by C E Keene
If there were tremors, he slept through them. The whole inn could've been caught in a tornado made entirely of flames and he would’ve been none the wiser. For what felt like the first time since he'd started in Estalia, he slept through the night in peace.
Arheis carried that peace into the next morning, a clear picture in his mind of what they needed to do. He brought it to his companions over breakfast, and they all agreed: They should take what credits they had and buy as much armor as possible. It might make Brona unhappy, but it would help them in future hunts and give everyone a sense that all the work they were putting in was having an immediate effect.
They headed toward the Hunters’ Hall and Arheis took point, using his Haggle ability to persuade the armorsmith to make each of them a breastplate, helm, and leggings now, with the other pieces coming later. It had taken a lot of persuasion, only aided by the fact that Higrem--while an ass most times--seemed to have a sky-high Charisma score, and his move to aid Arheis was probably what saved the whole venture.
They'd had to purchase some of the materials and pay the cost of creating the pieces, so all told they came out of the exchange spending 65,000 GC of the funds they’d amassed.
"I can have them ready for you over the next few days," Brona had said, and Higrem promised they would put in orders for the rest as soon as they finished up some more bounties.
With that settled, they'd headed across the street to Kester's forge. It was decided that Arheis and Higrem--the person most likely to need precise hits and the one most likely to do the most damage in melee, respectively--should get their augments first. Labor cost and materials brought their total to 14,000 GC--some of which came from the reserve of what Arheis had left from before--and Kester took their weapons, giving them back an augmented spear and greatsword after about an hour's worth of work.
> Royal Might
Slot: Main Hand
Damage Type: Piercing / Slashing
Attack Power: 50 (+10% critical)
Augment: Crusher (+20% damage when breaking parts)
Durability: 75/75
Quality: Unique
They'd intended to head into the Hall and follow up with Ylsa to see if there were any higher-profile bounties available now, but a breathless young man caught them at the steps.
"A letter for you, sir!"
Arheis turned to find a tall, gangly boy of no more than fifteen holding out a folded piece of paper. He was flushed, his chest rising and falling in rapid succession, and Arheis felt the nagging claws of dread.
"Where is this from?" he asked the courier.
Maybe it was just a summons from the Prince-Regent. But it didn't have a royal seal, so that seemed unlikely. It could be a letter from Archie announcing a breakthrough he'd made on the crystals. But if that was the case, Arheis would know about it. The last thought that crossed his mind was perhaps the most troubling cause for an urgent letter, and the boy confirmed it before Arheis could really process his feelings on it.
"From De'shal. I would've gotten it to you sooner, but the innkeeper at The Eager Sow wasn't sure where you'd gone, and when I was finally sent over here, they wouldn't let me in, and--"
Arheis calmed a little even as the courier practically hyperventilated. Apparently his appearance had more to do with the journey, and less the content of the letter. At least that was the hope.
Breaking the plain wax seal with two fingers, he started to scan the missive only to be interrupted by the clearing of a throat. When he looked up, the courier was standing there with his hand outstretched.
"Well I certainly don't have any money," Mira quipped, a smirk touching her lips.
Arheis fished out twenty credits and handed them to the boy. The look of disappointment he got made it clear that wasn't enough of a tip, but the courier scurried off before Arheis could correct his mistake.
"What's it say?" Zindar asked, looking over his shoulder. "Is Treyous okay?"
Surrounded by an audience, Arheis just decided to read the letter aloud:
Arheis,
The captain is stable. He awoke yesterday in pain, but otherwise he’s well. The Pruvari have done an impressive job. His wounds are already starting to heal.
He's asking for you. Has been pretty much since he woke up. I told him it could wait, but he's insisting. I don't know what he wants, but the old bastard's my captain, so don't make me look bad. Come as soon as you can.
Bren
She'd started to write "First Mate of the Lady Katherine" beneath her signature, but had crossed it out furiously. Arheis spared Bren and everyone else the feelings that would stir and kept it to himself.
"I should head to De'shal," he said, folding the letter and tucking it away just in case he needed it to even enter the settlement. "Go ahead and grab some bounties without me. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"I'm going with you," Mira said immediately.
He didn't bother arguing with her, and instead just lifted his brows and looked around their group.
"I'd like to go." Zindar's words were tentative, but there was an unmistakable resolve in his eyes. "I don't know if they'll even let me in, but I'd like to see Treyous."
Higrem was quick to speak up on his own behalf. "Well I'm going to earn money so we can get the rest of our armor. You with me?"
Galen gave the man a wary look, and Arheis got the sense that the Naturalist didn't exactly trust Higrem. Either that or he was afraid of the man.
"I had no other plans," he finally said.
"All right." Arheis gave them all a nod. "Mira, Zindar, and I will head to De'shal to check in on Treyous. You two stay here and do what you can, but be careful."
"If you can sneak off and kill crazy wolf-scorpions without the rest of us, I think me and the elf will be fine," Higrem muttered.
