Unforeseen path, p.24
Unforeseen Path, page 24
“It’s fine,” Oránn sarcastically said loud enough to drown out Hollysharp as she tried to calm the man down, “We have a solid plan for raising the ship to the surface.”
“A solid plan,” Hollysharp’s arms shot over her head dramatically, “This has never been done before!”
“Hollysharp,” a stern voice called out from behind them, “leave the poor man alone.”
“Grahorn!” Hollysharp happily shrieked in a high-pitched voice as everyone turned around to see Captain Lightouch from the Wind Dancer leading the last group of seventeen people over to be armored up.
“I’m glad to see you’re doing well, Prustine,” Captain Lightouch warmly said as he exchanged hugs with the small Gnomeling female. Sparing a brief glance over his shoulder, the Gnomeling lowered his voice, “This is the group of newfars that Ianfalcon was warning you about.”
“Newfars,” Hollysharp spat the word like a curse as she turned toward the group swimming over to them.
“I hope this isn’t going to take all day,” Jill loudly complained as she swam, “cause I’m about done with this Sea Elf city.”
“Tell me about it,” Krystal agreed, “aren’t capital cities supposed to have a bunch of shops?”
“Didn’t Jay say this city was ransacked around a week ago?” AJ asked as he kept up with the pair.
“Yep,” Thomas dryly answered, before adding, “this place has actually cleaned up a lot since the last time we were here.”
“I’m actually surprised there’s as much as there is to buy in the shops,” Zhou agreed. Seeing the rest of the non-Devil Dog players glance at her in surprise, the Rogue gave them an indifferent shrug, “I’m just saying.”
“I don’t know what the big deal is,” Kenzie said, the exasperation clear in her voice, “Weren’t you guys running quests the entire day?”
“She’s just upset that Fire magic doesn’t work so well underwater,” Sarka mockingly called out from further back.
“Aren’t you using Dark magic?” Kenzie asked, turning back to her girlfriend questioningly, “Because, that shit’s the bomb.”
“That’s not the point-” Jill began to irritably say when Sara cut her off.
“It’s not the same as blasting shit with fire!” That got several amused hoots from the group.
“Seriously, you’d have thought that magic would work underwater,” Hefe said from where he swam with Bonny Smash, “It’s like …”
“Water is the exact opposite of fire?” Tinyr helpfully asked.
“Yeah,” Hefe exclaimed, before realizing what the Rogue had actually said, “No, I mean-GAH!”
“I think they get it, Honey Bear,” Bonnie Smash said, cutting him off as she wrapped her arm around his waist with the other over his mouth. His little arms and legs flailing helplessly as she hugged him to her chest and kept on swimming.
“You already know the Devil Dogs and Lord Ironwolf’s old group,” Captain Lightouch said, drawing their focus back to him, “but there are a few new friends with them as well.” He flashed a toothy smile. “So, try to do what you can to make them feel welcome.”
“We will do what we can, Morgan,” Lara assured General Dell. After being chained together on a Sea Orc trireme, his change in rank didn’t alter their relationship in the least.
“Wonderful,” Hollysharp sarcastically muttered as she listened to the two of them.
“Just be happy you don’t have to travel with them for days on end,” Captain Lightouch grunted in a low voice, giving her a hard clap on the back. Raising his voice, he called out to the group floating to a stop around them, “Hollysharp and her friends will get all of you geared up as promised. Once you’re finished, come back to the Wind Dancer and we’ll get underway.”
“About fucking time,” Jill muttered a little too loudly under her breath.
“It shouldn’t take too long, Captain,” Thomas politely said louder than necessary to drown the Fire mage out as he gave the older man a friendly nod.
“Excellent,” Captain Lightouch said, ignoring Jill as he turned to the Human floating next to Hollysharp, “Come on, General Dell, let’s get your troopers loaded up the best we can.”
“Alrighty, there are places on the Black Coral that are clearly marked for you to stand on,” Hollysharp called out in a high-pitched voice as the Gnomeling and Humans swam away, “if you’ll take your spots, we’ll have the Black Coral grow to fit your individual bodies.”
