Chapter Thirty-Seven. The aftermath.

Chapter Thirty-Seven. The aftermath.

Bob leaned back as he sank into the tub and groaned.

The healer who had worked his voodoo on Bob had made the wound disappear, but it still ached.

Bob strongly suspected his damaged matrix as the culprit.

Monroe was laying on the edge of the sink, watching his human-servant bathe while swishing his tail slowly.

"How are you doing buddy?" Bob asked as he took his washrag and soap, then began to slowly clean the grime of the day off.

Bob paused to reach up and scritch Monroe under the chin.

"Who is the most handsome kitty in the world?" Bob asked.

"That's right, you are," Bob answered himself as he moved onto Monroe's ruff, starting the Maine-Coone's purr motor.

Monroe, as usual, didn't give any indication that he understood the question.

Bob returned to cleaning off the caked and dried blood, as he continued his one sided conversation with Monroe.

"I know we missed breakfast buddy," he said as finally started to gently swipe at his newly healed side.

Monroe's tail swish increased in speed at the mention of the word 'Breakfast'.

Bob's grin turned into a wince as he realized that it wasn't just his matrix, the wound itself was still tender.

He drained the filthy water from the tub as he stood up and turned on the shower. He felt like he still needed a rinse.

Finally done with his ablutions, Bob equipped a pair of trousers and a shirt from his inventory. His armor was not only badly damaged, but also covered in Bob's own dried viscera.

He touched it gingerly and willed it into his inventory.

He turned and picked up Monroe, draping him over one shoulder, then headed out to the tavern in search of a hot meal.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The tavern was absolutely packed, with every table taken, and Bob almost turned around and went back to his room when he heard Harv call his name.

Scanning the tavern, he saw Harv, Elli, and Kelli sitting at a table together. Dodging the many patrons and the overworked wait staff, Bob sat down at the tables lone unoccupied chair and poured the liquid Monroe onto the table.

Elli immediately reached over and started stroking Monroe, raising the volume of his purr motor by a few notches.

"So how was your first wave?" Harv asked jovially.

Bob winced and said, "Painful."

Harv looked at him in surprise and said, "I didn't figure there would be much that could get past that monster of yours."

Bob grimaced and said, "Big rat."

Elli winced in sympathy, and Harv gave him an understanding look.

"How about you, how was it in the Dungeon?" Bob asked.

"Not too bad," said Elli as he started to scratch Monroe's ruff, "pretty much just double the monster creation rate, but there were so many of us that it was pretty easily manageable."

Harv nodded and added, "Between Thidwell down on thirty, and House Meer and Crenshaw on twenty, we didn't have an unreasonable number of monsters to deal with."

Bailli arrived, looking unusually harried.

"What'll it be?" she asked.

Bob half raised a hand and asked, "Is it breakfast or lunch?"

Bailli blew an errant lock of hair out of her eyes and responded, "Still breakfast, we're running it late with the wave and all."

Bob nodded and said, "Full breakfast, two of them, for me, and an extra big bowl for Monroe," he nodded to the big cat.

Bailli gave him a nod, and the faint hint of a smile touched her lips as she glanced at Monroe, who was sprawled out on the table being petted by Elli.

Elli, Kelli, and Harv all confirmed their desire for a full breakfast as well, and Bailli set off for the kitchen, adroitly dodging patrons as she went.

"So, doubling down on breakfast eh?" Harv said with a grin, "thought you were watching your weight?"

Bob scoffed and replied, "I burned a lot of energy during the wave."

Bob smiled and picked up Monroe, laying him over a shoulder.

"His Imperial Majesty would like us to continue our discussion outside, preferably in direct sunlight," Bob said, pausing to put Monroe's spare breakfast bowl in his inventory.

"It is a bit crowded in here," Elli said as he stood, "and Bailli could use the table as well." he finished, nodding to the people crowded on the bench that lined the tavern, presumably waiting for at able.

As they left the tavern, they were greeted with a bright, sunny spring morning. Monroe immediately began to purr.

The benches outside the Guild were occupied as well, so Bob started walking across the plaza.

"So, why do monsters attack one person over another?" he asked.

Harv raised a finger to cut of Kelli and said, "The short answer is that monsters will attack the person with the largest mana pool."

