“So, are we ready?” Helbram asked. Dread sat at the pit of his stomach, mixed with resignation as readied his mind for what he had to do.
The others nodded at him. Elly and Jahora wore determined looks on their faces, while Leaf shared a grim look with Helbram before they turned their attention to the boulder. It rested against the cracked stone it had dashed itself against an hour before, and the more that Helbram stared at it the bigger it seemed to get. Both the gnome and dusk elf tied their hair up as they approached it, Aether already gathering around them as they did so. Elly had let the top of her robes fall to her waist, exposing the sleeveless gray shirt that she wore underneath. Her arms were slight, but possessed visible amounts of muscle that flexed as she moved her hands, forming an orb of yellow Aether between them. Her steps were far lighter now that she’d removed her shoes, and she appeared to glide across the floor as she walked, leaving little sound to her footsteps.
Jahora remained bundled up in her oversized coat, rings of Aether orbiting around a barely visible head as the gnome held her hands out to the boulder, a glyph of green aether formed at her palms. When she placed her hands on the large rock, wind swirled around her, ruffling clothes and hair alike, but doing nothing to mar the rigid, determined posture that made her appear so much larger than she actually was. The glyph on her hands bled into the stone, wrapping around the boulder until it looked engulfed by the magical symbols. When the rock was covered in its entirety, a snap could be felt in the air, followed by a gentle breeze that flowed from the stone.
“I must say, you are quite proficient at your craft.” Elly said as she continued to cradle the orb of yellow Aether in her hands. She peered closely at the glyphs that encompassed the mass of stone before her, “The ability to alter the very physical properties of matter itself… Transmutation magic will forever continue to both amaze and confound me.”
Jahora lifted her hands from the boulder, leaving threads of green Aether flowing from her palms and into the glyphs as she kept her arms up, “You flatter me too much, it takes all I have to maintain just this spell.”
“And yet that is far more than what any of us can do,” Elly said in a matter of fact tone, “you shall find my touch to be far more…” she walked up to the wall next to the boulder, “blunt.”
The dusk elf slammed the orb of Aether into the wall. As she did, a pillar of rock jutted from its flat, yet fractured surface and into the boulder. It landed with a loud crack, striking the boulder with enough force that it sped into the base of the ramp, stopping only due to the sand that cushioned its impact. Jahora ran with the stone, Aether feeding from her hands into the glyphs that surrounded it.
Helbram tapped Leaf’s shoulder and walked towards the boulder, “Now it is our turn.”
The half elf groaned, “I’m starting to think I should’ve picked up magic instead.”
“What, and leave all the pushing to me? So inconsiderate,” Helbram clicked his teeth.
“Ah you’ll be fine, you just have to lift with your legs.”
“Well then, care to demonstrate?” Helbram leaned against the boulder and motioned to it.
Leaf rolled his shoulders and braced himself, staring at the rock intently before giving it a quick shove. The stone didn’t budge.
The half elf clapped his hands and nodded, “It was a lot to take in but you’ll get the hang of it.”
Jahora giggled, “Alright, enough fooling around, you two can’t delay the inevitable.”
Helbram and Leaf sighed in unison.
“Yes ma’am,” the warrior said as he placed his hands on the rock.
Leaf joined him at his side, the two taking up the width of the boulder between them.
“You don’t suppose if I try really hard I’ll find my Core do you?” the half elf asked in a hopeful tone.
“With enough stress, perhaps, but it is unlikely. By all means try though, if it does happen by some miracle that is a literal load off of my shoulders.”
Leaf snorted, “Just be sure to carry your weight.”
His companion couldn’t see the smirk behind Helbram’s visor, but he knew the half elf could feel it.
“Are we ready?” Elly asked.
The two men nodded and braced themselves. Helbram felt vibrations pass by his feet as he tensed the muscles in his legs. A soft wave of yellow light passed by under him and past the boulder, hitting the sand and flowing upwards. It flattened a singular path that led directly up the hill. As the sand pressed down upon itself, Helbram felt the boulder shift under the combined might of him and Leaf.
“We have got one shot at this,” Helbram said, “So let us give it our all.”
The two men started to push forward, the boulder rolling against the packed sand with ease as Jahora’s magics made it far lighter than it actually was. However, even with such boons Helbram could start to feel the strain in his legs as he pressed on at the steep incline before them. It was tolerable, and for a moment he felt that this task would be simple.
Then the shooting began.
It started slow, battering the face of the boulder at a steady rhythm that sent vibrations through the stones and into Helbram’s hands. It did not slow their pace, and the boulder was wide enough to provide cover for the group as they made their way up. Aside from the discomfort that spread through his palms, the two men did not let the renewed assault slow their pace. Step by step, they continued up the hill, safe from the projectiles that dashed themselves against the enchanted stone.
