Ferret morphed into a full-size version of Odd. He made sure Ahhshaww knew to keep physical contact with him so they could continue to communicate. After considering for a moment how best to accomplish this, the air elemental ended up draping herself around the back of his shoulders like a scarf, with one eye positioned forward of each shoulder and her mouth above his left. Since, like all of us, his helm left much of his face exposed, she could position herself to remain in contact with his lower chin. Her translucent nature and new form complimented his stolid solidity wonderfully, like a perfect accessory. Not an everyday sight, certainly, but one I appreciated in form and function.
He is still a bit bizzarro, which is in itself strange in that how does one bizzarro a rock monster?
You cannot expect an early Rank D shapeshifter to fully match another’s form.
“I know. But I started relating Norrus’ early forms to Bizzarro Superman, and I can’t get the analogy out of my head.”
We spent about 20 minutes introducing ourselves to our new daughter. It wasn’t exactly efficient, with all communication from both us and her having to go through Ferret. But that was the marvelous thing. We could communicate. She couldn’t tell us how long she had been here but thinks she slept high in the air 50 or 60 times.
“Can interfaces show us dates?”
No. We track by galactic date, which is only useful to a very few, like you. We do adjust time of day to local standards, however.
“Okay, so let’s say 50 days, then.”
We asked her if she knew how she got here. With her being an orphan, I should have expected something tragic, but my life as Forrest has been going so well I wasn’t ready for what we learned. She had been the youngest member of a party consisting of her four parents and their fire elemental friend. They had come up from a nearby dungeon to explore and train in this system dungeon. They found the entrance stone like we did, by its buzzing. Another group, consisting of five Covargh, was standing near the stone. It did not surprise them; they knew there would be surface dwellers on the plain. Typically elementals and nomads would ignore each other, in a live and let live arrangement. So Ahhshaww’s group respectfully stood back and waited for the nomads to enter the dungeon.
They shouted something; it sounded like a friendly greeting, but none of her group spoke the surface language. One of her fathers returned the greeting in his wind. Suddenly their tone shifted and their shouts became loud and chaotic. They were pointing behind her group. Three nether beasts were rapidly charging at them, like black, smokey pachyderms, or at least that was what one of her mothers called them. Instead of entering the dungeon for safety, the nomads rushed forward to assist. To no avail. The nether beasts quickly killed her parents and the fire elemental and turned their attention on the nomads.
One of them sent a party request, and she joined. Instantly a Quest Notification popped up. By then, though, the beasts had reached and decimated the nomads as well. One of them was saying something she couldn’t understand and kept emphatically repeating something in the party chat. She thinks now it was probably, ‘Accept! Accept! Accept!’
She did, and found herself here, alone. The rest must have died protecting her.
Ahhshaww began crying. That didn’t need translation, nor did our tears for her. We each took turns massaging her body at Ferret’s back; I did not know if a hug would be understood.
I: Speculation: The lowest level member of the nomad’s party was likely Level 4 or 5. This floor was probably instanced before Ahhshaww joined them, which would explain why she is on what we consider the second floor. Since Ferret was Level 2, we started on an easier floor. Instead of a new floor being instanced for us, when we came ‘down’, we appeared in hers. Ellehalon may have caused that to happen. It also explains why the first and second floors appeared with the same sort of map. In a sense, they were both the ‘first’ floor.
A: Ssohnaww luss ‘Interface’?
“Forrest, is it alright if I explain Interface to her?”
“Of course. She is our daughter.”
I: Please do. Let her know I will be an uncle.
Nieces Rint and now Ahhshaww.
After a few moments, “Alright, she knows now and says ‘hello’ to Uncle Interface. I also told her what he speculated. She understands most of it, but she wants to add something. During the weeks she was here, she was getting very lonely, always in fear, and tremendously sorrowful for her losses. She was beginning to consider just descending to the ground and allowing one of the groups to tear her apart and end her. But in the past week, she felt something like an unseen presence begin providing her an emotional comfort and hope, especially as she started to go to sleep and just after waking. She thinks now that it was Ellehalon letting her know things would turn out alright. But until just a little while ago, she didn’t actually know that presence was real, much less a god.”
“By the way, her Analyze is at Rank D, so she knows all our classes, levels, and ages. Well, sort of. She sees us all as ‘youthful’.”
