“Tread the path of Destruction!”
The god-touched power washed through Khana, and she charged at the scrawny woman with the terrifying aura. Each step and motion cracked the stone and sundered the walls, dealing further damage to the beleaguered tunnel. And each step also caused her to come into contact with another chain, glowing links sprouting from the walls, roof and ceiling. The first dozen broke easily, but each sting of contact robbed Khana of some of her momentum.
“Not this time, bitch!” she roared, consuming some more of her own vitality to power the charge further. As before, the pale-haired woman moved like a wraith, retreating before Khana’s charge while conjuring more and more chains. But unlike before, one of Khana’s fists closed on the shoulder of her foe, the armor creaking beneath her grip.
“I got you,” she smiled through bloodied teeth, and started punching. Each strike caused explosive detonations to echo through the tunnel, even if they should be far enough away from anyone still alive to actually be heard. The bitch tried to avoid and dodge of course, but Khana’s grip was strong. At least one in three blows hit, and by Destruction, did that feel good.
“You thought you had me, huh?” Khana growled as she continued attacking. “You thought you were beyond me, just because you could clear out some useless acolytes?” Another punch landed, cracking armor and maybe even bone beneath. “You thought you were beyond pain?!”
Then, Khana’s next punch simply stopped mid-swing, its destructive attack punishing only air.
“Huh?” Khana thought, even looking over to see what was keeping her arm. She shouldn’t have been surprised that it was chains. Loops and loops of them. While she had been pummeling away at her target, more of them had crept close, hovering just above her thrashing limbs before finally contracting. Khana was stuck, and apparently the bitch knew it too.
“Pain can be the perfect distraction,” the pale-haired woman finally spoke, voice chilly and flat. “Whether it is you who suffer or you who inflict the suffering, it does narrow the mind. Bring that focus, to the exclusion of all else.”
All of the chains groaned as they emitted a reddish-purple crackling glow, and Khana did not just stop there. She howled in agony, her spasming hand falling away from the armored shoulder of the woman. The bitch in question didn’t even move, confident in her position.
“And you fell to lord Pain’s ministrations, and thus will get to suffer through even more of them. Tell me, Khana Brax, why did your cell enter Hua-Xi? Who called upon you? Who sponsored your passage?”
Another bout of pain had Khana wheezing out breaths she should no longer need, mind falling back to base bodily functions.
“Go strangle yourself!” she managed to groan, but further words were stolen from her as that was obviously not what the woman wanted to know.
“Why did your cell enter Hua-Xi? Who called upon you? Who sponsored your passage?”
And so they continued. Khana lost all track of time almost immediately, but worse was that she felt her resistance slipping. The pain from those chains was becoming too much.
“Go forth, my herald! Show the world my purview, as you were always meant to do!”
As her god’s words echoed in Khana’s mind, the haze cleared somewhat, and Khana managed another grin, this one even more bloody than the one before.
“Destruction is inevitable!” she called as the light within her started glowing, her vitality consumed to bring forth even more of her god’s grace into this world. The last thing Khana Brax, devout of Destruction, felt was chains contorting around her, before the world was consumed in hallowed conflagration.
The chains of Dancer on the Broken River, disciple of Pain, contorted as one, sharp ridges slicing the detonating cultist of Destruction to pieces. Still, the light kept coming, gathering magic already having reached a critical limit.
With an inward snarl of frustration, River had her chains throw the overloading body parts as far down the corridor as possible, but a silver-ranker using Destruction’s power to kill themselves would always create a most spectacular explosion. River did not look back as she ran along the escape tunnel, mustering all the speed she could manage, but when the shockwave funneled along the tunnel caught her, she still blacked out for a moment.
That moment was enough to wake half buried in rubble, body screaming in pain. But pain was a constant companion and an excellent tool for tempering, so River only thanked her god for the ministrations as she turned intangible for a moment, shooting up from beneath the debris to continue her escape. The whole escape tunnel was falling apart, finally unable to handle the punishment, but with her current speed, she should make it.
“I should have known that Destruction-cultists are never worth the time,” she chided herself as she ran. Still, the lead had been too tempting. Swearing vengeance on a god as subtle as Discord had proven to be a study in futility, and upon gleaning that another cell of Destruction’s clergy were being called to Hua-Xi, River had to investigate. Even if said lead was now crumbling to pieces behind her. Unsurprisingly, Destruction’s clergy was also quite proficient in explosive traps and rituals, making sure that there was rarely anything of worth left by their presence.
“The pain of disappointment is ever sweet. Will you continue to endure the pain of grit and patience as well, my child?”
“Always, my god.” River whispered in reply to her deity’s words. Because there was at least something which she could take with her from this whole endeavor; that everything about the hideout which she had worked her way through indicated that it had been done and ready when the cultists arrived. That meant that there might be a trail, no matter how faint. And River would follow it, as she had done since the fateful encounter at the collapsing Descending Star sect.
“I will bear any pain if it means that the followers of Discord will suffer the same.”
River spoke the words aloud as she ran, dust billowing up from the tunnel behind her. A closed stone door loomed ahead, but River sensed no protective formations, only concealing ones, so she turned intangible once more and passed through, into the fresh night air.
Speaking aloud to herself had become more common in the years that had passed. Even her ascension to silver rank had not alleviated the habit, an ascension which had been hard fought through working her way through any and all unsanctioned work that could be found, or even pretending to be an adventurer and clearing out contract boards in far-out settlements.
