Bending the Rules Pt. 09: Legendary

He went in, strode directly to the altar, and left his tribute. He stepped onto the mat, and took a deep breath, tugging at Adana.

(Now.)

His hand touched the altar, and his vision went white. He pulled up his EXP and saw that it was reserved through the whole bar, and a red bar overlaid it - he owed more than it would take him to level up. He paid down Ace's quest, and the bonus. He still owed too much. One person after another, and still he owed more than his level bar. Well, considering how high a level they were, EXP enough to interest them would be ridiculous at his level, even factoring in the relatively low difficulty level.

/Don't leave yet, here it comes! Put it all in MAG, you lucky boy!/

The ground groaned beneath Nuru. Distantly, a bell began to ring. Father Emeka was yelling something.

(Uh oh, I better hurry.)

He finished paying out as much as he could, but now his EXP bar was red. He was being prompted if he was sure he wanted to exit.

(What the... Adana, why can't I exit out?)

/You probably owe more than you have. You better lose a few spells to pay it off, since you can't just visit a glory hole like I can./

"Oh, hell. I disenchanted some of those armors, and it didn't pay me any EXP to turn them in." He zipped through his skill tree and noticed that he could deselect some of them.

(That's odd. Well, I guess I don't need those Level Four skills just yet. Maybe I can buy them back later?)

/Just don't get caught in an EXP debt. Those guys are higher level enough that you'll never pull out of servitude with the interest./

"Nuru! Hurry! Get out of there!" Father Emeka's voice was muffled, as if from a long way away. The bell still rang.

He deselected the Level Four skills and was about to leave.

/Don't forget the MAG!/

(The... what?)

/I gave you a respec! You can fill your MAG score! Go to eighteen, you get another at Level Five and another at Ten and you'll be maxed!/

(Are you crazy!?)

/No time! They've detected the sigil I'm using, paladins will be swarming the area any moment. If you're still there, you're going to have some really hard questions to answer./

(What the hell have you- nevermind!)

Nuru flew through his stat sheet, dumping four each from CHA, DEX, and STR, and three from CON. All fifteen went to MAG. Eighteen MAG total. All he had to do was close out. But at what cost?

Since he wasn't getting another chance at this, he poked around. Even his Proficiency could be redistributed. He dumped half of it out of his musical talent into Unarmed Combat, and the other half out of it into General Knowledge. Music was the one thing he could safely practice by himself.

"Nuru! Help is on the way!" Father Emeka was saying.

Nuru gritted his teeth, and closed it out. The rug had blackened under his feet, and smoke hung heavy in the air. Father Emeka was hovering, ready to grab his hand and lead him away, but Nuru jumped backwards, following his memory of the temple layout and went out the side door. He ran around the front.

"Holy crap Nuru! Are you OK? The warning bells are going off; something forbidden's come into the area."

"Sounds like the demon alarm to me," Ace said. "Oh man, must have been big, look at all those paladins coming this way. Time to scram!"

"Everybody got their EXP?"

Quick, furtive nods all around.

"Great, catch you all for the next one. We're done here."

Nuru took off as fast as he could, away from the oncoming crowd of paladins fired up for holy war, putting the temple between them and himself as the thieves all vanished.

"Jaheem! Get me the hell out of here!"

The big creature looked at him with round eyes, sniffing the air.

"Pick me up! Do it now!"

Jaheem leaped forward, latched onto Nuru's arm, and pulled.

"That wayyyAAAIIIII! Crap, that hurts. No, don't stop!"

His feet bounced off the ground as Jaheem fled at a dead run, following his pointed finger. He caught sight of several figures rounding the temple behind him, shouting unintelligibly. He yanked at Adana as hard as he could.

(WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!?)

/Sorry for springing that on you... OK, no I'm not. I didn't want you to have time to reconsider getting me that extra MAG./

(Not that, why is the bell ringing? Why is everybody coming after me?)

/That sigil takes a bit of force to work in a temple. Let's just say invading hallowed ground, even non-physically, isn't well received./

(And you thought this was a good idea!?)

/Oh, absolutely. Don't be a baby, you knew this was going to be a hard road./

(How did you respec me anyway?)

/Would you believe my Fieflord had it just lying around? Just waiting for a chance to make a Limit Break potion out of it. Not that he would ever get the chance, sitting with his thumb up his ass like he was./

(But I was the one that respec'd, not you.)

/Oh, that. Sure, I used our connection and some runes I know to redirect the effect to you. I've been preparing for a day like this. I won't say how long./

(Long enough that it was bound to an older name.)

/What can I say? I'm ambitious. Now be a good boy and lose those followers./

"Slow down, let me go," Nuru said.

He scrambled to his feet as Jaheem loped to a slow saunter and opened his jaws.

