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WotR Chapter 64: Confidence
🕑 Added 2019-11-30 07:05:17 +0000 UTCCalvin stood in the center of the road, hands warm in the pockets of his vest. Standing with your hands in your pockets was frowned on in Gadveran military doctrine, he was told, but Calvin felt like hed earned it. Sixteen years getting beaten by a Malkenrovian Frontliner counted as an achievement.
Youre late. Ive only got half an hour left. Calvin said as Brendan and Charlotte approached at the head of a battered army of twenty-five hundred. Half their original number. To cement his image as a fake, Calvin pulled out a bag of roasted nuts and began eating them in front of them.
The real one is halfway back to the Capital.
Which was a blatant fabrication. The real one was standing in front of them, eating nuts like a cunt.
Brendan narrowed his eyes, joined by Charlotte.
You left the place undefended?
Yeah, I sure did. Calvin said with a grin. Let me let you in on a little epiphany I had whilst I was kicking your butts all over the jungle. victory goes to the cruelest. War is the arena of the finest bullies, and the best move is usually the one that makes your opponent cry the most deliciously bitter tears. Simple as that.
Whats your point? Brendan asked with a hard edge.
You tipped your hand yesterday. You wanted me. You wanted me real bad, So I decided to remove myself from the equation.
Nadia had reported the desperate effort Brendan had gone through to take Calvin alive, and that was mirrored by Charlottes behavior.
I figured, can a ragged group half as big as it was when it started out hold onto this choke point after Ive had a week of R&R? he glanced over his shoulder to the empty-seeming fort, hastily constructed by human hands.
I doubt it. He pointed at Charlotte. All youve got is her, and she has to sleep sometime. When she does, youre going to wake up to your world being on fire.
Actually, Calvin was planning on choking them on poison in their sleep to preserve their valuable loot. It was the polite thing to do.
Charlotte drew attention to herself when she tugged on Brendans reigns. The dark-haired general glanced over at her and she wordlessly nodded towards the road. The two of them slunk off, leaving Calvin facing the Ilethan army, who were noticeably less-than friendly toward him.
Calvin had to keep his hands from drifting toward the back of his belt, where hed squirreled away Steam.
It should be relabeled Freezing Mist. He thought sourly as Charlotte and Brendan conferred.
If things went poorly, Calvin would make a quick escape and things would go back to the way they were before, but if this worked, they would leave, and hed have this particular bend in the road to himself.
Finally they came back, and Calvin could feel the resignation in the mans gaze.
What happened to the hundred and fifty men who were stationed here? he asked.
They fought bravely, Calvin said, to keep breathing while the poison melted their lungs.
And theyre all dead?
To the last.
Brendans fist tightened on his saddlehorn.
Were leaving, He said with finality. Theres no sense wasting more men on this little bend of road.
Calvin felt the wave of relief spread through the gazes of the Ilethan soldiers around him.
Damn. Calvin muttered. You sure you dont wanna stick around? I had some fun activities planned.
Brendan sent him one last snarl before he turned his Guar around and began leading them away. Charlotte on the other hand, nudged her daintier Guar closer, casting an appraising gaze over Calvin.
Are you a fake, though?
Hard to tell, right? Calvin asked, pulling out a knife and knicking the tip of his finger, showing the blood.
Its dupdomancy, a flesh and blood copy of my actual matter.
Young man, you look no heavier than a hundred and fifty pounds, but youd have to be level thirteen at dupdomancy before you could copy yourself, and that just isnt possible.
You know your stuff, Calvin said. Why isnt it possible?
It takes a dozen years of practice, or hundreds of Supporters to master a Bent Ability to that level at your age. I dont see hundreds of Supporters.
She frowned, glancing around. Matter of fact, youve used far more Bent than you should have, and last I checked, Supporters are considered taboo by the Gadveran military.
She rapped her delicate fingers on the saddle, her nails clicking against the shellacked surface.
Youve got a Bent draining mutation, dont you, boy?
Calvin gave her a wide smile.
Tell you what, She said, slipping off a bangle made out of a glass tube shaped into a circle, sloshing with black Bent inside.
Ill give you this reservoir, if you tell me how you came across that mutation.
Calvin could tell her how he got the mutation, which wasnt exactly possible to duplicate. In fact, he could tell her anything he wanted, and shed have to take his word for it. One lie, and it would be a quick and easy way to get his first reservoir.
And that was the trap.
Sorry, Calvin said, nodding to her. As tempting as that is, my real body is a dozen miles away already, and theres no way for me to get it to him in time.
If Calvin accepted the deal, even with a well-crafted lie, he was fairly sure hed blow his act as a fake and shed jump on him right then and there.
No problem. I look forward to the next time we meet, Mr. Wasp.
Please, Calvin said with a dignified bow, Call me Mr. The Wasp. There was no way he was giving the Ilethan Sorceress his name, from his own lips. Who knew what shed be able to do with it?
