Stormblade [Skill Merge Portal Break] (B1 Complete)

46 - Pizza Party (3)


"Why?" I asked.

Jessie smiled widely, almost like she'd just told a joke and was expecting a laugh. Then the smile turned into a smirk. "I mean, you promised. And also, Ellen's is going to get named Pepperoni."

"Why?" I asked again. I had no idea how Ellen would take that, but it likely wouldn't be good.

"Because you'd probably name it something ridiculous, like Eldrak or Saksek or something snakey. Ellen would do a little better, but let's be real, you don't want a name that's going to raise eyebrows. You want something sneaky," Jessie said, "and there's nothing more sneaky than a shopping list. I mean…unless you want to get busted for an illegal, unregistered, and unreported portal break that's been running for weeks, in which case I can just do my job and report it."

I hadn't thought my jaw could drop any lower. "Are you blackmailing me?"

"Absolutely."

Jessie looked so self-satisfied that I couldn't help but snort. The tension wasn't completely gone—after all, there was another egg, and it could still hatch—but for the first time since Ellen's text an hour ago, things felt a little under control. Like we were going to make it through this without going to jail or killing someone. I let myself laugh. "Okay, but can we at least negotiate the name?"

"Absolutely not!" Jessie said. "I like Cheddar."

"Mozzarella? Brie? Feta?"

"No way."

"Colby? Pepperjack?"

Jessie started to protest, but 'Cheddar' perked up at the second-to-last name, and I jumped on it. "See, he likes 'Colby.' Let's go with that, okay? It's so much better than Cheddar, and you know it."

Jessie snorted, trying to keep her face serious. "Do you want me to report this?"

The good news was that by the time Ellen texted me back, we'd settled on a name.

The bad news was that it was, in fact, Cheddar.

In the end, I had no choice but to agree. Jessie had managed to extract a promise to name my familiar, and I had reiterated that promise to convince her to help me learn Familiar Bond. Besides, after the monstrous snake-thing's initial prickliness toward her wore off, the two of them were getting along great.

"Cheddar likes wing pets."

"I think Cheddar probably eats dog treats, right? I mean, he'll eat anything, but we need to figure out what a good diet for him is."

"Do you think Cheddar needs a walk? We'll have to figure something out so he can stretch his wings a little."

Eventually, I had to take Cheddar the Lightwing Hatchling out of Jessie's room. She was trying to use the monster as a neck-rest, and no matter how much I believed I could trust Familiar Bond, I didn't trust it enough to be comfortable with a monster draped around my sister's throat, fangs inches from her jugular. That was a bridge too far. Instead, I wrapped Cheddar around 'my' egg—although I supposed it'd be Ellen's egg soon enough.

Ellen: Done. Driving to my place, picking up my core, then heading to yours.

Ellen: Packing an overnight bag. I'll sleep on the couch. We'll talk strategy when I get there.

Kade: Sure. See you soon.

I sent a mental image of Cheddar's eyes, then of the gunmetal gray egg it was wrapped around, and then a hissing sound. Then I sent as much caution as I could toward him. Communicating this way was complicated, but for now, it was the best—and only—method I had. It clearly recognized words, or at least sounds, but its vocabulary and method of communicating back didn't lend itself to verbal, or audio-based, language.

Cheddar sent an image of its eyes back, and I nodded. Close enough.

I had something to take care of.

"I'm sorry for slamming the door on you," I said.

Jessie stared at me. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…look, the last time that happened, it was Dad outside of the bathroom with the monsters, and us inside of it. This time, it was you outside, and me inside with the monsters. Don't tell me you didn't feel it."

"No, I really didn't. I was just pissed because I wanted to see what you were doing. Besides, this was different. This time, I had something to do, and I was pretty sure you could beat a single monster. Plus, I had your phone, so I could hit Ellen up for help if I needed it. Last time, we were alone in there. This is different."

"If you're sure." I raised an eyebrow skeptically. She nodded, and I changed the subject. "How's Stephen?"

"He's…good." Jessie went red.

I pounced. "Have you kissed yet?"

