The Itemancer 2

by Forrest Minter

  Waiting for the right moment, I slipped off the roof onto the ground below with a light thud. There was nobody nearby, and I nearly jogged as I tried to gain my bearings in the unfamiliar city. The plan was to meet at the cities docks, but even from the roof, all I had been able to see was row upon row of houses in every direction. Looking up, I attempted to use the sun to sense my direction, but it hung in the center of the sky, foiling me.

  I sighed, as I slipped into an alley. I knew what I had to do. Reaching into my pack, I pulled out Larry the map, whose avatar burst into existence.

  “I’m the map, I’m-”

  “Not now!” I hissed at him, motioning him to be quiet.

  The balding, middle-aged seeming man looked around him. “Oh sorry, are you being stealthy?”

  “Yes. Can you tell me which way to the docks?”

  Larry pondered the question for a moment before pointing. “This alley lets out onto a road, take a right and follow that straight.” I nodded my thanks, but froze as I heard two sets of footsteps approaching. “Check in there, someone said they heard yelling. It might be related to the run on the gate earlier.” A voice said.

  “Do we really have to check every random noise? It seems kinda silly.” A second voice replied.

  “Fool. We can go sit in the alley, and say we’re investigating the noise. It’s a chance to hide from the sergeant for a while. Unless you want another rant about your uniform.” The first voice said bitterly.

  Voice Two sighed. “It’s not my fault the button popped off. I’ve got too much muscle for the pants they gave me.”

  “Sure, that’s the problem,” came Voice One’s sarcastic reply.

  I was already gone by the time they turned the corner, having stowed Larry, and repositioned my cloak for maximum coverage. Stalking down the street, I glanced around the city curiously. Where before the entire populace had seemed grim, and on the brink of starvation, now it reminded me a lot of Terendale, my old hometown. I had studied a fair amount of history as part of my apprenticeship, and this was the first time I had ever heard of a city being better off for being invaded.

  After an hour, I had reached my destination, and realized the fault in my plan. Presumably, Izzy was already here. The problem was getting her attention without revealing myself. With few options, I sent up a low-powered fireworks spell, and waited. Nearby demons muttered in confusion, but before the guards decided to investigate, I heard a whisper from nearby. “Rowan?” Izzy’s voice asked.

  “Here. Let’s meet by that big green building.”

  I walked there as quietly as I could, leaving behind a gaggle of confused demonic peasants. Arriving a moment later, I whisper-called to Izzy, who hissed back to me, confirming her presence. “Alright, we’re both here. Now we need to take over a ship without the others chasing us.” I said, thinking furiously.

  “Leave that to me.” Izzy replied.

  “Alright, if you say so.”

  There was no response, and I settled in to wait. Finally, an hour later, Izzy called out to me. “It’s done.”

  “Alright, which ship?”

  “The one at the end of the pier.”

  I looked to the ship in question, and realized she had chosen the biggest ship currently in the port.

  “Why that one? I’m pretty sure people are going to notice if that one leaves randomly.”

  “You said we needed to take one without getting chased. I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t send small ships after their largest warship. Even if they did, they would probably try to board us instead of fighting the ship, and we’d just kill them easily.”

  Though I was invisible, my face wrinkled up in distaste. “I’d rather not kill anyone if we can help it.”

  Izzy snorted. “Rowan, they’re the enemy. I don’t think they’re going to give us a choice. I love you, but stop being a coward.”

  I choked. It was the first time she had said the words. Seeming to come to the same realization, Izzy began stammering. “That is… I mean… ugh, you know what I mean.”

  I nodded, and then remembered she couldn’t see me. “Ya, I get it. Ok, let’s go then.”

