《[DEPRECATED STORY NO LONGER BEING WORKED ON]》 1: Crab "I almost died." Those were the first words he''d said out loud since he came to this world. And they were true. He had almost died just then. The only reason he''d survived was getting lucky with a boulder. "That was a giant crab that just chased me, and I almost died because of it. This is real. It''s all real." And it was. The taste of blood in his mouth from overexerting himself was just as real as the pain in his sides and the giant dead crab that he was sat on top of. "I almost died. But I didn''t die. I survived." Panting, he thrust his fist in the air, almost like a feeble attempt to punch the brightly shining moon. "I am triumphant!" His victory lap was cut short by the exhaustion finally catching up to him as he collapsed on top of the still-warm carcass in a surprisingly restful sleep.
Experience Gain Summary:
Stamina Expenditure: 130 Monster Kills: Giant Crab [Level 8] x1 [500] Level Up! Level Up! Current Level: 2 Attribute Points: 30 Skill Points: 3 "Son of a bitch!" He ruined a bird''s perfectly good nap by screaming that as he woke to the blindingly flashy blue notification window, flailing his arms as he tried to sit up. "What in the goddamn fuck was that? Is this...no. It can''t be. Did my wish come true? Am I really in a LitRPG Portal Fantasy?" He had to smack himself as hard as he could for that one. "Thank whatever the hell is responsible for this no one was around to hear that. I''d have sounded like a complete and utter idiot." He got up and stretched a bit, but the window stayed. "Uh...dismiss?" Without a sound, the window popped out of existence. He jumped off the back of the crab and looked around him, trying to figure out what his next course of action should be. His rumbling stomach decided for him. "Right, first order of business is food and water. Food. Hmm." He''d always been fond of seafood.The only problem was cooking the massive crustacean, although he guessed the points he''d earned might help him there. He''d reprimanded himself earlier, but he really was quite excited for this. Following the logic of his earlier Dismiss command, he said, "Skills." He was blinded by a massive HUD taking up his entire field of vision and displaying an even larger list of Skills. At his command, it shrank down to a more manageable size and sorted the Skills into Mental, Physical, and Magical categories. Immediately, Magical caught his eye, as well as the Bloodmagic subcategory within it. When he opened it, he momentarily wondered if there''d been some kind of glitch. It still showed all the same categories, but no more Bloodmagic. The skills seemed to be divided into tiers,although he only met the prerequisites for Tier 0, with many of the Skills listing "Dobridian Bloodmage" as a prerequisite. Tier 0 Artisan Vitae: (+) Cost: 5BP Casting Time: 1s Description: Create any tool (your mind can form a schematic for with blood. Tools last until broken or dispelled, and have the same strength as steel. Weight is equal to an equal volume of blood. Bloodlance: (+) Cost: 10BP Casting Time: 1s Description: Create a lance of 1m length with blood. Lance lasts until broken or dispelled, and has the same strength as steel. Weight is equal to an equal volume of blood. Deals 5-7 (ST) damage. Length can be varied at proportional cost (+/-1BP10cm-1) Exploding Blood: (+) Cost: 25BP Casting Time: 1s Description: Cause a pool or similar aggregation of blood worth 25BP to spontaneously explode into flames, dealing 12-17 (ST) damage. While he had enough Points to get al three, he decided to conserve them and only get Exploding Blood so he could start a fire. He tapped the little (+) sign next to Exploding Blood, followed by the "Accept" button which appeared at the bottom right afterwards. The symbol was replaced by (1/10) instead, which he guessed had something to do with leveling. "Next up, Attributes." Once more, a screen popped up in front of him, although he was used to it by now. This time, it showed a couple of tables.
Name Amount Modifiers
Health 98/100 (98%) 0 | 0%
H. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
Stamina 35/100 (35%) 0 | 0%
S. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
Mageburn 100/100 (100%) 0 | 0%
M. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
Name Amount Modifier
Strength (ST) 10 (+) 0 | 0%
Recovery (RE) 10 (+) 0 | 0%
Endurance (EN) 10 (+) 0 | 0%
Vigour (VI) 10 (+) 0 | 0%
Intelligence (IN) 10 (+) 0 | 0%
Willpower (WI) 10 (+) 0 | 0%
He made an educated guess as to what each of the Attributes did, and reasoned that ST and RE were most important for his purposes.However, he didn''t see a BP stat anywhere. He considered Health being used as BP, but then realized he had no idea what the conversion ratio was between the two. "If it''s 1:4, that might actually kill me. Dammit, looks like I''m gonna have to expend another point on Artisan Vitae. Safest bet right now." At some distance, a small rodent vaguely resembling a ferret was amusing himself with the human''s frustration. Wincing, he hit "Accept". Artisan Vitae acquired the same (1/10) as Exploding Blood. "Alright, now I guess it''s time to...figure out how to use these. Goddammit. I didn''t even check if I could use them." The ferret audibly giggled at that one. "I''m sure he''ll be fine once he gets time to get used to it." He paced back and forth for a bit. "How do they always activate their powers in those webnovels? They just think about it, right? Yeah. Alright, let''s try that." He decided to try something basic for his first time. A small dagger. "That''s a tool, right? Yeah. I''m assuming it goes off of my own definition of tool. That would make sense. Although...does that mean I can clone myself?" The joke wasn''t that good, but it hit the ferret right in the funny bone, and he quite literally started rolling on the floor laughing. "It''s been far too long since I''ve met someone who was able to take things in stride like that. Immortality really does a number on your sense of humour, doesn''t it?" He was expecting some kind of flashy effect. Some Blooddagger appearing in his hand or something. What he wasn''t expecting was nothing. Nothing happened. He hit himself on the head. "It''s Bloodmagic! It''s gonna need some blood, dumbass!" The problem was, how much? "Well, I''m guessing if I just open up a small blood vessel, it''ll draw whatever needs from inside me. I really hope 1BP isn''t a full liter, or this is definitely going to kill me." He immediately knew how to open the needed blood vessel. He''d always had a terrible nail biting habit, and he had his fair shair of cuticle scabs. All it took was a satisfying (and only somewhat painful) peel of one of these and he was off to the races. This time, the blood started drawing from the cut, albeit not fast by any means. The dagger didn''t form instantly either. First, all the blood gathered up into a perfect sphere (thankfully much, much smaller than 5 dm3) before forming into a simple sanguine dagger, clearly very sharp. He held it in his hands. It was hard to believe he''d done that. He''d just made a dagger. Out of blood. And it was just as durable as steel. "Bloodmagic is awesome." He looked around while weighing his brand-new creation, wondering what he''d do with it. Off in the distance, he spotted a small gathering of trees. Not too far, only about half a kilometer or so. He made it there in less than ten minutes, at which point he discovered that it was in fact a small forest. He made a mental note to explore this place further at a later date. For now, he walked up to one of the trees and used the extremely sharp knife to cut off a branch. Not wanting to totally shear any of them, he repeated this process about a dozen times before deciding to head back, hoping the crab hadn''t been eaten by some wild scavengers. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Thankfully, nothing had. Oblivious as the human was, every animal knew to listen to the ferret. And the ferret said no touching, so they all obeyed. Of course, now another problem presented itself. "That crab chitin looks really useful. Maybe I could sell it for money, or have it made into something even. Although that''s a big maybe." He thought about it for a second and decided there was literally nothing to be lost here. "Oh, wait. I still haven''t checked what the BP:Health ratio is. Attributes"
Name Amount Modifiers
Health 93/100 (93%) 0 | 0%
H. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
Stamina 41/100 (41%) 0 | 0%
S. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
Mageburn 100/100 (100%) 0 | 0%
M. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, so it''s a 1:1 ratio of BP to Health. Good. Although I''d like it if I didn''t have to open this window every time I wanted to check my Health, Stamina, or Mana." The universe obeyed, and he saw three bars spaced out evenly at the bottom of his vision. "I''m guessing Red is Health. Let''s put that in the center. Yellow is Stamina. To the left. And Blue Mana to the right." His next order of business was somehow getting a piece of crab meat out without damagin the rest of the body, which was thankfully a lot easier than his other tasks, if a little more disgusting. "Okay, that thing was still alive a few hours ago. That means blood, and sundry other grossness. I wonder if there''s a skill for that?" He went back to Bloodmagic (he felt like the effects so far had been awesome enough to justify giving it first dibs) and scrolled down until he found a category called "Utility". He found a couple of seemingly quite useful Tier 0 spells. Tier 0 Blooded Purification: (+) Cost: 1BP/min Range: 1m3 Casting Time: Continuous Description: Emit pulses of purifying energy which cleanse filth, poison, and mundane disease. Blooded Stasis: (+) Cost: 15BP/day Casting Time: Continuous Description: Preserve any living body by encasing it within a Bloodmagical shell. Only works as long as the original caster is alive and able to provide BP to maintain the shell. Not affected by distance. "Huh. I guess classical mechanics isn''t a thing in this world. I really wanna get Blooded Stasis, it sounds really good. But I only have 1 skill point left. Dammit. Alright, fine! Blooded Purification it is! The disease and poison bits are gonna come in really useful in the long term." With a deep breath followed by a resigned sigh, he clicked the (+) icon and hit "Accept". "I''m not happy about it, but it''ll help in the long run." In fact, he was about to be very happy about it. He used the Blooddagger to make a small cut on the palm of his left hand, like he''d seen in TV shows. Well, only one TV show so far. But it was a good one. "Ow. Ow ow ow. That hurts like a bitch. Why did I think that was a good idea?" He placed the Blooddagger on the floor and gripped his wrist tightly. "At least I had the foresight not to Eren Jaegerbomb my fucking thumb. God, this hurts like a bitch." He turned his blood into a crowbar, with an axe on one end. A crowbaxe? No, a Bloodcrowbaxe! The name gave him a little respite from the awful pain in his hand. What gave him a lot more respite was watching the blood from his wound come together rapidly to form said Bloodcrowbaxe. Without wasting time (mainly because more wasted time meant more thinking about his stupidity), he went to work addressing the giant crab in the room. The chitin plates which made up its shell were more like segmented plate armour than anything naturally occuring, which was great for him because it meant it was much easier to dismantle. Unfortunately, it was still a giant crab, which meant it still had blood and sundry grossness in its body, which had now ended up on his body. He barely resisted his urge to vomit long enough to activate Blooded Purification. Pulses of red light flowed out from the cut in his palm, the blood all over him evaporating. "I feel like I have hepatitis. Well, it''s either trust the magic or don''t, and I don''t think it really changes my chances of having contracted a terminal illness, so I''ll trust it." He noticed that his own blood wasn''t evaporating like the crab''s. While the viscera was washed away with each pulse, the cut seemed to be the font from which the pulses originated. "That''s really cool." He took a moment to appreciate the minute distinction before going back to dismantling the crab. He decided to leave the pulse on, even if he was starting to feel like shit from all the blood loss. About an hour later, he had in front of him two things. One was a pile of extremely heavy and damn near pristine Giant Crab chitin. The other was a deshelled Giant Crab, and he couldn''t wait to cook the fucker. It was noon now, and he was really in the mood for a cookout. He used some more Health to make a shovel, but by now he was wondering how the hell he was even alive, let alone functioning with all the Health loss he''d sustained. He dug a large pit and placed some of the branches he''d acquired to build a sort of grate. The rest he threw in the pit. As soon as he was done, he began tasting colours as he collapsed from the blood loss. "Maybe I should spend some of those points to help me recover some of this lost Health" He opened up the Attributes window again and quickly put 30 points into Recovery without hitting "Accept". He then checked his H. Regen, which thankfully updated in real time.
