After the two had taken a little more time just enjoying the feeling of being alive and having their emotions reciprocated, the two made their way back towards the caravan. They soon found that all the bandits and their co-conspirators had been given shallow graves out in the field. Anything salvageable had been stripped from their persons and was currently in a large pile. Saga understood the principle of looting the ones that had come for their lives and possession both but it was still something that would take some getting used to.
Still, they stopped at the pile to look over exactly what they had. Ordan was sorting trough it and looked up as they arrived. He straightened and held up something for Saga to inspect. "We took these off the man who almost killed. The hammer went to Lida, the surviving guard, as she already uses such weapons. But the pouldron are a good upgrade for you, and they aren't locked to a higher level. Saga took them and Ordan imminently set to sorting the pile again.
Saga looked at the pauldron, which was a singular piece of metal with a leather guard that ran down the arm. It would give a little bit of armor for the arm not holding the shield. But it was the bonuses that caught their eyes.
{ Giants Pauldron of Rending. Level requirement; none.
Primary Effect:
This pouldron is infused with strength taken from the magic of giants. Gives + 1 to brawn when worn.
Secondary effects
Rend: This item has been infused with the Rending attribute. It gives all piercing or slashing attacks made with polearms and spears a bleed effect for 4 seconds. This effect stacks up to three times. }
With these, their brawn ticked up a little bit yet again but the bleeding effect was especially nice. It would help them weaken enemies quicker while they themselves already had skills to help them grow stronger the longer the battle continued.
“Hey there Berserker.” Hallvars voice cut through Sagas thoughts. They looked up to see the Half-giant walk up to the two of them. He was dressed in a fur coat that Saga was pretty sure had been looted from one of the bandits and had a bow Saga was entirely sure belonged to the bandit she had shield-bashed.
“Hallvar. Please stop calling me that.” Saga said with a frown, crossing their arms. Hallvar raised his hands with a smile. He looked almost relaxed, with none of the thinly veiled threat that had been underscoring their every action up until the ambush.
“Fine. Saga it is.” He relented with a smirk.
“Good.” Saga nodded and Sasha shook her head softly in disbelief. Sasha had not forgotten this man was a trained killer who originally was here to find a chance to kill Saga. For all they knew, he might turn around to try and fulfill the contract at a later date. Yet, Saga held out their arm to shake his. As the two locked arms, something changed in their body language however.
“Thank you” Saga said with a genuine smile that turned into a grin as Hallvar tried to disengage. Hallvars own smile turned into a frown as his arm seemed stuck. Sasha leaned in to see what was going on only to realize Saga was managing to barely hold the others arm where it was through sheer brawn.
“I know we just fought together out of necessity. And I really do thank you for being upfront and letting us know what the game was with Jasper. So am I telling you this out of respect and in hopes that you understand how deadly serious I am. “I have only been in this world for about a week. But I am definitely the kind of person who is more beneficial to have as a friend than an enemy.” Sagas voice was a little bit terse albeit mostly so from the effort of holding him in place, which was a very near thing .
Hallvar laughed softly before his eyes got a hard edge to them. “I have gotten my gold from Jasper, and the official reason to my hiring was to keep him safe all the way to Alebridge. The sniveling bastard is not dead yet, so I am upholding my end of our deal. You have nothing to fear from me, and I will make sure to let other know that if your ever show up as a target, they should seriously reconsider.” He said as Saga let go off his arm. He nodded to the carriage. “I have also informed Jasper that you are not riding on top of the carriage anymore.”
“Oh? And what did he say about such a decision” Saga asked, eyebrow raised at the sudden revelation. It had been extremely uncomfortable and the were getting to the point where the were about to stop for the sake of their poor behind either way. But this was a most welcome change in things.
“Not much, he was still nursing his nose at the time.” Hallvar said with a shrug and Saga remembered that the half-giant had temporarily decked his employer. It was the most sensible decision according to Saga. One that they had almost applauded at the time if not for the attack.
“He does seem to have a weak nose. He keeps getting in accidents.” Saga mused.
“Wasn’t one of those accidents that put us in with him for the trip” Sasha asked as Saga let out a little sigh of defeath.
