[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 153 - Deeds

“That sounds complex,” Heath said, leaning forward with rapt attention while Thomas and Charlie went over the finer points of mana conversion. “Does that mean you can just brute force your way with enough Deeds?”

“Not quite,” Elian said. “You must meet certain criteria, but eventually nearly everybody does. Either that or they die.”

“Bleak.”

“It’s the way of the world,” Mel explained. “Okay, so getting to Iron will be easy, but getting to Bronze will be a pain in the ass.”

“That…is an understatement,” Elian said. “Only about a third of all Irons ever reach the Alloy Stage. Less than a tenth of all Steels ever reach the Noble Stage. There’s a reason it’s called the ‘Limit of Steel’.”

“And this applies to Authority levels too?” Mel asked.

“In much the same way, you’ll find another Deed Wall between Pathfinder and Aspirant. For now, you’re at the lowest of the second order. The next Authority level is Wayfarer then Pathfinder after it. The names are hints as to what the Shardrune expects of you at that Authority level.”

“Exile and Commoner for the first rung,” Mel mused. “I gather the System doesn’t expect much of them.”

“Sound reasoning,” Elian said.

“Then there’s Vagrant, Wayfarer, and Pathfinder. Those sound like explorers. People who forge paths ahead for others to follow.”

“Or,” Heath added, “people who go their own way without following other well-traveled paths.”

Elian inclined his head at them both. “Both are good points.”

“So the first Deed Wall isn’t actually about what it takes to be a Commoner, but determining if you’ve got the stuff to be a Vagrant?” Mel mused aloud.

“There are many schools of thought that agree with that,” Elian said.

“Then knowing the next stage or tier of Authority levels is imperative if their names are clues. What are they?”

Elian counted them on his fingers. “Aspirant and Herald are the next two. Then there’s another Deed Wall followed by Noble and Royal, another Deed Wall, then Imperial and Sovereign. Those are all the Authority levels I know of.”

Mel nodded. “So I’m on rung three out of eleven. Not too bad for my first go around.”

“Many of your fellow First Champions are still Commoners,” Elian reminded her. “Many are Exiles. Authority levels are more than just power. They are a reflection of your greater capacity to wield the powers of the Shardrune. The Convocation trials you embark upon will be more difficult with an equal increase in your rewards.”

“So they’re a way to advance faster,” Mel reasoned.

“Yes…and no.”

“Don’t be a dick.”

Elian rolled his eyes. “They provide an…opportunity for greater growth. They do not guarantee it. They are also more dangerous. Monsters you faced as an Exile will be very different from those you face as a Vagrant. They will be smarter, stronger, and use more advanced powers.”

“But they’ll give more runes of experience,” Mel said.

“Yes, but–”

Mel put her fingers in her ears. “Na-na-na. That’s all I needed to hear. More Authority, more difficulty. More difficulty, more loot. Nothing else matters.”

“It’ll matter when the monsters are too difficult to fight,” Elian said soberly. “You need to prepare appropriately. Whatever…secrets you have between yourselves, I hope it’s enough to give you the edge you’ll need. Even if you were to reach Iron before the trial, the odds are greatly stacked against you. Do you know of the Golden Goose in the lower district?”

Mel shook her head.

“They take wagers on the trials,” Elian explained. “They are very good at their job, Mel. Aside from individual betting, they take bets on the overall lethality of a trial.”

“Kinda morbid,” Mel said.

Elian chuckled. “People will try to make money out of anything. This next trial, with so many people entering at High Copper to Iron, they’re estimating a seventy-eight percent lethality rating.”

Charlie looked over. “We’ll see about that. Though, I don’t like that the system has hidden where the trial will take place.”

“That’s part of the reason for the increase,” Elian said. “Without knowing where you’ll be going, you can’t prepare. It could be on Skyshards in the sea of clouds. It could be at the bottom of the dark crushing depths of the ocean, or even in a living Dungeon.”

Gwen glanced between Mel and Elian. “It probably won’t be on an infernal plane or anything, right? Something saturated with hostile ambient mana.”

There were certain dimensions like that, even on Worldshards, where the very air burned with overwhelming fire mana, or demonic energies threatened to consume the mind of wayward travelers.

Mel never made it a habit of visiting such hellish places. They were endgame material. Like those horrifying moons on Aldim.

“That seems unlikely for a Vagrant trial,” Elian agreed, “especially G-League. I would expect a trial in a different realm altogether to be F- or D-League at least.”

“Do you just climb those like normal?” Heath asked.

Elian nodded.

Heath rubbed his temples. “Man, there’s so many different ways of tracking advancement. How do you keep it all straight?”

Mel shrugged. “Not that hard. You get used to it over time. Having people to rely on and work with helps. Plus, it beats trying to figure out if you’ll ever get a promotion at work. You could do stellar work for a decade and never see a promotion, but with a Shard’s magic, you’ll always get out what you put in.”

“I’m glad I’m not doing this alone,” Gwen admitted. “I love to fight, but moving up through this multiverse would be rough on my own.”

That seemed to hit home for Heath. Unlike Mel, he didn’t encounter any friends or family from Earth during the trial. That was as good as being abandoned. As far as Mel knew, they could all be dead.

No one went looking for him like Gwen and Charlie did for Mel.

Heath nodded solemnly. “Being all on your own sucks. That’s why I’m so lucky to have you guys.”

Gwen squeezed Heath’s shoulders in a hug.

He rubbed his misted eyes. Surprisingly, he didn’t break down. Instead, he turned to Elian with eagerness written all over his baby smooth face. “What about reaching Bronze, though? Any tips?”

