Blue Core Week Ten (Patreon)

Day 95 - Blue

I still felt bad about the incident. Not for that idiot Harrison, who clearly had been the type with a vast ego and very little brain, but for Shayma. Fortunately she was already used to death, so my rather...energetic disposal of the man hadn’t scarred her. But, I had used her feet to reach out into the world, which had both pinned her in place and been more than a little rude to do without asking. I got the feeling other Powers kind of did as they liked, but I wasn’t about to treat Shayma as servant or property.

And then, worst of all in some ways, she was horribly embarrassed by the whole scene. Which, yes, I was too but I wasn’t there. She was, and in bare feet. Even though she had [Temperature Resistance], wandering around rainy rock streets in bare feet was unpleasant and humiliating. The inn had been nice enough to lend some shoes, since it was late enough at night that no cobbler would have been able to finish the boots before the wee hours anyway, and now we were shopping in earnest.

“I can’t promise I’ll never do something like that again,” I told her. “I mean, I wasn’t even thinking before, just reacting. But I do promise I’ll try not to treat you like spun glass. I mean, you totally destroyed those goblins, after all.”

“I absolutely did,” Shayma muttered.

“...but at the same time, you are my only link to the world. And you really do represent me. I think Dyen was right, that we have to make it more official that you’re my, uh, representative. So that way they’re provoking me as well, and it’s less awkward to deal with things like this. Hopefully you’ll be able to deal with it yourself, but if not, at least it will make sense?”

“I...suppose.” Shayma sighed. “I can’t say I’m happy about it.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to be. I really am sorry, Shayma.”

“I’m going to be grumpy for a bit,” she warned.

“Well, that’s fair. But, hey, if it helps it turns out we’re rich?”

“Don’t change the subject!” Shayma warned, but with a grin.

“Well it’s kind of important actually. If we’re going to take this Power thing seriously, we might as well take this opportunity of ‘a couple days’ or whatever Dyen needs to get you some new duds. Clothes, armor. And new boots. Good boots. Make you look like you’re the representative of a Power.”

“Mmm. What did you have in mind?” She didn’t seem entirely on board with the idea still, but it seemed the best way to me to keep any more misadventures from occurring.

“I figure I’d leave that to you and the tailor or whatever? I’m not exactly experienced in the sartorial arts. You were mentioning black-colored armor before...I still don’t know how I could do that, but we can always buy it.”

“How many of those Source gems do you have, anyway?”

“Um. A lot. I can just grow them. What exactly are they used for, anyway?”

For a moment, Shayma was speechless. “...of course you can. They improve casting of the appropriate affinity, and are used in crafting somehow. I'm not sure exactly how, though.”

“Oh, nice! I definitely need to figure out how to make more types then.”

“You're saying Power-type things in the most un-Power way I can think of.” She shook her head. “Shopping it is, then.”

And while she did that, I decided to fiddle with the Source gems I had. Fire, ice, earth, water, nature, healing. The coal flower fruited not a source gem but alchemical coal, which I could at least guess the use of.

It had been a while since I tried serious manipulation of material. Ever since I'd made Stonesteel, there hadn't seemed to be anything that would lend itself to it. Compressed dirt didn't do anything special, after all. And I just didn't have the same control over things like water or air, since they weren't connected to my organic parts. But the gems might work, and I had plenty to work with, even after sending Shayma two if each type. Smaller ones, marble sized or so.

I selected a nice ice gem for the task, reaching out with [Customization] to squeeze it down, pouring mana into it and using [Genius Loci] to watch the details, stabilizing the pressure before I cracked the thing. But I didn't release it, because something was happening. Some sort of phase change? I put in more mana, and more again, burning through over two thousand points as the gem structure shimmered.

Then the entire thing crunched down to half its size, turning from opaque white to something more transparent, with streamers of white glowing inside, circling and flowing. I almost broke the thing, it was so sudden. Cold white light bloomed outward from the gem.

Title acquired: Source Refiner. Upgrading with [Purifier]... Title evolves into Source Purifier.

[Source Purifier]: The Dungeon's Source creations evolve to Primal Sources.

[Primal Ice Gem] discovered.

[Primal Fire Gem] discovered.

[Primal Healing Gem] discovered.

