Chương 56: 55-Fat Loot

Bob cautiously boarded the glider along with Lawman and Jenna.

"Look, I can go into manta form, it's no trouble for me at all," he began…

"Time is of the essence, Bob," Jenna cut him short. He tied his seat belt as Lawman pushed the gas pedal to the bottom. The glider shot out like an arrow. Bob yelped as he felt inertia press him into the back of his seat. Height did not bother him; he loved flying as a Manta. It was the speed that made him dizzy. When Billy was in Core form, some of the original shape's characteristics manifested in him. When he returned as an Alchemical Master, he was even more soft-spoken and courteous than usual.

Lawman was not one for soft takeoffs. Fortunately, he had already anticipated this and was under the effects of a rank 1 perk that countered motion sickness. Even then, he kept his eyes shut throughout the trip. After a surprisingly short trip, Lawman addressed him." BOB, ABOUT THAT MANTA FORM…"

"Billy!" Jenna chided him.

"Sorry, forgot about that," Billy's human voice continued over the Blood Link.

"As I was saying, transforming into manta form…"

"Yes?" Bob asked cautiously.

"Doing it now could be a good idea," Billy said as he dissolved the glider in mid-air. Bob found himself propelled through the air at high speed, as the ground rushed towards him. A few hundred feet ahead of him, Lawman was gliding towards the ground, using his cloak as a delta wing as he held Jenna in his arms. Bob had time to curse Lawman and his dynamic way of doing things as he hurriedly activated a fleshshaping perk. Instant Manta (Fleshshaping 4): Transform into a form similar to Oltra, the Committed.

You may perform only actions that Oltra's anatomy would allow. The transformation is perfect and will fool all physical senses. The user can't use any other Fleshshaping perk for the next minute.

"Bob, you should really not let this one pass," Charlie told him as he guided him safely to the ground.

"It's not Billy's fault, Charlie," Bob squeaked in his/her Mrs. Daisy form, holding her handbag close to her.

"Lawman's personality is very powerful, and it impacts the way he reacts."

"I have killed people for less," Charlie grumbled.

"Once I killed sixty-three Colombian sicarios for ruining my daughter's karaoke birthday party." Bob refrained from answering that. Charlie was a fictional identity, and he remembered the scripts of his movies as real events. As Bob glided towards the ground, he got a good look at their target through Oltra's multiple eyes. It looked like some kind of skateboarding theme park in the middle of the forest. An inverted dungeon, then.

"If I am to absorb the essence of the dungeons we destroy, I may end up needing a hefty amount of Achievement points. I have never done this before, so we are going to have to learn through experimentation," Billy telepathically said.

"Also, I thought this would be a good occasion to start trying the Loot power, as doing so will require no extra time," he added, pointing at Jenna's leaf talisman.

"Oh, yes, yes, Billy, let's do that too," Jenna cheered, her mood suddenly improving. This was the closest thing she had to going shopping now. The skateboarding dungeon was based on some kind of bloodsport, à la Rollerball. As soon as they set foot on the park's surface, a squad of skating jocks armed with bladed weapons reminiscent of hockey sticks rolled towards them in formation.

"We know mutated beasts grant only goods that could be manufactured with their bodies," Billy mused.

"Let's see what a Mob can give," he said as Lawman injected a Loot charge into the nearest Jock body through the expedient procedure of taking his head off with a flying kick. The rest of the squad was traveling too fast. They could only keep going towards Bob and Jenna, plunging headlong into the Celestial Gate Bob had conjured a second before they reached them. Bob heard the sound their bodies made as they hit the pavement from 200 feet above.

Lawman examined clinically the jock he had killed, who had vanished into a green mist. The mist coalesced into some sort of bladed weapon, not too different from the one the Mob had wielded. Lawman threw it to him. Bob caught it in the air and examined it with his magical powers. Eye of the Appraiser (Truthfinding 4): Concentrate for a minute on an object you can see. Any hidden or magical properties will be revealed.

If the item is protected from magical scrying, your Spirit is doubled for purposes of determining if you can penetrate the protection.

"It has no discernible magical properties," Bob concluded.

"It is of good quality, though. Seems Mobs do not grant good gear. You have confirmed your theory—the rewards are much more flexible than those from harvesting non-Essentials."

"Oh, look, here comes a Boss," Jenna said, pointing at a huge skating warrior with blades jutting from his ankles, careening towards them. She sounded as happy as a kid who had just seen Father Christmas. As he approached, the Boss danced on his skates, performing a routine halfway between a karate kata and a figure skating routine. He attacked with the metallic blades attached to his ankles, and he seemed good at it.

Bob threw a palooga ball between his legs as he approached; it changed course after passing him, taking on an upward trajectory. Sclarella's Sacrifice (Metalcraft 3): Throw a Palooga ball that emits a powerful magnetic field, which drags all metallic objects near it. Requires Wind Kisses the Ball (Palooga 3) The Boss yelped as his metallic blades were propelled skyward, yanking his legs up and sending him into Lawman's waiting arms, who snapped his neck with one precise, flawless move.

