“What are Hit Points? This is a question our scholars have never been able to truly understand. Some believe only Weavers, Wardens, Djinn and Warlocks have them; some unethical experiments have been conducted in the past but ordinary people and animals do not seem to have them like we do. We take injuries and bleed but unless our Hit Points on a limb are indeed reduced to zero, we do not lose that limb and until our Hit Points are reduced to zero, we cannot die. Many attempts have been made to try and measure what Hit Points are, but none are conclusive. For my own measurement I say this, they are a measure of our heroism, the more we have the longer we can go on being a hero, when we run out, we are merely mortals.”
-An excerpt from Sir Matthew Coal on Explaining the Character Sheet
----------------------------------------
Aranea- Thursday, October 3rd, 564 AB
I’d watched Cain fight on the wall on and off again. They switched from ranged weapons to melee as they pushed the djinn back, but they always managed to push forward and clamber up the wall. At least they weren’t alone, Sir Ungor, an Earth Warden at Exarch rank had been assigned with them. He mostly hung back but would step in whenever a Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn or any higher tier djinn. I watched Constence’s new weapons at work, they were costly to operate but with how tightly packed the djinn were one beam
We got an hour long break at around mid-afternoon but we didn’t get another break longer than fifteen minutes until after mid-night.
“Ekkel,” Sir Valren said making his rounds of the wall. “Your squad is off for six hours, go back to your quarters, eat, sleep, wash and purify yourselves.”
I sagged against Cain for support and he lifted me up carrying me back to the academy. I couldn’t understand how he was still so strong after hours of fighting. I was as if the fighting actually made him stronger, he was still tired I could see that but his eyes were sharper, his movements smoother and his body somehow sturdier. His lips pressed against my forehead as he mounted our horse and we rode through the academy gates.
Lifting me from the saddle, Cain carried me up to our room. He poured a bath and helped me out of my dress lowering me into it.
“You need this more than me,” I protested.
“In a bit,” Cain agreed running a sponge over my shoulders and back. “You need this too.”
I closed my eyes letting the hot water soothe my body. When it started to cool, I stepped out helping Cain out of his clothes as I drained the dirty water and poured a fresh bath from the tap. He had bruises across his body under his armor.
“Celestial Healing,” he said and the bruises disappeared.
He ran a bar of soap across his body, and I dipped the sponge in and let it wash off the suds.
“You did good out there,” I said.
“I did ok,” Cain disagreed. “Sometimes I hate my Relic, I hate how it force me to behave and act.”
“It was the will of God for you to have it,” I said placing a hand on his shoulder. “If you hadn’t gotten that Relic and waited to get another one there’s a good chance we wouldn’t have ended up together.”
Cain traced a wet finger along my jaw lifting up my chin. He smiled the warmth reaching his eyes but not enough to chase away that melancholic light that aways lingered there.
“Your worth all the frustration,” he said.
Minutes later I sagged atop him in bed. His lips met mine again and his hand pulled the blanket over us as I began to shiver the heat of our exchange begin to bleed off and the draft from a crack in the window blew across my back.
“I love you,” I whispered snuggling my face into his neck.
“We’re going to make it through this,” Cain said softly into my ear. “I’m not going to leave you.”
As scared as I was Cain’s words comforted me more than was reasonable. His breathing steadied and he fell asleep. I listened to his heartbeat for a few more minutes before I drifted off with him.
----------------------------------------
The ringing of the early morning bell woke us. Cain and I were still naked and quickly dressed. I tightened the straps of his armor, and we hurried down to the stables. Cain lifted me into the saddle mounting up behind me as we rode through the streets to the wall. I gasped as we passed a line of bodies covered in white sheets. I counted over a hundred dead, not all of them would be Wardens many would be the militia but this was just the dead from this side of the wall.
I was both glad that they were covered them and afraid for who I knew who might be under those sheets. Cain grunted and I let go realizing I’d been squeezing him tighter and tighter. He dismounted and I slid off the horse into his arms.
“Be safe, be brave,” I said.