Name Amount Modifiers
Health 30/100 (30%) 0 | 0%
H. Regen 200/day 0 | 0%
Stamina 39/100 (39%) 0 | 0%
S. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
Mageburn 100/100 (100%) 0 | 0%
M. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
"Let''s see...at 10 RE, I was regenerating 50/day. That''s about...let''s say 2/hour. I am not doing long division. So I''m getting about 0.2/hour/point. Which means I should have 200/day. Alright, checks out. Now, if only I could get these in hourly rates-" He hadn''t finished the sentence before the HUD flickered and the table changed.
Name Amount Modifiers
Health 30/100 (30%) 0 | 0%
H. Regen 8/hour 0 | 0%
Stamina 39/100 (39%) 0 | 0%
S. Regen 2/hour 0 | 0%
Mageburn 100/100 (100%) 0 | 0%
M. Regen 2/hour 0 | 0%
"That means I should have enough to not kill myself by starting a campfire in about an hour and fifteen. Might as well go get some firewood while I wait. Ooh, and skewers too!" And he did exactly that for the next hour or so. He went back to the forest and cut off some more branches, gathering them in a pile. He also turned a couple of them into skewers for the meat (they were more like spears), to make it easier to cook. Afterwards, he rested his weary feet in the shade of the fortest canopy while watching his Health bar slowly tick up and thinking about the strange circumstances. "I haven''t really sat down and had a good think since I got here. I''ve been so hungry and exhausted and excited and confused that I never fully considered the implications of this. I can use magic. But I''m in another world. One I know nothing about. I doubt I can even speak the language. And money. I have no idea how that works either. No clue what denominations there are, or how much anything is worth. Hell, that''s assuming currency exists. Whatever the case may be though, I''m gonna enjoy my new life here. Seems like monsters exist, so maybe I''ll get by killing them. Or maybe there''s old dungeons I could explore." "That''s all far in the future, though. Right now, I need to meet basic necessities. I''ve got food for the night, but I have no water. That should be a priority. I''ve been walking around a lot, so I''m pretty dehydrated. This is a forest, right? Maybe there''s a creek or something somewhere. I''ve still got about half an hour left, why not?" He got up, grabbed his things, and made his way deeper into the forest. It wasn''t long before he heard the sound of a flowing creek from only a few dozen meters away. He hadn''t realized just how thirsty he''d been until he saw the river. Reflexively, he got down on his knees and began sipping the ice cold water. Once he was done, he laid back against a nearby tree and wiped his wet mouth. "I never realized how sweet water could be. That was amazing. I need to get a bucket or something. I could probably make a Bloodbucket. No, I need the Exploding Blood a lot more. Can''t let perfectly good crab go to waste. Maybe I could grab some fish?" He picked up one of the spear-skewers and waited till he could see a fish in the water. The creek was fairly slow, and he managed to spot the dark silhouette with ease. With a huge, overly-dramatic reel-up, he tossed it into the water. To his surprise, it came bobbing up with a fish on it. He caught it before it could float too far. Looking at his Health bar, he said, "Eh, I''ve got a few minutes to kill. Let''s try it!" Out of the 30 or so attempts, he only managed to catch three fish. Still, he had fun doing it and got some Stamina expenditure, which he knew meant Experience. "I wonder how much that actually netted me?
Name Amount Modifiers
Health 40/100 (40%) 0 | 0%
H. Regen 8/hour 0 | 0%
Stamina 39/100 (39%) 0 | 0%
S. Regen 2/hour 0 | 0%
Mageburn 100/100 (100%) 0 | 0%
M. Regen 2/hour 0 | 0%
"Looks like it evened out. Health is up though, which is good. Means I can finally have a meal in this world." He practically hopped back to his little "camp". Really, it was a giant crab, a pile of chitin, and a firepit in the middle of a field. But to him, it was the only home he''d known in the less than a day since he''d come here, so it held at least some sentimental value. When he returned, it was just past noon. "Alright, moment of truth." He squeezed his left hand till the scab burst. "Still hurts like a motherfucker. I really need to find a healing spell or something." He dripped the the blood into his firepit. The derivation of BP from Health meant he could easily tell when he could stop from his Health bar. He focused, and a brilliant inferno burst out in the firepit. "Oh, hell yes!" He took a few steps back to try to avoid the immense heat of the crimson flames, but it weakened after a few seconds into something a little more conventional. "Barbecue time!" He grabbed one of the skewers and stabbed it through one of the legs of the crab. With surprisingly little effort, he managed to rip off a sizable chunk. He carefully placed it on the grate he''d built earlier, letting it smoke and cook. At the same time, he placed the fish next to it too. The smell filling the air was truly exquisite, but he''d never been impatient. He waited for a few minutes while both the fish and the crab cooked, wallowing in the aroma in the meantime. When they were finally done, he placed the fish off to the side on the pile of wood. He was about to take a bite when he remembered, "Hygiene first. Blooded Purification. 1 minute should be enough." In fact, 1 minute was severely overkill on cooked meat, but it was only 1BP, so he didn''t mind. The taste of Giant Crab was out of this world. It was smokey, fishy, chickeny, tender yet tough, all at once. It was a cornucopia of flavour. "Oh, I am so getting Blooded Stasis next level. This is too good to waste." Once he was done with the crab, he noticed a small icon in the corner of his vision, showing a shield with the emblem of a crab. When he looked at it, he felt its description. He didn''t hear it, didn''t see it, didn''t even taste it. Just felt it. "Tough Skin for 1 hour after consumption." He was definitely getting Blooded Stasis now. Once he''d had his fill of fish and crab, he lay down on his back and looked up at the clear afternoon sky. "I got so much done today. It''s hard to believe it''s only been one day. I guess, if I have the time, I''ll make myself a few more tools. Let''s see, I''ll need a pickaxe, a hammer, a bucket, a hand drill, and a chest to carry it in. That''s 5 items, so 25 BP. I could do that now, but I might die. Let''s wait a bit." And so, that''s what he spent the rest of his first day in this world doing. The little ferret watched curiously. "What an interesting individual. He''ll definitely do. Grow strong soon, my sweet prince, and kill me."
Experience Gain Summary:
Stamina Expenditure: 10 Health Expenditure: 50 Current Experience: 90 Artisan Vitae: 17 Exploding Blood: 25 Blooded Purification: 70 2: Hunt "Son of a bitch!" It was becoming a daily ritual for him to wake up flailing his arms. "It''s gonna take me a while to get used to that." He got up off the soft grass, the back of his blue t-shirt wet with dew, and stretched a bit. "God, that''s the best night''s sleep I''ve had in months. Who knew starry skies and grassy fields were so good for napping?" Once again, a loud, rumbling stomach convinced him to put aside his plans for the day until he''d had breakfast. He looked over at the (now significantly smaller) dead crab and wondered how long it would last. "I could make this work for breakfast and lunch (assuming it doesn''t go bad), but what about dinner? Maybe I could find another one of these things. How would I kill it though?" His eyes wandered over his new tools. He briefly contemplated using the Bloodpickaxe or the Bloodcrowbaxe, but settled on the bucket and the Blooddagger. "Creative problem solving ahoy!" He grimaced as he used the same cut to drip a decent amount of his blood into the crystalline bucket. "Still really freaky how this thing is made of my own blood. I''m never getting over that." It took a little over half of his Health to do it, but once the bucket was filled he picked it up and looked out at the horizon, watching out for any suspicious red mounds. He wasn''t sure if he was lucky or cursed when he saw two of them sprinting towards hin,loudly grabbing at the air with their pincers. It was at that moment that the realization really hit him. "I''m about to throw a bucket of my own blood at two gigantic monster crabs to make it explode, and if my plan fails I''ll die. This is quite the Sunday." He knew he couldn''t afford to miss, but he''d seen just how powerful the explosion could be. He felt his senses sharpen, his heart beat faster and faster, slamming against his ribcage. He observed every little detail of the world around him. For a moment, everything was obvious to him. Time seemed to slow down more and more the closer they got until they were so close he could jump up and kiss them. His hands seemed to move on their own as he swung the bucket around him, throwing the thin red liquid into the air and scattering it over the pair of confused crustaceans. He felt like he was spamming a button in a video game, trying to pull off the boss-killing combo before he lost that last sliver of health. He focused on triggering Exploding Blood, but he''d thrown out enough to be able to trigger it twice. Skill Learned: Sanguine Inferno (1/10) The blood detonated in two awe-inspiring fireballs. Both separated, and as he raised his hands to shield from their heat, they followed. He swung his arms down and the two blazes came down in perfect synchronization. Even over the sound of the brilliant crimson flames, he could hear the shells cracking from the immense heat that had suddenly surrounded them. The crabs let out shrieks of agony as they were baked inside their own bodies. The flames dissipated a moment later while the cracking shells were still red hot and the flesh was still melting away. Killed Giant Crab [Level 4] x1 Killed Giant Crab [Level 5] x1 "Holy shit, that was amazing! It was like my hands were made of fire! I literally smashed them to death with my fire fists!" The adrenaline rush started wearing off, and his vision blurred as he came slightly off-balance. He let himself fall onto the dry grass, barely avoiding some shrapnel from the exploding crab shells, and laughed. "Ha. Hahaha. That was amazing! I can''t say that enough. I never want to go back to my world." After a few more minutes of laughing like a madman, he was interrupted by something smacking him in the head. He looked around and spotted a small envelope with the words, "A gift from your benefactor" written on top of it. Inside was a small bronze amulet with a glowing sapphire in the middle. "My judgement is probably severely impaired right now, but I''m still gonna put this thing on." If instant regret was a sensation, it would be the headache he felt right after putting on the amulet. His brain felt like it was about to explode like a crab shell that''s just been smashed by a pair of gigantic flaming hands. He couldn''t focus on anything else. For those few moments after he donned the amulet, his existence was just pain. His head felt like an overinflated tire that was this close to bursting. As soon as the pain wore off, he took the amulet and angrily tossed it on the ground. The sapphire was no longer glowing, but its lustre was far from lost. He picked it up and placed it in the pockets of his denim jeans. "I am so glad I came here in strong jeans with pockets instead of something like pocketless PJs. This little headache-inducer might get me some money later, who knows? Wait, shit! What if I wasn''t supposed to put it on? What if it was supposed to be put on someone else to give them a headache instead? Ah, screw it. No use crying over spilled headache." "I am parched. I should really make some kind of watering hole here. I have a shovel, and a bucket. Maybe it''s like Minecraft, where if I put in four buckets I can violate Conservation of Mass!" He looked around. The wind blew straight into his face, scattering his hair and disguising the real reason for his tears. "I''m parched. I''ll go down to the creek again." He practically sprinted down to the forest. It was easier to avoid thinking about how lonely he felt when he was too busy trying not to trip over a random tuft of grass. And yet, in spite of his best efforts, he couldn''t stop. "I haven''t seen a single human being other than myself since I came here. It was nice at first, but what if