I do not believe that we do ourselves any favors by insisting that there are only ten tiers of creatures, my sisters. How can we compare a King Emerald Dragon to the beast that destroyed all of Reila three months back? The latter slew almost two dozen of the former without taking any damage, and you mean to say that they’re on remotely even footing? I think not, and once again put forth my suggestion of a “Legendary” tier for such creatures.
-Excerpt from a speech regarding the Legendary Crimson Tyrant, given by Marianne Treeshaker, [High Sorceress] of Luvistam
Winesap Moon, Day 12
Week of the Centaur (Archery Units +1 Range)
Wiping my cheek clean with my sleeve, I looked down at Davion’s corpse. His face was a mask of frozen terror, and I couldn’t help but think that in death, he looked no different from any of the villagers he hadn’t cared about protecting in life.
I found that poetic.
“So much for that natural order, huh?”
Spitting on the ground in disgust, I thrust my new blade into the dirt and pondered my next steps. As far as I knew, what I’d just done was basically without precedent. The Texts were clear on matters of strength between [Champions] and people like me: The Blessed are stronger than mortal men in all ways, always.
Yet I was the one standing here, and Davion was dead. Perhaps that meant that there were other gaps in the Texts as well? Maybe some of the things that I’d taken for granted my entire life weren’t entirely true?
“Only one way to find out,” I muttered as I knelt down next to my predecessor’s body and started unbuckling his gauntlet. I’d come this far already. Davion’s blessing would be mine.
The gauntlet’s light had faded with the [Champion]’s life, and now it looked no different than any other piece of armor I’d ever seen before. Once I’d unbuckled all the clasps I could find, I gave the gauntlet a tug and fell backward onto the ground.
My hands started tingling, and a moment later, an energy unlike anything I’d experienced before coursed up my arms and blasted into my chest. I started trembling uncontrollably. Was this the power of the stars I’d heard so much about? The blessing that gave men like Davion the right to act in such a cruel manner? If so, did I truly want such a thing?
Clenching my jaw, I steeled my resolve and told myself that I did.
I’d come too far now to have second thoughts, and before I could give into self-doubt, I yanked the gauntlet onto my arm.
That might have been a mistake, as searing pain worse than any I’d ever felt before flooded my senses. With a gasp, I fell to my knees and swore that I heard laughter.
“You’re not worthy of such power,” a ghastly voice said. It sounded an awful lot like Davion’s, and for all I told myself that it was simply my imagination playing a vicious trick on me, it refused to go away when I tried to make it.
“You were born under a peasant’s star,” the voice continued, venom dripping from every word. “Doomed to a life of backbreaking labor and insignificant joys until death finally got around to claiming you. You are not one of the blessed, and you never will be. Take off the gauntlet, boy, while you can still save yourself from the reckoning that’s coming.”
With every second that passed, the pain I was experiencing somehow kept getting worse, and my arm felt like it was going to burn away. My breath came faster and faster as I panicked, but I shook my head and spat on the ground. I wasn’t going to give up.
“You’re the one who wasn’t worthy,” I growled. “That’s why you’re dead. And I’m going to prove that what fucking star you’re born under doesn’t matter. I’ll accomplish more with this gauntlet than you ever did, Davion. I swear it.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, the ground beneath me rippled like the waters of a pond after a rock gets thrown in, and the clouds above my head transformed into a swirling mass of black and red energy. It seemed that my trial wasn’t over yet, and I grinned savagely at the sky.
“Do your worst,” I said before the agony in my arm stole my breath away, and the sky obliged.
Furious bolts of golden lightning struck the ground all around my feet, and with a boom that temporarily deafened me, the sky opened up. Raindrops that felt like punches pummeled my entire body, and the cutting wind nearly froze my skin.
I knew that if I stayed where I was I’d perish, so I started trudging forward. I had no destination; the village was gone and there was nothing around that could serve as shelter. So I simply walked.
As I pulled myself away from Davion’s body, using his sword as a makeshift walking stick, I saw a strange light in the sky that pierced through the storm clouds. On closer examination, it was a small gold star, and I felt as if it was giving me strength.
Keep going, it seemed to say. Keep walking, Aster.
Left. Right. Left. Right. My legs pumped against the ground, and though I don’t know how long it took, I eventually found myself on the other side of the village.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The storm died down, and I shivered in the cold air. My clothes and hair were drenched, and while the gauntlet wasn’t burning my arm quite so much anymore, I still felt vaguely nauseous.
“I’m still here,” I wheezed. “Now what?”
Davion’s voice didn’t answer, but when I looked up at the sky again, the little star twinkled in what I thought could only be an acknowledgement of a job well done.
[Atypical heritage detected. Activating alternative blessing procedure.]
Moving like a playful puppy, the star tumbled from the sky and landed atop my gauntlet. Its warmth was pleasant and soothing, and the armor’s runes glowed as they absorbed its energy.
[What is your name?]
“Aster.”
[Champion name confirmed. Activating classification protocol.]
[Assessing life experiences.]
[Magical aptitude check in progress…]
[Check complete! No magical aptitudes detected!]
[Physical aptitude check in progress…]
[Check complete! Sword, spear, and siege combat aptitudes detected. Corresponding bonuses added to stack bonus pool. Beginning temperament assessment…]
[Temperament assessment complete! Noble, stubborn detected. Making final determination.]
