I stood in a back alley a ways away from Delna's gate.
Now that my mask was off again, Threat Sense let me know that I wasn't being observed. I'd thought about leaving town via the gate, but then people would ask me questions. Besides, it had been important to drop the mask as soon as possible so as to not have any more witnesses to my vanishing sword.
I let out a sigh.
There was still a notable link between Jubei and Pixel. All the Stringfolk I'd beaten had still been very conscious when I'd administered the potion. Worst, I'd left it behind. A pixelated vial and stopper weren't the worst things in the world, but they would most definitely be noticed.
Ah, well. I shrugged.
I wasn't going to go and assault them again over it. Besides, there was something else I wanted to do that would be even more blatant. That reminded me - I couldn't just teleport out of here and find the goblins. Jubei would need to speak to some people first.
I put the mask back on...
*Gamer's Body disabled.
...Jubei stretched. He felt fine. It might be a good idea to carry a healing potion on him in the future so he didn't have to jump through hoops of his own making to get one if he needed it. Yeah, the worst that could happen would be a pickpocket taking it. That wouldn't be so bad, they were easy enough for him to get.
Right. Jubei nodded to himself, and stuck his sword in his belt, and his right arm in his gi. Best to keep up the charade of his arm being wounded. Plus, it would let him keep a hand on his bag of holding.
In fact...
Yeah. That would be a cooler mask to use in the future. He'd have to give it a try. He needed to switch things up after he left anyways. What a great [Skill]!
In any event, he exited the alley and headed towards the crowd. He craned his head and saw his targets. Darius was standing next to Melne, while Hoat and Milne hugged their mother's legs. Some other villagers were talking with them.
"...be okay. We'll get Raemon back."
"Such stupid monsters! If we had any treasure the Empire would've gotten it already."
"Even if they hadn't, why would we keep it hidden in our mines instead of, I don't know, selling it!"
"Right? If that was the case, we could hire adventurers to clear them out!"
"We could've afforded that before Borert came."
"The goblins weren't a big problem before Borert came."
"Yeah! That's right!"
Jubei assumed the discussion had started about Raemon, but had drifted away. He walked up to Melne. "Don't worry, I'll get Raemon back."
"Really?" Hoat looked up at him. "You promise?"
Jubei ruffled his head, and then that of his sister. "I promise. I can sneak in and free him. Don't worry."
"I'll go with you." Darius grabbed his shoulder and then whispered into his ear. "What happened to your arm? Are you injured?"
"Oh... that." Jubei shrugged. "I beat up Borert and his [Thugs] and got my property back. I'll be leaving after returning Raemon, since my presence will likely spark something." He reached up with his left hand and released himself from Darius' grip. "And, no offense, but you'll only slow me down."
Darius frowned, but stepped back and nodded. Had Jubei told him about Borert stealing his stuff? Or had the [Guard] found out another way? Or just had made an assumption? Either way, the matter was settled.
Jubei noticed that the other villagers had stopped talking and were looking at him with odd expressions. They quickly parted as he moved towards the gate, and none of them made any effort to stop him.
...
Once Jubei was out of sight of Delna, he took off his mask...
*Gamer's Body enabled.
...I cracked my neck. That had gone pretty well I thought. I absent-mindedly Inventoried the DNA samples Jubei had gathered as I re-connected to my drones with my Babel Perks.
Ah.
Good.
They'd found Raemon and the goblins. They'd also found another group of goblins higher up in the foothills. Judging from the markings... I assumed that the two groups were of the same tribe, and that the second location was their real village.
It looked much nicer than the first one, which more closely resembled a long-term camping spot than an actual place to live.
Hmmm...
Did the goblins set up their fake village as a distraction? Something to have adventurers come and destroy? Someplace full of sacrificial pawns?
I frowned. I didn't know how I felt about that. Strategically, it was a decent bluff. It especially made sense as a staging ground to raid merchants. In fact... yep. No babies or children in the fake village.
That meant that, whatever else was going on, that the goblins there were somewhat aware of their situation. I couldn't say for certain if they were volunteers or conscripts, but I guessed it didn't matter. At the end of the day, it was their society.
