390 days until the Arkon Shield falls

After the battle, Tara and I were left with little to do. My conversation with the old lady had been so brief, I hadn’t had a chance to question her about her sorcery or dungeons, or even about her intentions regarding the settlement.

What now? I wondered, chewing at my lip. “Let’s go find the medics,” I said eventually.

Tara rolled her eyes, but she didn’t object. She led me through the ranks of soldiers, many of whom called out in greeting or nodded respectfully as I passed by. I chuckled, amused by how quickly their attitude towards me had changed.

“What’s so funny?” Tara asked.

“Just yesterday,” I said, gesturing with my chin at the men, “they were laughing at the crippled boy being beaten by the big bad captain, yet today they applaud.”

Tara stopped and swung about to face me. None of the shared amusement I’d expected to see on her face was present. “You do them a disservice, Jamie,” she said, her tone serious. “They jeered at you yesterday, true. But it was not for your crippled foot they mocked you. It was themselves they ridiculed, or rather the memory of themselves that had experienced the same drubbing you got at my hands.”

Tara held my gaze, making sure I understood what she was saying. “You may not have noticed it, but by yesterday evening you had already earned their respect. None of them expected a new fish to last that long.” She threw me a hard look. “Much less a crippled one.”

I lowered my eyes, accepting Tara’s rebuke. Her words shamed me. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “Sometimes I am too cynical.”

Tara laughed. “And perhaps a touch unforgiving.”

“That too,” I said, smiling with her.

We fell into a companionable silence for the rest of the way along the river shore. Scaling the upper bank, I saw that three large tents had been pitched next to the training grounds. As we approached closer, a surprised Nicholas turned to greet us. “Tara, Jamie, what are you two doing here? Not injured, I hope?”

“Nothing of the sort, Nic,” Tara said. She pointed in my direction. “You’ve seen what he can do?”

“Indeed,” said Nicholas, nodding at me. “And thank you, by the way. Your efforts have made my job much easier today.”

“He can heal too,” said Tara. “That’s why we are here.”

Nicholas’ gazed locked onto mine. “Magical healing?” he asked eagerly.

I nodded. “I have a life magic spell called lay hands. Do you need me to do anything?”

Nicholas opened his mouth. Paused. Then closed it again. He sighed. “On most other days the healing tents would be swarming with those in need of care, and I would have given anything for a mage’s aid. But not today. The commander’s casting has seen to the injured already.”

Nicholas’ expression turned wistful, seeming to regret the missed opportunity to witness healing magic at work. Over the medic’s shoulder I caught Tara’s I-told-you-so look. Ignoring her, I addressed Nicholas. “The commander’s spell healed all the soldiers’ injuries?”

The medic nodded.

Even with Nicholas’ confirmation, I still found it hard to believe. To restore all your allies to full health in a single spellcast… it was an extraordinary bit of sorcery. I frowned as another thought occurred to me. “She doesn’t use it every day though, does she? Why?”

The medic’s eyes flicked briefly to Tara before answering. “I wish that she could,” he said. “But from what I understand it will be days before she can use rejuvenation again.”

I nodded in understanding. From my own experience, I already knew invincible used nearly the entirety of my spirit to cast. Its long recharge time was, in fact, the time needed for my spirit to replenish itself before being used again as a shield. And from what Nicholas said, it seemed that rejuvenation had an even longer recast time. So sorcery—as powerful as it is—is not without its own limitations.

“It was generous of you to offer your aid though,” Nicholas said, interrupting my musings. “I hope I can I call on you when the need arises?”

“Of course, Doc,” I replied absently.

“Thank you, Jamie,” he said. “Now I must go. Duty calls.” Nicholas clasped my arm in farewell and rushed off.

“Well, where to now?” Tara asked me once we were alone again.

I was wondering the same thing. I rubbed my face in thought. “The temple,” I answered at last. “Then how about we go hunting? It’s about time I saw more of what lies beyond the settlement.”

✽✽✽

Tara, much to my surprise, readily agreed.

I had expected her to be fiercely opposed to the notion of leaving the Outpost, so I had all my arguments well in hand. Her easy capitulation left me slightly perplexed.

