Chapter 132

The Angel Express - 5:04 PM

As everyone else explored the rest of the train, I sat in the dining car drinking hot chocolate from a large mug. We had already set off on the winding trail to Pittsburgh, and I had given everyone access to the Vault via the safe zone menu.

If Ashley and Jamie followed the same paths they had before, then they would be bunking in rooms on the first floor. The Monstersmith would take one of the two rooms closest to the workshop while the Weapon Master would take up residence next to the dining car. From my spot near the bar I could see her walking back and forth between the Vault and the Sleeper Car, trying to make her decision.

Looking away, I decided to go through the loot I received from my last battle. The two skill books were up first, and I set them side by side on the table. One was a dark purple with the same symbol as the one on the Medallion of Uuska, and the other was red and showed a person surrounded by other people who were in turn surrounded by jagged lines. That was the one I looked at first.

“Aura Sense, huh?” I asked as I flipped the book open. The text box appeared in front of me, and I accepted it.

[[Skill]]

Aura Sense

When this skill is active, you can sense auras all around you by paying a low cost of Mental Points. You can sense auras inside a radius as far out as one foot per point of Wisdom.

Closing my eyes, I activated Aura Sense up to its furthest setting, which was 50 feet to match my Wisdom. The only one close enough to feel was Jamie walking around the top level of the Sleeper Car. Her aura was light blue and did not stray far from her body, symbolizing her normally cold and restrained personality. It was always a useful ability as not many people and monsters could hide from it and very few things blocked it. The arrival of another message made me open my eyes again.

[[Patron Message]]

I thought you would like that. It’ll be useful where you’re heading considering the environment, and it will be a great skill to increase your awareness.

It’s meant to protect you from threats that you can’t see, which is really all I want. So use it often, okay?

Sincerely,

Sara

I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, I’ll do that, Sara. Thank you.”

She didn’t respond, which was fine since she had to watch her daily allotment of messages. Getting messages like this was strange, but pleasant; most of my other Patrons had been stoic sponsors that only sent a few things on rare occasions. The fact that Sara would actively converse with me was very different, and it made me feel both happy and lonely at the same time.

Taking a breath and shelving that thought for a much later date, I looked down at the Uuska’s skill book. Running my hand along the purple tome, I flipped it open.

[[Notice]]

You have acquired a skill book of Skill Mimicry.

Would you like to learn the skill Skill Mimicry?

Yes

No

“That’s the same, at least,” I said to myself as I hit Yes.

[[Skill]]

Skill Mimicry

Once per day, you can mimic a skill that you have seen used. The skill you copy can only be used once per day even if it specifies otherwise, but will persist until you use Skill Mimicry again to replace it.

It didn’t work with abilities or passives, but it was quite a strong skill regardless that could be upgraded into something even greater later on. I would have to ask Kayla to let me observe Fae Step in order to get it into my repertoire. Out of everybody’s skills, that one would serve the most purpose.

“Except maybe Pocket Bacon,” I muttered, remembering Jeff’s healing food skill. Not only did it heal up to 25% of someone’s max health, but it was also delicious.

I shook my head. As fun of a skill Pocket Bacon was, Fae Step was a better call tactically when the healing from Heavenly Hero was factored in. With my thoughts wandering back to the time it activated against the Uuska, and I pulled the accessory out of my shirt to look at it.

Before today, the Medallion of Uuska had been made of brown clay and was about the size of my fist. While the latter hadn’t changed, the spiral pattern leading to the toothy, open mouth in the center were all white on the black background. It was harder now, made of rock instead of clay, and was slightly warm to the touch. I had two more of the base medallions in my inventory now, but those wouldn’t see the light of day for a while.

Back then, the accessory was simple. It gave a +10 to hit points, and added a couple of points to both Wisdom and Willpower. It let me store Mental Points in excess of 100 inside, and could steal classes from items or monsters. Now, it was upgraded specifically for my class. I brought up the description again.

[[Equipped]]

Medallion of the Warmind Uuska

(+30 Mental Points, +6 Wisdom, +6 Willpower, MP Storage+ skill acquired, Efficient Conduit skill acquired)

[[Skill]]

MP Storage+

This skill can store Mental Points for future use, up to 300 MP, which can only be used by someone with the Warmind class. This MP can be exchanged between the bearer and the item at will, though if the item is removed then all stored MP is lost.

