It took some time to get Tyranis to believe they were able to steal an Extinct Skill Book. Luckily his wife Millfadona, was an Icemancer. She was able to confirm the steps in the book should all work. With Lyola’s help they were able to keep the explanation on how they got the books vague. When she showed them the Meteor Skill Book as well Tyranis was beyond elated. He wasn’t pleased they wanted to keep it secret, but was more than happy to let Lyola hold onto it.
After some negotiation and a family discount they tentatively sold him the Ice Age Skill Book for 100,000 Syscos. Tyranis wanted to sell it at the next League auction in a few months, and promised Asher anything over the 100,000 Syscos would be given to Lyola.
Asher was happy with the amount. Millfadona was already learning the new Ice Age skill as they quickly made their way back to Tartarin. Evening on Elantontrin, it was early morning on the busy planet. The rumor got around that Asher had made enough for a spaceship, and his entire group was with him, including Tillie and Lyola. Lyola on his left, Tiff on his right they stepped into the Marjoris Branch office together.
The Guild office was a little more hectic than Asher expected. They were able to track down a representative with the help of Lyola. The group was brought into a large office at the back. A blue stone desk at one end there was more than enough seating around a table for them.
“What should we expect?” Asher asked Tosh.
“I’ve never been here myself,” the half-elf admitted. “It is known that the Majoris Guild is all about profit, and trying something new.”
They chit chatted for a little bit, but it took a good half an hour for the door to finally open. In walked the largest man Asher had seen. He was 8 feet tall, and wide too. His skin had a slight blue tint to it. His chest bulged out in a white shirt and leather apron. His neck ballooned downward into thick heavy jowls. He wore a cap over his bald head. Asher used Identification.
Acean
Level ???
“Why if it isn’t the Lawful Good and his new bride,” the man said in a deep voice. He looked Asher and Lyola over. “I am the Guild Branch Manager Mobry. This is the Vice-Manager Cashorn.” He pointed to an androgynous person next to him. Their skin was yellow and had spiny fins on the side of their head. Asher studied them both further and realized the Manager and Vice-Manager had webbed fingers.
“Good to meet you,” Asher said. “I am Asher Whitmore, and this is my party. We would like to commission a ship.”
“On the planet only a month and you have the funds for that?” Mobry said. He sat at a large couch across the table and took up the whole thing. Cashorn stood next to him. “Or is this a gift from your future father-in-law?” He smiled widely at Lyola showing sharp teeth.
“I assure you my husband has his own funds,” Lyola said, doing her best to look down at the large man although she was much shorter.
“Married already?” He asked, his teeth glinting in the light, they appeared almost metallic.
“Might as well be,” Asher said, still unsure of the man.
Mobry chuckled. “Look, I am an Acean. We like to work. This whole sales pitch thing really isn’t my forte,” he admitted with a big sigh. The air rumbled from the loud exhale of breath. “We have some standard ships we keep available, and they are all something Cashorn can help you with.”
Cashorn took over then. He dropped a folder on the table in front of him. “We have generic models of ships ready to go at a moment's notice,” he said. “These are the latest models. They are equipped with Majoris and Ether Drives that meet League standards. You can pick any you like, they range from 20,000 to 30,000 Syscos.” Asher looked at the pictures. They resembled the Helion. All smooth shapes and points. Asher recognized one as the style he had been kidnapped by the Burills in for the Roktai Trial. He frowned looking at them and passed the pictures around.
“You don’t like?” Cashorn asked.
“Listen,” Asher said, leaning forward. “These just aren’t very…sexy,” he said. The Managers did not seem to understand. “My people have dreamed of spaceflight for as long as we have looked up to the stars. I can’t show back up to my planet in these…art pieces. They’re pretty, don’t get me wrong. We need something a little more sleek, and honestly terrifying.”
“What did you have in mind?” Mobry asked, leaning forward.
A screen appeared between them. Mana leaked out from Keera to power it. On it was a picture of Star-Lords ship from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It was orange and blue, shaped like a V. Spikes at the wide part they met at the cockpit. The screen in front of them was slightly transparent so he watched Mobry eye every detail.
“What’s this?” He asked, pointing.
“The cockpit,” Asher answered.