I kissed him and watched him join his squad. I headed up to the tower and looked out the arrow slits at the battlefield, nothing had improved since yesterday in fact it had only gotten worse. I looked at the Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn assaulting the world and even spotted several Demons among them coordinating the assault and hurling area-effect skills at the wall.
The Weavers we were replacing looked half dead and I expected in a few hours I’d look the same. I started attacking the djinn below the wall, I had only one real attack but it was very effective with me having put so many points into my Will stat and killed both Imps and Beasts with just one ray from my palm.
“Lunar Ray,” I said over and over again as I shot the skill at the djinn below, the skill had ranked up and now shot two rays per casting instead of just one. I my skill had gone up I knew that meant Cain’s armor had advanced brining him closer to Squire tier and one of his skills had also advanced, I couldn’t advance my skills on my own their advancement was dependent on Cain’s own advancement. I paused for breath and to pull up my character sheet.
Core Level
19
Experience to Next Level
305/1,920
Bonded Element
Mist
Name
Aranea Le’meer
Hit Points:
574
Hit Point Regen:
19 per minute
Might
Agility
Endurance
Will
Senses
Clarity
13
13
13
50
20
10
Ether
Corruption Level
106/327
0/327
Trait
Final Stand: You gain +1% regen rate for every missing point of ether in your Core.
Primary Passive
Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air.
Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Siren Song: Your voice sings out in a hauntingly beautiful tune for the next 30 seconds inflicting Pacify on creatures who can hear you and Clarity on allied targets within hearing distance.
Cost:
15 ether
Mist Veil: Your body becomes blurred by a veil of mist making you harder to hit for the next 20 seconds inflicting a 50% miss chance against you.
Cost:
8 ether
Ether Familiar: You conjure an elemental spirit of Mist to serve as your familiar. It will last until destroyed and is resummoned casting time 5 minutes.
Cost:
15 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Ray II: You extend your palm and up to 2 blades of silver light shoots from your hands up to 160ft striking up to 2 creatures you can see dealing 1.5x your Core’s maximum charge as Moon damage.
Cost:
8 ether
Silver Purity: Closes wounds across a single creature’s body and removes any Disease, Infection, Debuff, or Curse affecting them.
Cost:
10 ether
Wind Skills
Voice on the Wind II: Link yourself and up to 6 others to be able to speak even at whisper up to 500ft away for 16 minutes. You can also grant your voice Amplify for 12 seconds.
Cost:
14 ether
Sweeping Hurricane: A rushing wind pushes away anything not secured down in a 40ft cone in front of you.
Cost:
5 ether
Lunar Ray wasn’t the only skill that had advanced, my Voice on the Wind had also advanced. I’d surpassed Cain in level, that was common for Weavers during an ether storm though, I didn’t just get XP from killing djinn but also purifying Corruption. Normally I’d be far from combat as most Weavers were but no one could hang back during a siege so I was advancing in level quickly, that only effected how much ether I had though as well as giving me more stat points which I’d already spent raising all my physical stats from six to thirteen, dumping most of them into Will to increase my damage with skills, and then raised my Senses and Clarity with the remaining points.
17 XP gained
I didn’t even pay attention to the XP notifications from the Voice anymore.
I’d drank some tea but knew my voice would give out eventually, it had nearly cracked the day before. Perhaps I should have been studying with Cain on how to use my skills without speaking. The storm had broken, and no new ether was tangling but there was more than enough to handle as it was. I was occasionally pulled back from attacking the djinn to heal someone who’d been injured on the wall.
I drained one of the cores of energy leaving only a single point of ether in it to keep it from being destroyed. My core flush with energy again I returned to the arrow slit and continued to cast my skill at the djinn. They kept coming and we kept killing them; me and the other Weavers focused on the djinn a few ranks back to relieve the pressure off the Wardens and Militia on the wall.
“Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn!” someone shouted.
I looked to see a lumbering Earth Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn moving through the ranks of djinn crushing any under its feet that didn’t move in time. It raised its massive shield blocking the ranged attacks that scorched, cracked, and bounced off the heavy slab of stone. The shield was cracking and breaking but the djinn’s charge would result in it being at the wall before the shield gave out. The Exarch tier Warden moved forwards, but I could see the Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn was not alone and two Mist Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn were charging behind the Earth Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn using its bulk and shield to protect themselves and let them get close.
