Trash: Chapter 179 The Split (Patreon)

Chapter 179

The Split

“A stash,” Junior exclaimed.

“A haul!” Lucia corrected, and they were both right. I’ve heard stories about people’s eyes glowing wide with avarice, but I never thought I’d actually see the process happen right before my eyes, but that’s where we were as I could see my entire team’s eyes glowing brightly. Part of the glow had to be an anticipation, the body’s natural reaction to the glowing crystals that even Marcus, our team’s gofer, seemed to be attracted to, though he purposefully stayed far away from our table and the entire team during this process.

I did note that Marcus was close enough to see who would get what cut of the crystals.  For a moment I thought he might try to cut in, but then I realized that his tracking got what might be valuable to someone else. That whole knowledge is power, and power comes with a price. Then again, I might just be sinical as part of my mind comes from a day and time when people could make millions just based on figuring out what type of color schemes would get you to buy more toilet paper. That is why I was not shocked to see that Marcus would be interested in the divvying out of rewards for our haul. On the table there were twenty original crystals, followed by an additional five crystals that members of Lt. Keller’s team had pocketed. They pocketed during their investigation into the initial chamber, then all proceeded to hand me those crystals after I ended up saving them from being slowly desiccated by withering spirit plants. Honestly, if I were them, I would have also thought this trade to be fair. As they apparently saw the thought of getting caught with stolen crystals as a fair trade for their lives.

It wasn’t until much later, when Lelia and I were making our way back to the rest of the team so we could come to our chambers and make the official split of Lelia’s foraging finds equal that Lelia spoke on the matter.

“You know, you shouldn’t feel guilty about taking those crystals that Lt. Keller’s team gave you,” Lelia began reading my mind as I could feel the stack of four medium sized enhancement crystals all but pressing deep into my thigh with each step we took. They felt so blatant that, I could almost swear everyone would see the bulky outline of the contraband materials on me immediately, despite my trying to use my oversized sword to hide their presence in said pocket.

“I shouldn’t?” I ask, knowing that she was likely correct, but I felt this was an interesting moment that would help me gain better insights into Lelia’s psyche.

“No, they gave you those because they feel guilty,” Lelia noted.

“They feel guilty?” I ask, but as she speaks, I realize that Lelia was right, looking back on it, each of the officers that came to me did seem to look somewhat guilty while handing over the crystals. Though I assumed that was mostly due to their putting two kids under their protection in danger.

“Yeah, the realized that they were about to be summoned for interrogation, at which point they would be scanned for spirit ichor, where their stolen goods would have naturally been found. You made the obvious source to pawn off their looted crystals too, as you already had some thanks to our original wage. Thus finding more on you than previously noted would have been seen as a counting error more than anything, especially with the initial stash being watched by our teammates. There is also the benefit that by giving you the stolen goods, they are essentially bribing you and getting you to think fondly of them, in a way that would make you not want to tell where or how you got these additional crystals,” Lelia replied.

It was at that moment that I realized just how truly tragic Lelia’s childhood had to have been, for her to gain all of that from the few interactions I had. Worse, the more I thought about it, the more I thought she was right. It would only make sense for Lt. Keller, and all of the ROW officers and scientists under his command get scanned from head to toe for corruption. While I was certain I removed it all, others might have questions. That meant she was right, as their getting rid of any stolen goods before such an invasive scan would make sense. As I was unraveling the trail of logic, I stared at Lelia with a newfound respect.

“What?” Lelia finally asked, stopping her movement for just a half-missed stutter step, not much but enough to realize that I had flustered her with my intense stare.

“I’m just realizing how amazing you are, and how grateful I am that you chose to be on my team,” I replied honestly.

“Oh, well thank you,” Lelia said, as a faint blush filled her cheeks, as she regained her pace to join the rest of the team, going back to her overly quiet self. But I had seen it, the real Lelia, the talkative and insightful person that hid behind layers of silence and secrecy.

It was a short time later that we met up with the team, somehow Luna and Lucia both had found their way to join Junior and Marcus who were standing guard over our stack of crystals.

Once back, Marcus immediately gave the suggestion that “we should pack up and distribute these immediately back our lodging.”

No one objected, and thus we ended up here. Staring at a pile of no less than twenty total crystals. Seeing the pile, I was about to reach into my pocket and grab the four thick Enhancement crystals from my pocket to add to the pile, but that’s when Lelia held out her hand, stopping me and turning her full attention to Marcus. Apparently, she noticed the same thing that I had, that Marcus’s position allowed him to see the distribution of crystals, which could be valuable information to people who might ask. For a moment, I thought she might be paranoid, as everyone saw us earn the stack of crystals fairly. Then I realized I technically had stolen contraband in my pocket. While no one would ask tonight, there might be questions that come up later. Realizing that Lelia was once again correct, I paused and stared at Marcus.

