by Dakota Krout
Feeling better about the sheer amount of aspects that he could access, at least for Novice-ranked things, Joe drew out a simple circle and let it sit on the ground. Major General Havoc watched with great interest and tried to figure out what exactly the circle was supposed to be doing. Joe let him study it for a long moment, but before the Dwarf was forced to ask, Joe activated the ritual and stepped back.
The circle lit up, glowing a deep red light, slowly shifting to blue and back again. Havok waited for an explanation, but Joe was watching the circle happily. “This is very nice, sure… but just tell me. What does it do?”
Reductionist Class experience gained: 1!
“It makes pretty lights. This thing is the equivalent to a cantrip, only technically a Novice ritual, and they really don't do much. Also, it looks like I figured out how to gain experience. I need to use the aspects that I collect by making something out of them,” Joe answered easily, a huge smile on his face. With every bit of acquired information, the more and the faster he could grow. “I'm just happy because I didn’t have to add any other components than aspects. I used to have to break out silver, small carbon filaments, and very thin glass for this ritual, so I never bothered to make it. Essentially, I’ve made a magical version of a glass light bulb.”
“You mean a Nixie tube?” Havoc ventured after a moment, trying to translate Joe’s explanation into terms that he understood.
“You have light bulbs?” Joe gaped at the Dwarf, who seemed affronted at the surprise in the human’s voice.
Havoc harrumphed and glared at Joe through his thick mirrored goggles. “Our technology has been at your level of modern for literally thousands of years. There's not much you can't do when you have magic and science. The things our magitech can do would make you fear for your sanity. Anyway, what's the point of this light? Why did you make it?”
“I made it to show that I could make it,” Joe explained after a moment of contemplation. It made sense that their technology was more advanced than he was used to; they did have various golems and other technological wonders. It was just hard to rectify people who used crossbows and hammers in combat with people who were technological savants. That, and the only people he had met were… Legion. “I also explored how to work with enchanting, alchemy, and blacksmithing. I should-”
Joe paused, horror on his face. “I forgot to figure out how to make buildings! Son of the abyss! I… wait, no. That is just rituals. I'm okay.”
“Calm down, human. Was there something in that coffee you drank?” Havoc muttered disparagingly. “Or is this just a normal human thing? Questioning yourself out of nowhere and panicking for no apparent reason? You talk aloud frequently.”
“Yes, that is a very human thing.” Joe nodded seriously. Havoc winced at the thought of an entire race having anxiety for no good reason. “I learned that I can break down pretty much anything into aspects, and use that energy directly in the crafting of other materials, goods… basically anything, as long as I have access to the needed ranks of the discipline.”
Havoc took a short pull from his cigar, which was burning down to a small nub at this point. “I could see a few uses for this. Let's talk this out. You have six months to complete your quest for Officer Candidacy. It sounds like you want your big goal to be wiping out a few Elven forts, but if I may make a suggestion… there are a few other things we could really use as a Dwarven Oligarchy. No one ever said that you had to do one big thing; if you did a bunch of small things that added up over time… things that help the nation…”
“I can reach nobility by doing small things?” Joe didn't buy it. The quest clearly stated… actually, no it didn't. It hadn't said that only one thing counted; it simply let him know that everything would be tallied. All of the positives, all of the negatives. If his net positive was enough to help the entire race of Dwarves, that was how he would gain nobility. “I see. What did you have in mind, Havoc?”
“You remember that mana potion that I gave you? I mentioned that we have only one Alchemist for our entire people?” Havoc waited for Joe’s nod. “The reason behind that is that alchemy is a specialty of the Elves. People who are good at it are seen with suspicion, unless they are so good that they can produce enough to help everyone. Actually, let me amend my previous statement. When I say we only have one Alchemist, I mean only one who will practice publicly.”
“You want me to… what? Make alchemical goods? I can't do it; I only have access to making ritual specific potions and whatnot.” Joe was going to go on, but Havoc raised a hand to slow him down.
