~~~Lee~~~
Lee felt great. Nothing like a hot shower after a workout to get one ready for a new day of violence and bloodshed.
Martin was still alive, as Lee knew he would be. He hadn't doubted for a second... The best part was that today Martin held his lesson first thing in the morning, for the kids, and Lee got to join in.
Sure, training with a bunch of kids, ranging from preteen to toddler, was... odd. But then he'd missed a few lessons recently, so it worked out. As long as he got the attributes, it really didn't matter. Also, the whole learning to fight better couldn't hurt...
Of course, the main reason he felt so good was the breakfast burrito in his hands. Which he took another bite of in a vain attempt to quell the inferno that was his mouth. "Too... hot..." he wheezed, pushing the bowl of devil sauce back toward the beaming Jamaal.
Literal devil sauce.
Buff: [Devil Sauce](00:15)
Enhanced Sense of Taste with a Side Effect of Burning.
Lee was pretty sure his regeneration had kicked in the moment it touched his tongue… How it was considered a buff was a mystery. Unfortunately, the enhanced taste part was true. Oh, god... so good!
Buff Removed: [Devil Sauce]
He dragged the bowl back before Jamaal could take it away. "Just... a... little... more!" Then sprinkled a few more drops onto the burrito. I have good regeneration... I won't die...
Buff: [Devil Sauce](00:30)
For some reason, his mouth didn't stop burning even after the buff expired... residual trauma maybe.
Then Alejandro dragged him to the garage and the huge crowd waiting there. All of them wanting mana access.
Back to work.
~~~Bradley~~~
Bradley smiled when he opened his eyes and looked around, eager to tell someone... anyone?
Lee was busy giving mana access to the crafters while they all picked out areas of the parking garage for their own workstations.
He'd been right that they'd love it. Bradley only had to tell a few people before word spread. Now every crafting class wanted a spot in the garage. Lee didn't want them taking the apartments yet...
Bradley had an apartment here... not originally, but Maria had shown it to him after Lee invited him as a resident. He hated it. An apartment full of dead people's stuff... that was all nicer than his own.
But the mana from the building was undeniably a good thing. Unbelievable really. Despite Lee's warning, he'd gotten a little mana burn when he went overboard yesterday...
He shivered while watching Lee talking with the crafters. He'd heard all about what Lee did to kill the snake... Hell, he'd fixed the huge hole in the building... mostly.
They said Lee got mana burn for three days after that. Bradley got one hour, and it was the worst pain he'd ever felt. Aside from the... snake...
No! I won't be a coward! Bradley dug his nails into his palms until his hands stopped shaking. He'd promised Jake... even if the hunter was leaving.
Lee hadn't given up. Even though he got mana burned for three days by killing the snake and saving Bradley's life. Even after he supposedly blew himself up in Mexico... Even after he used that horrifying power and turned himself into an old man... Lee kept going out there... kept fighting.
I won't let my life be a waste.
Even now, Lee glowed in the dim light of the garage. His eyes were the most obvious, but there was also a faint tracing of glowing blue veins down his arms... Hell, his whole body was glowing now. Like he had a flashlight under his skin. It looked awesome…
Bradley had checked his own eyes in the mirror. They glowed brown when he used his mana... it was ugly. Nothing like that blazing blue... and his veins didn't glow at all.
He went outside, despite the way it made his heart race when he saw the open sky... Not a coward! All those people talking, smiling, and laughing, while he watched, alone and apart from it all. It sucked.
Magic didn't suck. It was awesome! He activated his new class skill and pulled a perfectly square block of earth from the ground. The four foot wide cube floated up beneath his hand... and he closed his fist.
The block shrank, compacting more and more... until it was harder than stone, and he dropped the much smaller cube into the palm of his hand. He squeezed, and it smoothed out into a sphere.
He'd lost the ability to create new earth from mana by evolving his class and skill, but there was dirt everywhere. Bradley was confident this skill was significantly better than the old one. Plus, it was epic!
Another burst of mana, and it exploded back out into a pile of dirt once more. He dumped it back into...
"That's so cool."
Bradley screamed as he leaped away from the sudden voice beside him. A high-pitched scream that trailed off into a wheeze as he saw the absolutely gorgeous girl staring wide-eyed at him.
She vanished an instant later, and Bradley wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up.
The ground obliged, and he fell into the cold darkness while his face felt like it might be on fire.
He huddled down there for a long, horrible moment of pure embarrassment and shame. Mar... I can't believe I did that in front of her! Ahh! He wanted to scream aloud... but she might hear him... Besides, it was nice and cool down here. Maybe he'd stay. He could build a little apartment underground... never have to see her again...
