Luke walked into Kruro’s shop and set Jinx’s cat backpack down. He considered putting his magic drone down too, but he figured he better put it to work instead. If they were going to kill the adult hydra today, they would need some recon first. He turned to Cormac who was still standing outside the round door.

  “Sorry, I wasn't thinking about how asking around about the hydra would affect you politically. But there is a reason I haven’t tried to kill it yet. That hydra is big. And the Seer told me it was resistant to elemental damage, which is my entire arsenal,” Luke said and shrugged his arms.

  Cormac smoothed his white leather armor and said, “Come with me. We don’t need to bother the runewright with this discussion.”

  Kruro agreed and got out a bowl of cat treats, fresh meat. Jinx hopped up to the counter and loudly meowed in thanks. Luke wanted to stay and ask about where that meat came from, but Cormac was already walking away.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To my office. While we walk, tell me what you have been up to over the last few days. And please tell me you aren’t out there fighting alone.”

  “No, no. I have five more people on the team, they are out culling monsters now. I wanted to test out my magic drone before I joined them later today,” Luke said and held up the machine he was holding.

  As they walked through the estate, Luke told him about surveying the slimes, Gem Flies, Purpleheart Ents, and Crystal Golems. All of their populations were as high or higher than expected. That meant that the Hive Wolves were still hidden somewhere, slowly growing in power. He also mentioned his progress with War Machine class and explained his new spell rifles built into his arms.

  By then they had arrived at the metal tree in the center of the estate. It was enormous, as big as a skyscraper in New York. Each floor held three triangular rooms with large oval windows. There was a wide staircase wrapping around the tree, as well as a vertical channel that looked like it could hold an elevator. The Seneschal led Luke up two flights of stairs and into a large office. They didn’t pass anyone along the trip.

  “You have done well these last few days,” Cormac said and sat down heavily in a padded chair. “I am grateful for your culling and survey work, and particularly impressed that you are already level five.” He grabbed a thin book from the low table near the chair and held it up to him. “I had intended on giving this primer on classes to you early on your journey, but you are already close to your first threshold.”

  Luke took the book and tucked it away. It was written in elvish so he would have to translate it later. “What’s a threshold?”

  Cormac nodded and gestured towards a padded chair nearby. It looked like a set of wide stairs with a back, but Luke realized it was one chair for differently sized people. Orcs would sit on the top level, elves the middle, and dwarves the lower one. The seats acted as armrests as well. Luke sat down, even though he couldn’t feel the comfort from within his power armor. His padded pilot suit provided a good imitation though.

  “Every six levels you will have to offer up a sacrifice to the system in order to progress. That is a threshold. The better your sacrifice, the stronger your class grows. You also gain access to better skill choices.”

  “What kind of sacrifice are we talking about here?” Luke said, suddenly worried about human sacrifice.

  “For your first sacrifice, a small mana core will do. For your second tier you will need to give up a core and a runed object. For your third tier, you will need a core, a runed tool, and one of your skills. Each threshold requires more sacrifices to make the most of your opportunities. But that’s years from now. For your first threshold, a sacrifice of a tier three mana core will be more than sufficient.”

  Luke thought back, it had only been a few weeks ago, but it felt like a lifetime. That first day Cormac had given him a tier three mana core. That was easy to provide, he even had a few of them tucked away in his mech’s compartment right now. He planned on selling them Wednesday when Mr. Perez was in town. Until then it was best to keep the cores with him.

  “And before you think of wasting a fortune in cores, each threshold has a maximum sacrifice. Do not sacrifice a stronger core, even a tier three core results in some wastage.”

  Luke tapped his chin. The clang of metal on chitin surprised him since he had briefly forgotten he was wearing power armor. Thanks to Machine Bond, it was more like a second skin every day. “Is that why monster cores are so valuable? Without a big enough monster core, you can’t pass a threshold? People must be willing to pay a lot so they are not stuck at a low level.”

  “That is part of it, yes. Cores are also a source of energy. Less useful out here on the edge of civilization, but all major cities run on a steady flow of monster cores. They say the floating islands of the Countesses require a tier seven mana core every single day to keep aloft.”

  “I’ve never heard of a floating island on Kalibutan.”

  Cormac smiled. “Of course not. The Triumvirate would never allow portals to new and dangerous worlds to be opened anywhere important.”

  Luke nodded thoughtfully. Maybe he would go on a vacation across Kalibutan one of these days, just to see what all was out there. But for today, they still needed to make some plans. “So, what are we going to do about that hydra?”

