Callie's Heroes

PART V - MULTIPLE WAYS TO TORTURE CALLIE

“Ewww! This is disgusting!” Callie squealed. “I think it’s in my nose!” She tried to wiggle her arms but it just made things worse. Next to her, Jesca mumbled something angry as Thucax, actually laughing for once, cleared a hole in front of her nose so the Cheetahkin could at least breathe.

“SSStop sssquirming!” Vonn said, also laughing. “You will jussst make it worssse!”

“Easy for you to say!” Callie groused.

Even Reynard, who had unexpectedly made a visit to the training field for the first time in several days, couldn’t help but laugh.

For her part, Callie was hanging a half-meter off the ground, firmly glued to the side of a rock, held in place by the goo of Vonn’s Sticky Web Arrow. Try as she might, Callie could do little more than wiggle her exposed fingertips, blink, and mumble barely-coherent words through her semi-restrained lips. “Vonn, I officially hate you today! This is repulsive. It’s leaking into my ear!”

Jesca mumbled an unintelligible agreement.

“You needed to feel the effects,” Reynard said, still laughing, “so you understood how it works. Don’t worry, the webs are summoned and will fade in a bit. Just relax, Callie.”

“It’s leaking down my pants!” Callie fake-sobbed. “This is so gross!” That just caused more laughter from everyone, including Jesca, who was also hanging, glued to the same rock next to her.

With both Jesca and Callie reaching Silver that morning, Shul’an and Thucax were naturally excited to see some of their new powers, with the Sticky Web skill being a base Ranger spell they would soon receive, too. The effect was much as the name implied. When shot at the target, the arrow transformed at the last moment into a bursting glob of sticky goo. If that target was a person, they’d be coated in the stuff and almost immediately rendered immobile. It was more than just sticky goo, though. The mess clung to your body, flowing around you, resulting in an almost-cocoonlike entombment.

After demonstrating the effect a few times, almost as if she had been eagerly anticipating being able to do it, Vonn picked up a simple bow she’d hastily assembled from summoned materials. It was barely even a toy, far weaker than the one Callie had used when she first arrived, only having the strength to shoot a dozen meters or so. Along with the bow was a quiver full of arrows with wide, dull tips on them that would cause no damage if they hit where someone was armor-covered. While technically a violation of range safety rules, the risk of injury was understood to be minimal, especially given the result of the spell and Vonn’s accurate aim.

Callie felt like she was being lined up for a firing squad as Vonn sighted in on her, before being ordered to leap into the air. She swallowed and did so, then was suddenly completely engulfed in the viscus, gooey mess. Shul’an quickly checked that her nose or mouth was clear so she was able to breathe, before stepping away and trying to stifle a giggle. A few seconds later, Jesca was also hanging from the rock like a piece of mounted taxidermy.

On the sidelines observing were a half-dozen other recruits, all taking a break to get their own giggles in, including Vanis, Fynisse and Duni. Koda, his big bear belly laugh carrying across the field, had also joined the audience. Callie knew it was funny, or would be as soon as she stopped being wall art. At the moment, however, the gloop was slowly droobling down her face, and the humor was escaping her.

After an interminable four minutes, the Platinum tiered magic on the summoned goo finally waned, and it began to weaken, slowly stretching to set Callie gently on the ground before the whole lot simply disappeared into a puff of mist. Jesca followed a moment later, eventually spitting to get the remnant taste out of her mouth.

“Stupid Platinum tier. I think that was the longest four minutes of my life,” Callie grumbled, trying to wipe residual slime off her face that actually wasn’t there anymore. Jesca simply growled in annoyance, doing the same.

“How long does it last at Silver?” Thucax asked.

“Just one minute,” Jesca snarled.

Reynard hobbled closer, having stood and now using one of his crutches. “You do understand how the effect works, right Callie? Or do we need to do it again?”

“I got it!’ Callie said coldly with a bit of an irritated snap. The Foxkin seemed far too eager to do it again.

“Good! There’s a Demon you’ll learn about in a couple weeks, after Midsummer is over, that can shoot this same form of web attack from its ass end. Everyone in camp is going to experience this stuff several times before they leave, either from you lot or from the summoned Demon directly.”

