The wind blew over the ship, and Selene’s braid flailed behind her. Her eyes were locked on the horizon, though she paid no attention to what they saw.
“No further progress on my skills,” Selene lamented. “Meelara believes it’s because I was decently close form before, and only needed a final, dedicated push to level up. I think I could start filling in the windows or at least try, but I’m indecisive. What if I make the wrong choice? What if I use the wrong skill and create an impassable bottleneck in the future? Everyone says I should follow my instinct like I did when I chose the Stage, but…”
Her eyes remained vacant as people moved around her, working the riggings and adjusting the sails. Clouds drifted overhead, and the sun hung high in the sky. Gentle waves rocked the ship.
“The seven smaller windows should be supplementary skills, while the two large ones are main skills. Which skills are my main ones? I usually use Shadow Strike and Chill of the Grave, but do I want to shape my Path around those two skills? Perhaps I should shift my focus?” Selene pondered.”Frostshade Form is the namesake of my current Stage. Channel Spirit… If I focus on that, I might become more of a necromancer who leads an army of undead… Draugr Resilience; A tough melee fighter… Hmm.”
She shook her head and turned around. She walked across the deck, through a door, and down some stairs. She eventually entered a room on the bottom deck and saw Meelara standing in the centre.
“You’re late,” Meelara grumbled. “What’s going on?”
“I’m sorry,” Selene lowered her head as she approached. “I got lost in thought.”
“You still haven’t decided?” Meelara asked, frowning. “This isn’t like you, girl.”
“I know,” Selene shook her head and sighed. “I don’t know how it’s going to change the way I do things, and I don’t know what path I want to take. As far as I can tell, I have several options, assuming my choices will shape my Path.”
“That’s usually the case, yes,” Meelara nodded and smiled. “Just like with the Stage choice; don’t think too much. Do whatever feels right when you’re standing there, about to do something. If my, and the others’ belief is right, then it will all work out.”
“And, what’s that?” Selene asked as she met Meelara’s eyes.
“I think it’s better if you don’t know,” Meelara smiled crookedly and looked away. “I’m sorry. Just know, that I want the best for you, and I won’t lead you astray.”
“Right,” Selene sighed. “Alright… Let’s begin.”
Without any further warning, Selene dashed forward and started their training session.
“More like a sparring match,” Selene thought as she punched forward.
----------------------------------------
Selene stood in the corridor of her Inner Space. She’d walked right up to one of the large windows and started channelling Frostshade Form into it, but it only filled it halfway before failing.
“What now?” Selene grumbled. “It should work! It’s the namesake of the Stage!”
She leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply.
“Alright, let’s figure this out,” she muttered. “According to what I’ve been told, it’s highly individualistic, but one rarely has to improve a main Stage skill if integrating it into the Inner Space. Even so, it only managed to fill half of the large window… Half… The other windows are around half the size. I require two skills to work in tandem for the larger windows?”
She tried again and saw that it filled almost exactly half the space.
“That might be it… So, which skill should I use alongside Frostshade Form? Shadow Strike? It makes for a decent combo, but I’ve only used them separately. I can’t activate it easily while in Frostshade Form, only immediately after exiting. Drain Life? That could work. It might add strong life draining to the form. Hmm… Chill of the Grave could be strong. An area of effect using shadows and cold… It fits the theme of the Frostshade Form, so there could be some synergy there.”
She shook her head, raised her hands and started channelling.
“Don’t think too much, do whatever feels right at the moment.”
Frostshade Form started filling the space again, and Selene closed her eyes. She reached out and grabbed a floating light, but let it go in favour of another. This repeated a few times before she felt something. A pleasant sensation washed through her body, leaving her elated and calm.
She brought the skill she’d grabbed forward and started channelling it into the window alongside Frostshade Form.
Minutes passed, then hours. Selene’s arms started shaking and sweat was pouring down her body.
Eventually, she stopped, and as she looked up, she saw a shimmering surface span the space, and deep shadows swirling behind.
“It’s not done,” she realised, frowning. “I’ll have to come back and finish it. I wonder how long it’ll take.”
Lights swirled in her eyes as she left the Inner Space, and returned to the Liberation. Meelara was snoring softly in her bed, and Selene took a deep breath, smiling slightly as she settled down to sleep.
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On a small dock, in a rural village, on a small island.
“Report,” said a tall man in a white robe. Before him stood three people in common clothes. Their heads were bowed.
“We’ve taken over the ports in the area,” one said clearly, enunciating each word.
“We’ve sent out several ships to cut off any escape,” another continued.
“We’ve gathered several assault teams, who will set out the moment we can locate the Liberation,” the third finished.
“Good,” the tall man nodded. “Fetch Aramin.”
“Right away!” one of the three men ran off.
“With our God’s Blessed, we’ll put an end to this upstart,” the tall man mumbled with a smile.
A figure moved in the shadows of a nearby building and disappeared.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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“We’re out of options, Beren,” Oria muttered as she looked at the man who sat with his eyes closed. “We’ve got to make a decision.”
“I know,” he mumbled in return. “But, none of our choices will do us any good. We’ll either become slaves ourselves, or we’ll lose Selene.”
