The Way Ahead

Edwin hovered slightly off the roof of the carriage, Flight serving as a basically perfect cushion to protect him from the endless rattling of the cart as it rolled down the road. Far above, the white-overlaying-green wings of Rillah soared through the cloudless sky. He always enjoyed watching her… which sounded really weird when he thought about it in that way, but it was true. She was two levels shy from her evolution target of sixty-one, and then she’d officially be fourth-tier.

A stray gust of wind caught Edwin’s hair and blew it into his face, making him frown in annoyance and float to more of a seated position. He’d need to give himself a haircut before too long, it wasn’t like they…

He caught himself. Of course they’d have barbers here. Fantasy people still needed haircuts, even if it was color-changing or animated or flickered like golden flames. Heck, he could probably get Lefi to give him the best haircut of his entire life.

He floated to where the Adventurer sat, one hand on Bill the pony’s reigns as the uncomplaining workhorse pulled along Edwin’s carriage. There was a tiny part of Edwin that still had trouble reconciling the appearance of a sixteen-year-old boy with the probably century-old omnicompetent figure he actually was, but two and a half years was a long time to get used to the bizarre.

“Hey Lefi, you don’t happen to have a Haircutting Skill, do you?” he asked then shook his head, “Nevermind, of course you’d have it, stupid question. Rather, I don’t suppose I could get a haircut from you? They never…”

“As a matter of fact, friend Edwin, I do not!”

“Oh cool, so as I was saying… wait, did you just say you didn’t?” Edwin dropped down to float next to the Adventurer as he consulted his Status, “There are basic-level Skills you don’t have?”

“So it would seem. Indeed! I will gladly give you a haircut.”

“So you can get the Skill, now that you realize you don’t have it?”

The annoyingly wide ever-present smile on Lefi’s face grew even wider, “You know me so well.”

They stopped for camp somewhat earlier that night, Lefi quite eager to rectify the newfound hole in his Skillset. Having both initiated the process and with the most normal hair out of all of them, Edwin went first. Despite some slight misgivings, the end result was actually really impressive. For all that Lefi might not have had a dedicated barber Skill, the compounding effects of at a minimum twenty related Skills made for a phenomenally comfortable and quality haircut by the end of the process. Yathal was next in line, more than willing to comply with the request of his hero.

As the boy slowly lost the appearance of a wild, untamed child to Lefi’s knife, Edwin examined his new haircut in a reflective pool that Inion conjured, “You know, I like it. In the past, whenever I had my hair this short my ears would always get uncomfortably cold, but Adaptive Resistance pushes past that.”

“I thought it didn’t help with discomfort?” Rillah asked.

“It doesn’t,” Inion supplied. “So I don’t know why that makes any difference.”

“I mean if you’d let me actually answer for myself, I could tell you.”

The fey just rolled her eyes and floated off to chat with Lefi about something, which was a bit more than Edwin was really expecting- she’d actually removed herself from the situation for once.

“Anyway, the way it feels like Adaptive Defense works for me is that there’s this ‘pool’ of defense that it can supply. If I stick my hand in a fire, it works to cut the heat from the flames before it gets to my hand and tries to burn me. It’s not instantaneous, and definitely has some level of upper bound, but at almost level fifty it does a pretty good job of protecting me from whatever might hurt. I mean, it also fades after a while, and I think that’s just because it switches to protecting me against stuff like UV radiation and general atmospheric pollutants, because it sticks around way longer when I stay inside and that means I might be aging slightly slower and… you’re not following any of this, are you?”

“No,” she admitted, “But it’s fun to watch you get so excited over this sort of thing. It’s very human.”

Is that a compliment? He wondered, but didn’t voice. “Right, so anyway. Adaptive Defense will interpose itself between me and whatever external force might be present, but it doesn’t go away just because the stimulant does. So when I get really cold… it sticks around until something else replaces it.”

“So you got really cold at one point and now you’re just gliding on that Adaption?”

“Spent an hour outside in the cold without my coat on,” he shrugged.