"So here's the plan. I need to stay away - from everybody. But first I need to go to town and make an announcement. Come with me to the city limits, and then wait for me. As soon as I come back, we've got to move like my life depends on it. Because it does."

Growl.

"Hmm? Oh, hang on."

(What's the spell for translate?)

Adana told him.

"!Fassada Girma! OK, one more time," Nuru cast straight from Adana's power. He definitely had the mana for it now.

Growl.

[From what do you flee the most?]

"Lightning."

Jaheem took a big breath.

Mraflsnerk.

[Even I am not that fast.]

"You don't need to be. If the men don't reach me, the lightning cannot find me."

Grunt.

[Even so, this will be hard.]

"I know. No time to waste. Let's go."

Nuru jogged as fast as his reduced CON allowed him to, and Jaheem kept nearby, crouching to reduce his profile. They ran through the tall grass as silently as possible. Twice, Jaheem tackled him and put a paw over his mouth. Then he let him up and they continued forward, after Jaheem was satisfied they weren't spotted. He all but kicked in the door of the armor shop and went inside.

"Makena, I bring news!"

"Nuru! Nuru, they've allowed-!"

"I know, shut up and listen. I don't have much time. Keep that money, you're going to need it. I need a new quest to give, something rare, but not too expensive. I'm going to offer cost plus 50 percent for it, and I don't want to be indentured for the rest of my life."

"But why? We can put quests out for other people now!"

"I know but-" Nuru thought frantically how to explain, "we need something big to popularize it. Something to get peoples' attention, now that it's official. I'm going to make it hard to reach me to claim that money, but they're going to do it. I'll offer them only 10% to bring it to you instead. Can you handle that? What will you be able to sell if we collect a bunch?"

"One of the newest expansion sets called 'Mankapi Crystal Scale' should do. The common version won't be over-the-top expensive, but it's rare enough to be interesting. I can ship it to another area if there's not enough demand here - someone will buy it. Authorities won't get upset about utilizing the new areas or encouraging the young ones to chase those levels to get there, either."

"Any chance the museum has any of it?"

"Perhaps, but I doubt if any is available for sale."

"Perfect. They'll definitely have to take some time to locate any, and that's a challenge worth issuing. Alright - sorry to be so abrupt, but I've got to run. Give them only ten percent bonus if they show up here; they only get the plus-fifty if they bring it to me personally. Got a plan to make sure nobody sits outside and outbids you? Not that I mind in this case, but we need to have a plan for that."

"I'll just go out now and then and remind them that it's easier to afford the armor if they're out questing and looting than sitting around for who-knows-how-long waiting for someone with just the right part to show up."

"Good enough. We'll square up in a week. Hopefully we bring in more other quests and cover the cost of it right off the bat. See you soon!"

"Rude," Makena said.

"Sorry!"

*****

Nuru made his way to the town square quickly, catching attention as he went by. Word had travelled quickly.

He stopped briefly to purchase a Quest Giver mark. Once he reached the statue with the fountain that never seemed to work, he stood on the pool's outer rim and turned to face the crowd.

"!Wahayi mai kida!" he murmured as quietly as he could.

"Hello, everyone, your attention please! Yes, hello! I'm sure you've all heard some strange rumors going around and I'd like to settle them once and for all. I have been working on an exciting quest opportunity for all of you."

"Hey, there he is!" Paladins started trying to shove their way through, but this only gave him more attention and people pushed back, trying to listen.

"I won't take too much of your time, I'll just briefly tell you that you can now open your own quests with Makena at the local armor shop. For a modest fee we will endeavor to locate a specific armor piece or set for you, to complete that set bonus or just upgrade that old build you've got for the new area, with exception of those needed to fill official faction quests. Additionally, you're able to participate in the locating of armor pieces and sets for others, and make some extra money and even some EXP for that loot you might be picking up anyway. Make your trips more profitable and more productive! By way of introduction, I have a quest open on Mankapi Crystal Scale parts, you can turn them in at the armor shop or - if you're really good - come find me in person and I will give you standard price plus fifty percent! This is a limited time quest folks, good for one week only. Tell your friends and parties to head out to Mankapi Savanna and get farming and let's make get your inventory in shape today!"

He hopped down, put the Quest Giver mark on, and took off. The city square had a gate blocked off by a wall of paladins.

(Need some aura, beautiful. Something to let me slip through.)

/Coming right up, juicy mana battery./

(Who's gonna slip and say the 'L' word first?)

/Lust? I'll say it in a heartbeat./

(No, love.)

/Hah! Bet you a favor that won't be me./

(You're on.)

/Think angry, Nuru.!Tsoratarwa!/

Suddenly, Nuru was seeing red. He stalked forward, slowing down to a slightly less frantic pace and more of a determined one.

