Chapter 70: Skating

Name：Delve Author：
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Chapter 70: Skating

Snow fell from a dark sky as Rain made his way to the city using the fires atop the wall to guide himself. He’d woken two hours before his normal alarm as he had planned. Now that he had a clock, forcing the system to change the timing of the training dialog hadn’t been that difficult. He was already thinking of ways to exploit this newfound power. Assuming he could set it to go off whenever he wanted, it basically meant that he could rank up his skills whenever they were ready, instead of waiting for a full day. That wasn’t that useful to him at the moment, but once he raised his cap, it would be a game-changer for leveling things like the seasonal auras.

His plan for today started with getting to the Guild before all the good quests got picked over. He knew that he should be resting, but he simply had too much to do in the city to be able to justify spending another full day sitting on his ass. He was still sore, but it was a good soreness. The soreness of progress. He glanced at his menus, which were hovering off to the side as he walked.

Training Overview

General Experience Earned

Mana Use: 1090

Skill Experience Earned

Aura Compression: 508 [Rank Up]

Attributes

Richmond Rain Stroudwater

Level 18

Experience: 22749/22750

Dynamo

Health

400

Stamina

400

Mana

5700

Strength

20[10]

Recovery

30[10]

Endurance

20[10]

Vigor

20[10]

Focus

20[10]

Clarity

200

Free Points

0

Statistics

Total

Base

Modifier

Health

400

400

0

100%

H.Regen

300/day

300/day

0/day

100%

Stamina

400

400

0

100%

S.Regen

200/day

200/day

0/day

100%

Mana

5700

5700

0

100%

M.Regen

2.02/s

0.212/s

-0.05/s

975.5%

Movement Speed

10

Perception

20

Resistances

Heat

Cold

Light

Dark

2

0%

2

0%

2

He activated Detection as he came into range once more. There were a bunch of signals coming from the bathhouse, but each one felt small. Smaller, even, than a regular slime. Unless there was something in there with the ability to avoid Detection, it looked like this was going to be an easy job.

Swarm slimes? Slimelings? Baby slimes? Wait, do monsters age?

He shook his head and lowered his hood before approaching the door to the baths. He wanted to be recognized this time. The guards at the door were barely visible in the driving snow, but they came to attention as he approached.

“Well, I’m here,” Rain said, coming to a stop. “What do you need me for?”

“You’re the purification mage, right?” said the officer on the left.

“Yes,” Rain said. “I received a request to come here, so here I am.”

The man nodded. “Inside. Speak to the sentinel.”

Chatty fellow. Rain shrugged and entered. The building was deserted, snow swirling in from the archway that led to the pool. The pool itself was in a large, open-ceilinged room. While it had high walls that screened it from the city, there was nothing to stop the cold wind and the snow from getting in. It seemed like a poor design choice for a city that got this cold, but he reserved his opinion. They probably had some way of draining the pool during winter months. If he were in charge, he’d have installed some heater plates under the water so the baths could run year-round. He had no idea how much something like that would cost, though.

Rain stared as he stepped through the archway. The pool had been drained halfway, the inflow from the river blocked. The remaining water had frozen into a solid sheet of ice. There were small blue slimes everywhere in the pool, each no larger than a football. They clung to the sides and squelched their way across the ice, leaving smooth trails behind them as they cleared the snow. He took a step back as three of them started moving in his direction. Well, this is a thing...

He was startled by a sudden flash of red light. One of the three slimes was blown away by a blast of flame. He looked for the source, spotting a woman in a red robe walking toward him. He recognized her.

“Sentinel Lamida,” he said, backing away from the slimes. They were slow, hardly a threat. His HUD listed them as Ice Slimes and they were only level one. “I have to admit, this isn’t what I was expecting.” He flinched as Lamida blasted another slime.

She raised an eyebrow. “And what were you expecting, exactly?”

Rain shrugged. “A mess or something. Why do you need me for this? Those don’t look dirty. They just look like little blobs of ice.”

Lamida stopped in front of him, crossing her arms. “They are as foul as any other slime, and besides, you aren’t here for your Purification aura alone. The main reason you’re here is for the other one. The one that got you your category three rating.”

