Chapter 34

When she came after me again, there was none of her berserker fury, eyes wide with desperation. Fear robbed her of strength and speed, making it even easier to stand there and defend myself. Her movements were frantic, clumsy, telegraphed a mile away. I slapped aside punches, stepped inside of her kicks to rob them of their force. Every failed strike weakened the next, fear and resignation draining her every movement, until she stood before me, breathing hard, every muscle tense and coiled, arms limp at her sides.

“If I wanted to take them from you, I could,” I told her. “I could simply strike you down and take everything from you. The people,” I gestured around us. “Your soldiers,” A gesture behind her, toward where her followers stood, rooted in place by fear. “I could take even Cenna from you, if I had the desire.” Her eyes flared, anger building, slowly pushing the fear aside. “So why would you let me? Why would you hide here and waste away until anyone could tear it all down around you and leave you helpless? ” The fury in her eyes was growing, and I could tell my words had struck a nerve; possibly several. I decided to wrap it up before she regained her ability to attack, putting a decisive end to my performance.

“The old world is dead, Lyrella. If you want to protect them, you must be strong enough to make sure no one can ever take them from you. Now go, ” I commanded her. “Your people need you.”

I pulled the flames in around me like an enormous cloak, dragging the greatest flames away and leaving only the embers smoldering behind. Everything around me blistered and burned, the great stone cracking in half from the sudden temperature change. I turned and strode away, blasting a hole in the wall as I went. I didn’t look back to see what happened next, hoping that it wasn’t going to be a fist striking the back of my head. I was tough, but I wasn’t that tough, and she had a hell of a swing.

I released the cloak into a brief firestorm, the trees around me catching alight in an instant as I relinquished my hold on the flames. I strode confidently out into the forest, blasting aside everything that crossed my path. I shoved the fires outward, making a half-circle around the town to make sure that nothing could attack it from this side, and that no one could try and follow me out. I didn’t want the little cult that had formed around me trying to create some kind of fellowship, trading one cage for another.

In truth, I was angry. Deeply, red-eyed enraged, just wishing for something to cross my path so I could destroy it and vent a little of that anger. I felt that I had done the right thing, forcing them to leave the shelter of the walls and go forge their own destinies; I just hoped not too many of them would fall along that path. We would all need to be a lot stronger if we were going to take down those Guardians, and time was running out.

[Trial by Fire]

Survive System Initiation

There are many paths to Power: carve your own. There are many trials within the Tutorial area that may be overcome to grant various benefits. Sponsors are watching, and your performance may curry favor with them.

Rewards will be granted based on performance within the Tutorial.

May the Scribe witness your deeds.

Remaining Time: 13d 16h 27m

‎

Cenna stepped forward, making sure every step was hard and loud, unwilling to take a chance on surprising Lyrella in her current state. “Ella,” she murmured, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t. Apologize.” Her tone was harsh, bitter. She took a deep breath, trying to still her heaving mind. “We have work to do.” When Lyrella turned to face her, she was shocked to see tears on her cheeks, cutting thin streaks through the soot and ash that clung to her dusky skin. Cenna nodded, her throat choked with grief; she knew she had asked for this, but staring it in the face was hard.

“You heard him,” she half-growled at me, “The old world is dead.” She swept a hand in the direction of the flaming trail that marked his path out of the village, and the blazing breach in the walls. “Now,” she raised her voice, shouting so the others could hear her, “We need to go help those people. Get them together, help them survive. Help them train. Grow stronger.”

The others shifted on their feet, uncertainty warring them into inaction.

“Did I fucking stutter?” She shouted at them, her words practically a roar.

When she turned and strode into the flames, looking for survivors, the others scattered to follow her example, their uncertainty no match for their fear and respect for their leader. Only Cenna remained behind, staring at the gap in the walls where David had left, only devastation in his wake. Now that the others had gone, she gave in to the overwhelming sense of shame, collapsing to her knees in the middle of the smoldering square. She closed her eyes, pushing back tears. She’d known what she was asking him for, and he’d delivered; she couldn’t hate him for it, could she?

