Fantasy Mountain Magic Mayhem (Luc/Sazz)

[Anshelical]

"I-I-I'm not going to f-freeze up!" Iso pointed to Milianor. "A-And I can carry him."

"Haha, first impressions are the best," Vine said. "He's gonna freeze up out there. And Lier's gonna start limpin'."

"Already am," Lier said.

"May not have to if we put 'em in the box, as we said," Erro scratched his head. "A little side note -- if we kill the Dragon, will it be safe to get some of its remains?"

"For what?" Vine cringed.

"For my collection."

 

[St. Clover]

"Assuming it doesn't suddenly rise from the dead, or explode, it should be good," Milianor stated, reaching into her coat. She fished out a flask and toothed it open, downing some of the contents. She shivered. "Oh gods, stuff kicks stronger than... Yeah, but I'd be careful. Dragons tend to have some nasty surprises, even after death. In my world, at least. Don't expect me to help, though. Basically the same as asking can you get my cousin's foot or something for your weird bug collection."

 

[Anshelical]

"Haha," Erro scoffed. "True, true. Can I also bring its teeth with me?" He smirked. "Just kidding, just kidding. My choice, even if it's weird."

Liernoine recalled some of his time training back in Huujar with other apprentices in magic wielding. A few scrapes and scars from casts were a gradual immunity to him, but to become immune to tragedy was one he had not mastered yet, unlike many his city. He pondered Milianor's origins, especially on her mother, considering Milianor was more masculine in behavior, wondering if they had met somewhere. But surely not.

"What's that you're gulping down there?" Lier said.

 

[St. Clover]

Giving the flask a little shake, the dragonborn grinned. "Little concoction I whip up before heading out on the job. Two parts energy drink, a little spirit, and some lemon thrown in for good measure," she said. "Put it through a little magic ritual, and you get the best thing for hyping yourself up when you're about to do something stupid. Learned it from my mentor, Charles. Old bastard used to drink some before his matches during his underground days. Kicks your ass, I'll tell ya what."

 

[Anshelical]

"Eh, you can give me a taste of that," Vine said. "'Bout to do something real stupid here."

"What are you about to do?" Lier said.

"I'm about to do what's she's going to. Aren't you, too?"

"Well... she didn't say what she was gonna do."

Iso pulled on his collar again, thinking about Diger, how he could be, how could look, how he could had felt in those last moments and now even. Of course Diger would give a bombastic, logical answer on how he felt, but Iso wished to know more about his true feelings -- the ones that were forgotten. Perhaps Diger was more like a mentor he happened to like, too.

"I-It must be a very useful potion," Iso said.

 

[St. Clover]

"Think you can handle any lizard backwash?" Milianor joked as she stoppered the flask and chucked it to Lier. She rolled her head and groaned, wincing when she felt her neck pop. "Yeah, it's pretty handy. Wouldn't call it a potion, though. All the magic did was make the energy drinks a bit more effective. I like to call it the Fool's Valor Tonic. Nice ring, huh?"

"As far as what I'm going to do, well, that part's simple. I'm going to approach that overgrown lizard, try to reason with it if it's sapient. In the event we can reach a compromise, we get your friend's body and get the hell out of there. If not, I'm going to call it a bitch and shoot it with magic. Then try not to die as someone grabs your buddy and we get the hell out of there with the scroll. Simple enough, yeah?"

 

[Anshelical]

"Mmm?" Lier caught the flask. "Oh, oh, you're the one who wanted it, right?" He handed it to Vine, who gulped some down immediately. "Possibly can handle the backwash I think," Lier said. "But if he can, I can. Save some for me." Erro was disgusted, too appalled to even watch. Iso's eyes widened.

"It's a good ring," Vine rolled his shoulders. "Fool's Valor Tonic. Hoo! I feel somethin'. Lier, you feel it? I'm feelin' like a wise fool now."

"Got a punch," Lier nodded. "And a tartness." He took another sip. "So that sounds like a plan to me. I don't think the Dragon's got any sense of reason, though, unless we just missed it."

"And then take the big walk back to Huujar, 'eh?" Erro said. "If we go through the scroll, where are we going?"

 

[St. Clover]

"That's all up to whoever pops the scroll. The magic only works on whoever's holding it when the spell activates, so it has to be the user that determines that. Seeing as how I haven't been anywhere but down the mountain a bit, and over to the site... I'm really not sure," Milianor remarked, trying to think of a decent location. "Could try getting a view around here and pray I can make it off just that. Unless you've got any better ideas."

