“Hey Adam, you got a second?” Bob asked. I had just eased myself slowly into a chair, after covering all of the acid blisters with a cream Lukiss’ father had offered while they worked on Glenn. He was already looking better.
“Yeah, I'm not going anywhere for a bit. What's up?” At least I hoped that I wasn't going anywhere. I wanted some time for the new aches to settle in my body before I was forced to do anything else. And given the relative peace we were dealing with, assuming no more acid slug attacks, I wanted to tell Ash at least a single story to pass on an adaptation while we had the chance.
“So the other day, when Noah and I were out in the woods, we spotted a rather large wasp nest. And when I say large, I mean larger than should normally exist. I know you said you wanted to know if we found anything weird animal-wise and did not directly engage it yet, so I just wanted to make sure you knew.” Bob spoke the words incredibly slowly and kept rambling. I apparently made him incredibly nervous these days. It was understandable.
I had forgotten about the wasps, though. Greg had mentioned to me yesterday, but I'd been too focused on trying to force another adaptation. Then, with the sinkhole this morning, that had completely pushed them out of my mind.
“How big was the hive?” That was the real concern. If the wasps were propagating fast enough, we could have a real problem that had to be handled immediately, and I wasn't in the best shape to do it.
“Huge. And the wasps themselves were bigger than a normal wasp. They have basically already taken over a big old oak tree. At least I think it’s an oak, the trees look kind of different now. I’m guessing that’s because of the same thing that’s mutating the wasps,” he replied, his rambling continuing.
“Did they seem overly aggressive at all? I know they’re wasps, and that's probably a weird question, but it seems like they let you two go without issues?” Neither answer gave me a full picture of what we had to do, but at the very least, if they had to run for their lives, it would tell me we had to act incredibly soon.
“No, either they didn't see us or they more or less ignored us. It's possible they didn't see us as any sort of threat. Paper wasps can be weird that way. As far as wasps go, they're one of the less aggressive species, at least until they think their nest is in danger. Then they're about as bad as any other one. I used to try to move small ones away from the house instead of destroying them when I caught them early. Sometimes it even worked without getting stung.”
“Alright, well, we haven't seen any of them near the walls yet, so that's at least some good news. Once I finish healing up from these acid slugs, I think we'll head out there and see what we can see.” Hopefully, after we did that, I could find some time to get to the Rock Trolls. I needed to get that out of the way.
“Sounds good. Do you want me and Noah to try to stay away from that area then? Or I guess if you want, we could try to scout it out more, maybe see how far the range is. Though that might be a bit dangerous, so maybe it's better we go further north or south. I guess we could try crossing the river if you really wanted us to, but that might not be a good idea.”
My eyes almost glazed over at how many possibilities Bob released from his mouth so fast. I had honestly not fully processed the majority of what he had said. But he was looking to me for an answer, so I took a stab at it anyway.
“Stick further north. Do not cross the river. Start looking for a path that might get us closer to the mountains. We're gonna have to visit the Rock Trolls soon, so the easier the path we find, the better. So focus on that, but don't put yourself in too much danger.”
“You got it,” he said succinctly for the first time since he'd asked to talk to me. Had Bob always been like this? I hadn't known the man anywhere near well enough to answer that question. It was possible, and of course, incredibly likely that the changes to the world had also changed him. They almost always eventually change everyone.
As Bob walked away, Ash replaced him. Floof, moving a little faster than he had the day before, joined her, immediately flopping down on one of the chairs near me. First, he looked to me, then he looked to Ash, and then he let out a giant yawn before closing his eyes and kicking out his back feet.
“So, seeing as how you need to heal, it might be a good time for a story,” Ash said, pulling one of the chairs closer, and taking a seat.
“Yeah, we can do that. That's probably a good idea anyway. And I think I've got the perfect one for some tests I want to do on a new class feature. When I was only a little older than you are now, I was once forced to spend a week trapped in a horrible lightning storm,” I started.
***
Your uncle and I had been searching for an elemental mana orb as a gift to a lordling we had recently met. We had just found out that he desperately wanted a lightning orb to complete his collection. Lucky for us, I'd also just learned about something called a Century Storm that was due to start on one of the moons within the next few days.
Making Alecks stay behind for his own safety wasn't the easiest thing yet. We hadn't fully reached our agreement where I was the brawn, and he was the mouth, and still wouldn't for a few more years. Which meant he was very determined that I shouldn't go into the horrible danger alone. It was something that was hard to break him of, even once. We got our real archetypes worked out.
