Invent (The Completionist Chronicles Book 7), page 2
“Thank you for pointing him out, sir.” Captain Cleave eyed Joe with distinct relief. “I’ve been wandering this place for hours looking for him. You’d think that shiny pate would stand out more, but-”
“Wait… wait.” Joe was on his feet in a flash, reaching out to Havoc. He pulled back just in time. A needle extended from Havoc’s shirt, glistening with gold-flecked purple poison. Ignoring the deadly barb, Joe locked eyes with the incredibly powerful Dwarf whom he had never known to lie. “What do you mean, ‘class’ quests?”
“No.” Havoc narrowed his eyes in return, then pulled up Joe’s status, reminding the human that he had never revoked access to it after it had been demanded the first time they had met. The Dwarf’s eyes scanned both active and completed quests; what remained of his eyebrows rose ever higher over each line. Finally, he clamped his cigar in the corner of his mouth, reached forward, and cuffed Joe in the side of the head, getting a shadowy slap in retaliation, even though Joe hadn’t even bothered to flinch when his Exquisite Shell flared. “You have got to be joking. Everything you can do, and you haven’t even started your first class quest?”
“I didn’t even know it was a thing, and no one has ever mentioned it to me,” Joe protested as he attempted to peruse his quest tab. Nothing appeared, even though they were talking about it.
Havoc stood in considering silence, the smoke from his cigar slowly drifting toward the top of the enclosed volcanic space. “Alright. Let’s go figure this out.”
CHAPTER TWO
“Just make an easy ritual,” Havoc demanded of his Apprentice. “I don’t care what it is, or what it does, just that you make one in front of me while I’m watching your status.”
The Reductionist stood over the simple ritual diagram, rolling his eyes at the ease with which he could now generate Novice-level rituals. A single circle? No need for anything but Damaged aspects, and an eighty-five percent discount, thanks to his class? Even with triple-checking his work just to be as safe as possible, the ritual took less than thirty seconds to complete. Joe arched a brow at his mentor. “What is this supposed to prove, Havoc? I’ve made literally hundreds of these at this point.”
“Then you’re clearly doing something wrong, brat.” The Dwarf leaned back and kicked Joe in the chest, sending him flying as a shadowy copy of himself appeared and slapped Havoc in the face. “Heh, that spell of yours is so nice and refreshing. It’s like taking a cold shower.”
“What the abyss, Havoc?” Joe roared as he vaulted to his feet, his Ritual Orbs springing into the air to swirl around. He was fully prepared to attack… but Havoc wasn’t even listening to him. The Dwarf was inspecting the ritual circle, muttering under his breath.
“Alright. I think I know what the issue is, but you aren’t gonna like it.” The Dwarf looked up at the human, and a smarmy grin crossed his face. “You know why no one ever brought the class quests up to you? It’s because almost everyone gets them as soon as they select their class. It should have been one of the first things that appeared in your menu when you arrived in the world. In other words, everyone else is way ahead of you.”
“That’s not ideal, but I’ve been able to manage so far. What's the problem?” Joe groaned as Havoc leaned back and rubbed his beard, the mirth in his eyes informing the human that he was refusing to answer. “It’s never easy with you, is it? Can’t you just tell me?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” The Dwarf pointed at the ritual circle and smiled. “Think about your class. What it does; what it needs. It’ll be obvious in hindsight. Ah, don’t look at me all upset like that. I’ll give you one hint: your type of class was never meant to be a base class, which means it has prerequisites to gain its class quest. If you can’t figure it out on your own, I got advance notice of a situation coming up that will fix it for you. Good thing, too, else you’d need to return to Midgard to even start your class quests.”
“Ooh! That sounds fun! What’s a class quest?” Joe turned toward the new arrival, smiling as he spotted Jaxon walking toward them with his odd, very straight-backed stride. “Can I have one, too?”
