Callie's Heroes

PART IV - NEW WEAPONS

“Sure. Enchanting the crystals isn’t hard,” Fizzlebek said with a shrug. “The process needs them to sit for about a week with occasional attention, so by that measure it takes time.”

That made Callie stop and think for a minute. What kinds of enchantments could you put on a bow? Endless Arrows was absolutely great, and she’d be loath to give that one up. But if there was something better…

“What are my options?”

“In the timeframe you are talking about and with the quality of bow that Vonn would be able to make, I would be able to add two enchantments. I can do Endless Arrows, one for range, one for damage, one to put fire on all the arrows…”

“Fire?”

“I wouldn’t get that one. Rangers get an elemental attack at Bronze tier, so it overlaps, and there may be times when you don’t want your arrow to be on fire. I can also do ice or poison, but that’s a lot like fire, they overlap. I have one that gives the arrows a minor homing effect, but you have Homing Shot at some point, too, so it would be just like the elemental ones; simply redundant. Oh, I can also enchant the bow so it slowly repairs itself over time if you feed the crystal mana from time to time.”

Callie gave her answer some thought. Endless Arrows was just too good to pass up, and with all of her Ranger skills, she didn’t really need to add an overlapping effect. So now it comes down to damage, range, or repair. “No way to put three on?” she had to ask.

Fizzlebek shook his head. “Vonn might be able to inscribe it for a little extra boost, but I doubt we could do three full enchantments.”

“Inscribe?”

“While she’s making it, she can infuse runes into the wood. It’s like an enchantment, but far less potent. She can probably inscribe two, maybe three, and they can be the same. Runes have to be pretty simple though; damage, range, the like. Complex things require a full enchantment.”

“I got it then,” Callie said definitively. “Do Endless Arrows, Repair, and then as many runes as you can do for range. A small bow is going to have limits.”

Fizzlebek thought for a minute. “Let me bring Vonn over to make sure, but I think that would be possible.”

The Gnome walked off to get whoever this Vonn person was, and Callie thought some more about her new bow. She was actually really excited. Her own magic weapon! How cool was that! Hopefully Reynard wouldn’t get his fluffy tail in a twist about it for whatever reason he might come up with.

“Callie,” Fizzlebek called. “I’d like you to meet our resident Bowyer, as well as one of our blacksmiths. She’s also a retired Gold Tier Ranger.”

Callie turned to see him leading the red-scaled Lamia towards her. Callie’s eyes went huge and she almost said the S-word out loud, managing to barely catch the sounds before they left her lips. Part of her was actually legitimately frightened, and she knew it as she took an instinctive step backwards. She promptly backed into one of the workbenches before realizing what she was doing. Taking deep breaths to try to steady herself, there was an instant rush of warmth that swept through her body and in the blink of a moment, that primal fear that she was sensing simply evaporated. What the heck? How did that just happen? Then she thought of a possible answer. Did she just unknowingly activate her Resist Fear trait? That had to be it, it’s the only explanation for how she was simply suddenly no longer afraid.

“Hell-oooo, Callie,” Vonn said, bowing curtly and drawing the first word out. “Fizzlebek was asssking about making a new bow for you. He wanted to know if I could put any runesss on it.”

“Uh, hi,” Callie said, swallowing hard. “He suggested it might be a way to round out the capabilities a bit.”

“I would be able to craft you a Gnome-ssssized bow that could contain three runesss with the quality of the wood I have available to me. But making them all the sssame may not be the bessst choiccce. As you add more than one of thhhe sssame type, they add lessss and lessss additional improvements. I would recommend one each of range, reduccced activation time and mana cossst to maximissse the benefitsss.”

“We call that diminishing returns,” Fizzlebek said.

“Honestly, I’d be willing to let the two of you decide what’s best. Vonn, you probably know better than me what would make the most sense for a Ranger, if you used to be one, but for sure I think those two enchantments Fizzlebek and I talked about would be good ideas.”

“I do as well,” Fizzlebek agreed. “Not having to worry about arrows or the bow wearing out are certainly good options.”

“Do I need to do anything?” Callie asked.

“I will need to measure you and your ssstrength,” Vonn said. “But all of my bow crafting racksss are in ussse right now, ssso there’sss little point today. Come back in two daysss and I will have one free to get ssstarted with your new weapon. I will then be able to make sure it is the correct sssize for you. But do be aware, even withhh a rune for additional range, thhhe sssmall sssize of your bow will put you at a sssevere range disssadvantage compared to thossse withhh a longbow. It will be a limitation you will need to learn to work around.”

Callie frowned. With a smaller bow, it would obviously be naturally weaker compared to a larger one. That was just basic physics, after all. Would range be that much of a problem? And would it even matter? No matter what, she would never be easily able to shoot a longbow, so why worry about it. That limitation was a limitation of her size, not the weapon. If Reynard wanted to make an issue of that, then he would just have to deal with it.

“Thanks, Vonn. I’m sure I’ll find a way to…” Callies words were cut off as she received not one, but two reveals.