The Boss dissolved into mist as Billy spent another charge. When the mist vanished, a pair of metal skates was lying on the ground. Bob examined them. Grislyball Skates: These skates allow you to play Grislyball anywhere, as they treat any ground as if it were a skating park. They will bind themselves to the first person who uses them.

"This one is magical, but not extremely useful," said Bob.

"They can have only one owner."

"I suspected as much," answered Billy.

"I was careful not to touch the leaf talisman when I placed it on Jenna."

"You keep them, Jenna. I already have a perk that does the same thing," Bob said, throwing them at her. She looked at them as if she had just received a Mr. Potato Head as a present for her eighteenth birthday.

"Come on, let's keep shopping!" said a not-so-enthusiastic Jenna. One hour later, Billy was down 340 AP, and they had a variety of beautiful but unmagical helmets, skates, weapons, and even a Grislyball-themed nightstand lamp, conjured from the corpses of Mobs. One of the remaining bosses had dropped a metallic ball that, when thrown at an enemy, exploded and conjured one of the Grislyball Jocks, who would fight the target for one minute. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road.

Report any occurrences. The other had turned into a potion that gave +2 to Speed (Body) for ten minutes, only while skating.

"Ok, so far the Mobs give shitty gear, and the Bosses give minor items, with limited uses. So far not great," said a disappointed Jenna, fidgeting with her leaf talisman.

"Jenna, I know that talisman is both useful and powerful, but it came from a Tribulation. Not everything is going to have that same quality—this is only a rank three dungeon," Bob reminded her.

"Maybe the Core will grant better loot." That cheered her up. The Core turned out to be a huge squad of skaters who moved together in a single line, leaving no space between them.

"It is actually some kind of centipede-like creature," Billy said after examining it.

"Each of the skaters is a segment."

"Whatever, let's make some use of these shitty items," said Jenna as she donned her skates, chugged down the potion, and threw the Grislyball against the Core. It broke against the monster, releasing the Jock, who was quickly surrounded by the creature's segments and devoured. Jenna skated by as a blur, a sword in her hand, and so fast she could hardly be seen. She beheaded each of the forty-nine segments in three seconds.

"I hate to admit it, but that was fun," she said. The core transformed into one of the jockey-themed bladed weapons the Grislyballers used. Bob appraised it. Grislyball Stick: Adds +1 to Body, only for blows given while skating. Will be bound to the first user.

"This one is actually a permanent magical item. It does not give great stats, but I am sure Jenna could find some use for it. An extra stat point works wonders for you," he said as he passed it to her, careful not to touch it directly with his flesh.

"Thank you," Jenna said as she accepted it.

"You are right, Bob, it is not great, but I could use it to deliver a spectacular blow in the right circumstances. That means wearing the skates too. Oh, God, I am going to look pretty stupid if I do that."

"We should sit down and do some group thinking," Bob proposed.

"How are things looking, Billy?"

"Not good, Bob. I have almost 2000 AP. Absorbing all the Essence from this dungeon has put me almost to my limit. This means I will need at least 15000 AP to absorb the Essence from the remaining ones. We have spent 340 points in loot charges."

"Ok, so no more looting mobs—they are not worth it. Only Bosses and Cores now," said Jenna.

"We should concentrate on getting Billy his Essence and Achievement points—it's not as if we have so much time left. Also, one other thing," added Bob.

"I think all loot should go to Jenna."

"What are you talking about? We are all working our asses here," said Jenna.

"He is right, honey," Billy said.

"You said it yourself, many times. Your powers are too restrictive; they lack the flexibility of ours. You need magical items that may complement your abilities. If you find any that scale with stats, you can make very good use of them."

"It just does not feel fair," Jenna answered moodily, but she knew they were right. She had to admit to herself that part of the reason she was so excited about the loot was the possibility of overcoming some of her magical bottlenecks.

"There is also something else," Bob added.

"Jenna can increase her own luck. If she does it just before the loot manifests, she could get some incredible drops."

"Holy shit," Jenna said, looking fondly at Bob.

"I had not thought of that," she lied—she loved Bob, and liked giving him credit.

"We should head to the next dungeon," said Billy.

"We can do both things at the same time: let's corpse-camp a mob and use a loot charge at its final death—we can get both AP and loot without losing extra time."

"Good thinking, Billy," said Jenna, kissing his cheek, her enthusiasm going up again. The next dungeon was also inverted: it looked like a creepy forest with a giant man-eating flower as the Core. It also had the no-bosses and hive tags—it captured wild animals, dissolved them into its mouth, and spat out mobs in the shape of mutated versions of its victims.

Hives could literally create an army of Mobs, and this one had done so, filling the forest with horrors: two-headed boars, acid-spitting bears, giant snakes with the heads of birds…

"This is a low-value target—no Bosses, only the Core, and too many Mobs to make it worthwhile," said Bob.

"We can still spend a charge on the Core," Billy said.

