Elisa's Perspective
I sent out my net the instant we left the city. I felt blind without it, despite my functional eyes. The trip had been eventful, and I finally had a dwarven item made for myself. After a decade of hearing my master’s bragging, I couldn’t help but sneak out and get one for myself. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind, since she confessed to doing something similar herself.
My net was a cloud of very thin threads that could pick up shifts in the air, creating a sort of 2nd vision. I heard that the technique was based on an ability high level aura users had. My net was less of a spider web, and more like a mushroom cap. It expanded out above me, avoiding contact with other people and any objects we passed by. I could feel the movement of the birds and squirrels in the trees, and the new companion walking beside me. She was surprisingly light on her feet considering she was almost double my height and had a ridiculously large war hammer.
We were headed to one of the villages along the Border. I wanted to test out my new equipment, and the orc, who had stopped responding to the temporary name my 2nd master gave them, seemed inclined to do the same. As we reached the edge of the forest, I overheard a weasel with a bent tail whispering something.
Little known fact, Babel’s blessing could even translate animal speech as long as the content was complex enough. This one seemed to be talking about us, although it was simply describing our appearance. What a funny looking thing, it had green fur and a tail bent almost like a sickle. It was almost quivering with fear, which I attributed to my companion. There’s no way it would be afraid of little cute me after all.
We kept going through the woods, although I could tell that the weasel was following us through the air currents. I guess it was a territorial species. As the sun started setting, we stopped at a suitable place to rest for the night. It was a small clearing next to a babbling brook. It provided a clean source of water, and the dense forest would prevent anything large from stumbling upon us.
Right after we started unpacking, I could feel 2 presences heading towards us at a leisurely pace. Based on the fact that they were heading straight to us, it seemed they were here for us. I informed my companion with a quick hand motion, causing her to draw her new weapon from her back. There was hardly room to swing it here, but I got the feeling it wouldn’t stop her.
I would have normally withdrawn my webs since they don’t help against dangers that had already been revealed, but robbers rarely played fair. I could feel the weasel heading to the pair, before it disappeared. It must’ve been working for them. Or even worse, they just killed the poor thing.
From the shade of trees, the presences revealed themselves. One was a heavily armored knight. I was surprised they were traveling so suited up, but to each their own. The other was familiar though. A small beautiful girl with long black hair dressed in some kind of fancy robe. They always seemed to look down on their surroundings, and had a unique curved sword that no one had ever seen the blade of. It was Quick Draw.
Quick Draw spoke to their companion, making no attempt to hide what they were saying. “I’ll take care of the bug, you deal with the brute.” The knight nodded but said nothing. Master always said to be suspicious of people who seemed to be hiding their identity. They had to be up to no good!
Quick Draw bowed briefly before declaring a challenge.” We are here to challenge you for your Artisan crafts. I could use some new clothes, and my friend wants the hammer. I propose that we fight one on one a respectful distance from the other pair so as to avoid disturbing their duel.” She pauses, waiting for a response. I exchange a glance with my companion, and see that they’re thinking the same thing. We had rather incompatible ways of fighting, so accepting the challenge works well for us.
I left the clearing and traveled a few minutes away to another small clearing down the creek. Turning to Quick Draw, we both nodded and I jumped. An instant after Quick Draw placed her dainty hands on the handle of her sword, the underbrush below me was cut. I sent out some threads to pull myself into a tree overlooking the creek. As I pulled myself up, I felt a presence right behind me.
I immediately released my threads, and saw the air where I just was ripple. A gash appeared on the tree, causing some branches to fall. I was about to thank Quick Draw for dealing with the third party, when I realized nothing was there. Then there was another presence right in front of me. I quickly dodged to the side, and the branches that were falling around me were cut once more.
Another series of presences were felt, and I bounced between the trees avoiding them. As more branches fell, I took advantage of the cover to pause and focus on the presences. They felt less like people, and more like a tiny vortex of swirling air. Then another air blade was launched from the vortex, clearing the branches between us.
Quick Draw wasn’t drawing her sword, she was a mage! She had managed to fool everyone into thinking she was an incredibly skilled swords woman. Knowing that she was a mage, an incredibly skilled wind mage at that, I had to switch strategies.
Usually it’s wise to make some distance from a melee fighter in order to avoid their techniques, but it’s better to reduce distance with a mage. It makes it a lot harder to cast spells since they can hurt themselves.
