Adir rolled the rock back from the cave and plucked out another creature with a single massive hand. It struggled against his strength, but he had no problems holding it up and away from his body. He rolled the rock back over the entrance of the cave to prevent the other creatures from escaping. He held the creature in place for Ann. He observed her technique while she bludgeoned the level 22 creature to death with her war mace. When she was done, he tossed the corpse to the side onto a pile behind him. He gave her a moment to catch her breath.

“You are doing better with that weapon. How close are you to level 21?” he asked her.

“Probably another twelve or so of these things and I’ll level up”, Ann said as she leaned against the massive two handed mace. “Can we finish tomorrow? I really want to get back to the city. The unveiling is today.” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. Adir’s massive frame flinched under that gaze.

He was torn between his personal goal of nurturing Ann’s growth, and The Watch’s assigned mission. Adir knew the state of the war with The Darkness intimately and every second that went by was agonizing for him. Despite owning the true aspect of might, Adir did not have the strength required to turn this world back around. He knew that strength only existed within Ann, and he needed to ensure her success.

Still, he knew she was far from combat ready. Adir and his commanding officer, Carda, had agreed: Ann could not be sent to the battlefield until she had reached level 50. The problem of readying her for war was only exacerbated by the fact she had a non-combat class. Adir was trying to rush her quickly to level 25 so she could get her subclass. Their only hope was she would gain a combat subclass. That option may not be as good as a primary combat class, but it would be better than nothing. For now he had to be satisfied with leveling her skills and attributes.

He considered Ann’s desire to return to the city and had to admit to himself the truth. The Twelve had ordered them to view The Hope of an Asharaina masterpiece and report back the effects to The Watch. He sighed when he made his decision. He knew Ann did not enjoy or even tolerate the killing of creatures. She had made that concession for him when he explained the urgency and necessity of powerleveling her. He would make this concession for her. “Let’s go.” he said.

Adir reached down and picked up Ann with one hand and tossed her onto his shoulders. She now wore the most heavily reinforced armor he could personally afford, but beneath his fingers it still felt like paper to him. He was careful not to damage it or her with his grip. When she was firmly situated, he took off toward the city as quickly as he could.

Anyone looking at Adir would see a mountain of a man and assume he was capable only of blind strength. But he was not anything like that. He understood the realities of the world. The Darkness had taught him the weakness of pure strength. To shore up those weaknesses, he had also bonded with the true aspect of durability and a fake aspect of swiftness. All of his remaining attributes went directly into vitality to ensure he had a large health pool. With these three aspects, he could call upon strength for fighting, durability for survival, and speed when he needed to escape.

With his speed, it took them no time at all to return back to The City of Halos. The city gates were packed with people, but he easily pushed his way to the front and showed his identification to the guards. They gave him and Ann a sour look, but let them into the city. He understood their feelings. When they arrived here two weeks ago, they were not welcomed. Norimor had tried to kill their leader once, and the entire city had since turned against The Twelve.

Still, Adir has sent a letter to Lord Halos inviting him to meet with him and Ann. He had hoped to smooth over any misunderstandings on his purpose for being there. The last thing he wanted was a conflict with The Halos Family that could endanger Ann. Unfortunately, Lord Hakim had declined to meet with them. There was a new member of The Family that Adir had not heard of. Ann had separately submitted a request to meet with The Lady Esca, but she had never received a response back from her staff. Adir assumed this to be because The Lady was busy with her unveiling, but Ann seemed to have taken a personal insult from the lack of response.

This had led Adir to feel uneasy anytime he was inside this city. His unease had only grown when an old man with a distinctly long beard and a contingent of soldiers began following them wherever they went in the city. The old man had not caused them any actual problems, but they were occasionally ushered away from several places in the city at seemingly random moments. Adir couldn’t determine any reasoning behind these events, but he was certain there was a justification beyond merely inconveniencing them.

Adir quickly looked over his shoulder to double check, and sure enough the old man was there once again, walking behind them with twenty soldiers. Ann tapped his head and whispered in his ear, “They’re back again. Let’s just go straight to The Halos Amphitheater, so they know what we are doing.” Adir nodded his agreement, although part of him knew Ann was just impatient for the unveiling. He moved slowly, but consistently toward where the masterpiece would be.

The city was absolutely clogged with people. Adir had only been here once before, but it has not been this congested. When The Asharaina’s masterpiece was announced, people had poured through the city’s portals. He had received word that the portals had been disabled somehow, but he knew of no way to disable a portal short of burying it in the ground. He couldn’t imagine an entire city doing that to itself, however. He was told by officials that there was no way to leave town now, except through the city gates.

When Ann and Adir arrived at the theater, the guard contingent stationed there was extensive. The whole event was basically a military operation arrayed against a sea of people. He had found most people would avoid a man of his size, so he gently pushed his way to the front, careful to not actually hurt anyone. The Aspect of Retribution had already punished him a few times for carelessly stepping on toes. He learned quickly to keep his Aspect of Durability engaged to prevent those surprise attacks.

From a distance, he watched the guards reject one person after another that had forged tickets. The city had been gracious enough to not seek cash payment for this event. Instead a lottery had been held. He and Ann had not been selected, so they had spent several days trying to buy their way in from the winners. The Watch had provided just enough money for them to bribe two financially desperate people. Ann had managed to get a seat in the fifth row of the theater, and he was placed far in the back. He was still concerned they had fake tickets, but those concerns were laid to rest when they were let inside.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

When they had separated to take their seats, Adir felt that same concern. He knew Ann was likely safe in the city, but his instincts told him not to take this lightly. His mind began to roam as he waited, but his focus shifted when a large canvas was wheeled onto the stage. At the moment it was covered by a cloth. Following that, two massive stone slabs were wheeled in beside it. Adir watched with an analytical eye. He noticed there wasn't any music or performers, and he understood immediately that this was not a show. They were not here to be entertained. This was one of those times in life when reality would hit them like a hammer.

