“Agh! Stobb!” the girl wheezed as the velvet worm’s tendrils wandered across her face. Rye grabbed a pole from a nearby rack and began beating the creature savagely.
“Let. Her. Go - ACK!” The creature's rear side wound around her quarterstaff, ripping it out of her hands. As she was falling forward, she noticed Karla had bucked the thing off herself, kicking it right towards her. The weight of a six-meter insect-thing hit her like a grug and knocked her down, thick, stubby legs wrapping around her instead.
It was over. She was going to die, pathetically, uselessly like at the last temple. No, things were never over that easily. Rye would come back and then just like at Crossroad temple she would be required to learn, fight back, die, and win.
Two ribbed stubs touched her face, began licking at some of the slime it had leaked onto her. Rye closed her eyes, praying to Ruthe that she may die mercifully quickly instead of being slurped up from the inside out. Her stomach growled. Why now, of all times?
“Herbert. Leave the girls alone.” The creature that was neither a snake nor a caterpillar stilled, gingerly unwrapping itself from its kicking playmates.
Rye sniffed. She smelled of pedecud. Then it clicked. Maybe the blue collar should have done so as well but in her defense, there was a lot of screaming and panicking. She looked up at the origin of the voice. The man known only as The Wolf stood in the shadow of the ivy-overgrown wall, arms crossed, wolf helmet drawn in an immaculate smile, snarl, or frown.
“Finally. You’re lucky you smell like friend and not food, welp.”
Oh great, this fuc… this funny guy again.
Rye straightened up. It was nice hearing Elia put some effort into becoming more civilized. It was less nice seeing that she had apparently gained a stalker and her brothers were nowhere in sight to beat this one blue and purple.
Maybe she could sic Elia on him?
“Are you done staring?” The Wolf asked. “I may be hideous, but did you forget your manners in addition to your common sense?”
Now that, that was unnecessary.
“I’m quite fine,” she said, “and I would much appreciate it if you could stop pestering me, deriding me, and following me around. Please and thank you and goodbye.”
You tell ‘em! He may have armor, but that’s a small codpiece. Kick him in the shnuts!
No, not yet. If all went well, shnut-kicking would remain a last resort.
“And yet, I have followed you, and I will continue to do so. No matter where I go or look, there you are. Do you feel the same? Curious.” He stepped forward, light and shadows playing terribly along his metal wolfs-helmet. “Let me tell you what I have seen: A girl, all alone, emerging from the grand maze of lost dregs, a dead giant and knight of Loften in her path. Then, again, I saw that same girl having just bested the poor corrupted guard dog of Glenrock keep, on as friendly terms with the Rhuna as anyone could be. Now you are off the Twinpeaks, finished, done with it, and a dozen kilometers inside Loften. All that and it has scarcely been ten days since I first laughed at your face. I would say I was witnessing the birth of a legend, but I’d have to test for a sour fruit first. What makes you so special, Elia, or Rye, from far away?”
Oh no. He was getting at the secret Rhuna would gut her for, front to back. Rye took a step back past a confused Karla as the man brandished his greatsword, twisted like a vine. In two long steps he was upon her, and the sword flashed moments before she closed her eyes.
Gingerly, she opened them after feeling neither impact nor pain. His sword wafted in the air like a mirage. It rematerialized half stuck in the ground. He brushed his hands off on his chest and she saw them go part way through.
“What, never seen a spirit without a body before?” he asked.
“Umm, no.” Or had she? He looked perfectly alive to her. Who else had been merely a phantasm, a ghost of the past?
“You better get used to it. I’ll be around rather frequently until you listen to what I am saying.”
“Well, what is it!?” she yelled. “What is oh so important that you’ve been haunting me for?”
“Your form is sloppy. Your movements are at times sharp, at times crooked. It hurts to look at. You will need a mentor.”
Oh, screw this guy. I’m amazing.
Rye gaped at him dumbstruck. “You wanted to train me and this is how you go about telling me?”
“Believe you me, I don’t want to train anybody,” he drawled, “, but I am a spirit. A cloud of thoughts on the wind. You draw me in. Perhaps you’ll do to stave off my boredom.”
Rye, accept. If I find a way to turn him tangible, I’ll deck him for the both of us.
But why didn’t he say so, why not be upfront sooner? “Is that it? Am I to learn the art of cleaving cuts and slashing strikes from you, just like that?”
“I assure you, the hard part comes once you’ve accepted.”
Once again, she couldn’t find the words to express her confusion. Focus. One thing after the other. This was a windfall, a good thing considering her lack of proficiency. The offer was more for her than Elia’s sake anyways. Maybe she could make herself useful in some way?
“Alright. But if I realize you’re just messing with me, you get the boot. Is that clear?”
He chuckled, before fading away into nothing.
“U-um, miss Rye?” Karla looked between her and the empty air. “If I may ask, who have you been talking to?”
“The Wolf?” she said, but saw in Karla’s eyes that she had not seen anyone. “I… did you not see him?”
