by Dakota Krout
Dale looked at Rose’s core again. It had the same reconstructed, shattered look that his did. “What? It looks really pure, so, yay you. Beyond that I see no other issue.”
“What do you know about Essence affinities?” Chandra probed patiently.
Dale looked at her, “Not too much, I suppose. I know we all have them and they get stronger over time as we affect them.”
“Well,” Chandra smacked Rose’s arm when she rolled her eyes, “You see, we all are able to eventually use other elements to pull Essence from. As you grow, so does your capability to use other affinities. Your main one will always be your strongest though. Rose is... Well. Special.”
Rose rolled her eyes at this, obviously hearing it for the thousandth time. Chandra charged on, “She began life with a dual affinity. That means she has two main affinity channels and has to train them both at the same time. Usually, this is not an issue. If she had fire and earth, she could cultivate near lava, glassblowers, or some such. This is not the case, as she has the opposing affinities for celestial and infernal.”
Hans’ eyes were wide, he breathed in amazement, “A chaos cultivator. Alive?”
“Just so.” Chandra nodded reluctantly. “As such, Rose has never been able to cultivate. She would have died if I did not pull her up into the D-ranking as a child. The scars in her cultivation have been there for nearly twenty years. She cannot use Essence for fear that the lack will kill her, as she cannot replace what she uses.”
The news he was given disturbed Dale, the others also seemed uncomfortable at Rose’s plight. “Well.” Dale hemmed, “I may have been hasty in my snap judgement, but the fact of the matter is that this does not change things. If she cannot fight, it would be too dangerous for all involved to take her with us.” He clandestinely ate another bite of the rabbit steak that was beginning to cool.
“I am the best archer you will ever meet.” Rose broke into the conversation hotly. “And I do it all without using Essence! Once I am able to cultivate, I can only improve.”
“Can you work as a team? Can you follow orders? Will you duck when I say duck? Have you ever been in combat or just shot at stationary targets?” Dale was brutal in his questioning. “These are the same questions I needed to face when I first became a cultivator. The others knew the answer and took the time to train me for months. You know the first job I had in the team? I quote: ‘Don’t die, that is your only job until you become useful.’ My team will not be experienced and strong like theirs was, I can’t protect you like they could me. So I ask you again. Why should I risk my team's’ life, and my own - for you?”
Rose’s face was burning and Dale knew his questions had hit their target. Like arrows. Ha, because she was an archer. Anyway. “I can be a good teammate.” Rose quietly promised. “I am a fast learner and know the stakes. Just give me a chance to prove myself! No one… No one else will even look at me without that stupid look on their face!” She pointed at an affronted Father Richard.
“Ok then. We’ll see.” Dale made his decision with finality. “I’m going back into the dungeon tomorrow morning. Meet me at the mess hall at dawn and we will make a temporary place on the team for you. If you can’t handle the dungeon, I will take no blame for the outcome.” He looked at Madame Chandra when he mentioned this; she nodded gravely.
Rose’s face cleared and she soberly nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She was teetering between jubilation and fury with this man who talked to her like a child. She left the room without another word.
“Thank you, Dale?” Chandra halfway questioned, thinking that maybe things had gone well.
Dale shook his head. “That was how Craig taught me. That and letting Josh beat me on the sparring grounds for hours at a time. This life is not for the faint of heart, which I am sure you know. I’m nervous about this whole situation. Not only about going in with an untested team, but her attitude really worries me. I know that I could have handled that better but I needed to know if she would react professionally. Make no mistake, I intend for my team to be exceedingly professional.”
“I was worried about her reaction because I feel like people have either only treated her one of two ways: Giving her what she wanted and not spoken harshly to her out of pity, or given her nothing and despised her for shortcomings that are not her fault. If she could not control herself here when it was only harsh words, how could I trust that she would care what I had to say mid-battle? Her lack of experience with other people and teamwork could seriously hurt us.”
“Still. Thank you Dale. Is there anything I can do to repay you?” Chandra motioned to the food still on the table.
Dale was quiet for a moment. “Yes. I hate to admit it but I am ignorant of the world. I may have made a very bad business deal recently because of it.” He thought of the Dark Elves. “I can read the trade language, I can do my figures well enough to count small amounts of money, but have no other administration skills. I just found out that my purchase of armor had interest on it, and have no idea how to calculate that or even look for it on future deals. If Frank had wanted to ruin me, all he would have had to do was give me a document ceding my rights to the land and told me that it was a Guild application form.”
