The tarp above him limited how high Daniel could Jump, though he still had ten or so meters to work with. His goal wasn’t to get above Gtoll’s reach anyway but get in range of his feathers. He knew from watching the earlier fight that Gtoll’s carapace plates were far hardier than the flesh underneath, though Tak had struggled to injure Gtoll while the Berserker ignored him.
Neither did he have a way to shut down Gtoll’s Regeneration. If Khiat was by his side the few fire arrows she had left might have done something, but this was a strict one on one fight. The lightning in his marbles might burn in their explosions and give him a chance, though there were less than twelve in his bag.
At the apex of his flight, Daniel unleashed the feathers of both arms while activating Snap Shot. The mana draw of the ability only counted one activation instead of triggering for every feather, mercifully sparing his reserves. The storm of sharp feathers bedecked in the same colors as his phone rained towards the Berserker who didn’t try to dodge them. The two areas he targeted were the largest gaps between plates on Gtoll’s chest, and most of the volley got in between them.
To his credit they stuck in, but just as quickly began to be pushed out as the giant’s Regeneration repaired the damage. “Not strong enough,” Gtoll remarked, adopting the impassive voice he’d used to judge Tak. The Berserker slowly began to walk forward, the axe trailing him as he held it in one hand. “Is the storm gathering?” He looked up and shook his head. “You will need it.”
Daniel rolled the blast marble between his fingers and made a decision. He charged forward, closing half of the distance remaining and activating Snap Shot again. The pale green marble flew threw the air, not slowing down all as a lightning bolt building up charge would have. The wind tried to intercept the small object but Snap Shot had factored that in, and it impacted Gtoll where the feathers had pierced.
Lightning flashed on impact and a small shower of ghostly blast marbles radiated from the impact point, spreading to an area about the size of a hand. The initial damage and spread wasn’t impressive because it was based on the damage of the attack. Then, the blast marble and its copies exploded as the lightning damage from the affix triggered the spineshard’s explosion threshold.
Gtoll rocked back from the hit and stretched that section of his carapace to inspect the wound, allowing Daniel to Jump back and regain his distance. “Artificer, yes.” The ax swung through the air a few times, Daniel feeling it tremble from the disturbance across the courtyard. It would cut him in two without a problem, and he doubted it was enchanted. Worse still, Gtoll didn’t seem too bothered by the blast marble, and he didn’t have enough to kite around and whittle the giant down.
The disappointment was evident in Ashier’s cloud eyes as they watched him. The air gestalt was perhaps more sensitive to the atmosphere than the Berserker three levels higher than them and could tell no thunderstorm was approaching. Even if Daniel was using the powers of a rare class combined with ones he’d stolen from Totem Warrior, it wasn’t enough. He could get as much leverage as he could, but his lever was going to snap under the load.
A mark suddenly appeared over Gtoll’s head and flashed red, the sign that Khare had triggered Called Shot. He held his breath, waiting for someone to protest, but it seemed the bond power had gone unnoticed. Daniel did everything he could not to acknowledge Khare, but still smiled. It probably wouldn’t change anything, but the gesture gave him a little more hope.
Daniel took out one of the smaller arm bow bolts from his bag, still having some supply of them left. He only carried a few lightning bolt versions but knew their maximum range well. Without a crossbow to project them he couldn’t deliver as much force, which would affect Scatter Shot, but it was something. He couldn’t hide the light that flashed over the ammunition this time and Gtoll wasn’t impressed. “Only the power of the gods can save you. Call upon them.”
He did take one moment to throw a half-hearted prayer to the Octyrrum in case that would work, but no massive influx of mana came in response. “You’ve felt the explosion that small ball did. Imagine what a full bolt can do. Am I really not strong enough to survive the desert?”
Ashier flowed back into their Proxy for a moment to respond, the motion only taking seconds. “It is not just for you to survive but to direct mortals to follow the will of the gods. If you cannot match any who would challenge you, what is to stop heretics from ending you once you are out of my domain?”
The Artificer briefly considered throwing the bolt their way but knew that would reduce his lifespan to seconds. He threw the bolt at Gtoll instead once he’d gotten in range, Jumping back toward the ever shrinking space he had behind him. As he did so, Gtoll battered the bolt away and it exploded midair, the chained ghost ammunition hitting the Berserker without apparent effect.
This third exchange was enough to satisfy Gtoll that nothing would change, and he charged towards Daniel. He was moving fast enough to intercept him before Daniel landed, and with Jump still active he was locked out of abilities. The ax flung out, aimed at one of his arms.
