CJ spent the next few days reading as much as he could, and asking anything he could think of. The Akahi refugees were a shaken people after everything that happened, but they were surprisingly willing to answer questions. More than a few of them got him strange stares, but he threw out the excuse that he had memory loss. That usually got him a few sighs of sympathy, and they would answer his question in a slow voice. He wasn’t sure why they thought memory loss meant they had to speak slower, but it happened at least three different times.
His field guide always knew what people told him, it didn’t seem to have any limits to its perceptions. Though it wasn’t perfect.
When he got information on the Kingdom of Barune, where their group was headed, he asked a baker that was with the group. His field guide filled in appropriately, though the man didn’t know much.
|Kingdom of Barune|
|Southern neighbor of the Alliance of Princedoms, and an independent Kingdom. An expansive nation known for mining the twin mountain ranges that hug the valley of the Sky-Piercer mountains. While the Kingdom of Barune’s king Mandin is known as a great ruler, he has no known heirs, which has put the kingdom at risk. They are politically neutral with their neighbors.|
CJ had no reason to doubt that, then he asked Larl.
“Oh, King Mandin had a daughter last year, that has really changed the mood in the South. It isn’t what he was hoping for, but it is better than no heir at all.”
Even as CJ spoke with Larl, the field guide entry was updated to mention the one year old princess of Barune. It seemed his information was only going to be as good as the people who gave it. The field guide could give him information beyond what he knew, like the alternate names for people or places, but it was also happy to give him misinformation if he got it from the misinformed. That complicated how much he could trust it, but it was still fascinating to have a self-updating encyclopedia at his fingertips.
He learned about the other kingdom neighboring Akahi, the Allied Princedoms.
|The Allied Princedoms|
|Also known as the Alliance of Northern Princedoms, the Alliance, or just the Princedoms. The Allied Princedoms are a collection of smaller nations that banded together after the death of a benevolent king. Rather than war to choose a new heir, they created the Assembled Forum of Princes, and vote to resolve the issues that face their nation. The number of princedoms has grown since then, and there are now 13 voting members in the assembly.|
CJ wondered if he could add information to the guide, but no matter how much he focused on the entry it didn’t change. It seemed his input was one force that couldn’t alter the guide.
Now, as they walked down a rocky path next to a cliff, CJ was reviewing the most perplexing section of the guide. He was reviewing his own character sheet. Having a character sheet to represent himself was mind blowing all by itself, but it was bigger than that. Larl spoke of arbitrary guides used to judge the power of a person’s soul, he used a ‘Flush stick’ to judge both of them. When CJ’s guide brought up his character sheet, it wasn’t in vague estimations. He was seeing exact numbers, and he didn’t know how to balance that with what Larl and others told him.
|CJ Eastman 32% to next Milestone 1 of 10 Milestones
|*ERROR* Attunement Soulstone Tier 1 Human - *ERROR*
|Allegiance: Duchy of Akahi
|
|Strength 6 | Control 5
|Stamina 5 | Resilience 7
|Command ? | Health A.Avg | Mov. Spd Avg
|
|>Facets
|>Artifacts & Relics
|>Bond - None
He didn’t like that his sheet had errors on it. The letters shifted occasionally, layering over the next letter or readjusting the formatting of the overall sheet. He didn’t know if that was a problem with the eye, or if it was something wrong with him. Since Halta the priestess healed him, he hadn’t spotted any other errors with the eye. His sheet was the first one. He would have to leave that, there were so many terms he didn’t even know to ask people about. Furthermore, he wasn’t sure if they would understand all of these. He heard Larl mention attunements, or at least attuning. That one seemed safe to investigate, but since his was broken he was in no rush. So he focused elsewhere.
|Milestones|
|Upon gaining enough power to reach a new milestone, core attributes have a chance to increase. When all milestones are fulfilled, a person’s Soulstone goes up one tier.|
That was exciting, but he didn’t know how to gain power. He already had one milestone, he had to assume that 1 of 10 meant that he already gained one milestone, which meant whatever experience or power he needed was something he was already getting. Maybe being scared shitless of undead monsters was a good source of power.
|Resilience Attribute|
|Resilience determines resistance to supernatural effects, or effects that attempt to alter or manipulate the soul. A higher resilience gives a higher chance to avoid hex status effects, and lowers damage taken from magical attacks.|
Why his resilience was higher than the rest of his attributes, he had no idea. He would have to ask for specifics on how attributes increase. Command was interesting to have as an attribute, but he was also surprised he had all these attributes like a game yet he had no hit points. Though it was kind of reassuring he didn’t have an exact number amount of health to worry about, he could imagine watching that tick down.
