KeroKeron

  Blood for the blood god!

  More violenily (this mini-arc is still retively tame though)

  [colpse]

  Agnes pulls herself up from the table, looking down at herself. She raises her arms, gazing over the closely woven patterns with slight awe.

  “It’s certainly the most plicated ented tattoo I’ve ever seen.”

  She taps her foot on the ground, releasing shimmering silver mana into the air before her where it coalesces into a full-body mirror.

  “Woah!” A quiet excmation leaves her mouth as she stares at the weaving patterns ing her muscles, turning and admiring their spread across her back as well.

  Emily nods in agreement with a small, proud smile. The tattoo is a blend of pale blue, green, and silver, spreading down from Agnes’ o cover almost all of her skin, atuating her well-defined muscles.

  “It looks great,” Agnes says with a satisfied smile, turning to face Emily. “Now, let’s test it!”

  She puts her clothes ba before leading Emily into another room attached to her living space. The room is a miniature version of the training hall they use for lessons, with a packed dirt floor and ons hanging from the walls.

  “How do I use it? It’s not permaly active, right?” Agnes asks, standing in the tre of the space, fag Emily.

  “First, activate steel body, unless you want a nasty shock, then simply i a bit of mana into the activation ru the top of your neck,” Emily says, eagerly awaiting the test herself.

  Agnes reaches a hand up to touch the back of her neck as a silver glow envelopes her.

  “Here?” she says and the tattoos e alive, lighting up with a vibrant glow and sending crag lightning across her skin.

  The pattero shift with the lightning, pying triily’s eyes as she watches Agnes raising her arms to observe the effect.

  “This feels weird,” Agnes mutters, staring at her hands.

  “Does it hurt at all?”

  “No. It feels like a faint buzzing in all of my muscles at once.”

  “Perfect. I tu as close as I could to your resistah steel body active, so the disfort should fade as you get used to it. It will drain about half as much mana as a sed circle boosting spell, so you should be able to keep it up for a while. Just, be careful not to activate it without another spell to increase yhtniance. I did make sure it wouldn’t be strong enough to disable you if you do, but it’ll hurt like a bitd definitely mess you up mid fight.”

  Agnes nods at her advice, flexing her fingers before croug and feeling the differen her legs.

  “Got it. Now for the fun bit. How fast does it make me?”

  Agnes’ eye flicks briefly towards Emily, and Emily’s lips part into a smug grin as she realises what Agnes is about to try.

  Sorry. But even with this spell you’re...

  Agnes springs up from her crouch, spinning around and whipping her leg towards Emily’s chest. Emily’s arm snaps up to catch her aopping the attack dead in its tracks as her feet slide back a few timetres.

  “Still slower than me!” she finishes her thought out loud, ign the stinging ache in her hand from catg Agnes’ metallic foot.

  Ign her taunt, Agnes pulls her leg bad proceeds to throw attack after attack at Emily, who smoothly dodges or ters every blow at high speed. After a few minutes, Agops aivates her tattoo and spell.

  “I should be happy that you’ve given me su effective speed increase, but I’m holy slightly annoyed I’m still slower than you. What the hell are you? You didn’t even use magic!”

  “Haha. Well, let’s just say my breathing teique does something simir to your tattoo naturally. Perks of being a lightning mage.” She avoids answering the question holy, skirting around it with a well-practised excuse.

  “Tsk,” Agnes clicks her tongue, but her grin shows the alice behind it. “How much do I owe you then?”

  “Not much, only about six hundred points.”

  Agnes nods and holds out her hand for Emily’s crest. She transfers a thousand points, but cuts Emily off before she object, walking past her and tapping her on the shoulder.

  “I would have had to pay at least triple to a lightning engraver for that quality of work, if I could find one. If you have a pint, spend the extra points on your expedition prep and e back safe. It would be a shame to lose a good sparring partner.”

  Emily smiles and follows her out.

  “Fine. I always use more explosives.”

  ***

  A few days ter, Emily settles in her room for the m, her ons spread across the workbench before her.

  “Hmmm. I need mrenades. I take loads now I fill my belt with them. The same with bullets,” she mumbles, gng at her two new firearms.

  The first, the Whisper, is a long, sleek bd white bolt-a rifle. The main body is delicately maed from a bck iron alloy, appearing mrey than b a few pces, and it’s lined with carefully inid veins of white iron, with a dense swirling pattern ing the barrel. The adjustable telescopic scope above is a work of art, crafted from metal and gss, allowing Emily tet enemies from as close as teres to as far as thousands. It has several small dials around it to flick between internal lenses and adjust their positions at will.

