[ You have used a World-specific 2-Stars Skill Scroll. ]
[ You have received the skill Ritual Mimicry. ]
[ Ritual Mimicry ]
[ Rarity: 2-Stars ]
[ Effect: Quickly imitate sacred rites and ceremonies to blend in. ]
[ Cost: None ]
[ Cooldown: None ]
[ Description: Passive. A skill for those who are deeply studied into the obscure rituals and ceremonies of many different cultures, allowing them to blend in. ]
[ Observation: This skill can not be upgraded. ]
It was another special skill like [ Observe ], which couldn't be leveled up. And the effects were vague at best.
But Rumor couldn't contain the smile that took his face. It was exactly what he expected of the Indiana Jones universe.
This was part of the reason he enjoyed The Mind so much. Constant struggles for his life aside, there were some things that just made everything almost worth it.
"My friend, about Bhram..."
The village chief questioned once Rumor had been released by the ecstatic villagers. Now they were getting ready to butcher and cook the tiger - it was more meat than they had had in years.
"I'm sorry, chief, elders. But he was long gone before I even set off."
The other men sighed, their cheer reduced a little, but they had already expected it when Rumor returned alone. The village chief patted him on the shoulder.
"It was an incredibly brave thing you did, Shiva will be proud of you. I must ask more of you, however."
"Anything."
Rumor wouldn't truly do anything, but words cost nothing, and the sound of relationship points trickling in was nice.
"Tomorrow, the saviors will set off to Pankot Palace to free us from the great evil and return this land to Shiva's grace. As our bravest warrior, you will guide them."
The village chief smiled, and beckoned the group of storyline characters forward. Rumor ignored Willie and Short Round to grasp the hand Indiana Jones was offering him.
"I will be my honor, chief. Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Jones."
"Ho? It seems like you know me?"
Indiana Jones' grip was strong, but not overbearing. His hands were covered in caluses, and the slight raise of his eyebrows and the curling of his lips in a knowing smile made Rumor understand why he came across as charming to many.
"I went to school on Dheli, Dr. Jones. I heard of the famous archeologist there."
A lie, but the storyline characters didn't know that, and the villagers didn't call him out on it. Good. If he could avoid it, Rumor sure as he'll wasn't going to act all subservient like the rest of the villagers.
Indiana Jones, meanwhile, chuckled and released the handshake. He thumbed his hat as his gaze quickly flickered from Rumor to the now disassembled tiger, likely trying to figure out how someone of a thin build like him took on such a monster.
"Only good things, I hope?"
"Not at all. There's quite a few around the world who seem to be clamoring for your head."
Someone else might have been offended. Indiana Jones just laughed, looking awfully proud.
[ Your relationship with main storyline character Indiana Jones has increased to Neutral (250/1.000). ]
"I have had my fair share of disagreements and misunderstandings over the years. And made my fair share of enemies too. Hopefully that doesn't mean you refuse to guide us tomorrow?"
"Again, not at all. Good or bad, one thing I have learned from all the rumors about you is that you are really good at what you do. If anyone can bring back the sacred object, it is you."
[ Your relationship with main storyline character Indiana Jones has increased to Neutral (300/1.000). ]
Really, Rumor should have realized sooner that each storyline character required a different approach. Maybe then he would have been able to build more of a rapport with Anakin, Obi-Wan, and others.
But then again, most storyline characters weren't as easy to impress as Indiana Jones. It could be seen from the movies that he wasn't the best judge of character, what with he having been betrayed at least once per movie, sometimes in multiple occasions.
Rumor wasn't thinking of backstabbing the adventurer. Unless he was absolutely certain it would kill Indiana Jones. Otherwise, the next time he landed on this universe, his life would be hell.
"Now, if you would excuse me, I think I'll rest. Taking down that beast wasn't as easy as it may seen."
Rumor gestured to his tattered clothes, and specially the dark spot where it had been stained by his blood. His body may have already healed, but his clothes didn't mend themselves.
The archeologist looked down and nodded a sagely nod. No doubt he had suffered plenty of injuries during his travels.
"Have a good rest. And please, call me Indy."
