/// Come inside. We have much to talk about. - Bastet ///
A single look at Fox told Oskar that she’d just gotten the same message. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking around in every direction, her hands splayed out towards the ground like she was expecting to fall. She was much less used to the more random nature of sentient Gear sets, and so was even less prepared than Oskar had been when the strange blue message first appeared.
Plus, this Bastet is supposed to be like the Kobold’s god, right?
Like before, the blue message disappeared into motes that floated into nothingness like burning ashes from a bonfire, leaving Fox breathing short, almost panicked breaths. Oskar reached out and gently grabbed her hand. She blinked out of her phantasm and tilted her head at him in a way that would have been adorable if he’d not watched her fight. But then her eyes were wet, and she squeezed his hand.
“Make it make sense to me, Oskar.”
He overrode his instinct to offer her empty comfort over honesty.
“I can’t, Fox. I can only say I believe it’s her. She feels like an entire ocean of Waysprings to me. It doesn’t feel malicious at all, but I can barely think straight.”
He almost flinched as he said the last sentence, but the PUB said nothing.
PUBs, you must have been doing some serious processing to have let that lay up for an insult go. You alright?
// I think so. Being pushed into background processing when she takes over is scary, though. If I’m being honest, I’m kind of contemplating my mortality. //
Not sure what to say to that, Oskar simply stared past Fox into the glowing cave for a moment before answering.
Oh. Alright. Well... Let me know when you’re done.
Erik, who was still under his arm, gently slapped Oskar on the back of the head, impatiently waiting on an explanation.
// Erik is so dramatic. Just tell him to relax. He's acting like we just got a text message from a cat god or something. //
Guiltily, Oskar took a moment to explain what had just happened, remembering that Erik was wearing what was basically dark regular Goggles that weren't even capable of connecting to a Bracer. His brother took on an amused, curious look at the oddness of the information. He even tilted his head like Fox had, but then nodded and stared at the cave, deep in thought. Oskar felt a pang of guilt for leaning on his brother, but honestly, the contact was comforting, and he wasn’t really putting much weight on him. It was mostly just for balance.
Fox was staring at the entrance to the cave as well now. Another cat, one of the more opaque looking cats with the dark face and light coloring of a siamese, meandered through the middle of the group toward the cave. The cat made to weave through Touwon’s legs, but paused with just its head poking through and looked around. Upon seeing the calico waiting patiently near the opening to the cave, the siamese gave a polite, but oddly human, bow to the calico. The big calico returned the gesture, which did nothing to ease the oddity of their situation. The cat, who Oskar could now noticed was wearing a breakaway collar, with a name tag that said "Coco, continued through to the entrance of the cave.
Who’s putting name tags on cats in the desert?
// Honestly, I don’t think they’re fully here. Some look more corporeal than others, but they all look a little transparent. //
I think you’re right, actually, but tell that to the Hyenas.
Touwon simply looked inquisitive, staring out at the mess the cats had left behind. Nothing moved for a moment, but then two tiny kittens, one red, one black, appeared, darting around and wrestling in the offal.
“Savage.”
“That is a truth,” Fox whispered, having followed his gaze. Under him, Penny kwinned an agreement.
Everything was chaotic, and it was clear they would be going into the cave to meet this... Bastet, but Oskar needed to organize his thoughts. He was sick of reacting to everything on the proverbial back foot. He wanted to take advantage of this lull in the storm of being chased nonstop since they’d escaped the Great Collective.
“When I first came here, I was alone in every sense of the word. The only thing I knew for sure was that searching for Erik was better than what I was going through alone on earth. But then, I found you guys... and Penny. We killed that huge, nasty bird. And we got Erik back and fought like hell to get where we are now. We did that, together.”
He looked at each of them and even Touwon met his gaze with an unexpected intensity. The soft breathing of the magic made the cave glow brilliantly, and Oskar felt that strange, new magic, the Magic Within, surging inside him through the link he now felt with Bastet.
