Thomas paced the lush interior of the Fate’s quarters, consumed with fear and the sense of worthlessness. Of all the times to lock away his class, he’d chosen to do it the day before his home faced some kind of terrible threat. The last he’d heard Daniel was still missing, and the sandstorm outside was far from natural. Was it a monster doing all of this? With respect to the Commander of the Hunter’s Guild, if something stronger than level 6 showed up the only hope for people outside the Spires would be it not noticing them as they ran, abandoning all they’d ever known.
The Spires would stand, though. They were unbreakable, the Shroud all-protecting. It used to make him feel so safe, growing up. Then he’d started to wonder why everyone else had been left out of this great gift from the gods. Stories of the constructs other regions had seemed to tell of everyone benefiting, even Threst where the Spoke was held by one alone. To him, the Spires had always seemed a selfish blessing.
“Rait should have been back by now,” Silora said with a bit of worry. She was still in her ‘throne’, though the siege ward going up had drained the energies that normally amplified her powers and blocked her from outside viewing. Not that that mattered.
“Can’t you still scry inside the tower and find him?”
She hesitantly nodded. “You can detect what I’m doing, you know. My powers aren’t invisible. If I do anything it could bring people here. Maybe we should just wait this out?”
Thomas didn’t see how she could just sit there. She wasn’t working with whoever or whatever was doing this, he’d asked. Instead it just seemed like base cowardice. “And when they eventually find us?”
“Fates are valuable,” Silora replied while twirling one of the tendril-like things shavi had instead of hair. “You are too, even if you’re on cooldown. In fact-” Silora abruptly cut off but Thomas had followed the line of thought.
“I’m even more valuable because I can tell you what to do?” Silora didn’t look at him. It made his self-loathing all the worse. He wanted to be valued because of what he could do as a healer, how he could help people. Instead, his biggest asset was the leash he held. Thomas started seriously considering taking something from the wine shelf when there was a knock on the door. The sound was so ordinary it threw both of them. The two exchanged a glance and Thomas shrugged. Anyone who really wanted to get in here could just-
The door shattered and threw Thomas back as he reached for the handle. Whatever wards might have prevented the intrusion failed, either due to the strength of the kick or the Spire’s power being redirected. The Cleric landed roughly against the far wall, running into a chair on the way. This alone almost knocked him out despite his level since his endurance was still at 17. Double level disparity. Worse, there was nothing he could do to heal his wounds.
Striding in was a man in black, casually flicking a knife between his fingers. The smooth appearance of the man gave the impression that there should have been a stocky brute behind him who had done the actual door-kicking, but he was level 6. “Silora,” Mark said as if walking onto a stage. “I’ve been dying to meet you again.” In the adjoining room Silora stumbled out of her chair and made for the window. The Assassin dryly chuckled. “You know, this is nothing personal. But it looks like people have somehow gotten into the Spire, and we can’t have them using your fabulous powers now can we?”
He took a single step forward and shadows leaped out from his back. They ran along the walls and then shot out, turning into dark spikes that impaled Silora in several places. The move could have killed her if it’d hit the right place, but instead this just immobilized her. “Sorry, but I just finished with the most annoying fight I’ve ever had and I need to take some of it out on you. It’s rare I get a chance to take my time.”
Mark made to take another step when someone rushed his back with a sword. They’d chosen the perfect time, taking advantage of the Assassin’s melodramatic gloating. It lashed forward, point first, and only poked Mark through his cloak which refused to break. Everything stopped for a moment as the Assassin slowly turned his head to see Rait holding a scavenged sword.
Under that gaze, the assistant couldn’t move. “Really, a level nothing like you? Throw at least a bond power at me if you’re going to take a shot.” Mark grabbed the arm still holding the sword and twisted, tearing flesh and breaking the arm as easily as if he was trying to get a stuck cork out of a bottle.
“Rait!” Silora yelled, breaking through whatever crippling aura was weighing them down. The Assassin gave everyone in the room a quick, impassive look before tapping the manservant in the chest and sending him crashing into the wine cabinet.