Dale looked at Chandra. “I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants, going with the flow and listening to others. My ‘Council’ makes major decisions without me and I have no idea if those are ideas that I would agree with. I need to find a way to take a stand and really know what I am doing. Can you find me some teachers? If I am going to live as long as they say, run my own team, and build this camp into a city - I need to do better in nearly every aspect of management.”
Chandra was impressed by his forethought. “I can think of a few people. I’ll make some arrangements, but it won’t be a cheap or fast process. We could speed your understanding of words and numbers with the use of memory stones, but the cost is even more astronomical.”
Dale perked up. “I hadn’t thought of that! How much does it cost?”
Chandra laughed at his shift back into the young man she thought she had known, “The spoken and written languages are always sold apart from each other: fifty gold each. The finest counting system is provided by the Dwarven Underkingdom, and is roughly one hundred gold.”
Dale’s mind boggled at that cost. Who could afford that kind of expense?! Then he remembered that he could, given enough time. He supposed that it was normally reserved for nobles or other wealthy people. “Why is that number system so expensive by itself?”
Chandra nodded at his question, it was a good one. “The number system is very complex. It consists of more than simple concepts like the others - adding, subtracting, and dividing. What sets this system apart is their advancement into higher mathematics, which give answers to questions such as: How many loads of gravel do I need for a road? What angle does this building need to be built at for the road to have the correct size? What is the compound interest rate of loans from multiple banks? How much weight can a support of this size hold if it is placed horizontally? Believe me when I say, it is worth the cost.”
Dale nodded slowly. If he wanted to be trusted to make large decisions, he needed to make the sacrifices now to learn what he needed. “How about other things? I’ll need to know history, how to argue, and trading skills.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Might I make a suggestion?” Chandra raised a hand to slow him down. Dale nodded, surprised by her subdued question. “Work to open the pericardium meridian. It is known as the guardian of the heart and will allow you to function normally with half the amount of sleep you normally will get. If you want to learn quickly, you will need to devote a substantial amount of time to your studies. Opening that meridian will allow you to do so without interrupting your current work schedule.”
“Thank you.” Dale warmly smiled, “How about a teacher to explain the meridians as well?”
With a laugh, they turned back to their meal and discussion.
~Twenty-Six~
She thought for a moment, looking around the room. “I don’t know Cal; it looks like it is ready. Should you just activate it?” The once smooth floor of the Boss room was now intricately patterned, the Runescript of hundreds of matching Runes deeply scoring the floor.
I had planned this out well, the pattern of each Rune interlocking seamlessly to the next. I had adjusted my walls to allow enough space for the large pattern to end perfectly at the entryway of the room, to maximize the amount of Essence pulled in. I had not yet explained to Dani the steps I really wanted to take.
She answered brightly, “Well yeah! Look at them! That is the most beautiful, largest Runescript I have ever seen! You should be proud! I know I am.”
I ‘blushed’,
“What do you mean?” Her voice took on a tone of exasperation.
She snorted, “That’s what every male says.”
<…Huh?>
“Nothing. Explain.”
If she had a jaw, it would have dropped. “Cal! I don’t know if you will be able to activate this Rune, how would you possibly activate one so large?”
I quickly laid my plan out to slow her tirade.
“I... guess.” She doubtfully allowed. “Seriously though, you should try activating just this one soon. We don’t want you too weak to join in fights when people get here if it fails.”
I braced myself and followed her advice. I reached out and touched the activation sequence, beginning to funnel Essence into it. Faster than a chubby kid eating cake, the energy began to flow out of me. Faster and faster it poured and soon the loss began straining my reserves. This is the way of Runes; if you activate one, it will try to take every drop of needed Essence out of the person activating it. If you did not have the necessary Essence, it would drain you - to death. Quickly, I reached out for the Cores I had filled to the brim with Essence, draining them dry as I channeled the potent power though myself.
Too quickly they ran out, shattering as I took even the Essence binding them together. One after another the cores around me fell to pieces, making me hope I would not soon be among them. As the last one broke and my internal light began to dim, the Rune flared to life! With a rush like wind in a thunderstorm, loose Essence in the dungeon began flowing into the Boss chamber. The huge Rune that began at the door of the room began to glow! Slowly at first, but then with increasing light and speed. As the shining power became too bright for the human eye to see, like a blacksmith's welding tool, the Rune found an outlet for its stored power.