Hunter! he cried out mentally, screaming at the echo to do something. He felt the slightest ripple in his mana flow but couldn’t discount the effect of his own will as a cause. He certainly didn’t get a Dodge Roll stacked on top of his movement power, and the ax cut his left arm clean off just below the shoulder. Gtoll’s other hand then swatted him into the ground.
Daniel landed as blood sprayed out, though its rapid flow quickly ceased. His level 2 endurance was putting in work, but he also couldn’t just ignore a wound like that. It was worse than when that thief had shot him, the pain and the sensation of the missing limb paralyzing him. Fear soon layered over that as the Berserker activated a power, bringing into being the same presence that had stopped any from interfering with his last bout.
Gtoll assessed Daniel for a moment to make sure he wasn’t in mortal danger before his slightly overextended joints relaxed. “You can barely fight. You are clever, and your body is durable. Well-trained endurance and intelligence, the hallmarks of your class almost certainly. You neglect everything else.” Gtoll picked apart his battle prowess as easily as he had Daniel. “It is not weakness to fight with allies, but it is not strength to rely on them.”
Daniel looked at the stump of his arm. Despite knowing it would grow back eventually, the loss of it mortified him. He tried to pick himself up but the intensity of the fear effect increased. “Stay down. Unless you can defeat something as simple as fear, there is no point to this battle.”
“I…” Daniel choked out but didn’t get any further. His body was hurt so deeply he was struggling to stay awake. Blood loss, still ongoing, was making him lightheaded on top of everything else. His vision faded and his mana flow slowed. His reserves hadn’t suffered for the loss his body took but it seemed the damage would make it harder to use powers. His mind turned to how weak Hunter had been after his side had been blasted open. Having saved him after the ringcat had been so close to death would have made the true loss unbelievable if he hadn’t felt the bond break.
He could hear Hunter’s last words in his mind as if they’d been spun from his own thoughts. I will never forget you. Daniel struggled to lift his head to see Gtoll’s face, wanting to look at the one who’d killed his dream in the eyes, forcing some of the world to remain visible amidst the growing darkness.
Still, pleading wouldn’t do anything. If he somehow reached the Berserker, he’d get shut down again. He began to breathe faster and the Berserker glanced aside to the Clerics, one of his hands pointing to a healer. The crowd was relaxing with grim or disappointed looks on most of their faces. The fight was over and his future was-
No. The force of that word in his mind echoed his refusal to let any more of his friends die. Gtoll didn’t notice what was happening within Daniel as his own seventh sense detected the turbid mana flow suddenly roil at that word. He didn’t fill with the power of a thunderstorm as instead, something else happened. Daniel reached for Hunter’s echo once more, but for the first time he didn’t ask anything of it. It was a dead thing, a memory. He could use it for inspiration but nothing more.
Daniel gazed with his mind’s eye at all he had left of his friend and felt something within him begin to push against a barrier. Crystallize into a final shape. Everything outside was forgotten as he took the memories of his friend and whispered magic truer than this world’s to them. Every word in his mind fought not to be uttered and he felt the weight of what he was doing, but he persisted. I will never be weak again, Daniel thought, the words rippling in his mind like he’d spoken an incantation. I will do anything to get you back. I will never forget you.
Daniel’s phone lit up in his bag of holding as half a dozen notifications came through, and then the light died as the Focus grew inert. At the same time, Daniel’s view of the world shifted slightly. The darker areas of the shaded courtyard were clearer, and his entire body briefly felt off before that sensation faded. He vaguely knew what was happening, but the way he’d fallen prevented him from seeing any part of his body. Gtoll, more concerned with calling over a healer, still noticed nothing. What’s more, as Daniel’s mind caught up to the changes, everything seemed so simple.
Epiphanies struck him as he felt multiple powers come under his control. Other people had told him they’d just gotten the name, but in his mind he could see a description not unlike what his Encyclopedia granted him. He barely took in the words, skipping around as his intent was more towards the giant standing over him.
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Mantle of the Hunter (Feat… ss the Power to sharpen the….
Intrinsic Focus Enhancement… the nature of your focus cannot chan...
• Fusion Aspect…
• …ightening this function does …fter the effect ends.
• Natural Weapons…
• Mana Condu…
• Ferocious Heal…
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Details didn’t seem important right now. The fear was crushing him against the ground, but as he pushed against it with his willpower, the weight shifted. Another epiphany fired.
