Mattias visibly relaxed and showed no response to my Identify. Either our level disparity was so high he didn’t feel it or my skill had grown to the point it could go undetected. He was level 17, not an average citizen surely. His health level seemed low but I didn’t know if my health being tied to stamina was a class change or not. Our loremaster was still developing her knowledge skills.

“My name is Mattias. I came to Etes when the King called for any classes that could craft runes. When I showed my skill to the advisor I was told I would be doing the Kingdom a great service. My class is called Runecrafter and I can craft runes that perform various functions.” Mattias answered.

“What are runes?” I asked in confusion.

“They are...here let me show you.” He started to answer but stopped.

He reached his hands in his pockets and we all tensed. He slowed and waited for me to nod and then pulled out a thin piece of wood. He used the wood to draw on the stone of the wall. It looked like random scratch marks to me but I waited for him to finish.

“This is my runecrafter, it's tied to my class and only works for me.” He said, sounding bitter about it. “These” he waved his hand towards the scratch marks “are called runes. I only have to make specific shapes out of the marks left behind by the runecrafter and use my mana to power them. I know a few different ones and they all have different functions, this one makes light.” He stared at the rune for a moment before it began to glow in a soft pale light.

“While that is interesting, I don’t understand, what are you doing here?” I asked him.

“They...they are trying to use the runes to control the dead. The King wants to fashion himself an emperor with an army of the damned like Allain of Norx. I’m only one of his many experiments across the city.” He answered. “Every day they force me to try new combinations of runes.”

“Why would he do that when he can just force people into the Kingsworn?” Pitri stepped up beside me and asked Mattias.

“He can’t actually force someone into the Kingsworn. That's just a rumor they have been spreading. Everyday I refuse to join and they relish in beating me, before forcing a healer to heal my wounds every night so I can continue working.” Mattias answered, sounding defeated.

“Healer?” Rile perked up.

“We are looking for the prisoners that are being kept here. Can you lead us to them?” Pitri asked him.

“I could lead you to where I and a few others are being kept but I must warn you...there's not many of us left.” He replied.

“Not many? Thousands have gone missing recently. Where else could they be keeping them? We have to rescue them before the King succeeds in his experiments!” Yuar stated.

“Mattias, do you know if the King's plan has worked? Can he control the dead?” Mily asked Mattias.

“I...don’t know. My runes can control them for short periods of time and specific commands. With more levels and different types of runes it probably would have worked. There may be someone farther along than me somewhere in the city.” Mattias responded.

“We have to search the rest of this building first, we can figure out our next move after.” I said.

“We need to keep moving, let's leave him tied up down here. We can grab him on the way out.” Pitri said, having walked back over from the end of the hall.

“Wait! Bring me with you! I can help!” Mattias pleaded.

I started to nod my head in agreement before a thought rolled through my brain. I was still wearing the armor of the Kingsworn and Mattias was still shackled. We could use him as cover and maintain the element of surprise. I explained the plan to the others and everyone except Mattias agreed. He was not particularly happy about being bait.

We left the dead soldiers behind and continued through the barracks. The amount of soldiers inside wasn’t making sense, how were they guarding prisoners with so few guards? We rounded the next corner and found more cells lining the hall. Rile walked over to the cell and inspected the frame of it.

“I was never in this particular barracks building but these don’t look like they have always been cells. You can see where this was added recently.” Rile pointed out the area around the iron bars. “I think these used to be rooms for the soldiers. Maybe someone can manipulate the stone with a skill?” He shrugged his shoulders and backed up.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“They have dozens of mages working for the King, voluntarily or not.” Mattias said, mumbling the last part.

Moving closer to the cell showed another corpse resting against the far wall. It looked partially decomposed, like it had been dead for a few days. There were the same strange stab marks and cuts like the one from the torture chamber below. Whatever was going on here was far more disturbing than previously thought.

“Where are the keys to these cells?” I asked Mattias.

“Some of the Kingsworn have the ability to manipulate the metal of the cell door. They can only be opened or closed with them present. Same with the shackles, it's one of the ways they have prevented the prisoners from trying to escape. It’s why they have so few guards.” He answered.

Pitri began moving down the next hall and we left the cells behind. There were more guards in this hallway and they were currently beating someone on the ground. Three Kingsworn stood around a body, kicking it and laughing. At first I thought it would be another corpse until it sobbed out in pain.

