TS6 - Chapter 5

Kat fell through the sky, shifting herself away from the flailing tentacles of the giant jellyfish with a tweak to her personal gravity.  She fired her crossbow, feeling her mana drain as the bolt whipped across the intervening space, punching a tiny hole in the side of the monster and instantly casting Overpressure.

A jet of thick liquid sprayed from the wound, joining the other three bolts she’d shot into the creature as they tried their hardest to drain the boss of its innards. Kaleek swooped past her, the flight spell that she’d cast on him allowing him to easily outmaneuver the lumbering monster.

He slammed into its side, sword leading the way.  With a loud ‘pop,’ he punctured its membrane, drenching himself with its innards even as the boss seemed to shrivel away, finally killed after about a minute and a half of aerial maneuvers and harrying attacks.

Kat nodded toward the platform that was plummeting alongside them.  Dorrik angled toward it while Kaleek seemed to freeze and spasm, his fur slick with the jellyfish fluid.

With a sigh, Kat flew over toward him, mumbling the words to Cure Wounds II.  She touched her hand to his side, noting the immediate tingling and numbness that came from contacting the remnants of the boss even as the golden glow of her spell settled over the twitching desoph.

About ten seconds later, Kaleek shook himself, finally seeming to come to after his exposure to the creature’s venom.  He opened his mouth to say something, but Kat couldn’t make out anything over the constant howling rush of wind from their fall.

She shook her head, tapping an ear, and Kaleek just shrugged back.  Kat turned her head back toward the platform where Dorrik was already disappearing in a cascade of light and nodded.

Kaleek grinned back at her, mouthing something that she strongly suspected were the words ‘race you’ before diving toward the dungeon altar.  Kat blinked, before letting a smile slip across her face.  If things were going to be like that, there wasn’t really any need to play fair.

Mana swelled inside her chest, activating Flight, and suddenly her gravity assisted travel almost tripled in speed.  The wind pulled at her face and hair, bringing tears to her eyes as she zipped through the air after Kaleek, catching up to him when he was almost two thirds of the way to their target.

Without saying anything, she grabbed hold of the gravity around the desoph, jerking him upward and to the left with just enough force for her to rocket past him.  He sputtered something indignant, specific words lost to the screaming gale.

She only winked back up at him before putting her hand on the altar.

Congratulations Adventurer!  

You have completed the Silver Tier Level Eighteen Dungeon, Dizzying Heights

Three of Three party members surviving.  Good Job!

Assigning awards:

Cure Wounds III

Multicolored lights washed over her, and before Kat could fully process the moment, she found herself in a dark cave that smelled heavily of salt from the nearby water.  A second later, her enhanced vision kicked in and she could see Dorrik standing a couple paces away, evidently going over his status sheet.

“Get anything good?”  She asked, walking toward the lokkel.  He shook his head before turning to address her.

“Two attribute points.  Useful, but nothing groundbreaking.  I was simply looking over my status sheet to try and see where I would like to go next with my build.  I had many plans for where I wanted to take my abilities ever since I was forced to restart, but now I am well into uncharted territory.  The dreamscape makes a lot of the decisions for us, but it also pays attention to our wishes.  We might not get every ability we want, but it tries to to make sure that see acquire the skills and spells we need.  Your healing and protection magic is a good example.  Our party doesn’t have a dedicated barrier mage or healer, so it makes sense that our one magic user would get some capabilities on that front.  Of course, if things were truly random, we would never have such a fortuitous stroke of happenstance.”

“For example,” Dorrik continued, nodding earnestly toward the spot flickering rainbow lights were coalescing into Kaleek’s armored silhouette.  “WIthout some serious luck, it's very possible that your protection and healing spells would have gone to Kaleek if we even acquired them at all.”

“It sounds like the two of you are talking about me,” Kaleek.  “First of all, yes, thank you for noticing, I am using a new fur shampoo.  One of my podmates suggested a new product to me and it’s done wonders for the softness and glossiness of my fur.  All of the females have been lining up to run their fingers through it.  I’m looking into a new whisker wax as well.”

Kat just blinked at him.  She understood each and every word individually, but trying to put the entire sentence together caused her brain to overload.  It was like listening to someone speaking Russian.  She could tell she was supposed to understand what was happening, but it was all just noise to her.

“What?”  She croaked out, blinking at the cheerful desoph.

“Whisper Whiskers Onyx Musk,” Kaleek replied.  “The name’s a bit over the top, but they change the color of your whiskers enough that they really pop against your fur.  The smell coming off of them is pretty nice too, but the ladies seem to love it.  Already, I’ve had a bunch of females ask me out on dates.  A couple even remembered from when we were all back in school.  Honestly, I feel like I’m ten years younger.  I can’t recommend a proper fur care regimen enough.”

Dorrik coughed, his crest standing straight on end.

“If I may,” he began hesitantly, unable to make eye contact with Kaleek.  “I have been experimenting with scale polish.  Ordinarily I wouldn’t worry all that much about my appearance.  After all, a warrior’s primary concern should be staying in top form.  Combat readiness is more important than one’s appearance but also…”

The lokkel trailed off.  There was certainly something on his mind, but Dorrik couldn’t seem to make himself actually say it.

