It was no time to rest. I collapsed most of my [Parallel Thoughts], moving to help people while checking on my notifications at the same time. They were of all different races, and their clothes suggested almost as many origins as people.
“It’s alright.” I said in High Elvish, the cadence of the language having a pleasant lilt, and my tone hopefully conveying the rest. “You’re safe now.”
One by one, I used a fine line of [Nova Lance] to burn twin lines through their manacles, protecting their wrists and ankles from the molten iron with [Mantle]. The first man I freed tried to shy away from me at first - burning holes in people wasn’t exactly a great first impression, as well as everyone exploding at the same time I’d shown up - but after burning his chains off, the rest were almost eager for my attention.
Another part of me was checking on my notifications.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 524->525 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
I’d spent half the winter drilling with the Legions, and had gotten a pair of levels out of it. It had been some time since my last one, and while the healing just now hadn’t been hard on my power, it had been a very technically difficult maneuver.
I seemed to be on the right side of the leveling curve. Each level took more experience than the last one - nevermind how opaque actual experience was - and people often found themselves on the ‘wrong side’ of things, where their higher levels didn’t make it easier for them to level enough to offset the increased experience, and so they slowed down quite a bit. [Lust for Lore] helped a lot, and the more levels I got in [Ancient Loremaster of Legend], the faster everything went.
I wondered if it was possible to get an experience buff strong enough that each level would be easier than the previous level. That would be pretty broken. And neat.
Nothing I knew said it was impossible…
The high quality classes I had, and the bountiful opportunities I found as War Sentinel were keeping me on the right side of things, getting a slow but steady number of levels. The years I’d spent helping Auri catch up were helping out as well, the little phoenix’s shared experience going to all my classes - [The Dawn Sentinel] included.
Of course, I was also splitting my experience with her. It all worked out.
[*ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 495 -> 496]
Speaking of curves - I suspected [Mantle] was going to fall off, although I’d gamely kept it up so far.
[Cosmic Presence] was one I was hoping would get a workout in the Han.
I wanted to slap myself at the thought.
If [Cosmic Presence] was getting a workout, that meant dozens of people were getting injured in a way I couldn’t quickly or easily fix, and on the scale of things that I was likely to tackle? More like hundreds or thousands.
[*ding!* [Rapid Reshelving] leveled up! 103 -> 104]
Only a few teleports, and a full level. Hurray! The skill was a pain to level, and I was worried about my class quality if I didn’t max it before classing up [Loremaster].
[*ding!* [Parallel Thoughts]leveled up! 233 -> 234]
[*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 95 -> 96]
[*ding!* [Imbue] leveled up! 202 -> 205]
Oh hey, doing things in a completely new way helped [Imbue]! No surprises there, and while I wanted to see if there were fancier ways I could make things happen, I hadn’t exactly thought about ‘what’s a good situation where I can burn through people AND heal them at the same time’ before.
Levels were levels, and I wasn’t going to complain.
I finished the manacles and checked on Nina, somewhat concerned that she’d passed out. That wasn’t healthy, and I was a little worried. My healing should be able to cure anything mundane.
A thorough examination revealed that she was simply exhausted, snoring happily on the sharp stone floor. Most of the slaves were eyeing me warily, wondering what was next.
I teleported myself into [Vault of Ages], reorienting myself as I came into the space. Interestingly, I always entered in the same room, rather than the last room I’d been in, and the [Vault] didn’t care for 2-D construction. Rooms were on all sides of me, including above and below, and I had to push off walls to move around.
Or just fly. But this was the only place where I could bounce off the walls. It felt like heresy to say so, a most blasphemous statement, but flying was almost not-fun here, not when there were so many more interesting ways to get around.
It was fun, forcing myself to expand my thinking. With no gravity, every direction could be up! Or down! It was all a matter of perspective.
I snagged a mango I’d left for myself in the ‘entry room’, cursing out past-me for being a greedy guts and 1) Not stocking enough, and 2) for eating a few every time I came in here… then mentally shouting at future-me’s inevitable cursing of present-me for eating this mango here and now.
I was going through the storage! It only made sense to grab three mangos! It wasn’t like I was eating a dozen of them, sheesh. It was a very reasonable one-time snack.
I pushed off the ceiling- now the ground, by mental decree - and shot through the open door. I snagged the edge with my hand as I passed, changing what direction was ‘up’ and shooting to another room. I snagged a pillow as I passed by, then tightened the straps keeping my bedding tight and in one place. Downside to no gravity - things wanted to drift around, and I had to be constantly vigilant to keep everything neat, organized, and in their place. I knew I had a strong tendency to just… let things be, do what needed to be done in the moment, and let everything go to hell behind me.
Except, if I let that happen, I’d suffer for it, so I was putting forth a strong effort to keep things organized. The moment my vigilance relaxed a hair, it’d all go to hell in a handbasket. f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com
I kicked off a wall, now a floor, and shot through a few more rooms before ending up in one of my armories. I still had the Legion-standard armor on, and I spent a few seconds [Rapid Reshelving] it to an open stand, and putting on a simple tunic. Then I hit the ceiling, did a fancy handstand and flip, and presto! It was now the floor, and I was shooting towards one of my pantries.