The next Rune in the link activated under the power of the first and pulled Essence of the heavens and earth to itself. The first Rune had now absorbed all of the loose Essence in the room and was still pulling from the hallway. I felt parched, as though I had a throat had not had a sip of water in decades. I held the Essence in myself as closely as I could, shepherding it in its pattern as even it reacted to the potent Runescript.
One after another, the linked Runes activated. The Light of their combined patterns formed fully around the room - a spiral around me - when the light suddenly stopped, an imperfect Rune in the sequence suddenly exploding into an unintentional activation! I watched in horror to see what would happen when it became fully active. The Essence was still pouring into the Rune from those before it, the failed Rune taking in a terrifying amount of power as it began to activate.
The room shuddered and a black disc grew upward from the broken Rune. A powerful leg stepped through a newborn hole in reality almost... tentatively. The black, fur covered paw extended claws which dug deep into the floor; the unknown creature began to pull itself into the room. The disk didn’t get larger, but the form was able to slink through the opening.
The paw alone was nearly twenty inches wide, the claws lengthened that by seven inches when fully extended. The leg revealed that it was connected to a large cat-like form. The powerful body was half again as large as a tiger, and pitch black. A tail twitched back and forth in anticipation, the creature obviously excited by this new hunting ground. Along its back four tentacles extended from each of its leg joints, each of them had its own mouth and was tipped with a sharp claw-like stinger which dripped venom.
Its head was very similar to a mountain lion, but had no mouth. Instead, it had an extra eye in the center of its forehead, the only bright spot on its body. It moved around the room sniffing at the new scents and enjoying the scenery. A hiss of acid made it flinch, whipping its tentacles with their gaping maws into an attack position. The Rune was finally destroyed and the black disk vanished silently. The Essence slowed its travel through my dungeon as the other Runes slowed their collection with nowhere to deposit what was already gathered. Dani was huddling in my puddle near me, both of us terrified as to what we had unleashed into the heart of my being.
It padded toward us sniffing the air, like there was a great delicacy nearby. It looked right at the area under the Silverwood tree where we were quietly hiding. From the tentacles, tongues flicked out, licking their sorry excuse for lips. It crouched; silently stalking us, getting closer an inch at a time. Thundering noise made it halt as Raile exploded onto the scene. Raile ran directly at the creature while shadows filled the room, collecting heavily within a ten-foot perimeter of the cat.
Lucky for Raile, I knew where everything in my dungeon was at any given time. He charged unerringly at the cat, who lightly leapt over Raile, casually whipping him with one of its tentacles as it spiraled in the air. Raile was slammed to the wall with enough force to shatter several feet of it from that light strike, but doggedly returned to his feet. He charged again, this time following my attack pattern, jumping as the cat jumped. It seemed surprised as they both flew at the wall, but recovered fast enough to wriggle itself around Raile’s body. It pushed off his back to double the force of Raile’s jump, slamming him into the wall hard enough to fully shatter his armor.
The cat attacked, two limbs pinning Raile to the wall as he whimpered for a moment. Obviously savoring Raile’s helplessness, the pointed stingers on the great cat’s tentacles pierced my Boss’s body repeatedly, perforating him five times each in two seconds. Effectively pin cushioned, Raile died, still held against the wall as the cat disemboweled him. The cat ate a bit of meat, then dropped the body in disinterest, turning back toward Dani and me.
It hissed at us, ignoring the chance for a massive meal. I realized this was a creature that killed for sport. Obviously hating all other creatures, it didn’t even bother to eat its kills beyond what it wanted at any given point. It stalked back to our position and started to slither a tentacle down to where we cowered. For some reason it had completely ignored the Silverwood tree, a poor judgement call. As its tentacle brushed a root, a line of fire raced out from the long-dormant enchantment the Elf had placed on the tree many months ago. The fire sliced the tentacle clean off, making the cat yowl and sprint away, vanishing into the tunnels of my dungeon.
“C-c-c-cal.” Dani stammered, fear invoking a physical reaction, “I-I-is it still moving? Away, I mean?”
I didn’t answer her right away; I was far too focused on a dark mass. The sliced off tentacle was still writhing toward us, intent on finishing us before it perished. Luckily for us both, before it could perform its
dark deed I felt a small burst of Essence as it expired. Information on the animal flooded my mind with its death.
“What was that?! What just happened?!” She cried out hysterically.
I thought of everything I now knew about the animal.
I kept up my flood of information to give her something to focus on.
“Stop telling me how cool it is!” She demanded. “Where is it now? Is it going to come back in here?”