by A F Kay
The ability Black Eye allowed him to sense others with the Black Pyramid mark. Even now, he felt a coolness at the base of his hand from being near Ky. She had just talked about the safety of her people and had told him the only way in here was if you had this mark. The doors around him all looked like solid stone, but they allowed people to pass through. While the spell’s type was area of effect, it didn’t list a radius. If the radius was significant, and the effect passed through the doors, he might find safe doors that way.
He walked around the room, holding his wrist up to each door. Thirty doors down, his wrist grew colder. In all, six of the portals in the room triggered Black Eye. He also came across four doors that didn’t have any markings at all.
“These six are safe,” Ruwen said, pointing to them.
He opened the notification that appeared.
Ting!
You have completed the Quest – My Doors are Always Open.
“Excellent,” Ky said and pointed at his feet. “Grab your reward and let’s go.”
Ruwen looked down and found a brown piece of parchment covered in runes. He picked it up.
Tring!
The Black Pyramid has rewarded you…
Name: Ciphered Gate Runes
Quality: Rare
Durability: 10 of 10
Weight: 0.2 lbs.
Restriction: Requires Black Pyramid cipher (level 1)
Restriction: User must bear the mark of the Black Pyramid
Description: A change of scenery is but a door away.
The information on the parchment was scrambled by the Black Pyramid cipher, and he couldn’t read it. Ruwen had hoped his Hey You ability might work on the coded text, but it didn’t.
“When will I learn the level one cipher?” Ruwen asked.
“Probably in a month or two.”
Ruwen’s shoulders slumped. What good was loot if you couldn’t use it? He opened his Void Band and put the parchment in his inventory.
“I’ve given Sift too much time. We need to be extra careful now,” Ky said.
Ky had said that name earlier when she mentioned feeding the Blood Moss. Ruwen needed to remember to feed his as well.
“Who’s Sift?”
“You’ll see shortly.”
“What do you call this room?”
“Blood Gate.”
“How many –”
Ky held up her hand. “Enough questions already. You might be worse than Tremine.”
Ky muttered to herself as she walked into one of the doors Ruwen had identified as safe. He decided to save the rest of his questions for later. Pausing, he looked around the room one last time. He memorized the gate runes for the six safe doors as well as the doorway that had brought them here.
What kind of person goes to such lengths to make sure nobody follows them? He felt the Blood Moss move under his feet, and he nearly screamed again. Not wasting any more time, he hurried through the door Ky had already stepped through.
Ruwen emerged from what appeared to be a dead-end hallway. As soon as he exited, the door on the wall dissolved and only blank stone remained. Ky had already started down the tunnel, and he jogged to catch up. The stone walls’ shakers were spaced too far apart for comfortable vision. With the enhancement from his ring, though, he could see well enough.
The hallway ended in a vast cavern whose ceiling was lost in darkness. Ky kept them inside the tunnel, and Ruwen studied the stalagmites that covered the cavern’s floor. They ranged from tiny slivers to ones so thick he wouldn’t be able to reach around them.
“He’s here. It’s where I would be,” Ky said.
“Who?”
Ky turned to Ruwen. “Stay here. I don’t want you to accidentally get killed.” Ky turned toward the entrance and spoke loudly. “Sift’s young and still sloppy.”
Without waiting for Ruwen to respond, Ky pulled a small mirror from her bag. She held it between her fingers and eased the tip of the mirror into the cavern. Slowly she turned it back and forth, studying the area above their tunnel. Satisfied, she replaced the mirror, stepped out into the room, and disappeared. Ruwen squinted trying to find her. How had she done that?
He stared intently into the cavern for a minute, but she didn’t reappear. Not knowing how long she might be gone, he sat down in the tunnel and brought up his Profile. Selecting the Root Class, he studied the new window that appeared.
Like before, the only branch with any color was the first, a deep brown, which ended in the Worker symbol of clasped hands. The next branch ended in a brain, and when he focused on it, the entire branch turned the black of the Mage Class. Like before, a notification appeared.
Root Class: Access to any Branch
Warning: Choice is permanently bound to body!
Do you wish to assign Root to Mage?
Yes or No
Ruwen wanted with all his heart to select Yes. But he knew that Ky would literally kill him. He only had one choice, and there was no reason to torture himself. He carefully selected No and then focused on the next branch, which ended in a pair of eyes. After a moment, the prompt reappeared.
Root Class: Access to any Branch
Warning: Choice is permanently bound to body!
Do you wish to assign Root to Observer?
Yes or No
Not giving himself time to think about it, he selected Yes, and the Observer branch turned green. He exited the page and went back to his main Profile. As before, his Hidden Class now had a new descriptor: Root (Observer).
He sighed. First, he was stuck with a terrible Class, and now he’d had to give up his dream of being a Mage. He had no plans on ever dying again, so he was probably stuck this way for the rest of his life. His chest tightened, and he took a few deep breaths to keep the depression away.
