Khenal
patreon
Chapter Three-Hundred Five
🕑 Added 2024-11-05 05:09:41 +0000 UTCI keep watching as they delve, carefully picking what denizens to send their way. If they were doing a more ordinary delve, I think they’d get overwhelmed. Tula does her best, but there really is a significant gulf in her power compared to the others, and I don’t know that they’d be able to pick up the slack if I treated them like a larger party adventuring in the cavern layer.
Luckily for them, they’re headed for the enclave, so I make sure the denizens take it easy on them. They still need to pay the toll, but I have no intention of cutting my spiderkin off from the surface. By the time they reach the enclave, Tula is looking a bit haggard, but at least not traumatized.
“I can’t believe you all do that for fun…” she grumbles, much to the amusement of the others.
“Aw, it wasn’t that bad, was it?” asks Freddie, forcing Tula to sigh and admit the truth.
“It wasn’t as bad as I feared, but… I don’t think I’m coming back without all of you, or maybe Olander.”
“Hard to argue with the experience, too,” adds Larrez, earning another grudging nod from the scribe.
“Let’s go find Norloke. The enclave is as safe as Fourdock, so don’t worry.” Rhonda nods at the guards as the group enter the enclave, giving Tula her first sight of my spiderkin industriously going about their day. Right now, they’re focused on ensuring their capture baskets are properly repaired for the harvest. The cave lobsters are about ready to be culled and distributed to the live wells of the residents, making room for the next generation of tasty little pinchers.
Larrez is the first to notice the reason, or at least the first to voice it as they head for Norloke’s home. “It looks like they’re getting ready to harvest their lobsters. Have you guys had them before?”
The others shake their heads, with Rhonda replying first. “I hear they used to be a pretty common food back before Hullbreak went nuts, but they’ve been too rare for orphans like us to try.”
“I’ve had crayfish, but there’s no lobsters where I used to live,” adds Tula.
“I’ve had them before,” admits Larrez. “They’re alright. Well, sea lobsters. I haven’t tried the cave ones. They’re supposed to be pretty easy to cook.”
“Maybe we should come back later to see if they have any extra to sell,” suggests Freddie. “The spiderkin seem to really like them, so they can’t be terrible.”
Rhonda looks uncertain about that. “They look weird. But I guess a plucked chicken looks weird, too. I’d be willing to give it a try, at least.”
“I wonder why they always leave the head feathers on…” muses Freddie as they arrive, and Rhonda knocks on the door to the ground level of Norloke’s elaborate home. While many spiderkin are starting to take to making stone or brick homes on the floor, Norloke and the others weavers especially still like to weave their homes up near the ceiling of the cave. Of course, they still have guests, so they have at least a small room or two built on the ground floor, and generally keep their live wells there.
The knocking gets the spiderkin’s attention and she pokes her head out from her silken abode in the ceiling, smiling and waving as she recognizes who’s come to call.
“Ah, Freddie, Rhonda, and Larrez! And Lucas and Fiona, too! Oh, and a new friend? Give me a moment to get these last few stitches and I’ll be right down!”
They oblige, with Tula looking around the enclave at the busy spiderkin. “I’ve never been in an enclave before. I’m not sure what I was expecting,” she admits.
“I wonder if they could make you some silk robes,” ponders Freddie. “Rhonda’s going to be asking about some, so you could, too. I don’t think them dying it would be a problem, either.”
“I’m not sure I could afford it. These work well enough.”
“No harm in asking,” points out Rhonda. Tula shrugs in defeat at that as Norloke exits her silken room, nimbly climbing down to greet the group.
“Thank you all for waiting! Now, to what do I owe the pleasure?” she asks with a smile as she opens the door, ushering them all in. The room itself may be made of stone and bricks, but the weaver has covered practically every surface in soft silks, lending it an elegant, almost ephemeral atmosphere. She waves a hand for them to all take a seat as she takes her own, eagerly awaiting their answer.
