Extemporaneous peregrina.., p.16
Extemporaneous Peregrination 3, page 16
part #3 of Pentacle Series
Bedelia had only realized too late how wrong they were.
CHAPTER 19
The elderly dwarven woman somehow looked positively ancient as she squeezed shut her wrinkly eyes in an attempt to ward off a pounding migraine. The cavernous folds of sagging flesh shook slightly as the sage suffered silently in pain. Danny had opened his own eyes, relieved to find himself feeling quite normal.
*Captain, that concludes all relevant data from Sage Corundum's memories. The rest of her memories can be accessed from the library at will, or we can assign resources to search for more relevant information that you require.*
*Thank you, Cece. Excellent work. I didn't pass out this time,* Danny replied as he stretched his arms high above his head.
Turning around, Danny found Acca in her mining suit standing over him with one of the large chunks of obstinite lifted high above her head. Danny suspected his close proximity to the sage was the only thing keeping the dwarven scavenger from dropping the large crystal boulder on top of him.
Danny ignored Acca as he asked Cece, *Can you have someone start filtering through her memories for anything that could provide me with additional skill gains? Also, do you have those advancements to the mining suit ready yet?*
*I will send over what we have so far on the mining suit,* Cece replied.
Danny felt like he was free-falling backwards for a few seconds, and then the experience was over. Floating up into the air, Danny held the obstinite boulder stationary with Air Magic as Acca finally gathered the courage to crush him. Acca struggled for a few seconds to slam the obstinite downwards when she finally realized that it wasn't going to happen.
"What did you do to the sage?" Acca screamed in equal parts fear and anger.
Danny held up a placating hand as he tried to sooth the frantic dwarven woman, "I merely gave her a bit of a headache as I took a tour down memory lane with her. She will be back to smashing and telling people what to do in a few hours."
Acca looked unconvinced and quickly ducked out of the way as she let go of the massive piece of obstinite. She stood there in confusion as the obstinite didn't shift in the slightest from where it hung suspended in the air.
"Acca, I want to thank you and Edlin from saving me from the living death that was my earthbound tomb. If you just step out of your mining suit, I can make the upgrades to it that will assist you in your chosen path," Danny requested.
"Go away..." mumbled Acca.
With his magically enhanced sense, Danny easily heard the woman, but he wasn't sure what she meant, saying, "I'm sorry, Acca, I didn't kill anyone. They are all fine, just trapped so they can't hurt me."
Acca looked down in hatred at Danny, screaming, "I said get out! If you want to thank me, then leave! Or better yet go die! Your kind is not wanted here!"
Danny looked down and away, before floating up to the hovering boulder of obstinite, asking, "Of course, but can I take this?"
Acca didn't respond verbally but just silently nodded her head. Danny floated with his new pet rock over to one of the half-buried centipede transports. The rocky floor rippled as the transport rose up out of the cavern floor. Not feeling the need to ask Acca for something that wasn't hers by right, Danny used his mana manipulation to activate the transports controls and open the hatch. Floating down, Danny placed the obstinite inside and closed the hatch behind him as he entered. Danny moved to the front of the transport, noting the simple benches lining the sides before reaching a grouping of four captain's chairs facing the front. The controls to the dwarven transport were simple, but Danny didn't even need to touch them to move the vehicle.
Danny's new transport turned and moved quickly away from the old mine and the dwarves still trapped in various ways. Danny knew Acca would find a way to start freeing them. If that didn't work, then Danny's absence would soon return the remaining mana in the obstinite battle suits back over to them.
The massive subterranean mountain once belonging to the drow loomed taller and taller as Danny traveled on a path to pass it. As he drew alongside it, Danny saw the mountain now had a smooth, yet lumpy in some spots, surface. The sage's memories held the moment the mountain had fallen and the dwarves' runic magic had turned it into a volcano. The sulfurous fumes had killed anyone and anything remaining in the cavern. A layer of dust Danny hadn't chanced to breathe in covered the majority of surfaces. A team of dwarven scavengers had already been through to clean up the dead drow and slave bodies.
