By the time the goggle-wearing man had finished his first word, Lilijoy had scanned him.

Cal Liente

Level 26

It took her an extra second of subjective time to get his level, which told her that she had a slight edge in the area of Charm and Deception. In his hand was a rapier, a colichemarde if her internet memory was correct, which he waved lazily as he spoke. It was clear that he didn’t take her seriously; given the wards in the area, he must know she was low leveled.

Magpie was already engaged in combat with her opponent, out of sight behind a trunk and some particularly large roots, and Lilijoy was pretty sure there were others in the canopy above.

They’re toying with us. The ones above probably have bows. Hope they haven’t spotted Skria.

Oddly, it seemed like Jessila was being ignored for the moment.

Her initial model of the situation was ready by the time her opponent finished speaking. His choice of weapon and general bearing told her he was fast and nimble, but he had made a mistake when he offered her the initiative. Or at least she hoped he had.

Let’s see who’s faster.

She closed the distance to her striking range with a quick shuffle step into a lunging kick along the ground. The Qi strike passed through her foot and struck his forward ankle as she caught her weight on her back arm and pushed off into a twisting sideways roll.

His reaction time was quick, but not quite as good as hers. As she began her attack the tip of his sword lowered to meet her and thrust where she would have been if she wasn’t using a ranged attack. By the time she had twisted away, he was rebalancing to address her new position, the forward energy of his lunge contained and redirected.

He’s good. Really good. Like Magpie good. I still did a little damage though.

She knew that Magpie was considered an Expert by Inside standards. If her opponent had raised his Magi level with his weapon to Illustrious then she was in real trouble, as his skill alone would dish out sixty-four points of damage. At least she had a slight edge in effective reach and speed.

She withdrew, wishing she had reached the level where her Qi strikes carried some knockback force. Her best chance in the fight had been to take him by surprise and get him off balance before he understood her abilities, but that was lost now. At least her model had more data. She estimated his effective Speed was around a hundred.

“Well, well,” he said. “It’s always the little ones, isn’t it?”

Lilijoy smiled. “Don’t count the big ones out either.”

That was Jessila’s cue. Her ironwood staff flew twenty feet through the air like a black bolt towards the man’s back. Lilijoy had no idea why the man had been oblivious to her friend’s presence, but she wasn’t going to complain. She feigned a strike just as Jessila prepared the throw, and he was caught off guard by the attack from behind.

The man sensed something at the last moment and ducked. If Jessila had been aiming for his head, it would have been the right move. As it was the staff hit him directly on the neck. It was one of those times that Lilijoy regretted the accuracy of her senses and the levels of perception allowed by her slowed subjective time. She could hear the sound of cervical vertebrae dislocating, see the horrific flopping motion of his head folding backwards to touch between his shoulders.

Guess that was a critical.

She had sparred enough with Jessila to know just how devastating her attacks could be. The damage bonus from her effective Strength was almost seventy-five points on its own. Still, it was startling to see a higher-level player killed in one hit. It was an example of what Rosemallow called mortality compression.

“Think of it this way,” her trainer had told her during a break a couple weeks previous. “Over ten levels you can raise a few traits by ten points, unless you’re being stupidly inefficient. That can make a big difference for your mana or effective strength, but it’s not going to do diddly for your health. High levels let you dish out damage, but if you want to take it, you need great skills and decent equipment. Someone in the twenties and thirties can be taken out by strong low-level quite easily with a crit. It’s why I think Vitality isn’t that great. You’re better off taking those two points and getting an additional point of Invulnerability. Sure, the damage reduction happens after the crit multiple, but it also makes it less likely to get a crit in the first place.”

“So, doesn’t everyone do that?”

Her trainer shook her head. “Plenty of folks disagree with me on this. Mana-based damage becomes more and more of a factor as spells and magi skills come into play, and at some point, those extra health points do come in handy. It’s a constant balancing act, and the correct allocation of points depends on your fighting style and the type of situations you seek out. Luckily, I’ve given you the chance to figure some of that stuff out before you need to allocate points for your next levels.”

As she had these thoughts, the man’s body was beginning to fall to the ground. Her anticipatory model helpfully predicted the splayed configuration of his limbs, and she looked away so she didn’t need to see it twice.

Maybe this whole predictive model thing isn’t going to work out.

Jessila had a little grin on her face where she stood.

“Arrows!” Lilijoy called as she began a weaving sprint to where Magpie was fighting. She saw Jess begin to seek cover, just as two things emerged from the canopy above.

The first was indeed an arrow. Lilijoy hadn’t had much time to familiarize herself with archery Inside, mostly because her arms were too short to use a powerful bow. She had heard that a strong archer was among the most feared entities in the Garden, and now she understood why.

