Spell 19 : The Compression

I thought it was high time that I got to use my new Invoked spells.

'Cast Tempest Storm!'

A swirl of arcane energy marked by streaks of purple lightning formed up in the area right before me. Because this was an Unique Invoke, the spell's potential was augmented. I did not have to level its constituent spells much in order to make the Invoked spell stronger.

The size of the field was just about enough to get all of them together at once. Without wasting time, I summoned an Arcana Ward. Due to the effects of Tempest Storm, they were having a tough time reaching me. It was like trying to cross quicksand while getting stunned all the time. Still, they were not dying.

Well, I haven't use this one in a while...

'Cast Meteor!'

A gigantic boulder of flames and ash fell from the sky and smashed into a couple of them with a resounding crack. It did not stop there however; with the help of Telekinesis, I rolled the massive boulder around, leaving pain and devastation in its wake. It crumbled just as I wiped out 80% of the group. The rest I took care of with Frostfire Bolt and Sunflare. The battle had ended as soon as it had begun. Luckily, these mobsters were just Humanoid-class monsters, and were the most vulnerable of the monster classes.

Their leader was standing there with a dumbfounded expression on his face. He had not expected himself to be the one being confronted now instead. Recovering from his shock, he turned tail and made a run for it. I had just about enough mana to cast Lights of Heaven on him. Swords of pure light came down from the sky and impaled him from all angles, keeping him in place. It was all he could do to squeal in pain. I walked over calmly to him. The moment he saw me walking towards him, he squealed again, even louder this time.

How did this guy even become a pack leader anyway?

'Yo, where were you trying to run off to? I'm not done with you yet.'

'Mercy, o' Great Mage. I didn't mean to attack you. It was just in a moment's worth of foolishness, I swear!'

'Then, why the hell did you attack me with your friends?'

'You can't just walk into the slums without declaring yourself, o' Mighty O-one! If you had just made yourself known before you step foot i-i-in here, nobody would even dare to approach you!'

'So you're saying it's my fault?'

'Not at a-all!'

'Alright. Enough of this bullshit. Tell me, where can I find a rogue engineer around here? Or a mechanic of some sort. Someone who knows about steam magic around here.'

'I-I know just the person! His name is Twidllyfix. He's a Goblin who came from Stonewerks. He'll tell you everything you need to know, I swear!'

'Okay. Let's go then. And if I find that you're lying, don't think you're gonna end up just like your buddies there. I know spells that can send you to Hell and back.' I removed the swords from him and for a moment, he stood there until he regained movement in his limbs.

It was quite a journey, for the entire of the slums was made up of mazes and even more mazes of alleyways. For a few times, my guide would stand looking a little puzzled at intersections. Then, he would give a sigh of relief and choose the next direction to head towards. I had no idea whether he was right or wrong, but I kept my spells at the ready. Cinders was also on my shoulder, just in case.

Finally, we arrived at a shop of some sort. Its signboard was barely kept hanging by a single nail, and the windows were all fogged up. Clanking noises could be heard from the interior of the shop. It was typically a nondescript mechanic shop. The man stuck his head into the shop and yelled out Twiddlyfix's name. A moment later, a small green figure appeared in a dirty one-piece overall with goggles perched on top of his forehead. In his left hand, he clutched a spanner and on his other hand, he was holding onto something that resembled a mine. When he spoke, he sounded a lot like the cartoon character, Scooby Doo.

'What up, Bukko? What'chu calling me for?'

'Twiddlyfix, here's a man looking for you!' And he ran off without even looking back. I looked at him go, thinking whether I should make him come back. Cinders growled, but I patted him down. The goblin was looking at me with a lot of interest.

'So, what business do you have with me, mage? Look, I gotta warn ya, I don't do deals with no gold!'

'I have gold-' I replied, but he cut me off before I could even finish the sentence.

'Then come right in, dear customer! Twiddlyfix's isn't known for its inhospitality to its dearest guests!'

