Common Clay

“You weren’t wrong about this thing being a pain. Just can’t take no for an answer, can it?”

Clay watched, tense, as Anne weaved her way through the trio of tendrils stretching out to grab at her. She’d taunted the ironslime out of its hole by standing just outside of its range and using the Soul’s Shadow constantly. It had eventually decided to come for her, though it remained underground and relied on its tendrils to try to grab her.

He’d been tense as the ironslime had come for her, but she’d surprised him easily enough. When the tendrils had broken through the soil, she’d danced aside with an ease that almost mocked the thing’s ability to grab her and rip her apart. Anne’s sword had hacked through the first tendril and carved a wide slash in the second.

The battle had continued from there, with Anne cutting piece after piece from the slime as it kept reaching for her. Clay had fought the urge to join in repeatedly, though it had been hard. It always seemed like she was on the edge of being grabbed and pulled under, but each time her sword cut another tendril apart, or she danced away yet again.

She glanced back at him, a smile on her face. “You’re really uptight, you know that, right?”

He glared at her as she ducked under yet another swiping tendril. “I feel like you are not taking this seriously enough. It’s not a game.”

“I know, I know.” Anne ducked again, and then slashed another rubbery arm off. She skipped away from the burst of fluid. “I’m just getting used to how it moves. The next one I’ll be faster.”

Clay grunted, folding his arms across his chest to avoid the growing need to dart forward to help cut the thing apart himself. “How are you planning on getting to the core? You know it is reabsorbing some of the tendrils, right?”

“I see it.” Anne jumped back again, twisting out of the way to keep from being grabbed. She spoke in a low voice, and Clay’s eyebrows went up as he recognized the [Chant] of Spontaneous Spark. He wondered what she was going to use it for; it wasn’t like she had a torch on hand.

Then the fluid coating her longsword began to burn, and he took an involuntary half step forward. She didn’t glance backward again, but he thought he could sense her grin.

Anne darted forward, her sword still burning in her hands. The tendrils seemed to hesitate, but they lashed out at her, regardless. She jerked to the side, avoiding two of the tendrils. When the third came close, she swung her sword through it.

The tendril came apart in a sudden brilliant burst of flame, briefly concealing Anne behind a cloud of smoke. He saw the tendril reel backwards, still burning where it had been severed. Anne came out of the smoke still running, only this time she was headed straight for the next tendril. It barely had the time to react before she carved through another end, setting off another blast of smoke and flame. To his surprise, the last tendril started to try to withdraw, retreating back towards the main mass.

Before it could manage, however, Anne stabbed straight through it and into the ground. Clay abruptly realized that she was still speaking the words of Spontaneous Spark again, and as she finished it, she set her fingers near the chemicals leaking from the wounded tendril. He saw the spark leap from her hands.

As it started to burn, she abruptly yanked her sword free and started running back towards him. For once, she wasn’t grinning as she sprinted, her face looking a little concerned.

The reason why became clear a moment later. There was a whiff of smoke from the holes where the tendrils had disappeared. He heard something like an indrawn breath, as if from a giant set of lungs beneath the ground.

Then the lump that marked the ironslime’s position became a fountain of smoke, flame, and half-frozen soil. The whump of the blast reached him a moment later, along with the searing smell of burning slime. Clay got an unexpected mouthful of bad air and started coughing. Clumps of burning mud rained down around him, and he managed to choke out the words for Vanishing Ember to keep it from lighting more of the forest on fire.

When it was finally over, he glared at Anne, who had ducked behind a nearby tree. She looked both triumphant and sheepish for a moment. Then she shrugged and spread her hands wide. “Well, that was fun! Want to help me do it again?”

Clay tried to maintain the glare, but he eventually started laughing. He threw up his hands and turned away. “Can we just try it from a distance next time? You have some rags for your arrows, right?”

“Well, yeah, but why would you… oh!” She looked a bit more abashed. “I guess that would be a pretty good idea. You could say it was worth a shot.”

She paused long enough for him to groan and then started off in the direction of their next target. He followed, wondering if all of the adventurers he was going to work with that day were going to try to give him a heart attack. At least his next partner wasn’t going to be nearly as bad.

