There was an energy surrounding him...no, two opposing energies. One pulled him in, like a violent wing trying to take him away, and the other energy enveloped him, putting him back together. He was surrounded by stars, in a bleary black sky, those two energies fighting over him, life and death. In the end, life won.
When Langa opened his eyes, his headache was gone, and he was standing in a white room that looked like some kind of infirmary.
[YOU ARE DEAD.]
[Death Debuff:
100% Level Experience loss
Random item loss
1 x (Level) Hours of life loss]
[You were killed by a maestril. 10% Available Karma loss]
[You are still in the tutorial. Death Debuff reduced by The Unrivalled Tower Master.]
[Death Debuff:
50% Level Experience loss
Random Item loss
10% Available Karma loss]
The item he lost was his spear. Great. Just great. He was not in pain though, and looking around the infirmary room, it was just a bare room that looked like it had been a long time since any patients were here.
So, he was dead, huh? What a weird concept. He had always lived his life expecting that his death would be the end of his curse, and it would enable him to find peace. Now, he only had one life left, and if he died again, then that was it. So, things were exactly as they were before he was brought to the tutorial.
He knew that he should be more upset, after all, he had just died. However Langa had never feared death, he'd always lived his life ready to embrace it when it came for him. He was also someone who did not like to dwell on things he couldn't change, and just the thought that there was no way he could have defeated that creature, made him feel better.
He sighed and opened the door. Before he could leave, however, his comcer started beeping, and Liv's name was reflected on there.
"Yeah," Langa answered.
"Langa? What's going on, I just got a message that you died, Makoto is freaking out. Are the others okay?" Liv said.
"Tell him I'm okay. Yes, I died, but I still have one life left. I don't think Eniche and Sigurd got hurt though."
"What happened?" Liv asked, a bit calmer, "That place was a yellow zone, you should have been fine. Were you overrun by their numbers?"
Just the thought of that creature sent shivers down Langa's spine. "No. I accidentally crossed over to the red zone and was killed by a maestril. I didn't stand a chance."
"Crap, are you serious?" Liv asked, bewildered.
"Yeah, I'll tell you everything when you get back. I gotta go," he said, not wanting to linger on the topic.
He finally left the room.
*
“Are you alright, player?” the Elder said, coming up to Langa as soon as he stepped into the town hall.
“I’m fine, I just died,” he paused. It still lingered in his mind, that moment when it felt like his mind was being invaded when he could not move no matter how hard he tried. The very thought of being in that situation again set alight a panic in his heart that threatened to overcome him. But like all other things in his life that he had no control over, he pushed it back and shelved it somewhere in a corner of his brain.
‘I am in control,’ Langa thought, repeating the mantra that his sister had taught him to use whenever the claustrophobia overwhelmed him.
Langa looked down at himself, cursing, he had no spear anymore, only daggers, and they had to fight that monster in the next two days. He could not afford to be weak again, especially considering that he only had one life left.
“Esteemed Elder, I heard you can teach us some skills for a much lower price than we can get inside the Tower. Do you have any dagger skills?” he asked.
The Elder watched him with a piercing gaze, “I certainly do, but I was under the impression that you favoured polearms.”
Langa shrugged, “I like the distance they offer, and I’m honestly not comfortable with using daggers, especially since I’m a Fighter. But I don’t have my weapon anymore, and I need a skill to be able to fight the maestril with the others. I can probably just get a spear skill later.”
“Weapon skills are usually passive skills. You can’t discard passive skills. If you learn a dagger skill, it will forever occupy a skill slot, and you only have five passive skill slots,” the Elder told him.
Shit. Langa hadn’t known that. “I don’t really have a choice, I mean, what’s the point of learning spear skills right now? I don’t have a spear.”
The Elder regarded him thoughtfully, his eyes darkening for a second, "How peculiar. No matter how I look at it, you are not a native, so why do I feel the Queen's karma on you?" he asked.
