Chapter 313 (Audio attached) (Patreon)

Clare smiled and shifted from foot to foot. “Don’t look surprised. I have actual traditional tanking abilities.” She hefted her tower shield, pointedly. It was big blocky and looked like what a tank was supposed to use.

“I’m a dodge tank.” Tom scratched his head. “I admit that’s not a great match up for an enemy like this. I guess it’s not hopeless. If I got my positioning perfect, I can trick them into running into walls.” Personally, he was not sure it was even possible. He had tried his hardest to get out of the way of the first troll, and it had still clipped him. It wasn’t like he could buy a precognition skill to give him a moment’s warning, which would allow him to start dodging before they moved.

“Nah, it’s too and risky for us to rely on that sort of trick. I think my build is better for this. From what I saw, the trolls have an auto aiming ability. It swerved at the last moment to hit you.”

“It does,” Everlyn confirmed. “And Tom’s skill doesn’t let him move fast enough to negate it.”

“If I time my teleport better.”

She shook her head, and her red hair bounced with the motion. “No, it won’t be sufficient. By luck you might escape one time out of three the rest of the time it’s hitting you.”

“So it’s up to me. You guys assured me that I was just the off tank, not the primary one.” She glared around the group. But Michael wasn’t here, and he had been the architect of most of their builds. Clare shrugged. “Guess it’s a splendid opportunity to put my abilities to use, but against that charge.” She grimaced. “I’m going to have to buy some extra skills. Give me a moment.”

“Wait… Are you really getting a skill in response to the trolls?” Keikain cautioned. “Is that wise?”

“No… of course not! I’m not about to waste experience on skills I don’t need. These have been on my lists for a while.”

“What are you getting?” Everlyn’s brow wrinkled. “A taunt? And a blocking skill?”

“No. No taunt. I already have one. I’m purchasing a momentum cancelling skill because I don’t want to experience that thing hitting me full force. Shield or not, that’ll end badly and my second is one for immovability. To be honest, I should have purchased both before now.”

Tom grinned at Clare’s mock shiver of horror. “So what? After this you’ll be like Legen. Taking the charge of a giant lizard.”

“Different… His traits are a kind of a mix between your black dodge and immovability. He reduces the forces by a huge percentage but still suffers damage. Me, my skills should reduce the power of the collision. To be honest, my setup’s probably better. Both of these are tier four starting skills…They’re going to be effective immediately.” She held up a finger to ask them to hold questions and then her face went inanimate as she went into her system room to complete the purchase.

“Does she already know what she’s getting?” he asked, glancing around..

Thor nodded. “There’s a list, options at different tiers to make sure we can purchase the right abilities in emergencies. The protocol of which one to buy is pretty clear.. As this zone,” he hesitated… “As this zone is effectively solved she’ll buy the most expensive versions she can afford.”

Clare’s face was abruptly flooded with life as she returned to the real world.

“What tier?” Thor asked immediately.

“Four.”

“One moment, please.” His face also went inanimate, and he opened his eyes ten seconds later as a loot portal burst into existence in front of him. From it, he plucked out a small pebble and handed it to Clare. “It’s an affinity stone,” he explained. “It cost four hundred thousand credits, but given the threat of the trolls I think it’s worth it.”

Clare’s eyes were wide. “There was a match for the skill in the auction house?”

“Only for Absolute Momentum Absorption, and it’ll only grant three levels. There was nothing for Frozen Time Shield.”

“Still, it’s a specific skill. I can’t believe it was there.” She grabbed the stone and placed it on her forehead, and then it crumbled to dust.

“Yep, it was pure luck that it was available. I didn’t put any fate down to improve the odds.”

“If we’re done. Let’s move.” Everlyn said.

Clare shifted to the front and Tom settled at the rear in case one of the trolls struck from that direction. It was unlikely, given what they had seen from the enemy so far. Especially with Everlyn’s and Rahmat’s abilities that should pick up any threats long before they closed. But they were in a trial, so when it came to battle formations, they enforced discipline. They were well aware anything could happen, and it was never sensible to get arrogant.

As he strode over to his spot, he glanced at the dead creature. It had been torn to shreds by the flurry of blows. Theoretically, they possessed a regeneration ability, but against catastrophic damage regeneration was helpless.

They moved forward in their formation. Travelling slowly while they worked to understand the type of monster they were going to be facing.

Another troll appeared.

