(Y6, September 13th)

“So, who is coming with us?” asked Vantegaard.

“Me, of course. Wouldn’t delegate that for any reason. And Tarenasala and Falunjul drew the long straws. I decided not to pick more. Safety first, but we still need to travel as fast as we can. Three veterans should be enough for any wilderness between the sectors.”

“What’s your builds, if that’s not too indiscreet?”

“I’m swordsmaiden and wizard. I also got 2 druid skills for some reason, but the lottery never gave me any additional ones. Managed to snag three Skill Stones for the sword part.”

Tarenasala started, “I’m hammer shieldmaiden and a ranger. No magic to speak of, just one ritual, Songs of the Assault.”

Falunjul added, “And I’m sword as well, with a basic arcane build.”

“Tarenasala will be useful for finding the best paths. With her and Birkathane, we can probably go faster than otherwise. But now, we need to get you outfitted.”

Quandocor raised an eyebrow.

“You look like newbies! You might be halfway veterans, but you look like you’ve never delved in a dungeon!”

She waved over to a Valkyrie. Quandocor recognized Sansemilla from before Recess.

“San will get you to the armory. We have a bunch of dungeon stuff but she’s made a few nice pieces in leather-and-chain.”

The “armory” was a semi-large room. According to Sansemilla, it probably had been some sort of storage room for when things didn’t fit in each guest’s room. The Valkyries had found shelves and empty chests all over when they moved in.

They had added a few weapon racks and a lectern with a heavy tome. Vantegaard was surprised – no one had ever seen any writing. But the ancient-looking tome had clean modern ruled paper inside. Sansemilla confirmed his suspicions.

“That’s the ledger. We record what’s in and out. Hlonhyldde made the binding because the original one looked all ugly with flashy plastic colors.”

“I didn’t think there was a bookmaking skill…”

“There’s none. But she’s good at Skin Refining and she liked the idea.”

She turned toward the trio.

“Let’s see… that’s going to be hard. I can probably find you some stuff, but… well, unless you get wider hips, we can probably forget pants for you guys. Unless we have a couple of days…”

Birkathane smothered a laugh.

Vantegaard threw a pained look toward her and confirmed, “Your boss doesn’t want any unnecessary delays.”

“Okay. So keep your big boy pants, and we’ll see what we can find. Birka? Remind me of your build?”

“Monk-archmage. Druid/Earth/Arcane.”

“Favored Stats?”

“Presence, Resilience, Strength. Can use to lvl 24 or maybe push a 25 in a few days if needed.”

Sansemilla examined Birkathane’s current equipment.

“Not much in the way of jewelry upgrades… although I have a 22 ring… and your glove is perfect for your resilience. Got boots, pants, jacket and… a bandanna.”

“What?”

“I love making bandannas. There might not be good protection, but there’s nothing wrong with the stats on those. Ok, they are labeled leather circlets, but those are bandannas. I swear.”

Birkathane

Health: 1206/1206 (recovers 216/day)

Stamina: 1416/1416 (recovers 2.9/sec)

Lifeforce: 1836/1836 (recovers 0.56/sec)

Power: 2492/1245 (recover 2.4/sec)

Arcane: 61/1015 (954 in use; recovers 5.8/sec)

Presence: 37

Reasoning: 34

Dexterity: 34

Fortitude: 32

Resilience: 36

Reflexes: 29

Strength: 29

Perception: 24

Intuition: 21

Meditative Cultivation 46 (70%)

Shore Weakness 44 (6%)

Arcane Precision 42 (28%)

Infuse Vitality 41 (56%)

Draw on the World 26 (45%)

Arcane Weakness 23 (16%)

Absolute Compass 23 (8%)

Rooted Existence 21 (9%)

…

Level: 184 – 39%

Unused points: 3

Leather Iron-Toed Boots (lvl 23), +2 Strength

Black-Tinted Cloth Glove (lvl 15), +5% Resilience

Fur Notched Belt (lvl 11), +1 Presence

Leather-Chain Jacket (lvl 20), +1 to self-buff skills

Leather-Chain Pants (lvl 22), +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity

Leather Circlet (lvl 19), +1 Presence

Oak Ring (lvl 13), +75 to Lifeforce

Engraved Copper Ring (lvl 22), +2 Resilience

Iron Elaborate Necklace (lvl 16), +2 Presence

“There you are. You almost look like a real Valkyrie now!” said Sansemilla after turning her friend around.

Vantegaard’s 27 Perception made Sansemilla squeal in delight.

“Got the perfect boots for you. Kunde’s upgraded two weeks ago, and she probably has bigger feet than you do. Those are exactly your range.”

“Uh?”

“Kundevaravarre’s nearly 2m tall. A giantess.”

He received a pair of calf-length boots, which he looked at dubiously.

Leather-Chain Straight Boots (lvl 27) requires 21 Strength. +2 Reflexes.

The boots fit very… snuggly. They didn’t look too odd. The fact that they were Northworld-made rather than some Earthside fashion accessory helped. The pair of fingerless gloves were at least comfortable and provided 1 Reasoning and 1 Intuition, which was… at least partially useful. Sansemilla grumbled on his level 28 duster. Apparently, it was a mediocre +1 Resilience. But she had nothing useable to replace it. Finally, she put one of her “bandannas” on him, standing back to admire the global effect.

“Looks good. Now, do you want a proper sword, or do you prefer this oversized knife?”

Vantegaard looked at the weapon rack and grimaced.

“I’m kinda partial to dagger-sized stuff. All this is a bit too long.”

“Whatever. You’ve got Randgridda for swordplay anyway.”