Langa blinked, that was weird. Where would he have gotten the constellation's karma? "Oh," he thought, and removed the talisman from the altar from his leather trousers. "I think I may have accidentally destroyed her altar, but in my defence, it just caught on fire out of the blue. Sorry about that, I thought it was my calling. I hope that's not going to give me negative karma."
"You released our Queen's trapped foxfire, player. Marvellous," The Elder took the talisman, and his eyes widened. “Forget the limitations that you currently have, look inwards, and tell me honestly, do you want to pursue the path of the spear?”
For some reason, there was a pull inside Langa’s heart, like something was calling out to him at this moment. He got the feeling that his answer here could very well define him in the future. He did not hesitate. “I do.”
The Elder nodded. “I can teach you the Zamone Way of the Spear, however, you cannot afford it with either coins or karma. If you want me to teach you this skill, you must do me a favour.”
A quest? Langa wondered. “What’s the favour?”
“I heard you speaking with the other players, you’re from a lost world. Did you have deities in your world that protected you?” the Elder asked.
“I guess so. Some people believed in a higher power, others didn’t. In my world, people were free to believe in whatever they wanted, and they were free to reject all religions entirely. I mean most of the people I knew who believed, worshipped one deity, but they were always fighting over how to reach him. Some did it through his son, others a great prophet, others through their ancestors who’d returned to him, and others through sacrifice. There were plenty of other deities as well of course, but I was never exposed to them, most people in my country just worshipped the one. I did spend a lot of time studying ancient gods and mythical creatures because of my father though,” Langa said thoughtfully.
“I see, your constellations must have been rather passive in their duties. Our world used to be a blessed world of the highest level. We were all foxkin and we had the favour of The Mythical Nine-Tailed Demon Fox God as our god. We were blessed with magic power, as well as a multitude of legacies, and a few hundred years ago, one of our citizens completed the Infinite Challenge, and shed her mortal coil. The Nine-Tailed Fox blessed her as his constellation and sent her to our skies to watch over our world, and intercede for us with him. She was good to us, we loved and adored her, our FireFox Queen,” he said, looking at the painting on the wall that Langa always saw him bowing to.
Langa frowned as he listened, that was the name of the constellation in their tutorial quest. The quest said that she abandoned her god and this world when the maestrils invaded. So, how come the Elder spoke of her so fondly? Also, their god was a Nine-Tailed Fox? That was one of the mythical creatures that he had found in his father’s books on ancient gods and mythology.
“She was not perfect of course, and she betrayed the Nine-Tailed Fox, causing him to abandon us, and unfortunately a world without a powerful god watching over it and blessing it is always susceptible to corruption. Once the corruption overwhelmed us, the agents of The Dark Void, the maestrils, invaded our world, sealing the corruption and taking the karma of the corrupted creatures. But they also stole our karma, and in her infinite wisdom, the FireFox Queen Descended, breaking the rules of the multiverse. Thus the Great Quartenity stripped her of all her powers, immortality and most of her karma. Our world became an abandoned world, and no deities can see or redeem it, it is independent of all of them, except for the Great Quartenity."
He sighed. "Since The Unrivalled is the only member of the Great Quartenity that we can reach, we prayed to her, but of course, she remained neutral. But our Firefox Queen still fought against the maestrils until the end of our world. We don’t know what became of her, but the maestrils are siphoning the power of her karma from her temple,” he said turning back to Langa. “They use it to become stronger. All the other shrines that collected karma from the world for the FireFox Queen feeding it to the temple were destroyed in the war, except one. I need you to destroy it, and reduce the power of the maestrils.”
The moment he said that a surprising message popped up in front of Langa.
SIDE QUEST #1
Quest Rank: Unique
Quest Objectives:
-Destroy the constellation (The Star-Eating FireFox Queen)’s last shrine.
-Find your Calling
Time Limit: Tutorial Only Quest Limitations:
-Learn the Zamone Way of the Spear before embarking on the quest.
-Solo quest
Cautions: N/A Quest Rewards:
-A rank skill
-Your Calling
-Tutorial Final Boss level reduced
-??? karma
Quest Failure Penalty:
- Tutorial Final Boss level increased
-Lose your Calling
[Accept Quest: Y/N]
He accepted the quest, and he saw a marker pop up on his map marking the location of the shrine.