“Yes. You are right.” They said and Sasha stifled a laugh at the indignant look Saga gave them. “You know Mind is my lowest stat right. Its not fair to pick on me when I am pretending to be clever.” Saga complained but Sasha just chuckled. Deciding that Sasha was currently in a position of unfair advantage on account of outsmarting Saga with a single sentence, they disengaged that conversation by turning back to Hallvar who was observing the two with a slight smile to hos so often serious features.
“So now that you are no longer here on assassination's business. What re you gonna do when you get back to Alebridge?”
“I’ll be leaving for another place where Jasper is a name nobody has heard of or care about.” Hallvar said, arms folded. Saga nodded, having no idea about this worlds geography, they put the information in the back of their head alongside all the other info they had been soaking up. “Perhaps I’ll see you before I leave, Bers- I mean Saga. To properly say my farewells to a fellow warrior.”
“I’d like that Hallvar. For someone who takes money to kill people, I find you strangely likable.” The fledgling Berserker said. They had come to realize that while their view of people and how the world worked did not fully gel with this brutal new place they lived in, there were somethings that friendly attitude or not, would always rub them the wrong way. Assassination of seemingly random, mostly innocent people for money was one of them. But Halvar had also reneged on the deal with Jasper, even if it had been to ensure survival. So it counted for something.
“To be fair.“ Hallvar said. “I usually take money for killing criminals on the run or beasts. The assassination thing was a job on the side.”
“You’ll excuse me if I am skeptical, Executioner.” Saga said, putting emphasis on the last word. The way Hallvar always did with calling them Berserker. The little barb did not go unnoticed by Hallvar who ruefully shook his head.
“I think I understand your annoyance now, Saga. I don’t much care for it.” With that they shook hands again and he went off towards the carriage with Jasper in it. Saga and Sasha watched silently as he left.
“Executioners are quite rare” Sasha pointed out after Hallvar was far away enough they could speak without being overheard.
“What do they do anyways. Aside from being very good at killing.” Saga inquired, remembering Hallvar literally cutting someone in half by the waist earlier.
“They generally work for really powerful people. Regents and people of that power. The high level ones anyway. Their sole purpose there is to be a swift and merciless arm of their chosen ruler. If the regent of a land you are in suddenly calls for your head? Well, then It’s an executioner that finds you first most of the time.”
“I think I like assassin better. At least then I know its just a job.” Saga frowned.
“I can happily tell you that none of the Jarls employ them. There is a pretty pervasive belief here in the North that if you do not deal with certain things personally, you cannot be trusted to rule justly.”
“Good to know.” The young warrior said, rubbing their chin. “Paths seem to really define a lot of who you are in this world. Which is somewhat jarring.”
“Paths can and do change based on your actions. They are not entirely set it stone.” The purple headed fey-touched said, getting ahead of Sagas train of thought before they could elaborate further.” Speaking of Attributes. You leveled in the battle didn’t you? I know I did.”
“You got past level 5? Hell yeah!” Saga fist bumped Sasha who looked absolutely stoked about the fact as well. She had been stuck at level 5 for far longer then was usual for a warrior of her caliber. Mainly due to being stuck where she couldn’t party up with others very well. And thus could not take on the kind of opposition and challenges that would help her level faster.
“I did, After we beat the first Leader. But we can talk about that later. So, you're level three now?”
“Four actually. I leveled twice”
“Really?” Sasha's eyes widened. “I mean, It makes sense, we were fighting people both higher level and in larger numbers then our own at the time. Still though. You are gonna be at my level in no time if we keep this up” Sasha said, rubbing their chin and giving Saga once over that made Saga crack a smile and flex their newly enhanced muscle a bit. This earned them a snort of amusement from Sasha who otherwise said nothing. She was clearly contemplating something.
“Can I see your attributes and abilities?” Sasha asked, still tapping her chin.
“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours.” Saga wriggled her eyebrows in what was an mockery and insult to every smooth talker in existence, it was so bad.
“It is great that the first person I feel genuine attraction to in years, speaks like a horny 13 year old farmhand. I really know how to pick them.” Sasha mused and Saga suddenly had a lot of questions. But also knew when to shut up and just do as they were told. They brought up their character sheet as Sasha did the same.
----------------------------------------
Saga Ljungborg.
Level 4.
Path of the Berserker.
