Chapter 24

The PUB flickered like it was giggling along with the Kobolds as a Gambit Accepted appeared in the corner of his HUD under Fox’s icon. There was an icon for both Fox and Touwon, and even a smaller one for Penny under his own icon. He’d asked Fox about the icons after they’d created their Collective, and she’d said she hadn’t ever seen such a thing and then explained the limitations of non-set PUB Gear.

Non-set PUB Goggles could match with any undamaged Bracer but would only show Gambit notifications and information directly related to the wearer, along with and very limited environmental notifications like dangerous temperatures. It could not initiate Collective notifications, but could receive the ones initiated by Oskar's matched set.

They would show limited information on magic items if held and directly prompted while focusing. Bracers would track acknowledged damage and personal information. The non-set PUBS were decent at putting into text what the wearer already knew. PUB Gear came in many forms, sometimes as full helmets with visors or Goggles made specifically for a certain race like Vulk or the Kobolds. So, variety existed, but most were simply Goggles with custom or adjustable straps depending on the race and size of the wearer.

Even Oskar's matched set didn't look like anything special, and was too small and ill fitted for Crocs or whatever Drakon were. Fox did say they were "overgrown lizards," but that's what he'd originally thought of the Crocs, so maybe his version of overgrown was not ambitious enough.

The idea of something even bigger than Crocs is terrifying. I know there are things out there. I've felt the briefest of touches twice that gave the impression of something dormant and impossibly big.

Dormant wasn't a great word. Maybe waiting was better. Either way, he'd made sure they went way out of the way to avoid whatever the hell it was. They'd hurt his brain in a way he couldn't describe.

Just like those things in the portal at the edge of my vision. Those... whatevers that felt like walking, shuttering madness.

Even now, thinking about it hurt. And the longer he thought about it, the more it hurt. The more wrong, for lack of a better word, it all felt. Oskar felt his chest tighten, his hands tingling. He drank water just to have something normal to do- to focus on- but the feeling vulnerability lingered.

He knew it was stupid, but he didn't think he could handle talking about it. To Fox's credit, she saw him. She couldn't have missed the tension in his shoulders and the wildness he knew was in his eyes, and she took the changes in direction without comment.

She tensed up in response, but never mentioned anything about it. She watched him, though, honoring the unspoken agreement that some things were dangerous to openly acknowledge until he calmed down. Both times, Touwon never even glanced back, but if he was tinkering with something from his weird ass bag of unending broken stuff, he put it away and walked without distraction.

Fox must have sensed his thoughts, and continued explaining Gear to break him out of those heavy, dark thoughts.

"Like Goggles, Bracers come in metal and leather primarily."

She stopped, considering and continued, "I have heard tales, though, of at least one matched Jewelry set made up of a Bracelet and Monocle. It is said to belong to one of the Great Collectives. Great Collectives have a monopoly on such rarities, as you can imagine."

Vulk and Falk’s Gear was packed up in Touwon’s bag, which never seemed to get bigger- or heavier- despite how much water and gear he added, and curiosity about the bag finally dispelled the last of his dark thoughts.

Fox explained that Touwon’s class was a quite rare noncombat class called Improvised Artificer. It gave him bonuses to carrying extra junk around and making and inventing new things. Oskar couldn’t help but wonder how many storage the strange Kobold had in his bag.

The Kobold was always a skilled combatant, so his class displeased many despite it being rare and extremely useful to the Tribe. When people reached maturity, they were generally given a class based off their desires and knowledge, so learning early where someone's talents lie was important.

Touwon had always been a fantastic fighter, but also enjoyed tinkering, repairing, and inventing things. In his case, no one knew for sure whether he'd received a choice or had simply been given the class, but there were some who said he'd wasted his gifts. He quickly proved them wrong, though, through his increased flexibility and creativity in combat by using the very items he’d created. Apparently, he’d made weapons far before he settled on the kukri boomerang knife things as a favorite.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Fox said they were called kurangs.

I like boomerukri better, but then again, I gave Penny her name because she had the metallic coloring of a new penny, so maybe my opinion isn't all that important.

// Boomerukri? Are you serious right now?? //

Smiling, Oskar ignored the PUB and listened as Fox continued.

Touwon's initial design was of foot wide, round and bladed rings that one could throw to great effect. He had based that design on weapons historically employed exclusively by warrior princesses in the Tribes, but never found them intuitive. He had presented them as a gift to one of the Elder’s daughters, Scena, a Kobold who vanished during the Culling.

