Chapter 106: Imprint

Chapter 106: Imprint

“Bip, Bop, stop playing with that thing and follow me. You have to see this!”

Myth looked up from the Crystal Slime to see Meloni staring at him. She looked like she was out of breath. Cloud was standing beside her, tail wagging happily and tongue lolling.

“An appreciation for novelty begets wisdom,” Reason said, prodding the unhappy Crystal Slime with a stick. It didn’t move toward the bowl. “Those who—”

“Oh, stuff it,” Meloni interrupted. “You’re not going to get that thing to purify alcohol for you. Stop messing with it and just ask Rain. Wait, that’s not his slime, is it?”

“No,” Myth said. “We couldn’t find Rain, and that’s not the point. We are trying to understand how these work.” He gestured to the slime. “If we know what aspect they are using to attack the moss, then we can—”

Myth stopped. Meloni was tapping her foot. That was usually bad.

He sighed, rising from his crouch and walking over to her. Cloud’s tail started wagging even faster. “Fine, what do you want us to see?”

“There’s something strange going on in the Lee. Some weird glowing crystal thing.”

“Hmm,” Reason said, somehow managing to make the noise sound deep and mysterious. He dropped the stick and rose, adjusting his black coat. “Anger of the world made manifest?”

“What?” Meloni said.

“Yes, what?” Myth echoed, looking at his partner.

Reason didn’t answer, walking past Meloni and heading for the southern wall. He ruined his mysterious image by stooping to scratch Cloud behind the ear as he passed. Meloni shook her head and followed.

Smiling, Myth hurried to join them. I wonder what it could be. He hadn’t been up to the wall himself, too busy with his work, but he’d heard rumors. Supposedly, there was a cervidian among the survivors. He’d always wanted to meet one.

When they reached the foot of the wall, they were brought to a halt by a bored-looking Watch officer. “No access to the wall,” the man said, holding up a hand. “Too dangerous.”

“Fifteen minutes,” Meloni said flatly.

“An hour,” the man countered.

“What? No!” Meloni said.

Myth tilted his head. What? Why is he bargaining up?

The officer shook his head, gesturing to Myth and Reason. “They’re important, so the price is higher. I could get in trouble.”

“They’re also awakened, Kellen,” Meloni said. “They’ll be fine. Fifteen minutes, and we’ll only be up there for five.”

“Thirty,” said Kellen, folding his arms.

“Fine,” Meloni sighed, stooping to pick up Cloud. She grunted from the effort.

“What the hells is going on?” Myth demanded.

“Bribery,” Meloni said. She pushed Cloud into the officer’s arms.

The man laughed as the excited puppy squirmed, licking at his face.

Ah, I see.

“Don’t you dare feed him anything,” Meloni said. “He’s big enough already.”

“Yes, yes, up you go,” said the officer, happily cradling the dog. “Remember what I said about the torches, and stay away from the edge.”

Meloni nodded to him as she passed, climbing up the narrow stairs. Myth and Reason followed and joined her in looking out across the nascent mushroom swamp when they reached the top.

“You see?” Meloni said, pointing to the Lee. “What are those glowing crystals?”

“Hmm,” Reason said. “Crystal of black, crystal of white. The will of the user joins the fabric of the world.”

Myth nodded to him, recognition flashing through his mind as he stared at the formation. “It’s a mindcaster,” he said to Meloni, watching the glowing blue and red pulses of magic in fascination. He’d never seen one himself, but there was no mistaking it. Unfortunately, it was too far away for him to make out the specific runes being used, not that he was an expert on runelore anyway. Materials were more his thing.

“Oh,” Meloni said. “I had no idea what they looked like.”

“Mmm,” Myth said, unwilling to admit the same. “I think there’s one in one of the strongholds, but I don’t know which, specifically.”

Meloni tilted her head. “Will it work through the barrier?”

Reason laid his hand on Myth’s shoulder, and Myth looked at him. When he spoke, his voice was serious, his mysterious air discarded. “Unlikely, Meloni. Myth, do you recognize the user?”

Myth looked, squinting. “Female. Grey hair, so probably older. It’s too far to make out her face, so I can’t say that I do.”

“I believe it to be the Guilder Lavarro,” said Reason, his tone grave. He removed his hand from Myth’s shoulder and moved closer to the wall.

“Okay, so?” Meloni said. “We knew she was out there. What’s got you all worked up, Bop?”

“I am not worked up,” Reason replied. “And do not call me Bop.”

Meloni rolled her eyes. “Fine. Reason. If you aren’t worked up, then why are you talking like a normal person?”

