– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 217, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 96 –
“Hrgh…” Muffled sounds of struggle were echoing in the tunnels within the Proving Grounds.
Two Thanatos soldiers looked at each other and communicated their intentions with hand signals. They quietly unsheathed their swords and slowly walked around the corner.
“What the…” The soldiers stared with horror at the sight of a woman drinking the blood of another Thanatos soldier.
“Ahh…” The vampiress lifted her head. She grinned with pointy canines and licked the blood from her lips in a lascivious display. “That’s enough for now.” Blood gathered around her to form an elegant dress. “Come my dear.” She softly moved her index finger over the chin of her victim.
“Yes, mistress…” The enthralled woman gazed lovingly at the vampiress.
“The Bloody Duchess from the Lich Kingdoms…” The soldiers were clenching their weapons tightly. “How did you escape your cell?”
“Who knows?” The Bloody Duchess shrugged. “Must be all the good karma I’ve accumulated by giving pleasure to others.” Next to the Duchess, her thrall glared hatefully at the Thanatos soldiers whom she had considered comrades as little as an hour ago.
The Bloody Duchess smacked her lips. “Your karma on the other hand…” A trail of blood twirled around the Duchess’s fingers. “Must truly be awful…”
She smiled enchantingly. “Outnumbered…” More armed thralls appeared from a tunnel in the back. “And not to my taste…” The Duchess shook her head at the two male soldiers. All of her thralls were women. Some of them had even transformed into vampires already.
“You go and inform the overseers.” One of the soldiers stepped forward while speaking to his comrade. His tone was heavy. “It has been an honor, friend.” He flung himself into the fight with mana bursting beyond his limits. “RUN!”
The other soldier bolted away with bloodshot eyes…
In another tunnel, a tall, black-scaled lizan was reading the newly entangled threads of fate. Her blue eyes were glowing brightly. “One more to pave our path…”
Fate clutched her heart and mage staff. Sometimes, she did not like the twists of the future that she saw.
Her mission had been to collect her blood, which included finding their lost prince. If it had not been for the debts they had accumulated along the way, Fate would have never considered freeing any more of the prisoners. However, her magic had revealed three knots of probability to significantly increase their chances to successfully encounter the other person on this day.
Fate would not lose sleep over the first woman she had freed, but this second one… “Undead. Menace. Curse.” Her own native realm had never seen vampirism before. Fate only hoped that it never would.
Fate cast a sequence of spells to break the locks for the last cell she had to open according to her magically enhanced insights. She had unsealed most of the protections when a powerful mana signature emerged from behind her.
Fate rapidly switched her casting to move out of the way. She noted that the range of teleportations appeared to be obstructed and immediately cast a divination to figure out a way to bypass this limitation.
The glow in Fate’s eyes intensified and she stared at the hidden assailant while deflecting the next attack with the help of her guiding precognition. She successfully redirected the arcane attack spell and it impacted inside the cell behind her.
“Who are you?” A woman dressed in a crimson uniform rose from the floor of stone. Yesenia’s eyes were cold, but even her rage could not hide her surprise. “Lizan?”
Whatever Yesenia had surmised before, this was not the intruder she had expected. No one would associate such intricate spellwork with a lizan. In fact, Yesenia had barely ever heard of a lizan using spellwork before.
The lizans were newfolk and consequently did not have as much time as elves or dwarves to familiarize themselves with the magic studies of this human-native realm. Taking this into account, it indicated that the lizan in front of Yesenia was an extremely talented mage.
Yesenia searched the lizan’s expression, but the foreign face was hard for Yesenia to read. Was this lizan connected to the earlier prison break as well? Why the pause between the incidents? Was she connected to Xuan? Was she connected to the Bloody Duchess? What was going on?
“I’ll have to interrogate you thoroughly.” Yesenia crushed a sphere in her hand to reinforce her seal on the space. She had already confirmed that the lizan in front of her was a dimensional mage, which forced her hand. She had to use the expensive single-use item. Yesenia could not take any chances.