It took a few more moments for the smoke to clear. Clay carefully stepped to the side as a burning bit of mud streaked down at him. It landed with a grim smack, burning for a little while. He sighed and finished the [Chant] of Vanishing Ember a moment later, and the flames around him winked out. The moment he’d seen what was happening, he’d started the spell, knowing it would be necessary.

He watched as Natalie staggered out of the cloud of smoke, her armor smoldering slightly. She shook her head, as if trying to clear it. Then she spat on the ground and grinned through a soot-streaked face. “Impressive, wouldn’t you say?”

“It definitely made an impact.” Clay smiled a little. She’d obviously been waiting for the chance to use the Flame-tongued Song in front of him, and the large ironslime had been an irresistible target. He’d have to warn the others about the blast radius, just in case the next few had the same idea as Anne and Natalie had.

The [Alchemist] had demonstrated the same speed and agility that Anne had. Unlike the [Burglar], she’d closed to nearly point blank range nearly immediately and unleashed the fire of her offensive [Chant]. For a moment, it had seemed like the ironslime’s hide would resist the fire; a quick application of one of her javelins had resolved the problem, and the detonation had happened only moments later.

Fortunately, it seemed she hadn’t hurt herself with the blast. He’d been half-expecting her to be blind or on fire. As it was, the [Alchemist] seemed more invigorated than anything else. Perhaps she was a little too enthusiastic, actually.

“You know that the flame devils aren’t going to be affected by fire very much, right?”

She nodded. “Yep! Don’t you worry, though. I have another plan for those.”

The plan, apparently, was to just waltz into the burnt thicket while reciting the [Chant] for Firm Step. Clay had felt the hair raise on the back of his neck, but Natalie hadn’t even flinched when the tongue struck her from behind. She just braced herself, in a way that seemed horribly familiar, and let the flame devil wrench itself forward with the force of its own pull.

As the monster yanked itself forward, Natalie spun and raised both of her clubs, and brought them both down on the devil’s head. The strikes seemed to hit far harder than they should; Natalie had the same [Might] as a level one [Commoner], and even with her practice and the additional bonuses he was giving her, it still shouldn’t have been that impressive. When Natalie stepped back, the devil’s skull had been more or less crushed by the impact. She didn’t even look at it again as she pried the tongue off of her shoulder.

Clay spoke before he could stop himself. “Was that a [Feat] of some kind?”

Natalie beamed at him. “Yeah. My second one, actually. [Dual Strike] lets me deliver a really powerful hit as long as I’m hitting with two weapons at once. I figured with everything else, I should be able to crack their skulls in a single hit as long as I’m ready for them.”

He nodded ruefully. “Well done. Sorry, I keep forgetting that you adventurers have those kind of skills. The [Charms] are just a bit more obvious.”

“Well, I do have one of those. [Red Bolt].” She grinned. “It’s just not nearly as fun as the [Chants], though. Maybe it will be more useful in the future. For now, I’ll just keep relying on [Chants], clubs, and javelins. Think it’ll be enough for one more ironslime?”

Clay nodded again, and her grin grew a bit wider. “Oh, no more wise words of advice from Sir Clay? Still afraid I’m going to blow myself up?”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “You’re a grown woman, Syr Natalie. I’m sure you can manage a little heat.” Clay shrugged. “Just make sure not to get too burned. You’re important to us, after all.”

Strangely, Natalie’s face grew a little red. She looked back down at the devil and paused. A speculative look came into her eye. “You know, this devil hide might make for an interesting material. It has to be fireproof. Maybe we could use it for armor, or even just a shield of some kind…”

She shook herself and shouldered her clubs. “Anyway, let’s get moving. You still have two more of us to escort, and I still have to get back to camp and tell Lawrence he was right about that smell thing. Those blobs can definitely track us by scent; there has got to be some way we can use that to our advantage.”

Bemused, Clay followed her. He wondered if she was going to start assigning them tasks to harvest monster pieces for her; he’d heard of [Alchemists] experimenting with that sort of thing, though it had usually been followed by the adventurer normally getting blown up or poisoned by some experiment or another. Natalie seemed to have a better head on her shoulders.