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Fearless (Feat…
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How and why he was receiving powers didn’t matter, although Daniel distantly registered the loss of every Artificer power he’d once had. It wasn’t that they were suppressed or turned off because he’d lost his Focus, they were just gone. It’d been a few seconds since the first change and people had noticed whatever had happened to him. Thomas spat out the sip of water he’d taken while Marky, the Druid of Farthest Run, had grown completely pale. Willow had a hand covering her beak, shock and something else on her face. Gtoll clued in but too late.
Daniel Jumped up. Artificer powers aside, everything from Totem Warrior was still active. The Berserker reached for him and would have closed a fist over his opponent, but he just missed. Even high level Blessed entered a period of relative weakness just after leveling while they brought the rest of their attributes up to par, and the dusker was fractions of a second too slow.
Teeth bared, Daniel landed on the face of his enemy, plunged his hands into the eye sockets with more force than he’d imagined necessary, and Jumped again. Gtoll grunted with the pain as Daniel dragged what he’d caught with him. Gtoll was strong, sure, and had Regeneration. So had Rorshawd, and the dragon’s eye hadn’t recovered by the end of the long battle before Murdon had hit him with necrosis. The reasoning made sense to Daniel, but he only became consciously aware of the choice afterward as he flicked the viscous material off his hands. It was like and unlike the times Rorshawd took over. Someone far better at fighting was driving him, but this time it wasn’t another person.
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The Berserker let out a few sharp exhalations as he probed the bleeding sockets. He could still hear Daniel by the way his head turned as he circled, but the Berserker didn’t react. It seemed he was trying to make sense of what had just happened. Several in the crowd either aimed at Daniel or stepped forward to intercept him, but Ashier raised their voice. “No! This is not what I expected, but it is what I was waiting to see.”
Daniel’s improved vision picked up on the flesh of Gtoll’s face repairing itself, but the eyes and the chitin he’d torn away were taking longer to recover. That was his target, the face. The armor of his prey was weakest there and couldn’t collapse to trap him as he went for the space between the plates. It was a tall target and he was far outmatched, but it was a chance.
“Many Hands.” Gtoll incanted, doubling the amount of arms he had to work with. His breathing became more erratic and his head briefly turned to the Tyrant. “Saint, I, hrsssh, stop me if I go too far.” A second burst of mana erupted from the dusker as he bellowed so loud the air vibrated. Everyone except the Tyrant pressed themselves against walls or the floor as the fear aura was fully unleashed. Daniel didn’t feel it, though he was backing up now and considering his options.
Regeneration had dropped back to level 1 for no apparent reason, and as he heightened it he felt less mana drain than normal. Testing out the new powers he found he could also heighten three of them, the functions of his new Focus. He did so, not having too much else to recklessly spend mana on. The mana within him coursed with a vibrant energy as it was directed, and Daniel grinned wickedly at the feeling. If hunting had been like this from the start, he would have never stopped.
His grin spread as he saw Gtoll was less coordinated after the ability he’d just used. That would make it easier to- Daniel threw himself to the side as Gtoll planted two hands on the ground and surged forwards, using the other two to swing the ax. The edge missed him but the thicker wooden haft struck his shoulder, the strength of the blow sending him spinning away. That light touch was enough to throw him into a wall, and the adobe construction cracked easily from the impact.
His healing power started to work immediately, though the slight twinge spread faster over the affected areas and he thought a slight bone crack had sealed in seconds. He had only that long to dodge a follow-up strike, a fire growing along the edge as if the giant were swinging it from orbit into the atmosphere. Daniel Jumped away, feeling the axe cut and burn something he wasn’t familiar with, some new aspect of his body he had no time to think about. He used to be so concerned about having time to think when all he needed was whatever he had now.
Daniel continued to avoid the bull in the makeshift ring for a time, hoping whatever abilities Gtoll used were costly enough that he could wear down his mana supply. The times the Berserker used the fire attack or made the earth shake with some disruptive effect were perilous, and these new instincts didn’t let Daniel escape unharmed. He was singed and cut in multiple places. Without the improvement to his healing speed he might have passed out or succumbed to his wounds, but the part of a foot Gtoll had lopped off was mostly back to its general shape. The pain, like the fear Gtoll was constantly trying to overwhelm him with, seemed so distant that it barely existed.
The first risk Daniel took came when Gtoll paused as a charge would have led him into the Tyrant’s vicinity. Those who hadn’t run for it had still vacated the courtyard, save for the Ashier. The Berserker controlled himself for a moment before he struck the one he was bound to, and Daniel darted across the ground to test his new weapons on the dusker’s legs. To his brief dismay, the plates of the dusker’s outer armor moved on their own to protect the Berserker and he lost a finger as it was crushed. The other hand wasn’t able to scratch the plates. Gtoll hadn’t been this tough during the sneak attack and must have heightened features of his own to improve his defensiveness.
