Chapter 31
It took Oskar a few moments of staring into the distance for the shape to materialize from the heat on the horizon, revealing the first set of cliffs he had ever seen in this world. However, within a few minutes of walking, the tall, flat plateau disappeared behind the dunes ahead.
When they gauged they were a half day’s walk away, they searched around and found a Wayspring, and then set up a two person watch for the first time. Oskar climbed up between the streamers of sand and realized he could feel textures in the streamers. He stared at them, and didn't see anything but the same, smooth, thin ribbons of sand blowing off the dunes overhead.
How does it feel like something and look like something else? Is the physical and magical separate? Is this The Magic Below?
The PUB was silent, which was its strange way of helping affirm his ideas while carefully following whatever strange laws or rules it was beholden to. The fact remained though, that he was feeling geometric shapes that he wasn't seeing with his eyes.
It reminded him of a science class he'd taken in high school where his teacher, a serious, but good hearted teacher named Mr. Ameye played music through a speaker with a metal plate on top of it. He'd surprised the entire class by choosing "I'm Shipping Up To Boston" by Dropkick Murphys, and as the song began, he poured salt on top of the plate. Immediately, geometric shapes appeared in the salt due to the resonance and vibration, and it had been fascinating, even then. He'd impressed Oskar with the music choice, though, and maybe that's the reason why the lesson stuck.
Watching the streamers of sand, still flowing overhead as smooth as liquid, he realized the shapes dancing in his subconscious reminded him of seeing Sora's colors in the wind currents above. They weren't physically there, at least not in the normal sense. Another reminder that magic was everywhere, even in what this world’s inhabitants considered mundane.
He made his way up the sand to study plateau where the Gramm Collective, and all the clinger on Collectives that relied on them, made their home.
When he reached the top of the dune, he saw the edge of a flat rock plateau above them in the distance was silhouetted by the slowly setting red sun. The sky was getting more and more purple as the setting red sun slowly fell between a V shaped split in the cliffs that towered above the flat rock where the Great Collective lived. In the more gentle lighting, he could just see colored banners dotting the descending switchbacks on the far side, almost out of sight. Apparently, there was a path that led up the series of switchbacks with dots of what Fox claimed were the Clinker tents. The Clinkers were the groups of people made up the not quite outcasts of all species that made up this world. They lived outside the Collective proper, but traded with those within for water and food, and occasionally, took- and wore- trophies from those who were unfortunate enough to travel through the camp without sufficient influence or protection.
"Thus, the name Clinkers. They wear the trophies, and the things they have taken 'clink.'"
Oskar smiled at the image, and Fox smiled as well, shaking her head. The Kobolds didn't seem to have any strong feelings about what Oskar had deduced were basically sand pirates. He asked her why, and she said some of the Clinkers had helped her and Touwon with water and food when Vulk had first captured them.
"I would not call them evil. I have rarely heard of them putting anyone in the position of certain death without cause. But, people are people. That is a truth, there are good and bad."
They'd sat in companionable silence for a bit, and he decided to go over his physical stats; he was pleasantly surprised to see everything had grown.
Mind
F Peak Rank
Body
F+ Rank
Spirit
F Peak Rank
He didn't know what it was going to take to break through to the D ranks, but he was curious if it would represent a jump in power, or was it a smoother progression. Fox explained to him that every species was different. A Kobold with a D Rank body would not be as strong as a Crocodilian with the same, but might be much faster or longer winded.
"For Kobolds, there was a noticable jump in power, but I cannot speak for humans. Sadly, any who grow too quickly in power have been captured or killed. It is very important that you keep that metal foot of yours hidden and try to mitigate the attention you're already bound to get as a human."
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Fox pulled out a comb and started some general self care, but after a few minutes, she stood to walk the perimeter with Penny, who could communicate to Oskar if something happened to Fox as well as communicate to Fox if Oskar found something. The night plan was, one person on watch in the direction of the Collective, one person-or pangolin- walking the perimeter.
So after the initial walk around with Fox, Penny came back, and Fox went to take a short nap after eating the food Touwon made for the group. The meat was a little spicier than normal, which probably meant it was one of the slender red and brown lizards.
Or a new one that I'm allergic to, Oskar smirked.
More reptile meat, but there are so many different kinds that it hasn't quite gotten old yet.
Fox and Touwon relieved him and the hard working pangolor a little after midnight, and Oskar climbed in the tent and stretched out, thinking it might not be a good idea to stay up and practice his magic without knowing if it could be detected somehow. Fox herself didn't know what was possible with his type of magic, so they'd decided to play it safe considering the long, probably dangerous day ahead.