“It is embarrassing. And unnecessary,” River once more chided herself, this time in her mind.
“The pain of loneliness is a creeping one, an erosion of the mind. Subtle and flavorful, wouldn’t you say, my child?”
“While I am loath to contradict you, my Lord, I am not lonely,” River protested vehemently. The mere thought was absurd.
Even so, all she got in response was her god’s patient chuckle; like a parent taking his time with a clueless child.
“Again, thank you for taking the cores to Peony while I go to meet with the director,” Kite said as he handed Dragonfly a wooden box.
“And again, no worries, Kite. Peony and Sun are really nice, and I never mind planning out some equipment for the future once our dear crafter hits silver. You sure know where to find them, Kite. That woman is fiendishly good at working with what she’s got,” Dragonfly replied cheerfully. “Still, that messenger looked to have been searching for you for some time. I wonder what the director, - Dobrazza, was it? - wants.”
“With the amount of time we spend going back and forth between the city and the construction site, I’m not surprised that it has been hard to pin me down,” Kite said a bit sheepishly. “I would have thought that it was related to ‘you know what’, but as the messenger stressed that it was private, I’m not so sure.”
“Nothing else to do than show up then. And proceed to tell me all about it later,” Dragonfly said with a wink as she bumped her hip into his. “Meet you at Peony’s later. Brook and Bloom are coming too.”
With those words, Dragonfly set off, easily outpacing the rest of the crowds. Kite would not be surprised if she would traverse the stair-like city by leaping across the rooftops, enjoying her silver-ranked capabilities quite a lot.
What did surprise Kite was the portal which appeared at the plaza which he was currently crossing in order to get to the administration building of Bastion’s adventure society, a portal arch of glass which Kite was very familiar with.
“-at’s that, Rupert? I couldn’t hear you, probably interference with the portal?” Jarvan LanCaire, Gilded’s adventure society branch director, called over his shoulder into the still open dimensional archway. He then froze as he sensed Kite, completely shifting gear from his obvious charade.
“Fanciful fanfare for Fortune! Kite! My favorite adventurer! I know we were bound for the same meeting, but you didn’t have to go through the trouble and wait for me at the plaza,” the regal man said with a brilliant smile.
“Greetings director,” Kite said, trying his best to adjust to the development. “Pardon me, but… the same meeting? I was called by director Dobrazza.”
“Oh I know. I’ve corresponded with her rather frequently these past months,” Jarvan said, sweeping Kite up in his wake as he started to make his way towards the administration building without pause.
“But… how did you know that the meeting would be now? I just got back to the city from the construction site. The messengers had been keeping an eye out for days.”
“Oh that? Sheer happenstance, actually. In my case, one could even call it bad luck. You see, I had this perfect reason to go ahead to Bastion for a few days while waiting for you to eventually get back and let Rupert hold the fort. A little vacation, of sorts. Say, you wouldn’t be amenable to going back out there and returning in three days? Or a week?”
Kite couldn’t help himself smiling at Jarvan’s shamelessness. “And here I thought that you were coming for those essences we discussed before I left for Bastion.”
“Now that you mention it, this would be a good time to discuss that!” Jarvan, true to form, quickly changed tack once more as he smelled the opportunity to procure some condensed magic. “You did hint that you had something more exotic that you found within the queen’s trial.”
The pair had just been admitted into the inner corridors of the administration building which led to director Dobrazza’s office, so Kite felt a bit more secure in flaunting a valuable thing or two. He reached into his most well-hidden dimensional pouch and produced a cube of golden, fervent light with shimmering specks of silver seemingly stuck in a forward motion no matter from which angle you looked at it.
“One zeal essence,” Kite announced, Jarvan’s eyes instantly glimmering with greed. “It was a bit odd to find the concept of zeal related to one of the domains within the queen’s trial where the gods cannot reach, but I assume that it doesn’t have to be religious fervor.”
“Oooohh… That, Kite… That’s a good find,” Jarvan said hungrily. “It’s the most direct route to the Wrath confluence too… Oh that’s a good one indeed… But…” Jarvan seemed to almost forcefully tear his gaze away from it, dramatically looking the other way. “It’s too expensive for me. I couldn’t give you an honest offer and while holding the budget for the rest of the children. We knew from the start that we’d have to work with mostly common and uncommon ones. Praise the gods that it doesn’t give worse sets of power at least.”
“Then I am sorry for tempting you. It’s an honorable sentiment, providing for each and every one in your rather… numerous… flock,” Kite said empathetically, putting the zeal essence away. “But I do have a set of needle, dust and venom which should be decent together.”
“Kite, did I ever say that you were my favorite adventurer?” Jarvan said happily. “That sounds like an affliction specialist in the making. It should be perfect for little Madelle. She’s only twelve, but the girl has a devious and patient mind. Quite the prankster too and- Oh, it seems like Dobrazza has noticed us.”
These days, Kite could also feel the spiritual attention of the other silver-ranker as Dobrazzas aura, its smoldering intensity a lot clearer now that he was also silver rank, swept across the pair when they had reached the doors to her office. Both men flared their own spirits slightly in the way which essence-users announced themselves, and another pulse from within let them know that they were welcome to enter.
“Kite! Jarvan! How good of you to come!” Carmella Dobrazza called from behind her desk, the tall, broad smolder woman even more intense to look at now that Kite’s silver-ranked perception was up for the task.
