《The Path of Healing》
Shocking Welcome
The night was peaceful, a gift of the semi suburban area near a busy city where Aiden was renting. He sat alone on the curb like when he was younger, feeling the calm of being one of few awake. Breathing in cold air, he let the stress roll off as suppressed thoughts and reactions passed swiftly through his mind.
When stillness finally settled within, it was time to stand and walk through the side gate. The entrance to the guest house was private, allowing for the home owners and their family not to be bothered by his varying sleep schedule. Pulling out a smart phone, there were still no messages. No calls. A few e-mails automatically sent by servers, the new junk mail. This used to be a source of some grief, but these days it meant nobody needed anything done. That was now comforting if anything. The bed called, but after lying down sleep still seemed distant. Suddenly the ceiling was captivating. The flat dull rectangle was probably just covered drywall, with a domed light. A visualization started to unfold of all the variations on the standard techniques, creating a whole new building than the one he was in. The bulb within the dome popped loudly drawing his focus to the overhead light. A glance at the switch showed the power was not even on to the socket.
Curiosity pulled Aiden to his feet, opening the panel to the breakers by the corner. None of them were tripped. Everything plugged in now was looked over. The TV wouldn¡¯t turn on, gaming computer fried, not even the microwave responded. Pulling out his phone, he was slightly relieved to see the light still worked. The moment was stolen within a flash as darkness flooded in anyway. The floor felt softer than usual, and it was the last observation that entered his mind as consciousness slipped away.
A fluid like black comfort held him at what he felt was a decent height, looking down onto a mirror. The angles were all wrong though.
This is no mirror. That IS me.
He looked at his body standing without out him. A funny smile that was not his own spread on the uncharacteristically hopeful features.
Name: ?
Words hung in the air above.
My name?
He thought watching it being spelled out.
Wait, delete. No. My name is Aiden, he tried saying without a mouth.
Thankfully the text deleted backwards letter by letter being replaced with his first name.
Confirm? Yes, confirm.
The words disappeared, replaced with another prompt.
Fighter, Thief, Mage, or Priest?
Recognizing basic classes from games, he had trouble deciding. Aiden was more of a shooter fan. The dream¡¯s outlandish nature captured his attention. It was very lucid, especially considering he rarely dreamed at all these days. A timer appeared above the question. It seemed he had twenty seconds left to decide, but he instead decided that he was done participating. It was time to wake up. The word Priest emboldened slightly as the rest faded. A character stat and skills list appeared, and it seemed to make perfect sense immediately. It was somehow more of a memory than new information. A wind rushed and twisted, pulling him down back toward his own form, and the world flickered back on.
Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.His eyes felt like they were covered in sand as he struggled to his feet. He looked around and couldn¡¯t help but notice a box that floated with his eye movement. His attention caused the box to open. A dress appeared on his body, and a stick in his hand. Small boxes of text appeared in the edge of his mind. Tattered Robes and Wooden Mace followed by some details. Aiden looked at the stick in his hand. Not a mace, he thought to himself. In response the second box appeared in his mind again. Wooden Mace, damage 1-5, one handed, melee. A sigh of frustration filled the room, just before the screaming started. Voices, and growls, glass breaking, followed by a small explosion. Adrenaline flooded in, and he was on the sidewalk before processing anything else. His left hand held up the long robes, and his right held the stick.
The neighbor was being pulled from their front door by a disfigured animal that was unfamiliar. Two legs, two arms, a pale grey mixed with green splotches, and a loyal dog latched onto a calf. Catching a glance of the entire street being invaded, Aiden lunged towards the neighbors front yard. Ten feet from the creature he stopped and let out a loud sound like someone grabbing the attention of a child about to touch a hot stove. Both dog and creature froze and looked at him, and he froze as well briefly. His hand reacted first, swinging the stick over and over at the creatures head hitting arms trying to block as much as the intended target. The advantage of surprise paid off, and he was notified in the same place as the box had appeared within. Weak Goblin had been defeated. A small number of experience followed. The neighbor grabbed their dog and bolted towards basement stairs.
Aiden turned to see more Goblins wreaking havoc, and as he focused on the nearest he remembered the dream. Skills: Cure, Cleanse, Smite.
Almost as soon as he wondered how he could smite his new enemy, a bright flash appeared inside the goblin. He felt drained as a pool within his very core lost a little power. More than he would have liked. A quick estimate seemed to suggest that he only had a few of those in him. The text appeared again, but he ignored the notification of the Goblin''s defeat. Many enemies were already too far gone, dragging people he barely knew yet into the distance. Everyone had odd clothes on, so hopefully these also came with skills. The only other person left on the street was a woman holding what looked like a wooden sign post that people used to stick in the yard with a message on a board. Three Goblins littered her yard, and one was lying halfway in a broken window. They exchanged glances, and being satisfied that the worst was over Aiden walked towards her exhausted. Before he got halfway there she slumped down, sprawled on the lawn.
Camping at the River
He first noticed large scratches in her leather coverings, extending rather deep into her skin. Her breathing was ragged and raspy. Text started to appear in his mind again as he examined her.
Name: ???, Race: Human, Class: Fighter, Health 34%, Rage 0%, and two symbols that he did not recognize. Deciding to help, he roughly pushed out his hand forward while commanding loudly, "Cure." Nothing happened. A breeze ruffled one of his long sleeves as he held his hand in the air. He recalled the list of skills again, and before the memory played out in his mind text appeared again. It was a list of his skills, floating in his imagination. This was as vivid as the dream he had less than twenty minutes ago.It was certainly there. Cure level 0. A small image next to it of green sparks moved slightly in a repeating pattern.