Everyone was malnourished and had been starving. Strong, rich food was a bad idea right now. At the same time, I’d made sure [Vault] was filled with good food - none of this soldier’s tack that was occasionally issued - so I spent a moment calculating what would be acceptable.
I settled on a single loaf of bread and a jug of water to start with. I wasn’t being stingy. Once people got that down, I’d start bringing out more food. I just didn’t want to accidentally kill anyone by feeding them.
I teleported out, slipping the pillow under Nina’s head. The lucky girl was still a teenager, she’d probably wake up and stretch once, and forget she’d ever slept on rock. Unlike Julius, who’d managed to hurt himself sleeping the wrong way.
I was paranoid about that. Sleep injuries seemed to happen to everyone, regardless of stats or levels. ‘Just part of getting old’. I hoped my biomancy changes, healing, and Immortality would prevent that… hurting myself sleeping sounded like it sucked!
Handing out bread to people was a little harder. Everyone was starving - literally - and nobody wanted to ‘only’ take the small amount I was breaking off. The language barriers didn’t help - I was sure I could eventually find a few languages that I spoke with various people, but that didn’t stop them descending upon me like wolves right now.
I wasn’t exactly physically intimidating, and while I had a decent presence, it just didn’t matter when people were starving. Instead, I found myself forced to break out chunks of bread and stuff them in hands, before dancing out of reach, darting over to redirect grasping hands from slaves trying to steal from each other, and repeating. The medusa’s snake-hair hissed and snapped at people, but even starving she had the presence of mind not to let them get too close to anybody. I didn’t need a fight erupting over hair, and the snakes were brightly colored, warning of a potent poison.
Coral snakes, if I was properly matching them to the book description. It was one thing to read about medusas and all the different types of snakes they could grow, and it was another to see them and try to identify them.
I couldn’t even properly smack the hands!
Iona showed up a few minutes later, and took in the scene at a glance. She started roaring orders at various people, and they immediately recognized their savior - and Iona being over 6 feet tall of pure muscle and armor helped immensely on the intimidation factor. They promptly fell in line, with no further issues.
I shot Iona an amused look, filled with love.
“Sometimes I hate you, you know that?” I said. The Valkyrie was kneeling next to Nina.
“I know. Everything alright with Nina?” She asked, peeling back an eyelid.
“Just exhaustion.” I confirmed. “She doesn’t have the stats or the skills to stay up for days on end, and basically passed out the moment she saw me.”
Iona grimaced and nodded.
“She did good.”
“Tell her that when she’s awake!” I said.
The next few hours went by smoothly. Iona and Fenrir left to find a ground settlement - carefully hidden from the air so the harpies couldn’t easily descend upon them - while I slowly brought out more food and water for people. Iona’s words had gotten them to stop fighting, and when it was clear that I was continuing to bring out food, they calmed right down.
Iona came back soon enough, we loaded everyone up, and brought them to the settlement she’d found. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t a long-term solution, but there was only so much we could practically do. At what point was someone saved? When their captors were dead? When their chains were broken? When they were freed from the prison? When they were at a safe place? When they were back home? When their home was rebuilt? Their livelihood?
Iona took a practical approach - get them to safety, then let them sort it out from there. It wasn’t ideal. Hardship was in their future, either integrating into a new community, probably one that had never seen the species they were, forever a mistrusted outsider, or attempt the long and perilous path back to their home with no resources.
It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t ideal. But it was something they could manage on their own.
Life was never perfect. I could fix a [Lumberjack’s] crushed legs, but I couldn’t fix the economic problems that led to him being in a dangerous position in the first place - or from going back to them. If he was lucky, the next tree wouldn’t come down on his head. I couldn’t fix poverty. I couldn’t fix crime. I couldn’t fix many of the underlying issues that generated patients.
Like the Han Empire. All I could do was heal people. I couldn’t solve every problem the Empire had that caused them to devolve into a civil war in the first place.
Iona and I dropped the last people off and went back to the cave where Nina was sleeping. I caught Iona up on what had happened in the short time she was gone, then I was a little mean. It had been a few hours, we both felt like it was time to get a move on. I found one of my extra-spicy dishes imported specially from Ralakar, and stuck it under her nose.
Her nose twitched as the spicy blend hit it, and I shielded the dish as she woke herself up with a mighty sneeze.
Too late I realized I’d missed the window for a great prank. Ah well.
Nina’s eyes went wide seeing the food, and Iona nodded.
“Eat up!” She said, and Nina didn’t even bother standing up before she started wolfing it down, snot trailing out of her nose as she wasn’t quite used to the spice level used.
Ah well. Hunger was the best spice after all. I grabbed a few more pillows, passed them out, grabbed a perch for Auri, and we all sat down. Except Fenrir, who was lying down on one of the massive floating rocks.
“Nina. Excellent job hanging on until Elaine arrived. You are a credit to the Order.” Iona said as Nina was licking the bottom of the bowl. My stomach growled - all this feeding of other people, and I’d completely forgotten myself.
Iona’s words were like sunlight for a flower. Nina beamed, proud as anything over the compliment.
“Curious what happened while I was gone though. There are fewer people than we left.” Iona said.
