M29

Dear Patrons - Thank you for your continued support. Because I have some new patrons, I just want to reiterate that these chapters are due one final revision pass before getting posted to RR. Some small details might change, and some typos will surely get fixed.

“Morgan! I’m glad to see you; it’s been a busy couple of days, and I’d meant to talk to you sooner. Wait ‘til you see what we’re having built next!” Olivia waved to Morgan as he approached the Colony Stone.

“Oh, something other than housing?” He asked as he walked up to her. She had a hand on the stone and seemed to be concentrating on something in the air in front of her face. He chuckled at her blank stare as she navigated the System UI screens.

“That’s right! We put up the last mass housing unit yesterday. Now we have enough beds for every colonist. We’ll start building nicer homes soon, but first, we want to get some infrastructure and important buildings in, starting with a brewery and tavern! We all agreed that a gathering place should take precedence, and Arthur, of all people, suggested a bar to help with morale.” Olivia was chuckling as her eyes darted back and forth over the menus.

“You won’t get any arguments from me.” Morgan felt a rumbling in the ground and heard some yelling and cheering from off to his left. He walked over the crown of the hilltop to see what was happening, Olivia following close behind. Down the western slope of the hill, Morgan could see a crowd gathered but held back by several people who had staked off a large rectangular section of ground. Within the rectangle, the colonists had piled large stacks of cut trees. A cloud of yellow, sparkling fog grew out of the grass around the timber. Soon, nothing was visible within the sparkling mist, and the ground started churning. As Morgan watched, a large two-story building rose out of the earth. “Goddamn, that’s what I call fast construction!”

“Yeah, the System certainly makes construction painless,” Olivia replied, coming to stand next to him. The building was settling into place, the ground smoothing out into packed earth around it. The sides of the building were made from the same dark earth-colored bricks as the smithy. It had large windows framed in wooden shutters. The roof was peaked and made from heavy-looking timbers and slats.

“So you only had to supply the wood? Does the System pull everything else out of the earth? Glass? Metals? Brick? Pretty damn convenient.” Morgan had thought his tower construction was novel, but it seemed that building structures out of nothing was fairly commonplace, with Energy use being the new normal.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Olivia’s frown belied her agreement.

“Judging by the vents on the roof, I bet the brewery portion is on the second floor? You think it comes with supplies to make beer?”

“No, the description indicated we’d need to grow our own or purchase ingredients from the Contribution Store.”

“Huh, well, that’s pretty cool, anyway. You already have people picked out to work in there?” Morgan looked around at the crowd, wondering if any of the onlookers would soon be making beer and serving customers.

“Actually, yes. Some colonists with agricultural backgrounds were assigned to create this industry in the planned settlement, so they’ll be stepping in.”

“Well, I wasn’t just happening by; I was looking for you to pick your brain about something,” Morgan said, turning away from the new building and looking at Olivia.

“Oh?” Olivia turned to him, arching an eyebrow.

“Yeah. So, you know my new tower?” He paused while Olivia nodded, “Well, I don’t actually have control of all of it yet. I guess the previous owner was kind of a prick, and he’s set up these guardians on each floor. I can’t do anything on the floors they’re guarding until I defeat them. So far, I’ve beaten the first two guardians.”

“You need help with the others?” Olivia asked, her voice rising in excitement.

“Not exactly. The guy made it so only I can climb the stairs to the uncleared levels, so I have to defeat them by myself. There’s this spirit, though, that kind of manages the tower. She’s friendly and is allowed to give me an idea of my chance of success with each guardian. She said I could maybe, barely beat the third guardian, and she let it slip that it’s some kind of ‘elemental creature’ whatever that is. I thought you might have some idea?”

“Elemental?” Olivia pursed her lips and tapped her pointer finger on her chin while contemplating. “I take it you came to me because I told you about my elemental magic?” Morgan nodded. “Well, I’ve learned a basic spell for four different elements and a couple of stronger ones for fire and ice. Unfortunately, those spells would be no help to you if I can’t go with you to the fight.”

“Right, I figured that, but I was hoping you’d have some insight into what I could do to prepare.”

“Oh, well, as far as I know, the four main elemental attunements are fire, earth, water, and air. You know there are potions in the Contribution Store - maybe you could buy some to help resist those elements.”

“Ahh, I hadn’t thought of that! I knew you were the person to talk to!” Morgan turned back toward the stone.

“Well, you’re welcome!” Olivia called, laughing, as he walked away.