Clare was at the front, and it was ten metres away from her. She brought her shield down into a defensive position.

BANG!

Tom hadn’t registered it moving. One moment they were separate and the next there was dust on the ground to show where it had run, but the actual movement might as well have been teleportation. He assumed Absolute Momentum Absorption had been used because Clare slid back only two metres. Her feet created tracks in the dirt and that small movement instead of being sent flying through the air told Tom an ability had to be in play.

She cursed and as she turned to face the monster, the damage specialists launched their attacks. A fist sized ball of air that looked like it was filled with razor blades flew from Toni’s hand and smashed into the centre of its chest area. It instantly pulverised three times its volume, turning bone, skin, muscles, and organs into a dirty brown mist and left a hole all the way through the body. Thor’s hammer glowed blue as it landed on the troll’s head and Rahmat’s spear pierced through the heart, which was higher than in a human and close to the neck. Finally, a shark made of rock emerged from the ground and bit off an entire leg.

Everyone immediately drew back to observe the results of the attack.

Tom could see fibres forming in the hole that Toni’s magic had left. They whipped back and forth like they were alive, and their length extended to bridge the gap from one side to the other. Once attached, they tightened to close the wound. Separately, the brain injury bubbled and part of the collapsed bone started to return to its previous spot.

“Hold,” Everlyn ordered simply.

As they watched silently, the regeneration fought against the damage. It tried to repair itself, but even as it reduced the size of the gaping wounds, blood was flooding out of the monster.

It had a crushed skull, a missing leg and a significant hole in its chest and presumably a punctured heart… despite all of those grievous injuries the monster’s survival was possible. The regeneration looked like it was strong enough to fix each of those wounds. Three seconds had passed, and the healing was so rapid that Tom suspected if they gave it another ten, it would be able to move again.

Yet a heap of blood had drained out of it and a trickle continued to be lost. Powerful regeneration or not, it had prioritised the wrong things to fix. He looked for signs of the magic failing and found them. The rate the fibres, which had been patching the cavity left by Toni, formed was reducing. “It’s going to die.” he declared. By the time the sentence finished, Tom knew, saying it had been unnecessary. They could see the magic of the monster failing. The partially mended skull fell down under the effects of gravity, a number of the tendrils patching the gap in the chest broke.

It stopped bleeding and not because it had healed itself.

Everlyn walked forward. Her bow was out even if she had chosen not to fire it. She poked the skull lightly with the bottom of her magically conjured weapon. It collapsed. “I hope you all noted the baseline strength of the regeneration. You have to do more damage to kill it than you think. Let’s keep going.”

The next ten monsters were taken down in a similar fashion, with the exception being that they stopped all attacking at once. Toni’s spell had a cool down to it and she was best used as a support in a kill rather than as the primary damage dealer. Keikain could kill a troll with a single spell, but it took a lot out of him. Rahmat was nearly incapable of outpacing the regeneration and couldn’t kill one and it would take Thor at least four swings of his hammer. Through a single strike to the head, sufficed to stun it for fourteen seconds.

They measured the duration.

Toni could do similar with a head shot, but Rahmat’s spear would only daze it for seconds at a time even when he plunged it through an eye. Leaving the weapon embedded either in the heart or brain failed to extend the stun.

Neither Tom nor Harry participated in the tests. They knew their skill set. Unless he leant on chaos attacks, Harry clearly lacked the offensive power and Tom was a lesser spear man than Rahmat. If he couldn’t subdue one, Tom wouldn’t’ be able to either, unless he leant on his magic and his powers in this situation were better left for emergencies.

“Tom, what’s your control level over lesser elementals?” Everlyn asked. “Can you convey complex, subtle concepts?”

“It’s pretty solid. Like I can’t give complicated multiple step instructions, but the communication is mind to mind, so if I can envisage the issue I can communicate it.”

“Good, go with lesser fire elementals. Their job is not to directly injure the trolls but to stop them healing after someone else does. But…”

“I know the issue. I need to ensure they don’t accidentally stop any bleeding our various attacks leave. Don’t worry I can do it.”

That type of instruction was easy enough to pass on to the lesser elementals. He had a good mental image of what the fibres looked like and from his healing he understood blood vessels and blood flow. He could ensure the summons wouldn’t cauterise the wounds by accident.

They continued on.

