Amazon Apocalypse 5: Chapter 3

Naturally, I woke up tied face-down to a bench.

I groaned. Not again.

“Hold on, I’m about to finish,” Kyrina said.

“Ow,” I grumbled. My shoulder hurt, but nowhere near as much as the pounding in my head.

I yawned, opened my eyes, and fought to keep from jerking as something stabbed into my shoulder again and again. I’d never gotten a tattoo back on Earth, but I was pretty sure modern needles were a whole lot faster than the hot shiv Kyrina Samhain was stabbing me with.

I held still as best I could, though all I really wanted to do was pinch my temples and probably puke a little.

“And... done!” Kyrina declared.

Bleary-eyed and exhausted, I checked my recent notifications.

Lesser Mark of the Samhain Clan has been upgraded to Greater Mark of the Samhain Clan.

Your relations with the Samhain Clan have dramatically deepened, and you will have good relations with any faction that has good relations with them if you choose to reveal this mark. You will also be granted safe haven and assistance by any branch of the Samhain Clan you come across.

“Truthfully, I should have done this after your wedding with Myrina. There simply wasn’t time. I hadn’t thought you’d progress so fast, otherwise I would have arranged a care package or two for you and Myrina. Until I saw the two of you, I was certain you remained D-Grades,” Kyrina said as she unbuckled the straps that kept my arm from jerking during her delicate tattoo work.

I sat up, stretched, groaned, and did my best to chuckle good-naturally despite the pounding in my head.

“Truthfully, if I could have leveled slower, I would have. But the System doesn’t ask me what I want.”

I shook my head a few times to clear it. Whatever that stuff Grandma Luthrin fed me was, it gave one hell of a hangover. The pain in my skull would have been enough to cause an instant stroke on a normal human. The only reason I’d survived what she fed me was because I’d upgraded my body as I progressed through the grades. Maybe reaching B-Grade today would make this damn headache go away, assuming I could manage it.

“Cyra is feeling the same as you. She’s out in the training yard practicing with Grandma Luthrin,” Kyrina explained.

“Ouch.” As bad as this headache was, I couldn’t imagine a sparring session would be any fun, especially not against a foe who could sweep the floor with either of us, even when we were in top shape.

“Ouch indeed. Her great-grandmother is putting her through her paces. But don’t worry, we’ve been seeing to your wish list. We’ve got a few clanswomen who’d be willing to sign on with you, and a few more C-Grade wizards from families our girls have married into. The Samhain Clan may be small, but we have a big network among high society.”

I sat up and rallied myself. If Cyra was taking a beating with a headache like this, I could certainly manage a few conversations.

Kyrina led me out of her cabin and back into the clearing, where nearly two hundred people were waiting for me. I’d never doubted the Samhain Clan had connections, but as I started talking to people, I realized I’d underestimated the scale of those connections once more. While the Samhain Clan might be famous for producing top-notch warrior women, they were no slouches at networking either. And from the look of the crowd, I wasn’t the only magic man with a thing for dangerous redheads with swords. The crowd was roughly half magic users and half warriors.

“Alright, interviews are starting now. Let me find a chair.” I sat down, took out my notebook, and started jotting down notes as I heard who people were and what experience they had.

Whenever I saw an Amazonian warrior, I knew roughly what I could expect. They’d be a fighter excellent at close quarters combat and who could take a hit. I went back and forth on what to do with them, but since the Samhain Clan would provide these combatants for free, I certainly would not say no.

In the end, I formed a special subunit. Just because we were the magical auxiliaries didn’t mean we all needed to be magical auxiliaries. As I understood it, we were basically artillery for Prince Herius’ army. Most of my people had the overwhelming majority of their training focused on technical spellwork, making us a high-value target. As much as I wanted to believe Prince Herius would know our value and protect us, I didn’t want to rely too much on him.

I settled on forming a separate melee specialist unit. If we were charged or ambushed, these warriors would respond and buy the magic users time. If things went well, they’d serve as guards, helping hands, and veteran warriors who’d help train the fresh recruits.

That was where about a hundred and fifty of the people the Samhain Clan had given me would be most useful. Of the rest, I sorted out fifty as officer material for the wizard recruits. They all had connections to the Dragon Lodge, so they’d fit in well with the others. Most were the brothers or sisters of husbands who’d married into the Samhain Clan and were looking for an opportunity to rack up some levels and make their way through C-Grade.

That was a common enough occurrence that I was worried my officer core would be too eager to take risks. If they were hungry for levels, no doubt they’d be quick to push their troops into combat. But perhaps the natural reticence of the unbloodied troops under their command would restrain them a little.

I accepted almost all the volunteers. After that, the Samhains swung a few mercenary companies by me. I was a bit pickier with them, but I grabbed two bands of units specifically because of their service record. Neither were impressive, but both had served as magical auxiliaries to a Glacian legion on campaign in the past. That meant they’d done the exact job my people were going to do. They might never have distinguished themselves on their previous campaigns, but mixing in a few experienced units would help with training.

