Chương 22: Gaining Power

Elias was watching in horror as the affirmation imps dug into Merlyn like a Sunday roast. He felt helpless. His staff was nothing against the imps, and he had no offensive spells. But he had to save his friend. In a sudden flash of clarity, he remembered his crafting. His alchemy. He'd made a few products just in case of this very type of situation. Frantically, he searched his inventory. Finding one of the flashboom flasks he had concocted last night in the old ruined alchemy guild, he readied it.

He simply cocked his arm back and threw it in the general direction of the imps, unsure what to expect. He wondered if friendly fire, collateral damage was a thing here, but he had little choice. And no time to hesitate. The flask broke apart against the roots of one of the giant trees. Suddenly, the air was filled by a brilliant light that was accompanied by a deafening bang.

Immediately, the imps ceased their attack and began wandering blindly, completely dazed, grasping at their yellow eyes or holding their clawed hands over their stone ears. Their affirmations ceased for a moment, as if all positive thoughts had been interrupted. Elias found that he was not affected by the blast at all, while Merlyn was able to hop up as if he hadn't just been a hair's breadth away from dismemberment, recovering quickly with the help of the regeneration spell.

"One at a time boy, and be quick about it," Elias commanded. Merlyn growled. And together, they went into a frenzy of imp slaughter. Now that the creatures were stunned and unable to cooperate with one another, they became total pushovers, able only to mount the most token of resistances as Merlyn tore them to shreds, one by one. Elias helped as he could with his staff, but the white wolf seemed to have it under control, along with a thirst for vengeance. # You have gained experience! You have gained experience!

DING! Congratulations, you have gained a level and gained a skill point. Choose wisely. # Elias watched as Merlyn bit one of the imp's heads clean off at the neck joint. # You have gained experience! # Another, the wolf tossed up into the air before catching it and shaking the imp into an oblivion of earthy fragments. # You have gained experience! You have completed a quest from the quest board - Subdue five affirmation imps - You have gained a free skill point! Your reputation in Cinderleaf has increased!

Two skill points, Elias thought as he collapsed onto the tree roots. He was holding Merlyn in his arms, the both of them covered in the earthy gore of the imps.

"Good boy, Merlyn," he said.

"Imps bad. Boom jar save Merlyn."

"Sorry about dropping my guard like that," Elias said, hugging the neck of his canine friend.

"That was a bit too close for comfort. But we managed, didn't we? We're still here. And I've got two skill points. I'm growing more powerful. Maybe next time it won't be so close." Just as he said it, Elias watched as the two phantom skill trees broke out of the ground in front of him and began to soar upwards dramatically. But Elias wasn't interested in doing too much browsing right now. On the one hand, he was still recovering from his near brush with a second death.

In addition, he had already been forming an exact plan of what he would pick ever since Goggs gave him a vague explanation of the blightmaw. Two skills in particular formed the backbone of his plan, so it was auspicious that the fight with the imps had netted him two skill points. One from the druidic tree, and another from the alchemical one. Elias read them over carefully, despite still recovering from battle. He wanted to make sure he understood them thoroughly, and that there would be no surprises.

First, was the snare skill. # Snare - Summon forth a cluster of spiritual grasping brambles to massively slow any enemy, giving you a head start in a pursuit or helping you catch up with a fleet quarry. # This sounded perfect for Elias' plan. Almost too good to be true, really. At least, if it worked. A spell that slowed an enemy could have all sorts of applications, if one were thoughtful enough about its use. He went ahead and picked it, adding the new snare spell to his repertoire.

The alchemical tree also had a fairly obvious choice, which Elias reread a few times. # Explosives II - Allows you to mix and match your basic grenades, bombs, and other incediary concoctions using your alchemical ingredients. Unlocks several new more powerful recipes. # He went ahead and selected that skill as well, opening up a whole new slew of recipe options. # If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. You have gained the following recipes.

Tree sap + granite dust = binding agent X x Basic Bombs + binding agent = Cluster Bomb. 3 x Flashbooms + binding agent = Stun lock bomb 3 x Fleetcap Mushroom + Binding agent + oil = Long distance stun bomb 3 x Puffsphere shroom + Charge Lichen + flask = Smoke Shroud 3 x Electric Jasmine + Disco Spores + flask = Invisibility Serum Experiment at an Alchemy bench to discover more! # He was quite pleased with that.

The feeling of progressing and growing more powerful was fairly addictive, if he were to be honest with himself. But he set aside these feelings for the moment, as there was much to do. After a few more belly rubs given to Merlyn, he stood up and stretched his limbs in preparation for whatever would come next. The blightmaw continued to roar in the distance, though somehow it seemed a slight bit less intimidating than it had before.

Elias made sure to gather oil from all of the imp corpses before moving on with his day. Some of them had been so damaged by the wolf that there was hardly anything left. But even so, Elias managed to collect five vials of the stuff. Very handy for his next serious crafting binge. Which, if things went according to plan, would happen very shortly. Considering all of the growth and changes, Elias decided it was a very good time to look at his character information once again.

Elias Thorne Level 5 Alchemist Level 3 Druid HP: 90/90 Mana: 80/80 Equipment: Worn Satchel, Engraved Mortar and Pestle, Basic Staff. Inventory: 3x Basic bombs. 5 x Imp oil. Druid Class Skills: Regeneration I. Spirit Animal I. Snare I. Alchemist Class Skills: Foraging I. Plant Identification I. Potion Brewing I. Explosives I. Explosives II Reputation: Whelp Hidden Perks revealed: Animal speaking - Allows you to communicate with beasts.