  Cormac looked to the door to double check it had been closed. He sighed and said, “As much as I hate to admit it, the hydra would have posed a challenge to me even if my class core wasn’t cracked. Seer Theobaldine tells me it’s an adult Prismatic Hydra. That means it has a major resistance to all elemental magics. It would have been a perfect monster for the warriors to fight against since it is weak to bludgeoning damage, but politics has once again reared its head.”

  “Oh yeah. They used to help with monster culling. You said they quit helping because they were busy?”

  “Not busy, they are mostly gone. There are only a few instructors and novices left in the Shrine of Might. They have all been called up to assist in the Malamon.”

  “What’s a Malamon? You've mentioned it a few times but never explained it.”

  “English does not have a word for it. It is something between a war and a ritual.”

  Luke blinked slowly. “That is not nearly enough detail.”

  Cormac chuckled. “Life in the big cities is grand, far more civilized than here. However, one thing it does not have in abundance is opportunities. The social structure is rigid, and the leveling prospects are rare. One of the best chances for advancement comes in the form of a Malamon.

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  “A coalition of hopefuls have come together and petitioned the Triumvirate, who granted Malamon against us, the three estate villages around this portal. We fight them now for the right to keep our jobs. If they win, they will replace the staff for one of the three villages.”

  “So if your warriors lose the fight, you get fired? That sucks. Is it a fight to the death or?”

  “Death is involved, yes. But typically not from the fights. The specifics need not concern you. What you need to focus on is that Prismatic Hydra. Seer Theobaldine has been mocking me because I haven’t killed it yet. If we do not kill it soon, I will be found out and fired anyway.”

  “What about the Hive Wolves? Aren’t they a priority too?”

  Cormac flicked his hand down. “The Hive Wolves are difficult to deal with because they are smart. It’s the same reason I know they will not be a problem this week. They will continue to multiply by killing other monsters before they make probing attacks on our village. That has not happened yet, so our main focus must be the hydra.”

  Luke nodded and explained some of his ideas for how they could approach the enormous monster. Cormac gave his own advice, but didn’t impose his plans. He would be there to observe, but couldn’t afford to get close with a cracked core and no way to defend himself.

  While they talked, Luke spent his last point of Machine Soul and activated his magic drone. He gave it some instructions and sent it out to survey Blue Valley, where the ents lived. The flying hexagon garnered a few words of praise from Cormac, it was apparently faster than he expected.

  Cormac got out a map of the peninsula and they talked through different strategies. Eventually Luke’s drone arrived at Blue Valley and made a wide sweep of the area. The camera gave him much more information than what he had seen before, and he made a few suggestions to Cormac.

  “Ultimately, it is your decision, Luke of Machines. You lead your warriors, not I. I will give you the Blood Spear and you will have to do the rest yourself. But I believe your plan has a good chance of succeeding.”

  “The question is if everyone else agrees,” Luke said. He took out his phone and took a picture of their plans.

  He sent his magic drone out for a few more passes, then brought it back to him. It was so nice to be able to give it mental commands. Luke walked back to Kruro’s place alone because Cormac had meetings to attend and tasks to supervise. They planned on meeting up at the runewright’s place Kalibutan midmorning.

  Kruro was playing with Jinx when he got there. Her workbench was empty and the cat was chasing the naga’s tail around the workshop. The runewright immediately examined Luke’s magic drone, never ceasing her play with Jinx. She tsked when she saw a few runes he shouldn’t have access to, but said nothing. Luke decided to change the subject.

  “I really appreciate that you let me bring Jinx with me. Most cats would be fine with having time alone, but apparently she doesn’t. She always insists on coming along when I go to work.”

  “It is never an imposition. This black beauty is a delight to have in my runeshop.”

  “Speaking of runes, do you have a second to help me out? I have a few hours to tinker and I was wondering if you could teach me a non-elemental attack rune. The hydra we are going to attack is resistant to elemental attacks.”

  Kruro hissed softly. “I do not know many attack spells, that is mostly the purview of the inner runewright.”

  “Any chance you could introduce me? I really want to have the best chance at succeeding here.”

