《OFFLINE FANTASY: Virtual Deities》 Prologue A whole universe, created to be a prison. Cold. Dark. And basically empty, except the one being that was aimlessly drifting in it. Weeping. He was sorry. Oh, so sorry. The soul crushing guilt and shame he was left alone with were smothering him. But here, he could not die. If he could, he would have managed to take his own life already, even though his strength had been taken away from him long ago. Him, that once stood at the pinnacle of power across worlds, had been defeated by the pain and sadness he had seen in his mother¡¯s eyes. No. It had been her obvious disappointment that had hurt him the most, followed closely by the realization of what he had done. He wanted to beg for forgiveness, but at the same time knew he didn¡¯t deserve it. So he cried and screamed. Brother... Brother, can you hear me? Said a feminine voice he instantly recognized. His heart skipped a beat. Had he finally lost his mind? After his flesh had regressed to one of a mortal, was it time for his mind to begin to break as well? No, big idiot, you¡¯re not insane just yet. It really is me. A silver of hope. Perhaps his crimes were less severe than he thought? Maybe he had not actually done it... ¡°But... how? He stuttered, I... saw you. I saw your body.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Yes brother. For all intent and purposes, you did murder me. I was pretty mad about it, but hundred of years of watching you being so pathetic helped me get over it. That, and knowing from your own thoughts that you had been tricked to do it. ¡°How do you know my thoughts? My sister never was bright enough to guess them.¡± You mean you still haven¡¯t noticed that you are hearing my voice from inside your head? Then he really had lost his mind. There really was nothing but him in this prison, and he knew that nothing from the outside could reach him, telepathically or not. I never said I was outside. Look inside. Inside of you. He did. And what he saw made him be silent for a long time. ¡°You attached your soul to mine?¡± He finally asked. I did. In my final moments, it was the only option I had left... Let¡¯s just say I regretted it when I realized I had been thrown in here with you. I... I am- Sorry? trust me, I know you are. I had four hundred years to make sure of it. It¡¯s the only thing that makes me glad I did what I did. I would have never believed you were manipulated otherwise. For the first time in a long time, he smiled. Tears still streamed down his face, but this time his tears were of reliefs. Failure had never felt so good. You may have failed, but it was not for lack of trying! Don¡¯t be so happy yet! ¡°I will bring you back home,¡± he replied, his voice hard, ¡°Mother will know how to fix this. ¡°Then I will have until the end of time to make it up to you. Hmph! That¡¯s the very least you could do. But you forget about one thing... You were tricked for a reason. The day we get out, the Path will be very different. With new rulers. In the absolute darkness, it could not be seen, but his smile grew even wider. He would never forgive himself, but there was now a way to make things better. They were beings of passion. He had regained a purpose, and the fire in him had been lit once again. He would bring his sister back. And then make the traitors pay. Tutorial 1.1 "The Sun! Finally!" Like some spirit straight from the underworld, a cloaked figure emerged from the dense fog that was surrounding the the entire land of Alfheim. The piece of cloth that was wrapped around his upper body was all torn up, and wasn''t offering that much of a protection anymore. The only remnants of his past armor, greaves and gauntlets, were dented and covered by lacerations marks. Each of the boy''s heavy footsteps were accompanied of a metallic sound made by the contact of his boots and the rocky ground, troubling the decades old silence of these parts of the Edge, the border of the world. In his memories, there used to be a city that once stood tall on these very grounds. Bekhailopoulos, the proud city of iron, dedicated to the ascended mortal Akanai and built around the portal linking this world to those further down the Path. Such a strategic position had made it a traveling and commercial hub, and the citizens were proud to call it home. Maybe even too proud sometimes. Now its former territory had been half covered by the fog and there was nothing on it beside the eerie skeletal frame of the old palace in the distance, rocks and the smell of sanitized death. Even then, Enok preferred that smell to the one he had to deal with for months in the void between worlds, traveling through the fog. Thinking about what he had just escaped made him shudder. The boy was visibly exhausted but he had not been the one to express their happiness. A blue ball of light, the size of a fist, was merrily flying around his head and tied back curly hair. A closer inspection would have revealed that the light was actually emitted by a glass orb. "Man, I really thought we were goners for a minute... Do you think you''ll be ok?" it asked on a joyous tone. "I will be fine" he replied, wincing, "the Ki of this place is pretty weak, but most of my injuries should be healed after a few days of rest." The boy lifted his head and scanned the cloudless horizon. They were on a cliff towering a forest almost divided in two by a river that seemed to disappear somewhere between the tall trees. Beyond the forest, the ground didn''t seem able to bear life and nothing was growing on it. It was a barren rocky desert, even along the river, for kilometers until the first sign of civilization : the beginning (or the end, more likely) of a paved road. even further away, he could see the distant shapes of sky islands, floating landmasses particular to this world. "Do you really need that much time?" The orb asked. Since she had gained the simple ability to emit sounds and move around on her own, among other things, Kaja rarely used telepathy anymore and took every opportunity to voice her opinions. But they hardly mattered in this case. Not that she didn¡¯t know. Thankfully, Kaja acting childish wasn¡¯t strange to Enok anymore, he attributed the habit to her once having been so close to mortals. However, he still wished she would speak properly. "Yes it does, Kaja," he sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and joining his hands,"I will have to climb down this cliff and go through this forest to look for food... Did you somehow forget I had a human body?" The orb slowly landed on his head, disappointed. "Stop trying to play it cool dude. I can literally feel whatever you feel... Also, I just really want to see how everybody has been doing all this time, you know?" "That is not entirely true, and I know," he closed his eyes, " just tell me if anything moves." While it was true that the two of them shared an unusual bond, saying that Enok was playing it cool actually was only half the truth. He had been kept out of the Path, their world, for almost eight hundred years and had just rejoined it... Every fiber of his being was trembling with excitement and anticipation... And some dread. He had still not felt an ounce of Mantra, the power of the gods, since he had been freed. But he was also in great pain because of wounds and several broken bones that made walking and even breathing hard. despite what he had said, he wasn''t ¡°fine¡±. but since she could not feel what he physically felt, he wasn¡¯t going to complain to his younger sister. Maintaining his meditative stance, Enok focused on absorbing the surrounding Ki, life force of the world itself. It was an invisible form of energy that was present anywhere there was life and in anything that was alive and unbent. Even though it was the only of the three mystic vapors (Mantra, KI and Ether) to still be active, most creatures lived their lives without even knowing its existence. However, some where taught how to harness its power and could gain abilities far surpassing the limitations of their species. The strength of a thousand. The speed of a lightning bolt. The wisdom of your elders. Depending on how you used it, the possibilities where endless. And directly absorbing it was one of the most efficient ways of doing so. One who could was called an aurosei, a master of aura. One of the various advantages it procured just happened to be heightened regenerative abilities. Slowly but surely, Enok could feel his various injuries heal by themselves, starting with the internal ones. The pain faded and breathing became easier, as he manipulated the Ki to support and heal his body. "Enok!" His trance was suddenly broken by Kaja''s call. The blue orb was frantically bumping against him. "I¡¯m awake", he said, as he was regaining a sense of where he was, "how long has it been? Hey, knock it o-" "A day!" She answered with a merry voice, "but never mind that, look!" In the distance, a cloud of dust had been raised. something was coming their way, and that thing was... "... People?" Enok slowly asked. A fairly large group on horses. Mainly males, and at Enok¡¯s surprise they were of different races. Humans, orcs and even beastmen... Had peace between species been established during his... Absence? "Yes people! What are you waiting for? Let''s go meet them!" "Wait. They are armed Kaja. These people are warriors... Something is not right." The orb stopped moving, its light dimming. Swords, bows, shield and maces... They were all carrying their drawn out weapons, and pushing their horses to gallop as fast as they possibly could. could it be that they were coming for Enok and Kaja? No. They weren¡¯t organized in any way, and the ones with the slowest horses were left behind, drifting further and further away from the core of the group. But more importantly, the way they kept looking over their shoulders was just reeking of desperation. They were running away from something and apparently seeking refuge in the forest. As that thought crossed his mind, something appeared at the horizon. Something tall. Something fast. The thing that was terrifying the riders enough to knowingly push their foaming horses to death. At least three meters tall, it had two sets of long arms along its torso, two of which were brandishing oversized machetes. Its body was covered of dark metal plates, except for what seemed to be a lens covering most of the face area on a round helmet. Despite its size, it was running at great speed toward the riders on two hooved inverted legs, the ground cracking at each step... And it would soon catch up with the slowest ones. On top of a cliff kilometers away, seeing the scene that was unfolding thanks to his aura improving his perception, Enok was but sure of two things. The first one was that a massacre was about to occur. The second was that he had no idea what that creature was, and that realization was what was shocking him the most. "You have to do something" said a resolute voice next to him. It was Kaja. The orb was levitating at eye level with Enok. As if it was trying to convey its owner¡¯s determination, bright as ever. He gave it a side glance and fixed his posture.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. "Listen Kaja... Not only do we have no idea what is happening, it would also be taking a great risk for no reason", he replied as he closed his eyes again. "Are you saying it''s probably stronger than you?", she asked with a chuckle. There she was going again. This annoying sister of his had a knack for pushing his buttons and putting both of them in dangerous situations. But he wasn¡¯t going to let her have her way this time. What was at stake was too important. "That''s not the point. We had a plan, and traveling across worlds without dragging any attention was pretty much the main part of it," he replied, and as he put a hand on his abdomen he added, "that, and I¡¯m still injured. Gravely so." But the floating orb was apparently not going to give up so easily. As it started enthusiastically bumping into his head again it said "I know you can at least use your sword''s ability one more time! And since when do you even care about the odds? I mean, sure, you are human right now. But remember that time you defeated the four mad f-" "Enough." The hitting stopped, and silence fell. But before long Enok broke it and said with his fists clenched "the past... is the past. Right now all that matters is that you get back to the end of the Path safely." "I do not wish to see you lose yourself doing it Enok. I told you: I know how you feel. No matter which form you take, no matter how much time passed... You are the King of kings... And there is no king who wouldn''t want to protect his subjects facing an unknown threat." he sighed and opened his blood red eyes. She continued, ¡°I do not expect you to save any lost soul across the Path, Enok. But closing your eyes to the first group of mortals you meet being slaughtered? That¡¯s too much.¡± "Good. Because you know I lost myself long ago already," he finally replied, standing up. *** "Tump... Tump... Tump..." Regular like a clock. It was the sound of her approaching death. Why hadn¡¯t she listened to her father? Why did she have to be so stubborn about going with the others? Hell, she had been one of those who Had argued that an expedition was their only option... That their clan had lived as weaklings for too long and that it was time to seize their luck... Ha, all of it seemed so insignificant now. So many had lost their lives already. "Tump... Tump... Tump..." In the distance, she could see that some of her allies had reached the forest. In the back of her mind, she knew she would never make it there in time. But she kept beating her horse nonetheless. Despite her leather armor, and the fact that she was drenched in sweat, she was cold. Her vision was so blurry, was she crying? In this moment. all she was sure about was that the sound was getting closer and closer... "Tump... Tump... TUMP..." It was there. Uncontrollable, primal shivers went down her spine and her body acted on its own as she jumped off her sprinting horse. As she was falling, she looked back, and time seemed to slow down. The odiran primer was right behind her, its massive metallic body fending the air and its gaze locked down on her. Her horse had already been sliced in two clean halves, and arced trails of blood was following the movement of one of the giant machetes. It occurred to her that the movement was in fact a full circle and that the blade was coming for her again. She would die before even reaching the ground. As it was about to cut her, the only thing that crossed her mind was "... Did it really have to kill me with the one that has horse blood on it?" At that exact moment, a deafening sound nearly made her lose consciousness, the sound of two metals hitting each other with extreme force. The machete now vibrating was suddenly moving away from her as the watcher struggled to keep its balance. Between the two of them, a short ornamented sword was slowly spinning on itself after its collision with the machete. Flames burst out of nothing, surrounding the sword and for a moment it seemed as if they were alive. But then they merged together and actually took the shape of a figure holding the weapon. The next moment, the fire had dissipated and a dark skinned male human wearing a more-than used-up cloak had replaced it. He was obviously not even a grown man yet. Right before she hit the ground she caught a glimpse of his red eyes. ¡°A demon,¡± she thought. And then everything faded to black. *** Now that he was in front of the iron clad warrior, Enok had to admit that he looked even more imposing than he had assumed. And that, even if he had one knee down after losing his balance to the surprise attack and having rolled to absorb the fall¡¯s momentum. But even with that, something... Felt off. As he was thinking that, his ears caught a clicking sound coming from the armor. From inside it. Be careful, said Kaja¡¯s voice inside his head, the middle part of his body is somehow independent from the rest. She had left the observing orb and her thoughts were mingling with Enok¡¯s again. He almost butchered that mortal with an impossible spin attack. The forced halt of the four armed warrior had raised dust that had yet to settle and was partially hiding the forest from Enok¡¯s field of view, but that hardly mattered. Even if the warrior was now between the cloaked figure and the fleeing survivors, the prior clearly had earned all of its attention. The circular helmet¡¯s glass eye was strongly fixed on him. Strangely calm. As if merely waiting for an explanation as to why it had been interrupted in its frenzy. Enok had seen the circular slash that had almost killed one of the riders after actually killing his ride. But somehow, he knew that wasn¡¯t what was troubling him. He tightened his grip on his sword, holding it low at his side. There were only two ways out of this mess and they both required him to act fast. His body¡¯s state was getting worse by the second. ¡°Apologies for attacking you,¡± he said, loud, ¡°my intention was only to protect the life you were about to end.¡± The first option was diplomacy. But if the warrior understood his words, he didn¡¯t show it and stayed immobile. And words spoken by the cloaked boy should be understandable to any soul on the Path. ¡°These people are under my protection. If there is any valid reason for this massacre, then state it. Otherwise, I would like you to leave. Now.¡± Still no reaction. Was he thinking? Watch out! Even though Enok¡¯s eyes were locked on him, he almost didn¡¯t react in time to the four armed giant closing the distance between them in a blur and gust of wind. He bended his body backward fast enough to see a bloodstained machete sweep where his neck was a moment ago. He then kicked the ground and sent his already falling body far enough backward to dodge the iron fist that went to smash the ground, sending rocks flying. Second option then. ¡°Deep breath, clear head,¡± he told himself, ¡°use as little aura as you can.¡± He needed space to gather himself. So as he fell, he made a backward roll followed by a quick leap. All it did was giving him enough room to see the second machete coming downward to cleave him in half, already too close to be safely dodged. ¡°how in the...¡± Reaching again into his already low Ki reserve, he made his aura course through his body and imbue his sword. even then, to try to fully block such a blow would be insanity. So Enok opted for a partial parry. The short sword met the machete. Screeching noise and white sparks were released during the half second the massive dark blade slid against his, guided centimeters off its trajectory and deep into the ground. Determined to not let go of the opportunity, Enok dived inside his opponent¡¯s guard, glancing to the right for the remaining arm. But there was nothing. It¡¯s coming from the left! Kaja screamed inside his head. Dammit. The first slash and everything that followed had been a setup for him to not notice the spinning attack he had been warned against at the start of fight. He guessed it was too late to even look at the fist coming his way. So he went all in. He burned all of his remaining ki at once and turned it into strengthening aura. His wounds reopened and his body cried in pain as time was slowed down by his boosted brain activity. A glance to the left, and sure enough an iron fist his own size was there, about to crash into him and break his bones. But not anymore. He jumped and the ground under his feet exploded as he launched himself above the iron warrior, sword raised above his head. During the lightning fast exchange, his enemy had not used aura or any form of ki manipulation at all. It meant that he had incredible raw strength and speed, but also that he would be defenseless against his aura infused sword. Falling on his enemy, his sword went through the metal helmet and kept its course unhindered until Enok landed, and the colossus had been cleaved in two. After a moment, each part fell in loud crashes of iron and rocks. He let go of his sword and fell on his knees. He tried to ignore his whole body aching. ¡°Kaja,¡± he thought to her, ¡°I am going to faint. Make sure to make my body absorb as much ki as you can manage while I¡¯m out. All it has to do... Is keep me alive... Until... I wake up.¡± Even thinking was getting hard and his vision darkened. It had been such a strange fight, Enok thought to himself, his consciousness drifting away. And he just couldn¡¯t figure out why... Had roughly eight hundred years been enough to make everything he was going to see appear strange to him in this collapsing world? He tried to let a painful groan out but his mouth filled itself with blood instead. Blood. Had his silent enemy even bled? His head felt too heavy to move, but he managed to make his eyes look for his enemy¡¯s remains. When they found them, they got big with confusion and shock. There was no corpse inside the armor. But it wasn¡¯t empty either. More metal of different kinds, glass bulbs and plastic. Gears, clutches and wires. Glowing stones covered with intricate runes and connected to complex mechanisms. He had been fighting a machine all along. As the thought dawned on him, he almost didn¡¯t register something moving toward him. A white spider the size of two fists, quickly moving through the debris. It was also made of metal. He tried to stand but couldn¡¯t. Tried to reach his weapon but failed to even make his arm twitch. Kaja could not move her orb since he had no ki left and it was as if his body had been a statue attached to his brain. The white thing climbed his leg and got out of his field of view, climbing his back. He felt it stop just above his neck. And then the world exploded in blue lights as it sank its fangs in his head.
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Tutorial 1.2 The smell of wood was the first thing to assault Enoch¡¯s senses when he woke up, followed by the thoughts of his worried sister. How are you feeling? He opened his eyes to an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. ¡°Horrible,¡± he replied, grimacing, ¡°It¡¯s like my whole body was trampled by a pack of rhynophants.¡± She chuckled. You should be more grateful. it was pretty close. ¡°Where are we?¡± he asked, looking around. Afternoon light was entering the small room they were in, and small dust particles were dancing in sun rays. The room had very little furniture: the bed he was laying on, a desk and a chair, all made of wood. An effigy Enoch didn¡¯t recognize was nailed over the desk. A sword with three hilts. ¡°Meh,¡± he thought to himself. Then he realized he couldn¡¯t see his sword, which made him finally notice that he was in light cotton clothes he didn¡¯t recognize. The mortals took us to their village, Kaja said, their healer has been looking after you for the past week. After a pause she added with a sigh, they took the orb too. I think they were just being cautious though. ¡°Week?!¡± he had accidentally said the word out loud, and his lungs made it clear that they didn¡¯t appreciate it. As that moment, rumble was heard behind the door, followed by the sound of footsteps quickly leaving. Apparently someone wanted to be notified as soon as he woke up. Yeah. I told you it was a close call. And he isn¡¯t the best healer either. He grunted, trying to lay on his side. Even without taking in account his injuries, this bed was everything but comfortable. He thought of the white spider and those strange words that had appeared right before he fainted. ¡°That was definitely... The last time I followed - ouch - one of your whims.¡± ... What? That is so not- But before she could finish, she was interrupted by the door being opened and the sound of boots hitting the wooden floor. Two male humans and a male wolfkin with brown fur had entered the room, all of them having swords at their waists. They were the first of the People he was seeing after roughly such a long time, so he could not help but smile a little while trying to push himself in a sitting position. The existence of the People was a constant reminder of his mother¡¯s soft nature and mercy. Elves, orcs, humans, dwarves, beastkins, kerots and giants were more than just anatomically similar, they all shared the same origin: the love of a certain being and the death of another. The ones that had just entered the room looked like a rough bunch. Scars, badly trimmed hair -or fur-, their behavior. Their clothing was mainly consisting of poorly made leather, which hinted at their low class, and more than anything else, they seemed exhausted. One of the two humans, an old man who still had patch of black on his short gray hair, gave him a look, as if to acknowledge that he really was awake, then pulled the chair from under the desk and sat on it, facing the bed. ¡°Glad to see you finally awake, young hero. My name is Ronan, I am the leader of the Foxglade clan.¡± He also was the one healing you, added Kaja. He paused, maybe expecting some reaction, but Enoch just kept looking at him with a curious look on his face. The younger man behind Ronan kept fidgeting and the wolfkin was clenching his jaws a little too hard. ¡°I would like to start by thanking you, in the name of all the members of my clan,¡± the old man said, ¡°for saving the lives of so many of our fighters by risking yours.¡± he hesitated and then added, ¡°if there is anything we can do to-¡± ¡°I did not do it expecting a reward,¡± interrupted Enoch, ¡°all I ask is that you allow me to stay in your village until I¡¯m fully healed.¡± he looked at the young man who seemed unable to stay still, ¡°then I will be on my way.¡± It seemed that it was the right thing to say, because it made them look visibly less tense, even if it was only a little. The old man scratched his head and said, ¡° well I have to admit that your selflessness really is welcomed. we do not have much, and the little we have... is really needed, especially after we lost so many of our own.¡± ¡°Very well then.¡± Silence fell. The old man seemed conflicted by the fact that he was questioning a bedridden teenager he was indebted to. ¡°Who are you?¡± he finally simply blurted out. ¡°You can call me Enoch. I am just a traveler... A wanderer of sorts,¡± answered said teenager with a grin. ¡°Enoch... Just a traveler, uh... You do know there are no settlements, roads or even trails in the parts you met my men right? That¡¯s what you get for just saying random stuff. ¡°Is that so?¡± being vague was his best option here, until he had a better grasp of the situation. He didn¡¯t want to say anything that could put him in any complicated situation. ¡°Could you just tell me what you really want to know, old man?¡± ¡°Did the bloodseekers send you? If not, then someone from the Neo Pantheon did. In both cases,¡± he stood up abruptly, knocking the chair down behind him,¡° I take full responsibility for hiding the existence of the odiran primer, and humbly request you to spare my men.¡± Enoch raised a brow, ¡°Excuse me?¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°You have shown that you had a heart by saving some of them, even though you didn¡¯t have to. They are brave people and-¡± ¡°No, no, that is not what I mean,¡± he interrupted, waving his hands, ¡°I do not know what you are talking about, human, I did not come here to kill anyone.¡± You called him a human. They don¡¯t do that between themselves. The man squinted his eyes, ¡°But you are an aurosei lord. There are currently no lords in Alessana that aren¡¯t either a bishop of the Neopanth or agents working for the Stonehearts.¡± New words. New organization names. New titles. He was glad to see that masters of aura were still respected,but he was in dire need of information and it would be best for him to get it before he ventured into the wild. For that, he needed a cover a that would justify his future questions without tipping anyone off. Maybe it wasn¡¯t the best of times for asking what that slaughtering machine was. He didn¡¯t want anyone to have an idea of what he was. ¡°Maybe that was true until a week ago, but it¡¯s not the case anymore. I met your men close to the Edge because that¡¯s where the gate to Alfheim is. I came from a plane further down the Path.¡± Sometime truth was the best option. They didn¡¯t need to know which plane he was coming from though. The men looked at each others and back at Enoch again. The wolfkin talked for the first time with a softer voice than his appearance would suggest he had. ¡°It¡¯s been decades since I last heard of worlds still bearing life beyond Alfheim, lord Enoch, and it was through centuries old tales. It is a well known fact that it is the furthest reachable one, simply because...¡± ¡°The trail of ki is too thin? trust me, I know. I guess I am just better than most at sensing it.¡± The men stood silent for a moment, before Ronan spoke again. ¡°Then I will take your word for it ¡®traveler¡¯. I have no reason to doubt your words, and even if they weren¡¯t the truth, all that matters to me is that you do not plan on hurting anyone. I will now leave you to rest.¡± ¡°That is fine by me,¡± said Enoch with a smile. They motioned toward the door, but before they could reach it, Enoch spoke again ¡°Ronan?¡± The men turned around ¡°Is it custom in your clan to meet people you are indebted to with swords at your side?¡± The old man didn¡¯t answer, but the young man who hadn¡¯t spoken until now had apparently decided to try to stutter an answer. Enoch raised a hand, stopping him, and simply said, ¡°I would like my gear to be given back to me. Also, I would appreciate it if you could appoint someone as my aid. As I am sure you can understand, I have many... Cultural questions.¡± He wasn¡¯t smiling anymore. Ronan nodded and the men left, closing the door behind him. You did not have to scare them. They are good people ¡°They were already scared, and that¡¯s what annoyed me.¡± Enoch thought back to her. ¡°That, and I do not like random people touching my sword.¡± Annoyed? ...You know, I had my doubts, but I think this human body is already starting to mess with your personality. I am supposed to be the mortal-like one She wasn¡¯t wrong. There were multiple hormone combinations influencing his decision making, and a clear limit set by his brain to how high his intelligence could be. But he was still himself. Just restricted... For now. Talking about his mental being altered, his mind wandered once again to the visions of the white spider¡¯s bite had caused, and he -painfully and with many grunts- assumed his regular meditating stance on the bed: legs crossed and hands joined. Being an aurosei meant not only being able to absorb the ambient ki, but also being able to transform it into aura inside the body. Unlike the former, the later process relied more on the spiritual abilities of the practitioner than the physical ones, and if that spider had somehow poisoned his mind, the damages on his cultivation could be irreversible. First, maintaining a state of balance between focus and relaxation, he allowed the ki to flow into him through his body¡¯s thirty meridians; which were the twelve lines of entrance points and the height lines of storage points for all of the People. The ki started to mend his injuries as it went through him and slowly filled his reserves without any issue. A bit less worried, he then proceeded to enter his inner world. The inner world was a mental visualization of one¡¯s very state of spiritual being, and while its access wasn¡¯t limited to auroseis, meditation made it a lot easier. Since he had been freed from the prison universe, his inner world had always been the same. A limitless meadow of white grass at the center of which stood a single majestic tree on fire, the sun eternally setting at the horizon. Always. But now, his inner world was vastly different. Too different. It was nothing but white. World of plain whiteness. there was no ground or even gravity. No sense of up and down. But it wasn¡¯t empty. In front of him, giant words were floating, on a blue rectangular canvas.