Maybe he didn't have any points in Charisma after all. Maybe his Charisma was so low that it had some strange effect of making smiths and other merchants pity his lack of sociability. Arheis would choose to believe that until he saw otherwise.
Either way, it was a plan. The group split off into two, Arheis and his original companions heading toward the gates to make the long trek through the mountains back to De'shal.
It was early afternoon when they left for De'shal. The sun was shining over the mountains, the air was crisp but not too cold, and Arheis' spirits were still high.
By the time they made it through the pass, it was a day later and the skies were a dreary gray, the clouds spitting out fat snowflakes that dampened Arheis' clothing and clung to his skin. His mood fell a little, but it wasn't enough to deter him from leading their small party onward.
He felt accomplished when he crested the ridge that would let him see into the valley below. He'd managed his Stamina well, never falling below the threshold that would earn him a warning from the system. But as he reached the highest point he'd climbed to thus far, a violent chill shot down his spine that had nothing to do with the weather.
Below him was De'shal, exactly as he remembered it but for one glaring detail: The high walls were under attack.
"The World-Shaper." Zindar's voice came out in a mix of awe and fear, with the latter winning out toward the end. "What is it doing…?"
Arheis and Zindar watched as the subterranean creature threw itself at the wall. Even from this distance he could see panels dislodging, Pruvari moving frantically through the village, taking up posts at what he could only assume were the anti-siege weapons Zindar had mentioned.
"We have to get down there," Mira said, coming up beside them.
There was a chance the Pruvari could keep the creature at bay, but Arheis wasn't willing to gamble with their lives like that. Not when he and his friends had the capacity to do something. They hurried down the slope, Arheis' knees bearing the brunt of the strain as he tried to move as quickly as possible without falling.
It still seemed to take ages to make it down to the valley, and during that time he had a clear view of the battle unfolding outside
the gates. The Petravor was using its over-developed forelimbs to carve underneath the panels, going against the logic Zindar had presented earlier about the beast not bothering with Pruvari tech. It was bothering now, and it seemed like it was worked into a frenzy, fighting against its own natural instincts to get into the village.
It must have something to do with the crystals. There was no other reason for the cave-dwelling creature to be above ground, let alone using its body as an excavation tool to get into De'shal.
The Pruvari were trying to ward it off. They'd fired what looked like plasma balls at the creature, along with bolts from a ballista that carried some kind of molten energy. The Petravor shrugged off both, mindlessly digging, trying to get at something.
"Is there anything it would want inside the settlement?" he asked Zindar as they made the last push.
"I have no idea. They're always testing new technology, though. Maybe something attracted it."
His companion's voice was steady, but only by sheer force of will. Arheis could see the conflict in his wild eyes. These people might have cast him out, but they were still his people. And while the Petravor hadn't looked too menacing the first time Arheis had encountered it, any beast was a hazard to those who were not used to hunting them.
As soon as he could manage it, Arheis jumped from the rocks, one of his knees popping as he landed hard.
> You have taken 7 points of impact damage.
It hurt, but he gritted his teeth and shrugged it off. He had healing potions in his pack if he needed to do something about it. He wasn't going to make Mira expend resources on his idiocy. Besides, he wasn't the only one who'd taken that shortcut--though Zindar didn't count, since his natural abilities made it easy for him to leap and land safely. With his companions beside him, he pulled his spear and shield from his back and broke into a run, his breath fogging the air.
"Let's make the most of these first strikes while its attention is still focused on digging," he told them.
Once they were near enough to hear the furious snuffling of the giant mole beast, Arheis slowed and put some actual thought into his approach. In the light of day it was much easier to see the Petravor's natural armor. It covered the creature's back the way an armadillo's did, only instead of one continuous shell, it was protected by what looked like interlocking panels of slate or some other firm stone.
The front limbs were built like excavation tools--hard-plated and designed for cutting through rock with ease. His best bet was to strike it near the back flank, avoiding the useless back legs and jamming his spear into its underbelly.
"I'm going to try and get behind it on this side," Arheis indicated, whispering to his two friends.
They would've been sitting ducks if the Petravor hadn't been so single-mindedly focused on getting into De'shal. There were no trees this close, and the outcroppings of rock from the nearby cave were knee-high at best.
"I'll take the other side," Zindar said.
"At this point I'll take whatever I can hit," Mira said, "but here."
She reached into the pouch that was tied at her belt and pulled out two pods that looked a little like Brazil nuts on first glance.
"Hold this in your mouth and crunch down when you're ready to attack."
Arheis took the offered boon, slipping it into his mouth, right between the molars on his right side. A bitter oil seeped from the pod, numbing the inside of his cheek.
There was a time when he might have asked questions, but he trusted Mira. And he wanted to try and get the Petravor's attention before it finished digging the crater-sized hole it was working on.
"Okay, I'm moving in," he whispered.
He kept low to the ground, using his meager Stealth ability--for all that it mattered right now. The Petravor didn't pay him a wit of attention. He was able to get so close to the creature he could smell the cave mold that clung to the crevices in its armor plating.