The books at Wistram painted goblins as nothing more than bloodthirsty monsters, but that seemed entirely to be due to Goblin Lords and Kings. It seemed natural to me that an oppressed people would react violently to the countries that had tried to exterminate them in the past.
The counter argument for that was the most recent Goblin King: Velan the Kind. The book hadn't gone into detail, but Velan had supposedly been, well, kind. His tribe had lived somewhat harmoniously in Baleros - one of the other continents. Baleros didn't have nations as such, so I guessed that was how Velan's tribe had gotten to the size it had been - a supposed fifth 'Great Company'.
Then, he'd snapped - and all the goblins everywhere had snapped along with him. The result? A massive army that had lain waste to multiple nations across three continents.
...That was worrisome, to be sure. Ultimately, it wasn't my problem. Persecuting someone for something the MIGHT do in the future was wrong.
I sighed. I might've felt differently if I had been on the opposing side of a goblin horde. Plus, Velan's rampage had only been little more than ten years ago.
*Melancholy negated by Gamer's Mind.
Right. That was neither here nor there. The greater picture wasn't important. My current goals were to get Raemon back, and to return the dead goblin to her people.
Hopefully they would mesh nicely...
Smallsticks reached down and felt at the brown grass. Dry, but not dry enough. It might start growing again now that the weather wasn't as cold.
She still picked it. She couldn't afford to be that selective. If she'd had her way, she'd only gather actual wood. It was soooo much better. It could burn, be sharpened as a weapon, or eaten as a delicacy.
The grass would burn, but it was useless as a weapon, and it gave her the runs. Bluepath had told them that was because it was poisonous, but not so poisonous it would kill them... which meant that it made up a large amount of their village's diet.
Smallsticks looked left and right, but she didn't see any more grass. Her basket was mostly full, but gathering grass wasn't the real reason she was out this far. The real reason was that she was small and quick. Everyone that had volunteered to stay in the decoy village was.
Smallsticks was now a decoy within a decoy. She smiled. The thought was funny somehow.
They needed to get Goodroot back. She wasn't a decoy. She was important. She never should've been close to where the cloth people could take her!
There was a small cough behind her!
Smallsticks whirled around. A cloth person was towering above her!
She froze.
...The large person said something, but Smallsticks didn't speak the cloth people language. If only she'd heard him coming, she could've lured him into another trap!
Wait.
Smallsticks tilted her head. That was an interesting hat. Was it made out of grass like her basket? Was that another use for it? And, why wasn't he yelling, or trying to grab her? Her eyes focused on the cloth man's face as her heart started to slow down. He was smooth. Most cloth people were rough. So... was he one of their versions of a hobgoblin?
No.
She tilted her head the other way. Cloth people had threads in their bodies. She couldn't see any on him, and... Her eyes traveled down.
'Goodroot!' She squeaked. It was Goodroot! The Chief's plan had worked!
But...
She wasn't moving.
'Goodroot. You okay?' She poked her friend.
No movement.
'Goodroot. Say something! Not funny!' Smallsticks let her hand drop as the small glimmer of hope died in her chest. Goodroot was dead. She'd been dead ever since the cloth people had taken her. It just had taken her a while to die.
And now, it was Smallsticks turn.
She would run, but she'd be caught. The man was too close. She'd have to at least try and lead him to the ambush spot and away from the village. She could do that much.
Her eyes watered, but she didn't cry. Goblins knew not to waste water on things like that, and even now that habit was part of her.
'I come trade.' The man spoke! His hat was gone and his clothes were different! Magic! 'Give body for cloth person. Sorry for loss.'
Smallsticks looked at him blankly before nodding. Right. That was part of the Chief's plan too. She turned to guide him to the ambush spot.
I followed the goblin while carrying the corpse of the other one in my arms. Thankfully, I had used one of my silicone bags to match my appearance to Jubei after discovering that [Don the Mask] changed that as well. There were both upsides and downsides to that.
Looking the same would've meant that I couldn't use ending or starting the skill as a quick disguise. However, it also meant that I could switch back to my 'real' body more seamlessly. I figured that was the more likely scenario: that Jubei would get into a situation where he needed Pixel's skills.
Plus, I could always use Tongue of Babel to 'speak' with light. It had taken some practice, and it still wasn't as good as it could be, but I could essentially use holograms as an emergency if I had to.
