Chapter 89: Move Quickly

Chapter 89: Move Quickly

I saw him while practicing Expedite.

We were waiting in the dead forest for the Dragon to attack the wasteland like it’d done before, so while Erani and the Dryad rested, I went ahead and worked on getting used to my new Spell. After I took it, Erani warned me that most people needed time to get used to such a massive modification of physical Stats happening in a single instant like Expedite provided, so I’d have to gradually increase my tolerance before pulling anything too drastic.

Even with the Spell’s base 20 Dexterity boost, a single cast of it would more than double my value in the Stat for 30 seconds. That would absolutely be disorienting. However, it was still Rank 0, and my Soft Cap was up at Rank 8. So it was about to get a lot higher.

I went ahead and cast the Spell on myself once to test it out.

Threshold reached. Expedite XP has reached 10.

Expedite Rank has increased to 1.

Due to Expedite Rank reaching 1, it has undergone the following changes:

Mana Cost: From 55 to 56.4

Dexterity Buff: From 20 to 21

Buff Duration: From 30 to 31.5

In an instant, my Dexterity skyrocketed from 15 to 35. My muscles felt more limber and flexible than they’d ever been, my reflexes were supernaturally sharpened, and, most importantly, my body could move faster than seemed physically possible.

I tried to raise my hand in front of my face, but massively overshot, and suddenly my arm was pointed straight up, hand way above where I wanted it to be. The Dexterity ‘aiding’ my movement ended up forcing my arm way further along than I’d intended it to be. Could I even walk like this?

Tentatively, I lifted my leg to try and take a step forward. With some difficulty, I managed to place it in the right spot on the ground, which felt like an accomplishment. For a Spell that labeled its effect as a ‘buff’ it sure did feel crippling.

After a couple more steps, the Spell’s effect wore off, and I had to re-cast Expedite to refresh it. Slowly, bit by bit, I got more used to the effects of the heightened Dexterity. It was hard, since, as I continued to practice the Spell, its buff also grew stronger from Ranking up. But by the time about ten minutes had passed, I’d gotten to the point of being able to walk without looking like I was an adventurer who’d just hit it rich after a job and had spent way too much of my new fortune at the bars.

And, of course, by that time, the Spell had reached the Soft Cap, too. The Rank 8 notification said this:

Threshold reached. Expedite XP has reached 94.

Expedite Rank has increased to 8.

Due to Expedite Rank reaching 8, it has undergone the following changes:

Mana Cost: From 65.4 to 67This chapter's initial release occurred on the n0vell--Bjjn site.

Dexterity Buff: From 28.2 to 29.6

Buff Duration: From 42.2 to 44.3

About 50% Dexterity more than it’d started out at, which was exciting to see. One of the other things that stood out to me was that Ranking the Spell didn’t just increase its Dexterity Buff, it also increased the duration. It went from lasting only 30 seconds to lasting close to 45.

So, in that sense, it was actually getting cheaper to keep Expedite active over the course of an entire fight as the Spell Ranked up, despite its increasing cost. While the Cost went up by the typical 2.5% each Rank, the duration went up by 5%, meaning that keeping the Spell active for an extended period of time was becoming easier and easier as I ranked it. Sure, a single activation of Expedite was still technically getting more expensive, but it was exciting to see that I may be able to have it active for entire combat encounters in the future.

The prospect was also a bit worrying. I’d only just gotten used to walking while operating under a single cast of the Spell, much less running or fighting, and much less doing all that while under multiple stacks of the Dexterity buff. I could easily get my Dexterity to over 100, but what did that matter if I couldn’t even stand while it was up that high?

Even with my boosted Dexterity, he seemed to still slightly have the upper hand in speed – I didn’t know if that came from him having a higher Dexterity score, or him being more used to having a high value in the Stat, or from him just being more physically athletic than me, but whatever the reason, he was putting more and more distance between us as we ran.

