“Just so you know Robutt, you’re not getting in here.”
“FOUL DEMON! RELEASE THIS SPELL AT ONCE!”
“So, first off, rude. Secondly, factually inaccurate. Third-
“SPEAK NO MORE TO ME HELLSPAWN! LET ME HAVE MY SON!”
“Third, I didn’t cast that barrier. The spring is naturally enchanted. Those with evil intent cannot be inside of its boundary.”
“I WILL REND YOUR SOUL TO PIECES!”
“Also, a fourth little note, this place is sacred to your empire’s patron Goddess. She’s also the one blocking you from entering. Maybe, just maybe, you should check yourself before you wreck yourself.”
“PERCIVAL! COME HERE AT ONCE!”
“VAL is going to do no such thing as far as I’m aware. I could be wrong. Hey, Val, do you want to go out there with that mindless waste of space or stay in here with the cool kids club, membership: me.”
“SILENCE CREATURE OF THE ETERNAL DARK! I! WILL! HAVE! MY! SON!”
Val stood up, planted their feet in a swordsman’s stance, and put their hand on Boar’s Thorn, staring down their father.
“No. You won’t.”
“WHAT?!”
“You won’t hurt Rose. I will not allow it.”
“That thing deserves no mercy! I thought it content simply being near you, but to SEDUCE MY SON and kidnap him, It deserves nothing but dispersement .”
WIth a sudden, smooth motion, the tip of the Thorn is at Robutt’s throat, drawing blood. One little push by Val and it’ll be the end of the Duke. Hmm. Patricide isn’t uncommon in the nobility, but it is frowned upon. Buuuttt this could be Val’s path. Who knows? As much as I hate to admit it, the goddess of supposed mercy does scare the piss out of me just a little. So let’s let Val handle this one.
----------------------------------------
Red. Blood red is all I see. So. He wants to hurt Rose? He won’t take another breath. I draw my sword and rest it against his jugular vein. Robert takes a breath, seemingly catching up to the current situation. Then, that anger that he directed towards Rose finds its new target.
“Percival! You DARE raise your sword against your liege? Your father? Lower it at once and your punishment will be lenient.”
“Hmm. No. I won’t.”
“You won’t lower your blade?”
Robert slowly begins shifting as though to draw Ythene. Against me. Funny. Really funny. I lower the Thorn and start cackling.
“Hahahah, hah, haaaaah. Yep, I knew it. You’re incapable of any emotion besides rage. I’m positive that if we fought I would stand above your corpse. And you know it too. So. Leave. Now. If I see you again in my life I will end you. As this glade is precious to the Goddess of Light and Mercy, I will not profane it with your stinking blood. Be grateful, be pious, for it is her mercy that flows through me now to spare you.”
My former father’s face goes from a red like his hair straight to purple, veins bulging everywhere on his face and the arm that he lowers from where it was raised to grasp his sword. He growls at me, voice dripping venom.
“I have no son.”
“On this we are agreed. From today on, I return the name Percival and the name Quentin to you. They should still be in good condition, I never used them.”
And, after spitting on the ground. He turns and walks back the way he came. Good Riddance. As he leaves my sight, I collapse to my knees and start breathing heavily.
“Holy shit Val, are you ok? You’re shaking all over.”
“I. I. I. I’m fine. Just. Scared to pieces.”
“Yeah, that was fucking insane. I can’t believe you did that on your own! Congrats!”
I can’t hold it in anymore, I turn to the side and vomit out everything inside. Turns out I wasn’t empty. Funny that. Though, as my bile leaves me, I feel the fear leave as well. All the fear I’ve been living with for so long, along with the certainty that I was chained to my father, to my house, to my future. I’m free!
“Whoa there buddy. Easy does it. You’re ok and you’re gonna always be ok, you hear me?”
“Hahaaha, Rose, Rose, I did it. I’m free from him. I don’t even have a name anymore.”
“Well, if you want it, you can always be Val. Just Val. Or maybe something else.”
“I’m ok being Val, but do you have any suggestions for what it stands for?”
“Hmm. Maybe Valentine? Valence? Valkyrie?”
“I like the last one. Does it have a meaning?”
“Um. The Valkyries were a group of female warriors for a god from my world. They were the ones that decided the fate of a battle and would carry the dead to the afterlife.”