Nina’s ears drooped and she looked away from us, intensely studying the blood-stained walls.
“Brrrpt.” Auri tried to be reassuring, some flaming hands in various colors sending a message to Nina.
The squire took a deep breath, and started to speak.
“It all went to shit the moment you left.” She gestured around the room. “The big dude almost immediately started stormin’ around and yellin’, sayin’ how we were all doomed. How you’d - beggin’ your pardon - abandoned us to die, and there was no way you’d make it back in time. How if-” Nina choked up for a minute.
I hadn’t seen anyone there that I’d call ‘the big dude’.
“How if there were fewer of us, we’d all last longer. Fewer mouths to feed. More time on the dead man’s switch. There was an argument.”
Nina hung her head.
“I couldn’t do anything about it.” She mumbled. “Wasn’t strong enough. Wasn’t big enough. Had to keep feeding my mana in.” I pretended not to see the tears she was trying to hide. “Big dude threw the couple that was arguing with him out the cave.” Not said was the long, long fall they would’ve had, followed by the unpleasant end. “Another slave was a hero. Tackled him by the knees from behind, took both of them over the edge. Damage was done though. The thought of fewer people was stuck in everyone’s head. Nobody was forcin’ it. A few of the greybeards, they, they…”
Nina was practically bawling.
“They took the fast way out.” She cried. “They had the highest pull on the system. More time on the switch. Said she’d lived a full life, and…”
Iona wrapped Nina up in a hug, and I hovered nearby, trying to be comforting. Auri hopped onto Nina’s head, trying to wrap her wings around the kitsune.
“You saved eighteen lives today.” Iona said. “Eighteen people are free and clear. The slavers are dead. You pushed yourself. You acted honorably. It sounds like you did everything possible. I’d tell you not to beat yourself up over it, but I have the feeling that it’d fall on deaf ears.” Iona flicked Nina’s ears in a friendly way. “When you’re beating yourself up over it, critically examine what you could’ve done differently. ‘Being stronger’ isn’t an answer, that’s not a different action. ‘Fight and beat someone 10 times your level’ only works if you have a solid plan how that would happen against a foe with unknown skills. Stay practical, stay grounded, and know I’m proud of you. You’ve also hit level 32, and after this, I’d say you’re in a good position to take [Squire].”
That didn’t seem to cheer Nina up, she still looked miserable. I was staying well out of it.
“I’m a failure.” She mumbled.
“No, you’re not.” Iona’s tone and words were as strong as she could make them. “Listen…”
I was pretty sure I’d just be piling on if I joined in, and Iona seemed to have this well in hand. I teleported back into [Vault] and grabbed myself a meal - no idea where it was on my internal clock, that had gone all sideways - and worked on refilling my spellbooks, replacing used up spells and adding new ones that I’d thought of, all while trying to be a comforting or invisible presence.
Iona and Nina had a long discussion while Auri and I faded back a bit, eventually leaving the cave to hang out with Fenrir. One point I thought of that Iona and Nina did eventually bring up was the choice of courier. Iona had gone for good reasons, but perhaps Nina should’ve been the messenger instead.
It might’ve changed everything.
It might’ve changed nothing.
“You did great, you big lug.” I patted the side of his neck. “Iona’s giving Nina a bunch of credit right now, but we all know who the hero of the story is. The bold and dashing wyvern that flew through the day and night to bring aid.”
Fenrir chuffed happily at the compliment, and Auri started to strut in front of the wyvern, making her own complimentary brrpts at his deed. It was a group effort in the end, but with how quiet Fenrir was, I felt like it was all too easy to forget him.
“Brrpt?” Auri asked me, eyeing up Nina and Iona in the cave.
“If you think you’re in a good position to class up your second class, you should do it.” I agreed. “We’re going to a dangerous place, and getting levels could make the difference.”
“Brrpt…?”
“Only if you want to take your third class now. The same logic applies, but do you know what you want?”
Auri thought about it a bit, then shook her head.
“Brrpt.” She tweeted with determination.
“Yeah, splitting the difference is fine.” I sighed. “It’s impossible to know what the right call is at any point. Sometimes I still wonder about my other class options. What would my life be like if I’d chosen differently? Where would I be now? What would be different? What would be the same?”
Auri nodded like a wise sage, and in a serendipitous moment, both her and Nina had the sparkling lights indicating a class-up erupt around them at the same time.
“You got her?” I asked Fenrir, who shot me an evil eye at the question. I put my hands on my hips.
“It’s a fair and reasonable question, making sure we’re all on the same page.” I scolded. He snorted at me, nodding his head. I flew over to Iona.
“Everything good?” I asked, and she nodded her confirmation.
“Everything’s good. We need to get to the Han Empire after this, yeah?”
“As soon as possible.” I agreed.
“Have you worked out how you’ll find the Sixth again?” She asked. I pulled a face.
“They’re with the Wei. Fly around, ask questions, and we should find them soon enough. They’re attached to a huge-ass army, we’ve got skills for it. I’m not going to curse it by calling it easy, but it’s not like they’re trying to hide.” I said.
Iona clicked her tongue.