“So we get to goo everyone else?” Callie asked, sounding almost hopeful.

“Maybe not you,” Reynard answered. “You seem a little too eager.” He looked to Vonn. “Let’s show them the flames next.”

The Lamia nodded in understanding. With a quick motion, Vonn launched another arrow into the rock, covering it with an impressive amount of sticky gloop. She then readied again, holding the tip of the broad training arrow towards Shul’an. “SSSet this alight,” she ordered.

The Salamanderkin called up their Burning Hands spell, using the flame to ignite the end of the arrow. Vonn aimed and then loosed it towards the slimed rock. As soon as it was touched by flame, the entire sloppy mess burned away in an instant, almost like flash paper.

“It has a very low burning temperature,” Reynard explained. “Low enough that someone completely engulfed in it can be freed with nothing more than the smallest of flames, and because it happens so fast, your skin won’t even get burned. It won’t even singe your pretty pink hair, Callie.”

“Awwww, you hear that everyone? He thinks I’m pretty,” Callie giggled, twirling one of her pigtails with her finger, and missing only popping bubblegum for the look. The rest of the recruits joined the giggle and even Vonn chuckled a bit.

Reynard rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of mirth in them from Callie’s banter. He gestured Shul’an towards the rock. “You’re up.”

The Salamaderkin’s residual giggles immediately ended and you could see them swallow nervously. Unsure about the whole affair, they walked over to where directed.

“Count to ten after you are covered and then use your flame hands again. Don’t worry, it won’t hurt, especially with your heat resistance.”

Aiming carefully, Vonn again launched one of the Sticky Web arrows. As expected, it completely engulfed poor Shul’an, pinning them against the rock. They tried to move, but that just made the whole thing tighter. A few seconds later there was a puff of flame from their hand. In an instant yellow flash, nearly all of the web-slime vaporized, turning to a light white ash falling gently to the ground. Since Shul’an’s skin was naturally fire resistant, as expected there were no burns, but even on their armor there wasn’t even so much as a scorch mark.

“That was quite … odd,” Shul’an said, looking at their own hand and then the rock. Save a few bits of the substance that had become separated from the rest, all of it was gone.

“Your ability to make fire with your handsss will be quite valuable on the field,” Vonn said. “You will be able to inssstantly free anyone that is trapped.”

The lesson continued for another twenty minutes or so, each of the recruits, starting with an almost terrified fully-furred Thucax, taking several turns getting entombed before a flame on the end of a stick was brought close to release them. Shul’an had been right, Callie thought, the experience was absolutely odd. One moment she was completely trapped, unable to move or, in one case even breathe because both her nose and mouth were covered. The next, the whole mess was gone before she could even think about passing out. Despite the bright flash, the instant of heat wasn’t enough to burn her or even leave a mark. Koda, still watching the ongoings, even asked to be a target and dutifully took his spot before being slimed and subsequently released, his fur no worse for the fiery adventure.

“Alright, let's continue.” Reynard eventually said. He gestured toward Jesca. “Unlock your next thing and show us what you got.”

“I just have one more. I got Acrobatics as a melded perk,” she said.

“Ooo!” Callie exclaimed. “With your Beastmaster sense of balance, I bet they go really well together.”

Jesca had been fluttering her eyes briefly and now opened them, a bit of a smile forming on her face. Turning towards the rock they’d been using, she launched into a brief run followed by a forward roll into a leap, vaulting overhead, still spinning, into the air. Her paws then hit the top of the rock, continuing the momentum into a high flip. She landed just a little off-balance, her momentum still carrying her forward, but tucked into a follow-on roll before springing back to land on her feet, arms in a wide ‘tada’ gesture.

“Whoa! Cool!” Callie said, the other Rangers echoing the same as they all applauded. “You’re going to be amazing come the bunkerball game,” Callie added with an encouraging smile.

“Hell!” Reynard snarled. “That Bladedancer was bad enough. Now there’s two of them to deal with.”