I''m really, truly alone? What if there really isn''t anyone else? What do I do? So far, I''ve just thought about staying fed and hydrated. What do I want to do past that? Is there even a reason to do it if there''s no one els-" He almost dropped face-first when he spotted an old man sitting by the creek and filling up an old copper bucket. As excited as he was to see another living, breathing human being, he still had manners. Instead, he approached the man calmly and called out. "Excu-" The words stopped in his mouth when he realized they weren''t in any language he''d ever known. The old man replied, "Hey there! You an Adventurer? What''s your name?" The man spoke in the same language, although with a totally different accent. "Okay, calm down. It''s just a harmless old man. Did he just ask my name? I can''t give him my real name. Can I? I''d still rather not." The man looked at him like he was stupid. "Crap, I need to make up a name. Let''s see...I derive my powers from blood. Not to mention, I killed something by bashing it with a rock. What''s a better name thanIf you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. "Caine. And no, I don''t think I am. What''s your name?" The man seemed taken aback by Caine''s extremely pronounced accent for a second, but promptly replied, "Honning. I''m a fisherman, from Stapsea. Good to meet you, Caine!" The old man gave an absolutely beaming smile and approached Caine to shake his hand. Caine returned the gesture, still rather stunned by his sudden Gift of Tongues. "If you''re not from here, and not an Adventurer then I''m guessing you''re lost. How do you even get lost this far out though?" He couldn''t do more than shrug. "Well, why don''t you come down to my house for a bit? It''s nothing much, but you can stay there while you get your bearings around here." "Thank you so much, but I''d rather not impose." "Oh, it''s nothing! My daughter would love to meet a foreigner. She plies a ranger''s trade, but I know it''s only because she wants to take care of her mother in her last days. She''s Awakened, she could easily go to Brury and become an Adventurer. She''s definitely got the skill for it." "I''m sorry, but I''m not really from here. Could you explain all this Awakening and Adventuring to me? It''s fine if it''s too difficult." The man laughed. "Oh no! Not at all! Truth be told, it''s nice to see a new face around here, and I''m always happy to share knowledge. Awakening is what happens when you kill a monster for the first time. Monsters are small bits of the essence of the universe, and killing one of them can imbue you with the same. It supposedly gives you the knowledge of your entire existence. Once you have that, you can learn things much faster, and even learn things that you would have no way of knowing." Caine fidgeted excitedly. "Oh! I think that might have happened to me, a few days back! I bashed in the head of a giant crab with a rock, and now I can make things explode!" He didn''t realize just how ridiculous that sounded until the words had left his mouth, but Honning merely laughed. "You and Maven would get along very well. There she is now!" He waved down the road to a young woman, seemingly no older than 15, with long, frizzy black hair that she let hang open. She had tan skin and brown eyes, along with a small amount of acne. She was wearing thin linen clothing and a warm fur cloak with many pockets stitched into it. "Good afternoon, father! Have you brought a guest?" She looked at Caine, seemingly sizing him up. For his part, he reached out his hand. "My name is Caine. Pleasure to meet you. Maven, I presume?" Maven shook it with far more force than her height and build would suggest. "The pleasure is all mine! Father, we should get back to the cottage. Mother''s all alone right now." "Right, of course. Caine, I hope you don''t mind if I hurry a bit." "Please, by all means, go as fast or slow as you''d like." Maven shot him a sly grin. "As fast as I''d like? Alright then." Before Honning could object, she''d taken the bucket from him and was gone with no trace. "I taught her better manners than that! When I get home..." Caine placed a hand on the old man''s shoulder. "Please, I really don''t mind. You said she was Awakened, correct? Well, what''s the point if she doesn''t use the powers she''s been given?" Honning looked at him bemused, but made no further comment on the matter as they made their way through the forest road. In the distance, he could see buildings and people. A little closer, and he could see said people cussing out Maven as she sped past them faster than their minds could register it. Honning''s home was a small cottage on the edge of town. It wasn''t very unique, but it was functional. It had stone walls, a thatch roof, and even a brick chimney. Caine wondered if that was considered frivolous spending by their standards. Inside, the house wasn''t much different. A small firepit at the center, surrounded by the soft fur of unknown animals, presumably for sitting. A few windows, and more stuffed animal hides sewn shut to be used as mattresses. It was on one of these mattresses that Caine noticed a sickly old woman lying. Her face was pale and she looked weak. Her breathing was laboured and it looked like she''d barely eaten in weeks. Maven was sitting by her with a small saucer filled with water from the bucket. "My wife''s been very sick these past few months. We doubt she''ll make it. Unfortunately, that''s just the reality of life out here. All the Awakened healers are in the big cities like Kirligford and Thethover. We were hoping an Adventurer with some healing ability might pass through, but we''ve had no luck so far." Caine looked at the poor woman. She seemed to have resigned herself to her death. He looked down at the cut on his hand, still fresh. "If there''s even a tiny chance it''ll work, I might as well try it, right?" Honning and Maven both looked at him. "Try what?" Caine only smirked back. "You''ll see." "I''ve seen what Bloodmagic can do. If the Skill Description says it cures mundane disease, it cure mundane disease. 56 Health. More than enough. If I can save a life at practically no cost to myself, why not?" He squeezed till the scab burst. The blood had barely left his veins when it began glowing and transformed into the pulses of red light which washed over the entire building, bouncing against the walls and then disappearing along with all the filth it had cleaned up. Honning looked at him paralyzed. "You. You''re a Bloodmage! What the hell kind of curse are you putting on my wife?! Get out of here!" He drew a knife from a sheathe at his waist and began approaching Caine. He didn''t dally. As soon as he saw the knife, he ran right out the door and into the forest, not looking back. He knew when people could be reasoned with and when they couldn''t, and that man was beyond convincing. And so, after his first taste of human interaction in days, Caine ran. He ran and he ran and he ran until his heart felt like bursting and his legs threatened to give way. And then he walked. Silently, sadly, he walked back to his little campsite. And he lay there, in the grass. He lay next to his chest and his pile of crab chitin and he looked up at the noon sky. Then he cried. He cried because he''d just remembered why he''d wanted so badly to come here to this land of fantasy in the first place. He cried because he remembered now that people were the worst kind of animals. He cried because he knew that, no matter how much he might hate them, he couldn''t live without people. He cried because he knew that people wanted to kill him, even when he''d just tried to help. He cried because he knew there was nothing wrong with what he''d done, but people would still hate him for it. And he cried because he knew there was nothing he could do about it. Experience Gain Summary Stamina Expenditure: 100 Health Expenditure: 50 Monster Kills: Giant Crab [Level 4] x1 [250] Giant Crab [Level 5] x1 [312] Current Experience: 802 3: Understand He couldn''t even bring himself to flail as the message appeared in his vision again. He just slowly got up, stretched, and began heading down to the creek. He stopped after a few steps, remembering what had happened yesterday. He sat back down and wondered what he''d do. "I''ve lost my only source of water, and a significant source of food to my stupid attempt to help some random fisherman. What the hell was I thinking?! Of course he''d be freaked out! It''s blood magic! It''s always evil!" He kicked at a tuft of grass in anger, ripping it out of the dirt and knocking it into the air. Seeing the little tuft uprooted like that made Caine feel strangely guilty. He picked it up and planted it back in its original spot. "I''m sorry, little guy. You had nothing to do with that. You didn''t pull a knife on me when I was just trying to help. I shouldn''t have done that to you." He packed the dirt firmly around the roots and said, "There! All better, I hope." He got up and turned around, only to fall back down when he saw Maven practically inhaling him. "Gah! What the hell are you doing here?" She stood over him, arrow nocked in a metal bow. Caine wondered how the hell she could even draw that thing. "Bloodmages are supposed to be evil, all-conquering, scheming tyrants. A pair of them are supposed to be able to raze a city in a fortnight. And they''re supposed to be gone. But you''re here, and you''re nothing like that. You cured my mother''s illness. You didn''t even come close to our village after my father chased you out. I saw what you did to those Giant Crabs. You could have easily done the same to us. And yet, you''re here apologizing to grass. Why?" He shuffled around a little on the grass, getting comfortable, and gestured for her to sit down as well. She obliged. "Maven, I''ll be honest with you. I have no idea what''s going on. I just woke up here a few days ago, in the middle of this field. I killed a Giant Crab, and now there''s this whole thing where I have skills and stats and levels and it''s all so confusing. I took a few Bloodmagic skills because they looked interesting and practical, and now I''m apparently evil? What is going on with this world?" She let out a long sigh and replied, "I don''t know anymore, really. All my life, I was told about the Dobridian War. About the Bloodmages who carved a bloody path through the continent. About the brave Holbordenian Adventurers who hunted them to extinction. I was told about the evil inherent in all Bloodmages, of the twisted nature of their Awakening. And then I see you, just trying to help. I followed you after you ran. I saw you crying when my father kicked you out. Even then, I could feel your sorrow. I''ve always been told Bloodmages were conquerors, but you apologized for knocking out a clump of dirt." "I''m not from here." She couldn''t help but laugh. "I guessed as much." "No, I mean I''m not from here. Not from this world. Not from Holobordenia or Dobridia or-" "Dobrid. Not Dobridia." "I love that that''s the part you noticed the most." She blushed ever so slightly, unnoticed by Caine''s oblivious eyes. "I understand. You''re a Bloodmage. It''d be stupid for you to reveal where you''re from." "It''s the truth! I''m really not from here!" She laughed. "Well, assuming what you''re saying is true (which I still don''t believe), where are you gonna go from here?" "I''ve been hearing a lot about Adventurers. You think I could make it as one?" She thought about it for a second and replied, "Well, Adventurers are mercenaries for hire. They take on the jobs so dangerous and outlandsih that the normal military forces can''t handle them. There''s an Adventurer''s Guild, headquartered in the capital Brury. Anyone can join if they''re Awakened and are at least of the 5th Level, meaning they''ve acquired a Discipline. What''s your level?" "I''m close to Level 3. I''ll probably get it as soon as I kill another Giant Crab." "Well then, what are you waiting for? Let''s go kill a crab! I''ve been wanting to see how you fight for a while." "Ah, yes. About that...I don''t actually have any Combat Skills or combat skills." "Well, now I want to see it even more. Come on, it''s not like you have anything better to do." There was a certain infectious quality to her enthusiasm for hunting, and before he knew it Caine was already grabbing his knife and bucket. "Come to think of it, I never actually checked the description for that new skill." He pulled up the menu and