Rain frowned. “That’s not what the request said. I feel lied to.” Damn it, they’re jerking me around. I need to get stronger so I can stop worrying about people playing games with me like this.

“Would you have come otherwise?” Lamida asked, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, they’re still slimes.” She launched another firebolt, leaving a sooty smear on the tile floor and sending chunks of burning slime everywhere. “There’s still going to be a mess when you’re done.”

Rain sighed. He’d known there were monsters in here thanks to Detection, but she didn’t know that. He didn’t want to reveal the fact that he could basically see through walls. Well, if they aren’t going to be straight with me, I’m not going to be straight with them. Time to fish for some information. “How did they get in here? They didn’t spawn, did they?”

Lamida skewered him with an expression colder than the driving snow. “No. They came in from the river.”

I’m...not sure I believe that. Even if they were in the river, how did they get there in the first place? That’s just moving the problem. He narrowed his eyes. “Let’s say I believe you. What do you want me to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” she said. “Clear them out, and do it without anyone outside of the building noticing. You can do that, can you not?”

Damn it. I mean, they are paying me, but still, this feels like a setup. Something is hinky here. “Just so we’re clear, I’m going to go in there and use an AOE skill to kill off all the slimes. I’ll keep it under control and I should be able to do it without damaging anything. It won’t extend beyond the pool. You said you’d punish me if I ever used the skill in the city, so I’m making sure we don’t have a misunderstanding before I do it.”

“Today, please,” Lamida said.

Rain shook his head. “Say I have approval to use the skill.”

Lamida uncrossed her arms. “Fine. I thought you were an adventurer, not a lawyer. You have my approval to use the skill.”

“Can I get that in writing?”

Lamida stared at him silently. He waited. You aren’t winning a staring contest, lady. I’ve got my helmet on.

“No. You cannot.” She held up a hand to interrupt his response. “There is another condition to this request that I have yet to explain. You are not to reveal the presence of the slimes to anyone in the city. There is a reason the request was phrased as it was. We don’t want this becoming public knowledge. I should not need to tell you why.”

Rain froze. “So they did spawn then. It is rank shift.”

“No,” Lamida said, staring at him like he was an idiot. “But it does not matter. If you can think that, so can others. We are not unaware of the rumors in the city.”

Rain shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. If you were worried about people thinking this was rank shift, you would have just dealt with it quickly and quietly, not waited around. Using it as an excuse to see me use my skill is reckless.”

“I do not need to explain myself to you,” Lamida said. “We have our reasons.”

Rain shook his head. “No. Explain, or I’m leaving.” He was already in a bad mood from dealing with Rankin, and 30 Tel wasn’t enough to tolerate being jerked around like this. He wasn’t going to let her walk all over him. He’d gotten the measure of the Watch. Their rules were strict, but they stuck to them. It wasn’t like she would attack him or anything. I just hope I’m not wrong about that. She is silver, after all.

Lamida sighed, the first sign of any emotion from her other than frigid disdain. “Fine. I will admit that it was my idea and that it was not necessarily the best tactical decision. The slimes got in when the workers opened the sluice to flush the pool before draining it for the winter. If we had actual proof of rank shift in the city, we would not be hiding it. We would be organizing an appropriate response, possibly an evacuation depending upon the severity. Had you not responded by noon today, I would have dealt with it myself and just left the cleaning to you. Even if news of the slimes gets out it will merely be...inconvenient.”

Rain thought about it. I suppose I’ll buy that. I don’t particularly like the way she’s jerking me around, but it makes a certain sense. This job really is perfect for me. She’s just capitalizing on it to learn what I can do. Still, I’m going to be careful. No novas, even at low power. People would notice the cloud of steam. I’m worried about this causing a panic, even if she doesn’t think it’s likely.

“Well?” Lamida said.

Rain nodded. “Fine. I get to keep whatever they drop. Tel or otherwise.”

“Fair,” Lamida said. “Now hurry up. I’m regretting this idea more every moment. It’s bad enough that you made me wait this long. At least it looks like the snow is finally letting up.”