How do I use it though.
As if in response, more words appeared next to the skill after a hyphen. Repair targets physical form while restoring small amounts of health, channel.
That does technically answer the question. I suppose I should be more specific.
How do I start the skill being actively utilized?
Casting spells and using skills is intuitive. See and feel it happening, and then will it to be. It is magic.
The responses felt so rigid and cold. Foreign. This was not an inner contemplation, but felt more like actual answers into his brain. The more he considered it, the more invasive it seemed. Worry could be addressed at this matter later, someone was dying. Aiden had never seen wounds deep like this. The blood fell from some scratches in a pulsing rate of waves, probably related to the beating of her heart. He imagined them closing up, and her feeling strength return which he visualized as a big smile and her eating broccoli. He felt the skill beginning to draw on his spirit, and saw faint glows of cool colors around the injuries. It looked more like a thick liquid than layers of skin, growing and melting back together. Small flashes of brighter golden light shined as each scratched finished healing, and then her entire body looked a bit like when you held a small flashlight under your hand in the dark. The dim glow moved around as her health percentage started returning, like a swarm of fireflies. He laughed a little, and then felt nauseous. His hand pressed his stomach, and massaged it slowly. He felt more hungry than the times he had gone days without food. The woman was not waking up, so he checked himself again. Name: Aiden, Race:..
Not that, why am I so hungry. Am I losing health? I ate dinner.
Health: 100%, Spirit: 1% ... 2%
The word spirit next to a pool of liquid shocked him. Hoping this wasn''t a more literal form of selling his soul, he was at least relieved that it was recovering. It was slow, but it seemed the old rules applied still as well. He ran into the unconscious woman''s home, and rummaged the shelves for something to eat. A package of lunch meat, a cold can of beans, and a box of cheese crackers later his stomach felt better. The normal bulge from a binge like that was absent strangely. Checking himself showed that his spirit was still taking it''s time to recover, and checking the unconscious women started an edge of frustration to burn in him. She was slowly losing health still even though everything was repaired. He disregarded a small amount of modesty and checked more closely. Nothing observable was wrong. A plan to get to the urgent care formed in his mind reflexively.
Aiden cradled and then rolled her body into the bed of a nearby pickup. The keys were nowhere in the vehicle, but just inside the open front door he noticed them on a hook. Sliding onto the seat, the ignition turned silently. Not even clicking. No noise at all.
The useless keys sailed through the passenger window as he started hunting for a wheelbarrow, and thankfully instead found a wagon. That would work much better. The woman''s legs and arms hung over the edges slightly, but comfort was not much of a priority. Vigilance and awareness lit the slow travel just a few blocks away to the medical offices. Every corner he expected to see some new horror, but instead was greeted with stillness and the occasional stain on the ground of misfortune. Windows and doors were broken. A few more shaped pieces of wood littered the ground here and there, mighty weapons of the fallen. His mace was left on the lawn, replaced by a peice of rebar he had seen in the truck bed.
The urgent care''s lobby was empty. Aiden held his breath listening more closely. He could hear a crunching of some sort just around the corner, in a hall behind the main desk. Leaving the wagon, he crept as quietly as possible towards the noise. Grasping his rebar a bit more firmly the top of his head poked out from the edge of the corner. He was expecting something to be making a meal of someone, but instead his eyes landed on a grayish-blue thin person with horns and pointy ears. Rather tall, and gleaming silver eyes. The man''s boot stomped over and over on what was left of a large and more scary version of a wild pig.
"Not a single," he said with a stomp. "Solitary survivor," followed by a crunch, "of the connection in this whole area."
Before his foot fell again his head snapped up, and he locked eyes with the small floating portion of Aiden''s exposed face. A brightness filled his demeanor, followed by an excited smile. Aiden''s questioning internally was answered in what seemed to now be the new normal for him, floating thought text.
Race: Nature Elf, Class: Archer
As the elf carefully took small steps forward, Aiden simply sat down and crossed his legs.
"Nope," he said in a flat defeated tone.
"Nope?"
"No more, nu uh, not happening, I''m done, nope," Aiden replied louder.
The elf sighed sympathetically. "You''ve just begun, you can''t be done."
The sitting melted into lying flat on the ground in the hallway. Sprawled, looking up through the ceiling into the universe beyond, Aiden took his first big breath in what seemed like days.
"Very few make it through a harvest like this. You are in an area with much life. It can be overwhelming, but you need to get up. There may be more to do, and this is no place for rest," The elf said offering his hand as support. "I am Traestin. Nice to meet you."
The words sunk in faster than was expected, and ignoring the hand, Aiden leapt up to his feet. "We need a doctor," he said over his shoulder rushing to lead the elf to the lobby.
"I do not know what is wrong with her. Her wounds were healed. I even restored much of her health, but the percentage keeps going down. We have to get her to help."
Aiden pointed at the limp form in his borrowed wagon.
The elf looked worried briefly, then laughed.
"If the situation was any different she would certainly be lost, but I think you are forgetting you ARE the doctor," Traestin said.
"I already tried curing her, it didn''t fix anything. She still hasn''t move at all," he replied.
"Do you know how to see information from the network," the elf asked while pulling the woman onto the floor.
Aiden took out his cell phone, and checked. No service, no access to the internet, no WiFi available. "There is no network, I''m surprised my phone even works. It seems like electronics all took a large surge a while ago," he said turning his screen to prove it to the elf.