The next hour passed quickly for me—and probably slowly for my sister, who looked ever more tormented as I dug into her budding relationship. She tried to turn it around, accusing me of having something with Ellen, or our old neighbor Tara, or Yasmin—anyone she could think of. But the fact was that I had nothing going, and I didn't want anything right now. Life was too hectic.

Maybe I'd pursue a relationship when things calmed down. But right now? Absolutely not.

Ellen's arrival saved Jessie from more torment. She was still wearing her cocktail dress, although it definitely wouldn't be seeing any more parties, judging by the multicolored stains. Her robe sat over it, along with a bulging backpack. "I wasn't sure how long this would take, so I packed for a few days," she said, shrugging off the pack.

"Okay. The egg's in my bedroom. You can have that; I'll clear Cheddar out of there," I said.

"Who's Cheddar? Did you guys get a cat or something? I'm allergic."

Jessie smiled. "Should I tell her, or let her find out on her own?"

"Why ruin the surprise?" I said.

"True." I stood up, abandoning Ellen's favorite chair in favor of my feet. "Let's go check on the egg. Ladies first."

Ellen glared at me, but Jessie was already moving gingerly toward the bedrooms. I winced; she needed to take it easy for the rest of the night or her knees and elbows would be all but nonfunctional tomorrow. Ellen followed, and I brought up the rear, thanking whatever power had guided me to this apartment that linoleum was easy to clean. Ellen was filthy. "What did you clear?"

"Warren portal. E-Rank. Trogs." She shivered. "I don't want to talk about the boss. Just hope I never see one like it again."

Then she opened the door to my bedroom. Cheddar hissed protectively from his station around the gunmetal-gray egg, and Ellen slammed the door shut. "Okay, Kade, what the hell is that?"

I burst out laughing, pushed a relaxed emotion and an image of Cheddar sleeping to the serpent, and then opened the door again. The Lightwing Hatchling was not, in fact, sleeping. It hissed again, but kept its head down. "Close enough, buddy. Ellen, meet Cheddar, my familiar."

"What. The. Hell?" she repeated.

"Don't worry, Jessie already named yours, too."

"Do I even want to know?"

"Pepperoni!" Jessie said from the hallway.

Ellen did end up taking my bed. It made the most sense for her to be in a room with a locked door, so she'd have time to bond with whatever came out of the gunmetal gray egg when it did hatch. She'd informed her parents that she'd be away for at least one night, on delver business. "Bob's furious, but what can he do? It's the perfect excuse for ditching that party."

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Before she went to bed, though, she merged her next skill and opened up some slots for Familiar Bond. Arcane Resonator promised to give her power similar to what Erik, the entropy mage, had used by default. It'd be weaker and less focused, but it alone would give her the ability to sustain damage a lot better than most mages. She was hybridizing in the opposite direction from me.

That left me on the couch—a familiar place, although somewhat more crowded than the one I'd destroyed. Cheddar wasn't exactly a bed hog, but the winged serpent familiar was, in fact, a four-foot-long snake with two-foot-wide wings.

By the time morning came, I was not well-rested. And worse, Ellen needed my help.

"Take Deimos, head to the Peoria GC center, and pick up everything we need for this next set of merges. All the books, videos, and so on," she said.

"You're sure, Ellen? You want me to drive Deimos? I haven't driven in almost a year," I said.

Jessie nodded from the table. "It's not like you're driving, anyway, and I need to get to the Peoria GC for work. It'll be perfect."

Ellen handed me the keys. "I can't leave. If that egg hatches and no one's here, we'll be in serious trouble. And Jessie has to work—plus, she's not licensed, and Deimos only works for people who have—or had—one. That leaves you, Kade. Get going. And, uh, I owe you one."

I stared at her. Then I cleared my throat. "No, you don't. It's fine. We're partners, right?"

Her eyes matched mine, refusing to look away until I backed off. "No, it's not fine. We'll talk about it later, but I messed up last night, three or four times, and you fixed them all, even though it wasn't your fault and your people were in danger because of my mistakes. I. Owe. You. Now go get those books."

"Some other time, then. We'll talk about it down the road." I opened the door and slipped out, Jessie right behind me.

