God Class, page 24
Rae thought about it a moment, staring out of the smoke hole as a cloud drifted overhead. With a shrug he nodded contently.
“Okay, so one part of the plan is done,” Silas answered, meeting Rae’s nod with one of his own. Silas moved closer, standing near Rae and looking down the hallway as well. “We could do the same for Tulk too. She thinks I need three days, that leaves tomorrow for you, the next day for Tulk, then we could overpower her on the third day. We-”
“No, I do not think so,” Rae cut him off. “It is a good plan, and if we could even get to him then there is a chance. But… Well, the old guy has seen this before. He fought alongside humans during one of the last legs of the war. He witnessed Rainier’s power firsthand. I would say he would be reluctant at best to accept any bit of that for himself, and he may not fully trust either of us knowing the capabilities.”
“Right… We can leave that idea then. If it seems like we will have the shot, I’ll see if I can get him on board.”
“Now, what about your other abilities? Can you do anything like H’Alik?” He asked, glancing down the empty hall again. “Fire powers? Things like that?”
“Yes, and no. Unfortunately,” Silas answered, then he held out his hand and counted off one finger at a time. “There is Morning Star, my most powerful ability. However, it has a one month cool down and we are only on day three since I used it against the Forest Guardian.” Silas shook his head and back tracked a little. “Cooldowns are like timers…”
“Woah, woah, woah, hold on. Forest Guardian?” Rae raised an eyebrow, interjecting Silas’s explanation. “Like, big old tree with arms and legs?”
Silas nodded, “Yeah, are they common?”
Rae whistled, rolling his eyes like a cartoon character. “The opposite, there is only one to my knowledge. There are other Guardians as well, but only one for the forest. My parents used to tell me it roamed for miles at a time, checking in on wooded areas and protecting the inhabitants. If you did see it, you are very lucky. Last I heard, Rainier had hunted it down personally after it attacked his lumber harvesting crews. He tracked down every Guardian from what the rebel house could gather.”
“I’m sure, it definitely was the same one if there aren’t more of them. But when I attacked it was blasted away and then vanished. If I didn’t kill it, it probably left the forest.”
“Shame,” Rae said and shrugged, looking disappointed. “If you don’t mean harm to the forest it is supposed to be friendly. Would have liked to meet it.”
“Trust me, it was not friendly,” Silas answered quickly, a cold chill tingling his spine just at the thought of the creature. “Anyway, I have the Shadow Jab, which is the one you saw me use during the fights. Seems effective up close and hand-to-hand-”
“But she will roast you and eat you before you land the first hit. Got it,” Rae answered for him.
“Exactly, though you really didn’t have to mention that,” Silas answered with a sigh. “I have a brand new ability, Consecrated Grounds, but there is a risk it could cause the cavern to collapse in on us. Might be useful above ground, but even then, it does not have an enormous range, and we have the same problem.”
Silas closed his eyes and thought of the skill briefly.
Just as he assumed, it was far too risky. While not catastrophic rank, in a tight space it did not need to be. The healing was a perk, but how it would decipher who is and is not an ally could be a massive risk. He was not sure if even he considered Rae an ally just yet. With that in mind, he decided to keep the Seven Gifts of Divinity and Obliteration from Rae, along with his passive skills. The passive skills would not be of much use one way or the other, although he did make a mental note to try to figure out more about Godspeed when he could. Obliteration just seemed like something he should not share, ever, with anyone, and the Seven Gifts were just too valuable to give one away to Rae on a half-baked escape plan even if he did figure out how to use them. There was one more trick he had, and he figured he could share it.
“Anything else?” Rae asked, seeming a little let down.
Silas understood, the idea that the only abilities that can help may also kill them in the process was not appealing.
“Just one more, at least for right now. It is called Summon Familiar, and apparently it brings some kind of beast from another place to this one under my control. Our spirits are linked or something, and I can re-summon it every three days.”