"You and Jenna take it on from the ground, I will distract it from the air."

"And how are we…" Bob started, but he could not finish as Lawman had already pushed the eject button, expelling both him and Jenna out of the plane. Bob changed again into manta form, swearing furiously, as he glided under Jenna and caught her. They both dove to the ground as Lawman's vehicle fired rockets at the giant flower, which furiously tried to counterattack, spewing acid at the plane. All the mutated animals in the forest turned round, as if on a spring, and looked at them.

"Oops, we forgot about that. Hives share the same mind," Jenna said.

"Let's better wrap this up soon." Bob felt Jenna's hand fall on his shoulder, pumping him full of magic. Firebolt (Flamecraft 3) Throw a plasma bolt that does moderate damage and reaches as far as the caster can see. Damage scales with mind. The caster will not be able to activate Flamecraft perks for one minute after using it. One-minute cooldown. He only had one shot at it. He'd better make it count.

He waited until two of the missiles fired by Billy's plane struck the creature in the side, exposing charred flesh under the tough bark, and aimed carefully at the wound. A white-hot lance of searing plasma erupted from his right hand, severing the creature into two smoking halves. Bob heard the death cry of all the mutated minions of the creature. Jenna ran towards the swaying creature.

"Transfer the charge, Billy, I have put it all into Luck." The creature fell, miraculously missing Jenna by inches. Or perhaps not. Maybe it was just luck. Its corpse dissolved into motes of light, which coalesced into a small metallic object. It was a plain metal ring. Jenna picked it up and placed it on her left ring finger. Bob appraised it and read the results aloud.

"Ring of the Hive Mind: Once you have used Connection or Transference to establish a link with another soul, you may maintain it indefinitely, even if you retrieve the stat points. Can only maintain one link at a time."

"Bob, that is huge. Having to maintain Connection is one of the biggest drawbacks to many of my powers," Jenna exclaimed happily.

"It seems as if my Luck crafted it specially just for me," she beamed.

"It also works on Transference. I could put a permanent link on either of you and enhance you, even at range, without needing to spend freebie points on the link itself." Bob whistled, understanding the tactical advantages of the ring.

"Balance did things much the same way, and it worked for him."

"Not so much, Bob," added Billy curtly.

"We killed him, you know?" They were surrounded by scores of dead, mutated beasts.

"Well, let's go for the next one," said Bob.

"Not so fast, I am afraid there is a problem," Jenna said, chagrined.

"By getting such a wonderful item, which seems hand-crafted for me, I have acquired a huge Karmic debt with the universe. I can feel it slowly erasing, but if I withdraw my luck points, I will be hit by misfortune."

"How long do you have to wait?" asked Billy"Five hours, at least."

"Damn, that is going to put us behind schedule," said Bob, doing the math.

"We are not going to be able to use this on every Core, or the Answer will gain on us."

"There is also the matter of Billy's achievement points. First, we complete our mission, then we worry about loot," Jenna concluded. Three days later, they cleared the last of the dungeons. It had involved some heavy corpse-camping, so that Billy could increase his AP enough to absorb all the freed Essence. He had nearly sixteen thousand now. Corpse-camped mobs dropped powerful loot that, somehow, did not turn out to be useful. Bob carefully examined the last piece of loot dropped by a Mob.

A skeleton that had grown eighteen feet tall and become wreathed in an aura of fire after the tenth charge. It had dropped a glowing red sickle.

"What does this one do, Bob?" asked Jenna. Her enthusiasm for loot dropped from corpse-camping Mobs had plummeted after discovering all the items were cursed one way or another.

"It drains blood during combat," explained Bob.

"That's not bad, after all," said Billy.

"The user's blood," added Bob.

"Damn, another shitty item. I think we should refrain from using Loot on corpse-camped Mobs," said Jenna.

"Let's try it on a Boss," suggested Billy.

"Perhaps the loot will be better." Their next target was a headless, armored knight riding a skeletal horse. It granted them a bone whistle that, when blown, would summon a copy of the horse to serve for an hour. There was a one in ten chance that it would summon the knight instead, eager for a rematch. Billy was right: Corpse-camped Bosses and Cores could drop good loot, even more powerful than usual, but that increase in power was paid for with side effects.

They finally managed to loot one of the Cores they slew. Jenna insisted on having one of the other Losers reap the benefits. It was the first time she used the powers of her Ring, filling Bob with the full power of her Luck. Bob got very, very lucky indeed. Gambling Die: This arcanic focus will subtract two levels from any improvised perk of fourth rank or lower if it is based on the Gambling skill. It dismantles itself as soon as it is used. Bound to the Skillmaster. Three days had passed.

The Answer was only ten days away from Babylon, but they had successfully destroyed all the dungeons between it and its goal, without releasing Essence into the environment. Everything had gone well. Bob felt content.

"Jesus, Bob, have you never seen one of my films?" Charlie whispered inside his mind.

"You feel content, you get slapped by the villain—it's practically a law of physics."

"You had to ruin it, didn't you, Charlie?"