Interlude: Attaboy

Attaboy’s head was spinning, his senses overwhelmed. He had followed Doctor Quimea out of his little cell, down a long bare hallway lined with doors. Then up some dirty stone steps, past a room with several silent men who were looking at the floor. He saw a table with dishes stacked on it and a long gun. Then more halls and rooms. The sheer size of the building had been a bit overwhelming; many Night’s Safeties could have fit within it.

Still, that was nothing to what he saw when they finally emerged.

First, the chill air and the sound of rushing water hit him, as his eyes adjusted to the light of the sun. Then he saw it, a structure so beyond his experience he could only stand in slack-jawed awe. It stood above a river canyon, the source of the rushing water, a stone building with a towering spire covered in more detail than his eyes could accept, its base descending to the canyon floor. He had to look away to recover his bearings.

That was when he saw the people. More people than he had ever seen before, all arrayed on the wide platform that led across the canyon to the building. They were all moving together.

“Huh!”

A grunt from a hundred voices sounded, echoing off the cliffs, as all of the people struck the air with their fists.

“Huh!”

Now they struck the air with their other arm.

Attaboy looked on in confusion as the figures below him continued to grunt and hit nothing.

“Welcome to our southern sanctuary, Attaboy,” said Dr. Quimea

Chapter 21:

“Absolutely classic!” Rosemallow declared. “Looks like you had a little too much fun for your own good, kid.”

The last few minutes were a bit blurry for Lilijoy. She remembered scrambling away from the moldy pie-bearing granny and somehow crashing through the wooden shutters of the small window at the back of the cottage. Then seeing the messages

You have ongoing severe topical exposure to Fuzzy Fungal Blight

-15 END (24), -6 INV (0), HP now 46

You have ongoing severe internal exposure to Fuzzy Fungal Blight

-20 END (4), HP now 26

She was barely able to stumble back toward the edge of the brush woods where Rosemallow waited, due to her severely depleted endurance and the constant coughing. When she finally collapsed at her trainer’s feet, covered in slimy straw and mold and coughing up spores, Rosemallow had doused her in muddy water, which somehow removed the ongoing effects from the corruption, though it did nothing to restore her traits or health.

Eyes watering from coughing, Lilijoy looked up at her trainer, who had a huge grin across her face. She had no energy to speak her mind, which was probably for the best.

“Pick up any new tricks?” Rosemallow asked. “Just nod your head if you did.”

Lilijoy nodded. She mimed performing a Qi strike.

“Good. That subskill was the whole point of this little endeavor. It's near impossible to get from training, but a ways back, I figured out it helps to have an opponent that you really don’t want to touch.” She gestured toward Lilijoy. “Now we need to get you to fixing yourself up a bit. Go ahead and raise your Healing skill up a level.”

Lilijoy did so, while Rosemallow continued to explain.

“I bet you don’t know this, but your Healing skill is one of your greatest assets. It makes you self-reliant, a whole package. Right now, it won’t help you in combat, probably takes a minute or two to use if you can give it your whole attention. If you can get it leveled up enough, that should change. But for moments like these, where you have just barely escaped with your life, it’s the difference between being up and about in half an hour, or spending a day or two laid up and vulnerable. Of course, if you ever get to the point where you can use it in combat, it’s a game changer.”

She looked down at Lilijoy. “All set? Good. Now get healing!”

Typical Rosemallow, Lilijoy thought. She wasn’t worried about figuring this one out on her own though. Since she was now an Upgraded Apprentice in Healing, she should have about six points to work with, once she figured out the mechanism.

Despite her pathetic physical state, her mana was in great shape. She cleared her mind and fell into a light trance, savoring the luxury of inner peace compared to the stress of mana use during combat. Though the constant coughing wasn’t helping her focus any. She pulled some of the energy from her core, and imagined it turning a soothing green color, like the deep healing coolness of a mossy forest glen.

She was briefly distracted by the realization that she should have brought some sap from her burnbalm plant. That would have been just the thing for her cracked and oozing skin. Well, it’s not like I had a chance to go back to my room anyway, she consoled herself.