“Where’s the Red Coral?” Sarka interrupted, catching Hollysharp off guard as all but two of the women in the group swam up to her while the rest headed over to the Black Coral reef, “I want a set of armor like what Phoenix is wearing.”
“Um, I don’t work with the Red Coral,” Hollysharp stuttered, slightly taken aback at the request as the Sea Elf swam over to them.
“As per Queen Naeris’s orders, I can assist with that,” Oránn politely announced as she placed a calming hand on the Gnomeling’s shoulder.
“Wait, we can do Red Armor?” Hefe suddenly asked as he pushed out of his girl’s arms.
“Yeah, I’d like to get a set of that too, if possible,” Bonnie Smash agreed as they both excitedly swam over.
“That’s not an issue,” Oránn assured the pair, before calling out to the rest of the newfar as Hollysharp gave her the stink eye. “Is there anyone else that wants Red Coral armor instead of Black?”
“Yeah, Yun does,” Sarka said, perking up as she waved for her husband to join them.
“I don’t know if that’s the best idea, honey,” Yun said under his breath as he floated over, “As a Healer, I don’t want to stick out too-”
“Just think how cool it’ll be,” Sarka said, waving his protests away, “we’ll have matching armor.”
“I don’t want that to mess up my ability to Stealth,” Yun quietly pushed not liking this one bit.
“It never stopped Phoenix,” Sarka dismissively said as her husband frowned
“Um, she doesn’t-” Yun began to argue only to be cut off by the Sea Elf.
“Is that everyone?” Oránn asked again as the Gnomeling floated up next to her.
“What are you doing?” Hollysharp demandingly hissed.
“Um, dealing with as many of the newfar as I can so you have less of a workload,” Oránn whispered back. A smile suddenly came to her face as she arched an eyebrow at the difficult Gnomeling, “Don’t tell me you’re jealous that they want another color.”
“I’m not jealous,” Hollysharp defensively snapped.
“Good,” Oránn said in the same amused tone, “because regardless of the color, the magic tech is the same.”
“The coral armor isn’t what makes it so special,” Hollysharp dismissively said as the Sea Elf rolled her eyes at the Gnomeling’s refusal to admit their grown armor was impressive magic-tech, “it’s how I’ve been combining it with the armor they’re currently wearing.” Hollysharp gave her a severe look. “Don’t you be messing this up-”
“Like you did with that Darom guard?” Oránn innocently asked.
“That Darom guard’s armor was crap!” Hollysharp shrilly said as the Sea Elf stifled a grin.
“Hollysharp!” Lara sharply exclaimed as the Gnomeling flinched at her chastising tone.
The truth of the matter was that, by now, all of them knew how to combine people’s existing armor with the grown coral. At least, if it was worth combining. That Darom guard’s armor just didn’t have any buffs that were worth integrating. Hollysharp just had problems admitting that the rest of them were capable of doing professional work. Though it was annoying, it was basically because the Gnomeling only had respect for other Academy of Technomancy graduates.
“If that’s everyone,” Oránn said, not bothering to respond to the Gnomeling’s unspoken insult as she began swimming away, “Just follow me to the other reef and we’ll get that crafted right up.”
“Alrighty then, if everyone will get into …” Hollysharp’s voice died away as she suddenly realized there were still three female newfar floating in front of her. Swallowing her first three responses, she faced the group and let out an exasperated sigh, “I can’t really do anything to help gear you up if you’re not standing on the Black Coral.”
“That’s not really something we would want,” Jill indifferently said while fluffing out the back of her hair.
“Why would my Black Coral armor not be something for the two of you?” Hollysharp asked as her voice rose a notch.
“We’re mages,” Krystal explained as if the Gnomeling was an idiot, “it’s not like the armor is going to give us any benefits in comparison to the buffs that we already have.”
“Yeah,” Sara agreed, “I’m not about to lose the plus one hundred thirty points to Intelligence my mage robes give.”
“Obviously, that extra hundred thirty points to Intelligence isn’t being put to full use,” Hollysharp sneered at the other female.
“What did your little midget-ass just say to me?” Sara demanded as Jill and Krystal both bristled at the implied insult to their friend.