At least, he hoped so.

“Are you getting tired, Sir Clay?”

Clay rolled his eyes and grunted. He was watching Xavien duel against a large ironslime, but it seemed like the adventurer wasn’t quite taking the fight seriously. The [Oracle] had taken a very different approach to the battle, which fit with his abilities. Rather than engaging with the monster, he’d used the Floating Step [Chant] to start skating around it, blasting it with his lightning [Charm]. It had attempted to flail back at him; the scorch marks left by the lightning didn’t fade the same way the puncture wounds had. Perhaps it would have an effect at some point, but for now, it just seemed like the man was wasting energy.

He still tried to sound encouraging. “You know it’ll catch you eventually, right?”

Xavien frowned. “Not likely, Sir Clay.” He dodged to the side as a tendril erupted from the earth. It lashed at him, but the [Oracle] had already moved far past it. “The only way it will catch me is if it comes out of its hole.”

Another tendril burst from the ground, and Xavien smacked it aside with his mace. He gave the ironslime another burst of lightning, as if to taunt it further. “Besides, I’m confident in my movements. Did you ever skate on the ice back in Pellsglade?”

Clay smiled a little. “No, not really. Too many chores on the farm, and no rivers or lakes big enough. Not like anyone wanted to wander off to find one, not with the monsters in the Tanglewood and Undead in the Sarlwood. Safer and easier to find our fun at home or in the Smallgroves.”

“I see.” Xavien dodged another tendril and smacked a second aside. The slime seemed to be getting more and more agitated. Another lightning burst seemed to provoke it even further. “Back in Crownsguard they had a few smaller lakes nearby. No Dungeons or Lairs anywhere nearby, so we felt free to practice a bit. I always enjoyed it. The experience made winter… bearable.”

The contrast between the conversation and the fight was so ridiculous that Clay began to chuckle to himself. “Any other stories from home that you’d like to share? Or do you think you could finish with that first?”

Xavien paused long enough to grin at him—and at that moment the slime erupted from its hole, trailing its tendrils behind it. Clay saw its core swirling around, obviously in a bid to keep Xavien from taking a clear shot at it. The [Oracle] saw it reaching out to engulf him and changed course to shoot straight towards it. Blinking in surprise, Clay straightened up in alarm. “Sir Xavien—”

The [Oracle] dove into the slime’s embrace. Just before it reached him, however, he made an unfamiliar gesture.

Which is when he suddenly lit on fire.

Clay jerked in surprise, but it wasn’t him that had the biggest reaction. The ironslime had been about to engulf the [Oracle]. Now it pulled back in something that looked like terror, but Xavien didn’t give it the chance to get away. He smashed into it with all the force of a flaming bolt, and Clay braced himself for another catastrophic burst of smoke and fire.

Instead, the flames abruptly faded, leaving the slime scorched and reeling, but unexploded. Xavien stood with his hand against the ironslime, directly where the core was floating within it. He glanced at Clay, and then his lightning [Charm] activated, and the core shattered inside the slime.

The monster collapsed in on itself immediately, with fluid gushing from rents on its skin that opened as it died. Xavien pushed himself back from the thing, skating backwards on Floating Step until he was safely out of range of the dead slime’s revenge.

Despite himself, Clay felt a little impressed. He’d expected the [Oracle] to be a bit more of a heavy hitter, but he’d relied on agility and cunning almost as much as Anne had. Clay realized, suddenly, that he didn’t even know what the [Oracle]’s spells did. He wondered if he planned on using another new one against the flame devils.

As Xavien made his way around the dead slime, he seemed to be satisfied with his work. “Well, how did I do?”

Clay nodded grudgingly. “You did well, but you need to not get overconfident. If there had been other enemies, or you had a time limit, then the situation might not have gone as well. Is there a reason you didn’t head straight for the slime immediately?”

Xavien grimaced. “My [Flame of Honor] [Sigil] can only be used so many times a day. If the slime had moved its core when it saw me coming, I wouldn’t have had a good shot.”