Bob nodded and looked at Kelli who was clearly restraining himself with a herculean effort.

"And the not so short answer?" he asked.

Harv and Elli both sighed as Kelli took a deep breath and then started off, "The real answer," he said with a sideways glance at Harv, "is that monsters are attracted to your mana density, which yes, is a part of your mana pool, but your mana pool is a part of your matrix, and your matrix can have a much greater impact than your mana pool."

Bob slowly stroked the gently baking Monroe as his buddy soaked up the sunlight. Mana flowed through his matrix, he knew that all too well.

"What other factors come into play?" Bob asked.

"Matrix manipulation," Kelli said smugly, and then glared at Harv and Elli, "which both of them know quite well."

Harv and Elli both nodded reluctantly.

"By manipulating your matrix, you can change the density of the mana flowing through it, either increasing it, which is commonly called a 'Beacon', or by reducing it, which is referred to as a 'Fade', although both techniques fall under the same skill," Kelli expounded delightedly.

Bob considered again that Kelli really would make an excellent teacher that the Jr. High or Highschool level.

"A beacon can increase the density of the mana flowing through his matrix to make it appear as if he has ten times the mana pool that he actually does," Kelli explained, "while a fade can reduce his density to appear as if he has a tenth."

"Which means that Elli," he pointed to the swordsman who had edged closer to Bob and was gently rubbing Monroe's ears, "can appear to have ten times his actual mana, attracting the attention of the monsters, while Harv," Kelli nodded towards Harv who was fiddling with a flask of fluid, trying to mix it together, "is able to reduce the appearance of his considerable mana pool, ensuring that the monsters have no interest in him at all while Elli is around as such a tasty morsel."

Elli muttered, "Not sure how I feel about being called a tasty morsel."

Harv just sighed and looked up from this concoction and said, "True, although, for you, it doesn't really matter."

Bob looked at him questioningly, and Harv sighed, then stoppered his flask and tucked into his backpack of holding.

"With summoned monsters," Harv said, "even though they technically have their own mana pools, they attract the attention of the monster as if their mana-pool were identical to yours."

"So as long as the monster is closer to my UtahRaptor than it is to me, it'll go for the summons," Bob said.

Harv nodded as Kelli jumped in, "However," he glared at Harv, "when you start grouping up with people, being able to control your matrix is important to make sure the monster's attention stays where it is supposed to."

"Ah," Bob said a bit uncomfortably, "well, with the damage to my matrix, I have a feeling I won't be able to use that skill anytime soon."

Harv and Elli both nodded sympathetically, and Elli said, "That's one of the reasons we never mentioned it, we knew you weren't going to be able to use it. And that you wouldn't have a free skill point to take it anyway, until after you'd summoned this beautiful boy," Elli finished as he continued to rub Monroe's ears.

Kelli deflated a bit as he seemed to recall that Bob wasn't really at one hundred percent, metaphysically speaking.

"So," Kelli said, trying to break the silence, "do you have a plan for fixing your matrix?"

Bob blew out a long breath as he stroked Monroe.

"Well," he began, "as you well know, summoning my buddy here damn near killed me."

Kelli nodded, while Elli and Harv exchanged glances. They hadn't heard about that.

"Being as it damaged my matrix to an even greater degree, I'm going to need to level, a lot," he grimaced, "and I'll need to level up my summoning and dimension schools as well, which should hopefully make it easier to summon someone from my world into this one."

Harv hesitantly said, "You're going to summon someone from your world, to here?"

Bob nodded and said, "I'm also going to take the advice you two gave me, and arrange for a full set of enchanted gear."

Harv nodded and said, "I'm glad you're going to gear up, but going back to that whole summoning someone from your world thing - I have to ask if that's really a good thing to do?"

Elli chimed in from off to his left, "Summoning someone against their will is generally seen as a... well, I'll be blunt, that's pretty evil."

Bobs faced stretched into a slightly feral smile as he said, "Well, being as the person I plan to summon is the bitch who stole my work, fucked it up, and caused the explosion that blew me into this world, damaging my matrix in the process, I kind of feel like it's just Karma."

Elli and Harv exchanged a long look, then they both shrugged, and Harv said, "Given those circumstances, I think pretty much anyone would give you a pass on that."