“Lunar Ray, Lunar Ray,” I said again and again blasting out two bolts of silver light with each repletion. The shield of the Earth Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn broke but it was already at the wall. Its club swung down headed straight for the Wardens on the wall, Cain directly under its shadow as the other Wardens dove to the side.
“Cain!” I screamed.
----------------------------------------
Cain
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
My heartbeat so hard I thought my ribs would break. I could see the Earth Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn, I watched its shield break and its club the width and length of a pine tree swing down its shadow falling over me. My body froze and I couldn’t move but I could scream…and I could speak.
“Fog Form,” I whispered my voice barely a whisper as fear gripped me.
The club passed straight through me and my fear suddenly left me as I pushed up. I rematerialized seconds later standing on top of the club. There was no time to think as I rushed forwards towards the Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn’s head, it froze to though I doubted it was fear but more like shock as I ran up its weapon.
It broke out of its shock and lifted its weapon. I flipped over its head burying my dagger into the back of its head behind its mask. It wasn’t an instant kill as it would have been to any djinn of a lower tier, the Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn just had too many hit points for that.
The Mist Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn looked at me and swung for me with their axes and jabbed with their spears. That was exactly what I had intended and flipped over the Earth Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn’s head again. The spears lanced into the Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn’s back and head and it bellowed in rage and pain. I yanked Achlys out of its head and rammed my weapon through one of the djinn’s many eye sockets. My attacks hadn’t done enough damage to bring the Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn’s health down to manageable levels but the other djinn’s had and the Earth Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn collapsed.
119 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I dropped the ground rolling as suddenly I was on the ground far from the safety of the wall.
“Fog Form!” I practically shouted.
I turned to mist and ran towards the wall, I had no idea what I was going to do now my brain was only now catching up to what I had just done. I’d killed a Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn all on my own but I was about to join it from the weapons of a thousand Imps and Beasts. I put my back to the wall and turned ready to face my death. I cut down a Sun Soldier blocking its sword on my shield before activating Lunar Smite with a verbal command and cutting through its torso.
17 XP gained, 1 Corruption absorbed into your Core
I slashed out cutting through two Beasts and just went mad as I attacked my death inevitable and imminent.
A blast of thunder shook the land as a pure white beam of lightning cut through all the djinn in front of me, it blasted apart the two Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn as they advanced on me. I’d seen the weapon, but our side of the wall had only been assigned one weapon that hadn’t been properly assembled and we’d been instructed to only use it in the most dire of emergencies.
I had to look away from the blinding brilliance of the beam of lightning. A dropped down behind me and I scrambled up the wall teleporting up the last twenty feet with Hurricane Step.
“What were you thinking Le’meer?” Ekkel shouted at me.
“I wasn’t,” I admitted. “I just reacted.”
“Enough,” Sir Ungor interrupted us before we could get into a full on fight with each other. “Its done and we have more Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn approaching all of you to your stations.”
“Your lucky your wife was foolish enough to try using that weapon,” Ekkel muttered as me moved back to his spot on the wall.
I looked up to the tower, that was the second time in my life that Aranea had saved me. A part of me if I was honest hated that, I was the Warden it was my duty to protect her not the other way around. Pushing those negative thoughts out of my mind I returned to cutting djinn down on the wall.
----------------------------------------
Stumbling down the steps from the wall I went straight to the tent prepared for me and Aranea. I was five points away from my etheric core’s max on corruption. I’d had to step back and start using my bow towards the end there, I’d at least gotten enough XP to level up again leaving me with twenty-four free attribute points to spend. I opened my character sheet and looked it over, I decided to bump up my Will, Senses and Clarity all up to twenty. They might seem like less useful but if I’d been more perceptive and had been able to think faster, I might have avoided much of my problems. I put my last two points into Endurance to further increase my hit points.
Core Level
17
Experience to Next Level
116/1,540
Relic Name
Relic Element
Relic Type
Achlys
Mist
Dagger
Name
Cain Le’meer
Hit Points:
578/578
Hit Point Regen:
17 per minute
Armor Points:
119/119
Armor Point Regen:
17 per minute
Might
Agility
Endurance
Will
Senses
Clarity
37 (81)
100 (219)
27 (59)
20 (44)
20 (44)
20 (44)
Ether
Corruption Level
124/124
119/124
Trait
Tainted Power: Your statistics increase by 1% for every point of Corruption in your Etheric Core.
