Chương 14: B-b-b-borris.

Nythera woke to sunlight blasting her on the face from one of the windows. Just one more minute. She turned over away from the dreaded light.

"Rise and Shine, daylights a burning, lets go." Oswin called out as he stamped into the room. Nythera and Shelly got ready, each were given a cup of coffee and the group headed outside to examine the structure. Nythera walked right up to the structure, it was far more imposing than she had realized yesterday, flat stone and ridges came down at evenly spaced intervals. Two massive stone doors with some kind of locking mechanism in the middle barred their entry.

This thing looks like it's meant to hold a nation's treasury or something. There weren't many runes she could find, just one set.

"Myrraval Exotic ******* Research Facility" She couldn't make out the middle word.

"Oswin, do you have any idea what this says?" Nythera said, pointing at the runes.

"Not a fucking clue, there's very few accessible runes to be found and I ain't no linguist. If we had more I might be able to piece together, but as it stands, I've got little real material." Oswin said.

"Ouch, cut it out Talvik." Nythera whispered. Talvik had been digging its talons into her shoulder. What the fuck is his problem? She scowled. This is way more… robust than the Mirrorwake facility. It looked far more secure, as if the absence of decoration lent to its function.

"Oswin and Shelly, can you check around the sides for more runic scripts, there should be some on the inside of the indents. I want to examine this lock a bit longer." She said.

"Ive already been around this thing since before you were born, but alright missy, never checked the inside of the indents before, why didn't I think of that …" Oswin said, wandering off to the left side and past the corner. Shelly did likewise on the right side.

"Talvik, cut it out with the talons." Nythera murmured.

"Child, do not open this gate, it would be folly. That word you cannot decipher, it is "Fluxspawn". This facility is for study and containment. Whatever is in here is not something you can handle right now." Talvik chided. Well… he's probably right…

"But I really want to open it, what about just a little peak inside?". She pleaded, Talvik merely stared back at her.

"Alright alright fine, I wont open this one … yet. But the other ones are still fair game, and he had a dozen plus on that map." she said.

"You lack both the power and the resources to utilize Aurendorian facilities properly. I suggest you correct both before you go to anything larger than a depot." Talvik said.

"Non-avians can be so reckless" he sighed.

"I hate it when you're right, but you're probably right, very well Talvik, I won't open it. But quit it with the talons, they hurt." Nythera whined.

"Child… Oswin is hiding something. He found more than he lets on." Talvik said with a hint of caution.

"Like what? He found some secret vault of glittering embers or something?" Nythera asked.

"I couldn't find a single fucking thing over 'ere." Oswin's voice called out, as he turned the corner.

"Me neither, nothing on the indents over here." Shelly called out.

"Uhh yeah, about that, I can't figure out this lock, it seems to be really weird." Nythera said.

"That's just fine missy, hahaha, I've been here for over twenty years and haven't deciphered it. You girls head back in and I'll get lunch ready" Oswin said. As they ate pasta, Shelly helped Nythera copy down the ruin locations onto her map. Cartography (lvl 3 > lvl 4).

"Thanks for all the help Oswin, I really appreciate it. I'll be sure to let you know if I find anything." Nythera said with a small bow.

"No problem missy, you're welcome any time, any friend of Shelly is a friend of mine. A shame you took up cartography, archaeology would have suited you." Oswin said, letting out a hearty laugh. Shelly and Nythera descended down the mountain, waving to Oswin one last time.

"Thank you for accompanying me Shelly, I really appreciate it. I owe you a big favor." Nythera said.

"Dontcha worry about it, I had to check up on Oswin anyways, if anything you helped me. This path is a pain solo." Shelly said, hacking away at yet another branch. They made their way back as the sun crept towards the horizon. Farmers headed in from the fields, back to Grandport on the road with them. It was nearing sunset as they finally reached Edwin's house. They stomped mud off their boots and entered to find two cups of tea waiting for them.

They didn't have a chance to see Edwin that night, he spent the evening entirely in the cellar, so they went upstairs and crashed shortly after the tea. Nythera awoke and met Shelly in the kitchen, Edwin was brewing more tea. She flicked a note at her.

"Leo came by with this, you're going with him tomorrow to the dungeon and some kind of factory Lance wants you to see. No idea what they're on about." Shelly said.

