Even with a Perception accolade, the flavor of cold custard was confusing. Rain wrinkled up his nose, trying to pick apart the disparate flavors and assign them to buckets. There was a hint of citrus that could have been rock lon. The custard had a rich, buttery aftertaste. Both were overpowered by flakes of what was clearly pepper, and there were salty chunks that he’d thought were bacon. Upon tasting them, he’d discovered they were clearly not.
Maybe they’re so kind of capers? They’re red, but... Rain worked his tongue, squishing free one of the tiny bits to try and get a read on it in isolation. No, not quite. What ARE these?
“If you want so of mine, just ask,” Aliah said, pulling free the wooden spoon from her mouth with a contented sigh. She smiled at him, refilling the utensil with a glob of nice, normal chocolate. “You should have known sothing called ‘Monster Guts’ would be bad.”
“But it’s not bad, that’s the thing,” Rain said, swallowing and licking his spoon. “It’s just alot.What do you reckon these red things are?”
Aliah shrugged. “Spoon for a spoon?” she asked, sliding her wooden bowl toward him. “I can’t say I’m not curious.”
“Careful, that’s what got in trouble,” Rain said, filling his spoon with chocolate ice cream. “On three.”
“Three,” Aliah said, waving a spoonful of red-speckled green dessert at him before sticking it into her mouth. She made a face almost imdiately, speaking with her mouth full. “You weren’t kidding. Why is there pepper?” She swallowed, licking the roof of her mouth a few tis before tilting her head. “Why does it work?”
Rain was busy licking his chops too. He spread his arms helplessly, then went back to sorting through his feelings on the chocolate. The base ice cream had the sa strange buttery twang. It was sweet—too sweet, in his opinion—but also flat...or sothing. “Vanilla,” he decided, pointing at her bowl with his spoon. “Needs vanilla.”
“I can’t say I’ve ever had that,” Aliah said. “I’ve heard of it, though.” She paused. “Where have I heard of it?”
“It cos from a bean,” Rain said with a shrug, taking another bite of his own ice cream.
“Bean ice cream?” Aliah said incredulously.
“It’s better than it sounds,” Rain said, laughing. “It was basically the default flavor where I’m from. People call vanilla boring, forgetting that there’s a reason it’s number one. Anyway, every chocolate ice cream recipe I’ve ever seen has vanilla extract in there too. Tastes weird without it.” He stuck another spoonful of Monster Guts into his mouth. “Not as weird as this, though.”
“You’re still eating it,” Aliah observed.
“I am,” Rain said with a smile. “Wish I knew what these red things were.”
Aliah chuckled. “Don’t look at . Closest thing I can think of are corpse berries. They grow around the Bloodmarsh. Those are pinker, though, and they’re mildly poisonous. Just go ask the guy if it’s bothering you that much.”
Rain waved his spoon dismissively. “Eh, maybe I’m better not knowing. Anyway, I was surprised when I learned ice cream was a thing here, which was silly in retrospect. Magic changes things, you know?”
“Mmm,” Aliah said. “Would be nice if it wasn’t so expensive, though.”
“Tell about it,” Rain said with a grunt. “Four silver for this tiny bowl.”
“And you picked Monster Guts.”
“I did.” Rain nodded sagely, breaking out into a grin.
This feels...normal.
It’s nice.
True to form, the universe’s reaction was as harsh as it was imdiate.
“Found you!”
Rain turned his head to look down the street, then choked, spoon sticking out of his mouth. He hastily pulled it free and jamd it into his ice cream, then lowered his visor. Not only had he recognized the voice, but he’d also realized that he’d been feeling a familiar soul approaching for a while now. He just hadn’t been paying it any attention, too enthralled by Aliah’s smile.
Everiss bore down on them, the leader of Barstone’s Guild wearing the sa sleeveless jacket she had been on their initial eting. With his new skills, he could see her tallic-red soul clearly. It didn’t seem so intimidating as it had when he’d only been able to feel it. Maybe that had sothing to do with the souls he’d seen since.