“And you didn’t ask me to help with this?”

“I didn’t want to bother you…”

“Edwin, it would take all of three seconds to use Chilling Grasp on you, and I can guarantee that it would be more effective than sitting out in the cold for an hour, and way more comfortable.”

“Okay, okay. It doesn’t take an hour though. Like ten minutes was enough for this,” he vaguely indicated his ears.”

“Hmm. How fast does it change over?”

“Well, the speed varies somewhat. It’s definitely based on how damaging something is, as well as my level. Well, only sort of my level. I think it still takes the same amount of time for the full Skill to change, it’s just that as the Skill gets stronger, there’s more for it to actually switch and a smaller fraction of the Skill has a more obvious effect.”

Rillah nodded in understanding.

“Also… oh, that’s a thought. Remind me to try that out a bit later.”

“Try what?”

“Right, sorry. Adaptive Defense’s speed seems to key off of Stamina. At least, I definitely sense Stamina working whenever it’s switching targets.”

Rillah nodded in understanding, “You want to see if your Stamina Manipulation will let you manually change what your defense is against.”

“Yeah. It might make it actually useful for once against something that I actually come across without needing like an hour under its exposure. Or if nothing else, keep my resistances at a level where they’re actually useful.”

“That would be nice. I don’t want you getting frostbite just so you feel moderately warm. We can get you a coat, you know.”

“Eh, my torso is fine. I swear this thing is heated sometimes. But maybe I should get a hat or something, yeah. It certainly wouldn’t hurt,” he mused.

“Lefi says it’s your turn!” Yathal cut in. His haircut was over, and while not quite as short as Edwin’s new hairstyle, was still significantly more trimmed than Edwin had ever seen. There was probably some kind of clever name for the kind of cut that the boy had but blight if he knew what it was.

“Oh is it now?” she asked, “And you look very dapper,” she told Yathal, reaching over to ruffle his hair slightly- earning a quiet protest from Lefi.

She stood up from her seat, fingers combing through her hair to free it of the loose braid she normally kept it in, allowing it to fall to its full length about halfway down her back.

Edwin reflected it was kind of amusing they were talking about him being cold, in really thick travel and lab gear, when Rillah had more skin exposed than covered on her entire upper torso, but seasonal ice mages did as seasonal ice mages did. Or would it be her fire mage talents that would render her more comfortable in the cold? Come to think of it, how would cold ‘resistance’ even work. Well no, that was stupid. It would just be an insulator of some sort. That was the one kind of resistance that actually made sense, definitely more than… Well no, poison resistance also made sense. Social Skill resistance? Eh, it seemed to act on the brain not dissimilarly to emotions or presumably drugs, so… no, actually that didn’t really make sense unless he could configure Adaptive Defense to protect himself from his emotions.

Actually…

Rillah’s haircut didn’t take long, certainly not long enough for Edwin to figure out how he could use Stamina Manipulation to affect Adaptive Defense, let alone how he could turn it against the parts of his brain that annoyed him. But it was enough for a bit of a start, and he felt decently confident that with a bit of practice and likely a few more levels in the Skill he’d make it.

By the end, Rillah’s hair had lost several inches, bringing it to just below her shoulders, and Edwin wandered over to where she and Inion were engaged in some very animated discussion about….

Ah. They were arguing again.

“Well couldn’t you just think about someone else for once?”

“It’s my hair. And no mangy little mortal is going to touch it with their rusty little knives! My hair is wonderful and it will not be touched!”

“Oh excuse me miss princess. I didn’t realize that you care more about your hair than all of us combined!”

“Ha! As though you aren’t the exact same. I know all about your kind, and what sorts of things you get up to! At least I’m honest about what I do, I don’t hide behind a smile and a lowered attachment to a part of me.”

“Friends! It is alright, I needn’t cut Lady Inion’s hair. I assure you, there simply is no need! There’s no need to fight over such a trivial matter.”