Brawn: 21 (18+3).
Mind: 12
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Spirit: 14
Grace: 14
Traits:
Twice Risen: Having already passed trough the realm of Death before reincarnation, you have a natural affinity with Death. Your touch and presence unsettles the undead as a result.
Raging Spirit: Your spirit is wild and untamed, when you are pushed to your limit, your power is raised exponentially as you enter a [Rage] State. When exiting Rage, you gain the Exhaustion state.
Boon of the death Goddess: Marked by the Goddess of Death, you are anathema to the Undead. All your abilities and attacks deal a moderate amount of extra damage to the undead. You cannot be turned upon death by undead creatures or necromancy.
Rage: Condition, Temporary: Rage heightens your tolerance for pain and makes you immune to mind control and similar mental attacks. Rage does not break preexisting mind altering states.
Active abilities:
Battle Cry, Level 1: [ Mental, Area of Effect. Buff.]
Unleash a battle cry to rally your allies and disrupt sonic attacks and skills. All Allies within a 4 meter radius gain a small boost to Physical Attack and Defense.
Shield Bash, level 1: [ Physical, Charging attack, Melee. ] Dash at speed towards an enemy and smash into them with your shield, dealing moderate physical damage and stunning the enemy. Launches enemy backwards and doubles the stun on critical hit. This ability always critically hit when in Rage State.
Taunt, level 1: [ Mental, Resistible, Area of Effect. ] Draw the ire and attention of enemies around you. Enemies that have been taunted deal 20% percent less damage to you (35% if Berserker is enraged).
Blood Eagle, level 1: [ Physical, Execution Move, Melee. ] Finish an opponent by ripping out your weapon in a brutal fashion, dealing damage equal to 30 percent of targets missing vitality. If this ability kills the target, refresh cooldown.
Passive Abilities
Slayer of Undead [1 out of 10] : You deal 1% more damage to undead.
Unyielding [1 out 10]: Whenever you engage a foe superior in numbers, gain a small boost in brawn and grace for each opponent present. Stacks up to 3 times.
Born For Battle [1 out 3]: Every ten minutes you remain in active combat, you gain +2 brawn and spirit.
Any weapon, Any Time: You can wield any weapon at the a level below your current improvised weapon proficiency.
Relentless Regeneration [1 out of 3)]: Your regeneration of Vitality is permanently increased by 50%. If enraged, this bonus is doubled.
Proficiencies:
Spears (Intermediate) Experience to rank up: 2900
Shields (Novice) Experience to rank up: 200
Swords (Novice) Experience to rank up: 500
Improvised weapons (Novice) Experience to rank up: 810
----------------------------------------
Sasha glanced over the information but Sagas eyes were on the execution ability. “That's nasty” They said and Sasha looked it over with a nod. She seemed
“Execution abilities are more common with sneaky types or those specialized in single target destruction. But it kind of fits the way you go about things. Your entire skillset so far has been about surviving and growing stronger as the battle rages, especially against multiple foes. Blood Eagle gives you the ability to destroy a target once you chipped them down with your perseverance. And if you do it while enraged, it even heals you. It’s very common for people with altered state traits such as Rage or Battle Trances to have abilities that are best when utilized in such a state.” Sasha explained and Saga took the moment to think it over.
Everything was more or less falling into what they had come to expect. With how the battle had gone and Sagas roll in it, it really did feel like the magic read some deep part of of them and adapted the skills in accordance to what it interpreted the Berserker wanted. In this case, a way to finish opponents off sooner and means to come back from more powerful, frontloaded attacks faster.
Saga closed down their information and wriggled their eyebrows at Sasha. “I showed you mine.” They said and the object of their juvenile attempt at affections let out exasperated, but amused sigh.
“Here you go.” She said as Saga had a prompt appear.
{ Sasha Vladovic is offering to share their charachter sheet with you. Accept? Y/N }
“Oh. Vladovic huh. “Saga said, realizing they had no idea Sasha even had a last name until now. It made sense, most people had one from what they could tell but at the same time they just thought of Sasha as Sasha and had never asked.
----------------------------------------
Sasha Vladovic
Level 6.