“YOUR OPPONENT IS ME!” An intense sword slash accompanied by droplets of water rushed towards Yesenia. A tall elven woman dressed in martialist combat robes slowly walked forward while holding onto a thin sword.
Yesenia summoned a shield of blood and frowned. She could sense that when the droplets of water evaporated, they interacted with the spatial seal Yesenia had been trying to reinforce. Her eyes moved from Fate to the new arrival. She recognized the mana martialist. “The Librarian of the Skyriver Sect? It seems you have escaped too…”
“Who said I’m trying to escape?!” The Librarian glowered at Yesenia and her crimson uniform. “If I don’t pay the Mad Empire back today, I won’t call myself an elf anymore.”
The Librarian fleetingly glanced at Fate. “I don’t know who you are or why you have helped me, but I hope that you can help my surviving disciples as well.”
A group of elves and humans arrived together. Most of them were dressed in martialist combat robes. Among them was a pair of elven sword cultivators that walked close to each other – an elven woman in white and an elven man in black.
“I still have something I must do,” said the Librarian with resolve. She did not know how many of her disciples remained imprisoned in the city, but she refused to let a single one behind while she was still drawing breath.
“Teacher, we’ll stay with you!” A pair of elves rushed forward. The man drew his sword, only to see it flying towards the cell next to them an instant later. Many other swords suddenly escaped from their owners to fly off in the same direction.
“I was too late,” cursed Yesenia and immediately made preparations. She retrieved a potion and gulped it down before sending a message to the other overseers. This situation was getting completely out of control.
“Now this is a surprise…” The hoarse voice of an aged man arrived from the cell. A man with a clean-shaven face and with wild grey hair walked out while countless blades were rotating around him. He threw his destroyed shackles to the floor. The man grinned and a dagger was flying in front to pick something from his teeth.
“Magnetism? No… Metal intent?” The Librarian raised an eyebrow. “You are…”
“One of Tiv’s Nine Blademasters.” Yesenia cursed quietly. She resolved herself for an intense fight and for a very long day. “You won’t leave this building!”
“Maybe, maybe not.” The Blademaster grinned. “But while you are busy with me, who is going to guard the cells of my subordinates?” He channeled mana into a storage item and countless metal blades darted away into the tunnels.
“Thank y—you?” The Blademaster was looking for the lizan woman that had freed him, only to discover that his benefactor had already teleported away. “Oh well. I figure the best way to express my gratitude is to do what I do best.” He moved his eyes to Yesenia and looked at her as if he was looking at prey. “I wonder how the all-out strength of an overseer compares to a Thanatos general?”
Yesenia held his gaze without fear. “You should be more worried about yourself.” She circulated her mana rapidly and prepared chained spellwork. Before she could ignite her spell structure, another sword slash arrived and she had to switch to defend herself.
“Your opponent…” The Librarian growled. “...is me.”
An elven man in black martialist uniform took hold of his own sword among the many flying blades. With annoyance, he tried to wrestle back control of it. After he had finally succeeded, he looked at his white-robed companion. “Let’s find our martial sisters and brothers.” The elven woman nodded.
***
*RAAANNGG* *RAAANG* *RAAANGG* A loud alarm sound had started blaring in the City of Proving.
Oh boy.
Terry tried to maintain a deadpan expression while dodging a martialist’s attack. He circled a burst technique and then rammed his push dagger into the side of his assailant.
A look of shock flashed in the man’s eyes, who had never expected Terry to switch gears so quickly. They had exchanged several moves and Terry had appeared evenly matched so far.
Another moment later, the man’s face contorted in a green grimace. The poison on the push dagger had activated.
“Yikes,” exclaimed Terry while glancing at the push dagger.
I guess that channeler from the Bright Lady planned to let me die a painful death.
Terry exchanged the push dagger for the three-pronged sai he had bought in Tiv. Terry struck the sai’s central prong into the eye of the Blazing Sun Sect member to give the man a quick death.
I haven’t used the sai in Thanatos before, so this should be a safe weapon… Terry glanced around. I should reserve that poisoned push dagger for stronger opponents.
