Triple Strength

282. Back to work: Wiremu.

I am now a learned man and entitled to access anything in the Society except the Advanced Classes and a couple of other books. I now have three Journeyman Level Lore Skills: Animal, Plant and Monster. I didn’t even notice, but killing the Cactus Monster must have bumped both Plant and Monster Lore to Journeyman. On top of that, I have four apprentice-level Skills and three Novice-level Skills. I am in the top one percent of the learned people in the city. Yes, I know it is not a large city, and it is not known for its scholars. The Lore Society also has quite a small selection of books compared to Kirghiz, but still, I have never been classed as smart before. Not book smart. Tama is one of the top Scholars here. That is awesome!

In fact, they asked me to take a public lecture on Monster Lore as a visiting scholar and Monster Hunter. They think that will bring a crowd into the society. Fancy that. They asked me to take a lecture. I told them I would have to think about it. I think I might. Except you have to speak in front of people for over an hour, like nonstop. What on earth do you say for an hour of nonstop speaking? I might consult with Ruku. He is used to teaching a group. We could share it, and he could speak on sea monsters. I guess there was the Prairie Troll with the Mothers Tusks and Rock Elemental and Mountain Troll I fought with Koza and Velikan. Then, the Goblin Shamans and a Chief, the Moss Elemental, the River Troll, the Sand Elemental, the Griffon, the Shadow Panther and the Cactus. Then, there was the Wyvern that attacked Modrica. I guess there is a number I could talk about, just from experience. I watched the Light Elementals in the desert, and there is that unknown monster skeleton we found in the jungle. Not to mention Direbears, Lion Monsters, Venom Serpents and Shadow Chargers, all of which I could bring as a show and tell. I won’t, but I could. Maybe I could get Cōmpēṟi to come… An hour might be too short.

The Lore Society had the information I wanted but didn’t have the map. I had to buy it from one of the local cartographers. Because it was from a Skilled Cartographer, this Updated my mapping Skill directly. It didn’t have the detail I would get when I had been there, but it had the route and the features noted on the map. In this case, it was a valley surrounded by mountains and a distinctive lake at the lower end of the valley.

The Colonel's hangi was nice. I went as Tama, and hanging around with normal people with normal problems was refreshing. I did get a boar, even though it was a small one, and we came early to get it in the hangi as it takes about four hours to cook. We were welcomed onto the marae all proper. This was a first for everybody but me. We all went. Astrid was fascinated. Mayakku thought it was very strange. Once we were welcomed on, we helped with the hangi and drank and chatted while it cooked. Talking about normal stuff was relaxing. Yes, the price of food is rising. There go Toby and Jenny sneaking off again. We might have an engagement soon, etc.

People were fascinated with my travels. I described the good bits. The best fishing spots, watching the light elementals over the desert, finding monster skeletons in the jungle. Most of these people will never leave the Republic, and they are quite happy. The more adventurous will join the Defense Force or the local mercenary teams for a few years.

People were always interested in Skills and how to level them. Many a kid had wooden swords and wanted to practice and play fight. They had all sorts of games to practice sneaking, hiding, running and fighting. A couple of the adults had some healing skills, so they watched over them.

Mayakku was a hit. They had never seen a catkin before and were fascinated. She was soon lifting the children onto Cōmpēṟi’s back for rides. That was an unforgettable experience for them.

Orcs were rare as well, but Modrica and Umreti were not the most approachable. I was pleased when Lieutenant Puriri made an effort to engage them and included them. One of the local elderly women also dragged them over to show them her flax weaving.

Tabitha was working the crowd, making connections, and, I am pretty sure, securing a couple of business deals.

Captain Lee was never far from me. Even when she wasn’t part of the conversation groups, she was listening. I mostly tried to ignore her. One young teenager came up all starry-eyed at Mayakku and her bond, and how bonds were so great. Jack was his name and I asked him about it. He demonstrated the mental exercises he was doing, and I was able to help him refine them and give advice on the compatibility required to form a bond. One of the elders had a bond with a now elderly Labrador dog, and they had been helping him with the process.

“You know a lot about bonds, mister. Do you have a bond?” Jack asked.

“I do, yes.”

“Is he here?” he looked around expectedly.

“He is, but he normally hides away.”