“A cockpit you can see from the outside? You want a big ship right? Not one for dungeon groups? That’s not going to work,” Mobry said with a frown. “There is radiation galore out there. Not to mention if you ever got ambushed the enemies would know right where to hit to kill the whole crew.”
Asher frowned. “Are barriers a thing on ships?”
Mobry laughed. “Too mana consuming. You need the mana to drive, and the more mana you have the faster you can go. Why defend when you can outrun your enemy?” Asher saw his point. “No, ships have thick hulls that are made of condensed Elatium. Lightweight, and will defend against most anything.”
“What about this?” Keera asked. She showed a picture of the Bebop from Cowboy Bebop.
“Too bulky. Again you want something nondescript and balanced. If you’re way too heavy on the bottom the drives could veer you off course. They have to be centered. Ether Currents are deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
They spent the next hour showing him ship after ship. From the Rocinante to the Serenity. He shot every option down. Then he went into the physics of space travel. The Mana Streams were turbulent. Everything had to be perfectly balanced or they could veer off course. Everything happened in milliseconds when traveling the Streams. Mana Surges could occur and you had to be able to jump out of the Stream before you were destroyed.
Asher and Keera reviewed what they originally proposed. Keera used her CGI skill to use the Majoris designs and make it a little sleeker. With the Helion as a base model she added more spikes, made them thicker. Added a metal sheen to them. Asher thought it looked more like a pointy shuttlecock from the game badminton, except from the side it looked like an arrow. It also had a feel of the Guardians of the Galaxy ship since it grew to a point and had a lot of smooth edges.
“This wouldn’t be impossible,” Mobry admitted looking at it.
“Now what about smaller ships?” Asher asked.
“What do you mean?” Mobry asked hesitantly.
“What if we want smaller vessels inside this thing? That way we can branch off if needed.”
“How big are these smaller vessels? How big do you want this thing?” Mobry asked.
“Big,” Asher answered.
Mobry sighed. “Come along,” he said. They all got up and followed. Outside, people dodged around them as they ran this way and that. Many were coming from a simple wood door on the other side of the hall. They followed Mobry into the room. On the other side was a window portal that led to the blackness of space.
Mobry walked through without hesitation, they all followed. Through the portal was the star filled sky. Vertigo hitting Asher as he stared, he stumbled but caught himself. “Welcome to Majoris Prime,” he said. “This is the headquarters of Majoris. About 8 Sectors over.” Above them floated people and ships in zero gravity. It was everything Asher had dreamed. More window portals littered the smooth metal decking they stood on. People jumped in and out of them.
“This is our guild headquarters. The first man-made planet. There is gravity about 1 foot off the decking, so don’t jump unless you’re ready to float up,” he warned. They were on a metal deck that was similar to what the buildings on Elantontrin were made of. Bright lights shined as people appeared to weld on the ships a good 500 feet above them. They stepped into a hallway and were led to a wide open room. The room was at least a quarter mile long and wide, as well as tall. The ceiling was clear like glass, and showed the abyss of space.
A smaller blue skinned woman was standing at a terminal to the side. She was large like Mobry, but Asher’s height. “Washaw, we got a live one,” Mobry bellowed to her. She looked up from her terminal and smiled widely at Mobry.
“Hello, Husband,” she said, walking up to him. “And you’ve brought the Lawful Good? What a pleasure to meet you. I watched your fights,” she said. “This big lummox had no interest in them.” She slapped Mobry’s gut. He chuckled but took the hit without saying anything. “What can I help you with?”
“They want to design a ship,” he said. “Show her your plan,” Mobry ordered Keera. The shiny metal spike appeared. Mobry then explained what they wanted. Plenty of sleeping areas. Sleek designs. And ports to hold other smaller ships. She thought for a while then mana leaked out of her filling the room. “This room is for demonstrations, and she is the best ship designer in the League,” he said. Washaw was focused as mana exuded from her. Slowly it started to take shape. It didn’t take long for the ship to appear in front of them. It was about 300 feet tall.
Without warning the ship simply toppled over. Washaw’s hands in the air she began to turn it over looking at it from all angles. When it was facing them directly Asher thought it resembled a 100 point star. Washaw smoothed out some edges, added a few details here and there then wiped some sweat off of her brow as she turned to them.
