An Amazon of Limited Means

Day 26

There comes a time in a young Amazon's life when she realizes that if she is to overcome the challenges that lie ahead of her, she must invest a serious portion of her days in training. At least, that's the conclusion Kitsilan reached as she studied her average damage output over coffee this morning.

"You could just get a better bow," Kyle offered.

"As if," Kits replied, "They're not exactly falling like mana pots."

"True, but you've an Ort and an Eth rune in your stash, and in a two-socket bow, they transform into an awesome weapon."

"Awesome?"

"Comparatively speaking, of course."

"Ah, but I don't have a two-socket bow."

"There's that. How about if you socket that Snowy Leech bow you got off Larzuk yesterday? If you can get two sockets in it, you could glue in your Ral and your perfect Topaz."

Kitslilan thought about that for all of two seconds. "Good idea!" She trotted over to the smithy and handed her Snowy Short War Bow of Leeching to Larzuk. "Can you set two sockets in this?"

"Why, for you, Kitsilan, sure! There's plenty of room."

With the addition of the Ral and the Topaz gem, Kitsilan's bow's stats were:

two-hand damage: 6-14

fast attack speed

adds 5-30 fire damage

adds 1-40 lightning damage

adds 9-30 cold damage

5% life stolen per hit

"Well, that's more like it," Kyle said, admiring the twinkle of the Topaz. "Let's see what it will do. Foothills?"

They took the waypoint to the Frigid Highlands and found Eldritch and his gang in their usual hangout. Making very quick work of them, the two heroes sped back over the bridge and proceeded to blow up Shenk and his minions, then worked their way back to the town gate. Along the way Kitsilan levelled to 34, and after consulting with Malah about the possibilities, read up on how to Evade.

"Dicey," Kyle muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"If you check the fine print, there's a potential for getting locked up while you're Evading."

"Can't be helped. Malah says that if I ever want to be able to, what was it, oh—'summon a powerful ally', then I have to learn Evade first."

"Summon a what? What am I, then?"

"Expensive to resurrect."

"Oh. Well, okay."

Back in town, they took a short nap to refresh themselves. Kitsilan visited Malah once again to fill up her scroll books. The old healer had a suggestion for them. "If you really want to train fast," she said, "you should use the 'players 4' chant. Might see better loot, too."

"Players 4?" Kitsilan repeated incredulously.

"No, no—'players 4'. Without the question mark. You run along now."

Back by the stash, Kitsilan looked around. Kyle was restringing her bow. No one else was nearby. "Players 4," she announced.

"What?" Kyle said, looking up.

"Nothing, just a chant Malah said would make the monsters stronger."

Kyle stared. "And you wanted to do this why?"

"For experience. We're in training, remember?"

"Okay," Kyle responded, "but at four times regular strength, you'd better be fast on your feet."

Kyle was right about that, Kitsilan thought as she weaved and dodged to bring down Eldritch's crew once again. She found Decoy useful in distracting the mobs in the Foothills, which gave her and Kyle much-needed breathing room. Before they'd cleared the top half, she and Kyle both levelled, and Kits portalled back to town.

Kitslian read up on Valkyries, care and feeding thereof, boosted her own vitality, and readied her energies to call on the heavens. A blinding light resolved itself into a glowing spearmaiden. "Hi!" she said brightly, "I'm Valkyrie, your Personal Heavenly Companion!"

Kyle shielded her eyes. "You could have studied Advanced Dodging, or even added to Guided Arrow. But no, you wanted a glowing stick chick to follow us around."

"Hush, rogue," Kitsilan said, "and find us some sunglasses. Yo, Valk!"

"Yes, my liege?"

"We're off to fight monsters. They're pretty mean, so your job is to take the hits for us. Got that?"

"As you wish, my mistress! I am your humble servant in this as in all things! I glow to do you honour! And to help you find me should I get lost!"

"Liege?" Kyle looked at Kitsilan. "Mistress?"

"It's an attitude you could learn to cultivate."

"Indeed? Shall I cultivate beaming like Izzy on a toot?"

"Um, that you can leave alone. Please."

They headed back out. Their new companion wandered aimlessly about, but with a bit of effort, Kitsilan worked out ways of directing her attention to the actual monsters and away from such compelling distractions as carrion bunnies and dead trees. Kyle pointedly ignored the Valkyrie, levelling again to 35 in short order.

They carted the loot back to Larzuk, who paid Kitsilan for it distractedly. As she turned away, he pulled her aside. "Who's your new friend?" he whispered.

"Huh? You know Kyle," Kits answered.

"No, not her, the other one."

Kits looked around. Kyle was leaning on a fence, watching a local cook a rabbit. Nearby, her Personal Heavenly Companion was attempting to skewer a ferocious leaf and failing. "You mean the Valk? She's not a friend, she's a minion."

Larzuk drew back, glaring. "I never thought I'd see the day you put on airs, Kitsilan."

"No, honest—it's an Amazon skill or spell or whatever. I just learned it today. Ask Malah."

"She's beautiful. Maybe I could learn that spell, if I studied?"

"Larzuk, old buddy, I'm beginning to see why the Amazons and the Barbarians split up so long ago. And why Barbarians don't have minion skills."

"Well, maybe you're right." He had the grace to look sheepish. "Anyway, I need to finish these claws for Anya. Think she'll like them?" He held up a pair of silverly claws, each point a razor.

"She'll love them, I just know it. Why can't I get bows this deadly?"

"Kitsilan," the smith replied patiently, "bows don't have points. You know that."

Kitsilan retrieved the Valk from a cornerpost and with Kyle, waypointed back to the Frigid Highlands. Imps and Crush Beasts soon took her mind off the smith, and she kept an eagle eye out for socketed bows and armour. No possibles dropped, but she did level to 36 with Kyle on her heels, and added another level of Dodge to appease the rogue's worries. Every time the Valk became low on life, Kits recast the spell, and kept her up front as a shield. In this way, they cleared the Highlands of all monsters and entered the Arreat Plateau, over the prone forms of Eyeback the Unleashed and his minions.

Things became a bit more exciting, as Lashers whipped Enslaved into frenzied blow-up dollies who luckily exploded harmlessly away from Kits. The drops became slightly more interesting as well, though nothing that Kitsilan could use, save for an Acrobatic Amulet that purported to add a skill level to passive and magic. Kits tried it on for a while, but missed the mana leech of her regular amulet, especially now that she was using Guided Arrow more often.

About halfway through the Plateau, she and Kyle leveled again. "This players chanting is something else, huh?" she said, putting Cleglaw's Tooth in her pack.

"Mmm. Just remember to re-set it before we do anything important," cautioned Kyle.

They found themselves at the far end of the Plateau soon after, Sharptooth Slayer and his Lasher crew in a colourful splotchy mess beside an Evil Urn. Kitsilan set up Decoy and flipped the lid. Out fell two healing potions and some spiders. The Decoy exploded, startling the Valk into wandering back to Kitsilan.

"Ick. Well, guess that should wrap it up for today," Kitsilan said.