Chapter 93: Tremors

Subject: Caim Location: Maliscade - Blightbane Guild - Guild Hall Caim held out his hand and allowed the desk clerk to scan his badge. He watched the man's jaw drop. "This must be wrong," he mumbled. The clerk frantically manipulated the Guild's Infoboard on the desk in shock. "I don't think it is," Caim tried to say, but the clerk just shook his head. "No, it is. No one understands these Pulse-forsaken magitech devices, so it might be hard getting to the bottom of the error. It says here that you took a krust culling contract... and succeeded? Outrageous, right? I'll go get my manager." Caim reached out before the clerk could leave and grabbed his arm. He released the grip immediately, but not before a nearby Defender noticed and made to intercept him. However, the clerk calmly held up his hand and waved him off with a grin. "Is everything alright, Initiate?" He politely asked. "It is, I'm sorry. I just don't want you making a big deal out of this." The clerk glanced around, but no one was looking. "If this isn't an error... it is a big deal. How did you manage to..." He lowered his voice. "How did you manage to even find a krust?" Caim reached under his cloak and lifted it up to reveal the bulk of the armor beneath. That is to say, he emphasised how much bulk it lacked. "It may not look like it at a glance, but I'm a mage. I don't want to reveal the specifics, but my business is my own, right? I have a spell to help me find the krusts, and from there I make sure only to target the little ones." "That is... Forgive me for being a skeptic. I'll still need to talk to my manager, but I can keep it between us, and I can pay you in advance. Your badge has indeed registered the kills. I have to say, though, you being a mage gets rid of the second question I was going to ask. A mage should certainly be able to kill a weak krust on the outer layer of riventread." I nearly died that first time. How was I supposed to know they grow in size like that? That small pebble Caim had first kicked turned out to indeed be a krust, but it didn't stay small for long. Once awakened, it was like fighting the stuff of nightmares. Fortunately, it had been daytime, and fortunately it had been a "weakling". "Here are your coins. This is... for someone to be able to detect them, we could really use someone with a spell like that!" Caim didn't know about all that, but he knew he wasn't going to be able to convince the clerk to keep this between them. "Rather than speaking to your manager, could to talk to Mille instead?" "I-- I don't think bothering her is necessary." Caim leaned forward and looked the man in the eyes. "Trust me, she's going to want to know what I've discovered, and I trust her to keep it to herself. I'll let you say it was your idea, that you thought she must know this right away." Guild staff all seemed to want to gain Mille's favor, like she was some kind of workplace idol. Caim did see her determination and drive to see the Guild succeed, and he respected her for it. "Would you really? Well I suppose it wouldn't be lying... I did want to speak to my manager. Wait. You're that metal mage from the rumors, aren't you?!" he whispered excitedly. "'Metal mage'? You mean my Scion spell?" It was all the proof the clerk needed. "You are, aren't you... Yeah, you're one of her personal seekers, so it only makes sense that I would tell her about your recent success." Success? This was more of a lucky accident, if anything. This one contract was paying out more than any other, and it had taken him a little less time than was normal. "I'd like to keep my contract active, if that's possible. I plan on going back out there to hunt them some more." "Actually, that's an open cull contract right there, so that shouldn't be a problem. Normally an Initiate wouldn't be taking advantage of contracts like that, and your badge isn't exactly advanced enough to help you track your contributions, but it will still notify the system. Let me just make note of the payment you've already recieved. And... done. Take care, metal mage." Caim stepped away from the desk. "You too." Subject: Caim Location: Riventread - Outskirts The krust was dead, but Caim was moderately injured. He sat there on the ground, breathing heavily, but relieved. He quickly deactivated his defensive Safeguard Catalyst so that he could replace it. His Flourish Catalyst's glowing seed crushed against his chest and, immediately, the pain surged through him. He had calibrated it for healing, fighting through the initial shock before collapsing onto his back. Too close. I wish there was some way to isolate just the weaker ones. He was finding them through a map in his mind imprinted by his Comprehension sourcetech ability, and the map was only descriptive in so far as it told him what blightbeast was found where. Almost all of the other blightbeasts were gone from the map, as it was only a snapshot in time of the festerfont's population, not a live map. Comprehension was a utility ability that scanned a set radius around him for an object or category of objects of his choosing. It was powerful, but he couldn't use it more than once a day, and he'd already used it today with the merchant Gwen, when he was looking for a weapon that might protect him when his sourcetech abilities were recharging. Right now, Caim’s arm felt like it was splintering. He twitched and struggled through the pain while he fought to stay conscious. His vision blurred, and time felt like it had slowed to an excruciating crawl. Then, as if he’d never been wounded at all, the pain was gone. The true pain, that is. Residual echoes left him with a lesser phantom pain for a good while longer. He stood up and brushed the sand and gravel from his armor, testing how well he could move his arms. He couldn't feel anything noticeably hindering him anymore. It’s a weird thing to be able to bounce back like that, but I still don’t think it’s powerful enough to fix more serious injuries. Be more careful, you dunce, he scolded himself. But something about the thought of that godlike creature Vera telling him to take it slow only bothered him more because of how rational the advice was. It only pushed him faster, into recklessness like this. Caim’s current Blightbane Guild Contract was a weird one, so it was no question why the clerk acted the way he did. It only required that he hunt a single krust, but it apparently allowed for "over-completion". A seeker with a contract like that could hunt any number of creatures listed in the contract