Ch. 69 – Astragos X (Patreon)

The submarine made travel quick and safe. Lucifer was able to control it, so Tinuriel and Felix spent plenty of time indulging in each other in one of the crew quarters. In between that, chatting with Reth, and playing a few board games that Tinuriel had found in the VBV Recreation Room, the trio enjoyed the transit that lasted several days.

One particular topic of discussion was broached by Tinuriel, and both Felix and Reth immediately stopped their game of chess to pay attention to her as she pulled a seat out of the wall and sat next to them. “We need to talk strategy.”

Felix looked at the board. No way to win. He conceded, laying down his king, and turned to face her. “What in particular?”

“Battle plans.” She pushed the chess board away and pulled out a notepad which was absolutely covered in myriad tactical maps that reminded Felix of miniature army games. “Take this scenario, for instance. We are inside a city and assaulted by those beyond the walls. What tactics might we employ?” She used a pencil to trace out several maneuvers and tapped each icon, pointing to the corresponding person at the table. “We can talk movement as much as we desire, but unless we can find something to practice against – which the VBV did not provide in the Training Room – we need to strategize. Let us discuss general battle tactics before moving on to scenarios.”

Reth nodded and gestured for the pencil, drawing a small sphere around each of the individuals. “Normally, when I’m working with a squad of agents, I utilize my affinity with earth to create barriers around them, before transitioning to using my fire affinity to deal damage from the backline.” He held up his hand and several small flames flickered from the tips of his fingers. “I have a lot more affinities now,” he said with a grin. “I can do so much more.”

Felix nodded, “I like the idea of you primarily focusing on protecting and healing. Tinuriel will be able to get and keep their attention with her Rime Knight Skills, and she does hefty damage. I can stay completely hidden and either engage at a range or in melee.” Felix held up his hand and electricity crackled between his fingertips, “This and Hellfire will let me deal area damage if needed.”

Reth chuckled and his eyes lit up with enthusiasm, “I can cover area of effect.”

Felix nodded and put his hand down, “In either case. We have a tank, a dps, and a support.” The two looked at him curiously. “It’s called the Holy Trinity in certain games where I’m from.”

Ha! The Holy Trinity. That’s funny.

Felix shook off the biblical reference and continued, “The tank is the person who stands in front, gets the attention, and soaks the most damage. The dps stands for damage-per-second, or the heavy hitter. And then support focuses on healing. Eventually, we can add someone whose job is to buff us – increase our battle potency, or debuff our foes – decrease their efficacy.”

Reth nodded and rubbed his chin as he leaned forward, “And I assume I am the support, since you have granted me several Affinities that augment a healing role.”

Felix nodded, “I didn’t know you could already give us temporary health and barriers – so that’ll be extremely useful. But I’d ask that you try and reserve Anima to be focused on keeping us alive.”

Reth grinned, “Will do! And with this staff, I can still set things on fire.”

Tinuriel put her hand on Felix’s arm to draw his gaze. “And I am the tank then.” Felix nodded and she continued, “Then let’s look at some scenarios. I came up with three. The first one is we have to hold a single wall of a settlement against a large group of enemies. What is the battle plan?”

“What would you suggest?” Felix asked. “I’ve never been in a war.”

Tinuriel smiled slightly before her warrior demeanor took over. She pointed to several locations on the drawing of the wall, “First, the goal should be to prevent people from coming over the wall in the first place. I would be running along it, pushing ladders back and carving those who did manage to breach the walls. Felix, you would be using your ranged capabilities to attack their archers and Magic/Power users.”

Reth frowned, “And let me guess, you’d just have me on standby?”

She shook her head, “We should not be suffering many blows in this scenario. I would have you utilize whatever large area damage Affinity Magic/Power effects you could manifest. Fireballs, earthen spikes, whatever you have. But” she held up a finger, “You should always save Anima in reserve because we may need healing.”

Felix ran a hand through his hair, “But we are forgetting one thing in this scenario.” Tinuriel looked at him, and he pointed to the front of the submarine where the ocean extended before the vessel. “We can move in three dimensions.”

Tinuriel frowned, “You think I didn’t have that as a scenario?” She flipped the page and there was another diagram. It reflected the situation where they were in the center of a group of hostiles – just like their dealings with the Sharktopi. “The prior scenario was a land encounter. This one encompasses the waters as well. In this type of scenario, it is much more difficult for me to gather attention and force foes to target me. So we need a new stratagem.”

Reth used the pencil and drew a horseshoe shape around the marks representing their party, “I could use my earth Affinity to create a wall of stone that surrounds us on all sides, and then the foes would be funneled right to us.”

Felix gestured for the pencil and drew an icon representing himself outside of the horseshoe shape, “And I can get outside and attack from the back and flanks.”

Tinuriel frowned, “Can you remove that wall at any time if we need to escape?”

Reth nodded, “Oh yes. I can cancel those effects near-instantly.”

She smiled, “Then we have a scenario for when we have to fight in the water, and our foes can move in all directions.” She flipped the page to the last one, which showed the three of them facing off against an enormous creature. “This last scenario assumes we are fighting something like a Dungeon Boss.” She traced a small line from the leading figure – representing her – to the creature mark. “I would run up, activating several Skills to grant myself temporary health, and draw its attention.” She looked to Reth, “This is where you’d be that support role Felix mentioned, where you’ll ensure that I am protected with your earth Affinity, and heal me when required so I can use my Vigor to focus on dealing damage.”