"The network is connected to your mind through all the current infrastructure of this planet. That was the surge you mentioned, and also the reason for many electric based devices here not working anymore. I can''t explain much further than that unfortunately. I do not speak your tongue, and the translation keeps many secrets safe. There are those that try and learn to communicate without it to share sensitive information. At the moment I would suggest learning to use it to see information. You have many secondary skills, and your observation should start out high enough to be able to see the problem at hand. Both myself, and your companion are very lucky to have encountered you on this night," Traestin explained.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.The system must be far beyond anything humans had. The elf was being translated in real time so seamlessly that Aiden hadn''t even noticed the sounds not matching his moving lips. If it could alter sound, and kept information from being shared during translation, then why would it allow that information to be told in a shared language. It could just change or take away the words. He was a quick study in most situations. Improvisation helped him a lot moving around as much as he did, but this wasn''t making much sense.
Hello? I would like to observe the state lady on the floor, can I get so more information?
Conversation is inefficient. Look for what you seek.
Feeling a bit slighted by the impatient new imaginary friend forced into his brain, Aiden tried looking at the woman while holding concern for her. Focusing on the need to see more information, rather than thinking in words.
Health: 22%, followed by the same symbols from earlier.
This must be the key. What were they, though.
Minor Poisoning: Target is losing health slowly as poison from a goblin bite spreads through the body. Unconscious: Target has fallen due to falling below 10% health.
That would have been useful to know earlier. Without buttons this is harder to do than he would have expected from technology this advanced. He held up his phone having an idea, and trying to feel it activate with the system. It popped slightly as the screen broke.
Seems to be the way things are going, there should be a simple key to all this. Technology is created to make things easier not more difficult usually.
Intuition.
That makes even less sense the second time.
All Aiden new of intuition was from the tarot card reader on the end of his block. She would always tell him, "you already know. Don''t overthink, and trust your intuition buddy." Never made sense then. Still doesn''t. How do you do something without thinking about it?
I am cleansing the poison with my super holy powers that I have now, which makes perfect sense of course.
He thought mocking the entirety of his existence in this moment, and even added a little bit of a dance like wiggle. The draining feeling was immediate as a cool wind that smelled like the tree from his backyard when he was a very young child. His hand went to his stomach again, which had no business pretending there was more room left inside to eat. One cast of this skill left his spirit almost empty again, but he couldn''t be sure he had even fully recovered from earlier.
"That will become less troublesome. It is just new for your form," The elf said offering a glass bottle. Through the open top, Aiden smelled a sweet almost sour scent of some fruit or berry he wasn''t able to recognize. Taking it closer he smelled again, and then tasted a small drop on his tongue. It didn''t seem to have anything toxic to his body inside. He drank a mouthful and felt better, like watermelon on a hot day after working.
Pulling on what little spirit he had left at the moment, he used cure to restore some of the lost health again.
"We''d better head to a nearby safe spot. I know a camp by the river south east of here," The elf slumped the now resting patient onto the wagon again. Motioning to follow with a waved hand, Traestin walked out the door. "Aiden by the way," the cleric said stepping out with him, "Nice to meet you too."
He held his spirit pool total in the edge of his mind and watch it recover slowly. As far as alien apocalypses go, this wasn''t too bad. His new friend seemed to be motivated to help us even. While walking and wondering how to tell friend from enemy, another monstrous pig ran out from behind a nearby bus bench. One way to tell was the things trying to kill him were probably enemies, which happened more slowly in the old world. He held his rebar in both hands, standing behind a fire hydrant to block the line of charge from the opponent. Ready to bludgeon the beast, Aiden watched as it flew sideways mid run. An arrow stuck out from it''s upper neck. Stat point available.
"I got a stat point," he told Traestin as more of a question.
" Carry the boar, we are almost there. See the light?"
Aiden lifted the boar onto his shoulders, and followed the pointing finger. There was a patch of space by the river, off the side of a small road, lit up with a camp fire. There seemed to be some tents, and a table towards the center. Next to them a large pole sat with a horn on top. When they arrived two others greeted them both by grasping a shoulder, and then nodding. One of them was covered in scales, and the other looked a bit like the dog statues from Egyptian culture documentaries.
"Cleanse the boar so we can cook it my friend," Traestin said while taking the corpse from his shoulders, and slapping it on the table. He then carried the sleeping fighter to a bedroll inside a tent near the fire.
Aiden tried casting his skill the same as last time, but instead of wind a translucent flame swept through the boar. A trail of shiny white dust flowed into the air, spiraling out of sight.
"A cleric," shouted the dog excitedly. Jackal.
What?
Name: ??, Race: Jackal, Class: Boxer, Health: 45%, Momentum: 0
That explain two things. He didn''t have much spirit left, but what he had was channeled into restoring the boxer and his friend slightly. Cure level 1.Their health would also return with the meal and sleep. He was told they would now be fully healed by morning ready for adventure.
"Should I take first watch," Aiden offered, thinking that he could at least alert them of danger while they rested.
"We are protected," Traestin said pointing up at the horn, "That is a tiny paragon relic, it''s presence keeps darkness out."
It did not give of any visible light, so he must have meant the new hostile guests.
"Larger relics have more protected area, and sometimes many are placed together for larger outposts or reclamation projects. Whatever is done inside the protected area benefits the paragon, and owner of the relic."
Aiden rested his forehead on the table and sighed, "even in this fever dream I imagine myself having to pay taxes."