“You look well, Carmella, especially for one who was trying to poach a person of interest from me just now. You taking the time to invite me to this meeting does lessen the sting somewhat though. A little,” Jarvan called by way of greeting.
“Is your regard for me really so low that you suspect me of such schemes, Jarvan?” Dobrazza ‘tssked’. “It’s not like the council hands out rewards for the recommendations.”
“No, it's just… a matter of pride,” Jarvan grumbled, before mumbling. “And I did call dibs.”
“Directors, I would very much appreciate a bit more clues as to what you are referring to,” Kite noted, breaking into the conversation. While the pair still had their official titles, being the same rank made the more casual interaction feel quite a lot easier.
“Ah, of course, of course,” Jarvan said, waving Kite towards the seats in front of Dobrazza’s desk. “Let’s sit down and have this properly sorted out.”
“Let me just say that I was ecstatic to hear that our up-and-coming silver-ranker would eventually choose to settle within my district,” Dobrazza all but purred. “Not one but three silver-rankers making permanent residence sure did shake up local politics.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“I suppose this is life managing a wayward branch. Raise them up only to see them run off to fancier cities,” Jarvan said, voice full of mock sadness.
“Directors, please, show mercy upon this young one. I would not have assumed that you called me here to discuss my living arrangements,” Kite pleaded, trying to bring the conversation back on track as they were finally seated.
“Well, Kite, our actual topic was at least tangentially related to that. You’re a silver-ranker now. While they are much more common in some parts of the world, they are still exceptional individuals, wielding more power than normal-rankers can dream of,” Jarvan said, gesturing towards Kite. “Just look at yourself; from an iron-ranker of relatively humble beginnings, you made it to silver in just over four years. Sure, the surge helped a lot, but even without it you would have made good time for someone beginning their journey up in the Autumn lands. This takes a certain kind of drive, but you’ve also made some interesting decisions along the way, be it wrangling young sect disciples or founding the first guild in Hua-Xi in I don’t know how many years. Or decades. All under the guidance of a most competent and handsome branch dire-”
“What Jarvan is trying to say -,” Dobrazza broke in, “- is that you’ve stood out, Kite. You can make a bright future for yourself, be it through further work as an adventurer or if you settle down and wield your growing power and influence in the local setting. We already know that you’ve expressed your… enthusiasm… for partaking in the little investigation we are to undertake in the upcoming years, but other than that; what are your plans for the future?”
Kite took a while to ponder their question. It was obvious that the two were leading up to something, and as his curiosity nagged him onward, the honest reply came easily.
“Honestly? Contracts. The path to gold isn’t a mountain that will climb itself. But from what I gathered, silver-rank is long even for the world elites. So I had hoped to work more to further the guild, maybe even travel some more to find more mentors to help develop my technique. As you might know, Will and Serene will both be leaving for a time, but me and Dragonfly will remain quite the pair of vagabonds if things fall out the way we hope.”
He did omit the mention of the seed beneath the astral space. Not that he didn’t trust the directors in most regards, but that particular matter still felt like something which he wanted to explore on his own.
The two directors gave each other a look, before Dobrazza shrugged. “You go ahead and tell him, Jarvan. You’ve known him the longest.”
This caused the other man to smile widely as he turned to Kite. “While your words would no doubt bring a tear to the eye of any hard-working branch director out there, I - we - would like to add another option to that future. Or rather, quite the opportunity, if I may say so myself. Say, Kite, have you heard of Task Group Gauntlet?”
“I’m sorry to say that I have not,” Kite admitted. “Is that something related to the adventure society? The name doesn’t strike me as local.”
“So the lack of poetic meaning gave it away,” Jarvan chuckled. “But you are correct. Gauntlet is one of several forces organized by the adventure society, where they gather suitable prospects to handle more niche, high-stakes tasks. While their purpose varies, they all aim to cultivate elite forces with members from the different corners of the world. And Gauntlet, in particular, is all about hunting down essence-users operating outside the laws and restrictions of the world.”
“The Red Table, the churches of the shunned gods, users of restricted essences who have avoided conventional contracts of capture, convicted criminals in hiding, smuggling rings carrying restricted magical resources; all of those might be the targets of Task Group Gauntlet,” Dobrazza filled in, counting off each of the categories on her fingers.
“And both Carmella and I have recommended you to the continental council’s administration for consideration to join said group,” Jarvan continued. “You’re a dedicated adventurer Kite, with far more experience than most your age at handling other essence users. How many duels have you already fought? How many local criminals have you hunted down? And most of all, your power set should be supremely useful for the task group. Because when people are the target, taking some alive might be a key opportunity for getting even more information out of them. But combat between essence users is most often a very deadly affair if both parties are out for blood, so it is less common than what you’d think.”
This turned out to be a lot to take in, even for Kite’s silver-ranked mind. He sat back in his chair, processing. “I.. I’m honored for your consideration. Thank- thank you. But would such a group even consider someone like me? You know my origins. I’m sure that there are plenty of young masters and mistresses, or whatever those are called in other parts of the world, who are more suitable.”
“Oh, they would indeed. We have already received word that the application is approved. Should you decide to accept, you will have a spot in their next batch of recruits,” Dobrazza said.
“I am? But-” Kite began, but Jarvan broke in.
“Kite, the task group is looking for potential most of all. Should you accept, you will go through rigorous training. If you were already set in your ways, that would be a more difficult process. But you’re still young and have displayed remarkable adaptability. Those managing the task group found your resumé and powers a good fit.”
