by R. A. Mejia
And just like that, I start to piece together my play style. The two of us consult the abilities and skill listings, and I find many basic and advanced skills that aren’t class based. There are even a few rare ones listed, but they’re out of my price range, which is a shame because I would have liked to purchase the ability to shape shift or make a copy of myself.
Passive SkillsCost
Dodge1 gold
Evade5 gold
Active AbilitiesCost
Roll50 copper
Leap1 silver
Sidestep1 silver
Spring2 silver
Bolt3 silver
Ghost Step20 silver
Fade25 silver
Shadow Clone50 silver
Mist1 gold
Phantom Copy10 gold
After inquiring about what each of the abilities and skills does, I just wish I had the money to buy them all. The passive skills [Dodge] and [Evade] both increase your ability to avoid damage, but [Dodge] only applies to physical attacks. [Evade] applies to both physical and magical damage. Both skills start off with small bonuses, and they grow over time as you increase the skill, which means I could be a dodging machine if I level up both. The active abilities don’t improve over time like a skill and usually cost you stamina to use. Most of them are movement-based abilities that make you quicker or move you in a particular direction at the cost of stamina. [Roll], for example, will let you roll away for ten stamina. The only problem with [Roll] is that it sends you in a random direction. You’re better off just rolling on your own without the ability’s speed boost. [Leap], [Spring], and [Bolt] let you move quickly in a chosen direction for one or more steps. They are solid movement abilities, but they have large stamina costs. [Bolt], for example, lets you take up to three steps in any direction at a speed increase of 100% but costs fifty stamina and has a one-hour cooldown--not that useful for me when I only have sixty-five stamina to use the entire fight. [Side Step] is a rare exception to this general rule of movement abilities. Instead of costing stamina, it costs mana. The downside is that it’s a little random. Literally. The ability apparently shifts you one step to the left or right instantaneously, but you don’t know which it will be. There’s no cool down on it, which means you can spam it, but you also risk going somewhere you never meant to. The more expensive active abilities have even higher stamina costs but transform you in some way. [Mist] actually makes you incorporeal for one second. [Shadow Clone] makes physical copies of you that have 10% of your stats.
However attractive all these skills and abilities are, I only have so much money. I decide to spend my one gold on [Dodge] because, frankly, it’s always going to be working for me as a passive skill, and it’s the one I can afford. I really wish I had enough to buy [Sidestep] and [Shadow Clone]. With my lower stamina pool, [Sidestep] seems like it’ll be useful. As for [Shadow Clone], well, what self-respecting Naruto fan wouldn’t want to buy that? When I casually bring up borrowing a silver from Sonya to buy the ability, her response is surprising.
“I don’t normally lend money to my boyfriends. It sets a bad precedent for the relationship.” The statement makes sense. I mean, who wants to be with a moocher? I almost tell her to forget about it, but she continues, “But you’ve been pretty good with your money since I’ve met you, and you have built up credit with me.” She pulls the silver out of her inventory and hands it to me. I give her a kiss on the cheek and thank her.
“Oh, you’re welcome. Just remember how generous I was the next time you go present shopping for me.”
Hmm. Somehow, I feel like this one borrowed silver is going to cost me many more in return. I decide to purchase [Sidestep] and [Shadow Clone], knowing I’d already planned to spend some money on that fancy dagger she wanted. It takes about an hour for the two individuals that have the skills I want to show up. The one that knows [Dodge] is a lean fellow dressed in all black. He places his hands on my head, transfers the skill to me, and then leaves after getting paid. The fellow that transfers [Sidestep] and [Shadow Clone] isn’t a fellow at all. Rather, she’s a cute lady mage with big, blue eyes. I try not to stare, especially since Sonya is standing right next to me, but I unconsciously let out a low sigh of pleasure when her cool, soft, hands touch my temples and transfer the skill. The mage quickly leaves after getting paid in no small part because of the scowl Sonya is giving her while I look over the descriptions of my new skills and ability.