“What’s happening?” Junior asked, a confused tone to his words, as he just stared first at Lelia and I, then followed our gazes to stare at Marcus who had tried to make himself seem unobtrusive by just leaning casually against the far wall.

Then either due to his feeling guilty from what he was thinking or suddenly feeling the pressure of Luna and Lucia also joining the stare, Marcus nervously scratched at his chest, before chuckling lightly as he begged off for the evening, “right then, if you don’t need my services anymore, then I will see you all in the morning.”

After that, Marcus gave an awkward wave, before disappearing. I almost imagined his reaction to be how the local innkeeper would react to a bunch of pirates using their lodgings to divvy up gold.

Seeing that Marcus was gone, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the four larger Enhancement Crystals. These were the ones that were considered to be two points by Madame Bloom’s team, meaning I carried a total of eight points in my hand. Just holding them, I felt an unmistakable pull of power, realizing that these would be enough to take alter my Skills forever. Holding the four crystals, I am about to place them on the table, when Lelia holds out her hand, palm down in a blocking gesture to keep me from adding my four to the pile on the table.

“What?” Is all I manage to get out, before I see Lelia’s eyes glowing that strange, odd dull golden color that I’ve come to recognize as her using her latent powers.

“I vote now that you use those to improve all of your Class based Skills,” Lelia declares. At her suddenly commanding tone, I shrink back trying to understand what just happened to the normally meek and timid appearing Lelia. Though seeing her like this, I again feel rewarded as I feel like I am finally getting to see the real Lelia. Then as if to prove she has a backbone, she turns her glowing eyes to the others and speaks, “as the leader we are all only as good as her Skills will allow us to be.”

As she speaks there is an implied question there, despite her words coming out as a comment. That is why first Junior, then Lucia, and Luna all nod in agreement.

“Yes, I agree, take those,” Lucia replies.

“Wait, where did you get those, they weren’t part of the original pile,” Junior comments, his voice clearly confused. As he speaks, his voice rises, causing an already tense Lelia to move like lightning. Before I have time to even register the intent, Lelia has moved, no longer blocking my placement of the four crystals, instead she is around the table, grabbing junior by the mouth and clamping his mouth shut, and just staring.

“Mumbled cries,” escape Junior’s mouth, but Lelia does a great job of keeping Junior’s mouth clamped shut, while staring intently in his eyes. It takes my mind a second to register the reason why Lelia would cover Junior’s mouth, first because he was getting loud, meaning if Marcus was still listening in from the hallway, he might be able to hear their conversation, but also the closing of Junior’s mouth prevented his Crow Mouth Skill from activating. Realizing what she was doing, I again found myself respecting the girl more and more. While I didn’t like the idea of teammates hurting each other, I did have to respect her quick call to action.

“Calm down,” I say while moving close enough to step in if needed. Fortunately, it seems that my presence alone is enough to calm Junior, which then allows Lelia to loosen her grip and reluctantly uncover Junior’s mouth. I can almost see the indignation in Junior, which is why I continue to speak, “I think she is trying to make sure that prying ears don’t hear what we are discussing.”

At my comment, Lelia nods and then releases the hand she had on Junior’s shirt, and takes a step away, fully deescalating the situation. There is still tension, as everyone is on edge from the display, but for the moment everyone is calm.

“I take it, you two don’t mind if I take these as my spoils?” I asked Luna and Lucia, waving my four stolen Enhancement crystals at them. They just nod, looking a bit lost as to what exactly is happening. Then I turn to Junior and show the same crystals, again asking for his permission as well. Junior also nods but then glares out of the side of his eye to see if Lelia has moved at all. Thankfully Lelia has just stayed still.

“In that case, I’m going to take these for my class Skills?” I ask Lelia, trying to see just how much insight her unique sight seems to give her.

“Yes, only use them to advance your class skills,” Lelia replies.

Then pulling up my Class Skills I realize there might be a bit of a problem, for while I have six class Skills, I only have three that need to be upgraded to the Legendary rank.

(Unique) Maximum Mana Conversion: Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Str, Dex, Sta, Per, Int, Mana (+0.05 per level).

(Unique) Streamline Healing: Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Str, Dex, Sta, Per, Int, Mana (+0.05 per level).

(Unique) Golden Life Ratio Mana Regeneration: Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Per, Int, Mana (+0.04 per level).

(Unique) Life Reinforced Movements: Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Str, Dex, Sta, Per, Int, Mana (+0.04 per level).

(Unique) Recuperatio Vitae Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Per, Int, Mana (+0.04 per level).

(Unique) Healing Fire Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Str, Dex, Sta, Per, Int, Mana, Pyrokinesis (+0.05 per level)

Realizing the task at hand, I make the obvious change, using three of the enhancement crystals to improve Golden Life Ratio Mana Regeneration, Life Reinforced Movements, and Recuperatio Vitae*.

Taking the crystals, I do as I had been instructed, going nice and slowly to show the others how it was done as I didn’t want any of these crystals to be wasted by the team. That is why I took a bit of life mana and infused it directly into the crystal. Oddly this fact of using life energy to activate the crystal made it so I could direct the energy towards my class skills that much easier.