Sorcerers cursing a mans name is a myth, Mr. The Wasp, designed to control the ignorant with fear. Charlotte said with a warm smile.
Yeeeah, Ill take my chances. Calvin said with a shrug.
Charlottes warm smile evaporated as she lost interest in him, turning her Guar aside and digging her heels into its side. The pebble-skinned lizard gave a grunt and began trotting away.
Give em some feathers and a beak and theyd be riding chocobos. As it stands, the closest approximation I can come to is..Hadrosaurus?
Calvin ignored Elliots musing, focusing on his own musing instead, all while keeping an eye out for an unexpected attack. A last vengeful arrow to the brain would mean the end of all his clever plans.
I Wish I had some way to summon myself as a Chained Spirit. Then I could apply Continuity and Bent, and basically solve the fear of death problem while tripling my available Bent, under the assumption that my copies couldnt make more copies.
A good assumption to make. Just peering through the code, I can see six reasons why Consume wouldnt work with a Duped body and hey Thats interesting.
What?
Gimmie a minute.
The sound of faint clicking, like gaming chips rattling against each other at a steady pace echoed through Calvins mind.
Calvin, youre a genius!
Tell me something I dont know, Calvin said, backing toward the fort, keeping his eyes on the retreating Ilethans.
Okay, so you cant eat yourself. Gross. But maybe you dont have to.
Explain.
Child skills create a virtual shared space where the Parent skills are both able to donate their abilities to the Child. These donated Abilities are then translated into something compatible with the Child.
And?
Calvinian Summoning has Mass Splitting and Shaping from Dupdomancy baked into it, Along with the core mechanics of Chained Spirit.
I still dont see where youre going with this. Calvin said.
Your child skill creates something of an indirect link between Chained Spirit and Dupdomancy. I think I can manually scrub one of your Ability slots in Calvinian Summoning, and replace it with one copy-pasted from Chained spirit. The skill will then be translated by the System into a format compatible with Dupdomancy, since its in a Child Skill. Then I can scrub a Dupdomancy slot and paste the reformatted Ability in.
So, take the best Abilities from each and swap them over at the price of losing access to the ones I like the least.
Exactly.
Sounds good, Calvin said, turning back to the fort once the enemy was out of view.
Goddamn that was a stupid plan, Baroke said as Calvin walked through the door. Calvins legs felt like theyd turned to jelly. The muscular Gadveran looked like hed swallowed something disgusting.
Its only stupid when it doesnt work. Calvin said, leaning against the solid wooden wall as soon as he was out of sight, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.
Veyers, keep the watch going. We dont know for sure if theyre actually leaving.
Sir. The young lieutenant nodded.
And whats the legality of a captain reselling unused weapons and armor? Calvin asked, thinking of the hundred and fifty men whod died choking on their own lungs. If he wanted to get this castle done quickly, he needed to hire a lot of women, and damn what they thought of him.
Dubious.
Its good steel in perfect condition. Find a legal way for us to profit off of it.
Theres no
Everyone gets a share. Talk to Sergeant Fleck. The old mans sure to know a couple ways to dodge battlefield looting legislation.
Sir. Veyers gave him a stiff salute and hurried off.
What are you, a pirate now? Grant asked, watching Veyers hurry off.
Simply a man who doesnt want to be here any longer than necessary. General Andra set him on this task expecting to give him a couple years to cool off away from the capital, and away from Kala.
Man? Grant scoffed.
It was a win-win situation for her. Either Calvin was kept out of trouble for a couple years, his spunk cooling off while they dealt with the Iletha situation, or he returned home victorious, with her land-based invasion problems solved.
Calvin knew which one would go better for him.
If he was out of the public eye long enough, he would fade into obscurity, and becoming Wizard King was off the table.
So stupid bureaucratic rules that prevented him from reselling the kit in front of him were going out the window.
Every single purple-faced Ilethan corpse lining the wall was wearing kit equivalent to roughly two Stones.
Each of them had been carrying a good blade, and armor that, once bleached of the Ilethan colors, would be more than welcome among Gadveran nobles looking to save a few stones on gear.
If Calvin took ten shares and divided the rest among the company, hed have about eight mens worth of gear. Of course, there was no way they would be able to get full price for them in such a clandestine arrangement, so Calvin could really only expect to walk away with about three Stones.
It wasnt nearly enough. Calvins fist tightened as he resisted the urge to pace. He needed to attract enough camp followers to fast-track the fort building.
How about letting your men do the hiring for you?
Explain.
What do you think theyll spend their money on, should you give them shares of todays loot?
Beer? Maybe set aside some money for starting a business after the war?
Seriously?
What?
How can you spend so much time plotting to hire whores and not have this occur to you? Women: Your men will spend the money on women. You give soldiers spending money and theyll spend it on women.
So If I tell Perthea that well have cash in a week, women will organically arrive to lighten our pockets, no hiring or cajoling required on my part. While theyre here, we can make use of them.
There you go. All you have to do is make this a safe place for them to ply their trade and youll have all the women of negotiable virtue you need.
