I gave the Colonel a grateful smile, and I think he nearly swooned. +25 Diplomacy modifiers and Noble/5 are nothing to sneeze at! “I thank you for your help in that regard then, Colonel! Being deported on top of the day I’ve been having would have been quite annoying...”
“Yes, ma’am.” The fact that I’d probably saved most of his garrison and a lot of combat losses wasn’t lost on the man (or, more importantly, everyone else around), and we both knew he owed me a huge debt.
I noticed he also wasn’t wearing a sidearm or any normal weapon either, which was damn strange for a soldier from my viewpoint, but I was an outsider looking in.
“Will there be any problem giving Captain Mick and his men their commission?” I went on politely. “Despite being literally thrown to the Spiders, they still managed to warn you of the Swarm and actively participated in the defense here, going far above and beyond the call of duty.”
The Colonel could only nod at my words, although I saw the irked pulse in his Aura. “No problem at all, ma’am! I’ll see to it immediately, and submit the report to the Hunter’s Union myself.” He nodded at the Mick, who took it with a nicely false smile. “This should be enough to get you to qualify for Level Four Hunter, given your performance here.” I paid attention to the clenched fists and quiet high-fives going on between his team at that news.
“Then, I think we’ll be about getting proper rooms and arranging our spoils of war.” There was a crack as Bjorn, wielding the golden Blade on Noble, split a Spider’s skull wide, and I lazily wrenched it open with TK so I could pop out the eyes and secure the mandibles. The big Earth-mage was chopping the lined-up Spider skulls like using an axe, quick and grim, and I was leaving them to catch fire in the mists as I pulled out what we wanted. “You can contact me through Captain Mick. I’m afraid that I don’t usually carry a telephone in my pajamas...”
I sprang that on them, and their jaws all dropped as they realized the cut of my clothes was really comfortable, and yes, it was a very, very good grade of silk, and it didn’t have many pockets, because I had the Pocket.
I had been doing all this in my bedclothes, such as they were... which wasn’t totally true, but literally true enough that I had no problem pulling it off, wearing no footwear as I was. I actually didn’t have any other clothes, so, yes, they were indeed my pajamas.
“You didn’t have a spare change of clothes?” Big John blurted out despite himself.
“Given the nature of many of the things I fight and what gets stored in my Pocket, the clothes that I store in there come out somewhat... aromatic,” I said diplomatically. Which was totally true, as I kept my cooking spices in there, and didn’t have any other clothing, only some woven blankets.
“Oh,” was pretty much the universal understanding, especially as I’d been putting severed Spider heads in and out of it.
“I was going to put in a cedar chest, but I hadn’t quite gotten around to it when this little misadventure kicked off with a bang,” I went on. “So, Colonel, if you could excuse us, these gentlemen need hot showers, I want a bath, and we all are going to sleep all day once we are done.”
He smiled despite himself. “Well, then, I’ll leave you to your accommodations. I’m sure you can find something in town, now that we can call the evacuees back to their homes.”
Driver Sam was already on that. “Ugh,” he reported quietly. “It’s a good thing we reserved our rooms. I’m not sure where Miss Fae is going to stay, however...”
“Hotels routinely leave a VIP room empty just in case someone important arrives.” I spread my hands. “Call the best hotel, have them talk to the Colonel here, and I shall have a room,” I pronounced calmly.
The men looked at one another, Driver Sam shrugged, and a minute later was on the phone with the manager of the best hotel in the Austin area.
------
“Uh, Miss Fae, we were wondering about our pay and all,” the Mick finally worked up the nerve to ask as we were streaking down the road towards the city, Wind Trails blowing the Disks we were still riding.
“Captain, I am not going to run off with your money, or mistreat you on the Soul Crystals. I am currently refining them for you so that you all will have a full set of forty-nine each ready to go when we regather this evening.
“Who usually handles the sale of monster parts, and are there any special considerations?”
“I usually take care of the selling of stuff!” Driver Sam spoke up from behind us. All of us were seated on Force Disks, with the three Wind Mages combining their Trails to send us shooting along at least sixty mph a few feet above the stone road below us. They’d all been very impressed when I wove their independent Wind Trails together and upped that to eighty mph, and were feeling out how to do that on their own.
I flicked up a sheet of paper and held it back for him. He took it carefully and looked it over closely, saying nothing, before holding it out a bit so all the others craning for a better look could do so.
It was Red who hissed out a breath. “Fuck the commission. We made some good money this trip, Mick!”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“How are we splitting it?” the Mick asked quickly, glancing at me.
“Given I was the primary offensive and mobility for much of the fighting, I will take a double share, and split the rest among yourselves as you wish,” I stated calmly.
They weren’t even exasperated or disappointed, more like relieved. I probably could have claimed half of it all without a problem.
“That’s a very generous deal, by Hunter standards,” he admitted for all of them. “What’s the plan?”
“I shall meet up with you all at nightfall. Secure the sale of the eyes, mandibles, and leg portions, and proper storage containers. If we must deliver them, we will do so in the morning.
“The lot of us are going to be busy all night getting everyone up to Tier-3 in all their Stars in all Elements. Once that is done, we can begin the process of upgrading everyone’s Primary Element to Tier-4.
“Also, you need to make the decision on whether you want everyone to get one Star Set to Tier-5, or one of you get one Element to 5.
