Chapter 267: Chapter 266: Mad Plan

While Syd contemplated what to do about Alex, the rest of Jadis quietly went over everyone’s status sheets, taking great care to make sure they weren’t broadcasting their numbers for other ears to overhear. Aila used her notes to help silently compare everyone’s attributes, which now that they knew the Lascivious Empowerment ritual had been bumped up to a full double multiplier, was easy to confirm.

The stat boosts were, in all honesty, incredible. Even if Jadis was upset with Jack for messing with their ritual without permission as well as invading their privacy, she had to admit that the literal hundreds of attribute points that had been spread out across the seven of them sort of made up for the dickery. Jack was a jackass, but not a malicious jackass.

Really, Jadis wondered what exactly Jack had done to make the change. If there were other ways of changing the spell, maybe they could gain even more attribute points…?

No, Jadis discarded that notion. Jack had said she’d already done the most that she could for them. Whether that was in a mechanical sense or a personal willingness sense, either way meant she wasn’t going to get more out of Jack. Though maybe now that she knew of the possibility, she could direct her own skills in the direction of altering her rituals? She had one such skill already, and from what she had seen of how leveling and skill opportunities worked, the more one did certain things, the more likely they were to gain skills that would enhance, compliment, or progress those things. She would absolutely love to be able to alter her rituals to make certain aspects more convenient or, even better, maybe alter the rituals or skills of her companions. She was sure that as much as Bridget enjoyed their time together, there would probably be times when the orc didn’t want to be stuffed three ways to Sunday in order to replenish her Stoke the Ardent Flame.

Or perhaps Bridget didn’t really mind all that much. She certainly hadn’t complained so far.

In any case, as interested as Jadis was in the power that Jack had shown, she wasn’t keen on letting the Fetch use it on her again, even with the obvious benefits. Jack seriously needed to work on respecting boundaries. Jadis decided she’d much prefer to gain that power for herself, or for one of her lovers. Considering how fast they were leveling, that hardly seemed like a pipe dream, either.

“I think he might have done something like some wizards are capable of,” Aila was saying as she and Eir discussed the outcome of the Jack-altered ritual. “One of the key tenets of wizard classes is their versatility with their spells. Slower to cast than a sorcerer, but greater variety in effect. Some of the skills I’ve heard some wizards gain allow them to create multiple effects with a single spell. For example, a wizard might cast a powerful lightning bolt that strikes one target, but because of her spellcraft and complementary skills, she can add on multiple smaller instances of ball lightning that spread out and strike the area around the target. It’s an alteration, not dissimilar to the kind my class allows, though far more fluid in nature. Jack must have some skill that allowed her to tack on additional qualifiers for the ritual. Though, I’ve never heard of a class that can change someone else’s spells.”

“I have, of a kind,” Eir mused, one finger held against her cheek in thought. “Though the example I am thinking of is more of a sympathetic spell casting. I have heard that some priests are able to enhance the ritual spells of their kindred priests, allowing them to perform more powerful rituals than they would alone.”

“I get the feeling that those priests probably would have needed some kind of permission to alter those rituals though, right?” Jay asked Eir, her expression still somewhat sour though her mood was improving.

“Yes, I believe so,” Eir confirmed her suspicion. “Though I am not personally familiar with any priests of such a high level as Sir Jack. At such a high level, I have no idea what would be possible.”

“Fair enough,” Jay shrugged. “Well, I guess this means Jack is a ritualist. Or a priest, I suppose. That would make some kind of twisted sense, actually. I did first meet her, or him, in a temple to D.”

As Jay, Aila, and Eir discussed the what and how of Jack’s interference, Syd found her own musings over Alex interrupted.

“So, uh, I know none of this is my business and I’m kind of intruding here, but from what I gather your sex ritual thing did succeed, right?”

Syd’s eyes shifted away from the wriggling demonling to look at the goblin woman still sitting on the wagon. Sorcha still had her legs drawn up to her chest and she looked like she was trying to make herself even smaller than she already was. Still, she’d reached out to Syd, her eyes holding a mix of nerves and hope.

“Yes, it did go well,” Jadis agreed with a slight hum. “Better than we were hoping for, even if the final results were unexpected.”

“And, stop me if I’m wrong here, but me being here actually helped you and yours get a lot stronger, yeah?”

“True,” Syd agreed again, this time one slender eyebrow raised as she regarded the witch.

“Good! That’s certainly good. So, ah, maybe that means you’d be putting in a good word for me? I mean, with the whole cooperation I’ve been giving you, plus with me helping you all get much stronger and such, that’s worth a good word with the law, isn’t it? For whatever it might be worth coming from you, which I think probably is worth a fair deal. You and yours seem like you’ve got the ears of important people.”

“Are you trying to bargain with me for a reduced sentence when we get back to Far Felsen?” Syd asked, the side of her mouth quirking up in a smirk as she leaned in a little closer to the goblin.

Sorcha’s big eyes were drawn to Syd’s unclothed chest like magnets. With visible effort, she pulled her attention back up to her face.

“Not with you,” Sorcha clarified. “You aren’t the Magistrate. But I bet my left tit she’d listen to what you have to say about everything that went on out here. I mean, let’s be blunt here, I could use the sodding break, so if you’ve the grace to put a good word in for me, it would be very, very appreciated.”