It was slow going. Clare had a minute cool down on Momentum Absorption and ninety seconds on  Frozen Time Shield. She needed both to control the battlefield, so she was the limiter of how fast they could go. The answer was not very. There was no running between fights. Instead, there was lots of brisk walking and then waiting for the required number of seconds to pass by.

It was annoyingly routine. Kill, advance slowly, wait for Clare to be ready then kill again before rinsing and repeating.

“This is far enough for today.” Everlyn said finally. “We’ll make camp here.” She pointed at an offshoot that looked very similar to the one Vidja had been down. The entrance was even in the ceiling. Given that Tom was convinced the trolls couldn’t climb it would be secure.

They were close to their first objective. It was only two hundred meters away if they drilled a hole but over a kilometre as the tunnel twisted. That was an hour of fighting and then probably three times that long to eliminate the trolls that guarded the altar.

“I know it feels early, but I don’t think we have a choice. Unfortunately, we’re not up to clearing the path to the room and the cave itself. Especially as it will almost certainly contain as many monsters as we saw with the burrowers and shadows.”

There were no complaints, and they settled in. Thor got a message from Michael. He opened it up and then smiled broadly when he absorbed the content.

“Read it,” Toni pushed.

Thor cleared his throat. “I’ll read the message out precisely as written. Hi team. Quick update. We finished clearing the shadow area this morning and moved into the mushrooms. It was slow going and we’ve broken one mushroom altar, but Bao’s speed of dealing with them has improved. Against them she’s a one person killing machine. None of the rest of us are doing anything, which I guess is equal parts great and frustrating. Anyway, I’m hopeful we’ll clear the mushrooms tomorrow and start on the trolls. If you can give us a detailed rundown on them before lunch, that would be great. And that’s the end of the message.”

“Always good when a plan comes together.” Everlyn grinned broadly. “I was worried, but it seems like splitting up was the right call.”

Happy with his progress and the good news from Michael’s team Tom found himself laying down ready to go to sleep.

He was not looking forward to it.

Tom glanced at Keikain and the earth mage said nothing but his expression told its own story. There was an expectation there that Tom would use his abilities tonight. Given his lack of a specific combat role in the morning outside his elemental army meant there was no real excuse. He could afford to be tired tomorrow and if he was honest with himself, he would probably be able to nap between cave clears.

There was always the option to pretend otherwise, but he knew what the responsible action was. Internally, he focused his desires on the need to see whether Selena’s group was planning on double crossing them. With that need repeating ad nauseam in his thoughts, he fell asleep.

As always, when he used this component of True Dreaming there was no sleep, instead he was instantly thrust into a body.

Tom immediately orientated himself to try to understand the situation as fast as possible.

He flailed for only a second, expecting to get overwhelmed with strangeness, but there was no need. He should have known better. This was a targeted dream. There was only a single species he was going to end up in.

The body he was in was not quite perfectly comfortable for his consciousness to fill. After all, it was not his own. However, relative to the usual alien sensations that assaulted him it was extraordinarily familiar. Even experiencing the bi-focal eyesight was a welcome change.

Tom focused on the moment.

Selena sat across from him decked out in furs despite the roaring fire that was in the middle of the camp. That’s right, Tom thought suddenly. According to the messages they had sent and the picture on their zone tile, Selena’s group was supposed to be in a winter biome. Everything tom could see suggested that expectation had been accurate. Mentally he stretched and worked out he was in the artefact crafter, and he was relieved to discover that there was no annoying buzzing that was trying to drive him out of the vision. The group was mid conversation, but the context was clear in the person’s mind.

They were discussing the recent communication they had received from Thor. The update on Selena’s team and the likelihood that they were going to run into the Wador.

“Between Phil and Vidja confirming the chosen exists as described, it’s pretty clear that Tom’s magic is the real deal.” Selena said quietly.

“Not to mention that they knew when we were coming to rob them.” Jenny said darkly. “On layer two they knew our plan and prepared counters. Do you remember how they scattered the moment they emerged.”

“Exactly,” Selena continued. “His precognition is real and if he thinks we’re about to run into the Wador then we need to plan for that.”

“What I hate,” Jenny continued quietly. “Is that while we are the strongest? We can’t touch them.”

“We may not be the strongest.” Meiji said quietly.

Jenny sneered. “Tom’s team were demonstrably the weakest. Phil’s one person and Vidja’s team lost three people and we’re only in layer four and while they might have appeared powerful, they weren’t because they lacked our team work. We might not be the strongest? That’s crap, rancid stupidity. Meiji, I expected better from you. We were the most powerful..”