My guide was leading me into a trap.
Or, it could be where the goblins wished to make the exchange.
Or, there might not be an exchange because their comrade was dead.
My drones had found Raemon, so I could teleport to him whenever I wanted. As such, the trap didn't concern me... Unless the goblins had some sort of magic that could turn the tables. I doubted that, but I started pumping my mana into Threat Sense just to be sure.
I hoped that the meeting wouldn't take too long. If it did, I'd have to drink one of my mana potions to maintain my empowered Skill.
We passed the hidden goblins on the outer perimeter, and moved to the center. The scarred hobgoblin stepped out from behind a rock.
'Chief.' The female goblin grunted and made some gestures. 'Man come with Goodroot. Dead.'
I slowly placed the body of the dead goblin on the ground and stood up. 'I give. You give cloth person.' I grunted and made the gestures that were part of their language.
**Chief Angrywound is surprised.
Angrywound - which I suddenly knew how to sign/speak in goblin - narrowed his eyes. 'How you speak?'
'I smart.' I tapped my head. 'I watch.'
**Chief Angrywound is cautious.
Angrywound grunted. 'You give body. You take cloth person. You leave.'
I nodded. 'I agree.' I then stepped away from both the corpse and the goblin gatherer.
Angrywound let out a sharp whistle, and pointed at one of the hidden goblins. 'Go get cloth person.' He then looked at me, and lowered his arm.
I got the suspicion that he would've given more orders if I hadn't been able to understand him. His notifications weren't calm, but they also weren't aggressive. He was wary, and not looking for a fight.
At least not now. It was entirely possible that they hadn't intended to honor the trade at first.
I stopped empowering Threat Sense.
If there was an attack, I'd need to save it for the fight - assuming they had magic. Now that I was this close, I should be able to sense any hostile intent before it came to such a thing.
...
It had taken a while for the goblin to make his way to where Raemon was being held alongside the other goblins. They pointed and argued, but soon a pair of them were leading the [Miner] back towards us. His hands were tied tightly behind his back with strips from his shirt. The rest of the garment had been fashioned into a bag that was draped over his head.
He stumbled as he walked, and tried to run away twice. He didn't get far as the goblins tripped him, and then jumped on his back both times. Eventually, the bruised and haggard man came into view and was escorted next to Angrywound.
'Here.' The hobgoblin grunted as he shoved Raemon towards me. 'Take. Leave.'
'Yes.' I nodded in return before bending down and picking the Stringfolk up like a sack of potatoes. Jubei might've had his balance thrown off by hauling a man over one shoulder, but my real body could handle the weight with ease.
I turned and walked away, but my drones kept watch. Several goblins emerged from their hiding spots while brandishing sharpened sticks and rocks. None of them moved to attack. Once I was out of sight, they crowded around their fallen companion.
**Chief Angrywound is sad.
**Smallsticks is sad.
**Rockmouth is sad.
**Greenpiss is sad.
**Backbender is sad.
**Bignose is sad.
**Stupidrun is sad.
Once we got far enough away, and Threat Sense let me know that no one was watching, I gently put Raemon down before putting my mask on...
*Gamer's Body disabled.
Jubei drew his sword.
"Hey! What's going on?" Raemon's voice was muffled. "Let me go you little freaks!"
The katana flashed as it severed the cloth that was wrapped around Raemon's head. "Don't yell." Jubei spoke as he moved to free the man's hands. "The goblins are still close by, and we don't want to attract their attention."
"What?" He twisted to look at Jubei. "What's going on? Did you save me? How?"
"Silence." The [Ninja] hissed. "We're still in danger. We need to move swiftly but stealthily!"
"Oh, uhm, okay." Raemon sagged and let out a shudder. "Yeah... yeah... let's, uhm, let's go."
"Can you walk?" Jubei sheathed his sword.
"Yeah." Raemon staggered to his feet. "I can- whoa!"
He toppled to one side, but Jubei caught him. "Come. Let's get you home."
The pair made their way down the foothills with Raemon leaning on the human's shoulder. They moved quicker once they got to flat ground. When the walls of Delna came into view, Raemon straightened up and pushed Jubei away. There were shouts from the sentries shortly after, and a group of Stringfolk came running out to escort them the rest of the way back.
...
