《A Shadow in the Mist》 Prologue ¡°A Warden and Weaver bonded are bound together for life, but there are times when his need to cleanse himself is great and his wife is not near and there is no one who can draw out his corruption without the need for intercourse. This is the sad necessity that he must sometimes lie with another in order to purify his Core and avoid his soul being tainted beyond redemption.¡± - From the writings of Thomas Norrell, 381 AB Leora- Sunday, March 7th, 547 AB I sat before the bishop of Emmeria, my daughter rocking in my arms her eyes closed in sleep her angelic face totally peaceful. ¡°You¡¯ve been with us sometime Lady Adara,¡± he said looking over the parchment on his desk before him. ¡°You¡¯ve requested to take charge of a convent in the newly settled portions of Emmeria, why? You are still young and could remarry.¡± I shook my head. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­go through that again, when Aranea¡¯s father died it broke me. If I didn¡¯t have her I don¡¯t know if I¡¯d been able to continue; put me in charge of a remote convent. I¡¯m ready to take the vows.¡± He looked at the infant girl in my arms. ¡°You can¡¯t be her mother and her Mother,¡± he said. ¡°Mother Superior¡¯s can¡¯t have children of their own, you would have to give her up.¡± My arms tightened around Aranea for a moment, but I relaxed my grip. ¡°She will be raised as an orphaned Aspirant; she¡¯ll never know I¡¯m her mother.¡± ¡°You can do that? Let her grow up thinking she was abandoned by her parents to the Church,¡± Bishop Strisz asked skeptically. ¡°She can¡¯t know who her father was,¡± Leora said. ¡°This is for her own safety. Bishop Strisz studied her force for a long time drumming his fingers on the desk in thought. He nodded then dipped his quill in ink before scratching out a few short lines on the parchment in front of him and pouring some fine sand on it to blot the ink. ¡°I¡¯m assigning you to the Abbey of Corsnburh,¡± Bishop Strisz said. ¡°I have assigned several other orphaned girls to be sent with you to help explain why your showing up with an infant.¡± I rose and curtsied. ¡°Thank you, father.¡± ¡°Remember, she can¡¯t know she is your daughter, and you cannot show overt favoritism to her,¡± Strisz said sternly. ¡°I will keep an eye on you to make sure of this.¡± ¡°May the Voice curse me if I ever tell her,¡± Leora promised.
A carriage came to a stop and the door opened. I stepped out wearing the brown and white with the red sash of my mother superior. She held the infant girl in her left arm and helped five other girls, none of them older than seven out of the carriage. The brick walls and buildings that made up the convent were still bright cherry red from being newly constructed. The whitewash of the inner walls made everything seem bare and emptier. I went to the dormitory and was greeted by a priestess. ¡°Greetings Mother Superior,¡± she said curtseying. ¡°I am Sister Tabitha; I am at your service.¡± The woman and I were about the same age that I accepted her deference. ¡°Thank you, Sister, these girls need a bath after being on the road for so long.¡± We started washing the girls then putting them into the white dresses of Aspirants. I wandered the abbey, the little Aspirants followed me as I surveyed our new home. It was still midday so Sister Tabitha and I fixed a picnic and settled in the newly planted orchards at the back of the abbey. ¡°Why did you take the vows?¡± I asked Sister Tabitha. ¡°My husband died in battle,¡± Tabitha answered. ¡°We¡¯d been trying for a baby for about three years but I was never able to conceive, after he died¡­ I just couldn¡¯t move on. Why did you take them, I heard rumors you were a well respected Lady back in Emerald, why take this position out in the provinces?¡± ¡°Same reason as you,¡± I lied looking at Aranea as the girls took turns holding her. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have children and my Warden died, I wanted to get away from the politics of court so I came out here. I¡¯m a Mother to all these girls now.¡± We wrapped up the picnic and washed up all the dishes we had used in the abbey¡¯s kitchen. It was late and the girls were brought to dormitory and knelt beside their beds. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°Our father who dwells in heaven,¡± they prayed. ¡°Give us your Voice to guide our steps, bless the Wardens who slay your enemies and the Weavers who Ward our homes. Let your Kingdom come, your will be done, and deliver us from the djinn.¡± I tucked them in brushing their hair back and settling them in. I went over to the crib and rocked my daughter back and forth. Bending down I kissed her forehead. ¡°Sleep well, my little spider,¡± I whispered.
Cain- Sunday, August 23th, 558 AB The stone monastery at the edge of town served as it orphanage, operated by the Church it was the central focal point for how life in the town was revolved around. A large man on a massive warhorse rode through the town a brilliant two-handed axe slung over his back over a thick bearskin cloak. I watched this stranger enter the town, his horse snorting as smaller horse walked past it, the other horse backed up like a wolf had snarled at it, its ears going back. The warrior moved past the other rider not even sparing the farmer a glance as he entered the monastery¡¯s walls. He dismounted his horse, his boots hitting the cobblestone of the courtyard ringing out as his sabatons clanked against the stone. The warrior was approached by the abbot descending the steps from the chapel. ¡°Greetings Warden,¡± the abbot said. ¡°What brings you to our monastery?¡± ¡°I¡¯m looking for a boy, he should be around seven years old; his name is Cain Le¡¯meer,¡± the Warden said. ¡°I received word he was here.¡± ¡°And you are?¡± The abbot asked. ¡°Sir Jason Lanceren, his father,¡± the man answered. ¡°The man who ended the war?¡± The abbot asked and surveyed the man¡¯s face. The Warden sighed but nodded, and the Abbot clapped him on his arm. ¡°The Church does not involve itself in political wars, but I am glad you brought an end to the war, it was getting far to bloody and many good Wardens we need to fight the djinn were being wasted in it.¡± ¡°Is my son here?¡± Sir Lanceren asked. The abbot gestured to where I was sitting on the steps watching a group of the other boys playing outside. The knight came over and knelt before me. ¡°Hello son,¡± he said after an awkward pause. ¡°Hello,¡± I said as I searched this stranger¡¯s face. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to hear about your mother,¡± he said laying a hand on my shoulder. ¡°She was a good woman.¡± ¡°What will happen to me now?¡± I asked. My father extended his hand to me. ¡°You will come to live in my house, I will train you in the martial arts and when you turn seventeen you will be a Warden.¡± I took my father¡¯s hand, mine disappearing in his colossal grip. He lifted me up into his arms. ¡°Is there anything you have to bring?¡± I nodded and he carried me to the dormitory. I only had one thing left of my mother, a wooden case containing an ivory flute carved to look like a dragon. My father packed it in my saddlebags and lifted me into the saddle in front of him. We left the town behind us heading south towards the mountains. We left the road heading cross country. The familiar landscape made me shrink in on myself as we approached my old home. Dismounting my father knelt amid the blackened remnants of timber at the pile of stones that marked where my mother and brother had died, a blue flowering vine grew over the stones. When my father rose from prayer, I saw a trinket left behind on the stone a small wooden figurine like the ones my mother used to carve for me and Able. We rode for several more days stopping at inns or camping on the road. I watched my father swing his mighty axe felling over a dozen djinn over the course of our journey from Imps to even a Jtunn. We stopped at an in the town guarding the pass between the mountains marking the border between Carsway and Emmeria. ¡°Its going to be a few days on the road without inns or taverns,¡± my father warned me. ¡°You¡¯ll have to learn to sleep in the saddle, we don¡¯t want to be that close to the Mistwall for any longer than we have to.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. ¡°You can just call me father,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°I should have come to visit you and your brother more, if I¡¯d just¡­. never mind.¡± He put aside his regrets for what could have been. We kept on the move through the road carved through the narrow section of the mountain pass that wasn¡¯t covered in any of the Mist. We couldn¡¯t see into the white wall of fog or see any of the horrors that might be looking out from it at us right then. It took two days, with only a few times of stopping to let the horse graze and rest before we kept moving. I breathed a sigh of relief when we passed out of the shadow of the mountains riding up to the fortress town on this side of the border. Staying the night, we left the town the next day heading further south away from the mountains. It was another seven days along the road and moving cross country. Fields of grain, orchards and pastures filled with sheep and cattle. We approached a small manor with a stone wall around it and several outbuildings inside its walled confines. My father passed through the gate into the courtyard of the manor. He dismounted and lifted me off his hose, we approached the house and a tall, beautiful woman stepped out glaring at him and me. ¡°He is not welcome here,¡± she snapped. ¡°He is my son,¡± my father said. ¡°I have heard you but I am your husband and the Lord of this house. Whatever your feelings and however miserable you try to make my life I will not turn him away.¡± ¡°He will not stay in my house,¡± she insisted. ¡°Let him sleep in the guardhouse with the militia, he has any place here.¡± My father sighed. ¡°If that will bring peace then so be it but you will not speak with such hate to him again.¡± ¡°He is a bastard! Just because you went off to war and sired him on that bitch¡­¡± she began irately but stopped as my father raised his hand to strike. ¡°I will not tell you again,¡± he said his voice as cold as the mountains. ¡°You can hate me all you want but my son is off limits to you.¡± Her head bowed in submission. ¡°Have him stay out of my sight,¡± she turned her back disappearing into the manor. My father knelt beside me. ¡°I¡¯m sorry you had to see al that, she wasn¡¯t very happy about what I had to do. Come, I want you to meet your brothers.¡± He lead me to the training yard where a group of boys were sparing with wooden weapon. They all dropped them and ran towards us crowding around my father¡¯s legs. ¡°Dad! Did you bring us anything from Carsway for us?¡± the youngest asked. ¡°I¡¯ll give out gifts later,¡± father said. ¡°I want you to welcome your brother, Cain.¡± Chapter 1: The Call of Madness
¡°The greatest lie of Corruption is that you are different, special. It tells you that despite all others having failed to resist it you will be able to and use its power for good. This is a lie and from it come all manners of evil.¡± - High Templar Micheal Re¡¯gaur, 220 AB
Sunday, July 28th, 564 AB Kole Ramore blocked the massive sword of the Fire Jotunn and teleported behind it with Lightning Step. He drove his glaive through its back ripping out the blade along with a chunk of flesh. The massive behemoth crumpled to ash, the ether holding it together expended and the bit of twisted corrupted ether threads that formed its core were absorbed by his Relic. Kole winced, feeling the heat growing hotter in his core from the constant bits of corruption he gathered from each kill. Rain poured down on him atop the castle, making the stone slick with water as the last survivor of the town of Ironwood fought to the last. He spun and blasted out a lightning bolt from the tip of his weapon that blasted into the Earth Soldiers moved up the spiral staircase slowing them down and forcing them to move single file. The lightning bounced from one to the other, traveling down the column of djinn and reducing each to dust as it went. The ether storm had hit just as a natural storm had passed over them and now all manner of djinn were spawning. The flames of the town below the castle were spawning fire djinn, and Earth djinn crawled out of the dirt of the streets, the wards preventing that having long sense failed. ¡°Come at me foul creatures!¡± Kole shouted. ¡°I have slain hundreds of your kind this night alone!¡± A roar answered him, and Kole looked up and paled. Out of the sky a creature of lightning and blue crystal skills descended. It was the highest tier of djinn, a Dragon. The Storm Dragon roared and blasted the roof of the castle with its breath attack skill. Kole met the attack unflinching; he was a Storm Warden, the passive skill from the Storm Element giving him immunity to Storm damage. Moon djinn scrambled up the outside of the castle walls and Kole slashed out, unleashing Arcing Cut, a blade of Storm Ether shredding them. He blocked the strike of a Water Demon and drove his glaive into its chest releasing his Discharge skill and obliterating it from within with Storm ether. The Storm dragon landed on the roof and he barely managed to dodge to the side as its jaws snapped down on him. Kole slashed at its neck, but its scales turned his weapon, sending only sparks into the air. A thunderous roar split the air and Kole felt his eardrums pop and blood trickle out of them from the force of it. He staggered backwards, dazed for a moment and was hit by the dragon¡¯s tail. His body collided with the side of the tower atop the castle, and he felt his bones crack along with the masonry behind him. His relic armor spiderwebbed as it absorbed most of the damage for him. It would take almost two minutes for his armor to regenerate, time he didn¡¯t have. ¡°I¡¯ll see you soon Katherine,¡± Kole whispered, ready to be reunited with his wife who had died three days ago when the djinns siege finally broke through the walls of their town. Because his wife died, he¡¯d had to sleep with his best friend¡¯s wife to purge the corruption from his veins. He had died at the start of the siege and she and Kole had been the last Weaver and Warden left in Ironwood. She had died yesterday and Kole had been in constant battle for almost an entire day now. He felt his core burning with all the corruption he had gathered. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. The Dragon chuckled as it stalked forwards, playing with him now, the alien malevolent intelligence apparent in it¡¯ eyes brimming with all manners of cruelty. Kole gripped his glaive and pushed himself to his feet. Djinn swarmed him from all sides; he slashed out, moving in blur as he tore through them. His second wind ended, and he stumbled. The Dragon¡¯s jaws came down as djinn rushed him, fighting for the kill and the experience his death would grant them. His glaive shot out through the chest of a Moon Demon just before the dragon¡¯s jaws closed and Kole closed his eyes. Nothing happened and he opened his eyes. The dragon had pulled back and all the other djinn were now mulling around, jumping off the roof of the castle to search the rest of the town. ¡°What¡­¡± Kole thought, then his eyes widened as he realized he no longer felt the burning in his chest. ¡°No¡­no¡­no..¡± he stammered, pulling up his character sheet. There it was, his entire sheet had lost its azure background with blue and white text. It was now a blood red with dark red and black text. He had been corrupted; he was a Warden no longer, his soul twisted into a Warlock. Kole stepped to the edge of the castle, ready to throw himself off and destroy what he had become. He looked out over the burning destroyed remnants of his town and anger rose up in him. They could have dealt with the ether storm and the siege if they¡¯d had enough Warden¡¯s to hold the walls, but those Wardens had been killed a week before by damned Emmerian raiders. He had requested reinforcements from his king but had been denied. King Calder didn¡¯t want to make it seem as if we were preparing for war by sending more Wardens to the border. When the djinn had attacked, there simply hadn¡¯t been enough Wardens to hold them off and absorb the corruption from their bodies. ¡°It wasn¡¯t our fault,¡± Kole said. ¡°My children¡¯s blood, my wife¡¯s blood, everyone I¡¯ve loved¡­their deaths deserve to be avenged.¡± He couldn¡¯t rest, he couldn¡¯t stop; not now. He had to make them pay; make them pay for killing his friends and leaving them vulnerable. Make them pay for abandoning them to their fate. He was the only one left to seek justice against two kings. In a daze, he stumbled through the castle. The djinn were fighting each other now that there were no more humans to fight. A moon djinn stabbed out at him, but an Earth Jotunn crushed it under its massive club. Kole went down to the castle vaults. Pushing open a stone door, he looked in on the crypt where they had kept those they¡¯d lost in the last few days. He pulled back the veil, looking at his wife¡¯s face. Even in death she was still beautiful. He turned to the small corpses lined up beside her. ¡°I can¡¯t do this alone Katherine,¡± Kole said as he laid a hand on her chest where a spear thrust from a Mist djinn had pierced her heart. He had never done this before, but knew it was possible from the stories. He pushed at the corruption in his core, he was no Weaver and didn¡¯t know how to pull out the corruption like they did and as a Warlock, he would never be able to fully cleanse himself. He pushed out and felt the corruption willingly answer him like a living being. It flowed out and passed out through his palm. Katherin¡¯s eyes snapped open. Her eyes, a brilliant blue even before, now glowed with inner Storm ether. She blinked, looking about, then focused her eyes on him. ¡°Where are we, my lord?¡± she asked. Kole smiled. Her voice was slightly different, with a bit of a hum in her vocal cords, but it was the same tone she always had when speaking with him. He looked down at his children but stopped himself; he wouldn¡¯t do that to them. They wouldn¡¯t be draugr like Katherine, just mindless aptrganga, he couldn¡¯t do that to them. Their mother and father would buy them their vengeance. They would have to hide away and gather strength; raise their army if they were to face two kings. He would also need other allies. One by one, Kole raised the other fallen Wardens and Weavers, their eyes glowing with etheric light. ¡°We will avenge what was done to us,¡± Kole promised them. Next, they began killing any djinn of an element he couldn¡¯t control. He had a Storm relic so he could only control Storm, Earth, and Sun djinn. Luckily for him those were some of the most powerful djinn even if Storm and Sun were among the much rarer types of djinn. Kole mounted the storm dragon Katherine sliding up behind him. They turned to the south-west and moved towards the Mistwall mountains. They could hide there and grow in strength until the day when he could unleash his vengeance. Chapter 2: A Sons Inheritance ¡°Taking on the role of a Warden is not something to be done lightly. We are the shield of mankind against the djinn and death in service is all but a guarantee. Once you take up your relic, you cannot put it down regardless of how weary you may grow. Once your body tastes the sweet thrill of ether running through it, you will not physically be able to live without it. Experiments run on Warlocks and criminal Wardens have found the longest anyone can survive without consuming ether through combat is ninety days. Such a death is agony as every cell in your body craves ether energy. Eventually, like a man in a desert, your body caves in from lack of nourishment. This is not a problem Weavers suffer but such is the difference between the two roles.¡± - A warning given to aspiring Wardens by Master Xasven, Cleric of the House of Lordell Cain ¨C Saturday, August 3rd, 564 AB ¡°Cain!¡± a young man¡¯s voice called out from across the field. ¡°Cain!¡± I lowered an ivory and silver flute from my lips. My back was against the bark of willow next to the stream that ran past my father¡¯s fields. I stood up and walked out from under the shade of the willow. ¡°There you are,¡± My brother William said with a sigh. ¡°Father¡¯s home, he¡¯s called you to the house.¡± He held out his hand for me. I slid the ivory flute into a wooden case lined with satin that hung on my belt. I grabbed his hand and swung into the saddle behind him. We rode across the pasture, jumping several fences and scattering sheep as we raced towards the fortified manor. A small wall went around the manor which was almost a castle in its own right. We dismounted and William took his horse into the stable. I walked towards the manor and my older half-brother Anders held up his hand looking me over. ¡°You can¡¯t go inside sweaty like that,¡± he told me. ¡°Mother would have a fit.¡± I sighed but nodded and ran to the river around the back of the manor. I stripped out of my shirt and trousers, wading into the water and rinsing the sweat off of me. Even in the heat of the end of summer the water was icy cold from melting and flowing down from the mountains. Lady Elin would not be happy to see her husband¡¯s bastard in her hall on the day of his returning from the frontier. I usually spent my time in the barracks or on patrol with the militia as part of my etheric conditioning. But, Father had requested my presence, so I would be there. I pulled back on my shirt and trousers. Walking back to the house, I nodded to our household guards, and they bowed their heads respectfully. Even if I was a bastard, I was still my father¡¯s son. I stepped into the shadows of the main house and into the great hall. My five other half-brothers were all there along with my four half-sisters. My father was a bear of a man. I hadn¡¯t inherited his massive size and brawn, resembling my mother more. A dark memory passed through my mind as I remembered her, the thunder of a storm echoing in my memories. My father turned to me, a bearskin cloak making him resemble a bear even more than his size. His smile broadened when he saw me, but I could see his wife¡¯s face twist into a scowl behind him. ¡°Cain!¡± my father shouted and wrapped me in a hug. ¡°Father,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I missed your seventeenth birthday,¡± he said, sitting down. ¡°But I come bearing gifts.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be wasting money,¡± Lady Elin admonished him. ¡°Hush Elin,¡± my father said, a frown briefly crossing his normally jovial face. He turned back to me. ¡°I promised you when you were seven that I would make you into a Warden and I intend to keep that promise.¡± ¡°The cost of a relic should have been spent on your real sons,¡± Lady Elin snapped, it was clear this argument had been had more than once. My father apparently decided to not even engage with her this time as he passed a wooden box over to me. I took it and pulled back the latch, opening it reverently. Even the worst of Relics would sell for at least a year¡¯s wages, and my step-mother wasn¡¯t wrong that the money could have been spent on equipping my brothers. Or on my sisters¡¯ dowries. I opened the box and looked at the sword, it¡¯s broken blade only about as long as my forearm. It would have been a magnificent sword when it was first forged. ¡°What element is it?¡± William asked our father. ¡°Mist,¡± my father said. I felt a twinge of disappointment but quelled it. To be given any relic was a gift most would never receive. ¡°At least you were sensible in not spending your entire fortune on it,¡± my step-mother huffed and left the hall. I held up the dagger-like blade. Its crossguard was pure silver with several nicks across it, scarring what must have been an exquisite work of art when it was created. The blade was titanium. That was likely why it had broken but also meant it would be a powerful relic, especially with the silver cross-guard and hilt. Half the hilt was ivory of some type, a top tier material for the creation of weapon relics. The pommel stone was polished black jet. The hilt was fairly long, suggesting that this must have been a hand-and-a-half sword, a bastard sword. I suppose there was some irony in that. Examining the edge, I noticed flecks of diamond had been added into it during forging, further boosting its power as a Relic. ¡°I know it¡¯s probably not the type of Element or weapon you wanted,¡± my father said, laying a hand on my shoulder. ¡°But after buying William¡¯s relic we still haven¡¯t fully recovered; I would have had to wait several years to get you a better relic.¡± ¡°Even this must have been expensive,¡± Anders said furrowing his brow. ¡°I know we don¡¯t have much in our coffers, how did you afford this? It¡¯s a Mist Relic yes, but it looks well made. It should have sold for at least several Dragon Cores.¡± ¡°Superstition,¡± my father said. ¡°You know how soldiers are, the man who killed the djinn that made that Relic died right after, they think that¡¯s bad luck. His widow just wanted to be rid of it. That, along with its broken blade and element, made it a deal I couldn¡¯t pass up. Especially for how high quality its skills must be given the craftsmanship.¡± ¡°Thank you, father,¡± I said. ¡°It is more than most would ever receive from their fathers.¡± ¡°You¡¯re still my son,¡± my father said. ¡°Tonight, rest, tomorrow we ride out to the convent to bind you to your Relic and find you an aspirant to marry.¡± I nodded and he turned to his other children, bringing out other gifts for them, though nothing so nearly costly as a Relic. I stood by, my fingers running over the ice-cold metal of the Relic as I watched my half siblings and listened to my father¡¯s raucous laughter. I was with them, but still apart, a barrier always between us. Servants brought in a feast they had hastily prepared. Stuffed roasted quail, sweet rolls, a hearty beef stew, and fluffy buttery bread were all laid out. I sat at the end of the table trying to avoid my stepmother¡¯s eyes. ¡°What news do you bring from the front?¡± Anders asked. Father sighed. ¡°Some idiot lords decided it would be a good idea to cross the border and go raiding Carsway¡¯s town and villages. Most of them died fighting the Wardens there and the rest we caught when they tried sneaking back to their castles. They¡¯re being shipped off to Emerald to stand trial.¡± ¡°What will happen to them?¡± William asked. ¡°They are Wardens, not direct servants of the crown.¡± ¡°They own lands and titles here,¡± Father said with a shrug. ¡°That makes them under the King¡¯s authority. He¡¯ll probably have them executed to keep war from breaking out with Casway.¡± ¡°The Church will allow that?¡± my brother Finley asked. ¡°The Church has no love for Wardens that go around killing other Wardens, and those Wardens did swear oaths to the king so he has the authority to judge them,¡± Father said, shaking his head. ¡°If the King didn¡¯t execute them, they probably would; we have enough trouble fighting the djinn without adding Wardens who act like Warlocks into the mix.¡± ¡°What will the Caswains do?¡± Anders asked. ¡°There will likely be some financial repercussions and blood debts to be paid to surviving families,¡± father said. ¡°That is a matter for the King to deal with though, not us. Tell me, how have things been here?¡± ¡°Same as always,¡± William said with a sigh. ¡°Just a few Imps and Beast spawns. The most exciting thing was when a Soldier came out of the Fog Land to the south.¡± Father raised his mead horn. ¡°May all our days be like that,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s alright for you,¡± Anders said. ¡°You¡¯ve been stationed near the mountains and the Fog Wall; you have lots of high tier djinn to fight and level up from.¡± ¡°And many people die,¡± Father said, his jovial tone turning serious. ¡°Our life is not a game or a privilege son, it is a duty and a responsibility; we are the shield that stands between humanity and the djinn. We exist to serve, not the other way around.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The feast continued with father telling stories of all the djinn and fell beasts he¡¯d battled that had descended out of the Mist of the mountains. His stories were all full of danger and adventure, and probably extremely exaggerated, but we loved them all the same. Night fell and I slipped out of the main house carrying the relic with me. I didn¡¯t know its name yet but lay on my bed holding it to my chest. I dreamed of my mother teaching me to play the flute. I heard her laughter, and that of my twin, as we played in the fields outside our home. The memory was a kaleidoscope of colors and emotions. I woke with a pain in my chest, my lungs tense from the pent-up emotions. I was grateful for the dream though, it got harder and harder to remember their faces with every year that passed. Pulling on my shirt, pants, and boots, I exited the barracks where I stayed with the House Guard. Slipping into the kitchen, I took a bowl of porridge with bits of bacon sprinkled into it and ate hurriedly. Returning to the barracks I packed up my things. I placed my flute into my bedroll, rolling it up to protect it from taking any damage. It was all I had left of my mother to remember her by. Slinging the pack over my shoulder, I stepped outside where the horses were lining up. Anders was staying behind. As my father¡¯s heir, it fell to him to protect our home while father was away. Anders walked up to me. ¡°Well Cain, the day has come,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re going to officially be a man when I see you next.¡± He pulled me into a hug and felt his muscles tighten around me. ¡°Be well brother.¡± ¡°You too,¡± I said, squeezing him back. My sisters looked at me and then at my step-mother. She had no words for me, turning and going back inside. My sisters crowded me and hugged me. Their golden blonde heads of braided hair were a stark contrast to my own dark hair.¡°Goodbye Cain,¡± they said. ¡°It¡¯s time to go,¡± my father said. I pulled myself into the saddle of my horse then we rode in a column out of the courtyard and onto the road. I looked back at the home I¡¯d spent the last six years of my life living in with mixed feelings. Turning back around in my saddle we rode on until it was out of sight, past the trees and hills. Far to the south I could see a valley filled with fog. It was only a small patch of Fog Land but that was where the majority of the more powerful djinn in this region spawned. After tomorrow it would likely be my duty to keep those numbers down until I finished my apprenticeship to my father and paid him back for the Relic. I¡¯d had trouble getting the sheath for my new weapon to sit right. Its hilt was heavy and without the full length of its blade it just didn¡¯t feel right hanging on my hip so I kept worrying it would slide out. I kept fussing with it as we rode. There were a few farmsteads here and there, but they thinned out between here and the Convent. I¡¯d only been here a few times even though it was a mere day¡¯s journey away. My father shouted and our procession came to a halt. He dismounted and looked at the ground. Pulling our horses off the road we dismounted as well and went to where he examined the ground. ¡°What is it?¡± I asked the youngest and most inexperienced of the group. ¡°Bandits it looks like,¡± William explained to me the closest in age to me. ¡°See the wagon marks veering off into the grass towards the forest.¡± Father looked towards the trees scanning the horizon for threats. Finally, he shook his head. ¡°If they are here, they aren¡¯t close. We¡¯ll tell the Wardens at the Convent and let them send out a hunting party in the morning,¡± he said. We remounted our horses and continued the journey. Towards sunset the walls of the Convent came into view. The convent was built on top of a hill like a fortress, with a wall around the outlying village and the forest cut down around it for fields and pasture. The red brick of the convent rose at the center. I dimly remembered seeing large castles on the way to my father¡¯s home after my mother¡¯s death, but the sheer size of the building still amazed me. The gates opened to let us in and stable hands took our horses away as we enteredthe convent grounds. The Mother Superior came to greet us. A tall, elegant woman, she wore the black dress and veil her role dictated but it couldn¡¯t hide her stately beauty. ¡°Welcome Wardens,¡± she said. ¡°What brings you to our church?¡± ¡°My son has a relic to bond to. I also wish to have a Weaver assigned to him from among your aspirants,¡± my father said. The mother superior studied my father and me. ¡°He is your son, why are you not arranging a marriage between him and another noble house? I recognize you, Sir Jason Lanceren, you are a respected Warden and war hero. You should have no trouble securing him a bride.¡± My father looked down in shame. ¡°He is my bastard son, his mother was a Caswain Weaver.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± the Mother Superior said. ¡°I am Mother Leora; I welcome all who are not touched by corruption and mean no harm to our church. We shall meet in the sanctuary to begin the binding.¡± My fist tightened almost imperceptibly, but I released it, taking a breath and remembering my mother¡¯s words to me. ¡®Never let the words of others determine your actions Cain, their words define them, your actions define you¡¯. I forced my body to relax, ignoring the looks the local Wardens and guards cast at me. We followed her into the church. Even though this convent was far from the capital and its splendor, it still had been built with care and reverence. White marble floors and carved wooden panel walls with soaring buttresses, the glint of gold and silver leaf worked into the carvings. In the central chamber of the church rose an altar made of granite. Mother Leora beckoned me forward and bade me kneel before the altar. ¡°What is your name?¡± she asked me. ¡°Cain Le¡¯meer,¡± I answered. ¡°Lay out your Relic on the altar,¡± she instructed me. I set the broken bladed sword on the granite and Mother Leora picked it up examining it. ¡°A Mist Relic,¡± she said. Noticing my expression, she smiled. ¡°Do not be embarrassed young man, the prejudice against the Mist element is a mere product of man; in truth they are no weaker than any other type.¡± The extended her hand out for me. ¡°Give me your hand Cain Le¡¯meer,¡± she said. I held out my hand and she ran the edge of the broken sword along my palm drawing a deep cut. She placed the Relic down at the edge of a basin carved out of the granite of the altar and picked up a pitcher of holy water. ¡°By the water of the world and the blood of your body we call forth your spirit,¡± she intoned holding my fist over the basin as blood dripped down and she slowly let the water flow and mix with it. ¡°do you Cain Le¡¯meer in the sight of your brothers in arms and the Church swear to serve the Voice, to purge Corruption from the world?¡± ¡°I do so swear,¡± I answered. ¡°Do you swear to not waver in courage, to be a shield for humanity and a bastion for civilization?¡± she asked again the vows, something I had heard spoken once before when my brother William had taken up his relic at our local perish. ¡°I do so swear,¡± I answered again. ¡°Then by the will of the Voice whom we serve and washing of the waters and your blood you are knighted,¡± she said submerging the broken blade into the mixture of blood and water and pushing my hand in as well. Her grip was like iron as sharp pain shot into me through the cut on my palm and I tried to yank my hand back. She gave no sign of struggle as she held me in place and in a moment the pain was gone the water clear as crystal all traces of my blood gone. There was a blue silver sigil on my hand, the unique mark of this Relic. As I looked at it the mark projected a square of blue light as the Voice spoke to me for my first time in my life.
Core Level
1
Experience to Next Level
0/10
Relic Name Relic Element Relic Type
Achlys Mist Dagger
Name
Cain Le¡¯meer
Hit Points: Hit Point Regen: 1 per minute
Armor Points: Armor Point Regen: 1 per minute
Might Agility Endurance Will Senses Clarity
5 6 5 6 5 5
Ether Corruption Level
39/39 0/39
Trait
Tainted Power: Your statistics increase by 1% for every point of Corruption in your Etheric Core.
Primary Passive Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air. Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Ghost Walk: Masks all noise made for 30 seconds in a 5ft radius around the wielder.
Cost: 3 ether
Mist Blade: For 10 seconds attacks with your Relic pass through 1¡± of material.
Cost: 7 ether
Fog Form: Body and worn equipment becomes intangible making you Immune* to all damage for 2 seconds.
Cost: 5 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Smite: A sword of silver light extends out from your blade for 1 second dealing Moon damage equal to your current Core¡¯s charge.
Cost: 4 ether
Celestial Healing: Closes wounds across a single creature¡¯s body restoring Hit Points equal to your current Core charge.
Cost: 10 ether
Wind Skills
Hurricane Step: Move up to 100ft in 1 second as your body and all your equipment is turned into wind.
Cost: 1 ether
Cyclone Strike: Deals Wind damage equal to half your Core charge to all creatures within your weapons reach.
Cost: 6 ether
I could only take in everything at a glance at first. My relics name, the number of my skills, my etheric core. Taking a deep breath, I steadied myself and read over the character sheet more carefully. Only someone in my party would be able to see the character sheet and even then, only parts you let them see. The Voice let us decide how much of ourselves we were comfortable sharing with others. I had seven skills, two away from the maximum of nine. My ether core was high for a man but would be on the low side of what a girl would need to qualify as an aspirant Weaver. A bell toned in the distance and my brothers and father all turned to look back the way we had come. Mother Leora¡¯s calm expression subtly changed, taking on a look of worry. ¡°What is the bell for?¡± my father asked. ¡°It is the town¡¯s alarm bell,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°We are under attack.¡± My father unslung the greataxe from his back. ¡°Then they chose the wrong day to attack your town; my sons, with me.¡± Chapter 3: An Untested Blade ¡°When the Breaking happened, our ancestors thought the djinn were the greatest of their problems. Over time they learned to use relics to absorb corruption from the bodies of the djinn and keep others from spawning from its corpse. These Wardens became corrupted, since they had not yet learned how to remove the taint, and became Warlocks. Warlocks were unable to see or hear the Voice anymore, but gained etheric powers and the ability to control djinn connected to their linked elements. At first, people were full of joy, believing these Warlocks to be their new saviors. But, as they grew in power, a madness grew within them. When they decided it was time to act against the Warlocks, it was already too late as theys had grown vastly in power. Civilization, which to this point had held on by a thread, broke. Lich ranked Warlocks, controlling legions of djinn, destroyed all that had been saved when the sky fell. We have learned from the mistake of our ancestors,suffer not a Warlock to live.¡± - an excerpt from the History of the Breaking by Hierophant Gerome of House Casway 489 AB Cain- Sunday, August 4th, 564 AB My father led the way, his bear cloak dropping to the floor as he summoned his Relic Armor. It flowed down from the hand holding his axe, a dark grey metallic liquid that hardened into segmented plates across his arms, torso, legs and head. My father had reached Exarch rank when I was still a child so his armor was complete. My brothers still had a way to go. William was close to Knight tier but his left hand was still exposed, the armor not having grown that far yet. I was at the back. New to my powers, I reached within me and felt the pull. A smoky, blue-silver liquid flowed up my fingers,across my palm and the back of my hand, ending just past my wrist. My father pushed open the doors, I could see smoke rising up from the town as a fire raged. For a moment I wasn¡¯t in the convent and was watching my old home burn to the ground. Shaking off the memory, I focused on the present. Djinn were assaulting the walls. This wasn¡¯t surprising. What was surprising was their rank. Not just imps and beasts but soldiers, and I even spotted a Jtun. My father stopped, looking about. ¡°William, you and Cain stay back and defend the Convent,¡± he commanded. ¡°If any of the nimbler djinn get past us you keep them from breaking inside. This isn¡¯t a regular attack, expect them to be more intelligent than normal.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Finely asked. ¡°There is a Warlock among them somewhere,¡± Father said. ¡°It¡¯s the only way there would be so many high tier djinn here. There has been no ether storm recently to explain their ranks or numbers.¡± The presence of a djinn put us all on edge. Even the highest tier djinn were ruled by their bloodlust and hunger, but a Warlock was capable of making long term plans. Of lying in wait and growing in power before striking. ¡°Yes father,¡± I said. I knew the real reason he had told me to stay back was because he didn¡¯t trust me in combat yet. I had bonded with my Relic minutes ago and was untested with it. My father jumped forward, clearing nearly thirty yards with his high-level strength and agility. William and I stood guard until we heard the doors open behind us and Mother Leora came out. ¡°If you are going to stand guard, I have more important places for you to do so,¡± she said. ¡°You sir,¡± she pointed at William. ¡°Take the south side of the convent, the wards there are weakest.¡± She turned to me. ¡°I want you outside the dormitory, my girls are all there and they are the most important thing this church holds. Guard them with your life.¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± William and I said. I followed Mother Leonora to an outbuilding separate from the church. She opened the door, and I could see frightened faces of young women, all wearing the white dresses of aspirants. Mother Leonora walked among them and froze. ¡°Where is Aranea?¡± she asked. ¡°She went out to the hives behind the church to gather flowers to hang in the windows,¡± one of the girls said. ¡°That foolish child,¡± Mother Leonora said, her tone worried. ¡°I can¡¯t leave you all to go get her...¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get her,¡± I said. ¡°Wait here.¡± I didn¡¯t wait for her to say no. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said, activating my new skill. A warden had to learn to use their skills non-verbally but for most that wasn¡¯t something they learned to do until they were Knight tier. I stumbled as I became physical again, the sensation of being wind not something I was sure I¡¯d ever be able to describe. I ran forwards, finding a large orchard.
Quest
Type: Rescue Difficulty: Hard
A young woman is being attacked by djinn, rescue and get her to safety without letting her be harmed.
Reward: Shield, B Grade, 250 XP
Yes/No
I selected yes and an object appeared in my vision. It hung in my vision in the same place even when I turned my head. I ran towards the quest marker, having a direction to go in now. My eyes flicked back and forth as I ran through the rows of trees. Hearing a scream, I shot forwards, and saw a golden-haired girl about my age running as three wind imps gave chase. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said again, and appeared between the two of them. Slashing with Achlys I only managed a minor scrape along the false rocky exterior of the lead imp. I was used to wielding a sword, and the lack of reach would take a lot of adjustment on my part. ¡°Fog Form,¡± I said, and the attacks of the three imps passed right through me. Rematerializing, I stabbed forward, shoving the blade of my dagger through the imps head this time and putting it down.
2 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 2 ether regained
The Voice¡¯s confirmation of my kill was something I would have to get used to. The imp fell to the ground, most of its body turning to dust. Leaving a dry husk behindt. The girl turned to stare, and I had to hold back a snarl of frustration. ¡°Get to the dormitory!¡± I shouted. Claws ran along the leather breastplate I wore, cutting through its weak enchantment, but not getting to my skin beneath it. ¡°Cyclone Strike,¡± I said. My body spun in a blur as my dagger slashed out across both imps and they fell back. The Wind damage wasn¡¯t as effective on them since they were wind imps. But they weren¡¯t immune to it, and it gave me some space. ¡°Lunar Smite,¡± I snapped off. For a moment, a ghostly etheric blue blade extended from the broken section of my sword as if the blade were still whole. I slashed in an arc cutting into both the imps and they collapsed as husks to the ground.
6 XP gained, 2 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 4 ether regained
The whole fight had taken place in less than a minute but I still felt tired, my heart racing with fear and adrenaline. These were wind djinn so my Relic was only half as effective at filtering the corruption from it as it would be against Mist djinn. Turning around, I let out a sigh of exasperation as I saw the girl was still there staring. Bending down I rammed my dagger into the corpses absorbing the corruption still in their bodies to keep them from respawning.
5 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 1 Corruption absorbed
Grabbing her hand, I pulled her after me as I ran back the way we had come. Another djinn dropped down in front of us. This one was made of flames with hard red metallic plating forming bones, and a mask that served as its face. I blocked the first swing of its claws on the blade of my dagger, spinning around it and ramming my dagger into its back once, twice, three times before it dropped to the ground. The flames across its body snuffed out with its death like a blown out candle.
12 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 6 ether regained
Level Up! You have reached level 2! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
Quickly kneeling down, I rammed my dagger into the beast¡¯s body, absorbing its corruption as well.
6 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 6 absorbed into your Core.
Fire ether and corruption were non-adjacent elements to me and, as such, were absorbed by my core and relic at a one-to-one ratio. I grabbed the girl¡¯s hand again and kept pulling her behind me as we ran. I couldn¡¯t use my movement skill and keep her with me, so we were forced to just run. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. A sun djinn dropped out of the air and I dodged the strike from its two swords. Interposing myself between it and the girl, I took a hit on my bracer, the golden edge of its bladed limb tearing up the leather. ¡°Lunar Smite,¡± I said. I speared it through the chest as the blade of etheric light suddenly extended through its chest, the blade of light looked almost physical as if the broken sword remembered what it had once been. The Sun Beast wasn¡¯t dead yet but it was close, a quick slash from my dagger was enough to finish it off.
14 XP gained, 1 Corruption added to your core, 10 ether regained
Level Up! You have reached level 3! 30 Stat points are available to spend, Ether Core increased by 5.
My core had gotten bigger, but I could only absorb corruption equal to my etheric core maximum charge or I¡¯d become oversaturated. Kneeling down I absorbed the corruption from this djinn.
7 Corruption absorbed by our Relic, 7 absorbed into your Core.
Pulling the girl after me we reached the church and ran along its wall using a hedge as cover to avoid being seen. My feet skidded to a stop as I rounded the corner of the church and saw a swarm of wind, fire, and even a few sun djinn swarming around the dormitory. William was beside Mother Leora as they held the doorway. The fire djinn were trying to set fire to the building, but the enchantments woven into the wood kept it from setting on fire. The girl tried to run forward but I pulled her back. ¡°We have to help them,¡± she insisted. ¡°You can¡¯t help anyone,¡± I reminded her. Looking around I spotted a bush and pushed her under it. ¡°Hide here,¡± I ordered. Reluctantly she crouched down and I moved forward. I didn¡¯t rush into the group of djinn; these weren¡¯t a bunch of imps. There were Beasts and several soldiers among them. Looking at the town I could see the fight still raging, we wouldn¡¯t be getting reinforcements anytime soon. William had left his side of the Convent with the Mother Superior and they were holding their own well. I was readying to rush in and help them when a man fell from the sky. He hit the ground, rising to his feet. Armor the color of mercury covered his arms, head, and torso, ending at around his knees. It was obviously Relic armor, but black lines crossed it like a network of roots, clear evidence of corruption. The Warlock deflected a blast of wind with a barrier ability and the fire of one of William¡¯s attacks slid off his armor, doing no damage.
Quest
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Lethal
A Warlock has been spotted and needs purging, kill the Warlock and purge the corruption within his body.
Reward: Breastplate, S Grade, 1000 XP
Yes/No
I accepted the Quest but doubted I could complete it. ¡°Give me the reliquary,¡± the Warlock ordered. ¡°You are not welcome here, tainted,¡± Mother Leora said, a ball of lightning shooting out from her palm. The Warlock shifted to the side, his body like living wind as he twisted around the etheric projectile. The djinn formed ranks in front of him, directed by his will. They moved forward in a sudden surge, assaulting the doorway of the dormitory. William was pushed back by a sword of flames burning through his leather armor as he fought with his longsword. The Mother Superior supported him from behind. Realizing they wouldn¡¯t hold, I let out a breath and put aside my fear. I was only Page tier Warden, and level two. I quickly opened my character sheet, pausing for a moment to dump all my stats, splitting them between Agility and Might. Extra hit points and the like wouldn¡¯t help me now, I needed to be fast and strong. ¡°Ghost Walk,¡± I whispered, and all sound cut off around me. Moving forward, I rammed my dagger into the back of a Fire Beast¡¯s spine.
11 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 7 ether regained
I said the words for Lunar Smite and Cyclone Strike, activating both at the same time as I spun into the middle of the group of djinn. The combined Moon and Wind etheric damage managed to drop all the Beasts and Imps in one strike.
78 XP gained, 10 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 25 ether regained
Level Up! You have reached level 4! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether Core increased by 5.
My ether core was filled to the top even after spamming two of my abilities. I activated Lunar Smite again along with Mist Blade, moving into the back ranks and slicing into two soldier djinn. They turned around, but I moved faster than them and got in two more hits before the burning soldier djinn could use their claws, skills, or tridents against me.
50 XP gained, 2 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 28 ether regained
Pushing forwards I cut into the back ranks of the djinn. In a few moments my rampage would be noticed, but for now I was protected by the area of silence. The Warlock was walking towards William, his body language projecting nothing but absolute confidence. Activating Cyclone Strike again, I cut into the imps and beasts taking down a score of them in less than a second.
66 XP gained, 9 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 19 ether regained
Level Up! You have reached level 5! 30 Stat points are available to spend, Ether Core increased by 5.
The other djinn had noticed me. Without even looking I opened up my character sheet and dumped every point I had into Agility. I had only a bit to read my character sheet since bonding to my Relic but I knew I gained more stats per point of Corruption in my core. I wasn¡¯t sure how full I was. I could feel it burning in my Core and knew I was close. The djinn swarmed towards me, but I had already teleported away. I appeared directly behind the Warlock analyzing his name which appeared above his head in red.
Gaius Seider ¨C Warlock ¨C Fire ¨C Level 22
His health bar showed he was full, having yet to take any damage from either William or Mother Leora. My dagger stabbed out ,bypassing his armor with Mist Blade active, and sank into his heart. His health bar dropped by half as my attack did critical damage to his hit points. He whirled on me but I had already teleported behind him, reactivating Mist Blade. Using Cyclone strike and Lunar Smite together, I lashed out, cutting the imps and beasts down around me like stalks of wheat.
73 XP gained, 9 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 17 ether regained.
¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said again, my voice audible with Ghost Walk having worn off. Appearing behind the Warlock again, I stabbed Achlys into his torso. He took way less damage now that he was aware of me and twisted his body to mitigate the damage he took. William was suddenly on the other side of him, his sword swinging down gleaming with brilliant sunlight as he used one of his Sun skills. The Warlock, once cocky and full of victory, was now on the backfoot. While William was only level fourteen, he was still a skilled swordsman, and had managed to not fold under the strikes of the higher-level Warlock. William¡¯s armor was damaged, but he had been healed of his wounds, probably by the Mother Superior. A blast of lightning hit the distracted Warlock, further lowering his health bar by a half. I teleported around him, frustrating him as my dagger ignored his armor. Then he hit me with a back fist, and I went flying into the wall, cracking my head on the stone. Djinn swarmed me as I pushed myself to my feet, dazed. ¡°Cyclone Strike,¡± I said, operating only on instinct now, my health bar at critical levels.
44 XP gained, 7 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 14 ether regained.
Djinn fell down around me, and a blast of lightning scattered them into bits as a knight struck the ground in their midst. William hooked the Warlock¡¯s leg with his foot, knocking him off balance. Taking advantage of his lapse he thrust his sword forwards, empowered by one of his Wind abilities, driving it through a broken section of armor and into his chest. The Warlock collapsed to the ground and a golden glow suffused William as he leveled up. I nearly collapsed, coughing hard, blood coming out with my spittle. My chest burned as I went down to my knees, clutching at my chest.
Quest Failed
You did not kill the Warlock and will receive no rewards for this Quest.
I barely even noticed the Quest failure. William and I hadn¡¯t been in a party together so I got no credit for the kill. A blade touched my neck, and I looked up to see the storm Warden who had saved me holding a spear to my neck. ¡°What is your corruption level?¡± he asked me, his tone telling me that hesitation could cost me my life. Pulling up my character sheet I looked at it quickly. ¡°Fifty-seven out of fifty-nine,¡± I answered. ¡°Why would you go into combat with your corruption levels so high?¡± the Warden asked me. Mother Leora hurriedly approached us. ¡°Sir Valren, stay your anger,¡± she said. ¡°This man was made a Warden less than an hour ago.¡± Sir Valren studied me with a new intensity. ¡°And yet still he rushed headlong into battle?¡± his eyes scanned me as he read my description. ¡°Only Level five, and yet you attacked a level twenty Warlock? I wonder if you are brave or foolish.¡± ¡°My brother needed help,¡± I responded. I saw the girl I had rescued run past and Mother Leora wrapped her arms around her.
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Rescue, Hard and delivered the young woman to safety without her suffering harm.
Reward: A B grade Shield has been added to your inventory. 250 XP gained
Level Up! You have reached Level 7! 45 stat points available. Ether core increased by 10
I dismissed the notification, as it was rude to read such things while in a conversation with someone else. ¡°So, it is loyalty that drives you,¡± Sir Valren mused. ¡°What is your name Warden?¡± ¡°Cain Le¡¯meer, Sir,¡± I answered. ¡°Le¡¯meer,¡± he said, brows furrowing. ¡°I am not familiar with that noble house.¡± ¡°It is not a noble house,¡± I admitted. ¡°I am a bastard, sir. It is my mother¡¯s name.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Sir Valren said. Heavy footfalls approached as my father ran towards us, his face worried. He saw me and William still breathing and relaxed. ¡°Thank you, Sir Valren, for saving my two children,¡± he said. ¡°They had already done most of the work before I arrived,¡± Sir Valren said, bowing his head in respect to my father. ¡°Sir Lanceren, bring your son Cain to me before you leave. There is something I wish to speak with you about.¡± ¡°Of course, my lord,¡± father said, bowing to the other Warden. Sir Valren swept his spear around, absorbing the slain djinn on the ground and left. William walked towards me and held out the Warlock¡¯s spear. I shook my head, but he didn¡¯t pull it back. ¡°It¡¯s yours,¡± he said. ¡°I got the credit for that Quest, but you were the one who did the most damage to him.¡± ¡°He was?¡± father asked, looking me over. ¡°Cain, how much Corruption is in your core right now?¡± ¡°Fifty-seven out of fifty-nine,¡± I said, my chest burning. ¡°Mother Leora,¡± my father shouted. ¡°My son needs a Weaver immediately.¡± ¡°Calm yourself,¡± Mother Leora responded. ¡°He is not in immediate danger of oversaturation, and we will not abandon our traditions to get rid of temporary discomfort. Hold onto that spear for him for now. Come with me Sir Cain.¡± Chapter 4: Bound for Life ¡°There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.¡± Cain Sunday, August 4th, 564 AB Pushing myself to my feet I followed Mother Leora into the Church. We did not go to the central chamber again but a side room, its walls lined with scrolls and tomes. Mother Leora sat down and gestured for me to sit in a padded armchair. She took down a tome and opened a bottle of ink. ¡°As per the law your skills, passives and trait must be recorded for the church¡¯s records,¡± she said. ¡°You already know this, but I am required to remind you that anything we say here will stay private, and your records will be kept anonymous until your death.¡± ¡°Yes, Mother,¡± I said nodding.
You have been invited into a party. Accept?