I can’t cut through him, Daniel thought, the first coherent words to come from the maelstrom of the battle high he’d entered. The need to get through that armor struck a chord in his mind, but unlike earlier, there was no immediate epiphany. Something was trying to help him, but he had to fully realize it before he could use whatever hidden power this was.
Gtoll stomped just as Daniel’s foot hit the ground and he rolled his ankle. It seemed whatever rage he’d entered was wearing off as his movements became tactical again. The giant was worthy of his higher level and Daniel had no doubt that he would have died already if not for what the changes had given him and the level disparity weakening his opponent. The blindness he’d inflicted contributed as well, though not as much as he’d hoped.
As Daniel lay sprawled there was a chance for it to end, either by another maiming or the Berserker growing tired of this and finishing it for good. Instead, he faced the Tyrant again. “Is this enough?”
“No.”
Gtoll sighed and hefted his ax on one of his upper shoulders, bringing a temporary pause to the fight. Daniel shouldn’t have let up as he was giving the giant time to regrow his eyes but as he’d determined, blindness wasn’t that big of a factor. He’d withheld a strike, so Daniel would repay the gesture. “What did you do? This is no battle trance I have seen. You fight completely differently, not unlike that avianoid, but you are still controlled. I would expect this from a Totem Warrior, but it feels different. Apart from that class.”
“You have grown slow,” Daniel answered, noticing a slight difference in his voice and feeling another ping in the empty gap in his memory. Unlike the elevator this seemed stronger, something he could latch onto, but now wasn’t the time. He let it fade away. “I have seen Berserkers die from that.”
“A weakness of my class,” Gtoll acknowledged. “But I am still stronger than you.”
Daniel opened and closed his hands as they talked, on the cusp of something. The power was focused there as he’d expected and it felt like he should be grabbing something from the empty air, but there was nothing. “For now.” He looked at his arm and saw that a cut that had gone halfway through was almost fully healed. It was the first time he’d gotten an inkling of how much of his past self he’d thrown away, but he blanked that out before it cost him his edge. “I think I’m healing faster than you.”
“Speed is not everything.” Gtoll blinked as cloudy orbs took root in his face. They weren’t functional and appeared quite vulnerable, but the hard part of getting them back was done. The two faced off, Daniel with his arms slightly spread to the side and nine and a half fingers splayed. Gtoll remained still, his ax in an unreadied position. The wild energy in Daniel wanted him to strike out, but he sensed something was off. Gtoll has shown maybe ten powers overall, and he’d had nearly forty himself before undergoing this change. The rate of power acquisition did slow towards the later levels, but Gtoll would still have a large repertoire to pick from.
Daniel summoned a single feather on his arm and threw it out. A meter from the giant, it was cut in half. “You can’t overcome this gap, not without the power of the gods.” He nodded to Daniel, the pupil of one eye forming. “This must be of them, but it is not enough.”
Physical attack, Daniel assessed as he watched the feather fall. Hunter’s Flash Jaunt could get past whatever that is, but- As soon as he thought it, that power was made available to him. It wasn’t what his hands wanted to do, instead, it was like the power had been strapped onto him artificially. Experiencing so many awakenings in so little time, even this false one, made Daniel regret leaving his seventh sense to rot earlier on. By the feeling it gave, there was no wonder people thought of powers as gifts from the gods. But this wasn’t from them.
“You should-“ Daniel flashed through Gtoll when he began to speak, grimacing at the mana cost of the ability before the sharp smile returned. He’d crossed through the blade barrier without a scratch, though it was hard to tell since all of his senses had been blocked during transit. By the look of Gtoll’s stance he’d tried to stop Daniel’s movement with the blunt head of his ax before he would hit the defensive aura, only to pass straight through and overbalance.
The fifth rush of awakening hit Daniel as he looked down and saw his hands had indeed grabbed something from wherever he’d been. They glowed with a soft purple light and looked slightly translucent. He didn’t think about the name that entered his head as he saw the Berserker begin to recover.
He activated Flash Jaunt again, feeling that whatever his mana flow had done didn’t block an actively channeled power, as if he’d cast Scatter Shot on them. Setting his course, Daniel winked out of existence. This time, he felt his hands impact something and the momentum almost halted, until something gave and he carried forward. He appeared closer on the other side than he should have gone but it didn’t matter.
