Trevor
Uncle Leanor’s voice carried itself through the village, bringing dozens of men out of their homes. Strangely enough, none of them drew their weapons or made any moves to defend their fellow villagers.
Suddenly Nicholas began laughing loudly, in a manner you would expect of a madman.
“I see that you have not gotten rusty in your old age Marcus! Still the Dealer of War I see.” Nicholas said. Suddenly Uncle Leanor’s dagger moved sideways, cutting off Nicholas' wrist.
“That is for making fake names and revealing my identity. And don’t give me that look, we both know that your hand will be healed within the next five minutes” Uncle Leanor said. And indeed Nicholas’ hand seemed to be healing at a rate visible to the naked eye.”
“You speak as if you have a real name! Haven’t you been making names left and right? What’s the matter if I make one?” Nicholas said, laughing again.
And just like that they had lost Trevor, he couldn’t understand what in all the worlds they were talking about. Apparently Uncle Leanor had some scary title…Something that should have worried Trevor but he was pretty sure every person in that bunker except his family had killed someone. Uncle Leanor might as well be the norm there.
And his family was exempt only if his parents had never killed anyone. Something Trevor was starting to doubt with each passing day. They seemed a bit too comfortable when dealing with the war, seemingly dangerous strangers that kept hopping into our home and his growing armoury of lethal spells.
Almost as if they had dealt with these things before. It would seem that this world that Trevor had found himself in was even more dysfunctional than he had thought. And that was saying something.
“Who’s the kid?” Nicholas asked, bringing Trevor back to reality
“Someone you do not want to be seen with.” Uncle Lenor answered
“Oh? And what exactly has he done that he is a threat to even me?” Nicholas said. The men that had emerged before were also looking at me pointedly as they walked towards us at a glacial pace.
Uncle Leanor bent close to Nicholas’ ear and said in an exaggerated whisper, “Existing”
Nicholas seemed to freeze for a second before once again bursting into laughter and saying, “Oh you got me Dealer! You got me!” Guffawing all the while. But his eyes now seemed to watch Trevor’s every move. As if watching to make sure that he did not make any threatening moves.
“So, how is it that you and your motley band of miserables found themselves disturbing these poor villagers' lives?” Uncle Leanor asked as the two of them started walking towards the village’s interior keeping exactly the same pace. As if the two of them had some sort of mental connection, each step was taken together.
Trevor wondered why they were taking the effort to do this. Why were they stepping around so weirdly when they could just walk normally? But Trevor did know better than to interrupt their conversation.
“What do you mean disturbing? This is our village Dealer! If we did not return to support our families during this time then wouldn’t we be spitting on the sacrifices of our ancestors that allowed us to live in the first place.” Nicholas answered.
Uncle Leanor seemed shocked by the answer. So shocked that his steps faltered. “I see…” Uncle Leanor said, his steps suddenly now always half a step behind Nicholas.
Nicholas simply gave Uncle Leanor an evaluating look and increased his speed. Trevor of course was still at a loss on what had occurred. Was this some underground code of conduct like in those movies? Where only the boss walked in the front? And Uncle Leanor had matched the pace to show that Nicholas wasn’t the boss now that he was here? And then stopped when he learnt that it was Nicholas’ village?
‘Ugh…I wish there was some kind of tutorial for this…I need one or I'll never understand this nonsensical meld of dozens of cultures that seems to hold in Launeior’ Trevor thought as the group travelled in silence towards the centre of the village.
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Alforien
It took three days for the camp to be back in workable condition. It took two more before I and the Council ever satisfied that the measures in place were enough for us to contend with the Woods of Arnile. But finally, we were ready.
Ready as we could be to face the next hurdle in our journey. For some reason the army was growing on me. I guess I would miss them when the Trial was over. Now though, it was time to head into the Woods of Arnile.
“Army! March Forward!” I yelled, propelling my voice and as one over 300 men moved forward, perhaps not in total synchrony but at least they didn’t trample themselves. Anyone who’d seen the first attempt three days ago knew that it was a massive achievement.
