Noren’s statement takes both of them off guard, though Adrian physically recoils while Sierra just tilts her head.
“So that’s how it is, then,” Sierra says neutrally, eyeing me. I have Bloodstep prepared, but if she chooses to attack me, this will quickly become unwinnable.
Her fingers twitch, and I tense, but no magic sails towards me. No attack flows forth from her graceful hands.
She inclines her head ever so slightly towards me. I recognize the gesture for what it is, and I relax a little.
“Demon?” Adrian asks. “Sierra, you said—“
“Grow up, Adrian,” Sierra hisses, quiet enough that she might think nobody else can hear her. “Your mother binds them for a living.”
The Warrior looks distinctly uncomfortable, but he nods.
“What are you waiting for?” Noren asks. “Kill it.”
Bright blue magic begins to coalesce in the Blue Mage’s hand, but it’s not directed at me. Her arms remain unmoving by her side.
“Adrian,” Sierra says, “Do you remember what I told you about Evelyn?”
Noren snarls, spreading his hands. More dirt and debris rises to create four more effigies of figures I recognize. All of his teammates that made it to the island survived, it appears.
The earth cracks, and the remainder of Noren’s detachment step out. They don’t look very happy to see me.
“Murderer!” one of them shouts.
“Demon!” another one adds.
“Silence,” Noren tells them.
“You couldn’t tell her race,” Adrian says, ignoring them. “Right?”
This is a wholly unnecessary conversation to be having in the face of an enemy that wants me dead, which can only mean one thing.
Sierra is buying time.
Does she know that my magic power is slowly returning while we wait? Is she preparing to charge her own attack?
“Correct,” Sierra says to Adrian. “She is not a demon. I can tell you that much.”
“Lady Jade, you swore fealty to the Baron of Ravendale,” Noren says, the ground beneath him angrily shifting while his face remains placid. I can hear the irritation growing as Sierra and Adrian both continue to ignore him, but he hasn’t acted yet. “There will be consequences if you renege. I do not intend on harming your lovely face, but I will do what I must. Kill the demon.”
“Captain Foldwinter,” Sierra replies, totally impassive but for the growing sphere of magic in her hand. “The situation has changed. You will not get the chance.”
Noren’s face finally twists in anger, and he thrusts his hands forward. His four teammates let out wordless shouts of anger, loosing arrows or dashing towards us with the wave of roiling earth.
The first volley of attacks slam into Sierra’s shield. The translucent pale blue of her barrier flickers as they impact it, but arrows stop and magic stills.
“That’s no way to greet a lady,” the Blue Mage says, and she clenches her fist, closing her fingers around the intense brightness of the skill she’s been building up.
I expect something explosive. An attack, something like a lesser version of my Wraithfire. A wall of force, perhaps.
Instead, the light fades, popping like a soap bubble, and a soft ripple of magic expands out from her. It washes over me, and for a second I’m worried that Sierra’s actions are about to contradict her words, that she’s decided to execute me after all, but no harm comes to me.
I feel oddly off, as if I’ve been removed from the world around me.
The skill solidifies, and I realize the truth of that sensation.
Adrian, Sierra, and I stand within the Blue Mage’s bubble of force, and the air between us shimmers faintly with an iridescent array of colors it provides.
Outside the shield, everything has stopped moving.
Sierra lets out a pained gasp and drops to one knee, the color draining out of her face.
I catch her under her shoulder with a Phantom Shaped arm before she can fall all the way down. Adrian wraps a hand around her waist, keeping her stable.
“You’ve got to stop doing that,” he chides her.
Sierra hisses out a pained chuckle. “You lecturing me on risk management? I must be going mad.”
None of the attacks beyond the shield have moved. Skills and projectiles alike are frozen in the air, half-formed magic bursting forth from paralyzed soldiers with unmoving angry expressions.
“Time Dilation,” Sierra explains, her chest heaving with exertion. “I borrowed it off of this one monster… loads of tentacles on that thing.”
“What happened?” I ask. “Were you poisoned? Skill exhaustion?”
Since she’s my ally, I do actually have investment in whether she lives or dies here. Sierra’s powerful enough that losing her represents a loss in power for me, too.
Also, I have to admit that she’s growing on me.
“Skill exhaustion,” she confirms. “Magic is about balance. As a Blue Mage, that means the give-and-take. I am almost always able to tolerate it, but when it comes to a particularly powerful skill like this, it draws from my life as well as my magic. I will recover. I just need time.”