“It shouldn’t hurt to add that the pay is… Well, let us just say that the adventure society is a very wealthy organization, and when it wants specific people for specific tasks, it can afford them,” Dobrazza said, eyes twinkling.
“This… this is a lot to take in, but only a fool would discount the opportunity. When do we-” Kite began, but stopped himself. He had thought to ask when he and Dragonfly needed to give their answer. Only, that nowhere in this conversation had anyone been mentioned but him. Even the meeting itself had come with an invitation for him only. It made him realize how much he had assumed that at least the two of them would be able to stick together when the others left. And how much the thought of leaving her behind, even for a time, wrenched at his heart.
Apparently, some of his emotions leaked to the surface of his aura, as both directors gave each other a long look.
“Think about it,” Jarvan urged, tone uncharacteristically gentle. “Joining the task group would not mean that you leave for good, but a time of training followed by being occasionally portaled in for contracts where your power set is most needed. And remember that the life of a silver ranker is a long one. Finding strength in time apart is something which we all must become used to, sooner or later.”
Kite left the meeting, feeling a bit dazed as excitement and guilt warred inside him as he considered this new opportunity. That was why he only realized that an unknown silver-ranked aura had locked onto him when the owner of said aura had already crossed half the plaza outside the building.
“You there! Are you the one called the Pathbreaker?” a silver-ranked human woman called. She was clad in the robes of some sect Kite didn’t remember the name of.
“Intrepid sword?” he thought as she approached, continuing to speak.
“You humiliated my junior brother and my sect with your honorless path back at bronze rank. Now that you have managed to claw your way to silver, it is high time someone taught you your place, outcast. Just needing to travel so far to find you has been a stain enough on my pride already. I, Cord of Diamonds, challenge you to a clash of paths!”
“I suppose that director was right in one thing,” Kite thought wryly to himself as he prepared to answer her challenge. “I do tend to find myself in these situations a lot, don’t I?
“Dragonfly, can we talk privately for a moment?” Kite murmured where he sat beside her on a couch inside the house owned by Peony’s family.
Bloom was currently regaling them all with a most fanciful reenactment of a fight against a grass fisher, using his glittering dust to create a very lifelike illusion of the monster. At least if you discounted the fact that the original sinuous green body of the reptile was now made of shining motes of gold.
She nodded, and the two slipped out into the garden, unnoticed by the others present. Neither had Serene’s expert aura control, but they had trained enough with the priestess to at least avoid casual attention as the others were distracted.
“What’s the matter? Aren’t you ecstatic? This whole ‘task group’ sounds like an opportunity made for you,” Dragonfly asked as she settled down next to Kite at the edge of a wooden porch. The clouded evening sky overhead did little to chase away the gloom, but the few lanterns scattered across the garden lent at least some level of comfort to the atmosphere.
“It is. But that is not what pains me,” Kite said, turning to her. “It’s more the feeling that I’m leaving you behind. That silver rank and all the ambitions of each of us just keep pulling us apart.”
From his companion’s blank expression, the one she always got when she was processing something she hadn’t considered, Kite could glean a bit of her thought and he couldn’t help but smile.
“See? You hadn’t even considered that part, no? You were happy for me from the moment I told you. That’s who you are, my ardent Dragonfly; passionate and excited, always ready to support those who matter to you and that’s why the thought of leaving when the others have already done so makes my heart ache. Don’t misunderstand; I have full confidence you will thrive while I’m away - the world isn’t ready for a silver-ranked Dragonfly after all - but that isn’t what the feeling is about. You deserve companionship and opportunity as much as the rest of us.”
The words had come spilling out, as they often did when the pair talked of more serious matters. But Kite held true to their first promise; to be honest. And as they had practiced plenty over the years, he felt mostly relieved to have his thoughts out in the open.
“Now that you mention it… What will I do?” Dragonfly eventually ventured, her voice pensive as she leaned against his shoulder. “I was so caught up in things that I didn’t even consider that. All of you are leaving, at least for a time…”
The pair sat in silence, Kite reaching out and laying his arm around her.
“The thought is kind of sad,” she eventually continued, voice small.
“It is,” Kite agreed. “It most certainly is.”
“And even when you return, which wouldn’t be too long if I understood things correctly, this might still be something that will continue to call you away. I don’t think that there is any lack of work for this task group, especially if it caters to the whole world.”
She straightened a bit, and looked up toward him. He met her eyes, heart warming a bit at the hint of a spark in her gaze. He had seen it many times before, and so far, nothing had made it truly wink out.
“You know what this means?” she eventually asked.
“Please tell.”
“This means that it is high time for me to really think about the future as well. I should have, long ago, I suppose. But ‘killing all the monsters in the world’ was the dream of a child. It sounds like I have to keep a lookout for opportunities to temper that into something more befitting of where I am today.
Don’t get me wrong, I will miss you terribly when you are gone,” she continued, rapping his chest lightly with her knuckles. “Even if I had been offered, your opportunity would not have been a good fit for me. Can you imagine me trying to act all professional and take down scum while keeping some of them alive? But you better try and remember some great places if we eventually leave this country together. Preferably with great food and lots of monsters to carve through. Even better if there are swarms. I love fighting swarms. So satisfying.”