The bottom three could be expanded. He checked artifacts out of instinct, but it just said ‘none’. It was disappointing, but outside of a fresh pair of pants and an old jacket given to him by fellow refugees, he didn’t actually own anything. Bond was grayed out, and even focusing on it didn’t actually expand it.
He heard a little about bonds, but he still wasn’t sure he understood them. It was something about people making their souls connect to coordinate better. Anytime they were brought up, he heard something slightly different. Larl wasn’t enthused about them, and didn’t have much to say. A former security guard named Lina was thrilled about them, and found them both magical and beautiful.
Then there were facets. That was one aspect he hadn’t heard anyone talk about yet. He focused on it, and it opened up to a couple extra lines.
|vFacets|
|1. *ERROR*
|2. Mysterious Eye [Crystallized]|
His eye, it was right there. He didn’t know what it meant that it was crystallized, but then again he didn’t know what these facets were in general. He wanted to check on the field guide for Facets, but the Mysterious Eye ability was calling to him, right there. He could search up facets after, for now he could see what the eye knew about itself.
Someone bumped into his shoulder, and CJ mumbled an excuse as he kept walking along the winding trail. They were along the edge of a cliff, a steep hill covered in brush and rocks on his right, and another steep hill up on his left. It was like the roads on any pass back home, except it was only occasionally anything more than a beaten dirt path. Sometimes it was a stone road, but only when the path seemed real annoying.
CJ focused on the mysterious eye.
|Mysterious Eye|
|Unique Facet Skill of *ERROR* Attunement|
|Mysterious Eye allows for exact calculation of attributes and abilities for allies. Enemies in short range reveal their attributes. Enemies met in combat reveal their abilities. Can visualize Bonds. Can visualize combat positions and formations. Gives access to Mysterious Eye Field Guide.
|Can be Enhanced. Can be Crystallized.|
It was a unique skill for whatever attunement he had. It sounded like a shortcut for someone like him that wasn’t from this world, but he didn’t know if other people would have that same attunement. It made him wonder if he was the only person from the normal world to come to this world. It sounded like someone sent him here, but he didn’t understand how that was possible. If it was, how often were people pulled across? If it could go one way, could it possibly go back? Did he even want to go back?
CJ felt a harsh tug at his collar, yanking him up and off the ground so hard that his stomach lurched.
He snapped around, his heart pounding in preparation of this new kind of attack. He thought he was safe enough traveling with the refugee caravan, but now he was swinging in the air.
“Watch where you’re going you snuffed idiot.”
It was Sir Byr’s gruff old voice.
Cj looked over his shoulder to see the old man holding him up like he was a puppy.
While Byr was in his uniform instead of his armor, and had a simple wooden cane to help him move around, he made holding CJ up in the air look effortless.
Then CJ looked down, and realized that he was being held up over a steep fall, full of brambles and jagged rocks. It continued down to a pit of rocks at the bottom. Cj was so lost in his character sheet, he walked himself off a cliff.
“Sorry,” CJ said, “I was out of it.”
Byr pulled him back to stable ground and dropped him.
“I imagine, you make being a handful your full occupation don’t you Eastman?” Byr said with a narrowed glance.
The old man was different outside of his armor. He looked older than CJ originally guessed. His brows belonged to a man in his late 50s, but on closer examination CJ could see him being 70. His face was wrinkled beyond belief, and his hands were thin and crooked in places. But Larl said Byr was the strongest person he knew. Even recovering from his injuries fighting the Ash Walkers, CJ could feel power and confidence radiate off of him.