“Well, we wanted to visit and catch up some,” starts Rhonda, before pulling out the nice robe Rocky had made for her. Norloke’s eyes twinkle in recognition as the goblin continues. “And to ask if you can do adjustments on this? I’m kinda outgrowing my current robes. I was going to ask for something new, but Teemo reminded me of this. It was just too nice to wear for ordinary delving, but…”
Norloke laughs brightly as she holds out her arms for the robe. “Oh, it is a very nice robe. I remember when they were presented to you! I hope you weren’t worried about ruining them somehow? Rocky had these made specifically for delving, just like Freddie’s hatchet and Larrez’ rapier.”
“Did you help him make the robe?” asks Freddie, and Norloke shakes her head.
“No, he kept it a secret until the reveal. We probably should have realized he was up to something when the aranea started watching us for a while, same with the ratlings at the ratkin forges.” She chuckles in hindsight as Rhonda hands it over, and starts examining them.
“Oh my, they even used widow silk! Remarkable. I hope Jeb domesticates some of them soon, their silk is remarkably strong.” Her fingers flow over the garment as she observes out loud, her attention moving from the guests to the piece of clothing. “Oh, you can feel Thing’s runework, too. Clever, I think he used some of the metal transmutation elixir to reinforce the threads, too. Hmm…” She pulls and pushes on the fabric before nodding. “I think I can let it out some without disrupting anything.”
She turns her attention to Rhonda, her hands measuring on the fabric as she analyzes the goblin girl. Rhonda speaks up as she watches her work.
“How much will it be? And how much to get some simpler silk robes for Tula here?”
“Oh, it shouldn’t be too much for either. We can talk about the details while I get your measurements. Freddie, Larrez? Do you two know the way to the armory? Teemo stopped by and asked about the new composite armor. Folarn is in charge of that, or at least our part in it. I believe she wants to get some pieces to Rocky so he can put them through their paces. Honey had a whole book of things she wanted tested.”
Freddie and Larrez laugh about that. “Sounds like Honey,” comments Freddie as he stands. “Do we take them to Rocky’s arena, then?”
“I think Teemo wants them down in the secret training room. He should be waiting in the armory for you, though, so he’ll tell you there.”
Larrez nods and stands as well. “Then I guess we’ll meet you two there once you’re done?”
Norloke nods. “It shouldn’t take us too long. You boys help move the armor and they should be along by the time you’re done.”
The guys nod at that and go, and I follow them, giving the girls a bit of space to themselves. At the armory, Teemo meets with the guys and shows them the armor suits, and they get to work without much complaint. Freddie is pretty incredulous about how light they are, but Larrez just chuckles about more of my nonsense.
The harder part is in moving a few dummies in to put the armor on, but once Rocky sees everyone hauling things around, he lends a hand. True to Norloke’s word, Rhonda and Tula arrive as the guys are getting the last of the armor set up. The elven woman looks curious, but Rhonda is the one who gets to voice her curiosity first.
“Is that the armor? Is it dipped in glass or something?” she asks, poking a set designed for a ratkin. Rocky snorts in amusement as Freddie shakes his head.
“Teemo says it’s some kind of lacquer?” He looks to my Voice who shrugs.
“Resin, but I’m still a bit fuzzy on the actual difference. It’s tough, but it doesn’t dent like metal does. Go ahead and give it a few attacks, you’ll see.”
Freddie smiles and pulls up his hatchet. “I’ve been wanting to give them a test since I picked up the first piece. Ordinarily, I’d expect to chop through it easily, but there’s definitely some Thedeim weirdness going on. Hyah!”
Despite his words, he doesn’t seem to put any special skill into the attack as he swings for the chestpiece. The hatchet digs in slightly, leaving a good scratch in the finish as he pulls away. The orc shakes his head before taking a closer look. “How’s it do that? It almost felt like wood, but it took a hit that should have dented normal armor at least.”
