Between Rocks and Harder Places

The Valley of the Rock Giants was about a day away from Longheim, an abandoned quarry that had been overrun by a large herd of sentient rock beings that patrolled the area. These monsters were difficult to remove, as they were born from residual mana animating the earth. It wasn’t a complete nuisance, however, as they contributed to the creation of rare materials by inhabiting the grounds.

Ferdinand couldn’t help but speak in length of the place’s history, particularly since Roze held a keen interest in foragable goods there. While minerals and gems weren’t exactly her forte, it wasn’t completely foreign to her medicinal knowledge.

Abrasives and plasters could be used to treat hard protrusions and set casts for broken bones. Some could even be crushed into a fine powder to treat stomach disorders and salves for wounds. And in some cases, poisoning from mines could be discerned by the type of rocks mined.

Roze took note of the different materials that could be found in that valley, a treasure trove when it came to a blacksmith like Ferdinand. Even if he didn’t use a specific gem or mineral as the base for the equipment, augmentation of its natural properties could be synthesized to give the equipment an added effect.

In particular, Ferdinand was looking for Oscillium, a material that possessed the rare characteristic of being highly elastic, such that it could absorb and repel a near-limitless amount of energy thrown at it. Augmentation of Oscillium into strong metals made it resilient to any shock as it would easily disperse through the entire material.

With what little Gideon knew of general physics from schooling, it seemed like a good bet. However, he had bowed out of the intellectual conversation and tagged Roze in after that point.

“You know, he hasn’t said a single word about you being here yet,” Gideon said as he walked beside Milipitas. “Must be nice to have that kind of focus.”

“You underestimate his abilities. He has known that I have been watching since you entered his shop. Keen listening for the vibrations of materials is required for such mastery.”

To prove her point, she chucked a rock right for Ferdinand’s head. Without pausing his rambling or even looking to acknowledge it, he lifted his shield and blocked.

“He has seen many battles. A true craftsman tests the fruits of his efforts in the field.”

Gideon knew full well of that fact from his previous encounters with him. That was one of the reasons he was dead set on recruiting him for the journey to Clockenspiel. However, he didn’t need to tell anyone else besides Roze that he knew the others beforehand. It would get too complicated trying to compare who they were in one timeline to the next, so he pushed it out of his mind and lived in the present.

“It sounds like you don’t have any objections travelling with him, so I’m going to pull out all the stops to convince him to tag along.”

“Hopefully not by breaking any more of his precious works.”

“That was just to make a statement.”

“Oh? Like how you made a statement to my sisters to keep yourself out of danger? Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I’m sure such creative planning to deceive all of us would be quite beneficial even if your skills can’t be passed onto posterity, but I wouldn’t want to make Roze sad.”

“You heard that? Damn, and I was trying to be sneaky too. Leave it to elves to hear everything you say from a mile away. But I’ll have you know. I’m not really that smart.”

“What you know intrigues me, but I know my boundaries.”

“Thanks, Pita-chan.”

Milipitas stumbled from the sudden nickname that she was given. She wondered how he could feel so casual throwing it out there. But then, she recovered quickly.

“I will allow it. If you will permit me to call you something different as well.”

“Mr. G.”

Milipitas stopped walking and stared at him. Then, she dove in close and grabbed him by the arm, whispering that back into his ear seductively. She smiled at his instant flinch in response.

“Oh? So you can feel nervous. I can hear your pulse skipping as it registered.”

“Damn, nothing really gets past you.”

“Eyes forward! Here’s comes one!” Ferdinand yelled back.

A sudden shift of the scenery up ahead came as boulders pushed off one wall. It hobbled around, like a stack of bricks trying to tumble forward. It was slow, enough for everyone to get into position for a fight. However, its sheer size towered several heights over everyone, causing all but one to hesitate.

Ferdinand took the lead, an aura of confidence on his face as he charged forward with his shield. He went right for one of the legs, slamming into it with a solid thud that sent it stumbling.

“What are ya waiting for? Elf girl, restrain it. Mr. Break-It, do your thing.”