“Hmm. I don’t know how well the meaning fits, but I like the cadence of the name. I think I’ll keep it.”
“Alright, Valkyrie. Sounds like a plan. Now then, where are we headed?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, technically if we stay here, we’d be squatting on the Duke’s land. Which means he could remove us by force. Since we can’t hunt the animals that come to the spring, we’d have to leave to find food which would put us in danger of Robutt’s revenge. So we need to skedaddle. The question is: where to?”
“Umm. Hmm. I, uh, didn’t think of that part.”
“I know you didn’t.”
“Hey!”
“Haha. Nah, don’t worry about it. So, honor’s student, what towns are around here? Extra credit if they’re independant or seldomly visited by the Duke’s men.”
“Let’s see… There’s the Town of Nevil to the north of us. They have an agreement with the Duke that instead of the Duke’s men coming to them, they instead provide a larger amount of taxes in order to keep the peace in their town. To the south-west there’s Fellpoint, which is a small community of minority peoples such as demonkin, beastfolk, and draconids. The Duke’s men have never been terribly…cordial with them so if we say we’re enemies of the Duke, they may welcome us. Then there’s the City of the Falls to the south-east, which is a large city built in a canyon with numerous waterfalls in the vicinity.”
“Let’s see. I know of The Falls, and Nevil, but Fellpoint is new. I’ve done a lot of quests in The Falls so I’m fairly familiar with it…from 8 years ago. Buuuut it can’t have changed that much. However, I gotta ask: how many people do you want to be around? Because The Falls is so much more crowded than Nevil. I’m hesitant to say ‘let’s go to Fellpoint’ simply because it didn’t exist in my time as far as I’m aware. You might also face significant hostility, what with your hair and unfortunate connection with the Duke. We have no way of proving we’re against him, so they’d have no reason to trust us. Also, since you’ve never been there, and I’ve never been there, it makes finding the damn place a chore, you get me?”
“Yeah. I was hoping to meet them. They say that the draconids are masters of metalcraft and I wanted to see how they made things. It would also be nice to be in a…less crowded area. But if you think they’ll be hostile then maybe we shouldn’t go there.”
“Now hold on. I know for a fact that those guys have some amazing smiths. I once saw one make a chain shirt in less time than this conversation. If I haven’t told you before, that’s normally at least a few day’s work. Not to mention how the few masters I had the pleasure of meeting could blend form and function in any piece such that they were pure art. Val, I’ve decided. We’re going to Fellpoint.”
“What! I thought you were against it!”
“Aha, but, you see, this will be a great opportunity to advance your education. You’ve been slacking in my absence, haven’t you?”
“I. Ugh. Fine, you’re right, I wasn’t crafting at all. But what if they really do hate me?”
“Hmm, a valid point. Counterpoint, what if they don’t? We shouldn’t put opinions in the mouths of people we’ve never met yet.”
“Ok, ok. So, let’s get going!”
“Hell yeah!”
----------------------------------------
The road to Fellpoint was not well maintained. Essentially, it was a pair of cart ruts that ran towards Nevil and The Falls. Since the spring was to the west of the castle, We went south till we ran into the “road” and then started going west. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be the longest walk in the world, but considering we have to hunt and forage all our meals it’s taking longer than I’d like. Thankfully, I can provide Val with plenty of water and I also don’t have to eat, so that makes it easier on them.
Though I have to say, their hunting method is a bit…odd. They stand still in one place for a long time. Eventually an animal makes its presence known nearby, at which point Val seemingly blinks into existence next to them, Thorn already drawn and on the downstroke to cut off the beast’s head. It’s really unfair for the poor animal, but Val needs to eat well so I can’t complain, only hope they have more luck in their next life as, like, a nice Stone Oak. Ain’t nobody beheading a stone tree. Well, woodminers might. Those guys actually love doing stuff like that. Oh well, Miss Deer, your next life might suck as much as this one, but good luck anyway.
Now then, we’re currently camping on the side of the “road.” Val gathered the wood, because of course they did, and stacked it neatly into a serviceable campfire. Near the fire is a large flat rock that I had cleaned earlier, to use as a stove. I was about to light it when I thought better of it.
“Hey, Val.”
