Ryan sat slumped on his bunk in the Hallow Song barracks. Light from the few lit script lamps outlined Casey’s sleeping form on a nearby bed. Fighting off the stress and fatigue of the day hadn’t been in the cards for her, and she had succumbed to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The sweat crusted clothes had Ryan fought in still clung to his slumped form. In his hand he held a small bag that clinked when he tossed it, the sound of coins, but more importantly, the sound of two Keys bouncing off each other.
Joy had tossed the charred and bloody bag to him after the fight, radiating smugness and self satisfaction. During his scuffle with Mr. Swagger, the mute Guilder had shredded enough clothing and skin to tear loose the thug’s purse. Mr. Swagger had escaped, but not without some injuries as souvenirs.
Joy rebuffed any attempt to give them back. It was enough for Ryan, who didn’t force the issue, but he couldn’t help but feel incredibly lucky. People didn’t walk around carrying Keys, or at least that is what he assumed, but Casey said that Guilders and other powerful people used them as wealth, which made sense. It was dangerous for an Iron ranker, but not so much that a gang leader would worry too much about it.
He tossed the soiled purse again, listening to the clinking inside. Counting the money was out of the question. He may as well count the bodies dropped that led to the coins in his hand. The coins, and the Keys, were a bloody prize won at the expense of other human lives. Was killing people for power the path he wanted to take? Sure, he hadn’t been aiming to murder them and loot their cooling corpses, but the result was still dead people in the streets. Ryan grimaced, the guilt and regret creeping in at the edges of his tired mind.
Destin had shown no reaction when Ryan found him and reported the events of the afternoon. Ryan had expected him to fly into a rage for disrupting the city, for property damage, for the deaths, but Destin had only asked for the specific details like a history professor taking down notes on an interesting occurrence. He had summoned a man that Ryan hadn’t recognized to go carry out some tasks, and then told Ryan to get some rest, but to be ready to go.
Go where, and do what, Ryan didn’t know. The truth was that Joy had saved their lives. Without his intervention, the only sign that Ryan had been there would have been a greasy human shaped char mark on the warehouse wall. It was the second time someone pulled him out of the jaws of death by the skin of his teeth. Again, he bounced the purse full of coins and Keys in his hand.
Joy had been… impressive. He hadn’t pinned down Mr. Swaggers long enough to kill him, but he had suppressed the fire user enough to force him to make a graceless escape. Ryan didn’t know what Joy’s Affinity was, but if the rest of his abilities were like those he showed off already, Joy was a monster. A literal monster.
At the edge of his vision, Ryan spotted a person shaped shadow. He looked up to see a familiar figure leaning against the barracks entrance in the darkness. Bard, the Guild master, looked back at Ryan, his face impassive and his piercing blue eyes catching the dim light.
Ryan tried to scramble to his feet, ashamed of his rudeness, but his fatigue and fuzzy brain threw his balance off and he stumbled back to his seat on the bunk.
“Don’t mind me, I put little stock in pleasantries or keeping up appearances,” said Bard in a buttery smooth low voice, his gaze moving from Ryan to Casey’s sleeping form.
Bard pushed off and strolled in to lean on the wall in front of Ryan’s bunk and assumed a relaxed position with his arms crossed. Flowing robes still wrapped Bard’s gaunt body and a variety of silvery trinkets and bracelets adorned his ears and wrists. His features were as severe as ever. Ryan glanced down at Bard’s Guild plate. Ryan wasn’t surprised to see that the Guild master was Gold ranked.
“I’ve heard it from Destin, but I want to hear all about it from you too.” Bard’s face was impassive; there was nothing there for Ryan to read.
Ryan took a calming breath, and started his story from when he left the Guild house to look for Mags, finding Casey, and summarizing up until the end of the fight. He summarized their uneventful, but stressful trip back through the streets to the guild house. Joy had acted as their blithe escort, unconcerned with various scorch marks that dotted him. Ryan’s guilt prompted him to show Bard the two Keys Joy had given, along with the coins.
“I apologize. I didn’t intend for any of this to happen. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, I just wanted to help someone I knew find some information. It got out of hand, and it’s my fault for not coming to the Guild instead of running off on my own,” Ryan said.
Bard let out a sound that at first Ryan thought was quiet singing, but realized was laughter. It was in perfect pitch, melodious and calming. It was completely at odds with Bard’s appearance. Ryan supposed it might be a side effect of how powerful the man was. He remembered that Flicker had mannerisms that he didn’t seem to control as well.
“Ryan, not to diminish what you’ve experienced, but your ordeal is a miniscule bump in the road that is being a Guilder. To be a Guilder is to be drawn to conflict and strife; it is unavoidable. No, I’m not here to chastise you; this minor incident is the most interesting thing to happen in the city in months. You’re also acting within my expectations for a Guilder, and whether you realize it or not, within my expectations for my Guild members.”
Ryan sat in silence, not responding. Protesting would seem argumentative, and who was he to argue with the Guild master? If Bard said he was acting within the Guild’s expectations, then what was there to say?
“What am I going to do about her parents?” Ryan looked over at Casey. She still needed help to track down her family. Revealing that someone with the Hallow Song guild affiliation was sniffing around their operation was a poor outcome, likely making the situation for any kidnap victims worse, but now that the Guild was involved he wanted to make sure he followed through with his promise..
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“We have a few members out watching them, making sure they don’t move somewhere before we can strike. We already had a vague idea that they existed, but not what they were up to. There is a job posting on the boards about activities we think they’re involved in, but this ties the whole thing up in a nice little bow. That ability, the man who controls the flies… that is a powerful surveillance power, even at his rank. It isn’t shocking that they’ve stayed out of sight for so long.”