By the time I counted the new additions, the army I was assembling had another five hundred combatants. This would put us significantly over our expected strength when we rallied with Prince Herius’ army. No doubt, it would be a welcome surprise.

Rumor had it that he would bring around a hundred thousand soldiers on campaign with us. That number was a bit deceptive though, as the rank and file of his armies would be D-Grades. The proportion of C-Grades in our forces meant we’d punch well above our weight, even without the mercenaries and the melee unit I’d formed.

“Under other circumstances, I could give you several thousand units of C-Grade warriors. Sadly, they’re all spoken for,” Kyrina said.

“I take it they’re already under your son’s command?”

Kyrina nodded.

Truthfully, when I came to the Samhain Clan, I’d expected to barter for every scrap of aid I received. Getting so much so easily was already a welcome surprise, so I had no further complaints. The only downside with all my interviews was that I’d probably given my new officers the impression of a short-tempered man with a dangerous reputation. The former was due to my pounding headache, while the latter was because of my reputation as a jade medallion bearer and tournament grand champion.

Between the two, I hoped I could hold these recruits together long enough to make something out of them. But would it be enough?

***

“Where are we going now?” I asked Kyrina as she led me away from the Samhain family compound.

“We’re going to pick up some new skill books for you. Rare ones, like you requested. I know you want to stock up so you have new abilities to pick up as soon as you reach B-Grade,” Kyrina explained.

That was indeed exactly the sort of thing I was looking for. If the Samhain Clan had anything really good, I might even switch out some of my existing spells right away. I was probably due for another theory-crafter session too, since I’d gotten about all I could out of my last consultation, which had felt a bit rushed thanks to me asking questions about forbidden cultivation magic.

When Kyrina mentioned I was going to pick out a hefty chunk of goodies from my wish list, I was practically skipping along behind her in excitement. Thankfully, the worst of my hangover had faded, and I was feeling better with every passing minute.

Kyrina led me deeper into the streets of the imperial capital until we were nearly in the center of town. There, she took me through several security checkpoints, but she was clearly a familiar sight because they waved us right through each time. The end of our trip through the capital revealed a teleportation platform, which Kyrina and I stepped on.

“The Samhain Clan stores skill books here?” I asked.

“Oh no, not us,” Kyrina shook her head. “I had to pull a few strings, but you’ll get to browse one of the largest private collections of magic-based skill books in the Arcadia Multiverse!”

“Really?” I rubbed my hands together in excitement. It was hard not to be excited about something like that.

We emerged from the teleportation array and were already at our destination. A pair of very well-dressed B-Grade guards stood before the platform, but otherwise, the area was empty.

“We’ve expected you, miss Kyrina. Your guest had access to the lowest six floors and may pick anything that he’ll personally use off the shelves, within reason. The highest three floors are still restricted, but most of those are A-Grade abilities anyway,” said one of the two guards. He spoke to Kyrina, but was looking at me while he did it.

I assumed that I was free to take any skill books I would use, but that I shouldn’t go wild. If I found ten spells I liked, I could take them, but I shouldn’t fill my bags of holding and stockpile things for people back home. It was a shame since I knew Reluna could really benefit from a lot of these spells, too.

“Browse around. I will see if the tutor and theorycrafter I had in mind for you is available to give some recommendations. This may take a while. He wanders off sometimes and we have to hunt him down.” Kyrina patted me on the back and departed, leaving me only with those cryptic words. Under other circumstances, I would have been more curious, but right now I was too busy running up to the nearest shelf and reading titles.

Flame Tempest (Epic)

Summon pillars of fire in all directions to consume those who dare approach.

Sunlight Spear (Epic)

Conjure a bolt of plasma, thrown from the hand. Extremely quick to cast.

Covenant of Ardorius (Epic)

Grants the ability to traverse the void.

Soul of Cinder (Mythic)

This ability, when active, consumes the user’s lifespan to massively empower all stats and abilities.

I flipped through the first few skill books on the shelf. It looked like most of these abilities were epic or better. Most wouldn’t fit my fighting style, or would set my soul on fire and send me to an early grave. I put those aside and just pulled out the books of interest. In this case, that was Sunlight Spear.

I turned to another shelf, pulling things off the shelf based on names and titles. The skill books seemed to be loosely arranged based on their world of origin, rather than any fundamental similarities in function or design elements. That made finding what I was looking for a bit more difficult if spells had been arranged by function, but I wasn’t about to complain about spending more time picking over powerful magic. Right now, I was like a kid in a candy shop. Just reading about all these unique abilities gave me new ideas and broadened my horizons. The chance to explore this library was as much a gift as the skill books themselves.

Ethereal Wings (Epic)

Conjure glowing wings made of mana, granting the power of flight.

Mana Siphon (Epic)

Draw mana from unconventional sources, like stable enchantments or living entities. This may damage enchantments or kill mana-dependent lifeforms.

