System Break

The smells coming from the kitchen woke us. There were no rays of light penetrating our chamber and while it was a nice place to visit, I was glad to be leaving the underground fortress.

Reyas' naked body did not wake even after a nudge. She was snoring adorably, but we had to get moving so I slapped her ass hard leaving a red hand mark on her soft, white butt cheek.

My hands were pulling leather pants on when she retaliated with a slap on my stomach. I laughed, my stomach was made up of eight rock hard abs and probably hurt her hand more than it did me.

"Come on," I said loudly. "Breakfast and then we're on the move."

Gisael showed no compassion for Ailen and Sakaala when she ripped them from their beds onto the cold stone floor. Their protests were loud and Sakaala began to climb back into her bed.

Gisael said sternly, "Wake and be quiet."

Getting ready was a habit, leathers, packs, and we'd retrieve our weapons when we left.

There wasn't much chatter during breakfast, only Gisael was unaffected by the mead because she had none, and she didn't talk much anyway.

Thanks to Brudin I felt good, but our conversation weighed upon me. I loved this world but had no idea how it worked. My only goals were to keep my friends alive and have fun.  And that all hinged on being able to stay; it was like I had a noose around my neck and I could be yanked at any minute.

I've never had control in my life, you'd think I'd be used to it.

Reyas finished her bowl and pouted at me.

She couldn't see my grin, but she could hear it. "An ass like that was begging for a slap."

She pushed my shoulder. "Next time wake me with a kiss or stroke my hair and whisper in my ear."

"Where's the fun in that?" I said and stood, stretched, and looked for Barrin.

He saw my gaze and approached, "Protector. Are you preparing to leave? Where is Redmond?"

"We let him sleep since he's not coming with us," I said.

"When will you be back?"

I glanced at Ailen. "Soon, we'll check-in on him on our way to a tournament at Dawnharbour."

"It's at the end of the month," Ailen said.

Barrin smiled. "We heard of this tournament. Maybe we will come and watch and sell some of our wares to the adventurers directly."

Ailen chuckled. "After the tournament, please."

Barrin shook his head, "If any are left after it will be on discount. The further we go in the rounds the more a masterwork sword is worth."

"Don't forget who your best customer is," I said.

Barrin's eyes widened. "Oh yes, that reminds me. I selected a pair and engraved them last night for you." He wandered into the smithy and returned while we waited. I nodded towards Reyas.

He held them out to her. The steel on the axe heads was so shiny it looked like silver. And the engravings were intricate and beautiful.

"Looks like Norse or Celtic," Ailen whispered.

Reyas' genuine smile lit her face up as she accepted them graciously. "Thank you."

The Dokkalfar knew enough about us not to worry about the handles our woodworkers would be impossible to surpass, even for them.

They were kind enough to resupply us with some dried food and we picked our weapons up at the first gate. 

Redmond made it outside just in time to wave goodbye, but he struggled in the glare. He was the only Dokkalfar without goggles and he looked it. Before entering into the sunlight, they always pulled their tinted goggles over their eyes. 

My mind's eye connected with the demon bird and we ran out the gates. We ran west and back the way we came.

"They didn't take us to the rear entrance," Reyas said.

I chuckled. "They should hide it better if they want to keep it a secret."

Ailen ran up behind me and as Reyas took the first climb he said, "The qi cores are probably a currency everywhere."

"The mountainfolk treasure it above everything. You saw how upset they were to lose the Cave Troll core." It was his turn to climb. "Up you go."

Without Redmond we made much better speed.

We'd spent a week, running, climbing and fighting. While I waited for them at the top of a long climb, I checked my skills.

.

-Skills-

.

-General-

Running, 44.41

Climbing, 47.72

Negotiation, 15.90

.

-Survival-

Navigation, 31.13

Forest, 33.97

Plains, 26.10

Mountains, 25.48

Foraging, 25.88

Skinning, 33.64

Tracking, 25.87

.

-Combat-

Spear, 40.05

Brawling, 24.24       

Dodge, 32.27

.

-Crafting-

Fabric, 4.22

.

I was extremely pleased with my skinning it raised six points into the thirties. Once skills got into the thirties the rate of increase slowed down dramatically. I'd done a hell a lot of climbing and running and it wasn't surprising they were my highest skills.

My stats were all still in the low to mid-twenties they barely raised at all. My qi manipulation was now four. It didn't sound like much but that was the hardest of all to raise.

"Ailen, what's your qi manipulation?"

"One," he said.

"One," Sakaala said.

"I don't think it goes up," Ailen said, "What's yours?"

"Four."

Sakaala chuckled. "Typical."

Gisael was the last one up, we pulled the rope and got moving.

An image flashed in my mind. Demon bird showed me a herd of goats, except their leader wasn't normal. He was huge. Another nine followed him as he trotted up an almost vertical cliff face. Goats were better climbers than monkeys.

Then demon bird swooped across the peak and showed me another group. Yetis and they looked like there were chasing the goats.

"Reyas," I called. "Do you think yetis can catch a herd of goats?"

Her lips pursed. "That would make a good bet and argument at drinking time."

"Demon bird is about to find out. Oh, and one of the goats is massive. Is that normal?"

She shook her head, "No. That is rare. It could be a mystical beast."

"Really?"

"We should kill it for its skin and core," she said.

"And the yetis?"

"Them too. Are they close enough for us to catch them?"

"I can catch them," I looked back at Ailen and Sakaala. "I don't know about you bastards."

I got protests from all quarters.

"Okay then," I put out a challenge. "We need to replace those cores and I need to practise skinning some more. I want to get it to forty."

Sakaala laughed. "Half the time you want to kill things just to practise skinning."

"Hey, we got those axe heads thanks to that skill."

Reyas nodded. "It is a useful skill. Furs and pelts have value, especially among the mystical beasts."

"Is a troll a mystical beast?"

She thought for a moment before answering. "No. But only because it's a monster. Some mystical beasts are highly intelligent and can communicate."

"So, you just asked me to kill and skin a talking goat?"

She nodded.

"Harsh." I stopped talking and got into high gear. I lead the way and it was up to them to keep up. I knew I could rely on Gisael and Reyas, it was a test for the twins.

On the hardest climb I left a rope tied to a triangle of pitons. And then ran along the ledge to a flat section. It was like a plateau on top of the range and I could run across it without holding back.

Demon bird showed me the yetis, they were closing in on the goats and I was closing in on them. All three groups were adept in the mountains, but we had the demon bird advantage. The demon bird was a gift from the forest and no matter how strange his birth - he was an amazing companion.

When I reached the edge of the plateau I looked back. We were spread out, but Reyas and Gisael were racing to catch me and the twins were in sight on the other side.

I waved, then took several steps back and ran to the edge and leapt. The chasm was wide, at least twenty feet across but I made it easily. I held out my hand but Reyas made the jump without pausing with a rope in her hand. She then began hammering in pitons to secure it.

"Good idea," I said, "The twins haven't improved their qi techniques enough to make the jump." They hadn't made much progress at all. There was a reason their manipulation was one.

It didn't worry Gisael who made the jump and skidded to a halt.

"You could have waited for the rope," I said, and she just stared at me like I insulted her.

We could hear the goats baying. They were panicking because the yetis were close.

"It's showtime," I said and ran off.