Chapter 48 – Selection

Moving through the crowd of students in the amphitheater had turned out to be a bit of a nightmare for Sal. He tried his best to slip past people, but there were clumps of students chatting to one another in little cliques. The Silver cohort was no exception, and Sal spied Joshua Mitchell having a heated debate with Anderson Royce. Jack stood off to one side, letting it happen, while Blathnaid tried to stop them from arguing.

When Sal got closer, he was able to hear a few of their words and got the context immediately. Joshua was trying to petition Quest to revert the changes with a majority vote from the student body. Apparently, his logic was that there were more than enough Support class people to lend their power to the vote. Sal wanted no part of it, and indicated to Blathnaid and Jack that there was nothing to be gained from listening. Blathnaid shook her head with a smile and threw herself into the pack, separating Joshua from Anderson, who was now gripping his collar.

“Don’t suppose you know who the Crafter is who solo’d the dungeon?” Jack asked coyly from behind.

Sal turned and gave him a wink, and Jack’s face transformed into a wide grin.

“I fucking knew it! Let me guess… keep it to myself?”

When Sal gave him a nod, Jack made a mocking salute before rejoining Blathnaid in the fray.

Sal didn’t get too far ahead, try as he might, because every few steps he took put him behind another group in deep discussion. Just when he was about to start shoving people out of his way, he heard a whistle to his left. Looking over, he saw Barry waving at him. He was climbing the seats to get to the top, and not bothering with the staircase. Sal smiled as he slid into one of the aisles and followed Barry up to the top, toward freedom.

“So, what weapon are you going to pick?” Barry huffed as he stepped over another of the rows.

Sal floundered on one of the seats that snagged his foot and nearly toppled backward, but managed to right himself. When he glanced up at Barry, he saw that his friend was too preoccupied with catching his breath to notice the stumble.

“I took your advice and made a gun. It’s a revolver and has a few cool features.” Sal paused before stepping up to the next one, not because it was too much exertion, but because he was sure there was a more efficient method to it.

“Stop overthinking it and just jump them. Also, where’s my commission for the gun idea? You wouldn’t have it without me…pretty sure that has to count for something.” Barry panted as he cleared another four rows.

Sal gritted his teeth as he took Barry’s advice and started to clear the rows one after another. Going up at an incline wasn’t ideal, but he felt the competitive need to get next to Barry.

When Barry looked down and noticed how far Sal had caught up, he grinned and turned on his heel to go faster. “Fuck that, you’re not beating me.”

Sal continued to race up the steps, loudly enough that a few of the students looked at him with bemused expressions.

Barry did a double take as he glanced back. “What the fuck happened to you? When did you get so fit? Is this some skill you stole?”

He threw comment after comment as he neared the top, but Sal ignored him, controlled his breathing, and managed to overtake him with just three rows to go. Barry made a despairing sound and Sal glanced back with a grin, only to see nothing but empty seats. He looked around and couldn’t see any sign of Barry, until he looked forward and saw him standing at the top.

“Sorry for goading you, Sal. You were taking too long. Don’t suppose you developed anything that can spot illusions, then?”

Barry’s face melted into a grin, and Sal stared at him in a mixture of confusion and annoyance.

“But…why would you go to the trouble to make an illusion? For something so stupid? I’m out of breath for no reason.” Sal’s shoulders slumped as he finally got over the last row of seats, only to be rewarded with a clap on the back from Barry.

“Honestly, it broke my heart seeing you struggling in the line, so I thought I’d inspire you with my powers. But hey, now you’re free! Tell me more about this gun, though. It sounds interesting.”

Sal sighed in defeat. Barry was helping in his own chaotic way.

As they made their way toward the armory, Sal gestured at his eyes. “Also made a pretty cool visor. It’s synched to the revolver and was amazing in the dungeon. We’ll need to test it out to see if it can see through your illusions.”

Barry nodded. “Sounds fun. What sort of weapon do you think I should go for? I was thinking a gun too, but it’s not really my style. Not a big fan of swords either.”

With a simple twist of his hand, green runes flared to life before a sword appeared in Barry’s hand. With a few waves back and forth, Barry made a dissatisfied noise before discarding it.

Sal marveled at the control he had over his ability. When he glanced up to see Barry looking at him expectantly, Sal shrugged.

“You mentioned wanting to learn about Espionage and Subterfuge—why don’t you go full Assassin and pick a dagger or something?”

Barry twisted his hand again and a dagger appeared in his grip. He played around with it before shaking his head again. “I don’t think I want to get up close and personal. I’d rather have the versatility to go from range to close quarters.” As though he just had an epiphany, Barry’s back straightened and a smile crept onto his face. The dagger in his hand transformed into a knife.

“What about this?” He threw the knife illusion into the crowd, causing more than a few panicked screams.

The sudden shouts of panic snapped Barry out of his reverie and he canceled the illusion.

Sal tried not to laugh as the students looked around in a panic.

