by M. Coulray
[Boneforged Dagger]
ATK: 6 (base 3, +3 from skill Knife Fighting)
DEF: 0 (base 0)
Durability: 45/45
Quality: Normal
Tesma quickly created a sheath for the blade, crafting it from a long, hollow bone that she said came from a flying beast’s wing. When she finished, I tucked the dagger into my belt.
“There. Now you are not as much of an embarrassment,” Tesma said. She turned back to her workbench and waved her hand over her shoulder. I recognized a dismissal when I saw one.
Outside, Votess had me pull out the blade and move through some motions. She appraised me as barely competent, but I recognized that she was a lot farther along than I was. After all, I was level four and she was level 11. I was racking my brain trying to come up with a way to close that gap when Votess solved the problem for me.
“Come. We will eat. Then sleep. Tomorrow, we hunt the lost one at the ritual pool. We will replenish the venom.”
Oh boy. I checked out my stats.
Daniel Descouteaux, AKA Denel
Title: Teacher
Race: Human
Level:4
Attributes:
Strength: 10 (ATK bonus: 0)
Endurance: 10 (Vitality/level bonus: 0)
Agility:1 0 (Accuracy/DEF bonus: 0)
Intelligence: 10 (Mana pool multiplier: 1.0)
Willpower: 10 (Resistance bonus: 0)
Charisma: 14 (Disposition bonus: 20%)
Luck: 13 (Bonuses unknown)
Derived Attributes:
Vitality: 140
Mana: 170
Traits:
Gift of Tongues
Skills:
Knife Fighting: 3
Barrier Magic:3
Cook:1
Alchemy:1 (71% to next level)
Trade:1
Diplomacy:2
Assess Target:1
Skill Instruction: 1 (17% to next level)
Spells:
Physical Barrier Rank 2
Talents:
Channeled Barriers
Well, with any luck, I’d gain a level or two tomorrow. I needed to figure out a way to overcome whatever was stopping the lizard folk from taking back their temple, and unless I was at least as strong as Votess, I’d be nothing but dead weight.
17
Morning came way too early. Once again, Votess was already up and at ‘em before I even cracked open my eyes. I yawned and rubbed my face, then remembered what we had planned for the day.
“Ah shit!”
I jumped up and dressed as fast as I could. My clothes were getting filthy, and I asked Votess where I could wash them.
“Your clothing? Do you need it?”
“Yes, and it’s starting to get a little smelly,” I said.
Votess tilted her head at me. “You smell no different than before. Perhaps a little stronger.”
I gritted my teeth against my retort. The lizard folk had a strong sense of smell, and to them I was likely just a stinky mammal. Instead, I asked if there was somewhere I could have privacy and some water. She promised to help me later.
“Now, we have other plans.”
Luring a Degenerated Lizardman at the pool was something the swamp folk did rarely. There was no way of telling how many might arrive, although it was rare that more than two came, according to Votess. Also, sometimes the ones that came far outmatched the summoner.
“This is how many warriors die,” said Votess matter-of-factly. “It is not a bad death. Better than drowning.”
“Where are we going?”
“To meet the master of warriors and guards.”
Five minutes later I stood on the edge of a wide platform that bore several pairs of sparring lizard folk. Walking amongst them was a tall, scarred lizardman carrying a staff made entirely of bones melded together. Here and there he stopped a duel and adjusted a stance or the position of a weapon. He saw us arrive and called out.
“Votess! Is this the named Scaleless?”
“Yes. This is Denel, teacher. Will you let him train with you?”
The master of warriors and guards walked over to where we stood. “I am Lukid.”
“I am Denel. I am no warrior, but I’m willing to learn.”
Lukid laughed in my face. “Nobody would mistake you for a warrior, Denel. Your arms are frail and your shoulders are narrow. You have no tail to counterbalance your spear strikes. Your skin looks soft.” Here, he poked me in the chest with his talon, but as I had cast Physical Barrier on myself and Votess, his claw didn’t break my skin. “Hmm. Maybe not so soft.”