The arrow ripped through the air. Lilijoy could see the disturbance left in its wake and realized that it had reached halfway to the ground in far less than a subjective second.

At least 800 feet per second! That’s faster than some handguns.

The arrow struck Jessila through her right shoulder, passed through, and obliterated itself against the ground. She half spun and fell.

The other thing to emerge from the canopy was a gray-clad body. Compared to the arrow it floated lazily in the air, with no particular thrashing or sense of alarm from the owner. She saw a bow falling next to it, though the arrow had come from a different part of the canopy.

Must be Skria’s doing, maybe one of her darts. Two down, at least two to go.

Lilijoy continued her dash to reach Magpie, training her senses forward, though she did set aside one small part of herself to monitor the canopy for more arrows. They were too fast for her to dodge, almost as fast as the vorpal crows, but she might have some say about where on her body she was hit if she knew an arrow was coming.

Within a second, another arrow flew from above, this time aimed at her. The timing was fortunate, as her front foot was only inches from striking the root in front of her. She used every ounce of her enhanced strength to stop her forward momentum and push into a cartwheel to the side. The arrow passed directly in front of her right eye, so fast it was a blur.

Do my eyes have a shutter speed? was her first thought, followed shortly by, Hey, I can dodge after all. Must be because I know where they’re coming from.

She filed the shutter speed question for later. An incredulous oath drifted down from the archer as she took her next step, and she filed his location away for later as well. Another two steps and Magpie’s opponent came into view. It was far too late for stealth, and her sling was utterly impractical while being sniped from above, so she charged forward, assessing her options.

The woman had her back to her. She was short, shorter than Magpie by at least six inches, but her katana-type blade was long, almost as long as she was tall. Her straight white hair swung freely down the back of her dark-red leather armor.

Magpie tried to wave Lilijoy off. The look in her eyes and impatient hand gesture said, “I got this.”

It didn’t look like she had it, not even a little. Her clothes were tattered, and she bled from at least three significant cuts. Her opponent had no visible injuries. Lilijoy might have considered leaving it there, but getting in close to the white-haired woman would be her best defense against more arrows. She ignored Magpie and leapt into the fray.

As soon as she was in range, she launched a Qi strike aimed at the woman’s back.

Let’s see how fast you are…

As Lilijoy released her attack, the woman glanced back and her sword whipped over her shoulder while she thrust a foot toward Magpie. The Qi strike dissipated harmlessly on the blade, and Lilijoy saw Magpie contort her body to avoid the energy launched toward her by the woman’s kick.

Okay… that’s pretty fast. She can intercept Qi strikes with her sword and use her own Qi strikes on her opponents. Maybe I should take my chances with the arrows.

She abandoned any attempt to model the situation and moved to her fastest subjective speed. Her scan only revealed a name, Jadis Nykka. The woman was really more of a girl, or somewhere in between. She looked maybe sixteen or seventeen to Lilijoy, and resembled a human version of Mumo, right down to the white eyes.

In a fluid continuation of her previous moves, her body pivoted around the sword and her leg swung toward Lilijoy as it came to the ground, an utterly efficient redirection to switch her attack to Lilijoy. Watching in slow motion, she could only marvel at the smooth economy of the movement. The sword was beginning its descent as Lilijoy launched three more Qi strikes and rolled to the side. She saw a flicker of surprise surface on the girl’s face as she registered the speed of Lilijoy’s attacks.

Two Qi strikes hit for 30 damage

What happened to the third one?

There wasn’t time to answer the question, so Lilijoy resolved to review the attack later. She was sure that wouldn’t be the only aspect of the fight she would be studying.

I think studying that last move of hers alone could teach me something.

As she rolled, Lilijoy saw the tip of the sword following her. Combat in slow motion was an agonizing process in some ways. As with attacks of the vorpal crows, she knew when and where she would be hit, had subjective seconds to contemplate the injury in her near future. She was thankful for the fine-grained control over pain her system offered; without that, the anticipation would be truly unbearable.

She wondered, not for the first time, if having too much time to think was interfering with her effectiveness, and maybe even her skill’s growth over time.

Even though my models aren’t helping yet, I can set them so they leave me just enough time to think in Flash…

At that point, the tip of the sword slashed across her thigh and she lost the train of thought.

You have been struck for 62 points of damage.

35 points remaining.

Bleeding damage 2 points per second until stopped

It wasn’t even a solid blow and it took more than half her health. She came out of the roll and pushed off with her good leg to escape any follow-ups. Behind her she saw and heard the chain of Magpie’s modified chigiriki hit and start to wrap around the sword’s blade.

