Chapter 156: The City of Fallen Echoes (2/2)
“We should start with those messages we put aside,” Jason said, pulling the screens up out of the corner of his vision.
You have entered a zone of high magical saturation. Magical manifestations will occur at an increased rate.
“What’s magical saturation?” Sophie asked. “Are magical manifestations good?”
“Ambient magic, the invisible magic all around us,” Jason explained, “is graded in two ways. One is magical density, which is kind of like the strength of the local magic. It determines how powerful a magic item can be and work normally and the power of rituals that can be performed. The most important effect, though, is it determines the strength of what monsters will appear. Emir said the magical density here should be the same as the world outside, so we can expect mostly iron-rank monsters, plus some bronze. Silver should be extremely rare, but a silver rank monster can linger for years before breaking down back into magic, so there may be one or two around, somewhere.”
“That’s good to know, but doesn’t actually answer my questions,” Sophie said.
“I’m providing context,” Jason said.
“You’re starting to sound like Clive.”
“Clive’s a smart guy,”
“But he also likes to waffle on. You should hear him and Belinda. It’s interminable.”
“Anyway,” Jason said, “while magical density is how strong the magic is, magic saturation of how much of it there is. If you get higher magical saturation, you get more magical manifestation. That means more essences, more awakening stones and more monsters, which is all good.”
“More monsters is good?
“Our ability to grow stronger is reliant on throwing ourselves into challenge after challenge,” Jason said. “Here, we have all the challenge we could ask for. This is a holy land for adventurers looking to get stronger. It’s a shame, now, that we only have eighteen days.”
“Then our first step should be regrouping with the others,” Sophie said. The other messages screens stacked up were all variations on a theme.
Party member [Humphrey Geller] has gone out of range. Voice communication and loot sharing with out of range party members are unavailable.
Clive, Neil and Humphrey were all out of range, while Jason and Sophie had only been out of range for as long as Jason had been on one side of the aperture and Sophie the other.
Party member [Sophie Wexler] has re-entered range. Voice communication and loot sharing are restored. Voice communication and loot sharing with out of range party members are unavailable.
“So, how do we find them?” Sophie asked.
Jason took a furtive glance at the other adventurers. Some were huddled together, having discussions like Jason and Sophie. Others were looking to form makeshift groups after being separated from their own. Jason recognised a few faces but no one he knew well. A few people seemed to recognise him by his cloak, a couple of whom were heading in their direction.
“Jason Asano?” one of them asked.
“That’s right.”
“We've been separated from our group and it looks like you have been, too. You could join up with us if you like, until you find your own people.”
Jason glanced at Sophie, who gave a little head shake.
“Sorry,” Jason said. “We’ve lost people but our most mobile people are still together. We’re going to use that to cover more ground. Thank you for the offer though. It’s very kind.”
After a little more polite chatter they walked away.
“I don’t think they were being kind,” Sophie said quietly. “I think they were trying to glom onto someone they’d heard of.”
“They’re just trying to survive in a situation that’s gotten away from them,” Jason said. “You of all people should understand that.”
Sophie glanced at the other adventurers more sympathetically.
“I can see that,” she said. “You think maybe we should put a team together?”
“No,” Jason said. “I was also inclined to keep it to just us. I wasn’t lying about the speed thing, and trying to mesh a new group together in a dangerous environment could cause trouble a critical moment.”
“Just us, then,” she said. “So what are we doing?”
“Pull up the quest,” Jason said, doing the same himself.
Quest: [Legacy of the Reaper]
You have joined the mission to retrieve the Order of the Reaper’s legacy.
Objective: Pass the reaper trials 0/5Objective: Reach the centre of the City of Fallen Echoes.Objective: Obtain [Golden Scythe of the Reaper] 0/1.Objective: Deliver [Golden Scythe of the Reaper] to Emir Bahadir 0/1.Reward: Racial gift transfiguration.
“This is the City of Fallen Echoes,” Jason said, quietly. “The objective is to get to the middle. Knowing that might be a good edge for us against other teams. It also means our team knows where to go. As long as we head for the middle, we’ll find them eventually.”
“And where is the middle exactly?” Sophie asked. “Do we just head away from the water?”
Jason pulled up his map. It was a separate ability from his party interface, which meant Sophie couldn't use it herself, but it did allow her to see it when Jason did. The corner of the map listed their location.
Zone: City of Fallen Echoes (Gate Tower Three)
The map showed a perfectly circular city, surrounded by water. All but the area around one tower with a marker for Jason’s position on it was veiled.
“I can’t see places I haven’t been on the map,” Jason said. “The centre is pretty obvious from the outline though.”
He got to his feet and Sophie did the same.
“Let’s get down,” he said. “The stairs start over there.”
“Forget that,” Sophie said, walking backwards away from the edge.
“That looks suspiciously like a run-up,” Jason said.
“I won’t go too hard,” she said. “You should be able to follow it you put some guts in it.”
She ran to the edge of the tower and vaulted off without hesitation. Jason watched her sail through the air plunging toward the ground until she activated her leaf on the wind ability, slowing into a gentle descent. She landed in the middle of a wide boulevard overgrown with trees that headed in the direction they would be going. Jason looked down at her and shrugged, taking his own run-up and leaping out after her.