“Do you want to surrender now?” Callie asked, teasing the Foxkin with a singsong inflection. She was pretty sure that the returned gesture meant ‘no’.

“I’ll need to practice, but it’s melded off my race and my Beastmaster Improved Senses perk,” Jesca said, returning to the group, “and I’ve been working on that perk quite a bit.”

Demonstrating the new perk again, Jesca executed a standing backflip, catching the fact she was a bit off-balance by crouching into a perfect superhero landing, arm and tail flung wide.

“Focus, people,” Reynard grumbled as everyone applauded Jesca’s antics again. “What’s the next one you got?” he asked, gesturing towards Callie.

“In addition to the three off-class skills I talked about earlier, I also received two melded ones. Actually, one new one called Summon Grappling Hook, and apparently my Summon Turret ‘evolved’ into summoning a Modular Turret.”

“Evolved? That’s a new one on me,” Reynard said, looking towards Vonn for her feedback. All the Lamia could do was shrug, having never heard of a skill evolving either. He turned, groaning a bit as he sat back down in his wheeled chair, standing getting to be a bit much, even with the crutches. “Well, I know what a grappling hook is at least, so let’s start with that one.”

“Sure.”

Tell me about Summon Grappling Hook

SKILL: SUMMON GRAPPLING HOOK (SILVER TIER)

MANA USAGE: HIGH

CASTING TIME: 10 SECONDS

RECHARGE TIME: 120 SECONDS

CHARGES: 2

DESCRIPTION: This skill summons a Grappling Hook into the hands of the caster. Twist the head to extend or retract the prongs before use, otherwise they will extend at apex or impact. When loosed from a bow, or thrown, an optional summoned rope will appear, extending from the ring on the grapple. The maximum length of this summoned rope is 20 meters. Both the hook and rope have a summoned duration of approximately 10 minutes. Higher tiers of this skill reduce recharge and cast time, grant more charges, and increase duration and rope length, in addition to other effects.

This is a melded skill of TINKER + SUMMON COMPONENTS

“That is quite fascinating,” Vonn mused after Callie had rattled off the description. “Another melded power using Tinker as part of its base. Fizzzzzzlebeck will be quite excited.”

“It seems to do almost exactly what you’d expect it to,” Reynard said, his face showing he was still digesting the description. “Long cooldown on those charges though, and high mana usage. Be careful when first using it so you don’t get mana drain.”

“Oh yeah,” Callie said, nodding vigorously. “I’m not going to repeat what happened at Bronze again.”

Reynard gestured down the range. “Go ahead. Only once, though.”

SUMMON GRAPPLING HOOK WITH ROPE

It took longer than the described ten seconds, nearly twenty in fact, but slowly an odd arrow appeared in Callie’s hand. It was hard to tell what the material was made of, looking a little like steel or some other kind of metal, but the weight seemed far lighter than you’d expect. The tip of the arrow was fat, as if containing something, and the other end of the shaft was a ringlet, upon which dangled about twenty centimeters of a slightly ghostly piece of rope. The ring had a notch in it to allow it to function as a nock for a bowstring, and interestingly, the entire length was appropriately sized for Callie's smaller bow.

The casting finally completed, Callie held the strange arrow up for everyone to see, the short piece of rope wriggling in the air. “What do you make of …” Callie’s question was suddenly cut off as she was slammed with the effects of mana usage and felt faint.

“Callie!” Reynard snapped, concern, almost a panic, in his voice.

The world was spinning a bit and Callie had to sit, dropping the summoned object. “I’m okay,” she gulped. “It was just a lot at once, but I’m okay. First time using it, I’m sure.”

“Do you need a potion?” Jesca asked, kneeling down to check on her friend.

“I don’t think so. I’ve still got mana left. It was just a big hit at once, and a shock.”

“Give her one anyway,” Reynard ordered, “just to be sure.”

“SSStrange,” Vonn said, leaning down to pass off a Rejuvenation potion with one hand as she picked up the dropped hook with the other. Twisting the grappling hook’s head, three hooks snapped out, angled like barbs to prevent it being pulled back. Another quick twist and they just as instantly retracted. The Lamia’s eyes went wide, and she repeated the extend/retract process a couple more times, almost smiling like a child playing with a far-too-sharp toy.