...
Morning of the next day, Rumor woke up before sunrise. He had eaten meat from a tiger he killed last night - which was tough and gamey and tasted like shit - and felt ready to take on the world.
So, of course, the first step was watch an uppity white woman struggle for an embarrassing span of time to get on an elephant, while an entire Indian village watched.
Rumor shook his head. Willie's attempts, which ended with her laying on her stomach, head towards her mount's rear, lowered his already unkind opinion of her further.
"Excuse me."
Eventually, Rumor got tired of the singer's antics. Walking over to her elephant, he stepped on the animal's raised front leg - they were well-trained - and grabbed Willie by the waist, easily lifting her and spinning her around.
"Eep!"
The woman squealed and blushed, but Rumor had already turned dropped down and walked back to the front of the group. As a guide, he unfortunately didn't have an elephant of his own, but was responsible for leading them with his own two legs.
[ Your relationship with main storyline character Willie Scott has increased to Neutral (10/1.000). ]
Seriously? That was enough to get relationship points with her when dragging over a half-ton tiger the night before wasn't.
'You can have this one, Indy.'
Rumor wasn't uninterested in the opposite sex, but some girls were more trouble than they were worth. Beautiful or not, Willie wasn't his type - too fickle.
"Let's depart."
Tugging on the lead elephant, a juvenile female, Short Round, or Shorty as he insisted to be called, was riding, Rumor waved to the villagers and led the convoy away.
Using the knowledge The Mind had implanted in his brain, Rumor easily found the right path to Pankot Palace. The other guides, having witnessed him bring back the corpse of Night Terror, didn't quibble for leadership.
The tester looked over his shoulder to the middle pachyderm, the largest, which was carrying Indiana Jones.
[ Indian Elephant ]
[ Gender: Female ]
[ Age: 14 ]
[ Strength: 14 ]
[ Dexterity: 6 ]
[ Vitality: 20 ]
[ Temperance: 8 ]
[ Spirit: 6 ]
[ Appeal: 3 ]
[ Skills: Stable Ride, Thunderous Charge lvl 2 ]
[ Special Skills: None ]
[ Description: A mature female Indian Elephant, trained since young by the people of Mayapore Village. While possessing a very kind and calm personality, one shouldn't underestimate the power contained in its body. ]
[ Stable Ride: Passive. Tamed and trained since young, this creature is exceptionally stable when ridden. ]
[ Thunderous Charge lvl 2: Active. Use your body as a battering ram. Deals 150% attack damage. Can't change directions while charging. ]
That was the animal Rumor had chosen to tame to complete the [ Men's Best Friend ] achievement. As the oldest, she was the leader of the trio of elephants they had with them, and also the one who had spent the most time around humans.
Thinking of that, Rumor told one of the other guides to take the lead and slowed down until the pachyderm and her rider reached him.
"Something the matter, Rumor?"
Indiana Jones tipped his hat, looking down to him. Rumor shook his head while patting the giant mammal.
"Just checking on her, Dr. Jones - Indy. She's my favorite. Don't let the other two hear that though."
"Haha! My lips are sealed!"
Indiana Jones laughed, fondly scratching the top of the elephant's head. Rumor couldn't help but mimic the gesture under her chin.
There was something about being there, casually touching one of the largest terrestrial animals on the entire planet - even if this species in particular was on the smaller side - that even seeing fictional creatures like Anoobas and Massiffs couldn't quite compare.
Without thinking, Rumor took a [ Delicious Unknown Fruit ] out of his inventory and held it in front of the pachyderm.
Some would say it was a waste of a valuable healing item, and they wouldn't be wrong. But it just felt right at the moment.
"Fwuuuaah!"
The elephant prodded the fruit with her trunk before letting out a low cry and opening her mouth so Rumor could feed it to her. Small as it was when compared to the animal, he carefully positioned it between two large molars so it could squash it and actually taste anything before swallowing.
"It looks like she enjoyed it. What fruit was that? I have never seen one like it."