Hmmm…. Terry pondered over what course to take.
The mana martialists evidently had a way to track Rafael, which was bad. One good news was that from the looks of it, they had not figured out Terry’s identity yet.
Terry tried his best to look busy without putting himself into danger, but if he wanted to influence the battle around him, he had to move occasionally. Now that he had successfully dealt with his latest opponent and was free again, Terry had to make a decision.
This is really turning into pandemonium…
Terry furrowed his brow. He believed that the Proving Grounds had discovered their disappearance much earlier. However, the alarm was only playing now. Something had changed, only Terry didn’t know what.
“I appreciate that you’re staying to fight with us.” A security guard approached Terry, who only recognized the woman vaguely as one of the people that had gone out to call for more forces from the surrounding estates..
“That’s the signal to gather at the Proving Grounds, right?” asked the security guard. “I wonder what’s going on there.”
Terry quickly ordered his thoughts to say as little as possible. “Whatever is going on there, we can’t just ignore the situation here. Perhaps they have discovered something about the escapees?”
Terry averted his face. If that was the case, they would send a signal to come here though.
Not daring to stay around the chatty security guard any longer, Terry darted to another opponent.
[Rafael, move to the left quickly.] Terry sent an order through mental transmission.
[What? I’m kicking ass over here!] Rafael was using every opportunity to kill martialists from the Thunderous Palm Sect. His efforts were appreciated by the security guards, who were setting up most of the opportunities.
[One of the elders is coming your way.] Terry shared the impression he got from his mana sense.
[Let the old farts come!] Rafael boasted. [I’ll tear them all apart!]
Rafael appears to be enjoying himself too much. Terry rolled his eyes. [That’s not the point. The elder is in a fight with the Thanatos soldiers. The real Thanatos soldiers, remember? The ones that can expose our identities and put us into deep shit? These are the people we have to avoid.]
[Got it.] Rafael quickly changed tune and moved according to Terry’s instructions.
[One more street, then you’ll have the greatest buffer of other people fighting in their path.] Terry’s mind raced with all the different sensory inputs.
He prepared a shield and tackled another mana martialist from the Blazing Sun Sect to the ground, who was then immediately finished off by a pair of security guards. Meanwhile, Terry was scanning all the mana signatures as well as using his mana touch to scout possible escape routes in the tunnels underneath the city.
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
“Crap…” Terry muttered under his breath. [I think one of the Thanatos soldiers may be coming over to me.] Terry was not entirely sure, but one of the mana signatures from the soldiers was making a suspicious beeline for his location.
Could it be a coincidence? Terry wondered. Could it be that they’ve mistaken me for a real soldier? Can I take the risk? What if I’m wrong?
That would mean that they have a way to track me. Why would they be able to track me but not Rafael? Why would they pay more attention to me?
Screw it.
Focus
Terry grit his teeth. [What is the situation with the entrance ticket?]
[I wish it was better,] grumbled Rafael.
[I’ll have to accelerate our plan then.] Terry darted through the battle area and picked a fight with several mana martialists at once. He was increasing the distance towards the approaching Thanatos soldier while also getting closer to Beatrice’s mansion.
“YOU DARE!” A martialist from the Thunderous Palm Sect was particularly offended by Terry’s actions that ignored his presence.
[Such a shame to let all these precious artifacts go to these knuckleheads…] Rafael lamented but did not object.
Terry dodged the incoming attacks with ease. It was a shame that he was not able to rely on his disruption field to disturb the mana resonance from the mana martialists. Regardless, Terry was able to evade most attacks from the average martialists by simply stepping into the air on layers of divine mana.
Terry grinned while reveling in his long-missed aerial mobility.
Lightning cracked and suddenly the martialist from the Thunderous Palm Sect was right in front of Terry.
“Hmph.” Terry attempted to dodge but the mana martialist had a movement technique that allowed him to move in the air as well.
Worse, the lightning-based cultivation and techniques gave the martialist an edge in speed.