Gtoll had a hand to his neck, covering where a chunk of flesh had been torn out when Daniel had grabbed on with two hands mid-flight. He’d cut at least a decimeter deep and could reasonably decapitate Gtoll with enough of those swings. Daniel focused and pulled more of the energy into his hands as he activated the ability once more. He didn’t need to be in the strange ethereal space to access it, only needed the initial experience to awaken the power. “You done?”
“H-how?” The dusker looked truly shaken. “What kind of attack was that?”
“I’ll roll over if you have anything that can hit me when I’m like that. Do you?” He stared into the dusker’s eyes, which were now formed enough to make the gesture worthwhile. It was entirely possible, since Mark had such a power. There were no more nudges in his mind, no more cards to play. He had enough mana to make use of this combo again, though both abilities were hungry enough to starve him after a few turns. Gtoll could adapt, but if he couldn’t block, Daniel could just aim for the head next time and hope to pierce through to the brain.
“Show me that again,” the Tyrant commanded, keenly looking at Daniel after seeing Gtoll’s shock. A flick of the Proxy’s head made it clear what they meant, and they added, “Do whatever you can to block the blow without killing him.”
“I will,” Gtoll gravely said, though it was clear that among the vast powers at his disposal, there was nothing to counter incorporeality. Kob had been the same way against the frost strangler.
“I’m going for your upper right arm,” Daniel said confidently, salting the wound he was about to inflict. He waited a few seconds and then activated his ability, sending him screaming through the void. Gtoll’s mass slowed him almost to the point of stopping. Just before he let the energy in his hands dissipate to carry him forward, he pushed off while still blind. The ax appeared right next to him as reality returned, and it would have cut another arm off if not for that last touch.
Reacting immediately, Daniel charged more energy into his hands and used Flash Jaunt again, his speed not suffering as much as he went through the side of the leg. On the other side, he saw Gtoll go down on one knee as a good chunk of the ankle was missing. Healing, but it seemed the oversized frame of the Berserker took more time to mend once enough damage had been dealt.
His eyes shone as he lowered his guard, projecting confidence though he could only do that one more time. “Want me to fight Rorshawd too? I’d enjoy that.”
“That’s enough, Gtoll.” The fear aura everyone else was under released and there were gasps from around the courtyard. It was too much for the circumstances, Daniel knew. Gtoll had him dead multiple times and would have won despite how much he’d held back if he’d had anything to counter the cheap trick Daniel’d developed.
No, Daniel hadn’t really beaten Gtoll, but he’d done enough to win his freedom. Cheating isn’t going to give me what I need. Not after today. I have to get stronger.
“One last time, what are you?” Ashier asked, interrupting his thoughts. “This form, it isn’t what I would expect from a servant of the gods.”
“You know who took me right after I won this city for you?” Daniel asked loudly and rhetorically. “That’s all the answer you should need.”
Whispers of Hammer, god of transmutation, echoed and the Tyrant nodded. “I see. You truly would be wasted here. I never break my word, and you have done as I asked.”
“You’re letting me go with everyone I asked for?” Daniel clarified, wanting the Tyrant to say it in front of all assembled.
“Yes. You are all free to leave. May the Octyrrum bless your path.” The Tyrant didn’t sound happy as they spoke, but stuck with the decision they’d made.
Daniel fully relaxed and started walking towards where Thomas had fallen out of his seat some minutes ago. He passed Gtoll on the way and looked to the side. “Get something enchanted. That ax is just metal. You’ll need it if you meet someone like me again.” It was something he’d figured out after being hit with it so many times, not feeling any appreciable mana in the weapon itself along with the pain.
The giant’s hand closed over one of his legs, taking him completely by surprise. The pressure lasted only for a moment, though. “Take care of young Khiat.”
Daniel’s eyes burned as he spoke, though they also held some respect for the dusker. “I will never lose another friend again, you can be sure of that.” He kept walking, and when he reached the Cleric, his voice softened. “Thomas, I can’t do anything about your brother or father. I don’t think you can either. Come with me to Threst.”
“What did you do?” the Cleric asked as if Daniel had just slaughtered everyone in the courtyard.
“Thomas, it’s still me,” Daniel said, although even he wasn’t convinced of that.
“Well, yeah, obviously.” Daniel raised an eye and the Cleric gestured back frantically with both hands. “Do you even know what you look like?”
“Not exactly.” Now able to let those thoughts distract him, Daniel hunted for a mirror or any particularly reflective surface, and then remembered his phone. It didn’t light up when he tapped it or thought toward it, but he didn’t need the light for this. As he stared down, he saw an echo of Hunter staring back.
The nickname that the Cleric had dropped snuck its way back in amidst the incredulity. “Guy, you’ve got a tail.”