Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Infiltrating Infiltration

Justice needed a moment to look through her Guidance Screens and examine her notes, so I opened my Guidance Stat Panel as well. 

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Scaleen 

Race and Age: Kobold, 43

Class and Occupation: Scout Level 27, Scribe: Master.

Health, Mana, and Stamina: 204/204, 61/61, 121/167

Natural Armor Rating: 116

MSL  AGL  BWN  KNW  PER  POI 

  11*        15        14 *        14       20      15

Skills:

Observation (10/15), Discern (10/15), Gymnastics (7/15), Deceive (8/10), Flex (3/15), Focus (7/15), Ingenuity (5/10), Charm (6/10), Arcanics (3/10), Hand-to-hand (4/20), Finesse Weapons (13/20)*, Technical Weapons (4/20), First Aid (4/10), Clandestine (7/10), Nimbleness(6/10), Flair (1/10), Mentorship (4/5), Bold Weapons (2/20), Mechanics (3/10)

Feats: 

[Horror Hunter], [Tosser]*, [Geologic]*, [Exhaustive Endurance]*, [Firebrand]*, [Killing Blows]*, [Bold Movements]*, [Mage Hunter], [Anarchist (H)], [In Plain Sight (H)], [Internally Motivated], [Master Bureaucrat], [Expanded Notes], [Multitasker], [Clandestine Organization (H)], [Smooth Talker], [Ritualist], [Thirst for Knowledge], [D’hatka’s Favor], [Quick Hands], [Short-Term Recall], [Lucid Dreaming], [Intuitive Thinking], [Deceptive], [Lean Pickings], [Team Player], [Innocuous] 

Memorized Spells: {Mending}

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

“May I see your Guidance Screen?”

*You can’t natively?*

“I think that the screens operate on the same principle as your thoughts. I need permission.”

I considered. I focused my will on letting Katarachin see my current screen only. He did not need to see my notes on him or my class information. I also didn’t want him to see my hidden feats. 

“Impressive stats for your level, Scaleen.”

*Being exposed to Justice has made the last two days feel like I’ve been living in slow motion.*

“No mountain is built without a foundation. Take pride in where you are.”

I acknowledged that while glancing at my Guidance Class Screen and my Notes. I had one panel that I’d been taking blind dictation on for the past day, a feature of the Master Bureaucrat feat, and spent a little time organizing the information into my Notes structure.

Justice took a breath and let it out, which caused me to pause. She looked back and shook her head. “Nothing. I was just glad I made it this far. I’ve finally gotten to where I can cast third level spells. You know what that means?”

“No but I suspect it has to do with your outside knowledge?”

“I can cast Convection. It’s so broken.”

“The spell used to heat buildings and provide smokeless heating?” 

She grinned giddily, “Yep.”

“That is an incredible spell.” 

*It’s considered an arcanist’s spell. Unless the wizard is the original enchanter, it’s supposedly barely worth knowing. I’ve never heard of it used in combat. *

“And what’s an arcanist?”

*Wizard college dropouts, or other mages that can’t pay for the complete certification. These mages tend to be the ones maintaining all enchantments that keep our world afloat.*

“So the ones doing all the work?”

*Precisely.*

As that communication traveled quickly between myself and Katarachin,  I asked Justice, “How is that useful?”

You are reading story The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame at novel35.com

“So it can more than heat or cool a room for a day. It actually works on whatever timescale you want. You can tell it to use the same energy to heat a metal object, like armor, for thirty seconds, which is basically like strapping someone to a fireplace.”

“I was under the impression that due to innate ley barriers, that spells that target another person’s possessions like take additional attention and focus, enough that you couldn’t do anything else? I am not a mage, but that is a pretty common rule.” I almost immediately realized, “Oh, wait, do you have another Feat?

“Um, yeah, ha. It’s [Split Attention] I can maintain concentration on one spell constantly while still casting others. I also have minuses to my general Focus skill because of it, though. The feat system is kind of broken.” 