And just like that, I was off to the GC.

'Driving' Deimos was, in a lot of respects, way more terrifying than being in the passenger's seat. The steering wheel and pedals moved without my input, and it felt like I was constantly losing control of Ellen's car. But we did get to the training center in record time. The whole way there, I stared at the controls and tried not to panic.

Jessie was talking my ear off about her work. Apparently, she'd be on front desk duty, semi-solo, for the first time. That meant she'd be running her own tablet, but she wouldn't be alone. Not yet. She was pretty excited because her training was finally wrapping up.

I half-listened, but mostly, I thought about Ellen. She hated having other people in her debt, and she despised having to owe anything to someone else. I'd have to sit down with her later and figure out what was going on, and why she suddenly felt like she had to clear something with me.

But for now, I turned to my build. To both of our builds, really. I checked my status.

User: Kade Noelstra E-Rank Stamina: 101/250, Mana: 24/300

Skills: 1. Stormsteel Core (D-02, Unique, Merged) 2. Thunderbolt Forms (E-08, Altered, Merged) 3. Mistwalk Forms (E-05, Altered, Merged) 4. Cyclone Forms (E-01, Altered, Merged) 5. Familiar Bond (E-01) Open Skill Slots: 2

Path: Stormsteel Path Laws: First Law of Stormsteel

Ellen was only a single skill behind me, and if she was lucky, she'd get it while I was out. We were trying to make something with Familiar Bond, which had tied Cheddar to me emotionally and mentally. The trouble was really Cheddar, and most likely Pepperoni. They were incredibly dangerous, and even if we could prove that they were under our control, the GC and the guilds would likely see them as a threat—or an ongoing portal break.

So, Ellen and I had come up with a few different ideas, and in the end, my plan was the best one. We'd take Familiar Bond and force a merge with Spatial Sheathe and, in my case, Dimensional Anchoring. Ellen would need to use Jemma's Sigils or Shadow Symbols instead, to either tie her familiar's Spatial Sheathe to a symbol or her own shadow. Without a safe, permanent weapon for her to use, Dimensional Anchoring carried too many risks.

Jessie hobbled off toward the desk, I parked Deimos, and then it was library time. Luckily, I had some sticky notes with both builds lined out, so it was shockingly simple to assemble the required books and check them out on a four-day loan. Any longer than that, and we'd need to pay, but I couldn't imagine taking that kind of time. The second Ellen had her Familiar Bond finished, we'd be building our skills.

It only took half an hour, and then I was right back in Deimos, rocketing back toward my apartment.

We had a lot of reading to catch up on.

Reading turned out to be a pain in the butt.

The black-scaled, four-winged dragon-snake hatched minutes after I got home, and I ended up assisting Ellen through her hour-long bonding process. It was for the best, because both Ellen and the soon-to-be familiar were way too loud, and I ended up splitting my time between watching the door and giving her directions.

When it was done, we were both exhausted—me because of Cheddar the couch-hog, and her because the E-Ranked Stormwing Hatchling had way more fight than Cheddar.

She flopped into her favorite chair. "Pass me the book on Shadow Symbols."

"You're going that route for sure?" I fished the book free from my pack. "It's probably safer, but the initial skill's going to be a pain in your butt."

"You're a pain in my butt. Give me the book."

I complied, then started digging into my own research. I'd want Dimensional Anchor first. It'd tie something's existence to a single object, making it easier to summon. For the final merge, I'd be tying Cheddar's pocket dimension to the Stormsteel rapier—or, failing that, to the Stormsteel Core itself. I had a theory that the core was a physical object inside of me, especially after seeing how Cheddar's core had spread through his snake-like body.

That was a new theory to me, and when I brought it up to Ellen, she shook her head. "I've never heard of that. But it makes sense, in a way. Healers don't really do surgery, and it's possible that unawakened humans aren't equipped with the skills to detect a core. Or, maybe your core is physical because of the Stormsteel Core skill. Either way, that's interesting."

"Yeah." There wasn't much else to say, and Ellen seemed more interested in petting Pepperoni's stomach and reading her book, so I went back to my studies.