[[Skill]]

Efficient Conduit

When activating Warmind abilities, you can use the medallion as a focus for your psychic powers. Using the Mental Points stored by MP Storage+ instead of your native pool, decrease the cost to use those abilities by 20%. Efficient Conduit will not work with skills and spells that use MP in order to activate, only abilities.

“Normally, I don’t get this very abusable skill until much later,” I said, raising the medallion towards the ceiling before putting it back under my shirt. “But, well, Break Free really saved me today.”

[[Patron Message]]

Break Free may have helped you, but everything only happened the way it did because I am your Patron. If you didn’t have it, then everything would have gone exactly as it had before.

That’s not to say I don’t agree with your bringing me on as your Patron; I’m really happy that I get to spend this time helping you. However, to say that a skill you only had to use because I caused you trouble is what saved you doesn’t sit well with me.

Sincerely,

Sara

“It was absolutely fine, Sara,” I said in a soothing tone. “It all worked out, and most of it was pretty fun. Not so much the part where I got skewered and Hero had to activate, but most of the rest of it. Plus, I doubt I would have gotten this last item if it hadn’t evolved.”

Reaching into my inventory one more time, I pulled out the best prize to come out of the fight with the Warmind Uuska.

The pair of full-length breeches were rosewood red with swooping lines of embroidered gold. These strands traveled the length of the legs, and a symbol was stitched where the two front pockets would have been. This was the Nordic rune of Algiz, which symbolized protection. It was made from a straight line with two diagonal ones spreading out near the top, almost looking like a trident or pitchfork.

“This is a real prize,” I claimed as I brought up the description.

[[Item]]

Breeches of the Warmongering Mystic

(Set Item 2/6; Growth Item, kill 5 bosses to upgrade; +60 Mental Points, +10 Wisdom, +10 Willpower, Protection Increase ability augment acquired, Recharge Increase ability augment acquired)

[[Ability Augment]]

Protection Increase

When using Shield or Force Field, increase the amount of damage they can take by 10%.

[[Ability Augment]]

Recharge Increase

When using Shield or Force Field, increase the recharge rate by 10%.

I didn’t think anyone would be comfortable coming in to see me changing pants, so I wouldn’t change into them here. Standing up, I picked up the breeches and started heading to my room. I hadn’t been expecting to get something to replace my Parachute Pants of Agility so early, which was one of the reasons I hadn’t changed yet, but I did have more Synthesis Pages than I normally would so it was time to make the change. Swiping open my menu, I pulled up its stats.

[[Equipped]]

Parachute Pants of Agility

(+20 hit points, +5 Dexterity, +3 Constitution, Slow Fall passive acquired, Parkour Expert passive acquired)

[[Passive]]

Slow Fall

When wearing the Parachute Pants of Agility, you may slow your descent to 10 feet per second. This passive only works when you are approaching the ground feet-first.

[[Passive]]

Parkour Expert

Increase your walking and running speed by 10%. Increase the distance and height you can jump by 25%.

I would be missing out on extra hit points, Dexterity, and Constitution by swapping it out, but the real reason I had gotten it was Parkour Expert and its synergy with my Heelies of Hermes’ Divine Messenger skill.

Slow Fall was nice, but ultimately unneeded as I could slow any descents I made with psychic powers. Pulling out a Synthesis Page as I entered my room and shut the door, I pulled up the passive I was going to fuse it with.

[[Passive]]

Deep Sea Swimmer

Increase your swimming speed by 25%. You can hold your breath for 50% longer.

It had been fairly useless for me since I had gotten it after my fight with the Chainsawfish, but it would serve me well here. I activated the Synthesis Page and selected the two I wanted.

[[Notice]]

You are about to merge the Parkour Expert passive (item) with the Deep Sea Swimmer passive (skill book) to create the passive Aquathlon Athlete.

Would you like to learn the passive Aquathlon Athlete?

Yes

No

I hit Yes before I began removing the parachute pants.

[[Notice]]

You have learned the passive Aquathlon Athlete.

[[Passive]]

Aquathlon Athlete

Increase your ground and swim speed by 15%.

One of the dangers of synthesizing skills and passives is that you wouldn’t always get everything the two did separately. In this case, I knew exactly what it would end up as and I wasn’t disappointed by the lack of buffs to my jumping prowess nor the loss of being able to hold my breath longer. I wanted Parkour Expert for the speed buff, and this gave me a 5% boost over that, so it was all good.

