Chapter 53: Splitting the Party for Fun and Profit

Chapter 53: Splitting the Party for Fun and Profit

The half-orc pulled up the box for [An Anchor of Heart and Home], and exerted an effort of will. The system didn't exactly come with instructions, though it was rather intuitively built and would respond intelligently to most thoughts directed at it. The problem was that one needed to know that a command existed to be able to perform it.

Sure enough, it took only a slight twist of perspective for the skill to suddenly flicker, changing form.

[X-51 R###### A####R] [Grade: Unknown]

Item description missing.

Integrity at 89.7%. Degradation rate is currently: MEDIUM. Time before a##### falls below critical stability threshold: 5 months and 12 days.

#####r boundaries are currently in flux. Stable point identified using skill: [An Anchor of Heart and Home].

She flicked copies of that box over to the other four without saying a word.

"...So the anchor's merged with you in some way?" the Guildmaster frowned at the box for a moment, then glanced at Vex. "Do you know if it's possible to separate the item and the skill after something like this happens?"

"You haven't seen something like this before?" Vex asked, surprised.

"Believe it or not," the Guildmaster said dryly. "I don't actually have access to the endless resources and records that Elyra does, and things like this are actually rare. How frequently do you think adventurers get rare items and rare skills?"

"...Semi-frequently?" Vex ventured. The Guildmaster stared at him flatly, and he deflated.

"You four are a terrible example of what's common," she said, though her tone implied she was vaguely amused. "Can they be separated or not?"

"I don't know," Vex answered. "Not that I know of."

"Isn't this a good thing?" Misa asked, sounding a little protective. "The skill's... it might help me protect my home, even when I'm away from it."

"Depending on what it does, it might also make you a target, and if it's that important I was going to ask you to give it to us for safekeeping," the Guildmaster said with a sigh. "But this might be the second best thing, as long as you don't go around telling people you have it."

"This is going to make training even more important, isn't it," Sev said with a slight grimace. The Guildmaster shrugged, and favored him with a faint smile.

"It's always going to look like a bad time to take a break," she said. "There's always the next milestone to look at. The next hill to climb. If something's sufficiently urgent, then yes, by all means, run for that goal as fast as you can and don't stop until you've done what you need to do.

"Right now, you have time. Not a lot of it not an infinite amount of it but you have it, so make use of it as much as you can so that when you do need to run, you have everything you need to do it.

"There are a couple of quests that need to be completed that are between this branch town and Elyra. I'm sending you there anyway, so do me a favor and try to complete them. I'm sure you're not opposed to helping a couple of villages on the way?"

"I mean," Sev hedged, but she'd gotten him with the allure of helping people. "Um. Yeah, I guess we can do that. Anyone opposed?"

"If we haven't found a way to stop or slow the anchor degrading in three months," Misa said. "I'd like us to focus on that. But we'll be in Elyra by then. I don't think the trip will take more than a week. Maybe three, if we're completing quests on the way."

"We will keep an eye out on the way," Derivan said. "There is no guarantee that Elyra will contain the solution we need. Perhaps we will find a solution sooner than we expect."

Two, he wanted to visit Velykos. The stone elemental had been pleasant company, and while he wasn't sure what he wanted to do, with the infolock apparently not working... he wanted to see if he could give something back to him. He'd make sure there were priests around, of course. Just in case.

So he'd found the replacement clerk and asked where to find Jerome, and he'd been led to this door. Jerome's party members the two elves were apparently out at the moment, the clerk had told him.

"Do you know what's happening with Max?" Sev asked, vaguely worried.

"I'm not informed on that kind of thing, no," the clerk said with a shake of his head.

"And your nametag says that your name is... also Max?"

'Max' let out a long-suffering sigh. "Yes, I've been asked this question before."

"Just so we're clear," he said. "You're not actually the same Max."

"No, sir," the clerk sighed. "We just happen to have the same name. I dislike subbing in for her for exactly this reason, you know."

"Aha! You called me sir." Sev pointed triumphantly at... well, not at the clerk. That would have been rude. He pointed instead at the wall next to Max, his hand jerking to the left at the last minute, leaving this other Max to stare at him rather unimpressed. "The real Max would never call me sir. You're definitely not her."

"Sir," the clerk said, sounding vaguely exasperated. "You can only delay entering the room for so long. Jerome is expecting you."

"Just as insightful as Max, though," Sev muttered with a sigh, and eyed the door critically for a moment before giving it a knock.

He didn't know why he was so nervous. It shouldn't have mattered. He was visiting someone that was under heavy supervision; there was a reason this clerk was here in the first place, though he wouldn't be listening in. He'd just be on the lookout for skill activations.

The door opened, startling Sev. Jerome stared out at him, looking surprisingly... normal.

The man wasn't wearing any extravagant armor or anything of the like. He was dressed in casual clothes planeshifter casual clothes. A cotton t-shirt and loose fitting pants. Sev was almost jealous, looking at him; they seemed comfortable.

"Uh, hi," Sev said awkwardly. "I'm here to visit. Give you some news about Aurum."

"Oh!" Jerome's face brightened somewhat. "Man, I've been kinda worried about the guy. Haven't heard anything at all over the connection. You know if he's okay?"

"I think he is," Sev said with a slight grimace. "The system's being a bit weird about it. It says he's attaching to me, so... I'll let you know if he's okay once that's done. Whatever that is, it's taking a long time."

"The fuck does that mean?" Jerome frowned at him. Then he winced slightly, and caught himself. "Uh. I mean... Do you know what that means?"

"You know about as much as I do," Sev said with a shrug. "Therapy's doing a number on you, huh?"

"Listen, man," Jerome groaned. "They keep giving me lectures. I didn't come to another world for this shit! And they won't stop until I actually understand them! It's not fair!"

"Are you sure that's the therapy?" Sev raised an eyebrow. "That doesn't sound like therapy. That sounds like the introductory classes the Guild conducts for new adventurers."

Jerome's face was blank. "What's the difference?"

Sev sighed, changing the subject. "Nevermind," he said. "Look, I'm glad you're doing well. I gotta get going. I'll keep you updated on Aurum?"

"Obviously," Jerome said, and then paused. "Uh, I mean... please."

Sev stared at him for a moment, then laughed. "You know what, I'll give you credit for trying."