The old world was dead, and this new world had no room for weakness.

Marcus leaned heavily against the trunk of an enormous tree, watching the fires that consumed Hideaway. A number of its’ former citizens hid against the intact wall of the village, having minor wounds tended. Already most had gathered into small groups, usually around a core of one or two of Lyrella’s protectors, and set out into the forest. There was weeping here and there, mourning lost possessions, the loss of safety.

His armor creaked as he shifted, taking his helmet from under his arm. There’d been some work he’d been hoping to do on his armor, but it could wait. He settled the helmet onto the leather gorget that protected his throat, once more concealing his charcoal skin from sight behind a mountain of metal. His gauntlets were a moment behind, covering his long-fingered hands, rough with callouses from his work.

The fact that David had simply walked into his shop had unsettled him. At first, he wondered if perhaps the man knew, somehow, that the broad-shouldered blacksmith who stood before him had nearly killed him twice. How could he? The nihilistic destroyer was a persona utterly at odds with the patient creator he was within his shop. Not that I have a shop anymore, he considered with a frown. There had been nothing he particularly cared about left behind. There was little left in this world that he cared about, in truth. Sierra had died, and the old world had died with her. Perhaps his humanity, too; he didn’t feel very human when he fought, every strike of his immense hammer filled with rage and grief as fresh in his mind as if it had been only yesterday. Sixteen days, he reminded himself. And yet the wound was fresh as ever, the creaking of his armor seeming to release trapped whispers, her voice haunting him, dogging his every step. If she hadn’t come to see me at work, she wouldn’t have been here, trapped in this Hell with me. He briefly considered that she would’ve been taken into some other Hell, all alone – but then he could’ve had hope. He wouldn’t have seen her fall.

But he had. And so the Ironbound Savage was born again, the armor sealing itself around him like a tomb, and his thoughts turned once more to destruction. He faced himself away from the camp as the darkness fell over his mind, crushing his thoughts and fears and feeding them into the furnace of his hatred.

He still felt the words of his Shepherd, that living mountain of a creature with four arms and eyes, and muscles rippling with such strength that he could form steel with his bare hands. “Only those with the strength to do so may reforge the world in their image. Whose hands will shape it, Marcus?”

“ Mine.”

Name: David Miller

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Path: Arcane Power

Race: Human (F)

Class: Flameheart Sorcerer (5 Will, 5 Wis, 5 Free)

Profession: Forgeflame Blacksmith (4 Str, 3 Pres, 3 Int)

Level: 24 ( )

STRENGTH : 50 (+5%)

DEXTERITY : 44 (+5%)

FORTITUDE : 50 (+5%)

VITALITY : 57 (+5%)

CUNNING : 27 (+5%)

PRESENCE : 60+20 (+5%)

WISDOM : 150+15 (+10%)

INTELLIGENCE : 48+15 (+5%)

WILLPOWER : 150+45 (+10%)

Points to Distribute: 0

TITLES:

[Grand Fated] +10 to all attributes.

[First Blood] +5 to all attributes.

[Dungeon Delver] +2 to all attributes.

[Focused Pursuits] +5% to your two highest attributes.

[Sprinter] +5% to all attributes.

CLASS SKILLS:

Fire Manipulation (Adept), Unarmored Defense (Adept), Heat Adaptation (Initiate), Heart of Flame (Adept), Flameheart’s Hunger (Basic), Crystalflame (Initiate),

PROFESSION SKILLS:

Sense Metal (Initiate), Recover Materials (Initiate), Forging (Initiate), Forgesense (Initiate)

CLASS SKILLS:

Heart of Flame (Adept): You have become experienced in using several different forms of attack with flames; your ability to deal damage with them is increased, effect scaling somewhat based on your Willpower.

