Deia pressed her lips together as the others chuckled or outright laughed at Kim and Josh’s argument.
“Come here, you damned wizard!” Josh ran after Kim.
“That’s mage to you, Shadow Pervert!” She laughed, throwing spells back at him as he dodged them and chased her down the length of the Stone Raiders’ caravan.
“Who you betting on?” Dwayne asked.
“Kim,” Lucy said.
“Same,” Dwayne grunted.
Deia saw that the rest of the Stone Raiders were betting on their two leaders as they yelled at each other, smiles on their faces as Kim threw spells and Josh dodged out of their way.
“Looks…like…hell,” Suzy said.
“Don’t worry, we’ll soon get a game of tree tag going,” Deia said.
Suzy gave her a look that Deia might expect a Demon’s torture victim might show.
It was all Deia could do to stop herself from laughing.
“I fucking hate trees,” Dave said darkly.
“This sounds like a good story,” Malsour prompted.
Dave kept his silence as Deia snorted.
“First time he tried to run up a tree, he slowed down too much. Panicking, he grabbed a tree branch. Unfortunately, the tree branch wasn’t all that strong, and there was another right underneath him.
“He tried bartering with the tree branch and gravity, but gravity won out and he landed on the branch right below—landing right on his jewels.”
The males in the group winced and shook their heads in amusement; the women just snorted at Dave’s misfortune.
“Swore I busted a nut. Hurt for two days,” Dave complained.
***
“Good, good—now just think of the creation as a balloon. Fill it with Mana to inflate it. Not too much that it becomes unstable, but not too little that it can’t support itself. Starting out, it’s better using less.” Anna watched Suzy as she concentrated on what looked like a gray amorphous blob.
Suzy put her hands to it. Anna could see with her arcane sight as Suzy pushed power inside the creation. It wasn’t much and it stuttered a few times but after a few seconds, it settled down and continued to flow more uniformly.
These bleeders are rather impressive.
Anna watched as the amorphous blob started to move, four non-uniform legs connected to a body. It looked like a kind of squid.
“That’s good,” Anna said before Suzy put too much into it.
Suzy cut off her Mana and watched the blob that got to its feet awkwardly.
“So what makes it move? Or, like, follow commands?” Dave asked.
“Well, essentially it’s part of Suzy, a combination of soul and Mana energy turned into a form. Otherwise known as Willpower and Intelligence stats. Making the body is about the hardest part of it, once you get into customizing it. But the center of the creation, what makes it go—act and react—is Suzy. When she makes something, her mind is sort of printed onto the creation. Suzy, think of it jumping,”
Suzy did as the squid thing tried to jump. It was quite cute.
“How?” Suzy asked.
“Well, your mind resonates with your creation. As you think of something, your imprint understands what you mean and carries it out. While I might say fish and we both think of different fish, when you say fish to your imprint, you’re both thinking of the same fish. That is, unless you’ve gone through a mental shift. The best way to fight a creation summoner is through their mind—hit you with a few psychic tricks and your whole army falls apart as they’re all linked to your mind.”
“Is there any way to take control of the creations?” Dave asked.
“If you are a creation summoner as well and you have a greater affinity for the type of medium that the creation is made from—so in this case, Earth and water because we made it from mud—and your mind is stronger, then you can override the creation, destroying Suzy’s consciousness within them and replacing it with your own. Also, distance plays a factor. The closer the creations are to Suzy, the greater control she has over them.”
“Hmm.” Looking satisfied, Dave nodded and went back to working on the simple black necklaces.
“Okay, now let’s see how far your range is,” Anna said. “Push your creature out as far as possible and we’ll see when it falls out of your control.”
“Well, here goes nothing,” Suzy said.
Anna glanced at the girl’s Mana. She was at around twenty percent for just filling the creature with power. It had taken Suzy two hours of meditating and casting to build the creation.
The creature walked toward the forest, its movements wonky but workable.
Few can get their first creations to do more than twitch a limb. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they know Emerilia is real. They’re obviously putting more effort into their training and they’re both pretty driven, something that they’re passing on to the other Players and even the POE. Anna looked at Suzy and Dave, wondering just where the two bleeders might take them.
“Babe! Can you heat something up for me?” Dave asked Deia, who was a bit away from camp, talking and training with Induca and a few other Fire mages from the Stone Raiders.
“How hot do you need it?” Deia yelled back.
“Blue flame, right out of the campfire would be fine!”
The flames of the campfire turned from red to blue, focused in a single flame.
“Thanks, babe!” Dave said.
Most people took some time to get used to the magical properties of Emerilia. Dave treated it as if it was just another tool. Few people had the strength of magic as Players, but Dave seemed to have been surrounded by it or adjusted to it so that it was his new norm.
Dave placed some silver in the fire. “Let’s see what you’ve got there, Malsour,” Dave said.
Malsour tossed him over a rune that was no bigger than a copper piece.