Once that was done, the Elder taught him the skill. First, he showed him the footwork required to learn the skill, and then using the wooden spears in the training room, taught him the basic spear stances for the skill, teaching him primary grips, manoeuvres, cuts, blocks, and thrusts. Langa saw just how terrible he had been before in his technique.
[You have learned the skill: Zamone Way of the Spear.
-Zamone Way of the Spear(B): Beginner Lv1
You are proficient in basic spear techniques, cuts, blocks, and thrusts. +10% damage on consecutive heavy attacks against a single target when using a spear.]
Basic was really basic, Langa mused as he trained against the balanced level 5 mana dummy. It kept him on his toes as he familiarised himself with the skill. Sigurd arrived while he was training, apologising profusely for not helping him fight against the maestril. But Langa merely waved him off. He did not want or need an apology. Right now all he wanted was to train and better himself.
Training was something that Langa always did with precision and dedication. It did not matter if he was going to throw the race or not. He needed to be in top form. Always. Right now, every time that he remembered the sensation of fear overcoming him, making him unable to move, he trained even harder.
“Langa! You’re okay!” A high-pitched voice was all the warning Langa got before Makoto tackled him with a hug. The boy looked up at him, tears in his eyes. “They said you died… I thought…”
A warmth filled Langa’s heart. It had been long since someone treated him like this. Being happy to see him, crying to see that he was okay. This boy reminded him of his niece.
“I’m fine, kid. Really,” Langa assured him before the boy was satisfied enough to pull away from him. "Let me finish my training okay?"
Makoto nodded, but he constantly glanced back at him to make sure he was fine.
*
Tired from training, Langa lay on the ground of the training area thinking about how helpless he had felt when he died, and wondered if the same would happen to his family, his niece especially. He knew Neo could take a hit, but strong-willed as she was, Khaya had no fighting experience. He was busy worrying about her when Liv came and stood over him.
“Are you okay?” he asked hesitantly.
“Awesome,” Langa answered without much thought.
Liv sat down next to him. “It doesn’t look that way to me. Dying happens and it sucks, but once you get used to it, it won’t be so bad.”
Langa looked up at him and raised his eyebrows. Was the team leader trying to be his therapist now? That encouragement sounded terrible as if Liv had heard it from someone else and was just repeating it. "Have you ever tried to console someone before?" he asked.
"Once or twice," Liv said sheepishly. "Were my words terrible?"
“It's nice to know that you aren't perfect at everything. Don't worry about me, I don’t care about dying,” Langa said. He did not need a therapist right now, but he wondered if he was the only one worrying about his family right now. “Do you have a family?”
For a moment, Liv’s concerned face slipped, and something resembling both sorrow and anger passed over his face before he righted it. He hesitated for a moment before lying down on the ground as well. “None that I care for. My mother’s dead and my father can go shove his horns in The Sun God’s thirteenth hell for all I care.”
Well, that was an insult if Langa had ever heard one. He looked up into the bland sky. “I’m the opposite, my father died and my mum can go fuck herself,” he said quietly, then pushing that thought away, he punched Liv’s arm lightly. “Look at us, trauma bonding. Isn’t that awesome?”
Liv gave a short laugh. “I’ve never heard that statement before, but it fits. Why did you ask about my family anyway?”
“Just worried about my sister, niece and nephew. They mean the world to me, and I don’t know what I would do if I lost them,” he muttered, then sat up. He didn't want the feelings to overwhelm him. “Get up, it’s time to start training again, and you’re going to help me”
Liv looked like he wanted to comment on the abrupt change of subject but Langa grabbed the wooden spear and looked at him impatiently. He was not going to get therapy from someone who was clearly dealing with his own shit.
“Forget about training for a bit. I’m calling a meeting to discuss the maestril, let’s go back inside.” Liv got up and Langa followed him inside. The rest of the team gathered in the training room after that, wanting to know what happened to Langa’s team.