“Let’s do a tour, shall we? '' she asked, smiling at them. The view of the ship zoomed into one of many legs. “This would be an elevator,” she showed a hatch that would open and take them up like Helion did. “As these spikes grow larger further up we could put in a few hatches for smaller ships.” The view moved up to where the spikes grew thicker. Simple doors were revealed, she showed them opening to reveal a hollow space for a ship. “The drives would be here,” she said, moving their view to the bottom of the ship, Asher thought it looked like a sphincter. Tiff laughed and nodded, but they didn’t stop the tour. “The bridge would be near the center most point. That way if something breaches the people driving aren’t immediately killed. Halls would be-”
“Rectangular,” Asher answered. The halls changed from domes to rectangular. “And what about the pipes and ductwork? Don’t we need to be able to see that in case something breaks?” Asher pictured the ship from Alien and all the different pipes and tubes going everywhere.
“There are hatches that allow you into the walls for maintenance,” she assured him. Asher nodded, although he still kind of wanted to be able to see it all. Then again if they had people they didn’t know on the ship it could lead to sabotage. Who knows what valve Asher may have turned on the Helion just to see what would happen.
“What about a training room?” Abby asked. Their view moved to a platform elevator near the middle. They raised up it.
“The peak would be the best location,” Washaw said. They came into a wide open area that met at a point on the ceiling. About 100 feet wide the peak was another 50 feet up.
“Can we increase gravity in the room?” Abby asked excitedly.
“This has been done before,” Washaw commented. “We can make a controller to increase the gravity through mana.”
“How high can it go?”
“About 5 times normal gravity,” she said as if it was a common request. Abby looked at Asher, he nodded. A smile split her face.
“What about dining?” They were soon traveling around the ship. She showed storage and the common foods that are recommended. Turns out most ships had their own spatial storage and things like food could be accessed with ease. They then toured the bridge which was much like the Helion. Then off to the standard bedroom that was again about the size as that on the Helion. They could furnish it how they wanted after it was built. Tiff clapped excitedly and demanded the captain’s room was 3 times as big, removing 2 other rooms. Also the walls had to have sound enchants on them. There were no complaints when all the rooms were decided to have sound dampening enchants. They agreed upon a gravity enchant. Then they did a spatial enchantment to increase the floor space.
“How many crew and guests rooms would there be?” Asher asked.
“We would have a bunk room for the crew,” she said and took them to a side room. It was longer and bigger than the other, she threw in some beds on the wall and it fit about 8 beds easily. “Guest rooms about 35. The captains and vice captains would also have their own room.”
Asher ran out of questions to ask. He looked around, no one spoke up. “How much?” Asher asked.
“For this? 70,000 Syscos,” she said after looking at one of her screens.
Not as bad as he thought. He asked, “How long would it take?”
“6 to 7 months,” she said.
“What?!” Asher asked.
Mobry cut in. “Something this size will need a very large Mana Heart,” he said. “We will have to commission a team to hunt a large enough Boss Monster.”
“Could we use one of these?” Asher asked, waving his hand. The small Mana Heart from the Golden Jojo and the large one from the Crystal Deth appeared.
“Oh right,” Washaw said. “I forgot you took those.” She leaned in to examine them. “This one should work,” she said, pointing at the Crystal Deth Heart. “We will have to have it refined, but the color is excellent. Some sort of mid-level evolution.” Mobry nodded, studying the purple glowing Heart as well.
“This would drop the cost to about 65,000 Syscos,” she said. “And we could most likely squeeze you in the next 3 to 4 months
“How much extra to get it quicker?” Asher asked.
“We can expedite to about 2 to 3 months for an extra…5,000 Syscos,” she said after reading a different screen.
“Perfect,” Asher said. “Any complaints?”
“Yes,” Tiff said. “We didn’t talk about the lasers.”
“Oh right,” Asher said. “What kind of weapons can we shoot from this thing?”