“We have something different than what other people have in this world, and I’ll do anything to protect that, and you. Valla has sold her soul to something dark, something that sees us as a threat. And for better or worse,” Oskar pointed into the cavern, “we’ve tied ourselves to her.”
Fox’s eyes still look wild, but she settled down some as she listened and gave Oskar a nod to continue.
“But I feel like all of this is my fault.”
Oskar held up a hand to stall Fox’s protest. “Look, I’m not trying to jump on the pity pot,” he rephrased the statement, seeing Fox’s confusion. “Or rather, I’m not trying to feel sorry for myself. I’m trying to do a generalized version of something the Marines call an ‘After Action Review.’ Let me explain.”
Oskar glanced at the calico for any sign of impatience, but she was licking the blood off her paws and ignoring them completely.
Well then, moving on.
“Part one of an AAR is what went well and what did we gain." Oskar smiled as Erik nodded with familiarity beside him.
We've both sat through more than our share of these. But they're important.
They all laughed when Penny, looking up at Erik intently, mimicked him by nodding sagely as well. She gave a small kwinn, happy at the attention.
"Thanks, Penny," Oskar said, glad again that he'd lucked into such a great companion. He looked back up at the expectant faces of his little family who were waiting on him to continue.
"As far as what went right; I think I mostly already covered the high points. More specifically, though: I just want to say we work like a well-oiled machine. We have both trust in each other’s capabilities and knowledge of each other’s strengths, as well as,” Oskar pointed down where his foot should have been, holding onto Erik as gently as he could for balance, “our limitations."
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He stood back up, squeezing Erik's shoulder in thanks.
"We watch each other’s backs. What we've gained is trust and familiarity. And power... we’re getting stronger because of it.”
Now for the tougher part, and my own accountability.
Even though the air blowing gently from the cave was now just a cool breeze, Oskar shivered.
“Parts two and three are what went wrong, and new standards going forth.”
Oskar absentmindedly pulled on Sora and Talau in his apprehension, and the Magic Within came with it. He caught himself, but didn’t release his hold on it. He did nothing with the magic, but he felt its potential all around him. Much of it was still coming from the cave. Yet, now that the magic from the cave had waned, his own power was closer in balance than he thought it would be, reinforced now by the spiritual magic he still didn't know what to call.
I can feel the Magic Within almost as well as Talau now. Why have I not gotten a notification or unlocked it?
// She’s suppressing me, but I’m hoping it’s for a good reason. Maybe she wants to talk to you first. //
I guess we move on, then.
// Keep on truckin.' //
Yeah, please don't say that.
“I want to kind of blend the what went wrong and new standards together, but not because I want to skip over my own failures. First, there had to have been a better way to escape from the Vulk Collective without starting a war against the Kobolds, but I didn’t yet understand much of this world.”
This time, when Fox spoke, he didn’t stop her.
“Oskar, we both know what would have happened the very moment Valla found out you were a Druid or even that you could find water. She would have killed us to keep the secret, and you would have gone through everything Erik went through," she gave Erik a nod to show she meant no offense to him, and he gave her an understanding nod in return.
She looked back over at Oskar and smirked. “Also, you are a dry brained fool. We were dead or allied with you the moment you stumbled into the camp stomping around like Chief Biggums.”
Even Touwon snorted at that.
“Fair enough, but moving forward, I will keep you and your people in mind. I want to learn. I’m with you, one hundred percent, and we’re going to do everything we can to save every Kobold possible from Valla.”
Fox stared at him in consideration and slowly put a purple hand on her chest over what Oskar assumed was her heart.
// Pedant aler- //
Shut up.
Exhaling in resignation, Oskar turned his head to look at Erik. He took in his brother's frail form; stronger than it should be, but still so weak. A glance down at his brother's small stump of an arm was all he could take, but looking up was no easier. Erik was watching him from inches away, his single green eye intense through his crooked Goggles.
“Erik, I waited too long to come for you. I fought, not believing in the truth of those nightmares for... for months while she hurt you. Maybe because I thought I was, well... I was crazy at the time. But I should have been here earlier. Before she hurt you.”
