Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: An Interlude in Safety

            Four hours, three giant birds, two diseased wolves, and a completely insane five-legged deer that puked blood on them later, Leo and Lily had both made another level.

            “I think I should take analyze,” Leo said.

            “That’s two levels without a combat ability.” Hugh snorted. “Are you sure you have even the faintest idea what you’re doing?”

            Lily lifted an eyebrow. “What did you take for Level Two? Sorry, I should have checked on that earlier.”

            Again, Hugh opened his mouth, but Leo beat him to the punch. “I took Animal Companion, Rank I.”

            “Why?” Lily asked.

            “Well, one of those Ghost Wolves you keep talking about started hanging around with me early on once I got to this world, at least sort of. But once I met Hugh, and Hugh chased it off, it stopped. I thought it might show up again, and having an empowered wolf buddy would have been amazing.”

            Lily stared into his eyes. “A ghost wolf hung out with you, peaceably?”

            “Yeah.” Leo scratched the back of his head. “Why?”

            “That’s not possible. Ever since Chao came and slew the old king, the pact has been broken. No ghost wolf has allied with any elf since then, and they have viciously hunted all who entered the forest—well, not the dragon.”

            “One cuddled me and kept me warm the first night I got here,” Leo said. “He was my mysterious wolf buddy. Until I upgraded to dragon buddy.”

            “Aww.” Hugh batted his eyes at Leo.

            Leo laughed.

            Even Lily smiled.

            “Well, you must have been mistaken,” Lily said. “That can’t have been a ghost wolf. The ghost wolves have turned against the elves. All mortals, actually.”

            “Hey, I saw it.” Hugh swished his tail back and forth. “It was a ghost wolf! Red eyes, larger than normal… It was totally a ghost wolf!”

            “I seriously doubt that,” Lily said, then flicked her silver hair back again. “And I doubt a dragon is qualified to identify it, regardless.”

            “Listen here, you little—”

            “Guys!” Leo said. “We were doing so well not being ridiculously antagonistic to one another. How about we try for a longer streak this time?”

Both Hugh and Lily appeared mutinous, but neither said anything.

Leo sighed but accepted the lack of insults as good enough. “Back to the question. Should I take analyze or not?”

            “You may as well,” Lily said. “But first, what was your second ability at Level Two, the one you got for being a high elf?”

            Leo hesitated. He had the distinct feeling Lily wouldn’t like hearing about his abilities—Hugh had been a bit jealous, and Leo figured Lily would be worse. But he didn’t like lying.

            “Cognitive arcane,” he said.

            “What?” Lily asked, her eyes widening. “What’s that?”

            “Can I just get an answer on what to pick?”

            “Alright,” Lily said. “I think you can handle analyze as your next level ability. It’s quite useful. Not only does it provide information, but just using analyze on creatures and items leads to developing your occult skill.”

            “You need an ability to do damage!” Hugh cried, holding a foreleg out and rending air with his claws extended.

            “I have a magic sword now,” Leo said. “I’ll get the job done.”

            “Feh,” Hugh said. “I’ve had my say, and it’s your build. Take your stupid magic eyes power if you wish.”

            “Wait, ‘magic eyes’?” Leo asked.

            Lily lifted her chin, managing to capture the perfect poise of a lady despite her ruined dress and their rough surroundings. “He’s just being facetious. He’s withdrawing from the argument concerning analyze with the eloquence and grace we’ve come to expect from him.”

            Then she caught Leo’s eye and giggled.

            Leo chuckled back and then mentally made his selection.

            The power flooded his mind immediately, as did a sense of his own essence.

            Leo looked at the cloak. Although there was no visual manifestation, he sensed he could use analyze on it.

            Curious, he turned his eyes on Lily and Hugh, receiving the same prompt.

            Leo focused, willing his ability to activate. Something within him stirred, and he felt potential and possibility leave his body in the direction of Hugh. In a fraction of a second, he received information regarding Hugh, which formed into a chart.