“So you can cook a well armored enemy while defending yourself? That is… horrifying.”

Justice didn’t seem to catch what I was thinking, and continued on. “Not only that, but I can heat weapons too. Most weapons have insulated hilts, especially magic weapons. I can heat Katarchin’s Victory while you wield it. It’d be like stacking a Tertiary fire enchantment on top of its effects, and you’d be fine. As long as you don’t touch the metal, of course. But at that tier, your weapon starts to ignore armor, to cleave through it.”

“Him. Katarachin uses he/him pronouns. Also, that’s… very broken, as you say.”

“Oh right. Sorry, Katarachin. I will be more mindful. You still doing okay?”

“He is very well behaved for now. I’ll warn you if he starts to try to take over… As a safe guard, if you are concerned I am not myself, ask about the necklace we discussed the first time we met. He claims he can’t access my memories, even if he takes control. We can change the code each time.”

“The necklace we- Oh right. Yeah. Good idea.”

“Your faith in me is astounding, Scaleen. Just who hurt you to act so paranoid?” His voice was playful, but I could sense there was a little disappointment.

*You presumably grew up in an era when orcs were legally less than sentient, Katarachin. Who do you think hurt me?* 

“Ah,” he said, in a tone that made it clear he did know what I mean. Paranoia’s negative connotations were not applicable for those trapped in a hostile society. “Thank you. For correcting Justice on my behalf. You didn’t have to.”

*Respect is a currency better not wasted.*

—

The sewer tunnels were darker here, even more so than they usually were. There were no big and obvious storm drains to sully the landscape of Central Sumar. It actually played to our benefit, because both I and Justice could move around while watching distant, flickering lights that we assumed were torches. 

Justice explained that we needed to make it to the very center of the city, under the Palatial Public Grounds. It was a sprawling garden with a stage intended to show off the world’s entertainment provided an Empress, after she was done with her private viewing and when she was feeling magnanimous enough to share. She hadn’t been so generous for the last ten years, having been slowly dwindling in health and more dedicated towards controlling and expanding her legacy of conquest, so the rumors went among the noble progeny that were inserted into the city guard. 

Justice and I realized quickly that if we tried to interfere here, we’d be quickly overwhelmed.

We hid and ducked into various nooks and small side tunnels when we saw torch light approach, which was far too often. I was shocked there were no Royal Guards being used to sweep these halls. The City Guard being banished from proceedings and CenSum’s protection, this was the Royal Guard’s duty. 

Someone was commanding the Royal Guard to be very stupid. 

One small group of these ruffians - three humans wearing the same silver hoods - seemed less organized than most. They hesitated at every fork and muttered amongst themselves.

I motioned to where I was pretty certain Justice, and we both followed them down a couple of dark passages, keeping out of the flickering, meager light coming from their cheap torches. 

From behind us, we heard a shout, “Hey, you lot!”

I looked back with Justice and saw an elf without a light source stalking down the center of the sewer, eyes intent toward us. 

Something seemed off, so I gambled and pressed myself even further against the uneven stone walls. We were in a passage that was wider than it was tall, about nine feet wide and seven tall.  Justice followed my lead, my gut told me, though I couldn’t see him for his [Clandestine] skill. 

The elf stomped forward while our trio froze in place and looked back. They walked right past us. 

I had no god to thank, but I was appreciative all the same that only Kobold and Dwarf sentients, that I was aware of, were born with greyvision, allowing me to see in the dark.

I didn’t relax just yet, as the trio could still spot us at any moment. 

“What the fuck are you three doing, traipsing along down here?”

“We, uhh, got lost. Our - the person who was going to lead us never showed.”

“And who would that be?” 

“Sharrin Eyehollow.”

“You idiots follow me. We’ll sort out where you are supposed to go.”

So then we were following four of them.

You can find story with these keywords: The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame, Read The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame, The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame novel, The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame book, The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame story, The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame full, The Halcyon Call or: How I Learned to Befriend Isekai and Play the Metagame Latest Chapter