It was the hardest thing he'd ever done, worse even than looking at the sky, but Bradley made the earth spit him back out. I won't be a coward!
One small thought helped give him the courage he needed as daylight shone on him once more. She said it was cool...
Mar was gone.
Bradley didn't know whether he was relieved or crushed. He'd never worked up the courage to talk to her before... and now he had. If a high-pitched scream could be considered talking... She must think I'm an idiot. Or worse, a coward... He sat in the dirt, and...
Something scrapped nearby, loud enough to hear over the voices from the garage. Bradley spun, his heart racing... and saw nothing.
"I'm sorry," a voice came from thin air. Mar's voice! "I didn't mean to... sneak up on you."
"It..." Bradley almost choked when his voice cracked. "It's fine! I wasn't scared!" The lie rang hollow, even to his own ears, and he resisted the urge to sink back into the ground...
"It was cool," she said quickly, and he thought he heard scuffing feet moving away.
"Thanks..." He didn't know if she was still there or not, but he couldn't help the smile as he looked upward. She thinks it's cool! Even the sight of all that open sky didn't bother him.
Not for a little while.
Then he scrambled to his feet and forced himself to walk further from the building toward the wall. With his new evolutions, he could make it bigger. Stronger. How much cooler would the skill get if he leveled up more?
Bradley poured mana into the wall and the surrounding earth. Then he 'pulled' it all into the wall. An earthen block compacted. Its density rose as he forced more 'earth' to occupy the same space. Until it was stronger than any stone pre-system.
He pushed it to the limits of his power... then moved to the next block. I won't be afraid anymore.
~~~Lee~~~
Maria opted to stay behind this time. Not a bad choice, since Saira wanted to come along. Lee wasn't sure if they were still worried about him or just wanted to get in on the hunting action. He suspected the former and had absolutely no problem with the extra protection.
At least they were keeping the healers spread out, though there was a tiny smidge of guilt about taking the best one from the fort outside with him. A bit of extra responsibility to ensure her protection in return.
That was also on top of the massive garden she was growing around Three. She'd left gaps for the garage entrance and the doors, but the growth was severely hampering the light that should have been coming through the bars... something he could fix easily enough. But later. Lots of the crafters wanted to put in walls for their own little areas...
He hadn't tried adding new runes to the building yet, and wasn't hopeful about the prospect. But he could always enchant a rock or piece of metal to make lights. Or ideally, get Three to add them like it had the silence around May, if he could figure out how to make that happen.
Wilson showed up after the crafters, still in his suit, and with two obvious bodyguards beside him decked out in runed armor and weapons. He looked past Lee as if searching for someone... and then his eyes trailed slowly back.
"Vice... Commander?"
"Who?" Lee asked. "I don't know anybody like that, mister."
Wilson frowned. Then his expression shifted to horror and dawning recognition. It only lasted a moment before he smoothed his face back into the friendly politician's smile. "Mr Cascade. I heard you pulled off something extraordinary during the attack... and I see they were right about some of it."
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
He said that while staring at Lee's new look, but appeared unimpressed when his eyes roved over the building. He obviously couldn't detect mana. Much less the Source. Don't listen to him, Three. You're awesome!
Out loud, Lee said, "Oh, that Vice Commander!"
Wilson smiled politely, and Lee stopped joking around with the guy who'd stolen his fort. He wasn’t that upset. "Honestly, I'm a little relieved to let someone else handle all this..." And he meant it. It was a massive responsibility, with hundreds of lives in the balance. Lee was having enough trouble worrying about a handful of them... "You can handle it, right?"
The guy had bodyguards already. That at least showed he was aware of his own weakness.
Wilson looked... affronted. Yep, that was definitely the right word for his expression. He was affronted. Then he smiled. "I assure you, I am up to the challenge."
His smile still looked fake. A politician smile. So maybe he wasn't as confident as he claimed? That was fair. Lee wasn't confident about anything most days. "Well, if you need my help with anything, just let me know. I'm sure lots of people besides me will also help. We all want this place to be strong."
"Of course... of course. Everyone will have a role to fill, and I look forward to working with all of you."
Just like his smile, it was a very politician-y line. Agreeable, but without specifics.
"We heard about a lair that's supposed to give up metal ore," Lee said, deciding to get on with things. "Some kind of earth golems or something, but with metal cores. Heading that way now."
"That sounds like it will be exceedingly helpful, and exactly what I came to discuss. After our victory last night, and after I was awarded leadership, I was notified that part of our reward includes a new resource lair. Since you are already on top of it, I won't keep you. Good hunting, Vice Commander."
Lee waited until he'd turned around to roll his eyes. Whatever else the man was feeling, he definitely enjoyed being in charge. That much was obvious. He'd ask Alejandro later about how things were really going. Assuming he was still... "Alejandro, are you still a General?"
