151 Icosah

The espen gawked at me. It made some sense. I stood five feet taller than her, a titan in her eyes. After leaving the shop, I vowed to shrink myself some with my mass manipulation skill. This height was doing me no favors at the moment.

The espen mumbled with a fairy voice, “Who are you?”

She almost hissed her words. I say she since the espen looked feminine. She had a familiar figure, kind of like Althea. Naturally not as good, but you get the point. The differences stacked up from there though.

Unlike Althea, this espen chick had turquoise skin. Orange ovals ran up her legs, her sides, and ended at her neck. Parts of her skin reflected light like a glossy stone. It reminded me of a salamander, though smoother and sleeker. They were amphibian people.

As I watched, the espen propped her weight onto one hip. Beads on her brown clothes clattered against each other as she did.. To me, it looked like modern tribal clothing.

“Well? What faction are you from?”

I crossed my arms, “The one that’s looking for herbs. Who are you?”

She crossed her arms back at me, ruffling some of the furs on her hide clothing,

“I’m Selesha, and I own this shop. You’re welcome here if you’re paying. Before you ask, no, I don’t take credit, and no, I don’t take favors either. And before you try anything, I’ve verified my shop into Schema’s network. You steal anything, and the law will be after you. Same goes for extortion.”

I uncrossed my arms, “Naw. I have credits. What’s for sale?”

She took a step back, eyeing me up and down, “Hmmmm....”

She narrowed her amber eyes at me. Orange fins rose from her head and elbows, and she pushed her hair behind herself. Well, hair isn’t quite the right word. She didn’t have any real hair per say. Instead, something like atail went down the back of her head. Down towards the end of it, the color changed to the orange of her fins and the ovals on her sides.

It fit together in my sight, nothing looking out of place. Once she flopped her head tail thing behind her, she pointed behind me, “Anything in the front is three credits a piece.” She pointed behind her, “Anything in the back is seven.”

I turned around, walking towards the front of the shop, “I’ll take a look around.”

The cloud of mana imbued mist followed me. I waved at it, but it didn’t go away. Selesha walked up, pulling a jar from a utility belt around her hip, “Wait a second.”

She lifted the jar up, and the fog around me flowed into the pot. I watched it, feeling the moisture leave,

“Why do you guys have these clouds of mist?”

She corked the jar and put it in her belt, “It’s because espens need some moisture or else we dry out.”

I nodded, “And that’s why you guys have so many clouds of mist floating around your villages?”

Selesha frowned at me, “You are very new here, aren’t you?”

I put my finger on a yellow flower, “Yeah, I guess.”

She raised an eyebrow that was more an eye fin, “Are you a member of Soldiers of Fortune?”

I turned towards her, holding a lavender fern placed in a wooden pot, “Why do you want to know?”

She tapped a foot, “Because the Soldiers of Fortune laze around all day. You seem the type, even if you're taller than a Gialgathen.”

I inspected the fern, ignoring her verbal jabs,

“Eh, I work hard when I need too.”

I pointed at the fern, “How much is this?”

She bit her lip, “14 credits.”

It was my turn to frown,

“I thought you said plants at the front of the store are three?”

“14 for you.”

I set the fern onto the wooden growth, “Then good luck finding some else to buy these herbs.”

She raised a hand, “Wait. I...I’ll sell it for 3. Letting a stranger in your home honors Lehesion's name.”

Lehesion sounded like some religious figure, kind of like Baldowah. I figured speaking out on the topic was a bad idea. I didn't understand anything about him, so I might say something outrageous.

Instead of speaking, I opened my dimensional storage, dropping the lavender fern into the dreamy portal. Looking at my status, I lost three credits automatically. I grinned, “So the prices are automated.”

I grabbed herb after herb, putting them into my dimensional storage. Selesha's eyes widened, shocked by my shopping spree. I took four or five of each plant, intent on breeding them for more later. Experimenting with some alchemy sounded fun anyways.

After buying several dozen pots, I waved at Selesha, “Cya. Let me know when you get something new in stock.”

She smiled at me, her sharp teeth showing, “Of course sir.”

A bell rang above the door as I did. I jogged back towards the forest, pinning myself between a few bushes. With my mass manipulation skill, I condensed myself. It hurt a bit, but after five minutes I was two feet smaller.

At this point, the gray armor over me fit like a glove. With my less striking appearance, I walked out. Once at Selesha’s shop, I opened the door, bending less to get in. The espen woman gasped at me, shocked by my sudden shrinking. I brought up my status, sending her a twenty-credit tip,

“It's for the great service.”