“I could beat you to death with your servant, but that seems a little overdone even for me. Oh well.” He tossed a glance at Thomas, still struggling to stay awake. “Stitch him back together if you can, I don’t care. I’m just here for the Fate.” The Cleric was struggling to breathe, impaled in places by pieces of the door and furniture he’d run into. A level 3 hunter wouldn’t be this enfeebled by that damage, but he had level disparity to most of his attributes. This was exactly why Kob had died.
“You, you don’t have to do this,” Silora choked out as her slightly blue blood ran onto the shadow spikes.
“Silora, please, what gives you the impression I’m doing this for any other reason than I want to?” He grinned now, before this only showing either a neutral expression or mocking concern. “Assassins don’t grow stronger from killing people too far below their level. But you’re level 5, aren’t you? While I’m still bound by this class I may as well get the most out of it. No, the only reason I didn’t kill you earlier is that she didn’t want me to. But things are kind of going to shit, you see? They can’t take any more risks. I don’t really care, honestly. I’m only here because my boss, the Prime? He struck a deal with her people and we’re working towards similar ends for now. Just a contractor, get it?” He pointed the knife in his hand at Silora and she quailed, despite him still being a room and a half away from her. “But this job sure does come with perks.”
Mark started walking forward, taking his time. He’d reached the threshold between rooms when he stopped, speaking over his shoulder. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I’ve already had one person walk in on me and my patience is spent. Get lost.” Thomas was facing the doorway, having been blown back from it, and couldn’t see anyone. He realized then that Rait had never gotten the drop on the Assassin. Mark had detected the approaching group with his back turned before Thomas had seen them. He was, at once, thrilled and terrified to see his friends round the corner.
The Assassin hung his head and stabbed his knife into the wall to punctuate every word he said. “Fucking waste of time.” He left the knife in the wall and pulled out another, almost indistinguishable from the first. “Fine, I’ll play this game, but you get a time limit.” More shadows rushed towards the Fate and struck her in the chest, avoiding critical organs but making the blood loss far worse. “Kill me before she dies or something like that. Oh.” He perked up suddenly. “You’ve got a level 4 with you. Nice. Drop the invisibility, loser.”
In the hallway, Thomas saw Lograve appear from nowhere behind Daniel’s team, who were themselves behind Gadriel. Khiat, the one he’d spent so much time trying to help, seemed so scared in this moment as she approached a deadly threat while forced into a shorter height. The ceilings in the Sun Spire by and large weren’t enough for a dusker to fully break out of their shell.
“Your arrogance will be your downfall, blackheart!” Gadriel yelled in response.
“Hero,” Mark said dismissively, finally turning and getting a look at his challengers. Thomas realized the Assassin was drawing things out. Silora was in a similar position as him, high level with undoubtedly some disparity to endurance. Level 5 was when common knowledge said you could survive what would outright kill normal people for some time, including blood loss. That assumed a well-balanced Blessed.
So what does that make Mark? Thomas thought in despair. Guy, get out of here. You could cut off his head and he could still kill everyone before he dies. Or it grows back.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Hmm. Gravity powers. Rare in a non-mage class. Think I’ll try not to kill you,” Mark said, somehow reading into Gadriel. “Wait, you got out? Guess I’m killing that Artificer after this.” He only glanced at Daniel, recognizing him, looked for a second at Tak, scoffed, and moved on until his eyes stopped dead. On Khiat. The suave facade broke as utter confusion took over. “You, halfborn. You’re not even a real level 1 yet, but you’re not a level 1 anything. How the fuck did you remove your class?”
Khiat froze under his gaze which the Assassin then dialed down. “I, I don’t know. I don’t understand what I am. I just didn’t want to be an Assassin.”
Mark’s eyes widened as he put away his knife and smiled, bearing instantly changing. “Alright, let’s make a deal. You all come with me and we leave here before things start to get really fun. I’ll even let most of you go, although the old man is going to want to meet someone who achieved enlightenment blind. Eh, we’ll talk later about that. All you have to do is tell me exactly what you did to her and we’ll try it on me. I don’t care what or who else you need, I’ll get them.”
“And you’ll let her live?” Gadriel asked although the Hero didn’t seem like he was seriously considering the offer.