 

[Anshelical]

"Also depends on if we got our objective completed," Vine said. "To tell the truth, I'd like to take a walk around here to find a safe zone."

Lier tried to ignore the bothersome urge to scratch some of his healing wounds. "No better ideas here except to get out safe and sound with Diger." Lier hoped at the pit of his mind that Diger somehow was still alive, denying the fact he saw him die for himself. Or, perhaps the rumored revival spells about this city could help. But, then again, would the chief be pleased to hear this?

"There's a cave archway that leads to the city. Suppose we can go there," Lier said. "Have you been down there, Milianor?"

 

[St. Clover]

"Nope, besides going down the slop for a few hundred feet, I haven't been anywhere," Milianor announced with a burp. She shook her head. "Didn't want to stray too far. Curious about this world, but not enough to go wandering off and get lost. Why? This place somewhere that'd be safe to 'port to?"

 

[Anshelical]

"Well, I was thinking if we had to come near the city that'd be useful. I know where it is and what it looks like," Lier said. "But that's just another option. If we absolutely have to run, might as well get to a safer place away from this range."

"W-What if the Dragon follows us?" Iso fluttered his eyes. "We wouldn't want to lead it into the city."

"Well, if it didn't follow us earlier, then it's probably not going to bother then when we get there," Erro tightened the belt about his canvas, laying it against his satchel. "But we'll never know."

A little venturing for Liernoine wouldn't be too bad. But surely he wouldn't want to stay at that dirty inn again. "Hopefully not."

 

[St. Clover]

"Doubt it would, plus I don't think it'd be able to follow us once we're through the gateway," Milianor pointed out. She stood up and stretched, getting ready for the inevitable. "Just remember, that spell only has a range of about a mile. We can't exactly go cross-country with it, unfortunately. That should be more than enough to put distance between us in the event we need it. How long of a trek is it back to your city, exactly?"

 

[Anshelical]

"Eh, about 100 kilometers," Vine said. "Left the city about two days ago and took a lot of pit stops."

"Up northeast," Lier added. "It's pretty far from here. But next time we leave we should rent a horse or something. That walk was not worth the affordability."

"Wish we could use the scroll to appear back." Erro said. "I'm guessing they have higher-class scrolls that can do that."

 

[St. Clover]

Rolling her shoulders, Milianor nodded. "Actual teleportation magic is expensive as shit. Like, we're talking a thousand Shimmer for even basic transportation from one place to another," she grimaced. "Takes a lot to do it, why it's so expensive. Got to have a teleportation gate set up, the machine or person to actually do the casting, and the materials to power the spell. 's why lesser forms of it, like the scroll I got, are much more common."

 

[Anshelical]

"It'd be great if we could put a whole bunch of inexpensive scrolls together to make a big one," Vine chuckled. "That way we could go anywhere for less. But, that's probably very unlikely to become a thing."

Liernoine pressed his palm against the longblade's handle, noting every ridge. "A thousand Shimmer. Gee, that's a waste of money unless you seriously needed it for the life of you."

"A-A thousand Shimmer isn't that m-much," Iso said.

"Haha," Vine shook his head. "The one with the silver-spoon says that."

"I-I don't have a silver spoon." But no one tried to explain it further. Iso was definitely dirt poor like the rest of them, so a thousand Shimmer definitely was a miracle.

 

[St. Clover]

"I could use a silver spoon right about now," Milianor complained as she reached down and plucked her knife up. She sheathed it and made her way back to her satchel. "Along with a couple clovers and about a fistful of Energems. Which reminds me, this town of yours. What's it like? Would like to get a little more info for when I return home, doubt I've have a chance again to ask till the dragon problem's solved."

 

[Anshelical]

"Huujar's a dark place," Vine said. "But that's because it's squeezed into a valley. Probably wouldn't hear about it again since it's small anyway."

"It's particularly a very technological place," Lier nodded. "Have to make use of its smallness with technology. People come there just for a quick stop or something if they're trying to get to the Aulmont Caves near it. But then they get caught up in all the expensive goods they have and try to contribute."

Iso considered also how authoritative the city was over necromancers and weapon wielders. Everything was also rationed, controlled, and scrutinized. And, for all the unexplored places, it was an opportunity to reveal their true greed.

"Our city's pretty curious about the world too," Lier added. "Like to go out in bands at a really young age and train outside the city. See 'em all the time. That was me when I was young."

Vine scoffed with a mutter. "Yeah, study, study, study, and train. That's all it is there. But if you don't it's not like you'll be exiled. It's just strongly recommended to avoid some -- you know -- social rejection. We impoverished bands like to gather together since we don't have sufficient knowledge or anything and venture the world for ourselves. How we can make a living under the chief."