“What is it Rose?”
“Have you been keeping up your mana circulation?”
“Um. After we reunited I have been.”
“Good, now then, light the fire.”
“You mean with magic?”
“Duh.”
“Oh…um…ok. But no promises, alright?”
“Alright then, no promises.”
With that Val nervously starts to concentrate. I silently activate Mana Vision. I can see that their mana is flowing smoothly with no little pools anywhere except for their fingers. The trick to casting a spell quickly and consistently is to pool it in the desired area, normally the hands or fingers, but also to avoid it becoming stagnant. Essentially to have a higher flow in one area, or maybe a higher concentration? Essentially a dam that pools water behind it but still allows some to keep flowing out.
Val snapped their fingers and a flame reminiscent of their hair exploded in their hand. The look on their face is priceless. The amazement and wonder of opening up a whole new world of possibilities. I know the feeling well, it’s what I felt when I first logged into Legend of Treston after all. I figure I’ll give them time to savor the feeling.
After a handful of seconds admiring the flame, Val tossed it lightly into the wood pile and now we have a nice fire to sit beside. I can’t feel the heat really, but I can enjoy the light and warmth. This is why fire magic isn’t all destruction I feel for the umpteenth time. Val took the cuts of meat they had prepared earlier and placed them gently on the stone after giving it enough time to warm up. Man I wish I could smell because the sound is amazing.
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
The last few days have proven that Val does not know how to cook. Which is understandable, as they were a noble. So I’ve been trying to take them through a crash course on how to cook well enough that you don’t poison yourself. Which is a skill I had to learn growing up. So far the result has been…less than stellar. Passable? I guess? I can’t smell what they cook, like I said, but that doesn’t mean I can’t tell charcoal when I see it.
However, tonight seems to be going much better. They’ve flipped the venison over and the cooked side seems to be a nice brown color, as opposed to the typical charcoal. My problem in teaching is that I’m used to being able to adjust the heat. Wait a minute. Looking at the fire, and then at Val with my Mana Vision still active, I notice that Val’s still connected to the fire and is controlling it still. Though, judging by their focus being on the meat and not the fire, they might be doing it subconsciously. My lord are they a magical genius?! Man oh man, I want to ask them about it so badly but I know that if I do that meat’s going straight past well done to the realm of carbonized. I hate practicing self-control.
After a little bit more, Val finishes cooking the meat and begins to eat it along with the salad of wild greens and some nuts we found. Oh yeah, they’re not just using their hands to eat, we and by we I mean they, made some wooden utensils a few days ago. Sigh, they’re such an amazing carpenter. Well, I might be biased, but they do absorb information like a sponge. It’s honestly impressive how well they listen to me when I’m teaching them. I can’t wait to get to somewhere where we can set up a workshop. Oh shit! They can cast magic now! They could enchant the Thorn.
“Hey, Val!”
Val looks at me with a face full of food, chipmunk cheeks and all. Ohhh they’re so cute. No! Don’t get distracted!
“Since you can cast magic, we can enchant Boar’s Thorn soon! Enchantment is great since it can be done anywhere as long as you know the spell and have an item with enchantment capability.”
A few seconds of silent chewing followed by a big ol’ swallow.
“That’s awesome! But, won’t the fire magic I know interfere with the nature magic of Boar’s Thorn?”
“Hmm. Not really. Magic doesn’t ever really interfere with itself, no matter the elemental affinities. Like, fire and water can easily share the same item and have no problems, same with light and dark. So there wouldn’t be a problem with doing so. The real question is: what kind of spell do you want to enchant it with?”
“How do you mean?”
“I mean that I know nearly every spell in existence so I can teach you any basic spell you’d want to enchant it with. Which means that to narrow down the possibilities, we need to decide on what kind of spell you want, like an offensive spell versus a defensive spell. Buff vs debuff. That kind of thing. You already have a defensive buff on the Thorn, so it might be nice to add an offensive spell to it to give the item balance. Ooorrr, you could do the more fun and less recommended thing of going all out on one thing. Up to you on what you think would be more useful.
“Hmm. Is there a way to add a spell to defend against the thing in the woods?”
“Oh. Hmm. I think instead of defense with that thing the better options would be offense.”
“How do you mean?”