  The back of the rifle has a sturdy metal stock with several wind crystals embedded along the side to power the acceleration and sileng spells woven along the body and barrel. The top holds a fortable leather cheek rest in lih the scope.

  On the side of the gun, just above where her thumb would rest when firing, is a small switch. It be flipped betweehree firing modes of the gun: safe, where the trigger won’t move anything inside no matter how much it’s pulled; silent, the normal firing mode where only the sound dampening array is activated; full, the power hungry mode with the acceleration array active as well.

  Underh the gun, sitting just in front of the trigger assembly, is the pride of Emily’s innovation withi few months, a magazine. Uhe der fed clockwork rifles of the military, the magazine hold bullets in a more pact, quick to reload form. The bullets held within are hefty, being slightly bigger than one of Emily’s fingers with the cartridge included, and weighing almost triple that of one of her handgun bullets.

  ˉˉˉˉˉ

  [Whisper {Gen.1}]

  [Rank:] E

  [Stats:] +4 Dex, +3 Agil

  [Description:] A sleek ented rifle designed for le silent shooting.

  [Effect:] Fires silent bullets reat distance.

  _____

  The sed gun is a new pistol, the Spitter. Simir to the Whisper, it’s mostly bck with small grey ats. But, uhe Whisper, there is only a single wind crystal embedded into the trigger guard. The grip houses a magazine itom, and the firior swit the side also flips between three modes: safe, single-fire, and three-round burst.

  The wind crystal is only used for the burst mode to chamber rounds rapidly without wasting any power from the shot itself. However, to bahis, the end of the barrel has a threaded end, ao the gun is a stumpy bck der of metal with a sound dampening spell carved into it, and the requisite wind crystal for power, for Emily to attach at will.

  ˉˉˉˉˉ

  [Spitter {Gen.1}]

  [Rank:] E

  [Stats:] +3 Dex, +4 Agil

  [Description:] A pistol designed for rapid fire.

  [Effect:] Fires low calibre bullets in single fire or three-round bursts.

  _____

  “Maybe I should pay a visit to the bck market again to stock up on gunpowder,” Emily mutters with a malicious grin. “Time to cim some debts.”

  She stands up and taps the Whisper, sending it into her ste space, before she straps the Cws bato pd drops the Spitter into a thigh holster, with several magazitached around it food measure.

  ***

  Emily catches a train out into the city, desding to the lower levels and stepping out into the mist filled streets. She pulls down the hood of her crestless robes, obsg her face. Ign the shifty figures lingering in the side alleys, Emily marches on through the winding streets before dug out of the way into a narro between two t metal buildings.

  She walks past an open shop front selling cheap skewers of indisible meat, cheg The Clod noting the time as she approaches a heavy metal door set into the building beside it.

  I hope the password Ed gave me isn’t a trap. I liked Maeworks. I’d hate to find out he was in on this.

  She sms her fist into the door.

  Four fast taps.

  A three-sed pause.

  Two beats.

  Half a sed pause.

  Two beats.

  A two-sed pause.

  Three fast taps.

  A few moments ter, a peep-door slides open.

  “The bck oak’s roots spread far and wide,” a squeaky, high pitched voice says oher side.

  “The shade of its branches ’t hide the rot within,” Emily answers.

  A short burst of clig and grindihe heavy door swings open. She steps in, casting a sideways gowards the guard, noting the undrawn gun at his hip.

  io. Hopefully that means that’s the normal password.

  She tinues dowairs without a word, heading towards the underground haven of trade. Stepping out of the narrow stairwell, Emily turns and heads straight for the arms dealer she dealt with before. She remains on high alert, everyone around her and looking for anyone spicuous who may be helping The Crystal Skull keep track of her, but finds nothing.

  So far so good.

  She pushes open the door to the small ons shop and steps in, once again being hit by a strong stenoke and booze.

  “You know. It’s a wonder you’re able to cover the smell of gunpowder so well,” Emily calls to the shop owner slumped over the ter.

  He grunts and drags himself up, gring at her.

  “What do you want?” he asks gruffly.

  “Nothing much. I just want you to answer a few questions,” she responds while flipping her hood down.

  “Why would I-“ the shop owarts, before freezing as he reises Emily, the colour draining from his face.

  That doesn’t look like the face of someone arning me about danger.