—
Tiff was upset that lasers weren’t real. Condensed Mana Beams were the best they had. They were rare for ships, but they did add it for another 2,000 Syscos. After that Asher picked a simple design they had for a 5 man craft. Usually used by groups to dungeon dive on planets it was a lot sexier and looked like the kind of ship Asher was used to. With a clear front for where the controller sat he couldn’t wait to learn to fly. It also would have the capability to travel through the Ether Stream. That wasn’t recommended, but still, it could.
“Could you make the smaller ship with this Mana Heart?” He asked, pointing to the monkey one.
“Shouldn’t be a problem. If you have more I’d be more than willing to add them up to drop the price.” Asher smiled as he poured the rest out. He had one from the boss monster of their dungeon pre-trial, and another from the gem monster he soloed. All in all his final cost came to 80,000 Syscos. He paid all of it at once so he didn’t accidentally spend it. The Aceans were surprised but said doing that should expedite the work further.
The others had their own Mana Hearts from the gem monsters they killed together. They went round robin as a raid group. Everyone was a few thousand Syscos richer as they left. No one else expressed interest in buying a ship. Asher assumed Ming and Vincent were ready to admit they couldn’t hope to have enough money for one in time.
Still with Syscos in his pocket, Asher asked if they could stop by a skill shop on the planet. The shop had character and reminded him of the wand shop in Harry Potter. Books stacked everywhere it was a complete mess. The shopkeeper didn’t have any Sex Mana books of course, but there was a wider selection than on Elantontrin.
Asher looked through them all. Everything was in weird languages this time. The shopkeeper sold them all the Omnioculus skill for 100 Syscos each. Then everything came into focus and read like English, as everything should.
He poured through books trying to find the best one. After their trials he understood everyone’s skills a lot better, and decided to treat them all.
“Here you go,” Asher said, handing the book to Keera.
“What’s this?”
“Sonicboom. This should be a good attack for you. Since you have Sound Mana it should be easy to learn. And these are for all of you,” he said, handing out the other books.
“Pyrokinesis for you,” he gave to Tiff. “Your new psychic powers should let you use it.”
“Isn’t this fire mana?” She asked.
“No, psychic, you can look at stuff and make them aflame. With Fire Mana you would have to make it from your mana and expel it from your body.”
“Sweet,” she said with a smile on her face. He hoped she didn’t turn into a pyro.
“Shadow Shield,” he gave to Batman. “This should be a good defense for you.”
“Ki Beam,” he gave to Abby. “Think of it like a laser, maybe you can use it from your eyes.”
“Thunder Trap,” he gave to Atalanta. “With your new lightning skill you should be able to use it. Think of it like an electric land mine.”
“Power Strike,” he gave to Vincent. “This will allow you to more easily channel mana into your blade. That way you don’t have to rely on your Limit Breaks.”
“Dual Casting,” he gave to Ming. “Helps you understand better on how to use 2 Mana types at once.”
“Illusion Manifestation,” he gave to Nadir. “Supposedly you can make things from your illusion and they will harden with mana. I’m sure you’ll need to practice it.”
“I have given the most important gift to you 2,” he said to Lyola and Tillie. “But if there is anything else you wish please let me know.” They blushed but didn’t voice a protest.
“I don’t know what you need Tosh, but I regretted not buying you a Timeless Band when I bought one for everyone. So I went back and got you one,” he said, handing it to him. “I appreciate the help you’ve given us.”
“You didn’t have to,” he said, slipping the ring on. A smile on his face. Asher guessed he was wrong back then, Tosh didn’t have one.
“What about us?” His mother asked.
“Having me as your son is gift enough,” he said with a smile. At the angry look from her he added. “Joking. You guys are already well rounded with your skills. But if you want some gear, I will buy it.” His mother nodded. He knew she could use some heavier plate armor. All in all he was down to 18,544 Syscos. More than he had before the Extinct Skill Book, but he felt poor now.
“You all did well in the Trial,” he said. “But the next will be harder. Let’s all practice and do our people proud. They should be wrapping up the Initialization in a few weeks, then the real fun will begin.” Asher got a popup window.
| CHAMPION REPRESENTATION TRIAL #2 |
| Current Challengers: 11/30 |
| Time Start: 13:23:59:59 |
| Quest Description |
| ??????????????????? |
| Quest Rewards: |
| ??????????? |
| ??????????? |
| ????????????? |
| ?????????? |
It took some time to get Tyranis to believe they were able to steal an Extinct Skill Book. Luckily his wife Millfadona, was an Icemancer. She was able to confirm the steps in the book should all work. With Lyola’s help they were able to keep the explanation on how they got the books vague. When she showed them the Meteor Skill Book as well Tyranis was beyond elated. He wasn’t pleased they wanted to keep it secret, but was more than happy to let Lyola hold onto it.
