Two weeks and some change later, and Gareth was ready for the next level. He'd been eating extremely good, along with his improved stomach, so he had recently gained some weight. He'd also been training very hard so his gains were soon in muscle. Now, is it a great idea for a malnourished man to train as hard as he had been? No. Did that stop Gareth from training himself, even on his off days? Also no.
The cycles were turning cold, but Sunset in Volun was always a time of beauty. The setting light of Sol bathed the entire 150 miles of cliff face and storm with golden orange light. It peeked below the clouds of the Everstorm above, allowing Volun’s residents to look up and actually see the cliff that always loomed above them, its perpetual danger hidden by cloud cover. An illusionary safety.
“But it's just so pretty to look at!” Gareth ended his rant about how gorgeous this place was, a drastic change of natural scenery for him. Scenery that, for a very long time, had been either a cityscape, or a stone torture chamber.
Each time they walked past one of the inner fortress’ arching windows, which captured the vision perfectly, Gareth was just continuously reminded of how happy he was to have left his past behind.
“Volun is a true gem within the Empire.” Guanji calmly acknowledged.
“It's a pity that it's just… such a bad omen.” Ellisandra calmly said, a hint of tension in her voice, while concern crinkled the corners of her eyes ever so slightly.
“That’s uh… fucked. Why do you say that?” Gareth asked, a massive smile splitting his face. He was outside, in the sun, dry while it poured rain, chatting with friends, looking at gorgeous views…life was good.
The tension in her eyes immediately eased at the crude and upfront nature of Gareth’s sense of humour.
“Perhaps I am mistaken,” she leaned forward conspiratorially, “let us not wish ill events before their time, hey?”
She laughed, and they moved on from the topic as they reached the exit of the manor.
Gareth, Guanji, and Ellisandra left the city fortress – they acting as her escort – and ventured out of the Grand district. They crossed over the raging waters of the Crystalline River, its currents artificially sped up to deter invasion and keep the water clean. The roar of its passage proved to be a landmark of Volun.
They crossed into the revered temple district. Its cobblestone roads and paths were conspicuously empty. The people who crossed through them walked with a hurry in their step, and threw looks over their shoulders at the uneasy feeling that something was…wrong.
Rain, pouring down, would have soaked them all to the bone, a daunting prospect as winter was rapidly approaching, but Guanji was shielding them with his elemental shield: a seamlessly transparent bubble that had a faint, ever-so-slight tint of amber to it. They were spared the beautiful deluge of perpetual rain.
They walked past the goddess Shaevalur’s temple, its golden pagodas surprisingly sparse with people, and came to an area lined off with green torches of flickering, alchemical flame. They lined a clear boundary along the path, warding off casual visitors. As its danger was much more insidious than Shekaron’s blatant attempt to lure people into his own maze temple. The torches were obviously man-made, and planted just on the boundary of Coranel’s temple. Atop one torch, a clear sign read for all parents: Do not let your child cross beyond this point. Not safe for those under tier 3.
A thick line of tall pine trees hid a dark interior. Its boughs were somewhat lit by Sol’s radiant light, yet the deep forest hid dangers that one would inevitably encounter. Old Magic, beasts, and the untamed; that is her realm. That…is Coranel.
When they came upon the safe trail that led into the temple - nothing but a well-trodden deer trail - Guanji gestured down its length, “Once we enter, you must be silent until we reach a clearing. Do not stray off the path, lest the beasts that inhabit these woods drag you off into the untamed sections of this temple.”
“Okay cool, cool-cool-cool-cool-cool. Thats not scary at all. There are beasts in there?” Gareth rubbed his clean shaven chin and gestured almost carelessly at the dark depths of the forest. He tried to appear as chilled as possible considering Ellisandra was really hot and he didn't want to seem like a bitch.
“She is the goddess of magic, beasts, and the untamed wild places. So long as you stay on the path you should be safe, but curiosity will get you into trouble.” Guanji shook his index finger at Gareth and Ellisandra both.
“I have warned you: do not stray off the path! Do not come crying to me if some creature eats you. Gareth, your charge is in your care. It is your responsibility to safely escort her to the central glade. This is your first task as a Protector.”