I'd slipped away from the crowd and taken off my mask.
While it wasn't my intended result, I could make good use of the distraction. That was doubly true as there was also a commotion going on by the [Mayor]'s house. I called my drones back from the foothills. The goblins were retreating up the mountain and didn't seem like they'd be coming down again any time soon.
One drone went over each group of people in Delna, while another shot out to the desert. I called the rest back and Inventoried them as I made my way to my target: Maria Fonseca.
Dragon's file said that she was fourteen and had vanished from Cape Verde. Several hours of scrying had done the rest. She wasn't in any imminent danger from what Wistram could tell, so locating her hadn't been their highest priority.
I'd also warned them off of confronting any Earthers who were doing well. While there were quite a few that were in trouble, most of those that we could scry had been managing to get along okay. Several had actually formed groups and were searching for more of their kidnapped brethren.
I'd visit them all in turn, but quite frankly, I didn't trust Wistram to make a good first impression - especially since the Earthers were still a secret. The [Mages] that could be sent out to gather them were mostly being kept in the dark. Thus, only the Earthers who were actually in danger were being contacted - at least for right now.
That would change when we found a way back. However, if that failed? Then the people that were integrating themselves and even founding communities would be better served where they were instead of grouped up in Wistram and dependent on the good graces of the [Mages].
The shame of it was that there weren't that many to investigate, relatively speaking. I had over three hundred people on my list, but less than half of them were showing up in our scrying attempts. Dead, blocked, or perhaps in another different world - there were any number of possible reasons for the rather large discrepancy.
Ultimately, hundreds of targets wasn't beyond Wistram's scope, but it would still cause a disruption if they moved too carelessly.
Maria Fonseca was one of the Earthers that wasn't doing so great. She wasn't in any imminent danger that I could tell, but she also wasn't thriving. She'd locked herself in a room that had been given to her and refused to come out. [Mages] coming to talk to her probably wouldn't go over well - especially since I doubted she spoke English.
I knocked on her door and used Tongue of Babel to speak Portuguese. "Hello, Maria? I am someone from Earth. I've been searching for people who have vanished."
**Maria is surprised.
**Maria is scared.
**Maria is hopeful.
I heard rustling and something large being moved. I patiently waited several minutes before the door slowly opened. A dark-skinned girl with long hair and wide eyes looked at me as she cracked open the door. "You are from Earth? You speak Portuguese?"
**Maria is hopeful.
**Maria is scared.
"Yes." I nodded. "I was sent to try and find all the people who'd vanished."
**Maria is surprised.
"There are others?"
"Several hundred at least." I let out a sigh. "I still don't know HOW this all happened, but I can take you to a safe place." I held up a hand. "Be warned, it is something of a gilded cage for now. The people there will take care of you and protect you, but leaving will require speaking with me."
**Maria is sad.
**Maria is resigned.
"Very well." She couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice.
I chuckled. "Don't be afraid. If you don't want to go, then you can stay here. I'll return once I've figured out how to find a way back to Earth." I shrugged. "Heck, if you prefer it here to Earth that's fine too. I'm offering help. I don't intend to force anything on you."
**Maria is surprised.
**Maria is hopeful.
"Really?"
"Yes." I put as much conviction as I was able into my voice.
**Maria is worried.
"The cage, is it nice?"
I shook my head and smiled. "It's not a literal cage. It's actually a school for [Mages]. There will be other people from Earth there. The [Mages] will probably ask you about Earth, but you'll be free not to answer. You can also play video games or even learn magic if you want."
**Maria is surprised.
**Maria is happy.
"So... it's like Hogwarts?"
I let out a sigh. "Yes... it's like Hogwarts." Or so I'd been told - at length. Multiple times. For each person I'd been pretending to be.
**Maria is determined.
"Okay!" She nodded her head. "I'll go." She then frowned and looked away. "Can I tell Rusema goodbye? She took me in and fed me despite me not being able to speak or help out."
I smiled. "That's fine. How about we wait for her, then I can teleport you there. In the meantime we can talk and I can answer any other questions you might have."
**Maria is happy.
"Okay!"
Maria seemed inordinately happy to talk to me. It was probably because I was both from Earth and spoke in her native tongue. I explained that I was from a second, different Earth, and that I was a superhero. That led to all sorts of questions, and eventually her disbelief turned to amazement.