With Callie still resting, Vonn had Jesca take up Callie’s small bow from where it was leaning against the wall of the shelter. The Cheetahkin thumbed the notch to prevent arrow formation as she sighted down the range with the new, strange ammunition. Unleashed towards a hay bale about fifteen meters away, the rope spooled out from the grapple. The arrow sunk into the hay bale, the three prongs popping out to grab hold as the rope settled to the ground.

Shul’an walked over and picked up the end of the rope. “It’s light,” they said to nobody specific, before snapping it tight between their two hands, “and seems strong.” They took the rope and gave a hard yank, the line going taunt before pulling the hooked hay bale with it. “It should be able to hold a person or two, depending what it was shot into or hooked on.”

“You might be able to layer it with Piercing Shot,” Jesca suggested. “I bet it would even go into or through stone at that point.”

“Maybe,” Callie said with a slight groan as she stood, the potion’s effects getting her senses back in order. “I’m not trying any time soon, though. Not until I have it down pat.”

“While she’s resting,” Reynard said, his instructor inflection evident, “we can talk about the two Ranger perks they received that you all will also get. They are both fairly simple. The first, Basic Herbalism, is the same as what Druids and Shamans received at Bronze. While you could already identify wild plants with Wilderness Survival, this will provide you with knowledge of how to mix them into everything from a simple poultice, to even a few low-grade magical potions. It is absolutely critical you follow the instructions exactly and completely, or the result could make things even worse. Don’t ever skip steps or take shortcuts!”

Callie had already unlocked the perk, but again reviewed one of the first pieces of knowledge that had caught her mind’s eye, as it were. It was a simple healing poultice mashed together from two different types of common berries along with twigs from a bush that were burned to ash, before it was all infused with a little bit of mana. Spreading it over minor skin wounds would heal them in only a few minutes. Larger wounds might take a few hours and need additional applications. It certainly wasn’t Ambria-level healing by any means, but a fair substitute when alone in the wilderness for non-lethal injuries that didn’t incapacitate you.

“The other one you get is Wilderness Endurance, and it’s quite simple in its effects,” Reynard continued. “Effectively, as long as you have mana in your body, you’ll be able to partially stave off hunger and thirst, as well as handle greater extremes of weather and temperature. Oh, also your existing Tracking and Stealth perks now add snow and desert environments to the others you already know, so being able to endure those extremes is quite valuable.”

After a few more minutes, Callie decided to try the Grappling Hook thing a second time, once again calling up the summoned arrow with its dangling ghostly rope. This time the mana hit was significantly more tolerable, or maybe she was ready for it, and she managed to fend off any dizziness. She could tell she had a ways to go, though, before she was practiced enough to get it down to normal levels.

“Let's try something,” Reynard suggested, gesturing over to a large tree. “See if you can send it over one of those branches, I want to see what that rope does.”

Taking position under the tree, Callie took the new hook and sighted on a branch about fifteen meters up, before unloading her bow. It wasn’t a very long shot, so she needed to temper the power quite a bit. The hook flew true, arcing over a couple meters above the branch while it spooled the rope behind it. The grapple swung under as the three prongs snicked out, wrapping around the branch a second time before hanging down and snagging the dangling rope.

“Good shot,” Reynard said, actually sounding surprised, maybe even impressed. The other Rangers also gave a bit of a cheer as Callie hit the mark on the first try. “Now, Callie, climb up the rope.”

“You’re doing this just to torture me, aren’t you,” Callie said deadpan, as she looked incredulously back at the trainer.

“I want to know how strong it is,” Reynard said flatly. He then smiled. “Torturing you is just a bonus.”

Callie sighed and set her bow aside, before returning a gesture of her own. She couldn’t help but smile a little, though. Verbally sparring with Reynard was always a little fun, and they’d largely learned to take it in stride. Truthfully, though, she was just happy to see him back on the field. She hadn’t expected that, thinking he’d be spending the week locked in his cabin given the personal significance it had for him. Something had changed since they talked, or maybe because of it, or perhaps it was just the absolute spanking the camp team had received at the bunkerball game. Today he seemed … maybe driven was the right word? Certainly like he had motivation of some kind that was distracting him from his memories, and not just Jesca and Callie’s new Silver powers.