Gareth looked at Ellisandra: she literally had more armour and weapons strapped onto her than Gareth had ever seen. He also knew that she was fully trained with the spear, shield, bow, and gladius, all likely tucked away in a spatial treasure she wore somewhere under her cloth-plate-chiton armour. Thin, high tier, high quality white metal plates made up her gauntlets; elbow, knee, and shoulder guards; as well as her thighs, shins, forearms, and chest. A more flexible high-tiered blue scale leather and chitin was closer to the joints, providing superior protection and mobility. Finally, her under-armour was an extremely thick, high tier iron-silk cloth that was breathable, lightweight, and tougher to cut than diamonds.
This chick could kick my ass all day, everyday. She’s likely gonna need to protect me! – Gareth thought to himself, though he kept it off his face. Or tried to.
Guanji saw his look, chuckled, rolled his eyes dramatically, “Just do your best lad.” Then promptly started down the trail.
Not one to fuck about when there’s work to be done, Gareth and Ellisandra swiftly followed him down the brightly lit deer trail that swiftly darkened as they stepped under the boughs and bows of pine scented branches.
A tingle rippled across Gareth’s scalp as he felt something change about the woods. An ephemeral sense that these trees were old, elders of the woods. Spongy green moss and stretchy lime lichen clung to their damp bark, as even here, it rained.
What had once been a brightly lit Sunset, quickly shifted to dusk, then twilight as the soft light of Sol was slowly blotted out. They were forbidden from talking, but if they weren’t Gareth and Ellisandra would not have had the temerity to do so anyway. This was a place that demanded soft footsteps, an ear to the trees above and an eye to the roots below.
That is, until small pinpricks of light started illuminating the darkness in rainbows of jubilant fireworks. They came suddenly and intensely. Gareth heard faint giggling, similar to that of a child's laughter, tickling from behind this tree and that. It brought him back to his own childhood where he played ‘cops and cyber-psychos’ with his younger siblings.
Furthermore: ferns, patches of grass, and innumerable other colourful glowing fungi started lining the path, leading the way. I don't know what Gaunji was so worried about, it's like Neverland in here!
For many minutes they walked through the enchanting forest: damp leaves tickling his ankles, fog clinging comfortably to his cheeks, laughter ringing pleasantly through his ears.
“-eth! Gareth! Pay attention and stay on the path!” Guanji admonished, his voice sounding distant.
With a start Gareth became aware of how deafening the giggling had become, and he looked down at the path…only to realise the glowing plants that had lined the path so far had split off in a different direction. He had, like an absolute fool, followed the lights instead of the dirt trail.
The synthetic relaxation he had been lulled into by the laughter was suddenly replaced with mind numbing terror, and he frantically looked around for Guanji and Ellisandra. He saw them only ten metres away, but those little blue and red lights were starting to swarm around him, circling him like schools of barracuda.
“Run!” The singular command, shouted with the strength of a tier 6, caused Gareth to break out of his terrified daze. Each time one of the lights touched him it would scorch a mark into his black combat robe.
He frantically dashed forward, as quickly as his thin legs would allow. The lights stung his face so he covered it with his arm just to keep them from his eyes. He couldn’t see shit, but kept his ear out for Guanji. He broke through the encirclement and Guanji grabbed him by the shoulders to stop his run.
“When you are in a forest with Fae you must always pay attention to your surroundings. We are unfortunate to have encountered them, but so long as we stay on the trail, the great goddess Coranel will protect us. Now, root yourself in the present moment, sight, touch, and taste, but block out their calls. We must move on if we are to rid ourselves of them.”
Gareth realised with a start that Guanji was showing strain in the tension of his neck and the clipped way he spoke. It seemed that even high levelled people were vulnerable to the mental effects of fairy laughter. Gareth wrote a mental note to find ways of getting mental attacks in case he ever needed them against higher levelled people.
The trio quickly moved on, the grating giggling that had sounded so light-hearted turned dark and vindictive…insidious. It felt like the psychopathic forced laughter of a child, full of dark smiles and empty eyes.
Their flight was limited by Gareth’s frail body, and Guanji by needing to stay with Gareth to protect him. Guanji was no Ivor Hansen, and their plight was not so dire that he needed to be picked up...yet.