My entire mana dynamo stuttered, almost stopping as mana rushed into all the Source gems. They drank it greedily, collapsing one after another into the transparent Primal forms before shoving mana through the cycle far harder than before.

Well. Okay then. Actually I was glad I’d given Shayma those gems before trying this out because I had no idea if these brand-new shiny Primal gems were fungible. They could be far too valuable, which made them impossible to move, or they could be something only Powers could use. Or other such nonsense. Though they were quite pretty.

There were also two types of flowers I had which hadn’t actually made gems. The Crystalline and Latticework ones still refused to, but they both had the same description. Sensitive to light. It was one of the precious few times the descriptions actually hinted at what to do, so I went ahead and did it.

I used my experimental dynamo, since it was powerful enough to have some of the Green Chrystheniums fruit, and adjusted a room so half of it was entirely bordered by light panels and the other half was full of the Darkness field. Then it was just a matter of seeding some of the flowers there and waiting.

[Radiant Chrysthenium] discovered. Produces Light.

[Umbral Chrysthenium] discovered. Produces Shadow.

[Core Lattice Gem] discovered.

Honestly it was pretty fun making things grow properly, even if they did defy all logic. The Radiant and Umbral flowers looked entirely awesome, the former small and delicate, with tiny but brilliant petals, and the other like an orchid, swallowing light. But the best part was when I followed the un-logic and linked the two. First of all, just the two of them acted like a tiny dynamo, similar to just ice and magma, which implied a lot of future possibilities. But also…

[Illusory Chrysthenium] discovered. Invisible.

When I got a gem out of that, I’d have something pretty awesome for Shayma.

The Core Lattice Gem wasn’t too bad either. I wasn’t sure what it did, but it looked a lot like my Core - transparent with roiling blue within. Perhaps it would be a less practical gift, but it might work with the current mission. Which was to say, making Shayma look like someone of importance and not some random low-level adventurer.

I also needed to play with my spoils from fixing up the inn and the street. That time I had tried to be as delicate as possible about infiltrating my boring tendrils into the street and foundation, so I didn’t simply erase a chunk of building or make the damage worse. After managing, barely, to not topple the whole inn, I’d gotten my first new Dungeon Feature entry in a while. [Assimilation]. Which sounded sinister, but just let me claim things instead of eating them with [Boring Tendrils] and remaking them.

Watching it happen, it wasn’t very complicated, either. Very thin filaments of my organic body, or whatever exactly the dungeon-stuff was, slid into the stone or soil, and saturated the area with a mana-field. At least, that’s what it looked like to me. I was sure it was slightly more complicated than that, since even with [Genius Loci] the inner workings of most of myself were completely opaque.

Of course, it took mana to use, and not just a little of it either. Way more than it would even if I was empowering my boring tendrils and construction abilities, but the benefits were obvious. If I weren’t so concerned with safety at the moment I would even use it to see if I could claim the entire acreage of surface above me, but for the moment I was actually trying to dig away from the surface. Maybe if I ran into any lost ruins it’d be useful. Especially since repairing the inn’s glass windows had actually given me access to the stuff finally. I could replace the open-style shutter windows with the real deal!

I’d also been practicing [Relocate] because moving sucks. And moving giant mana dynamos created by hooking together chambers that had been spatially expanded was worse. So I’d been testing out moving whole rooms with [Relocate] rather than individual features.

The results were mixed.

I could move even spatially expanded rooms, but if I tried to hurry the process at all by empowering it with mana, anything inside those rooms would end up remaining behind. So by some quick calculations, trying to transfer the current setup to the places I was digging into, deep inside the mountain, would take...a week.

Honestly that wouldn’t be a problem if people didn’t mind being completely sealed in, but they needed the hunting and foraging from the surface. And even if they had the supplies, I wasn’t about to start without Shayma there. Sealing them up with no explanation might cause just a little bit of panic. Just a little.

So for the moment it was better to just set up a new area. And if it gave me more mana, so much the better. Although my mana income was truly obscene by the standards of someone with a Class, if I wanted to start supporting multiple types of Fields over immense areas, I needed it. Growth and Regeneration alone, if I filled the farming and living areas respectively, would suck up most of what I was generating. Well, less than before, with the Primal Gems, but I was still technically mana-poor. How did the other dungeons manage to get anything done?