Barry threw up an illusionary barrier around them and grit his teeth. “Okay, that was a fuck-up. But the knife seems like a good choice. I can throw it and use it at close quarters. What do you think?”

They walked around the crowd searching for the knife culprit, and Barry waited until he was certain nobody was looking at them before dropping the barrier.

Sal laughed. “I don’t think my opinion really matters. It’s about what you want.”

Barry gave Sal a deadpan stare before answering. “You’re talking like you’re not going to be the one making my knife.”

Sal cleared his throat before imitating Barry’s voice. “I’m Barry and I’m a master illusionist. I don’t need any crafted equipment because I’m fantastic without them.” Sal smiled. “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly how you said it.”

Barry rolled his eyes as he moved toward the armory. “I definitely didn’t say it like that. I’m getting a weapon because it’s mandatory. If I have to have one, I’d rather it was something good. You make good stuff, so it’s a logical conclusion. You already offered to make something for me in the past, so why should it be an issue for you now? Unless, you don’t value our friendship?” Barry placed a hand on his chest and made a mock expression of being hurt.

Sal chuckled as he followed Barry.

The building itself was one of the five main towers of Quest Academy, but it was underneath the workshop by about twenty floors. Sal gave the line for the elevators one look before gesturing for Barry to follow him. Barry looked confused until Sal led him to one of the loading bays where equipment was transported up and down the tower.

“Are we allowed to use this?” Barry whispered, suddenly unsure of himself.

Sal smiled as he touched his Q-Card against the terminal, summoning the elevator.

Out of curiosity, Barry tapped his own card against the terminal and was met with an angry red light, indicating that he wasn’t permitted to use the service. He stared at the terminal before looking at Sal accusingly. “This is some Mythcrafter bullshit, isn’t it?”

Sal grinned as a huge panel lifted in front of them, revealing the wide platform. There was nobody there, which suited Sal perfectly.

“Are you just going to stand around or are you coming with me?” Sal asked as he eyed the other students warily, some of whom had observed that he had summoned a platform out of nowhere.

Barry followed Sal’s glance and noticed the confused students waiting for the elevator. Rather than leaving with grace, Barry gave them the finger before jumping into the elevator and shouting, “Go, go, go!”

Sal laughed as he tapped the internal terminal and put in their destination of the armory.

The panel closed just as a collection of feet appeared on the other side, clearly trying to hitch a ride with them.

“What type of knife do you want me to craft?” Sal asked as they descended the tower.

Barry lifted his hand and created a new illusion, then frowned. “I’ve got an idea in my head, but I don’t know how to best describe it. It’s kinda like this.”

Barry threw the illusionary knife, which slowed in mid-air and then changed trajectory before embedding itself into the wall. A moment later, it snapped out of place and returned to Barry’s palm. “Is there a skill like that?”

Sal’s brow furrowed, and he asked Barry to do it again. He watched the display carefully and tried to recall whether there was anything in his skill set that would be able to replicate it. The closest he could think of was Villa’s ability of pulling a knife out of thin air. He recalled that she had thrown the ethos blade in her fight against the commander variant.

The tricky part was knowing whether it was a part of her wider power, or whether it was the whole thing. Controlling the trajectory of blades would be an interesting ability, but Villa seemed stronger than just that. Sal sighed as he shook his head.

“There’s nothing that I know of yet that could make a knife like that. My best guess would be to replicate Villa’s power, but failing that, we could look for voider heart as a material. It allows for the abilities Apparition and Recall, so you can pull it out of subspace and bring it back to your hand if it’s within your line of sight.” Sal thought about it for another moment before he shook his head.

“I can’t figure out how to make it follow a trajectory outside of straight. Unless you wanted it to correct your aim and zone in on targets?”

Barry stared at Sal. “I just showed you an illusion and you’ve already mapped out what material is necessary to satisfy two of the main abilities? How the fuck do you even know what a voider heart is?”

Sal shrugged as he gestured at his head. “Years of Appraisal, and now the Mythcrafter ability, too. It stores all the information on materials and what they do in my head. Chatfield showed me a chest with loads of rare material components, and now I can add them to my designs to check how they’d work if I built them. Voider heart was a component of Villa’s ethos blade. It had the Apparition and Recall ability, but that could also be down to the gloomhusk fang that was used. I think that was just to cut through defense, though.”

Barry exhaled with a whistle. “If there’s one thing for certain, I’m not taking whatever shit they offer us here. You’re the man who’s going to make my knife, and I don’t mind paying for it, either. It sounds pretty damn cool.”

Sal snorted at that as the door opened to reveal the armory. More than a few of the early arrivals looked over at their entrance in shock. Sal wasn’t surprised Divinity was at the front of the line.

With a turn to Barry, Sal smiled. “I’ll make you the knife, but maybe just in time for the inter-cohorts. I don’t want you having too much of a competitive advantage while we’re on opposing teams.”

Barry laughed as he stepped out of the elevator. “And you call me the worst? Hypocrite.”