“Everiss?” Aliah asked in clear confusion. “What are you doing here? Did the Empire attack Barstone?”
“No,” Everiss said with an annoyed click of her tongue, crossing her arms as she planted herself beside their table. “They scampered, just like this asshole. Can’t say I’m upset to not be holess, but so action would have been nice.” She fixed Rain with a glare. “Who agrees to a duel, then runs away? Do you have any idea how annoying it was to track you down?”
“Who agreed to a duel?” Rain asked flatly.
“You did,” Everiss countered. “For a thousand points, rember?”
“I rember you challenging ,” Rain said. He glanced back at Aliah, then down at his lting ice cream.
Everiss snorted. “Oh, so you’re saying you’re too busy to fight , is that it?”
“Actually, yes,” Rain said, looking back up. “We’re kind of in the middle of sothing here. Believe it or not, I’ve got better things to do than throw down in the street.”
“No need to be rude, Rain,” Aliah said, laughter in her voice. “She ca all this way. Besides, I wouldn’t mind a little entertainnt.”
“I don’t fight,” Rain said stubbornly. “I either win, or I don’t. It’s just mathematics.”
“What?” Everiss asked.
Aliah laughed. “New catchphrase?” She nudged Rain’s foot under the table. “Co on, do it. Duel her. It’ll be fun.”
“Damn it,” Rain said with a sigh. Shaking his head, he reached for his spoon. “Fine, Val, but I’m finishing my ice cream first.”
This is not how I saw this afternoon going.
An hour later, Rain was fighting not to grind his teeth as he listened to the roar of the crowd, waiting his turn in the staging area. A massive set of stone doors stood in front of him, glowing with elaborate runes that he had no hope of understanding.
Unlike the indoor ring where he’d dueled Thrast, the Guild of Eastspar had pulled out all the stops. The arena was ant to contain golds—well, golds that weren’t deliberately trying to break it down. Even a silver could manage that much, given ti.
The cheers suddenly swelled, then a bell tolled, signaling the conclusion of the match.
A man with a slate standing beside the door waved, catching Rain’s attention. “Get ready,” he said, raising a single finger. “One minute for them to clear the floor.”
Nodding in acknowledgnt, Rain again wondered how he’d gotten himself into this ss. Yes, defeating a powerful person like Everiss in public would go a long way toward convincing people not to ss with him or Ascension, but he wouldn’t have agreed if he’d actually seen the arena beforehand.
Val said it was big, not that it could seat half the city...
That was an exaggeration, granted, but Detection couldn’t tell him the number of people in the stands. The wards felt just as impenetrable to his probing as those on the vault below the Bank. These didn’t block sound, though.
“And now, good people, a surprise!” the announcer’s magically enhanced voice bood. “Before our next scheduled bronze match, with special approval from Guild Leader Rovert, I give you...a clash of silvers!”
The crowd gave a bloodthirsty roar, already amped up after a day of violence.
Rain tapped his fingers against his thigh, more worried about being on display than anything Everiss might do to him.
I shouldn’t underestimate her, but I feel like... I feel like I’ve got this. Why do I feel like I’ve got this?
“And not just any silvers!” the announcer continued. “In the gate of ’ke, our first contender!” The ground began to rumble. “I give you, the Wolf of the Valley, the Flickerspear, the reigning champion of Barstone AND ITSGUILD LEADER,” he paused as the spectators lost their minds, “EVERISS!”
Rain’s ears would have been ringing if not for his Endurance.
That Speaking Stone he’s using’s got to be twinned to a Speaking BOULDER.
“And in the gate of Ember, a newcor to the arena!” the announcer continued. The man with the slate touched a spot on the wall, and the rumbling beca much closer. The enchanted stone doors began to move, grinding slowly open as the announcer continued. “I give you a man whose na has been on every tongue in the city since his frozen ship sailed sailless into the harbor! A man so TWISTED that he WILLINGLY tore apart a Dunch with his BARE HANDS!”—Rain paled—“I PRESENT TO YOU NOW, THE CLEANER OF THE NIGHT! DEA—urk!”