Returning her attention inward, she imagined the green energy traveling to her lungs and cleaning out the remains of the fungus, draining the fluid from thousands of tiny wounds and soothing the irritation and inflammation of her airways. A minute passed and she felt the urge to cough diminish. A quick glance at her bars saw the red slowly rising and the blue slowly falling. It was a more continuous process than she had expected, and she could see no reason not to continue; it was like using the med bots, really, requiring a gentle supervision of the process more than perfect understanding. After her lungs felt normal she moved her attention to the skin of her hands and face. The entire process took only twelve minutes, and she was gratified to see the smallest hint of surprise on Rosemallow’s face when she opened her eyes and announce that she had finished.

“Pretty fast, kid. I’ve had some take a few hours just to figure out how to get their Prana moving.”

“Is that what it’s called?”

“Yup. It’s all the same stuff basically, but it’s useful to have a few different labels for it. That will make even more sense when you start to try to do more than one thing at once. So, Mana for magic, Prana for health, Qi for combat. It all comes from the same Well though.”

“I noticed that the Qi doesn’t use very much mana.”

“Good thing too. A lot of fighter types don't have giant wells. Mana cost for Qi skills are usually just the Magi portion of the skill, unlike most crafting and spells.” She reached down and gave Lilijoy a hand up. “Now, before I send you back in there to clear out the mess, let’s raise a bunch more stats and skills.”

Rosemallow had her raise her Power, Earth Affinity, Invulnerability, Mana Well, and Flash, all by one point. For skills, she raised her Nature: Plants, Climbing, Acrobatics and Deception. Then her third eye spun and Lilijoy received a level up notice along with the small chime.

Level Up! 1001 EXP Reached: Level 10 (10 more free points available)

Before she could savor the moment, Rosemallow had her go back and add points everywhere she had already, including her Unarmed Combat and Healing skills.

“Oh, and throw some points into Scan, too,” said her trainer. “The third tier is when that gets useful.”

When it was all done, she pulled up her sheet.

Name: Emily Level: 10

Defender of the Young

Dark Lady of the Thorns

Blessed of Nandi

Free Points: 71* (51 + 20 Direct)

HP: 95

Natural Traits

STR: 22 (36 effective)

END: 58

SPD: 57 (162 effective)

KA: 152

Magical Traits

POW: 13 (+65% STR)

INV: 36

VIT: 15

FLASH: 37 (+185% SPD)

MW: 104

MG: 10%/100 Sec.

Elemental Affinities/Immunities

Fire: 33

Earth: 60

Water: 30

Air: 28

Charm:

People: 29

Plants: 68

Animals: 62

Abilities

Scan III

Echolocation IV

Infrared Vision III

Low Light Vision II

Two Minds One Self (-)

Skills (VP)

Nature: Animals: Enhanced Journeyman (25)

Nature: Plants: Enhanced Journeyman (25)

Manipulation: Augmented Apprentice (9)

Unarmed Combat: Augmented Apprentice (9)

Acrobatics: Augmented Apprentice (9)

Medical/Healing: Augmented Apprentice (9)

Deception: Augmented Apprentice (9)

Climbing: Upgraded Apprentice (6)

Meditation: Natural Journeyman (5)

Stealth: Upgraded Initiate (4)

Weapons: Blade: Short: Upgraded Initiate (4)

Gliding/Flight: Natural Novice (1)

Weapons: Blunt: Club: Natural Novice (1)

Disguise: Natural Novice (1)

Dance: Natural Novice (1)

Hand Weaving: Natural Novice (1)

She had many questions for her trainer, like why she didn’t raise any abilities other than Scan, and why she raised her Plant Charm but not Animal Charm, but Rosemallow shut her down.

“Save it for the way back. Go kick moldy butt.”

“Do I really have to kill everything?”

“It’s just a scenario, kid. What you people used to call a ‘dungeon’. Everything in there is a tier seven subset, and not a particularly complex one either. They’ll all pop back up tomorrow, same as always.”

Feeling a little better about wiping out the animals, she approached the village from the side, moving as stealthily as she could. Peering between two houses, she saw a dog lying in the square, and used her newly upgraded Scan III on it.

