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Plum

47 – In Pursuit of Ideas

When they got back inside the dark, barricaded classroom or whatever it had been, Andy flopped down into a battered wooden chair and held out his hand for his foot, still in the boot. Jace gingerly gave it to him, and Andy sent it into his storage ring. “Thanks. I think it’ll stay fresh in my magic ring.”

The Elementalist, Silas, looked at him with interest. “Some sort of dimensional container?”

Andy nodded, grunting in the affirmative as he crossed his damaged leg over his good knee, inspecting the stump. “Damn,” he said, looking at how the wound was already scabbed over and even healed with fresh skin around the edges. “Bea’s water is too good.”

Lucy leaned over, looking him in the eyes. “Are you, like, okay?”

“I think,” Silas said, peering past her, “he was contemplating attaching the foot with some regenerative potion or other. That might prove difficult with the stump already mostly healed.”

“Oh!” Lucy cried. “I shouldn’t have given you—”

“Nah, Luce.” Andy shook his head, offering her a rather wan smile. “I was bleeding pretty badly. Besides, I have another idea for this situation. We’ve got my foot; that’s the important bit.”

“Why didn’t you use your spear?” Lucy asked. “Why kick Jace?”

Andy barked a short, bitter laugh, shaking his head. “I had about four ideas in the span of a half second. My brain got jumbled. I should have thrown Scirocco and let him blast that damn bug.”

“Well,” Jace said, folding his arms, “I’m glad you saved my ass, Andy. I owe you…another one.”

Andy waved a hand. “Nah. We’re a team.”

Silas had moved back to the door and was pressing his ear to it. “I can hear them out there, but they haven’t pursued us inside yet. Do you have a plan?”

“He’ll use magic to get us out,” Jace replied.

Andy nodded, looking at his status sheet. “Just a couple more minutes.”

“I’m Silas, by the way,” the other man said. “Did I say that?”

“No,” Lucy replied, “but Blondie told us.”

“Ah, Blondie! Lovely girl. As you may have guessed, I’m a Wind Mage. I appreciate you all coming when you did, by the way. I was running out of mana, and I’m not sure I could have thrown off too many more Threshers.”

“It’s, uh, not a problem,” Andy said, frowning at his truncated leg. “Well, maybe a small problem.”

“Andy!” Lucy cried. “Stop making jokes about it.”

He chuckled softly, reaching out to grasp her fingers. “Don’t stress. I really do have some ideas.”

“We had a Healer who might’ve helped,” Silas said. “She died back at the settlement, though. I was the only Veteran to get out.” He frowned and rubbed his chin which was dotted with black stubble. “That’s what we called our core adventurers and, well, defenders—the Veterans.”

His eyes unfocused as he continued to speak, his words slow and rambling. “We thought we had it all figured out, to be honest. In our little group—our Veterans, I mean. Every one of us had broken at least one ceiling, you see. The monsters in the desert weren’t a challenge anymore. We were looking for dungeons to keep advancing.” He sighed, shaking his head. “That was when the Lentiss came.”

After the man fell silent and looked down, Jace nudged Andy. “You almost ready? I can hear them out there.”

Andy grunted as he stood, using Scirocco for balance. “Yeah. Let me lean on you. We’ll go through last.”

“I can…” Lucy said, but let the matter drop when Jace came close and Andy threw his arm over his shoulders.

“It’s just that he’s the right height, Luce,” Andy said, reaching into the air and carefully sketching the glyph.

Silas whistled, watching the glyph take shape. “Complicated. Do you mind if I ask what school of magic that is?”

Andy nodded. “Axiomancy.”

“Axiomancy…” Silas seemed to try the word on for size, mouthing it softly as Andy pushed mana into the glyph and opened the passage.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Jace said, giving the Wind Mage a none-too-gentle shove toward the opening.

“Right!” Silas replied, jogging into the swirling shadowy opening.

Lucy looked at Andy. “Don’t do anything stupid—or brave!”

He shook his head, trying to smile cheerfully, but aware that it looked forced. “We’re right behind you.”

She turned and ran through, and then Jace tugged on Andy, easily supporting most of his weight. “If we don’t get a System message with a bunch of levels attached, I’m gonna be pissed off.”

“Well, we killed two more Behemoths, and I think we got all the survivors.” By then, they were halfway through the passage, and he could see daylight ahead.

“I really do appreciate you, man. I’m sorry about your foot.”

“It’s okay, Jace. There’s magic in the world now.” With that, they stepped out onto the hard-packed dirt road at the base of the mesa.

Jace gestured to the trail. “Want help up?”

“Naw, man. I’ll use magic. Go on and see if anyone needs your help.”

Jace nodded, and as he strode off, Andy hopped over to a pile of wooden pallets—probably left there after a recent supply run—and sat down, taking in the scene.