Alejandro nodded. "Yes, it didn't change with..."
"I want to come with you!" Bradley shouted while sprinting over. He then turned bright red when Lee and Alejandro turned to face him.
Lee hid his smile—mostly just glad it was someone else blushing instead of him. He'd seen the younger man working at something on the wall, and he must have overheard them talking about the lair. "You sure?"
"Y... yes!" Bradley stammered. "I heard where you're going, and I can help!" He lifted a hand, and a smooth block of earth rose beneath it. "I got a class evolution... and I want to help..."
"That's great!" It was really great. If he could control earth... well, it might make hunting the supposed earth golems a breeze.
Bradley lit up. "It's called Earth... Shaper..." His face fell, and he blushed halfway through the name. "I know it doesn't sound like much... but..."
"Sounds awesome! Let's get you in some armor." Lee didn't question why Bradley wasn't wearing any armor already. He remembered how scared the guy was to even go outside... however long ago that was. No need to bring that up. He was just glad Bradley had done so much to help since. Not to mention, he didn't want to discourage him now that the guy seemed ready to hit a lair.
May had some armor left, but not a lot. Enough to get Bradley reasonably protected, and with Saira along for the trip, they should be fine.
They had only just finished the armor when Jake appeared and held out his runed knife. "Lee, I'm heading out. Top me up?"
"Sure." Lee took the knife. "Want me to jazz this up at all? Or enchant a few more weapons? Your armor?"
"Nah. This one is enough. Your shit makes everything too easy. Only for emergencies."
Lee just shook his head and jazzed it up, anyway. The knife's metal felt stronger than it should—better than May's creations. He didn't question it and just added a new, more complex rune on impulse. An idea he wanted to try.
It was enough extra mana that he winced slightly toward the end... But it held together, right at the limit. Lee smiled at the creation he'd just made—a whole new world of possibilities opening up for the future... If this golem lair turned out to be what he hoped...
"It should last a long time if you aren't using it much," Lee said, and handed over the knife after recharging the sheath.
"What do I owe you?" Jake said, while strapping the knife back on.
"It’s on the house."
"I noticed you got usurped by Wilson."
"It's no big deal," Lee grumbled. "Who even wants to be in charge of this mess?"
Jake laughed. "Right?" Then he sobered. "I'd keep an eye on him. Guy's a snake and definitely shouldn't be trusted with power."
"I... what do you know?"
"He hasn't done anything that I know of... yet. But..."
"He's a politician?"
Jake chuckled. "So you do see it!"
Lee shook his head. "He got lucky from what I heard. No way he gets to stay in charge for very long."
"K. I'm out. Peace!" Jake turned without further ado and walked away.
"Thanks..." Lee said as Jake disappeared mid-step. "...and goodbye." He was gone. Just like that...
Lee was surprised to realize he would miss Jake... The guy scared him sometimes, but he was beyond reliable in a fight. He'd also hunted down and killed the monster in Tijuana. Sure, that was probably just him looking for a good fight and some E-grades... but he'd probably saved thousands of lives by doing so.
Good hunting, Jake.
It also reminded him of something. His title was supposed to give him a skill shard—epic or below. Triggering the reward was as easy as thinking about it, and Lee got to watch a core appear in front of him out of nothing. One moment there was nothing, the next a core. Mana created out of nowhere... Weird.
He caught it, and...
Skill Shard(F-grade)
Summon Plate (Common)
A dish for every meal.
User may summon a plate mana construct.
Size, detail, and duration determined by supplied mana and skill level.
Skill Level Effects (Novice)
+1% Duration
+1% Variation
Requirements:
Mana Core/Channels [Requirement Not Met][N/A](Adaptable)
Adapting to this Skill will require 50% Adaptation and may alter your Class.
Adapting this Skill to your Class will require 1% Adaptation but may drastically alter the Skill.
Adapt Yourself and Learn Skill: Y/N?
Learn Adapted Skill: Y/N?
"The hell is this?" Turned out skills could be really bad... it didn't even give a stat boost. Some reward...
"Uh..." Lee turned around and found Bradley looking extremely uncomfortable with the sword May had shoved into his hand. It was one of the elf swords... "I don't know how to use a sword... and I'm s... worried about cutting myself..."
"Can you fight with your magic?" Lee asked while looking around and noticing all the elf armor and weapons piled up in May's area. "You don't have to use a sword. It's just the best option most of us have."
"What about a hammer?" Bradley said. "Or a mace?"
"Now you want custom orders!?" May exclaimed, and Bradley backed up.
"I didn't... I mean... I could make it... myself..." He looked at Lee. "Can you enchant a rock?"