“How much time do we have?” I ask.
“An hour,” Sierra says through gritted teeth. “Outside, a single tenth of a second will have passed. Do not exit the spell, or time will resume for you instantly.”
I nod. “Useful.”
Adrian sighs in relief, sheathing his sword. “Will you finish your fucking explanation, then?”
“Give a lady a second to recover, will you?” Sierra bites back. “Mind your manners, Adrian.”
He rolls his eyes, letting go of her as soon as he’s sure that Sierra’s regained enough composure to stand on her own. “My bad. It’s not like our lives are in danger or anything. Take your time, princess.”
“Give and take means nothing without the give,” Sierra tells me, ignoring her companion. “I lost most of my blood magic. Would you care to assist me?”
Sierra extends a hand, and I take it with mine, accepting her request. Despite the current state of my reserves, Shape Blood costs very little magic, so I keep a small sphere of someone else’s blood spinning right above my head.
Slowly, life returns to her sunken pale cheeks, her cheeks coloring with warmth. Sierra recovers faster than I expect, which might be partly due to her Blue Mage class. Demonic Heritage patches me up as well.
“The skill I’m using has a time limit,” I say. “Do you have any that work the same?”
“It works on time experienced by your body, not mind,” Sierra says, intercepting the second part of my question before I can ask it. “So if we experience an hour here, you will expend an hour of your skill. I have tested this.”
“Understood.”
“Can you finish?” Adrian asks, one hand playing over his sword. He taps his leg nervously with his other fingers, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette he doesn’t have. “I haven’t stabbed her yet because of you.”
“That’s not a great way to maintain a working relationship,” I deadpan. “I doubt you could lay a finger on me, anyway.”
“Wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you,” Adrian says. “That’s not the point, though. Sierra. You’re clearly feeling better now. Explain.”
Sierra sighs, but she finally begins, not letting go of my hand as she speaks. “Evelyn. You are not human.”
The statement would be more shocking if she hasn’t already demonstrated this knowledge. “Yes. When did you learn?”
“When I first laid my eyes on you,” she says. Sierra cocks her head. “Is Appraise truly that rare?”
“It’s Legendary, Sierra,” Adrian says, rolling his eyes. “No shit it’s rare. You can stop lording the fact that you have it over us all.”
“Your race registers as a row of question marks to me,” Sierra continues. “If you were a demon, Appraise would have failed.”
All of this is information I know already, and yet it somehow stuns me that Sierra does too.
I must not be schooling my features enough, because she squeezes my hand with a knowing smile.
“Adrian and I are from less restricted nations,” Sierra says. “As are many members of the UCC. You cannot expect the same out of us that you do from one in the Crowned Islands.”
“I see that now.”
“We know all this already,” Adrian complains. “Get on with it. Spells a-wastin’.”
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” the Blue Mage continues, glaring at Adrian pointedly, “I was holding judgment because I have never once seen someone half-break the system like you have. Then came the demons, and then Aunt Marie called, and a few things fell into place.”
This is new information to Adrian, apparently, because the Warrior is paying rapt attention now.
“She mentioned a project,” Sierra says. “Now, as much as I dislike the woman, Marie is one of the best scientists on the planet.”
“If you listen to the witch talk about herself, of course,” Adrian mutters.
“Shush. Was it not you that wanted to hear?”
Adrian shuts up.
“The project she mentioned was one designed to grow,” Sierra says. “She was quiet on the details, but she did tell me it was intentionally loosed into the wild. Now imagine my surprise when I think about how a pretty, bloody girl I meet on the train wound up being the fastest-leveling individual I’ve ever seen.”
That surprises me, though maybe not as much as it should. It’s been burning at the back of my mind for a while now—why is everyone so weak? Despite having years of experience over me, years in which they could’ve practiced and trained, everyone I’ve faced so far has lacked critical resistances. They haven’t been that high-level, all things considered, and their skills feel weak.
“When I met you, you were level 8,” Sierra says. “You are now level 10. From how you act, I don’t think you understand how terrifying that is.”
“The Crowned Islands are slow, are they not?” I ask. “They’re stunted somehow. I assumed that was why I was growing faster.”
Adrian snorts. “They’re slow. That doesn’t mean regular people from outside the islands level up twice in a week, Evelyn.”