It made him smile to see the dozens of helpers from the mesa circulating among the refugees, handing out food, water, and blankets. He saw people being triaged—moved into groups for Bea or Frank or one of the less powerful healers to see to. And of course, he saw a train of people making their way up the switchback trail to the settlement. They were going to be crowded for a while, but it felt damn good to see all those lives he’d helped to save.

Even as he had the thought, the System bombarded him with messages:

**Congratulations, Andy! You completed the quest: Rescue the survivors of the Titan Silo Society. As a result, Mesquite Mesa will receive a unique System Boon. Look for it the next time you rest in a safe area.**

***Congratulations! You and your allies have slain 9 Lentiss soldiers, a Lentiss Thresher, and 2 Lentiss Behemoths. As a result, you’ve gained enough experience to advance your Axiomatic Pathfinder class to level 20, reaching another mastery threshold. You’ve gained 1 Improvement Point and 40 maximum mana.

Advancement beyond this threshold requires an Axiomancer to demonstrate both an expanded understanding of the art of Axiomancy and the ability to craft original axioms. By developing Axiomatic Conjugation and creating the Axiom of Time Severance, you have fulfilled both requirements.

Congratulations! Your Axiomatic Pathfinder class has morphed into Axiomatic Warden. You have enhanced your Will and used your Axiomancy in the defense and rescue of others. As an Axiomatic Warden, you will find that axioms supporting such efforts will come more readily to mind as you gain further levels.

Your next mastery threshold will occur when your Axiomatic Warden class reaches level 30.***

Andy quietly celebrated as Lucy sat down beside him. He was happy about the gains, but he couldn’t help feeling a little underwhelmed; it felt like the two Behemoths should have given him two levels by themselves. He supposed it had something to do with the threshold. “Gave a damn foot for two levels,” he muttered, and when Lucy looked at him with an arched eyebrow, he said, “Just kidding.”

“I got four…” It looked like she wanted to say more, but she hesitated, and Andy filled in the silence.

“Damn. Well, my class morphed. Maybe it ate some experience. Anyway, I just had a thought: why the hell didn’t I just open a passage up to the top of the tower? We could have defended it with Silas while I gained enough mana to open an escape.”

Lucy opened her mouth, held up a finger, and then shook her head, smiling wryly. “I guess hindsight really is twenty-twenty.” She leaned close and whispered, “I have enough Improvement Points for an evolution.”

“Oh!” Andy smiled, nodding. “Are you going to…” He wasn’t sure what to ask without influencing her decision.

“I was thinking Speed, but I wanted to ask what you thought. The thing is, the System kind of hinted that I was making a mistake by not improving and morphing my class skills. I’ve been hoarding points for a while.” She frowned and quickly added, “I didn’t feel as useful against the Lentiss as I should have been.”

“You were great! None of us were particularly effective against that Behemoth, but you were dropping the soldiers left and right—”

“Still,” she said, interrupting him, “I know I could be better. I do want to get an Evolution Point for an attribute, but then I think I need to… How did Bella describe it? Grind some Improvement Points?” She smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder and continuing in a softer voice, “You’ve got enough to worry about, though.”

Andy looked down at his shortened leg and shook his head. “I’m going to think of something. Don’t worry. As for Speed, yeah, I don’t see how that could be a bad choice for an archer.”

“Right. Well, I’ll think about it some more.” She motioned to his injured leg. “Want me to help you up the trail?”

Andy laughed, shaking his head. “You’re crazy. I’ll open a passage to my house in a few minutes.”

Just then, Bea, who was walking by with a milk crate full of clinking bottles, saw him sitting there and cried out, “Andy!”

He groaned and looked at Lucy, who shrugged. “She has every reason to yell. You lost a foot!”

The Water Witch came close and set her crate on the ground. Inside, Andy saw dozens of tiny bottles of magical water, some more blue than others, some bubbling, and some dark and murky. “You’ve gone and done it, hmm? How do you propose to dance around with that spear of yours with one foot?”

Andy arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean? I was sure you could fix this right up.”

“Brat!” Bea growled, squatting to grab his severed pant leg, lifting until his sad-looking stump was exposed. “I think I’m getting close to truly regenerative water. I’ve been experimenting with the healing effects at the Waterhouse, as you know, and I’ve come up with some potent mixtures. Nothing that will grow a foot back, yet, unfortunately.”

“If it helps, I have my foot in my magical ring. I’m pretty sure it’ll stay preserved.”

“Oh? That changes things. I have some ideas…” Her eyes went distant for a few seconds, and then she shook her head and let go of his jeans. “I’ll work on it, Andy. In the meantime, try to keep the rest of your parts attached.”

“Sure, Bea, thanks. I have some ideas, too.”

“Oh?” She looked like she was going to ask him for more detail, but then she snorted softly and picked up her milk crate. “I’ve got to see to some folks who aren’t as tough as you.”