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*** An hour earlier. At the Foxglade village, there was a certain tavern named the Fox¡¯s den, owned by an orc obviously named Den. It wasn¡¯t anything fancy, just a one story building made of wood like most of the other surrounding structures. Being on a somewhat isolated territory in a village of poor reknown, the Fox¡¯s den rarely saw strangers, so it was mostly used as a hangout spot by the clan members and as a mess hall by the guards. But recently, there had been even less people sitting at the tables than usual. To be exact, there were only three. On one of them, eating a copious meal, were Ronan, Foxglade¡¯s leader, and his young daughter, a demi-human named Mein. In her case it would be more accurate to say that she was just moving her spoon around her food, head down. On another table, was a young man named Domor. Domor, was just a regular guy. He didn¡¯t like danger, and wasn¡¯t planning on being a hero. He didn¡¯t have the best set of morals either, hell, he was a guard only because he had thought it would help him impress girls. But he did value loyalty and despised ingratitude. That is why he couldn¡¯t help but curse at the cowards who had simply fled the village as soon as they had heard that an aurosei, who saved half of the failed ¡°undercover¡± expedition, was sleeping in Ronan¡¯s inn. Foxglade had given them so much, shelter, food and honest works. And more importantly, a family to call their own. But they had turned their back to all of it without an hint of hesitation. Thankfully, Den and his wife were still here. He didn¡¯t know what he would have done without the good ale and the well cooked steaks that were the trademark items on the Fox¡¯s Den menu. As he was biting into his meal, Amar, leader of the guards, suddenly entered the tavern, breathing just as heavily as if he had fought ten assailants by himself. ¡°He is awake,¡± the brown wolfkin simply said, loud enough for Domor to hear. As soon as Ronan heard, he got up and left the inn without saying anything, followed by Amar. It seemed that the wolfkin felt like his presence was one of his duties as the captain of the guards, which made Domor chuckle sadly. A fool he was, for sure. Would the monster decide to slaughter them all, no one would be able to stop it. Domor himself was starting to think of a place he could hide, second guessing his own sanity for staying. ¡°Hey, Dom,¡± said a soft voice next to him. He looked up from his plate, his thoughts of whether there was still time to leave or not interrupted by a blue haired demi-human girl standing in front of his table. Demi-humans were the results of the ¡®unblessed¡¯ union of a beastkin and a human. They were often seen as strange, as they were humans with random animal features, but Domor didn¡¯t care about any of that. the girl with cat ears and lowered tail standing in front of him wasnt the result of some forbidden love. she was Mein, his friend and the chief¡¯s daughter. ¡°Hmm? You want something?¡± he asked. ¡°Could... Could you go with my father, please?¡± she asked, eyes still locked with the ground, ¡°he would not allow me to.¡± And that¡¯s how Domor, regular guard of the Foxglade clan, came to meet a knight of the pagan gods for the first time. By convincing Ronan and Keloin to let him accompany them, just so that he could be the former¡¯s daughter¡¯s spy. Had he known what was waiting for him in that room, he would never have stepped in the inn in which the demon was resting. Standing in that room had felt like being chained down to a rock, deep underwater, with a predator mockingly swimming nearby. The pressure was just too much to handle. The sadistic smiles made his skin crawl and hair stand. He almost turned around to run away each time the beast in human skin glanced at him, but somehow managed to stand still through it, knowing Mein was undoubtedly waiting for him outside. And sure enough, she was there when he got out, sitting on a bench under the shade of a blossoming tree, staring at him with her sad eyes while he approached. He knew she wasn¡¯t in the best of moods since last week¡¯s tragedy, and that¡¯s what he had agreed to her request in the first place... But gods was she beautiful. As he started talking to her, drenched in sweat and still shaking, he realized he now had a newfound respect for the chief and the captain. They had been able to talk and behave as if nothing while facing the monster. On the other hand he had not been able to utter a single word when he had tried to. In retrospective, if had paid more attention to her and had noticed the glint in her eyes, the future of the clan would have been much less darker. But all of what was happening, all of it, was definitely too much for just a regular guy. Tutorial 1.3 Enoch stared at the words with horror, trying to think of a single instance he could have heard of something similar, during his whole existence. The inner world was ever-evolving by nature, since it was tied to mortals¡¯ psyches. One couldn¡¯t willingly make changes to it, but experiences that mentally affected someone would in turn cause sensible changes to their inner world. But they were in the order of a blue sky being covered with dark clouds, mythic animals appearing as familiars, flowers suddenly blooming or even land being submerged by strange waters. Not the entirety of it disappearing to be replaced by strange floating words. Not even mentioning that a trauma strong enough to cause something of this scale to one¡¯s mind would be something many times worst than death, Enoch had not suffered any... relatively speaking. The situation made no sense to him, but one thing was clear: it had been caused by that metallic white spider¡¯s bite. Something he had never heard of had been injected in him, in his brain, and was at work. And while Enok could feel that a strange connection had been established between him and an unknown entity, there was nothing he could do about it as a human, since it wasn¡¯t even made of ki. On the blue canvas, 95% became 96%. Considering he had been bitten a week ago, he didn¡¯t have much time left before whatever was trying to happen, would happen. A few hours at best. And he had to figure out what it was before the end of the countdown. Back in the small room, a confused Enok opened his eyes. A moonless night had fallen, but a lamp oil was softly burning on the table, next to a plate of cold food. Meat and potatoes. One of the drawbacks of meditative cultivation was that time passed much faster than one would be aware of. In the past, the stories of young auroseis who would break their trances in enclosed mountains only to find out that decades had passed were common ones. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re back,¡± said a blue orb hovering in front of the window, ¡°a kitten brought our stuff earlier. I was about to head out to look around the village, but first wanted to make sure things were in order for you.¡± She had not missed the strange spider¡¯s bite. ¡°That was wise of you,¡± he said while getting up. His body painfully disagreed with him leaving the bed, but he already was in much better shape. He found his gear in a corner of the room -namely his greaves, gauntlets, sword, boots, shoulder bag, leather pant and cloak- and started getting dressed. Pants and cloak had been sewed together and looked more decent. ¡°It seems the mortals have been playing with things they shouldn¡¯t have approached. I need to find someone with answers. Now.¡± ¡°Really? What¡¯s wrong?¡± Kaja asked, floating closer, ¡°and where are we going?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. My inner world is a mess and the only thing that could have caused it is that damed spider. First we will have Ronan tell me what in the worlds was that machine killing his clansmen. Then we will... Improvise from there.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know? Is that a joke? If yes, you¡¯re getting a lot better Enok.¡± ¡°I am not joking,¡± he wore his boots and proceeded to strap his gauntlets, ¡°we currently are too ignorant of the things of this time, and if we do not do anything, in seven hours or so something is going to happen to us. And I want to either be able to stop it or at least be prepared.¡± ¡°Well that sounds like fun!¡± Ten minutes later, after having gulped down the cold food, Enoch was ready to leave and finally opened the door, only to find a female demi-human sitting on the floor in front of his room. Arms hugging her legs, head on her knees, and eyes frozen in an empty stare. ¡°Greetings, esteemed machine lord,¡± she said with a monotonous voice, ¡°I am Mein, a member of the Foxglade clan at your service.¡± Enoch stood immobile, hand still on the doorknob. ¡°What are you doing here? ¡± he asked. ¡°You have asked for an aide, and here I am, my lord,¡± she simply replied, as if it was the most natural thing in existence, ¡°I could not help but hear the conversation you had with your familiar, and it happens that I am more than able to answer your questions.¡± A silent moment passed, before it was broken by an aggravated Kaja. ¡°Listen here little kitten, I am no goddamn fami-¡± ¡°Kaja, please,¡± interrupted Enok with a smirk, ¡° you know she couldn¡¯t know any better, and we really don¡¯t have time for that.¡± ¡°Oooh, you think it¡¯s funny?¡± she asked, flying a bit too close to his face. ¡°Hey, all I¡¯m saying is that there are better things to do than you harassing a poor demi-human servant.¡± ¡°Yeah, right.¡± Turning back her attention to the girl, ¡°aren¡¯t you tired of being of the floor? Go sit on that chair, and tell us what it is that you think could interest us little kitten.¡± She hesitated, staring at the commanding ball of light, then quickly stood up, got in the room and sat down. Leaving the door open, Enok sat on the bed and motioned the cat girl to talk, which she did through a deluge of words. ¡°I have heard you are wondering about the nature of the being you saved us from,¡± she said, eyes on the floor, ¡°and about the nature of what is now happening to you. Both those things are well known facts across the Path. The armored machine was what we call a primer. It¡¯s a vessel who carries a seed of the Neopanth¡¯s power, made by Odir, last king of the dwarfs. By defeating it, you passed its test and were bestowed the power to reach the gods.¡± Enoch raised a brow, ¡°Reaching the gods? Which gods are you talking about exactly? And what is that power?¡± Apparently surprised by the question, she looked up to meet his gaze, only to look down again. ¡°You do know what the Neopanth is, right?¡± ¡°We do not,¡± answered Kaja, apparently set on making it clear that she wasn¡¯t a familiar, ¡°as you can see, we are total country bumpkins, so assume we do not know anything of what happened in the last, say, eight centuries. But we also are kind of in a hurry, so try to make it short, if you can.¡± The demi-human stood silent for a moment, her tail slowly moving around. She then started, ¡°Eight centuries ago, the last plane before the realm of the pagan gods was corrupted by the fog, and the Path was severed-¡± A cracking sound resonated through the room. Enok¡¯s hand that was resting on the bed had broken part of its frame by exercising too much pressure on it. ¡°I am sorry,¡± he said with a voice as neutral as he could manage, to the panicked girl. ¡°Please continue,¡± softly added the the floating orb. The cat girl gathered herself once more, breathing deeply. ¡°The Path... the Path was severed. The gods¡¯ powers could no longer reach the lower worlds and for the first time since the dawn of time, the People and the Mystics were on their own. Free to start a new era, one of the mortals... Or so the legends say. In any cases, amidst the chaos and wars of that time, several technological discoveries were made thanks to the dwarfs. Guided by their blessed king Odir, they laid the basis of technomancy, the blend of magic and technology. A short period of peace occurred, during which the worlds prospered thanks to machines who made lives incredibly easier. But it was soon put to halt by the shock of two powerful factions who gathered the strongest individuals of the Path. One was the Neopanth, the other was named the Golden Voice. While the Neopanth was encouraging progress and pushing the natural limits of the different species, the Golden Voice wanted to maintain the old ways of the pagan gods. A war remembered as the War of Roses was fought, brutal and unrestrained. But it is said that among the warriors of the Golden Voice were beings who had once received the favors of their gods, beings called Ascended. Their power was great enough that it was tipping the balance of the war by itself.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. But it¡¯s at that time that the blessed king of the dwarfs Odir, ally of the Neopanth, created the seeds of powers, masterpieces of technomancy and a way for their warriors to gain powers beyond the limitations set upon mortals by the pagan gods. They were distributed amongst them, and thus, the first drifters were born. They slew three of the once invincible world guardians, and made three sacred weapons out their souls. Then, they eradicated the Golden Voice, though it still cost them dearly to do so. Without mentioning all the deaths, destruction of infrastructures and the loss of one of the sacred treasures, it is said that on the day of the victory, every single dwarf on the Path disappeared. I do not know, if that fact is true, but I have never seen one, and neither has anyone in centuries. The only reasons we know about them at all are the fact that they are considered martyrs by the Neopanth and all the artifacts around the worlds that are said to be part of their work. After the War of Roses, the Neonpath took direction of what was left of the Path and has been maintaining order ever since.¡± She paused, as if taking her breath back, and finally said ¡°Primers are one of the ways the seeds of power are given to nobles or high ranked warriors, even to this day. You passed the primer¡¯s test and are now being transformed into a drifter.¡± Enok stayed silent, processing the information. If everything he had heard was true, the implications were so grave chills were running down his spine just thinking about them. While he now had an explication as to why there wasn¡¯t any mantra in this world, the reason dumbfounded him. The Path had been severed? Isolated from the gods? Why? And more importantly, how? At least, he knew who the only being that would have done it was. The fact that it happened just after he was thrown into the Abyss universe reinforced his suspicions. Mein¡¯s story also answered a question that had been tormenting him for a long time: for which purpose had he been tricked? Of course, what the mortals had done afterward was only a consequence of his foolishness. Such a situation would have never been possible with either him or Kaja¡¯s presence. ¡°What do you think?¡±, he asked Kaja, after a while. In this moment, he somehow regretted that they could not simply use telepathy when her consciousness was moved to the orb. But maybe it was for the best, for this way they didn¡¯t have to share the pain the words had caused to each other. ¡°All I want to know is why Mother has still not done anything,¡± she answered, with a slightly higher pitched voice, ¡°Unless...¡± She didn¡¯t finish, and Enok was strangely glad she had not. ¡°So, Mein,¡± the girl seemed startled by hearing her name, ¡°you are saying that the primer was... Testing your people?¡± She bit her lip, ¡°Yes, it was. Though the test wasn¡¯t originally supposed to be ours. That primer in particular was found by my clansmen amongst ruins located west of here. It wasn¡¯t active then, and we believe it must have been a remnant of a time when Alfheim was much more prosperous than it currently is. Some of us also thought that maybe... Maybe we could acquire the power lying dormant inside of it... And raise our status...¡± Tears started streaming down her now red cheeks, but she kept speaking with the same monotonous tone she had maintained until now, ¡±This region of Alfheim is composed of six clans all vassals to the bloodseekers. The Foxglade clan is the weakest one, and there isn¡¯t a day when we aren¡¯t somehow reminded of it by the others. As we went to meet the primer, we thought it was our salvation. Little did we know it was a test to our foolishness. We never were worthy.¡± She cried silently, sniffing from time to time. Enok looked at her with the same words spinning in his head. ¡°What can I tell her? What am I even allowed to tell her? This little girl can¡¯t even look up because of the shame of her friends deaths, and here I am,¡± he closed his eyes, ¡°everything, everything that has happened in eight centuries is, in one way or another, my fault.¡± He felt something landing on his head. It was the orb. ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time to move Enok,¡± said his sister¡¯s voice. ¡°If Alfheim¡¯s guardian is no more, then we are on our own. Right now, it¡¯s whatever happens, happened, mate.¡± The orb flew in front of his face. ¡°We need to get out and look for a place to wait for that transformation she talked about. Something of that nature will involve a lot of energy, and I do not think the wood houses around us are sturdy enough to stand it.¡± For a moment, he had been about to fall back into his depressing thoughts. But they didn¡¯t have time for that. There was only time for actions that mattered. ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he simply said. He stood up, and walked to the door, but before leaving the room he said ¡°Listen Mein. As one of the People, you are a being born from the greatest form of love that the Path has ever witnessed. Part of you is divine, so you were worth everything from the beginning. It¡¯s this world that has proven unworthy of you. Do not forget it.¡± She looked at him with a puzzled look, but before she could say anything, he was gone. He found his way out of the deserted inn and stood on the main square of what appeared to be a small fortified village. ¡°Kaja?¡± he called. ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome, dummy.¡± Everything was silent in the dark night, and he did not meet a soul while walking to a gate made visible by two torches burning on each sides. Shaking his head, he passed a snoring sentinel and was then facing the open wild. ¡°Maybe we should have asked for a map or at least directions,¡± the orb said, ¡°that way, if everything go fine, we can head straight to the portal afterward.¡± ¡° We can always come back here tomorrow,¡± he replied, making sure his sword¡¯s scabbard was tightly strapped to him, ¡°let¡¯s focus on finding a place where I won¡¯t inadvertently kill anyone.¡± Spreading his arms, he breathed deeply as he reached into his ki reserves in order to manifest enough aura to fill his body to the brim. He closed his fists, feeling the power running through them, and then, dirt and rock exploded behind him as he propelled himself forward. The territory of the the Foxglade clan was mainly a rocky plain with small patches of stubborn trees here and there. A river ran through it, but its waters seemed unable to fertilize the gray soil. At first, Enok had thought of going west of the village, and maybe find the mysterious ruins in winch the primer had been discovered, but fires in the distance and what seemed like hastily set up camps made him chose to head north instead, following the impotent river. North, stood a mountain range that wasn¡¯t present in his memories. Which cataclysm or phenomenon had caused it to appear, he didn¡¯t know, but then again, plenty of things clearly had changed during his absence. The wind howling at his ears, Enok ran until he reached the outskirt of what seemed like a dense jungle, at the base of the shortest and closest mountain. There, he slowed down, stopped burning his ki and willed the residual aura to surround him like an invisible skintight film, concealing his presence. There had to be a reason the Foxglade clan was set on that dead land and not in this luxurious place, and he was ready to bet that it had to do with predators. But at least it would mean that there was no one around. He didn¡¯t go too deep. Just enough for him to find an hollow tree, whose dead bark was covered with moss inside and out. He crept inside, and finally, on a bed of leaves, crossed his legs, joined his hands, and started to meditate. It didn¡¯t take long for his consciousness to find the inner world again. Nothing had changed, except the words and numbers that now read:
Downloading packages
99%
Soon, 99 became 100, and the blue canvas disappeared only to be immediately replaced by another.
Download complete.
Launch dr1ft3r.exe?