“Weeelll, the only defense that I can see working against it is Mercy’s Prison which, as we both know, is off the table for us in the future. However there were a few offensive spells from the soul school that could’ve possibly fended it off, such as Soul Capture or Banish Life’s Essence. The last one is referring to a soul by the way.”
“I’m not sure I like the idea of capturing a soul, especially one like that. What if it broke out?”
“Well, I don’t much like the idea either, but it’d be a more permanent solution than Banish as that only works for a certain amount of time, ‘Until next the sun kisses the sky’s height’ is the phrase from the incantation. Which means it wears off at noon. So best to cast it like, an hour after noon to get the best effect but that can be hard when you’re ambushed like we were last time.”
“So Soul Capture is our only choice?”
“Weeellll, maybe. We wouldn’t necessarily have to capture the soul and take it with us. We could bind it to something random, like a tree or a random boulder.”
“I’m sensing a ‘but’.”
“That’s the thing, the reason you usually take the captured soul around is either because it can act as a sort of magical battery that will recharge assuming you don’t consume it all at once. I personally see that as cruel and villainous, as you’re using the essence of someone’s life to cast Fireball or whatever. The other reason is because the vessel for the soul to be captured does in fact matter when considering the soul escaping. Normally, since souls can’t attack you, it’s just a matter of ‘soul leak’
“‘Soul leak’ is essentially the power of the captured soul diminishing over time as the vessel deteriorates from the magical energies flowing through it. Would this be alleviated by simply not siphoning energy from the soul? It’s unclear. Some captured souls have been found in dungeons as old as a millenia, still intact and fairly powerful. However, those were significantly well crafted vessels holding extremely powerful souls, such as those of Dragons, Liches, and the like. On the other hand, I once saw someone capture a soul in a F-grade sword they had in their inventory and could watch it deteriorate in his hands so that was wild.”
“So what you’re saying is that for long term containment we’d have to craft a suitable vessel?”
“Preciscely! And, unfortunately, we don’t have anything on us that would do to make such a vessel for a soul of the caliber we encountered earlier. It’s…it’s big. Maybe not, um, physically? That’s not right but, um, it’s big power-wise I guess.”
“Well what materials are usually used versus what we’d need for that thing?”
“Let’s see. Normally a gemstone of some kind, works better the closer the gem’s elemental affinities line up with those inherent to the soul in question.”
“Souls have inherent affinities?”
“Yeah. Like, you mostly have light and fire affinity. Which might explain why you could stay connected to and control the fire you lit earlier.”
“I did that?!”
“Yeah bud. Honestly, probably helps explain why the meal today cooked so well.”
“I. Aww. I thought I just got better at cooking.”
Oh no. I’ve made Val look like a wet puppy I just kicked. Oh nooooooo, Vaaaallll don’t look at me like that!
“I mean, um, learning how to control the heat properly is part of cooking and, um, oh please don’t cry I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”
“It’s fine!” A big sniff and they regain determination. “It’s fine! It tasted good and wasn’t burnt so it’s fine! But tell me next time Rose!”
“I knooow, I’m sorry.”
“But anyway, we need a gemstone and what else?”
“Right, gemstone to match affinity, a precious metal to set the stone in and conduct mana, and special ink, to ink the inside of the engravings on the stone itself.”
“What do they do?”
“The engravings are typically a prayer, typically to the Lady of Rest, she, of course, having sway over souls and whatnot. Then the ink can be almost any standard magical ink, but the ones best suited to soul binding are Juimine and Freivent The prior being made of a mixture of ectoplasm and the ashes from a 10-year gallows. The latter is a mixture of ogre blood and a lightning struck tree’s galls. They’re not the easiest to get the materials for, considering we have to walk everywhere. And also because you’re still growing. Not that that’s a bad thing, just that I don’t want you biting off more than you can chew, you understand?”
“Hmm. I’m certain the Duke’s alchemist had at least a few of those ingredients. A shame we didn’t think to rob him before we left.”
