The next morning turned into a late start for Jadis and Aila. After the long day previous and their extensive ‘testing’ that went late into the night, neither were quick to be roused. When they did eventually wake, they made their way downstairs just in time to order some breakfast from the innkeeper and secure a table off to one corner. They discussed the results of their activities the night and day before over several large plates of oddly blue eggs and crispy sausages.
“Seems like we were able to get you around seventy magic points refilled per cli—” Jay started, but her words were interrupted by Aila shoving a loaf of bread into her mouth.
“Around seventy points per emission, yes, I’d say.”
Jay ripped off a chunk of the bread with her teeth and chewed thoughtfully, staring at the primly composed Aila as she buttered a slice of bread.
“Definitely a lot faster to refill you that way than just waiting around,” Dys continued the line of thought. “Fast, doesn’t cost us anything really, and it’s fun, too. Not seeing much of a downside.”
“And you’ll always have us on tap to give you a good filling,” Syd added, hiding a grin behind a bite of eggs.
Aila didn’t overtly respond to Jadis’ wordplay, but there was a twinkle of mirth in her eyes. Once she’d taken a calming sip of tea, she pointed out the obvious.
“The difficulty of the skill is that if I’ve run out of magic points and need to replenish my supply in a hurry, there’s no way to do so out in the field, much less in the middle of battle. That’s not a huge issue since skills that can do so are rare and usually much higher level, but that limitation is a minor drawback.”
“Can’t we?” Jay asked, finally done with her mouthful of bread. “Replenish out in the field, I mean. Nothing stopping us from having a quickie out in the hills.”
Aila gave Jay a deadpan glare. “Do you really expect me to do… that while out in the open? With a gaggle of guards and Eir watching?”
“Maybe not,” Jay pulled a face. She wouldn’t have minded if Eir bore witness, honestly, but the guards were a bit much.
“What about storing some of our, ah, ‘Magic Potion’ and saving it for later use?” Syd asked, making finger quotes as she explained her idea.
Aila considered the idea with a thoughtful frown. “I don’t know. I don’t see why it wouldn’t work, but at the same time, I can’t say I’m thrilled about the idea of drinking your, er, Magic Potion, after it’s had time to sit. Your stuff is extremely sweet and I do like the taste,” Aila said, a blush deepening on her cheeks at the admission, “but I’m not sure it’ll be the same when it isn’t… fresh.”
Dys shrugged, humming around an undersized for her forkful of sausage. “Not sure, but it might be. We should still probably test it, just to see how viable it is.”
The idea of Aila carrying around a flask of her spunk for later consumption was kind of hot, Jadis privately thought, but didn’t say aloud. The practical use of the stored jizz was of more importance, anyway.
“It’s alright if we can’t refill until night though,” Aila said, breaking into Jadis’ musings. “Most mages have some kind of skill that helps them replenish their magic power during downtimes eventually, but even then, they have to be judicious in their usage of their spells. That’s fairly standard. I’ll just have to make sure to not go overboard on the spells every fight. Though if I continue to concentrate on the Focus attribute to increase my magic capacity, I’ll be able to cast a lot more spells before I run out.”
That was a fair plan, she had to admit, but still, Jadis wanted to find a way to push their combined fighting efficiency to the furthest limit it could go. As far as she could tell, the reason why everyone Jadis had met so far seemed to be much slower in class growth than her wasn’t just that she was effectively her own team and could tackle stronger enemies than a solo of similar level could, but also because the people of Oros were cautious and methodical in their approach. They didn’t take big risks and instead fought demons in large groups, granting a greater degree of safety to the inherently dangerous task. Not that Jadis could blame them, minimizing risks made sense enough, but Jadis found that she couldn’t live that way. She wanted to push her boundaries. So long as she was willing, she’d help push Aila’s boundaries too.
An idea Jadis had thought of a day or two previously popped back into the fore of her mind as she considered how to handle any midday refills Aila might need to keep her going as hard and long as Jadis was able to. Snickering at her own unvoiced pun, she explained her idea to her companion.
“I know this might sound like a step backwards but hear me out. How would you feel about driving a wagon again?”
“I’d hate it,” Aila answered immediately, staring at Dys like she’d just suggested shearing all of her long hair off. “What does that have to do with anything?”
Dys grinned at Aila’s obvious displeasure. “Not saying you should go back to your old day job, but what about the idea of having a mobile base of operations, that sort of thing?”
“Basically picture a large, covered wagon we could use to store and carry our supplies and loot while out and about, but also something we could use to take refuge in when we need some privacy for certain ‘filling’ activities throughout the day,” Syd explained further, arching an eyebrow.
“We could even use it to camp out in the field when we want to go on longer, further ranging expeditions,” Jay finished the pitch and waited expectantly for Aila’s reaction.
