Escape I

"Alright," said John. "How do we go about doing that?"

"I have memorized the movement patterns of this crew and their numbers in my week of captivity," said the imp. "There are only three members. A Dwarf, a Human, and a Werefolk.

The Dwarf seems to be their engineer and works on a hired basis. He spends much of his time half-drunk on liquor. He will be of little threat.

The Werefolk is of the Lupid clan and is the muscle of the group with a strong body and nasty claws and jaws to boot

The Human seems to be the captain. A swordsman of some skill, though he likely believes himself far better than he is.

All of them are at the Mystic core grade. The Dwarf and Werefolk have Lower Mystic Cores while the captain possesses a Medial Mystic Core."

[Cores are divided into Lower, Medial, and High sub-grades] chimed in Mel in explanation.

John filed that information down but focused on the more immediate topic at hand.

"All three of them have Mystic grade cores? Hold up, let me process that info for a bit," said John, the metaphysical cogs in his head whirring as he began to think about what to do.

In terms of sheer strength, he was hopelessly outmatched unless in his current state unless he took the time to evolve into his next stage.

But that would draw out attention.

'Mel,' said John mentally. 'What level of power is this imp at?'

[Take in the imp's scent. You will know then]

'Uh, I really do not want to, but if you say so,' said John. If he had eyebrows, he would have crinkled them as he took in a whiff of the imp's concentrated not showered smell. Smelled like rotten eggs beaten into twenty days expired milk.

[You could perceive the scent of mana-infused objects, could you not? That is what led you to the Quill Ferns. What smell did you recall then?]

'Strawberries…,' noted John as he focused, understanding where Mel was getting him to.

[Strawberries...yes. I still find this quite odd. Not the smell of fresh blood? Of newly torn viscera? Quite strange for a dragon such as yourself]

'Yeah, I think I prefer the smell of strawberries a LOT more compared to that. Hold up-,' John flared out his nostrils and closed his eyes, and as he willed his mind as hard as he could to ignore the imp's stink, he could make out the hint of fresh strawberries underneath.

'I can smell it!' said John proudly. 'And I can kind of tell how strong he is, too. If I compare the intensity of his smell to the Quill Ferns…I would say he's around my current level? I'd always asked you about the power levels of creatures I met, so I had never thought to focus on my smell like this.'

[A dragon's nose is one of the most magically sensitive organs known throughout the realm. It can discern between treasure and trash, weak and strong, and even friend and foe] explained Mel. [Develop it and hone it. The more you evolve, the sharper it becomes.

You currently sense the familiar scent of…strawberries from this imp because it is friendly towards you.

When hostile creatures appear to challenge you, their scent will be different. With experience, you may gauge the intensities of scents from beings of varying powers and accurately tune your senses]

'Understood,' said John. He looked at the imp again, appraising his strength, which made him wonder.

'Speaking of, Mel, if a core only determines how much mana you get, how come it seems to affect strength in general? The panther I fought was physically stronger than me as well,' said John.

[Mana is the essence of creation itself. It nourishes life at a fundamental level.

Beings with greater reserves of mana will possess bodies naturally enriched with greater strength, their blood, muscles, bones, and brains receiving far greater benefit and growth.

Of course, there are species-based differences.

Creatures that rely on Wild Magic that utilize their bodies will derive much greater bodily strength from their mana whereas creatures that rely upon Arcana that utilize their souls and words will derive much greater benefit to their magic.

Dragons like us, however, reign supreme in both categories.

We obtain both physical and magical might from our mana reserves at equally efficient rates]

'I see, then as for this imp…, hm,' John stared at the imp.

The demon's muscular arms and legs and long blue claws suggested he used Wild Magic, but maybe there was more to him?

'This imp…do Demons also have both Arcana and Wild Magic?' asked John.

[Demons are one of the few Finalis races that also possess affinity for both types of magic. The imp possesses a High Earthen Core.

In total mana capacity, he is likely only slightly stronger than you are, but as he shows signs of advanced age, he may possess more tactical knowledge and Arcana to utilize]

'Even then, the odds don't seem that great. It's two Earthen grade guys against three Mystic grades,' noted John. He remembered how vast a gap there was between himself and the Verdant Panther which possessed a lower Mystic grade core.

John had only won through preparations, abusing the panther's low intelligence, some luck of his own, and his cheat tier {Ray of Light} spell. There was absolutely no way he and the imp were going to beat three Mystic grades on their own.

"Are you worried about the crew now that I have told you they are of Mystic grade?" said the imp.

"Well, yeah, would you not be?" said John.

"Oh, I am, but better to die trying than live an enslaved existence, no?" The imp spoke of his death with a casual air.

Unfortunately, John was not used to facing death like that. "Uhm, I would like to have as high a chance of living as possible, if that's alright with you. If that means blowing up this ship with my 5th tier spell, I'll have to do it.

I could carry you, too, glide us both down."

"Possible, but then it would take far, far too long to reach the treasure. This Gravship has access to Gates that will let us jump from key location to location upon this Wild World. I would like to preserve the ship, if possible," said the imp.

"Gates?" asked John.

"Ah, I forget that you are a young dragon. It will be heartening to teach a young one of this realm again.

Gates are affixed points in space that link with each other. Entering them allows one to cross great distances of space immediately. Portals, to put it simply." The imp stood up and started to stretch out his fingers and legs, getting ready to move, obviously having made his own decision.

"Most of the Gates on this world have been erected by the Lower Finalis, and so only their peoples may access them. You, as a dragon, and I, as a demon, unfortunately are barred from these paths.

But we may work around that with this ship. Now then, shall we get ready to take over this ship?"

"Wait, you still haven't even told me your plan," said John.

"Oh, right, I forgot about that," said the imp. "Heh, this is why I get into situations like this. You see, I have been planning my escape for quite some time. This crew makes a routine landing early in dawn, about half an hour from now, at a nearby farming settlement.

There, they enter the settlement for supplies, mostly food.

I will break free of my chains when they leave, and once they are gone, I will take control of their Gravship and together, my friend, we will fly free!"

"Yeah, sure, cool plan and all in theory, but I can see a couple of holes in it already," said John. He narrowed his reptilian green eyes as he stared at the thick iron collar and chain around the imp's neck. "How do you suppose you are going to get out of that?"

"Heh, I am a master of picking locks.. Breaking magical seals, defensive enchantments, ages old sealed doors – that is me. I have a pouch of tools for spellbreaking and lock picking, you see, and with that, I may set us free."

"And…where exactly is this pouch?" said John. He twisted and turned his head around, trying to find anything, but there were just cold metal walls and a few of what looked like chicken bones here and there from food the crew had given the imp. "Shouldn't the crew have searched you? Made sure you weren't hiding anything? And you're only wearing a loincloth with no pockets."

"Heh, I have hidden the pouch in a place where they cannot reach. No, refuse to reach," said the imp with a smile.

"Oh…oh wait, you CANNOT mean THERE," said John. Had the imp really shoved an entire pouch of tools up his butt?

"Of course, I mean it," said the imp. "When the time comes and the ship lands and the crew leaves, I will retrieve my tools and we will be free my friend."

"Uh…when the time comes, I guess I'll give you some privacy and look away," said John.