Touwon’s class allowed him to make weapons, armor, and other gear with seemingly useless materials. With an actual workshop, he’d be a prodigy, so he’d hidden his abilities from the Crocodilian Collectives and was thought to be a plain Tinkerer, which was the common class of the Improvised Artificer class. Tinkerer had the same bonuses to a lesser degree, and he’d been primarily ordered to repair simple objects.

He received bonuses for using his created gear, and had some ability to retrieve thrown weaponry of his own making, breaking down items into base materials, and had a passive that drastically reduce carry weight in bags he’d created as long as he was the one carrying it, and could even partially lighten the load of others using his bags if they were given freely. That obviously encouraged hoarding. Fox wasn’t even sure what all Touwon had in that bag, but she laughed as she commented that she’d never seen him clean it out. She wasn’t sure it was spatial or dimensional storage, but anyone else looking without permission would find only what he wanted them to find.

Fox explained her class was a race specific Rogue class that was effectively a dodge tank. She gained mitigation and speed bonuses to dodging that grew in power every time she dodged an attack by an enemy and could stack debuffs on enemies that damaged joints and bled the enemy. It was a rare class called a Ruse-Rogue and was only known to Kobolds as far as Fox knew.

“Sometimes,” she explained, “a Unique or Legendary class can be learned by certain talented individuals, and others can learn the class if they choose to pass it down. Students do not gain the flexibility or personalization of the class. The class becomes Rare instead of Unique or Legendary because it progresses and grows in the exact same manner it did for the original with no deviation.

She stood tall as she spoke of her class, obviously proud. “We, as a tribe, try to match the capabilities of the original user to the class as closely as possible for maximum synergy, as there can be only one teacher and one student at a time. Many were lost in the Culling,” her face darkened. “That was possibly the most unforgivable of their sins. It took a dozen generations to cultivate so many powerful classes, and it is all but gone.

The Ruse Rogue class belonged to the father of my mother. From our calculation, I matched him well. He was our greatest warrior.”

Her voice lowered, and she spoke conspiratorially, “Even aged as he was, he made them pay a dear price when they came for him.” She grinned fiercely.

“He killed all those that tried, but they wounded him mortally. They do not know that he died, so even now, they search for him. There is still a modest bounty for the one they call Tatsu the Third Sun. Their fear gives him power, even in death.”

Even though her eyes were filled with unspilled tears, she leaned in, smiled proudly and whispered fiercely, “They will never find out he passed. That is a truth. It was our only revenge. Even now, they think he is somewhere, plotting. They attribute many deaths in the night to him, but only in secret.”

Her eyes blazed as she continued, “Their unwillingness to say his name openly has only given him more life. It is not only my heart he lives in, now. He will live forever in theirs.”

Her wolfish smile showed her teeth. She honestly looked ferocious. He had convinced himself that he could hold his own against a Kobold if the need ever arose, but now he was starting to doubt himself. The Kobold people seemed to be united, at least considering how few she claimed still lived, so he found himself grateful she was on his side. He planned on making sure it stayed that way.

“What was the deal with that Hyena trio?” Oskar ventured.

Scoffing, Fox said, “They consider themselves to be our natural enemies, though they only ran and hid until we were Culled to a tenth of our number. Even still, they run unless they have a clear advantage. It's possible they saw us alone and acted." She looked skepticle, but then said something that perked his ears right up.

"I have seen a few of your kind in my life. Humans, I mean, but rarely are they true combatants. The one's that are naturally born here are scattered and nomadic. The rare few that were rumored to have more powerful classes... they do not usually last long here. They rarely live long enough to gain power. I now find myself wondering if the ones with powerful classes come from other worlds.”

Eyes wide, Oskar asked, “There have been other humans? I mean, I’d assumed since Vulk or Valla did not bombard me with questions, humans were not completely unheard of, but still- this is the first time you’ve mentioned them. Do you know where any are now?”

“Yes. One of the Great Collectives- The Gramm Collective- have one of the powerful ones as a pet. He looked older, gray, but can apparently heal great wounds. Perhaps not his own, because he is hideously scarred, but they would not keep him alive unless there was some truth to the rumors,” Fox said.

That didn’t sound like Erik to Oskar, but he didn’t have another lead, and he didn't come to this world to sit in the desert.

I came to find Erik, and it's looking like the Gramm Collective is the only place nearby I might be able to get information.