Langa recounted what had happened, and a dark look crossed Liv’s face. “A fear skill? That means that the maestril has a full mental affinity. That’s going to be hard to fight against.”
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Kindaro snorted, “For the rest of you lot maybe. Not for me….or you actually, Liv’Kungsadu. How the hell do you have a mental resistance of 50%? I’m a mind Mage and mine is only a little higher than that.”
“Are you kidding me? You can see our resistances? That’s unfair,” Sigurd grumbled.
“Sure can, but only your mental resistance. My magic requires it. Liv’Kunsadu is at 50%, the lionkin is 11%, Ghol is at 4%, Sigurd is 5%, the kid is 5% as well and as for you, Langa… no wonder you were so affected by the maestril, you are at 0%,” Kindaro said, “If you don’t believe me, you can check your Affinities and Resitances tab on your status.”
Everyone grumbled, glaring at Kindaro. Langa paused and checked his Affinities and Resitances tab.
DISCIPLINE AFFINITY RESISTANCE
Life
15% 7% Death 0% 0% Air 7% 2%
Water
0% 0% Earth 2% 0% Fire 11% 13% Light 3% 5% Darkness 12% 39% Lightning 10% 17% Mental 0% -13% Arcane 1% 9% Physical Body 21% 23% Poison 1% 0%
Langa stared at the list in shock. How was his mental resistance a negative value? Why? He looked at Kindaro, and Kindaro stared back at him, then winked. He had lied about his resistance, why?
No, besides all that, what did all of this mean anyway? He concentrated on the tab, trying to learn the meaning of this, and the system showed him a pop-up message.
[Affinity refers to the compatibility between the player and a discipline. The percentage acts as a modifier when the player uses magic pertaining to the discipline. For instance, when using earth-based skills or weapons, a player with 5% earth affinity will be 5% more effective, and deal 5% more damage. If affinity is at 0%, the player cannot use any skills or weapons pertaining to that discipline effectively. If affinity is negative, for instance -5%, trying to use that particular discipline will result in 5% backlash damage to the player.
Please note: Mortals cannot increase their affinity for any discipline. They can only work with what they were born with or, in extremely rare cases, natural increases in their affinity.
Resistance refers to the extent to which a player can negate damage from a certain discipline. The percentage acts as a modifier for when the player is attacked by a specific discipline. For instance, when attacked with an earth skill or weapon, a player with an earth resistance of 5% will negate 5% of the damage. If resistance is at 0%, the player receives all damage from that specific discipline.
If resistance is negative, for instance -5%, the player is 5% more susceptible to attacks from that particular discipline.
Please note: Resistance can be increased using various methods including sheer will, exposure, elixirs, items or blessings up to a fixed maximum for each individual.]
Well, that was interesting. So, he was 13% susceptible to mental attacks huh? His psychologist would have a field day trying to analyse why that was.
“Do they not teach you that it’s rude to peer into other people’s stats in your world? Well, what can I expect from a world ruled by a demon god? Next thing you know you’ll be asking Liv’Kungsadu what his Obsession is,” Eniche said snidely glaring at Kindaro.
Liv tensed slightly but said nothing as Kindaro laughed. “I don’t have to,” Kindaro smiled, “our little dragonkin hasn’t found his Obsession as of yet. Things are gonna be hard for you in the future Liv’kungsadu, battling the Obsession of a dragon and the curse of a god… I envy your power, but the path of a demigod is a nightmare.”
“Shut up,” Liv said crossing his arms. “The point is, at least we know the mini-boss has full mental affinity, which means it’s at 100%, for those of you who don’t know. All maestrils have 100% affinity in a single discipline. We need a plan.”
Ghol rolled her eyes, “What plan? All we know is that the maestril has a full mental affinity. We don’t know what its resistances and skills are. The only thing that this information changes is that we should avoid eye contact with the monster.”
Sigurd nodded, “I hate to agree with her, but she’s right. We need to train our team coordination and raise our levels. We only have two days left until the quest deadline to defeat the mini-boss.”
