Lightning

x1

Electricity

x1

Blue

x1

Spell

x1

Might

x1

Ivory

x1

Will

x1

Robin pondered his Motes, his mind jumping from idea to idea.

Blue and Might are the best ones, I think, and I should probably combine them into the same class ability. I think Ivory might be a good component to add to my armor, and perhaps Electricity. Yeah. That’s the one. Definitely.

Robin reconsidered even as he thought his ‘confirmation’ to himself. I wonder if Lightning and Electricity would compliment each other? I still do not know the difference between the two, really.

I’ve never used my Enchant Object skill… Maybe this would be a good time. I bet it uses Motes, too, he thought glumly.

Lightning, Electricity, Blue, Might, and Will, leaving Ivory and Spell. That sounds like a combination that could yield a strong attack ability, and I could experiment with the last two, given that they are kind of the oddballs of the group.

That is that one. I promised I would hurry, anyway, so either I do it now or wait until later.

Lightning, Electricity, Blue, Might, Will, combine!

Eternal Static Will of the Blue Entomage The Blue Mage has begun to tap into the Blue potential of magic, becoming exothermic, radiating a minor charge of Blue nilphasic energy, manifesting as bursts of magical electricity. These bursts are triggered by touch, and only affect creatures of little to no sapience. When a creature has been affected by the Blue energy such that their WILL score total has been met or exceeded, the creature will become a Blue Slave, forever fanatically loyal to the Blue Mage. The INT of the creature is not affected. Blue Slaves do not require food or water, but they do require MANA input, with requirements varying based upon the nature of the Blue Slave. The Eternal Static Will of the Blue Entomage puts out an amount of energy equal to one (1) point of WILL per instance of contact, regardless of the length of contact. The cost to activate the Eternal Static Will of the Blue Entomage is variable; the user may invest any amount of MANA they possess into the Eternal Static Will of the Blue Entomage, and the ability will continue to function until it is out of MANA, consuming MANA every time it triggers. For an additional investment of fifty (50) MANA, the user may instead apply the effect to a distance of two centimeters per point of WILL. (2cm per WILL point)

Robin’s jaw dropped, and he let out a small murmur as he read the entire skill. May’s giggle brought him back to reality, and he realized he was making a weird happy noise that was actually audible, not entirely to himself as he had thought it had been. This is amazing! Except for that name… I cannot let them be called that. Can I change it to Blue Pets?

Robin focused his willpower, and then called up the power notification again. He scanned it and made another happy grunt as he saw it had worked in effecting the change, this time cutting himself off halfway through it when he abruptly realized he was doing it again.

“Sorry. I made a really good ability. I used five Motes for it, which is a lot, and I think one of them might be a class-specific Mote.” He quickly read it out loud to her, this time legitimately out of breath when he finished. He was especially happy the "slave" part had vanished and been replaced by "Pets." He dismissed the notification and looked at her, fully expecting to see awe or begrudging admiration, maybe even a touch of jealousy.

He did not expect her to be giggling again, however.

Robin lifted an eyebrow, staring at her, and she attempted to speak through quiet laughter muffled through hands.

“You’re… You got… You’re a human bug-zapper!”, she finally gasped out, quietly losing the fight against herself to not laugh.

Robin nodded, slowly, as it dawned on him. “...huh. I guess I am. You will see, though. It will be amazing.”

May nodded, overly serious. “Of course! I’ll stand you up outside my sleeping bag while we camp!” She giggled again, losing herself slightly to it, burying her face in her hands.

After a couple moments she managed to get composure of her laughter and looked back up at him.

He was startled to see tears running through the dirt on her face. “Um, I, um…!” Robin floundered with his hands, unsure what to do.

May looked at him and shook her head, wiping her face on her sleeves. “Sorry, Kid Robin. You ever been doing something so shitty for so long, with no breaks for laughter, or humor, or just goofing off, that even the smallest jokes become hilarious? Like, damn.” She broke off, cursing mildly as she wiped her eyes again, having wiped dirt into them on her first swipe. “Like damn,” she continued. “It really lowers your bar for comedy.”

Robin nodded, unsure of how he should respond, or whether he should at all. He decided nodding was a safe bet.

“It’s like when heroin users come back from rehab, and they are all cleaned up and detoxified or whatever the right term is, but sometimes they relapse, and when they do, they’re much more likely to overdose because they’re trying to use a dose the old ‘them’ would have used, but this time it’s on their new de-drugged and re-habbed body. But, y’know, with a joke and not with hard drugs.”

She broke off, looking sharply at Robin while offering a surprisingly convincing smile.

“Shit, I’m sorry, Robin. I didn’t mean to just dump all that on you.”

He shook his head, holding his hand up and waving it in a way he hoped would not come across as dismissive. “I understand entirely. It is good to let that stuff out now, rather than when we are being chased by that thing… Yoshi forbid.” He gestured with his head at the dragon, which was almost entirely through with the loop.

