The sun crept up over the horizon the next morning, its pale light stretching across frozen dirty and roofs powdered with just a little bit of snow, already melting as the temperature rose from cold and frosty to crisp and pleasant, Saga woke slowly to life, body snug and warm, Sasha tucked in against them for once, rather than up and early. She stirred as Saga, who effectively functioned as her pillow, tried to wriggle out from underneath her.
“Men…Morning?” Her voice was thick with sleep, and her eyes barely opened. Saga for their part felt a lot more
“Morning” Saga said as they did their best to gently dislodge themselves from underneath Sasha. The ax-dancer put up some token resistance at being robbed from their muscled human pillow, but the fey touched was soon sleeping again. IT was nice to see even Sasha had days where she just wanted to sleep in. As they slipped from under the furs to find something to wear, Saga felt a small tug a the back of their mind. They looked around, brows furrowed. After splashing their face with cold water to wake themselves up and immediately lamenting the lack of running water and showers, they set tiptoed out of the room, leaving a snoring Sasha behind. They had an inkling of the strange feeling in the back of their head, but they needed to go downstairs to check.
As they descended the stairs, they heard a woman's voice. They would recognize that sharp and alert tone anywhere. It was like the woman had learned to use words like a rapier, it cut through any noise and always ended up demanding all of your attention.
“Ah. I see you up and about.” She spoke with that same, absolute confidence as before. Even sitting down, she felt like a tower presence. A serious feat as she was a head shorter than Saga at least. Her eyes danced with that same fire as the other day, and she motioned for Saga to sit down.
“I have ordered you breakfast.” She said.
“Ah, thanks?”
“YOu are welcome. We need to catch the morning by the throat so that we can start today's training early.”
“I am told I need bedrest.”
“You do. But You're not going to do laps or sparring.” She said as she sipped some sort of broth out of an ornate wooden bowl. Just as Saga was about to ask about the training she had planned for them, the aforementioned breakfast arrived. Unlike the small feasts that they had the past month, the apple and the barely passable porridge did not instill Saga with much of an appetite.
“Magic training doesn’t wear on the body?”
“Depends on how you train. And what your affinities are.” She answered as she finished whatever she was drinking, before throwing Saga breakfast a glance. “Hm. Let's me grab you something to eat on the way.”
“But it’d be rude.” The saga started but she put down two large silver coins.
“I think they’ll understand.” She said before rising to her feet. Saga followed suit, grateful to avoid the suspicious-looking porridge. They glanced over to the stairs, wondering if they should wake Sasha but Indra put a hand on their arm as if to stop them.
“There is no need. I told the innkeeper to tell her where we are for when she wakes up.” The regal-looking woman spoke and saga briefly wondered if the woman was a mind reader. As they left the in, Indra began leading them back towards her house and her mediation champer. Her pace was crisp and fast, and despite her shorter legs, it was Saga who found themselves almost jogging to keep up.
“So this training won't affect my healing process then?”
“IT will affect it.”
“But you said.”
“It will help strengthen and heal a little faster, provided you do it right.”
“Huh. How does that work.”
“That’s what you are about to learn.
***
As they descended into the intricately carved, glass and stone chamber under the river, Saga could already feel the magical energies within them pull in different directions. IT was a new, entirely different feeling from before. The change must have registered on their face because Indrada looked at Saga knowingly and spoke in that same lecturing tone she held the last time she trained Saga.
“You are soaked in death energies. Your Spiritual Affinity pairing of Death and Rebirth is trying to find a balance, but it seems your Rebirth energies could use it of push.” Indrada spoke as Saga knelt before her. As Saga got to their knees as instructed, Indrada let vibrant teal fire ignite in the air around her before seemingly gathering into a bright pearl of energy within her palm. As soon as it was formed Indra knelt as well, taking Saga's hands in hers. Saga blinked as the Perl of concentrated magic slowly began to sink into the skin of their palm.
“You felt the tug earlier? The little pull at the back of your mind?” Indrada said, reminding Saga of the strange sensation earlier.
“I did. I somehow knew it was you." Saga answered, remembering the familiar feeling of the magic tugging on them.
“That was me letting my excess Rebirth essence filter out into the world, to let your affinities know someone like me was around. You’ll find it's a trick people use to avoid fights with similarly matched opponents. Of course, it can have the opposite effect. Do it when your too weak and your inviting others to come to collect.”
“Don’t bark if you can’t bite?” Saga offered and Indrada smiled, nodding.