“Can I see him? What is he?”

Tāoke didn’t seem to mind, so I put my hand up to my shoulder, and he slithered out from under my jacket. The lad took a step back, not expecting a snake so close.

“Wow, what is he?” Jack repeated.

“He was a Desert Viper,” I said and immediately regretted it. Lee would not have missed the “was” in there.

“Is he poisonous?”

“Yes, very. I found him when he latched onto my hand and poisoned me. Lucky for me, he was very young at the time. I survived, and he has been keeping me alive ever since.”

“Wow.”

I think the lad is bond-mad. I remember being the same when I was his age, and I looked up to my master and his wolf bond.

“What do you do, Jack?”

“I am the butcher’s apprentice. It is the only job I could find, I don’t have a class yet. I grew up on a farm and used to help the butcher when he came to our farm.”

I got the impression he wasn’t all that happy with his current job. “Let me introduce you to Wai here. Wai has a trainer class and years of helping young people find where they fit. If you ask nicely, he might give you some pointers.” I left them to it. At least Ruku/Wai would be able to assess them like he did Ilaiya back in Obalno. That would give them a guide to the skills they need in order to get them where they are more suited. My impression was that Jack would be better off working with live animals rather than butchering them. A visit to my Menagerie might open his eyes to some possibilities.

It was a good weekend, but all too soon, we were back to work. We had to delay the next test as we essentially had a long weekend off. It did us a world of good. We thought we had it this time. We took one of the new variations almost to the limit but had to stop when a small crack appeared in the bond. I smoothed it over, but Tom is going to need to rest for at least a week. Rhia is still recovering and is not available. We have to slow down. We have no choice. It is actually very frustrating as we are so close.

Ruku has been contracted by the Colonel to run a leadership training session for the active officers. It will be a week-long session. He is getting paid more than the consultant rates the Marines were paying him, so he is happy, and he likes training others.

Mayakku is spending the week helping Matua and Laura with some normal enchanting. They are basing themselves in Laura’s workshop. She is also making strides in her Flesh Enchanting, as she thinks it is the key going forward. She has worked out the alterations to a lot of runes to make them compatible with Flesh Enchanting. Living Flesh allows changing spiritually. Normal enchanting is on a solid and fixed surface with fixed energy. Flesh enchanting is on a moving surface with fluctuating flows.

She has some working enchantments beyond her original sharp rune. She had an inspiration one day in the Enchanting Changes Spiritual Energy and then applied it. To make a blade sharper or tougher, the enchantment changes the spiritual energy to the sharpness or toughness flavour and then applies it to the knife. Flesh enchanting could take the users' Spiritual Energy and change the flavour to Astrid’s Poison Cleansing Skill and then apply it to the body. She did this with her Revitalising Aura as well. The limiting factor is the amount of your Spiritual energy. Both these don’t seem useful to me. I don’t need Poison Cleansing with my resistances, and my Regeneration Skill uses my Spiritual Energy to heal me anyway. While this might speed up the healing, it will speed up the depletion of my energy, and that is my most limiting resource anyway.

Tabitha and Dusk, on the other hand, have grabbed both. Nyx shares energy with them and gives her a huge pool. Her Syphon Energy Skill means she can keep it up almost continuously. Her syphon constitution heals her but only slowly and if there is someone to syphon from. She can now use her own energy to heal in the short term, and it speeds it up.

Umreti got them as well, but Modrica and Ruku didn’t. Ruku is like me and has Wai, and Modrica does not have a great amount of Spiritual Energy and can drink the blood of her enemies to heal.

However, this was a great step forward for Mayakku and Flesh Enchanting. She and Cōmpēṟi are now sporting the new Spiritual tattoos. She hates it when I call it that. It is Flesh Enchanting, not tattooing. Tattooing is simply drawing pretty pictures on the skin.

Astrid already has the skills, so the enchantment is superfluous for her. Trassig also has the two skills, which surprised me.

With both the Republic and the Kingdom on watch, we have left her safety to Cōmpēṟi, Tāoke and Nyx. Tabitha, Modrica and Težka will always be close by as a quick response team. I have faith that Cōmpēṟi and Tāoke can delay anything long enough for Nyx to get help.

Astrid is working with the local Healer Society to upskill and impart her knowledge.