On Flora's way out of the Clan Riverstones Headquarters, she ran into Hub.
"Hey, Auntie Flo! Are you enjoying the Cetviwos so far?" he hollered, and stage whispered to his four fantastically geared companions. "She's Rob's mama. Be polite, or otherwise, she'll ground our clan leader."
"That makes no sense, second boss," said an Arabic looking man with a saber as tall as Flora.
"When I punished Robby for Hub's faults, Hub lost the joy of the company of my son. And I hoped Robby would either talk some sense into him or quit the friendship. Neither happened, but with time, I got kind of used to Hub." Flora smiled at him fondly. "Come on, big man, give your little auntie a hug!"
Flora to Aidan: "Activate friendly fire!"
Hub's round face split into a grin, and he opened his arms wide before he picked Flora up with a tight grip. Right away, Flora put her fingers together behind his shoulders. This action triggered the tasers.
Hub screamed like a teenage girl at the first concert of her favorite boyband.
"Since Robby is too old for grounding, I've been learning other tricks." Flora donned her best humble-granny smile.
"Bleep! Auntie! You even gave me a radiation debuff!" Hub said, hurt feelings coloring his voice. It didn't help that his companions chuckled at his misfortune.
"The rest of us are really polite and nice, Boss Mum!" a busty witch proclaimed laughing. "I promise!"
They parted amidst friendly chatter at the teleportation circle, and Flora beamed to Tricky Beach.
-------------------------
Flora passed the Earthling Information and handed in yesterday's jumping quest and took up a new daily quest.
Daily Quest: Learning the Ropes and Rails (Tricky Beach)
Description: Use ropes or rails in your tricks. Bonus: Do some antics on the 'Welcome to Tricky Beach'-Rope.
Rewards: Reputation with Tricky City
Penalties: none
Difficulty: E
The bonus included the ropes Flora died attempting yesterday. She decided to wait a bit longer before repeating that stunt. 'I will go for the low-hanging fruits, um, low hanging ropes!'
On the way, she balanced on a rail and dangled off a rope and felt good about raising the quest-counter to 2/10.
Inside the Ricky's Runner Gym, a small crowd waited for the start of the WS: some early tweens who looked like they hadn't slept for a while, two bickering couples, and three athletic-looking young women.
Flora instructed Aidan to let her health regenerate to 50%. The loser's corner was far away, so she might need a buffer for pratfalls.
The workshop started easy enough with shoulder rolls. Flora already knew how to do these from the last lesson. She had a harder time with the dive roll afterward. Then they progressed to vaults. She managed to do the safety vault, turn vault, and speed vault but had to take off the mech-suit for the kong vault. For this trick, you needed to put your legs through your spread arms, and there wasn't enough space while wearing the bulky suit. Next came wall runs. Those were more to Flora's taste, and her rubber boots gave her a good grip. They finished the first part of the workshop with precision jumps.
After a short break, the group learned to combine moves. Now, Flora managed to do the Kong Vault even while wearing the mech-suit. She was amazed at how fast she learned until Randy reminded them to start slow if they wanted to do the tricks in the real world because they were easier in VR.
The last part of the workshop consisted of learning the spells. First, Randy showed them a boost spell.
"Every physical attribute has a boost spell," Randy explained and began to move. "Agility-Boost!"
His movements grew even more fluid, and his speed picked up as he ran, jumped, and rolled over the obstacles.
To Flora's disappointment, he only taught them the agility-boost. Ten mana initial cost plus five Mana-Regeneration to keep the technique going, resulted in a Physical Macro-Control boost of 5 OV for her. By just walking or standing, Flora didn't feel any difference, but when doing tricks, she realized she flowed more smoothly through the exercises.
Next, they studied a spell called Refresh, which excited Flora because it was exactly what she needed to up her training. It strengthened both regenerations. Unfortunately, it required one minute to cool down.
"The minimum length of time that the user needs to wait after using a skill before they can use it again, Milady." While Aidan supplied the definition for cooldown to her, Flora grinned. 'Finally, a gaming term that makes sense!'
"'I Bow to You and Roll with it' is a prayer, that's the name the divine branch gave their mana-skills. If you cast it while rolling, you get less damage from all sources." Randy explained. "We free-runner roll whenever we want to prevent hurting ourselves. But praying while I'm in danger, isn't my thing. So I activated the auto-mode for the prayer and bound it to safety rolls. Easy peasy! Now, I pray almost every time I roll! My mum would be proud!"
The group chuckled. However, Flora grew excited.
"Okay, I died a few times because I wasted the prayer for easy rolls and when I need it the most, it's usually on cooldown, but whatever." Randy said, winking at his students.