As she spoke, Dragonfly kept her aura bare for him. Kite could easily feel the worry and sadness which she was wrapping in excitement and bravado. But he also knew that if Dragonfly wanted to cry, she would have. And if she had been angry, she would have shown it. So he supported her choice of coping, and squeezed her closer.
“With the right dimensional bag, I can even bring you back some fresh samples. Of food, that is. The monsters will have to wait for you to come to them.”
“Heavens as my witness, come to them I will,” she swore, voice full of mock solemnity.
The pair of practice spears clashed with force that would easily break mundane stone. Will immediately changed his grip, spinning the butt of the weapon towards Kite’s head while already stepping to prepare for his next attack.
“When you said that you wanted a moment of private farewell, I will admit that this was not what I expected,” Kite said, fending off the incoming spear and positioning himself to avoid the next.
“Well, what did you expect then?” Will retorted, pushing hard. Kite was beyond decent with a spear these days, but the singular focus of his friend meant that he still couldn’t hope to prevail on martial skill alone.
“A drink? Reminiscing of fond times? Speculating about the future? Vowing to see each other again?” Kite fired off, slowly but surely getting pushed more and more onto the defensive.
“Bah! Those are all given things. We will see each other again, Kite, heavens as my witness. You know what task we will undertake in time. The evil we will dispatch,” Will exclaimed, pushing forward with a barrage of thrusts which turned his practice weapon into a blur. “Besides, what better farewell than to measure ourselves against each other, keeping it in our memories so that we can clearly measure our growth when we reunite?”
“I suppose that is true,” Kite said, getting an idea. “Then I also suppose that I have to unleash my full potential. ‘No powers’ does leave me some room, after all.”
At his words, Kite’s tattoos lit up. Four more arms appeared, each pair armed with another short spear. This allowed Kite to step into Will’s next strike while blocking it, a move that would have left someone wide open. At least someone without another two pairs of arms and enough mental processing to compensate.
Will was forced to leap back to avoid a pair of one-handed thrusts from the lighter weapons, and this time it was Kite’s turn to go on the offensive. Kite had practiced quite a lot with his new arms, and quickly came to one easy conclusion; the additional limbs would most often be left with one-handed weapons only. It was already quite a challenge to find both angle and leverage enough to make efficient attacks, and the thought of swinging three heavy weapons two handed at the same time was not a feasible one except in very specific circumstances.
His ability to project the strikes did help, as well as many of Kite’s special attacks not requiring very forceful strikes to take effect, but Kite still felt like mastering his prize from the queen’s trial would still take time.
The sparring continued at a frantic pace, Will adapting to leverage Kite’s incomplete fighting style, trying to get the arms tangled up in one another. Eventually the pair disengaged, the standstill having continued for long enough.
“My friend, I hope you know that I will miss you,” Kite said as they leaned the practice equipment toward the trunk of the lone tree in Will’s personal garden.
“I will miss you too. You, Dragonfly, Serene… Even Gold, our latest addition. When I first set out on this path, I had assumed that the path towards the heavens had to be a lonely one, as the saying often goes. But the heavens would curse me for a liar if I said that I wasn’t pleasantly surprised with how things turned out.”
“From where you’re going, it sounds like teamwork will be something for you to continually get used to. I’ve only heard a little about the Storm Kingdom, but it sounds like their local adventuring culture is as far from ours as one can come.”
“Father did point that out to me, which was why he suggested it,” Will agreed. “I suppose it will be a novel experience too. It feels like the world now lies before me. But it is also a comfort to know that the road, should I prove strong enough to walk it, will eventually also take me back home.”
Even after years of knowing her, it was still hard to not get distracted while talking to Serene. With her increasing power, she seemed to subconsciously weave more and more layers into the subtle song which constantly surrounded her. Mostly, she contained it through her powers of sound manipulation, but as she sat next to Kite at a bench in the temple square, she let it leak out into the surroundings.
Most passersby didn’t seem to consciously take note of it, but they all seemed to get more of a spring in their step. And those perceptive enough to notice often directed a respectful glance or nod towards the priestess.
“Do you know where you will head first, high priestess,” Kite said, emphasizing the new title. Serene’s inauguration had been a formal affair and, unsurprisingly, filled with song.
“The church will send a portal courier to Convergence. From there we will head west to Estercost. After that… We will go where the goddess and the church sends us for a time. Song may be viewed as a frivolous goddess by some, but I’d say that they underestimate what her power can achieve.”
“As someone who has seen and felt your presence for years, my friend, I do not doubt it for a second,” Kite said, looking around at all the people invigorated by Serene’s mere presence. “And I am very glad that Gold is with you. I will admit that it was not what I had imagined when first meeting the man, but with the connection the two of you seem to have, I am glad for the lesson. But I will miss you, Serene. I hope you will return, be it for the upcoming investigation or just to visit. There will always be room for you. I made sure to have a lot of them built, after all.”
“I will miss you too, Kite. Life has not gone the way I imagined, but that has been for the best. And with your opportunity, I am sure that you will stay busy as well,” Serene said, turning to regard him as she continued. “How did Dragonfly take it?”
“Better than I expected. I would have understood if she had been disappointed in me for also considering leaving for a time. But she was genuinely happy for me. And even though I could feel the sadness too, the happiness was no mask. Still, she has felt just a little bit more lost lately. And a bit more… vigorous… in terms of intimacy.”
Serene giggled at Kite’s slight fluster, the sounds like wind chimes playing in the breeze. “That does sound like her in all respects; driven by her inner fire but still unable to help clutching what is dear to her just a little bit closer while there is still time. She will no doubt find her way. Dragonfly feels like a person who will inevitably stumble upon meaning through sheer force of passion.”