Path of the Axedancer
Brawn: 18
Mind: 14
Spirit: 18
Grace: 16
Traits:
Boon of the death Goddess: Marked by the Goddess of Death, you are anathema to the Undead. All your abilities and attacks deal a moderate amount of extra damage to the undead. You cannot be turned upon death by undead creatures or necromancy.
Survival of the Quickest: Whenever you survive or dodge an attack that would otherwise deal lethal damage, gain +40% attack and movement speed.
Fey-Touched (Resistance): Your are naturally resistant to any and all mental attacks, magical or otherwise.
Fey-Touched (Empowered): Your magic has a small chance to surge, doubling the effect for no extra cost.
Active abilities:
Runic Might: Charge your arms with Might magic, increasing your damage output significally for 5 minutes. Cooldown 15 minutes.
Leaping Lynx Attack: Take of with a mighty, crossing a great distance based on your momentum while dealing a powerful downwards blow.
Violent Blow: Deal a single, massive blow that deals significant damage and slightly sunders armor and shields.
Axe Storm: Unleash a flurry of attacks against any nearby. Splits between multiple targets if possible.
Frozen Land: “Frozen Land creates a large arena of frozen, slippery ground. The caster and their allies can move unhindered trough this arena, but any hostile target is slowed by 25 percent for as long as they remain inside it.”
Passive Abilities
Runic Regeneration (1 out 5) : You have 20% extra mana and stamina regeneration as long as your runes aren’t all spent.
Adaptive Power (1 out of 1): Whenever you switch between using a your Ice or Might affinity to empower yourself, gain a modest boost to brawn, scaled off your current Brawn attribute.
Song of Violence (1 out of 3): For each successfully landed hit, gain +1% attack speed (Up to a total of +10%). This ability resets if you miss and attack.
Ghost Steps(2 out of 5): You treat any surface area tilting away from you as if it was flat. All your movement abilities have a 10% more range.
Proficiencies:
Axes (Intermediate)
Throwing Weapons (Axes) (Intermediate)
Swords (Novice)
Runecraft (Novice)
----------------------------------------
“Axedancer?” Saga looked at the path again. It seemed fitting for how fluid and quick Sashas movements were.
“Aye. As you no doubt can tell, I have been focusing on efficiency and the utilization of fast movement and equally fast and powerful blows. Most of my skill set is about hitting hard, hitting fast, then moving on or getting out of any retaliatory strike range.” Sasha explained as Saga looked over the abilities again. They certainly seemed to be all about a quick onslaught. From increasing the range on abilities to easier close in on foes to making it hard to shake Sasha and her heavy, fast blows .
“Ghost step is the thing you utilized when you had me as your springboard.” Saga inquired, remembering how Sasha had leapt off a hunched over Sasha to leap at the bandit archer. It had been quite the flashy move, and Saga had hardly registered Sasha's weight at all at the time.
“Yes. The Surface doesn't matter. It can be a shield, a person's back or simply a steep slope or a downed tree. You name it. ” Sasha said with a nod.
“And the Leaping Lynx Attack was what let you close the distance.”
“Yes. It has a short cooldown and can leave me a bit exposed. But It works well together with ghost steps to find angles and targets hidden behind the enemy's frontline. " Sasha explained as the pair made it further down the caravan.
“Nice.” Saga grinned as they considered what they knew. “I really do think the others are right about us making a good battle duo. We both rush opponents, and I can draw targets to me and tie them down. Where you can jump in and deal massive amount of damage to single targets that are focusing on me.” The berserk said with another trademark grin, Sasha nodding her agreement.
“We do make a pretty beefy and dangerous frontline. If we can get people who are more about staying back and supporting or dealing damage from afar, we’ll make for a pretty good group.” Sasha said as they walked along the side of the caravan. The damages seemed to be mostly repaired by now, the noncombatants having worked very efficiently, not wanting to be stuck at the ambush site for too long. Saga was amazed at how quickly people here seemed to recover and get going. It was clearly an ability you picked up living in such dangerous times as these.
It was not the first time they realized they had still a lot to learn just in terms on how one went about things with the magic, but also in everyday life. In order to survive, you had to make choices and live with them. You also needed to learn that you might have to wait before you can stop and think or mourn. Which reminded them they needed to check on the others. Especially Ingrid.
"Lets go tell the news to Ingrid. She needs something to cheer her up."