Hugh of the Storm Vale, Storm Dragon Juvenile
Level 1(5)	Earth	Health: ~50	Stamina: ~15	Essence: ~10
Physical Attacks: Bite: Damage ~10 Claw: Damage ~7 Magical Attacks: N/A			Defenses: Armor: ~4 Lightning: ~10
Special Abilities: N/A			Strength and Toughness: Very High. Perk: Earthbound: Earth magic replaces Air magic. Earth magic comes extremely easily to this being.
This is your friend, Hugh. You already know him. Way to waste essence.   Storm Dragons normally have Air magic and can fly and use a Lightning breath weapon, but Hugh has Earth magic. More importantly, most Storm Dragons cannot level while young, as their magic is used entirely to fuel their flight and breath weapon and cannot be used to grow from soul energy. Hugh, however, can level and gain Earth magic from any age—an aspect of his Perk, not Flaw, that he is grossly neglecting.

 

            “Uh, Leo, buddy, you’re staring at me,” Hugh said.

            Leo barely registered Hugh as he reveled in the flow of information and understanding. He could feel Hugh’s essence, like a sixth sense. He felt as if he had been blind his whole life and had now opened his eyes—he felt the magic around him, and took joy in it.

            Hugh smacked his tail on the ground. “Getting creepy, Leo!”

            Leo pulled himself back from basking in his new connection to the universe, blinking his eyes. “Whoa. I know Kung Fu.”

            “Insanity is a new look for you,” Hugh quipped. “I assume you just used analyze on me since you were staring at me like you wanted half-dragon children and forgot I was a boy. Learn anything interesting?”

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            “Yeah, I did. Your Earth magic isn’t a flaw, it’s a perk. You can already level, right?”

            Hugh nodded. “Yeah, but so what? It takes forever for a dragon to level! Because of my magical nature, I’m considered fifth level, even though I’m actually first level. I need five hundred experience to level!”

            “How much have you gotten so far?”

            “Almost a hundred.”

            That’s way less than I’ve gotten. I wonder…

            “When you kill a creature, do you gain less experience if you’re a higher level than it?”

            “Yes,” Lily said. “The essence of creatures weaker than you does little to build your magic, just as the energy of creatures stronger does more. Once you’re more than ten levels above a creature, it can’t add to your experience.”

            I already saw that to go to Level Two, I needed one hundred experience, and to go to Level Three, I needed two hundred. Following that logic, if Hugh is treated as Level Five, he needs five hundred to go to Level Six. And the lower-level creatures we’ve been fighting aren’t giving him much, so that makes sense. Still…

            Leo walked up to Hugh, who was fast becoming his best friend on this world.

            “Mind if I go on a tangent about your life for a few moments, Hugh?”

            “As long as you promise not to talk about peacock tails, go for it.”

            “What?” Lily asked with a laugh. “Peacock tails?”

            “It made sense at the time,” Leo groused.

            Then he reached out and took Hugh’s scaled head in his hands, hoping that wasn’t too odd a gesture of familiarity. “Among my people, there’s a saying. All paths to greatness start with self-improvement.”

            “Huh,” Hugh said, crossing his eyes.

            Leo ignored what he thought was an attempt to deflect. “Self-improvement requires work—hard work. I think you’ve been going about your life the wrong way. Getting a hoard from someone else is what we called a ‘get rich quick’ scheme. It always falls apart. Even if the hoard had been here, someone would have come and taken it from you—because you lacked the strength to keep it.”

Hugh swished his tail. “I mean, I had some ideas—”

 Leo talked through him. “From what you’ve told me of this world, strength is the key factor. People can become living weapons, living machines to build, and can even generate auras to bring prosperity. One person can truly change the world.”

“Alright, touching speech, but—”

“Every time I bring up leveling, you always blow it off. But it’s the path forward for you, if you don’t want to be weak and the butt of jokes forever. That, and education. But for now, you should think about your path forward and how you wish to level.”

            “You’re getting more touchy-feely than a Wyld mage, buddy.” Hugh backed out of Leo’s grasp. “Should we start looking for a twofer cave?”

            Leo coughed. “Sorry. But please consider what I said.”

            “Yeah, sure, I’ll give it a good mull over, but I still want to start collecting a hoard, got it? No backing out on that.”

            “I’ve got it.” Leo rolled his eyes. “You’ll get your hoard. Promise. Just do me the favor of making sure you can defend it. Try for me. I’d hate to think of you getting turned into armor once I get home.”

            Hugh grinned, showing his impressive dentation. “Alright, for you, I’ll give it a shot. It’s a deal.”

            Lily eyed Leo with what he was pretty sure was an approving smile.

She blushed just a touch and turned away from his gaze. “So, can you identify the other items and see what they do?”