“Thank you!” Morgan laughed as he slapped his hand on the stone. He shopped through the menus, finding the one labeled “Consumables,” where he’d bought his food earlier, and then noticed a sub-category called “Potions.” He selected it and saw quite a lengthy list. The cheapest item was a potion of minor stamina that was supposed to give you a quick boost of endurance. It only cost five points, and Morgan wondered if it was any better than a cup of coffee. He bought one to try it out. He scrolled down the list until he found a section called resistance potions. Minor elemental resistance potions were sold for 50 points each. The next tier was a standard resistance potion, and they sold for 100. Morgan bought one for each element and one for poison, reasoning that it sounded like a good thing to have on hand. He turned away from the stone, 500 points poorer.

Olivia was gone when he looked up, presumably to check out the new construction. Morgan figured he’d wait for things to settle down. Maybe they’d have a grand opening when there was some beer, ale, or perhaps cider to share. He turned, instead, to the north and started walking toward the dark grey spire of his tower. As he walked, he thought about his actions. Why didn’t he want to go and hang out with people as they celebrated a new building? They were clearly in a festive mood down there. Maybe he just wanted to make more progress in his tower before something else called him away? He knew that he’d be obligated to help Olivia’s friend, Bronwyn, when she came back, and he had a feeling it would be any time now. Then he had to start pathfinding toward Issa’s village. He missed her already, and maybe that was the real reason he wasn’t interested in hanging out with a bunch of colonists that he really had no connection to other than that they were from the same planet. He and Issa had been through hell together, and he didn’t want to spend time away from her frivolously.

He stepped into his tower and exchanged his usual greeting with Tiladia, “No, I haven’t been gone long, just thirty minutes or so.”

“Excellent! Morgan, I’ve been cataloging the plants and fruits that have grown in the atrium, and I should finish by the end of the day. There’s one fruit, in particular, that might interest you, though. The old master had a Heesporian plum tree that he carefully cultivated from a seedling. They only bear fruit once every 70 to 90 years, and it has produced a very ripe plum. The Energy in it is quite dense.”

“Uh, what’s this plum supposed to do?” Morgan started walking to the stairs.

“If I recall correctly, it’s supposed to be of great use when someone is trying to evolve their Core.”

“Ahh,” Morgan stopped walking and looked at Tiladia. “I don’t think I’m ready to try to do that yet. I don’t know what it means. How and why does one ‘evolve’ their Core?”

“Morgan, I can sense that you have a base 2 Core - if you want to improve your Core’s capacity and power, you’ll need to evolve it. The Heesporian plum would probably help you gain several stages on your Core, but such a valuable item might be better used when you are at a plateau rather than just starting.”

“Right. So I should save it until I get stuck. I’ve never tried to improve my Core, and I’ve already gained a rank, so I’m assuming that my cultivation drill will help me gradually improve it? So far, I’ve only practiced it in order to open my pathways.”

“That’s right, Morgan. I’m glad that you have a suitable drill for your Core. I’ve never learned anything about a Vortex Core.”

“You can see what kind of Core I have?”

“Yes, scrying and evaluation are my specialties! I told you I was good at that!” Tiladia flared and whirled around him.

“Alright, changing subjects: What’s on the third floor?”

“The third floor is the gallery level. It houses the art gallery and the dueling gallery.”

“Interesting fellow, Vormendion, keeping his art and duels on equal footing,” Morgan snorted. “Hey, I don’t suppose you can tell me if it’s particularly warm, cold, or windy on the third floor?”

“Morgan, I,” Tiladia pulsed for a few seconds, then continued, “I want to reply, Morgan, but I know what you are asking, and my knowing means that the bindings on me apply. I’m sorry, I don’t want to go through that torment again.” Her lights dimmed, and she positively drooped.

“Relax, Tiladia, it was just a long shot. Don’t worry; I don’t want you to do anything to hurt yourself.” Morgan put one hand into his pouch, clearly picturing his four elemental resistance potions. He gripped his spear firmly in his other hand and stepped onto the stairs. Two steps later, he was on the second-floor landing. He turned and stepped onto the ascending curve of the stairway, and two more steps saw him on a new landing.

The third-floor landing was much like the one below. A similar fixture flared to life, illuminating similar tiles, though the pattern was different - pale porcelain split by two, burgundy half circles with the open ends pointing away from each other. The walls were paneled in a warm, lightly stained wood, and two sets of doors led off the landing to the left and the right. Nothing jumped out of the shadows to attack him. Morgan turned to his left and quickly opened one of the doors with his left hand, then put it back in his pouch, ready to pull out a potion.

