LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 59: Partings and Choices
Two-Screws was examining the oak chest that had somehow just appeared in the center of the #7-Metals-Storage-Unit. The Snake had found and devoured the majority of the dwarves' reserves of metal, something they were keen to recover from her melted corpse. But she hadn't found all of the storage. Several of the engineers were carefully packing ingots of Dark Steel, High-Grade Deep Copper, Gold, and Bright Silver into the chest.
"How the hell does this work?" Two-Screws had measured his stash chest inside and out and was looking for any clues. So far, he'd just found it to be a sturdy oak chest.
Milo shrugged. "It's a special ability. It started smaller, and I've been able to increase its size over time. I can summon or dismiss it, but it uses up my stamina."
"Hmm. So, you bring it from somewhere else to here and send it back. Sort of the opposite of an Arcane Workshop."
Milo was immediately curious. "What do you mean? What's an Arcane Workshop?"
Two-Screws laughed. "It's one of the 'special secrets' you get to know when you’re a Senior Engineer. Not that a lot of us didn't already know about them when we were juniors. Supposedly some of the more ancient Senior Engineers used to have special places they could go. Secret workshops where they worked on projects that they wanted kept secret. You summon that chest from somewhere and send it back. An engineer could supposedly send himself somewhere else and then come back. I'm wondering if your chest is just a summonable, quite small workshop."
Milo considered. "I'm not sure. It sounds more like the Arcane Workshop is just the equivalent of an Arcane Library."
D-Wrench had just put a load of metal into the chest. He straightened and looked over at Milo. "Oh boy, someone has a secret. I can smell it!"
Two-Screws had a calculating look on his face. "I notice you're quite the mage with your fancy-schmancy bone magics. You wouldn't happen to know about these Arcane Libraries, would you? I might even delay your next turn on the improved 'Twirl and Hurl' if you didn't mind helping us with our research into Arcane Workshops."
Milo shuddered at the thought of the whirling torture device that the dwarves loved for some reason. "Deal. But I want to know about the workshops in return." Other engineers appeared as if by magic, and soon there was a heated discussion as they took the information Milo gave them and, in return, recounted anything they knew about Arcane Workshops. The discussion ended abruptly as The Chief appeared.
"Of course, I find you all lolly-gagging in here. This trip uptop is never going to get moving at this rate!" The engineers jumped to their feet and saluted as they filed out the door, some in very inventive ways. A few waved to Milo or shook his hand before he left. The Chief was one of those. "Get your business done and head back here. We have some big plans and could use your help."
He sent his stash back to wherever it came from and headed for the exit. Two-Screws followed along to see him off. As the door to the engineering complex opened, Milo was surprised to see Throttlecog there, along with two huge packs and a set of bronze armor similar to what he wore himself. Milo took in the gear and raised an eyebrow. Throttlecog chuckled. "Oh, thought you'd just sneak off and get in trouble? The Chief decided that we needed to touch base with the uptop folks. Maybe recruit some mechanics and junior engineers. We're a little top-heavy now that all the juniors got promoted."
Two-Screws paused as he was putting on the suit of mechanical armor. "Had to be done. We all got too smart! You can thank or blame Milo for that. Hydraulics and Fluid Systems? Holy crap, I had no idea you could do so much with water and steam!"
The two dwarves added the packs to their heavy suits of armor. Neither was wearing their helmets. The feel of the air on their faces and the smell of stone and earth had been missed for far too long. Milo started through the caves and mining tunnels, taking a route that either let the two climb down or where he could lower them by a pulley and rope. After one such drop, Throttlecog was making notes in a small book. "I can see that one of the first things we should do is set up a better path to the uptop. Or should we just drill an entirely new route?" There was lots of conjecture but no real decision. Milo enjoyed the talk. Too often in Section E, he was just bouncing ideas around in his own head with no other viewpoints.