Dave inspected it. “Nicely done.” He tossed it back to the Dragon.
“It’s harder than I thought it would be,” Malsour said.
“Just takes practice and determination. If you ever get interested in hammering a bit of metal, let me know. I’d be happy to show you the basics.”
Suzy grunted a bit.
Anna looked over to the wobbling squid. It was still going but from Suzy’s expression, it was getting harder and harder to send signals to it.
It got another meter and then collapsed.
Suzy rubbed her forehead. “Well, now I’ve got a headache to add to my body feeling like it just got rolled over by a bulldozer.”
Anna laughed. “That’s just your body telling you that you’re out of Mana and that you’ve done something that was previously hard for you. As you do more complex spells and magic, then you’ll get worse headaches. It’s a sign that you’re stretching your limits.”
“Sounds like a great time.”
“Well, your creation made it about a hundred and fifty meters. That’s really good for your first try. Now I’m going to teach you how to circulate your Mana to help get rid of those headaches.”
“Then what?” Suzy asked.
Pretty smart one. Anna smiled. “Then we see if you can make two of them, and try to get them to go the same distance.”
“This sucks,” Suzy muttered.
It might for now, but I have a feeling that just like Dave and the others, you’re going to advance much quicker than anyone else might be capable of.
Anna only had to look at the Stone Raiders, who were practicing their various skills around the camp. While the POE saw it as a chore to raise their levels, the Stone Raiders focused on raising their stats and pushing their limits in a way that the POE never would. With no need to fear death if jumping between trees or dodging arrows was a good way to level up, they’d try it out.
The people I knew when I went to sleep might all be dead, but there is still hope in their descendants.
Chapter 10: Indal
“Well, seems like the locals are friendly.” Dwayne kept hi
s voice low.
“Well, not everyone is going to like Players because of the way that they treat the POE,” Josh said. “I’ve never seen anything like this kind of level of AI. It’s so life-like, even their reactions to us.”
Dwayne nodded in agreement. As they had become E-heads and Emerilia became their land, they’d come to respect and interact with the POE more. It was hard to treat them as just simple AIs there for their enjoyment. If they hadn’t felt that way before, Boran-al’s Citadel had solidified it in their minds.
Indal was a farming community and just another stop on the way to the northern cities. There were more people coming through the city than when Josh had made the trip up from Nadorf last time. Their farms and fisheries helped to supply the north with food throughout the year. Winter might be ending but the majority of people were still in the city, waiting for the ground to defrost more, so that they could get to planting this year’s harvest.
Omal and Milheilm were both large starting areas, which put Indal right in the middle of them.
If early Players were into something that might be not viewed well in the eyes of the law, then they usually drifted to Indal to carry out their murders and other atrocities. More than one villager had disappeared due to a Player trying out a new spell or making a sacrifice to the Pantheon.
Certainly, won’t make things much easier here.
“I think that we’ll get supplies and then be on our way. We’ve still got a few hours of daylight left and I don’t feel all that good about staying here tonight. Not only will they gouge our wallets—I’m wondering if they won’t gouge something else to make up for those who died by other Players,” Josh said.
The other four nodded their heads and Josh put out a message to the rest of the Stone Raiders. There wasn’t as much disagreement as he was expecting. It seemed that they had clued into the odd vibe coming from the people and were happy to keep going. They were only two days from Komo and six days from Nadorf, if they continued at their pace. Everyone’s Strength and Agility were increasing so Josh was betting they could slim that down a bit.
An alliance between us and the POE would be awesome, but stuff like this is only going to make them not trust us. It might be an idea to get out ahead of the other guilds and Players, and start sending some envoys to the different lands to see what is going on and do a bit of scouting.
“Lucy, I have a job for your mice,” Josh said.
Lucy raised her head from her book and cast a shroud around them. People would hear them have a normal conversation and even see their lips talking but it wouldn’t be their actual conversation.
“They are currently underused, just hanging around trying to get information,” Lucy said.
Josh could see the pride and eagerness to prove her people’s worth. “The more I think about it, the more I want to know just what is happening in the other lands and to see what kind of situation we might be getting ourselves into if we go over there. See if you can’t have our people go and check it out. Also, get the word out that we’re looking for POEs and Players. I’m going to leave the figuring out if the POEs are going to be loyal to you.”
“Well, that’ll certainly be a challenge. I think I should have a talk with Malsour. He might have an idea about some kind of spell to see if a person is lying.”
“He certainly has a lot of knowledge.” Josh nodded.
“Yes, and he said that his solution probably looks at a person’s very soul. At that level, it’s impossible for a person to lie.”
“All this soul business makes me wonder if there really is an afterlife,” Josh muttered.
“Oh, don’t worry, there isn’t—we only get power from a soul because when a person dies then all that potential disappears. It’s as if you disappeared, then due to displacement, air would rush in. Creatures, Players, and POEs all have a power potential. When we die, that power loss creates a vacuum that for a second ejects the power that made up a person’s stats. It’s all rather odd but interesting. Though there isn’t anything after death, in my mind. Though, at least in Emerilia, you get to respawn when you die.” Lucy smiled.