I jumped straight at Quick Draw, but quickly jerked back and forth in a Z shaped pattern using my threads. Another air blade was fired, but it aimed at my threads instead. I had to take the loss in threads, but took advantage of a free hand to throw some needles from my storage bag. The needles bounced off Quick Draw as my feet touched the ground a few paces from her.
My web started to get tangled as a dozen presences appeared behind me. I wouldn’t be able to avoid them all normally, but I quickly used an experimental technique. I took control of the threads in my dress, manipulating my limbs like a puppet. I contorted myself, leaving one foot on the ground and leaning 135 degrees to the left. The air around me rippled, but I managed to avoid all the attacks. I would have fallen over if I hadn’t also anchored myself to the ground.
I retaliated with my own attack, unleashing a dozen blood red flowers at Quick Draw. Thanks to the upgrade, I no longer need to be connected to the flowers to send them forward. They were light and sharp enough to simply float through the air, cutting through the air more than flying. I could feel her trying to cut the threads between them like last time, but they didn’t react in the slightest. She would need to be better than her showing at the hero tournament.
Quick Draw seemed to grasp her sword for the first time, only perceivable due to my previous experience fighting her. The air seemed to get pulled into the scabbard, as the blade was revealed. A surprisingly short blade, it was pitch black and carried a slight curve. If my eyes didn’t betray me, it looked to have a single edge, although it looked more like someone had taken dark ink and suspended it in the shape of a weapon. Then she struck.
The sweep of the sword was a lot slower than the moniker would suggest, and I was able to follow it quite easily. Except, more presences formed at the edge of the blade. They mixed into one, forming a scar in the air. It almost seemed like it wasn’t even an attack, except that any threads I had near the scar were getting tangled as though they met a small tornado. Quick Draw then swung her sword again, crosswise into the scar. As the second scar crossed the first, the entire thing was sent flying towards me. I quickly pulled myself away from the projectile, but I could feel my threads getting drawn in.
I cut off any threads stuck in the scar and ducked out of the way, dodging through more air bldes that steadily popped up around me. The scars Quick Draw was making prevented me from getting close, while the air blades behind me kept shaving off bits and pieces of the threads. I kept dodging for another couple seconds, avoiding or taking glancing blows until I launched my trap.
I had sent some invisible threads through the ground since I landed, being careful to avoid the area in front of Quick Draw. If they got near the scars, they would also be caught up in her attacks. Rather than trying to pierce her defenses with the threads, I aimed to restrain her movements. She seemed to have some sort of barrier or defense technique that prevented my needles from landing anyways.
They rose from the ground around her feet, wrapping themselves along her arms. Then I pulled, and sent one of her scars into the sky. The air blades kept flying at me though, and I was running low on mana manipulating a vast amount of threads. I had one more trick up my sleeve though.
Quick Draw was struggling against the threads since she couldn’t fire air blades at herself without risk of getting hit, and being next to a scar was dangerous for her too. She paused when she saw Spider Lily pull out a mana stone from her sleeves. It was a pale blue crystal about the size of a palm, shaped into a sphere. Engraved in the sphere was a K. Despite the threat, Quick Draw still positioned more air blades around Spider Lily, but held off on firing them. They seemed to have come to a draw, albeit forced by the mana stone. As they paused, taking advantage of the lull to catch their breath, the creek next to them had turned red.
Then a half dozen trees flew at them, breaking the stalemate. They both jumped away from each other, with Quick Draw sheathing her blade. Then 2 figures flew in from the same directions the trees had come from.
One was a red orc swinging a massive war hammer. The other was a knight covered in dented armor. There was one dent in the helmet that had sunken in over a 1/3rd of the way. Whereas the orc was bleeding red, the knight seemed to ooze a tar-like substance, staining the armor around the joints.
A few minutes ago from James’ perspective.
The orc was looking the other way, probably waiting to see when the other two would be out of range for our duel. What a simpleton. I drew my Aura sword the second the two girls had left, and snuck it behind the orc. After a few moments, the orc drew their hammer, which was a shoddy mess of a weapon. It looked like a dark gray anvil had been tied to a simple stick.
I sent my aura sword towards their back while pretending to be getting ready for the fight by drawing my own mace and shield. With a thunk, it sank into the orc, causing them to keel over. They dropped the hammer, which sank enough for the head to be buried into the sand and mud around the creek. This fight, if it could even be called that, was over as soon as it started. I headed over to the hammer to take it before going to the other duel. It would be a problem if the hired adventurer somehow lost.