“Okaaayyy, seems I need to teach you about the consequences of our actions! When you piss off someone powerful, try not to add insult to injury through such actions as: property damage and theft. Because nine times out of ten, when you do that, they go from ‘hating your guts’ to ‘actively hunting you’. Granted, it remains to be seen whether or not the Duke is hunting us, but considering he was the one to exile us, I think it’s unlikely. Now if we had stolen a number of fairly expensive reagents, I think he might find us just to take them back, or try to kill us if he couldn’t. Now, I believe in your power to hold your own in a fight because you seem like a little pointy tornado when you go full tilt, but I saw Robutt kill that soul. Aaaand then he turned to me and threatened the fuck outta me. And I’m still injured from where the soul, um, exploded.”
“Wait a minute! You’re injured!?”
“Um. Yeah? Can’t you see the blue mist rising from the gashes in me?”
“NO! I can’t! Wha-what do we do?! How do we fix you! Oh god this can’t be happening! You got hurt because of me, oh no oh no oh no.”
“Jeezy Creezy Val, get a hold of yourself! I didn’t get hurt because of you, I got hurt because that thing was fucking stupid powerful and when it lost it threw a hissy fit like a toddler! A, really stupidly powerful toddler that can make a crater half a mile wide or some shit. Stupid powerful. And don’t worry about it! I’m fine enough, just, something’s leaking and I’m not sure what. Also not sure if it’s leaving me permanently or if I regenerate it or what. Wait! Idiot! Status.”
On my status screen, some shit had definitely changed. My class was now “Hero’s Protector”, well I was going to do that anyway but I blame the lightbulb on high for that. My level went from spasming between 1 and ??? to showing my actual level from the game: 99. Let’s see. Hmm, I seem to be leaking pure mana, cause my mana is constantly dropping and regening, essentially spasming around two thirds of the way up the bar. Thankfully I put a lot of work into upping my mana regeneration rate while playing so instead of being completely tapped out, I’m just low on available magic. Let’s see, looking at my health I’m at…yikes, 100/3500, damn I’m nearly dead! Again! Shit maybe I should try to heal myself.
I’m worried that the reason I’m at two thirds of my total mana is because of the spells I’ve cast between when I was injured and now, so I’m scared to cast more willy nilly in case I need to protect Val in the near future. I already don’t have enough mana for any top-tier magic and would have to settle for something less effective in case of big trouble. God I wish I could take potions. Hmm. Maybe… No, that’s an idea for later on. Focus on what you can do first. Since so much of the screen changed recently, let’s check the rest.
Holy shit! I have a friends list again! C’mon c’mon, where’s the guild? Damnit, all that’s on here is:
Friends:
Valkyrie
Dal
Luma Éadrom Error: Could not be listed
Toffer “Toffee” Zendzana
Ooookaaaay. I get that Val’s here, and also that the most unpleasant deity tried to get herself removed, but why are gods even listed in the first place!? Also, where’s everyone else!?!? Where’s Evie? Where’s Preston? Lyle? Seraph? My entire Guild’s gone! My entire contact network! I used to have hundreds of people on this list, how is it only Val, two gods, and- wait a minute. Maybe that’s why? Toffee is here. But Toffee was the NPC I hired when I first started really making money to help me carry stuff and act as a kind of shopkeep. I kinda used her like an automatic answering machine. I’d give people both mine and her contact info, and invariably when they called me and I didn’t pick up, they’d contact her and she’d dutifully take down their username and order and when I had time I’d read the list and fill the orders. But, she was an NPC. Wait, technically, all the people on the list are NPCs. Am. Am I an NPC? No, that doesn’t seem right. But what it does mean is that I do kinda have a friend outside of Val out there. I’m not counting the gods. I don’t think it’s possible for a mortal to truly understand a being like that (or in the case of Miss Shiny up there, pleasant enough) to be friends with them. I wouldn’t mind meeting Dal again, but it would be weird to go grab coffee with him.
Let’s see if I can chat with them. Holy cow I can! Amazing! I’m giving credit to Dal for this! Maybe I’ll start praying to him? Would that be weird? He didn’t seem like the type to stand on ceremony like that. More the type to kick up his feet and relax on ceremony while he smoked his pipe. But anyway! Let’s try it out with Val!
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I was sitting and staring into the fire, berating myself for the umpteenth time for not protecting Rose properly. It wasn’t until that moment in the woods that I realized how fragile she truly is. And how unfortunately willing she is to die for me. I need to become stronger, to make myself better gear and learn more magic and find a way to cut souls and monsters and gods and anything else if it’ll protect her. Just as I resolve that, a weird sound rings in my ears.
