by Pirateaba
“Sorry for overfeeding her, Ryoka. She’s just so cute…”
“No problem. And I’m sorry I had to cut you off, but Erin and I really needed to reconnect. Uh…how’s it been, Garia?”
“Oh, you know. I’m just running deliveries. I don’t do anything that interesting…”
“Not like a Runner who make it to Invrisil in two days! I heard the rumors Ryoka—don’t tell me it actually happened?”
“Not quite. I hitched a ride, actually…”
Ryoka gave them a cut-down version of the events, minus the assassinations and heard their envious comments about getting to do that many deliveries at once. Then she got to the heart of the matter as she turned to Garia.
“Look, Garia, I’ve really dropped the ball on hanging out with you. You keep offering to do a delivery together and I’m always busy…I’m not a good friend.”
Garia turned bright red and waved her hands hurriedly.
“What? No, I know you’ve got a lot to do. I don’t think—”
“A good Runner makes time for friends, right Fals?”
The young man blinked at Ryoka, and then smiled.
“True enough! Are you planning on doing a delivery with Garia then, Ryoka?”
“Better. I was wondering if that offer to visit her family was still on the table. We could hang out for a day or two.”
Ryoka really had no desire to meet Garia’s family, but she had every desire to be a good friend to Garia, and from the way the girl’s face lit up, that was the right thing to offer.
“Meet my family? Well—of course! They have a farm—we could have you over any time.”
“What about in a day or two? Maybe tomorrow? I’d hate to impose, but I don’t want to get tied up and not come…”
“No, no! They’d love to have you. I’ve told them all about you…”
Garia’s eyes slid sideways to Fals. Ryoka noticed, and turned towards him.
“Why not come with us? I’m sure Garia would love to introduce you as well.”
Fals looked surprised. He glanced at Garia and then met Ryoka’s eyes. She stared at him silently and he hesitated.
“I wouldn’t want to impose…”
“Well, what if I bring a friend? Garia, would you mind if Mrsha joined us? I think she’d love to see a farm.”
“No problem! And I bet she’d love to have fun with everyone…”
Garia was sneaking glances at Fals. Pressured on two fronts, he gave in graciously and smiled at Garia.
“I would be glad to. Just let me know when and we can run there together. Does your family enjoy sweets by any chance? I would love to buy them a jar of Miss Erin’s honey…”
“You don’t need to bring anything! Really!”
Ryoka participated in the conversation for a little bit, set up a tentative date, and then rejoined Erin, who’d persuaded Mrsha to walk on her own four paws. Her real struggle was making four paws turn into two.
“Come on, Mrsha. You can’t always run around on all fours. Krshia doesn’t do it.”
Mrsha gave Erin a glance that said quite clearly that Krshia was a fool who only walked upright to fit in. Erin smiled at Ryoka.
“Ready to go?”
“Yep. I’d say we’re in time for a late lunch if we get back to the inn now.”
“I just ate! Well, I guess I can make something if the adventurers are hanging about…”
Ryoka frowned, perplexed.
“Do they always stick around? I thought they’d have things to do. Like kill monsters or go into the dungeon.”
“Yeah, well, they don’t actually do that so much. Griffon Hunt and the Halfseekers are always talking and making plans…some days they go in and come back really late, covered in all kinds of nasty stuff.”
“Well, hopefully Pisces is still about. I want to talk with him.”
—-
Pisces was indeed still in the inn, drinking and talking with the other Horns of Hammerad. And Griffon Hunt. And the Halfseekers.
None of the adventurers had left the inn, although Zel had. They were all clustered in the center of the room, talking heatedly about some big discovery. Ryoka had to get Ceria to explain it to her while Erin went to make a late lunch.
“Some adventurers went into the dungeon, Ryoka! This team—they’re only Silver-rank. They’re called Vuliel Drae and they went down through that hole Mrsha fell into. Apparently there’s an entirely new section of dungeon down there!”
Ryoka stared at the adventurers as they fussed over a bit of parchment. She walked over, peered over Ceria’s shoulder and was treated to a very rough map.
