Feral Beast Master: A Gamelit Adventure, page 8
“I. Need. Help. Me!” Trella shouted. She’d leaped on top of the Boss Lash and begun cutting, but the tail mouth, while crippled, had dug into her shoulder.
Kaden spun to attack.
Remembrance stopped vibrating, and all the dots went still.
As the Boss Lash screamed and fell forward with a crack. The tail head released its bite, and Trella took the chance, almost carving its head off.
You have defeated a boss monster; Slashkivore.
“Level!” Trella shouted. “Barely, but Level!”
Now was not the time to celebrate. Kaden repeated his overhand strikes trying to replicate the one that caused Remembrance to react, but the hammer wasn’t working. What did, was swinging the blunt axe at the base of the wing joints on one.
The axe cleaved a wing straight off.
You have learned a new skill. Crippling Strikes.
[Crippling Strikes]
Very few pieces of a living creature are decorative. If you cut off chunks of them, there will be consequences. (For them, not you). Crippling strikes will leave your enemies with reduced mobility or a lack of life. Requirements: Brutal Blows at level 5 or higher, Edged Weapons.
The King ripped apart the Lash Kaden had crippled, and stomped another, even as a razor tail dug a gash so deep rib bone showed, and every breath sent a spray of red. *Rage*
The emotion that poured out came so deep it swept Kaden away. He screamed and swung Remembrance over and over, wincing when it rang out the bell-like notes. Tail saws tore the top of his forearm, but he kept fighting. It took all his willpower to make sure only Lashes received his Hammer’s blessing.
Trella ghosted away as a Lash dove on her, but before Kaden could even wind up, a pair of pseudopods grabbed it, one down the beak, one over its eyes. A moment later, a red tongue covered in hooks burst out the other eyeball, and the pseudopods retraced.
And the world fell silent.
The red rage that had covered Kaden fell cold and distant, and the pain of his wounds came calling like a city tax collector looking for rat mana. The Lashes were dead. And The King looked from one to the other, uncertain of how to treat these subjects.
*Peace*, Kaden sent using [Beast Empathy].
The King spun to face him, stepping sideways as he lost his balance. *Enemy.*
“I had to save my friends.” *Protect*, he sent back.
The Griffin shrieked, spraying blood as it did so, and rose up on hind feet, towering above him with claws raised. Was it going to attack? Or cry its power? Surely it wasn’t—yes, once again, clarity came a microsecond too late. Whether it meant to kill him or not, the King would crush him.
Trella’s Deception rose up. It stuttered, leaving three clear copies, and slammed into him, throwing him to the side like she’d punched him in the gut.
The King fell, hitting the ground with a thud. *Protect.*
You have slain an enlightened Boss Monster — King Brownbeak.
You have gained experience.
It was victory. It just didn’t feel like it.
First, Eve healed everyone. Which is to say, they all drank from a potion while Eve did some amount of healing stronger than, say, not doing anything. Then they cut the tails off the Lashes. Kaden couldn’t watch as Trella dug in King Brownbeak, retrieving a withered, brown core that looked like a fist sized raisin soaked in magic.
Sara took one look at it and vomited. “That’s what happens when life mages forcibly extend life. It shouldn’t be legal to do that to anything. A person, a Beast, it’s wrong. Can you imagine living with a core so corrupted?”
The Boss Lash held no core whatsoever, though Kaden felt no guilt about gutting it.
While Sara and Eve argued over whether the Gryphon would fit in Inventory, Kaden couldn’t get that last word out of his mind. He climbed the ramp to the Gryphon’s lair. The bird part of it built a nest, while the Lion in it preferred an old blanket.
But nestled in the rotting blanket sat an oval the size of Kaden’s head.
An egg. Forest green, with glowing purple speckles over it, a white purple vein pulsed on the egg. It had cracked. And instinctively, he sensed it was far, far too soon. The stunted life inside could never survive, but Brownbeak had left an heir. With a touch, he pulled it into Inventory, and rejoined the Party.