Yes/No
I selected yes and opened up my character sheet, holding up my palm so Mother Leora could read it. Her pen scratched on the blank page of the tome as she read and recorded my information. She set down the pen and flipped through several tomes before returning to her scribblings. ¡°You are very unique,¡± she said. ¡°You and your Relic both.¡± ¡°I am?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°Do you know your father¡¯s trait?¡± ¡°Yes, it¡¯s called Enraging Power, it gives him a percentage boost to his strength when enraged,¡± I said. ¡°And do you know your mother¡¯s?¡± she asked. ¡°No,¡± I confessed. ¡°She died when I was eleven, I never got the chance to ask her.¡± ¡°Well your trait differs greatly from any I¡¯ve seen before,¡± she said. ¡°Never reveal it to anyone.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked, confused. ¡°Imagine what someone with your trait who became a Warlock would be like,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°There are those who would fear such a possibility and kill you just to keep it from happening.¡± I gulped imagining both my own death and the possibility of a Warlock with that trait. Warlocks never purged the corruption from their bodies like Wardens, they would only become more and more powerful if they had this power in their blood. ¡°Then there is the matter of your Relic¡¯s secondary passive,¡± Mother Leora continued. ¡°Most secondary passives aren¡¯t that impactful and, on the face of it, neither is yours. But I¡¯ve never seen one like it. You can breathe in the Mist, not just see through it. This means you can stay in there far longer than any other non-tainted creature with no need for you to refill your air bladders.¡± ¡°You do not need to keep this a secret but I would caution you to tell others discreetly. There are many who would seek to use you, and risk your life needlessly to explore the Mist if they knew it.¡± ¡°I will be discreet ma¡¯am,¡± I promised. ¡°Your skills are mostly standard; your Fog Form is a rare skill. I see it listed as only having been discovered on relics a handful of times. You don¡¯t have any abilities that I would consider weak but nothing earth shattering either,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t be discouraged by your Relic¡¯s Element or its shorter blade, I have known many Wardens, and I will tell you this, it is not your skills but your skill in using them that will determine your greatness.¡± ¡°Thank you, Mother,¡± I said, bowing my head. ¡°Now we come to the matter of your bride,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°You currently have a great deal of corruption in your Core and only three of my girls have a capacity large enough to absorb all of it. Of the three, one of them is temperamentally unsuited for you and the other is a noble¡¯s daughter. That leaves the third girl whom you already know.¡± I opened my mouth to say I didn¡¯t know any of the girls but then remembered the girl I had rescued. ¡°Aranea wasn¡¯t it?¡± I asked, wracking my brain for a moment to remember her name. ¡°Yes,¡± Mother Leora said fondly then her eyes became stern as she looked in my eyes. ¡°What I am about to say to you does not leave this room, am I clear?¡± ¡°Yes Mother,¡± I said, feeling suddenly on edge as she stared at me intently. ¡°A Mother Superior is supposed to have no favorites among her aspirants,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°It¡¯s one of the reasons we are forbidden from marrying. When I began my training in the capital, I never thought I would take this role. Then, I became pregnant with one of the royal prince¡¯s children. He wasn¡¯t part of the main family but was still wealthy and powerful. We were going to get married but he died fighting in the war. I took the vows and gave birth in secret. Aranea is my daughter. I tell you this so you understand that I am not just entrusting you with one of my aspirants but my own daughter.¡± ¡°Tell me now if you can¡¯t be responsible for her because if I hear you haven¡¯t protected my little girl¡­ not even the Council of Templars can save you from me,¡± she said, her threat hanging heavily between us. ¡°I will die before I let any harm come to her,¡± I promised. Mother Leora looked into my eyes for a long minute as she weighed me. Finally, she nodded. ¡°I believe you, Sir Cain. Remember, tell no one of this conversation.¡± I rose and bowed to her, turning to leave. I stopped just before my hand touched the door handle. ¡°Does she know? That you¡¯re her mother?¡± ¡°No,¡± Mother Leora admitted, her voice full of heartbreak. ¡°And every day is a little harder not to tell her. It¡¯s why I have to let her go. She can never know. Not who I am and not who her father was.¡± I left her alone as I entered the central chamber. Sir Valren and my father were talking and I approached them slowly, not wanting to interrupt. ¡°Cain,¡± my father said, gesturing me over. ¡°Sir Valren here said he wished to speak to me about you.¡± I stood next to my father and Sir Valren held out his arm, clasping my wrist in a warrior grip. ¡°Has Mother Superior found you a bride among her aspirants?¡± he asked me. ¡°She has,¡± I said bowing my head in respect to the man who my father obviously held in high regard. ¡°Good,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°I was speaking with your father about our time together in the last war. He was a brave warrior, and loyal to the Church and our kingdom; I am glad to see he has passed down those traits to his children. I have been stationed at Fort Mistwall for the past few years as overseer of the Academy there. I have been recruiting promising young pages to attend and I believe you would make a fine addition to the academy. We don¡¯t get enough skilled Mist Wardens, the prejudice against that Element means we never have the best people for that role.¡± ¡°I would be honored to attend but I must serve my father until I pay him back for purchasing my Relic for me,¡± I said, touching the hilt of Achlys where it hung awkwardly at my hip. William, who had been silently standing by father, handed me the spear he had taken from the Warlock. ¡°This is rightfully yours Cain. It is a Fire Relic, it would more than make up for the price of your Relic.¡± Father laid a hand on my shoulder. ¡°You are my son,¡± he said, his voice full of pride. ¡°This was a gift to you. Regardless of what my wife might say, you owe me nothing. I will not have you try to purchase my gift to you, or your own freedom. If you wish to join Sir Valren at the academy to train there, you have my blessing.¡± ¡°Do it,¡± William urged me. ¡°The chance to train at an academy next to the Mistwall isn¡¯t something you can pass up. Think of the opportunities.¡± I hesitated for a moment longer before deciding. ¡°Yes, I would like to join.¡± ¡°Excellent,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°I was only going to pass through here, but my company will stay one day to give you your wedding night.¡± --- Aranea I drew my needle along the stitch of my dress, fixing the tear I¡¯d taken from the wind imp¡¯s claws. Even now the memory of being chased through the orchard still made my heart race with fear. I remembered the claws going for my neck only for the young Warden to appear, driving his dagger through its head. My hands shook and I steadied my breathing. ¡°A Weaver is always calm and collected,¡± I reminded myself, my needle steadying once again. The tear was mended. I snipped the threads and let my skirt fall back down, the mending barely noticeable. Mother Leora entered the dormitory and we all snapped to attention. I winced, ready for my reprimand for being outside of the dormitory without permission. The rules had seemed so silly, but they had almost cost me my life today. ¡°Welcome Mother,¡± We said in chorus as she strode with refined elegance down the rows of beds. ¡°Good evening, Daughters, you may go back to your duties, the danger has passed,¡± she said. I could feel a collective sigh of relief escape my fellow aspirants. Some of these girls had only been training here for the past seven years, ever since they were tested. Others were orphans like me and had been raised here their whole lives. Not all of those orphans would become Weavers, but they still learned the trade and would become good wives. A valuable addition to any settlement they joined when they came of age. Mother Leora stopped before me and I lowered my gaze, ready for the lecture I would receive. ¡°Aranea, walk with me,¡± she said, her voice soft and gentle. Surprised by the unexpected tone, I followed her out into the convent¡¯s garden. She sat down on a marble bench and gestured for me to sit beside her. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for going out into the orchards without your permission,¡± I said, my fingers tapping nervously. ¡°You know what you did was wrong,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°I¡¯m not here to lecture you.¡± ¡°Then what am I here for Mother?¡± I asked. ¡°You have been chosen,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°The young man who took his knighthood today will be your Warden. You will be married tonight and tomorrow you will leave with him.¡± I was stunned. While I had always known that the Mother Superior would choose a Warden for me one day, it was still a shock that it was today. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Which one was he?¡± I asked nervously, there were so many new Wardens in the town below. ¡°You¡¯ve met him already,¡± Mother Leora said, a small smile on her lips. ¡°He¡¯s the young man who came to rescue you.¡± I thought back, recalling the man¡¯s face. He was a handsome boy, if a bit lean, having just recovered from the ganglyness of adolescence. He had dark hair, marking him as being of more northern or eastern blood than those typical of our kingdom. ¡°Is he¡­ a good Warden?¡± I asked, unsure how to word it. While I had given up the dreams all Aspirants had at first of marrying a Prince and serving in the royal court defending the capital, I still wanted to marry a Warden who had promise. I wanted a man who was bold, heroic and whose deeds would be sung about in legends. ¡°Do you think I would assign you to some unworthy knight?¡± Mother Leora asked me her arms drawing me in close. ¡°Oh, my little spider, I will miss you. He is a good man; I can tell that about him, and his Relic is powerful.¡± ¡°What element is it?¡± I asked. ¡°Mist,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°Oh,¡± I said, disappointed. ¡°Do not discount him because of the prejudices of others,¡± Mother Leora reprimanded him. ¡°He will get enough of that from others. You are to be his wife, and must always support him.¡± ¡°But no Mist Warden has ever been sung into song,¡± I said. ¡°Perhaps that is because no one believed enough in them,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°Don¡¯t let that be you, my daughter. If you support him, he will cherish you. In time, you will find that to be worth more than all the songs in the world.¡± ¡°Yes mother,¡± I said, bowing my head and feeling her lips kiss down on the crown of my hair. ¡°Go pack your things,¡± she said. ¡°I will prepare the bridal chambers.¡± I got up and went back to the dormitory, feeling strangely different after my conversation with the Mother. ¡°What did she say?¡± Laria, my best friend, asked. ¡°I¡¯m getting married,¡± I said, feeling dazed as I said the words aloud. Laria squealed in joy and wrapped her arms around me. Laria was another orphan like me, but her core wasn¡¯t large enough for her to qualify as an Aspirant. ¡°Congratulations!¡± she said. ¡°Have you seen him? Is he handsome? Is he a noble¡¯s son? Oh he must be! I saw that man who must be his father come through the town gates with his sons. What house is he?¡± Laria continued asking questions without even waiting for an answer and her usual energetic, free spirit helped me to relax. She helped me pack all my things into my chest. The Mother had helped us all prepare a chest with what we would need to take with us when we married. Our bridal chest, filled with the tools of our trade. My ivory comb was special, a gift that had been given to me anonymously on my seventh birthday when I had been tested for my Etheric core. I had a natural core of sixty-four. High, even for women. With my bridal chest packed I was taken away. I removed the dress of an Aspirant as I put on a new dress made of lace and white linen. A veil covered my face as I waited. Mother Leora guided me into the church¡¯s central chamber. My fellow Aspirants played the harp and lyre, providing a low backdrop of music. The young man¡¯s family stood in the pews watching, along with the other girls from the Convent, a retinue of Wardens who had been passing through, and the rest of the small town. Mother Leora guided me before the altar where the young man waited, wearing a simple white tunic, his feet bare just like mine. Taking his hands, Mother Leora guided the two of us close and clasped our hands together. I squeezed his hands, his touch helping me calm my nervous heart. I hadn¡¯t realized just how many people were in the town until they were all watching me at once. ¡°Aranea Ward and Cain Le¡¯meer,¡± Mother Leora intoned. ¡°You have come before the church today to swear your vows in the view of the Voice and man. After tonight, you shall be as one flesh and spirit; bound together by your vows, and the bond you create.¡± ¡°Sir Cain Le¡¯meer, you will be the leader of your family. Where you go, your wife shall follow. She shall prosper, and suffer, by the choices you make. It is your responsibility to provide for your household, to work by the sweat of your brow and the blood of your body to shelter, clothe, feed, and protect her. Do you swear by the blood of your body and the ether of your soul to love, cherish and protect this woman for as long as you live?¡± ¡°I do so swear,¡± Cain said, meeting my eyes. His dark brown eyes were solemn and purposeful. ¡°Aranea Ward, you will be the keeper of the home. You shall tend the hearth and whatever children the Voice gives you, ensuring the order of your house. It is your responsibility to comfort, support, and counsel your husband; to ensure that within the walls of your home there is always someone he can rely on. Do you swear by the blood of your body and the ether of your soul to love, obey and support this man for as long as you live?¡± Mother Leora asked. ¡°I do so swear,¡± I said, feeling my heart skip. ¡°Then by the will of the Voice and the authority given by the Church, I join you together as husband and wife,¡± Mother Leora said. ¡°What the Voice has put together, let no man separate.¡± Cain leaned in and I met his lips with mine, the kiss soft and hesitant, neither of us sure of ourselves. Cheers rose from the assembly as Cain lifted me into his arms. Carrying me, as was tradition, to the wedding chamber. The heavy wooden door shut behind us, blocking out the cheers of the gathered people as the feasting and drinking began behind us. Cain carried me to the bed, setting me down gently on its covers. For a moment, we were both still. We were strangers, but the role we were to play now had been explained and taught to us since we were children. Cain pulled up his tunic revealing a well-muscled body from years of training to fight the djinn. There were several scars along his left arm that looked to have come from burns. He reached out slowly, his hand caressing my cheek and traveling down my neck. I helped him undo the ties of my dress letting it slip from my shoulders. I slid out of the dress, dropping it to the floor. His trousers joined them on the stone floor. The air was cold, and I felt goosebumps form over my skin. Cain joined me on the bed, our lips pressing together again. Our hands fumbled with each other as we both awkwardly moved. His lips traveled down my neck, and I laughed, the sensation exhilarating but also ticklish at first. My hands slid around his back and neck running through his dark hair. I pulled his face to mine, kissing him again. Reaching him down I guided him to my entrance. At first, our movements together were awkward, but we found a rhythm. There was pain at first, but it faded quickly. I felt myself enjoying his touch more and more, our breathing growing more labored. Then it happened, a golden glow suffused mine and his body as the Corruption transferred from him over to me. The sensation of his arrival was like holding a hot coal in your hand, the burning traveling through my veins and into my core. I gasped in both pain and ecstasy, my legs drawing him tight against me. We lay like that for long minutes as we both panted, regaining our breath. He pushed himself off of me, lying beside me, and I laid my head on his chest. There was a tingling in my right palm and I held it up, watching as a sigil formed itself there. With a thought, I accessed my newly unlocked character sheet, having finished our bonding ritual.
Core Level
1
Experience to Next Level
0/10
Bonded Element
Mist
Name
Aranea Le¡¯meer
Hit Points: 68 Hit Point Regen: 1 per minute
Might Agility Endurance Will Senses Clarity
3 4 4 6 7 6
Ether Corruption Level
64/64 57/64
Trait
Final Stand: You gain +1% regen rate for every missing point of ether in your Core.
Primary Passive Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air. Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Siren Song: Your voice sings out in a hauntingly beautiful tune for the next 30 seconds inflicting Pacify on creatures who can hear you and Clarity on allied targets within hearing distance.
Cost: 15 ether
Mist Veil: Your body becomes blurred by a veil of mist making you harder to hit for the next 20 seconds inflicting a 50% miss chance against you.
Cost: 8 ether
Ether Familiar: You conjure an elemental spirit of Mist to serve as your familiar. It will last until destroyed and is resummoned casting time 5 minutes.
Cost: 15 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Ray: A blade of silver light shoots from your hands up to 100ft striking a creature you can see dealing your Core maximum charge as Moon damage.
Cost: 3 ether
Silver Purity: Closes wounds across a single creature¡¯s body and removes any Disease, Infection, Debuff, or Curse affecting them.
Cost: 10 ether
Wind Skills
Voice on the Wind: Link yourself and up to 3 others to be able to speak even at whisper up to 200ft away for 10 minutes.
Cost: 9 ether
Sweeping Hurricane: A rushing wind pushes away anything not secured down in a 40ft cone in front of you.
Cost: 5 ether
I extended a party invitation to Cain and he accepted it. I held out my hand, showing him my character sheet. As his Weaver my character sheet was a sort of mirror of his, I had the same number of skills as my bonded Warden but I didn¡¯t have armor of course. ¡°Mother Leora said you were skilled, but I didn¡¯t realize you had seven skills,¡± I said. I knew the average was four. So his relic had to be of exceptional quality to give out seven skills. Only the royal families had relics that gave out a full nine skills, and those were passed down from generation to generation. He extended his own hand, showing me his character sheet. It was impressive but I noticed his Trait was fogged over preventing me from reading it. ¡°Why can¡¯t I read your trait?¡± I asked. Cain was hesitant. ¡°Your mother¡­ Mother Leora,¡± he said, ¡°told me not to show it to anyone. She believed it could cause problems. You are my wife so, if you want me to show it to you¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± I said, kissing him. ¡°If the Mother Superior felt it was best to keep hidden, it probably is. If I need to know, I trust you¡¯ll tell me.¡± We were just married, and I didn¡¯t want to pressure him to share all his secrets with me. A Warden had to feel comfortable with his Weaver, or he wouldn¡¯t be able to pass on the Corruption for her to purify. I shivered suddenly, feeling the cold air rush over my bare skin. Cain pulled the covers over us and I pressed myself against him for warmth. Closing my eyes, I had trouble sleeping. The excitement of the day, my new skills, being married, all of it raced through my mind. Then, there was the lack of the familiar smells of the dormitory, and the non-existent backdrop of the other girls¡¯ heavy breathing or whispers in the night. Cain¡¯s breathing grew deeper as he fell asleep and, eventually, my mind drifted off as well. Chapter 5: Trouble on the Road ¡°Not all threats we face are from djinn or even Corruption itself. As always even before the Breaking our greatest enemies are own fellow men. The machinations of Kings still plague us as they via for power and the predations of man still roam the world preying on the weak to plunder them for their very lives.¡± Cain- Monday, August 5th, 564 AB I woke the next morning and slid out of bed letting Aranea still sleep. I looked inward trying to see if I felt different now that I was a man in the eyes of society. I couldn¡¯t tell if I felt any different, maybe more confident? I looked at Aranea¡¯s golden hair spread out over the pillow and smiled. I could have been paired with an average or unattractive looking girl, but I hadn¡¯t expected to be paired with someone like her. Her features looked to be made from porcelain, her hair spun from molten gold. Looking through the glass of the window I could see the sun just starting to rise. I pulled on my socks, undergarments, and trousers. My armor was still damaged, but I wasn¡¯t likely to need it immediately. I strapped on the leather armor and sheathed Achlys at my waist. The dagger dipped its top half heavier than its blade making it want to constantly dip and slide out of its sheath. I¡¯d have to find a better way of carrying it around. Aranea stirred and sat up pulling the blanket up around her chest. ¡°Good morning,¡± I said. ¡°Good morning¡­husband,¡± she said seeming hesitant on what to call me. ¡°You can just call me Cain,¡± I said. ¡°You can call me Aranea,¡± she said blushing as she slipped out of the covers. She took a out a cotton white dress from the chest at the base of the bed she slid it on but couldn¡¯t reach its buttons at her back. I went over and helped her button them up. She took out a corset next and I helped her fasten it as well. She brought out a blue overskirt and put it on to protect her dress and pulled on a cream-colored blouse. I took her hand as we exited the wedding chambers. The sheets would need to be washed, a red stain marking it and our sweat permeated them. We entered the Church¡¯s central chamber and went to the altar together kneeling as we gave our morning prayers. We rose together and went outside finding the commissary to break our fast. My father approached out table and clapped me on the back. ¡°I am proud of you son,¡± he said. I rose and my father pulled me into a tight hug. ¡°I need to return home to your sisters,¡± he said. ¡°I will tell your older brother you¡¯ve gone to the academy. Be well my son, I can tell you will already be a greater man than I.¡± ¡°I love you father,¡± I said embracing him back my eyes going wet. My father released me and bent low over Aranea¡¯s hand brushing it with his lips. She blushed but smiled at the attention. ¡°And you, young lady, take good care of my son. I want to see my grandchildren soon so you two better get started on that,¡± he said winking at the two of us. Aranea blushed even deeper, her hand finding mine and I pulled her tight against me. ¡°We will,¡± I told him smiling back at him. My father laughed loudly at that response but didn¡¯t comment on it further. I watched as my father saddled up. One by one brothers came wishing the two of us well and embracing as we bid farewell. I watched them ride into the distance feeling the comfort of Aranea¡¯s hand in mine. We finished our breakfast and Aranea disappeared to gather her things. All my worldly belongings were already packed. My father had gifted me a horse, it wasn¡¯t a Dire Steed, but it would carry both mine and Aranea¡¯s weight easily on our journey to Mistwall. I looked to the south where the mountains rose into the sky, their peaks white even in the heat of summer and the mist rolling off them from the thousands of patches of Fog Land that were scattered across its slopes giving them the name. I wondered what their names had been before the Breaking but whatever it had been it was lost to us now. Aranea returned carrying a wooden chest. I took it from her and attached it to our horses saddle behind where we would sit to not overbalance it. Sir Valren approached us, and I stood at attention. ¡°At ease Sir Cain, I¡¯m not your commanding officer yet,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°Are you ready to leave?¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. ¡°Then we will meet you at the town¡¯s gates in half an hour,¡± Sir Valren said. Mother Leora came out of the church and embraced Aranea. ¡°Goodbye my little spider,¡± she said tears running down her cheeks as she kissed Aranea on the forehead. ¡°May you be blessed with happiness and many children.¡± Aranea smiled but also had a look of worried confusion on her face. ¡°Is something wrong Mother?¡± ¡°No, my little spider,¡± Mother Leora said smiling. ¡°It is just hard to watch a daughter grow up and leave the nest.¡± She turned to me, meeting my eyes. ¡°Rember your promised to me, Cain Le¡¯meer.¡± ¡°I will protect her with my life,¡± I promised her nodding in acknowledgement. I helped Arana up into the saddle. She sat side saddle both her legs dangling off the right side. I mounted up behind her taking the reins and holding her against me with my other arm as we rode down the hill and through the town. Reaching the gates, we joined the procession of other horses. Sir Valren rode at the head with three other senior Wardens. The other two dozen Wardens were all Pages like me but only three others I could see had a Weaver riding with them. I slowly moved through the ranks as we rode down the stone road towards the mountains. ¡°Excuse me Sir,¡± I said to one of the other senior Wardens. ¡°Yes?¡± he asked, turning around in his saddle to look at me a look of amusement on his face at my interruption. ¡°I¡¯m not a sir, call me Rineer.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Where are all the other Weavers,¡± I said. He laughed. ¡°These are noble son¡¯s from the capital,¡± he said gesturing to the rest of my peers. ¡°Unlike us provincials they don¡¯t believe in taking Weavers at the start of their training. They¡¯re more ¡®enlightened¡¯ then us simple folk they wait and let their children choose between themselves.¡± ¡°Then how do they get rid of their Corruption?¡± Aranea asked. ¡°They have what they call Companions,¡± Rineer said shaking his head. ¡°They are Weaver whores employed by the nobility.¡± Aranea looked shocked and he laughed again. ¡°Excuse my language, miss,¡± he said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t raised to be a Warden. I was a soldier until my weapon Ascended one day fighting a pack of djinn and decided to join you lot.¡± ¡°And the church allows these¡­Companions?¡± I asked. ¡°What city do you think this started in?¡± Rineer asked. ¡°It rose up in Rome under the very eye of the Templars, they think their use of Companions makes them better than us, gives them choices about who they bond to.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s a bad thing?¡± Aranea asked. ¡°Would you want your husband to have slept around with half a dozen other women before marrying you and maybe always having some other woman in the back of his mind that he¡¯d rather have then you?¡± Rineer asked. ¡°This isn¡¯t enlightenment it is merely the degeneracy of our generation.¡± We fell back in the column giving the senior Wardens their space. Aranea moved her hands in spiral patterns, her face set in focused determination. I watched as golden thread slowly extended from her fingers twisting together as she used an ivory drop spindle and comb as she spun the golden light into a smooth strand of thread wrapping it around an empty wooden spindle. It took her hours and eventually she sagged back against me a look of triumph on her face. ¡°That¡¯s amazing,¡± I said. ¡°I thought you needed months of training after unlocking your core to learn to do that.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve known the theory of how to do it my whole life,¡± Aranea said her voice full of joy but also exhaustion. ¡°It¡¯s harder than I thought it would be and more painful.¡± She held up the spool of thread and I examined the glowing strands. ¡°How much corruption did it take to make that?¡± I asked. ¡°Almost everything in my core,¡± she said. ¡°I got four-hundred XP from it though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I said her words reminding me I had unspent Stat points. I pulled up my character sheet and applied five points to all my stats and twenty to my Agility bringing it up to seventy-one. ¡°Your very Agility focused,¡± Aranea said looking my character sheet over. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you balance your stats out more?¡± ¡°I will,¡± I agreed. ¡°But speed was the only thing that kept me alive in that last fight, once it¡¯s at a hundred I¡¯ll start working on bringing up my other stats in line with it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m putting most of my stats into Will,¡± Aranea said. ¡°I want to be able to defend myself with my skills if I get attacked by djinn again.¡± I felt a shiver run through her as she remembered being chased and pulled her tighter against me. We continued riding down the road asking simple questions about the other person, favorite colors, foods and other little trivia. We stopped to camp a few hours before nightfall. I helped to set up the tents as Aranea and the other few women in our group prepared supper. Our meal was just some quickly made biscuits served with sausage and wedge of cheese. I passed Aranea my wineskin to help wash our meal down. She took a sip and coughed but took a deep drink before passing it back. ¡°I¡¯m not used to drinking spirits,¡± she said. ¡°We only had it on feast days and Mother Leora was very strict about how much we were allowed to drink.¡± We retired to our tent lying next to each other. Neither of us felt comfortable enough to be intimate with the other with this many strangers around us. I held Aranea against me enjoying the warmth on the cool summer night. My sleeping roll did little to cushion against the ground. We drifted off to sleep waking to the warmth of the rising sun. We ate a small breakfast of leftover biscuit and jerky. I helped Aranea into the saddle as we carried on down the road. ¡°Have you been to Mistwall before?¡± Aranea asked me. ¡°Once,¡± I said. ¡°When I was seven my father brought me through there.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Aranea asked. ¡°I am a bastard,¡± I told her. ¡°My mother was a Weaver in Casway, she took in my father when he got stuck behind enemy lines during the last war. He was close to saturation and she was a widow, nine months later my brother and I were born.¡± ¡°You have a twin?¡± Aranea asked. ¡°Had,¡± I said memories of the storm and our house burning flashing through my mind. ¡°He and my mother died during an ether storm. My father heard about it and took me home with him, that¡¯s when I passed through Mistwall.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Aranea said. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to bring up something like that.¡± ¡°Your my wife,¡± I said shrugging. ¡°You should know these things about me.¡± ¡°Is Le¡¯meer a noble house back in Casway?¡± Aranea asked me. ¡°Not to my knowledge but I don¡¯t remember my mother ever talking about her family,¡± I said. ¡°Most people shunned her because she aided my father during the war; they felt she was a traitor to the kingdom.¡± ¡°Why did she do it then?¡± Aranea asked. ¡°We are humanities shield against the djinn,¡± I said quoting my father. ¡°We aren¡¯t meant to serve Kings or Queens, we serve the Voice and protect people, not take lives.¡± Aranea didn¡¯t respond to that as we rode on the mountains to our left as we used the old road. The old roads were all damaged and their stones had all broken, but they were still well marked trails for ease of traveling. They had been created by our ancestors before the breaking and whatever they were made of had stood the test of time and many centuries well enough. We approached a section of the road that ran adjacent to a Fog Land the ruins of massive buildings our ancestors had lived in visible above the tree tops their stone and metal frames covered in vines and moss. Sir Valren gestured for us to dismount; I slid out of the saddle and helped Aranea to the ground. I walked over to where the senior Wardens were all standing as me and the other Pages awaited instruction. ¡°Sir Le¡¯meer,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°Come here and tell me what you see.¡± I moved next to him and surveyed the forest in front of us. The Mist would normally block any line of sight into the trees, but I could see through it perfectly. I was only aware of it being there as a shimmering haze in the air. I could see several wagons and horses deep in the tree line near one of the ruins. ¡°I see a camp in the Mist,¡± I said. ¡°Could it be Fell Men?¡± Rineer laughed. ¡°This close to civilization? Fat chance of that, no those will be run of the mill humans, bandits probably. Probably got a lookout up in that ruined building somewhere, they will have seen us but they don¡¯t know we¡¯re Wardens yet.¡± ¡°What are we going to do?¡± I asked. Sir Valren sighed. ¡°I only have three Mist Wardens in our entire company here, you, Sir Rineer and Sir Haldred although he¡¯s a Page and untested.¡± ¡°We got enough masks for everyone to breath but only three people that can see,¡± Rineer said. ¡°I¡¯ve heard you¡¯ve already fought some djinn, quite a few judging by your level.¡± ¡°Before we assault their base,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°I want you and Sir Rineer to sneak in, your primary goal is to see if they have any hostages and if they do free them. Any damage you can do without being detected will also be appreciated. Don¡¯t get spotted either of you, we can¡¯t see what¡¯s happening so won¡¯t be able to back you up if you get in over your head.¡±
You have been invited into a party. Accept?
Yes/No
¡°This is for when we get into combat,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to accidentally kill you with friendly fire if I have to come in there using all my skills.¡± I accepted the party invite from him. I was still in a party with Aranea but that left me three more space in the party I was in still. You could be in multiple parties at once so Sir Valren would probably organize everything while Rineer and I were in the Mist and get us all into a Raid group. Rineer handed me a mask and air bladder. I took it keeping the fact I could breathe in the Mist to myself. I took the mask and nodded following Rineer towards the tree line. I looked back to see Aranea watching me with a look of pride on her face. I turned back to the Mist sliding on the mask as I stepped into it. Chapter 6: Tainted Blood and Blackened Souls ¡°The Mist is a fog that emits from vents in the ground, it is not like normal fog that disappears in the day or can be burned away by common fire. The Mist can be temporarily burned away by fire or sun abilities or blown away by the wind but more Mist will replace it in around an hour.¡± -from a dissertation on the Mist by Ambrose Melvor 513 AB Cain- Tuesday, August 6th, 564 AB The Mist was cold on my skin and the heat of the summer was far less intense inside. Rineer stepped up to me close holding a heavy spear in hand.
Quest
Type: Search Difficulty: Lethal
Search the Mist and find the Soul Forge to upgrade your interface.
Reward: Soul Anvil, 15,000 XP
Yes/No
¡°Do not accept it,¡± Rineer told me sharply. ¡°What¡­?¡± I began. ¡°Every Mist Warden gets that Quest every time they enter the Mist,¡± he explained. ¡°But no one has ever completed that Quest and lived to tell. It may say its difficulty is only Lethal, but it might as well be Suicide. Don¡¯t take it, just say no every time. Efforts by entire organizations have been made to try and complete that Quest and they all failed.¡± I mentally selected no and we moved deeper into the Mist. We approached the bandit camp, their horses neighed at our approach but went back to grazing. Only humans were affected by the Mist, animals couldn¡¯t see through it either but they could breathe it with no ill effect. Rineer stalked forward silent as a panther his armor forming all around him moving like liquid with his movements. ¡°I¡¯ve never known a Mist Warden without a stealth skill,¡± Rineer whispered. ¡°Now is the time to use it, we sneak in and see what we¡¯re dealing with then get out.¡± I nodded. ¡°Before we go in, have you learned to open your mini-map yet?¡± Rineer asked. ¡°No sir,¡± I said. ¡°Cut it out with the sirs,¡± he grunted. ¡°It¡¯s not to hard but it might be a bit distracting at first. Think about your surroundings focus on visualizing where you are, and where I am in relation to you.¡± I closed my eyes and felt him slap me. ¡°Keep your eyes open,¡± he snapped. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to see if works, and never close your eyes in the Mist. The creatures who live here rely on stealth and camouflage you need to be on alert at all times. I felt a bit foolish and nodded, focusing as he had instructed. A square of light appeared in the top right corner of my vision. It had strange lines on it and white dot and blue dot on it. ¡°Are you seeing it?¡± Rineer asked. ¡°Yes si¡­¡± I cut myself off before I called him sir again. ¡°The white dot is you; blue dots are people in your party. Red dots will be enemies and yellow dots will be anything you¡¯re not sure about yet.¡± ¡°Got it,¡± I said. The map was a bit distracting, but I would get used to it I supposed. ¡°Enemies you see will be marked and remain on your map even when they move out of line of sight,¡± he explained. ¡°That wears off after a minute, but it will let you and me look at them and get a good count of their numbers. Let¡¯s go.¡± He started climbing the ruins and I steadied my nerves and pushed aside my fear. ¡°Ghost Walk,¡± I whispered. All sound cut off around me, I could still hear outside sounds, but nothing made within my immediate radius. I started climbing up the ruined wall my gauntlet forming around my right hand; my Relic Armor had grown by about an inch and a half from the corruption I¡¯d absorbed into it. There was a ladder going up but there would no doubt be a guard on it. The bandits had to be living above the fog level to breath, even the best air bladders only lasted a few hours. I reached a level and spotted wooden planks laid out over the holes in the ruined floor of the Ancient¡¯s building. Red dots popped up all over my mini-map including areas I hadn¡¯t seen yet. I could see a few men walking around laughing and talking. Not seeing any prisoners, I kept climbing reaching the next floor. I paused to take a breath and reactivated Ghost Walk scanning the floor I saw more bandits making there number at least thirty so far. Checking my mini-map I saw the number of red dots was at least double that. They had cloth barriers put up creating cover for themselves. I heard crying and climbed higher. I found a brutal sight, cages filled with people at least twenty captives in all. Children cried in cages and several of the cages had dead men in them their bodies covered with spear holes. The prisoners didn¡¯t look out, huddled in balls for warmth. I climbed up and moved forward towards the source of the noise. A woman was sobbing as man held per pinned to the ground his trousers around his ankles as he pushed himself into her grunting. Rage filled me and I rammed Achlys through his back before I could even think the sound of her crying cutting out as she entered the radius of Ghost Walk. The man¡¯s back arched as the dagger ran through his heart, if he screamed no one could hear it. Pulling him off I pulled down her dress to cover her immodesty. She didn¡¯t get up from her position on the ground her body shaking and heaving. I looked at the body and dragged it to the edge of the ruin and tossed it over the side. No one would be able to see it in the Mist until after this was resolved. The woman was looking up from her prone position her eyes red and puffy one side of her face badly bruised. Ghost Walk ended and I returned to her side putting a finger to my lips to remind her to be quiet. ¡°I¡¯m here to help,¡± I said. ¡°Are you injured?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m¡­¡± she stammered the shock of the rape keeping her in shock. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked. ¡°Daniella,¡± she said. ¡°Daniella, how many men are there here?¡± I asked. ¡°Can you tell me if there are any prisoners somewhere else?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how many there are,¡± she said shaking her head. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think there are other prisoners somewhere else.¡± I heard a sound behind me and whirled my dagger ready but lowered it as I saw Rineer climbing in through a window. He looked at the woman and the blood on the ground and to me nodding in approval. ¡°You learned anything?¡± he asked quietly. ¡°These should be all the prisoners,¡± I said gesturing to the cages visible through the doorway. ¡°I¡¯m still not sure how many bandits there are.¡± ¡°They¡¯re just regular humans,¡± Rineer said shrugging. ¡°They¡¯re Fell Men,¡± Daniella spat. That made me and Rineer freeze. ¡°I thought you said tribes wouldn¡¯t be this close to civilization,¡± I said. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t,¡± Rineer said. ¡°But I can imagine a group of outlaws like this being tempted by that kind of power. Ma¡¯am, are you sure they¡¯re Fell Men?¡± ¡°We were a merchant caravan,¡± she said. ¡°We had two Cleric tier Wardens and their apprentices both Squire tier, they set upon us as at sunset two miles from here and killed them and all our guards. They¡¯ve been killing the men one by one since then.¡± ¡°This is bad,¡± Rineer said. ¡°I¡¯ve counted at least sixty men here so far. If they took down two Clerics and Squires on the lookout for trouble¡­¡± He sighed. ¡°It¡¯s never easy.¡± ¡°They can¡¯t all be Fell Men,¡± I said. ¡°The man I killed here didn¡¯t give me any XP.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good, but we can¡¯t be sure what percentage of them will be tainted,¡± he said.
Quest
Type: Vengeance Difficulty: Hard
A group of your fellow Wardens were killed by a group of Fell Men turned to banditry. Avenge your fallen brothers-in-arms and exterminate and purge all the Fell Men.
Reward: Leg Guards C grade, 500 XP
Yes/No
I selected yes and looked to Rineer. ¡°I got a Quest to kill them,¡± I said. Rineer frowned. ¡°I got a protection Quest; I have to keep all the survivors alive.¡± I frowned. ¡°Why would the Voice give us different Quests?¡± ¡°Because we can¡¯t do both at the same time,¡± Rineer said. ¡°You need to lead these men away; I need to stay here and make sure they don¡¯t get used as human shields. Once you lead them into the Mist, I can signal for Sir Valren to come in and pull these people out to safety.¡± A terrible fear gripped me, the fear brought to mind a burning house and I pushed the memory back. I steeled myself and nodded. ¡°I can lead them away,¡± I said with confidence I didn¡¯t feel. ¡°Good lad,¡± Rineer said clapping me on the shoulder. ¡°If you¡¯ve got anything in your inventory that could help you now would be the time to pull it out.¡± I was about to say I didn¡¯t have anything then I remembered the shield I had gotten as a quest reward. I opened my character sheet and opened the section that contained my inventory. There was an empty gem tab, and a currency section with a few dozen Imp cores, a dozen Beast cores and two Soldier cores. There was also a large amount of Djinn dust I¡¯d collected as a byproduct of absorbing their corruption. A little ways down was the inventory, and I selected the only icon inside it, that of a shield.
Type: Small Round Bone Shield Grade: B
Reduces total damage dealt by 50% when blocking with this shield
Durability: 350/350
It appeared in my hand. It wasn¡¯t very big, not a large round shield like the one Rineer had on his back but as highlander¡¯s targe no wider than my forearm. I pulled it onto my left arm, it was made of a very thin material but felt strong. Its surface was covered with black cloth, its rim was rawhide riveted to the shield. The pelt of some animal made up the back of the shield providing some minor cushioning for my arm. I tightened the straps and Rineer nodded in approval. The shield was B grade and with the effect it provided would last me a long time before it broke and needed to be replaced. ¡°It¡¯s not a big shield but you¡¯ll want to be fast and agile and with a weapon like yours something more maneuverable will suit you better. Good luck Cain.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Taking a deep breath, I moved to a hole in the floor. I activated Ghost Walk again and dropped down. I crept through the bandit¡¯s camp finding a rope bridge leading to another of the ruined buildings. This meant there were probably more bandits out there. There was no time to worry about it now. I used Hurricane Step to teleport to the other building. This area appeared to be more of their main living quarters. There was a cooking space and large makeshift table with men moving about eating and drinking. I needed to get their attention and make them angry enough to chase me. Easy enough to do. Stepping out of the shadows I drove my dagger into the back of the neck of the nearest man who was sat down to eat.
36 XP gained; 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Blood sprayed out as he died in one hit. I jumped forward into the middle of three men activating Lunar Smite. I slashed out activating Cyclone Strike hitting all three at once. Two of them dropped dead instantly but the last one stumbled back still alive but bleeding heavily. If he was alive after that he must be a Fell Man and have put points in Endurance to raise his hit points. He drew a sword, but I side stepped with far faster speed and slit his throat. My attack had been silent but not stealthy and Ghost Walk ended. Every man in the room drew their weapons and a cry of alarm went up. I couldn¡¯t leave now and couldn¡¯t let them know I could teleport either. If they knew I could teleport, they might figure I was just leading them on a chase. They had to think they could catch me the whole time or this wouldn¡¯t work. I jumped over the table flipping it up and ducking as crossbow bolt hit it humming as it buzzed back forth quivering in the wood. I rolled under the swing of an axe and drove my dagger up into their gut. That didn¡¯t kill them but my goal was to sow chaos right now not rack up kills. Blocking a sword strike on my shield I spun and drove my dagger into his armpit uncovered by the leather and hide armor they wore.
16 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I needed to move faster, ducking down I stabbed the dead body again absorbing all corruption in his core.
5 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 1 Corruption absorbed by your Core
I cursed inwardly, he must have been bound to the Mist element. Of all the times to have my Relic filter most of the corruption this was the worst time for it. I rolled across the ground and drove my dagger into the other man I had killed absorbing the corruption within him.
12 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 12 Corruption absorbed by your Core
I felt the twelve-percent boost to my Stats instantly moving noticeably faster already. I blocked the thrust of a spear and used it to shove up the weapon and moved in ramming my dagger into his chest driving it through the metal links of chainmail he wore. The shouting was drawing everyone in; I dropped the corpse to the floor and ran. A spear flew past my ear, and I dropped to the ground sliding between the legs of a man wielding a heavy great axe swinging it down at me. I felt the axe graze my cheek, but I was like the wind and couldn¡¯t be pinned down. Achlys stabbed up into his groin as I passed under him, and he collapsed screaming as he bled out from his privates. Pushing up I sprang back to my feet. I grabbed the man and hoisted him up ramming my dagger into his back half a dozen times as I used him as a human shield to block the spears, arrows and crossbow bolts aimed for me.
42 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
He was dead and my Relic absorbed the corruption from his core as I let his pin cushioned corpse fall to the ground.
23 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 23 Corruption absorbed by our Core
I grunted; I hadn¡¯t expected to gain that much corruption from one person. I had to be careful and not absorb any more corruption than necessary or I¡¯d risk oversaturating my core. I had certainly gotten everyone¡¯s attention. Blocking a sword strike on my shield I stabbed my dagger into the joint of his arm crippling the limb. The man staggered backwards screaming and spraying blood everywhere as I turned and found the set of stairs. Most of the stairs had collapsed but wooden replacements had been constructed by the bandits I entered the haze of the mist. Some of the bandits baulked at entering, they were either regular humans or not bound to Mist and couldn¡¯t see through it. They would be limited to seeing a pace to two in front of them at all times. They didn¡¯t need masks to chase me. Fell Men, like animals and djinn were immune to the effects of the Mist. A few of them could still see me and rallied the others behind them and gave chase. That was what I wanted so I started to run. I couldn¡¯t run at my full speed, I needed to keep them only dozen or so paces behind me at all times. ¡°Come at me tainted!¡± I shouted. ¡°The Voice has promised me a reward for killing you, do me a favor and fall on your swords!¡± I continued to shout taunts and insults just to keep them from thinking and let the ones who couldn¡¯t see me know I was still there as they followed my voice. I kept moving through the trees, then I ran into a bog. I tripped in my haste and fell straight first into the water. I couldn¡¯t stop and started wading through the water which ran up past my waist. Splashing sounded behind me as the bandits followed me into the cold waters of the marsh. I had to reach out and grab the limbs of trees to keep from falling over as the mud sucked at my boots. My dagger was suddenly on obstacle in my hand, but my sheath was somewhere underwater. Improvising I slid my dagger into the straps of my shield letting the pressure from my arm hold it in place. That actually worked really well and solved my usual issue of it always trying to slide out of its sheath. I pulled myself through the bog, the depth changing and making me swim at some points. I had to dive underwater as bandits running along the shore fired arrows or threw spears at me. Pulling myself ashore I ran and jumped from bank to bank the crashing sounds of the bandits following me. Checking my mini-map I could tell not all the bandits had followed me, but it was more than half of what I had seen. I was confident that Rineer could deal with the few that remained and I didn¡¯t have time to worry if he couldn¡¯t right now. I spun around a tree as spear thunked into its trunk. There wasn¡¯t any more bank to run along, I¡¯d have to swim and with all the arrows I¡¯d be skewered trying that. Checking my Mini map, I saw the fell-bandits had been strung out in a long line, only being in groups of seven to five. Steeling my nerves, I drew my dagger noticing that it felt a lot faster to draw sheathed on my arm. A bandit came around the tree and I ducked under the swing of a warhammer ramming my dagger up under his chin dropping him in one hit.
31 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I teleported behind the next man ramming Achlys with both hands through his spine.
25 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Two men came at me this time. I blocked the swing of an axe on my shield grunting from the force put behind it but spinning with it instead of staggering back. My dagger cut across the forearm of the second man as he dodged the slash I attempted on his throat. I rammed my Relic into his gut and spun behind him as his hands went to staunch the wound and drove it into the back of his neck.
18 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
The axe swung at my head, and I ducked then kicked out feeling his knee give out. I hadn¡¯t put many points into Might yet, but I was still more than twice as strong as a normal human. He went down on the ground, and I pounced on him stabbing down into his chest three times before he stopped twitching.
36 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Another group of men charged me now four of this time. They were moving together as a group; they all carried shields and spears and moved in a tight group. I teleported directly behind them with Hurricane Step. ¡°Lunar Smite, Cyclone Strike,¡± I said hitting them with a double use of my skills. The men screamed two dropping to their knees but none of them died outright from it. I thrust forwards with my sword into the back of one of the men down on his knees.
29 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
The other man down on the ground spun and blocked my sword with his shield. The other men lunged with their spears and I blocked one turning my body to the side letting the other one skid against my leather chest guard. I slashed out cutting off two of the man¡¯s fingers and he dropped the spear screaming. An arrow hit me in the shoulder and I grunted spinning from the unexpected attack. I teleported behind one of the spear wielders driving Achlys up into his heart.
15 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Another arrow came at me but I used the corpse as a shield then dropped it and stabbed by dagger down through the top of skull of the man trying to get back to his feet.
17 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
The last man of the group of four blocked my dagger with his shield and rammed his spear forwards. I blocked it on my own shield and kicked out sending him staggering backwards on the slick muddy ground. I also stumbled backwards but I was faster so I got to him before he recovered and drove my weapon through his neck.
24 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Level Up! You have reached level 8! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
Another arrow whizzed past my head and my heart raced with fear. Only my desperate struggle for survival kept the fear from overwhelming me. I ducked behind a tree and opened my character sheet. Looking over my stats and core I saw that I was currently forty-six out of seventy-four for corruption. I¡¯d gained plus five to my ether capacity, but it was a gamble if I¡¯d level up again before I got to my Core¡¯s limit and risked oversaturation. I split my fifteen available stat points between Might, Agility and Endurance. Pretty soon I¡¯d have a fifty percent bonus to all my stats with my trait and I would need all those physical traits to stay alive. More shouts came towards me, and I pushed down the rising fear in me. I couldn¡¯t let it control me, not again. I stepped out ducking low as a crossbow bolt shot past me. The Fell Men linked to mist began directing the others towards me. I focused on them a new plan rising. Kill those that could see, then the others would be left blind only able to see the length of their sword in the Mist. I teleported behind an archer driving my dagger forwards pushing against its pommel with my left hand punching through the rings of metal sewn into their vest. Blood spurted from their mouth as they spasmed. Yanking my dagger free I stabbed it into his chest again, dropping him to the ground dead.
27 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said again teleporting behind another man who was hollering and directing other Fell-Men towards my position. He spun around as soon as he lost sight of me blocking my attack with his sword and lunging I raised my shield and felt the arrow in my shoulder give me some trouble. I managed to block his attack and trip him with my foot. I fell on him on the ground driving my dagger down into his chest right were his collar bones met puncturing through his rib cage.
32 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I rolled to the side as an axe fell where I was. Teleporting next to another archer, this one wielding a crossbow. He dropped his bow reaching for a short blade at his hip but I slashed his throat before he could finish drawing it.
19 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
¡°He¡¯s killing those of you who can see, protect your brothers!¡± one of the men next to the archer shouted hacking at me with a sword. I blocked the strike with my shield again feeling the pain of the arrow in my shoulder. I shoved his sword to the side and drove my dagger down over his shield pushing down through his shoulder into heart blood sprayed out as I hit an artery and created a fine red mist in the air.
35 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I ducked behind the stump of a fallen tree and yanked out the arrow in my shoulder. It did more damage coming out than it had going in, but I put hand over the wound. ¡°Celestial Healing,¡± I said and instantly the wound closed, and I was restored to full HP. Unlike djinn you didn¡¯t gain any ether when you killed a Fell Men, in some ways this made fighting them harder, but it was balanced out by the fact they didn¡¯t have any skills. Even imps had one skill, but Fell Men only gained stat points which still made them ten times the threat of a normal human even if it came at the cost of tainting their souls by eating the bodies of djinn. I stood up and ducked down as arrows flew past me. There were only a few archers left but they were all surrounded by groups of other Fell Men bunched up and ready to strike if I appeared next to them. Then a massive man walked forwards, he carried a masterfully crafted mace that had to be a Relic. At first I was worried he was a Warlock, I stared at him, it took ten seconds to identify a person but I needed to see who I was dealing with.
Hans Arendachi ¨C Fell Man¨C Mist ¨C Level 19
He wasn¡¯t as high a level as the Warlock had been but he was armored in heavy plate and had two snarling hounds beside him. They almost looked rabid meaning they had to be fell beasts and they snarled pulling at the ends of thick chains. ¡°You¡¯ve put up a good fight Warden,¡± he called out. ¡°But you¡¯re not the first Warden I¡¯ve faced, and certainly not the most powerful.¡± I blocked another arrow on my shield as I readied myself. I was only level eight but my trait gave me the stats of someone level fourteen or fifteen even if I didn¡¯t have the ether capacity to match it. I teleported behind the man. ¡°Mist Blade, Lunar Smite,¡± I said activating another two abilities. His mace came around like the tail of a scorpion before I even had a chance to land a strike and I rolled out of the way. The dire hounds lunged towards me and I teleported behind one slashing down with my dagger. I cut deep but their hides were thick and folds of skin around their neck kept the wounds from being lethal. The dog let out a whine of pain before lunging for me again. Hans let go of the chains letting the two hounds have free rein. I rolled under the belly of the other mastiff and eviscerated it. It let out a howl of agony, it was sad to have to do this to what had probably once been a normal dog. Now the two dogs had been twisted, probably starved by the bandits until they ate meat mixed with corruption, gaining increased size, strength and speed at the cost of massively increased aggression. The eviscerated hound still went for my throat even as its blood gushed out of its body. The mace swung for my head, I blocked it on my shield and found out that was mistake. My shield absorbed the strike, but I felt my shoulder crack under the force of it. I had invested most of my stats into agility, but this man seemed to have put most of his into Might. I rolled in the dirt my arm dislocated from its shoulder. The other hound was on me, and its jaws closed around my shield as I threw it up just in time to protect my throat from being ripped out. I thrust up into its neck and the dog collapsed on top of me.
43 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
The dog weighed me down, I tried teleporting but couldn¡¯t¡¯.
You cannot teleport when in contact with another creature or while over-encumbered.
¡°Damn it,¡± I swore and pushed with all my might shoving the hound which had to weigh over twenty stone. The mace came down and I rolled to the side but still felt it clip my shoulder shattering the bones there and dropping my health bar by a third. I teleported away biting back tears and a scream of pain. I gingerly pressed my other hand to my broken shoulder. ¡°Celestial Healing,¡± I said. I felt some of the pain disappear and my health bar recover but I still couldn¡¯t use the arm. I realized the problem my ability didn¡¯t fix broken bones just cured surface level wounds and restored hit points. Heavy footfalls sounded and I turned to see Hans charging me. His two hounds were dead but the other Fell Men were all alive and advancing on me. I froze in panic as the fear gripped me. Move! I screamed internally but the fear had a hold of me now. Memories of a burning building and my mother and brother calling my name filled my mind, I had frozen then too. Chapter 7: Justice and Damnation ¡°There are those who seek power, or in foolish desperation think they have no other choice but to seize it. They consume the remains of djinn, this fills them with ether letting them level up but does not give them any skills, except passives. Like Warlocks, the corruption drives them mad, some turn to murder, cannibalism or all manners of hellish debauchery. Like djinn and animals, they become immune to the Mist and when discovered are often forced to flee inside driven from civilization.¡± -from a dissertation on the Mist by Ambrose Melvor Aranea- Tuesday, August 6th, 564 AB I watched the forest with the others with nervous apprehension. I had only been married less than three days but already I was watching my husband venture out into danger. I knew this would be my role in life but I was quickly finding I didn¡¯t like how anxious it made me feel. Unlike the rest of them I could see into the Mist but even so the distance and foliage blocking the way made it impossible to tell what was going on. Long minutes passed then a bright burning object shot up into the air and horn blew out. ¡°What was that?¡± I asked Sir Valren. ¡°A signal to advance,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°Something must have happened for Sir Rineer to not come back and report.¡± I suddenly felt afraid for Cain. ¡°Let me come with you,¡± I said. Sir Valren looked down at me. ¡°You¡¯re not a fighter,¡± he said dismissively. ¡°I can see, you can¡¯t,¡± I pointed out. ¡°I can be a set of eyes for you.¡± Sir Valren paused considering. ¡°Show me your skills, quickly now I need to see if you can be an asset.¡± I did so but blocked out my trait. Like Cain, Mother Leora had advised me to be careful who I showed it too. Sir Valren raised an eyebrow as I held out my character sheet for him to read. Finally, he nodded. ¡°You can come with us,¡± he said. ¡°I want you to use your ability Voice of the Wind on me, Sir Haldred and later Sir Rineer and your husband when we meet up with them.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. We advanced forwards. Sir Valren handed me a mask, I had the same passives as Cain did but I put it on anyway. Cain had done so and I didn¡¯t want to question him on that yet. We entered the mist and I shivered at its cold touch suddenly wanting to be anywhere but here. The gloomy air had cursed sinister feeling to it that I instantly hated. I walked a step behind Sir Valren my hand on his back as I guided him forwards. Sir Haldred lead the other pages as we advanced towards the ruins. We reached them I spotted a man looking down with a crossbow drawn. ¡°Lunar Ray,¡± I said aiming for his head. He fell out of the ruin and dropped to the forest floor. I instantly felt a little sick at just having killed another human but pushed the fear out of my mind. There was the sound of shouting above us and Sir Valren leapt up ignoring the ladder as he crashed through wooden floor boards. I scurried up the ladder after him finding a scene of carnage when I reached the floor. Sir Valren advanced down the hall. His armor had grown thick and bulky as he moved forwards arrows pinging off it as he slaughtered the bandits in his path. I had to run to keep up with him and we climbed a set of stairs with bodies piled at its base. Ten men were in a shield formation trying to advance up it a single Warden at the top holding them back. Sir Valren cut through the back of the men before they even knew he was there the echo of thunder sounding in the air as he unleashed a storm skill on the group. He didn¡¯t even have to speak to activate the skill showing his years of experience. Sir Rineer stood at the top of the stairs a round shield in hand arrows sticking out of its surface. ¡°Good you lot got here, you were missing all the fun,¡± he said. ¡°Where is Cain?¡± I asked, racing up and looking around but not spotting him. Sir Rineer lowered his mask and looked at me. ¡°Why are you here?¡± he asked me. ¡°This is not the place for a lady.¡± ¡°She is here because I allowed it,¡± Sir Valren said before I could answer. ¡°I too would like to know where Sir Cain is, why didn¡¯t you send him back to inform us of what was going on?¡± ¡°The Voice gave us different Quests,¡± Rineer said. ¡°I had to defend these prisoners he was assigned an Quest to exterminate them.¡± Sir Valren frowned. ¡°I still don¡¯t see why you didn¡¯t inform us first. You could have held this spot while he ran back and got us.¡± ¡°They were Fell Men,¡± Sir Rineer said his face going dead serious. He gestured to the pile of bodies at the base of the stairs. ¡°I killed the few that remained behind, but Sir Cain lead the rest away, his job was to lead them on a chase through the forest so I could signal you.¡± Sir Valren stiffened. ¡°How many of them?¡± he asked. ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, more than half at least,¡± Rineer said. ¡°They attacked a merchant caravan and killed two Cleric tier Wardens and their Squire tier apprentices so they would have been more than I could have handled alone.¡± ¡°You two are in his party,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°Which direction is his marker pointing towards on your mini-map?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how to¡­.¡± I began but Rineer cut me off. ¡°North,¡± he said pointing. ¡°You two with me,¡± Sir Valren said and turned to the other Wardens who had entered the ruins. ¡°You are all to remain here and hold this position. There are Fell Men in this forest, they are not to be underestimated and have already killed Wardens, defend these civilians with your lives. Sir Haldred you have overwatch here, if you see them approaching from the Mist you are to give warning.¡± I followed after Rineer and Sir Valren struggling to keep up. I suddenly regretted putting all my stat points into Will and nothing to boost my low physical stats. We ran through the trees running into a bog we could hear shouting, screaming and the clash of steel on steel ahead and the baying of hounds. I put on a burst of speed as I felt a second wind take me. We saw groups of men wading through waist deep water. My skirt snagged and tore on some bramble. A man spotted me but I raised my hand and pointed at him before he could get a word out. ¡°Lunar Ray,¡± I said. ¡°Lunar Ray, Lunar Ray.¡± Three blades of glowing etheric energy shot from my hand and struck the man in the face faster than a bolt from a crossbow.