A question. Enok stared at the words. He was being offered power. One born from the folly of mortals. One said to be able to slay his kin. The one that had been used to slay guardians he had entrusted the worlds of the Path with. And since the gods no longer had control of this world, it was a power that he desperately needed to be able to atone for even a fraction of his sins. But at which price? He chuckled at the thought. ¡°Yes,¡± he replied. What was there for an already damned soul to lose? The blue canvas disappeared and the empty world of white became a concerto of fluttering colors so bright he had to stop looking. The next moment, a light breeze was caressing his face. He opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit stone hall, the kind that were found in the castles of powerful kings of old. Only it wasn¡¯t lit by flaming torchbearers or the moon light filtering through tapestries. The tall walls were covered with flickering screens of different sizes, sometime showing words and numbers, sometime showing glimpses of sceneries and places going through time at an accelerated pace. Sometime showing representations of concepts impossible for mere mortals to comprehend without breaking their spirits, and often, faces. faces of people. Faces of mystics. Faces of other, unspeakable things. Shown for an infinitesimal moment, before being replaced by something else. Information. All of it. In this Maelstrom of unfiltered knowledge, dizzy and shaking, stood Enok, and his hand came to cover his mouth as he realized what the mortals had done. They had created a god. Not one of flesh, blood and bones, but of ones and zeros and madness. And he was now connected to it. But before he could think anything else, he heard someone clearing his throat. In front of him, at the end of a hundred of carved stairs and far enough from the insanity of the screens to be covered by the shadows, stood three thrones. A juvenile voice came from the one on the left saying, ¡°He would not be satisfied with me.¡± Then as if swallowed by the shadow, the throne disappeared. As soon as it did, an old and raspy voice sounding like it was breaking under the weight of time, came from the one on the right, ¡°I am not what he is looking for.¡± Once again, the darkness covered the speaker¡¯s throne. For a moment, Enok waited in silence. Just as he was about to march forward, toward the silhouette of the last throne, he heard, ¡°Then you belong to me.¡± From behind. Enok turned around only to blinded once again, but amidst the light, squinting his eyes, he saw. It was a woman who wasn¡¯t one. Four times taller than any human. Thousands of arms hovering around her, but none were connected to her bust, nor was her head. Her hair, green with strands of gold, was blown over her by some phantom wind, and her skin, seemingly made of the finest shining porcelain, was covered with a network of flickering green lines running on it. Her chest was a hole in which a dark cube floated. As she lowered her stance, bringing the perfection that was her face closer to him, she opened her eyes and they were molten iron. Her gaze fell on him, and Enok knew that it was an order for him to kneel. But he did not, so she smiled and the light engulfed everything.
Welcome to your status screen. You are now a drifter, a being who stands on the line between mortal and machine. This, is the tutorial.
Tutorial 1.4 When the light disappeared, Enok found himself wearing clothes he didn¡¯t recognize. They were simple tight fitting white shirt and short with light shoes that were definitely not suited for traveling. He was still in the throne room, except it was now illuminated by sunlight entering through a glass dome that was the ceiling. The screens had disappeared, and unless he simply had not noticed earlier because of the shadows, the room now looked like it was part of the ruins of a deserted castle. Grass grew between the cracks of the floor and on the walls, different insects were leisurely flying around. Long tables, vestige of a time when lavish feasts were held in this place, had been pushed and stacked against the walls, probably in order to free up some space. Many of them had collapsed under their own weight, eaten away through the years by termites and the likes. At the top the carved stairs, there was no throne, nothing but more space. On the opposite side, was a big double door, whose red paint had lost its luster long ago. And at the center of the throne room, was Enok, reading the words on a familiar blue canvas that had appeared few moments ago. Knowledge he never had was now present in his mind and he now knew that it was called a ¡®window¡¯, same as the screens he had seen earlier.
Welcome to the tutorial, a simulation designed to teach you the basics of the dr1ft3r system, test your abilities and calibrate it for the best experience. You have been identified as: Rank D master of aura Is this correct?
A rank D master of aura. He had only started training as an aurosei about a year ago, when he escaped his prison. Considering there were five standard stages and that he was at the second one, saying that he was a rank D was accurate if rank A was the highest. ¡°Correct,¡± he said. As his voice echoed in the vast room, the window was quickly replaced by another one.
Performing status calibration
Read Letter of the Engineer during process? (optional)
He answered by the affirmative and a second window popped up. Unlike those he had seen until now, that one was black.
The dr1ft3r system was created in order to allow warriors, scholars and adventurers to go beyond the limits the pagan gods selfishly imposed on the creation. It will allow one to improve their strengths, correct their weaknesses and one day challenge the heavens as representative of all mortals when they will try to make us their pawns again. While the gods used mantra to dominate us, we mortals only had ki and a few ways to manipulate it. But alone, ki was useless, because no forms of ki manipulation can stand before the almighty power of the mantra. But there was another source of power, one so great that even the pagan gods did not dare approach it. The ether. While ki is the power of life and mantra is the power of gods, the ether is the raw power of creation that precede them all. Thanks to technomancy and knowledge that doesn¡¯t belong to the Path, we have developed machines so small they can¡¯t be seen with the naked eyes. They have the ability to alter properties of the ambiant ether and I named them ethernano. If you are reading this, they are inside of you, and they are what makes you a drifter. Harness their power. Prove the gods that we wont bow down anymore. Make the price we had to pay worth it. Odir Aramowyn the third, last king of the dwarfs. Although I haven¡¯t been on the Path for long, I fell in love with all of it.
As soon as he was done reading it, the window disappeared, leaving Enok in an odd mix of confusion, alarm... And anger. What the hell had these fools done? Ether? They had dared to use something even him saw as sacred, something beyond their little understanding! One mistake could have destroyed more than they could comprehend! Thinking back, he now understood how the entire dwarf race could have disappeared. This idiot, this ignorant king, this Odir, had somehow sacrificed his entire people, and for what? For a chance to fight creators they were cut off from? Enok¡¯s thought were cut short by a new window filling his vision.
Calibrating successful
Status attributes defined
As a drifter, the measure of your power is the amount ethernano present in your body and the quality of your blueprints. As an aurosei drifter you have four main ways of gaining said power: Defeating opponents. Completing quests. Clearing dungeons. Mastering the four stances. Fulfill one of those conditions to gain Experience, or Exp. Enough Exp will allow you to level up and produce additional ethernano in the form of attribute points. Adding a point to one of your status attributes means allocating more ethernano to reinforce said attribute. Beware, once added to an attribute, AP can¡¯t be subtracted to be added to another attribute.
You currently have ten (10) unassigned AP. Use them after willing open your status window.
So this is what drifters were. Constantly evolving beings who bended all the fundamental laws of the universe in their favor. Rewriting their nature as they saw fit... ¡±Like us,¡± Enok thought, ¡±like they were their own creators.¡± ¡°Open status window,¡± he thought. All the windows were replaced by a new one displaying words, some of them followed by numbers. His attributes.
Status Window
Class Rank C Aurosei Drifter
Level 1
Strength 0 Speed 0
Durability 0 Perception 0
Physical Control 0 Energy Control 0
Energy Conversion 0 Computational Power 0
Materialization 0
Title None Trait Favored by Ultimecia
Unused ability points 10
When he wondered what ¡°Favored of Ultimecia¡± could mean, a smaller window appeared on the side. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Favored by Ultimecia
One of the three eyes is set on you.
Instinctual knowledge of machines. Improves with level. +25% Exp for killing natural biological beings.
¡°Some sort of blessing that includes killing living things? Isn¡¯t that opposed to the ideal of representing mortals?¡± Putting aside those thoughts, he focused on the attributes. He had nine points for ten attributes, and had a general idea of how each one would affect him, except for materialization and computational power. And for some reason, no window popped up to explain them. Strength, Speed and Perception were obvious, unless Perception meant something other than the sharpness of his senses. Durability should be referring to his ability to sustain damage, Physical control to his agility or precision and Energy control to his ability to manipulate ki and aura. Energy conversion only made him think of the amount of aura created from a set amount of ki. ¡°Each of the attributes I can Identify are central points to any master of aura, and I can reinforce them just like that? How much of a difference will a single point make?¡± This also answered the question as to how ascended beings and guardians could be slain by mortals. Drifters seemed to have virtually no limits to how powerful they could get. ¡°But what is the catch?¡± he thought, as he added a point to every category and the remaining point to Strength. He was confident in his speed, but things would be better if he could improve his strength. Just when he noted that he didn¡¯t feel any different a new window popped.
New quest: Complete the tutorial test.
You have completed the first half of the tutorial and learned the basics of life as a drifter. Now test your new abilities and defeat as many enemies as you can. Optional: Find the boss. If he dies in any way, you will be awarded a random blueprint. Tutorial will be completed if you are dealt fatal damage or if the boss dies.
As he read the words, the throne room¡¯s huge double door rattled on its hinges, and a dozen of rusted machines of different sizes entered the room, each one squeaking louder than the other. On top of each one were floating the words . The lesser bots were all vaguely humanoid in design, with either a leg too long, an arm too short or a head to big . The metal that made their exterior was so rusted that it slowed their movements and made them more stumbling forward than walking. But after his fight with the primer, Enok didn¡¯t want to make the mistake of underestimating them. He didn¡¯t have his sword, so readying himself for a bare handed fight, he reached into his reserves of ki. An that¡¯s when it happened. For a second it felt like goosebumps, and then it was like thousands of insects moving over and under his skin. He felt the formation of muscle fibers and organs that he knew weren¡¯t made of flesh, and his skin became harder as thin green lines covered his arms. The transformation happened in less than a minute. He looked at his hands, except the new glow of his skin and the lines on his arms, they did not look that different. But they sure felt like it. Without any second thoughts he launched himself toward the machines. With just a glance he counted thirteen enemies and a smaller one hiding in the shadow of the others. He met the first machine with a kick that crushed its head and sent it flying back through the double door followed by a trail of screws and bolts. The others reacted quickly and moved to surround him as two of them jumped, attempting to tackle Enok. But to him, things moved slightly slower than when he usually manifested his aura, and he effortlessly dodged the first one and punched his fist through the second. Which was a mistake. The machine grabbed his arm and a scorching pain ran through Enok¡¯s body as strong electrical currents coursed through him. The lesser bot went limp right after, but before he could pull his arm free the sneaky one he had spotted came out of hiding, trying to pierce Enok with a rusty hook it had instead of a hand. Glad the machine had chosen such a simple plan, he intercepted the hook with his free hand and sent it flying against the wall. He pulled his arm free and the machine fell to the ground. The skin had became as dark as cool, but that was it. Compared to the pain he had felt, the damage were mostly at a surface level and he could still move his arm around. After the initial contact, the circle of lesser bots quickly thinned out as he dodged and easily defeated them. The main challenge was to not be electrocuted again, but he made sure not to pierce through them again. The last fell, and Enok stood among their broken remains, unsatisfied. Putting aside the surprise electric attack, it had been too easy. While he now knew how the AP affected him, he could have dealt with these things without being a drifter.
Level up!
Level up!
Two windows popped into existence in front of him, notifying him he had earned enough Exp to be granted AP twice. His status screen showed he was at Lvl 3 and had four AP in total. ¡°Only two points per level, uh?¡± If things in this dungeon were roughly as strong as the , what he had to worry about was another surprise attack dealing so much damage it would take him out or running out of ki because there were too many enemies. So he added two points to Durability and two points to energy conversion. He went through the tingling sensation again, and he felt heavier. Durability seemed to alter his skin and bones the most, making them denser by fusing new elements to the natural cells. On the opposite, Energy conversion only altered something in his abdomen that had probably been created from scratch. He walked over the metal junk that covered the floor with a grin on his face. He was going to beat this puny test the mortals had dared to give him. Beyond the red double doors, was a hallway illuminated by sunlight just like the previous room had been. It had three rows of doors, some with holes in them, facing each other and ended with stairs going down. The doors were in metal and contrasted heavily with the bright stone everything else was built with. Everything was eerily silent, and was it not for the insects that were franticly moving and flying around, he would have thought there was no living soul in the castle beside his. Wait, was he thinking? Of course there was no living soul in this castle, it was all a simulation. Granted, it was well made, but it was just an illusion. He wasn¡¯t even really here himself. Enok noticed dusty wires on both walls coming out from holes at the top of the doors and going in the direction of the staircase. He went to the closest one and tried to open it. The doorknob miraculously worked but the hinges were so rusted that they threatened to break as the door was pushed open. There were wires all around the small room and dust covered everything. At the center was a large transparent tube filled with liquid so dark Enok couldn¡¯t see through it. It was connected to a large panel with dozens of button and to metallic crates that seemed to have been randomly set across the room. From those crates, came the wires that went through the door. ¡°It¡¯s some kind of generator,¡± he realized, ¡°although I do not know what it was generating...¡± his eyes glanced at the dark liquid, ¡°... And what it was generating it from.¡± He left the room, and went to look at the others. The results were the same, except for one of them. In the third room the tube had been broken by some tree that had managed to grow from the cracks in the stone floor. Yellow stains covered the ground on which the liquid had spilled, and the tree had grown tall enough to reach the glass ceiling, threatening to break it too. He then went down the stairs and, just as he reached their end, stopped in his tracks. The circular room looked like it was the main hall of the castle. In front of him was a great door that had been sealed with iron bars drilled into the stone. On his left were two hallways and on his right many metal doors like the ones he had seen. Out of each of them came wires, and they all merged together on the wall to form a multicolored rope-like cord that went in one of the hallways on the opposite side. And in front of it were three shining silver machines with the word floating above their heads. Unlike the they were identical. Two meters tall with a thin frame forming a proportional body with no hints of rust. They were immobile, two of them standing while the other was crouching. ¡°They do seem to be decent opponents,¡± he thought. Without much ceremony, Enok walked toward them, calling forth his aura. When he got twenty meters from them, they raised their heads at the same time and stared at him with the apertures that were their eyes. ¡°Intruder spotted in private area number zero-one,¡± their monotone, neutral voices boomed. Each word was spoken individually, ¡°Target acquired. Termination procedures engaged.¡± From the get go, Enok could tell that they were not only stronger, but smarter than his previous enemies. The one that was crouching bolted toward him, closely followed by his partners. Enok dodged its fist and threw his own, but had to pull it back to block a kick from the second android. The metal leg hit him hard enough to push him back a few paces, but caused enough pain to make him gasp in shock. Surprised, he looked at the point of impact, only to notice it was burnt dark and cracked. They were able to electrocute him by simple contact. He didn¡¯t have time to dwell on the fact for a second before the third android reached him. What followed was a meticulous and perfectly executed beat down. Each android was covering for the one attacking and each attack Enok dodged was followed by another one he had to block. They kept attacking without losing a beat and his arms and legs were soon covered with burn marks as his eyes got watery. He needed to act fast and break their rhythm. Reaching deeper into his ki, he made his aura explode violently out of him as a shock-wave. While it wouldn¡¯t mentally affect a machine, it caused the android to lose their balance. And that was all Enok needed. His empowered fist pierced the closest one¡¯s abdomen, almost breaking it in half. Clenching his teeth, he ignored the pain, determined to end the fight before the window of opportunity would close itself. He darted toward the second machine and kicked it off the floor and into the wall. The shining metal caved in under Enok¡¯s feet and the ceased to function with a concert of sparks and beeping noises. Only one left. The effects of the shock-wave had dissipated, and the remaining machine was now firmly standing in fighting position. But Enok was confident he would be able to deal with it now that it was alone. As if both reacting to a signal, they launched themselves at each other, Enok throwing his fist and the android raising its blade. ¡°... Wait, a sword?!¡± But it was too late. The shining blade slashed through right arm, cutting it clean off right over the elbow. His surviving instinct kept him from letting himself fall, and instead he rolled over fast enough to see the android just behind him apparently also determined to not let the window of opportunity slip by. ¡°You¡¯re centuries too young to try to finish me off, fucking piece of junk!¡± The words had left his mouth without even him realizing. Now that he knew there was sword to avoid, dodging the blade covered in his own blood was simple. The head crashed against the wall, detached by an unbalanced spinning kick.
Level up!
Level up!
Level up!
Enok crashed on the stone floor, ignoring the notifications. His whole body was in pain, from multiple burns and a missing arm. He tried to stop the blood loss, and thankfully, the little ki he had left reacted better than he expected it would. The blood stopped pouring and skin started grossly covering the injury. As he was mending to his most serious injury, in pain and covered in his own blood, he heard a powerful roar. He saw something moving in the hallway the androids were guarding, the one in which all the wires in the castles went. First, he noticed its size. It was at least three and a half meters tall and two and a half wide. Second, he noticed it moved forward with the help of its arms, like gorillas. Then he noticed it wasn¡¯t a machine, or at least not fully. Metal spikes messily protruded from its arms and the rest of its body. Tubes came in and out of its abdomen, some going to a metal casing fused to its back and made visible by its crouching stance. Black goo was dripping from its mouth and made the blades that were his teeth seem even more shining. Over its head was floating the word . Tutorial 1.5 Looking at the coming his way, Enok couldn¡¯t help but let out a sad chuckle. ¡°Still so confident, still so prideful,¡± he murmured to himself. His pride had once again made him act without any caution and made him underestimate his opponents. He wasn¡¯t a god anymore. Just another mortal. Another mortal about to fail a test set up by other mortals. He gritted his teeth, shaking his head. ¡°No. None of that matters. What matters is what I will do from now on.¡± And this test, this tutorial, was the first hurdle on his path. The basic healing of his arm was completed, so he stood up. He was still filling pain from the stump, but at least there would be no more blood loss. For reasons he could not figure out, he wasn¡¯t able to absorb ki, which meant healing injuries would have to be done with his reserves. Where in the world had that blade come from? The had reached the passage¡¯s entrance, filling it with its massive body, breathing heavily. Steam -or some other vapor- came out of its snout and it roared again in Enok¡¯s direction, its eyes bloodshot. Its skin looked infected and its color went through multiple shades from red to purple, depending on where Enok looked. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re the boss uh...¡± Enok said, ¡°If I beat you, I win.¡± He glanced at the the monster¡¯s arms. If one ignored the tubes that went in and out, the pointy metal spikes and the veins the size of a young boy¡¯s arm, they looked exactly like tree trunks. One good hit from those and he would be out, no doubts about that. A yellow liquid coursed through the tubes and the suddenly jumped, fists raised over his head. They broke the stone floor Enok stood on a second earlier as they simultaneously landed on it. The beast roared and jumped after him, but he circled around it and landed a kick on its supporting foot , pushing it backward. The landed on one knee and threw a backhand which Enok managed to avoid, while almost being sliced by the metal spikes that covered it. The two opponents put distance between them and slowly circled around each other, the beast studying his prey and Enok evaluating his options. He was faster but far physically weaker. Getting close enough to inflict damage meant getting inside the reach of those spikes, and he wasn¡¯t even sure he could deal any real damage. He had almost no ki left so he was focusing as little aura as possible on improving his speed, but without enough power behind them, his punches would be nothing more than tickles to the monster. Hell, he even doubted one of his punches at full strength could really damage it. The metal spikes seemed to be extensions of his skeletal structure. He would run around until he could not manifest any more aura, then he would be at the mercy, without anything to defend himself. ¡°Wait a second...¡± His eyes darted around and sure enough he found it: the sword that had incomprehensibly appeared in the android¡¯s hands was on the ground, not too far from its owner¡¯s remains. The damned weapon could be his ticket to victory. ¡°Now that would only be fair,¡± he muttered. He kept slowly moving, hopping to pick it up when he would get close enough, but the beast stopped on its track and started growling. Enok cursed. The apparently did not want to get too far from the hallway entrance, which meant he would have to fight his way to the only weapon available. Unless he was fast enough to not make it a fight all. ¡°Status window,¡± he called, and the blue window appeared in a corner of his field of view. He had gained six ability points by defeating the androids and this was a good opportunity to use them. The growling intensified, but he was still, slowly getting closer. He needed more speed and the ability to predict and dodge the attacks. He added three points to Speed, two points to Computational Power and the final one to Physical Control.
Status Window
Class Rank C Aurosei Drifter
Level 6
Strength 2 Speed 4
Durability 3 Perception 1
Physical Control 2 Energy Control 1
Energy Conversion 3 Computational Power 3
Materialization 1
Title None Trait Favored by Ultimecia
Unused ability points 0
He felt his body getting slightly hotter, and this time the change Speed caused to his muscles was visible to the naked eye. It was like ripples across his skin, as fast-twitch fibers were modified or added. Physical Control seemed to focus on nerves - which could explain the heat sensation- and bone joints. And as the launched itself toward him, hand extended and black goo dripping from its jaws, Enok was able to think more accurately than he would have and moved in time. Getting out of reach wasn¡¯t an issue anymore, but the plan was to lure the monster away from the sword. It threw a barrage of punches and Enok dodged each one by an hair breath, making sure to stay close enough to the monster¡¯s reach to provoke another attack. When he was about to have his back against the wall, he ducked under a swiping fist, rolled out of reach and sprinted to grab the weapon. Not accustomed to his new speed, he almost missed it, and had to jerk his whole body backward to close his fingers around the handle. As soon as he touched it, a window popped up, the roared behind him, probably thinking he was trying to flee.
Mediocre machine blade
(Materialized, 00:05:36 remaining) +3 Strength; +2 Durability
He didn¡¯t even register what it meant until he felt the change to his body. His focus was on the furious mass of flesh that was pouncing in his direction. He aimed for the most obvious weak points, the tubes. He slashed the closest one while dodging a slap that would have sent his body crashing into the wall, and the yellow liquid that was coursing through them splashed on the stone with a hissing sound. Avoiding contact with the liquid, while staying alive and cutting the tubes proved to be a complex task, but his new blade made it possible. In a silvery flash, all the cables on the arms and legs were sliced, and the beast was now but a shadow of the fearsome creature it once was, oozing liquid and shriveled on itself in a yellow puddle that was scorching its skin even more. But it was still alive, and Enok could not leave until either the boss was dead or he was. The only tubes still intact were two big ones coming out the beast¡¯s neck and into the metal casing part of its back. He only had scraps of ki left, but it didn¡¯t matter. The timer on the sword was coming to an end, it was do or die. He lunged forward and the reacted with a roaring attempt to smash both its hands on Enok¡¯s body. But the whole attack fell inside his predictions and, right after stepping out of its range, Enok grabbed the nearest protruding metal spike and used it to prop himself on one of the monster¡¯s arm. He then jumped toward its neck. In one swift motion he slashed both cords who started vomiting their yellow bile, and landed behind the monster. Right in front of the wall. ¡°Oh shi-¡± Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. But before he could escape the closing trap, the propelled itself to crush him against the stone wall, his metal spike covered back facing him. Determined to at least not die alone, Enok plunged his aura imbued sword deep into the metal casing with a groan, as his left leg was pierced. The beast roared once again, but this time it wasn¡¯t a roar of intimidation, but one of sheer suffering. The pain made it suddenly turn around, in a motion that actually saved its killer. Enok, whose leg was twice pierced by the spikes, was violently jerked around, like a puppet by its wires, and thrown across the room before landing on his back in a loud. Face on the cold stone, unable to stand or even move, he watched the monster roar and flail its legs around, trying to remove the thorn that was killing it. But the own spikes only caused more damages in the process. It soon also fell, except in a hissing yellow puddle of its own corrosive bile, its body twitching. ¡°You didn¡¯t die because of weakness,¡± Enok murmured, "you died because you were out of luck."