navigated to Crafting under Bloodmagic, but it was nowhere to be seen. He scrolled through, looking for likely candidates, and eventually found it under Summoning. Tier 0 Blooded Ward: Cost: 5BP Initial; 10/point blocked Casting Time: 0s Description: Create a ward which acts like a solid wall for Mana and Health. Deflects 10% (RE) of energy. Tier 1 Sanguine Inferno (1/10): Cost: 50BP Casting Time: 3s Duration: 5s Description: Summon a pair of flaming arms which mimic the movements of the caster. ""Arms" is a rather liberal description of it. 50BP." "What''s "Bee Pee"?" "Sorry, I forgot you don''t speak English. In one of the languages of my homeland, B and P are alphabet. The word for blood is "Blood", while the word for point is "Point". My Skill''s description shows the cost as 50BP. 50 Blood Points. That means 50 Health." "Wait, 50 Health?! How much do you have that you can afford that much?!" "I only have 100, so I can''t use it more than once a day without going dangerously low. I''m assuming you die if you hit 0 Heatlh, right?" "Well not necessarily, but you still shouldn''t be using that! It''s dangerous! You could die!" "Wait, if I don''t die when I hit 0 Health, what happens?" "The way you say that makes me think you''re going to bring yourself to 0 Health if I don''t tell you. It won''t outright kill you, sure, but it means that your body is so badly broken that it can''t keep going much longer. You''re teetering on the brink of death, and if you don''t get some healing fast you''ll die." "So not something I want to experience?" "Definitely not something you want to experience." "I wasn''t gonna go that low anyway, but now I''m definitely not doing it." "Good" "Still, I can use it once without falling too low. I just have to draw some blood first." She winced as he clenched his fist till it burst open the scab. "Are you sure there''s no better way to do that?" "None that I''ve found so far." She shrugged, writing it off as The Bloodmage''s eccentricity. "I wonder if I can turn this into a sphere like I did for Artisan Vitae? I carried it in a bucket last time so that I didn''t have to draw it again, but since it''s all for one Skill maybe I can just do it?" She was still just as lost and confused as before. Or she would''ve been if she wasn''t busy staring slack-jawed at the blood flowing out of Caine''s hand forming a perfect sanguine sphere in front of him. "Haha! I knew it! That means that if I can get enough regeneration, I could just throw blood into this thing indefinitely with no loss." "Your leisurely attitude towards using your own vitality to power your magic is very disturbing." He sarcastically frowned at her. "I don''t need you judging me, I need some Experience! Let me know if you see any of those crabs." "Ooh, I actually have a skill for that!" She was grinning ear to ear as she said it. Caine assumed it was because she''d finally get to show off (something he was more than happy to abide), but she was just glad to see him cheered up. "It''s a wonder how much happier you can make someone by just being there for them when they''re down. I guess even all-powerful Bloodmages need a friend sometimes." Maven put her bow off to one side, placed her hand on the ground, and focused. The wind blew fast, but within it she discerned a second flow. This flow, indetectable to all but her, showed her the very essence of her being. The intensity of the flow showed her her Stamina, not as a numerical quantity but as a feeling of pressure on her skin, in her nostrils, and in her lungs. The pressure lessened as she focused on a single word, a single feeling. She felt it resonate within her soul. "Omnisense". It felt like her eyes, her ears, her nerves all flew off of her body and spread around into the air around her. She could feel far beyond her own body. It wasn''t like she was actually floating, nor like her organs were actually above her. More like her senses weren''t anchored to her body anymore. She could hear the distant flow of the river and see the fish swimming. At the same time, she could hear the butterflies flapping their wings as they moved between blades of grass. All around her, she could see the monochrome grasslands, and below her she could feel the ground shaking. "There''s-. Wait, what the hell? Something''s not right! I can''t see or hear anything, but I feel the ground shaking. Something''s headed this way, and I think it might be buried underground. Whatever it is, it''s fast. Very fast." She quickly ripped herself out of her trance and grabbed her bow. She was disoriented, but she was hoping she''d be fine by the time she had to do anything important. She really hoped that''d be the case. Once again, she focused and felt the pressure around her. One more word, one more feeling. The pressure lessened again, coming down to barely even pressing down on her. "Oakbend." Her fingers were filled with an inhuman rigidity and strength. She pushed down on the bowstring, the crescent arrow still nocked from when she''d followed Caine. The bow was tough, but unable to show resistance in the face of her unimaginable strength.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Caine had already made all the preparations he could. Now, all he could do was wait. Wait for something he knew was coming, but couldn''t see or hear or feel. All he could do was wait. What would it be? Maybe some kind of giant mole? Or a weird sandworm, but in the grass? No, sandworms only moved that fast because they were moving through loose sand. But if this thing was moving that fast, that meant it had the strength to rip through solid, packed Earth. It came out of the ground blindingly fast right between the two of them. Time seemd to slow down for both of them as Caine heard the sound of the ground rupturing and saw dirt flying. He jumped back reflexively, just barely avoiding the rest of the creatures body. Maven didn''t waste time staring. She let loose the arrow as soon as the giant gray monstrosity exploded out of the ground, and then rolled backwards to put some distance between them. The creature seemed to be disoriented, so Caine and Maven both took the time to take a good look. It looked like a centipede, but grey and shiny and metallic? With a glowing yellow orb in the middle of its head. It was missing quite a few legs on one side (still a drop in the bucket for how long it was), seemingly taken off by Maven''s crescent arrow. It looked around itself once it got its bearings, glaring (or the metal centipede equivalent) at both of them. Then it charged at Maven. Maven didn''t panic. She calmly sprinted in the opposite direction so fast you could''ve sworn she was using a Skill (when in fact it was just the result of regular aerobic exercises and running practice). The centipede began sprinting after her, and Caine decided he might as well take his turn. "I''ve always been way too vulnerable to peer pressure." Meanwhile, a certain Mechanolich was sitting on a hilltop thoroughly amused. "Leon would kill me if he found out I''d sent a Level 13 monster at his little protege, but my spare bodies were getting rusty anyway, and this one''s no spring flower either. I''ll let him have his catharsis, since he''s letting me have mine." Maven looked behind her at the seemingly angry, but actually emotionless, arthrobot and her new, supposedly fearsome and almighty, actually horribly out of shape friend chasing after her. She couldn''t help but smile. "I spent so long looking after mother that I''d forgotten the simple pleasures of hunting and being chased by monsters." Caine was barely able to keep up with the disabled machine. "Alright, that''s it." He put on one final burst of speed, almost collapsing from the exertion but fast enough to be able to spend 3 seconds opening his Sanguine Inferno. The orb of blood that had been following him all this time exploded into flames. The flames turned into "arms", but as they did something strange happened. The centipede began getting pulled towards the flames as they rearranged themselves. As did Maven''s metal bow. "What the hell? Why is it-wait. It''s fire, and it''s being contained. That''s probably magnetic, isn''t it? Oh no. Oh yes? Whatever the case, I think I''ve just discovered an unintended side-effect to my power. Wait, Maven''s bow is made of metal! Oh shit!" It was too late by the time he realized. In spite of her best efforts, the bow was pulled out of her hand and straight into the blazing inferno, along with the centipede whose eye had turned a bright and panicked red (matching Maven''s bright and enraged red), and heated fast enough to completely ruin both of them. "My baby!" The Mechanolich and Maven cried out in unison. Maven turned around and sprinted to the pile of cracked, broken, and fractured steel. Caine didn''t know what to say except, "I''m sorry. I didn''t kn-" She raised a hand. "Please. Let me grieve. This bow was a gift from my Uncle Adrian. He gave it to me when I had my Awakening. And now it''s ruined." Tears began rolling down her eyes. Caine placed a hand on her shoulder. His guilt was obvious in his eyes. "Maven, I''ll make it up to you. I promise." She had no reason to believe him, but something about the way he said it, the way he looked when he said it, convinced her. He may very well have been magically charming her as far as she knew (he wasn''t), but she saw honesty and honour in him. That was enough for her. She wiped the tears from her eyes and got up. "You promise?" He smiled. "I promise." "Alright. It''s strange. Even though I haven''t known you for any significant length of time, I feel like I can trust you." "I guess I just have one of those faces. Speaking of faces..." He bent down over the still glowing pile of metal and looked at the orb. It wasn''t lit up anymore, as though it was dead. "What the hell is this thing? It looks like some kind of robot." "What''s a rowboat?" "Not a rowboat, a robot. It''s...how does your language not have a word for automaton?" "Otamatans don''t come up in conversation a lot." "Well, it''s a machine that moves, acts, and thinks on its own. It follows simple instructions based on the information it can gather from the environment." Destroyed Dungeon Core [Level 13]: Cteel Centipede "And now, your regularly scheduled reminder of why the English language is garbage and we should bring back Ancient Latin." Caine''s Contribution: 50% Maven Honningdoter''s Contribution: 50% Form Party? [Y/N] "Hey Maven, how do parties work?" "Well, you can form a party if you kill a monster with someone. Once you do, you''re able to see their Health, Stamina, and Mageburn at all times as well as sense their location, to an extent. There''s also some spells that relate to your party." "Well, you wanna form a party?" "Oh! That''s...umm...okay. Yeah! Sure!" Caine clicked on "Y" and saw another element pop up on his HUD. It was Maven''s name, and underneath it 3 bars (Red, Yellow, and Blue). The Stamina bar was a little less than a quarter empty, while both Health and Mageburn were still completely full. "The running couldn''t have done that much. I spent three hours bashing in a giant crab''s head in with a rock and it only took of 65. I guess that explains how she managed to draw a metal bow." "Oh, wow. I''ve never felt another Awakened inside me. It feels strange. I feel like I should have a hard time keeping track of both, but I''m really not." Caine bit back a snicker. "Not now! The joke doesn''t even translate into her language. Keep it together. Wait, what does she mean "inside"? Doesn''t she see a HUD too?" "Hey, Maven, do you see anything in front of you that shows you your Health and Stamina?" "Hmm? Oh, no. Some people do. A lot of people, actually. But personally, I prefer to feel it inside me." "That''s what she said. No! Stop it! Serious now." "So what does leveling feel like to you?" "Well, I feel this pressure on myself at all times. When my Health, Stamina, or Mageburn go down, it eases off. But when I level up it completely pounds me." "I''m not even trying for these, they''re just here! You''re killing me, Maven" "What is your level anyway?" "That''s rude." "Is it? Sorry. I''m not from here, remember?" "I believe you''re a foreigner, but the other world thing still doesn''t stick with me." "Hey, wait! If it''s rude to ask, why''d you ask mine?!" "It was for your own good! Kind of. Okay, fine, I was curious about how powerful a Bloodmage was. What are you gonna do, call The Watch on me?" "Well then, it''s only