Little by little the army bled into the Woods of Arnile, Fall trees of an unknown kind replaced the snow covered pines of the Woods of Eltemar. The snow was replaced by fallen trees and the dark skyline brightened. But not too bright for the sun was blocked by a shipwreck.
Yes, a shipwreck, in the middle of the woods. Either ships were a lot more versatile here or the Woods of Arnile had created a rather creative illusion to kill us. Or do whatever it usually did with its prey.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Be alert! The Woods could attack from anywhere around us!” I yelled. Frankly, I wanted to just cast the spell I had cast in the Woods of Eltemar and be done with it. But I couldn’t. I quite literally couldn’t. There was just too much mana.
I had been doubtful about whether it would work in the Woods of Eltemar and was very sure that it wouldn’t work in the Woods of Arnile. The Mana would just overwhelm the fires and extinguish them in seconds. I would have wasted a lot of mana for nothing.
The army proceeded through the Woods at a measured pace. Not daring to go too fast or too slow for fear that they would trigger whatever trap the Woods had set and end up dead. Suddenly a loud sound followed by someone screaming could be heard in the otherwise silent woods.
Immediately turned to the source of the sound where a single young soldier had been hit by a falling rock and was now bleeding. Within a few seconds Arlun had remotely healed the wound. I of course was just floating in the air.
Over the last few days I had gained a skill that thankfully made such an act mostly costless.
Skill gained!
[Aerial Mobility]: Banmeru may not live on the air naturally, but you are well on your way to proving that they can do so unnaturally! Reduced mana cost for all self casts of Kinetic nature.
How nice of the System to help me once in a while.
The boy’s encounter, though showcasing the army’s readiness, did little to calm them. There was far too much tension in the air now. A tension that proved its worth and its worse at once when the army suddenly came under attack by a legion of shadowy figures.
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The Realmwatch (The Artefact)
The Realmwatch was, for the first time in decades, excited. It was exciting to see how the baby dealt with the new series of Trials that it had prepared for him. Oh how interesting they were! Strange creatures from across the multiverse, sealed, caged and found young just so they could be within the Trial realm’s bounds.
Oh it couldn’t wait! It was time to sit back and watch as its little creations wreaked havoc
Name
Alforien Arlford
Gender
Male
Species
Banmeru
Age
7 months
Titles
Heir candidate to the Earl of Cristanfor, Noble of the Kingdom of Mistrane,Count of Launeior ,Transmigrator
Class
[The Known: The Final Step]
Skills
[Otherworldly mana manipulation] [ Force of Will] [Conversion] [Meditation] [Mana Wringer]
Stats
Strength[The amount of brute force one can use]
109
Endurance[The amount of time one can work continuously]
163
Flexibility[The range of movement of the body]
102
Precision[The accuracy of one’s movements]
113
Perception[The ability to notice nuances and advanced concepts]
133
Intelligence[The ability to comprehend the advanced concepts]
140
Wisdom[The ability to effectively use the concepts]
137
Aura Force[The ability to force your will on your surroundings]
140
Combat[The speed of one’s reactions, ability to process situations and other general combat abilities]
135
Magic Affinities
Fire[One of the greatest sources of Light and Heat in the universe, you have Greater Affinity for Fire]
97.44%
Earth[Essential for life, earth is what renders things solid, you have a Greater affinity for Earth]
99.87%
Mind[The consciousness and its relation to reality, you have Lesser affinity for Mind]
17.35%
Chaos[Everything shall be anything but what it should be, no thing shall remain as it should, you have a Lesser affinity for Chaos]
21.76%
Grandmist[The base substance that all subatomic particles are made off, you have Lesser affinity for Grandmist]
27.39%
Space [The building block of dimensions, you have an Outrageous affinity for Space
199.998%
Time[A mysterious force, you have a Minor affinity for Time]
01.15%
Will [The force that propels you through life, you have Minor affinity for Will]
9.81%
Force[The building block of Kinetic interactions, you have Minor affinity for Force
9.81%