The intermix of red material and green shrubs around Luke relaxed his eyes.
Constantly seeing red and similar hues wasn’t too pleasant to him. The red-tinted pools of water subtly reduced the heat. Luke listened to the druid next to him, who saw him in a different light after attempting to heal Luke. As soon as the druid dubbed Luke a heart bearer, it was like he’d grown two additional heads with how the druid regarded him. The other members of the druid’s team reacted similarly; even Casandra’s team, except Lilly, mirrored them.
“Alright, what’s everyone gawking for?” Luke said.
With a slight tremble, the druid kneeled; Luke brought the druid back up, “No, no, we’re not having that. I’m not sure what you’re freaking out for, but no need to treat me differently.”
The monic druid spoke solemnly, “Lord Heart Bearer-“
“What is it with people calling me a lord? First, it was the Fasa House; now, hunters out in the wild. Call me Luke, and you are?”
“Gelden, Lord Luke.”
“Gelden, call me Spell Sword or Aspirant, none of this ‘lord’ crap. I’m a farworlder; we didn’t have lords there. At least not in my country. Now, why are you acting this way all of a sudden?”
“Lord Luke, did the Interface not inform you of the heart you bear and its importance?”
Luke gave up trying to correct Gelden and accepted his fate. Around him, both groups of hunters had gone quiet, each person listening in on this conversation between the two.
“Beyond being told I’m now part of a new sub-set of people for the Interface, that’d be all, Druid Gelden.”
“Each heart bearer is highly regarded, Lord Luke. The Duchy would send a grand celebration to Sylen if they knew of your exalted status.” The druid paused and looked at Luke in the eyes, “Lord Luke, bearers such as yourself are considered the hope of humanity, a combat-type bearer even more so. The amount publicly known to be in the Duchy can be counted on one hand.”
A faint reverence extruded from each person around the safe area. Luke gave Lilly credit, however, as he was pretty sure the girl only grew greater stars in her eyes for Sooty rather than him.
Which, in the current situation, made him feel grateful. The hope of humanity? Luke wanted to find his dad. Someone else could have that placed on their shoulders.
“Stop looking at me like that, you all.”
“It all makes sense now…” Darius muttered.
“Right, I didn’t want to say, but I found what you did absurd. What sort of spell sword slays over a hundred beasts in one go without having ever ascended? The heart bearer sort could do it.” Casandra said.
Sooty flew to Luke’s other shoulder and sat down. She pecked at his chest, oblivious to the situation.
“Gelden,” Luke said, “How did you find out?”
Gelden kneeled again, and Luke couldn’t bring the monic man back to his feet no matter his cajoling, “Lord Luke, I’ve a certain passive ability, Healer’s Analysis, that allows me to witness the internals of any person I heal while in contact with them. It enables me to understand where to concentrate my healing better. As an unintended effect, I witnessed your exalted heart merging with your original.”
Luke pulled up the Heart Tab in the Equipment window for the Interface. Sure enough, the words (Merging) were still next to the Spectral Heart tooltip. The Reaver crouched to Gelden and asked, “You only know that I have this heart, not its capabilities, correct?”
Gelden kept his eyes to the floor, “Absolutely, Lord Luke, once your heart has finished adapting to your body, I doubt even Healer’s Analysis will be able to know of its existence. My analysis doesn’t tell me its properties, only that you have an exalted heart yet to finalize.”
Just my luck. You mean to tell me if this Spectral Heart had hurried up in adapting to me, no one would’ve been any wiser to me being this heart-bearer thing?
“The cat’s out the bag.” Luke took out Xera, “I knew joining a group was a bad idea.” The area grew tense; Lilly spoke, “Why did you bring your sword out, Luke? What’s the big deal? Can I pet Sooty?”
“You and birds. Leave poor Sooty alone for a little bit.” Luke said
“Ok…” The girl looked down to the floor.
Now I feel bad.
Luke decided he couldn’t go through with it. Killing everyone here, that is. He took the next best measure, “Tell me, Gelden,” Luke used Xera to tip up Gelden’s chin, “I’ll admit the heart has helped ever since I got it, but it doesn’t seem that big a deal right now. Why act this way toward me?”
The druid ignored the sword barely pressuring his skin, “Lord Luke, any person with an exalted heart is considered one with the best potential to slay a diplomat, or an apostle. A spell sword without a heart could never match the potential of a spell sword with one. This applies to all classes.”
“It’s all about potential then. I see. Their hope is, I grow up, and I’m a big enough threat to keep the god beast’s fingers out of this Duchy. What requirements are there of a heart bearer?”
“If I may ask one question first, Lord Luke?”
“Stop calling me…ah forget it, sure, what is it, Gelden?”
“It was to my understanding that Spell Sword Uldris of the Artem Republic possessed the exalted heart for your class. Which creature or trial did you manage to subdue to obtain another heart? Lord Uldris already occupies the known legacy.”
You can’t be serious; I’ve got another thing that may blow my cover. What do I do?