It made sense. “Next time, I’d almost rather you fake an injury or taunt it out of the hole some other way. Other than that, well done.” The [Oracle] flushed at the praise, and Clay shifted a bit on his feet, uncomfortable at needing to give it. “All right, let’s go see how you do against a flame devil.”

To his surprise, Xavien grimaced. “I’m afraid I don’t have nearly as many clever tricks for those, Sir Clay.”

“Lighting yourself on fire doesn’t help as much with those, huh?”

“Not as such, I imagine.” Xavien fell into step beside him. He sighed. “Sometimes I wonder how I, of all people, got caught up in all of this. I always believed I would be able to work in the Rectory, or perhaps in my father’s store. I don’t even know if I would have left Crownsguard if I hadn’t been given this [Class] at my Choosing.”

Clay glanced at the man and then focused back on the path that would take them to where a flame devil was likely hiding. This grove in particular seemed a little tricky; it had chosen to burn a spot in the middle of a cluster of rocks, which meant he couldn’t just track down which tree it was using. Perhaps Xavien’s mystery [Charm] would help reveal it. “I… don’t know if I could say the same. If the Trickster hadn’t set me on this path, I might still have found my way out of Pellsglade, I suppose. One way or the other.”

Xavien laughed. “Ah, that’s true! The Trickster does have her ways, does she not?” He shook his head. “At times, I wonder if it was her hand that set my path. Perhaps one day I’ll know for sure.”

He snorted at the [Oracle]’s theatrics. “Well, if she was, you’ll be in good company, I’d assume. She might have even had a good reason for it.” Xavien snorted derisively, and Clay chuckled at his clear skepticism.

They walked along for a few minutes, with Xavien’s chuckles fading away. Clay continued to study their surroundings, searching for signs of enemies. There were still occasional birds and other wildlife in the valley; the lizards and slimes hadn’t killed them all yet. Their movements made him tense and pause every so often. Fortunately, it seemed like the monsters hadn’t shifted positions very much in the past day or so, and even the packs of smaller creatures were fairly straightforward to avoid.

When they reached the tangle of boulders, Clay motioned for Xavien to move ahead. The [Oracle] grimaced again, but he moved forward carefully. He heard Xavien muttering something under his breath, recognizing the [Chant] for Vanishing Ember. The choice made sense, especially considering Xavien’s previous close call with a wretch’s fire breath.

Clay watched as the [Oracle] circled the rock pile. He didn’t seem to intend to stride boldly into the burnt thicket the way Natalie had, and Clay had to admit he approved of the caution. It might have been somewhat hypocritical, given how he’d lured the elder troll spiders back in the Tanglewood, but the troll spiders hadn’t breathed fire. At least, that was how he justified his reluctance to copy her method.

In the end, the [Oracle] spent an inordinate amount of time finding the creature, but he did find it. Once he had, he directed a burst of lightning at it before charging in, his mace and shield held ready. The flame devil apparently decided not to use its tongue; instead, its mouth glowed with lurid heat as it reared up, ready to spray the [Oracle] with fire.

The stream lashed out at Xavien—and was extinguished halfway through the air. Xavien ducked low behind his shield, letting the noxious fluid splash off it as he closed the distance. As the devil warbled in confusion, he roared in victory and smashed it upside the head with his mace.

Unlike with Natalie, the creature wasn’t immediately killed. It reared back, shaking its head, and he darted in to smash it again and again. When it snapped back at him, Xavien ducked low, keeping out of the reach of the glowing maw, and hit it yet again with the mace. The devil staggered, clearly beginning to move slower.

Then it snapped at him again, and when he dodged a second time, it lashed out with one clawed hand. The claws swiped across Xavien’s torso, and Clay sucked in a breath when one of the bladed talons struck through Xavien’s armor and drew blood.

The [Oracle] didn’t hesitate over the wound, though. Instead, he roared and pressed the attack, bringing his mace down on its head again and again and again, until the devil fell. Xavien didn’t let up, pummeling the thing until it lay still. Then, as he staggered backwards, he put a hand to his bleeding shoulder and muttered something else. There was a flash of green light, and Xavien sighed in relief.