As they came to the mushroom caves, Milo could tell the dwarves were tiring. Two-Screws wasn't used to moving in the heavy armor, and Throttlecog was only recently rejuvenated. They stopped at the edge of the first cave. Milo set up his camp, put on tea, and summoned Georgie, the Guard Lizard. Both dwarves spent quite a bit of time scratching him under his chin.
With George on duty, Milo took advantage of the break to look at the notifications he'd been ignoring since the explosion had occurred.
By dint of hard work, luck, the loyalty of your friends, and the attack of an Elemental Empress of Eels, you are now the last man standing in your guild.
-Guild rule 76 states that as the last man standing, you are now the Guild master of Engineers Guild #77
-Guild rule 3 states that a non-dwarf may not be elected Guild master.
-Guild rule 17 states that only Senior Engineers may be elected Guild master.
-Guild rule 2 states, 'The job gets done!' You are now considered a dwarf and a Senior Engineer for purposes of guild membership and holding offices of the guild.
You have spent enhancement points on the following:
+3 INT for a cost of 9 enhancement points
+3 CON for a cost of 9 enhancement points
+3 WIS for a cost of 9 enhancement points
+3 TOU for a cost of 9 enhancement points
Cap on the INT skill raised to 10 for a cost of two enhancement points
You have 40 unspent enhancement points.
You have gained the skill: Engineering.
The Following abilities count as Engineering Sub-Skills:
You have gained the skill: Hydraulics.
You have gained the skill: Ore Processing.
You have gained the skill: Pulley Systems.
You have gained the skill: Chemistry.
You have gained the skill: Physics.
You have gained the skill: Fluid Systems.
You have gained the skill: Metallurgy.
All of these skills are at level 5.
Trap-Making is now at Level 5
You have 40 enhancement points to allocate.
Milo read that through a couple of times. From what he could decipher, he had been counted as both a Senior and a Junior Engineer when he was allocating experience and points. He also counted as a dwarf and had gained the dwarf-only stat of Toughness for 3 points.
And his reputation with all dwarves had improved because of his status.
Reputation change: "No one really likes you." has been modified. This applies to both of your forms. If anything, most dwarves like ratkin better than humans.
-Dwarves, in general, will be neutral to you, improving to slightly respected if they know you are a Senior Engineer.
-Dwarves who mine, pursue any technical skill, or explore underground will be friendly to you if they know you are a member of a Deep Rock Engineering Complex.
-Dwarven Engineers will show you respect and treat you like family if they know you are a Senior Engineer.
-Non-dwarven engineers will respect you but might not like you and will certainly be jealous of you.
-Anyone who likes Eels really doesn't like you at all!! But who cares what an eel-lover thinks?
The last notification was long and was going to take a lot of thought. It looked like he could move to Tier 2 and pick a new class.
You have accumulated enough experience and enhancement points to advance to Tier 2 and Level 6.
(In fact, you went a little too far. Normally, you’d have been kicked to the second tier long ago, but not one made a rule about killing three mega-bosses at the same time. Don’t bother putting experience in your skills…You have too much! All of your skills have been raised to Rank 5. Just toss those enhancement points somewhere and scamper off to Level 6.)
-New Classes are available to you. Each class may give new skills, bonuses to statistics, new enhancement skills, and special perks. Choose wisely.
-Skills keep the same experience total and may advance to Level 10.
-Experience Totals and ranks for statistics are reset to 0. You keep all advances from Tier 1 and may build upon them in Tier 2.
-New enhancements will be available to you depending on your class. Enhancement Skills from Tier 1 may gain additional ranks to purchase.
-You must allocate all enhancement points before advancing to Tier 2.
-Attaining a value of 10 in some of your stats will give you a permanent bonus. Choices will be available after you have finished assigning all points and attain rank 6.
(Note that class bonuses from Tier 2 do not count for this.)
New Classes Available to You:
Veteran Were-Rat Scout
+3 Perception, +3 Agility, +2 Charisma
Gain the skill: Diplomacy.