Aliah’s voice took over, amplified by the presumably stolen Speaking Stone.
“CAPTAIN RAIN!”
The thunderous cheers rose again, this ti accompanied by laughter and applause. Rain walked forward, feeling like he’d rather be sinking through the floor.
Damn it.
Blinking as he walked out into the open, he looked around with a sigh. He’d gotten over his shock when Everiss had dragged him to the administrator’s booth overlooking the field, but it was still impressive seeing it from ground level. The arena floor was far from the level dueling ring he’d expected, instead hosting what could be described as a constructed disaster zone. There were cracked boulders strewn everywhere, as well as splintered tree trunks, stacks of smashed crates, deep pits, towering piles of sand, and even a few strategically placed chunks of tal. The rusted iron barriers were obviously intended to provide cover against mages.
Not against , though.
Rain lifted his eyes to the crowd, scanning over all of this until he found Aliah through the barely perceptible blue tint of the barrier. She waved, looking cheery beside the ruffled announcer.
I’m glad one of us is having fun.
The announcer cleared his throat, the sound booming through his reclaid Speaking Stone. “I remind all spectators that ability use in the stands is prohibited, as is assaulting arena staff.”
He shot a glare at Aliah, who raised her hands, backing away as the crowd laughed.
The announcer sighed, then continued in a long-suffering tone that said this kind of thing happened often. “Contenders, please proceed to your marked positions.”
Not having stopped walking in the first place, Rain continued his way through the rubble until he erged into a relatively clear spot at the center. Everiss was waiting for him, and his jaw tightened upon seeing that her vest had been replaced with a heavy-looking suit of scale mail. The overlapping segnts reminded him of the Sparkscales he’d fought below Vestvall, and they were supplented by solid tal plates covering her forearms, thighs, and shins. Sabatons, gauntlets, and a closed helt completed the set, offering significant protection.
She didn’t have a backpack, so that’s Heavy Armor Inventory. If she has Mana Vent, I’m boned, or at least in for a slog.
“This is an official, Guild-sanctioned duel under Osaran rules!” the announcer bood as Rain found his painted starting spot. “Victory will be declared when one party yields or is rendered unconscious! This is NOT a duel to the death. Killing your opponent will result in imdiate forfeiture of your Guild Plate, so be careful! Should the barrier turn red, or should the bell sound, you must stop imdiately or face disqualification! As the arena is sealed, there is no ring-out! Raise your right arm to indicate that you understand and agree to these rules!”
Everiss raised her right arm, as did Rain a mont later.
“Competitors, walk forward!”
Rain walked.
“Clasp hands!”
Rain clasped.
Through the air slits in Everiss’s visor, he saw her smile as she did her level best to squash his radius and ulna into a single bone. With Tactile Transference on, he felt the powerful pressure of her fingers, but the adamant plate protecting his forearm didn’t flex in the slightest.
“That’s not steel,” Everiss said.
Rain rumbled, doing his best impression of the armor’s maker.
Everiss’s smile widened. “Let’s give them a good show, yeah?”
“Rember, you asked for this,” Rain said by way of reply.
“Break and return to your marks!” the announcer called.
Doing as instructed, Rain looked up at the stands, searching for Aliah again and finding her beside Val—because of course Val was here. He sighed, returning the duel maniac’s thumbs-up, then turned to face his opponent. Everiss had summoned her spear and was whipping it around her in a fancy pattern, finishing with a flourish.
Well, here we go then. How should I play this? How much can she take?
“Begin!” The announcer shouted, and sothing poked Rain hard in the center of the chest.