“I hope we can resupply before getting there.” She held up a hand to forestall what I was going to say. “I know, I know, you’re more than happy to share, but we cannot have enough supplies going into a war zone, and we’re a little depleted on our end.”
We discussed the logistics of it a little more as first Auri, then Nina came out of their class ups.
“BRRRPT!!!” Auri shrieked in joy over her offering.
“[Fireborn Immortal of the Resplendent Eruption].” Iona said. I gave Auri - really, moreso the System - a disbelieving look.
“Am I supposed to believe it’s some sort of coincidence that it spells out Fire?” Auri puffed up proudly at that one, in spite of having nothing to do with it.
“I think I liked [The Phoenix Everliving] more as a name.” I said.
“Brrrrrrpt!!” Auri protested strongly, mentioning that the class was dark purple and she’d just gained hundreds of levels in it. Her skills hadn’t changed too much, but that was alright, she liked them the way they were. They were already brrrefect.
Nina woke up shortly after, and to nobody’s surprise, had gotten two [Squire] classes.
“I already got offered a merger!” She was all excited over that. “But I know the plan was to get it at 256 so I held off.”
Iona held her hand out, and a mass of mallium, carefully controlled, came out of her hand, formed like an overly large mace. She broke it off and handed it to Nina.
“My gift to you for reaching the milestone.” She said. “Enough mallium to work as a morphic weapon. It’ll give you the ability to practice with any sort of weapon while we’re on the road, and who knows? Maybe it’ll end up fitting your style.”
Nina beamed as Iona handed her the gift.
It took a bit longer than I would’ve liked, but before long we were all up in the air, traveling towards the Han Empire.
The journey was unremarkable. We made good time, occasionally needing to go around a city or port, occasionally stopping by briefly for supplies. Soon we were traveling over Rolland, with Iona looking down nostalgically at the castles and pageantry, and the same day we saw the eruptions from the Tears of Vulcan.
And a battle in progress, two armies clashing in a half valley.
I pointed down. I didn’t need to say anything - Iona was already urging Fenrir into a dive.
There were people who needed help.
[Name: Aoife Auri Stentor]
[Race: Phoenix]
[Age: 6]
[Mana: 3,471,390/3,471,390]
[Mana Regen: 3,323,535]
Stats
[Free Stats: 0]
[Pushing Power: 30]
[Fancy Flying: 47,433]
[Reactions and Reflexes/Twitchiness: 50,078]
[Zippiness: 50,198]
[Kindling: 347,139]
[New Juice: 347,115]
[Flame Size: 303,812]
[Fire Control: 303,704]
[Class 1: [Phoenix of the Divine Flame - Inferno: Lv 525]]
[Inferno Authority: 525]
[Phoenix Rebirth: 5]
[Inferno Manipulation: 525]
[Inferno Conjuration: 525]
[True Flames: 525]
[Burn Magic: 525]
[Domain of Fire: 525]
[Auri's Meteor Storm: 525]
[Class 2: [Fireborn Immortal of the Resplended Eruption - Inferno: Lv 495]]
[See Magic: 495]
[Immolate: 495]
[Everything Burns: 495]
[Clinging Flames: 495]
[Burning Orbs: 495]
[Mage Hand: 495]
[I am the Brrrettiest: 495]
[Flame Selection: 495]
[Class 3: [Feather of the Flame - Fire: Lv 8]]
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General Skills
[Phoenix's Perfection: 525]
[Incandescence: 380]
[Adorable: 333]
[Precocious: 290]
[Companion Bond between Auri and Elaine: 525]
[Flying: 456]
[Preening: 525]
[Baking: 350]
[Name: Elaine]
[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]
[Age: 27]
[Mana: 1,576,260/1,576,260]
[Mana Regen: 1,206,013 (+1,970,913)]
Stats
[Free Stats: 0]
[Strength: 460]
[Dexterity: 18,748]
[Vitality: 41,186]
[Speed: 33,518]
[Mana: 157,626]
[Mana Regeneration: 157,673 (+197,091)]
[Magic Power: 166,810 (+4,378,763)]
[Magic Control: 166,589 (+4,372,961)]
[Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 525]]
[Celestial Affinity: 525]
[Cosmic Presence: 340]
[The Stars Never Fade: 17]
[Center of the Universe: 473]
[Dance with the Heavens: 525]
[Wheel of Sun and Moon: 525]
[Mantle of the Stars: 496]
[Sunrise: 475]
[Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 500]]
[Radiance Affinity: 500]
[Radiance Resistance: 500]
[Nova Lance: 500]
[Lepidoptera: 500]
[Nectar: 500]
[Solar Corona: 500]
[Scintillating Ascent: 500]
[Kaleidoscope: 500]
[Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 205]]
[Spatial Authority: 205]
[Manuscript Mastery: 205]
[Blink: 78]
[Loremaster's Library: 205]
[Vault of Ages: 21]
[Rapid Reshelving: 104]
[Astral Archives: 205]
[Lust for Lore: 205]
General Skills
[Long-Range Identify: 421]
[Parallel Thoughts: 234]
[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 525]
[The World Around Me: 96]
[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 525]
[Sentinel's Superiority: 525]
[Persistent Casting: 435]
[Imbue: 202]
It was no time to rest. I collapsed most of my [Parallel Thoughts], moving to help people while checking on my notifications at the same time. They were of all different races, and their clothes suggested almost as many origins as people.