Leo turned, reaching out with essence to become mystically aware of the other items and their properties, his mind filled with wonder at the touch of magic. He received a brief list of powers and the description of each item he’d spent essence on.

Cloak of Recovery. Least item. Body magic. This cloak heals an additional 4 health per day of rest and prevents all non-magical disease and pollution effects.

For a magic item this is a bit of garbage, really. Think about it—a normal mortal healing forty percent of his health in a day is great and all; it’s a one-day broken leg repair. But for an adventurer? Feh. You need something with a lot more kick when a rabid wolf chews half your leg off and the rest of his pack is coming thirty seconds behind. Tomorrow is too late unless your goal is to be wolf poop. This item was probably crafted for a fat hypochondriac.

 

Living Leather Armor. Least item. Wyld magic. Armor 3, the armor is self-repairing and maintaining.

This armor provides the protection of chain, at the weight of leather, and you never have to wash your pit stains out or acknowledge all those embarrassing times you failed to dodge. Is it basic? Yes, but so are you, most likely. And unlike you, it’s at least worth something. As a bonus, wearing the hide of a once-living creature is its own kind of badass.

 

Least Light Blade. Least item. Light magic. +2 Light damage (weapon 3-10 damage.) Provides dim light.

It’s a glowing sword. One might even say it’s a… lightsaber. But seriously, it’s a sword with a bit more ass-kicking built in. The best kind of sword, really.

 

Ring of Warmth. Least item. Fire magic. Heat fills the body, protecting the wearer from up to -67.3 degrees Fahrenheit and reducing cold damage attacks by 2 per round.

This ring was clearly made for a wife by a husband who was tired of the battle over the thermostat. Seriously, though, what do you want from this description? Everything it does is in its title.

 

Fiery Sword. Least item, high end. Fire magic. +3 Fire damage (weapon 5-15, ignore 1 armor) and provides 1 point of cold resistance each round.

Compensate much? This sword is really cool and awesome… for a thirteen-year-old boy. So flame, much wow. It used five tiny Fire crystals to make this boondoggle when they could have made five slightly less fiery magic swords for the same price. Plus, you have to be crazy strong to use it.

 

            Leo choked laughter after a couple of the blurbs. “Lily, are these descriptions normal? I mean, they seem super sarcastic and a bit insulting to me personally as well.”

            Lily stared for a moment, and then started laughing hard, tears coming down her face. She sat on the ground as she laughed.

            The answer is going to irritate me. I can feel it in my bones.

Finally, Lily stopped laughing and wiped the tears from her face. “Thanks, Leo, I needed that. There’s been a lot of research into the notification boxes. Basic stuff, like status charts, is handled by the Servants of Telos. They’re some mysterious organization, perhaps appointed by the gods, but there is no reference to them anywhere except in the charts themselves, and even then, extremely rarely.”

“Yeah, I found a reference to them in my charts.”

Lily raised a single eyebrow, but Leo waved her on.

“The analyze charts, however, are a reflection of your own personality… It’s your magic that makes them. When the charts insult the person using analyze, it usually means that person has self-esteem issues or a very sardonic sense of humor.”

“Or both,” Leo said.

Lily nodded and smiled. “Or both. I think you just told me a lot about yourself there, but mostly, I just find the idea of your own analyze insulting you to be hilarious.”

“Well, how about this?” Leo said, wanting to leave this part of the conversation. “Lily, take the ring. It’ll keep you completely warm. I’ll take the armor, cloak, and smaller sword so that I can be a frontline fighter and not freeze to death. We’ll give Hugh the giant sword, which is worth as much as the rest of it put together, to start his hoard.”

Lily eyes narrowed, but then her face relaxed and she flicked her silver hair. “That’s best.”

“Can I ask you to carry my sword on your back, Lily?” Hugh said. “Maybe tie it there with a strip of your dress or something? I don’t want to lose it or leave it here, in case someone comes for the treasure.”

Lily sighed a sigh of long suffering. “Sure, whatever. This outfit, however beautiful it once was, is beyond saving. Help me cut my dress, Hugh, and then let’s get this done. Be gentle, though, I don’t want to be involuntarily exposing anything too titillating.”

Leo started to don his new armor and cloak as Hugh and Lily screwed around with the sword.

But he found himself looking at the stairway down to the freezing demon basement, worried. Hopefully, I can get this done this time.

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