32 XP gained
Sir Valren stared ahead but he couldn¡¯t see farther than the reach of his spear. ¡°Where are they?¡± he asked me as Sir Rineer raced ahead to where two hounds were snarling. ¡°Twenty-paces straight ahead,¡± I said pointing to a group of men who all had their backs to us. Sir Valren raced forwards his spear flashing with lightning and golden light as he bowled the men over. While these fell men might have killed two Knight tier Wardens they were not prepared to deal with an Exarch. They were dead as soon as Sir Valren saw them, and I raced forward struggling to keep up in the muck. I saw Cain appear suddenly he dodged the swing of a mace and teleported behind one of the hounds slashing out. It lunged towards him, and he dodged rolling under the belly of the other hound and cutting it open. He rolled out from under it but it still pursued him even as its intestines dragged across the wet grass. The massive warrior he was fighting swung at him with his mace and Cain blocked it but staggered from the force. The other hound pounced on him driving him to the ground and almost tearing out his throat but gnawing on his shield instead. Cain plunged his dagger into the dog¡¯s neck, and it dropped on top of him. He shoved it rolling to the side, but his enemy¡¯s mace came down hitting his shoulder. Even from where I was standing I could hear his bones crack and break. ¡°Cain!¡± I screamed out running towards him. He disappeared, appearing a dozen yards away. The warrior¡¯s eyes swept the area, he didn¡¯t see me yet, his eyes landing on Cain again and he charged forwards. Cain reached a hand up to his shoulder, his shield hanging uselessly at his side. The warrior was seconds away Cain looked at him tensed to move then¡­froze. The mace rose high ready to crush him against the earth. ¡°Lunar Ray,¡± I shouted. The shot hit the warrior pushing him off balance. He turned spotting me now and snarled. Cain snapped out of whatever spell he had been placed under his eyes turning and meeting mine. The warrior raced towards me and suddenly I realized I wasn¡¯t that far away from the battle as I had thought, and Sir Valren and Sir Rineer were not where close to me. --- Cain Aranea was there her face obscured by the breathing mask but her golden hair unmistakable. Hans turned and snarled. ¡°Bitch!¡± He forgot about me and raced towards her, she was only two dozen paces away and she didn¡¯t have anywhere near the physical stats needed to stand up to him. ¡°Mist Blade, Hurricane Step,¡± I said teleporting directly in front of him lunging forwards. My dagger caught him in the stomach, I twisted and ripped it free teleporting just before the mace could smash into my skull. He turned around as I appeared behind but another bolt of silver light hit him from behind. He turned to face Aranea again but I teleported to his right stabbing into his flank. His mace swung down but I didn¡¯t teleport away this time. ¡°Fog Form,¡± I said. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. In the panic and confusion of battle I had forgotten about my one defensive ability. The mace passed through me and I rematerialized. ¡°Mist Blade, Lunar Smite,¡± I said. I slashed out into his torso my etheric projected blade passing right through his heavy metal armor as three more bolts of silver light shot from Aranea hitting Hans in the side. He staggered and I teleported behind him. I drove Achlys up to the hilt with my one good arm, the etheric blade appearing out the other side of his torso. Another bolt of silver light hit him, and he dropped to the ground.
132 XP gained; 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Looking around I saw there were still groups of Fell Men though most were fleeing the field now. Rineer was chasing down a group and Sir Valren was moving from group to group tracking them by what had to be only sound. A group was rushing towards Aranea, and I appeared beside her my dagger raised in a guard stance. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± I told her. ¡°You needed me,¡± Aranea said her voice sounding like an accusation. ¡°Your right,¡± I admitted my shoulders sagging. ¡°Stay behind me.¡± The men rushed forwards and I stepped up to meet them. I ducked and dodged, unable to block with my useless left arm. My dagger shot out cutting off the fingers gripping an axe. The wielder stepped back and a silver blade of energy slashed across his shoulder. Stepping into his guard I drove Achlys up through his sternum.
27 XP gained; 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I kept his body on my blade turning him to block the next two attacks coming for me before pulling my dagger free and side stepping the thrust of a spear. The man pulled his head to the side just fast enough to avoid his face being hit directly by another blade of silver light. It wasn¡¯t fast enough to avoid it searing the side of his face blinding his left eye and I drove my weapon through the other eye.
31 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
A golden glow surrounded Aranea as she got the same amount of XP I did from the kill and it was enough to push her to the next level. Three men rushed her as I blocked the swing of an axe on the flat side of my dagger. Before I could rush to intercept them Aranea solved the issue. ¡°Sweeping Hurricane,¡± she said. The men were knocked off their feet and Aranea turned and pointed her hand at the axe wielder I was engaged with. He staggered and I drove my dagger through his gut ripping out and spilling his entrails across the ground.
15 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Level Up! You have reached level 9! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said. I teleported next to the men in the mud as they pushed themselves to their feet after having been knocked over by Aranea¡¯s ability. My dagger slashed out cutting the throats of two of them.
47 XP gained, 2 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I advanced on the final man and he dropped his weapons in surrender holding up his hands. I fell using my weight to drive my dagger through his chest.
21 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Looking around there wasn¡¯t anyone else. Sir Valren looked around unseeing his head cocked to the side as he listened. I looked at Aranea, her dressed stained from the knee down in mud and the hem of her dress torn in many places. She shook slightly and I stepped forwards. I shoved Achlys into the straps of my shield and pulled her close. Her arms wrapped around me as she shook. This wasn¡¯t my first-time seeing men die even if was my first time being the one doing the killing. Aranea¡¯s training as an aspirant Weaver wouldn¡¯t have prepared her for this and she shook with emotions that I knew all too well. ¡°Its all right,¡± I told her softly knowing just how pointless those words were but having nothing else I could say. Splashing sounded and Rineer came forwards dragging a bleeding man behind him. He looked around hauled the man up. ¡°Is this all of you?¡± he asked forcing the man to look at the carnage. ¡°Y-yes..¡± the man stammered. ¡°I think so I can¡¯t be¡­.¡± Rineer dropped the man to the ground and drove his spear through his chest.
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Vengeance, Hard and avenged your fallen fellow Wardens and exterminated the Fell Men.
Reward: C grade Leg Guards has been added to your inventory. 500 XP gained
I dismissed the notification as a golden glow suffused my body.
Level Up! You have reached level 10! 30 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
Sir Valren walked over towards the sound of us and his expression cleared as we came into his line of sight. ¡°Was that the last of them?¡± he asked. Rineer turned to me. ¡°You leveled up, I assume you finished your Quest?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°Does that mean we got them all?¡± ¡°The Voice is satisfied, so I am as well,¡± Sir Valren said. Rineer reached out grabbing my broken shoulder. ¡°Crystalized Mend,¡± he said and I screamed as my bones popped back into place and reset themselves. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said wincing and rubbing my shoulder. ¡°We should head back,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°How much more corruption can you absorb Sir Cain?¡± ¡°Not much sir,¡± I admitted. I pulled up my character sheet to examine.
Core Level
10
Experience to Next Level
120/560
Relic Name Relic Element Relic Type
Achlys Mist Dagger
Name
Cain Le¡¯meer
Hit Points: 230/230 Hit Point Regen: 10 per minute
Armor Points: 84/84 Armor Point Regen: 10 per minute
Might Agility Endurance Will Senses Clarity
30 (47) 76 (112) 15 (23) 11 (17) 10 (15) 10 (15)
Ether Corruption Level
51/84 58/84
Trait
Tainted Power: Your statistics increase by 1% for every point of Corruption in your Etheric Core.
Primary Passive Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air. Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Ghost Walk: Masks all noise made for 30 seconds in a 5ft radius around the wielder.
Cost: 3 ether
Mist Blade: For 10 seconds attacks with your Relic pass through 1¡± of material.
Cost: 7 ether
Fog Form: Body and worn equipment becomes intangible making you Immune to all damage for 2 seconds.
Cost: 5 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Smite: A sword of silver light extends out from your blade for 1 second dealing Moon damage equal to your current Core¡¯s charge.
Cost: 4 ether
Celestial Healing: Closes wounds across a single creature¡¯s body restoring Hit Points equal to your current Core charge.
Cost: 10 ether
Wind Skills
Hurricane Step: Move up to 100ft in 1 second as your body and all your equipment is turned into wind.
Cost: 1 ether
Cyclone Strike: Deals Wind damage equal to half your Core charge to all creatures within your weapons reach.
Cost: 6 ether
¡°I¡¯m at fifty-eight out of eighty-four,¡± I said. ¡°So you can absorb one to two more before risking oversaturation,¡± Sir Valren said frowning. ¡°I can absorb a few as well but there are a lot of bodies here.¡± He turned his attention to Aranea. ¡°What about you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m empty sir,¡± Aranea said. ¡°But I can¡¯t just absorb it from Cain here¡­¡± ¡°Relax girl,¡± Rineer said rolling his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re not asking you step behind the bushes with Cain and get busy. Just take his dagger and start harvesting them, your linked to it through him so it will let you use it for this.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Aranea said blushing. ¡°While I would have said that in a more dignified manner,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°Yes that is what I¡¯m asking. What is your etheric capacity?¡± ¡°One-hundred-and-forty-seven,¡± Aranea answered. ¡°That should be enough to absorb the corruption from at least half this number,¡± Sir Valren said nodding. ¡°What about you Sir Rineer?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t look at me,¡± Sir Rineer said shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m at three-hundred out of three-fifty.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you have the Mother Superior cleanse you?¡± Sir Valren asked exasperated. ¡°You know me, I¡¯m not a very trusting person,¡± Rineer said with shrug. ¡°I wasn¡¯t able to bring down my walls enough to relax and let her draw it out and my wife would kill me if I did it with another woman.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re out,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°We might have to bring some of the others back to help with this, for now let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± In the end we were able to do it all on our own even if the burning in my chest was painful. Aranea was also holding near her core¡¯s maximum limit. We returned to the bandit¡¯s base where we were spotted before we reached it and greeted by the other Wardens. They had found ten other bandits hiding in their fortress and brought them bound before Sir Valren. ¡°Bring them with us,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°We¡¯re running out of air in our air bladders. Take what possessions belong to these people and let us be rid of this place.¡± We pulled out the wagons the bandits had hidden in the trees, hitching them to the stolen horses and filling them with stolen goods. We escorted the prisoners out of the Mist with extra masks they had to share. Aranea went to each of the prisoners using Silver Purity on them healing them of their injuries and any infections they were suffering. When we were all out Sir Valren had the ten bandits bound placed on horseback and nooses fitted and tied around their necks. They were all placed on the limb of an oak on the opposite side of the road as the Fog Land. The bandits were gagged and not allowed to speak as Sir Valren gave them their final rights. ¡°I Lord Valren of Mistwall, Warden of the Church of the Voice by the power vested in me by both the crown and the Church hereby condemn you to death. You are charged with the crimes of rape, banditry, heresy, and murder. May the Voice have mercy on your souls for we have none upon your bodies.¡± The horses all bolted forward as switches were taken to their rears. The men twitched and jerked for several seconds at the end of their rope. Aranea looked away but I didn¡¯t turn my gaze. All the survivors of the caravan raid didn¡¯t turn away either looking on with hard merciless gazes as justice was dealt out. We didn¡¯t stay there even though night was falling. The place had an evil air to it and we rode on through the night. Chapter 8: Down by the River We have no control over the skills Wardens get when they bond with their relic, or the skills a Weaver gains when she first lays with her knight. What we do have some control over is traits. While it is true no one knows exactly what their trait is until they are awakened, it is always from one of their parents or a merger of the two. This allows for the rising of noble houses and ascensionof Kings whose blood-line traits allow them to hold back the threats to humanity.¡± - an excerpt from Sir Matthew Coal on Explaining the Character Sheet Aranea- Wednesday, August 7th, 564 AB I leaned against Cain as we rode towards Mistwall. We were moving slower now that we were escorting the surviving merchant caravan. Cain had the Mace taken from the bandit chief. It wouldn¡¯t be his to keep, but there would be a bounty for returning it to the family of the knight it had belonged to. My hands spun. I was weary, having gotten little sleep in the saddle, but I was intent on purging the burning corruption inside me. As a Weaver, purifying Corruption was where I got most of my XP. I¡¯d gotten some, fighting with Cain, but it wasn¡¯t something I wanted to do again. Golden hairs grew from the tips of my fingers and my comb straightened them out, keeping them from tangling as I wound them together with my drop spindle. The process was agonizing, like holding onto a burning coal in your hand. I knew that because that was how Mother Leora had taught us. Pain acclimation was necessary to become a Weaver. We had to learn to hold our hands above the flame of a candle until we could bear the pain without flinching. One summer, Mother Leora had us all sit on a nest of fire ants for an hour, and we weren¡¯t allowed to move an inch or she¡¯d switch us. While the training might have seemed harsh, it was necessary. Every once in a while there would be an aspirant who trained, and seemed to pass, who after bedding a Warden was unable to force herself to endure the pain of drawing the corruption out of her core. These women either had to live the rest of their lives with that corruption sitting in their core, or they pushed themselves too hard, absorbing more corruption and oversaturating their core. Luckily these nascent Warlocks had barely any power and were easy to dispatch. I kept at my work for hours, humming softly as I did to help my fingers keep time. I sagged back in exhaustion as I purged the last of the corruption from my core.
Quest Succeeded
You have purified yourself of corruption and converted it into a stable form of etheric energy.
Reward: 850 XP gained
Level Up! You have reached level 9! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 30.
I leveled up twice with the XP gained. I hadn¡¯t spent my stat points from my last level up. I paused, thinking where to put them. My Will was at thirty-one but I didn¡¯t plan on becoming a combat Weaver. I remembered running through the forest and struggling to keep up with Sir Valren and Rineer. They hadn¡¯t even been running at their full speed, moving at a slow jog so I could keep up with them. My physical stats weren¡¯t even what freshly bonded Warden would have. As a woman, I would never be the physical match of Warden, just as they would never have an ether pool my size without massively over leveling me. Still, I wanted to be at least the match for a standard human male. I put three points into Might and two into Agility and Endurance. The other eight points I split between Senses and Clarity. I pulled up my character sheet, examining the changes.
Core Level
9
Experience to Next Level
295/460
Bonded Element
Mist
Name
Aranea Le¡¯meer
Hit Points: 231 Hit Point Regen: 7 per minute
Might Agility Endurance Will Senses Clarity
6 6 6 31 11 10
Ether Corruption Level
177/177 0/177
Trait
Final Stand: You gain +1% regen rate for every missing point of ether in your Core.
Primary Passive Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air. Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Siren Song: Your voice sings out in a hauntingly beautiful tune for the next 30 seconds inflicting Pacify on creatures who can hear you and Clarity on allied targets within hearing distance.
Cost: 15 ether
Mist Veil: Your body becomes blurred by a veil of mist making you harder to hit for the next 20 seconds inflicting a 50% miss chance against you.
Cost: 8 ether
Ether Familiar: You conjure an elemental spirit of Mist to serve as your familiar. It will last until destroyed and is resummoned casting time 5 minutes.
Cost: 15 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Ray: A blade of silver light shoots from your hands up to 100ft striking a creature you can see dealing your Core maximum charge as Moon damage.
Cost: Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. 3 ether
Silver Purity: Closes wounds across a single creature¡¯s body and removes any Disease, Infection, Debuff, or Curse affecting them.
Cost: 10 ether
Wind Skills
Voice on the Wind: Link yourself and up to 3 others to be able to speak even at whisper up to 200ft away for 10 minutes.
Cost: 9 ether
Sweeping Hurricane: A rushing wind pushes away anything not secured down in a 40ft cone in front of you.
Cost: 5 ether
¡°After I absorb your corruption and purify it I should hit level ten and finally catch up to your level,¡± I said. ¡°Hmmm,¡± Cain said distractedly, looking out towards the mountains and their mist-covered slopes. ¡°Sorry, you¡¯ll catch up to my level? That¡¯s good. Hopefully we get a skill evolution soon.¡± ¡°How far along is your armor?¡± I asked. Cain drew his dagger from where he kept it sheathed on his right arm. He formed his armor, the gauntlet flowing down and ending a third of the way to his elbow. It had grown three inches by my estimation, very rapid growth for someone of his level. He sheathed it on his arm again. ¡°Why do you keep it sheathed on your arm?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen someone keep their weapon like that. I could feel the roll of his shoulders as he shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s something I found during my fight against the Fell Men. It keeps trying to slide out of its sheath when I keep it on my belt. Plus, it just feels faster to draw this way.¡± He was silent for a time and I drifted off for a bit, jerking awake as we came to a stop. The sun was setting again, and we were making camp. Cain lifted me down from the saddle and I held onto his shoulders until he set me down on the ground. We set up our tent with the others, and I helped make the dinner. We had little variety in our ingredients but Sir Rineer brought over a buck he had gone ahead to hunt for and dressed while we were on the road. We added a few wild greens and some potatoes into a stew then created a grill, sprinkling salt over its ribs. There were a lot more people to feed now but I took two wooden bowls over to our tent where Cain sat, a wooden case in his lap. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked, pointing to the case. ¡°My flute,¡± he said. He opened the polished wooden box to reveal a flute crafted from ivory and silver, intricately carved with a pattern of scales, making it look like the neck of a dragon. I ran a finger over its spine and the soft velvet cushion in the box. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful,¡± I said. ¡°Do you play?¡± ¡°Yes, but not in front of other people usually,¡± he said, looking somewhat shy. ¡°Would you play for me, please?¡± I asked, handing him his platter and bowl. ¡°Maybe after we eat,¡± he said, taking the food. We ate, and I returned the bowls and platter to the fire where a wash basin was. One of the women we rescued had taken over responsibility for washing the dishes. I tried to help but she shooed me away. I returned to our tent and Cain stood up. ¡°I¡¯m going to the river to wash before bed,¡± he said. We both stank from our battle the day before and traveling so I stood to join him, bringing a bar of soap. We found a spot under the willows and stripped out of our clothes. I was still shy with being so exposed, even around Cain. I waited until he had his back turned before dropping my dress and sliding into the water. I gasped at the icy cold water, dunking my head and fully submerging myself. I came up for air feeling adjusted to the water¡¯s temperature. Cain surfaced as well, his hands wiping the water from his skin. He ran the bar of soap along his arms and torso and disappeared underwater again. He resurfaced next to me, his hand running along my waist and pulling me close. Laughing, I kissed him as he ran the soap along my curves. My legs wrapped around him as his other hand ran along my body, rinsing me off. I took the soap from him, lathering his hair and he did the same to me. His lips touched mine and we submerged under the water, our eyes closed as our lips gently slid across the others. We resurfaced, the soapy water streaming down our faces. Cain¡¯s hand ran through my hair, his left hand supporting my back as I leaned back, letting my hair fan out in the slow-moving water of the river. He pulled me up to him again and I laughed, my hands sliding around his neck as I went in for another kiss. He carried me to the bank where he had laid out a blanket under the boughs of a willow, laying me down. His fingers ran gently along my neck tracing down and running between my breasts to my navel. I shivered and giggled at the ticklish sensation. The water dripped off us and we dried in the summer air, the sun setting in the distance. Cain brought out his flute and began to play. I listened to the beautiful haunting melody as he played it, the soft lingering notes seeming to dance on the wind. My hair had dried by the time he was done and set it back in its case, closing it reverently. My hands reached out as I pushed Cain back onto the blanket and slid my hips over his. My lips met his I ground into him, his movements slowly matching mine. Moments later I was heavily panting, my lips by his ear as he ran kisses down my neck. My nails dug into his back as we reached our climax, pleasure filling me along with a burning sensation in my core as I took on his corruption. We lay on the damp blanket. I stared into his dark brown eyes as he brushed my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. ¡°I love you,¡± he said. A new sensation fluttered in my heart. While we were married, Cain had never said that to me before. I suppose if he had said it our first time together it wouldn¡¯t have meant anything, as we were just strangers then. Even now we only knew a little about each other. ¡°I love you too,¡± I said, and realized I truly meant it. I wasn¡¯t sure when we had gone from the arrangement assigned by our stations to this, but I was happy. Not all Weavers and Wardens fell in love with each other. Trust was needed for a Warden to pass on his corruption, but he didn¡¯t need to love his partner. We pulled on a fresh set of clothes, Cain helping me with buttons on the back of my dress. We returned to the camp. I could see some knowing looks making me blush and press up against Cain, our fingers interlocked as we returned to our tent. The light of the fire was the only source of illumination now as we settled in and I curled up against Cain, his arms enveloping me in a comforting embrace. The next morning we ate a quick breakfast and rode out again. Our column stretched long down the road, the group wasn¡¯t as tired so some of the children started playing in the back of the wagons. I wondered if they would remember the trauma they had experienced when they grew up; the haunted expressions on the women told me they would never be able to forget the horrors inflicted on them. Only three men had survived the bandit¡¯s murder, torture and imprisonment, and I doubted these merchants¡¯ wives would ever to take to the road again. I could only hope they would find better lives in a settlement. We were still two days out from reaching Mistwall; there was only settlement on the road between here and there. This part of the kingdom was traveled only by merchants and patrols of Wardens culling djinn. The worst part of the journey was the tedium. I had long since finished my needlework by midday, fixing the tears in my and Cain¡¯s clothing. The skirt I¡¯d ripped chasing after him into the forest was fixed, but it would never look the same. ¡°We should get your armor fixed,¡± I said to Cain, looking at the various rents and tears in his gambeson and the thick leather chest-piece and guards. ¡°I¡¯ll probably just buy better versions when we get to Mistwall,¡± he said. ¡°Mending tears in leather instead of replacing it usually results in weaker armor.¡± ¡°Once I learn enchanting I can make your armor for you,¡± I said. The thought of advancing my craft excited me. I had tasted combat and I knew it wasn¡¯t for me. There was a reason women didn¡¯t become wardens, and it wasn¡¯t just because we got less stat points per level. ¡°How were you able to fight the bandit chief?¡± I asked. ¡°I got enough XP from him that he had to be a much higher level than you. Even with no abilities he was tough, I saw what he did with one hit of his mace to your shoulder.¡± Cain paused then whispered low. ¡°My trait lets me become more powerful, it has its drawbacks though,¡± he said. I was really curious but didn¡¯t want to pry too much. ¡°Are you comfortable telling me about it?¡± I asked. Cain shifted in the saddle. ¡°I¡¯d rather tell no one, I will tell you that it¡¯s linked to corruption in my core. It¡¯s the reason your¡­ Mother Superior warned me against telling anyone. She said it might make people kill me out of fear of what I could become if I fell to Corruption.¡± ¡°The church would never allow that!¡± I protested. ¡°The Church was who she was afraid would fear it,¡± I said. ¡°Fear makes people do things they wouldn¡¯t normally, or not do the things they should.¡± His last words seemed to make him more distant. I leaned up and kissed him, trying to lighten his move. He smiled down on me, the shadows fading from his expression. I smiled back, glad to have lightened his mood after somehow drawing out those darker thoughts. Thankfully, the day was uneventful and we made better progress, everyone more energized than they had been the day before. We stopped for the night again and I helped Cain set up our tent away from the others. I wanted to use my ability Ether Familiar, but I wanted some privacy before revealing it. The meal for tonight was some simple flat bread and rabbit soup. We ate, and handed in our wooden bowls then sat down in our little groups. Most of the other Wardens had their own cliques. The senior Wardens ate separately from the rest of us, the other ¡®provincial¡¯ Wardens ate together, and the noble sons all had their group. Cain kept separate from them, seeming not fit into either group. I¡¯d learned his father was a noble, and a war hero, but lived far out in the north. Near enough to the mountains to be away from civilization, but not so close as to be under constant threat from its slopes. Cain was like that; he was almost a noble¡¯s son, but also wasn¡¯t a provincial Warden whose family had saved up to afford for one of their sons to buy a Relic. Though a heavy responsibility, even the poorest of Wardens would be wealthier than a landowning farmer or caravan owner. Someday I¡¯d help Cain gather that wealth by acting as our house¡¯s broker, selling the ether gems, monster cores, djinn weapons and my own enchantments for gold and silver to enrich our house. I sat down in our tent and prepared to summon my familiar. The knowledge on how to do so was instinctually given to me by the Voice. I drew a circle on the ground as Cain watched, he gave me the Beast core I needed. Though it wasn¡¯t listed in the skill¡¯s description I knew that it was needed. I set the core at the center of the circle and began to sing words in a language I didn¡¯t know. Many attempts had been made to decipher the language, but we had no frame of reference for what the words meant. The casting took five minutes. It only took a small amount of ether from my core but the monster core at the center of the ritual flaked and cracked as it slowly drained of power. Fog rose up from it and then dissipated, leaving behind a spider that looked to be made of silver and crystal.
Name? ¨C Species: Ether Spinner ¨C Type: Familiar
I was hesitant to touch the creature. It was beautiful in a frightening way, about the size of my splayed hand. I held out my hand and it climbed onto it, weighing no more than a feather. ¡°Why is it a spider?¡± I asked. ¡°I thought it would be a cat or some type of bird.¡± ¡°Do you like spiders?¡± Cain asked. ¡°No, I mean, I don¡¯t dislike them. My name means spider; maybe that¡¯s it?¡± I wondered aloud. Cain shrugged. ¡°The Voice does what it will, as I understand it, familiars are somehow based on their caster¡¯s personality. What can it do?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± I admitted. ¡°But guessing on its species it weaves with ether threads or catches them somehow, it will probably help me when creating wards to strain wild ether.¡± Then we¡¯ll have to wait until we get to Mistwall to try it out,¡± Cain said, stretching out. I laid next to him, looking up into the ceiling of the tent where my familiar spun itself a web and hung above us. ¡°What should I name it?¡± I asked. Cain was silent, and I thought he might have gone to sleep. ¡°It looks more like a piece of jewelry than a creature,¡± he said. ¡°Like it was formed from threads of silver and blown crystal glass. Jewel seems like a good name for it.¡± ¡°Jewel,¡± I said trying out the name. ¡°I like it.¡± I reached up a finger, the spider sliding down a length of web to reach out its forelimbs and touch it. ¡°Jewel, do you like your name?¡± I asked, as the spider felt at my finger, its touch ticklish. The spider pulled itself up into the web again, watching over us. I closed my eyes, leaning my head on Cain¡¯s chest, listening to the murmuring of other conversations and the singing of the crickets before finally falling asleep. Chapter 9: Mistwall ¡°Wardens spend their entire lives in combat, training for combat, or out on patrol. A few Fire Wardens take up weapon or armor smithing, but the life of a Warden is defined by violence and how good they are at it.¡± -from Training a Warden by Sir Lindren Beige, 455 AB Cain- Thursday, August 8th, 564 AB I woke with the dawn and Aranea opened her eyes as she slid her head off my chest. She sat up, her hair a wild mess. She took a brush to her hair; I enjoyed watching her tame the waterfall of golden waves and do it up in a long braid down her back. I helped her fasten her corset, and we packed up our things and took down the tent, folding it up and storing it on our pack horse. I lifted Aranea up into the saddle and mounted up behind her. If we made good speed, we would be within sight of Mistwall before sunset. Aranea spun the corruption she absorbed from me into ether thread. Her familiar danced between her fingers as she drew out the golden hairs and pulled them together, the drop spindle spinning in her hands and her comb straining them as she turned the hair into thread as thick as a fishing line. Sweat beaded her brow until at last she finished, collapsing back against me breathing out heavily. A golden glow emerged from her skin as she completed the Quest to purify the corruption and reached level ten. I watched as she pulled up her character sheet and invested her five available stat points; she put one into Might, Agility and Endurance and the last two into Senses. It was good to see her able to defend herself better; she was already stronger than all but the strongest normal man. We kept riding through the whole day, a pleasant breeze cooling off the summer heat. Far to the south we could see the dark clouds of a storm brewing as it slowly drifted nearer. The clouds did not fall over us, but we could see the torrent of rainfall and the flash of lightning from where we traveled. A shiver passed through my body at the sight of the lightning, my muscles tensing up. ¡°Are you all right?¡± Aranea asked me. ¡°I don¡¯t like storms,¡± I said, wanting to spur our horse on faster but holding back on the urge. Memories of flames, screaming, and the thunder of lightning flashed before my eyes before I pushed them down. My pulse quickened; the fear storms always set my heart to racing. Aranea was silent but her presence helped to calm me. Soon the storm passed, and I felt the tension in my shoulders ease. The mountains had been growing closer, and we approached a gap in them. Mistwall was built near the ruins of an old city lost in the Mist, next to the old road that went through the mountains into Casway. The border town was built prior to the last Fell War. It had belonged to the Carswain¡¯s, but they had lost the territory during the war. The war had ended over a decade ago but there were still those who held grudges from it. The Fog Lands crowded the pass, creating only a narrow stretch of road at most points, meaning that travel was fraught with threats from both sides of the road. The pass also funneled those threats to the walls of the town, making battles against the djinn a regular appearance. The area also had more ambient ether than most places. My father¡¯s home was in a low ether zone meaning djinn spawns were few and far between, the reason he was away at the borders of Emmeria instead of guarding the homestead. Academies for training Wardens had to be built in high ether zones to give their trainees enough djinn to fight regularly. The summer air grew a bit colder as wind blew down from the mountains and the road turned, heading straight for the pass. Aranea pushed against me more. Her dress, perfectly suited to the summer heat, was suddenly inadequate. Reaching behind me, I pulled my cloak from the saddle bags and wrapped it around her shoulders. It took hours as the mountains grew larger and larger, towering above us but we eventually came within sight of Mistwall. Fields of summer wheat and barley and orchards lay on the southern side of its walls with small walled farm settlements around it. Those settlements would do well enough for standard djinn attacks, but the inhabitants would need to take refuge in the town proper during an ether storm. The light of the sun was fading behind the mountains to the east as we rode through the gates. We stopped outside of a large inn; it was too late in the evening to work out assigned housing, so we¡¯d spend the night here. Aranea held onto my hand after I helped her dismount, I realized this was the biggest settlement she¡¯d probably ever visited. ¡°You nervous?¡± I asked, putting my arm around her. ¡°A little,¡± she admitted leaning into me. ¡°There are so many people here! They say the capital is even larger than this?¡± Rineer laughed as he heard her. ¡°Emerald is more than twenty times the size of this town,¡± he said. Aranea and I walked into the timber inn, smelling the sweet smell of good cooking wafting from its kitchens. Tables were filled with people eating and drinking but when Sir Valren walked in the innkeeper quickly made space for us. Aranea and I dug into thick beef stew with fresh bread and roasted potatoes, salted and seasoned with spices from the south. Sir Valren came over to us, a goblet with a red wine in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to the academy tomorrow,¡± he informed us. ¡°You two are married so you can choose to live in the apartment provided for you, or seek more private accommodation here in the town. There are townhouses for rent here in the town if you would prefer that.¡± ¡°Thank you sir,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll take a look at our assigned apartment first, I wouldn¡¯t want to spend gold unnecessarily.¡± ¡°A wise decision,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°You have a month before the next term begins. You can start your training before then but this is the first wave of new students. We allow all our students to return to their families over the summer, so older students will also be returning.¡± ¡°How long will we be expected to train?¡± I asked. ¡°Until you reach Knight tier,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°At that point the church or crown will begin offering you different positions based on the reputation you¡¯ve built up.¡± Sir Valren left us and the innkeeper came by. ¡°I have a private room for you two,¡± she said, a matronly woman with plump features and a kind disposition. ¡°It¡¯s small but you won¡¯t have to share it like our common rooms. You don¡¯t have to worry about the bill, the Academy has already seen to it.¡± ¡°Thank you ma¡¯am,¡± Aranea said, taking the bronze key. We finished our meal and went up the stairs, looking at the number on each door until we found the one matching our key. Unlocking it, we entered the room. It was small, the mattress barely wide enough for two people. We luckily didn¡¯t have much. I set down Aranea¡¯s bridal chest along with my own things. There was a small privacy screen with a chamber pot in it, along with a mirror and wash basin. Aranea¡¯s fingers unbuttoned her overdress, and I helped her slip out of her exterior garments. I stripped out of my shirt and trousers. The air was cold, and Aranea and I slipped under the covers. Finding a way to sleep with us both on the mattress was awkward since we¡¯d both have to lie straight, like planks of wood to fit. Aranea rolled on top of me, her legs straddling my hips. Suddenly, thoughts of sleep were the farthest thing from my mind. Aranea blushed realizing the position we were in now. She tried to shift and move but it only made it worse, her cheeks flushing more. My hand traveled up her thighs and she stiffened. The only light came from the window behind us, casting us both into shadow. Pulling her close, our lips touched. About an hour later Aranea was asleep, laying across my chest exhausted from our lovemaking. I smiled, running my fingers through her hair until I drifted off too. --- Aranea- Friday, August 9th, 564 AB Cain and I came down from our room after using the wash basin and putting on a fresh pair of clothes. Our breakfast consisted of fresh eggs, bacon and a light beer. The rest of the young Wardens we had traveled with all came down, filling up the tables around the inn. We left the inn as a large group, mounting up and following after Sir Valren. Our column moved through the streets of the town, heading uphill towards a colossal structure of stone and iron. The original fortress this town had been built around had walls that were even taller than those around the town. We rode through the gates, into the fortress¡¯s massive bailey, servants took the reins of our horses as we dismounted. I dimly remembered seeing this fort as a boy, but I hadn¡¯t been this close to it. The castle rose a staggering five stories, with narrow arrow slit windows, and a slate roof. I felt dwarfed by its size. Aranea was equally in awe, her eyes wide with wonder as she took in the castle. Sir Valen dismounted and a tall, stately woman exited the castle. Moving towards him, she extended her hand. Bowing low, Sir Valen kissed her hand, meeting her eyes with a sparkle as he pulled her close. ¡°Marian,¡± he said. ¡°How fare our children.¡± ¡°Very well my lord,¡± she said, running her hand over the rough travel scruff he¡¯d grown. ¡°Come in and I¡¯ll get you cleaned up, you should have made us open the doors for you last night.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t want to wake the children. They wouldn¡¯t have gone back to bed if I¡¯d shown up in the middle of the night,¡± he said, bending down as a young boy around seven barreled into his leg. Laughing, he lifted the child high above his head. He turned back to us, the boy held against him. ¡°This is my wife, Baroness Marian Valren,¡± he said and looked to Aranea. ¡°While I am head of the academy for the Wardens it will be she who trains you Weavers.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Aranea raised her hand hesitantly. ¡°You aren¡¯t in my class yet, child,¡± Lady Marian said. ¡°You don¡¯t need to raise your hand to ask a question.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard that many of the Wardens who come here are not bonded to a Weaver when they take their oaths, and you let them choose among themselves. How do they get their skills if they don¡¯t bond to a Warden?¡± Lady Marian gave Aranea a look over. ¡°You were raised in a Convent I take it? Your question is not without merit. While you were raised with the good sense to only give yourself to your husband¡­let us say, not all young women receive such good instruction.¡± Aranea and I both flushed when we heard this at the blatant scandal of such a repugnant practice. ¡°The improprieties of the upper nobility are well known,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°While I cannot forbid them outright, we do go by the old traditions here. I don¡¯t allow my Wardens to go around claiming whatever girl they want then discarding her, which is why I allow them their Companions. When a Warden and Weaver bond, it should be until death parts them, not until they spot another partner they think they¡¯d prefer.¡± The conversation clearly irritated him, but the irritation was not directed at us. Lady Marian put a hand on her husband¡¯s arm. Our conversation had not been directed at everyone, but I did see some of the nobles who had ridden with us looking at me and Aranea disdainfully, as if we were to blame for Sir Varlen¡¯s disapproval. Without another word, Sir Valren led us into the castle. The walls of the entrance hall rose up as tall as oaks, the banners of innumerous Wardens lining the walls. ¡°Welcome to the hall of heroes!¡± Sir Valren said, having recovered his good spirits. ¡°Each one of these banners bears the crest and colors of the Wardens who have graduated from this academy.¡± I looked at the banners on the stone walls. There were hundreds of them, their colors covering the stone. There were blank spots available, but I wondered what they would do when they ran out of space for new banners. There were alcoves with statues depicting heroes of old. We passed through the hall into a large dining chamber with polished wooden tables and benches, enough to seat over five hundred people. There were stone counters along the side with kitchens behind them. Most of them were inactive but, if they were all running, they could easily feed an army. ¡°This is the mess hall and commissary,¡± Sir Valen. ¡°This is also where general announcements and academy ceremonies will take place. Every ten days we will gather here for mass.¡± He led us down a side hall that was much less grand than the entrance hall. There were doorways leading into lecture halls and spinning rooms. As well as crafting rooms for metal, leather, textiles and alchemy. These rooms wouldn¡¯t be used by me, but instead would be where Aranea and other Weavers trained and worked. Lady Marian took Aranea, and the few Weavers with her, separating our groups into Weavers and Wardens. Sir Valren led us outside into the muster yard where the grass was cut low and cordoned off into many training fields. There were outbuildings with a stable stretching around the Castle¡¯s outer wall. ¡°This is where you will spend most of your training time,¡± Sir Valren said, gesturing to the wide expanse of green. ¡°Your time will be split between training here and live combat against the djinn. That building,¡± he said, pointing to a large circular building, ¡°is the Quest Hub. These quests are not like the ones granted by the Voice, but they do still offer rewards. We need people to patrol the roads, culling nearby Djinn. There are also more advanced quests, requiring teamwork for escorting merchants down the Mist Road, or answering calls for assistance from nearby settlements.¡± ¡°You will be required to do these quests to remain enrolled here. They are not just to help others, but also to test you and see how you will act in the field.¡± One of the other Wardens raised their hands. ¡°What sort of rewards do they offer?¡± ¡°You get points with the academy,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°These points can be spent to buy equipment from the Quartermaster. Don¡¯t bother trying to use gold, he won¡¯t accept it. Some of you will be more suited to certain quests based on your etheric element. You will be assigned certain quests per week you must complete, but there will be plenty of time for undertaking additional quests, and also working on learning to better harness your Relic¡¯s power.¡± ¡°Since all of you are Pages, you will be required to work with a partner whenever you go out on patrol or to complete a quest,¡± Sir Valen said. ¡°Partners will be assigned from your classmates in the same school as you.¡± He pointed to the eight major buildings built in a circle formation around the muster ground. ¡°Each of the etheric elements has their own school. You will join the school with your Relic¡¯s primary element and receive instruction from the Master of that school,¡± Sir Valen explained. ¡°Will you be teaching the Storm School?¡± someone in the group asked. Sir Valen shook his head. ¡°I am the Head of the Academy. While I will oversee the teaching all of you receive, no school will receive any preferential treatment from me. The master of the Storm School is making his way back from the capital where his extended family lives. He will arrive here before the fall term begins with the rest of your classmates and returning students.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I have to say for today,¡± he said, clapping his hands. ¡°You are dismissed, take the rest of the day to explore the grounds and familiarize yourself with the surroundings.¡± --- Aranea Lady Mirian led the small group of other women into the crafting hall. ¡°This is where you will train,¡± she said. ¡°While I¡¯m sure you are already accomplished in using a loom and spinning thread, being a Weaver is more than just removing corruption from our bodies. If that is all you¡¯re interested in then you should seek the life of a Companion.¡± ¡°We are the armor our husbands rely on. We are called Weavers, not just because we can draw corruption out of our cores into thread, but because we can further use those threads for enchanting. The clothes and walls of our homes can be enchanted to resist the breath of a fire Dragon. We can make a room stay frozen, even in the heat of summer. This is what you will learn here,¡± Lady Marian said, gesturing to all the stations around the room. ¡°Now tell me, which of you have already drawn corruption out of your core?¡± she asked. Aranea raised her hand, seeing she was only one of three girls there with her hand up. There were twelve girls her age in total. Some she¡¯d met briefly while on the trail, while others had joined their group only this morning. ¡°Show me your spools you¡¯ve gathered,¡± Lady Mirian said to us. Me and the other two girls pulled out the golden spool of thread from the pouch at our side. I saw my spool was more than three times the size of theirs, and felt the envious looks of all of them on me. ¡°Well done,¡± Lady Mirian said to all three of us. ¡°What is your name, girl?¡± she asked me. ¡°Aranea Le¡¯meer,¡± I answered. Lady Mirian studied me for a long minute before raising an eyebrow. ¡°You¡¯re already level ten? I suppose you¡¯d have to be after collecting this much ether thread.¡± She held out her hand, gesturing for me to hand it over. She pulled out a length of thread examining it closely. ¡°Very good, the thread is all smooth with no fraying; did you have any further training after bonding with your Warden?¡± she asked me. ¡°No, my lady,¡± I replied. ¡°Then you are a prodigy my dear,¡± she said. ¡°The rest of you would do well to ask Aranea for help,¡± she said, looking at the other girls before looking back at me. ¡°However, do not let your talent go to your head. Natural talent only goes so far if it isn¡¯t matched with hard work.¡± ¡°I am the headmistress of the academy so I will not be responsible for teaching you. That will fall to the Weavers of each of the elemental schools. These schools are more important to the Wardens, but your primary etheric element will determine where your weekly tasks will be assigned.¡± ¡°Like the Wardens, each of you must complete a certain number of quests given by the academy per week,¡± she said. ¡°We won¡¯t be asking you to go out and kill djinn, but you will be required to ride out to the farms, mines and lumber camps to place Wards. Your teachers will inspect your work to make sure it is up to standard.¡± Lady Mirian¡¯s voice grew suddenly severe. ¡°There will be harsh reprisals if your work is continually faulty. It is the job of a Warden to kill djinn that spawn. It is our job to ensure those djinn don¡¯t spawn in our own territory. If you fail to ward a field properly and a djinn spawns inside it, it could kill one of the farmer¡¯s children, or the farmer himself. If we find that someone dies, not due to chance but because of a lack of effort on your part, you will be dismissed from the academy immediately. Do I make myself understood?¡± ¡°Yes headmistress,¡± we all said bowing our heads. ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°You are dismissed, you can take the rest of the day to explore and familiarize yourself with the school.¡± For the next few minutes I learned the names of the other girls as we chatted but soon, we all spread out. I wandered the halls, eventually climbing up to the top of the castle¡¯s battlements. The mournful call of a flute caught my ears and I followed the sound until I found Cain sitting on the edge of the battlements, his legs dangling out over the air. His eyes were closed as his fingers rose and fell with the notes of his song. ¡°That¡¯s beautiful,¡± I said softly. He opened his eyes and put his flute away. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. ¡°My mother taught me to play. This is her flute, it¡¯s the only thing of hers that wasn¡¯t in the house when¡­¡± his voice drifted off. ¡°How was your orientation?¡± I asked changing the subject. ¡°Fine,¡± Cain said, shrugging. ¡°This place just seems bigger the more of it I explore.¡± ¡°Do you want to go see the quarters they offered us?¡± I asked. Cain swung his legs over the battlements, landing down on the boards that formed the walkway. I took his hand and pulled him along after me as we descended back to the main hall. I wasn¡¯t sure who to ask. Sir Valren had told us about it but some details, like the room assigned to us, were far beneath him. I spotted a senior staff member and pulled Cain after me. ¡°Excuse me sir,¡± I said. ¡°My husband and I were told that the academy had an apartment we could use? Are you available to show it to us?¡± ¡°Of course my lady,¡± he said, bowing to the two of us. I was about to say I wasn¡¯t a lady then stopped. By the laws of the land every Warden had the minimum rank of knighthood. The rank didn¡¯t come with a title or land, but it did provide us with certain legal privileges. We followed the servant through a network of halls and up several flights of stairs until he stopped at a door and took a ring of keys from his belt. He opened the door and gestured for us both to enter. Cain and I stepped inside. There was a spacious living area with a fireplace, a stove for cooking, as well as a water pump and a small table with four chairs around it. There were three adjacent rooms, including a large bedroom with a wide bed covered in heavy quilts. Adjoining the bedroom was a bathing room and a toilet with plumbing, instead of the usual chamber pot. The third room was mostly bare with a single desk and empty shelf the only furniture inside it. Each room was lit by a sun ether gem set into a brass fixture, with reflective glass to help magnify and reflect the light. ¡°I thought this would be a lot smaller,¡± Aranea said. ¡°Why would someone need a townhouse if they already have this much space?¡± ¡°Many couples have servants attending to their needs who live with them,¡± the staff member said, removing the key and holding it out. ¡°Will you be staying here or taking accommodations within the town?¡± I looked to Cain, who looked around the apartment with a small smile. ¡°It¡¯s more space than I¡¯ve had to myself before. I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll need to find other housing until we start having children.¡± I smiled at that. ¡°Thank you, this is fine.¡± I said and took the key. The staff member bowed and left us. ¡°I¡¯ll go get our stuff and bring it back,¡± Cain said, and left. I opened the cupboards above the stove, but they were all empty. There was a chest next to it made of stone and metal. Opening it up I saw a mist ether gem; it wasn¡¯t powered, but I could inject some ether into it. We¡¯d need to purchase some dry goods, as well as cutlery, plates and bowls. Cain returned, setting down my bridal chest along with his pack. He went to the washroom, and the sound of running water could be heard. I looked in to see him messing with a pump that fed into a large copper tub set into the floor. A fire ether gem was attached to the pump and Cain was feeding ether into it, heating up the water as it entered the tub, steam rising up and fogging the mirror that rose over the washbasin. ¡°You joining me?¡± he asked, taking off his shirt. I blushed, but removed my dress and slid into the hot water next to him. It was a very different sensation than when we had bathed in the river together. We spent a long time in the bath together, spending very little of it bathing. When we had dried and lay under the covers together, I felt tingly all over. I pressed up against Cain and finally drifted off, the warmth of his skin like the comfort of a hearth fire. Chapter 10: Brother in Arms ¡°The bond between a Warden and a Relic is something only the Voice truly understands. A Warden can never lose track of his Relic and will instinctively always know where it is. They are drawn together like two lodestones. This allows the Warden to call his Relic into his hand from across an entire battlefield if he is disarmed.¡± -from Training a Warden by Sir Lindren Beige, 455 AB Cain - Saturday, August 10th, 564 AB Aranea and I walked the castle grounds in the early light. There was a section of the grounds reserved for a garden, with gravel paths that meandered between beds of flowers with lush red leafed maple trees and lilac bushes. We found a set of stairs leading to the castle¡¯s outer wall and sat on the parapet overlooking the mist-covered forest to the north-east. We¡¯d brought a small picnic, and I used Achlys to slice the bread, cheese, and fruit we¡¯d grabbed from the commissary kitchens. Footsteps along the battlements alerted us to another presence as Sir Rineer wandered along. He spotted us, nodding in acknowledgement and heading over. ¡°Cain, I¡¯ve been looking for you,¡± he said. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡± I asked. ¡°No, I just wanted to talk to youThere. hasn¡¯t been a time to speak with you in private since we assaulted the bandit base,¡± he said, waving off my concerns. ¡°I wanted to talk to you about the fight I saw against their leader.¡± ¡°What of it?¡± I asked hesitant, I wasn¡¯t sure I liked where this conversation was going. ¡°I saw you face him,¡± he said. ¡°You did well, but then you froze.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I admitted, the shame making my face flush. ¡°That kind of thing could get you killed in a fight, could get others killed as well,¡± Rineer said. ¡°Which is why I¡¯m going to give you an offer to train you privately.¡± ¡°Private lessons?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°Is that appropriate for the Master of the Mist School?¡± ¡°You think I¡¯m the Master of the Mist School?¡± Rineer asked, laughing. ¡°That¡¯s far too prestigious a position for someone of my blood.¡± ¡°I assumed since you were traveling with Sir Valren¡­¡± I trailed off. ¡°No, the crotchety old bastard who runs the Mist School is an excellent Mist Warden but he¡¯s of higher birth and that does¡­color his perspective on certain things,¡± Rineer said. ¡°He¡¯s still caught up in ideals of honor, facing your opponent head on. None of these are what a Mist Warden does and are worse than useless to us.¡± ¡°You are still a knight,¡± Aranea objected. ¡°Ideals of honor are never useless.¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t when they get you killed,¡± Rineer said. ¡°I can teach you the things that will be most important to you as a Mist Warden. How to use your abilities without speaking, move silently through the woods and track man, beast and djinn. So what do you say?¡± ¡°Why me?¡± I asked. Rineer shrugged. ¡°Because you¡¯ve got potential. You¡¯re the son of a war hero from a well-respected noble house. Yes, you¡¯re a bastard, but when your deeds grow in fame that will no longer be held against you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m in,¡± I said. It was his last words that had convinced me. I was tired of always being reminded of my parentage, and being able to make my own name was something I¡¯d do almost anything for. ¡°Great,¡± Rineer said. ¡°I¡¯ll train you every day for five hours before the fall term starts. After that, I can only train you once a week for three hours. We¡¯ll start at noon today.¡± He reached out and clasped my wrist, and we shook. ¡°Is that really what you want?¡± Aranea asked me. ¡°To learn to be a woodsman and rogue out in the forest?¡± I shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m a Mist Warden. I may have more direct combat powers than most, but stealth and obfuscation are what we do.¡± ¡°It¡¯s why people look down on you though,¡± Aranea said. I sighed. ¡°This is the Relic I was given, fate meant for me to have it. I can play the hand I was dealt to the best of my ability, or I can die trying to act like I have skills that I don¡¯t.¡± Aranea didn¡¯t have a response to that. We left the academy grounds heading into town. There were various vendors, but I currently didn¡¯t have any coin. What I did have were some monster cores to sell. I also needed to send the relic I had collected from the bandit chief back to its owner¡¯s family to collect the ransom. I found an exchange and sold the monster cores I¡¯d gained from all the djinn I¡¯d harvested. This got us a decent amount of gold; it wouldn¡¯t be enough to rent housing in town, but it would allow Aranea to purchase furnishings and necessities for our apartment. I found a ransom broker and gave them the mace I¡¯d recovered from the bandit chief. He agreed to find and arrange a ransom with the fallen Warden¡¯s family in exchange for a share of the ransom. Aranea purchased some cutlery, wooden platters, bowls, cups and a copper tea kettle. While expensive we also purchased tea imported from the eastern holy lands. I helped carry the stuff back to our apartment before leaving to meet Rineer. He had sent a note for me to meet him outside of town. I rode there and dismounted. Rineer stood in a small training field, another boy about my age also there. ¡°Cain, glad to see you¡¯re punctual,¡± Rineer said. ¡°This is my son Enoch. Against my advice, he followed my example and took a Mist Relic, instead of the Sun Relic I got for his seventeenth birthday.¡± He looked at his son, mild annoyance stifled by an obvious pride. ¡°He will be your training partner while you are with me,¡± he said. Enoch extended his hand and I clasped his wrist. He had broader shoulders than me and thick, muscle-bound limbs. If my father had the physique of a bear, Enoch had that of a bull stuffed into a human¡¯s skin. ¡°Most Wardens focus mostly on martial skill during their first years of training,¡± Rineer said. ¡°I think they¡¯re wrong. You¡¯ve spent your entire lives since you were seven learning to fight. You can always learn more, but even a guard can kill a djinn. I¡¯m an example of that. I killed a Mist Jotunn while still a base human. What separates a Warden from a skilled warrior is your Relic.