  Chapter 10

  The first thing I did after sneaking aboard the ship was to awaken it’s spirit. His eventual avatar had a long beard, and a strange accent. After some pondering, he settled on the name Dave Jonas after an old folk tale. Since we didn’t have enough people to properly crew the ship, I gave him physical control over it by inventing a new item power. (Item Self-Manipulation 10,000 XP)

  Implementing this new ability, caused a sheen of strange flesh-like substance to sprout from the ship. It had the same consistency as the wood, but was able to form appendages to operate the various mechanisms of the ship. I shuddered as I watched the deck spring forth into tentacles that pulled up the anchor. Naturally this didn’t go unnoticed by the passerby on the shore, and I heard several screams. Luckily, after a tentacle batted a curious guard through a barrel to collapse in stunned unconsciousness, we were left largely alone.

  Wanting to distract myself from the disturbing mass of tentacles operating near me, I popped out of my invisibility coat, and waved at the assembled crowd. They gasped, pointing, and it was only due to being tackled by Izzy that I narrowly avoided being skewered by a flying crossbow bolt.

  “Not my finest idea.” I admitted out loud.

  “Agreed.” She said stoically.

  A flapping sound signalled the unfurling of the sails, accompanied by a lurch as the ship began to accelerate. I donned my invisibility cloak, and stood up, grabbing Izzy’s hand to help her to her feet. She disappeared into her own invisibility, causing me to lose track of her. Unfortunately, Izzy’s prediction about how the demons would react turned out to be completely false.

  “Hey Izzy, do those ships seem like they’re following us?”

  “Looks that way.” Izzy said from somewhere to my right.

  “Should we do something about them? I think they might be faster than us.”

  “I doubt it matters too much. If they try to board us we simply kill them.”

  Thunder roared as a counterpoint to her words, and the ship rocked. I was thrown from my feet by the severity of the impact.

  “What was that?” I called out, struggling to get back on my feet.

  “They have really big guns poking out of their sides. I think maybe we should do something after all.” Izzy replied.

  Dee, Gwen, and Amy chose that moment to re-materialize. “Want me to do another firebird?” Dee asked, referring to a spell that sought out heat sources, and consumed them until it ran out of targets.

  “No, I don’t want to kill them. We need to take out those guns though.”

  Dee frowned. “How long are you going to keep holding onto this hangup? We’re at war, and you’re a Duke. You can’t afford to keep dancing around this.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.” Gwen interjected before I could respond. “We shouldn’t just go around killing people.”

  “We need to be able to defend ourselves. I’d rather not see Rowan’s head on a spike again. I’m sure he’d rather not see that either.” She said, glancing at me. I looked away, somewhat ashamed to admit that she was right.

  Before anything else could be said, we were hit with another salvo of shots from our pursuers. This time I managed to keep my footing. “You know what? Screw this. If you’re not gonna act, I will.” Dee said, and before I could stop her, a flock of firebirds sprang from her outstretched hand. With a screech like the roar of a pyre, they flew towards the pursuing ships. Most of the ships turned into bonfires, the air filling with the thick smoke of wet wood burning.

  “See? That’s how you deal with threats.”

  Gwen stepped up and slapped her. “You just killed all those people. We could have destroyed the guns. Shredded the sails. We didn’t have to kill them.”

  Dee shrugged. “You’re new. You haven’t killed millions of ants by hand, or been almost killed by drago
ns. My entire life up till this point has revolved around killing things that attack us. That’s how we’ve reached this point in the first place. ”

  “That doesn’t make it right. Isn’t Rowan basically our dad? He made us, and Amy told me he’s a god. That even the universe says he’s a god. We should be doing what he says.”

  Dee shrugged. “Children grow up, and making us doesn’t make him right. I enjoy peace as much as the next person, but this isn’t peace. I’m not even sure why we’re helping Andrit to be honest. We’ve shown over and over that we could kill them easily.”

  I cleared my throat, head already aching. “We’re helping Andrit because I grew up in the empire. I don’t want my home to be destroyed by civil war. If I go back someday I want to have a home to come back to. I know I don’t always think through my decisions, but I’m certain that once the rebels finish with the imperial family, they’ll turn on each other. The war might last decades, if it ever ends, and it’s all my fault. Therefore it’s my responsibility to try to fix some of the mess I made.”

