Chapter 33: Unaware

"Well, would you look at that," Vina groaned as she hunched over, supporting her arm. "The barrier didn't reject your touch. I suppose I didn't quite connect all the runes right."

Tacey pummeled her fist against the barrier, to no avail. "What did you do?!" she roared.

"Quite a few things, as I mentioned earlier," Vina began, a hint of amusement in her voice. "But time was running out, especially when I sensed you entering the building. I finally realized I could reverse the directionality of the barrier. Instead of keeping outsiders away, it now holds insiders captive if they don't match the identity runes. It's mildly amusing really, all I did was add a negative sign onto the barrier’s rune form." Vina cracked a wry smile, a pained chuckle escaping her lips causing her to cough. "After using a blood burst to erase the identity runes behind me, this refuge is quite literally a trap. No one can escape once inside. Maybe I should put up a warning sign."

“But... the integrity rune…?” Tacey interjected.

"Yeah…" Vina groaned. "I exposed the integrity rune’s memory to my blood. Trina’s runes must not like being powered like that. The larger runeform disconnected itself from the integrity rune, probably to save the entire structure from being affected." Vina said, wincing slightly as pain shot down her arm. "Since I destroyed the identity runes, there is no real way to verify anyone now, so it just rejects everyone by default. You could likely tamper with the barrier runeform further, but I doubt anyone could ever restore it to its original state."

Tacey looked over her shoulder at the building but blanched at the suggestion. She slowly sank to her knees.

Vina gave a sympathetic nod. "Yeah. I'd exercise caution with any further modifications. I still don't understand how Trina powers these things. Imagine the catastrophe if you disrupted the divinity regulation." Vina made a faux explosion sound with her mouth, breaking into a fit of coughing laughter and then more cringing from pain.

"You can't just abandon me here," Tacey pleaded, a note of desperation creeping into her voice.

Vina’s eyes narrowed as her tone became mocking. “You’ll be fine. Hungry and thirsty probably, but Trina won’t let you die of that. I imagine it’ll take me a while to figure out how to get you out. Maybe… sixteen years,” Vina said, her voice suddenly dripping with malice. Turning away, she began her laborious trek back to their initial point of confrontation.

“Where are you going?” Tacey called out, her voice laced with rising panic.

Vina glanced over her shoulder. "Isn't it obvious? You took away my mother. I’m taking away your pet!"

~~~

Yet, when Vina arrived back at the scene, she discovered that her assistance wasn't really necessary. The Stine creature was steadily overpowering Saryne, occasionally feasting on the surrounding shadow creatures for recovery. Despite Saryne's repeated attempts to escape towards Tacey, the creature's long claws dug into Saryne and its superior strength kept it from reaching the same sanctuary Tacey now enjoyed.

Vina found herself oddly moved by Saryne's dying whimpers, although not enough to intervene. Holding her broken arm close, she beckoned at Langternem's crystal with her title, patiently waiting for Stine to finish its task. Once Saryne expired from its injuries, its shadow separated from its body and lumbered off to join the surrounding darkness. The Stine creature turned its attention back towards her, approaching her on all fours. This time though, Vina didn’t feel any fear. "I trapped Tacey," she declared, pointing towards the refuge in the distance.

The creature cast a glance in the indicated direction before shifting its gaze back to Vina. Slowly stalking closer, it extended a claw and delicately tapped Langternem's crystal. Vina understood its silent message: "This is what keeps you alive." The creature then gently tousled her black hair with its other clawed hand, growled lowly, and pointed behind her. In an unexpected burst of speed, it snatched up Saryne’s corpse and sprinted towards Trina's Refuge.

Receiving the creature's second unspoken message, Vina muttered, “Yeah. I’ll leave her to you. Time for me to leave.” She swiftly ran her fingers through her disheveled hair to smooth it back into place before cradling her arm once again.

As she ambled painfully through the town, the creatures parted before her, inciting an uneasy sense of foreboding. They lurked at the edges, chattering, eyes gleaming menacingly, their predatory instincts held at bay by an unseen force. As she neared the town's gate, the creatures gave way to dozens of shadowy figures lining the path. Their sorrowful faces were haunting. A pang of recognition hit Vina, causing her heart to lurch in her chest. Spotting the innkeeper's wife amongst the shadowy figures, Vina's voice choked into a whisper. "Oh... Rana..." She blinked back the tears that blurred her vision. "It got you..." The words sank heavily in the quiet, echoing the harsh reality of Stine’s lessons. And as she looked into Rana's shadowed face, Vina understood the purpose behind her silent presence. Rana was a chilling reminder of a lesson she had already been taught.