Silas did not want to waste it, but he also had thought there would be more options for them to escape. If he could bring the creature back in three days, and if it was a big enough beast, then maybe it could get them out of their hole. Even if it caused a big enough distraction, they may be able to sneak by without too many issues. If that was the case, he promised himself he would come back for Tulk when he was strong enough.
“Yes! Yes!” Rae practically squealed, brightening and clapping before Silas even realized what was happening. “Sil, that’s it! That is the one!”
“What? The Familiar?” Silas asked with a raised brow. He had just thought the same thing but was still working the plan out.
“Yes! As I said, the emperor had a very similar ability. The creatures he brought could decimate dozens, if not hundreds, of well-trained and organized troops at a time. And these are mere Goblins! If the right creature comes forward, we may be able to practically dance our way out of here unnoticed.” Rae rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “I say we do it now. Right now!”
Silas nervously waved him off. “No way, not a good plan. We should wait, at least until we get you a class, potentially even Tulk. We need something concrete, a sure way to win or escape. If we have both of you with new powers, then a Familiar, we could escape and I could use the Consecrated Grounds skill to cover our retreat when we near an exit, closing the Goblins inside. That is a solid plan!”
“Yes, yes, it is…” Rae answered, but the gleam in his eye remained and the smile did not leave. “But, in that plan we are still waiting three days, yes?”
Silas slowly nodded back, knowing where this is going.
“Then, we should see what we are working with! If you summon some kind of gigantic worm creature, for instance, it could burrow us out right now with no issue. Then we will have waited for nothing! Additionally, if it is some kind of rabbit creature or a squirrel then we know to stick with our plan. See?”
He wanted to disagree with Rae, especially since he did not want to waste his [Summon Familiar] ability on a whim. But he could not fault the logic. Rae may have been mad, and odd, but he made a good point. So, Silas closed his eyes and focused on his Summon Familiar ability.
[Ability: Summon Familiar. Type: Planar. Rank: High. Cost: 646 Mana. Cooldown: 72 hours. Duration: Not applicable. Effect: Summons a familiar linked to the spirit of the user. The familiar will be unique to the summoner and will remain present until destroyed. The familiar will have its own set of stats and abilities and will be subject to evolutions based on its environment, diet, and summoner. Presence of a Familiar causes the Soul Companion buff, increasing passive Mana regeneration by 3x]
[Summon Familiar] his Helper’s voice began. [The Familiar will be unique to the summoner, and future summons will only re-summon the same creature back to assist. Unlock conjured creatures or ritual summons, a Familiar cannot be de-summoned and will remain active until death, from which it can be summoned again following the spell cooldown. Would you like to continue?]
Silas thought yes, feeling his childhood nostalgia bubbling up. Getting a creature of your own, leveling it up, then evolving it was a classic gaming style. If only he had a red ball to keep it in and gym badges to collect.
Unlike Minor Bestowment, he found that he did not need to say any phrases or do any movements. This one was purely mental, like a fishing line in his mind that was slowly pulling something from deep, dark water. He felt the tether, his creature on the line slowly approaching this world from their own. Silas squinted, his face tightened, and he found that suddenly it was as if he were pulling a massive ship with nothing but the force of his mind. He strained, his consciousness begging the creature to present itself and come free from the plane of its existence. Silas stumbled backward, bracing himself as the power of the new life form coursed through him. The power was rolling violets and greens, he could smell the brine of the ocean as if he were standing on the shoreline. Every sense was overwhelmed with something alive, something poisonous, something deadly. With a final strain he felt something in his core pop, and then his body was his own again.
“What is the name of the Dead Gods is that thing?” He heard Rae say, and it sent a jolt of fear into Silas.
He barely could open his eyes, afraid to see what monstrosity he has just unleashed on the world for the second time that day. Something clicked along the ground, like an enormous insect scurried along stone. Silas cracked his eyes open and searched the room carefully, cautiously. Then, from just below him, something called out with a bubbling voice of the crashing tide.
“Thing!” A burbling crab-like creature said from by his foot.