Rain nodded and walked through the arch, surveying the area to see what he was in for. It was dark because of the storm, but thanks to his enhanced perception, he wasn’t having any trouble picking out the slimes as they moved, leaving shiny trails of clear ice behind them. They’re like little Zambonis. They’re almost cute. They just need some anime eyes and we’d be set. He breathed in deeply through his nose. Nope, maybe not. They’re not nearly as bad as the ones in the sewer, but still. It smells like wet dog and urine in here.

The pool itself was rectangular, about the same width as an Olympic swimming pool, but twice the length. He turned, heading for the wall where the river normally flowed into the building. The inlet was closed by a metal sluice gate as Lamida had said. He kept back from the edge of the pool as best as he could, but some of the slimes still noticed him. They skated toward him across the ice, moving much more quickly than they could on the tile floor of the bathhouse. He heard wet plopping noises as they slapped into the near wall of the pool. After a brief delay, the first of them hauled itself up over the edge and started squelching toward him once more. He wasn’t concerned. He could keep ahead of them easily. His armor was still discharged, but he had no intention of letting them anywhere near him.

As he neared the sluice gate, he paused to look at the trail of slimes heading his way. He had a few moments to prepare. He opened up the skill card for Immolate. It was already active at a low level in the form of his climate control. That meant Channel Mastery at 1% of normal output and Aura Compression taking 17 meters off the range.

Immolate (10/10)

2-2 heat (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes ignition

Range: 1 meter

Cost: 0.5 mp/s

Right. I need to get out onto the ice and get to the middle. Then, I can open up the range and boost the power. Extend Aura should get me to 36 meters in radius. More than enough to sweep the whole thing if I’m in the middle. As for the slimes, they can’t have more than a hundred health or so, judging by the ones I’ve fought before. They might even have less. They’re smaller, after all. Also, this is fire damage, which Ice Slimes should be weak to. This is gonna be easy. Here we go.

Rain hopped down onto the ice, steadying his footing as the slimes skated for him. He relaxed his hold on Aura Compression slightly, extending it out to four meters. That would be enough to keep the slimes off him until he got to the center. He brought the power up until the damage read around 30 per second. If the slimes could cross four meters in less time than it took the aura to kill them, he’d just boost it further.

Immolate (10/10)

30-34 heat (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes ignition

Range: 4 meters

Cost: 10 mp/s

The aura formed a shell of warm, clear air around him, the heat melting the falling snow moments after it crossed the boundary. His armor shone with crimson light as the metal disrupted the mana flow. The ice beneath his feet started melting, his metal boots losing traction as the water spread across the surface.

He smiled as the first of the slimes entered his range. The moment it crossed the boundary, it burst into flame, just as the skill’s description promised. It lasted less than two seconds, its health bar vanishing as it went up in a plume of greasy smoke.

Oh shit, that might be a problem.I don’t think they’ll catch on fire once I lower the power, but if they do, I’ll have to stop and use Purify. One or two going up like that is fine I guess. There’s plenty of smoke over the city already from all the wood people are burning. A hundred of these guys on fire at once, though...yeah, people might notice.

He hustled for the center of the pool, his sore muscles protesting as he slid on the melting ice. At this level, Immolate was definitely an attack. He could feel the heat pressing in on him. It was tolerable only because he was just getting the blowback from the heated air, not the effect of the skill itself. It was somewhere around the intensity of a hairdryer at full blast, just coming in from everywhere at once. An unawakened human that he’d blacklisted would have had no trouble, though it would hardly have been pleasant. Rain missed a step, almost falling on the ice as he considered what would happen to someone who he hadn’t blacklisted. At 200 health, they’d be dead in seven seconds.

Yikes.

He stopped in the center, reducing the intensity further as he simultaneously deactivated Aura Compression. More slimes died as the aura swept over them, the icy blobs unable to cross the distance before succumbing to the low, yet steady damage. Looking up, he checked to make sure that the effect of the spell wouldn’t be too noticeable from outside. The walls of the bath were high, but not that high. The snow was being pushed back as the spell expanded, but it wouldn’t be obvious from a distance thanks to the poor visibility. The spell itself didn’t have a visual component; it could only be seen by the effect on the environment. It was most obvious with metal. The light was much brighter than what his armor was currently giving off, protected as it was by his soul. That wasn’t a concern in this instance. There wasn’t any metal around other than the sluice gate, which was out of range. He nodded to himself, satisfied. It should be fine.