While that was certainly true, Langa was unsure if he could do it, after all, he still had a quest to do tomorrow. As he tried to think of a solution he looked around, and caught Eniche’s eye, but she promptly blanched and looked away.
”I get what you’re saying, but I have a side quest that will help me get a new weapon tomorrow, so I can’t train with you guys,” Langa told them. Liv was about to say something, but Langa raised his hand, “It’s a solo quest. I won’t be much use against a level 7 maestril with a wooden spear.”
He was also hoping to raise his level back up to 5, seeing as dying had brought him back down to level 4.
“I still think all of you should train to increase your mental resistances,” Kindaro added.
Everyone looked at Liv to decide what they would be doing tomorrow. He frowned, “The maestril is level 7. Okay, we’ve got two level 6 players, four at level 5 and one at level 4, so I think we should use tomorrow morning to try and raise all our levels to 6. In the afternoon we will meet back up to do our coordination training as a team. I don’t know if you’ll make it back in time from your quest, Langa, but we need to do this training.”
It was as good a plan as any, and no one opposed it.
*
For some reason, Langa felt as if Eniche was avoiding him. He did not care though. He had a plan, today, he would spend the rest of the evening training, so he could complete the Elder's quest. Makoto went to the training room with him, planning to practise his arrow skills.
"Oh, I almost forgot because I was worried about you, but I found my Calling!" Makoto said excitedly to him.
"Really?" Langa looked up in surprise. He would hopefully find his Calling tomorrow once he finished his quest. "What is it?"
Makoto took out a stone from his pocket. At first, Langa thought it was the resurrection stone, but this one was blue and slightly bigger. "My Calling was this set of stones, and it awakened my attribute. Brother Liv helped me find it. The attribute is called Mana Battery, which means that I can store my maximum mana in this arcane mana stone to use later. I can create another stone every 26 hours, so I can store my mana. I can only use it for 26 hours as well, but ifI give it to others it lasts for 26 days. Right now I only have 13 stones, but apparently, I can get more in the Tower. The catch is that it takes me 200% more time to regenerate my mana,” he said. “I can also ‘heal mana’. You know how Sigurd has a skill that allows him to top up HP? Well, I can do that too, but for MP. I can do it as many times as I want but only up to a maximum of three times my maximum mana. According to Kindaro, it's an attribute that all Mages would kill for. I'm not a Mage, but I do have a skill that requires mana, I'm just relieved that I can finally be useful to everyone."
An attribute? Langa had seen that on his status but it was currently empty. lt said that his attribute was locked. "Congratulations kid. I'm proud of you," he smiled, clapping him on the shoulder.
"Thanks, so I'm not useless. Will you let me go with you tomorrow?"
"Sorry, but it's a solo quest. There's nothing I can do about that. You just concentrate on getting to level 6 tomorrow. That maestril is a nightmare. Go train," he told him.
The kid still looked doubtful, but he nodded and went to the archery range.
Finally alone, Langa resumed his training diligently. He now felt like the skill was his. His stances were almost natural, and he could block the mana dummy's attacks 50% of the time. He was now working on using the wooden spear to sweep the dummy's legs but it was not easy as the dummy was a level higher than he was. If he succeded, then the dummy would kick him, and he would be slow to move away before it attacked again. Still, he was satisfied with his progress in his training.
He was about to get ready for a fourth run against the mana dummy, when a sudden voice spoke in his head; "Stop!" it said.
Langa froze. His entire body went rigid. There was a disconnect between his mind and his body. He tried to move his feet, tried to lift up his wooden spear, but his body refused to listen to him. He was trapped. Was that fucking maestril here? Had it followed him inside? There was fog in his mind and suddenly, he was trapped again in the backseat of that car, all those years ago desperately calling for his father. He could not move, mind foggy, hands shaking and feet rigid.
But just as suddenly, the chains that trapped him dissipated, and he could move again. He crouched down, breathing heavily. What was that? Was that a memory or a hallucination?