¡± Rineer gestured to his spear and Enoch¡¯s and my dagger. ¡°While any fool can use the skills their Relic gives them, our bond with our Relic is much more than that, and lets us do so much more.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. He threw his spear, hitting an upright log and spitting it down the middle. Before the spear could hit the ground, Rineer held out his hand and it shot back, slapping into his palm. ¡°We are bound to our Relics, but that bond goes both ways. In time you will learn to summon your Relic to your hand across a battlefield. Most Wardens don¡¯t bother to learn that until they¡¯ve hit Squire Tier. They also don¡¯t learn how to use their skills by thought alone until they are at least Knight tier. This is their mistake; I was twenty-nine years old when I became a Warden. They tried teaching me their usual way, but I was already a better fighter than most of my instructors. That¡¯s when I realized it¡¯s not the skill of arms that makes a Warden but your skill with ether. Learn to be a Warden first, then a warrior.¡± ¡°How are we going to do that?¡± I asked after a moment of silence. Rineer smiled. ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked.¡± He gestured to the training field. ¡°I¡¯ve set up an obstacle course here for you. Inoticed you¡¯ve got a defensive ability to turn to mist, Cain. Enoch has an ability that lets him teleport five feet out of danger. You¡¯re going to run my obstacle course for the first three hours while I lob these at you,¡± he said, hefting a heavy leather ball filled with sand. ¡°If you get knocked over, you restart. You¡¯re not allowed to use your skills verbally the entire time,¡± he said. ¡°I want you to think about your Relic while you run. Focus on that connection running from your palm all the way through your body. Pull on it, and try to use your defensive abilities without saying a word.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Enoch and I said snapping off a salute. Rineer sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll allow that while I¡¯m your instructor but I¡¯m just Rineer and father outside of here. Now both of you¡­ start running!¡± We took off running for the obstacle course. Stone pylons were set into the ground, rising in height, each as wide around as my forearm. I jumped onto one and pushed off to the next. I started hopping across them when a whistling sound caught my ear. I turned just in time to catch a leather ball to the chest, missing my next jump and hitting the ground hard from a ten-foot drop. ¡°Get up Cain!¡± Rineer shouted. ¡°Don¡¯t react physically, use your Relic!¡± I pushed to my feet, racing back to the start of the obstacle course and started again. I heard the whistling again and tensed up. I tried thinking of my relic and felt for the connection Rineer had described. The ball struck and I managed to keep my balance, but no connection to my Relic emerged from within me. I kept running, jumping from pylon to pylon until I reached a series of wooden bars. Enoch swung from wooden run to wooden run and I started following behind him. A leather ball hissed through the air, hitting Enoch in the gut as he was reaching for another rung, and he dropped to the ground. ¡°Start over!¡± Rineer shouted. We kept it up, repeating the course over and over. Getting hit and slowly getting better at not getting knocked off. I managed to complete the entire course once, going from balancing logs to moving between swinging logs and wooden beams that would knock me off into a pit if I didn¡¯t time it right. My body was bruised at the end of the three hours, and I didn¡¯t feel a deeper connection to my Relic to make up for it. ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad about not managing to non-verbally activate your Relic on the first day,¡± Rineer said. ¡°One of the reasons Wardens wait so long is to let them slowly develop a bond with their Relic. It¡¯s usually formed while under constant pressure, having the need to reach for its power at a moment¡¯s notice. What I¡¯m doing is speed running that slow process by using your fear to trick your Relic into constantly feeling like it¡¯s in danger.¡± ¡°Trick the Relic?¡± I asked. ¡°You''re implying it has its own will?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s to say it doesn¡¯t?¡± Rineer asked. ¡°They have their own names, who¡¯s to say they don¡¯t have their own spirits? That¡¯s a debate for priests though, not Wardens. For our last two hours I¡¯m going to beat the two of you.¡± He picked up a heavy wooden training spear. ¡°You are going to try and avoid being hit by my weapon while your Relics sit on opposite sides of the training field. While you¡¯re avoiding being hit, I want you to reach out with your senses and try to pull your Relic towards you. This is a much easier technique so hopefully it will be a lot faster to learn.¡± I placed Achlys down on a wooden stump and held my shield up as I circled around Rineer. Enoch doing the same on the other side. Rineer struck out and I jumped back, reaching for my Relic, trying to mentally summon it to my hand. The spear swung around striking me with its shaft on the side of the head before spinning about and striking Enoch on the knee. Rineer didn¡¯t even try. At his much higher level he could have used the wooden practice spear to break our spines. Instead he pushed us, always just a bit faster than we were, but not so fast that we had no chance of avoiding his attacks. I was gasping for air and wishing I¡¯d invested a lot more points into Endurance by the time the two hours were up. Enoch and I both collapsed to the ground as Rineer laughed and dumped a bucket of water over each of us. I couldn¡¯t even complain as the icy water soaked through my clothes, my head slowly clearing. I placed a hand on Enoch¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Celestial Healing,¡± I muttered, the bruises across his visible skin disappearing. I did the same to myself, the aches finally disappearing. Rineer hadn¡¯t allowed us to use any of our abilities while training, so my body had been one giant bruise by the end of the five hours. The sun was starting to set as we both pushed ourselves to our feet. ¡°Thanks,¡± Enoch said. ¡°I wish I got a healing ability from my Moon Skills, but I just got an ability to let me purify poisons from creatures or consumables, and an attack skill.¡± I looked his spear over. It was a fine piece, but I couldn¡¯t imagine someone choosing it over a Sun Relic. ¡°Why did you become a Mist Warden?¡± I asked. ¡°The world needs more Mist Wardens than it does Sun Wardens,¡± Enoch said. ¡°There are plenty of Mist Wardens,¡± I pointed out. ¡°Almost a quarter of all Wardens are Mist Wardens.¡± ¡°But how many of them are skilled?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to disparage them, but my father is the best of the Mist Wardens in Mistwall. He doesn¡¯t even have the most powerful of relics, only six skills. But he¡¯s a better fighter, tracker, and hunter than all the others. Mist Wardens are almost always chosen from the dregs from those who barely qualify to become a Warden in the first place.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t desire the glory of having one of the royal relics?¡± I asked. Enoch snorted. ¡°The royal trio is just foolishness created by bards. Yes, I know the saying, every King who has ever risen has wielded a Relic of Storm, Sun, or Fire¡± but I would answer with this. Perhaps the reason has more to do with the person given the Relic than the relic itself. If you give a prodigy the same Relics every time then naturally, they will be the ones that rise to greatness.¡± I smiled and shook my head. ¡°What?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°It¡¯s just, you talk like a scholar, but you look like an ox,¡± I said, gesturing to his size. Enoch laughed. ¡°I¡¯ve been told that before. My mother grew up in a convent, but she¡¯d always thought she might take up the role of a Mother Superior before then. She still has those priestly tendencies and it rubbed off on me. Are you staying for dinner?¡± I shook my head. ¡°My wife will be expecting me back by now,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll see you tomorrow then,¡± Enoch said, and we clasped wrists again. I ran back to the town, slowing as I passed through its gates, but still hurrying so as not to get shut behind the castle gates. I passed through the mess hall, but didn¡¯t see Aranea there and grabbed some dinner rolls, making them into sandwiches with sliced ham and a thick sauce before heading up to our apartment. I stepped through the doors and looked around. Aranea had built up the fire and set out our plates. ¡°You¡¯re back!¡± she said, throwing her arms around me then stepping back, wrinkling her nose. ¡°Go bathe before we eat.¡± I did as she said, slipping into the tub and scrubbing off the grit and sweat I¡¯d accumulated. I dried myself off with a towel, switching into another pair of clothes. Aranea sat down with me and held out her hands. I took them and she bowed her head. For a moment I was confused, then I realized she was waiting for me to say the evening prayers. I usually avoided being around my step-mother, so I rarely had occasion to hear my father do the mealtime prayers. But, I closed my eyes, letting the words from when my mother had said them come back to me. ¡°Our father the Voice, whose word comes down to us from the heavens, may we follow your guidance always. Give us today the bread of the earth, that we may have strength for the days ahead. And let us not be overcome by corruption, but give us the power to cleanse it from the earth,¡± I said. ¡°Amen,¡± Aranea said, and let go of my hands. ¡°I haven¡¯t heard that prayer in a long time, it¡¯s one of the older ones.¡± ¡°It was the one my mother taught me,¡± I said. ¡°Do you miss her?¡± Aranea asked. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that¡¯s a silly question.¡± ¡°No, it wasn¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°I do miss her, but I think I miss the memory of her more. I have to struggle to remember what she looked like most days. It¡¯s why I play the flute, to better help me connect with her.¡± ¡°I wish I knew my mother,¡± Aranea said. ¡°All I had was Mother Leora. She was very close to me, but I always wondered.¡± I was very careful not to say anything, letting the silence end the conversation. We went to bed and I held Aranea close, a small conflict growing in me. I knew her mother, and could tell her, but to what end? To tell her she¡¯d known her mother her entire life, but that the woman didn¡¯t tell her herself? It wasn¡¯t my secret to share, but the burden of knowledge was mine to bear. I closed my eyes, setting aside the conflict and guilt for now and fell asleep. Chapter 11: Etheric Training Resembling dream catchers, Wards keep wild etheric threads from tangling and spawning djinn. They take damage overtime from ambient corruption, so they require maintenance to keep active. They absorb the wild threads and must be drained once full, or they will eventually crumble to ash, leaving a tangled pile of etheric thread.¡± - From Kiedra Mithradati¡¯s introduction to Wards and Enchanting Aranea- Thursday, August 15th, 564 AB I spent the next few days wandering around the academy and familiarizing myself with the places I¡¯d frequent. I found the castle library; we¡¯d had a few books back in the convent, but I¡¯d never even believed this many existed before. I perused through tomes on history, the copies of fragments of old-world documents and textbooks. I couldn¡¯t take them out of the library but I spent a few hours there each day reading. Cain kept training, coming back home every day towards sunset drenched in sweat and covered in dirt. Eventually I had to make him an extra set of training clothes so he wouldn¡¯t stain and rip his good set. I started going with him to watch him train and was horrified at the brutality of it. While I had experienced what some would consider extreme pain conditioning, it had always served a purpose. This attempt to get them to connect with their Relics was beyond anything I¡¯d heard of for new Wardens to go through. The really impressive thing was that both Cain and Enoch were doing it willingly. Time and time again I watched them get hit with the heavy leather balls of sand, each larger than my fist, only for them to stand up again and repeat the obstacle course. One day Cain failed to complete the whole course during the three hours and had to go for another thirty minutes until he did the whole thing. I couldn¡¯t tell if they were making any progress, and there was only so much watching the two boys be beaten within an inch of their lives that I could take. Luckily, I met Rineer¡¯s wife and their daughter-in-law. Their house wasn¡¯t especially large, but it was warm and lively with Rineer¡¯s seven other children. Hannah was the wife of Enoch. Like me, she had been raised in a convent. We talked about our different experiences. She had grown up further to the south in a higher ether region and was full of stories about the Wardens there fighting high tier djinn. She and Enoch were already expecting their first child, she was six-and-a-half months into her pregnancy. The three Weavers sat together each day working on various projects. Lidia, Rineer¡¯s wife, was enchanting a gambeson using the golden thread of purified corruption for the defensive Wards. Hannah was stitching up baby clothes, darning Enoch¡¯s socks, and mending his clothes. ¡°I¡¯m glad you come by each day,¡± Hannah said. ¡°My mother is great, but she can be a bit stifling with her doting.¡± She smiled at Lydia who swatted her with a smile on her face. ¡°Hush child,¡± she said, ¡°it¡¯s my job to dote on you. You¡¯re carrying the future of your house, and mine. I haven¡¯t had a baby in this house in over ten years and I¡¯m ready to hear the soft little cries of another one.¡± ¡°He¡¯s kicking!¡± Hannah said excitedly, grabbing my hand and putting it on her belly. I could feel the tiny bump, bump as the baby kicked the wall of her womb, and couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s a girl or a boy?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a boy,¡± Lydia said. ¡°Enoch was just like that when I was pregnant with him and just as big.¡± ¡°When are you and Cain thinking of starting your family?¡± Hannah asked me. ¡°We haven¡¯t discussed it,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d like to start as soon as we can but, maybe it would be best to wait until after we graduate from the academy.¡± ¡°Nonsense,¡± Lidia said. ¡°You''re young and should start now. Life can be short and bleak for those of our kind, and the joys of children are sometimes the only light that keeps our feet on the path.¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± I said, finishing my set of stitches. I was working on a new skirt for the start of the school year, a bright cheery red. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Set aside your needles, girls,¡± Lydia said. ¡°If my husband is training yours then I should offer you some small instruction as well. I will not claim to be a Weaver of great renown, but I have kept the threads of the Mist around our home at bay for longer than you two have been alive.¡± Bringing out long, supple willow boughs, along with several pairs of pruning shears, she started going through her grimoire. She showed them several wards, instructing them on how to weave them. The Wards would be hung in the air in the Mist to draw in and catch ambient ether threads to strain and keep them from tangling. When they were full, they would be brought back so that they could draw out the ether from it and spin it into thread. This would destroy the ward, but they would degrade over time anyway. At first it was very hard to bend the willow boughs into the correct shapes, but I quickly adapted the techniques I¡¯d been taught. Jewel climbed out of my hair where she usually perched like some hair ornament. Jewel spun some silk thread to tie the boughs in place, and I raised the dreamcatcher-like ward up. Lydia took it and looked it over. ¡°Well done girl, you are a natural. This isn¡¯t the best I¡¯ve ever seen, but it is functional, which is more than most accomplish on their first ward.¡± Hannah looked down at her own handiwork and sighed. ¡°You''re certainly better at this than me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be envious,¡± Lydia scolded. ¡°We all have our gifts given us by the Voice.¡± She turned to me. ¡°Keep practicing making this ward. Once you¡¯ve mastered it, I¡¯ll teach you another.¡± ¡°Yes mistress,¡± I said, bowing my head. Lydia sighed. ¡°Now I understand why Rineer keeps trying to get people to not call him Sir.¡±
Cain I ducked under a ball as I jumped, clearing the last of this section of the course. I heaved for breath on the ground, rolling to the side as I heard Enoch coming in behind me. He landed on his back and we both heaved for breath on the grass. Rineer walked forward shaking his head in disappointment. ¡°You two are forgetting why you¡¯re here,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ve learned to take the hits without falling off, but you¡¯re not here to get better at running and jumping under fire. You¡¯re here to awaken your connection with your Relic.¡± He tossed one of the heavy leather balls in his hand. ¡°Clearly this isn¡¯t enough, but I¡¯ve got a new way to motivate you. From behind his back, he pulled out a new ball formed from iron, its surface gleaming evilly. ¡°You bastard,¡± I said, my eyes going wide. Rineer just laughed then his expression went stern. ¡°Start running.¡± -- I vomited out into the bushes as I got hit by the iron ball in my gut again. I rolled to my feet and started running again. My feet danced over the stone pylons as I tried to connect to my Relic, hearing the whistling of the approaching iron balls. There was something, or maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part. But I couldn¡¯t make that final leap to use the skill yet. The iron ball clipped my thigh, and I nearly went over. I kept running, doing the monkey bars and then the balancing beam. Enoch was restarting the course too, and I could hear his huffing as he raced behind me and the ¡°oomf!¡± as he got hit again. We kept at it for another thirty minutes. The most frustrating part was, I couldn¡¯t tell if I was making progress or not. I would only know if I¡¯d gotten it once I¡¯d done it successfully. Enoch and I both panted in exhaustion, another day without success. We stepped into the practice ring without weapons, ready to get our asses handed to us. A spear connected with the side of my head as I tried to summon my dagger to my hand. The butt of the practice spear hit Enoch in the gut, and we both went down. We stood up and went again. Every time we got better at dodging or blocking the attacks Rineer would hold back a little less and we¡¯d go right back to the ground. I strained my mind to try and connect to the Relic, but I just couldn¡¯t bridge whatever gap separated us. Enoch and I collapsed again, and I healed the damage we¡¯d taken to our hit points. ¡°Do you think this is even working?¡± I asked Enoch. Enoch shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but at the very least it¡¯s still training. My agility has gone up by two points since we started.¡± ¡°Mine¡¯s only gone up by one but I think it¡¯s because I put so many points in it already, my endurance also went up though.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve only been at this for a week,¡± Enoch said, clapping me on the back. ¡°I just don¡¯t know if I can do it,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not special, I¡¯m the bastard son of a minor noble who was given a Mist Relic because it was the best I could get.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be so hard on yourself,¡± Enoch said. ¡°My father wouldn¡¯t have chosen to train you if he didn¡¯t believe in you. I¡¯ve only known you for a week, but I can already tell you''re destined for great things.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a coward,¡± I said. ¡°Your father hasn¡¯t told you everything about me. He saw me freeze in battle. If my wife hadn¡¯t distracted my opponent, I would have died.¡± ¡°A momentary freeze in battle doesn¡¯t make you a coward,¡± Enoch insisted. ¡°I¡¯ve always frozen,¡± I said. ¡°It started with the ether storm that killed my mother and brother. I could hear their screams for help within our house, I could have run in and helped but I froze. I¡¯ve been freezing ever since then, always when the stakes are highest. Fear fills me, rules me.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe that,¡± Enoch said. ¡°My father told me how you led over sixty fell men away and faced them all by yourself. You chose to do that; you aren¡¯t a coward because you sometimes have fear. Only through fear can you have courage, learn to master your fear and you will be the bravest of us all.¡± I sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll try.¡± ¡°Come on,¡± Enoch said, pulling me to my feet. ¡°I¡¯m starving. Let¡¯s jump into the river then go inside to eat.¡± Chapter 12: The Bond ¡°When a Warden first bonds with their Relic, his spiritual connection to it is very weak. This weak connection requires him to speak aloud the name of the skill he wants to use every time he wishes to enact it. Only by going through severe training, in combat or through intense meditation can this bond be strengthened, allowing the Warden to start using their skills by thought alone.¡± -from Training a Warden by Sir Lindren Beige, 455 AB Cain- Friday, August 16th, 564 AB I walked through the town with Aranea. It was early morning, but we didn¡¯t have much to do until the fall term started. More and more students were arriving, but we still had two weeks until our training would officially start. Aranea¡¯s fingers laced through mine as we moved past carriages and horses in the cobbled street. We could have ridden, but sometimes it was nice to just stretch our legs. She carried a basket in her other arm with willow boughs she¡¯d bought in the market. I¡¯d need to kill more imps soon to sell their monster cores, but we were forbidden from going hunting on our own. I could get Enoch to go into the Mist with me and hunt down some Mist djinn. We arrived at Rineer¡¯s farmstead and Aranea gave me a quick kiss before heading inside with the other woman. I rolled my shoulders, stretching in preparation for my next day of agony. Enoch and I started running and the metal balls started flying. One hit my knee and I fell and limped back to the start, slowly building up speed as I shook off the pain. We kept going, the whistling iron balls barraging us and knocking us over. I reached out for my skills with my mind, every time trying to turn incorporeal, but I just couldn¡¯t do it. I knew I shouldn¡¯t be disappointed; it had only been a week. But I still was, every time. Again and again I ran the course, failing to even complete it five times out of six. Enoch and I were bruised and bloody again at the end of the three hours, without either of us getting a success. ¡°Keep at it,¡± Rineer said to us. ¡°Remember, don¡¯t focus on dodging, focus on that connection to your Relic.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡± I gasped. ¡°Even know what I¡¯m supposed to be feeling.¡± ¡°You will in time,¡± he said. ¡°Sleep with your Relic under your pillow, meditate with it in your hands. Let it be as inseparable from you as your hand is from your arm.¡± We stepped into the practice ring and I set Achlys down on the wooden crate. I ran my fingers over its broken blade, focusing on what I felt might be what Rineer was describing. I let my fingers drift off it as I stepped away and entered the ring weaponless. Rineer stood in the center as Enoch and I circled him, armed only with our shields. Enoch carried a much larger round shield than I did, but it was still useless against his father¡¯s speed. Rineer attacked, I jumped over a swing of his spear. My hand was always extended out towards my dagger as I tried to will it to come to me. I got hit in the chest and rolled through the grass. I spun to my feet, blocking a downward thrust with my shield and sprang to my feet. I ducked the next strike, reaching out my hand again. Rineer moved between, attacking me and Enoch with no loss of momentum or fluidity, using the rebound from one strike to move into another. He would sometimes hit the same place three times in a row, driving the point home into the sensitive bruise. He would always make sure to have hit us in every part of our body before the duel was done. So we would ache all over, with bruises where no conventional enemy would normally strike. I kept reaching out for my Relic. I wanted to close my eyes to better focus, but doing so would land me on my back with a ringing skull. It wasn¡¯t just the pain that distracted me, it was the fear. I knew rationally that Rineer wasn¡¯t going to kill me, but I had to fight down the urge to freeze whenever his spear came flying towards my face. I cursed myself inwardly for the fear, trying to suppress it, but I couldn¡¯t. That fear was knotted up inside me so tight I couldn¡¯t unpack it. Stolen novel; please report. Only through fear can you have courage, Enoch¡¯s words came echoing back to me in my mind and suddenly, in the middle of the fight, I remembered something my mother said. The memory was more of a dream than reality in my mind, but I could recall sitting in a field of flowers with her, the white capped mountains before us. ¡°Fear isn¡¯t something to be ashamed of Cain,¡± she¡¯d said stroking my hair. ¡°It was given to us by the Voice to keep us alive. Listen to that fear, let it keep you alive but don¡¯t let it choose your actions for you.¡± Rineer¡¯s spear hit me in the side of the head and I went down on the ground. I rolled to the side, but the spear was still swinging down at my head. I raised my hand up to block my eyes closing as I waited for it to hit my face. Nothing happened and I looked up to see Rineer smiling. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you hit me?¡± I asked. ¡°Look at your Relic,¡± he said. I turned my head in the grass and looked at the crate. Achlys wasn¡¯t there anymore; it was stuck in the dirt ten feet from the crate. ¡°You did it,¡± Rineer said. ¡°You may not have pulled it all the way to you, but you managed to connect with it. Take the rest of the day off, meditate on that feeling you just had, don¡¯t lose it. I¡¯ll practice here with Enoch for the rest of the two hours, and we¡¯ll see you tomorrow.¡± I stood up and picked up Achlys, sheathing it on my left arm. I walked past the house where Aranea was sitting out front. She stood up and hurried over to me when she saw me. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± she asked me worriedly. ¡°No,¡± I said, smiling. ¡°I finally did it, I managed to pull my Relic to me.¡± That¡¯s great!¡± she said moving forward to hug me before stepping back. ¡°You need a bath.¡± I laughed at her expression and pulled her close for a quick kiss. She shrieked, but laughed as I pulled away. ¡°I¡¯ll see you back home,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s the first time I think I¡¯ve heard you call it that,¡± Aranea said. ¡°Call it what?¡± I asked, cocking my head to the side. ¡°Home,¡± Aranea said. ¡°Well¡­I guess it hasn¡¯t quite felt like it was ours before, it was just someplace we were given,¡± I said scratching the back of my head. ¡°But it does feel¡­like it''s finally ours now. I can¡¯t explain it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to,¡± Aranea said. ¡°I get it.¡±
Aranea I returned to our apartment and found Cain sitting in the common room at the table. He slid his Relic across the table and closed his eyes, holding out his hand. It slowly slid back across the table into his hand, and he slid it back. I closed the door softly and watched as he did it over and over. He¡¯d taken a shower and was wearing his good clothes. Tomorrow was the sabbath and we¡¯d join the rest of the academy for mass. I sat down and watched as he kept sliding it across the table and summoning it back to his hand, again and again. Every time he did I watched as it slid a little bit faster back into his hand. Finally, he opened his eyes and noticed me. ¡°You¡¯re getting really good at that,¡± I said smiling. ¡°I knew you could do it.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like I found a missing piece of myself,¡± Cain said. ¡°Like I had another arm that was asleep my whole life and only now is it waking up.¡± I felt a bit of irrational jealousy all of a sudden. There was something in Cain¡¯s voice that spoke of a connection that I would never experience and could never fill. I pushed aside the feeling; it was his Relic not a person. ¡°Are you going into the Mist anytime soon?¡± I asked. ¡°I wasn¡¯t planning on it yet, why do you need something?¡± Cain asked. I pulled out the basket I had with me. It was filled with all the Wards I¡¯d created. ¡°I need you to hang these up so they start collecting ether.¡± Cain took and examined the wards. ¡°You made all these?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes,¡± I said proudly. ¡°I¡¯m getting better and better, but I want to test them and see which designs worked better.¡± ¡°I think I could get Enoch to come with me,¡± Cain said. ¡°I need a partner before they¡¯ll allow us to go into the Mist and hunt djinn.¡± ¡°So you¡¯ll go?¡± I asked hopefully. Cain smiled at me. ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll go.¡± He promised me. I pulled out a white shirt with its edges embroidered in golden thread. ¡°Lydia helped me make this for you. It isn¡¯t armor but it''s enchanted to regulate temperature and will keep you warm while you¡¯re in the Mist, and stop you from overheating in battle.¡± He took the shirt, running his fingers over the fabric. ¡°Aranea! This is silk!¡± he protested. ¡°It cost most of our money,¡± I admitted. ¡°But I wanted to give you a gift before our training started.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, standing up and kneeling beside me pulling me close. I rested my head on his shoulder, embracing him back. ¡°Stay safe,¡± I whispered in his ear, and his arms grew just a bit tighter around me. Chapter 13: Hunting in the Woods ¡°Djinn spawn at various levels of development depending on the amount of tangled ether in the area, but they are not stuck at this level. Like us they can advance in level, usually by killing other djinn of different elements. However, if there are humans nearby, all djinn regardless of level or species will band together to destroy them.¡± - From Bestiary Volume I by Templar Daniel Blackstone Cain- Saturday, August 17th, 564 AB I collapsed in the dirt after completing the obstacle course. After feeling the experience of connecting to my Relic it was a lot easier to try and reach for my skills, but it still wasn¡¯t within my grasp. At least now I felt like I was making progress, slowly breaking through the mental barrier between me and my skills. I helped Enoch to his feet. ¡°Thanks for your words the other day,¡± I said. ¡°About what?¡± he asked. ¡°What you said about my fear,¡± I said. ¡°It reminded me of something my mother told me, that my fear was a tool to keep me alive. I think that¡¯s how I finally made a connection with my Relic. I needed to embrace that fear, not just try and ignore it or push it aside.¡± ¡°Well hopefully I¡¯ll make a connection soon too,¡± Enoch said. Rineer walked over to us tossing an iron ball from hand to hand. ¡°Are you two ready for sparring?¡± ¡°Actually sir,¡± I said. ¡°I was wondering if we could go into the Mist? Aranea asked me to hang some wards there, and you said you¡¯d teach me to be a proper woodsman.¡± Rineer looked at me thoughtfully and nodded. ¡°So I did, but Enoch still needs to learn to call his Relic. You will hold his spear for him. Enoch, I want you to keep ten paces from Cain at all times. I will sneak up and attack you as you move through the forest. You need to spot me and block my attacks as well as focus on summoning your Relic.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Enoch said, a bit of eagerness in his voice. Thirty-minutes later we dismounted and let our horses graze at the edge of a patch of fog land. The air was chilly even with the heat of summer burning its last. I was glad for the undershirt Aranea had made for me, the smooth silk warm against my skin. Enoch, Rineer and I were all in the same party. Each of us were also linked to our wives. This was always done for Mist Wardens so if we died, our families would at least know of it and not think we¡¯d gone missing or gotten lost. ¡°Move out and keep your eyes peeled,¡± Rineer said. ¡°You see a djinn, work together to take it down. If for some god forsaken turn of luck you run across a Jtunn or a Demon do not engage it. You run back here and let me handle it. Cain, you place those wards wherever you see any etheric threads.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± Enoch and I said. Rineer sighed, then disappeared into the forest growth. I stepped into the Mist.
Quest
Type: Search Difficulty: Lethal
Search the Mist and find the Soul Forge to upgrade your interface.
Reward: Soul Anvil, 15,000 XP
Yes/No
I dismissed the forbidden quest and kept moving. Enoch and I moved through the forest, doing our best not to make noise. Our eyes moved through the trees, searching for the foliage and haze for any threats. The fog lands here were massive. A fog land was always circular, and they came in various sizes. From only two miles across to fifteen miles. The ones across the Mistwall Mountains were always overlapping with each other, making them able to contain unseen threats that couldn¡¯t be cleansed. A djinn could spawn up on the mountain slopes, level up and evolve, becoming a serious threat by the time it got down to civilization. We were on the outskirts of the Mist so we weren¡¯t likely to see high tier djinn, but it was always a possibility. Enoch grunted as a spear hit him in the stomach from a bush, then his father was gone and Enoch pushed himself up from the ground. Pressing on, he and I kept scanning the ground, trying to catch sight of his father before he struck. I also kept an eye out for him. He hadn¡¯t said he was going to test me but he also hadn¡¯t said he wasn¡¯t going to. Enoch managed to block the next attack, his hand stretching out towards me trying to summon his spear from where I loosely held it in my left hand. This kept happening as we moved deeper and deeper into the Mist. Every once in a while, I spotted strands of prismatic ether threads drifting through the air. These threads would be invisible to anyone without a core but were as visible as a candle in a dark room to me. I set up the wards, hanging them from the branches of trees. Enoch continued to get attacked, and I would be soon out of Wards. Rineer popped out of the forest. ¡°Hold up,¡± he said, raising his hand. ¡°You''re approaching a skitter nest.¡± I stopped. I¡¯d never seen a living skitterer, only drawings. They looked like giant centipedes with bladed limbs and an arrow shaped head, barbed feeder tendrils like a catfish, and a bident stinger on their tail. They only lived in the Mist, they couldn¡¯t survive out of it, Their carapace was as hard as steel, and they were extremely venomous, both in their stinger and the barbs of their feeder tendrils. ¡°What do we do?¡± I asked. ¡°Don¡¯t approach them,¡± Rineer said. ¡°They are fell beasts, but they aren¡¯t djinn, and aren¡¯t a threat to civilization. Move around them, we don¡¯t want to rile up their nest.¡± Enoch and I started moving to the east. I began seeing the ruins of the old-world structure. The skitterers always made their nests in the ruins of the old world. It was suspected that skitterers weren¡¯t native to our world, but had only come to our world after the Breaking. Enoch stumbled as Rineer hit him across the back of the head and disappeared into the undergrowth again. I only had six wards left to hang up. I started turning back towards where we had left our horses when I heard something. The sounds of breaking tree limbs were coming from our right. I moved towards it, activating Ghost Walk and hiding the sound Enoch and I made. We peered out through some bushes into a field where a massive djinn made of earth fought. Dozens of mist djinn surrounded it, Imps, beasts and several soldiers all carrying various spears. Mist djinn looked like they were made of yellowed bone, moss and leaves. As if they had stepped out of an overgrown crypt. The earth Jtunn was fighting all of them and, despite its higher tier, wasn¡¯t faring too well. Djinn that weren¡¯t mist djinn couldn¡¯t see through the Mist just like us. This meant the earth Jtunn was fighting only as far as it could see, not even the length of its weapon. It could strike based on hearing, but mist djinn were renowned for their stealth.
Quest
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Hard
You have spotted a large group of djinn close to civilization. Exterminate them to keep them from advancing in tier and level then wreaking destruction upon humanity.
Reward: A grade breastplate, 500 XP
Yes/No
I motioned for Enoch to move back. Rineer had told us to run if we saw a Jtunn and that wasn¡¯t even including the two-dozen other djinn. We started to move when Enoch stepped on a twig. It wasn¡¯t even that loud a sound, especially with the heavy crashing of the earth Jtunn¡¯s club, but Enoch was outside the small radius of my Ghost Walk and the sound he made was still enough to attract the attention of a single Mist Imp. As soon as it saw him it screeched loudly. The infighting between the two elemental groups stopped and they turned as one to focus on him. The mist imps chittered, the jaws of their masks clacking together in excitement as they used their skills to hurl javelins of mist at him. Enoch ducked behind his shield, the attacks bouncing off. Two mist soldiers rushed forwards, their much larger spears lunging forwards. Enoch¡¯s spear flew out of my hand slapping into his hand, as much to his surprise as mine. The djinn spread out, fanning around us to encircle us. The earth djinn lumbered forwards, its life and death duel with the mist djinn forgotten as a mutual enemy was discovered. Rineer appeared behind the earth Jtunn, plunging his spear into its back. He appeared in front of it, or at least it looked like he did. There was still an identical copy of him where he had stood a moment before and they both stabbed independently, both seeming to do damage to the djinn. ¡°Defend each other!¡± Rineer shouted. ¡°I¡¯ve got this one just don¡¯t let the other distract me!¡± I hit yes on the quest prompt. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said, appearing behind Enoch, my targe blocking a javelin of mist aimed for his back. The mist imps were out of ether and so rushed us in melee. One on one an imp was no problem, and even an old woman with a pitchfork could take one. In groups however, they were like wild dogs. Able to bring down prey ten times their size. Mist beasts and the two soldiers moved in, though they still had some ether left in their cores. Spears stabbed forwards or were thrown. Most missed, or bounced off our shields. Though one did graze my cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. The spears disappeared after landing on the ground, reappearing back in the djinn¡¯s hands, similar to how we could summon our Relics back to ourselves. I needed to break up their lines, not let them just converge on and surround us. I used Hurricane Step, appearing behind the lead Mist soldier. ¡°Mist Blade, Lunar Smite!¡± I said, driving the ethereal blade of Achlys forward through its back. The Mist Soldier spasmed, but it wasn¡¯t dead yet and it spun around to impale me with its spear. ¡°Fog Form,¡± I said. The attack passed through me as I repositioned and was in the middle of a group of imps and beasts. ¡°Cyclone Strike,¡± I said and cut through five of them instantly.
58 XP gained, 5 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 4 ether gained
¡°Wind Phalanx!¡± Enoch shouted. He stabbed forwards towards me as I was rushed by another group of djinn. Half a dozen spears of silver ether shot forwards, passing through me harmlessly but spearing the djinn charging me, stopping them in their tracks. The two Mist Soldiers focused their attention on me, the other djinn followed the higher tier djinns lead and all began to rush me. Fear stabbed into my heart as the horned skull mask of the djinn chattered and focused on me, the pale blue etheric points of light in the black sockets of their masks all focusing on me. I let out a breath, willing myself not to freeze as I kept on the attack, blocking the spears with my targe or knocking aside them with my Relic. The Mist soldier¡¯s thrust their spears forwards, activating skills of their own. ¡°Fog Form,¡± I said, as an ether spear made of mist rammed right through where I had been. The next attack I blocked on my shield as Enoch moved up next to me, more imps and beasts surrounded us. We both began cutting into them using our skills in rapid succession. I didn¡¯t have to worry about accidentally hitting Enoch with my skills since we were in the same party. The combination of Lunar Smite and Cyclone Strike cut right through the lesser djinn, easily disrupting their forms and turning them into piles of mulch and yellowed bone.
75 XP gained, 9 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 10 ether gained
I turned aside the much larger spear of one of the Mist Soldiers. Imps were very small, only coming up to my thigh. Beasts weren¡¯t much bigger, coming up only to my waist. Soldiers were where they started jumping up in size, becoming as big as a man at around six feet minimum. Enoch moved around, blocking spears with his large round shield. He grunted as a spear hit him in the back, but his leather breastplate and the gambeson beneath kept it from sinking deep into the muscle of his back. He pushed past the pain and stabbed the djinn I¡¯d already wounded in the back.
55 XP gained
An imp got up behind me silently and stabbed forwards, the bone tip of its spear burying itself in my hip. I screamed in pain, turning around and slashing out, but the imp jumped back dodging my counterattack. I needed to be faster and stronger. I swept Achlys through the corpses on the ground by my feet harvesting them. They were Mist Djinn so I¡¯d only gain a minimum amount of corruption, but every bit would help boost my trait¡¯s stat bonus.
10 corruption absorbed by your Relic, 10 corruption absorbed into your core
There were two dozen lesser djinn left as well as the other soldier. Enoch took out a third of the imps with his Wind Phalanx, but the soldier was rushing him with its spear. I activated Hurricane Step with a verbal command and appeared in front of it ducking low. I rammed Achlys into its gut. Djinn didn¡¯t have internal organs, but damage to the ether that formed them would still kill them. The djinn twisted as my blade tore through it, spinning around to stab at me. I sidestepped the attack and Enoch rammed his spear into its back. I stepped forward, raising Achlys two-handed above my head. ¡°Lunar Smite!¡± I shouted. I brought down the extended etheric blade over the djinn¡¯s head, cutting through its mask and leaving it a pile of bones and leaves on the ground.
62 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 12 ether gained
I bent and quickly absorbed the remains of the djinn.
28 corruption absorbed by our Relic, 28 Corruption absorbed into your core
My body was moving even faster as I had a close to fifty percent boost to my stats. Enoch blocked the spears of some djinn. I was down to a little below half my ether, and so was he, but the two-soldier djinn had been handled. We both dove into the pack of remaining imps and beasts activating our area effect skills. ¡°Cyclone Strike,¡± I said, whirling around and destroying six imps and a beast.
58 XP gained, 7 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 15 ether gained
Enoch took out the rest of the djinn with his Wind Phalanx. Only one imp remained, and he speared it through the chest. Rineer was still fighting the Jtunn and I realized Enoch and I had an opportunity here; this was a much higher tier djinn than we could typically take down at our levels and tier. However, with Rineer in our party we would get the same XP as he did when it died if we contributed to killing it. There would be some risk, but I was high on victory and with the Jatunn unable to see in the Mist we had the advantage over it. ¡°Enoch throw your spear!¡± I shouted to him. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said under my breath. I appeared behind the Jtunn¡¯s right leg and drove my dagger into it. ¡°Lunar Smite, Mist Blade!¡± I said. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. My Blade sank through the false stone plates that made up its shell into the swirling storm of dirt and sand that made up the core of its being. I jumped back, disappearing into the Mist as it turned, swinging its heavy club to crush the ground where I had been. Rineer dropped from the air landing on its left shoulder. Enoch threw his spear, getting past the djinn¡¯s massive stone shield and striking it in the chest, hitting a hole in its armor and driving his spear deep into its etheric mass. Rineer drove his own spear down into the gap between its stoney armor and neck, disrupting the etheric energy that formed the djinn. He leapt back as the djinn twisted its massive horned head, trying to gore him. I teleported under it, driving my sword up before disappearing in a gust of wind. Enoch held out his hand, his spear ripping itself out of the djinn¡¯s chest and smacking into his palm. Enoch moved forward quietly before lunging forwards, driving his spear into a gap in the djinn¡¯s armor at its knee. The djinn roared and swung at him with his club, but Enoch activated his shorter ranged teleport appearing five feet to the side, the club missing him entirely. Rineer drove his spear into its back again as the djinn scrambled to keep track of us all, moving unseen through the Mist. Finally, Rineer¡¯s Spear hit it again in the neck and this time it dropped. The ground shuddered as the false etheric stone hit the ground, looking like a rockslide had appeared in the forest.
123 XP gained
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Hunt, Hard and exterminated all the djinn in your immediate vicinity.
Reward: A grade Breastplate has been added to your inventory. 500 XP gained
Level Up! You have reached level 11! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
I put five points into my agility and two points into each of my other stats. I pulled up my character sheet, looking at the changes I¡¯d made and checking my Core¡¯s current corruption level and my health. I¡¯d only taken the one hit in the battle, but we had been facing mostly low-level djinn and were in a group.
Core Level
11
Experience to Next Level
491/670
Relic Name Relic Element Relic Type
Achlys Mist Dagger
Name
Cain Le¡¯meer
Hit Points: 343/386 Hit Point Regen: 11 per minute
Armor Points: 89/89 Armor Point Regen: 11 per minute
Might Agility Endurance Will Senses Clarity
32 (48) 82 (124) 18 (27) 13 (19) 12 (18) 12 (18)
Ether Corruption Level
51/89 51/89
Trait
Tainted Power: Your statistics increase by 1% for every point of Corruption in your Etheric Core.
Primary Passive Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air. Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Ghost Walk: Masks all noise made for 30 seconds in a 5ft radius around the wielder.
Cost: 3 ether
Mist Blade: For 10 seconds attacks with your Relic pass through 1¡± of material.
Cost: 7 ether
Fog Form: Body and worn equipment becomes intangible making you Immune to all damage for 2 seconds.
Cost: 5 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Smite: A sword of silver light extends out from your blade for 1 second dealing Moon damage equal to your current Core¡¯s charge.
Cost: 4 ether
Celestial Healing: Closes wounds across a single creature¡¯s body restoring Hit Points equal to your current Core charge.
Cost: 10 ether
Wind Skills
Hurricane Step: Move yourself and one other creature up to 200ft in 1 second as your body and all your equipment is turned into wind.
Cost: 3 ether
Cyclone Strike: Deals Wind damage equal to half your Core charge to all creatures within your weapons reach.
Cost: 6 ether
I looked over my stats, seeing my actual number along with the altered number from my trait¡¯s percentage bonus. Looking over my skills, I noticed a single other change. Hurricane Step, by far my most used skill, had changed. Evolving into its next tier. It wasn¡¯t limited to just teleporting myself anymore, and its range had doubled. Its cost had also gone up, costing three ether for each use instead of the previous one ether per use. My fingers flexed as I examined my relic armor. It had only grown by maybe the width of my pinky nail, but it had been enough to advance my tier a bit farther. Once all my other skills had evolved, I would pass from the Page tier to Squire. The cycle would repeat until I got to Exarch tier and my skills stopped evolving. ¡°You¡¯ll have time to admire your character sheet later,¡± Rineer said. ¡°This clearing is a good place to set up the rest of those wards. Do it, then help Enoch absorb the rest of those djinn. I¡¯ll take the big one here. We¡¯ll split loot then head back to our horses.¡± I quickly hung the rest of the wards Aranea had given me. I absorbed a dozen imps, bringing the corruption in my core to eighty-one out of eighty-nine. The burning was unpleasant, but Aranea would be able to absorb it from me later. Enoch handled the rest of the low-level djinn until he was close to his limit as well, and Rineer took the rest. We had gotten three dozen imp cores, a dozen beast, two soldier and a single Jtunn. We had also gotten three etheric gems. One was just an imp gem but the other was a soldier and third, and most impressive, was a Jtunn class earth etheric gem. One of the Mist Soldiers spears hadn¡¯t crumpled to death with its body. Djinn weapons were similar to Relics in the sense that they held skills. Anyone who held them could use the skill if they fed the weapon some etheric energy, but the only way to do that was by using a charged monster core or by having your own internal core. The weapon was still valuable. Every soldier or town guard carried a djinn weapon on them, even if they didn¡¯t often use them. But it was always good to have the option. ¡°We got a good haul,¡± Rineer said. He picked up the Jtunn class gem, ¡°This is too valuable for one of us to keep. I¡¯ll have it sold and split the profits with the three of you tomorrow.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one who actually killed it,¡± I said. ¡°You should be the one who gets the loot from it.¡± Rineer shook his head. ¡°Not how this works. When you¡¯re in a party, everyone¡¯s contribution is worth the same contribution. It doesn¡¯t matter if they¡¯re just distracting, providing support or doing the damage, you split everything equally.¡± I shut my mouth and shrugged. Rineer placed the Jtunn¡¯s monster core in my hand. It was about the size of a robin¡¯s egg but perfectly round and mostly clear, only a bit of sparkling golden light inside it showing it for what it was. ¡°Keep that,¡± he instructed me. ¡°You¡¯ll be instructed during your training on how to fill those but think of them like batteries. You can store excess ether from your core inside them. When you¡¯re low on it in battle you can then pull it out to use it. Never pull all of it out or the core will crumble to dust. I held up the core examining it more closely.
Type: Monster Core Grade: B Ether: 8/122
Rineer handed Enoch the two Soldier cores. ¡°These are for you; I¡¯ve already given you several Jtunn cores but once you learn how to fill them, I want you to always keep as many cores filled on you as you can. Don¡¯t bother with imp or beast cores, just sell those for commoners to use.¡± He picked up the Mist spear. ¡°Either of you want a trophy or should I just sell this too?¡± I shook my head and Enoch did the same. We split up the rest of the imp and beast cores evenly and agreed to split the money we got from selling the other two ether gems. We left the forest, but I¡¯d need to come back in about a week to collect the wards and bring them back to Aranea.
Aranea- Sunday, August 18th, 564 AB Cain and I went down for mass the next morning. The mess hall had been transformed, the tables all gone and pews put in their place. We found a spot to sit together as more and more people piled into the pews. Soon the whole castle was in attendance. There was a church in town but we didn¡¯t attend there with the town¡¯s regular parishioners. We bowed our heads as the priest stood before us opening the holy text to read from it. ¡°At the height of the old world, when mankind thought themselves gods, the heavens broke above us. The sky fell upon the earth and wherever it touched, the Mist rose up. Ether rose from the earth and descended from the skies above. From it came the djinn, given to test those who remained. But mankind was still arrogant, and sent their men of iron to battle the djinn in their place,¡± the priest read. Mother Leora rarely read about the dark days of the breaking, but they were usually the primary focus of most sermons. I kept my head bowed, listening as he recounted the history of our ancestors. ¡°The men of iron fell one by one as the djinn spawned in greater and greater numbers, their corruption not being cleansed,¡± the priest continued. ¡°Then by the grace of God a Relic was created by accident. The Voice spoke to that first Warden, giving them instructions to purify the taint of the djinn from the earth. More Relics were created, and more Wardens arose. But they did not yet know how to cleanse the corruption from their bodies. King Nicholas of the Europa Republic took up the sword, becoming a Warden to defend his people. One by one these Wardens fell to corruption, becoming Warlocks. Our Ancestors thought their powers over the djinn, and the ability to control them, was their salvation.¡± ¡°Then their new saviors began to go mad. They engaged in all manners of debauchery and hedonism. Their lust for women, for the tainted flesh of djinn, and for power knew no bounds and they set about to conquer all mankind. Our ancestors fled to the wilderness and abandoned fortresses, taking a remnant of humanity with them. They learned to pass on their corruption to women who became the first Weavers. The Warlocks, in their lust for power, turned on each other and made war until only King Nicholas and his fell coven of Warlocks remained.¡± ¡°Our ancestors, under the guidance of the Voice, slew these Warlock Kings one by one, at last killing King Nicholas in the holy city of New Roma. These brave Wardens formed the first council of Templars, uniting the Wardens of Europa under the banner of the church. For five hundred years we have listened to the Voice and obeyed its instructions. Greatest among these is this, ¡°you shall not suffer a Warlock to live.¡±¡± ¡°Amen,¡± I said, chorusing along with the rest of the congregation. After mass was finished, Cain and I went back to our quarters. There would be no training today since it was the sabbath. I had prepared food for us yesterday, since no kitchens would be open in the castle. While labor and cooking on the sabbath were not forbidden, it was discouraged. I convinced Cain to come with me to the library, showing him the castle¡¯s massive catalogue of books. ¡°Isn¡¯t this amazing?¡± I asked him, my fingers running along the spines of the tomes and volumes. ¡°There certainly are a lot of them,¡± Cain agreed, but I could tell his heart wasn¡¯t in it. ¡°You don¡¯t like books?¡± I asked him. ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like them,¡± he said. ¡°I just haven¡¯t had much time or need for them before. I¡¯m a Warden, my life has been defined by preparing to become one and training with weapons. It hasn¡¯t given me much opportunity for much else.¡± ¡°But think of all the things you could learn!¡± I said, taking a tome off a shelf. ¡°This is a bestiary on djinn and fell beasts by Daniel Blackstone.¡± I opened it up, showing him the various sketches alongside the text, depicting Dragons and Demons. As well as the mutated beasts that inhabited the wilderness. Terror Bears, Dire Wolves, Spine Cats, and the myriad of other corrupted animals that had fed on djinn and evolved into ferocious monsters. Cain looked through the book for a bit but eventually set it down. ¡°This is interesting, but it¡¯s not applicable for me. Most of this is theory, rather than hard facts. There isn¡¯t anything here like weak points or known strategies for taking them down.¡± I let out a sigh. ¡°Probably because you Wardens don¡¯t write that stuff down.¡± It seemed that Cain didn¡¯t share my love of books. He still spent some time in the library with me, but I could tell he wasn¡¯t there because he enjoyed it. We spent the rest of the day resting, taking a walk through the town and castle gardens before retiring for the evening. I drew the corruption I had taken from Cain into thread, my body screaming with the pain.
Quest Succeeded
You have purified yourself of corruption and converted it into a stable form of etheric energy.
Reward: 850 XP gained
Level Up! You have reached level 11! 5 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 15.
I let out a sigh of relief as the pain of pulling out the corruption ended, as abruptly as it had begun. I pulled up my character sheet, putting one point into each of my physical stats and the other two into Senses. I looked through my character sheet and noticed a change in one of my skills descriptions. This made sense since one of Cain¡¯s skills had evolved. My advancement as a Weaver was tied to his, and even if I got to a higher level than him my skills would only advance when his did.
Core Level
11
Experience to Next Level
525/670
Bonded Element
Mist
Name
Aranea Le¡¯meer
Hit Points: 265 Hit Point Regen: 7 per minute
Might Agility Endurance Will Senses Clarity
8 8 8 31 15 10
Ether Corruption Level
177/177 0/177
Trait
Final Stand: You gain +1% regen rate for every missing point of ether in your Core.
Primary Passive Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air. Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Siren Song: Your voice sings out in a hauntingly beautiful tune for the next 30 seconds inflicting Pacify on creatures who can hear you and Clarity on allied targets within hearing distance.
Cost: 15 ether
Mist Veil: Your body becomes blurred by a veil of mist making you harder to hit for the next 20 seconds inflicting a 50% miss chance against you.
Cost: 8 ether
Ether Familiar: You conjure an elemental spirit of Mist to serve as your familiar. It will last until destroyed and is resummoned casting time 5 minutes. Your familiar has the ability to consume wild ether threads and spin them into ether thread directly.
Cost: 20 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Ray: A blade of silver light shoots from your hands up to 100ft striking a creature you can see dealing your Core maximum charge as Moon damage.
Cost: 3 ether
Silver Purity: Closes wounds across a single creature¡¯s body and removes any Disease, Infection, Debuff, or Curse affecting them.
Cost: 10 ether
Wind Skills
Voice on the Wind: Link yourself and up to 3 others to be able to speak even at whisper up to 200ft away for 10 minutes.
Cost: 9 ether
Sweeping Hurricane: A rushing wind pushes away anything not secured down in a 40ft cone in front of you.
Cost: 5 ether
Closing my character sheet I pulled Cain into the bedroom with me. I wanted to start our family, and pushed him down on the bed.
Aranea- Sunday, September 1st, 564 AB The next two weeks passed as the fall term approached. Cain and Enoch continued to train with each other every day, but he still hadn¡¯t unlocked the ability to use any of his skills nonverbally. Despite this, I didn¡¯t see the same frustration he had before he had learned to call his Relic to his hand. Cain had set up a practice dummy in our room and every day before bed practiced throwing his dagger at it. The blade wasn¡¯t weighted for throwing so, most of the time it struck with its hilt or at an odd angle, but he was slowly getting better at it. Cain brought me my Wards back and I began slowly absorbing the ether from them, turning it into thread.
Quest Succeeded
You have purified your wards of corruption and kept djinn from spawning.
Reward: 425 XP gained
While not as much XP as I got for purging the corruption I gained from Cain, it was still enough to advance me another level.
Level Up! You have reached level 12! 5 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 15.