“Right, we’re here,” Tara said as we stopped at the entrance of the temple. “You go in and do what you have to while I see to our preparations.”

“Preparations?” I asked, confused.

Tara waved aside my question. “Don’t worry about it. If I am not back by the time you’re done, wait here. Don’t you go wandering without me, understand?”

I nodded agreeably and Tara hurried away. What is she up to? I wondered as I watched her dash off. Shrugging away the mystery—Tara would do what she wanted—I swung around and limped up the steps to the temple.

✽✽✽

You have entered Wyrm Island.

“What? You’re back?” asked Aurora. “Already?”

I turned around to face the purple woman. She hovered in the air, with her face only inches from my own and her wings fluttering. She scowled at me.

I opened my mouth to reply, but before I could Aurora spoke again. “Don’t you know I have better things to do than pander to your needs?”

I didn’t know that, actually. But I wasn’t going to tell her that. What does Aurora do between my temple visits? I wondered suddenly. For that matter, did the purple woman even exist outside the temple? Was she more than just a construct of the Trials? Her words and manner certainly suggested it.

Stepping back, I bowed, my face a mask of contrition. “Apologies, Aurora,” I murmured. “I will endeavour to bother you as little as possible in future.”

My manner did little to mollify the purple woman. “What do you want?” she asked brusquely.

Straightening from my bow, I said, “I’m here to acquire knowledge and enhance my Attributes.”

“I know that,” she retorted. “Which ones?”

I decided not to try my guide’s patience further and got straight to the point. “Please advance my dragon magic, life magic, constitution, vigour, and channelling to twelve.”

I had only gained three levels since my last visit, and while I appeared to be accumulating a tidy sum of Marks and Tokens, I was not prepared to expand my repertoire of Disciplines just yet. Changes made in the temple were irreversible, and I could not afford to choose wrong.

With that in mind, I had decided only to improve my Attributes and Disciplines that had reached Trainee rank and were essential for spellcasting.

“Done,” said Aurora with a wave of her arm. “You have ninety-three Tokens and twenty Marks remaining. What else?”

“That’s it,” I replied.

Aurora’s wings slowed to a stop and she dropped to the ground. “‘That’s it,’” she repeated. Her glare intensified. “You mean to tell me,” she said, sounding out the words carefully, “you bothered my rest for only these paltry changes?”

I winced. Time to beat a retreat. “Let me not keep you further, then,” I said, swinging around hastily. “Bye, Aurora,” I called over my shoulder as I limped back to the gate.

The answering silence was deafening.

✽✽✽

You have exited Wyrm Island. Your constitution, vigour, and channelling have increased to: level 12.

Your skill in dragon and life magic has advanced to: level 12.

I stepped out of the temple with a bemused grin. Aurora had been as irascible as ever. Who—and what—is the purple woman? I wondered again. Was it just me she disliked, or everyone? And what did other players think of her?

I scratched my head in thought. I had not seen any mention of Aurora—or temple guides, for that matter—in the wiki. Which, come to think of it, was strange, especially considering how distinctive the purple woman was. I would have to remember to ask Tara what she thought of her own guide.

Looking around, I saw the area around the temple was empty. Tara was still not back. I sat down on the steps to ponder my development while I waited.

Despite effecting minimal changes to myself in the temple, I had advanced considerably as a player ever since I’d entered Overworld. Physically I had matured—I was stronger, quicker, and less vulnerable during combat. Magically, I was no slouch either. Notwithstanding my Neophyte-ranked spellpower, my spell damage was still impressive, if the battle against the murluks was anything to go by.

Yet I had still a long way to go.

Physical confrontation—particularly up close—still remained my biggest weakness. Considering my poor manoeuvrability and low health, if I wanted to survive long in this world, I had to stay out of melee range.

I needed a means of ranged attack. Tonight, I thought. Tonight, I will try to create a ranged spell.

Leaving aside the matter of my combat development, I turned my thoughts to the other aspects of my player growth.

The Trials had something called a player profile for players to keep track of their advancement and measure their progress. Before now, I had not felt the need to use it, but as the repertoire of my Disciplines and Traits expanded, I knew it would soon become invaluable.