"Not taxes. You are allowed in this way to thank your hosts. Sometimes a part of currency from trades, a little energy from this meal, the light from the cleansed boar spirit. It is not required. The protection is given. Some choose to do certain things just over the edge, which is just as safe. Paragons are not infected with greed. Native hosts have been known to be a nuisance, though. You should advance your wisdom," the elf explained.
"How would I learn these things without someone telling me?"
"Not that, your wisdom stat."
He remembered the available point. Strength: 2, Stamina: 3, Agility: 2, Intellect: 4, Wisdom: 4, Charisma: 3, Luck: 2.
Deciding to just take the advice this time, he visualized the wisdom as a five. It changed, and text followed. It explained that certain skills would be easier to gain experience for, and he had more available spirit which could recover a little faster now. After most of the boar was eaten, a hand inched out from the fighters tent. It was followed by a groan. "I smell food," came a soft high voice in almost a grunt. Everyone exchanged glances. "Food," the fighter growled again, a little more demanding.
Not quiet enough
Traestin was impressed at the recovery rate of the young fighter. She was awake just hours after almost dying. He cut several slices of meat, and pulled out another bottle of gronberry juice as an extra boost. The juice was one of the few things he brought with on his jump, along with some seeds to grow a bush some day here. Gronberries were not only tasty, but had a wide range of physical effects. As long as there was food in your stomach, they enhanced most of the bodies natural processes. This helped more in prevention than restoration, but it had a lot of natural sugars as well. He hoped the initial burst will help with getting the rest down. The tent hung open slightly as the woman peered out waiting for the meal. He place it down at the entrance, and introduced everyone.
"I am Traestin, the blonde man on the left is Aiden, and these are two people that joined me upon arrival, Greg and Amon."
The woman looked at each one by one, taking in the variety of appearance without much reaction.
"My name is Ashlee, with two E''s," she responded between mouthfuls. "You may recognize me from my fitness or gaming streams."
Traestin turned back to exchange looks with the others. Aiden, deciding to step in, stood up and walked to the tent. Watching Ashlee inhale half her body weight in roasted monster, he cleared his throat lightly. She hadn''t even asked what it was that she was eating. It did look like any other pile of meat, and wasn''t overly gamey. He decided he couldn''t really blame her given the situation at hand.
"I''m not sure how to break this to you, but I don''t think these guys know you. They aren''t exactly from around here, ya know? We met last night when I was trying to find you some help," Aiden said squatting down.
"I have seen a few of her videos," Amon added in the background. As he did, Ashlee glanced at the speaker with a smile. Took in the dog like features again, and continued eating.
"You.. have," Aiden turned and asked incredulously.
"I used to have a lot of free time. The occasional change of a sprinkler was the most expected of me back home," he said casually as if that answered the question completely.
"We''ll come back to that. You don''t seem very concerned that we have been invaded by a bunch of other planets," Aiden said.
"It''s not the first time, plus there were a few already here. I''m more surprised that you are surprised. Have you never watched a documentary? Completely ignored the history channel? There is a lot of information available on alien life out there. Just yesterday I was talking with my followers about.."
"The whole omnipresent network, skills, and fighting stuff totally normal for you as well," Aiden interrupted, now feeling even more out of place than when the night had begun.
"I''m just glad we were around low level enemies," Ashlee said happily, then turning to Tristan she asked, "Were there other places that got invaded by bosses or high level enemies?"
Aiden gave up trying to be consoling, and headed back to the bench. He was obviously less useful in this conversation than he had assumed.
"A very small amount. I takes a lot of dark source to get them here with anything very worrying. They mostly rely on the element of surprise. We were more powerful ourselves before jumping here, but we chose to sacrifice a lot of our source to get here instead of pulling on the network," Traestin replied.
Ashlee finished both the meat and the entire bottle of rare juice before standing up. Stretching her arms wide she let out a loud burp, and handed the dishes back to Traestin.
"Looks like I gained a level, and some skill levels in that first battle. I think I''m going to go more heavy on defense since we have a healer. How can the two of us start getting equipment," she said to everyone heading towards them.
"I don''t think you should be so ready to rely on my cleric stuff, I don''t know much about what is happening. I barely finished high school, and have been doing day labor ever since," Aiden said to to the whole team. He felt like they all were overestimating how much he knew about this new existence before the surge.
"You haven''t been useless, although you should''ve kept your starting weapon," Greg confessed.
"This bar is way heavier and more durable," Aiden replied swinging it in the air a bit.
"You need to start examining things with the system is all. That bar will do nothing," Ashlee told him while resting a hand comfortingly on the back of his neck. He tried shrugging off her light grip, but her hand followed. She pointed to the bar and continued, "Look at it as an item in this new world, not as an item of our old world."
That was a really good way of describing it to him, even though he felt patronized. He looked at the bar as an item of the new world, and text appeared by it. Old World Salvage, this item may be recycled or sold.
"It doesn''t even have any damage numbers like the stick."
"Your mace was a weapon," Amon offered, "That is a bar."
Ashlee nodded in agreement, and went back to addressing the others.
"Don''t worry, you''ll be a fine healer once you settle in. Back to my question, where is the loot," Ashlee asked the others, while giving Aiden''s neck a squeeze. Here he was thinking he had been the hero of the night, and now he felt more like a liability. His spirit had been recovering a little faster since the new level. He wasn''t entirely useless, but now he had no weapon. Greg and Amon looked at Traestin, giving him a nod.
"We actually had planned on going into a shrine together as soon as possible to try and save more natives. You were in rough condition so we would have waited until you recovered, but now that you are on your feet it may be possible. There will be more of a challenge, but rewards will follow based on the outcome. Sometimes enemies have equipment, and sometimes if enough source is released the system will make something for us from a part of it."