I used my stat points to increase all my physical stats by one again. I wanted to get them all to ten, then I would focus primarily on my mental statistics. I put my remaining two points into Clarity, raising it to twelve. A clatter of metal on stone roused my attention and I looked up to see Cain catch his dagger by the hilt as it flew back into his hand. I smiled. When he first learned to summon it, the dagger had only dragged slowly across the table. Now it flew faster than an arrow when it returned to him. I was happy in our cozy little life. The fall term would start tomorrow, and I was eager for Cain¡¯s and my new adventure to begin. Chapter 14: Duels Among Equals ¡°The training of a Warden and Weaver is usually that of a master and apprentice, often done by their parents or the local Warden and Weaver of whatever settlement they are assigned to by the Church. Sometimes, however, there are those with a great deal of promise who are invited to academies to better hone their skills and challenge them.¡± -from Training a Warden by Sir Lindren Beige, 455 AB Aranea- Monday, September 2nd, 564 AB I rushed down the hall to class, I¡¯d forgotten my ivory comb and had to run back to my apartment to get it. I rounded a corner and ran face first into a boy in heavy armor. I only just managed to smash my face against his breastplate as I fell to the ground, my basket with my weaver¡¯s tools falling to the ground. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!¡± I said, almost crying. ¡°It¡¯s all right,¡± the boy said, kneeling and helping me gather my things. I looked at him and froze. He was gorgeous. Long gold hair tied back in a warrior¡¯s tail with long bangs swooping down the side of his face, accenting his short beard and brilliant blue eyes. He was a year or two older than me, and wore metal armor with a silk gambeson beneath it. ¡°I¡¯m Noah,¡± he said, extending his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Aranea,¡± I said, taking his hand and he helped me to my feet. ¡°Well Aranea,¡± he said with a twinkle in his eye. ¡°You¡¯d probably best get to class; you don¡¯t want to leave a bad first impression.¡± I gasped and pushed past him, his soft laughter following me as I ran for my class. I slid into my seat just as a loud bell tolled from the castle¡¯s spire. Lady Mirian looked at me askance but, luckily, she quickly turned her attention away. ¡°Welcome girls,¡± she said. ¡°I am here to introduce you to our instructor for our first year Weavers.¡± She gestured to a woman by her side with blonde graying hair. ¡°This is Madam Layrora. She will be teaching you until you ascend to the next tier.¡± ¡°Good evening class,¡± Madam Layrora said, stepping forward. ¡°Today I want to begin by seeing which of you can draw corruption out of their core. Which of you currently have any corruption in your core?¡± I raised my hand, Cain had killed a few imps when collecting my wards again the other day. It wasn¡¯t enough for him to level up and I hadn¡¯t had the chance to purify my core yet. It was only eighteen points of corruption. Barely anything, even for a level one Weaver. A few other girls raised their hands and Madam Layrora bade us step forward to the front of class and sit down. I joined twenty or so other girls, not even a fifth of the class. I had to guess there were around three hundred girls in the auditorium and I suddenly felt very isolated. I wished Cain was there but he had his own training to go through. ¡°Now I want you to draw the corruption out of your cores,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°Show me how you were taught to do it.¡± I nodded and nervously began spinning my hands. I closed my eyes and tried to forget I was surrounded by hundreds of other people. Sweat broke out across my skin as the burning heat inside my core was dragged out through my nervous systems and pushed out the pores of my fingertips. I heard sobbing and opened my eyes; looking to my right, I saw a girl had broken down in tears, weak golden light at her fingertips but not emerging. Madam Layrora didn¡¯t offer any help, merely stood and watched, waiting to see what the girl would do. I closed my eyes and went back to focusing on my own work. Jewel climbed down from my hair and I heard another girl shriek in surprise next to me. ¡°Calm down!¡± Madam Layrora snapped at her. ¡°Don¡¯t let outside influences distract you.¡± I squeezed my eyes shut as I focused on not showing any outward sign of pain. The glimmering hairs pushed from my fingertips were gathered and spun, Jewel helping to snap them and add them to the long thread I was creating on my drop spindle. It didn¡¯t take me long, only around thirty minutes to spin the little bit of corruption into thread. I sat back, feeling exhausted but also triumphant. I was the first one done, but it was probably because I had so little in my core to begin with. The other girls finished one by one, even the girl who had broken down in sobs. She still whimpered the entire time but managed to spin the corruption into a loose thread on her spindle. ¡°Well done, all of you.¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°Some of you clearly need some improvement.¡± The crying girl blushed and looked down when she said that. ¡°But that is why you are here,¡± she continued, stopping in front of me. ¡°What is your name, girl?¡± ¡°Aranea Le¡¯meer,¡± I answered. ¡°Ah,¡± Madam Layrora said, the light of recognition flashing in her eyes. ¡°Lady Mirian spoke of you. Gifted was the word she used. How much corruption did you purify just now?¡± ¡°Only eighteen points ma¡¯am,¡± I said. ¡°Eighteen points in thirty minutes,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°It isn¡¯t a record, but it is very impressive for one so young. You may be the prodigy Lady Mirian described; we shall see.¡± I felt the eyes of my classmates on me and felt even more nervous. ¡°Th-thank you ma¡¯am,¡± I stammered. ¡°You may all return to your seats,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°We will begin with a quick meditation to center you all and help you connect with your cores.¡± I hurried back to my seat and sat down. The girl next to me had dark black hair that ran in ringlets down her back, she extended a hand to me smiling. ¡°I¡¯m Deliah,¡± she said. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll teach me some of your tricks sometime.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± I said blushing. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I have any tricks, but I¡¯ll be glad to help you in any way I can. I¡¯m sure everyone is just exaggerating about me.¡± Deliah shook her head. ¡°No, it takes me about an hour to purify eighteen corruption. Have you had much experience yet? I see you¡¯re level twelve so you must have, your boyfriend must be quite the accomplished Warden.¡± ¡°Boyfriend?¡± I asked, the word unfamiliar to me. ¡°She¡¯s a provincial,¡± a girl behind us whispered to Deliah who made an O face. I blushed suddenly, feeling ashamed though I didn¡¯t know why. ¡°So, you''re already married?¡± Deliah asked. ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°Does that mean¡­ you¡¯re not?¡± ¡°By the Voice no!¡± Deliah said. ¡°I¡¯m only seventeen. My boyfriend and I might get married next year as long as he distinguishes himself enough for my family''s approval.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe you can meditate and have a conversation,¡± Madam Layrora¡¯s voice rang out. She didn¡¯t shout but her voice carried and our conversation, as well as a few other whispers across the auditorium, cut off. I closed my eyes and pushed my senses inwards, focusing on my core and the pathways that lead from it through the rest of my body.
Cain Enoch and I stood in the muster yard outside of the castle. We were in a group of around fifty other young men, all of them also Mist Wardens. There was another group about the same size behind us, all with older boys in it from the school''s second years. Behind them was another group of third years, but I noticed there weren¡¯t as many of them as there were of the second years. The fourth years were even fewer, a sober reminder that not all of us would make it to Knight rank. The other elemental schools were all accounted for and, surprisingly, there were the same approximate number of students for each school. They must have come from across the kingdom to get so many Storm, Sun, and Fire Wardens all together. I looked at them and pushed aside the twinge of envy I felt; all of their families had to be wealthy and prominent to afford those Relics. It had taken my father years of fighting on the frontier in the most dangerous conditions to get enough to purchase Relics of those elements for my brothers. I could see Sir Rineer talking with our instructors. Though he wasn¡¯t the master of the Mist School he was still one of its instructors. A man with flowing white hair and silver-smokey blue relic armor stood with them. His helmet was retracted for now and he stood tall and proud. The other instructors, even Rineer, treated him with obvious respect. Our master stepped forward and spoke. ¡°I am Lord Scarisen. For you new-bloods who haven¡¯t figured it out yet, I am the Master of the Mist School here at the academy. Today we will gauge your skill as warriors. You will duel with each other; you will each have three attempts to make a successful bout. If you win at least one duel you will get a chance at another duel. If you win your fourth duel you will continue to duel your classmates until only one of you is left.¡± I looked at Enoch, but he didn¡¯t look surprised. I remembered he was a local, and his father taught here, so he had likely grown up with this knowledge unlike me. I grimaced, I did not like dueling. My brothers had often engaged in it but I wasn¡¯t good at it. Sparring was fine but there was just something about being in a ring with people watching me that always threw me off. Lord Scarisen continued. ¡°This is a test of only your martial prowess, no using your skills, summoning your Relic. You can use your Relic armor of course, you new-bloods may think that unfair, but neither is battle. You will all duel with your classmates from your own class before you can duel classmates from a lower or higher class than you.¡± ¡°Ready?¡± Enoch asked me as people began pairing off. ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I hate dueling.¡± ¡°It will be fine,¡± Enoch laughed. He and I paired up at first in a section of the muster yard marked in a circle on the grass. The circle was only twenty feet across. The duel would end if one of us stepped out of, or was pushed out of, the circle. Or was in some other way incapacitated. The duel¡¯s referee dropped the handkerchief and Enoch and I tensed our legs. It touched the ground and we moved. I dodged to the side of his first spear thrust and tried to move inside its reach but he always circled away, his massive shield blocking any of the attacks I could make with my dagger. This was my major problem, my Relic was completely unsuited for duels. I didn¡¯t have the reach of my opponents and, as long as they could keep their distance, I would never hit them. If I could use my skills it would have been a different story, but the rules of etiquette prevented that. Enoch and I moved in circles around each other for a minute. I was fast enough to dodge most of his attacks but not fast enough to get around the tip of his spear. I tried to rush in, but he bashed me away with his shield. I rolled to the side to avoid the thrust of his spear and the referee blew his whistle. My right foot had gone out of bounds and, just like that, the duel was over. Enoch and I shook hands. I was glad I had lost to him, but I was also disappointed in myself. I also couldn¡¯t help but dread my next two duels, I had a feeling I wasn¡¯t going to win any of them today. I waited for my next duel and stepped into the ring. I was facing a swordsman with a two-handed longsword. I tried being more aggressive this time. I moved in, blocking his sword, but he was able to get a lot more force behind his attacks with his longer blade and pushed my dagger to the side. He sliced a long gash down my chest, but I pushed past the pain and stabbed forwards. My dagger slid off his breastplate as he turned his body to the side. The hilt of his sword came up, hitting me in the face, and I staggered back for a second. His boot came up next and kicked me square in the chest, knocking me out of the ring. The referee¡¯s whistle blew again, and my opponent helped me to my feet. ¡°Good match,¡± he said politely but his voice conveyed its disinterest. ¡°Good match,¡± I agreed and sat down feeling more disheartened. My next match was against a fighter with a halberd. It went worse than all my others, my opponent charged me and I tried to sidestep but he swept the axe part of his polearm at me. I jumped over it and he hit me with his shoulder sending me flying. I hit the ground hard, and my opponent didn¡¯t even bother to help me up. I¡¯d lost all three of my duels so I wouldn¡¯t get a third. Dejected, I sat down and watched as the other schools all went through the same process. In the end one student from each school remained. Enoch hadn¡¯t won, which was to be expected since he was far less experienced than most of his opponents, but he had still done well winning six different duels before finally being disqualified. He sat next to me as we watched the eight winners of each school pair up. Their duels were intense bouts of skill and technique, but they all lasted less than a minute. When they were done, the remaining four were paired against each other in two rings. As was to be expected, the champions from the schools of Storm, Sun and Fire had all made it to the final round, as well as a third-year student from the Wind School, the only other third year student to make it to the finals. The remaining duelists were all fourth years, which had been the expected result from everyone. Their dominant arms were all clad in the metal of their relic armor with most if not all of their chest starting to be covered, along with the shoulder of the other arm. Their fights were more cautious now. They circled each other before stepping in for a furious exchange of blows and then stepping apart. The duels lasted a little longer, but still felt quick. The two schools left were Storm and Wind. The boy from the wind school had auburn brown hair and a clean-shaven face. His weapon was a rapier. An unusual weapon since the materials to make one were rarely etheric efficient. The young man from the storm school had long golden hair and a closely cropped beard. He wore metal armor, unusual for a Warden. You could increase the durability of stone and metal by setting an earth ether gem into it, but it was vastly more expensive than just enchanting leather or cloth. The two duelists circled each other, the Wind student trying to keep his opponent at bay with the long reach of his rapier. He also carried a buckler for defense, but it was a small thing, even smaller than my own shield. The Storm student carried a heater shield strapped to his arm and a golden warhammer, the hilt looking like it had been made of ivory or bone. He bashed aside the tip of the rapier, pressing his opponent. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. The philosophies of the two schools were on clear display. Wind was about evasion and striking before retreating, while Storm was about the relentless onslaught using your armor to soak up attacks while pressing forward to confront the enemy. The Wind duelist tried slipping around the golden-haired man, but he always moved to intercept, pushing his opponent up against the ring. Getting desperate, the Wind duelist lunged forwards and tried to go for a gap in the other man¡¯s armor. The Storm duelist knocked aside the rapier and stepped in, lunging and knocking the breath out of his opponent. His knee came up, catching the other boy in the chest and dropping him to the ground. The Wind duelist held up his hand in surrender. The golden-haired man helped him to his feet and his classmates all cheered. Sir Valren stepped forward, his voice booming. ¡°And for the third year in a row, Prince Noah Hastelburh has won the starting duel for the year!¡± Applause rang out as the prince bowed and returned to his school. ¡°Your instructors have watched your duels and will begin instructing you on ways you can improve,¡± Sir Valren said. ¡°You will now be expected to start undertaking quests given by the school so find a classmate to partner up with to complete them.¡± Enoch put an arm around my shoulder. ¡°What do you say?¡± he asked me, his face marked by a giant grin. ¡°Wanna be partners?¡± I smiled and shook his hand. ¡°Why not, what¡¯s the worst that could happen to us.¡± ¡°Le¡¯meer!¡± a stern voice called out. I stood up and snapped to attention as the Master of the Mist School approached me. ¡°Of all my students you are only one of three this year who failed to win a single duel. This is not acceptable; I understand the limitations of your weapons reach but I would expect you to be able to best at least one opponent.¡± ¡°Apologies sir,¡± I said, his words stinging my pride, but I held back any rebuttals. ¡°I am not familiar with the Le¡¯meer family,¡± Lord Scarisen said. ¡°Who is your father?¡± ¡°My father is Sir Jason Lanceren,¡± I said. ¡°I am not one of¡­his legitimate children.¡± ¡°Sir Lanceren?¡± Lord Scarisen asked, surprised. ¡°I didn¡¯t know he had a bastard, I¡¯ve only met him briefly but his honor is well known; I wouldn¡¯t think he¡¯d be the sort to sire a bastard.¡± ¡°It was during the war, he was behind enemy lines,¡± I said, hating the fact I had to explain my existence every time my father came up. ¡°Ah,¡± Lord Scarisen said with understanding. ¡°I remember hearing about him getting stuck behind enemy lines. Your father is a renowned war hero, why didn¡¯t he instruct you on proper dueling?¡± ¡°My father went through more traditional training, he didn¡¯t believe dueling was an effective training method,¡± I said. ¡°Well, you aren¡¯t in the provinces anymore,¡± Lord Scarisen said. ¡°You will be required to undergo extra weapons practice under Sergeant Acheron until your combat is up to his standards.¡± ¡°Yes sir!¡± I said. Lord Scarisen turned his back on me and I was dismissed. I pushed aside the anger that bubbled up in me. It wouldn¡¯t solve anything and would just get me in more trouble. I buried the anger deep and left with Enoch to go to the quest hub. The large circular room had billboards made of spongy wood, with various papers tacked to them. We scanned the papers, seeing various requests from different townsfolk, local settlement and farmsteads, all of them djinn related. Some needed monster cores charged or replaced, a farmer needed a Moon Scythe and was willing to pay good gold for it as well. Then there were quests from the school. Mines needed to be cleared of earth djinn that had spawned within, fell beasts had been preying on livestock and needed to be hunted down, Mist imps had been wandering out of different sections more frequently and patrols were needed to go and clear them out. Enoch and I grabbed those last quests, taking three each. We had to do one quest each, every week. But we didn¡¯t want to get by on the bare minimum. We left the quest hub and headed to the Mist School. Stepping into it, I looked about the entrance halls. It looked more like a temple than a school. We passed murals on the wall, and the floor was a mosaic depicting a massive battle in the Mist. We got in a line and grabbed our schedules. Not all our classes would be taught by Mist wardens, and we would interact frequently with the instructors of the other schools. Enoch and I had most of our classes together. We only had three hours of mandatory instruction every day, with the rest being reserved for us to go and practice or work on our quests. There wouldn¡¯t be classes today, so Enoch and I got our horses and rode out to the Mist. We let them graze outside as we entered into it.
Quest
Type: Search Difficulty: Lethal
Search the Mist and find the Soul Forge to upgrade your interface.
Reward: Soul Anvil, 15,000 XP
Yes/No
I dismissed the notification, and we kept moving. It only took us ten minutes to spot our first djinn. It was a Moon djinn made of snow-white plates and an eyeless fanged mask, with silver light giving its etheric outline shape but no real substance. Enoch threw his spear and the djinn died in a single hit before it even knew we were there. Next we found a group of four earth imps. I used Hurricane Step and popped into the middle of them, sweeping about with Cyclone Strike.
17 XP gained, 3 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 15 ether regained
Three of the imps went down right away. The fourth staggered back, and Enoch rammed his spear through it. I harvested two and he got the other two, splitting the corruption we¡¯d have to manage.
6 Corruption absorbed by your Relic; 6 Corruption absorbed by our Core
We kept scouring the rest of Fog Land. We stopped when we came across a ruined building. ¡°Should we go deeper?¡± I asked. ¡°We might run into the Skitterer nest,¡± Enoch said. ¡°But¡­ our quest is to clear the fog land of threats. We can¡¯t really do that if we don¡¯t check the entire area.¡± ¡°All right,¡± I agreed. ¡°But we go in quietly, so we don¡¯t rile up the nest. You do your veiling and I¡¯ll silence any noise we make.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Enoch said. Enoch had an ability that made himself almost transparent. It only worked on himself but, coupled with my Ghost Walk skill, we were a pair of ghosts. Rineer had taught us to move quietly, even without skills, as well as how to do some basic tracking. We moved in among the buildings, still impressive even after centuries of abandonment, constructed with skills and materials we couldn¡¯t replicate anymore. We spotted a hole in the ground and stepped back. The black carapace of a Skitterer moved through the grass, its glossy black carapace was spotted with viper green markings, and its bladed limbs and stinger were a bright scarlet. The alien looking creature disappeared into a crack in the ground with a rat clutched in its feeder tendrils. Despite being mostly carnivorous, a hive of Skitterers could support a population into the hundreds or even thousands. They would eat a single meal, then hibernate for months at a time. Studying them was really hard since they would die within hours of being taken out of the nest and attacking a nest was suicide. Even Exarch tier Wardens would fall under the hundreds of poisoned attacks launched by the swarm when they were enraged. With venom that could drop a man with a single drop, and with stingers that could pierce hardened steel, they were not mere beasts that could be easily bested. We kept moving through the ruins, scouting them for signs of any djinn. We came upon the scene of a battle, dozens of skitterer bodies lay about along with the broken remains of mist djinn. More skitterers were swarming over the bodies, devouring their own kin and the djinn. This was how skitterers were able to survive in such large numbers, they sustained themselves mostly on corruption and needed very little physical food. We edged around the site of the battle; this wasn¡¯t something we needed to involve ourselves in. We came out the other side of the ruin into a clearing. Here another battle was taking place, but the djinn were winning. Six skitterers against three times their number in djinn. Enoch tapped me on the shoulder and gestured to the djinn, then me shrugging, asking me what I wanted to do about them. I thought on it. We could just leave them be. The skitterers might win or retreat but¡­ If the djinn won, they¡¯d feed on the skitterers. They were fell beasts, and would have a decent amount of corruption in their flesh. From there, the imps we were facing now would evolve from a group of sixteen easily handled imps to a much more dangerous group of beasts. From there it was much easier for them to snowball in strength, advancing to soldier, and so on.
Quest
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Moderate
You have come across a group of fell beasts and djinn that endanger nearby humans with their presence, exterminate them and purify their remains to ensure safety for nearby settlements.
Reward: D Grade Boots, 100 XP
I chopped my hand down and punched my fist forwards, the Warden hand signals for attack and charge. Enoch nodded and spread out, going to the left. I went to the right, keeping low in the grass and underbrush. Leaning out behind a tree, I made eye contact with Enoch; he held up five fingers then dropped one holding four. When he had counted down, we both moved forward flanking the djinn from both sides. ¡°Cyclone Strike, Lunar Smite!¡± I shouted cleaving into the back of their right flank.
22 XP gained, 4 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 11 ether regained
Four imps went down right away with my attack. Enoch stabbed forward, his Wind Phalanx skill taking down another five of them. A skitterer¡¯s tail snapped forward like a scorpion with its stinger but I skidded back, blocking it on my shield and ramming the etheric section of my relic still affected by Lunar Smite through it. The etheric blade blinked out, but it had already bisected the fell insect, slipping into the gap of its carapace sections to the vulnerable flesh beneath.
12 XP gained; 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
We might also be fighting the djinn, but we were just as much enemies to them as the Mist imps to the fell beasts. ¡°Lunar Smite!¡± I said. My etheric blade swept forward and cut through the heads and torsos of three imps. They only came up to our thighs, so it was actually somewhat awkward to swing so low. But they were barely physical, so it was easy to disrupt the ether that kept them present in our world.
15 XP gained, 3 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 9 ether regained
Enoch blocked the stinger of a skitterer that pounced at him, knocking its blade-like limbs off his shield then stabbing down and taking it through the head. A bone tipped spear hit me in the gut and hot blood dripped out. The pain was intense, but I fought through it. ¡°Lunar Smite, Cyclone Strike!¡± I said. I whirled through the ranks of the imps taking out a further three.
16 XP gained, 3 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 7 ether regained
Only one imp remained and Enoch took it down. Of the six skitterers who had been in the fight at the start only three remained, one killed by me, Enoch and the djinn each. Lunar Smite ended and I activated it again. I slashed, and out the etheric blade sparked as it hit the carapace of the skitterer, sliding off. I slashed out again, aiming more carefully this time, and took off the head of one skitterer then cleaved into the other in one as it tried to rush me.
31 XP gained, 2 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Enoch lunged forwards as the last skitterer leapt towards me, his spear shooting forwards and taking in its belly. He pinned it to the ground and the skitterer screeched in pain before curling up and dying.
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Hunt, Moderate by killing all the djinn in the immediate area.
Reward: D grade Boots has been added to your inventory. 100 XP gained
Level Up! You have reached level 12! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
¡°Let''s grab these and run before any more of these things come after us,¡± I said. Enoch and I bent down and began harvesting the djinn.
15 Corruption absorbed by your Relic; 15 Corruption absorbed by our Core
We left the skitterers for last. We could absorb the corruption from them but their bodies would have to be carried if we wanted to take them back. I pulled out some cord from my pack and began tying the tails of them together. I plunged Achlys into each of them, pulling out the corruption from their core.
17 Corruption absorbed by your Relic; 17 Corruption absorbed by our Core
Slinging three of them over my shoulder while Enoch grabbed the other three, we left the Fog Land after quickly searching it for any other djinn. As we approached our horses they snorted, their nostrils flaring wide as they smelled the scent of skitterer blood, but they didn¡¯t bolt. We mounted up and rode back to Mistwall. Going into town, Enoch led me towards a trapper lodge where we could sell the skitterers. Laying them down on a table, the trapper inspected them. ¡°Good specimens,¡± he said. ¡°Weavers will pay good money for their carapace for making armor. I can give you three gold for each one.¡± That was more than I had thought we¡¯d get for them. ¡°They¡¯re really worth that much?¡± I asked. ¡°No one wants to tangle with their nests,¡± the trapper said. ¡°You can lure a few out sometimes, and get them without alerting their hive, but it¡¯s always risky. Their carapace is always in demand, so it sells fast. I can give you three gold every time if you want to bring in any more.¡± ¡°If we come across more, we¡¯ll be sure to bring them in,¡± Enoch said as we shook on the deal. Me and Enoch each got nine gold from the deal. We clasped wrists, looking up at the low hanging sun in the sky. ¡°I¡¯ll see you at class tomorrow,¡± Enoch said. ¡°See you then,¡± I said, and we parted ways. I headed back to my apartment. I needed to wipe off the sweat and blood of battle, and was looking forward to a hot meal.
Aranea The door opened as Cain entered. He looked weary, but his face split into a smile when he saw me. I gave him a hug, ignoring the smell of death that surrounded him. ¡°How was your day?¡± I asked. Cain¡¯s face soured somewhat. ¡°I¡¯ve had better,¡± he said. ¡°They had us duel this morning.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± I asked, confused. Wardens were all trained to duel. The stories of Warden¡¯s dueling each other were infamous, and I had heard many the minstrel sing of two Wardens fighting to the death over the love of a Weaver. ¡°I don¡¯t like dueling,¡± Cain said. ¡°My Relic just isn¡¯t suited for it. I lost all three of my duels and now I¡¯ve been assigned extra training.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what to say. Hearing that Cain didn¡¯t like dueling was like learning your horse didn¡¯t like the taste of apples. I just couldn¡¯t understand it. I pushed that aside; he just needed some encouragement and some successes to feel confident in fighting. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do better,¡± I said as I helped him out of his armor, noticing a hole in the stomach of his armor and shirt. I pulled it aside and revealed a pink scar where something had recently stabbed him. ¡°You got hurt!¡± I said, pulling off the silk shirt I had made for him. ¡°Just a lucky shot by a Mist Imp,¡± Cain said. ¡°I think this armor has seen the last of its use though, I got a new one from the Voice awhile back, but I¡¯ve been waiting to swap them out.¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t wait,¡± I scolded him. ¡°Your life is worth more than the repair cost or replacement of some armor. Promise me you¡¯ll never go into the Mist again unless you¡¯re wearing the best equipment you have.¡± Cain smiled. ¡°I promise.¡± He said, leaning in for a kiss. I swatted him away. ¡°Good, now go take a bath you stink.¡± He laughed but moved, kicking off his boots to leave by the door before entering our bathroom. The sound of running water was soon coming from it. Fifteen minutes later he emerged in a fresh pair of clothes. I was stitching up the hole in his shirt. I still had some silk thread left over and, when I was done, you could barely tell the shirt had ever been damaged. ¡°How was your first day?¡± Cain asked me. ¡°Good,¡± I said, feeling my cheeks redden. ¡°I got publicly praised by my teacher for my ability to purge corruption from my core; she said I¡¯m really fast. I¡¯m hoping to get even faster. I want to be the fastest in my classes¡¯ year.¡± ¡°I think you can do it,¡± Cain said. ¡°I¡¯ve watched you do it on the trail. If you can keep your concentration while on horseback then you have the focus you need.¡± ¡°We just went over the primaries after that, what about you? I heard training was short for everyone today,¡± I asked him as I finished mending his shirt. I took it over to the washbasin and started to plunge it into the soapy rinse and dragged it against the washboard. I pinned it up on the clothesline in the bathroom over the tub. ¡°Enoch and I went out and completed a quest,¡± he said. ¡°There was a farm in the southeast that had some imps coming out of the nearby fog land and we cleared it. We killed a few imps and some skitterers. I got about nine gold after I split it with Enoch from selling their corpses.¡± ¡°They¡¯re worth that much?¡± I asked, surprised. ¡°Apparently a lot of Weavers want their carapace,¡± he said, shrugging. ¡°I¡¯ll try to get you some of their carapace next time I come across one.¡± I wrinkled my nose. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how much I¡¯d like that; animal corpses aren¡¯t really my thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll clean it before I give it to you,¡± he said, rolling his eyes, a slight smile tugging at his mouth. I set out some dinner for us I¡¯d taken from the mess hall and kept warm on the stove. Cain dug in with the hunger of a starving wolf. I would have made us some tea, but it was too close to evening and we needed to get up early tomorrow for our training. Cain grabbed our dishes and started washing them while I slipped out of my day dress and set out my clothes for the next day. Cain pulled the shutters on the ether sun gems to cut out their light. I slid under the covers next to him, feeling the heat of his bare skin on mine. His lips met mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck as his hands caressed my skin, sending a shiver down my spine. Chapter 15: A Hero Discovered ¡°Dueling is the pastime of the Warden and the nobility. It is with the noble art of dueling that we may safely judge our peers¡¯ skills. The reason we do not allow the use of skills in our duels is to prove who is the better warrior, not merely whose Relic was blessed more by the Voice. Only savages dueling to the death use skills, and such activities are beneath the dignity of the civilized man.¡± - From the Art of Dueling by Sir Isaac Lee, 555 AB Noah- Tuesday, September 3nd, 564 AB ¡°Noah!¡± a voice called, snapping me from my thoughts. ¡°Yes?¡± I asked. Antreis, my manservant, sighed. ¡°I was asking if you wanted any sugar in your coffee?¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll take it black.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take mine with sugar,¡± Alexa, my personal Companion said, coming down the stairs, her red hair done in a long braid down her back. ¡°Very good mistress,¡± Antreis said, bowing to her, pouring both of us a glass in porcelain china cups. ¡°I¡¯ve heard your duel went well,¡± Alexa said. ¡°You didn¡¯t come back until after midnight or I would have asked you about it last night.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Some of my classmates wanted to go out drinking to celebrate.¡± Antreis tisked at me in disapproval. ¡°My prince, you shouldn¡¯t be seen engaging in that kind of public debauchery, you are a prince of the kingdom.¡± I sighed. ¡°I¡¯m the youngest son and a bastard, no one cares about my personal reputation.¡± ¡°Of that you are wrong,¡± Antreis said. ¡°Can¡¯t you talk some sense into him?¡± he asked Alexa. Alexa laid a hand on my arm. ¡°While I don¡¯t agree with Antreis¡¯ prudishness, you do have a greater responsibility than you make out. Your father legitimized you. Even if you are his youngest son, you are still his son.¡± I let out another sigh. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll try to live up to my station more. It was just a few drinks though, we weren¡¯t thrown out of the tavern we just left when it closed with everyone else.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Antreis said, dropping the subject. ¡°Will you be walking or using the carriage today?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just walk,¡± I said. ¡°The academy isn¡¯t that far away.¡± I finished my coffee and left the townhouse. I walked through the streets of Mistwall, nodding as people recognized me and stepped out of my way. I still had an hour before class and wandered the academy grounds meeting old friends. I spotted a flash of golden hair and smiled as I saw the girl who had bumped into me the other day sitting on a bench alongside two other girls as they worked on some embroidery together. My boots padded down the cobbled garden path. ¡°Hello,¡± I said as I bowed low before all three of them. ¡°I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ve met all of you yet. I am Noah Hastelburh.¡± The girls blushed, a response I was used to invoking. ¡°I am Deliah Jaisem,¡± the girl to the right with dark midnight black hair said, extending her hand for me. I took the hand and brushed my lips across the back of it. ¡°A pleasure to make your acquaintance,¡± I said with a smile. I looked at the girl on the far left, a brown-haired girl whose belly showed she was late into her pregnancy. ¡°I¡¯m Hannah Rineer,¡± she said nervously, extending her own hand, seeming unsure of the gesture. ¡°Delighted,¡± I said, turning to the girl in the middle. ¡°We met briefly yesterday, I¡¯m not sure if you remember.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Aranea said blushing. ¡°I don¡¯t think we gave our full names though, I¡¯m Aranea Le¡¯meer.¡± I took her hand, kissing the back of it. ¡°Well, I hope to be seeing all three of you more frequently, welcome to the academy.¡± I left the three girls as I headed towards the muster yard. The sweet smell of the girl¡¯s perfume had been intoxicating, but it was the golden-haired girl who fascinated me. I¡¯d met plenty of beautiful women, my father introducing me to many eligible young ladies, but Aranea was easily among the most beautiful I¡¯d ever met. Stepping into the Storm School I looked at the depictions of lighting along the walls and floor. My classmates all greeted me as I walked in. It wasn¡¯t just my birth that gave me this level of respect, but also my skill as a duelist. There was nothing quite like the thrill of the duel, and I¡¯d been training in it since I could walk. ¡°Noah,¡± Amberlant called out and I turned and saluted. ¡°At ease,¡± he said. ¡°You''re being assigned with Sergeant Acheron to teach dueling to the first years.¡± ¡°Can I ask why sir?¡± I asked, pushing back my irritation. ¡°Because you¡¯re the best student I have, hell you¡¯re the best student in the school,¡± Amberlant said. ¡°I can¡¯t teach you more than the tutors your father has given you. There is only one way to learn once you¡¯ve mastered something, and that is to teach it.¡± ¡°I would prefer to just practice what I know more if I can,¡± I said. ¡°Denied,¡± Amberlant said. ¡°You may be a prince but you¡¯re also a Warden. It¡¯s not just about what¡¯s best for you but what¡¯s best for the church.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. ¡°It will take place after twelve-bells in the northeast yard,¡± Amberlant said. I sighed, but went to my regular training. I headed into the spawn pit beneath the castle, a place reserved for second year students and above. A massive pit several hundred feet deep, a spiral staircase ran around its edge, wide enough for three Wardens to fight abreast on. Unharvested djinn corpses were thrown into the base of it. From there the corruption would merge, spawning more djinn from it. This was one of the few ways it was possible to farm the rarer types of relics like storm, fire, and sun. It was also a way for us to work on leveling up. We couldn¡¯t advance our armor here, after we killed a djinn we were required to throw them back into the spawn pit. Even with that conservation the spawn pits needed to be refreshed frequently to replenish the corruption absorbed on each kill. I watched from the top as younger Wardens fought in small groups as djinn climbed on the stairs or flew up the shaft. They were quickly killed but three or four djinn were spawning every minute. My class¡¯s turn came up and for the next hour we kept switching out, using up our ether then sitting down to recharge. After that we worked on starting to learn to use our skills without voice activation for an hour. Twelve bells rang and I sighed but headed over to the north-east yard. There were twenty students there in total and I saluted Sergeant Acheron. ¡°Noah Hastelburh, reporting to assist in teaching,¡± I said, hoping he¡¯d tell me to just leave. ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°Glad to see I didn¡¯t have to track you down. These boys are all warmed up already. They are all here for different reasons but I¡¯m assigning you to twelve of them in particular. They were the only ones who failed to win any of their duels.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. ¡°Attention!¡± Acheron shouted and the group of young pages snapped up straight. ¡°You¡¯re all here for one reason. You aren¡¯t up to the academy¡¯s standard of fighting. We¡¯re going to work on that today. Noah Hastelburh is the best duelist in the academy so he will be assisting me in whipping you all into shape.¡± ¡°We will start by seeing exactly what I¡¯m working with. Each of you pair up and get into a circle.¡± They all paired off quickly and were soon standing across from the other. ¡°Begin!¡± Acheron shouted. I watched as they started fighting. Most of their problems were evident to me at a glance, some were too timid, others too aggressive. Acheron pointed out the twelve I¡¯d be working with and I could see they were indeed the worst of the lot. One by one their duels ended and half of them stood with their shoulders slightly drooped, having lost another match. ¡°Again!¡± Acheron commanded. ¡°Pick someone different and pair up.¡± They fought again and I noticed some slight improvements from all except one Warden who wielded a dagger. Not a dagger, I corrected myself, a broken sword. He was too timid when he should be aggressive and didn¡¯t take advantage of openings when they presented themselves. ¡°So who is in the most need of work?¡± Acheron asked me. ¡°Him,¡± I said, pointing to the Warden I¡¯d been watching. Acheron nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s start working on him, Le¡¯meer! Get over here!¡± I turned my head in surprise when I heard the name as the Warden with the broken sword stepped forwards. He snapped to attention before us. ¡°Why is your performance so poor?¡± Acheron asked with harsh directness. ¡°My weapon isn¡¯t suited for dueling and I¡¯m still adjusting to using it in a duel,¡± he said. ¡°How long have you been practicing dueling?¡± I asked. ¡°I can see you¡¯re level twelve, so you¡¯ve been a Warden for a while at least.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been working on training with Sir Rineer and hunting djinn,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t like dueling.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t like dueling?¡± I asked, unable to believe my ears. A Warden who didn¡¯t like dueling was like a fish that didn¡¯t like water. This was what we did. For him to not like dueling was something I couldn¡¯t understand, there had to be something wrong with him. ¡°Well, you need to learn to at least meet our standards,¡± Acheron said, moving past what I considered the major issue. ¡°As it is, you are currently far beneath the minimum required for a Warden in this Academy.¡±
Cain ¡°Sorry sir,¡± I said, though inside I felt a bubbling anger. Of course, I wasn¡¯t doing well. I was using a dagger against people with spears and full-length swords; it was like everyone just ignored that. ¡°Does my criticism bother you?¡± Sergeant Acheron asked, somehow sensing my anger even though I pushed it down. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! ¡°No sir,¡± I said. ¡°Well it should,¡± he snapped his breath hot in my face. ¡°You will be here for quite some time until you improve. For the next hour I have with you today you will fight non-stop, and this will continue every day until you win at least one duel.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said, pushing down the anger inside me. I stepped into the circle and an opponent was chosen for me. Fight after fight I lost. I got in a few hits but I was never able to push them out of the ring or to beat them to the ground to get them to surrender. I could feel the judging eyes of my peers and pushed aside the growing frustration. The shame at my inadequacy weighed on me, and I was grateful when the hour was over and I was able to leave. Enoch and I rode out again but I wasn¡¯t in the mood for talking, my humor soured by the scores of defeats I had been put through. ¡°Was it that bad?¡± Enoch asked me. I sighed. ¡°I¡¯m never going to be a duelist; my weapon doesn¡¯t have the reach and I don¡¯t care enough about it. It¡¯s not why I became a Warden.¡± ¡°Why did you become a Warden then?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°To kill djinn and protect civilization,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the titles and fame other Wardens compete for, I¡¯m happy to live a simple life and do my duty.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t care about glory at all?¡± Enoch asked with some disbelief. ¡°I want to be like my father,¡± I said. ¡°Everyone knows my father. He¡¯s the hero of the war, but he never sought any of that out. He simply did his duty, circumstances put him in a situation where he was needed, and he acted upon it. Since then, my father has made no grand tours of the kingdom or accepted high stations.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of him in stories,¡± Enoch said. ¡°How he stood against a three-hundred Wardens and defended the pass from the Caswain army.¡± ¡°There were a hundred Wardens, and he only fought a duel with their prince,¡± I said. ¡°So duels are important,¡± Enoch said with a laugh. I let out another sigh. ¡°If I could do a real duel I¡¯d be fine, those let you use your skills. If I don¡¯t have my skills I¡¯m just a man with a dagger.¡± ¡°Just think of it as advanced training,¡± Enoch said. ¡°The more the odds are against you the better you¡¯ll get.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try to keep that mindset,¡± I agreed. We stopped at the edge of the next patch of fog land and dismounted. Removing our horses¡¯ bridles, we let them graze freely as we entered the Mist.
Quest
Type: Search Difficulty: Lethal
Search the Mist and find the Soul Forge to upgrade your interface.
Reward: Soul Anvil, 15,000 XP
Yes/No
I dismissed the quest, and we moved deeper in. The ground was rocky here as we entered the foothills next to the mountain. Most fog lands filled the cities of the old world, but the Mistwall Mountains were mostly free of those ruins except near its base and no one knew why so much of its slopes were covered in the etheric mist. Enoch and I climbed the ravines and gullies, and stopped as we heard a low snarling. Ducking down, we crawled up to the ledge of a cliff and looked over. The mouth of a cave jutted out, and a massive dog stood at its mouth fighting against a swarm of earth djinn. There were two dozen of them but they were all imps and beasts, none having evolved to soldier yet. ¡°Is that a dire wolf?¡± I whispered to Enoch, looking at the massive canine. ¡°No,¡± Enoch whispered back, shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s just a wild dire hound by the looks of it, I don¡¯t know why it¡¯s not running away.¡± ¡°I think it''s female,¡± I said. ¡°Probably protecting its pups.¡± ¡°Should we step in?¡± Enoch asked, but I could tell he was itching to help the dog. ¡°Our quest is to kill djinn,¡± I agreed. ¡°But remember, just cause it¡¯s a dog, don¡¯t forget it¡¯s also a wild fell beast.¡±
Quest
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Moderate
You have come across a group of djinn that endanger nearby humans with their presence. Exterminate them and purify their remains to ensure safety for nearby settlements.
Reward: D Grade Gloves, 100 XP
I accepted the quest and Enoch and I pushed off the ground, getting to our feet. We jumped down and hit the back ranks of the djinn. ¡°Lunar Smite, Cyclone Strike!¡± I said, spinning into their midst.
23 XP gained; 5 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 8 ether regained
My attack cut through five imps and I stepped forward with my Lunar Smite still active. Enoch¡¯s wind phalanx stabbed forwards, but it only killed four imps. Earth djinn were resistant to wind damage and a few imps and all the beasts it hit turned around, only partially damaged. I cut forward in a wide sweep, my extended etheric blade cutting out halfway through my slice.
19 XP gained; 5 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 8 ether regained
I cut through three imps and a single beast, then blocked the heavy swing of a foreleg on my shield. Not all the djinn had noticed us yet since they were still locked in combat with the dire hound, the pack''s attention split between us and the fell beast but the signal would soon spread through their ranks. ¡°Lunar Smite,¡± I said, reactivating my skill and slashing out as the djinn packed themselves around me. A heavy forelimb impacted my thigh but the leather guards the Voice had given me as quest reward helped to significantly reduce the damage dealt to me.
Type: Leg-Guards Grade: C
Reduces total damage taken by 35% when striking parts of your body covered by this armor.
Durability: 200/200
Another strike hit me on the back as the djinn mobbed me. I still felt the hit, but the new breastplate I¡¯d taken out of my inventory reduced this damage as well.
Type: Bark-skin Breastplate Grade: A
Reduces total damage taken by 65% when striking parts of your body covered by this armor.
Once every five minutes you can activate Bark-skin which will reduce all physical damage you receive by 50 for the next thirty seconds.
Durability: 500/500
¡°Bark-skin,¡± I said. The hits felt like nothing as they rained down on me and I started hacking out around me, reactivating Lunar Smite and Hurricane Strike. I cut into the djinn all around me and they dropped as I took out a dozen in a single second as I moved and spun through their ranks.
67 XP gained; 13 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 23 ether regained
I tried mentally activating Fog Form as the hits came at me, but I didn¡¯t even feel fear as the attacks came at me and did no damage, thanks to the bark-skin effect of my breastplate. Enoch stabbed with his spear as he pushed his way towards me, the djinn already reduced to a quarter of their numbers. I stabbed with my dagger and punched through the brown and grey mask of an earth imp. I got to the mouth of the cave and found the dire hound dead. Enoch joined me and we looked around at all the dead djinn. ¡°I guess we couldn¡¯t save it,¡± I said, looking down at the dead dire hound. A whimpering in the cave drew our attention and a single pup crawled forward. Its big eyes wide as it stumbled on paws far too big for its tiny body. My eyes adjusted and I could see the bodies of its litter, it appeared to be the single survivor. Enoch knelt down and the pup shied away from him. His hand darted out and he grabbed it by the scruff of its neck, holding it against his chest. Despite being only a puppy, the thing was already the size of a large hare. ¡°What should we do with it?¡± Enoch asked, stroking its head as it slowly calmed down. ¡°I can¡¯t keep it,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t think the academy would let me for one, and Aranea¡¯s and my apartment is too small for it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure if my father would let me keep it either,¡± Enoch admitted. ¡°It would likely be killed by anyone else.¡± ¡°Keep it for now and we¡¯ll figure it out later,¡± I said. I bent down and started the process of harvesting the djinn. Enock went around touching his spear to the corpses as he harvested his half. We didn¡¯t get anything besides monster cores off them, and we only harvested the corruption from the dire hound and her pups. The skin wasn¡¯t something either of us felt comfortable taking off a dog.
30 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 30 Corruption absorbed by our Core
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Hunt, Moderate, you have exterminated and cleansed the world of these djinn¡¯s corruption.
Reward: D grade gloves have been added to your inventory. 100 XP gained
We wandered the rest of the Mist, the hound¡¯s whining making me nervous he¡¯d give our position away if we came across something, but we scoured the rest of the fog land without encountering anything. We left the Mist and remounted our horses. They snorted at the scent of the dire hound pup, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as they had reacted to the skitterer corpses. We rode back to Rineer¡¯s homestead. Enoch carried the pup around back and put him in an empty chicken coop. He put a saddle blanket down and went inside, coming back with a slice of meat and a glass bottle filled with cream. Enoch cut up the meat and mixed it with the milk, putting it in a bowl in front of the puppy. It sniffed at it before tentatively taking a lick, then burying its face into the meat. ¡°I¡¯m glad it¡¯s old enough to start eating meat,¡± Enoch said. ¡°It looks like it¡¯s about five weeks old, but I can¡¯t be sure with its size.¡± ¡°Him, not it,¡± I said. ¡°What are you thinking of naming him?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t thought about it yet,¡± Enoch said, studying the puppy as it tore into its meal. It had rust red fur with black stripes along its flanks and legs. Its muzzle and ears were black and it had a white underbelly. It looked comical with its massive paws but they just showed how big the dog would get when it was full grown. It probably wasn¡¯t going to get to the size of a dire wolf but he hadn¡¯t been the runt of his litter. ¡°What about Tiger?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°It¡¯s a dog, not a cat,¡± I said. ¡°You might also want to give it a name that doesn¡¯t make it seem like more of a predator than it is. Dire hounds are allowed but you know how nervous people get about any fell beasts around humans.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Enoch agreed. ¡°He needs a name that conveys strength but nobility. Hero.¡± ¡°It sounds a lot friendlier,¡± I agreed. ¡°You hear that boy?¡± Enoch asked, ruffling the dog''s head. It growled while focusing intently on its meal. ¡°You¡¯re going to be a hero.¡±
Aranea I sat with Deliah and Hannah in the little group we¡¯d been forming. We were joined by several of Deliah¡¯s friends, Jasmine and Clara as well as a few of our classmates who had come to get some advice from her on purging the corruption from their system. ¡°I just didn¡¯t expect it to hurt so much,¡± Clara said. ¡°Didn¡¯t you go through pain endurance training?¡± I asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Clara agreed, but it wasn¡¯t anything in comparison. Just pricking with needles until I stopped flinching.¡± ¡°That''s it?¡± Deliah asked. ¡°What did you have to do?¡± Jasmine asked. ¡°My mother put me in a tub and would bring it to an almost boil while I was in it until I could stay in for three minutes,¡± Deliah said. ¡°The other girls and I had to sit on fire ant nests,¡± I said. ¡°Or hold our hands over the flame of a candle.¡± ¡°We had to walk over beds of coals at my convent,¡± Hanah said. Clara and Jasmine paled. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit barbaric?¡± Clara asked. ¡°It¡¯s necessary,¡± Deliah said. ¡°Your teachers didn¡¯t do you any favors by coddling you. The pain we felt doing that isn¡¯t even as bad as drawing corruption from our core, but at least it prepared us.¡± ¡°So, what do we do?¡± Jasmine asked dejectedly. ¡°You need to start acclimating yourself to the pain,¡± I said. ¡°Draw out the corruption from your core every day and push your limits. You can also practice some pain endurance lessons in your free time.¡± ¡°Are there even any fire ant nests around here?¡± Clara asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be that,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d probably start with just holding your hand above a candle flame until you can¡¯t take the pain before doing more.¡± I pushed the gambeson I was sewing into her basket and stood up. The other girls all gathered their things, and we walked down the garden path. I pulled my woolen shawl around my shoulders; the air was starting to get a bit chilly with the setting sun and the onset of autumn. We entered the warm halls of the castle, and I hugged Hannah goodbye as she headed back home outside of the Academy. I pushed open the door to our apartment and found Cain already there waiting for me. He pulled me into an embrace and then spun me around. My back pressed into his chest as he presented me with a bouquet of flowers. ¡°They¡¯re beautiful!¡± I said taking them and smelling the sweet floral scent. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like them, what are they?¡± ¡°They¡¯re called mist lilies,¡± Cain said. ¡°They only grow in the Mist and even then, can be pretty rare. I knew you¡¯d like them.¡± I went to the cupboard; I didn¡¯t have a vase but took out a pitcher and filled it with water from the pump at the sink. I placed the flowers on the table. I grabbed Cain again and hugged him tight, my head laying against his chest. ¡°How was your day today?¡± I asked him. ¡°Alright,¡± Cain said with a sigh. ¡°I had to go to extra training for dueling, I think the instructor and his assistant have it out for me.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s his assistant?¡± I asked. ¡°Prince Noah Hastelburh,¡± Cain said. ¡°Apparently he¡¯s the best duelist in the whole academy, he¡¯s won the dueling competitions for three years in a row.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a prince?¡± I asked, shocked. ¡°Yes,¡± Cain said, not noticing my shock. ¡°He¡¯s probably been tutored in dueling his whole life and I get the sense he doesn¡¯t like me.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything else as we sat down to eat. Cain took the dishes and washed them as I dried and put them back in the cupboards. ¡°Would you play for me again?¡± I asked. ¡°Sure,¡± Cain said and went to our bedroom bringing out his flute. I sat at the table, bringing out my basket and sewing as soft notes drifted from the ivory flute. It was dark outside the glass of our window and the air felt cold as I pulled off my dress and slipped naked under the covers. I shivered for a moment before Cain¡¯s body pressed against mine and heat filled and surrounded me. Chapter 16: The Children of War ¡°The relationship between humanity and the fell creatures has always been a strained one. There are prized dire steeds that are bred for combat to be ridden by noble Wardens, and dire hounds used for flushing creatures out of the Mist or bringing down other fell beasts. The meat of fell beasts can be eaten once purified, but its texture and taste are altered, and many do not like it because of this. So, the raising of fell cattle is seldom done, despite their size and the quantity of meat that can be butchered. There is also the matter of their increased aggression. While not as mindless as a rabid animal, the amount of corruption they can be allowed to consume must be managed, lest they evolve into a more deadly variant and savage their owner or some other human.¡± -From Domesticating Fell Beasts by Sir Tobias Midreen, 424 AB Aranea- Wednesday, September 4th, 564 AB ¡°All right class,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°Today we will begin on simple prevention wards. These are the fundamental wards that hold up civilization. Imagine the disaster we would face if an earth imp was able to spawn inside the cellar of someone¡¯s home inside the settlement walls. It is our job to prevent that by the creation and maintenance of these wards. There are different wards for each of the elements, but we will begin with the most common, earth.¡± ¡°Earth djinn are the second most likely to be encountered, but are the most likely to spawn near settlements,¡± Madam Layrora lectured, drawing a diagram on the blackboard at the front of the classroom. ¡°Who can tell me what is the most common type of djinn to spawn?¡± Everyone¡¯s hands went up, including mine. ¡°Candice,¡± Madam Layrora said to the girl in the second row. ¡°Mist djinn,¡± Candice replied confidently. ¡°And why is that?¡± Madam Layrora quizzed. ¡°Because we can¡¯t breathe the Mist or see into it, and so ether threads tangle inside it the most and can grow in strength before a Warden exterminates them,¡± Candice answered. ¡°But other types of djinn can spawn in the Mist, why don¡¯t they also come out in equal numbers?¡± Layrora asked. ¡°Because¡­¡± Candice faltered. ¡°There isn¡¯t as much of their type of ether in the Mist?¡± she said, but her answer was more of a question. ¡°No, anyone else?¡± Madam asked. ¡°I raised my hand, the number of hands was a lot fewer than last time. ¡°Aranea, your element is Mist, let me hear your answer,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°Because other djinn can¡¯t see inside the Mist either,¡± I replied. ¡°Unlike animals, or fell men, or beasts, djinn have the same limitations when it comes to sight as us. They cannot see through the Mist. When there aren¡¯t humans nearby, djinn fall into factions based on their etheric element. They will fight djinn of other elements, or fell beasts, in order to gain more corruption so they can evolve into higher tiers of djinn. Since they cannot see within the Mist, this gives the Mist djinn an advantage over them. If another type of djinn spawns in more numbers they can overcome this disadvantage, but it is rare for them to evolve past Jotunn.¡± The answer came straight from one of the many books in the academy¡¯s library. ¡°Correct,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°Back to the subject of wards. The only element you will not need to ward against spawning within a settlement is Mist. Despite being the most common type of djinn encountered, they only spawn within fog lands and we don¡¯t build settlements in them for obvious reasons.¡± ¡°There is a slate and chalk in the drawer of each of your desks. Take them out and copy the diagram here. I¡¯ll come around and inspect your work in five minutes, so begin now.¡± I started drawing the design, working for around four minutes before I set the chalk down and waited while the final minute passed until Madam Layrora inspected our work. She made corrections on everyone¡¯s diagram, including mine, and made us go again. We kept copying the design again and again for the rest of class. I wiped off my slate, putting it back in the drawer. We headed to lunch, I caught sight of Cain but he didn¡¯t see me before heading out the door. I was disappointed, but remembered he wasn¡¯t done with his training. He had an extra hour of dueling practice to do, and after that he¡¯d likely be heading off to hunt with Enoch again. I went to one of the kitchens where I grabbed some roasted quail and fresh bread along with steamed greens. I sat with Hannah, Deliah, and my other classmates as we ate and laughed together. I finished eating and went to the powder room, washing my hands and face before leaving and going to the library. I pulled out a book that was a collection of letters from two scholars debating different etheric theories and discussing the evidence for and against each of them. I finished reading it, having read the first half of it the other day. I walked over and put it on the shelf when I saw Prince Noah. He was sitting at a table, his boots propped up on it as he leaned back in his chair, a thick tome in his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t think you''re allowed to put your boots up on the table in here,¡± I said disapprovingly. ¡°No one¡¯s told me to put them down, I¡¯ll wait till someone does,¡± he responded, glancing up before turning his attention back to his book. ¡°Put them down,¡± I said. He smiled but dropped his feet back to the floor. ¡°I guess I set myself up for that one. A pleasure to make your acquaintance again.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me you were a prince when we first met,¡± I said. ¡°You didn¡¯t ask,¡± Noah said with a shrug. ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me you were married.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t ask either,¡± I said. ¡°Besides it is expected for me to be married, it¡¯s not expected for someone to be a prince.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair, although we¡¯ll have to disagree about the marriage thing. Those backwards traditions are slowly becoming more and more a thing of the past,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re what, sixteen?¡± ¡°Seventeen,¡± I said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be a Weaver if I was sixteen, it isn¡¯t allowed.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised,¡± Noah said. ¡°Besides there''s hardly a difference. You were married off to some man you never met with no say in the matter on your part. If my father could get around the Church that kind of practice wouldn¡¯t be permitted anymore.¡± ¡°And your way of life is better?¡± Aranea asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard about the whores you use instead of committing to one woman.¡± ¡°Companions,¡± Noah said sternly, his voice hardening. ¡°I won¡¯t hear you disrespect them; they are Weaver¡¯s just like you and deserve respect just like anyone else.¡± Aranea bit back a response to that, it was unkind and didn¡¯t bear speaking. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but we will have to disagree on this. A Weaver and Warden should bond for life, not bounce from partner to partner like beasts in heat.¡± ¡°Well, I hope you¡¯re as happy in the decisions of others years from now as you are now,¡± Noah said, going back to his book. ¡°What are you studying?¡± I asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t think Wardens had much interest in books, you¡¯re all practical applications.¡± ¡°There is much to learn here,¡± Noah said. ¡°And as you¡¯ve discovered, I¡¯m not just a Warden. I¡¯m a prince, I need to understand much more than the common Warden if I¡¯m to be of service to my father. Right now, I¡¯m reading on the conflict that lead to the war between us and Carsway.¡± ¡°I thought it was just caused by one of their nobles claiming land in our territory and seizing it,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s only the most basic explanation for it,¡± Noah said. ¡°There was much more than that building up to it, trade disputes, broken marriage contracts between various noble families and greed from certain individuals all played their parts. What about you? What brings you to the library in the middle of the day?¡± ¡°I¡¯m researching ether,¡± I said. ¡°I want to better understand it to help with the creation of my wards.¡± Noah stood up and walked over to a bookshelf. Reaching far higher than I could, he pulled down a heavy tome and handed it over to me. ¡°This technically shouldn¡¯t even be here, and would normally be restricted to third year students but¡­ well let¡¯s just say I¡¯m about a person¡¯s right to choose their own path,¡± he said. I knew what he meant by this, still arguing our previous disagreement about Companions, but I took the book anyway. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, flipping it open and looking at the various diagrams within. ¡°You¡¯re welcome,¡± Noah said, standing up. ¡°Now if you¡¯ll excuse me I need to go do some of that ¡®practical application¡¯ you were talking about earlier.¡± He winked, and I blushed, his words somehow implying something very different from what I had intended them for. --- Cain Enoch and I hit the road again, Hero riding on Enoch¡¯s saddle. Rineer had insisted that if Enoch was to keep it, he had to take it with him and train it to behave properly. The puppy now seemed much less timid than it had just the day before, which was both a blessing and a curse. It kept trying to jump off the saddle and chase after things. We dismounted and Enoch clipped a leather lead to a collar around the hound¡¯s neck. It strained at its leash, and I had to smile at Enoch¡¯s exasperation. ¡°You¡¯re the one that wanted to keep it,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m starting to have second thoughts,¡± Enoch said as he wrapped the leash around his left wrist. ¡°He¡¯s going to alert every fell beast and djinn for a mile of where we are before we even step into the Mist.¡± ¡°Maybe we can use that,¡± I said. ¡°Draw them in and save us some time hunting them all down.¡± ¡°We¡¯re Mist Wardens, stealth is what we¡¯re good at,¡± Enoch said. ¡°Not full-frontal attacks, we take our opponents down from behind before they even know we¡¯re there.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°And that¡¯s why we¡¯re looked down on,¡± I said darkly. ¡°You''re still sore about training?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°I know dueling isn¡¯t your thing but is it really that bad?¡± ¡°I got screamed at for five minutes for being too much of a backstabbing woodsman and not enough of a knight,¡± I said. ¡°Even the Master of our school thinks like that, ¡®A Warden faces his foes head on and does not skulk cowardly in the shadows¡¯.¡± I said, my voice changing as I quoted Lord Scarisen. Enoch laughed. ¡°My father got a good laugh out of that, apparently three of Lord Scarisen¡¯s abilities revolve around creating and using shadows.¡± ¡°I wish your father was the Master of the Mist school,¡± I said, trudging forwards. ¡°Maybe then we¡¯d actually all learn something useful.¡± Enoch shook his head. ¡°It would never happen. Sir Valren is a good man but he¡¯s only been the head of the academy for a few years. The crown decides who is in charge and my father is just a simple soldier who became a Warden, he¡¯d never be appointed. Lord Scarisen is just a traditionalist. He was raised and trained by other Wardens who just don¡¯t deal with the stuff we have to on a daily basis.¡± ¡°But it seems like Lord Scarisen¡¯s teachings are going to get some of our classmates killed,¡± I said, stepping into the Mist.