“You wouldn’t believe my story, Gelden. Don’t tell anyone.” Luke slowly scanned everyone in the vicinity, “That goes for all of you. I’m leaving.”
Luke pulled up the Interface and left Casandra’s group. He no longer cared to have his questions answered. This druid wasn’t a good idea to stay around.
“Wait!” Lilly said.
Luke kept moving. Grouping up was a mistake, and he would pay the price somehow. He knew it. If sheer luck saved him this time, it wouldn’t the next. Luke wouldn’t group again unless the heart finished merging, or he had no choice.
Lilly grabbed his cloak, and Luke turned around, tension bubbling beneath his skin.
“Here! Let’s link up our sigil stones; don’t worry about the rest. None of them will say a thing. I won’t let them! The sigil stone only lets me send a message, so you won’t get bothered by me if you don’t want to, but, in return, can I come over to play with Sooty sometimes?”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
This girl has a one-track mind, doesn’t she?
“You all have a recall scroll to leave, right?”
Lilly nodded.
“Alright, fine, link up with my sigil stone. Don’t leave messages all day, ok?”
“Of course! I’ll respect Sooty’s privacy!”
“That’s not…whatever. Here.” Luke took the sigil stone out of the Inventory. Lilly did the same, and once the two touched, a notice occupied Luke’s vision.
[Do you wish to accept Lilly Bethlar’s sigil connection? Y/N]
Luke hit yes and bid the two groups goodbye. He heard whispers of discussion as he left.
Kyle spoke first, “Who would’ve thought there would be a second heart bearer out of us farworlders? I wonder why he isn’t some crazy high tier by now?”
“I’m sure he has his reasons.” Cassandra looked at her team members, “Luke made it clear he doesn’t want others to know about that about him. Keep your mouths shut, or he’ll come looking for the informant one day.”
Darius nodded, and Kyle looked giddy. Gelden remained stone still, not daring to get up.
The leader of the other group, the tora woman said, “Don’t worry about Gelden. He takes a few things far too sacredly. If your spell sword doesn’t want us talking, we won’t. He looked ready to kill us all,” the tora woman shivered, “the thing is, I could tell he was capable of pulling it off. What a terrifying team-mate you have.”
Casandra looked in the direction Luke left, “Who are you?” she muttered to herself.
----------------------------------------
Despite the near-molten ground he currently ascended, Luke felt more at ease. With too much to hide, being alone was best. Even if it was unsafe. The heat had gone up as he reached for the second floor. Luke took in his surroundings. As far as he could see, his only company up here was beasts. No hunter groups were around.
“Alright, the two of you can speak again, but lowly,” Luke said.
“Lad, I won’t scold you for the slip-up. Even I didn’t account for it. But people will find out, and one of that lot will speak. Maybe in a day, a week, or a month. Now that more than one knows, everyone will know,” Wayfinder said.
Luke breathed out and nodded. Wayfinder was correct; it’d only be a matter of time now that Luke decided he didn’t have it in him to kill them all for guaranteed silence.
“What’s the big deal? You’ve got your trusty sword wand and a compass. You’ll be fine, plus I’ll get to fight a diplomat one day. Didn’t you hear what they said? They all count on you heart whatevers to fight them eventually!”
“Even if all the Ducal bigwigs are united against the god-beasts, which they aren’t, the nobles or worse will want to dip their fingers in the lad’s business when they learn what he is,” Wayfinder said.
Luke kept updated with the immediate area before responding, “I did, Xera. If they’re powerful enough to take down a kingdom in a small group, we won’t be doing that anytime soon. Hold your horses.”
“Aww… Well, fine, that last fight sated my appetite for now! Although I miss being a wand…”
The group began a low-volume conversation, and Luke stopped moving after he came up to an orange crystalline spire; he pushed frost essence to his feet and created a more tepid spot to sit down.
“Not the safest spot to take an afternoon seat,” Wayfinder said.
“He’s probably about to go through the Interface compass.”
“Bingo.” Luke said, “Sooty, keep watch for me if any creatures around here get the bright idea to come say hello. I’ll sort out the gains, and we move on, shouldn’t be long.”
Sooty flew up a short distance and started to circle her Reaver. Luke made no delay and began to sort through the Interface messages.
[You have looted 25 Chimera pelts, 10 Chimera Snake Scales, and 9 Fine-Quality Beast Fangs]
“The other small groups of creatures didn’t drop anything?” Luke pondered, “No, they must’ve gone to the other party members. At least I’m gathering loot again.”
[You have stolen 51 Hit Points, 4 Strength]
“What? That’s it? I killed over a hundred of those things. Funny, I felt like I still stole essence from them often. Where does all that go?”
Luke didn’t have answers, only that the general trend was he still stole ‘a piece’ from lower-end creatures, but he didn’t keep hold of it. The next time he fought those Chimeras, he knew they wouldn’t make him grow. His senses didn’t lie to him; monsters would weaken the longer they fought him, but he lacked critical insight.