Terry had underestimated the man because of the man’s mana signature, but evidently there was more to martialist cultivation than could be read from mana amount and intensity alone.
Terry did not have time to dwell on his mistake and instead changed burst techniques.
He knew that he should avoid using disruption discharges. He knew that he should avoid his commonly used equipment like his last remaining barrier spear. He knew that he was outmatched in speed.
Terry chose to face the martialist head on and used his own punch to face the incoming palm of lightning. An intense shock of lightning traveled from the martialist’s palm towards Terry’s arm upon contact.
“What?!” The mana martialist was shocked by how little Terry was fazed by the lightning in his attack.
The man’s shock transformed into horror when he himself felt his own arm crack from the forceful collision with Terry’s fist. Unfortunately for the man, his palm attack did not allow him to quickly pull his arm back. The only way left for the man to limit the damage to his arm was to stop his movement technique, but that would mean dropping from the sky.
To the man’s credit, his shock and horror did not impede his battle instinct. He did not hesitate to stop his movement technique and braced for the consequences.
The force from the impact pushed the man away instead of breaking his arm even further.
Terry was focused on the timing of his burst technique cycle – from resistance training to explosive power to physical recovery and back to speed. He did not have the mental space to pay much attention to the reaction of his opponent.
As soon as the mana martialist was out of the way, Terry bolted away to get closer to Beatrice’s estate.
This could have gotten much worse. Terry reminded himself to not get careless.
There are many here that are faster than me.
Many that are stronger than me.
I have to be careful. If I had not been able to switch my burst focus, I could have been in real trouble.
Involuntarily, Terry glanced at his right forearm where he had wrapped his third divine hammer inscription. I owe Aunt Sigille so much.
Terry darted forward until he finally arrived in front of Beatrice’s mansion with the breached treasury. Naturally, all the mana martialists he had pissed off along the way, were still pursuing him. Before they could arrive, Terry approached some of the security guards, who had remained close to the mansion. “Get ready, I believe the martialists are making a move on the mansion.”
“What?” One new face among the security guards raised an eyebrow. “Who are you? Get—”
“Shut up, he’s a soldier from the Proving Grounds.”
“He warned us before as well. Get ready to fight.”
“Look! Over there! They’re already coming!”
“Bastards!”
Terry averted his face to take in the sight of the approaching enemies and, more importantly, to not let the security guards see his own expression.
Terry and the security guards confronted the attacking mana martialists. They were holding them off until Terry performed another aerial maneuver to goad a familiar opponent from the Thunderous Palm Sect into the air.
Terry noted that the martialist had found a way to heal his injured arm, but Terry wasn’t really looking to continue the fight. He only wanted to guide the opponent’s gaze towards a room in the mansion behind him. It was much easier to see inside from their new position in the sky.
Terry could not help but curl his lips when he saw his plan working. One moment, the mana martialist was staring hatefully at Terry. Next moment, the man’s eyes were opening wide and greed could be read on his face. Another moment later, the man had already broken several jade tokens, which Terry assumed were communication talismans.
Shortly after, loud explosions were reverberating all around.
[The wrinklefaces are getting serious.] Rafael remarked in a thought transmission.
Terry grinned because he could sense that the Thanatos soldier whom he had been worried about was getting entangled again.
[Heads up, buddy. I believe I just saw an elder from the Blazing Sun Sect. It seems that their old farts are starting to arrive as well.] Rafael sounded wary. [The Thunderous Palm Sect might be here for riches and to regain face, but for the Blazing Sun Sect, it’s possible that there will be some people on a real vendetta. As idiotic and unbearable as the scions were, there is a slight chance that their families still had a sliver of affection for the little shitheads.]
Terry’s grin vanished. Not because of the possibility of danger, but because of the reminder that everyone whom he had killed or whose death he had caused could have people mourning them. From his past experience with the Preacher and Bright Willow, Terry knew that even the people whom he abhorred might be loved deeply by others.