Thinking back to high-school gym classes, Callie tried to remember how to climb a rope. She remembered that she had to twist it with her feet a bit, so she could use them to help. She pulled on the rope, just to see if everything was secure and then hopped. Amazingly, Callie didn’t even have to use the rope-climbing form. Her arm and chest muscles, now over-buff from a month of constant Ranger training, were more than sufficient to pull her quickly up, legs splayed out like little-footed pendulums. It didn’t take long to reach the top, the encouraging cheers from the others pushing her along. She slapped the branch like she was smashing the plunger on a bell, before sliding back down to the ground, her armored arm wrapped around the rope to keep her descent controlled. “Ha!” she shouted to Reynard, pointing in triumph.

“Impressive, Little One,” Master Trainer Thorn said, having apparently arrived while Callie was climbing.

“Thanks!” Callie said, beaming a smile and a little breathless as she walked back with her bow. “Apparently my arms are jacked now.” She held one out and flexed, not actually able to feel the hard bulge through her armor, but knowing it was there. “I hadn’t expected that. What brings you here?”

“Nothing,” the Ratkin said, shrugging. “I was walking through and heard the cheering.” He then gestured. “What’s this all about?”

“One of her new melded skills,” Reynard clarified. He then called out, “Shul’an, you climb it. Let’s test its strength before the summoning fades. You’re the heaviest.”

Groaning, the Salamanderkin walked over to the tree and tugged on the rope a few times. With a deep sigh for self-encouragement, they began to pull themself up the rope. Unlike Callie, Shul’an needed their feet, but had good form. With the cheering from below, they quickly reached the top, slapping the branch as Callie had done, before doing a similar controlled slide back to the ground.

“Seems strong enough,” Thorn observed. “Recruit Callie, would you mind using that skill again to show me?”

After grudgingly drinking a blue potion, Callie summoned the grappling hook again, handing it to the Master Trainer. Thorn turned it over in his hands, curious as to the design and what it was made of, as well as flicking the prongs in and out a few times. “You can shoot this from your bow?” he asked, pointing at the obvious nock at the end.

“Yup,” Callie confirmed. “The description also says you can throw it, but we haven’t tried yet. That rope is also optional, too. I suppose that’s so you can tie something else to it if you wanted.”

Volunteering to give it a throw, Vonn took the grapple from Thorn. She walked a few steps away and made sure there was no one close before testing the weight as she swung her arm, holding the ring and noting it felt light compared to what the same thing made of steel would be. Then, with a bit of a wind-up, she released an underhand throw. The hook flew high, nearly straight up in fact, the rope growing behind it. At the top of the arc, the prongs popped out, and it fell back towards the ground, landing with a solid thump about two meters away, the rope falling in a spaghetti mess around it.

Vonn turned away, an embarrassed look on her face as everyone else laughed at the obviously-poor throw. “I wasss never good at that,” she said sheepishly, shaking her head and laughing along.

“A fascinating new melded skill, Recruit Callie,” Thorn said, trying to stifle his own titters towards Vonn. “Congratulations. We’ll have to come up with some team training scenarios where it could be useful.”

“Sure. That could be fun.”

“Fun,” Reynard scoffed. “This isn’t supposed to be fun.”

“You’re just jealous I can climb up things now,” Callie retorted with a fake huff.

Reynard was about to respond with his own surly comeback, but Thorn put a paw on his shoulder. “Save it for the bunkerball field, you two.” Then he fixed his attention back to Callie. “Reynard said something about your Turret skill ‘evolving’? What’s that about?”

“No idea. Let me unlock it and find out.”

Tell me about Summon Modular Turret

As expected, the description of the new skill flowed into Callie’s head as her Symbiote presumably made the final brain-circuit connection to make the skill take hold, or whatever it was that it did. She started to digest the lengthy new information.

“Holy shit!” Callie exclaimed, her eyes going wide.