Or rather, the copy of a map. As it turned out, Halrac had just gone into the city and come back with a map of the dungeon. It had been made by Vuliel Drae, a relatively inexperienced group of adventurers who’d descended into the new hole and come out with a rudimentary sketch of a few passageways, a tale of running into half a dozen traps and monsters within the first hour, and the head of a monster no one could identify.
And an enchanted mace. It had sent ripples through the growing adventuring community within Liscor. Because it was proof the dungeon had treasure.
“Not just any treasure. High quality enchantments.”
Ulrien explained that to Ryoka, although she had a sense he was also telling her for Ksmvr and Pisces’ benefit. The Horns of Hammerad were listening intently to the Gold-rank adventurers talking. Despite Ceria and Yvlon’s experience, they were still juniors watching experts in their field work.
And argue. Seborn was talking about the mace, much to Jelaqua’s clear displeasure.
“It has some kind of auditory enchantment. It shrieks like a Death Wailer when you hit something, and everyone but the wielder is affected. I’d say the effect isn’t just sound-based—there seems to be some kind of immobility effect to it as well. So that’s two benefits. Too bad only one person can use it safely, but the cost—”
“Damn it, those bastards were already getting offers for the mace! It’ll probably sell for thousands of gold pieces!”
Jelaqua burst out and kicked a chair into the air. Lyonette screamed and ducked, but Moore caught the chair out of the air. He stared reproachfully at the Selphid.
Interestingly, Jelaqua blushed. Ryoka wasn’t sure she’d be able to with a dead body. But her cheeks did change color. They turned slightly orange, as if something inside the dead skin was heating up.
Disturbing, to say the least. Ryoka looked away as Jelaqua apologized to Lyonette. Ulrien, the other team leader, was less emotional.
“It was luck. Those adventurers were lucky to survive an encounter with the monster carrying the mace. It’s not like they made it to a vault or raided a monster’s lair.”
Halrac nodded and grunted.
“Word is they would have been completely wiped out if another adventurer hadn’t helped them out.”
“Who?”
“It’s unclear. Some lone adventurer with the ability to resist the mace’s effects. She slew the monster carrying it and got the team through several hallways filled with traps by all accounts. There was no name given—she’s described as a masked swordswoman with incredible talent.”
The other Gold-rank adventurers murmured at this. Typhenous raised his eyes at Revi and Ryoka saw the Stitch-girl shake her head. Jelaqua ground her teeth together.
“A lone swordswoman? Everyone’s getting the jump on us!”
Ulrien frowned at her.
“It’s not who’s fastest, Jelaqua. It’s who’s alive at the end to claim the treasure. You know that. Forget a lucky break; if just one of the dungeon’s treasuries is partially intact, we’ll reap a hundredfold times that amount.”
“I know. I just don’t like someone stealing a march on us.”
Jelaqua groused. She looked towards the kitchen and lowered her voice.
“Plus, you know those idiots wouldn’t have had the courage to descend, much less survive, without Erin’s cooking!”
Ryoka had bee
n told all about the magical effects of Erin’s food. Not only could she make a soup that warmed you up when standing naked in the cold, but she could make one that toughened the skin, and another that made you stronger than you should be.
It was an incredible Skill with several caveats. You couldn’t have more than one effect at once, it wore off in a few hours, the food spoiled quickly, and Erin had to make it. Her or someone else with [Wondrous Fare]. And it was the exact sort of thing an adventurer might want, especially going into a dungeon. However…
“I’m not sure if they’ll conflict with our potions.”
Jelaqua had asked Erin to make her some of the Scale Soup, but she hadn’t had a chance to test it yet. She paced around the room, understandably anxious.
“Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Erin’s magical cooking helps all the low-level adventurers who can’t afford better enchantments, but we…”
Ulrien ignored his counterpart. The Halfseekers seemed used to Jelaqua’s emotions, but Griffon Hunt was methodical. He nodded to the others.