You doing all right? Ella asked, waving a hand in front of his face. You kind of went blank.
Just thinking, Calvin said, eyes refocusing on the steel-clad Genosian. Her size and armor reminded him of Karen.
Maybe thats part of the reason I find her so comfortable to work with. That and the love-potion.
Calvin crossed his arms, thinking with a deep frown. The last time hed been ambushed by Kala and Ella had included a blindfold, and in the camp, Calvin usually didnt get to go to bed until the night was pitch black.
Ah hell, I almost died half a dozen times so far. Im gonna find out where that Tattoo is.
Thats the spirit!
Right after I revisit my bulleted list of things I need to work on.
Nooo, goddamnit.
Read it back to me, I know you have it.
1. Meditation Maxed out for ShadowBoxing
2. Raise Calvinian Summoning to 20 or higher
3. Chained spirit 15 or higher, turn Nadia: SIPHON
4. Break level 5 on YPiiAC, Fishing, Beli Ma.
5. Raise physical Abilities: workout every day.
Cross off number four and five. I already did four and number five is a given, its redundant.
Calvin looked at the list and decided to focus on Meditation, Via Shadowboxing. He could level Meditation along with his lower level abilities, such as Hunting. Once he hit level fifteen at Meditation, he could switch gears and aim for Siphon for his Chained Spirit.
At level fifteen Calvin did a little math in his head. Fifteen squared divided by sixty A Chained Spirit would last for over two days, while Dupdomancy would last barely more than an hour, and Calvinian Summoning would last just under four hours.
Chained spirit was the epitome of long-term summons.
Over the course of two days, Nadia could drain quite a lot of Bent on his behalf. Having a political barrier between himself and the women hed be draining was also a good plan.
Besides, it was better than giving her the Bent ability and having her turn on him.
It wasnt beyond the realm of possibility that she might use her powerful mental Abilities to take control of him and flip their roles. Calvin wasnt going to pick Bent for her until his Mind rivaled hers.
And if that never happened, Oh well.
In the meantime, Calvin wanted to focus on the physical boosts from Hunting Abilities and the Stability boosts from raising Fishing. He really wanted to see if he could reach the exploit hed noted at level fifteen.
You still look pretty blank. Baroke said peering into his eyes. How many fingers am I holding up?
Im planning. Shut up. Calvin grunted before looking around. Weve got our work cut out for us. I need a good place to meditate.
Well, lets get you away from the wall, captain, Baroke said, putting a hand under Calvins elbow and pulling him to his feet. Last one exploded.
When did I sit down? Calvin thought as a wave of tiredness washed over him. He bit back a yawn as he stumbled forward.
Sure I havent been getting a lot of sleep the last couple days, but its not that bad is it?
Lets get you to your bunk. The guys have set up a tent for you already. You can meditate there.
Calvin waggled a finger at his friend. I know youre just trying to get me to sleep, but to prove I dont need it, Im gonna go ahead and meditate on my bunk for the next hour. Wake me get me up around dinner time.
Sure, Captain, Baroke said, pulling open the tent-flap and lightly shoving Calvin in.
Calvin collapsed into the double-sized captains cot, nearly breaking the wooden frame. He was instantly asleep.
Calvin didnt wake up for seventeen hours.
Comments
Nick Cartwright
When chapter was the blindfold in? I don’t remember it
Small continuation with that is he IS a perfect copy of the original for the aunt's voodoo
Chad B. Sonnen
I agree that this chapter have it's faults but could easiy be amended in the future by having both Charlotte and Brandon not buying the Calvin they encountered to be a fake and just pretended to be duped. Both Ilethan are more than capable as an two manned infiltration team to get to Calvin, without the army slowing them down andI'm sure that both Aunt and nephew are too invested to give up now, planning their kidnapping operation as soon as they evacuated their army.
Sean Austin Gartland
If dupdomancy ever becomes permanent I wonder if his clones will start abandoning calvin to do their own thing.
Deinos
Heh nice. Just very stupid. It boggled my mind that they wouldn't simply rip him to shreds as stress relief. Pretty simply, if he was really what he claimed to be then there'd be little reason to let him gloat like that and not give the demotivated troops or even Brendan some toy to put their frustrations on. It'd be also easily combinable by aunty, making him immobile with her freeze spell, then let them torture him without killing until he either turns out to be the real thing, give some info or die during the "interrogation". Half an hour can be quite long afterall.
ManKyYen
It's based on the "Talking to Girls" skill, not on a "Talking to the opposite Sex" skill, so it should only work on women for her, too.
Chris
Wouldn't Nadia be syphoning from the guys? Did it syphon work on the opposite sex or was it just women?
Seadrake
Great chapter, excited to see the new dudopmancy and chained spirit lists.
Sanairb
Even if they think hes fake, Brendan hates him enough to stab the copy out of spite.
Macronomicon
Bit late. give me a heart if you think he should be stabbed somewhere during the talk and continue pretending to be a fake.