“Well, thank you for that little bit of information. Not sure I really understand it all, though.” Josh rubbed his head.
She snorted and snapped her fingers, the spell around them breaking apart.
***
Dave shifted. His eyes opened as he looked for what had disturbed his sleep.
“Mmmm,” Deia murmured, not fully awake yet.
Dave continued to search, expanding out his range of his Touch.
He passed those who were on watch and then farther out. Emerilia might be a game but it had taught E-heads that it was always a good idea to have a sentry posted. If not for the animals, then the other Players.
“We’ve got company.” Dave opened his interface.
Group Message
Dave > Got a group of forty or so people sneaking up on our camp.
Josh > Which direction are they coming from?
Dave > From Indal.
Josh > Deia and I will scout. Everyone else, get into a line and be ready for them. We should be able to deal with it ourselves. Kim, let the other party leaders know what’s going on.
Deia stood and pulled on clothes. Dave did the same.
“So, what weapons are they using?” Deia asked.
“Most of them are using bows. All of them have daggers. There are seven with swords. Five with shields and swords,” Dave said.
“See you in a bit.” Deia pulled on her boots before she kissed Dave.
“Stay safe.”
“I will. I love you.”
“I love you, too, firecracker.”
Deia snorted, grabbed her compound bow and headed off into the night.
Dwayne was in command as he put people into place. Stone Raiders got up from their sleep, not a single fire or light showing as they moved to their positions. Those without good night vision were helped by those who did. They worked silently.
Dave had detected forty people but they weren’t going to just go back to sleep and hope there weren’t more.
***
Deia pulled an arrow from her open bag, notching it onto her compound bow. She was halfway up a tree with her legs wrapped around a tree limb as she used Earth magic to wrap other limbs around her waist.
The forty-three people moving through the forest weren’t fighters but they were trackers and hunters. Even farmers out here had to know how to use a bow in case they needed some food in the winter or to drive off animals on their lands.
Now it seems that they’re determined to use those weapons to attack us. Deia understood their reasoning but she didn’t want to have to kill them.
“I’m going to try to talk to them. If they don’t listen, then take them down,” Josh said.
Deia knew that most Players would’ve just killed the POE and be done with it. For the Stone Raiders, they were easy targets and clearly aggressive. They were also some decent levels, so they could get some good experience from them. Maybe a few bits of coin and some equipment to sell off to a town later on.
The Stone Raiders didn’t even bat an eyelid.
He was a decent rogue as he moved through the shadows. He appeared a few hundred meters away from the man they had identified as the group’s leader. Although Josh had worked on his night vision, the Humans from Indal hadn’t and it showed as they cursed and wandered through the dark night.
“Hello, do you mind if I ask what you are doing tonight?” Josh asked.
“Kill them, lads!” the leader said. All of them charged forward.
With regret in her heart, Deia drew and released her arrow. By the time the first arrow hammered its target into the ground, she’d already released a second.
The hunters became the hunted as they cried out in pain and gave their dying breaths.
“They’ve got Demons!”
“Run for your lives!”
Deia cut another’s scream short as her arrow buried it
self in their chest.
None of them had reached Josh but over half of their number was dead or dying on the ground.
Josh waited for a few minutes, listening and making sure that the hunters didn’t try to come after them again. “Let’s head back.” Josh sighed, upset.
No one said anything as they moved from their positions, turning away from the battle and back toward their camp.
Deia noticed something odd: the Players weren’t happy about having killed the hunters. They seemed to understand that they’d taken lives.
It’s almost as if they were becoming POEs and actually care about what impact their actions will have.
She found Dave as she was putting her bow away. He pulled her close, as if sensing her own sadness. She put her head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent. He kissed the top of her head, rubbing her shoulder and reassuring her as they made their way back to their bedroll.
Deia doubted that she would be able to sleep much that night.
Chapter 11: Komo
Komo was the largest town Dave had seen in Emerilia so far. Its roads were shaped into a Y, with the prongs leading to Roun-Tuk and Indal and the bottom leading toward Nadorf. It was a large trading hub connecting the north with the south. Raw goods were funneled down from this point to feed, heat, and supply Nadorf and the southern cities.
There was a tension in the air as they arrived.
Malsour guided them to a tavern that he and Induca had stayed at in their travels. They were the last of the Stone Raiders to arrive. Suzy was slower than all of the others. She’d only just started out on Emerilia and couldn’t keep up with the hectic pace of the rest of the guild.
Dave cast her a glance as Deia helped her in. She’d pushed herself hard today and she needed rest. Dave had a proud smile on his face. He knew that Suzy would push herself harder than anyone to not only get on the same level as them, but to surpass them.
Inside the tavern, a couple of people were having a drink but it was by no means busy.
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