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Twelve
You Got Your Wish!
[Congratulations! You have completed a personal quest, A Familiar Soul: One. You now know what truly lurks within! Hope it is something impressive. Note, this is a personal quest and does not reward experience. Reward: Wisdom +1, Familiar stats +1]
[Your Familiar has now been added to your personal Underling System. New information available.]
“Gah!” Silas startled and stepped back from the small creature.
“Oh wow,” Rae said, bending down and looking at the crab for different angles. “What in the name of the Gods is it?”
Silas stared at it, and it stared back up at him from its eye stalks. The crab was shaped like a normal crab, slightly larger claws and longer legs but otherwise it was crab-like. It had a purple shell that shone like amethyst in the light, and it was speckled with cream-colored spots like a ladybug or a mushroom. Strangely, the creature appeared to mirror their gazes, tipping its body when Rae and Silas would tilt their heads for a better look, and the sound it had made was very similar to it repeating their own words. Its voice, if it was a voice, sounded like a babbling brook and popping bubbles, but the tone was low and inhuman.
Without wasting more time, Silas closed his eyes and focused on bringing up the Underling System information. It spread out before the dark like a tab with enough room for dozens, even hundreds, of Underlings. Currently he had one Underling floating in menu, and he noted that H’Alik was not present even though she was in his Godkin menu.
[Spore Strider Crustacean. Creature found in the in the Nakada Spirit Plane. It lives in shallow swamp lands, feeding on the poisonous creatures and plant life that inhabit what remains of Nakada. Spore Strider Crustaceans are capable of breaking small bones with the power of their claws and can spew a toxic fume that can melt stone at higher concentrations. A herd creature, Spire Strider Crustaceans spend most of their life in the partnership of others, often outside of their species, and can imitate sounds of their partners.]
[Level: Three. Melee Damage: 36. Poison Damage: 15-79 damager per second. Physical Defense: +11%. Magic Defense: +11%.]
[Possible Evolutions: Locked.]
“Huh,” Silas said as they stared at the creature. “It is a… Spore Strider Crustacean. A poisonous crab, I guess. Says they can imitate our voices to an extent, and that they spew a toxic fume. They also eat things that are poisonous, apparently.”
“Alright, so not a destructive force of nature then? More like… just a crab?”
“A poison crab,” Silas answered.
“Spore Strider… interesting. I know of other Spore Strider creatures, though they are rare. Are they? They could be. They should be. What were we saying?”
Silas was nervous about the creature. The Nakada Spirit Plane did not sound very promising on the surface, and the name Spore Strider wasn’t exactly inviting. Meaning this small creature may view both of them as hostile and choose to expel its toxic miasma at them, melting him like the rock mentioned in its description. At the very least, it would be capable of pinching them with bone-crushing force, which Silas would rather avoid if possible. As slowly and hesitantly as possible, Silas moved his hand toward the creature with his palm raised.
“Easy now,” he said, beckoning for it to climb on. “I’m your partner now, it is okay.”
“What are you doing, Sil?” Rae queried, a puzzled and concerned expression smeared on his face. He took several steps back to be safe.
“It’s alright, this is supposed to be my Familiar right? And the information said it was a partner creature, so it likes to be social.”
“Partner!” It bellowed again in the tone of a rolling wave.
“See?” Silas said, briefly glancing to Rae then back at the creature. It slowly inched towards his hand, its legs clicking along the stone, and Silas returned his focus on it. “Come on, climb up.”
The crustacean was timid as it placed one of its pointed legs on the palm of Silas’s hand. It poked around, as if to test the hand before committing to it. It looked up at Silas before moving any further.
“Partner!”
Silas smiled and gave it a nod. “That’s right, little crab. Partner.”