“Your class; not your current one, your previous one, the builder. Rituarchitect. I have read about that in our records. That used to be something that was a fairly common class, but it died out. Not sure why. You can create buildings and such, yes?” Joe responded in the affirmative to Havoc’s question, so the Dwarf hurried to finish his train of thought. “Our Alchemist is working in a Common Alchemist workshop. If you could benefit him enough, make his production go through the roof, what he does from that point on might count as you creating a benefit for us. What do you think? Worth a shot?”
“I'm on board.” Joe contemplated one of his other quests that was still in progress, where he needed to make a new workshop for Jake the Alchemist. He could practice and refine the workshop he created and outfitted with the Dwarven Alchemist as a practice run. “Do you have any blueprints for alchemy shops? I can get started right away!”
Havoc stared Joe down, long enough that Joe started to get uncomfortable. “You realize that we are masters at creating buildings and architecture, correct? Have you considered that if we had the blueprints to an alchemy workshop that was better than what we have currently, we would have already built it? No, of course not. Fact of the matter is, it takes an Alchemist of a higher level working in conjunction with an architect in order to create a building that is specific to them. Our guy is not there yet, and it will be years until he is. Unless, of course, he is able to work in a better workshop. Then he would progress faster…”
Joe caught on to what Havoc was getting at. “That would also help my case.”
“Exactly. Here’s the hard part. You want to get a better place, you gotta steal it. If you can get into a major fort occupied by Elves, they’re almost guaranteed to have an Uncommon alchemist workshop. At minimum. If you can get into one deeper in their territory, you are looking at Rare, or something better. If you get into their capital? There are rumors of a Legendary alchemist’s workshop.” Havoc caught the flash of greed that crossed Joe's face, and he approved of it. “What you need to do is sneak into a fort and see how they are laid out. It's chaos every single time, since they just throw up buildings willy-nilly. Nothing like us; we plan our cities. Still, at least you would get a glimpse of what the building would look like.”
“Can we make that happen?” Joe had to swallow his excitement. Perhaps it was because he had been with the Legionnaires for so long, but it took a hard question by Havoc to bring him back to reality.
“Are you ready to go into a fort?” Havoc looked at the dark cloak that Joe was wrapped in, the giant Cube that contained all of his compressed and destroyed materials within it, and the human’s weaponless hands. “Looks to me like you would get splattered across the ground if an Elf looked at you funny; and I gotta warn you, they are pretty funny lookin’. How about we get you outfitted and ready for combat before sending you to your death for no particular reason? What do you need?”
Joe barely needed to think about it. “In terms of weapons and armor… I have a cloak and a codpiece. Hard stop. My Cores are somewhere in that Cube, so I am going to be stuck using rituals that are under Rare quality. I need a weapon, as well as clothes or armor, and aspects. Any chance that you have access to lots of gear or weapons that you don't need? Maybe a little-used workshop I can reduce for aspects?”
Havoc looked at Joe, and a slow smile started spreading across his bearded face. Joe didn't particularly enjoy the look of it, but before
he could run for the hills, Havoc grasped his arm in a vice-like grip and started walking. “I can do you one better. Have you ever been in a Dwarven landfill before?”
Chapter Fourteen
Major General Havoc absolutely abused the ability to transfer between major forts. Every time someone tried to call him out on it, he would just point at Joe and mutter ‘Candidate rights’. Every time they needed to walk from one area to another, the Dwarf would loudly talk about the area, as if he was trying to prepare Joe for a mission. Not a single person dared to actually stop them, which was what Joe assumed the point was. Act confident, like you belong there, and people look the other way. “Over here is the Fields of Blood; it was one of my first conquests. The scars are still healing, hee…”
“See that?” Havoc pointed at a pillar of smoke in the distance. “Minor fort that got hit by a meteor recently. Pointy-ear mass-murdering beasts.”