  Dee looked away, silent for a moment before she turned to look me in the eye. “So, what you’re saying is that it’s our fault.”

  My brain froze, and I failed to react for a crucial moment.

  “Do you regret making us? Knowing that by doing so you destroyed your home?”

  “I… no, I don’t.... I mean…”

  Dee looked away with an expression as if she had been struck. “Wait, Dee-” She strode off without saying another word. Izzy stepped up to try to comfort her, but Dee punched her in the face so hard that Izzy flew into the mast, splintering the wood. The wood writhed, attempting self-repair as Dee continued to march towards the entrance to the belly of the ship. Once Dee had disappeared, Izzy stood up, brushing herself off.

  “Well played.” Izzy said, and she disappeared into stealth. It took me a moment to realize she was just as hurt as Dee had been. Despite my loud pleading for her to come talk to me, Izzy didn’t answer.

  “It’s ok Rowan, I still like you.” Gwen said. “I know you didn’t mean to be a douchewaffle just now.”

  I looked at Amy, and she nodded. “Thanks guys. I probably don’t deserve to have you on my side.” I said, sighing.

  “Nope, if we were anyone else, we would probably murder you horribly.” Gwen said cheerfully.

  My heart skipped a beat, and I was suddenly very nervous about my future survival.

  “Well at least it’s a pretty day out.” I muttered, staring towards the open sea.

  Chapter 11

  The ship quickly broke free of the port, leaving behind our would-be pursuers. A quick consultation with Larry set us on course for the other continent.

  “So, what’s the plan?” Gwen asked casually as we settled ourselves into a cabin below-deck. I winced as the beds squirmed slightly, apparently being affected by the self-manipulation effect.

  “I was thinking we need to figure out who would be interested in trading with us. We still don’t really know much about the countries there. Firenze seems to be out. Even if we talked them into something, I don’t think I trust them to honor any deals we make.”

  I pulled out Larry’s map, and as he corporeated, Gwen stuck her hand over his avatar’s mouth before he could burst into song. Looking at her with a hurt expression, he grabbed her hand, removing it from his mouth.

  “You didn’t have to do that.” He mumbled.

  “Yes I did.” She replied cheerfully.

  Sighing, he looked at me. “What can I do for you?”

  “Actually, I’m trying to figure out where we should go first.” Me and Gwen both sat down at a table stationed at the head of the room. On the map, the second continent looked something like a teardrop, with the pointed part facing the first continent. The problem was, Firenze owned most of that part of the coastline, meaning it would be several extra days of sailing at least to reach any other countries.

  “We could try the Duchy of Pogul.” Gwen suggested.

  I glanced at where she was pointing. “I don’t know, they seem kind’ve small.”

  I pointed at another, larger country adjacent to Pogul.”What about this one? It says the kingdom of Yardspan.”

  Gwen shrugged. “I think one is as good as another at this point. We don’t really know anything about any of them.”

  I nodded sadly. “I guess we can always try both. At least they’re coastal. I don’t even know what we would do if we needed to try negotiating with the inland countries.

  “True.” Gwen said.

  The conversation ended there as I rolled up the map. Gwen left the room as I lay down on my bed, and Larry discorporeated with the closing of his map. I had recently set things up so that he would automatically go into a kind of sleep mode when the map closed. Perhaps it was a messed up thing to do, but the alternative was having one of my other spirits murder him when they got tired of his singing. The room had ten beds in two rows, and we had claimed them more or less at random. I wasn’t entirely sure why, given that item spirits didn’t need to sleep, or even rest as long as they had enough mana to sustain them, but I supposed that it was part of the nature of any being to try to establish personal space.

