Book 2. Chapter 18

Book 2. Chapter 18

Hogg’s clothes were torn and dripping with water, blood was leaking from his ears, and no doubt he had many more wounds that Brin couldn’t see, but he acted like everything was completely normal. He’d even insisted on taking Brin down to the cellar and telling him everything. There was an intense excitement in his eyes when he related the tale. Brin got the impression that this was less about giving him urgent information, and more about wanting to talk about the awesome day he’d had.

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” said Brin. “Bunnies. You’re talking about bunnies.”

“Evil sentient puppet bunnies, yes,” said Hogg.

“I didn’t even know this world had bunnies.”

“Every world has bunnies,” Hogg answered.

“You know, the fact that you can say something like that with a completely straight face makes me doubt everything else you’ve ever told me,” said Brin.

Hogg laughed, which caused his nose to bleed. He dabbed at it with a handkerchief.

“Alright, so tell me about these bunnies. ‘Major threat’ means you don’t know if you could take them in a fight?” asked Brin.

“If I had fought them back there, I probably would’ve died. But there’s a really good chance I would’ve taken Awnadil down with me, which is why she didn’t want to do it. But that was then.” Hogg tapped his temple. “I logged everything [Inspect] could get with my Li– with an ability I have, and I’ll be going over it bit by bit over the coming days and making a counter-strategy.”

“What’s the summary?”

“Zappo uses gravity magic. I’m thinking he’s like a big guy that moves like a little guy, using gravity magic to ignore things like momentum and friction. I also bet since he’s a stuffed animal that he can compress or expand himself to dodge whatever he wants to dodge or tank hits if he’s acting as tank. He’s got some [Brawler] Skills, so I’d expect he fights with hands and feet. Or paws, as the case may be.

“Basil, on the other hand, has quite the eclectic set of abilities. I think when they come together we’re looking at... short range teleportation, but endlessly repeatable without much of a Mana cost. He could use it to get his [Witch] out of danger, but he’s primarily an offensive weapon. Imagine his coming up against a group of soldiers and then stabbing them all in the back, one by one, in the space of a second. I’m tempted to assume he’d struggle against a single, stronger opponent. A good set of armor should be enough to counter him, but obviously I’m missing something. I’ll know more soon.”

“Oh,” said Brin. “Now I understand why you look so happy. We finally have a good look at our enemy.”

“Exactly!” said Hogg. “To be frank, most of this is bad news. I don’t think Awnadil will attack as long as we stop poking the bear, but that only lasts until she’s got her troops where she wants them. I don’t have any illusions that she means to spare us indefinitely. I don’t know if I can protect the town, should the worst come to pass. But now we know! Not knowing is the hard part.”

“I think watching everyone you know die and then join the army of undead is the hard part,” said Brin drily. “But not knowing is a close second.”

Hogg frowned. “Sure.”

“Another question,” said Brin. “What was the thing Bruna did to escape the tunnel when all the undead jumped out?”

“That was a transformation. [Witches] can transform themselves. They often make themselves more beautiful, or sometimes, hideously ugly. But it doesn’t have to stop there. They can turn themselves into beasts, but there’s a danger in that. Change yourself into something too different for too long, and you won’t be able to go back. Some say that no monsters are natural, that they’re all descended from [Witches] who turned themselves into monsters and couldn’t find a way to return. That’s nonsense, of course. What are the chances that two [Witches] turned themselves into opposite gendered monsters that were able to produce viable offspring? Now, one thing you’ve noticed is that your [Shape Glass] can also move glass.”

“I haven’t been able to do that yet,” said Brin.

“You’ll get there. It’s possible. So it follows that if [Witches] can alter themselves, they should be able to move themselves as well.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t make that logical leap at all, but go on,” said Brin.

Hogg gave Brin a frown and waited. Brin made the motion of zipping his mouth up.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

After a moment, Hogg continued. “What Bruna did was like a half-transformation. While in the process of transforming herself into some kind of flying nightmare creature, she also moved herself away from danger, and then reversed it. Transformation is stupidly dangerous to practice on your own, though. Most [Witches] don’t touch it outside of System Skills. Bruna has [Mutating Retreat].”

“Can they transform us? Do they really turn princes into frogs?”

“Yes, but not with something as simple as a breach of hospitality. They need consent. At the very least, they’d need an explicit contract.”

Brin hugged himself. It sounded like a fairy tale, but fairy tales were terrifying when you were living in one.

“Well, I know it won’t help to tell you not to worry about it, but don’t worry about it,” said Hogg. “So how about you? Level fifteen?”