“It’s alright.” I said in High Elvish, the cadence of the language having a pleasant lilt, and my tone hopefully conveying the rest. “You’re safe now.”
One by one, I used a fine line of [Nova Lance] to burn twin lines through their manacles, protecting their wrists and ankles from the molten iron with [Mantle]. The first man I freed tried to shy away from me at first - burning holes in people wasn’t exactly a great first impression, as well as everyone exploding at the same time I’d shown up - but after burning his chains off, the rest were almost eager for my attention.
Another part of me was checking on my notifications.
[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 524->525 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]
I’d spent half the winter drilling with the Legions, and had gotten a pair of levels out of it. It had been some time since my last one, and while the healing just now hadn’t been hard on my power, it had been a very technically difficult maneuver.
I seemed to be on the right side of the leveling curve. Each level took more experience than the last one - nevermind how opaque actual experience was - and people often found themselves on the ‘wrong side’ of things, where their higher levels didn’t make it easier for them to level enough to offset the increased experience, and so they slowed down quite a bit. [Lust for Lore] helped a lot, and the more levels I got in [Ancient Loremaster of Legend], the faster everything went.
I wondered if it was possible to get an experience buff strong enough that each level would be easier than the previous level. That would be pretty broken. And neat.
Nothing I knew said it was impossible…
The high quality classes I had, and the bountiful opportunities I found as War Sentinel were keeping me on the right side of things, getting a slow but steady number of levels. The years I’d spent helping Auri catch up were helping out as well, the little phoenix’s shared experience going to all my classes - [The Dawn Sentinel] included.
Of course, I was also splitting my experience with her. It all worked out.
[*ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 495 -> 496]
Speaking of curves - I suspected [Mantle] was going to fall off, although I’d gamely kept it up so far.
[Cosmic Presence] was one I was hoping would get a workout in the Han.
I wanted to slap myself at the thought.
If [Cosmic Presence] was getting a workout, that meant dozens of people were getting injured in a way I couldn’t quickly or easily fix, and on the scale of things that I was likely to tackle? More like hundreds or thousands.
[*ding!* [Rapid Reshelving] leveled up! 103 -> 104]
Only a few teleports, and a full level. Hurray! The skill was a pain to level, and I was worried about my class quality if I didn’t max it before classing up [Loremaster].
[*ding!* [Parallel Thoughts]leveled up! 233 -> 234]
[*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 95 -> 96]
[*ding!* [Imbue] leveled up! 202 -> 205]
Oh hey, doing things in a completely new way helped [Imbue]! No surprises there, and while I wanted to see if there were fancier ways I could make things happen, I hadn’t exactly thought about ‘what’s a good situation where I can burn through people AND heal them at the same time’ before.
Levels were levels, and I wasn’t going to complain.
I finished the manacles and checked on Nina, somewhat concerned that she’d passed out. That wasn’t healthy, and I was a little worried. My healing should be able to cure anything mundane.
A thorough examination revealed that she was simply exhausted, snoring happily on the sharp stone floor. Most of the slaves were eyeing me warily, wondering what was next.
I teleported myself into [Vault of Ages], reorienting myself as I came into the space. Interestingly, I always entered in the same room, rather than the last room I’d been in, and the [Vault] didn’t care for 2-D construction. Rooms were on all sides of me, including above and below, and I had to push off walls to move around.
Or just fly. But this was the only place where I could bounce off the walls. It felt like heresy to say so, a most blasphemous statement, but flying was almost not-fun here, not when there were so many more interesting ways to get around.
It was fun, forcing myself to expand my thinking. With no gravity, every direction could be up! Or down! It was all a matter of perspective.
I snagged a mango I’d left for myself in the ‘entry room’, cursing out past-me for being a greedy guts and 1) Not stocking enough, and 2) for eating a few every time I came in here… then mentally shouting at future-me’s inevitable cursing of present-me for eating this mango here and now.
I was going through the storage! It only made sense to grab three mangos! It wasn’t like I was eating a dozen of them, sheesh. It was a very reasonable one-time snack.
I pushed off the ceiling- now the ground, by mental decree - and shot through the open door. I snagged the edge with my hand as I passed, changing what direction was ‘up’ and shooting to another room. I snagged a pillow as I passed by, then tightened the straps keeping my bedding tight and in one place. Downside to no gravity - things wanted to drift around, and I had to be constantly vigilant to keep everything neat, organized, and in their place. I knew I had a strong tendency to just… let things be, do what needed to be done in the moment, and let everything go to hell behind me.
Except, if I let that happen, I’d suffer for it, so I was putting forth a strong effort to keep things organized. The moment my vigilance relaxed a hair, it’d all go to hell in a handbasket. f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com
I kicked off a wall, now a floor, and shot through a few more rooms before ending up in one of my armories. I still had the Legion-standard armor on, and I spent a few seconds [Rapid Reshelving] it to an open stand, and putting on a simple tunic. Then I hit the ceiling, did a fancy handstand and flip, and presto! It was now the floor, and I was shooting towards one of my pantries.
