And finally, sparring. Here I confess I stayed out of the fray, referencing my superior position. But it wasn’t because I was afraid to lose. I just learned that there is no reason for me to fight without using magic. It was like playing suicide chess with one hand tied behind my back, and there was no benefit in terms of levelling. But if I just let loose, with my Intelligence figure, I had a 100% chance of taking anyone on my team under control, possibly even two or three at a time. So I adopted the role of arbiter, making sure everyone followed the rules and empowered to stop the fight instantly if a participant’s life was at risk.
Gunner Eeeezzz 777’s performance was a highlight. At a certain point, the experienced veteran took on the role of trainer and, asking for a pause in the battle, walked into the center of the circle and started explaining the best way to take down players of every race. Miyelonian pain points and deadly close combat moves that took advantage of them. Taking down tall and beefy Geckho. How to quickly dispatch a Trillian. How to kill a Cleopian both instantly and silently. How to paralyze an Esthete with a loud scream. Seven ways of dealing a lethal blow to a human. The right way to stun and strangle a Jarg so it won’t self-destruct. How to put a Meleyephatian into shock with pain in order to block the nervous system and stop them from using their psionic abilities.
The mercenary who once worked for the Planet Devouress of Betelgeuse clearly had vast experience in killing players. And I even saw some familiar elements in the series of moves he demonstrated. Fox had used techniques like that when killing the incarnation of the Great First Female of the Miyelonians and disemboweling the Geckho troops from Uraz Tukhsh’s team.
“Captain, Nefertiti snapped out of it!” a message over the loudspeaker came from Dmitry Zheltov, who was keeping watch. Yes, our main pilot was missing the training session, remaining as the sole person on the bridge.
“Only Kisly come with! Everyone else keep training!” I ordered, and hurried to the state room.
I was baffled. Where were the changes? Nefertiti was still the same as ever, an NPC Dryad. All I could see was that her hair had changed from black to swamp green, but even her hairstyle was the same. Did we seriously just waste a unique Precursor artifact on dyeing an NPC Dryad’s hair? By the looks of things, yes! Reminds me of the old Russian saying, “using a microscope to hammer in nails.” In fact, I suppose we had just outdone it and found an even more irrational application for an even more intricate and valuable object. If a Journalist ever found out about this, we’d be the laughingstock of the whole galaxy! Although... maybe we should publicize the fact ourselves. After all, it would bring up our Fame. On the other hand, my Authority was sure to take a hit. And it would be big...
“Captain, my wife’s class also changed,” Kisly said.
Oh yeah, I didn’t notice that right away. The level-68 Artisan was now a level-68 Jeweler. Okay then, she could sculpt beads out of clay and weave ornamental vases out of cane now, or... Wait! Some information suddenly sprang to mind. The Human-3 Faction sometimes used to trade “magic” rings and bracelets with the Centaurs of the Antiquity Faction, but we never figured out where they were getting them. What if Dryads, or more like their Jewelers were the ones making them?
I dug around in my inventory and took out the silver band of an ancient Precursor signet that dropped from a dead Meleyephatian Spy. I added to it a unique rare large and flawless pearl given to me by Phylira.
“Can you combine these two things?” I asked Nefertiti with a bit of worry, asking the question again mentally.
The Dryad took the items and clicked her tongue in delight as she looked over the astonishing pearl. The band also earned the Jeweler’s approval. But Nefertiti didn’t do anything with the rare items, simply held them in her hands and kept mum.
I asked again. Zero reaction. Finally I decided to meet gazes with the NPC Dryad and I was flooded with a wave of thoughts:
“You finally figured it out! You’re a bit slow, eh?! You people are just so dimwitted. And very strange. You forced me to eat a unique, rare and most importantly very powerful stone which I could have turned into a magical item with extremely powerful properties. And then you just left me there. I was asking for help, too. I was totally lost and had no idea how to get out of those alien bodies. And you just walked away, laughing at my impotence!”
I felt a prick of shame. Yes, we had basically given a baby a smartphone, but we never even tried explaining how to use it. And after that, we simply left the Dryad alone in her calamity and walked off to different parts of the starship.