~~~

“How did you find us?” Tressi asked, once again clearly in control of her emotions.

“Vibrance tracking.” Vina answered glumly as she mentally moved langternem closer to Tressi. “I’ll teach you later. Here, hold this.”

Tressi hesitated and then took hold of the crystal. “Why?”

Vina stared at the wagons in the distance as she eased her backpack off. “Because I’m low on stamina, in pain, and you have two working arms. You should have told me you had a blood class,” Vina said, changing the topic. She let her backpack fall onto the ground and pulled out two sildown leaves. She shoved the first one into her mouth and began to chew while shoving the other between two scales in her armor for easy access later. The pain relief notification appeared in her vision, but she was disappointed the effect wasn’t more significant. Next she brought up her notifications for review.

Skill Level Up: Thrusting Swords has reached level 20. Thrusting swords ignore 20% of armor, inflict 40% more damage, and attack 2% faster. You have gained a skill point and a focus.

Skill Level Up: Stealth has reached level 10. While using stealth you are 20% quieter, 20% more difficult to spot, and inflict 40% more damage. You have earned a skill point.

Skill Level Up: Ambidexterity has reached level 17. You can use your off hand 16% as well as your dominant hand. Skill Level Up: Kicking has reached level 8. Your kicks inflict 130% of your strength in damage. Skill Level Up: Charge has reached level 7. You can charge forward six feet. If you attack an enemy, you do 30% more damage and they will be knocked back six feet and stunned for 3 seconds.

You have earned 1650 experience points from leveling skills.

“Not a single bit of credit for killing a sword master, trapping one of the twelve, or guaranteeing the kill of her companion creature,” Vina thought. “All that work and pain...” she paused and looked over her shoulder back at Prosit in the distance. “... for so little?” she questioned. Her mind ran through the events of leading up to and through the battle. Like a perfect movie, she experienced it all again. “That’s the lesson, Stine? I’m working hard, and it’ll amount to almost nothing.” Vina shook her head. “That can’t be right.”

“What are you mumbling about?” Tressi asked.

Vina repeated her statement, striving to sidestep the uncomfortable conclusions brewing in her mind. "I said, you should have disclosed your blood class to me." She knew her attempts to avoid her conclusion would only offer temporary respite - the thoughts would resurface eventually. “Probably in my dreams,” she thought.

Tressi responded with measured calm, "I was once a blood class, yes. But now, I'm a mayor. I've intentionally disabled progress on my original class." She paused, allowing the words to sink in before adding, "I've changed, Vina. I've reformed from my past."

Vina considered Tressi's words. She couldn't deny the knot of sympathy that formed in her chest. Tressi, once bound by the same crimson ties as herself, had chosen to renounce her blood class - to reform. Was it fear or regret that had driven Tressi to make such a choice? Or perhaps the societal stigma that often shadowed blood classes? Whatever it was, Vina knew the social pressure to keep hidden.

"I see," Vina said slowly, her tone gentle. "That must have been a tough decision to make, Tressi. It's not easy to deny a part of who you are. To… reform, as you put it. But remember, every path we choose, every decision we make, shapes us. Even those that require us to leave something behind. I’m still learning that myself."

Though she tried to keep her tone neutral, Vina couldn't keep the trace of sadness from creeping in. She was the Asharaina of Blood, and to her, every blood class held potential. It was a painful reminder that not all shared her perspective, and for some, the path of the blood classes was one filled with obstacles that seemed insurmountable. A small part of her was filled with further determination to make it safe for people like her to not hide.

Tressi went quiet as they slowly caught up to the wagons ahead. Vina was relieved when she could finally lay down and rest in the back of one that was only half loaded. The town welcomed their mayor back, seeing that Vina had rescued her and the former bandit leader, Croft, from the overrun city. Vina was surprised at the number of people who wanted to shake her hand, but she didn’t have the energy to celebrate with them. As she laid in the back of the wagon at the rear of the procession, she watched the darkness begin to slowly spread across the sky in their direction as the fire and smoke burned Prosit to the ground.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

She closed her eyes and addressed the next prompt splayed across the blackness of her own vision.

Where would you like to spend your Thrusting Sword skill point? Option 1: Perfect Defense (Active): Expend 10 Stamina to block attacks perfectly for 6 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes Option 2: Bind and Disengage (Active): Bind an opponent's weapon to your own, disengage after creating an opening. Cooldown 2 minutes. Option 3: Leaping Thrust (Passive): Leaping down on an enemy from above increases your damage by 200%.