Perhaps ‘poked’ was not the word. Everiss’s spearpoint landed with such force that the dirt behind him was blown back in a cone while his cloak whipped like a flag in a hurricane. Rain himself barely swayed, his Myriad Plate’s Kinetic Conversion having triggered, shifting the bulk of the montum to Force damage to be subsequently absorbed by the armor. Force Ward hadn’t engaged. It was active, naturally, but Tallheart’s work was more than up to the task for which it was designed.
dmgnum.sh version 0.5.2
Physical Damage Detected
Kinetic Conversion Triggered
Armor Durability: -2,493
Armor Saturation: 6
Armor Charge: -6
Hardness Force Resist: 7,500 (capped)
Original Damage: ~9999 (capped)
Dismissing the dialog, Rain glanced at his vitals, noting that the tiny buildup of saturation had already dissipated.
Health
12,400 / 12,400
Durability
599,551 / 602,044
Saturation
0 / 154,209
Charge
185,494 / 185,500
Stamina
1,714 / 1,720
Mana
234,500 / 234,500
“Not steel,” Everiss repeated, slowly and casually retracting her undamaged spear point.
“Was that Quickstep?” Rain asked, picking at the tiny scratch where she’d struck him. “I didn’t know it went that far.”
“Sothing like that,” Everiss said, vanishing again. Rain felt a series of strikes, precisely once per second, proving she was no stranger to fighting on the surface. Everiss struck for perceived weak points—the back of his knee, his armpit, his neck. Each ti, the result was the sa—a sharp poke, trivial damage, and nothing more.
If she only has physical attacks without piercing, I could endure this basically forever. A fifty-fifty split of Force Ward and Winter would let regenerate faster than—
Rain hissed, jerking his hand away as Everiss’s next hit struck his fingers—specifically, his rings. Thanks to the tallic Unity enchantnt, the damage was spread across his armor as a whole, and the hit hadn’t hurt any more than the others so far, but still.
That crossed a line.
Rain’s retaliation was interrupted by the tip of Everiss’s spear shattering his potion-glass visor insert. Not technically part of his helt, it didn’t benefit from any Hardness enchantnt but its own. Force Ward intervened—too late to save the glass, but not too late to stop the spear point from digging into his eyeball.
dmgnum.sh version 0.5.2
Physical Damage Detected
Mana: -884
Force Ward: 200%, 0.6 tick
0.353778 mp/dmg mitigated
Hardness Force Resist: 7,500 (capped)
Original Damage: ~9999 (capped)
Already having been about to do so, Rain let loose.
Immolate
focusboost.sh: 550 points shifted to Focus from secondary stats
focusboost.sh: Focus: 970
modmon.sh: ['aura compression', 'channel mastery']
autocompress.sh: Target: 10 ters
autocompress.sh: Compression Applied: 77 ters
autopower.sh: Target: 9999 dps
autopower.sh: Target not t
autopower.sh: CM Setting: 200% 0.2s tick
Immolate (15/15)
4716.95-5390.80 heat (fcs) damage per second to foes and environnt
2358.47-2695.40 heat (fcs) mitigation per second to friends
Sufficient damage causes ignition
Range: 10 ters
Cost: 150 mp/s
The striving spear point vanished from his helt with a “Tch,” Everiss appearing a mont later and skidding to a stop just outside the tightly controlled aura radius. Red interference clung to her mail, already dissipating.
Rain let the magic fall, curling his fingers around to inspect them in the heated air. “Going for my rings? Really?”
“You’re worried about your rings?” Everiss asked, incredulous. “What, are they more expensive than your eyes?” She laughed. “What was that skill? Not the weak-as-shit fire blast. I didn’t even feel that. The other one. That was Force Ward, wasn’t it?”
“You’ve been doing your research,” Rain said, tilting his head down to shake the shattered glass free of his visor. His mana was back at full, so with nothing else to do with it for the mont, he started recharging his armor. His eyes would be visibly shining through the gap, but he found he didn’t care.
She’s no more threat to than Thrast. Not on the surface, at any rate.
He smiled, struck by a mory.
I’m not trapped in here with her. She’s trapped in here with .