After some negotiation and a family discount they tentatively sold him the Ice Age Skill Book for 100,000 Syscos. Tyranis wanted to sell it at the next League auction in a few months, and promised Asher anything over the 100,000 Syscos would be given to Lyola.
Asher was happy with the amount. Millfadona was already learning the new Ice Age skill as they quickly made their way back to Tartarin. Evening on Elantontrin, it was early morning on the busy planet. The rumor got around that Asher had made enough for a spaceship, and his entire group was with him, including Tillie and Lyola. Lyola on his left, Tiff on his right they stepped into the Marjoris Branch office together.
The Guild office was a little more hectic than Asher expected. They were able to track down a representative with the help of Lyola. The group was brought into a large office at the back. A blue stone desk at one end there was more than enough seating around a table for them.
“What should we expect?” Asher asked Tosh.
“I’ve never been here myself,” the half-elf admitted. “It is known that the Majoris Guild is all about profit, and trying something new.”
They chit chatted for a little bit, but it took a good half an hour for the door to finally open. In walked the largest man Asher had seen. He was 8 feet tall, and wide too. His skin had a slight blue tint to it. His chest bulged out in a white shirt and leather apron. His neck ballooned downward into thick heavy jowls. He wore a cap over his bald head. Asher used Identification.
Acean
Level ???
“Why if it isn’t the Lawful Good and his new bride,” the man said in a deep voice. He looked Asher and Lyola over. “I am the Guild Branch Manager Mobry. This is the Vice-Manager Cashorn.” He pointed to an androgynous person next to him. Their skin was yellow and had spiny fins on the side of their head. Asher studied them both further and realized the Manager and Vice-Manager had webbed fingers.
“Good to meet you,” Asher said. “I am Asher Whitmore, and this is my party. We would like to commission a ship.”
“On the planet only a month and you have the funds for that?” Mobry said. He sat at a large couch across the table and took up the whole thing. Cashorn stood next to him. “Or is this a gift from your future father-in-law?” He smiled widely at Lyola showing sharp teeth.
“I assure you my husband has his own funds,” Lyola said, doing her best to look down at the large man although she was much shorter.
“Married already?” He asked, his teeth glinting in the light, they appeared almost metallic.
“Might as well be,” Asher said, still unsure of the man.
Mobry chuckled. “Look, I am an Acean. We like to work. This whole sales pitch thing really isn’t my forte,” he admitted with a big sigh. The air rumbled from the loud exhale of breath. “We have some standard ships we keep available, and they are all something Cashorn can help you with.”
Cashorn took over then. He dropped a folder on the table in front of him. “We have generic models of ships ready to go at a moment's notice,” he said. “These are the latest models. They are equipped with Majoris and Ether Drives that meet League standards. You can pick any you like, they range from 20,000 to 30,000 Syscos.” Asher looked at the pictures. They resembled the Helion. All smooth shapes and points. Asher recognized one as the style he had been kidnapped by the Burills in for the Roktai Trial. He frowned looking at them and passed the pictures around.
“You don’t like?” Cashorn asked.
“Listen,” Asher said, leaning forward. “These just aren’t very…sexy,” he said. The Managers did not seem to understand. “My people have dreamed of spaceflight for as long as we have looked up to the stars. I can’t show back up to my planet in these…art pieces. They’re pretty, don’t get me wrong. We need something a little more sleek, and honestly terrifying.”
“What did you have in mind?” Mobry asked, leaning forward.
A screen appeared between them. Mana leaked out from Keera to power it. On it was a picture of Star-Lords ship from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It was orange and blue, shaped like a V. Spikes at the wide part they met at the cockpit. The screen in front of them was slightly transparent so he watched Mobry eye every detail.
“What’s this?” He asked, pointing.
“The cockpit,” Asher answered.