Maybe one minute until it arrives back at the whale corpse. I hope it just eats it, or…

Robin considered the pile of bones May had described to him after their insane hurtle over the lip of the rift. Maybe it will just fly off with it. That would be ideal, preferred even. Just take it and go!

May nodded absently. “Yeah, don’t bottle it up, and all that jazz. This wasn’t the time, though.” She looked over at him and asked, “Are you done with your moties?”

“Motes. And not quite, one more combination. This one might be a bit weird, but I think it fits.

Robin dismissed the Shell of the Blue Entomage, shivering at the abrupt air contact to his skin. It was the first time in a while he had taken the skin-tight shell armor off, and every sensation felt new and foreign.

Robin took off the buckle of his belt, and then looked up at May, realizing she might be weirded out.

She was staring at the dragon again, and had not even noticed him being awkward. Robin took the opportunity to quickly unloop the belt the several times around him that it took tofully unwrap it, untwisting it and folding it neatly as he got it off his waist.

Okay, here goes. Enchant Object!

Robin focused on dumping all of his MANA into the belt in his hands, while willing the Ivory and Spell Motes to follow it into the long strap of wrinkled gray elephant leather.

Robin felt the MANA leaving his system, almost like exhaling, but from a deeper part of his body than the lungs, if such a thing exists. It flowed into the belt, crackling like electricity, making the leather jump and twist in his hands. It had caught the attention of May, who was looking with undisguised interest.

He was disappointed to find that his Motes did not transfer into the belt. Oh well, he thought, at least they were not wasted somehow in the attempt. Identify!

Belt of the Longtooth Grayskin (Un A) Slain by a hunter in fair combat, the spirit of the bull elephant from which it was made lives on in the Belt of the Longtooth Grayskin. While worn, the wearer gains a measure of the power and toughness of the elephant.. +5 STR, +3 PHYSDEF

Yes! This is way better than I was expecting!

Robin slipped the belt back through the loops of his jeans, winding it back through, and was surprised to find that it was no longer oversized, fitting perfectly around his waist, with the belt fitting through the third hole on the belt.

That is a point for magic, I guess.

Robin pulled up his Motes menu, and before he could change his mind, willed the “Spell” and “Ivory” Motes to fuse, adding to his armor. A notification appeared, and Robin read it immediately.

Scrimshaw Shell When activated, the Scrimshaw Shell transforms the outer carapace of the The Shell of the Blue Entomage into rune-carved ivory. While active, the Scrimshaw Shell absorbs MANA from sources struck by the wielder, transferring it from the struck target to the wearer of the Scrimshaw Shell. If the struck target has no MANA, the Scrimshaw Shell has no effect. The Scrimshaw Shell drains one MENSTAM per twelve seconds active, beginning at the first moment of use. (1 MENSTAM per 12 seconds)

I like this one. I have gotten better at maintaining my calm, so I do not think that the MENSTAM drain should be too big of an issue, and it will allow me to use MANA a bit more freely. No plan survives the enemy.

“Okay, I think I am done now.” Robin quickly described his new ability to May and she nodded, staring at the dragon. Right as Robin was finishing his sentence, May abruptly pointed at the dragon. Robin turned to follow her finger with his eyes, just in time to see the dragon land, its greyhound bus-sized legs straddling the shattered boulder.

It dwarfed the corpse of the Greymaw Fin Whale. When the dragon reached down to bite into the flesh of the massive seabeast, it had to pin the corpse down with a scaled paw to prevent the entire carcass from flopping into the air,the dragon pulling and ripping the tough, fatty corpse until it managed to separate a piece. It lofted the macabre prize and gobbled it down with skyward pecking motions, looking to Robin like a giant duck.

The dragon took three bites, each bite more meat than Robin had consumed in the entirety of his life, and then crouched, bringing its head low.

It leapt after a moment of tensing, the claws snatching the remaining corpse of the whale as it launched into the air, a slow gradual rise, the kind of flight that a person with no scientific background could look at and just know that it should not be possible.

Robin heard the noise from the building- sized leathery wings, a massive, deep boom, but he was not prepared for the force of the wingbeats, arriving a moment later, and they made him stumble backwards, clutching his ears and again wishing that his armor provided a helmet.

At least the dragon is leaving. Robin looked at May; she was trying to say something. He held up a hand for her to wait while his ears stopped ringing, and then waved for her to continue, mouthing “sorry” to her so he did not interrupt her.

“I said at least the dragon’s leaving!”

Robin could only nod, looking at the path the dragon had taken.

The beating of the wings had made brief, but destructive winds, the force of which had almost knocked Robin over. The trees were surprisingly resilient, but he assumed the the Ysari System enhanced them, as well.

Although it was already beginning to build up again, the winds had dispersed the mist from the canyon.

Looking down from the lip of the slope, Robing could clearly see the small stream running through the bottom and escaping to the sea.