Despite having only just met Milipitas, he somehow knew that she wielded the right type of magic. Perhaps, it was the intuition of a blacksmith, knowing the customer’s skills from a glance. Regardless, Milipitas quickly mouthed a chantless spell, wind forming whips that curled around the giant golem’s body.

It tried to push forward through the invisible restraints but fell flat on its front. Gideon took that opportunity to stop time. He ran right up the back of the golem’s head and drew his sticks.

It looked to most people like he had merely struck the golem once, when it was, in fact, hundreds of beats in a long drumroll. The rock head shattered, along with Gideon’s sticks, spraying shrapnel everywhere. He got a face full of dust as he stayed in position to hide his true ability from Ferdinand.

With the head of the golem destroyed, the rest of the body seemed to relax. The boulders, once clumped together by some weird force, was dispersed, causing them to fall down and scatter.

“The rock golems here are tough as adamantite. It doesn’t do me any good to tear up good weapons just to grab a bit of the same material. But with you here, I can go wild!”

It became pretty clear that Gideon was his ticket to resupplying his storage. That was likely compensation for the sword that he broke. Even if precious materials raised the price to an egregious value, most of that came from the difficulty of obtaining them. A craftsman couldn’t pass up the opportunity when a high-level adventurer gave him easy access on the cheap.

For someone like Gideon, who could swipe an S-rank bounty out from under one of those adventurers, a task like this was a cinch.

They continued down into the valley, knocking down golems that appeared occasionally with the same strategy. Ferdinand took the initiative to stun with a first strike, Milipitas held them down, and Gideon jumped in with a finisher. It was effective and efficient, so much so that it left Roze in the back, wondering why she was even here. Her eyes swam around the area, looking for nice items to forage for, but her attention couldn’t be torn away from the battles. She sighed at how far apart she was, compared to the rest.

Her Time magic had few utilities, given that she could only accelerate and slow objects. There was only so much power in hurling beads. Her other skill of advancing an object’s time was worthless in battle. Such inadequacies meant that a quiet life was her destiny, but seeing Gideon, seeing the potential of what could happen with time completely stopped made her a bit jealous.

“What’s wrong, Roze? I don’t see you stuffing your bag with things like you usually do.” Gideon walked over, waving a hand in front of her face. She immediately looked away, pretending to scan the area for herbs.

“Am I really the powerful Time mage that you say that I am? It certainly doesn’t feel like it when everyone else does all the fighting. Sometimes, I wish you would just tell me what I can do.”

Gideon stared into her eyes. She knew that he didn’t like talking about other times. She could see his jovial expression fall slightly whenever she mentioned it.

“I don’t believe that you’re the type of person to ask for handouts. If you’re concerned about revealing your magic to them, don’t be. I have walked the same path with all of you by my side. Just like your medicinal know-how, sink your teeth in with the same commitment, and you will find the answer.”

Roze looked past Gideon.

Milipitas held considerable respect for her, having faced off against her entire tribe, despite being powerless.

Ferdinand seemed more like he would be hopelessly curious in his pursuit of knowledge rather than holding any prejudice.

That left her own hesitation. Time magic had taken nearly everything away from her. It was a burden, a curse even, to be chased for simply possessing it. Subconsciously, she hated using it, wishing to live a normal life instead.

But then, Gideon came along. He showed her its power. He threw everything in a loop. And then, he encouraged her. Somewhere in her mind, she didn’t want to let go of her ancestry. She took his hand, but she was still afraid.

Gideon knelt down like a knight before a princess. He extended his hand to her.

“Let’s fight together. You and me, Roze. It’s your turn to use that brain of yours to make the person you want to be. That’s the only way you’ll reach the level you hope for. And when you do that, I’ll finally be free.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I only know two skills.”

“That’s one more than the one-trick pony I am. You simply need time. I’ve already had plenty of practice, so don’t use me as a metric.”

“Heads up, you two! We’re crashing a party!” Ferdinand yelled, pointing to a large group of golems this time.

It seemed like Roze no longer had the luxury of picking flowers by the pathway.