Reaching into his Void Band, he removed the Worker textbook. Books always made him feel better. He flipped through the first few pages. He’d come back and read them later. Right now, he wanted to see the initial levels of spells and abilities. He had leveled at the library, and he wondered what new things were available.
A section on leveling caught Ruwen’s attention. At level two, being an even level, he had gained two spell points instead of one. He could use them to choose a lower-level spell, pick a newly available spell, or increase the level of a spell he already knew. Abilities worked the same way except you always just received one point per level.
He had spent months figuring out precisely what spells he would take as he leveled as a Mage. What a massive waste of time. He skimmed the descriptions and effects of the energy-based spells he’d ignored when he’d talked with Big D earlier that day.
Spell: Hurry Up
Level: 1
Effect: Adds +2 to Dexterity.
Spell: Scrub
Level: 1
Effect: Use Energy to break down and remove stains and odor.
Spell: Strong Back
Level: 2
Effect: Adds +2 to Strength.
Spell: Sharpen
Level: 2
Effect: Remove a fraction of an object’s edge.
Spell: Kindling
Level: 3
Effect: Condense the air near your hand into a small blade.
Spell: Harden
Level: 3
Effect: Increase density.
He moved on to the Mana-based spells to refresh his memory.
Spell: Mend Tool
Level: 1
Effect: Temporarily bind broken objects together.
Spell: Campfire
Level: 1
Effect: Create small magical campfire. Adds 5% to Energy, Mana, and Health Regeneration to all within 3 yards.
Spell: Sick Day
Level: 2
Effect: Increase all resistances by 10%.
Spell: Numb
Level: 2
Effect: Decrease sensations by 10%.
Spell: Second Wind
Level: 3
Effect: Reduce food, water, and sleep requi
rements by 10%.
Spell: Grasp Crate
Level: 3
Effect: Increase the roughness of your hands by 10%.
Since he already had Campfire, he searched until he found the description for the level two version of the spell.
Spell: Campfire
Level: 2
Class: Worker
Effect: Create small magical campfire. Adds 7.5% to Energy, Mana, and Health Regeneration to all within 4 yards.
Cost: 160 Mana
Type: Area of Effect
Casting Time: 5 seconds
Recovery: 30 minutes
Duration: 1 hour
Another 2.5% of benefit would make the Spell even more valuable, and the extra yard would help as well. He didn’t have a clear idea of what he should do, so he decided to do nothing. He flipped to the Abilities section and scanned them.
Ability: Hey You
Level: 1
Type: Self
Effect: Understand basic commands and terms in any language.
Ability: Owl Eyes
Level: 1
Type: Self
Effect: Magnify ambient light by 10%.
Ability: Sing
Level: 1
Type: AoE
Effect: Increase Haste by 2% and Endurance by 10%.
Ability: Detect Temperature
Level: 2
Type: Self
Effect: The hotter the object, the redder it appears.
Ability: Glow
Level: 2
Type: Self
Effect: Body emits soft light to aid sight in dark areas.
Ability: Knots
Level: 2
Type: Object
Effect: Movement of secured objects is reduced by 10%.
Since he already had Hey You, he searched until he found the description for the level two version of the ability. He read the description.
Ability: Hey You
Level: 2
Type: Self
Effect: Understand limited commands and terms in any language.
“I’m not sloppy,” a voice whispered.
Chapter 14
Ruwen jumped and dropped his book. It struck the floor with a loud slap. Across from him sat a lean young man. The teenager had short brown hair and brown eyes so light they looked yellow. He was dressed in black cotton pants and a matching long shirt. He had his knees pulled up, and his arms rested on them.
“What?” Ruwen asked.
“Mistress said I was sloppy. I’m not.”
It took Ruwen a second to put all the things Ky had said together. “You’re Sift.”
“And you’re noisy,” Sift said and then tossed him a small ball.
The grey ball was about an inch wide and had a simple pattern of lines etched on it. It felt damp, but when he looked at his hand, it didn’t look wet.
“I’ll come back for that,” Sift said.
Sift pulled a scarf from his pocket that looked a lot like the Scarf of Freshness Ky had given Ruwen. Sift shoved the scarf in his mouth. He winked at Ruwen, leaped to his feet, and then ran to the entrance of the tunnel. Sift jumped into the air and hung from something above the entrance. Ruwen could only see the bottom half of Sift’s body, and then in a blink, Sift had pulled himself up and disappeared from sight. Ruwen picked up his book, stuck it in his Void Band, and walked to the entrance.
Looking up, he didn’t see the young man and the wall looked much too smooth to climb. What had Sift grabbed on to?
“So predictable,” Ky said, right next to him.
Ruwen yelped in surprise and then shouted. “Will people stop doing that?”
Ky pulled the Elder Dagger from her waist and threw it up the wall in one fluid motion. Sift became visible about twenty feet in the air. He snatched the blade from the air, but the momentum from the weapon pulled him off the wall. As he fell, he thrust his legs out against the wall and flung himself into the cavern. Sift fell in a sharp arc toward the ground. Ruwen expected the sound of snapping bones, but when Sift struck the ground, he rolled, gently set the dagger down, and then sprinted directly at them.