Beside him, Erik’s breath caught for a moment, but he closed his eye and took a deep breath. Against everything Oskar knew of the brotherly code and, overwhelmed by the desire to make up for his failures, he decided to pull Erik into a hug. Thankfully, he felt his brother tighten his arm around him.
The magic surged in Oskar as his need to protect his little family, his need to restore Erik, took over every desire within him. Responding to that need, Sora and Talau, empowered by the Magic Within, rippled through him, and he felt his aches and pains from the recent flight and battle begin to fade.
For the first time in this world, his capacity emptied fully as the three magics resonated within him: feeding off one another. He felt a wave of vertigo, but it passed quickly as his mana reserves began to refill again. Being empty of capacity felt dangerous and made him feel as vulnerable as he'd felt when he first arrived. Luckily, the feeling and the vertigo passed quickly. Whatever his desperate need had created from all that power took everything he was capable of giving, though. He could feel the new magic working in his body, but right now, with his arms around the frail form of his brother, he realized he didn't want it. The need that had triggered this magic wasn't for himself.
I don't want this. Erik needs it more.
He pulled Erik in tighter, this time for more than balance. Oskar heard his brother grunt. A moment later, Erik chuckled before squeezing him back.
“I’m gonna kill her, Erik. And I’m gonna do everything possible to make you whole again,” he said into his brother’s shoulder.
Oskar pushed the newly created magic from himself and into Erik, ignoring the powerful tingle of the new, expected Gambit he new he'd just generated with that promise. The bulk of the magic went into Erik, who grew suddenly still, but he could feel some of the magic bleed into Penny, who was still pressed against his foot.
/// That was... unexpected. I'm impressed. ///
Pulling away, Oskar briefly looked over at his brother in confusion, then back at the Kobolds with a questioning glance, but they had their faces locked on Erik behind him.
Worried, Oskar turned to see what was wrong, and noticed the same blue magic from the cave illuminating beneath the leather strap covering Erik’s missing eye. His brother blinked, and then awkwardly pulled off the strap and re-situated his Goggles. His brother had filled back out some; he looked heartier and overall healthier. The arm was still missing, and Oskar stared fascinated as the blue magic clashed in stalemate with something dark and purple at the stump of Erik’s shoulder. After a second, both sparked and then faded with no apparent change.
Erik looked back up from the stump to Oskar with his familiar, green eye on the left. But now, there was a blue glowing one on the right.
Oskar tried to come up with questions, but was speechless. Some of the guilt and responsibility he felt at his brother’s condition bled away into something he was learning to recognize again... hope. Hope that maybe there would be a way to fully restore his brother. Hope that maybe they really could win, save the Kobolds and find a way to keep this world alive a little longer.
Standing at arms length, Oskar finally was able to ask about what had just happened.
“Wha-”
This time, Erik pulled Oskar into a tight hug, his single arm now strong and steady.
“Has anyone ever told you that you talk too damn much, Oss?”
Oskar’s heart skipped a beat as Erik’s voice rang clear in his ear.
~
The End of Book 1
Wayspring Wanderer: A Desert Druid LitRPG
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Oskar's stats at the end of book 1 (In the beginning of book 2, I will explain why he should have advanced into D Rank by now but has not):
Mind F Peak Rank*
Body
F Peak Rank* Spirit D- Rank*
Magic Mastery
F Rank= 1-49% -Basic understanding, represents the massive majority of users, many of which use the power through instinct alone.
D Rank= 50-79% Represents powerful creatures and people who actively use the power, but still mostly as intended through rituals and spells or abilities.
C Rank= 80-89% -These are people -or creatures- who are learning ways to use the magic itself, outside of known or passed down abilities.
Concepts (things like gravity, atmosphere, conductivity, combustion, really anything outside base elements of air, water, fire, earth, ect) can be utilized, but again, sometimes by instinct.
Sora 84% (C Rank)
Talau
51% (D- Rank) ?????? 42% (F+ Rank)