At first, Aila looked unconvinced, her brow furrowed. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Taking another sip of slowly cooling tea, she tilted her head in a somewhat perplexed expression.
“The idea does have some merit,” she finally voiced her take on the plan. “Your obvious attempts to indulge in ‘fun’ activities while we’re out hunting aside, it would be useful to have a way to transport supplies and any useful materials we gather in the field. Supply wagons are common enough in mercenary companies that are going on longer ranging expeditions, never mind military campaigns. It could work. It would slow us down compared to your usual pace though.”
“Not necessarily,” Jay countered. “The wagon wouldn’t need to follow us every step of the way. We could ride it out into the field and then use it as a kind of central point, going in circles around it. As long as we don’t forget where we left it, we can just come back for it when we’re ready.”
“I could put traps around it to prevent any interference,” Aila noted while munching on a piece of sausage.
“Exactly!” Syd exclaimed excitedly.
“And as you so ably demonstrated yesterday, you could pull it, too,” Aila smiled prettily at Syd.
All three of Jadis gave exasperated sighs and rolled their eyes.
“We didn’t suggest this so we can turn into beasts of burden,” Dys said with a mock scowl.
“And I didn’t plan on ever returning to being a cart driver, but here we are,” Aila said sweetly.
They discussed the idea further as they finished their breakfasts, concluding that a wagon would be beneficial but if they were going to get one, it would need to be one more suitable to their needs than the typical model of vehicle available in Felsen. Jadis’ size meant a regular wagon would be a tight fit if they used it as a mobile room to retreat into, so they’d need something with more space. A custom job sounded like something Sabina the half-elf smith could help with, so they decided to discuss the idea with her as a next stop after they visited the city hall to turn in their demon bounties. The cost of such a construction wouldn’t be cheap and they would no doubt require a lot of coin to commission such a project, never mind the cost of aurochs to pull the wagon. The reward Jadis had gotten from the caravan merchant would help, though they would still have to see if the idea was even within reason for their current budget.
Before they got up from their seats around the table, or in the case of Jadis’ selves, the floor around the table, Jay broached the topic of what she’d seen the demon hatchling doing while Aila and her doubles were otherwise engaged.
“It was doing what?” Aila asked incredulously.
Jay nodded, leaning in a little closer. The only person in the open main room of the inn besides the plump innkeeper was an older man sitting at a table reading a book. Jadis thought he might be the innkeeper’s husband but she wasn’t sure. Either way, she didn’t want him or the kindly innkeeper to overhear any talks about demons that were currently staying in the room upstairs.
“Definitely mimicking your motions,” she said, reinforcing the idea with some movements of her hand. “Locked on, too. Its eye never left the show.”
Aila looked uncomfortable, one finger scratching her cheek. “That could just be because we were the only thing for it to look at to begin with. I mean, I suppose I wouldn’t expect the little monster to be staring at the wall when there’s a bunch of movement right in front of it.”
“Maybe so,” Jay shrugged. “But it was copying us, or trying to, anyway. I don’t know what that might mean in the long run, but I want to see if I can figure out how much it understands.”
“I don’t understand why you’re so insistent in pursuing this line of thinking,” Aila sighed. “What do you hope to achieve? Even if, by some strange chance, you’re able to figure out a way to communicate with this little demon and they show they have some modicum of intelligence, what would that accomplish? The Spawn of Samleos are only on Oros for one purpose. They serve his will unconditionally. No good comes from them, only corruption and destruction.”
“You’re probably right,” Jay shrugged. Her other selves got up from their seats on the floor as she spoke. Dys ran back up the stairs to retrieve the loot items they had left there while Syd spoke to the innkeeper about buying a few sundry supplies and provisions that she might be willing to part with.
Jay continued her thought, helping Aila to her feet and keeping her head close to hers so she could hear her soft-spoken words. “I just have to know what’s possible. It might lead to nothing, but I have to try before I can give up on it.”
Aila frowned but didn’t reject what Jadis was saying. After a moment’s hesitation, she quickly leaned her head closer to Jay while she was still bent near and gave her a small kiss on the cheek.
“Okay. We’ll see where it goes.”
An unexpected warmth suffused Jadis’ hearts at the adorably sweet gesture. She was struck with a sudden impulse to embrace her companion but held back. She didn’t want to make a bigger deal out of the act than Aila probably meant by it.
Still, as Aila and Jadis left the inn with all their gear and loot, Jadis couldn’t help but take a risk. The height difference got in the way of making her movements seem casual, but she followed through anyway. As Dys and Syd walked ahead of them, Jay reached down and took Aila’s hand in her own.
Aila didn’t pull away and, after a few steps, squeezed Jay’s hand a little tighter.
A giddy grin spread uncontrollably across Jadis’ faces. She didn’t need to look to see that Aila was maintaining her normal, completely neutral expression, but she wore a hint of a blush that spoke volumes to someone who knew her.
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