Aegis Online

Flying high enough to scout ahead, I hunt for the crimson-barked tree with bone-white leaves, my wings beating. I’ll deal with addressing Genevieve’s outpost-supply problem once I’m done.

The tree isn’t too far from the outpost, within walking distance for a human, and I hover for a few long minutes, my eyes scanning the ground as I try to determine if there’s any monsters or predators around, before descending, touching down as the fallen leaves crackle and creak like dry, brittle bone beneath my sabatons.

My greatshield and swordspear in hand, I look for the satchel. It’s hanging from a broken branch a couple of metres off the dirt. Hopping up, I snatch it down, hearing something growling and snarling as the sound of a bulky body tearing its way through the underbrush. I blow a raspberry and take off again, carrying my prize as I giggle all the way back.

 

Dropping the satchel off, I claim my 500 gold, thankful that it was a well-paid quest, before heading over to catch Genevieve. “Hey, teacher! Mind if we talk in your office when you have a free moment?”

Panting, Genevieve drops out of her combat stance, lowering her wooden stick. Morrigan looks ready to collapse, but it’s clear my young guildmember is having the time of her life.

“Okay, Mor, take a break, get some water, and stretch. Don’t just sit down, your muscles will stiffen up and you’ll be sore as heck in the morning!”

Genevieve stretches as well, slowly wending her way to her office, as I follow. Once there, I grin. “So, the barkeep said that supplies have been getting scarce around here?”

Genevieve looks shamefaced. “Yeah… we haven’t managed to get a Translocation Beacon set up here yet… so we’ve been forced to make do…”

I smirk. “Well, I went and did some grocery shopping, if you’re interested? I have plenty to spare!”

Genevieve raises her eyebrows. “The ship?”

I shake my head. “Nope, this!” I hold up my Stone of Rapid Transference. “This little baby lets me teleport to anywhere I’ve been as long as I can visualise the location, three times a day!”

Genevieve stares. “So… I’m gonna need one of those. If you get me one for each of my party, we’ll pay for them!”

I grin. “I can farm them for you, sure. But first, here!”

I open my inventory and dump out everything I’d bought, creating a large, neat stack of all the crates, barrels and bags. A chicken sticks its head up from somewhere inside the heap. “Bawk.”

 

Genevieve stares even more. “Holy shit… you really weren’t kidding about supplies… uh… how much for all of that?”

I grin. “I’ll cut you a deal. 10,000 for the lot!”

“Deal!” Genevieve pulls a bag of cash out. A second chicken sticks its head up from the pile. “Bawk.”

 

I take the cash, stuffing it into my inventory as Genevieve calls for some folks to shift all the goods to the storehouse for distribution. She gives me a high-five as two Andromal women chases after one of the chickens, which is putting up a spirited escape attempt.

“Bawk!”

“Get the fuck back here, you stupid BIRD! No offence, uh… Kettrin!”

I’m too busy cackling at the scene of feathery chaos.

 

 

After dealing with the poultry-themed madness, I head out to my ship to check in with Asteria, and see how Morrigan liked her first lesson with Genevieve.

She’s already passed out, and Dana smirks. “You did a nice thing, y’know? The little one was having a riot out there!”

 

I smile and shrug. “Well, I’ll have to wait till tomorrow if I’m going to farm for these Stones of Rapid Transference, since I can only use it once more today. Plus, I need to visit the Grand College of Vassimar and do a little research. So, tomorrow, I’ll go to the spot near Tilbury, farm the Demonscale Pangolin until I get a few more of these beauties, and then hit the Grand College, before returning here.”

 

Dana kisses my cheek. “Want a hand with that?” she asks, and I nod.

“Yeah, I don’t really wanna go toe-to-toe with that thing solo… it killed me last time, so I also want revenge!”

Dana grins. “Then let’s go! Check if you have any points to spend, my level-60 sweetheart!”

I open my status screen, then grin as Asteria hugs me from behind, between my wings, as she rests her chin on my shoulder.

My level is now 65, and I have some Attribute points to distribute! And a whopping 120 Ability points, too!

I get busy, and make my additions. From what I can tell, luck is the chance of rare drops, critical hits, and stuff of the ‘gosh, how lucky I was to avoid that!’ situations. If I’m hunting for rare drops, it might be an idea to bump it up a bit.

 

Bulwark Level 60 -> 65

CON: 49 -> 50

DEX: 45 ->

STR: 50 -> 54

WIS: 40 ->

INT: 40 ->

LUCK: 40 -> 50

 

With my stats buffed, I turn to my Abilities menu.

Dual-wielding? Nah, seems like the kind of thing an edgy boy in a black trenchcoat might want.

 

I decide to upgrade Thunder Cannon three times, once for 15 points, once for 25, and the third for 40 points.  If I need to use it on a meteor so Ulged can forge a katana for Mor, I’m gonna put as much punch into it as possible!

With the remaining 60 points, I upgrade Skill-Forge again at a 50-point cost. Just ten left, which I’m going to use to buff Strength of the Ancient Ones, increasing the speed of recovery and amount of HP restored per second.

Looking up at my girlfriend, I smile. “I’m ready for a hunting session! Although, I did kinda spend all my money on supplies for the outpost. I got 10 thousand gold from Genevieve, though, so I’m not penniless.”