Day 97 - Blue

Over the next few days, I used Shayma to teleport another two hundred or so people from Khiral Town. The crafters she’d commissioned material from weren’t part of that group of course, but a number of them did arrive, filling out some of the empty buildings. If this kept up I’d have to think about expanding the town. Or making a satellite village? I had nearly two thousand acres to work with in the living space alone, and since I was providing plumbing and running water, that was enough for an enormous number of people.

Actually, I supposed if I wanted to I could even build skyscrapers or high-rises, for all that it would clash with the look of the place. Stonesteel was stronger than concrete, and if I wanted to be idiotically wasteful I could put in teleports between floors. All interesting ideas, but I wasn’t much a fan of dense cities to begin with. If I had magic available to me, I could at least try and do something different.

Some other time.

Once again I was incredibly glad organizing the intake and figuring out how to make four hundred or so people work together was not my responsibility. A few of the newcomers had fruits and vegetables to fill out the specialty ice-and-fire cropland, which from my perspective produced an odd contrast. They were just crops grown in the ordinary manner, but surrounded by the fantastical surroundings of gleaming ice or a hanging over a pit with lava at the bottom.

So many people also highlighted that with [Genius Loci] I knew everything that happened within my bounds. Everything. All the inane conversations, useless drama, biological functions, embarrassing stumbles, and random snatches of distracted song. Weirdly, it didn’t drive me utterly bonkers. I didn’t even get an Ability for it or anything, it just was something I could shift into background noise. Like the huge amounts of empty space with nothing but air currents. Meaningless static.

As if I didn’t know before my mind wasn’t exactly human. Anymore, at least. How could it be, with no limbs and infinite eyes and senses humans weren’t meant to have? Plus this overlay thing. But it was all for the best, since I was still sane and interested and could have fun. Plus, that ability meant that I could tune out what Shayma had planned for her purchases and be surprised.

The tailor fussed over Shayma, making the very final adjustments to the outfit. It had mostly been left up to Dyen’s friend Aien, who was apparently well-known for his abilities with cloth and leather. He was a tall, finicky man with skin stretched tight over his bones and overlong fingers, and the results of his labor were impressive. At least to me. Honestly I was impressed with half the stuff I saw in Khiral, from near-full plate to classic wizard robe looking outfits.

Aien had supplied something that reminded me more of thief or ranger. “This cloth is woven from Midnight Stalkthread. It’s very tough, and has a very small shadow Affinity, which is why it looks so black. The leather reinforcements are from a Stonehide Wolf, and provide you with extra crushing protection. The boots are lined with a local specialty, a mana-infused cotton varietal with a touch of both fire and ice Affinities for keeping you comfortable in any weather. Everything has been waterproofed by yours truly, thanks to the water Source you provided.”

It was a gorgeous black suit, with padding around the joints and forearms, the matte cloth looking closer to silk than cotton. It was trimmed with blue thread, the only genuine ornamentation a faceted crystal in blue on the front of the tunic. The gloves were fingerless, and the boots were thick-soled. The straps were fastened with blued steel buckles, and the grommets for laces were the same, which was probably overkill, but then, we had paid quite a lot for it.

The cloak had something I wasn’t expecting, which was a hood with little pockets for Shayma’s ears, the end result was that it was absolutely adorable with the hood up. The little ear shapes were thin cloth over some sort of reinforcement, so they were even a little mobile, if not as expressive as her actual ears. Almost as cute, though.

I’d expected the black-and-blue to clash with her red hair and fur but it somehow worked, just making the contrast more striking. Pretty sure that was just Shayma’s natural beauty, but maybe I was biased? Regardless, this outfit looked a lot more official and definitely more expensive than the inherited Flame Knight garb, and was hopefully more comfortable too.

“Thank you, Aien, it looks fantastic.” Shayma said with a dazzling smile, which did nothing to dent the man’s perpetual frown.

“You’re welcome, Lady Shayma.” Aien inclined his head. “Will the opportunity to be transported to the Queen’s stronghold still be open in a week?”

“I’m headed to Wildwood tomorrow,” Shayma said. “I don’t know how long that will take but I’ll stop by again on my way back.”

“Very good.” He left Shayma at the mirror and returned to the counter, retrieving a wrapped bundle. “Extra socks and underclothes, also of Affinity cotton.”