Indiana Jones leanes over the side of the elephant, a curious glint in his eyes. As a well-known scholar and adventurer, he had traveled all over the world, and eaten all kinds of food. Seeing a fruit he didn't know, especially one which looked so appetizing, was a rarity.
Rumor paused, considering for a moment how he should answer. After all, he couldn't say that was a fruit he got from the Star Wars universe, movies that wouldn't be released for decades still.
More so, was it worthy giving away another one? That would leave him with just 2 [ Delicious Unknown Fruits ].
Maybe. Rumor had already decrypted that the way to gain relationship points with the archeologist was either through adventure or knowledge.
He threw a [ Delicious Unknown Fruit ] to Indiana Jones.
"It's very rare. Here. It has powerful healing properties."
"Oh?"
The main character inspected the fruit more in depth when he heard that, before carefully storing it away in his bag.
[ Your relationship with main storyline character Indiana Jones has increased to Neutral (320/1.000). ]
Not as big of an increase as he hoped, but it was just one fruit. Either way, as long as he kept a constant banter with Indiana Jones, his relationship would inevitably grow.
"We will reach Pankot Palace tomorrow. When the sun is three fingers above the tree tops, there will be a good place to camp for the night."
Rumor patted the elephant's one last time, then jogged back to the front of the procession.
From there, they faced several boring hours of nothing happening. Groups of flying foxes - the popular name of the giant frugivore bats common in the region - flew overhead, and they often saw monkeys, birds, and reptiles, watching them, but none got close.
Rumor had been half-expecting something to happen. Wild animals attacking, a Thuggee Cult ambush, something. But nothing did.
What was The Mind playing at? Testing the resolve of testers to go after things themselves instead of waiting for trouble to find then?
That was Rumor's best guess. And he decided to act on it.
"Indy, I heard one of the boys from the village came back badly hurt last night, and you were the one who found him."
Going back to Indiana Jones' elephant, he tossed subtlety aside. The archeologist looked down at him and a grimace of distate crossed his face at the memory.
"Yeah. His injuries were very serious."
"Whip marks?"
The archeologist raised an eyebrow, but nodded minutely. Rumor was, in his eyes, a member of the village, so it was no surprise he had learned about the boy's condition.
"Mm. There's a local legend, you know? About the sacred stone."
Indiana Jones blinked at the apparent non-sequitur.
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah indeed. It's said that the great Shiva gave 5 sacred stones to 5 men who would lead on to become the leaders of great villages. Those 5 stones are said to be different than any others."
Rumor was talking out of his ass, and maybe Indiana Jones knew that, being the famous archeologist that he was. But then again, it was normal for small villages to have legends that didn't spread very far, so either way, he was interested.
"One day, many, many years ago, the evil Thuggee Cult, worshippers of the great evil god Kali, raided the villages and stole the sacred stones. They wanted to use them to take over the world in the name of Kali. But the benevolent Shiva struck down the cultists with a great storm in the middle of their ritual to Kali."
Now the archeologist was looking more and more hooked by the story. He had already made the connection that the so-called 5 scared stones were, in fact, the Sankara Stones.
"What happened to the sacred stones then?"
"They were lost for a long, long time. Until Shiva's hand guided 3 of them back to their rightful places."
"And the other 2?"
"The legend said they are still buried under the ruins of the Thuggee Cult's stronghold, and that, to this day, the evil followers of Kali are searching for them."
That was mostly true. Rumor couldn't quite remember how the leader of the Thuggee Cult, Mola Ram, had arrived at the conclusion that the lost Sankara Stones were under Pankot Palace, but the entire reason he had kidnapped so many boys was to dig for them.
"Does the legend say where those ruins supposedly are?"
Indiana Jones' eyes were shining now, with the ardent fervor of an archeologist hearing about an untouched dig site. But Rumor shrugged.
"Great evil lives in Pankot Palace. You have to be careful when you meet the Maharaja, Dr. Jones."
Rumor went back to the front of the convoy, but the hidden implications in his warning were obvious.
Indiana Jones didn't pester him with more questions, understanding Rumor was done talking about that topic. But, unseen to him, the tester was smirking.
Hook, line, and sinker.