Curious, Larrez gives a testing jab with his rapier and finds that, though he can make a pinhole in the outer layer, he can’t get much deeper without using a skill. Teemo elaborates as the guys give the armor a couple other experimental whacks, stabs, and slices.
“The Boss calls it composite armor. It’s like, you know how silk is supposed to be really strong, but is too flexible to make a good plate out of? The resin makes it stiff, and you can embed a bunch of other stuff, too. He says that, if done right, each material adds its own strength to the whole. The design is pretty complicated considering how in the end, it looks to me like they just paint the resin onto a very impractical robe or even a bedsheet.”
“It seems pretty effective to me. Why does Thediem want to test it more?” asks Freddie, looking like he’s already ready for a suit of his own.
“Mostly, it’s in the maintenance. Metal can be bent back into shape, but this can’t. It accumulates the dings and scratches until something finally gets through, or the layers come apart and the whole thing becomes useless. It also doesn’t handle most affinities too well. Things like kinetic and metal are pretty easy to stop, but fire, ice, lightning and such are still a problem.”
“Is… is that why you have Rocky here?” timidly asks Tula, eyeing my zombie scion and clearly thinking about his long list of affinities. He grunts and nods, then gestures to Rhonda with a questioning look.
“I’d like to help too, if you don’t mind? I really want to see you work with kinetic first, if you don’t mind? I’m close to a breakthrough, I can feel it.”
Tula looks confused where Freddie and Larrez are trying to look casual.
“Yeah?” asks Teemo, glancing to Tula as Rhonda nods.
“Yeah. Please?”
Rocky grunts with a smile and sets his mouthpiece before stepping up to a dummy, motioning for Rhonda to step up to another one.
“Why is she…” quietly asks Tula, and Freddie answers.
“Just watch. Trust me.”
Confused, she looks to Larrez, who nods and points as Rocky and Rhonda start. My boxer summons an orb each of fire and ice as he starts punching the armor, going slow and not using too much force just yet. Tula gasps at the display, and gasps again as Rhonda follows suit. She raises her staff and calls forth her own orbs, and lets them float to either side as she hits the staff’s head against the armor.
Rocky grunts and nods, keeping a steady rhythm even as he increases the force of his hits. Rhonda sounds frustrated as she tries to focus and hit harder with her staff. “I can’t hit as hard as you!” she complains, much to the amusement of Rocky. He grunts again, getting Rhonda’s focus as he starts hitting much harder.
She’s the first to notice, but as Rocky continues, the others can see the ball of flame slowly growing with each hit. “It’s…” her eyes widen as she seems to understand, though she doesn’t have the words to explain her epiphany. Rocky grins around his mouthguard as he merges the orbs, ending with a smaller ball of fire for a few moments, before he consumed the energy and puts it into his punch, sending the armor smashing against the cave wall.
Rhonda doesn’t have his mastery, but she’s got the idea now. She lets the orb of ice fall to the ground as she focuses on the fire. “Like an explosion…” she mutters to herself before the fireballs winks out of existence. A heartbeat later her dummy crashes into the wall next to Rocky’s, and the goblin slumps to the ground, spent.
Freddie quickly moves to help her, while Tula stares at the scene. “That’s… it’s…” she stammers as she points an accusing finger at Rocky. “First you… then she...?!” Her finger alternates between them for several cycles before she makes a decision and points it back to Rocky.
“How’d you do that?! Why fire and ice?” she demands, much less demure now.
“To show me,” grunts Rhonda as she gets to her feet with Freddie’s help. She smiles at him, resting a hand on his before he steps away. She leans on her staff slightly, and is distracted by the head for a moment. “Kinetic definitely needs a diamond…” she mutters to herself before turning her attention back to Tula.
“And probably show you, too. Don’t let him fool you, his brain is anything but rotten. This is why I wanted you to come meet Rocky, Tula. Karn told me about your quest.”
“He’s an Ice Sage? It’s a type of undead?”