Everiss twirled her spear and beckoned. “Guess it’s ti to get serious, then.”
“Guess so,” Rain said, widening his range to encompass the entire ring and bringing Ethereal Aura online. He crossed his arms. “Let know when your armor saturates.”
Fulminate
“I still can’t believe you did that to her!” Val said through his tears, still struggling to suppress his laughter even though it had been a full ten minutes since they’d left the arena. “You didn’t even MOVE! That is so much worse than that spinning bullshit you pulled on back when you were running around in chainmail. You just crossed your arms, like—” He paused to demonstrate, stumbling as he tripped on a loose cobble.
“Careful,” Aliah said.
Recovering, Val covered his face with a hand, still laughing. “And you did it to a branch leader! I’ve never seen such disrespect!”
“She didn’t seem to take offense,” Aliah said, smiling as she walked on Rain’s other shoulder with her hands behind her back. “If anything, I think his nonchalance got her more fired up. No, what shocks is that she challenged him to a rematch.” She shook her head. “It’s a bad matchup. Without a piercing skill, it’s just not happening. I’m sure her build’s fine against anyone who has to actually, you know—”
“Aim?” Val interrupted.
Aliah pointed a finger at him. “Yes, aim. Against Rain, it doesn’t matter how good you are at dodging.” She inhaled sharply, as if realizing sothing. “I’ve got it!” She cleared her throat. “You can’t dodge Rain!”
“That’s great!” Val burst out into another laughing fit, slapping Rain’s armored back, which was otherwise bare, yet another cloak having perished. “Can’t dodge Rain, ha! Because his na ans—”
“Yes, yes,” Rain interrupted. “If that becos a catchphrase, I’ll tie you both to Kettel, then dump all three of you in the ocean.”
Aliah controlled herself after a mont, then reached out to touch his arm. “I hope you don’t actually mind how things went today,” she said, her tone earnest. “I had fun, even if it wasn’t quite what we had planned. Didn’t you? Can’t you admit it was a little satisfying? Taking Everiss down a peg?”
Rain smiled. “Okay, maybe a little. Dueling is just...not for .” He shrugged. “Not with my magic being the way it is. I don’t see the point.”
“You just need to try a less lopsided format,” Val said. “Maybe a chasm duel or a scored contact spar or sothing. Sothing with strict rules. Sothing about skills, not Skills.”
“If I had the ti for it, and it wasn’t quite so public, I’d be fine with that,” Rain said, thinking fondly of his occasional sparring sessions with Aliah—if you counted having his ass handed to him as ‘sparring.’
“Hey, it’s people,” Val said suddenly. “Oh, it’s the away team. Did we co to see them off?”
“Don’t you say a damn word about the duel,” Rain hissed. “I don’t want them distracted.”
“Captain!” Samson called, waving to them, standing with a full party of white-cloaked Ascension mbers beside the arch to the teleportation complex. Mlem and Ava were there, plus Lyn, Mahria, Belson, Corrin, Lago, and Stint—the last sitting atop Dust. Terity had originally had a sort-of cargo lift on its top deck that they’d used to get the horse below, but the chanism had been smashed in the attack on Three Cliffs. Rain didn’t actually know how Stint had managed to get the horse back out again.
“Is this everyone?” Rain asked Samson as he reached them, nodding to the group in greeting.
Samson nodded. “You said a full party, so I brought eight fighters, including myself.”
“Hey!” Ava shouted. “There are nine of us! I count as nine!”
“You’re too short to count, dear daughter,” Mlem said, stroking his mustache.
Ava tried to kick him in the shin, but Mlem dodged, clearly having anticipated her reaction.
“I wasn’t about to ask him to leave her behind,” Samson said to Rain, resting his hand on the poml of his sword.
“It’s fine,” Rain said, watching the girl chase her father in circles. “Ava can handle herself.”
Ava ca to an abrupt stop to stare at him, her face lighting up like he’d just given her a pony. He nodded at her, then returned his gaze to Samson. “Besides, it’s not like there should be any trouble finding a good bay and a lead on so ore. If all goes well, you’ll only be on your own for few days.”