“A cockpit you can see from the outside? You want a big ship right? Not one for dungeon groups? That’s not going to work,” Mobry said with a frown. “There is radiation galore out there. Not to mention if you ever got ambushed the enemies would know right where to hit to kill the whole crew.”
Asher frowned. “Are barriers a thing on ships?”
Mobry laughed. “Too mana consuming. You need the mana to drive, and the more mana you have the faster you can go. Why defend when you can outrun your enemy?” Asher saw his point. “No, ships have thick hulls that are made of condensed Elatium. Lightweight, and will defend against most anything.”
“What about this?” Keera asked. She showed a picture of the Bebop from Cowboy Bebop.
“Too bulky. Again you want something nondescript and balanced. If you’re way too heavy on the bottom the drives could veer you off course. They have to be centered. Ether Currents are deadly if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
They spent the next hour showing him ship after ship. From the Rocinante to the Serenity. He shot every option down. Then he went into the physics of space travel. The Mana Streams were turbulent. Everything had to be perfectly balanced or they could veer off course. Everything happened in milliseconds when traveling the Streams. Mana Surges could occur and you had to be able to jump out of the Stream before you were destroyed.
Asher and Keera reviewed what they originally proposed. Keera used her CGI skill to use the Majoris designs and make it a little sleeker. With the Helion as a base model she added more spikes, made them thicker. Added a metal sheen to them. Asher thought it looked more like a pointy shuttlecock from the game badminton, except from the side it looked like an arrow. It also had a feel of the Guardians of the Galaxy ship since it grew to a point and had a lot of smooth edges.
“This wouldn’t be impossible,” Mobry admitted looking at it.
“Now what about smaller ships?” Asher asked.
“What do you mean?” Mobry asked hesitantly.
“What if we want smaller vessels inside this thing? That way we can branch off if needed.”
“How big are these smaller vessels? How big do you want this thing?” Mobry asked.
“Big,” Asher answered.
Mobry sighed. “Come along,” he said. They all got up and followed. Outside, people dodged around them as they ran this way and that. Many were coming from a simple wood door on the other side of the hall. They followed Mobry into the room. On the other side was a window portal that led to the blackness of space.
Mobry walked through without hesitation, they all followed. Through the portal was the star filled sky. Vertigo hitting Asher as he stared, he stumbled but caught himself. “Welcome to Majoris Prime,” he said. “This is the headquarters of Majoris. About 8 Sectors over.” Above them floated people and ships in zero gravity. It was everything Asher had dreamed. More window portals littered the smooth metal decking they stood on. People jumped in and out of them.
“This is our guild headquarters. The first man-made planet. There is gravity about 1 foot off the decking, so don’t jump unless you’re ready to float up,” he warned. They were on a metal deck that was similar to what the buildings on Elantontrin were made of. Bright lights shined as people appeared to weld on the ships a good 500 feet above them. They stepped into a hallway and were led to a wide open room. The room was at least a quarter mile long and wide, as well as tall. The ceiling was clear like glass, and showed the abyss of space.
A smaller blue skinned woman was standing at a terminal to the side. She was large like Mobry, but Asher’s height. “Washaw, we got a live one,” Mobry bellowed to her. She looked up from her terminal and smiled widely at Mobry.
“Hello, Husband,” she said, walking up to him. “And you’ve brought the Lawful Good? What a pleasure to meet you. I watched your fights,” she said. “This big lummox had no interest in them.” She slapped Mobry’s gut. He chuckled but took the hit without saying anything. “What can I help you with?”
“They want to design a ship,” he said. “Show her your plan,” Mobry ordered Keera. The shiny metal spike appeared. Mobry then explained what they wanted. Plenty of sleeping areas. Sleek designs. And ports to hold other smaller ships. She thought for a while then mana leaked out of her filling the room. “This room is for demonstrations, and she is the best ship designer in the League,” he said. Washaw was focused as mana exuded from her. Slowly it started to take shape. It didn’t take long for the ship to appear in front of them. It was about 300 feet tall.
Without warning the ship simply toppled over. Washaw’s hands in the air she began to turn it over looking at it from all angles. When it was facing them directly Asher thought it resembled a 100 point star. Washaw smoothed out some edges, added a few details here and there then wiped some sweat off of her brow as she turned to them.