She glanced at her invisible status, then she nodded at me, “Thank you, sir.”

The plants had a dual purpose. On the one hand, alchemy interested me. On the other, I couldn't have Selesha talking about my shifting sizes. I made myself into a good customer, one that would hurt to lose.

With that loose end knotted, I trekked into the city. The sun beamed down from above, midday feeling heavy from the humidity. No espens were out and about yet again. I tapped my chin, giving it some thought.

I came to a conclusion. The espens needed water to prevent their skin from drying out. They might stay indoors during the hotter parts of the day to avoid the sun. It might bake them if they sat in it long enough after all. My hypothesis seemed legit to me at least.

With those thoughts categorized, I strolled on the dirt road to Icosa. After making it past a bend in the street, a concrete walkway replaced the dirt one. Beyond the shift in roading, the tree homes changed too. Wires hung from them, showing new heating and cooling. They took on standardized shapes like someone planned them in a city.

Along the sides of a few homes, markings were splattered with bright paint. They read,

“Traitors.”

Besides that though, the homes were just lovely. Just beyond them, the factions raised up over the trees. Futuristic jeeps rode along the concrete walkways. Power armor-clad soldiers walked everywhere, everything moving around. It contrasted the peaceful stillness of the espen’s other village.

What moved was different too. The outlines of the armors took on all kinds of shapes. Some walked on hinged legs like a goat. Others walked on all fours. More of them were bipedal, carrying a rifle strapped on their backs. Embedded into their helms were mana stones galore.

In fact, every piece of machinery used chunks of mana stones. The jeeps used mana stones. The guns used mana stones. Hell, some people used carriages pulled by some glowing ox. Guess what they fed them as they walked?

That’s right - hay.

But still, The mana stones invaded every aspect of the society from head to toe. It was their electricity and gasoline. It was a world saturated with mana. It made sense considering the creatures here. They flourished on it, so the locals did the same.

Those locals gawked at me some. I stood a head taller than everyone even after shrinking, so I didn't blame them. My size alienated me some, but no one dropped their rifles at the sight of me. In my book, that meant shrinking worked.

I kept the spell on in the back of my head, analyzing people as I walked. No one was over level 2,000 yet. Quite a few of them managed over 1,000 though to my surprise. The dungeons here would be more developed than on Earth since the planet was older. Higher level dungeons meant higher level sentients.

It showed in their titles too. Rift Walker, B Bounty Slayer, and along with various faction names stood above them. Many of the aliens wore painted symbols of their factions on their armor. They walked with their shoulders back, proud of who they aligned themselves with.

That loyalty splashed onto the buildings too. I walked past the Steel Legion's outpost. A fence surrounded the metal structure, engineers building vehicles and machines. The soldiers bordered on level 600, most of them in the 500's.

Across from the Steel Legion, there was a different faction called agents of Schema. In a black compound ringed by camo tents, they kept more open then. A few members fitted themselves in power armor but most preferred going for kevlar or carbon fiber mesh. My guess was for mobility and stealth.

The Steel Legion used power armor for safety. It gives you a bit of extra oomph when an eldritch tries to kill you. The agents of Schema specialized in long-range combat. Scopes lined their rifles. Night vision goggles hung from their necks. They carried sniper rifles and smoke grenades for a rapid escape. If I summed up the difference, the Steel Legion was a newbie guild. The agents of Schema hovered closer to an intermediate one.

The levels reflected that difference. The agents of Schema all hovered around level 800. They wore badges too, like a police force for Icosah.

After I passed the two garrisons, I found more guilds. A white tent stood beside the Steel Legion. Within it, the Enigmatta researched with magic and chemistry. Their pressurized suits made them comfortable in the heat. That's why they used a tent instead of a building. They didn't need much insulation.

Underneath their suits, they looked like humanoid anglerfish. The suits kept external light from blinding them, and it kept them under pressure. Talking to them worked in my favor. I might get some tech or something. They spent all day doing that studying after all.

Inside their tent, Torix and Kessiah talked with one of their members. Torix and the Enigmatta chatted away. Kessiah leaned against a table, listening close. Althea just stood around, looking like a third wheel. I jogged up,

"Yo guys, whats up?"

Torix looked at me, glancing up and down. Our personal intercom system clicked on, "How did you shrink!?"

I shrugged, "Mass Manipulation. It's a skill. Anyways, who's this guy?"

Torix shut our intercoms off, letting our voices spill out of our suits,

"This is a good friend of Kessiah and I. Roland Fixe."

The Enigmatta waved a thin arm, "It is good to meet you, Daniel. They've spoken highly of you and your accomplishments."

