//------------------------------// // Zero Hour: Part 4 // Story: Spike of All Trades // by Ariamaki //------------------------------// They got out past the grasslands and into the rocky borderlands without any trouble. Past there led into the hills and (eventually) the cresting mountains and valleys around Ponyville. A river cut through the ground not too far away, and the pre-dawn air was humid despite the lack of plant life. "...Slow to pace." It only took Spike a second to parse the command: He cut his speed down without making any sudden movements, just leisurely dialing it back. Piercing turned his head here and there, his tufted ears bobbing to an unseen rhythm. He also didn't stop, so Spike made sure to not slow down any more than the officer. "Do you know the local pest population very well, Spike?" "Not really? I'm more used to the stuff closer to town, or in the edges of the Everfree: I thought the whole Diamond Dog thing meant there weren't many pests out here to begin with. Too easy to get made into a snack, right?" "Half-right. Whatever's causing the dogs to come out here... Well either that same thing is also driving away other creatures? Or the Diamond Dogs themselves are scaring away the locals. I'm seeing a lot of tracks that are... way too small for hooves or paws: Look there." Piercing gestured with one wing at a stretch of scuffed ground not far away, and Spike looked at the berm with a curious eye. While Observe was useful, he was trying not to rely on it in excess. He hadn't picked up many other sensory skills yet, but just checking with his own abilities... "Thinner and smaller than anything I can name, but still pretty big like, relatively speaking." "Correct. No drag marks either, so the species probably lifts their legs very quickly after stepping." "Lots of prints though, so something that moves in big groups? Or a lot of repeat movement." "Or a lot of legs on each individual." ...Eugh. While that narrowed it down to one thing, that one thing was guaranteed to be a pain. "Bugs, huh." Pierce shrugged and continued his forward movement, now incredibly slow. "Way too big for normal bugs, so probably a hybrid. We'd know if it was a Bugbear though..." Spike had some vague memories of seeing a Bugbear illustrated in diagrams back at the Library. Given that he was pretty sure that book used an Ursa Minor for scale, he really wanted nothing to do with that at the moment. Assured they wouldn't be walking into the den of such a huge creature (or at the very least that Sense Danger would kick in first), he decided to keep the slow walking pace Piercing had set. "I can make out several burrows, caved-in and filled up. Not full-fledged Diamond Dog tunnels, but not much smaller either. We're getting close to the reported encroachment zone, so eyes open." "I'm gonna guess that the same goes for you and that it goes without saying?" That earned him a wry smile from the Guard. "Bingo: But since this trip is partially for your sake and I'm technically only here as backup, don't be too shocked if I don't tell you about things in advance. A little ambush can be good for you!" "I think the usual joke about 'character building' is a lot more literal for me so I'll skip it." Piercing didn't reply with a joke of his own, which was fine by Spike: He wasn't going to be saying much for a bit either. The pace gave him a chance to drop down and focus on meditation. Exposure went to work in order to bring Spike up to his peak and then past it. He started to hum to himself, a slow internal song that picked up the pace until Cantus came into full swing as well. All of his buffs were doubled up from the original source (refreshed with raw materials) and Layer. His excess MP recovery that wasn't reserved for recasting Layer was pushed into Dragon's Heart. Cantus was running at full strength, all of its special MP generation directed through the broadest song he had, Art of the Dress. His food buffs were boosted by the party reward, and he was ready to use Dragon's Scales and pivot his song to Birthday Telegram if anything tried to attack him. The results? Name: Spike Class: The Gamer Title: Number One Assistant Level: Lv 14 HP: 2,104 / 2,104 MP: 3,505 / 3,549 STR: 25 (76) (-) (+) DEX: 28 (74) (-) (+) VIT: 26 (68) (-) (+) INT: 27 (72) (-) (+) WIS: 27 (72) (-) (+) LUK: 29 (69) (-) (+) POINTS: 78 (Confirm?) Yeah the results were extremely satisfying. It was a bit of a shame that his Arcade binge earlier had produced such lopsided results. Not a single good Strength-increasing experiment across multiple hours, but enough Luck and Dexterity to drown in. Balanced Soul was pretty ticked at him, insomuch as a purely mechanical system even could be ticked: He'd have to try to tailor his training to even those lumps out as much as possible, if only to maximize his bonus XP from the quest reward. Of course to even get a quest reward he would need to clear the quest: No more delaying. Spike