I wrapped my hands around the handle of this anvil hammer. As soon as my gloved fingers made contact, there was a horrible suction force. It was draining me of my mana! I quickly let go, but still lost a decent amount to this cursed item. It was a shame to leave any craft from the dwarves behind, but such an item was a risk to my health and I could always come back for it later.
As I turned from the hammer and started heading towards the girls, I felt a shudder in the earth. I turned back around in time to see the orc pull the hammer out with a pop. Their skin had turned red, with seemingly random black tattoos covering their body. I felt a shiver in my spine. Whether it was out of fear or excitement I don’t know, but I did know that it was time to fight for real.
I sent my aura sword at the orc while I positioned my shield to shrug off the incoming blow. The sword hit the orc, but it sunk into the flesh a lot less than it should have. That explained one thing. I raised my shield, reinforced with invisible aura, in anticipation of the clumsy swing this orc would unleash.
The orc wielded the odd warhammer with both hands into an overhead swing. I nearly scoffed out loud, as the orc was too far away to hit me. The hammer head descended into the small stream, setting off an explosion of mud and stone as though a mana mine had been planted there beforehand. I took a step back and raised my shield once more, preparing my sword to counter attack.
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As the debris settled, I heard a deafening boom of metal on metal. I watched the world turn 90 degrees and the trees pass by. My body flew back about 10 meters, crashing through some trees, before stopping on a boulder. That hit wasn’t enough to take me out, although it gave me a horrible headache. This orc was a monster among its kind, but I would stomp it out like the beast it was.
I drew power from a crystal I had embedded into myself. It was a murky white crystal in the shape of an acorn that granted me my aura abilities. I had the operation done years ago back when Barry had been born, so that I may protect him to the best of my abilities. Now was the time to fully utilize the incredible powers it offered.
I could feel my bones realigning themselves, and even the ringing in my head went away. The Aura I was manipulating shifted to a new kind of power. My own flesh seemed to harden, and while my movements slowed down a little, I felt like I could throw this orc back to the plains that it came from.
I swung my mace at the trees in front of me, snapping them with ease and launching them like javelins. They pierced into the orc that was charging at me, slowing it down enough for me to run up to it and launch it with my mace. It was a reversal of the previous exchange, with the orc being sent through the trees. I could even see that I had broken one of its fingers.
As I ran to where the orc landed, it stood back up. The finger realigned itself, and the orc swung its ridiculous hammer again. I backed up quickly to avoid the hit, when the orc pulled a maneuver so ridiculous they had to be aided by magic. The head of the hammer swung down like before, except it stopped before it hit the ground. Instead, the orc swung around the hammerhead, then it swung the hammer over its own head again in one motion.
I raised both arms, ditching the shield since it would break anyways, and braced myself for the impact. It felt like the mansion Barry lived in had just been dropped on me. It nailed me into the forest floor up to my elbows. Still, my body was holding on, and my sense of pain no longer existed. I grabbed the head of the hammer, swinging it overhead to launch the orc once more.
I burst out of the ground as quickly as I could, but saw the orc waiting for me. As we approached each other again, we paused. It seemed like neither of us was taking any lasting damage, so I spoke for the first time. “Let’s see which one of us is tougher.” The orc let out a guttural agreement, and we started swinging. Neither of us bothered to dodge the attacks being made, and we sent each other flying over and over again. The orc was getting battered and bruised, and the damage started to add up. Granted, it wasn’t much, but I wasn’t feeling tired or hurt in the slightest.
We kept exchanging blows until eventually, I noticed that we had ended up where the adventurers were fighting. They seemed to be waiting to see what to do next, so I shouted at the one I had hired,” Help me deal with this orc and your pay is doubled!” Except, it came out a lot raspier than I had expected. I guess the fight was taking it out of me, even if the power kept me from noticing.
Quick Draw took a second to comprehend what she was seeing, before responding.” I don’t work with undead. The deal is broken.” “Undead? Preposterous.” Again, it was weirdly hard to talk, but I couldn’t be an undead. Undead were characterized by their decayed appearance. They also wouldn’t stop moving until the mana fueling them ran out, and they were incredibly durable. They could absorb energy from intelligent life to sustain themselves and even enhance their own.
It sounded to me like this adventurer was backing out because they were afraid and making excuses. I’d have to deal with her once I killed this orc. No matter, I was overflowing with power. Nothing could stop me!
I went to take another swing, except I couldn’t move! No matter how I tried to twist and strain, my body was unresponsive. The orc was about to hit me once more, when the other adventurer got in the way. “I’ve already restrained him.” My eyes would’ve widened in shock if I could control them.
