Chapter 70

The Angel Express, Etson - 6:00 AM

I woke up on the day of the battle feeling exhausted. Despite my mental fortitude and high Constitution, hours of planning for combat between the Tumblers, the deserters of the Faithful, and the big players from Stanley had left me drained. Cautiously optimistic, but drained. I stretched, got dressed, and headed to the dining car for breakfast.

When I arrived, I was surprised to see that Jeff and Kayla were there already having a cup of coffee with the Dealer. The Mills saw me and raised their mugs in greeting. They looked like they hadn’t slept at all.

“You know that-“ I  started.

“Yes,” Jeff said without his usual cheer. “The Dealer’s already told us that regular coffee doesn’t work on us anymore, either. He brought a special brew.”

“The beans were grown by Orcs, guaranteed to put a spring in your step,” the Dealer said proudly as he turned to face me. “Morning, Anthony. Still some in the pot if you want a cup.”

I hummed for a moment before deciding that some coffee did sound nice right at that moment. Walking behind the bar, I poured myself an oversized mug and returned to the others. I let the Dealer right himself before sitting down in the chair next to him. “Morning, all.”

The Mills murmured good mornings to me while the Dealer played with Corwin by grabbing his snout, giving it a few shakes, and letting go. Corwin would pretend to bite the scaly hand and they’d do it all over again. At least the dog and the alligator were in high spirits this morning. “We were just talking about Corwin. Sending him down the path of a Black Dog, eh?” the Dealer asked.

“That’s what I recommended,” I said slowly as I sipped the coffee. The effects of the Wrathmaker brand started working almost immediately, and I felt myself slowly become energized. There were many things you could say about Orcs, but calling their food weak was not one of them.

“The Dealer doesn’t want Corwin to evolve because he still wants him,” Kayla informed me. “And Jeff doesn’t want Corwin to evolve because he doesn’t want to put Corwin in danger.”

“He’s just a little yellow boy,” Jeff pouted.

“He’s worth a lot of points,” the Dealer said.

“And that’s the whole conversation,” Kayla offered, lifting her mug to hide the small smile she couldn’t help but wear.

“Isn’t Corwin, like, almost ninety pounds, Jeff?” I asked, now as amused as his wife was. “But he’s just a little yellow boy?”

“Just a little yellow good boy,” Jeff said again.

I chuckled, took another sip of my coffee, and set the mug down on a napkin. “I understand, but remember the world gets more dangerous the longer we’re in it. Corwin is fine now, but if he doesn’t become more powerful then he’s going to have to stay on the train when we get to Atlanta. He won’t be able to come along with us anymore because there'd be too much risk.”

Jeff went still in the middle of drinking, his eyes locked on to mine over the rim of his cup. Kayla rested her hand on his shoulder and that seemed to get him moving again. “I didn’t even think of that.”

“No worries, man. It’s like I said, he’ll still be a little yellow boy because he’ll be in his base form most of the time. It’s really a win-win, even if you never use him for combat. Of course,” I paused, looking down at Corwin. “If he's evolved, then he can help save people today.”

“He knows,” Kayla said, moving her hand so that she was rubbing his back. “He’s just being a big baby about it.” The Dealer chortled, and I gave Jeff an understanding smile. I didn’t really expect otherwise from Jeff, but that was part of what made him the man he was.

After a few seconds of everyone watching him, Jeff nodded. “Alright, we might as well get this over with. C’mere, Corwin boy,” he said, clapping his hands together after he set his cup down. He was already starting to look less tired, as was Kayla. Corwin perked up and immediately left the Dealer’s side of the table to see what his owner wanted. Swiping open his inventory, he pulled out the Demonic Resistance skill book and held it. Corwin’s eyes immediately locked on to it. “Do I just.. feed it to him?”

The Dealer held out his hand for the book, and Jeff handed it to him. The alligator looked it over, opened it, and sniffed it. Since he wasn’t a player he couldn’t learn the skill, but I saw Jeff and Kayla stiffen as he opened it. “Demonic Resistance,” the treasure hunter stated. “Not a bad start. You said your plans were to get to Cerberus, right?”

“That’s what psychic boy was advocating for, yes,” Kayla said.

Handing the book back to Jeff, the Dealer nodded in acceptance. “They’re a good choice, especially if you want your dog to be a giant sack of hit points.”

“Hey, that’s my dog, man,” Jeff said, his tone suggesting he took umbrage with how the alligator worded that sentence.

“I didn’t mean anything bad by it,” the Dealer chuckled. “Go on and feed it to him.”