"Aidan, did you hear this? That's the solution for raising my magical stats! Remind me of it as soon as I touch my workshop!"
"Yes, Milady!"
After this information, Flora's mind strayed from the free-running workshop to her crafting, visualizing the changes to the training-coffin.
She learned the Power-Jump half-heartedly but came back to the present when they covered sliding. When you applied 'Slide' to a body part, you glided over any surface. It even worked on liquids a bit. Free-Runners used it on their feet to grind like skaters.
As soon as Randy ended the workshop with advertising the next one tomorrow about flips, Flora bolted out of the building. With full strides, she ran to the Earthling Information building, vaulting over rails and even sliding on a low one. The trick ended in a safety-roll when she lost her balance, but the quest-counter rose, so Flora counted it as a success.
The 'Welcome to Tricky Beach'-banner fluttered on the rope above the EI building and tempted Flora. 'Technically, I know everything I need to perform the jump.'
"Aidan, deactivate friendly fire."
Flora drank a health potion and cast Refresh and Agility-Boost. While waiting for her health bar to top off, she visualized the angles and path she had to take.
'You got this girl! And I mean it this time around!'
She accelerated to the trampoline, hit it just right, and flew toward the rope. Dauntlessly, she grabbed it and laughed.
"I did it, Aidan! I really did it!"
"Yes, Milady."
Her arms tired out, and she looked around vainly for a safe way down.
She sighed and brought her legs up to clutch the rail. Slowly she scrambled to the roof of the Earthling Information.
-------------------------
After handing in the quest, Flora beamed to the Riverstones HQ.
The way to the printer shortened because now she could jump over the river. Eagerly, she connected to the workshop and modified the training-coffin. Because she only added two pulleys, some cords, and bracelets, she finished in no time. As soon as the printer produced the new coffin, she left for her lair.
-------------------------
In the flat, she piled all her equipment on the floor.
"Let's first test if the potion guzzler and the automatic spell casting are working."
She donned the hat, stepped into the coffin, and fastened the bracelets to her wrists. Cords connected the bracelets to the pulleys on the top. When Aidan activated the lifts, Flora's arms rose like a marionette greeting the audience. Now, Flora bound the movement to the automatic-mode of the system. When Aidan pulled the cord, she wanted to cast 'Refresh' on herself.
"Binding failed. The movement is too unspecific."
Because of the vibrations, her arms swung all over the place. She took the glove of her old marble mech-suit and transformed the fingers so that her middle finger was extended and the other fingers curled. 'Flipping the bird, to heal me? Why not.' This time the binding worked with the combination of raising the hand with a specific sign. On the other hand, she chose the victory/peace sign.
'What spell should I use?'
Telekinesis - Magic, Psychokinesis
Magical Push - Magic, Psychokinesis
Magical Pull - Magic, Psychokinesis
Transform organics - Magic, Transformation
Transform inorganics - Magic, Transformation
Clean - Magic, Conjuration
Use Built-In Skill - Technology, Command
Repair - Magic, Psychokinesis/ Technology / Art
Agility-Boost - Technique, Boost
Refresh - Spell, Elemental
I bow to you and roll with it - Prayer, Martial Monk
Power-Jump - Technique, Power
Slide - Trick, Free-Runner
"What does the second column mean, Aidan?"
"The first word is the name of the mana-skill. The second word is specialization. Classes are divided into different branches. The name of the mana-skills varies according to it. If you are a mage-class, you get a bonus on all spells, and if you are a warrior-class, you get a bonus on all techniques.
Branches: Name of Mana-Skills - Common Primary Attributes
Warrior: Technique - Strength/ Vitality
Mage: Spell - Intelligence / Modeling
Trickster: Trick - Agility / Dexterity
Tech: Technology - Dexterity / Mana Reg
Divine: Prayer - Intent / Mana
Nature: Charm - Intent / Mana Reg
Crafter: Art - Dexterity/Modeling
"I want to boost my magical stats, so let's delete all mana-skills which have physical primary attributes." Additionally, she got rid of spells, which could destroy her coffin or weren't a good fit.
Magical Push - Magic, Psychokinesis
Magical Pull - Magic, Psychokinesis
Repair - Magic, Psychokinesis/ Technology / Art
She decided to bind the left hand to Magical Push. 'This spell might be useful if I get into another altercation.' When she tried it out, the skill opened the lid of the coffin, and Flora fell out.
Therefore she changed the spell to Magical Pull. She couldn't control the aim but hoped she wouldn't destroy anything by wildly pulling at the interior of the box.