I shot off more Rays of Frost, but each time I did, he seemed to vanish from the Spell’s path and reappear just a hair to the side, making the Spell miss. And now, he didn’t seem to stumble at all when it happened, fully expecting the small teleports. Must’ve been a Talent, or something. I didn’t know a whole lot about Rangers, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, it didn’t seem like those Rays of Frost were doing much. And the Ranger was outside the ten-pace range needed to activate Gravity Well.

But I still had another option.

I cast Expedite once more, increasing my Dexterity up to 74. Instantly, I shot forward, my legs carrying me much further than I’d expected. With each step, I pushed myself off the ground and through the air, twice as far as I’d normally go. My senses were even sharper. I could see the individual creases and folds of the man’s brown leather armor, and the pores in his pale skin. I could hear the soft crunch of footsteps on the ashy dirt. I could–

Oh, fuck.

I fell face-first into the gray ground, tumbling at high speeds as I flailed my body in an uncoordinated mess. Yeah, I obviously couldn’t sprint at top speed with two casts of Expedite yet. But still, just as I hit the ground, that last boost of speed got me barely within ten paces of my enemy, and I cast Gravity Well on him.

He’d clearly gotten complacent with whatever that short-range teleportation ability was, and was completely caught off-guard by his weight suddenly increasing by over 50%. That, on top of his already drained Dexterity, caused him to collapse to the ground right beside me.

I hurriedly got to my feet, making sure to keep Gravity Well active on my enemy, and leapt on top of the prone man. Really, he wasn’t much older than I was, I saw as he looked into my eyes with complete terror. Just what did the kingdom tell this guy I’d done?

I flipped him around and forced his hands behind his back while he struggled to get out from under my body. Thankfully, not only did his Strength score seem to be below mine, but his arms were obviously less developed, too, his muscles not matching those of a trained Swordsman.

“Listen, kid,” I knelt on his arms which were now tucked behind his back. “I need you to tell me what you know. I don’t want to hurt you. Or anyone. But you need to tell me why you’re out here, how you found me, and if there are others. Unfortunately, you wouldn’t be the first person I’ve killed in the last twenty-four hours.”

He whimpered below me, but didn’t speak. I had no experience interrogating people. Should I have been more aggressive and intimidating? Less? I really didn’t–

Fuck! He disappeared again. Was it another teleport? I glanced around and–

Wait, no. I could feel him – he was still underneath my knee. He’d just gone invisible again. I activated Noxious Grasp, and he gasped in pain as the Spell quickly drained his likely-low Health away. His invisibility turned off, and I shut off Noxious Grasp, too.

“Yeah, don’t pull shit like that,” I said. I was still on-edge. Was I led into a trap? Were there more enemies around? Maybe I just should’ve run off. If I could get to Erani and the Dryad, I’d be a lot safer, but that’d mean just letting this guy go.

I glanced down at the man’s hands, which were still shifting while he tried to slip out from under my body’s weight. On both hands, all five of his fingers were wearing silver rings. Ten total. I reached down and slipped them all off, putting them into my pocket. Probably magical, and I definitely didn’t want him pulling any Enchanted gear shenanigans here.

“What’s your Health at?” I asked.

No response.

“I’m asking you that because I’m about to hit you for some damage, and don’t want to kill you. If you don’t tell me, I’ll just attack at full force.”

“E-eighteen,” he finally said. His voice was high and hollow, shaking alongside his body.

“Hm.” He was probably lying to try and get me to go easy on him, but I really didn’t want to kill him in the case that he wasn’t. He seemed innocent enough, and definitely held valuable information I could use. I lifted my knee and stood, and instantly, the man attempted to scramble to his feet and flee.

But then I raised my foot and stomped his head back into the dirt, his nose cracking from being shoved into the ground. I got a notification that I’d dealt 12 damage. Maybe his Health really was that low – the hit wouldn’t have broken his nose if it was much higher, at least. Crippling Chill had worn off by now, so as long as I didn’t hit him any more, he’d survive.

I reached down, tore a strip of fabric from his shirt, and used it to tie his flailing arms back down behind his back.

“Okay, buddy, no more escape attempts,” I said to him. “Now you’re going to answer some questions.”