Ok, they’re not trying to hide it anymore, Daniel thought as he pushed around his dinner with a fork, having abandoned his hunger far earlier in the day. The fresh bread and salad, apparently the product of one of the first Farmers to have awakened the class, did little to stimulate his hunger. Part of it was Cloak yet again failing to act with any decency. The other was the sight in front of him. For all it made him happy to see, it dredged up memories that the discussion with Zolyra had already provoked.
As Wingcraft didn’t own any property in Aurus, and they had no expectation of remaining for any significant duration, they’d holed up with someone who’d gotten decent space both because of what he could afford, and what he’d done for the city. Also, because Murdon had two pretty good connections within Threst’s government. One had an arm draped around him now.
Tounaki and Murdon were opposites, but in a different way than he was with Lograve. The fire Arcanist hot on the heels of Murdon’s recent leveling was vibrant. To see how close she was to the draconoid now, the way she laughed around him and playfully picked at his stern exterior, made it clear she’d been trying very hard to hide the relationship before. The Knight for his part was refined, aware of her games and giving no strong sign of approval or disapproval, but still smiled at her when he thought no one else could see.
“I talked with Thomas today, before all of the craziness started,” Daniel said, feeling that he couldn’t sit and brood any longer. “No word on Lograve or the others.”
It was like he’d thrown ice into the room, Murdon’s expression growing grim until someone warmed him back up. “Hey, don’t worry about it. I’m sure he’ll turn up someday, right when we least expect it.” Tounaki flicked at one of Murdon’s horns as she detached herself and leaned back in her chair. “From what I’ve heard of him, he wouldn’t give up the chance to meet me and compete for your affection. You know, I better make sure I level up before he does.”
“We don’t have that kind of relationship,” Murdon chuckled. “At least, our bond hadn’t changed the last I checked.”
“Something else he has over me. Guess I should start trying harder to make one with you.”
If only it worked like that, Daniel mused, his spirits starting to lift from the secondary effects of Tounaki’s stunts. Leave it to fire mages to cause collateral damage. He thought of Khare at that moment, his failure in moving that bond remaining despite the encounters in the ruins.
The gestalt wasn’t present, though they’d responded to his mark message to let him know they were fine. He hoped they were meeting with the friends they’d made the last time they were here. “So, level 4,” Daniel spoke again, choosing a less depressing topic this time. “Did your class evolve?”
“No, still a Knight,” Murdon said in good humor. “Though I see now Lograve’s complaints about how difficult advancing is past the third threshold. I’ve only managed it once since, and I haven’t awakened the power I gained from level 4.”
A mischievous smile sparked on Tounaki’s face. “And we’ve tried a lot of things to figure it out. I can definitely say it’s not related to-“
“Let’s not get into specifics.” In an effort to change the topic, Murdon turned back to Daniel. “Could you identify it?”
“I shouldn’t,” Daniel reluctantly replied, noticing Khiat growing still where she was seated on the floor. He doesn’t know about the Spoke, right? Yeah, and Tounaki knows nothing. Just the quick check he had to do whenever he opened his mouth around people who didn’t know everything. Now wasn’t the time to get into it, even if he felt both were trustworthy. Murdon because he was one of the first people he’d told about Earth, and Tounaki because she was loyal to Soraso and in bed with the Knight. “If you don’t awaken it naturally, it can lead to problems.”
“Sensible, I understand.” He nodded and then addressed someone else in the room. “I realize I’ve neglected something. Willow, yes? I’ve heard Tlara has returned from the dead. I’m happy for you both.”
Daniel watched Willow’s response carefully. There was a slight bittersweetness to the Spirit Master as she accepted Murdon’s words, but nothing he’d think was out of the ordinary. The news about Grave being corrupted made him wary, but only of something happening to Willow. She had the benefit of the doubt, unlike a god that would remain unnamed. “Thanks, though are you sure you’re happy? I heard about the trouble she gave you in the Thormundz.”
“She had her moments, both good and ill. Either way, she didn’t deserve death for it.”
Tounaki swooped in. “Ok Mr. Darkscalie, enough of that.” Daniel watched, astonished, as Murdon didn’t directly oppose either the name or the chiding hand on his shoulder and only gave an embarrassed cough. “Hey, Willow, for both of us, congrats. I also heard that Knight did pretty well too. My guy’s just itching to know how he did.”