He watched with curiosity as a woman walked onto the stage. She wore a red cloak that flowed behind her. It looked to be more liquid than cloth and seemed to move unnaturally. When the cloak moved to the side, he spied her armor. “Pure Kaliter scales…” he whispered in wonder. Even at this distance, he could see the red in her eyes and the grace of her movements. “She has a lot of agility points”, Adir thought to himself. He finally saw the title hanging over her head. It was impossible to miss. The lettering was so large, it nearly occupied the entire stage. This was The Asharaina of Blood herself.

She spoke in a clear, loud, and effortless voice that hushed the crowd immediately. Adir knew she was using a skill, likely Commanding Voice. He knew this was a rare skill that typically only born leaders could obtain. He listened to her every word.

“Thank you all for coming today. I am Vina Esca, The Asharaina of Blood.” She paused as she looked at the crowd with her red eyes. “I do not have words that can describe for you what you will experience today. I urge you all to prepare yourselves for the unveiling. If you are standing, sit down.” Her commanding voice forced many people into their seats. Adir felt the compulsion himself, but it was nothing compared to what Carda could do.

“To everyone here, I issue you this warning. What you receive now is not a gift. If you remain, my masterpiece will demand something from you in return. I’ve forged a path for each of you, but you will not be able to follow me without giving up a portion of yourself. To help you understand, today we will all make a sacrifice to create something new”, The Asharaina said.

Adir watched in morbid fascination as the woman spontaneously created a knife in her hand and sliced her entire forearm open. To his surprise, she did not immediately begin to bleed. She tossed the knife into the air and it dissolved into a small globe of blood. Slowly red blood began to flow from her arm and floated into the air. It glided into the globe already floating in front of her. Adir could hear the crowd cringe and gasp at the display before them. Their revulsion was obvious, and Adir couldn’t help but feel similarly. This woman was mutilating herself in front of them.

When the globe had reached a certain size, it exploded. Adir flinched as a droplet of blood raced his direction. Before he could move out of the way, the droplet stopped in front of him and formed itself into a needle. He plucked it out of the air and held it between two fingers.

“I have made my sacrifice. You must now choose if you are willing to sacrifice. Prick your finger and bleed. Or you may leave”, the Asharaina said.

For several minutes, Adir did nothing, but he saw the guards escorting out some members who chose to not make a contribution today. He very reluctantly disabled his Aspect of Durability and pricked his finger with the blood needle. He squeezed his finger until he had a droplet of blood. To his shock it immediately flew from his hand. He followed its movements and saw another globe of blood forming above the crowd. It continued to grow in size as the audience contributed to it.

Adir looked at his finger and saw blood continued to flow from the wound at a rate it shouldn't. He covered it with his thumb to stop the bleeding. Then he felt the blood needle he still held fly out of his hand.

He looked in fascination as every needle in the theater flew as one to form a second globe of blood next to the first. He saw The Asharain’a blood globe was somewhat larger than the one the crowd had created. The Asharaina spoke again, but her voice seemed disappointed.

“Each of you had made a sacrifice to be here, and I appreciate it. However, it is insufficient for what I had hoped we could create. I understand your hesitance. In time, you’ll understand why your fear is unnecessary.” She held her arm out once more and blood flowed into her globe at a rapid pace causing it to swell in size. When it had grown to three times the size the crowd had donated, the globes mashed together. They mixed for a moment before splitting apart once more.

One of the globes flew back toward the stage and splashed itself onto the surface of one of the stone tablets. Adir watched in awe as the blood flowed over the tablet and began to take shape. There was a pattern being created here, but he couldn't understand what he saw. The blood moved like it was alive, and then suddenly a hissing sound could be heard. The blood burned itself onto the tablet and glowed a brilliant red. “Blood runes…” he whispered to himself. The second globe moved to the other panel and did the same thing, but Adir could see the second set of runes were different.

The Asharaina spoke for the final time, “The Halos Family has graciously promised me that you may remain here as long as you wish on this day only. If the attendants find you are physically unable to continue, you will be removed and allowed to rest. Each day that you return here, you will make a new sacrifice to feed the runes. Please prepare yourselves.” With that she spontaneously created and threw two more knives, cutting the fabric covering the canvas. The drape fell away as she left the stage. A great cry went up from the crowd, some shouted in surprise, others in joy, and even more were wept.

The effect of the masterpiece was dampened on Adir since he sat so far away from the piece, but he felt the effects nonetheless. A timer appeared in his vision, and it slowly counted up. For every third second that went by, the counter went up one second.

You are afflicted by The Hope of an Asharaina.

Adir’s eyes searched the painting. He understood very little of what he saw, but after several hours in its presence he recognized the basic intention behind its creation. The Asharaina wanted nothing more than to be accepted and understood. He sighed in relief. She was no threat to the twelve at the moment. The last thing they needed was another enemy.

He looked away occasionally when the image was too much for him and glanced at the stone panels. He had no hope of understanding what was written on them yet. He sighed and resumed his examination of the masterpiece. When the day pushed into the evening, he took a break. His counter was creeping up very slowly. He saw the guards had pulled a number of the crowd out. Adir stood and made his way closer to the stage, trying to take a seat nearer or even beside Ann. A guard moved to stop him, but then changed their mind at the last moment. He found a seat directly behind Ann. The effect of the painting was much stronger here and his counter grew in real time.

He tapped her shoulder and she turned to face him. He could see she had been crying. Before he could say anything, she spoke. “Can you see it, Adir? This is how we do it. If I remain here, I can change my primary class. I can get a combat class!”