While they laughed and celebrated, Trella dropped back to walk alongside him. “You feel guilty for killing it?”
“Her. ‘King’ Brownbeak was a Queen. She was protecting an egg. That’s why she wouldn’t leave, and if anyone had just checked—”
“You’re the only one dumb enough to walk into a Griffin’s nest. You know it and I know it. But I’m sorry. You took the egg. I don’t need to ask, I know you. You took it.”
He nodded. “It’s damaged. Guardian of Life would heal it, but eggs don’t grow.”
Maybe it was possible to bind an egg.
Only time would tell.
A day’s rest mostly restored everyone’s spirits. Kaden had gone over the scenario over and over. You couldn’t plan for everything, only adapt. He’d adapted. And if he hadn’t done it, his friends, the griffin, and her egg would have perished. Right now, it sat in a special chamber in Beast Control, in Mistress Scylla’s apartment. She’d paid a life mage to come in and put a binding on the shell that would allow it to breathe, and Mr. Dervish himself had come to inspect it. Without question, the beast would be damaged in some way by the loss of life energy through the crack, but what way, they wouldn’t know for months.
The day of the auction, instead of watching the magical boards that revealed bidding, the Party was gathered for training. Kaden’s came first, early in the day. The Axe skills class was taught by a [Man At Arms] who took one look at Remembrance and whistled. “That…is a weapon. It will cost you, though. You’re going to need to invest in strength, at least one more point, maybe two. And it’s not very sharp.”
Dull as a butter knife.
Except it wasn’t. No one would call the axe side razor sharp, but it had a definite edge, which if pressed hard at, say, a wing joint, would sever.
The actual class was taught with standard Guild axes, as the instructor worked with every student to teach proper form. How to transfer momentum and how to follow through on a blow to drive the axe head in. Two hours into a three hour class, Kaden got the notification.
You have gained a new skill: Axework
[Axework]
There’s more to swinging an axe than weight and a sharp edge. It’s an art that is spoken in arcs and splatters and gashes. You are not quite an artist, but that, too, will come with time.
Around him, students called out in celebration.
Their instructor didn’t bother hiding his surprise. “Most of the time, it takes a little longer, but you folks are brighter than my usual classes. Keep up with the swings, level one is barely better than no skill at all.
By the end of the class, Kaden had level two—and a private discussion with the teacher.
“I see you’ve got War Hammer. When your Axe skill meets the same level, the System will let you fuse the two. It’ll grow slower, but you won’t mind, I promise. You should consider taking a shield class or two. We call what you’re doing off-tanking. You’re not a real one, but you can play the part to a degree.” The instructor clapped him on the back and collected the axes.
The difference gripping Remembrance was immediate. Like when he’d learned to use clubs, it was like his fingers knew how to grip the handle better. Like his arms knew the patterns of movement more. It was worth every silver.
The mana dart class, for Sara and Eve, was taught in the mage tower. Kaden tagged along on the pretense of wanting to learn, though the instructor took one look at him and laughed. “Learned it off a scroll, did you?”
“Yes. One with a horrible note about revenge for something that happened with ducks,” Kaden answered.
The instructor’s smile fell away, and for a moment, he looked like he might cry. Then he shook it off. “Well, yes. Let’s get started. I’ll be infusing each of you with a point of skill, something I can do, since my level is so far above ten. Then it’s on each of you to practice, but I’ve got a dozen different ways to help you and years of experience getting people past their blocks. If it takes days, it takes days. If you get it in thirty minutes, so much the better.”
Then they set to work.
Instead of Kaden’s way, the Mage worked with them to feel the mana inside them first. To sense it deep in their veins, moving through each meridian like a stream. And for Eve, he had nothing but praise. It wasn’t half an hour before she called out, with drips of lavender energy on her fingertips.
Shaping it into the dart…that took longer.
But three hours later, with coaxing, Eve managed to coalesce a misshapen ball of lavender energy—and the skill notification. She immediately took Vip for treats to celebrate, leaving Sara to fume. The mage took it all in stride, offering different ideas for how she could envision her mana.