Brin perked up. “Yes! I got [Summon Glass]! Only, I can’t seem to use it, and I can’t evolve into [Illusionist].”

“One thing at a time. You can’t use it?” asked Hogg.

“Yeah. When I use [Shape Glass], I start with glass, and that gives my magic something to latch onto. It’s like the magic is already touching any glass that’s nearby so I just have to push more into it. It’s hard to explain.”

“Intuitive casting is deeply personal,” said Hogg. “That’s why the Language was invented.”

“Wait. The Language was invented?”

“More like discovered.”

“Well, whatever the case, I think that’s what I need. I was going to ask Chamylla if she can help me.”

“That should help. The word for ‘create’ is >. Normally you’d also want to specify what you want to create, but since you can only create one thing it should work.”

Ademir held up a sheet of glass. It was perfectly smooth and even, but that was all you could say for it. Dark burns ran across its center, and the rest of it was so foggy he didn’t think much light would get through. There were bubbles visible throughout. Basically, it was about as bad a piece of glass as Brin had ever seen.

He slumped. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be! This gave me all sorts of ideas on what I can try next. I’m already trying the second experiment,” Ademir said with a smile.

“That’s kind of you,” said Brin. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be this easy to use the knowledge of modern America in what was basically a medieval world.

“Hey, don’t look so down. I have a good feeling about this. And, oh, look at that. The glass is ready.”

As if waiting for Ademir’s permission, the System gave Brin a notification.

Alert! [Summon Glass] leveled up! 1->4

Brin froze.

“What’s wrong?”

Brin couldn’t make out the words.

“Say something, lad!”

“T–three. Three levels.”

“Three,” Ademir said, as if not comprehending. He stared at the furnace as if it’d grown wings. “I suppose... you could get that many levels if you made a large breakthrough with the creation of glass. Let me?”

Brin nodded.

Ademir approached the furnace like a worshiper approaching a shrine. He carefully reached in with his blowpipe, and pulled out a glob of glass. The perfect amount on the first try, of course.

He spun, and began to blow. The glass didn’t look much different in its glowing, molten state, but as it cooled and Ademir blew it into a bottle, the difference between it and their previous bottles began to be impossible to miss.

Ademir cut it off the blowpipe, and picked it up with leather gloves to put it in the cooling kiln. Still, he hesitated. The glass was still hot to touch, but it was hard not to stare.

One brilliantly pure, absolutely clear glass bottle.

Bog Standard Bottle

“I want to try!” said Brin, and Ademir was already turning to put the bottle away and start another. They worked in a frenzy after that. Caught up in the moment, they knocked out one bottle after another, again and again. Brin worked side-by-side with Ademir until the [Crafter] got wise and started making glass panels. The foggy bottles they’d made before were good enough, but clearness was important in windows. They would sell for a pretty penny. Brin stopped his own work only long enough to lend a hand when Ademir needed help, but other than that worked without ceasing. Gone was the careful rationing of the glass. They blew through the entire supply, unceasing and untiring. One beautiful, golden moment of pure creation.

It didn’t feel like any time had passed at all, just streams of sweat, an ache beginning to form in his arms, soreness in his feet. The only measure was the ever-diminishing supply of glass.

When it was finally out, Brin blinked and looked around. Hours had passed. Dozens of bottles and windows now sat in the cooling kiln, and the System had something to say about it.

Alert! [Summon Glass] leveled up! 4->8

Alert! [Shape Glass] leveled up! 10->13

Level up! Level 15 -> 16

+2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +2 Vitality, +2 Mental Control, +1 Will, +2 free attributes.

You still have 1 free general Skill.

“That...” started Brin. He didn’t know what to say.

Ademir nodded. “A good day. It’s always like this when you make a breakthrough. A new technique, a new ingredient, and the levels pour like rain. Do you see? This isn’t so bad a life.”

“It really isn’t,” Brin agreed.

“I think I’m ready to start my second try with the tin oven. Would you care to watch?” Ademir offered.

“I really, really do,” said Brin. “But it’s getting close to the time that Davi’s going to play in the tavern for the first time. I promised I’d be there.”

“Ah, then go and wash up. I’ll take care of clean-up. No, go on, go! I don’t think I need to tell you how grateful I am for today. I can clean my own shop for once.”

“Thanks,” said Brin. On a whim, he decided to [Inspect] Ademir to see if he’d leveled up as well, but the [Crafter] didn’t have his levels visible.

He left the washup to Ademir and went back home to change his clothes and get ready for Davi’s show.