and get paid a bonus equal to the original rate. He wanted to try to hunt one last krust before going back again. Caim didn't particularly need to go back, but he could eat, take a nap, and return maybe when there weren't so many seekers around. "I don't even know! Should we report it to the Guild?" a blade-wielding Vanguard was arguing with his party within earshot. Thankfully, a passing party's Cloak provided some much-needed clarity. She and her party were journeying deeper into the festerfont where it was more dangerous, and where the seekers were required to be more experienced. That was the Guild's restriction, and Blightbane Seeker Initiates like Caim was not allowed to go that far. Though, were he to try and be that stupid, he'd probably be dead before the restriction could be enforced. "That was a krust. We would only report it if we couldn't defeat it, but the metal mage took care of it. But you won't have to worry about seeing one again. Seekers go their entire lives without so much as a glimpse. I've certainly never seen one before." Where were these rumors coming from? To him, all magic looked equally astounding and bizarre. His floating protector, Scion, was a little more mechanical than a burst of light, maybe. Caim ducked away while the two parties were talking. Maybe two more. I think I can handle them as long as they’re small. I won’t fight anything larger than that last one. I'll run. I promise, voice in my head that's telling me I'm an idiot. Caim picked up the bright green blightseed and immediately swallowed it. The infusion of energy was substantial, but less so than the one Mille had given him at the Guild during the attack. A krust was definitely stronger than the average blightbeast found prowling around the outskirts layer of the festerfont. However, It was inadequate. He’d anticipated a rush of energy and strength, and found it disappointingly lacking. Looking at the map, the closest krust was deeper in, but not past the boundary between the outskirts and body layers. It was helpful that he could see a vague dividing line on the map between the layers. The line wasn't so much on the map as it was a division of surviving blightbeasts detected by Comprehension. Blightbeasts that were steadily being hunted and replaced by freshly spawned defenders weren't tracked on his map, and only stronger seekers hunted deeper in. Now I just have to deal with the carapasers between here and there. Scion was ready again just before he sighted a group of carapasers hidden in the gravel. Before they detected him, the metal creature was already slaughtering them. Caim was getting good at spotting these things, but they were no less of an annoyance. This continued for a while, and Caim was able to see all the progress he’d made and feel a small amount of pride. This was getting easier. If he kept at a slow pace, these sourcetech routines could carry him far. Each time carapasers dispersed, Caim collected the blightseeds. The Guild wouldn’t pay him for kills his badge couldn’t track, but the seeds were arguably more valuable than mere husc coins. Maybe if the price was in aldes he would think differently, but only the highest ranked seekers took payment in that denomination. The cleft at the top of a mound of boulders was one of the clear dividing lines between riventread’s layers. He could now see it in the distance, but he had no intention of scaling that path now. He wasn’t ready. A few pairs and trios of seekers were milling about in the area, fighting predominantly with solblade and shield. He had yet to see anyone fighting with a spear or lance, though there were a handful of axe-wielders in the mix of encountered seekers. Axes came in a variety of sizes, with more notable variety than solblades, but they were all heavier to swing than a blade of a comparable range. That made them penetrate their targets more readily, but not everyone had the requisite muscle, and they couldn't be used as skillfully, making them less popular. Caim sure didn’t have the musculature for it. It should be around here somewhere… He activated Safeguard and looked around. It wasn’t easy to sift through all these rocks. He wished the map was more detailed, but Comprehension was probably limited right now. He looked forward to the insight it could give him once it was more powerful. Caim continued searching. He wasn’t the one that eventually found the krust. The krust revealed itself by releasing a cloud of thick black smoke into the air. That wasn't normal. They were supposed to remain dormant until they were attacked. The source rock was quite large at the start of this display, but it began to shrink in size before Caim’s eyes as it continued expelling this smoke. The ground began to drink in the smoke, seeping through the surface, as if the gravel and sand didn’t have solid form. Or, rather, as if the smoke didn't have physical form. He knelt down to pick up the blightseed left behind, popping it into his mouth. All around Caim, he saw carapasers reveal themselves only to keel over and die. A seeker off in the distance cheered as her target unexpectedly collapsed. Over in the other direction, another party spun around with weapons drawn, wary of this sudden and aberrant behavior. Then, the ground shook, almost powerfully enough to trip him up. Even Caim, who’d been a seeker for less than a week, tingled with frightful anticipation. After deliberating, he swapped out Safeguard for Flourish and calibrated it for endurance, the setting that would fuel him with energy beyond anything his body could normally contain. It really was a toss-up. Safeguard wasn’t strong enough to protect him at this point, and he could always change it to healing if he anticipated harm. Caim was prepared to run, really. That’s what this meant. It was the best idea, given the circumstances. For now, Caim went around collecting as many blightseeds as possible. He just pocketed them for now. If he ended up running, a stomach full of blightseed bile wasn’t what he wanted. Not that it took long to metabolize. Caim happened to be looking in the direction of the mound of boulders when he felt the trembling. Loose rock began to shake loose and Caim heard the seekers in the distance calling out to each other. They didn’t know what was happening either. Something was happening deeper inside the festerfont. Caim heard screams. He began to see groups of seekers fleeing from the interior. One of them stopped long enough to shout at Caim. “You need to run, right now, or you’re going to die!”