“I am widely considered to be a prodigy,” Sierra says. “Even fully uncloaked, however, I never reached that level. On top of that, you have shown the capability to evolve skills at stages far earlier than others are able to. Unless I am mistaken, you already have access to Silver and even Gold tiers at only level 10.”
“Broken gods,” Adrian says, taken aback. “I don’t have Gold-tier skills.”
I tilt my head. The way he says that… he makes it sound like he’s not only the level 7 Warrior I’ve Appraised him to be.
“If you applied yourself, you could,” Sierra says.
“Hard to do that under this fucking cloak,” Adrian grumbles.
Cloak. I’ve heard that word before, but only once. Sapphire or one of her associates mentioned it in the dream-vision I had during my class evolution. It implies hiding power, if I interpreted that correctly.
I’ve Appraised Adrian, but is it telling the full story?
“We’re here for a reason,” Sierra warns, and that’s the end of that. “Apologies, Evelyn. I had intended on assisting you in returning to a combat-ready state, not to burden you with useless information.”
“There is no useless information,” I reply automatically. I flex my free hand’s fingers, trying to see if I can sense the magic returning to my body. If I strain myself, I almost feel slightly warmer with every passing second, but I don’t know if that’s because my soul is repairing itself or if I’m getting new magic or even if it’s just the warmth of Sierra’s hand in mine. “I will be ready.”
An hour is just enough time for me to recover the bulk of my magic given my boosted Magic (Regen) stats.
When I go to examine my stat sheet, I wonder what else I’ve been taking for granted that other people aren’t receiving. Is getting a class evolution usually harder? Do normal people not get the same level of stat boost per level that I do? Given the physical and magical capabilities of the others I’ve seen so far, that last point is eminently possible.
“The current situation is simple,” Sierra says. “The old baron’s men no longer hold power without their leader. With the flowering tree, our priorities have shifted. We will eliminate anyone in our way.”
Adrian considers, then shrugs. “I’m not sure how much eliminating I’ll be getting done, given the class I have access to right now.”
“Do what you can,” Sierra says. “If you truly fear for your life, uncloak. It would be disappointing, but we are not dying here.”
There’s a lot here that I’m missing, I can tell that much.
The Blue Mage seems to notice, because she smiles at me. “Half a secret given freely in exchange for half a secret accidentally uncovered. Now we are even.”
After that, our conversation shifts to more practical things.
Things like how to most effectively eliminate our obstacles.
I still skirt around the fact that my current quest requires me to kill another two living beings. Sierra and Adrian fit the bill, but they’re proving to be even stronger than I realized. It’d be stupid to lose them as allies.
Besides, we have easier marks for me.
While Adrian and I both have nothing to prepare, Sierra absolutely does. While I recover my magic, one of her hands in mine, she casts with her right, tracing complex formations in the area and storing the gathered magic into small marbles glistening with power.
“Saves time later,” she explains. “Though they only last a couple of hours.”
Adrian, as it turns out, is rather adept at the blade. When Sierra finally lets go of my hand, her current working of magic evidently requiring more power and intricacy than the last ones, I practice fighting against him, pitting my Silver-tier Knifefighting against his blade.
He’s only level 7, so it shouldn’t be much of a fight, but no matter what I do, I can’t get inside his guard.
Knifefighting advanced to level 3!
I can read his movements as he makes them, but there are too many possibilities. Rather than a single, easy path to counter, Knifefighting shows me seven separate ways he could advance from his next move, and I’m constantly on the back foot with the one he actually chooses to use.
Knifefighting advanced to level 4!
“Wow,” I eventually say. “I need to spar with you more.”
We give it a rest before I can break through to level 5, since Sierra’s shield is running down and we want to be as ready as possible.
From the inside of the Time Dilation, we have a perfect view of what’s going on outside, so our plan is hyper-specific.
“And remember,” Sierra warns, “That I’m not going to be able to pull this stunt again.”
Adrian and I nod.
Sierra counts down the remaining time for us when she’s getting closer to her limit, and I check how much Wraithfire I have left.
The system doesn’t tell me how much time is remaining on the skill. Fantastic.
Well, it’s been less than ninety-nine minutes since I first used it. I should have enough to get through this fight, though I don’t know if it’ll last long enough to accomplish the secondary goal of burning down the tree.
“…four,” Sierra counts, palming the marbles she’s created. “Three. Two. One.”
The iridescence vanishes from the air all at once, as if it was never there. I expected a slow return to normal time, but everything starts happening all at once, so I act.