Reason just frowned and shook his head. “The Watch is angry because they lost their city, the Bank will doubtless be furious that their vault has been taken, and the Guild, well...” He gestured toward the glowing mindcaster. “The ice mage Mahria is her daughter if you did not know, as well as the daughter of Halgrave, the former leader of the Guild branch. That makes it personal. Her presence here... I fear that the conflict over Fel Sadanis might lead to a Faction War.”

“What?” Myth said, turning his head sharply. Damn it, Fel Sadanis was supposed to be out of the way! “The factions wouldn’t unite against the DKE, not if it would tip the balance to the Empire.”

“Watch, Guild, and Bank,” Reason chanted. “Three pillars apart. When united, nations tremble. When opposed, so trembles the world. A Faction War grinds all to dust.”

“Gods, I hope you’re wrong,” Myth said, returning his gaze to the glowing mindcaster and the woman at its center.

The Warden’s smile widened into a vicious grin as the walls rushed to fill her vision. I am going to enjoy this.

Moments before impact, she activated Unstoppable Force. For the next several seconds, her trajectory was locked, her velocity absolute. Anything that stood in her way would yield, or be destroyed.

Westbridge was an old city, older than the DKE itself. It was built in an era of war, and its marble walls were far more than they appeared. Ancient enchantments would be lurking within them to strengthen the stone and to shred anyone attempting to fly over.

Such things were of no concern to the Warden. In an unranked zone, her defenses would be sufficient to protect her, and Unstoppable Force would get her through any attempted entanglement. However, the Warden hadn’t activated the skill for that reason, nor was she on a trajectory that would have taken her over the wall. She was on one that would take her through.

At the moment of the impact, reality diverged. In one reality, the wards lacing the stones brought the Warden to an immediate stop, violating the absolute truth of Unstoppable Force. In the second reality, the wall was shattered as if it had offered no more resistance than a pane of glass.

Neither scenario was possible. The system imposed a limitation on the amount of damage that a single object or entity could sustain. The damage limit. It was not something that could be broken so easily.

The wall’s durability was above the limit, as were the Warden’s defenses, and yet, Unstoppable Force brought the two into direct conflict. Thus, the paradox was formed. An outside observer would have seen the Warden halted, pressed against the wall. Frozen in time.

Three seconds passed. Three seconds in which the wall’s enchantments resisted the impact. Three seconds in which the Warden’s own defenses were tested.

Reality converged, and the Warden’s truth triumphed over that of the wall. A colossal detonation rocked the city as she shot through, shattering the surface and revealing the marble to be nothing more than a facade. A cloud of earth and stones filled the air, and the buildings on the inside of the wall were flattened by the pressure of the detonation. All of this happened in an instant. For the Warden, there was no discontinuity, but for everyone else, three seconds of destruction appeared to take place in no time at all.

The Warden’s flight continued until Unstoppable Force expired. She smoothly corrected her trajectory with Force Pillar, crushing a building in the process. The rubble fell in slow motion as she stole its energy with Kinetic Absorption, partially replenishing her mana reserves.

She hadn’t needed to destroy the wall to enter the city. It was about sending a message. The cost was worth it.

Increasing her speed further, the Warden hurled herself above the streets, shattering buildings deliberately and hauling the rubble with her in an ever-growing maelstrom of stone. She left a wake of destruction leading toward the palace, feeling only the slightest pang of remorse for the lives she had doubtless snuffed out. It was necessary. To defeat someone like Westbridge, she needed to be cold. To strike without warning, offering no chance for him to prepare his defenses.

By killing the Citizen, I will save more lives than I take. He is the monster here. Not me.

The city shook as the palace was buried under a deluge of stone. The Warden hadn’t been content to simply let it fall. She’d driven it down with Force Exchange, hurling it against the building with all of her might and launching herself upward in the process. The very air shattered around her body, ripped apart by the speed of her acceleration. Kinetic Absorption was still active, acting on the wind, slowing her and filling her reserves.

Reaching into a pouch, the Warden retrieved a vial. This was a potion of her own creation, one that would be dangerous to consume for anyone without the proper resistances. Resistances that she had. She downed it with a grimace, thousands of Tel’s worth of rare ingredients and days of work, consumed in an instant.

Bitter.

The Warden’s mana roiled as she reached the peak of her arc, her eyes scanning the rubble far below her for movement. A stone shifted, and she grinned. Found you, cockroach. Momentum Release.

This far in the air, there was nothing for her to push off of, save the air itself, which was highly inefficient. Instead, she released the stored momentum of a collapsing mountainside that she had collected earlier. She instantly found herself shooting toward the ground, faster, even, than she had flown into the air.

Redirection. Redirection.

An explosion of fire rocked the city as Westbridge cast some unknown spell to free himself from the rubble, but it only served to guide the Warden directly to him. Her body crashed straight into his, slamming him down into the stone and through the earth.