Danny had been shocked when he had learned through Sage Corundum's memories of how much of a passive disregard she and the rest of the dwarves had when they indiscriminately killed all the slaves as well as the drow. Past experiences had shown many of the slaves were brainwashed into faithfully serving their drow masters, throwing their lives away as they attacked the backs of their unwary dwarven saviors. It didn't matter the race of the slaves, be they beastman, human, elf, or dwarf; they were all killed along with their masters. Danny didn't really know how he felt about the dwarves, now that so much had been revealed to him. While he sympathized with the reasons behind the dwarves' desire for isolationism, he didn't agree with all of their methods.
Danny reluctantly turned the transport down the tunnel leading to the Crimson Caverns and in the opposite direction of those he loved. He had to take care of unfinished business before he risked bringing more enemies to his friends' and family's front door.
***
The centipede transport was now parked around a small sacred tree located in a pocket of air just hundreds of meters away from the Crimson Caverns. It had been a little over three days since Danny had tunneled into this vast area near the dwarven territory which was comprised mostly of solid stone. Danny consumed a small pebble from his boulder of obstinite before changing into his sacred tree form. Then, Danny continued the healing process while, against his better judgment, casting the aging spell he had learned from the forest elves.
Danny quickly dived into his sanctuary in a coward's way to avoid not only the tedium of waiting on his body to finish healing but the pain caused by the aging spell. Moving through his skills' room, Danny was surprised to see his intelligence attribute had moved very close to the third threshold. Glancing around the room at the new skill gains displayed, Danny learned that he had mastered the meditation skill while trapped in the ground for six years. Without this ability, he would have surely gone mad. Then, Danny saw that his walk through the sage's memories had netted him the skills Dwarven (spoken) at level eight and Dwarven (written) at level six.
Excited to gain more easy skill levels, Danny shouted, "Cece! Cece, come here!"
"Yes, Captain," a voice spoke up from behind him.
Surprised, Danny jumped, shouting, "Don't do that! Only suddenly appear in front of me like a normal figment of my imagination," Danny grumbled before getting to what he wanted, "How are you doing on weeding out the Sage's memories containing potential skill gains?"
Cece referenced her clipboard before replying, "We are double-checking now, but it appears that there are only a few skill gains available as the Sage only sought to learn martial skills. Though, I would point out that her family's secret training regimen for strength is something we can schedule for you in the R&D room."
Danny smiled excitedly, "Sure, but how long did it take the sage to complete the secret training?"
"A little over thirty years."
"Wha...," Danny looked sick at his stomach as he asked, "Is there some way we can use the R&D room to speed that up?"
"Given the time it takes to master the training, if you trained nonstop for days on end, it would take you ten years," Cece replied.
Danny grumbled as he stomped off into the hallway with Cece close on his heels. Stopping to take in his bearings Danny found himself too frustrated to make a decision.
Instead, Danny turned to the woman next to him, asking, "Cece, do I have anything pending? Anything I asked you all to do that is actually finished?"
Cece looked a little miffed at his wording, replying defensively, "We have isolated all of the sage's memories that will most likely increase your skills."
Danny's lousy mood lifted instantly, "Alright, get on with the transfer of..."
Cece pressed something on her clipboard before Danny could finish his command and watched apathetically as he passed out onto the hallway floor. Cece stepped over Danny's unconscious body and walked off toward the control room.
***
Danny awoke with a jerk, absently wiping the drool from his mouth with the back of his hand as he looked around in confusion. He was still on the floor of the sanctuary hallway wondering why his mind had bothered to create imaginary drool while he had been knocked out. Pushing off the ground, Danny looked around and realized something was off. Obtusely, Danny started counting and recounting the doors when he realized that there was one too many. Across from the entrance to the R&D room was a new door without any distinguishing features.
"What the hell is going on?" Danny muttered to himself.