I quickly changed out of the Parachute Pants of Agility and into my Breeches of the Warmongering Mystic. The bonus I received for having the gloves and breeches on at the same time was small, but always appreciated.

[[Notice]]

You are wearing multiple items from the Warmongering Mystic set. You will receive the following set bonus for as long as you’re wearing both items.

Two Items: Increase your Mental Point pool by 50.

There was one addition to my room that I received with the addition of the Vault, and that was a small wardrobe in the corner. Walking over to it, I flipped a dial from Personal Stash to Communal Vault and tossed the pants inside for them to disappear.

The only rooms that had a wardrobe were mine and the Mills, and that was only because this was a luxury sleeper car. Everyone else would have to visit the vault car in order to take care of their inventories unless they were invited into one of our bedrooms, which wasn’t likely to happen. I turned and glanced over the room, which was now free of a random assortment of dangerous things, and nodded to myself. It was always nice to have clean sleeping quarters.

Stretching, I checked my stats as I left my room.

[[Status]]

Avatar Anthony Franklin

Class: Warmind

Race: Half-Angel (Dormant)

Patron: (Hidden)

Points: 57,990

Stats:

Hit Points: 937/937

Mental Points: 676/1010 (300/300)

Strength: 42; Dexterity: 52; Constitution: 71; Wisdom: 64; Willpower: 79

The Medallion had been filled up earlier today, and my Mental Points were slowly ticking back up. It was weird to see my MP higher than my HP this early on in the run, but I didn’t have any trouble with it. Warminds were almost always glass cannons, especially since the Warmongering Mystic set took up a lot of the slots where the biggest providers to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution would normally be equipped. This was offset by my defensive abilities, at least.

Looking back at it, that was definitely the reason why I had learned to handle pain so well. I was a Warmind more often than any other class, and being able to focus despite extreme circumstances and pain was a skill that was absolutely mandatory.

A higher Constitution made your body tougher, not only increasing your hit points but also reducing damage taken, but it only protected from so much. Once people’s Strength or Dexterity, whichever they used to deal damage, started getting higher than my Constitution, then things would start getting a lot more painful for me.

Leaving my room, I made it through the dining car. Just as I stepped foot into the sleeper car, Jamie came down from one of the two staircases and stopped as soon as she saw me. I gave her a quick, friendly nod.

“You decide where you’re going to be yet?” I asked.

“That one, near the front,” she said, tilting her head at the room I had just passed. “Not exactly the Champion’s Rest, but it’ll do.”

“Well, not everything can be a luxury hotel,” I replied with a shrug.

Taking a look into the room, I saw the bed, dresser, and desk inside. While spacious, the rooms weren’t as big as the ones in the luxury sleeper up front, and it was still comfortable and cozy. I knew she wouldn’t have any trouble acclimating to it.

“I suppose I can’t argue with that,” Jamie sighed. With a slight shake of her head, she gestured for me to move, and I did. She entered her room and turned to close the door.

“I’m holding a meeting about what to expect in Pittsburgh tomorrow,” I said before she could complete the motion. “Is five AM good for you?”

“That won’t be a problem.”

“Excellent. You and I are going to be heading out afterwards to get straight into the thick of things, but there’ll be enough time afterwards to get ready,” I continued. “I’m going to go tell everyone else, and then I’m going to go to sleep early. Feel free to help yourself to whatever you need from the dining car.”

“Got it. Good night, then,” she said before closing the door.

I smirked at the door before shaking my head. While Jamie’s cold personality left a lot to be desired, it was good to have her back on the team. Without dallying for too long, I started heading back to the workshop. The Vault was between it and the sleeper, and left only enough room for one person to comfortably walk to the back. It was hard on traffic, but that was fine. I dragged my gloved hand over the sleek black surface as I walked.

“-Killer Sting,” I heard Jeff say as I opened the door. “It’s only a small chance to become a demonic item when merged with the queen’s stinger, right?”

“I thought I said today could be a day off,” I said, getting the attention of the car’s three occupants.

The first two sections were on either side of me, and were little more than a few counters spread throughout the area. They would change whenever someone with a crafting class claimed them, but for now they were barren and waiting.

In the back was the Monstersmith’s workplace. Tools were already strewn all over the place, and Ashley had set up a divider that didn’t quite span the whole distance across the train car. That didn’t matter much, anyway, as the curtain was currently resting to one side. The trio turned to face me.