She had never sparred against Magpie when she was wielding the odd weapon, but she had seen how perfectly suited it was to entangling and disarming opponents. The weighted chain passed through a three-foot hollow staff, free to emerge at either end. How Magpie managed to wield it without entangling or clubbing herself was beyond Lilijoy. Even Rosemallow had been impressed.

“Not bad at all. Reminds me of an old… partner,” the oni had said when she saw Magpie demonstrating the weapon to the others. From Rosemallow, this was high praise indeed.

Now that the weapon in question was wrapped around the blade, Magpie stepped in behind the white-haired girl and slammed a softening blow with the staff portion of the weapon into lower back. Lilijoy was sure there was no damage inflicted, but Invulnerability didn’t change the laws of physics. The chain pulled one direction, the force to her back pushed the other, and Magpie took advantage. She released the staff, slid her hand down the girl’s arm and executed a perfect kotegaeshi throw.

I thought she told me that aikido never worked in real life situations?

Magpie had been an indispensable guide and translator between Rosemallow’s teaching and the untamed internet archive. Lilijoy had been frustrated to discover that the most effective unarmed combat techniques tended to result in grappling, where she was at a great disadvantage. Traditional martial arts that centered around striking, like karate and taekwondo, had been helpful for her development, but Magpie had warned her that most opponents would quickly bulldoze her into the ground if she stood still to deliver a kick or punch.

Aikido had seemed like an exception, and a perfect fit for a small person, as it focused on maintaining distance and using one’s knowledge of body mechanics to control the opponent. Unfortunately, Lilijoy soon realized that she would need to be equivalent to a grand master before it could be remotely practical for her to use in any real combat. Magpie had suggested that she study the footwork and movement techniques and leave it there, so it was a little annoying to see her use the move.

Nonetheless, it was beautiful to watch. The sword flew one direction and the white-haired girl flipped over her own arm. Magpie couldn’t keep control of her opponent in the rough terrain, so she dove after the sword instead. Lilijoy was stuck keeping pressure on her leg to stop the bleeding effect while she prayed that another arrow wouldn’t take her out. She couldn’t do more than watch, not without allowing her health to drop even further.

Maybe Magpie really does have it under control?

Magpie came up with the sword. During the subjective eternity that followed, the girl rolled to her feet.

“Not bad.” she said. “I haven’t had my sword taken in ages.”

Magpie seemed more relaxed now. She swung the sword several times, testing its balance.

“It’s a great blade,” she said. “Soulbound?”

“Not that it will matter, but yes.” the girl replied.

Lilijoy ran a quick scan on the sword.

Quench

Made by a master armorer,

this blade adds 10 to damage.

???????

???????

Soulbound

Unbreakable

She wasn't kidding, that is a nice blade. I wonder what the hidden abilities are?

Magpie shrugged. “What, is this where you tell me you’ve been taking it easy on me? I don’t think you can expect any more help from your friends.”

Lilijoy could only agree. She wasn’t sure what had happened to the archer, but the clear lack of arrows plunging into her or Magpie from above seemed to indicate it was nothing good. For the archer anyway. She used the time granted by the conversation to stop her bleeding with Prana, and prepare for the next round.

The white-haired girl glanced upward and an annoyed expression crossed her face.

“Fine.” She crossed her arms to her chest, palms inward, then extended them toward Magpie while moving her fingers through a series of hand signs. “Fire Dance.”

She burst into flame and leapt toward Lilijoy.

If Lilijoy had anything approaching normal reflexes she would have been caught flat footed. Instead, she had watched the tension gathering in the girl’s muscles, seen the subtle indications that she would be launching herself to the side where Lilijoy crouched as she tended her injury. It was also the a reasonable strategy, eliminating the weaker opponent, so she had already prepared her response and reactivated her model. It had been very helpful to have the time to assess the previous combat, short as it was.

The trajectory of the girl’s body was projected as a blurred outline indicating the probabilities of future locations, ranging from solid to diffuse. Lilijoy rolled out of her crouch, into the area of lowest probability and launched as many Qi blasts as she could toward the clear outlines indicating the future location of the girl’s head. Three of the blasts missed, but the fourth…

Critical Hit!

Qi Strike does 3x Damage (35 total)

Ten points less than expected. Must be some protection from her Fire Dance spell, Lilijoy noted.

The girl was already adjusting the trajectory of her attack toward Lilijoy when the critical took her in the face. Even without knockback, the Qi strike stunned her and she stumbled past, unable to connect the fiery punch she had meant to deliver.