  “Good! Ynise me. That will make this easy.”

  Emily sees with crystal crity as the man’s shoulders shift ever so slightly, his right hand, hidden behind the ter, reag for something. She bursts forwards, closing the distance before the man react. With a light spring of her ankles, her legs clear the ter and she slides over to pnt a to the man’s shoulder, knog him off his chair and pinning him to the ground with her knee pressed against his chest.

  “Argh!” he cries out in pain, reag up to push Emily off with his uninjured arm.

  Emily simply catches his hand before he touch her, holding it still as she looks for what he was reag for. She sees a double barrel shotgun sitting on a hidden shelf.

  “Now that’s not clever. I just wao ask you some questions, but you’re making this look a lot worse for yourself,” Emily says as she looks back down at the man below her. “Now, are you going to satisfy my curiosity? Or do I o find other ways to persuade you?”

  She twists the bde in his shoulder for effect, watg as his face torts in pain.

  “Ahhhh! I’ll tell you whatever you want. Just fug stop!” he spits out through gritted teeth.

  “Why did you seo The Crystal Skull?”

  “They paid me! A woman came in a few hours after you left the first time you were here and gave me three gold to tell you about their tent.”

  Emily nods, having expected as much.

  “I see. And what do you actually know about The Crystal Skull?”

  “Nothing.”

  Emily tightens her grip on the man’s hand, sending a shock of pain through his arm.

  “AHHH! FUCK! I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” he screams as something cracks.

  Emily loosens her grip slightly, and he pants out in relief.

  “You expect me to believe that? If you know nothing, why did you look so horrified to see me again?”

  “Look, I only know some rumours. Some of my drinking buddies have mentiohat they sometimes go asking around about people, and those people always disappear! That’s all I know. I swear!”

  Useless.

  “See, you did know something!” Emily says with a smile, pulling her Cw out of the man’s shoulder and drawing it quickly across his throat.

  She drops his hand and stands up, retrag the d turning away from his panicked, choking form. She jumps back over the ter, leaving the shop owo suffer in a pool of his own blood.

  “I ’t believe I’m only worth three gold,” Emily mutters as she flips her hood back up and steps out of the shop.

  She takes in her surroundings while walking away, cheg for people watg or following her as she moves towards The Crystal Skull’s tent. A mier leaving the ons dealer, Emily notices a pair of eyes focused on her. She turns a few ers and, sure enough, a cloaked figure follows.

  Hello there, stalker. Did the guard reise me after all? Or were they watg the arms dealer in case I came back? Either way, there are clearly several people here w with that bitch.

  She arrives at the small white tent and pushes her way in through the front fp, ign her pursuer for now to see how they react. The sweet st of inhibition inse hits her nose immediately, but is burnt away by the maa c through Emily’s body before it do anything.

  “Hello there. How I help you?” the same deceptively gentle-looking woman from st time asks, fixing Emily with her pierg emerald gaze.

  “ you answer some questions for me?” Emily asks, keeping her hood lowered over her face.

  “Well it depends on what you want to know, honey. How about you take off your hood and ask away?”

  Emily flips her hood off, watg surprise and amusement run across the woman’s face.

  “Well hello again, cutie. It’s not often someone escapes me, and none of them were dumb enough to return. Did your escape give you the fideo e back?”

  Emily smirks at the taunting question. Before she respond though, she feels movement behind her and notices the woman’s gaze shaking slightly.

  Trying to sneak up on a space mage? Bad idea.

  “It did! And - I’m dying to know - did you think I’d simply tuck my tail and run?”

  Emily pulls out the Spitter and points it backwards over her shoulder, activating her sound-deadening earrings before squeezing the trigger. A bullet tears out of the barrel, ripping a hole through the head of the man approag behind her. A loud bang fills the tent, and the man’s body slumps to the floor at the same time as the bullet’s g.

  “Because that’s not really my style.”

  The woman’s eyes open wide in shock.

  “Now, would you like to tell me who else here works for you?”

  Instead of answering, the woman grits her teeth, her smile morphing into a fierce gre. Before Emily enjoy the look of anger on her enemy’s face, the woman’s eyes roll into the back of her head and she slumps over the ter.

  Shit.

  Emily approaches the woman and pokes her with a Cw, getting ion. She reaches out and pushes her hand through the woman’s thick, wavy hair to press her fio her neck. There isn’t a single beat of life left.

  Really? I hadn’t even started!