They made it halfway up the hill before things took another turn. The rate of fire increased, forming into a steady stream of bolts that, while doing no damage to the stone itself, pushed back against the boulder. The rock grew heavier, and Helbram could feel his feet digging further into the sand as he kept pushing.
“The five shite eating hells,” Leaf cursed as his arms shook against the stone, “I’m going to rip the small buggers apart stone by stone.”
“I will be right there with you,” Helbram grunted, “for now just channel that rage into pushing this godsdammed rock.”
A steady flow of white light washed over the boulder as the tide of projectiles continued. Their progress slowed dramatically, but the two men, limbs afire, kept pushing onwards. Through all of this, Helbram kept his Ether focused in his ears, and he heard the distant rumble from beneath the ground rush up towards them.
“Elly!” He yelled as he stomped on the ground. He and Leaf stopped their advance as he did so.
The Weaver nodded and moved her hands, spinning an orb of yellow Aether in her palm. The rumbling grew closer to their feet, and just before Helbram felt it break the surface Elly slammed the orb into the sand. As it was forced into the ground, the orb sent a pulse of Aether through the sand and the rumbling that rushed to meet them was no more. However, that did not stop the gouts of sand erupting out from other parts of the hill, sending waves of earth that rushed to meet them.
Elly drug her foot across the sand, leaving behind a trail of Aether that she stomped on right after. A spike of sand jutted up from the ground in front of her, and the dusk elf thrust her palm, a ring of Aether wrapped around her wrist, into its surface. The spike bent from the impact, flowing forward in a tall, but narrow wave that intercepted the oncoming tide. As they collided, the momentum of the larger wave slowed, receding back into the sand before it could get close to them.
Elly continued her movements, flicking open her canteen and drawing the water from its depths with a flick of her wrist. As the water rose into the air it drew in the moisture from around them, and Helbram could feel his skin go dry as even the sweat was pulled from his brow. The dusk elf ran her fingers through the orb of water in front of her, splitting it into three parts. She pulled away her other hand from the water right after, and Helbram could feel the air grow hotter for a moment as a haze trailed away from the liquid. Water turned to ice in the air, forming three spikes that flew towards the remaining wave as Elly snapped her arms forward. They struck the ground in front of the wave, breaking the momentum and structure of the sand as it washed over them. The ice shattered from the impact, but like the other wave before, it sank back into the ground far away.
The group scanned around them, noting no further threats save for the continuous magical fire that rang against the boulder. The two men began their advance once again, a mix of grunts and curses flowing from their lips as they pushed against the tide of attacks that struck at them. As they drew closer to the top, their flanks grew more exposed to the oncoming attacks. The projectiles began to land at their sides, kicking up tufts of sand that splashed against them.
“Stone by bloody stone…” Leaf grunted and he kept pushing, arms trembling against the weight of the boulder pushing against them.
“Pebble by pebble…” Helbram murmured as his heels dug further into the ground with each step.
To their relief, the force that pushed against the enchanted stone lessened as the constructs above took aim directly at the spell casters, but the shots were growing steadily more precise, and they knew it was just a matter of time before they started to find their mark.
“We’re close enough now…” Jahora said. She looked to Elly and the two women shared a nod before joining hands. When the gnome’s hands left the dusk elf’s, the tether of green Aether had been left within the hands of the Weaver as the Mage flared her hands out to the golems that fired at their sides.
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“Just keep feeding Aether into the spell!” Jahora said.
More Aether gathered at her fingertips, a swirling vortex of emerald energy that flattened into the shape of another glyph. She separated her hands, splitting the glyph into two smaller symbols of similar shape, pointing to both sides of the constructs in sight. Her fingers hovered over the symbols for a moment as a swell formed around them, and as it reached its peak she crushed the glyphs in her hands. As she did, the swell that formed around them released, and Helbram could feel the air in the distance mimic that same tension, right over the constructs that continued to harass them.
The tension released, sending forth waves of concussive force that twisted the very air itself. The waves struck the constructs, hitting them with enough force that those caught at the epicenter of the blast shattered entirely, sending their rocky remains into the sands below. Those at the edge of the wave found their limbs knocked from their torsos or knocked off of their feet, and as the spell ended, the hail of projectiles stopped. Helbram felt the pressure against the boulder release, and as it did both he and Leaf roared as they pressed forward with all of their might.
Compared to the resistance from before, the enchanted stone felt as light as air as they climbed the hill. The two men did not stop even as they reached the top, barrelling over the constructs that continued their futile assault against the boulder. A chorus of cracks and crunches followed, music to Helbram’s ears even as the impact slowed their advance. With a final shared grunt, the two men pushed back against the momentary resistance and crested the top of the ramp. The enchanted stone continued forward without them, and both Helbram and Leaf let the boulder leave their fingers as their hands fell to their knees.