“You don’t have it either? That’s not right…?” Havoc puffed on his cigar as he looked between the two of them, deep in contemplation. “This is… strange. Maybe humans don’t gain access right away… no, I’m pretty sure there’s just something wrong with the two of you. Dino-hands guy, you want help, then give me access to your status.”
“Sure thing!” Jaxon narrowed his eyes in concentration, and Havoc grunted in acknowledgement a moment later.
“Huh.” The Dwarf tapped at the air, wincing as he perused the mess that was all the seemingly unrelated skills Jaxon had, as well as the utter and unbelievable lack of basic abilities. “Well, I can tell you that you have a similar problem to Joe’s. Yours is easier to fix, though; come along, and I’ll let you know how. You go with me; Joe, you go away.”
“What? Why won’t you tell me, too?”
Havoc turned and winked at him. “More fun this way!”
Joe threw his hands up in frustration as the two men vanished around a corner, accidentally sending his orbs rocketing away from his hands as his attention wavered too much. They thudded to the ground at varying distances, and he sighed as he started picking his way around the rubble to find all of them. “I really gotta bind spells to all of these so they automatically return.”
He wiped a whole lot of sweat off his shiny head as he collected the last of the orbs, belatedly activating Neutrality Aura to passively return himself to prime condition. The sound of pounding feet drew his attention as a Dwarf ran at him like an unstoppable freight train, only for the barrel-chested newcomer to be swept off his feet as Captain Cleave slammed into him and sent him to his back. She swung her war axe down, pulling the blade to a stop just before lopping off his head guillotine-style. “Why are you assaulting the Candidate?”
“Whoa, it’s Cleave Dudette in the flesh!” The Dwarf reached up and flicked the axe, making the metal ring. “Sweet moves! Listen, I got orders to bring Teamkiller Bro to the triangle building. Whole place is melting, yo.”
“The pyramid is falling apart?” Joe didn’t wait for any further information, knowing the Dwarf wouldn’t have it. He vaulted into motion, practically employing parkour as he launched himself toward the Artifact-ranked building—the only thing that was keeping this place from sinking into the superheated liquid rock below them. Thanks to his Strength characteristic, each leap launched him forty-four feet, if he moved perfectly. He didn’t always, but he still crossed the distance to join a group of harried officials in practically no time flat.
“There he is,” one of the Dwarves called in obvious relief. “Candidate, we’ve received intel that the interior is reaching untenable levels of heat, although the exterior of this space is in no danger of failing. If we don't find a way to drain off the heat in the near future, this camp is going to return to molten slag in short order.”
Joe caught his breath as he considered the issue. He already had a way to drain heat, since he had used zombified aspects to escape from this place in his original visit. The question was how to use that ritual safely, and then sustain it. “I have a solution that may work short-term to solve this issue, but its current iteration is dangerous. Do we have anywhere we can vent the heat?”
There was a collective sigh of relief, and Joe felt a swell of pride as a few muttered snippets reached his ears. Things like ‘I told you he could do it’ and ‘see, nothing to worry about when he’s around’ reached a deep part of himself that had been craving positive feedback. Between Joe’s compounding failures on Midgard and his responsibility for the accidental death of hundreds of Dwarves, he had been nearing a breaking point of self-doubt. His resolve to make this place awesome intensified.
That all started with not letting it melt.
“What we can do is set it to vent up into the open air, similar to an actual volcano,” the Dwarf offered with an easy smile, “until you find something you want to use the excess heat for, at least.”
Joe fist-bumped the Dwarf in greeting as the group collectively started discussing the best location for a coolant system. “Nice to meet you…?”
“My apologies!” The Dwarf pulled a set of documents out of a leather messenger bag. “I just transferred here; my name is Bauen. I’m an engineer, hoping to learn from the Lord of Slaughter during what are certain to be his many improvements for the first place that hasn’t placed restrictions on his… residency.”