Everyone was malnourished and had been starving. Strong, rich food was a bad idea right now. At the same time, I’d made sure [Vault] was filled with good food - none of this soldier’s tack that was occasionally issued - so I spent a moment calculating what would be acceptable.
I settled on a single loaf of bread and a jug of water to start with. I wasn’t being stingy. Once people got that down, I’d start bringing out more food. I just didn’t want to accidentally kill anyone by feeding them.
I teleported out, slipping the pillow under Nina’s head. The lucky girl was still a teenager, she’d probably wake up and stretch once, and forget she’d ever slept on rock. Unlike Julius, who’d managed to hurt himself sleeping the wrong way.
I was paranoid about that. Sleep injuries seemed to happen to everyone, regardless of stats or levels. ‘Just part of getting old’. I hoped my biomancy changes, healing, and Immortality would prevent that… hurting myself sleeping sounded like it sucked!
Handing out bread to people was a little harder. Everyone was starving - literally - and nobody wanted to ‘only’ take the small amount I was breaking off. The language barriers didn’t help - I was sure I could eventually find a few languages that I spoke with various people, but that didn’t stop them descending upon me like wolves right now.
I wasn’t exactly physically intimidating, and while I had a decent presence, it just didn’t matter when people were starving. Instead, I found myself forced to break out chunks of bread and stuff them in hands, before dancing out of reach, darting over to redirect grasping hands from slaves trying to steal from each other, and repeating. The medusa’s snake-hair hissed and snapped at people, but even starving she had the presence of mind not to let them get too close to anybody. I didn’t need a fight erupting over hair, and the snakes were brightly colored, warning of a potent poison.
Coral snakes, if I was properly matching them to the book description. It was one thing to read about medusas and all the different types of snakes they could grow, and it was another to see them and try to identify them.
I couldn’t even properly smack the hands!
Iona showed up a few minutes later, and took in the scene at a glance. She started roaring orders at various people, and they immediately recognized their savior - and Iona being over 6 feet tall of pure muscle and armor helped immensely on the intimidation factor. They promptly fell in line, with no further issues.
I shot Iona an amused look, filled with love.
“Sometimes I hate you, you know that?” I said. The Valkyrie was kneeling next to Nina.
“I know. Everything alright with Nina?” She asked, peeling back an eyelid.
“Just exhaustion.” I confirmed. “She doesn’t have the stats or the skills to stay up for days on end, and basically passed out the moment she saw me.”
Iona grimaced and nodded.
“She did good.”
“Tell her that when she’s awake!” I said.
The next few hours went by smoothly. Iona and Fenrir left to find a ground settlement - carefully hidden from the air so the harpies couldn’t easily descend upon them - while I slowly brought out more food and water for people. Iona’s words had gotten them to stop fighting, and when it was clear that I was continuing to bring out food, they calmed right down.
Iona came back soon enough, we loaded everyone up, and brought them to the settlement she’d found. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t a long-term solution, but there was only so much we could practically do. At what point was someone saved? When their captors were dead? When their chains were broken? When they were freed from the prison? When they were at a safe place? When they were back home? When their home was rebuilt? Their livelihood?
Iona took a practical approach - get them to safety, then let them sort it out from there. It wasn’t ideal. Hardship was in their future, either integrating into a new community, probably one that had never seen the species they were, forever a mistrusted outsider, or attempt the long and perilous path back to their home with no resources.
It wasn’t perfect. It wasn’t ideal. But it was something they could manage on their own.
Life was never perfect. I could fix a [Lumberjack’s] crushed legs, but I couldn’t fix the economic problems that led to him being in a dangerous position in the first place - or from going back to them. If he was lucky, the next tree wouldn’t come down on his head. I couldn’t fix poverty. I couldn’t fix crime. I couldn’t fix many of the underlying issues that generated patients.
Like the Han Empire. All I could do was heal people. I couldn’t solve every problem the Empire had that caused them to devolve into a civil war in the first place.
Iona and I dropped the last people off and went back to the cave where Nina was sleeping. I caught Iona up on what had happened in the short time she was gone, then I was a little mean. It had been a few hours, we both felt like it was time to get a move on. I found one of my extra-spicy dishes imported specially from Ralakar, and stuck it under her nose.
Her nose twitched as the spicy blend hit it, and I shielded the dish as she woke herself up with a mighty sneeze.
Too late I realized I’d missed the window for a great prank. Ah well.
Nina’s eyes went wide seeing the food, and Iona nodded.
“Eat up!” She said, and Nina didn’t even bother standing up before she started wolfing it down, snot trailing out of her nose as she wasn’t quite used to the spice level used.
Ah well. Hunger was the best spice after all. I grabbed a few more pillows, passed them out, grabbed a perch for Auri, and we all sat down. Except Fenrir, who was lying down on one of the massive floating rocks.
“Nina. Excellent job hanging on until Elaine arrived. You are a credit to the Order.” Iona said as Nina was licking the bottom of the bowl. My stomach growled - all this feeding of other people, and I’d completely forgotten myself.
Iona’s words were like sunlight for a flower. Nina beamed, proud as anything over the compliment.
“Curious what happened while I was gone though. There are fewer people than we left.” Iona said.