Rhonda shakes her head. “It’s a class. My class. Inspired by how Rocky fights and uses his affinities, and shaped by the trials Thedeim made for us. It’s a class all about learning and teaching. Each new understanding gives a greater insight into not just magic, but how everything works. I had ice affinity innately, and gained fire affinity through an epiphany… and now kinetic, too.”
She raises her staff and lets it go, making it float for a few moments as frost creeps along it. She doesn’t keep it up for long, though, and soon grabs it to lean on again. “Whew, still not easy, but I’ve definitely got it. Anyway, Tula.” She focuses back on the elf, who looks utterly dumbfounded at what she’s seeing and hearing.
“I’d like to teach you, if you’re interested. I think that’s why Laermali sent you, instead of a high priest or something. My mentor tries to learn, but he’s pretty set in his ways. I think we could help each other. I’m not sure that Sages should be common, if that’s even what Laermali wants, but I’m willing to at least teach you, Tula. If you want to learn?”
She smiles and holds out her hand to the elf. Tula stares at her, eyes wide, before the elf faints.
___________________
Whew, sorry about the delay with this one, but hopefully the longer chapter makes up for it. Today has been a busy one, heh. I hope you enjoyed the chapter :)
Comments
ForNatureOfPredatorsStories4837
Does anyone know what affinity/affinities Freddie has?
ForNatureOfPredatorsStories4837
Ooooohhhhh, that part makes a lot more sense now, lol
William Anderson
I finally joined today after all this time because of chapter 343 and gods this is wonderful!
Alex Turff
Looking forward to her going home and just casually levitating something infront of Staiven
Ethan Barrow
TFTC!! I love that she faints from information overload. Can't wait for that Rocky fight!
mage
Adding a ceramic/metal to what Thediem's currently got should be trivially easy, considering that the fabric is just soaked in glue, basically. Then it would basically be identical to modern composite armor (which is currently just a ceramic sandwich with Kevlar bread, more or less). I'm surprised that composite is weak to lightning affinity, though -- I would've thought that adding insulators to the outside of yourself would be a bonus, not a negative. Oh well, weaving in metal fibers basically encases you in a Faraday cage anyways. Also, adding an outer layer of ceramic tiling would fix the fire/ice problem, and significantly reduce the problem of chip damage accumulating over time while potentially completely solving the issue of maintenance. I'm surprised Thediem hasn't remembered ceramic tiling from the Space Shuttle, or taken inspiration from some rich delver's scale armor.
Rocketman1000 TT
Thanks for the chapter
Ben Bass
TYFTC! Yay, Tula now knows that Rhonda is the Ice Sage, and I think might be a bit overwhelmed. I think the two of them will get along quite nicely. I also think that Tula just got a set of silk robes out of this ‘delve’ too.
Aerowarrier
Man poor Tula xD girl just had her world shatter around her and was offered to learn why before she even had time to process that it happened lol. Also I was kinda hoping that Olander would’ve heard about Rocky giving a little demonstration and come running to see it too, then have Larrez recognize him as THE Olander and be very freaked out xD
Loren Loiselle
Behold a featherless biped
Altaan
LOL!
Typhoonator
Tula.exe has stopped working
Herakilla
Thanks for the chapter! The cat's out of the bag now!
jeffh4
Another fun chapter, and Tula's reaction to the BIG REVEAL was priceless! Two suggestions: "Rhonda hands it over, and starts examining them." One set of "robes" so should be singular here. Can't be both singular "it" and plural "them" Also, rather odd that seeing Rocky for the first time generates zero noteworthy reaction out of Tula. Not a greeting wave from Rocky either.
Cha0sniper
Lmao, poor Tula. Poor girl is overwhelmed by Thediem's...... Thediemness xD
Raufgar
Buffer Overload. Restart Y/N?
Black Esper
Me too!
Laetitia
Thank you !
Pete Magnuson
She doesn't have any particular offensive magic iirc, but has knowledge affinity and has read a lot of books so knows weak points and stuff like that. Probably gonna pick up some expanded affinities to tussle with if she sicks around thedeim, maybe mind, share the stroke-inducing weirdness of our favorite dungeon to bring down foes...