Then he looked closer. “Oh, oh, that is why. You’ve got blockages in left arm meridian. It’s an old blockage, too. Look, all you’re going to do here is frustrate yourself. I’ll give you a pass to drop into any class, but you need to go see a healer on floor three. Get it cleared out, then come back. Without being able to circulate your mana, your spell casting will be crippled.”
Sara took his recommendations like they might save her life.
Which they could.
But on the way out, the Mage waved to him. “You learned it to unlock your mana and help with that binding, but Mana Dart is the basis for two of the best utility skills in existence. Mana Spike will drain your enemies at 10x what you put into it. Mana Well will let your party’s mage throw spells so fast the monsters won’t know what hit them. When you get Mana Dart to level ten, pick the one that matches your needs first, and the other when you get it back to ten.”
Kaden offered the man a silver coin for his tip and went with Sara for an appointment, where she writhed and complained as an acupuncturist put needles into her wrist, elbow, and shoulder, then plied her with teas and compresses.
“Does it still hurt?” Kaden asked. It had been more than fifteen seconds since Sara last gave an update, which, despite being a record, worried him.
“It feels cold. My arm feels cold.” She tried to stand, and the Horror had to grab the walls to keep her from falling.
The healer came over and examined her. “Did you drink your tea? All your tea?”
“One little sip more isn’t going to help.” Sara still downed it. “Wait. That’s better? How did one drop make a difference?”
The healer gave her a harumph and ushered them out with a warning to make sure she didn’t try Mana Dart until a few days had passed.
When Kaden returned to his quarters, Trella was waiting with Eve. She motioned for him to follow and together, they took a table in the pub, where the raucous partying going on would provide protection.
Trella Sonos is trying to share specific information with you. Accept [Y/N]?
[Dark Deception]
Look at me! No, Me! Leave a shadowy afterimage of yourself in place while you slip away. The length of time the image appears will increase as you grow stronger, as well as your ability to remain hidden. At high levels, the Deception is not just a static image, but will move. This spell has a cooldown of (5) minutes. This cooldown can be reduced by paying additional mana.
Level: 2
HP: NA
Mana: NA
Skills: Shadow Walk (1)
“Your Deception gained a level and a skill?” Kaden asked.
“Sounds familiar. My Horror gained a level, too.” Sara said. “I’ll save you the time of asking how. There’s not going to be an answer. And since the Horror has gained levels afterwards, I’d expect your Deception will, too.”
Eve shrugged. “Do we have to listen to your ‘Oh no, I gained too much and got too powerful’ stories? The real tragedy is that I didn’t get a chance to test Blood Burn at all. One of you needs to be poisoned. Or plagued. Or, we could just—”
A silver Messenger Bird landed on the table.
Sara reached out to take it in her hand and listened. After a moment her Horror reached around and pushed her jaw shut. “Twenty gold. The Ice Mana core sold for twenty gold.”
Kaden immediately thought of his Holding, and the Decay at work there. But fighting off Decay wouldn’t help if he wasn’t alive to enjoy life. “Bank mine at the guild. Tomorrow, I’m buying proper armor.”
“Bank mine at the guild, too, but tomorrow, I’m buying breakfast.” Trella had her priorities straight.
Eve didn’t celebrate. “I don’t know what I want to buy, but I’m certain I will need to. What happened to the Griffin core?”
“That was supposed to be a surprise. It was empty of Mana, but the Vivomancy sect offered us five gold because they’d never seen one that diseased. Combine that with the pay for clearing the zoo entirely? I’ve never had seven gold to my name in my life.” Sara’s voice rose with hope. “I suggest we talk to the Guild trainers. They’ll know what we need.”
Seven gold? Seven coppers had been riches to Kaden. Now seven gold was a good start on what he needed.
“Sara Scylla?” someone shouted across the floor.
The shouting, laughing, talking died down, as a Quest Broker threaded his way through. “Got an assignment from the GuildMaster for your group. Not optional and don’t screw it up.”