Quest
Type: Search Difficulty: Lethal
Search the Mist and find the Soul Forge to upgrade your interface.
Reward: Soul Anvil, 15,000 XP
Yes/No
I dismissed the quest and kept on walking. ¡°What happens when someone does what he¡¯s saying and charges a pack of djinn head on? We aren¡¯t Earth Wardens, we don¡¯t have the defensive skills to take those kind of hits and we don¡¯t have the area effect skills of a Storm Warden to take them all out in one attack. Or even the sustained healing of a Sun Warden to endure them, or the devastating attacks of a Fire Warden.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll figure it out,¡± Enoch said. ¡°That¡¯s why we always work in pairs. They¡¯lll soon learn which parts of Lord Scarisen¡¯s lessons are important, and which are just valorous fantasy.¡± We entered a marsh section of forest, and it reminded me of where I had fought and killed the fell men. Hero started growling and snapping at the end of his leash. Enoch pulled him back, but I looked towards where his nose was pointing. ¡°Ghost Walk,¡± I said, and the noise from Hero cut off. I crouched and moved forwards behind a large rock next to the water¡¯s edge, readying myself. A djinn made of swirling water and bits of ice burst from under the surface. The djinn¡¯s face mask and plating was a pale blue with white marbling. It didn¡¯t have legs, just a long tail made of water. Its two arms were very different, one made of dark waters ending in a four fingered clawed hand, the other clad in sharp spikes of ice ending in a sharp jagged spike of ice. I sprang up behind the water imp and drove my dagger through the back of its head, shattering its face plate. It collapsed in a spray of water, a muddy mass all that it left behind.
17 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 8 ether regained
¡°I guess the dog is good for something,¡± I said, kneeling down. Hero tried to lunge for and dig into the djinn¡¯s corpse but Enoch yanked him back. ¡°No!¡± he snapped. ¡°Bad dog! Those are not for eating.¡± Hero whined and stared at the pile of mud longingly. I put my dagger into it, absorbing the corruption within before the dog could be tempted further.
1 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 1 Corruption absorbed by our Core
¡°You¡¯re going to have to teach him not to eat djinn,¡± I said. ¡°If he starts absorbing lots of corruption he¡¯ll have to be put down, no matter what your father or you say.¡± ¡°How do you suggest I do that?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°You might have to put a djinn body where he can get access to it,¡± I said. ¡°Something like an imp or a beast, and punish him every time he tries to eat it. Maybe lace it with something that will make him sick but not kill him so he associates eating djinn with getting poisoned.¡± ¡°Not a bad plan, but having a djinn corpse just lying around where it might spawn another one could prove problematic,¡± Enoch said. ¡°You¡¯re the one who has to train him, I¡¯m just giving a suggestion,¡± I said, wiping my dagger clean on my breaches. ¡°Let¡¯s go, our report talked about mist djinn being spotted, not water djinn.¡± We kept moving, Hero rushing around sniffing and pulling at his lead. Enoch kept a tight hold on him as he tried getting the puppy to learn to heel. I moved silently off to the side of them. If we were attacked I¡¯d be able to ambush our attackers while they were distracted by Hero and Enoch. I stopped, bending down and motioning for Enoch to come over. I pointed to what I had seen. Snapped twigs and disturbed undergrowth. It could have been caused by animals but it was in a wide path so, unless an especially clumsy group of deer had come through here, that wasn¡¯t likely. Based on the height, most of said creatures would come at most up to my waist so we had likely come across the tracks of the djinn we were hunting. The tracks faded to the point where my limited woodsman skills weren¡¯t able to keep following them. Hero on the other hand eagerly started snuffling along the ground. I looked at Enoch and shrugged. He was a fell beast and it was expected he¡¯d be eager to hunt down some djinn. We followed after the dire hound pup as it tugged on the leash, heading deeper into the Mist. This was just a small patch of fog land, not even connected to the rest of the Mist Wall. Rineer didn¡¯t want us entering the more dangerous fog lands until we were a higher level and more experienced. For now we¡¯d handle these smaller, unconnected sections that were only a mile or two in width. It was still a massive area in total to clear of threats. Hero started barking and Enoch knelt down to hold his muzzle shut. ¡°Sshh,¡± he hushed him. ¡°Ghost Walk,¡± I said, silencing both Hero and Enoch with my presence. We moved forward quickly, breaking through the Mist and swampy forest into open day. Fields of wheat lay a half-mile away and we increased our pace. If the djinn had left the Mist, there would be only one place they were heading. I used Hurricane Step to travel two hundred feet forward in a single second to the top of a hill and spotted movement in the stalks of wheat from my vantage. I teleported forwards again. I rammed Achlys through the back of a startled beast and the djinn all stopped moving. They turned, the jaws of their masks clacking together as they rushed me. I turned and ran, leading them away, back towards Enoch and Hero. I broke through the wheat and realized with grim humor that I was about to do what Enoch and I had just said was a bad idea for Mist Wardens, face a horde of djinn head on.
Quest
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Moderate
You have encountered a group of djinn very close to civilization, exterminate them before they kill any humans.
Reward: D grade bracers, 100 XP
Hero crested the hill, barking as he and Enoch raced down, and I turned and slashed out behind me. ¡°Lunar Smite! Cyclone Strike!¡± I said. My sudden reversal of direction took some of the djinn off guard and cut into their front ranks, slicing through the first three djinn in the onrush.
16 XP gained, 3 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 11 ether regained
A spear thrust forwards and dug into my thigh. ¡°Bark-skin,¡± I said, grimacing as I activated my armor¡¯s ability. Two more djinn spears struck me but they only grazed my skin this time. Enoch lunged forwards and snarled the words for his Wind Phalanx, spearing through five djinn as they lunged forwards. Hero bowled over a Mist Imp and began ripping into it with his tiny teeth. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said, and appeared behind their back ranks. ¡°Lunar Smite, Cyclone Strike!¡±
31 XP gained, 5 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 19 ether regained
I cut through five imps but this was the largest group of djinn Enoch and I had ever faced and thirty of them still remained. Enoch blocked a spear thrust meant for Hero and his skills lashed out, pushing back the djinn and spearing into them with ether lances. A blinding flash of silver light made the djinn and me flinch. The djinn in front me turned to face me and threw their spears, the bone like tips hitting against my armor and flesh. Pin pricks of blood appeared wherever they struck unarmored flesh, but the bark-skin effect let me tank the hits of these minor djinn. They started to move around me, dodging back as I slashed out, no longer taken by surprise. ¡°Hurricane strike, Lunar Smite,¡± I said and charged through their midst, moving like the blade of a sawmill, faster than they could move out of the way. I cut through a score of them even as spears continued to hit me and, even with the major reduction to their damage, I saw my health drop by a tenth.
73 XP gained, 14 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 31 ether regained
Enoch and Hero stood their ground, splitting the djinn¡¯s attention. Spears of wind stabbed out as he and the hound were quickly surrounded. A spear jabbed into Hero¡¯s flank and the hound yelped in pain. I was back next to them and slashed down with my dagger into the imp¡¯s back, turning it to a pile of leaves and bone.
5 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 1 ether regained
A mist beast rammed its spear forward with all its strength into my lower back, digging into my skin and punching through. I whirled around and rammed my sword through its mask, shattering it and reducing it to another pile of mulch and yellowed white bone fragments.
12 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 3 ether regained
There were so many weak djinn to kill that my ether was easily recharged with each kill. It wouldn¡¯t be until I went after higher tier djinn that didn¡¯t go down in single attacks that my ether maximum would be drained at the end of fights. ¡°Cyclone Strike, Lunar Smite!¡± I shouted spamming my skills again. I spun back through the ranks of djinn, taking down another dozen as more spears stabbed into me.
53 XP gained, 11 Corruption absorbed into your Core, ether regained
Enoch swept forwards, mopping up the djinn remaining, Hero savaging several before being hauled off their corpses as he tried to dig into them. ¡°No! Bad dog!¡± Enoch said, swatting his muzzle. I breathed heavily and looked at the blood soaking mine and Enoch¡¯s clothes. ¡°Celestial Healing,¡± I said putting a hand on my back and the wounds across my body closed up and my hit points recovered from the damage I had just taken. I healed Enoch and then scratched Hero¡¯s ears before healing the wound he¡¯d taken. He licked my hand and I smiled, thumping his chest lightly.
Hero ¨C Fell Beast (Dire Hound) ¨C Undefined ¨C Level 3
¡°He got two levels out of that fight,¡± I said. ¡°He only killed three djinn,¡± Enoch said. ¡°He must have already been close to level two.¡± ¡°We should have invited him into our party,¡± I said. ¡°You can do that?¡± Enoch asked, surprised. I shrugged. ¡°I think so, I¡¯ve heard the stories of Wardens inviting their horses into their parties so why not a dog?¡± Enoch and I focused on Hero and I saw a flash in my vision as a new icon appeared underneath Aranea and Enoch¡¯s name. ¡°There, now he¡¯ll get the same experience as us as long as he gets a bite in on the djinn,¡± I said, scratching the hound¡¯s head and distracting him from the djinn¡¯s bodies he was eyeing. ¡°And, we won¡¯t accidentally kill him with one of our skills.¡± ¡°We still need to go through fog land one more time to make sure this was all of them,¡± Enoch said. ¡°Though I don¡¯t imagine someplace that small would have many more.¡± ¡°First, we need to absorb these,¡± I said, looking at the mist djinn. ¡°I¡¯m glad they¡¯re mist djinn. I don¡¯t think we could handle harvesting them on our own if they weren¡¯t.¡± Enoch staked Hero¡¯s leash a ways uphill, away from the bodies of the djinn as he and I harvested them.
55 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 55 Corruption absorbed by our Core
Even with them being Mist djinn it ended up being a near thing, and my core burned. I opened up my character sheet and winced. I was at ninety-two out of ninety-four. I resolved to be more cautious during harvesting in the future. I checked over my skills but, disappointingly, none of them had evolved again yet.
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Hunt, Moderate and exterminated the group of djinn before they could harm any humans.
Reward: D grade bracers has been added to your inventory. 100 XP gained
We got three ether gems from the djinn, two beast and one imp, and the usual djinn dust and monster cores that were put in the currency tab of our inventory. Picking up Hero¡¯s lead again, we headed back into the Mist. We skirted around the edge of the skitterer nest but once again didn¡¯t encounter any other djinn within it. We mounted up again and rode back to Mistwall. Enoch and I clasped wrists before we parted ways. ¡°See you tomorrow,¡± Enoch said. ¡°See you tomorrow,¡± I agreed, and we parted at the fork in the road as I rode into town and he diverted to his family¡¯s homestead. Chapter 17: Burning Arrows ¡°We have also learned to create ranged weapons for Wardens since Relics are melee and skills rarely offer any ranged attacks. These weapons can be powered directly by a Warden¡¯s core and allow for a variety of effects such as the thunder-musket¡¯s ability to shoot bolts of lightning or bows that charge their arrows with fire ether, so they explode on impact. These pseudo-skills are not as effective as those given by a Relic, but they do allow for ranged options and surprise attacks, or use in a firing line atop a wall.¡± - From Kiedra Mithradati¡¯s introductory to Wards and Enchanting, 532 AB Cain- Thursday, September 5th, 564 AB I stood in the hall of the Mist school with the rest of the first-year students as our instructors lined us up. ¡°Today you will be given an etheric ranged weapon crafted by the various crafters of our academy,¡± Lord Scarisen said. ¡°If you already have one that¡¯s fine but if not, you will be assigned one. These weapons are yours to care for, not to keep, if you lose them, you will be expected to reimburse the school for their loss and since each of these weapons is constructed with a demon ether gem that is not a cheap price.¡± ¡°There are not enough of each weapon for you all to have your pick so you will cast lots to see which of you gets first pick.¡± Our instructors came by with a fistful of sticks in each hand. I drew a stick and smiled as I saw it was fairly long. Not the longest I saw drawn, but still putting me ahead. Enoch had drawn a straw a little longer than me and we went up together to the tables with weapons on them. There were ether-muskets, blunderbusses, pistols, crossbows, longbows and recurve bows on display. Each of them was tagged with the type of ether gem powering them. Not all ether gems were useful in weapons but nearly all could be used to power one in some way. Just like with relics, the royal trio were the favorite. Enoch picked up a musket powered by a storm gem. I reached out to grab an identical one but paused, the memory of a lightning filled sky and a burning house filling my vision. My hand moved to the side and I picked up a recurve bow set with a fire gem. I went to stand with Enoch as we waited for everyone else to go through and pick up their own weapons. ¡°Now we will go through training you to charge your weapons and maintain them,¡± Lord Scarisen said. ¡°I expect these weapons to be returned in the exact manner you have them now.¡± We exited the school out into a section of the muster yard reserved for ranged weapon practice. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Rineer was the trainer for the group Enoch and I were in. ¡°Ether weapons are a crude attempt to replicate Relics,¡± Rineer said. ¡°You will find somewhere on their handle an interface rune. When you touch this you¡¯re going to feel a tugging sensation. This is the enchantments on the weapon trying to draw ether out of your core.¡± ¡°How much ether?¡± one of my classmates, a blonde-haired boy named John asked. ¡°That¡¯s where their inferiority comes in,¡± Rineer said, pulling a longbow off his back. ¡°A single shot from one of these will take at least fifteen ether.¡± He released a shot that hit the target, burying itself deep in it before exploding in a blast of fire. We all winced at that. That was over a tenth of my ether maximum right there, and it wouldn¡¯t be different for almost anyone else here. Even as my level went up, that cost would still be a heavy price; we weren¡¯t women who had a massive ether pool and had to rely on our physical prowess a lot more than the ability to constantly spam abilities. ¡°However,¡± Rineer continued, drawing back another arrow to his ear and holding it there for a lot longer this time. ¡°This is where flexibility comes in, you can also feed it a lot more than just fifteen points of ether.¡± When he released the arrow this time a trail of smoke followed after it. As soon as it hit the target it exploded in a massive ball of fire, obliterating the target entirely. ¡°You can use this to get a powerful sneak attack off against a higher tier djinn before it even knows you¡¯re there,¡± Rineer said. ¡°Isn¡¯t that dishonorable?¡± Kyle, another of my classmates, asked. ¡°Djinn don¡¯t care about your honor,¡± Rineer said. ¡°They gut you whether you''re the bravest man alive or a sniveling coward. Better to stab your opponent in the back and lie to the poets later than get speared through the chest and have someone tell your wife how brave you were in your final moments.¡± There were no follow up questions about honor directed at Rineer. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s have you all start practicing. No point in me standing here yapping at you all day,¡± Rineer barked. ¡°All of you line up and pick your targets. You¡¯ve all used weapons like these before I¡¯m sure, so let¡¯s see how good a shot you are.¡± I drew back an arrow and felt the tugging sensation in my pointer finger. I pushed at the ether in my core, it responded and I felt ether leave my core. It was similar to how it felt to use a skill, if more alien. I released the arrow on Rineer¡¯s command. There was the rumble of thunder next to me as the musket in Enoch¡¯s hand bucked, and a bolt of lightning shot out of it. I flinched next to him but pushed aside the fear and memories, refusing to let them take hold. I drew back and loosed another arrow, again and again until my core went dry. Try as I might, my mind kept drifting back to the past. I was only brought out of it as I felt a pain in my core when I tried to draw out ether it didn¡¯t have. I let my bow drop my side. ¡°Well done,¡± Rineer said. ¡°You have all bravely annihilated the stationary targets we set up for you. Now get out there. Use and don¡¯t lose them, and try not to make them blow up in your face.¡± I would have liked to just go out with Enoch and practice with the bow on some djinn but unfortunately, I had my mandatory hour of humiliating defeats to endure. I trudged off like a prisoner sentenced to his execution as the bells tolled, signaling the end of the day¡¯s training period.
Aranea We were copying the same ward again today, drawing it on the slate over and over again. I got a bit bored and pulled out my personal journal, looking over the ward¡¯s I had copied from the advanced tome the other day. I quickly closed it as Madam Layrora walked over, examining my slate. ¡°Perfect,¡± she said for the fifth time. ¡°Erase it and do it again from memory.¡± I bit back the sigh I felt and did it. I¡¯d already perfectly copied it without looking up to examine the design on the blackboard and wanted to move on, but most of the class were still working on perfecting it. I quickly drew it again before opening my journal again to examine the more advanced wards and enchantments. The ward we were making now was only a few lines, the ones in the advanced book were worlds apart. We got wards in two ways. Experimentation, or the Voice rewarding diagrams in Quests. The wards in the advanced book were so complex that they could only be the result of rewards for difficult quests from the Voice. Their effects weren¡¯t simple things like the ward we had now to keep earth djinn from spawning, instead they did things like made djinn afraid to approach, or caused a burst of fire to flare up if a creature walked over them. ¡°Are you paying attention?¡± Madam Layrora asked behind me, making me jump. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± I said, closing my journal again. I left it closed for the rest of class as I waited while my peers finally mastered drawing the basic ward. Madam Layrora brought out willow boughs, shears, and twine and started having us bend and twist them into shape to create the wards. Hannah and I already had practice doing this with the ether catchers we¡¯d made with her mother-in-law, and I quickly bent and tied three boughs into the shapes required to shape the ward. I set it down and waited for Madam Layrora to come along and inspect it. ¡°Well done,¡± she said, examining it. ¡°Your knots are different than I would have tied them but that is more a matter of style than necessity. As long as they hold, they will function, but make sure to tie them in a way where you can untie them if you need to make an adjustment later on.¡± I nodded, taking in her instruction. My knots were all tight and would be much easier to just cut through than untie. I made another, and another, Madam Layrora examined them and congratulated me each time. I had made a total of six, the most of my entire class, before the end of our training. We went to lunch and I sat down with my usual classmates. ¡°What are you doing after lunch?¡± Deliah asked me. ¡°I¡¯m going to the library again,¡± I said. There were still many wards I hadn¡¯t copied into my journal yet. I wanted to get them all copied in case some librarian discovered the book and moved it to somewhere where I wouldn¡¯t have access to it. ¡°After that, I need to start threading the corruption out of my core,¡± I said. ¡°Cain¡¯s core was almost completely full last night from the mist he and Enoch were hunting.¡± ¡°Enoch is your husband, right?¡± Clara asked Hannah. ¡°Yes,¡± Hannah said. ¡°My father-in-law has been training him and Cain for the past few weeks, it¡¯s how I met Aranea.¡± ¡°He¡¯s giving them dueling lessons?¡± Deliah asked. ¡°No,¡± Hannah said. ¡°They¡¯re working on using their skills without speaking.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Jasmine asked. ¡°They¡¯ll naturally unlock the ability to do that after a few years.¡± ¡°He believes it¡¯s more important than just training for combat,¡± Hannah said. ¡°I don¡¯t really understand the reason behind it either, but I don¡¯t have a Relic.¡± ¡°Seems like a foolish waste of time,¡± Deliah said. ¡°What good is it to be able to use your skills without speaking if your opponent is better with his blade than yours?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve actually made some progress already,¡± I said, feeling the need to come to Cain¡¯s defense. ¡°Cain and Enoch can already summon their weapons to their hands from across a field.¡± ¡°That¡¯s impressive,¡± Clara said, trying to brighten the conversation. ¡°They usually don¡¯t train you how to do that until your second year.¡± ¡°Because it¡¯s not necessary,¡± Deliah said. ¡°What advantage does it give them that can¡¯t be bested with better combat technique. My father is one of the best duelists in the land and he still can¡¯t do his last two abilities without speaking out loud.¡± I wanted to say something, but I didn¡¯t have an argument of my own to counter her with. The conversation lapsed into silence before Clara asked a mundane question to Jasmine and we left the awkwardness behind us. I left to go to the library where I pulled out the tome again. Taking out a quill and ink, I started copying them. I sprinkled fine sand over the pages to keep the ink from smearing. There was a thud and I looked up to see Noah sitting across from me, another book in his hands. ¡°Still looking over that tome?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°Still reading about the Caswain War?¡± ¡°You know they call it the Emmerian war,¡± he said. ¡°But no, I¡¯m reading a military analysis of the first war against the Warlocks.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think we had accurate histories of that time,¡± I said. ¡°We don¡¯t,¡± Noah agreed. ¡°It¡¯s mostly speculation based on oral accounts passed down.¡± ¡°Then why read it?¡± I asked. ¡°Because understanding the thinking of those men is valuable,¡± Noah said. ¡°They didn¡¯t know what a Warlock was yet, but the Voice warned them. It gave them quests to kill those men but they ignored it and let them get powerful. That kind of hubris still exists today, people are always trying to tame corruption instead of exterminating it.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that experimentation valuable?¡± I asked. ¡°What if it leads to a way to purify a fell man of corruption. Isn¡¯t that worth the risk?¡± ¡°Maybe, but the morality of those experiments is always questionable. And that¡¯s not to mention the dangers implicit in it,¡± Noah said. ¡°There are too many stories of a pet fell beast evolving and then mauling one of its owner¡¯s children. Is the possibility of a cure worth the lives of those children?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s not,¡± I said. ¡°Well not all see it that way,¡± Noah said, turning back to his book.
Cain We dismounted, and Hero strained against his leash before being pulled back. ¡°Heel,¡± Enoch ordered. Hero didn¡¯t listen right away but Enoch hauled at his leash and snapped his fingers by his side. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Heel,¡± he said again. Hero bounded over and started running in little circles. We started moving and I passed into the Mist.
Quest
Type: Search Difficulty: Lethal
Search the Mist and find the Soul Forge to upgrade your interface.
Reward: Soul Anvil, 15,000 XP
Yes/No
I dismissed the forbidden quest and we walked into the mostly pine forest. The occasional twig would snap under our feet but Enoch and I were trying to follow Rineer¡¯s lessons about moving unseen through woods. This was made impossible due to the enthusiasm of a very energetic puppy. I moved off to the side again and stayed low as we scoured the undergrowth. Hero¡¯s yipping carried through the air and any djinn within hearing distance would be headed our way. We moved deeper in and I saw a flash of white. I froze, nocking an arrow and waiting. Three mist soldiers were moving forward, also crouched low as they stalked towards Enoch and Hero. There were a few dozen beasts and imps following after them.
Quest
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Moderate
A group of strong djinn are gathering strength in the Mist, exterminate them before they get stronger.
Reward: D grade Cloak, 100 XP
Yes/No
I accepted the quest. ¡°Ghost Walk,¡± I whispered. The string of my bow was drawn back to my ear as I sighted along the shaft of my arrow. I felt the pull of the bow and fed it almost thirty ether. I released the shot and the arrow plunged into the smoke-filled ribcage of the lead soldier then exploded in a gout of fire.
39 XP gained
The djinn broke stealth and charged forwards towards Enoch but the fire had alerted him of their location and he shouldered his musket, a blast of lightning bursting forth. I flinched, but moved forwards, drawing another arrow. The blast of lightning connected with the lead soldier djinn as it lunged towards him spear first. It collapsed on the ground but wasn¡¯t dead yet and Hero set upon it, his sharp puppy teeth digging into the back of its neck. The soldier djinn was so low on health that it crumpled to a pile of bone, moss and leaves beneath Hero. Four more soldiers emerged from the trees headed straight for Enoch.
Quest Updated
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Hard
A group of strong djinn are gathering strength in the Mist, exterminate them before they get stronger.
Reward: C grade Cloak, 150 XP
The threat was increasing as djinn neither of us had seen appeared and popped up on our mini map. I powered another shot and released another arrow for twenty-five ether. My arrow struck another soldier in the chest, exploding on impact and taking it down in another gout of fire.
42 XP gained
I quickly drew and charged a third shot as the djinn split, searching the undergrowth for my location while the others continued towards Hero and Enoch. My next arrow took a soldier djinn in its mask from only thirty feet away.
45 XP gained
I hung my bow on a tree limb and drew Achlys from where it was sheathed on my shield. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said teleporting forward into the back line of the imps and beasts. I slashed out with Achlys. ¡°Lunar Smite, Hurricane Strike!¡± I spun through the first ranks wiping out ten of the imps and beasts in a single second.
71 XP gained, 10 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 31 ether regained
A soldier blurred as it activated one of its skills, phasing through Enoch¡¯s spear and appearing behind him driving its spear forwards. Enoch shouted in pain as the spear drove through the metal and leather of his ring mail. He activated a repelling blast of wind that pushed back all the djinn in a ten foot radius around them tangling them with each other. Another soldier moved up, activating an ability and thrusting three doppelganger spears at me at once. ¡°Fog form,¡± I snapped out and the spears all passed through me harmlessly. ¡°Lunar Smite!¡± I retaliated and struck out at the soldier, cleaving through one of its three arms. I ducked back as it stabbed back at me with its spear and the etheric length of my weapon vanished. Jumping in I stabbed up into its chest and it collapsed to the ground as leaves and bone.
50 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 21 ether regained
I rushed towards Enoch as he was being swarmed, ignoring the pounding in my chest. ¡°Lunar Smite, Hurricane Strike!¡± I shouted to activate my abilities and draw focus away from him and Hero. Like a child¡¯s top I spun across the ground, moving forward through the ranks of child sized imps and beasts. Leaves and bits of bone scattered across the ground as I mowed through the lesser djinn reaching the piles of foliage Enoch had built up.
66 XP gained, 12 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 28 ether regained
He ducked and dodged, Hero darting in and out from under his legs snapping at the djinn attacking him. I reached out and grabbed Enoch by the shoulder. ¡°Celestial Healing,¡± I said, fixing the damage he¡¯d taken from the soldier and the other minor attacks from the imps and beasts. ¡°Behind you!¡± Enoch shouted, pushing me away. I rolled as a bone white spear from a soldier thrust into the space I had been. Enoch caught the spear on his shield. He lashed out with a Wind Phalanx killing at least eight lesser djinn with a single use of the skill. I rolled to my feet. ¡°Bark-skin,¡± I said and rushed back into the fight. A slash of my dagger cracked the mask of a beast, sending it to the ground in a shower of leaves.
11 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 6 ether regained
A spear from a beast stabbed into my stomach, but it only pierced a half-inch through the skin after tearing the fabric underneath. Two soldiers charged me and the lesser djinn around me crowded around, pinning me with the press of their spears. I froze in indecision for just a moment. Enoch crashed into the two soldiers with his shield. ¡°Move!¡± he shouted at me. His words broke me from my panicked indecision. ¡°Cyclone Strike, Lunar Smite!¡± I shouted, spinning through the djinn around me as their spears jabbed through my toughened skin and damaged my armor but did little damage to my body, thankfully.
54 XP gained, 9 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 34 ether regained
Level Up! You have reached level 13! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said teleporting away. I opened my character sheet and quickly dumped ten points into Agility and five into Might. I charged back towards the fight. ¡°Lunar Smite,¡± I said, opening with a powerful broad sweep across the right flank. My attack cut through four imps and two beasts, leaves and bone fragments going flying.
47 XP gained, 6 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 18 ether regained
Enoch rolled backwards, grabbing his musket off the ground as a soldier rushed after him, raising its spear to finish him off. Enoch raised his musket and blasted, taking the soldier point blank in the chest, and it fell to the ground as leaves, moss, and bone. The two final soldiers were rushing towards him as he was still on the ground. I rushed forward, blocking the strike of one of their spears on my targe and shoving the other to the side with my dagger. I had around a forty percent boost to my stats right now, making me move in a blur and giving me strength beyond my level. Enoch pushed up to his feet. ¡°Wind Phalanx!¡± he snapped out, and etheric spears of wind stabbed into the soldiers and the lesser djinn packed around them. The imps and beasts dropped to the ground but the two soldiers were still standing and the final dozen imps and beast rushed in to take their place. ¡°Lunar Smite, Cyclone Strike,¡± I said, spinning forwards and finishing off the djinn and half the lesser djinn.
147 XP gained, 8 Corruption absorbed into your Core, 34 ether regained
Enoch stepped forwards and his spear flashed. ¡°Wind Phalanx,¡± he said, and the last few imps and beasts were destroyed. We sat down and I reached down for Enoch and Hero. ¡°Celestial Healing,¡± I said. The wounds across their body healed and their hit points were restored. Enoch tied Hero away from the djinn¡¯s bodies as we started to harvest them. ¡°Can I ask you a question about the fight?¡± Enoch said uncertainly. ¡°Sure,¡± I agreed. ¡°I¡¯ve noticed during fights you start moving faster and hitting the djinn harder the longer the fight goes on,¡± he said. ¡°At the start you move your same speed but towards the end you were almost twice as fast.¡± I hesitated. Mother Leora had told me to tell no one about my trait but I valued Enoch¡¯s company and opinion. He was the only friend I¡¯d made at the academy so far and, even though we¡¯d only known each other for a few weeks, I already trusted him with my life. People were bound to notice the effect of my trait eventually, but I hadn¡¯t expected it to happen this soon, and it spoke to how observant Enoch was. I made the choice to trust Enoch. I opened my character sheet and didn¡¯t obscure my trait from him as I showed it to him. ¡°That¡¯s incredible!¡± Enoch said. ¡°My trait just gives me a ten percent bonus to my stats while outnumbered, but yours is a rising increase. Why haven¡¯t you shown this to others, that¡¯s the kind of trait that men follow, and creates kingdoms with men marrying their daughters to you and their children to yours to secure their dynasties.¡± ¡°Because of the implication it has tied with it,¡± I said. ¡°Imagine what would happen if my core got oversaturated and I became a Warlock.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Enoch said, his mood sobering. ¡°You could get to the point where you could kill Exarchs or Dragons in a single hit.¡± That wasn¡¯t an exaggeration, if I became a Warlock and didn¡¯t use any of the corruption in my core to create draugr or aptrganga I could quickly get to a thousand percent increase to my stats. Even if my enemies¡¯ levels were higher, or their skills more evolved, it wouldn¡¯t matter in terms of who would be stronger. ¡°I was told when my trait was revealed not to show it to anyone,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m trusting you to keep this secret. Maybe someday I¡¯ll reveal it but, for now I don¡¯t want anyone but you to know.¡± ¡°Why not just say your increased speed was an effect of your trait?¡± Enoch asked me. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to show it to me.¡± ¡°I trust you,¡± I said. ¡°You feel like a brother to me and we¡¯re going to be fighting a lot with each other. I want you to know that I¡¯ll have your back.¡± Enoch clasped my wrist in a warrior¡¯s grip. ¡°Brothers,¡± he said, nodding. Hero¡¯s yipping made us both turn our heads to watch him strain against his leash trying to get at the bodies of the djinn. ¡°You know we can¡¯t absorb all of this?¡± Enoch said, looking around. ¡°A djinn requires fifty corruption to evolve into a soldier and there are six of those here not to mention all the imps and beasts.¡± I paused, thinking. We could come back for this later or¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s absorb what we can then bring the horses over,¡± I said. I kept a close watch on my character sheet this time, stopping once I got to ninety-five corruption. I might be able to get one more imp but there was no point risking it.
47 Corruption absorbed by your Relic; 47 Corruption absorbed by our Core
We got three djinn weapons out of it but they were just imp spears about as long as my arm and basically useless. I stowed them in my pack for now, we might be able to sell them later. I brought back our horses while Enoch kept watch on Hero and made sure nothing came by to start eating the djinn, possibly getting to the point where it would be a serious threat to civilization. I tethered our horses to a nearby tree and pulled out an emergency tent. Laying it out, I started piling the remains of the djinn on it. Luckily djinn didn¡¯t actually have that much physical weight, it wasn¡¯t until they got to Jtunn tier and beyond that they stopped being mostly ether and became more physically grounded entities. I pulled out a hatchet and cut down two saplings, tying them to my horse¡¯s saddle and securing the tent to it so it wouldn¡¯t drag across the ground and rip open. ¡°Good thinking,¡± Enoch said, holding the struggling Hero who was trying to dive into the pile of leaves and bone that were the remains of the djinn. We moved out of the trees slowly, then sped up as we got on the road. We were silent for a time until we came across four senior Wardens on horseback headed our way. ¡°Excuse me sirs,¡± I said. ¡°What is it?¡± the lead knight asked. ¡°We were completing a quest in the forest and killed a large number of djinn,¡± I explained. ¡°but we weren¡¯t able to absorb the corruption from all of them. We brought them with us but we need someone else to purify their remains.¡± ¡°How many is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Six soldiers and about three dozen imps and beasts,¡± I answered. ¡°You two brought down that many?¡± he asked, surprised and skeptical. ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. ¡°Well my core¡¯s empty but I don¡¯t think I can hold all of that,¡± he said. ¡°Thomass why don¡¯t you give me a hand with this.¡± He called out behind him. In the end all four Wardens split the absorption among themselves.
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Hunt, Hard by exterminating and purifying the group of djinn you encountered.
Reward: C grade cloak has been added to your inventory. 150 XP gained
They handed us half the cores, keeping the other half as compensation for their part of the job. That was fine with me and Enoch. What was important was that the corruption wasn¡¯t left around for some imp to eat and evolve into a Jotunn or Demon, or worst case a Dragon. ¡°See you tomorrow,¡± Enoch said. ¡°See you tomorrow,¡± I agreed. We wouldn¡¯t be going out hunting but would be training with Rineer instead. I turned off the road into town and through the town gates. I moved down the cobbled stone streets and through the second gates onto the academy grounds. A stable-hand took my horse and I tossed him several imp cores as thanks. I climbed the stone steps up to the wing of the massive castle that served as housing until I got to mine and Aranea¡¯s apartment. It was late but I opened the door. I¡¯d stopped in the forest after piling the djinn in the sling behind my horse to cut some wild roses I¡¯d spotted. Aranea was humming and stirring something at the stove, she¡¯d already changed removing her outer layer of skirts and into the snow white of her evening dress. I moved up behind her silently then wrapped an arm around her, the bouquet of roses appearing before her face. She gasped and stiffened in shock before relaxing, her hand closing around mine as I pulled her close, my other hand wrapped around her waist. I buried my nose in her hair, smelling the sweet floral scent she always wore. ¡°How was your day?¡± I asked. ¡°Good. We didn¡¯t learn many new things in class but I¡¯ve been studying some advanced wards in the library,¡± she said. ¡°I think I might try my hand at enchanting something more powerful for you soon.¡± I stepped back. ¡°If you think it will help me I¡¯ll wear it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to warn me to not mess with dangerous wards?¡± Aranea asked me. ¡°Are you messing with dangerous wards?¡± I asked. ¡°No. Well,l I don¡¯t think they¡¯re dangerous to me,¡± she said. ¡°I trust you,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ve already progressed more than me in your training, if you think you can do it I believe you can too.¡± I stepped into the washroom and took off my armor. I winced as I pulled off my shirt, the dried blood ripping off with it. The wounds had all closed but there were still faint pink marks where they had healed. It would take a highly damaging attack to leave a scar on me. I took off my clothes and sank into the hot water of the tub. Aranea came into the washroom and took a cloth she ran in across my back and chest and I sank back relaxing as I enjoyed her touch. ¡°Was your quest successful?¡± she asked. ¡°Yeah, maybe too successful,¡± I said. ¡°Enoch and I killed more djinn than we could absorb so we had to drag them out of the Mist. We met some senior Wardens from in town who absorbed them for us.¡± ¡°And how was your time in training?¡± Aranea asked gently, her hands soft as they traveled down my torso. ¡°Better than yesterday,¡± I said. ¡°We got etheric ranged weapons today and learned how to use them. My dueling practice was¡­the same as before. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re even trying to teach me anything, just beat me down again and again.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get better,¡± Aranea said. ¡°I believe in you.¡± She stood up and unfastened the belt at her waist. Lifting up her dress, she let it fall to the floor before joining me in the bath, her hands running through my hair as our breathing intensified. Chapter 18: Ether Engineers ¡°Glyphs are the hardest style of Wards to create. They are not woven into any matter but created in the air having an immediate cost and effect. They are used by experienced Weavers for defense and combat making up for their lack of many defensive and offensive skills.¡± - Kiedra Mithradati¡¯s introductory to Wards and Enchanting, 532 AB Aranea- Friday, September 6th, 564 AB I slipped out of bed as Cain was still sleeping. I put on one of my three dresses along with bright scarlet overskirt and black vest over my white blouse. I took some time to prepare some tea and mended Cain¡¯s shirt. There were dozens of rips and holes across it, and I had to repair bits of the enchantments I¡¯d put on it to help with temperature although his armor had kept most of the shirt from being damaged. Cain got up and I poured us each a glass of tea, putting a bit of honey in each. ¡°What is your schedule for the day?¡± I asked him. ¡°I¡¯ve got standard training, then my extra hour of dueling practice,¡± he said taking his tea and blowing on it before drinking. ¡°After that I have training with Rineer and Enoch.¡± ¡°I was talking with some of my classmates they don¡¯t understand why you¡¯re bothering with doing this training. I wasn¡¯t able to explain it well myself. Why are you putting yourself through this?¡± I asked. Cain set down his cup and looked up at the ceiling. ¡°What is the difference between a fell man and a Warden when it comes to combat?¡± ¡°You have skills they don¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m focusing on them,¡± Cain said. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be a great duelist or knight I¡¯m trying to be a great Warden to do that I need to focus on what a Warden is.¡± I felt like his answer made sense, but I also didn¡¯t understand it at all. That was probably because I didn¡¯t have Relic and that connection to fully grasp his meaning. My connection was with Cain and only loosely his Relic through him. I brought out some rolls and cut them open spreading a blackberry jam over them. Cain and I ate them along with some salted ham I¡¯d saved. We could go down to the mess hall and eat there but I liked these quiet moments by ourselves. We finished eating and Cain walked with me down the hall and stairs my fingers interlocked with his. He pulled me into a quick kiss before we parted, and I had a smile on my face as I walked into class and sat down. Madam Layrora began a lecture again and I listened, but it was mostly just a recap of what we had gone over the other day. We would at the very least be working on another ward design today this time to keep wind djinn from being able to spawn. I listened to the lecture, but my attention kept wandering as my thoughts drifted to the more advanced wards I¡¯d learned. Madam Layrora finished her lecture and drew the ward for banning wind djinn on the blackboard. ¡°There are six tiers of djinn, but the same ward will block all djinn of that element out,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°Later we will go over defensive wards that prevent djinn from flying or digging under our settlements walls and the same applies to them. The issue there will be the amount of ether in your wards, the more the djinn throw themselves against them the weaker the wards will grow and unless they are recharged the djinn will break through.¡± ¡°How hard is it for them to break through?¡± Clara asked taking notes in her own journal. ¡°It depends on how many and what tier the djinn are,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°If it¡¯s just a few dozen wandering in from the Mist then the wards can hold for days but a few hundred or a dozen high tier djinn? You will have a few hours at best.¡± ¡°How often do those occur?¡± Jasmine asked a bit of nervousness in her voice. ¡°Typically, that only happens during an ether storm,¡± Madam Layrora said her hand moving quick and smooth over the blackboard as she talked. I¡¯d already drawn the ward not needing to see Madam Layrora make it. I¡¯d found a book in the library that went over the entire first year syllabus and had detailed drawings and notes on what we would be studying. ¡°An ether storm is when settlements fall,¡± she went on. ¡°And is also when we are most crucial and probably the only times you will ever see combat. You will be on the walls throwing down skills to push back the waves of djinn. There won¡¯t be time to absorb and purify the corruption so if anyone falls to corruption this is when it usually happens.¡± Madam Layrora turned to the class her face very serious. ¡°We will begin copying in a moment, but I want you all to listen to me very carefully, if you see anyone¡¯s name above their head turn red during an ether storm you kill them immediately. It doesn¡¯t matter who they are, they could be your best friend of your own husband, you put them down. They might as well be a skin walker because they moment they turn into a Warlock they are no longer who they just were; even if they themselves don¡¯t realize it yet.¡± Her words made me feel physically ill imagining having to kill Cain. I wasn¡¯t sure if I could do it and sent a silent prayer to the Voice that I would never be put in that position. I needed to think about something else and opened my journal looking over the ward I was working on creating. It was a combination of a trap ward to be put on the door of a gate and a defensive ward to be incorporated into armor. My goal was to merge the two to create a ward that would deal damage to its attacker whenever the wearer received damage. Madam Layrora came around to check our work. I closed my book, and she examined the ward I¡¯d drawn. ¡°That is also a ward for keeping wind djinn out, but it isn¡¯t the one I drew on the board,¡± Madam Layrora said to me. I blushed as I looked at the blackboard and my slate and saw the differences. ¡°This one would work as well but it¡¯s meant for being placed over fields instead of a settlement,¡± she explained to me. ¡°Please pay attention although I do appreciate your work ethic.¡± Having suitably admonished me she moved on and I wiped the slate clean and drew the ward as shown on the blackboard. We kept copy them as corrections were made and I continued to work on the Ward consulting my notes I¡¯d made on ether theory and design. The only way to see if it worked would be to test it. The hours of practice ticked by and the bells atop the castle rang as I stood up packing my things. ¡°Aranea, would you stay behind for a little bit,¡± Madam Layrora said. I winced internally ready to be scolded for not paying attention at the start of class. I waited as the rest of my classmates filed out, I walked up to the front of class holding the basket with my books and weaver tools under one arm. ¡°You wanted to speak with me Madam?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Madam Layrora said. ¡°I need this book delivered to Lady Constence, she¡¯s one of the third-year instructors. You can take it to her after lunch.¡± ¡°Yes Madam,¡± I said taking the thin leather-bound volume from her. I wasn¡¯t sure if this was just a favor or some sort of disciplinary chore. I went to the mess hall and grabbed a tray with roasted chicken and white fluffy rolls. Sitting down I ate with my friends we didn¡¯t talk about anything serious all of mentally drained from today¡¯s practice either from the difficulty or the constant repetition. I stood up to leave, I wanted to go straight back to the library, but I needed to deliver the book first. I asked a servant for directions and made my way through the castle halls to the third-year class hall. Lady Constence wasn¡¯t in one of the lecture halls but instead one of the labs. I walked in and looked up at a device made of fine sanded wood with copper and brass wiring, pipes, and fixtures. The machine hummed and I could see ether cores fitted into various settings across the device. I walked around the device nervously looking around for Lady Constence. ¡°Lady Constence?¡± I called out. ¡°I was sent by Madam Layrora to¡­¡± ¡°Oh, your finally here!¡± a woman said and walked around the corner. ¡°Come, come I¡¯ve been waiting long enough.¡± I walked forward unsure of what was going on but not willing to nay say the woman. ¡°Tell me what do you know about electricity?¡± Lady Constence asked. ¡°It¡¯s what lightning is made of,¡± I responded not knowing where this was going. ¡°Yes, yes that¡¯s common knowledge but do you know what it was used for?¡± she asked her voice both simultaneously dismissive and excited. ¡°Destroying enemies?¡± I asked, basing my answer based on the only thing I knew lightning was used for. ¡°No, that is the fascinating thing,¡± Lady Constence said. ¡°Before the sky fell and the world broke our ancestors somehow used electricity in place of ether. The men of iron in the legends were apparently powered by it and every man and woman had access to it not just people like us with cores.¡± The information sounded like fantasy to me, but I kept that to myself waiting for her to ask for the book and dismiss me. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Had me that wrench,¡± she said bending down and holding out her hand. I looked around not sure what a wrench was, but saw a metal tool on the nearby table and handed it to her. ¡°Now since your my new assistant I¡¯ll need you to read over the notes, have you checked them yet?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m just¡­.¡± I said but she interrupted me again. ¡°Of course not, accuse me,¡± Lady Constence said. ¡°I forgot Madam Layrora only gave them to you an hour ago, well sit down and start I can¡¯t have you helping me unless you know what your doing.¡± I¡¯d been tricked, or possibly both of us had been tricked. Madam Layrora had set me up here and I couldn¡¯t think of a graceful way to explain the situation away. This woman was a teacher for the third-year students, and I couldn¡¯t risk angering her or I could regret it in two years¡¯ time. Sighing, I sat down at a nearby desk and opened the book.
Cain The tip of the spear stuck into my ribs not deep enough to be lethal but still hard. Since Noah and Sergeant Acheron had found out about my healing ability, they¡¯d given all my sparing partners permission to go a lot harder than would normally be permitted in duels. ¡°Get up Le¡¯meer,¡± Sergeant Acheron said. ¡°If this pain doesn¡¯t motivate you, I¡¯ll have everyone start going even harder on you. You need to catch up to everyone else we can¡¯t be holding back on your account.¡± I gritted my teeth and stood up. With Rineer he used pain to motivate me by exploiting my instincts for fight or flight. With Acheron he used pain because he though I was weak. With my failure to even push any of my opponents out of the ring I was starting to agree with that. ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. ¡°You need to learn when to be aggressive and when to be defensive,¡± Noah said. ¡°Your too timid and you attack after openings have already closed.¡± I didn¡¯t have to yes sir him. My other classmates all did but I¡¯d grown sick of his useless advice and nitpicks. I¡¯d tried following his advice with zero improvement and often doing worse. I only had ten more minutes left of this to endure and put a hand to my bleeding chest. I¡¯d stopped wearing my good armor to dueling to keep its durability from being wasted in useless fights like these. I stood in the ring as another of the original failed duelist was sent for their turn against me. They had all gotten to the point where they were winning at least one of every three duels, but I had still yet to win a single one and I was beginning to feel the growing disdain towards me. My opponent was another Mist Warden named Jared. We circled each other and clashed. He carried a large round shield, and I couldn¡¯t get my dagger around it. I tried circling around me, but he always moved and pressured me and soon with a massive leap forward he hit me with his shield. He¡¯d put a decent amount of his attribute points into Might, and I went flying out of the circle. I got up and another fighter was sent in. It took three more fights before the training was done and I could leave. I pushed down the anger inside not letting it show on my face although the nails of my right hand did dig into the palm of my hand. I went to the stable and mounted my horse and rode out of the academy grounds and then out of town to Rineer¡¯s homestead. I dismounted and tied my horse at the feeding trough removing its saddle and setting it on the fence. I went over to the training grounds and my dark mood from my dueling practice hadn¡¯t quite faded. I tried to put the angry thoughts away so they couldn¡¯t distract me, but it was hard. We started running the obstacle course, but I kept getting hit and knocked off. ¡°I know you haven¡¯t run this in awhile but you¡¯re not evening making it halfway,¡± Rineer said. ¡°What is distracting you?¡± ¡°Sorry si¡­¡± I said then stopped before I could finish the honorific. ¡°I¡¯m just frustrated from my training before.¡± ¡°I heard you¡¯ve been having to do extra dueling practice,¡± Rineer said. ¡°Enoch wouldn¡¯t tell me anything more than that, what is the issue?¡± ¡°The issue is I¡¯m not good at dueling,¡± I said. ¡°I have a dagger and every weapon I¡¯m going against has more reach than me and I can¡¯t even get around their shields.¡± ¡°Your training should be helping you overcome those limitations,¡± Rineer said frowning. ¡°A good Warden never blames their Relic what is the real issue? How are they training you?¡± ¡°They aren¡¯t,¡± I said darkly. ¡°For the entire hour they just send the others against me again and again. I¡¯m not blaming my Relic, it¡¯s the system of dueling that¡¯s the problem. If I could use my skills, I know I¡¯d do better but when it comes to just weapon on weapon I always loose.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Rineer said thoughtfully. ¡°I can¡¯t pull you out of that training, but I can see about at least finding you a dagger specialist to train you. I have just the Warden in mind he¡¯s retired now but he owes me a favor.¡± ¡°I appreciate it,¡± I said not sure if really did or not. ¡°Now start running you still need to complete the course at least once,¡± Rineer said. I took off the whistling of the metal balls easier to focus on. I tried activating Fog Form without saying the command phrase out loud the connection was there, but it wasn¡¯t strong enough yet. I felt so close but there was still a wall in front of me. I made it almost to the end of the course when an iron ball struck my knee. I jumped forward and managed to land on my other leg as left leg went numb. Rolling forwards, I sprang onto my hands and pushed off launching myself the final few yards to the end of the course. Hero barked as he watched us run but he was undergoing his own training and them was a pile of djinn bodies several yards away. Every time he approached them Enoch would shout, and he¡¯d put his tail between his legs and walk back to watching us. Hero had a wariness around Rineer somehow able to sense the vast differences between their levels of strength. I kept running the course, but I wasn¡¯t able to complete it again. That was fine, the goal of this wasn¡¯t even to complete the course but to connect with my Relic. We finished the course training, and I healed myself and Enoch. I wasn¡¯t excited about the sparring we¡¯d have to do with Rineer but at least it wasn¡¯t dueling practice. ¡°We¡¯re going to be doing something different today,¡± Rineer said. ¡°You can already call your Relics to you so there¡¯s no point in me continuing those lessons; you should keep practice on your own of course. We¡¯re going to be working on something else.¡± Rineer turned and threw his spear. The spear blurred and became invisible then struck a tree a hundred yards away splitting it up its trunk. Rineer held out his hand his spear flew back and snapped into his hand. He smiled as he looked over the dark wooden shaft and the long hewing spearhead, his hand running along it with tender almost loving touch. ¡°Can either of you tell me what I just did?¡± Rineer asked. ¡°You activated your abilities wordlessly,¡± I said. ¡°But you also did so without touching your Relic.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Rineer said. ¡°Part of the block stopping you from using your abilities nonverbally is you feel the need to be in contact with your Relic.¡± He walked past me and Enoch tapping us each on the forehead with his knuckles. ¡°You need to except in here that you and Relic are the same, distance and separation make you no less bound together.¡± ¡°How do we learn to do it?¡± Enoch asked excitedly. ¡°Start throwing your relic at the targets at the end of the range,¡± Rineer said. ¡°Enoch, I want you to use Wind Phalanx. Cain, you work on using Lunar Smite. You can speak out loud for this we need to focus on breaking one wall at a time so I¡¯m not going to make you do this silently.¡± Rineer turned around to leave. ¡°I¡¯m going to go see an old friend now, you don¡¯t need me to be here for this. Keep at it for three hours and practice this for at least an hour each day.¡± Enoch and I headed over to the range. Enoch kept an eye on Hero snapping his fingers and snapping out ¡°No!¡± every time the dog went for the djinn remains. ¡°He¡¯s getting a lot bigger,¡± I said. Hero had grown at least five inches from when we¡¯d first picked him up. He also seemed to be growing exponentially faster instead of slower, when his body caught up with the size of his paws, he¡¯d be the size of a small horse. ¡°Lunar Smite,¡± I said closing throwing my relic and trying to focus on the connection I had with it to activate it. As soon as I let go the Relic armor on my right hand and wrist disappeared too. I didn¡¯t have the connection with it yet to keep it active but that would come as soon as I learned to use my abilities without touching my Relic. I held out my hand and my dagger snapped back into my hand. ¡°Wind Phalanx!¡± Enoch shouted. He hurled his spear striking the straw and wooden target a dozen yards from us. His weapon was much more suited to throwing than my lopsided broken sword. ¡°No!¡± Enoch snapped at Hero as he tried to scoot forwards on his belly and sneak a bite out of the pile of djinn. Hero whined but backed up. Enoch and I kept throwing our Relics and calling them back to us. We weren¡¯t able to get any our abilities to activate at range or even our Relic armor to stay in place when we let go of our weapons the etheric metal disappearing from our hands and wrists. Nevertheless, I felt like I¡¯m made a lot more progress today than I had before. Unlike dueling I could feel the connection to my Relic and feel the bond grow and strengthen. There wasn¡¯t the uncertainty I felt at first as I was unsure what my connection to my Relic even felt like. While I still thought of Achlys as an object separate from myself that distinction was slowly eroding more and more as the link between us grew. I sheathed my dagger on my arm. ¡°See you tomorrow,¡± I said to Enoch clasping his wrist. ¡°May the Voice be with you,¡± Enoch said. I swung into the saddle and rode back through town returning to the academy.