Vina’s combat experience kicked in as she read the options. “It’s a no to leaping thrust. I’ve literally never been above people in combat.” She paused as her mind ran through multiple fighting situations she had faced. “Perfect defense… is that for guarding someone? Or maybe countering someone’s special attack?” she considered. “That’s definitely strong, but situational. I could see binding someone’s weapon during combat at unexpected times. Bind, move to the side to deflect, unbind, slide.. thrust.” She moved her right arm through the motions, considering the feeling. She gave a sleepy smile at the possibilities. “That’s the one,” and selected it.

Then she opened the skill focus option for Thrusting Swords.

Select your skill focus: Option 1: Mentor: Thrusting swords now ignore 30% of all armor and damage scaling increased to 3% per level. Option 2: Wanderer: Thrusting swords have a 1% chance per level to strike a weak point regardless of where the target is struck.

Vina’s jaw dropped at the options. As she stared though, confusion rose within her. “How are thrusting swords ignoring armor, but Amaya couldn’t penetrate The Kaliter armor?” Vina asked herself. She scrolled through the combat log until she found what had actually happened.

You have been struck with 482 piercing damage. Armor reduced damage by 99.9999%. Amaya’s attack ignores armor by 65%. Vina receives 313 piercing damage.

You have been struck with 313 piercing damage. Armor reduced damage by 99.9999%. Amaya’s attack ignores armor by 65%. Vina receives 203 piercing damage.

You have been struck 203 piercing damage. Armor reduced damage by 99.9999%. Erroneous System Behavior Detected… Recursion found. Resolving… You have been struck with 0 piercing damage.

“That makes sense…” Vina said sarcastically. “More errors…” Looking back at her skill focus, “Well I have to take Wanderer, right? I have the exploit weakness skill... Hit a weak point and I instantly get 225% extra damage, they receive an injury, it’ll bleed more, and I have a chance to stagger them.”

“Asharaina?” asked a familiar voice.

Vina’s eyes snapped open and she sat up in surprise. She winced as her arm moved painfully amid the bumpy ride and her own shock. “Jan?”

The old man gave her a reassuring smile as he quickly scrambled aboard the moving wagon. “It’s good to see you again. How are you holding up?”

Vina gave him a weak smile. “We gotta stop meeting like this.”

Jan gave off a hearty laugh as he pulled off his backpack. “That would be nice, but oftentimes Trina puts me in people’s lives when they need me the most. I find beauty in that and I never get tired of it.” He gently reached out and touched her arm. “I think you’ll remember this.”

Jan would like to use a special skill to diagnose an injury to your body. Giving Jan permission will allow him access to detailed information about your health and body. Do you accept? Yes? No?

Vina hesitated and then selected no. “I’m… I’m sorry Jan. I can’t this time.”

Jan took his hand away and nodded. He began pulling out materials from his backpack. “That’s okay Vina. I can tell you’ve learned some difficult lessons since we’ve last met. Don’t worry, I can treat you all the same. Do you have any wounds besides your injury?”

Vina shook her head. “No. I’m able to heal my wounds now. I just can’t seem to heal my injuries yet.”

Jan slowly reached out and gently took her arm. He stabilized it as best he could and slowly began to manually examine it with his hands. “The procedure I’ll perform is called a closed reduction.” Jan warned her. “I’ll need to realign the bones in your forearm, splint it, immobilize it, and then add padding to keep things in place. I wish I had mendica mixtures, but we may not have access to injury remedies until we get to Termily at the end of today. The good news is, this procedure will cause those remedies to be more effective and improve your recovery time. The bad news is, this will be incredibly painful. Are you able to handle the pain or should I get you something strong?”

Vina looked over at the growing darkness. “I’ve been chewing sildown leaves. I don’t think I want anything stronger. I need to stay awake in case Stine, The Darkness, attacks us. It’s following us.”

Jan gave her a long look until he finally nodded. “Let’s hope that will be enough to get you through. Here, hold this hold with your other hand. Keep it upright for me.” Jan said as he quickly poured a liquid into the cup and handed it to her. “Focus on not spilling its contents.” Jan began to manually manipulate her forearm, and Vina cringed from the pain and nausea of feeling pressure against her broken bones. “As for why healing injuries is so difficult, Trina’s followers have often discussed that. Why do you think that Trina has made healing soft tissue so simple, but organs and bones challenging?” Jan asked as his hand maneuvered around her injury.

Her eyes snapped shut from the pain, causing the cup to tilt dangerously. “Hey, steady that cup,” Jan warned.

