Inside the fabrication of Rain On My Parade, Rain nursed her third cup of tea as she scrolled through Hephaestus’ Hidden Invention talents and finalized her talent selections.
She’d been pleasantly surprised to discover that Hidden Invention included new talents as well as existing options that focused on creativity and creation. Alchemy and metal magic were both on the list, and Rain didn’t hesitate to upgrade both to advanced level with her first two talent points.
That left her with one regular talent and one invention talent to choose, as well as her six attribute points.
“I can’t just focus on invention, as much as I want to,” Rain deduced as she studied her player screen. “I’ll need speed and strength to survive the wilds and find those rare materials. I won’t be much of a protégé if I don’t have anything to be creative with.”
Replying the battle with Gorath in her mind, Rain analyzed her missteps until she narrowed down her weaknesses to two key areas: her low strength and her beginner-level dagger skills.
“I only have a strength of fifteen, which is far below Milly and Calista. I couldn’t overcome the strength gap with Gorath, and he tossed me around like a rag doll. He was faster than I was as well, but the agility enhancement from Driver of Evolution was enough to bridge that gap.”
Looking down at her torn leg with a sigh, she added her attribute points to strength.
“I really need equipment that boosts my strength. I’ll add that to the top of my crafting list. Now, for my other gap – my dagger skills. Beginner level isn’t enough anymore. I need to be more adaptive in a fight. I’ve just been stabbing monsters in the back, and that won’t work forever. What if we come across a beast with no back?”
Chuckling to herself, she used her general talent point to move her Dagger Specialist talent to advanced. A wave of combat knowledge flooded into her mind, and suddenly she knew a half dozen alternative tactics she could have used on Gorath. “I’ll need additional daggers to make half of those tactics work though. Oh, I could enchant each with a different ability to increase my options. Those will be next on my crafting list.”
“Now, my final class talent,” she said aloud. She stared at the player screen and asked it a question. “I need materials. What talents are there to help me find them?”
The player screen zoomed in on the Hidden Invention web and highlighted five different talents before settling on one outlined in gold.
Protégé’s Bounty
Prerequisite: Nature’s Bounty
Nature’s Bounty grants the player an instinctive knowledge of the alchemic and magical properties of plants and animals.
When upgraded to Protégé’s Bounty, this knowledge is expanded to include any item that can be used for crafting.
In addition, Protégé’s Bounty allows the player to spend magic to pinpoint the approximate location of a specified material. Range: One mile per player level.
If the player has a familiar, the familiar also gains this talent.
“Hephaestus, you know just what a girl needs,” Rain chuckled. “Now, if only I had a familiar.”
“Perhaps I can help with that.”
Startled, Rain looked towards the entrance to Rain On My Parade. A strange Tutoria stood in the doorway. She wore a white dress shirt, brown vest, black suspenders, and a bright red bowtie. It looked like she had strayed from a carnival.
The Tutoria enthusiastically strolled over and plopped herself down across from Rain in the same chair Hephaestus had used.
“Hi-ya, Rain,” Tutoria greeted her chipperly. “You were deep into thought, so I didn’t want to disturb you. Did you finish your level up?”
“Umm… yes? I guess I did,” Rain responded as she mentally accepted the Protégé’s Bounty talent.
“Good, because I have something else for you. Something wonderful,” Tutoria said. “Your reward for winning the Arena of Protection.”
She swiped her hands over the table and sent the teacups tumbling. Rain’s hand darted out, her newly enhanced agility fueling her reflexes, and caught the God Contest cube before it struck the floor.
“Hey, be careful Tutoria,” Rain said as she clutched the cube to her breast.
“Oh, relax Rain. This stuff isn’t real. That’s not the actual God Contest you’re clutching like a baby,” scoffed Tutoria. She leaned across the table until her nose was just a hair away from the surface of the cube. “Although it is quite a detailed replica. I wonder if he included Tutorias in there. Probably not.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” asked Rain.
“The Tutorias were created after Hephaestus died,” explained Tutoria. “A last minute addition, to assist the AI Director.”
“Oh, that makes sense,” Rain nodded. “Oracle knew the Director would need help.”
“No,” Tutoria replied knowingly. “We Tutorias weren’t created by Oracle.”
“But if you weren’t made by Oracle, and Hephaestus died before you were created, then that means…”
Tutoria winked and pressed her finger to her lips. “Our little secret, okay. Don’t go repeating that, or we may both get in trouble. Trust me. You don’t want that to happen.”
Tutoria leaned back and swept her hand back across the empty table. It filled with miniature figurines.