“Good!” Willow exclaimed, Daniel and Khiat nodding in agreement. “We would have been in trouble without him. Most of us were doing what we could, but he was keeping us safe at the same time.” She passed a half-troubled look to the window where, with the right angle, you could see the Divine Quarter. “He’s staying with his parents tonight. They’ve been helping with Hand’s church, and after what happened, I think he’s worried.”
“Has he managed to say anything?” Murdon asked, interested and temporarily unburdened of one fire red avianoid as the Arcanist used one of her feathers to relight a sputtering candle. “I understand that after being cursed for so long he had acquired ‘conditioned mutism’, as the Clerics put it.”
“A few words. It took a lot out of him.” Daniel snapped his fingers as he remembered. “Oh, he did manage an incantation.”
“That is excellent! I was familiar with his story before the Upswell. It was a shame, what happened to him. As I’ve heard, he was only injured in the first place because he took the blow meant for another.” Murdon got sidetracked when he noticed Tounaki shaking the feather in her hands like it was a match that had nearly spent itself. “Burn yourself?”
“Funny,” Tounaki laughed. “We both know the only thing hot enough to do that here’s you.”
Murdon put a firm hand on Tounaki’s. “Let’s put that kind of talk to rest for now, Tounaki. If I have it right, you’re bound for Pinion’s Point soon and there are things we should discuss.”
“Wet blanket,” the Arcanist mock chided, though she relented and took an innocent sip before asking, “So, the ruins? Trip over anything we could use to kill a god?”
“No, but there is this.” Daniel carefully pulled out the dagger he’d painfully looted from the corrupted avianoid, gripping it with a bit of fur. The precaution wasn’t lost on the two watching him.
“What level is it?” Murdon asked.
“Dunno, I can’t identify stuff over my level.” He slid it across the table and everyone watched as the Knight put a careful claw to it, then picked it up.
“Tounaki?”
The avianoid gave a soft cry of displeasure, jerking a finger back from the knife in Murdon’s hand. “Ow! I forgot that hurts. Still, level 4, that’s worth a small bounty.”
“I’d feel better if we didn’t get it from someone actively using it.”
Murdon frowned deeply at Daniel’s words. “Soraso assured us the enemies you would face would be relative to your collective strength. Level 4 is far beyond that.”
“He was right, mostly. It was just that one person.”
“Hold up, there are people in the ruins?” Tounaki asked, surprised.
“I wouldn’t call them people,” Willow said quietly. “Most of what we fought, they didn’t have anything I’d consider a soul or spirit. Empty.” Tounaki tilted her head at Willow, so with some coaxing, she brought out Wisp.
“That’s… not a summon,” the fire mage said slowly. Murdon was just as startled, not having seen the spirit before. “Spirit. Huh. Gives me an odd feeling just looking at it. Can I?”
“They’re shy. Don’t make sudden movements.” They all watched as Tounaki stalked up to the floating ball of light in Willow’s palm and passed a hand through it, clearly expecting to have met resistance. Something somber crossed her face.
“Not a summon. I’ve seen them.” She took a few steps back, shaking her head. “New classes. Makes my feathers itch.”
“What about the one that had the dagger?” Murdon asked after everyone had grown quiet. Daniel turned to Willow in interest too, not having heard the Spirit Master’s opinion on the matter. He had other questions for her too based on what Thomas had said but it hadn’t come up yet.
“Not a spirit,” Willow replied, though she didn’t sound as if she’d fully decided. “I can’t sense souls that are in people, only those in the astral. I sensed nothing from her, but she was intelligent.”
Daniel spoke up at that point. “Another thing. There’s no way they were using powers, at least active ones.”
“They moved so fast though,” Khiat commented from her side of the table. She had been quieter since the last rift fight had literally gotten into her head. Quala had checked the archer herself and ruled no lasting injury or effects, but only as far as she could tell. “I could only land a shot when they stopped to attack Willow.”
“I think it was just attributes. I was able to survive against her for a couple of minutes, though that was in my, uh,” Tounaki doesn’t know about Beast Mode, does she? Wait, does Murdon? “That was with using a temporary boosting power and cover. Any kind of attack ability and that would’ve changed things.”