Nodding, Jeff reached out and offered the book to Corwin. The dog proved that he was well trained by not immediately jerking the book out of the man’s hand. Instead, he gently took it and placed it on the ground before going absolutely crazy. Corwin tore into it with teeth and claws as if he hadn’t eaten anything in weeks.

The process was vicious, but short. Cover, pages, and all, it only lasted a few seconds as Corwin scarfed it down. Once he finished, he sat down and looked up at Jeff with a wagging tail and a tongue hanging out of his mouth. Jeff cleared his throat. “Is something supposed to happen?”

“You should have a pet menu now,” I informed Jeff. “And you have to command him to change.”

“Oh, okay,” Jeff said, pursing his lips. “Corwin, uh, change forms please?”

“It’s a good thing that the phrase doesn’t get locked in,” the Dealer snickered, and I couldn’t help but laugh as well.

Corwin jumped onto his feet and barked happily. The change wasn’t immediate, but it was fast. His fur began to darken, changing from a long, curly straw yellow to a short, bristle-like obsidian black. Despite his hair becoming shorter, he didn’t look to be getting any smaller. In fact, he was actually growing. Corwin’s frame shifted and changed into one more fitting a mastiff than a labradoodle until he was roughly twenty percent bigger than he was before. Finally, his teeth got longer to accommodate the larger mouth of the Black Dog.

“Corwin?” Jeff asked. It looked like his eyes damn near popped out of his head as he watched his dog transform. Responding to Jeff, Corwin jumped onto the man and nearly knocked him over onto Kayla.

“Down, boy, down!” Kayla commanded as I picked Jeff’s coffee off of the table so it wouldn’t spill. Corwin stopped moving as Kayla commanded him. He had been licking Jeff’s face when she put her foot down, and he still had his tongue out. “You heard me, Corwin Mills.”

The Black Dog gave a small ruff of disapproval, but backed down and sat in front of Jeff. The man jumped on the dog in return, pulling Corwin down in a wrestling match. We watched as the two played, knocking over a couple of chairs at the next table over as their playful fighting intensified.

“Okay, play nice,” Jeff said after sitting up in a cross-legged position. Corwin immediately backed down, panting. “That’s still my good boy, yes he is. Who’s my good boy, who’s my good boy?” Jeff cooed as he roughly rubbed Corwin on the top of his head. Jumping to his feet, he went around the counter to get the dog some water.

“Satisfied?” I asked, finally setting Jeff’s cup back down on the table now that it wasn’t being assaulted by flailing limbs.

“Yeah, he’s as strong as I am now,” Jeff responded happily. “That’s a big leap from where he was before.”

“And very well behaved,” the Dealer said as he stroked his chin. “For a demon dog, I mean. Usually they’re a lot more aggressive than that. You’re a good trainer.”

“I had a lot of help from Kayla, who’s a lot sterner than I am,” Jeff admitted. “Plus, Corwin’s just a smart boy. Picks up on stuff real quick.”

“He wouldn’t have any training at all if it weren’t for me,” Kayla added. “But that’s neither here nor there. Come here, Corwin.” While the dog had been overly excited before, he seemed to have calmed down and walked over to Kayla without hesitation. She reached down to pet him around the neck with both hands.

“Very well behaved,” the Dealer repeated before finishing his mug of coffee.

“Thank you,” Jeff said as he returned with a bowl of water. He set it down for Corwin and the dog turned so he could still get pet by Kayla while he was drinking.

“What did you say the other skill book you were going to feed him was?” the Dealer asked.

“Flaming Sword,” I answered. My mug was almost empty, so I stood up and took the alligator’s cup back to the sink. “It was a bit of a random addition to the arsenal, but a welcome one.”

The Dealer scoffed. “Flaming Sword, eh? It’s an alright skill, but something else would be better for the pup. Like Burning Claws or Scorching Fang. That way you don’t have to worry about a technique based book possibly messing him up in the future, you know?”

“We have to work with what we have,” I replied. “Unless you have one of those and you’re willing to trade?”

“I may,” he responded. “Not for free, but I may.”

I sat down next to the alligator and made sure to roll my eyes. “It’s up to Jeff, anyway.”

“If you’ve got something better, then I’m all for it,” Jeff said immediately. “Only the best for my precious boy.”

Chortling, the Dealer reached into the pocket of his overalls and rummaged around a lot deeper than his arm had any right to go. After a few seconds, he pulled out a skill book thicker than any we had seen this early on. It was a bright reddish orange with three flames making a pyramid on the front cover. I noticed the Dealer giving me the side eye, watching to see how I would react, and I shook my head with a smile.