“I figured out how to get back to my normal body all on my own. I just made myself a bit prettier. Be honest, do you like it? This silver band carries the remnants of old magic, by the way. Leng Gnat, should I leave its properties as they are? Or do you need it enchanted some other way?”
“What properties does the band carry now?” I asked aloud again, doubling my question mentally.
Kisly, standing next to me, immediately shuddered and began to fuss:
“Captain, do you understand her?! Can the Dryad really understand spoken language? Why hasn’t she said anything all this time???”
Nefertiti had no reaction to her husband’s spray of questions. I see. So she doesn’t understand spoken Russian, just direct transmission of thoughts. Nefertiti then answered my question:
“Leng Gnat, it gives a boost to... Respect? Esteem? I’ve forgotten the arcane word for it.”
“Authority?” I suggested and the Dryad lit up:
“Yes! Authority. The higher quality the stone it carries, the more powerful the signet’s effect. A pearl like this can give an Authority boost of...” the Dryad splayed the five fingers of her right hand, spent a long time looking at them, then put one down. “This many!”
Psionic skill increased to level one hundred seven!
Mysticism skill increased to level fifty-one!
I led a quick gaze over the pop-up system messages and mentally returned to the topic of discussion, thinking over the NPC Jeweler’s offer. A +4 boost to Authority? That would make a nice little ring. I’m sure some politician would love to have it before an election. But what good was it to me? I’d also understand if the boost was somehow critical for me. You know, if it would get me up to the next status or something. But now...
Based on my reaction, the Dryad Jeweler guessed that I was not particularly interested.
“I could also change it to a different magical enchantment. It would give a boost of this much as well,” the Dryad again showed me her right hand, “but it would be hard and cost a lot. A whole lot!”
“I need to improve my Intelligence. How to explain it? Uhh... Brains. Mind. I want to be smarter. Can you do that?”
“It will cost an insane amount,” the Jeweler warned.
In reply, I asked her to tell me precisely what constituted an “insane amount” in her conception. The Dryad pointed to Kisly:
“The very best armor that exists for my husband. And for me, a bar of gold that weighs the same as I do. And a separate room here on the flying boat. And in it a kiln and jeweler’s implements. Then I’ll have to strive, train and hone my abilities. But if I have all that, I will be able to make a signet to finally make you smart!”
Chapter Thirty-One. The Long Road to a Mystery
THE “VERY BEST ARMOR” was the easiest thing to get. The Machinegunner couldn’t wear powered exoskeleton armor, but Kisly had an excellent heavy armor suit of Geckho production he bought on Kasti-Utsh III, which looked like Imran’s. I gave the armor to the white Kirsan to modify to the Machinegunner’s specifications: reduced weight, slots to attach weapons to a metal arm, and a reconfigured built-in targeting system in the helmet, which was not well suited to human eyes. The Mechanoid repair bot confirmed that it was all possible, and immediately got to work. I also didn’t foresee any problems finding a piece of gold weighing 82.49 pounds (the exact weight of the Dryad). I had money, and the price of precious metal meant it would be cheaper than even a +
3 Intelligence magic ring, which was to say nothing of the unbelievable +4.
But converting one of the residential berths of the frigate into a Jewelry workshop for the NPC Dryad caused a certain amount of grief because the team members in the other rooms had to squeeze a bit. After growing accustomed to a certain level of comfort, the players were not happy to make concessions. That annoyed me because, once we had a full crew (and for a twinbody frigate, that was around forty players), they’d all be packed in like sardines. But now, having one or two roommates in a berth meant for four players was practically taken as a violation of their rights.
After all, Medic Gerd Mauu-La also had a doctor’s office all to himself for storing medicines, hardware and receiving patients, but nobody was outraged over that. What made a Jeweler less worthy than a Medic? She also needed quiet and concentration to do her work. And despite all the whining and dismay, having a specialist who could create “magical” rings, bracelets and pendants with bonuses to statistics and skills came with obvious benefits.