fair you tell me yours." Maven mumbled something under her breath. "What was that?" Maven yelled something quite a bit above her breath. "I said 2! I''m Level 2, okay?!" She crossed her arms and legs and sat down, pouting. "Level 2? That thing was Level 13! How did we even manage to kill it?" "The bow you ruined was a masterpiece. Only someone with the Oakbend Skill could even hope to draw it. It had a draw weight of around 500 kilograms, ya know! I didn''t cut through that thing''s legs with magic!" "Whoever introduced the metric system into this world, you have my undying gratitude." "No, that wasn''t a Skill. That was skill." Unsurprisingly, the two words were different in the language. "You didn''t kill that thing cause you had a good bow, you killed it because you''re an amazing archer." She looked up at him. "You really think so?" "Unless it was just dumb luck, I don''t think most archers could line up a shot that perfect while jumping through the air. Unless you have a targeting Skill?" "No, I never took any of those. I only had 3 Skill Points, so I used them on Oakbend, Omnisense, and Windrun. I didn''t have any left for targeting." "Well, good. You don''t need it." She was visibly proud and beaming now. "I haven''t been honestly told I was a good archer since my Awakening. Ever since, everyone''s just assumed it was the Levels." "That reminds me! That thing must have given us a huge amount of Experience, right? It was Level 13, after all. Not to mention, it said it was a Dungeon." He looked over at the now coled pile of scrap metal, and picked the dull grey orb out from the indistinguishable mess. "What are you anyway? Hey, Maven, I''m planning on headed for Brury anyway. You think I could find someone who could tell me more about this thing?" "A lot of the Adventurers I''ve met mentioned Beckett the Librarian, the Master of Archives at the Guld Headquarters. Supposedly, he''s an eminent scholar on all things Awakened. If anyone could tell you, it''s him. But did you just say you were planning on going to Brury? How? You don''t have money, food, or even a map." "Actually, I was hoping you could help me with that. Your father said you were planning on heading there when your mother got better, so I was hoping that, since we''re in a party anyway, we could maybe head there together?" She blushed, this time noticeable even to the airhead. "I''d really like that. Even if you are a Bloodmage, you''re a great person. I wasn''t planning on heading there once mother got better, I was planning to do it when she passed. But you cured her. I''m thankful for that." "What are you blushing for? It''s what any half decent person would have done in that situation." She blushed even harder. "Well, it''s just that you''re the first really great guy I''ve met. I''ve spent my whole life in the village, which meant either old men, varied Adventurers, or the young village idiots. Ever since I was Awakened, it got even worse. From most people, it was quite reverence. From the idiots, it was hooting and hollering. I didn''t really mind either, I just hated not having any friends anymore." "Well, even if he''s a Bloodmage, you do have a friend now. That''s not illegal, is it?" She laughed, making Caine quite happy. "No! It''s illegal to work against the Diocese of Holobordenia, but using Bloodmagic isn''t outright prohibited. And as far as I know, neither is being friends with a Bloodmage." "Do you have anywhere to be right now?" "No, not really." "You wanna lay in the grass and look up at the sky together?" "I''d like that." Minutes turned to hours, day turned into night, and the clouds parted to reveal the moon and stars as Caine and Maven lay there, together. Both of them had found a friend. And as they dosed off on the cool grass, under the blanket of stars, they both understood what that really meant. Experience Gain Summary Health Expenditure: 50 Dungeon Core Destroyed: Cteel Centipede [Level 13] x1 [13,000] Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up Sanguine Inferno: 50 Level Up! Attribute Points: 60 Skill Points: 6 Current Experience: 302 4: Ready "Son of a bitch, that''s a lot of levels!" "Caine, I forgive you for ruining my most prized posession which I''d taken care of like it was my firstborn child for the last 3 years." "You don''t sound like it." "I''m still angry, just not at you." Caine got up and began stretching. "I guess that''s something. You''re not chasing me with a knife, which is definitely significant progress. What are you gonna spend it on?" Maven got up and donned the cloak she''d used as a blanket the night before. "Man, I have got to get myself one of those." "Speaking of which, I need to go back to the village and check no one''s coming to stab you again. They probably think I got murdered by the evil Bloodmage. Besides, I need to get some supplies and new weapons after you ruined my old one." She took a deep breath before disappearing faster than Caine could track aside from the massive trailing dust cloud. "I guess I might as well allocate my Points while I wait for her to get back. First and foremost, I wanna even out ST and RE. Even if I have decent regen, I need a standing pool ready to go."
Name Amount Modifier
Strength (ST) 50 0 | 0%
Recovery (RE) 50 0 | 0%
Endurance (EN) 10 0 | 0%
Vigour (VI) 10 0 | 0%
Intelligence (IN) 10 0 | 0%
Willpower (WI) 10 0 | 0%
Name Amount Modifiers
Health 500/500 (100%) 0 | 0%
H. Regen 10/Hour 0 | 0%
Stamina 100/100 (100%) 0 | 0%
S. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
Mageburn 100/100 (100%) 0 | 0%
M. Regen 50/day 0 | 0%
"Next up, Skills. I need a weapon, first and foremost. As nice as Sanguine Inferno is, I need something I can rely on indefinitely without worrying about Health. Something like Bloodlance: (1/10) Cost: 10BP Casting Time: 1s Prerequisites: Dobridian Bloodmage Description: Create a lance of 1m length with blood. Lance lasts until broken or dispelled, and has the same strength as steel. Weight is equal to an equal volume of blood. Deals 25-35 (ST) damage. Length can be varied at proportional cost (+/-1BP10/cm).Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. He cut his palm again (he was getting used to the pain at this point). The blood flowed out into the shape of a long, slim shaft with a simple hilt near the base, narrowing down to a nearly invisible point at the tip. "Is it bad that I kinda wanna poke Maven with this? Yes, it is. Alright, next up, what goes best with a polearm? A shield. I could get the ward, but that only protects against blood and magic, and getting stabbed is one of the less magical things in life. Give me a shield, a physical one. Come on, system. I know you can do it. I believe in you." Tier 0 Bloodsteel Shield: (1/10) Cost: 25BP Casting Time: 3s Prerequisites: Dobridian Bloodmage Description: Create a shield made from the user''s blood which connects to the body and draws blood directly to repair any damage done. As long as blood is supplied, the shield is unbreakable. "Okay, wow. That sounds grisly." The blood flowed out of his hand and into a scutum large enough to cover his whole body, but only if he sat down behind it. It had a gauntlet with needles on the inside, seemingly to draw blood, which extended up to the wrist outside the shield. He placed his hand inside the gauntlet and immediately felt it stab into his arms, but this time no worse than a regular hypodermic needle. "Oh, wow. That feels weird."He flexed his fingers a few times, trying to get used tothe weight of the shield. "I''ve got a weapon and I''ve got protection. Now I need someting to fix me up when I get hurt. I doubt Bloodmagic will let me regenerate more than I spend, but it''s worth a shot to look for a decent healing Skill anyway. Bloodsteel Shield showed up just from thinking about the concept enough, maybe I can do it again." He focused on the concept of healing and specifically regeneration until he began tasting colours and saw a skill pop up in his view. Tier 0 Reconstruction: (1/10) Cost: 1BP/Health Repaired Casting Time: Continuous Prerequisites: Blooded Purification, Dobridian Bloodmage Description: Use blood to repair broken or missing flesh, bone, skin, et cetera. Neutralizes pain and disinfects open wounds before regenerating. "Neutralizes pain, huh?" He looked down at his thumb. "Not today, old friend. Weapon, shield, healing, and 3 Points left. What''s left? Well, mobility for one. I still move like an out-of-shape fat fuck, so I gotta do something about that." He focused on the Skill concept. "Ideally, I could fly, but I doubt that''s going to show up at this level. Most likely, I''ll see some kind of physical augmentation, like Potence or Celery from Vampire." Tier 0 Blooded Augmentation: (1/10) Cost: 10BP Casting Time: Instant Prerequisites: Dobridian Bloodmage Description: Enhance physical ability by 10% for 1 second, increasing speed and strength. Does not affect Secondary Attributes. "Nice! Alright, Weapon, Shield, Healing, and Speed. I''ve got 2 points left, so I might as well get Blooded Stasis. That leaves 1 point. Eh, what the hell, let''s get another shield." Tier 0 Blooded Ward: Cost: 5BP Initial; 10/point blocked Casting Time: 0s Description: Create a ward which acts like a solid wall for Mana and Health. Deflects 10% (RE) energy. Discipline Acquired Dobridian Bloodmage Multiply effects of ST and RE by 1.5. All Attribute Points automatically spent equally on ST and RE. Cannot spend skill points on anything but Bloodmagic. "Huh. I guess it gives you a Discipline on its own once you spend all your points. Damn, x1.5. Even at Level 8, that''s a full +150 to Health and a +5 to Health Regen. It said effects, so does that means it gives more damage and deflection too." About an hour later, Maven returned with a horse in tow carrying assorted equipment, while Maven herself was carrying a massive scythe on her back. Caine looked at her slack-jawed. "The hell? I thought you were an archer!" "I''m an Unstoppable. What''s the point of having a massive pool of Stamina if you won''t use equally massive weapons? Besides, the Reinforcement Skills and high EN make sure I don''t hurt myself. Anyway, I brought you some clothes. You stick out like a sore thumb in that outfit." She tossed him a linen shirt and trousers, leather boots and gloves, a linen cloak, and a large hessian sack. "Put those on. The cloak and sack are oilcloth, so it''ll keep you dry, but don''t go jumping in any rivers either." Cain managed to catch the pants, but dropped everything else. "Thanks, but, uh...could you look away for a bit while I change? I don''t exactly feel comfortable with being naked in front of you." Maven rolled her eyes and mumbled something about eccentric bloodmages before turning around. Caine quickly changed, also taking the time to activate Blooded Purification to clean both of them up. "Why''d you only bring one horse, though? Are you planning on walking to Brury? Cause I sure as hell am not." "Actually, I plan on Windrunning the whole way. I could get there far sooner than you, but I enjoy the company. Besides, I feel like you''d get yourself stabbed, especially with that equipment. You sure you can''t use something a bit more standard?" He arched one eyebrow. "Like what, exactly? I don''t exactly have a massive bank account here." "Good point. I spent most of my money on this stuff, so I can''t help you there either. Well, we''ll cross that bridge when we get to it." She gestured for him to get on the horse before rolling her eyes as she saw him grimace. "What now?!" "I don''t know how to ride a horse. It just never came up, okay?! We don''t ride horses where I''m from." She sighed, "Look, just put your feet in the stirrups, get on, and then grab the reins. They''re enruned too, so just thinking about what you want the horse to do should be enough." He hitched his equipment with some convenient leather strips hanging off the sides of the saddle before hesitantly getting on and grabbing the horse''s reins. He saw complex markings all along the reins begin to glow and felt a strange stinging sensation in his mind. "Forward." The animal began slowly trotting forth, and Caine soon found his balance. "Let''s try something a little more intense. Sprint forward." The horse answered him with a sort of proto-smugness before almost accelerating faster than he could keep up with. Caine struggled to stay in the saddle at first, but soon found himself being able to match the mount''s violent movements quite perfectly. He