"Damn, sorry. I didn't think it would be this bad." That same voice said from behind him. Kindaro.
Langa stood up and turned to face the dark elf, anger welling up inside him. "You did this to me?"
Kindaro raised his hands in surrender. "I'm a mind Mage, you were vulnerable and I just had to try it. I did not think it would work. Usually, I have to have eye contact with a target before I can use my skill. Your resistance is pathetic."
"Screw you," Langa snapped, picking up the wooden spear.
"Don't be like that. Let's train together, you need to get used to mental attacks, and I need to practice my magic. What do you say?" he asked. "I'll make it up to you, you can ask me anything and I'll help fill the knowledge gaps from your world."
Langa was about to tell him where he could shove it, but then he remembered that he still had to complete his first hidden quest. "Fine, I'll train with you if you answer my question. Why do you want to climb the Tower? What are your motivations?"
The dark elf blinked, and then laughed, "Sure, it's not a big secret. I'm a prince, with a high mind resistance, and a full affinity for the death discipline. It's like what Liv'Kungsadu said, saying I have full affinity means that I have 100% affinity for death. Remember that," he said when Langa frowned.
"Anyway, our world’s deity, The Demon King of a Thousand Undead Knights, or as he is more commonly referred to, The Thousand Undead, will choose the king of our world based on our results in climbing the Tower. Between me and my siblings, one of us will be chosen to rule our world and be the Thousand Undead's Visage in over a thousand worlds. That's why I'm climbing the Tower with my aide, Ghol. I want to be the constellation of a thousand worlds. And climbing the Tower, completing the Infinite Challenge, is the first requirement to become a constellation." Kindaro told him with a nonchalant shrug.
Sure enough, Langa's quest window updated, but surprisingly, it also had a progression of 4, instead of 3. Was the extra person Ghol maybe? Had it been updated for her along with Kindaro?
“Are you and Ghol close?” he asked.
”She’s my servant, bestowed upon me by The Thousand Undead. My ambitions are her ambitions, my desires, her desires, my failures, her failures.”
Well, that was weird, but it explained a lot, Langa was now halfway.
HIDDEN QUEST #1 UPDATED
Quest Rank: Unique
Quest Objectives: Gain your teammates’ trust using any means necessary. Learn the motivations that your teammates have for climbing the Tower, and what drives them to fight. Build team unity! Time Limit: Tutorial Only Quest Limitations: Progression: 4/6 Cautions: N/A Quest Rewards: Rare Title
Good. All that was left now was Makoto and Liv.
"Alright, thanks for telling me. Let's train," Langa said, facing Kindaro. “By the way, why is my mental resistance so weak?”
Kindaro shrugged, “Usually that happens to people with mental trauma that they haven’t dealt with, or people with untreated mental illness or people who are cursed. Why, which category do you fall into?”
Cursed people. But that was not something that Langa was willing to share, at the moment.
”You should ask my psychologist,” he murmured. “I don’t know, I hate pain… Oh, I’m extremely claustrophobic. Does that count?”
“The reason why you’re claustrophobic probably counts. Don’t beat yourself up over it though. Liv’Kungsadu is a demigod, so his resistances are high. The average resistances for most mortals is about 5%. It’s rare to find someone below level 10 with any resistance above 20%. And don’t get me started on affinity. You’re lucky if even one of yours is about 3%. Most people are at 1% at most with maybe one affinity that is as high as like 30%.”
That was certainly a bit comforting, and Langa relaxed a little. It meant that he was above average in most of the disciplines. The next hour was agonising for Langa. Kindaro's skill allowed him to take control of a mind for two seconds, but for the moment, all he could do was freeze the person. He also had a skill of telekinesis which allowed him to attack by mentally controlling weapons. He forced his way into Langa's mind time and time again, freezing him before he could attack, and then throwing small rocks at him. While the freezing skill was on cool-down, he would use his telekinesis to throw rocks and wooden daggers at Langa. This was good practice for Langa as he got to use his blocking technique using the spear. He had to block multiple weapons flying at him.