Nina’s ears drooped and she looked away from us, intensely studying the blood-stained walls.
“Brrrpt.” Auri tried to be reassuring, some flaming hands in various colors sending a message to Nina.
The squire took a deep breath, and started to speak.
“It all went to shit the moment you left.” She gestured around the room. “The big dude almost immediately started stormin’ around and yellin’, sayin’ how we were all doomed. How you’d - beggin’ your pardon - abandoned us to die, and there was no way you’d make it back in time. How if-” Nina choked up for a minute.
I hadn’t seen anyone there that I’d call ‘the big dude’.
“How if there were fewer of us, we’d all last longer. Fewer mouths to feed. More time on the dead man’s switch. There was an argument.”
Nina hung her head.
“I couldn’t do anything about it.” She mumbled. “Wasn’t strong enough. Wasn’t big enough. Had to keep feeding my mana in.” I pretended not to see the tears she was trying to hide. “Big dude threw the couple that was arguing with him out the cave.” Not said was the long, long fall they would’ve had, followed by the unpleasant end. “Another slave was a hero. Tackled him by the knees from behind, took both of them over the edge. Damage was done though. The thought of fewer people was stuck in everyone’s head. Nobody was forcin’ it. A few of the greybeards, they, they…”
Nina was practically bawling.
“They took the fast way out.” She cried. “They had the highest pull on the system. More time on the switch. Said she’d lived a full life, and…”
Iona wrapped Nina up in a hug, and I hovered nearby, trying to be comforting. Auri hopped onto Nina’s head, trying to wrap her wings around the kitsune.
“You saved eighteen lives today.” Iona said. “Eighteen people are free and clear. The slavers are dead. You pushed yourself. You acted honorably. It sounds like you did everything possible. I’d tell you not to beat yourself up over it, but I have the feeling that it’d fall on deaf ears.” Iona flicked Nina’s ears in a friendly way. “When you’re beating yourself up over it, critically examine what you could’ve done differently. ‘Being stronger’ isn’t an answer, that’s not a different action. ‘Fight and beat someone 10 times your level’ only works if you have a solid plan how that would happen against a foe with unknown skills. Stay practical, stay grounded, and know I’m proud of you. You’ve also hit level 32, and after this, I’d say you’re in a good position to take [Squire].”
That didn’t seem to cheer Nina up, she still looked miserable. I was staying well out of it.
“I’m a failure.” She mumbled.
“No, you’re not.” Iona’s tone and words were as strong as she could make them. “Listen…”
I was pretty sure I’d just be piling on if I joined in, and Iona seemed to have this well in hand. I teleported back into [Vault] and grabbed myself a meal - no idea where it was on my internal clock, that had gone all sideways - and worked on refilling my spellbooks, replacing used up spells and adding new ones that I’d thought of, all while trying to be a comforting or invisible presence.
Iona and Nina had a long discussion while Auri and I faded back a bit, eventually leaving the cave to hang out with Fenrir. One point I thought of that Iona and Nina did eventually bring up was the choice of courier. Iona had gone for good reasons, but perhaps Nina should’ve been the messenger instead.
It might’ve changed everything.
It might’ve changed nothing.
“You did great, you big lug.” I patted the side of his neck. “Iona’s giving Nina a bunch of credit right now, but we all know who the hero of the story is. The bold and dashing wyvern that flew through the day and night to bring aid.”
Fenrir chuffed happily at the compliment, and Auri started to strut in front of the wyvern, making her own complimentary brrpts at his deed. It was a group effort in the end, but with how quiet Fenrir was, I felt like it was all too easy to forget him.
“Brrpt?” Auri asked me, eyeing up Nina and Iona in the cave.
“If you think you’re in a good position to class up your second class, you should do it.” I agreed. “We’re going to a dangerous place, and getting levels could make the difference.”
“Brrpt…?”
“Only if you want to take your third class now. The same logic applies, but do you know what you want?”
Auri thought about it a bit, then shook her head.
“Brrpt.” She tweeted with determination.
“Yeah, splitting the difference is fine.” I sighed. “It’s impossible to know what the right call is at any point. Sometimes I still wonder about my other class options. What would my life be like if I’d chosen differently? Where would I be now? What would be different? What would be the same?”
Auri nodded like a wise sage, and in a serendipitous moment, both her and Nina had the sparkling lights indicating a class-up erupt around them at the same time.
“You got her?” I asked Fenrir, who shot me an evil eye at the question. I put my hands on my hips.
“It’s a fair and reasonable question, making sure we’re all on the same page.” I scolded. He snorted at me, nodding his head. I flew over to Iona.
“Everything good?” I asked, and she nodded her confirmation.
“Everything’s good. We need to get to the Han Empire after this, yeah?”
“As soon as possible.” I agreed.
“Have you worked out how you’ll find the Sixth again?” She asked. I pulled a face.
“They’re with the Wei. Fly around, ask questions, and we should find them soon enough. They’re attached to a huge-ass army, we’ve got skills for it. I’m not going to curse it by calling it easy, but it’s not like they’re trying to hide.” I said.
Iona clicked her tongue.
