Chapter 7- Malevolent Patience

The sound of fetid water dripping off her fur beat out a rhythm like an irregular metronome as they waited in the dark.

Tobias breathed heavily, the momentary respite in their trial enough to lull them both toward sleep.

“Begin!” Cried a gravelly voice.

In an instant, white light, like the creation of life itself, flooded their world. Riley felt her stomach churn as her ears rang and her eyes shut against the luminous assault. She launched back only to land in a murky puddle.

Then the smell hit her.

Misty vapors hovered scant inches above the ground, concealing bubbling fetid pools of water that caused her muzzle to rankle in disgusted disappointment at the foulness of the air.

“When did we get to Dagobah?” She wondered aloud as Tobias grinned knowingly, in spite of his fatigue, dropping down into a defensive stance, summoning his sword.

“I doubt we’re here to fight any little green men,” he replied, taking a deep and centering breath.

“It’s been what, two days? Maybe three? Who knows at this point,” Riley mentally shrugged.

“At least we’ve been able to catch a little sleep,” Tobias replied, looking for the silver lining.

“Yeah, always in the dark, always in the room resting against hard stone, and then, whammo,” Riley glowered like a storm cloud.

Tobias shrugged, “It’s not been as bad as our black blade training.”

“Fair,” she agreed, peering out toward the swamp.

A leaping humanoid troll soon came into view, skipping over each hidden swampy pool or puddle; still, with every leap, mud went flying, soon raining down over Riley and Tobias, only adding to their misery.

Not bothering to rise, Riley pulled at her power as one of her new passive abilities kicked in.

Augmented reality-Analyze

Leapriben, 1-3, Chaotic Evil.

Abilities: Kinetic, Enhanced Constitution, Elemental Resistance.

Debuffs: None

Size doesn’t matter

The information, once a whisper in Riley’s subconscious, populating into her brain like something she always knew, now floated to the left of a bracket that had appeared around the horrid leaping thing.

Bristling reddish hair covered its body in patches over pale white skin.

Its appearance was humanoid but brutish. Muscular arms bulged and looked more like that of a gorilla's than a man's. Equally built were their back legs, which ended in a pair of normal but oversized feet covered in hair.

Utterly nude, nothing was left to the imagination, but strangely, Riley noticed a tiny crown atop his head.

“Huh,” she remarked to herself just as it leapt one final time, targeting her.

A green aura of magical menace wreathed its large hairy feet, and like a missile, it descended towards Riley, just as Cid had once done to the antilions on her first mission.

She felt Tobias begin to cast. Firebo…

“Wait, I got this. Save your energy, ” she interrupted, pulling at her power as Tobias let his drop.

Death’s Gardner (Chaos)

Living vines shot up from the swamp on an intercept course with the fiend; as they grew, spikes and spines erupted out, mutating the plants into a horror. Black ichor began leaking from the spines, portending poison.

The eyes of the Leapriben went wide, now on a seemingly terminal descent. Their body exploded into a green aura of magic as their direction tilted unnaturally, dodging the first four vines, but the fifth caught and began to swing the monster towards the ground.

Riley fed them power, keeping the spell going, all the while keeping an eye on her mana bar that was slowly trickling away in the upper right-hand corner of her vision.

The muscles of the monster bulged further, allowing the needles of the plant to dig into its flesh. Necrotic poison began to turn their veins black as her new augmented reality ability told the tale…

Death’s Gardner has inflicted necro-vine poison on Leapriben…

Tobias stood, watching with awe as the muscles of the monster pulsed with power, beginning to tear through the vine just as the unfortunate creature slammed into the ground.

More vines wrapped around, reinforcing the grip, before Riley flicked her right forepaw.

The monster bounced into the earth again and again. Still, it found the strength to howl in rage.

“My turn,” Tobias grinned with menace as two bottles hit the ground, a mana and stamina potion.

Flare-Celestial

Her vines immolated in the white hot light of Tobias’ new first-tier cast, pulling from her side of the power as well.

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Predictably, their power dipped precipitously as the beast immolated into ash, and the scene faded like a stage play.

You have defeated a Leapriben. Congratulations!

The world around them dissolved as they were left again in the black.

“Easy one,” Riley remarked, eyeing her status bars.

“Don’t trust it,” Tobias warned, reaching out and setting his hand between her ears.

Even within the dark, there were things to see, as Riley’s overlay highlighted a particular span of black.

A large crystal hidden in the ceiling glowed dimly with a bracket hanging around it. The light it shed did not cast far, fading into the black.

Control Node-Inactive

Strange geometric patterns glowed dimly in the black, radiating out from the circle, all contained within a circle that dazzled the eyes.

“We keep wearing that thing out,” Riley said, looking up toward Tobias, finding him by bond instead of by sight.

“Fourth time today. I think it was all today,” he shook his head as if trying to shake out his sense of time, summoning his pocket watch.

Within the pitch dark, its ticking rang out like the beating of the heart, though its hands were not visible.

With a sigh, he sent it away as the helpful bracket appeared over a space to his right.

Hidden window- Control Room Appeared beside the bracket.

Looking out from the other side of the window was an old man, well into his sixties. He peered out from the control room on the darkened space. His face was stern and rigid and bore the marks of a life of austerity. One eye was covered by a patch, much like Cid’s, but the scars went deeper, his face pitted over indentations of bone that began at the peak of his forehead and drew down in three canyon-like lines ending only at his jaw. Rail thin, he appeared impossibly fit; every muscle seemed to move like cords under skin.

There was no humor or light in his eyes; it was as if his soul had been born for one purpose, war.

