Effect: When a water quintessence gem is set into the bracelet it keeps the wearer cool and refreshed.
Effect: Reduces incoming fire and heat damage. This effect accelerates consumption of the water quintessence gem.
There was also what looked like an ordinary stick sheathed against Clive’s thigh. Jason realised it must be a magic wand.
“I was expecting you to fight me more on coming out here,” Jason called out.
“When I have an outworlder's captive attention?” Clive asked. “There's no way I'd pass that up. As you said, we can have a nice, long meeting on the way. I have so many questions.”
“I did say that, didn’t I? Alright, Clive. Ask away.”
They arrived at the first village, where there were signs of the monster attacking. The villagers had reacted quickly, barricading themselves in their homes. There were marks of the monster trying to break in, but it failed to breach the thick, mud-brick walls. The villagers told them that they had been attacked every day while they waited for their messengers to reach Greenstone.
Jason told them to keep themselves locked away while they checked on the other villages. He and Clive got back in their airboat and took off again. As they travelled, Clive continued his interrogation of Jason.
“You killed Landemere Vane?”
“And his mum,” Jason said. “Did you know them?”
“I knew him.”
“He wasn’t a friend, was he?”
“No,” Clive said. “The whole family was reclusive. I only knew him at all because we specialised in the same field of magic.”
Jason looked up and around. “Hey, we’re almost at the next village.”
“You know this area?” Clive asked.
“No, one of my outworlder abilities is a map that only I can see. Places only appear on it when I get close, though.”
“Fascinating,” Clive said. “Have you tested the effects of going to a high place with superior sight lines?”
“I haven’t,” Jason said. “That’s a good idea.”
“This is why you need to let me study you.”
“Definitely not,” Jason said. “I get enough of that from Farrah.”
“Who?”
“A friend of mine. She’s Magic Society, too. I’ll introduce you.”
69
Dumpling Soup
There was a small jetty from which they could see the village. There were several dinghies tied up, one of which had been sunk in the shallow water. A streak of dried blood was on the part jutting above the waterline.
“Looks like someone’s hurt,” Clive said as he tied the airboat to the jetty.
“I hope so.”
“You hope someone’s hurt?”
“You can fix hurt. Can’t fix dead.”
Jason stopped, looking at Clive.
“You can’t fix dead, can you?” Jason asked. “It never occurred to me to ask.”
“Not at our rank,” Clive said. “Some gold rank healing effects can bring you back if they’re used immediately.”
“Like magic CPR,” Jason said.
“I don’t know what that is,” Clive said. “There’s also diamond rank, but there are always rumours about diamond rank.”
They walked towards the village. Like the others they had visited, there was no one to be seen. The people had holed themselves up as they waited for adventurers to arrive. The buildings were mud-brick, with woven reed doors and window shutters. Many of the doors had been scratched into shreds, revealing barriers of stone or metal that had been placed behind them. The people of the delta were prepared for monsters.
Jason loudly announced their presence and the village mayor came out to meet them. She described the monster, which sounded to Jason like a claw-footed, six-legged crocodile.
“That’s a mangrove snatcher alright,” Clive said.
“Is someone hurt?” Jason asked.
“There is,” the mayor said. “We're worried because the healers don't make it out here every month. Even if they do come, I don't know if he can last that long. The injury is bad enough, but the infection has set in.”
“Best show us, then,” Jason said.
The mayor led them through the village.
“I imagine infection would be a problem here in the delta,” Jason said.
“It is,” the mayor said. “Do you have healing abilities?”
“I can handle the infection,” Jason said. “The injury will take a potion. Unless you can heal injuries, Clive?”
“No,” Clive said, shaking his head. “I have some self-healing, but I can’t use it on others.”
“We can’t afford potions,” the mayor said. “We could probably put together enough for some healing ointment, if you have some.”
“Ointment won’t get the job done on deep wounds,” Jason said. “I learned that the hard way. I’ll probably use a potion, maybe two.”
“We really can’t afford it,” the mayor said.
“We’re here to save the day, Madam Mayor. All part of the service.”
The mayor looked at him, nonplussed.
“You’ll just give us a potion?”
“Adventure Society,” Jason said, flashing her a smile. “We’re here to help.”
The mayor called out at a house and the barricade was removed from the door. Inside was a man lying on a bed, stripped down to his underwear, with a stained-through bandage wrapped around his leg. He was sweat-covered and muttering to himself.
Jason winced.
“I’d better get straight onto that.”
Jason walked over to the bed, where a woman was dabbing the man’s forehead with a wet cloth.
“Excuse me,” Jason said as he stood next to her.
He held a hand over the injured man and chanted out his spell.
“Feed me your sins.”
Red life force shone out from the man, tainted with the yellow and purple colours of a bruise. Those infecting colours rose up from the red light, disappearing into Jason’s hand. What remained was the clean red glow of life force, which retracted into that man’s body.
You have cleansed all instances of disease [Infection] from [Human].
You have cleansed all instances of disease [Sepsis] from [Human].
Your stamina and mana have been replenished.
Stamina and mana cannot exceed normal maximum values. Excess stamina and mana are lost.
The injured man took a shuddering breath, then looked about, confused. His eyes became focused, looking at all the people around him.
“Welcome back, mate,” Jason said. “I’m Jason. Adventurer, raconteur, man-about-town.”
“What?”
Jason pulled a knife from his inventory. It wasn’t his fighting knife, but a magically sharp utility knife he had purchased. He dug it under the filthy bandages and cut them away with a single, smooth slice. There were deep claw marks underneath that started pulsing out blood immediately. Jason pulled out a healing potion, carefully pouring it into the wound.
“Alchemist mate of mine made this stuff,” Jason said. “More effective on external wounds than just chugging it straight down.”
The wounds quickly closed up. An iron-rank potion was more effective on a normal person than it was on an iron ranker. The fact that it would be longer before they could use another was a middling drawback, which was why many adventurers kept a high-rank potion on hand for emergencies.
In moments the open wounds had closed into glaring welts. Jason took out a tin of ointment and handed it to the woman by the bed.
“Give him a half-hour for the potion to work its way through his system, then use this,” Jason instructed. “There won’t be a mark left on him.”
“We can’t afford this,” the woman said, although Jason noted how tightly she clutched the tin.
“On the house,” Jason said. “Well, on me. This is your house. Come on Clive; we’ve got more villages to check on.”