Forrest asked, “You know what we youths all need?” A good, soul-cleansing, emotion-scrubbing fight. Let’s do it.”
“One other thing first. You guys should know that Ahhshaw views the world a little differently. She thinks of us as ‘breathers’, and also everyone who is not an air or fire elemental as a ‘solid’.”
What about water elementals? Not important right now.
I replied, “It makes a lot of sense that she might think that, growing up deep in a dungeon.”
Kossa renewed our buffs, and I gave some quick instructions. We traveled down the path until what I expected to be the final corner where the floor boss would be.
FR: There is likely a Level 7 gremlin or 8-legs waiting for us, and it likely heard us coming. Sun and I will go in first, with Onre and Arrjee immediately following. Kossa and Ferret, stay back for just a moment in case I am wrong and there is something very unexpected and dangerous to Ahhshaww. However, I expect to almost immediately be giving you the go ahead to turn the corner and support and watch. Ferret, how does our daughter feel about us fighting?
Onre regained his full motility by removing his backpack. Since Kossa would be remaining in the back, she kept hers on.
----------------------------------------
[Ferret Drewson’s Point of View]
FD: She is excited although a little scared. She has had to be on the alert for the monsters here for weeks. She wants to return a little payback from her carrying weeks of worry.
ES: Payback she has. || Payback she will have. determination
Even when I am not touching Sun, I am starting to understand them better. I can feel their words were like a vow.
FD: She is not afraid of stones; she has adjusted her body density so they would pass right through her.
FR: Alright, great! It sounds like we are ready. Front four, let’s advance. If it is a single boss like we think, hold for a moment for our backrank to be able to watch.
Kossa and I had kept back from the others by about 15 feet. I felt just enough weight on my shoulders to know that Ahhshaww is there; she actually does feel like I’m wearing a slightly heavy scarf.
“Daughter, may I learn your form so that I may gain the ability to shapeshift into an air elemental? I’ll warn you now, though – I will not start out looking very good.”
{Yes, Daddy. You be odd Earth and odd Air. I love you anyway.}
I suddenly heard a wailing, louder than the gremlins from outside had made.
“It is okay, daughter. Kossa will be blocking a lot of that sound soon.”
{I wind too! Not scared. determination}
Not letting fear show, anyway.
FR: Like we thought, a single Level 7 gremlin lord. This sucker has four arms and is about 6 feet tall. He has a huge pile of rocks; he is already throwing them hard and fast. Backrank, approach.
As soon as we rounded the corner, Kossa reduced the wailing with both a Void Barrier and her Sensory Filter music. She stood behind me, allowing my body to catch any stones that might be thrown our way. I could see the barrier was slowing the rocks down, and that Arrjee’s Push and Sun’s shields had been effectively blocking them anyway. Like Forrest had said, the gremlin was tall, and it was also quite bulky, with all four arms being very muscular. Just as the others had been, this one was naked, lacking both clothing and armor. I would have thought a ‘lord’ would be more attractive, but this one was the opposite of that.
Suddenly, I heard a loud, steady whoosh sound at both of my shoulders.
“Are you okay? What is that sound?”
{I told Daddy. I wind. It Refresh Breeze.}
AS: Why is there a breeze now?
I: We failed to assess our new teammate. Ahhshaww is providing a buff. The breeze has raised Forrest’s maximum stamina by 2%, very similar to how Kossa has raised max health by 6%.
FD: She calls it Refresh Breeze. She is ‘winding’.
OL: Well, if you haven’t already done so, thank her!
“They thank you for your wind.”
{Parents welcome. Kill gremlin now?}
FD: She says you-all are welcome, and wonders when are you going to kill the gremlin?
FR: Well now seems like a good time.
All the rocks for the past several seconds had been aimed at Sun; he must have taunted it. As our frontline headed forward, it pulled a short sword and shield from somewhere, ready to fight with those, while at the same time the rocks kept going. It ought to give that up; between Sun’s two shields, Arrjee’s Push, and Kossa’s barrier, they were essentially useless. A shimmering shadow surrounded the gremlin lord as our four got near – Kossa’s Absorb Warmth.