Fatigue threatened to overtake him as Helbram’s chest heaved with each breath, but he shook his head and righted himself up as he pulled the sledgehammer from his back. He pushed his legs forward and charged, his footsteps shaking the ground as he closed in on the construct closest to him. The stone figure had started to rise to its feet when Helbram collided with it, bringing the hammer across its face with an upward strike that shattered the stone in a puff of white light. Helbram charged past the collapsing construct and continued his onslaught, bringing down the hammer on the head of any construct that tried to recover.
As fast as he was moving, he could not finish them all off before the rest eventually got to their feet. Helbram continued the charge, uncaring of the arms that prepared to fire at him. He felt something pass by his head before the hail of projectiles resumed, and saw the head of the construct furthest from him burst as a broad headed arrow struck it. A bolt of Aether followed it, destroying the one next to it as well, and the next one down the line shattered as a stone from one of its compatriots dug into its torso. Amidst the newfound chaos, Helbram kept his eyes focused on the construct in front of him, seeing its hand swell with light. He cut to the side, the construct’s arm following him as it released its projectile at him. As it did, Helbram cut back, side stepping the projectile as he closed in on the construct and slammed the hammer down on its head.
He rushed through the following cloud of dust and shards of stone, the magical and ranged assault of his companions covering him as they finished off the remainder of the constructs.
When the firing finally stopped, Helbram’s hammer fell to the ground with a clatter, and he allowed himself to fall to his knees. His limbs grew heavy afterwards, and he let his arms hang at his sides as he caught his breaths with long, drawn in breaths.
Off to his side, he noticed that Leaf was approaching a pile of small rubble left behind by one of the constructs. The half elf stared at it for a moment, but then nudged it down the sand hill with a nod.
“That should be enough pettiness for today,” he said as he dusted his boots off.
Elly was observing another pile of broken rock, shifting its pieces around with the aid of her magic, “Interesting… the design of these Golem’s are far more… rustic than pretty much anything of Ruhian design.”
Jahora joined her, peering over the stone with a curious look, “Is that so? I can’t say that I can tell, though I don’t have much experience with Golems myself.”
Elly placed her hands on a larger piece of rock, infusing the stone with Aether that flowed into the various grooves that were carved into it, “If you examine here, a rudimentary circuit was used to bind all of its pieces together. This is barely beyond beginner's Golemancy, yet we cannot deny that it certainly had results…”
Helbram’s breathing started to calm, but he still felt his chest heaving as he pushed himself to his feet, “I am surprised it even has some semblance of a design at all. Considering that this is an illusion I expected them to puff into smoke the moment that they broke.”
Elly rubbed her hand on her chin as she peered further down on the remains of the golems. Her eyebrows eventually lifted, and then Helbram saw a frown spread across her face, “It is an insult.”
Helbram tilted his head, “Pardon?”
“The design itself is an insult,” she explained, “a statement to any inquiring sort that says ‘look at how you struggled against such childlike design’.”
“Well, you have to have to give the man credit, not many would go that far out of their way to tell someone to stuff it,” Leaf admitted.
As if summoned by the half elf’s words, a mote of light appeared in the middle of them, followed by the same playful tone from before.
“It seems you have cleared this trial.”
As the voice started, Elly opened her mouth to speak, but closed it as it continued talking.
“I suppose I should be impressed, and yet… I am not, but that is most likely because this is just a message. Which means I could not possibly answer any questions that you have. Now carry on, another trial awaits.”
The mote of light disappeared afterwards, leaving them in silence.
“Yes, I was right, he was a right bastard,” Leaf said with a dull tone.
Helbram could see Elly’s eyebrow twitch, but she said nothing more. As the dusk elf got to her feet he heard a click from the far end of the room. Where once stood a seamless wall was now a small indent as part of the stone sank into itself and then shifted to the side, forming an opening the size of a door that led into another room.
“No choice but to move forward I suppose,” Helbram said with a sigh.
He walked towards the opening, picking up his hammer and securing it to his back while Elly and Jahora formed up behind him. Leaf spent a brief moment gathering any unbroken arrows before joining them, keeping his weapon drawn as they grew closer to the door. Helbram pulled the shield from his back and kept it in front of him as he passed through the door, only to emerge into another empty room with a door at the very end. When the group fully entered the room, the door behind them shut, leaving behind the flawless wall from before
The mote of light reappeared in front of them right after.
“Your next trial is… waiting!” it said. Helbram half expected an exaggerated gesture to appear following the announcement, but the voice only continued on, “I can predict your next questions already; why? For how long? For what reason? And I can safely say that I still do not have answers for you. Good day.”
The light blinked away.
Elly sighed, “They say never meet your heroes… but this just feels like salt on the wound.”
“It could be he is just putting on an act,” Helbram said with a sigh, “Tis a rather convincing one, and if his goal was to cause irritation then he has certainly succeeded.”