“Yeah well it’s not just this and you know that full well! If you don’t want to lose even a single hair for the group, I’m so happy to know that we can count on your help if we ever actually need it. Will you decide to help us out only if you don’t get dust on your talons?”

“When was the last time you decided to actually help instead of foisting it off to someone else? You haven’t driven in almost two weeks!”

“Hey, hey,” Edwin protested, “I offered for that, I didn’t realize it would be some big thing that grew into all this.”

Neither seemed to hear him, and they just continued to escalate in volume and vitriol heedless of his protests. Edwin wasn’t sure if even they fully were cognizant of what they were saying, he certainly wasn’t able to follow the overlapping shouts. They only stopped when Lefi physically stepped in, grabbing each of them by the scruff of their neck and hauling them apart, “That’s enough.” his voice was stern, “Edwin is trying to talk to you.”

Edwin was stunned by this revelation, and took a moment to collect himself, “Oh, um right. Um. Can you guys just… not, please? Um.”

“Yeah well you tell her that/Only if she stops!” they yelled simultaneously, then glared daggers at each other.

“What changed anyway? I mean I know you guys don’t get along, but like… you could at least tolerate each other. I also thought both of you were... never mind.”

Edwin mostly counted himself lucky that Inion was keeping herself as constrained as she was. He knew from experience just how terrifying the fey could be when he was truly threatened. Now that he thought about it… that made her claims that Rillah was mentally manipulating him ring somewhat hollow- if she genuinely thought that, she would be much more aggressive about trying to stop Rillah, wouldn’t she? He shuddered slightly at the memory of the alien-looking Inion utterly brutalizing the last person to truly threaten him… he definitely wanted to avoid that.

“How about this,” Lefi stepped back in, “Both of you, take a break. Inion, hop into a river. Rillah, you fly a cloud. Neither of you come back until you can look the other in the eye and not get mad, got it? Good. Now go. Yathal is being more mature than both of you right now.”

The praise made the kid puff his chest out in pride, but that broke down into giggles when Kyni gave him a big congratulatory lick.

Meanwhile, Rillah and Inion couldn’t resist each throwing out a final barb, and Edwin was very glad that Yathal was apparently distracted by his Companion and hadn’t heard them.

Then they were gone, and with them, most of the tension in the camp. Edwin breathed a sigh of relief, “Honestly, most of the time they behave so maturely and properly, then you put them in the same room and it’s like they turn into quarreling kids.”

Lefi shrugged, “It’s not unusual when… well, it’s not that rare, shall we say?”

“Humans,” Edwin sighed, then frowned, “Wait, that’s not accurate. People.”

Lefi chuckled, sat down at his own temporary barber salon while Edwin got their campfire started.

He was about halfway done gathering wood- Firestarting meant he never had to worry about how dry it was, which was nice- when Kynigos suddenly sat up from his relaxed position by the cart, giving out a quick bark.

“We’re gonna have people,” Yathal translated, “And Kyni doesn’t think they’ll be friendly.” He wrapped his arms around his legs, pulling himself into a bit of a ball.

Edwin nodded, turning to Lefi, “What’s even up with all these bandit groups, anyway? It was never this bad in the past when I traveled. I just had my single dedicated random encounter, but this is the third one this week.”

“Many turn to pillaging during the winter months,” Lefi explained, trying to cut a lock of blond hair- he’d extinguished the golden flames that normally covered his head while trying to cut it, which made it lose luster and animation. “As their villages might not be able to support all those within it, some might be cast out and forced to fend for themselves. Other times entire villages may take to raiding their neighbors for supplies while the Couriers are more restricted. Here in particular, we’re skirting slightly along the edges of provinces, so there’s fewer patrols, less opportunity for criminals to be hunted down, so more take the opportunity. Then, of course, we look like a tempting target to those who lack a significant range to their Identify.”

“Hm, fair. I keep forgetting that most people have an Identify range of like… four meters,” he mused.

“It is very useful for the likes of us, but it is rare that those with no adventure in their life would have much cause for it, yes.”