“Really pulling out the big guns, huh?” I asked.

“What is it?” Kayla asked hesitantly, looking from me to the book.

Instead of answering, the Dealer slid it across the table towards her. When she touched it, a menu screen appeared above it that we could all see

[[Shop]]

Bodily Inferno Compilation Skill Book

Multiple skill books have been bound with synthesis pages to create a single book.

This book was created using the skills Molten Armor, Incineration Breath, and Scorching Fang to create the Bodily Inferno skill.

Price: 50,000 points.

“Okay, that’s way, way out of our price range,” Jeff whispered as he read it over.

“That’s because he wants to make a deal,” I snorted. “We’re not supposed to have compilation skill books this early on, but of course the Dealer would have one.” The Dealer just grinned in response.

“Anthony, you mentioned synthesis pages before,” Kayla said as she took her hand off of the book. “This is what they do?”

“It’s one of the things they can do,” I answered. “But the ones we find in the wild are going to be used to merge skills we already have known. They have the capability to steal an item’s skill or passive and merge it together with one you’ve learned yourself, so I’m sure you understand the implications.”

Kayla thought about it for a moment before her eyes widened. “Wow, that opens up a whole lot of options, doesn’t it?”

“It sure does,” I replied with a chuckle. “In this case, Bodily Inferno will allow Corwin access to a mix of those three skills for the price of one. I don’t think I need to tell you how good that is, either. Remember that, now that he's evolved, all the skills will simply augment his form."

"How will it change him?" Jeff asked.

"Well, he’ll have the ability to breathe fire and his fangs will deal extra fire damage thanks to Incineration Breath and Scorching Fang. He’d begin to already look like a Hell Hound due to the Molten Armor skill, too.”

“Okay, that all sounds good. But what do you want for it?” Jeff asked, narrowing his eyes at the Dealer as he hugged Corwin tight. “What’s your deal, Dealer?”

“It’s not much, I want your permission to take Corwin sometime in the future and use him as a stud,” the Dealer said, placing his elbows on the table. Jeff blinked, and looked at Kayla. “What? Is that so hard to believe I’d be willing to part with such an expensive item for that? While acquiring Corwin from you would have been a lot easier, it’s out of the picture now. But I have leads on a female Evolution Hound, so all I need to do is get her. Then all I need a male, which I can borrow from you.”

Kayla lowered her head in thought. Honestly, it wasn’t a bad plan for the Mills. I leaned back, trying to get out of the Dealer’s line of sight, and lifted ten fingers. “Ten percent,” I mouthed to her when she looked up.

“I can see you, Anthony,” the Dealer said, turning to look at me. I put my hands down and flashed him a shameless grin, to which he sighed. “Okay. Let me sweeten the pot. You let me take Corwin at least twice in the future for a few days. Not when you’re in dire straits and need him, of course, and I’ll take really good care of him. Then I’ll let you two either have the pick of the litter or ten percent of the points I get for selling the pups. That’s on top of the Bodily Inferno book.”

When I gave Kayla a thumbs up, she looked at Jeff and nodded. Jeff stood up and offered the Dealer his hand. “We accept.”

“You drive a hard bargain,” the Dealer grumbled, though he glanced at me when he said it. As soon as the two shook hands, the shop menu disappeared from over the book and flipped open. Kayla shut it and handed it to Jeff.

“Really coming through for us already, Dealer,” I said while patting the alligator on his back.

“With you protecting my investment, I know I’ll make back any losses I’ll take by giving up this book,” he told me with a smile and no small amount of certainty in his voice.

“I’m sure,” I said with a chuckle. “Getting three skills in one skill slot for an Evolution Hound is a big deal. Jeff, you sure did luck out.”

“I feel like I did,” Jeff said as he held the book up for Corwin. The dog lunged for it, but was gentle when actually pulling it away from his owner’s hand. Once it was on the floor, he began tearing into it with just as much gusto as the previous skill book.

It also didn’t last any longer despite being larger, and Corwin was soon wagging his tail and nearly headbutting Jeff off of his chair. The tips of his fur had started turning orange, and a soft glow of fire could be seen inside his mouth. His black eyes now had a glowing orange iris.

“No flames everywhere, that’s good if he can control it,” Kayla mentioned.

“Yeah, you have to order him to use his skills,” I said. “And please don’t do it in here because it’s all fire based and I don’t need to spend points repairing the dinner car.”

