Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6), Dakota Krout [free novels to read TXT] 📗

people asking them. What is the information you found? You didn’t kill Elves, and you lost levels like a moron, so it can’t be those.”

Joe wasted no time in explaining. “I found a major fort hidden in Gramma’s Shoe. There’s a massive illusion set up to protect them from discovery, and they are planning a full-scale invasion.”

“Is that all?” Havoc shrugged and closed the door a small amount. “I already got the notification. The Legion is mobilizing. I don’t need to do anything about that. Good job, I suppose. You can come back in. Rewards… yeah… I guess I can allot you some experience or something.”

This wasn’t the insane Dwarf that Joe had been counting on finding when he got back. Tired short guy tinkering with toys wasn’t enough. Joe needed Major General Havoc, the Lord of Slaughter. His eyes brightened as he realized that he had the perfect catalyst, “Havoc. There’s more.”

“What is it, Joe? I’m almost done replacing the tile with mimics, and-”

“The fort is controlled by Lady of Light Elfreeda. That’s the one you call Francine, right?” Joe stared at the Dwarf, who froze. “She’s the one maintaining the illusion. I damaged a bunch of the stabilizers, so I’m sure she has her hands full keeping that building together. She’ll be there.”

“Building…?” That wasn’t what Joe had been expecting the Dwarf to focus on. “This building… was it crystal? Lots of light in it? Looked like a pine tree, but shiny?”

“Yes.”

Havoc’s eyes started to glow, and he lifted a shaking hand to his lips, taking a deep pull from his cigar. “She abyssal did it, huh? We were led to believe that those plans were entirely theoretical. The misinformation to our spies… they must know every. Single. One of them. I’m sure they’re dead by now.”

“What plans? Havoc, what are you talking about?” Joe felt like he was only hearing a single person talking on a phone. He was missing too much information. “They know your spies?”

“It’s an Artifact. It’s called the ‘Prismatic Evergreen’, and if they really built it… it represents a significant investment from the Elven Theocracy.” Havoc started to laugh maniacally; his hands were shaking in excitement. “So significant that there’s no way she can run and leave it undefended. Francine… I’m coming to murder you so that we can finally be together again!”

Chapter Forty-Eight

Havoc was shockingly lavish with the quest rewards. Joe stared at the small pile of Cores that glowed so brightly that his eyes were taking damage. Even so, he couldn’t look away. “One Unique, five Rare, ten Uncommon…”

He took a deep gulp, unsure about the other item that he had been given. Joe picked up the metal pass and turned it over in his hands. “One permanent access pass to enter and leave the landfill at will. I guess I was given an exit pass the last time?”

At least he wouldn’t need to drop down the garbage tubes again. Joe remembered all too clearly what it was like landing on broken glass and seeing the sheet of debuffs appear. Doors were nice. You could just go in them, or out of them. Very few surprises. Joe stared at the Unique Core and steeled himself against using it right away. It was a powerful Core, worth nine thousand, five hundred and fifty-eight experience, if he wanted to waste it by absorbing the power.

“Ten percent of its capacity… add on another ten percent of that to account for any wastage… a minimum of a thousand and fifty-one Unique aspects. That’s enough to build… create… I can’t even imagine.” Joe sighed and inspected the others. Two of the Rare Cores were potent ones worth above five thousand experience, while the other three were in the four thousand range. “Assume roughly five hundred aspects each to use these. I could do Common or below, but what’s the point? I need Rare or better.”

“I should set up a powerful mana battery ritual, though. I’ve only got the ‘overmorrow’ before the troops are mustered, whatever that means. The best way to support the assault is going to be by making sure my side doesn’t blow itself up.” Joe pulled out his notes on the ritual and started reviewing what he needed to do. “First off, I need to increase the efficiency of this diagram. I did a decent job when I first got going with this, but my lore skills have all increased fairly… knowledge! Architectural Lore!”

His mana drained away, and Joe grimaced as Architectural Lore reached Beginner two. He needed to set a timer or something; that skill needed to be used. “My understanding is higher than it used to be, and the components needed are different. I need to translate it over.”

Joe lay on his bed, poring over the formulae to differentiate what was a good idea, and what was a necessary detail. “I can pull this component, but this needs another decimal…”

Three hours later, he had pulled apart the data and condensed it down into a sleeker design. The next step was putting it back together and ensuring that it ran with the same power and efficiency. What he needed was not something that could be run on higher power Cores, but something he could mass produce without going insane or broke. It took a few more hours, but then Joe was ready to test the new design.

Congratulations! Your dedication to perfecting your craft has resulted in a successful revamped ritual, lowering the requirements to create it without sacrificing the potency!

Ritual efficiency increased! Ritual of Enchanting (Mana Battery) (Expert) has been converted to Ritual of Enchanting (Mana Battery) (Journeyman).

Skill increase: Ritual Magic (Expert IV).

Skill increase: Ritual Circles (Expert IV).

Skill increase: Magical Matrices (Apprentice V).

“Oh.” Joe stared at the notifications, suddenly overcome by a deep-rooted need to improve everything he could possibly get his hands on. “Sometime soon, I am going to sit my happy rear down and run experiments for a year.”

That wasn’t today, sadly. Today, he needed to make this ritual