A vivid set of memories flashed through Joe’s head: Havoc screaming at the thundering sky, releasing the equivalent of magical nanites to slay hundreds of Elves, converting his own body to golem-form despite knowing it would mean his death, defeating an Elf and setting off the failsafe that would have wiped out thousands of Dwarves… Joe slowly nodded, “I see. Yeah, I can understand why most places might… ‘restrict’ him.”
“Bauen, we’ve decided that the best place to vent the heat, for what should be obvious reasons, is as close to the top and center of the settlement as possible,” one of the other Dwarves announced, giving Joe a doubtful once-over. “It’ll allow for a natural convection current and possibly generate a fresh, cool breeze, if the heat reduction factor is great enough. We’ll need to be watchful of isothermal expansion if Havoc’s designs are-”
“That’ll do! Thank you!” Bauen cut off the other engineer with great haste, going so far as to clap a hand over his mouth. “Mixed company here. Ah… Candidate, what can we do to assist with this?”
“I’m guessing you’re under orders not to tell me what’s going on?” After the Dwarf nodded with clear relief that the human wasn’t pressing him for information, Joe paused to consider for a few moments, then motioned for the engineer to follow him. “There are a few things I could use help with. I’m used to doing this all myself, but perhaps having a greater insight on how my rituals will impact the matter around them is exactly what I need. Who knows that better than an engineer?”
“I have the chance to teach Havoc’s direct apprentice?” Bauen’s chest swelled with pride as he hurried to follow the human. “I have so many ideas! If we make something truly remarkable, perhaps you might… put in a good word for me?”
“That could only be counterproductive.” Joe shook his head slightly and chuckled at the thought of Havoc whisking Jaxon away to teach him secrets. “Trust me, if you want him to give you direct tutelage, all you need to do is make it seem like the information would be exceptionally beneficial to me and pretend that you’re going to spend time to help me understand it. Then he’ll start teaching you.”
“Um…” The Dwarf raked his hand through his combover, pulling attention to the fact that he actually did have hair atop his head, even though it was exceedingly thin and fair. “That seems… unusual.”
Joe shrugged ruefully. “That’s Havoc.”
CHAPTER THREE
Even though he knew that there was currently only a single permanent structure standing in the town, Joe still searched for somewhere they could work in peace. Remembering his conversation with Havoc and the city planner, he led Bauen to the northeast quadrant of the settlement and started drawing out a ritual diagram.
“Pardon my intrusion… can you explain to me what you’re doing right now?” Bauen nervously questioned as the human continued with his work. “I was under the impression that you wanted to have my advice, and that you were going to be casting your spell at the roof of the cavern?”
“Yes, I will be. Not exactly a spell, however.” Joe glanced up after completing a particularly tricky symbol, then ran his eyes over the ritual diagram he was drawing. Due to using aspects as the ink, it appeared as though he was sketching a ring of equations in fire on a large chunk of fallen stonework. “This looks pretty neat, not gonna lie. It always seemed so bookwormish to do this with ink. Imagine how many more people would learn calculus if the numbers lit on fire when you got something correct?”
“Yes, multiple rings of light that aren’t vanishing despite having no internal energy source… very concerning. I mean, exciting.” Bauen chuckled nervously as he watched Joe work for a dozen minutes, who had apparently forgotten that he was there. Perhaps this human had more in common with Havoc than he realized?
“I’m trying to make a Common-ranked workshop. It should only take about an hour more, and then we’ll get whatever benefits to productivity that doing this not out in the open will afford us,” Joe explained to the Dwarf, who relaxed minutely when he realized that he hadn’t been forgotten. “Ah… shoot. I can’t make chairs. Abyss, yet another thing we’ll need to shop out to someone else.”
The engineer, now that there was a clear reason behind Joe’s behavior, was far more interested in the diagram Joe was producing. They ended up having a good conversation on the differences between having a team of skilled contractors build the workshop by hand versus generating it with a ritual. By the end of the chat, Joe had quite a few concerns that he knew he would need to pour time into researching.