“Why would you have to lose your existing buffs?” Lara calmly asked as if the Gnomeling hadn’t said a word.
“Because we’d be ditching our mage robes!” Jill snarled in the same tone as she glared at the Gnomeling.
“Another one that can’t fully use their boosted attributes,” Hollysharp quipped to the incredulous trio as the Grimal kin put her arm around the Gnomeling and forcibly pulled the Gnomeling to her side.
“Not helping, Hollysharp dear. Remember, Captain Lightouch asked us to be polite,” Lara counseled.
“This is me being nice,” Hollysharp grumbled under her breath as the Grimal kin addressed the newfar.
“Actually, that won’t be an issue.” Lara let her claws dig into the Gnomeling’s upper arm in a warning. “Our wonderful Runemaster here has come up with a technique to combine your existing armor or,” she nodded to the mages, “clothing to the process. This allows your current magic buffs to be transferred to the Black Coral armor.”
“You mean, we’ll get the buffs we currently have with whatever the Black Coral armor naturally comes with?” Krystal asked as the trio seemed to lose their anger.
“What part of transferred do you not-” Hollysharp began sharply saying only to yelp in pain as the Grimal kin let her claws break the skin on the Gnomeling’s arm.
“What my friend Hollysharp meant to say,” Lara continued as if nothing had happened while Honey crossed her arms over her chest with a satisfied look on her furry face, “Is that’s exactly how the process works. Though, I imagine, we’ll have to assist the process with your robes manually.”
“Oh fuck, yeah!” Sara cheerfully exclaimed, “no more being stabbed to death when an enemy gets within melee range!”
“Okay, that is cool,” Jill admitted as her anger immediately dissipated.
“So, what do you need us to do?” Krystal asked in excitement.
“The same thing I told you to do in the beginning,” Hollysharp sarcastically said, shaking Lara’s arm away, “Take your place on the Black Coral Reef so I can grow the armor over you like everyone else.”
“Damn, you have a mouth on you,” Jill murmured in an almost impressive tone as she shook her head at the Gnomeling’s audacity.
“Come,” Lara said, nodding to Honey for a hand, “we’ll give you a hand getting your current gear prepared for the conversion.”
“Now that’s been resolved, we can get to work,” Hollysharp announced to the group as Lara and Honey began working with the trio, “Since all of you have armor that you want to integrate, we’ll start with your boots and pants first …”
“My name is Lara,” Lara politely said, before nodding to the Badger kin standing next to them, “and this is my friend, Honey.”
“Nice to meet-” Honey began to say, when Jill let out an explosive breath that came out as a burst of bubbles.
“You’re joking right?” Jill asked, chortling openly.
“I don’t see what you’re finding so funny,” Honey stiffly said as her hackles unconsciously rose on the back of her neck.
“Um, Jill,” Krystal hissed under her breath, “Are you purposely trying to piss her off?”
“That’s not cool,” Sara seconded as she began nervously nodding her head in agreement.
“I’m sorry,” Jill gasped as she doubled over in laughter, “but … you have to admit … it’s funny as hell.”
“Yeah,” Honey’s words came out in a half-growl, “Please explain what’s so funny about my name?”
“You don’t get the joke?” Jill asked, looking back and forth between her friends. Seeing that neither Krystal nor Sara was getting it, she blurted out, “She’s a Honey Badger!”
“A Honey Badger?” Krystal asked, not getting the reference as Sara’s eyes suddenly got wide.
“What does this Honey Badger term mean to newfar?” Honey demanded as she began to swell up in anger.
“It’s not bad,” Jill assured the Beast kins as her face turned beet red.
“She’s not lying,” Sara agreed as Krystal looked at her girlfriends in annoyance.
“Then, what does it mean?” Krystal asked as Lara and Honey gave the newfar a surprised look at being as confused as them.
“A younger woman that likes older men,” Jill said, busting out laughing.
“I don’t know if I should feel insulted or not,” Honey huffed as Lara frowned in agreement.
“It also means someone that doesn’t take anyone’s shit,” Sara helpfully added.
