“Maybe Chakri has a healing xatherite?” he said, realizing that he hadn’t stayed around long enough to see if the orc had grown any crystals. “Stay here, put up another wall so nothing can get in, and I’ll be right back.” He stood up with another groan and trudged back to where he had last seen Chakri. The storm had not been kind to him.
The cockroach armor he wore had cracked in several places, while several particularly deep wounds looked like shards of ice had dug into his body. Drew flipped the orc over, a difficult prospect given his mass. Growing up from his chest were four xatherite. The yellow, violet, and orange glows were dim compared to the white crystal that grew from his sternum.
Drew touched all four, too tired to do more than blink at the white xatherite. They flared with light and then disappeared as he did so. He turned, heading back towards Katie as he willed the notifications to appear.
Congratulations, citizen. You have defeated the first Manaborn dungeon boss on your world. As a reward, you will receive a white xatherite.
Congratulations, citizen. You have reached level 1. Due to your membership in the Navy of the Human Protectorate, you have advanced to the rank of Seaman Apprentice.
Congratulations, Seaman. Due to your designation as an Assault Mage, you have been inducted into the Knightly Order of the Dragon. Since there are no senior Knights in close proximity to your location, the accolade ceremony has been deferred.
Congratulations, Seaman. As a member of the Order of the Dragon, you have been promoted to the rank of Midshipman.
Due to your rank of Midshipman, new interface options are available to you.
Condensing xatherite level ups, only the highest level obtained will be listed.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Acid Dart has reached level 5. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Acid Dart xatherite is ready to be upgraded.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Major Refresh has reached level 5. Recharge time has reduced.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Major Mana Guard has reached level 5. Amount of damage absorbed has increased.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Major Spark has reached level 5. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Minor Dancing Blade has reached level 4. Duration has increased.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Cone of Frost has reached level 2. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Fireball has reached level 2. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Your Storm has reached level 2. Damage has increased.
Congratulations, Midshipman. Major Blink Step has been attuned.
You have acquired wild xatherite!
Basic grade Major Heat Shield acquired.
Rare grade Major Mana Sight acquired.
Master grade Major Gravitas acquired.
Primitive grade Metallurgy acquired.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Heat Shield
Xatherite Color: Yellow
Xatherite Grade: Basic
Xatherite Rarity: Widespread
Type: Magic
Effect: Reduces temperature based environmental damage by up to 15℃.
Mana recharge time: 31m 30s
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Mana Sight
Xatherite Color: Violet
Xatherite Grade: Rare
Xatherite Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Magic
Effect: Allows users to see external mana flows within 15m and all ley lines within 10km. Effect can be toggled at will.
Xatherite Crystal Name: Major Gravitas
Xatherite Color: Orange
Xatherite Grade: Master
Xatherite Rarity: Uncommon
Type: Magic
Effect: Reduces or Increases gravity on user or inanimate objects within 1m by 1.5G. Effect lasts 20 seconds.
Mana recharge time: 59.5s
Xatherite Crystal Name: Metallurgy
Xatherite Color: White
Xatherite Grade: Primitive
Xatherite Rarity: Scarce
Type: Crafting
Effect: Grants access to the Metallurgy skill.
Drew was too tired to pay attention to the new flag he saw on his xatherite, or to worry about his promotion and induction into a knightly order. He instead sat down next to Katie, who had erected walls all the way to the ceiling, leaving only small gaps for air to come in and out.
“No healing spells,” Drew looked at Sarah’s pale face and frowned. Then he looked over at Mitch. “I need to burn his body. He wouldn’t want to be a wereghoul.” Katie nodded tiredly, then helped him move all the bodies out of their little shelter. They piled the orcs on top of each other but laid Mitch off to one side.
They burned Mitch first, tears carving white lines through the dirt on their cheeks. They didn’t say anything, both too spent for words.
Chapter Fifteen — Scavenge
They didn’t bother to burn the other corpses. He just went back in with Sarah and sat down as Katie recreated the walls that surrounded them and Drew cast replenishing rain on cooldown. He wasn’t sure if the spell did any healing or increased the body’s own ability to heal but didn’t think it would hurt. He thought Sarah looked a little bit better after every casting, so he kept doing it.
Katie conjured more glowrocks, but the two just sat there for an hour listening to Sarah’s slow breathing, too mentally exhausted to do anything else. They sat with their backs to a wall, close together, but not touching.
Drew thought to break the silence a few times but stopped. In his mind he was going over the fight, trying to figure out if he had made the right decisions. If he had stayed and fought here, would Mitch still be alive? What if he had run the other direction, or even just circled around the box instead of heading for the entrance? He pictured a hundred ways that the fight could have gone differently. He tried to think of any way he could have been able to contribute in the close quarters fighting. He had the dagger still, not that it would have been very useful during the fight. Could he have thrown it? Would that have done anything? He didn’t know how to throw a dagger.
With a sigh, Katie stood up and Drew looked at her curiously. “We can’t stay here,” she said, looking around. “We need to find a way to move Rothschild.” Drew put his self-recrimination aside and stood up easily, the rain having kept their muscles from stiffening.
“Right, we’ll grab some more pipes, see if we can’t find something to make a litter with.” Drew waited while Katie re-summoned the knight-who must have been crushed sometime after he pulled Chakri away-and then opened the way out. It didn’t look like anything had been scavenging the bodies of the orcs or the ravagers yet, but Katie sealed Sarah back in and they began to explore the Orc encampment.
The camp was spartan, with dirty clumps of bedding piled in corners and what looked to be communal work areas. Drew leaned down and picked up a leather vest that had half a piece of cockroach chitin attached to the stomach. It looked like it would fit him, so he shrugged out of his ODU blouse and tried it on. The fasteners gave him some trouble at first, but he eventually got the hang of it. Amazingly, the armor fit well, albeit a little short in the torso, but then again, he had been half a foot taller than most of the Orcs.
There were three other vests in various stages of completion. Katie, seeing what he was doing, tried on a vest of her own. The first two she tried on were obviously much too big for her slight frame. Drew moved over and helped her get the third one on, which was the best fit of the three, although nowhere near appropriately sized for her. Katie pulled away as soon as it was on her.