Not known for his genius, Luke got up and began to move on. If normal lower-level creatures were unable to further his stats, then the solution became simple. Either find better-quality beasts or higher-level ones.
The Reaver patted his shoulder, and Sooty stopped scouting to land on it—a few yellow spires intertwined in this floor. At the beginning of the floor, the monsters around him were wary of him, but the further he went, the less they became deterred. By the time he could see the way up to the next floor, a bold creature with horns, rough gray-yellow skin, and black eyes galloped at him. The beast blasted flame from its hooves, accelerating its charge. A molten layer began to cover its horns.
“Xera, wand-time,” Luke said as he morphed her into a wand.
“Blast those who dash. Great!” Xera said.
Sooty flapped right over Luke, waiting for his move. He pointed Xera at the madly rushing beast, Essence Bond attached to its skin. An Essence Lance rotated rapidly beside Luke. He fired the ability, and Xera’s ruinous echo further weakened the beast. His Essence Lance launched and punched a grievous hole right through its chest, obliterated an upper leg, and came out its side. The horned beast crashed against the silt; eyes fixated on him but unable to charge anymore.
“Take it out after I get a read on it with the Interface, Sooty,” Luke said.
[Volcanic Horn Megwa]
Level: 22
HP: 369/1001
Crippled by a cruel Reaver.
Sooty came over to the near-dead beast. She Reaver Beaked it in the skull to put it out of its misery. The bird didn’t return. Instead, she hopped onto the Megwa’s body and searched around her.
“Should be the highest level thing this floor will throw at us. Doesn’t look like any others are around. Better to move on to the third floor.”
The entrance up to the third floor was a molten spider web attached to a plateau. Luke figured he could forcibly use his frost essence to make it walkable. He had no idea how others would scale it.
He passed by Sooty. She kept looking around. Used to his bird's occasional independence, he let her do as she wanted; he looked over his shoulder to say, “Come up when you’re ready; I’ll be waiting.”
As for if she were in danger without him, Luke had confidence in her. Worse case, Reaver’s Link would alert him, and he’d sprint back. The Reaver scaled up the molten spiderweb, forcing most of his frost essence to his feet as he did so. As planned, the heated material cooled in contact with his boots, and he safely ascended to the final floor.
----------------------------------------
This heated nest was toasty against my feathers, but some strange resistance repelled it. I opened my beak and rattled, declaring this roost mine.
No feather Luke couldn’t sense it. But I did. A challenge, another feathered one dared to look down on us from its roost. It even said no feather Luke lacked shiny feathers, and his caws sounded worse than a baby bird!
But the challenger wouldn’t move. A no feather’s presence would be unacceptable for the challenge it squawked. This would be a fair challenge of one feathered one to another.
That was fine with me. The challenger had crossed the chirping line.
While I could agree no feather Luke wasn’t blessed with feathers, he was plenty shiny in his own way. I would defend my roost member’s honor. My beak and talons were better than any others.
After my roost member, Luke, entered deeper into this flaming nest, the challenger appeared. A flaming taloned one with strange yellow-white feathers and a long orange beak. It circled down toward me while it cried with taunting noises.
The strange screen overtook my sight for a moment before I pecked it away.
[Impundulu] (High Elite)
Level: 23
HP: 1500/1500
A lost lightning bird. Declared itself the king of the Feathered Ones in this flame nest. Challenges all feathered beings that enter its domain.
I was never as patient as my roost member. I pushed my nails off the defeated horned one below me and flapped to meet the orange beak. After I gave a challenging caw, the dark mist coated my talons and beak.
The challenger sang, and a lightning strike sizzled, aiming to singe my feathers. I used my special feather to float around my magnificent black plumage. The Spatial Feather granted me its charges—a faint blue intermixed with my black mist-covered talons.
We crossed and dived. This challenger was faster than I, but speed wouldn’t save it for long. It foolishly charged me, and I released my beak skill. Our beaks collided, and I tore into its face easily.
It chirped in pain. I continued to rake at it with my talons. Lightning surrounded it, charging its feathers. Another wave sprang from its beak, and I met it with my unique screech. Right after, I vanished out of sight, and the challenger squawked to taunt me, but it was too late.
My particular talon skill ripped through its main body, and the challenger released a shrill cry. More lightning zapped my feathers, and I had to dive away from the pain. We flew between the spires and clashed, my talons often meeting theirs. But the advantage was slowly becoming mine. Its beak attacks could never match my own.
The challenger grew desperate and charged me with blinding speed. I couldn’t be that agile, but I had my tricks. I waited until the right distance and vanished once more. The challenger hurriedly stopped, and I reappeared above its neck.
I used my beak attack, and the challenger squawked for the last time, spiraling down to the floor of the flame nest.
That’ll teach any haughty feathered ones. Only my beak and talon are magnificent. And leave my roost member alone!
With the challenger defeated, I flapped back to no feather Luke, releasing a victorious caw all the while.