It finally realized the rocks were useless, and a second shield and a heavy-tipped wooden club manifested in its two free hands. It now had a shield and weapon at both its right and left. Its intermittent wails got much louder, and I could tell the fear and discouragement factor had almost tripled. With Rank D Clear Mind plus Kossa’s protections, it wasn’t affecting me at all.
{Daddy, I ascared.}
We’re teaching her Meditation tonight! I don’t think she has any mental resistances of her own. At least she is sharing my Clear Mind right now, but at only a Rank E effectiveness.
“It is alright Ahhshaww. The gremlin will soon be dead.”
{Okay. I keep wind. They kill.}
FD: That wailing is starting to scare her pretty bad. Please kill it quickly.
Sun, Forrest, Onre, and Arrjee had surrounded it. Sun was nearest to me, positioned to challenge the gremlin’s right side just over a foot ahead of him. Forrest had taken the other point, at its left side. The duo occupied all four of its arms. I could see the sides of both Forrest’s and Onre’s faces. Arrjee’s body was mostly out of sight, blocked by both Sun and the gremlin. I’m sure I would see the front of his face occasionally as he shifted with the dance of battle. The gremlin’s pile of rocks was located between Forrest and Sun.
The gremlin’s four arms could not be as effective as Sun’s three, because it could only fight from its front. Sun doesn’t have to have a front if they don’t want to; being surrounded is basically what Trichyans are designed for. And besides, altogether it was our nine arms versus its four. It moved fast, though, and was quite effective countering Forrest from the front. It finally stopped wailing. I think it probably decided to focus on the physical battle after seeing no results from its vocal attack. It was using two arms against Forrest and two against Sun, meaning it could not block Onre and Arrjee at all.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
With no longer any reason to try to remain silent, Arrjee loudly said, “The fucker has really tough skin. It’s sort of like it has built up full-body calluses over 20 years. I gotta say, they make Ugly uglier.” I told her what he said about Ugly and she laughed in agreement.
I had to laugh at what she said next.
She certainly isn’t wrong.
“Hey, Daddy Arrjee,” I shouted, “you very cute for a breather.”
He shifted to take a quick look at us and mouthed, ‘Really? Now?’, and he might have blushed beneath that cute, furry face. Both Forrest and Onre momentarily got big smiles. Forrest said something to Arrjee, but I couldn’t hear it. Sun’s two visible eyes managed to express appreciation for what she said.
Kossa was laughing behind us. “Tell her she’s absolutely right.” I did so, then told her that Momma Kossa is as cute as Daddy Arrjee … for breathers. “I’ll take it!”
One of the nicer things about mental communication is its speed. Something that might take five seconds to say is less than a second in thought. With Ahhshaww it took slightly longer because there weren’t words we shared as a common reference. It was almost all at a conceptual level, but our ability to understand each other was still very high. I’m glad Ellehalon started my Share Thoughts at Rank E. At F, I doubted it would be this successful.
The only time she witnessed a fight between breathers and solids involved the horrible memory of those nomads being slaughtered by the nether beasts. Thus I began explaining some of the actions before us, all as she continued her steady winding for our friends. Since Kossa was nearest us, I told Ahhshaww how hard she had worked in training her music. Right now her Absorb Warmth was slowly reducing the temperature of Ugly. I speculated that it was probably more effective against breathers, but, still, Ugly’s effectiveness was bound to decline as it got colder. It turns out that our daughter could release a Chilling Breeze, which would have a similar effect, but at her level quite weakly. Unfortunately, it would chill our guys along with the gremlin. Her Refresh Breeze was buffing the gremlin as well as our guys, but in this case it was helping four versus one.
Arrjee the very-competent was getting good at integrating his telekinesis with his swordsmanship. We witnessed him almost pound in a vicious stab, with Push obviously adding to the force of his arms and his Penetrating Blade skill. Based on the motion of a few of Ugly’s own attacks, I speculated that he might be attempting to occasionally Hold one of its arms. A new F rank skill by a Level 4 against a Level 7 floor boss could do little more than inconvenience, but gaining experience was one of our goals. We also might have seen him use Pull to throw off one of its shield guard maneuvers, allowing Forrest to get in a strong Ki Punch.