In the distance, the pair could see Gold walking up the steps towards the temple square. He nodded to them and remained at a distance, giving the friends their space. But his presence indicated that it was now time for Serene to depart.
“I see that we will not be able to steal any more time from the inevitable march of the world,” Kite said, rising along the priestess. “May your path take you to the heavens and beyond, Serene. And hopefully also back here.”
“The same to you, Kite. Walk with the song of the goddess clear in your heart. I will try to sing loud enough for the winds to carry mine to you all as well. Wherever you may be.”
Name: Kite Flown in on Winds of Fortune
Race: Human
Racial traits:
Forger of Bonds: Evolved from Human ambition
Essence abilities advance more quickly, with a further boost if used in conjunction with allies.
You may form a familiar bond, binding that familiar to you until either of you die. As you increase in ranks, your familiar will increase alongside you.
Cleave the Spirit: Evolved from special attack aptitude.
Special attacks have increased effect, with an additional boost to mana-draining effets.
When making a special attack, you may choose for any physical damage types to deal damage to an opponent’s mana instead of health. Attacks made this way will not leave marks or wounds on the physical body, unless they also deal other, non-converted types of damage.
All is Void before Intent: Gain a pocket dimension capable of storing weapons.
When drawn from the void, the first attack with a weapon will deal additional damage of the weapon’s type as well as increasing any added from special attacks or abilities.
The first attack may also be carried through the void by your intent, allowing it to be made at range even if it would normally be a melee attack. There is a small delay before the attack manifests, with the delay being longer the farther away the strike is carried through your intent.
Deflection master: Spells creating barriers and shields have a shortened casting time and can absorb more damage.
For the first few moments after creating a barrier, said barrier is impervious to damage of the same rank. Deflecting an attack during this time refunds the majority of the spell’s mana cost.
Especially devastating attacks may not have their whole damage canceled by this effect.
Essence gift (Resolute) - Steadfast channeler: Gain the ability to continuously channel mana into one nearby active ongoing spell to lengthen its duration. Mana cost varies with the spell in question.
Tempered Soul Resonance: You have increased resistance to aura suppression and soul attacks.
Your spells and effects that cancel magical effects or drain mana ignores resistance from rank disparity.
When striking an opponent, your attacks gradually erodes any increased effects of the opponent’s rank disparity against you or your allies, up to the point where all effects of rank disparity are negated. This effect lasts until the target has had the time to achieve a state of calm to center itself.
Rank: Silver 0 - Awakened essence abilities 20/20
Power - Barrier: Silver 0
- Heaven-and-Void Warding - “Ward”
Spell. Cost: Low to Moderate mana Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Form a temporary barrier around self or ally within range, absorbing damage for a medium duration or until released or shattered. Cost is increased to moderate mana if used on ally.
Effect - Bronze: May adjust size of barrier, increasing its strength by diminishing its size and vice versa.
Effect - Silver: May conjure a second barrier with the same casting.
- Spiritual reprisal (Karma) -
Special ability. Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Any creature striking you or one of your barriers will suffer one instance of [Unstable flow].
[Unstable flow] (affliction, magic, stacking): Increases the effect of one of your special attacks, consuming one instance of this affliction
Effect - Bronze: You may choose to consume all available stacks of [Unstable flow] at once, increasing the effect of the attack further the more stacks that are consumed. Stacks above a certain amount start giving diminishing returns.
Effect - Silver: Each stack of [Unstable Flow] on a creature causes it to deal less damage to magical barriers, with diminishing returns after a certain limit.
- Leyline Warding (Wall) - “Wall”
Spell. Cost: Moderate mana Cooldown: 30s Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Create a solid, translucent barrier anchored to a surface. The length and height can be split among multiple sections. Only one casting of this spell can be active at a time. Strength of barrier increases with the [Power] attribute
Effect - Bronze: Barriers no longer need to be anchored to a surface.
Effect - Silver: This ability gains a separate, alternate mode of casting, which allows the user to continually create smaller segments of barrier around them without a chant, changing the cost to low mana per second.
These barriers have good carrying capacity, but will immediately disperse when attacked and can only be conjured very close to the caster.
This alternate mode may be used even while the original is in effect.
- Spiritual futility (Wisp) -
Special ability (Mana drain). Cost: None. Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Opponents who make a melee strike against or come into contact with your barriers have some of their mana drained. The drain is continual if the opponent remains in contact with the barrier.
Effect - Bronze: Mana drain ramps up when an enemy has extended contact with the barrier. The rate of drain is gradually reduced back toward initial values during moments not in contact with a barrier.
Effect - Silver: The mana drain triggers from ranged attacks as well, as long as they are made from within short enough range. Any magical attack striking your barriers without breaking it will have some of its magic absorbed, replenishing some of the barrier’s integrity over time.
- Gate of Nihility (Void) - “Void”
Spell. Cost: High mana Cooldown: 1h Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Bring forth a short-lived wall of nothingness, up to five meters wide and three meters high. You have some control over the overall shape of the barrier. Any projectile or spell effect striking the wall is absorbed into the void and negated. Any being that comes into contact with the wall suffers a high amount of damage as they are forcibly ejected from the barrier.
Attacks of higher rank may not be entirely negated.
The barrier cannot move once created and cannot be summoned into the space of any creature.
