Book 2: Chapter 39: Hard Mode

Book 2: Chapter 39: Hard Mode

Smooth and powerful are the winds of change brought by the words of prophecy. They cut through mountains like a river and are inexorable as the tides.

- On the Prophecy of the Gods, by Gideon de Salavia 376 AC.

The rain, as always, continued to beat down against the camp in a never-ending torrent. The inside of the great ‘tent’, where we waited out the rains, was filled mostly with the blue light of the crystal Zajasite, and open fires were being limited to only essential cooking activities. The whole situation began to remind me of my time in the mines.

If I was to ascend to the next level of skill, I needed to shake things up. Though smashing someone in the face had a certain cathartic appeal, a part of me much preferred having the option to kill someone from afar. The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

Currently, as things stood, I could hit a stationary target nine times out of ten at fifty paces and a moving target at about half that. Having learned to lead a target, the rest was simply a guessing game when it came to aiming, much like playing a game of rock-paper-scissors. Only in this game, a bolt to the body was the price of losing.

Mana: 6/6

For some reason, this new information made me even more determined to hit him and wipe the smug smile from his face. I was surprised to see that the numbers that represented his Status moved across my ‘user interface’ - and where the numbers of his Status were, the boy most certainly was. That was it! Because I was blindfolded, the boy was not bothering to dodge or zig-zag, he was merely making a beeline toward his goal. Calmly, I pressed the trigger, loosing a blunted bolt that hit my target and caused him to yelp, more in surprise than in pain. The boy was now only one health point down, and I had many more bolts left in my quiver. I imagined him pausing in shock and looking in my direction, wondering if it was just luck or the divine that had guided the last bolt. Plenty more where those came from, I sniggered to myself, as I took in my new notifications.

You have learned Blind-Fighting (lvl.1)

You have learned Crossbows (lvl.4)

That was more like it. The powers-that-be deigned to recognize my efforts. Progress, at last. Perhaps, this day I could hit the boy eighty more times for some more experience to contribute toward my next level up? No, I thought better of it, that would reduce the reputation and relationship points with Catalina, which could make things more difficult from here on out. Best play it safe. On the other hand, hurting him would allow me to practice my Heal spell.

An evil grin spread across my face. I was determined to make the boy work for his dinner.