“She’ll live, at least,” Faren grumbled. “She might hold on to her morals…”
“Haah,” Beren sighed and shook his head.
“I might have another option,” Mark said. He kept his head lowered and didn’t meet the eyes of his companions. “If we can get our hands on a System Interface Crystal, we could purchase something that could help us.”
“I’ve considered that,” Beren said, clenching his fists. “We don’t have access to one, and the only ones that do, are large settlements, or cities. We don’t have the manpower to take any of those, and they’re all under the watch of Life. We’ll be caught before we get close.”
“Not necessarily,” Mark continued. “There are countless rumours of lost cities.”
“Yes, and?” Cheela retorted. “They’re lost, abandoned. There won’t be a Crystal there.”
“No, but the infrastructure is,” Beren frowned and sat straight. “The Crystals were returned to the System once the cities fell.”
“And they won’t be returned,” Faren argued. “A lot of people have tried.”
“Yes,” Beren nodded, smiling. “A lot of Invaders have tried to claim these Native cities, but we have a Native, and she’s no slave. She’s a part of our group, our faction. If we reclaim the city, settle it with our people, and put her in charge of it, she might be able to call the Crystal back.”
Silence fell over the table as the people pondered.
“It’s worth a try,” Beren said as he spread his hands. “Mark, as you came up with this, do you have a clue to the location of a lost city?”
“I do,” Mark nodded, smiling. “It’s an underground city built in the last part of the Integration. A last bastion of sorts, but it was severely damaged during an attack, and the Invaders didn’t bother reclaiming it. We’ll have to be careful, and do some reinforcing of the structures, and cave, but it’s serviceable. I once explored it. Few Invaders remember it.”
“Alright,” Beren nodded. “We’ll plot the course there. Let’s hope we get there without being pursued.”
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The window was coming along. It was no longer a shifting shadow, but a shadowed field. In that field, Selene could see ice crystals forming on the ground. Figures stood in various stances around the field. Some looked injured, while others looked to be frozen solid. A flickering shadow passed from one figure to the other.
Every time the shadow flashed by one of the figures, the figure would gain another wound, or turn into a frozen statue. After a while, the scenario repeated itself.
Selen kept channelling her skills, and Spirituality into the window, feeling that it wasn’t finished. Over time, the scene grew clearer, as if there had been a slightly grainy vision effect before. She felt the resistance in her chest, the feeling of being wrung dry, and knew she’d have to stop.
“One more round, I think,” she mumbled and stretched. She then left the Inner Space.
She left the room and headed up to the top deck, where she watched the waves. She took some time to do that every day, feeling a sense of serenity from the wide horizon and the wind.
Meelara walked up beside her after a few minutes and smiled.
“We’ll be there in a couple of days,” Meelara said. “Are you ready?”
“No,” Selene shook her head and smiled ruefully. “Not at all, but I’ll manage. I have to.”
“I’ll be right beside you, don’t worry,” Meelara squeezed Selene’s shoulder, and smiled. “You’ll be fine.”
Meelara had explained the plan to her, and while Selene didn’t fully understand it, she understood enough. It was the only option that left them free. Any other option had the consequence of them becoming beholden, subordinated to another faction.
“I hope so,” Selene muttered under her breath before sighing deeply. “I’ll go get some food, and then I’ll take a nap before training.”
“Right,” Meelara said. “See you then.”
Selene turned away and headed to the mess. She ate quickly, before heading to her cabin, and fell asleep.
----------------------------------------
“Any news?” the tall man asked.
“None worth noting, sir,” a woman said, trembling slightly. “There have been no sightings, and none of our scrying have provided any clues. They’re not acting as we expected. Our leading theory is that they’ve found some alternative route past our blockade.”
“No,” the tall man frowned. “That’s not it. I feel like they’re still there… Is there anything of interest within the blockade?”
“Nothing that we know of,” the woman said.
“Then find someone who knows. There’s something there, and I intend to find out.”
“Right away!” the woman scrambled away.
The man turned around and looked out of the window, looking at the small village.
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The scene in the window turned crisp, and crystal clear, and a wave of energy washed over Selene. With a smile, she left the Inner Space, eagerly expecting the following notifications.
[Ding! Level up!]
Name:
Selene Parson
Race:
Human
Affiliation:
Earth
Stage:
2 - FrostShade Reaver
Level:
2
Credits:
3470
Stats:
Strength(STR)
28
Agility(AGI)
20
Vitality(VIT)
26
Intelligence(INT)
19
Wisdom(WIS)
11
Charisma(CHA)
3
Skills:
Shadow Strike
Adept
Chill of the Grave
Adept
Spirit Echoes
Adept
Spirit Veil
Novice
Drain Life
Novice
Channel Spectre(Frost)
Novice
Draugr Resilience
Apprentice
FrostShade Form
Novice
She felt her body grow stronger, and her mind felt clearer than ever. She lay back in her bed with a smile and quickly fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the waves. Before she did, she had one thought.
“Tomorrow, we’ll reach the Lost City, and I’ll have to take charge of it. I hope it’ll work.”