Vantegaard

Health: 1179/1179 (recovers 198/day)

Stamina: 1369/1369 (recovers 2.9/sec)

Psy: 963/963 (recovers 2.7/sec)

Power: 2394/1744 (recovers 1.6/sec)

Aether: 290/2900 (base 290; drift 17.6/min)

Reasoning: 39

Resilience: 33

Dexterity: 32

Strength: 29

Fortitude: 29

Perception: 27

Reflexes: 24

Intuition: 20

Presence: 17

Mind over Matter 51 (84%)

Absolute Meditation 45 (19%)

Sense the Leyline 30 (14%)

Sprinting 28 (26%)

Blocking Strike 23 (3%)

Aetheric Sense 23 (58%)

Drain Living Aether 21 (82%)

Psychic Reading 17 (86%)

…

Level: 176 – 99%

Unused points: 19

Leather-Chain Straight Boots (lvl 26), +2 Reflexes

Leather Fingerless Gloves (lvl 25), +1 Reasoning, +1 Intuition

Chain Belt (lvl 17), +15 stamina/min

Leather-Chain Jacket (lvl 20), +1 to self-buff skills

Leather Circlet (lvl 19), +1 Presence

Leather Duster (lvl ?), worn, but solid item (?)

Copper Unadorned Ring (lvl 18), +1 to the three highest skills

Incised Copper Ring (lvl 15), +1 Strength

Bronze Double Clasp (lvl 18), +11 health/day

Tempered Long Dagger (lvl 16), +1% hit

She turned toward Quandocor, sizing him up.

“Ritualist? I got some stuff, I think.”

“More like Necromancer. I’m almost entirely Fortitude, with Strength and maybe Reflexes next.”

“Let’s find something that fits. I’m going to dip into unsold dungeon loot, I think. But first, let’s ditch your gloves. And that ring. It’s an abomination.”

She rummaged into her inventory before grimacing.

“Flat shoes? Sorry about that.”

Quandocor

Health: 1244/1244 (recovers 210/day)

Stamina: 1463/1463 (recovers 3.1/sec)

Death: 1812/1812 (recovers 0.011/sec)

Mana: 1537/1537 (recover 2.7/sec)

Ritual: 1241/1241 (recover 1.4sec)

Fortitude: 48

Resilience: 35

Strength: 31

Reflexes: 30

Dexterity: 30

Presence: 27

Reasoning: 26

Perception: 25

Intuition: 23

Unseen Meditation 62 (70%)

Auspicious Omens 55 (28%)

Drain Life 44 (92%)

Cold Grasp 38 (44%)

Fatal Distraction 36 (76%)

Steady Grip 29 (81%)

Lay of the Land 28 (84%)

The Dawn of Light 26 (88%)

…

Level: 197 – 33%

Unused points: 4

Leather Flat Shoes (lvl 19) +1 Reflexes

Solid Spirit Gloves (lvl 20) +1 Fortitude

Leather-Chain Belt (lvl 15) +1 Fortitude

Leather-Chain Sleeveless Doublet (lvl 20) +2 to highest Strength skill

Leather Circlet (lvl 18) +1 Fortitude

Basic Iron Ring (lvl 19), +1 Strength

Basic Iron Ring (lvl 16), +1 Dexterity

Twisted Iron Pendant (lvl 20), +1 Fortitude

Silver-shod Staff (lvl ?), expert-crafted item (?)

He refused to put away his old Staff for one lesser with immediate stats. That staff had been Quandocor’s companion since the days of the Fanduk tower. And such it would remain until he really had no choice.

The trio came back into the main room where the three Valkyries that would accompany them on their trip were waiting.

“Ok, we’re ready.”

Randgridda flattened out a pair of maps.

“We have a full Gamma map for reference and had a fast Recess so one Valkyrie purchased a Beta. The only question is, do we go for roads for fast, or cross-country?”

“Let me see,” asked Vantegaard.

“The inter-sector trail is supposed to be between Vasimir Red and Lonely Mountain.”

Randgridda pointed out the points on each map. Vantegaard pondered the options.

“The Cartographers are probably not going to spawn for a few days. I’d say, we go for roads in Gamma, but avoid towns. No sense tempting people with a bounty. It’s then… what? 14 days to the border? Then nearly 3 weeks across, which we’ll need to Recess mid-point. Then… if the terrain not too rough, 3 weeks to Earth Keep. 4 tops. Just in time for the next Recess once we’re there.”

“That sounds doable,” said Birkathane.

“Quan?”

“Good for me. Hopefully, once the negotiations are in progress, the pressure will be gone.”

“If they believe we’re actually going in good faith. If they think we’re misdirecting them…”

Randgridda cut to the point.

“We’ll see how the negotiation goes in 9 days. The faster we do it, the better, I’d say.”

She turned to Vantegaard.

“It’s up to you. Ever done short Recess?”

“No. I mean, everyone says if you spawn too fast, you instantly go into AS, which is bad because 9 days will leave you a wreck. But Vasili seemed to imply it can be done.”

“The trick is water.”

“What?”

“You drink water. Lots of it. Nobody knows why, but drink at least 1 liter, 1 and a half before coming back. You wait for 30mn while drinking lots, you don’t empty your bladder until spawn, and you’re good. It’s just that it won’t clear your AS timer. But you can squeeze one or two short Recess 9 days before AS, maybe three for resilient veterans.”

“Oh. Thankfully, we didn’t try on our own.”

“One of the little secrets nobody talks about,” smiled Randgridda.

“Ok. Let’s go fast then.”

Quandocor exploded in laughter.

“What?”

“Sorry, hearing ‘go fast’ reminds me of boat drug smuggling.”

He shrugged.