"Huh" Nythera murmured as she examined the note with terrible hand-writing. Leo is almost impressive in his consistency. The number of "let's go"'s in this message practically matched his actual voice. Nythera spent the day practicing map craft with tea and Shelly. This is… the first time I've truly gotten to just breathe. She felt incredible stress she hadn't known she had been carrying lift off her shoulders. Her sleep that night was the best she had gotten in months.

She awoke this time to hear stomping coming up the door. She quickly got up and rushed to the door. As it opened she greeted a very surprised Leo.

"Hey Leo, give me five and we'll be out the front door ok, just head back down and get some tea from Edwin." She said in a blur, leaving Leo flabbergasted. Leo and Nythera soon made their way to another part of Grandport, on the opposite side of the town closer to the forests. There were numerous workshops along the way, steel clanging and quenched metal steaming. Arriving at a huge warehouse, wood was being shipped in by the wagon-load.

Inside workers were milling about, one bending the wood with his hands, flux flowing from his hands into the wood as he went. It's that weird ring James and Lance have. What does it mean?

"Well, what do you think miss, pretty big set-up we got here, it should have your domain edict useful in no time. These ballistas will be placed on the frontier and by the docks." Lance said with pride.

"It's… quite something Lance. You organized this rather fast." Nythera said.

"Well, your edict is quite powerful once we get enough of these built, and they'll be useful for reinforcing the frontier, it was easy to pull together the political will to get this built." Lance said. There's another one! And another! A lot of the workers were giving her side eye and several had the rings on. What the fuck is going on here? Lance gave them a tour of the whole facility, including the bolt workshop, where fluxspawn fangs were used to make arrows taller than she was.

"And the wood is from a special tree we found growing high up on the mountains. We call it Thalewood, it's extremely flexible and sturdy. Woodmancers have a very easy time manipulating it as well and can lock in new shapes with flux once it's set." Lance explained.

"Though wood isn't the best for ships, we prefer Mistvale pines for that." She nodded absentmindedly. And that's the fifth ring-wearer… half this factory are members of that nutty cult.

"Anyways let's wrap up this little tour so we can get you to the dungeon, today it'll just be you and Leo, but based on your performance last time that should be no trouble at all for the first two guardians. Regarding your proposal, it's still being reviewed by Noah and Ollie, but they seem to be leaning towards adoption." Lance said and sent them on their way. Nythera let out a sigh of relief at safely exiting the factory. They made their way to the dungeon with full haste as Leo blabbed.

"Oh that reminds me miss witch, have you heard? They found another one of those weird rocks, like the one in the plaza, right near Amplewood. Wonder who made them…

". They found another depot? Near Amplewood … She recalled that Amplewood was fairly close by sea to Grandport. I need to get there. As fast as possible. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Before we go to the dungeon, lets do a quick stop at Old Borris' shop, ok? Want to see if he's got any new equipment." Leo said, dragging her into an arcanist's shop. [Forge of Wonder] was written in rusting sheet metal above the entrance. Shelves were lined with ornate gear, gem encrusted gloves, multi-metal blades, and gold-lined boots. Wow… I wish I could buy some of this stuff. Wonder how much it costs. An old man clambers out of the back "Oh Leo, you here to buy? I haven't got much for hot gear right now.

We're running low on embers to work with." He said. Dressed in a blacksmith's apron, with soot all over his hands, he went up to the counter and put his elbows down.

"What can I do for ya and the witch?" He asked. Every time? Really? She grit her teeth.

"Got any flux rings or casting time or reload rate equipment for my friend here? If I had to guess… Hot equipment would be best." Leo said. That is the first time I have ever heard him pause and think.

"Yea give me a moment, I think I got a ring or two" Borris said and went into the back. Coming out a minute later, he had two rings in hand.

"I'm afraid we don't have a lot of stock of hot gear right now, it sells out fast 'round here. We got one hot ring and a weird one.". He said, placing them on the table.

"This 'ere, is an ember class Channeling ring, any abilities cast with it cost 5% less flux". He pointed towards a ring with intricate bands of smoldering fire woven into its metal.

"And this 'ere, I shouldn't even sell you, it's a Leech ring. I should probably just toss the damn thing." He said, pointing at the pitch black ring.

"How much for the channeling ring?" Nythera asked "and this leech ring, is it that bad?"

