Dalen collapsed into his bedroll without bothering to climb out of his clothes besides tossing his alchemy belt to the ground. He took a deep breath and sighed as he stretched.

“What a bloody night.”

The speech had gone pretty well, all things considered, thanks to the help of a little alchemical persuasion and showmanship the crowd had been successfully calmed and got to ease their sorrows somewhat. The brew was basically just alcohol added to his mind-soothing recipe along with a carefully measured slow release.

One of the books he had… procured from the academy years ago was called Saleama’s Guide to Lasting Beneficent and Maleficent Alchemy. The title was a bit wordy for his taste but he was glad he had taken it now. It gave him some useful tips on concocting slow-release potions that scale with the drinker’s vitality and endurance. Basically allowing anyone to drink it and gain some benefit. Low-level people got a slow constant effect for several minutes and higher leveled people felt the same scaled effect but it didn’t last as long since the potion’s energy was consumed faster because of the faster output requirement.

The talk had become more of a memorial for all the people who died on the path. For some reason, people wanted to tell him about them but surprisingly none had blamed Kal in any way for those that didn’t make it. He was a savior in their eyes regardless of the fear they felt as they ran from the crimson waves of fire.

Of course, they also wanted to see his mark. He had already teased them with his brew description so Dalen saw no reason to hide it from them. If they weren’t impressed by his brew they certainly were after reading its description.

Mark of Wrath

Your core has been marked by Kalum Lesta the Slayer of Fate and Exemplar of Defiance. May you overcome your limits and sunder that which binds.

Seeing it pretty much confirmed Kal’s status in their minds. It was after that the more difficult questions arose. Will he lead us? Will he mark us as well? What will he lead us to do?

Dalen had no answers for those questions that were backed up by anything real. But the last question troubled him. What was Kal supposed to lead them through? The question resonated with him for some reason and felt that he knew what he would do in an abstract way at least. An answer came to his mind and he had said it with all the false confidence he could muster.

“He will take us beyond our limits and break the ties that bind us!”

He felt foolish the moment he said it but the crowd had taken it to heart. But the question still remained in Dalen’s mind. What were they bound by? Or was it just fluff conjured up by the system for dramatic effect? Kal probably knew what it meant and if not probably wanted to find out.

Dalen decided he would talk to Jaliete about it in the morning. The order clearly knew more than it was letting on and there was no doubt in Dalen’s mind that elders would have more sensitive information than most.

Shoving his overactive thoughts to the side Dalen closed his eyes and before he knew it he was asleep.

A pitch-black void stretched out beneath him. He was falling. Falling through the endless black. Howling winds ripped past making it feel as if his skin was being covered in burning ash but a glance showed him nothing but more of the infinite dark.

It felt like he was falling forever and his non-existent heart pounded harder and harder as his fall through nothing continued. But then there was something within the endless black.

A large muscular man stood on a platform of black metal barely visible through a chaotic storm of pearlescent white explosions.

“Kal?” Dalen tried to say but nothing came out as he vision twisted to focus on his friend.

Pieces of platform were being eaten away every moment but Kal moved swiftly around the platform as if he was dodging unseen projectiles. He didn’t move with speed and agility as he had on the fractured path but each movement was measured and precise.

Dalen’s mind spun with what he was seeing. Was this happening right now? Where in the pitts was this? Something about it all felt far too real and vivid. As Dalen watched in confused amazement as sparks and detonations of white light washed over the platform clashing with something he couldn’t see he realized something.

Kal was protecting himself and the platform. And he was losing.

It was a near thing but for every dozen flashes of white light, another chunk of the platform disintegrated. Kal was getting better, faster, and more efficient but Dalen could see what the outcome would ultimately be.

But what did Dalen see when he looked at his friend’s face? Was it anything he would expect somebody to feel if they were in this situation like fear or grim determination?

No, of course not. This was Kal, not the Kal the troubled man he had seen on the fractured path, no, the true Kal. How could Dalen tell?

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He was grinning like a crazy bastard.

“Kal!” Dalen yelled, still nothing came out but Kal’s head tilted and his eyes paced over Dalen for the briefest instant-

Dalen gasped and shot up from his bedroll, a cold sweat dripping from his face and soaking his shirt, “What the fuck was that?!” Dalen panted as he slowly regained his breath.

Abruptly the door to his tent flung open and Leo stepped in with his sword in hand and an incredibly imposing expression followed by two more guards both also following suit and holding their spears as well. Leo’s eyes snapped to Dalen before his face softened.

“Dalen? Are you alright? We heard a shout,” Leo said as he put his sword away.

Dalen didn’t reply straight away as he was focused on his status and the crimson notification that had appeared.