"Probably." He'd done it before on that first night, even assuming enchanting an entire building made of concrete didn't count as a rock. Lee was definitely curious about what the other man was planning. Plus, if he could make stone swords or shields, he might be May's new best friend. Or worst enemy...
Bradley headed outside, and Lee followed with the core Jake gave him still in his hand. He checked his status.
Status
Name: Lee Cascade
Race: [Mana Conduit](F-Grade Human)
Titles: [F-grade Source] [First Time?]
Traits: [Adaptable](69%) [Source Nexus] [Conduit] [Ley Line Attuned] [Runic Resonance] [Runic Augmentation] [Source Burned]
Class: Runic (Legendary) - Level 24 (Basic)
Class Skills: Artistic Rune Shaping (Epic) - Level 46 (Intermediate) | Rune Soul Storage (Epic) - Level 5
Attributes:
Strength: 40(+161%)104
Vitality: 46(+162%)120
Dexterity: 46(+160%)119
Wisdom: 59(+794%)527
Intelligence: 65(+794%)581
Willpower: 58(+794%)518
Twin-Soul ???
Non-Class Skills(2/3):
Liquid Mana Blast (Rare) - Level 1 (Novice) | Liquid Mana Inferno (Rare) - Level 1 (Novice) | Mana Mind (Epic) - Level 37 (Intermediate)
Buffs: [Three] [Victory]
Debuffs: [Frail] [Feeble]
His stats looked great, but it was just Three adding twenty to each attribute. Lee felt the change immediately when he stepped outside behind Bradley. It sucked.
It would happen again when he left the fort. Which was a nice buffer, at least, only going up or down ten at a time...
As for the new skill... it would be the last non-class skill he could learn. At least until E-grade. I should have asked Jake how many he had now.
Bradley pulled earth from the ground like before, only in a cylinder instead of a cube. His hands clenched as the dirt shrank smaller and smaller. Then his fingers twitched, and it lost its cylindrical shape, one end thickening into a more rounded ball.
It never quite went round before a loud cracking sound rang out and the stone split into two separate pieces. Bradley flushed bright red and turned partially away as he put his hands on the fragments.
Lee watched more than that, though, because he could see the mana at work. Earth mana, from the looks of it. Bradley's mana wasn't all earth, though, at least not the mana coming from him. Once his mana went into the dirt, it changed, merging with what was already there and becoming pure earth mana.
It looked like reducing the size involved jamming more mana into the dirt until it looked almost like stone... It also hovered without him needing to physically touch it... "Bradley, how far can you control the stone away from yourself? And can you move it fast?"
"I... don't know." He stopped fiddling with the pieces and sent them flying into the wall instead. It was decently fast, and even the range looked solid.
"Can you make a spear?" Lee asked. "Doesn't have to be super sharp... if my idea works."
Bradley pulled up more dirt into a cylinder until it was small enough to wrap his hand around. Then he brushed at the end with his fingers as it slowly tapered into a point. If only a crude one.
Lee stopped him before he could throw it like the last one. "Let me enchant it, and then see if you can still control it..." That would be the real test.
The spear felt just like stone in his hands, heavy but not bad with his F-grade strength, low as it was right now... Lee started with a simple strengthening rune from his rune storage. The uncharged version. Since he wanted to control the process if the stone didn't hold up.
It held, and he figured it would likely hold a sharpening rune as well without breaking. But before that, he held it up toward Bradley. "Does it work?"
Bradley stretched out a hand... and the spear floated into the air. Hell yeah! Bradley was going to kick ass...
"It's heavier... weird."
Lee hadn't considered that, but it made enough sense. More power requires more... power. Or mana. "Can you still fly it around?"
There was an intense look of concentration on the young man's face as the spear started to fly point first in a circle around him. Faster, faster, and... it flew away. Directly at Lee.
Alejandro appeared in front of Lee, and the spear clanged off his shield.
"Oh, my god! I'm so sorry!"
"I could have blocked that," Lee said, knocking his own shield against Alejandro's back. "But thanks."
Alejandro just laughed, but Bradley was bright red and kept gushing his apologies until Lee put a hand on him. "Dude. Chill. It wasn't even sharp."
"I'm so..."
"So let's fix that!" Lee picked up the spear and pulled off the strengthening rune. He had runes in his storage for strengthening and sharpening the swords, but given the unusual shape he was dealing with here, he had to draw a new one out.
A brief few moments of concentration later. "There you go. Unless... you want to make both ends sharp?"
"I... I think one is enough for now..."
"Fair. Maybe practice on the way?"
"I... yea. I will."
"Alright. Let's go get Saira and Mar."
There was a strange sort of squeaking noise from Bradley when he said that...