Chapter Eighty. More plots and plans.

Chapter Eighty. More plots and plans.

Bob looked over the list of potential paths of apotheosis.

- Or'lind

Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Coordination, Melee, Parry. Head ridges, long fingers, no facial hair.

- Hansi

Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Wisdom, Elemental Earth, Elemental Fire. Coarse, broad features, lobeless ears, both shorter and stockier but still within the normal range.

- Etaru

Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Elemental Water, Elemental Earth, Plant. Very tall, almost outside of human norms, slender, delicate features. No incisors, apparently not omnivorous.

- Ala-dari

Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Elemental Air, Elemental Fire, Sanctum. Would look almost perfectly human, except the skin coloration ranges through the colors found in a sunset or sunrise. Possible to pass as having an especially ruddy complexion.

- Uansai

Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Coordination, Intelligence, Elemental Water. Ashen skin, slightly canted eyes, webbing between their toes, and gills running down their sides.

- Seaur

Completely humanoid, Endurance, Psychometabolism, Telepathy, Telekinesis. Especially vivid eye color.

- Baursin

Mostly humanoid, Endurance, Dimension, Transmutation, Conjuration. Proportionally larger than humans by twenty percent in all dimensions.

Trebor had advised that if he removed the requirement for Endurance as a natural affinity, the list would grow by a factor of ten.

If Bob gave up on the humanoid requirement, the list would grow exponentially.

He wasn't at all certain he was willing to entertain the idea of Apotheosizing at all.

He had a lot of work to do, and realistically, none of it required him to be over level twenty-five.

His lifespan was already reaching three centuries.

The idea of being something other than human...

Bob had taken the Polymorph: Animal spell from the Animal school.

Mostly because he thought it would be useful if he ever needed to hide or blend in.

Also, because he'd thought it would be neat to play with Monroe when he was a cat as well.

That had been a bit fun, and Monroe had certainly seemed to approve of his human recognizing the perfection of the feline form, but it had been odd.

The idea of living in a body that wasn't his made him shudder.

Bob slid the list into his satchel.

He would have plenty of time to consider his options; he hadn't even reached level twenty-five yet, let alone amassed the crystals needed to apotheosis to tier six.

This morning he'd be heading to Harbordeep, courtesy of Calder's dimenionalist friend who was going to hop over.

Bob just needed to have a quick chat with Thidwell first.

~ ~ ~ ~

Ali gestured for Bob to head into Thidwell's office as soon as he entered the waiting room.

Bob opened the door, walked into the room, shut the door, and sat down on one of the chairs in front of Thidwell's oversize desk.

The huge man was standing in front of a bookcase to the right, presumably reading something, although Bob couldn't see a book from this angle.

Seconds passed, and then a minute. Finally, Thidwell turned to face him, sliding a book back onto the shelf as he did so.

"Bob," Thidwell grunted, stalking back to his desk.

"You're off to Harbordeep this morning," Thidwell stated.

"I am," Bob said, "but I wanted to drop these off first," Bob slid six Summoning Affinity Crystals onto the desk, "before I left."

Thidwell's lips twisted into a grim smile, and he scooped the crystals.

"Another step closer," the big man said, "to every town and city suffering from no casualties during a wave."

Bob nodded and asked, "Is there anything you think I should know or be cautious of in Harbordeep? Keeping in mind that I'm not local?"

Thidwell grimaced and nodded, "A few things to keep in mind," he said gruffly, "first, Harbordeep has a sort of hierarchy, socially."

"It's mostly based on tier, although differences in level, path, affiliation with various organizations, and religion come into play within your tier, and can, in the right circumstances, stretch beyond it slightly," Thidwell stated.

"As a base tier, that won't matter too terribly much to you," he continued, "bow your head and move out of the way of everyone, and you won't offend anyone."

"The Adventurers Guild in Harbordeep doesn't hold nearly as much prestige as it does here in Holmstead," Thidwell shook his head sourly, "The nobles and royalty are the most powerful group, wielding enough social and economic influence, as well as raw physical and magical might, that the Churches and the Guild are left to squabble over the scraps."

He gave a shrug of his shoulders and said, "Given the nature of life, the Church tends to take primacy, leaving the Adventurers Guild as a mainly bureaucratic organization, curating the Dungeon, keeping track of delves, and collecting and categorizing the reports from the Guild branches in the other cities."

"Unlike Holmstead," Thidwell went on, "you'll purchase your Gateway Token from the Guild rather than the Church."

"You'll also find that the Guild in Harbordeep is considerably less concerned with the welfare of its members," he grimaced, "which means that your delving on the twenty-sixth through thirtieth floors should go unremarked."

"Avoid the noble quarter, and avoid the palace," Thidwell instructed, "you'll not be noticed in the rest of the city."

"Finally, be prepared to pay five, or even ten times the cost for meals and lodging," Thidwell said, "and twice or more for anything you might decide to have crafted while you are there."

"I have about a thousand mana crystals," Bob said as Thidwell had either taken an extraordinarily long pause or had finished, "will that be enough to cover my room and board?"

"It should, and if not, you'll have been gathering Crystals while you're there," Thidwell grunted.

Eddi's grin widened further, and he said, "It was awesome! The Rexettes kept everything back from the wall, and when a huge badger came up to the wall, Rexxy just destroyed it!"

Eddi gestured wildly with one hand as he spoke, the other still occupied with offering kitty worship.