Elian looked between them all, then down at his hands. “Well, most Irons don’t understand how to nourish their spirit with diverse sources of runes.” His eyes got a far-off look. Maybe he actually had some dreams about reaching beyond his station one day.

“Hey, back to Earth, Elian,” Mel said, snapping her fingers in his face. “Or rather, the multiverse.”

“Right, sorry. As I was saying, it goes beyond runic elixirs and training branches.” He motioned to Gwen and Mel. “You have some components of that, as I understand. And maybe with her too.” He motioned at Charlie.

“What do you mean by that?” Charlie asked, staring at him with sudden intensity.

Despite the fact that Charlie was considerably lower rank than him, Elian looked away uncomfortably. In fact, all the Magi were weaker than him, even though the way he was easily cowed suggested the opposite. “You have Life aspect, right? And an interest in Hexcraft.”

Her blue eyes narrowed dangerously. “I’m not sure I appreciate your attention.”

“C-certain aspects are very, very useful for fueling advancements,” Elian hastily explained. “Even in others. And Hexcraft is one of the professions that can draw in and bind diverse runes. At least, in theory. There are not many practitioners. It’s a…uh, dangerous profession.”

“And yet, the price for the permit was ridiculous,” Charlie said sourly.

“How bad?” Thomas asked slowly.

“Nearly two thousand [Iron Rune Coins].”

“That’s about the cost of a [Novice Alchemy Permit],” Heath said. He looked away when they all turned to him. “What? I was curious how much Mel’s permit was.”

Mel put her face into her hands and groaned.

It wasn’t like she would have intentionally given up her permit for coin, but 2,000 irons was a lot. With that kind of scratch, she could fully outfit herself in Iron gear easily.

Hell, she could probably do a lot more than that.

However, she’d have to rely on her class and her fighting to make money. Just the same as the countless other competitors. Having alchemy set her apart. With the permit being so high, however, it meant she had a ton of competition.

“At least that’s not as surprising,” Charlie remarked. “Alchemy is essential, and I’m eager to see what Mel can create.”

“It is a core discipline,” Elian echoed. “Some parties are able to forego healers entirely, so long as they have a steady stock of potions or an Alchemist on hand.”

Mel lifted her head. “Yeah, well…consumables are always something people will need. You can make a kickass shield, but the whole point of making an awesome shield is that it can keep being a shield. Your repeat customers tend to demand higher and better quality goods to match their growing strength.”

“It’s difficult and mana intensive to heal away afflictions, diseases, and ailments too,” Charlie said. “I hope antidotes are possible to mix.”

“I’m not skilled enough with my alchemy knowledge,” Mel said, “but I’m pretty sure there’s an antidote for each of those maladies. There’s probably even one for all sorts of maladies.” She winked at Charlie. “But I wouldn’t want to dull your shine with my awesome potions.”

***

Running away from a cloud of [Giant Jungle Venom Wasps] that were harassing beachgoers on the outer edges of the Seabrim Crater, Sylvie screamed at the top of her lungs.

Komachi screamed too. Even Miranda screamed.

“Komachi, get back here!” Sylvie cried. “I need you to use [Rollout]!”

“No!” the pobul shouted, refusing to obey while running at top speed. A stinger was stuck in her left haunch, making her even more stubborn than usual.

“This contract isn’t worth it!” Hal shouted, unsheathing his longblade into another buzzing group of flying monsters. They ducked and weaved like a hivemind, never straying far enough to be counted as individual monsters.

Determined to get his aspect skill up as high as possible before the coming trial, Hal unleashed [Vertebral Whip] into the wasps. His aspect skill extended into multiple links, resembling a bladed spine.

A few of the bugs burst into juicy pieces of meat and carapace shards.

Contract: Sting Me Not

Several hives of giant wasps have taken root near the southern beaches. Eradicate every last hive to keep the beaches safe.

Objective: Destroy the young hives of [Giant Jungle Venom Wasps] (0/3).

Reward: Mercenary Order foundation contract fulfillment (1/3).

“Where’s the damn nest?” Miranda demanded, raising her [Darkmana Greatsword] to batter away a cloud of diving wasps. The weapon flashed with dark, inky mana when the monsters collided with the metal, and were then sent spinning away.

Sose, the dark furred oppa, leapt from his mistresses’ armor. He darted across the sands, dooking loudly like a ferret hunting prey.

Familiar Skill: [Swift As Dust]

Hal gave chase, following the quickened oppa to a nest that had dropped near a fire pit. The flames licking the side of the pyramidal hive did little damage to the outside.

Before he could bring his longblade to bear, Miranda smashed the hateful thing to pieces with her [Darkmana Greatsword]. With every pummeling strike, wisps of dark mana smoldered in the air.

Empowered by her familiar, Miranda had been able to outpace even Hal. Though not the many welts that covered her exposed skin.

Sylvie screamed again. Though this time she was beating down another hive. Komachi turned into a blurring rolling pin of destruction, aiming to crush another.

Familiar Skill: [Rollout]

Hal moved on, following the signs of chaos and destruction that the giant wasps sowed through the beachgoers. The next hive was being tossed around by the waves, tangled in some of the mangroves that the city wisely decided to leave intact.

True to his purpose, Hal attacked it viciously at range. It was fortunate the cooldown for [Vertebral Whip] was low, even if the mana cost wasn’t.

“You’re not stinging my ass anymore,” he growled, finally shattering the last hive to chunks.

A shadow fell over him. Hal looked up as two very angry clouds of [Giant Jungle Venom Wasps] descended upon him.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered.