Duskbound

Chapter 35

Velik was three hours out from town and well away from the deep wood when he finally got that level up he'd been waiting for. It came from killing a group of worgs that he'd specifically targeted as practice for [Phalanx].

[You have slain a bristle fur worg (level 12).]

[You have been awarded 1 decarma.]

[You have advanced to level 31. +2 Physical, +1 Mental, +2 free points.]

For the first time in the last few years, he hesitated over where to slot those two free points. With his new skill, mental had suddenly become much more important, but he was confident that he could manage three of the ghostly spears with his current stats and a bit of practice. Increasing the skill's rank would help as well. What he wasn't sure of was whether he could ever form more than three spears at a time without increasing his mystic, or if they'd get more durable as the skill grew.

Much to his annoyance, he'd found that the skill-crafted spears couldn't do more than distract high-level opponents. They just weren't strong enough to pierce the hides and scales of deep wood monsters, which was an unexpected problem. It didn't make [Phalanx] worthless, but it did sharply limit its viability as an offensive skill if it couldn't actually hurt the monsters he needed to use it against.

So, with some trepidation, Velik put the two free points into mystic and reviewed his status.

[Name: Velik]

[Race: Human (Duskbound)]

[Class: The Black Fang]

[Level: 31]

[Physical: 99(+8)]

[Mental: 54(+2)]

[Mystical: 24]

[Free Points: 0]

[Decarma: 1247]

[Skills:]

[Apex Hunter (Rank 1)]

[Spear Warden (Rank 6)]

[Kinetic Charge (Rank 3)]

[Phalanx (Rank 1)]

[Gear:]

[Blood Seeker(+5Ph)]

[Hunter's Cowl(+2Me)]

"I really don't—"

"Did you really break this thing fighting a champion on your own?" Jensen interrupted.

Why does it matter? "Yes."

"And it wasn't in the dungeon? I mean, we were there, and besides, the dungeon's dead, anyway. So, it was a wild champion elite."

"I... guess so." I've never even heard of a wild champion elite.

"Those are supposed to take whole teams to kill," Jensen said. "Maybe Torwin could do it by himself because he's a high level with a rare class, but for you to do it... Well, there's an easy way to tell. If you killed it, you'd have the champion seed."

"What's your point?"

"Obviously, that champion seeds are valuable. If you have one, you could sell it. If it's a high enough level, it might be worth more than the compass itself."

Do I need this thing? I've got two of them anyway, and besides, they were only important because they had Chalin's name on them. They don't even say that anymore, so they're not doing anything but sitting in a pouch now. But still... something about this...

"What are they used for?" Velik asked.

"You mean, besides to grow a new champion?"

"I doubt anyone wants to make more monsters."

"You'd be surprised," Torwin said dryly. "But no, he means that champion seeds have other uses. Alchemists love them. Enchanters sometimes use them for their mana holding properties. Certain classes can even consume them directly to gain permanent power increases, mostly along the druid lines."

Velik's mind immediately went to Sildra. What would happen if she took one of these? He pushed that thought aside and said, "I've got a level 35 and 33 seed. How much are those worth?"

"Enough to trade for a mana compass," Jensen said eagerly. He started to push the compass across the table, but stopped when Torwin's hand came down on his arm.

"Let's not cheat the boy just because he doesn't know the value of what he's selling. Either of those seeds is worth thirty or forty thousand decarmas to the right buyer, neither of which is us. However, I need to return to Cravel for a few days. I expect to be gone for about a week with travel time, and I would be willing to take one or both seeds with me, along with your broken compass. I'll sell them for you, get the compass fixed, and bring it back, provided you trust me to do so."

It wasn't a difficult decision. As it currently stood, none of those things were useful to him. He could run down to the city himself, maybe even make it as fast as Torwin himself implied he'd travel, but when he got there, he wouldn't have the first clue who to talk to about fencing the seeds or repairing the compass.

If Torwin cheated him, he would be out a huge amount of theoretical decarmas, but wouldn't actually be any worse off in the real world. It would also be a good test of the two hunters' ethics. If Velik was going to be dealing with them while they were here, he'd prefer to know where they all stood with each other. Torwin seemed trustworthy, but there was no telling what was really going on in his head.

Decision made, Velik pulled the two seeds out of the leather pouch that hung off his belt and set them on the table next to the broken compass. Then he gestured to the intact one and said, "I'd like to borrow this while you're gone, if that's alright with you."

"A bit of collateral, huh?" Torwin muttered. "Fair enough."

Jensen, who'd been staring slack-jawed at the two seeds, snapped his head around to look at his master. "Being a bit free with things that aren't yours, aren't you?"

"You weren't using it anyway," Torwin said unrepentantly. "Besides, we both know it's barely pocket change for you."

Pocket change? It was ten thousand decarmas. There's no way a guy that weak collected so much that it was bought on a whim.

Jensen snorted. "Fine, he can take it. But in return, I am going to sleep in."