“Let’s do a tour, shall we? '' she asked, smiling at them. The view of the ship zoomed into one of many legs. “This would be an elevator,” she showed a hatch that would open and take them up like Helion did. “As these spikes grow larger further up we could put in a few hatches for smaller ships.” The view moved up to where the spikes grew thicker. Simple doors were revealed, she showed them opening to reveal a hollow space for a ship. “The drives would be here,” she said, moving their view to the bottom of the ship, Asher thought it looked like a sphincter. Tiff laughed and nodded, but they didn’t stop the tour. “The bridge would be near the center most point. That way if something breaches the people driving aren’t immediately killed. Halls would be-”
“Rectangular,” Asher answered. The halls changed from domes to rectangular. “And what about the pipes and ductwork? Don’t we need to be able to see that in case something breaks?” Asher pictured the ship from Alien and all the different pipes and tubes going everywhere.
“There are hatches that allow you into the walls for maintenance,” she assured him. Asher nodded, although he still kind of wanted to be able to see it all. Then again if they had people they didn’t know on the ship it could lead to sabotage. Who knows what valve Asher may have turned on the Helion just to see what would happen.
“What about a training room?” Abby asked. Their view moved to a platform elevator near the middle. They raised up it.
“The peak would be the best location,” Washaw said. They came into a wide open area that met at a point on the ceiling. About 100 feet wide the peak was another 50 feet up.
“Can we increase gravity in the room?” Abby asked excitedly.
“This has been done before,” Washaw commented. “We can make a controller to increase the gravity through mana.”
“How high can it go?”
“About 5 times normal gravity,” she said as if it was a common request. Abby looked at Asher, he nodded. A smile split her face.
“What about dining?” They were soon traveling around the ship. She showed storage and the common foods that are recommended. Turns out most ships had their own spatial storage and things like food could be accessed with ease. They then toured the bridge which was much like the Helion. Then off to the standard bedroom that was again about the size as that on the Helion. They could furnish it how they wanted after it was built. Tiff clapped excitedly and demanded the captain’s room was 3 times as big, removing 2 other rooms. Also the walls had to have sound enchants on them. There were no complaints when all the rooms were decided to have sound dampening enchants. They agreed upon a gravity enchant. Then they did a spatial enchantment to increase the floor space.
“How many crew and guests rooms would there be?” Asher asked.
“We would have a bunk room for the crew,” she said and took them to a side room. It was longer and bigger than the other, she threw in some beds on the wall and it fit about 8 beds easily. “Guest rooms about 35. The captains and vice captains would also have their own room.”
Asher ran out of questions to ask. He looked around, no one spoke up. “How much?” Asher asked.
“For this? 70,000 Syscos,” she said after looking at one of her screens.
Not as bad as he thought. He asked, “How long would it take?”
“6 to 7 months,” she said.
“What?!” Asher asked.
Mobry cut in. “Something this size will need a very large Mana Heart,” he said. “We will have to commission a team to hunt a large enough Boss Monster.”
“Could we use one of these?” Asher asked, waving his hand. The small Mana Heart from the Golden Jojo and the large one from the Crystal Deth appeared.
“Oh right,” Washaw said. “I forgot you took those.” She leaned in to examine them. “This one should work,” she said, pointing at the Crystal Deth Heart. “We will have to have it refined, but the color is excellent. Some sort of mid-level evolution.” Mobry nodded, studying the purple glowing Heart as well.
“This would drop the cost to about 65,000 Syscos,” she said. “And we could most likely squeeze you in the next 3 to 4 months
“How much extra to get it quicker?” Asher asked.
“We can expedite to about 2 to 3 months for an extra…5,000 Syscos,” she said after reading a different screen.
“Perfect,” Asher said. “Any complaints?”
“Yes,” Tiff said. “We didn’t talk about the lasers.”
“Oh right,” Asher said. “What kind of weapons can we shoot from this thing?”