“Any idea how long out they are?” Edwin asked Yathal, “Or how many?”

“Uhh… Kyni says a few minutes? And more than one, but maybe some tryna hide?”

“Eh, good enough. Should I get my stuff?”

The first time they’d encountered bandits, Edwin had been fairly nervous. His encounters with the more murderous or extortive variety of outlaws hadn’t gone terribly well previously, but Lefi essentially trivialized the possibility. If he couldn’t just straight-up intimidate them into leaving, he was easily the best fighter Edwin had actually seen in action other than maybe Tara. Well, that was the assumption at least. The four times their encounters had actually come to blows, they were practically blink-and-miss-it affairs.

Lefi had mentioned that Edwin should get practice at some point, and he didn’t travel carrying all of his weapons any more than his traveling companions did.

Lefi shook his head, though, “Should it prove applicable for you to fight, it would be better that you utilize just what you carry on you.”

“So, what? Like three fireballs and six smoke grenades?”

“Is that truly all you have?”

“Well, no, but it’s not that far off… Look, I’m just very hesitant about carrying high explosives on my person, okay? But if you want healing potions, that I can help you with.”

“It will be sufficient. Should you need aid, I will be there.”

“Hope we aren’t interruptin’ nothin,” a voice yelled out, “But ye’ll have ta pay the road tax if ye wanna camp here.”

A young man- okay, a few years older than Edwin- in mismatched clothes emerged from the nearby treeline. While most of his getup was unkempt, as were those of his allies emerging behind him, the sickle he carried gleamed with light and two distinct Skills.

“What would this tax be then?” Lefi called out.

“Let’s say… oh, half of what you’ve got in that there cart?”

Edwin suppressed a grin. Well, if they insisted… there was definitely some stuff that he’d love for them to ‘get.’ Possibly at 200 meters per second to their temple.

“Do you want me to get them? That phrasing is way too perfect.”

“Not this time, I do not think. I believe they have another compatriot hiding nearby, and I do not wish for you to potentially be put into jeopardy.”

“Someone hiding? Fine by me.”

Lefi didn’t reignite his hair as he strode forward towards the motley crew, leaving his weapons and even his haircutting dagger behind. Edwin knew from prior experience that while Lefi was insanely good with all of his weapons, when he was actually fighting instead of training, he rarely actually used any of them. Instead, he preferred using everything in his surroundings and his own opponent’s weapons against them, and this would be no different.

He was, after all, only outnumbered six to one.

“Hello, friends! I believe there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding, but I believe I may be able to help you in other ways,” Lefi started.

“Has that ever worked?” Edwin asked the air, not really expecting a reply, but Yathal piped up from his place beside Kynigos, still speaking quietly enough his voice didn’t carry far.

“It did this one time a bit after he picked us up. There was this one guy who tried to mug us and Kyni wanted to protect me but he just kicked the guy’s legs out from under him and then helped him up and tried ta teach him about how ta properly hold a sword. By the end of it, the guy was really sorry and happy. He followed us to… to… to the next city, and Lefi got him set up as an Adventurer.”

“Huh. Well, good for him I guess?” Edwin idly wondered if Lefi had some sort of Persuasion Skill that he was trying to level. It wouldn’t surprise him. Honestly, if he didn’t have it, that would be the real shock. Two Skills that the Adventurer didn’t have in a single day?

Edwin cast his Perception back to where Lefi was exchanging words with the Protective Lirasian Rancher that seemed to be the small band’s leader. It wasn’t going well, which wasn’t that much of a surprise, but there was apparently some hidden bandit somewhere?

Edwin flexed his Perception trying to pick out a humanoid figure somewhere, but no luck… Hmm.

The lead bandit drew back his arm, preparing to cut down Lefi with his sickle.

Then the man’s chest exploded.

