Rune Mage Unchained (Broken System Book 2), page 2
One day when Nicole was telling them a story, it just clicked. Suddenly he knew what it was he had to do. He had to exploit the exploit. Benjamin spent the next few days feverishly creating a new spell: Data Leak.
In a sense it was a war dialer, which was a term that was old when he’d been young; basically it took advantage of the same openings he’d just spent the last couple of weeks closing. Then, once it was inside, it would suggest that the very system that enslaved them all gave you the key to its own defenses.
Despite the fact that he had magic, he still couldn’t make math go faster when he was checking every single possibility. Fortunately, he no longer needed to do that. Instead he’d just use those same security gaps meant to allow for the mage’s foul commands to smuggle data back out.
“After all,” he’d excitedly explained to his friends once he’d cracked the case, “the log files aren’t even encrypted! It’s like they want to make this easy for us!”
No one had proved particularly interested, but mostly, everyone was glad that he’d made a breakthrough, even if it proved to be a remarkably easy trick to accomplish. However, before he finalized the spell, he needed to work on the contagion effect so that it became self-spreading.
There was no way that he was going to be able to cast this spell dozens or hundreds of times in the heat of battle. There, at least, he was still stymied, because there were some parts of that he hadn’t quite worked out.
That was fine. It would come to him.
Benjamin had no idea what month it would be in the real world but imagined that it was January or close to it, so he had months left to figure everything out. He used the break to help Raja with his bow project. Lesser creation wasn’t very good at putting complex objects together, but it was pretty good at shaping simple ones, and together with Raja, they proceeded to slice a piece of wood into thin segments and then melt them back together with magic in such a way that the grain alternated.
On Earth, this would have involved glue, and the block of wood they would have ended up with would have been called a laminate. Here, though, it was better. There was no glue. It was just a piece of wood with an impossible amount of rigidity for its size, and that was something that Raja could shape to be what he needed one slow draw of his knife at a time.
It still wasn’t as good as the sweet compound bow he’d lost. When it was done, it was going to be worlds better than what he was struggling to hunt with right now.
That routine wore on for months, and it was only when they were all about to go stir-crazy that they started sparing in earnest. One morning, after weeks where not even a single monster had been sighted, and they just couldn’t take sitting in the warm, dark little cave they’d built, they decided to work out some aggression in the yard.
At first, Benjamin convinced himself it was like calisthenics but slightly more aggressive. However, after watching Nicole take Raja apart in a series of armlocks that surprisingly didn’t require healing, he decided it was more like MMA or boxing, and immediately began dreading his turn.
Matt called the winner of that fight as it started, which pitted him against Nicole. This was a fight worth watching. Raja had no real training in melee combat, so he was every bit as lost as Benjamin would be compared to these two. When it came to Matt versus Nicole, it was a conflict of strength against speed.
Initially, Matt refused to strike the girl, letting her score hit after hit with fast kicks and leaping strikes. However, once he got his hands on her, he forced her to the ground, putting her facedown in the snow until she conceded simply because she was freezing.
That just left him and Emma to slug it out after that. Benjamin honestly wasn’t sure who was going to win this one, given Matt’s hesitance to hurt her before now. He quickly became more interested in just how different Nicole and Emma were fighting.
Nicole used her long legs to overcome the reach disadvantage from her short stature, but Emma moved inside Matt’s guard as soon as possible. She stayed there almost the whole time. Somehow she managed to weave out just in time before he could catch her in his grip. In the end, he was certain that if she’d had her knives instead of her fists, Matt would be a dead man, even with his healing.
Still, as it was, she could never hope to bring him down barehanded, and eventually he walked away rather than get serious with the woman he loved. Which, of course, meant that it was his turn to face off against her.
“Come on, Benji,” she purred. “I’ll go easy on you. We can fight with one hand tied behind my back.”
He thought about it for a moment but knew he still wouldn’t have a chance. “How about I admit defeat proactively, and you two try to help us learn a few useful moves instead,” he volunteered. “There’s no way that Raja or I can beat a pair of ninjas like you two.”
Emma seemed genuinely disappointed that he wasn’t about to let her wipe the floor with him, but it was the look that Nicole gave Raja that was infinitely more telling: there was no way that the two of them weren’t banging during the times he went off on all those long hunts. Not after the flicker of smolder he just saw.
This, at least, they agreed to, and with a short explanation, the boys found themselves being put through their paces by the girls. Despite the falling temperatures, the vigorous exercise kept all of them at least a little warm, but the whole time, he was more than a little distracted.
Suddenly, Benjamin found himself both jealous of and happy for his friend. Nicole still wore her wedding ring, which struck him as a little weird, but she was cute, and even a little sweet, like Emma used to be.
He hoped they’d be happy together, just like he hoped that Emma and Matt would figure out a way to be together again. Not that it seemed likely at this point. He’d be perfectly happy being the fifth wheel for a while if everyone else got to be happy.
At least until I find a nice elf girl to settle down with, he decided with a smirk.