CJ focused on Byr, he had to be sure.
|Sir Byr 85% to next Milestone 3 of 10 Milestones
|Purity Attunement Soulstone Tier 3 Human - Fieldman
|Allegiance: Duchy of Akahi, Magmaguard Elite
|
|Strength 16 | Control 11
|Stamina 15 | Resilience 7
|Command Hi | Health Hi | Mov. Spd Avg
|
|>Facets
|>Artifacts & Relics
|>Bond - 3
Besides his Resilience, Byr’s attributes all outclassed CJ. The strength, the stamina, it made sense that people in Akahi were impressed with what he could do. On top of that, he actually had a command attribute, and had something under his bonds. CJ didn’t have many references, but Byr would have to serve as his high point for now.
“You’re just going to stare now,” Byr said. He looked around as if for an escape.
The rest of the refugees were moving past them, a few people watched the two men with interest. Since CJ’s rescue, he didn’t have any time to stop and speak to Byr. Sir Byr spent a long time being carried by his fellow soldiers, and healed by Halta. By the time he was walking around again, CJ tried to stay out of his way so he could do his work.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
It turned out that Sir Byr wasn’t just Duchess Mae’s bodyguard, that was actually what Alyss did. Sir Byr was the commander for Akahi’s elite guard. He was with the Duchess to keep her safe. It spoke to how bad the fight went for them.
“Sorry,” CJ said. “We should keep moving right?”
They started walking with the crowd, and Byr kept pace alongside him.
“I’ve been told some of my questions can only really be answered by you,” CJ said. He didn’t watch Byr as he walked, but he could hear him. His gait was normal, except the heavy thump of his cane.
“Ask, and I’ll let you know if that’s the case.” Byr said.
CJ noticed he didn’t exactly promise to answer. Byr’s attitude was the exact kind of person CJ didn’t like to deal with back home. When people had to turn every conversation into a standoff, he would rather not speak to them at all. He didn’t have too much of a choice here, no matter how rough Byr’s manners were. The knight knew he was CJ’s superior, and carried that into everything from his tone to his stance.
“I’ve asked around about the battle back in Akahi,” CJ said. “You saved me, there were monsters, etc. I can’t get much information from people about what happened before that, how it all got started.”
He looked over, and Byr was watching CJ with a stern glare. His eyebrows were almost touching, and his eyes pressed into CJ.
“There are gaps in the battle, things I won’t know,” Byr said, “But not many. Why do you want to know?”
“I decided to pledge allegiance to Akahi,” CJ said, “but I was there for less than an hour. I’m trying to figure out what happened. The Akahi Magmaguard are supposed to be a legendary fighting force.”
|Magmaguard Elite|
|The Magmaguard Elite of Akahi are the elite fighting force of the Duchy of Akahi. Their fighting traditions were established before the creation of the current dukedom. Using defensive tactics and coordination, along with attunements pioneered by their earliest members, the Magmaguard is said to never break in battle.|
“So what happened?” CJ asked.
Byr stopped walking, and CJ stopped to turn and watch him. The older man closed his eyes, and his gnarled hand gripped the top of his cane like an iron talon. Then he opened his eyes and looked to CJ.
“Sabotage,” Byr said.
“Sabotage?”
The man nodded, and walked along slower. People passed them, and Byr eyed each with suspicion.
“That cult, the Cult of Ash, had men all around the city. We invite in pilgrims year round, it is part of our duty as the keepers of the Temple of Last Embers. There have been bad seeds before, but never before has a group…” Byr shook his head, but didn’t continue.
CJ thought back to what he saw as he was leaving that night. There were fires, crumpled buildings. He imagined siege equipment or something, but the only enemies he ever saw were the zombies.
“The fires I saw,” CJ said, “those were…”
Byr nodded. “Fires were set, explosives ignited. Many of my women and men died in their sleep. Better they never had to see what happened to our beloved home, overrun by unholy monsters.”
“Sorry,” CJ said, looking away. He expected some trick of invasion, some clever tactic. Instead the enemy took advantage of Akahi’s state as a religious capital.
Sir Byr’s face twisted up in anger as he walked. “The Duke had us loosen our security measures earlier this year. He was sure there was no danger. There hasn’t been a war between the four nations for some time.”