The physical training allowed him to push away the agony of the mental training. He focused on his wooden spear, circumventing Kindaro's weapons, and managed to inflict physical damage on him multiple times. Being a Mage, Kindaro had very low HP and other physical stats, and he went down pretty easily. His main problem seemed to be that he could never have too much mana. That was a comfort to Langa. He might be mentally weak, but at least he was better at this than Kindaro.
To his surprise, while the mental training was grating, Kindaro was somewhat gentler in his subsequent attacks than he was in the first attack. Langa did not experience that memory or hallucination of his that he saw before, again.
In the end, he did achieve a small reward from this training. His mental resistance went up to -12, and he was almost 50% of the way to level 2 in his spear skill.
"Let's stop here. My mana's taken a hit, and I have consumed all my stamina turning it into mana. I'll end up collapsing at this rate," Kindaro said in exhaustion.
"Thanks, you're not such a prick after all," Langa said, finally stepping back.
It was true. Langa had been wary of him because he was a prick in their previous meeting, and he also seemed to like picking a fight with Liv and Eniche. He had thought Kindaro was a selfish stuck-up prince who only cared about completing the tutorial with the highest karma score. Maybe he was all that, but when he wasn't being a prick, Langa could tolerate him.
"I think you meant that as a compliment, so I'll take it as such. See you tomorrow," Kindaro shook his head as he left.
*
Langa was asleep when Liv knocked on his door later that night. He did not appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night after such an exhausting day.
"What the hell, dude?" Langa grumbled, sitting up.
"Sorry, I just wanted to make sure that everyone was asleep before telling you this. There's someone with a very invasive skill in our team. She loves to eavesdrop and report to her prince," Liv said quietly as he sat down on Langa's bed.
Right, he was probably talking about Ghol. Langa knew that she had a rogue class, but that was just about it. She kept to herself and Kindaro and did not socialise with anyone.
"What is it?" Langa asked groggily.
Liv ran his hands through his long hair in contemplation, as if debating whether to say what he wanted to say. "Look, as team leader, I feel that I must warn you about this. You care about that kid, Makoto, right?"
All the sleepiness vanished from Langa's brain immediately. A warning? About Makoto? "Is something wrong with Makoto?"
"That attribute of his is very dangerous. I tried to warn him but I don't think he gets it."
"His attribute can hurt him?" Langa asked, now getting worried.
"Not directly. But it's too good an attribute, Langa especially for a naive child. Look,” Liv sighed, "My maternal family are dragonkin, magic is their forte, so I know the importance of mana to a Mage. A dragonkin wielding life magic could enslave that kid's soul, and raise him as a personal mana battery. But I digress. His mana is still too weak for a dragonkin to want to use him. But not for a dark elf, no, his attribute is just perfect for one to use him as an endless mana source, by whatever means necessary. So, if you care about him, protect that child," he said.
Was his attribute really that great? And why was Liv so sure that Kindaro would want to harm Makoto to get to it?
“Thanks for the warning,” Langa said. “Can I ask you something, though? Why is there so much tension between you and Kindaro and Eniche?” he asked.
Liv stood up, and shrugged, “Most mortals dislike demigods. With too much raw power and poor control, we are cursed beings, so most of us just die young or end up becoming Avatars for our godly parents. That is the best way to anchor ourselves to our mortal bodies so we can control the power and not self-destruct. We’re dangerous, so people fear us,” he hovered by the door. “Please do heed my warning.”
As he left, Langa lay back down to sleep, annoyed now that he had one more thing to worry about. But it surprised him that demigods were cursed like him. He shook the thoughts away. He had to get a good night’s rest for his quest to find his Calling tomorrow. A quest that he hoped would change the direction of his life.
*
“Are you sure that you don't want me to come with you?" Makoto asked in concern after breakfast the next morning, as Langa prepared to leave for his quest.
"I'm sure," he said. "Besides, it's just past the yellow zone in the east. I'll be fine. You just worry about yourself, okay?"
He was still rattled by Liv's warning and wanted to make sure that Makoto was careful.