"We need a few words with you," one of the paladins closing in said.

"Quest giver, coming through. You'll get your turn in line, sirs," Nuru declared.

"Hold on, there was a breach at the temple. We need you to submit to a thorough examination since you were there."

"An emergency on your part does not consitute an imperative on mine. You have no authority here," Nuru growled.

"An official order is being written and approved by the Mayor as we speak. Make this easier on yourself and let us do our job."

"You've had your few words. We're done here," Nuru stated, walking forward towards the youngest of the bunch, only a Level Five by the look of him.

The man held his gaze, but backed away slowly as Nuru advanced.

"Dammit, hold the line," one of the others said.

"But, he- we don't have- what if he-!"

"Hold the line I said!"

Nuru put his face right against the man's helmet and slipped past by sheer force of will.

"Son of a- get him! Get him back!"

But Nuru was running now.

(Got anything for speed?)

/For you, darling, I've got just the thing.!Kafa Mara Nauyi!/

The paladins were heavily encumbered, but mostly kept pace with him until his steps lightened, his joints loosened up as the tension drained, and Nuru took off like a startled bird as the magic took effect.

/I don't use that one very much, so it won't last long, but it should give you some room./

(That's all I need.)

"Heavens above, he's just a Level Three! Somebody catch him!"

"Hey! I'm a- shit, when did that happen!?" Nuru protested. He was down to Level Three now.

(Something you wanna tell me about that respec?!)

/Unfortunate, but probably better this way. You had an EXP debt. Apparently you had to drop a level to pay it all. Giving open-ended quests to higher level people is discouraged for a reason./

(Yeah, yeah. What would have happened to my Eidetic Memory if I'd lost another one?)

/It's not good./

(What's done is done. Now to figure out how to make it work. Can you be available if I need you?)

/Within reason. I'm not sitting still over here, either./

"Jaheem! One more run."

He'd reached city limits, and reached the place they'd split. Jaheem came in, nipped at him, but dropped him.

"Hey! No time for games, Jaheem, we've got to go."

/I'd better turn this off./

Blue and green shades returned to the world. Jaheem shook his head and lowered his hackles. He picked Nuru up by the scruff of his jacket and barrelled away from the pursuers out into the farm fields. Minutes later, he put Nuru back down and let him run alongside to take a bit of a break.

"Scare you for a minute?" Nuru asked.

Yip.

[A little]

"We're going to be running a lot this week. I hope you're ready. We need to do like before with the leg armor. Except this time, don't let *anyone* close. Best thing, I figure, is to keep me moving away from them."

Grrsnerksnarl.

[I was born to run, but not forever]

"We'll need to get out to those empty spaces. Might as well fill in my map. As long as we stay several steps ahead, we'll be OK."

Yowlgrrrnf.

[How will you be eating?]

"Uh... crap. I guess we'll have to be hunting, too. Good thought."

The lyena grunted and howled with laughter.

[You're in my world now]

"Right you are! Uh, we need to stop by my home. I know they'll be looking for me there, but I need something."

Jaheem helped him reach his fence line as quickly as possible, and he threw open the chest, grabbed all his dried food and the Snowball scrolls, and left everything else behind.

"Onward!"

"Stop! You need to-" a courier said, just reaching the place.

"Sorry, no time to chat! See you around," Nuru called back to him.

Jaheem took Nuru back up off the ground and made some tracks, and the courier faded to inaudible within moments. They found a quiet spot under a low tree to shelter for the night, where the glow of his Quest Marker would hopefully not be seen. He didn't dare remove it.

*****

"You're right, we're going to have to cover our tracks," Nuru said. "I'm sure there are paladins with mounts that can match and even outmatch your pace."

Jaheem flipped Nuru up and over to land on his own back, then slowed and padded gently over the rocky ground.

"Rocks good, soft soil bad, right?"

Gruntsnuffle.

[The scent can be followed. Also, rock will dislodge any soil on my feet and leave tracks as well]

"And slower is better for not leaving tracks?"

Grunt.

[Yes]

Suddenly Jaheem's ears perked up. He craned his head left and right. Then up.

"Trouble?" Nuru whispered.

In answer, Jaheem leaped forward, sprinting faster than Nuru had ever seen before. Nuru held on as best he could to the flesh of Jaheem's cheeks. Suddenly he was wrenched loose by the foot and flew up into the air, hanging upside down.

"Nooooo!" Nuru screamed, watching the ground recede and Jaheem leap up trying to catch him back but not quick enough.

"Oh come on, you enjoyed the trip we took last time," a familiar voice called down.

"...Katlego?!"

Seeing that there wasn't much that could be done now, he dismissed Jaheem and closed his eyes, thinking not-falling thoughts as hard as he could.