Dalen?

Dalen’s eyes widened and he shot to his feet, “Kal! Can you hear me?”

Leo and the two guards staggered backward in surprise at Dalen’s outburst and looked around the room but obviously, there was nothing there, “Dalen what’s going on?”

“I saw him?!” Dalen still hadn’t managed to catch his breath, “I saw Kal! And somehow he saw me!”

Dalen made his display visible to Leo and the guards.

Leo’s eyebrows shot up, “What is that? I have never seen a notification like that before. It's the same color as your marks notification.”

Dalen told him everything and about halfway through Leo told one of the guards to go and fetch Jaliete and Melisia. The guard didn’t look pleased to be sent as a runner but he did as asked. The man was either bloody quick or Jaliete had done another of her mind tricks because he had returned with both Jaliete and Melisia in tow.

Since they were there now Dalen started again, a little bit more coherently now that he had managed to get his breath back.

Their faces were a mix of fascination and awe as Dalen described what he saw and showed them the notification. Dalen felt like a bit of a madman as he realized how worked up he was at what looked like a simple dream to everyone else but it was just so real. The notification proved it.

Jaliete’s expression darkened, “You said it felt as though you were burning, correct?”

“Uh, yeah. It wasn’t pleasant at all but I didn’t feel like it was actually injuring me.” Dalen replied, slightly confused.

“You also said he was standing on a platform of black metal. Did it have a stone atop it? Or markings you recognized?”

Dalen tried to remember but he couldn’t, “There was no stone, at least nothing obvious. I’m not sure about markings though.”

Jaliete frowned, “I believe what you have seen may be very important. So keep in mind I don’t ask this next question lightly. May I see?”

Dalen was taken aback by the question and judging by Melisia’s expression she was just as surprised as he was, “Wait what do you mean see? See what? I’ve got nothing to show you but the notification.”

“She wants to see your memories,” Melisia said, speaking for the first time since entering the tent, “I know how it sounds but it is less intrusive than it sounds.”

“Melisia is correct,” Jaliete nodded calmly, “I have a skill that allows me to witness the memory of a target but it is limited by their willingness to share it. It is not a widely known skill and I would have preferred not to bring it up because of the implications it brings but I feel that it is necessary in this situation.”

Dalen’s first reaction was, “Fuck No!” But he kept that to himself. He didn’t like the sound of that at all and the only thing stopping him from going with his gut reaction was Melisia's reassurance and the thought that what he saw may very well be incredibly important if he was to help Kal.

Dalen wasn’t about to just accept it though, he still had questions, “What’s stopping you from fishing around deeper into my brain or messing with me and turning me into a puppet or something like that?”

“You must be actively thinking of the memory for me to view it with any kind of clarity and as for the second part of that question, assuming I could do anything like that to you Dalen, would I have not simply done that on the day you entered my camp? “ Jaliete replied in a perfectly logical and matter-of-fact tone.

It made sense…. “Damn it”.

“Fine. How do we do this then?”

“Simply try and remember the first moments of this vision and I will place my hand on your forehead and activate the skill. You must focus solely on the memory you want me to see,” Jaliete explained, her neutral expression back in place but with a certain look in her eye that worried Dalen.

Dalen nodded and focused on his part of the skill. Honestly, he was amazed about how much the memory had already faded in just a few minutes, even the pain he had experienced was a vague sensation by this point.

Jaliete placed her hand on his forehead and Dalen felt a cold chill run across his body for a moment, “I have it. Keep focusing.”

A few more seconds passed and the chill returned. This time it grew to the point of being uncomfortable but just as he was about to say something Jaliete removed her hand. Then he saw her face.

She had grown more pale than even the worst of the wounded followers in camp and her eyes had widened in shock.

“What’s wrong?” Dalen asked.

Jaliete shook herself out of her thoughts and turned to them all, “Come. I must confirm something.”

Before waiting for a response she turned and left the tent. Dalen wondered what he had missed that had frightened her so badly. Melisia looked shaken by the elder’s expression so Dalen had no doubt that he had guessed the elder’s expression correctly. What was going on?

They all followed Jaliete back to her tent and further into the second smaller tent. Dalen had been right about it containing the woman’s bed and personal items but it also held so much more. The smaller tent itself was quite plain besides the normal bedroom necessities but to one side was a fine silver and black display case that pulsed with blue-white light, concealing its contents.

Dalen’s eyes lit up as he saw Jaliete was about to open it. She waved her hands over it in several precise gestures and the glow faded revealing a large black tome with intricate embossing that he quickly recognized as runes he had seen at the first crossing. He used Identify.

Professor Hentrax Vandalor’s Universal Observations Volume I of VI [Mythic]