The Warden grit her teeth in pain as fire seared into her. Perhaps some spell of retaliation, or an automatic defense. She doubted that Westbridge would have had time to react otherwise. The bracer on her left arm was warming rapidly, absorbing some of the heat. She wouldn’t give Westbridge time to overcome it.

Faultline. Force Crush. Piercing Bolt. Faultline. Constriction.

The earth cracked and shifted as the Warden harvested its stored energy, directing it against the man grappled in her arms. Earth magic was not her specialty, but as a derivative of Force, she had more than a few spells. Metamagic boosted all of her attacks, each strike blasting into the Citizen with enough power to level buildings.

Too late, she realized that Westbridge was chanting. She couldn’t hear him, obviously, but Mana Sight let her see the motion of his lips as he formed the final words, his very skin glowing with magic.

“Fulminating Eruption!”

The Warden screamed as the bracer on her arm instantly flashed red hot, then exploded. Lava squeezed through cracks in the shattered stone around them, overcoming her defenses as she frantically released Westbridge and pushed herself away. Arcane lightning crackled through the lava, striking her over and over as she swam through the viscous liquid. She reached the surface and launched herself into the air, half of her health gone from that one attack. Lava dripped from her skin as she caught herself on pillars of Force.

What the fuck was that?!

Westbridge rose smoothly from the surface of the lava, protected by a shimmering bubble of red energy. To the Warden’s immense relief, Mana Sight revealed that he wasn’t nearly as unscathed as he appeared. Her attacks against his defenses, plus the doubtless absurd cost of that spell, had drained him thoroughly. He was almost out of mana. She still had a chance.

[What have you done?!!] Westbridge’s voice screamed in her mind as he flung streams of lava toward her, drawing them up from the bubbling pool of destruction below him. The earthquakes she had caused with Faultline had collapsed buildings, and lava was flowing through the streets as people fled for their lives. The Warden barely noticed these details, so consumed was she in her rage.

“You attacked my daughter!” she screamed, using her power to amplify her voice. She lashed out with Chain of Force, wrapping the invisible links of the spell around Westbridge’s ankle, shattering his shield in the process. She then yanked, pushing against the ground with Force Pillar to increase her leverage.

Westbridge screamed, hurled into the sky, unable to resist her spell. The Warden grinned wickedly as he jerked to a stop at the end of the chain with a whipcrack detonation. She pulled again, swinging him down into the ground as he feebly attempted to resist. He hit with a massive impact, sending lava and broken stone flying. His defenses are broken. I have him.

[Stop! I yield!] The old Citizen’s voice sounded desperate. Frail.

The Warden shook her head. If she let up for an instant, he could recover. His weakness could be a ploy. Again and again, she whipped the Citizen into the air, then back into the ground, not giving him a moment to recover. It was relatively gentle, all things considered. She didn’t want to kill him yet, after all.

At the peak of Westbridge's fourth trip into the sky, there was a sudden release of tension from the chain as his leg tore free from his body, sending his limp form tumbling through the air.

I win.

The Warden shot after him. She scooped him up with a cradle of Force, carrying his broken body with her out of the city.

[Release me,] Westbridge said, the words weak. He couldn’t even speak normally, not with the condition he was in.

“No,” the Warden said. “You will tell me how to lower the barrier.”

[I will not,] said Westbridge. [You will get nothing from me, enemy of the Kingdoms.]

“Is your life of so little value to you?” asked the Warden, holding a blade of Force to the wounded man’s neck. “My daughter is all I have left. I have thrown the rest away.”

[If you kill me, then the barrier will never fall,] Westbridge said, his breathing ragged. [Save your empty threats.]

The Warden frowned. Let’s try this instead. “You have children, yes? Perhaps I shall visit them next.”

She wasn’t sure if she’d be willing to follow through on that threat, but Westbridge didn’t have to know that.

The Citizen wheezed, blood bubbling from his lips. The Warden realized he was laughing. “You...” he gasped, choking out the words. “You understand nothing. I am a Citizen. I would kill my children myself if it were necessary...for the survival of the DKE. They are...nothing to me.”

“Lies,” the Warden said, pressing the blade deeper into his neck. “Tell me how to lower the barrier.”