Elemental Convergence (Epic)

Draw in ambient elemental mana with great efficiency, dramatically bolstering your internal reserves while also facilitating the ability to switch between ambient mana types.

Monstrous Transformation (Mythic)

Consume the cores of monsters to steal their powers for yourself. Warning: some alterations may be permanent and may affect the user’s mental state. This skill book and those like it are banned in some regions and will result in immediate hostilities.

While Monstrous Transformation seemed like a natural match with my Sage of Forbidden Knowledge class, I rejected it. I was fighting some strange creatures these days, and even with my high luck stat, I’d probably end with some physical changes my women wouldn’t like. They were very fond of my human self, and I had to admit that I was too.

Mana Siphon and Elemental Convergence were both of interest to me, mostly due to how they might interact with my existing ability Power of Nature. I’d been using that ability to draw on ambient mana ever since F-Grade. It had been a great ability then, but I was looking to be a bit more versatile nowadays. It might be worth switching out with something new.

Ethereal Wings was also worth looking at. Shadowrealm Stride was great for getting around, but its sporadic nature meant I was stuck in place while it was on cooldown. Being able to fly would keep me much more maneuverable, and it might completely negate the danger of ground-based monsters. And as Crownhill got bigger, so did the time to took to travel across it. A flight spell might be just what I needed when more skill slots opened up at B-Grade.

I set Ethereal Wings down along with Sunlight Spear, then put the other two in my maybe pile. Both piles grew increasingly large over the next few hours. Kyrina was nowhere to be seen, but I noticed a few others browsing the library, so it seemed like access to this repository of skill books wasn’t an uncommon favor for factions like the Samhain Clan to grant.

I put everything I wasn’t interested in back where I found it, and pretty soon the guards by the door stopped keeping an eye on me and pulled out a board game to play something akin to chess. Security seemed surprisingly lax here, considering I was surrounded by stuff both powerful and extremely important.

In fact, security seemed so lax that nobody had discovered a homeless-looking man in a bathrobe sleeping between two of the shelves on the middle floors.

I’d been pulling books off the shelf at high speed, and there was no backing behind this shelf, so removing the books had exposed the homeless man’s dirty little hiding spot.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” I said as I started replacing all the books I had finished with to give him some semblance of privacy again.

The homeless guy stretched and yawned. He was wearing a wrinkled bathrobe that looked like the Dragon Lodge’s wizard robes, but only at first glance. Further examination revealed something designed for far more casual use.

“Young man, take a look around for me. Are there any astonishingly beautiful women nearby?” the homeless man asked.

I chuckled, then made a show, glancing around for him.

“I’m afraid you’re out of luck.”

The homeless man breathed a sigh of relief. “Quite the opposite, lad. It appears I’ve escaped their clutches for the time being.”

“Too many beauties after you, huh?” I chuckled again.

“Indeed,” he replied dryly. Then he climbed to his feet, dusted himself off, and squeezed out from between the bookshelves.

I got a good look at him as he emerged into the light. He was a slightly built man with a bit of a belly and a large bushy beard streaked with gray. The same was true for his hair. Despite his apparent age, he moved with the vigor of a young man.

For a moment, I was curious. Perhaps I’d stumbled across someone important? I was tempted to try using examine on him.

“I’m Carter, a C-Grade with dreams of reaching B-Grade sometime soon,” I said, holding out my hand for a shake. I hoped he’d reply with a similar introduction.

“And I am Ted, occasional wizard. More occasionally than I would like these days.” Ted took my hand and gave it a firm shake. I felt a tingle run up my spine and knew he’d examined me, so I figured doing the same to him was fine.

Ted the Wizard (Level 10)

<Author's Note:>

Mysterious homeless man found. But is he actually a mysterious homeless man? In a magical private library Carter had to teleport to? Find out next time on Amazon Apocalypse 5!

Anyway, here's chapter 3. I know I claimed I would publish 3 chapters of the new book before the end of the year, so here! I am an author of my word.

Book 4 is still ticking along. Every time I think about publishing it, I discover a typo or something I want to change, so it's just a matter of working up to hitting that publish button. This feeling seems to get worse the longer its been since my last release.

That's all happening in the background though. For this book, I don't want to front load us with too much stat stuff, but I can't think of a better place in the book to do the swap than here, since the middle of the book will have quite a bit of action out on campaign.

I think I said 10 skills per race / 0class at B-Grade? (I don't think I ever put it in the books, so it's not firm yet, but that's what I said in reply to a question at one point. So we have quite a bit to pick up. And a few that Carter doesn't use much that he should probably switch out.

A lot of these are going to be passive abilities, since 32 distinct abilities is going to be tough for you guys to keep in mind for every fight. Long-term, I'm going to come up with a few more ways to simplify things down more, since this problem will only grow bigger at A-Grade. Mixing in a bit more cultivation worldbuilding should do that trick though. Either next book or the second half of this one.