“I want to talk with the leader of Vuliel Drae. See if he can describe these Gnoll-like monsters. I hear they brought back a head.”
Seborn nodded.
“Some of the Gnolls were quite agitated when they saw it. They may know more.”
“I’ll inquire about it.”
Halrac left with Seborn, the two being the most knowledgeable about the monsters. Ulrien and Jelaqua went to track down the leader of the adventurers who’d gone into the dungeon.
“They’re probably at the bottom of a barrel of ale and celebrating. Still, I want to know what it was like in detail.”
That left Typhenous, Revi, and Moore. Ryoka was surprised the [Mages] didn’t have their own duties, but then she saw all of them sitting down and eating Erin’s magical food, with varied degrees of enjoyment.
“See, I can make the Corusdeer Soup into a patty. And the uh, Scale Soup becomes…”
Revi paused as something went crack inside her mouth. She spat out what she’d eaten and stared at a hard fragment in horror.
“Ew! What is that?”
“A uh, Stonelizard scale. But I boiled it!”
“Is that lemon and mint? And…fish?”
“It tastes better than it does as a soup!”
“Gah. That’s hardly an improvement.”
Revi made a face. Moore, chewing down his food, shrugged his huge shoulders.
“You must admit it still tastes a thousand times better than some potions.”
“True. Now, to see how it might conflict with spellcasting and other enchantments.”
Typhenous pushed his plate back and began rummaging at his belt for a potion. Ryoka turned to the Horns of Hammerad, who’d been talking amongst themselves.
“How are you all doing?”
“We’re wondering whether we should be looking into this dungeon too, honestly.”
Ceria confessed to Ryoka as she watched Typhenous carefully imbibing part of a potion and making a disgusted face. She sighed as she scratched at her bone hand. Ryoka looked at her hand and then glanced at her missing fingers.
“It sounds intense down there. I hope you’re thinking it over carefully.”
The half-Elf nodded seriously.
“We learned our lesson once, Yvlon and I. But honestly Ryoka, there’s not much else we can do around here. Monster hunting around Liscor isn’t exactly a lucrative business, especially in the winter. Plus, I’ve seen Rock Crabs and I don’t want to tangle with them, even with our new gear. We could look for work around Celum thanks to the magical door, but…”
She shrugged, making a face.
“We’re talking it over. Which reminds me, we need to pay you…”
“I’d like to say it was between friends, but I wouldn’t say no to gold either. Still, you did get Erin back to Liscor for me…”
“We owed her for that. Come on, if you want one of our artifacts or the gold that [Enchanter] gave you…”
Ryoka was sorely tempted to see what she might ask for, but she had something else on her mind right how. She hesitated.
“I’ll think about it. But could I borrow Pisces? I need his help for some research?”
“Research? Hey Pisces! Get over here! What are you looking into?”
Ceria eyed Ryoka curiously as Pisces walked over, looking disgruntled at being summoned.
“Ah, Miss Ryoka. What may I help you with? Or am I not permitted to know the details of this endeavor either?”
Ceria stamped on Pisces’ foot and he hopped around, shouting while Ryoka explained. The [Necromancer] stopped yelping and his eyes lit up when she mentioned the door.
“Ah, a project to measure the door’s capacity? Well now, that is an interesting subject. May I take it that you intend for me to test the limits of the enchantment?”
Ryoka nodded.
“Is there some way to tell how much energy the door consumes? Definitively, I mean.”
Pisces sniffed.
“Well, Erin did manage to find the effective limit by jumping through it repeatedly. But I suppose that is not the aim of your inquiry?”
Ryoka gave him a look.
“Jumping through a door isn’t exactly a precise measurement. I’m just asking if there’s a way to calculate exactly how much energy is used per transportation. Is there a limit to weight or mass? How does distance affect the drain? Can you reduce the magic consumed into a figure and derive the maximum travelable distance from that figure?”
Ceria’s eyes went slightly cross-eyed, but Pisces’ eyes lit up. He stared curiously at Ryoka for a second and then smiled.