Bading!
What on earth is “bading?”
“You have, 1-. You have, 2-. You have, 13 new messages from ‘Rose Brubaker’.”
What the heck? Messages? From Rose? Her last name is “Brubaker”? How do I check them? I look over at her and she’s giving me a shit eating grin and mouths the word “Status” to me. O-okay.
“Status”
Huh, some things have changed. Like there’s this circle in the bottom right that says “Chat” with a number 13 next to it. I look at Rose again and she mimes touching something with her finger. Sooo I guess I touch this circle? I do and the screen changes. There’s a circle on the side with Rose’s face in it with her name next to it as well as the number 13. I touch that circle and now there’s a screen that says “Chat with Rose” and then 13 rectangles with text in them.
Chat with Rose:
Rose: Test
Rose: Awesome! Hiya Val!
Rose: This is the chat system from the game! For some reason we can use it now!
Rose: We can now communicate without speaking! If we encounter a silence spell we’ll be able to coordinate!
Rose: Ahh I missed this. But man, 8 years without typing makes this hard as **** to use!
Rose: Oh come on! Stupid profanity filter! How come that ******* piece of **** system lasted this long? ******* no use to anyone!
Rose: Well, you can’t curse in chat, but it’s still fine enough.
Rose: So, how was dinner?
Rose: How do you feel about the trip so far? Excited to get to Fellpoint?
Rose: Um. Hmm. I want to keep sending messages but I’m not sure what to send
Rose: Let’s test the filter. ****, nope, Freak, ok, ****, nope, Shizer, wow they let that through? Wild. Um. ***, nope, Butts, hehehehe. Butts. Butts butts butts. hehehehehe.
Rose: So, munchkin, buddy, friend, pal, Val, in order to use this, there’s either something called a keyboard that you can type at in order to make words appear on the screen. However, it takes time to learn how to type well. Instead, you can activate the subvocal speech-to-text option in the upper left. Looks like a microphone. Wait shit-
Rose: Sorry, ran out of space on the last message. I realize you don’t know what a microphone is. Um. It’s the little oval shape in the upper left with an upside down T under it in the upper left. Just push it and you can whisper your message and the system will pick it up and write it down.
I- huh. I look back up to Rose and she’s no longer there. Suddenly my vision is a little misty, almost like…
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Heheheheh. While Val was busy looking at their chat, I snuck up behind them. Which isn’t hard when I don’t make any sound while moving. As soon as they looked up to find me, I covered their eyes with my hands.
“Oh no! Val! You’ve been ambushed by the Blinding Monster of Azyfoon! Quickly! Tell your best friend that you love them or you’ll be consumed.”
“Pfft. Rose, quit playing around.”
I lowered my voice and continued.
“I don’t know who this ‘Rose’ is! I am the Blinding Monster of Azyfoon! I know nothing of love and have always wanted to learn. If I do not hear a profession of platonic love soon I might just eat this young one in front of me!”
Val let out a deep sigh and responded in a flat, affectless voice.
“If it is love you wish to know about, I cannot help you. I am but an earthen golem who can feel no emotion due to faulty construction. I also taste like clay and thus would be bad to eat and give you indigestion, oh Blinding Monster of Azyfoon. Perhaps we could learn together.”
“Alright then, party pooper.” I switched back to my normal voice. “I’ll say it first, I love you buddy, and I think you’re the best person in the world. You’re my best friend and I never want you to forget that.”
I’m leaning over Val’s shoulder looking at their face now and their face is red again! Are they sick? I wish I could put my hand on their forehead to check their temperature. Instead all I can do is ask.
“Val, are you feeling alright?”
“Um.Yep! Yep! I mean, yes. I am. Feeling ok. I’m feeling ok. Fine, even! Don’t worry!”
“Uh. Alright. Just, your face is red so I’m a little worried. Let me know if you start to feel woozy or anything and I’ll cast a restorative spell, alright?”
“Aright!”
Weird. I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on Val in the future it seems, to make sure they’re not overworking themselves.
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Why is she so close to my face?! TOO CLOSE! Rose, for the love of everything, please believe me and STOP STARING AT ME! AAAGHHGHGHGH!