He activated Extend Aura, using Aura Compression once more to keep the boundary within the pool. He reduced the intensity further, dropping it down to around 10 damage per second. There was no need to get carried away.

Immolate (10/10)

9-10 heat (fcs) damage per second to entities and environment

Sufficient damage causes ignition

Range: 26 meters

Cost: 9 mp/s

Humm, I have around 5,000 mana left and it’s using 9 per second right now. Call it 10 for fast math. That means I have around 500 seconds to get to the other end. Plenty of time. I don’t need to worry about being efficient.

Nevertheless, he walked briskly, being careful not to slip on the ice. At this level, the aura wasn’t anywhere near strong enough to melt through the ice in any reasonable time frame. It was, however, plenty strong enough to cover the surface with a thin sheen of water that made it even more treacherous. Rain wished for ice skates as he slipped and slid along, feeling less like a skater and more like one of those rocks that they used in curling.

He started picking up speed. The slimes skated toward him, heedless of their own demise. Their health steadily dropped under the influence of the skill the moment they entered the aura. None came anywhere close to reaching him before dying. Fortunately, he didn’t need to deal with the smoke. At the lower heat level, they didn’t burst into flames, merely melting into puddles of a blue oily substance that spread across the ice. In addition to smelling horrible, the liquid reduced the friction even further. He traced a wake through the oily layer of filth, focused entirely on staying upright at this point.

All according to plan. He windmilled his arms, then lowered himself down into a crouch. He needed to kick off every once in a while, digging the edge of his metal boot into the ice. It worked well enough. It was actually somewhat fun. He lowered the intensity of Immolate further as he saw that the slimes weren’t making it anywhere near him despite his increased speed.

The last of the slimes died as he reached the end of the pool. He scrambled to a stop, managing to arrest his momentum before he slammed into the metal grate that blocked the water from flowing down into the sewers. From this close, he could see that there was an additional sluice gate beyond the grating that was normally raised to maintain the water level in the pool. It was lowered now, sitting at the level of the ice. He dropped Immolate completely and scanned for slimes, coming up with none outside of the sewers. The far end of the pool was out of range, but he was still pretty sure that he’d gotten them all.

He activated Purify, letting the spell start to work on the layer of oily slime that was coating the ice while he checked his kill notifications. The scent of urine and wet dog vanished. With a thought, he forced the system to give him a summary.

You have defeated [Ice Slime] x132, Levels 1-2

0 Experience Earned

Wow, there really were a lot of them. All in a day’s work. Oh, oops. Zero experience, probably because I’m at the cap. I should have unlocked a tree or two. Oh well. Not like experience is a problem for me.

“Well, I saw something new today,” Lamida’s voice came from the edge of the pool. Rain looked up at her. She looked, well, not amused. Perhaps slightly less stern. “Impressive. I thought you would fall.”

Rain smiled, then remembered his helmet, flipping up the visor. “Satisfied?”

“That was Immolate, was it not?” she said, looking at him. “Not at all what I expected. I’ve never seen anyone use it before. How do you deal with the mana cost?”

Rain shrugged. No way I’m telling her that.

“Alright then, keep your secrets,” Lamida said. Rain fought back a laugh, picturing a certain hobbit talking to a certain wizard. He flipped his visor down to hide his grin. Her tone had been anything but playful.

She turned away and walked toward the arch. “I’m leaving. Deal with the mess, then get one of the officers to check once you’re done. You can collect your reward from the Guild.” She paused as she reached it, looking over her shoulder. “We’ll be watching.”

A sudden crash of thunder tore apart the silence immediately after she finished speaking. Rain jumped. I thought the storm was passing...unless...she did that somehow. He looked at Lamida, but she was already gone. Thunder rumbled again and lightning flashed across the sky. The temperature slowly fell with the falling snow, no longer held at bay by his aura. Well, that isn’t ominous or anything.