“A day off?” Ashley scoffed before shaking her hammer at me. “You know what I need? To do my godsdamn job. I’m going off with a lunatic to get into all sorts of trouble, and I need to take my mind off of things. These two are, thankfully, normal enough, but you and that Jamie girl are weird.”

“Well, guilty of that at the very least,” I responded easily with a smile, though that only caused her to narrow her eyes. “I’ve got a short list of things I’d like to you to, but you can do them in any order you want. Jeff’s rapier is one of them, though I was surprised to find out that wasn’t the first thing you had fixed.”

Jeff grinned. “She said the belt would be nicer,” he claimed. “And I agreed. It’s big on Strength and Con, and it makes it so I’ll have less of a chance to lose body parts if something, I dunno, comes at me with a sword or whatever.”

I blinked. “Oh, shit, really?” He started scrolling through his menus.

“I was already going to work on this first,” Ashley grumbled. “Go ahead and leave a list, or whatever. I’ll get to it when I get to it.”

Just as I was about to reply, a screen popped up in front of me.

[[Item]]

Cincture of the Complete Body

(+10 Strength, +13 Constitution, Unbreakable Skeleton passive acquired)

[[Passive]]

Unbreakable Skeleton

Your bones, joints, and cartilage become stronger than steel. They are protected from any effect that causes them to break, including attacks and spells, so long as your Constitution stat is higher than your assailant’s corresponding attack stat.

“That’s really good,” I said as I nodded my head. “Gotta make sure you keep that Constitution stat maxed out. Thanks for looking out for him, Ashley.” The Monstersmith just grunted.

“My Con is already in the low sixties,” Jeff proudly declared. “Kay and I have discussed it a lot, and decided to focus on it.”

“If he’s going to be considered a tank, especially for me, then I want him as safe as possible out there,” Kayla added.

“Which is good, because we don’t want anything to happen to him,” Ashley said, gently tapping her hammer on the counter. “Now, you going to tell me what you want me to focus on?”

“Right, sorry,” I replied apologetically. “So you’ve already got access to the vault from a closet in here, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Good. I’m going to put my vambrace in there to get repaired. It’s still giving me stat bonuses even though I can’t use the Cable Conglomerate, so it should be an easy fix. I’d like Jamie’s Sun and Moon Scimitars to be repaired and upgraded with the mantis arms I showed you before, provided she put them into a space you can access, and I want the Chainsawfish rostrum and Tuskgutter tusk to be combined.”

Ashley thought about that. “I’m assuming you mean the one that can attack ghosts?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. When I nodded, she frowned. “Alright. Weird mix, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thanks, Ashley,” I said, smiling. “Kayla, Jeff, tomorrow is going to be a free day for you two, but we’re having a team meeting at five AM. You can come if you want, Ashley, but you can sleep in since you’re going to be on the train most of the time.”

“Good, because I’m not getting up at the ass crack of dawn.”

“That’s really early,” Kayla stated. It almost sounded like a protest.

“It is, but Jamie and I need to get out there early to take care of what needs to get done,” I explained. “We can do it later, but it won’t be as smooth if it’s later in the morning.”

“Is it something you’re going to need more hands for?” Jeff asked. “Kay can have a day off, but I don’t mind working.”

“Excuse you?” Kayla asked, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m not the one who’s been fighting in a tournament. You need your rest, and we’ll be out adventuring for two days after that, anyway. Right, Ant? Two days adventuring and one day off?”

“That’s what I said outside, yeah,” I confirmed with a nod. “But we’ll discuss that and other things tomorrow morning. I’m going to go and bunk down early since someone disturbed me.”

“Oh, you haven’t seen a disturbance yet,” Ashley claimed, barking out a laugh. “That was downright civil of me, which is more than most would be able to stick to when it comes to zombie apocalypses.”

“Yeah, sorry again, boss,” Jeff said.

“Don’t apologize to him, I had the right to know.”

“And you’ll still be the safest of all of us,” I chuckled. “Joys of being stuck in the train’s safe zone. Anyway, anything from you two? Kayla? Jeff?”

“Nothing I can think of, sleep well,” Kayla responded.

“See you in the morning, boss,” Jeff replied.

“Then, good night, all.” With a nod and a wave, I turned around and started heading back to my room. Not to sleep yet like I claimed, because there were still letters to write, but it would be soon. I couldn’t help my yawn as I stretched and made the long walk back to the front of the train.