10
TEN - PARTY PATROL
The session with Guild trainers went better than Kaden could have hoped. Every last one was a Centurion, most double or triple classed, and though they’d retired from Adventuring themselves, they brought a wealth of experience that made the twenty silver cost feel like a bargain.
For Kaden, they recommended reinforced leather and steel armor, because being able to move and swing Remembrance would be the key to his damage output. His boots, holdovers from Beast Control, were still perfectly serviceable, but light iron gauntlets with inserts would let him upgrade over time.
Sara’s swords were damn near perfect, but her leather armor simply wasn’t up to the task ahead. She sold it and bought a set which allowed her to upgrade the plating over time. From a smith on the floor, she commissioned two round bells with a thick handle across the center. Each was the width of a man’s hand, and so heavy Kaden had to work to lift them.
Until one of the Horror’s pseudopods reached down, gripping the handle with a pair of jaws, and lifting.
“I got the idea from watching you with Remembrance,” Sara said. “I have a second set with axe blades and a climbing hook. It’ll take a few weeks for him to finish.”
Eve bought an Inventory, ignoring the look of shock on her Party’s face as she announced it. “I’m tired of everyone else having access to store tools and weapons and I don’t.”
“Can’t believe you didn’t have one already,” Sara said. “We practically give them away to anyone we think will stick around at Beast Control.”
“I never needed such a thing. It’s unpleasantly small, but I wasn’t about to pay to have it expanded. I can store my whip, a dagger, two healing potions, and one of those breakfast meals.” Eve’s pride was unmistakable.
Trella had steadfastly refused to explain what she bought, and insisted she’d spent it wisely, but the sheer delight on her face, when Kaden gave her a gift would have lit up the entire guild. She took the blue steel dagger set from the box and clipped the sheathes to her belt. “They’re beautiful.”
“And enchanted,” Kaden said. “They automatically return after five seconds, or faster if you pump mana into the sheath.”
Trella tried it out, then punched the air in triumph as one dagger and then the other returned. “Oh, if Senior Sister could see me now. In fact, when she does? We’re going to revisit a few of her opinions.”
“Today’s mission for the Guild will not pay well.” Sara broke the bad news quickly and without warning. “We’re obligated as part of our contracts to work one a week for the Guild, and this one is, to put it kindly, boring. The Dungeon Door we found in the Orchard leads to a rank three Undead themed dungeon. The Guild is sending a party to run it, and it’s standard practice to have a second party on standby to help, if something goes wrong.”
“We’re on chaperone duty?” Trella asked.
“It’s our responsibility to the Guild.” Sara’s tone sounded like she was ready to spit on the Guild. “A few more notes. We’re simply not strong enough to deal with Night Monsters, but estimates are that the dungeon is a three hour run. Even if it takes until sunset, we’ll have an escort back to the city, and a few evening spawns might provide decent experience. Meet up at the front desk at noon, I have to collect our briefings and swing to pick up my armor plates.”
Noon found Kaden and Trella waiting at the desk, while Eve showed off a sling she’d bought from a fabric crafter.
“See, I can fit Vip like so and carry her hands free!”
Kaden tried not to comment. “She has four legs. She spends most of the day on them. Vip doesn’t need you to carry her, and she’s better behaved when she’s down and running.”
*Stink,* Vip sent him, as she licked Eve’s chin.
Finally, he gave in and asked Trella in code. So, what did you buy?
I went back to ‘Vale and bought an item. Four gold, one item, but you all knew what you needed. So did I.
Four gold? Kaden still had two. Having been raised where a copper was a treat, spending the gold coins had almost physically hurt, but he repeated Mistress Scylla’s saying: Money spent on himself was a better investment than money in the bank. What does it do?
You’ll see, and then you’ll understand. Four gold was a bargain.
Even now, he schemed about ways to turn two gold into fifty, so he could restore the house at his Holding. He spoke aloud now, not afraid of what he had to say. “When I started work at Beast Control, the first day, when I got eight coppers, I almost screamed, I was so happy. Today I spent three gold pieces. Three of them.”