Once I had Dimensional Anchor, the plan was to bind a Spatial Sheathe. That'd be Cheddar's home away from home, so to speak. All my research indicated that putting Cheddar inside of it would be like freezing him cryogenically. He'd get put inside, 'fall asleep,' and come out on the other side exactly the same as he'd gone in. More importantly, while the GC would know I had a Spatial Sheathe and a familiar, there was no obligation for delvers to disclose either what the familiar was or what was inside an interdimensional space.

The only exception to that was in the case of suspected illegal activity. Which this was.

But that'd be fine. By the time anyone investigated it, I hoped to be strong enough that they'd ask me to explain myself instead of calling in the Light of Dawn or Bernard the Wall to kill Cheddar and arrest me. The last thing I needed was an S-Ranker wiping me out for refusing to give up my new 'best friend.'

And Cheddar was becoming my best friend, in the same way that a long, noodle-shaped, scale-covered, winged dog that could kill a human in seconds might be considered man's best friend. Before I knew I was doing it, I was scratching the monster's chin instead of reading while it sent me contented feelings across our bond.

"Focus, Kade," Ellen said, glaring at me from over her oversized, black-leather tome. "Neither of us can leave until we've got these skills locked in."

"You're petting Pepperoni."

"Yes, and when you can pet Cheddar and focus, you can do the same, but for now, pay attention to what we have to do."

She was right. I stopped staring at the scaly little guy and went back to studying. We had to get this done.

Governing Council Message:

Status: Extreme Emergency

The Governing Council predicts an extreme uptick in emergent portals over the next ninety-six hours in the vicinity of Phoenix and Tucson. All Governing Council, guild, and independent teams are advised to prepare for a portal surge.

All civilians in the Phoenix and Tucson areas, all non-awakened Governing Council and government security forces, and all visiting non-awakened travelers, merchants, and dignitaries are advised to remain within the city walls. Take all reasonable precautions if traveling between districts, and report any portals or portal monsters as soon as it is safe to do so.

Interested delvers in Phoenix and Tucson should report digitally or in person to a Governing Council representative, who will assign them or their team to a region within the walls or the cleared wastes. Contributions and bounties will be tallied as portals are closed and breaks are sealed.

All delvers in Phoenix and Tucson should be on alert for E to C-Ranked monsters and bosses, as well as potential appearances of B and A-Ranked monsters, until further notice.

Every year, there was a portal surge. Jessie was surprised this one had happened so soon.

A ramp-up in the number of portals and their danger, surges usually lasted no more than four or five days—not counting the Portal Blitz, the longest had been almost two weeks.

Jessie couldn't help but smile. She was here, at the GC Peoria branch, at a computer—right where she needed to be to help Kade out. He'd need D-Rank portals. At least two of them. And his team would need high Ds. She'd overheard Ellen and Kade talking about how Yasmin and Jeff were both closing in on C-Rank. The opportunity to level skills would be welcome for all four of them.

Jessie: Want me to sign you up for something good?

Kade: What?

Jessie: Check your GC messages.

Jessie sat back in her chair and waited, fidgeting with her mouse and a strand of hair. If Kade didn't answer quickly, she'd have to start signing people up. She glanced at the gym—a shocking number of workout machines were empty all of a sudden. The B and A-Rankers never abandoned their workouts.

Kade: Something outside the walls. We're good for D-Rank portals. Medium density, if you can swing it. We need ones that just appeared. We're still an hour or two from being ready.

Jessie: On it. Thanks.

As she navigated the GC dispatch database, Jessie's eyebrows furrowed. Too hard. Too easy. Not enough density. There. That one.

Jessie: You're defending Hassayampa. I'll try to find you some portals closer to home when I can.

Kade: Where? Directions? Never mind. We'll ask Deimos to get us there.

Jessie didn't bother answering. A swarm of sweat-covered delvers with the overblown body-builder-meets-Greek-god builds of B and A-Rankers had descended upon her, and she was way, way too busy to text her older brother. Her first semi-solo day of work was looking wildly interesting.

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