I stepped into the workshop and was instantly greeted by vapours of hot air from all the engines around. There were so many contraptions that you couldn't even count them even if you spent one whole day in here. Most of them were actually alive and moving around on their own. To be able to create such machines, this goblin must be quite highly-skilled in Engineering.

He cleared some space by his kitchen for us to sit, which was simply an area of white tiles, a fridge of some sort and an oven. To be honest, if you asked me, I wouldn't know what a normal goblin's diet was. It looked like he doesn't do much of his own cooking himself.

I sat down opposite him, in a bean chair he pulled out from somewhere. He was sipping some cola on his own bean chair and looked very relaxed. I waited for him to finish his drink before I initiated the conversation.

'Look, Mr Twiddlyfix, I am here because I need to know something. Can you teach me about steam magic?' I asked, looking into his black eyes. The goblin did not answer immediately; he kept his fingers together and sat quietly for a minute. Then, he spoke.

'I could teach you a little or two, but it is going to be a steep price.'

'I have gold, if that's what you wa-' Again, I was interrupted at the mention of gold.

'Keep your gold. The price I am asking for is way higher than gold. I want you to do a favour for an old goblin like me. Then we shall talk.'

Goblins were known to be very bad businessmen to deal with when it comes to talking terms. Usually, people who attempt to deal with goblins come out even poorer than before. The terms are never even when talking to goblins. They were fiendishly greedy and selfish creatures. Usually, the only way to make a goblin talk is by threats, but this one seemed a little too superior for that.

'What kind of favour?' I asked.

'Simple. I need you to steal something for me.'

'That sounds easy. What do I have to take?'

'I need a Frozen Core. All living machinery require Cores in order to move about and function. This Frozen Core I'm talking about is made by infusing shards of ice from the mountains of the Isle of Glaciers, home to the mammoths, with a metallic Core. It is so rare that there is only one known location of it in the world currently. Of course, it is heavily guarded and its theft would bring so much wrath upon the thief that he might not even make it out alive.'

I knew where this conversation was heading towards.

'So, you want me to steal from the Central Engines?'

The goblin smiled, showing a set of yellow and unpolished teeth.

'Now we're talking.'

*DING*

[p=center]Quest Received!

You are to proceed to the Central Engines, the government building of Steam Society to obtain a Frozen Core for Twiddlyfix. In exchange, he will teach you about Steam Magic.

Quest Difficulty : B

Failure : If you should fail the quest, your identity will be compromised and you will be banished from Steam Society. All trade agreements and negotiations between Steam Society and the Forest of No Return previously agreed upon would be nulled.

[/p]

Over the next few hours, we planned the details for the mission to be carried out. It was not an easy one, seeing as the Central Engines was not only impregnable, it was heavily guarded by snipers. Coupled with the fact that now the entire police force is mobilised to find the missing me, who vanished along a sweet-shop, this was near impossible. I wasn't even a rogue to start with.

Previously, I was trying to catch a thief. Now I'm being one? Fate does play funny tricks on people...

The Frozen Core would be found in a vault located in the highest point of the building, where any thief would be visible. By placing the Frozen Core in a high vantage point, Steam Society was playing a very risky game. On one hand, it made the loot extremely visible but on the other, it made all attempts to steal it very feeble as well. Nightfall soon came, and I made ready to begin the mission. Throughout the entire day, I had to deal with Twiddlyfix's customers, who had long heard of the new stranger present in the slums and were extremely curious to find out who it was that took care of Bukko and his crew. They were a whole bunch of oddities, from all sorts of various races I had never seen before.

Just as I was about to leave, Twiddlyfix gave me a little tip. Or rather, he refused to give me that tip until I gave him 5 gold pieces.