The room that came into view as three big chandeliers flared to life was much like the big reception hall below, but this one was narrower and longer and had obviously once housed dozens of large paintings; they were gone, but the plaster was lighter where they used to rest. In the bright light, Morgan was sure nothing was hiding in the gallery, so he left, crossed over to the other side of the landing, and pushed the door open.

This room was a mirror to the art gallery, but instead of tile floors, it had a blonde-colored wood slat floor, and low benches lined the hallway, presumably for spectators. Empty weapons racks lined the far, short ends of the room. Morgan pulled out his potion of fire resistance when he looked to the end of the room on his left: a figure stood down there, about forty feet away from him. The figure looked like a man, but he appeared to be made of smoldering coal. He wore no clothes, and most of his body was pitch black, but some spots were glowing red, and white ash seemed to follow in his wake as he paced back and forth, whipping a slender, shiny sword back and forth. Two red embers filled his eye sockets, and, as they locked onto Morgan’s eyes, the man’s mouth parted in a red, smoking grin.

Morgan quaffed the small potion of fire resistance, grimacing at the bitter flavor; it was like a mixture of tart cranberries and vinegar. He put the empty vial in his pouch and gripped his spear with both hands while a chill ran over his body, and a thin rime of ice spread over his bronze vambraces and hands. He stepped into the gallery and faced the smoldering man. The man stepped forward and silently bowed, straightened, and looked at Morgan. Morgan figured he knew what the man was waiting for, so he reciprocated the bow. The man’s smoking grin widened, and he stepped forward, lashing out with the rapier. Morgan was ready, though, and used his longer weapon to menace the attacker, keeping him at bay.

The smoldering swordsman shortly grew frustrated, his grin turning into a frown. He scowled, backed up a step, then spun in a circle, whipping his sword in a flat arc toward Morgan. Morgan knew the man was too far away for the sword to hit him, but alarm bells rang in his mind anyway. He was alarmed for good reason - the smoking duelist’s sword flared bright red, like steel about to melt, and an arc of liquid fire whipped away from the blade and flew toward Morgan. Morgan frantically raised his spear to “block” the stream of fire, and it only managed to interrupt a tiny portion of the wave of fire. His spear’s haft smoldered, and the rest of the flames slammed into Morgan’s chest and upper arms. Where the fire hit his breastplate, he didn’t feel any pain, but his upper arms screamed in agony, and Morgan knew that if he hadn’t had that potion of resistance, he’d probably have been charred to the bone. As it was, his breastplate was uncomfortably warm, and his sleeves were smoldering over blistered skin.

The potion was helpful but not enough for Morgan to ignore the fiery attack, and he knew that he couldn’t win a battle of attrition with this guy. The blistering pain in his arms was incentive for him to try to end this fight quickly, so he started channeling his Energy Drain ability and pushed himself into an offensive flurry. He used every feint and flourish that came to mind from his Spear Mastery skill, but his basic level was starting to show its limitations; the smoldering duelist was clearly on another level. He sidestepped, parried, and nearly riposted several of Morgan’s stabs. Morgan kept up the attack, but the duelist suddenly started smoking, glowing like an ember all over, and then opened his mouth and coughed a huge ball of fire at Morgan. Morgan rolled to the side, but the flames half engulfed him, and he screamed in agony. He rolled away from the charcoal man, extinguishing his smoldering clothes. As he rolled, the duelist followed him, stabbing at him with his rapier. He pierced Morgan in the back of his left thigh and again in his upper back. Morgan screamed in rage and pain, rolling frantically away and using the momentum to spring to his feet.

Morgan was starting to feel his wounds and exertions and knew that he’d have collapsed a while ago if he hadn’t improved his vitality so much. He knew that he couldn’t beat this guardian with skill. He also knew that his fire resistance potion would wear off soon. He contemplated making a run for the stairwell and getting out while he could for a brief moment, but a streak of stubbornness wouldn’t allow that. Instead, he slowly circled and backstepped, keeping the man at bay while he worked his way to a corner of the gallery. Once he had his back to a corner, he slowly started to sidestep while stabbing at the man until they’d switched positions - now the smoldering duelist had his back to the corner. “Dodge this, fuck face!” Morgan grunted as he charged, the point of his spear leading the way.

The duelist grinned, using his superior skill to redirect the point of Morgan’s spear to the side, then driving his rapier toward Morgan’s stomach. Morgan didn’t slow, though, and the rapier’s point didn’t quite get to his gut, instead impacting the top of his left thigh, grinding into the bone of Morgan’s hip. Morgan’s growl turned into a roar as he kept charging, driving the man into the corner of the room. When they impacted the wall, Morgan dropped his grip on the spear and grabbed hold of the man’s head with both hands, activating Energy Drain. Through the burning in his hands, he felt torrents of fiery Energy flow into him. He pulled it with all his ability, willing his Vortex Core to vacuum in as much as possible.