"The channeling ring? No less than seven embers. As for the leech ring, it greatly slows down all leveling speed, leeching off your experience, but every level you get one extra free stat. Supposedly if you reach level 100 with the thing and ascend, it'll grow into an Greater leech ring, but I don't know anyone nuts enough to use the damn thing. It's also properly cursed, can't take it off without a Frack Hammer" Borris said.

"Say miss, I heard you got some mighty fine gauntlets, willing to trade? I could find a buyer for rapid-fire's any day." Borris said.

"What, you know what these things do?" Nythera said, shocked. Even I have no idea what these damned things do, and I've had them for a week!

"Yea those are, if I ain't mistaken, Spark-class Rapid fire gauntlets, quite useful. They should give +5 dexterity, you never noticed? They increase hit rate as well, by 8-10% depending on the type. You a brawler miss?" Borris said, resting his head on his hands.

"Uh no, I'm not, these are almost useless to me" Nythera said, almost catching herself. I should not have said that… Nice going Nythera, real great merchant you are.

"How about a trade, there anything in here that caught your eye?" Borris said, leaning over the counter.

"Well… how much for that channeling ring?" Nythera asked.

"This channeling ring? This is one of the most expensive things I have, it's ember class and it works on all abilities. Afraid your gauntlets won't even cover half of it." Borris said.

"What about the Leech ring?" Nythera asked, disappointment apparent.

"I'll give you it for free if you're insane enough to put it on here. Can't have you slipping it on someone's hand while they're sleeping now can I. Tell you what missy you give me the gauntlets and next time you come in with some monster parts, I'll make you something special, free of charge." Borris said, sticking his hand out.

"Deal" She said, taking his hand. Borris handed her the Leech ring and watched with anticipation "Go on now." He said. The leech ring felt heavy in her hands. The path to power is one of hardship, this is a small price to pay for potentially hundreds of extra free stats.

"Uh miss witch I'm not so sure you should put that on, it REALLY slows your leveling speed, your dungeon runs would be lucky to net even one level" Leo said. That is the first time I have ever seen Leo properly slow down. Should I listen? Probably. Am I going to? No. She slipped on the ring anyways.

"I don't feel any different""Welp, the crazy girl actually did it. When you want it removed, come back here with at least 3 embers, frack hammers aren't cheap and I don't have any in stock right now." Borris said, waving her out with a chuckle.

"Kids these days are crazy." Nythera and Leo departed from the shop and made way for the dungeon. Leo and Nythera cleared the dungeon in record time, Leo kiting rats and crabs alike, they got a handful of sparks, which they split 50/50. Nythera found a moment to dump the 6 spark coins into Boxy. Well, it's a start. But I'm still mostly broke. And a whole dungeon clear for 2 levels… is pretty slow. Level Acquired! Level Acquired! Multiple skills have leveled up! She shrugged At least I'm making steady progress.

I'm already far from the powerless pushover I used to be. It might be time to consider using this. She dumped every point into resonance, all 10. The leech ring was already paying off. [Evolution Token] If I use this, Aether bombard will get way stronger, but wayyyy more expensive. I could also upgrade any subskills to a primary skill… which is attractive, but I already have a lot of primary skills. She mentally connected the evolution token to Aether Bombard (lvl 4) (0 tokens) Skill Evolved!

Please select one option: Time remaining: 24h Aether Handcannon Aether Artillery: Summons a handcannon on a swivel, 20 flux per shell with 40 flux summon cost, 1 flux consumed per 10 seconds. Minimum Flux Quality: 120, Minimum Flux Control 90. For every level, breach depth and explosive yield by 1%, decrease reload time by 1%. Aether Culverin Aether Artillery: Summons a culverin construct, 50 flux per shell with 90 flux summon cost, 1 flux consumed per 4 seconds. Minimum Flux Quality: 120, Minimum Flux Control 120.

For every level, increase blast radius, breach depth, and explosive yield by 1%. Aether Organ Gun Aether Artillery: Summons an organ gun construct, 5 flux per shell with 75 flux summon cost, 1 flux consumed per 5 seconds. Minimum Flux Quality: 90, Minimum Flux Control 135. For every level, increase AOE, and explosive yield by 1%, decrease reload time by 1%. As expected…. You're not really meant to use an evolution token before ascending your class first…. Shit. Wish I could check the stat blocks for each…

sadly that doesn't seem to be an option. I know exactly what I need, bigger is better and I got flux to burn. She selected Aether Culverin. Now with that done, the token capacity on this should be… 1 left. She mentally connected one of her upgrade tokens to Aether Culverin. Feeling it grow more potent in an instant. I'll have to test it to figure out range and accuracy. If only these things came with specifications. I wonder what an augment token would do, could I get cannonballs that shoot lightning?