The bindings worked, and the potion guzzler helm worked as well with her in the workshop watching over the tests. She had doubted she would swallow the potions while not in charge of her body, but so far, it looked good.
"Next step, optimizing the setup."
Name: UltraCharge - Type: Mana-battery - Slot: Nock
Name: Toxic Counterflow-Training- Type: Mech-suit - Slot: Nock - Regular: 5 OV Mana-Reg - Effect: Toxic & Radioactive
Name: Leprechaun Guzzler Hat - Type: Potion Guzzler - Slot: Nock
Name: V0.2 - Type: Training-Coffin - Slot: Nock - Regular: 5 OV Mana-Reg
With Aidan and the workshop, she used up her six nocks and couldn't run the page-turner. 'The nocks filled up fast, good the Doc gave me his special jacks.' She changed the jack of Aidan to the Brownski-Jack and plugged it and the mana-battery in the same nock. The Brownski-Jack went first, and she inserted the jack of the mana-battery into it.
'Don't think about it, just accept it. Don't think about it! Burned toast and stale jam! It's impossible!' Her mind wandered to the other impossible things she had seen so far. 'Did I change the gloves of the mech-suit? Or did I wear the marble gloves above the rubber gloves?'
Flora put on the 'flipping the bird', marble gloves. They fit above her rubber mech-suit glove, and she could see them stretch. The sight made her dizzy. 'Marble is not a stretchy material! Again!' She repeated it a few times. First, her sickness rose, but within a few minutes, her brain got used to it. Now, she put on the satin gloves above both of them.
Name: Smooth Elegance4U gloves - Type: Clothing - Slot: Hands - Effect: +1 OV Mana-Reg
The result was the biggest satin one finger salute she'd ever seen. Therefore she made some pictures and a short video of it.
Flora looked at the pile of her other equipment and grinned.
Name: Pink Choice Tracksuit - Type: Clothing - Slot: Torso and Legs - Effect: +2 OV Phys-Reg
Name: Seven Masters Dojo Monk Training Set - Type: Clothing - Slot: Torso and Legs - Effect: + 3 Training efficiency in everything a Buddhist monk needs to know
Name: Blue Waves Mage Robe - Type: Clothing - Slot: Torso and Legs - Effect: +3 OV Mana-Reg
Name: Cozy nightcap - Type: Clothing - Slot: Head - Effect: +1 OV to both regenerations
Name: Slippers of Leyline Walking - Type: Clothing - Slot: Feet - Effect: +2 OV Mana-Reg
'Why choose when I can wear it all?'
Unfortunately, the stats didn't stack. The only effect Flora discerned was that she looked 40 pounds fatter. The debuffs of the mech-suit affected her, even when some other item occupied the chest slot. Futile, she tested if wearing a different outfit in the coffin and in the workshop brought benefits. She discovered that only the equipment marked as active on the equipment tab counted. An exception seemed to be when she plugged an additional item in her nocks. Though the nightcap occupied the head slot, she could use the potion guzzler hat.
Finally, she figured out the best equipment to wear for longer sessions in the workshop: Mana-regeneration on all equipment slots, the potion guzzler, the mana-battery, and of course, the training-coffin. At the moment, she needed the mech-suit as well because of its debuffs. It pained her to pay the 5 OV mana-reg for it, but she could fix this with some toxic waste sheets for the coffin. 'I really need a printer for myself. Visiting the Riverstones for minor adjustments is a waste of time.'
"Alright, dear. I desperately need a nap, but I want to get the toxic inlays for the coffin before. The martial arts classes should start in three hours, and I want to work on the Huffgrin project uninterrupted." Flora sighed. "Let's skip the martial-arts. No! If I skip it today, I skip it tomorrow!"
"Milady, you can attend the classes now. The lessons are standardized; every Beginner-I lesson 2 follows the same curriculum. And they start every half hour. On the way back, beam to the printer. Then take a nap, and you got a few hours at night to work on the project."
"Very good!"
-------------------------
The martial arts course was more fun than Flora remembered. She needed some time to coordinate her four limbs according to the instructions, but her training partners showed patience and politeness. However, there was a big difference in the training and the self-defense course Robby convinced her to take a few years back: it was forbidden to pull the punches. The coach, Cloudy, reminded Flora multiple times to choke her partner, an innocent-looking, blond Scandinavian woman, harder. Both were sorry every time they sent each other to the loser's corner and apologized repeatedly.
"Look at the boys! Are they blabbering about *bleep*?" the red-headed petite teacher yelled at them. "No, they are *bleep*ing training! Stop being *bleep*s and kill!"
'This will take some time to get used to - both hitting people and getting yelled at!'