Clay walked over and pushed Xavien’s hand aside to inspect things. The wound was gone, as if it had never existed. “You can heal?”

“Yes, got the [Charm] for my second level.” Xavien gave him a tight smile. “Fortunately, I haven’t had that many opportunities to use it, but when I do…”

Whistling softly, Clay straightened up. “Remind me to take better care of you. My friend Syr Maribel saved my life with a [Charm] like that. Hopefully, we won’t need it, but I’m betting you’ll be saving the rest of us with that quite a bit in the coming days.”

The [Oracle] straightened up a little, and a solemn expression crossed his face. “You can rely on me, Sir Clay.”

“Glad to hear it.” He clapped Xavien on his other shoulder and then looked around. “See, there’re plenty of good reasons for the Trickster to have sent you along.”

Xavien rolled his eyes. “And next you’ll be saying that Master Taylor was secretly the Sage in disguise. You’ll give me far too big a head, Sir Clay. It won’t fit my helmet.”

Clay snorted, shaking his head. “Oh please, Syr Taylor wears the wrong kind of spectacles, and I’m just saying what we both know. Your contribution is important. Now let’s go get you another ironslime kill.”

“Thank you Sir Clay, I…wait, what?”

Clay laughed and turned to lead the way through the forest. It was turning out to be a wonderful day.

Jack was moving far more carefully through the valley than the others had, and Clay couldn’t entirely blame him.

The [Knave] didn’t have any of the long range options of the others; the most he’d given in to the idea had been to arm himself with a sling and some stones that he apparently used to pick off wretches and slimes. His primary armament remained the two Pell knives that remained drawn in both of his hands, ready to be used at a moment’s notice. His eyes scanned the trees and rocks around them with a cold, calculating manner that Clay could only approve of. Of all the members of his team, it seemed like Jack had learned the most in terms of hunting; he didn’t even complain about being surrounded by trees anymore.

As they approached the burnt grove, Jack glanced at Clay and nodded seriously. Clay paused, watching as the [Knave] stalked forward, obviously looking for the hidden flame devil nearby. He grimaced a little as Jack paused near the tree where the devil was waiting and then continued on apparently oblivious. Luckily, the [Knave] hadn’t given the devil a clear angle to ambush him, but it had been a near thing.

The creature had definitely seen Jack, too. Clay could see its eyes tracking the [Knave]’s progress, swiveling carefully to keep him in sight. Jack made a small circle around the edge of the grove, getting closer to the burnt trees. A few more strides and he’d be in the open enough for the lizard to strike at him.

He nearly started forward to warn the man, but Jack paused again, just long enough to give Clay a shake of the head. Then he continued to move, his steps careful and calm.

Clay frowned. He understood Jack’s insistence on being independent, but he wasn’t going to just sit and watch the man get killed. The flame devil could move much faster than an unaware adventurer could, especially one that didn’t have [Valor] as a primary [Stat].

Yet Jack wasn’t in danger yet. He paused by yet another tree, gripping his daggers. Then, to Clay’s shock, he sprinted out into the open and jumped, using a nearby stone as a springboard to catapult him into the air. The flame devil appeared just as surprised; its angular head even swiveled slightly, tracking the arc of Jack’s leap.

Then Jack’s trajectory changed with sudden, telling sharpness. The [Knave] veered sharply towards the flame devil, shooting towards it like an arrow from a bow. Clay blinked as he recognized the effects of Pursuing Leap, and his eyes darted to where Jack had paused behind the devil’s tree. Was that a slingstone lying there in the snow?

By the time he looked back, Jack had struck the devil like a predator made of anger and knives. The flame devil just barely managed a shocked warble before the [Knave] ripped it apart. As it slid down the tree, Jack popped out from behind it and picked up the slingstone he’d dropped. He was already chanting Pure Touch, and had finished it by the time he got back to where Clay was watching.

Then he paused, glancing at Clay in surprise. “Shall we get going?”