They practically sprinted into the clearing that appeared as if they had pushed through a curtain. The normal Sol-light nearly blinded him after coming from the gloominess so quickly. Yet, just as quickly as the darkness had fled, the sound of haunting laughter likewise stopped.
They all released sighs of relief once they were safe.
“Why is the temple so dangerous to get into? Shouldn't it be open to people if they want to pray?” Gareth asked while bent over and panting to catch his breath.
“The gods are not a mortal’s friend, Gareth. We venerate them, ask them for power, but they need not listen to us mortals. To enter their temple is to place yourself under their Authority, and you must abide by their rules. Now stop asking questions. The gods listen, and we need not say something to offend them by accident. We move.”
Guanji strode forward through the thick, hip-tall, wet grass toward a collection of large rocks peaking over said grass.
The sky above Coranel’s temple was crystal clear, no clouds to hide the warm sunset light of Sol that bathed Gareth’s shivering body for the first time in weeks.
The clearing had that idealistic warm glen vibe because fireflies in colour spectrums of red, blue, and yellow went about pollinating wild flowers in all sizes and colours. The grass was soft underfoot, bright green with moisture, and emitted a fresh grass smell that spoke of a magical vitality. It welcomed Gareth to stop and just chill in the grass without fear of ticks or lice.
Guanji gestured with his black robed arm for Gareth and Ellisandra to sit on some cool grey stones that peaked over the tall grass. They both took seats across from him and assumed a lotus pose.
Guanji visibly took a deep, calming breath, closed his ruby eyes, and, as if releasing all the tension of the world, blew the breath away.
At length he opened his eyes, “Center and calm yourself, we are safe within this clearing.”
Gareth was evidently still shaking slightly with adrenaline, which had a large and long-lasting impact on his weakened body, but he nevertheless closed his eyes and set to work on the mediation techniques that Guanji had taught him.
It took a while, longer than it ever had before, but Gareth eventually felt his pulse slow, his hands stop shaking, and sweat droplets stop forming on his brow.
He then focused on his aching body, his bum not meaty enough to stop the rock seat from being uncomfortable, his muscles sore from two weeks of daily training, and his lungs burning from running. But it wasn't all bad. Gareth felt a gentle breeze caress his hands and face.
He felt stiflingly hot so removed the top of his white training gi while keeping his eyes closed.
He groaned in pleasure as a cool wind blasted across his thin upper body. The wind was like a gentle balm of healing water cascading over his chest and arms.
“Are you quite done?” Guanji asked loudly to break Gareth out of his blissful enjoyment.
With an embarrassed ‘sorry’ disguised by a cough he muttered, “Yes, master.”
“Good.” Guanji seemed to glitch for a second, “Before you is a beast core, absorb it into your liver, kidney, pancreas and other internal organs. Be careful not to awaken your heart, blood, veins, lungs, skin, and ribs.”
Gareth looked down to see that a glowing amber core had somehow been put on the stone in front of him. Shockingly, the only conclusion he could come up with was that Guanji had either teleported or moved so quickly he hadn't even seen him move.
Okay well…that's a thing. He thought in mild panic and swallowed the core.
Just like last time it somehow turned into something that felt like a jelly, and easily slid down his throat.
Something new threw him for a loop, though, because as he focused inwards he felt a clashing of two energies. That of golden fire, and amber crystalline mana.
A quiet female voice steeped in power quietly whispered in his ear, “You can manipulate your own cleansing fire, swirl it around the core.”
Like a bolt of lightning Gareth remembered he could control the fire in his stomach by breathing. It wasn't quite what he needed to do, but it made it easier to identify his own essence as different from that of the amber and start manipulating it.
It was difficult to control, resisting his prodding like a viscous fluid would, but Gareth ain't no little bitch. He put his willpower into the task and soon enough it started swirling.
The tree-sap-textured sticky essence of the core, which had slowly started subsuming his golden fire, rapidly started receding towards its centre. Faster and faster, like a teaspoon stirring a cup of tea, he spun his essence. Unfortunately, like all whirlpools, it quickly grew out of control.
“Gently now, slower…slower.” she whispered as a low warning.
He stopped actively pushing the essence and, like the viscous fluid that it was, its momentum rapidly slowed. Soon he had to give it a few more stirs when it was petering out again.