NEW PERK: AMBIDEXTERITY

NEW PERK: DUAL WIELD - BLADES

“What’sss wrong, Callie?” Vonn asked.

Callie looked up at the Lamia with a panicked expression. “I just received two reveals at once!” Quickly she dropped to the floor to prepare for the inevitable.

Vonn quickly slithered away as Fizzlebek dashed in front of her, falling to his knees to be supportive. There was little he could do, so he simply held Callie’s hand. To Callie, the spinning vertigo was as bad as every other time. But this time, flashes of faces began to cascade through her head like a pounding kaleidoscope. Pixyl, Lena, Tazrok, Grig, Jesca, Thucax, Reynard, Thorn, Xera. The visions swirled past her mind's eye and before fading into nothingness. Vanis, Xin, Bratig, Earick, Tasi, Olin, Koda. The crazy ride finally slowed and the slideshow of faces slowed with it. Shul’an, Kiasess, Galin. The final image flashed … Pixyl again, a bright toothy smile growing as she slowly waved at Callie in a painkiller haze.

Callie’s eyes opened to Fizzlebek looming over her, a concerned look on his face. Behind him, Vonn looked down with equal concern.

“I’m okay,” Callie moaned out. “Just give me a minute.”

Fizzlebek helped her sit up, and then backed away to give her some space. Her head was no longer spinning, but it certainly hadn’t calmed. She pulled her knees tight to ride through the last vestiges and took an opportunity to see what the new perks were. They seemed to be the same two that Pixyl had received, in fact.

CLASS PERK: AMBIDEXTERITY

DESCRIPTION: The ability to use either hand to perform actions without penalty.

CLASS PERK: DUAL WIELD - BLADES

DESCRIPTION: Proficiency in combat using a one-handed bladed weapon in one or both hands without penalty.

Just as Pixyl, Callie received a flood of knowledge from nowhere and everywhere all at once. She knew how to hold a sword. How to use it to block a strike or parry one. How to stand for maximum effect, and how to bend and twist in that delicate dance of death. More importantly, she could do it with a sword in each hand. Blocking and parrying and striking faster than the eye could see based purely on instinct. She knew it all. And she hadn’t known any of it only moments before. She also knew instinctively that she wasn’t any good at it.

At the same time, her normal right-handedness had ceased and she realized both hands were now equally adept. She wasn’t in a place to test the new perk, but vowed to do so at first opportunity. Maybe she could play catch with Pixyl to try it out.

“I’m okay,” Callie finally said, extending a hand to Fizzlebek. He took it and pulled Callie to her feet before giving her another unexpected hug.

“Tell me Little One, what new ssskillsss did you get,” Vonn asked curiously.

“Two perks,” Callied said, rubbing one hand down her face to brush out the last of the mental cobwebs. “Ambidexterity and Dual Wield - Blades.”

“Ahh!” Vonn said in surprise. “I remember when I reccceived thhhose myssself. It quite changed my life from thhhe poor sssword capabilitiesss I had prior. Once you unlock them, thhhey will be quite life-changing for you.”

Callie shrugged, speaking before she could stop herself. “I actually know how to unlock things.”

“You do?”

“Uh huh. It is so odd suddenly receiving this huge flood of information I didn’t have before. I don’t know if I will ever get used to it. I’ve never even held a sword before.”

Vonn cocked her head as if she was pondering something. “You’ve unlocked bothhh of thhhem? In that cassse, would you like to try out your new perksss?”

Callie blinked. “Are you serious? Do we need to go to the training grounds or something?”

“No no. We have a circle marked out so people can test new weapons for balance and feel. Fizzlebek, if you can take her over, I will retrieve a few things.”

Vonn turned and slithered off, while Fizzlebek jerked his head for Callie to follow him. He led her to what was indeed a large, marked circle in a cleared area behind the forge and had her remove her utility belt. The sun had dipped behind another cloud so it wasn’t quite so bright now, and the air was still comfortably warm. Callie looked down at her hands, almost feeling the new knowledge how to fight with a sword coursing through them.

“Little One! Catch!” Vonn called out as she lightly tossed a short blade towards Callie, handle first. On instinct, Callie reached out, snatching the pommel in a single fluid motion. “Again!” Vonn called, throwing a second sword in the same manner. Callie had to twist her body so her left hand could catch the sword in the correct position, but she caught it with the same grace as the first, feeling for the first time the results of the new Ambidextrous perk. Her body spun with the momentum, stopping in a near-perfect garde position that minutes ago she didn’t even know existed.

Callie looked at the swords she was holding. They weren’t long by normal sized standard, but were likely the Gnome equivalent of a longsword. The pommel was a simple piece of steel crudely wrapped in leather and tied with a leather cord. The blades were both in rough shape, full of uneven edges and slightly bent. Definitely not a sword you would want to truly fight with, but they were at least generally the correct size and weight to make a point.

“Excccellent catch,” Vonn said, holding out a much longer single blade of her own. “I am ssstill completing the crafting of that ssset you hold, but for now…” Vonn swung her single sword towards Callie in a sudden overhand motion.