"You absorbed the sage's memories and reached the third intelligence threshold," said someone behind Danny.
Releasing an unintentional high pitched scream, Danny jumped in the air, somehow managing to rotate one hundred and eighty degrees halfway through. Behind him stood Cece, looking unimpressed with everything.
"What did I tell you about appearing suddenly behind me like that?" Danny half yelled, half wined.
Without bothering to reply, Cece started walking down the hallway, and Danny found himself following her without consciously choosing to.
"You have reached level six in Beastmen (spoken) and Beastmen (written). It appears Dwarven warriors are required to know and understand the major sentient languages in case they come across other races. You have also reached level nine in Military Leadership, level six in Politics, and level eight in Intimidate," Cece explained as they reached the new door.
There was a holographic marque above the door like the others, but there wasn't any text scrolling across it, just some strange fluctuating lights. Cece walked through the door, completely ignoring Danny's questioning looks. Danny stepped through the door to find a massive silver turn dial occupying the far wall. There was nothing else in the bright white room to help explain what Danny was looking at. The dial had four numbers marked around it with the dial's arrow pointing to the first number. The first number also happened to be the number one. Then, there was a one-half, a one-fourth, and finally a one-sixteenth fraction marking at the four corners of the compass around the dial.
Danny scratched his head, "Is this the... faster thinking?"
Cece, shrugged, "I only do what I am instructed or given permission to do. No one has touched it since you passed out, drooling all over the hallway."
Danny glared at the woman, grumbling, "You don't have to say it like that."
Danny walked over and, without preamble, turned the dial to the one-half mark. Danny looked around the featureless room in disappointment when nothing noteworthy happened.
"Can we get some decorations in here, like a painting or a window or something?" gripped Danny, wanting something to vent about.
Cece merely raised a single eyebrow and tapped on her clipboard. Large windows expanded outward from the center to take up the entirety of the side walls. Danny looked out at a star field quickly moving past them. Walking over, Danny turned the dial to the one-fourth setting. The stars moving by outside turned into streaks of light.
Danny turned his head slightly to the side, asking, "Shouldn't we be slowing down, not speeding up?"
Cece ignored him, engrossed in something on her clipboard. Danny frowned at her lack of response as he moved over to raise the dial one more time. The last setting turned the view outside the windows to pure whiteness streaked with lines of black.
Once again, the only apparent changes when turning up the dial were to what was happening outside the windows. Danny couldn't help himself and began moving the dial back and forth as he watched the stars stop and fly backwards before stopping again.
***
Danny came to for the second time, deciding that playing with the dial had not been the best idea. This awakening was different from his last in that he was completely naked, laying on top of a hill in a field of long grass. Individual stalks were tickling his face, and Danny had to sit up to get away from the irritation.
Confused, Danny looked around for some familiar landmark or feature that would tell him where he was and maybe how he got there. The grassy field was large but surrounded on all sides by a dense forest he didn't recognize. Off in the distance was only more forest, not a mountain or elevated area to be seen.
Danny came to the conclusion he was in the R&D room and reached for his mental control over the room. The entirety of the simulated space should be under his control.
Nothing happened. Worried, Danny attempted to use his magic when that too failed him. Crushing dread filled Danny's chest as he couldn't stop the memories of his powerless time with the beastwomen kidnappers and then as a slave in the drow mine.
Noisily, Something burst forth from the forest to his left. Scrabbling to keep its footing, a naked male goblin armed with only a wooden club pulled himself up the hill as quickly as he could. The sight of the nude goblin caused something in Danny's mind to click, and he shook himself out of his oppressive fear. Danny hurriedly looked around for something, anything he could use as a weapon.
Seeing only blades of healthy emerald grass, Danny dodged the first swing of the goblin's club. Then, Danny reactively reached for his magic again. The goblin used this time to kick out with one of his stubby legs, catching Danny off guard. Danny's struck leg bent at an odd angle as the goblin reared back to swing sideways toward Danny's hip. As Danny fell to the ground, the goblin's club connected with Danny's shoulder instead.