“As I’m sure most of you know by now, attributes require some growing into,” Murdon rumbled. “Gadriel is, was, hmm.” He abandoned the metaphor after reading the room and seeing who would know the Hero currently missing in action. “Endurance is one of the easiest to handle given the natural will to survive, and yet I feel I haven’t fully grasped what my new level has given me.”
“Wouldn’t you have felt that way during earlier levels?” Willow asked. “I’ve noticed the difference whenever I advanced.”
“He’s saying the improvements from attributes aren’t all automatic,” Daniel answered, with Murdon nodding in agreement. “It took me getting shot in the back to figure that out and I still feel like I can’t push myself as far as I can all the time.”
“Just wait until you’re level 4. It’s probably the reason it’s not common knowledge. It takes time to grow into power.” Murdon tapped his claws on the table in an inconsistent pattern, as if he was typing. “Then there is what you chose to focus on. Dexterity is my weak point, despite my attributes being fairly balanced.”
“Would’ve been nice to know about this back when I was level 1,” Tounaki complained. “Why the Crest wouldn’t we know about this?”
Because your gods are fucking control freaks, Daniel thought, having an inkling as to why. “People think they can push themselves, they take more risks. If you’re not told about it, you could just think any improvements between advancements are from natural growth until your mental stats grow high enough to notice the difference.”
“It could also be that one isn’t ready to wield that kind of power before reaching higher levels. Temperance is rarely a vice.” The black scales on Murdon’s cheeks somehow grew a bit darker as he noticed the smirk Tounaki gave him with that and he coughed. “We get off topic. My initial thought was that this person has been trapped in the ruins so long they have managed to reach their maximum potential. Corrupted and outside the grace of the Octyrrum, perhaps they have lost their class and have no other means.”
Fair. But it doesn’t explain how they were summoning those weapons, outside of some kind of bag of holding I couldn’t see. “Well, if it’s just her I think we’ll have a shot. Powers always were our edge against monsters. Without hers, that avianoid is basically just a monster.”
“That brings us to the other matter I wanted to warn you about. Regular hunting has gotten far more dangerous, and that isn’t counting the threat posed by what the gods of the Crest have done.” Murdon gestured with his head to the ax hanging on the wall. “Before, monsters of a type were predictable. That would cut each the same. It’s more than new variants, individuals are becoming distinct.”
“Had a ripair hawk that could move sideways just as fast as down,” Tounaki murmured. “And it was picking up stones that were flung at people in its wake. Aurus’ holding out now because we’re getting serious and concentrating power, but if we get hit by another horde with elites at their back, we might just be cooked.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
And this is with the Spoke still providing some protection. The message from the start of the Collapse had mentioned that the Spoke’s effectiveness decreased with every one next to it that fell. Hell, the monster system hasn’t fully kicked in either, though it sounds like it’s getting stronger. “At least if there’s more danger, people will be advancing faster.”
“Indeed, it feels as though we are back in the Thormundz sometimes,” Murdon replied, growing thoughtful at the end. “At least I’m not in charge this time. I don’t know why Soraso puts up with all of this.”
The world was apparently listening, as it took that moment to remind him. Lights flared outside and warning bells rang. Daniel was reminded of what he’d heard of the London Blitz as he looked to the sky, the defenders of Aurus trying to find a detected threat in the sky. The ever-present waterfall that flowed from sky to ground limit caught some of the light, just enough to show what was inside. He focused on one.
Fearsome Shock Razorwing - (3, ~Evolved~)
A tag from the monster system. Not every approaching red aura came with that feature, but many did. Not that he knew exactly what that meant, no new entries in his Encyclopedia had appeared after the domain had been forced on him, but the appearance of the word matched other references he’d seen. That development aside, the monsters were clearly using tactics they never would have before. “The waterfall. Things typically don’t fall as fast as they should here, but it doesn’t affect nonliving things.”
“Fuckers are using the Shattered Falls as a speed boost?” The feathers on Tounaki began to grow brighter as she ran to one of the windows, pausing to glance back at Murdon with one hand posed to vault it.
“Go.”
“I have extra flight items,” Daniel offered but Murdon gave a sharp negative jerk with his head.