Within no time, I took one and applied it to Golden Life Ratio Mana Regeneration, then after pausing for a moment and not feeling any immediate side effects I continued, applying two more crystals to my Life Reinforced Movements, and Recuperatio Vitae*. Only after I applied the energy to my third class skill did I realize I might have made a mistake, as I could feel pressure building within my mind. Unfortunately, it was already too late as I could feel the changes taking effect almost immediately.

(Unique) Golden Life Ratio Mana Regeneration: Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Per, Int, Mana (+0.05 per level).

(Unique) Life Reinforced Movements: Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Str, Dex, Sta, Per, Int, Mana (+0.05 per level).

(Unique) Recuperatio Vitae Life Mana Attribute (+0.1 per level). Per, Int, Mana (+0.05 per level).

While this might seem like a waste, particularly as each Skill already had a level cap of 400, well above where I was with each Skill, it did do something very important, and that was make it so each level I received was now treated as the +0.05 per level, as apposed to the +0.04 that they had all been earlier.

Then through the haze of my oncoming headache, I felt something shift into place. Almost as if my mind, realized it had been off kilter for a while, and suddenly learned that by leaning to the left just a bit, I could be balanced. That was the only way to describe the odd sensation that was bleeding through the pain inside my head as I felt a strange sense of calm washing over me.

For a second, I felt a wave of power flow out from me and seem to coat everything within an arm’s length form me. Only to then have my headache redouble on itself, causing that sensation of balance, of completeness to fizzle out and disappear in an evanescent plume. I stood there, dumbfounded, caught in that moment where I was close to having a breakthrough, only to have that deep profound insight ruined by brain fog that caused the moment to forever slip between my fingers.

While I was going through my own conglomeration of feelings and trying to balance myself, trying to see if I could once again find that moment of calm. I could see Lelia’s reaction, and it was clear that her glowing eyes allowed her to see the mist that I almost managed to create around me, that’s when I heard her mutter, “almost.”

“What?” I asked, feeling the surge of energy still coursing through me as my body felt like it was being stretched and pulled too far too fast.

“Nothing,” Lelia replied, before deflating just a bit. It was at that moment that I could tell she saw something in that exchange, that or she realized I was close to some type of breakthrough. Worst of all, I could still feel that something was there, or rather something should be there, but wasn’t.

“All right, I’m going to trust you all to divvy these up,” I declared feeling a headache coming on from too much energy being applied to me too quickly. I even put down my fourth and final crystal to the pile.

“What can we even do with these things?” Junior asked.

“You can do almost anything,” I respond, while sitting down in a chair by the table, something I likely should have done while expanding my Skills with Enhancement crystals. My head still hurts, but I do remember one important thing, “you know we might want to save a few of these to get an Arbiter to Badge our skills for us.”

“Oh yeah, we might want that,” Luna replied.

“Is that something we’d want? To get a Skill specifically for Badging Skills?” Lelia asked, her eyes glancing towards me with that odd golden hue, before turning to look at the table. Seeing her odd reaction, I realize something, as I look down and see that there are two distinct Skill crystals laying on the table. Following Lelia’s gaze, I find myself asking the question that might just change the scope of our team dynamics forever.

“Wait, can you tell what skills those crystals can provide?”

“Yeah,” Lelia offers as if it is the most obvious answer, which in hindsight it probably was.

“Well what Skills do they offer?” I ask, curious about the exact Skills being offered as I always understood that they were essentially a crapshoot. You get one and based on its coloration and size it determined the rarity of the skill you could get. But did Lelia’s sight offer something different? A better insight?

“Well, this one offers a Rare Skill called Skill Alterations,” Lelia said honestly while reaching into the pile and pulling out one of the two Skill crystals, oddly enough it was the least remarkable of the two.

“Skill Alterations? What does that do?” Junior asks, his previous fear of Lelia gone at the idea that he can get questions answered.

Lelia just shrugs, “I don’t know exactly, but it does seem linked to your Arbiter class you spoke about.”

“Wait, how do you know that?” Junior asks aggressively. At his question, the more docile Lelia returns and just shrugs back in on herself. It takes me a moment, but it is only after I realize I used three of the four crystals that she reverted to her normal state. At least, I think that is why she changed back, with one extra Enhancement crystal, we went from a conspiracy to a counting error. While I was contemplating this, Lelia gave the ultimate answer that showed me just how powerful her odd sight skill truly was.

“I don’t know, it just glowed when you were talking about Arbiters,” Lelia said. Then as if that was a completely normal answer, she doubled down with, “then the name flashed golden letting me know it would be important.”

Silence.

At that bombshell, everyone just stared at the quirky scout, who suddenly seemed to wither under everyone’s stares.

“What? You asked,” was Lelia’s reply to the increasingly odd tension rising in the room.