“You really think the ship will catch up to us that fast?” Stint asked, idly ruffling Dust’s mane.
“I know it will,” Rain said, smiling. “I’m actually wondering how the system will deal with the sudden change in longitude. Will it adjust the ti at dawn like it did each day on the way to Three Cliffs, or is there a threshold where it will do it instantly?”
Mlem, Mahria, and Aliah all opened their mouths, but Rain raised a hand. “Nobody tell . You’ll spoil the surprise.”
“What the depths are you on about, Rain?” Belson asked. “Adjust the ti? You can’t adjust ti. Ti is ti.”
“You’ll see,” Rain said, not faulting him for not knowing. He knew for a fact that the forr barber had never left Fel Sadanis before joining Ascension, and though he was awakened now, not everyone’s interface gave ti down to the minute.
Down to the minute...
Rain’s smile beca strained. He’d realized a while ago that the system’s high-resolution ti zones ant the durations listed on his progress reports were subtly off.
And without GPS coordinates to fix them...
UGH! The only word is UGH!
With effort, he unclenched his jaw.
IT’S FINE. It’s not like anyone is reading them but . Heck, even if they did, what kind of person would check the math on the DATES? A lunatic, that’s who.
“You’re thinking about sothing weird, aren’t you?” Aliah asked.
“No comnt,” Rain replied, turning to face her. He jerked his thumb over his shoulder toward the archway. “Anyway, you’d better get going before I ask you to stay. Also, Luna is coming toward us from the south. Atyl and I are getting close to a deal with him, but seriously, he’s so thirsty. You’d think that would make him willing to give a little, but no. You’d also think a Bank president would be better at negotiating, and I’m not one to talk, but again, no. Anyway, I’ll deal with that noise. You just go before he gets here. Be safe, and oh, I almost forgot.”
Quickly, Rain fished out a Detection anchor from his armor and handed it to Aliah. She laughed, taking it and slipping it into a pouch at her waist. “I’ll be fine,” she said, embracing him.
“Hang on,” Val said, sounding confused. “You’re going with them, Aliah?”
“Yes and no,” Samson said, Aliah’s lips being too busy for her to reply. “Once we get to Yelfenn, she’ll help us find a spot to set up, then she’s going south on foot.”
“Why?” Val asked.
“Recruiting,” Aliah said as she and Rain reluctantly pulled away from each other. “I won’t be gone long.”
“If it’s more than a week or so, I’m coming after you,” Rain said, ignoring the confused looks Aliah’s response had gotten her. “Seriously, be careful. I’d feel better if Tallheart went with you. It will probably go smoother, too, but he’s still worried about the ship breaking, and you’ll move faster on your own. Also, there’s...” He glanced at Val, hesitated, then decided to say it anyway. “We still don’t know where Lightbreaker and his army are, and Tallheart’s a target for the Empire. North Harbor’s not far from Yelfenn, so there’ll probably be refugees and—” He stopped himself, looking back at Aliah. “Just watch yourself, alright? Sleep with one eye open.”
“I promise I’ll be careful,” Aliah said with a laugh. “Now, how about you promise sothing. Promise you won’t do anything stupid.”
“Done,” Rain said instantly. “I promise.”
Aliah grinned at him. “You say that, but—”
“Ah, Captain Rain!” Luna’s voice said, floating over Rain’s shoulder. “I can see that you are busy briefing your team. However, as you are leaving tomorrow, I had hoped you would be available to continue yesterday’s discussion. Have you had ti to consider my latest...”
Rain ignored Luna’s blathering, eting Aliah’s eyes and mouthing the word ‘run.’ She laughed, then nodded, motioning to the others to grab their things. Only once they were moving did Rain turn to face the Bank President, fixing him with a blatantly fake smile. “Why, President Luna! Fancy seeing you here! It’s almost like you’re following !”
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