  I fell into my bed, and closed my eyes, enjoying the gentle rocking motion of the waves. My mind wandered aimlessly for what felt like hours, running over the myriad of threats that plagued my existence recently. If it was up to me, I would be at home trying to prevent the spread of the purple mold creatures. If not for Andrit threatening to release Luciverne, that would easily be my number one priority. Firenze was also a concern, but more of an annoyance than a true threat. I had full faith in my item spirits to handle any threat they might pose.

  What I really wanted most of all was to be able to sit back, and tinker with my powers, maybe spend some time romancing Izzy. Fate seemed to have something else in store for me; however, as evidenced by the ever-growing list of enemies, and problems I faced. That was when I realized that I had several weeks of travel by boat ahead of me. For the moment, I did have the leisure to experiment. Pulling some thin wire out of my bag, I looped and knotted it until it had formed a kind of ring. Knotting it off to seal it into its new shape, I began staring at it. The next hour consisted of me alternating between staring at the ring, and closing my eyes, accessing my power creation interface. In either case, my time was taken up with a fruitless search for some inspiration. Unfortunately, the creative spark that had led to so many of my ideas seemed to have dried up now that I wasn’t in mortal peril.

  “What are you doing?” Gwen asked. I flinched, startled. “Whoops, sorry.”

  I sighed. “It’s ok. I’m trying to figure out what to do with this ring. The problem is, the few ideas I’ve had require outrageous XP costs, and I’d rather not spend all our XP on messing around. Ultimately, what I need is a way to generate more XP, but my power creation ability doesn’t allow me to make XP creation powers.”

  “Doesn’t XP normally come from either using your object or killing things?”

  “Yes, but ultimately when an item gains XP from killing things, it’s actually siphoning off a portion of the monster’s inherent XP. If I just summoned a creature, and killed it, it wouldn’t be worth anything. It hasn’t existed long enough to accrue any of its own XP. It also has to actually be killed. For instance, when your avatars are destroyed, it doesn’t take any of your XP. As for being used, well, that just generates XP rather slowly. It’s essentially like building up your soul through experiences.”

  “Sounds like you need a place where you can summon things, then leave them for a while to gather XP.”

  “Like a room back at the duchy? I don’t think that would be quick enough to matter, and I don’t have the mana to sustain summoned monsters for that long anyway.”

  “Why not have an item summon monsters for you?”

  I blinked. Every action I took since gaining my powers seemed to have unintended consequences. Between that, and having Gwen slap me in the face
with such an obvious solution, I was starting to feel as if I had a chronic case of stupid. I still needed a place to put the summoned monsters, but I was determined to figure that out for myself.

  “That’s a great idea!” I exclaimed as I sat up, and leapt out of bed. Pulling a sheaf of paper from my bag, I plopped down into a chair at the table, and began to sketch out an idea. Gwen joined me at the table, looking on with interest as I wrote. When I finished, I nudged the paper toward her.

  “What do you think?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

  “Why make it just a bunch of rooms?” She replied, looking at me in confusion.

  I stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean you’re a god right? Wouldn’t it be better to make an actual world? Then you could harvest what you needed from creatures that grow normally, rather than having to maintain them in these little rooms that you have here.”

  I looked away, feeling irritated. Despite my annoyance, her idea was better than mine.

  “Don’t feel bad, we’re in this together.” She said, noticing my reaction.

  “Ya, I know, it’s just frustrating. I can’t seem to do anything right.”

  She shrugged. “I think that’s true for everyone. You’re just in a position to fail bigger.”

  I sighed in irritation. “Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t try to do better.”

  She shrugged again. “Just do your best.”

  I nodded, and began tinkering with the ring again. Within a moment, I had given it the new power (new world link, 20,000 XP) I grabbed Gwen’s arm to make sure she wouldn’t be left behind, and activated the power for the first time. The ring fell from my fingers, and landed on the floor in an upright position. Slowly, the ring began expanding upward until it nearly touched the roof of the cabin, and held that position for a moment; the wires I had used to create the ring now the size of small cables, but with the appearance of having melted together.