Dodge
This skill allows the user to potentially dodge physical damage. At higher levels, the skill is said to imbue its user with a sixth sense about danger.
Beginner 1
User is 10% more likely to dodge a physical attack.
Sidestep
A magic-fueled ability that instantly moves the user to either the left or the right. You just never know exactly which it will be. Only usable when the user is unencumbered.
Mana Cost: 10
Cooldown: 0 minutes
Shadow Clone
Create a clone of yourself. The clone will behave and look just like you but have 10% of your stats and skills. It will have all your abilities, though it may not be able to use them if stat requirements are not met. The clone exists as long as the mana upkeep is met. But if mana upkeep is not met, or if the clone is killed, the clone’s duration ends. The clone may be released without penalty by grasping the clone’s hands and having it merge with the user.
Mana Cost: 50 mana to summon
Upkeep cost: 10 mana/minute
Duration: The clone exists as long as the mana upkeep is met.
Cooldown: 1 hour
After finally finishing shopping for the abilities and skills we could afford, it’s nearing evening, and we decide to get some dinner. There’s a restaurant that Sonya wants to try, and I’m hungry enough to eat just about anything. As we walk to the restaurant district, I think I see a man with spiky blonde hair watching us, but when I turn, he’s gone. I chalk it up to my imagination.
Dinner at the restaurant is superb. Sonya picks a place that serves thin slices of meat that we cook ourselves on a hot plate right at the table. We eat vegetables and spicy yellow rice with the meat. We both drink glasses of thick, dark beer, and while I’m concerned about Sonya drinking in her condition, I also recall that normal water isn’t particularly safe in a medieval society either. Still, it’s something the two of us can talk about another time. By the end of our meal, I just sit at the table, my belly bloated. Thankfully, the tunic I’m wearing lets my tummy stretch a bit without being restrictive. Sonya excuses herself to use the lady’s room, and I sit there enjoying the last of my drink. While I wait, I pay for the meal and think about what it will be like to have a kid. Sure, there’s the infant stage with the crying and changing of diapers, but you get a pretty adorable baby to love in exchange.
I’m a bit lost wondering if they have diapers on Terra or if they have something else when I realize that Sonya isn’t back yet. It’s been a little while, and just as I’m about to get up to go check on her, a shadow falls over me. I look up from my seat and see a big, brawny man with a pock-marked face. He twirls his curly, black mustache and sits down across from me. “Hello, Armon.”
“Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met. Is it your usual custom to sit where you haven’t been invited?”
The man chuckles. “Well, while we’ve never officially met, I feel like I know you quite well. Armon. Artificer level 5. Friends with Sonya and Vrax. You’ve also been seen in the company of a Human male and a fairy. You train at the Familia Pontius house. You’re just about to have your first Silver Level fight. Am I missing anything?”
The hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something about this guy is setting off my ‘stranger danger’ senses. “Hmm . . . No, I think you’ve hit most of the big points. But you still haven’t told me your name.”
“Oh, I haven’t? How rude of me.” The mustached man places a hand on his chest. “My name is Kyle.”
The name sparks a memory, and I pull one o
f the gladiator challenges we’d received that morning from my inventory. I look from it to the man in front of me. “You’re ‘Killer’ Kyle.”
The man nods his head in acknowledgment. “Yes, that’s me. I’d hoped you would figure out the connection. It will save me some time.” He catches me looking past him towards the lady’s room. “Oh, don’t worry. Your date is just fine. My partner, 'Myrmidon' Myers has her. He’s a quick fellow and was able to slip a little something special into her drink. She’s probably off sleeping right now. As long as you and your buddy Vrax do what we say, she’ll be fine.”
I grip the table hard to stop myself from reaching across to throttle the man. “What is it that you want?”
