Jiran flew straight up as fast as he could, Chokkra held firmly in his aura, unable to move. The boy tried to say something but the acceleration was too much and only a pained moan escaped his lungs. They stopped far above the lip of the crater and Jiran spun in a circle, looking for any forkara that may have been sent out to alert one of the clans Chokkra had mentioned.

I don’t see any, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing.

“You mentioned nine strongholds in the walls of the valley, how many of your people are we talking about?”

Gasping to recapture his breath, Chokkra panted a response, “How should I know? I was assigned to Feelok’s Rest, I’m not nearly important enough to wander about and take a wing count. And don’t nest me in with the rest of them. I’m nothing like the worthless worms that wriggle through the Storm Claw’s scraps!”

“Seems to me you’re not any different. You’re here, aren't you? Killing Timberlings for your ascension, just like the others.”

“I haven’t killed any of your precious Timberlings! Every point of EXP I’ve gained was from killing beasts with the scouting parties. Usually, that’s the tier fours’ job so I rarely even get EXP. Thrice-clipped fools laughed at me for being stubborn and foolish, wasting my opportunities, now look who’s laughing!” He tried to cackle but was still out of breath and ended up hacking.

Without Mayalyn, I have no way of knowing if he’s telling the truth. I’m not familiar enough with their manapools to use Ravenna’s trick and he barely has any mana in his aura so that doesn't help either. He mentioned scouts killing beasts. Guess that guy was telling the truth about that at least. After all, they can’t let wild predators in to wreak havoc amongst their livestock.

Fresh rage had Jiran’s jaw clamping so tightly he could hear his blood pulsing over the sound of the wind. He released his held breath, allowing his remalon instincts to sweep away the emotional response so he could think clearly.

So, the Timberlings only have to worry about naturally mutating animals turning into beasts inside their forest. No wonder they’re all stuck at tier three. They probably only have to deal with tier threes a few times a season. It's incredibly unlikely a single one of them would ever gain one hundred EXP. On top of that, they can’t even see their own status to know they need EXP.

Ugh, all of this brings up another issue. If I grab all the Forkara in the strongholds and throw them inside my formation, who will protect the Timberlings from wild beasts while I run off to go find a tier seven?

“Are there any others who haven’t killed any Timberlings?”

“Maybe? I doubt it, but it’s possible.”

Jiran tapped his chin before asking another question, “Why aren’t the other Forkara in the strongholds trying to flee or warn the clans? I was expecting to see at least a few.”

“We always hunt the Timberlings at night so they’re likely asleep. It was Fakkara’s rotation for the day watch, which is why we approached after spotting you flying above the valley. Hah! I’ll never forget that fool’s arrogant fury at seeing you for the first time and then watching you tear him apart with your aura. Mmph, bliss.” Chokkra wiped the edge of his mouth while breathing heavily. Jiran rolled his eyes and once more accelerated at a pace that caused the boy to release a strangled cry.

Gross dude, keep your moaning and perversions to yourself. At least he gave me enough information to form a decent plan. And just how heavy of sleepers are these people? My… intimidation tactic wasn’t exactly subtle. You would think a beam of fire and a river of lava would be enough to wake people up. Better hurry.

Jiran moved quickly, arriving at Feelok’s Rest, where he had originally spotted the hunters detaching from the wall to attack him. There, he found they had leaped from several man-sized holes in the rock. Inside, his aura mapped out a small series of caves with a dozen adjoining rooms in the style of an army barracks. There were only two others there, both tier three, busily working on an inventory in their supply room. There were no other entrances or exits other than the eight holes in the valley wall, showcasing just how much the Forkara relied on their ability to fly.

Jiran grabbed the man and woman, pulling them from their duties and out into the open air. When they spotted Chokkra, their eyes bulged and fury marred their features, though Jiran didn’t allow them to cause any issues as he quickly zipped across the wall toward the next stronghold. Now that he knew what to look for, it was easy to spot the entrances. He pulled two dozen men and women out of their beds, his aura straining to hold the weight of so many.