The pain in Danny's leg and shoulder cleared some more of the fog clouding his mind. Giving up on his magic, Danny kicked out with his good leg at the goblin's head. The goblin hadn't been prepared for the blow, having brought his club up to begin finishing Danny off. The little goblin's body flew up and tumbled a ways down the hill.
Danny limped painfully as he managed to stand up, putting all his weight on his good leg. The goblin's blow to his shoulder ached, but the arm was still useable. The goblin hadn't taken much damage, if any, from his fall down the hill and had already made it back swinging wildly in anger. Danny knew he was in no condition to dodge the blow and lunged, tackling the goblin to the ground.
Danny had a significant weight advantage over the goblin and easily stayed on top. Gripping the goblin's neck, Danny began choking the smaller creature. Dropping the club, the goblin dug its dirty, haggard nails into Danny's hands and arms. The goblin's legs were fortunately trapped entirely under Danny's weight, and the goblin was unable to kick or maneuver for better leverage. Danny ignored the feeling of the strips of skin coming off his arms. Instead, he used the pain to squeeze the goblin's neck even harder.
After what felt like forever, the goblin quit struggling. Danny was too cautious to let up yet and continued to press on the goblin's neck for a little bit longer.
A peculiar feeling raced across Danny's body, and he jumped up in surprise, suspecting that it was some new threat. Surprised, Danny realized the leg that had been twisted and the shoulder that had been bashed with the club now felt like nothing had ever happened to them. Swiping at the blood covering his hands and arms, Danny found them whole and scratch free.
Confused, Danny's head jerked up at the sound of more shouting coming from the forest. Two goblins now raced up the hill toward Danny. Danny was at least grateful that these two were wearing loincloths. One held a club similar to the dead goblin's while the other goblin wielded a rusty sword. Picking up the dead goblin's club, Danny swung the small crude weapon around to get a feel for the weight.
The goblin with the club was closer, reaching Danny seconds before the other. With both their clubs raised high, Danny joined the goblin as it yelled fiercely. The two combatants swung their clubs at the same time.
CHAPTER 20
The sharp metal edge of the arrowhead dug a shallow channel in Danny's cheek, as the young man parried the blow of a dwarven battle axe with his own war hammer.
Danny stood there struggling against the armored dwarf warrior on that same grassy hill. A hodgepodge of armor covered Danny's body as he wore what he could recover and wasn't damaged.
Crying out in pain, Danny glanced over his shoulder to see the same drow he had been trying to keep an eye out for, now pulling her blade out from his left kidney. The drow's blade easily found the gap under Danny's leather chest piece.
With a loud cry, Danny flung the dwarf with the battle axe away, ignored the elven arrow that sprouted from his chest, just missing his heart, and slammed his war hammer into the side of the drow. Danny could hear the air explosively escape the drow's lungs as the war hammer picked her up, crushing the side of her chest in, and launched the drow past the bottom of the hill.
Not stopping, Danny continued his movement around to find the dwarf ducking below his strike and shoving the head of the battle axe into Danny's stomach. Bending over with the blow, Danny felt the wind from an arrow that had been aimed at his head. The dwarf whipped back his battle axe to strike, but Danny, not needing air that would have been provided by his seizing diaphragm muscles, rushed the shorter man, kneeing him in the head. The dwarf was knocked over, losing his battle axe in the process. Danny brought down his war hammer on the dwarf's head before he could get back up.
Danny lifted the head of his war hammer to his face, just barely deflecting another arrow. Failing to hide his own surprise and excitement at doing something so cool, a goofy grin plastered itself on Danny's face.
The forest elf at the foot of the hill botched another arrow and carefully aimed at Danny's rushing form. Danny knew from countless experiences that dodging an arrow up close really depended on the archer's skill. Ducking behind the corpse of a troll which Danny had only killed through sheer luck, Danny tried to surprise the elven archer by climbing and leaping from the giant creature's body.