"Yeah, the chief is just our band leader," Lier said. "He's the one who sent us here."

"It's a lot of training," Erro said. "But then once you're old enough, you stop training and forget everything and just become a traveler -- long story short."

 

[St. Clover]

"Sounds like a nice little out of the way place to settle down in," Milianor noted as she picked up her satchel, wrapping the leather straps around her waist. "Reminds me a bit about the Skarn clans out in the Great Desert. Except replace being squeezed into a valley with ingenious nomads and gun buggies. Met a couple people from there, told me how they're all trained to fight and do mantinance on their shit from birth. Got to when you live in a place like that. How's the tech level where you're from? Anything worth noting?"

 

[Anshelical]

"Eh, it's a lot of physics," Vine said. "And I know nothing about that."

"The technology isn't the most advanced," Liernoine glanced where he fell. "But we do have a knack for making efficient traveling devices, such as the valley cable cars. Even though they are suspended by a bunch of metal planks, you can be at the top of the valley within two minutes, and the valley can reach some two-hundred feet high. And then there's our pedal cars; they can produce a lot of electrical energy with a few cycles. But, who wants to cycle, right?

"We don't have all those wires and stuff like in other cities, but our transfer of light throughout the city is also useful, used with a blend of magic and electricity."

 

[St. Clover]

Milianor raised a brow at the mention of wireless energy. She looked over to Lier after he finished speaking. "Transfer the power remotely from somewhere else, huh?" she asked, giving a small grin. "Pretty damn fancy tech you've got there. Haven't ever heard of anything like that before. Can't say I have about those cars, either. Most of our shit's powered with Energem Cells, power cells fitted with some crystal that has planar energy in it, usually electricity. Bigger stuff takes Fuel Gel, which is poured into Arcane Engines to do... Whatever it is they do. And those things aren't cheap, let me tell you."

 

[Anshelical]

"Oh yeah, we didn't say it was cheap," Lier said. "The very reason why a majority of our population's so poor like us is because we have a hard time paying for all this technology. Yeah, makes our lives better but makes us poor as hell."

"They need to think of a better way to have financial circulation," Vine said. "'Cause we don't have a lot of smarts, either -- at least my generation doesn't."

Iso took note of the Energem cells, something possibly he could mention to the chief for the next pursuit. Erro, for some reason, was thinking the same thing.

"But once you got it down, don't have to worry about the money," Lier smirked. "I'd do anything for a silver spoon, too."

 

[St. Clover]

"Maybe try figuring out how the hell alchemy works, then!" Milianor laughed. "Then you could turn all the rocks into silver that you wanted. Or was it lead to gold? Something like that. I think there might've been a stone involved, too? I don't know. That stuff's for nerds. I like my magic simple and clean, y'know? How about you guys? What's the magic like here?"

 

[Anshelical]

"Haha, exactly!" Lier chuckled. "Gotta learn how it works. That's how we get our stuff down like it's the holy grail."

"M-M-Magic is not really m-magic where we're from," Iso felt the shoulder strap of his satchel, his finger resting on the chilly buckle. "It's more l-like an extra tool if you w-want to learn it."

"Easy now," Vine sneered to Iso. "Don't wanna shake up a storm here." He gave a light smirk to Milianor. "But he's right; it's extra stuff. Yeah, it makes you all cool and such, but considering how much work you have to put into it and what you reap from it, I think alchemy's just the step between the physical and the mystical."

"Well, that's the point," Lier said. "Still gotta learn some."

"And I did. I can heal small wounds at least. But it makes me tired."

 

[St. Clover]

"Sounds like you nerds need to get your magic game together. Where I'm from, it only takes a year or so to learn a spell, even if you're a total novice. How we got so many Wage Mages in the first place," Milianor says as she reaches into her coat, producing a handgun. She flips it around and extends it out. "Here, by the way. Whoever wants it, feel free. I'll get the Whirlwind in a second, need to fetch something else before we set off."

 

[Anshelical]

"She's talking to you, Iso," Vine said. "Payin' your whole childhood tuition to learn what you know now, which is nothing."

"N-Nothing? You're the one saying you don't know anything about magic at all," Iso cringed. "A-And I learn rather q-quickly. It was too many bad instructors." Indeed, their education system was terrible!

"Our alchemy initiatives could be better," Lier rubbed at a fresh wound healing at his elbow. "Don't even have levels set up; you learn, you learn."

"I'll take it," Erro approached with his hand out. "W' type is it?"