Primary Passive
Secondary Passive
Mist Sight: You can see through the Mist without impediment, it is visible to you only as vague haze in the air.
Mist Walker: You have immunity to the effects of the Mist able to breathe freely within it with no hindrance.
Mist Skills
Ghost Walk: Masks all noise made for 30 seconds in a 5ft radius around the wielder.
Cost:
3 ether
Mist Blade: For 10 seconds attacks with your Relic pass through 1” of material.
Cost:
7 ether
Fog Form: Body and worn equipment becomes intangible making you Immune to all damage for 2 seconds.
Cost:
5 ether
Moon Skills
Lunar Smite: A sword of silver light extends out from your blade for 1 second dealing Moon damage equal to your current Core’s charge.
Cost:
4 ether
Celestial Healing II: Closes wounds and mends broken bones across a single creature’s body restoring Hit Points equal to half your max Core charge. Cost: 10 ether
Cost:
15 ether
Wind Skills
Hurricane Step II: Move yourself and one other creature up to 200ft in 1 second as your body and all your equipment is turned into wind.
Cost:
6 ether
Cyclone Strike: Deals Wind damage equal to half your Core charge to all creatures within your weapons reach.
Cost:
6 ether
My healing skill had ranked up to Squire tier.
Aranea collapsed beside me. We could barely keep our eyes open and got it over with as quick as we both could, we didn’t even untangle ourselves before we were both asleep. A bell rang and I opened my eyes groggily, it felt like barely five minutes had passed but our three hour rest period was already over. I lifted Aranea up and pulled up my pants. We made ourselves descent and splashed some water on our faces.
“Thanks,” I said. “I didn’t say it before.”
“For what?” Aranea asked confused.
“For saving my life,” I said. “If you hadn’t used that weapon, I’d have died.”
“You would have done the same for me,” Aranea said.
I gave her a quick kiss before we began to head back to our positions.
“Stop, Le’meer,” Sir Ungor said to us. “You’ve been reassigned as the request of Sir Ekkel, you’ll be switching to another spot on the wall, here is its location.”
I got a mental ping as a spot on my mini-map lit up.
“I didn’t do anything,” I said through gritted teeth.
Sir Ungor gave me a sympathetic look. “I know you didn’t kid, but squad cohesion is more important than fairness. Don’t worry I pulled a few strings to make sure you got placed in a squad I felt you’d be a better fit in.”
“Thank you sir,” I said saluting deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to argue to stay in a squad where I wasn’t even wanted.
Ekkel had been the loudest but I’d noticed him turning my other squad members against me or they just wanted to distance themselves to not draw the more wealthy and higher tiered students ire. Aranea and I hurried through the streets to our new section. We paused for breath as came to the resting grounds for the squad and militia on this section of the wall.
“Cain!” a loud, base voice called out.
I turned and Enoch clasped my arm in his and pulled me into a nearly suffocating hug.
“Good to see you,” he said then his expression turned serious. “Why are you here though? Did the rest of your squad…”
“Their alive,” I said. “I just got reassigned for…reasons, no one on our section was killed yet when we left, what about you?”
“We lost one,” Enoch said his expression solemn. “A Moon Demon came on us fast and scythed right through before the Exarch reserves could bring it down.”
We shared a moment of silence for the fallen Warden.
“You just get off the wall or about to go back on?” I asked.
“We got about twenty minutes left on our break,” Enoch said. “How are you holding up?”
“Good as anyone,” I said with a shrug. “There were a few rough moments but I’m sure everyone experienced the same.”
Enoch nodded. “It will be good fighting with you, Cain, its always best to have those you trust beside you in a fight.”
“Speak of those we trust is that Hero?” I asked.
At his name the dire hound padded over to get his head scratched.
Enoch thumped his chest. “I got special permission to bring him into the town and onto the wall, he’s actually been very helpful and bowling djinn off the battlements when they climb up.”