Ashlee thought on this for a moment, taking a seat at the bench.
"What are these sources." Aiden asked.
"That is a lifetime study. The basic answer is light and darkness. The world you see is a reflection of light, an actual force that permeates and rebounds all over. There is a also an entire universe you cannot see. This is a place that does not light. If we cross over there, or they cross over here, it takes energy from those sources that hold and create these energies. We can release the stored energy near stars, like your sun, and it will become part of the light that is our realm. Think of stars as furnaces powering your universe," Traestin moved his hand gracefully sweeping the blanket of night above them.
"We can study later," Ashlee interrupted. "If we can pick up something basic for Aiden and me to utilize on the way. I say we strike before they have time to settle in and grow. They feel like parasites."
"It is actually relatively safe now that we have Aiden. The easiest way to understand is that you have to keep an eye on our conditions and your spirit. Keep us above fifty percent health, mend more serious wounds, and cleanse any infections you can. I assure you it is not as difficult as you are imagining at this point. Most invasion periods have trouble because nobody ever starts as a cleric, and very few jump into invaded worlds," Greg said.
One part of Aiden pulled at him to not shoulder responsibility for these peoples lives without being confident in his ability, but on the other hand there were more people in danger. Since collapsing to the floor he felt like he hadn''t had any time to think. One emergency gave way to the next. The sun would be coming up soon, and he hadn''t rested yet. If it was possible at all though, however unlikely, he had to try and keep more people from the fate these dark beings had in store for them.
"Let''s head in the general direction of the shrine, and grab what we can on the way. I don''t see a reason not to try," Aiden told the others.
They all looked excited, and immediately began gathering their things. Ashlee picked at what was left of the roasted boar while talking to Amon about her tactics in a video game she streamed. His translation came through as "simulation" instead, and Aiden wondered what was actually getting through to them. How they sounded, in these other languages. Trying not to accidentally activate the system to respond, he instead started looking within seeing distance for items that could be used to replace his rebar. The night was darker than usual as most of the lights were gone now. A few places had battery powered set ups that seemed to make it through the change, which provided enough light to scan. Thankfully items new to this world also made themselves known during the search. He planned on trying to stay as far from the engagement as possible while still being useful.
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The others gathered at the edge of camp with small packs over their shoulders, where he joined them as they all set out into the early morning. They stayed on the roads, and sidewalks. Following Greg who had seen the shrine during his search. These places were almost the opposite of the camp they just left. Greg shared the way light being sacrificed here gave dark energy more efficiently to their enemies. The very presence of one pulled on the light in this world slowly, like a puncture in a pipeline.
Ashlee had found less a less torn up version of her armor, a wooden sword, and two shields. She had secured one to her back just in case. After talking with Traestin a bit, the elf found Aiden a nice wand and a small wooden symbol. Both would help his skills be more efficient, and his spirit pool''s recovery. He practiced focusing his magic through the wand on the way, which allowed him to fire small pellets. Most of all, he was happiest about the rusted metal armor pieces he was able to replace his robes with. They were noisy, and made using the wand a lot harder, but Aiden preferred being able to take a few hits just in case. He tested using cure on on Greg and Amon, seeing how much spirit was used in relation to how much was healed. The rate was inconsistent between the two, and Aiden noticed that the amount of health differed between each of his team now. His observation skill reached level four rather quickly, as he was actively taking in every detail he could while they followed Greg. Not much was changing as it improved yet. He could see health to a decimal now, and new world items had a few more details available when looking.
Greg held his arm out vertically to stop them all. They had made it towards the edge of down town with few interruptions. Goblins, boars, large bats, and a wolf like creature were quickly defeated. None of them took them team more than one volley of attacks to eliminate, and seemed to be wandering alone.
"Just around this corner is a large place of worship that has been converted. The dark beings are more stabilized here. There will be guards and defenses," Greg explained in almost a whisper.
"I''ll head in first then," Ashlee said starting to walk past his arm, but it did not move.
"You three will be guarding Traestin and me as we clear what we can without drawing attention. We do this safely, or we don''t do this."
Aiden now felt a little more excited than anxious. Sweeping the base unaware seemed to be more relevant to his knowledge than numbers and stats in head on battle. Ashlee nodded and stood close to Greg''s side, and Amon positioned himself to protect Traestin on the other side of them. Aiden followed in the back not to far behind as they rounded the corner. The old catholic church came into view over the tops of the nearby buildings between them, sitting on a slight hill. This had to have been where the group was heading to. They saw two goblins who seemed to be having a conversation in front of an old thrift shop.
Traestin motioned for everyone to wait behind the nearby dumpster as he climbed the side of the pizza shop next to them. When he returned he made hand motions to the others. Greg translated for the two new friends, "They''re isolated. We attack quietly and hard."
Amon pushed Ashlee to the front by his side, and started counting down with raised fingers. The two sprinted together towards the enemies with all their strength, while Traestin started firing arrows. Greg turned out to be a magic person as well, and was letting out small arcs of electricity from his hand. Aiden joined in with a few pellets from his wand. In the short time it took to reach the goblins, they had lost most of their health. One was more covered in charred spots, making a gurgling noise from it''s throat as it shook slightly. The other looked more like a pin cushion, blood pumping from a wound where it had ripped out one of the arrows impulsively. A few punches and slashes later, both fell completely overwhelmed. It was all slightly louder than Aiden would have preferred, but a few thuds and groans would be okay if there was distance from the rest of the enemies.