Felix drew a line of his icon flanking to the side, “I’d get to the side and use Detect Weakness, stack on a few damaging effects, and either get in close with melee or use ranged attacks – undetected.”

Tinuriel looked at him appraisingly, “Do you think you can harm creatures better than I?”

Felix nodded, “With a new Skill I acquired, I should be on your level with damage I can inflict.”

“Is that all?” Reth asked.

Tinuriel nodded and put the pad on a small table before pulling the chess board to herself and setting up the pieces for another match. “Those are the three most probably scenarios I saw us possibly having to deal with. My thanks.” She looked to Reth, “Ready to lose?”

Reth chuckled as Felix swapped places with Tinuriel, “You can try to beat me.”

Felix went to the cockpit and sat down with a sigh. It’s good they’re getting along now.

The controller in front of him was manipulated by an unseen force as Lucifer replied, I agree. Also, you can do way more harm than she can in a single hit. Death Mark combined with Execution, Vital Strike, (P) Sneak Attack, and (P) Slayer should destroy most foes.

Felix kicked his legs up on the small ledge in front of him, That combo takes a lot of Vigor.

Right. You’re not meant to do big area damage. Find the high priority target, take them out, and then work your way down the command structure.

Mhmm. And if we are against some type of swarm or encounter where there is no priority target, I can use Affinity Empowerment before a Hellfire Magic/Power effect, and you can pump Vigor Conversion if needed.

What did you say a few months ago? ‘Action economy is king’ I believe it was?

That’s right.

There was a sense of satisfaction that came from Lucifer as he spoke the next words in Felix’s mind, Thank you for spending some down time with me. You’re the only person I can really connect with.

Why is that?

Remember how I said a long time ago that I had no interest in Tinuriel because of the difference in what we are? Well, you’re the closest thing to being in my own categorization. I find you somewhat engaging to socialize with. The others? I tolerate them. But they are lesser beings.

This struck a foul chord with Felix. I thought you were all about equality and free will.

I am. But there’s also the facts of the Multiverse. Deities and their servants, Versewalkers, System personnel…we are all on different levels of existence than Tinuriel, Reth, Roy, Melanie, Gina, or any of the VBV inhabitants.

Felix digested that thought for several minutes. Lucifer was speaking sensibly; Felix was on a completely different level than everyone else around him. Yes, they were powerful in their own right, but if he stripped Escort status from Tinuriel or Reth, he could easily dominate them in a battle. The same went for Roy. I am on a different level than them, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be my friends.

Give it time. There was a sense of sorrow in the tone. Eventually, you will become powerful enough to really see the gap that exists between you and others. I just hope it doesn’t make you jaded as it has made me.

You could always…try being friends with other people other than me. You got along with Tinuriel and Roy well enough.

There was silence for several moments. Felix heard a deep sigh in his thoughts, I put on a face to be around them. I suppose there is no harm in trying to truly form a connection. But-

You’re afraid of losing that connection.

Lucifer scoffed, Ugh, really? You think that’s the reason? His voice was laced with sarcasm, but the type of sarcasm that pours out when a person is deflecting and retreating into their own self for safety, rather than facing their problems head on.

You are afraid of making connections because you know you’ll outlive them. Everything ages and dies except for you. Eventually, you just stop making connections because it’s easier to have none than see them fade away to nothingness.

There was silence. For the first time in several months, deafening silence permeated Felix’s mind. Lucifer’s voice came back – and it sounded like he was crying. Felix had no clue how he could cry inside of his head. I’m…You’re right. Of course you’re right. You’re part of me. I don’t want to be hurt when my friends die again.

Well, I’m not going to die on you if I have anything to say about it. Felix looked at the viewport and spotted a section that reflected his image. He envisioned that he was staring at Lucifer, and for a brief moment, he saw the fallen angel’s grey eyes flicker over his own. “I’m your friend to the end. I’ll make sure we use a VBV Function to cause aging to cease at a certain age. That way, at least, friends you make won’t die on you from the ravages of time.”

Lucifer’s tone shifted slightly away from sorrow, That is thoughtful. Thank you. Truly. You’re the first Versewalker I’ve met that’s been this altruistic.

Are they all really that egotistical or selfish?

Many are. The last one didn’t even treat me as an individual. Just as a tool in his arsenal.

Well, you’re not a tool to me.

Tinuriel walked up and put a hand on Felix’s shoulder, pulling him out of his conversation for a moment. “You okay?” She asked gently, squatting to be at his eye level.

Felix nodded, “Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Hey, Tinuriel.”

She looked slightly over Felix’s shoulder – where Lucifer’s voice came from when he talked aloud. “Yes?”

“Will…Gah, this sounds so corny. Will you be my friend?”

Her eyebrow cocked quizzically, “I thought we were.”

“Oh-yes! Of course we were. Hehe, silly question.” Kill me, Lucifer said in Felix’s mind with a groan.

Felix just laughed and gave Tinuriel a kiss.

Next Chapter >

P.S. I'm out for surgery today and will be in intensive recovery for a few days (aka, strict bedrest). So, I won't be able to link the chapters together as I normally do on the day-of release. I'll update this as soon as I'm able to sit at my computer and keep writing. Thanks for your patience!