Sierra’s shield catches two more arrows before a nasty-looking earthen spike shatters it entirely.
I dodge another arrow, watching the trajectory of the bow so I know which way to move, and Sierra pops one of the marbles like a bubble. Blue light washes over me, and I’m disoriented for a brief moment as my stomach lurches and the world shifts.
When the uncomfortably familiar sensation of teleportation settles, I stand in the midst of my enemies.
There are only four of them next to me, and from my position, I can see that the swap worked. Adrian leaps forward to meet the swordsman I replaced in single combat, and Sierra throws down another pair of marbles.
Adrian and his opponent vanish in a flash of light. A second later, an invisible force sends Sierra and Noren flying upwards. Light explodes from their position a moment afterwards. Sierra isn’t fighting to win up there, I know, which means I need to get this over with quickly.
The three remaining soldiers around me turn towards me. Each has a different weapon—a blowgun, a bow, a short spear.
I only have one attack to their three, but it should be more than sufficient.
“You killed Ria,” the spearman says. “You’ll pay for that.”
In lieu of a response, I flood the area with Wraithfire. With my magic restored, I have enough for a true explosion of the soul-eating flame, igniting ruined buildings, air, and humans alike in a wide radius around myself.
The man with the bow is far away enough that he’s able to roll backwards. The one with the blowgun tries the same, but wraithfire catches on her leg and she starts screaming. It’s too late for her too.
The spearman who promised I would pay is already dead. I didn’t even hear his final scream over the roar of the wraithfire.
Objective: Reap the night
Targets killed: [9/10]
Bloodstep takes me to the burning woman. She’s crawling on her arms now, the wraithfire acting so fast that the flesh on her legs is sloughing off in chunks already.
I end her misery with a single, sharp blow to the heart, Knifefighting guiding my hand.
Objective: Reap the night [COMPLETE]
Targets killed: [10/10]
Trait rewarded: Merciless
Merciless
You were offered peace or war, and you have chosen the bloody path. When you are under 10% magic capacity, your magic depletes 50% slower if it is being used to kill.
I look towards the remaining bowman, and I smile.
“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure to be introduced,” I say, smiling too wide. “I’m Evelyn Carnelian.
“Any last words?”
Noren’s statement takes both of them off guard, though Adrian physically recoils while Sierra just tilts her head.
“So that’s how it is, then,” Sierra says neutrally, eyeing me. I have Bloodstep prepared, but if she chooses to attack me, this will quickly become unwinnable.
Her fingers twitch, and I tense, but no magic sails towards me. No attack flows forth from her graceful hands.
She inclines her head ever so slightly towards me. I recognize the gesture for what it is, and I relax a little.
“Demon?” Adrian asks. “Sierra, you said—“
“Grow up, Adrian,” Sierra hisses, quiet enough that she might think nobody else can hear her. “Your mother binds them for a living.”
The Warrior looks distinctly uncomfortable, but he nods.
“What are you waiting for?” Noren asks. “Kill it.”
Bright blue magic begins to coalesce in the Blue Mage’s hand, but it’s not directed at me. Her arms remain unmoving by her side.
“Adrian,” Sierra says, “Do you remember what I told you about Evelyn?”
Noren snarls, spreading his hands. More dirt and debris rises to create four more effigies of figures I recognize. All of his teammates that made it to the island survived, it appears.
The earth cracks, and the remainder of Noren’s detachment step out. They don’t look very happy to see me.
“Murderer!” one of them shouts.
“Demon!” another one adds.
“Silence,” Noren tells them.
“You couldn’t tell her race,” Adrian says, ignoring them. “Right?”
This is a wholly unnecessary conversation to be having in the face of an enemy that wants me dead, which can only mean one thing.
Sierra is buying time.
Does she know that my magic power is slowly returning while we wait? Is she preparing to charge her own attack?
“Correct,” Sierra says to Adrian. “She is not a demon. I can tell you that much.”
“Lady Jade, you swore fealty to the Baron of Ravendale,” Noren says, the ground beneath him angrily shifting while his face remains placid. I can hear the irritation growing as Sierra and Adrian both continue to ignore him, but he hasn’t acted yet. “There will be consequences if you renege. I do not intend on harming your lovely face, but I will do what I must. Kill the demon.”
“Captain Foldwinter,” Sierra replies, totally impassive but for the growing sphere of magic in her hand. “The situation has changed. You will not get the chance.”