“Perfect.” The bundle vanished into [Phantom Pocket], which seemed to have ranked up somewhere along the line. It was already at level three, large enough to fit weapons larger than daggers or sundries larger than a map and compass. Not that I actually knew what she had in there at this point. I’d lost track and since it was her Skill and not mine, I didn’t have any access to it directly.

Not that I felt any lack at that. I mean, it was her Skill, and I could understand not wanting to rely on me to hold onto her personal effects. She headed back out into the streets of Khiral, making her way over toward the city center where I’d left a semi-permanent structure for teleporting people. It was just stone when she wasn’t there, but it still provided a focal point and reminder for the people who wanted to go to support Iniri.

It was still wet and rainy, just that time of year, and watching Shayma put up her fox-eared hood made me all kinds of happy. Actually she wasn’t the only one with a suitably-modified hood, as I had spotted other kirin types in the town aside from Dyen, their antlers anchoring the cloth. Oddly, there didn’t seem to be any other sorts of demi-humans around, which I’d have to ask Shayma about at some point.

“The new stuff looks fantastic.”

“I admit, I’ve never owned really good clothing like this before.” She flexed her arm, feeling the soft fabric and heavy leather. “It’s all sorts of amazing. And I’ll have brand new daggers later today. Actual weapons! This is the sort of thing I could get used to.”

“I just wish I could make you stuff myself. Don’t have leather, don’t have cloth. Do have iron, but can’t really do much with it. Anyway. We’ll have to figure out how to actually run this whole ‘representative of a Power’ thing. Kind of a mouthful to introduce yourself that way.”

“And I’ve never run into anyone Representing a Power myself, so I’m not sure if there’s a way you’re supposed to.” Shayma nodded. “And so far as making stuff yourself...you got me flowers! And Source gems! You can’t expect you can do everything. Anyhow, Source gems are money and you have lots of those for hiring specialists.”

“Uh, about that…”

Shayma stopped for a moment, tail swishing under the cloak. “...something happen?”

“Just hold out your hand and I can show you.”

She obeyed, and I pushed one of the Primal gems into her hand, a small red-glowing thing with swirling colors inside. Shayma’s lips parted. “That is gorgeous! And...okay, this is weird. It’s clearly magical, and I can see a little bit of Affinity, but it doesn’t quite look right? What is it?”

“It’s a Primal Fire Gem. Not exactly sure what that means but it’s a double upgrade from the original Source gem. If they work, great, they’re probably more valuable! But they could be too powerful for mortal use or whatever, who knows.”

“When I get to Wildwood we can ask.” Shayma offered. “There ought to be some really high level people around, maybe even a fourth-tier Class. The gems you already gave me ought to last until then.”

“How many do you have left?”

“Six. More than enough considering this is basically as expensive as things get here.” She ran her bare fingertips over the soft fabric of her cloak. “Not to mention the rush job. Though I think Dyen helped with that.”

“Plus being Iniri’s messenger. I’m pretty sure that me being a Power comes a distant fourth in Aien’s list of concerns. It’s kinda strange to me to see how much sway her name carries. I guess because I’m kind of outside all that?”

“I’m pretty sure she would love you as a subject, but...you’re not really the subject type.”

“I am not. Also not the ruler type, so she doesn’t have to worry about me trying to take over.”

“You know I think that’s a bit of a worry for her. She hasn’t actually said anything for obvious reasons, but with what you are, you really could take her kingdom. Assuming we get it back from the mage-kings.”

“You can tell her I don't want her job. I mean, she's spending her whole day meeting with people and visiting her subjects and even doing paperwork. My job doesn't have paperwork or public relations and I want to keep it that way.”

“Aren't I your 'public relations?’” Shayma pointed out.

“And I'm happy to leave it to you!”

“Thank you for that.” She rolled her eyes. “As if you have another choice.”

“I don't need another one.”

It was always fun getting Shayma to blush from random compliments, especially since sometimes the less obvious ones got it where the more direct ones didn't. Fortunately for her the hood hid most of it, so nobody other than myself would have noticed.

Tansen was stuck by the inactive teleport cage, taking names and Classes of the people heading over. Some of them were lying, but I wasn't worried. If anyone tried to make trouble I'd shut them down quick. It wasn't for Iniri's sake, I just didn't want to play host to jerks. He perked up as Shayma approached, his strange bird perched on top of one of the columns to keep an eye out for us.