Though, that was probably due to me showing off one of my suits and offering to make her a video game.
**Maria is amazed.
"Wow." Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open as she watched the pixels swirl together into a hand held system. "So, what else can you make?"
I shrugged as I handed it over. "Lots of things." I had a ton of blueprints from Dragon. That, combined with the schematics for the individual components of every Tinkertech item I'd ever Observed meant that most things were within my capabilities - as long as they weren't required to do more than three or so different things.
"Can you make me a translator?"
I blinked.
Oh. Right. I supposed that WOULD be a nice thing for her to have...
Oh man. Michail has the translation amulet now, but those things aren't common. Plus he didn't have it when he was with Cara...
And she'd even specifically complained about him not understanding English...
And I'd even made a video game system for Jia Hao right in front of him to...
"Pixel?"
I shook my head. "Ah, yeah, I can do that. It will only last about a year, but it should be able to translate just about anything." But NOT everything. I began Crafting it, while making sure to limit what Ears of Babel could be used for. It would be stupid of me to rely on it for encryption and surveillance - and then give someone else access to it.
At least, someone else that wasn't Riley. If my sister had a 'universal translator', I could've gotten in contact with her via Tongue of Babel no matter where in the world she was. Or it could've let me confirm she hadn't been transported with me.
"There." The end result was a small ear bud. "Just put it in your ear, and it will send vibrations through your jaw. Use this knob to adjust how loud it is."
**Maria is perplexed.
"It's too big to fit in my ear. And too blocky"
I chuckled. "No, that's just how it looks. Feel it with your fingers. It's actually smaller and smoother."
"Oh." She rubbed it between her finger and thumb. "Oh!" She then tucked her hair behind her ear, and inserted it. "Say something in English!"
"Your landlady, er, Rusema is approaching." I spotted her with the drone I'd left outside. "Could you let her know you'll be teleporting away?"
**Maria is surprised.
"We are?"
I shook my head. "You are. The teleporter can only take one person to Wistram at a time." And it takes a while to recharge. "I also have other people like you to find."
**Maria is disappointed.
"Oh."
I smiled. "Don't worry." I un-Inventoried a Communication Cube. "You can use this to speak with me if there's an emergency or if something happens." I handed it over to her. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
**Maria is happy.
"Thank you!" Threat sense went off. She was about to grapple me!
I gently patted her on the back as she hugged me. She was about the same age as Riley was now. I'm glad I was getting her to safety.
...
**Rusema is suspicious.
"Do you think I'm just going to stand here and let you march in and lie to this foolish child?" The elderly Stringfolk woman poked my chest with a long, bony finger. "Hm? You plan on taking her to a big city and selling her to a slaver!"
**Maria is embarrassed.
"Rusema!" She whispered through clenched teeth. "It's not like that! He's from Earth too!"
**Rusema is affectionate.
"Oh, my poor, dear, sweet, naive child." She turned and stroked the side of Maria's face. "You're too sheltered. You don't know enough about this world. There are no [Heroes]. Anyone that swoops in to 'save' you is really only out to line their own pockets."
"He IS from Earth." Maria's face was flushing. "He can prove it."
"Oh?" Rusema arched an eyebrow. "And how is he going to do that?"
I mentally sighed as I prepared to un-Inventory 'proof'. It really would've been easier to kidnap her...
...
I stepped out of the room and exhaled. We'd finally convinced Rusema that I was on the up-and-up. Or, that I was strong and rich enough that I wouldn't be going around to random towns and spiriting away unsuspecting teenagers.
I took the time to Craft my final parting gifts.
People should have access to video games, and the kids here didn't seem to have many good toys.
However, there were a number of issues that I could foresee:
1. They could get addicted and do nothing else. This was especially possible given that the [Gamer] class existed.
2. They would probably be pressured into selling any tech I gave them, or have it stolen.
3. I could implement safety features, but making them playable by only a single person would mean they couldn't share. Making them dependent on the recipient to work would likely lead to someone kidnapping them or something.
4. They would be very obviously associated with Pixel.
I might be over thinking things, or I might've been influenced by Rusema's worries.
Still, better safe than sorry.
How about?