Effect - bronze: Gate exerts a pull on projectiles and other conjured or created magical effects in a wide area in front of it.
Effect - Silver: ???
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Speed - Resolute: Silver 0
- Implacable motion -
Special ability. Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Increased resistance to effects that hinder or impair movement. Effects that take hold will have significantly decreased duration, depending on the rank of the effect.
Effect - Bronze: Movement may break through inanimate objects up to a certain threshold of durability based on your rank and the rank of this ability. Mana may be paid to temporarily increase the threshold based on mana spent. Intent is needed for this ability to take effect, and it does not increase potency of attacks. This ability may not damage vehicles, equipment or similarly wielded objects.
Effect - Silver: The increased resistance is extended to additionally cover all effects that lower the [Speed] or [Spirit] attributes.
- Gaze of Adamance (Eyes) -
Special ability. Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Provides perfect peripheral vision and increased ability to swiftly process visual stimuli.
Effect - bronze: Gives the ability to see magic and magical effect. May be activated for a cost of low mana per second to provide 360-degree vision.
Effect - silver: Gives the ability to perceive auras
Immortality (Phoenix) -
Special ability (healing, recovery). Cost: None Cooldown: 24 hours Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Instantly restore a large portion of health, mana, and stamina. Amount restored is based on how depleted health, mana, and stamina are when the ability is activated.
Effect - bronze: Gain ongoing health, mana, and stamina recovery effects. The strength of these effects is based on how depleted health, mana, and stamina are when the ability is activated.
Effect - silver: Gain a long cooldown purgation ability that removes all afflictions from the user ignoring any restrictions or immunities to purgation.
Unyielding (Solidity) -
Special ability. Cost: None/moderate mana Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Become highly resistant to all hostile effects that would move or displace you, including physical momentum. Any additional damage that would be dealt to you by the canceled momentum will instead be transferred to the environment.
Additionally, this ability may be activated for a cost of moderate mana to give increased damage reduction from external sources of damage for a short duration.
Effect - Bronze: Some of the damage and movement negated will be stored in a separate reservoir of potential, which you may release to add additional momentum to a leap or stride. Any excess will still be transferred to the environment.
Effect - Silver: This ability will take effect even if you are not in contact with a solid object. You may now use excess momentum to fuel the increased damage reduction of this ability to forego its mana cost.
Undeniable (Balance) -
Special ability. Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Each time your effects are resisted or do not take effect, deal a small amount of transcendent damage to the target. Examples include an opponent being immune to one of your attacks or damage types, or one of your effects failing to dispel due to a lack of magical effects on the target.
Effect - Bronze: The damage is now also dealt when one of your attacks are blocked, such as by a shield, interposed weapon or magical barrier.
Effect - Silver: The damage is increased in proportion to the target’s missing stamina or mana, whichever is lower.
Spirit - Negation: Silver 0
- Disrupting strike -
Special attack. Cost: Low mana Cooldown: 2s Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Strike an opponent to attempt to cancel an ongoing magical effect and deal disruptive force damage. The latter is increased if an ability or effect was affected. Some ongoing or very powerful effects might not be able to be negated entirely, and will instead be suppressed or reduced for a short duration.
Effect - bronze: Dispelled effects suffer an increase in cooldown in proportion to their cost and original cooldown. The minimum cooldown for such an effect is 10s.
Effect - silver: This ability gains an alternate effect, with its own cost and cooldown separate from the original. May increase cost to moderate mana to instead target a special ability of the target, suppressing it for 30 seconds. This effect may not target aura or familiar abilities. Cooldown: 30 seconds. A target may have only one of its special abilities suppressed by this power, regardless of source.
- Pattern-Shattering counter (Shards) -
Special attack (Mana drain, stamina drain). Cost: Varies Cooldown: Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Strike an opponent’s active attack or magical effects in an attempt to negate it and drain an additional amount of mana and/or stamina, depending on which energy that was fueling the attack. Some ongoing or very powerful effects might not be able to be negated entirely, and will instead be suppressed or reduced for a short duration. Cost increases with the cost of negated attack.
Effect - bronze: Dispelled effects suffer an increase in cooldown in proportion to their cost and original cooldown. The minimum cooldown for such an effect is 10s.
Effect - silver: The target suffers transcendent damage proportional to the potency of the dispelled magical effect.
- Discarnate Erosion (Erosion)
Special ability, aura. Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: All hostile magical effects affected by your aura start to erode, reducing the duration of ongoing effects and lessening the impact of spells and special attacks within the area. Effect increases the longer the hostile effect remains inside the aura.
Effect - Bronze: Increases the casting times of hostile spells within the aura.
Effect - Silver: The eroding effect becomes greatly increased against hostile solid manifestations of magic, such as conjured matter, equipment and barriers. Higher rank effects will take longer time to be affected, and some powerful effects might not be entirely eroded, instead leaving them weakened.
- Ripple of Cancellation (Wave) - “Dissolve the patterns of power”
Spell. Cost: High mana Cooldown: 30s Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Release an expanding wave of magic-canceling energy. Creatures or objects hit by the wave will have one random beneficial magical effect canceled. If that effect came from a magical ability, the ability will be unavailable to activate again for a short duration. If multiple targets have the same kind of magical effect active, there is a higher chance that it will be the one which is canceled. Magical projectiles hit by the wave will be negated. Projectiles of a higher rank might not be entirely negated.
Effect - bronze: Attempt to dispel two additional beneficial magical effects.