A shower of blood and gore burst out where the bandit’s lungs had been mere seconds prior, a black partially-curved blade piercing the man’s heart- the only remaining recognizable organ in the viscera spilling out- and pulling it back on a thin silver chain. The heart vanished into black smoke, being seemingly drunk in by the khopesh-like blade as the weapon struck out once more, burying itself in the back of the next bandit’s head. From there, it was a very bloody few moments of carnage that left Edwin mostly shell-shocked and all the bandits very dead.

Lefi had found the time to react to the carnage, sheltering his face behind an elbow that nonetheless left him fairly covered in blood. He didn’t remain dirty for long, though, and with just a quick brush-down, all the blood that was on him simply dripped off.

What the heck had that been?

He looked at Yathal. The eight-year-old was frozen in place, eyes wide and unresponsive to Yathal’s prodding nudges. The dog in turn looked very concerned about his boy, but Edwin didn’t have much time to really check on him, not when there was something dangerous about.

A hooded figure emerged from the woods, looking almost like a living shadow slinking away from the cover and approaching them. As it drew closer, an even smaller piece of shadow broke away and flew towards the fallen bandits, resolving into a raven- a Skill of some sort, not an actual creature- and picking over the fallen bodies of the bandits.

Edwin pulled out a fireball, the magically enhanced white phosphorus hidden in his palm as this new reaper drew closer and closer, “That’s close enough!” he yelled.

“Hello there!” Lefi called out at the same time, “How may we help you?”

“Bah,” the shadow spat out, and the obscuring effect faded to show a tall, lanky figure, face gaunt and pale like a skull, a silver scar crossing one eye and standing in sharp contrast to almost pitch-black hair the color of a moonless sky. He stalked dangerously towards them, an intimidating figure of...

What the heck am I thinking? Edwin frowned. That was a mental Skill, he could tell, but it just… affected his internal monologue? Biased his thoughts?

Hm. Well, while the exact Skill at play was tricky to pick out, Skillful Assessment simply revealing the man- well, boy if he was being honest- to have a figure absolutely full of black, red, and purple Skills all so intertwined it was difficult to tell where one began and the previous one ended. If he dedicated enough Perception to it- toning back Numeracy and his arcanoception to compensate- he could pick out a reddish-purple Skill with a structure similar to Rillah’s Good Impression, so that was probably the culprit.

With his mind now free of Skill-induced biases, he was able to take a proper look at the new arrival. He was a bit shorter than Edwin, wore a black longcoat that was both a Trophy Skill and made of some kind of leather, and wore… so many belts, each with at least one knife strapped to it. On one hand, a manacle attached to a silver chain connected his wrist to the same black khopesh-like blade that had heralded his arrival.

Edwin could already feel a headache coming on, and the guy hadn’t even opened his mouth yet.

“You’re welcome. They would have killed and gutted you all. Bandits don’t care about your feelings, what you want, or whatever pathetic pleas to emotion you were preparing to spew at them. You’re lucky I was around to save you.”

Edwin raised an eyebrow, and he could even imagine Lefi being taken aback by the boy’s utter dismissal of them. Did he just… not have Identify, or did he not use it? Lefi’s currently-displayed Class was as an ‘Adventurer-Mage,’ and nobody would think a mage wasn’t able to take care of themselves, even if Lefi was just a fake-mage, that didn’t really matter.

“Well, friend. What brings you out here?”

“I’m not your friend. And I was tracking these bandits, they took something from me and I want it back.”

His raven returned to his shoulder, and the… Edwin sighed, the Ebony Blade of Midnight Darkness turned his scowl to even more of a glare, “Great. It’s not here. Well, guess I need to track down their hideout now. I suppose you had best come with me as to keep yourselves out of trouble, but don’t. Get. In. My. Way. Understood?”

It might have been wishful thinking, but Edwin could have almost sworn he saw Lefi’s fingers twitch in frustration at the newcomer’s attitude. They did look about the same age, and Edwin would be lying if he didn’t cringe heavily about the sorts of things that he aspired to at that age, but he just took it… just too far. At least he could take solace in the fact that he was at least not alone in his feelings…

Yathal had wide eyes, and looked almost starstruck.

Oh great.