Before Ruwen could react, Ky took three steps forward, and her whole body relaxed. Instead of throwing a punch, Sift tried to sidestep Ky and sweep her feet. Ky moved away from Sift, and the two circled each other.
“Your pride makes you vulnerable,” Ky said.
Sift didn’t say anything, but his cheeks grew pink.
“You traded surprise for a stranger’s validation,” Ky said. “Do you really care if he thinks you’re sloppy?”
Sift reached forward but not to punch. He grabbed Ky’s shirt at the shoulder and tried to pull her off balance. Ky pressed Sift’s hand against her body and then turned sideways, twisting Sift’s arm in the process. Sift did a cartwheel to keep his arm from breaking and used his free hand to strike at Ky’s head. Ky let go of Sift and stepped backward, aiming her own blow at Sift’s chest. Ruwen watched in awe as the two exchanged a dozen blows in the span of a few heartbeats. None of the strikes landed, and like before, the fight looked more like a dance than a conflict.
Sift suddenly stopped, stepped back, and bowed to Ky. She paused and then returned his bow.
“You’re giving up already?” Ky asked.
Sift remained quiet.
Ky narrowed her eyes. “Why aren’t you responding?”
Sift smiled, but his lips didn’t part.
There was a soft click from Ruwen’s hand, and he looked down at the grey ball. From Ruwen’s peripheral vision, he saw Ky leap at him. Before she reached him, the ball hissed, and he smelled the faint scent of burnt almonds. His head spun, and he collapsed. He stared up at the darkness of the cavern and noticed his Health bar had turned red and another debuff had appeared next to his Clumsy and Foolish ones. After a moment, the new debuff disappeared. Opening his log, he read what had happened.
You have been poisoned!
You have taken 92 damage (3,172 damage*0.029(Antidote 97.1% effective))
Critical Alert! Health pool below 10%!
You have Vertigo!
You have struck the ground!
You have taken 2 damage
Critical Alert! Health pool below 10%!
Ky floated into Ruwen’s vision, her lower face covered with a Scarf of Freshness.
A heartbeat later Sift appeared behind Ky and lightly touched the back of her neck. Sift’s mouth and nose also covered by a scarf.
Sift spoke in a different language, but Ruwen’s Hey You Ability deciphered one of the words: “Won.”
Ky helped Ruwen sit up and leaned him against the cavern wall. She sat next to him and pulled the scarf off her face. Sift sat cross-legged across from them and pulled his scarf down as well.
“You hid the scarf in your mouth?” Ky asked.
Sift nodded.
“How did you give him the antidote?” Ky asked.
“I coated the Hisser with it,” Sift said.
“He still might have died.”
“He follows your false gods, and his soul is bound to them. His death would be temporary.”
“I underestimated your duplicity,” Ky said.
“A seed must grow if it wishes to see the sun,” Sift said.
Ky reached up and touched the back of her neck. “I thought it would be years before you succeeded.”
Sift looked at Ruwen. “Your guest provided a rare opportunity, and your delay allowed me to plan.”
Ky looked at Ruwen. “So, this is basically all your fault.”
A headache had replaced the vertigo, and it hurt to think. Ruwen didn’t understand what they were talking about. “What’s my fault?”
“The conversation I’m about to have with Sift’s parents,” Ky said.
“You will honor our agreement then?” Sift asked.
“Of course, but now is a very complicated time, and I’m not promising –” Ky said.
“Complication is the child or poor planning,” Sift said.
“Ugh, you s
ound just like your father,” Ky said.
Sift grinned. “Fish from the same lake –”
“Stop it!” Ky said, and flicked her wrist.
Sift caught the small dagger before it struck his chest and immediately set it on the ground beside him.
Ky stood, and Sift did as well.
“Maybe this is for the best. I need to speak with your parents anyway, and I’ll explain to them our agreement. Until then, I need your help.” Ky pointed down at Ruwen. “He has wasted his life. Start teaching him the Steps.”
“Hey! I haven’t wasted my life!” Ruwen said.
Ky ignored him and continued speaking to Sift. “How long since the last sweep?”
“A few weeks,” Sift said.
“I need him to level and get some skills. Stay inside and no deeper than level three. Okay?”
Sift pointed back to Ky’s Elder Dagger that she’d thrown at him when their fight had begun. “Can I keep him for a bit? I’d like to catch up.”
Ky rolled her eyes. “You shouldn’t indulge him. Most of what he tells you are lies.” Ky turned from Sift to her dagger. She shouted at it. “That isn’t true. You lie far more often than me.”
Ruwen looked from Ky to Sift. The young man just raised his eyebrows.
“Fine, keep him. But don’t believe anything he says.” Ky said.
She knelt down next to Ruwen, and a notification pulsed at the bottom of his vision.
“Those are the Pyramid’s noncombat quests,” Ky said. “The standard Observer quests I can give won’t work here, but you might get one or two of these done. Every bit helps. The Addas might have some as well, assuming they find you worthy.”
“The Addas?” Ruwen asked.