Sleep was fitful. Oskar was distracted by being able to feel, but not interact with the magic he could feel the ground below. It felt like a lattice work of slowly shifting patterns he could almost interact with. The Dorn Collective woke early to make their way the rest of the way to the Great Collective. Penny nuzzled a sweet goodbye to everyone, and reluctantly stayed back after Oskar promised that he'd play with her a bunch to make up for it when they made it back out. The walk was quiet. An hour out, Penny nuzzled Oskar and disappeared under the sand. They made the final turn through the dunes, and the path opened before them. The Clinker tents, and the colorful streamers blowing from them stood out against the tan of the desert, and they continued onward without a word.
***
They all settled into a slower more careful walk as they closed in on the Great Collective. The sounds of what passed for civilization on this planet seemed out of place to Oskar. Along with voices and laughter, he heard wind chimes and bells tinkling in the wind. Yet, despite the nervous excitement of walking into his first on world village, though, his mood darkened considerably as they drew close.
He was trying to keep the image of the rumored human pet the Great Collective had from having his brother’s face in his mind, not sure exactly what he wanted.
If it's him, he's enslaved, and there's likely nothing we can do to free him without a suicidal attack. If it's not, I've got nothing to go on. No other hints as to where I might find him. Still though... older, gray. Small.
The description just didn’t fit. Erik was taller and heavier than him, standing six foot three and outweighed Oskar by thirty pounds of mostly muscle. Even though the description made it unlikely bordering on impossible, slavery in general just pissed him off. His goal was to make contact without getting everyone trapped or killed, but as they neared the outskirts of the Collective, there were already eyes on them.
The Collective proper was supposed to be a neutral zone. And even though Fox had explained they'd previously gotten along with the Clinkers, she did admit some still called the area “No Kobold’s Land.” It didn’t quite roll off the tongue as well as the human version, but Oskar got the point.
He wasn't entirely sure if it was his mood and anxiousness, or the heat alone, but Oskar's entire back was drenched in sweat by the time they cleared the side of the cliffs on their way around to the bottom of the path leading to the Collective proper. He took in the area and its inhabitants as they drew nearer. There were well worn, not quite natural stone steps along the path upward. Visible swirls of the stone's red and brown shown beneath the sand that was still everywhere.
The Clinkers themselves were a motley crew of Crocs, Hyenas, and Kobolds. They were covered in hollow carvings, rings, colorful strips of clothing, and filled the entrance to the path upward. They took pride in their thievery and wore trophies were apparently part of a Clinker culture war. Even some curious, smaller children of all three races lingered nearby, shiny little rocks tied to their tunics in their own imitation of the Clinker trophies. Their obnoxiously colored tents peppered the winding path towards the entrance to the Great Collective proper, and here, Oskar could hear the clashing of wind chimes, crafted with wood, metal, and even a few shells somehow from what Fox explained. The brightest colors and the largest and loudest chimes were on what were purportedly the leader’s tents.
Predictably, the more brutish of the Clinkers accosted them just outside the path that led upwards. A gaggle of goons clinked up with far more confidence than they should have had, covered in their trinket trophies. The leader wasn’t obvious because he was only slightly less goonish than his followers, but as he spoke, the smirk on his Crocodilian face made Oskar want to cut his tail off and hit him in the face with it.
“I’m Kang. Boss here. What’s we got here? Two stinks and a pink?” He giggled at his own joke, one Oskar had already heard from Vulk, and belatedly, the goons joined in.
Oskar turned to face the Croc directly, holding his spear in a tight, ready grip.
“Kang, I love the aesthetic, but I promise you don’t wanna do this. I’m literally looking forward to you saying something stupid here. I’m so ready to beat on you that I'm impatient to get started. So… by all means, please continue with the bluster and jokes.”
Oskar spoke the words evenly, and his dark mood and calm demeanor gave them pause, human or not. Kang stared at him, caught off balance by his confidence.
"Smarter than you look."
No one attempted to stop them when they walked past Kang a moment later.
Fox looked impressed, and even Touwon gave him side eye. Fox laughed when Kang yelled after them, “You not worth it!”
Oskar spun around and lunged at the leader with the briefest help from Sora. The Croc scrambled backwards at the unexpected lunge so fast he stepped on his own tail and fell with a grunt. His beady eyes wide at Oskar’s speed, but Oskar and the group were already halfway to the first switchback. No other Clinkers made the attempt, but to their credit, he heard some laughs at Kang's expense.
That was stupid, my leg almost came off.
// I mean, yeah, but it would have been funny. Good news is, though, you're gonna get more chances. We aren't at the top yet. //