Aranea kissed my cheek. “I’m going to find and check on Hannah.”
I held her hand for a moment pulling her back. “Be safe, I love you.”
She smiled and I released her.
----------------------------------------
Aranea
I found Hannah lying in her and Enoch’s tent; she wasn’t sleeping but she looked like she had just woken up her hair disheveled and plastered to her neck and forehead from dried sweat. Her hands rested on the large swell of her belly tracing circles on it through the wool of her dress.
“Aranea! What are doing here?” Hannah asked starting to push herself up.
I sat down before she sat up and helped her resettle herself.
“Cain and I got reassigned,” I said and hugged her. I placed a hand on her belly feeling the baby shift. “How have you been handling all of this?”
“Not terribly,” Hannah said. “I only have to be on the wall when they’re getting pressed particularly hard by the djinn, otherwise they just have me healing wounded and recharging cores. How have you been?”
“Its been a bit rough,” I admitted. “Cain got caught in a couple of situations where he nearly died, its part of the reason we got reassigned. Not to mention I fell like my voice is going to go out and I barely have the energy to lay with Cain during our rest period.”
Hannah nodded. “I know what you mean, I’m thinking I should learn to draw Corruption the way priestesses do to make next time easier on us.”
“I love being with Cain,” I said with a sigh. “But not when we’re both so exhausted and there is no heart in it.”
“At least at the end of this you’ll probably have that baby you want,” Hannah said poking me in the stomach.
I laughed and shied away from her finger and my heart beat a little faster at the thought of Cain’s baby growing inside me. There was also the fear of Cain dying in battle and leaving me with his child, I didn’t know his family well but assumed they would take me in to help raise the child but… I pushed those dark thoughts from my mind. There is no fear in love, I reminded myself taking heart in the teachings from the Church that the Mother had taught me growing up.
“I hope so,” was all I said to Hannah. “But lets worry about today first.”
“The storm is broken now at least,” Hannah said. “Now we just need to cleanse the land of the corruption.”
“That will take a few days to cleanse the corruption just around the town,” I said. “Then there will be those djinn still in the forests and fields in the countryside to remove.”
“But we’ll be able to rest once the town is safe,” Hannah said wistfully.
We kept chatting but the bell soon rang and I had to return to the wall Hannah remaining back to tend to any wounded, while the Mist element was considered the weakest of them all it was one of three elements that provided healing abilities that could be used on others.
I provided healing as needed to those directly around me which was rare considering our cover inside the tower reinforced with Earth ether. We only got damaged when some ranged attack such as an area-of-effect attack from the djinn. Those area of effects were becoming more and more common, the simple ranged attack skills of the lesser djinn had as much difficulty targeting us as a human archer would but when djinn hit the Demon tier they unlocked AOE attacks. The cutting whirlwinds of wind, the shrapnel clouds of stone or the flesh melting beams of moonlight that struck at random had a much better chance of getting through the arrow slits.
Ducking to the side as another one of those shrapnel clouds of stone was launched at the tower I closed my eyes for a second as the cloud of dust puffed through the arrow slit. Taking a deep breath I knelt down beside one of the town’s militia men who had taken a nasty cut across the forehead and neck and was bleeding heavily.
“Silver Purity,” I said closing the wounds.
I could restore hit points like Cain’s healing ability could but we weren’t even certain that regular people and animals even had hit points. Everyone knew of the horrendous experiments the Church had been forced to shut down where hundreds of base humans had been experimented on to see if they had hit points.
Rushing back to the arrow slit I continued to hurl rays of light at the djinn below us.
“Lunar Ray!” I said again and again.
Gone were my easy kills, the Imps and Beasts no longer existed the corruption on the battlefield was so condensed that nothing under Soldier tier was spawning. There were no longer Exarchs holding back behind us and even the Looms such as Lady Constence and Madam Layrora had entered the battle. Lidia Rineer was a living artillery barrage as she blasted the djinn with scything whirlwinds her body a ghost of mist atop the tower. Looms and Exarchs didn’t need as much sleep as those at the beginning tiers, not only was their Endurance very high by the time they rose to the sixth tier but their bodies had improved with the rise in each tier letting them process ether faster and faster.