“I’ve used a joint lock technique made for undead, leaving them harmless.” The orc scratched their head in response. Quick Draw asked,” Why can’t you just smash them to pieces? Wouldn’t bludgeoning damage be more effective?” Spider Lily gestured at the orc. “As my friend demonstrated, undead are very resilient. Their bones are filled with a necrotic aura that makes them very hard to damage, and they heal almost instantly or grow new bones if you manage to remove them.”
She takes a breath before continuing,” The best way to deal with undead is to seal them and let their energy run out. Can you help me with that?” She looks over at the orc, who seems to be able to understand her. The orc raises their hammer into the air before letting it fall with a thunderous roar. The mud plastered everything in sight, turning the trees brown and everyone with it.
It did highlight some very thin threads that I hadn’t noticed before strung between them. I focused on them, and noticed that whenever I tried to move, the threads would vibrate ever so slightly. Perhaps I could break free after all, even if it might take awhile.
They threw me into the resulting pit, deep enough to completely bury me even while standing. As they pushed the dirt back in, I had to come to terms with what I had become.
While my body still breathed, it quickly became apparent that it was out of habit rather than necessity. Only an undead would be able to stay alive when completely buried and cut off from air. Well, I still had my sanity, so I would keep struggling to break the seal. As long as the living came close enough, I could feed off their energy, ensuring my survival.
After all, the undead were so fearsome not because they were hard to kill, but because they drained vitality from those around them. It was a slow but steady process that would turn the active weary, the old ailing, and the young stupid.
I seemed to be in a permanent state of not quite energetic, but active enough to get things done. A doggedness that would aid me in my escape. With each passing moment, although it may have been days or even weeks, I was slowly regaining control. I also practiced speaking in my free time, of which I had a lot of. The rasps turned to whispers, and then mutters. Eventually, they had cleared into proper speech, which I would need if I didn’t want to give away my undead nature.
Time passed and with each attempt, I could slowly see myself gaining more freedom. At first it was just a flexing of my arms, but it eventually turned into a twitching of my finger. They had truly underestimated my power if they thought this would work. Despite my struggling, my energy did not wane, if only because I couldn’t tell how much I had.
It seems that the crystal implant both turned me into an undead, but also benefited me in other ways. Anything the adventurers would have done would have no effect. I would not be surprised to see a tree above me by the time I regained full control, since they were a common method to wear out undead.
Once I had regained enough control to move an arm, I slowly used it to pull any threads surrounding me. Many of them didn’t connect to anything, but after a few hundred threads were pulled, I found the one that was connected to me. With a final tug, I yanked it out.
I opened my eyes. Huh, I don’t remember closing them. Not that it mattered with the darkness around me. I started pushing the dirt around me, but it went slower than expected. My strength had definitely waned, but I was sure that a normal undead would have perished well before now. All it would take was some commoners to feed off of before I regained my strength. Perhaps I would even be stronger, since newly born undead were at their weakest.
After some digging, I was starting to see some light peeking out above me. I was surprised that a tree wasn’t above me, even if I had taken steps to dig at an angle. Truly the heavens had blessed me with luck on this fine day.
I carefully pushed away the dirt, doing my best to be unnoticed in case anyone was nearby. I poked my head out, seeing the sun high in the sky. That was good, since the undead had poorer senses than the living. Without access to aura or even instinct, I would have to rely on my eyes to get around. As I surveyed the land around me, it appeared that less time had passed than I initially expected. The grass had grown back but the felled trees were still rotting. Perhaps it had only been a decade.
There was also a kid, a boy, that was turned away. They didn't seem to have noticed me and were playing with a small mirror. I overheard some words as they were talking to themselves. “No updates on the seed. There are some targets of interest though. One potential ascendant and one hero should be noted. Designation Anvil: the potential ascended boasts remarkable strength, healing and durability. While odds are low, since breakthroughs are rarer with the physical types, they don’t show any limits to their current growth. Designation Kamaitachi: the hero appears to be fulfilling their role in the world. They have a rival native character with a mysterious past.”
Maybe I could trick this kid by passing myself off as some kind of mentor. They were already a little off in the head anyhow, talking to a mirror. I coughed to get their attention. As they turned around, I couldn’t help notice some small details with my experienced eye. Their own eyes sparkled with a devilishness that an unrestrained kid would have. I had my fair share of experience with such a kid myself in Barry. He only started to calm down when I came back from a trip to avenge his father and my close friend Larry. The scaled salamander I had slain sparkled like the mirror this kid had.