Noren’s face finally twists in anger, and he thrusts his hands forward. His four teammates let out wordless shouts of anger, loosing arrows or dashing towards us with the wave of roiling earth.
The first volley of attacks slam into Sierra’s shield. The translucent pale blue of her barrier flickers as they impact it, but arrows stop and magic stills.
“That’s no way to greet a lady,” the Blue Mage says, and she clenches her fist, closing her fingers around the intense brightness of the skill she’s been building up.
I expect something explosive. An attack, something like a lesser version of my Wraithfire. A wall of force, perhaps.
Instead, the light fades, popping like a soap bubble, and a soft ripple of magic expands out from her. It washes over me, and for a second I’m worried that Sierra’s actions are about to contradict her words, that she’s decided to execute me after all, but no harm comes to me.
I feel oddly off, as if I’ve been removed from the world around me.
The skill solidifies, and I realize the truth of that sensation.
Adrian, Sierra, and I stand within the Blue Mage’s bubble of force, and the air between us shimmers faintly with an iridescent array of colors it provides.
Outside the shield, everything has stopped moving.
Sierra lets out a pained gasp and drops to one knee, the color draining out of her face.
I catch her under her shoulder with a Phantom Shaped arm before she can fall all the way down. Adrian wraps a hand around her waist, keeping her stable.
“You’ve got to stop doing that,” he chides her.
Sierra hisses out a pained chuckle. “You lecturing me on risk management? I must be going mad.”
None of the attacks beyond the shield have moved. Skills and projectiles alike are frozen in the air, half-formed magic bursting forth from paralyzed soldiers with unmoving angry expressions.
“Time Dilation,” Sierra explains, her chest heaving with exertion. “I borrowed it off of this one monster… loads of tentacles on that thing.”
“What happened?” I ask. “Were you poisoned? Skill exhaustion?”
Since she’s my ally, I do actually have investment in whether she lives or dies here. Sierra’s powerful enough that losing her represents a loss in power for me, too.
Also, I have to admit that she’s growing on me.
“Skill exhaustion,” she confirms. “Magic is about balance. As a Blue Mage, that means the give-and-take. I am almost always able to tolerate it, but when it comes to a particularly powerful skill like this, it draws from my life as well as my magic. I will recover. I just need time.”
“How much time do we have?” I ask.
“An hour,” Sierra says through gritted teeth. “Outside, a single tenth of a second will have passed. Do not exit the spell, or time will resume for you instantly.”
I nod. “Useful.”
Adrian sighs in relief, sheathing his sword. “Will you finish your fucking explanation, then?”
“Give a lady a second to recover, will you?” Sierra bites back. “Mind your manners, Adrian.”
He rolls his eyes, letting go of her as soon as he’s sure that Sierra’s regained enough composure to stand on her own. “My bad. It’s not like our lives are in danger or anything. Take your time, princess.”
“Give and take means nothing without the give,” Sierra tells me, ignoring her companion. “I lost most of my blood magic. Would you care to assist me?”
Sierra extends a hand, and I take it with mine, accepting her request. Despite the current state of my reserves, Shape Blood costs very little magic, so I keep a small sphere of someone else’s blood spinning right above my head.
Slowly, life returns to her sunken pale cheeks, her cheeks coloring with warmth. Sierra recovers faster than I expect, which might be partly due to her Blue Mage class. Demonic Heritage patches me up as well.
“The skill I’m using has a time limit,” I say. “Do you have any that work the same?”
“It works on time experienced by your body, not mind,” Sierra says, intercepting the second part of my question before I can ask it. “So if we experience an hour here, you will expend an hour of your skill. I have tested this.”
“Understood.”
“Can you finish?” Adrian asks, one hand playing over his sword. He taps his leg nervously with his other fingers, reaching into his pocket for a cigarette he doesn’t have. “I haven’t stabbed her yet because of you.”
“That’s not a great way to maintain a working relationship,” I deadpan. “I doubt you could lay a finger on me, anyway.”
“Wouldn’t be so sure of that if I were you,” Adrian says. “That’s not the point, though. Sierra. You’re clearly feeling better now. Explain.”
Sierra sighs, but she finally begins, not letting go of my hand as she speaks. “Evelyn. You are not human.”
The statement would be more shocking if she hasn’t already demonstrated this knowledge. “Yes. When did you learn?”
“When I first laid my eyes on you,” she says. Sierra cocks her head. “Is Appraise truly that rare?”