“No problem, boss,” Jeff said. He put his hands on both sides of Corwin’s face and made the dog look back up at him. “Okay, Corwin, go back to normal.”

Corwin tilted his head and raised his ears as if confused. It only took him a moment of thought before he shook his whole body, and his shape reversed back into his yellow base form with no issues. He was the same old yellow labradoodle he was just minutes before.

“Congrats on the upgrade,” the Dealer said as he stood up. “Welp, I just wanted to say good luck and try my hand at getting that dog, so I’ve got no more reason to be here. So, good luck.”

“Actually, if you have a moment,” I said, leaning back. “I’ve got a deal, too. I have some letters that need to be sent out across the world and I know you can get that done in a quick, discreet manner.”

The Dealer looked down at me before nodding. “That I can, so what are you offering?”

“The whereabouts of the Babr-e Bayan and Krishna’s Keyur for your trouble, my dear Dealer.”

That gave the alligator pause, and he began regarding me while stroking his chin. “And how many letters are you expecting me to send for you, Anthony? I’m not a post office, you know.”

“Oh, you know, some,” I said as I snapped open my inventory and began putting piles of paper onto the table. The Dealer looked amused at first, but became increasingly agitated as I continued to make the pile larger.

“Your definition of ‘some’ needs work, boy,” he said as I finally put down the last sheet. Picking one up, he perused the note quickly and shook his head. “You’re really going all in like this?”

“Damn right, I am,” I replied.

“You know what to send to people in China?” Kayla asked, picking up one of the letters nearest to her. She glanced at another one. “And France? Iran, England, Nigeria… Why are you warning a guy in Antarctica about penguins?”

“Those penguins are the devil,” I said seriously. Standing, I looked up at the Dealer. “What do you say?”

“There has to be over two hundred letters here,” he said, exasperated. “You’re going to get caught.”

“Not if you give them special treatment. Aye, partner?” I replied with a grin.

The Dealer’s eyes narrowed, and he sighed. “Add in the shield Pridwen and you have a deal.”

I shook my head. “Arthurian legend is mostly off limits, I’m afraid. How about Canola’s Harp, instead?”

“You know that’s not the same as an item from Arthurian myth,” the Dealer argued.

“Yes, but what do you expect me to do? Give in to you any time you ask for an item that’s worth way more than what I’m asking for?” I said, scoffing. “Canola’s Harp, Krishna’s Keyur, and Babr-e Bayan. Deal or no deal?”

“Really wish you would just give in, but I suppose this is exactly the kind of thing I signed up for,” the Dealer mumbled. He reached out for me, and I gave him a firm handshake in return. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be off.”

“It was a pleasure doing business with you,” I replied. He began taking the piles of paper on the table and shoving them unceremoniously into his overalls.

“Right, yeah, a pleasure doing business with you, Dealer,” Jeff said as he stood up.

“You, too, Jeff,” the Dealer said with a slight bow of his head. “Unlike with him, I actually feel like ours is a fair and honest deal.”

“Dealer, please, you just hate delivering mail,” I said with a smirk.

“If you don’t like something, why do it?” he asked. “Right, right, because some smart mouthed kid thinks he’s hot shit, that’s why.”

Even though the Dealer sounded like he had taken a dive for this deal, I knew that he was just talking shit. He thought that if I started feeling guilty over giving him a bad deal, I would ease up on him. This couldn’t be further from the truth, but I’d let him sit on his thoughts for a few months instead of correcting it now. No reason to.

“Have fun traveling the world,” I told him as he started towards the door. “Don’t get attacked for being a strange talking alligator man.”

“Be safe, is what psychic boy is trying to say,” Kayla said diplomatically.

With a wave of his hand, the Dealer left the Angel Express. “This has been a damn fruitful morning,” I said, excited. The fatigue had disappeared from my body and mind thanks to the Orcish coffee, and I could see that the Mills were in much better shape, too. “How about a good old meal before we head to war, eh? I’ve still got some time before I have to meet with my squad, and I’m starving.”

Worry crept onto both Kayla and Jeff’s face when I mentioned the war, but I ignored that. There was no use worrying, and if I started fretting then they would probably become even more nervous. Instead of showing them that, I navigated the food menu to order a tall stack of waffles with copious amounts of whipped cream and syrup. “Breakfast of champions, right here,” I said, offering the Mills a smile as Jeff returned to his seat to order food himself.

The mood didn’t improve, however, and we ate the rest of our meal in silence.