—
Tiff was upset that lasers weren’t real. Condensed Mana Beams were the best they had. They were rare for ships, but they did add it for another 2,000 Syscos. After that Asher picked a simple design they had for a 5 man craft. Usually used by groups to dungeon dive on planets it was a lot sexier and looked like the kind of ship Asher was used to. With a clear front for where the controller sat he couldn’t wait to learn to fly. It also would have the capability to travel through the Ether Stream. That wasn’t recommended, but still, it could.
“Could you make the smaller ship with this Mana Heart?” He asked, pointing to the monkey one.
“Shouldn’t be a problem. If you have more I’d be more than willing to add them up to drop the price.” Asher smiled as he poured the rest out. He had one from the boss monster of their dungeon pre-trial, and another from the gem monster he soloed. All in all his final cost came to 80,000 Syscos. He paid all of it at once so he didn’t accidentally spend it. The Aceans were surprised but said doing that should expedite the work further.
The others had their own Mana Hearts from the gem monsters they killed together. They went round robin as a raid group. Everyone was a few thousand Syscos richer as they left. No one else expressed interest in buying a ship. Asher assumed Ming and Vincent were ready to admit they couldn’t hope to have enough money for one in time.
Still with Syscos in his pocket, Asher asked if they could stop by a skill shop on the planet. The shop had character and reminded him of the wand shop in Harry Potter. Books stacked everywhere it was a complete mess. The shopkeeper didn’t have any Sex Mana books of course, but there was a wider selection than on Elantontrin.
Asher looked through them all. Everything was in weird languages this time. The shopkeeper sold them all the Omnioculus skill for 100 Syscos each. Then everything came into focus and read like English, as everything should.
He poured through books trying to find the best one. After their trials he understood everyone’s skills a lot better, and decided to treat them all.
“Here you go,” Asher said, handing the book to Keera.
“What’s this?”
“Sonicboom. This should be a good attack for you. Since you have Sound Mana it should be easy to learn. And these are for all of you,” he said, handing out the other books.
“Pyrokinesis for you,” he gave to Tiff. “Your new psychic powers should let you use it.”
“Isn’t this fire mana?” She asked.
“No, psychic, you can look at stuff and make them aflame. With Fire Mana you would have to make it from your mana and expel it from your body.”
“Sweet,” she said with a smile on her face. He hoped she didn’t turn into a pyro.
“Shadow Shield,” he gave to Batman. “This should be a good defense for you.”
“Ki Beam,” he gave to Abby. “Think of it like a laser, maybe you can use it from your eyes.”
“Thunder Trap,” he gave to Atalanta. “With your new lightning skill you should be able to use it. Think of it like an electric land mine.”
“Power Strike,” he gave to Vincent. “This will allow you to more easily channel mana into your blade. That way you don’t have to rely on your Limit Breaks.”
“Dual Casting,” he gave to Ming. “Helps you understand better on how to use 2 Mana types at once.”
“Illusion Manifestation,” he gave to Nadir. “Supposedly you can make things from your illusion and they will harden with mana. I’m sure you’ll need to practice it.”
“I have given the most important gift to you 2,” he said to Lyola and Tillie. “But if there is anything else you wish please let me know.” They blushed but didn’t voice a protest.
“I don’t know what you need Tosh, but I regretted not buying you a Timeless Band when I bought one for everyone. So I went back and got you one,” he said, handing it to him. “I appreciate the help you’ve given us.”
“You didn’t have to,” he said, slipping the ring on. A smile on his face. Asher guessed he was wrong back then, Tosh didn’t have one.
“What about us?” His mother asked.
“Having me as your son is gift enough,” he said with a smile. At the angry look from her he added. “Joking. You guys are already well rounded with your skills. But if you want some gear, I will buy it.” His mother nodded. He knew she could use some heavier plate armor. All in all he was down to 18,544 Syscos. More than he had before the Extinct Skill Book, but he felt poor now.
“You all did well in the Trial,” he said. “But the next will be harder. Let’s all practice and do our people proud. They should be wrapping up the Initialization in a few weeks, then the real fun will begin.” Asher got a popup window.
| CHAMPION REPRESENTATION TRIAL #2 |
| Current Challengers: 11/30 |
| Time Start: 13:23:59:59 |
| Quest Description |
| ??????????????????? |
| Quest Rewards: |
| ??????????? |
| ??????????? |
| ????????????? |
| ?????????? |