It was that fantasy that cost him. Until that moment, Emma had been taking it easy on him and letting him practice his blocks in a way that was challenging but doable. The moment he looked distracted, though, she delivered a savage jab to his solar plexus that brought him to his knees.
She let him lay there dazed in the snow for a moment before she helped him to his feet. When she did that, she whispered, “The next time you lose focus, I might kill you myself.”
Shortly after that they all went back inside the hovel to warm up. Despite the bruised bodies and egos, everyone thought that what they’d just done was a good idea, and that they should probably do it more often. Even Benjamin agreed. Despite how psychotic Emma could be, it had still been time well spent.
After that, the rest of the day was pretty normal, and Benjamin was dead asleep when Nicole came back in and woke everyone sometime in the middle of the night. “You have to come quickly!” she shouted excitedly. “Hurry, come on!”
As he struggled against sleep’s formidable grasp and tugged on his shoes, Benjamin noted that she didn’t sound afraid. Still, he didn’t know what else it could possibly be.
The tree was on fire! No, that wasn’t quite right, he realized as he rubbed his bleary eyes and braced himself against the night’s chill. The tree wasn’t on fire, but it was covered in light.
For the last couple of months, the conifer had been growing steadily. Now it was over ten feet tall and had completely devoured the table that it had originally been planted on, granting it a particularly wide trunk.
For the last couple of weeks, nodules had been forming all over the tree near the tips of branches. They had expected they’d be able to harvest nuts or something similar soon, now that the fruits had finally stopped growing. That didn’t seem likely now.
Instead of food, they’d all burst open and become… ornaments. Some had become sparkler-like candles, but most of them were instead little lacquered ornaments or small luminous flowers with long tinsel-like tassels.
When the Throne’s emissary had used the word Yule, Benjamin had been sure she meant something else, and the system was somehow mistranslating it, but it was hard to look at the tree before him and see anything but a Christmas tree.
“What in the…” Emma mouthed, perfectly stating what he was thinking.
As he looked it over again now that he was more awake, Benjamin noticed that there was even a star on the tree and that the closer he stood to the whole decorated affair, the warmer it got. For days, he’d been expecting another random, or maybe not-so-random, attack.
Since they all had so little to do, everyone but Raja was taking a turn standing watch while their hunter focused solely on the task of trying to find them a little fresh meat every few days. Based on how few days he was succeeding, it was becoming clear to everyone just how much harder that was getting as the winter dragged on.
“Who would have thought that elves had Santa Claus,” Matt said dismissively as he reached up and grabbed one of the reflective ornaments and bit into it. “Hmmmm… Toffee. Pretty good!”
Benjamin and Raja exchanged looks as he did so. At first, he was merely concerned that it might not be something he should be sticking into his mouth. As powerful as his healing magic was, Benjamin wasn’t sure it could cure every poison or replace a tooth if his friend broke one.
Once he said that they were candy, the looks they exchanged transformed into eagerness. As one, everyone started a sugar-fueled gold rush that only those who’d slowly grown to hate bitter acorns and tough jerky over the last few months would ever truly be able to appreciate.
Color quickly became the guide to what ornament was what flavor. The golden ornaments were toffee or caramel, the colorful red ones were raspberry and strawberry flavored, and the dark ones were chocolate. They quickly became the most sought-after treats.
They all spent a few moments shivering in the dark as they pigged out. After that, they agreed that perhaps some should be saved for tomorrow, and all the other days after that.
“I suppose,” Nicole agreed, “but will it be the same without this wonderful spectacle to accompany it?”
Benjamin was forced to agree with her sentiment. Having candy would be a nice morale boost and a ready source of calories, but it definitely wouldn’t inspire the same wonder as waking up to this unexpected surprise.
They were able to continue to enjoy the whole thing for a little while longer as they picked the tree clean of anything that was edible. Emma and Matt even showed a rare instance of teamwork and she sat on his shoulders to grab the dozens of candy ornaments that were tucked away in the high places near the top of the tree.
About the time they’d finished, the candles had burned down to near-stumps, and there was nothing left on the branches for the tiny sparklers to reflect off of.
“So, then I guess we should…” Benjamin started to suggest that they all went back inside where it was warm, but as he spoke, the entire tree burst into flames.
Like dry kindling, the whole thing went up in seconds, illuminating the whole snow-covered clearing outside their hovel in the warm orange light as everyone stepped back, fearing some kind of bizarre trap or an attack. Benjamin’s mind even flicked to the idea that what they’d just eaten might have been poisoned, but the fireworks that quickly followed put him at least a little at ease.
Somewhere, hidden inside all the branches that were quickly burning away, there were some kind of… Roman Candles? That was the closest parallel that Benjamin could think of for the fiery little balls that erupted out of the burning tree.
Each of them looked to be no larger than a grape or a cherry, but as they shot skyward. Then, once they got high enough, they exploded over everyone’s head in little patterns of green and gold sparkling light.