Fire Manipulation (Expert): You possess growing mastery over your affinity for Flame; a path which is focused almost solely on combat magic, immolating opponents with both direct damage and damage-over-time abilities. Your skill with controlling Fire is increased significantly by your Willpower. This effect is somewhat reduced when controlling flames you did not create, and only functions moderately against flames created by the magic of others. You possess the ability to impose your power in an Aura of Flame, weakening others and strengthening your magic; you become more resistant to attacks of opposing elements, and their magic is more greatly diminished.

Unarmored Defense (Adept): You are proficient in defending yourself without the use of armor. Evasion is a far more certain defense from harm; it is difficult to hurt what you can’t hit. While this grants you very little protection against direct attacks, it does allow you to utilize both your dexterity and your Magic to defend yourself at the cost of Mana.

Heat Adaptation (Adept): Your control over Fire magic comes with some defense against such attacks. The effect of heat and fire against you is reduced somewhat, based on your Wisdom. Flames that are not created by the magic of others will not harm you.

Flameheart’s Hunger (Basic): You possess the ability to siphon the energy from magical items in your possession, using their power to boost your own. While such benefits may be short-lived, they are more powerful than the item otherwise would be. The flames which burn brightest, also burn the fastest. Adds a minor bonus to the effectiveness of consumed items based on Willpower.

Crystalflame (Initiate): You may create constructs of flame, which last for a short period of time based on the strength of the fires imbued into them. They may be used as weapons or armor without risking harm to the bearer as long as the bearer possesses Heat Adaptation and is an ally of the creator. Effectiveness scales somewhat with Willpower.

PROFESSION SKILLS

Sense Metal (Initiate): Allows you to sense metal and metallic objects nearby, as well as identify details and information about them at a glance. Effectiveness scales slightly with Wisdom.

Recover Materials (Initiate): Allows you to return a metallic item to its’ base materials for reuse. Some materials are lost unless Reforging the item. Your Intelligence will slightly impact the amount of materials lost.

Forging (Initiate): Allows you to use heat, pressure, force, and other tools to alter objects comprised primarily of metal or metal-like materials. When used in conjunction with Recover Materials, you may disassemble and Reforge an item, attempting to alter its’ properties. Effectiveness scales slightly with Willpower.

Forgesense (Initiate): Born of a combination of Fire Manipulation and Sense Metal, Forgesense allows you to sense the changes going on within metal during forging or Reforging, as well as understand and exert slight control over the process. Effectiveness scales slightly with Intelligence.

Equipment:

[Fire-Spitter Wand] (Uncommon): Crafted of bronze, with a radiant flame-ruby embedded in the tip, this wand allows you to store natural flame within it. By expending natural flame from within the gem, you greatly reduce the strain of casting, no longer having to draw the flames forth from the Cindervault. If the gem is ever entirely emptied of flames, it may crack, reducing its’ power.

[Greenwarden’s Initiate Robes (Rare)] : These robes once belonged to initiates of the Greenwardens, an organization long-extinct. It allowed its’ wearer to pass by hostile flora unimpeded, rendering even the most aggressive of plants docile in its’ presence. Enchantments: Greenstride, Self-Repair, Attribute Bonus: 5 Int, 5 Will 5 Wis.

[Calamitous Ruby]: This ruby-set necklace has appeared many times throughout history as a harbinger of great upheaval and calamity. Such disasters often mean death and destruction on a scale untold; such is the nature of the universe that from great strife, great power arises. Enchantments: Marked for Greatness, Herald of Strife, Attribute bonus: +10 Presence, +10 Intelligence, +10 Willpower.

[Staff of Willshaping]: This staff was forged by the newly-minted Forgeflame Smith, David Miller, and is his first creation. While the enchantments are strong, they are also unfocused; this staff acts as an amplifier for the magic of its’ user, but possesses little magic of its’ own. The enchantment is powered by David’s own life-force, and will likely persist long after his own death. Enchantments: Amplifier, Fire-attuned, Self-Repair, Attribute Bonus: +10 Presence, +10 Wisdom, +30 Willpower.