“Jaalin is planning on visiting Earth, isn’t she?”  Kat asked, barely able to stop herself from rolling her eyes.

“What?”  Dorrik barked out, eyes flashing wildly as he waved both sets arms in front of himself.  “Why would you ask that?  There is no reason for you to suspect that Jaalin is traveling from another galactic arm to visit Earth.”

“So when should we expect her?”  Kat asked dryly.  “Should I tell the construction crews to start putting in another ambassadorial suite right away or do they have a little time to rest first.”

“They should have a little while,” Dorrik replied in a barely audible mumble.  “Jaalin will be aboard a cruiser that Clan Ahn is dispatching to monitor the stallesp negotiator.  She won’t be allowed to intervene directly in any discussions with the stallesp, but we were able to convince the Consensus that a lokkel clan should be on hand just in case the stallesp try something given their repeated history of doing just that.”

“Jaalin volunteered for observation duty so she should be joining us in about three to four months,” he continued, his crest finally starting to relax a little bit.  “It will be good to have another friendly face to talk with.  Whenever Miss Kat and her companions are wrapped up in corporate business it is frowned on for me to become overly involved so I tend to be left to my own devices.  I am now fully caught up on Chrome Cowboys, and I have been spending even more time on your internet forums discussing what will be happening next as well as writing alternative stories about the characters.”

“Fan fiction,” Kat remarked.  “You’ve started writing fan fiction.”

“Yes,” Dorrik agreed.  “I have a small but loyal following of readers.  I believe I have even developed a nickname with them.  After I post every chapter, a half dozen individuals post T-F-T-C at me.  I am still trying to discover if it stands for something or if it is simply an Earth word that I have not managed to learn yet.”

Once again, Kat felt like her ears were full of static.  She opened her mouth to respond, but thought better of it after a second.  If she actually talked with Dorrik about his hobby, the lokkel would never stop, and there was something unnerving about discussing an alien writing fan fiction alongside teenage girls while the three of them were stuck in a submerged cave.

“So Jaalin volunteered, eh?” Kaleek asked, walking up beside Dorrik and poking him with a fuzzy elbow.  “I bet she would’ve done that for the honor of flying halfway across the galaxy to an integrating world all on her own if you weren’t involved right?”

“S-surely,” Dorrik answered, barely stuttering the word out as his crest stiffened in alarm.

“Come on,” Kat chided him.  “You’ve been playing this game for months.  We both know you have a crush on her and that you’ve started whatever the lokkel version of courting is.  There’s no real reason for you to still act hesitant and embarrassed about the whole situation.  She likes you, and you like her.  There’s nothing wrong with that, just lean into it.”

“How are you going to get scale polish anyway,” Kaleek said, draping a furry arm over Dorrik’s upper shoulders.  “You’re on an underdeveloped world in the back end of nowhere-”

“-no offense Kat,” he said hurriedly, nodding in her direction.

“None taken,” she replied.  “We have lizards on Earth, but none of them need access to cosmetic products.  I don’t think we’ll be able to synthesize scale polish for you anytime soon unless you can actually get us the chemical makeup of what you want us to make or something like that.”

“Oh,” Dorrik remarked, his crest drooping.  “I didn’t think of that.”

“Don’t worry too much buddy,” Kaleek.  “I don’t think Jaalin’s going to be concerned about how shiny your scales are.  We’ve all been around her long enough to get an idea of what she’s interested in, and I think she cares a lot more about your swords, leadership and tactical skills.”

Kat nodded.  Jaalin wasn’t exactly the type to suffer fops or dandies.  In fact, the big lokkel woman wasn’t really the type to suffer average or above average individuals.  Kat got the distinct impression that Jaalin wouldn’t notice anyone’s appearance except to the level that their build influenced their ability to fight.

“Still,” Kaleek ruminated.  “I’m starting to feel a little left out.  It seems like everyone is going to Earth but me.  Maybe I can look into it as a vacation spot.  What does your marine life look like anyway?  Any exotic fish that I could hunt while I’m there-”

“Oh,” he perked up.  “What’s your ocean salinity anyway?  If it’s too high, the salt ends up caking your fur.  I don’t want to spend all that time and effort on softening my fur only for your oceans to gunk it up.”

“Salinity?”  Kat said, blinking in confusion.  “I’m going to have to be honest, that isn’t something that I keep track of.  I’m sure I can talk to some of our scientists and get a better answer for you, but off the top of my head that isn’t the sort of thing I’m going to have a proper answer for.”

“See if you can look into that,” Kaleek said with a wink.  “Maybe I can justify Earth for an outing for myself and some of my podmates.”

“I don’t know if that’s a great idea,” Dorrik began, a frown creasing his face.  “Earth is still interdicted.  Unless you have a role with one of the monitoring or negotiating parties, it isn’t supposed to be having outside contact.”

“Well then get me a role with your watchdog,” Kaleek replied smoothly.  “I don’t wanna be left out, and don’t worry.  I’ll make sure to bring some scale polish.”

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