Effect - silver: The spell may instead be released as a spherical burst with lower maximum range. When using this mode, the caster may pay additional mana to exclude an individual from its effect. The cost ramps up with each additional creature excluded.
- Potential of Stolen Power (Potency)
Special ability. Cost: None. Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Gather charges each time an effect is dispelled or mana is drained. Use accumulated charges to give a potent boost to an ability, partially changing its scope and/or effect.
Effect - Bronze: Generate additional stacks when dispelling more powerful effects or draining more mana in a single instance.
Effect - Silver: If the boosted ability is a special attack or offensive spell, it receives the [Execute] trait, increasing damage dealt in proportion to the health already lost by the target. If the ability is a defensive or supportive spell or a special ability, it receives the [Counter-execute] trait, increasing its effect in proportion to health lost by the user.
Recovery - Void: Silver 0
- Spirit singularity -
Special ability (Mana drain). Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Create a small vortex hovering above your right shoulder, draining the mana of nearby hostile creatures. Gain a boost to mana regeneration depending on the number of creatures affected. The pace of both mana drain and the boost to mana regeneration is based on your [Recovery] attribute.
Effect - Bronze: Create an additional vortex, increasing the range and area of the ability. Spirit Vortex can now choose to focus its effect on a single target for greatly increased effect.
Effect - Silver: Create an additional vortex. Focusing all vortices at a single target will inflict it with [Inescapable] for as long as it remains within range of the ability.
[Inescapable] (Affliction, Magic): Subject cannot be affected by teleport or non-damaging dimension effects.
- Chakra implosion (Mana) -
Special attack (Combination, mana drain). Cost: Low mana Cooldown: 2s Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Strike an opponent to implode part of their mana reserve in addition to the physical effect of the strike. Applies an instance of [Broken flow]
Effect - Bronze: Applies an instance of [Broken form]
Effect - Silver: Applies the [Stunned] affliction, with effect increased proportionate to the amount of mana drained.
[Broken flow] (affliction, magic, stacking): Each instance of this affliction reduces mana recovery
[Broken form] (affliction, magic, stacking): Each instance of this affliction lowers damage resistances by a small amount.
[Stunned] (affliction, magic): Briefly be unable to move, use abilities or control already active abilities. Fully reactive abilities and effects can still be triggered. The duration cannot be refreshed by applying [Stunned] again and being affected multiple times in succession has diminishing returns.
- Something from Nothing (Fortune) -
Special ability. Cost: None Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Every time you defeat an enemy, a fragment of their essence is kept in a personal metaphysical space. When enough fragments have been gathered, they will manifest into a semi-random item. The item will be influenced by the fragments which have constituted it and the amount of fragments needed will vary.
Effect - bronze: Ability can produce bronze-rank items, and results are more in line with subconscious wishes. Gathering more fragments after the threshold for manifestation has been reached will increase the chance of higher rarity items, up to a certain limit.
Effect - silver: Ability can produce silver rank items. Gathered fragments may now instead be infused to grant a temporary boost to a piece of equipment, raising its power for a time depending on the amount of fragments consumed.
- Void-Sunders-Firmament (Sundering) -
Special attack. Cost: Moderate mana Cooldown: 3s Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Surround your melee weapon or unarmed attack with spatial tears, dealing high damage and resonating force damage. Can be used either as a wide, sweeping attack or as a more focused, directed attack.
Effect - Bronze: Cooldown reduced to 3s. Suffuse the target’s wounds with remnants of the void, inflicting the [Vitality-tear] affliction.
Effect - Silver: This attack partially bypasses areas of localized damage negation, turning complete negation into increased damage resistance, and inflicts the [Sundered meridians] affliction in that area. Very powerful effects or effects of a higher rank may not be entirely affected.
[Vitality tear] (Affliction, wounding, magic): Negates a certain among of healing before being consumed.
[Sundered meridians] (Affliction, wounding, magic): Local mana flow is disrupted, decreasing effects that affect the location of damage.
- Astral Gatherer (Gathering) -
Ritual (Familiar). Cost: Extreme stamina, Extreme mana Cooldown: None Current rank: Silver 0
Effect - Iron: Summon an astral gatherer to become your familiar. The astral gatherer is an incorporeal creature without physical substance.
While manifested, the astral gatherer accumulates small remnants of mana each time mana is spent in its vicinity, which is substantially increased if the skill in question drains or destroys mana. Amount of remnants gathered will vary in accordance with the amount of mana spent or drained.
When enough remnants have been gathered, it can unleash the stored power in one of the following ways:
- A destructive beam of energy, dealing resonating force damage or disruptive force damage.
- A burst of mana recovered for the summoner or a chosen ally within range
When subsumed into the wearer's body, the astral gatherer becomes an incorporeal vortex resting beneath the summoner’s sternum. As long as it remains subsumed, the gatherer exudes a subtle pull on the ambient mana in an extreme radius. This may trigger magical manifestations that were already on the brink of manifesting.
Effect - bronze: Familiar can store additional energy, enough for another unleashing of stored power.
Adds the following options when unleashing stored power:
- A potent, short lived boost to health regeneration
- Attempts to cleanse all hostile afflictions of the magical, curse, wounding, bleeding and poison categories from a target.
Effect - silver: Familiar can store additional energy, enough for a third unleashing of stored power.
Add the following options when unleashing stored power
- A stream of transcendent damage. Consumes three charges.