Corrupted Dog: Level 4

40 HP

Primary Attack: Bite (1-8)

Damage Abatement: 2-8

Disposition: Unfriendly

That was a lot more information. With her newly raised Qi attack, she could deal nine points of damage if all went well, and possibly far more if she scored a hit in a vital area. She wondered if she could lure the dog away from the village and deal with it separately.

She clapped her hands lightly and the dog swiveled its head where it lay to track the sound. I guess the mold hasn’t gotten to its inner ear, she thought. Another clap, and the dog got to its feet and approached the alley. She was pretty sure that the dogs couldn’t smell anything; she had turned off her own sense of smell long ago, as the overwhelming aroma of musty decay filled the area.

She backed up a few feet and clapped again. The dog stuck its snout into the alley, but refused to come any closer. She was pretty sure it could see her, at least a little, but she couldn’t coax it away from the square. Even moving back into the alley didn’t tempt it forward. Instead it emitted a low gargling growl and stared at her with its milky, mold shaded eyes.

Had she found a trick to this scenario? Maybe she could pummel the dog from the safety of the alley and it would not be able to attack in turn. Somehow she doubted that was the case, otherwise a typically armed party wouldn’t have any trouble at all.

Only one way to find out, she decided.

She burst forward, pulling all her Qi energy into her hands and slamming them into the dog’s muzzle. It didn’t have time to dodge her attack, and the hit landed squarely, blasting the dog back into the square and flipping it onto its back.

Critical Hit!

Qi Strike does 3x Damage (24 total)

Qi strikes were great when she had the time to set them up properly. The dog twitched several times, then slowly limped to its feet, just as the other two dogs came over to see what was going on. Soon, all three were staring down the alley at Lilijoy, growling and bodies quivering with aggression.

“I’m not coming out there!” she called to them. “You’re going to have to come get me.”

Her voice triggered the dogs into action and they leapt toward the alley, the largest uninjured one in the lead. She could almost see what was going to happen; the lead would jump for her throat (which was hardly a jump at all, really) and the second would come in low.

Instead, she charged forward and jumped up at the last minute, clearing both dogs and coming down on the injured laggard with a Qi strike through both feet. The force knocked the dog into the ground, and she felt its rib cage crack. The same force that crushed the dog propelled her back into the air and she soared into the middle of the square, where she hit the ground in a forward roll and sprang into a run that took her to a space between houses on the other side. She turned to see the other dogs bowl over the injured one as they charged back toward her.

As she watched them approach, she wondered if she shouldn’t just stand her ground. After all, their bites couldn’t get through her magic Invulnerability. She decided she could be a bit more aggressive, as long as she was careful not to get trapped in a spore cloud. She prepared another two-handed Qi strike as the leader charged toward her, and ducked under its jump at the last second, while bringing her hands up into its belly. Spores shot out in all directions as she landed another critical and sent the dog flipping over her head. She took a single step forward and met the next dog with her foot. She hadn’t been able to get her Qi prepared in time, and a shock of impact ran up her leg as she was thrown back by the dog’s momentum.

Her echolocation told her that the dog behind her was still stunned, so she turned the movement into a back flip, almost without meaning to. While in the air, a series of possible movements popped into her internal awareness, as if she was looking at a chart showing her body’s potential paths through space. She chose one in an instant, and her back flip turned into a handspring that redirected her energy straight up. She spun to face the back of the alley landed with one foot and stomped with the other on the big dog’s head, directing all her Qi into a vicious heel strike. Spores and blood shot out from the strike in a circle at her knee height, but she was already leaping from wall to wall along the alley, following the movements planned on her internal awareness. The more injured of the two remaining dogs was the next to fall, to another critical palm strike.

Lilijoy felt exaltation and guilt warring within her. Now that she had begun to truly use her skills it was all so easy, the poor low-level moldy dogs didn’t have a chance. But it felt great to move so freely and to strike so powerfully. She wasn’t even using Flash, though she suspected it might be possible for her now if she had a chance to practice.