“I thought a Honey Badger was something like a Tasmanian Devil?” Krystal asked in confusion.
“Naw, that’s what a Tasmanian Devil checks for under their bed for when they go to sleep,” Jill joked as Honey cocked her head to the side.
“So, you’re saying that Honey Badgers are badass?” Honey skeptically asked as her fur began to lay back down.
“More or less,” Sara said as Krystal and Jill both nodded in agreement.
“If you’re finished joking around,” Lara said, settling down somewhat as she turned to Krystal, “I can start with you first.”
“Oh, okay,” Krystal stuttered in surprise, “my name is Tatheirel.”
“And, I’m Sara,” Sara politely added, nodding to both Beast kin females.
“A pleasure to meet you, Sara,” Lara pleasantly said, “Honey will work with you.”
“Hey,” Jill complained, “What about me?”
“And your name is?” Lara asked, arching an eyebrow.
“Kriminali,” Jill said as the Beast kin females sagely nodded in unison. Frowning, she continued in an annoyed tone, “What’s up with that?”
“Kriminali means last in Beast kin,” Lara succinctly explained as she turned to Krystal. “Now, the first thing I need you to do, Tatheirel is take off your robes.”
“Um, sure,” Krystal replied as Honey nodded for Sara to do the same.
“The hell?” Jill complained as both her friends snickered at the offended look on her face, “Are you serious?”
“Indubitably,” Lara said without turning around as she took the robe from the Dark Elf Priestess. “We’ll remove your belt and shoulder pads for now,” the Grimal kin explained as she removed the separate pieces. Drawing a dagger, she began slicing the sides of the robes with the sharp blade.
“We’ll let the front and back be their own pieces that you can use overtop your leg armor.” Lara slid the blade into the sheath at her waist. “Now, watch this.”
Kneeling down, Lara held the U-shaped piece of cloth over the Black Coral reef as she began pushing her mana into the coral reef beneath her. In less than five seconds, the top of a breastplate began growing up out of the coral beneath their feet. Draping the magic cloth over the top of it as it grew up out of the Black Coral on what looked like an armor stand, she focused on having the growth merge with the magic fabric.
Within twenty seconds, the breastplate was completed. It was still connected to the reef with an arm and pole that almost looked like a clothing hanger. The magic robe was fully integrated into the front and back of the fabric with a two-foot length of cloth hanging from the front and back of the armor. It was the only part of the robe that was still recognizable. Shaping the armor with her mind, Lara crafted the ends into something that like looked like a loincloth or the lower part of a tabard.
“Okay, now,” Lara said, motioning to Tatheirel, “Slide up into it from the bottom, and let’s see how it fits.”
It took a of couple tries to get the shape right so that Tatheirel’s breasts didn’t feel like they were being crushed. Luckily, the preplanned shapes were easy enough to create after Oránn’s people had created the basic shapes. Getting a nod from the Dark Elf that the fit was good, Lara began working on the shoulder pads and equipment belt.
Once that was done, the Grimal kin had the Black Coral grow up around Tatheirel’s legs to form the greaves. She helped the other woman to remove her soft suede leather boots. It took only a moment to grow the knee-high boots and combine them with the soft material, before helping the Dark Elf step into them. She did the same with the shoulder pads and put them in place, before lastly doing the same with the cloth gloves that went up to her elbows. Stepping back, she gave the other female a visual once over.
“How does that feel?” Lara asked.
“Surprisingly light,” Krystal said, a note of awe in her voice as she looked at the stats, “And all of the bonuses on my gear transferred over without an issue.”
“Yes,” Lara agreed, “it’s a process that our Runemaster Hollysharp figured out.”
“I’d expected it to be much heavier,” Sara said in a bemused tone as she tried out her own armor.
“Excellent,” Honey replied, stepping back to watch the Devil Dog try out her range of motion in the new armor, “If nothing is too tight, I’ll go ahead and separate you from the reef.”
“I think it’s good,” Sara said.
“Me too,” Krystal agreed.
“Now, Kriminali,” Lara said, after disconnecting Tatheirel from the reef, “if you’ll strip down, Honey and I will get you fixed up.”