Level up!
Level up!
Level up!
Level up!
Level 10 reached, 01 tuning token awarded.
Enok just laid there, reading the words, expecting something else. Then they disappeared and he kept waiting, feeling his anger rising. After a few a minutes, the silence of the castle was broken by his shout: ¡°Are you kidding me?!¡± He was still in this hellish place, the tutorial wasn¡¯t concluded. Did that mean that the wasn¡¯t the boss? Not even mentioning the burns and other injuries, he had lost an arm, his left leg was bleeding from two holes in it and he didn¡¯t have a drop of ki left. Did they really expect him to fight something even stronger in this state? The remaining aura in his body extinguished itself, and the pain increased so suddenly he barely contained a scream.
Power source depleted
Attributes only 25% effective.
His breathing became irregular as he wrestled with the pain. At least, his drifter attributes were still active when he wasn¡¯t able to manifest his aura, even if to a much lesser degree. That thought made him realize how convenient and overpowered they were. It was common for people to grow stronger during or after fights, but certainly not in such a way. Not by literally modifying muscles and creating brain power from what could seem like nothing. He turned himself around and managed to sit, then, using his arm and working leg, dragged himself to the wall. After using it to steady himself, he lifted himself up with a groan. He took a second to gather himself, even with the wall as a support, and then proceeded to slowly limp along the hallway the and the were guarding. The one in which all the wires in the castles were going. It got darker the further he went from the circular hall. Unlike what he had seen of the strange castle until now, the ceiling was low and made of the same stone blocks the walls and floor was made of. At one point the smell reached his nose and it progressively grew as thick as the darkness. He was saving the ability points he had just earned until he could study the boss, in hope that they could salvage the situation if added to the right attribute. With no aura, eight points would be the equivalent of two, which could do a whole lot of help. The passage turned left, and Enok faced a small room that was obviously the origin of the stench that was assaulting his nose. He could not even cover his nose, and his face was distorted in a grimace that would have, without a doubt, caused one of Kaja¡¯s laughing fit if she had been present. The floor was covered with a disgusting combination of black goo, fecal matters and something that was once rotten meat. There was nothing else, except a small window that made the scene visible. He had apparently found the chamber. ¡°How is this even necessary, considering it¡¯s all a simulation?¡± he thought to himself, looking around, ¡°why take the effort to- Oh.¡± Noting its absence, his eyes had searched and found the amalgam of wires he had been following until now. Not in the room, but behind him. It didn¡¯t turn left with the hallway, but disappeared in the wall on the right instead, through a hole made in the stone. Enok went back on his steps, his disgusted grimace replaced by an annoyed expression. A trap. The left Hallway and the room it led to was all but a clever, cunning trap. It had been laid in case anyone would have tried to flee from the androids or the , wrongly thinking that the wires would guide them directly to the boss. In the first scenario he would have been caught between a monstrous and three very smart , in the second he would have reached a small room with no exits and with the just behind him, filling the hallway. Instant death would have been the outcome in both scenarios. He cursed. It may have not happened, but it still annoyed him that someone, or something, had set up a trap for him. He reached the bright circular room in which he had almost died twice, and went through the hallway he had ignored until now. It also got progressively darker, but he could see a faint light in the distance, coming from the right and hitting the opposing wall. There was no sound except the one made by his own breathing, and in the dark passage it was almost deafening, amplified by the echo. He felt his heartbeat getting faster at the thought of something waiting for him, hidden in the dark. Another monster, but this time silent. Crouched, claws bared and with milky eyes watching him stupidly move toward them while he couldn¡¯t see them. He shook his head, reining in his imagination. Fear of the unknown was an attribute of the mortals he didn¡¯t need. He couldn¡¯t let his mind be corrupted by his body. What he needed was strength. Soon, Enok came close enough to the light to notice the wires coming out of the left wall, not as a cord but separated, tightly strapped to the ceiling they were covering. His remaining hand solidly set on the wall, he peeked around the corner, and confusion filled him in a way fear had just failed to. Facing him, was a limp body dangling two meters in the air. The wires went in the room and all diverged to white boxes attached to the ceiling like strange stalactites. At least a hundred of boxes, only a few dozen glowing enough to illuminate the room, and all of them arranged in circles withing circles around a thick orange stripped white cable. The very cable to which the body was attached to, body that looked like a young male elf¡¯s. Thought his hair was cut short, it had the frail build, the soft facial features indistinguishable from females¡¯ and the pointy ears. At first, he wondered if he had been hung, then the swinging motion revealed that the cable, wasn¡¯t tied around his neck but connected to his upper back. Plugged into it. The room was otherwise empty. There was nothing at ground level. But the air was full of electricity and Enok could hear a low humming sound as he slowly entered. His hand left the wall and he started to clumsily hop forward, with only one hand to balance himself. Unlike the prior times he had been confronted with the strange technology, his mind could not even begin to comprehend the room¡¯s purpose or the nature of what it contained. Was the boy the ¡°boss¡±? Was he even alive? As he got closer, he got the answer to both questions. The young elf slowly half opened his almond shaped blue eyes, and the symbol appeared above his head, with the word right under. ¡°Are you the one they sent to kill me?¡± he said, almost in a murmur, with a soft voice. Enok studied him. His eyes were the only part of him that seemed alive, and even then, not really. There were thin lines at each articulation and characters too small for him to read were written on his outer legs. ¡°I am,¡± he replied, ¡°I am, but I won¡¯t do it.¡± The tired blue eyes met his. ¡°You won¡¯t?¡± they asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Why?¡± He racked his brain for an answer. By doing it he would gain more of the strength he so deeply needed to save himself and his sister. To go back home. And maybe save even more people in the process. He knew it wasn¡¯t a real child facing him. Hell, it was a simulation of a fake child, twice removed from reality. He was reminded of words Kaja had said not too long ago. ¡°I do not want to lose myself just chasing after better odds. I... I have already betrayed myself once... I won¡¯t do it again,¡± he realized he was more talking to himself, than answering the question, but it was surprisingly calming, ¡°killing you, like this, in this situation, would go against who I¡¯m trying to become.¡± The young elf, stared at him, his body weakly swaying from side to side. Silent. ¡°Is there anything I can do to help you? Maybe detach you?¡± Enok asked. ¡°No. The cord is keeping me alive. But it does not matter, I am going to die soon anyway,¡± the voice now sounded as sad as the eyes, ¡°this tutorial was programmed with me not having enough energy to leave, even if I killed you.¡± ¡°So you could kill me?¡± ¡°Easily.¡± Enok paused, then asked, ¡°why aren¡¯t you doing it then?¡± The boy sighed. In that moment, he truly seemed alive. ¡°What¡¯s the point? I would die exactly as planned soon after.¡± ¡°Oh. I see.¡± Enok tried to find a way to sit without bending his hurting leg, and finally just let himself fall backward when he didn¡¯t find any. He fell into a small puddle of a viscous liquid and splashed it around, which was weird since he recalled the stone floor being clean. He raised his hand to his face and saw it was blood. His blood, he realized. He had been bleeding to death without even noticing. ¡°Seems like you will still die before me,¡± said the young voice. Enok closed his eyes. ¡°Yeah, seems like it.¡± Silence. After a moment that could have been hours or minutes, Enok heard ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡± The voice seemed muffed, as if coming for far away. ¡°Sure,¡± he managed to reply. ¡°What are the stars like?¡± and then as if to justify himself, ¡°I know what they are supposed to be like, but... What is it to see them with your own eyes?¡± ¡°They are beautiful,¡± Enok answered. He could feel himself drifting away, but there was nothing he could do about it, ¡°they are countless loving eyes watching you from a distance, reassuring you with the fact that you will never be truly alone. I know it because I am the one who put them there, for... Someone important.¡± There was silence again. ¡°That must be nice. Never being alone.¡± ¡°Well, I could name one after you. She wouldn¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really. I would need to know your name though.¡± The young elf who wasn¡¯t an elf at all spoke again, but this time, Enok felt something different in his voice. Happiness. Excitement. ¡°My name is...¡±
You have completed the tutorial
You have died before the boss and won¡¯t be awarded a blueprint. Tuning and Party options unlocked.
Tutorial 1.6 Since she had started using the Vanguard to move around, Kaja had been missing having a body a lot less. But in this moment, she felt like she was missing out on something amazing more than usual. As she had figured, Enok¡¯s transformation into a drifter had involved a lot of energy. But it didn¡¯t violently unleash it in an explosion, it consumed it. His body had absorbed so much thermal energy that the temperature around the dead tree Enok was meditating in had fallen low enough for the bark and leaves to be frozen. The phenomenon wasn¡¯t a gradual one. Four times, with random intervals, the heat of the area had been siphoned away, the cold increasing each time. Some curious animals, a lone rabbit or wandering fox, had tried to investigate the source of the anomaly, but most fled when the temperature abruptly fell. Others, less lucky or quick to react, were still under the dead tree, just as dead and covered in ice. Kaja had flown away, not wanting the orb to be caught in the ice on top of Enok¡¯s head. She wanted to be able to see the changes that were occurring, as they were occurring. She thought it was fascinating. It was evolution. As a god, an -theoretically- immortal being of energy, things appeared in a way that mortals could never hope to understand. Space and time were distorted, mere words hold power and one dealt with concepts so abstracts they actually killed the rare mortals who tried to understand them from time to time. But looking at it the other way, all that power ironically made one unable to truly understand mortals, and see what they saw. It made you focus on the Big picture, and miss on why beings with such short lifespans would keep fighting to wake up the next day. She had once voiced her concerns to her brothers and sisters and they had either laughed at them or dismissed them entirely. At that moment she realized something she would have never even considered possible : the gods had a weakness. The trouble with knowing most of everything is that once you form your opinions, there is basically nothing that can change them. Which is why they were called beings of passion, they always acted according to their own interpretation of the creation. What it really was and how it should be. Everything else was useless and was not worth their time. Or should disappear. Basically, she had discovered what all mortals on the Path had known since the dawn of time. That gods were close minded, self-centered bastards. Except her mother, of course. It meant that they wouldn¡¯t change, or couldn¡¯t, but in this case the two notions were the same. They were limited. Mortals on the other hand, changed everyday. They adapted, to the gods whims, to their environments, to their kings, to their families and even to their own thoughts. They evolved, and she envied them for that ability. She had been told that they were evolving in order to reach a state closer to theirs, but now looking at her brother, her past doubts were strengthened. Mortals ability to evolve gave them the ability to reach for something beyond. Hers and Enok¡¯s situation was less than ideal, but at least she had the satisfaction of having won an ages old argument and she was able to experience human feelings thanks to Enok¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t so bad. But the more important thing in her eyes was that he was an evolving god. Sure, he wasn¡¯t currently much of a god, but every evolution had to start somewhere right? The sun was rising on the jungle when she heard the ice crack. ¡°Finally,¡± she let out. She quickly flew down from the bird nest she had been waiting in, careful just enough to not bump into any egg, and stopped in front of the hole in the hollow tree. Under the thin layer of ice that was covering Enok¡¯s face, she could see a confused expression. That made her giggle a little, but she was still anxious. Was it really still him that was going to emerge? He easily broke free and went through the hole, melting the ice covering him with his aura. ¡°So?¡± she asked, ¡°are you mind controlled or something?¡± He rolled his eyes in her direction. ¡°Really Kaja? That¡¯s your method for figuring out if someone is possessed. You just ask them.¡± Typical Enok. ¡°If I had a mouth,¡± she thought to herself, ¡°I would smile at how hard it would be for anyone to imitate him.¡± But since she didn¡¯t have one, she instead said out loud, ¡°If I had a mouth,I would smile at how hard it would be for anyone to imitate you. How did it go?¡± He grunted. Someone was in a bad mood apparently. ¡°It went... Normal, I would say,¡± he started, ¡°considering the situation. I¡¯m still myself, and the results are incredible.¡± He was studying himself, opening and closing his hands in front of him. He had gained muscles, but not in a way that made him look bulky. His body was more toned, his skin weirdly shinier, and from the way he moved Kaja could tell there had been changed inside of him too. The green marks on his arms were faintly glowing in the dawn. ¡°I briefly met three entities, who are probably the reason why we are now called the pagan gods,¡± Enok said, ¡° but I¡¯m not sure if I can trust what I saw. It was all a simulation.¡± ¡°A simulation?¡± ¡°Yes, to test me,¡± he started moving to leave the luxurious area, ¡°As a drifter, I am apparently connected to the new ¡®gods¡¯ of the Path. They gave me a limited ability to manipulate the ether to improve myself.¡± The quotation marks around the word ¡°gods¡± had been so obvious it made her sigh, though she made sure to keep her thoughts silent, ¡°His pride would kill him before he ever admitted that mortals created anything like us.¡± ¡°The ether?¡± she asked, ¡°that¡¯s pretty bad right?¡± ¡°It is,¡± he said, but then he added in a lower voice, ¡°... But less bad than I would have thought.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± Something really wasn¡¯t right, his reactions were not at all what she would have expected. ¡°Enok. What happened there?¡± He noticed her tone. ¡°Why don¡¯t you just leave the orb if you want to know? It would be a lot faster and easier than using words.¡± As they were talking, they had reached the river that probably had its source somewhere in the jungle. Following it was the simplest way to go back to the Foxglade village. ¡°Eh. I¡¯m not sure I want to share whatever you are feeling right now. You look... Sad.¡± He was as surprised by the words as he would have been by a sudden splash of water on the face. ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± ¡±Yeah,¡± she replied, ¡°but it was a good idea. We¡¯ll just do it when you¡¯re done processing.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. He looked up at the sky then shook his head, mumbling. She caught the words ¡°late¡±, ¡°quest¡± and ¡°stars¡±. Enok had apparently decided to walk to the Foxglade village, and it gave her the opportunity to fly around and study the surroundings. She didn¡¯t like seeing him in that state, especially when there wasn¡¯t much she could do about it. The environment changed as suddenly as it had on their way to the mountain range. Very few things seemed to be able to grow on the cracked black soil that was surrounding the Foxglade clan, beside maybe rocks and types of lone bushes that could probably grow in the most extreme conditions. The only exception was the small forest that was south of the village, right next to the Edge. In any case, it was a depressing spectacle and Kaja didn¡¯t dwell on the strange scenery too long. She couldn¡¯t help but compare it to what it was once like, and it wouldn¡¯t make sense to make herself sad all on her own after what she had told Enok. While her brother walked along the river, her attention was caught by an obelisk in then distance, east of them. She flew higher and noted that while it wasn¡¯t part of a settlement, it clearly stood at the limit of the rocky plains, and healthy grass grew right after. A lone monument standing at the border between the healthy and infertile areas. It seemed like this corner of Alfheim, south from the mountain range and west from the obelisk had been affected by something. And from what Kaja could tell, it was something that had happened long ago, but had been strong enough to still plague the territory. The discovery raised one question, though. Why in the worlds would anyone build a village in this area? A dead land so close to the Edge? Trying to find reasons that could justify such a weird choice, she almost didn¡¯t notice the small group of riders that appeared at their backs. Then again, the land was so deserted that one could only fail to notice a moving object on purpose. Six men were coming from the same direction Enok and Kaja did, following the river. They had good rides and would soon reach an oblivious Enok who seemed still lost in his thoughts, moving as slow as a snail and kicking rocks into the water. ¡°This, could go very wrong, very fast,¡± she thought as she flew to him. ¡°Hey,¡± she said, landing on his head, ¡°we¡¯re going to have company.¡± ¡°Mortals?¡± he asked, not looking very interested. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to meet anything other than mortals in a long time Enok.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± he heavily sighed, which made Kaja even more alarmed, ¡°It can¡¯t hurt to hope though. By the way, I was thinking of maybe making a detour to the guardian¡¯s sanctuary before leaving this world? I doubt it was completely erased of exist-¡± ¡°Enok,¡± she interrupted, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t want to be rude, but I really think you should avoid meeting any mortals.¡± He frowned, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Come on, you know how they are, in general. And you know how you tend to react to it.¡± ¡°...You want me to hide because you think some idiot could offend me?¡± ¡°Hmm, yes? Or you can just-¡± ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen, and you know it.¡± ¡°Bu-¡± ¡°I said no. Also, give me some credit. I¡¯m not going to go on a murderous rampage for just any random reason.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure you won¡¯t,¡± she sarcastically thought to herself. While he had changed a lot as a human, there were two core traits Enok¡¯s personality had kept. His obscene pride, which he was actually working on, and his incredibly short temper. That, coupled with his weird current state and a dumb mortal was a recipe for senseless death. She hoped the coming people weren¡¯t the dumb kind of mortals. Maybe they would even ignore him. Before long, the sound of galloping horses, roars and loud chatter reached them. ¡°Hey, you little shit! Move out of way for Gormin of the Bloodseekers!¡± The order was echoed by laughters. ¡°Oh boy,¡± Kaja thought. These were definitely the dumb kind. Without looking back or even replying, Enok simply turned left and put more distance between him and the river. There wasn¡¯t even an actual road to obstruct, in this quasi-desert. Two riders mounting horses reached Enok and went past him, one of them snorting in his direction. Their clothing was consisting of leather and pelts, but it¡¯s their weapons that caught Kaja¡¯s interest. They both had swords made of bone at their hips. Then the ground shook as a shirtless human, the size of at least three regular human males, rode a gigantic brown bear past them. He was a mountain of muscle, and wore the skull of some carnivorous monster as a helmet. The long and sharp fangs were in perfect condition and added to the bear rider¡¯s impressive appearance. He didn¡¯t even grace Enok of a glance. ¡°Death tamers and a half-giant?¡± she heard Enok say, thankfully low enough that the hybrid did not hear. Animals on the path had the passive ability to absorb ki, just like mystics could. The longer one lived, the more ki it would absorb and get stronger, bigger of even mutate. The brown bear the half-giant was riding was an obvious example, clearly past a hundred years old. Some mortals usually called tamers were able to subdue those beasts and share their powers as the beast grew older. But it was also possible to draw power from their remains, as long as they had kept the beast¡¯s ki. The main drawback being that one would only be as strong as the living animal once was, with no possibility of growth. Death taming used to be looked downed upon and considered the last option for desperate tamers who somehow lost their pack or for the weak and talentless to gain strength. It seemed that things had changed on that front. It was the turn of the last three members of the formation to arrive, and they were also peculiar in their own way. The two people in the front were in a pitiful state. Their clothes were in tatters, revealing bleeding wounds and they had their hands tied behind their backs, the horses apparently just following the bear¡¯s trail. They were prisoners and the one right behind them was charged with keeping an eye on them. As they were about to get far enough for Kaja to sigh with relief, one of the prisoners twisted himself to look in their direction, just before screaming with eyes wide with recognition. ¡°Th-, That¡¯s him! He¡¯s the drifter who took over the Foxglade clan!¡± She cursed. The guard looked at them, then whistled. Not in surprise, but as a signal, loud enough to demand his partners attention. The first two riders that were already pretty far turned around, probably wondering what was happening. The bear rider though, was coming their way. He had probably heard the scream. The guard pulled a knife and put it under the screamer¡¯s throat. ¡°Are you mocking us, rat?¡± he spat the words more than he spoke them, ¡°you mean to say that this brat still reeking of his mother¡¯s milk is an aurosei and a drifter? ¡°Calm down Obert,¡± said the half-giant, ¡°you should know the worlds always find ways to surprise us.¡± He had a low and commending voice, the way he slowly spoke and carried himself hinted at the fact that he probably had been in a position of power all his life. Enok, apparently oblivious to the growing tension, just kept walking, looking through the people studying him. ¡°It¡¯s really him!¡± said the second prisoner, his eyes darting between the guard and the half-giant, ¡°I... I didn¡¯t look at him, but now that I do I clearly recognize his face.¡± ¡°Kid,¡± called the bear rider. The cloaked ¡°kid¡± stopped on his tracks and looked at him with an innocent expression. ¡°Are you talking to m-¡± ¡°You mongrel!¡± barked the guard, spitting and his eyes bloodshot, ¡°how dare you talk to Gormin, leader of the Bloodseekers so casually?! Prostate yourself and beg for forgiveness already!¡± Enok closed his eyes, sighed, opened them, and repeated, ¡°Are you talking to me?¡± Gormin stared him down, ¡°I am. Are you the drifter?¡± ¡°I am, though I have not taken over the Foxglade village.¡± The two first horsemen were back and positioned themselves behind Enok, doubtful looks on their faces. ¡°Can you prove it?¡± ¡°I probably could, but why would I?¡± said Enok, with the same neutral tone. The bear roared, and it was, without a doubt, heard kilometers around. ¡°Boss,¡± spoke one the warriors, his teeth bared in a malicious smile, ¡°let me teach this ignorant fools the consequences of being unable to see despite having healthy eyes.¡± ¡°No. If you were paying more attention, you would notice the thin layer of aura surrounding him. I believe we have found what we were looking for.