“Can I go with you when you go after them? I at least want to keep my promise to Casey, even if I’m weak. I’ll stay out of the way.”
Bard regarded Ryan in silence for a moment, then snorted.
“The people we recruit into Hallow Song, Ryan, are those who are willing to act alone in the world. To explore, infiltrate, research… to hunt for treasures left behind by The Curators, to fight; these are the things we value in our members. We practice teamwork too, because it’s valuable, but we prize initiative and independent action above all else. We, Hallow Song, have a common goal, but most of our Guild members have their own goals too. I will not tell you to go or not go. This world is often a savage place filled with sudden and gruesome death, as well as wonders and miracles. You need to make up your own mind and find your own way to contribute.”
Ryan bounced the purse containing the two Keys in his hand. He had a Body Key and a Mind Key, but he didn’t know what type of powers to pick. Flicker had given him advice, but the speedster was a calamity running amok across the countryside, which, come to think of it, may increase the credibility of his advice. He stopped pacing and turned to face Bard.
“I have two abilities already. A Body Key for mobility, and a Soul Key for utility that gives me a perception power. I have these two Keys to use, another Body and Mind. Do you have any advice on how I should build my abilities?”
“If you want to align with what our Guild prefers, then you will want to be a combat generalist, with support or utility abilities to increase your solo capabilities and provide versatility for any team activities. You are a special case though, with a Space Affinity.
“Your type of Affinity, those that have connections to space, void, and dimensionality among others, should not pick an offensive or defensive ability for the Soul, as they would be incredibly specialized and all but useless, so forgo that and choose another support or utility ability. You’ll end up with fewer direct combat abilities as a result, but in the end you won’t regret it.
“My recommendation would be to pick two offense and two defense abilities, one each for Body and Mind, and utility or support for your remaining Mind ability. Mobility was a good first choice for a Body power. Your remaining Soul abilities should be utility or support.”
“Only four combat abilities. Only two of them offensive abilities. That seems kind of underpowered doesn’t it?” Ryan asked.
“I think you’ll find that a Space Affinity is going to give you some interesting combat potential, even if the powers aren’t pumping out or mitigating damage. Remember, abilities are rarely only a single thing. Utility abilities, support, or whatever, in the right circumstances are just as powerful as offensive powers. Your type of Affinity is extremely rare, but of all the recorded cases I know about, their utility and support powers proved to be the most profound as they grew more powerful.
“That’s not to say they weren’t powerful in combat, but consider that one of their utility abilities at Gold rank allowed her to sew together the dimensional fabric between two distant places, creating an open portal, and think of the ramifications. With that thought, I’ll leave you to it. Get some rest, I expect you’ll have a busy day tomorrow.”
“Wait, you said that Hallow Song has its own goals. What are the Guild’s goals?”
“Our goal, our long term aim, is to find out where The Curators went… and follow them. Should you pursue this goal, you’ll find that your Space Affinity is likely to be uniquely suited.” Bard swept out of the barracks and out of sight, his trinkets tinkling in the silence of the halls.
Ryan considered what Bard just told him. He didn’t know what it meant to find out where The Curators went. Didn’t everybody already know? Weren’t their ruins scattered all over the place? Shouldn’t it be obvious how and why they left by looking at what they left behind? Answers to these questions weren’t Ryan’s priority though, so he pushed them to the back of his mind.
He needed combat abilities, both offensive and defensive. That fell within the broad outline Bard had just given him, too. The last fight made it glaringly obvious that he wasn’t prepared in the ability department to get into a serious fight. The question was, which Key should be offense and which defense?
Fighting Mr. Swagger had shown him he had no way to defend against ranged attacks, other than dodging, and he had no general defensive ability either. Based on what he knew, the Mind Key would allow him to project an ability at range, which seemed in line with his needs. He could project a defensive ability. That left offense for the Body Key.
Did he need an offensive power yet, though? He didn’t remember having any problems just using his spear, having taken out four of the thugs with the weapon. Should he add another defensive ability instead? What was it that Flicker told him before? The biggest problem facing those at Iron rank was staying alive, not doing damage. A defensive Body Key ability would give him something for close combat. That decided it; double defense.
After speaking with Bard, whether Ryan accepted human death in exchange for power was moot. The guilt was still in the back of his mind, but his resolve hardened. He wouldn’t ever pursue power at the expense of other’s lives, but if they were all drawn to conflict, and the world was as brutal and uncaring as Bard said it was, then there was no choice but to continue the path with the resources at hand.
By luck, or fate, he had fallen in with this group of people. One of their primary tenats was to be independent, something Ryan had wanted since first settling into his place in this world. They wanted their people to go out and act, to be decisive, explore and be free. All the things he wanted for himself, they wanted for him as well.
Ryan took the two Keys from the purse: the red Body and deep blue Mind Key. Casey had already made it clear when Joy handed them over that she wasn’t interested, or at least put on a show of being disinterested, so he didn’t consider saving her one. Regardless, it was time for Ryan to be selfish if he wanted to help others and not get himself killed.
He reached out with his aura and crushed a Key in his hand, and a familiar sense of inquiry rushed into his mind. Defense. Ryan couldn’t see the presence, not since that very first time, but he could have sworn it grinned in glee.
The familiar being lurking in the abyss flooded Ryan’s mind with affirmation and a new orb of compressed aura condensed around his Core, forming a connection. Repeating the procedure for the remaining Key, Ryan braced himself for the change in aura that washed over him. Muscles ached, bones creaked, and his mind and senses felt stretched to the limit. Everything settled back into place.
More and more it looked like a group of planets orbiting a bright sun. The threads from his Core to his powers weren’t hard to follow, so he explored what the Core connection told him about his new abilities, and smiled. They were perfect. He already had ideas about how to use them.