Chapter 42: Departing the Field of Victory

Chapter 42: Departing the Field of Victory

Nathan retreated back to the center of the wide passage, pulling on clothes that Aarl had tossed him. He wanted to take refuge among the Heirs against something his antimagic couldnt protect him from - Kozars reaction to Simlas death.

Im pretty sure hes dead, at least. Armor lying empty on the ground after fighting a construct with a disintegration aura - not definitive, but rather suggestive.

Khachi was standing up straight, coaxing shards of shattered construct out of his armor. It wasnt clear if theyd come from his own metal-crushing hammer strikes or Kozars javelins, but it didn't look fun to have jagged shards stuck inside your gear. He was glancing around to see if anybody needed healing, but none of the Old hands appeared badly injured, and the remaining members of Simlas team seemed more shell-shocked than anything.

Aarl had been assisting the Old Hands, and his metallic helmet shrunk back into the body of his armor as he grouped up with Nathan. Sarah exhaled a long-held breath as she stowed her own weapons. They all turned to look at Stella, who was pancaked flat on her back on the metal floor.

That doesnt seem comfortable. Is she alright?

Nathan leaned down towards the mage, and opened his mouth to ask.

But before he could, Stella raised a hand into the air, though her eyes stayed closed. Im ok. Just rather tired. The enormous yawn that punctuated her words gave authenticity to the statement. I dont think I can take more healing.

Nathan shrugged, then looked around at the rest of the Heirs. I didnt see much of the fight. What happened? Especially to Simla?

He tried to fight the spider construct. Khachis expression was shadowed as he glanced towards the empty armor. He trusted to speed, skill and magical equipment to protect him from the disintegration aura, but the spider defended itself with the legs until Simlas protections were spent, and then followed him when he attempted to retreat. Theyre faster than a Stalker when pouncing on retreating prey. The cleric shook his head gravely. And Disintegration is not an injury I can heal. Another of that team perished to the construct before Kozars strike ended the threat.

Aarl pointed at the Old Hands. True aim from the others. The Old Hands are untouched since their spider construct ran into Nathan. Theyve got decades of teamwork, and Neta stayed calm and controlled the fight.

But we face smoke and fire now. Sarah grimaced as she looked towards where the returning elites were interrogating the surviving members of Simla's team. Kozar returns, and his nephew is dead. That will drip blood in his eye.

Nathan met Khachis gaze, remembering Kozars humiliating motivation of Simla less than twelve hours before.

No wonder he did something so stupid. He needed to take the risk, get his mentor's approval with a great deed.

Should we Nathan tilted his head towards the entrance, raising his eyebrows to suggest they scarper before facing down an enraged elite Adventurer.

Khachi shook his head. No. We will not bait the Castlebear. This will be done on the field of victory, not from the shame of defeat. Then the wolfman turned to face the approaching elite Adventurer.

Nathan stepped backwards, yielding the floor to Khachi. He did not want the coming confrontation to be about him.

Khachi did a great job facing down Eldred, now Ill need to rely on him again.

Kozars face was stony, his words loud. Once more the Heirs have triumphed, and shown themselves the toughest giantslayers of the new generation. He glanced back at the Adventurers trailing him. A hidden threat, an army of constructs. If only I had trusted the rear defense to a team that had just defeated an army of constructs five times this size. Instead, my nephew and protg is dead. What a blunder of Algoa."

The [Divine Justicar] did not quail in the face of Kozars barely veiled accusation. He acknowledged the statement with a grave nod. To repeat prophecy, that victory required preparation and the full exertion of Stellas magic. She has not been able to recover, especially after shielding us on our approach to this dungeon.

The older Adventurer's eye fell on Stella, where Aarl was helping her sit up and take a drink of water. His lips twisted past a smirk and all the way to a snarl. Do you take me for a fool? That was an artifact, not a mage. And one you clearly cant use again. Or can you? He stepped forward threateningly, javelin rising to point towards Khachi.

What occurs? Delric joined the conversation. His voice was calm and his weapons sheathed despite the threat of imminent violence.

Kozar fixed his attention to the new arrival. How did your team survive without casualties? Are you simply so blessed?

No. Nathan destroyed the spider construct that was attacking us. Else we would have faced one of those ghoul uncles ourselves. Tough as anything on the face of Davrar.

Kozar's attention turned to Nathan. And you. A Steel Screamers waste, but easily able to destroy the constructs that have disintegrated my nephew.

Nathan grimaced at being called out. The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.

No getting around this confrontation, I suppose.

Nathan met Kozars eye calmly, refusing to raise his voice. Yes. I am immune to their aura, and can disable the control magic once I reach the central body. It takes time.