Holding his attack for a moment, waiting for it to shift in a way that was most advantageous to him, he bit down hard on the pod. An explosion of bitterness was washed away by a tide of sour that made his lips pucker and his throat burn. As the liquid coated his throat, it seemed to make his veins burn, too. He could feel the blood pumping to and from his heart, as if he'd just been juiced with a massive adrenaline cocktail.
> You have ingested a Blur Pod.
> Your senses are currently heightened. Any evasive actions taken while under the effects of the Blur Pod will be much faster. Any swift attacks performed while under the effects of the Blur Pod will be much stronger.
That was a hell of a thing. The game didn't say exactly how powerful it was, but Apex didn't hand buffs like that out willy-nilly. Arheis was positive it would only last for a very short time, so he made the most of it. Gripping his spear with two hands, he drew back and used the full momentum of his body to jam it into the fleshy underside of the Petravor, just inches away from its back leg.
> You pierce Petravor for 43 points of damage (+30 sneak attack bonus, 31 deflected)
Before the creature even had the chance to respond, Zindar laid into it from the other side. A flurry of blows raked across the beast's midsection, the Pruvari's blades sometimes skidding off the armor plating, but mostly striking true. Behind him, Arheis heard the sound of a crossbow firing. A bolt whizzed toward the Petravor, burying deep into what Arheis could only guess was its rear.
He had no idea if one attack would have pulled the thing out of its frenzy, but three concurrent attacks definitely did the trick. Its backhoes-for-arms dug into the ground, shifting earth around it as it turned with surprising speed to face all of them. That alien nose or mouth or whatever it was pulsed as the beast let out a sound Arheis didn't so much hear as feel, a sudden pain stabbing into his ears.
> Petravor's Sonic Wail hits you for 14 points of damage.
> Your hearing is reduced. Actions that rely on being able to perceive your surroundings through sound will suffer penalty for the duration.
At least they'd gotten the Petravor's attention. That counted for something.
Arheis moved immediately to hold that attention, thrusting his shield out in front of him and banging his spear against it, making sure the beast heard him. The Provoke was successful. The Petravor dug deep furrows into the ground as it pulled itself to face him more fully, then suddenly lunged, throwing its weight at him the same way it had thrown itself at the walls when Arheis first spotted it.
His instinct was to throw up his shield and block, but right now that felt like trying to block a semi truck with a caution sign. Fortunately that pod still filled him with a surge of restless energy, the blood rushing through his body.
He dashed to the side, feeling as light and springy as Zindar must feel all the time. The world seemed to slow around him, and the ugly mole beast gnashed at the air where he'd been.
Arheis turned to punish the attack, but he was moving so quickly he misjudged his aim. The spear went wide, angling up toward the plates. He expected to feel the reverberation of that failure in his arm as it skidded off the armor, but all he felt was a slight resistance before the spear head punched through.
> You pierce Petravor for 7 damage. (27 deflected)
It wasn't great damage, but it was obvious that augment was paying off. He didn't think he would have been able to do any damage at all without it.
As he marveled, Zindar and Mira took advantage of the Petravor's miss, as well. The Pruvari leapt behind the creature, slashing at its hind quarters, and Mira fired a bola at the front, the thin metal cording wrapping around one of the legs.
The creature let out a sound of fury that rumbled like an avalanche on a distant mountain, growing louder and louder inside Arheis' head. He could feel a warm liquid trickling down his temple and without even touching it guessed it to be blood. Fantastic.
> Petravor's Sonic Wail hits you for 20 points of damage.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, he went to thrust his spear up under the creature's chin. B
ut the Petravor moved with unmatched speed, snatching his spear in its teeth and biting down so hard Arheis could feel the force of it in his arms. He refused to let go, and for that idiocy was thrown with the spear like a chew toy, landing hard on his shoulder in the hole the creature had dug.
Hoping to save Mira the trip, he pulled one of the thankfully unbroken healing potions from his belt and downed it.
> You have been healed for 32 points of damage.
> Current HP: 111/120
> Your senses are no longer heightened.
There went the effects of the pod. It was probably a coincidence that it had happened at the same time the healing potion took effect, but Arheis didn't have time to examine it. Digging the head of his spear into the ground, he used it to climb out of the hole, only to immediately shield his eyes as a plasma ball impacted against the Petravor's side, the Pruvari of De'shal still fighting from afar.
He saw Mira at the edge of the hole he'd been thrown into, her back to him but her intention obviously to help if he needed it. Arheis got to his feet and exchanged a quick nod with the woman as she pulled out the censer he'd gotten her. With a spark thrown from a firestarter, the bundle of herbs within began to smoke, letting off a sweet aroma that made Arheis feel a little sleepy.
It seemed to have more of an effect on the Petravor, though. The creature had lifted itself up and was preparing to slam one of its limbs down on a sprinting Zindar when the herbs hit its nose. The fleshy pink protrusion on its snout twitched, and suddenly the beast slowed as though it was moving through thick mud. The blow struck the ground, Zindar having enough time to not just get away, but spring backward in a flip that had him slashing his blades over the Petravor's shoulder, just below the plating.