continued to move slowly alongside Piercing, taking in the scenery and getting a feel for how to really properly use his eyes. The ground around them was pocked with a large number of ex-holes, the remains of tunnels or burrows of some kind. He'd seen enough Ponyville lawns ravaged by some variety of rabbit or groundhog to not recognize it, but... Looking from one scarred spot to another, Spike agreed that these were definitely not Diamond Dog tunnels. He still clearly remembered the gut-sinking feeling of watching the tunnels get filled ahead of them as they rushed to follow after Rarity. That had ended with huge heaps of loose dirt rising out of the hastily backfilled holes. These were exactly the opposite, the earth caved and sunken down inside the borders of notably wider craters. "It kinda looks like these tunnels collapsed rather than being filled." Pierce almost pulled to a stop at that, but then changed his bearing to move towards one hole in specific: The sole hole in sight that still was a hole. The others within their line of sight were all collapsed, leaving this single clear point. "Good observation... Which is a half-point. So for the full credit, what would that mean?" "...It was accidental or malicious. Anybody trying to keep the ground stable would fill this back up in order to get things back to the way they were. But a random collapse, or an intentional one..." "Sharp." It seemed like Pierce wasn't the only one who thought so: By focusing on perception and seeking clues, you have proven your sharp [Vision]! They continued like this for several more minutes, with Spike making continued observations and Piercing either corroborating or counter-pointing each step of the way. Their steps led around the clear hole several times as Spike's mounting excitement kept him moving. That tingling-striking pain was back, and he knew something was building as he first noticed the sound of slithering and chittering in the earth below... By keeping a lack-of-external-ear to the wind, you have proven your broad [Hearing]! ..then felt the strangely loamy texture of the surface around each hole, despite how rocky it looked from a distance... By feeling out for the answers to a situation, you have proven your accurate [Touch]! ...banking on his Gamer's Body and dragon's constitution in order to lick up some of the not-rock not-soil, finding it leeched of minerals and strangely acrid... By venturing to sample all the world has to offer, you have proven your discerning [Taste]! ...and then by breathing deep and slow. Sinking down into a deeper true meditation and stopping at the edge of the hole, Spike let the air rise up and wash over him. The smell was unmistakable, drilled into him as something nopony should ever want to smell on purpose. All thanks to Twilight rigorously teaching the principles of laboratory safety to a dragon who arguably didn't even need it. By taking in the atmosphere and the things that fall, you have proven your refined [Scent]! But he did need this. [Dragon's Eye] (Active and Passive) Lv 1 EXP: 0.00% MP: N/A Most living and thinking creatures have far more than just five senses, even if five hold the iconic position of power. Vestibular motion, magnetic sensitivity, dread, premonitions... The sensory potential of life is infinite and unfathomable, but even those fathoms may one day be plumbed. The all-seeing Dragon's Eye encompasses every sense there is and even those that aren't. All of your sensory skills and perceptive abilities are consolidated into this skill via merger. You may receive some sensory information cross-wired from other senses synaesthetically. You can enter a trance state in order to winnow extraneous senses to focus on one set of inputs. This skill will grow based on how many skills it has merged with, as well as their levels. Merged Skills: Vision, Hearing, Touch, Taste, Scent The rising hope of five new skills (and then the mild despair of watching them all condense into one svelte package, his Story Arc progress actively reverting at the same time) was pushed aside as Spike turned to Piercing Ammo with a frown. The last two had been the tipping point, and if they weren't enough then the newest input certainly was: That smell was 'green' in some way, a bright eye-searing color that flickered in his mind without ever coming through his eyes. "...Acid. Something melted parts of this hole." The Guard had his own grim expression at that revelation, but he didn't question Spike's methods. "On the one hoof there are creatures that use that kind of thing to burrow or tunnel, but I don't know much about them other than 'they exist'." His excitement of picking up a new skill and the general weirdness of this all kept Spike giddy: He raised a palm and flexed his claws, gesturing down the hole with his free hand. "Want to find out the hard way?" "Wouldn't be the first time I've started an op on that exact note: Lead the way, Mr. The Dragon."