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“Pretty much. Now, I will let out my excess energies directly into you, you will cycle that magic, much as you have before with my song. But this time, I want you to drink deep. I have a lot to spare, and I can feel the way one side of you is so underdeveloped it threatens to stagnate completely. “ As Indrada spoke, the very energies she spoke of began to rush out of her, directly into Saga. Her rebirth energy was tinged with flame, like that of a phoenix's fire and Saga had to tamper down on it with every bit of mental strength they had, as they willed them themselves to cycle the mana through them. Little by little, they could feel parts of their ache vanish, as the energy helped rejuvenate them. After almost twenty minutes of drinking as deep as possible from the well, it stopped. Looking up from their concentration, they saw Lady Pheonix study them.
“Not bad. YOu still waste a lot of the management upon receiving it, you do not funnel it fast enough. How does your arm feel" She asked as
"A little bit..better?" Saga hesitated, the differences were minute, but they could feel how something had shifted in the healing process, beyond the medicine Saga had gotten from the healer.
"Our magical affinities empower our various ways," Indrada spoke, once more taking a lecturing tone. Saga tried to simply listen, to soak as much in as possible "Magic also helps shape our bodies in subtle ways. Your Rebirth Affinity holds great healing potential. For a druid or a healer, it would be channeled into healing spells and recovery skills. But you have somewhat knee-deep in death since getting to our world."
"So by channeling Rebirth mana, I speed my healing up?"
"Yes. Your magic is on the weak side, not only because of your low level but also because you do not have the natural inclination towards weaving magic."
"Yes. I know. I am essentially a meat head"
"Hah." Indrada gave a rare laugh at that. "No more than my husband was. It just doesn't come as naturally to you then it does for some others. So we will work on refining a process for you to keep your magic balanced. Speaking of levels, I hear you leveled up. Please, let me see your sheet."
“Ah. Sure?" Saga said as they allowed Indrada to look through their sheet. As the charachter window appeared before their inner eye, their own eyes were drawn to the new skill: Withering Strike.
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Saga Ljungborg.
Level 5.
Path of the Berserker.
Brawn: 23 (19+3).
Mind: 13
Spirit: 19
Grace: 17
Traits:
Twice Risen: Having already passed through the realm of Death before reincarnation, you have a natural affinity with Death. Your touch and presence unsettle 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 pain tolerance and makes you immune to mind control and similar mental attacks. Rage does not break preexisting mind-altering states.
Active abilities:
Withering Blows [ Magical, Enhancement, Melee. ] You can infuse death energy into your blows to apply a withering effect, marginally weakening the target's armor. Upon reaching 10 stacks, a piece of the target's armor shatters slightly, lowering its durability by a great amount. Mana Cost: Low.
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 6-meter radius gain a small boost to Physical Attack and Defense.
Shield Bash, level 2: [ 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 for a moment. Launches enemy backward upon impact and doubles the stun on a critical hit. This ability always critically hits 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 the cooldown.
Passive Abilities
Slayer of Undead [3 out of 10]: You deal 3% 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 5 times.
Born For Battle [2 out 3]: Every ten minutes you remain in active combat, you gain a moderate boost to both brawn and spirit.
Any weapon, Any Time: You can wield any weapon at 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.
Head Hunter [1 out of 3]: When in battle if you are the one finishing an elite or stronger opponent, gain +50% experience from that kill. This skill goes on a 24 hours cooldown upon a successful killing blow.
Proficiencies:
Spears (Experienced) Experience to rank up: 2900
Shields (Intermediate) Experience to rank up: 200
Swords (Intermediate Experience to rank up: 500
Improvised weapons (Novice) Experience to rank up: 810
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"Ah. I see. Interesting. It would appear you have indeed acquired a death-infused skill. Some skills are unique to its wielder, but many, such as Withering strikes, manifest among various individuals. What decides its effect and nature and makes your skill differ from others is your affinities." She explained as magic danced across her fingers in the form of serpentine flames. Much like her son, Indrada seemed to have a flair for the dramatic. It was nowhere as flamboyant as Ordan, but it was a family trait.
"In my case, I wear them down with Death magic." Saga said,
"Correct. Now, I would like to help you reset, as it were. This way we can try to make sure that the next skill you acquire is a Rebirth-infused one, we are going to improve your grasp of magic and strengthen your connection to your Rebirth magic.
"Don't I need to go out and kill things to gain experience?"
"Ah. do you think fighting is the only way to level up?`"
"It isn't?"
"It isn't. Most gain their first levels in their early teens, through sparring and practicing with their skills."
"Sasha was stuck on her level for a long time."
"Because she was working her fundamentals, not challenging herself. Experience is gained through challenging yourself. Be it through sparring, fighting for your life against some beast, tracking said beasts for miles of uneven terrain, or uncovering magical secrets through intense research and study."
"Huh. And you think I can level up in the time I am recuperating?"
"I know it."
"So what is my challenge then, what will be pushing my level?"
"Surviving my training." She said and Saga saw the old woman smile. IT was the smile they had begun to associate with people wanting to put them through hell.
"Of course, it is," Saga muttered to themselves.
There was always more training.