After she defeated the last dog, the dogs’ owner and four other Corrupted Farmers burst from the homes with pitchforks and axes. Maybe they were intended to be more challenging than the dogs, but Lilijoy found the fight almost laughable. The farmers were slow and wielded their weapons clumsily. She had them spinning in circles and running into each other as she demolished their health. Fighting humans, even moldy ones, was much easier than animals, due to her training and knowledge of anatomy. A quick scan of an axe-wielding farmer showed her one interesting thing though.

Corrupted Farmer: Level 6

70 HP

Primary Attack: Wood Axe (7-36)

Damage Abatement: 2-6

Disposition: Hostile

The damage from weapons was no joke. She could see now why Rosemallow promoted the Invulnerability stat so strongly; she could only imagine the kind of damage a powerful warrior with a huge sword could deal out. Each five points of Strength added one point to damage, and Power multiplied Strength, so having a fifty in both traits would provide thirty-five points of damage on top of the weapon’s substantial base damage. Add a decent level of skill, such as an Enhanced Expert, and the totals for even a normal hit would be devastating.

She doubted the farmers had any such skills, or strength for that matter, but it seemed like INV was subtracted from the damage after the critical hit multiplier and not before. Even a lowly farmer could potentially one-shot her with a critical hit.

With her new understanding of the danger, Lilijoy got serious, and quickly finished off her opponents. As the last of them fell, she moved away from the spore clouds that filled the square and waited for the next shoe to drop. Her Mana was a little low, as her new Qi strikes and Acrobatics skill had caused it to drain faster than before, but it still took less than a minute to return to full. After another minute she decided that no more creatures were likely to burst out of the houses. She wondered what had become of the cats and the moldy granny.

They were probably all holed up in her house, she decided after another peaceful minute. She was reasonably sure that the cats had issued from the same house she fell into earlier. It just didn’t seem right to her, crashing into the house and Qi blasting everything in sight. All the cats had done was try to rub against her, and the granny had offered her pie.

Deciding to go a different direction, she walked up to the mold granny’s door and knocked politely.

After several seconds she heard shuffling and an odd burbling sound. Ready for anything, she stepped back, but tried to keep a polite smile fixed upon her face. The door’s latch jiggled for so long that Lilijoy was afraid that granny was no longer able to open her door, but finally the door swung in, and the old woman, or former old woman, stepped into view, carrying her dish of mold.

“Have you come to buy a pie, dear? Only a copper for the best pie in the land,” she barbled in her distorted voice.

A copper was what everyone called the large copper coin worth one tenth of a silver. The smaller copper coins, worth a tenth of that, were called pence. Lilijoy didn’t know if that was a good price or not, but it didn’t really matter.

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any money,” she explained. The woman stood there in the afternoon sun streaming through her open door; Lilijoy could almost see her features through the thick mat of white tendrils. Instead of seeing a monster, she saw something tragic; a kindly grandmother disfigured and diminished by disease, still wearing a dress and apron she had probably loved to wear while baking pies for travelers and villagers alike.

She knew that it was just a scenario. That there was no conscious being inside the pathetic figure. But the same could be said of a picture, or even a story of tragedy and suffering. The medium did not diminish the reality of tragedy and suffering. If anything, it crystallized and heightened it. Tears came to her eyes, and she reached out, first with her hand, thought not so far as to touch, and then with her mind. She activated Two Minds One Self.

Rather than resistance, she felt diffusion, and an almost intangible impression of thousand of tiny impulses forming a veil of need. A need for nutrients, for… expansion. Unlike the plants and the animals she had interacted with there was no center. There was only a hazy, impressionist gauze of collected instinct, a seeking of death external and death internal. Death was food, death was life and expansion and expansion was growing and bursting and dying.

We eat to die, they realized.

Then, they realized there was still more, behind the veil, behind the gauze, a muted torment, the volume turned low on anguish, and a desire to fulfill the same eternal cycle of death and rebirth, the desire to end, for now. And oddly, the desire to sell pie.