The four nations, as far as CJ could figure out, were the Princedoms, Barune, Akahi, and a very large city called the Mercantile City of Zed.
“You think these Ashen Cult people are part of one of the four?” CJ asked. So far most people just accepted his rapidly expanding understanding of their politics. Day by day he gained a larger understanding of who and what was from where. He knew Larl was suspicious, but so far he didn’t tell them about his field guide. He was going to have to explain soon, but he wanted to understand it better himself first.
Byr watched CJ, his jaw tight. “I’m still not sure you aren’t part of it yourself.”
CJ almost choked. “They almost killed me too!”
“An easy ruse,” Byr said. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone dropped their allegiance to gain intelligence, it won’t be the last. I’ve seen some duplicitous people in my time, killed more than a few of the ashed fools myself.”
“Yeah well, that doesn’t answer my question.”
Byr sighed. “Barune has no reason to attack us, we are close with them. But we’ve had our issues with the Princedoms lately. The gaggle of sparking idiots can’t ever make a solid decision, and when one prince causes a problem it can be months before the others will act to bring them in line.”
“But this cult, I thought everyone hated ash magic? Why would the princes work with that?”
“That’s what I intend to find out,” Byr grumbled. “So if you are playing a trick, just know that I’ll rip you apart myself when you do decide to run.”
CJ raised his eyebrows, but nodded. “Right, understood. Still not evil, but I get where you’re coming from.”
“Right,” Byr said. But he didn’t pick at the issue.
CJ thought about it. “When I met you, there were two soldiers with you.”
“Guards,” Byr corrected.
“Right, guards. You guys were connected, I could uhm,” He tried to think of a way to put it that didn’t reveal too much, “I could feel it.”
They walked for a bit, but Byr’s eyes shot to him occasionally. CJ worried the man was going to avoid the question, but Byr cleared his throat.
“I guess this is one of those questions you would need me for,” Byr said.
CJ let that linger.
“You don’t know what bonds are, somehow.” Byr said. “This is another thing your world somehow doesn’t have?”
The lines between him and the others were related to the bonds after all. CJ could see they didn’t exist now, but ever since he gained his allegiance the lines between soldiers changed colors. Where before they were yellow, now they were blue. Allied colors. The symbols in his map, they always marked the location of one of these groups of people, soldiers working together to guard the caravan.
“Right,” CJ said. “I guess Larl went over some of that with you.”
“The Duchess did,” Byr said. “Her interest in what you do and don’t know is my problem as well. Try to keep that to a minimum.”
“Yeah, I mean sure. Trust me, if I knew how to control how much ladies are interested in me, my life would be much different.” CJ said with a chuckle.
Byr smacked him in the shoulder hard enough that he almost teetered off the path.
“Not funny!” Byr snapped. “Don’t even joke about the Lady like that.”
CJ rubbed his shoulder, where pain was flowering out from the point of impact. He wasn’t a huge fan of feudal style social dynamics in his fiction, but dealing with it directly still took some getting used to. Not that the joke was all that funny in the first place.
“Sorry, not what I meant.” CJ said. “No, I don’t know about bonding, okay.”
“Bonds,” Byr said, “Not bonding. It is the act of linking your soul to another, created by the Twin Kings of ancient Akahi.”
“The twin kings?” CJ asked.
“I’m not your history book, Eastman, pay attention.” Byr said. “The practice has grown since then, spread to every industry and sphere of life that can accommodate it. People bond themselves in marriage, bonds work the mines, the fields, and fight our battles. So when you say you don’t know about bonds, you sound like a newborn.”
CJ shrugged, “Or someone who just got here a few days ago?”
Byr took in a breath and released it, “Or someone who got here a few days ago.”
|The Twin Kings|
|Mythicized kings of the region that is now the Duchy of Akahi. As the story goes, the kings Colum and Rahner were manipulated into fighting a destructive war that almost destroyed the land of Mount Akahi. When the two kings discovered the machinations against them, they made a vow to each other that transcended all others. This was the first Bond, made with an unbreakable oath. They became unstoppable in battle, and reconquered their lands fighting side by side.|
“Honestly, sounds like these two were married.” CJ whispered to himself.
“What is that?” Byr asked.