Traestin climbed high again to scout the next block. This could be as easy as they had implied. Aiden examined the bodies, now still and silent. Goblin Sentry, level: 8. No inventory.
They were a higher level than everyone, but somehow didn''t require much more effort. He would have to read more on the level system after this rescue mission was over.
Traestin lead them down a tight gap in between the buildings towards the next street up. The walls were painted white over a rough texturing. Aiden went slower than the others while trying to keep his metal from scraping loudly. By the time he reached the next side walk they had already started the next attack.
This time there were three goblins engaged by the ambush. One looked like it had tried to run, as it had fallen facing away from the party covered in arrows and singed patches along it''s back. The other two were making as much noise as they could while fending off Ashlee. She had decided to not only slash and stab at them, but was also pushing forward with her shield to keep them trapped against the wall. Amon was to her left punching spiked fists into the side of the closer goblin''s head whenever the perfect opening presented itself. These ones were taking more damage than the first. By the time the second goblin fell, the side Amon was attacking resembled a tenderized steak with one eye lost in the fight somewhere. He tumbled like a gymnast around Ashlee, pivoting at her back mid roll, and extended his legs straightening back into a stand at the other side next to the last sentry. Aiden noticed Ashlee pulled a rusted metal dagger from her stomach. She drove it into the goblin''s chest while holding him with the edge of her shield. Aiden had missed the wound, and cursed in a whisper as he started by first mending the flesh. Curing it was slower than he would have liked, as it was deeply torn. He was know thankful for the flash that signaled the closing of the wound, and switched over to cleansing the rust and other contaminants that had made it''s way into her body. There was no symbol signifying infection, but he wasn''t about to risk it. Finishing with a quick channel of cure again to top off her health, Aiden watched closely his spirit started to recover again. It was all a much smoother process with the right equipment. He hadn''t even dipped below eighty percent of his available pool. Amon was covering the goblin''s mouth, while Ashlee carved the knife around inside it where a human heart would have sat. It seem an effective plan, as Greg had stopped casting and Traestin had went to check around the corners to see if anyone had heard. The muffled noises in Amon''s glove stopped as the goblin''s health dropped to zero in less than a second. Ashlee must''ve finally found her target. Aiden felt reassured in his decision to have armor that could protect his vital organs after seeing the goblin fade.
Level 3, stat point available. Cure level 3. Cleanse level 2.
Aiden pumped his wisdom stat up one more to six, and was given the same response message. The rest of his stats went on the list of things he would have to learn as soon as there was time to process.
Traestin came back from the edge of the block with a finger over his lips, and dragged one of the bodies on the ground into a nearby dumpster. Aiden followed his lead, and started tossing dirt from a nearby planter over patches of blood from the fight. He did not believe they could effectively conceal the scene, but at least it could be harder to spot.
After doing the best they could in short time, everyone ran into a nearby apartment complex''s office lobby. Ashlee peered out a window and whispered, "They''ve seen the fresh signs of a fight. One ran back towards the church, and the rest are arguing while looking for the bodies. I think we''re screwed."
Amon pulled a chair over to the entrance door, and wedged it firmly. Even though the goblins didn''t know where they were, it was safe to assume they were no longer at ease. The church bell rang twice. There was no doubt left. The whole shrine knew they were under attack.
Still Alive
The hotel lobby was relatively undisturbed. A battery powered water fountain sat in the corner on a small table still trickling. Aiden was surprised at the things that had survived this invasion. The fountain was built with a water tank attached to replace what evaporated. It had a small solar panel charger for it''s battery in the window. Designed with low maintenance in mind, it would now be a reminder of the time when humans lived unafraid. He watched the water splash in the pool at the bottom of the feature for a while. The other three had immediately started strategizing. Ashlee wanted to rush in while they were still organizing, and take everything head on. Traestin and Greg wanted to lure small groups into ambushes. Amon kept suggesting heading out in a wide circle to flank the shrine dwellers, who would expect them to continue from he direction they were seen.
"They would not fall for the flank. Those we have seen here are clearly much different in the area around the shrine. They are empowered much more than I had expected when you described this place. We could try the other plans, but the have patrols everywhere. Flanking them is out. How would you go about luring them into ambushes," Aiden asked looking away from the water finally.
Everyone looked a bit surprised he had interjected.
"We stay on the edges, and make sure nothing gets behind us. Greg and myself will use high points to alert enemies to our presence. Places with few routes up. Between the two of us, we can take out small groups if they choose to run. If any make it out of our attack, we retreat and approach from another angle. You will all protect the pathways up to us, and jump out to finish any that choose to fight. Aiden will need to see all of us at all times, so your positioning is important. We carve our way to the corruption," Traestin explained. His hands played out the scenarios of the ground in between them all, sometimes using object snatched from around him.
"How often will we need to take breaks for your spirit," Aiden asked Greg.
"I use mana, which is another ambient source of energy. More volatile in nature. This will not be anything to be concerned with in this plan. After using a few spells, I will wait for my power to return. Traestin''s skills are complementary to this cycle. His attacks build points that skills consume. We will be alternating higher damage output periods," Greg replied.
"We will end up having to do both. I think we can chip at them for a while, but they will catch on. We will have to find a good place to fight when outnumbered in the end. A simple choke point," Aiden moved a few pieces of the junk on the floor. "It''s safe to assume they will have some sort of longer range attacks, so we will need to force them in to a kill box will being out of view. We stay on one side to avoid crossfire. A nice walled in corner we can improvise a platform so Traestin and Greg can aim down over our front line."