Aranea I set down the notes hours had passed but I¡¯d been so engrossed in what I was reading. I looked up seeing the setting sun through the paned glass. I stood up abruptly not realizing just how much time I had spent there. ¡°Did you finish reading?¡± Lady Constence asked. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± I said. ¡°And what did you think of it?¡± she asked. ¡°Be honest.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s an amazing idea, turning natural electricity into ether,¡± I said. ¡°There are so many things we could power indefinitely if we didn¡¯t have to constantly stop and charge all our creations ourselves and wait for ether to recharge.¡± ¡°What flaws did you see?¡± she asked. I paused biting my lip unsure how to word my criticism, finally I just went for it. ¡°You¡¯re machine lacks a way create electricity on its own, you theorize on using lightning from storms but that it unreliable for consistent use.¡± ¡°Yes, although that is more of a long-term problem,¡± Lady Constence said. ¡°Right now, we have to prove the concept before we can worry about putting it application. I¡¯m close to a breakthrough already, I can feel it. Since you¡¯re my new assistant you will need to be here every other day for three hours of work. I also expect you do drop by every day to pick up and look at my notes, so you stay up to date.¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t bothered about being tricked into this assignment anymore and was beginning to think this wasn¡¯t a punishment from Madam Layrora. I curtsied to Lady Constence before leaving. I hurried back to the apartment and used my key to unlock the door and slip inside. Cain was seated in the living room tossing his Relic at the target on the other side of the room. ¡°Lunar Smite,¡± I heard him mutter. The dagger sank into the target than yanked back into his hand and he tossed it again muttering the same words. I closed the door and Cain turned as he heard it click shut. ¡°You¡¯re back late; is everything all right?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes,¡± I said hanging my shall on a peg beside the door. ¡°I¡¯ve been assigned to help one of the senior Weaver¡¯s in the academy with a project, its actually fascinating she¡¯s working on a way to generate ether with machinery instead of having to manually recharge it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s possible?¡± Cain asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure but I saw her notes and diagrams and I think it might be,¡± I said. ¡°It could revolutionize the world if it works. Imagine it people could recharge wards on their own, carts could move on their own powered by ether.¡± Cain frowned. ¡°What?¡± I asked suddenly self-conscious. ¡°Nothing,¡± he said. ¡°I was just thinking that those aren¡¯t the first things it would be used for.¡± ¡°What else would it be used for?¡± I asked. ¡°Weapons, siege equipment, ranged artillery,¡± he said. ¡°Oh,¡± I said suddenly thinking of all the much more dangerous and violent applications this kind of technology would allow. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Cain said. ¡°That¡¯s out of our hands the Church and crown will figure out those issues.¡± We ate together and went to bed. I snuggled back into Cain as his arms wrapped around me the air outside our blankets cold the wind whispering past our window. His breathing steadied and I closed my eyes then drifted off with him. Chapter 19: Wisdom of Solomon ¡°Wardens are not required to serve the church or crown, though most do so. Some Wardens, for various reasons, become independent. Contracting out their services instead of receiving a stipend from the church or land from the crown. These Rogue Wardens often work as mercenary guards for merchants, private security, or own their own businesses. Some look down on Rogue Wardens due to how many become independent in order to pursue borderline, or full-on illegal, actions such as running brothels catering to Wardens, operating blood sports, or trading with the fell.¡± - Guysen Rielden, 472 AB Enoch- Saturday, September 7th, 564 AB I sat up, slipping Hanah¡¯s arm off my neck as I slid out of bed. I kissed her hair then stood up, pulling on my shirt, pants and boots. I grabbed Hyades, slinging the spear over my shoulder as I walked into the main hall. I went outside to the pen where Hero was kept. He raised his shaggy head from where he had been gnawing on cow leg bone. ¡°Come on boy,¡± I said, opening the door and patting my thigh. He jumped to his feet, his tail wagging. He charged me, jumping up to plant his front paws on my chest. ¡°Down boy!¡± I snapped out. He dropped to the ground, his head sagging and his tail stopping its frenzied wagging. ¡°Sit,¡± I commanded. There was some hesitancy, but he eventually sat back on his haunches. ¡°Good boy!¡± I praised him rubbing his ears, and his tail started wagging again. I clicked my fingers and Hero came to my side. He tried jumping up a few more times but eventually I got him to settle down and heel. I went through my morning exercises. There were no classes today, but there was still personal training to do. I threw Hyades at the target. ¡°Wind Phalanx!¡± I didn¡¯t get the ability to activate at range. I held out my hand and the spear snapped back into my palm. I kept throwing it, trying to break through and bond with my relic deeper. My father walked out of the house and came over to watch me. ¡°Don¡¯t try to push it,¡± he said, noticing some of my frustration. ¡°You aren¡¯t trying to break something, you''re trying to unlock it,¡± he said. ¡°You already are bonded with the relic, you just need to uncover the depths of that bond.¡± ¡°Yes father,¡± I said and took a deep breath, calming my frustration. ¡°What are we doing today?¡± ¡°I¡¯m introducing Cain to an old friend,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll get my armor on,¡± I said. ¡°No,¡± my father said firmly. ¡°This isn¡¯t someone your mother or I want you to meet.¡± I frowned. ¡°But you''re introducing Cain to him?¡± ¡°Cain needs his help,¡± my father said. ¡°He¡¯s also a noble¡¯s son, even if he is a bastard, he has more societal protections than you do. Being associated with this man could damage your future.¡± My frown disappeared. ¡°Does Cain really need to meet him?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the best dagger fighter I¡¯ve ever met,¡± father said. ¡°He was a terror back in the war, if anyone can help Cain learn to win in duels it''s him.¡± I still wasn¡¯t sure, but this wasn¡¯t a decision for me to make. ¡°Just let Cain know about it before you introduce them.¡± ¡°I will,¡± father said, clapping me on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯ll see you for dinner.¡± He tousled Hero¡¯s head and moved on. I went back to training; Cain would be busy today so we wouldn¡¯t be going hunting. That meant I would just be training and spending time with Hanah today.
Cain I woke up to find Aranea had already left a note telling me she¡¯d gone to the library. I got dressed and went down to the mess hall to get breakfast. I finished eating and found my horse, saddling and mounting it to head down to Rineer¡¯s homestead. He intercepted me as I was riding through town. ¡°We¡¯re not training today,¡± he said. ¡°I need to introduce you to that friend I was telling you about.¡± ¡°Where is Enoch?¡± I asked. ¡°He¡¯s not coming,¡± Rineer said and looked at me sternly. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to introduce him to this man. It could badly damage his reputation; it might hurt yours as well, so be warned.¡± ¡°Why?¡± I asked, suddenly uneasy. Rineer turned his horse¡¯s reins and I followed him. ¡°Because he¡¯s a Rogue Warden,¡± Rineer said. ¡°He runs an establishment that¡­skirts the edges of legality in various matters.¡± ¡°Then why are we dealing with him?¡± I asked. ¡°Because he was the fastest man alive before the war,¡± Rineer explained. ¡°And the best dagger fighter I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± I was silent as we moved through the town. We left the stone townhouses behind the buildings changing to wood. Warehouses, blacksmiths and smelly tanneries were the main buildings in this part of town with smaller wooden houses in between them. Rineer moved to what was a tavern of some sort. Heavy iron doors were closed and the windows were made of frosted glass preventing us from seeing inside. It was early in the morning but already I could hear the sounds of raucous laughter and a piano playing and the clink of glasses. A large man stood in front of the doors blocking the way in. ¡°Regulars only,¡± the man said, holding out a hand to stop us. I stopped, but Rineer just kept moving. ¡°We¡¯re Wardens you¡¯re not,¡± he said bluntly. ¡°Step aside, I need to talk to Solomon about a favor he owes me.¡± The man opened his mouth, about to say something. He shut his mouth when Rineer¡¯s armor began flowing up his arms. He jumped out of the way as Rineer shoved open the doors. I followed him, not as sure in my movements as him. The light was low in the tavern and I could see a lot of men drinking, gambling with barely clothed women serving them or leading them down darkened halls. I was startled as I realized most of the clientele were Wardens like us. ¡°Rineer you old bastard!¡± a man shouted. I whirled around at the outburst and watched as a lean man lept the counter of the bar and landed lightly. His ease of movement was surprising due to the wooden leg that began under his right knee. He walked with an odd gait, but his movements were still smooth and confident. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve come here to enjoy the fine accommodations of my upstanding establishment?¡± he asked, a broad grin on his face revealing perfect white teeth. ¡°No,¡± Rineer said, grabbing my shoulder and pushing me forward. ¡°I¡¯m here because you owe me a favor.¡± Solomon looked me up and down. ¡°He¡¯s a good enough looking boy, my girls would be happy to get his rocks off for him.¡± I felt myself flush and heard some chuckles from around the tavern and the appraising looks of many of the women. ¡°He needs training,¡± Rineer said, interrupting the laughter. ¡°He uses a dagger like you and needs an expert to teach him how to use it against other weapons.¡± ¡°Oh, that kind of favor,¡± Solomon said with a sigh. ¡°Come on back to my office. Girls keep an eye on our customers while I¡¯m busy.¡± We were led into a backroom and seated before a polished wooden desk. Solomon pulled out a bottle of amber liquid and glasses, pouring us each a drink. ¡°So why should I train the kid?¡± he asked. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Because you owe me a favor for when I had to cover your ass for your war profiteering,¡± Rineer said. ¡°And because I know how much you hate royal blood.¡± ¡°What¡¯s royal blood got to do with all this?¡± Solomon asked, tossing back his whiskey. ¡°They¡¯ve got the prince teaching all the first years who didn¡¯t perform well enough how to duel,¡± Rineer said. ¡°They aren¡¯t teaching Cain here though, just throwing him into practice duels until he sinks or swims.¡± ¡°Can you duel?¡± Solomon asked me his knuckles tightening around his glass. He noticed that too and quickly set his glass down. ¡°Not with my relic,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t have the reach.¡± ¡°Using a dagger isn¡¯t just about speed and aggression,¡± Solomon said. ¡°It¡¯s about cunning, tricks and being a right bastard; you seem like a nice upstanding church going boy. Tell me Cain, can you be a right bastard.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± I said, but my voice was uncertain. ¡°Are you asking me or telling me?¡± Solomon growled. ¡°Yes sir!¡± I snapped out firmly. ¡°Don¡¯t sir me, reminds me of my time in service,¡± Solomon said with a snort, pouring himself another glass of whiskey. ¡°I can teach you how to duel, not in the way the nobles will like, but within the rules. And make it so you will be able to win.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I ask,¡± Rineer said standing. ¡°I¡¯ll leave him in your hands. Don¡¯t corrupt him too much, and keep your girls off him. He¡¯s got a sweet girl and I don¡¯t want to see her hurt.¡± Solomon waved him off. ¡°My girls have enough to do, they¡¯ll leave him alone.¡± Rineer left and Solomon pushed the drink he had poured for me towards me. ¡°Drink up, we¡¯ve got a hard day ahead of us,¡± he said. I tossed back the whiskey and felt the older Warden¡¯s eyes judging me. ¡°Are you an honorable man Cain?¡± he asked me. I paused. ¡°I think so sir.¡± ¡°Honorable in that you keep your word or that you do what¡¯s right?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I understand the difference,¡± I said. ¡°Can you keep a secret?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°Can I trust you to keep my secrets and not rat on me?¡± ¡°Yes sir, I can keep a secret,¡± I said. ¡°Good,¡± Solomon said after another moment of silent contemplation. ¡°Follow me.¡± I followed him as he opened a door at the end of the hall and we descended down a spiral set of stairs. He talked while we walked and I listened as the sound of the tavern faded above us. ¡°My name is Solomon Heldaro, proud owner of the Golden Gypsy,¡± he said. ¡°Everyone around here just calls me Solomon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Cain Le¡¯Meer,¡± I said. ¡°No one cares, kid,¡± he said, but it wasn¡¯t unkind. ¡°If you want anyone to give a shit about your name then you need to make that name not rest on the deeds of your parents. Don¡¯t recognize your last name. You related to anyone important?¡± ¡°My father is Sir Jason Lanceren,¡± I said. ¡°The war hero?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°Different last name so you¡¯re not one of his legitimate children; no shame from me. I don¡¯t take with those things.¡± We passed down a stone tunnel, iron doors on all sides. I heard things behind the doors and the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. ¡°What is this place?¡± I asked. ¡°You¡¯ll see soon enough,¡± Solomon said. ¡°You got your Relic on you?¡± I touched my forearm where my dagger was sheathed. ¡°Interesting place to keep your weapon,¡± Solomon said. ¡°But it looks like you can draw quick from it so that¡¯s what matters.¡± We stepped into a ring of sand. I looked about at the iron portcullis and Solomon leaned back against the wall. The walls were covered in dark stains and the sand had been freshly raked. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you fight before but, you want to know how I already know how you always lose?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°How?¡± I asked, feeling a bit of defiance and defensiveness rise up in me. ¡°You fight fair,¡± Solomon said. One of the portcullis rose up and a djinn stepped out. The Mist djinn was soldier tier and I backed up, but the portcullis I had come from was closed now, Solomon on the other side of it. ¡°First test,¡± he said. ¡°Kill that without using your skills, anything else goes.¡± I pulled Achlys from his sheath and tensed as the djinn grew nearer. ¡°Don¡¯t tense up,¡± Solomon said. ¡°You¡¯ll telegraph all your moves like that. Be loose, but keep your muscles taught like a coiled viper. Never be predictable, reach doesn¡¯t matter if they can¡¯t see you coming or know where you¡¯re going to be.¡± I dodged a thrust from the djinn¡¯s spear as it came close to my torso. I lunged forwards but the djinn slid back out of range. I had to drop to the ground and roll to avoid taking a thrust through my neck. ¡°Stay in close like you¡¯re its shadow,¡± Solomon said. ¡°That spear has reach but that¡¯s also its weakness; don¡¯t let them use it and that strength is wasted.¡± The soldier djinn stabbed at me with its spear and I was forced to twist to the side. I slid forwards, getting face to face with the mist djinn. It couldn¡¯t use its spear, but it did have its secondary clawed arms. It slashed at my face and I ducked under it. I had to resist the urge to jump back out, which would have put me out of reach of the claws but set me up for a spear thrust. ¡°Good,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Remember, there are no real rules in a fight, even a duel. You can¡¯t use your skills but pretty much anything else goes. Sand in the eyes, grab a rock off the ground and throw it. You might get called a cheater but it''s within the rules. At the end of the day, the only thing that will matter is which of you won.¡± I ducked and blocked its claws. I hacked down through the bone-like plating and mist of the djinn¡¯s arm, removing one of its clawed hands. I tackled it to the ground. That wasn¡¯t too hard since, despite being the same size as me, it weighed only around a hundred pounds. It swiped its other hand at me, dropping its spear to rake at me with all three of his hands. I drove my dagger through its chest and ripped upwards, carving through the ribcage and leaves that comprised its torso.
32 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
There was a lot of cheering and I looked up in surprise to see the roof had disappeared at some point. There was a cage of iron forty feet above me and a ring of men and women looking down on me. ¡°Thank you, my esteemed patrons!¡± Solomon said, walking out of the tunnel. ¡°You¡¯ve just witnessed our newest fighter''s first match. Take your bets now, he¡¯s going to be a regular in the sands.¡± I breathed heavily, regaining my breath from the stress of battle. ¡°Is this how you¡¯re going to teach me?¡± I asked. ¡°Partly,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Your instructors aren¡¯t entirely wrong to just have you running duels, but we need to get you outside of the mindset of your weapon¡¯s reach being a weakness. It can be, but it can also be a strength.¡± ¡°How?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve read enough history to know no famous Warden has ever used a dagger.¡± ¡°Do you want that? Fame?¡± Solomon asked. I hesitated; I had never really thought about that. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I want¡­to be respected.¡± ¡°All those famous Wardens,yes they fought their high minded duels, their battles against armies of djinn but they would never have gotten there if there wasn¡¯t someone in the backlines of their enemy putting a knife in their back. You may never become famous because of your dagger, but you can become effective.¡± ¡°So, what else does my training entail?¡± I asked. Solomon snapped his fingers and the sandy floor darkened as a cover slid over the iron bars blocking us from sight from the onlookers above. ¡°Now I show you how to really use that broken sword,¡± he said, drawing a slim twelve-inch-long blade from behind his back.
Aranea I was in one of the leather shops today working on a leather chest piece. I¡¯d made my first prototype for the ward I¡¯d been creating, but I needed a piece of armor to apply it to. I had taken to calling the ward Thorn-Reflection in my head, and finished the simple chest-piece. It wasn¡¯t anything masterful, but it would give some modest protection. Next, I set it down on the worktable, took out a piece of white chalk and drew the pattern for the ward on the inside of the chest piece. I started poking holes with an awl and carving out grooves for the thread to go along. Unlike the wards woven from willow boughs or other springy branches, the thread would form the pattern instead of holding the branches into the shapes of the pattern. Taking a broad needle, I threaded it with a strand of pure ether. I drew the thread in and out of the holes I¡¯d bored in the leather. Eventually, I held up the chest piece, looking it over.
Type: Retaliatory Chest-guard Grade: D
Once every five hours the wielder can trigger this chest-guard¡¯s ward for the next minute.
When hit by a physical melee attack, the attacker will receive 25 base damage. This effect can occur once every ten seconds.
Durability: 50/50
While the creation of the ward had been successful, it hadn¡¯t resulted in what I wanted. I bit back my disappointment. While the limitations on its activation and duration were high, and the overall damage was lower than I would like, A lot of that could be improved by using better materials and more ether while crafting. I took a mental step back; I had achieved what I set out to do, and the ward did as I had intended it to do. I couldn¡¯t be upset because I hadn¡¯t put in the effort to make it as good as it had sounded in my imagination. I had succeeded where it would take a normal Weaver years of study. Creating a new ward was something not even all Weaver¡¯s attempted given the risks and waste of resources that came with it. I¡¯d been able to do it on my first attempt. Granted, I¡¯d studied a lot and come up with over a hundred different potential patterns before settling on this one, but it was something I was immensely proud of. I gathered up my things and headed back to our apartment, Cain wasn¡¯t there. He should have been, considering the sun was starting to set and it would be late soon. I started putting together dinner. While the mess hall was always open there was something about the privacy of our own space I just preferred. Cain came in. His clothes were ripped and stained with blood, which wasn¡¯t new, but the amount of rips and tears was. He stripped out of his armor, leaving it by the door. ¡°Is Sir Rineer really training you that hard?¡± I asked, looking at the many rips and tears. ¡°I didn¡¯t train with him today,¡± Cain said. ¡°he introduced me to someone else who could help me with my dueling troubles.¡± ¡°Who?¡± I asked. Cain hesitated. ¡°There are certain things he made me promise to keep secret; he runs a certain kind of establishment that caters to Wardens.¡± I was puzzled for a moment. ¡°What kind of establishment just caters to Wardens¡­¡± I stopped, realizing what he must be implying. ¡°He runs a brothel?¡± I asked, indignant. Feeling a flush of anger that Cain had been spending his entire day with those kinds of women. ¡°And other¡­businesses,¡± Cain said. ¡°I don¡¯t want you spending your day with those Companions,¡± I said, crossing my arms. ¡°They aren¡¯t Companions they¡¯re just whores,¡± Cain said. ¡°Apparently you need a license from the Church to be a companion. And I¡¯m not spending any of my time with them.¡± ¡°Then why are you there?¡± I asked my anger not abating at his words. ¡°Because Solomon is a brilliant knife-fighter,¡± Cain said. ¡°And my instructors here know nothing about that. If I¡¯m going to get good enough to get out of this stupid mandatory extra-training, I need to be able to beat them. Solomon was one of the greatest duelists before the war and can teach me.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of him,¡± I said. ¡°If he¡¯s so good how come he still isn¡¯t a great duelist?¡± ¡°He lost his leg in the war,¡± Cain said with a sigh. ¡°Aranea please, I don¡¯t want to argue about this; I have no interest in those whores, but that¡¯s where my teacher is.¡± ¡°And he can¡¯t teach you somewhere else?¡± I pressed. ¡°No,¡± Cain answered. ¡°And before you ask, I can¡¯t tell you why, it''s one of the things I promised to keep to myself.¡± Chapter 20: Battling Giants ¡°Wardens are not required to serve the church or crown, though most do so. Some Wardens for various reasons become independent, contracting out their services instead of receiving a stipend from the church or land from the crown. These Rogue Wardens often work as mercenary guards for merchants, private security or own their own businesses. Some look down on Rogue Wardens due to how many become independent in order to pursue borderline or full-on illegal action such as running brothels catering to Wardens, operating blood sports or trading with the fell.¡± -Steven Gurren, The Warden with no Allegiance, 489 AB Aranea- Sunday, September 8th, 564 AB Cain and I woke and dressed for mass. I was still mad at him, but my anger had cooled somewhat. I had to trust that my husband would be faithful to me or that bitterness would overwhelm me. Besides, Cain had been honest with me and hadn¡¯t hidden where he had been; if his intentions had been otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have told me where he had been. We headed down to the great hall and took a seat in the middle of the pews. The sermon began and I took Cain¡¯s hand in mine stroking the back of his palm as the bishop extorted the virtues of heroism, honor and duty. The Ether Chalice was passed around as we began communion and the Voice¡¯s Prayer was said. ¡°Voice of the Heavens, blessed be your words, thy words be heard, thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us the strength to fight the djinn and courage to stand against all the terrors of the Mist and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Let us not fall to corruption but deliver us from the wrath of God.¡± The chalice passed and I bowed my head over it, touching my brow to the Dragon Core set into the work of art made from finely wrought gold with the depictions of noble saints battling the djinn. I pushed on my ether; we hadn¡¯t learned how to consciously pass on ether into a djinn core yet but the enchantments on the chalice took care of that. I opened myself up to the Voice and the wards engraved into the chalice extracted a tithe of ten percent of my ether in my core. It took longer than I felt comfortable with, and I flushed as I passed it to Cain. I felt as if everyone¡¯s eyes were on me for taking so long but looking around no one was even looking in my direction. Cain bowed his head over the chalice then passed it on after a flash of light showed he had given his tithe. He passed it on, and we continued to listen to the sermon. When it was done, we stood and began filling out of the assembly hall. Hannah and Enoch wandered over to us, he and Cain clasped hands and I embraced Hannah. Hannah took a step back leaning against the massive form of Enoch while her right hand cupped the swell of her belly. ¡°If you would like, you¡¯re welcome to join us for our family dinner tonight,¡± Enoch said. Cain cast a glance my way then nodded. ¡°We would like that.¡± We continued to exchange pleasantries before parting ways. Cain accompanied me to the library for a few hours. He browsed some of the books, but I could tell he was just here to make me happy and not because he was interested in any of its contents. I curled up beside him in a corner of the library on a padded sofa. His hand ran through my hair as he listened to me read aloud. After a few hours like this we left the library and rode to Rineer¡¯s Settlement. The main hall was lit by candles and the hearth fire, making it warm if not brightly lit. We¡¯d eaten with them before, and the chaos of the dinner was something I hadn¡¯t realized how much I wanted until I¡¯d seen it. Enoch¡¯s younger siblings all talked at once and the backdrop of half a dozen conversations filled the air with a sense of¡­home. Even if this wasn¡¯t Cain¡¯s or my home, this is what I wanted. As the dinner neared its end, I took Cain¡¯s hand and placed it on my thigh. I could see his face redden and his eyes met mine. We made our excuses as we got up to leave. We rode out into the countryside and Cain spread a blanket on the ground. My dress slipped off my shoulders as Cain removed his shirt. Minutes later I was in Cain¡¯s firm embrace as he ran kisses down my skin as our bodies moved together. When it was done, I pulled my dress against me, the chilly autumn air cold against our sweat soaked skin. ¡°Would you play for me again?¡± I asked. Cain took out his flute and I closed my eyes, listening to the haunting melody that sang from the span of carved ivory. I wasn¡¯t sure how long we stayed in that field, but we barely made it back through the gates in time before they closed again.
Cain, Tuesday, September 10th, 564 AB Enoch and I rode down a dirt trail to one of the settlements closer to the Mistwall. We had gone on a quest the day before as well. We¡¯d fought a mix of Mist and Wind djinn and my relic and I had absorbed forty-five and eighty-four corruption respectively. I¡¯d gained two-hundred-and-seventy-eight experience. ¡°You think we¡¯re strong enough for this Quest?¡± I asked Enoch looking over the sheet of paper we¡¯d taken from the Quest Hub. ¡°It¡¯s just a couple of soldier djinn,¡± Enoch said. ¡°There is never ¡®just a few¡¯ when it comes to djinn,¡± I reminded him. ¡°We can handle any of the lesser djinn with them too,¡± Enoch said. ¡°There is no gain without risk. These are Mist djinn, we were meant to fight them.¡± I didn¡¯t say anything else to naysay him but I was a bit trepidatious about our quest. There had been seven soldier djinn spotted by a farmer. There could have been more, but he¡¯d hidden sensibly before reporting the sighting to the local guard who had given it to the academy. Both Enoch and I dismounted and left our horses to graze. Hero was going to be too big to ride in the saddle soon and was around the size of a greyhound now. Enoch had been working hard on his training but despite the dog¡¯s intelligence he was still an excited puppy, and prone to all the behaviors of a dog his age. We stalked into the mist covered forest, staying low. Hero managed to keep his muzzle shut but a few low whines would still escape now and again.
Quest
Type: Search Difficulty: Lethal
Search the Mist and find the Soul Forge to upgrade your interface.
Reward: Soul Anvil, 15,000 XP
Yes/No
I dismissed the forbidden quest as we kept moving. I froze as I came across large, clawed footprints. I examined them for a minute, determining they belonged to djinn and not some fell beast. My skill with tracking wasn¡¯t good enough for me to get an accurate number of how many djinn it was but based on the number of prints it was quite a few. Enoch crouched by me, and Hero came over snuffling the tracks. A deep growl, surprising for something so young, came from his throat and he pulled at his lead. Enoch looked at me and I nodded, and we started following the dog¡¯s nose. It took us about half an hour going down various animal trails and fording several streams until Hero stopped pulling Enoch along and stiffened. Enoch clamped a hand over his muzzle to keep him from giving us away and gestured with his chin for me to move forwards. ¡°Ghost Walk,¡± I whispered as I slipped forwards. Noiselessly I moved through the dense forest, coming across the sight of a bloody massacre. Flies buzzed over the festering corpses of a pack of dire wolves. I gagged as I breathed in the stench. The opening for a cave, which had likely been their den, lay beyond them. I moved closer, doing my best to ignore the stench of death as I scouted ahead. The cave was large and more corpses of the pack could be seen, as well as the bodies of their young. Djinn crouched over them, the fangs of their masks stained red as they feasted on them. Djinn don¡¯t eat, but like the stories of the vampire they drain their victims of the ether and corruption in their bodies. Nine Soldier djinn, twelve beasts, thirteen imps and a single hulking Jotunn. For a moment I was frozen as my silhouette blocked the sunlight from outside the cave. A single beast looked up and the black pits of its mask¡¯s eye sockets met my eyes.
Quest
Type: Hunt Difficulty: Lethal
A large pack of djinn led by a Jotunn class djinn is in your immediate area. Kill all the djinn to keep them from attacking civilization.
Reward: Ether Blueprint (Targe, A Grade), 500 XP
I teleported back to Enoch, deactivating Ghost Walk. ¡°There''s a Jotunn, run!¡± I shouted at him. We took off running as the djinn let out a hunting cry. Our feet pounded down the animal trails we¡¯d just been following as the djinn streamed out of the cave and raced after us. I nocked an arrow to my string, came to halt, turned and fired. The arrow hit a soldier djinn directly in the chest, exploding into a fireball.
39 XP gained
I took off running again and Enoch stopped, swiveled around and blasted off with his musket, taking out another Mist soldier. Hero tried to rush them like a suicidal maniac, but Enoch yanked him along and the dog chased my heels as we fled. Pulling to a stop again I whipped about and let loose another arrow. A gout of fire burned through the false bones and leaves, ripping off the mask of the soldier djinn and it collapsed into another pile of corrupted ether.
45 XP gained
I dropped to the ground and rolled as a spear of compressed ether passed right where I had been standing. Scrambling to my feet I pushed off and ran after Enoch. Enoch reloaded his musket as we ran, turned and fired it again. I ducked behind a tree and pivoted around its trunk, loosing another arrow. The arrow struck its gut and spine, blasting its legs and chest apart.
35 XP gained
The Jotunn leapt forwards and I rolled as the twin axes it carried smashed into the trunk of the tree showering me with splintered shrapnel. I dove forwards scrambling across the ground and dodging to the side as a downward chop struck the ground beside me the force of the impact rocking the world beneath my feet. The Jotunn roared and speared the ground narrowly missing me. I teleported away and the thunder of lighting echoed through the ravine as Enoch turned and fired again taking down another soldier djinn. A Mist Soldier appeared behind me with its own teleportation skill I barely caught its spear on the edge of Achlys and twisted up and under getting inside its guard. I drove my dagger up through its ribcage and it collapsed into a pile of leaves and bones.
42 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Level Up! You have reached level 14! 15 Stat points are available to spend, Ether core increased by 5.
I drove my dagger into djinn¡¯s pile of corruption, I needed a stat boost to survive this.
17 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 17 Corruption absorbed by your Core
The djinn were closing in and I took off running after Enoch again my feet noticeably faster now. We kept running getting to the top of the ridge our breathing heavy but our training with Rinner had prepared us for this with the stress of the obstacle course we had to run. I turned, notched an arrow as Enoch turned and shouldered his musket aiming down its barrel. We fired at the same time. Both our shots took out another soldier eliminating the last of them. Now only the imps, beasts and Jotunn remained. We couldn¡¯t run forever and we would likely lead these djinn towards base humans who couldn¡¯t defend themselves if we went towards civilization. My body tensed up, but I pushed the fear and the urge to freeze down. ¡°Can you handle the imps and beasts?¡± I asked panting. Enoch looked over the large horde of the lesser djinn uncertainly but nodded with resolve. ¡°I can,¡± he said. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said appearing behind the Jotunn. ¡°Mist Blade, Lunar Smite!¡± The extended brilliant etheric blade tore into the back of its leg, and it whirled around to face me, but I was already running back the way we had come. I threw myself to the ground and a ¡®whoosh¡¯ of air exploded around me as the Jotunn threw one of its spears as it charged after me shouldering aside small trees and trampling several imps in its way. My hands pushed off the ground and I dove to one of the piles of the soldier djinn we had taken out was and drove Achlys into it.
25 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 25 Corruption absorbed by your Core
I rolled across the ground as one of the hatchet-like axes buried itself in the ground as the Jotunn threw it at me. I ran to the next soldier we¡¯d killed and drove my dagger into the pile of corrupted ether.
33 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 33 Corruption absorbed by your Core
A Mist Beast jabbed at me with its spear. I effortlessly slid to the side and ripped my dagger through it as I ran past.
15 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said. I disappeared as the Jotunn rushed after me. Appearing on the edge of the ravine, I nocked an arrow and loosed it. I didn¡¯t charge it with ether, I was already running dangerously low on that. The arrow hit the Jotunn in its face but bounced off the yellow-white plating of its mask. Even if it didn¡¯t do damage, it did keep its attention and it continued to pursue me leaving Enoch behind us. I took a glance at my character sheet; I was at seventy-eight out of a hundred-and-four corruption. I couldn¡¯t afford to risk trying to absorb the corruption from another soldier or I might oversaturate my core. Branches and tree limbs snapped, sounding like breaking bones, and the Jotunn crashed through them as it chased after me. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The sound of Hero snarling and barking and Enoch fighting became too distant to make out properly as I moved farther away. Not all the imps and beasts had gone after Enoch and Hero. An imp hurled itself at me, its teeth snapping as it came at me spear tip first. It was moving at its full speed, but I had the speed of someone twice my level right now and twisted to the side and under it. I thrust up and ripped apart the imp.
5 XP gained; 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I pulled out the remaining corruption from its corpse.
1 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 1 Corruption absorbed by your Core
It was barely worth the effort as I ducked behind a tree for cover then dived away as its trunk splintered under the force of the Jotunn¡¯s axe. ¡®That spear has reach but that¡¯s also its weakness, don¡¯t let them use it and that strength is wasted¡¯ Solomon¡¯s words came back to me as I dodged another thrust from one of the Jotunn¡¯s spears. Racing forwards, I leapt into the air. The Jotunn stabbed forward with its spear and slashed at me with its twin axes. I teleported forwards past its attacks, landing on its shoulder. My footing was unstable but I took my dagger in a two-handed grip and swung. ¡°Lunar Smite, Mist Blade!¡± I shouted. The Jotunn twitched, but my etheric blade bypassed its thick bone plating and ripped through the ether that composed it. I dropped down, rolling as I took a massive chunk out of its health. Even though my strike had been right to its neck, unless I had the strength to destroy its spine and disconnect its head from its body, there was no way for me to instantly kill something like it. Lunar Smite was still active so I laid into its left leg. The Jotunn staggered but didn¡¯t fall as it whirled around, taking a step back. I moved with it, keeping close so it couldn¡¯t use the reach of its weapons or attack me at ground level easily. It awkwardly tried to stick me with its spear and slash at me with its axes, but I kept weaving in and out between its legs. My trait and my focus on my Agility stat combined with the eighty percent boost to my stats meant I was three times as fast as the Jotunn was. It kept at its attacks as I slashed into the moss and leaves that made up its form, chipping away at the yellow bones that formed its armor and outer shell. I was getting tired, but I had to keep at it. I ducked, dodged, and twisted out of the way of its two spears and axes. I pushed off its spear with my left leg and drove my relic into its chest as I shouted the activation phrases for Lunar Smite and Mist Blade. Another critical strike, but it was still up and at this point I was running on fumes. The Jotunn snarled and its form blurred as it activated one of its abilities. Bones spikes appeared all around me and shot in towards me. ¡°Fog Form,¡± I responded, letting the spikes pass through me harmlessly. I ducked around the swing of its right axe and hacked into its leg. My attacks had weakened this limb severely already and the Jotunn staggered, having to lean on one of its spears like a walking stick to remain standing. It activated another skill and its body began to repair itself. I squinted, looking above it, but its health bar wasn¡¯t going back up. The Jotunn was just fixing the damage I¡¯d done to its body. The edges of its spears and axes glowed as it swung them at me. I rolled to the side as they hit the ground, poisonous green fog exploding where they impacted. I coughed as I took a small breath of the stuff. Instantly my throat felt congested, and the sharp tang of blood filled my mouth and throat. ¡°Fog Form,¡± I gasped out as the Jotunn struck at me again. I moved away and the glow surrounding its weapons faded. I was less cocky now but I still moved, even as I felt my own health bar tick down. I could heal myself, if I still had ether, but I couldn¡¯t remove the Poisoned condition affecting me. I slid between its legs, continuing my work of slowly chipping away at its suit of carapace and constantly chipping away at its hit points. The Jotunn¡¯s health bar only had a quarter left, but I didn¡¯t know if I had much more in me. An explosion of thunder rocked the clearing the Jotunn had created during our battle and its head rocked to the side as a blast from Enoch¡¯s musket hit it squarely in the forehead, cracking its mask. Hero rushed forward, jumping up and latching onto the Jotunn¡¯s crotch. While this would have been very effective on a living creature, djinn didn¡¯t have privates, so it didn¡¯t have much effect. The Jotunn swung at Hero with his axes but I jumped up kicking off its axe and spoiling its aim. Hero dropped down to the ground and dug his teeth into the Jotunn¡¯s ankle. I used the momentum from my leap to propel myself towards the emotionless visage of the djinn¡¯s mask. ¡°Lunar Smite!¡± I shouted, using the last of my Ether. I drove the etheric length of my sword through the crack Enoch had created. When the dagger section of my relic hit the yellowed bone, it shattered. Its hit points reached zero and the Jotunn¡¯s body collapsed into nothing but leaves, bones and corrupted ether.
89 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
Quest Succeeded
You have successfully completed the Quest, Hunt, Lethal and exterminated all the djinn in the area.
Reward: Ether Blueprint (Targe, A Grade) has been added to your inventory, 500 XP gained
¡°Purifying Light,¡± Enoch said, laying his hand on my shoulder. The Poisoned condition ended and I breathed easier. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. Enoch looked at the djinn. ¡°What¡¯s your core at now?¡± I checked. ¡°Eighty-one out of one-hundred-and-four,¡± I said. ¡°No way you can absorb this then,¡± Enoch said. ¡°My core¡¯s still empty, I¡¯ll take this then get some of the imps and beasts. You can fill up on some of the imps, we won¡¯t be able to get them all but it should cut down heavily on the amount of corruption and we can send a clean-up crew to fix the rest.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± I said. I went around absorbing the imps, I only got around seven until I stopped. I was at one-hundred corruption and going any farther would have been irresponsible. It was the first time I had my stats doubled and my body felt¡­ alive. I felt a sudden worry that this feeling from my trait could become addictive, it was unlike anything I¡¯d ever experienced. The rush I felt could only be compared to sex, but instead of brief high it was a constant exuberance. My relic had absorbed an extra twenty corruption. Enoch came over and laid a core the size of a robin''s egg in my hand. ¡°That¡¯s the Jotunn¡¯s core,¡± Enoch said. ¡°You should keep it, use it to store ether. You made the kill and I already got several so, seems fair you take it.¡± I nodded and took it. We raked up the rest of the remaining corrupted remains, keeping Hero off them. We left the forest and rode back to Mistwall.
Aranea I handed Constence the screwdriver as she rolled under the apparatus. ¡°How do you know when it works?¡± Aranea asked. Constence waved her hand out from under the machine, and it sparked with volts of electricity. ¡°I just use a bit of this, I wouldn¡¯t even be able to do this if I didn¡¯t have Storm skills,¡± I said. I looked at my own hands. My skills were good. Powerful even. But no bard would ever sing of me and Cain because of them. I remembered the Mother Superior''s words and pushed down that jealousy. If my skills weren¡¯t what made me special, then we would just have to become known for something on our own. ¡°Tighten the left ventricle valve,¡± Constence instructed me. I took a wrench and tightened the valve as instructed. I glanced at the various manuscripts the ether generator was being based off. We could make electricity, but such practices were forbidden. Djinn hated generators and would be drawn for miles to destroy it. Even this ether generator was pushing the bounds of legality, but it was its reliance on and creation of ether that made it fall outside the bounds of the law. I helped her for several more minutes before Lady Constence rolled out on her cart. Her nose was stained with black grease along with her leather gloves. ¡°Thank you for assistance, that will be all for the day,¡± she said. ¡°Madam Layrora said you were working on some new wards, have you had any success?¡± I was a bit stunned and embarrassed. I knew Madam Layrora had seen my work but I hadn¡¯t known she¡¯d seen so much of it or talked with Lady Constence about it. ¡°Yes,¡± I said. ¡°I was able to create a new ward based off several advanced ones.¡± ¡°Do you have a diagram to show me?¡± she asked. ¡°Um,¡± I took my journal from my basket on the desk and opened it showing her the research and finished sketch that I created. Lady Constence took my journal, examined the page and flipped through examining my older and more recent work. ¡°This is very good, you have natural talent, beyond talent even,¡± Lady Constence said. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, a flush coming to my cheeks at the praise. Lady Constence went over to her desk, took a key from her waist and unlocked one of the drawers. She withdrew a thick tome and placed it in my hands alongside my journal. ¡°This is a copy of the Codex of the Easter Tower,¡± she said. ¡°This is the only copy in the academy so I¡¯m trusting you to bring it back in a few days in the exact same condition. Can I trust you Aranea?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± I said. I held the tome reverently, placing it in my carry basket. I left the room. Heading to the library, I sat down and opened the tome, looking over the wards as I started taking notes and reading the research and anecdotes. The reading was a bit hard as it had been translated when it was brought from the far east. ¡°Reading anything fun?¡± I looked up to see Noah taking a seat across from me, kicking his boots up on a nearby chair as he opened up a book. ¡°It¡¯s a tome of wards from the east,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s fascinating their different thoughts on it.¡± ¡°The heresy doesn¡¯t bother you?¡± Noah asked, a twinkle in his eyes. ¡°Just because they don¡¯t understand the Voice the same as we do doesn¡¯t make their understanding of wards any less useful,¡± I said. ¡°The Church might have a few different thoughts on that,¡± Noah said with a shrug. ¡°They¡¯re wards, not religious doctrine,¡± I said. ¡°But, let me guess, you don¡¯t approve?¡± ¡°I¡¯m all for personal choice,¡± Noah said. ¡°As long as it doesn¡¯t interfere with the safety of others.¡± ¡°And who decides what is and isn¡¯t safe?¡± I asked. ¡°The Church,¡± Noah conceded with a nod. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re a Reformationist?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not, but I¡¯m surprised you imply that you aren¡¯t. You are in favor of the use of Companions,¡± I said pointedly. ¡°I read up on them recently, Companions were pushed by the Reformationists, and one of the few cases when the Church actually listened and changed their stance on something.¡± ¡°I might agree with some of their principles,¡± Noah said with a noncommittal gesture of his head and hand. ¡°But their broad aim and goal of decentralization of the Church¡¯s authority, and allowing contact with the fell tribes¡­ They are the ideas of the romantics and fools. However noble they might seem, they fall apart when subjected to reality.¡± ¡°I still disagree with you on Companions,¡± I said. ¡°I think that also falls apart when subjected to reality.¡± Noah set down his book and spread out his arms. ¡°Seems to be working for me.¡± ¡°How many children do you have?¡± I asked. ¡°I don¡¯t see how that¡¯s relevant¡­¡± Noah began. ¡°Wardens and Weavers who aren¡¯t bonded at their initiation are twice as likely to split apart,¡± I said. ¡°The more sexual partners either side has, the less likely they stay together. How many partners have you had?¡± ¡°One,¡± Noah said curtly. ¡°What does this have to do with me not having children? And of course I don¡¯t have any.¡± ¡°Because Companions are forbidden by law from having children,¡± I said, giving him a pointed look. ¡°That¡¯s my point, you can have children, I¡¯ve wanted children since I was old enough to understand I could have them. The practice you support locks women into a life where they are forever denied that joy just because people like you don¡¯t trust the Voice to assign you a good wife.¡± ¡°I trust the Voice not people,¡± Noah said. ¡°And yet you''re not a Reformationist,¡± I said, turning back to my book. ¡°My point is this, the system you support leads to women who may be forced by circumstances to take lifelong oaths of childlessness, increasing the fragility of the bonds between Wardens and Weavers.¡± ¡°Arguments straight out of Lady Marrian Tredel¡¯s letters to the church,¡± Noah said. ¡°You¡¯ll find many who agree with you, but not every woman wants to have children.¡± ¡°Have you asked your Companion about that?¡± I asked, turning the page of the codex as I scribbled a few notes. Noah was silent after that.
Cain, Wednesday, September 11th, 564 AB I slid out of bed, shivering as the cold air touched my naked skin. I slipped on my clothes and leaned over, kissing Aranea on the lips and forehead. Her lips turned up and she snuggled deeper under the covers, but she didn¡¯t wake up. I went down to the mess hall and got a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, and thick bread. I headed out to the marshal field and lined up. We weren¡¯t actually required to take any attendance, completing Quests was what mattered, but access to higher tier Quests was locked behind our teacher¡¯s approval. I went through the motions of the warmup kata. We grabbed iron weights, strapping them to our arms, legs and back and started running. The thing about being Wardens is that we¡¯re stronger than base humans and so we have to train like super humans. After about two hours of weighted combat training, we hit the showers. Water poured down on us and I let the sweat rinse off before grabbing another set of clothes and leaving. Enoch met up with me as I was strapping on my armor near the gates to the Academy. ¡°You wanted to do another quest today?¡± he asked. ¡°No,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°I need to go do some extra training today with Solomon, there¡¯s an examination for dueling proficiency coming up soon. If I do better this time, hopefully I can get out of the mandatory extra training.¡± ¡°Is that all you want?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°To just be good enough to get by?¡± ¡°I want to get good at being a Warden,¡± I said, tightening the straps on my greaves and bracers. ¡°Not fighting other Wardens for sport.¡± ¡°What if you have to duel someone like your father?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°It was your father¡¯s ability to duel that ended the war.¡± ¡°My father won a duel,¡± I said. ¡°Towards the end everyone wanted the war to end, they just used his defeat of their crown prince as an excuse to sue for peace.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not saying keep up your training here,¡± Enoch said, raising his hand placatingly. ¡°I¡¯m saying if this Solomon gets you good enough to get out of this training, maybe keep training with Solomon.¡± ¡°I thought you were against me associating with him,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re already associated,¡± Enoch said with a shrug. ¡°Might as well get the full benefit.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll think about it,¡± I said.
Cain The heavy club of the Earth Soldier swung for my head. I dodged to the side and rolled forwards trying to get behind its shield. ¡°You¡¯re more aggressive, good,¡± Solomon said. ¡°But speed is just as important, you moved faster last time, why?¡± Because I had a few points of corruption in my core, but I couldn¡¯t tell him that. I pushed myself now to make up for my lack. Spikes of earth shot out The club of an earth djinn looked like a stalagmite shaped into tapered bludgeon and a claws at the end. My body spun as I kicked off the ground I grabbed the top of his shield with my free hand and pulled my self up and over somersaulting over it. I drove Achlys into its back. ¡°Good use of movement and using your enemies strengths against them,¡± Solomon said, clapping. ¡°It¡¯s a bit different when they¡¯re people,¡± I said panting. ¡°Why?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°All djinn are the same,¡± I said. ¡°An earth soldier will always have a shield like that and a club like that, maybe some minor cosmetic differences, an inch or two in difference.¡± ¡°They have different skills,¡± Solomon said. ¡°There¡¯s a difference.¡± ¡°Even skills have replications,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying I¡¯ll remember the thousands on record but last I heard a djinn with a unique skill hasn¡¯t been spotted in over a century.¡± ¡°True,¡± Solomon agreed. ¡°But what about Wardens, new skills are found every ten years and there are twice as many of them as for djinn. You going to memorize every one of those?¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± I asked exasperated. ¡°I went aggressive, kept in close, and I beat it; what else is there?¡± ¡°I need you to find your battle rhythm,¡± Solomon said. ¡°My what?¡± I asked, whipping the perspiration from my face. ¡°Your battle rhythm,¡± Solomon said again. ¡°The part of you that can just relax into a fight and enjoy it.¡± ¡°You enjoy fighting?¡± I asked, spitting out some phlegm. ¡°All men enjoy it,¡± Solomon said, entering the arena. ¡°You do too, you just don¡¯t know it yet.¡± He drew his dagger from behind his back. ¡°Now let''s see how much you remember from your last time training.¡± An hour later I was coughing up bits of blood with my spit but Solomon seemed satisfied. He tossed me a clean wet rag and a towel. ¡°Clean yourself up before your wife sees you,¡± he said. ¡°She doesn¡¯t like that I¡¯m here,¡± I said. ¡°Women don¡¯t like a lot of things,¡± Solomon said with a shrug. ¡°You can either do all the things they want from you, still not measure up to their expectations, and have them leave you for better prospects, or you can be who you want to be and take the women who will accept you.¡± ¡°That work out for you?¡± I asked, looking around. Solomon smiled. ¡°I enjoy it more than the first.¡± ¡°You were married?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯m like you,¡± Solomon said. ¡°I was a provincial. Married when I was seventeen, always loyal to my wife and did everything I could to make her happy but it wasn¡¯t enough.¡± I hesitated before asking. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°She left me to be the mistress of a royal brat,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Apparently all of my affection and loyalty wasn¡¯t worth as much as the scraps he gave her. Remember this Cain, women are loyal to their feelings first before their men.¡± ¡°Aranea isn¡¯t like that,¡± I said, shaking my head. ¡°And even if you''re right, I don¡¯t want to live in a world where that¡¯s how people operate.¡± ¡°As long as you''re happy you can live in whatever reality you want,¡± Solomon said with a shrug. ¡°Take a quick minute to get a drink and catch your breath then I want you to push yourself even farther.¡± Ten minutes later the blood was pounding in my ears as Solomon whirled around me. Even with one wooden leg I could barely keep track of him. As far as I could tell he wasn¡¯t using any skills, but he was like a leaf in a hurricane. In one spot, then another. I kept my focus up and tried to use Fog Form non-verbally. Even if I wasn¡¯t supposed to be using any skills, I figured if I could get it to work it would be worth the tongue lashing I¡¯d get. Solomon¡¯s foot came out and tripped me, and I went sprawling. I rolled, jumping to my feet but the peg of his wooden stump hit me in the chest, knocking me back to the sand again. ¡°You¡¯re getting better,¡± Solomon said with a nod. ¡°But you¡¯re not feeling it. Where is your rage, your passion? All I see is a glimmer of fear now and then, but you push even that down.¡± ¡°Emotions cloud your judgment,¡± I said, pushing his wooden leg off my chest. ¡°Anger makes you do things you regret, passion makes you behave recklessly, fear makes you freeze.¡± ¡°Are you a hermit living in the Mist, or a Warden?¡± Solomon asked, pulling me to my feet. ¡°Life is short, experience it. Feel those emotions run through you. I¡¯m not saying to let them rule you. A man who is not the master of his emotions is no man at all; I¡¯m saying let them empower you.¡± ¡°Yes sir,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯re done for the day,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Go home before your wife starts wondering about you.¡± I headed through the streets. The sun had yet to set, but our proximity to the Mistwall Mountains made everything get darker a lot faster here. I walked through the academy gates and up to our apartment. Aranea wasn¡¯t back so I stripped out of my armor, washed, and began to practice on strengthening the bond with my Relic.