Speaking of which, I really shouldn’t get lost in memories while I had a mission to accomplish. It was a bad habit I had gained with age, but it would serve me well here.
“Greetings. I am sir James, a highly accomplished knight looking for aid. If you are of able might and courage, I can take you under my wing and teach you everything I know.” I hoped I wasn’t coming off as desperate, but I needed to know how long I had been underground in a discreet manner. Even a quick look around showed that the area had turned into a small farm, and the creek had grown into a stream, dug out by human hands.
The boy responded with a maturity found in those who had to work on the farm, and look after their siblings since they were able to walk. “Where did you come from? I haven’t heard of Sir James before, what are some things you’ve accomplished?”
I responded the only way I could, with a glorious tale of one of my trips. “I last left to slay a giant salamander who’s scales shone like your mirror. It inhabited mystical woods that would befuddle all but the most able minded. Any other person would have given up, but I had to slay this salamander for justice! It had slain my closest friend, and I couldn’t rest knowing that it was alive and could take more victims.” I paused, watching the kid intently listening. They seemed to have a habit of playing with their mirror without realizing it.
“When I eventually found the beast, I learned that it had doubled in size.” I pointed at the small farmhouse nearby. “Why, it wouldn’t even fit in that barn. I knew that I couldn’t fight it head on without giving it another victim so I concocted a plan. A good knight is more than just a strong fighter. The salamander was a vain creature that loved to polish itself, and I had some oils for my armor that fit the task. I laid it out in a gap between the trees, while I laid in wait for the beast. The foolish animal pinned itself between the trees, and I dropped on top to slay it. I collected the beast core and left the woods. Atleast, I tried to. For you see, the reason the beast was in the mysterious woods is that anything that wanders can’t find its way out. I tried and tried for what felt like an eternity, with no day or night to speak of. And now I’m here, finally free of those woods. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what year or day it is.” I paused, hoping that this kid was smart enough to understand the question I had posed.
They almost seemed to believe me, but one last push would clear their doubts. The boy spoke in a manner that was half suspicion and half excitement. “Where's this beast core you spoke of? Surely a monster of that size would have an impressive core.”
I reached into a tattered bag while I manipulated my muscles to push the crystal to the palm of my hand. The time spent trying to break free had given me a new level of control over my body. I revealed the crystal with a flourish, showing a pale white sphere about the size of an eyeball. A close look would reveal a ridge that made the crystal resemble an acorn. The mirror in the boy had practically jumped out of his hands, causing a ray of light to hit me in the eye. I blinked a bit, and saw that the boy had managed to catch their mirror.
However, the crystal was nowhere to be found. As the realization sunk in, I could feel my armor start to weigh down on me once more, reminding me that I had grown old and weak. The boy surely had something to do with it, so I reached for them. My hand felt nothing there, and it wasn't because I still had an immunity to pain. The steel gauntlet passed right through where the boy was, causing a ripple to spread across their body.
The boy spoke again, this time with a sneer spread across their face. “ I can’t believe I had to waste so much time to hunt this seed down. I even had to consume what I had stored of my mentor's power to speed things along. “ He stared at me, waiting for a response. Perhaps I would’ve cried in rage if I were younger and had more energy, but now I was just so weary. I had lost the power I needed to protect the ones I loved.
“This 1 year stakeout turned into 5, so my superiors are angry. You should drop any ideas of coming back stronger and getting revenge. That this item-” He flashes the mirror at me again, revealing the image of the crystal trapped within “- will make you special, turning you into a hero or a god or whatever.”
“Will you slay me where I stand?” I was ready to accept my death, instead of letting this monster gloat over their success. “Oh no, I can’t. Something about being a victim of circumstance. Never was too good at remembering the exact number, but you’re free to go. Why don’t you go back to Barry or help raise his daughter Mary.” There was something off about how the boy said Mary, like it had two r’s.
There was a sound of shattering glass. I watched as the boy crumbled into dust, and the surrounding broke down to reveal where I really was. The creek was still there, but the farm was gone and in its place was a series of fallen trees. I could tell that the trees had decayed a bit, but not as much time had passed as I feared. If the boy wasn’t lying, Barry was still alive and I had a home to return to.
I walked each step slowly, feeling my armor weigh me down. Perhaps it was time to give up the knight business. The leaves fell around me as I wandered through the forest. I saw one turn into a red card, the size of a hand. I picked it up, revealing art that depicted a woman from a brothel with horns. On the other side was a short message,” Private Investigator Shen Illu at your service. If you have any world ending troubles, rip the card in half.”