“No? Are you alright, miss Rye?” the girl asked and though Rye blessed her for being attentive, she was not in a mood to answer. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“That is.. accurate.” She sighed. “It appears I do have a boon of invisible friends.”
“Oh,” Karla oh-ed and like everyone else believed her just like that. Rye had once said that she wasn’t a liar, but now she felt the unwelcome shame of knowing that any truth would seem far more ridiculous than such a sweet, simple lie.
Karla, again, seemed to notice something was off. After peeking over her shoulder at the receding form of the slugapede, she went off after it and returned shortly with a pair of bowls of pedecud and spoons.
They ate in silence, Rye and Elia taking turns to taste each bite.
“Did the Rhuna take your souls too?” Karla asked.
Rye shook her head. “She took a soul. A big one. Rare, she said it was. Magic too, for the spirit if I had to guess.”
Karla nodded sagely. “Nobody really knows that Hall was a mage first and a knight second underneath that plate. Though, did you really not sneak out any other snippet of treasure from under her nose? No loot? Not one bit?”
“Well…” She had her silver circlet that kept away bad smells and influences, and her buckler shield. The chestplate could be repaired with a mending wedge and her souls weren’t few either, but between her and Elia’s wants and needs it would not be enough for half of them.
Rye, before you give away our hard-earned loot, let’s just look through our stuff and see what we can sell. Her hand tingled, then pulled out the shard like heavily ornamented ceramics. Like, what even the fu-fudge is a grail shard?
Hall’s minor Grailshard
A small shard of the grail of ages, entrusted to Lord Commander Hall as a wedding gift. When enough shards are gathered, the world coalesces in your palm.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Stab yourself to imbue its power within you, increasing your number of boon slots by one and curtailing the influence of undeath from one of your characteristics. Wards against further reductions for that characteristic.
Karla, Rye and Elia all looked on at the shard and haze in reverence.
Ohhh myyy shi–
“You’ve got his grailshard!” Karla nearly jumped from her seat. “Oh, wow, WOW, a true jack-and-pot moment.”
“Holy wow.” She let Elia touch it and Hanzarps' handy haze spelled the details out for her.
Undead cursemark: Quelled.
Greatly diminishes soul. Moderately diminishes body. Slightly diminishes sense and mind.
This can solve so many problems. Imagine, Rye, we’re fairly athletic after gaining an upgrade from our giant’s soul in spite of the curse. Imagine how strong we would be without it. Time to heal this body of our–
Rye stared in a nearby puddle with large blue eyes. Her lower lip quivered. A solitary tear ran down her cheek.
Uuugh, fine, go and heal your spirit.
“Yesss!” Rye whooped, and nearly put the shard to her chest before faltering. “Elia. Don’t you think we could heal Lim’s mind with this?”
Elia remained silent for a while, long enough that Rye didn’t know if she was thinking or just ignoring her.
Yes, she eventually said, but I’ll be honest with you: We only have one and I don’t see us getting another in the near future. We can help her, or we can help ourselves. You have to choose, Rye: how many people do you think we could help, how many other Lims? And how many would a healthy Lim save in our stead?
The answer stayed stuck in her throat. Her actions had spoken for themselves. Lim cared only for herself and her own. Rye at least would help anyone the came across..
We have become more whole
Undead cursemark: Quelled.
Moderately diminishes body. Slightly diminishes sense and mind.
[Spirit] (Warded)
Your Spirit is strong, like a practiced lunatic.
Rye immediately felt doubts deflate her happiness. “I wasted it. I’m such a bad person.”
“Why?” Karla asked. “Isn’t the purpose of loot to be used? Auntie always said ‘when in doubt, roll for greed’. It’s not shameful to be greedy, not more shameful than it is to forgo the beauties of life as an ascetic monk.”
There was a scoff and a laugh that rumbled out through her mind.
Listen to her and look at those bonuses. As if this was a waste. Fuckin’ unbelievable, a quarter of my suffering just gone. You better make sure this whole magic stuff works out.
Rye shrunk together a bit. She was planning to do that anyway. She stood up on unsteady feet, unsure if she could live up to the responsibility. A prima, a knight, and a mage. A full plate, if anything. A plate she would conquer one bite at a time.
She hummed, twisting her vapor this way and that. To her surprise, a little notch in her mind clicked and the handy haze showed something new.
Boon Slots - Rye
1 – [Empty]
2 – [Empty]
Boon Slots - Elia
1 – [Spirit] Psychometry [Uncommon] [Essence of Ego]
2 – [Body] Perfect Parry [Common]
3 – [Body] Cutting Cutlery [Common] [Essence of Keenness] [Essence of Rending] [Empty Socket]
4 – [Empty]
Suffice to say, there were a lot of slack jaws and wide eyes floating about. Both of them gained a slot. If the shard was this powerful, then it only stood to reason why Rhuna kept an eye on those strong enough to carry one.
Karla was the first to open her mouth. “Oh my gosh you have so many boon slots! Wait, why do you have two names?”
Well, there went that short deception. Before turning to and explaining her situation to the girl, Rye rested her head in her hands and started sorting the ups from the downs. In and out, like an ocean, like an ocean.
