle like she had last night.
Jil tracked down to the jexin and blew a raspberry. “This time, because you worked so hard to restore his leg, just clean up your mess.”
Tonda snorted and kept on toward the cellar door.
Jil gave Tim a look as though their toddler had just grown up enough to give mother some attitude.
“I think she takes her food handling personally,” Tim said.
“Or she just plain doesn’t like me.”
“What’s not to like?” Tim stared to reach to side hug as they walked, then remembered the breakfast residue on his hand and retracted it.
She slipped hers around his waist and gave a brief hug of thanks. Her arrows jostled in their quivers, reminding them that their time wasn’t yet a season of peace and quiet. Maybe they could sneak a few minutes before war reared its ugly head once more.
Tonda sauntered past and then down the stairs in front of them. What this band of misfits lacked in tidiness it made up for in spunk and tenacity.
Tim was proud to be a part of it. They helped keep him confident and moving.