[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 78: Difficult Terrain

Sam highly doubted that the [Evasion] skill was only available to the Swordsman Job. He was curious to see what another Job’s take on it would be.

While useful, he didn’t technically need it to avoid damage. Having more stats and a greater [Armor Foundation] seemed to help considerably.

To that end, [Traversal] might benefit him as well, plus all the other things it naturally did. The fact that the skill diminished falling damage appealed to Sam greatly.

He winced at the memory of dropping to the ground from that demon’s floating isle.

The ability to move between Skyshards was vitally important. One that could be achieved in many ways.

Some more practical than others.

His [Makeshift Rope] did well in a pinch, but they were fortunate to have the islands float close to one another. They might be able to build drop bridges, or even ones that would extend, but no one in his group possessed the means to do that at present.

Professions again, I’ll bet!

He probably would need [Evasion] eventually, but even [Block] appealed to him more. He didn’t need a shield to use it and could even manipulate his manatuned cloak for defensive purposes. Potentially more than just pushing Void mana into it to affect magical attacks.

“I have some skills to pick from,” he said aloud. “Narrowed it down to two, but I need both. Emphasis on ‘need’ here. [Traversal] and[Iron Mountain].”

Sam explained what each of them was. He was interested in what input he could get from others.

“Both are uniquely suited to the situation at hand,” Kai mused in thought. “Do you truly expect we will be attacked again so soon?”

“Yeah, that stance makes you less likely to be knocked off an island,” Matt added.

“Thing is, I need to get onto said island to not be knocked off it,” Sam pointed out.

“Answers your question, doesn’t it?”

Sam paused. “Ugh. It’s really unsettling when we agree on things, you know?”

“They are your abilities,” Matt reminded him. “You can pick [Underwater Basketweaving] for all that we can influence your decision in a meaningful way. Besides, how many Skyshards have we floated beside but were too far? Not all of them roped us in.”

He’s right. Being able to get from one Skyshard to the next seems paramount in a world where floating islands are the norm.

Not only that, it suggested that [Traversal] would also help him get around more difficult terrain, whatever that might be.

As much as he would prefer another skill that helped directly in combat, perhaps [Traversal] was more than meets the eye. After all, difficult terrain could be considered a swamp made by a Mage, or a sticky floor meant to prevent him from moving around.

Hell, even his [Void: Smother] could be considered difficult terrain if you got around by using Wind mana.

Ultimately, that was what decided it for Sam.

If he could create difficult terrain in a haphazard way, then surely a Mage would have a dozen different methods to do the same thing far easier.

Safe in the knowledge that [Iron Mountain] would still be there the next time he got the ability to choose [Swordsman] skills, Sam selected [Traversal].

[Traversal]

(Movement Skill) (F-Class)

(★Common)

Travel, climb and jump over obstacles, vertical surfaces, and difficult terrain with greater ease, success and range. Slightly diminishes hazardous terrain’s effect on your natural movement speed and slightly reduces falling damage. Grants a minuscule bonus to the effect of Agility, Strength and Vigor when using [Traversal].

Sam wasn’t sure what sort of skill [Traversal] was, specifically. It said it was a “Movement Skill” but that could be a classification that was somehow different from other skills.

Thankfully, it was not.

He could feel the knowledge of how to move better through all manner of strange terrain precipitating through his brain. Most of it wasn’t something he could just pull up and go “aha, now I can walk through a swamp like it’s a flat road!” but more a feeling of how he could improve himself.

An awareness that stepping on a shiny patch of freezing ground was a bad idea and, conversely, to look for ripples in a swamp when an area looked suspiciously flat and green.

Most of it would show itself when he actually tried to move through an area that [Traversal] would be of use to him.

Rock climbing was now within his purview, despite the fact that never before in his life had he scaled a mountainside.

As much as he admired the raw nature of Hawai’i the bugs were bad enough in his apartment. He couldn’t imagine how horrible they would be out in the middle of the jungle.

After all, that was their home field, and Sam didn’t want to tempt fate by invading their home.

Even though it was strangely appealing, since the damned crawling mustaches and fist-sized spiders loved to invade his home.

Despite that Komachi would get them most of the time. His cat had generally missed the ones hiding in his shoes.

At least that shit heap apartment is gone now. I hope.

He would prefer to sleep under the stars than to go back to that apartment, even if it floated right by the Skyshard.

Thinking about difficult terrain got him wondering about how he could use [Void: Smother]. “After we’ve all had a decent rest, I could use some… volunteers.”

Matt looked over. “That sounds ominous.”

“What were you thinking?” Kai asked.

“I got a new ability for my Path,” Sam explained. “It creates an area that… for lack of a better descriptor, fucks with the mana in that immediate area. But if I’m going to be using it against monsters and invaders, I’d really prefer to use it without it impacting my allies.”

“I don’t know if Kai has any specific mana type, but I have Water, Decay, and Poison now,” Matt chimed in. “It would be really easy to test it out if you can restrict those types of mana.”

“I have Nature mana,” Kai said. He furrowed his brow in thought. “Are you able to… disrupt all mana or just a specific type?”

“Just a given type,” Sam said. “I have to specify what it is while I’m making the field, but if you both wouldn’t mind helping me, I would appreciate it. Not only to find out some of the limitations of the Art but also—”

“—To use us as Guinea Pigs,” Matt finished for him. “That sounds fine. So long as you don’t try to kill either of us, I think it’ll be okay. Besides, we have two healers! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need some time to ponder my Second Order Job.”