'Consider this as down payment for taking up the quest. Steam engineering, or as you call it steam magic, makes use of volatile magic. You will find that traces of magic will only be present where it is being called upon, and not around the entire machination itself. Look around at the gadgets around the city, and you'll know what I mean. I know you have the ability to detect magic; I saw you studying all my trinkets today. In places where I keep my secrets too, I add.'

'May fortune smile on you, mage.' He bowed me out of the shop. I slung my bag over my shoulder and walked back into the maze of alleyways. Fortunately, Twiddlyfix had devised a little gadget that, when punched in with coordinates, would point me in the right direction. I revised the entire plan in my head as I moved along in accordance to the gadget.

So, the plan was simple. I would make my way to one of the giant air vents that lead directly into the central engine rooms that sends out the steam energy to the entire city. Of course, I have only 15 minutes at most to make it into the engine rooms before the air vent that I would be in would be flooded with steam. Of which, no doubt I would be cooked alive. Anyway, once I have entered the central engine rooms, I would have to make my way up to the main office, find the key to the vault and steal it. Only then can I make my way up to the top, find some way to distract all the guards present, open the vault and steal the Frozen Core. Then I would jump off the tower using one of Twiddlyfix's ingenious rocket parachutes.

No matter how I look at it, I'm f***ed for this quest. There's no way in hell I can finish this. All this just for some government secret. I'm not even getting the better end of the deal. To start off, I had already lost 5 gold pieces. Failing this quest would also land me in dire straits.

But if I can complete this quest, not only can I learn steam magic, I might potentially earn myself a spot in the Council for real. To be part of the ruling party over a major Elf settlement was a very big deal in this game. Basically, I would make decisions that would affect populations close to millions, at the rate this game was growing.

And so, under the cover of darkness and Mistcloak, I emerged out of the slum entrance. Faced with overwhelming odds, I had no choice but to grit my teeth and move on.

________________________________________________________________

'Bambsie! How many more monsters do we need to kill before we clear out this place?'

'Not many left I think! A lot of them were blown to smithereens when they stepped over my trip flares!'

'Are you sure they were monsters and not players? Remember the other time...?'

'Oh shut it, that was an accident! I've upgraded my bombs now; they only recognise monsters!'

So while I was off on an errand in Steam Society, my friends were also busy hunting down crafting materials for their individual professions that they had each taken up on. Their party of 5 was so evenly matched that they were already setting record timings in clearing out dungeons and monster nests.

'Dragon Dance 2nd Movement, Flaming Rage of the Heavenly Serpent!'

With her claymore sword enshrouded in menacing flames, Vanyssa danced about gracefully, taking care of large groups of monsters in a few swings of her over-sized sword. They were facing the Forsaken Ones, cousins of the Forgotten Ones I had met back in the Grand Enchantium a while ago. Though more powerful, these pitiful monsters were no match for these powerful adventurers who had stepped foot into their enclave.

Dennis was also brandishing his own weapon, which was a foil. He was a Fencer by class, and though no more graceful than Vanyssa, he managed to slice and kill off many monsters on his own as well. Coupled with Cluck's maniac fighting style, they were proving quite the fight against these creatures. Saber was doing some healing and empowering his allies at the same time. Floor after floor, the Swarm of Nightmares was slowly being cleaned out by these crazy fighters.

After the battle, they sat around a pot of stewed chicken, courtesy to Bambsie, who picked up Cooking on his own as well. They tucked in once they had finished dividing out the spoils of the dungeon.

'So... Where's Crow these days? Haven't really seen him at all.' Vanyssa quietly dranked her soup. She had fine manners as a lady and ate her stew in a most feminine way. Dennis too was eating like a fine young gentleman, quite unlike the other 3 savages who were basically devouring everything in their bowls like vacuum cleaners.

'Crow? Mmm, last I heard he had to go back to his starting town to settle some old quests. I don't think he's coming back very soon either.' Saber was the first to finish and he stood up to keep his bowl back into Bambsie's Cooking bag.