“Nothing,” CJ said. “So, is that it?”
Byr looked toward the sky in exasperation, “That isn’t even the whole definition.”
The refugee group were reaching a clearing at a fork in the mountainous path. It looked like people were starting to stop and take a rest.
“Good, we can stop here.” Byr said. “Clearing this up is going to take longer than I expected.”
Everyone settled in, except for CJ and Sir Byr. The knight kept CJ up the trail from everyone else, leaving the group of refugees a vague mess of people in the distance. It was enough room for Byr and CJ to talk uninterrupted.
“I’ll keep this short, I don’t like explaining stuff to the dim if I’ll just have to repeat myself.” Byr said as he settled in against a man-sized boulder.
“What makes you say I ain’t smart?” CJ asked from a couple paces away. It was hard to play nice while the old man was being grating on purpose, but Byr also had information he wanted. It wouldn’t be the first time he let someone be an asshole to him, his first job was in retail.
Byr just stared at him in response.
CJ crossed his arms. “Okay grumpy, spill it then.”
Sir Byr lifted an eyebrow, “I don’t… nevermind, pay attention. Bonds work by sending the power of your soul through a tether to another soul. The divine energy carries part of you to your bondmate, one powers the other and vice versa.”
CJ flashed his palm at Byr, “So you can see those tethers?”
Byr growled, “No, stop interrupting. These invisible connections don’t feed the energy on a one for one basis, two people that are bondmates are stronger than two people who do not have a bond. Though there are arguments why, the energy one soul gives to another is stronger than what it had originally, and then the bond feeds that back and it is stronger still.”
“Wait,” CJ said. He bit his lip when he saw Byr’s reaction to him interrupting again. But he brought up his question anyway, it was important. “So if two people use these bonds, they end up stronger? If the energy increases while it is bouncing back and forth, why aren’t they just infinitely more powerful? Why isn’t everyone in a bond?”
“Easy,” Byr said, “they can’t.”
“Can’t?”
“Can’t!” Byr said, standing a little from his leaning position. He reached into an inner pocket to his uniform and pulled out a metal ring. It was made of a dark material, almost gunmetal grey. It had a groove along the center, but otherwise was undecorated on the outside. The inner ring had etchings though, of a sort that CJ couldn’t make out from a distance.
“Bonds are messy,” Byr continued. “Without something like this Bond ring, a direct tether between two souls is like standing in a bonfire to get warm. The soul houses emotions, thoughts, urges, pain, and all of that will flow across the connection unless the members of the bond can control it. Bond rings at least limit what can transfer across, but they also limit some of the benefit.”
CJ opened his mouth to say something, but Byr cleared his throat and stared at him. “Right, go on.”
“But a two person bond is usually simple,” Byr said. “I don’t know if they have marriages where you come from, but many married couples will form two person bonds. Craftsmen, artists, sailors, plenty of people use bonds to perform their work. For what I do, for fighting, you need something stronger.”
So there was a difference in the number of people. CJ saw Byr connected to two other people, making three total. The guards around the refugees also worked in groups of three. It never occurred to him to find the number special, but it seemed to hold some significance to the power.
“The more people in a bond, the stronger the bond is,” Byr said. He flipped the ring around in his fingers. “Two people are just a little stronger than three people without a bond, but three people are nearly as strong as five, maybe six. Four people, five people, you now have a bond that can outmatch 10 to 12 fighters in strength. If that isn’t obvious to you, that means that fighting without a bond puts you at a pointless disadvantage unless you can more than double your opposition in strength.”
“That’s…” CJ stopped himself and looked at Byr, but the old man seemed content to let him speak this time. “That’s insane. So everyone has to run around with those rings on, and it makes them all stronger. But you said some people can’t, what does that mean? Sounds like everyone would be better off with them. Why isn’t everyone here wearing those rings?”
“Again, they can’t.” Byr said. “Two people is easy, though even that can be tiring for weak people. To go beyond that requires someone to act as the tentpole for the bond, sometimes called a pillar but just as often called a Bond head. The bond goes through them, and is reflected back out to the other members. The increased energy, the multiplying power, all gets routed through their soulflame. Without a soulstone, some people just outright expire, poof. Even for those with a soulstone, it requires a strong will and plenty of practice.”