For long minutes the energies swirled around each other before the gold had completely melted the muddy essence and the colours had become one consistent molten glow, like a ball of white-hot metal.
He mentally scooped a small globule of the Life essence and was about to lead it towards his liver when the woman, which he had no recollection of seeing before he closed his eyes, spoke up again.
“It is barbaric to collect it like this.” She scolded, “Pinch and pull, like a strand of toffy, and lead that strand to your organs.”
Even though he had tried the method he’d used in his previous level, the fact that he now had [Purifying fire] changed the process drastically. It allowed the ball of energy that had previously behaved like thick clay, to be more like red-hot glass.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
He replaced his globule and pinched the surface of the core again, but as he went to pull, it quickly snapped like a non-Newtonian fluid.
He recoiled slightly and wondered what he could be doing wrong, “You are too rough, and your core is spinning too slowly. Like toffee, you must increase the temperature before it can be moulded.”
Her descriptions, as childish as they might have seemed, were really helping him understand what he had to do, and soon he had it under wraps.
Thus started the somewhat tedious process of infusing. He would have found it boring but the challenge of balancing infusing, with spinning his core too much or not enough, and keeping his breath steady, proved fun.
The stomach was built to break down material. The liver and kidneys were built to filter blood and waste. They were all connected by veins and small capillaries. Gareth used that maze of veins to transport the string of essence. Guanji had warned him not to infuse his blood as that was a later step, for some reason. It was difficult not to let his blood absorb the essence, though, since it was globbing onto the string like a junkie grabbed the ten creddies you just gave them to buy bread but that are actually going to be used for a cheap fix. Anyway, it was difficult. Each time it globbed too much he had to shake the string a little, which would dislodge the blood cells. The liver was easy to find with his spiritual sight, as Guanji taught him it was called, but the kidneys weren't directly linked to his stomach. He therefore had to follow the road map that Guanji had forced him to memorise, a road map depicting all his veins and methods of getting from his stomach to his kidneys. Luckily, his bladder and urethra were nice and connected to his kidneys so they were easy to get to.
Hours passed in this way, but all too soon his entire lower torso was feeling warm and full.
They had warned him that the last push, the final little bit of mana needed to awaken a bloodline, would be what started a chain reaction and might kill him in some way.
That was the last thing he was worried about, though, since death had no hold over him. The potential pain frightened him, but didn't make him a pussy. After years of torture his brain learned to fear pain on an instinctual level. Yet this was his gateway to freedom, his path to independence… He needed to push through, instincts and shivering be damned.
A last little nudge, as easy as closing a fridge, started the cascade in his upper liver. He pushed one cell past the breaking point by infusing too much mana, which overfilled the cell next to that one, and the one next to that. Some burst and died, some metastasized, some were killed by other cells, but on a cellular level a wave of essence spread out and left his surviving cells changed.
It was downright pleasant at first, like little soda bubbles tickling his insides.
Yet soon, starting in his liver, that bubbly sensation turned to a slight sting. Then, like wildfire spreading in a dry grassland, it burned.
Guanji watched in mild surprise as Gareth started using techniques he had not taught him. He swirled his internal essence to absorb the beast core more quickly, then kept it to a good consistency as he started infusing. There were a few stumbles, sure, but no-one had taught him these techniques, which meant Gareth was doing this instinctually…or…Guanji looked up contemplatively at the clear sunset sky.
Guanji was a realist. He knew that one coincidence was just that, but three new techniques in the span of minutes, was a pattern. Someone, likely the goddess, must be helping him.
He kept observing for long hours until Gareth was finally ready.
When his disciple started the cascade he sensed the malignant cancer form in his liver. It rapidly consumed not just the liver but also the pancreas and kidneys, at which point Gareth blessedly passed out and he stopped his screaming.
At the ten minute mark, enough toxins had built up from his failing organs to cause a cascade of organ failure.
Gareth Elson died.
At the eleven minute mark his heart started beating again, and by the 20th the cancer had spread to all the organs he had infused.
His heart stopped beating many times, his brain damaged by lack of oxygen.
At three hours Guanji had resigned himself to watching Gareth die for all eternity. But just when all hope seemed lost, miraculously, in the span of seconds, everything changed.