Every once in awhile I stole a glance at Cain on the wall. He seemed to be doing better fighting alongside Enoch than he had with his last squad. They were only fighting with the Soldiers or the occasional lone Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn the higher tier Wardens let through while they handled the growing numbers of Demons or battled the Dragons in the sky that were trying to break through the Wards to enter the town.
High above us the Wards flashed with light as the skills of the djinn and breath of Dragons tore at the town’s defenses. If those Wards did break the djinn would overwhelm us, the higher tier Wardens and Wardens might survive, but a single pass of a Dragon’s breath would instantly kill someone at my rank.
I glanced at Cain again, he wasn’t fighting in formation as he had been forced to with his last squad. Instead he moved in out from among the Soldiers clambering onto the wall stabbing them in the back or hamstringing them letting Enoch hit them from the front while they were distracted or Hero rip out their throats as they fell to a knee. The roar of thunder snapped me back to my own senses and I watched as one of the lightning cannons I’d constructed with Lady Constence cut through a line of Soldiers and crippled several Jimage [data:image/png;base64,R0lGODlhCAATAHcAMSH+GlNvZnR3YXJlOiBNaWNyb3NvZnQgT2ZmaWNlACH5BAEAAAAALAAABQAIAAoAhAAAAAAAAAAAOgAAZgA6ZgA6kABmtjoAADoAOmYAAGY6AGaQ22a222a2/5A6AJDb/7ZmALbb/7b//9uQZtu2Ztv///+2Zv/bkP//tv//2wECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwECAwUwIABYQ2QJj0iaqOi+wKUEwiJeBwNQg5Q5hhvigUk0VL3LUAQpVIo6SgswOQQIKUAIADs=]tunn.
The djinn turned on their maimed brethren ripping them to pieces to consume their corruption. While they might be united against us, they had no comradery with each other and would gladly sacrifice others to increase their own power. Or perhaps it simply was that they had no way to heal each other, in the five hundred years since the breaking not one instance of a djinn having a healing ability that they could use on another had ever been reported.
“Lunar Ray!” I said again and again, feeling my voice growing weaker and weaker.
Finally, the bell tolled, and I sagged stumbling down the stairs of the tower leaning against the wall for support. I collapsed into Cain’s arms, I’m sure he probably smelled rank from sweat but I couldn’t smell it over my own stench. I did my duty for Cain a golden glow flashing between our innermost parts as I absorbed his corruption before rolling off of him our bodies too hot to stay in contact. My eyes closed and I passed out.
The brief rest was short, and we were soon back on the wall. I was given an extra thirty-minute break, not to rest but to draw the corruption out of my core and purify it. It was difficult to concentrate with my exhaustion but drew the corrupted ether out from the pours of my skin spinning it into thread with the help of my familiar. Jewel spun the threads in my palm dancing between my fingers as he braided the hair thin threads into a single thick strand.
Another three hours later and we were done for the day. I wasn’t ashamed to say that Cain had to carry me the way to our horse and lift me into the saddle. I didn’t even remember the ride back to the academy or being carried up to the apartment. I did remember Cain turning of the faucets helping me out of my clothes and lowering me into the tub. He took a sponge and a bar of soap running both across my body. I wasn’t coated in dirt but there was a fair amount of stone dust that had clung to my sweat soaked hair and skin and soon the water was murky as they were washed off.
Cain drained the tub before rinsing me off and toweling me dry. He laid me in the bed before washing himself. I closed my eyes only opening them an unknown amount of time later when Cain came to bed. He took me in his arms being gentle with me, I could tell he was as tired as me but our duty to the Voice could not be ignored. Surrendering to his touch I felt a glow both literal and metaphorical suffuse me as we finished and Cain pulled me against him. The chilly night air made me glad to press myself against him as he pulled the covers over us.
“Good night, little spider,” Cain whispered in my ear.
My eyes opened on hearing the name. Only my Mother Superior had ever called me that, a little nickname she’d had for me for as long as I could remember. Hearing Cain say it was different but held its own comfort. Before I knew it I was asleep again.