“It’s Legendary, Sierra,” Adrian says, rolling his eyes. “No shit it’s rare. You can stop lording the fact that you have it over us all.”
“Your race registers as a row of question marks to me,” Sierra continues. “If you were a demon, Appraise would have failed.”
All of this is information I know already, and yet it somehow stuns me that Sierra does too.
I must not be schooling my features enough, because she squeezes my hand with a knowing smile.
“Adrian and I are from less restricted nations,” Sierra says. “As are many members of the UCC. You cannot expect the same out of us that you do from one in the Crowned Islands.”
“I see that now.”
“We know all this already,” Adrian complains. “Get on with it. Spells a-wastin’.”
“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,” the Blue Mage continues, glaring at Adrian pointedly, “I was holding judgment because I have never once seen someone half-break the system like you have. Then came the demons, and then Aunt Marie called, and a few things fell into place.”
This is new information to Adrian, apparently, because the Warrior is paying rapt attention now.
“She mentioned a project,” Sierra says. “Now, as much as I dislike the woman, Marie is one of the best scientists on the planet.”
“If you listen to the witch talk about herself, of course,” Adrian mutters.
“Shush. Was it not you that wanted to hear?”
Adrian shuts up.
“The project she mentioned was one designed to grow,” Sierra says. “She was quiet on the details, but she did tell me it was intentionally loosed into the wild. Now imagine my surprise when I think about how a pretty, bloody girl I meet on the train wound up being the fastest-leveling individual I’ve ever seen.”
That surprises me, though maybe not as much as it should. It’s been burning at the back of my mind for a while now—why is everyone so weak? Despite having years of experience over me, years in which they could’ve practiced and trained, everyone I’ve faced so far has lacked critical resistances. They haven’t been that high-level, all things considered, and their skills feel weak.
“When I met you, you were level 8,” Sierra says. “You are now level 10. From how you act, I don’t think you understand how terrifying that is.”
“The Crowned Islands are slow, are they not?” I ask. “They’re stunted somehow. I assumed that was why I was growing faster.”
Adrian snorts. “They’re slow. That doesn’t mean regular people from outside the islands level up twice in a week, Evelyn.”
“I am widely considered to be a prodigy,” Sierra says. “Even fully uncloaked, however, I never reached that level. On top of that, you have shown the capability to evolve skills at stages far earlier than others are able to. Unless I am mistaken, you already have access to Silver and even Gold tiers at only level 10.”
“Broken gods,” Adrian says, taken aback. “I don’t have Gold-tier skills.”
I tilt my head. The way he says that… he makes it sound like he’s not only the level 7 Warrior I’ve Appraised him to be.
“If you applied yourself, you could,” Sierra says.
“Hard to do that under this fucking cloak,” Adrian grumbles.
Cloak. I’ve heard that word before, but only once. Sapphire or one of her associates mentioned it in the dream-vision I had during my class evolution. It implies hiding power, if I interpreted that correctly.
I’ve Appraised Adrian, but is it telling the full story?
“We’re here for a reason,” Sierra warns, and that’s the end of that. “Apologies, Evelyn. I had intended on assisting you in returning to a combat-ready state, not to burden you with useless information.”
“There is no useless information,” I reply automatically. I flex my free hand’s fingers, trying to see if I can sense the magic returning to my body. If I strain myself, I almost feel slightly warmer with every passing second, but I don’t know if that’s because my soul is repairing itself or if I’m getting new magic or even if it’s just the warmth of Sierra’s hand in mine. “I will be ready.”
An hour is just enough time for me to recover the bulk of my magic given my boosted Magic (Regen) stats.
When I go to examine my stat sheet, I wonder what else I’ve been taking for granted that other people aren’t receiving. Is getting a class evolution usually harder? Do normal people not get the same level of stat boost per level that I do? Given the physical and magical capabilities of the others I’ve seen so far, that last point is eminently possible.
“The current situation is simple,” Sierra says. “The old baron’s men no longer hold power without their leader. With the flowering tree, our priorities have shifted. We will eliminate anyone in our way.”
Adrian considers, then shrugs. “I’m not sure how much eliminating I’ll be getting done, given the class I have access to right now.”
“Do what you can,” Sierra says. “If you truly fear for your life, uncloak. It would be disappointing, but we are not dying here.”
There’s a lot here that I’m missing, I can tell that much.
The Blue Mage seems to notice, because she smiles at me. “Half a secret given freely in exchange for half a secret accidentally uncovered. Now we are even.”