“His magic hardens the skin,” said Votess. “Today we are hoping to fight a lost one at the pool, but I wish to know if he is of any use in battle.”
Lukid nodded, his wide, toothy mouth opening to let his tongue flick the air. “Yes. I will pair him with Son of Second Clutch of Rorst. Do you know the basic spear forms?”
“No, I’ve never handled a spear. I’m more of a knife guy, myself.” I pulled out the blade that Tess had made for me.
“Hm. No claws on you, so a knife is needed for close work. I will not handicap your opponent. Expect no concessions.” Lukid waved at one pair of lizard folk who were duelling, and they split up. One sat down, and the other stood ready.
Here we go, I thought. I glanced at Votess, and she tilted her head at me with a “what are you waiting for” kind of look. I ascended the platform and approached my partner.
“I am Denel, teacher,” I said to him.
“I have no name,” he replied. His eyes held something hostile, and I realized that just because I was accepted didn’t mean I was liked.
“Begin,” said Lukid. I drew my knife and immediately got knocked on my ass.
My opponent had thrust his spear forward and struck me directly in the gut. My barrier stopped the blow but did nothing to reduce the momentum. I scrambled to my feet only to get knocked down again, this time by his tail.
I checked my status. My Vitality was down two points, probably from the spear blow. The barrier was doing its best, but I had no natural armour to rely on. My body was going to be as bruised as my ego before this was done.
“Are you finished, Denel?”
I couldn’t tell if Lukid was mocking me, but I got to my feet and took my stance. “Not even close,” I said.
We circled each other. The spear was the real issue. I had some skills with the knife, and my muscles felt like they had a memory of thrusting and stabbing, but that damned spear kept me at bay. I needed to eliminate the reach advantage.
I tried to close again and again, and each time, I was repelled. Either a thrust from the spear or a swing of his tail kept me away. My low Agility wasn’t doing me any favours here. If I was nimbler, I could evade his strikes while landing a few of my own. As it was, my vitality was slowly going down while his was still full.
Still full… I considered the knife in my hand. The boneforged blade was sharp and long, but my other weapon was more advantageous. I quickly swapped weapons and changed my tactics.
Instead of going for any opening I thought I saw, I spent the next few exchanges trying to learn my opponent’s patterns. A thrust, then a sweep, then a charge, forcing me aside. My natural instincts, not honed by combat like the lizard folk, told me to keep some room between us. Those claws looked sharp as hell.
It was time to go against my gut.
The next sequence, instead of jumping back and retreating when he charged me, I spun sideways and let him close the gap. His spear rushed past me and I held my breath. The edge missed me by a hair’s breadth and I grinned, but Son of Rorst wasn’t out of tricks. He released his spear with one hand and slashed at me. My barrier stopped most of it, but I still hissed in pain when his talons tore up my skin.
We separated, and Son of Rorst licked my blood off his fingers. “You taste like food, not folk,” he said mockingly. I didn’t take offence. I’d eaten alligator once.
“You like that, huh?”
“I have heard you rise after death,” said my opponent. “I have no need to hold back against such a foe.” He jabbed the spear at me, forcing me to hop backwards. I bumped into another pair of trainees, who shoved me back with an angry hiss. It was only through extraordinary luck that I avoided being impaled on my partner’s spear. I took a moment while we returned to circling and used Assess Target.
[Son of Second Clutch of Rorst]
Race: Lizardman Remnant
Level: 5
Vitality: 170/170
Mana: 100/100
So he wasn’t that much higher level than me. I could win this if I was careful.
Now I knew his pattern. What’s more, I knew I could take his hits. It hurt like hell, but I needed to trust my barrier to protect me from the worst of it. I remembered something someone had told me once about knife fighting: the loser dies right there, the winner dies later of blood loss. Wasn’t exactly inspiring but the point was that I wasn’t getting out of this without a scratch or two.