“I fight better on the ground. Jump will see to my needs. I would offer cooperation, but we would slow each other down.” Having retrieved his ax and shield, Murdon made to follow Tounaki out the window. “Good hunting.” He dove out, not having needed to don his armor as he’d been wearing it during dinner. Because of course he had.
Daniel looked to the two left in the room and made a quick decision. “I’m going out there. Both of you, stay here.”
“I can help,” Khiat protested while dragging her bow out of a bag of holding. “I don’t want to stop hunting.”
“It’s not that. There are level 3 and 4 monsters out there. I’m only going because I have Beast Mode as a backup.” Daniel pulled the wingsuit over his head, feeling it first cling along his spine and then along his arms. “You might be getting close to level 2 relatively, but you’re still behind me and Khare. Willow-“
“Not a chance, I know.” The Spirit Master gave Khiat a soft yet confident look. “We can stay here in cover, she hits what she can while I block what comes close.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Daniel withdrew the last item he needed, the blast bow. He spun the latest addition to the weapon as he loaded a magazine of fire rounds, not expecting to have an opportunity to test the theory so soon. “I can’t promise I’ll be able to come back if things get hairy. If they target you, use your smoke items and run.”
“We’ll be safe,” Willow assured, Khiat adding, “Shoot well.”
“I’ll have to to keep up with you, won’t I?” Equal parts projected calm and anticipation, Daniel fell backward through the window and into the night.
…
The attack was not to the scale of the hordes that had accompanied Ygazir’s ilk, which meant both that there was less threat to the city overall, and that it had taken longer to spot the approach. Threst had 50 kilometers of space from ground to sky limit without factoring in the horizontal plane and hardly enough Fates to spot danger despite poaching Aughal’s. The monsters’ use of the vertical river to bypass the Threst’s speed limit, something only monsters like the ripair hawk could normally do, was an additional factor preventing Aurus’ defenses from reacting until the tip of the assault had begun spreading like toxic gas in a trench.
Tellingly, it appeared the monsters were primarily avoiding the very top of the mountain and were splitting to cover two targets: the terraced farms on the back of the mountain, and the population centers on Daniel’s side. The first coordinated strike had been meant to make maximum use of surprise for the local monster god to claim as many mortals as it could. This was more in line with a straightforward terror attack. Aurus was in no danger of falling, but every bit of death and destruction would weaken it for the next one.
It’s hard not to feel hopeless, Daniel thought as he tried to pick out a target in the visual mess that was the sky above Aurus. His auras were combining with the spotlights and flares from abilities to make a jumble, reminding him of how he’d felt after Murdon’s Tactician buff had worn off on him. The Crest will just keep spitting out monsters. It’s not like the gods designed the Octyrrum to allow for anything but a fighting retreat during a Collapse. With their contingency plan disrupted?
Daniel saw a group of level 2 monsters led by a level 3 ‘shimmertail redsparrow’ with an evolved tag coming for his area of Aurus and decided the monsters had chosen his target for him. We’ll just have to be better than them.
As always, Daniel lamented his inability to easily scan monsters mid combat as he flew to engage the oncoming pack. There simply was no way to safely do it without risking the loss of his focus, which was currently made from material that would be impossible to find elsewhere. It would have to wait for the aftermath, because at this moment Daniel wasn’t taking any chances, activating Elemental Onslaught.
He had around ten or fifteen seconds from activation to score a hit, and then that same amount of time before the stack would fade and the power would go on cooldown. Ten minutes effectively assured he could only use it once per fight, though the mana cost was also not negligible. Missing a shot was a real concern as he’d only have time for two good ones, but with his blast bow in the far shot rifle configuration, it was unlikely.
The attack group coming for his section of the city was primarily a mix of bird-like creatures, though Threst certainly explored just how far you could push that description. There were some monsters nearby that were fully elemental, including a level 4 water-type now camping where the river met Aurus’ peak drawing a lot of fire. The somewhat straightforward name of the attack group’s leader belied another diversion from pure beast biology, though what role evolution played in this Daniel didn’t know as he hadn’t fought one before.
It had an entirely physical body, but there were odd afterimages trailing it that blurred the air. It reminded him of Flash Jaunt, but the sparrow was maneuvering around distant attacks targeting its area. There was no way it could sustain that power over long distances either, even at a higher level.