I quickly described the offensive nature of the Cat’s Dance stance being utilized by Forrest, Onre, and Arrjee. If it were not a four against one battle, they might have chosen a stance with a more defensive nature, but in this case, the thing was going down and everyone knew it. When it tried to attack Forrest, it was easy to see Dodge kick in and move him out of the way. I think Forrest’s Athletic Leap must be rank D now; he bounded five feet almost straight up, landing a powerful ki punch as he came down at the base of its skull. That had to have hurt, and maybe stun it slightly as well. Forrest lacked Arrjee’s general competence, but he was beginning to really take advantage of his skill set, but only in spurts.
Minor gods! It connected with a club swing against the side of Forrest’s head. He was able to remain standing, but needed to back away.
FR: Onre, take my position. I’ve been hit pretty badly. 93 damage and jaw probably broken. Give me a 2.5 minutes or so. Meditate and HPR Boost both at C, can be used together.
Onre immediately took Forrest’s place, adopting a more defensive stance.
{Daddy Forrest okay?}
“He will be. As a Ki Healer he can heal himself and others quickly.
Forrest sat by Kossa and me, and immediately started meditating.
{Get better, Daddy Forrest.}
“He’s meditating right now, so I cannot tell him without interrupting. Meditation helps us quickly recover health, stamina, and our aetherial reserves. You need to learn it soon. It will also help with mental attacks, like the gremlin wailing.
{I learn. Daddy Onre Ki Healer, too. That good. I don’t know what Ki Trickster is, but he very, very good at it. And he doing more defensive stance now, right?}
"Yes. That is called the Steady Horse stance." It made me proud that she had noticed.
I noted her interface didn’t even try to use the phrases ‘Ki Prestidigitator’ or ‘Ki Stage Magician’ when she analyzed him. Neither would make sense to a dungeon dwelling elemental.
Onre was grace. While his classes provided him no direct fighting benefit, he had trained his Basic Knifemanship to Rank C. The two years he had spent training at the First Duchy’s academy were visible in every motion. I think the years of mental discipline taught by his foster father contributed also; his discipline both in training and actual battle was almost spooky. It was a pity that Ugly was unable to pay much attention to him, but Ahhshaww and I could appreciate his grace, which was particularly fun to see when he incorporated Sleight of Hand. A stab we were sure was headed to its neck ended up square in its lower and softer left side.
We watched the battle continue, and finally Forrest stood. “I’m good now. Onre, do you want to stay at the front? If so, I don't mind taking your position near the rear.”
“I’ll shift back. It got in a lucky blow, but one of those would hurt me a lot worse than you. I don’t have your Dodge or physical resistance. Plus I’m only even level with it; you are one higher.” They shifted into their original 4-man attack pattern.
Sun was indomitable. The combination of his Block secondary skill and their Parry Sense made vain every attack by Ugly, even at one level lower. Ahhshaww said that they should have two weapons and one shield, and for this battle, she was right. Sun didn’t really need that second shield, but he was still able to sometimes use it as a bashing instrument. I told her about Rhetta Silverstone’s spiked shield, and our daughter instantly grasped the advantages such a thing might provide. But along with his truncheon and Forrest’s punches, I’m sure we must be battering it deep inside.
It slowly slowed, and who wouldn’t after being constantly stabbed, battered, having its body heat stolen, and debuffed by music. I wasn’t close enough to see its health gauge, but with all that ooze leaking out of it, it clearly was going down soon. The only thing it had going for it was starting with a billion hit points and a high degree of health regeneration. After a particularly harsh blow to its head by Sun’s truncheon, it dissolved back into the aether, leaving one of its shields and a fairly large gem behind.
I commanded, “Don’t pick up the drops, yet! Let me explain first to Ahhshaww about getting a quest and going to the next floor once we all accept it.” They agreed and I explained. “Okay.”
Arrjee picked up the shield and Onre took the gem. Those in our original party got a reward of 2 silver this time, 40 times the five bronze we got last level. It hadn’t occurred to me that our daughter would get a reward too, but it should have. She had accepted a quest to get in here after all.
Quest: Defeat the floor boss
Reward: Varies
Do you accept?
“You just got the new quest, right?”
{Yes, Daddy.}
I was unfamiliar with what her reward was, but she was excited to have received a small pouch of ‘sweet dust’. No one else knew what it was either. I asked her about it.