"The bar about two blocks from the church has a small truck dock for deliveries," Ashlee said pointing to the right of the church. "We will have to take a longer route to avoid getting too close to the shrine, but it would be the best spot I know of. There is already a platform trucks back up to. I can bring groups to us with my intimidate skill as well."
"Perfect. Let''s get moving," Aiden replied.
Amon stood up, and looked out the window. "We should find another exit, the area is still under heavier watch. We need breathing room," he said a bit quieter than they had been speaking before.
They moved behind the desk through the closest door opposite to the entrance, which led to what seemed like a small home off the back of the lobby. They searched several rooms, and ended up in the kitchen. A clear path seemed visible out the window, and Amon volunteered to head out first. From the parking lot they started heading around towards the bar quickly and quietly. Once they felt enough distance was made from the last engagement Traestin and Greg looked for a good vantage point for their first ambush. Spotting a few patrols and watch groups along the way, Traestin finally picked a spot to set up. Both he and Greg climbed a dumpster, up a sign, and onto the roof of a small restaurant. Greg needed a hand a few times, but there was only one way up, which made it an ideal perch. Aiden had to climb to the sign himself to keep them in view.
The closest group was standing watch. A patrol had just passed them, and they were more vigilant after hearing the news of something killing a few of them. One was very different from the other, almost like a small feral version of Greg. Aiden tried to see more details of everything within his view all at once, which turned out to be more than he''d expected. There was a significant amount of hallucinatory text. Not ideal for battle. Checking the creature quickly, he wiped everything other than their health percentages, and returned his attention to the two above him.
Kobold Scrapper, Level:6, Health 100%
Two goblins were looking down opposite side of the street on either side of the kobold. They had longer knives than the last ones, more of a shorter set of swords. Aiden felt the air move like it was being drawn to the trio. Looks of panic formed on each of their faces, and all were completely immobilized in less than a second. He saw little patches of frost of their skin. They were almost frozen solid, but still alive. A decent chunk of health had been taken.
Being a live popsicle is not much of an upside though. Aiden checked their health statuses and saw the freeze was temporary. After eight seconds they would be back to dangerous. Eight seconds was more than they had needed. Traestin had begun firing arrows from his seemingly endless quiver full. Every few shots one would hit with a force that shattered one of the frozen targets. Aiden even got in a few shots with his wand. It didn''t do much, but it also wasn''t nothing. His skill with wands level twice in just the one short barrage. Ashlee moved out from the side of the building and grab both weapons that were dropped on the ground. A small upgrade from the wooden one she was using. The extras went into Amon''s pack for safe keeping.
Traestin pointed in the direction of the nearest isolated group, and Ashlee went off to bring them over. She came running around the corner at a full sprint with her back turned. Another unexpected turn appeared just after her. There seemed to have been another group nearby and she was running from seven targets. Amon rushed out to meet her as she turned around and raised her shield. The pressure shifted again as Greg caught all but one in his icy prisons. The kobold was short enough that Ashlee crouched a little to catch his spear, that stuck into her arm slightly through the wood. The momentum of the charge allowed for a small wound, and decent damage to land, but Ashlee rolled in response. The spear was ripped from the kobold''s hands, and Amon started landing punches and kicks faster than Aiden''s eyes could follow. He close the wound are her arm, and started channeling his spirit into using cure. Her health filled up faster from another skill level in the middle of casting.
Cure Level 4.
His strength was growing fast in a few areas, but it was taking noticeably more to achieve another level every time. Traestin had smashed half of the frozen group, and Greg fired a few electric bolts into the kobold that was free. One of them arced directly into it''s open mouth, causing the kobold''s tongue to explode, spraying Ashlee with an almost purple blood splatter before it fell. Aiden could see the frost wearing off the last three as Traestin shattered one more. Ashlee yelled and rushed forward, her body smashing through the last two before they thawed. She turn around, took a few steps, and fell into a sleeping pose on the ground.
Aiden checked her a few times. He healed some minor scratches and bruising, but other than that she seemed fine.
"Raged out," Amon laughed, answering his unasked question. "I don''t miss that. She be up in a few seconds."
Traestin and Greg had climbed down, and started heading out towards the loading dock again. They were swinging a bit wider than Aiden would''ve liked. Adrenaline would only keep him awake for so long. The sun had been rising for a while now. A few beams crept over the horizon, making him regret skipping his rest even more. His tired body carried him to the next ambush zone. He kept popping into any store with food they passed, and he lucked into an energy drink stock in one of them. Everyone was getting into position, while Aiden was sitting with a backpack filled with anything calorie dense he had passed. The tired priest tossed stick of beef jerky at everyone. The snack break bolstered their morale for the next set of encounters. Things were going smoothly, and everyone adapted quickly. A kobold archer had caught Greg with an arrow once, but other than that Aiden only had to lightly patch and heal Ashlee. She had to grab the attention of a tougher goblin in one fight, and Aiden was amused by the way her skill seemed to be powered by an insult. He realized this whole time she must''ve been walking off, shouting something offensive at otherworldly monsters, and running back to the group repeatedly. On the easier engagements he practiced a few more casts of smite. It seemed harder to flow through him here, but also did a bit more damage when he landed the hit. He had gained two levels before the bar finally came into view. One point went into wisdom again, which was now more noticeable. The ease in casting with a lesser drain on his energy took the edge off the constant fighting.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. His fifth level came to him just before their destination. No snacks or drinks were powering him forward by the point. He took a chance, and increased his stamina once.