Poor guy was smitten, not that I blamed him.

“We have another forty-seven ready and waiting, Miss Ell.” He said, watching her almost worshipfully. I hoped that wouldn’t become a problem. Shayma minded less than I did, simply thanking him and stepping up to one of the pillars. Once she laid her fingers on it I used an [Assimilation] to take it back and then put in the teleport field. I’d taken to lighting up the base, too, resisting the urge to crib too much from certain fictions, in order to demonstrate it was working.

“Proceed!” Tansen called to the waiting crowd. “No shoving, there’s no rush. Remember there are high-level Classers on the other side, and they’ll make sure you’re settled in. Make sure you have all your supplies! Don’t leave anything behind!”

Under these exhortations people steered pangolin-ox-drawn wagons and hauled carts into the stone circle, vanishing with a faint blue twinkle to appear however many hundreds of kilometers away in the as-yet-unnamed town center. At Iniri’s request I’d moved the landing away from her manor and into a huge open square, relocating the other teleport platforms as well. The traffic was getting to be a little much, what with entire carts of ingots and bales and seeds and bolts arriving.

As much as it was, though, it wouldn’t last. The metal, especially, they didn’t have any means of replenishing. Oh, I had iron and coal for days, but that was just one metal and one fuel, and frankly I didn’t feel that I should provide it for free. Unfortunately my only negotiator was nowhere near the slowly spreading town. She’d sent back a report with one of the crafters, keeping Iniri up to date on how things were going, but that wasn’t the same as a face to face chat.

As bustling as it was starting to get, it didn’t much look like an army to me. But that would probably have to wait for the high-level Classers, once Shayma got to Wildwood. Once Shayma arrived, I might actually get to see the high levels in action.

Day 98 - Annit

She was probably the most important person Annit had ever escorted. High-level Classers didn’t really need the escort, and since Wildwood Retreat itself was located at the entrance to Wildwood valley, it was easy enough to find. Besides, half the time they could fly or gate or something. Or came in a party with someone that could.

No, it was the lower levels, who’d just evolved their classes to the second tier and wanted to move to a real hunting ground, find some like-minded people and group up, that needed the escort. And damned if this Shayma didn’t look like she was freshly Classed, clumsy-graceful in the way only those with newfound Ability boons could be. Not to mention young.

But she was apparently Iniri’s messenger, and it showed. The outfit the fox girl was wearing cost more than she made in a year, which seemed a little unfair, but at least Shayma shared her largesse.

Annit reached into her pocket again to touch the healing Source Gem that Shayma had provided as payment for taking her to Wildwood. She wasn’t sure if Shayma didn’t know how rare healing Sources were or simply didn’t care, being rich enough to use them as casual payment. Either way it was exactly what she had been looking for, delivered as a gift from the gods themselves. With a Source, Keri could finally break through and evolve her Class, which meant they could finally join serious groups at Wildwood or one of the Great Dungeons, which meant -

Well, that was the future.

For now, she had a job. Usually she was much faster than the low level types she escorted, between [Agility] and [Trackless] and her Class Ability [Grace of Air]. She could breeze through the thick forest effectively unimpeded, letting her roam around her slower charges. Yes, that meant it took four or five days to get to Wildwood, but it also meant that they didn’t run into much in the way of wildlife since she could steer them clear.

This Shayma, though, had some method of travel that rivaled hers. Annit glanced back at the ephemeral outline of the fox-kin as she paced Annit through the woods. Frankly, the ability to simply pass through trees and shrubs was just cheating. How in the Abyss did a new Classer get such a powerful Ability? The two of them were making good time, at least.

She held up her hand as the winds brought a faint sound to her ears, and Shayma stopped instantly, phasing back into existence beside her. At least she paid attention, unlike a lot of newbie Classers. “Zern Hound up ahead. Maybe as many as three. I’d say go around but they leave magical trails all over the place that they can sense. Kind of like a spider. I can frighten them off or kill them, but I’ll need you to stay here.”