Continue to serve your Hollow as a scout and explorer. Liaison with other clans and Hollows, and when needed, deal with the humans above.
Deep Explorer
+2 Perception, +2 Agility, +2 Wisdom, +2 free points
You seek the hidden secrets unknown to surface dwellers. You specialize in finding new ore deposits for mining, unraveling ancient puzzles, rediscovering lost ruins, or studying the cultures of the people living deep under the surface. Skills will focus on solo exploration, survival, and finding secrets.
Smuggler
+3 Perception, +3 Agility, Increased storage and movement.
Some people are against the free movement of goods into and out of their cities. Luckily, there are people like you to help out with this chore. No one knows how you do it. They can't catch you. And you didn't do it in the first place!
Packrat
+4 strength, +4 dexterity, +2 perception.
Every adventuring group needs someone to bring along the gear and hold the treasure. Maybe you keep a little extra for yourself? So, what? The focus of this class is on storage and novel ways to acquire other people's goods.
Gain skill: Haul
Gain skill: Magically Large Backpack
Gain skill: Deflect Guilt
Sharp Tail in the Dark
+2 corruption, +3 dexterity, +3 agility, +2 perception.
You are the unseen hunter. The dark alleys and lonely rooftops are your home. No one is safe from your claws and blade once you have taken a contract on their life. Whether you work freelance or for a powerful Boss, you are feared and respected by anyone who knows you exist. Emphasis on combat, stealth, and removing people who become problems.
Gain skill: Surprise!
Eel Hunter
Their time has come to an end; they just don't know it yet! One by one, you will find them (or they will find you!), and you will end them. Bury them deep in the cornfield. Erase them from the great book…you get the idea.
+20 Free Points. + 500 Health. New skills to give you a small chance of killing your nemesis.
Gain skill: Monster Hunter
Gain skill: We Need a Bigger Boat!
Experimental Senior Engineer
+5 toughness, +5 CON, +5 INT, +3 Free Points
Skill: Invention
Skill: MacGyver
Skill: Experimental Magitech
Perk: 'This is fine.'
Sometimes, you're a Genius. Sometimes, you have to explain to the boss why everything is on fire. Accidents happen, and you can't build the future without breaking a few eggs or skulls! This skill is perfect for the bored engineer that needs to know what happens when you turn the knob to 11.
Runic Engineer
+2 intelligence, +2 constitution, +2 wisdom, +2 perception, +2 toughness, +1 free point.
Skill: Dwarven Rune Lore (Engineering Runes)
Skill: Deep Rock Dwarven Engineering
Skill: Magi-tech for Beginners
Two great tastes that go great together!
You have discovered the ancient creatures that vied with the Eels for dominion of the world when it was young and unformed. More, you have gained the favor of three such creatures. Bonecasting is but a pale shadow of what you could do as a master of the Ancient Runes used by these creatures. And they aren’t the only creatures to use runes. By earning the respect of the Dwarven Engineers, you have a chance to learn from them and combine their strange knowledge with the magic of the ancients. Seek out more runes and combine them with lost Engineering lore.
He read through the new classes several times. Several of them looked fun. Several of them looked dangerous! But the choice narrowed quickly to Deep Explorer and the two Engineering classes. He wanted to explore more, and he was just starting to scratch the surface of what the Deep Rock Engineers could do. He considered Experimental Senior Engineer, but he’d already blown things up once; the Chief might be a little nervous if he took that class. Milo realized he’d be nervous himself! After some thought, he decided on Runic Engineer. It combined exploration and experimentation. Now he just had to pick out some enhancements. That could wait until tomorrow.
Coming to this conclusion, Milo started to log out and check in with his data collection on Section H. He stopped as Georgie suddenly started hissing and pointing into the cavern.
THUMP!! THUMP!! THUMP!!
A massive creature of some sort was moving towards them with long, slow steps. Milo quickly woke up the dwarves. All three made ready for battle as a thirty-foot-tall creature loomed over them from out of the gloom.