1. Simple games. Nothing as basic as Pong, but still something from the 8-bit era. Also, only a single game each instead of an extensive library.
2. Add a Tinkertech sensor that will fry the game if it's taken too far away from the child I gave it to or if the console was scanned with magic or taken apart. That wouldn't prevent any theft, but it should at least make it less desirable.
3. Don't tell them about the sensor and add some randomization into the distance/time it triggers off of. If there was no known need for the children to be close to the video game, and if the link was difficult to detect, then everything should be relatively safe.
4. That ship had already sailed due to the potion. Might as well do some good. [Don the Mask] will still let me go incognito if I want to.
I mean, the safest thing to do would be nothing, but that was a poor reason to deprive someone of access to video games...
5. Make enough gaming systems so that they aren't rare things.
And... there.
I'll have Jubei give these to Hoat and Milne. Who knows? Maybe The Legend of Zelda and Mega Man will inspire them or unlock some special [Classes]?
...
"You ready?"
**Maria is nervous.
She closed her eyes and then nodded her head as she stepped onto the platform. "Let's do this!"
"Okay." I reached out to the base I'd constructed underneath Wistram with Tongue of Babel and engaged its long-range teleporter. It connected to the platform under the Cape Verdean and grabbed her. The next moment, Maira vanished.
**Rusema is surprised.
"Don't worry." I reassured the Stringfolk. "She's just fine." I bowed my head. "Thank you for looking after her."
**Rusema is embarrassed.
"Feh." Rusema snorted. "It's what any person with half a heart would do. Now, git so she's not alone there!"
I chuckled and Inventoried the Teleportation Pad. "Very well." I nodded one last time, and then teleported to where my drone was hovering outside of the town. I couldn't easily return to Wistram. The teleporter needed several days to recharge, and it could only teleport so much mass at once. Although, I would need to return at some point to maintain it. My Tinkertech was fairly stable - at least compared to that of most other Tinkers, but for complicated devices I still needed to re-Craft them from time to time.
"Maria, I'd like you to meet Blackmage." I swept my projected arm towards Aaron. "He's mostly in charge of things here since he's been around the longest." I was using the Communication Cube I'd given her to speak to them both.
"Is this really like Hogwarts?" She looked around with wide eyes. "Can I really learn magic here?"
Aaron smiled. "You sure can! The next semester is starting soon."
I left them there to talk, and called my drones back to my real body. There. Now, to just put the mask back on and have Jubei deliver his parting gifts...
I stopped. There was something... there! In the background. I'd learned how to tap into the scrying network with Ears of Babel. Or, it might be more appropriate to say that Optimize had learned how? In any case, it was a soft buzz in the background the same way that radio signals or cell phones had been back on Earth Bet. Scrying actually contained more data as it wasn't limited by bandwidth or resolution.
Most of the time I ignored it, but sometimes someone broadcast to everyone. That took power or skill. Or even just multiple [Mages] bouncing the message around. For those, I paid attention... and this one seemed important. A giant of a man with red and golden hair was saying something:
'I am the King of Destruction! I have returned! If there is any nation that seeks my end, come! Send your armies to me! But I will not make war on any nation that treats my people and my kingdom as friend! Let any who crave glory flock to my banner, and any foe of mine quake behind your walls! I am Flos of Reim and I have awoken!'
'The Empire of Sands is my foe! I will slay the Emperor of Sands myself! As for Wistram, send Amerys to me! Return to me my [Mage] or I will sail upon your walls and break your academy into dust! I say again, I will make war on no nation that does not attack my people! But the blood of Drevish stains the Empire of Sands and I will return the favor a hundred thousand times over!'
It wasn't anything I, or Wistram, hadn't known already, and it didn't directly concern me. Except... I was now the singular person who had any say in what happened to Amerys.
Bios:
Maria Fonseca - OC. An Earther from Cape Verde. She appeared in the desert, but managed to stumble into Delna.
Various Goblins - OC. Doing pretty well for goblins. The [Merchants] they raid usually are carrying food. Their Shaman has a non-sentimental reason for wanting her apprentice's corpse back.
Author's Note: Credit to drvash for the idea of Pixel distributing video games to people he meets.
Also, Flos' speech was taken directly from the Wandering Inn.