Once it was clear everything was calm and Arrjee would be okay, Dad dismissed his guards. I didn’t see that anyone was poisoned, but analysis of the trolls did say they had a toxic body odor, so I preemptively gave everyone a pulse of Bless Blood. Corvall asked me if that was the skill that made people horny. I told him that yes, it vitalizes people, and gave him two extra doses. “Call it vitality if you want, but I’m horny!”
“Could I experience that effect?” Mowd requested. “I am curious how close it will feel to my Teenage Lust potion.” I told her that it was no problem, but I would like to experience that potion sometime in return. A deal was made, and I gave her three extra pulses. “Well, that’s something quite unique. I would say it is like the potion added to an Invigoration blessing.” I explained to her that I was currently the only person on the planet with the Ki Healer class, and that one purpose of the adventuring school being here is to demonstrate that it can be used responsibly. After all the Bless Bloods, I mentioned that my ki was pretty much spent.
Dad reported that he also had spent most of his mana maintaining the Guard for so long. I wondered to myself if creating all those arrows might have just been a relatively low burden compared with actually keeping them active. But my bigger question was, “Dad, how can magical summons know how to shoot a bow and use spears, swords, and shields?”
“They don’t know anything I don’t know. I have had to learn the basic forms of all those things, and my B Rank skills translate to C for them. I even had to learn Basic Tailoring so they could spawn with their leather armor. They function at one third of my intelligence and wisdom, one half of my vitality and luck, and two thirds of all my other attributes. Their capabilities compared to me will improve as my Nondescript Guard skill ranks up.”
“I didn’t realize you had those sorts of skills,” I stated, surprised.
“That is because, like many adults as they approach 25 or 30 years, I got out of the habit of regular training. There is a lot to life besides leveling and ranking, and for the majority of us our priorities shift. Through age 25 your Mom and I were training monsters, though. My training ethic began to fade, and eventually the monsters we chose to train were Arrjee and Carrie.”
Clever flip to the context of ‘monsters’, Dad.
“Hey! I’m a little goddess; ask Mom.”
“I never said what you were a goddess of, darling,” and Mom and Dad and even Grandma laughed.
We decided to wait until Arrjee was conscious to open the two chests. Everyone likes to feel the excitement of discovered treasure. Carrie gave me back my knife and thanked me for thinking of her. “What is a brother for?” I asked.
She replied with a grin, the smartass. “When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
Mowd’s face acquired a pensive aspect. “This is hard to get used to. You-all like each other. You don’t get along because circumstances dictate it. You are family and don’t mind casually demonstrating that to others.”
“That is part of what I meant, Mowd. Creepy! No offense everyone, in fact exactly the opposite. This is unbelievably desirable. But growing up as bandits and nomads, we just aren’t used to this level of casual trust and respect you share. And not just you. My experience tells me that everyone in Cottages must be fake, but when I look closer, what can’t be real, is.”
Arrjee must have come to consciousness and heard that. He managed a loud whisper, “Okay Corval. We shall continue to be as creepy as we can.” He started testing out his previously crushed arm. “I want that club. I paid for it with pain, flesh, and bone, and I want it as a trophy in my room.”
“I’m sorry, son,” Dad said, “It wasn’t considered loot and dissipated with the troll. However, both trolls left behind treasure chests. We have been waiting to open them so you could be part of it. They are both wooden, so we can generally expect low-end items. Sometimes they surprise, however.”
Based on my earlier reaction, I suggested, “I don’t know how loot is normally divided. But in my opinion Arrjee should get first choice because he was the only one hurt. And I don’t need any of it; I earned a lot last Tuesday in helping to defeat those zebors. If I was going to get a choice, he can have it as well.” Grandma asked me how they divided up loot on Earth.
“Well, in real life, there were no monsters that left loot behind. Usually if there was some sort of treasure expedition, for example, a sunken ship from hundreds of years ago, the people who paid for the expedition got any loot, and those who worked for them were guaranteed a predetermined sum. I’m not sure, but on some expeditions, the financiers would likely pay a bonus to everyone depending on what was recovered.”
“We had fictions, though, that sometimes had parties like ours that defeated a monster which either already had a lot of loot, like a dragon, or would spawn loot on death, like these trolls did.”
Corval interjected, “Your world’s fictions were like this world’s reality.”