“Right. I’m going to head up.” Andy stood, leaning on Scirocco. The midmorning sun was bright, and when he looked down the washed-out road toward the expanded bulwark wall, he was surprised to see several massive wagons parked off the road, inside the gate. “The Huorn are here?”

“Oh!” Lucy said, following his gaze. “I didn’t realize!”

Andy pointed. “There’s a crowd gathered out there by their wagons. Damn, I guess it’s going to be a busy day around the mesa.”

“You’re hurt, Andy. Let the others—let me—handle things for a while.”

Andy didn’t feel like arguing. He was exhausted, and he had things he wanted to do. He’d been in the middle of things before the emergency with the Titan Silo Society survivors, and now he had a missing foot to deal with. “Well, sure. It looks like they’re setting up a camp out there, so it’s not like there’s a big hurry.” He looked at Lucy as he started scrawling the glyph for a Greater Axiom of Passage. “Come to my house with me for a minute?”

She nodded, softly grunting her agreement.

As the passage swirled into existence, startling some of the people passing nearby, Andy leaned on Lucy’s shoulder and Scirocco as he hobbled his way through. They emerged right outside his house, and as she helped him to his door, Lucy said, “Too bad we haven’t had a chance to do anything with the castle.”

“Uh, yeah. It’s okay.” Andy pulled the door open and hopped to his bed, sitting down on the edge.

Lucy eyed him from the doorway, tilting her head sideways. “Was this, like, an invitation to…”

Andy laughed, shaking his head as he felt his cheeks get hot. “I mean, I’m always game, but I wanted to show you something—kind of give you a heads-up.”

Lucy came closer and sat beside him. “Show me what?”

Andy reached into his storage ring and summoned his latest System reward. It was still in the deep blue bag it had come with, so he opened it and gently took the orange out, holding the big, red fruit in his palm. “It’s called an Abyssal Orange.”

“Yeah?” Lucy leaned close, sniffing. “Smells sweet.”

“It’s supposed to reveal bloodlines. I think in my case, since my bloodline is already uncovered, it might bring it more to the forefront.”

Lucy pursed her lips, making an appreciative sound. “Oh? That’s neat.”

“Thing is, it says that when I eat it, it’ll make me fall into a deep slumber. I don’t know if it’ll be a normal amount of sleep or what.”

“Oh!” Lucy nodded. “You’re afraid you’ll be like Sleeping Beauty. Don’t worry,” she whispered, leaning closer and kissing his cheek. “I’ll wake you.”

“Lucy!” Andy laughed. “Be serious a minute. I have an idea for using my Axiomancy to fix my leg, but I figured this orange might make me a little stronger—maybe improve my attributes or something—which would make my experiments more successful. What do you think? Should I eat the orange now? Am I being greedy? Should I give it to someone else?” He held it out to her. “Like you?”

“Oh stop it! I’ve got plenty of upgrades of my own to sort out. Not to mention, the System promised me a special reward for what I did with the Lentiss—it’s why I was so eager to get up on the balcony and help out.”

“Oh?”

She nodded. “Of course, I’ll have to sleep first, and I don’t have a magic fruit to knock me out.” She stretched her neck and added, “Besides, I’ll need to go and help out around here while you’re out of commission.”

“So you think I should eat it?”

Lucy clicked her tongue, shaking her head as she smoothed his hair back, gently drawing her nails along his scalp above his ear. “You’re so silly, Andy. I can’t decide that for you. I think your theory is good. It might make it easier for you to figure out your foot problem. Maybe it won’t, but I don’t see how it could make it worse.”

Despite her attempt to reassure him, her words triggered a thought, and Andy hastily slipped the orange back into the sack. “I just thought of how it might be worse.”

Lucy arched an eyebrow. “Oh?”

He nodded. “If I don’t reattach my foot, but I upgrade my bloodline, what if my foot doesn’t match my body afterward?” He choked back a laugh at the crazy thought, picturing himself with a weak, anemic foot attached to a superhuman body.

“Well, sheesh,” Lucy said, nodding. “That actually makes sense.”

“Right.” Andy slipped the orange back into his ring. “Foot first. Okay, Luce—I’m going to need to do some experimenting.”

“You’re kicking me out?”

“Not exactly, but…”

“Right.” Lucy kissed his cheek again then hopped to her feet. “I’ll go check in with everyone, then I’ll work on my own stuff.”

“Thank you!” Andy called, watching her slip out the door.

She poked her head back inside as she pulled the door closed. “I’ll check on you this afternoon.”

He smiled and threw her a thumbs-up. After the door clicked shut, he reached into his storage ring and summoned out a handful of the arrows he’d been carrying around for her. He set all but one on the bed beside him, and then he took the single arrow and broke it over his knee. “If I can draw an Axiom of Separation, why not the opposite?”