Now, how do I open the player profile?

I smiled. Summoned by the thought alone, a window unfurled from the Trials core in my head.

You are a player of rank: Trainee, and level: 12.

6% of Magic Potential actualised.

21% of Might Potential actualised.

8% of Resilience Potential actualised.

1% of Craft Potential actualised.

I tilted my head to the side as I considered the way the Trials had summarised my development thus far. It seemed a strange way to measure a player’s progress, yet it was in keeping with the Trials peculiar emphasis on fulfilling one’s Potential. And, I realised, there was a wealth of information hidden beneath those few short lines of text.

Up until this point, I had had no hard measure of how far I could advance my Attributes, but now, considering the percentages the Trials had assigned to my progress, I could determine my Potentials accurately and just as importantly: how long it would take to fulfil them.

Performing some rough calculations in my head, I estimated that I needed to advance over two hundred levels before I maximised my crucial Attributes of spellpower, channelling, vigour, and constitution. That was assuming a gain of two Attribute Marks per level, and did not even consider the investments necessary for defensive Attributes such as elemental resistance and willpower. While they were not a priority, I knew I could not ignore them entirely either.

That’s far too long, I thought, feeling a familiar frustration well up in me. I had to get stronger faster, or I would not be ready when it came time to face the orcs again. I have to find a dungeon, I told myself. And I have to do that soon. But I also have to help establish the Outpost as a settlement. I sighed. So much to do.

About to banish the player profile floating in my vision, my attention was caught by the Trials data on my Craft Potential. While my Potential for Craft was nowhere near that of Magic, it was not insignificant either. Frowning, I considered the crafting Disciplines.

Thus far, I had steadfastly ignored that aspect of the Trials, concentrating instead on the magic and might Disciplines. But at some point I was going to have to devote time towards developing my crafting. I sighed again. Another item to add to the ‘to do’ pile.

There will be time to consider crafting further in the coming days, I thought. Right now, my focus has to remain on my combat prowess. Even if—

The sound of voices interrupted my thoughts. Looking up, I saw Tara had returned.

And she wasn’t alone.

Walking alongside the green-eyed fighter were four others, two men and two women. Michael and John, I recognised from the battles at the river. The women, though, were strangers. I inspected Tara’s companions carefully.

Both women, redheads, wore their hair tied up and carried large bows across their backs, while the men dragged sleds behind them that were empty save for their long spears.

“Jamie,” Tara said, “this is Laura and Cassandra, both hunters. And Michael and Lieutenant John you’ve met already. They will be joining us.”

I raised an eyebrow at Tara, but chose not to question her decision. I had expected our hunting trip to be less… organised, more a walkabout through the surrounding wilderness than a concerted effort to hunt down game. But Tara, it seemed, had other plans.

I limped down the temple steps and exchanged greetings with the four. “What are the sleds for?” I asked.

“To bring back whatever game we find,” replied Tara. “We can ill-afford to waste anything. While food may be plentiful right now, that may change at any time.”

“Alright, then where do we start?” I asked.

Michael, John, and Tara looked to the two hunters for guidance. The women exchanged glances. Studying them more closely, I saw they bore a striking resemblance to each other. Both had the same elfin features, hazel eyes, and freckled skin. They’re sisters.

“There is a herd of elk-like creatures that roam the plains to the south,” said Laura with pursed lips. “And in the forest to the east, there is plentiful small game: rabbits, buck, wild pigs, and the like. But there are also more predators.”

John made a face. “Gah! Not elk meat again. I’ve had my fill of that for days now.” He paused. “But buck sounds delicious.”

“And bacon even better,” Michael chimed in. He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s go east.”

Disregarding the pair’s comments, I asked, “What’s to the north?” I didn’t inquire about what lay to the west, assuming the region across the river belonged to the murluks. I doubted anyone wanted to go that way.

“We don’t venture there much,” said Laura, her eyes darkening. “There is a nest of giant spiders in the hills just north of the Outpost. They’ve killed dozens of our hunters, so the commander has declared the area off-limits.”