¡± The bear rider made a quick movement of the hand, as if he was swatting flies, then dismounted. Right after, the two prisoners heads flew off their necks, casually murdered by their guard before either Enok or Kaja could react. Gormin didn¡¯t even bat an eye in the falling corpses¡¯ direction. Now on the ground, he cracked his neck by tilting his neck left and right. His face was twisted into a fanatical grin. ¡°I am Gormin, youngest son of the Iron Queen, governor of this region and leader of the Bloodseekers. I do not care about how you call yourself, for I will soon find you a new name once I tame you, drifter. You will add me to your Party, we will conquer the dungeons and I will rise even higher!¡± Enok, raised a brow, even though he otherwise appeared unimpressed. ¡°I won¡¯t waste time with someone who mentions his mother¡¯s name before his own achievements,¡± he simply stated, with the same neutral tone, ¡°manifest your aura, and you are all dead.¡± At that point, Kaja flew out of his hood, blue ball of light on which every eyes landed. ¡°Alright, listen up guys,¡± she said with her most convincing voice ¡°you clearly aren¡¯t the kindest group of people around, but we¡¯re willing to overlook everything that just happened if you just forget about us. You seem like pretty important people and we are not trying to alter the politics of Alfheim in any w-¡± ¡°Your shining familiar,¡± interrupted Gorming, ¡°will be a decent present to my sister, drifter. Though I will have to teach it how to hold its tongue.¡± There was a pause, then the orb flew back inside Enok¡¯s hood, ignoring his wide smile. ¡°Okay, you win. Kill them all.¡± *** Later that morning, Ronan, chief of the small Foxglade clan, was abruptly woken up by his daughter. ¡°Father, you need to see this! Come to the square, now!¡± She left before he could even reply anything. Mumbling about how the young really ought to have more respect for their elders¡¯ sleep, he managed to make himself presentable and left the house. If he wasn¡¯t fully awaken by then, realizing the number of people standing in the main square did the trick. They were all talking, surrounding something that he couldn¡¯t identify, but was big enough to be seen from a distance over their head. He recognized some of the faces of people who had left the village a week ago, and his curiosity increased. When he got close enough to the circle, people made way for him to enter it, and what he saw made his mind go blank. In the main square was a brown bear of incredible proportions, big enough that he wondered how it went through the village gate. It was laying there, dead. ¡°Hey, Ronan.¡± He looked for the source of the voice, and saw a familiar young man standing next to his daughter, his hair tied back and strange red eyes squinted by a mischievous grin. ¡°Is there a decent cook in your clan?¡± Two-headed wolf 2.1 Since Enok had come to Alfheim, this morning was the first he had been able to relax. Ignoring the insolent mortals he had to deal with earlier, it could actually rank as one of the best of his human life. Then again, he had only lived a bit more than a year as a human. Sitting alone at a table of the Fox¡¯s Den, the only Tavern of the Foxlade village, he was facing a copious meal consisting of different dishes of bear meat. Wolfing down the food and setting aside the empty plates in a growing pile, Enok made a mental note of rewarding Den, the orc owner of the establishment. Considering the various difficulties of cooking that particular meat and the quality of the assorted course that had been served, he was greatly satisfied. Although he was eating alone, the tavern was far from empty. Sure, the closest tables to him were weirdly unoccupied, but at all the others people were merrily eating and chatting. The place was bustling with activity, a good portion of the clan was apparently present for the early feast. From time to time, one of them would dare to steal a glance at him, but he shrugged it off, figuring it had to do with the amount of food his body could consume. While an aurosei could last longer than average without eating, they still had to sustain themselves every now and then, whether they had the body of a young human or not. Though they were still cautious around him, he was glad to notice that the villagers had at least stopped thinking of him as someone sent to punish them for hiding the primer. That was probably due to their leader speaking to them. Things could get complicated if people kept spreading word that a drifter had taken over the village. For that reason, he had decided to leave for the world¡¯s gate as soon as he was done with his meal. He had wasted enough time without the need for random challengers to delay his journey. ¡°Ah!¡± Shouts of surprise filled the tavern as a ball of light flew through the window, briefly followed by the entrance of a female catkin. The orb lazily moved over the heads of the startled customers toward her brother, leaving the girl to the arduous task of making her way through the crowd. ¡°Hello there,¡± Kaja merrily greeted as she got close, ¡°feeling lonely?¡± ¡°Very. You have no idea how much I missed you,¡± and then, widening his eyes as if he had just remembered something important, he whispered ¡°it¡¯s not like I am a host to your very soul and this glass orb is just a tool to move your consciousness around, right?¡± ¡°You know what I meant Enok. Also, stop trying to be funny, I told you you¡¯re a lost cause.¡± ¡°Oh, sure. It doesn¡¯t mean I have to listen though,¡± he waved his fork toward the demi-human who just had gotten close, ¡°is your father still busy, Mein?¡± ¡°Hmm, yes, lord Enok,¡± she answered with a melodic tone. She seemed in a good mood, her present behavior was completely different than the previous day¡¯s, ¡°my father says that he will soon be done with the things you requested. It¡¯s a shame you couldn¡¯t wait for better ones.¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s fine,¡± said Kaja¡¯s, circling around her brother¡¯s head, ¡°we just need clothes that will allow this guy to look a bit more normal and a mean of faster transportation than walking. Any horse would do the trick, really.¡± Trying to swat the orb away, Enok added, ¡°It¡¯s true. However I do appreciate the effort your clan is putting into this, no one wants to travel with a bad horse,¡± after a short pause, ¡°Is there something else you wanted to talk about?¡± While the girl was apparently calm her frantically moving tail seemed to indicate her true state of mind. ¡°Well...¡± she hold her arms and her eyes started darting around, ¡°we were thinking of selling the remains of the primer you defeated. Of- Of course we will share the benefits with you if you allow us, my lord!¡± He lifted a brow, ¡°Oh? Are they valuable? Just call me Enok, by the way.¡± The ¡°Lord¡± thing had gotten old really fast. How he used to put up with all his other titles was beyond him now. Mein¡¯s eyes got wide, ¡°Hmm... okay? Well, there are many people who are interested in technomancy, especially old one. They would pay a good price for the parts... E- Enok.¡± He smiled, putting the last plate on top of a pile of other empty ones. He clapped twice and bowed to express his gratitude for the meal, and then faced the girl and said, ¡°I see. Well, I don¡¯t mind.¡± Beaming with happiness, Mein wheeled around to face the sea of customers once again. After her frail figure left through the door, Enok spoke. ¡°Did you notice the glares she received from some of the people here?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said the orb, landing on his head, ¡°she is the only survivor out of the leaders of the expedition in which a third of the clan died. It¡¯s clear that there¡¯s going to be a lot of resentment.¡± He nodded, almost making the ball of light fall on the table. Those who had died had brothers, sisters and parents who didn¡¯t have anyone to blame for the death of their loved one, other than Mein. Even though they knew the dead had chosen their fate by themselves, the living had to find something to devote their grief to. Mortals were illogical creatures. It explained why the chief¡¯s daughter had been the one waiting in front of his door, left to interact with the master of aura everybody was afraid of. ¡°She is trying to redeem herself,¡± he whispered. Just like him. Sure, in an infinitely smaller scale, but the concept was the same. There was nothing she could do to bring back the dead. It made the discovery he had made earlier even more tragic. ¡°Ahem, let¡¯s not make hasty comparisons alright?¡± said Kaja, on a tone that sounded a bit too neutral for her. She was now facing him, her light having shifted to purple. ¡°You know what? I think you¡¯re right, the sooner we leave, the better,¡± she added, ¡°going to check if our stuff is ready yet.¡± And on that note, she quickly left the room the way she had entered it. Through the window, after flying over wary mortals. Shaking his head, he glanced outside. There was still time before night and the rise of the first stars. As he left the Fox Den, Enok was welcomed by the sight of a brown mare, saddled and attached to a log in front of the place. Her neck was speckled with white and her eyes were sparkling with intelligence. ¡°There you are, lord Enok,¡± said an approaching Roman. Over his head were floating the words . That explained his healing talent, even if Enok could not see any bones or skull on him. Even though it was still early, Roman seemed exhausted after having supervised the distribution of the meat Enok had brought between the village¡¯s families. ¡°I present you Naope,¡± he said, motioning toward the animal, ¡°I assure you it¡¯s the finest horse of the village, and that it is completely able to bring you to your destination. This,¡± he handed Enok a heavy leather bag, ¡°contains a map and provisions that will at least last you until you reach Mildbloom, the city bordering the Broken Tribes region and the Flower kingdom. Mein should bring you the clothes you requested soon enough.¡± The ¡°Flower Kingdom¡±, that was a name Enok recognized. Enok opened his mouth to protest, but Roman raised his hand, ¡°Please accept these gifts. Their previous owners were glad to part with them for a bigger share of the magical bear you hunted down, and in any cases, they are people you saved. The dead beast itself will help a new warrior rise in the tribe, and my daughter told me that you agreed on letting us sell the primer¡¯s parts. That alone is worth hundred times more than we are offering you.¡± The man¡¯s old eyes were determined, so Enok simply nodded and took the bag and put it across his new horse. The man shook his hand and left to his duties, ¡°I wish we will be able to meet again young machine lord.¡± The sun was now high in the sky and it was getting hot. Enok was still standing in front of the Fox¡¯s den, caressing the mare and wondering where in the worlds was Kaja.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°One moment she is in a hurry to go, and the next one she is the one delaying us...¡± People leaving the tavern would give him puzzled or surprised looks, probably wondering what he was still doing there. As he was awkwardly waving back to a child who seemed to want to wish him farewell, Kaja flew from around a corner a few houses away, still looking as purple as when she left. ¡°And you were... ?¡± Enok asked, annoyed. ¡°I lost track of time! Don¡¯t worry about it, just get on the horse and lets go!¡± He didn¡¯t budge, ¡°I don¡¯t really like you urging me around just after waiting so long for you. We¡¯re safe here, so what¡¯s happening?¡± She literally groaned, ¡°Oh come on Enok! Trust me on th-¡± Before she could finish, a noisy four-wheeled carriage turned at the same corner Kaja had appeared a moment ago. It was pulled by a seemingly robust scaled bull, and sitting on front were a smiling Mein and the young man that had came with Ronan to first greet Enok. Enok raised a brow in the orb¡¯s direction. ¡°You know they will slow us down,¡± it argued. ¡°Lo-, hmm... Enok!¡± Mein called, closing in, ¡°I¡¯m glad you waited for us, we¡¯re lucky that our destination is a stop on your journey.¡± ¡°I guess it is,¡± he said, ¡°what¡¯s your destination again?¡± She looked surprised, ¡°Dame Kaja didn¡¯t tell you? Domor and I are going to Mildbloom to sell the primer...¡± He glanced at their cargo. The machine had been covered with woven pelts tied in place so they wouldn¡¯t fall off, and the primer had probably been tied to the carriage itself beforehand. If bandits were to attack it, it wouldn¡¯t be because they guessed its actual precious content. ¡°Oh, I see... Well, let us go then,¡± he said, untying his mount. He didn¡¯t know what was up with his sister, but their share of the sale would for sure come handy, and there probably wouldn¡¯t be another opportunity to get it. He got on Naope, the horse snorting with apparent anticipation, and lead the way out of the Foxglade village. They went West, and after a few uneventful hours the rocky ground became mixed with slightly more dirt, revealing a trail left by a regular traffic. ¡°The world¡¯s gate is in the city called Aurora, which is administrated by the Neopanth, right?¡± asked Enok, studying the map, ¡°wouldn¡¯t it have been faster to simply go North West from the village?¡± In his time, world gates, sometime called portals, were generally in trading cities which organically grew around them, brought to live by travelers and merchants. But it seemed that Aurora, city located at the center of Alfheim, had been made into a stronghold for privileged citizens by the new leaders of the Path. ¡°Sure, but on paper only,¡± Domor, the warrior accompanying Mein said. He was holding the reins of the carriage Enok was riding next to, and seemed to have gotten over most of his fear, the fidgeting, replaced by an interesting brand of wary aloofness, ¡°The different settlements of the Broken Tribe region are basically all hostile savages. Going that way would mean having to fight off those who would attack you on sight and deal with the customs of those who would at least hear you out before attacking you. This detour out of the region is actually a huge time saver.¡± ¡°That makes sense. I wonder how you can call your people savages though.¡± ¡°Those savages ain¡¯t my people,¡± the man spat, and that was it. ¡°Even without the other clans, there are monsters and dangerous beasts,¡± Mein said, probably to stir the discussion to less sensitive subjects, ¡°and I heard the lights are appearing more frequently.¡± ¡°The lights?¡± It was Kaja asking and the orb had regained it¡¯s regular blue color. She had pretexted wanting to scout ahead to put as much distance as possible between the orb and the others -which wasn¡¯t actually much- since they had left the village and was just flying back. Enok was pretty sure she had been sulking. ¡°Oh, glad to have you back dame Kaja!¡± merrily said the cat-girl. She seemed to truly appreciate the floating orb¡¯s company. Too bad her feelings aren¡¯t reciprocated though. ¡°The lights are a mysterious phenomenon that happens in some regions of Alfheim. Strange lights randomly covers an area, and makes any living thing that gets too close simply vanish. Thankfully it always happen at the same spots so it¡¯s easy to avoid.¡± Well, that was new. These ¡°lights¡± didn¡¯t remind Enok of anything he knew of and had picked his interest. Too bad they basically defined a danger zone. So far, every conversations had taught him something new, and he was only in the Path¡¯s second world. He was almost starting to dread what had happened to the others. The sun kept its course in the cloudless sky, and night soon begun to fall. However the small procession decided to push their mounts a little further in the twilight so they could reach the fluttering lights of the first settlement on their road. Kaja, bored by the monotone scenery had left the Vanguard to be placed in Enok¡¯s bag and her bad mood was now spoiling his. The environnement was getting better, though. Trees were growing straighter and taller and Enok spotted little critters more often. Had he even seen flying birds close to the Foxglade village? The stars though, were still hiding, as if trying to make themselves more desirable by being late. ¡°By the way, Lord Enok,¡± started Domor, ¡° I have been wondering. How are things in your world? Why did you come here?¡± The question caught Enok by surprise. The rocks of the Foxglade were now far behind them and the way their surroundings weren¡¯t getting much greener the closer they were getting to the Flower kingdom had him wonder about how much the living conditions of its people had changed. Mein, who had been very close to fall asleep, became visibly focused in an instant. ¡°Well... first, you can just call me Enok, like Mein,¡± he started, and by the last word he already knew what he would say, ¡°I guess, things were as good as they can be, with the ki getting thinner every year. At some point it effectively became impossible to live there anymore and we had to leave. If I¡¯m the only one who made it to Alfheim, then I must be the only survivor.¡± The warrior whistled, ¡°Seems like it really just became a dead world, like everybody has been calling it for centuries uh?¡± ¡°Seems like it.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re looking for a new home? As a drifter aurosei, you¡¯d probably be welcome in the Neopanth¡¯s military, but I have to tell you that you are just as welcome with us,¡± Enok noticed the man wasn¡¯t looking straight at him and seemed oddly focused on the road, ¡°even though you¡¯re still young, you¡¯ve proved us that you were better than many adults around these parts.¡± Enok¡¯s eye twitched at the ¡°young¡± part, but he shrugged it off. Kaja had told him that the villagers gave him seventeen years at most. He also ignored hearing her chuckle. ¡°I appreciate the offer, but I¡¯m not trying to take roots just yet,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to the next world, I thought it was obvious since I¡¯m going to the gate.¡± ¡°Oh, so you... You actually want to cross the gate?¡± His tone made Enok turn his head to see Domor¡¯s expression. Even with the poor light, it was unmistakably pity. He wasn¡¯t sure what that made he feel in return. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell you Enok... The Neopanth hasn¡¯t held tests on Alfheim in more than thirty years...¡± ¡°And I... I suppose taking those ¡°tests¡± is how people earn the right to travel between worlds?¡± He tried to control his voice but he could feel it slightly shaking. ¡°Well, yeah... But not the only one. You can pass the gate by either right of potential, strength or riches, as they say. Basically, without tests you can¡¯t pass if you aren¡¯t insanely rich or strong enough to open the gate by yourself, which is, well, impossible for someone who never even took the tests to begin with...¡± Domor looked liked he felt all the guilt for inadvertently crushing a young man¡¯s dreams of adventure and it made Enok put his focus back on the road. They had gotten a lot closer to the small village. It didn¡¯t have a fortified wall like the Foxglade village, and with all the carriages, horses and other mounts Enok could make out, it now seemed more like a resting spot than a proper settlement. ¡°Don¡¯t be too discouraged though,¡± he heard him say, ¡°you¡¯re a freaking drifter, that makes you nobility in their eyes. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they opened the doors just for you. I think it¡¯s something they do for their recruits, from time to time.¡± ¡°Is it the same everywhere else?¡± Enok asked. ¡°Hmm? Do you mean if...¡± ¡°I¡¯m asking if it¡¯s the same for the other worlds. If the beings of the Path are all trapped like cattle by this Neopanth.¡± He could accept the existence of the Neopanth, it was inevitable for a dominant group to rise over the rest. He could accept being called a pagan god, his real name not even spoken anymore after not even a thousand years of him being imprisoned. ...But his mother¡¯s creation being balkanized? People being forbidden to walk down the Path even though they had the ability to? That he could not. Domor didn¡¯t immediatly respond, and for a moment Enok thought he might have offended him. But when he finally spoke, it was with an even tone. ¡°Do you see the tracks? On the ground.¡± Puzzled by the strange question, he looked down, only to notice that hey were currently crossing two sets of metal rails that were stretching North and South as far as his eyes could see. The metal was eroded but one could still distinguish the odd carvings that covered it. ¡°These rails are all over Alfheim and converge at Aurora. They used to be tracks that machines called ¡®trains¡¯ would follow. From what the chief told me, they could transport people, goods and, more importantly, the ores from the mines. Life was better back then, even with the curse, and the Neopanth was as much active here than it is on the other worlds. But thirty years ago the fucking bi-¡± ¡°Thirty years ago, Agatha, the Iron Queen, came.¡± The expression of his slowly building anger was cut Mein. While the subject looked like a very sensitive one, in that moment Enok thought it had more to do with her not liking the cursing. ¡°Alfheim isn¡¯t just a dead end as the first world of the Path, it¡¯s also a dead end for the lives of its inhabitants. People deemed unfit by the Neopanth or important people found guilty of some crime are exiled here. Before the Iron Queen came though, they could still eventually leave by successfully completing the tests. But there hasn¡¯t been any since then.¡± ¡°So to answer you question¡± continued Domor, apparently having calmed itself, ¡°about whether it¡¯s the same everywhere else or not, well, the answer is no. Alfheim is a prison for the Iron Queen, and we¡¯re all locked up in here with her. We¡¯re not cattle, we¡¯re damned inmates, you included.¡± ¡°I see,¡± said Enok, ¡°I¡¯m guessing she is pretty strong?¡± ¡°Yes, but only compared to us. Don¡¯t get me wrong, she mostly plays according to the Neopanth rules, and would be gone if she wasn¡¯t. And by ¡®gone¡¯ I mean dead. But even with that, all of Alfheim is under her control, one way or another. Her children are governing the main regions, except Aurora and the North. But the question is, how important did she have to be before coming here, that they thought this situation would be better than just killing her? That the Administrator is just sitting in that city, doing nothing for thirty years while she has us under her boot?¡± Enok could hear the anger and frustration in his voice, but he was more concerned about how all this new information affected his plans. After all, Gormin, one of the people he had killed in the morning, had said he was governor of the Broken Tribe region and a son of the Iron queen. He almost face palmed himself. It was like realizing how hard it was to leave the tiger¡¯s mountain only after having killed one of its cub. He could feel Kaja getting even more anxious than him. Thankfully, no one else knew about his meeting with the arrogant mortal. He still wanted to travel anonymously, however unlikely that option was now getting. Becoming the mortal enemy of the world¡¯s effective leader would kind of be counter- productive. Silence sat between the travelers until they entered the settlement and reached the inn they would be sleeping in. Night had completely fallen by then, and before even getting off his horse, Enok looked up at the sky. Some of the stars had disappeared since they had been put there, others had changed color, but he found the one he was looking for, still bright and illuminating its part of the firmament with countless others surrounding it. Hey Kaja , he thought, do you see it? This star? I do. What about it? From now on, it¡¯s name will be Galateus. In this moment he hated that she was also experiencing his feelings, but in the end, it didn¡¯t really matter. She had been exposed to worse than melancholy before, and for much longer.
Quest window
Living through a star You have been touched by the plea of a machine cursed with life, and touched it in return. Quest objective : Name a star after the lone child who never was. Grant him his wish to watch over you. Reward : (Physical backup module) Blueprint
Quest status : Completed.
Enok closed the window and sighed. ¡°Rest in peace.¡± Two-headed wolf 2.2 Hey, show it to me again, asked Kaja, not even trying to conceal her excitement, the screen with the blueprint. Grunting, Enok once again opened his blueprint inventory, which only had one item. The night before they had discovered that Kaja could see the windows when looking through his eyes, and she had been bothering him since. They had been back on the road with the first lights of the day, not even bothering with a proper breakfast. Domor, in particular, was worried about the nature of their cargo being revealed. ¡°You can never be too cautious,¡± he had been saying while they got ready, ¡°there isn¡¯t a lack of nosy people around these parts, and many would kill for what we have.¡± Which would have been totally fine with Enok if he could have had a good night of sleep beforehand, instead of being kept awake most of it because someone was interested in usually invisible blue windows. Now he was riding Naope half-awake, reading once again the screen giving details about his first blueprint, along with an illustration showing two identical curved figures he could only describe as white hooks of some sort.
Blueprint
Physical backup module
Version : Galateus
Gives the ability to restore from non-lethal physical damages received after activation; in exchange of energy. Cost of materialization : -50% Durability until next level up. -50% Energy Conversion until next level up. Minimum requirements : 10 points in materialization; 10 points in Durability.