saw Maven heading off in a slightly different direction, and with a barely articulated thought the horse followed. "So, where are we going exactly?" Maven looked up at him as she leapt along, covering meters of distance at a time. "Two days on horseback, there''s a caravanserai near the Rombian border. I''ve worked with a few of the traders there in the past, escorting them to Catry. I''m sure we could pick up a job there. Safer to travel with them, and less expensive. After that, we''ll take a ferry from Catry, through Pilto Lake, up to the coast of Brury." Caine smiled. "As long as I get to ride my horse, I''m up for it." Wind in his face and the sound of hooves in his ears, Caine rode through the night and into the dawn, and for the first time in years felt like he had a concrete purpose in life. Experience Gain Summary Health Expenditure: 50 Bloodlance: 10 Bloodsteel Shield: 25 Current Experience: 352 5: Job The Caravanserai 04 was established 78 years ago at the end of a decade-long war between Holobordenia and Rombia. It lay on the only formal trade route between the two countries, the development and maintenance of which was one of the salient features of the Witlegland-Havetonce Pact. It''s led to flourishing diplomatic, cultural, and mercantile activity not just for Holobordenia and Rombia but also for Sobury, which had no formal trade routes with Holobordenia before then. Maven tapped her foot impatiently. "How can you actually be interested in all this? It''s a caravanserai, it''s here, we''re here to find a job. What''s the deal with wanting to know everything that happened here in the last 78 years?" Caine glared daggers at her. "People like you are the reason we don''t have more complete historical records." The impromptu lecturer, a tall brunette woman in her early 20s with short hair that came down to her ears, said, "Actually, people unlike her are the reason for incomplete historical records. She''s friends with a Bloodmage, after all. If there''d been more like her, perhaps more could''ve been preserved of Dobrid and the Bloodmage Cult." "Wait, what? I thought the Bloodmages were the ones who invaded Holobordenia? Wasn''t their destruction retaliatory action, with Holobordenia sustaining a lot of losses?" The woman laughed, "Any scholar worth the grain of their bread will tell you that was propaganda designed to quell opposition to the Empire''s expansion into the East. It started with the Gatontabingismese Proselytism to remove support from the Bloodmage Cult so they could install a puppet ruler from the Tettleland territories. "That backfired horribly as Tettleland gained its independence from Dobrid and stood as nothing more than an obstacle in the path of their expansion, refusing any kind of alliance. The rebellion ended up culling traitors from within the Bloodmage Cult too, strengthening their chain of command and increasing morale." "In the end, since they couldn''t send in their own troops, they hired Adventurers to do their dirty work. They infilitrated Dobrid through the Trade Route that passes through Tettleland, then cut a bloody swath through the entire diocese right into the capital, where they destroyed the cult''s temples and libraries and killed about half the population, over twenty thousand back then, before finally leaving with Dobrid a shadow of its former glory and Draxted in tatters, nothing more than a shanty town of a little over ten thousand people." The rage on both their faces would have been obvious to Maven had she bothered sticking around that long, but a vindictive smile began spreading upon the lecturers freckled face. "Of course, the Bloodmage Cult didn''t go down without a fight." "Firstly, the sheer amount of havoc they wreaked on the border lead to the Monia Deanery declaring its independence from Holobordenia. It''s been almost a hundred years and they still haven''t been able to get it back. The Rombian War didn''t help either." The smile grew and grew until she looked downright evil. "But the most persistent mechanism they set up to make sure Holobordenia never took them over was the formation and deployment of the Rangers of the Red Sands. They were a group that fell into a sort of limbo between the highest ranks of the Bloodmage Cult and the normal, non-bloodmagical army. Every single time Holobordenia has tried to install a puppet ruler, they''ve been assassinated with a note on their body reading, "The Rangers of the Red Sands watch and wait for the return of the true masters." Uncomfirmed accounts even tell of them helping Monia and Tettleland drive back invasions by Holobordenia and Goodland, its only equal when it comes to expansion." Maven appeared from the dense crowd with an older man. "And then you ask why people don''t trust Bloodmages. Are you trying to look evil? Shield and lance made of blood, massive grin across your face, and I''m pretty sure I heard the word, "Assassinated" somewhere in there." The man was in his early 40s, bald and swarthy, with a hooked nose and brilliant brown eyes.¡°I couldn''t care less about your personal affairs if I tried. The girl tells me you¡¯re a Level 8 Bloodmage. Is that true?¡± Caine put up the shield and lance. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, was all the blood not making it obvious enough?¡± The man sneered. ¡°Bloodmages are nothing special, not outside of Holobordenia anyway. What I want to know is your Discipline.¡± ¡°Dobridian Bloodmage.¡± The old man and the woman both froze. ¡°Are you really a Dobridian Bloodmage?¡± He shrugged, ¡°Yes, I¡¯m a Dobridian Bloodmage, what¡¯s the big deal about that? Isn¡¯t that the only kind of Bloodmage?¡± She shook her head. ¡°No, no, not at all. Any idiot can power up a few cantrips with their own blood, but it takes a true Dobridian Bloodmage to achieve the apocalyptic feats the cultists were capable of.¡± The man looked Caine over. ¡°How old are you?¡± ¡°16. Why?¡± ¡°16. And a Dobridian Bloodmage. How?¡± Caine rolled his eyes, ¡°Blame a wizard and be glad I¡¯m not a box full of pygmies. Now, what¡¯s the job?¡± He looked at the bronze disk emblazoned with uneven arrows hanging from the woman¡¯s neck. ¡°50 Gold to escort me from here to Brury. In the interest of transparency, you will probably get injured quite badly and may even die. Still interested?¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Caine. Pleasure doing business with you.¡± ¡°Maven. Level 8. Unstoppable, but I¡¯m not too bad with a bow either. I can camp, hunt, and cook if you¡¯d prefer to save money on food and lodging.¡± ¡°Rinnleigh. Taramingian Nonexistence Mage. I¡¯m only tagging along to study Caine here.¡± ¡°Tsorvano. I¡¯m afraid I cannot divulge anything more right now, but prove yourselves valuable allies and I assure you there will be much for you to gain. Maven, go and scout ahead, up to a day¡¯s travel on horseback. Caine, Rinnleigh, get your personal articles in order and meet me at the stables.¡± Before either of them could ask any more questions, Tsorvano and Maven both disappeared, one into the crowd and the other over the horizon. ¡°I don¡¯t really have any ¡°personal articles¡±. You got anything you need help with?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve got my books in my room, and some clothing, but that¡¯s about it. I¡¯d appreciate the company, however.¡± She began walking from the plaza to the hostel, and Caine tagged along. ¡°So, tell me a bit about yourself. I¡¯m ravenously curious about how anyone, let alone someone as young as yourself gets the Dobridian Bloodmage Discipline.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really see what¡¯s so significant about this. Is Dobridian Bloodmage some kind of rare and unusually powerful Discipline?¡± Rinnleigh laughed. ¡°Oh, not at all. What a novel concept, Discipline superiority. If you hope to get anywhere as an Adventurer, or even as an Awakened, leave that behind in the drunken spats. No, the importance of Dobridian Bloodmage Discipline doesn¡¯t come from any inherent power. Rather, it comes from the history behind it. The general consensus is that only a Dobridian Bloodmage can be acknowledged as a ¡°True Master¡± by the Rangers of the Red Sands.¡± She opened the door to her room, a cozy little room with a single bed, a shuttered window, and a small wooden chest for storage. ¡°Well, all I did to get this was split my Attributes evenly between ST and RE, and spend all my Skill Points on Bloodmagic. I feel like at least one other person before me should¡¯ve tried that.¡± She opened the chest and removed three hessian sacks from within. She placed them on the bed and picked up one on her shoulder and the other under her arm. ¡°Little help here?¡± Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Oh, right, sorry, of course.¡± Caine walked over and grabbed the other sack, heaving it over his shoulder and following her to the stables. ¡°As I was saying, how did no one before me get Dobridian Bloodmage?¡± ¡°Well, Disciplines are reliant on a lot more than just your point allocation. Simpler ones, like Maven¡¯s Unstoppable, can be acquired that way, but the unique, named classes have special requirements. Taramingian Nonexistence Mage needs an affinity for, well, nonexistence, that goes far past the superficial. It¡¯s powerful, but requires a complete detachment from all things material.¡± ¡°Dobridian Bloodmage is a lot like that, except it requires an affinity for ¡°Crossroads¡±. The problem with the Bloodmage Cult isn¡¯t finding information about them, at least that¡¯s not the biggest one. It¡¯s finding someone who actually knows what it means.¡± Tsorvano was already waiting for them in the stables, wearing simple linens. ¡°Why¡¯d you change? Don¡¯t want the silks getting dirty on the road?¡± ¡°I have no idea what you speak of. My travel budget makes precious little allowance for such frivolity.¡± ¡°Huh. Must¡¯ve imagined it. My mistake.¡± Rinnleigh placed the sacks in the back of a cart which one of the attendants had already hitched to her horse, and Caine followed suit before getting on his horse. Just then, the sound of an unnaturally strong wind signaled Maven¡¯s return. ¡°Road ahead¡¯s clear of bandits and wild animals, but there¡¯s three musketeers and a spearman waiting in the trees near a bend that we¡¯ll probably reach around evening if we set out now, a few hours before The Black Panther.¡± "Huh. Gunpowder weaponry. Good job on not letting the existence of magic completely stifle innovation, Holobordenia." ¡°Good work. Now then, let us embark. The road is long and arduous, and there will definitely be people trying to kill us on the way.¡± Rinnleigh mounted her horse. ¡°I¡¯ve dealt with it for the last 4 years. A few more days don¡¯t bother me in the slightest.¡± They set out with Maven leading ahead by a few dozen meters, Caine behind her, Rinnleigh at the back, and Tsorvano in the middle of the formation. It was beginning to get dark when Maven suddenly disappeared at a bend in the road, surrounded on both sides by small forested hills. Caine stopped and waited for any kind of signal. The signal came in the form of three musket shots ripping through the air. Caine managed to block the one aimed at him with his shield, but the ones intended for Rinnleigh and Tsorvano simply disappeared before they found their mark. ¡°Tsorvano, don¡¯t move! Maven, wherever you are, come back down here and cover Tsorvano! Caine, with me!¡± It was like friction and gravity looked the other way as she seemingly floated up the hill, and Caine struggled to keep up. ¡°What the hell?! Is she doing wire-fu in real life?!¡±As soon as he crested the hill, he was greeted by a spear aimed at his heart. He reflexively put up his shield, blocking the blow and seeing his Health drip down the slightest bit as the topmost layer of the shield dropped of and turned back into liquid blood. ¡°What the hell?! What is that shield?!¡± The man went for another thrust, this time aiming at Caine¡¯s knees, but hit him in the thigh instead. High on adrenaline, Caine didn¡¯t notice the pain and used his shield to bash the man in the face, knocking him out and breaking a few . He spun around just in time to see a musketeer aiming at him, and crouched down behind his shield to block the shot. As he saw his Health tick down slightly, the reality of the situation hit him. He charged up towards the man and stabbed the lance into his foot. Losing his balance, he dropped to the ground. The second musketeer pulled the trigger on his gun, but nothing happened. Rinnleigh tapped him on the shoulder, ¡°I think you¡¯re supposed to put gunpowder in there before you shoot it.