But in the end, he realized someone had to keep the Lordling busy and away from anyone else who might find such a gift for him easier than we could. So off I went to a small jungle-covered moon full of monsters I had never seen or heard of. It wasn't the first time, and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Running off half-cocked into unknown lands full of mysterious creatures would eventually become a specialty of mine.
Though in this case, I was actually wrong. While the moon was packed full of jungle vegetation, actual creatures that moved about seemed nonexistent. I would later learn it had been my own lack of searching that caused that incorrect finding.
You see, apparently, when a location is normally plagued by horribly devastating storms on a repeatable cycle, all the life that can easily move does so. And they had all retreated underground as the first signs of the storm started to show themselves. Unlike them, I marched straight into the heart of it, not realizing what those signs were.
I was kind of a stupid kid when it came to things like that. And I'd love to say I have since learned and grown. But it's much more likely that I've just grown and am better able to weather the negative effects of my own dumb choices. After all, I did take a bath in a river that I knew something was lurking in. I suppose it's probably just better to say it became a lot easier to make those stupid choices as I became the truly scary monster.
The first lightning bolt that hit me hurt about as much as you would expect. The blinding flash of light, the arcing line of electricity, the normal things you'd think a storm would do, all happened exactly like they do here. There was one rather large difference, though. The clouds above had formed hands, and they were personally throwing the lightning at me.
One bolt became two. And two became a dance. For every bolt I managed to dodge, I would accidentally run headfirst into a fresh one. After the first dozen, I stopped feeling most of my body. That ended the illusion, even for myself, that I had any chance of avoiding these assaults.
Instead, I planted my feet into the ground, held my head high, and screamed. “Show yourself and fight me like a man! I refuse to die by something too cowardly to reveal its own face!”
I didn't expect any sort of answer. I certainly didn't expect it to show its face or anything of the like. But at the time, I refused the idea of dying, cowering before anything. I had grown a lot since that horrible first night the system came to the world I was born in. This was just one of many of those ways.
So when the lightning stopped and in its place laughter started, I almost lost my feet in the sheer absurdity of it. It hadn’t even been a passing thought of a possibility. I didn't understand how this cloud thing could find any of this funny. It had just been trying to kill me. Where was the humor in any of this?
The laughter subsided and was replaced by a booming voice. “What brings a Human to my world? And why, of all times, would you come during the rebirth if not to join in it? Though I must admit the diversion does bring me great humor. It has been long since I've been spoken to thus.”
“I came in search of a lightning elemental mana orb. And given what I had learned about the storm that plagues this moon, it seemed like a good place to start. I had no idea that an intelligent being was behind the cycle,” I replied, still utterly confused on what I was speaking to. I hadn't yet met any being claiming to be a god. It would still be several years before I even met any peak-level adventurers. I was still far into the folly of my youth.
“Interesting. I will make you a deal, young Human. I will give you one lightning mana orb from my personal possession, but in its place, you will do me a service. As I am stuck here forever perpetuating the cycle, I am not free to leave and explore other types of mana. But I deeply wish to know the feel of a blizzard. Find me an ice mana orb, and your debt will be paid.”
“Wait, you're just willing to give me the orb now? How do you know I'll ever return with what you want?” That actually shocked me more than anything else within the exchange. The idea that something as powerful as this would just give me a gift and wait for me to return was not something that I had experienced so far.
“Oh, you'll return. There are deep lines that tie deals together, even if the lesser beings haven't fully seen them yet. I promise you cannot escape our deal should you agree to it.”
And I agreed. We needed that lightning orb, and as far as I could tell, it was the only way to get one. Once I was safely away from the Moon, I found I had gained my first lightning resistance adaptation.
***
“Wait, what happened after that? You're leaving off like half the story, Dad,” she asked, realizing I was done with the story.
“Because I felt the mana draw hit its peak and I don't want to push anything in either of us right now, plus, I'm guessing you already got the adaptation, correct?” She nodded. “Good. Now the second half of that story is for another time. It gets pretty crazy before it's over.”
I smiled as I relaxed back into the chair, glad that I could still pass on an adaptation that I had fused. The big question that was still coming was, could I pass on a fused one, and if so, how? Right now, though, it was time for a nap. The story had drained me, and I still needed to heal.Forward to Chapter 72