He smiles, and his curly mustache bobs up and down as he does so. “Why, only to meet you in the Colosseum. You have my challenge right there, and no doubt, you also have one from Myers. Just go to the Colosseum administration and accept the challenges. Once we finish beating you both, she’ll be set free.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“What’s to stop me from grabbing you now and beating you until you tell me where you’re taking her?”
Kyle laughs, but a hard look enters his eye, and his health bar appears above his head. I look above him and see ‘Killer’ Kyle, Level 7 Warrior. “You’re more than free to try to beat me now, Artificer. But even if you could somehow manage to win, I simply don’t know where Myers is keeping her. It’s a safeguard.”
Thoughts race through my mind. How can I fix this? How can I save Sonya? But realize that I’m completely and utterly powerless here. It’s a painful and frustrating experience to know that you have no way to help someone you care about other than doing what her kidnappers say. I lower my head, defeated. “Okay. You win. I’ll go get Vrax right now and go to the Colosseum. We’ll accept your challenge. How will we let you know when we’ve done what you’ve asked?”
“Don’t worry. We should get notified about the match’s date by tomorrow. If we aren’t, then we’ll know you’ve broken your word and don’t really care about the lady.”
I leave the building immediately and head home. No one is there except for Vrax, and I grab him by the arm and pull him out the door.
“Don’t talk right now, Vrax. I need your help, someone has taken Sonya and we have to go and accept that fight we got challenged to, or they will hurt her.”
Vrax listens intently and then nods, acknowledging my direction. He follows, but along the way, says with deadly menace in his voice, “We do what they say, but we hurt them later after we save Sonya, yes?”
I grit my teeth and hear my own voice growl, “Yes, yes, they will hurt for this.”
We get to the Colosseum just as they’re closing up their offices for the day, but we make it in time to register our acceptance of the challenges from the two kidnappers. The walk home is long and slow. My mind bounces back and forth between anger and fear like it's the ball in a ping pong game. I can’t help but worry at what those two monsters are doing to my Sonya. Images of her tied up and beaten flash through my mind. I fear what they’ll do if I’m not compliant with their demands and if they’ll even keep their word about releasing her. Then I feel my heart burn with righteous anger, and I imagine what I’ll do to those bastards after we find Sonya. If they’ve even hurt a single hair on her head, they’ll pay for it in blood.
By the time we get home, night has fallen, and the blacksmith shop is closed. There are lights in the house, and I hear Keans’ voice. I pause before opening the front door, not sure how the rogue is going to take the news. I’ll have to phrase it just right, or he may try to find and rescue her all on his own. I don’t doubt his abilities, but I just can’t take the chance of those guys hurting her. I take a deep breath and open the door. My heart drops at what I see. There, sitting across from Keans and Mary, is the most beautiful sight my eyes have ever beheld: Sonya, safe and sound. I run to her, fall to my knees, and hug her, and tears run freely down my cheeks.
“You’re safe. You’re safe.” That’s all I can mutter while I embrace the woman I love. She hugs me back, but I hold on just a moment more before releasing her and examining her face and body. “Did they hurt you? How did you escape?”
Sonya takes my face in her hands and looks me in the eye. “Don’t worry. I’m fine. It’ll take a lot more than some cheap sleeping potion to knock me out for long. I woke up while they were trying to haul me down the street. They were surprised that I came to so soon, but I was able to get my sword from my inventory and cut through the ropes binding me. They weren’t prepared to take on someone that could fight back and ran off, which was just fine with me. I was still a bit woozy from whatever they used to drug me, but I found a guard shortly after, and he got me an antidote that cleared up the aftereffects of the sleeping potion. The guys that ran away were masked, and the guards couldn’t find them, so I came home after I found that you’d left the restaurant. I knew you’d be worried.”
I breathe a sigh of relief and wipe away the tears from my eyes. I recall that the two of us aren’t alone and tell them what happened in the restaurant. Keans is predictably angry and thinks we should report the two to the Lanista or the Gladiator Commission, but I point out that we don’t actually have any proof that they did anything. As far as we can prove, two random guys in masks tried to kidnap Sonya.