Terry remembered how his accepted parents had once talked about people wearing different faces depending on whom they are interacting with – if they considered you superior, equal, or inferior. Sigille had said something related, about people like Willow wearing one face in public while acting differently when no one was watching. Sigille had also talked about people’s different frameworks for interpreting actions.
Everyone has their own story to tell…
Terry involuntarily thought of Harrison and how some Guardians had confronted Terry when he had returned to the Libra Outpost.
I guess I’m becoming the villain in an increasing number of stories.
Terry took a deep breath.
I wonder how people like the Veilbinder managed to become so universally loved? Even if the Veilbinder always lived true to his principles, there must have been many that—
Terry recalled the story of the Valkyrie and how he had found her imprisoned in a dungeon.
Is that just hindsight taking over? Seeing the grander picture over personal stories?
Is it that the stories of those who saw him as a villain get lost over time? Or never spoken out loud?
From the stories, the Valkyrie appeared universally loved too and yet, there was a whole group of people plotting to get rid of her and going so far as to imprison her for two centuries.
Terry frowned. Focus. He clenched his fists. No matter what stories others tell, I promised that I would get back to my family.
I promised.
Focus… Wait, what’s that? Terry subconsciously turned his head towards a direction he had scouted with his mana touch. A location inside Beatrice’s mansion.
[Go…] A strange foreign voice arrived in Terry’s head.
Terry furrowed his brow. [Rafael, did you say something?]
[No, buddy, why? What did you want me to say?]
Terry looked around. Perhaps I imagined it? He glanced back towards the direction he had scouted.
The sensation from Terry’s mana touch triggered the memory of his perception when the security guards evacuated the inhabitants of the mansion. Right, I never saw them leave and they definitely didn’t come back, which means these tunnels must lead some—
*BOOM* The battles near the mansion intensified.
Terry made up his mind. [Rafael, come back here. I believe I found a chance to leave.]
[Aye! I can wet my claws some more on the way.]
Terry frowned slightly. According to his mana sense, Rafael was moving slightly slower than the stronger signatures from the martial sects, who were drawn in by the allure of valuable magic items. Even worse, Terry could sense more Thanatos soldiers approaching as well.
Terry considered his words and then addressed one of the security guards. “This will get ugly. If your employer has something in there that they cannot afford to lose, you might want to come up with something better than to just stay here and fight.”
“Uhh…”
Seeing that the security guard failed to arrive at the conclusion Terry desired, Terry continued nudging him. “If I were you, I would think about moving the items according to priority. At this rate, I would not be confident to prevent everyone from entering and leaving.”
“Move where?” mumbled one of the security guards. “The treasury is already broken. The rest of the mansion is even less fortified.”
Terry was getting impatient. Or rather, the things he sensed with his mana sense were putting a lot of pressure on his timing. “Do you have a way to covertly move items away? If so, I would recommend you go about it fast.”
Fearing that he had come off a little too strong, Terry followed up with his second idea. “Also if you have an ice mage that can summon real ice, I might be able to buy you more time.”
Up above, one mana martialist managed to use a rapid movement technique and enter the treasury while the security guards were still pondering what to do. Terry suppressed a smile, because this was exactly what he needed to motivate the security guards.
“Get the manager!” One guard issued a command and then looked at Terry. “She’s the best ice mage we have available.”
“As long as they can summon real ice, that’s okay.” Terry tried his best to not break out in a scowl. He would have preferred someone less strong and less wary to assist him in his idea. Unfortunately, Terry was not sure if the security guard had understood what he was saying and Terry was too hesitant to repeat the point because it might invite suspicion.
Terry watched two of the security guards assault and stop the martialist thief.
“Have some of our own carry away the most valuable items.” The guard continued issuing orders. “It’s fucking annoying that some of them cannot be placed in storage items without prepration. Be quick.” He handed over a key. “Use the evacuation route.”
At least one part is working as I had hoped.
Terry’s expression lit up. He paid close attention to the security guard who had received the key for the tunnels. Terry could not afford to lose track of the person’s mana signature.
