NOVEL NEXT Chapter 34: Sanctuary
As the sun began to set two humans, a spriggan and a pair of deer walked into a destroyed bar. There was no punch line, or an actual bar for that matter. The building had been split down the middle from a blast of condensed energy.
Fires lit up the night sky, weaving trails of smoke were blown away by the crisp evening wind. If Leif never went underground again in his life he could die happy. He stared down at the stump he had in place of an arm, the wound ached with a phantom pain.
Both deer nuzzled up next to him, both fast asleep. Leif drifted off, his hazy mind incapable of remaining awake for even a second longer.
===
A pack of goblins stalked the early morning. Their quiet footsteps and small frames made them quite unnoticeable in the twilight of dawn. They passed a block, then rounded a bend and came across an interesting sight.
Two forest creatures were drinking from a fountain that by some miracle hadn’t been destroyed in the chaotic events of the prior day. The monsters snickered greedily and scampered forward, both creatures, a local variety of deer, were completely clueless as to their imminent deaths.
“No.” Said a voice from behind. The small gathering of little green men slowly turned to see a human sized being made of ivory white wood and with red leaves sprouting intermittently from its body.
The goblins all gave each other the ‘Is this thing for real?’ look, then charged.
===
Leif, trailed by the two deer, returned to the ruined bar where he had left Sieg and Marcus. After that early morning snack he was feeling much better. Sieg up nodded slightly as the spriggan entered the building, then gestured to the pale sleeping form of his friend.
Marcus was in rough shape, but considering he had been disembowelled just over twelve hours ago, being alive at all was a good sign. Leif crouched down next to the mage and transferred his newly gained excess of vitality into the man.
He shifted slightly but didn’t wake. His breathing became stronger and after a few moments his pale complexion began to fade away.
Sieg let out the breath he had been holding. “He’ll live?”
“Yes, I think so.”
“I really thought I’d lost him back there.”
Leif nodded. “Me too. I’m glad… glad we’re out.” The spriggan gazed up through the cracked ceiling and let his eyes follow the beams of light streaking in from above.
The taller man grunted. Then an orb with a metallic base appeared in his hand. The spriggan didn’t say anything as he watched the human work. After a few minutes the orb flashed to life, then it returned to being inert.
“Need Marcus to operate it.” He said. “My touch won’t give it the range or clarity to contact the expedition.”
“How does it work?”
“It’s connected to a primary unit, one being carried by the main expedition group. When I push power into it the device tries to locate the other. But I’m not suited for its operation, I’m all ice and steel, but Marcus has an evolved [Seeker] class and can control arcane energies. His power is… aspected correctly.”
“Aspected?” Leif asked.
Sieg grunted. “Your skills, or more likely your classes dictate the kind of power you have. If you open up your system status you’ll notice that your skills all have something called ‘aspects’. The theory goes that each person's collection of aspects and class perks slowly makes them attuned to those kinds of energies.”
“This is all first year academy stuff.” The man shifted and took a bite of a ration bar. The deer eyed the food with keen curiosity. “Being attuned to an energy type makes controlling it easier, but it also dictates what you can use it for.”
“I’m attuned to ice and battle,” Sieg continued, “delicate thaumatic instruments don’t respond well to my will.” He grunted, making the device vanish. Now that Leif paid close attention he noticed a slight blur before and after objects were summoned and dismissed in and out of the spatial item.
“So.” Leif said, after he’d skimmed through his skill aspects. “Blood and… body? Social?”
Sieg snorted. “Social? You really do have the [Noble] class don’t you?” He took another bite. “I’m not really a good teacher. But basically mana is all around us, it’s a force you pull on to activate your skills. Mana surrounds us, it's in the air and the walls and the plants and so on. It has a… a will of sorts. Or maybe it responds to the wills of others. If you’re in a place with more mana your skills get stronger, but the same is true in reverse.”
“Spell skills allow someone to ‘command’ the mana of the world. Make it act in accordance to their will. It’s what Marcus can do. He uses his [Arcane Spells] skill to amplify his other skills in accordance to his attunement.”
Leif thought he understood. “So, because Marcus has a [Seeker] class, he can make the device find its other? He’s good at finding things, and that's the purpose of the communication machine?”
“That's right,” Sieg said, “But we need to go somewhere safe, somewhere without goblins and undead and enslavers. If we had known how crazy this part of the frontier was I doubt the expedition would have been funded at all. It really seems like a lost cause.”
Leif found the idea of the expedition fascinating. He knew they had been searching for dungeons, but he still wasn’t sure why. He understood the need for somewhere to rest and recover. “I have a place.” He said.
“You do?”
Leif nodded and stood. “Assuming the goblins didn’t reoccupy it. It's a nearby village. Oh, it's full of animals.”
“Anything’s better than here.” The man said.
One of the deer took a bite from his ration bar.
===
As it turned out, Leif didn’t need to be worried for the safety of his animals. The army of hogs had been… diligent in their territorial protection.
A sizable group of goblins had indeed made their way to the village, but judging by the current lack of living monsters and the flock of happily grunting, squeaking or chirping animals swarming him, Leif was sure things had been okay.
The spriggan had been worried for their safety, about what may have happened after he had left. He felt relieved that his worries had been for naught. A comforting warmth spread through his chest. It wasn’t much, but he was glad these creatures had followed him.
“Hey, I’m back.” He said and laughed as two squirrels ran up his legs and started playing. The crowd of animals reacted to his voice with excitement. Right. I couldn’t even talk when I last saw them.
He doubted they could understand him, despite acting strangely for wild animals they weren’t that different.
Leif led the thoroughly bemused Sieg into the village and to a building that still had most of a roof. He carefully placed the still unconscious Marcus down and turned to Sieg.
The tall man glanced over his shoulder at the dozen or so forest critters watching from the broken doorway. “I have no idea what is going on.” He said. “But I’m just going to accept it and pass out if that's okay?”