There was no tier five in this group, though there were seven tier fours. Not one of which had the strength to resist after Enthralling Touch drained their mana. They squawked and struggled against his aura as he flew them back to the formation prison. Mayalyn was meditating nearby. She opened one eye long enough to watch him create a slit in the lightning field and throw the newcomers inside.

Chokkra pointed out the next stronghold and they repeated their fetch quest. Over the next fifteen minutes, Jiran cleaned out all nine. He made sure to disable each tier five by brutally crushing their wings, which to Jiran's disgust, set Chokkra off in a fresh bout of insane laughter each time. After depositing the last of the Forkara, they made one final sweep of the entire wall. He sent his aura deep inside the rock to look for anyone hidden. Upon finding nothing, he flew back to Mayalyn and the nearly two hundred prisoners.

The Forkara barely paid him any mind as he touched down, their eyes glued to Mayalyn who now stood near the cage with her hand hovering nearby. Four of them lay unconscious inside, having either tested the barrier or Mayalyn’s patience. Jiran pushed mana into his voice, the rumbling thunder of his words causing them to cover their sensitive ears.

“Your days of murdering in the pursuit of ascension are over. If it were up to me, you would all be dead already. But your fate is for the Timberlings to decide. If there are any among you who refused to murder Timberlings, step forward, and you will be allowed to go free., Or you may stay, and share the same fate as the others.”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Charisma: + 2

Furious roars and shouts split the air, far too many talking at once to be sensible. Some were so enraged, they threw themselves at the barrier only to be shocked into unconsciousness. Jiran’s aura blanketed the group, searching carefully through each of their reactions. Among the Forkara, he spotted only seven whose eyes darted to their fellows nervously, rather than filling with rage. He pulled those seven out, not giving anyone a chance to mess up his plans.

He watched their manapools carefully as he lined them up. Mana Confluence sent threads of mana into each of them, rapidly regenerating any of their injuries. Considering he had been much more gentle with each group after Chokkra’s, there wasn’t much to heal. Jiran felt much more confident he would be able to discern the liars after his recent exposure when capturing so many of their race. His aura blocked the squabbling from the cage before he addressed them, “Chokkra here claims to have never killed a Timberling. He is free to go,” Jiran looked at Chokkra and lifted his chin toward the sky.

The boy hesitated, his head tilting questioningly as he stood there staring at Jiran, “What’s going on? I thought you needed more from me?”

“I wasn’t lying earlier. If you’re innocent, you’re free to go, or stay. That said, if you choose to stay, I will reward you. Especially if you choose to help me protect the Timberlings. I can guarantee your ascensions, teach you how to improve your skills, or unveil truths about aura and willpower.”

Chokkra was quick to rise to Jiran’s bait, “I’ll stay! I was going to stay just to watch the Storm Claw fall. But I won’t turn down your offer of power. I’ll help protect them, was doing it already before you appeared out of nowhere,” He mumbled the last.

One of the seven piped in angrily, “This is foolishness! Raahak will discover what you’ve done. When he arrives, none who betrayed him will be left alive,” Her freshly healed wings splayed out behind her as she crouched in preparation to flee.

image [https://i.imgur.com/Ff41JBJ.png]

“Hah! Let him come!” Chokkra laughed, “See that scar across the land? The melted wall?” After the woman hesitated while looking at the melted rock, Chokkra pointed at Jiran, “He did that in an instant and showed that he could do it four more times before we could even flap a wing. Raahak and his entire clan are doomed. Don’t throw such an amazing opportunity away for these cowardly egg swallowers!”

Jiran watched the gears spinning behind each of the gathered Forkara’s eyes. Mayalyn walked up behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder and whispering in his ear. “Do not trust the two on either end, they reek of deceit.”

As soon as she pointed it out, Jiran was able to pick up the fluctuations in their mana from their emotional state. He pointed to one of the two, “How many Timerblings have you killed?”