Lilijoy didn’t let the opportunity pass and sent out another intense Qi barrage. She had to give the white-haired girl credit; even off balance she intercepted several of the Qi blasts with her hands, but she couldn’t match Lilijoy’s speed.

Qi Strike Barrage does 20 damage

It seemed like the dancing red flames that covered the girl's body were intercepting the majority of the damage, which was frustrating. She knew she had landed at least four good hits before her opponent was out of range. If she only knew how much health the girl had left she could formulate a better strategy, decide whether to wear her down or gamble on more critical hits.

I guess Scan really is a vital ability.

She pledged to raise it as soon as she had the chance, whatever Rosemallow thought. It seemed that opponents with roughly equivalent levels of Deception and Scan wouldn’t be able to see more than each other’s names.

As she was thinking this, she could see Magpie moving into position, sword in hand. The white-haired girl had allowed her momentum to carry her a fair distance from both of them, well out of range for more Qi strikes. From there she turned back to Lilijoy and thrust out both arms, yelling, “Fire Jet!”

It wasn’t particularly surprising when a narrow cone of white hot flame projected out of her hands. Lilijoy could see the edge of the flames as they approached, dancing and rolling through the air.

This is going to hurt.

Her injured leg prevented her from doing any more than falling to the side. It wasn’t enough, as her opponent swept the jet along the ground to cover her.

Flame Jet delivers 27 points of damage.

8 points remaining

Thank goodness I have decent fire affinity, she thought. I wish she would focus on Magpie.

As if answering her thought, Magpie swept into battle, wielding the sword as if it was her own. Lilijoy had never seen Magpie look uncomfortable or unfamiliar with any weapon, and she took a moment to wonder how on earth the girl managed to have such a broad range of combat skills.

Whoever was training her sure knew their stuff. If this Jack guy is even better than her, he wasn’t kidding about being able to take me easily.

Three strikes ended the battle. The girl deflected the first two with her armored forearms leaving trails of flame in the air as she moved. But this didn't save her from the the third strike, which caught her across her throat. She crumpled to the ground, her fire stilled.

Magpie looked over at Lilijoy. “Thanks for the assist. I thought I could take her, but there was no way I could have handled her on my own.”

Lilijoy was a bit surprised that Magpie was thanking her. “I don’t know how you held her off for so long. What level do you think she was?”

“I had her as level twenty-five, so I think we should feel pretty good, even if it took both of us.”

“Yeah, Jess and I took out a level twenty-six, but he wasn’t anywhere close to as difficult. Skria got at least one of the archers in the trees.”

Magpie looked around. “Well, we shouldn’t be chatting. You heal up while I find the others.”

Lilijoy gestured to the girl’s body. “Shouldn’t we...”

“Oh, right.” Magpie smacked herself in the forehead. She walked over and looked down at the body. “This feels really creepy.” She nudged it with her foot. “This is seriously messed up. It’s not like I haven’t seen dead bodies before, but she’s just like us. Am I just supposed to… strip her? Yuck.”

It was surprising to see Magpie squeamish, though Lilijoy could hardly blame her. “Can’t you just do that thing where you, you know, turn down your emotions?”

Magpie froze. After a moment she spoke. “Noticed that did you?” She sat down next to the body, careful to avoid the pool of blood issuing from the dead girl’s throat. “I’m so fucking tired of this bullshit.” She spoke softly, looking down at the ground between her legs. “You’re completely right, you know. I’m not my own person, never have been.” She raised her head and yelled toward the treetops. “Isn’t that right, Raven?”

Silence followed, and Lilijoy could hear the wind blowing through the treetops far overhead.

I wonder who Raven is? she thought.

“Sorry.” Magpie looked over at Lilijoy. “That was stupid. It’s only a matter of time before more clannies come. I’m amazed they haven’t already.”

Lilijoy wasn’t sure how to respond.

“You know,” Magpie continued. “I really can’t figure you out. I’ve spent weeks trying to, watching, measuring, analyzing. Then I’m supposed to help you find this Attaboy guy, which just between us, has about a chance in hell of happening on this little expedition.” She sighed. “You’ve got the right idea, buddying up with the Insiders. At least you can trust them.”

Lilijoy had to bite her tongue. Now was not the time to share her theories about exactly how trustworthy the Inside was. Instead, she watched in silence as Magpie got back to her feet. She tossed the sword onto the girl’s body.

“I’m not doing it. I’ve been told that I need to keep my emotions so that I can better understand and manipulate others. Fuck that noise. I’m going to keep my emotions so that I don’t do shit I’ll regret later. Get healed up.”

She stalked off, but not before Lilijoy saw the tear running down her face.

I wonder who that last sentence was addressed to?