Tell me. What made you decide to save the Old Hands and not my nephew? Kozars intimidation flared forth, but Nathan was ready, and activated his Rage in response.

He matched Kozars eyes as the wrathful man continued to talk, his presence swelling until it seemed to blot out half the world with the threat of brutality. Kozar was more than a man in that moment, replaced by a hulking figure whose every aspect promised violence unless appeased. His voice grated out like the crash of weapons. Did you allow the second spider construct its rein, encourage it to strike down my nephew?

The skill - and it was definitely a skill - focused on Nathan, encouraging him to admit his guilt. All he had to do was cave in, go along with Kozars story. That was all it would take for the overwhelming weight of intimidation to be diverted.

Nathan took a deep breath, stabilizing himself against the onslaught of Kozars skill. This urge - to falsely confess - was not his. It was being impressed upon him, by a man so stricken with grief he didnt care about being subtle. But the foreign influence just flared Nathans rage higher. His anger pushed Nathan to attack the man, but his focus controlled the urge, and Nathan settled for throwing off the terrible grip of the skill.

Battle Meditation 5 achieved!

Damn thats insidious. Do people know he has this skill? This cant be ok. But if I challenged him over it it would be a duel - and he'd beat the pants off me.

Nathan furrowed his brows as he met Kozars eyes. No, I did not seek this outcome. Simla was a worthy foe in the ring, so I judged him capable of fighting his own battle until I could help. I was on my way to fight the second spider construct when your strike destroyed it.

A hand landed on Kozars shoulder. It was Argan, the water mage on his team. My salt-brother, this is not the fight you wish it to be. Calm yourself. Let the tide recede.

The older Adventurer shook off the calming hand, taking a step towards Nathan. I think to challenge you over that assertion, boy. How do you answer?

Nathan pulled himself back from the musing, thinking about his own circumstances.

Does that imply anything for me? It kind of suggests that Ill specialize towards whatever I keep fighting. And I want that to be mages, and magic. Not random constructs or snakes in the wilderness. I wasnt really well-suited to fighting those constructs - I dont have easy ways to pierce their armor, or solutions to the numbers or level of brute force the bigger ones have. But if I kept fighting them, my next class Development would probably contain those answers. And I dont really want that.

Frowning, Nathan followed the line of thought for the next few hours of traveling. What that really implied is that he should be thinking about heading towards Giantsrest. Find Faline and follow the green-and-pink-eyed assassin into the slavers' empire to help her topple the entire damned edifice. It would also get him away from Adventurer politics.

They set up camp for the night in a flat spot among a forest of rock spires, protected from sight in all directions. Regardless, Nathan and Khachi layed out an abundance of tripwires in the unfamiliar wilderness.

As they were sitting down to eat the stew Aarl had made, Nathan broached the topic. I think we should head back to Gemore soon, and not spend much longer in the wilderness. We need to deal with the fallout of this thing with Kozar, and then I might head towards Giantsrest - or maybe Ill just go soon and thatll make everything easy. Im over level 81 now, and have new skills. And so do you. Going home will let you practice with your parents. And you'll finally get a bit of a break."

The rest of the Heirs received Nathans statement with a series of complex shared looks.

Sarah cast her spoon back into the bowl of stew. Thats got some reason to it. Hear me, but I dont want to adventure with a team of four after all this. She waved her hands around to encompass the Heirs sitting around the low fire, then sighed. But this problem is petrified in place. Lets not say goodbye yet. Things may change, and it will take us some time to travel back.

The rest of the Heirs glumly agreed, and settled a watch schedule. Nathan was on second watch, and found it difficult to go to sleep as he once more considered yet another impetus that was pushing him to abandon the Heirs.

Theyve saved my bacon plenty of times in the past few months, just as Ive saved theirs. Operating on my own is going to be tricky to get used to.

He resorted to meditation to get out of the destructive spiral.

Dont worry about it yet. Theres still time to enjoy their company.

Status of Nathan Lark:

Permanent Talent 1: Magic Absorption 10

Permanent Talent 2: Perfected Body 4

Talent 3: High-tier Slow Fall 8

Class: Implacable Antimage level 117

Stamina: 3515/3810

Antimages Impassivity

Antimagic Momentum

Raging Thrill

Implacable Inertia

Unarmored Resilience

Improved Antimagic

Strenuous Agility

Hand-to-hand Expertise

Utility skills:

Battle Meditation 5

High-tier Earnestness 9

Mid-tier Sprinting 10

High-tier Spellsense 8

High-tier Notice 4

High-tier Identify 4

High-tier Dodging Footwork 5

High-tier Enhanced Memory 7

Mid-tier Lecturing 8

High-tier Tumbling 2