“I hope we can resupply before getting there.” She held up a hand to forestall what I was going to say. “I know, I know, you’re more than happy to share, but we cannot have enough supplies going into a war zone, and we’re a little depleted on our end.”
We discussed the logistics of it a little more as first Auri, then Nina came out of their class ups.
“BRRRPT!!!” Auri shrieked in joy over her offering.
“[Fireborn Immortal of the Resplendent Eruption].” Iona said. I gave Auri - really, moreso the System - a disbelieving look.
“Am I supposed to believe it’s some sort of coincidence that it spells out Fire?” Auri puffed up proudly at that one, in spite of having nothing to do with it.
“I think I liked [The Phoenix Everliving] more as a name.” I said.
“Brrrrrrpt!!” Auri protested strongly, mentioning that the class was dark purple and she’d just gained hundreds of levels in it. Her skills hadn’t changed too much, but that was alright, she liked them the way they were. They were already brrrefect.
Nina woke up shortly after, and to nobody’s surprise, had gotten two [Squire] classes.
“I already got offered a merger!” She was all excited over that. “But I know the plan was to get it at 256 so I held off.”
Iona held her hand out, and a mass of mallium, carefully controlled, came out of her hand, formed like an overly large mace. She broke it off and handed it to Nina.
“My gift to you for reaching the milestone.” She said. “Enough mallium to work as a morphic weapon. It’ll give you the ability to practice with any sort of weapon while we’re on the road, and who knows? Maybe it’ll end up fitting your style.”
Nina beamed as Iona handed her the gift.
It took a bit longer than I would’ve liked, but before long we were all up in the air, traveling towards the Han Empire.
The journey was unremarkable. We made good time, occasionally needing to go around a city or port, occasionally stopping by briefly for supplies. Soon we were traveling over Rolland, with Iona looking down nostalgically at the castles and pageantry, and the same day we saw the eruptions from the Tears of Vulcan.
And a battle in progress, two armies clashing in a half valley.
I pointed down. I didn’t need to say anything - Iona was already urging Fenrir into a dive.
There were people who needed help.
[Name: Aoife Auri Stentor]
[Race: Phoenix]
[Age: 6]
[Mana: 3,471,390/3,471,390]
[Mana Regen: 3,323,535]
Stats
[Free Stats: 0]
[Pushing Power: 30]
[Fancy Flying: 47,433]
[Reactions and Reflexes/Twitchiness: 50,078]
[Zippiness: 50,198]
[Kindling: 347,139]
[New Juice: 347,115]
[Flame Size: 303,812]
[Fire Control: 303,704]
[Class 1: [Phoenix of the Divine Flame - Inferno: Lv 525]]
[Inferno Authority: 525]
[Phoenix Rebirth: 5]
[Inferno Manipulation: 525]
[Inferno Conjuration: 525]
[True Flames: 525]
[Burn Magic: 525]
[Domain of Fire: 525]
[Auri's Meteor Storm: 525]
[Class 2: [Fireborn Immortal of the Resplended Eruption - Inferno: Lv 495]]
[See Magic: 495]
[Immolate: 495]
[Everything Burns: 495]
[Clinging Flames: 495]
[Burning Orbs: 495]
[Mage Hand: 495]
[I am the Brrrettiest: 495]
[Flame Selection: 495]
[Class 3: [Feather of the Flame - Fire: Lv 8]]
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General Skills
[Phoenix's Perfection: 525]
[Incandescence: 380]
[Adorable: 333]
[Precocious: 290]
[Companion Bond between Auri and Elaine: 525]
[Flying: 456]
[Preening: 525]
[Baking: 350]
[Name: Elaine]
[Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]
[Age: 27]
[Mana: 1,576,260/1,576,260]
[Mana Regen: 1,206,013 (+1,970,913)]
Stats
[Free Stats: 0]
[Strength: 460]
[Dexterity: 18,748]
[Vitality: 41,186]
[Speed: 33,518]
[Mana: 157,626]
[Mana Regeneration: 157,673 (+197,091)]
[Magic Power: 166,810 (+4,378,763)]
[Magic Control: 166,589 (+4,372,961)]
[Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 525]]
[Celestial Affinity: 525]
[Cosmic Presence: 340]
[The Stars Never Fade: 17]
[Center of the Universe: 473]
[Dance with the Heavens: 525]
[Wheel of Sun and Moon: 525]
[Mantle of the Stars: 496]
[Sunrise: 475]
[Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 500]]
[Radiance Affinity: 500]
[Radiance Resistance: 500]
[Nova Lance: 500]
[Lepidoptera: 500]
[Nectar: 500]
[Solar Corona: 500]
[Scintillating Ascent: 500]
[Kaleidoscope: 500]
[Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 205]]
[Spatial Authority: 205]
[Manuscript Mastery: 205]
[Blink: 78]
[Loremaster's Library: 205]
[Vault of Ages: 21]
[Rapid Reshelving: 104]
[Astral Archives: 205]
[Lust for Lore: 205]
General Skills
[Long-Range Identify: 421]
[Parallel Thoughts: 234]
[Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 525]
[The World Around Me: 96]
[Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 525]
[Sentinel's Superiority: 525]
[Persistent Casting: 435]
[Imbue: 202]