“Not a problem.” Shayma flashed a disgustingly brilliant smile and seemed to fade from sight. [Enhanced Senses] still caught her presence, but it was an effective and also unfair technique. Annit was starting to think Shayma was actually a tier three and just messing with her, but she’d specifically stated that her combat ability wasn’t that high, so…

Annit ghosted forward, leaping lightly from branch to branch so she would have the advantage of height. Her mana sense wasn’t able to distinguish their traces from the mana-rich vegetation, so she moved forward cautiously, letting the wind guide her until she spotted the ghostly green of Zern Hound fur. Carefully, slowly, she took out the thin bone tube of her blowgun, loaded a dart, and brought it to her lips.

Her wind Affinity gathered around her as she marshaled her Skills, vision stretching to target the wolf before she launched the dart, which ripped through the air and slammed into the Hound hard enough to send it tumbling. Unassuming as it looked, her weapon of choice was as good as any bow or spear, and easier to carry besides. Most of the time she didn’t even need the special darts, poisoned or exploding or tracking, the sheer impact of the metal being enough to kill her prey.

In this case it wasn’t quite, and a yelp sounded from the hound ahead, followed by a pair of growls. And a howl, answered by one off to her left. “Shit,” she swore. Not that they were a threat to her, but what about Shayma? There was a reason she usually scouted far ahead of her charges.

The hounds drew on their mana, making the noise that provided their name, flooding the surroundings with odd zipping sounds. Their mana trails flared, lingering on the air as the pack dashed toward her.

She had a choice. Did she fight them here, and hope they left Shayma alone, or return to where she’d left the fox-kin knowing the hounds would follow? At least then she’d be able to defend the girl, who probably had never seen truly mana-touched wildlife before. Actually, given how low level Shayma was, they’d probably home in on her directly, sniffing the sweet scent of concentrated mana without any of the attendant strength to defend it.

Annit scowled and vaulted backward, breezing to where she’d left Shayma and taking up a post on a tree limb. The noise of the Zern Hounds followed her. “Monsters incoming,” she said shortly. “I’ll take care of them, but I advise activating any defensive Skills you have.”

“Right,” Shayma said seriously, and there were suddenly three of her. Which was an impressive trick, but Annit wasn’t sure it’d do much to distract the hounds. Once they found there was no meat on those fakes, they’d ignore them. They weren’t that stupid, as animals.

The first one appeared through the trees and another blowdart flung it back, a spatter of greenish blood covering the bark of the trees, and the others darted in from the sides. [Grace of Air] took her out of the path of the one closest to her, her blowgun smacking it sharply across the elongated muzzle and sending it skidding.

Shayma’s doppels were doing a credible job of distracting the third, menacing it with their daggers. The real Shayma, if Annit was right, was hanging back, not making a target of herself. That was great, because there was that fourth one out there which probably would try and flank them.

At that thought, the fourth one appeared, rushing in only to topple over, scrabbling at the air with its legs and whining for no reason Annit could see. Never one to waste an opportunity, she tore through its throat with another dart, spilling more of the green blood. Since the one closest to her was still dazed, she turned to the one Shayma was keeping busy, and blinked as Shayma seemed to just appear behind it. She lashed out with her dagger...and entirely failed to penetrate the thick fur.

Everyone was momentarily surprised at that. It was as if Shayma were some level one Classer-wannabe, instead of someone with Skills that clearly belonged to a tier two or three Class. The Zern Hound seized the opportunity to dart off, shielding itself with Shayma and her doppels. The other one, recovering its senses, yelped and slipped off into the trees too, leaving the corpses behind.

Shayma, weirdly, seemed a little winded, despite the fact that these were merely level sixteen or so beasts. In all, it just served to fuel Annit’s irritation. Was this lady messing around with her or what? Queen’s messenger or not, she wasn’t going to take Shayma along unless the fox-girl actually listened to her. “What were you doing? If you can’t cut them properly, stay out of the way! You hired a guide, let me do my job!”

She blanched. “I’m sorry! I thought I could take care of one, at least.”

“Well, you couldn't. Whatever you did to that one was pretty useful, though.” She gestured at the one with the gouged-out throat. “If you must help, stick to support. I expect we’ll run into two or three more things on our way to Wildwood. Nothing more dangerous than this, though.”

Shayma nodded, apparently chastened and looked down at the Zern Hound corpse. “So what do we do with these?”

“Leave them. We don’t have time to properly gut and dress them and, they’re not really worth much anyway.” Annit shrugged. Shayma seemed disappointed at the answer, but she was headed to Wildwood, which had much more lucrative things to hunt. Surely she’d prefer those spoils instead.