The largest benefit of having skilled people create structures was that they could account for changing circumstances as they built, while Joe got exactly the design for whatever he cast. It hadn’t been an issue thus far, but who knew what the future held? As Joe got closer to finishing his ritual diagram, the discussion petered out and was replaced by the static yet satisfying *crackling* of stone being etched with energy. As the final symbol completed, Joe reached down to activate it… only to be met with a blaring red warning.
Unauthorized attempt at creating a structure on the territory of the Dwarven Oligarchy. Continuing with this action will result in bounty hunters being dispatched to your location to halt your infringement on this territory. Proceed at your own risk.
Joe reread the message, attempting to understand why he had never seen something like this before. It slowly dawned on him that he had never constructed a building in Dwarven territory. He had only ever done so in Elven-controlled areas. He tried to remember if the pyramid had gone up while this place had been considered Oligarchy-controlled… but no. It had been labeled as ‘contested’ until they had calmed the volcano and managed to secure the safety of the Legion. “So, I have a small problem…”
“Can’t build because of the ownership restriction?” the engineer bluntly questioned him. Joe’s eyes drilled into the Dwarf, asking why he hadn’t mentioned this issue ahead of time. Bauen tapped the stone and gestured around them. “I thought you knew, or you already had control of the area. Commanders of major incursions tend to be gifted the area that they first conquer for development. This leads to productivity at no cost to the Oligarchy, as well as increased revenue and such for the commander. Why haven’t you claimed it yet?”
“I’d have to go see General Court-Martial.” Joe stared at his completed, and yet currently useless, ritual, his lip twitching in displeasure. “Well, that was a waste. I certainly don’t have the kind of time I’d need to go and claim this place; there’s way too much for me to do here. This place is melting, the rubble needs to be cleaned up, and-”
“You can’t do much of anything here without the authorization to actually make changes, right?” Bauen gently reminded the human. “Let’s get to work on the cooling system, and then—if I may offer my opinion—you should go and claim this area so we can get to work.”
“Fi~ine,” Joe grumbled as he rubbed at his head. “Why is it that I always seem to be surrounded by people that are smarter than me?”
“You know, I’ve always believed that if you surround yourself with people smarter than yourself, you have the most opportunity to grow.” Bauen offered an outstretched hand. Joe took it and pulled himself off the stone. “That’s not a terrible place to be, is it? Also, I’m paid a premium to be the most highly skilled and intelligent person around, so don’t be trying to edge in on me.”
They both chuckled at that, then started slowly walking around while discussing the best way to attach the cooling ritual to the roof of the cavern, and Bauen had some useful thoughts on the process after observing Joe make the ritual he hadn’t been able to activate. One of the most helpful suggestions from the engineer was the fact that perhaps Joe should fuel the ritual with higher-ranked materials than needed, simply to improve the longevity and functionality of the final product.
“I had never even thought about using my resources like that. I gotta say, it seems wasteful when the final product already does what it’s supposed to do,” Joe admitted as they rejoined the remainder of the Dwarven engineers. “Do you think it’s really worth augmenting like that?”
“I would say,” Bauen carefully worded his thoughts, “that when you are developing critical systems, creating the minimally viable product is not a good idea. If you are using a short-term item, such as one of your ‘rituals’ that generates a specific outcome and then stops forever, minimum viable all the way.”
“That makes… too much sense to ignore it even a little.” Joe slumped with a half-smile as he tried to recall any active rituals that should be patched. Nothing in this Zone came to mind, so he shrugged and got to work with the other Dwarves. Soon enough, they were installing piping along the ceiling of the cavern, and moveable scaffolding was being erected so that Joe could gain access to the ideal area to write out the ritual. By the time he was allowed to go up, they’d designated multiple fracture points, areas for venting, and ideal locations for his ritual.
After looking over the options, Joe had a sense that this one would be the best spot. He created a Field Array that was only half an inch in height, but ten feet by ten feet wide. The Reductionist activated the array, converting a thin but wide area into trash aspects, and subsequently gained a perfectly flat area for creating the ritual.