Joe decided against pointing out that he had proudly just pointed out the ‘Fields of Blood’. A place didn’t earn a name like that casually.
“Over there is the rest and relaxation area. The light one contains the Caves of Solitude, one of the best places to try out new things without interruption.” On one of their last stops, Havoc waved at two mountains that appeared tiny due to the sheer distance. “The dark one is Gramma’s Shoe, the most active volcano on all the planes. Practically an eruption every week. It’s so dangerous to be nearby that it’s almost the only place in this Zone that hasn’t been a battleground. Even though we can see it, that’s a three-day forced march from here. I point these out so that this next transfer means even more to you.”
“On to the Capital.” One last flash of light, and Havoc pointed to the mountains again. “See that? Now they’re only about a full day’s march from here. That should give you a clue to how vast our territory is, as well as how much uninterrupted supply lines between forts means to our people.”
There was one final surprise on the trip, right as they were finishing their journey. Somebody zipped past the two of them so quickly that Joe could only make out a blur. A panicked voice trailed after them, “Oh-abyss-someone-help!”
Joe stared after the afterimage that was already vanishing into the distance, before turning to Havoc, “What was that? Should we go and help whoever that was? Was there an attack?”
“Yeah… don’t worry about her.” Havoc shook his head and looked at the ground. “There’s no help for her. One of you humans decided to focus way too hard on one single skill, specializing over and over again in the same thing without getting the characteristics required to properly use it.”
“What… um. Any idea what she did?” Joe couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor lady; he too had done things that he should not have been able to do. He rubbed his hand over his bald head as he reminisced.
Havoc started to chuckle, which seemed fairly out of character for him. “I know exactly what she did. She specialized in ‘power walking’. Apparently, that was a form of getting healthy back in your world, and she was addicted to what she called ‘mall walking’. Anyway… she was working as a courier, back on Midgard, and specialized three times in movement-type classes. She put everything she had into dexterity and constitution, then hopped on the Bifrost. She's been here ever since, steadily increasing her body stats. Unfortunately for her… her perception is somewhere in the first tier still. Once she starts moving, she can't see where she is going, and moves in pretty much a straight line until she runs into something. Screams the whole time. Pretty funny, actually.”
“That's horrible! Can’t you-” Joe was going to say more, but Havoc cut him off. The human looked around, noticing the utterly massive city they were in. They had to be up on a mountain; the view gave that away. They were in the fortress area, nearly at the summit itself. For some reason, Havoc grabbed him and ran away from the fort, and Joe’s view dissolved into streaks as they travelled downhill. When they finally stopped, they had crossed several districts and a huge park, almost reaching the outer wall. “What was that all about?”
“Either the restraining order or the warrant was going to start messing with me if we hadn’t hurried.”
“The what?” Joe opened his mouth to press for more information, but Havoc shook his head.
“Enough now. Game face on; we're here. Now, once you go in there, you're going to have to make your way to a door if you want to get out. Here is the security code, which you’ll need in order to open the door from the inside. Watch out; such a huge area filled with gear, even busted, tends to draw scavengers. Doesn’t matter if they’re animals, monsters, or people. I recommend finding a door, then working until you get what you need.” Havoc waved toward a garbage can that was on the side of the street. “Well? What are you waiting for? Everyone puts every failure into the landfill. There are almost certainly going to be things in there you can break down, all the way to the Mythical tier! You just need to find them.”
“You want me to get into the garbage can?” Joe could not quite get past that fact. “Then just… what? Root around for a while?”
“Basically… yes.” Havoc pulled the lid of the garbage can off, and it expanded wide enough for Joe to fit through sideways, if he wanted. “Take a week. Fill up on aspects.”
“But I need weapons! Armor! Supplies?” Joe took a step back from the crazy Dwarf. Nothing that he said was swaying the Dwarf in the slightest.