“We should head south,” said Tara. Michael groaned. Ignoring him, Tara went on, “The six of us together should be able to bring down an elk and fend off any fire lizards we run across.”

Fire lizards? I wondered. I was tempted to ask about them, but I was more interested in the northern hills. “What level are the spiders? And why haven’t you rooted them out?”

The sisters exchanged looks before shooting glances towards Tara. The fighter sighed, and waved for the pair to answer me.

“The spiders are around level thirty, at least those we’ve seen,” said the second sister, Cassandra. “Physically, they’re not strong, but they have a paralysing bite, and they also tend to attack from hiding.” The redhead shuddered. “I was part of one of the first scouting missions to the hills. In those early days we were less wise about the dangers of Overworld.”

Cassandra paused, seeming to gather her thoughts. “We were less than an hour into the hills when we were ambushed by one of the creatures. Right up until the spider sprang out at us, we remained unaware of its presence. When it did attack, we were caught flatfooted. I barely got away, and then only because the creature chose my partner for its target. He didn’t make it.” Cassandra fell silent, lost in dark memories.

“As for why we haven’t rooted them out,” Laura continued, “the spiders’ nest is in a warren beneath the hills. In an enclosed and lightless space like that, the creatures have the upper hand. Any team we sent down there would be butchered. The spiders have never ventured out of the hills and the captains don’t believe them to be an immediate threat to the Outpost.” She shrugged. “In the end the captains decided that it was more trouble than it was worth to clear out the spiders.”

I disagreed. I glanced at Tara. She would have been one of the captains in question.

The area had to be made safe, if only so the scouts could patrol the region. While the spiders remained, the colony’s northern border was unsecured. And I was certain the commander knew it too. But she probably has too much on her plate right now to deal with them.

“Let’s head north,” I said.

Tara’s lips thinned. “The area is off-limits,” she said. “The commander herself pronounced it so.”

“I’m not under the old lady’s command, remember?” Tara glowered at me, but said nothing. “I’ll go alone if I have to,” I added, pressing her further.

Tara growled. “Jamie, if you think I am going to let you—”

“I’ll go,” said John.

“Me too,” seconded Michael.

Tara turned her scowl upon the two men, but before she could berate them, John raised his hands. “I’m not questioning the commander’s orders, Tara. She had good reason for barring anyone venturing into the hills.” He paused and gestured to me. “But that was before the arrival of our mage here.”

Tara folded her arms and stared at the lieutenant, unmoved by his words.

John held out his hands, imploring Tara. “Think, Captain. You saw what Jamie did against the murluks. His fire magic can even the odds against the spiders, and perhaps even swing them in our favour. We should not ignore the opportunity.”

I eyed John. I had not heard the big man address Tara by her title before. Clearly, he had done so this time deliberately. I glanced at her. While she still looked unhappy, Tara seemed to be wavering. John, it seemed, had chosen the correct tack.

“We’ve never managed to scout out the hills fully,” Cassandra said, weighing in. “With the spiders gone, who knows, we might find the resources we so desperately need. Maybe even some ore.”

Tara opened her mouth then closed it. She sighed before eyeing each of us in turn. “You all want to do this?” The other four nodded. “We might very well die out there. Are you all prepared for that?”

The others shifted their feet, but no one looked away. “We face death every day on the river shore,” said John quietly.

“That’s different, John, and you know it,” Tara scoffed. “The menace we’d face in the hills is tenfold more dangerous.”

Tenfold? I swallowed. Tara thought it was that risky? It doesn’t matter how ill-advised this venture is, I thought stubbornly. We have to do it. Time was of the essence, both for the Outpost and myself. We could not afford to play it safe.

“Nowhere is free of danger on this world, Tara,” I said. “Not yet. If we want to carve out a haven for humanity, we are going to have to take risks. Repeatedly.”

Tara stared at me. I knew she disagreed, and if we were alone, I suspected my words would have earned me an earful. But with the other four already on my side and watching, Tara relented. “Alright,” she said finally. “We’ll do this. But if things become too dangerous, we retreat. No debates. No arguments. Agreed?”

We all nodded.