The door opened behind him, but the man did not turn; instead, he bristled.

“Yes?” He barked.

“The Grand Artificer sent me, the crystal is again drained, and the reserves are now gone,” Kilvaran said.

A low-throated groan, almost like a growl, rose from the old man’s throat.

“You haven’t found their limits then, even after all this?” Kilvaran paled.

“Nor found any reason to disqualify them,” the old general quietly seethed.

“This could be a trivial matter if we both agree, Ecbert,” Kilvaran replied.

“But we don’t. They are competent, more than competent. This trial has gone on two days longer than it should have, and I can still find no fault with them. This... offends me, but I must admit to what I see before me. They have endured far more than any normal Greyblade aspirant would and passed every trial, fair or no,” General Ecbert replied.

“Even with the normal limits disabled?” Kilvaran pressed.

“Have you not eyes, Magister? We have pushed this artifact to the limit of everything I know, and I can push it no further,” he crossed his arms, glaring forward into the darkened space.

“Galdor has called them his chosen,” Kilvaran demurred.

“It’s more than that. They don’t fight like Greyblades. There’s a level of tactics and prowess. Tobias’ skill with a sword rivals that of our instructors, and Riley moves in almost perfect sync with him. They may be the pets of the king, but I can find no fault with them. They are better than many I have trained,” his shoulders stooped as he stared down at the ground.

“Then we will create a fault,” Kilvaran shrugged.

“No, they are only dangerous to the enemy in front of them, and I will not deal deceitfully. Politics is a dirty business, and it is your business. There is honor to consider, as well as the Gods, not to mention the good of the kingdom. Throwing them away for no reason would be a gift to our enemies,” Ecbert paused to glance sidelong over his shoulder.

“You sit on two stools. You agree they are dangerous, yet refuse to take the necessary steps to end this threat. It is unlike you to equivocate,” Kilvaran's voice dropped low and menacing.

“Be careful of your next words, Magister. I can see their utility, but we both know it is more than that. They must be dealt with, but only in such a way that it restores the natural order of things, not upend it. We must be careful. Are you certain the king still wishes them to raid the fortress, Venosimoor?” Ecbert asked, rubbing his chin.

“Yes, because of its connection to the coup and its ties to Venoiscipher within the legends,” Kilvaran explained.

“I’m fairly certain it’s already claimed the one aspirant we sent to scout. Normally, I’d send a more experienced team...” The old general peered back out into the darkened room.

“That can still be done after those two have disappeared. It will make for a better story, anyway. The valiant chosen dying to retrieve a fallen ranger. I will make sure that songs will be sung about them, and we can put all these concerns to rest,” Kilvaran dusted his hands as if trying to shake off the guilt.

“Aye,” Ecbert’s eyes narrowed, “I doubt they’d survive it, no matter what they did to ascend. Tactics and power have limits, and them dying under a proper first-tier threat could quash their legend before inspiring others.”

“Then see it done, General,” not waiting for an answer, Kilvaran turned and left while Riley and Tobias waited in the dark.

General Ecbert sighed, staring down at an ancient and weathered control panel made of stone. Two rows of four heavily worn and marred crystals dominated its center.

All were dark, save the one in the center of the lowest row, which pulsed in red. Circles filled with dazzling geometric designs encompassed each, with crudely carved Calarian script embossed beneath them.

“This is for the good of the kingdom,” he whispered to himself, drawing in a deep and steadying breath, “if they’re allowed to continue, it’ll be chaos. Those of the second tier aren't supposed to ascend! This whole business is unnatural. It’s better that they die for order than live to cause chaos.”

Stepping to the side of a panel, Ecbert opened the door leading out into the training area as the lights came up.

Riley and Tobias sat in a corner, covered in dirt and grime, appearing totally exhausted.

“An adequate performance. You have passed the initial phase of your trial and are ready for the final test to commence, but that will not be done here,” Ecbert announced with dismissive pomp dripping from his words.

“Adequate? That’s all you have to say. We’ve been at this for days without rest, and we still kicked its ass!” Riley snarled.

Tobias coughed pointedly, “What she meant, Sir, is...”

“Silence!” Ecbert thundered.

“What she meant is that she expects praise for doing what is required of her. You performed your duty. That is enough of an accolade for any true ranger.”

Tobias bristled as he felt the storm building in Riley like a waiting nuclear bomb.

‘This is only going to cause us both misery if you continue to push him. We’ve survived worse. This guy is an amateur next to Cid.’

She looked up at him as her ears lost their rigor, now hanging limp.

“As I said, you have passed every test over the last week here at the castle,” General Ecbert announced as if it was somehow news, “I am satisfied that your evaluation can now begin.”

“Wait, uh, Sir, what was all this? Wasn’t this the evaluation?” Tobias boggled.

‘Definitely feeling the Cid energy,’ Riley glowered over their entwined souls.

“No, this was me ensuring you would survive your evaluation long enough so that I don’t have to explain to the royals why their new pets died so quickly,” he grumbled.

Tobias’ anger flashed as his hand tightened over his sword hilt.

‘Cid energy! My mouth has already caused enough trouble!' Riley urged, finding a familiar path within herself that had overgrown: malevolent patience.

Heeding her warning, the former blackblade relaxed his shoulders and let his hand go limp.

“Adequate,” General Ecbert pronounced again, his one good eye flicking down towards Tobias’ sword.

“You two, follow,” he ordered, turning and striding out.

They shared a brief look between each other before moving quickly to keep the general in sight.

"Where are we going?" Riley asked.

“Where I tell you to go,” The General snapped back, turning down one of the many labyrinthine hallways they found themselves in.