¡± She punched him in the gut and he fell to the ground in a heap. The third musketeer took aim at Tsorvano, but before he could pull the trigger a massive scythe came down in front of him, slicing his gun in half before flying back down the hill right as Maven seemingly materialized from thin air. ¡°I surrender! Please! Don¡¯t hurt me!¡± The man got down on his knees and put his hands in the air. The pain of the stab wound caught up with Caine and he fell to the ground. Rinnleigh rushed over to him. "What happened? Oh no. That spear hit you hard." The wound was deep. Deep enough that blood was seeping out. "Foresight is 20/20." Rinnleigh watched as the blood disappeared from his clothing and a faint red glow propagated from his leg and he stood back up. "There, good as new. Now, what are we gonna do with these guys?" "What was that?" "Bloodmagic. Cleans up the wound, then patches it up. Uses blood to replace bone and flesh. Now, what do we do with the three musketeers and d''Artagnan here?" "D who now?" "It''s a thing." "You''ll have to tell me about it some time. Gather up their muskets and put them in the cart, they''ll fetch a good price in Brury. Well, except that one." She grabbed the sliced weapon and held its two halves together. The damage done to it seemed to instantaneously disappear, as though it had never even been there. "Bloodmagic is good, but Nonexistence is nothing to scoff at either." Caine gathered the other two muskets while Rinnleigh grabbed their powder horns and bullets. "Flintlock, huh? How long have these things been in use?" "Flint? That''s new. All the muskets I''ve seen use a little wheel to strike a piece of fool''s gold." "Looks like you''re still a couple hundred years off from the next big innovation, then. Good, I don''t feel comfortable with people being able to get off more than one shot on me before pulling out bayonets." They both made their way down to the road where Maven had just finished using Omnisense to scout out the surrounding area. ¡°No one else here but us and those goons.¡± Caine and Rinnleigh placed the spoils in the cart and mounted their horses. ¡°Let''s leave while that statement holds true.¡± A few hours later, they arrived at a roadside inn with a sign that said, ¡°The Black Panther.¡± Tsorvano entered and slid the man at the reception desk a small flat gold rectangle. The man handed him 4 sets of keys, which he distributed amongst his guards. ¡°I¡¯ve rented us some rooms in the attic, as well as a nice bit of discretion from the innkeeper. At least for tonight, you can all sleep easy. You did well today. I don¡¯t regret hiring you.¡± He made his way up a set of stairs next to the bar. ¡°Eat and drink all you want. I¡¯ll cover the bill in the morning.¡± All three of them were extremely tired after a day of hiking and fighting, with Caine and Maven barely having slept the night before, and even then under the starry sky without a proper bed. They shared a light meal of bread, cheese, and water before dragging themselves up to their rooms and falling asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. Experience Gain Summary: Health Expenditure: 15 Reconstruction: 5 Current Experience: 367 6: Arrival The next morning, Caine was awoken by someone quite literally breathing down his neck. His eyes opened to a wide-eyed Rinnleigh staring at him. ¡°Next time you do that, I¡¯m stabbing you.¡± ¡°You said that the last three times, too. Nonexistence isn¡¯t restricted to matter.¡± ¡°Stabbing isn¡¯t restricted to feet.¡± He sat up in his bad as Rinnleigh pulled up a chair from the desk at the corner of the room. ¡°What time is it, anyway? I didn¡¯t even get the Experience notification yet.¡± ¡°A little before dawn, I think. I wanted to ask you a few things, if that¡¯s alright with you.¡± ¡°Ugh. You saved my ass at the caravanserai, I owe you one. Shoot.¡± ¡°The expressions you use are quite strange. I¡¯ve traveled the whole world, but I¡¯ve never met anyone who talks like you do. I¡¯d chalk it up to madness or eccentricity, but you just generally seem rather clueless.¡± ¡°Okay, ouch. You¡¯re right, though. As ridiculous as I¡¯m sure it sounds, I¡¯m from another world. God, still sounds so stupid saying that out loud.¡± She placed a hand on his shoulder. ¡°No, that makes perfect sense. This world isn¡¯t exactly what you¡¯d call stable after all. Sometimes, people just fall in from other worlds.¡± ¡°I feel like there¡¯s a bit more to it than that. Pass me that sack over there, would you?¡± Caine rummaged through the sack and pulled the bronze amulet from the pockets of his jeans. ¡°I found this, inside an envelope that said something like ¡°A gift from your benefactor¡±.¡± She took the amulet and turned it over in her hand a few times. ¡°Interesting. The metal is nothing special, a Betlandian Amulet of Tongues. It¡¯s something of a staple article of magical equipment for any kind of traveler. No, the interesting part is the gemstone.¡± She reached into her pocket and pulled out a monocle. As she put it on, the lens began to radiate darkness. ¡°Stabilization runes. That settles it, then. You¡¯ve been brought here, by unnatural means. Once you put on the amulet, it tethered you to this world, kept you stable.¡± She removed the monocle and put it back in her pocket. ¡°But that still doesn¡¯t explain how you were able to pick up Bloodmagic Skills. You can¡¯t get a Skill unless you know about it.¡± ¡°The Amulet of Tongues is basically just an information storage device, right? So couldn¡¯t knowledge of Skills be incorporated in there too?¡± Rinnleigh thought about it for a second. ¡°It¡¯s a possibility, but an unlikely one. At that point, we¡¯re working at scales only someone like my father would have any idea about. He works in Brury, actually. I¡¯ll have to ask him about this when we get there.¡± She got up and placed the chair back where it was. ¡°For now though, I¡¯ll let you get some sleep. Sorry to bother you so early.¡± Caine smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t fret it. You¡¯ve saved my life twice now, it¡¯s the least I can do.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t really do much.¡± ¡°Even if we ignore the fact that the magical disguise you put on my lance and shield is the only reason I¡¯ve even survived this long, getting Maven to shut up about me needing more ¡°standard¡± gear alone is a godsend.¡± ¡°She¡¯s really quite an interesting person. Now get some sleep, I don¡¯t want you getting stabbed again.¡± Rinnleigh flicked her wrist and Caine was asleep before his head hit the pillow. A couple of hours later, Caine was awoken by the Experience Gain Summary notification. He got up, grabbed his things, and headed downstairs where the rest of the traveling party was already enjoying a breakfast of steamed fish and something he could best describe as a yogurt milkshake. Growing up in a place that saw most of its commerce from the ocean, Caine had fairly reasonable expectations for how vibrant and active a port would be, which was exactly why the almost fantastical amount of hustle and bustle took him by surprise. The ships in port were almost completely hidden behind the massive market. Stalls were set up selling everything from food and clothing to exotic decorations and souvenirs. Rinnleigh and Maven smiled as they watched him go wide-eyed at the scene before him. ¡°I remember the first time I came here. And the second. And the third. Blew half my pay in the market.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to show you the markets of Yfiedge some time. You could fill a cart with souvenirs and still not have everything you wanted.¡± Tsorvano handed each of them 5 small silver squares. ¡°As a little extra gift from me for yesterday¡¯s performance, go buy yourself something nice. Caine, take Rinnleigh and Maven with you if you want a fair price.¡± Tsorvano disappeared into the crowd. Maven said, ¡°I¡¯m finding myself a new bow first and foremost, you two have fun.¡± She was out of sight before either of them could object. ¡°5 Silver, huh? That¡¯s just enough for something that I¡¯m rather fond of. Come on, we¡¯ll go find you one too.¡± She grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him through the crowd. He barely maneuvered around all the other shoppers without bumping into them. They stopped in front of a stall with an old woman writing something in different coloured ink onto rectangular strips of plain white paper. She gave a beaming smile as she saw the too and said, ¡°Ah, the first customers of the day! Come, come. I¡¯ve just finished a nice Smoke Talisman. 5 Silver apiece.¡± Rinnleigh picked up one of the talismans. ¡°Even I can¡¯t make talismans this efficient! Next to no mageburn from activation. You could easily charge upwards of 7 Silver for these.¡± The woman laughed. ¡°If I had a copper for every time someone told me that, I¡¯d have made half a day¡¯s sales. I make talismans to share magic with those who aren¡¯t naturally inclined towards it, and try to make enough money to lead a respectful life in the process. Nothing more.¡± ¡°Well then, don¡¯t mind if I take that Smoke Talisman off your hands.¡± She placed 5 Silver on the counter and grabbed the talisman, carefully placing it in a leather pouch strapped to her thigh under her padded leather armour. The woman looked at the masked lance and shield. ¡°You¡¯re a fighter, right? Any good with a gun or bow?¡± ¡°Uh, no. Not really. Well, maybe a gun, but the reloading takes uncomfortably long.¡± ¡°Well then, I¡¯ve got just the thing for you. It¡¯s one of my own creations, although I never bothered naming it.¡± She grabbed a talisman and handed it to him. ¡°Grab a fistful of stones or perhaps a single rather large one and use the talisman on it. It¡¯ll make it slightly less effective than a gun.¡± Caine took the talisman but realized he had no idea how to actually use it. ¡°Um...I¡¯ve never used talismans before. I don¡¯t really know how.¡± Rinnleigh handed him another talisman and straightened up his arm in front of him. ¡°Hold it like this, then channel a little bit of Mana into it. Should come as naturally to you as breathing.¡± Caine imagined the mana flowing into the strip of paper and immediately it caught on fire. The text from the talisman was enlarged and floated in the air as blue light. ¡°Try hitting it with your lance.¡± The bloodlance struck it but found no purchase, almost as though it was hitting solid diamond. ¡°That¡¯s the power of a well-made Barrier Talisman for you. It can stop anything from a fist to a cannonball, and it won¡¯t dispel until it¡¯s been depleted completely.¡± Caine¡¯s eyes practically glowed with excitement. ¡°I only have enough money for 3, but I¡¯ll take the bullet talisman.¡± Rinnleigh placed 4 Silver in front of the woman. ¡°A pair of talisman holsters for the boy.¡± The old woman handed Caine a pair of leather holsters similar to Rinnleigh¡¯s, which he strapped around his thighs. He placed his own 5 Silver on the counter. ¡°Hey, Rinnleigh, could I borrow 15 Silver? I¡¯ll pay you back in a few days, I promise, but right now I really wanna get a few more of these.¡± The old woman slid a small paper envelope over to him. ¡°No need to borrow money. I told you, I do this to share magic with people. These old eyes see a lot more than you might think. There¡¯s 20 of those talismans in here. You¡¯ve got a lifetime to make up for, after all.¡± Before he could thank the woman, the crowd swallowed both him and Rinnleigh and before he knew it they were both at the port with Tsorvano and Maven, who was sporting a new longbow. ¡°Ah, there you are! Good news. I¡¯ve paid for a well-protected ferry to Brury. It leaves in a few minutes. I¡¯ve already had your things and your horses loaded onto it. Come on then, no time to waste!¡± Caine didn¡¯t really know how, but a few minutes later he was aboard the ferry, which seemed to cater exclusively to a bourgeois clientele. Maven quickly blended herself in with the marines and porters while Caine admired the sail-less design. ¡°What¡¯s the propulsion mechanism for this thing?¡± Maven briefly popped her head out of the crowd, ¡°Come to think of it, I¡¯ve never actually been aboard one of these. I just escorted caravans into port and that was that.