Convergence: Eclipse Chapter 11: Chapter 11: On the Road Again

Read chapter 11 of Convergence: Eclipse by J.L.Hollingwell on NovelPedia.

Determination, exploration and curiosity are the cornerstones of every good adventurer. And a large dollop of luck, of course. That may be the most important aspect… Soaring Flame Adventure Party Laurie turned and waved as he moved across the bridge at the gate to Hope’s Dream, trying to look casual as he hurried down the road. The moment he was past the guards, he dropped his concentration on Shade’s Mask, the magical shadows that had been concealing his face falling away. He had almost no mana left, and once he had rounded the first bend of the road, he slipped into the high grass, pausing a short distance in, to see if anyone had followed him. No one came. It seemed he had been right to trust Dragonheart; he seemed to genuinely want to help, and the community of people was one he could trust. Not everyone here is like Pyro, then. Laurie decided he might as well keep following the river that had brought him this far, making his way around the outskirts of the settlement to join back up with the river on the far side. As he did so, he thought about the new quests he had picked up. His quest log now showed four in total: Quest Log: Starting Zone: Collect the five quest keys 0/5 Matriarch Slayer: Kill five Matriarchs 1/5 Stinger Stockpile: Collect Scale Hide Stingers 0/10 Boarling Bash: Collect Boarling Charger Tusks 0/10 Laurie sighed. Why didn’t I ask them what Scale Hides are? Stupid! His stomach growled and he realised that not only had he got so caught up in the conversation that he had forgotten to ask for details of the quests, but he had also forgotten to ask for food, or advice on hunting. I can’t go back now, that would just be embarrassing… Besides, he didn’t have any more information to trade - he wanted to keep the weird boat on the lake a secret until he understood more about what trials were. No one could use it until level five, but there was still a part of him that resented the idea of someone else completing the trial first. With a thought, the quest log closed and turned back to his favourite pastime: thinking up new spell templates. He had used five of the spell template slots available to him at this level, which left just two more. What do I need? Another weapon? A way to move around faster? Maybe something to give me some range… He had his Blinding Flare, but that didn’t appear to do any actual damage, it just blinded the target. He could shoot his Shadow Blade, but not very far, although that might improve as he levelled. As he thought about his current spells, Laurie was starting to get a suspicion about how they worked. As magic as they were, he didn't seem able to use light or shadow in any way they could not naturally be used. The flare blinded people and shadows made it hard to see him, just like real light and shadow could. To test this idea, Laurie waited until his mana had fully regenerated and tried to copy what he had done when making the Umbral Step, pushing mana to his legs and feet to muffle his footsteps, but using light instead of shadow. It didn’t work. He made just as much noise as before and his legs glowed brightly, lighting up the surrounding area. Kind of the opposite of stealth! But it could be useful, I guess, if I was somewhere dark. Laurie took a step forward, light mana fizzing all the way to his toes, and fell forward, slamming hard into the floor. The flow of mana stopped as he lost his concentration, and he frowned into the dirt. What. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head, and tried to work out what had happened, replaying the moment in his mind. As he had taken a step, his legs had shot forward, moving faster than they ever had before and he had instantly lost balance and crashed into the ground. Well, that changes things! Laurie grinned as he pushed himself to his feet. This experiment had more than proved his idea. Light was the fastest thing in the world - or the world he had known before G.O.D came along, anyway. Imbuing his body with it had therefore made him faster