Despite her predictions, they didn’t run into anything of note before night fell. Not that there weren’t beasts out there. The winds spoke to Annit of mana-touched bears and trees and one stalking cat, but none of them seemed interested in the pair of them. Still, she was careful about setting up her ward crystals when they made camp. Such things didn’t work out past Wildwood, of course, but for the comparatively tame area between Khiral and Wildwood, it made traveling solo or as small group actually possible.

Speaking of which, she was wondering what Shayma planned to do. The girl didn’t come with any of kit, and hadn’t requested any when hiring her. Clearly she had something planned, but Annit wasn’t expecting Shayma to produce an entire tent from nowhere with a swirl of black. Annit nearly choked. Spatial magic? What in the abyss was up with her Skills?

“What...how much do you have hidden away like that?”

“I don’t have much, but Blue has...a lot.” Shayma looked...amused? She’d mentioned Blue before. He did have to be a pretty impressive mage to be able to gift Shayma such an expensive and impressive magical item.

“Do you think I could use it to store my kit? It would make fighting easier.” She tried to be polite, despite how much Shayma had irritated her. First, she was a customer, and second, she was a powerful customer. Plus, it would be really nice to be able to travel light.

Shayma blinked, then giggled. “Blue says he admires your gall, but if you want to ask a favor from a Power you should probably aim for something more important.”

“He says…?” Annit had a sudden sinking feeling she’d missed something important. Shayma had mentioned something about Blue before but she figured that boasting about being a Power was just the standard hubris of high-level Classers. “Exactly who is this Blue?”

“Didn’t I go over this before?” Shayma’s ears flicked briefly. “He’s the Power that’s hosting Queen Iniri.”

“He’s...actually…” The bottom dropped out of Annit’s stomach as she contemplated the fact that she’d tried to treat a being that could move the heavens and earth as a backpack. Keri was going to kill her, if this Blue didn’t do it first for that, or for mouthing off to his emissary. And snapping at her. And generally treating her as a spoiled noble.

“You’re right, it probably is hard to believe. Yeah, but I don’t know what.” Shayma muttered at nobody in particular - or rather, to Blue, before focusing on Annit again. “Don’t worry, he’s not that petty. Yet.” She grinned suddenly. “In fact, he appreciates that you’re showing me to Wildwood despite the fact that I’ve never actually been out to a mana-rich area before.” A pause. “Yes, you are.” She said, her grin sliding into an affectionate smile.

“Actually, he did want to know why you wanted a healing Source when you’re a Wind Hunter. He says he doesn’t spot any healing Skills.”

This thing could actually read her Status? At range? She regarded Shayma warily, not wanting to get Keri involved. But on the other hand, if she screwed this up Keri would kill her twice. “My...friend at Wildwood, Keri, is [Healer] classed. It’s really hard for her to make a breakthrough and evolve her Class without a Source, since they can’t put out enough power for anyone to take along hunting or delving, otherwise.”

Shayma nodded sympathetically. “I know how hard that is. My original class was Seeker.”

There were a vast number of Classes, getting more obscure as they tiered up, but there were a few that were infamous. [Devourer], the only Class with a death sentence. [Healer], which couldn’t get any weapon Skills until it evolved...and [Seeker], which locked out both magic and weapons and was almost impossible to level. “How in the abyss did you evolve it?”

“Oh, I didn’t. Blue...reclassed me.” She waved it aside, as if unaware how ridiculous that reply was. “Anyway, could you introduce us to Keri? We might be able to provide something better than a healing Source.”

Annit opened her mouth to immediately reject the offer, but paused. She definitely did not trust Shayma or Blue, and something like Blue offering to provide “something better” was not going to come free. But being [Healer] classed was hard enough and Keri should be the one to hear them out and turn them down. Or rather, not turn them down, knowing Keri, though Annit was of the opinion that they ought to stay far away from actual Powers.

“I...can ask,” she said cautiously. “I can’t guarantee anything.”

“Of course.” Shayma didn’t push. But she did smile, and Annit had to wonder if Blue could read her mind, and already knew that Keri would leap at the chance. The fox girl peered at Annit, then shook her head. “Don’t worry, Blue can’t read your mind.”

She had no idea what to say to that.