Health and Fitness increased. Total overall health gained, and you will find sustained action to be easier.
The effect was significant. He felt a second wind rush into his muscles and mind. The fatigue was still present, but it wasn''t as overwhelming as before. The satisfaction only grew after rounding the corner, and the dock came into sight. Everyone passed smiles, and a few nods towards their fighter. Her idea was perfect. Aiden broke bottles from the dumpster and layered glass shards all over the ledges that trucks usually backed into. Amon was sliding debris in different areas to control the influx from their choke point. Ashlee had gone into the bar, coming out with several bottles and cloth. Traestin flashed a devious smile, and walked over to help make the fire bombs. Greg was stacking things near the ledge to use as cover. While having a healer was nice, he still didn''t enjoy being shot with arrows. With preparations taken care of, everyone took position and Aiden ate some jerky while twirling his wand. He was scrutinizing the symbol that was given to him, and wondering how it helped his casting.
Minor Trinket of Eir, Spirit +11, Wisdom +1. This carving was blessed by a follower of the goddess Eir.
He didn''t have much time to ponder the existence of goddesses, as Ashlee had returned. She shuffled backwards to keep a group of kobolds on the other side of her shield. Greg froze all but one, and they all started shattering each one by one. Amon rushed the untouched kobold, and launched it with a kick off the wall into the alley again. The kobold saw everyone else being defeated, and chose to retreat as they had hoped. He would bring the rest. Greg grabbed some chocolate from Aiden, took the bottles, and climbed up to the roof. It didn''t take much time before he wave his hand to signal it was time. A seemingly endless stream started to pour like a swarm from the alleyway. A few were charred far more significantly than the fire bombs could have achieved. Greg clearly had a fire spell as well, and the combination was devastating. Some of the enemies looked more like zombified charred remains being forced into the front lines by the rest. The smell was tough to breath. Aiden found himself coughing and gagging a few times in between healing. Both Amon and Ashlee were requiring a lot of cleansing and healing. Constant infections and wounds were pushing Aiden below half spirit already. They were only holding on due to every increased main level fully restoring them. Ashlee''s rage gave her enough energy to use her shield walk skill often, which gave Aiden a bit of a break. She knelt into her shield taking a barrage of weapons while shouting the most obscene string of insults into the crowd. The skills kept the focus and her, and her shield undamaged. Amon held a second line, finishing anything that tried to get around Ashlee. Tristan was picking off the enemies with the lowest health first, thinning the crowd. He blinded the longer ranged enemies with an arrows or two into their eyes as soon as they rounded the corner. Things were going smoothly until something they hadn''t counted on created trouble. The sheer number of enemies dying built up a pile of corpses in front of them, giving the rest the ability to start climbing. Ashlee was having a harder time raising her shield upward, and the small boost gravity gifted the creatures was wearing her strength.
"To the roof! Ashlee and I will follow," Aiden shouted over the clash of the small war. Traestin and Amon didn''t argue, and rushed up. The archers rained piercing shots faster than before from the roof, which provided some cover for Ashlee''s climb. Amon helped pull her up and she lost consciousness and was carried to a safe distance. Aiden screamed, smiting the goblins that climbed faster. They were trying to make it up to the roof, but Amon kept kicking them down. Aiden could see there were less than fifty left on the ground, and they had given up on trying to climb. Some were bashing walls and supports trying to collapse the building, others were throwing whatever they could find as rage had consumed them. Aiden was chugging a gallon of milk, which he passed to Amon. The Jackal looked at him beaming with an out of place joy.
"I think we can rely on your more than you''d like to admit. Ashlee may be down, but she is alive. I know you will have my back," Amon said walking to the opposite edge. "Time to shatter again," he told Greg, and hopped off the roof into the street at the front. Greg and Traestin rushed to the other edge, letting out frustrated and exhausted grunts. It did solve the problem of losing sight lines on the enemies, but the charge was in unison. Aiden pushed channeled his cure skill with everything he could. Having gotten used to the feeling, he flexed his connection to his power like a muscle. Pushing it harder than he had normally.
Empowered cast is draining more spirit per second. Watch your pool.
The system warned him while showing the drop visually. It was worth every drop, as they skill was actually weaving into Amon more effectively. His wounds closed rapidly at the same time his health was filling. Everything happened faster than the ambushes. Goblins and kobolds fell, shattered, and exploded around Amon. He was crushing skull after skull, hands and feet covered in pieces of his foes and their blood. Even the empowered cast failed to keep Amon over ten percent and he fell. Traestin and Greg had finished the last of the army, while Aiden had kept Amon''s health from reaching the zero point of death. Traestin did not bother to climb, and instead jumped down to carry Amon back up the other side. Everyone laid flat next to each other, breathing heavily. Aiden, Greg, and Traestin passed around energy drinks from their scavenge. The priest used his regenerating spirit to prop everyone back up over eighty percent health, and then they rested.
"That takes care of most of it, but we still have to clear the shrine," Traestin told Aiden. "We shouldn''t waste time. As soon as they''re up, we go in. With their army gone, the darkness inside will be rushing their sacrifices. They will be strengthened by what they have already performed. While they did enhance these around us, I have no doubt it was not an equal share."
A significant force has been vanquished. You have received a reward based on your contributions.
A staff appeared in the blink of an eye, rested on Aiden''s chest. It was made of a nice wood, and both ends had round metalwork with small crystals. Designs etched into most surfaces were mostly familiar. It was nice, but all Aiden could think of was the prisoners and sleep.