It started in his liver. A bright red dot in a metastasized yellow sea. Like blood spilt across stone, it spread, and the liver resumed its functions.
Guanji watched in stunned silence as the liver, then the pancreas, then the kidneys… recovered, healed, improved.
-
Gareth slowly awoke on a too hard surface. When consciousness reasserted itself enough for him to be aware, he realised he felt better than ever.
A small blinking blue light beckoned for his attention, and he excitedly read it over.
Congratulations!
You have levelled up and awakened the Quetzalcoatl bloodline.
Due to awakening in a Domain the effects are enhanced.
You have been granted one Trait.
Serpents might: Venom and Poison resistance, 50% increased organ regeneration speed.
He looked up to find Guanji quite a distance away.
Frowning slightly he asked, “Why are you all the way over there?”
“Each time you awaken a bloodline, its impurities are expelled from your body. You stink young man.” He exaggeratedly waved in front of his nose and grimaced.
Frowning, Gareth looked down, gave himself a sniff and gagged just like last time. At least he wasn't literally swimming in black stuff this time.
“What has the great System proclaimed?”
Gareth smirked internally, “Well, I would tell you but you're so far away, I'm afraid you won't hear me.” He shrugged helplessly and looked to the heavens as if pleading for divine intervention.
“That is quite unfortunate, I admit. I thought you would like to hear how your awakening went, but given your supposed distance I have no recourse but to…leave.” So saying Guanji disappeared.
“Wait! Wait!” Gareth realised very quickly that if Guanji left he would have to walk down the bewitching dark path with just Ellisandra and himself.
“Ha ha ha!” He heard from a rock behind him and spun to find the old fool.
He had made light jokes with Guanji over the past few weeks but this had been his first ‘banter’ so to speak, and he had no idea how Guanji would have reacted. Some people in positions of power take themselves too seriously and if Guanji had been like them he might really have left in a huff. He was glad to see Guanji had a good sense of humour though.
“Now, enough shenanigans! Please tell me about your traits.”
Ellisandra was strangely quiet and just sat on her rock while meditating, a slight frown marring her smooth features. She hadn't explained why she accompanied them, and when Gareth had asked he'd gotten the vague answer that she wanted to 'commune with the gods', whatever that meant.
Gareth smiled devilishly, but the time for joking had passed, “I awakened the, kwe-kwu-uhm, Quet-zal-coa-tl, fuck that was a struggle," Gareth laughed as he struggled to pronounce the word, but he somewhat got there in the end by breaking up the word, "and gained Serpent's Might, which gave me poison and venom resistance, as well as increasing my organ regeneration rate. Kinda strange because that bloodline sounds Aztec, if anything, and I have no idea what animal that might be? Maybe like a salamander or something?” He was just curious. “Bloodlines are from animals right?”
Guanji was silent for a while as he thought it over. He ultimately shook his head and sighed, “I have not heard of this Quetzalcoatl. What is strange however, is the way all your internal organs were altered. Normally only one organ changes, or people grow a new supporting organ. But all your innards were given, based on where the cancer started and ended, the abilities of the liver to filter out and break down toxins. I am sorry to say, but you will have to drink high tier booze if you ever want to get drunk again.” Guanji said with true remorse. He was a man of fine taste and his love for vintage drink had only grown over the centuries. It was a hard blow, but a worry that Gareth did not share.
“Ah, alcohol isn't really my thing.” Gareth said bashfully and recalled his mother, an alcoholic addicted to pain meds. He would rather stay away from booze, but he did not begrudge others their right to enjoy themselves.
Guanji sensed in Gareth's aura that he had touched on something that made him uncomfortable, so he changed the subject, “Do you remember the step after awakening?” He asked with a raised brow.
Gareth nodded with confidence, “Body forging.”
“Good man. Drink the poison- I mean potion.” He said and just like the beast core, a purple vial appeared before him.
Gareth was curious to see how the poison would affect him given his resistance, so quickly quaffed it down.
It had the horrible bitterness and plant-y taste of gin, the texture of syrup, and made his tongue tingle. The effects themselves were long in coming and Gareth just sat there and waited for something to happen. Unlike Guanji, Gareth had learned, he did not have a sensory bloodline yet and could not actually track the poison. All he had to rely on were his feelings, and anyone can attest that you can't really feel your liver or kidneys unless they were properly fucked up.