'I think he must have hit up some rare quests or something and doesn't want to share it with us, that selfish piece of shit. Anyway, thank God you and Dennis are around. Without Crow, we can't really do much damage to the monsters here by ourselves.' Cluck said, in between mouthfuls of his food. Dennis had just finished his own portion and had went up to join Bambsie, who was fiddling with some bottles, leaving Cluck and Vanyssa alone by the fire.

'So... When did you and Dennis..' Cluck asked slyly, nudging Vanyssa in the ribs. She replied by almost gagging on her soup and when she could not hold it in her mouth any longer, she spat everything out, losing her ladylike demeanour instantly.

'WHAT?! Dennis and I?! Are you crazy?!' She looked at Cluck with a bewildered expression. Then she started laughing, and could not quite control her mirth for a while.

'Oh no, you must have gotten it wrong, Cluck. He and I, we aren't an item. We can never be, given his... Well...' She hesitated. Cluck could sense he had stumbled onto some big secret and his stalker senses were on full alert.

'Well what, Vanyssa?'

'I don't think I'm at liberty to say here, Cluck. I did him promise not to tell...'

'He's gay, isn't it?'

Her eyes widened in shock, and that was the answer Cluck needed. In the back of his mind, he was grinning like the Green Goblin.

Oh, Julius, you're so gonna soak your pants when you hear this juicy news!

________________________________________________________________

Demonic energy swirled around his twin pistols as he stood before a recently-crushed pedestal. His eyes were also burning with the same emerald demonic colours and his hair was flying up like a banshee. A figure of formidable power, the Hel energy died down as he lowered his weapons.

A burly figure clutching onto a polearm walked up to him, with the same emerald glows burning out from the shadows created in his hood that hid his face. He knelt down on one knee.

'Boss, Selemez has just finished her Dream Pact. The entire crew has sealed the Pact and are awaiting your next set of instructions.'

The Gunslinger made a clicking sound with his tongue and almost instantly, 7 more shadowy figures appeared by his side, all of them had the same Helfire glow around their weapons and eyes.

'Shadow Bullets!'

'Haste!'

'Dark Marksmanship!'

After buffing his entire crew, the gunslinger dashed forward into the next room. The 7 shadowy figures, along with the burly figure, rushed together in the same direction as their leader.

Words cannot describe the carnage that followed afterwards. The Gunslinger unleashed rain upon rain of demonic shrapnel onto the undead zombies that tried to get near him. They were bombarded by Helfire and within seconds into the fight, only their dying sounds could be heard as they burnt down into crisps. Some of the zombies tried to run but they were either cut down or burnt as well by the gunslinger's crew.

'Clear!' He shouted, before moving off into the next room. This time, the zombies were all scattered along the wall perimeter. He took a step forward, and leapt into the air near the center of the room.

'Spinning Ricochet!'

With his head towards the floor while his legs faced the ceiling, he spun around in a 360 degrees turn while releasing sprays of demonic fire. These projectiles ricocheted off the walls towards anything and everything that they can burn. Since there were only zombies around, the demonic fire consumed nothing but the zombies.

Room after room, they cleared all the monsters with a relish akin to demons themselves and letting nothing survive. Pretty soon, they came into a room where only a necromancer was around. Before he could even turn round to face his adversaries, a bullet went through his knee and he fell onto the floor, his staff rolling several feet away from him. The necromancer tried to stand up, but another bullet flew through his ankle and he was on the floor again. He turned to look at the Gunslinger and was about to open his mouth when yet another bullet flew through his cheek and went out from the other. He screamed in agony and fell backwards onto the floor. His hands went up to his cheek as purple blood flowed like a river from the hole in his cheeks. He had no time to worry about that, as 9 figures loomed up around him.

In a voice as soft as death, the necromancer asked, 'w-who are you?'

The Gunslinger smiled.

'Me? Well, since you're gonna die, I don't suppose it matters. My name is Tidus, of the Helfire Clan.'

And that was the last the necromancer ever saw or heard again.