What would something like Grand Administrator do as a primary skill? Could I spend flux to increase yield? Who knows. As they went back on the Halsbury-Grandport road, "Hey Leo, ya got a minute fer a bite to eat?" An old man in farming gear called out from a table set up by the side of the road, overlooking a field of harvested Geldgrain.

"Oh oh, Miss Nyth look, we can go get some lunch, I'm starving, let's go eat, no time like the present to eat." Leo said, already heading toward the table. Leo dragged Nythera over to the table and both sat down. Before them lay a hearty meal, bread and bacon spread before them, boiled eggs and apples in bowls. Wow this looks fantastic!

"Hold yer horses a sec, others will be over to join us. I'm Meron by the way". Meron, the old farmer said, holding out his hand. Nythera grimaced. How much fucking strength does this guy have? Her hand was crushed once again. Shortly after, a man carrying 2 logs on either shoulder and a woman carrying a basket came down the road, waving. The man set the logs down by the bench. He was carrying… a tree on either shoulder!? Damn, the folk around here are way stronger than back in Vathrial.

"Sorry fer keepin' ya, Pa. I'm starvin', I am." He said, sitting down at the table. The woman set out some tomatoes from her basket and passed plates around for everyone. They said a prayer to Kronan, and began to eat.

"So, you're the gal I been hearin' yarns 'bout. Did a right fine job, missy. Hope you can help our li'l island flourish somethin' fierce." Meron said, mouth full of food.

"Reckon I'm hopin' our li'l Myrraval can rest easy now, them Karaveth folks ain't got a lick o' sense. With a proper lord, we'll whup 'em good and right." The young man said, shoving another three pieces of bacon into his mouth.

"Ah jest hope we can keep the peace 'round here and be left to our own devices, y'know." The old woman murmured.

"Them rock-slickers in Karaveth can't seem to mind their own corn, and we young'uns are itching for a scrap if they keep on." The young man retorted. They ate the rest of the meal gossiping about field crop yields and the latest fluxspawn sightings. Nythera tossed a piece of bacon to Talvik.

"Wasn't that a wonderful meal miss Nyth, always fun eating with Meron. Did you notice, people are excited, you're a local legend now, especially among the young ones, they keep talking about the "rise of Myrraval" and what not, so exciting, ah yes its this road." Leo said in one breath as usual, this time with a smile. He led her back to Edwin's house with speed.

"How was your excursion Nythera?" Edwin asked.

"It was good, I am getting stronger fast, but I'm exhausted now." Nythera said, going upstairs to crash.

"Oh and Edwin, can you see if you can get me a boat to Amplewood tomorrow, I need to go there as soon as possible". She asked half way up the stairs.

"What, why to Amplewood, this is too short notice miss…" Edwin stopped when he heard the door shut and Nythera thumped onto the bed.

"Shelly, can you run down to the docks and try to grab a boat for tomorrow morning, to Amplewood please." Edwin asked.

"Ugh, fine, why does she want to go to Amplewood?" She asked, putting her boots on.

"I have no idea." Nythera woke to Shelly knocking on the door.

"Rise and shine, the boat I got for you last night leaves in 30 minutes, get your ass down to the harbor, if you waste it, I'll be pissed." Shelly yelled through her door.

"What…boat? What? Oh, oh yea. BOAT" Nythera said, jumping out of bed. She ran out the door a few minutes later, Talvik squawking behind her. She reached the docks just a few minutes later, seeing sailors milling about and ships departing and docking constantly. Wait, which boat is it? Shelly never told me which boat!

"Quick hop aboard, witch!" A voice called to her from a boat that was beginning to drift out of the docks. Nythera ran up to the boat.

"Are you the ship Shelly chartered?" She asked hastily.

"That sounds right, hop on quick, we got to depart now if we want to make it in time to sell our catch" the sailor said, rigging lines aboard the small vessel. The sail was already being raised. Nythera took 5 steps back, breathed, ran forward and jumped onto the vessel. Barely cleared that. Talvik flew onto the mast, watching from above. Time to go find the depot, and maybe some answers.