Daniel did a quick check of his surroundings and found no other combatants going for that group of monsters. When they got within 300 meters of him, still at a sharp descent, he hit Moment of Clarity. Elemental Onslaught worked based on real time, meaning he could observe without having the trance’s timer hanging over his head.
Twelve level 2s. Missed that one in the back before, looks like a weak stealth power. The ‘mirrorback cutter’ as the tag described was invisible, but had a shimmer to it in the way some videogames used as a tell for sharp eyed players. With an aura around it he didn’t have to worry about losing sight of it, but still chose it as his first target to avoid it being a problem for anyone else in the area that might join in. The lack of hunters didn’t mean there was no one nearby, just that not everyone had bags of holding they could readily pull gear out of.
Scatter Shot into Snap Shot, watching for any return fire, Daniel thought as he prepared his actions for when time resumed. He had Lion Charge active alongside Keen Senses rather than Flash Jaunt, but the process for swapping out Hunter’s powers was fast enough that he’d only need an additional second to dodge. The slight build up from the power was already making his hair feel a little staticky, but it was far from enough charge to do anything with.
His shot went out two seconds after time resumed, almost the minimum needed to ready and fire his weapon. With auras guiding Snap Shot the poor lighting wasn’t an issue, and he could have easily toggled into Night Eyes for a moment if not. Now that he was using long-ranged attacks again Daniel was also trying to revive his idea of using Quick Mind to help aim, and used this as an opportunity to see if could learn from his aiming power if he actively concentrated on it. The stealthed monster tried to evade but the slug clipped its wing, triggering the spineshard enchantment’s explosion and sending a volley of secondary ones throughout the rest of the flock.
Within Daniel’s body, he could feel the mana invested into the trance take on a burning property, telling him in no uncertain terms that he had both successfully triggered Elemental Onslaught and to avoid fire damage if he wanted to continue the chain. An Arcanist with this ability, and he had confirmed it was a rare power that class sometimes received, would simply pull out a spell with a different elemental alignment and toss it at the flock, then retreat before they got their face eaten off.
Daniel couldn’t do the former with Lion Charge still building, and wasn’t going to do the latter, so he had to cheat instead. As he loaded the next round into the chamber he gripped the bolt tightly around one specific spot. A spiked ring dug into his palm, inflicting a small amount of physical and lightning damage on himself. It had to hurt for his power to count it, but Elemental Onslaught did consider attacks made against himself as suitable for prolonging the effect. The only downside was that as the chain grew, so would all the damage he dealt.
For now, Regeneration easily took care of the puncture wounds. That was the reason he’d gone with lightning self-damage rather than fire. The only other ‘simple’ solution would be to alternate rounds with different damage types, but that didn’t work for spineshard ammunition unless he also juggled Invest Affix. That was a lot to keep track of in the heat of battle, especially when an assortment of monster birds was about to try and murder him. One in particular had become particularly enthusiastic about doing so.
“Oh shit.” In fairness to Daniel, color hadn’t always matched up with what you would expect element-wise. The Thormundz had been a purple lightning fest, whereas he’d have chosen yellow or blue personally. Red, in this case, would normally mean fire. It was just his luck that the sparrow followed the common trend, and had seemed to have absorbed some of the energy from the explosions and grown faster, both in motion and the shimmering haze behind it.
He just managed to land on one of the nearby roofs, hearing the people inside stumble away from that spot as he did so, when the lead monster spun in the air and broke off well before making contact. This wasn’t a gesture of mercy, rather a flyby attack as two shapes shot from behind the sparrow and toward him. They looked a little like the aura around the monster, but there were licks of flames around the edges and an absence of any tag making it clear this was a pure attack.
Daniel thought to dodge, then realized he was dealing with something he hadn’t had to consider before: collateral damage. He’d landed on the roof to make Dodge Roll a viable option, since that needed a solid surface under his feet. But there were people inside the building. Not what I wanted to use this for, but sure.
Befitting his class, Daniel had spent a fair amount of time after the ruins enchanting. Remaking his ammunition was part of this, and would continue to be once he got the results of the analysis on the other four new materials, but he’d also tried out some of the ideas he’d had while there. Such as semi-portable walls made to block passages and notify him of their destruction through Track Merchandise.