“What, the Fate? Oh, no,” he laughed. “She dies. I mean, I’ve got to have some standards.”
“I will not barter the lives of innocents for personal gain,” Gadriel retorted. Mark rolled his eyes, and a knife appeared in each hand without him needing to draw them.
“Fine, fine. Offer’s still good to the survivors. Give it your best shot.”
“I shall.” Gadriel brought his sword forward in a two-handed grip, point towards the Assassin. “Falling Star!”
Mark’s confusion grew. “That’s not going to-“ He disappeared into mist as Gadriel fell laterally towards him, intending to drive the blade into the Assassin with greater force than the manservant had. Mark reappeared a short distance away, watching as the Hero collided with a wall. While the sword was buried in the stone, Gadriel didn’t seem bothered. Indeed, when he stood up to face his enemy, it was in his hands without any obvious sign of him drawing it out. “Interesting. But your ‘righteousness’? No one in this damned world is right. It’s just about who has the power.”
Gadriel reached back to grab his shield, the Assassin letting him. “Power is meaningless by itself.”
The Assassin scoffed. “I have a cause, Hero.” Mark seemed more than willing to verbally spar with Gadriel rather than kill him outright, which Thomas knew he could. The reason for that was clear. Silora was still bleeding out on those spikes. Rait could be dying too, and he could do nothing for either. Fortunately, his friends weren’t fooled by the gambit.
…
Now. Lograve signaled the volley as Daniel stayed focused. He had to time his ability precisely as he waited for everyone else to fire. His projectiles were the second fastest of the group and he could freeze time to help aim. It was just a hope, but with a level 6 opponent threatening Thomas and the Fate, hope was more than they could ask for.
Daniel activated Moment of Clarity as Lograve’s ice, Khare’s daggers empowered with Bleeding Blade, and Evalyn’s Songbolt fired. He rarely needed to do this to aim, but against a dodge tank with a gauntlet bow he’d need-
Mark moved, ever so slowly, to the side of where the projectiles were focused. Already, a dark mist was spreading from the spot he’d been. That’s not teleportation, Daniel realized, he’s slowing time too! Daniel still didn’t know how much Moment of Clarity distorted his perception of time, but it was enough that only the mysterious man who’d given Hunter his voice had been able to move in it. And Gadriel to a far lesser extent. Mark’s speed was about three times as much as Gadriel’s had been when his combo power was nearly maxed out, and the Assassin hadn’t needed to spend hours building up to this point.
Daniel made eye contact with the Assassin, and while he was physically immobile, there was enough for mutual recognition. Not good. Should we do something else? Hunter asked, one of the only other consciousnesses in this space.
No. It’s too late to change what everyone else is doing. At least I can try to hit him. Daniel had seen Mark appear about half a meter away the last time he’d used his dodging power. While he could just extend Moment of Clarity until he saw the Assassin stop, mana was an ever precious resource even with the potion he’d saved. Hell, if he tried to drink it the Assassin would probably break the bottle. Instead, he had to predict where the Assassin would land.
As always, he could only aim during this time, not move his arms. The value was in double checking himself. In truth, Daniel didn’t have natural talent. Khiat was better at this than him and she was a full level behind. Without Snap Shot he’d be terrible at this. When it counted, though, he could pull out a clutch shot by relying on his mind.
Daniel locked in the slight movements he’d need to make and released the ability. He fired, sending the bolt to precisely where the Assassin’s head would be. It flew true, straight into Mark’s hand as he plucked the only threatening projectile out of the air. Khiat’s arrow, aimed by a practiced hunter, would have proved more difficult to catch if only she could have adjusted for the dodge after the fact. Instead it splintered against the wall, arrowhead digging into the stone while a small burst of flame issued out from it. Gadriel had moved to shield Rait from incidental hits, while Thomas was trusted to take care of himself. Fortunately, there was no friendly fire.
Just as Mark was about to say something, four blurs crossed the air towards him. His eyes widened once more as the thing he’d dismissed as Tak’s animal companion demonstrated a potent bond power with the Totem Warrior. Daniel had no idea if the Assassin could spam that dodge, but he did know this attack was unblockable. Both were effectively incorporeal!