“Don’t you think that’s a little arrogant?”

“You don’t need to ask that, Meiji. I haven’t hid anything. You are all well aware of my background and the answers the oracle gave.”

“How did that work again? What was it? A whole lot of trite statements like, make sure they’re weaker than us? Wait twenty-four hours. Lean on them, but only if you can do it safely. From what you said, there were lots of conditions.”

“And the overall principle was that I had to trust my judgement. If there is an opportunity, I’ll take it.”

“And what is your judgement currently?” Selena asked quietly.

“To not provoke them. To make peace. It’s why I signed your stupid contract and why I’ve agreed to let him use his skill to bind us further.”

Selena nodded. “That’s what I thought. So remind me, why are we discussing this?”

“Because it’s not truly settled. You, me, we…we’ve all profited from my mandate, but now that you admire some weakling, a potential target, you’re having second thoughts and fighting against our agreements.”

“It’s not like that.”

Jenny did not look convinced.

“Like I said,” Jane piped up. “Selena, guys and bad judgement go together hand to hand. Right Mahar?”

The mind he was in stirred. “Jane. Leave Selena alone. Your teasing sounds like an old record. Dragon was an ass. No one is disputing it, but everyone’s got at least one ex in their lives they regret.”

“I haven’t,” Jane answered with a smirk. “All my conquests have been on my terms.”

“For the last time, it’s not because I like him. I don’t.”

“Sure.”

“Shut up, Jane. It’s not that. I’m just making calls based on facts and what we’ve all observed.”

“That’s the thing,” Jenny interrupted. “You’re only a battle commander. You’re not the strategic leader. You need to remember your place.”

“You have one more vote than me.” Selena snapped. “And only three more than the least here. You don’t control us. Our binding contract is that we all have a say in our direction.”

“I’m not trying to create a fight here. I’m expressing an opinion.”

“Out of nowhere.”

Jenny nodded at that accusation. “Not nowhere, my trait suggests there’s an opportunity with the Wador. A Tom and Vidja related one.”

“Suggests,” Meiji asked.

“It’s an opportunity sense ability. Nothing is black and white, but there is something there.”

Mahar the person he was in had been observing and actively trying not to get involved, but Jenny, eluding to her trait got his attention. He sat up straight. “You think we can turn the wador into allies for us rather than allies to humanity.”

Jenny shrugged. “I doubt its anything that specific. Partners of convenience, maybe. But that’s all we need. It won’t take much to swing the balance of power our way. We could cut them in on the pot… enrich both of us.”

A twist of distaste went through Mahar. He, like Tom hated that suggestion.

“No. We’re not doing that!” Selena interrupted angrily. “Extortion is one thing, but gifting precious resources to another species to help us rob fellow humans? That’s about a hundred steps too far. I won’t accept it, and I doubt anyone else here will.”

Jenny huffed. “We wouldn’t do anything that drastic without a vote. I’m just flagging an opportunity, you know thinking outside the box. It doesn’t need to be us giving them part of the loot. There are other options. For example, we could gain support by offering resources that don’t help us but they need. For example, there might be bloodline materials on the auction house we can trade for. Win, win for both groups.”

The dream broke, and Tom clung to the particulars. This one had been forced, so he had not learned a huge amount or anything ground shaking. Yet once more, it proved that Keikain’s suspicious nature was on point. They were all on the same team, but Jenny clearly had a different vision of what that meant..

Tom tore himself away from considering the dilemma. It was something he could get lost in. Especially since she had revealed that her confidence in it being the right path arose from an oracle question. If that had been couched in the terms of maximising human ranking points… Tom shook his head. He wasn’t going to go there, and he would never give up his stuff willingly. She was part of the dregs of society, and he was always willing to push back against bullies. He would continue to monitor her, make sure she wasn’t going to betray them, and then work with her to let them all escape. After the trial, he would hopefully never see her again and could forget about her. For now, he considered the broad strokes of information he had learned. The scene was about twenty-four hours old. Tom could time it based on what they had known about his and Vidja’s progress.

The potential for a double cross hadn’t passed, but currently there was no risk, as Jenny lacked support. Mostly, it had been reassuring. They were probably safe.

As he drifted back into a normal dream, his mind chewed on the problem. Was there something he could do lesson the chances of a betrayal. Could he spike the communications by lying about the wador and prevent the alliance before it even happened?