Oracle of Cognitio

Seven Decks Book 2

Chapter 01:

Rainbows and fireworks appeared out of the sky, completely engulfing their bodies.

Jen was better prepared this time for the rainbow transport. For the second time, she felt all the mana get ripped out of her in an instant. She couldn’t move. It locked her entire body in place, but she could still sense that Slim, Tamako, and Sam were nearby. The Second Deck slowly came into focus. She noticed that night time was just starting on the Second Deck, even though it had been early morning in Slot City.

Prior to their jump, Sam pulled the mana out of his wind and healing-enchantment tattoos, but left his lightning tattoo about half charged. He was concerned about the effects of the rainbow teleportation draining all the mana from his tattoos, and losing every tattoo-enchanted body part like he'd lost his arm. If they were lucky, it might not pull the mana from his tattoo and they would be better prepared to fight if needed. Sam’s muscles, veins, and organs all tightened in excruciating pain from the teleportation. Sam wanted to collapse to the ground, but he forced himself to check out his surroundings. He thought the pain was much worse than when he teleported from Earth. Sam was too weak to do much, but he noticed several things right away. First, there was much more ambient mana in the air. Unfortunately, it was just as full of corruption as the mana on the First Deck. Second, he could feel that his space storage teeth caps were still with him, and third, the teleportation had drained almost all the mana from his lightning tattoo. He thought maybe the mana containment runes in the tattoo might have kept a little mana in the tattoo preventing damage to his arm. However, he wasn’t really able to properly analyze all the issues, as he slowly dropped to a knee gasping and trying to recover.

The pain from the rainbow teleportation shocked Tamako, but she had been through much, much worse at the hands of her father. She rarely used mana to augment her raw strength, and even though she was in terrible pain, she stayed standing, alert, and ready to fight with her bare hands if needed.

Tamako noticed Paul, the Arc Guild’s alchemist, retching and vomiting all over the teleportation pad. However, she primarily kept her attention on the two men armed and standing at the edge of the pad. “I hope they are with the Arc Guild,” she thought.

The larger guard mumbled to the other guard, “what the shit, how is she still standing and ready to fight?” The other guard only shrugged and then called out to the group. “Get your gear on! Except for Paul, all of you have the same basic guild-supplied jumper’s gear. Paul, your gear is in a separate pile over here. We’ll keep watch while you get dressed and get ready to move. The longer we stay here, the greater the risk we’re taking with gamblers or other guilds arriving.”

Tamako nodded her understanding at the two men.

Before they left the First Deck, they had received a briefing on the procedures. The only difference was, these guards didn’t know that Tamako, Jen, and Sam were not the guild members they were expecting. However, the gear still belonged to them as part of their deal with the Arc Guild to be teleported to the Second Deck.

Tamako pulled on the light robe and sandals, and readied the cheap shield and sword that were also provided.

The smaller, but not small, guard noticed Sam moving and getting dressed, and said to the bigger guard, “Damn, this group is recovering fast!” They didn’t realize that Sam was already using his multi-focus to filter and pull more mana into his channels and build a smooth spool of it in his center.

Jen glanced at Tamako and Sam with envy as she repeatedly vomited while trying to make some kind of attempt to get to her gear and get dressed.

Tamako asked Sam, “Are you ready?”

Sam mumbled back, “sort of … maybe? … I’ll make it happen.”

“Good. Stay alert while I help Jen.”

Tamako helped Jen get her robe on, and then helped Paul get his on. Paul seemed like a decent sort to Sam, and he was glad to see from the corner of his vision, Paul showing acceptance and gratitude for Tamako’s help.

Jen picked up Slim and placed him on her shoulder, and said, “I’m able to walk, but I would only put my ready status at about 60%.”

Jen used her on-board to message Sam and Tamako. “The guards are both level 30. Don’t worry about suppressing your levels just yet, but suppress your mana channels ASAP!”

“Done!” Sam texted.

Jen nodded at Sam with a “be ready for anything” look, but didn’t reply as the Arc guards signaled for them to help form a perimeter around Paul and Tamako.

Alchemist Paul looked worried about something, but waved for the guards to listen to him, and said, “Captain Gru, Lieutenant Row, these are our esteemed guests, Mistress Jen, Master Sam, and Mistress Tamako.”

Jen could feel confusion and concern emanating from the guards when Alchemist Paul addressed them.

“These aren’t guild members?” Captain Gru asked, looking at Paul for an explanation.

Paul shook his head no, and said, “they paid for the rainbow jump, and for the starter gear that was designated for our guild members.”

Captain Gru looked at Tamako and said, “Are you the leader of your group?”

Tamako pointed at Jen, and said, “She’s the one in charge.”

Jen nodded at the guards and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Captain Gru. We have already paid for transport to your guild hall, where we are to be allowed access to our funds. After that, we will be out of your hair.”

Captain Gru smiled, but looked to Paul, who was nodding in agreement with Jen’s statement. Captain Gru said, “It's an honor to meet you all. Please allow us to escort you to the Arc Guild. We must be careful. Just after Alchemist Paul dropped to the First Deck, a conflict between The Stone Guild and The Poison Dagger Guild began.”

Without being noticed by Alchemist Paul or the guards, Slim whipped Jen’s arm with his tail. He then nuzzled her hand and secretly dropped a ring into it, then he casually jumped from her arms and headed down a side street.

As they left the jump pad, Sam noticed the level of destruction to the buildings and stores in the area, and he messaged Jen and Tamako, “He called this a ‘conflict’, this is a war zone.”