Exp: 125/700

Launch a small bolt of fire from your fingertips

Damage: 28-42 Heat

Range: 40 stride

Cost: 10 mp

Flamestrike

Rank 2

Exp: 50/200

Call upon fire to enhance your next strike with a melee weapon

Damage: 29-43 Heat

Cost: 10 mp

4 Available Skill Points

Fire Evocation

Foundation

-

Tier-1

Magma Catapult

Launch a viscous ball of magma in an arc

Damage: 36-54 Heat

Range: 20 stride

Cost: 25 mp

Cooldown: 10 s

Requires 5 ranks in Firebolt

Flamewave

Summon a curtain of fire that travels along the ground in a line

Damage: 5-8 Heat

Height: 3 stride

Width: 2 stride

Range: 2 stride

Cost: 10 mp

Requires 5 ranks in Flamestrike

Combustion

Snap your fingers to cause your target to spontaneously combust

Damage: 14-21 Heat

Range: 1 stride

Cost: 20 mp

Cooldown: 5 s

Requires 10 ranks in Fire Evocation skills

Tier-2

Locked

Class Selection

Worker

Common

Requirement: None

Effect: Boosts non-combat skills by 1 in 2

Warning: Experience may no longer be gained through combat

Mage

Common

Requirement: Focus greater than strength and endurance

Requirement: At least 10 kills by magical means

Effect: Boosts the effects of the focus attribute by 1 in 2

Warrior

Common

Locked

Requirement: Strength greater than endurance and focus

Requirement: At least 10 kills by physical means

Effect: Boosts the effects of the strength attribute by 1 in 2

Defender

Common

Locked

Requirement: Endurance greater than strength and focus

Requirement: Absorb at least 1000 total points of damage

Effect: Boosts the effects of the endurance attribute by 1 in 2

Kettel wandered aimlessly, his anger cooling as he reviewed the words burning in his mind. The officers were right. He was weak. It had been almost two weeks since his awakening, and while his progress was fast, it wasn’t fast enough. His level had grown quickly, true, but his skills were taking much longer. Killing monsters didn’t help, only practice did, and his low mana regeneration was killing him. Hanging out near Rain helped immensely, but he was usually busy, and the Watch didn’t take kindly to magic use within the camp. Kettel needed to be on the walls for that, not wherever Rain happened to be. Being banned from them was going to be a problem.

Fuck Vincke. Flaming bastard.

Kettel sighed, headed for the southern Watch stronghold. Rain was usually around there somewhere.

I need ta convince em to bring me huntin’ or somethin’. Could get a lotta’ practice out there. Breggeh might come if I ask nice, an’ maybe Rina. The others... fuck em.

He shook his head. The other nobles from their delve had all vanished, returning to their families. Arlo, he could understand, given what had happened, but the others were just being pompous jerks. Rina was little better, in truth, but, well, she was hot, so...

“Hey, watch where you’re going!” an angry voice said.

Kettel stopped, letting his status fade from his mind as he stumbled, barely avoiding falling over. He looked at the woman he’d almost crashed into and grinned.

And speaking of hot... “Oh, hey. Mahria.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Do I know you?”

“Not yet,” Kettel said, “But ye will. I’m Kettel. Greatest Fire Mage in tha world!” He rubbed at his nose. “Workin’ on tha whole ‘greatest’ part.”

Mahria laughed, and Kettel felt his stomach do a somersault.

“Aren’t you adorable?” she said, pressing her hand to his chest for a second before sidestepping around him.

She touched me!

“Hey!” Kettel said, turning to follow her. “So, um. I was thinkin’ I were gonna’ go hunt monsters later. You, uh, wanna come?”

Mahria barely glanced back at him. “Not interested in dying, sorry.”

“Wha?” Kettel said, hurrying after her. “It wouldn’t be jus’ us.” Though that’d be nice. “I was gonna’ ask Rain ta’ come. An’ maybe Rina Ashworth. You know her, right? All ye women know each other.”

Mahria stopped, turning to face him, her expression suddenly icy. “You’re lucky I’m going to ignore that.”

“Ignore what?” Kettel said, blinking.

She sighed and shook her head. “You know Rain?”

Kettel nodded. “Yeah, o’course.”

“Hmm,” Mahria said, her frown softening. “Fine. If you can get him to come, I’m in. He’s been avoiding me.”

“Why?” Kettel asked.

“My mother,” Mahria said, turning away. She muttered something under her breath, then spoke clearly again. “Just find me once you have a whole group. I’m not going out there without numbers on our side, especially if Rain is coming. The mana’s nice, but he’s useless in a fight.”

“No he ain’t,” Kettel said. Though... Once I level up some, I might be able to take em...

Mahria shrugged, walking away. “See you later, Kettel.” It was a clear dismissal, but Kettel didn’t mind. She’d said his name.

The sudden tolling of a bell made him jump, and he realized that he was staring. He glanced over at the bell tower, one of the few remaining structures within the camp. He shook his head and resumed his course toward the stronghold. It wasn’t an attack; they were just sounding the hour. Sixth bell. Time for supper.

Where the hells is Rain, anyway? I ain’t seen em all day.