There was no center to this other layer of thought either. Lilijoy, because in this mixing of haze and gauze there was still a Lilijoy, said, “We should eat, eat and grow and die and end,” and the thought spread across the veil, and all the tiny impulses ate like they never had before, and grew like they never had before, until they burst and died and spread.

Lilijoy emerged and backed away just as the moldy granny collapsed into herself, her form crumbling into a pile of moldy filament, sending a vast cloud of spores out over the square. She held her breath just in time to avoid inhaling the toxic packages, though she did get the spores on her skin.

You have suffered severe topical exposure to Fuzzy Fungal Blight

-15 VIT (0), -15 END (40), -30 INV (7) HP now 65

Guess I helped make the mold even stronger. Oops.

On the plus side, the cats must have succumbed immediately to the new strain as well, as she got the following notice.

Congratulations!

You have completed The Corrupted Village

(Scenario for 8-12 total levels)

Solo and Within Level Range Award: 6 Silver

All ongoing effects canceled

Lilijoy was thrilled to see that there was a reward for completing the scenario. On the run back to the Academy, she asked Rosemallow about it.

“Yeah, some of the old scenarios have a reward. It’s actually pretty rare now. I think that this one has been kept around almost as a museum piece. Mostly, you keep what you can find.”

“What’s to keep someone from doing it over and over?”

“You mean aside from soul crushing boredom?”

“I bet it beats gathering herbs all day.”

“Guess it depends on the herbs. But most scenarios only let you complete them once. If you were to try to enter the village tomorrow after it reset you would find it difficult.”

“At the end, I kind of strengthened the mold. Do you think that will last?”

“I guess the next group of noobs will get to find out, huh? But seriously, a reset is a reset. It’s always the same.”

Lilijoy considered this for a moment. “I think that’s a good thing. So when I used my points, how come I only raised Scan and not other abilities?”

Rosemallow scoffed. “You can raise the others without points, can’t you? I’m sure your next dumb question is why none of your Magi skills are raised as high as they can go. The answer is that the natural skills are harder to raise if the Magi score is stronger. Generally speaking, I would never put points into a skill until at least Apprentice level.”

“Actually, I had figured that out, but I did want to know why we raised Plant Charm and not Animal Charm.”

“That’s more of a judgment call. I think your Animal Charm is high enough to last you a good long while, but your Plant Charm you should get as high as you can without wasting points. We can revisit it in a couple levels.”

The question Lilijoy was really burning to ask was when she could level up again. She wasn’t sure how many experience points she had banked up, but she knew it was at least enough for another level, maybe even two. She decided to approach the issue obliquely.

“How much experience did I get from the scenario?”

“Haven’t looked.”

“Could you?”

Rosemallow slowed and stopped, motioning Lilijoy to do the same. The sun was just beginning to set beyond the line of trees in front of them, and a cool dry breeze swept the grass around them in a wave of yellow-green.

“Look, kid. I get it. It’s all about the experience and the levels. It’s exciting to get stronger, raise your stats, yada yada.” She looked down at Lilijoy and her face was serious. “What you need to learn, and hopefully not the hard way, is that strength attracts strength. The stronger you get, the more difficulty will come your way. Get out of balance, get strong without the experience, the true experience, to back it up, and you’ll end up in a world of hurt. Worse off than if you had taken it slow.”

She sighed and looked at the red clouds around the setting sun. “That’s my job, to slow things down and make sure you learn right. You have a hell of an advantage, if you play your cards right.” She looked back down at Lilijoy. “And you’re going to need every last bit of it in the shitstorm that’s coming.”

Without another word, her trainer took off at a pace that forced Lilijoy to use all of her focus on gathering so that she could maintain Flash. She had just enough energy to note how similar Rosemallow’s words were to the Dean’s, even though the two of them couldn’t be more different in approach.

As they neared the Academy, Rosemallow waved and took off in a different direction, leaving Lilijoy to herself. Within minutes she was within the Academy and heading to her room.

***

The scenario set itself back at midnight, mold and all. Curiously, there were reports that, every once in a while, the old moldy granny would leave her house and wander around the village with her dish of mold.

“Have you seen that nice girl?” she was said to ask. “I do so want her to try my pie.”