The blueprint Enok had received seemed to be more a curse than a gift, seeing all the constraints it came with. It almost made him want to forget about it and never use it. Almost. Killing Gormin and his men had only granted him two levels, which he could probably credit to the bonus of XP he had for killing any living beings, considering how weak they had been. Which meant he currently had twelve unused ability points, and since he had three points in durability and a single one in materialization... He still needed for points to be able to use galateus. And that was if he made the rather difficult choice of adding all his points in two categories, disregarding all the others. Such a pain, he thought. Was that for Domor or for me? Kaja asked. Well. Now that you ask, I think it would suit either of you. Hey. You¡¯re the one who agreed with them coming with us. Their group was back on the road to Mildbloom, and since there weren¡¯t any village until they reached the border city, they would have to set up camp to spend the night in the wilderness, under the stars. At least he could look forward to that later part. Calling the plains there were traveling through ¡°the wilderness¡± though, was as accurate as calling a house cat a predator. Sure, it would still have some of the stickiest instincts of its race, but chasing mice from time to time wasn¡¯t enough to be considered a representative of felines everywhere. In the same vein, the world around Enok like a caricature of what it was supposed to be. The world Enok remembered was one in which mortals made a point to show how determined they were to fight for their survival against everything it threw at them. On the very ground they were walking on, he remembered peering on titanic battles between dragons and orc armies, a particular group of brazen adventurers on a quest to uncover artifacts known to be tied to the antlers of a divine deer and even wandering spirits tricking foolish travelers into damning deals. But after almost two days of travel, all they had come across were small animals who quickly ran away when spotted and a drunk dogkin riding a donkey. The world just felt like it had no pulse anymore. Not that he was looking for a fight himself, or for some epic adventure, but nature in particular and the beings it sheltered were designed to take root wherever the people weren¡¯t active. But there was almost nothing worthy attention from one side of the horizon to another. Not decent human activity either. He mostly didn¡¯t care that he had still not seen any elf, not any real one anyway, but he had not seen any mystic, and that was worrisome. He had anticipated it. Hell, he had known for a fact that the Path was in bad shape before setting a foot on Alfheim, due to the density of ki having decreased to an alarming degree and the mantra simply disappearing. But he couldn¡¯t help but feel a weight in his stomach when sighting the pathetic excuses for trees and bushes this close to the actual Flower kingdom. He truly hoped that this all had to do with the nature of the region he was in, and not an actual example of what was happening everywhere else. He could grit his teeth trough a boring world, but not through an already dead one. Thankfully, caressing Naope¡¯s dot-covered neck had also proven to be very therapeutic. The horse had proven to be an excellent mount, even anticipating his commands sometimes. It snorted as his hand performed the now familiar motion. ¡°Do you like animals Enok?¡± a voice asked behind him. ¡°I do. And I like to think that they like me back,¡± he said, glancing back. Mein was smiling, sitting on the carriage with Domor. Enok noticed that she was the one holding the reins this time. Domor¡¯s attention was on their surroundings. The catgirl¡¯s attitude had greatly changed since he had first met her, and while Enok would like to think it was because she had gotten to know him better, he had a feeling that it had more to do with her ability. Knowing said ability, he really wanted to ask her the specifics but wasn¡¯t sure if it was fine to mention it, since no one had. Enok, Kaja thought to him, I can feel you getting anxious about this female catkin and on Mother¡¯s name, if it¡¯s what I think it is... Give me a break Kaja. Quit the jealous younger sister thing, it¡¯s getting weird. I am not jealous! You can do whatever you want, but at least- What do you see when I look at her? he interrupted. With the thought, he turned around to get a better look of her. Domor raised his brows in response and Mein¡¯s expression was equally questioning. Over her head, the words appeared. He had discovered she was a seer thanks to his drifter ability, a witch able to peer into the future. Witches and wizards were mortals born with a rare natural ability to interact with ki, but while he was curious about whether she had seen anything related to him, he was still hesitant to mention it. If his memories were right, many mortals considered the word ¡°witch¡± to be an insult. Oh, hum... wow..., was all Enok got from Kaja¡¯s embarrassed thoughts. Yeah, he thought, now tell me something that will make them not think of me as a weirdo who turned around just to stare at them. Just... Just ask her about it! He sighed. ¡°Mein,¡± he called out loud, ¡°there is something I have noticed. I haven¡¯t said anything until now because where... I¡¯m from, talking about it would be very bad manners. But it¡¯s important.¡± ¡°Hmm...¡± she said, ¡° I think I know what it is.¡± ¡°You do? Oh, of course.¡± Well, she was a seer after all. She probably already had visions of this very conversation. He had been worried over nothing. ¡°Yes,¡± Mein said, with a serious expression, ¡°you want to know about my relationship with Dom, don¡¯t you?¡± Enok¡¯s mind went blank... Which meant that Kaja¡¯s mind had gone blank too. ¡°Uh... What?¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, for some reason it¡¯s a question that always comes up when we meet new people.¡± She put a hand on Domor¡¯s shoulder, and it seemed as stiff as rock as red slightly tinted his cheeks. ¡°We¡¯re friends,¡± she said, as if it was the hardest thing to believe in the world, ¡±practically brother and sister.¡± Enok looked at the male human. Domor was slowly shaking his head, a hand covering his now crimson face. Poor guy, Kaja thought. I agree. ¡°Mein,¡± said Domor, with an exasperated tone, ¡°I don¡¯t know what Enok wants to talk about, but I really don¡¯t think it¡¯s about that.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± she said, surprised. ¡°Yes. I wanted to talk about the fact that you were a witch.¡± No matter how awkward that subject could be, it certainly wouldn¡¯t be as awkward as the present situation. Or so Enok thought. Silence fell on the lonely road as Mein and Domor stared at him with a look indicating they weren¡¯t sure they had correctly heard what he had said. ¡°... What?¡± ¡°A witch,¡± he repeated, seeing them frowning and looking at each other he added, ¡°you know, those people born with strange powers? Very good at one thing in particular?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, we know the rumors and legends,¡± said Domor , smirking, ¡°I don¡¯t understand why you would think that Mein is one though. Hell, I can¡¯t even think of one thing she is that good at, and don¡¯t even get me started with her cook- Ouch! That was a joke!¡± he finished, massaging his ribs where Mein had hit him. She looked at Enok, something shining in her eyes. Avidity? Maybe you should have just kept quiet, thought Kaja. ¡°Lord Enok,¡± Mein said, her voice slightly shaking, ¡°Am I... Am I really a witch?¡± ¡°Yes. I can see it because I¡¯m a drifter... And I¡¯m guessing you had no idea, which is, well, rather strange. Do you really have no idea of what I¡¯m talking about?¡± ¡°... You¡¯re serious.¡± said Domor. ¡°When... When I was younger¡± started Mein, ¡°I used to sing, and I really liked it. But sometimes, during my songs, I would... See things. When I told my father about it, he told me to stop, that it was dangerous... And I listened to him. Could that be it?¡± Her knuckles were white with how hard she was clutching the reins of the scaled bull pulling their caravan. ¡°That¡¯s why you stopped?!¡± asked Domor, incredulous, ¡°You said you had hurt you voice and then I assumed you just lost interest!¡± ¡°I am surprised she could even stop, It must have been because she wasn¡¯t too advanced yet,¡± said Enok, ¡°wizards and witches are usually addicted to their spells. In times when people were afraid of them, many outed themselves because they weren¡¯t able to quit their passions.¡± Silence fell once again between the travelers, though this time it was because they each had things to think about. Enok in particular, received thoughts from his sister. So, she said, are you happy to have once again thrown the life of a mortal upside down? It wasn¡¯t on purpose. I just thought she might have seen something about me, or us even. Guess not. Hmm. But you saw her reaction, didn¡¯t you? The look in her eyes. Like she was finally getting something she had been waiting for for a long time. Can you blame her? I¡¯m pretty sure all mortals react in a similar way when they are told they possess a power that could help them raise their status. Whether they show it or not. Hmm. If you say so. What¡¯s your problem with her anyw- ¡°Lord Enok!¡± He had gotten into the habit of riding a short distance in front of the carriage, so the heart-wrenching scream made him look back at his companions. Tears were streaming down the cat girl¡¯s face whose ears were lowered, and Domor had put an arm around her shoulders in a consoling effort. ¡°Can... Can you tell me more about it?¡± she managed to blurt out during her sniffles, ¡°about witches and how I can sing again? I don¡¯t-, I-, because whenever I try I just can¡¯t seem to-¡± Oh, Enok thought. He seemed to still be lacking a proper grasp of people¡¯s emotional strength and how to act with them in mind. ¡°Sorry¡±, he said along with the most apologetic smile he could muster, ¡°I sure can.¡± *** When the light washing over Ornelia vanished, she found herself in a totally unknown place and felt dizzy. Thankfully, she had been warned by her master that crossing world gates could be quite disorienting the first times, so she made sure not to make a fool of herself. First impressions where the ones that mattered the most after all. Standing straight, a hand lightly resting on the hilt of the rapier at her waist after having quickly adjusted the glasses on her noses, she patiently waited until the blurriness disappeared and listened attentively to the multiple voices that surrounded her. ¡°What the fuck, I can¡¯t see anything!¡± said a voice she instantly recognized as Duncan¡¯s. That boy had never been the brightest. ¡°Sir Graham are you-¡± ¡°OUCH! That¡¯s my foot, dumbass! Can¡¯t you just stayed still until it¡¯s over?!¡± Ornelia didn¡¯t recognize the girl who had just screamed, probably one from the other schools she had briefly met. Knowing that a good part of Duncan¡¯s anatomy was cybernetic -of the heavy variety-, she almost winced at the thoughts of him walking on anyone¡¯s feet. Almost. Her sight got better and she was able to quickly assess her surroundings. The seven people of her group were in what seemed like a castle¡¯s garden at the edge of a cliff. Trimmed trees with red leaves and red flowers that were obviously delicately cared after filled the space in front of her, living only a single -but quite large- alley stretching between them and the opened gates of the building. Every ten meters along the alley, were a pair of guards wearing complete Neopanth armors facing each others. The ground under their feet was dark rock covered with innumerable symbols she didn¡¯t even recognize. Sir Graham was standing in front of them, muscled arms folded as usual. Next to her were three girls and two boys, one of them being Duncan, the only one wearing the same brown uniform as her. He was a tall -even taller than sir Graham- and burly, but didn¡¯t seem very assured as he was awkwardly avoiding the scowl of from a female rabbitkin. Coincidentally, the other boy, an orc who was her partner judging from his similar red uniform, was also glaring at Duncan. He was the only one to carry a weapon beside her, a fine curved blade of the East Isles, called a katana, she believed. The two other girls were eerily still. Ornelia didn¡¯t like to think about them. ¡°Gordon Graham! Last time I saw you, you were still a little squire with arms I could encircle with my fingers. Now look at you!¡± Ornelia¡¯s gaze snapped to the speaker who had appeared out of nowhere, and fell on her knee, eyes on the ground, as soon as realized who he was. She was immediately followed by the five other squires. Sir Graham, of course, had already put his knee down, though she was shocked that he hadn¡¯t ordered them to do the same. In front of them was standing a little old man. Bald with a white goatee and with smiling eyes. He was wearing a common white Neopanth robe, one that she had only seen on the back of regular small village priests. However, she could see the word floating over his head. She felt the sweat forming on her neck. One of the strongest beings across the worlds was standing in their presence. In front of her. ¡°Administrator Jakool,¡± she heard the deep voice of sir Graham say, ¡°it is an immense honor to know that you remembered such an unworthy name as mine. I bring with me the young squires who are to partake in the special class.¡± ¡°Red Rain¡± Jakool. He was a living legend, one known enough that even Ornelia¡¯s youth had been filled with bedtime stories of his feats. At the time, they had been wonderful tales of power retelling the foundation of the Neopanth. He had been part of a very little group of men she had dreamed to meet. Now, she was realizing how foolish one should be to want to be near anyone with the surname ¡°Red rain¡±. ¡°Ho ho ho, you are breaking this old man¡¯s heart Gordon, don¡¯t act like a stranger!¡± laughed the administrator, ¡°ah, the little ones, yes. Two of them already arrived a few days ago with Deteri, who I believe you are acquainted with. But where are my manners, rise, rise!¡± He urged the group to stand with ample motions of the hand, which they promptly did. ¡°I can see that two of them are drifter, hmm? Which makes it three in total, quite a high number in such a small group.¡± His steely eyes landed on Ornelia, and her heart skipped a beat, but the next moment he was looking at the orc boy. ¡°Good, good,¡± he said caressing his goatee and directing his attention to the whole group, ¡°I welcome you all to Alfheim, first world of the Path. I am aware of the seriousness inherent to the purpose of your presence, and the politics in which each of you are sadly entangled, at such an early stage of your lives. I won¡¯t ask you to lighten up, but at the very least, you are to not treat each others as rivals from different schools of war while under my authority. You are to be a team, so start acting like one. Well, I guess you can go in, my second in command will meet you inside and you will be guided to your quarters. As you know, protocol requires me to supervise the closing of the gate.¡± Loud clicking noises started behind them and she turned around. They were in the middle of the day and in all logic the scenery through the gigantic black stone arch should have been a view of Aurora, the city built under and around the gate. But there was nothing but darkness as far as the eye could see, which wasn¡¯t far due to the opaque fog that slowly seeped from the gate. But the clicking noise itself came from... ¡°Squire Avel, whenever you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°My excuses!¡± she blurted out, quickly rejoining the group that was processing down the alley behind sir Graham. Thankfully, the administrator was already gone, making a fool of herself in front of him, of all people, wasn¡¯t an option. Her heels hitting the stone as she got closer her ¡°teammates¡±, she heard Duncan talking to the orc boy with a lively body language. ¡°... Not sure you get it dude, that was ¡°Red¡± motherfucking ¡°rain¡± Jackool! I mean come on! The guy who dealt with the Thorn incident alone! Heard that just talking to him was enough to be favored by the Three-eyed, man, no one is going to believe me back home, ...¡± ¡°I do share your excitement my friend,¡± the orc said with a surprisingly soft voice, ¡°it¡¯s just that I am too tired to express it. I wish I could be as in shape as you seem to be after traveling through the fog of war.¡± ¡°Goddammit! Don¡¯t you-¡± ¡°You should be grateful Nagato,¡± interrupted the rabbit girl. Her high pitched voice was already annoying Ornelia. ¡°I heard people used to travel through the fog on foot, only guided by their ability to sense ki. You imagine that?¡± As they entered the building and earned stares and gases from the personnel, either people or automatons, the boy shuddered, ¡°I¡¯d rather not think about it, unless I have to.¡± From behind, Ornelia saw Duncan look for someone else to share his enthusiasm with, glance at the two silent girls walking on his other side, then slump forward, dejected. To say that the Neopanth headquarter of Alfheim was different than the previous one she had been invited in, was an understatement. Everything was white with small red details, from the floor to the high ceiling, including the furnitures and decorations which were minimalist to a point. With the natural light illuminating the hall, it went well with the image she had of administrator. ¡°Enough with the chatter,¡± sternly said sir Graham as they approached a woman who was looking through papers she was holding, ¡°bishop Deteri.¡± ¡°Bishop Graham,¡± she said on an even tone, ¡°glad to see you finally came through. There are lots of different interests involved and I was worried someone would have a stupid idea.¡± ¡°Some people did,¡± he said, ¡°the survivors are currently under interrogation, though I doubt they will disclose any information we do not already have.¡± ¡°Ah, I see. Well, it was to be expected.¡± She glanced over the squires, her eyes lingering a second longer on the girl duo. ¡°I am Dereti, bishop of the Neopanth and second in command of admnistrator Jakool, but you can simply call me ms Dereti. Bishop Graham and I will be the main officials in charge of your training and the success of this... Project, if I may call it so. I¡¯m sure administrator Jakool mentioned it, but I would like to stress that fighting between yourselves outside of training is strictly prohibited. You will need to be a cohesive group for this to have any chance to succeed, and rivalries will simply add to your already high chances of dying.¡± She paused, letting the words sink in. ¡°Boys go to the tower at the end of the left hallway, girls to the one on the right. There is one room per floor, furnished with the essentials and new uniforms that you are required to wear from now on. Be back here in an hour.¡± Ornelia glanced at Duncan who nodded at her. She did the same in response and left before the other girls had moved, in a silence only perturbed by the sound of her eels. She wasn¡¯t interested in making friends, and making that clear from the beginning could save her some headaches down the road. However, she wanted respect. Caressing her rapier¡¯s pommel, she wished for an early chance to establish the hierarchy between the squires. After all, what more fitting way of becoming a queen, than to lead the squad that finally managed to slay the Iron Queen herself? She almost failed to keep herself from grinning. Two-headed wolf 2.3 ¡°I think I¡¯m kinda getting the hang of it,¡± said Domor, carefully and slowly repeating the movements Enok had showed them two days earlier. ¡°Ha, trust me, you¡¯re not,¡± laughed a voice coming from a little ball of light hovering over the fire, ¡°the stances are the Mother¡¯s gift to the weak people so that they could stand up to the naturally stronger mystics, but to ¡®get the hang of it¡¯, you¡¯d need to be either an aurosei or at least a wizard. And even then it would take years,¡± it mockingly added. ¡°Well, I know I¡¯m feeling something. Also, you guys know a lot about the pagan gods, do you worship them or something?¡± ¡°What you are feeling is ki more or less freely going through you. It¡¯s a good thing, it will slowly improve your physique,¡± said Enok with a distracted tone, watching Mein¡¯s movements, ¡°and no, we don¡¯t worship them. Which doesn¡¯t mean you shouldn¡¯t, by the way.¡± He was sitting on the other side of the fire, on a piece of rock that had once been part of a house and now was just another rock on the side of the road to Mildbloom. ¡°Eh, I think I¡¯ll pass. From what I¡¯ve heard, those dudes were pretty crazy,¡± said the warrior, ¡° and when I say ¡®crazy¡¯, I mean ¡®destroying the world¡¯ crazy. ¡°It wasn¡¯t just dudes, there were girls too,¡± Kaja chimed in. This was their second night spent under the stars, and like the previous one he had been instructing Mein to basic lessons on the stances of the auroseis, in hope that it would help her regain her witch ability. Domor had just been copying the movements since he lacked a better thing to do. Mein was standing next not far from Domor. Silent, but eyes frown in a determined expression, she was cycling through the different movements she had been taught with outstanding speed and accuracy for a beginner. Sudden whips of the hands and foots, open palms facing outward, small jumps and lateral slides. Fire stance. Fists closed, knees bent and back straight, with slow simple movements in straight lines. Earth stance. Body spinning, ample circular movements of the arms and legs, that were more following and supporting the body¡¯s motions than guiding them. Sky stance. Then do it all over again. ¡°Whoa,¡± gawked Domor, staring at her. She was performing a short choreography Enok had improvised by picking some elements from the three stances. She didn¡¯t have to understand them or even perform them perfectly, the goal was to make her remember. However her skills were motivating Enok to push her a little further than needed. ¡°Mein, raise left your left arm higher before pivoting,¡± he said, ¡°and don¡¯t pull your foot back that fast when you do. You have to slowly drag it and make it follow your arm¡¯s motion.¡± She made the adjustments without stopping. ¡°So,¡± Domor started, glancing at his friend, ¡°any chances we will become auroseis if we keep this up?¡± ¡°None. The stances are the way we manipulate our aura, but when you do not have any, it just helps you guide the natural flow of ki in your body.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± the note of relief was obvious, ¡°and how will that make her able to sing again?¡± Enok sighed, which gave Kaja the opportunity to answer instead, with her best ¡®teacher voice¡¯. ¡°The goal is to make her remember what if feels like to be in tune with the ambient ki,¡± the floating light said, overly enunciating each word, ¡°witches and wizards are people born with the ability to interact with ki in unique ways, but for that they need to be in harmony with it. You know what if feels like to have a word on the tip of your tongue right?¡± Domor scratched his head, before sitting next to the crackling fire, ¡°Of course I do, like everybody else. Pretty frustrating.¡± ¡°Exactly. It¡¯s not that Mein can¡¯t sing anymore, it¡¯s that she hasn¡¯t done it in such a long time that she has mostly forgotten what ki harmony was like. Whenever she tries to sing, she knows beforehand that she is going to do it wrong, but can¡¯t remember what doing it ¡®right¡¯ feels like. Like having a word on the tip of her tongue, but more frustrating.¡± ¡°I see,¡± the man said, nodding, ¡°you are... Very knowledgeable. I always thought there were four stances.¡± ¡°I guess you could say that. However, there really are four stances, it¡¯s just that the water stance cannot be taught.¡± then in the catgirl¡¯s direction, ¡°Mein, time to take a break.¡± ¡°Just... A bit longer,¡± she said between short breaths. ¡°No,¡± said Enok, ¡°you need to rest and eat, now. You can resume after.¡± She stopped and reluctantly went to sit next to Domor with a grunt, which was so out of character that it made Enok grin. ¡°I am definitely getting there,¡± she said on a gloomy tone, taking the dried meat Domor handed to her, ¡°but instead of making me happy, the feeling of being almost there is even more frustrating.¡± ¡°That¡¯s understandable,¡± he said, ¡°but from what I have seen, you¡¯ll soon make the breakthrough, don¡¯t worry.¡± ¡°Ugh!¡± she let out, ¡°and I didn¡¯t even want to sing a few days ago!¡± Kaja loudly laughed, probably waking up all surrounding sleeping animals in the process. Sitting there, watching them discuss around the fire and participating when he could, Enok surprisingly felt waves of calmness washing over him. This is nice, he thought. ¡°I can¡¯t help but wonder,¡± said Mein, now munching bread, ¡°what were you before coming here? Before you left your world?¡± ¡°Him? I bet he was some sort of young master from a rich family of fancy pants,¡± said Domor on a tone indicating he would soon fall asleep, ¡°no offense meant,¡± he added, hearing Kaja¡¯s mocking laugh. ¡°Well both of them, really,¡± she said, her gaze landing on the glass ball resting on Enok¡¯s head, ¡°I¡¯d guess dame Kaja is some rare mystic right?¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± mumbled the orb, ¡°I guess you can say that.¡± Enok knew she didn¡¯t want to say she was a mystic at all, but since her only known appearance was of a luminous flying glass ball, there wasn¡¯t many other options. It was either agreeing or saying that the ball was just an artifact normally used as a mean to explore dangerous environments and that she actually was a god whose soul was trapped in her brother¡¯s body. Not really an option. ¡°Kaja the mystic,¡± he teasingly whispered, to which she replied by a bump on his head. ¡°And you, Enok?¡± Mein asked. ¡°I¡¯m pretty curious too, to be honest,¡± added Domor, ¡°you¡¯re a teenager who not only doesn¡¯t act like one, but who is a master of aura able to school two adults. I¡¯m not saying we¡¯re the most mature adults out there, but I wonder what kind of education you got.¡± Enok didn¡¯t like to lie.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°It¡¯s true that I grew up in a pretty special environment,¡± he said on an even tone, ¡°but I do not like to talk about it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you did,¡± Domor said, ¡° that short sword of yours is very expensive looking. It has a strange design though. Kinda like a butcher knife?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I kept telling him when he first got it!¡± laughingly agreed Kaja. Mein however, looked disappointed. ¡°Is there really nothing you could add?¡± she pleaded, ¡°I mean, I understand if you-¡± And that¡¯s when the howls began. Long, menacing howls, way too close to their camp for comfort. They all sprung up at the first one, which was followed by two others. Naope and the scaled bull were now also standing, snorting and restless. ¡°Wolves?¡± Enok asked, searching the darkness. ¡°No,¡± said Mein. Though he wasn¡¯t manifesting his aura, as long as his inner ki reserves weren¡¯t depleted his attributes were fifty percent as effective. But even with his improved perception he had not heard them approaching. Now that he was looking though, he could see several figures slowly move in the darkness. They were surrounded. The howls¡¯ frequency increased. ¡°Really?¡± snickered Kaja, ¡°the small group of travelers being attacked by a pack of wolves at night? Could it be any more clich¨¦?¡± ¡°They are not wolves,¡± Mein insisted. Her voice was shaking. Enok gave her and Domor a look. They were both visibly afraid, but had drawn out their weapons. A one-handed sword and a wooden shield reinforced with metal plates for Mein, and a bow already armed with an arrow for Domor, who was white as a sheet. Mein though, was looking at Enok. ¡°There are no wolves left in the south of Alfheim,¡± Domor said. ¡°You are wrong... Fool.¡± The coarse voice had come from one of the figures that had gotten closer than the others, and was still approaching. It spoke as if the words had troubles living its mouth, speech interrupted by loud irregular breathing. ¡°The wolves... Have always been there. It is you... The preys... Who did your pathetic best to hide from their fangs... To hide from us!¡± Those last words caused a new series of howls to tear into the night, approving. The figure got into the fire¡¯s light, revealing itself as a being of the people. Dark blue skin, barefoot and while his nudity was covered with pelts, the only other things he was wearing that could be considered ¡®clothes¡¯ was the wolf upper jaw he used as a helmet. His tusks and hands were still dripping blood of an earlier victim. His eyes were wide open, in a glare screaming insanity. A blue orc, with the words over his head. ¡°We have no quarrels with the kirishans!¡± screamed Domor at his attention, ¡° I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re up to, but it has nothing to do with us! We are just travelers protected by the Broken tribes treaty!¡± Enok inwardly shook his head. The blood lust surrounding them wasn¡¯t something simple words would appease. Especially words spoken with fear. The orc spat. ¡°How... Fitting of a prey... You invoke the protection of ones stronger than you... But the bear cub... Is nowhere to be seen... And before his mother appears... THE KIRISHANS WILL FEAST.¡° The howling redoubled. ¡°Enough,¡± said Enok. As he said spoke, he manifested his aura and made it burst from him in all directions and the howls ceased.