[Congratulations, you are now a Champion of Valor, Level 1! 10 Renown until next level! Your stack size is 2! Your can take one building action per day! Preparing skills and materials for inheritance.]
As the System worked on that, I felt myself changing. The residual pain from the gauntlet faded, as did the lingering ache from my injuries. Neither truly vanished, but I felt much better. When I looked down, I saw that the armor now fit perfectly, as if it’d been custom forged for me to begin with. The runes glowed with steady magical light, and though I still couldn’t read them, I was comforted by their presence. Like the sword, they now belonged to me.
[Inheritance ready! Deploying materials!]
A cube of golden light appeared above my forearm, and inside were five small images that represented the materials used by [Champions]: wood, stone, iron, gold, and crystals. Beneath the symbols was my current count of each material, and I didn’t have many.
220 wood, 165 stone, 30 iron, 10 gold, and no crystals. Barely enough for a single tier one building, if I was remembering correctly. I’d never paid much attention to our village’s building tree. I’d never thought I’d need to worry about it, though I regretted that shortsightedness now.
[Materials Deployed! Assigning Skills!]
[New Skill Learned – Hexgrid Sphere!]
[New Skill Learned – Recruit!]
[New Skill Learned – Garrison!]
[New Skill Learned – Combine Avatar!]
[New Skill Learned – Separate Avatar!]
[New Skill Learned – Reinforce Walls!]
[Stack Modifying Skill Learned – Desperate Last Stand (Battle Only)!]
Since I already knew what [Hexgrid Sphere], [Recruit], and [Garrison] did, I didn’t feel any different as they were assigned. However, a feeling that was most similar to suddenly remembering something learned long ago filled my skull as [Combine Avatar], [Separate Avatar], [Reinforce Walls], and [Desperate Last Stand] became skills I could use.
[Combine Avatar] and [Separate Avatar] were two sides of the same coin, allowing me to mash together or split apart creatures in my stack to change their avatar strength. I wasn’t entirely sure why such a thing would be necessary, but I knew it’d eventually come in handy.
[Reinforce Walls] allowed me to increase the melee and ranged defense of a wall I controlled, and I felt a fresh wave of grief and rage at the prospect of having been able to protect my village better if I’d only had this skill before the howler attack.
Never again, I vowed as the skill description faded from my mind.
[Desperate Last Stand] was different than the rest, as it was denoted as being Battle Only. However, it seemed strong, giving creatures in my stack +50% melee damage while their avatar strength was 3 or less. Perhaps I could use [Separate Avatar] to make sure that it triggered.
However, I had no way of knowing just powerful it was just then, as I didn’t have any creatures in my stack to look at.
This was apparently quite the problem, as the System soon alerted me.
[Skills assigned! Rolling for stack bonus…]
[Roll complete! Sword and spear bonuses selected!]
[Sword Bonus 1: +2 Melee damage for sword using units!]
[Spear Bonus 1:+2 Melee damage for spear using units!]
[Applying bonuses to starting stack…]
[ERROR! Starting stack cannot be empty! Retrying!]
[ERROR! Starting stack cannot be empty! Activating emergency stack substitution protocol!]
[Suitable subject found! Activating Transportation!]
A pair of tiny gold orbs flew out of my gauntlet and zipped off into the ruin of my village. They swirled around a pile of scorched debris, then returned to where I was standing. As they vanished back into my gauntlet, a black shape started materializing at my feet. It was bigger than I was, and when a pair of scarlet eyes looked up at me with pure, unadulterated hatred, I realized what the System had found.
It was the howler that’d been on the verge of killing me, and while it too had survived Davion’s blast, it was in far worse shape than I’d been. Most of its legs were gone, and its teeth were shattered stumps. Its breathing was labored, and I lifted my sword to send it to its fellows.
However, when I swung, my blow was stopped by an invisible wall, and a surge of energy sent me skidding backwards.
[Invalid target! ERROR! Starting stack cannot be empty! Champion action required! Use Recruit!]
“The hell with that,” I hissed. “This thing helped kill my people and it would have killed me too. There’s no way I’m [Recruiting] it.”
The System didn’t seem to care.
[ERROR! Starting stack cannot be empty! Champion action required! Use Recruit!]
I tried to kill the howler twice more, but each time I swung my sword I was stopped by something I couldn’t see, and the System repeated its message over and over again.
[ERROR! Starting stack cannot be empty! Champion action required! Use Recruit!]
I cursed and looked around. There weren’t any other creatures nearby that I could [Recruit] instead, and I bit my lip as I realized that I had no choice but to do as I was directed.
But how could I utilize something I hated so much?
I glared into the monster’s eyes and tasted bile. I had a sneaking suspicion I’d have to start getting used to that. Life as a [Champion] didn’t seem quite as perfect as I’d first thought; my newfound powers weren’t enough to defy the System.
My new ruler repeated its warning, and I noticed that its voice sounded different, as if it were about to break. Was that because of the error? If so, I couldn’t afford to dawdle any longer.
I didn’t think I could ever accept the howler as a partner or an underling, but what about as a tool?
“Yeah, that’ll work,” I said quietly as I raised my hand and pointed it at my enemy. “Like a hammer or an axe, monster, I’ll use you until you break. Then we’ll be even. [Recruit]!”
Golden light filled the air.