“Fill. Up. Consider it a very, very important test.” Havoc chuckled darkly and gestured at the opening. “You can requisition anything you need… but you won't know what exists unless someone tells you about it. Do this my way, survive a week down there at a minimum, and I will get you a weapon that fits your class and abilities. I'll even get you someone that can teach you to use it properly.”
Joe tried to protest, so Havoc simply raised his voice to talk over him. “Here's a hint: the doors are spaced one hundred feet apart, and every ten feet vertically. The walls will have measurements on them. If you can clean enough of the muck off, you will be able to find your way pretty easily.”
Quest offered: The Treasure of Trash. Havoc wants you to go into a landfill within the Dwarven capital. If you survive a week, he will get you a weapon specific to your class. He is definitely not trying to use you to solve the massive garbage issue the Dwarven people have been concerned about for a decade or so. Rewards: new weapon, minimum Rare rank. Failure: upon death within one week, no additional assistance will be offered from Havoc besides the minimum he is required to provide.
“Seriously, man?” Joe was about to argue, but the quest acceptance button suddenly gained a ten-second timer. The human plodded forward, grumbling the entire way, then pulled himself up onto the edge of the trash can and glared at Havoc. “You had better put together some amazing intel for me.”
The human slid forward and started dropping. The tube was either magically slick, or just… Joe decided to think of it as magically slick. It was not slimy. He heaved for breath; the air was absolutely ripe. “Don't look at the wall you’re sliding on. Don’t do it, Joe. Ugh…! I looked.”
Debuff added: Legionnaires’ disease. You can expect a cough, shortness of breath, high fever, muscle pains, and headaches!
Joe landed heavily, plopping directly on some shards of metal that dug into his skin, only stopping once they hit bone.
Damage taken: 40 (fall damage halved due to Jumplomancer skills!)
“Ugh…” Joe groaned as he yanked the shards out of himself. “Mend. When did I turn my shell off?”
Please note that teleportation between fortresses deactivates any passive Buffs or spells which are not permanent enchantments! This is to ensure that reinforcements to fortresses must include healers and others that can add buffs.
Debuffs added! As there are multiple, they have been broken down into easy categories for explanation!
Bacterial diseases include:
· salmonellosis
· shigellosis
· staphylococcus<
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· tetanus
Viral diseases include:
· gastroenteritis
Parasitic diseases include:
· hookworm
· threadworm
· roundworm
“All buffs are deactivated? Abyss!” Joe stopped reading and activated Neutrality Aura as fast as he could. The stench lessened instantly, but he was still getting a lungful of filth with every breath. A few seconds of coughing later, his head stopped swimming long enough that he could read his messages again.
Calculating… as each of these were rapidly introduced and have not had any time to set in, Neutrality Aura has resolved each issue. Please note: you are in a toxic environment. Neutrality Aura, subcomponent ‘gas exchange’, is lowering the damage you are taking over time.
Debuff added: Toxic… everything. All air, ground, and liquids in the area are toxic. -10 health per second. Neutrality Aura is regenerating Health at 30 health per second. Damage is cancelled out, but please note that you are currently in a downdraft of fresh air.
Joe stared at all of the information that had appeared in the last few seconds, his hands literally shaking with rage at being tossed down here by the ‘mentor’ he had been assigned. Joe was at least starting to understand why being assigned to him was considered a punishment. He had thought it was because Havoc didn’t like people, but it turns out it was because the madman was just ready to abuse anyone in his command under the guise of an ‘experiment’. The fortress that had been empty, except for the two of them, should have tipped him off; but there was nothing Joe could do at this point except try to power on.
“I would already be dead without this skill… at least I won't have to drink anything down here. Hooray for passive hydration… that’s… pulling water from the area around me. Ew.” Joe closed his eyes and powered up his Exquisite Shell, absolutely ready to not take any more damage from stepping or falling on something. He peered around the absolutely dark area, as happy as ever with his passive Darkvision. He was standing in a… the mountain the Capital was built on must have been hollowed out; that was the only reason he could come up with to explain the immense cavern.