The crab had been larger than Silas’s hand, but only by a slight margin. The body itself was the size of his palm, and the legs had to pinch in closer in order to stay on his hand fully. It was off-balance at first as Silas raised his hand, and the creature tried to steady itself by reaching out with its mighty pincers for reprieve several times. Eventually, noticing that this would not work as easily as Silas had wanted, he placed the creature on his shoulder; he thought that if the crustacean wanted to parrot whatever they said, then he would treat it like a parrot. The crustacean approved and steadied itself along Silas’s left shoulder, but he knew he would need to get a shirt soon this way the Familiar had something to hang on to besides just Silas’s skin.
It was surprisingly better in this position. When Silas turned to face Rae, the creature did not slip or stumble, and when Silas turned his head, it instinctually moved out of the way. There was only one real downside to this means of transportation for it.
“Partner!” It shouted again, this time directly in Silas’s ear.
“Ah! Damn it!” Silas said, turning his head and rubbing at his ear.
“Aw, she likes you!” Rae said, moving closer again to examine the crab. He jerked away suddenly when it reached out a kiwi sized claw and playfully snapped at his beard.
“She? How do you know it’s a she?”
“Easy,” Rae answered, then ducked low to look at the underside of the creature. “When you’ve spent as much time as I have on a ship, you learn a thing or two. Its underbelly has a dark, circular shape. It’s a female crab alright.” Feeling confident, Rae stood back up, nodding and reassuring his assessment. “What will you name her?”
“Partner!”
Silas shot his ear away again and rubbed at it as if it were falling off.
“Hadn’t really got that far,” he grunted. “Maybe The Shouting Shellfish?”
“The Crying Crustacean?” Rae added.
“The Calling Crab?”
“Crab!” It shouted and broke off their concentration.
“I do not believe I will ever get used to that,” Rae said, moving away towards the doorway. “Really is not a shout or cry at all, is it? More of a burbling sound, like an old, polluted brook.”
“Huh,” Silas exclaimed softly, then rubbed a finger along the back of its shell. It did not seem to mind, or even notice all that much at all. “Burbles. I like it.”
“Burbles? Burbles the poison crab?” Rae said, checking the hall.
“No,” Silas said in a mocking tone. “Burbles the Spore Strider Crustacean.”
“By the dead Gods, I-”
Rae didn’t get the chance to answer.
A frantic voice came echoing from down the hall. It grew louder, soon their footsteps could be heard rushing down toward them. Rae moved back from the door, and Silas quickly moved to grab the canvas pack that H’Alik had given him, motioning Burbles to go inside and hide. The creature was timid, but Silas could sense the smallest link between them. It was a single thread, and when he focused on it the visual thought of a flowing strand faded blue energy, like a ghastly line of spider silk. He concentrated on that with ideas of trust and sincerity, visualizing his words and ideas climbing the thread like a tight rope. He added in just a touch of external danger which finally sent the crab scurrying inside. A sense of relief came over the both of them. Silas was pretty sure that if the Goblins ate Burbles, they would die, considering it is extremely poisonous and all, but he didn’t want to sacrifice his new Familiar on the off chance that H’Alik happened to eat from that single stew pot by tomorrow.
Without further delay, Silas threw the pack onto his back, waiting for their unwelcome guest.
The footsteps were rushed, heavily beating against stone and dirt as they grew louder with each breath. They prepared themselves for the worst, Silas fearing that H’Alik had lost control of her new powers somehow and they would be coming for him. Then, they both sighed in unison as a familiar shape broke the darkness.
Tulk rushed in, gasping for air and covering his chest with both hands. The trainer looked as though he had run a marathon or two, his eyes darting back and forth as he desperately fought to take a deep breath. He halted, bending down as if he would collapse.
“Tulk? What’s going on?” Silas said, and Burbles crawled from the pack’s open mouth to peer over Silas’s shoulder with its two eyestalks. She must have sensed the fleeting relief Silas had felt when Tulk was the one who entered and wanted to get a better look.
“Old man, you nearly gave the two of us-” Rae cut himself off, seeing the crab creature now sitting on Silas’s shoulder. “Three of us heart attacks!” He approached Tulk, laying a hand on the trainer’s shoulder and giving two firm pats as Tulk rose upright again.