“Right,” Syd nodded, glancing around the dark tent. Everyone was starting to calm down from the earlier excitement, and she could see that a couple of her girls were starting to pay attention to the conversation she was having with Sorcha. “Well, I was actually already inclined to talk to Vraekae about you anyway, so if it puts your mind at ease, you can expect some consideration from me.”

“Thank the gods,” the little witch let out a big sigh of relief. “You don’t know how much that means to me.”

“Of course, that all depends on us getting back to Far Felsen in one piece,” Syd mused while rubbing her chin. “You did overhear what we’re planning on doing tomorrow, right?”

“Uh, well, maybe not every detail,” Sorcha wobbled her head from side to side. “But I heard a fair bit about Dryads and dragons and demon hordes. Sounds like a real, uh, big battle coming up.”

“You don’t seem that worried about us succeeding,” Syd pointed out, motioning with one hand towards the goblin.

“Well, in truth I was a whole lot worried earlier,” Sorcha admitted. “Then Noll the Savage showed up right out of the bloody ether, which combined with that monster Fetch makes for a scary strong duo. And then, you know, you all talking about this ritual giving you huge stats and you’re, you know, not even freaking out over how big they are makes me think that the lot of you are just that used to having stupidly massive stats. So anyway, that means you’re even stronger than you already were, which translates to you all being even more powerful and dangerous than I thought. So, yeah, not as concerned as I was earlier.”

“You know what? I can’t fault that logic,” Syd nodded in appreciation. “We’ve definitely got some heavy hitters on our side right now.”

To illustrate her point, Syd raised her arm and flexed her bicep. Her inhumanly smooth and pale skin stretched as the muscle bulged, turning her already firm and powerful looking arm into a body builder’s wet dream.

“Uh, yeah, that’s… yeah. Heavy,” Sorcha stared, her gaze stuck to Syd’s flexing arm.

“However, I’ve seen that dragon. Anything that can be done to increase the odds of everyone getting out of this shit alive is something I’m willing to at least entertain.”

One reason she was feeling a lot more forgiving of Jack than she might otherwise normally be, Jadis silently mused.

“I get that you aren’t much of a fighter,” Syd continued. “But you do have some pretty powerful spells. How would you feel about putting those to use for us, rather than against us, in this upcoming battle? If you do, I know I’ll have more positive things to say and I bet others in the group will as well. Maybe even captain Willa will want to offer some considerations if you can prove yourself useful.”

“I, uh, actually, yeah,” Sorcha stumbled over her words for a second before nodding her head vigorously. “Absolutely! If it means getting some leniency, I’d be damned well happy to!”

Upon hearing Sorcha’s eager agreement, Jadis brought her companions in on the conversation. She didn’t trust Sorcha, though she did trust that the witch would do whatever she could that would be in her best interest. Including the others in the planning, she made sure there were no strong objections. There were, of course, some concerns raised, which were all fair. Still, the argument came down to the fact that Sorcha was unlikely to try and betray them simply because if she did, it would mean her own death via dragon, demon, or some other equally horrible foe. Sure, she might try to run away in all the confusion, but even if she did, it was unlikely that she would get far, not with trackers like Kerr or Noll around. And if either of those two were no longer able to track the little witch, there were much bigger problems to concern themselves with than bringing one goblin back to Far Felsen for justice.

Though, as they wrapped up the discussion on the practicality of using Sorcha’s aid, another thought crossed Jadis’ mind. There were other resources in the camp that could be used. Maybe. It was something to explore in the morning, at least worth the conversation.

The reactions she got in the early hours of the next day were about what she’d expected them to be.

“Are you serious?” Willa gave Jay a withering look as she stood sternly before her with arms crossed.

“You can’t be serious,” Stavros said at the same time, looking up from where he sat chained to his fellow Reavers.

“You what now?” Jockel asked, a spoonful of cooling porridge halfway to his mouth.

“That’s mad!” Rickets crowed, his bruised and swollen face alight with delighted humor.

“Mmrph!” Eike angrily grunted around the gag stuffed into her mouth.

“You heard me,” Jay answered calmly. “Why not use every resource available to us?”

“We’ve got to drag them with us anyway,” Dys pointed out as she motioned towards the prisoners. “And if we don’t use them, that’s more resources we have to devote to guarding them, taking away from what we would otherwise be able to put on the field.”

“So, how about it?” Syd raised her hands in an appealing gesture. “They fight for us and, so long as they don’t pull any stupid shit, we put in a good word with the Magistrate and get them a more lenient punishment. Fuck, even if it’s years of imprisonment, that’s got to be better than the executioner’s block.”

“You are absolutely out of your mind,” Willa shook her head, staring up at the three Nephilim with disbelief.

“I believe I agree,” Stavros rumbled in his deep voice.

“I like it,” Rickets added, scooting across the ground with a pained grunt to get closer. “You’ll need someone to help set a trap for that dragon, right? I’d love to help with that! I’ve never tried to catch something that big in a trap. Sounds like a mad enough challenge to be fun!”

“Rickets, shut the fuck up,” Jockel said as he yanked on the chain connecting them to drag the man back.

“No, no, do go on,” a voice purred from the shadows, causing everyone present to jump.

Jack, still in the guise of a purple elf, only now she was wearing a set of wizardly robes that glimmered with power, stepped out from the early morning shadows.

“The world needs more mad plans,” she said, a broad grin on her face. “I’d like to hear more about this one.”

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