CJ nodded, “Okay, wow. That seems like a lot, but that does explain why everyone isn’t running around with their soul leashed to everyone they know.”
If he thought about it, that would completely change the way a world worked. It was enough that art and industry seemed to use this process, that would morph the world all by itself. But military fighting would all morph around these bonds if they could so easily outmatch an equal number. Not to mention, using bonds in your military didn’t stop you from also fielding a bunch of people that weren’t in bonds, or were just in weaker bonds. A battlefield would be flooded with bonds, and it sounded like they couldn’t see the tethers. You wouldn’t know how strong someone was until you crossed swords with them, or they punched a hole in your chest.
“Five is the limit,” Byr said as he pocketed the ring again. “Anything beyond that and a human soul can’t handle the load, your pillar collapses under the strain and dies.”
CJ paused, “Wait no, that can’t be true. The Ash Walkers, weren’t they in a bond?”
Byr stiffened up. “What? No.”
They couldn’t see the tethers, so they didn’t know. But CJ saw them, all of them reaching out to someone in the darkness. There were more than five attached, there were dozens. Unless they were all being attached to different controllers, which he had to admit he didn’t know for sure. But if that was the case, there were many people controlling the Ash Walkers, and that was just as terrifying.
“Sorry,” CJ said, “I guess I just assumed. Those things were just so coordinated.”
Byr put a hand up, “That’s enough about those monsters. They don’t deserve to defile our tongues. Understand this, bonds aren’t just about the physical strength provided. That is monumental by itself, but the abilities granted by your attunement are also stored in your soul. Some of those can cross the tether, and a pillar that can make proper use of that can make one bond worth five. In the end, the commander that can make better use of these resources can even win under insurmountable odds. Is that clear enough?”
CJ stood up straight and gave Byr a salute with a straight arm up to his forehead. “Yes sir, thanks for the info.”
“What is that?” Byr said while picking himself up and hobbling over. His eyes narrowed at CJ. “Is that a joke?”
“Sorry,” CJ said, “That’s a salute from home.”
Byr grabbed CJ’s hand, flattened it, and then placed it palm down against the center of his chest. He pulled it away, then slapped it down again. Then he yanked CJ’s arm up into the sky.
“Two knocks against your center, then reach for the sky. You can also reach toward Mount Akahi if it is clearly visible. That is our salute, your salute. If you’re really with us.”
CJ brought his hand down. “Uhm, thanks.” He tried it, beating his chest twice, then he turned toward the mountain they were climbing down and reached the same hand out toward it. “Like that?”
For a moment, Byr didn’t say anything. His eyes went up and down CJ, but he didn’t comment. Then he turned to walk back toward the group, “sloppy, but close enough. Come on.”
CJ walked beside the man. He let the silence reign for a few minutes, but there were still some questions he wanted answered. For better or worse, Sir Byr was his best source, and he thought he was getting through to the old man. He wasn’t expecting heartfelt welcomes, but at least he could get him to admit that CJ wasn’t a spy.
“Do you think Lady Mae can get it all back?” CJ asked. “I signed on for this because I owe you all, but I’m not a soldier. Is it even possible for her to win here?”
“Not my place to say,” Sir Byr said. “I follow the commands of the duke, and he was clear as the air between us about this.”
CJ looked at Byr, who finally looked back at him.
“I’m to protect Lady Mae until the end of her days. I’ll do what I have to do to keep her alive. Nothing in my orders require me to recapture Akahi, or rescue the duke himself. As much as that frustrates me, I won’t break the oath I made because I disagree.”
“You, aren’t trying to get Akahi back at all?” CJ asked.
The old knight shrugged. “I didn’t say that. I will stand by Lady Mae throughout whatever campaign she believes she needs to undertake. She has the power to make her own decisions, and I will stand by them as long as they do not break my higher commandments. If she tries to march back into the duchy without a way to survive, I will stop her. But for now, we see if we can save our conquered nation.”
CJ nodded, but stopped following at that point. They were reaching the crowd of people again, and CJ let Byr vanish back into the refugees.