Mark dropped the bolt, his hands beginning to glow a pale green. The Assassin didn’t disrespect this attack, paying full attention to it. Somehow, he grabbed both real attackers out of the air and avoided the fake ones. The Assassin tossed Tak to the side, and kept a hold of Hunter.
Fuck, the frost strangler. Daniel had a flashback to a former enemy and realized that if there were monsters and powers that used phasing, there must be counters too.
“You’re not a beast,” Mark observed, calmly ducking a swipe from Hunter, repeated ice spikes from Lograve, and projectiles fired from two sources. “Not a Druid either, not with those archetypes.” It was like he’d stopped to solve a crossword puzzle in the middle of a war zone. He didn’t bother blocking the sword throw from Gadriel, instead kicking it out of the air. “You’ve been touched by the Prime!” He exclaimed after a few more seconds, a drop of reverence entering his voice. “Are we Grafting again? I thought, but no, that’s not what this is.”
Daniel paused as he reloaded his spent gauntlet bows, and he saw Khare lower their weapons. “You know what that guy did to Hunter?” Part of him knew the Assassin was drawing this out, but that was something that had lingered in the back of his mind. Constant worry that the gift had come with a curse.
“No.” Mark frowned and threw Hunter across the room. The casual way he did it, and the damage both Hunter and Tak received, made it clear that could have been a devastating attack if he’d wanted it to be. As it was, the room was thoroughly trashed. “The old man just touched him. Grafting, no, that isn’t something he could do instantly. Did he give you the archetypes?” It seemed he couldn’t figure it out. Lograve did realize something, though.
“You’re part of the Illustrious.” Lograve didn’t stop firing ice as he spoke, though the suspicion rattled him.
“Guilty.” Mark mock-bowed, which also allowed him to avoid Tak’s charge.
“You all died during the Collapse.”
“Did we.” He shot a look at Silora, smiling as he saw she hadn’t moved. “If you met the Prime but didn’t know who I am, I’m guessing that was a brief encounter. He likes his cryptic shit sometimes. There are some diamonds in the rough here, be a shame to shatter them for nothing. Why not join the right side of history? I know, evil Assassin and all, but I’m being serious.”
“What about the Origin Beast?” Daniel asked, drawing a glare from Lograve.
Mark laughed again. “That fat old thing? We’re killing the gods, next to that a rabid hound is nothing.”
“You can’t kill the gods,” Thomas wheezed, trying and failing to stand. “They’re the world!”
This provoked the loudest, most deranged bout of humor yet. “I see our resident Cleric’s finally put himself back together enough to get in this little spar. Please, tell me all about the perfect idols you worship so dearly.” He took a step towards the Cleric, still effortlessly dodging everything thrown at him.
We have bigger powers, Daniel thought, considering and then deciding against tying one of the spineshard spheres to a bolt. The space is too small. We could kill that other guy if anything gets to close. Everyone else was thinking the same. Lograve had more powers, including a ring of flame Daniel had only seen him use once, but the fighting was too tight.
“You’re fucking insane!” Thomas yelled, before coughing out blood. Mark took another step, but Thomas didn’t back down. “All this nonsense, you don’t care. You’re just playing with your food.”
Mark crossed the rest of the room with a single step, without bursting into mist, and looked down at the Cleric with a smile. “I’m not even doing that. But if you want to see what I can really do, let me show you.” His hand reached forward, then paused. “You aren’t healing, but with those archetypes-” The Assassin encountered another puzzle. Instead of dodging the next attacks, he grabbed Thomas’ bloodied shirt and teleported across the room. Again, no dark mist, making Daniel think they were separate powers.
“Oh. Of course, that combination. You have it, don’t you?” He gave Thomas another appraisal. “And you’ve used it! That is pathetic and bold at the same time, challenging me with all your powers sealed away. Just like that idiot bleeding on the floor.” Mark shoved Gadriel out of the way, tossed the Cleric to the side, then teleported to catch him by the left wrist with enough force to crush it. “This, by the way, is how I start playing.”