Laetitia
Love this chapter, wonder how tulla fight tho, was it described and i missed it ? I don't remember wich Magic she has but I tought she had very little, which would be weird for a follower of laermali now i think of it... Wonder why her godess choose a timide, unadventurous follower for this, can't wait to discover more of the character and see her come out of her shell and show me why! And i so hope she ends up with olander! I theorize tiny foresight to olander spoke about that : m'y theory IS that what olander stopped searching for and what is truly important is relationship (family and love) and that IS what he might be actually able to find. I totally totally ship the both of them !😍! I also love the interest Rhonda and Freddy show each other! So cute ! And i can't express how i love how you've developped Rocky! He's become such a great caracter ! Anyway thank you so much for this story ! It's such a nice, relaxing and interesting story! Never fails to make me happy when i read it! So thank you very much for your World!
CF Sapper
More like a kevlar helmet than a bullet proof vest, though lots of strike plates are composite materials. Fiberglass and carbon fiber panels are other examples. Fibers with very high tensile strength stronger than steel by weight. Woven into a matrix absorb kinetic energy and distribute it across the whole weave preventing puncture, but because the fibers aren't ridged and they flex this is good for slowing something from piercing, but the kinetic energy can still transfer into the fleshy bits behind a solid strike plate like steel or ceramic absorb and distributes or reflects that kinetic energy. Ceramic is better at this because it shatters instead of the high speed object shattering creating spalling or denting. Theres way more going on but thats kinda the rough idea.
Laetitia
Did'nt remember it until you pointed it out ! Made me laugh out loud once you dis! Thanks!
JHD
Thanks for the chapter. Shouldn't '“Why is she…” quietly asks Tula, and Freddie answers' be '“Why is she…” Tula asks quietly, and Freddie answers' ? Or 'Tula quietly asks'?
architectural engineer
thank you for working so hard!
Khenal
Thanks. Fixed :)
LinaBoeckwurm
*doesn't have anything to say so just grins in excitement, loving the story, wanting more but (im)patiently waiting until the next release date*
Tsume Eiranis
Thank you for the chapter Poor Tula. She is in way over her head
DittoMikko
Ah that's a pretty good Plato joke, got a chuckle out of me
Jacob
Delightful. I'm intrigued as to how the composite works on the armor. Is there any metal in it? Also how hard would it be to put a thin sheet of metal on the surface or underneath? Ballistic armor works very differently than armor against magic so I'm intrigued as to the behaviors of materials against the various elements.
Vorquel
One of the earlier peeks made a joke about birds disappearing when you fully pluck them.
Austin Miller
Tula has encountered a critical error and has crashed.
Cordell Patrick
? When
Demonlord
THAT WAS AMAZING 😍 Rhonda getting a new affinity AND revealing her class... What an incredible chapter 😊
chris Bell
Tyftc as usual amazing work definitely got young Tula very interested i nearly felt like she was going to pull an orlander with a that. Not how that works bahahhaha
AbyssalIceLord
Had another good ole grandpa chuckle from Tula fainting lol this was a good chapter and just what i needed and an excellent reveal :)
architectural engineer
great chapter! thank you so much for the extra length! it really does make up for it and then some!
DittoMikko
Another great chapter, poor Tula is having the wildest day.
architectural engineer
there was a spelling error ".....Thinks like kinetic and metal are pretty easy to stop, but...."
Gustave Dorland
Thanks for the chapter
Durphymcbob
HAHAHA, Yeah information overload is super effect on the bookish people like tula.
Juno Tubolino
Oh my god, this was a perfect chapter!! I adore the end, Rhonda giving a rousing speech & Tula being, well. Tula about it lol.
Vorquel
“I wonder why they always leave the head feathers on…” muses Freddie Callback!
architectural engineer
i was really worried this wasn't going to be released today! the election is making me anxious and this really helps