I have four boons slots! I have four slo-ots, I have four slo-ots~. WOHOOO!
“Elia. I am going to become a mage.”
Hell yeah you are. You’ll be great, you’ll see, and then we can be awesome togethaaa!
----------------------------------------
Patia must have had a nose for newly acquired souls or for the feeling of wondrous presence that was making Rye skip and hop. The grailshard felt snug inside her chest, like a missing puzzle piece that had always belonged. She turned the corner to the library with a grin and nearly hit her head against the white-scaled scholar’s own.
To Rye’s credit, she didn’t jump into Karla's hands. No, she quite gracefully missed, screaming as she backpedaled on the floor.
Haha, man, really jump scared me. Creepypasta-ass long neck. There’s definitely not enough space to fit all that in her body.
“So you return with nary a superficial change, yet so different on the inside,” Patia said, her head moving this way and that like a serpent. Rye very much tried not to avoid her gaze as she came closer. The woman smelled of nothing, besides maybe a hint of cold stone.
“I-I wish to become your apprentice,” she said, brushing herself off, “or lacking that, that you simply teach me enough theory for me to practice on my own.”
Patia’s neck retracted and after a moment’s hesitation Rye hurried after her around the corner.
“You are undead. Hum. I have never had an undead apprentice. I never thought you lot could learn.” She was back to sifting through the pages of scrolls and books. Rye noted how one of them was her scholar’s scroll. Better not comment on how she had feigned disinterest before, or how Rye had blatantly fallen for it. “Is that all?”
“W-well, if it’s about payment, I can pay some souls.” Though considering the outstanding expenses – food, armor, weapons, a map and more – every soul spent cut into fulfilling other needs.
“I wouldn’t know what to do with them.” At the puzzled look Rye gave her, she cared to elaborate. “I assume your experience with my craft is more on the receiving end?”
“I had a boon for a magic spell.” Rye looked to Karla, who appeared just as puzzled as her.
“What kind?”
“Ah, um, a heavy hailstone bolt.”
“How often could you cast?”
“S-six times.” Rye paused. “And a half. But I nearly lost an entire arm to frostbite.”
“Any essences?”
“One of loyalty. Made it seek my targets.”
She finally looked Rye in the eye. “What do you know of the art, the true way of conjuring?”
“Not more than most.” Rye fidgeted, remembering the disordered study in Glenrock’s tower. “It has to do with astronomy, math, and magic. I am well versed in two of those.”
In a flash, Patia flipped over the scroll so the both of them could see it. “Name these constellations if you would.”
After a single glance she felt that pressing feeling that she should know, that she could know them, if only she tried to say their names. She could bear it; the scroll was far away and the strain wasn’t pressing on her head like a vice.
“Little Viln branch. Amethyst river. The great beheader.” She stared deeper into it, knowing that there was more, so much more to draw on, hints and echoes waiting to be repeated and let loose from their world. “Twinned lovers. Anguis… majoris…”
She snapped back to awareness as Patia furled the scroll back together. She looked over to Karla, who was holding her nose with a bloody handkerchief. Her own was dry but a puff of glittering ice left her lips. She felt absolutely frigid.
“Congratulations, you have just conjured, if only words and names. I hope you understand better now what it means to be a conjurer,” Patia commented, rubbing her own forehead. “It is not an illustrious craft, nor a trifle to channel the great depths beyond the sky. I will not deny your spirit’s renewed strength. Very few can push beyond the third name. Now, whether you have talent or not is a different question.”
Rye made sure to help Karla take a seat outside the library. With a deep breath of warm library air, she turned again to the still unsmiling Patia.
“That was dangerous,” Rye said. “You hurt her.”
“I simply gave you what you wanted. That is the first lesson. With conjuring, you always get what you wish for, so wish lightly.” She simply shrugged. “It won’t be any different once you learn to conjure. You could do much worse with a beginner’s spell. We conjurers prick holes in the sky and let the outer ocean flow through for a few drops of dreadful power. The danger will merely be flattened and distributed over a greater period of time and when it rears its ugly head, you will have none to curse but me, your teacher, for learning you, or yourself, for not daring to think things through. I thought it prudent to show you what a conjurer deals in, though I see the understanding hasn’t set in, nor has it cowed you yet.”
They stared at each other. Rye was fully aware that walking away now in declaration of dealing in poor faith would only close this door for her. She could already see that she wasn’t going to get along with this woman.
“Did you just call yourself my teacher?”
The serpentine woman smiled ever so slightly.
“There’s the insight.” She put her papers, scrolls and sundry down. “You really are turning my schedule on its head. Come now, let’s see how long you can keep up that level of attention.”
She walked out ahead, the first few steps like a hunched lizard. Her back cricked and cracked until she walked as straight as any noblewoman might have.
“Oh, and this will be a test. If you can’t use that head of yours, I won’t bother wasting both our time.”
Well, I guess this is your chance at magic. C’mon, chase that dream.
Rye did, mood lifting with every hurried step.