“If you want some help with that, just holler,” Sam said, leaning back and looking into the rather soggy and grumpy face of his British Shorthair cat, Komachi.

“I gotta get a Path,” Komachi groused. “Maybe I’ll pick one up tomorrow.”

“Here I am,” Matt began. “Struggling and failing to pick my Second Order Job, and your cat is acting like she’s going to find a Path lying on the side of the road… or what passes for roads around here. I’m honestly surprised that Komachi doesn’t already have a Path. At least I can compete with her and not get blown away.”

“It is because of this warrior,” Kai said. “That we have become as strong as we are. And are ahead of many others. Some who might wish us harm. The world has become unpredictable and dangerous since its shattering.”

“Same as it ever was,” Matt said. “There just happen to be some people who are realizing how lawless the world is now. If you are strong enough, you could just take what you want. It’s the law of power. The only way to stop it is to get some power yourself.”

Kai looked at him meaningfully. “Or get enough people with sufficient power. There is strength in numbers. Even weak people may create a formidable enemy with enough numbers.”

“So what you’re saying is, Sam’s the gang leader, and we’re his right-hand men, against all the other gangs?”

“I do not follow.”

There was somebody sorely missing from the conversation. When Sam looked over, Raiko was asleep. She probably had been for a while.

It didn’t look quite as unsettling as when she was a ghost. She was just as solid as before, but all the same, Sam motioned quietly to Kai.

Kai checked on her. She seemed to be physically fine.

He expected Raiko to either be thrilled with his progress, or poke fun at him. But even if she was awake to see how far he’d come—especially compared to Hawai’i—how would she know the difference?

Maybe if her memory returns. When, not if, Sam, he mentally corrected, feeling an unfamiliar ache at the loss of… well, he didn’t know what she was to him.

A friend? Something more? A mentor?

Hardly the latter, but she was more knowledgeable about Il’dran’s systems since they were at least passingly similar to her home of Islegard’s. And now that she had her body back and all the abilities that came with it, perhaps they could actually go out and hunt things.

That’s what Raiko stated she wanted, back on the starting island. To level up and climb the Layers together.

Grinding had never been a popular pastime for him. Being poor didn’t lend itself well to having a surfeit of time in which he could pour into games all day long, no matter how much he wanted to.

But here, where the fighting was real and dangerous… he had to admit that he was having an absolute blast. Having people to share that with would be phenomenal.

If he was being honest with himself, he dreaded the slim possibility that she might not remember. Memories were a part of what made a person who they were, and if she never got them back, the Raiko he knew would be gone forever.

With their Skyshards drifting across a sea of clouds, teeming with monsters, enemies and magical storms, they needed to prepare. He was relying on her partnership and power for that.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kai or Matt. They had done as well as he could have hoped during the last fight, and they had grown a lot since.

Going from where they were—especially Matt’s low level—all the way to picking up Second Order Jobs in a handful of days was nothing short of amazing.

But neither of them was an Incarnate. And though Sam was only beginning to understand what that meant, it was something special he shared with Raiko.

Now wasn’t the time to worry, though. They needed to find a way to secure both Skyshards. It was their plan all along, for their Settlement Cores—his [Sourcestone] and her Sacred Tree—to work together.

Somehow.

One of the runestones fueling the spring with its beneficial energy faded. The soft light suffusing the waters began to diminish before another runestone lit up, replenishing the effect.

“She’ll be okay, don’t you worry Sam.” Komachi batted the sleeping Raiko’s face with a paw.

Had his concerns been that obvious? Then again, maybe that was Komachi being in tune with him.

Upon contact, as if by reflex, Raiko shot her palm out and dunked Komachi into the spring. Sam jolted upright, but the slumbering woman went right back to her peaceful sleep.

Yowling, his cat surfaced and watched Raiko for an opening for reprisal.

However, most sleeping people have excellent poker faces. And Raiko slept like the dead. If she had dunked Komachi on purpose, it would have been impossible to tell.

Still, Komachi kept paddling in small circles nearby, waiting and watching.

Komachi kept at it for a few more rounds, much to everyone’s amusement.

Her honey-gold fur slicked back, and her angry face reminded him much of the tiny kitten that randomly appeared on his doorstep and invited itself into his tiny apartment, and his life, that fateful day.

Eventually, she threw in the towel against her slumbering opponent.

Perhaps without meaning to, his cat was entertaining him and his friends.

That sounded like something a Bard should be good at, right?

Polishing off the last of his pizza, Sam finally got out of the water once he had recovered his HP and MP fully. He looked over at Komachi. “You coming?”

She slipped out of the spring, shook her fur out until she resembled a slightly wrung out cloth, then scaled his armor and perched on his shoulder.

Together, with Komachi riding—and dripping—on his shoulder, Sam took the two boxes of pizza through the screen of bamboo trees and toward the unmistakable sight of the demon’s tower.

The bodies that once littered the ground had turned into tiny piles of ash and were already beginning to carry themselves away on the wind. They left behind rare bits of armor, weapons, and some small amount of loot here and there.

I’ll get it later, he said, knocking on the scholar’s painted door. “Pizza delivery!”