I had my bow out and arrow released before the next kick landed and the hall erupted in chaos. My first arrow went through the unarmored bicep of the closest Kingsworn. A shield shimmered into existence the next second and deflected the arrow from Rile and Mily’s Ice Bolt. Yuar charged and I followed after, taking up my spear, frost forming on my armor.

“Attack!” One of the Kingsworn bellowed.

I winced and tried to focus on the three before us before worrying about how many others were here. Yuar engaged with the first of the Kingsworn with the ruined arm. I slipped past them and confronted the two from behind. There was a moment of confusion when they saw my armor clearly and I took advantage of it to spear one through the gut. The tip only partially went through the armor but it was enough to even the odds.

I triggered Identify on them both and danced away from his sword. My superior stats were proving themselves as the two soldiers couldn’t close to sword range around my spear. I kept a quick pace, switching from defensive to offensive as the injured soldier started to fade. My stamina allowed me to easily outlast the two soldiers as their fatigue began to increase, so did the pace of my spear.

Quah - Human - Kingsworn - Level 27 - Health 74/140 - Armor 60

Lithe - Human - Kingsworn - Level 25 - Health 128/140 - Armor 60

I focused all of my efforts on the uninjured one and tried to force him to trigger the shield. The shield reappeared just as an arrow from Rile would have hit the uninjured Kingsworn. I battered against it with my spear and it broke on the 5th hit. I palmed a standard bomb and tossed it to the ground behind the two soldiers and turned my back. I detonated the bomb before the shield could be applied again.

The explosion this time only pushed me forward a few feet. I took advantage of the momentum and drove my spear through the back of the soldier fighting Yuar. Turning back to the other two showed a hallway full of blood and body parts. For all their levels and armor, they couldn’t stand against a close range explosion.

I checked my notifications to make sure they were both dead. The sound of the explosion could no doubt be heard from the entire building and more. I walked over to the mouth of the hall and placed a simple bomb on the ground. To the left were more stairs that led up to higher levels. To the right the hall opened up after a dozen feet to a large common room. I could hear excited voices and the sounds of armor clanking.

Creeping to the edge of the room, I saw it bristling with Kingsworn readying for battle. No time to think about it, I took out one of my major bombs and threw it in the middle of the room. One of the soldiers noticed and shouted out a warning, a shield appearing and stopping the bomb mid air. A breeze that shouldn’t have existed started blowing the bomb back towards me.

Without waiting for it to cross the rest of the room, I turned and dove down the hall while detonating. The explosion this time was massive and the sound deafening against the stone constructed barracks. I took one half of my health bar as damage despite the distance and my cloak's explosion resistance. I quickly drank a health potion and shook myself free of rubble.

The room was completely destroyed, my notifications showing twelve soldiers dead. The entire side of the building was missing, collapsed inward when the supporting wall was destroyed. The stone building was groaning overhead as the foundation shifted. The raw power of the explosion was terrifying.

By the time I returned to my party I found them gathered around Yuar, who had a chuck of the stone wall crushing his leg. My panic spiked as Yuar looked at me and laughed.

“How many of the bastards did you get?” He asked and laughed again. “How many did we kill?” This time he coughed, blood spurting out of his mouth.

I shared glances with the rest of the group and took in their looks of dismay. The person the soldiers had been beating was inspecting Yuars leg and the stone. I moved to try to lift the stone when the unknown person shouted at me.

“Wait! If you lift that stone he's dead. His leg has been crushed and the weight of the stone is preventing him from bleeding out. If we move it, or him, he dies.” The person said.

“Garti!” Mattias said, snapping out of his shock. “He is the healer that was imprisoned here with me.”

“Mattias.” Garti said and nodded in greeting before turning back towards Pitri and myself “I was a healer before the framework too. I have seen these crush injuries before, it is beyond my skill level to help him.” He hung his head sadly.

“How many Sylar.” Yuar choked out again.

“Twelve with that last one. They were gathering in a room and preparing to fight. I couldn’t let them get to us...” I trailed off with tears in my eyes.

“Hah. Twelve plus the ones earlier. Almost twenty of the bastards, not a bad trade. Not a bad trade.” He repeated softly and died.