“But secrets aren’t why we are here. I was going to wait until you were conscious to do this,” explained Tutoria. “But then your friends dropped me into a lake. I decided it was healthier for my sanity to finish with you and Xavier in this mental world rather than in the physical one.”
Rain had no idea what Tutoria was talking about, but the absurdity of her story made her laugh. “Calista and Mils dropped you into a lake?”
“Yes, despite the very clear instructions I provided. I was the laughing stock of the other Tutorias when I got back. I had to pick algae out of my hair, Rain.”
“Gross. So, how does this work?” asked Rain curiously. “They represent prizes, right?”
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“Correct!” Tutoria said chipperly. “You earned eight points from the arena – not bad, considering you spent half of the battle flat on your back. You can exchange those points for these prizes.”
“Clever. Very creative. I like it,” Rain said as she studied her options. Tutoria beamed.
“You this so?” Tutoria smiled. “Thanks, Rain.”
“You mentioned familiars?” Rain prompted, her eyes fixed on a grey housecat with golden eyes. It bore a remarkable resemblance to her childhood pet Anchovy, whom her brother Bill had accidentally run over with his car when she was fourteen.
“I sure did,” Tutoria said. She selected two of the miniatures and placed one in each palm. Unlike the other miniatures, these two moved as if they were alive.
The first was the grey adult housecat, which mischievously stalked across Tutoria’s palm as if it were searching for a plant to knock off a shelf.
The other familiar was a tiny version of the beast Fairy Killer, only this one was still a puppy. It rolled playfully on Tutoria’s palm, wagging its tail happily. It was adorable, yet Rain couldn’t help but picture the monstrous beast that it would grow into.
“They are each five points,” prompted Tutoria. “The cat is a utility familiar. It has its own abilities, which tailor to the needs of its master upon selection. But it has a heck of an attitude and expects to be pampered daily, though only when it wants to be.”
“So, in other words, it’s a cat?” Rain concluded, and Tutoria laughed.
“Exactly. And the wolf is very much a puppy. Its skills are focused on battle, but its temperament will depend on how it is raised. The wolves raised Fairy Killer to be… well, a killer, so that was what it became. But that is not its only path. It does have a tendency towards aggression though, especially when fully grown, and some masters need an aid, such as that whip Gorath had, to control the beast.”
“I’ll take the cat,” Rain said without hesitation. “I’m more of a cat person anyway. Plus, I think having a baby Fairy Killer wandering around would be awkward, specially around the Fairies.”
“Good choice,” Tutoria said as the miniature began to grow into a full sized cat. “What are you going to name it?”
“Anchovy,” Rain answered as she felt her mind form a link with her new familiar. Its – his – personality shone through like a beacon. She could feel curiosity and intelligence within the feline, and a fierce battle between his independence and dependence on others. He felt like a mirror to Rain’s soul, with the exception of the powerful desire to hunt mice.
Anchovy, her bonded familiar, arched his back in an exaggerated yawn, as if he had just woken up from a very long nap. A familiar screen popped into existence above Anchovy’s head.
Anchovy II
Level: 1
Specialty: Familiar
Strength:
Base: 1
Enhanced: 1
Agility:
Base: 10
Enhanced: 10
Toughness:
Base: 2
Enhanced: 2
Magic:
Base: 15
Enhanced: 15
Talents:
Combat – Claws (beginner)
Exploration – Improved Perception (advanced)
Invention – Protégé’s Bounty (beginner)
Assassin – Stalk Rodent (advanced), Pounce (advanced)
Commerce – Shopkeeper (beginner)
“Shopkeeper?” Rain asked with a laugh. “Are you telling me he can help me run Rain On My Parade?”
“He’s an intelligent creature, Rain,” Tutoria explained. “He may not be able to make tea for your customers, but he’s certainly smart enough to take their money.”
“He’s not able to make tea yet, but give me a little bit of time and I’ll fix that,” Rain said, her inventive mind already creating three different ways to overcome that limitation.
Anchovy meowed his approval. It’s short, high-pitched chirp caused Rain’s spirits to lift. Leaping onto the table, Anchovy sauntered over to Rain as he trampled over every miniature in his path. Rain could sense the cat was intentionally swinging his bushy grey tail side-to-side to maximize the number of miniatures he knocked over along the way.
Rain laughed as Tutoria gave an annoyed huff. She grumbled that the arrogance of humans and cats were on par with each other as she righted each of the miniatures.
Anchovy sat in front of Rain and stared up at her, his golden eyes burrowing into her own. Rain scratched him between the ears – where his namesake had liked to be scratched – and her new familiar purred softly. He leaped off the table and onto her lap, curled up, and fell asleep.
“Anchovy used to sleep on my lap too,” Rain said, gently stroking his fur. In the minute they had been bonded, she already knew Anchovy would be her trusted companion, a precious thing in a world where such trust could mean the difference between life and death. “Thank you, Tutoria.”
“You’re very welcome, Rain,” Tutoria said softly. “Now, you still have three more points to spend.”
They spent the next thirty minutes going through the items Rain could afford with her three points. She dismissed each one in turn, until finally they were out of options. There were several solid choices, but Rain knew she could craft them all herself once she found the right materials.
In the end, she exchanged her remaining three points for a small fortune in gold, which would allow her to buy the alchemy and crafting equipment she required from the Emporia.
“Well then, Rain,” Tutoria said, as Rain’s gold increased by twelve thousand. “That’s the last of your business in this empty void. I’m told its time for you to finally wake up.”
Rain could feel it as well. An insistent pull away from the void. Rain On My Parade began to collapse around her. The void beyond grew weaker, and it felt like she was slowly waking up from a dream.
Rain wrapped her hands protectively around Anchovy, and he nuzzled her palm to assure his new master that he would be leaving with her.
“Good luck Rain,” called Tutoria as she faded from sight. “Take care of Anchovy. Oh, and tell Milly and Calista I said to go fuck themselves. Can’t believe they dropped me in a lake…”
Tutoria disappeared, but her head popped back into existence a second later. “Actually, given what those two have been up to these past few days, ‘go fuck themselves’ might not be the best choice of words. Just express my vigorous anger to them, won’t you? I’m sure you’ll find the right words. You’re a clever woman.”
“Sure thing, Tutoria,” Rain laughed, as she felt herself pulled from the void and back to reality.
* * *
Rain slowly opened her eyes. The stained ceiling tiles and musky scent of the Castle of Glass greeted her as the bright noonday sun streamed through the windows. After a week without use, the light stung her eyes. She could feel pain in her chest and her leg, but it was a dull pain, a distant sensation from what it had been during the battle.
Anchovy was curled up on her lap, and the steady rumble of his purr gave her strength. She sat up, careful not to disturb her new companion.
“Ah, you’re awake,” Ying said as she spotted her now conscious patient. She signaled to Tyrell, who headed for the elevator to inform Calista and Elmer. “How do you feel?”
“Alive,” Rain croaked. She was sore all over, and her voice was scratchy from lack of use. She was parched and her stomach growled.
“And the cat?” Ying inquired. “It seems like new pets are a theme this afternoon.”
“What do you mean?” Rain asked, instinctively stroking Anchovy’s furry head. He leaned encouragingly into her palm.
Ying pointed towards Xavier. He was still unconscious in his cot, but he was no longer alone.
A small, three-headed puppy lay on Xavier’s lap, playfully burrowing its head into Xavier’s blanket. Anchovy hissed as the beast yipped with excitement.
“It’s been here for five minutes, and it has already bit one of my healers,” Ying commented. “It’s fiercely protective of him.”
“Ah. That’s going to become a thing,” replied Rain. “At least he won’t be alone anymore.”
Rain was still watching the puppy when Calista burst into the clinic and wrapped her in a fierce hug as happy tears streamed down her face. Rain hugged her back, her pain momentarily forgotten, and when Milly joined them a few minutes later – their family back together – she felt like she was home.
Rain Desjarlais
Level: 22
Specialty: Brewing, Experimentation
Class: Hephaestus’ Protégé
Sub-class: None
Strength:
Base: 21
Enhanced: 21
Agility:
Base: 34
Enhanced: 40 (+6 from Dagger of Lugh Samildànach)
Toughness:
Base: 15
Enhanced: 24 (+6 from Dagger of Lugh Samildànach, +3 from Rain’s Tailcoat)
Magic:
Base: 34
Enhanced: 42 (+8 from Luna’s Pendant of Imagination)
Talents:
Alchemy - Alchemy (advanced),
Combat - Dagger Specialist (advanced)
Elemental Magic - Fire Magic (beginner), Metal Magic (advanced)
Invention – Protégé’s Bounty (beginner)
Unique Talent: The Mage Alchemist of Lugh Samildànach
Class Talents: The World Smith’s Blank Canvas, The Master of Invention, Driver of Evolution, The Innocuous Flaw, Only the Original
Sub-Class Talents: None
Equipment Benefits:
Creativity of Hephaestus (Luna’s Pendant of Imagination)