Book 2: Chapter 25: Divine Fury

Book 2: Chapter 25: Divine Fury

Known far and wide as the manifold goddess, the bringer of bounty, and the dread mother of monsters, Iasis commands a most-complex and enigmatic reputation. Depending on the land in question, she is held either in deep reverence or vile scorn. Many of the old tales credit the vibrant life of Gesthe to her divine intervention, while others blame her for every ill wind and calamity that has ever befallen the world.

- The Fanciful Travels by Beron de Laney 376 AC.

My remaining enemies advanced upon me, and a lone Tides warrior dismounted and charged at me with a berserker’s scream. This was foolish, for I was Justice made manifest upon this plane. The origin of this chapter's debut can be traced to N0v3l--B1n.

This was the thought that entered my mind, a thought that was not quite my own. A fanatic’s rage filled me and I deflected a strike from a heavy curved sword and countered with a Power Strike. Then another, and another, and another - in a savage combination. My weapon, a holy tool of divine fury, smashed through the thin platelets of lamellar and crushed through to the bone. The nameless enemy died pathetically, gurgling sweet nothings to the world in his own blood.

You have slain a Human 15 experience gained.

You have learned Riding (lvl.1) You have learned Maces (lvl.3)

Waving the notifications away, I saw through the haze of my growing fury that my Stamina had dropped precipitously low. It seemed that with rapid use, Power Strike drained far too much of my Stamina. This was the price for using skills in rapid succession.

My Drain continued to leech energy from Tarkhan, and my Stamina began to claw back up in time with each breath I took. The battle was far from done, and only a few seconds later Tarkhan charged me, along with one of his men. The young commander’s youthful features had grown sallow, and fear and desperation haunted his eyes. He engaged me with a weak roar, his strikes slow and filled with fatigue. It stood to reason; his Health, Stamina, and Magic were all but drained. The man was but a light blow away from entering the afterlife and being added to my experience total. However, the soldier at his side, who struck at me with a rounded ball mace, was still relatively fresh. Unlike Tarkhan, he presented to me a completely different proposition.

They worked in tandem. Tarkhan, slow as he was, acted as a distraction to give the other man openings, and his spear provided the range to fend me off. Fighting against more than one opponent, no matter how weakened one of them was, was exponentially more difficult. To counter them, I had to move my shield constantly, the mace-flail in my other hand providing little in the way of defense.

Even as I fought the pair, the rest of the conflict devolved into a general melee. The combatants had taken the fight inside the ring of wagons. Making a wide sweeping strike, to create space, I broke off from the pair who had been hounding me. Luckily, Tarkan and his partner were cut off by the spears of the guards.

You have learned Daggers (lvl.4)

My body was thrumming with power, seeking more violence as I rode a high of adrenalin and raw life force. Something within me had changed; the Unarmed Skill, having reached level five, had changed me somehow. This feeling was soon confirmed, as I was given another notification.

You have learned Improved Unarmed Combat (lvl.1) You have gained 10 experience

I raised my shield to block another arrow, as I quickly read the notification. A quick glance at the rest of my interface showed that it had supplanted the basic Unarmed skill. I was delighted that my battlefield experimentation had given me a new useful skill, Dash.

I had enough Mana to cast a few more spells. It would be churlish of me not to use them. Skulking in the corner of my mind, as if in hiding, was my Rust spell, its existence almost completely forgotten. I would have the magic do some work this day. Like a hound of war, my Entropic Aura was straining at its leash and begging to be let loose. So let loose it was, and the insidious waves of energy pulsed with me at its center.

I saw a soldier who was engaged with a caravan guard, and targeted him with the full force of my Rust spell. Dark bolts of hungering lightning mixed with the pulses of Entropic energy. Unerringly, the magic found its mark. The mouthwatering smell of roast pork, an aroma at odds on the battlefield, filled my nostrils. The soldier writhed on the ground, cooking in his own armor as it oxidized at an accelerated rate. The guards who had been engaging the soldier turned almost green, and my face lit up with a smile, full of satisfaction. It was a few long moments until the tabarded soldier went to meet with his goddess, his agonized death cries a sweet song that finally stilled when the caravan guard put him out of his misery.

You have slain a human 7 experience gained.

A quick glance at my Status showed that I was still very much in fighting condition.

Health249/288 Stamina23/63 Mana4/14

The tabarded men wavered for a moment, confusion and division running rampant through their ranks as their leaders argued with each other, even as they fought a resisting enemy. They were unsure of whose orders to follow. Unfortunately, the greater portion of their number seemed to be Knight-Sergeants men, as most of the unengaged soldiers moved to support him.

“Hubris to think that you would know of her wishes, little Goddess. We know that you bear that sword only because you spread your legs for his Eminence,” spat back Knight-Sergeant Mistevan.

The red-haired woman snarled back at this, raised her long slender sword, no longer seeking restraint but satisfaction, and answered with violence.