Stand-by mode deactivated : ability points 100 percent effective.
As his aura reached and enveloped the figures in the shadows, he felt them slightly retreating. He could now sense around ten people in their direct vicinity. The blue orc hadn¡¯t budged. ¡°If you are at least half as close to being wolves than you say,¡± said Enok, ¡°then your instincts are telling you to run. Listen to them. Otherwise you won¡¯t live long enough to regret not doing it.¡± In any cases, he thought, this is a golden opportunity to get those ability points I need to use the blueprint. ¡°You can¡¯t kill them,¡± said Mein. He frowned, ¡°What?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t kill them,¡± she repeated, ¡±the Kirishans always hunt with several groups. If you kill them, we won¡¯t have time to burn all the corpses before the other arrive. And if we just leave them, there are chances they won¡¯t find them.¡± ¡°Burn the... Mein do you really think this is the time to worry about mere funeral rites? I¡¯m not waiting around for crema-¡± ¡°Mere funeral rites?¡± asked Domor, fear still heavily present in his voice. Though it was now fear directed at Enok. ¡°You,¡± said the orc, pointing a finger at Enok, ¡°are a prey worthy... Of our fangs. DIE FOR ME.¡± As he spoke, an ominous blue smoke started sipping from the eyes of his wolf helmet, covering his face. The little scraps of civilization he still had left his eyes as he slowly retreated, growling as the darkness covered him once more. The calm before the storm. Enok swore as he pulled back his aura and made it surround his body. ¡°I can help with the dark,¡± said Kaja, ¡°but if you guys really want Enok to not kill anyone, then you will have to defend yourselves.¡± ¡°We will do our best,¡± said Mein on the most serious tone Enok had heard of her yet, ¡°Domor, just like training. Aim, shoot, I know you can do it.¡± Domor didn¡¯t answer, eyes searching the darkness. She tightened her grip around her sword and lifted her shield. Determination filled her eyes, but there was something else... Enok turned around to face the darkness and the growls. At his side, his sword was demanding to be released, but this time he would have to deny it the pleasure. ¡°Stay close to the fire and defend the animals,¡± he told the two mortals, ¡°but first make sure to protect your eyes.¡± He raised both his fists in a fighting stance. ¡°Do it.¡± As he said the words, the little ball of light flew upward, and when it got several hundreds meters high, the intensity of its light suddenly increased, blinding and revealing everything in a kilometer radius. No longer a tiny luminous speck, but a real nocturnal red sun. The kirishans shrieked, covering their eyes and putting distance between them and the aggressive flare. Stripped naked of the cover of the night. Enok saw their leader, just as blinded as the others. He noted his position and darted in the opposite direction. With his blade, it would have been quickly decided. Without it... Things could get complicated. He needed to incapacitate the greatest number of enemies possible before they recovered and started attacking the others. His fist landed on the jaw of a shrieking human, who went to hit the ground head first, never knowing what happened. The back of his other hand smashed another one¡¯s torso and sent him flying against a nearby tree. Before his limp body had even reached the ground, Enok had propelled himself toward the closest next group of assailants, dirt flying in the opposite side. If he was really going to do this, he had to be fast. The fact that they needed time to manifest their aura was an advantage he shouldn¡¯t easily give up. Having to let them live was an annoying restriction, but in the end, it could be seen as good thing. Some sort of exercise to hone his control. Dealing the maximum amount of damages without killing. He crashed in the midst of a group of five kirishans who were shielding their eyes, still dizzy from the flash. One of them noticed Enok and raised his stained sword in panic. Enok avoided the slash, grabbed him by the forearm and pressed. A cracking noise resounded, but before it could be followed by a scream, Enok pulled him closer and knocked him out. Incapacitating the rest didn¡¯t take more than one or two hits, a second one only needed when he had not broken any bones with the first. Just when he was about to look for new victims, he felt claws dig into his back, the stinging pain quickly propagating through his body. Seems like he no longer had the advantage. As if to confirm that thought, he heard a scream from where he had left the others. Mein. He whirled around with a kick that was easily dodged by a skinny human who jumped back and licked the blood on his hand with a smile. He was using aura to harden his long nails. A second one was edging closer, holding a bone dagger. A quick glance to the fire and he saw Mein defending herself from a tall kirishan, using her shield to deflect his blows and dodging them with her superior reflexes when they seemed too strong. Domor though, had an arrow cocked to his bow and was aiming. In his direction. He shot the arrow, it missed Enok by an hair and was quickly followed by a grunt of pain that made him turn around. One of the kirishans had been sneaking on him, silent enough to not catch his attention. The arrow had pierced his leg and forced him down. There are only four of them left able to fight, including their lead- Before he could finish the thought, he was hit on the side of the head and the world turned upside down. As he fell, he caught a glimpse to the blue orc, still in the air after kicking him, the blue mist trailing his body. How? Being sneaked up once was understandable. But twice, in such a short amount of time?
Altered state detected : Confusion
Before he could stand, the two others had jumped on him, brandishing claws and dagger imbued with aura, laughing. ¡°Stop struggling, you¡¯re already dead meat!¡± ¡°A worthy... Prey...¡± They sliced and dug in his flesh with fast attacks he barely managed to divert from his vitals. In his struggle, he managed to stand up but couldn¡¯t fight back. His whole whole perception of time and distance was distorted. Enok jumped back, and realized he needed to do more than that. Some sort of mental attack had gotten the best of him, fighting multiple enemies like this was suicide. He needed to go away until he could get back to normal, heal the gashes covering his body, then he would come back to slaughter these insolent mortals. He needed to run. Another scream from the fire. Domor had joined the fight against the kirishan, but him and Mein were clearly having difficulties. The cat girl¡¯s shield had been thrown in favor of a two handed grip on her sword, though the enemy didn¡¯t seem to feel menaced in the slightest, laughing as he kicked her over the fire and lifted Domor off the ground. The blue orc moved in his light of sight, hiding the scene. ¡°If you leave,¡± he said, ¡°they will wish... They were never born... Before being fed to my pack.¡± The two other kirishans slowly moved closer. But did it matter? This was different than an unknown creature killing people, after all, it was just mortals killing each other. Something he had seen countless times before. It matters, he thought through the noise in his brain, it¡¯s not the same. What about bringing Kaja¡¯s soul to their mother? Regaining his honor and pride? He moved backward. The blue orc smile widened, the mist coming out of the gaping holes of in wolf head twirling around him. Now that there was more of it, shapes would sometime be visible : reaching hands or faces contorted in muted screams. He opened his arms wide in a beckoning gesture, and let out a powerful howl.
Altered state detected : Confusion reached critical level.
He fell to his knees, not even knowing where he was anymore. That¡¯s when he heard the singing. And his soul was at peace again. Two-headed wolf 2.4 When he was younger, Domor¡¯s grandmother used to tell him stories about the previous ages the worlds had been through. Stories she had heard from her father, and him from his own mother. Domor was just a little boy eager to be amazed back then, just like the other little boys and girls living in a peaceful village that had been erased from the map. Legends of the prime age would fill him with wonder, stories from the age of brightness would cause him to have nightmares, and thinking of the age of heroes made him want to find a dragon nest and fight them with his mighty wooden sword. He had grown out of it, eventually. Stories were just that after all, stories. Myths that couldn¡¯t be verified and only supposed to arouse the imagination. Real life had its own dragons, like finding work and paying taxes, and they sometime seemed far more cunning than the mythical ones. But on this particular night of the age of machines, Domor felt like he had been thrown in the worst of his grandmother¡¯s stories combined. He was on the ground, clutching his left arm that was covered in a mix of blood and dirt, back resting against a tree. He was only sure there was blood on his arm because it was his own, otherwise he wouldn¡¯t have known any better. The whole night was colored in red, accentuating the eeriness of the multiple bodies lying around him, some immobile, others screaming their guts out, all of them with members bent in unnatural ways. It was hard to believe, but Domor knew Enok had done it, though there currently were other things on his mind than the prowess of that demon in human skin. ¡°Mein!¡± he screamed with panic, trying to get himself together. But if she heard him, she didn¡¯t show it. There was also pain in his voice, pain from his battered body, ¡°fuck, Mein listen to me!¡± It wasn¡¯t the fact that his childhood friend was fighting a kirishan death tamer twice her size, effortlessly dodging the swings from his club that was scaring him. Not even the fact that they were about to die a few minutes ago. It was the fact that the brown of her eyes had disappeared, leaving them milky white. It was the fact that she was singing with a fascinated smile on her face while slicing away the flesh of a confused enemy who suddenly couldn¡¯t touch her anymore. The song was morbidly beautiful, sad and slow, the words were spoken in a tongue he didn¡¯t recognize and that he knew she didn¡¯t speak. The Kirishan roared and his club hit the ground where the cat girl was standing a moment ago. The missed attack cost him new gashes to be opened on his body by quick slashes of Mein¡¯s sword. He grunted with pain and unleashed a fury of blows, but it was as if he was deliberately missing her. It wasn¡¯t that she had suddenly gotten faster. She never was on the path of his weapon to begin with, moving before the enemy even had. Said enemy was now retreating, fear in his eyes as the white-eyed demi-human walked toward him, her voice booming and her tail graciously undulating behind her. ¡°I need to wake her up,¡± Domor thought, ¡°she will kill him and call the curse on us or maybe just lose her damn mind if this lasts too long.¡± But how could he get to her? What if she didn¡¯t recognize him and attacked? Enok. Enok clearly was the one somehow responsible for this trance she was in, he would know how to bring her back. Domor looked around, unable to find the young aurosei in his field of view. Was he gone? Or hurt? Last he had been able to take a look at him, a kirishan warrior was snea- From behind the tree he was leaning on, an enemy fighter flew, projected by an invisible opponent. The warrior collided with the carriage containing the primer¡¯s parts with a cracking noise and fell to the ground. He got back up, gritting his teeth and ready to jump back into the fray, but a white flash immediately followed his trajectory and reached his supporting leg, causing him to fall back on the ground, trashing in pain. What looked like a dagger made of bone was piercing his knee on both sides. Domor leaned to the side, and peered over his shoulder. What shocked him the most about the scene was the silence. There were a couple trees, and beyond them was a clearing. There, the grass couldn¡¯t be seen anymore, as the whole clearing was covered with thick mist that appeared almost black under the red light but Domor knew was blue. It was alive, somehow, twirling and changing shape. It showed deformed people in pain, people dying. It also showed people just standing, ghosts made of mist, witnesses to the life struggling in their midst. Because in the middle of the nightmarish vortex, Enok was fighting against Gallamun the leader of the kirishans and one of his men, made visible by the glowing marks on his arms and the sparks flying around him. He had unsheathed his short sword and was parrying their claws, punching and kicking at intervals, not even reacting when they wounded him. There weren¡¯t even that far, but no sound they made could be heard, as if consumed by the mist. ¡°No,¡± Domor said out loud, ¡°fuck no, I didn¡¯t sign up for this.¡± On one side he had a demi-human in a sadistic trance slowly killing her enemy, and on the other side... Hell, he didn¡¯t even know what that was. He needed help. What could he do by himself? He was just... A regular man, clearly out of his depth. ¡°Kaja!¡± he screamed toward the blinding light over the over them, ¡°please, help! Enok is in trouble and Mein is... Mein is not being herself!¡± But once again his call was left unanswered. Like the real sun during the day, the small red sun that the mystic had become seemed indifferent to what was happening on earth. Domor cussed again. It was all up to him. *** Thanks to the song, Enok¡¯s mind was clear again. It also made him able to ignore the pain of his wounds, though he was that was a good thing. His body could be falling in pieces without him noticing. ¡°I must wrap this up faster,¡± he though, ¡°I have no idea how the others are doing.¡± At least he knew Mein was fine. But something had triggered her ability, and it could mean Domor was in bad shape. ¡°Surrender to me... Prey,¡± growled the blue orc, whipping the blood off his claws, ¡°the wolf demands your life... And it will obtain it.¡± As he spoke, his underling leaped in an attempt to plunge the blades that were his nails in Enok¡¯s chest, but just as he extended his arm, there was whistling sound and his hand was pierced by an arrow and spurting blood. Before he could even react, a second one reached him below the mist, probably lodging itself in his calf. Enok¡¯s fist reached his bony face before he could utter a sound and his limp body fell. ¡°Domor!¡± he thought, ¡°that was one hell of a shot for a human.¡± Enok didn¡¯t spare him a look, however, not wanting to give his enemy any advantage. He faced the orc, who was standing still, eyes opened wide, probably shocked by the abrupt change in the situation. ¡°What were you saying again?¡± asked Enok, now leisurely walking closer to him, ¡°weren¡¯t you talking about how the wolf gets what it wants?¡± He stopped in his tracks and pointed his sword at the orc. ¡°Show me.¡± For a moment, he didn¡¯t move. Reality probably just dawning on him. None of his men were able to fight anymore, and he could hear the cries of those of those who were still conscious. He had gone from being the alpha of his glorious hunting pack, to being alone in front of a predator of a new kind. To being a prey. Fury ran across his face as he charged, the speed of his movement creating whirlpools in the mist. Enok parried his barrage of slashes but was set up to blocking a following knee attack aiming for his stomach with a single hand. The shock knocked him off the ground and thew him off-balance. The orc didn¡¯t miss the golden opportunity and, with a laugh of victory, launched his hand at the boy¡¯s neck, sharp nails first. Enok sliced his hand off. A howl of pain filled the clearing as the blue orc clutched his spurting stump with his remaining hand, eyes wide with surprise, the most visible expression on his face. The mist¡¯s movements, as if reacting to his pain, suddenly became erratic. Enok landed, face neutral, and the piece of flesh did the same soon after with a wet sound. ¡°Arrogant speck of dust,¡± he said, ¡°you are worse than a frog in a well.¡± The orc stared at him, hissing, ¡°You... You dare!¡± Enok¡¯s eye twitched and he raised a brow. ¡°I dare?¡± he said, moving closer to the wounded kirishan, ¡°you are surprised I dared?¡± The orc howled and charged again, spraying his blood around. Enok effortlessly dodged two attacks before plunging his sword through his arm and then sliced up. Some muscle tissues and skin kept the member from completely falling off, even through the trashing. But before he could howl in pain once more, Enok grabbed him by the neck with his free hand. His hands weren¡¯t big enough to circle around, but pressing hard enough gave him a comfortable grip.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I told you to run,¡± he said with the same neutral tone, starring in the confused eyes, ¡°I gave you a chance, and what did you decide to do? Just like any mortal you tried to test your luck.¡± He put his blade on the blue skin, just over his finger. ¡°Beg the Mother for forgiveness when you meet her.¡± ¡°No! Enok, don¡¯t!¡± It was like waking up from a dream. Enok grunted and almost let his blade fall, as all the pain from the multiple wounds he had been able to ignore until now washed over him, in a single wave. He blinked twice, realizing what was happening. The now dissipating mist had altered his mind, and while Mein¡¯s song had broken that one spell, it had altered his mind in another way. Not that he wouldn¡¯t have wanted to kill the orc. The thing was that he would not have done it this way. ¡°Enok!¡± Domor screamed again, ¡°Don¡¯t kill him!¡± He turned his head in the voice¡¯s direction and saw the man standing at the clearing¡¯s limit, face full of worry. Enok nodded and sheathed his sword, which made the man¡¯s shoulder drop in relied. He pushed the orc to the ground, grabbed him by the leg and dragged him back to the fire. ¡°You have no idea how glad I am that you won. It¡¯s Mein, I think her witch thing took over and-¡± Domor started, and then his eyes landed on the blue orc¡¯s body and his hand went to his mouth, ¡°oh gods.¡± ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t worship them,¡± Enok said, a little annoyed, ¡°also, aren¡¯t you a warrior? Why are you acting like you never saw blood?¡± ¡°Like I...¡± the man started dumbfounded, ¡°you think this is normal?!¡± he asked, waving his hand around, ¡°this is a goddamn war zone!¡± They were back to the camp, and for the most parts, the screams had stopped. Many of the kirishans were still where they had fallen, but some were already crawling or limping away. Weapons, mainly swords and daggers, were laying around, most of them not even tainted by blood. Mein was standing in front of a crouching man, using her sword to support herself while she sang, eyes closed. The man was wounded and covered in his own blood, though the wounds didn¡¯t seem deep enough to be life threatening. He was shaking and crying. Enok shrugged, still dragging the orc, ¡°Normal is often relative. And in war zone, there would be dead people.¡± ¡°What about her?¡± he said, pointing at the cat girl. ¡°What about it? She is enjoying rediscovering her gift, just leave her alone and she will wake up by herself. She is a seer, Domor, not a necromancer. No need to be so tense.¡± As he spoke, Enok had reached the fire and released the orc¡¯s leg in favor of a sword that had fell in the fire. Even with the colored light, the blade was visibly red hot. He stood over the orc. ¡°Oi,¡± said Domor, what are you-¡± ¡°I¡¯m making it so he won¡¯t die,¡± Enok interrupted, ¡°he¡¯s an orc and a death tamer, so it¡¯s still fine, but any longer and the bleeding will kill him.¡± The ¡®warrior¡¯ glanced at the stumps and slowly nodded. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be here,¡± Enok continued, ¡°you said there is a high probability for another group to be close, right? Then we need to leave as fast as possible. Get the bull and the horse ready.¡± ¡°Ok,¡± he simply said, and he left. Enok looked down to the orc who was surprisingly still conscious. ¡°You will wish you were sleeping for this,¡± he whispered, ¡°so I guess that this is also me helping you.¡± Using his free hand, he took the wolf helmet off his owner¡¯s head and placed it under his foot. ¡°No!¡± the orc managed to blurt out. Ignoring him, Enok stomped on it several times, enough that it wouldn¡¯t be usable anymore. The thing with death tamers, was that there was always the possibility for one of them to somehow come into the possession of the remains of something that was incredibly strong during its life, or gifted with a very dangerous ability. The blue mist the wolf helmet was able to produce fell into the second category, and Enok, had almost died because of it. ¡°... And it was taking over his mind and body,¡± he whispered to himself, glancing at the mist coming from the debris, ¡°a little longer on his head and it would have been hell for everyone living around here.¡± After strong spasms shook his body, from the backlash caused by the destruction of his link with the beast¡¯s soul, the orc¡¯s body went limp.
Bonus Exp awarded for defeating multiple enemies.
Warning!
As a favored of Ultimecia you will lose Exp for sparring biological enemies. One (1) level lost. You lost two (2) ability points.