I grinned, though no one saw it through the tinted glass on my helmet,

"Thanks. What were you guys talking about anyway?"

Torix spread out his arms, "Oh, I was gathering some information on Giess. Roland knows quite a few details. He's an experienced information broker I've used many a time."

Torix turned towards Roland, "What brought you to Giess anyways?"

Roland raised a hand, "See here."

He walked over towards one of their tables covered in glassware. In a jar of glass, Roland kept a chip of concrete stowed away. At least it looked like concrete from above. Below that disguise, its red eyes and steel underbelly shimmered along with a dozen legs. It stood still like it was hiding.

Roland tapped the jar, and the bug snapped up at his finger, its dozen legs clinging into the glass.

Roland removed his finger, "This is a saysha. It's what the natives call a silver."

I frowned, "A silver?"

Roland nodded, "Yup, a silver. They showed up over five centuries ago on Giess. The locals will tell you it's because of the 'Great Light.' With a few context clues, the Enigmatta already discovered it was an asteroid. Based on our ideas, we hypothesize the asteroid carried eldritch."

Kessiah pushed herself from a table, "What? Didn't you say Schema has only been around for twenty years?'

Roland nodded, bubbles going up his helmet, "Yes, that's right. If you've seen the forest, you know the creatures here aren't normal. They can fight the eldritch."

Roland lifted the glass jar, the saysha squirming, "And this little bug is...we don't really know what it is. They give experience like a normal eldritch, but Schema can't get a grip on them. They don't act like eldritch either."

The saysha snapped its mandibles at Roland's hand, unable to get through the glass. I pointed at it,

"It seems pretty damn eldritch-ey to me."

Roland waved his free hand in a circle,

"Some species of silver are reminiscent of eldritch, but they don't exhibit the same characteristics. Most eldritch are composed of ambient mana, mana without a purpose. It means their minds are dissonant, grasping in different directions. In the end, they devolve into bundles of base instincts."

He pointed at the saysha, "These are different. They have a distinct purpose outside of eating. They and all their brethren expand the wastelands outwards. This terraforming property is both intriguing and terrifying."

Althea leaned towards the jar, leaning on me. She clicked on our intercoms, "These things sound a lot like Yawm's plague."

I nodded, and our intercoms clicked off. Roland sighed, his voice muffled by his own recorder, "There have been reports of the silvers appearing in the middle of espen territories. Some people are thinking someone is spreading them around. I've no idea why they'd do something like that. The Enigmatta are trying to discover why. It's fascinating, isn't it?"

Torix nodded with vigor, "Oh indeed. What I'm wondering is why the saysha guise themselves as concrete?"

Roland put his hands around the Saysha, "They hide on top of broken buildings. Once a creature falls asleep, they spring forth and devour their victims."

Torix tapped his chin, "What about the biological mechanics involved?"

Roland moved his hands like he was giving a presentation, "It involves a thin surface level of stem cells spread over the upper thorax of this insect. By various undulating fibers using a thin layer of cilia-"

I tuned them out, turning towards Kessiah and Althea. I pointed outside, "Want to see the rest of the town?'

Kessiah started walking out of the tent, "Yeah. Better than watching those nerds gush."

I rolled my eyes while Althea grabbed my arm,

"I thought you'd never ask."

I smiled as we walked outside. Across from the Enigmatta, a marble building stood tall. Flags waved in the wind, bold and red. They carried images of an executioner swinging an ax. I pointed at the guild, "So uh, who are they?"

Kessiah whistled, "They're the inquisitors. Not very friendly. They pretend that they're the police force for Schema. More often than not they work like gangsters."

A spitting sound came out of Kessiah's intercom, "If I could, I'd spit at them. They just extort the locals. Their leeches"

Althea pointed at the agents of Schema, "What about them?"

Kessiah sighed, "I want to hate them, but there's really no reason too. The agents of Schema are basically the preliminary guild for Speakers. They're diplomats for Schema's cause basically."

I nodded, "Ohhh, ok."

Kessiah pointed towards a castle beside the Enigmatta's tent, "That's the worst of them all though. They call themselves the Empire."

My eyes narrowed, "The Empire?"

Kessiah waved her hand in disgust, "They're just a bunch of pompous, self-righteous, wannabee royalty. The only thing kingly about them is their egos. They won't listen to you unless you suck their dick the entire time your talking. Hard to talk like that."

I grimaced, "Well, Schema's ok with them."

Kessiah scoffed, "Yeah, they're a strong faction. They're probably the second strongest faction on Giess."

We walked forward, people walking out from around us. Althea patted her thighs, "Who's the strongest?"