While I’m explaining this, it occurs to me how horrible a person I am. I quickly turn to Sonya and put my hand on her flat stomach. “I’m so sorry. I forgot to ask. Is everything all right with . . .” I hesitate to mention the pregnancy. I know some people are superstitious about announcing that kind of thing before the second trimester. But I just have to know. I whisper the words, “With the baby.”
Sonya’s eyes pop open wider than I thought possible. But I guess I didn’t whisper quietly enough because both Keans and Mary yell, “The baby?!?!”
Mary flies between Sonya and me and squeals, “You two are having a baby? Oh, how wonderful. I’m going to be an auntie!” She continues on speaking a mile a minute. “You two will have to get your own place, and the baby will need clothes. But that means we get to shop for baby clothes! Oh, and you should totally name it Wesley if it’s a boy and Buttercup if it’s a girl. I love that movie so much.”
I tune out my fairy friend’s rapid speech and Keans laughs and claps me on the back. “Congratulations, boy. It’s a blessing to have children.” He glances at Sonya. “I’m a little more than envious of your good fortune.”
I smile at Keans but feel Vrax’s taloned claws on my back and turn to see his happy smile. He’s about to say something, but a moment later, there’s a loud scream from the woman I love. She stands up and knocks me on my butt, an angry look in her eye. “What baby are you talking about?”
The room goes silent as the implications of my claiming Sonya is pregnant and her not knowing about it hits everyone. Mary, still hovering in the air, flies up next to Sonya, and I hear her mutter, “You dirty cheater.”
I quickly raise my arms and yell, “No! I’d never cheat on Sonya! I meant our baby!”
Sonya’s expression turns from anger to confusion. “Our baby? You think I’m pregnant? Is that why you offered to carry my sword around today and gave me that funny look when I was drinking that beer?”
Now, it’s my turn to feel confused. “Aren’t you? I heard what you and Vrax were talking about this morning. I put two and two together.”
Sonya’s expression softens, and she leans down and helps me to my feet. Then she gives me a great big kiss on my lips. “We were just discussing what the customs of the Red Claw Tribe were and what would be expected of me if I joined the tribe as your wife. Vrax was worried I didn’t understand all the things I’d be expected to do.”
I feel a slap on my back and turn to see Vrax looking up at me sadly. “So, I no going to be Uncle Vrax then?”
My heart breaks a little at the question. I shake my head sadly, realizing that I’m not going to be a fa
ther after all. I look down at my friend. “No, buddy, I guess not yet. I’m sad about it too.”
Sonya hugs me again and whispers, “It’s awfully nice to know that you’d take that kind of news so well, but we’ve only started our journey together. You only just promised me that we’d move in together this morning . . .” She pulls back and eyes me funny. “Did you only offer to make a home for us because you thought you’d gotten me pregnant?”
I feel my left cheek twitch. “Uh . . . Maybe. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t mean it. Even if we aren’t starting a family, that doesn’t mean the two of us can’t start a life together after this whole thing is resolved.”
Mary looks between Sonya and me and asks in an unsure tone, “So, no baby? But yaaay for shacking up?”
Sonya nods happily, and the group laughs at the whole confusing situation. We’re happy that Sonya was able to get free, but we also have a ton of planning to do if we’re going to make those two gladiators in the arena pay.
Chapter 32
The next day, I’m so happy that Sonya is safe and sound. I kiss her forehead without waking her as I get up extra early to try out my newly-purchased abilities. The sun is only barely rising when I walk into the Familia Pontius training yard. No one else is up yet, and for once, I have all the equipment to myself. I face off against one of the training dummies along the back wall and start to shadow box. I pretend that the training dummy is ‘Killer Kyle’ and start to punch the thing.