In the end, the Jarg had to move in with Meleyephatian Gunner Eeeezzz 777, who was also joined by the other gunner Taik Rekh the Geckho, who had taken a serious wound to the shoulder in a sparring match. Timka-Vu joined the Geckho twins. Gerd T’yu-Pan and Eduard got Miyelonian Engineer Orun Va-Mart. You couldn’t say everyone was happy, but still they didn’t go against their captain. Meanwhile, I was trying my best to put people from various spacefaring races and worlds together as not to form cliques made up of one species who wouldn’t talk with the rest of the crew.
The only place it turned into an open conflict was the women’s berth. There were just too many different big personalities in one room. The proud and at times cagey Tailaxian Valeri-Urla was unwilling to compromise and blew up any spark of conflict into a raging forest fire. The high-profile Miyelonian Gerd Ayni demanded her roommates observe her elevated status at all times. The noisy and chatty magocratic native San-Sano was actively learning Geckho and wouldn’t shut up even for a second. And we found the limits to phlegmatic German Destroying Angel’s icy calm. Her armor of affected indifference belied a nature that was ready to take sudden action, and it was not always well considered.
If I also considered the fact that the huge Shadow Panther was always near her master Valeri, and that the Dryad Nefertiti simply couldn’t be placed in a men’s berth, we had a truly serious problem on our hands. First and foremost with Nefertiti: the NPC Dryad was entirely uninterested in contact with Geckho or Miyelonians, but I didn’t want to put a half-naked Dryad of loose morals in a bunk with young human men. That would make conflicts inevitable. In the end, we had an unhealthy explosion risk in the women’s berth. Our gorgeous ladies couldn’t even stand a few days in close quarters together. Someone had to go.
“Valeri-Urla will not stay in the captain’s berth!” Princess Minn-O La-Fin immediately named a condition, sensing in the pretty Tailaxian a potential rival. “But I would agree to take in San-Sano. As a matter of fact, I need a servant on the ship.”
But I didn’t appease my wife’s aristocratic nature, instead choosing a different way to solve the conflict. My business partner Gerd Uline Tar, who had long been friendly with Gerd Ayni, agreed to accept the Miyelonian in her personal berth, which had been such a sticking point recently. Destroying Angel then preferred to move into the berth with her brother and the two pilots. There just so happened to be a free cot in there, and none of the men minded.
TWO DAYS IN FLIGHT before coming out of hyperspace, then a ten-minute pause to calculate the next jump and pump energy into the hyperspace drive. Then another two days in hyperspace... It gets to be a monotonous bore on the one hand. But on the other, it’s a convenient time to build cohesion in your crew. I was trying hard to get all players to spend as little of those four days in the real world as possible, and as much time busy and fraternizing as they could instead of keeping to themselves. Athletic training. Space language lessons for newcomers and others. Keeping watch. Eating breakfast and lunch together. Our Bard gave a solo guitar concert with a mixture of classic Russian bard songs[6], and some of his own composition. A team Na-Tikh-U tournament. Russian Preference[7] for those who wanted to play. Dances. More training. Target practice. Gerd Uline Tar’s birthday – my furry business partner hit her forty-ninth year, the very pinnacle of youth by Geckho standards, when they were thought to be in peak physical condition.
The crew congratulated her with all due gravity, prepared a bunch of pranks for the captain’s first mate (as per Geckho tradition) and gave her some very nice gifts. Furthermore, we had a celebratory dinner and a raucous party. During it, the third Kirsan, which hadn’t yet received its own color was painted by the whole team: we each took one segment of the flat millipede and painted it to our liking. And the ladies didn’t limit themselves to just background, they drew flowers and intricate designs. The repair bot was flailing its feet and whiskers all the time, never tiring of telling us through the Universal Translator that it was happy to have the crew paying it so much attention.