Aranea I stepped into our apartment and found Cain sitting in meditation, sliding his dagger across the kitchen table over and over and calling it back into his hand. ¡°Did your training go well?¡± I asked him. ¡°I think so,¡± he said, opening his eyes and sheathing his Relic on his arm. ¡°It was a serious workout at least, I had to heal myself several times. How was your day?¡± ¡°Good,¡± I said. ¡°You didn¡¯t go on another quest yet, right? I haven¡¯t had time to purify my core yet from last night.¡± Cain smiled at that, and it still made me blush the way he smirked. ¡°No, I wanted to get more dueling practice in so I can hopefully get out of this mandatory training.¡± ¡°You should stick with it,¡± I encouraged him. ¡°Don¡¯t let others look down on you for your element or weapon.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like dueling,¡± Cain said. ¡°It''s so pointless and pretentious.¡± ¡°Your father¡­¡±I said. ¡°My father was in the wrong place at the right time,¡± Cain said, interrupting me. ¡°I¡¯ve heard that story a thousand times growing up. I was conceived just a few days prior to that battle, I know all about how my father dueled the crown prince of Carsway. But since then my father has only been in three duels; that¡¯s a total of four duels in eighteen years. But everyone brings it up and trains like they¡¯re going to duel every single day!¡± I bit my lip surprised at Cain¡¯s outburst and the note of anger behind it. Cain¡¯s shoulders sagged. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have responded like that to you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I assured him. I walked over and ran my fingers along his neck, I bent down kissing his neck and along his chest. ¡°You¡¯re just stressed after training.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Cain agreed. ¡°Just tell me you¡¯ll think about it,¡± I urged him. ¡°I know duels are rare, but they still happen, and so much of your advancement here is tied up in how good you are at them. I¡¯m not asking for you to beat the prince in the dueling ring, but to just push yourself.¡± ¡°Aranea I¡­¡± Cain said. ¡°Please?¡± I pressured him. ¡°I just want to be proud of you.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Cain said with a tired nod. Chapter 21: Dancing with Daggers ¡°While gold and silver are the primary currency used in everyday life, djinn cores are universally accepted, with standardized trading agreements used in the kingdoms of Europa and even distant shores of Afrika or the far east.¡± -Benjamin Radeer, A Rogue Warden and Owner of the Eastern Trading Company, 350 AB Noah, Thursday, September 12th, 564 AB I breathed out heavily as I arrived. Alexa unwrapped her legs from around my back, her scarlet hair tousled over the pillow. I rolled over on my side and Alexa hooked a leg around my torso and ran a hand down my chest. ¡°You were pretty energetic tonight,¡± she said with a throaty purr. ¡°What¡¯s got you so riled up?¡± ¡°Do you want to have children?¡± I asked her. ¡°Or did you before you gave your vows?¡± Alexa sat up, her hips straddling mine. ¡°Why are you asking me this?¡± ¡°There¡¯s this girl¡­¡± I began. ¡°A girl,¡± Alexa said, a teasing tone entering her voice. ¡°It''s not like that," I said, running my hands along the tautness of her stomach and up her spine. ¡°She¡¯s a provincial. She and I have been debating the ethics of Companions. She believes the use of your order is immoral because of how it forces you to remain childless.¡± Alexa¡¯s fingers continued to trace along the skin of my chest as she was silent, the darkness of my chamber hiding her expression from me. Only a beam of moonlight from the window casting her pale bare skin into an eerie glow. ¡°I did want children once,¡± Alexa said. ¡°And if you could have them now?¡± I asked. ¡°That¡¯s a cruel question to ask,¡± she said, her voice not bitter but reproachful. ¡°I gave oaths to the church, oaths that can¡¯t be taken back. If I broke them I¡¯d be excommunicated.¡± ¡°You could¡­¡± I began. ¡°No!¡± Alexa snapped then continued in a softer tone. ¡°Your father did my family a great service, I became a Companion to pay that back and ensure my house continues. My life isn¡¯t a bad one. It¡¯s better than the vast majority of women in fact. There is no guarantee I would have even had children. It¡¯s not a blessing even all Weaver¡¯s receive.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said. ¡°I just¡­I just wanted to make sure you''re happy.¡± Alexa ground her hips into mine. ¡°I¡¯m content my prince, your father could have assigned me to worse duties than this, I don¡¯t have to share my services with his royal knights or other members of your household.¡± I bit back a groan as she pressed into me. I could see a flash of white as she smiled. ¡°And the work I do for you does have its own pleasures.¡±
Aranea I slipped out of bed wincing at a pain in my abdomen, I hurried to the bathroom and looked down, seeing a red stain on my dress. My menstrual cramps made me wince again and I removed my nightgown, putting it in the tub to soak as I folded up a cotton cloth and wetted it, wiping up the rest of the blood. I was disappointed to see the blood, which didn¡¯t help the other feelings I was going through. I¡¯d been hoping for a baby but¡­ I pushed aside the feeling of missed opportunity. Cain and I had only just started trying and there was still plenty of time. I hurriedly washed my dress, removing the bloodstain and set it out to dry. I didn¡¯t know why but I didn¡¯t want Cain to see it. Cain got up and washed his face and brushed his teeth. ¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked, giving me a concerned look. ¡°I¡¯m fine, just¡­cramps,¡± I said feeling silly for hiding this from him. ¡°Do you need me to do anything for you?¡± he asked. ¡°No I¡¯ll be fine,¡± I assured him. ¡°You should go to training.¡± Cain hugged me and I winced, he loosened his grip. ¡°Sorry,¡± he apologized. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± I assured him again. He planted a kiss on my forehead and left. I breathed out a sigh, not knowing why I felt so tense about this. I made some tea as I gathered my books and journal into my basket and left for classes. I sat down beside Hannah and Deliah. I winced at the cramps but composed myself, not quickly enough to avoid all scrutiny. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Hannah asked me. ¡°I¡¯m fine, it¡¯s just my period,¡± I said. ¡°I can give you some pills I take,¡± Deliah said. I was about to accept when I realized what kind of pills she was referring to. ¡°No thank you. Cain and I are actually trying for a baby,¡± I said. ¡°So soon?¡± Deliah asked. ¡°I know Hannah¡¯s pregnant but you''re only seventeen¡­¡± ¡°All right everyone, class is beginning. You can have your conversations when it¡¯s done,¡± Madam Layrora said, calling all attention to the front of the room. ¡°We will be helping the academy prepare for an expedition they are doing with the first year Wardens today. We are very close to several lakes and rivers with various fishing settlements. There have been reports of higher than usual numbers of water djinn being spotted, so we will be creating Wards to gather corrupted Water ether for the first year Wardens to place. Has everyone read up on how to create the Ward?¡± Everyone nodded, even though I knew for a fact that not everyone had. But that wasn¡¯t my business. We began bending and tying the soaked willow boughs into the positions required. I pushed aside the pain; it was discomforting but compared to the pain indoctrination I¡¯d had to undergo to become a Weaver it was hardly anything. I worked diligently, and focused on creating the wards shown on the blackboard. I was tempted to alter them and try new designs but stopped myself. This wasn¡¯t one of my own personal experiments, this was for helping save the lives of common fishermen who didn¡¯t have skills. Noon-day bell rang, and we broke for lunch. I hurried to the washroom to change my bleeding cloth. I rejoined my friends in the mess hall. ¡°You¡¯re really trying for a baby already?¡± Deliah asked me. ¡°Of course,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve always wanted to be a mother, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Eventually yes,¡± Deliah said. ¡°but I¡¯m not ready for that responsibility yet.¡± ¡°We¡¯re Weavers,¡± Hannah said. ¡°People¡¯s lives are in our hands all the time, but a baby is too much?¡± We continued to argue for a while before eventually finishing eating. I went up to the library again to finish taking as many notes as I could from the grimoire Lady Constence had lent me before she asked for it back.
Cain I didn¡¯t go on another quest with Enoch today either. The bouncer opened the doors to the Golden Gypsy as I got close. I went inside, the smell of imported tobacco, booze and perfume heavy in the air. The women Solomon employed eyed me, along with everyone else, but I ignored them, moving past to the stairs and heading down. I sat down on the bench and watched through the portcullis as a Warden wearing only a pair of britches and no armor fought a Demon. I didn¡¯t even know how Solomon had been allowed to let a djinn grow that strong inside the settlement walls. Someone should probably tell someone else about it to stop that sort of thing from happening, but that wasn¡¯t my decision. I¡¯d promised to keep my mouth shut and that¡¯s what I¡¯d do. My eyes ran over the bars. I walked over and ran my finger over them, yanking it back as a splinter pricked me. Sucking on it, I grabbed it with my teeth and pulled it out. I examined the bars which I had mistaken for iron and saw they were actually just painted wood. There were also very small wards carved into them which explained why the Demon wasn¡¯t able to use its skills to break out or attack the patrons above. ¡°Fascinating isn¡¯t it,¡± Solomon said, coming up to stand beside me. I glanced at the fight, watching as the man danced with the Demon, only faint scratches on his skin as the Moon djinn slashed at him with its scythe. ¡°He¡¯s very skilled,¡± I agreed. ¡°Not that,¡± Solomon scoffed. ¡°Hector is an alright fighter, but that¡¯s just experience, not real skill or artistry. I¡¯m talking about the wards.¡± ¡°They''re holding in a Demon so they must be good,¡± I agreed. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°They better be or my girls aren¡¯t doing their jobs right,¡± Solomon said, breathing out a long plume of smoke from his cigar. ¡°Do you know how hard it is to find women with the skills of Weavers not bound to the Church or some noble house?¡± ¡°No,¡± I said. ¡°Well, it¡¯s hard,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Each one of them costs around a Demon Core per month to keep here, but they make a good amount from their tips and I always treat them well.¡± ¡°Why employ them?¡± I asked. ¡°Why enable that kind of sin?¡± ¡°Sin,¡± Solomon sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not a priest, boy. I¡¯ve seen men and women do things that would turn your blood. The Church may preach as if we Wardens are more principled and better than others but, if anything, we¡¯re worse. I¡¯m honest about what I do and my girls are honest about what they provide. I¡¯m breaking no vows or oaths, I¡¯m just satisfying a demand.¡± ¡°If you weren¡¯t supplying¡­.¡± I began. ¡°Then someone else would,¡± Solomon said. ¡°And that someone might be even less principled than me. I¡¯m the evil you know Cain, and trust that you would rather not deal with the evil you don¡¯t.¡± I was silent for a moment after that, pondering his words. ¡°Why is he doing this?¡± I asked, gesturing with my chin toward Hector. ¡°One wrong move and without his armor he¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°Hector owes me about three dragon-cores,¡± Solomon said. ¡°He isn¡¯t that good of a Warden so it would take him years to pay that off. I told him if he did this fight with no armor to give the audience a real good show I¡¯d wipe his slate clean.¡± ¡°And what if he dies?¡± I asked. ¡°How do you explain a Warden dying in your tavern?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Solomon said with a shrug. ¡°I dump him out in the Mist later and say djinn got him.¡± ¡°And his wife?¡± I asked. ¡°Hector¡¯s wife isn¡¯t going to miss him,¡± Solomon said. ¡°At least not for very long.¡± Hector ducked under the swing of the Moon Demon¡¯s scythe and rammed his spear up through its chest before twisting away and ripping it out. The Demon had already sustained a large number of wounds and finally collapsed. There were a mixture of cheers and boos but Hector staggered over to the gate. ¡°My debt¡­¡± he said, his breaths coming out in heaves. ¡°It¡¯s cleared?¡± Solomon opened the door and clasped Hector on the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m a man of my word, go upstairs, the girls will give you a bath and a drink on the house.¡± Hector staggered away leaning on his spear for support, one leg limping. ¡°So,¡± Solomon said, turning to me. ¡°Let¡¯s see how you fare today. Show me your battle rhythm.¡± I managed to block three strikes from Solomon that day. He cut me at least a hundred times that number. I rolled to the side as a blur passed by me and brought up Achlys in a two handed guard. Solomon came to a stop. ¡°Why are you holding your dagger like a sword?¡± he asked me, his voice sharp and reprimanding. I gasped and spat before I could speak. ¡°Because I can barely hold it.¡± ¡°Hmmm,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Perhaps I¡¯ve pushed you too far.¡± I breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. ¡°Or perhaps I haven¡¯t pushed you enough yet,¡± he said, disappearing from the arena. The wooden portcullis closed. I blinked, trying to comprehend what was going on as another portcullis raised itself up. The crackle of electricity sounded and my heart beat faster as a blue glow approached. A Storm Soldier djinn appeared in the doorway. It floated above the ground with no legs, just a long tail made of bands of electricity that ran up to its torso where blue etheric plates covered it. Three arms extended from its torso, one holding a long two-handed jagged sword the other just ending in claws. The soulless eye sockets of the djinn bore into me as it charged towards me. I froze. My muscles were like ice as I screamed for them to move as the djinn swung at me. ¡°Move Cain!¡± Solomon shouted. I dropped to the ground and the sword passed just over my head. The crowd above cheered, and I rolled over the sand as the djinn slashed down at me. I pushed up, and its claws slashed across my chest. Hot pain and blood sprouted, but my armor took most of the damage. I rammed Achlys into its chest and twisted as I darted to the side, dragging my dagger along with me. Its left arm lashed out, backhanding me across the face, and I felt my jaw loosen. The health bar of the djinn dropped by half but it wasn¡¯t done and it, unlike me, wasn¡¯t under any restrictions about using its skills. A bolt of lightning snapped out, hitting me and launching me several yards away. I landed in the sand, dazed and stunned as my left shoulder burned. I rolled to the side again as the djinn cut down where I lay. A pulse of electricity moved along the ground, but I jumped up and landed after it passed. The djinn charged me again and I acted without thinking. My dagger flew through my hands and pierced the Storm Soldier through one of its eye sockets. I wasn¡¯t sure who was more surprised, me or the djinn. Its health bar was at a sliver now. I held out my hand and my dagger slapped back into it, taking the last of the djinn¡¯s health with it.
34 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
¡°Well done!¡± Solomon said, clapping as he entered the ring. ¡°You bastard!¡± I spat. ¡°I wasn¡¯t ready for that.¡± ¡°You won,¡± Solomon said with a shrug. ¡°So, I guess you were ready.¡± ¡°And if you were wrong? Were you just going to dump me in the Mist and tell my wife some djinn got to me?¡± I asked, still pissed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have let it go that far,¡± Solomon said. ¡°A bold move, that throw with your dagger, how did you know you¡¯d hit its eye socket?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± I said with a sigh, there was no point in staying angry, Solomon wasn¡¯t going to apologize. ¡°I wasn¡¯t thinking.¡± ¡°Then you should think less when you fight,¡± Solomon said. ¡°That was good instincts, your body knew what your mind wasn¡¯t sure about. You acted, and you won. That¡¯s how you win a duel. Go home and rest and think about how it felt in that moment. When you can let the conscious mind go, and live in that state, that¡¯s when you¡¯ll find your battle rhythm.¡±
Cain, Friday, September 13th, 564 AB I jumped, and cleared the Fire Soldier¡¯s bident. Its wings flared out and I had to narrow my eyes to slits as a wave of scorching heat hit me, blistering my exposed skin. I landed on its spear, driving the point into the ground as I went into a fencer¡¯s lunge. Achlys pierced through the ether case around its chest. I dropped down before it could use the claws from one of its hands and rolled between its legs. It tried to use its tail to wrap around me but I pushed off the ground, slashing out and cutting off half of it. The Fire Soldier took to the air, turning around. It raised its bident and a bolt of fire blasted out, glassing the area where I had just been. Another bolt of fire made me dodge again as the Soldier continued its bombardment. The glass where I had just been continued to melt as I moved from spot to spot. I counted the attacks as they happened. ¡°One, two, three, four, five, six..¡± I muttered. The Fire Soldier dropped to the ground as it ran out of ether, and I charged back in. I dropped low, skidding across the ground as I slid under the thrust of its weapon. It slammed a burning wing towards me but I kicked up and drove my dagger through its chest again pushing with the palm of my hand against its pommel to put more force behind it.
27 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I winced as I felt the burns along my sides and chest. ¡°Celestial Healing.¡± The burns disappeared and fresh skin replaced them, pale against my lightly tanned skin. Solomon opened the gate and walked in with a flourishing showman¡¯s gesture to the crowd. ¡°Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your patronage; please collect your winnings from your latest bets. The next fight will be in two hours.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been betting on me?¡± I asked, I wasn¡¯t really surprised. ¡°Of course,¡± Solomon said, tossing me a small bag. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± I asked, catching it. ¡°Your share,¡± Solomon said. ¡°People love a good close fight, even if you are just a Page seeing someone of your rank take on a Soldier djinn one on one with no skills is a good show.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad I¡¯m so entertaining,¡± I said dryly. I tossed the bag up in the air testing its weight and listening to the clink. ¡°These are cores not coins.¡± ¡°Always try to operate with cores more than coins,¡± Solomon said. ¡°While some idiots might be fooled by counterfeit cores, it¡¯s nowhere near the stuff they do with gold or silver. Mixing it with copper or nickel to dilute it and make more. Djinn cores can¡¯t be mass produced to create inflation; they are always in demand; the value of your gold might change from one kingdom to the other, but the value of cores is stable across all Europa.¡± The pouch of cores fit in the pouch on my belt, so I tucked it in there. ¡°Any other lessons for me today?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got my assessment tomorrow.¡± ¡°No,¡± Solomon said. ¡°I have more lessons for you, but you¡¯d be better suited getting in a full rest then training till you puke again. This prince. He as good a duelist as they say?¡± ¡°He¡¯s beaten everyone else at the academy. Even when he was a first- and second-year student,¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°I¡¯ve only seen him fight the one time though.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll come to your assessment tomorrow,¡± Solomon said, clapping me on the shoulder. ¡°Remember, winning is all that matters, fight dirty if you have to.¡±
Aranea I felt a tap on my shoulder as I was headed to the library, I turned around and Cain pushed me against the wall, his lips pressing against mine. ¡°I¡¯m off early for the day,¡± he said. ¡°Do you want to go out for a ride? I was thinking we could pick up something from the kitchens for a picnic¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got to study,¡± I interrupted him. ¡°Oh,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe Sunday,¡± I offered. ¡°I just need to finish copying as much as I can from this grimoire before Lady Constence asks for it back.¡± ¡°You''re right,¡± Cain said, taking a step back. ¡°You should prioritize your studies, I¡¯ll see you later.¡± He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and forehead before leaving. I felt a little guilty for not having the time to spend with him today, but I really was busy. I headed to the library and kept reading and taking notes. Hours passed like that and I had to stop when the light got bad. Candles and any other source of fire weren¡¯t allowed in the library and I didn¡¯t have an ether light to use in place of one. Packing up my books I left the library heading to our apartment. Cain was sitting in front of the fire, there was a bundle of flowers in a vase on the table and I smiled when I saw the pale white blooms. I set my basket and joined Cain leaning against him. ¡°How was training?¡± I asked. ¡°Good, I think I¡¯ve learned more in these past three days from Solomon than in the two weeks of training at the academy,¡± he said. ¡°His way of speaking and teaching just seems to make more sense to me.¡± ¡°He¡¯s really helping you?¡± I asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Cain said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll pass my assessment tomorrow, but I actually feel like I have a chance this time.¡± ¡°Then maybe¡­you should keep learning from him,¡± I said grudgingly. ¡°I don¡¯t like what he does, but if you feel like he¡¯s a good teacher you should keep learning from him.¡± ¡°Here,¡± Cain said, placing a pouch in my hand. ¡°That was my share.¡± ¡°Your share of what¡­?¡± I stopped speaking as I looked down at the three Demon Cores. ¡°This is so much!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see how much it was until a few hours ago,¡± Cain said with a grin. ¡°You should keep them. When we learn how to store ether and draw it from cores you¡¯ll need to keep a few on you.¡± ¡°What have you been doing to earn these?¡± I asked. ¡°This is more than what a Page makes in several months. Maybe during an ether storm you could expect to make this much but¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re my share of bets,¡± Cain said. ¡°You¡¯ve been gambling?¡± I said, my voice turning a bit harsh. ¡°No,¡± Cain assured me. ¡°They were just part of my share for¡­things I have to do during training. I promised not to talk about them.¡± Things started fitting together in my head. ¡°They aren¡¯t bets that you made but you still got a share,¡± I reasoned. ¡°So they must have been bets placed on you. There are few things people bet on Wardens to do, most of them violent. You¡¯ve been fighting, you hate dueling so it wouldn¡¯t be other Wardens, but you''re inside the city¡­ You¡¯ve been fighting djinn inside a settlement?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t talk about it,¡± Cain said, pressing his lips together. I opened my mouth but shut it. There was nothing I could do here. All I had were some suspicions. I could take them to the authorities but if they asked, it would get Cain in trouble too. I didn¡¯t have any proof either so why would they even believe me. I stood up and went to the washroom and started washing the day¡¯s clothes; I couldn¡¯t make any decisions now, I needed to think. Chapter 22: A Test of Skill ¡°The debate of honor in warfare is a long and complicated one. Some claim honor is for the dead while others claim honor is necessary for the living in order to stave off the barbarous cruelty that lurks in the hearts of man. I myself do not have an answer. Do we win at any cost? Or does the way we win matter?¡± - Sir Lindren Beige, private letters between him and Lord Andrew Blackstone, 466 AB
Enoch- Saturday, September 14th, 564 AB Hannah sat in front of me side-saddle as we rode through the mostly empty early morning streets of Mistwall. While the jostling of a horse wasn¡¯t comfortable for someone so far in her term, she¡¯d spent a good number of her attribute points on increasing her Endurance to help protect the baby. We got to the stables, and I dismounted, lifting Hannah off the saddle and setting her gently on the ground. She kissed my cheek, and I smiled down at her. She turned to leave but I held her hands tight. ¡°Take it easy today,¡± I said. ¡°You can¡¯t go running after your friends for a while. You don¡¯t want to give my mother another scare like when you tripped and fell last week.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Hannah insisted, but her hand went to her belly. We¡¯d all been worried, but the midwife had checked her and said that she and the baby were fine. ¡°Just be careful,¡± I cautioned her, then let go of her hands. ¡°A nice girl,¡± a gruff man¡¯s voice said behind me. I turned and saw a lanky man leaned against the wall crunching into an apple. ¡°She¡¯s not the fairest lass I¡¯ve ever laid eyes on. But she seems well tempered and respectful and that¡¯s worth more than golden locks,¡± he said. ¡°Do I know you?¡± I asked my voice hard as I pushed down some annoyance as he eyed my wife¡¯s backside while she moved off. ¡°More likely you know of me,¡± he said, stepping out of the shadows. His walk was smooth as a hunting cat but with an odd gait. It took me a second to see the prosthetic leg, it was made of dark polished wood set with gold the faint hum of ether about it. ¡°You¡¯re Solomon Heldaro,¡± I said. ¡°The one who''s been training Cain.¡± ¡°One and the same,¡± Solomon agreed. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I asked. ¡°You¡¯re a rogue Warden, this is sacred ground.¡± ¡°This land belongs to the crown, not the Church,¡± Solomon said, tossing the core of his apple aside. ¡°I¡¯m just here to see how well the apprentice your father pushed on me does.¡± I shrugged. I wasn¡¯t in charge, so I didn¡¯t particularly care if he was here or not; that was someone else¡¯s responsibility. ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll do well?¡± ¡°Depends on what you mean by well,¡± Solomon said. ¡°But I think he will be surprising.¡±
Cain All the Wardens, from the teachers to the first-fourth years students were assembled in the mustering ground. My knee bounced with nervousness as I waited. ¡°Greetings students,¡± Lord Scarisen said. ¡°It has been almost two weeks since your last test, I hope to see that all of you have improved in some way. For those of you who failed to meet expectations last time, now is the time to prove yourself. This is just an assessment so you won¡¯t be dueling with those from other years this time.¡± I paired up randomly with another of my classmates who had also been assigned to mandatory training with me. We squared off in the dueling circle. I¡¯d worn my best armor for this, and the targe the Voice had given me. My opponent, Sir Daniel Jofkay, had a large round shield and a longsword he crouched low behind his shield. The referee raised a handkerchief and dropped it. The handkerchief drifted, then hit the ground and I sprung into motion. I charged forwards and Daniel stabbed towards my stomach. I knocked aside his sword with my targe. He knocked aside my dagger with his shield, but my real goal was accomplished as I hit his left ankle with both feet, most of his weight had been on that foot and he went down. The longsword swung at me in a wild panic, but I was on him knocking aside the slash with my shield. My knee dropped hard on his sword arm, and I placed my dagger against his throat. He struggled for only one more second before dropping his sword and slapping the ground. I stepped up and held out my hand, but he stood up on his own without taking it. ¡°That wasn¡¯t how a duel is fought,¡± he said, glaring at me and looking to the referee. ¡°It was within the rules,¡± the other Warden said but he did give me a side glance that spoke of his disapproval. ¡°Go sit down and wait for the next rounds of duels.¡± Enoch sat down and passed me a waterskin. ¡°Thanks,¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯ll be prepared for something like that next round,¡± he said. ¡°You know kicks, punches and other body contact are frowned on in duels.¡± ¡°The only thing that matters is winning,¡± I said, passing back his waterskin. ¡°I¡¯m just tired of being looked down on.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯d rather be hated for being a cheater?¡± Enoch asked. ¡°Didn¡¯t cheat,¡± I said. ¡°I went to the library with Aranea a for few days and read the entire rulebook.¡± ¡°But societally, it won¡¯t be viewed that way,¡± Enoch said, taking his own drink. ¡°Then I guess society is going to lose,¡± I said. ¡°Next round beginning in one minute,¡± Lord Scarisen called out. ¡° I paired up with another Warden. He wasn¡¯t one I was familiar with but he carried a spear and broad rectangular shield. The referee held up the handkerchief and dropped it, the handkerchief hit the ground and the other Warden charged forwards. The tip of the spear drew closer as I stood still as a statue, the muscles on my legs growing taut. I slid to the side and the spear scraped past my chest piece. He snapped his shield around, his movements all cautious and defensive. He moved back to get space, but I moved in close to keep him from having full use of his spear¡¯s length. The shield slammed forward but I grabbed it with the hand of my shield and yanked it taut. He pulled back, but I twisted on the shield, and he yelled as his arm twisted in its socket. The force from his movement and my movement pulled his muscle in opposite directions. The tip of his spear lashed out and scraped along the leather guard of my thigh as he stumbled back. His shield arm drooped now, and he shook it, wincing until his shield dropped free from his arm. He used his injured arm on his spear.I could see that it hurt but he had a two-handed grip now. I blocked the spear on my shield and moved in close. The spear spun, blocking my dagger with its shaft. The other Warden had about a hundred pounds and several inches on me. The shaft of the spear went behind my leg, hooking my ankle and he yanked it forward unbalancing me for a moment. He used the spear like a quarterstaff hitting me and knocking me off my feet. I hit the ground and rolled to stay in the circle. The tip of the spear stabbed down again but I rolled and came up throwing my left hand. He brought up his arm but he didn¡¯t have a shield anymore, the handful of dust and sand went into his face and he staggered back blinking. My feet hit him in the chest, and he went stumbling stepping outside of the circle. The referee nodded to me confirming my victory. I went and sat down. I passed Enoch my waterskin when he came and sat down. We didn¡¯t talk this much around; the next duel came around and I was paired against another one of my classmates, this time with a two-handed greatsword. The duel started and he stepped forward, swinging his sword in a fast horizontal cut. I tried to duck low and go under but he snapped it around and the sword dug into my shoulder and collarbone, spraying blood across the dirt and sand. The duel was over and I was immediately healed by the referee and went and sat down.Stolen novel; please report. ¡°Didn¡¯t win this time?¡± Enoch asked, sitting down again. I looked over, seeing his tunic around his stomach was stained with blood. ¡°You don¡¯t look like you fared much better,¡± I said. ¡°Yeah, it was a tough one, but I managed to kick him out of the ring before I lost too much blood,¡± Enoch said. ¡°It helps to typically be the biggest man in the room.¡± ¡°How did your father make a son almost twice his size?¡± I asked. ¡°Your mom¡¯s not that big either.¡± Enoch shrugged. ¡°Just lucky I guess. Does make me a bigger target though. You''re deflecting, did you win your last fight?¡± ¡°No,¡± I admitted. Enoch shrugged. ¡°So you¡¯ve done a lot better already.¡± ¡°Aranea wants me to keep training in dueling,¡± I said. ¡°She wants me to be more impressive.¡± ¡°All women want their husbands to be impressive,¡± Enoch said with a shrug. ¡°She said¡­she wanted to be proud of me,¡± I said. ¡°And from your tone that¡¯s bad?¡± Enoch asked me. ¡°It means she¡¯s not proud of me now,¡± I said rubbing my shoulder, there wasn¡¯t any pain but there was an itch from where my mind still thought there should be a wound. ¡°You''re reading too much into it,¡± Enoch said. ¡°She just wants you to push yourself and not give up. Have you given any more thought to continuing your training with Solomon.¡± ¡°Aranea suggested I keep doing that too,¡± I said. ¡°Then you should,¡± Enoch said, clapping me on the shoulder. ¡°You need to learn from a real knife fighter. I don¡¯t know much about Solomon; he¡¯s more infamous than famous. But I¡¯ve heard stories about the duels he participated in before the war.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll decide at the end of the assessment,¡± I said. We sat in silence until the next round of duels. I didn¡¯t do any better and came back with a leg stained with blood this time. I was out now, but I had at least one two duels this time around. Enoch won his next duel but lost the next two. We watched the rest of the duels as more and more participants were eliminated and finally the assessment was over. Lord Scarisen and Sergeant Acheron marched out before us looking us over. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see most of you improved, however¡­¡± his eyes landed on me. ¡°Some of you have clearly still fallen short of our standards.¡± I opened my mouth, about to speak when another voice spoke up. ¡°He won didn¡¯t he?¡± Solomon seemed to appear out of nowhere but leaned against a post casually as if he¡¯d always been there. ¡°Solomon Heldaro, what brings you out of your lair?¡± Scarisen said. ¡°Just here to see how my apprentice did in his first assessment,¡± he said, a brilliant white smile flashing. ¡°Your apprentice? Cain?¡± Scarisen asked disbelievingly. ¡°You¡¯ve never taken an apprentice.¡± ¡°It was a favor,¡± Solomon said. ¡°But I¡¯ve found he does have something the rest of your pupils lack. Don¡¯t ask what it is, you wouldn¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°As interesting as this is, you are not a member of the Church or this academy and I am in the middle of¡­¡± Scarisen said but Solomon interrupted him again. ¡°Moralizing about seizing defeat from the jaws of victory,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Giving a sermon on the honor of a noble death? He won; he didn¡¯t break any rules. Last time he was here he won zero duels, now he¡¯s won two, that''s a two hundred percent increase.¡± ¡°But he didn¡¯t win the right way,¡± Sergeant Acheron said. ¡°You think djinn care how we fight them?¡± Solomon scoffed. ¡°You''re supposed to be an academy to train Wardens to safeguard humanity, not how to squabble with each other in a safe and legal manner.¡± ¡°Mind your tone!¡± Scarisen asked. ¡°Or what?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°You¡¯ll challenge me to a duel, I¡¯ll accept of course but¡­¡± Acheron stepped forward but Scarisen put out a hand holding him back. ¡°Don¡¯t, he¡¯d kill you,¡± he said flatly. Acheron looked at Solomon¡¯s wooden leg with doubt but stepped back into line. ¡°What do you want, Solomon?¡± Scarisen asked flatly, turning his attention back to him. ¡°You to stop training Cain like crap,¡± Solomon said. ¡°There isn¡¯t a single member of your faculty who uses a dagger, you can¡¯t teach him what he needs to know.¡± ¡°Are you offering to join the academy?¡± Scarisen asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Hardly,¡± Solomon scoffed. ¡°But if you still think Cain needs further instruction in dueling I¡¯ll take over one of your students. You may not like me, Scarisen but you know my reputation in the dueling ring.¡± Scarisen was silent, his eyes flicking from me to Solomon. ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°He trains with you three times a week but is released from mandatory extra training here. He will be expected to beat three times the number of opponents next assessment however, or he will be assigned back to his previous training and be banned from seeing you.¡± He looked at me and Solomon again. ¡°Do both of you agree to this?¡± I hesitated for a moment, I¡¯d have to beat six opponents if I agreed. On the other hand, if I didn¡¯t, things would just stay as they were. I nodded and Solomon did the same. ¡°I had other things to say but I think you¡¯ve all been here long enough,¡± Lord Scarisen said. ¡°Dismissed.¡± We all left, and Solomon clapped me on the shoulder, appearing at my back without me ever seeing or hearing him move. ¡°You did all right,¡± he said. ¡°Not well though,¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯ll get there,¡± Solomon said, staring out across the muster ground. I followed his gaze to where the Storm school was congratulating their winner. It was of course the prince. Solomon¡¯s jaw flexed as a muscle twitched in his neck. It was the most I¡¯d ever seen him suppress an emotion. He always had this cool fa?ade of nonchalance, but now I could see a raging inferno behind his eyes, though it was gone as soon as I glimpsed it. ¡°Do you know the prince?¡± I asked. ¡°Him? No. But I knew his mother,¡± Solomon said then changed the subject. ¡°Your instructions were to train three days a week, but that only leaves me six days to train you before your next assessment. I suggest if you want to win your next round of duels you make that at least five times a week. You might want to skip a few classes and go on a few less quests till you get this sorted.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± I agreed, I had no desire to go back to the hell that was mandatory extra dueling. Enoch walked up to me as Solomon disappeared from sight. ¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be able to go on many quests for the next two weeks,¡± I apologized. ¡°You do what you need to,¡± Enoch said. ¡°Getting to Knight tier isn¡¯t a race.¡±
Aranea- Wednesday, September 18th, 564 AB I sat back with satisfaction as I looked over my new ward. I¡¯d finished copying all the wards from the grimoire Lady Constence had loaned me and they had sparked a new idea in me. I¡¯d taken some inspiration from Lady Constence¡¯s own wards for the ether generator. My new ward wasn¡¯t nearly so complicated but would do something similar. Grabbing my basket I hurried out of the library to Lady Constence¡¯s workshop to show her. I arrived at her workshop and knocked on the door. ¡°Come in,¡± Lady Constence called. I walked in and Constence looked up from her desk. ¡°Oh it¡¯s you Aranea, I don¡¯t need your help until tomorrow,¡± she said. ¡°I wanted to show you something,¡± I said, shifting on my feet, somewhat nervous now. Constence gestured for me to come forwards and I walked over and showed her my journal with the Ward I had just finished designing. ¡°Do you think it will work?¡± I asked. ¡°The lines look right. You really are a prodigy, but there is only one way to know for sure,¡± Lady Constence said. ¡°You should give something with it inscribed on it for your boyfriend to test.¡± ¡°I¡¯m married,¡± I corrected her. ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t realize you were a provin¡­traditionalist,¡± Lady Constence said correcting her last word mid-sentence. ¡°I think I heard of your husband, Sir Le¡¯meer. I didn¡¯t connect the two of you before now, be careful of him.¡± ¡°Careful?¡± I asked. ¡°No good can come from studying under Solomon Heldaro,¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him,¡± I said. ¡°I heard he was a good duelist.¡± ¡°Good is an understatement if the stories about him are true from before he lost his leg,¡± Lady Constence said, taking my journal and making a few notes with a pencil. ¡°But there are other stories about him, war profiteering, blood sport, being a duelist for hire. There is also his current role as the owner of a brothel for Wardens. Not the sort of person a young Warden should associate themselves with. Especially one who''s married; his reputation will affect your life.¡± ¡°He¡¯s my husband,¡± I said. ¡°All I can do is support him.¡± ¡°You can also push him to be better than he is,¡± Lady Constence said. ¡°Solomon Heldaro is a dangerous man to be friends with, he tried to duel the king a few decades ago during the war.¡± ¡°He tried to duel the king? Why? To humiliate him?¡± I asked in stunned amazement. ¡°From what I heard he wanted a duel to the death, I don¡¯t know what the duel was about, don¡¯t tell people I told you about it either, not many people even know that bit of information,¡± Constence warned me. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am,¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll try to help Cain steer clear of him as much as possible.¡± ¡°Be subtle about it,¡± Constence said. ¡°Men typically don¡¯t like help, even if it its for their own good.¡± I left and went to the workshop to start work on what I needed. I took the pieces of skitter carapace Cain had gotten me, along with some thick leather that I started soaking in water to make it pliable. Taking a diamond tipped drill I started cranking it to create holes in the carapace for thread and rivets. I took out the leather and cut out the pattern, laying it on a pair of wooden feet and tacking it into place as it dried. I placed it in front of a heat source to dry faster. I started engraving the carapace pieces, finishing them all by the time the leather was dry. I took out some stain and a sealant then dyed the leather a dark black. Next, I used some copper rivets to fasten the carapace pieces to it. Taking out my ether thread I began to embroider the design for the ward. It took about two hours to get the last part done and I only stopped when I heard the bell striking eleven. I hurried down the dark halls of the academy up the residential wing. Cain was pacing around when I got back, and his face eased with relief when he saw me. ¡°I¡¯ve been worried for an hour, where have you been?¡± he asked. ¡°Sorry,¡± I apologized. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize how late it was, I was working on these.¡± I pulled out the leather and carapace shin guards I had created and showed them to him. ¡°I need you to try another ward I created, this one will absorb the excess ether from killing djinn in an area around you,¡± I explained. ¡°It will charge these djinn cores set into it.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Cain asked. ¡°It will let you passively charge cores while in combat,¡± I said excitedly. ¡°It could let even base humans regularly charge their cores.¡± Cain took the shin guards and turned them over in his hands. ¡°Have you thought about what these will do to the world?¡± ¡°They¡¯ll let us fight against the djinn better,¡± I said. ¡°And each other,¡± Cain said looking me in the eyes with an intensity I had never seen before. ¡°I¡¯ll test this for you, but you need to think about what your creations will be used for. You can¡¯t just create stuff like this and expect those you give it to use them for good.¡± ¡°But¡­it could improve so many people¡¯s lives,¡± I said, now uncertain of my creation. ¡°It will,¡± Cain agreed. ¡°You aren¡¯t responsible for what other people do with your wards. But once you put them out there you can¡¯t determine how people will use them.¡± He set them by his armor and I snuggled up beside him on the couch. Cain let the fire die out then kissed me on the forehead. ¡°We should go to bed, we have training and classes tomorrow,¡± he said. Chapter 23: Storm on the Horizon ¡°A Warden and his Relic are inseparable, linked together until death or destruction. The Warden is never to take another in his life, and is able to summon his relic from across the battlefield to his hand with a mere thought. Sadly, this is not the case between a Weaver and her Warden. It is a sad truth that acts of infidelity are common, especially among the nobility. I sometimes envy the Provincial Weaver who live far from the machinations of High Society and the backstabbing of fellow Weavers; their lives may lack our glamour, but they seem far happier than us.¡± - Lady Marrian Tredel, Loom of the Western Tower. Cain- Friday, September 27th, 564 AB Solomon¡¯s dagger pressed up against my neck for the seventh time that day, he wasn¡¯t gentle, and a line of blood dripped down my neck. ¡°Faster. But you need to be more confident in your movements, not just quicker,¡± he said, stepping back. I sighed. ¡°You think I got a shot tomorrow?¡± I asked. ¡°Do you?¡± Solomon asked. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡± I began but he cut me off. ¡°You need to believe in yourself Cain,¡± he said. ¡°I see in you the makings of a great Warden. You could be among the legends of our time but you need to do more than wish, you need to believe. If you don¡¯t bet on yourself, if you don¡¯t believe in yourself, then no one else should either.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just be confident,¡± I said. ¡°Celestial Healing,¡± I muttered, healing the scratch on my neck. ¡°Sure, you can,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Reach down, grab your balls and pull it out of your ass. Walk like you¡¯re the toughest man in town. Act like people shouldn¡¯t mess with you. Keep doing that and when someone tests you, which they will, you put them down. All the way down if you have to.¡± ¡°Is that what you did?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard there are stories about you, though I¡¯ve never actually heard one of them. But, people walk like they¡¯re on eggshells around you. Lord Scarisen seemed pretty sure you¡¯d beat Sergeant Acheron if you fought him.¡± ¡°Kill, not beat,¡± Solomon said. ¡°I used to be a duelist. I don¡¯t mean I fought in duels, I mean if someone had a problem with a Warden. They wanted them humiliated, discredited, or dead, they went to me. I lived in the capital, I ate the finest foods, had the best clothes and possessions a man could want.¡± ¡°You killed people for money?¡± I asked shifting in discomfort. Solomon snorted in dark mirth. ¡°You''re still so young, I¡¯ve heard you killed a bunch of bandits on the way here.¡± ¡°Those were bandits, not fellow Wardens. That¡¯s different,¡± I protested. Solomon walked over to one the tables at the side of the room and poured himself a shot of whiskey and tossed me a waterskin. ¡°What is the difference? There is nothing implicitly moral about being a Warden. You could hand a rapist or murderer a Relic today and make him a Warden and not a damn thing would change inside him.¡± I didn¡¯t have a response to that. I wanted to argue but I had nothing to argue with. ¡°I¡¯ll answer your earlier question,¡± Solomon said. ¡°Yes, I think you¡¯ve got a chance of coming out ahead in your assessment tomorrow.¡± ¡°Thank you for¡­your training,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s helped a lot.¡± ¡°Like I said Cain, you have skill. Your father did a good job of setting your foundation, but only you can determine what gets built on it.¡± I left and returned to the academy. The sun was still high in the sky since it was only midday. Aranea and I hadn¡¯t been able to spend much time together the past few weeks and I knew it was bothering her. I stopped and looked down at the bracers she had made for me. I turned my horse around and rode outside, heading for the Mist. Solomon had driven into me the need to be crafty. To cheat if I could get away with it. What I was about to do wasn¡¯t exactly cheating but, if people knew they¡¯d probably have different feelings about it. The corner of my mouth turned up on that. If people knew the trick I was about to pull, they might kill me. I dismounted and proceeded into the Mist alone unslinging my bow. I activated my mini-map and proceeded forwards, scanning the area heading for the center of the fog land. I didn¡¯t activate Ghost Walk. While the skill was incredibly useful, I didn¡¯t want to be dependent on it. I used the techniques Rineer had taught me to move soundlessly through the underbrush without leaving an obvious trail or spooking the wildlife. There was a snarling in the underbrush and I pulled up short, crouching low and drawing back the drawstring on my bow. I peered through the autumn foliage and watched as stag and a Mist Beast squared off with each other. The stag was massive, most creatures that could survive in the Mist were. It pawed the ground, warning the Mist Beast, which of course ignored it. The djinn hurled its spear, another one manifesting in its hand as soon as the first had left it. The stag jerked its head to the side but the spear still dug into its shoulder, with a bellow of rage the stag charged forwards and gored the beast on its antlers. The djinn popped like a soap bottle, showering the ground with bits of crystalized corrupted ether in the form of bone, leaves and moss. The stag¡¯s head jerked in my direction. I stared into its eyes and it bolted off into the underbrush. That was fine the djinn as what I had come for. Achlys absorbed the corruption as I knelt down over the remnants of the Mist djinn.
3 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 3 Corruption absorbed by your Core
It hadn¡¯t been a beast for long, it must have killed some other imp to get the corruption it needed to evolve. That was only three points of corruption to my core, not enough for what I had planned. I moved deeper into the Mist. It took me a few hours but I found a group of five imps and two beasts, they weren¡¯t moving and I guessed they were freshly spawned. I drew back my bow and fired, taking out the first Mist imp in one shot.
5 XP gained
The imps and beasts looked around them in a panic but I already had another shot lined up and took it.
10 XP gained
One of the beasts went down and the imps and beasts looked my way, tracking the direction the shot had come from. I pulled another arrow from my quiver, drew back and shot the other djinn as they charged forwards.
9 XP gained
I drew another arrow and shot point blank into one of the imps as they broke through the bushes in front of me.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
5 XP gained
¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I said, disappearing from in front of the two imps and appearing fifteen feet behind them. Another arrow hit one of the three remaining imps.
7 XP gained
The imps, as mindless and full of rage and hunger as all their kind, just turned around and charged me again. I drew back my arrow and lined up a shot, smiling as for a moment they lined up perfectly. I released the arrow and it passed through both imps, the leaves, moss and bits of bone that comprised the physical parts of them raining down like autumn leaves.
11 XP gained
I moved forward and started absorbing all the corruption. They were only beasts and imps so I got twenty-six corruption total and split between myself and my Relic. That was only a sixteen percent bonus with the corruption from the djinn I¡¯d absorbed earlier. I looked up and looked at the sun through the trees, the bare branches letting me see the sky easily. I had maybe five hours till sunset, not enough to go to another patch of fog land or to comb through this one again for more djinn. There was something else I could do, it was risky but¡­ ¡°I¡¯ve got to believe in myself,¡± I said. I moved towards the very center of the fog land and looked at the skitterer hole from atop the ruin I¡¯d teleported to with Hurricane Step. Skitterers moved in and out of the hole every few minutes, some carrying small rodents of other animals in their mouths in preparation for winter. I followed one skitterer with my eyes and waited until it was alone and isolated. ¡°Hurricane Step,¡± I whispered. I appeared above the skitterer and pounced before it could moved driving my dagger through the chink between its head and body.
24 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I ran my dagger into its twitching corpse absorbing the corruption there.
8 Corruption absorbed by your Relic, 9 Corruption absorbed by your Core
I grabbed its body, shoved it into a sack and used Hurricane Step to teleport back onto a ledge of the ruin. A block of stone shifted under my feet, and I teetered for a moment before catching my balance. It was a long way down to the ground. I settled my beating heart, the skitterers had picked up on the death of their nestmate. I could see them moving around searching the area, but I¡¯d left no trail and I watched them give up after a few minutes. There were rules against riling up nests so close to settlements but I¡¯d just needed a bit more corruption and I had it. I now had a twenty-five percent boost to my stats. That would give me a great edge in the assessment tomorrow. I teleported back down to the ground and left the Mist heading back to my horse. It wasn¡¯t too late when I got back to our apartment, Aranea was seated at the table. I placed the greaves down in front of her. ¡°I tested these for you,¡± I said. Aranea looked up startled, not having heard me come in. ¡°I thought you were training with Solomon today?¡± ¡°I was,¡± I confirmed. ¡°But we got done early and wanted to do this for you, I know I haven¡¯t been as available because of my training and I know you needed this tested.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Aranea said. She set the greaves down and extracted the cores from them. Then she took out a brass device and struck a tuning fork against them, examining a dial on it. ¡°They collected around thirty ether,¡± she said, making a note in her journal. ¡°How many djinn did you fight?¡± ¡°Five imps and three beasts,¡± I said. ¡°I just went into the Mist. I didn¡¯t have a quest or anything, I can test them again with Enoch next week if you still need me to.¡± ¡°This data is a start,¡± Aranea said. ¡°We should remove your corruption¡­¡± I tensed up, if I let her remove the corruption I would lose the bonus to my stats tomorrow. ¡°I want to stay focused for my duels tomorrow,¡± I said. ¡°Can we wait until after?¡± Aranea looked at me and I detected a note of hurt in her. ¡°It¡¯s never been a problem before.¡± ¡°I just have a lot riding on tomorrow,¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be focused on it and not have any distractions.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a distraction?¡± Aranea asked. I looked her up and down. ¡°Yes.¡± Aranea blushed at that, a bit of a smile creeping up her face. I helped wash up the few dishes after we ate, and we headed to bed. Aranea kissed me along my neck and chest. It was hard to resist her but I held fast and eventually she fell asleep, her body tight against me. It took me a while longer to fall asleep, the need in my loins to take my wife fighting with my desire to win. Eventually I was able to relax enough to fall asleep and just enjoy her presence in my arms. Aranea- Saturday, September 28th, 564 AB I headed to class after breakfast. I sat down with Hanah and Deliah and opened my journal as we waited for Madam Layrora to arrive. First bell tolled and we began whispering as Madam Layrora still wasn¡¯t here. ¡°Is she sick maybe?¡± Hanah speculated. ¡°I saw her this morning,¡± Deliah said. The door to the lecture hall opened and Madam Layrora strode in. ¡°Pack your belongings class, we are headed out to the muster yard today, Sir Valren has an announcement to make.¡± There were more whispers as we put our books and other belongings from our desk into our carrying baskets. We filed out of the building joining the rest of the girls in the hall. There were the other first year Weavers from the three other classes and the second, third and fourth years as well. Everyone was whispering, asking what was going on but no one seemed to know. We lined up with the girls from our classes as we looked out over the muster yard. All the Wardens were grouped up according to their elements. I caught sight of Cain and waved at him but he didn¡¯t see me. Sir Valren got up on a wooden platform at the center of the muster yard to address the assembly. ¡°There will be no assessment today,¡± he said. There were some grumbling and I watched Cain¡¯s face twist in annoyance. ¡°You may be wondering why the Weavers are here watching you instead of attending their classes,¡± Sir Valren continued once the grumblings had been silenced by their trainers. ¡°We have received advanced word of an approaching ether storm, we have at most three days before it passes over us.¡± Panic rose in me and I could see I wasn¡¯t the only one. Ether storms were the most dangerous thing in the world, a quarter of all Wardens died during their first ether storm and a tenth of them were overcome by corruption and become Warlocks. I looked at Cain, my heart dropping into a pit at the thought of losing him. ¡°All of your classes and quests are canceled until the storm is over and the aftermath cleaned up. You will be given mandatory assignments, see the master of your school or your teacher for further details. Class dismissed.¡± I hurried over to Cain, ignoring my classmates and threw my arms around him. I looked up at his face and didn¡¯t see any fear, just¡­disappointment for some reason. ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked. ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ll be fine,¡± he said, pulling me close. ¡°Le¡¯meer!¡± a stern man called out. ¡°Let your wife go, you have duties to attend to.¡± Cain ignored him, bending down and kissing me for a moment before stepping back a twinkle in his eye. ¡°Yes sir!¡± he called out.
Cain I watched Aranea run back to her classmates before returning to the ranks. Lord Scarisen gave me a reproachful look, but didn¡¯t say anything further. ¡°Today, you will all be getting a crash course in charging ether cores,¡± he said. ¡°Normally we wouldn¡¯t bother teaching you this until halfway into your first year but you''re going to need some reserves of ether if you''re going to survive this. Ether storms are always dangerous, but this is already a naturally high ether zone so it will be ten times worse, every one of you will be expected to fight on the wall for however long the storm and waves of djinn last.¡± ¡°Now take out a core from your inventory, it doesn¡¯t matter what type for this lesson,¡± Lord Scarisen instructed. We all got out cores, I brought out the Jotunn core I¡¯d gotten when hunting with Rineer and Enoch. I rolled it around in the palm of my hand as I listened to Lord Scarisen continue. ¡°Charging a core is actually very simple,¡± he began. ¡°You know the feeling of ether going through your body, focus on that feeling and bring it to your hands. Now push on that ether, and it will start to leave your body and be absorbed by the core.¡± I closed my eyes and began to do so. It wasn¡¯t hard, just as he said, but the moment I did so sharp pains sparked across my entire body like I¡¯d sat on an ant hill or broken out into an intense sweat. I nearly dropped the core, but managed to clench my hand and hold on. All around me I could hear many others fail to do so and their cores dropped to the ground, accompanied by muffled curses and swearing. ¡°The issue is of course that it¡¯s painful,¡± Lord Scarisen continued, his tone somewhat amused. ¡°You will be given three Jotunn cores, which you will be expected to have filled within the next three days. Drawing from a core is exactly the same, only instead of pushing that ether, you''re going to pull. Luckily it isn¡¯t painful going in.¡± ¡°That''s not what she said,¡± one of the Wardens behind me muttered. There was some general laughter, but we got serious again real quick as Lord Scarisen looked us over. ¡°Many of you will not survive this storm, but this is the solemn duty to which you were sworn. Your assignments have been posted to the board in the quest hub. Go, and may the Voice guide your steps.¡±