Oil processing - Allows you to derive different oils from the corpses of dead enemies. # He decided one of the things he was coming to appreciate about this afterlife of his was the clarity. Even if this world was bewildering and mystic, it seemed there was a very clear set of rules that was emerging, and that underpinned nearly everything here. It was a clear design, a set of mechanics that one might hope to master in a way that was almost impossible back in the chaotic world he'd come from.

Just then, he heard a loud whistle from the bushes and Merlyn gave a startled bark.

"Look at you … you are starting to really grow up."

"God, you have to quit popping out of the bushes at me like that. I'm begging you."

"In fact, I'd say you have just entered the late toddler stage of your development here. You are a walking, talking, tooth growing, almost potty-trained but not quite, little baby boy."

"It is nice to see you, too," Elias replied, rather sullenly. It wasn't actually all that nice to see the giant mushroom, which had just stepped out of the dense undergrowth and stood with its arms crossed regarding him.

"You know, maybe I'm wrong about that. Maybe you are already a surly teenager. At least, your attitude totally matches one. You are supposed to be actually excited to see me. Not just politely fake it."

"What do you want?" Elias said.

"I'm kind of busy … you know, trying to survive this hostile world you've brought me to. Rough beasts are slouching towards us as we speak, so make it snappy." The mushroom nodded, a strange mingling of approval and curiosity crossing over its fungal features. It took a few steps and sat down on the tree roots so that it could give Merlyn a few scratches.

"I like your friend here. So fluffy," he said.

"I notice you didn't freeze time during this visit."

"Figured what's the point," the mushroom shrugged. The wolf seemed not to have the slightest misgivings about this giant shroom that had just appeared. His tail had been wagging like crazy, and he immediately rolled over and exposed his vulnerable underside to the mushroom, who gave it a vigorous scratch. Elias waited a polite amount of time, but he was feeling a little peeved with these constant interruptions. Especially because they tended to be so vague and unhelpful.

He pretended to look at an invisible wristwatch on his arm.

"Look, I know you've been busy," the mushroom said.

"And I tell you what, some of The W atchers are impressed."

"The Watchers? These are the people you mentioned earlier? The ones who wanted something from me but you couldn't say what?"

"You don't need to put it like that."

"How am I putting it? It is just the truth as I remember it."

"You say it like it is all some big conspiracy I've roped you into. Like I've got you locked in some sort of existential basement and am putting out cigarettes on you or something. You need to realize that the present is a gift." At the familiar phrase, Elias couldn't help but relax a bit. Maybe the mushroom was right, even if it was a little scary having his mind read like that.

"So … who are The Watchers, and what do they want from me?" But the shroom waved a dismissive hand at the question.

"They are the ones who you've impressed. Enough said, for the moment. This is good news. The Watchers do want something from you, and I have to say, so far you have kind of been killing it. I'm glad your girlfriend is gone though. She was a bit distracting. Everyone agreed about that." Elias grumbled a bit.

"That is rich, coming from you."

"You humans are so quick to anger. You should really work on that. Haven't you heard your planet's ancient Chinese proverb? Confucius say: he who slings mud loses a lot of ground."

"Thank you for today's fortune cookie," Elias said. He decided to sit next to the mushroom on one of the roots, joining him in a belly rub for Merlyn.

"That's the spirit," said the mushroom.

"I'm glad to be noticed," Elias said.

"Say … I don't suppose you have heard anything about my father during your jaunts back to Earth to kidnap brave souls, have you? He wasn't doing so well, as I recall."

"Hmm … let's see," the mushroom said. His fungal brow furrowed and he seemed to be deep in thought. Or at least, he was pretending to be.

"Your father … your father …" he mumbled to himself.

"You know, I think the less said about that right now, the better.' Elias' nostrils flared. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but something about the way the mushroom talked made it hard to calm down and think logically.

"Well, thanks for nothing, I guess," he said bitterly. The mushroom popped back up and performed a somewhat dramatic stretch.

"Time to rush back off to abduct more heroes, I guess?" Elias asked.

"Hey, before you go, I do have a couple more questions. Like, what is an Archdruid?"

"Ahh … so you've gotten that quest already. I guess they are even more impressed with you than I realized."

"Just now, yeah."

"That's surprising. It usually takes a lot longer for them to drop that one in."" For them to drop that one in … I guess this leads me to the bigger question here. When he was talking about the blightmaw, Goggs mentioned that he thought it was some kind of a mechanism meant to act as a damper on this little … civilization or whatever you want to call it that we have going here. Care to comment on that? Is this like a, you know, tower of Babel situation or?"

"Ha! No, I wouldn't care to comment. An artist doesn't comment on the meaning of his work. And God won't explain the Grand Canyon either. It just is what it is."

"Ahh! You are so useless."

"And you have to learn to calm yourself and be patient. Stop trying to understand and control everything all the time. Embrace uncertainty. Swallow the beautiful ambiguity of this plane. Eschew your scientific skepticism! And also … you know … don't give up on that meditation practice."

"Is that what you dropped by to say?"

"Does a sunset explain its presence? Does a waterfall explain why it falls? Does the sapling explain why it—""Never mind. I don't need a soliloquy about it, Jeez."

"You have work to do, Elias Thorne. But remember what they say: there ain't no hill for a stepper. Ta for now!" And without another word, the frustrating truffle vaporized once again, leaving only a wispy trail of mist in its wake.

"He is really starting to get to me," Elias said to Merlyn. But the wolf would only wag its tail.

"Merlyn like shroom. Shroom smell nice." Perhaps he would go back to meditating, at least for the moment. Elias had quite a lot to think on.