RIGHT AFTER Tamara the Paladin entered its second hyperspace jump to our final destination, I went into the real world for the first time of the trip. I was seriously worried, because I had no idea what to expect in my new location or whether getting my physical body out from under the Dome had in fact been a success. But it all went smoothly – when I opened the lid of the virt pod, I found myself in a small rectangular room with a typical virt pod fused to the wall. Plastic white panel walls, a cold rough floor, dim diffuse light. The only door obediently slid aside, letting me into a tiny little room with a fold-down table, built-in dresser and data touch screen. The next metal door was locked, and a message in Miyelonian lit up to tell me the door would open automatically after I completed the quarantine procedure. The door itself was shabby and quite scratched up on this side – some predecessor of mine must have been impatient and tried to break it down.
A full course of generalized antibiotics in variously colored pills was already sitting on the table for me to take. In the dresser was a set of new clothes to replace my current ones, which had to be incinerated. The cheap fabric and cut of the garment reminded me of a hospital gown. And the pants were too short and had no belt or waist fastener, so they fell off me very quickly. Nevertheless, I changed clothes and took the medicines as instructed. Only after that did a data panel activate, showing a countdown timer before the doors would open to let me into the rest of the space station. Twelve ummi, or approximately sixty-six hours. There was also a terminal with food and drink on offer, but I didn’t buy anything and just went back into my virt pod.
Once back, I had a surprise waiting – before my eyes was a game message awaiting my decision:
ATTENTION!!! Leader of the Human-25 Faction Gerd Valentina Koval proposes unification with the Relict Faction on the following terms: the Human-25 Faction shall become a vassal of the Relict Faction. Do you accept? (Yes/No)
Very strange. Not knowing what happened when the ferry brought the Relict Faction landing party and builders to the larger continent, not knowing the overall situation with the aggressive NPC Orcs and other neighbors, I couldn’t take such an important decision blind. And why vassal status rather than simply joining my faction outright? Was Gerd Valentina Koval prepared to accept vassal status, but not to allow my players access to her laboratories? And how would the curators feel about one of the Russian factions coming under my care? There were too many unanswered questions, so I refused and pressed “No.” Then I sent Minn-O into the real world to have a talk with chief advisor Gerd Mac-Peu Un-Roi to find out all the details.
WE WERE STILL UNDERWAY. Back to training on the exercise machines and shooting practice. Both team and individual exercises. Individual fights, team fights, close combat work. I had to intervene in a spar for the first time. The Shadow Panther, who was utter calm up until that point, unexpectedly perceived Valeri’s fight with Taik-Rekh the Gunner as an attack on her master. And she sunk her teeth into the
huge Geckho’s just barely healed right forearm. Little Sister was actually aiming for the neck, but the fighter managed to dodge and throw up an arm. I immediately used Psionic and stunned the huge beast, and the unfeeling Shadow Panther was carried off and locked up. But still we had to stop the fights for a bit. The tear wound caused a huge amount of blood to pool on the floor. I suspect that if a player with less hitpoints had been in Taik-Rekh’s place, they’d be dead and respawning on Kasti-Utsh III which would leave us down a crew member until the very end of our journey. Fortunately, that was the only critical moment of our whole four-day flight.
But in any case, the four days stood out for me as packed with events and full of tension. In that time, I raised my Psionic and Mysticism by a whole three points to 110 and 54 respectively. That’s right, I had to do a lot of mental influencing, convincing, reassuring, and invisibly pushing. I raised Targeting to 50, Rifles to 66 and Sharpshooter to 51. And during yet another Meleyephatian language lesson, I ended up hitting level 100 in Astrolinguistics and 99 overall at the same time!
Out of many possible perks to Astrolinguistics, I chose to learn written languages at an advanced pace. Reading text in other languages was something my Gnat had to do often, so it really came in handy. And that left me with six free skill points, which I invested into Medium Armor, bringing it up to 85 (I had gotten one level the “natural” way by essentially constantly wearing my Energy Armor).
THOSE DAYS REALLY EXHAUSTED me, emotionally most of all. And my passion-filled nights with Minn-O La-Fin were just what I needed to relax and blow off steam. My beautiful wife had become better versed in amorous play, and was eager to try anything new at times losing control over herself, giving herself up to her feelings and holding nothing back. My Authority even went up at one such intimate moment. I suspect the sound isolation on the frigate may have been a bit lacking.
A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5) LitRPG Series Page 33