I continued, “Yeah, it’s weird how that works. Some of the fictions were outrageous though, or fantastical even for Heere. Some of the bad guys in our fictions were far more evil than I have heard of here.” Then I remembered the interstellar beings Dark Silence and their attempted destruction of the peoples of Heere thousands of years ago. So I had heard of such evil, but no one but the gods knew about them
“Anyway, one way for a fictional party to distribute loot was for the party leader to distribute it. If there were a lot of loot, sometimes a town might have a treasure store, and the items the party members didn’t take immediately would go into the store. This would allow those who weren’t actually involved in the adventure to gain access to rare items. Another way was for the party finding the loot to draw lots for the order they would select the available treasures. And another was for members just to choose the items they most wanted, negotiating in a friendly manner with other party members. And sometimes, not everyone in the party was honorable, and they might lie, cheat, steal, or kill to get what they wanted. It all kind of depended on how the author wanted it to play out, and there were a lot of authors.
“I know what brothers aren’t good for.” an impatient Carrie said. “Letting us see what is in a treasure chest quickly!”
Grandma gave her a patient grin. “Grandson, on both Heere and the planet of Silverstone, the division of loot is handled in several ways, some as you described. Since we had not planned to be an adventuring team, it is up to Barrie, as party leader and chief damage-dealer, to decide division of proceeds.”
That’s fair. If not for his soldiers, the battle would have gone much differently.
Without them, the probability of everyone surviving would have been approximately 85%.
Dad accepted Grandma’s prompt. “Does anyone have an objection to Arrjee getting first choice? If not, let’s do this by age: youngest picks first, oldest last, and we start over if there is still anything left. Forrest, if you want to pick something and give it to Arrjee, that is your choice.”
Carrie said, “I did not contribute to the fight at all; I’d feel awkward taking any of the loot. I’m just very curious to see what is there. But if there is something a tailor might find really useful, I might change my mind.”
Mom opened the two chests. The smaller one contained five items, in addition to three gems. The larger one contained four gems plus nine items. The gems were of various colors and sizes, from about Jacque’s little fingernail to his thumb.
In the large chest there was a nice looking scabbard designed for a straight sword. Arrjee’s eyes were attracted to that. “Can someone analyze that scabbard for me and tell me if it is anything special?”
I’m sure other people looked too, but I saw:
Longsword scabbard – leather sleeve with belt loop for conveniently transporting a longsword. High quality, no wear. Enchantments:
* Resizes to fit most longswords
* Self-repair
* Stability
The first two were self-apparent, but I expanded the third:
The scabbard rests comfortably against the bearer’s leg even while walking, running, riding, or swimming. No leg strap will be necessary, nor will the belt loop be unduly strained.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Corval was the one to tell Arrjee about it. He must have thought like me, and only gave details about the Stability enchantment.
Arrjee happily declared, “I’ll take that!” Mom handed it to him.
Carrie would have been the second to choose, but she didn’t see anything of interest to her as a future tailor. Dad said, “Corval, you are the same age as Forrest. He will still get to pick, but you choose first.”
“Are you sure? I’m a convict.” Dod told him that he took part in the fight, and earned a choice. He took a minute, probably analyzing the things that interested him. “Hey! I just leveled to 9 analyzing this stuff. XP from the trolls must have gotten me really close. No skill at this level, though. Anyway, I’ll take the self-repairing, resizable chaps.” Mom handed them over,and we all congratulated him.
Dad looked at me. I looked at Arrjee and told him to pick something else. “No brother. Like Dad said, you took part in the fight and earned a choice.”
My eye had caught a pair of enchanted earrings which would provide two charisma, but none unless both were worn. “I’ll take the charisma earrings then.” Arrjee would still have me beat in charisma, but they would help me a little, just like my river stone with its luck. Jacques had never had his ears pierced, but these were basically copper earring studs, and I was sure I could get used to them quickly.
“It is your turn, Rhetta” Mom wasted no time in choosing a small satchel, enchanted against theft. It was likely something ideal for her job as a postwolf.
Dad chose an engravable badge which had a range enchantment. If someone could discern its shape, they would be able to read it even from far away.
“Mowd,” Dad prompted. She chose an unenchanted thick dark bronze pot with a flared top, handles, and an intricate, etched, geometric pattern. Mom handed it to her, along with an enchanted porcelain lid I had assumed was some sort of plate. I realized it had basically the same pattern etched into the pot, accompanied by enchantments for sealing and adjustable pressure release.