Kessiah pointed her hand at the building in front of the empire's castle,

"Them. The Soldiers of Fortune."

That's who Selesha talked about earlier. I took a mental note on them as Kessiah continued, "They're higher level than most, that's for sure. They're just a bunch of mercenaries that clear dungeons for a price. Their motto is, 'Better to pay in credits than in blood.'"

I shrugged, "Most of the time its true."

Kessiah nodded, "And they charge an arm and a leg for it too. I worked for them for a while till one of my assigned teammates tried slitting my throat while I was asleep. Needless to say, it didn't work out for him."

Althea leaned towards Kessiah, "Why'd he do that?"

Kessiah rolled her eyes, "He didn't like how I talked to him or something. He was ridiculous."

Althea nodded, "What did you say?"

Althea and Kessiah chatted away about who said what. I wasn't one for gossip, so I looked around. I peered at the Soldiers of Fortune. Their base was more like a bar, panels of glass showing the inside.

People sat at tables, chomping away at meats and drinking brews. A few hired espens served and prepared the drinks and meats for them. They paid them in credits for cheap labor probably.

These espens served all kinds of food to all sorts of species. The inside oozed a sense of comradery, everyone laughing and telling stories together. They talked over odd but catchy music that flowed out from inside.For alien music, it didn't sound bad.

It looked pretty fun honestly.

An electronic touchscreen plastered itself along the back wall. Pictures and descriptions showed along it. A few members read from this display, interacting with the interface. One of the posts rewarded a member with several red dungeon cores for completing it.

I turned towards Althea and Kessiah, "Hey, can anyone finish the assignments or do you have to be a part of the guild?"

Kessiah looked up, "You want to do work? We just got here."

I rolled my eyes, "It's a great way to explore and see what's going on here."

She looked back to Althea, "Knock yourself out. You won't receive full payment, but they'll give you a slice."

I turned to Althea, "You want to come with me?"

Althea shook her head, "I want to go see some shops. I have all this money, might as well spend it."

Kessiah put her arm over Althea's shoulders, "That's more like it! Come on, let's get you some drinks. I passed by a place right over there."

I waved them off as Kessiah gushed about where to spend for what. I walked into the base of the soldiers, ducking under an archway. As I stepped in, people stared at me. I walked forward with a casual trot, keeping to myself.

As I passed by the bar, I reached the touchscreen. I clicked the accept button on the red dungeon core contract. I almost turned around, but someone stood too close. If I turned right now, I'd bump them. I turned my head,

"Hey, can you give me some space?"

It was a stocky, gray humanoid. A pot belly bulged from underneath his plated armor. He didn't have a helmet on his thorny face. Based on how ugly he was, he should've.

Two slanted eyes stared up at me and narrowed into splits. He pointed around,

"Why are you going around putting a debuff on everyone here? Who do you think you are?"

I looked around, finding several other aliens staring at me. I shook my hand, "It's not a debuff. I'm too heavy. I spread my weight out using skills."

He laughed, "So you're too heavy for the floor? What are you, a fighter?"

I nodded, "Yup. Are you going to get out of my way?"

The weird ogre guy frowned at me, "Is that a threat?"

I looked away, facepalming my helmet. This 8-foot goblin was too close to me, his breath getting on my face. He was used to shaking people down. In my mind, this guy was testing me. I didn't want to take it personally. Even then though, this was an excellent introduction to the guild.

Real classy.

Before I did anything else, I analyzed him.

Khan Mar(Level: 1,568 | Species: Bellop | Faction: Soldiers of Fortune/The Empire) - A far-off illegitimate child of royalty within The Empire, Khan leveraged a few strings to get to where he is. He never wasted his opportunities, however, and this lets him far exceed the merits of his birthrights within the empire. Using gunplay and grappling, he kites enemies, using premade gear as cc tools.

He's no match for you given his level, though he is by no means incompetent.

I looked back at him, knowing all I needed to know about him,

"Look, I've got shit to do. I explained myself already. I didn't have to do that. Let me leave."

Khan shook his head, the smell of booze on his breath. It leaked in through my suit. I hated the smell. It reminded me of my dad. Khan patted a gray pistol on his hip, red light glowing along it. With a sleight of hand, he unholstered the gun and pointed it at my knee,

"I won't say this twice. Cut that aura off, now."

I shrugged, "If I do, I'm going to wreck this place. My feet are going right through this nice floor."

He adjusted his grip on his pistol. With only two fingers and thumb, it looked strange.

"Not my problem."

I put my right hand on his shoulder, "Look, I'm walking out right now-"

He clicked the trigger.