Soon a hot flush flashed through his system. Starting at his toes a wave of warmth washed through limbs, but it didn't feel bad per se. It just made him sweat a little.
That was when the reek got to him. If he thought he stank before, it was nothing compared to now. From pores all across his body a black tarry substance, which he originally thought was sweat, was excreted. He gagged as fumes stung his eyes and clung to the back of his throat. Guanji luckily didn't leave him hanging.
A wave of water washed over him, spun him around, twirled him, and put him through the world’s largest washing machine. He was spat out unceremoniously back on his rock, now wet.
“Thank you.” He groaned weakly.
“That was not me.” Guanji said quietly.
It was then that Gareth recalled the woman's voice he had heard. He quickly sat up to explain what he had heard but before he could…
“Beasts have sensitive noses, child.” He heard in a whisper behind him.
He looked around slowly, the type of slow turn you do when you hear a bump in the night and have to make sure it's nothing.
There was seemingly nothing.
“Did you hear that too?” He asked in a near whisper.
“I did not…but I believe you. You heard voices?”
“Just one person, a woman.” Gareth said at a near whisper. He didn't like ghosts and strange whispering voices were the intro to many horror movies.
“Ah!” Guanji exclaimed as if everything made sense, “The goddess.”
Gareth remembered that they were in a temple. But all the times he’d been to church, of which he could count on one hand, God had never whispered into his ear. Maybe I just didn't pray hard enough?
“Thank you for the clean-up, goddess Coranell.” He said, better to be safe than sorry.
Good thing he had because unbeknownst to both of them a tier 8 beast, which had been at the edge of the clearing and raring to go, slunk back into the depths at his goddess' command. Coranel had helped Gareth greatly in his ascension, if he couldn't do her the courtesy of at least saying ‘thank you’ she would have had her retribution.
-
Unbeknownst to Gareth, Guanji was in shock.
The gods interacting with non-priests were rare, but not unheard of. The gods giving boons to supplicants who had made offers or sacrifices were likewise uncommon. But…the gods giving free help, without being made an offer, was unheard of. Not only that, but when the gods granted boons they would do so as a spectacle; they made sure everyone knew they were being gracious. So the fact that Coranel was whispering made Guanji afraid.
It was well-known throughout the empire that the priests have gone missing, but no one had been able to contact the gods since, well, their priests were gone. This could be his chance to ask the question, “Where are the priests?"
Gareth frowned and looked around in confusion, “Isn't it always this quiet?”
Guanji hadn't meant to speak aloud, which just showcased his level of shock that the lady Coranel was actually interacting with a mortal...well, Gareth wasn't exactly mortal, is he? - He thought to himself.
“No…It is not.” Guanji said with great gravity. Moving from his cross-legged position he got onto his knees and prayed aloud.
“Goddess, I offer this fang as tribute, obtained by slaying a great sabre-tooth.” From his spatial treasure Gaunji pulled a curved tooth the size of his arm. It had multiple cracks in its structure, through which leaked blue light as if it were molten lava. Its point was sharp, not like a knife’s, just enough to pierce any hide if enough pressure was applied.
It was not to last, because as Guanji laid the tooth down on the rock in front of him, it turned to ash. Just like that. No warning, no ceremony, nothing.
Having expected an acknowledgement, at least, Guanji took a moment to respond, “I would ask the Wildmother where her priests have gone.”
Guanji was an Elder, a title granted to those with at least three skills in the Grandmaster mastery level. He was a man of self-control; a spy who could infiltrate most venues; and a shrewd strategist that always saw his opponent’s motivations.
The goddess Coranell’s answer?
-
A mouse, too focused on its foraging to pay attention to its surroundings, followed the scent of delicious strawberries. Through a tunnel here, down a grass tunnel there, and up a rock it climbed.
It loved strawberries só, and would go to great lengths to obtain but a nibble.
It was ruminating on the taste so much that it didn't notice the great shadow that sat on the rock it had just climbed upon.
-
Guanji looked down at the rodent that had climbed onto his rock.
It came near him, so near its whiskers brushed against his pant leg. It was only then, when they made contact, that the rodent was broken free of its seeming senility. It froze and with a mighty squeak did a panicked backflip of gymnastic proportions.