He undid the equipment strapped to him and planted his back against a wall and slid down until he was sitting. He removed his helmet and ran a hand through his sweat matted hair, “Nothing we can really do except rest for now.”
The rest of the group appeared to agree with him, finding their own spots on the wall. They kept to themselves for a bit, too tired from their previous excursion to hold any conversation beyond bare acknowledgement. Both Leaf and Jahora fell asleep, and Helbram himself started to fade in and out of consciousness; the heaviness in his limbs traveling to his mind now that he was granted a moment to let everything settle.
“This is a convincing illusion,” Helbram bemused, “I feel ready to drop dead at any second.”
Elly snorted, “Consider it more a scripted dream. Its structure is far beyond my understanding, but given its maker… tis no wonder that it feels so much like reality.”
Helbram tapped his head against the wall, “The man was too good at his work… you suppose he was a mage of one of the upper circles?”
The dusk elf tapped her cheek, “An equivalent, most like. Aether Circles are a more modern concept. The Ruhia relied more upon the formation of Aetheric Stars at various points of the body, to allow circulation of Aether to occur throughout their bodies.”
“Really? I was never aware.”
“Truth be told, there is very little documentation that we’ve managed to recover on the system itself,” Elly explained, “Tis not even a secondary concern to most scholars, honestly.”
Helbram leaned forward, “Why is that?”
“From the little that we know, formation of Stars was a very volatile process compared to the Circles that we form today. For one, due to its nature of being implanted, any error during the process can cause great damage to the body. Circles are a much more stable concept, albeit not as potent,” Elly had her eyes closed as she spoke.
“I see… does that mean mages were not as common in Ruhian society?”
“Indeed, although each mage that they did have was much stronger than the average caster today. You would be more likely to see a ninth to fifteenth circle equivalent, but today’s society has much more volume in its first to seventh circles, if that makes any sense.”
“It does, very interesting…” Helbram mused, “I have prodded your knowledge enough for now, but would you allow me to ask a more personal question?”
Elly tilted her head to the side, “I don’t suppose why not.”
“Your movements… where did you learn them from?”
Elly raised her eyebrows, “May I ask why you want to know?”
“Simple curiosity,” Helbram said with a shrug, “I have seen Weavers before, and while they are no strangers to moving lightly on their feet their movements tend to be more rigid than the ones you have demonstrated.”
“Ah, that is fair… my parents,” she said with a small smile.
“Your family were Weavers?”
“Performers, actually,” Elly waved her hand and produced a pair of small silhouettes in front of her. One was of a woman dancing and the other of a man playing what Helbram would only guess was a lute, “my mother is the lead dancer of our troupe, and my father the head bard.”
“So you learned magic from them?”
“To an extent, yes. I learned the basics from my father while my mother taught me to dance,” she smirked, “My master thought it best to combine the two talents into something familiar, and pushed me to become a Weaver as opposed to a Mage… I’ve been thankful for the suggestion ever since.”
Helbram smiled, “Tis always good to have a reminder of home with you.”
“Indeed,” Elly said as she looked at the image in front of her with a smile. She shook her head and gently brushed the image away, dissipating it into the air, “What of you my curious friend? Who taught you to fight so efficiently?”
Helbram snorted, “I suppose I do owe you one question… my father did, gods bless the man for having the patience to deal with me.”
Elly’s eyes lit up, “Oh? A rebellious student, were we?”
“Easily distracted,” Helbram explained, “Where my father was trying to instill discipline I often found my head in the clouds, distracted by thoughts of grandeur and adventure,” he sighed, “Reality soon brought those thoughts to the ground, and my father was there to catch me.”
“He sounds like a wonderful man.”
“One of the best, though do not let him catch you saying that. He would bury himself out of embarrassment,” he said with a small laugh.
Elly giggled with him, “So he’s a shy man is he? I’m sure your mother must have a time dealing with that.”
“So I was told,” Helbram said, “my mother… well she has not been around for some time.”
“Oh… I’m sorry, I was not aware,” concern was evident in Elly’s voice.
“You are fine, I never mentioned it so how could you know?” Helbram smiled, “Besides, she disappeared soon after my birth, so I am not particularly attached to any memory of her… though my father would never look happier than when he was talking about her.”
“He must love her dearly.”
“That he does…that he does.”
From there their conversation descended into small talk. They exchanged words that he’d most likely not even remember once he’d woken up, but they served as enough of a distraction that he could ignore the creeping fatigue at the back of his mind for a while. Eventually, it proved too much for both him and Elly, and Helbram soon drifted to sleep.
It felt as if only a moment had passed when he woke up, eyes springing open as the sound of the door opening crept into his ears. His vision cleared and he saw the words that hung in front of the door as it opened, and he sighed in resignation for what was to come.
Trial Three
Begin