"Alright. Here, take this, it'll make me feel better," Makoto said handing his mana stone to Langa.
"I don't have any skills that use mana. Keep it for yourself."
"I insist," Makoto said shoving the stone into Langa's hands. "It only contains 50 mana, and you can convert it to stamina. If anything happens to you, I... Please be careful, this is your last life until we get to the 1st Floor."
There was no reason to say no after that, and Langa took the stone. He placed a hand on Makoto's shoulder. He was such a good kid. Langa didn't want the boy to care about him when his reasons for helping him were less than noble
“Eish yah, you know I’m using you, right?” Langa asked.
“What do you mean, brother?”
Langa leant against the wall, “Last time you asked me why I looked after you, I told you it was because of my niece, and that I like children. I’m taking care of you because you’re here and Khaya isn’t. It makes me feel better, gives me something to do in this boring godsforsaken world,” he told him honestly.
“Boring?” Makoto asked in surprise. “You died.”
Langa raised his eyebrows at the fact that he seemed worried about the fact that Langa found nothing to do in this place except to take care of him, instead of his confession.
“When I first got here I was scared of the level one foxes but now level 1 to 4 foxes and wolves are easy pickings for me. Fighting them is even a bit dull. Yeah, I died, but honestly, I don’t care. My curse made me accept the possibility of an early death years ago. The maestril might be worth fighting though,” he said quietly. “My point is, kid, look after yourself, don’t worry about me.”
Makoto was quiet for a moment, and then he said. “I’ll still be waiting for you. I understand.”
“Kid-“
“Brother, the night the tutorial started, I ran away from home. I had a fight with my mother, over something stupid. I screamed at her and I made her cry. Now it’s all I can think about.” There was a bitterness in his voice. “All I want is to climb the Tower and get back home…tell her I’m sorry. I want you there with me so I can tell her that I wasn’t alone. It doesn’t matter what your reasons are, what matters is that you’re being kind to me. So don’t die, Langa.”
This was giving Langa a headache, and as he tried to process all this, his hidden quest updated and he could only sigh in frustration. “Alright, just look after yourself. Liv said that that attribute of yours is dangerous. Stop worrying about me, get stronger so you can protect yourself because I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep protecting you. I’ll try to live, but I can’t promise not to die.”
Makoto frowned again, but Langa held up his hand and continued, “In case that happens, I want you to gather as much karma as you can. I don't care if you don't fight, just get 1000 karma and get out of this tutorial, okay? Tell you what, if there is any way, I swear on The Unrivalled, that if I die, I want you to have all my karma. That's all I pray for, right now."
"Don't say that, you-"
But Makoto did not get the chance to voice his worries, as they both received a notification at that moment.
[You have made a sincere pledge from the bottom of your heart. The Unrivalled Tower Master has heard your prayer.
You have formed a karma bond with player Sato Makoto. When you die, he will receive all of your available karma.
Available karma: 342]
"Wow, I just got a notification that says I get your karma if you die! You have a lot of karma!" Makoto said in surprise.
This was not what Langa had intended when he'd said that, but this was good. If Makoto got his karma, that would be for the best.
"Yeah, so don't kill me, okay," Langa laughed, squeezing the boy's shoulder.
Makoto steeled himself, clasped his hands together, and closed his eyes. He said., "Oh, Great Lady Unrivalled. I also want Brother Langa to have my karma when I die. Please grant my prayer."
[Player Sato Makoto's heartfelt prayer has reached The Unrivalled Tower Master!
Your karma bond has been strengthened! When player Sato Makoto dies, you will receive all of his available karma.
Player Sato Makoto's available karma: 237]
"I did not need you to do that, but thanks," Langa said in resignation. "I'll see you when I get back, okay?"
Somehow he realised how this karma bond could be dangerous, if someone could see the amount of karma you had, they could let it pile up, and then kill you to obtain it. He shuddered at the thought. The Tower was truly dangerous.
He left Makoto there, still wearing a worried frown, and he started on the quest to find his Calling.