Asteria smiles and pulls something out of her inventory. “Good job I thought you might need these! MP pots, HP pots, and a couple of debuff-cleansing decoctions, like antidotes, paralysis cures, and the like. Here!” she passes me a small box full of plenty of potions.  I kiss her as thanks, and, a pleasant ten minutes later, we fill Ginger and our cook in on our plan, and Asteria uses her Stone of Rapid Transference to get us to Tilbury, to begin bullying a Demonscale Pangolin until we get the Stones. I’m going to want at least an extra for myself.

Then, Genevieve, Bassan, Graus, Connla, Lobo, and Ferrule. Six more Stones.

“I’m going to need a total of 13 Stones. I want an extra one so I’m not stuck out in the middle of nowhere, and I’m pretty sure that Genevieve’s party will want two each. Shall we get to bullying?”

 

Asteria grins, and her glowing butterfly wings form as she begins hovering off the ground. “Aye-aye, Guildmaster!” she teases, and I follow suit, taking to the air as I spot something crashing around not far away.

 

“What the flying fuck?!”

 

It seems Ulged finally started selling those Behemoths, since there’s one careening through the forest, not far from the small town I’d started my account in. it’s not as… well-piloted… as the one Trinity used in the demonstration, but it doesn’t seem to care about slamming into small trees, as the proud owner takes his new toy for a spin. I roll my eyes.

“He’s like one of those spoilt rich kids whose parents bought him a sports car for his birthday!”

Asteria snrrks, and I turn my gaze towards the spawning point for the Demonscale Pangolin, paying not a whit of attention to the party-bus doing spider-legged donuts back there in the forest.

Thanks to our flying, we manage to get to the spawn point of the field boss in a short time, and I grin. “Look! It’s spawned in! Mind if I make the opening gambit?”

Asteria smirks. “Be my guest, dear! I want to see what you have in mind!”

I flap my way a little further forwards, until I’m right above the Demonscale Pangolin. Raising my empty hand, I call on my storm-gifted powers. “Thunder… Cannon!”

A bolt of electricity SHOULD have shot from my palm. What I got was a lance of raging lightning, spearing down like Voltesse Herself dropped a sacred toothpick. The monster shrieks, sparks sizzling and popping all over it as it writhes and twitches, the lightning bolt dissipating as I pull my swordspear out of my pocket dimension, Asteria whooping in delight as she readies her first attack, an orb of flames the size of a basketball, before hurling it downwards to join the storm of sparks.

I blink. “Well... That was way more impressive than the last time I used it! I guess levelling up skills makes them MUCH more powerful!”

Another fireball sails down as my girlfriend calls, “Get yourself out of the clouds and into the fight, c’mon!”

She’s skimming around, her toes just off the ground, as she taunts the battered and utterly-pissed monster into lashing out with its sticky tongue, dodging its rolling attacks, and generally being a pain in its ass.

Shaking my head, I dive, hurling my Radiant Lance, drawing the Demonscale Pangolin’s attention for a few long moments as I recall my weapon, dodging a strike from its tongue as it tries to catch me the way it did last time we tangled.  Darting under, I slash at its throat, trying to land a killing blow as quickly as I can, but it manages to avoid the worst of the hit.

Asteria takes advantage of my distracting tactics, soaring upwards.

“Keep it where it is as long as you can! I’m going to finish it!”

 

Naberius extends his head, coiling along his mistress’ arm, and a huge lump of ice starts to form, growing bigger and bigger, as I work on pinning the monstrous creature in place with my speed. Luckily, it’s too focussed on me to notice until too late. Asteria’s magically-formed iceberg slams down, crushing it into the dirt. As the spell fades, the ice vanishes, crumbling into tiny fragments and melting almost instantly. A glittering crystal lies on the grass, having fallen from the Demonscale Pangolin.

“Hey, we got one!”

I wave it at Asteria, who graciously claims her prize.

“Why, thank you, my love! Now, we wait for it to respawn, and butcher this beastie for hides. They’re workable and tough, great for armour! Your smith friend would love a handful!”

I nod. “That’s true. If Ulged’s going to outfit Morrigan, I want him to have the best he can get in terms of materials. She deserves it.”

 

Asteria grins. “Look at you, mother duck! You’ve really taken to spoiling that kid, haven’t you? Combat training, high-grade equipment… and why not? She DOES deserve a better life after the shit she’s been through, I’m with you here. Just… make sure she can handle herself before you throw her into a pitched battle. Remember, we’re lucky enough to possess resurrective immortality. She’s only got the one life. No second chances…”

 

I nod solemnly. “That’s why. I know she wants to be able to forge her own path, and why I’m working so hard to help her. But I don’t want her to be unable to DO that. She needs as much help as we can give her that she’s willing to take. Some good equipment is the least I can do for her. Beside, you’re just as motherly as I am towards her!”

Asteria chuckles huskily. “You’re not wrong, I DO want this baby bird to fly free. And I’m just as invested in making sure she’s still a good person at heart, too. Just because the world beat her down, we can’t let her become like those bastards who treated her that way… she’s too young to have so much pain to bear…”