{How Daddy Ferret not know sweet dust? It sweet dust! Breathers like candy, right? It like candy, but it also heal.}
As she was answering, she made a compartment within her body to store it.
“It sounds like you got a very nice reward then.”
{I did.} And as sort of a polite after thought, {Your silver things nice, too.}
She’s right. I would rather have the sweet dust.
I told everyone what it was, then had another thought.
Hmm, Odd doesn’t need to breathe either, but I won’t be able to adopt that trait until Rank C. I wonder if he thinks of us as ‘breathers’.
Forrest asked, “Is everyone ready to go to Floor 3? Or 2, whatever.”
“Just a second,” Onre said, as he left the battle cavern for a moment to pick up his backpack. I told Forrest I needed a minute as well.
“I’m going to change to my normal form, I’ll get smaller, like you saw me between being a child elemental and this youthful one. Will you be okay resting on my shoulders while I change?”
…
{Can people touch Daddy while change?}
I had to think. I’ve been in contact with Sun through numerous morphs. “Yes.”
{Then I be okay. I shouldn’t fear Daddy change.}
I became Ferret again. Besides my morph, all that happened was Ahhshaww scooched herself in a little bit to match my smaller form.
I: Ferret, I have noted that you have never adjusted your persona between transformations. Are you aware that you get 2 rank points each time you adopt a false persona?
Crap. I only did that once just to test it. Norrus must not have thought to tell me. Or maybe he doesn’t know either? He rarely changes his persona.
“No. Thank you for letting me know.”
I: You are welcome. You also get 7 RP for each new form you learn.
{What Uncle Interface say?}
“He told me how to get more rank points for my shapeshifting.”
{Daddy should not waste rank points.}
I don’t think she could see me roll my eyes in agreement. “Okay, I am ready.”
“Ahhshaww, accept the quest now.”
----------------------------------------
[Forrest Rhodes’ Point of View]
We all safely arrived on the new floor, including our daughter. I was slightly worried about that, since we had begun the dungeon as separate quests. Ellehalon would hopefully have fixed it if something went awry. Ahhshaww was floating separate from Ferret, but still in her thick, rounded scarf shape.
Instead of a log cabin, we were in a small cavern with a latched metal door at the exit. Well, one of the exits. There was also the knife switch labeled EXIT, which brings us to our next decision. But I wondered, “Ferret, can you ask her why she never used the EXIT lever on the last floor?” She had rested herself back on his shoulders.
After a couple seconds he laughed. “I quote, ‘Daddy Forrest dumb, but I glad he okay. There monsters outside! A lot worser than the ones here.’ She wasn’t insulting you but was very surprised at the question.”
Onre added, “She didn’t need to get food or water. Monsters can get by on aether alone, so to survive here all she needed to do was stay out of reach. And Daddy Forrest is not that dumb; I was wondering the same thing.”
Kossa laughed. “Maybe you are both dumb, but if you are, I am, too.” Arrje nodded his head in dumbness commiseration.
“Dumb not I” || I was not dumb.
“Inadequate matter considered.” || I merely considered the matter inadequately. humor
“Ferret, please tell her that we need to decide whether to clear this floor and get more experience and rewards, or to head back to a safe home now. Her opinion is important. If the pattern continues, we will face Level 6 to 8 monsters on the way to a Level 9 final boss. Also let her know that we were sent by a god named Skawa, and on leaving here we will arrive directly home, not to the plains outside.”
With a grin, “Another quote: ‘Weeks and weeks to do last quest. We do this one quicker, okay? Parents strong!’”
I asked, “Does anyone think we should bring her home now? I am happy that she wants to move forward, but is it what we should do?”
Kossa countered, “What is your opinion, alpha wolf? I really don’t know what is best.”
“‘Daddy alpha wolf wants to hear your opinions before he flavors them with his own.”
“Well, okay. We did come here for experience, fun, and even some danger. She’s right, ‘parents strong’, against 6 through 9 foes anyway. And if we decide there is too much danger, we can come back here and exit instead of fighting the floor boss.”
After a few minutes of discussion, we reached a consensus. ‘Do it!’, which is what I was thinking from the time Ahhshaww said we should.