She was surprised; I guess she didn’t realize it was part of the pot either. “A pressure cooker? I know that some people in cities have them, but I never thought I would. I know it will be very useful to save time while cooking, but I wonder how I can use it with my brews.” A big smile accompanied that thought.
“Rhonda, what attracts you?”
“The pot was beautiful, but I suppose a witch has more use for it than I. It will be in our cottage anyway. I’ll take the deck of cards.” Those were enchanted so as not to wear, nor would they allow magic users to discern what was on the side facing away from them. The backside had an image of two seated monkeys apparently playing patty-cake.
If that is even a thing here.
It is not, but I agree that is what it looks like.
Having completed our first round of selections, Dad asked Carrie if she had changed her mind. She hadn’t, and so Arrjee was the next to choose. He selected a cloth vest in dark, subdued brandy color. There was a matching vest in basically the same color, but with more blue. I chose that.
The one remaining item I thought to be of any particular merit was a set of arm bracers that matched the enchantments on Corval’s chaps. He chose those. Arrjee probably thought the same as I; we already had our enchanted or charmed leather armor. It just made sense to let Corval take the bracers.
All the remaining items except the jewels were selected. At that point the Mayor declared, “The village will keep the jewels to pay taxes on everything else. Most will go to the duchy, but Cottages will get its share as well.”
Evening had long since passed, so we headed back to town. We brought the chests with us. Dad thought they might be useful in the Abider’s cavern.
That’s right! I was going to train with Abbie. It’s almost half past eighteen. Maybe I’ll just deliver the chests to the cavern and head over to the gang’s cottage.
“Interface, am I close to ranking anything?”
You could probably rank Claw Strike to D in less than twenty minutes. You will not rank Heal Other during the follow-up, but it will get you closer to C.
“I can take the chests down to Abbie. I should be able to rank Claw Strike fairly quickly sparring with her, and get more RP for Heal Other as well.”
----------------------------------------
As we headed back to town, Arrjee and Corval both expressed interest in visiting Abbie with me. With Passing Stream at the backside of Cottages and the campus at the front, we had to pass through town to get there. As we did so, Arrjee and I dropped our loot off at our home, and Corval dropped off his at the gang’s cottage. Corval picked up strays – Onre, Kossa, Sun, Ferret, and Lenyet. It was our whole gang including our honorary members.
I didn’t expect this to be a production.
I suggest you produce; rank Claw Strike. I find it likely they will all appreciate a half hour or so of extra training. You will be able to get more RP for Heal Other if any of your friends wish to attack the Abider with you.
Corval had already revealed that we defeated two trolls, but as we walked to campus the three of us who had been there gave the rest a blow-by-blow description of what happened. Only Lenyet was unsurprised at hearing about Dad’s Nondescript Guard. The future staff at the school had held two introductory skill demonstrations on campus so they all could have a better idea of what everyone else was capable of.
Kossa thought that Rhonda’s perfume attack was hilarious. And, looking back at the events, it was both humorous and effective. Corval revealed that he had tried to distract them with itching powder, but it did not seem to affect them. However, her perfume kept them distracted every bit as much as a stronger itching powder would have. They were not fighting at full efficiency, beyond the reduction in their regens caused by Mowd’s curses.
The only one in the administration building was the cleric Harron Ronvaldt. He had been using some of his physician skills to study his anatomy in light of the knowledge that he was part Skolturi. Not all of his skills could be applied to himself, but he had been spending a large amount of time during the last several days learning and documenting what he could.
After a few minutes of discussion, he joined us as we continued on to the basement and eventually the cavern. The guards on duty were not people I was familiar with, but with Harron with us they did not challenge our passage. I guess I would have been nervous too, seeing that one of our number was described as a ‘Convict’. Or maybe, since he works at the school almost every day, they were already familiar with his presence.
The cavern is beginning to look like a room where students can train. Some sections of the floor are covered with mats, and there is a weapons rack bearing various practice items such as wooden swords, clubs, and bos. All-in-all it is still a large, mostly empty, very echoey cavern, though.