  She slashed her hands down. “Not a chance. The Inner Runewright would sooner kick dust than look at you. Runewright Omosefe Izekor is a typical elf and she thinks that all other species are beneath her. Her smug superiority is entirely unearned though, she contributes hardly anything to the estate. It’s why you have so few elemental weapons to work with. I am sure our lord considers her a drain. But she was given to him by Countess Minoho Doni, so he can’t release her. Our estate is stuck with her until our Lord passes his threshold or the Indomitable finally do their job and cut her thread short.”

  “I’m not going to remember any of those names, but what I got was the inner runewright won’t help. How about you? Do you know anything that might help us fight the Prismatic Hydra?”

  Kruro hissed again and slithered over to the rear wall. She unlocked a small iron banded box and pulled out a gray colored book. She hummed to herself as she flipped through the pages. “What is the ground like where you will be fighting it? I have a plant growth rune that might... no, that would take too long. Or maybe a wallclimber rune? That would hamper the monster’s movement.”

  Luke thought about it for a bit and sliced his hands down. “Not quite what I’m looking for.”

  Kruro wiggled her hand. “It is good to be picky. Your chassis will only handle one or two more spells before dissonance weakens them all.”

  Luke hadn’t even been thinking about that. Spells drawing from the same source had a feedback resonance. Dissonance would set in if he inscribed too many spells. It was a good thing she mentioned it, otherwise he would have crippled himself by trying to give his mech all the magical powers.

  Kruro lifted her head from the book. “What about a sawblade rune? I know the Seer said it was resistant to cutting damage, but it isn’t an elemental spell.”

  “I think I would like that rune. Maybe it’s not perfect for this situation, but it would be a great way to add damage to my loadout. My other two spells are more disabling and less direct damage.”

  She held out the book and he copied off the Adept Sawblade rune. He didn’t even get out of his mech yet, the buff his class gave him combined with Machine Bond meant that he was just as dexterous in the suit as he was out of it.

  It didn’t take him long to learn the rune, particularly since Kruro provided him with all three intents: saw, swift sharpness, and immaculate separation. His first attempt at creating the rune was a success. It might be time to admit to himself that he was a gifted runewright.

  He popped open and quickly inscribed the rune on either side of the air rifle chamber. Kruro watched him work. This was the first time she had seen the inner workings of his weapon system.

  “That is a brilliant and minimalist design. You will also be able to swap out spells quickly. However, it is rather wasteful. I imagine that’s why I’ve never seen the like before,” Kruro said.

  “Wasteful? How so?”

  “Well, you connected several different spells to the single power source in the back of your power armor. You are going to use up your mana core much faster than normal. But the worst offender is that you are throwing away lodestone every time you cast a spell.”

  “Lodestone? Oh, you mean magnets?”

  She gave him a flat look as his cell phone translated both English words into the same Elvish word.

  “They aren’t that expensive on Earth. They are actually cheaper than the typical ammunition for Earth weaponry.”

  She slashed her hands down. “Not on Kalibutan. Here it is expensive and rare. It isn’t much in demand, but if an artificer heard you were literally throwing away lodestone with every spell, they would break your necklace.”

  Luke chuckled. “It’s my only ranged weapon attack since your people have outlawed guns. Although I don’t know why they did. I’m pretty sure all of your armor and most of the monsters are bulletproof.”

  She shrugged noncommittally. Luke buttoned up his mech again and left the village to test it out in the forest. He knew that the rest of the team would be back soon, but he couldn’t go into battle with an untested weapon.

  Once he was far enough away, Luke lifted his right arm and aimed at a tree thirty feet away. He fired, again enjoying that he could do that without needing to pull a trigger.

  The magnet shot out of the barrel with a crack. A light blue field appeared around the ball, like mana static. It buzzed through the air with a high pitched wine. When it hit the tree, it sliced right through the foot thick trunk and shattered into a hail of cutting shrapnel.

  Luke did his evil laugh and fired a few more times into the forest. He realized that the spell created a thin disk of cutting force, but his magnet ball was tumbling through the air and created the illusion of a wide ball. The cutting blade was four feet wide, but he could never be sure of its orientation with his current delivery system. Still, it was good enough for today.

  On his way back to the city, he saw Jinx padding down the street towards him. She must have gotten out again. She meowed at him in passing and tried to keep going. Luke scooped her up and walked back to the shop.

  “You know, Jinx. If you aren’t going to stay put with your snake auntie, I am going to have to start leaving you on Earth. It just isn’t safe for you out here.”

  Today’s chapter title comes from The Matrix (1999). I remember being completely mind blown when I watched it the first time. Too bad they never made any sequels.

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