“N-none, I’ve never killed one, I swear it!”

Jiran didn’t respond in any way, going down the line and asking the same question to each of the seven. Their answers were much the same, though the way their mana moved when they spoke was drastically different from person to person. He pulled the two from either end forward as well as another. When he glanced at Mayalyn, she nodded with a knowing smile and Jiran tossed those three back into the cage.

“What’s going on? Why did you send them back in t-there?” One of the four remaining Forkara asked, fear causing his wings to shudder.

“They lied,” Jiran responded with a shrug. “As I said before, you are free to go or stay. To think there would only be five of you.” He shook his head sadly.

Chokkra huffed, “Only the privileged are permitted to come to this valley. The ones you captured are mostly scions of the clan heads or chicks of wealthy merchants. Expecting anything from them beyond self-serving narcissism is lunacy.”

“The children of the wealthy and powerful? That’s going to cause quite the stir.” Jiran smiled, “Good, they’ll come to me and I won’t have to waste moons tracking them down to clean up this mess. So, what’s it going to be?” Chokkra shivered at Jiran’s casual confidence, a fanatical glint crossing his eyes as he licked his lips.

“I’ll stay and help.”

“Me too!”

“I’ll not take part in your suicides, you’re all going to die,” The only woman in the group crouched before she took to the skies, flapping her wings madly in an attempt to get as far away as possible.”

“You’re really going to let her go? What if she brings the Storm Claw here en masse?” Chokkra questioned.

“I’m counting on it,” Jiran smirked. “In the meantime, I want you three to spread out and scout for any beasts trying to enter the valley. If you see one, don’t try to fight it, return here and tell Mayalyn,” He pointed her out and they nodded in understanding. “If you change your mind and want to leave as well, that’s fine. I would ask that you let the others know first so we don’t leave a hole in our defenses.”

I hate to do it, but that awful affinity system would be pretty useful right about now.

Jiran focused on the affinity log in his user interface. He had closed it and did his best not to think about it again after his first trip to the Forest of Melodies. Within the log, thousands of messages waited patiently for his perusal. He scrolled to the bottom of the list, not reading any of it. He then used Identify to confirm each of the affinities for his three new recruits and Chokkra.

Chokkra was labeled as ‘Adoration,’ and Jiran noticed his name was the most recent entry in the log, having just risen from trusting. The other three showed as indifferent. He scanned the two hundred-something Forkara in the cage, as well as Mayalyn, finding there were only seven rankings. From lowest to highest, they were: Malice, scorn, wary, indifferent, trusting, adoration, and finally, fervent.

So, I’m basically neutral in their eyes. Looks like each of their opinions rose from wary to indifferent when I healed them. Because I was still getting messages about the Timberlings after returning to the empire last time, I know that any changes will populate in my interface log regardless of range. If I keep an eye on it, I should be able to tell if these three change their minds about me.

For the few short seconds he had the log open, a dozen names he didn’t recognize changed from adoration to fervent, adding to the thousands upon thousands that were already marked as fervent.

Must be Lulu. What the hell are you telling them about me? I just asked you to bring the leaders of the sects back here!

“May, need anything from me before I go?” She shook her head in the negative, having already resumed her meditative seat near the barrier, her hand outstretched toward it threateningly.

“Alright, you three spread out. I know you won’t be able to watch everything yourselves, so just do your best. You’ll have plenty of help in a few hours after the Timberling leaders meet and organize a response."

"Only them? What do you need me to do?" Chokkra questioned, the other three tilting their heads curiously.

"We’re going hunting. I don't suppose you know where the nearest tier sevens are?" All four of them turned rigid at Jiran’s question, eyeing him for several long seconds to determine if he was being serious.

"T-tier seven?!" One of them choked out, his eyes far too wide to ever be mistaken for a human.

"Baahahahaha!" Chokkra erupted into crazed laughter, "You're hunting tier sevens? Alone? The Storm Claw are so fucked!” Jiran cringed as a notification in his log alerted him to four more increases in affinity.