We stopped near the Abider. I explained, “I’m going to attack Abbie for a while with Claw Strike. I expect that it will not take very long to rank. When done, I’ll heal her. Feel free to add your attacks to mine. From what Harron has said, it would be impossible for all of us together to damage her in any significant way.”
tough lady
Onre, and Kossa said they would join me in sparring with the Abider.
Harron challenged Lenyet to a wrestling match. He was glad to accept. Arrjee, Corval, and Odd were interested in watching them. Sun convinced Ferret to spar him with bos. Ferret did not yet have the Basic Polearm skill, but they thought he could get it during the time we were spending here.
Abbie did not react as she had at noon when I touched her to say hi. Actually, she didn’t react at all. Onre and Kossa followed my lead and greeted her, but as expected she didn’t respond to them either. I asked, “Harron, is Abbie asleep? She is ignoring us.”
Harron, already naked in preparation for wrestling with Lenyet, replied, “I don’t know if she is asleep or not. If she sleeps or not. But her lack of response to you now is how she normally behaves. Once she receives a small amount of damage, she is sure to react, though.”
‘Small’, as in 10% of her health or about 900 points.
Including your Claw Strike and Onre’s and Kossa’s knives, factoring in Abbie’s native toughness and HP regeneration at its lowest level, you-all might get there after an hour or so. I lack sufficient data to provide a meaningful projection.
“There is one way to find out.”
“Here goes, guys.” My first strike was a long one at full strength in what is currently her midsection. But essentially I am fighting self-restoring clay. By the time my claw reaches the extent of the rending, I could see the gash already closing where I started. Onre moved to my left and began stabbing. His approach was to keep stabbing deep near the same spot. Harron had told us there were no vital areas, so one spot was the same as any other. At my right, Kossa was using a different approach, using her knife to make short horizontal slashes as opposed to my long ones.
After a few minutes, Onre jokingly declared, “I have figured out her strategy. She will bore us to death before becoming seriously injured.”
Kossa made a serious reply. “Forrest is only Level 5 and we’re not even leveled yet. I bet by the time we’ve all got a dozen levels and a lot more experience, we’ll be damaging her fast enough so she starts having fun and spars back. Right now, we are as significant as ticks on ticks.”
“She thinks my Heal Other is significant now. She’s probably wishing I’d just get to that part, but maybe knows I can’t vitalize her without getting a little damaged first. She is not trying to bore us, just practicing patience. Abiding.”
“Well,” Onre replied, “Her Abide skill must be ranked S three times over.”
With smiles we kept at our mechanical attacks, nor really focused on what we were doing. Well, I wasn’t anyway. We could hear both the wrestling match and the bos clacking. Arrjee, Odd, and Corval were wise cracking and in general cheering everyone on. Unfortunately, we were faced toward the wall and couldn’t see any of the others.
Next time I’m going to face the room.
You could do that now, dumbass.
“But I’d have to stop abiding here, walk all the way to the other side of this big log, and restart my abidization there. She might see me as a poor student.”
Dumbass. It is sometimes hard to believe I interface with your mind.
“Yes, I can understand how that might make you feel inadequate. But I love you just the way you are.”
After 19 minutes I announced Interface’s report.
Achievement: Claw Strike, D
Kossa and Onre backed away, probably bored. Their arms were probably getting tired, just like mine. Still, I had some healing to do. The first spot I picked was where Onre had been stabbing. That was a nice compact area I could likely heal without moving my hand. That took fifteen seconds, which meant Onre had achieved 90 damage, plus whatever she healed herself. By the end of the first heal Abbie had formed a pseudopod that was stroking the back of my hand. She was thanking me for the 30 ki she got to keep until it would dissipate in an hour or so.
If Kossa had done similar damage, I lacked sufficient ki to completely heal it. But I did what I could, and stopped Heal Other once my ki was down to 10. Harron and Lenyet were in the middle of a round, so I waited until they were done before telling Harron I was unable to completely heal Abbie.
He stood up and came over to her. His heal aura activated for just a few seconds. “I think she had mostly healed herself before I got here. How much did you heal?” I told him about 160 HP. “I healed about half of that. You’ll have a lot more ki in a few levels, and should be doing damage a lot more effectively too. If you feel bored now, know that it becomes fun when she begins fighting back. You will see.”
“I can’t wait.”
Ferret happily let us know he had learned Basic Polearm. Sun took special care to praise his friend’s achievement.