Eyes wide open once again, she glared at the teetering cup. “Why would I know?” Vina snapped back, pain fueling her curt response.

“You’re an Asharaina. We like to believe Trina's chosen have insight into her decisions,” Jan's voice remained eerily calm amidst the mounting tension.

“She doesn’t talk to me.” A guttural moan escaped Vina as two jagged edges of her broken bones found each other. “When I found her she was unconscious or… something!” The last word turned into a shriek as a fresh wave of pain seared through her.

“So you were the one who found her then. I wondered when I got the notification. Thank you for helping Trina.” Jan said solemnly. “Do you truly believe she didn’t communicate with you when you returned her aspects?”

Vina was panting now, the pain seeping into her voice. “Well, she cried,” she managed between tense breaths.

Jan’s hands stopped for a moment, but soon resumed their work as they traveled along another bone in her forearm. “That suggests consciousness. Her tears, whatever their source, mean she was present with you.”

Vina groaned, struggling to maintain a hold on the cup. “She’s immobile... like a statue. Her eyes are closed. She’s...” Her words trailed off into a soft whimper.

Jan's focus remained on her arm, but his voice held a trace of sorrow. “It’s unfortunate Trina couldn’t be revived completely. Nevertheless, you’ve done our world a great service.”

Vina’s eyes watered from the pain. “Have I?” Kaliq’s memories began to creep in ever since Trina was mentioned, pushing her sanity to its limits. She felt herself spiraling as words tumbled from her lips, spilling secrets in her delirium. “She lied to us about Langternem! She never eliminated the source of the disease. She let it take over my sister’s body like a parasite… Both of them cursed me with caring for it!”

The cup wobbled again and Jan stilled it with a steady hand. “She took credit for solving the disease, calling it Trina’s Tragedy while my sister still suffered!” Vina continued, her words slurring as pain and past traumas intertwined.

Vina’s rant crescendoed as Jan applied pressure to the broken bones. “She’s lying about blood classes! I have system errors because she refuses to document our abilities. She hates us!” Vina screamed as Jan pressed down firmly on her forearm. “Oh! Goddamnit Jan!” she screamed at him as she clenched the cup. “Fuck!”

“I’m sorry, Vina.” He said as he rotated her wrist carefully, feeling the bones along the way. “I believe they’re aligned. I’m going to immobilize your arm now. Have you figured out a way to bond with an aspect? Taken any divinity?”

Vina shivered from the sweat covering her body and her voice came out unsteady. “N.. no... I can’t bond with aspects.”

Jan went quiet for a moment before speaking again. She could feel his emotions changing, but they all remained in the realm of deep concern. “I believe everything you’ve said is something that really happened to you. I am sorry you’re suffering in such a manner.”

Jan applied some wrapping material gently over her arm, careful to not disturb the work he had already done. Then he placed two splints above and below her arm and slowly began to wrap them as well. “I can understand how your perspective of Trina has changed over time. Certainly the revelations you have uncovered would challenge even the most devoted to Trina. I’ll definitely be doing my own thinking later.” Jan gave her a smile as he finished wrapping the splint.

He turned to his backpack once more and pulled out several bits of cloth. “I wonder though, does it change anything?”

Vina started to open her mouth, but Jan slipped something over her head.

“Each day we wake up and make a choice, whether we are aware of it or not. Some wake up and choose to save themselves, others choose to save those they love. Some…” Jan paused as he gently moved her arm into a sling. “... wake up and choose to save people they don’t know. Who we try to save is still a choice we get to make, regardless of what Trina has done.”

“Wait, are you implying that I should... save Trina, despite everything?” Vina asked glumly.

“Now…” Jan said, shaking his head gently. “That would be a true dilemma; to save someone we believe hates us. How many of those people exist, I wonder?” Jan turned back to his bag and started to pack it back up again. “Trina is more ancient than any of us. She is old enough to deal with the consequences of her choices. I doubt many would expect you to rescue someone who would do you harm.”

“So…” Vina hesitated and licked her lips to try to wet them, but her mouth was dry. “Who should I be saving?”

Jan paused his packing and his eyes flicked upward as he gazed at her title for a moment. “That’s something you’ll have to figure out.” He gestured to her arm. “I would suggest that if you have to do harm while helping, make sure it results in more good in the end.” Jan gestured toward the cup still in her hand. “If you like, you can drink that.”

Vina stared at the cup before bringing it to her lips. “It’s just water? Why did you have me hold it?”

Jan’s eyes seemed to twinkle despite the growing darkness. “I knew you would be thirsty.”