It was an unexpected delight, and despite the late hour, they all stood there transfixed for another few minutes as the unexpected show dazzled them. It was a wonderful moment, and for the first time in a long time, Benjamin found himself not needing to worry about what they needed to do next. He just stood back and enjoyed it.
It wasn’t until morning that they found the presents.
Matt had found their faces burned into the bulges of the trunk while he was collecting the partially-charred branches that had fallen off the tree before being entirely consumed. They were running as low on firewood as they were on food, after all. Their situation was growing desperate enough that Benjamin had planned to start using his creation magic to thin the walls of their cabin to get more, so every little bit helped.
By the time he’d come in to tell them what he’d found, no one was interested. At least they weren’t until he showed them what had been inside the tree. The torc was obviously made by hand out of a single piece of ivory in the shape of a snake, with deep black gems where its eyes should be.
“That’s nice, man, but—” Benjamin started to say.
“Check my sheet,” Matt insisted, forcing Benjamin to sit up and log into his friend’s interface. The result was interesting, to say the least.
“Huh…” Benjamin mused, “An honest-to-goodness magic item. Crazy.”
As he studied it, to see if he might be able to access it via his terminal, Nicole asked, “Were there any more?” By then, Raja and Emma were already forcing themselves out of bed for the second time in one day and heading outside to see for themselves.
“In the stump, there were… like caricatures of our faces, and while I was studying mine…” Matt hesitated. “Well, it kinda broke open, and I found this inside.”
“I see,” Benjamin said skeptically. He was certain that whatever the depiction was, Matt had not cared for it and had punched right through it. He could practically see it in his mind’s eye.
“Well, I mean - I’d love to give you more information about this,” Benjamin said as he stood and slipped on his shoes, “But I can’t. It’s completely incompatible with the system, sorta like Mac and PC, you know?”
Benjamin could see that Matt, in fact, did not know, not anymore. So, he continued. “My best guess is that the system is reading the effect it has on you and interpreting it because it has no way of reading the actual thing itself.”
“Well, then, how do we know it’s not doing something negative?” Matt asked.
“I mean - we don’t, I guess, but if it was, it would be showing up as some kind of status, I think,” Benjamin said as he walked outside. “The real question is, ‘Why the hell is the faerie queen giving us freaking Christmas presents?’”
It was a good question, and no one had a good answer, though Nicole did volunteer. “I mean, aren’t there stories about how you shouldn’t accept gifts from Faeries?”
Benjamin thought there were, but other than Rumplestilskin and Cinderella, nothing really came to mind, so he had no answer. Once he stepped outside and saw what his friends were up to, all thoughts about danger were forgotten.
Sitting on the remains of the stump, Emma was trying on a pair of sleek, black moccasins.
Accessory: Swift Striders
+10% to movement speed, +5 to stealth actions
“Lucky you,” he said to her.
The smile she returned was almost feral. She’d just been complaining that her shoes were practically worn through, and replacements were going to be hard to come by. His hiking shoes had fared a little better, but they were looking pretty rough too, along with everything else he owned.
As he watched, Raja was pulling out a short bow made of delicate silvered wood that looked seriously impressive. Before Benjamin had time to study it, his gaze was drawn to the charred face on one of the bulges of the trunk that looked most like his own. So, he stepped toward that oddity instead.
Nicole did likewise, and he noticed how easily she punched through it and pulled out a cloak that was such a dark green that it bordered on black. She put it on without hesitation, and he could see she instantly stopped shivering. That was enough to make Benjamin check out her gift, too.
Accessory: Watchman’s Cloak
Resistance to elements, +5 to nature-based checks.
To Benjamin, it was more than a little strange that this tree just happened to be giving everyone exactly what they wanted. He had no idea how it could possibly do that, except, you know, magic. Still, it was enough to raise his suspicions as he looked at the simplified version of his smiling face, and for a moment, all he could do was wonder what it was he really wanted.
A breakthrough in his virus program? Some better food? If he had to guess, he’d say what he wanted more than anything was for the damage he’d so foolishly done to his soul to be removed, but that didn’t seem likely.
He’d patiently waited for weeks, hoping that the major soul scar depicted on his character sheet would fall to minor soul scar as things healed. Hell, at this point, I’d happily take a plain old soul scar rather than the alternative, he thought angrily.
It had never improved, though. To this day, he had half the mana he should have because of the damage he'd inflicted, along with his least-worst-case workaround. It aggravated him, but there wasn’t a lot he could do about it. Still, for a moment he allowed himself to believe that the strange nature magic of this world could.
Embarrassingly, he was the only one who had to hit the wood twice to break the fragile bark layer that served as wrapping paper. The first time, he’d been unable to shake the feeling that it was going to be solid and he was going to break his hand. So, he endured a few snickers as he broke it on the second, stronger punch.
The result was a small… locket? No, that was the wrong word. It was an amulet of some kind, and as soon as he opened up his identify window, he was pleased to see it agreed with him. It was just a chunk of amber shaped into a heart on a delicately braided leather thong, but that was still enough to make it the nicest thing he owned.
Accessory: Heart of the Wild