Then it was gone, disappearing back into the grass.
“Grave portents indeed.”
To Gareth it just looked like a mouse being in its own world and making a mistake. To Guanji it was a book to be read.
A mouse: curious and hungry, lured by something for which it was willing to leave its burrow. Broken out of its delusion on contact it was frightened and fled. Now it hid.
He put it together: the priests, curious and hungry, were lured into contact with something that frightened them, then hid.
But what could make the gods retract their priests? What could make gods hide?
Intermission: Perspective
“I see what you mean.” Lord Margrave said as he stood next to a scout at the bottom of the Looming Cliffs.
“Exactly, my lord. Look at the egg casings! They are more bloody than they should be, and the tracks coming out of them are completely wrong for a Water Quatl.”
The scout that had spoken was a short man with a blond moustache, black hair with gold accents, and a youthful exuberance that had persuaded Margrave to indulge him.
“I understand, but I trust this is not the only reason for which I was brought to the edge of my realm?”
Margrave was not irritated in the least! He just had other matters to attend to and could not afford an irrelevant distraction.
“No, my lord!” Startled brown eyes hurriedly gestured in another direction of the woodsy area, “We found sanguine leeches in the river over there.”
“Gods man, why didn't you start with that?”
Margrave shook his head and used his qingong technique to rapidly run to where the young scout had indicated.
Sanguine leeches were a low-tier threat to cultivators, but posed a large danger to the local ecology. They could clean rivers of fish, forests of rodents, wipe out birds, snakes, and the fundamental building blocks of the food pyramid. A pest to be sure, but one that could be dealt with relatively easily. The only problem was that sanguine leeches were hellspawn, and where there is one type of hellspawn, there are hundreds that usually follow. This news, along with Ivor Hansen’s report, and Gareth Elson’s interaction with the Oni Broodmother, made Margrave greatly worried.
He quickly found a leech in a shallow riverbed, trying to gobble down a fish three times its size…and succeeding.
“Disgusting.”
He raised his right hand, and after a brief bit of effortless mental exertion, a wind blade sliced the leech clean in half.
Its viscous black blood quickly spread through the slow current, and like moths drawn to a flame hundreds of leeches soon swarmed the area.
He gathered his power and used his [Daylight] spell to disintegrate the lot of them. It worked, but only fleetingly as more and more leeches started showing up. From the river banks, from the undergrowth behind him, and dropping down from the trees above.
“Gods above, help us.” He absently disintegrated a leech that had fallen on his shoulder.
“It’s never just one thing is it?” He cursed and took out a short range communication talisman linked to master Guanji, activating it with a brief infusion of mana. “Post a bounty at the Adventurers Guild on sanguine leeches, a tier 3 leaf of their choice for every hundred heads they submit. Then see if you can ramp-up the rift break totals in the local area, the monsters should be able to keep the leeches in check.”
He didn't receive a reply, so assumed it would be done. Communication talismans were expensive and they couldn't afford to waste them on just an acknowledgement.
Actively causing rift breaks within fifty miles of one's holding was illegal under imperial law, nevermind extremely dangerous. He was toeing the line of what was permissible by causing rift breaks just at the border of his marquis, but they needed the capital that monster parts produced. They needed the monsters to combat the leeches. They needed the enchanted items gathered from rifts since the Marryvalian's had cut off their enchantment supply. It posed the risk of causing a premature beast tide, which would put his citizens and travelers at risk. It was a fuckup and a half, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
-
“You took a risk communicating with him, it could have spelt our doom.”
His voice rumbled like threatening thunder, a storm looming on the horizon.
“A calculated risk.” She said with an underlying snarl.
“All this means is that he's fair game. Now the fun can really start.” A mockingly suave man teased.
“It means we may all play our part in the coming age, even if we are shackled.”
Her voice, so smooth one could only dream of it, blew like a fresh breeze across the room in which they had all assembled.
“Not for much longer, my lady. Soon the ascension will commence, and they will be unable to stop us.”
Neoborg’s voice had lost its threatening tone and had turned into a gentle rumble across the plains.
“How much did you help him?” A wise and playful dragon asked.
“Enough that it might make a difference.” Coranell said quietly.