After that, our conversation shifts to more practical things.
Things like how to most effectively eliminate our obstacles.
I still skirt around the fact that my current quest requires me to kill another two living beings. Sierra and Adrian fit the bill, but they’re proving to be even stronger than I realized. It’d be stupid to lose them as allies.
Besides, we have easier marks for me.
While Adrian and I both have nothing to prepare, Sierra absolutely does. While I recover my magic, one of her hands in mine, she casts with her right, tracing complex formations in the area and storing the gathered magic into small marbles glistening with power.
“Saves time later,” she explains. “Though they only last a couple of hours.”
Adrian, as it turns out, is rather adept at the blade. When Sierra finally lets go of my hand, her current working of magic evidently requiring more power and intricacy than the last ones, I practice fighting against him, pitting my Silver-tier Knifefighting against his blade.
He’s only level 7, so it shouldn’t be much of a fight, but no matter what I do, I can’t get inside his guard.
Knifefighting advanced to level 3!
I can read his movements as he makes them, but there are too many possibilities. Rather than a single, easy path to counter, Knifefighting shows me seven separate ways he could advance from his next move, and I’m constantly on the back foot with the one he actually chooses to use.
Knifefighting advanced to level 4!
“Wow,” I eventually say. “I need to spar with you more.”
We give it a rest before I can break through to level 5, since Sierra’s shield is running down and we want to be as ready as possible.
From the inside of the Time Dilation, we have a perfect view of what’s going on outside, so our plan is hyper-specific.
“And remember,” Sierra warns, “That I’m not going to be able to pull this stunt again.”
Adrian and I nod.
Sierra counts down the remaining time for us when she’s getting closer to her limit, and I check how much Wraithfire I have left.
The system doesn’t tell me how much time is remaining on the skill. Fantastic.
Well, it’s been less than ninety-nine minutes since I first used it. I should have enough to get through this fight, though I don’t know if it’ll last long enough to accomplish the secondary goal of burning down the tree.
“…four,” Sierra counts, palming the marbles she’s created. “Three. Two. One.”
The iridescence vanishes from the air all at once, as if it was never there. I expected a slow return to normal time, but everything starts happening all at once, so I act.
Sierra’s shield catches two more arrows before a nasty-looking earthen spike shatters it entirely.
I dodge another arrow, watching the trajectory of the bow so I know which way to move, and Sierra pops one of the marbles like a bubble. Blue light washes over me, and I’m disoriented for a brief moment as my stomach lurches and the world shifts.
When the uncomfortably familiar sensation of teleportation settles, I stand in the midst of my enemies.
There are only four of them next to me, and from my position, I can see that the swap worked. Adrian leaps forward to meet the swordsman I replaced in single combat, and Sierra throws down another pair of marbles.
Adrian and his opponent vanish in a flash of light. A second later, an invisible force sends Sierra and Noren flying upwards. Light explodes from their position a moment afterwards. Sierra isn’t fighting to win up there, I know, which means I need to get this over with quickly.
The three remaining soldiers around me turn towards me. Each has a different weapon—a blowgun, a bow, a short spear.
I only have one attack to their three, but it should be more than sufficient.
“You killed Ria,” the spearman says. “You’ll pay for that.”
In lieu of a response, I flood the area with Wraithfire. With my magic restored, I have enough for a true explosion of the soul-eating flame, igniting ruined buildings, air, and humans alike in a wide radius around myself.
The man with the bow is far away enough that he’s able to roll backwards. The one with the blowgun tries the same, but wraithfire catches on her leg and she starts screaming. It’s too late for her too.
The spearman who promised I would pay is already dead. I didn’t even hear his final scream over the roar of the wraithfire.
Objective: Reap the night
Targets killed: [9/10]
Bloodstep takes me to the burning woman. She’s crawling on her arms now, the wraithfire acting so fast that the flesh on her legs is sloughing off in chunks already.
I end her misery with a single, sharp blow to the heart, Knifefighting guiding my hand.
Objective: Reap the night [COMPLETE]
Targets killed: [10/10]
Trait rewarded: Merciless
Merciless
You were offered peace or war, and you have chosen the bloody path. When you are under 10% magic capacity, your magic depletes 50% slower if it is being used to kill.
I look towards the remaining bowman, and I smile.
“I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure to be introduced,” I say, smiling too wide. “I’m Evelyn Carnelian.
“Any last words?”