“In addition, there are exactly seven Commander-class Crystal Gems, so one Novice Set can be advanced to Tier-6. You also need to make that decision.”
They lapsed into thoughtful silence, probably thinking about how all that would change their future.
“Lady Fae,” the Mick began carefully, glancing at my eyes, and probably trying not to think about the fact I was wearing silk pajamas, “The guys and I were wondering if you had any future plans? If so, is there any chance we could be a part of them?” he asked hesitantly.
I arched an eyebrow at him. “You are offering your services, Captain? You are going to know exactly how much money I have available shortly. To be fair, I doubt I can afford you.”
He paused and tilted his head, blinking as he considered that. “Well, wow, I actually hadn’t even thought about that,” he admitted, then shook his head. “We’d like to offer you a spot on the team, but it’s plain you’re just a grade above us in power, and that wouldn’t be too fair...” He paused, and then slumped slightly. “You’re an elite, it’s as plain as day to any of us, and we’re not in your class. I don’t even want to think about what it means to have Void Magic at your age, and it’s as plain as a spike in the face that you have seen a lot of fighting and you’re not some poser.”
“We fucking appreciate you being straight with us, too!” Big John blurted out, too.
The Mick chopped his hand at Big John, who shut up promptly, while the faces of all of them underwent a medley of emotions. Bad experiences, I judged.
“I do have plans, and I will need some extra hands and feet, Captain,” I told him, promptly earning a delighted smile. “However, I won’t be able to pay a wage to you. If there is money to be made, you’ll have to earn it by commission or sale or whatever, right next to me.”
“Lady Fae, if you can help us get hauls like this, that won’t be an issue at all!” the Mick exclaimed quickly.
“The amount of money that can be made is largely dependent on your own abilities. I can only carry you so far, you realize,” I said calmly. “You all need to upgrade significantly.”
Their faces all twisted at the words, and the Mick sighed. “We aren’t elites, Lady Fae. None of us have any special talents with magic. We’re smart, and we’re GOOD with what magic we have, but we’ve got no special tricks or stuff. Red and I are the only ones who’ve even managed to get a Seed, and they aren’t the best ones, but they are better than nothing.”
I waved my hand nonchalantly. “I am not talking about mutant abilities or artificial boosts. I am talking about fundamental strengthening of your own capabilities and versatility. These require some time and effort, not massive luck or enormous amounts of funds.”
I could tell I had the burning interest of each and every one of them. They all wanted to get stronger, and the knowledge that it wouldn’t take a bloody fortune to do so was very interesting to all of them.
“What sort of training are we talking here?” the Mick pressed eagerly.
I held up two fingers. “After you get all your Stars to Tier-4, you should immediately start on your Damage Reduction training via Arcane Fist. Secondly, you need to master the other five spells of your Elements.”
They all blinked at me, and then they erupted in immediate questions.
“Shut up, arseholes!” the Mick shouted at them, and they all clamped up. He turned his attention back to me, purple lights in his eyes. “Other five spells of our Elements?” he repeated slowly, for emphasis. “I’ve never heard of such things...”
“You are all tired. Are you really asking for a lesson on spellcraft right now?” I replied archly, and they all muttered a little bit, but didn’t look away. “Very well, I will demonstrate with Light.” They all blinked, as they hadn’t seen me using anything that looked like Light Magic, but they all clamped up when a silver Light opened on my palm.
“Simple, basic Light Magic, you see?” I held it up for them, and they could all sense that it was indeed the very basic Light Magic. “I’m sure you, Master Glenn, were very disappointed in your first Element, even if you knew that it could get very powerful later on. Unlike some of the other Elements, it was much less useful in a fight, and it isn’t until Adept Rank that you were able to do more with it.
“That, of course, is a complete lie. All spells of the Elements at all Levels are approximately equal. They take the same amount of Mana to Cast, and they all consume the same amount of power.”
The silver Light vanished, and was replaced with a crackling length of electricity, also silver in color. The Mick’s eyes bulged in disbelief.
I ran the living coil of voltage through the air. “This spell holds exactly the same amount of energy as the little ball of Light I brought up earlier. Why, then, are they so different?”
I let the question hang there, as the coil of Lightning hissed and dissipated in the air.
“The Light spell lasts a lot longer,” Red finally piped up. “Even a basic one can last for several minutes. The basic Lightning spell lasts for up to a minute if you don’t use it, but only seconds if you do.”
I nodded once. “And do you realize that if you do NOT use it, it is basically doing the exact same thing as the Light spell does?” I asked them, which made them all blink. “Only it does not last anywhere near as long.”
“Huh,” both Glenn and Red murmured at the same time, as did the Mick.
I brought up a ball of silver Fire, and Big John and Red swore again, as did the others. “This little ball of Fire does the same thing. Not quite as bright as the Lightning, lasts about a minute, or seconds if you toss it away.” It was roiling with blue and crimson inner flames from my Seed, obviously far more powerful than the other two spells. “All spells have the same amount of power. They differ in what they do, their range, their area of effect, and their duration.
“But, it is rather strange in how they all manifest so differently, is it not? If you were a logical person, you would expect the spells to all be able to manifest the same way. Fire and Lightning manifest very similarly, so why does Wind manifest as a Trail, yet Water is not a Stream, but a Wall? Why is Earth a Wave, and not a Wall? Why are Light and Ice so similar, setting up zones and emanating themselves from them?
“It makes very little sense on the face of it!”