“Astounding. You seem to have a fascinatingly astute mind for magical theory. Have you some kind of connection with the [Engineer] class, by any chance?”
Ryoka smiled slightly.
“You could say that. Will you help?”
“I have nothing better to do, and the subject interests me as well. Very well.”
Pisces and Ryoka strode over to the door, Mrsha padding over behind them and watching curiously as they bent over the door. The Gnoll stared as Ryoka and Pisces opened the door and started chatting about the effects of the teleportation spell. She got bored and watched Revi poking herself with a dagger. Pisces and Ryoka’s conversation wasn’t exactly riveting.
“I understand that Erin’s new Skill provides the inn with a lot of mana. How fast does it replenish, though?”
“If it works under the principle of a site of high ambient magical power, like a mass graveyard or perhaps Wistram Academy for example, it would be a daily influx of energy with a set upper limit to the environs. However, I believe it is the door’s individual capacity that should be measured.”
“Oh? You’re saying the enchantment can only hold so much mana itself?”
Pisces sniffed.
“Naturally. This enchantment is built into the very wood and is of exceptional quality, but the most complex ward or binding has its limit. That is why the best enchantments on weapons, or objects such as this door, have mechanisms that allow them to recharge themselves.”
“So that’s our variable. Right. Well, if we’re testing how many times it can be used, we need to tell how much the maximum is.”
“There are several ways to determine that. But I believe exhausting the supply and deriving the limit from usage would be easiest.”
“Right. But just teleporting to Celum gives us only one variable. I’m suggesting that I teleport from set distances—”
“Naturally, naturally. We must account for the variable of distance as well as mass and weight. You need not lecture me on basic theory…although I am surprised I need not do the same for you, Miss Griffin.”
It was surprising, but Pisces understood the theory of the scientific inquiry, even if he didn’t have the terminology. But he knew the need to account for variables, and how to assign units to calculate the amount of mana used by the door.
In fact, the discussion made part of Ryoka’s mind
light up. She hadn’t thought in terms of calculation or figures since coming to this world. And apparently, [Mages] shared at least a few genes with mathematicians, because their conversation attracted Typhenous’ attention.
“Ah, Miss Griffin and young Pisces. May I ask what your fascinating discussion is about?”
The older [Mage] came over and in seconds, was engrossed in the idea of testing the limits of the door’s ability to teleport. Pisces had already created a second ‘anchor’ which could be used to teleport back and forth—it was a mug.
He’d been drinking out of it and it was the closest thing to hand. Ryoka upended it and let a few drops fall onto the floor before she agreed to carry it a mile from the inn. But they still had to find a way to measure how much energy was being used each time she teleported.
“My suggestion would be to use a simple cantrip to do the measuring. You see, it is possible to draw from the door’s capacity. Thus, the change in the size and intensity of a [Light] spell linked to the door’s mana supply would indicate the reserves contained within the enchantment.”
Typhenous stroked his white beard importantly as Ryoka did some warmup stretches for her legs and arms and Pisces squatted by the door. The [Necromancer] smiled.
“Ah. That is interesting. What if I were to use this as a benchmark?”
He raised his hand and his other palm on the door’s surface. Ryoka blinked, and then felt every hair on her head try to stand up. She swore and ducked as a thin column of electricity burst from Pisces’ hand and shot across the room. Yvlon and Lyonette jumped out of the way, the armored woman cursing at Pisces.
“Watch it! I’m wearing metal, you crazed maniac!”
Pisces ignored her. The thin, crackling stream of electricity had formed a straight line that shot out and then began to earth itself on tables a good twelve feet away from where he was standing. Mrsha got close, reached out at the bright crackling busts of energy, thought better of it, and scampered away.
“Pisces! What are you doing?”
Erin shouted at him. The [Necromancer] stopped casting the spell and carefully walked over to where the spell had stopped. He marked the edge of the spot where the electricity had reached and marked the point with a cup. He turned to Typhenous and Ryoka and smiled.