“Enough,” said Lukid in a bored tone.
“Not yet,” I said through gritted teeth.
Once again, Son of Rorst thrust his weapon and shoulder charged me. Once again I turned to let him pass, and once again his claws raked at me. They tore through my side, but this time I grabbed his wrist and used his momentum to turn my body. All my muscles worked in unison to swing my blade, as if I’d done it a thousand times before. For a moment, I felt perfect; this was the effect of improving my skills! My knife, Excruciator, buried itself to the hilt in his back, where a human’s kidney would be.
Instantly Son of Second Clutch of Rorst fell to the deck, roaring in pain. I pulled the blade out and stabbed him again, this time doing a lot less damage. Now that I’d hurt him, and badly, the knife’s enchantment was no longer in play.
“Enough!” This time Lukid’s voice sounded a little more serious. “Denel has claimed victory!”
“Hurts!” The wounded lizardman was still down. His clawed hands scraped and tore at his back, where his blood flowed freely from two wounds. “How does it hurt so much?! Has the Scaleless poisoned me?”
I looked at the dagger. Apparently along with the extra damage came a heaping helping of pain. I forced down my smug thoughts and walked back to Votess, where she gave me one of the original healing concoctions. I gulped it back, not particularly enjoying the dulling of my mind that came with it.
Lukid eventually calmed my opponent enough to come see me. “He claims you cheated.”
“Did I?” I honestly didn’t know what the rules were here.
Lukid laughed. “Did he, Votess?”
My friend shook her head. “There is no cheating in battle,” she said. “There is only winning and dying.”
“He will remember this lesson. Sometimes one’s food has bones in it, and you will choke if you gulp without thinking,” said Lukid. “I believe you are inexperienced, but not without talent. Train hard and you will become capable.”
“The lure should be ready. Let us visit my mother.” Votess turned away, but not before I caught her satisfied expression. I nodded and tried to ignore the itching feeling of my flesh knitting itself together.
We met Krees not at the pentagonal audience chamber, but at the alchemists’s building. Inside Telix and Trak were absorbed in my alchemy set, with some very strange odours telling me they had done some questionable things with it. I tried not to worry. Krees walked forward with a bundle of something that looked familiar.
“It is finished, daughter. You have one day before its potency fades.”
Votess nodded. “Thank you. I will bring Denel. He will fight with me.”
“His magic is strong. He is strange, but welcome in Goddess Watch.” Krees nodded to me. Her original misgivings about me seemed to be completely gone.
[Adjusted relationship with Goddess Watch]
Positive factors:
Earned Name
Helped defend the village
Charisma modifier
Negative factors:
None
Final result: Your relationship with Goddess Watch has improved from Mistrust to Accepted.
18
I decided not to ask about what was in the bundle. It smelled a little like an uncooked pork roast, with rosemary and sage and other, stranger spices mixed in. I watched it out of the corner of my eye to make sure it didn’t move.
Votess carried her bundle of spears with her. We headed back to where we had met. On the way, Votess told me little things about the village, about what they hunted and how they lived.
“Do you ever contact other villages? Or make any kind of trade expeditions?”
“No. Other villages exist, but resources in the swamp are not so rich that we share them. When we meet, it is most often bloody. In my life we have not encountered another settlement.”
“Hm.” I was thinking about the temple and their religion. “Do all the people worship the Goddess?”
She nodded. “Those that do not are lost. It is through her we speak and think and cooperate. When she returns, the people may once again unite. The land shall once again give us everything we need, without having to compete. We were proud once.”
“I think you’ve got plenty to be proud of,” I said. I meant it. “Living in this swamp is an accomplishment. My people wouldn’t last a week.”
“But you have lasted three days so far, and done more in that time than some of the people born here accomplish in their lives.”
Had I? It didn’t feel like it. Something inside me wanted to help the people of Goddess Watch and I wasn’t sure of the best way to do it. I could teach them to cook, but that was really minor. My alchemy gear would help them refine their own arts, but that wasn’t me so much as something I happened to have in my magic bag. Really, what I wanted to do was take back their temple.