Clay nodded numbly. It had been a devastatingly effective ambush, done with just a lower [Chant] and a bit of preparation. He wondered briefly if the [Knave] had even needed his bonuses to pull it off; the devil might have lasted a little longer against Jack alone, but probably not by much.

Then he broke into a smile. A flicker of something like pride went through him. “Well done! You have something like that planned for the ironslimes?”

Jack hesitated. His usually serious, half-surly expression broke into a hesitant smile. “Kind of. It might not work as well, but if it doesn’t, I can always just hack the thing to death with these.” He gestured with his knives, both of which gleamed in the winter sun.

It seemed like a fairly decent plan. “All right, just as long as it doesn’t involve fire.” Jack gave him a curious look, but he tried not to explain. He’d seen enough explosions for one day.

“Well, that was… interesting.”

They were standing over the shriveled remnants of the large ironslime. Jack stood a short distance away, looking both pleased and ashamed of himself.

Clay gave him a considering look. “I don’t think I ever expected to see Pure Touch used as an offensive spell before. Is your hand hurt?”

Jack grimaced and flexed his left hand. “Not very much. I think my [Fortitude] was high enough that the acid didn’t sting too badly—and it did work.”

He sighed, but still nodded. The sight of the [Knave] cutting a hole in the ironslime’s hide and then sticking his hand in had not been a pleasant one. It hadn’t helped that Jack had practically yelped the last few words of Pure Touch, accompanied by the hissing from the slime’s acid.

Then the [Chant] had activated, and the spell had attempted to purify the monster from the inside. Fluid had abruptly fountained from the creature in a hundred different places, and it had been fairly easy for Jack to step forward to the hole and cut his way through to the helpless core.

“It did work…but I think in the end, Anne’s idea with Spontaneous Spark was better.” Jack looked ready to argue, but Clay held up a hand to stop him. “She might have set off an explosion, but it probably resulted in less damage than what you took. Besides, I saw how it sealed up around your wrist; if the [Chant] hadn’t worked, you might have been missing fingers by now.”

“Better than blowing myself up.” Clay grinned at Jack’s grumbles, and the [Knave] flexed his hand. He grimaced. “You’re right. I’ll give that a try with the next one.”

Clay nodded, and they headed off into the valley again. Another big ironslime was up ahead, and the light was starting to fade fast.

By the time they all reached Rodcliff, the all of them were exhausted and victorious.

As the others had packed up their camp, Clay had gone out one last time, doing a quick sweep of the areas where they had been fighting. He’d been able to clear out a few smaller slimes and some wretches that had crept in, but his main purpose had been to pick out their targets for the next day. It hadn’t been that hard to find another batch of devils and large slimes for them to strike, though he had needed to resist the urge to just destroy them for himself.

Captain Goodston was waiting for them when they reached the town. The man had been peering out into the woods, a handful of his fellow [Guards] with him. They had seemed tense, but they all nearly collapsed from relief when they saw the group of adventurers returning. Goodston himself stepped forward to help with their supplies, followed by the others.

“Sir Clay. It is good to see you are all safe.”

For once, the man sounded mostly sincere. “Thank you. Was there any trouble in town?”

“No, Sir.” Goodston looked a little uneasy. “We were hearing loud… noises from across the ridge, however. We didn’t know if you had been ambushed.”

The explosions. It was like the screams in the Tanglewood; the [Commoners] had heard them and not known what was happening. Clay winced a little. “No, Captain. The work we’re doing will be making quite a lot more noise than before, but we’ll make sure that the town remains safe.”

Goodston nodded slowly. “That is good to hear, Sir.” He paused. “A messenger arrived for you. From Crownsguard. He’s waiting for you in the tavern.”

“Really?” Clay exchanged a look with the others. He hadn’t expected any messengers to catch up with them from the Guild, at least not until the snows stopped being quite so regular. “I’ll go see him, then. Jack, get everyone settled back into the house. If you can, do a quick patrol of the woods nearby. We want to make absolutely sure nothing slipped past us.”

Jack nodded, and the others went to work storing their gear back in the house. Clay turned back to Goodston. “Please, lead the way, Captain.”