The duelist’s mouth opened in a silent scream. Flames started to coalesce in his throat, and Morgan knew that he would fire another gout of flame at him, but the flames never gathered, instead slowly fading down to embers as Morgan pulled the Energy out of the duelist. Finally, Morgan’s spell had run its course, and he stepped away from the charcoal man, taking up his spear, which had fallen against the wall. The smoldering man wasn’t dead, and he weakly held onto his rapier as Morgan stepped back, but it was lodged in Morgan’s hip bone. Though it was agonizing, Morgan kept pulling away, and the duelist’s grip wasn’t strong enough to hold on. As his hand slipped away from the sword’s hilt, Morgan leveled his spear, resting the point on the man’s chest where a normal person’s heart would be. “Yield?” he croaked, spittle and blood spraying out with the word.

The man just stared at Morgan, then slowly shook his head, weakly pushing against Morgan’s spear. Morgan growled and said louder, “Yield!” The man jerked his head in a vehement negation and then shoved against the spear, nodding.

“He can’t yield, Morgan; he’s bound.” Tiladia’s voice tinkled sadly from behind him.

“Well, that’s fucked,” Morgan said, but he shoved with all his might, driving his spear through the duelist’s chest and into the wall behind him. The man’s mouth opened again, but, like before, no sound came out. The fire in his eyes dimmed, and then he slowly started to crumble. As he fell into a pile of ash, a stream of dense silvery-gold motes rushed into Morgan.

***Congratulations! You’ve achieved level 14 Hollow Guard. You have gained 5 Strength, 5 Will, 4 Vitality, 4 Intelligence, and 3 Agility. You’ve learned the class skill: Hollow Charge - Basic***

“Tiladia, I feel dirty. That guy was a better fighter,” Morgan sighed as he looked down at the state of his clothes and body.

“He was a better duellist, Morgan, but your Energy Drain ability is quite effective against Energy-based beings. You were fighting for your life, not for a sporting competition. It’s good that you found a way to vanquish him.”

Morgan still had some pink skin where he’d been burned, but he’d mostly healed from the massive influx of Energy he’d gotten from the smoldering man. He still had a rapier stuck in his hip, though. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a scrap of leather that he gingerly wrapped around the rapier’s blade, close to where it had entered his body. He gripped the leather tightly and jerked the blade out as quickly and with all his strength. “Ouch! Jesus!” He limped around in a circle, cursing for several moments.

“I wish I could help you, Morgan; alas, I cannot physically interact.”

“It’s the thought that counts,” Morgan grunted, stowing the rapier in his dimensional satchel. He noticed that his hip had already stopped bleeding, and though it was tender, he could see that he wouldn’t need surgery or anything. His high vitality was starting to show its benefits. He called up his status sheet to see his progress:

Status

Name: Morgan Hall

Race: Human - Base 4

Class: Hollow Guard - Advanced

Level: 14

Core: Vortex Class - Base 2

Energy Affinity: 9.2

Energy: 669/848

Strength: 35

Vitality: 36 (38)

Dexterity: 8

Agility: 27

Intelligence: 44

Will: 35

Points Available: 0

Titles & Feats: Human Champion, First Hollow Guard, Ardeni Friend, Mark of Loyalty

Skills: System Language Integration - Not Upgradeable, Spear Mastery - Basic, Dagger Mastery - Basic, Stealthy Maneuvers - Basic, Backstab - Basic, Energy Drain - Improved, Guard Ally - Basic, Vortex Core Cultivation Drill - Basic, Hollow Charge - Basic

He focused on his new skill and read the information screen that appeared:

***Hollow Charge - Basic: Prerequisite: Vortex Class Core. You expend some Energy to sheath yourself in the currents of your Vortex Core and move with great alacrity up to 25 feet. Energy-based attacks that hit you during this charge will be absorbed by your Core. Energy cost: 100, Cooldown: Medium.***

“Well, that’s pretty badass,” He murmured.

“What’s that, Morgan?” Tiladia queried, pulsing and spinning around him.

“Oh, I got a new skill,” Morgan replied, walking out of the room. He was feeling the need for some fresh air.

“Oh yes, I saw that. Congratulations on your level, and belated congratulations on conquering the third level of the tower. I estimate you have roughly a fifty percent chance to conquer the fourth guardian.”

“Hah, thanks, Tiladia. I think I’ll put that off for now.”