“We are almost there,” said Votess. “Will you throw in the lure?”
“Sure,” I said. She handed me the bundle and I hefted it. “I’ll wait until you give me the signal?”
Votess nodded. When we arrived, she rapidly circled the pool, stabbing her spears down one after the other until she had six of them set out. We met at the small pier and looked at each other.
“Here goes,” I said, and I threw the bundle in. It didn’t make it even halfway across, and Votess clicked her teeth in displeasure. “Hey, we don’t all have amazing upper body strength.”
“If we win this, I will have you train every day with Lukid.”
“What if we lose?”
Instead of answering, Votess snorted. Water was bubbling up, and it wasn’t in just one place.
“Hey, Votess? Is that normal?” Three individual areas were churning with air and disturbed water.
“It is not completely out of the ordinary,” she said. “You will have to kill one yourself.”
“Wait, what?” I hurriedly cast Physical Barrier on both of us, at maximum strength. Then our enemies arrived.
On the left side, two Degenerated Lizardmen climbed onto the log walkway. To the right, a single one, smaller but seemingly more agile, jumped out with a splash and landed on its feet. It rolled its shoulders and advanced, snapping Votess’ spears as it went.
“I will take these.” Votess ran off to the left, charging the closer of the pair that had arrived.
The one on the right eyed me as it approached. It had snapped two of Votess’s spears, but that didn’t matter to me. I didn’t have any skill in them anyway.
[Degenerated Lizardman]
Level: 9
Vitality: 210
Mana: 0/0
Well, shit. More than double my level, and a lot more health than me to boot. I pulled out Excruciator and closed the gap. When we got near each other, the enemy paused and sized me up.
“See anything you like?” I asked.
It didn’t answer. Instead it lunged forward and thrust its claws at me. I dodged aside like I had with Son of Rorst, and let my barrier take the
blow. I was still pushed back, but having taken a beating that morning, I wasn’t intimidated. More importantly, I trusted my barrier to protect me.
I had a chance.
That thought was driven out of me by its next attack. I tried to avoid a spear-hand thrust to my chest, but I wasn’t fast enough. Once again my low Agility wasn’t helping me any. My barrier slowed its hand but not enough, and my skin opened under its claws.
Instantly something burned in my chest, where its claws had scraped my ribs. “Mother FUCKER!” It was all I could do to stop myself from falling down and clawing at my own skin.
I heard Votess calling from across the water, something about venom.
Oh yeah, that was why were here in the first place: to collect venom from these things.
[Vitality: 119/140]
You are poisoned. -1 Vitality/5 seconds. Remaining duration: unknown, dependent on Endurance.
With my lousy Endurance, that poison wasn’t going away anytime soon. I gritted my teeth and faced my foe with a new respect.
I still hadn’t hit it, so my dagger was unbloodied. My options weren’t great. I couldn’t dodge worth a damn, and my only advantage was my barrier magic. I was going to have to pull the same stunt I pulled with Son of Rorst: take a hard hit in exchange for the chance of really fucking this guy up.
Unfortunately, the bastard didn’t seem interested in closing with me. Instead, it backed away as I advanced, clearly waiting for me to weaken from its poison. Why the hell did I have to get the smart one? I glanced over to where Votess was battling one of the two giant bastards across the pool. Well, that wouldn’t have been any better, I decided.
Wait, she was only fighting one of them?
Suddenly the water beside me erupted and the second Degenerated Lizardman leaped onto the walkway between me and my foe. I stumbled on my back foot and fell. The giant abomination turned its crocodilian head towards me and opened its jaws wide enough to swallow my head.
My instinct was to close my eyes. Instead, I rolled over and narrowly avoided its diving attack, and its body smashed into the wood beside me. I flailed like an idiot with my knife hand and felt its flesh give under my blade. It didn’t feel like a very solid strike, but the effect was pronounced.