"I mean just 'Chomp!', 'Rip!', 'Tear!', it was fantastic!" Eddi gushed enthusiastically.

Bob smiled and reached over and clasped Eddi's shoulder, "You saved a lot of lives," he said, "you should be proud of that."

Eddi blushed and calmed down a bit, turning both of his hands to the task of feline adoration, a situation of which Monroe approved.

"I just tried to do what you did," Eddi said, "except I was never in any danger, but you," he struggled for the words, "you risked your life for people you didn't know. I've seen the memories, and you almost died three times."

Eddi shook his head, "I'm not really a hero, not like you," he said quietly.

"Saving lives is saving lives," Bob said firmly, "believe me, if I hadn't had to risk my life, I wouldn't have."

Bob shook his head and said, "The difference between stupidity and bravery is often survival."

Eddi let out a little laugh and replied, "I'll remember that."

Bob nodded before changing the subject.

"Are you going to be rushing to twenty-two or twenty-three to start gathering Summoning Affinity Crystals on the twenty-seventh floor?" Bob asked.

Eddi nodded and said, "That was the deal Thidwell made with me, I get to be one of the first people to have an Affinity Crystal and a special Path, but I've got to gather fifty more Summoning Affinity Crystals for him."

"Just remember," Bob said with a smile, "every crystal you gather is one person who can stand on the wall like you did, ensuring that no lives are lost during a wave."

Theo arrived with a plate of scrambled eggs for Bob and a serving bowl of steaming meat chunks for Monroe, who rose from his puddle state and started to delicately eat his meal.

"How are the J's?" Bob asked, "I haven't seen them for a while."

"Oh, they are camped out on the sixth floor," Eddi said, "they don't want to have to work in their parents' greenhouse this winter, so they are gathering mana crystals to hire someone with earth, plant, and ritual magic to grow a few crops for them."

Eddi leaned forward and said more quietly, "They are also waiting for you to find an Invocation, Animancy, or Sanctum Affinity Crystal."

Bob sighed.

"I thought I'd made it clear that I had no idea where to find those," he muttered.

Eddi's smile returned, and he said, "They're convinced that you'll find them eventually, so they aren't focusing on advancing too far down their paths."

Bob dug into his eggs and chatted with Eddi.

Eddi ribbed him gently about not having taken Melee Strike and expressed his astonishment that Jake had been working as well as he had without it.

Eddi told him that he'd also taken dodge, which really helped his Rexettes survive, as they weren't massively over-leveled like Rexxy.

Bob was a little surprised to learn that Eddi had also taken other melee skills, including all four elemental strikes.

As they discussed the merits of melee skills for a spell caster, Thidwell let out a rumbling cough from behind them.

"Bob," the big man said, "this is Calder," Thidwell nodded to a tall, stocky man with sandy blond hair and warm brown eyes, "and Ellan," Thidwell gestured to a short, slender man with brown hair and hazel eyes.

"Pleased to meet you," Bob said as he carefully hefted Monroe onto his Makres before standing up and nodding to each man in turn.

"Ellan here is going to teleport you to an obelisk a few miles from Harbordeep," Thidwell rumbled, "good luck, and the Gods' blessings on you."

Calder and Thidwell moved through the tavern to the exit while Ellan shuffled impatiently next to him.

"Do you have everything you need?" Ellan asked hurriedly.

Bob nodded and turned to Eddi.

"I'll see you in a few weeks," he said, "keep up the good work."

Eddi nodded and replied, "I'll put in the work," he promised.

Turning back to Ellan, Bob gestured towards him and said, "I'm packed and ready, lead on."

"Great!" Ellan said as he grabbed Bob's arm and started pulling him out of the tavern, "I'll get you there and hop back, got a lot of things to do today, can't stick around."

Bob stiffened at the unfamiliar touch, but Ellan either didn't notice or didn't care.

"We'll just pop out to the watchtower on the northeast side of the city and teleport from there," Ellan said, "I'll have you in Harbordeep in a jiffy."

Bob valiantly suppressed his supreme dislike of unwanted physical contact and cast a portal spell.

"Watchtower is right through here," Bob grunted and stepped through the portal, leaving Ellan no choice but to either let go of his arm or follow.

Ellan followed and then let go of Bob's arm as he looked around, his hands digging into his satchel.

"Thidwell said you had Dimension, but I assumed it was teleport, not portal," Ellan said absently as he pulled out a roll of copper wire and started laying out a ritual circle.

Bob was impressed at how quickly and efficiently Ellan laid out his circle.

Bob had only used chalk or the bronze inlay in the ritual room at the Guild.

"Step inside the circle, just there," Ellan gestured to his right.

Bob stepped over the copper wire and into the circle, where Ellan grabbed his arm and said, "alright, count it down from one hundred, and we'll be there."

One hundred seconds later, the world twisted, and Bob found himself standing in what would have been a massive cobblestone courtyard if it had had any walls.

There was a large granite obelisk rising fifty feet from the center of the cobblestones.

Ellan let go of Bob's arm and gestured for him to head out of the cobblestone area.

Bob considered that this was likely a wise idea as people appeared around the obelisk in a steady stream.

"You might need to shield your eyes from the sun," Ellan said, "but there it is, Harbordeep, capital of Greenwald!"

Bob squinted his eyes and raised a hand to shield them, then took his first look at the city of Harbordeep.