He barely had enough time to pull one out. It was technically a level 1 shield made from wolf fur, the disparity allowing him to conserve material despite the size. There were stiff sections joined by flexible ones, allowing it to be unfolded and stretched over a passageway. He’d included another trick to make sure it stood up, but that would require a power he didn’t need to use here. Daniel didn’t even unfold it but just threw it at the approaching fire creatures, hoping it was big enough to stop or consume them.
Score one for random bullshit, Daniel thought as he watched a plume of fire erupt and completely incinerate his wall. Embers still fell toward the house, but this turned out to be cast off natural fire instead of the direct result of a level 3 attack power.
Jumping high, Daniel fired another shot toward the trailing flock. Mindful of the nearby innocents he went full-force with Snap Shot rather than try and use Quick Mind, but he kept that part of his brain running just in case. The monsters separated as soon as they heard the sound of his weapon, too late. He’d killed four or five of that number without too much difficulty between the two, benefitting from all of his advantages stacked with the new Elemental Onslaught, which he’d just barely managed to sustain.
Still not time for Lion Charge. I should save that for the level 3, assuming no one shows up to help. He winced as the lightning ring on the bolt bit a little harder than last time, but it was still tolerable and worth the pain to keep Elemental Onslaught going. Sparrow’s coming back. Doesn’t sound supercharged anymore.
The remnants of the flock would reach him first, having yet to make an initial pass. At first he was worried they’d break away and attack the surrounding buildings around him. He was above a somewhat flat stretch of the mountain island that abutted a sharp rise in the middle distance, housing built up everywhere leaving plenty of cover for the monsters to hide from his attacks. Instead, it seemed as if they wished to remove the primary threat before falling upon the non-Blessed.
This was no blanket of monsters boxing him in like the horde had been, but Daniel was still at a disadvantage as a variety of talons, claws, beaks, and other semi or fully magical attacks came for him. He was worried, but there was no desperation like there had been in the ruins.
By now Daniel felt it was fair to consider himself in the mid to high range of his level, counting his enchanted gear but not considering Beast Mode. It matched with the average of his attributes falling near 25, but he’d readily admit there was still an experience gap between him and those that hadn’t power leveled through a loaded start or ridiculous encounters. All that being said, the monsters that followed the sparrow felt like hangers on at best, a squad of nobodies being led by one that had to it what enchanting was to him.
This didn’t change how much it hurt when the ones he didn’t shoot or evade latched on to peck or slash. Well, the insult did make him feel a little bit better as he used Claw Strike to tear one off, the feathered monster durable enough to avoid being crushed by the one attack. For all they weren’t individual threats, the flock was tying him down for the sparrow to easily target. He could almost feel contempt from it, both for the lives of its allies as it casually spent them, as well as for Daniel himself. It made him wonder if the monster domain in his Spoke was having that effect, but there wasn’t time to dwell on it.
Daniel waited until another firey projectile was soaring toward him before he Flash Jaunted away, the ability not requiring extra mana despite him having been grappled. The wounds, somewhat deep in places, remained, but he was secure in the knowledge they would heal through either time or a potion worst-case. Once he returned to reality he quickly fired off an explosive shot into monsters far enough away from the sparrow for it to benefit from damage absorption before loading another round, avoiding the lightning ring this time. He could always stab himself later to prolong the chain, and Lion Charge was now at the minimal threshold for activation, his hair starting to stand on end although not quite reaching ‘final form’ levels of power.
As he started to consider how aggressive with his mana he needed to be, help finally arrived. Daniel couldn’t identify whoever it was that swooped down from the higher reaches of Aurus and hadn’t thought they were coming here initially. His was only a small fraction of the raid and people were fighting all over the place. Only when a tight burst of feathers, shot when he’d been mid-Flash Jaunt, cut apart a level 2 did he realize the other Blessed was here to help.
The shimmertail redsparrow did as well. Up until now it had thrown the equivalent of probing punches at Daniel, not committing to anything while allowing its sacrificial allies to wear him down and expose his tricks. With the arrival of a second, stronger Blessed, it had apparently decided to show these poor mortals exactly what being evolved meant.