“We’ll be careful, though. First we’ll see what XP we earned from that last fight, and meditate for about 20 minutes or so.”
“Hey, I’ll be teaching her how to meditate while you and Interface break down the XP. Maybe it will be pretty easy to teach with this mental link.”
“That sounds like a great idea, and I hope she learns it quickly. It was my first learned skill, but I think a lot of it was from Jacques’ knowledge, even though it started at Rank F instead of a more advanced nascent rank.”
Jacques only knew it at a D-rank capability. If he knew how to meditate better, you would have started with a higher rank.
“That makes sense.”
“Interface, query detailed breakdown of xp from our last fight.”
I: 1 level 7 gremlin lord, 2400 xp + 2000 xp floor-boss bonus, split
* Forrest Rhodes: 18.18%, 800 xp -65.7% shared, 274 xp kept
* Onre Litmen: 18.18%, 800 xp + 16.67% of shared, 887 xp total
* Evening Sun: 18.18%, 800 xp + 16.67% of shared, 887 xp total
* Kossa Smithson: 9.09%, 400 xp + 16.67% of shared, 488 xp total
* Arrjee Silverstone: 18.18%, 800 xp + 16.67% of shared, 887 xp total
* Ferret Drewson: 9.09%, 400 xp + 16.67% of shared, 488 xp total
* Ahhshaww: 9.09%, 400 xp + 16.67% of shared, 489 xp total
“Thank you for distributing my overflow evenly. Ahhshaww gets a little more that way.”
The other interfaces had no problem distributing your overflow as I suggested.
Everyone scanned the breakdown for a few moments. “I don’t mind,” Arrjee stated, “but is there a reason Ahhshaww got an extra point beyond what Kossa and I got?” Kossa said she was happy that our daughter got that point.
I told them, “On Earth, there is a concept called ‘roundoff error’. Maybe Heere, too. When you are mixing whole numbers and fractions, you don’t always end up with whole numbers, so our interfaces biased the overflow to our backrank members.”
I: Everyone but Forrest originally had either 887 or 487 points. There were four points left over; Ferret and Kossa got one each, and Ahhshaww got two.
Arrjee was pretty happy with the way the distribution went, once he understood it. But he wondered, “Why didn’t Kossa get a bigger share? She was steadily damaging it with Absorb Warmth and buffing us full time.”
I: Her interface made the same point, and I agreed. But the other interfaces felt that those exposed to the most danger should get a higher weight. They were the majority.
“It is okay. I am really glad to hear that my interface will advocate for me.”
Onre said, “I have been wondering about something Interface said on the last floor after we met Ahhshaww and realized we could not understand her. He said that he didn’t know her language and ‘Server’ did not know it either. Who or what is Server?”
I: There is a storehouse of information on Heere to which all the interfaces have access. It is where all the map information is stored for the entire planet, and where unborn awakeneds and their interfaces can learn the region’s language when they arrive. It is called Server, and no one has taught it any other language than Covargh. We are called ‘interfaces’ because we interface with our hosts, each other, and Server.
“Oh!” Onre responded. “That makes an awful lot of sense, but I just never thought about it before. How did Sun say it? ‘I considered the matter inadequately’, right?”
“Yes.” || Yes.
Arrjee asked, “We have maps here. Does Server know about these dungeon floors, too?”
I: No. Each system dungeon has its own, much smaller, server. We are essentially within an isolated world of our own. Ahhshaww was in a different instance, but it was operated by the same server ours was, which made it possible for us to converge into her instannce. Heere’s Server is likely to know the maps of natural dungeons, though. They are part of the planet.
“Are there any other matters to consider before we start our meditation? Ferret and maybe Ahhshaww can join us when they are done with the lesson.”
“We just finished. Check her learned skills. She knows Meditation! Taken together, Read Mind, Read Emotion, Clear Mind, and Share Thoughts almost let us meld to one purpose. I could tell it’s not quite perfect yet. Share Emotions will complete a puzzle, which will only get more complete as I rank the skills up.”
Kossa said, “That’s wonderful! Does she need to Mediate right now? I don’t know how much it cost in aether points for her to keep up Refresh Breeze during the battle.”
“Her stats are almost full, but she wants to Meditate to train the skill.”
Twenty minutes later we were ready to explore outside the safe zone.