Enok cussed and applied the scorching how blade to the wound, just as Kaja¡¯s sun disappeared from the sky and brought the night¡¯s mantle back on them *** It didn¡¯t take them long to get ready, and they were back on the road as soon as Enok was ready, riding fast to put as much distance as possible between between them. Meine was exhilarated by her prowesses, and Enok could hear her talk to Domor from his galloping horse. ¡°It was amazing!¡± she said, her voice full of glee, ¡°it was like I was dreaming, but I was awake at the same time, you see? I could see him, and see what he was about to do, and I knew exactly what I should do, and during all of that I felt like I could anything, and-¡± ¡°Mein,¡± said Domor¡¯s voice, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the party pooper, but you do realize what just happened, right? We were almost killed by the kirishans. The fucking man-eating kirishans. You tortured a grown man into a snorting mess. And now you¡¯re acting as if we just left the fair?¡± ¡°I know, I know! I understand, trust me. But you do not understand what I¡¯m trying to say, it was... It was...¡± ¡°... Amazing?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± she laughed, ¡°and it happened thanks to you Dom. When I saw that monster trying to hurt you, I didn¡¯t know what to do. But while I was panicking, it all came together. All I needed to to do was to sing, and the road appeared cleared in front of me.¡± There was a silence, then Domor spoke again. ¡°... Are you really thanking me for almost dying in front of you?¡± ¡°Oh, come on now! You know what I mean!¡± Well at least someone is happy, Kaja thought to Enok, taking his attention from the arguing friends. How come you are in such a bad mood though? Are you hurt worse than I could see? It¡¯s not that, he replied, I¡¯ll be able to heal as soon as I get to rest for a bit. It¡¯s just that I realized how vulnerable to mind altering abilities. I... He hesitated. Yes? She asked. I froze for a moment. I almost left them to die. She didn¡¯t say a thing for a moment, thinking to herself. You know, I think that you¡¯re having a hard time coming to term with your mortality. I came to term with that long ago. Well, not really, no. Haven¡¯t you noticed how you still speak, or think? I¡¯m fine with you calling people mortals and all, but it¡¯s weird when you do it as if you weren¡¯t one yourself. So it¡¯s not enough to act like a mortal, I¡¯m supposed to think like one too? Do you even know how one does that? Because I have no idea. I am not telling you to take a wife a raise children, Enok. But you are angry because you came a little bit too close to dying helplessly, and that is scaring you. And knowing you are scared of anything angers you. He didn¡¯t have anything to reply to that on the moment, and focused his vision on where they were they were going. They weren¡¯t using the orb for light since it could give away their position to potential enemies, and even with his improved vision, it wasn¡¯t easy to see through the darkness. You¡¯re aware your pride is your worst trait Enok. I think that¡¯s the first step to deal with all your problems. That¡¯s not going to fix anything, Kaja, he thought back. Well, if it makes you feel better, you got a good reminder of the divinity of your soul tonight, didn¡¯t you? Due to our superior affinity with the ambient ki, only a God could have been affected by the art of a beginner witch whose power isn¡¯t even to affect people in the first place. You in particular, used to gather artists from all over the worlds for your own pleasure... Seems like you haven¡¯t lost your flair for it, eh? He chuckled. Thanks, that does make me feel better. Though I¡¯m not sure if that over sensibility is going to be a good thing in the long run. He paused, then added, I also lost two ability points for leaving the kirishans alive. What?! Ok, now you get to be moody all you want! Man, I was really looking forward to seeing you use that blueprint thingy! As they were laughing, riders holding torches appeared into the distance coming in their direction. With Domor agreement, they kept riding in the same direction and soon got into talking distance with them. ¡°Halt!¡± Screamed one of the unknown riders that had gotten closer, ¡°we are members of Mildbloom¡¯s mercenary guild on an investigation mission. Who comes here?¡± Enok saw Domor and Mein look at each others, before she screamed, ¡°Arbam, is that you? It¡¯s me, Mein!¡± ¡°Mein? What the hell are you doing here!¡± replied the rider, before saying to his comrades, ¡°guys, relax! It¡¯s Mein!¡± ¡°I suppose Domor is with her, uh? He has to be,¡± said someone, which was echoed by laughters as the two groups approached each other. ¡°I knew I was right to hate these guys,¡± Enok heard Domor say under his breath. *** On the road to Mildbloom, next to the cold cinders of a hastily left camp, an orc woke up. Shaking and feverish, his mind filled with confusion as to where he was and what was smelling so bad, he tried to stand up and to his surprise only pain answered when he tried to lift himself up and rolled in the dirt instead. ¡°No,¡± he said, his voice cracking. Memories of the last hours came back to him in flashes. How he meet a group of clueless preys after the feast a merchant and his family had been to him and his men. How he attacked them sure of his victory. ¡°No,¡± he cried. How he had realized one of the prey was actually a predator that ranked higher than him in the food chain. ¡°No!¡± he screamed. Even through the dark night, the little light the stars offered was enough for him to discover with horror the hideous stumps of charred flesh that had replaced his arms. He realized the atrocious smell that was assaulting his nose was the smell of his own burned flesh. At that thought, for the first time since he had called himself a man, Gallamun leader of the Kirish tribe, cried and called for help. ¡°Did you just say no?¡± said a soft voice next to him. He looked to to the side and saw a little girl, standing in blue mist. His mind went blank. ¡°Did you listen my daddy when he said the same word to you?¡± she asked, tilting her head. ¡°No, he didn¡¯t sweetie,¡± said another voice, male this time. It was the merchant, looking perfectly normal in his luxurious clothes. As if he wasn¡¯t currently being digested. ¡°The mist,¡± Gallamun thought, ¡°if there is mist, it means the helmet is still usable, so-¡± More figures appeared. Some he recognized from years ago, all supposed to be dead. Standing, staring at him with accusing eyes. ¡°The helmet. I need to find it,¡± the orc thought, propping himself on his knees with a grunt. ¡°But you won¡¯t hurt anyone anymore, Gallamun.¡± the ghosts said in unison, ¡°this is the end of the line for you, Gallamun.¡± ¡°No,¡± he said trying to find the broken helmet, but the mist had covered everything, and was now reaching his waist. ¡°Yes,¡± a single, grave, distorted voice declared. The orc looked in its direction, and what he saw in the middle of the standing people wasn¡¯t a person¡¯s figure. It was a wolf. ¡°You!¡± Gallamun almost screamed. ¡°Yes, me,¡± it answered, it¡¯s blue eyes sparkling, ¡°you have been using my power for many years, orc, and I have been biding my time. I did not think I would need to appear so soon, but this will have to do. It is time to pay your debts.¡± As he said the words, the people started moving closer to Gallamun. ¡°Get away from me!¡± he screamed, ¡°I want to live! I did everything you told me to!¡± ¡°Yes, you did your part as a pawn. Now you get to die as one.¡± All the mist in the area was shook by a spasm, like a twitch, then it all converged on him, entering his mouth and nose, not even allowing him to breath. The blue eyes didn¡¯t leave his a single instant, and he could not look away, as if he was hypnotized. ¡°Do not worry about the one who humiliated you tonight. He will also pay the price for desecrating my remains.¡± He felt the need to scream, but his mind collapsed before he even got to try. It was all replaced by a bottomless hunger. Two-headed wolf 2.5 Alfheim¡¯s sun was rising on a particular group of travelers. Its members could hardly have more seemed like they didn¡¯t belong together, from their varied races to their clothing style. However, that wasn¡¯t at all strange for a band of mercenaries, whose people often came from all the works of life. Though they all looked tired and lacking in sleep, made obvious with the frequency at which one of them would yawn, three of them in particular were in worrying condition. One of them was Mein, who had crashed from her earlier excitement and was sitting next to Domor at the front of their carriage. The only reason she wasn¡¯t already sleeping was that Arbam, one of the mercenaries escorting them to the border city of Mildbloom, was fairly motivated to talk to her. Despite her bruises, the dry blood on her clothes and her one syllable answers. ¡°... And I¡¯m just glad you¡¯re ok, really,¡± he was saying, ¡°I mean, the Kirish tribe warriors and Gallamun? I wouldn¡¯t even want to meet them in my nightmares, and that says a lot. Because I¡¯m kind of a big deal, as you must know, always ready to jump into the battle and save damsels in distress. How did you say you did it again? All thanks to that aurosei kid, uh?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said the cat girl, her eyes empty of any energy. ¡°Not sure how such a little guy could have done anything, but I guess it means I would have been able to fight them, right?¡± the man continued, putting a hand through his hair, ¡°then again, I would have made defending you my priority, of course. Wouldn¡¯t be good if I died, I¡¯m pretty sure our guild wouldn¡¯t be able to function without me, and...¡± ¡°Goddammit, Arbam please shut up!¡± Domor snapped. He was the second one in the worst state. Though his wounded arm had been bandaged, the piece of cloth used in the process had now taken a crimson color. He was covered in dirt and his clothes were ripped in many places. Chuckles answered his outburst and not far from them, a middle aged dogkin with gray fur gave a tingling purse to a very similar female one besides him. ¡°What,¡± she said to Domor who shot her an annoyed glance, ¡°I bet you wouldn¡¯t stand it more than twenty minutes and won. I never pass on easy money, Dom.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said Arbam, eyes squinted, ¡°I should have known that ¡®Dom¡¯ here wouldn¡¯t let me discuss with his dear ¡®friend¡¯ Mein, right Domor?¡± ¡°Listen man, it¡¯s nothing that personal¡± Domor sighed, ¡°can¡¯t you see we¡¯re exhausted? Just look at her.¡± Oblivious to what was happening around her, Mein had fallen asleep, head bobbing to the carriages movements. ¡°He has point, knock it off Arbam!¡± someone said. With a loud ¡°hmmph!¡± and his nose held high, Arbam guided his horse to the back of the group, letting the carriage go past him. At the front of the group was Enok. He didn¡¯t pay much attention to the road, Naope having proved to be a very intelligent horse. He was focused on guiding the aura he had left toward managing his injuries, and while they weren¡¯t life-threatening and now bandaged, their number made the task complex enough for him to not notice the approaching man. ¡°So, how is our hero doing?¡± Taken by surprise, Enok looked to the side to identify the newcomer. He was a demi-human with bearkin blood, though he had only kept the big physique, nose and curved ears of the beastkin side of his family. He had short black hair, was probably in his thirties and wore a strangely fitting light armor. Except for his left arm and right leg that were blue, his armor was a shining silver, and had strange metal rods sheathed to his belt. The words floated over his head, and while Enok felt like he had it at the tip of his tongue, he was clueless of their meaning. His blue arm was extended, offering Enok a pouch of water. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said, taking the water, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll be doing better once I get to rest though.¡± ¡°We¡¯re almost there,¡± the armored man said while Enok drank. He had a warm voice, the kind that easily gained people¡¯s trust, ¡°you will get to see the city as soon as we get on top of this hill, actually,¡± he added, waving hist fingers to a point in the distance. Something in their motion felt unnatural. ¡°My name is Oliver, everyone calls me ¡®the captain¡¯ though. I am this bunch of loud city rats¡¯ leader.¡± ¡°And I am Enok,¡± he said, giving the pouch back,¡°are the scouts that went to check on the kirishans back yet?¡± ¡°Not yet, don¡¯t worry about them though, those two are among the best I know.¡± ¡°I see...¡± then it clicked in his mind. ¡°Your arm and leg, they are not natural limbs, are they? They are mechanical?¡± The man¡¯s brows went up in surprise, he then laughed, ¡°well, Dom told me you were peculiar, but I would have never guessed it was at this point! Not many people are shocked by prosthetic limbs anymore.¡± he then knocked twice on his metal leg, adding on a conspiring tone, ¡°I got these babies when I was still an upstanding soldier of the Neopanth, fighting for peace, freedom and whatever other pretext the politicians of that time had chosen. It¡¯s far from being the best technomancy out there, but at least it doesn¡¯t need that much care.¡± Enok looked at his first example of technomancy with mixed feelings. People with artificial parts were called , meaning that in a way they were seen as better. On one hand the limbs allowed the soldier to live a normal life and earn a living, but on the other, Enok couldn¡¯t help but feel like if the mortals had done this, then they had done more, and somewhere out there was something going much more blatantly against the natural order. When the thought that he probably was that thing dawned on him, the captain spoke: ¡°Actually, it¡¯s a good thing that you¡¯re bringing the subject. I couldn¡¯t help but notice the marks on your arms, and they reminded me of ones I have seen a very long time ago...¡± Enok looked at him, thinking that long sleeves would now probably be a necessity. ¡°... A master of aura defeating a group of kirishans isn¡¯t that unbelievable in itself. But for one your age to defeat them, while protecting his friends and have the luxury to spare their lives?¡± he shook his head, ¡±those who would believe it actually happened, would all come to the conclusion that you¡¯re a drifter.¡± He paused and stared at Enok, who simply stared back, his expression neutral. ¡°Now the question they would all like to have an answer for is, who are you and what is your goal?¡± ¡°Does it really matter?¡± Enok asked. ¡°It does,¡± the man said, ¡°don¡¯t get me wrong, the fact that Mein and Dom are your friends is enough for me to know that you can¡¯t be a bad lad. But drifters are like forces of nature, wherever they go, things tend to get dangerous for those who are in their way... Especially in the way of young ones with those tattoos.¡± ¡°I¡¯m a traveler. And I¡¯ll be in and out of your city in a day, at most. For the rest... I guess people will just have to not get in my way, which I assure you is pretty easy,¡± he said with the same neutral tone.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. The man scratched his head and nodded, ¡°Well, that sounds fine by me. In any cases, I¡¯ll tell my boys to keep it shut about the whole thing with the kirishans, and come with a story for those who could be curious about your wounds or the red light that appeared yesterday night. I¡¯d rather not have someone dumb enough to have views on you try his chance.¡± ¡°That¡¯s well appreciated.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mention it! Mildbloom may be famous for the shady individuals living in its shadows, but it has some honest people that I¡¯d rather not see stuck between crossfire.¡± Enok answered with silence, frowning. The Mildbloom of his memories was famous for a lot of things, but not for harboring ¡®shady individuals¡¯. Alfheim used to be a world mainly filled with elves, and the Flower Kingdom, with its large forests and flora that couldn¡¯t be found anywhere else, was the world¡¯s heart. The elves preferred to live among the tall trees, closer in that sense to most mystic races, but unlike the forests that they sometime had to leave because of dangerous creatures or wars, Mildbloom had been a constant exception for ages. That was because instead of living between the trees, there, they could inside the tree. The tree in question had grown out of a blessed seed, planted there by a dwarf scholar trying to prove that the gigantic plants of Babel didn¡¯t owe their sizes to a superior soil, and that they would grow the same no matter which world they were planted in. He was proven right, but unfortunately not during his lifetime. A hundred years later, the plant¡¯s roots had grown big enough to pierce the lowest parts of the earth¡¯s mantel, intaking any nutrient available and even absorbing magma. Needless to say, people were very surprised when a tree spanning around fifty kilometers in width suddenly pushed out of the landscape, causing earthquakes and the firsts volcanic activity seen on the Path. People never got to know how tall it would have gotten though, since it was sliced by Kaja herself. Left alone, it would have sucked Alfheim dry of life, as it was unable to support such organism. The elves hollowed out the base of the tree and a new city named Mildbloom was born, with blessed bark for walls; and in Babel, ashamed scholars installed the statue of a dwarf who had been ridiculed until his death for an attempt to prove that all worlds were equals. The city had grown prosperous, famous for being a place where everybody could freely interact with the arrogant elves and seek their services without worrying about arrows coming from a nearby tree. ¡°Boooss! Needing you here!¡± someone called from the back, breaking Enok¡¯s daydream. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s my cue to leave, the scouts must be back,¡± said the captain with a smile, ¡°when was your last time in Mildbloom, lord Enok? The sight from here is pretty great.¡± ¡°It was an eternity ago. And just call me Enok.¡± ¡°Ah, yes, that would be better if we want people to not think too much about who you are,¡± the soldier said, guiding his horse to the rear. Now on his own, Enok noticed they had almost reached the top of the hill from which the city should be visible. For some reason, he wasn¡¯t sure he wanted to see it just yet. Clinging to the past? Kaja¡¯s voice chuckled in his head. Not really. Just that we got enough proof that the people were able to surprise even us. I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s going to happen again and I¡¯m not looking forward to it. This is just the beginning of our journey. From here to the end of the worlds, the surprises are just starting. Man, you¡¯re so moody these days. Says the one who angrily cut down a giant tree out of spite only because she had lost a bet, when she was supposed to just stop its growth. That was ages ago! Ugh, fine, I¡¯ll let you sulk all you want. A moment after that mental grunt, an orb of blue light flew out of Enok¡¯s pocket in direction of Mein and Domor¡¯s carriage. Just when he let out a sigh of exhaustion, the city finally revealed itself to him, inside a valley nested between hills. Fortunately, Enok had been steeling himself and only wondered if it was really the same place he had once known. Only a small section of the north wall was still made of wood. The blessed bark was mostly gone and had been replaced by high walls of dark metal, only shorter than chimneys springing up two very eye-catching cylindrical buildings and several unmoving cranes that seemed to be made of the same material. It seemed that at some point the city had lacked space for the number of inhabitants, as there was multiple buildings outside the walls, forming a trail of houses that got thinner the further it went from the steel. The streets in and outside the walls were bustling with enough activity for it to be visible even with the distance, meaning that, at least, Mildbloom had kept its activity. Besides the dark steel that the biggest and oldest buildings seemed to be made out of, what would caught one¡¯s attention was the old railroad that went through the city, and four stone needles placed around it, far enough from the walls that it wouldn¡¯t bother the stream of people and carriages. It was as much a different city as it could have been. As he was taking the scenery in, a blue window suddenly popped up.
Quest
Find the wretched soul suffering a fate worse than death in Mildbloom and grant it your help in exchange for knowledge.
Reward : Exp, ?.
Well, at least there was something he could look forward to. For now, all that should matter was that that he managed to go through the gate in Aurora, and if it required strength, then all the Exp he could get was welcome. Noting some floating islands in the horizon as he followed the path going down the hill, Enok couldn¡¯t help but wonder what had been done to them and if there was some abomination of steel on each one. *** Mildbloom was a dirty city. Streets filled trash, scraps of metal and many people who didn¡¯t care about much. Their group attracted some attention when they entered the city, but it was due to the fact that Oliver ¡°the captain¡± was apparently some kind of celebrity, especially with the ladies. They left the mercenaries after reaching an inn Mein was familiar with. In the end, the scouts that had been sent to where the battle with the Kirish tribe had taken place didn¡¯t find anyone there, though they confirmed that a violent fight had clearly recently happened there. They seemed to have only been worried about finding corpses left unattended, and didn¡¯t press the matter any further. ¡°I travel a lot,¡± Mein said while they were getting Naope and the bull, along with the carriage, settled in the stables, ¡°a bit for the clan and bit for myself. I always come here when I have to do business in Mildbloom. The people that will take care of the sale will meet us here.¡± ¡°Trustworthy people?¡± Enok asked, stroking Naope¡¯s mane, ¡°from what I¡¯ve seen this place isn¡¯t the safest one.¡± ¡°Which is why it¡¯s the best place for those who do not want things traced back to them,¡± she winked at him, her ears perking up, ¡°no worries, I¡¯ve known them for a while. They are friends.¡± ¡°More like Mein has set up a real information network to satisfy her endless curiosity,¡± said Domor, bringing water and food to the animals, ¡±you would never guess the people she knows at the Velvet Kingdom North-East from here. We never had a journey like this one though, and I hope it¡¯s not gonna happen anytime soon again.¡± ¡°Do yo really mean that, though?¡± she asked lowering her tone. He made a sound between a snort and a laugh, ¡°Oh, I do.¡± There was a silence that they used to discharge the carriage of some of the smaller commodities that Foxglade clan members had sent to sell, when Mein suddenly said: ¡°I personally think it was the best thing to happen in my life.¡± Domor sprung up, looking at her, ¡°Mein...¡± ¡°Have you ever thought something like this could happen? Fighting the kirishans and winning? Discovering we had the power to stand up to them? Us, two members of the weakest, most mocked clan of the Broken tribe region?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t just us, Mein. There was Kaja and Enok, a drifter, and without them we would have died. You know it.¡± ¡°But still!¡± she almost screamed. Domor put a hand on her shoulder. She paused, breathed. ¡°Still,¡± she said, ¡°we did something, for once. For once we didn¡¯t stare down and move along. For once I felt alive. And maybe we can do more than fighting for our survival.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± the warrior asked, doubt already present on his face. ¡°The Iron Queen,¡± she started, ¡°we-¡± ¡°No,¡± he interrupted her. ¡°You said it yourself! We¡¯re all prisoners trapped in here with her! Things are bound to go worse at some point, but even though the Neopanth isn¡¯t doing anything right now, if we take her down they everything will be good again!¡± ¡°And how exactly do you propose we do that, Mein? Enok, am I right?¡± She looked at Enok who was sitting on a crate next and hadn¡¯t spoken until now, her eyes filled with determination. ¡°We would help,¡± she said, ¡°and I know many others would.¡± He didn¡¯t know what to say, and her shining stare was somehow hard to meet. ¡°I know you are not happy with it. I remember how you reacted when you heard the world¡¯s gate was closed to most.¡± Enok closed his eyes, and discarded the weight in his stomach. ¡°I am sorry Mein,¡± he said on an even tone, ¡°but I have to go. I have goals of my own, and little time to realize them. I can¡¯t be part of a civil war.¡± They stood in a silence perturbed only by the snorting animals. Her hands were shaking and her fists closed so hard her knuckles were white. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said again. ¡°Don¡¯t... Don¡¯t be,¡± she said, ¡°you¡¯ve given me a lot already. Not just the magic. I¡¯m not sure you even know, but I owe you my life since you destroyed the primer. So I know I¡¯m the unfair one here.¡± With that said, she wheeled around and walked out the stables. Domor gave him an empathizing look, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, she will be fine. She¡¯s just been through a lot in a short amount of time.¡± He then left on her trail. Sitting and thinking to himself, Enok heard his sister¡¯s voice, ¡°You said the right thing.¡± He thought about how full of expectation her gaze had been. ¡°I know,¡± he said.