“Damn it, these greedy cockroaches!” The security manager arrived and glowered at the martialists who were closing in. She turned to Terry. “My men said that you have an idea that might help?”
“Can you summon a wall of ice from there to there?” Terry pointed towards different locations. “And from there to here?” He looked back at the woman. “They have to be connected.”
The security manager creased her brows. “I can, but…” Her face showed a flicker of irritation. “Why like this? And do you realize how many Blazing Sun Sect members are on the scene? Whatever ice we summon won’t stand unmelted for long. The mana expenditure would not be worth it.”
Terry had to pause because of the first question. The real answer was that this was a way for him to allow Rafael in while blocking the direct route for most of the powerful mana martialists and Thanatos soldiers. Obviously, Terry could not say that. After a moment of thought, Terry decided to use the second question as a way to avoid the first.
Be vague and perfunctory.
As much as necessary, as little as possible.
“I have a way to make sure the ice wall will hold…” Naturally, the Immovable Object spell.
Terry weighed his words. “...but it can only be used in a specific manner.” True, technically. Only the specifics I outlined go beyond the specifics of the spell.
Terry noticed a hint of wariness on the face of the security manager. He realized that he could not admit to his spellwork. He needed a cover story for the effect. “I have a magic item…” True again.
Technically.
Unrelated, but true. I do have magic items.
Terry swallowed his misgivings about using two unrelated truths to create a misleading implication.
“Alright…” The security manager decided to give Terry a chance. The assistance of Terry and the other Thanatos soldiers from the Proving Grounds had already proven very valuable. With a powerful movement of mana, she prepared her chained spellwork.
“It’s okay if the ice is thin,” interjected Terry. “It just needs to cover the area. You can conserve mana by keeping it as thin as possible. As long as it’s at least half a finger’s width, there is no problem.”
Some of the wariness in the security manager’s face disappeared. She appreciated the helpful elaboration. If it allowed her to avoid expending more mana than necessary, then that was an indicator of Terry’s good intentions. If Terry wanted to cause trouble for her, he would surely not have pointed that out.
*Ksingg* In a melodious sound, a huge but thin wall of ice appeared.
Impressive!
Oh shit… Terry did not expect the security manager to be that quick in her casting.
Now, he had to clamor for retrieving a magic item that could work as the cover story for how he was making the ice wall impenetrable.
Crap crap crap…
Obviously, Terry couldn’t just whip out an aspected glaive. He had to find something believable.
Lori’s or Jorg’s wand? No.
Terry’s consciousness was racing through his storage items.
Perhaps I can get by with pretending that I’m wearing it? Like the divine hammer inscription?
Wait… Terry’s mind settled on the items he had taken from Blue after the lizan prophet had shown his true colors and died at Terry’s hands.
Small blue crystal egg?
This seems…
Powerful.
Terry vaguely remembered that Damian had once referred to such an item.
Fiendish item!
Terry resolved himself. No matter, I don’t intend to really use it.
I just need a story.
Terry summoned the small blue crystal egg and made a show of touching the ice wall with it. Secretly, Terry was casting an empowered and strongly compressed Immovable Object spell. He hid the compressed spell structure at a location where the ice wall was sunk in the ground.
“Wow…” The security manager was first staring at the intense mana signature radiating from the little egg and then towards all the powerful attacks that were impacting on the thin wall of ice without leaving so much as a scratch. She felt her mouth run dry and she looked at Terry more seriously. “Impressive. Thank you for your help.”
“No worries,” muttered Terry absentmindedly. He was happy that the plan had worked, but he still had to pay too much attention to everything happening to be sincerely relieved.
No time to relax yet.
[Nice!] Rafael was now able to dash over more freely. [We should team up like this more often! I’m having a blast!] After a pause, another thought transmission arrived in a less happy tone. [These magical items though… Are you sure I can’t just take one or two dozen?]
Terry felt increasingly tired. [Focus on our priorities. We need to buy time until we can use the entrance ticket. If we can get into the evacuation tunnel, we even have a fallback plan. Making our escape from there seems a lot easier.]
[Fine…]
***