¡± Rinnleigh moved towards the back of the ship, and gestured for them to follow. Looking over the back, he saw a small cubic protrusion. ¡°See that? There¡¯s a handful of mages in there proficient in a very specific brand of Creation Magic. They use it to create water above the waterline of the ship. As it drops, the pressure pushes the ship forward. Since this is a passenger ship, the mages are probably specialists in rapid casting, although I¡¯m admittedly unfamiliar with bourgeois eccentricity.¡± Her suspiciouns were confirmed when the ship set off at a snail¡¯s pace through the water. ¡°Get comfortable, Caine. We¡¯re gonna be aboard for some time.¡± For the next few days, Caine devoured Rinnleigh¡¯s textbooks, enjoying both the learning about the metaphysical side of his new world and the misconceptions about the natural sciences, but most of all the prospect of being the one to introduce the germ theory of disease. One day, while he was on deck alternating between reading, avoiding eye contact with the other passengers, and glaring vitriolic daggers at anyone who sneered at him, he heard a cry ring out across the deck. ¡°All hands on deck! Corsairs, on the horizon!¡± The marines began running down to the armoury then back up to the deck with muskets and pikes in hand. The personal retinues of many of the passengers brought their own weapons to bear. Maven was already taking aim from the quarterdeck while Rinnleigh casually walked up to Caine. ¡°Corsairs, huh? We would¡¯ve been able to outrun them if the sailors were fast, but their focus is on stability.¡± She pulled out a pair of talismans and said, ¡°At least they¡¯ll keep it steady while I aim.¡± She burnt one of the talismans, creating a sphere of ice in front of her. The second talisman broke it into pieces the size of a fist. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Don¡¯t think you¡¯re getting off easy, either. The marines and bodyguards are going to be shooting at the quarterdeck. Use those talismans to take out the gunners. Don¡¯t worry about defense, I¡¯ll put up a Nonexistence Shield while you fire.¡± For the next two minutes, the entire ship was silent except for the occasional cry of indignation from the below-deck quarters. Three ships, one leading the charge and two hanging back. Both approached each other neck and neck, their lack of bow chasers making itself obvious. For a moment, all was silent as both crews stared each other down. Then, in a single intense moment, smoke filled the air as muskets and cannons fired. Caine burnt his talisman and threw the chunk of ice through it, aimed at the waterline of the ship. Cries of pain resounded through the air on both sides as numerous shots found their mark, as well as a few expletives as a cannon was ruined by a massive chunk of ice in the touch hole. One of the bullets almost managed to hit Caine in the shoulder, but was erased by Rinnleigh¡¯s Shield. Before a second volley could be fired, Caine noticed a row of crewmen on the other ship without weapons. As a precaution, Caine pulled out his knife and cut his hand, hoping the confusion of the battle would hide his strange act. He was immediately grateful he¡¯d done so when the unarmed crewmen blasted the ship with a volley of fireballs. Reflexively, he moved in front of Rinnleigh while activating Blooded Ward. His blood instantly evapourated, forming a layer of shimmering energy. The fireballs splattered against it, with a small amount being thrown back into the ocean. Unfortunately, not everyone had been as lucky. More than half the fighting force was down for the count with severe burns. Even Caine lost a fair bit of HP. ¡°If they wanna play like that, fine. Time to show these amateurs what a real human rights violation looks like.¡± Even the unimaginable agony of the burns wasn¡¯t enough to detract from the sight of a massive pair of flaming fists appearing out of thin air. Caine took special care not to hit anyone directly as he lit the ship on fire. Even though the Skill only lasted 6 seconds, by the end of it the entire deck was aflame. The other two ships, seeing the biblical display, immediately retreated. Caine took a brief glance at the ¡°paltry¡± 535 Health he had remaining. ¡°That ward better get more efficient as it levels.¡± He turned to ask Rinnleigh if she was alright, but got sidetracked by the rather pressing matter of everyone else on board staring at him. ¡°What the fuck was that?!¡± One of the marines fixed his bayonet. Caine briefly contemplated lying. ¡°Look, your big mouth ¨C well, big shield and lance, actually ¨C got you in trouble once. You already owe Rinnleigh too big, don¡¯t make her clean up your mess again.¡± ¡°Magic.¡± One of the private bodyguards, a bearded man in full plate armour looked at him suspiciously. ¡°No, that wasn¡¯t magic. Not regular magic, anyway. I¡¯ve fought alongside mages before, and none of them have ever had anything that strong in their grimoires.¡± Rinnleigh whispered to him, ¡°Caine, these people are Adventurers. See that little bronze disk hanging from their necks? That¡¯s their guild-issued badge. That means they¡¯re all Awakened and at least Level 5.¡± Caine opened his mouth to make a flaccid attempt at a convincing excuse but decided against it. ¡°You¡¯re right. Not regular magic. It¡¯s Bloodmagic.¡± The sound of Rinnleigh¡¯s hand hitting her face was heard down to the gun-deck. The sheer, unprecedented stupidity of the action gave everyone pause. ¡°And why exactly are you so openly telling us that?¡± ¡°Well, two reasons. Firstly, dumb, irrational pride. Secondly, you just saw me take out an entire ship in 11 seconds. If you¡¯re still confident you can take me down, you¡¯re welcome to die trying.¡± All the Adventurers who weren¡¯t shot, burnt, or both (numbering around 40) drew their weapons and turned to face the marines. The man in the armour said, ¡°You¡¯re lucky, kid. Beckett¡¯s got a 10,000 Gold standing bounty out on a living Dobridian Bloodmage. Even split even 40 ways, that¡¯s more than I make in a year.¡± The marines knew how foolish it was to go up against 40 heavily armed people with an unbeatable financial incentive and superpowers, so they merely continued about their day pretending nothing had happened. The weapons then got turned on Caine. ¡°Porter, get me a length of strong rope.¡± Caine spent the rest of the trip in the gun-deck, tied up and under constant guard. Rinnleigh spent the time with him, reading to him and talking, and even Maven occasionally poked her head in to rant about the humidity ruining her bowstring or how much she missed dry land, plains, and being able to Windrun everywhere. ¡°Caine, you have to be probably the luckiest person I¡¯ve ever met.¡± He glared at Rinnleigh, who had changed into much looser woolen clothing after it had become clear that the Adventurers would guard them with their lives. ¡°Rinnleigh, I haven¡¯t seen the sun firsthand in 3 days and have to cut myself so I don¡¯t have to take a shit.¡± ¡°Just about everything you¡¯ve told me about what happened to you since you came here tells me the only reason you¡¯re still alive is help from others and sheer dumb luck.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a very backhanded kind of luck then, isn¡¯t it? Though I do agree, I wouldn¡¯t have made it this far without your help.¡± Rinnleigh smiled. ¡°Hey, no problem. I was angry when you pulled the stunt that landed us in this situation, but it¡¯s turned out alright in the end. At least, you¡¯re the only one who suffered the consequences and I get to be comfortable for a few days before I have to deal with the last 12 years and the far future.¡± ¡°You wanna talk about it? Or rant about it?¡± ¡°Right now, I don¡¯t even wanna think about it.¡± Brury wasn¡¯t nearly as vibrant as Catry. If anything, it was the exact opposite, being strictly pragmatic and downright oppressive in its design. Thankfully, Caine didn¡¯t get to spend very long looking around as he was manhandled out of the port and through the city gates. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Caine was temporarily blinded, as though he¡¯d stood up a little too fast. By the time he could see again, his little retinue seemed to have disappeared. Tsorvano stood in their place. ¡°I¡¯m afraid the contract doesn¡¯t end until I am escorted to my destination.¡± Reflexively, the three of them followed him through the streets without knowing why. They passed through the market and the residential district, and moved into the noble district of the city. All three of them felt a sudden pressure on their minds as they fell unconscious. When they regained consciousness, they were tied to oak chairs in a conservatively lit room. In front of them stood Tsorvano, and behind him on a raised platform was a silhouette of a slender individual in loose robes. ¡°I apologize for my severity, but secrecy is of the utmost importance to my employer. I believe it is high time that the three of you received some more answers. Perhaps my full title will jog your memories. I am Tsorvano of Roses, Master Illusionist.¡± As soon as he said his name, the pressure lifted from their minds. Neither Caine nor Maven gave any reaction to the revelation except assorted pained groans. Rinnleigh immediately started laughing. ¡°This is shaping up to be quite entertaining! I¡¯m guessing your patron there is the Lady of the Red?¡± The silhouette spoke up, ¡°And how exactly do you happen to know that, Heir of the Black?¡± ¡°You and my father are the only two people who would even consider hiring that sly, cowardly bastard Tsorvano. I must say, you¡¯ve got fantastic luck. Not only did you get your hands on an authentic Dobridian Bloodmage, you managed to bag your rival in the process.¡± Flames flared up in the braziers, revealing the mysterious figure to be a woman in her 40s with a shock of bright red hair. ¡°Do not dare disgrace the name of your father by calling yourself my rival! Know your place.¡± Rinnleigh laughed again. ¡°All this time spent in the capital has made you forget something very important. You¡¯ve forgotten just how unstable our world really is. You¡¯ve begun to perceive time as a linear sequence again. I unfortunately lack that luxury. From my perspective, I am already both your rival and your son¡¯s.¡± Caine and Maven looked at each other and nodded. Maven activated Oakbend and snapped the bindings around her hands and feet. At the same time, Caine finally bled enough after cutting the palm of his hand with his nails to be able to make a small dagger and cut his own bindings. Maven Windran up to Tsorvano and swept her super-powered legs, knocking him to the floor with a nice crunch from his now-broken leg. Caine cut his hand with the dagger and quickly built a Bloodlance, then threw his dagger, which lodged itself in Tsorvano¡¯s foot ,to free a hand and built a Bloodsteel Shield . Rinnleigh erased the ropes and stood up. ¡°You see, Lady of the Red, my friends and I take a rather more direct approach to matters than the incessant dallying of nobility. I expected a scholar like you to understand, but it seems I severely overestimated. Now, if you¡¯ll just give us our things and the 50 Gold we were promised, we¡¯ll be on our way.¡± The braziers flared even brighter and the anger on the noblewoman¡¯s face was plain to see. Nonetheless, she gestured, seemingly at thin air, and a group of attendants brought out their things, as well as coin-purses with 50 Gold each, which Rinnleigh took special care to count. As the three of them began walking out the door, Rinnleigh stopped. ¡°Oh, and one more thing. Do not dare disgrace the name of my father by calling yourself his rival. Know your place.¡± As soon as they were out the door and a reasonable distance from the noblewoman¡¯s estate, Caine and Maven both stopped dead in their tracks and looked at Rinnleigh. ¡°You have got so much explaining to do.¡± She laughed and said, ¡°Why don¡¯t I do it over a nice feast? The discovery of a Dobridian Bloodmage after a hundred years warrants one in and of itself. Combined with the fact that that scumbag Tsorvano won¡¯t be walking for at least a month, it¡¯d be criminal not to. Besides, it¡¯ll give us a chance to ask my father some questions.¡± ¡°Just who the hell are you, and who is your father? And why does his self-proclaimed rival have the clout to throw around a guy who basically enslaved the three of us for a week without us knowing about it?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll explain everything over dinner, now come on. We¡¯ve got some things to take care of before then.¡±